Shariah and child abuse – Is there a connection?

Posted on 2014/10/08 by Guestspeaker

People may have something against a certain faith. That we can see in many countries today, like it was foretold in the Bible, what would happen at the end of times.

In the Middle East we have Muslims fighting Hindus or Hindus fighting against Christians, but also Christians having to defend themselves against severe attacks by other religious people, but also against denominations which belong to the same group, namely Christendom.

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Muslims know that when there comes to them some matter touching (public) safety or fear, they have to make it known (among the people), if only they had referred it to the Messenger or to those charged with authority among them, the proper investigators would have understood it from them (directly). In many countries where Christendom was the main religion lots of people have lost contact with their God, in case they had already contact with Him. In the West lots of people were by birth belonging to one or the other Christian denomination, but many did or do not believe really.

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To say, like the author of the reblogged article claims, that “It has been suggested that the pre-Islamic Allah was the Babylonian deity Ba’al, not the Hebrew Yahweh as suggested in the Quran. ” is probably distorting history, like it is depicting it not rightly to say there is one huge difference between the Yahweh of Jewish and Christian literature and the Allah of Islamic literature.

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Allah was already in the time of Muhammad the Arabic word for the title of God (not His Name) and was already used many years before Muhammad was born by the Christians, but also by others who used the title for their gods, like Pharaoh and Moses were also called allah or god. The Allah/God of the Islamic prophet came confronted with was the same Allah Abraham got to hear.
Allah or God, whose Name is Jehovah or called Yahweh can and does defend his own holiness, to say Allah’s holiness (and therefore that of Mohammed’s) has to be avidly and violently defended by his followers is doing disrespect to the real followers of Allah, who do not let themselves be mislead by human writings, like many Christians have in the past let themselves been mislead by many different people who called themselves ‘theologian‘ and by the different denominations which brought unto their people different dogma‘s.

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As in Christendom Muslims also took to human writings. Instead of just taking the words of the Quran they preferred to follow more the words of tradition, like the writings of the hadith, which may leave many Christians with the impression that when Mohammed/Muhammad wanted something, he would go into a trance and Allah would then respond to Mohammed’s request. That is why many Christians did come to see a Quran that seems to contradict itself, like others have come to see a Bible that seems to contradict itself,
For sure it is by the false teachers and false prophets we have come to see, by the years, an abrogation of the mainly ‘peaceful’ passages, to the much more violent passages as time passes, and several people, on the different sites (Islam and Christendom) misusing the title of God (or if you want: misusing the Name of God) to get their political desires in the forefront and to regain or to get more power.

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In the article is further questioned:

Do we really need a system of laws that sees nothing wrong with a man in his forties marrying a pre-pubescent child?

The place of women in society

It also says:

Shariah defines female unbelievers as the property (slaves) of believing males who have no rights at all; subject only to the whim of their owners.

To some Muslims, grooming underage non-Muslim girls is totally acceptable within Shariah,==> by doing nothing, and by failing to do their jobs – negligently and shamefully allowed to be implemented in Rotherham and other places; all part of the creep of Shariah into our society.

those who refused to investigate complaints => were thus accessories after the fact

those who further victimized the victims saying that the sex was ‘consensual’

==> very loud, clear message to every authority in the country, its ok to implement Shariah as an alternative to English law.

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Find also to read:

Titles of God beginning with the Aleph in Hebrew

Attributes to God, titles ascribed to Him or Names given to JHWH, the God of gods.

Patriarch Abraham, Muslims, Christians and the son of God

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Additional material of interest:

Shariah Law Dispute Goes to Court; Judge to Consider Arguments on Injunction of Ban in Okla

Shariah Is Incompatible with Liberty; Many Americans Still Don’t See the Threat of Islamic Law

Shariah’s Trojan Horse

Examining the Anti-Shariah Movement in America

Treasury Submits to Shariah

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Related articles

Muhammad’s Opinions Regarding Jesus (biblicalmissiology.org)
Nearly six centuries before the advent of Muhammad, the aged prophet Simeon took the baby Jesus in his arms and said, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35). As it was then, so it is today. Each person’s eternal destiny is linked to his or her response, and relationship to, Jesus.
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The “Muhammad against Jesus” position seemed the most likely option for Muhammad, yet he did not choose it. Muhammad considered ridding the world of idol worship to be a major component of his message. He was pained by the idolatry of his kinsmen in Mecca, which he rightly rebuked. He ultimately made associating partners (Arabic, shirk) with the one true God, Allah, as the unpardonable sin in Islam (Sura 4:116).

The Islamic State claims to be regulated in strict accordance with Koranic instruction, and to follow the example given by Mohammed. This is not some Looney Tunes “misinterpretation” of Islamic scriptures – those who support Islamic State provide an abundance of Koranic quotations, and references to the Sunnah (the Islamic record of Mohammed’s life).

On the other hand, some who call themselves Muslims believe that participation in ethnic cleansing, slaughter of prisoners and mass rape is not the most appropriate way to emulate Mohammed’s example. This interpretation of Islamic scriptures is less literal, more contextualised and more nuanced.

In the absence of a religious authority – an Islamic Pope – to define a “correct” interpretation, I find it difficult to concede that one form of behaviour is any more – or less – Islamic than the other.

What part of “Islamic State” don’t they understand? (my.telegraph.co.uk)
some who call themselves Muslims believe that participation in ethnic cleansing, slaughter of prisoners and mass rape is not the most appropriate way to emulate Mohammed’s example. This interpretation of Islamic scriptures is less literal, more contextualised and more nuanced.
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Those in the Middle East who wish to live under the Shariah (provided that this is the wish of the majority) are not the enemy. Those who wish to impose Islamic laws and customs upon non-Muslims are the enemy; and so are our elected leaders who pretend that this is somehow unconnected with Islamic belief.

On Islam, do we believe Obama or Muslim Ph.D.? (wnd.com)
Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes, with reference to Obama’s similar comment made earlier in September, explained that, “In making this preposterous claim, Obama joins his two immediate predecessors in pronouncing on what is not Islamic. Bill Clinton called the Taliban treatment of women and children ‘a terrible perversion of Islam.’ George W. Bush deemed that 9/11 and other acts of violence against innocents ‘violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith.’”

Jihad’s Secret Weapon Against America (frontpagemag.com)
Scholars such as Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller and Daniel Pipes have warned for years of the Muslim Brotherhood’s doctrine of immigration, or “al-hijra,” as the long-term strategy to transform America into a different type of society – one that subjugates all other religions under Islam.Now, another man has stepped up to sound the alarm. And his credentials make him hard to ignore.Dr. Mark Christian, an obstetrician and former Egyptian Muslim with direct family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, is talking a lot these days about “stealth jihad.” He says it’s the Brotherhood’s way of exploiting liberal immigration policies while working relentlessly through various Islamic front groups to pressure government, education and religious institutions to make concessions to Islam.
+According to the Pew Research study on the religious affiliation of immigrants, the number of Muslims entering the U.S. as a percentage of the total immigrant population has doubled over a recent 20-year period, going from 5 percent in 1992 to 10 percent in 2010.

While America’s overall Muslim population is only 0.8 percent according to Pew, 0.6 percent according to the CIA World Factbook, and up to 2 percent according to other sources, the European experience shows that Islam does not need anywhere near a majority of the population to begin influencing a country’s laws and culture.

The largest Muslim population in Europe resides in France, where the CIA World Factbook estimates 5 to 10 percent of that country’s overall population claims faith in Allah. Pew Research puts the figure just under 6 percent and projects that it will continually balloon to 7 percent by 2020, to 8.5 percent by 2030, and that by 2050, nearly a third of the nation’s people will identify as Muslim.

And the picture is not much different in other European countries. Germany’s Muslim population, mostly from Turkey, is estimated at 5 percent, Belgium 6 percent, Austria 5.7 percent, the Netherlands 5.5 percent, Sweden 4.9 percent and the U.K. 4.6 percent. Almost all of these countries will have Muslim populations of 10 percent or more within 20 years, based on current birthrate

UK Home Secretary: “ISIS Is Not Islamic; Their Actions Have Absolutely No Basis In Anything Written In The Koran” (thedaleygator.wordpress.com)
The terrorists who murdered David Haines like to call themselves the Islamic State. But I will tell you the truth: They are not Islamic. And they are not a state. Their actions have absolutely no basis in anything written in the Quran. What they believe has no resemblance whatsoever to the beliefs of more than a billion Muslims all over the world. And, like all the other Islamist terrorist organisations, they have caused the deaths of many thousands of innocent Muslim civilians. They occupy large parts of Syria and Iraq, and not only are they bringing death and destruction to the people of those countries, they have made absolutely clear their desire to attack Britain, America and the West.
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The Quran contains at least 109 verses that call Muslims to war with nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule. Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding. Muslims who do not join the fight are called ‘hypocrites’ and warned that Allah will send them to Hell if they do not join the slaughter.Unlike nearly all of the Old Testament verses of violence, the verses of violence in the Quran are mostly open-ended, meaning that they are not restrained by the historical context of the surrounding text. They are part of the eternal, unchanging word of Allah, and just as relevant or subjective as anything else in the Quran.The context of violent passages is more ambiguous than might be expected of a perfect book from a loving God, however this can work both ways. Most of today’s Muslims exercise a personal choice to interpret their holy book’s call to arms according to their own moral preconceptions about justifiable violence. Apologists cater to their preferences with tenuous arguments that gloss over historical fact and generally do not stand up to scrutiny. Still, it is important to note that the problem is not bad people, but bad ideology.

Unfortunately, there are very few verses of tolerance and peace to abrogate or even balance out the many that call for nonbelievers to be fought and subdued until they either accept humiliation, convert to Islam, or are killed. Muhammad’s own martial legacy – and that of his companions – along with the remarkable stress on violence found in the Quran have produced a trail of blood and tears across world history.

Anti-semitic ancient evil (conservativenewsandviews.com)
Anti-Semitic feeling was “in the air” throughout the Western world. William Shakespeare wrote the prize example in popular culture: his comedy The Merchant of Venice. Martin Luther was more serious: he openly blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus Christ. (In so doing, he forgot that Jesus Himself said, “No one takes my life; I lay it down.”) Even James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, succumbed to an anti-Semitic mind-set. He ended his Annals of the World by describing the Jewish Wars of A.D. 70-73. “This was the end of Jewish affairs,” he wrote.But what put anti-Semitic feeling into the air? For that we must turn to the Bible.

Ariel speaks with the voice of a spirit medium (jwdoctrine.com)
Isaiah foretold a dramatic change in spiritual’s Jerusalem’s earthly counterparts for the times ahead : “From the ground you will speak”(Isaiah 29:4) Like Jerusalem of Isaiah’s days had been accustomed to pride itself on its strength and immunity of Godly judgment similarly the Watchtower has elevated itself to the sole channel of communication with God but future events are sure to overtake them .They will be greatly humbled and subdued. Its loud and lofty tone will change to mere whisper. It would use the suppressed language of fear and alarm as if it spoke from the dust, or in a shrill small voice, like a spirit medium or a necromancer of the dead communicated in ancient Israel with the spirits.

From Transfiguration to Transhumanism: Taking Seriously Theology as … (ct.moreover.com)
theologians need to consider whether a “science of God” ultimately turns out to be anything other than science itself – or put more normatively, “science properly done.” In other words, as theologians try to fathom the mind of God, they are coming to terms with reality’s intelligibility, in the strict sense, which requires that we have minds that are designed not merely to make sense of our everyday environments (that is, the adaptive forms of intelligence that most “naturalistic” and “evolutionary” epistemologies try to explain) but more tellingly, the entire cosmos, the vast majority of which we have never empirically encountered, let alone inhabited. Of course, God would “always already” have access to the entirety of this extended realm. Theology’s task, then, put in today’s terms, is to “occupy God” – but that may mean abandoning conventional religion.

~~Defender of Faith~Guardian of Truth~~

by Sharia Watch

What is Shariah Law? To answer this question, one must understand that Shariah Law stems from the justification of the acts of physical and sexual violence of one man some 1400 years ago.

Mohammed proclaimed himself as the prophet of Allah, one of a pantheon of Gods worshipped in and around the Middle East at the time. It has been suggested that the pre-Islamic Allah was the Babylonian deity Ba’al, not the Hebrew Yahweh as suggested in the Quran. There is one huge difference between the Yahweh of Jewish and Christian literature and the Allah of Islamic literature; and that is that whilst Yahweh can and does defend his own holiness, Allah’s holiness (and therefore that of Mohammed’s) has to be avidly and violently defended by his followers.

According to Islam, Muhammad’s first revelation was the event in which Muhammad was visited by the Arch-angel Gabriel who…

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MegaChurch

Posted on 2014/04/23 by Guestspeaker

Please do fin also to read:

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Think About It – Why People Should Leave Mega Church Pastors Alone (justanotherdaysjourney.wordpress.com)
I follow a few so-called mega churches and their pastors. Usually if the pastor posts something there are always a few people on their timeline who are speaking against their ministries due to the size. I find it quite comical that these same people actually use the bible to justify their statements. If they really understood the bible it does not dictate the size of a congregation as we know them today but the bible has examples that prove that modern-day large churches are not new.
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I wish that they would focus on sharing the gospel with non-believers so that God’s “mega church” can grow for His glory.
Atheist ‘mega-churches’ undermine what atheism’s supposed to be about (theguardian.com)

A so-called godless church wants to establish more US congregations. These ‘places of worship’ come across as a joke
- - Sadhbh Walshe
  - theguardian.com, Friday 15 November 2013 12.45 GMT
  - Jump to comments (495)
Around 12,000 people in the Christian Fraternity of Guatemala evangelic mega-church near Guatemala City. Photograph: Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images

It’s not easy being an atheist. In a world that for centuries has been dominated (and divided by) religious affiliations, it’s sort of inevitable that the minority group who can’t get down with the God thing or who don’t subscribe to any particular belief system would find themselves marginalized. As children of no God, it seems that atheists are somehow seen as lesser – less charitable, that is, and more selfish, nihilistic, closed minded, negative and just generally unworthy. Now, however, a group of atheists are fighting back.
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The godless church concept is the brainchild of Pippa Evans and Sanderson Jones, two British comedians, who identified a gap in the faith market that so far non-believers are flocking to fill. The first Sunday Assembly (as the gatherings are being called) took place in a dilapidated church in London on a cold morning this past January. It went down a treat, apparently, and the movement has gained enough momentum in Britain that the comic duo have since embarked on a “40 dates, 40 nights” tour of the United States raising money to build US congregations so godless Americans can become churchgoers too.
Atheist Mega-Churches (New Fad) (leeduigon.com)
The “news media” this weekend–Fox, CBS, NBC– all featured reports of what they were calling “atheist mega-churches.” These are large gatherings, on a Sunday morning, of people who want all the church stuff but without belief in God.It was started by two British comedians. It’s awash in money. They get together and sing “Here Comes the Sun” and “Lean on Me.” I’m sure they sing “Imagine,” too, although that wasn’t mentioned in any of the news articles. Like, right there is ample reason to stay away.

