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Hope Channel

InVerse 1st Quarter 2025: Renewing the Mind

Sebastien Braxton

Justin Kim

Joe Reeves

Jonathan Walter

01 Renewing the Broken Mind

Coming to you from Silver Spring, Maryland, welcome to Inverse, a Bible-based conversation on life principles, contemporary issues, and thought-provoking perspectives.

Now here's your host, Justin Kim with Inverse.

Hey everyone, my name's Justin and you're on Inverse.

And we're so happy that you are joining us in Bible study with your friends and with all your people that are listening or watching.

We are following the Inverse Bible Study Guide.

So we encourage you to go to inversebible.org.

You can download it and get it in front of you.

And as we study the Bible, we actually sometimes look at books of the Bible, but in this quarter, we're looking at different topics.

So in the studio, We got Joe, Siku, and Sebastian.

And Sebastian is here with us, everybody.

I think it was a couple quarters ago that we said goodbye to you.

I don't think any tears were shed, but yeah, we had some tears.

Tell them how you cried in the green room.

What were some of the adventures that you went on while you were gone?

Well, took my family to Cape Town, South Africa.

Did a lot of ministry in Europe, Asia, and was working on a project, Luminate.

And so I worked on utilizing AI and translation and- Yeah, a lot of new content, and we're gonna be adding a Luminate sort of podcast group.

And having a group of Christian podcasts.

Hopefully we can create alliances with Luminate and Inverse and all the I something podcasts out there.

But on behalf of the panel and the team, we're really happy that you're back.

And so having the time and life settling down, like, yeah, I'm ready for this, talk to my wife and we're ready for it.

Yeah, we all, our lives all have ebbs and flows and Sebastian's with his, he had family responsibilities and appreciate your integrity and your faithfulness to your family, but also appreciate your family and your, especially wife, Candice's, sacrifice over the years of not seeing Papa around for a couple of days intermittently throughout the year.

And we know the Lord has blessed, and the Lord will continue to bless.

And also, Joe and Siku, you guys are cool too.

And your families as well, and your spouses and your guys' ministry.

We call quarter 13 week season, 13 week seasons?

And this 1 is not on the book of the Bible, yeah?

We were in Mark for a while, we were in John for a while, and then now, now that Sebastian's back, now let's get into something different, yeah?

And you wanna kind of set us up, like what was in the mind or the background context of what's the topic and why did you choose?

Yeah, this quarter's titled Renewing the Mind.

And we're gonna see that phrase right from our opening verse straight out of the Bible.

And it brings a lot of hope because a lot of us are stuck in cycles of discouragement, despair.

You know, we wanna be able to find peace, joy, contentment and forgiveness, different things.

These are all topics we're going to be looking at and some very challenging ones.

Grief is another 1 we're going to look at this quarter.

And I was a pastor during COVID, a local church pastor, and there was a lot of mental suffering, loneliness, isolation, and just recovering that.

And so I've become more aware of people's mental state as well as my own and just how God wants to fill our minds.

So that's what we're going to try to look at.

You know, like the mental health thing was something that was totally, people didn't talk about this maybe even like 10 years ago, right?

Like It was just something people were afraid of, or maybe you can use the word ashamed of.

You know, you kind of just dealt with your own stuff, you know, your own junk in your own way, right?

But COVID really brought it all out, right?

I think it was on its way coming out, but COVID just kind of totally brought it out.

So we want to talk about mental health and its issues and its spiritual dimensions.

The 4 of us, we're not medical professionals at all.

We may, we all have mental issues ourselves in different ways.

And I say that jokingly, but also realistically.

I mean, that's just what part of the sin, the condition of sin is.

So what we are all about and what we like to do and what we have done is study the Bible.

And so we don't want to oversimplify some of these issues.

We know they're a lot more complex, but there is a spiritual component, and that's kind of the part that we're touching on.

So we're gonna have a word of prayer, and see if you can pray for us, and we'll get into scripture right after that.

Loving Father, we're thankful that Sebastian's back with us on the show.

We're thankful that You have congregated us here to study Your Word.

And we pray that the Holy Spirit would be our guide and our teacher.

Lord, You tell us in 3 John that it is Your desire, as John expressed, that we would prosper and be in good health, even as our soul prospers.

And so, we pray that as we study this topic, we can learn how to experience better mental health, find what principles we can grasp from Scripture, what you already teach us in your Word.

And that even as we grapple with these things, if we are in need of extra help, that you'd give us access to the resources and the individuals who can help us out so that we may prosper as you desire for us.

We pray all these things in Jesus name, amen.

Starting text today is, we're gonna go to Romans chapter 12, verse 1 to 3.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Sikhu Daco

Israel Ramos

02 Restoring the Whole Person

Now here's your host, Justin Kim, with Inverse.

My name's Justin and you are watching or listening to Inverse, whether you're on podcast or whether you're watching my screen.

And I also wanna say welcome to Siku and Israel and Sebastian.

