Participants: Shelley Quinn (Host), Magna Parks
Series Code: IAA
Program Code: IAA000441A
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00:29 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn.
00:30 And we welcome you again to Issues and Answers. 00:33 Today, the issue we will be discussing 00:36 is conscience and mental health. 00:39 And, boy, those two things are highly related. 00:42 And our answers are going to be coming 00:44 from a lovely person, 00:46 someone who's become dear to my heart. 00:48 She is a beautiful Christian woman 00:50 who also has such a spirit of humility about her. 00:55 And she's highly educated. 00:57 She has her doctorate in counseling psychology. 01:01 I had to stop and think about that for a second. 01:04 But let me introduce Magna Parks-Porterfield. 01:08 And, Magna, we are so glad that you're here again today. 01:11 Thank you, Shelley. It's good to be here again. 01:13 And we've had a couple with you that we discussed 01:16 the ways to optimize mental health. 01:20 But today, we just ask you to stay by 01:22 so that we could get another program out of you. 01:25 And we're going to be talking about something 01:27 that you've been on your heart, 01:29 and that's conscience and mental health. 01:32 Please tell me... 01:34 First, for those who don't know you 01:36 let me just... 01:38 let you give a little two or three minute bio. 01:41 Tell us a little who you are. 01:43 Well, as you mentioned, 01:44 I have a PhD in counseling, psychology. 01:46 I've taught on the college level, 01:47 I've been in private practice 01:49 and now I have my own ministry 01:52 where we educate people 01:53 on mental health and physical health as well 01:55 because my husband is well trained 01:57 in the physical health area. 01:59 I've been in this field for a long time. 02:01 I'm not gonna say how many years, 02:02 'cause that will date me, 02:03 but I enjoy it 02:05 and the Lord has brought me to a point of seeing 02:06 the importance of His biblical methods 02:09 and principles for mental health 02:10 and so I look at research, I look at that, 02:13 I look at inspired writings, 02:14 and try to help people through educating, counseling, 02:17 however, the Lord brings my... 02:19 whatever He brings my way. 02:20 Amen. That's excellent. 02:22 So if we are just gonna launch into our topic, 02:26 conscience and mental health. 02:28 First, define what is conscience? 02:32 Well, there's a lot of different 02:34 definitions out there 02:35 but the basic way of defining it is 02:38 a knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. 02:40 Okay. 02:42 And we're all born with that knowledge 02:44 of what is right or wrong. 02:45 That's interesting. 02:46 Yes, even those 02:48 who don't acknowledge God 02:51 have that inherent sense of right and wrong. 02:53 You know, Paul talks about that, 02:55 I think it's in Romans, 02:56 where he talks about the gentiles 02:58 not having a law unto themselves 03:00 but their conscience bearing witness. 03:02 Yes. 03:03 God gives all of us 03:04 the knowledge of what's right and wrong. 03:06 And I think that 03:07 that's very true that there are so many people 03:09 who know it's wrong to murder. 03:11 I mean, in so many societies, 03:13 now there are some who have taught otherwise, 03:16 but that's interesting, and I do believe that. 03:19 But if your conscience... 03:24 Explain how the conscience functions. 03:27 Okay. 03:29 Well, one of the things it does is that it points us 03:32 to what we ought to do. 03:33 Okay. 03:35 All of us has that little voice. 03:36 As Christians, we say the Holy Spirit, 03:38 but when we are getting ready to do something, 03:39 we have that voice, 03:41 if it's properly trained, I should add, that says, 03:44 "This is not something you should do. 03:46 And this is something you should do." 03:48 So the conscience points us as to what to do. 03:50 And then the conscience also judges our actions. 03:54 So when we make that decision, 03:56 the conscience will actually say to us, 03:58 "You know, what you did was not right, 04:00 and what you did was wrong." 04:02 But then, there's a third process 04:04 or function of the conscience and that is, 04:06 it passes sentence on us 04:08 after we've made that decision 04:10 and that's where guilt may come in or shame 04:13 because the conscience leads us to say, 04:16 "You shouldn't have done that. It's not right." 