The services feature music, sermons without God, and assorted feel-good-about-yourself activities.

I’m confused. How do you tell the difference between one of these “atheist mega-churches” and a regular mega-church? If it’s that hard for us to tell, will God trouble Himself to make a distinction?
Holiness and the Mega-Church (chosenrebel.me)
I once met a man who collected the names of former pastors who had destroyed their own ministry and marriages by sexual or financial misconduct or relational abuse of power. The inside cover of his Bible was nearly black with ink and he was about to start a new list on the back-inside cover.Recently, the news of a number of mega-church pastors stumbling into gross abuse of power, infidelity, and pornography has made national news. Some have taken this turn of events with hand-rubbing glee, as a chance to dump more scorn and abuse on the mega-church phenomenon or the pastors of all mega-churches, or the Church in general, or pastors as a group. Critics multiply like cockroaches.

Multiplying cockroaches may mean that there is a food source to feed on but it doesn’t mean cockroaches are paragons of virtue and wisdom.
The Problem With Mega Churches (brandonlorick.wordpress.com)
Since their inception, churches have served three main purposes, to Inform people of the Message of God, to offer a place of fellowship, and to help those in need. However as we look around today, we can tell that the church has not succeeded, as a whole, at these three tasks. Personally I do not believe that it is mere coincidence that the potentness of churches has weakened as satellite and mega churches have grown. Now don’t get me wrong, I do not hate satellite and mega churches, I know of ones who succeeded, greatly, at every one of those three tasks, I do however believe that satellite and mega churches are more susceptible to challenges facing todays churches.
Atheist Mega-Churches (socialworkingal.net)
In California, 400 atheists attend church in Los Angeles every Sunday. The theme of the assemblies are “Live Better, Help Often, Wonder More”, which are structured as spiritual meetings instead of religious ceremonies.There are so many unanswered questions and personal opinions about Atheism, but as Americans, we are allowed to congregate and worship whatever and whenever we want. Fundamentally, spirituality can be effective when facing or dealing with life circumstances, just as religion calls on a monolithic or in some cases, a pluralistic higher power.
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Do Atheist “Mega-Churches” create the same effect as Christian ones?
Mega-Churches: A Parable (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)
The kingdoms of the mega-churches can be likened to obese men sitting at table. They look around at all the bounty spread before them and they say to themselves: I know what’s best for me and what I desire, so I will fill my belly to the full and luxuriate in my immenseness. Meanwhile, around them at the table are the small and underfed and yet because their interest is only in themselves, they don’t see them nor consider them.’
We aren’t losing people because of worship. We’re losing them because we’re hypocrites. (kathleenbasi.com)
There’s a blog post making the rounds right now about the dismal record of churches, both mega- and traditional, to retain their youth into adulthood. The author and all the commenters have their pet theories about why this is–the age-old argument between “worship isn’t relevant” (i.e. it’s too traditional) and “the worship is too contemporary” (i.e. it’s too contemporary) seem to be the focus of discussion.Although I’m a liturgist, and I have impassioned opinions on the question of musical style in worship, I actually don’t believe the style of worship has all that much to do with this question at all.
We are losing the youth–and everyone else who’s leaving organized religion–because they think it’s a bunch of B.S. A conspiracy made to pacify the ignorant and keep the masses in line. And why do they think this?

Because we call ourselves Christians, and we don’t act like Christ.
Church of Flying Spaghetti Monster to become recognized religion, in Poland (newsfixnow.com)
Just when you think you’ve heard it all; you find out that somewhere in the world you can actually worship…pasta.Believe it or not, in Poland, a court ruled that the “Pastafarians” can now apply to register as an official religion.They’re known as the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Three Reasons Why America’s Protestant Mega-Churches Will Turn Contemplative (or Go Extinct by 2017) (contemplativechristians.com)
In 2017 the Protestant Reformation will be “officially” 500 years old, and what do we show for it? Behold, the American Mega Church! A bloated pimple rising up from the greasy adolescent face of American frontier religion.

Since then, much of American Protestant Christianity has morphed into a corporate conglomerate of consumer-capitalistic religion – a multi-faceted industry of books, movies, music, conferences and seminars. Looking back at the sweep of Christianity’s twists and turns, it appears that whatever good may have sprung out of the Reformation’s Pandora’s Box, that good now seems smothered over.

In short, it’s time for the next octave of Christianity to emerge into its full resonance.
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Unfortunately, the mega church culture has adopted the cultural values of distraction, activity, entertainment, busyness and noise. High energy religious entertainment with multi-media, richly produced worship events will reach a saturation point as the law of diminishing returns runs straight into the demand for more intense adrenaline worship-highs. There is a ceiling to the seduction and hitting it will come at a significant price. Case in point: observe the buildings. We build our buildings and our buildings build us. And what kind of buildings do the mega churches build – they build entertainment temples, stadiums to the electric Spirit with lights, screens and shopping mall amenities – all to keep the masses engaged. Seduction by the senses is the oldest game in the book. Soon, though, mega churches won’t be able to seduce the masses by the senses because the senses will be numbed by over stimulation, withering on the inside from malnutrition, craving the one thing the big box multi site entertainment temples can’t and won’t provide yet – silence and solitude. But they will. They will have to. Silence and solitude are the “next big thing” for humankind.

Words to inspire and to give wisdom

Posted on 2014/03/28 by Marcus Ampe

On the net we can find lots of words. They may have been written to inform us or to tell us stories. Lots of things are said on the internet. It is a world full of fantasies and full of things to bring people away from the truth.

Though in the wood of writings we are able to find also very interesting writings. Those we should use and not let them lay untouched. On this site we also want to offer words people could use to continue their life, perhaps in an other way. We do want to give inspiration and we would love to get people to think and reason.

The Aleppo Codex is a medieval manuscript of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), associated with Rabbi Aaron Ben Asher. The Masoretic scholars wrote it in the early 10th century, probably in Tiberias, Israel. It is in book form and contains the vowel points and grammar points (nikkudot) that specify the pronunciation of the ancient Hebrew letters to preserve the chanting tradition. It is perhaps the most historically important Hebrew manuscript in existence. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Those who believe in God and follow the Bible do know the importance of taking words at heart. They know that they should consider all things said. We have been instructed to search everything this world offers. For that reason we also do want to present on this site different ideas, even those which are not according to what we ourselves think. But we want to give “food for thought”.

A very wise man from the past said “Get insight” and talked a lot about how wisdom can also be something we can earn by doing our best to think and to listen to words and by using our words in the right way. “Laying hold” on words which can enrich us and give us wisdom. And that wisdom is a principal thing. Therefore we should try to acquire wisdom. Only by trying to use our brains to search everything we shall be able to get true knowledge, and with all our acquiring, get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7) Today lots of people are more interested to gain material wealth, but the spiritual wealth is so much more important.

“How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! Yea, to get understanding is rather to be chosen than silver.” (Proverbs 16:16 ASV)

Not only do we have the words which comes from people on this earth. We also do have words which comes from a Spirit, above this earth. That Spirit of Jehovah spoke by several people in the past, and His Word was upon many their tongue. (2 Samuel 23:2)

When we grow older we all can speak from our experience. Our parents and educators taught us many things and tried to give us wisdom. It was not by only presenting the pleasant ways and by spoiling us that they let us grow up and learn the necessary things. They made us bear the yoke in our youth, and now we should live to thank them for it.

There is a great temptation to spoil our only child or those we kindly love, a temptation which few are able to resist. Parents can deny themselves everything for their idol, except the pleasure of making the child a despot; they can endure any pain for their despot, except the pain of resisting him and instructing him. And accordingly they have sometimes to experience the shame and anguish of their children’s curses.

Good parents and educators are not those who spoil their children, but who are standing ready to help the children to grow up and to get more wisdom. It are those who want to share their wisdom with others and who want to tell them the tricky things and warn them for the dangers. It are not those who overprotect their children, but those who learn them where dangers looks around the corner. It are those who owes much to their parents and their previous educators, and give them honour. It are those who are eager to acknowledge what they owe.

God has no kinder gift to give us than a hallowed home, the memory of lessons from the lips of father and mother, the early impressions of virtue and wisdom, the sacred streams which rise from that fountainhead, and that alone, and run freshening and singing and broadening all through our lives. (Expositor Bible)

We learn to love, not because we are taught to love, but by some contagious influence of example or by some indescribable attraction of beauty. To come to the greater love we should get to know the Most Precious Giver of Love. He has given the most important Words which can give us the most important “Wisdom”. Those words written down in many books, a set apart or holy Library or Biblia of books we all can find in the bookshop and should get in on our bookshelf at home.

Words have a power all their own (Photo credit: Lynne Hand)

We should give ourselves to those Words of Wisdom, presented in the Bible or Holy Scriptures. We should offer ourselves to be willing to allow the Words of the Bible mould ourselves by heavenly wisdom, so that we shall be able to walk securely. Those Words shall enable us to look at matters of this world with the right eyes. They will give a certain trend to all our thoughts. A certain instinctive desire for righteousness will be engrafted in our nature; and an instinctive aversion will lead us to decline the way of the wicked. (Proverbs 4:14 )

Those Words shall help us to give ourselves, our children, and to those around us, an atmosphere to grow up in; to cultivate their affections, and set their hearts on the things eternal; to make them associate the ideas of wealth and honour, of beauty and glory, not with material possessions, but with the treasures and rewards of Wisdom.

Those who have become grown ups, should know that they still should feel and have the spirit of the child in them, eager to learn. We should keep the attitude of children in us.

First of all we should listen to God His Words. As we read God’s word we must have a child-like attitude to “hear” and then “accept” (the) words” we read and then “we will have treasure in heaven” Jesus told a ruler, adding, “and come,follow me.” [v.18,22] The very last chapter in the Bible, the final message of Jesus, tells us that, when Jesus returns, this treasure will be revealed, for I will be “bringing my reward (or recompense)with me to repay everyone for what he has done” (Revelation 22:12) {Bible Reading Thoughts for March 26th, Hear … Accept my words}

We“hear” by reading what God has caused to be written preserved and translated – the challenge to all of us is to read and then “accept” into our hearts what we read, so that they become a real influence on the principles by which we guide our lives..

Solomon writes (Proverbs ch. 4) “Let your heart hold fast my words” – this is the vital next stage after we accept them. The first verse tells us that these are “a father’s instruction” on what the acceptance of his words should lead to – “Keep my commandments and live” [v.4] “and whatever you get, get insight” [v.7] We must develop inward vision so that we can reflect on what we have accepted, comparing scripture with scripture so that our understanding becomes increasingly greater.

After saying, “Get insight” Solomon adds, “Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honour you, if you embrace her. She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown” [v.8,9] ” {Bible Reading Thoughts for March 26th, Hear … Accept my words}

We should know how important it is to keep learning, to keep advancing in thought. As a tree tries to get all the ‘juice of live giving water’ we should know where or Whom is the right Source.

Wisdom is a tree of life to those who lay hold upon her. ”Lay hold” lit means to be strong, to hold fast, and when we consider the tree of life looking forward to eternal life, our minds are taken to Paul’s words, which show this being strong is not passive but active: {Bible Reading Thoughts for March 26th, Hear … Accept my words}

“Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal, whereunto thou wast called, and didst confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:12 ASV)

We all have to run hard and fast in this world but even better in the faith. We better seize the eternal life, the life we were called to, the life we so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. We should be running after one that’s gold eternally. (1 Corinthians 9:25) taking the Words of the Supreme Being at heart we should become fearless in our struggle, holding faith and a good conscience. We should lay hold on that for which also we were laid hold on by Christ Jesus, laying up in store for ourselves a good foundation against the time to come, that we may lay hold on the life which is “life” indeed. (Philippians 3:12; 1 Timothy 6:19)

We all should better listen to Solomon and other wise men who wrote in the Book of books. Solomon goes on to write advice to his son,

“Hear, my son, accept my words, that the years of your life may be many. I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble. Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her; for she is your life” (Proverbs 4:10-13).

But Solomon’s son Rehoboam, did not listen so as to remember his father’s words, they did not stay in his heart and we read of the tragedy of his lack of wisdom when he succeeded his father in 2 Chronicles 10:8-13 in rejecting wise counsel. This is reflected in Proverbs 1:25,26

“because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you …”.

We see these words as also having a final application in our days as the whole world ignores God’s counsel, despite his word being available in every language! {Today’s thought “My father … he taught me” (March 26)}

Solomon writes in chapter 15,

“3 The eyes of Jehovah are in every place, Keeping watch upon the evil and the good. 4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life; But perverseness therein is a breaking of the spirit. 5 A fool despiseth his father’s correction; But he that regardeth reproof getteth prudence.” (Proverbs 15:3-5 ASV)

Let us heed God’s word!