I don't think we've had Sebastian and Israel together on the show yet, but this is, you guys are facing off.

So we're gonna talk, because you guys have mental issues, we're gonna talk about mental health and what scripture has to say about it and hopefully we can resolve this little, little, I don't know what this is going on here.

We are continuing our conversation from last week.

We are entering a huge, huge, huge topic on mental health and what scripture has to say about it.

And we didn't really get to finish all of our thoughts.

And so if you want to listen to that part 1, if you will, you can go to hopetv.org slash inverse, and you can see episode 1 on the quarter on renewing the mind, renewing the mind.

I know we say the welcome in our last episode, we just want to say it with Israel here.

And I don't know if he has any remaining things he wants to say to you.

It's good to have old family members come back.

We're gonna go to 1 Kings chapter 19, and we're gonna read, and this is a passage that really contains a recipe.

It's not the full answer for any mental health issue.

But it is, there are some fundamental principles here.

So that's what we're gonna study here today.

We're gonna have a word of prayer, and then we'll read scripture.

Our Father in heaven, thank you for today and for this time that we have to study your word and to learn more about you, your character, your love for us and how we can have the mind of Christ.

And before we read it, we also put this plug in.

You can go to inversebible.org and look at the Bible study guides there.

And we're looking at renewing your mind or renewing the mind or renewing minds.

You want to look for it and you want to download.

If you go to your Apple or your Android platforms, you look at the Sabbath school, type that in.

It's a little blue icon and you'll see the inverse Bible study guides there.

And for young adults or young at heart, so you're all included in that.

All right, let's go to 1 Kings 19, verse 1, and Siku, can you read for us, verse 1?

And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword.

Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me and more also if I do not make your life as the life of 1 of them by tomorrow about this time.

And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree.

And he prayed that he might die and said, it is enough.

Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my father's.

So Elijah has done some pretty amazing things in terms of reviving the nation that has gone into Baal worship.

And so he has this showdown, Jezebel's nowhere to be found, and essentially God shows up as he is always want to do.

The fire comes down, consumes the sacrifice, the prophets of Baal are proven to be false prophets and God is God, Baal is not God.

The people say God is God and then he kills the prophets, which obviously were of the religion of Jezebel.

She comes back, Ahab does a little tattletailing thing And he's like, oh, you know Elijah, blah, blah, blah.

Right, because he's like the king, but he's whining to Jezebel.

You know, if he were a godly man, he would be.

But he's not godly, so he's whining and weaning, whatever.

And so as he goes to Jezebel, she sends that sort of memo, you know, Elijah gets that.

She sends a text message and this guy flips out over emoji.

He doesn't know how she got his number, but she got his number, sent him the message.

If the gods don't kill me first, I'm gonna make sure you're dead.

And all of a sudden he goes from this huge mountaintop experience to the story that we're now encountering now.

Yeah, This passage gives me, I don't know if it's strength or courage or what, but hope, but you can be a Bible great in 18 and 19.

You can be, I don't know, can I use the word weenie?

I don't know, I already used it, but You can just be a doofus, right?

In chapter 19, he doesn't even see Jezebel and he's freaking out and he's going, you mean he's becoming, just he's lost it.

I mean, to add to the context that Sebastian set up, at the end of chapter 18, that last section after he kills the prophets and all of that, from verse 41 to 46, what transpires there is, you know, he prays now for rain, right?

Like he prays and prays, go look, sends his servant, go look, go look.

Then he sends his servant to go and run and tell Ahab that he needs to get home because there's some rain coming.

Then in verse 46, it says, then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

So Elijah has just, I mean, exerted- So he's like ultra marathoning it before this Tesla?

In all of chapter 18, this has been spiritually exhausting.

You know, he's gone through this really exhausting experience.

03 Receiving the Mind of Christ

My name is Justin, and you're on Inverse through podcast or video or whatever the medium may be.

My friends and I were studying the Bible and we're looking at the topic of mental health.

And onto my left, we have Jonathan, say hi.

I didn't say say hi, but you guys say hi.

And we have you guys out there and we do, or we're doing what we like to do and that's studying the Bible.

We wanna encourage you to go to inversebible.org and you can look at the Bible study guides there.

We are looking at the topic of renewing the mind, renewing the mind.

And in episode 1 and episode 2, we've looked at different principles from scripture on mental health.

And now we're continuing that conversation.

We've talked a lot, and we have actually never actually gone through an entire episode because we've just had not enough time, which just shows you all the convo around this topic.

So we wanna encourage you, if you guys have, share with us your comments, your feedback.

I believe it was a couple of you, you guys are the ones that suggested mental health as a topic to study for Bible study.

I don't know how many years ago that you suggested it, but here we are.

We're gonna go to Philippians chapter 2, Philippians chapter 2, verses 1 through 4.

And Jono, can you pray for us before we get into scripture?

Father, we thank you so much for this opportunity to open your word.

