Tag Archives: Communication

by Marcus Ampe | 2018/01/24 · 7:21 pm

Fake News Goes Back to the Garden of Eden says Pope Francis I

On this day of “News and communication” we can’t escape to ponder on the last two years where we got bombarded with continuous streams of fake news and attacks on people and organisations.

All people who write on the internet should be aware of their social function and be conscious of their responsibility and impact on others. The last few months social media also showed its bad and dangerous side in being a weapon of opponents and misleader of the people. When you look at the fake news that could be spread in one week it should really alarm us.

Today the Roman Catholic Church Father Francis I looked at what is going on in this world and said

Made in the image and likeness of our Creator, we are able to express and share all that is true, good, and beautiful. We are able to describe our own experiences and the world around us, and thus to create historical memory and the understanding of events.

He is also aware and tells about what happened very early in the history of man, what too many have forgotten. We should remember that there was the inner thought of the mannin or first woman who doubted the sincerity and honesty of her Creator. Pope Francis has denounced fake news as evil, comparing it to the snake in the Garden of Eden, and urged journalists to make it their mission to search for the truth.

In his annual social communications message, Francis said fake news played on stereotypes and prejudices, and praised efforts to make social media users aware of false reports. Question hereby can bye how we ourselves want to see the world around us and how we want to be honest to others. Lots of our way of reaction against others has to do with our background, attitude of life and our pride.

The pope opened his sermon today with a warning.

But when we yield to our own pride and selfishness, we can also distort the way we use our ability to communicate. This can be seen from the earliest times, in the biblical stories of Cain and Abel and the Tower of Babel (cf. Gen 4:4-16; 11:1-9). The capacity to twist the truth is symptomatic of our condition, both as individuals and communities. On the other hand, when we are faithful to God’s plan, communication becomes an effective expression of our responsible search for truth and our pursuit of goodness.

In 1972 Pope Paul VI already for the World Communications Day had its theme: “Social Communications at the Service of Truth”. The present pope want also to contribute to our shared commitment to stemming the spread of fake news and to rediscovering the dignity of journalism and the personal responsibility of journalists to communicate the truth. for this pope it is not the first time he has scolded those who spread false news reports. He called it a “very serious sin” that not only hurts those who have been slandered but also hurts journalism itself.

We have come into a time when it looks like a sport or competition to bring the most deceiving and manipulating messages to the reader. Clearly the spreading of fake news can serve to advance specific goals, influence political decisions, and serve economic interests, and is as such used.

The effectiveness of fake news is primarily due to its ability to mimic real news, to seem plausible. Secondly, this false but believable news is “captious”, inasmuch as it grasps people’s attention by appealing to stereotypes and common social prejudices, and exploiting instantaneous emotions like anxiety, contempt, anger and frustration. The ability to spread such fake news often relies on a manipulative use of the social networks and the way they function. Untrue stories can spread so quickly that even authoritative denials fail to contain the damage.

In Christendom we can see that lots of people are so caught by the arrangement between the clergy and the Roman emperor Constantine. Their agreement to equal the Roman gods with the Christian figures (or better the other way around) made that the Trinity was born and fostered.

The difficulty of unmasking and eliminating fake news is due also to the fact that many people interact in homogeneous digital environments impervious to differing perspectives and opinions. Disinformation thus thrives on the absence of healthy confrontation with other sources of information that could effectively challenge prejudices and generate constructive dialogue; instead, it risks turning people into unwilling accomplices in spreading biased and baseless ideas. The tragedy of disinformation is that it discredits others, presenting them as enemies, to the point of demonizing them and fomenting conflict. Fake news is a sign of intolerant and hypersensitive attitudes, and leads only to the spread of arrogance and hatred. That is the end result of untruth.

In Facebook Groups lots of people go very hard against people who have an other opinion than they or than mainstream groups. Many want others to believe as them and when they do not do that they come to abuse them and call them names.

It is not an easy task to get people to see what really happened and to get rid of the false information Awful is it when such false news is to blacken people or organisations. Since disinformation is often based on deliberately evasive and subtly misleading rhetoric and at times the use of sophisticated psychological mechanisms, plus when it gets multiplied or shared via social media it starts running its own life and often turns up a few years later when people have forgotten about the matter and do not recollect that it was classified as fake news.

The Pope finds it good that

praiseworthy efforts are being made to create educational programmes aimed at helping people to interpret and assess information provided by the media, and teaching them to take an active part in unmasking falsehoods, rather than unwittingly contributing to the spread of disinformation. Praiseworthy too are those institutional and legal initiatives aimed at developing regulations for curbing the phenomenon, to say nothing of the work being done by tech and media companies in coming up with new criteria for verifying the personal identities concealed behind millions of digital profiles.

Yet preventing and identifying the way disinformation works also calls for a profound and careful process of discernment. We need to unmask what could be called the “snake-tactics” used by those who disguise themselves in order to strike at any time and place. This was the strategy employed by the “crafty serpent” in the Book of Genesis, who, at the dawn of humanity, created the first fake news (cf. Gen 3:1-15), which began the tragic history of human sin, beginning with the first fratricide (cf. Gen 4) and issuing in the countless other evils committed against God, neighbour, society and creation. The strategy of this skilled “Father of Lies” (Jn 8:44) is precisely mimicry, that sly and dangerous form of seduction that worms its way into the heart with false and alluring arguments.

The world is taken by its greed. So many people do want it all for themselves. Politicians do whatever they can to degrade their opponents and to let themselves look the better one.

What is at stake is our greed. Fake news often goes viral, spreading so fast that it is hard to stop, not because of the sense of sharing that inspires the social media, but because it appeals to the insatiable greed so easily aroused in human beings. The economic and manipulative aims that feed disinformation are rooted in a thirst for power, a desire to possess and enjoy, which ultimately makes us victims of something much more tragic: the deceptive power of evil that moves from one lie to another in order to rob us of our interior freedom. That is why education for truth means teaching people how to discern, evaluate and understand our deepest desires and inclinations, lest we lose sight of what is good and yield to every temptation.

At Facebook Groups we often find people, claiming to be Christian, using words unworthy for a lover of God and for a follower of Christ, calling those who are not in line with their thinking all sorts of names. By bringing all sorts of false ‘news’ they also try to bring others in discredit. In many of those groups we can see a constant contamination by deceptive language which can end up darkening our interior life.

Dostoevsky’s observation is illuminating:

“People who lie to themselves and listen to their own lie come to such a pass that they cannot distinguish the truth within them, or around them, and so lose all respect for themselves and for others. And having no respect, they cease to love, and in order to occupy and distract themselves without love they give way to passions and to coarse pleasures, and sink to bestiality in their vices, all from continual lying to others and to themselves.” (The Brothers Karamazov, II, 2).

Many people are thrown form one side to the other and become so confused, not able to see what is true , half-true and what is false. Lots of false messages look so engrossing that one can not resit the excitement and love to share it on social media which makes the ball rolling.

So how do we defend ourselves?

The most radical antidote to the virus of falsehood is purification by the truth.

In Christianity, truth is not just a conceptual reality that regards how we judge things, defining them as true or false. The truth is not just bringing to light things that are concealed, “revealing reality”, as the ancient Greek term aletheia (from a-lethès, “not hidden”) might lead us to believe. Truth involves our whole life. In the Bible, it carries with it the sense of support, solidity, and trust, as implied by the root ‘aman, the source of our liturgical expression Amen.

Those who call themselves Christian should have the aim in them to purify their body and spirit and to share the love of Christ with others, not wanting to hurt them by false sayings or awful words. they should work on their character, trying to become like Christ. By their daily meditations and reading of the Word of God they should discover and rediscover the truth when they experience it within themselves in the loyalty and trustworthiness of the One who loves them.

every person should know that the truth will set them free (Jn 8:32).