Words of the Most High. – Page of a rare black-letter Bible, 1497, printed in Strasbourg by Johann Grüninger. The coloured chapter initials were handwritten after printing (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Title page to the ASV (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Devotional on Proverbs 8 (Wisdom) (365devotionals.wordpress.com)
Wisdom is talked about many times in the bible but today we don’t really honour or celebrate wisdom so much. Rather the people who have the most power, most money, who are the most beautiful and talented are celebrated and honoured.Rather than seeking wisdom many seek riches and i also seek and desire riches more than wisdom sometimes. It is constantly in my face, through advertisement and just living in the world in general. But wisdom has this to say “I love all who love me. Those who search for me will surely find me.”
Several quotes about wisdom. (closetoeighty.wordpress.com)
The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. ~Isaac Asimov
Secrets of Wisdom (peterdavid28.wordpress.com)
Secrets of wisdom have been collected and preserved for you. Solomon, the rich and wise king of Israel, son of beloved David, will teach you to be great in the sight of God and men (Pr 3:1-4; 10:1; 25:1).You stand before an open door of knowledge, prudence, honor, riches, and life, among many other blessings. These are not the mere words of a pagan thinker, whose sayings have long ago been proven false. These are the inspired words of God as learned, proven, and written down by the world’s greatest analyst and philosopher (Eccl 1:12-18; 2:1-12).
March 27: Wisdom= Generosity (pastorpekari.wordpress.com)
Want to know how you’ll use a billion (with a b) dollars? Just take a look at how you use $100, and you’ll know.
Wisdom: Cue Sound Effects! (pastorpekari.wordpress.com)
We usually think of wisdom connected to the mind, but a reading of wisdom literature in the Bible shows that wisdom might not be as much about getting the right answer as it is about living the right way at the right time.
Wisdom by A Schoonbee (christianmotivations.weebly.com)
The bible says that those who walk in wisdom will be successful and live long lives. they will be happy and be blessed. See Proverbs 3:1-18
Wisdom From Above (theresaboudreau.wordpress.com)
Life is a journey that can be difficult at times, as you try to navigate your next steps. In some cases, there are no black & white solutions to your problems or straightforward answers to your questions. You may travel hard roads and encounter gray and foggy days on your venture. What you need is wisdom from above to make the choices and decisions that will ultimately move you forward in the right direction. Wisdom from above is wisdom that can only come from God in Heaven.
Thursday Thoughts: Pattern of a Wise Woman (keeponswimmingblog.wordpress.com)
The Proverbs 31 woman is one example of a woman who feared the Lord and applied that wisdom in everyday life. Just as with many examples, we can learn from them without feeling the pressure to conform to every practical application of the wisdom principles behind each application. Clearly some applications, like her speech being characterized by kindness, is echoed in the New Testament as descriptors of a believer in Jesus Christ.
The Value of Wisdom (2-23-2014) (worshipwithheart.wordpress.com)
Solomon asks for wisdom. Even God acknowledged to Solomon how rare it was for such a request. Would I have made such a request? Or would have I asked for the other things God named that most people would ask for? (Possessions, wealth, honor, a long life.)
A Fool (inspirationalchristiansfortoday.com)
A fool is a person lacking wisdom and common sense. They act imprudently and are easily tricked or deceived. If you wish to avoid the label of simpleton, dunce, blockhead, or imbecile I encourage you to seek out and find someone wise and sit at his or her feet for a while. Soak in their knowledge and try to apply it to your life.

King Solomon had many faults but he did appreciate the value of wisdom and understanding. He had the common sense to ask God for wisdom in order to lead the children of Israel. God blessed this son of King David with a wisdom so great it was known around the world. A fool leading a nation is dangerous and both King Solomon and God wanted a wise and competent ruler.

Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26

Posted on 2014/03/18 by Christadelphians

The world has an abundance of religious groups. Lots of religions try to get people to their faith. Many of those religions also have plenty denominations and subdivisions.

In it all stand each individual who has to make his own choice, whom to follow, what to choose for. We can only hope they will find ways to improve their life and that they will find people in this world who want to show them the light to a better world. Those who believe in the offer and resurrection of the man sent by the Most High, who invites everybody to come to Him and to be a child of Him.

That those who believe in the Messiah shall find each other and shall accept each other as a brother and a sister, always prepared to stand in for each other, helping each-other to grow to become set apart (holy), and to make the goal to the Kingdom of God.

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Please do read also:

Fixing our attention

Breathing and growing with no heir

Fearing the right person

Not words of any organisation should bind you, but the Word of God

Priority to form a loving brotherhood

Parts of the body of Christ

What part of the Body am I?

The Christ, the anointed of God

What Jesus did: First things first

Our relationship with God, Jesus and each other

Disciple of Christ counting lives and friends dear to them

Followers with deepening

Follower of Jesus part of a cult or a Christian

Being Christian, following Jesus Christ

The Church, Body of Christ and remnant Israel synonymous

How we think shows through in how we act

Act as if everything you think, say and do determines your entire life

People should know what you stand for

Remember that who you’re being is just as important as what you’re doing

Quibbling siblings united or allied children of an organisation or a church

Helping eachother

Encouraging one another

Are you being swept along by the world

Let us not forget it was God who chose us

To whom do we want to be enslaved

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Additional literature:

Related articles

Are you a child of God? (don1tungate.wordpress.com)Do you count yourself among the weak, take heart for you are God’s child and the strong more mature follower of God is no more God’s child than you are!!!The prodigal was weak but became strong when he humbled himself and returned to the father and the brother was strong but self centered seeking his father’s possessions for himself which made him weak but the Father says to him in Luke 15:31

Placed Into Christ (inspirationalchristiansfortoday.com)
What happened to the old you at salvation? You died–not the physical you, of course, but that old inner self which was empowered by the old nature you inherited from Adam (Romans 6:2-6; Colossians 3:3). What was the method of execution? Crucifixion with Christ. Paul announced in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ.” And in Galatians 6:14, Paul disclaimed any right to boast “except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” At salvation you were placed into Christ, the one who died on the cross for your sin. Being in Christ, your old self died with Him there.

Death of the Old Self (inspirationalchristiansfortoday.com)
Thanks to the incredible redemptive work of Christ in your life, your old self has been replaced by a new self, governed by a new nature, which was not there before (2 Corinthians 5:17). Your old self was destroyed in the death of Christ and your new self sprang to life in the resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:20-22). The new life which characterizes your new self is nothing less than the life of Jesus Christ implanted in you (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:4).

Ye Are All One in Christ Jesus (loopyloo305.com)
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

All One (proverbs31teen.wordpress.com)
If you have accepted Jesus into your heart, you are a child of God. You are one of God’s children!!! Isn’t that amazing? God values you, just as he would a birth child. Sure, you’re adopted, but you were chosen. You are a chosen child of God! Isn’t it awesome to know that you are God’s kid, and that he picked you?

Confusion in Christiandom (colman583.wordpress.com)
The Book of Romans teaches precisely how God saves sinners. This Book is God’s great explanation of how salvation was accomplished.

Encouraging the Encourager: Cast Your Net One More Time (encouragementforeveryday.wordpress.com)
Sometimes as Christians, as ministers, as bloggers, and as witnesses for Christ we find ourselves a little discouraged and a little lost. When we read this part of scripture Wednesday night I thought about all the times that we witness for the Lord. As bloggers, how many times do we write about God’s love and get no response? As pastors, how many times do we stand in the pulpit and preach only to see no one at the altar. As fellow Christians, how many times do we witness for Christ, only to be laughed at or tuned out. We feel just as these disciples did that day. We fish all night and come up with empty nets.

A Fair Show Lookin Good For Jesus (mikemanuelblog.wordpress.com)
It is interesting that many churches embrace the gift of righteousness that comes through grace by faith in what was accomplished at the cross. Then, minimize the power of that same grace by stepping in with a list of handpicked, justifiable, works harvested from the Law.

Worthy of Jesus (thoughtforthedaydenny.wordpress.com)
How quickly we can forget our purpose in life. Words like these are often put on the back burner of our lives. But how can we when Jesus makes it so clear that if we don’t daily follow Jesus with our total existence that we are not worthy of Him.
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Jesus calls us to do the hard and dirty work even to the end. If any are setting on the sidelines waiting until things get better before you pick up that cross, let me once again remind you of Jesus words, “Anyone who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.”

Are You Walking in the Spirit or in the Flesh? (soldiersofchristenduringhardness.wordpress.com)“Christians are new creatures in Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. They have been born again to new life and are to walk according to the spirit, not according to the flesh (Romans 6:4; Galatians 5:16). From the moment of salvation, Christians are in the process of sanctification, in which they have many opportunities to grow in faith and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sanctification involves the whole person, through the spirit, which is the deepest and most significant element of one’s existence.”- Martin and Deidre Bobgan

HE STILL SPEAKS!

The fatherhood of God is common to all his children. Ah! Little-faith, you have often said, “Oh that I had the courage of Great-heart, that I could wield his sword and be as valiant as he! But, alas, I stumble at every straw, and a shadow makes me afraid.” List thee, Little-faith. Great-heart is God’s child, and you are God’s child too; and Great-heart is not one whit more God’s child than you are. Peter and Paul, the highly- favoured apostles, were of the family of the Most High; and so are you also; the weak Christian is as much a child of God as the strong one.

“This cov’nant stands secure,

Though earth’s old pillars bow;

The strong, the feeble, and the weak,

Are one in Jesus now.”

All the names are in the same family register. One may have more grace than another, but God our heavenly Father…

View original post 163 more words

People Seeking for God 3 Laws and directions

Posted on 2014/01/24 by Christadelphians

As Byron ‘FLi’ Walker writes in Why We Need God most people looking for answers in their life find no deep or lasting fulfilment in their commitment to their leisure time to nature, art, music, and so on. He reminds us that humans have an inborn spiritual yearning which comes as no surprise to Bible readers. Those who regularly read the Bible have encountered enough places in those Scriptures where signs are given why and how we are to find ourselves in this world. In the Book of books, the Bible or Holy Scriptures it is written how Jehovah God, the Creator of heaven and earth, although His creation turned against Him, still wants to have a good relationship with them.

From the moment we do come on this earth we do feel the need to be connected with someone else and to have communication with those around us. also with the first humans there was already a communication going on with their Maker. God spoke with them regularly, allowing them to establish a spiritual relationship with Him. (Genesis 3:8-10) Children do have the need to speak with their parents. We do have our earthly parents but also an heavenly Father. As Creator of the universe, giving us life, placing us in His creation, He did not design us to live independently of Him. Made in the image of God, we also do have feelings but also needs. Like the Creator wanted to communicate with His creation we also do have a need to communicate with our Maker. The Bible refers to this need frequently.

Bible Study 2 (Photo credit: DrGBB)

We who want to live ‘godly lives’ can actually be deceiving ourselves into thinking that we are doing all the right things. Those who have found God already also may think they love God and may think that they are serving Him. But when they love Him, do they have a good relation with Him and do they communicate often with Him? Lots of people may think because they go to mass every Sunday they have done their bit of religiousness. They should know there is more to it than just attending all the functions on Sundays and midweek. What we love is revealed by what we find time to do in our daily life. By our very actions we tell God how much we love Him. We may be fooling ourselves. How much time do we spend thinking about God, reading His Word, caring for others and doing things just to please Him? When we have free time, what do we do with it? Do we turn to Bible reading and study, or do we turn to diversions such as computer activities, entertainment, or hobbies? When we say we do love God, Who do we want to take as our God? Those who are looking for some Special Being behind everything around us, are they willing to open their mind to the different ideas? Are they and we, willing to take in more research and knowledge, to have us spiritually growing? And in which we do we want to be connected to whom? When we look at the Old Testament we can find the importance placed on One Supreme Being but also on the hope for two things, one a man who is going to bring salvation and secondly a reign which shall be governed at first by that man. He will become at first the messenger of God bringing the Good News. He would suffer and find his life come to an end but than he would be taken out of the dead by God and made a mediator between God and man, restoring the broken relationship with the Creator. Therefore when we look for God we also should look for that one man who is called the restorer of faith and has taken in the place at the right hand of God to be the mediator between man and God. Clearly, that means it is somebody else than God. Meaning we have to find that person also to be able to speak with him or to ask things in his name to the One Who is called the Most High. The promised Saviour is Jeshua from the tribe of King David, better know today as Jesus Christ. When we do find him or get to know him, he can lead us to his Father, Who is the Most High Elohim Hashem Jehovah, the God of gods and all things. When we are prepared to become a disciple of Christ we can listen to his teachings and take them at heart. He made so many things clear, that we have made it so much easier to understand when we listen to his teachings. Jesus also told his followers to continually seek to increase in knowledge and understanding. From him we got to know that this search in his Father’s Words is essential to get to know his Father fully well. Without taking the Words of Jesus his Father at heart it shall be impossible to find God. God’s Truth invites … indeed, it welcomes … investigation, we said already in the previous chapter. So when encountering a different view, we should seize the opportunity at least to understand the evidence provided. We can always learn something, and if we’re wise, we may need to adjust our own views accordingly.

On August 25, 325, the Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical debate held by the early Christian church, concluded with the establishment of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Convened by Roman Emperor Constantine I in May, the council also deemed the Arian belief of Christ as inferior to God as heretical, thus resolving an early church crisis. From that time onwards the church went astray and even more different teachings saw light, confusing lots of people. This event early in Christendom brought darkness in the eyes of the people. It made them going further away from God. It took also the people away from seeing the truth of the man of flesh and bones, who said to his disciples he was not a spirit. Those disciples knew very well that God is Spirit and can not be seen by man or they would die. They knew they had seen Jesus. Some even had seen a dove and heard the voice from above, in heaven, saying that this man was His (God’s) beloved son.

In the 4th century men tried to get people far away form that idea of a man being able to follow God, not doing his own will but only the Will of God. They wanted and still want to have people believe that it is impossible for any human being to love God so much that they would like to do only His will and not theirs. Hearing of such impossibility that also has taken lots of people of their hope to become like Christ and to do the Will of God. We only can say the Roman emperor succeeded partly in what he wanted to get, having people adhering to the world more than to the Law of God.

The Arians and all those who preferred to believe in the One True and Only One God Who is One, were persecuted for their belief that Jesus is not coequal with his Father. All Christians were forced to believe that Jesus is not inferior to God or be considered heretics. Many found their life being ended at the stake or tortured until they stopped breathing and lost their life. Even in our age of tolerance today, those who reject the divinity of Christ are considered to be non-Christians by mainstream Christendom. Though in Christianity, through the times there have always been serious lovers of God who kept studying the Torah, the Old and the New Testament books of what is considered to be the canonic Bible today.

From the 4th century onwards a fog-curtain was pulled down by which a person who said “I am” was considered to be God. Those who were called “Jesus,” “Joshua,” “Chesu, “Jezus“, “Yashua” had to be God, this meaning that in the time when Jeshua te Nazarene was preaching, the other Jesus who was taught of to be the Messiah because he revolted against the Romans, there were and there are still many gods walking on this earth who should also be the God. This is naturally impossible and is no good way to look for The True God. In case people do want to find the True One and Only One God they should take away such false teachings or prescriptions. They should have to take the Words of the Bible, like they are written, black on white, without any dogmatic background teachings.

