We are in the fouth week of a series of messages that is grouped under the title "Losing my religion and finding something better. Its a look a the seven deadly sins as comprised by the catholic church and amplified by the scriptures. A phrase that has been repeated (intentionally or unintentionally) through out the messages is "A hole in the Soul" That is the human condition that we find ourselves in. A hole that many of us fill with everything but the one true reality. That being Jesus Christ and His fullness.

In a recent trip throught the maze we call the internet, I came across an article written by Greg Laurie, a pastor from Sothern California. I was drawn to the man famous people that was talking about this hole . . .Listen to what they said.

Actor Nicolas Cage echoed those ideas: "I wonder if there's a hole in the soul of my generation. We've inherited the American dream, but where do we take it? It's not just about cars and wealth. It has to do with freedom. We'll fight for freedom, but are we free in our thoughts, or are we paralyzed by our dreams of consumption?"

Aristotle Onassis "Happiness is not based on money, and the greatest proof of that is my family." Shortly after making that statement, Christina Onassis died of heart failure reportedly as a result of years of abusing tranquilizers and diet pills.

Madonna was asked the question "Are you a happy person?" She replied, "I'm a tormented person. I have a lot of demons I'm wrestling with. But I want to be happy. I have moments of happiness. I'm working toward knowing myself, and I'm assuming that will bring me happiness."
Jonathan David, of the rock band KORN, was on MTV holding and kissing a bottle of PROZAC and was quoted as saying, "This is my best friend. I don't know true happiness. I'm not a happy person. I play like it. I act like it a lot. But inside, actually I'm really not that happy."

Ted Turner described life as being "like a B-grade movie. You don't want to leave in the middle, but you don't want to see it again." That's a sad commentary on life from one of the world's most successful men.

"A Hole in My Life," a song by the Police, might be the anthem of our times. A one-time leading Hollywood actress told USA Today: "It sounds so trendy, California . . . but I believe a lot of us feel a kind of hole in our heart, an unfocused ache that's fixed by some people eating too much, . . . others with freebase. In my case, I'm a romantic junkie."

Emptiness and loneliness are not unique to this generation. Nor were they unique to my generation . . . or the generation before . . . or the generation before that. Nor will they be unique to the next generation and the one following. Every generation has complained of feeling empty because every person is born with an essential emptiness inside, a deep longing for spiritual meaning, an inner vacuum that can only be filled by one thing.

Jesus Christ . . .the real filler of the emptiness ins side.