Mental Musings

Anyone ever feel pressure? The weight of the world pushing down on you? IN 1982 David Bowie and Freddie Mercury wrote the song Under Pressure. In it they talk about the struggle of people on the streets. “Under pressure that brings a building down, splits a family in two, puts people on the streets.” Pressure. It is a powerful force that has a goal of compressing everything down into the smallest possible state. It is pressure that caused my back problems. Two vertebrae have been compressed due to pressure to the point that there is just bone rubbing against bone and creating all kinds of pain in my back and nerve pain in my legs. How do we handle the pressures of life? What do you do when a major problem arrives? When your world as you know it starts to spin out of control? Paul gives us some advice based on his own time under pressure. 18  Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and...

What is security? For many it is knowing that they will have enough to retire someday. For others it is knowing that they are safe inside their home. Being secure involves one key element: preparedness. You must be prepared. Paul explains in detail how we may provide for our own security in this spiritual battle. We live in a world of increasing immorality. What was once considered rude and inappropriate behavior in public is now encouraged and celebrated. What would have caused a person to die from embarrassment is now the thing that causes them to gain great recognition and achievement.  Our world is a mess. Many Christians have tried to make a difference in the political realm, yet nothing they do seems to make much of an impact on society? Perhaps it is because they are approaching this from the wrong angle. Christian author and theologian C.S. Lewis had some great wisdom that he shared about just this topic: Hope is one of the theological virtues. This means t...

Last week we taught about the foundation of the family. 1  Children, obey your parents as you would the Lord, because this is right.  2  Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise,  3  so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land. 4  Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:1-4, HCSB) The first thing to notice is that we are to obey our parents as we would God. I think this is pretty straight forward. If your mom says to clean your room, you clean your room. If your mom tells you to be home by 10pm, you get home before 10pm. If your mom tells you not to drink alcohol, you don’t drink alcohol. Next we see that we are also to honor our mother and our father. Honor means to speak and act in a manner that brings them honor. Does this mean that we are to show honor even if ha...