Life {re}Defined

What Matters Most

2009-03-02T14:48:00.000-05:00

Knowledge is power, but too much knowledge can blind you to the Truth.

Your Choice

2009-02-27T09:17:00.000-05:00

"Responsible people do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice."

Divine Arithmetic

2009-02-24T08:12:00.001-05:00

"Faith is putting all your eggs in God's basket, then counting your blessings before they hatch."

Giving

2009-02-18T20:57:00.002-05:00

I'd rather say "You're welcome" once,

Than "Thank you" a thousand times.

Promises

2009-02-10T13:52:00.002-05:00

Promise Only What You Can Deliver

then

Deliver More Than You Promise

You've Got To Be Carefully Taught

2009-02-04T10:35:00.007-05:00

You've Got To Be Taught

to Hate And Fear,

you've Got To Be Taught

from Year To Year,

it's Got To Be Drummed

in Your Dear Little Ear

you've Got To Be Carefully Taught.
-

You've Got To Be Taught To Be Afraid

of People Whose Eyes Are 'Oddly' Made,

and People Whose Skin Is A Diff'rent Shade,

you've Got To Be Carefully Taught.

You've Got To Be Taught Before It's Too Late,

before You Are Six Or Seven Or Eight,

to Hate All The People Your Relatives Hate,

you've Got To Be Carefully Taught!

Faith then Hope

2009-01-20T10:11:00.008-05:00

Welcome to another, but not just another, Inauguration Day. Inauguration 2009.

Our first black,white,biracial, mixed president; choose your own label.

Our new president has his job cut out for him and I hope that he gets the job done.

As we pray for him, let us remember that the Obamas, the Reagans, the Churchills, the Moses, the King Sauls, and the other great leaders of this world merit hope....

Our Faith should always be in Jesus the Christ and He alone.

Nothing has changed.

A Matter of Priority

2009-01-04T12:51:00.001-05:00

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.

2008-12-25T21:20:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas

and
Happy Hanukah

all

Where Size Matters

2008-12-16T12:08:00.001-05:00

You can tell the size of your God by looking at the size of your worry list.
The longer your list, the smaller your God.

Your Past Isn't What It Used to Be

2008-12-12T13:07:00.005-05:00

During my high school years I walked to school many mornings with a classmate. One day as an act of Support I reached my arm around his shoulder and hugged him lightly. My friend was uncomfortable with this motion and politely threw my arm off his shoulder. I felt embarrassed and we both said nothing. At the end of the senior year we were off to college and we went our separate ways. For a long time, however, when I thought about him I recalled that awkward moment.

Recently I received a message from my wife: "Mr. R called and said he misses walking to school with you." Delighted to hear from my old friend, I phoned him and the next time I was in his city we met for lunch. As we began to reminisce, I confessed, "Sometimes I still feel weird about the morning I put my arm around your shoulder and you tossed it off." He looked perplexed. "I don't remember that at all," he told me sincerely. "All I remember is that you always waited for me, sometimes even in the rain."

I was stunned. For all those years one of my primary memories of my friendship with him was built around my perceived error. Meanwhile all he remembered was the Good. What a waste of my Thought and Energy! And how wonderful it felt to know that he had always Appreciated me.

While you have many possible alternative futures, you also have many alternative pasts. Out of literally billions of experiences in your Life, you have chosen to focus on only a small number of selected events and call it "my past." You may think of events A, G, M, and W as your past, but you could also consider events B, D R, and Z as your past. If you focus on traumatic or self-defeating moments as your past, you will call forth sorrow or loss and your future will replicate them. If you focus on Empowering and Self-Honoring events as your past, you will call forth Appreciation and inner Peace, and your future will deliver you more experiences to match them.

Like my friend, the people who Love you, your Abba Daddy and His universe that loves you may all hold an entirely more appreciative view of you and your past than you do. They are closer to the Truth. Would you be willing to question what you believe is your past, so you can have a better one?