Freedom from falsehood and the search for relationship: these two ingredients cannot be lacking if our words and gestures are to be true, authentic, and trustworthy. To discern the truth, we need to discern everything that encourages communion and promotes goodness from whatever instead tends to isolate, divide, and oppose. Truth, therefore, is not really grasped when it is imposed from without as something impersonal, but only when it flows from free relationships between persons, from listening to one another. Nor can we ever stop seeking the truth, because falsehood can always creep in, even when we state things that are true. An impeccable argument can indeed rest on undeniable facts, but if it is used to hurt another and to discredit that person in the eyes of others, however correct it may appear, it is not truthful. We can recognize the truth of statements from their fruits: whether they provoke quarrels, foment division, encourage resignation; or, on the other hand, they promote informed and mature reflection leading to constructive dialogue and fruitful results.

When looking at news channels, social media (tweets and Facebook messages) we always should use our common sense and examine the truth as well as the value of the message.

The best antidotes to falsehoods are not strategies, but people: people who are not greedy but ready to listen, people who make the effort to engage in sincere dialogue so that the truth can emerge; people who are attracted by goodness and take responsibility for how they use language. If responsibility is the answer to the spread of fake news, then a weighty responsibility rests on the shoulders of those whose job is to provide information, namely, journalists, the protectorsof news. In today’s world, theirs is, in every sense, not just a job; it is a mission. Amid feeding frenzies and the mad rush for a scoop, they must remember that the heart of information is not the speed with which it is reported or its audience impact, but persons. Informing others means forming others; it means being in touch with people’s lives. That is why ensuring the accuracy of sources and protecting communication are real means of promoting goodness, generating trust, and opening the way to communion and peace.

The pontiff wants to invite everyone to promote a journalism of peace. He said

By that, I do not mean the saccharine kind of journalism that refuses to acknowledge the existence of serious problems or smacks of sentimentalism. On the contrary, I mean a journalism that is truthful and opposed to falsehoods, rhetorical slogans, and sensational headlines. A journalism created by people for people, one that is at the service of all, especially those – and they are the majority in our world – who have no voice. A journalism less concentrated on breaking news than on exploring the underlying causes of conflicts, in order to promote deeper understanding and contribute to their resolution by setting in place virtuous processes. A journalism committed to pointing out alternatives to the escalation of shouting matches and verbal violence.

Preceding articles

Americans their stars, pretension, God, Allah and end of times signs #1 Abrahamic religions

Americans their stars, pretension, God, Allah and end of times signs #2 War on God’s Plan, Name and title

Americans their stars, pretension, God, Allah and end of times signs #3 Cyberwars and prophesy

Additional reading

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13 Comments

Filed under Crimes & Atrocities, Educational affairs, Headlines - News, History, Lifestyle, Political affairs, Religious affairs, Social affairs, World affairs

Tagged as 1972, Book of Genesis, Communication, Disinformation, Facebook Groups, Fake News, False reports, Falsehoods, Father of Lies, Forming others, Garden of Eden, Human responsibility, Informing others, Interior freedom, Internet, Journalism, Journalists, Mission, Moral responsibility, Personal responsibility, Pope Francis I, Pope Paul VI, Power of evil, Pride, Purification by the truth, Pursuit of goodness, Responsibility, Selfishness, Sincere dialogue, Snake-tactics, Social communications, Social media, Social networks, Thirst for power, to Communicate, to Communicate in public, to Seek truth, Truth, Twisting the truth, Virus of falsehood, World Communications Day

by Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten | 2016/09/06 · 6:56 pm

Detachment by Family problems

In the previous article Liza Borstlap writes

I came to believe that the conflict in my family had created itself.

It would be lovely if we all could grow up in very close lovely families which can give us everything we need. Though it does not work that way. The world is not made in such a way that all can be born at the right good place, in the right good class, receiving all the good education or even being all very bright.

First Lady Michelle Obama reads “The Cat in the Hat” to children in Ms. Mattie’s class at Prager Child Development Center March 12, during her visit to Fort Bragg, N.C. The First Lady spoke with Soldiers and Family members as part of her initiative to care for military families. First Lady vows support for military families (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Even when all the material richness would be there when you are born in a rich family it does not mean you will find the luck to have a good relationship between all the members of that family.

Wherever we may be born in whatever for family we are just part of one big turmoil. Every day, people’s lives are touched by political, social, economic, and religious conflicts that tear the human family apart. In these conflicts, it is common for people to take sides — verbally or otherwise — with the nation, tribe, language group, or social class of which they are a part.
Even when people are not directly involved in some conflict, they often find themselves favouring one side over another. But regardless of which person or cause they endorse, to whom are they really giving support?

The Bible plainly states:

“The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19)

Families are not always such perfect units that shields the individual from a cruel society. Mostly we do find that in those families where there are no rules and morals and no eye for ethics the chances of getting derailed are grater than in religious families where certain religious rules go over the human will.

We must come to see we too can often be the cause of a problem. We too can be making problems even bigger than they are. Also by becoming indifferent for what goes on we can get ourselves in a deeper mess than we would love to see ourselves. Indifference in the end shall create emotional agitation and stress which shall become so unbearable that the person shall find no inner peace left. Danger then is that one tries to look for detachment, thinking it can preserve the self.

Another big problem is when people are not open enough to tell each-other what is on their liver. When not willing to let yourself be seen by the other like you are, you are that other person not giving the opportunity to get to know you, like you are really. It is by not having the open spirit to allow each other to be him or herself that restrictions are also laid on each other. When people than start remaining silent about the interference, the neglect, the labelling and toxic in-fighting, that often leaves a person with a limp and the frustration may ferment the malfunction in the own body as well as in the facility of being part of one united family.

It is not by secretly covering our own failures and mishaps until we can identify the black sheep that can take the blame, that we are going to come to a good solution. The opposite, that will bring us deeper in the well.

Deep in us may we find it screwing and tormenting. Our head can becoming spinning and looking for answers, but not seeing the places where those answers are easy to pick up. This deep-seated conflict between the desire to know and the inability to find the answer has tormented thinkers and philosophers throughout the ages. However, since God has put that yearning or desire in our heart, is it not logical to look to him to provide what is needed to satisfy that desire? After all, the Bible says of Jehovah:

“You are opening your hand and satisfying the desire of every living thing.” (Psalm 145:16)

For all those conflict which are between the family members, those persons should come to see what binds them, what makes it that they are brother and sister and that their is something in their blood which is more than special, even unique.

Even when we do feel so much hurt by our own family members, we should come over the point of being selfish and come to see that we can be a necessary link to heal the wounds made previously.

Being kind to those in our family involves following the admonition of the apostle Paul:

“Really put them all away from you, wrath, anger, badness, abusive speech, and obscene talk out of your mouth.”

Every day, Christian families should communicate with one another in a respectful manner. Why? Because good communication is the lifeblood of strong, healthy families. When disagreements arise, to smooth the conflict, try to solve the problem rather than win the argument. Happy family members make an earnest effort to promote kindness and consideration for one another. — Colossians 3:8, 12-14.

By turning to God’s Word, the Bible, we can find satisfying explanations about life and death and about God’s eternal purpose regarding the earth and the human family. — Ephesians 3:11.

Kindness is positive and makes us want to do good to others. Thus, we seek to be useful, considerate, and helpful in an agreeable manner with other family members. It takes both individual and collective effort to show the type of kindness that speaks well of a family. As a result, not only will they have God’s blessing but, in the congregation and in the community, they will honour the God of kindness, Jehovah. — 1 Peter 2:12.

When frustrated, when in conflict with members of the family it would be best to seek Biblical advice and to put your own “self” not in the centre but alongside all others in the family. By going to look for answers in the Holy Scriptures solutions may be found. Even when others do not want to know of God, you yourself will be able to change so much that your improved attitude shall be helpful to heal the wounds.

Seeing all the conflicts around us we also should try to become part of them. Best we take on a form of neutrality. Taking care of not to become misled with what is going on around us we should show others the other way to come closer to each other and to have agapé love.

We ourselves should know that our time on earth is limited and that we should make the best of it. Our hope should be in the coming new world, and it is that idea that we should share with those around us. Our task is to come up for others and to protect them, but we must know that we can not take them or ourselves out of this world. (John 17:15, 16) We live in this world and have to live with it, but that does not mean we have to live according to it. No, we have to live according to God’s Law and by following His word many blessings may come over us already in this life. By not wanting to be part of this world, but by being part of God’s world we shall find ways to bring the love of Christ over unto others as well and then the love of Christ may also grow deeper in us. .

