Every Thought Captive Podcast | Episode 4

Hey, Pando family, welcome to the Every Thought Captive podcast. My name is Brandon Braun. With me is Derek Snyder, and we've been spending these past few weeks going through the sermon series that Kyle has been preaching on, but also unpacking a little bit of what's been in the book, some side conversations to talk about how we can best take every thought captive, as the scripture and the book title says. So we are in week four, and in week four of the sermon series, we just heard a great message by Kyle. It's called Say It Out Loud, talking about how the words we say out loud to ourselves can impact the ways we think and create even stronger neural pathways than maybe just the thoughts we think. So as you think about that message, Derek, what stuck out to you? Yeah, it's something that, for me, the first thing I think of is that my mom always talked about this growing up. Not so much from the brain chemistry portion of it, but she was always so, I wouldn't say strict, but she was always so consistent in reminding us that, like, hey, the words you say have an impact on you, especially if you say you can't do something, well, a lot of what you're doing is you're creating, like growing up saying, I can't do that, or I'm afraid of that, or whatever it may be. A lot of times, you're gonna be right because you're just kind of speaking that. Her words were, don't speak that into existence, right? That was one of her words. You were gonna manifest this, yeah. Right, but I don't think it's so much of that as much as we tend to convince ourselves, if we start speaking in a way that, you know, a lot of times we're speaking from a place of insecurity or fear, but I also have some people in my life that, you know, are really into, like, the affirmation side of things, which I'm not necessarily, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, it's just not my personality, but I do see how that kind of changes their psyche, and it changes their thinking, so I think it's interesting. Yeah, yeah.

Like, certainly we don't want to go to that level of where, like, you say things out loud and, like, you manifest them, but there is a sense in which, you know, there's that saying where, you know, if you say you can't do something, you're right, and if you say you can do something, you're right. You know, that the words we speak have a way of influencing our behavior, have even a way of influencing the way we see ourselves and what we're capable of, so, you know, I think that was a good word your mom had, so that worked out really well. I mean, you know, we do say, but we do say things to our kids, right, like, you know, rocks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me, and we know, like, that's untrue. Words hurt a lot. Yeah, words hurt. They can, I mean, even as Kyle said, they can hold the power of death over certain things, like we can, they can bring death to relationships, they can bring death even to dreams, you know, we can talk ourselves into this place where we just, you know, give up on things, and I think, you know, the story Kyle used to illustrate that in Ezekiel and the Valley of the Dry Bones is such a great story to point to, because, you know, first of all, it's crazy, like, it's one of the most insane stories of the Bible, like, of all the prophets, I always, I always think, I don't know how Ezekiel didn't go insane, like, he saw so much stuff, like, hey, you want to go, like, animate a valley of skeletons? Right. Sure, let's go do that, but, like, he goes to this Valley of Dry Bones, and God commands it, you know, speak the words of the Lord, and it's not Ezekiel's words, right, that bring life. And that's a great distinction. Yeah, it is the word of the Lord that he speaks over these dry bones, and they come to life, and they become this great army, and I think that's the key for us to remember when we talk about taking every thought captive, and the words we speak, and bringing those things, you know, into our thought life, is, like, are we speaking God's words into our hearts and into our minds, and are we allowing Him to bring life, rather than trying to manufacture

