UNDERSTAND THE TRUE NATURE OF SELF-ESTEEM Brett uses the timeless art of teaching spiritual truths through parables. In the style of C.S. Lewis, the parables humbly invite you to encounter spiritual truths about our time. They show you how grace God-esteem and self-esteem are in conflict. As you read, you will discover the true nature of self-esteem and your definition of success will change from a focus on ones self to a kingdom-of-God worldview. DISCOVER HOW GRACE AND SELF-ESTEEM ARE IN CONFLICT You will see how striving to be a hero will make you into villain, why hunting treasure will cause you to lose true riches, and why dressing up as eye candy will make you into a sexy devil This book explains why violence and abuse is on the increase, why depression has skyrocketed into an epidemic, and what causes our global suffering. Grace v Self-Esteem is made up of three sections with fourteen chapters: Section one: Self-esteem or God-esteem Chapter One: The Parable of Lucinda. Lucinda seduces a town with self-love and brand idolatry, leading them to trade their relationships for success and self-esteem. The parable shows our obsession with personal freedom that started in the 1950s as the new concept of self-esteem infiltrated the schools. This then produced a culture of self worship. Chapter 2:The parable of the two portraits The parable of the two portraits teaches us that our obsession with self-love will make us physically beautiful but spiritually ugly. I then critique the parables ugly side of self-love; It shows how self-worship started in the classroom post 1950S, and how it has caused abuse and violence. Chapter Three: The Parable of the Fishing Lures In the surreal world of the lake, fish characters chase fishing lures, battling fame, sophistication, sexual attraction, and anger. Application: Violence has increased shockingly since the self-esteem movement began in the 1950s. Statistics included. Chapter Four: The Parable of Dating the Gods Parable: A girl in search of love dates the gods of Greed, Vanity, Envy, Lust, Partying, Self-indulgence, Sloth, and Anger. She becomes disillusioned with her search until the God of Jesus Christ offers her true love. Application: With three stories of grace, we learn how God esteems us. Chapter Five: Self-esteem: A Counterfeit of Grace A collection of stories showing that self-esteem is a counterfeit of grace. Section two: Self-confidence or God confidence Chapter Six: The Parable of the Three Horses Parable: Three horses search for freedom; One horse, Star, finds his confidence in his esteemed position in the herd. The horse, Bell, finds her confidence in avoiding non-praiseworthy opinions of the herd. The final horse, Petra, finds his confidence in the Horse Whisperer, who represents God. Application: There are three types of confidence. Chapter Seven: The Parable of the Greatest Animal in the Kingdom of God The Lion, Horse, Eagle, Dog, Lamb and Donkey line up to enter heaven, but who should be first? The animals boasting mirrors human concern for status, power, beauty, and social networks as well as our negative view of service and sacrifice. The animals discover what God values most. Application: The Bible gives evidence of Jesus attitude toward praise hunting and the Pharisees. Chapter Eight: The Parable of the Photo Album Two women experience after-life judgment. Goldie, a rich, self-assured lady, relies on photographs of her good works in order to obtain entrance to heaven. Candy, a poor woman without a photo album, despairs until she understands that she doesnt need anything but grace. Application: In the Bible, Jesus teaches that everything is about the grace of God. Part Three: Self-made or God-made Chapter Nine: The Parable of the Heroes At a little boys birthday party, the children dress up as their favorite superheroes: Superman, Spiderman, and Batman. Tempers flare when one child dresses as Jesus and carries a cross. Application: Seeking praise in the hero image causes toxic and hazardous relationship patterns. Chapter Ten: The Parable of the Free-Love Shop A mother and daughter shop for clothes in the Free Love Shop. The girl tries on a wide selection of outfits: the Party Outfit, the Flirt and Tease, the Strip Tease and the Porn Star. She discovers the cost of free love. Application: Hunting for praise has distorted our sexuality and warped our attitudes. Chapter Eleven: The Parable of Dar-win-opoly A girl joins the game of Dar-win-opoly and learns cutthroat dealings designed to win. Fixing their eyes on the prize money and willing do anything to win, the children justify their behavior. Application: Our hunger and hunt for praise is at the heart of unjust trade. Mammon wages war on the poor and our planet. Chapter Twelve: The Parable of the Beekeeper and his Son A father teaches his son the business of bee keeping. It shows how the leech, the ant, and the blowfly are like some people. The bee is the believer, collecting and making honey for the beehives. The purpose to life is to collect as much honey love for the kingdom as possible. Application: God's Spirit makes us gracious, humble, thankful, worship-ready, truthful, merciful, compassionate, and generous. Chapter Thirteen: The Parable of Paradise Cove Big John creates a lavish resort and buys a small, old train to transport his clients to Paradise. His cunning employee, Charlie, plans to swindle paradise. So he buys both the fanciest modern train he can find and the local garbage dump. He creates theme cars: Vanity Fair, La-Covet, Plenty-A-Fair, etc. Charlie sells the journey to paradise, but its one big swindle. Application: God is in charge of the game and has a purpose for the small, humble train that travels to paradise. The Bibles teaches that hell is a garbage dump. Chapter Fourteen: The Parable of the Archer and his Arrows The Archer shapes arrows for war. The arrows are God-made people. The Archer, who represents Jesus, projects his arrows at the towns oppressor,
