Book Review: The 4:8 Principle

I have a lot of things that I could blog about, but perhaps the most valuable thing I can bring to the online community would be a recommendation of the book that I am currently reading.

Jeff Jackson, who is in my mentoring group at Buckhead Church, recommended this book during one of our discussions, and at a whim I picked it up from the resource room one Sunday after church and have been slowly getting through it.  I spent a lot of airplane time between Atlanta and Austin reading and have really gotten a lot out of it.  In fact, I will probably redo this book in an accountability or small group setting to really internalize what I am reading.  It is really good stuff.  

The 4:8 Principle is a book by Tommy Newberry, who is a life coach and runs a practice for teaching success principles to folks wanting to succeed in business and in life.  It is based on Paul's exhortation to the Phillipian church where he says:

Finally brothers,

whatever is true,

whatever is noble,

whatever is right,

whatever is pure, 

whatever is lovely,

whatever is admirable - 

if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - 

think about such things.

There is SO much negativity that seeps into our lives through our culture that we often tend to internalize by nature the negative messages we receive.  What we don't realize, but would if we really challenged the thoughts that pass, is that most all of these negative messages & beliefs are false, especially if we are in Christ.  

A quote that I like that I have heard repeated in this book and in a book I love by Henry Cloud says that (paraphrasing) "What shows up in the visible world (actions, emotions, results) always originates in the invisible world (beliefs, thoughts, passions, desires)"  The challenge that T.N. lays before his reader is that much of our emotional unhealthiness originates from clouded thinking that is based on lies (aka - negative beliefs about ourselves) and that through renewing our mind (Romans 12:1-2) that our potential for joy and reflecting the character of Christ in our lives is greatly enhanced.  

If we embrace the truth about ourselves, that we are God's beloved and He has created us with huge potential... and embody that truth into our everyday thinking, that the results could be incredible.  I'll leave it at that as I am in process of working through this book, but what I am seeing is both freeing and true.  That's a good combination :-).