One of the reasons why we have difficulty walking with God is because we want to remain in the shallow end of the pool. God's purposes are never that we remain in the shallows, splashing around. You've heard the old story many times; let me say it again.  A little boy fell out of bed in the middle of the night. He started to cry and Mom and Dad ran down the hall and gathered him up in their arms and soothed and comforted him and settled him back in the bed and asked, "Why did you fall out of bed?" The little boy replied, "I guess I stayed too close to where I got in at."

That is one of the biggest problems with Christian people today; they stay too close to "where they got in at" and they do not move out and move along with God and consequently they are in trouble all the time in their Christian walk. Not only are they in trouble in their Christian walk, but the Christian walk for them does not wind up to be everything that the Word of God tells us it should be.  If there is so much joy we are supposed to have in the Lord, then where is it?  If there is so much peace available to me, then where is it?  If this life is supposed to satisfy beyond a shadow of a doubt, then where is the satisfaction?  If I'm supposed to have the answers in life, why does it seem that I'm so confused and so frustrated all the time?  What is going on?  Why isn't it what it is supposed to be?

When my wife and I decided to put a swimming pool in our backyard, we wanted a shallow end for the grandchildren that can be roped off so that they know exactly where they are safe. The shallow end, the safe end, but not a whole lot you can do there.  As a matter of fact, it doesn't really allow you to get refreshed very much when you are only in up to your knees or thighs because it is only 2 or 3 feet deep.  Far too many Christian people stay in the shallow end of Christianity. Not much fun there. Not a great sense of fulfillment or satisfaction. Simply dabbling around and splashing around in the shallow end. You can't get hurt there and the way out is right close by (the steps), only a few steps away.   You don't even have to get all wet if you don't want to. Up to your waist maybe, but that's it. You are in the water, you can say, "I went swimming with the rest of them."   You are in the water, in the mix, in the scene; you're there and all the others can come down to the shallow end where you are, but you cannot go to the deep end where they are. You are restricted in your activities, particularly so if you are going to be one who always has to play it safe and always has to know where the steps are where you can get out. You can do a little bit in the shallow end, but not much. All of the serious stuff is going on at the other end.

Just like everyone else, your activities are going to be limited and so is your sense of refreshment if you insist on staying at the shallow end.  It is time for people to remove the rope and get out away from the steps and begin to launch out a little bit further and become part of what is taking place in the real Christian world, rather than just standing in knee deep water watching others.

Ephesians 4:11 reads, "He is the one who gave gifts to the church and the gifts He gave are these, apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors and teachers, and their responsibility is to train God's people to do His work and to build up the church, the body of Christ, until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ." Verse 14 says, "Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made that lie sound like the truth. Instead we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, Who is the head of the body, the church. Under His direction the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love."

"So that we be no longer children, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, but that we might grow up in Him in all things."   These words describe the goal of all Christians as they seek to mature in their faith. Believers can pray to be strengthened by the Holy Spirit so that they can withstand all temptation and all fear. They can pray for Christ to dwell in their hearts, helping them to remain rooted and grounded in love. Finally, they can pray to know the love of Christ, a love that is incomprehensible, yet able to be known by experience. When we pray for spiritual growth for ourselves and others we can use the words of this prayer as well. "Help me to grow up in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

The Ephesians chapter 4 portion that I read says, "And the Lord gave to the body, that is the church, certain qualified people to help us grow up." To help us mature. To help us assume personal responsibility for personal decisions and actions that we take. If you did it, you own up to it and assume personal responsibility for what you did. If you said it, you own up to it and assume personal responsibility for having said it. The younger and more immature are always and forever pointing a finger of blame and saying, "He said or she said, I'm only reacting to what she said or he said, or I only did that because"– always finding fault and pointing the finger of blame. As this verse says, in the body of Christ, pastors, teachers, apostles, prophets, evangelists are given to us as a gift from God to equip us or help us to grow up and be ready to face our own opportunities of ministry.

The church is not what goes on in here; the church is what goes on out there. The church is not what you do on Sunday; the church is what you do Monday through Saturday. The church is out there in the harvest field. The church is out there letting your light shine. The church is out there mixing and mingling and being salt in the earth. The church is out there sowing the seed, praying, watering the seed, cultivating so as to have a rich harvest.  It isn't what goes on here. We are only equipping you here to get out there.

