Excerpts From: Reclaiming the Lost Life: Overcoming Emptiness and self-defeating lifestyles, by James Dauer (Expected publication date June 1, 2014)
Chapter 3 The Original Romeo and Juliet: Adam Attempts Suicide!
...Emptiness is not a thing or a by-product of the character of God passed along to us when we were made in his image. Emptiness is a God-forsaken space within us where God chooses to limit His presence and offers Himself in such a way that, in the pursuit of God, we experience the establishment of our true self in Christ.
...But more than likely, Adam the newborn anticipated abandonment: How will I handle loneliness if she dies? The thought was too much to bear. Adam believed God on a biological level, that Eve was physically going to die if she ate from the forbidden tree, and therefore, Romeo wanted to die too so he could join her.
...Do people commit suicide when they fear being alone? Absolutely! Adam had no attachment to anyone. He had not internalized his relationship with God and his rock or security was placed in Eve—such a plan had disaster written all over it. Psychologists that specialize on the subject of attachment show a very strong link between the quality of early attachment and depression and suicide, “An analysis of the mental states and psychological dynamics that underlies suicide attempts reinforces the hypothesis that attachment insecurities are involved in these destructive acts…Overall, the findings consistently link attachment insecurities… with suicidal thoughts and acts.”
...Did Adam have enough time to think about what Eve did and then try to take his life? Yes. The creation account is written in a type of fast-forward, where the concept of time is bypassed for the sake of brevity. God makes trees that already have fruit—the writer of Genesis had no interest in detailing and delaying the pace of the story to account for germination and photosynthesis.
... Genesis is not written to scientists, Bible scholars, or theologians—it is a story largely written to help us understand the relationship between people and God, and what happens if we try to meet the godforsaken space inside of us, outside of God.
A common problem plagueing people of faith is that, on the one hand, they have a personal faith in Jesus Christ that is incredibly important and meaningful. On the other, they have addictions: gambling, alcohol, shopping, emotion-eating, cutting, anger issues, and destructive relationships. This book focuses on how to integrate one's faith confession along with one's behavior and lifestyle, and how to find this integration in deep personal communion with God the Almighty.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Reclaiming the Lost Life: overcoming emptiness and self-destructive lifestyles through Christ
I am excited to announce the soon to be published, Reclaiming the Lost Life: overcoming emptiness and self-defeating lifestyles through Christ. by James Dauer
Here are the Table of Contents:
Chapter 1
Half-Breeds: Living in Two Worlds
Chapter 2
The Empty Cup: Birth of the False-Self
Chapter 3
The Original Romeo and Juliet: Adam Attempts Suicide!
Chapter 4
Religious Enema
Chapter 5
Holy Cockalorum: It’s Religious Man!
Chapter 6
Rated M For Mature: Suffering and the Angry Christian
Chapter 7
People and the Relationship Mess: #Ilikewhatyoulike, #Lonelyandwantattention, #DowhatIsay, #Itakeyougive
Chapter 8
The F Word: Taking the Jesus Prayer to Heart
Chapter 9
Making Friends With Emptiness: Dethroning Religious Man
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