How often I face people newly exposed to the faith, or opting out of it, entirely because they are so caught up in legalism, formalities, not being "perfect" enough, and how they stand outside of it, not wanting to delve into building a relationship with God, often in the back of their minds, thinking, it's something they will do later. When this or that is right, when they have become "holy" enough, when they have prepared, when they have a whole myriad of excuses preventing them from jumping right in. I always tell them, he accepts you as you are, in the here and now, flaws in full bloom and all. Regardless of your lifestyle, regardless of what you struggle with, regardless of what you have done, or what has been done to you. We all fall short, we all are just weak flawed creatures, and his love is not conditional.
God is easy, the world is hard, and this is a fact. How often we are told to buy this or that, spend ridicules amounts of time and resources preparing for this or that thing, this or that career, even being told you cannot have a family until you have achieved some worldly goal, or many of them. The fact is, the world, and all it contains, is an idol, it's a false teacher, it's a stumbling block, and it's a deceiver. Only God is the truth, and him alone, if you go about your life thinking you must just help yourself, and God has little part in your life as a provider, you have gotten it backwards. How we are so easily deceived into thinking he's such a distant being, someone only set aside for those special times, during church, or when everything fails, or when you are just in deep prayer, or all of these little moments in your life, but not a constant. I can say, if you believe in him or not, he's still there, 24/7, with you, and it's only a matter of simply acknowledging him, the more you do, the more aware of his presence, the more you realize, you are never alone.
How many people do you know that feel the pang of loneliness? They may have people around them, or not, but they still feel alone, they are on their journey in life, never interacting, never reaching the point of having someone know them, know them in full, and only he can, and if you let him, he can make others around you know you in ways you could never imagine, yet it takes time to escape the island mentality. We are told to be all self sufficient, to be totally independent, to rely upon self, and trust nobody. This is the world telling you this, the world wants you to remain estranged to our Lord, for once you stop buying into the lie, it no longer has control over you. The one that controls the world is the evil one, and he uses every tactic under the sun to deceive the world, but we can rise above that and no longer reside within it, and doing so is quite easy to do.
The first thing, almost every single time, with someone new to the faith, just curious, or has an urge to follow our Lord and build a relationship with him, people begin by thinking they must clean house, that they must prepare themselves by changing this or that about themselves. They throw in a stumbling block onto their own path, before the very first step is even made, instead of walking, they pile an obstacle in their way. It's natural, we are told that one must be this or that, have this or that credential to fill this or that roll, they must prepare themselves before meeting others, before doing a job, before attending an event, and this is natural, but guess what, no amount of preparation one can make, will ever be sufficient to fully prepare for an experience with God, so don't bother trying to make yourself ready along these first steps, he makes you ready as he sees fit, and only through his grace, not your efforts is going to do it, yet there of course, is a measure of simply being receptive to allow his will to become your will, so it does take a degree of simply letting go, letting go of ego, letting go of pride, letting go of anger, letting go of hurt's, letting go of the lies the world has instilled in ones being all of their lives.
Start simple, really, simple, as in, opening up yourself to listen to what he wants you to do. Along the most basic level, simply opening up a dialog with him, even if it seems one sided, simply talk to him, find a quiet place where you can be alone and just speak. You have just made that first step, it's huge when it comes down to it, it's more powerful then any prayer, more powerful then any church service, more powerful then any sermon or teaching. Speak what is on your mind, get it all out, complaints, plee's, anger, fears, tears, etc. it doesn't matter, honestly, there is nothing you can say to him that will drive him away, and he knows every word you are going to say, before you say it, so nothing is going to be a surprise to him. It's a process, believe me, what I talked to God about as a child is not at all what I talk to him about as an adult, maturing in the faith, and he knows this, he knows where I was at, and it was enough to begin with this most important dialog.
Stage two, prayer, with enough dialog, you soon find yourself more in prayer, hopefully you also form a bond, where you realize you do have a companion in your life, one who knows you far deeply then any human being ever could. Naturally you end up going from simple dialog, to prayer, and it's not about form, or stance, it's about setting aside a more intimate dialog with him. To share more of yourself with him, along your deeper levels, and hopefully you start to pray for others, he loves it when we pray for others well being, it's a selfless act, and it's an unselfish one. Through prayer, you are also learning to quiet your mind, and calm your soul, opening yourself up more, eliminating more of those obstacles, so that he can administer, teach, guide, and reveal his love to you more. The natural result of this is an internal house cleaning. Your world may not have changed an iota, externally, but internally, mountains are being moved, you are coming home!!!