A wise book tells us, "The one wholly True thought one can hold about the past is that it is not here." It also notes that ..."all of your past is gone except for the Blessings it has bestowed". In this sense, any interpretation you hold of your past other than absence or Healing is invalid. It's time to get a new past.

As this year comes to a close, you might like to review your experiences to consider which ones you would like to take with you into the new year. Perhaps there have been pains, upsets, and losses. There have also been Joys, Gains, and Healing. You may also recognize that the pain, put in proper perspective, has contributed to Clarity, Healing, and Advancement. So the chaff is gone and the Wheat remains. You can carry last year's pain into next year if you choose, but that is entirely unnecessary and counter to your Good. Let the slate be wiped clean for the new year so it can build on the Good of last year.

You can make Anything out of anything, and your past is no exception. The past is not a static historical event. You are creating it at this moment as you think about it. How you view it determines what it is and was. Many people wish they could go back and make different decisions in the past so they could create a different outcome. At this very moment you can make a different decision about your past and instantly create a better future.

View the past as your enemy, and it will be an albatross. View it as your Friend, and it will give you Wings, and in Appreciation you will Pray, "Thanks for everything. I have no complaints whatsoever".

Happy Old Year.

Forgiveness

2008-12-12T09:04:00.001-05:00

Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

Stop and think

2008-12-08T08:29:00.001-05:00

We occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of us pick ourselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.

Thanks Giving

2008-11-25T11:34:00.004-05:00

The story is told about a wise and renowned woman named Sono who taught the people in her town one very simple method of Awareness. She advised everyone who came to her to adopt a prayer to be said many times a day, under all conditions. The prayer was, "Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever."

Many people from all arenas of life of many villages came to Sono for advice. Some were in physical pain; others were emotionally distraught; others had financial troubles; some were seeking soul liberation. No matter what their distress or what question they asked her, her response was the same: "Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever." Some people went away disappointed; others grew angry; others tried to argue with her. Yet some people took her suggestion to heart and began to practice it. Tradition tells that everyone who practiced Sono’s prayer found peace and healing.

The other day I ran into my friend Lisa, an attractive woman in her late 30’s, whom I had not seen in several years. She informed me that a year earlier she had been diagnosed with a brain disorder that required immediate surgery. The surgery was done, a steel plate was inserted in her head, and her doctor keeps her under close observation. Lisa reported that now she lives from day to day. Privately I told Lisa that I was sorry she had gone through this whole ordeal. "Oh, don’t be sorry," she told me emphatically. "I’m not sorry at all. This was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. It really got me to appreciate my life and relationships. I married a wonderful chap and we are thinking about having children. I wouldn’t trade the experience if I could."
Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.

Can you imagine what your life would be like if you simply dropped your complaints? It’s a radical proposal, since most of us have been trained to question, analyze, and criticize everything we see. But then we often end up destructively criticizing ourselves. Then we miss out on Joy, the only true measure of success.

A wise person once proclaimed, "All a sane person can ever think about is giving Love." One evening I received a phone call from my friend Cliff, a Jewish fellow from Brooklyn who discovered this proclamation and became a world-class Love exuder. Cliff just went around finding Good and Beauty in everyone he met.

On the phone, Cliff told me, "I just called to tell you how much I love and appreciate you."

"Well, thank you Cliff," I answered, delighted. "I really appreciate that... What prompted you to call me at this moment?"

"My knee was hurting me, and I knew that the only way I could feel better would be to give more Love. So I began to think of the people in my life who I care about, and you came to mind."
Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.

As we approach the holiday of Thanksgiving, many of us will be getting together with our families. Perhaps family issues may come to the fore and we might be tempted to fall into a pattern of rehashing old resentments and arguments. Wouldn’t it be fabulous if, as we sat with our relatives, we held in mind, "Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever." Imagine what this Thanksgiving would be like if we decided that no matter how much mom complained about dad; how much dad bugged us about getting a real job; or how unspiritual our "ex" is, we chose to be an unstoppable appreciation machine and found the good in our loved ones. Indeed this would be a triumphant Thanksgiving to remember!

