Life has a way of feeling like a “Tug-Of-War” and, so often, we never seem to reconcile why. Without getting too complicated, let’s unravel the elements that make up the individual and why we tend to be pulled in more than one direction. Put your seatbelt on and hang in there with me and be prepared to have your brain stretched just a little bit…it will be worthwhile in the end!

I have desired to investigate the concept of the “Soul” and how the health or sickness of the soul affects our everyday life, so in this article I wanted to address the seeming tug-of-war between our soul and spirit. From my studies over the years, the soul and spirit are inseparably linked, although one may be the proximate leader.

As we have discussed previously, our spirit is given to us by God when we come into existence and our soul is a combination of our mind, will and emotions. To make matters more complicated, we have a personality that is part of our soul, which is also given at birth, that is both a composition of what God gives us and what our genetic heritage gives us. Still with me?

WORD OF THE ONE WHO 

HOLDS THE KEYS TO THIS BROKEN LAND

The background of this word came from the Lord as I was flying from North Carolina to New York, to minister at Saratoga Abundant Life Church, in Saratoga Springs, New York. the day was April 5, 2018.

I intended to put music on in the plane and go to sleep. After not seeping much for a number of days I knew I really need the rest. I felt directed by the Hoy spirit to put the sound track to the movie “The Last Samurai” on and settle in to go to sleep when just after the first song ended the Holy Spirit told me to take out my iPhone and start writing. I attempted to disagree with the Lord’s instruction, claiming my keyboard on my iPhone had small keys and I had fat fingers, but the Lord was not changing his mind or my instructions.

Helping men discover a meaningful relationship with God has always been a passion of mine, ever since finding Christ myself in 1969. So many of us men have grown up without good role models, let alone our fathers teaching us what it is to be a man. There are a lot of boys walking around in men’s bodies today.

I came across a book the other day, which I found very helpful in explaining why men are so confused and twisted inside, but also how to get straightened out in our thinking to finally find the life we were meant to live with God and others. The book is called “Fathered By God” by John Eldredge.

I have not always been a fan of John Eldridge, for a number of reasons, however this book I found exceptionally good. Maybe it’s where I am today in my walk with God, or maybe it’s just that this book is very good, either way its a great read especially the first part of the book. To be honest, the first few chapters ripped by heart open to some old wounds from my youth. Thank God for good writers and the Holy Spirit speaking.

Ever wonder why your Christian walk seems to be erratic? Why you just can’t seem to have a stable Christian walk with God and people?

This is a complex question, but one worth investigating. Just because the question is hard doesn’t mean we should avoid it. The soul itself is often a mysterious topic, and most writers in the last 50-75 years don’t refer to the soul much at all if ever. If you go back 100 years or more there was a lot of discussion about the soul and it’s importance. Writers in the past spent their whole life trying to understand the soul and it’s function.

Today, if a writer or commentary refers to the soul they say it’s not important, only a person spirit is what’s important because they say our soul will be lost when we die and only our spirit survives. First, this is totally false as the soul and the spirit are often the same word in Hebrew as well as greek being “breath” or air. Now I am no scholar, but there is a enough passages of scripture to see that the soul and the spirit often are inseparably link to each person. Secondly, they assume the soul fades when a person dies. King David wrote about the soul a lot.

When Dr. King made this famous quote, it became a pillar in the civil rights movement and a statement that resonated with the American people.
People don’t want to be judged by others for things they can’t change, but for things they develop in their lives. Dr. King was attempting to reason with the American people that judging a person by their skin color or nationality was wrong. People should be evaluated by their character, which is the sum total of their choices.
The dictionary definition of character is also more than a person’s reputation. It is, “the complex of mental and ethical traits making up the person.” A secondary definition is, “the stable and distinctive qualities built into an individual’s ire which determines his or her response regardless of circumstances.”
Here’s the deal: Our country as a whole no longer looks at character to determine a person’s value, rather their words create our perspective of who someone is.

I think for some Christians, the idea of Good Friday seems a bit strange when it’s all about Jesus dying on the cross and such a terrible death. How could people possibly think that someone dying in such a way was good? Christians should.

As a young man without Christ, I use to think it odd that Christians “Celebrated” the death of Jesus. It wasn’t until I understood that Christ dying was to set people free from sin and shame, that I finally appreciated the day. It is something I need to remind myself of regularly, lest I take his love and sacrifice for granted, and I slip back into a destructive lifestyle.

For the past year since the election, our country has been in an all out fight over each side of congress blaming the other side of breaking the law and conducting their job unfairly. Now this is nothing new, but it has heated up more than normal. This is the first time where an elected president is being attempted to being impeached by Democrats even before he was elected.

Somehow, we have gotten so messed up on the definition of what is “Just & Fair” that we think it means, “It’s just and fair if it goes my way”.

It seems to appear that after one year of investigating President Trump for collusion that the evidence is pointing to Hilary and the Democratic Party sneaking around and using the government agencies to attack and undermine our democracy and not President Trump. They appear to have broken the laws of our country and they don’t like being held accountable.

Have you ever considered how trusting we are at times?

Take Flying for instance. If you get on a Airbus 340-500 or bigger plane, you probably never met the pilot, yet you have faith he can operate the plane safely and get you to your destination in one piece. How do you know he has enough experience flying a piece of metal that weighs 805,000 pounds? The plane can carry 372 passengers and fly over 4,000 miles on one tank of fuel. It can fly at 567 miles an hour and is 223 feet long. Wow! We seem to just accept by “Faith” that the pilot can handle it. But why do we have such faith?