Stage three, with enough dialog and prayer, he will guide you to be near other believers in fellowship, you soon realize these people that were so foreign before, so alien in their thinking, are not quite so distant. His spirit will guide you as to where to go and when. You will also have to face those old worldly values attempting to get in your way, trying to get you to excuse yourself from attending a church, trying to prevent you from reading the bible, and you must at this stage recognize, this is spiritual warfare in it's most basic and common form. If he guides and prompts you to pick up the word, to attend a church, simply run with it, ignore the temptation to put it off. Think about it this way, what if I were to give you the winning lottery ticket, are you going to put off cashing it in? Are you going to put it off, worried that taxes or other complications are going to cause problems, things you have to address, or are you going to not hesitate and claim your prize? This is the same thing, and what are you giving up. An hour of your time? It's not a whole lot out of your day, surely you waste an hour doing some menial thing, such as watching tv, or browsing some department store, surely this isn't a whole lot to ask, and the reward you receive is tremendous. Never make the excuse that you don't belong, don't deserve, don't any of that, you have just as much of a right, if not more so to attend a church then anybody else.
Stage three, reflect upon what transpired, observe how your thoughts are now compared to before you started that dialog with our Lord. Has he by now revealed himself to you? Surely he has, some glimmer of hope has sprung up in your being, and you have now seen change in effect, within your being. Remember that house cleaning element you were so adamant about implementing before embarking on that journey? It's not something you have taken the initiative upon, he's already doing it through you, it's an effortless process, and now you find yourself becoming part of "his" family, and the body of Christ are your brethren. Hopefully you have made some friends along the way, in or out of church attendance, those of us with our common faith, always have at least him in common, him to dialog about, the thing that binds us together, the common theme is God himself. You should also start to experience some hope and optimism you did not have before, you should start to feel that peace we as believers share, and these are just some of his gifts. Taking it slowly like this, careful reflection, use these moments to reinforce where you are going, that you are on the right path, and remember all of those years along the ways of the world, how it's empty promises did nothing but give you pain and suffering, it's false hopes never did deliver you happiness, peace, and hope, in fact, just the opposite. It's during this stage ones resolve must be cemented. You are going to need to rely upon this, as the world tries it's best to derail you, to detur you away from your growing relationship with God, and you can use these thoughts to combat it. Remembering, up to this point, you have been facing spiritual warfare, and you have to come to the resolve, why would it put up such a fight if it was all that concerned, surely the world was not there for you when you got down, when you were sad and alone, when you were in pain, where was it during these times? Surely, our Lord on the other hand is there especially during those times, and this clearly is the defining difference.,
Stage four, you should by now have found a church you call home, some place that just rests well with you, and that you have not bought into some prosperity gospel driven, watered down, distortion of a church, you have found a body of believers that really do get God for who he is, and these people, even though you barely know them, are your brothers and sisters. It takes time to get to be known in any community, churches are the same, and some parishes are harder then others to integrate within.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
The True Prosperiety Gospel
We have all faced the current trend and wave of false gospels of all sorts, the most tempting being the Prosperity Gospel. They teach along all one has to do is this or that, believe this or that, and their money, marital, family, career, etc. problems will miraculously go away....especially if they tithe into their churches. It's tempting, all of the answers seem to be there, and they support it all with bits of scripture, partial snippets, and it's a complete distortion of what the Gospel is, what the blessings entail, and how to achieve being on God's good graces.
We get this one as being rather a common one:
Luke 11:9 >>
So, in this one, you are led to believe, ask God and he will give, and when he doesn't give, then obviously he doesn't care, or there is no God. Countless people have fallen away from the faith being misled into belief in this one statement, taken out of context alone. All statements like these, assume the person asking is following completely in Christs teachings, they also assume the person is asking from a Holy Spirit filled being, asking for the "right" things, and even when asking for the wrong things, accept that the answer being no, is for our own good. Think about it, one wins the lottery, their financial worries are over...think again, google up lottery winner nightmares, talk about receiving something most of us want, only to find out, it's the last thing we want.
We read in
or too rich.
Give me just what I need.
9If I have too much to eat,
I might forget about you;
if I don't have enough,
I might steal
and disgrace your name.
So, asking for riches is not a wise thing at all is it? 9 Give me an understanding mind so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. was Solomons request from the Lord, not riches, nor material gain of any kind, and alas, he was blessed with his original request, and far more. Understand though, he was warned by David before taking reign, not to forsake the way's of the Lord, the teachings of Moses, and David learned a harsh lesson deviating from this, as did Solomon, likewise. The earthly riches did him no good in the end, and instead of sending out priests and scribes to the outer countries to evangelize, he sent out tax collectors. God in his mercy, for these people that were supposed to be exposed to the true faith, scattered the Jews among them, his will be done, with or without the aid of man, this is a given....
So, one may ask for money, but too often, most of the time, it's asking for a curse upon ones self, and we then go back into the rest of the above teachings in the NT:
Luke 11:11 >>
So, he tells you no, and refuses to give you the snake, when he knows you need the fish.
The fish could represent peace of mind, hope, trust, love, contentment, salvation, many, many things the world cannot gauge, nor offer. He does take care of your needs, and if you are following him, this should be enough, it's about not seeing what's in front of you, but what is inside.