Yes, I know, there is a voice inside you objecting, "But if I did not complain, people would walk all over me and selfish opportunists would genetically manipulate my food and terrorists would keep crashing airplanes into buildings and ... and... Got it. Now if you went to Sono, her response would be, "Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever." I am simply suggesting that we practice the prayer for an entire Thanksgiving day. And then maybe one day a week. Then we might start to feel so good and our lives will become so effective that we want to turn every day into Thanksgiving.

The Bible, in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, shows that God considers the highest form of prayer to be Gratitude. Instead of asking God for stuff, start thanking God for stuff, and you will find that God has already given you everything you could want or need, including the adventure of discovering more riches every day. Life is a big treasure hunt. Eventually we grow weary of seeking treasures outside ourselves, and we begin to look within. There we discover that the Gold we sought, we already Are. The Beauty we overlooked because we were focusing on what is missing, still lives and awaits us like an anxious lover. As a wise person nobly noted, "The end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."

Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.

Point to Ponder

2008-11-18T15:23:00.002-05:00

You are never finished, but always complete.

Point To Ponder

2008-11-07T16:10:00.005-05:00

Do you believe that it is true that we are made in God's image? If this is true, then there must be a female side to God. We aren't all men, after all. I've been pondering and -on some preprogrammed level- rejecting this idea because I was raised to believe that God is male.

How many little boys have been handed God in a box where He is mostly our football buddy and our fellow weekend warrior, a fellow guy to identify with and thus who understands us more than our loving but quaint wives ever could? Do we and God leave the family cave together emotionally, spears in hand, to go and kill the food and drag it back home to feed the wife and kids while God and us reminisce about man stuff?

How many little girls have been handed God in a box where He is mostly their body guard or the masculine Brut and Old Spice father, not someone to talk with so much as someone to talk to? Hugs and kisses to a point, even butterfly kisses at night, but not the nurturing bond of two soft and tender souls?

Are you willing to take God out of the box and know all of Him? Are you willing to share the one True consistent God with all of your children, regardless of their gender? Or will you first choose a box.

What Now?

2008-11-05T08:14:00.004-05:00

Well the verdict came in: President Elect Barack Obama.

I then opened my Bible to see what God was thinking now, and this is what I found....

Nothing has changed.

Election Point to Ponder

2008-10-31T09:58:00.001-04:00

The reason the world seems to be run by idiots is that it is already being run by a Genius, and anyone who seeks to assume that position must be an idiot.

SLOW DANCE

2008-10-23T09:38:00.001-04:00

This poem was written by a terminally ill young girl in a New York Hospital...

SLOW DANCE
----------
Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,"hi"

You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Not So Fast

2008-10-22T11:47:00.003-04:00

My family and I enjoy road trips; as a matter of fact, we enjoyed another one this past weekend. We had a wonderful time; much better than we had planned with more than one surprise to spice things up. The first surprise appeared when the fellow across the desk told us that they were out of minivans despite our having made our reservation weeks prior. So we ended up with a fullsize gashog of a van.
By the time we started loading up, we were already 2 hours late. By the time my wife was satisifed with the state of the luggage and the house locks and the aquarium and the steam iron and the stove, we were 3 hours late.
Personally, I know that I could have gotten myself on the road right on time or even a head of time. During my loner days, I was always proud of beating the clock. But now that I am a husband and a father I realize that...

"If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together".

and the Winner Is.....

2008-10-10T11:59:00.001-04:00

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between 2 wolves.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

"The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

The Truth Of Religious Liberty # 3

2008-10-10T08:30:00.005-04:00

"It is impossible to have religious freedom in any nation where churches are licensed by the government." Congressman George Hansen.

The courts well-understand that “a church is not an entity recognized in law,” meaning that they have no jurisdiction over the church. However, organizing a church as a church is an especially difficult concept for attorneys to grasp. The legal support for the State’s lack of jurisdiction over the church in America is not only the Word of God, but also our very own First Amendment to the Constitution for the United States. No church in any nation at any point in history can lay claim to the freedoms and liberties that are guaranteed the church in America. The First Amendment is an act of God’s Providence to safeguard His church and maintain its independence from the State.