Preceding articles:

When you stay in your lane, there’s no traffic.

Family happiness and little things we do

Families with four or more kids most happiest

.under the gazebo.

How to Raise a Happy Child

Crisis man needed in this world

Dissolve The Barriers You Created

What is important?

Learning that stuff is just stuff

72 Synod Fathers on the topic “The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and the contemporary world”

Additional reading

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The Sensual World – Mission & Vision

Though humankind is daily confronted with people around each other, man often does not manage to communicate. In this world were everything has to go so fast and where every one expects to receive something for something, real communication does not always go so fluently and easy as it should be.
Our capitalist system made it that sharing ideas, knowledge and wisdom are not real goals of many. What is shared on social media is not really of consistent value and not many are really willing to show their own ideas.

To have people sharing ideas and helping each other to know more proves not so easy. On the lifestyle magazine From Guestwriters we promote a peaceful world where people will love to share with each other.

Since 2014, when we started the site we are looking for different writers in different fields to share their knowledge and to build up a positive thought lifestyle magazine.
I must confess this does not goes easily. Not many acted positively on our call. Most of the people contacted wanted to get paid, something we cannot afford. (In case many would contribute and make something successful of it it could become lucrative. But that demands energy and patience.)

We can only hope many pore people would come to see that not always money should be given in return to bring something positive to the world and to the benefit of future generations.

Hopefully there are enough positivists and world loving people who can see that with the advent of Capitalism, the human spirit of mutual sharing began its slow decline and erosion, but that when we fight against it there is still hope for a better world.

Preceding article

People of different cultures, beliefs and political convictions fraternal together

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6 Comments

Filed under Announcement, Re-Blogs and Great Blogs, Social affairs

Tagged as Capitalism, Capitalist system, Communication, Contributors, From Guestwriters, Information sharing, Sharing, to Communicate, Volunteers

by Guestspeaker | 2016/04/13 · 5:31 pm

A Brief Thought on Leadership

Not everybody is given to be a leader and not everybody can take up the leadership. The one taking up leadership always should respect those under him, willing to give them something more and offering them positive prospects, putting them on fire, willing to explore, discover, strive, soar and excel.

Joe DeRosa loves marketing and has spent a significant amount of his time and energy studying buyer behaviours. As an executive leader of several Marketing and Sales teams he has gathered vast amounts of data – qualitative and quantitative – around the customer journey.

He, like us, is convinced that leadership is not selfish and that great leaders make it all about their teams which they lead with dignity. As we showed already in our previous postings, life is a learning process. In this competitive world the best leaders should be continuous learners, not claiming to have all the answers nor believing they themselves are the only ones capable of generating great ideas. With many youngsters, this might a be problem today and the cause of so many projects failing in the end.

An other big problem today is the lack of communication or the will to listen to others, and nobody wanting to take responsibilities.

With many of those born in the 1980s and 1990s we find a very placating and narcissistic tendency, many having a very strong ego. Many of them are also not willing to trust others and do not want to share all that they know, but want to be recognised as the one who knows most and best, which is not always so true.

Purpose-driven leaders understand the importance of gratitude. Being gracious for a job well done separates a good leader from a bad leader. There’s nothing wrong with expressing your gratitude or thanks to an employee who did a good job even though a good job is what’s expected. It’s often the smallest acts of kindness that embolden a team to its leader. {10 Things a Leader is Not}

Many youngsters think they know already everything and are often not open to learn more. They forget that everything changes so fast and everyday offers again something knew. For good leaders there is no place for ignorance and no place for such proud that no questions are dared to be posed about matters not known.

In good leadership is also no place for indecisiveness or a regular hesitating attitude.

Enduring leaders know that making decisions are required for leadership longevity. Those that shy away from making decisions, difficult or easy, don’t last long as leaders. Indecisive leaders are some of the most difficult leaders to work for. {10 Things a Leader is Not}

Let us therefore remember

Leadership = collection of experiences, ideas, values, beliefs, and opinions

= demonstrating humility while acknowledging = still more to learn

not about being right but rather getting it right.

relationship formed through existence of mutual trust

Very important > Knowing when to lead + when to follow = area that separates good from great leaders.

> Please do find to read also:

Should You Clean House? The most difficult question you’ll face as a leader.

Is it time to change?

Leader or Executive – Which Are You?

Preparing to Fail is the First Step to Winning

Best Practices…Who Says?

Your Ability To Change Determines Success or Failure

Are You a Helper, or a Server? An Important Question for Your Brand.

Be An Inspiration

Never Settle

Stop Managing Change, Start Inspiring It

Why Generosity?

How Pressure Affects Performance

3 Hints to Help You Hit Your Goals in 2016: Hint #1 – Visualization

3 Hints to Help You Hit Your Goals in 2016: Hint #2 – Write it Down

3 Hints to Help You Hit Your Goals in 2016: Hint #3 – Tell People

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Preceding article:

Failures, mistakes and Initiatives for Excellence and success, Working towards turning a Dream of yours into reality

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Joseph DeRosa

Leadership is a collection of experiences, ideas, values, beliefs, and opinions. Good leaders ask great questions. Great leaders apply what they’ve learned from those questions to their actions. It’s not about having,or projecting an attitude, but rather demonstrating humility while acknowledging there is still more to learn. It’s not about being right but rather getting it right.

Leadership is a privilege. It’s not a right, nor a duty as some may think. It’s a gift given to those who have earned it by demonstrating their desire to serve others. Those who have been given a leadership role without earning it are exposed rather quickly. People are eager to follow those they believe in, trust, and care about. That relationship can only be formed through the existence of a mutual trust. It’s the leaders job to build that trust. It is granted to the leader who demonstrates his or her genuine interest and caring for…

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Filed under Lifestyle, Re-Blogs and Great Blogs, Social affairs, Welfare matters

Tagged as Communication, Ego, Great leaders, Ignorance, Indecisiveness, Joe DeRosa, Leader, Leaders, Leadership, Learners, Self-esteem, Trusting others

by Guestspeaker | 2015/10/22 · 3:00 pm

Stop Burning Rape Survivors at the Stake

Often when an awful trauma comes over a young female person, when the ‘person’ is taken away from her, she does not only feel a prey but becomes also the hunted by society who points with a damning finger when she wants to make an end to that what the intruder placed in her body.

In certain countries, like India and in Africa, sexually assaulted girls become cast out by their beloved ones and by the community. They have to carry the wounds of the awful event with them for their all life.

Those who say they can not stop the childbearing have to wonder themselves what they would do in such a situation and should better listen to some people who experienced the trauma of their life.

For all the anti-abortion groups and people who condemn those girls who decided to undergo an abortion it is best to listen also to the voices of those victims.
Witnessing for this reason is very important. If there can be no empathy on the part of the anti-abortionist leagues communication and understanding on both parts will stay difficult.

For sure too often the victim is blamed for what went wrong and often the rapist can go without punishments and even gets some encouragement from others.

What rape victims need is a comprehending ear and people who can understand why and how they feel and why they want to take certain decisions.

To remember:

eviscerated rape survivors > over how they deal with their rapes
consent activists come down on a survivor for saying her rape was less traumatic than most
incredible pressure on victims to ‘tell the police or shut the fuck up.’

Rape is not drama (overreaction) + play for attention, a performance < This is a total wrong attitude and wrong thinking; Those rape victims are not at all wanting to get more attention. Many of them would prefer to go in a little corner and often feel a nobody
When telling a survivor that they’re attention-seeking = you’re saying = “Rape is not so bad. Shut the fuck up and get over it.”
impossible to overreact to rape = can’t think of a damn thing in this life that is harder to cope with
Dealing with rape = one of the most gut-wrenching, confusing things this life has to throw at a person
responses not always going to look elegant, selfless, and wise => no perfect response to rape
rape survivor responding normally to an abnormal situation
Judging rape survivor’s responding = like judging a tree for moving when the wind blows = requiring someone who is going through hell to fulfil your expectations as a casual observer
needs + expectations rape victim = about them
victims not psychologically well enough to get through a case
sometimes there is no evidence = spent months, or often years, agonising over their options in terms of a case

Preceding articles:

Fear, struggles, sadness, bad feelings and depression

It continues to be a never ending, exhausting battle for survival.