What is the True Prosperity Gospel, one must define being prosperous. Wisdom, knowledge, compassion, empathy, forgiveness, Love, etc. all are riches, true prosperity, and they remain with you beyond the grave itself, these are things you can take with you, the rest may fade away into nothingness, but these will remain. How are they achieved? Simple, begin with prayer, let the Holy Spirit guide you with his truth, through the gospel and through his intercession, and be brutally honest with yourself, to thine own heart be true, and that in a nutshell is it. If you are being true to yourself, not double minded, not self deceiving, and you are opened up to receive his Spirit, he will guide you to where you need to go, what you need to do, and how you need to live. The more you allow him to guide you, the more you will find yourself residing within his kingdom, and even during the most turbulent storms, you will be at peace. The world may see you from the outside, seeing your life not being perfect, but they will also see your interior, how you cope, how you react, not a result of the situation, but above it all, doing the right then even when it's most tempting not to.
So, ask, always ask, but always put into it, if this is God's will, let it be done, if it is not his will, trust his wisdom for it not to be done. Look back at your life, how many things have you hoped for, if they came about, you would regret, only he sees the big picture, and only he knows what's best for you.
We get this one as being rather a common one:
Luke 11:9 >>
| ||||||||
So, in this one, you are led to believe, ask God and he will give, and when he doesn't give, then obviously he doesn't care, or there is no God. Countless people have fallen away from the faith being misled into belief in this one statement, taken out of context alone. All statements like these, assume the person asking is following completely in Christs teachings, they also assume the person is asking from a Holy Spirit filled being, asking for the "right" things, and even when asking for the wrong things, accept that the answer being no, is for our own good. Think about it, one wins the lottery, their financial worries are over...think again, google up lottery winner nightmares, talk about receiving something most of us want, only to find out, it's the last thing we want.
We read in
Proverbs 30
8Make me absolutely honest
and don't let me be too pooror too rich.
Give me just what I need.
9If I have too much to eat,
I might forget about you;
if I don't have enough,
I might steal
and disgrace your name.
So, asking for riches is not a wise thing at all is it? 9 Give me an understanding mind so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. was Solomons request from the Lord, not riches, nor material gain of any kind, and alas, he was blessed with his original request, and far more. Understand though, he was warned by David before taking reign, not to forsake the way's of the Lord, the teachings of Moses, and David learned a harsh lesson deviating from this, as did Solomon, likewise. The earthly riches did him no good in the end, and instead of sending out priests and scribes to the outer countries to evangelize, he sent out tax collectors. God in his mercy, for these people that were supposed to be exposed to the true faith, scattered the Jews among them, his will be done, with or without the aid of man, this is a given....
So, one may ask for money, but too often, most of the time, it's asking for a curse upon ones self, and we then go back into the rest of the above teachings in the NT:
Luke 11:11 >>
| ||||
So, he tells you no, and refuses to give you the snake, when he knows you need the fish.
The fish could represent peace of mind, hope, trust, love, contentment, salvation, many, many things the world cannot gauge, nor offer. He does take care of your needs, and if you are following him, this should be enough, it's about not seeing what's in front of you, but what is inside.
What is the True Prosperity Gospel, one must define being prosperous. Wisdom, knowledge, compassion, empathy, forgiveness, Love, etc. all are riches, true prosperity, and they remain with you beyond the grave itself, these are things you can take with you, the rest may fade away into nothingness, but these will remain. How are they achieved? Simple, begin with prayer, let the Holy Spirit guide you with his truth, through the gospel and through his intercession, and be brutally honest with yourself, to thine own heart be true, and that in a nutshell is it. If you are being true to yourself, not double minded, not self deceiving, and you are opened up to receive his Spirit, he will guide you to where you need to go, what you need to do, and how you need to live. The more you allow him to guide you, the more you will find yourself residing within his kingdom, and even during the most turbulent storms, you will be at peace. The world may see you from the outside, seeing your life not being perfect, but they will also see your interior, how you cope, how you react, not a result of the situation, but above it all, doing the right then even when it's most tempting not to.
So, ask, always ask, but always put into it, if this is God's will, let it be done, if it is not his will, trust his wisdom for it not to be done. Look back at your life, how many things have you hoped for, if they came about, you would regret, only he sees the big picture, and only he knows what's best for you.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
What is your time worth?
When it comes down to it, what is your time worth? Are we here forever? Not even a short time when it comes down to even man's terms of understanding within mathematics, why don't we give this a whole lot of stock these days?
Does anybody look back at their lives, in old age, and think, "I should have spent more time in the office..?" I am not the first one to coin that, but it holds a great deal of truth and merit into asking that question. The same goes with someone asking "I should have spent more time in prayer", do they regret it as well? In fact, they never do, not a single time has anybody looked back and thought, I need to reduce my prayer time, it's taking out too much out of my busy schedule and life. Whey don't we learn upon our own histories, the same goes, why don't we even listen to our elders, we simply do not, we shut them, and the truth away into some institution, both of them, bound to 4 walls, knowledge and wisdom locked up, and go about making the same bonehead mistakes we have through the ages. In our case, it's a selfish agenda, it's easier to shuttle off grampa to some home then it is to put up with the added medical help and general babysitting the individual...it's sad, it really is.
