How a person envisions or defines himself is one of the most influential facets of a person's world view and his place in it. This image is intertwined with his confidence which enables him to face adversity, meet challenges, and focus on threats unfettered by the shackles of fear. If one does not have a proper image or vision of his place in life, his confidence suffers along with his ability to cope with life. The result is fear or anxiety. People can become more depressive or aggressive … [Read more...] about Confidence, Esteem and Self-Image
Bible
The Collapse of Justice
The Enlightenment, a movement in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, promoted reason and reason alone as the method of obtaining truth. Nietzsche, a man famous for saying God is dead said, “The exemplary human being must craft his or her identity through self-realization and do so without relying on anything transcending that life such as God.” These ideas became embedded in society. We craft our identity through self-realization. Many of our social issues need to be evaluated … [Read more...] about The Collapse of Justice
The Search for Relevance
Today, the entire world finds itself in a time of vast, uneasy change, where economic, social, political, and religious turmoil are the rule of the day not the exception. And now, we hear about the advent of AI. Our minds can only imagine how much that’s going to accelerate or increase what is already uneasy change. Already, the constant bombardment produces a toxic environment of unresolved stress. Unresolved stress leads to disconnected lives. Disconnected lives lead to helplessness. … [Read more...] about The Search for Relevance
The Truth Will Set You Free?
The truth will set you free! This is a much-used phrase. You find it in Martin Luther King’s speeches, inscribed on the headquarters wall of the CIA, and it was used in one of the most recent Marvel movie franchises. I would suggest that this scripture should not be read as superficially. We often hear it used in the sense that knowledge is power, or we can set somebody loose from their bondage if we can enlighten them of their false notions and correct them. … [Read more...] about The Truth Will Set You Free?
Prophecy: Knowing the Future in Advance
When Paul began to address problems in the Church in Corinth, he clearly explained that the wisdom of God is a mystery, but that the things of God are revealed through His Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ addressed this stating that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth and will tell us of things to come (John 16:13). So we have a combination of truth and "things to come" as an aspect of the Holy Spirit. And Peter said that those who were given the Holy Spirit now have minds that … [Read more...] about Prophecy: Knowing the Future in Advance
Prophecy’s Relevance Today
As events in this world move along at a rapid pace, there’s an ever-growing interest in prophecy. We don’t want to get into the position of forcing parts of prophecy to come together to fit like a puzzle, but to take what is revealed to us by God, progressively putting them together to make an image that is factual according to scripture, not an interpretation of man. Peter is a particularly good place to start: " knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private … [Read more...] about Prophecy’s Relevance Today
Surrendering the “Old Man”
God has given humanity a purpose, and He has provided us insight and a roadmap on how to accomplish His purpose for each of us. Simply put, we are to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). Conformity is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, in this case, to God the Father and Jesus Christ. You are to “…put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 … [Read more...] about Surrendering the “Old Man”