Whoopi Goldberg commandments and abortion

My Choice (by Jezabel Jonson)

The Real ‘Choice’

“They Told Me What I Wanted To Hear” – Real Abortion Stories

The Things We Carry, by Penny

Hillary Clinton Says Religious Beliefs About Abortion Have to be Changed

Freedom and amendments, firearms and abortions

If the baby is part of the woman’s body…

Not an easy decision to make

Find also to read:

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Crisis man needed in this world

On Saturday the 10th of October Christadelphians come together at Dudley College in the United Kingdom to talk about the diminishing congregations in the United Kingdom. But it is not only there ecclesiae are struggling to make the ends meet and to have enough believers in Christ and in God in their meeting.

Many denominations in Christendom are victim of these times of ungodliness. It is also mainly that ungodliness that shows up in the families and in the behaviour of man. the difficulties people have in conversations and the wrong going communications have provided our world with many difficulties and lots of broken families and divorcees.

Lots of people who call themselves Christian are afraid to show others who they love and what they are standing for. Lots of Christians are afraid to let others know they are Christian. Less people are even willing to proclaim the Word of God and preach the Gospel of the Good News.

Our world urgently need men of God who are willing to go out in the world and preach that Gospel of peace and of hope in the future.

This world in crisis needs many “crisis man”. In this world where many want to be famous we need people who want to be more than a very well know figure and more than just a milepost-a marker on the road to destruction. A real follower of Christ should love it that people would be able to see Jesus in them.

Real followers of Christ should not be afraid to face the confrontation with non-believers or haters of God. They want them to be confronted with the decision to accept or reject the furious love of God.

A missionary to Ethiopia, Ramon Mayo, pastor of a multiethnic Vineyard church, has now become a writer/editor in the South Suburbs of Chicago and probably sees a lot of problems in the poorer communities over there. Being rooted in blackness, following Jesus and embracing the world he is very well aware that everyone in the world is not like him and that the Church may be a bunch of people who are not like him worshipping the same God.

Like him we should know that everywhere may be different cultures and that around us we may find people who are not like us, act and behave differently than us. But somehow we should come to see that we all part of this world and that we all come from the same origin, the Base and the same divine creation.

In this world we may live and come to do things. We also have feelings for those around us and even for the place where we live in. But we should not forget where we want to place our loyalty.

Is it towards your country of origin or towards the new citizenship you have in God’s kingdom? {Are you an American or a Christian?}

Too many people have lost track of the main or the right road. It would be best if we could see some more people who are willing to help others to get back on track. Guides are needed to show people the Way again.

When the rubber hits the road and the values and priorities of America (or whatever country. You fill in the blank.) clash with the values of Jesus who wins out.

For me my loyalties lie with Jesus. The hard part is sorting out which values are his and which ones are part of the current government and culture I live in.

It’s hard to be in the world but not of it. {Are you an American or a Christian?}

We have looked hard for interested people who would like to join this platform writing about the way of life and preaching about the future hope, the Kingdom of God. But no other preachers showed up, who did not want to get paid like the other writers presented from the start. Most people want to receive a reward now and want to get paid for their writings. But preaching demands the love of giving to others without willing to receive something for it. Preaching is a free gift, for the free gift of grace we all have received. It is a way of showing thankfulness and appreciation for what Christ Jesus has done for us. Preachers should know and continue the task Jesus has given his followers.

In this ungodly world it is high tie we get more preachers on their feet and that those who call themselves Christian really show to the world what it means to be a follower of Christ.

if I believe Jesus is the way,the truth, and the life and without Him our lives are condemned and we are doomed then easy or hard the choice is simple. {Make me a crisis man}

We wonder who wants to come up for Christ and show others the Way. How many want to answer the call of Jesus Christ? how many want to be an encourager?

Do you want to just be a milepost or a fork in the road? {Make me a crisis man}

Continue reading: The Big Conversation

Preceding: 72 Synod Fathers on the topic “The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and the contemporary world”

Additional reading:

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21 Comments

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by Guestspeaker | 2015/04/14 · 6:23 pm

Inner voice inside the soul of man

What fellowship hath the voice of God inside of the soul of man with unrighteousness

asked Cecil J. duCille (1922-2009) in one of his devotionals. He looked at the human beings who did perhaps good but did not follow that inner voice they had to hear in themselves.

He continues:

No one who continues to move in self-motivation is of God. The average American woman is a woman who loves to rule her husband. It’s unfortunate for me to say this in a world-wide sense and let the people in the world know that is how we Americans are. The average American woman is taught to have her own way, to have her own bank account, to have her own business going. She does not go in accordance with the scriptural description of a “Proverbs 31 woman.” {Come out of Sinning, Come into Righteousness}

A statue of Jesus Christ at a church in India. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This preacher who according some was commissioned by Jesus Christ as an apostle of our time and a minister of the Gospel in 1948 clearly had a certain idea about the role of woman. Throughout the course of his life, both him and his wife, carried the Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ worldwide establishing congregations throughout the globe. They first started in the Island of Jamaica. Then in 1969 they were sent by God to the United States to warn the people of God of the destruction that was coming. They founded Sonlight Ministries International and established works throughout Europe, Africa, India, and many other countries. They travelled tirelessly through the entire world, teaching and preaching wherever the doors would open to receive the revelation that God had given to them. {Sonlight devotional org/about}

He asked woman to turn from the natural trait of their generation to turn to God and do God’s work rather than that of their generation. Today we could still ask man and woman to turn away from that what the majority considers a natural lifestyle of fun. He writes:

Men and women, stop doing your own thing. If you want to do what you want to do, you must realize that you are not doing what God wants you to do. Then, somebody, after he goes and does his own thing, gives a good tithe or a good offering to the church. God doesn’t care for your offering. God wants your soul. When He gets your soul, He gets everything. {Come out of Sinning, Come into Righteousness}

In many churches we do find preachers calling for giving money so that blessing can come over you. We can assure you that are not the right ways. Man can not bribe God. There is nothing you can purchase from God, who you can not buy over either. God is not corrupt and you can not corrupt Him.

In this world we can see lots of people who have lots of questions and are looking for some answers. Some parents can not follow their children or do not understand why they go certain ways. Often they forget how important their example is in the course of their children.

Now, sometimes it is hard for us to believe that our own children are unbelievers, but sometimes our children are unbelievers. Their only deliverance is for us to walk in righteousness. {Come out of Sinning, Come into Righteousness}

Though we should not think too fast they are unbelievers. Perhaps they are in a stadium of questions and will coming in a later stadium of asking questions. They are aware that “our Earth” is not such a stable and unchanging home as we would like nor a “sure stronghold” which could never be substantially disrupted.

As such people shall have to come to ponder. They can not find the real answers in their communication with man and then they may see those people who believe in such an unseen Higher Supreme Being. This can give them a Question to Ponder : Communication with God. In this world of communication we see that lots of communication gets lost in the ‘fog’. Workers and bosses seem drifted away from each others understanding and seem not able to communicate properly any more.

They find it strange that there are such silly people who have an Almighty God as their friend. They wonder how that can be. How can people believe in something they can not see nor hear? There, they forget that the Works of that God can be seen every day around us and when man opens his or her ears to the Voice of that God they will hear that God speaking to them.

When you truly press in to know God and you prayerfully study His Word (meaning you sincerely ask God to reveal Himself and what His Word means,) you will discover that God is Almighty God, He is our Heavenly Father, and He is our friend. There is a balance important to our relationship with God if we hold these three truths in appropriate perspective. {Part Two: The Voice of God Within You}

Pastor Tim knows:

Jesus reveals that God is our Heavenly Father.

Matthew 6:31-33 says, “So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and He will give you all you need from day to day if you live for Him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.” {Part Two: God Speaking To You}

Whilst we have people looking at their phone, constantly following all the sms pop-ups on that little screen, they forget to use their brain message sending to the More Important Message Receiver and Replier.