04:18 And you may feel the guilt 04:19 and the shame that comes about from the decision 04:21 that you've made. 04:22 Oh, amen. 04:23 I think I have a highly active conscience 04:25 because if I say anything, 04:28 I would never 04:29 intentionally wound somebody with my words 04:33 and if you say something in a joking manner 04:36 that maybe isn't taken as a joke, 04:37 or you say something 04:39 that you learned offended somebody, 04:41 or you may realize 04:42 when you walk away that didn't react properly, 04:45 I will immediately think, 04:47 "Oh, I shouldn't have done that." 04:48 But then, I can beat myself up over that 04:51 but I'm quick to go and apologize to someone 04:53 if I think I have offended them. 04:55 You have a sensitive tender conscience. 04:58 Yeah, but why when you think about... 05:02 If the conscience is functioning to tell us 05:06 this is what we should do or shouldn't do, 05:08 this is something that perhaps you recognize that... 05:13 you walk away from a situation feeling uneasy, and thinking, 05:17 "Oh, I shouldn't have done this." 05:19 Is that what you would call violating your conscience. 05:23 Very much so, very much so. 05:26 And actually what I have found out, 05:29 and I've read and I've seen it in my own life 05:31 and other people's lives, 05:32 well, maybe not in my own life, 05:33 but people suffering with depression and anxiety, 05:36 sometimes, some of these people 05:38 are dealing with consciences 05:40 that has been violated more than is healthy. 05:45 And so I remember reading a story 05:46 about a young lady. 05:47 She was depressed, 05:49 she tried all kind of methods to deal with her depression. 05:52 Somehow, she ran across the information on conscience. 05:55 As she started to analyze her life each day 05:58 in her decisions 05:59 whether it be taking a pen from work home 06:01 that wasn't hers, 06:03 as she started to pay more attention 06:04 to what her conscience was telling her 06:06 and started to follow and listen to more 06:08 of the things that she knew was right. 06:10 Guess what happened to the depression, Shelley. 06:12 It was gone. 06:13 It was gone, 06:14 just by her starting to pay more attention 06:16 to that conscience. 06:19 Can I tell you a quick story? Sure. 06:22 This was years and years and years ago, 06:25 we were fairly newly weds, my husband and I. 06:29 And we married 06:31 we had a great debt hanging over our heads 06:33 when we married. 06:34 And I went into Walmart once. 06:37 Somebody had told me about this face cream 06:40 that was marvelous. 06:42 It was close to Christmastime. 06:44 So I went into Walmart and this face cream ended up 06:46 being like $50. 06:47 And I thought, "Oh, I can't do that. 06:49 We're too broke." 06:50 But I decided I was going to splurge 06:52 that was my Christmas present to me. 06:55 Well, I bought it. 06:56 And I went out and I got in the car. 06:58 And I was thinking, 07:00 "How did all this add up to only $85?" 07:05 And I went and I pulled out my slip, 07:08 and I looked through the receipt. 07:11 They had not charged me for this face cream. 07:15 So, you know, you could sit there and think, 07:20 "Ooh, I just landed a great gift." 07:23 But my conscience wouldn't allow me. 07:25 And I'll tell you why. 07:27 It's because I knew angels are watching me, 07:31 you know, no one else might have known 07:33 but God knew and angels are watching me, 07:35 and I wanted to be a good witness. 07:36 So I went back into the store which was so busy 07:40 because this is so close to Christmas 07:42 and I had to wait forever and I got to this lady. 07:45 Finally, I said, 07:46 "You didn't charge me for this." 07:49 She sent me to customer service. 07:50 It took forever. 07:52 And they were upset with me 07:55 for coming back into the, you know, store. 07:58 This lady said, 07:59 "You're just causing such a hassle. 08:00 Why didn't you go on?" 08:02 And I looked at her and I said, 08:04 "Well, my conscience wouldn't allow that." 08:06 And I almost went miffed back to the car, thinking, 08:10 "I can't believe I got in trouble for this." 08:12 And then the Lord really shared with me 08:14 that I had been a witness for Him. 08:16 That's right. 08:18 I mean, that's an interesting experience. 08:20 It is. 08:21 And there are people who are always often violating 08:24 that same thing that you responded to, 08:26 and that leads to problems with mental health. 08:29 It really does. 08:30 Lack of peace, lack of joy, even anxiety. 