This is like a sales training meeting. We show you how and teach you how to sell, but you still have to get out there and ring doorbells. You still have to get out there and knock on doors or make the phone calls. You still have to go out there prospecting. You still have to get out there and do it. It is our responsibility to train you for your mission and your ministry. That in itself spells the difference between those who are wading and splashing around in the shallow end and those who are out there actually swimming and cutting away from the shoreline and doing it. I have gotten to the place where I resist in my own spirit and have a real problem with preachers, and the flamboyant in particular, who are always and forever saying, "Let's have church in this place."  In other words, they are saying, let's have an emotional upheaval and have a good time tantalizing and titillating our emotions. What a silly term! You don't have church. You come to a training session so you can be church out there where you are desperately needed.

So we are training you for work, not splashing around enjoying ourselves in a wading pool. Equipping us for ministry. "Oh, Pastor, I don't think I can minister to anyone." You certainly can!  If you know anything or have heard anything you have been taught or have been exposed to for months and months, you can ministry to someone else because they don't know it.  They haven't been here to get the insight. They don't know it.  Many of them, other believers, don't know it and so you have an opportunity to share with them. The Bible says, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God," so the more of the Word of God you hear, the more your faith grows.  Faith for what?  The ministry that God is asking you to undertake.

You begin sensing a personal responsibility to share the work of the Kingdom wherever it is needed, "Until finally we all believe alike about our salvation and about our Savior and all become full grown in the Lord."  Please notice that it says, no longer children, forever changing our minds because we've heard something else. That's childish. You hear something else and say, "Well, I guess I'm going to believe what that guy says, or that sounds good; I think I'll believe what he believes. Oh, that sounds great. It sounds better than what I'm used to, so I'll adopt that and I'll believe that now."  That is what the Bible talks about being tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. You don't know what you believe because it may change tomorrow. Someone else will tell you something and the scripture says oftentimes it is a lie, but he has said it with such emphasis that you believe the lie to be the truth and so you adopt it. God says you are not to do that; it is childish and immature. You don't believe something just because someone told you. What was their reason for telling you? What was behind it? What was their motivation?

I remind you the last time we were together I made a statement; let me repeat it here and now. When you read the Bible or hear the Bible taught or preached, is not for information, it is for transformation. It is for change. Reading the Word of God, listening to the Word of God, listening to a tape, or teaching – not for information, but transformation. Your Harlequin Romance novels will not do that for you. Your soap operas will not do that for you. The transformation that takes place there you probably will not like. So be careful, little eyes, what you see and be careful, little ears, what you hear and what you're reading because what it is going to do for you is what is important. The question is, "Is what I'm seeing and doing and reading and taking in changing me and transforming me and am I becoming more and more mature or am I still splashing around in the shallow end, just making a lot of noise?"

All behavior is based on belief. You do what you do because you believe something. Let's say that a husband and a wife split up and if you talk to them, one of them will say, "I'm doing this because I believe I will be happier outside of this situation than I can be in it." I believe and therefore I am acting. When you think about it, behind everything we do there is a belief. I didn't say there is a truth, I said there is a belief. Some people have believed a lie and their actions say so. Their attitudes say so. Some people can say, "I've been a believer all my life," but their actions and attitudes and lifestyle prove that to be a lie.  Let me say it again, our entire behavior is based on belief.   If I were to ask you why you are doing something, you would probably say, "Because I believe that I should do this, or take this job, or get out of this relationship."  I believe, I believe, and therefore my actions and behavior are tied to belief.

Behind every sin there is a lie. Behind every sin there is a lie of unbelieving. When you sin, at the moment you think you are doing what is best for you and so you do it. You probably think at that time that you are doing the right thing. The problem with that is the great deceiver has deceived you into thinking that what you are doing is the right thing.  For instance, if your kids do something that is absolutely dumb, they think what they did was smart, but it was dumb because they have been deceived.

Change always begins in your mind. Change always starts in the mind. This is a truth that is taught over and over again and is as straight as can be throughout the entire New Testament. Romans 12:2 says, "But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." That means changing your mind because you have been exposed to the truth. Change your mind because you've now learned the truth. A sinner is a sinner by nature, not by choice. As soon as he is exposed to the truth, he is a sinner by choice. Because you refuse the truth and don't go in that direction, now you know the difference, now you are a sinner not by nature, but by choice and now you are held accountable before God, because God will someday say to you, "Thou art without excuse, O man, because you have known the truth from the beginning." The Living says it this way, "Don't copy the behavior and the customs of the world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think." Fresh newness in all you do and think. Christianity is not just a name you have taken on but you continue to do everything you were doing before only now you're calling yourself Christian. That doesn't work.