As long as people keep continue to hold fast on those dogmatic teachings of the many churches which came into existence after the Roman Catholic Church every time expelled those who did not agree with their power, it would be not easy to see through the fog. To find clarity we do have to believe God wants us to find Him and that He does not make it especially difficult, so that only theologians could find him. The Divine Creator took care that every body = all human beings, could come to know Him Who is responsible for their being. He is the Most High Elohim, the most powerful Authority, who has given mankind the most reliable set of unchanging guidelines, the Book of instructions, wisdom and answer to life’s question. The World shall not be able to find any book more reliable than this Book of books, which is the infallible Holy Word of God – The Bible! In the Bible humankind receives all the guidelines, the directions and laws they need at the time given. Certain things changed because the time and the people had changed. When we look at all the prophecies we also can notice some did not come into accomplishment. But we may be sure that like the previous prophecies became reality, the ones still to come, like World War III or Armageddon, the End-times, another thousand years after the Big Battle, shall happen when God considers it time to happen. Whatever shall happen, God did not want His people to stand in the cold and He assured them of a better time to come.

Those who are willing to believe in the One God and look forward to the return of His son, may find peace in the hope God has given the world. In the mean time people will have to come to know Who God is, what His Will is, what His Laws are and why we better keep to the Law of God, instead of trying to make better laws than Him. When we are willing to follow His directions and to listen to His Voice we shall get to know Him better. By keeping to His Law we also shall be able to make a safer life and a better way to live for our selves and for those around us.

Michelle Yee and many others know they can be a beloved daughter or son of the Most High King, when she writes:

It may not always be easy reading, understanding and interpreting it, but if you are diligent enough to read it than pray for wisdom to understand it, the revelation would come to you sooner or later. Either God will reveal it to you personally in spirit, or he will teach you through life experience, or perhaps God will reveal it to you through your pastor or someone else…. If you desire to seek God, you shall find him, if you seek him with all your heart… Seek him in prayer and seek in His word, eventually you’ll find Him… {Jeremiah 29:12}”

(11) ‘For I know the plans I am planning for you,’ declares יהוה {Jehovah}, ‘plans of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and an expectancy. (12) ‘Then you shall call on Me, and shall come and pray to Me, and I shall listen to you. (13) ‘And you shall seek Me, and shall find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart1. Footnote: 1Dt. 4:29, Joel 2:12. (14) ‘And I shall be found by you,’ declares יהוה {Jehovah}, ‘and I shall turn back your captivity, and shall gather you from all the gentiles and from all the places where I have driven you, declares יהוה {Jehovah}. And I shall bring you back to the place from which I have exiled you.’” (Jeremiah 29:11-14 The Scriptures 1998+)

From here we should go out and seek the Most High, Creator of all things, who we want to have as our Only One God. We do not need pictures or statues, special buildings or constructions to remind us of Him or to find Him. Those who are willing to look for Him, God shall be willing to let Him be found by them. We do have to look for Him. We do have to search after Him, with all our heart and with all our soul (= our whole being). We should not let us be frightened by those who mock at us or by those who laugh with us. When others who joke with us bring us in oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days we shall be able to come in front of our God, and listen to His Voice. Looking for God may be like looking for a treasure. And the treasure hunt map God has provided in the Bible.

Today we may already be sure that He is a merciful God Who does us want to know Him and not want to fail us, neither destroy us, nor forget the covenant of our forefathers which He swore to them. For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been anything as this great thing is, or has been heard like it?

” (29) “But from there you shall seek יהוה {Jehovah} your Elohim, and shall find, when you search for Him with all your heart1 and with all your being. Footnote: 1Jer. 29:13. (30) “In your distress, when all these words shall come upon you in the latter days, then you shall return to יהוה {Jehovah} your Elohim and shall obey His voice. (31) “For יהוה {Jehovah} your Elohim is a compassionate ?l, He does not forsake you, nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.” (Deuteronomy 4:29-31 The Scriptures 1998+)

Preceding articles:

Finding God amid all the religious externals

Seeing or not seeing and willingness to find God

People Seeking for God 1 Looking for answers

People Seeking for God 2 Human interpretations

To be continued:

People Seeking for God 4 Biblical terms

People Seeking for God 5 Bread of life

People Seeking for God 6 Strategy

Please find also to read:

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Additional reading:

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Friday Devotional: Check Your Spirit (divinefaithfulness.wordpress.com)
Living in complacency is not where God has called us to live. I sure have camped out there more times than I care to admit, though. Thinking that I didn’t need to go to church because I simply didn’t need to, saying that I loved God was good enough. Thinking that I didn’t need friends who loved God, that my old friends were just fine because they weren’t going to challenge me to live differently. Living in sin because, God will just forgive me anyway. Like it was all just no big deal. Ever been there, too?
A Sermon: Reading the Bible Together (davidswanson.wordpress.com)
As a church we say that, “We desire to listen and submit to the Scripture, God’s revealed Word for His beloved children.” There are at least two important assumptions within this statement. The first is that God reveals himself through the Bible. God, being God, is so different from us that anything we know about God must be revealed by God. And though we don’t believe God has showed us everything about himself, as Christians we believe he has revealed enough for us to know him and experience his love and salvation. He has done this most importantly through his son.
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It’s one thing to acknowledge the Holy Spirit’s role in the Bible’s writing and even our understanding. But when it comes to applying – to submitting – we act as though this is up to us, on our shoulders. But it’s not and this is why even a hard word – submit – a word few of us like, is a good word. For it is God who gives us the wisdom, strength, and stamina to live new and better lives in response to the Bible.
Real Truth never changes….. (wepresson.wordpress.com)
In a world that seeks change there are some things that never change and
it’s a good thing they don’t. Yes, there are absolute truths we can count on. The key is
that they can only come from a Source that cannot be in error. Did you catch that?
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And God promises to protect it down through the ages so that everyone has a chance to hear His truths and trust in His Son, our Savior, Jesus.
Advice from someone who knows. (commutewithchrist.com)
We usually seek advice from people who have been in a similar situation or have knowledge of something that we don’t. But how often so we seek it from God? He’s written an entire book on how to live our lives. The Bible. It’s quite incredible that not many people seek it out given that in some shape or form it can give us direction and advice on everything we face in this life. It may not be the advice or guidance we want to hear but it’s in there. Work, relationships and money. These are the topics in our lives that we spend the most time thinking and worrying about.
The Word of God is perfect! (jooch1986.wordpress.com)
all men have no excuse for not knowing Him or seeking Him.
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Many people see the Scriptures as burdensome and full of rules. Of course it will appear this way to those who do not know God and do not understand that His “yoke is easy and [His] burden is light (Matt. 11:30). But really, the Word of God, or just decrees or whatever you want to call them are “more to be desired…than…even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey” (v. 10). These are the words that show us the Way to eternal life with the perfect Creator of the universe who is all good, and in whom “there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).
Intellectual Discipleship? Faithful Thinking for Faithful Living (pjcockrell.wordpress.com)
The biblical master narrative serves as a framework for the cognitive principles that allow the formation of an authentically Christian worldview. Many Christians rush to develop what they will call a “Christian worldview” by arranging isolated Christian truths, doctrines, and convictions in order to create formulas for Christian thinking.
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A God-centered worldview brings every issue, question, and cultural concern into submission to all that the Bible reveals, and it frames all understanding within the ultimate purpose of bringing greater glory to God. This task of bringing every thought captive to Christ requires more than episodic Christian thinking and is to be understood as the task of the church, and not merely the concern of individual believers. The recovery of the Christian mind and the development of a comprehensive Christian worldview will require the deepest theological reflection, the most consecrated application of scholarship, the most sensitive commitment to compassion, and the courage to face all questions without fear.
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Christian faithfulness requires the conscious development of a worldview that begins and ends with God at its center. We are only able to think as Christians because we belong to Christ; and the Christian worldview is, in the end, nothing more than seeking to think as Christ would have us to think, in order to be who Christ would call us to be.
Communication with our Father (eviej13.wordpress.com)
The ability to communicate is often taken for granted and we just expect people to know what we want from them. Although God Does know what we want from Him, there is still nothing more important than our communication with Him.
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Reading the Bible can help us sort through all the craziness to see what’s really important. It can bring about peace in our lives rather than allowing us to wallow in our confusion.
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Nothing should become more important than getting into the Word and the Word into us. We will suffer the spiritual consequences of not feeding on the Word of God as we would suffer the physical consequences of not having a regular meal.
Psalm 78 as a Microcosm of the Bible (blogforthelordjesuschristianleaders.wordpress.com)
Psalm 78 is a microcosm of the entire Bible in that it was written in ancient times, chronicling the works of the Lord in the face of the faithlessness of man, that all succeeding generations might learn from this written record that God is good and that there reward in obeying Him.
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A Nonchurchgoer’s Guide to Jesus and His Kingdom.
What is the Bible and what are we supposed to do with it? (theway21stcentury.wordpress.com)
Christians often use terms like inerrant, infallible, authoritative and inspired, but not all of these are Biblical terms, and not all of them represent clear Biblical concepts. We should be willing to modify or deepen our understanding based on the best in information we have.
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Most christians belief that Jesus was (and is) God incarnate (i.e. in a human body), and that he was at once fully God and fully human. Enns suggests we perhaps should also consider the Bible as both a human and divine document, in that it is fully grounded in the language, culture and thought forms of its day, yet it is also God’s means of revealing himself to the world.But instead of presuming we know how ‘God’s word’ ought to be, we should study and learn how it actually is …. and so learn more about God’s character.
The Greatest Gift: A Defense (triggermanblog.wordpress.com)
Probably the greatest gift that I have ever received, from anyone, was the first Bible I was old enough to read.
Oh, I was given story bibles with those smiling pictures and happy tales of when God did great things for those men, and women, of old. But I always knew that I wasn’t getting the whole picture, it was like I was getting spoon-fed some rhetoric, choice tales about God being my “buddy”if I would just put on a smile and believe. So, when I finally got my first “real” Bible, I was excited to be able to get to the real story, not the smiling faces and happy tales that were glossy and inspiring to me as a happy child, I wanted something more to understand the psychology of this God who was recorded as doing these great things.

Points to remember of philosophy versus spirituality and religion

Posted on 2014/01/08 by Bijbelvorsers

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Philosophy does open your mind,
but not to an imaginary evil gremlin whose ultimate goal is to enslave humanity.
It simply opens the mind to new ideas and not being close minded.
Some may say I’m just another typical example of how the devil can take possession of people
through exposure to worldly things.
The truth is if you shelter your kids from ‘the real world’
they are going to wonder what you are keeping from them
and many will run at the first chance they get.
If philosophy, being the love of knowledge by definition, is so evil, then
what are you saying by telling people to stay away from it?
There is a word to describe the rejection of knowledge;
it is called ignorance.

From The Truth About Sheltering Your Kids: Jonathan Farris’ Story

Preceding articles:

Being Religious and Spiritual 1 Immateriality and Spiritual experience

Being Religious and Spiritual 2 Religiosity and spiritual life

Being Religious and Spiritual 3 Philosophers, Avicennism and the spiritual

Being Religious and Spiritual 4 Philosophical, religious and spiritual people

Being Religious and Spiritual 5 Gnostic influences

Being Religious and Spiritual 6 Romantici, utopists and transcendentalists

Being Religious and Spiritual 7 Transcendence to become one

Being Religious and Spiritual 8 Spiritual, Mystic and not or well religious

Philosophy hand in hand with spirituality

How long to wait before bringing religiousness and spirituality in practice

Additional reading:

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¡Spiritual, Spiritual! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Religious Gaslighting – Reclaim Your Spirituality (kyoung4.wordpress.com)
Teaching the people to fear God is gaslighting on a massive scale. The major religions of the world have been gaslighting humanity for centuries in order to stunt humanity’s spiritual development. Our spiritual development is the key to our freedom from the control grid. It is imperative that we resist how the religious Psychopaths in Charge attempt to define the sacred for us. We must also be careful that when walking away from the madness of the religion of our childhoods that we do not leave our spiritual development behind too.
Major developments for philosophy of religion at Rutgers (leiterreports.typepad.com)
Rutgers, with support from the Templeton Foundation, has created a new Center for Philosophy of Religion, which will be directed by Rutgers philosopher Dean Zimmerman, who is well-known for his work in both metaphysics and philosophy of religion.
A Very Human Enlightenment (anupturnedsoul.wordpress.com)
Surely enlightenment, transcending the human condition, and finding yourself are worth whatever the price they are being sold for?
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We find what we need when we need it. Our greatest teacher is ourselves and our life. Learn from your experiences. Be gentle with yourself. Give yourself the time and respect you need. Trust yourself. And remember you are human… that is a precious gift.
Awareness is the magic key. (laurierohner.wordpress.com)
Discovering the flaws and obstacles you have put up in front of you allows you to move and change direction.
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What I want or desire I was taught was not allowed. Hard work and a lot of it was necessary to succeed and if you did not succeed than there was something wrong with you. I fought daily with my inner demons only to find more demons to conquer. I was taught a fit all religion made to believe like the group and that religion was the ‘one’ that mattered and was right.
A Nation That Accentuates the Positive – Mitch Horowitz (payingattentiontothesky.com)
For the past 150 years, since the dawn of clinical scientific study, virtually all fields of inquiry, from medicine to psychology to brain biology to quantum theories, have broadened our conceptions of the mind. While shallower expressions of motivational thought are easy to dismiss, the pioneers of positive thinking not only supplied America with its national creed, but also displayed a precocious instinct that our thoughts may accomplish more than we realize.
Greek Phil 211: Philosophy & Religion? (bulletforyourtrouble.wordpress.com)
religious views often remind me of philosophical thought. For example, in my Asian Religions class, almost everything covered in the class has something to do with a philosophical way of thinking, believing, and living and touches on ideas that Greek philosophers have created theories on. I can’t name any off the top of my head at the moment, but it gets me every time how philosophical thought always pops up in discussion of religion and vice versa.
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So perhaps it’s plausible to think more along the lines of all religions are a type of philosophy, but not all philosophies are religious.
Spirituality Re-visited On A Snowy Sunday (ypsjadon.wordpress.com)
However the idea, that the spirituality begins where religion ends is not new, but it is something, which I could never fathom fully, probably because I was too busy with my own concept of my existence. Why I exist, how I think, where do these ideas come from is something that I still cannot answer. I ‘am unable to answer such questions using all my faculties of the material world, be it knowledge, be it intellect or be it religion. I stopped trusting religion when my father fell sick. Answers sought never showed up. The harder I tried to get the answers the more confused I became.
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God and religion (or rather religious practices) are two things that mix as much as water and rock I believe that this is some part of the answer which I seek. A part that shows the path to the gateway. I have merely to follow this path to understand the being which is me; something that is within each and everyone of us, just waiting to be discovered.
All is well, and you will never get it done. Have fun! (laurierohner.wordpress.com)
No one is taking score of any kind, and if you will stop taking score so much, you will feel a whole lot better — and as you feel a whole lot better, more of the things that you want right now will flow to you.
TOWARDS an Equitable Society: balancing left- and right-brain activities (3dmetrics.me.uk)
As a former software diagnostician in CERN, I am used to being in the 12% minority that Chi Onwurah MP highlighted in her keynote speech at Women Shift Digital.But after (male) doctors, instead of admitting they can’t help me, told me my pain is psychological, I learned more about psychology, philosophy, religion and consciousness than I ever wanted to know, having studied mathematics and computing.
Two quotes from David Bentley Hart (pretentiouslatintitle.wordpress.com)
while I love the logical precision of analytic philosophy, I wonder whether its narrowing imaginative scope is less due to a misguided attempt to ape the sciences and more to the fact that a lot of professional philosophers have not had much intellectual exposure to anything other than analytic philosophy. I owe at least as much in the course of my education to reading books that weren’t on the syllabi.