08:33 There's another story 08:35 I can add to a gentleman who got out of prison 08:37 and he would not leave the house during the day. 08:40 And while he was at home, he would stay there, 08:42 but he would only go out at night 08:44 because he was so plagued by what he was done 08:47 that he... what he had done 08:48 that he felt that everybody was after him, 08:50 so this violation of conscience 08:52 can even affect your level of anxiety 08:55 and trust in people 08:57 because you're so used to doing those things 08:59 that are wrong that you think everybody else 09:00 was looking at you 09:02 and wanting to do the same thing. 09:03 So that's why, 09:05 you know, we talk about violating conscience 09:07 but it can affect the peace and contentment 09:10 that we have in our own lives. 09:11 But I suppose one of the greatest ways 09:13 to violate your conscience, 09:14 and I'll just go back to my example, 09:16 if I had realized that, 09:19 "Yes, this was, 09:21 you know, they didn't charge me. 09:22 Well, I don't want to go back in there in that mob." 09:25 If I had driven home, 09:27 I would have violated my conscience 09:30 and by doing something, 09:31 when you're being led to do what's right, 09:34 and you do what's wrong, 09:36 it then violates your conscience. 09:39 Let's say that somebody had an affair, 09:41 then their conscience is violated, 09:43 so then how they respond 09:46 to that violation is very important 09:48 because if you don't correct it, 09:49 I guess, you end up going off the deep end. 09:52 You know, you bring that story up, 09:53 and that example up and it reminds me 09:55 of another story of a couple who I knew. 09:58 And the husband started to hear voices and see things. 10:03 And the wife started to question, 10:04 "Honey, why you think what's happening?" 10:07 Finally, after a couple of weeks, 10:08 he reported that he had had multiple affairs on her. 10:12 So his conscience was bothering him, 10:14 and as of result of him violating his conscience, 10:17 and not responding to the Holy Spirit's voice, 10:19 he started to experience psychotic symptoms. 10:22 And I personally believe that some people 10:24 sitting in psychiatric hospitals right now 10:27 is because they violated their conscience 10:29 so much and they're dealing with all the guilt 10:31 that's coming from them. 10:32 There's no research to support what I'm saying 10:34 but that one little story 10:36 and understanding of the conscience 10:38 helps me to know that 10:39 that can affect us our mental health in that way. 10:42 Did he live to correct this? 10:45 He did correct it. He did? 10:47 I just realized what you are saying. 10:50 If my husband had confessed multiple affairs, 10:52 he may not have had to worry about violating conscience. 10:57 No. But, yeah. It's just amazing. 11:00 And the other thing when I think about conscience, 11:02 you've heard of the words psychopath and sociopath. 11:05 In the field of psychology, 11:07 they describe them as having no conscience 11:09 and I used to believe 11:10 that until I started to read the Bible. 11:11 We all have a conscience. 11:13 What has happened to them 11:15 is that they've engaged in these behaviors, 11:17 they've so used to persistently 11:19 violating their conscience and just ignoring that voice, 11:22 that they actually get to the point 11:24 where the Bible say they seared their conscience. 11:27 When something is seared, you no longer feel it, do you? 11:30 It becomes numb. 11:31 And so when you hear 11:33 these people committing these horrendous acts... 11:35 One author that I like, Ellen White, 11:37 she says that things were done, 11:38 and I love this word "imperceptibly," imperceptibly. 11:42 So all along, 11:43 they've been violating their conscience 11:44 in various areas, violating, to eventually 11:47 it leads to this horrendous act that we see coming on the news, 11:51 shooting in schools, going postal, 11:54 killing their children. 11:55 It doesn't just happen all overnight, 11:57 it's a continual violation of conscience 12:00 that eventually leads to this big acts. 12:02 So this violation of conscience is a serious thing 12:04 that we need to take very, 12:07 you know, pay a lot of attention to 12:09 because it can lead us doing things 12:10 we'd never imagine we'd do. 12:11 But do you think that all psychotic breaks, 12:14 I mean, we wouldn't say 12:15 that all psychotic breaks are... 12:17 No, no. 12:18 Because there are people, 12:19 when you mentioned killing your children, 12:21 I'm thinking of the stories 12:22 where you realize it was somebody 12:24 who is violating their conscience 12:26 because they were doing it to rid themselves 12:29 of the responsibilities of caring for their children. 