The Word of God teaches very clearly and repeatedly that the way we think affects the way we feel and the way we feel affects the way we act. Let's put it all together now. Since change starts in my mind and because sin starts with a lie and behavior starts with what I believe, then, you see, in order for me to promote change, I must change what I believe.  If somehow the enemy can continue to pat you on the back and say, "That's alright, that's okay, don't worry about it, a lot of other Christian people do the same kind of thing, don't worry about it. It's okay." That is a lie and it is not okay and every time the enemy is patting you on the back saying it's okay you know full well you need to take the opposite approach and say that is not okay.  Change your mind.   Sometimes we call a mistake a mistake when it is not a mistake but a sin. They enemy will say you just slipped up, but you know it was not a slip, it was a sin. You have to change your mind and say, "God, I'm sorry I sinned. That was totally and entirely wrong on my part. I should never have done that. I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Change your mind.

If you can continue to deceive yourself into thinking that certain behavior is okay and is pleasing to God, then the enemy still has you by the nose and you have believed his lie. The last time you blew up and scattered your brains all over the ceiling you don't need to say, "Well, I was under a lot of pressure and that happened or this happened." You simply need to change your mind and say, "That was wrong, I should never have done that as a Christian or child of God, it was wrong."   Change your mind.  If you change your mind, He will change your heart. Until you change your mind, nothing is going to happen but repeat, repeat, repeat. Still splashing around in the shallow end, until we change our mind.

If we are going to help people, the first thing we need to do is something about what they believe. So many times the church has it all backwards. Many times the church attacks what a person does. They go after a person's behavior. You shouldn't do this or shouldn't do that. You shouldn't have those personal habits. You shouldn't live that way. Wait a minute! That's the way they think! If that's the way they think, that's going to be their behavior. Don't attack their behavior; attack what they believe or what they think.  In other words, if you know something is going on that displeases God and you know the Lord will not honor it, then you need to say to them, "Do you think that God is really pleased with that?"  You need to challenge their thinking, not their habit. They can't change their habit any more than a leopard can change its spots, according to the scripture. That is why people must be exposed to the Word of God, or to the Truth. You first have to change what they believe and that is why we are doing what we are doing. I know from time to time you think to yourself, "Pastor, we have been over this stuff so many times. You have said it so many times." You know what? That is what I'm here for.  Until we all come to the place where you can recite it back as quickly as I can say it to you and get a hold of it and let it get a hold of us, that is what I'm here for. That is what I'm supposed to be doing.

It is coming in contact with the Word of God, the Truth that never changes, that will alter my thinking, not an attack on my behavior. "You call yourself a Christian and do those kinds of things," someone says. Wait a minute, still splashing around in the shallow end. They have not been exposed to enough of the Word of God so that the Word has changed their thought processes, which changes their feelings, which changes their actions. That is where it all begins. It is amazing how when the Word gets a hold of you, you change your mind and you say, "I will not fear. I will not live in fear. I will not live in doubt. I will not live in negativity. I will not live that way, I'm changing my mind. I'm a child of God and I'm a believer. I believe what God said He would do He will do. I believe what God's Word says is true and I've chosen to change my mind about all those things." Training takes time. Why do you suppose the military swears you in, puts you in a uniform and right away puts you in basic training? They never send you to face the enemy just because you have the uniform on. Training comes first.

We don't look down on, scoff at or make light of someone's behavior who has not been exposed to the Truth that changes their thinking. These people really are to be pitied because they are caught in a trap and their thinking is sour and their behavior is sour and the more they struggle the deeper in the quicksand they go, because they have not been exposed to the Truth that alone can set people free. It all starts with a change in the mind. That is why Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free."

Let me give you an illustration. Let's say you have a very large boat, about 36 feet, with a galley and sleeping rooms and you are out there traveling in some big piece of water. This boat also has an auto pilot. You set the auto pilot so you can head out to sea and go north. So now you go down in the galley and get some food and talk to friends. If I want to change the direction that I'm going, I can go up there and grab that wheel and force it, pulling and tugging until I'm worn out, and perhaps I can inch it around a bit to be going in another direction, but it is a struggle. That is the way some Christian people are. They try to force things. After a while they give up forcing it and go back to their old habits.  It's easier to cave in.

Someone said to me, "When I was smoking I weighed less, I was happy and everything was fine. The minute I tried to stop, I put on weight, I got agitated and aggravated." I hear that same old argument all the time. What they are doing is, the auto pilot is on and they have a hold of the wheel, trying to pull it in another direction. Trying to make it happen. You can make it turn, but you will be under a lot of tension and stress and wear yourself out trying to change. The better way, of course, would be to change the auto pilot. Pick another course and set the auto pilot to change course. When you do that, the boat will turn by itself and head that direction, no effort, stress, or problem. You can go back down to the galley and enjoy your friends.

