Here's the reason for the B90X

I'm smart enough to know that there are lots of good bloggers out there. So thanks for taking the time to read what God is putting on my heart each day. Today, however, I want to tap into something one of those "very good bloggers" wrote on his blog last evening. He is Mark Batterson, the pastor at National Community Church up in Washington, D.C. This is good stuff and helps you understand a little better our thinking behind the B90X and this stronger emphasis on getting you in the Bible this year. Here are Mark's words:

A few years ago, researchers from the National Institutes of Mental Health did a study that involved a simple motor task. As subjects performed a finger-tapping exercise, researchers did MRI brain scans to identify which part of the brain was involved in the exercise. The subjects were then asked to perform that simple motor task every day for four weeks. At the end of four weeks, researchers repeated that brain scan and determined that in every instance, that area of the brain had expanded. Their brains had literally recruited new nerve cells and rerouted neuronal connections.

Juxtapose that with Romans 12.

"Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

How is our mind renewed? The one word answer is Scripture. Scripture literally re-scripts our brain. As we re-read Scripture, much like the finger-tapping exercise, we are recruiting new nerve cells and rewiring neuronal connections. The end goal? Not knowledge! The end goal is the mind of Christ. As you read Scripture, you are downloading the mind of Christ. His words become our operating system.

Do you see the importance of what we are doing? We are not only downloading the mind of Christ but we are building a habit into our lives that can radically transform us for God's purposes. What kind of force for God's kingdom could Ridgeview (or any church for that matter) be if we all had the mind of Christ? Think on these things and be greatly encouraged. Christ can do this work in us.