Looking for True Spirituality 8 Measuring Up

Posted on 2013/12/31 by Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten

Coming to own spirituality

The inability to take one’s stated goals seriously is widely shared among the human race, as easily found among traditional religious believers and committed social justice workers as within the ranks of spiritual types.
How many Christians truly seek to follow Jesus’s teaching about wealth (shun it), retribution (“turn the other cheek”), or religious pride (definitely not for the Christian)?
How many social critics pursue their political goals with close-mindedness, arrogance, or careerism?

Many Christians like others are so consumed with living their own life of faith that they don’t have time left over to worry about other people’s failings.

creation spirituality (Photo credit: lars hammar)

Modern spirituality tries to detach itself form conventional creeds, particularly willing to utilize a wide variety of traditional and non-traditional (e.g. psychotherapy, physically oriented hatha yoga) resources. It nevertheless faces the same struggles as serious people of any denomination. It will always be extremely difficult to discipline the mind, renounce addictive pleasures, care for strangers, accept disappointment, and be grateful when times are rough. Whether we are motivated to do so because God commands us to, or because we just think it is the only way to a really good life, living this way will never come easy. And therefore the struggle to do so is something that “spiritual but not religious” types and the most orthodox of the faithful have in common.

Getting carried away. – This Tahia is made of coloured papers flowers wattle and crock. It multiplies the beauty of image to a great extend. Such a decoration creates spiritual emotions in the hearts and mind of devotees in Car Festival. – Photo: Taraprasad Jena

We do have to avoid many common pitfalls by focusing on spiritual virtues of compassion and self-awareness, and not forgetting to look at the critically important goals of social change.
If compassion for others and willingness to ask oneself hard questions are part of what you are about, then spirituality is something you can respect, for it is part of your life already. And if as a spiritual person you care about the fate of humans and the earth, political activism beckons as a vital spiritual practice.

Internal angst may not be the basic for our spiritualism. Though for many the quest for our being, the reason and why of our person shall be a good reason to become looking for more and to dig deep in to the grounds of spirituality. Looking for the reasons of this universe you may find that to deny God is to debase one’s own mind and dehumanize the whole person.

The world should know that it are not the ones who fear Jehovah as the Only One God that are fools. Those who do not believe in God bilious and bloated may laugh and say “God is gone.” or “There is no God.” For the ones who believe they may be a danger because they, by many times hearing the same corrupt words and breathing the same poison gas, fouling the air; they might believe that those vile deeds of unbelievers are more successful than the good deeds of Christians.

The spiritual minded, accepting the deeds of Jesus Christ should know that the atheists their thistles are their cash crop on which Jehovah God looks down. He sticks his head out of heaven. He looks around. He’s looking for someone not stupid — one man, even, God-expectant, just one God-ready woman. The Creator looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. For a long time God came up empty and perhaps He still finds there is no-one who does good, not even one.

File:Bosch follower Christ's dispute with the doctors in the temple (Louvre).jpg

Christ’s dispute with the doctors in the temple. – Jesus among the Doctors, Follower of Hieronymus Bosch (circa 1450–1516)

We do have the choice to become one of “The ninety and nine who follow their fellow” or to become one of the few followers of Jesus Christ, the Messiah who many consider a joke. See all those impostors and wonder if they don’t they know they can’t get away with this — Treating people like a fast-food meal over which they’re too busy to pray? Night is coming for them, and nightmares, for God takes the side of victims. Do you think you can mess with the dreams of the poor? You can’t, for God makes their dreams come true. When you are looking for God, willing to dig deep in your mind, meditating on His words you may be sure the True God is present in the company of the righteous and will be willing to come to you also. God is around, not only to save Israel, but also to save you.

14 The foolish* one says in his heart:“There is no Jehovah.”+Their actions are corrupt, and their dealings are detestable; No one is doing good.+ 2 But Jehovah looks down from heaven on the sons of men To see whether anyone has insight, whether anyone is seeking Jehovah.+ 3 They have all turned aside;+ They are all alike corrupt. No one is doing good, Not even one. 4 Do none of the wrongdoers understand? They devour my people as if they were eating bread. They do not call on Jehovah. 5 But they will be filled with great terror,+ For Jehovah is with the generation of the righteous. 6 You wrongdoers try to frustrate the plans of the lowly one, But Jehovah is his refuge.+ 7 O that Israel’s salvation may come from Zion!+ When Jehovah gathers back his captive people, Let Jacob be joyful, let Israel rejoice. (Psalm 14)

The one true God who has revealed Himself in Scripture as a God of grace and forgiveness, who so loved the world that He gave His Son as an atonement for sin, so “that we might die to sin and live to righteousness,” according to 1 Peter 2:24, shall be there with those who are willing to follow the footsteps of the Nazarene and to take on the mind of Christ to become spiritual and following the Spirit of the Most High.

21 In fact, to this course you were called, because even Christ suffered for you,+ leaving a model for you to follow his steps closely.+ 22 He committed no sin,+ nor was deception found in his mouth.+ 23 When he was being insulted,*+ he did not insult* in return.+ When he was suffering,+ he did not threaten, but he entrusted himself to the One who judges+ righteously. 24 He himself bore our sins+ in his own body on the stake,*+ so that we might die to* sins and live to righteousness. And “by his wounds you were healed.”+ 25 For you were like sheep going astray,+ but now you have returned to the shepherd+ and overseer of your souls.* (1 Peter 2:21-25)

He graciously compels us to thank Him, and He himself should top the list of things we are thankful for.

Please do look around you and see how people bring into practice what they say they believe. Look at those who call themselves Christian and check if they are living according the commandments of Christ.

In the previous chapter we did ask:

Can you identify the people who are following in the footsteps of Christ and preaching the good news of the Kingdom around the world?

Everywhere in the world there are many people who are loving God so much that they are prepared to go out on the streets and to preach in His Name. Many are afraid of those who witness about the Creator God, whose Name should resound all over the world, and than the end would come. Are you recognising those who preach in the Name of Jehovah God and who would love to get to know as many people as possible Jehovah‘s name and His Kingdom?

Find people who study the Word of God and who are sharing the love of God with each other. Find people who are wiling to come together in the Name of the Only One True God, to worship Him according His rules and regulations and not according the many pagan rituals and human traditions.

Of course, there are other characteristics that identify a truly spiritual person, but how do you measure up to those already considered? To find out, ask yourself:

‘Do I regularly read God’s Word, the Bible, and reflect on what I read? Do I manifest the fruitage of the spirit in my life? Am I a man or a woman of prayer? Do I want to associate with the people who are carrying out the worldwide preaching of the good news of God’s Kingdom?’

An honest self-examination may help you to determine the depth of your spirituality. We urge you to take the necessary steps now so that “life and peace” may be your lot.

8 Therefore, those in union with Christ Jesus have no condemnation. 2 For the law of the spirit that gives life in union with Christ Jesus has set you free+ from the law of sin and of death. 3 What the Law was incapable of doing+ because it was weak+ through the flesh, God did by sending his own Son+ in the likeness of sinful flesh+ and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us+ who walk, not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.+5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh,+ but those who live according to the spirit, on the things of the spirit.+6 For setting the mind on the flesh means death,+ but setting the mind on the spirit means life and peace;+7 because setting the mind on the flesh means enmity with God,+ for it is not in subjection to the law of God, nor, in fact, can it be. 8 So those who are in harmony with the flesh cannot please God.—(Romans 8:1-6-8)

13 “Go in through the narrow gate,+ because broad is the gate and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are going in through it; 14 whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are finding it.+ (Matthew 7:13, 14)

5 For this very reason, put forth all earnest effort+ to supply to your faith virtue,+ to your virtue knowledge,+ 6 to your knowledge self-control, to your self-control+ endurance, to your endurance godly devotion,+ 7 to your godly devotion brotherly affection, to your brotherly affection love.+ 8 For if these things exist in you and overflow, they will prevent you from being either inactive or unfruitful*+ regarding the accurate knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 For anyone lacking these things is blind, shutting his eyes to the light,*+ and has become forgetful of his cleansing from his sins+ of long ago. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling+ and choosing sure for yourselves, for if you keep on doing these things, you will by no means ever fail.+ 11 In fact, in this way you will be richly granted* entrance into the everlasting Kingdom+ of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.+ (2 Peter 1:5-11).

Let us all be aware or remember:

7 Do not be misled: God is not one to be mocked. For whatever a person is sowing, this he will also reap;+8 because the one sowing with a view to his flesh will reap corruption from his flesh, but the one sowing with a view to the spirit will reap everlasting life from the spirit.+ (Galatians 6:7, 8)

By our willingness to become spiritual and are preparedness to follow God His commandments we can free our mind and become true followers of Christ Jesus, helping each other by exhorting and edifying each other in the mind of Christ and by strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith even when we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.

24 “Exert yourselves vigorously to get in through the narrow door,+ because many, I tell you, will seek to get in but will not be able. (Luke 13:24)

22 There they strengthened the disciples,*+ encouraging them to remain in the faith and saying: “We must enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations.”+ (Acts 14:22)

Preceding articles:

Looking for True Spirituality 1 Intro

Looking for True Spirituality 2 Not restricted to an elite

Looking for True Spirituality 3 Mind of Christ

Looking for True Spirituality 4 Getting to Know the Mind of Christ

Looking for True Spirituality 5 Fruitage of the Spirit

Looking for True Spirituality 6 Spirituality and Prayer

Looking for True Spirituality 7 Preaching of the Good News

Fruits of the spirit will prevent you from being either inactive or unfruitful

Dutch version of this article / De Nederlandse versie van dit artikel: Op zoek naar spiritualiteit 7 Prediking van het goede nieuws

Additional reading:

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How Does One Measure True Spiritual Satisfaction? (jordanbattiste.wordpress.com)
I don’t think there are any monks praying in a hidden temple amongst the clouds, but I do know a little about the people who practice yoga and go to AA meetings and commit to altruism and humanitarian acts.
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Can someone be spiritual and not believe in God? What about atheists and agnostics? Austin Cline from About wrote, “if spirituality really is best described as a highly personalized and privatized religious belief system, then the answer to the question is clearly “yes.” Atheism is not only compatible with the adoption of a public, organized religious belief system, it is also compatible with the adoption of a very personal and private religious faith.” Of all my speculation, this is the most satisfying answer yet. It’s objective and not riddled with bias – less truly is more.
I’m Confused About My Spiritual Beliefs. (thespiritualguru.wordpress.com)
Every person is free to explore their Spirituality as they see fit. This just happens to agree with the Bible. As in Genesis God created man, and he gave man the power of Free Will. Man could choose for himself the path he would take.
In many eastern traditions the concept of freewill is paramount. Buddhists believe that the choices we make not only affect our lives and Karma, but those around us as well. This is true, when you consider the interactions you have with others.
What a person believes, or has faith in will determine their path in life. Faith is necessary for spiritually. It is belief in something you can’t explain. Some will say that if it can’t be proved logically it can’t exist. However humans are not the logical creatures we think we are.
The Human mind has a logical and illogical side. The illogical is imagination, faith, belief, hope, emotion. None of which are logical. The logical side is the reasoning side, where we interact and classify what we see and touch. Where we solve problems and use our experience to keep from making the same mistakes. This logical side, however, can’t explain the other side.
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Am I Crazy?
A person will believe many things during their lives that have not been proven as 100% fact.
+
Whatever you choose to believe is OK. In the end your the one who has to decide to stand behind your convictions what ever they might be.
Short Sermons (attycortes.wordpress.com)
a post of Peter Leithart on Pope Francis’ advice on preaching. > For Short Sermons
Francis gives sound advice on preaching: The homily “is a distinctive genre, since it is preaching situated within the framework of a liturgical celebration; hence it should be brief and avoid taking on the semblance of a speech or a lecture. A preacher may be able to hold the attention of his listeners for a whole hour, but in this case his words become more important than the celebration of faith. If the homily goes on too long, it will affect two characteristic elements of the liturgical celebration: its balance and its rhythm. When preaching takes place within the context of the liturgy, it is part of the offering made to the Father and a mediation of the grace which Christ pours out during the celebration. This context demands that preaching should guide the assembly, and the preacher, to a life-changing communion with Christ in the Eucharist.”
New Creation (bhkmparish.wordpress.com)
Paul prays first that we would be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Paul wants us to know what God’s will is for our lives as individuals and as a congregation. To get that knowledge we’ll need spiritual wisdom and understanding. This is not just book-learning about the Christian faith (although some of that will help), but rather a deeper sense of who we now are in Christ.
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Paul prays that we would grow in holiness, or in his words, that we would walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.
‘Be born in us today’ (bhkmparish.wordpress.com)
Those with whom our Lord is pleased and in whom His peace rests are those who, on this joyous day, glorify and sing praise to God in their hearts
Do Preachers Know the Power of the Holy Spirit? (Martyn Lloyd-Jones) (chosenrebel.me)
If a pastor always gets “expected” results, is he in danger of doing ministry apart from the power of the Spirit?
+
He may have been very ill, a thousand and one things may have happened to him, and he may go into the pulpit with fear and trembling, feeling that he hasn’t done his work; he’s got nothing. And it may be one of the most glorious services he has ever had the privilege of conducting. Why? Because he doesn’t control the power [within of the Holy Spirit]. It varies. And not only in preaching but in daily life and experience. It is the well of water that is within us and we don’t control it. It controls us.
Raising Children to be Witnesses, Not Just Spectators (astrugglingdad.wordpress.com)
Raising my children with the eyes of faith, I have come to realize that this grace given to us comes with an even greater responsibility. I realize more and more that it is not enough to merely raise children who go through the motions of practicing their Catholic faith no matter how sincere or well-intentioned they may be. The task must be to nurture them to live their faith in a way that will engage and impact the growing faithlessness in the world.
Should a believer wait to have a “burden” before witnessing? (marcminter.wordpress.com)
When is the right time to witness to someone? What does a Christian need to know before witnessing or evangelizing? Must a Christian wait to witness to someone until he or she is burdened or compelled by some inward sensation? This question may be phrased in numerous ways and yet ask basically the same thing. I think asking and answering three larger questions will help us answer these and others more definitively, as well as guide our understanding of evangelism or witnessing in general.
Meditation to Develop Witness Consciousness (rhondamills.wordpress.com)
Regardless which style of meditation is practiced, the mistake that many people make is to think they are not good at meditating, or not being successful in the meditation because their mind wanders. Yes, your mind is going to wander. Coming back to the focus of the meditation – again and again as many times as needed – is part of the practice. Having to do that doesn’t mean you’ve failed; it means you are practicing.
Witnessing (hrobertsonblog.wordpress.com)
It is precious and sacred to think on babies, and to remember my own special young motherhood and firsts in parenting. However, it is the magnitude of a maturing relationship with Jesus Christ, my Savior that brings me to my knees. Unbelievable, that he would care for me a rebellious sinner. Care enough to die for me…is wonderful.
the last hour’s letter from the last apostle of the first twelve (kzlam36.wordpress.com)
By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
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Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
“On Meditation” – channelled spiritual message from The Circle of The Light of The Love Energy (earthmessagepress.com) discusses if we have to look in the quit to come to the light of creation.
In spite of insight (justmebeingcurious.com)
One problem with written materials is that you only have whatever the author wrote down. If you have additional questions or don’t fully understand, you’re stuck. The attitude of many was, “I would prefer to learn from a disciple of Jesus or a disciple of a disciple than from a scroll.”

