Computerized Christians? Get Ready for the New Church!
May 31, 2009
Isaiah 43;19 declares: “Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
A new thing? Try this one on for size: Just as the Apostle Paul brought the Good News to the Greeks, today’s latch key kids will bring it to the GEEKS!
Here’s what I mean. Does anybody remember those radical Jesus Freaks of the 60s and 70s? They’re still around. They became the pot-bellied Baby-Boomers we know and love today. These people seem to have become more conservative with age (having children of one’s own will cause that transformation). Many who were once yesterday’s liberals are today’s conservatives. They scorn the vulgar videos and movies of today’s youth and turn in disgust from the their nasty grunge clothes, pierced noses, and tattoos. These Boomers can’t stand the in-yo-face vulgarity and arrogance of today’s young no-commitment “slackers.”
To you pastors out there, I hate to break it to you, but these kids are the new recruits. These young people ARE the new Church. I call them the Omega Warriors.
Heads I Win, Tails You Lose
May 30, 2009
In a time when public scrutiny is becoming tighter and more pervasive businesses have learned that they need to be on guard more than ever to ensure they are operating by ethical standards. Though not often mentioned in this discussion, I believe it is especially true of Christian organizations in whom trust is placed by donors. The old adage "heads I win, tails you lose" has a particular bite on this that says ouch. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be.
John Dalla Costa, in his book The Ethical Imperative, provides numerous examples of businesses that sought to play by this rule. By cutting ethical corners (playing games of delay and dodge when it came to expenses for health and safety requirements) many were "winning" the economic game in the short run, but losing over the long-term through fines, restrictions, and erosion of public confidence. By covering up illegal employee practices and denying basic benefits as a reward for helping to make the company profitable they again "saved money," over the short term only to see the long-term effects of this neglect take an economic toll in the form of low employee morale and employee lawsuits. Many of the business Dalla Costa cites are no longer in existence. For them it was "heads I win temporarily, tails I lose permanently.
The American Melting Pot Myth
May 29, 2009
Most myths have some element of truth in them. The ‘melting pot’ that media of all sorts (which includes our propaganda in law and education) tell us became America, is another of the half-truths or superficial observations which deserves a little study if we are to accept the deeper potential meaning in it. John Hope Franklin of Duke University is a respected Black scholar who says some powerful words after pointing out the kind of thing that media managers or manipulators galore have said about the open-minded American with no reason to bring prejudices to this new and exciting land of opportunity. I would point out that it was not so new and historians like himself have participated in a cover-up but let us see what this man has to say about the ‘melting pot’.
People do not generally like to find out that they have ‘bastards’ in their family tree and the woodpiles of America created a lot of ‘bastards’. My father used to tell us about the Virginia legislature and legislation proposed that would make anyone with any black blood not able to sit and participate in it. This was the early 1950s not the 1850s. One legislator did the research that most Americans will not even do about their own family. He did not get more than half way through exposing every member of the legislature for their mulatto blood when the others were all in an uproar and clamoring that he must b silenced.
Choose To Integrate Body, Mind, & Soul
May 29, 2009
Our bodies were made in such a way that everything is integrated. The mind appears to control everything. When something happens to the body whether good or bad, it registers in the brain and the brain then dictates the bodies response. Scientists has found that it also works that way within the body. Biofeedback has shown that the mind can direct the immune system to fight various infections in the body includ- ing the dreaded strains of cancer. For the average person this is a wonderful idea, but biofeedback costs money and besides not everyone has a life threatening problem. Imagine being able to do this for yourself in the comfort of your own home, office or anywhere else you can go to be alone for a few minutes! There are another kind of science that is telling us that the body listens when we talk. Think about that for a minute. When we talk we are saying what the mind is thinking; we are just saying it outloud. So, it follows we can do our own biofeedback anywhere we want. A very simple illustration of this will prove this to you. Hold your arms out in front of you extending your two index fingers. Shut your eyes and repeat our loud, “fingers come together”. Think it and say it and within two minutes your fingers do come together. When I first tried this it was very exciting to me that it worked because for me it opened possibilities in my mind! Since then I have become a talker to myself! A self whisperer if you will. I talk to my body and to my sub conscious even and I have gotten amazing results. This is one thing that I think will work for everyone because this is one of the functions of the body, mind and soul that was part of the design, just as blood running through everyone’s body is the same. But, you must have an open mind! Your mind accepts that blood runs through the body in a specific manner and so it must accept that the body, mind and soul will listen when it is spoken to, no matter who is speaking, yourself or someone else.