This is the legacy being left behind, and guess what folks, you will also get old, you also will be needing help from everybody, and as the way things are going, you too are going to face the very thing you sent your own elder onto, a cold rigid, impersonal place that too often cares nothing more then making a profit.... And you know what, .. you deserve it! Why not turn back the clock, pool the family together, section off times and even places the elderly needs to be taken care of and bring them HOME!!! Did they have children, send them off to some institution and after they were raised, were taken back home and told to go out in the world? Nope, so why should we be doing the same with them, it's an obligation, without their being, you would have no life, there would be no you, why is this at all even an issue in the first place?
Were there retirement homes in ancient Rome or Greece? what about the rest of civilization? Nope, and you know what, they did not fall apart because there were too many elderly being taken care of by their family. The toughest part, how can one go from as a child, wrapping their loving arms around their parent, when they needed them the most, to turn around, when they needed the same and not reciprocate. It's unimaginable in the days of old, why is it in the current times???
Back to time here, the subject at hand. Does one regret the time to help others, to help their family, at the end of their day, is there a question in their mind going "I really wish I didn't help that person today"... nope, there is not, in fact, just the opposite, you go to sleep with a smile on your face. You see now the pecular reception you get when someone of wisdom helps out someone less fortunate, especially just offering some random act of kindness. They are thanked by their own thoughts alone, much less, thanked by the Lord, it's a win, win situation, it really is, and often, giving beyond your means still results in miraculous replenishing of funds or other resources. These are times well spent, far more precious then flat material gain.
The dollars per sense and cents, always it's a balancing act of sorts, but it's also a triple scale balancer, one, the demand, two, the need, three, Our Lord's intervention. There is no 4th scale, that would mean that one can manipulate one or the other by doing and being, with reward or balancing the scales, in mind. One cannot manipulate God, and he will weigh in on the scale at his own discretion, yet it doesn't at all hurt to remain humble and living in the manner he wants to. So, those with, or without him, it's entirely up to him to decide which direction things are going to go, in some cases, all one needs to do is ask, in others, one must take much physical action to accomplish, we have the Lord to fill in on that third scale if our agenda's are pleasing to him, yet if you think of it as a two scale, worldly perspective, you move forward entirely upon that matter, and when things go wrong because they still don't balance out, step back and ask yourself, is that third scale being in play here. Hey, don't waste your time on something he's nudging you away from guys, otherwise you have lost more precious time you have in this world that you hold so dear to your heart "worldly people perspective's only guys".
Time we have is limited, and it's about balance, sometimes one must devote more time for one segment over the other, but they must balance out. My time, in my best form, 1st, God, prayer, dialog, study of his word and teachings including about the traditions, Charity, helping within my means to my fellow man, work and toil to pay the bills, then family and personal time to close the loop, and start over again the next day. This is a full day folks, it's also a rewarding one, this is the ideal, and not just in blocks like described, it's intertwined with each of them as needed. The going to bed at night thought's, one will remain in contentment.
What is your time worth, well, about 10billion dollars an hour if you really put it down to it's proper context, waste it or make the best of it, it's entirely ones own call and ability to do. Stop wasting it on media driven entertainment and get out there to live your life the way God has given you the ability to!!! Worldly people in mind here, I have spent hours upon hours working upon fixing and creating from scratch, things I can just buy off the shelf, upon being proficient with it, I move forward in opulent luxury, not because of what I own, but what I can create from basic raw materials! It's also highly portable, I can move the knowledge and ability to create in this manner simply through a plane ticket! Why bother amassing things when one can create them from the surrounding materials. The concept here is liberating, it's not about what you own, it's about what you CAN own, and not based upon saving and coming up with enough cash to buy it, but literally creating it from my own means and being able to do so within others and expand.
That all comes down to the matter of the basics, I don't own my families love, it's given to me, freely, without coercing it, without tricking them into it, it's pure and straightforward. I know they love me, because of just me, even though they don't always understand me, they accept me, and this is just how it "should" be. All I can offer in return is unconditional love, you break my heart, it's broken, and I offer it up again and again, but at some point, I have to pull it, it's not here to be broken forever... My own human heart has limitations, his not at all mine, nor will I dare to elaborate upon it's limitations, less I get struck down by lightening, lol.
More time worth subject here. I talk to people that are destitute, homeless, on the wrong side of the tracks in many areas deserved or not, doesn't matter, I've heard their stories, their disposition seemed so very much not worthy of God, they don't consider themselves as being good enough for God, this grows into some resentment of him in the process especially seeing so many affluent people in this world walking and driving around them.