And then comes The Main Man into the equation. Tapping the blackboard, whispering quietly, listening and nodding, laughing and rolling around on the floor … making it Fun! Some call it insight – I call it “in spite of insight”.
On Faith and Spirituality (zebrapotential.wordpress.com)
I have felt for quite some time that god is a form of energy. That palpable part of the universe for me that I feel everyday. My personal energy is what I rely on the most. It is my gauge for happy, competent or tired and needing to recharge. I haven’t really developed this belief in god as energy. Obvious to me is that spirituality is shared. So, how will I share the energy given me and be receptive to that energy flowing back from others?
The Revisionaries (2012) (docdailyblog.wordpress.com)
The Revisionaries is frightening because I can’t help but think about what a disadvantage Texan schoolchildren who are affected by these textbook changes will have when they get to college. Unless these Texan children attend a religious specific college they will be behind and a lot of the information they have [such as God being in the constitution] will be challenged and they will suffer as a result. At the least in college they will have to re-learn everything religion has touched in their educational career. I believe these board members’ decisions to make religion the priority will put the kids in Texas at a major disadvantage compared to the rest of the country.
Why study the Bible? (illustrationstoencourage.wordpress.com)
Today there is more information available than ever before. But the big questions- questions about life, suffering and death still remain. Where can we find answers? What if the answers have been there all along, in the Bible.

Looking for True Spirituality 2 Not restricted to an elite

Posted on 2013/12/21 by Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten

True Spirituality—How Can You Find It?

“To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace,”

wrote the apostle Paul. (Romans 8:6, King James Version)

The religious and spiritual Jew who was converted to follow Jesus from Nazareth – St. Paul by El Greco, c. 1608-1614. Originally taken from artchive.com (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With those words, the apostle was pointing out that being a spiritual person is more than a matter of personal preference or inclination. Essentially, it is a matter of life and death. In what sense, though, does a spiritual person receive “life and peace”?

According to the Bible, such a person enjoys peace now — with self and with God — and will be blessed with everlasting life in the future.

23 For the wages sin pays is death,+ but the gift God gives is everlasting life+ by Christ Jesus our Lord.+ (Romans 6:23)

5 Let your reasonableness+ become known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious over anything,+ but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God;+7 and the peace+ of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts+ and your mental powers* by means of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)

No wonder Jesus observed:

“Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need”!—Matthew 5:3.

Are you blessed when you’re at the end of your rope? With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
“Spirituality” may be a word that defines our era. By times the world also became more fascinated by “Spirituality”. there have been moments in history where everybody had seem forgotten about it, and at other moments there have been times nobody could be quiet about it.

The fascination with spirituality is a striking aspect of our contemporary times and stands in stark contrast to the decline in traditional religious belonging in the West. “Spirituality” has now moved well beyond religion itself. It is all about lifestyle and practices that embody a vision of how the human spirit can achieve its full potential. In other words, spirituality embraces an aspirational approach to the meaning and conduct of life – we are driven by goals beyond purely material success or physical satisfaction.

Mangreen Health and Healing Trust – the Light Centre (interior) – geograph.org.uk – 1584251 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some may think we do not to be in monasteries to be a full spiritual person. Spirituality has perhaps been at certain times the preserve of spiritual elites, for example in monasteries, but it is presumed to be native to everyone. In each person it is implanted by the Divine Creator, in whose image we all are created. And because God is Spirit we have an element in us which would like to encounter that Spirit Being. Lots of people are looking for that spiritual element in themselves but do not know how to find it. Therefore they also look all sorts of things they can worship. those who have more light should know by Whom to look for, in what to believe and Whom to worship.

22 You worship what you do not know;+ we worship what we know, because salvation begins with the Jews.+ 23 Nevertheless, the hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshippers will worship the Father with spirit and truth, for indeed, the Father is looking for ones like these to worship him.+ 24 God is a Spirit,+ and those worshipping him must worship with spirit and truth.”+ (Johannes 4:22-24)

It is individually-tailored, democratic and eclectic, and offers an alternative source of inner-directed, personal authority in response to a decline of trust in conventional social or religious leaderships.

From the previous articles you may have come to understand that Spirituality is also understood to be engaged with a quest for “the sacred” – whether God, the numinous, the boundless mysteries of the universe or our own human depths. The word is also regularly linked to “thriving” – what it means to thrive and how we are enabled to thrive. Contemporary approaches also relate spirituality to a self-reflective existence in place of an unexamined life. People are searching for a “value-added” factor to personal and professional lives. they may look for many ways. We would like to show you there is a very easy way to come to peace with the self and to come close to yourself in union with the Most High.

We do not know how you came onto these pages. Perhaps by Googling a certain word or looking for “spirituality”. Spirituality is something which should bother many of us. The fact that you found this internet magazine which is concerned about spiritual and religious matters, religious and spiritual life, may perhaps indicate that you have an interest in spirituality — and wisely so.
Yet, views on this subject differ widely, so you may wonder:

‘What is true spirituality? And how does one attain it?’

In the previous articles Bijbelvorsers tried already to give a good answer. But let us look a little bit closer in the next articles.

Preceding articles from Bijbelvorsers:

Being Religious and Spiritual 1 Immateriality and Spiritual experience

Being Religious and Spiritual 2 Religiosity and spiritual life

Being Religious and Spiritual 3 Philosophers, Avicennism and the spiritual

Being Religious and Spiritual 4 Philosophical, religious and spiritual people

Being Religious and Spiritual 5 Gnostic influences

Being Religious and Spiritual 6 Romantici, utopists and transcendentalists

Being Religious and Spiritual 7 Transcendence to become one

Being Religious and Spiritual 8 Spiritual, Mystic and not or well religious

+ Preceding article:

Looking for True Spirituality 1 Intro

To be continued: Looking for True Spirituality 3 Mind of Christ

Dutch version of this article / De Nederlandse versie van dit artikel:

Op zoek naar spiritualiteit 2 Hoe te vinden

The beginning of the Dutch original version may be found:

De aanvang van de originele Nederlandse versie kan gevonden worden:

Op zoek naar spiritualiteit 1 Inleiding

Find also to read:

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Additional reading:

The Conduct of Life, a collection of essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson

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The True Story of Thanksgiving ! (ioan17.wordpress.com)
First, God created humanity for gratitude. You exist to appreciate God. He created you to honor him by giving him thanks. Appreciating both who God is and his actions for us — in creating us and sustaining our lives — is fundamental to proper human life in God’s created world.
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Perhaps hyperphysicality is all too well known in 21st-century Western society at large. A milieu of materialists is so unaware of spiritual reality that even when there is gratitude for the physical, the spiritual is neglected, if not outright rejected. We can be thankful for the temporal, even while we couldn’t care less about the eternal.
But hyperspirituality is often particularly dangerous among the so-called “spiritual” types, even in the church. We can be prone to mute God’s physical goodness to us out of fear that appreciation for such would somehow detract from our thanksgiving for spiritual blessings.

Latest Prophecy – 1 Thessalonians 5:20 Do not despise prophecies. @ www.johnleary.com Dec 10, 2013. (kenjohnston98.wordpress.com)
When you are outside of your body, and outside of time, you will have a different view of life, and what should be important for you to accomplish. You will desire to repent of your sins more than your previous Confessions.
Social or Spiritual (johnnoble1.wordpress.com)
the gospel is both social and spiritual.And it is encouraging to see that more and more churches and organisations are aware of the necessity of the good news of Jesus Christ being both social and spiritual.
The Certainty of Some Things (counselofafriend.wordpress.com)
Some people deny the reality of certainties, but how can they be sure that nothing is for sure?
Spiritual Warfare Against The Spirit of Fantasy (pastorstrom.com)
the Spirit of Fantasy gets in. It alludes to another dimension and lures us to what the Apostle Paul called the “doctrines of devils” (see 1 Timothy 4:1). Using fantasy, the Devil can preach and disseminate his own agenda. Back to the movie and the one song for a moment; I was shocked when as I listened to my children sing “Let it go, Let it go, can’t hold it back anymore….I don’t care what they’re going to say, let the storm rage on, the cold never bothered me anyway”. So, whatever you think you are, just let it go. If you are a homosexual, just let it go and don’t worry what anyone else says. It’s ok to be cold and dreary on the inside. This is how the Spirit of Fantasy begins the Devil’s work of pervading both mind and soul of the people.
The Manger Throne (theswordandtheshovel.wordpress.com)
Israel had forgotten and forsaken all that the Lord had done for them and wanted a change in how things where run and God, being the great ruler that He is, gave them over to that desire to be like everyone else, which is the exact opposite of what He was calling them to be, Holy and set apart from the world.
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History is defined by kings who’s only care was the advancement of their kingdom and not God’s and this all originates in the sinful heart of man where they want to operate independently from the governing wisdom and love of our Sovereign Lord who has always been king and just because we don’t want Him ruling over us does not stop Him being King over us we just simply live out our existence in a Kingdom far less glorious than His.
Revelation 4: The Best Worship Service Ever (josephfranks.wordpress.com)
John, was found again in visionary state, and this time he was enabled to see into heaven. Perhaps one remembers how Stephen was given a similar privilege on the day of his assassination. In similar manner the heavens opened and John could see an open door. It appeared to be a door into the throne room of God, the heavenly sanctuary, or the Holy of Holies. How excited he must have been when he received the invitation from the divine host to come and take a look. John was about to catch a glimpse of what takes place “after this” present age of life is complete.
Spirituality and Your Health (evelynmmaxwell.com)
Your body is precious because of its vital connection with the inner person. The body is the “temple” of the Spirit of God when we are born of God. The chemistry of your body affects the functioning of your nervous system and your brain. And, the inter-workings of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual factors affect body chemistry. Therefore, keeping our bodies as healthy and fine-tuned as possible is important to our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health, and vice-versa. Spiritual health helps us meet and overcome difficulties in every other aspect of living.
Helmet of Salvation: 5 Daily Spiritual Warfare Tips (nostopministries.wordpress.com)
What we think determines what we believe; what we believe determines how we live. It is in our minds that we think, reason, discern, and live out the immaterial part of our Christian faith. Our minds, soul, and spirit are so closely connected as to be virtually indistinguishable. Therefore, the mind plays an incredibly foundational role in every aspect of our existence, especially our relationship with God.
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The Bible tells us that unbelievers have their minds occupied with things of the world rather than things of God (Ephesians 2:3; Colossians 1:21). This is evidence that one does not love God with all their being. It is wise for the Christian to periodically evaluate our own thought lives to see if what we are thinking about is pleasing to God. Our thought lives reveal much about our commitment, or the lack thereof, to God.
Spiritual Blessings (moretolifetoday.wordpress.com)
We all love blessings; we pray for them, we testify about them, we revel in them. But it is so easy to fall into the trap of only thinking about tangible blessings, like health and protection, food and clothing, shelter and finances. Do we really appreciate our spiritual blessings? How often do we take time to thank God for the intangible benefits He showers on us? We can’t touch, smell or hear salvation, but it is a priceless gift. And the peace that holds us together when life gets confusing…what would we do without that?
What Are You Pursuing – Proverbs 11:19 (prowisdomtext.wordpress.com)
While our old nature wants to do what it wants to do, we must practice self-control. We must follow after righteousness instead of the deceptive whims of our heart by walking in the power of the Spirit (Jer. 17:19, Gal. 5:16). We have the choice to be a person after our own heart or a person after God’s heart.

Looking for True Spirituality 1 Intro

Posted on 2013/12/20 by Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten

In his famous Sermon on the Mount , Jesus said:

“Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need ” (Matthew 5:3 ).

Probably you agree with that statement . Everywhere people recognize the need for spirituality in their lives and they assume that if they have once found , they will be happier. But what is the meaning of the term spirituality?

In previous articles Bijbelvorser or Bible Researcher has already given a clear picture of what we may understand under spirituality. But we would like to examine this still further and would like to see how people can get answers in their quest for spirituality.

Spirituality is defined as ” sensitivity or attachment to religious values ”, a “mental attitude” . Terms such as “spirituality”, “spiritually minded” or “mental attitude” are more or less synonymous. For comparison: From someone who sees everywhere trading, one can say that he is commercially oriented. For example, someone who is committed to spiritual or religious affairs is called spiritual.

But how can true spirituality being achieved? Although almost every religion claims to know the path to spirituality and do provide several instructions we can see that in the numerous religions there can be found many people still looking for that spirituality.

