When you set out to make spiritual progress, you're entering the judo arena. Your new-forming spiritual self will combat your habitual "natural" self. How to win?
We need to marry a desire for good to a true understanding of how to be good. The search for this union is the basis of spiritual rebirth.
If our culture is broken, what should we do?
From around 100,000 years ago, there are convincing signs of human spirituality.
Could you please explain how to understand the following statement? “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do His commandments.” (Psalm 111:10)
He is risen. Now the disciples truly know. For them Jesus is no longer a religious teacher or a worldly Messiah; He is their Lord.
What does the New Church teach about Easter? It's a short question, but it involves a big network of connected ideas. It can't be answered right in a sound bite, so bear with me…
When Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the temple in Jerusalem tore in half, from top to bottom. It was a spiritual watershed.
It's Easter morning. Mary, John, and Peter are feeling lost and confused. The tomb is empty. Their beloved teacher was killed, and now His body is gone. They don't yet know what's really going on.
Some of the old ways of thinking about this are... wrong!
Our spiritual life changes gradually. Not all at once. Are we heading in the right direction? How can we be spiritually reborn? It's a process. (See 2 Peter 1:5, and many other places in the Word.)
In this story, Jesus quizzes Peter - in the curious - 'Feed my Lambs' conversation. Then He tells 7 disciples a short parable, and squelches a flash of competitiveness.
After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to two of his disciples while they were walking to the village of Emmaus. They didn't recognize him at first.
Jesus was crucified. The hopes of many seemed to be ending in ugly, bitter tragedy. Darkness covered the land. The veil of the temple was ripped in two.
After Jesus's resurrection, 7 disciples have gone back to Galilee. They're fishing - all night - and have caught nothing. Jesus appears, and tells them to fish on the right side of the boat. So, they do...
We have the freedom, and the power, to control the door.
This is one of the Bible’s best-loved stories, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s easy for us to visualize the disciples struggling to get their small ship across the stormy Sea of Galilee, and their astonishment when Jesus comes to them, strolling atop the waves as if the water was a Roman road.
The world seems to say that religion hasn’t cured us of anything, so it’s a dead weight that the human race can dispense with. But... this is backwards.
How do we decide what rules to live by? We're here, in the 21st century, with brains that give us capabilities far beyond those of other animals, and tools and knowhow far beyond our ancestors of even just 200 years ago. There are between 7 and 8 billion of us. We have many choices available to us. So... how should we live?
In John 10:10, Jesus states one of the reasons for His advent: "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
Life is full of "slippery slope" problems. Human beings have to learn to deal with them, AND... human beings are designed, evolved, and equipped to do exactly that.
Does it help to seek the Lord together? Or is it something we should do alone?
Persecutions may come. Doubts will arise. You will be tempted to abandon your highest goals and spiritual aspirations. How will you stay connected to God?
The opening phrases of the Sermon on the Mount hold some of the Bible’s most beautiful and best-loved poetry. It's inspiring, and yet not clear... what does it mean for us?
Everyone believes something. Know any atheists? They may not believe in God, but they DO believe in some things.
Dati:
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