The federal government's recognition of the rights and opportunities of the church in America, is not something that any other nation's government recognizes or in many cases, tolerates. If we believe that this by Godly design and not by random chance, then we will be vigilant to not just sing hyms sit in pews and tithe 10%, but to also get involved in all aspects of our spiritual lives. Giving 10%, 20%, 30% or even 100% merely builds bigger church groups and funds more programs. What is needed isn't bigger Churches groups or even a certain president; what is needed are people who retain their free and unhindered voice, value it, and are willing to die for using it if necessary. To do otherwise is merely the pomp and circumstance of a religious club.

Again, let us not be content with merely being actors in the play of our lives, but let us be directors in our Godly destinies. Let us not be distracted by the varying denominational and theological opinions on the likes of Chronicles of Narnia or the Davinci Code ad infinitum, while more pertinent issues fall by the way side. Let us put ourselves back where we belong: under God who needs no defending, indivisible, with freedom and justice for all. Let us put our government back in its place: keep tabs on what your elected officials are up to and let them know what you expect of them...and last but not least: Be aware.

[the End]

Point to Ponder

2008-10-06T09:36:00.003-04:00

"Worry is a misuse of the imagination."

The Truth Of Religious Liberty # 2

2008-10-06T08:55:00.003-04:00

In my first posting on The Truth Of Religious Liberty, I explained the relationship of religion to the founding of America, as well as the series of events which led to religious liberty in America. Now let's fast forward and discuss the greatest threat to religious liberty in the history of the human race; ironically the threat is being perpertrated by the religious because we are ignorant of the history and mechanics of religious liberty.

First please read this article titled "Churches to defy IRS on sermons" and then my followup below...

Ever since I read the American Consitution and subsequently became an American citizen, I have been flabbergasted as to why church groups and other religious organizations are violating Divine Law by incorporating themselves as 501c3 tax-exempt religious organizations, and with good reason. I am going to give you those reasons and then I am going to ask you to bring this information to the attention of those church group and religious organizations with whom you are affiliated.

Back in the early 1950's Senator Lyndon B. Johnson finally had enough of the church's significant influence on shaping public/government policy and so he set out to silence his nemesis, the church. He did so in 1954 by giving the church a financial advantage by adding them to section 501c3 of the tax code.

This gift from Johnson is -debatedly- the worst curse placed upon the church in America, because it comes with strings attached -dangerous strings. Churches who become 501c3 corporations make themselves entities/persons/children of a civil government, grant jurisdiction of themselves to that government, exist solely at the discretion and pleasure of that government, and are subject to the whims and will of that government; they become creatures of the State instead of God. Since 1954 more and more restrictions are being placed upon what these church groups can say against anything that the government declares is legal or allowed without threatening that precious tax-exempt status.

Church groups are unwittingly selling out to 501c3 because they either don't know better, or because "everyone else is doing it", or upon the advice of attorneys and CPAs, or out of greed or selfish ambition. All of these reasons would cease to exist if churches were to simply take God seriously, become knowledgeable, employ wisdom, and seek reliable Godly advice instead of unreliable secular advice. Instead, our own seminaries and Bible colleges are espousing the 'virtues' if not the 'necessity' of 501c3.

Now here is the kicker: the IRS has always recognized that according to the American constitution, church group are by their very nature, automatically tax-exempt and tax-deductible.

Go the the IRS website via Google and research the following for your self...

