Dreams Unlocked

We live with this constant battle between doing the right thing and doing the wrong thing. Christian theology calls the wrong thing, sin. This evil, this brokeness, this sin nestles deep inside of each of us, threatening to lash out and destroy all that is precious to us. Sin accumulates at a compound rate, often drawing others into its orbit. We use rational arguments and legal prohibitions to place restraints around sin. It is a paradox of human history that rapid technological and cultural advances can take place in tandem with advances in human depravity. Shadows follow the light. We often fight evil through physical, structural, political and legal means. But it's not enough. There is no law strong enough to penetrate into the human heart. Liberation from sin and evil is achieved when Jesus Christ enters into your life and expels the darkness within. Once this initial liberation takes place, the Holy Spirit of God begins to alter, reform and renew the resource...

Jesus Christ said the two most important things that human beings can do is love God and love on another. Nothing else comes close to these two commands. In fact, if we fulfill these two commands, we fulfill every command. The clue to loving one another is found in something that the apostle Paul wrote to a group of Christians. He wrote: "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." The love of one another comes into its full manifestation when we see another human being burdened by something, and we come along and carry that burden for them. We take the pain off of them and place it on ourselves. This type of self- sacrifice is the fullest evolution of love. But, it also runs completely counter to our culture that has placed self on the altar. It is only when the self is emptied of selfishness and greed that the love Jesus spoke of becomes manifest in our lives. And that is hard. But it also leads to true joy. J...