The sick, sad, rotten reality of it all, the people that can benefit the most from our Lord are the ones most attacked, the most impoverished, the most cast off in our society. They smell, they wear 12 pairs of clothes "cold or no cold", they are the ones that don't have a job, or family, and have been tossed into the streets to slowly die...Perfectly good souls for the kingdom of God, but turned away because of the devils calls upon sending them to their permanent graves along side of himself... Only a gentle touch and a kind word is all these ones ask, think of it, simply giving one of these repect, the time of day, telling them you care about them, their soul and you very much wish they had an easier life, from one of the affluent, or those of us that eat, drive a car, have homes to go to at night... Big points there, then again, if you have the means, take one home and help this lost soul through his life just as I was talking about earlier along the elderly, chances are very high, you get a new family member, including many angels that have been assigned to watch over him duruing his life and walk to death which is inevitable left to the current devices and powers that be.
If I were God, all I'd say in this Blog, to those destitute, hard core bums that get so shunned..I Love you and am with you"
Does anybody look back at their lives, in old age, and think, "I should have spent more time in the office..?" I am not the first one to coin that, but it holds a great deal of truth and merit into asking that question. The same goes with someone asking "I should have spent more time in prayer", do they regret it as well? In fact, they never do, not a single time has anybody looked back and thought, I need to reduce my prayer time, it's taking out too much out of my busy schedule and life. Whey don't we learn upon our own histories, the same goes, why don't we even listen to our elders, we simply do not, we shut them, and the truth away into some institution, both of them, bound to 4 walls, knowledge and wisdom locked up, and go about making the same bonehead mistakes we have through the ages. In our case, it's a selfish agenda, it's easier to shuttle off grampa to some home then it is to put up with the added medical help and general babysitting the individual...it's sad, it really is.
This is the legacy being left behind, and guess what folks, you will also get old, you also will be needing help from everybody, and as the way things are going, you too are going to face the very thing you sent your own elder onto, a cold rigid, impersonal place that too often cares nothing more then making a profit.... And you know what, .. you deserve it! Why not turn back the clock, pool the family together, section off times and even places the elderly needs to be taken care of and bring them HOME!!! Did they have children, send them off to some institution and after they were raised, were taken back home and told to go out in the world? Nope, so why should we be doing the same with them, it's an obligation, without their being, you would have no life, there would be no you, why is this at all even an issue in the first place?
Were there retirement homes in ancient Rome or Greece? what about the rest of civilization? Nope, and you know what, they did not fall apart because there were too many elderly being taken care of by their family. The toughest part, how can one go from as a child, wrapping their loving arms around their parent, when they needed them the most, to turn around, when they needed the same and not reciprocate. It's unimaginable in the days of old, why is it in the current times???
Back to time here, the subject at hand. Does one regret the time to help others, to help their family, at the end of their day, is there a question in their mind going "I really wish I didn't help that person today"... nope, there is not, in fact, just the opposite, you go to sleep with a smile on your face. You see now the pecular reception you get when someone of wisdom helps out someone less fortunate, especially just offering some random act of kindness. They are thanked by their own thoughts alone, much less, thanked by the Lord, it's a win, win situation, it really is, and often, giving beyond your means still results in miraculous replenishing of funds or other resources. These are times well spent, far more precious then flat material gain.
The dollars per sense and cents, always it's a balancing act of sorts, but it's also a triple scale balancer, one, the demand, two, the need, three, Our Lord's intervention. There is no 4th scale, that would mean that one can manipulate one or the other by doing and being, with reward or balancing the scales, in mind. One cannot manipulate God, and he will weigh in on the scale at his own discretion, yet it doesn't at all hurt to remain humble and living in the manner he wants to. So, those with, or without him, it's entirely up to him to decide which direction things are going to go, in some cases, all one needs to do is ask, in others, one must take much physical action to accomplish, we have the Lord to fill in on that third scale if our agenda's are pleasing to him, yet if you think of it as a two scale, worldly perspective, you move forward entirely upon that matter, and when things go wrong because they still don't balance out, step back and ask yourself, is that third scale being in play here. Hey, don't waste your time on something he's nudging you away from guys, otherwise you have lost more precious time you have in this world that you hold so dear to your heart "worldly people perspective's only guys".
Time we have is limited, and it's about balance, sometimes one must devote more time for one segment over the other, but they must balance out. My time, in my best form, 1st, God, prayer, dialog, study of his word and teachings including about the traditions, Charity, helping within my means to my fellow man, work and toil to pay the bills, then family and personal time to close the loop, and start over again the next day. This is a full day folks, it's also a rewarding one, this is the ideal, and not just in blocks like described, it's intertwined with each of them as needed. The going to bed at night thought's, one will remain in contentment.