Do you hear me? Anytime you turn to God and begin to walk according to that covenant that God has given you, walking it in righteousness – look at your children and you will see that it has an effect upon them. The devil cannot stand your righteousness and whenever you speak a word, it rebukes Satan from your own children if you are in righteousness. If you are not in righteousness and you speak a word, it does not rebuke Satan from your children. Therefore, your children are dependent upon you for life. If you think that you can save them by giving your time and your attention to them, you are making a very sad, sad mistake. Your time and attention to God will save them more than anything else. {Excerpt from Keeping in Touch, September, 2009}

All those who look for the pagan solutions or think the atheist world can bring the right answers perhaps could also have a look at the other side. In case they would listen to their inner voice they could be surprised to hear other voices, other ideas and can come to discover that there is really something more special, which (true) we can not always or fully understand. But giving time to that inner voice and taking time to come to know what is written in that Book of books we can come to know God as our Heavenly Father – the perfect father that none of us every had. You shall be surprised that you even shall be able to experience greater intimacy with Him than with any other person.

It doesn’t mean we should become less reverent toward Him. It means that we see His awesomeness and reverence it but also realize that the most powerful being in the universe –perfect and Holy in nature is also deeply in love with a fatherly love toward us. How awesome is that and how much more would it elevate our faith and trust in Him to watch over us? {Part Two: God Speaking To You}

Most everyone would agree that a good and especially and intimate relationship is not going to happen between two people unless there is good two way communication. I think most people get that. We get the fact that it takes good two-way communication to build an intimate relationship yet with God, somehow we think we can build an intimate relationship with Him as a one-way conversation where we talk to Him and He listens but never responds? Honestly, that is lunacy! {Part Two: God Speaking To You}

In heaven we do have somebody speaking for us. We have a mediator coming up for us. God listens also to this man his intercession. Jesus is that mediator who sits next to God. He defends us and can explain how we really feel and what we really want, though God knows this all, but is willing to listen to that intervention by His only begotten beloved son.

God calls Himself a “Father” to you. You can’t get more intimate than that. 2 Corinthians 6:18 says, “And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
God sweetens this revelation of intimacy saying, “So you should not be like cowering, fearful slaves. You should behave instead like God’s very own children, adopted into his family—calling him “Father, dear Father.” Romans 8:15 (NLT) {What Makes Faith Perfect}

When man goes looking for God the Most High Supreme Being is willing to come to man. when we are sincere in our search He will be there to give us answers. We then only have to listen to our inner heart and react accordingly. This means that sometimes, not to say ‘often’, we shall have to make a choice, setting human traditions aside and taking those human teachings as false teachings. We when we hear that Voice of God shall have to make the proper choice to listen to that Higher Voice or to prefer continuing to listen to man’s voices.

Preceding articles:

Of old and new ideas to sustain power and to feel good by loving to be connected and worship something

Engagement in an actual two-way conversation with your deities

Additional reading

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Tagged as Almighty God, American woman, Answers, Cecil J. duCille, Children, Coming to know God, Communication, Communication with God, False teachings, God speaking, Heavenly Father, Human tradition, Inner voice, Intimacy with God, Mediator Jesus, Only begotten beloved son of God, Pagan solutions, Parents, Questions, Relationship with God, Self-motivation, Sonlight Ministries International, Studying the bible, Supreme Being, to Make choices, Turning to God, Unbelievers, Voice of God, Voice of man, Works for God

by Guestspeaker | 2015/04/13 · 6:10 pm

Engagement in an actual two-way conversation with your deities

Today we can find lots of people who are not at all interested in The God sole Creator of Heaven and Earth or in gods, though often they create themselves many gods and worship lots of idols, mainly from the little screen which has become a huge screen in these days (some have measures like the cinema screen of our childhood).

Driver in a Mitsubishi Galant using a hand held mobile phone violating New York State law. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A 32 year old single girl who lives alone with three cats, in the process of trying online dating pagan, and likes to think about ‘big’ questions occasionally, currently trying to learn to read the tarot, writes:

Everywhere you turn within Pagan circles these days it seems like you are surrounded by people who have a direct connection to their Gods. They seem to be in possession of their very own ‘Godphone’ (to steal a term I have seen floating about) and are God-bothered on a seemingly constant basis. {G is for Gods}

She is not talking about that strong ‘godly communication‘ we talked about in our previous article. Though the mobile phone may be the new god of many, and lots of them do hope to find with that electronic tool with many gadgets or applications to find the real god app of their life.

Lots of the youngsters put all their aspirations in that mobile phone or their i-pad and are willing to cue all night just to have the latest i-phone or Apple McIntosh gadget. Several i.t.-meetings have taken the place of the old Eucharist celebrations and today we do find high-masses especially for electronic wizards.

After some time many get the feeling they are standing in a becoming colder breeze or getting a ice cold shower, putting them in the Hitchcock thriller were the blood runs in the gutter, taking all their so called (Facebook) friends with it. They do not start wondering if their godphone collection has gone wrong but think they must be at fault.
For sure they must be doing something wrong. The Gods must be ignoring them for a reason,

or you are just not open enough, or maybe you’re on the wrong path. This is obviously the experience of ‘real’ pagans, so maybe you just aren’t pagan enough. {G is for Gods}

Perhaps there lies the fact: “being not pagan enough”. So this could perhaps give some hope for the many people who felt disillusioned after their internet experience. Perhaps this will give them enough reason to look for other and better values than those that internet can offer them.

The pagan lady writes she is not in possession of a Godphone,

I am not God-bothered, and I can’t think of a single time when I engaged in an actual two-way conversation with my deities. Sure I get a feeling about things sometimes, I know they appreciate the incense I offer her for example, but it exactly that… a feeling. This doesn’t mean I am not pagan enough and it is actually a perfectly normal experience for a large number of Pagans.

Those pagans we would offer a better solution. If their gods are not such listening gods and not so much answering gods, why would they not try to come to find the real Supreme God of gods? Why going second hand when each of us has the opportunity to go first hand 5-star quality?

Many of those not satisfied with what their mobile can bring, are looking for something more sacred or divine. Divination is something they are interested in.

I have spent some time looking at different types and trying to find one that works for me. I’ve tried runes, the pendulum, crystal gazing and even tea leaf reading but I am always drawn back to the Tarot. I am beginning to think it must be for the artwork, as I seem to have little to no skill in reading them! {D is for Divination}

Often we notice people are going to look for it so far away, when it is easy to grab for in front of their nose.

I have had all sorts of advice about reading cards, not just Tarot but oracle as well, but they tend to come back to either ‘learn by rote’ or ‘trust your intuition’. Having tried both, and continuing to flip between the two, I can see that I have problems with both. {D is for Divination}

Japanese mobile phone keyboard (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We would say, it is not in those cards you shall find the right answers. You may find and see lots of symbols in it and find word-games made up by human beings, but when taking up a Book of books, written down in very old times, they would be surprised what it all has to tell, also about things happening today. In that Book of books, short “the Bible” they and we can find the answer on many of our daily questions. With that best-seller we get the best guide and best manual for life we ever can get.

When looking at it and giving it more of your time, you shall come to notice that it has not to be a one way road to seeing letters forming words, words forming phrases and phrases forming ideas. By reading all that old stuff we shall get ideas for our life and find out that it is not only our reading effort but also our taking down information out of the book that shall bring us to a two way system of communication.

When we are prepared to listen we shall find answers and we shall get replies.

Paganists looking at their own pagan books may find that when they have tried reading from intuition they went blank. The 32 year old lady writes:

I don’t trust myself enough to just open up and ‘say what I see’ as it were. I am so worried about getting it wrong that I just can’t allow myself to go with it.

Communication Centre, Kimbolton – geograph.org.uk – 1572042 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well, that opening up is something which is necessary for everything, to see the good but also to see the bad. We are all created in the image of God and as such we also have the inner feeling of good and wrong. Since the fall of man, having eaten the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil mankind, like the animals have their instinct, but they also received something more which is that inner feeling which gets deep down to them. Lots of people resist that inner feeling and that inner Voice. But as soon as a person wants to open him- or herself to that inner Voice he or she shall be able to come to hear the Voice of God. The Voice of the real God of gods, Who is a much better option than to go for all those other gods.

