Your Soul Series

• THE VULCAN STATUE IS THE LARGEST CAST IRON STATUE IN THE WORLD, HE IS THE SYMBOL OF THE CITY BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA,

• ONCE KNOWN AS "STEEL CITY", VULCAN PAYS TRIBUTE TO BIRMINGHAM'S ROOTS IN THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY.

• DESIGNED BY ITALIAN SCULPTOR GIUSEPPE MORETTI, IT'S MADE OF 29 CAST-IRON SECTIONS FASTENED TOGETHER FROM THE INSIDE.

• THE HEAVIEST SECTION IS HIS HEAD. IT WEIGHS OVER 5 TONS.

• IRON WORKERS DESIGNED THE CONNECTIONS FOR THE STATUE, WHICH HAS NO INTERNAL FRAMEWORK AND CAN STAND ON ITS OWN.

• THE COMPLETED WEIGHT OF THE FIGURE IS 50 TONS.

• WHEN YOU FACTOR THE ANVIL, BLOCK, HAMMER, AND SPEAR POINT, THE WHOLE THING WEIGHS A TOTAL OF 60 TONS.

• HE STANDS ATOP RED MOUNTAIN ON A PEDESTAL 123-FEET HIGH.

• HIS CHEST MEASURES 22 FEET 6 INCHES. HIS WAIST 18 FEET 3 INCHES.

• IN THE 1990'S I HAD A CHANCE TO SEE THE VULCAN STATUE WITH MY SON WHILE WE VISITED MY PARENTS IN BIRMINGHAM.

• I HAD RECENTLY BECOME A CHRISTIAN.

• LOOKING UP AT THE STATUE I REMARKED TO MY SON, "THAT SURE IS A BIG STATUE."

• KURT LOOKED AT THE STATUE, UNIMPRESSED, THEN AT ME AND SAID, "THAT'S AN IDOL DAD."

• THE DIMENSIONS OF THE VULCAN STATUE CAN BE FOUND ONLINE ALONG WITH THE STORY OF HIS CONSTRUCTION.

• EVERYTHING YOU'D WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THIS NATIONAL TREASURE.

• AND IT YOU'RE EVER IN BIRMINGHAM, I'M SURE HE WOULDN'T MIND IF YOU STOPPED BY.

• I'M JUST KIDDING BECAUSE IN REALITY, HE WOULDN'T KNOW.

• FOR ALL HIS HISTORY, HIS HERITAGE AND GREAT SIZE, VULCAN IS JUST A STATUE.

• HE HAS A BODY BUT NO LIFE, NO MIND, SOUL OR SPIRIT.

• THIS IS MAN 1.0.

• CREATED BY GOD THE FATHER IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN.

• EACH MAN HAS 206 BONES MAKING UP A FRAME CALLED A SKELETON.

• HE CAN WEIGH ANYWHERE FROM 2 POUNDS AT BIRTH TO 1,000 POUNDS OR MORE WHEN FULL GROWN.

• MAN HAS ORGANS THAT PROVIDE FOR HIS NOURISHMENT AND MAINTENANCE.

• HE IS POWERED BY THE HEART.

• A FIST SIZED PUMP THAT FORCES BLOOD THROUGH THE 60,000 MILES OF ARTERIES, CAPILLARIES AND VEINS IN HIS BODY.

• MAN HAS A SELF CONTAINED ELECTRICAL SYSTEM CALLED THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.

• THIS SYSTEM IS DRIVEN BY HIS BRAIN.

• A GELATINOUS MASS PRODUCING ELECTRIC IMPULSES THAT GIVE MAN ANIMATION AND THE ABILITY TO THINK AND REASON.

• THE AVERAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY OF THIS VERSATILE BODY IS A LITTLE MORE THAN 70 YEARS.

• AND MAN HAS ONE MORE THING DEEP INSIDE.

• AN IMPERCEPTIBLE, INVISIBLE SOMETHING THAT GIVES HIM SUPREMACY OVER ALL OTHER LIFE ON THIS PLANET.

• LOCKED INSIDE, HELD WITHIN THE BONDS OF HIS CONSCIOUSNESS IS THE THING THAT MAKES MAN "ALIVE".

• THIS MORNING WE BEGIN A THREE PART SERIES ON "THE DIMENSIONS OF YOU".

• THIS MORNING - YOUR SOUL.

• BUT, BEFORE WE START THAT PART OF THE LESSON, LETS PRAY.

• DO AN INTERNET SEARCH OF THE SOUL AND YOU’LL FIND MANY DEFINITIONS.

• ONE SOURCE DEFINES THE SOUL AS A CURRENCY TO TRADE WITH THE DEVIL.

• ANOTHER SAYS THE SOUL IS THE INTANGIBLE IMPRINT OF YOUR BODY IN THE MATERIAL WORLD.

• I EVEN FOUND ONE SITE THAT SAYS “SOUL” IS THE GODSON OF JAMES BROWN AND ARETHA FRANKLIN.

• IN THE BIBLE THE SOUL IS GIVEN TO MAN BY GOD.

GENESIS 2:7 - AND THE LORD GOD FORMED MAN OF THE DUST OF

THE GROUND, AND BREATHED INTO HIS NOSTRILS THE BREATH

OF LIFE; AND MAN BECAME A LIVING SOUL.

• IT IS DEFINED AS THE IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF MAN.

MATTHEW 10:28 - DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THOSE WHO KILL THE

BODY BUT CANNOT KILL THE SOUL. RATHER, BE AFRAID OF THE

ONE WHO CAN DESTROY BOTH SOUL AND BODY IN HELL.

• THE SOUL IS THE SEAT OF MAN’S INTELLECT BY WHICH WE HAVE DESIRE, FEELING, UNDERSTANDING AND REFLECTION.

LUKE 1:46 – MARY SAID, “MY SOUL REJOICES IN THE LORD.”

• THE SOUL OF MAN IS ALSO VERY COMPLEX.

• JUST AS A SOUL CAN REJOICE, A SOUL CAN BE TROUBLED.

JOHN 12:27 – JESUS SAID, "NOW MY SOUL IS TROUBLED, AND

WHAT SHALL I SAY? 'FATHER, SAVE ME FROM THIS HOUR'? NO, IT

WAS FOR THIS VERY REASON I CAME TO THIS HOUR.

• A SOUL CAN BECOME DAMAGED.

JOB 10:1 - “I LOATHE MY VERY LIFE; THEREFORE I WILL GIVE

FREE REIN TO MY COMPLAINT AND SPEAK OUT IN THE

BITTERNESS OF MY SOUL.

• A PERSON CAN DESTROY HIS OR HER OWN SOUL.

PROVERBS 6:32 - THE ONE WHO COMMITS ADULTERY WITH A

WOMAN IS LACKING SENSE; HE DESTROYS HIS OWN SOUL.

• BUT ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT A SOUL IS THAT IT CAN BE RESTORED…BY GOD.