A person can fear, but another kind of person fears fear. A person can be anxious, but another kind of person is anxious about being anxious. A third kind of person is compulsive, but you guessed it, they fear what they themselves may do in a compulsive moment. All of the above have a deeper issue than the mere fearful, anxious, even compulsive individual. They have a complex, and that complex sticks them in quicksand. No measure of therapy seems to bring any relief. The alcoholic complicates his or her situation with the fear of being caught, and then a phobia of never being able to stop. The religious person may disdain the repercussions of missing church service and adds guilt upon their guilt; the devoted employee sweats about his new duties, and fears to fail. Many steps are never taken, nor adventures embarked on because of complex fear…
Healing at the Cross Posts
Christmas is a time for goodies, cookies, candies, pies and cakes. Have you ever eaten humble pie? This happens when, at a moment of self-pampering, we painfully become cognizant of our animal-like-behavior. We were moving along entertained, painting the town with our free wheeling, till —oh my goodness! Suddenly, we are stunningly shamed! Humble pie exposes one’s pride. These two, pride and humility, taunt each other; they ebb and flow, tide high and low in soul’s ocean. They exist the in and out, introvert and extrovert, subjective and objective, above and below. One serves while the other reigns a god; one thrives self-consciously, the other one not so much. Pride thinks of itself more highly than it ought, or, more lowly than obliged. Humility considers never so much of it self. God giveth grace to the humble, but he resists the proud. Satan giveth favor to the proud, but resists…
Love – that capacity which enables him to grasp the other human being in his very uniqueness Conscience – that capacity which empowers him to grasp the meaning of a situation in its very uniqueness. Both are intuitive capacities. The uniqueness envisaged by love refers to the unique possibilities the loved person may have – – – the uniqueness envisaged by conscience refers to a unique necessity, to a unique need one may have to meet. Vicktor Frankl Frankl has discovered something very interesting about love. He calls it a capacity or an ability to absorb, finding its fulfillment by tenderly embracing another human being in their very one-of-a-kindness. Frankl goes on to say that this one-of-a-kindness, envisioned by love, refers to the special potentials the loved person may have. We could say then that love always “identifies” with another. Frankel also mentions the conscience. It, too, owns capacity…
I knew a man in Christ, a father, a friend, a counselor, mentor and inspiration. I knew a man in Christ, he taught me how to think, how to live, how to die. He taught me the Bible, removing all gray areas; preciseness was his forte, accuracy his norm. He taught dogmatically, leaving no room for doubt; exposing the foolishness of inferior systems. Yes, I knew this man in Christ. When my pastor spoke, there was an anointing, clear, distinct, heavenly, penetrating. Sometimes came tears, sometimes a display of authority. Often the message pin-pointed the exact issue of my current experience. I sensed the ministry tuned into me, to me personally — adjusting my thinking, feeling, and conscience. I was a part of it, my listening perpetuated it, my heart embraced it, my soul bathed in it. Many times, I wept. I sensed something very deep happening — A healing, deliverance,…
He that dwells in the secret place of the most high God, shall abide, under the shadow of the Almighty. And I Will Say of the Lord, he is my refuge, my fortress, my God, in him will I trust. Surely he will deliver me from the snare of the Fowler…” “I will abide in his tabernacle forever.” “Abide in Me, and I in you, and you shall bring forth much fruit, for without Me ye can do nothing. If you abide in Me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it will be done unto you. If you continue in My word, then you are a learner indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” The above are verses from the Bible that we may know well, and maybe have memorized. But what makes up the thing…
We ought not to underestimate the psychological effect of the statistical world picture; it displaces the individual in favor of anonymous units that power up into mass formations. Anonymous …..cosmic loneliness tends to lead to one of four kinds of depression depending upon a person’s temperament. So what do these people do? They join the herd, and they forget. They begin to take drugs, alcohol, and become involved in immorality. When people join the herd to escape their problems, immediately they lose their identity and any possibility for proper potential development. Carl Stevens Humanism talks much of man with a capital “M” but hardly anything of the individual man. It has produced humanism out of the Enlightenment that has ended in ugliness. Francis Schaeffer. Apathy and lack of feeling are also defenses against anxiety. When a person continually faces dangers he is powerless to overcome, his final line of…
The mind is the most active part of the soul. It used to be like a wild horse, but now it is being restrained by the will. And the will is in cooperation with the spirit. The way to a spirit controlled soul comes about as follows: At the moment when the mind begins to think of questionable things and to wander, the first step of control is to discern, that is, to see the condition of the mind in the light of God. The second step is to drive out or cast aside such unhealthy thoughts. And the third step is to return to quietness in God’s presence. Watchman Nee If any man think that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought. A teachable and quiet spirit is of much value in the sight of God. Indeed, the meek will he teach, the humble will hear…
“,,, one of the functions of oxytocin is to separate the experience and the excitement from the intensity of the shame.” According to neuropsychologist Dr. Jes Montgomery, “,,, the function of oxytocin is to tell the brain, ‘Wait a minute. You don’t want to remember that. You want to hold on to this excitement and this amazing magic that you just experienced.’” The Advancements in modern science related to the brain are remarkable, to say the least. Oxytocin is a substance released in women, which creates a bonding effect. Men have a similar release and both men and women gain this release during sexual intercourse. The chemical releases (including dopamine) enable the two to move beyond any pain, fear or guilt inhibiting, into ecstasy. Memories of the past and even negative experiences are all forgotten in the state of euphoria created. The whole experience is designed by God to…
There is a song sung by Francisco Ortega called “Now that you’re Gone.” It’s a song about a brother lost, and of a mourning sibling; the world spins without meaning, now that he is gone. Spins without meaning, has this happened to you? It is amazing, how one’s worldview, one’s value system, forsake their meaning–providing function and betray our trust. It’s as if a mean trick has manipulated us, or has been fooling us all along. It wounds us, it strikes down our high place of safety and repose. It sabotages in a moment what has been built over many years perhaps. We spin, and spin. An essential element, a vital piece of the puzzle, an every day visitor suddenly is missing, and we have no answers. We turn to God. But shockingly we find this event has no prior reference in our conceptualized view of God. Our phony world…
Boiler engineering challenged the faculties; spirit soul and body. We had to stay sharp, sober, and watchful; at the same time, we tried to dodge anger, resentment and bitterness. As the last five years plodded onward, steam plant reeked negligence. Budgetary frugality inhibited any real maintenance, and with this stance came the digression. No longer were all six boilers ever in operation, no longer was the coal of adequate BTU’s. Warning whistles and flashing lights functioned accurately less and less, as the steam output meter registered just above warning. Folks know what a rake is because of their yard or garden. Our rakes, 40 pounds of tempered steel, measured eight feet from hand to claw. With these we made coal burn and effected tubes full of treated water to sometimes find evaporation; sometimes even steam. Thermostats that regulated water level in the tube–fed drums were often gummed up or broken.…