The Greatest Con on Earth :: Part 2 :: It’s All Hocus Pocus | Ryan Howell :: September 25, 2022

What’s the Issue Anyway?Have you ever felt the discomfort of DISCONTENTMENT?We believe that something out THERE can make me whole in HERE.This longing for wholeness or completeness is the experience of LACK.The thing we think will deliver us from lack becomes a type of SACRED OBJECT.Something often stands in the way of the sacred object: PROHIBITION.How can I be FREE from the excessive drive for the sacred object to enjoy a life not weighed down by the negative power of lack: A Life Hidden in Christ.What Wisdom do Paul, Christ Crucified and Christ Resurrected offer us?Paul removed all PROHIBITIONS. (1 Corinthians 10:23)Paul knew that LACK was built into existence. (Philippians 4:10-14)Christ Crucified is the TRAUMA of the loss of the sacred object. (Mark 15:34) Christ Crucified is the DEATH of the Sacred Object. (Mark 15:38)Don’t Miss This:Creating and maintaining MARGIN is only possible when we go through the loss and death of the sacred object.The Good News is that Death is NEVER the end. The Christ Resurrected is the PRESTIGE.How does this make me a better person and the world a better place?By embracing the radical meaning of the Crucified Christ, the true enemies of margin (prohibitions and the desires they fuel) lose their power, freeing us to to LIVE BY FAITH.Thought-provoking questions:Think of a time when you felt a deep sense of contentment. Can you describe the circumstances surrounding that moment?What do you think the Gospel writers are trying to teach us with Jesus crying out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”Have you ever felt forsaken by God? What were the circumstances surrounding that moment in your life?How could freedom from the obsessive desire for an object that we only think can bring wholeness allow you to create margin in your life?