Go straight ahead to the Only True God of gods, the Most High Elohim, Hashem Jehovah!

Preceding article: Of old and new ideas to sustain power and to feel good by loving to be connected and worship something

Articles of interest:

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29 Comments

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Tagged as Answers, Applications, Bible, Bible reading, Book of books, Communication, Communication with God, Deities, Disillusion, Disillusionment, Divination, Divine Creator, Facebook, Friends, Gadgets, God of gods, Godly communication, gods, I-pad, I-phone, Idols, In the image of God, Inner feeling, Inner voice, Instinct, Internet, Internet experience, Manual for life, Mobile phone, Only True God, Pagan books, Pagan circles, Pagans, Questions, Supreme Being, Symbols, Tarot, Television, the Bad, the Good, Voice of God, Worship of idols, Wrong, Wrong path

by Guestspeaker | 2015/02/13 · 5:35 pm

May we have doubts

Not all of us are sure about all things. Lots of matters may bring questions onto our mind.

Some may say doubt originates in a double minded person. Others say it is because a person is not enough believing in God. Others say he is not believing in Christ. Several Christians look at a doubter as a person not trusting Jesus.

Is this really so. Are we less better than other Christians when we have questions about certain matters? No, not at all.
Is doubt a sign of lacking faith? Perhaps. But it can be that you really do your best to walk in faith.
Is it because you do not believe in Jesus his victory over circumstances and trials? Perhaps, but not necessary so.

Is it because you cannot see the victory in your life you are seeking? Did you try already to check if you are really looking for the right victory?

Have you ever tried to think that what you would love to have and to see for yourself might not be in God His Will?

We are all human beings with our limitations and ‘malfunctions’. We all have our little problems and as such we should know that every house carries its own cross.

Having all those difficulties coming over us, no wonder that we sometimes worry and question of we are doing it right or if we are following the right coarse.

In the Holy Scriptures we are advised to question everything. This means that God does understand that we more than once shall have questions with what we hear or read, and that is good, because we should question all those sayings.

For many life is an ongoing cycle of wandering and restoration. And though many would wish it were otherwise, this makes many sometimes going to and fro, coming close to God and at other moments being far away from God. Though some may desire to never depart from God, they keep losing track. Also for Jesus it seems for many Christians often difficult to keep feeling him nearby. On many occasions confronted with the realities of life we may have lots of doubts about many things.

The reality of our sinful human condition makes it so that we also have periods where our relationship with other human beings, with Christ and/or with God is disturbed a lot.

In our technological age of communication it looks like many have lost the good communication with the Most High Divine Creator.

James Paulgaard, a fellow traveller on the journey of life, also sees some problems of this time and age. He writes:

For centuries, up until the Sixties, the Church was perfectly designed for our culture. When a group of immigrants settled in a new area, one of the first things that they did was to build a church in the centre of the community. People valued going to church as a good thing. It made people into good citizens. Encouraging the Christian faith was seen as a valuable in our society at the time. There were benefits to going to church. You could build your network of social and business contacts and perhaps even meet your future spouse there. The church was perfectly designed to develop people in that environment into followers of Jesus. {Following Jesus on His Mission: Doing the Simple Things}

Today people have found other networks which they do find more important.

This bridge was a well-designed and fully functional bridge, but in 1998 Hurricane Mitch dumped 36 inches of rain on the area in just a few days and amidst all the other damage caused by the hurricane, the deluge of water carved a new channel for the river around the bridge and the bridge now spans dry ground. It is a perfectly designed bridge that doesn’t work anymore because the river moved. (Photo from the article: Following Jesus on His Mission: Doing the Simple Things)

Now, being part of a Christian Church is no longer seen as a desirable by our culture. Encouraging the Christian faith is no longer valued by our society. People do not need the church for social or business contacts or to find a spouse. We have websites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Plenty of Fish for all those things. A church that was perfectly designed to make disciples in the world of sixty years ago and older struggles to engage with the mission of Jesus Christ in the world of today because the river has moved. {Following Jesus on His Mission: Doing the Simple Things}

When you follow the articles on Our World and perhaps form your newspapers or journals on television, you are probably aware how bad the state of church attendance is. All over the industrialised countries we do find a secularized community. In some countries there may still be a solid core of people continue to value faith; but a growing core do not. { find a.o. Reginald Bibby, A New Day: The Resilience and Restructuring of Religion in Canada (Lethbridge: Project Canada Books, 2012), 5, 10, 34.}

Lots of people got to hear from their preachers that Jesus is God because no human being is ever able to follow God’s Will. Because of that lie, people have no trust in that Jesus any more and do find it rubbish that at other moments priests or pastors say they have to take the armour of Christ and become like Christ. That then would mean they had to become like God, which is something impossible.

And in case it is impossible fro any human being to follow the Will of God, what use would it than be to even try, if no man ever could succeed.

Lots of people do forget that Jesus was a man who lived some two thousand years ago. He was a real person, others could see and not fall death (In the Bible is written that people cannot see God and live). That man, born in an Essene family from the tribe of king David, had to learn everything. People should know that God knows everything but this Jesus did not. He also had to disappoint those who wanted to know where they would be seated with him in God’s Kingdom. In case Jesus was God he could have told them because he would have known, but Jesus did not know it and had also to disappoint those who wanted to know when he would come back. Jesus always wanted to do the will of his heavenly Father and did not want to lie, like his heavenly Father does not tell lies. Not knowing when the end times or Last Days of this time system would fall, Jesus could not tell them, nor us, when he would be coming back.

In the Gospels we also can see that Jesus at moments had doubts and even wondered why God had abandoned him. So, in case Jesus dares already to ask God why He had left him, why should not such thoughts may or could come up in our minds.
What is important is how we cope with such thoughts. How we cope with our questioning God? And how we dare to question God.

We may ask God lots of things, but we have to do it in a proper manner. We also may request Him things, but we should know that God knows best for us.

Jesus has already done the hard work of living a perfect human life, dying on the cross and rising from the dead to reconcile all of creation to God. Jesus is the one doing the supernatural work of drawing people close to him and planting faith in their hearts.

as Greg Finke, {Joining Jesus on His Mission: How to Be an Everyday Missionary (Tyler TX: Tenth Power Publishing, 2014), 42-43} and James Paulgaard {Following Jesus on His Mission: Doing the Simple Things} puts it.

A statue of Jesus Christ at a church in India. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jesus paved the path to God; He restored the relation between God and man and has become our mediator, now sitting at the right hand of God (notice: not on God’s throne).

The problem of today is that most people do not know the real Jesus.

To help to find Jesus and to get to see better the importance of what he really did, dying for us all, whitewashing our sins, there has been started a new website. “Messiah for all” wants to show the world that Christ Jesus was and is there for the whole world. He does not want to miss any body. He gives everybody the opportunity to get to know him and to get to know the way to the Kingdom of God.

“Messiah for all” is there for you to help you find Jesus and to find he is worth all your trust and all your faith.

Please do find that site for you and me, and start reading: Are people allowed to have doubts

Find additional reading:

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Augustine on the Difference between Christianity and Platonism (booksontrial.wordpress.com)
The difference between Platonism and Christianity is not merely a difference of interpretation, but the difference between perception/speculation on one side, and reality/true knowledge on the other. To use a Biblical imagery, there is a great gulf fixed between them. It is the difference between death and Life, between an inanimate object and a living being. Though philosophy may delight man with a magnificent picture of truth and beauty, it is nevertheless dead, and so the greatest philosophical ideas cannot be compared with the smallest life-giving word of God.
Most Blessed State of Being for Now (relijournal.com)
A Christian is saying “I’ve got to be me” when the Holy Scriptures indicate we are to be crucified in Christ? I have to wonder how much spiritual damage was done to other by that worldly thinking. What “Christian” singers sing does not supercede the written Word of God. The Holy Bible does not indicate we have got to be “ourselves,” but it does state we are to be like Christ.
Living in the Wrong Time (histruthwillsetyoufree.wordpress.com)
The best days are when I live in the present, with my friend, the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ. With Him, there is no room for Regret or Worry.
Evangelists Want to Convert Heathen Computers To Christianity, Create Army Of ‘Robot Pastors’ (addictinginfo.org)
On Wednesday, Gizmodo’s Zoltan Istvan reminded us that, soon, the world will be full of “autonomous, self-aware super intelligences” created by humans. Obviously, some Christians see this as an opportunity to convert something to their religion.