1: The First Amendment to the American COnsitution states that Congress shall make NO LAW respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the FREE exercise thereof.
2: IRS Publication 557 acknowledges and states that churches, interchurch organizations of local units of a church, conventions or associations of churches, or integrated auxiliaries of a church, such as a men's or women's organization, religious school, mission society, and youth groups are automatically tax-exempt and tax-deductible.
3: IRS Code § 508(c)(1)(A) uses the mandatory exception rule from 510c3 for: churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of churches.
4: IRS Publication 526 also states that a donor can deduct contributions only to qualified organizations and that to become a qualified organization, most organizations OTHER THAN churches and governments must apply to the IRS

In the words of Steve Nestor, IRS Sr. Revenue Officer (ret.):"I am not the only IRS employee who’s wondered why churches go to the government and seek permission to be exempted from a tax they didn’t owe to begin with, and to seek a tax deductible status that they’ve always had anyway. Many of us have marveled at how church leaders want to be regulated and controlled by an agency of government that most Americans have prayed would just get out of their lives. Churches are in an amazingly unique position, but they don’t seem to know or appreciate the implications of what it would mean to be free of government control." ...

Have we learned nothing from the Bible? Have we learned nothing from history?

[to be continued]

The Truth Of Religious Liberty

2008-10-02T14:25:00.012-04:00

Most people are of the mistaken belief that the pilgrims came to America in order to have religious freedom for all, free from government interference, and that this is guaranteed by the original Constitution; in fact, they actually came here to establish their own brand of Christianity free from the Church of England, from other Protestant denominations, and from the Catholic Church, and religious freedom is not mentioned in or guaranteed by the Constitution.

America was not primarily settled by people seeking religious freedom; the separation of church and state did not result from the activism of secularists or the Pilgrims, but, paradoxically, from the efforts of 18th-century evangelicals resulting in The First Amendment To The Constitution; and the American Revolution was as much a reaction against European theocracy as a struggle for economic and political freedom.

Even in 1771, our country was a much different place spiritually. Most of the first colonies subsidized their "chosen" ministers' salaries with tax revenue. Yes, pastors were paid by the government. People like Isaac Backus in Massachusetts were arrested and John Leland, John Weatherford, and David Barrow were assaulted by mobs and beaten with whips. Others taught that hymns were worldly and immoral and that only the Psalms should be sung. In Caroline County Virginia, 6 people were arrested for the "immorality" of adult baptism; at that time, most people thought adult baptism was like a "get out of jail free card" in regards to sin. They were not alone. New York state celebrated the anti-Catholic "Pope Day". Only 3 of the 13 colonies allowed Catholics to vote. You see, most settlers had come to America so that they could worship separately from other forms of religions. And Protestants, Catholics, and everything else besides the state's chosen (usually Puritan) religions were those other forms. They wanted to worship in the way they chose and to still kick out those who did not.

Obviously, we are a much different place today. What caused such change that brought not only a spiritual change called "religious liberty" but its political equivalent termed by Thomas Jefferson as "a wall of separation between church and state"? Two things among others made it possible, according to Steve Waldman, author of the book Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the birth of Religious Freedom in America.

The first was the persecution of nonPuritan Christians in the state of Virginia. The nonPuritans did not want the state governments to use tax dollars to pay the salaries of clergy and the Baptists did not want to be forced to baptize their children until they could speak for themselves. After a while, ‘Separate Baptists’ were exempted from the taxes in Virginia , but they had to verify their Christian heritage, be certified by their respective denominations, and prove they still attended church services regularly(how times have changed). But this was not enough, so Roger Williams started the first Baptist church in a free state called Rhode Island, but it took John Leland's problems with the magistrates of Virginia to awaken the concerns of James Madison.

The second was the message spread by George Whitfield in 1739; a message that ignited the flames of spiritual fervor so great in early America that more people started attending church services, and more church groups were started. There were so many different kinds of beliefs, religious liberty as expressed in the First Amendment To The Constitution provided freedom to all the new growing movements, but made sure that church groups did not try to meddle in the business of partisanship and that the government would likewise not meddle in religion; this amendment is also specifically addressed in current IRS regulations. Thanks to James Madison, The First Amendment became the way to hold the church groups accountable to each other instead of to the government. The founders of our country, many of whom were Godly people and even "Christians", eventually realized that faith coerced, compelled, or even funded was not True Faith. When the First Amendment To The Constitution was ratified, the states finally stopped subsidizing salaries, and as a result, we now have true Religious Freedom.

[to be continued]