We scarcely know all that we have been delivered from, fellow believers. James Masterson lists 10 “capacities” of the self life, in his book,”The Personality Disorders.” Among these we find the capacity for: Spontaneity One for entitlement: to appropriate experiences of mastery and pleasure And the entitlement to environmental support...

Self-Esteem, a much overused designation, finds its roots in cultural thinking. Earnest Becker, in his book, “The Birth and Death of Meaning,” addresses the subject: He says, “…when people do not have self-esteem, they cannot act, they break down.” “When the inner-newsreel begins to run consistently negative images of one’s...

J.B. operated as a spy of the K.G.B. in America during the cold war. A brilliant intellect, J.B. was especially chosen, trained and then sent. In America his skill developed in his ability to merge unsuspected into society; he worked, attended university, married and parented a child. At a time...

“Survival of the fittest” is a mantra of the extremely observant.   But, is empirical evidence the same as truth? On two levels, no. First, it contradicts the Bible, “The kingdom of God comes without observation. (ocular evidence)  Luke 17:20 But secondly, even the best observationist can only find seeming truth....

Jacob was a man with a habit of making his own way. It started with his birth, which he helped to facilitate with his grasp on the ankle of twin brother Esau. He hitched a ride into the light and came out ready to angle for position and privilege. He...

“Hail, Mary!” These words should mean something to us, and not for the reasons that many people attach to them. “Hail, Mary!” This was the greeting extended to a girl in Nazareth, a girl betrothed; she was promised and bound to be wed to the carpenter Joseph. The greeting came...

“And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” 2 Samuel 18:33 A father...

In Paul’s  “Romans”  letter  we delight in a plethora of plenty, an Easter basket of colors, a bounty of beautiful treats, a bundle of love. First,  a plethora of plenty; We have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. by faith we stand in...

Cold, bitter, unforgiving, lost. This is how I would describe the elder brother in Jesus’ story of a father and his two sons.  But I don’t think he stayed that way. We have come to call this the Parable of the Prodigal Son. But there’s a whole family dynamic that...

A friendship features a level of security and many factors determine this. I can list the first 400 of these determiners but lets skip to the real good ones. People who are thankful, truly thankful, have a good chance at longevity. Why? It is because they have a very mature outlook...