Is Addiction a Disease or Sin PART 2
February 23, 2010
Could it be possible that both the secular and religious worlds’ views of addiction have value? Could it be that alcoholism, for example, does reach the point where it qualifies as a disease but is brought about by sinful choices as the religious world claims? What’s really happening when a behavior reaches the point that it cannot be stopped with maximum effort? If the behavior involved only sinful choices, then choice alone should be enough to stop. However, sadly that is not the case. Read more
Belief and its Consequences
February 19, 2010
One participant told a story he remembered from childhood. He was around four years old at the time and was playing with toys in his room while his parents were arguing downstairs. When his father was not at work, he was usually hanging out with friends, spending little time with the family. The participant’s mother and grandfather raised him when he was a little boy. His mother was very sheltering and his eighty-year old grandfather knew nothing about playing sports. While his parents were arguing, he overheard his dad tell his mother, “you are going to make that boy a sissy.” Read more
Is Addiction a Disease or Sin PART 1
February 16, 2010
The religious and secular worlds seem to have different views of addictive behavior. The religious world sees destructive behavior as sinful being a result of sinful choices. The secular world sees destructive behavior as a disease. To see destructive behavior as sin due to sinful choices places responsibility on the person that engages in the behavior. To see destructive behavior as a form of disease removes responsibility from the person using the behavior. Read more
Surviving is Overrated
February 9, 2010
With the economy in a slump, many people are becoming worried about finances and how they will make ends meet. When a person worries about money, he does not have much motivation or time to think about or do anything else. In the mid 1900s, psychologist Abraham Maslow theorized that if a person could not meet his basic survival needs, it would be nearly impossible for that person to feel secure or become socialized and feelings of esteem or achievement would be limited. Furthermore, Maslow believed these needs had to be developed in a hierarchical order. Read more
Broken Cisterns
February 1, 2010
God used his prophet, Jeremiah, as a means of expressing His problems with the Israelites. Jeremiah 2:13 identifies God’s problem with the Israelites. His people had left Him, the living water, and gone after broken cisterns which could hold no water. A cistern is a man-made container, usually hewn out of stone. Cisterns were often used to hold water. Today, many people within the church still struggle with this problem. Read more