We need you to teach us, to guide us as we tackle this so important topic of mental health and how it connects to our spiritual health and everything else.

And we just ask that you will guide us through your Holy Spirit.

As we look at your word, may our thoughts be influenced by you, and may you just help us to get a better knowledge and also implement things in our lives that can give us better mental and spiritual health.

We're gonna read Philippians chapter 2, verses 1 through 11.

And Israel, before you do that, we just wanna let you guys all know that all 4 of us here are not medical professionals, but we are talking about the spiritual component of mental health, and we've talked about in episode 1.

If you haven't listened to episode 1, we encourage you to go to hopetv.org slash inverse, and you can watch the back episode there.

And there's a balance between medical intervention and spirituality, and we don't want to go through either extreme, we're just praying it away, or we're denying the spiritual component thereof.

There is an area where these 2 intersect, and that's where we're exploring together in this group.

Philippians chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, Israel, can you read for us?

Yes, Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of 1 accord, of 1 mind.

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.

Let each of you look out not only for his own needs, but also for the interests of others.

Yeah, I really enjoy the writings of Paul.

We've talked about this in the show before, but Paul seems to have these themes that go throughout in each chapter.

Sometimes he gets into this like word repetitive thing.

And in the book of Philippians, it's the word joy or rejoice.

He says that joy, joy, joy, joy, joy, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice.

It's peppered all throughout the letter to the Philippians.

Another theme that is there is also mind of which we're discovering today.

So Siku, what's been talked about here in chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, and how does it interact with mental health?

Okay, so Philippians is a letter that Paul's writing from prison, right?

And you would anticipate that you're in prison, you should be discouraged and despondent.

Yvonne But yes, but as you mentioned, you know, he keeps talking about joy.

And in chapter 1, for example, 1 of the things he talks about is, you know, there are, he has people who don't appreciate his ministry, he has so-called enemies, and he's like, you know, I don't care as long as Jesus is preached, you know He said he has this like perspective on Reality, I guess that he can be joyous even while he's in prison even while he's going through all these things But then he writes this letter to the Philippians who apparently are having strife within their congregation.

And so chapter 2 is sort of like a theological framework for the counsel that he's giving to the Philippian church for them finding unity and coming together in spite of differences that they may have.

So that's kind of, I guess, a backtalk to the book.

Like, you go to chapter 4, it was the 2 ladies.

It's in chapter 4, verses 1 through, verse 2, chapter 4, verse 2.

I implore you, Odia, implore us, sing to thee to be of the same mind and the Lord." I mean, this is really the problem at the church.

Like 2 people, 2 ladies, they're not getting together.

And instead of saying, hey, you guys get along.

He's like, let me tell you about Christology.

Let me talk to you, and they tell how God like condescending humanity.

And because of this reason, the 2 of you guys should get along." Like, it's just like heavy.

That's the way our parents used to talk to us.

He's like talking to like, you know, you ask him a question, he gives you a huge long answer.

Which, you know, if you go in reverse, it makes you think like, if you're not getting along with someone at church, that has theological implications of the God that you're serving.

I mean, this is how serious, I mean, it is a humorous thing, but there is a sobering component, like the incarnation of the nature of Jesus dictates some of these human interactions.

You know, it's just, I think Jesus wants, always wanted us to be in community.

We were never supposed to be alone and by ourselves.

Because of the impact of sin on our lives and our physical, spiritual, mental health, we have all these points of conflict or where people rub us the wrong way.

But the solution is not, which is often done by, you know, just as a natural result, like running away or just avoiding the person or going away.

I want you to come together, you know, at least once a week, come to church and I want you to live in community." And Paul is saying it is possible.

I mean, if you look at Philippians 2 here, he says here in verse 1, therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, any fellowship in the spirit, he basically says if any of these spiritual things you've experienced are true, if this is something that has taken place, you have experienced, if Jesus is real to you, then you know, let be of 1 accord.

If God has worked in your life, you can also get along.

It's not just like, come to church and hang out with the person next to you.

I mean, it's like 1 accord, 1 mind of the same love.

The words are all very dramatic and radical.

Because not only is he saying 1 accord, but he says, let nothing, not even 1 thing, be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better themselves.

And so it's like, he's using these very, very extreme, you know, words to describe the relationship that needs to take place.

And I think it goes to show how radical God himself is.

Like so many times when we look at Jesus, we think about him as like some political figure that was like a hippie.

But there's a lot of force to the doctrine of Christ.

It is a very radical doctrine in that that radicalness is found in the ability to empty someone of themselves and that's what makes God radical, right?

That's the nature of his love, that's the nature of his power, that's the nature of everything that he does.

And so he's, you know, Paul is saying, you know, don't, you're serving a person who is radical by nature, and that's why what he asks of us is radical in nature, because it goes against our human nature.

Series

InVerse 1st Quarter 2025: Renewing the Mind

02 Restoring the Whole Person

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

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