Evangelists told Gizmodo that these sciencey, autonomous computer brains probably can, and definitely should, be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Equal to Christ. Septuagesima 2015 (deprofundisclamaviadtedomine.wordpress.com)
Jesus gave Himself for us to make us His own people who are zealous, eager, passionate about doing good works. Christians have been born again so that they may live a new life of service to God in good works.
The Journey of Love and Commitment (vineandbranchworldministries.com)
When we wonder about in life, do we ponder the meaning of the many gifts before us and offer praise and thanksgiving or do we literally take life for-granted. Sanctification sets us apart and instills our hearts and spirit with the desire to follow the pattern Jesus gave.
Excuse My Scepticism (pastorcharleschipere.wordpress.com)
In our Christian Faith, we are taught to believe rather than to be a doubting Thomas. We are taught to trust rather than mistrust. We are taught to give a person the benefit of the doubt before we dismiss them. But my journey of faith has had some encounters with reality leading me to embrace some sceptical attitude towards some things I have observed in the land of the living. Before I delve into my observations, please excuse my scepticism. But this scepticism does not take away my faith in God.
An Unfathomable Gift (connywithay.wordpress.com)
“All other religions and sects teach that man has to perform many good works in order to gain bliss – salvation is dependent on man. The Christian faith is completely the opposite. It is God working salvation on behalf of man – salvation is dependent on God,” Jan Blonk writes in his book, The Unfathomable Gift: God’s Astonishing Grace.
The Other Side (culturalatheist.wordpress.com)
Do you have a people or place that you have determined God is not present and the places and people are demonic and unclean?
The Call of God (mississippipep.wordpress.com)
If God were human, how sick and tired He would be of the constant requests we make for our salvation and for our sanctification. We burden His energies from morning till night asking for things for ourselves or for something from which we want to be delivered! When we finally touch the underlying foundation of the reality of the gospel of God, we will never bother Him anymore with little personal complaints.

21 Comments

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Tagged as 1960s, Believe in God, Believe in Jesus Christ, Christians, Church, Coming close to God, Communication, Community, Difficulties, Doubts, Facebook, Faith, Going to church, Having doubts, Journey of life, Limitations, LinkedIn, Mission of Jesus Christ, Networks, Questioning, Questions, Relationship with God, Relationship with Jesus Christ, Relationship with others, Secularisation, Social networks, to Ask God, to Find Jesus, Trust Jesus Christ, Victory, Walk in faith

by Marcus Ampe | 2014/06/06 · 4:04 am

Lonely in the crowd

Population growth rate world (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When I started writing this article there where 7 238 080 161 people on this globe. When I finished writing there where already 7 238 100 805 living human beings, thriving on only 17% of the earth its surface. Find out how many there are now when you reading this, at Worldometers info: world-population. Current UN projections show a continued increase in population in the near future with a steady decline in population growth rate; global population is expected to reach between 8.3 and 10.9 billion by 2050. {“World Population Prospects, the 2012 Revision – “Low variant” and “High variant” values”} {“World population projected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050 – UN report”}

World population (Photo credit: Arenamontanus)

With the millions living around us we are like a very tiny ant or even more like a microbe. But those microbes which we know are often more in symbiosis or unity than those human beings. With six of Earth’s seven continents being permanently inhabited on a large scale, we may find Asia as the most populous continent, with its 4.3 billion inhabitants accounting for 60% of the world population. In our own region many people do think they are already with too many living on the small space which is around them. Though finding themselves living in an overcrowded area, many of those people do feel so lonely. Even when they search on the internet and add so many people on their social media profile, many people feel very lonely. You could not say they are really isolated, but what matters is that there is no real connection with the others in their surroundings.

Many invite people they meet on the internet to join as ‘friends‘ and to ‘register’ on this and that and to ‘vote’ for this and that. Voters can start and join voting blocks for the issues, sites, and groups they care about, and gather massive followings. But hose followings do they bring up something? And do the joiners really feel connected, supported or find they all can work for the same good cause?

Looking at this world Darrell Creswell notices that there are many people who never happy with where they are at in life. He recognises that many dwell on the negative, instead of visualizing the positive. In the midst of this Saswata Mitra admits he is feeling lonely.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have 509 friends on Facebook, but I still feel lonely.

he writes in Look Up and See the World Around You at his jukebox of writings by him and by the straight forward and happy go lucky girl of sixteen Navneet Kaur. Saswata Mitra is an eighteen year old (or was) who declared himself to be selfless and caring about everyone. He also feels like everybody else the need to feel that others also would care about him. And that is normal; We all need that feeling. We all need to feel that somebody else cares about us. this feeling or want to be cared and loved does not always get answered. People to get more satisfaction from having the assurance that many like them, got so entangled or chained by social media where they can build up friends like nothing.

facebook (Photo credit: dkalo)

On that virtual platform many “friends” are made, but not so many contacts made into silver and even less are converted in silver or redeemed for gold.

I see what they do everyday yet I barely know them. In this Global Neighborhood, we share and post everything we see, hear and experience. We have somehow managed to convince ourselves of the illusion that updating everything we do will get us connected to everyone around us. But hey, life your head from your screens and look around you. You’re alone. {Look Up and See the World Around You}

Having 509 friends on Facebook does not say anything about having real friends or having real communication with others. As such in this world there may be many who have lots of connections on their social media sites, but who still feel very lonely.

The whole virtual worlds sucks many into a world of belief but even more of a world of wishful thinking. On one site there are those who boast with their holiday trips to far away places and with all the gadgets they may retrieve. Lots of chit-chat and backbiting or malicious gossip can be found at those social media platforms.

We may see what they want us to or like us to see. Do they let us see their own self? Give they really something from their own which they want to share to get into a better relationship with the other?

Do those people in their everyday postings on that Global Neighbourhood really share and post everything they see, hear and experience and how much are they involved with it or want to be involved with it?

How many do not live in that illusion that updating everything we do will get us connected to everyone around us? Or is that really the intention of many?

As you say we better come to look for real connections by looking around us in the real world, living our head from our screens, seeing but also willing to become connected with that real world.

Though I think lots of people today prefer to stay connected in their virtual world, playing games and ‘doing as if’. They seem to find more indulgence by enjoying the distraction by the games and chit-chat, instead of going to spend time in having serious discussions or a real serious talk. Lots of youngsters can not read or concentrate on long texts any more. It has to be all telegram style short messages, and by preference not asking too much thought.

In a certain way all those people looking for friends do have in common that they want to be loved. They ask themselves mostly the same questions others everywhere in the world ask themselves. In the quest for life we are all the same. In our hearts and minds uncover very similar ideas and are fired the same questions day in day out. All over the globe we can find people who worry, who have doubts created in their own minds.

some of those questions may be

“I wonder if there is something better for me in life than this?”

Doing this will many times keep you from enjoying where you are in God’s plan for your life.

writes Darrell Creswell in God’s Will and Design For Your Life – Inspirational Bible Verses, who is well aware that one of the problems might well be that most people use not their eyes to see further than this world around them personally and do not want to grasp a little bit of what the Plan of the Planner of this universe might be.

We only see mere seconds in part of God’s plan as a whole. As such we cannot grasp what is the blueprint for our life. We all have a definite past, but with God we have an indefinite future that is infinite by His grace, full of hope and wonder. There is unity and harmony in God’s plan for our life and we must embrace it. So, have faith in the Lord and in His providence as all things work together for good for them that love Him and are called according to His purpose. {God’s Will and Design For Your Life – Inspirational Bible Verses}

How many people ask themselves this question

“How did I get so blessed to be where I am in God’s will for my life?”