There are Protestants who claim to be spiritual. Saved at a revival meeting Catholics seek contact with God at Mass. Buddhists pursue enlightenment through meditation. Hindus seek liberation from the cycle of rebirth through self-denial. Are all these people on the road to true spirituality ? Is there is a path that leads to spirituality?

Many would answer that question in the negative. They believe that spirituality is,

“that you believe without belonging to something”

so that you believe in a god without belonging to any sort of organisation or church. Others find that to belong to a church is not a guarantee to have religious experience. Being part of a church may bring with it that the person has an urge to become strengthened in spirituality. The spirituality being but a desire for inner peace and a meaningful life. They claim that people who are looking for spirituality, are not in need of a religion, and that they shall only have to turn inward and shall have to go deeper in themselves.

Some think we can find spirituality when we are prepared to counsel ourself. One writer says:

“True spirituality is something you can find deep within yourself. It’s the way how you treat the world and the people around you, how you love and accepts. You will not find it in a church or by believing in a certain direction. “

It is clear that people have very different ideas about spirituality. Thousands of books claiming to point the way to a spiritual life, while the reader is too often still feels unsatisfied and confused.
However, there is a book that does contain reliable advice about spiritual matters. It is the book that evidences of divine inspiration.

16 All Scripture is inspired of God*+ and beneficial for teaching,+ for reproving,+ for setting things straight,*+ for disciplining+ in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be fully competent,+ completely equipped* for every good work.+ (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Let’s see what spirituality is according to this book, the Bible, and appreciate the value attributed to it.

Dutch version /Nederlandstalige versie: Op zoek naar spiritualiteit 1 Inleiding

Preceding articles from Bijbelvorsers:

Being Religious and Spiritual 1 Immateriality and Spiritual experience

Being Religious and Spiritual 2 Religiosity and spiritual life

Being Religious and Spiritual 3 Philosophers, Avicennism and the spiritual

Being Religious and Spiritual 4 Philosophical, religious and spiritual people

Being Religious and Spiritual 5 Gnostic influences

Being Religious and Spiritual 6 Romantici, utopists and transcendentalists

Being Religious and Spiritual 7 Transcendence to become one

Being Religious and Spiritual 8 Spiritual, Mystic and not or well religious

Please do find to read:

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Social or Spiritual (johnnoble1.wordpress.com)
there has long been an entrenched attitude that the gospel be either social or spiritual.
Assessing the Spiritual (therosemasquerade.wordpress.com)
A strong belief in the self and in the pure reality of existence, and most of all, the spiritual force that drives everything behind this, is most likely the only way I have found to not lose that sense of Romanticism that often haunts our evenings with such strong passions.
Humanism, the Call of Our Better Angels (deliberation.info)
Spirituality is the goal of religious practice. Long before religious texts were written there were shamans who explored the spiritual realms by observing and interacting with nature and natural forces. Entheogens have helped guide humanity to wholeness long before any holy book came along.
Defining Spirituality: What Does It Mean? (allowinglove.wordpress.com)
Can someone tell me what “spirituality” means? I feel like I should already know. It’s important enough to be constantly described as one of our defining characteristics as humans.
Spiritual Well-Being (casapalmera.com)
Spirituality and faith provide an opportunity to detach from circumstances and observe life with clarity and integrity.
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Spiritual well-being is a state is which the positive aspects of spirituality are shown. How the effects of spiritual well-being impact you is greatly determined by each individual. Through spiritual well-being classes, people become empowered and realize that even though they have issues, stressors, and challenges, they are not defined by these circumstances. This realization provides a pathway to greater peace, freedom of self-expression, increased manageability over the healing process and higher self-esteem. Such a realization can make a huge impact in the life of a patient in an anorexia treatment facility, bulimia program, or trauma treatment center.
Spirituality and Your Health (evelynmmaxwell.com)
Let us each examine ourselves and invite the Spirit, the “Presence” of God, the Teacher and the Teachings, into our presence, our homes, ourselves. The spirit and soul need the gentlest presence. The Teacher will be gentle with us. Let us sit at the feet of the Teacher and learn. Our service will improve. Recognition and reward are assured.
Spiritual warfare: As God is of peace so shall I be! (realisticimaginations.wordpress.com)
As we mature in Christ we start to see we truly don’t fight against flesh and blood. (Eph 6:12) Our natural instincts cry out from our afflictions: He lied. She cheated. He stole. She said. He hit. She spent. Yet, let’s look from it with our God given eyes. Then we start to see the enemies start standing clear.
Spirituality (dustindemille.wordpress.com)
As an Angel, I like to attend church regularly. I attend mass at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Tampa. I continue my spiritual growth up here in Elloquencia or Heaven.
Spiritual Center for Positive Living Hosts Masters Speakers Series… (prweb.com)
The answer to every question we could ever ask sits lovingly in the silence of our heart, waiting for the right moment to emerge,” says previous Deepak Chopra Center Education Leader, davidji.
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“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
The one religion that’s not part of my spiritual quest (roguepriest.net)
Sometimes, like with Vodou, I commit myself to these traditions for life.
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Growing up, I never had a bad church experience. I wasn’t abused, was seldom threatened with Hell, and didn’t feel constrained by my family’s beliefs. This is thanks in large part to my mom.

But I dodge Christianity. Even in my practice of Vodou, which uses Christian trappings as décor over a much older faith, I hesitated before lighting my first saint candle.

Being Religious and Spiritual 7 Transcendence to become one

Posted on 2013/12/17 by Bijbelvorsers

Often when people in a discussion come upon talking about the higher elements of life and speak about believes in God or in divine beings people in the previous years were curious to know if that person belonged to a certain church. Today there might be not so much interest in talking about the spiritual. And when they encounter people more interested in spiritual matters we encounter a shift in questions.

Ryan Killough also noticed that and mentions in his blog:

Homo sapiens sapiens – Deliberate deformity of the woman skull, “Toulouse deformity “. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The question I receive more frequently now is, “oh, what are you?” I always want to answer that question by saying: “I am a species of Homo sapiens from the kingdom of Animalia, pleased to meet you earthling” but it is clear what they mean. So instead I answer, “I am …” Wait, should I answer? I wonder if it’s worth it, because the second it is heard what, “I am” will the attitude and thought behind anyone reading this entire post now change? Not that this ever happens in politics, but why take the risk? There is nothing specifically wrong with the question, “what are you?” My concern is not the question itself, but the change in social norm causing the shift to this question. The question is often asked, not always to learn about someones relationship with Jesus, but to figure out what his or her beliefs are. That is the problem I am addressing. {Church/Denominations}

for him it seems to be a problem when people wonder what he believes. But is that not the first thing to come into a relationship with the person in whom you want to believe?

He should know that people are curious when they encounter somebody who dares to mention he believes in something. When it is Jesus or God that person believes in, he becomes a test person. Than that believer becomes the target to question to see if his beliefs are really well structured and sound. Most people do know that there are many churches and people with so many different believes but that they also often got against each other, even killing each other for their believes. For many the believes or connected with religion which was a ’cause’ (according to them) of many wars. they find it strange that those different churches often claim to be talking about the same God.
Ryan Killough also agrees and questions:

Even though we attend different denominations, we are all following the same God. We should be of the same mind and thought. So if God new all these religious sects would occur where differences and discord would take place, did He make a mistake with the idea of church? Absolutely not. {Church/Denominations}

The Seven Sacraments by Rogier van der Weyden, ca. 1448.

He finds Church is a necessity for teaching, admonishing, and worshipping but agrees that through weekly patterns in our forms of worship, we can deceive ourselves into believing in wrong philosophy.

Our church practices should not be our belief! We should not put tradition and spiritual rituals over what is right, good, and true. Traditions are for the purpose of acknowledging God and, again, are not to become our beliefs. Communion, baptism, confirmation, hand movements, church membership, fasting, or any other church sacraments will not give you salvation! They will not make you any more holy or deserving of Gods grace. These sacraments are simply to express our gratitude of God’s love for us, and allow us to become closer to Jesus in our personal relationship with Him. {Church/Denominations}

But it are just created sacraments and religious actions of those churches which are build on human traditions and not on biblical traditions of the Judean people of God. Many denominations created rules how to do things in the community which are not always totally Biblically funded. Through the years several theologians brought in different teachings and took followers or believers with them, often forming a new church-community or worse, a new denomination.

Some might think the church does need its theologians to stay in existence, because without good doctrines, good theology, or wonderful expositions it would not be able to survive and be lost in the land of fables and cute stories. Without institutions, temples or churches there would be not much for religion to have a feeding ground. In Religion that church also needs life. In Christian religion this may be the resurrection life of Christ.

No doctrine, idea, theology, or exposition can replace the life of Christ. Only the life of Christ and that which issues from it will prevail against the gates of Hades.

writes Eric Adams in his writing on the British missionary in China, Margaret E. Barber. {My Experience In The Word Of Faith Movement Pt. 6-Watchman Nee, Miss Margaret E. Barber, Roman Catholic Mystics}

according to him

Heaven and God are far away, so we must find ways to ascend to heaven. Like the old African American spiritual says:

We are climbing Jacob’s ladder,
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder,
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder,
Soldiers of the cross.

Every round goes higher, higher,
Every round goes higher, higher,
Every round goes higher, higher,
Soldiers of the cross.

But we may know that God is not far away. He is every moment of the day very close to the world, everywhere and knows every person his or her heart. In their life every person is somewhere else on the Jacob’s Ladder. He can either look down and be afraid or look up and be of full hope.

What some call “The Christian Flag” displayed next to the pulpit on the chancel of a church sanctuary. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Many religious people do want to grab themselves by the bootstraps, and try to work their way into God’s good graces, not by grasping or lathing themselves to the Bible, but preferring to cling to theologian writings. Some may seek for God internally through emotional or mystical experiences and become preoccupied with their own spirituality. To come into a spiritual life which also can become a religious life the person has to be able to hear God’s voice, and to be willing to come to understand God’s Will. When not willing to understand and than to follow the Will of God his faith would not be of much value. Children also often do know what they should do but do something different. That will bring them in problems. The same for adults who have an inborn ethical feeling, which they can ignore or follow. Maturity also informs most of us which influence our feelings may have on others and vice versa. When grown up the person knows how sustained feelings can ‘strangle’ a person and how he can become enslaved by preventing emotional growth to progress beyond the sense of pain having been precipitated, in some way, by whom or what is not liked or hated (i.e., another person, group or class of persons).

As such every person in the world, all created in the image of God can come to hear the call of righteousness and have the feeling of good and bad in them. The difference for the Christian religious person is that he or she should hear that Voice of God and offers himself or herself to follow that Voice more than any other voice. This makes Jesus so special. He could do what he wanted to do and could strike all honour for the things he seemed to be doing; But he never claimed that he could do those things on his own. He recognised he could not do anything without his Father, to whom he prayed to have things done. Jesus was in the world to have his Father to be known better. He also lifted up his eyes to heaven asking his Father to accept and glorify him the only begotten son, in order that he, Jesus the Son of God, may glorify the Only One God who had given Christ authority over all flesh. The religious person who wants to call himself Christian should be a follower of Christ, Jesus the Messiah from whom he or she can get eternal life. But to be able to get that eternal life those persons should come to the understanding Who is who and should come to know the Only True God, who is the Adonai Elohim Hashem Jehovah, and Jesus Christ, whom God had sent to the world.

Jesus never glorified himself, neither should we glorify ourselves. We should become like Christ, but by doing so we shall not become Christ himself like he did not become God himself. Jesus always had glorified his Father, the God of Abraham as the Only One True God. Jesus knew his lower position than the heavenly beings (angels), but also knew that God was the Most High and always should and shall be the Most High Elohim. The son of Joseph and Miriam (Mary/Maria) from the tribe of King David only wanted to be the will of his Father and wanted to complete on earth the work that his Father, Allah the God of gods had given him to do.

It was this Nazarene man who has revealed God His name to the men whom God gave him out of the world. Jesus never claimed those to be his. He knew that those men who were willing to follow him, were given by his Father. They were God’s, and He have given them to Jesus, and they have kept God His Word. Those disciples continued the work of Christ after he was killed and resurrected. By the sent Comforter, requested by Christ Jesus, they lost their fear and went out into the world, understanding that all the things that God had given to their master teacher Jesus came not from their rabbi, but came from his Father, which they now also could call their Father, the Only One God, whose name Jehovah they knew already from Torah, but was now better known by the words and works of His son Jesus.

It was from that Nazarene man the disciples got their words. They received them and knew truly that Jesus had come from God, and they have believed that God had sent him. They never believed that it was God Who had come down onto earth, because they also remembered the voice, at the baptism of their master, Who told the people present that it was “His beloved son” who stood there and did not tell them that it was God who had come down to earth. They also had heard enough from this man to know his relationship with his Father, whom Christ considered to be the Only One true God, to whom Jesus prayed and asked them also to pray to.

” It came to pass when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized, and while he prayed the heaven was opened, (22) And the Holy Spirit descended on him, like a dove, and a voice from heaven, saying, You are my beloved Son, with whom I am pleased.” (Luke 3:21-22 Lamsa NT)

Jesus had always asked the things to happen on behalf of the people around him, but they also remembered Jesus telling them that he did not ask God on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom God had given him, because they are God His, and all Jesus his things are His. They also remembered that Jesus was pleased that His Father had given His world into the hands of him, and that he could been glorified in them. Jesus became no longer in the world, and they were in the world, Jesus went up to his Father in heaven to sit at His right hand. Though Jesus left not his disciples, nor us, on their own. He asked God to keep them, and those who were willing to follow him, in God His name. Being under the Guidance of Christ and his Father all followers of Christ should become like Christ, becoming one the same way like Jesus and God were one. This would not make us to be Christ, like it also did not make Christ to be God. Otherwise we being one with Christ, Christ being one with God, in case Jesus was God we also would become God. But that is impossible. Like Jesus was a man of flesh and blood, a material being we also are of flesh and blood material beings. Even when we try to become so spiritual that we overcome the material site of ourselves, we shall never be able to become as immaterial or spiritual beings as angels or as the eternal Spirit God.

Jesus has given us his word that he kept us in God’s name and told us all those things in the world so that we may have his joy completed in ourselves. Jesus does not live any more in this world, but we who are living in this world, are still submitted to the Laws of God but subject to the laws of the country were we live in. The world may hate us because we have chosen to follow Christ Jesus and to believe in the One God Who is One. Not believing in the worldly gods we also do not want to be of the world just as Jesus was and is not of the world. Jesus did not ask his Father that He would take us out of the world, but that He would protect us from the evil of that world.