12:35 But then you hear stories of mothers, 12:37 I'm thinking of the poor mother, 12:38 down in Texas who drove her children off 12:40 into the ocean who was bipolar, 12:44 so there are chemical imbalance, 12:45 we're not saying that anybody who has a psychotic break 12:50 is because of a seared conscience 12:52 but seared conscience 12:54 can certainly lead to a psychotic break. 12:56 Yes. 12:57 I'm glad you're making 12:58 that clarification let's people should think 13:00 it's always due to that. 13:02 You're right. 13:03 Another thing about conscience, 13:05 and you kind of referred to that earlier, 13:06 I think, you and I were talking, 13:08 the whole area 13:09 of a falsely trained conscience. 13:12 Some of us go up in homes where we sent messages 13:16 that can easily lead us to feel guilt 13:18 about the very little, smallest things, 13:22 and things that are not really wrong 13:23 we taught are wrong. 13:25 So that when we get older, 13:26 it's just we're so sensitive 13:28 and it doesn't take much to just really cause us 13:31 to feel guilt and shame at things 13:32 we shouldn't feel guilt and shame about. 13:34 And that's a falsely trained conscience. 13:35 And the thing about a falsely trained conscience 13:39 as well is that it can completely interrupt 13:44 your relationship with the Lord. 13:46 And let me say this just personally. 13:49 I grew up believing 13:50 I had to be perfect for God to love me. 13:53 That is a falsely trained conscience 13:55 to where anything I did, 13:56 that was anything less than perfect, 13:58 I remember when I first went to college, 14:00 they called me goody two shoes and all that 14:02 because I tried so hard to do everything perfectly 14:05 because at the time 14:07 I'd been trained I would burn in... 14:09 I don't think... 14:10 I think I was... my motivation was 14:12 so I wouldn't burn eternally in hell, 14:15 and you finally get to a point 14:18 when you've been falsely trained 14:20 that the conscience, 14:22 you get to a point where you recognize 14:24 this is absolutely... 14:26 your expectations are too high of me, 14:28 I give up, and you don't want that constant burden 14:33 in your conscience and I went the other direction. 14:35 I actually kind of walked away 14:37 from the Lord for a couple of years. 14:38 He chased me down. 14:40 But it was like, "Lord, I can't please you. 14:42 So why try?" 14:44 You know, you want to put salve on your conscience. 14:47 That's right. You wanted to heal that. 14:49 That's right. Yeah. 14:51 And parents have to be so careful. 14:53 One person said that 14:54 a person, a child is born with a canvas, 14:57 just a clean canvas 14:59 and the parents can paint on things, 15:01 on their things that are right or wrong. 15:03 And that person grows up 15:05 with those impressions of what is right and wrong 15:07 and that educates their conscience 15:09 either for good or for bad. 15:10 We have to be very careful, 15:12 those who are parents to make sure 15:13 that we're teaching our children to have a clean, 15:15 pure, healthy conscience 15:18 and not bringing them up in homes 15:20 with a lot of dos and don'ts 15:21 and they had that falsely trained conscience 15:24 and takes away from their mental experience, 15:26 healthy one, 15:27 and spiritual experience as well. 15:28 Amen, amen. This is good stuff. 15:31 Yeah. 15:33 You know, there's a thing, 15:34 this quote from counsels to teachers 15:37 I believe it is and she says, 15:38 "The consciousness of right doing 15:42 is the best medicine for deceased bodies and minds." 15:47 Isn't that powerful? 15:48 The consciousness of right doing 15:50 is the best medicine for deceased bodies and minds? 15:54 Doing right 15:55 not because we're trying to earn salvation, 15:58 not because we're trying to please God 15:59 but just because we know in our minds, 16:01 this is right and this is wrong. 16:02 And doing it can give us 16:04 the most freedom from deceased bodies and minds. 16:07 And, you know, you're seeing the science now 16:11 that supports this, 16:12 that if you're suffering from a lot of guilt, 16:17 it causes stress on the body, you get stomach ulcers, 16:21 you get all kinds of colon issues, heart issues, 16:24 all of these various things but they're also finding now 16:28 that this has a great deal to do 16:30 with your mental and emotional health. 