That is what repentance is. Repentance does not mean change your behavior, it means change your mind. The better way is to change the auto pilot. To do that you calibrate the auto pilot and it works smoothly. That is what repentance is. You change your mind about things and you begin to head in a different direction. You change your mind about a lot of things and there is more joy. You change your mind about a lot of things and God is supplying your need much more than He was before.  You change your mind about a lot of things and you take the struggle out of it.  You change your mind.  If you think it is up to you and you get a hold of the wheel and try to force that boat to change directions against the settings of the auto pilot, you will wear yourself out. Then because of the stress and tension you will splash around in the shallow end, where it is safe.

"Repent" is the Biblical word for changing your mind. Many people think that repentance is someone wearing a sandwich board sign, you know the kind, they are walking up and down the street and the sign reads "TURN OR BURN." They think that repentance is stopping all their bad habits and their bad actions and attitudes. That is not repentance. There is not a dictionary anywhere that would define the word repentance as "stop doing stuff."   Repentance simply means changing your mind.  That is why we preach and why we teach and that is why we counsel and why we pray.  We are in the mind changing business.

Repentance is the ultimate in mind shift.  If God says to me, "You shouldn't do that," then I change my mind and say, "I shouldn't do that."  I don't excuse myself and go on.  I hear people say that all the time. "Well, you know me, I've always been this way." Yes, we know you've always been that way and unless God helps you, you will always be that way.  You will die that way because you haven't changed your mind about it. Repentance is the ultimate mind shift where I go from darkness to light, where I go from guilt to forgiven, where I go from no hope to hope, and where I go from no purpose to purpose and from living for myself to living for Jesus.

You and I do not change another person's mind.  I don't care how loud you scream at them, you are not going to change their mind. Only God's Word can change their mind. Our job is to bring people into constant contact with the force for change, which is God's Word.   I Corinthians 2:13 says, "We speak words given to us by the Holy Spirit using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truth."  If I ever needed anything to communicate with people, it's words that the Holy Spirit can give to me that can help explain spiritual truth to spiritual people.

Changing the way I act is the fruit of repentance. If I truly repent, change my mind about things, it will result in behavioral change. In Acts 26:20 Paul said it this way, "I preach that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds." It will be great someday when that settles in on all of us and all of us will be able to say, "Living out there in this world is an opportunity for me to prove my repentance has really taken place by my deeds."

Repentance is not changing your actions or behavior, but changing your mind, and that will change your actions and behavior. When you are not splashing around in the shallow end any longer, but are saying, "The Holy Spirit convicted me and that is wrong and by God's help and grace I am not going to do that anymore," now that is change!  I've changed my mind, He will change my behavior as a result. It is very important that we catch this, because many people believe that Christianity is nothing more than changing my behavior and they wrestle with it constantly.

Many of you sitting here are overly concerned about certain things and you think you have to do something about it. You need to change your mind and need to say when God says to me, "That needs to be changed," He will then enable me to change it and then there will be the fruit, but right now all I will do is bring additional stress and strain and tension into my life. When God says to me, "You need to change your mind about that," Okay, God, how do I need to do that? "If you read my Word, it will say you are not to do that. My word says you are not to treat people that way, my Word says that if they slap you on one side you turn and give them the other cheek, not that you turn around and knock them down. It says do unto others as you would have them do unto you, treat them like you want to be treated; that's what it says." You need to change your mind. When you change your mind your behavior will change as fruit of that repentance and your life will become more and more meaningful, more and more joyful, more and more blessed and peaceful.

To produce lasting emotional life change, you have to (1) enlighten the mind, (2) engage the emotions and (3) challenge the will to make the right decision.  The Bible says, "Thou shalt not." Why do you struggle with that? That is as plain as day. "Thou shalt not."  What do you mean once in a while, maybe, when it says thou shalt not. They were not the 10 suggestions; they were the 10 commandments. God says don't do that and you say, "Well, I'm only human." God says, "No, you are not only human! You have been saved by the blood of the Lamb and you are a creature of My choice and My decision to bring you out of darkness into light. Don't make excuses for yourself and continue to splash around in the shallow end."

The big question always comes down to two words, "Will you?"   Will you make the change, will you make the decision, will you turn your life over to God, will you come to Christ, will you repent, will you turn around, will you?   Why?  Because the challenge is to your will to make the right decision. Will you allow Him to open your life to His love?  When you do that, you move out from under the rope and into deeper water. When you take personal responsibility and quit excusing yourself and your behavior and change your mind, you are now getting out of the wading pool and launching out into deeper water, where you'll find life much more satisfying.