it on our own? Yeah. So, you know, and it's interesting, one of the things, it made me think about what Jesus said in one of the Gospels, I think it's Luke 645, where he says, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks, and some of that is just letting Scripture, right, get down into our hearts, and I know, like, our distinction in our day is that we think about the heart as emotions, and the mind as your thoughts, but, like, biblically, the heart is the seed of all those things. Sure, yeah. The heart is the way you think, it's the way you feel, it's all of those things. So, when you think about, you know, are our mouths speaking the overflow of what's in our hearts, getting Scripture in our hearts, like, what does that look like? How do we internalize that to the point where we are speaking it to ourselves? Yeah. You know, so I think, like, reflection on my own life, you know, I can tell, you know, when I am in Scripture. consistently, and I can tell when I'm not. And a lot of times it has to do with, I can tell by my inner world, right? So that same thing, the heart that you're talking about, your emotions, your thoughts, kind of your being, like, I can tell whenever I'm not reading Scripture and allow that to permeate through, and spending time in prayer with Jesus and really focusing on the things He wants me to focus on. Because what ends up happening is from there I can, I tend to be, and I believe that it's through the power of the Holy Spirit, is that I can, I'm a lot more disciplined with the words that I say, the phrases I use, the patience that I would have with people, the empathy I would have with people. And a lot of times where that shows up is not necessarily like in a function like this or even at work, it's at home, right? When it's like, man, like you really don't have a hat, like, you're really not on a performing level there. Like your family at home behind the scenes or the people you're closest to get the realist version of who you are. That's just, that's the way that it works. And I think for me, it all comes down to, like, what am I, we talked about this a couple of weeks ago, but like, what

am I listening to? What type of music am I listening to? And I think that sometimes can seem like trivial maybe, but I think that's true. It's like, what type of music are you listening to? What movies are you watching? And I think there's a lot that goes into that, but to your point, I think the things that we're allowing to come into us and because we're absorbing it will dictate our inner world or our heart. And then that's going to dictate what comes out. And what scripture tells us is that, you know, our tongue can be a place of, it can bring death. Like you said, it can be poisonous, it can be venomous. And, you know, the hard thing is that, like, when you say things, whether it's to someone else or even yourself, man, you can't really take them back. They're out there, you know? And so we really have to be disciplined as Christians to make sure that we're in scripture, that we're in God's word. Because it's like you said, you know, it wasn't Ezekiel's word, it was God's word, right? So there's some self-help stuff out there that's good, right? Right, yeah. But like, I really don't think positive affirmations are the thing that are going to be powerful in your life as much as God's word. Yeah, no, absolutely, absolutely. You know, it's funny you brought that back up. I know we talked about it a couple weeks ago, but I had a reminder this week of the power of what we listen to and allow into our hearts. Because my wife and I were talking earlier this week about, you know, our six-year-old son, who is, like, he's the baby of all of us. He's already in trouble. But we were like, he just, he, like, if somebody says something and he doesn't agree with it, or he doesn't know why you're asking it, he responds to you like you're stupid. Like, he gives you this look like, what? It's like, he shouldn't be doing that at six years old. And we realized, like, it's because they have Alexas in their room. And one of the things my sons like to listen to as they go to sleep is they listen to comedians like Nate Barghesi and Jim Gaffigan. And we're like, oh, he's listening to all this sarcasm. He's absorbing it and learning it. He's absorbing comedy. And it's like, okay, maybe, like, more hymns. Like, I don't know. But it is amazing how you get in that atmosphere. And we can see it more, I think, in kids than maybe we always see it in ourselves. Oh, for sure. But I was like, we have got, we've got to stop the comedy with him. Like, he's got a, it's a bad habit. Absolutely. And that's where it's like, you know, like,

you joke about the hymns, but like, that's why I think we were joking about the other day, why I love it when, you know, we're able to sing hymns in church. Because like, they're in normal worship songs, there's this as well, for what I'm about to say. But especially in hymns, like, there's so much gospel truth in there that like, you're teaching yourself in kind of a musical form, a way to remember parts of who God is. And I think those are the things that come to mind, like, whenever life gets really hard, you know, because at that point, like, when life gets hard, like, you kind of have two choices. Like, you can either dive into things that aren't helpful, or you can dive into the thing that's the most helpful. And that's going to be God's Word. Yeah, yeah, that's great. So along with that, one of the things that Kyle talks about in the book is, you know, how we actually take thoughts captive, right? Like, we go from, all right, I want to think this way to actually kind of implementing some plans that allow us to do that. And one of the images he uses is of, like, a special forces team, like going in to, you know, eliminate the bad thoughts and bring out the good thoughts. Right. And I think that's kind of helpful for us to think about in terms of strategic thinking. So I want to walk through just a little bit of some of the things he talks about in that chapter. and we'll kind of see how you feel about that. Sounds good. So, one of the things, the first thing he says we need to do is like, we need to do reconnaissance, right? We need to notice the thoughts that we think. When we see those negative thoughts coming up, when we see, you know, that we're kind of down on ourselves and those things, we need to notice that these things are happening. And he talks about these four levels of thoughts that we have. He talks about junk food thoughts that are, you know, just the worries, the complaints, the lustful thoughts, things like that, just junk food that we feed our minds. Talks about empty calorie thoughts, like, you know,