16:33 Right. I've dealt with so many people. 16:35 I remember a woman who came to me 16:37 she was feeling so bad. 16:38 Her conscience, I guess, was bothering her 16:41 based on some of the things 16:42 that she did to her children, and I just quickly, 16:45 because I was running through the hall, 16:47 getting ready to go 16:48 from one seminar to the next, I was at a church and she says, 16:51 "You know, Dr. Parks, I don't know what to do. 16:52 My conscience is just bothering me. 16:53 I feel so guilty." 16:55 And I just prayed to the Lord, I said a quick prayer. 16:56 And I said to her, 16:58 "You know, I want you to go home 16:59 and just read Psalms 32 and Psalms 51." 17:01 She said, "Why those Psalms?" 17:02 I said, "Those are the two Psalms 17:03 that David wrote 17:05 when he was dealing with his guilt 17:06 from Bathsheba and killing Uriah. 17:08 And, Shelley, this doesn't always happen. 17:10 The next day, I saw her 17:11 because I was doing a series of seminars at this church, 17:13 her face looked different, bright, 17:16 and I told her to put your name in place of when she says me, 17:19 mine, the pronouns and she came back 17:21 and she said, "I did what you told me 17:23 and the Lord has just lifted this guilt from me." 17:25 Praise the Lord. 17:26 And I said, "Praise God." 17:28 You know, He gives us remedies 17:30 for dealing with these violated consciences. 17:32 And I think it's important, 17:33 one of my favorite scriptures, 17:34 I've just turned to here is 1 John 3, 17:38 and I'm going to begin with verse 20. 17:39 Let me just read this. 17:41 It says, John wrote and said, 17:44 "For if our heart condemns us, 17:47 God is greater than our hearts, and knows all things. 17:51 Beloved, if our hearts does not condemn us, 17:55 we have confidence toward God and whatever we ask, 18:00 we receive from Him 18:01 because we keep His commands and do those things 18:05 that are pleasing in His sight." 18:07 The thing about having 18:09 that guilt-ridden conscience 18:14 as far as it affecting 18:15 your physical health and mental health, 18:17 it can certainly affect your spiritual health 18:20 because if you feel guilty around someone, 18:21 what do you do? 18:23 You avoid them. That's right. 18:24 And so if our heart condemns us, 18:26 we don't feel like we can go before the Lord. 18:28 But when our heart doesn't condemn us, 18:30 then we are quick to pray. 18:31 Amen. 18:33 So that makes perfect sense. Yeah, it's amazing. 18:35 How many are suffering right now 18:37 because of that and not recognizing 18:39 the importance of dealing with that. 18:41 So what can we do 18:43 when you're looking at all of these things 18:45 that happen with the conscience, 18:48 what can we do to strengthen our conscience? 18:51 There are lot of different things we can do. 18:53 The first thing that comes to my mind, Shelley, 18:55 is everyday at the end of the day, 18:57 we need to review our acts, daily. 19:01 Now what I mean by that, 19:03 you sit down and just spend some time 19:04 and if you're a Christian, 19:05 you ask the Holy Spirit because the Bible says, 19:07 "Search my heart and try me and know my thoughts." 19:10 So asking God, 19:11 "Okay, today, father, what did I do? 19:13 How did I listen to your voice? 19:15 How did I listen to the conscience? 19:16 Show me where I have, you know, failed you." 19:19 And when He reveals it, asking for forgiveness 19:22 so that the enemy won't come in and condemn you 19:24 as it's revealed the way that you did that 19:28 and the more you review your acts, 19:29 the more sensitive you be the next day. 19:32 That's good. 19:33 You know, so daily reviewing your acts, very important. 19:37 Another thing is... 19:39 Can I ask you? Sure. 19:40 You said you do this? 19:41 How long do you usually spend doing this? 19:44 Daily reviewing the acts? It can vary. 19:46 It's just a few minutes really. 19:48 It depends on what you've done that day 19:50 that violated the conscience but just a few minutes, 19:53 just some people may write things down 19:55 because sometimes writing things down is helpful 19:57 instead of keeping them in your head. 19:58 Cathartic? Cathartic. That's right. 20:00 So it just depends on where you are with your walk 20:03 with the Lord 20:04 and how much has gone on that day, 20:06 but a few minutes is probably ample time. 20:08 Yeah. 20:10 Of course, reading the Bible. 