The Sound Word

In America today, self esteem is not only touted as perhaps the root to progress in every area of your life, it is a staple doctrine for teachers, counselors, psychologists and 'BFF's' everywhere you go. Wikipedia defines Self-esteem as: "… a term used in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs (for example, "I am competent-incompetent") and emotions (for example, triumph-despair, pride-shame). Behavior may reflect self-esteem (for example, assertiveness-shyness, confidence-caution)." One social commentator wrote, "Self-esteem is a core identity issue, essential to personal validation and our ability to experience joy. Once achieved, it comes from the inside out. But it is assaulted or stunted from the outside in. A woman with low self-esteem does not feel good about herself because she has absorbed negative messages about women from the culture and/or relatio...

Colossians 3:3 "For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Have you ever seen a set of hideous sideburns? I have. I've been a fan of the "king", Elvis, but with the older (and larger) he got, the more ridiculous I thought those sideburns looked. If anyone made them cool it was James Dean, Arthur Fonzarelli, or to today's generation the comic book character "Wolverine". But one thing we know for sure is that the name sake for the term 'sideburns', Civil War General Ambrose Burnsides, made a mockery of the male human face with the fuzzy architecture he carried about with him connecting his mustache with his hairline. Call them what you like, but those things could have been home to six breeding pairs of English Sparrows! Not that it is any consolation, but Burnside's leadership was at times equally as poor as his choice of facial hair in the eyes of most historians. Starting off his military career with victorious cam...