“But Jesus said to them, My Father works even until now, so I also work. (18) And for this the Jews wanted the more to kill him, not only because he was weakening the sabbath, but also because he said concerning God that he is his Father, and was making himself equal with God. (19) Jesus answered and said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, that the Son can do nothing of his own accord, except what he sees the Father doing; for the things which the Father does, the same the Son does like him also. (20) For the Father loves his Son, and he shows him everything that he does; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may marvel. (21) For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to those whom he will.” (John 5:17-21 Lamsa NT)

“Jesus spoke these things, and then he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, O my Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify you. (2) Since you have given him power over all flesh, so that to all whom you have given him, he may give life eternal. (3) And this is life eternal, that they might know you, that you are the only true God, even the one who sent Jesus Christ. (4) I have already glorified you on the earth; for the work which you had given to me to do, I have finished it. (5) So now, O my Father, glorify me with you, with the same glory which I had with you before the world was made. (6) I have made your name known to the men whom you gave me out of the world; they were yours and you gave them to me; and they have kept thy word. (7) Now they know that whatever you have given me is from you. (8) For the words which you gave me I gave them; and they accepted them, and have known truly that I came forth from you, and they have believed that you sent me. (9) What I request is for them; I make no request for the world, but for those whom you have given to me; because they are yours. (10) And everything which is mine, is yours; and what is yours is mine; and I am glorified by them. (11) Hereafter I am not in the world, but these are in the world; and I am coming to you. O holy Father, protect them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are. (12) While I was with them in the world, I protected them in your name; those you gave me I protected, and not one of them is lost, except the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. (13) Now I am coming to you; and these things I speak while I am in the world, that my joy may be complete in them. (14) I have given them your word; and the world hated them, because they were not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (15) What I request is not that you should take them out of the world, but that you should protect them from evil.” (John 17:1-15 Lamsa NT)

The religious and spiritual person in the Christian faith should come to the essence of Christ Jesus his teaching. Like Jesus was not of this world they also should try to cleanse themselves, have their spirit clear, proper for God and not being tempted by the material world, loving the traditions of the world. As such they should try to dispose themselves of those celebrations which are kept in the world, but have elements not in accordance with God His commandments. We should strip our world from all the heathen or pagan elements. The world were we do want to live in should be removed from all those things which are mentioned in the Bible, the Word of God, as things which are not right. By avoiding all the things God does not want the world might not like us, because they will notice that we do not want to be “of the world”, even as Jesus was and is not of the world.

In history when churches went astray from the teachings of God, religious people wanted to bring them back on the good track. Their teachings being in conflict with the general or traditional church, made that new denominations were formed. Many allowed legalism, the theological doctrine that salvation is gained through good works, to take a higher stand than God and wanted certain actions to be part of the service a religious person ought to do. Instead of giving more attention at our personal daily walk with Christ and with his Father, which is more important than the sacraments we can burden ourselves with, they brought limitation to what people could do or gave specific strict rules to what people could not do. Sacraments became used as a tool to enter heaven, instead of looking at those sacraments as a symbol of our gratitude toward Gods unfailing grace.

Those ‘renewing teachers’ their followers created new churches and considered that only those people could be saved and go to heaven who became a member of their congregation. They had forgotten that Christ Jesus saved everybody and is the cornerstone of the Church. It is not by belonging to a church a person will secure his position in a place called heaven or in the Kingdom of God. Instead of so many different churches which exclude the other churches, all followers of Christ should be united in that Body of Christ. Those teachers claiming people could only be saved by being a member of their church, also had forgotten that יהוה , YHWH and Love are Four-letter words which are inextricable bound up with the Body of Jesus Christ and his Father, Jehovah God. There were two or more people are gathered in the name of Christ, Jesus is present and there should be peace and Christian brotherhood. The church should offer a place for Christian community, in order strengthen the members their faith, for the purpose of coming closer to God and of spreading God’s Word (by preaching) to the world and worshipping God in everything they do.

Going into ourselves, the spirituality should bring the person in a pure state of mind, clear to receive the entrance to the Supreme Being and becoming one with Him. It should be the aim of the spiritual minded and of the religious person to clear his or her mind of all the unnatural things. The Christian person aiming to get such an open mind to Jesus his Father, like he had, being sanctified in God His Truth, knowing that only God His Word is Truth. Coming to the knowledge that it was God Who had sent Jesus into the world, and that it was not God Who came down Himself, the religious person should recognise that it was that man Jesus who also sent him or her into the world to become sanctified in Truth.

Jesus did pray to his Father concerning those who will believe in the Messiah Jesus through their word, that all may be one, as God is in Christ that they also may be one in Jesus and in Jehovah God so that the world may believe that God sent Jesus.

Jesus did give his disciples the glory which Jehovah God had given him, that they may be one, as God and Jesus are One. The real Christian his or her main aim should be that oneness with God, like Christ Jesus was one in his apostles we also should become one in Christ like Jesus had unity with his Father, that we may be perfected in one; and that the world may know that it was Jehovah God Who sent Jesus and loved them, even as God loved Jesus.

The spiritual minded Christian should aim to come in such transcendent state that he reaches that goal to become like Christ united with his Father. The transcendence should bring the person wherever Jesus would be. His desire to be one of those whom Jehovah God has given Jesus, that where he is, they may be with him also, that they may behold his glory which God gave Jesus, because God loved Jesus already before the foundation of the world. Because God knows everything, He already knows us as well already from the beginning of the universe. We do not know anything from that period when everything came into being (because we did not exist yet, like Christ did not exist yet), but our spirit should be willing to be part of that foundation of the world, that does not want to know about their Creator, but Jesus knew God and made him known to the world. We also should now become part of that New Foundation, where Jesus as the second Adam opened the gates to the Kingdom of God.

“I with them and you with me, that they may become perfected in one; so that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them just as you loved me. (24) O Father, I wish that those whom you have given me, may also be with me where I am; so that they may see my glory which you have given me; for you have loved me before the foundation of the world. (25) O my righteous Father, the world did not know you, but I have known you; and these have known that you have sent me. (26) And I have made your name known to them, and I am still making it known; so that the love with which you loved me may be among them, and I be with them.” (John 17:23-26 Lamsa NT )

In the spiritual mood the person wants to become perfect like the Father of Jesus in Heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:48 )

“So he that descended is the same also that ascended far above all heavens, that he might fulfil all things. (11) And he has assigned some, apostles, and some, prophets, and some, evangelists, and some, pastors, and some, teachers; (12) For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: (13) Until we all become one in faith, and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and become a perfect man according to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (14) That we henceforth be not as children easily stirred and carried away by every wind of false doctrines of men who through their craftiness are artful in deceiving the people; (15) But that we be sincere in our love, so that in everything we may progress through Christ, who is the head. (16) It is through him that the whole body is closely and firmly united at all joints, according to the measure of the gift which is given to every member, for the guidance and control of the body, in order to complete the edifying of the body in love.” (Ephesians 4:10-16 Lamsa NT)

The person getting into spirituality wants to become one with his full being and with nature. That nature is part of the universe God created. The spiritual person tries to go deeper than the material site of the world, coming into the mystic site. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, some pastors, and some teachers may help the person to find subject matter and to get him or her on the way to do good research. Those surrounding the person who wants to be religious and spiritual should provide the right spiritual food so that this person can come to unity with himself and with the Christian Church community, being a good working element and ‘being one’ in, and of, the Body of Christ.

Preceding articles:

Being Religious and Spiritual 1 Immateriality and Spiritual experience

Being Religious and Spiritual 2 Religiosity and spiritual life

Being Religious and Spiritual 3 Philosophers, Avicennism and the spiritual

Being Religious and Spiritual 4 Philosophical, religious and spiritual people

Being Religious and Spiritual 5 Gnostic influences

Being Religious and Spiritual 6 Romantici, utopists and transcendentalists

Next: Being Religious and Spiritual 8 Spiritual, Mystic and not or well religious

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2013 St. Patrick's Day Races: 5k Participants,...

Are you running the right race, having the right goals? – 2013 St. Patrick’s Day Races (Photo credit: ianhun2009)

Critically examine the relationship between gender, religious participation and religious organisations. (cheapbestessaywriting.wordpress.com)
While it is difficult to know precisely whether or not spiritual beliefs differ in relation to males and womanishs, it is evident that unearthly rule and participation does show relatively clear sexual urge differences. This is sure across all forms of religious organisation. Almost two-thirds of churchgoers are women. However, as with social factors worry class and age, it is clear that in that respect is no overall pattern of male / female religious attendance, since there are evident differences between denominations.
The Authority of the Catholic Church (zeal4thefaith.wordpress.com)
I have heard the argument from Protestants that the Bible is the only authority. They do not believe that the Catholic Church has authority on earth at all. Well, the Bible says absolutely nothing about being the only authority.
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Anglicans, Baptists, Born-again Christians, Brethren-in-Christ Churches, Calvary Churches, Episcopalians, Bible Fundamentalists, Non-denominational churches, Methodists, Presbyterians, start up churches too numerous to count and the list goes on and on. They all teach different theologies and they all have different pastors who went to different seminaries which teach different interpretations of Scripture. Which ‘church’ is correct? Which interpretation is correct?
Picking fights over religion and the separation of church and state (santamariatimes.com)
“We have just enough religion to make us hate,” wrote Jonathan Swift, “but not enough to make us love one another.” A lifelong religious controversialist, the 18th-century Irish satirist definitely knew whereof he wrote. After all, it’s fewer than 20 years since Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland quit dynamiting each other’s gathering places.
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Even here in the United States, it often seems that picking fights over religion increases during the Christmas season. If anything, claiming to be persecuted while expressing contempt for others’ beliefs appears on the rise.
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Like Swift, Jefferson recognized the dangers of religious strife. That’s precisely why, he assured Connecticut Baptists in 1802, the First Amendment decreed “a wall of separation between church and State.”
Sunday Worship- Understanding and Teaching (eggflip.wordpress.com)
Sunday Worship is a core practice of the followers of Christianity, but it’s meanings and it’s enactments represent a wide variety of different traditions and rituals loosely associated with different denominations of Christian Churches and sects that are associated the world religion of Christianity. As is precisely within the Roman Catholic Church, the Liturgical calendar is a key part of Sunday worship for Catholics, with liturgical cycles determining which scriptural passages are read out in sermons on each Sunday of the week. Anglican Churches and the Church of England are examples of other churches that retain their own liturgical calendar. Sunday worship is an important part of many different churches own liturgical calendars, and in part defines and how the Christian year is organized.
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part of understanding the practice of Sunday worship as a religious commitment and a religious experience, and the impact it has on the followers of Christianity, or Catholicism
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C Peck (2007) describes the Church’s rationale for Sunday worship “There are approximately two billion professing Christians on earth. They attend over 2,000 different church denominations and organizations in the United States alone. This number continually increases, bringing no end of confusion over beliefs and disagreement between them.
Spirit of Medjugorje Update: Patience (zenobiuszjuz.wordpress.com)
a good Christian life cannot be pursued without a regular examination of conscience and a good grounding in the virtues…

…virtues stem from the grace deposited in the ground of the soul by God..the root of all virtue is humility which is characterized by a patient and loving submission to authority…
Religulous Bastards (venitism.blogspot.com)
In the Iran of the Mullahs, the Persian Gulf emirates and even in those countries where Orthodox Christian patriarchs still wield considerable influence, journalistsare branded as heretics as soon as they dare to describe the far-from-holy practices of the regime and its clergy. And if they dare to denounce the atrocities of an armed Islamist group in Pakistan, Bangladesh or Nigeria, theyare gunned down as infidels even when they are Muslims.

Although used for political ends, religion often carries real weight in societies where no boundary between the spiritual and secular is recognized. When an Omani publication quoted gays as saying they were better off in Oman than in neighbouring divine-right petro-monarchies, it was accused of promoting “moral depravity” and therefore “sacrilege.” Subjects such as the role of women, sexuality and reproduction – all markers of secularization – are surrounded by taboos.
Significance of followers of Islam beliefs (lovevisiblesim.wordpress.com)
I met a man in my days with SAT-7 from Tunisia – an Anglican by denomination but a true follower of Jesus among the people of Islam – a friend to followers of Christ.He shared these thoughts –

For one, it is a myth that the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims are unified in the embrace of classical Islam’s religious precepts. On the contrary, man Muslim peoples have a poor understanding of what their religion is really all about.
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But the followers of Islam are religious people and under the right conditions, open about sharing their beliefs. The word of God, presented under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and watered by the intercessory prayers of God’s people, can do its work in their heart just as in the heart of any who seek truth.

The follower of Christ’s responsibility is to share the same love and concern for the followers of Islam that God has, the truth as it is in Jesus Christ — the One who can make him free indeed.
When Do Christians Have Church Services (christianity.answers.com)
Christianity is the most prominent religion in the United States, and most Christians regularly attend worship services. However, not all churches offer the same services on the same days. If you are interested in giving it a try, learn a little bit about when Christians hold their church services.
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In most churches, holiday services revolve around the birth and death of Christ, or Christmas and Easter. On Christmas Eve, many churches hold traditional evening services that sometimes include candle light ceremonies and Christmas carols. Some churches also hold services on Christmas Day. The days leading up to Easter, including Palm Sunday and Good Friday, are usually celebrated with special services. Easter Sunday, of course, is celebrated by nearly every church with an upbeat service.
Spirituality and Your Health (evelynmmaxwell.com)
Our spirituality and philosophy are the roots to our tree of life. Whether or not our spiritual beliefs and philosophy of life provide us with psychological comfort and hope, rather than distress and discouragement, is very important. Whether or not they provide us the wisdom and courage to act affects us for life as we branch out in our “decision tree” (a term used in the medical field for the decisions we make in relations to our perceptions of the situations, for example, if “this” is true, we do something for “this”; but if “this” is not true we do something different). And, the strengths and weaknesses of our spiritual lives contribute to our society’s strengths and weaknesses.
Explaining Christmas to Children (joiedevivreheather.wordpress.com)

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Stepping Toes

Things said on this site possibly can upset someone

Tag Archives: Religion and Spirituality

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Words to inspire and to give wisdom

Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26

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People Seeking for God 3 Laws and directions

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Points to remember of philosophy versus spirituality and religion

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Looking for True Spirituality 8 Measuring Up

Coming to own spirituality

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Looking for True Spirituality 2 Not restricted to an elite

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Looking for True Spirituality 1 Intro

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Being Religious and Spiritual 7 Transcendence to become one

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