20:11 You ever heard people say, 20:12 "Well, I didn't feel bad 20:14 because my conscience didn't bother me about it." 20:15 You ever heard that? Sure. 20:17 Our conscience, I have to add this, 20:18 is not always a good guide 20:20 if it's not educated by the Bible. 20:21 Amen. 20:23 It has to be educated by the Word of God. 20:24 So when you say your conscience doesn't bother you, 20:27 my question is, 20:28 in my mind or sometimes I might say it 20:30 if it is a person I'm working with, 20:32 who educated your conscience? 20:34 Is it based on what you've seen on television, movies, 20:36 or is it God's word? 20:38 See, that's another falsely trained conscience. 20:40 Yes, it is. Yes, it is. 20:42 You know, that is not just 20:43 when expectations are put on you 20:45 but when there are no expectations, 20:47 when you are receiving 20:49 what the world is saying is right, 20:51 your conscience is falsely trained 20:54 and then I know that there are people who... 20:58 When I've talked about repentance 21:00 and the gift of repentance, 21:01 and there's people who are like, 21:03 "Well, I don't sin," 21:04 you know, and I'm thinking 21:06 how much of the Word of God do you have in you? 21:09 And the beautiful thing about this is interesting. 21:12 Because at home, you might be thinking, 21:13 "Well, if I don't know maybe I'm better off." 21:16 But once you learn what is pleasing to God, 21:20 and then you realize what's displeasing to Him, 21:24 and you pray for forgiveness, 21:27 but God just magnifies 21:30 the power of His love in your life 21:32 it seems to me because your conscience, 21:35 as it gets trained, 21:37 life just gets better 21:38 with a correctly trained conscience. 21:41 Amen, amen. 21:42 So you're making that method 21:45 for training your conscience even bigger. 21:47 Not only read the Bible regularly 21:49 but watch what you are putting into your mind 21:52 because that has an impact on your conscience. 21:54 So that's another way of strengthening it. 21:56 And actually I can say this early 21:57 the conscience is actually housed 21:59 in the frontal lobe, 22:01 so whatever we do to strengthen the frontal lobe, 22:04 will actually strengthen our conscience. 22:06 All right, so explain to someone 22:07 who doesn't know what the frontal lobe is. 22:10 Okay. 22:11 What that is and how would we strengthen 22:13 the frontal lobe? 22:14 All right, the frontal lobe, 22:16 as it says, it's that lobe 22:17 that's in the front of our heads... 22:18 In the brain. Brain, right. 22:20 And there are things 22:21 that we can do to make it stronger or weaker. 22:23 What is the function of the frontal lobe? 22:25 It helps us to make decisions, it's for judgment. 22:28 It helps us to know what's right or wrong. 22:31 Spirituality is housed in the frontal lobe, 22:33 our will is housed, 22:35 all of these things about decision-making 22:37 and judgment, and morality, 22:39 all of those are housed in the frontal lobe. 22:41 And so going back to what we said earlier, 22:44 when you read the Bible that actually strengthens 22:46 the frontal lobe, because the Bible... 22:47 especially Proverbs. 22:49 It takes time to analyze and understand 22:51 what Solomon is saying 22:53 and as you're doing that analysis 22:54 and that critical examination, 22:56 you're actually exercising your mind. 22:58 So whatever activity you can do to 22:59 exercise your mind, exercises the frontal lobe. 23:02 So when I pull out a novel, or a sensational magazine, 23:06 I'm not exercising my frontal lobe, 23:07 because it doesn't take much thinking for me 23:09 to be able to understand those things. 23:11 So watch what you're reading 23:13 to strengthen the frontal lobe 23:14 which will in turn strengthen your conscience, 23:17 read more of the Bible 23:18 and, of course, just lifestyle in general, 23:20 how do you eat, sleep, 23:21 all those things can strengthen the frontal lobe as well. 23:23 What we listen to, all of these things 23:26 which in turn will also strengthen your conscience. 23:29 When you said listen to, 23:30 I was thinking of my niece when she was young 13, 14, 23:35 and I was cleaning up her room. 23:37 I was caring for her at that time 23:38 and I went in to clean up her room 23:41 just because I couldn't take it any longer, 23:44 so I was straightening out things 23:45 and I found her headset. 