If we can just get out of our funk and fear, we can be happy. Funk means feeling sad in slang. Fear is a natural state for those who focus on what they don’t have and what bad things might happen. We are what we think, so if we dwell on sadness, negativity, and fear, that’s what we are, and it can become permanent. An attitude of gratitude is transforming. It refocuses our attention and attitude on the positive, and… Read more
Number 3 in the Happiness series. The Socialist Revolutionary Karl Marx, author of The Communist Manifesto, said, “Religion is the opiate of the masses.” Critics such as Marx have charged that religion is an invention designed for people incapable of coping with life’s pressures. When we surrender our responsibility, Marx was correct. Road to destiny or road to freedom? We’re all under incredible pressure to accept change. We now have instantaneous global communications (often from a point of view). Our… Read more
I understand change, having been a leading agent of change in family, major businesses, and churches. It’s often a daunting task and often creates chaos and loss if you don’t deal with it properly. If you think getting people to changing from the King James Version of the Bible to another version is a difficulty bordering on mutiny, just try getting sales people to adopt a software program that they find alien to their way of thinking. The challenges of… Read more
What does it take to be happy? I was on my high horse again, pointing to the heavens, calling down fire from heaven, when I heard in my wife’s kindergarten teacher voice say, “Use your words!” In my imagination it was my wife yelling at me. She’s even right in my imagination. New adults need to learn these secret magic words: “Sorry Dear, how could I have been so wrong!” I don’t have the power to call down fire from… Read more
“… My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” – Matthew 27:46 Daredevils who lost their lives doing insane stunts – YouTube video The test of Jesus’ faith Jesus’ test of faith came as he was completing the mission to which he was called: dying on the cross as the last sacrifice ever needed for forgiveness of sins. In the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing what was about to happen to him, “He went a little beyond them, and fell… Read more
Beyond Postmodernism Implications for new generations, the church, and employers Postmodernism has faded as a philosophy that has impacted religion with ideas like not-knowing, deconstruction, and a skepticism toward absolutes and metanarratives. But what replaces it? Let’s see if Jesus had something to say. Jesus the reformer Religion has always had people whose philosophical view of things are different. Jesus looked at Judaism with a critical eye and implied that what he was seeing was not truth and not… Read more
The sky is falling! Run, run, another technology change will be our doom! We were already virtual Much of our world has always been virtual. Stories around campfires, the Greek Classics, Shakespeare, the Bible, novels, movies – all transport us to the world of other people and often teach us something. It’s a way to experience life through other’s eyes or through an experience that represents a different reality. Technology simply makes these things more possible. Italian Metaverse by ZZ… Read more
Evidence is strong that prayer works This series explored many topics regarding prayer. It explained that there are no restrictions on who can ask God for necessary things, and receive them, even if we feel undeserving, because we’re all deserving in God’s eyes. We do need to expect God will honor our request, but it may not be in the form we think we need or want, or may come later. God rarely intervenes in nature, but there is an… Read more
Science, philosophy, and religion – different evaluations Science demands that studies be replicable 100% (able to be reproduced exactly). Philosophy can also be harsh, and this is closer to the way we think. The philosophers’ spoiler tool of Reductio ad absurdum (reduction to absurdity to find contradiction), is itself absurd when applied to life and prayer. Real life isn’t 100% on anything. Life is messy and holds too many variables besides spiritual variables. Yet how many of us practice this… Read more
The ridiculous contention between science and religion. We believe from compelling evidence that prayer works. There are things we can’t explain by science. But does God exist only where science doesn’t have an answer? When science learns more, does God disappear? Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was martyred by the Nazis, said, “We are to find God in what we know, not in what we don’t know.” What we know is, while things we can’t explain happen, we actually find God… Read more