The Moment of Truth
May 28, 2009
Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated to all of Israel, and the world last night that the moment of truth had arrived. Announcing his resignation as Finance Minister in the Sharon cabinet, he stated that he had been forced to remain in the government, and also remain mostly silent regarding his opposition to the disengagement over these last several months in order to complete his economic reforms, he claimed that he anguished over the continued march towards the disengagement with no signs of gaining anything in return. He also categorically pronounced what the rest of us have been shouting from the rooftops since its inception, he stated in no uncertain terms that this move would escalate terrorism, empower Hamas, and ultimately put the survival of the state in danger. While many felt his timing was strictly politically motivated to position himself to take control of the Likud party, wresting it away from Ariel Sharon, I must say I have a bit of a different take on it. Please read on to understand what it is and why I feel that way, and also what I really think about BiBi Netanyahu.
The Saga of Puffed Wheat Anderson, A Minnesota Legend
May 27, 2009
I have no idea how old I was when I first learned about the famed Minnesota scientist and inventor Alex P. Anderson, AKA Puffed Wheat Anderson. My Dad told me about him when I was eating a bowl of cereal, you know, the one that’s shot from guns. Or doesn’t Quaker use that line any more? They sure did when I was growing up. I’d hear it a dozen times in a half hour when I used to listen to Sgt. Preston of the Mounties as a six-years-old. I naturally wondered if he was a relative. He wasn’t, but I couldn’t imagine how shooting rice or wheat out of a cannon could make them puff up.
I thought of that again as I was shopping in Byerly’s, a local grocery store, and happened to pass by the cereal section. I decided I wanted to find out how it was done so when I got home, I immediately looked up Anderson in Google. I wasn’t prepared for the fascinating story surrounding his life and accomplishments. Or the Quaker company’s marketing history, for that matter.
The Oldest Concept in History
May 26, 2009
I find it funny that one of the oldest concepts in the world has become one of modern society’s biggest irritants. The problem with this is that the concept has been lost behind all the problems created by people who did not fully understand the concept to begin with. Religion is, by far, at the forefront of this list of problems. Government is close behind. So what is the concept we’ve lost? At the risk of sounding "philosophical", I’ll put it in one word. God.
The concept of God is a simple one. Or at least, it was at one point. God is everything. That’s pretty much the long and short of it. At no point does religion enter into this, this is just a true and utter definition of the word god. Scientifically, it has been proven that all matter, even our own bodies, is made up of energy. All energy, broken down, is inevitably made of the same thing. Studies are currently being done to show that Energy broken down is, in fact, fluid and without separation. The Brookhaven National Laboratory has labelled this energy a "quark-gluon plasma" (for more information visit http://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/19990614quarksoup1.asp). This simple fact is a clue into the realm of god. God is everything. No religion or faith involved.
Body, Mind, and Soul
May 25, 2009
Being in tune with your mind, body, and soul and how they work is the one most important thing you can do for yourself. We know now that, the three work together. If the body is ill, the mind and soul are affected as well. If the mind becomes ill the body and soul show the stress of that. But, I think the strongest combination showing the most illness is when the soul becomes stressed. That seems to make the body and mind crumble the quickest. I, myself, have learned that first hand! But, it also works in the reverse! When the body is healthy, the mind is sound and the soul is happy. Keeping these three in balance is a life long task. So, learning how to do it and then maintaining it with little effort is very important. We do have other things in life to accomplish! However, the other things we are accomplishing will be enhanced and go much easier if we take the time to be in tune with ourselves.
The Power of Love
May 24, 2009
There is no doubt in my mind that the quality of love is the #1 quality that God would like to get worked into our souls and personalities. Even nonbelievers, atheists and agnostics can see the power of love and how it has the ability to change people and change lives when it is properly walked out and handled.
Hollywood has made tons of movies just on the power of love - especially the special love that occurs between a man and woman in a romantic relationship. Even hard, tough grown men can be brought to tears when watching a real well made movie made about the power of love.
The quality of love is truly universal - as it literally transcends peoples, nations and religions. Love is truly the universal language of this world and people from all different walks of life recognize it for what it truly is and understand the power that is in it.
Then when you read and study the Bible - you see the major emphasis God the Father is placing on it when He tells all of us that He wants us to love Him, to love ourselves and to love one another.
Saturn: Your Challenge to Become An Expert
May 24, 2009
The true meaning of Saturn is that he is the teacher of the deeper lessons of life. Therefore, what he demands is that you learn your life lessons so well that you will never forget them. If you do learn these lessons well, you will become an expert and can teach others what these valuable lessons mean.
If you know nothing about astrology, these words may sound strange. In this case, it may help you to realize that the planets are reflected in our unconscious as archetypes. This is what the great psychiatrist, Carl Jung, discovered. This means that the actual planets in the heavens are living inside of you as specific energies. These magnetic energies flow through the chakras of your body and are expressed through your specific desires and attitudes. (I have given a more accurate term for this process which I call “Planetary Psychology.”)
I recommend that you embrace the demands of Saturn. This brings us to a question:
What are the particular demands that Saturn places upon you?