What is your time worth, well, about 10billion dollars an hour if you really put it down to it's proper context, waste it or make the best of it, it's entirely ones own call and ability to do. Stop wasting it on media driven entertainment and get out there to live your life the way God has given you the ability to!!! Worldly people in mind here, I have spent hours upon hours working upon fixing and creating from scratch, things I can just buy off the shelf, upon being proficient with it, I move forward in opulent luxury, not because of what I own, but what I can create from basic raw materials! It's also highly portable, I can move the knowledge and ability to create in this manner simply through a plane ticket! Why bother amassing things when one can create them from the surrounding materials. The concept here is liberating, it's not about what you own, it's about what you CAN own, and not based upon saving and coming up with enough cash to buy it, but literally creating it from my own means and being able to do so within others and expand.
That all comes down to the matter of the basics, I don't own my families love, it's given to me, freely, without coercing it, without tricking them into it, it's pure and straightforward. I know they love me, because of just me, even though they don't always understand me, they accept me, and this is just how it "should" be. All I can offer in return is unconditional love, you break my heart, it's broken, and I offer it up again and again, but at some point, I have to pull it, it's not here to be broken forever... My own human heart has limitations, his not at all mine, nor will I dare to elaborate upon it's limitations, less I get struck down by lightening, lol.
More time worth subject here. I talk to people that are destitute, homeless, on the wrong side of the tracks in many areas deserved or not, doesn't matter, I've heard their stories, their disposition seemed so very much not worthy of God, they don't consider themselves as being good enough for God, this grows into some resentment of him in the process especially seeing so many affluent people in this world walking and driving around them.
The sick, sad, rotten reality of it all, the people that can benefit the most from our Lord are the ones most attacked, the most impoverished, the most cast off in our society. They smell, they wear 12 pairs of clothes "cold or no cold", they are the ones that don't have a job, or family, and have been tossed into the streets to slowly die...Perfectly good souls for the kingdom of God, but turned away because of the devils calls upon sending them to their permanent graves along side of himself... Only a gentle touch and a kind word is all these ones ask, think of it, simply giving one of these repect, the time of day, telling them you care about them, their soul and you very much wish they had an easier life, from one of the affluent, or those of us that eat, drive a car, have homes to go to at night... Big points there, then again, if you have the means, take one home and help this lost soul through his life just as I was talking about earlier along the elderly, chances are very high, you get a new family member, including many angels that have been assigned to watch over him duruing his life and walk to death which is inevitable left to the current devices and powers that be.
If I were God, all I'd say in this Blog, to those destitute, hard core bums that get so shunned..I Love you and am with you"
Monday, August 23, 2010
Don't be timid to being a street preacher!
Ever feel the call, to simply hang out on the sidewalk, street corner, busy intersection at a street? Seriously, has this held "some" kind of appeal for you? Come on now, be honest, has it ever came, have you ever seen others do the same and simply admired them? It's not as hard as you think, it's not so embarrassing, afterall, you are simply reading the Gospel out loud at random, anybody that is by, not targeted, why would you hold back from simply doing it???
We are constantly bombarded with junk telling us to buy here, own that, follow this or that for fiscal means, what's our agenda? Saving souls, go to church, becoming better citizens, yes, we have sinister plans for any that listen the the words "not follow us", and these are God's words, the bible, being read out loud, in some cases, for the very first time in peoples lives! Such a very positive good message to deliver, not at all wrong, not at all bad, not at all something to simply keep to yourself!!!
The reality of it all, you get ignored, nobody listens, everybody walks buy, you may get a scoffer or encourager, but not a whole lot "so far the scoffers are in the super micro minority", and I'm armed to the guills along basic apologetic s, yet understand, the message that's being read is just the bible, only the bible, so no denomination should scoff regardless. The groups that have stopped are quite a bit older, 60's-90 s and the reception is always profoundly good, they are rather perplexed seeing scripture being read out loud in the streets themselves. I'm sure the latter seeing how society went the way it has and is alien to what they embraced back in our day, some lowly little person, leaning on the back of some former retail front, proclaiming the word of God in front of it, it has to send a message alone, by itself today "and back in the depression", speaking volumes.... yet alas, the symbols of understanding does not get noticed. Bottom line, if you are holding back because you aren't prepared, know enough, etc, just have some dot com, literature etc. around, or just keep reading/proclaiming and omit the entire conversation goes entirely away.... It's just super harder to get noticed if you are simply reading then if you elaborate, surely you can be obnoxious and get in trouble, but if you use tact, the harder part will be upon getting noticed then facing negative feedback, so don't let the exposure hold you back like that...
Going into new cities/areas, plan upon showing up 30 min early, parking for long term, especially in the saturated areas will take that in parking and walking to a busier area and it's not at all conservative.. If you arrive to early, ask yourself, arrive for what, find a better spot, prayer, what?, He'll show you if your own personal timing is just bad soon enough, yet alas, he's kind of really good at that folks so don't sweat it. His timing is best, but don't get behind simply because you need a miracle just to get a parking space.
With the gambit of websites that have much good information to draw upon, sadly most authors are talking about some large enter age and gear, take the advice in context, not lightly, as in it's best to proclaim the gospel during daylight hours, but more so, spend time with the poor and don't give up on the rich, the poor in material often can be the rich in spirit, and vice versa, don't you just love how our Lord works and thinks!!! The happiest people I ever known were dirt poor, how does that work, lol.
