Tag Archives: spirit
Scientists refer to the immaterial human characteristics of consciousness, intentionality, and human agency as emergent properties. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states that emergent entities (properties or substances) ‘arise’ out of more fundamental entities and yet are ‘novel’ or ‘irreducible’ with respect to them. (For example, it is sometimes said that consciousness is an emergent property of the brain.) In…..
We are all aware that plants and animals occupy distinct ecological niches. We know that various climates favor certain types of flora and fauna. We even travel the globe to encounter species that are not native to the areas in which we live. But what ecological niche do humans occupy? Interestingly, humans can be found inhabiting the arctic, the jungle,…..
The vast majority of humans believe in a god or spirit of some kind or other so the problem today isn’t god’s existence but rather his/her/its identity. Sadly, we have become spiritually lazy and instead of doing the hard work of discovering who this god is we create one to our own liking. We take our divine preferences to the…..
One of my favorite movies is The Secret Life of Walter Mitty starring Ben Stiller and Sean Penn. Stiller plays the main character Walter Mitty who is on a mission to find the photojournalist Sean O’Connell played by Penn. In one particular scene, Walter and Sean are sitting together on a hillside as Sean waits to get a picture of…..
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I…..
Studies consistently show that 90 percent of all people believe in a god of some sort or another. Spirituality, therefore, is not a demographic outlier but rather the statistically significant air we breathe. It is not a hobby for the scientifically illiterate but one of the basic elements in the periodic table of human experience. The real question before us…..
In 1982, Marvin Gaye released the single, Sexual Healing; it went to number one and remained there for 10 weeks. The song basically promoted sex as a form of therapy for anxiety and depression.
Baby, I got sick this mornin’ A sea was stormin’ inside of me Baby, I think I’m capsizin’ The waves are risin’ and risin’
And when I get that feeling I want sexual healing Sexual healing is good for me Makes me feel so…..
I have grown weary of the debates between atheists and Christians because the question for the vast majority of people is not, “Does God exist?” but rather, “Who is the God we should worship?” I see lecture halls packed with believers and unbelievers alike all awaiting a scholarly Fourth of July Fireworks show. Audiences captivated by the pyrotechnic display…..
The once proud mainline denominations that nourished the faith of our youth are exiting the cultural stage like extras in someone else’s worldview drama. Sensing declining attendance they have tried to regain their standing by trying to become more culturally relevant, but in the process have become spiritually irrelevant. Instead of marketing their salvation specialty, they began offering 31 flavors…..
Frequently, the discovery of our spiritual nature is so exciting that we neglect the importance of filling the God void properly. We fail to recognize that the spiritual hole in our lives is a Judeo-Christian God shaped hole that can only be adequately filled by Him. Most people, however, spend most of their lives trying to pound square shaped gods into the circular God shaped hole at the center of their soul. Frustrated by their inability to fit in the God…..