23:48 It was still going and I put it up to my ear 23:51 and all I could hear of 23:53 was it was a song about suicide and I realized 23:57 she'd been listening to it all night long, 23:59 she listened to the music while she slept 24:02 and before I could even control myself, 24:05 I got that thing and I broke that CD. 24:08 And when she came home, 24:10 I told her what I've done and I apologized 24:11 but I explained to her. 24:13 I said, "Do you realize 24:14 that there's not a more sophisticated computer 24:17 in the world than your brain." 24:18 Yes. 24:19 But one thing that when I studied, 24:22 when I was studying computer programming, 24:25 what we were taught is garbage in, garbage out 24:28 and that you could see I can remember many a night 24:32 in the lab there, 24:34 you know, three o'clock in the morning 24:36 and because I had used the wrong syntax, 24:39 it had a semicolon instead of a colon, 24:41 when you're trying to write software 24:43 for the computers, that it was garbage in. 24:47 So all I was getting was in a loop 24:48 and I'm getting nothing out and I told her, 24:50 "You are programming your brain to think about suicide." 24:54 And I sometimes wonder with all these hip hop music 24:57 and various things that kids listen to now adays, 24:59 if this isn't something that, 25:02 you know, would you think that this could be something 25:07 that is actually making these actions manifest. 25:12 You know, even like the games, the computer games 25:16 where they are killing and stuff, 25:17 they begin to sear their conscience. 25:19 There you go. That's what's happening. 25:21 And that's what makes it so easy 25:23 for a young man come up to you, 25:24 pull out the gun, and just shoot you, 25:26 and have no remorse. 25:27 All along, they've been desensitizing 25:29 their conscience by the music, by the gaming, by the movies. 25:33 They're desensitizing in weakening the conscience. 25:35 Okay. 25:36 Well, we've got a couple more minutes. 25:38 What other things can we do to strengthen our conscience? 25:40 Actually, prayer. 25:42 You know, the Bible says, "If we confess our sins, 25:44 He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins 25:46 and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 25:47 Through prayer, 25:48 when we found we have violated the conscience, 25:50 we can go to the Lord and say, "Forgive me. 25:52 Father, help me to listen more to the Holy Spirit's voice." 25:55 And so praying can do a lot. 25:57 And just one simple thing is, 25:59 each day, start to be more careful 26:01 with listening to that voice, for us as Christians, 26:04 we say the Holy Spirit, 26:05 but because all of us have a conscience, 26:07 they just have a voice 26:08 that says do this and don't do that, 26:10 start to listen to that voice 26:11 even if it means delaying gratification, 26:14 denying self, start to pay more attention to that voice 26:17 and just listening to it as it speaks is something else. 26:21 And then something that I read in by Ellen White, 26:23 she says, "Behold in Christ crucified." 26:26 We'll just educate our conscience 26:28 as we see what He's done for us 26:30 and we imagine Him on that cross 26:32 and what He's done, 26:33 it will help us to be more sensitive 26:35 to want to follow the lifestyle that He's given to us. 26:39 You become or become what you behold. 26:41 That's right. 26:42 So those are the things, 26:43 that I daily reviewing our acts, 26:45 praying, making that choice 26:47 when we hear the voice of the Holy Spirit 26:49 and behold in Christ crucified... 26:51 Studying in the Bible. 26:52 Studying the Bible, yes. 26:54 Magna, as always, 26:55 it's a delight to have you here. 26:57 And I just praise God for the ministry 26:59 that you are doing. 27:01 And if you want to get in touch with Magna, 27:02 you can reach her 27:04 at info@bingoodhealth.com, 27:10 info@bingoodhealth.com. 27:16 And thank you so much for taking time 27:19 from your busy schedule to come here. 27:21 I know your precious husband travels with you. 27:23 He is in the control room right now 27:26 but we're very pleased to have you here 27:28 and thank you for bringing us this wonderful message. 27:31 For those of you at home, 27:33 our prayer is that 27:34 the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 27:37 the love of the Father, 27:38 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 27:40 will be with you today and always. 27:43 Thanks for joining us. |
Revised 2017-08-28