social media or useless trivia, which I have a lot of empty calorie thoughts, I guess. He talks about healthy snacks, healthy snack thoughts, which are, you know, things like gratitude and things like being thankful in the moment. And then nutrient-dense thoughts, which are like meditation and worship, like things that are really focusing and, you know, building up our minds. So as you think about the things you think about, how do we tend to fill up our minds on those empty calories? I think Carl talked about it a few weeks ago, just those empty things. How do we fill up on those? And how does filling the space with that leave us less space for the things that matter? Sure, yeah, you know, I think it comes back to, you know, what do you decide to be? Like, in the intentional time that you have, like, what do you spend your time consuming? You know, and one of the things that I've noticed over the course of my life is that, like, you know, for me, like, I love sports, I love watching sports, and like, that type of information to retain comes so easily to me, you know? And it's like, I can remember someone that played on a team from 10 years ago and something that happened and yada, yada, yada, and, you know, but it bothers me when I'm trying to think back to a piece of scripture,

and it doesn't come to mind to me right away exactly what the phrasing is or the circumstances of it, like, and it bothers me because that's backwards. You know, like, that's backwards than what it should be. And so, you know, I think around the same type of topic, I think for me, it's just all about, like, okay, looking at my priorities of what I spend my time thinking about needs to change, you know? And I think sometimes, you know, maybe it's even sitting down with a pen and a paper and just, you know, doing an outline of your day really quickly and thinking about, like, all right, like, what are the things that I spent my time doing today? And how could I reprioritize them in a way that would deepen my relationship with Jesus, you know? And I think either it's for, you know, y'all that are watching this on Pando or for us sitting here in this room, like, that's a challenge for all of us, to be honest. Yeah, yeah, and that's one of the steps that Kyle actually talks about in this reconnaissance idea is, like, keeping a thought journal and just writing things down and being like, okay, this is what I thought about throughout the day. And I've never done that, but even just sitting here thinking right now, I'm like, man, that would probably be illuminating to be like, oh, like, I thought about a whole lot more garbage than I realized I did. So reconnaissance, you notice the thoughts.

Second step is you identify the target, right? You recognize the lie that's behind that. And, you know, again, as we talked about in strongholds, we talked about a little bit earlier, even now, is, you know, we have to recognize the lie, that whether it's something we picked up from media, whether it's something somebody spoke over us that we internalize, right? We gotta recognize the lie, and we gotta, you know, see that for what it is. So identify the target, stealth approach. And I think this is so key, is the stealth approach that he talks about is recognizing where that lie is coming from. Like, what is the emotion that is driving that? What is the, you know, what is the situation that's making me think that way today? You know, and I think so much of our thought life is because we just kind of spiral out on things, right? That we have this, I don't know, maybe this happens to me more than anyone else. I don't know, maybe it's just me talking now. But, you know, you have this one thought, and then it spirals you down a chain to where you're like 20 thoughts deep, and, you know, you're thinking about, you know, who knows what. So stealth approach, see where this thought is coming from so you can identify those triggers. Like, hey, if I'm in this situation,

if I'm talking to this person, right, then I need to recognize my thoughts are gonna go this way, and I need to pull them back. So then precision, the last two things he talks about are precision capture and secure and redirect. And these are the ideas of surrounding that thought with truth, and redirecting it down a positive pathway. So as you think about that, as you think about some of the lies we believe, what are some scriptures in those moments? that help us when we are able to speak those out loud, to remind ourselves, like, hey, don't go down that toxic pattern of thought. Yeah, yeah, you know, I think the scripture that, I'm trying to remember exactly where it is, but I think we've talked about it in this series, but to be, to have our mind renewed and to take those thoughts captive, and that should, you know, that sounds cliche to answer your question, but I think, I think that's the starting line for me every time I start to struggle with those types of things, because I think one of the things that I would recommend, and is if you've never taken the time, right, to do that thought journal, like, again, like whether y'all are watching on Pando, you know, whether you've never done this before, or you have, I think it's important to take time, sit down, and write down some of those thoughts.

