In an era of anxiety and confusion, Pastor Kyle Idleman is on a mission to help people take “every review captive,” rediscovering hope and truth in the technique.
Idleman, author of “Every Thought Captive: Calm the Mental Chaos That Keeps You Stuck, Drains Your Hope, and Holds You Back,” told CBN News that, despite the obvious negatives unfolding within culture, he’s also encouraged.
“What I’m encouraged by culturally … is that people want to change,” he said. “They recognize some things are off, they’re looking for transformation, they’re realizing that some of the … self-help manifestation approach is not getting the job done, and they’re more open to some supernatural, Scriptural truths that can bring that kind of transformation, or address some of these patterns and strongholds.”
Rather than hyper-obsess over temporal solutions — which certainly have their place — Idleman said there’s also a thirst for the Gospel, and intrigue in taking a more interconnected look at how the human brain functions.
“I would say there’s a renewed interest in how our minds work,” he said. “I think there’s a greater awareness of how our thinking works. … People are more interested in how neuroplasticity has affected them … where their thinking originated from those early and often thoughts.”
Idleman dives into these topics and others in “Every Thought Captive” as he works to help people identify various thought patterns — issues like “insecurity, distraction, being easily offended, feelings of despair.” These aren’t new issues, but he believes they are increasing.
Some forces in culture will argue everything is spiritual, while others in the secular world will posit that it’s all physical or mental. Yet still others will see a balance, as humans are multifaceted.
“There’s an alignment of some of these things,” Idleman said. “For example, for centuries, people thought the human brain was fixed and unchangeable after childhood, that there’s nothing you could do about it.”
He continued, “Now, we know that our brains have this lifelong capacity to reorganize, to form new neural connections, and what’s so helpful about that is how it lines up with what the Bible has taught all along … that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds; that transformation takes place when we change the way [we’re] thinking.”
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The preacher said it’s incredible to see science affirming what the Bible has always taught. Thoughts, Idleman said, help shape your brain. Proverbs 23:7 reads, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he,” showcasing that our thoughts can actually shape us.
“I love being able to make these parallels because they shouldn’t be in opposition to each other,” he said. “Jesus … as the creator of our minds and the author of Scripture … we shouldn’t be surprised that those two things match up.”
Idleman explained the dangers of failing to deal with the spiritual issues people are facing, likening the scenario to treating symptoms rather than an overarching problem.
“If you go to the doctor because you’ve been dealing with some kind of cough and the doctor recognizes through some tests that you’ve got lung cancer but chooses only to treat your cough — he gives you cough medicine but doesn’t treat the lung cancer,” he said. “It’s not that it doesn’t help. You’ve got a cough. There’s some things that are helpful about it, but you’ve got lung cancer. Let’s deal with the cancer.”
Understanding the role of the brain, too, is especially important for Christians, as Idleman said there are patterns that can help elevate spiritual practices.
For instance, studying the Bible in the morning and praying can help set a positive trajectory for the rest of the day. In fact, he said there’s science that backs this.
“Spending time with God in the morning is kind of a consistent pattern you see in Scripture,” Idleman said. “But there’s a reason for it that has more science behind it than what we might realize.”
The pastor also spoke about how he read that speaking words aloud offers a different experience for the brain than a situation that happens when people simply think about things in their minds.
“There’s something about speaking it out loud that engages different parts of our brain than if we just thought that thought and we didn’t speak it out loud,” he said. “And, when I was reading about this, I started thinking about how, in the Old Testament, God had his people speaking his word out loud at certain times of the day, praying these prayers out loud. Like he didn’t just say, ‘Hey, read it to yourself.’ He specifically wanted them to speak it out loud.”
Idleman said this has inspired him to sometimes read Scripture aloud, noting there’s a “different level of impact” when prayers are verbally uttered.
Ultimately, he’s hoping “Every Thought Captive: Calm the Mental Chaos That Keeps You Stuck, Drains Your Hope, and Holds You Back” inspires people to deepen their faith.
“It’s not about just thinking more positive thoughts,” Idleman said. “It’s about thinking more biblical thoughts.”
Watch him share more in the video above.
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