We are constantly bombarded with junk telling us to buy here, own that, follow this or that for fiscal means, what's our agenda? Saving souls, go to church, becoming better citizens, yes, we have sinister plans for any that listen the the words "not follow us", and these are God's words, the bible, being read out loud, in some cases, for the very first time in peoples lives! Such a very positive good message to deliver, not at all wrong, not at all bad, not at all something to simply keep to yourself!!!
The reality of it all, you get ignored, nobody listens, everybody walks buy, you may get a scoffer or encourager, but not a whole lot "so far the scoffers are in the super micro minority", and I'm armed to the guills along basic apologetic s, yet understand, the message that's being read is just the bible, only the bible, so no denomination should scoff regardless. The groups that have stopped are quite a bit older, 60's-90 s and the reception is always profoundly good, they are rather perplexed seeing scripture being read out loud in the streets themselves. I'm sure the latter seeing how society went the way it has and is alien to what they embraced back in our day, some lowly little person, leaning on the back of some former retail front, proclaiming the word of God in front of it, it has to send a message alone, by itself today "and back in the depression", speaking volumes.... yet alas, the symbols of understanding does not get noticed. Bottom line, if you are holding back because you aren't prepared, know enough, etc, just have some dot com, literature etc. around, or just keep reading/proclaiming and omit the entire conversation goes entirely away.... It's just super harder to get noticed if you are simply reading then if you elaborate, surely you can be obnoxious and get in trouble, but if you use tact, the harder part will be upon getting noticed then facing negative feedback, so don't let the exposure hold you back like that...
Going into new cities/areas, plan upon showing up 30 min early, parking for long term, especially in the saturated areas will take that in parking and walking to a busier area and it's not at all conservative.. If you arrive to early, ask yourself, arrive for what, find a better spot, prayer, what?, He'll show you if your own personal timing is just bad soon enough, yet alas, he's kind of really good at that folks so don't sweat it. His timing is best, but don't get behind simply because you need a miracle just to get a parking space.
With the gambit of websites that have much good information to draw upon, sadly most authors are talking about some large enter age and gear, take the advice in context, not lightly, as in it's best to proclaim the gospel during daylight hours, but more so, spend time with the poor and don't give up on the rich, the poor in material often can be the rich in spirit, and vice versa, don't you just love how our Lord works and thinks!!! The happiest people I ever known were dirt poor, how does that work, lol.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Sharing some wisdom from experience
At my age, having lived a full and rather bumpy life, it's been quite an educational process. From mastering some musical instruments, to creating art of so many forms with so much media, to computer programming back when Commodore was all the rage.....to being in the US Army at the age of 17, working over 50 jobs in my life, to owning and starting my own business from scratch, ..twice, now going onto my third. To a whole lot of simply living, experiencing all that lifes pains and sufferings many people endure through it, and learning some better ways of existing, and handling what life throws at you regardless.
This little blog should be easy to remember, it should also be a place for the younger generations, many without fatherly advice can draw upon for guidance. I can go on and tell you a little more about my background, but I'd rather simply post some beginning bits of wisdom or advice, you can say that many, including adults my own age can benefit from. You are going to find the tone of how I word things here to be direct and to the point, not candy coated, it's simply my way of keeping the information condensed.
Moving on from teenage years to adult, tactfully, first bit of advice.
I hear kids going to college, majoring in nothing, for years, and often wonder, are they there because they want to, or is it getting in their way, that there needs to be something out there else, beyond this. Well, the news is, there is for those that find a major and go after it, all curriculum included. The difference between the two, the one majoring in something is going to be working at what they are trained best at, the ones that don't, are going to be working at what ever company can exploit them upon, not giving them much of a tile and entitlement, just a little more organized and smarter person to educate... It would be similar to someone without any college what so ever, but I have to add, the latter, you had better have stellar references. If you plan or have no means for college, regardless, takes a few years in advanced planning, meaning, even when you guys were in early High School, the College thing should be focused upon, the HS comes secondary. You'll find more incentive to learn in some classes you wouldn't normally, all depending upon the dreams you have for what you want to work.
2nd thing, don't live beyond your means, as in, cheap, cheap rent and utilities, cheaper the better, hey you aren't going to be around home much, so might as well not spend more then you need to, then again, more then you can handle. Often people get stuck in some entry level job, never having enough and spending all of their hard earned money on rent, don't rent, buy if at all possible, including cars, as well.
Guard your credit like it's better then gold, it in fact is, and with enough tact and the proper paperwork along with minimal backing, credit when properly managed can do wonders for someones quality of life. Rule of thumb here, always stay well, well within your means on that one, and if at all possible, purchase things you can resell at a profit. Absolutely zero credit, as in nothing on your record is awesome, not optimal, but far, far better then negative credit, so if in doubt, hold off on anything that can come back to hurt your credit record at all times. Don't own more then one credit card, and make sure what interest rates there is, if there is an option to have your payments tied up into something with less of an interest rate, the better.