What are those negative thoughts that you have in your life? Write them down, start to write them down, because I think what that scripture encourages me to do in that moment is that there are obviously things that are gonna be going through our head that aren't true. There's gonna be a lot that we process through on a daily basis, and that scripture encourages me to step into those moments and take inventory, and to go in there, right, like that, what is that, Navy SEAL team, I guess, and see what are those thoughts that are troubling me, because we all struggle with lies, and write those things down, right, and examine them, and look at, like, hey, with each and every one of these, why do I think this? Why do I think this, you know, and write that down beside it, or write it underneath it. You know, and if you do have, like, a community of Christians around you, and it may just be one other person, right, take it to them and say, hey, here are the things that I'm struggling with, and I think I believe about myself, what do you think? You know, because a lot of times what I've had to borrow, a lot of times I've had to borrow this in my life is where I've been struggling with something, and really, I was believing several lies about myself, and I had to borrow someone else's confidence that it wasn't true until I could kind of get on the other side of believing, you know,

like, maybe they're right, like, maybe they're right. You know, and I think for me in those moments, you know, there's, I'm trying to remember which psalm it is, but there's a phrase that says, Lord, even the darkness is not dark to you, and that has encouraged me more times than not in my life, because those lies tend to take me down a dark path, and what I remember, and what it challenges me to remember is even in those moments where I feel like I'm in a really dark season, man, the darkness is not darkness to Jesus, right? He's gonna be there with me in that. Yeah. You know, I love that as a very practical suggestion for people is, you know, if you're making a thought journal, as you have those negative thoughts, write those down. Like, put those on one side of the page, and then, you know, as you're going through the Pando app, as you're watching sermons, as you're reading scripture on your own, like, write the scriptures that speak against that lie on the other side. Like, write those things out so that when those negative thoughts come up, you have this idea of, oh, hey, this is what scripture actually says about me. This is what scripture actually says about that, because I think you're right, and I love that image you used, that so often when we're in the darkness of our thoughts,

we don't recognize, like, oh, this isn't darkness to Jesus. Like, he can step into this. He can bring light. Sure, yeah. That I'm not stuck here by myself, and, you know, you kind of hit on this, but one of the things Kyle talks about is that we have to remember that in our thoughts, we're not alone, right? That we have the spirit with us. You know, if you believe in Jesus, if you accept him, you have the Holy Spirit. He's gonna be able to speak into your life with his truth, but also, we have the saints. We have each other, and we do have those people, whether it's just one person who you can go to and be like, hey, this is what's going on in my thought life. This is what's going on in my mind. Like, help me to deal with that. You know, one of the scriptures that I think a lot about in the midst of, you know, dealing with negative thoughts or toxic emotions or whatever, like, is Romans chapter eight. I think the back half of Romans chapter eight, like, if you are struggling with any concept of, like, who you are in Christ or how he sees you, like, Romans eight is the place you need to go to really kind of dwell in that, so I thought we'd just kind of close our time together by actually saying part of Romans eight out loud. So Romans eight, in verse 38,

kind of the final paragraph of this passage. Like, Paul is writing to the church in Rome, and he just says this. Says, I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons. Neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow, not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below, indeed nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And you know, if we're gonna speak words out loud, if we are gonna talk about things that are true and that are right and that remind us of who we are, like, we can do no better than that. To remind ourselves that there's nothing that separates us from his love. There's nothing that separates us from Jesus and that, you know, at the end of the day, we are safe, we are secure in him. So thank you all for joining us this week on the Every Thought Captive podcast. We are so glad that you're joining us. If you're, if you click down below, you'll see the subscribe button. You can subscribe to the Southeast channel to get all the updates when we upload new videos. So we'll see you next time.