Ever feel that bittersweet pang of remembrance when you return to a place from your past? Ever catch a whiff of a long-forgotten scent -- and find yourself transported back in time? Psychologists have a name for the way our physical senses attach us to memories and feelings: grounding. Grounding is powerful. The reason that subjects of sensory deprivation tank experiments start feeling crazy is they can't tell where they are or what is happening. They have no reference point. They are not grounded. So I'm sitting in dappled sunlight on the deck of my in-laws' home on the Continue Reading
Why I Refuse to be Embarrassed About Speaking the Truth
You’ve heard the over-arching social rule of the day ad nauseum: Don’t judge. Here’s the irony – today’s religious “tolerance” paves the way for judgmentalism of the worst kind. That’s because we have judged the truth itself -- and found it wanting. In doing so, we have judged Jesus and found him wanting. Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but through me.” – John 14:6 He said, “Before Abraham was, I Am,” thus claiming equality to God and infuriating the religious leaders of his day. Jesus Continue Reading
How This Cultural Influence can Destroy your Heart of Worship
Is a fish aware of the water it breathes, moves and lives in? Are we aware of the cultural attitudes we are saturated with daily, and how they affect us? Perhaps no more so than the fish. Most of us don't go through our day analyzing what is behind the messages we receive through the media and society in general. We're too immersed in the soup to make sense of it. The fact that we don't notice them doesn't make cultural influences any less real -- or less dangerous. One of the most insidious attitudes of our day is a mindset that is the very opposite of faith. Continue Reading
How Your Secrets Can Make You Unsafe
Are you a hoarder? I'm not talking about rooms stacked to the ceiling with ancient newspapers. I'm wondering ... do you hoard and hide the burdens of your soul? Here's a simple test to discover whether you trust others: Do you wait until you are utterly desperate before you talk about a problem? When you do talk, is it to only one person? Do you swear that person to secrecy? If so, you might be a burden-hoarder. Hoarding means to collect and amass items you can't bear to part with. The motive is fear. Hoarding is a sickness. It Continue Reading