With people, unless you get lucky and find that perfect significant other, they can be predicted too often, and as a rule, general public will exploit you more often then help. Always have a plan b when it comes to making plans where people are going to be part of their formation, and be prepared to do some impossible stuff, just to make all of them get by.
Faith in God is also something, where all of us with faith never regret having, and believe it or not, God can and will accompolish the impossible for you if you give him a chance. If God is a new concept, or you have had problems with church goers, starting a simple prayer life by itself, alone, just you and God shouldn't be too much to ask, he'll guide you the rest of the way himself. Without my faith, my life would be radically different, and for the worse by far. The world can take everything it want's away from you, but not your faith.
Don't forget to enjoy the smaller moments and appreciate what you have, just use your time wisely and constructively. More can be accomplished in one life time, or one evening, then most people are ever aware of. Always also know, you never regret the time spent helping other souls, and at the end of the day, you will always feel accomplished if you do, don't buy into the society that teaches self is all, it's not.
Know all things will pass, good and bad, they all will pass, we aren't meant to be permanent residents of this planet, so don't get to used to it, it's also a mere shadow of what's to come in the life thereafter. Live as best as you can today, never lose hope that there is a better tomorrow, even the worst case scenario, always is a better tomorrow.
That's it for now, just wanted to get some kind of an introduction, showing a bit of the direction I'm going with it, and will share more later.
This little blog should be easy to remember, it should also be a place for the younger generations, many without fatherly advice can draw upon for guidance. I can go on and tell you a little more about my background, but I'd rather simply post some beginning bits of wisdom or advice, you can say that many, including adults my own age can benefit from. You are going to find the tone of how I word things here to be direct and to the point, not candy coated, it's simply my way of keeping the information condensed.
Moving on from teenage years to adult, tactfully, first bit of advice.
I hear kids going to college, majoring in nothing, for years, and often wonder, are they there because they want to, or is it getting in their way, that there needs to be something out there else, beyond this. Well, the news is, there is for those that find a major and go after it, all curriculum included. The difference between the two, the one majoring in something is going to be working at what they are trained best at, the ones that don't, are going to be working at what ever company can exploit them upon, not giving them much of a tile and entitlement, just a little more organized and smarter person to educate... It would be similar to someone without any college what so ever, but I have to add, the latter, you had better have stellar references. If you plan or have no means for college, regardless, takes a few years in advanced planning, meaning, even when you guys were in early High School, the College thing should be focused upon, the HS comes secondary. You'll find more incentive to learn in some classes you wouldn't normally, all depending upon the dreams you have for what you want to work.
2nd thing, don't live beyond your means, as in, cheap, cheap rent and utilities, cheaper the better, hey you aren't going to be around home much, so might as well not spend more then you need to, then again, more then you can handle. Often people get stuck in some entry level job, never having enough and spending all of their hard earned money on rent, don't rent, buy if at all possible, including cars, as well.
Guard your credit like it's better then gold, it in fact is, and with enough tact and the proper paperwork along with minimal backing, credit when properly managed can do wonders for someones quality of life. Rule of thumb here, always stay well, well within your means on that one, and if at all possible, purchase things you can resell at a profit. Absolutely zero credit, as in nothing on your record is awesome, not optimal, but far, far better then negative credit, so if in doubt, hold off on anything that can come back to hurt your credit record at all times. Don't own more then one credit card, and make sure what interest rates there is, if there is an option to have your payments tied up into something with less of an interest rate, the better.
With people, unless you get lucky and find that perfect significant other, they can be predicted too often, and as a rule, general public will exploit you more often then help. Always have a plan b when it comes to making plans where people are going to be part of their formation, and be prepared to do some impossible stuff, just to make all of them get by.
Faith in God is also something, where all of us with faith never regret having, and believe it or not, God can and will accompolish the impossible for you if you give him a chance. If God is a new concept, or you have had problems with church goers, starting a simple prayer life by itself, alone, just you and God shouldn't be too much to ask, he'll guide you the rest of the way himself. Without my faith, my life would be radically different, and for the worse by far. The world can take everything it want's away from you, but not your faith.
Don't forget to enjoy the smaller moments and appreciate what you have, just use your time wisely and constructively. More can be accomplished in one life time, or one evening, then most people are ever aware of. Always also know, you never regret the time spent helping other souls, and at the end of the day, you will always feel accomplished if you do, don't buy into the society that teaches self is all, it's not.
Know all things will pass, good and bad, they all will pass, we aren't meant to be permanent residents of this planet, so don't get to used to it, it's also a mere shadow of what's to come in the life thereafter. Live as best as you can today, never lose hope that there is a better tomorrow, even the worst case scenario, always is a better tomorrow.
That's it for now, just wanted to get some kind of an introduction, showing a bit of the direction I'm going with it, and will share more later.
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