How many people in their life are willing to place themselves in an open environment where they are willing to allow God planning their life? Most of the people do want to be in the centre of their own world. Everything has to turn around them. How many are willing to turn around the others? Even more important, how many are willing to give themselves to the Creator of the universe and to allow Him track their path and to bring them in contact with the right people?

Lots of people forget that being in the centre of God’s will, no matter the circumstance, shall make them as one of ‘the luckiest persons on earth’ (if I may use that expression). Luck is hidden in a little corner. Happiness is hidden in each of us. It are we, human people who create borders and difficulties to get in constructive personal contact with others.

Being so self focused many of us have you become so tired, worn out, broken down, frustrated, stressed out, hopeless and discouraged that they feel like they can’t even make it through the day and dread facing tomorrow.

We all know that feeling of being pushed in the corner by others, or by awkward situations. Many of us even have the impression it are they who are in the picture for the bad.

Sometimes in life it seems that the only experiences that we are having are all bad ones. There are times that it seems that today is worse than yesterday, and we are in fear of what tomorrow will bring. Life seems to be one disaster after another, and we seem to be going from crisis to crisis. There are times when life drains all the energy from us and we find ourselves wiped out from the stress we are dealing with on a daily basis. {Bible Verses for Hurt, Broken, and Discouraged Lives – God Has a Plan}

All of us seem to grow fearful and anxious as we wait for things to get better. {Bible Verses for Hurt, Broken, and Discouraged Lives – God Has a Plan}

Many think they shall find answers in their virtual world of the internet social media. After work, or many already at work, do not mind forgetting what they really have to do at the workplace or at home, and get into their own little world of virtual friends and games of building farms or villages. They try to forget the real world with its many stressful situations.

We rush through life without stopping to check where we are going, or what we are doing.{Bible Verses for Hurt, Broken, and Discouraged Lives – God Has a Plan}

We should know that we better get into the real world and dare to face all its problems. We for sure can not solve all those problems. We should not worry that we are not able to solve everything. We should just try to do our best and get together with others to help each-other to grow strong in this tempting world.

The Nazarene Jeshua (Jesus Christ) was a Master-teacher, who was totally not concerned about himself. He put himself totally at the side and only wanted to do the will of his heavenly Father. He brought the Words of his Father to many and asked them to spread the same Good News he gave them. Jesus asked them to go out in the world and to look for like minded people who are willing to share the same hope as he gave them.

He warned them they also could feel lonely and hated, because others would not like it they being followers of him, worshipping the Only One God of gods. But he assured them that when they would come to look for each other and join in meetings, they would find the brotherly love he gave them and which could bring us all united in a world where there would be no war or pain any more.

By sharing that love Jesus gave to us, and finding believers who also want to worship that Only One God we shall be able to find those friends who can build us up and together would be willing to build up that community in which Jesus is the cornerstone. There we shall be able to find the real friends, who we shall be willing to call ‘brothers‘ and ‘sisters‘. With them we shall be looking forward to the fulfilment of God’s Plan.

Part of the process of God’s wondrous ability to bless our lives is you and I taking the time to slow down petition the throne of Grace and listen for His voice. As we slow down and wait on Him, we will be reminded of our complete and utter dependence on His strength. When we take the time to stop, pray; slow down and wait on Him – He will bring the resolution to our problems as and reveal His plan for our lives. {Bible Verses for Hurt, Broken, and Discouraged Lives – God Has a Plan}

As disciples of Christ we can come to counting lives and friends dear to us. Today this can happen in a less dangerous manner than in the first century of this era. The message did keep the same and the reason to make friends in Christ has become to be quickened, because time runs out. Day by day we shall be coming closer to the end times and when World War III will be a fact, it would be to late. Today our priority should be to form a loving brotherhood. It is now that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us by sharing true riches with as many as we can. Knowing that tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair we should be giving out our hand to many around us in love speaking words of kindness. Willing to walk with all kinds of people in love by faith, not by sight, together making church as united people under Christ.

When you are feeling lonely do know you are not alone. Tsundukani Baloyi writes:

The thing about feeling lonely is that it doesn’t matter who you choose to waste your time with whether it may be with friends, a lover or any significant other, you will still feel lonely. You could be in a room filled with people and still not feel as though you are part of the crowd. I don’t know, feeling lonely sucks at times. It drains the living hell out of you and the worst part of it is that you won’t even know why you feeling lonely in the first place. {Lonely}

When you are feeling lonely then, it is perhaps because you do not feel the mediator Jesus close to you, nor his heavenly Father who shall always be there by those who are looking for Him.

When this article was published there where: 7 238 140 550 people on this earth.

Additional literature:

+++

Not So Lonely, After All (galinbluejeans.wordpress.com)
I thought you came back for me. So I’d not feel lonely, especially ’cause Priya & Sahana weren’t at school, and neither was Shyam. It was really sweet of you, RB
Now 7.2 billion humans, and counting (earthsky.org)
United Nations demographers declared a day last week (July 11, 2013) as World Population Day, at the same time saying that our global human population has now reached 7.2 billion and counting. The 7.2 billion number appears in the most recent of the biannual reports from the UN Population Division called World Population Prospects, which you can find here. This report also gave current projections for future population:
Nigeria’s population will outstrip US as world’s population will rise to 9.7bn in 2050 (vanguardngr.com)
The world’s population will rise to 9.7 billion in 2050 from the current level of 7.1 billion and India will overtake China as the world’s most populous nation, as Nigeria’s population will outstrip that of the United State a French study said Wednesday.A bi-annual report by the French Institute of Demographic Studies (Ined) projected there would be 10 to 11 billion people on the planet by the end of the century.The projections ran parallel to forecasts by the United Nations, the World Bank and other prominent national institutes.A UN study in June said the global population would swell to 9.6 billion in 2050 and the number of people aged 60 and above would catapult from 841 million now to two billion in 2050 and nearly three billion in 2100.
Think the U.S. Is a Crowded Place? Check Out This Cool Map Showing Where Nobody Lives (theblaze.com)
Unless you live in the middle of nowhere and witness this first hand, it’s probably hard to imagine that inhabitants haven’t covered the whole of the U.S., especially if your abode is in a city where it might feel like humanity is so dense that people are living on top of each other.But a new map drummed up by mapsbynik shows just how much room there is left in North America to spread out, where not another soul is reported to live — where the population is exactly zero.
My Poem ‘The Lonely Word’ (poetofthesphere.com)
You can sometimes think you are walking alone
even when you are in a crowd;
you can sometimes feel you are hearing nothing
even when the world sounds so loud;
you can sometimes see the world distorted;
you can sometimes hear the distant call
of someone who you may not have seen for a long time,
who is nowhere even near you at that exact time-
like the voice of a ghost,
but even though you can’t see that person
you have no doubt as to its origin,
and you will swear on your life
that you heard the person that you heard say what they said
in the way and in the voice that they said it.
You’re so used to (lynneadam.wordpress.com)
You’re so used to being lonely.
Not alone, but lonely.
Lonely,
Because alone is only for a while,
But lonely is a state.
Lonely is forever.
Philly’s Population Still Growing (phillymag.com)
“In its estimate for 2013, the Census Bureau put the city’s population at 1,553, 165, an increase of about 25,000 residents – or two percent – over 2010. … Nineteen of the nation’s 20 largest cities rose in population between 2010 and last year. The lone exception is Detroit, which saw its population decline by 3 percent.” Here’s the full list of America’s biggest cities and their growth since 2010.
‘Lonely’ bacteria increase risk of antibiotic resistance (scienceblog.com)
Scientists from The University of Manchester have discovered that ‘lonely’ microbes are more likely to mutate, resulting in higher rates of antibiotic resistance. The study, published today in Nature Communications and jointly funded by The Wellcome Trust and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, explored the mutation rates of E.
Lonely (tsundukanibaloyi.wordpress.com)

22 Comments

Filed under Being and Feeling, Religious affairs, World affairs

Tagged as Asia, Belonging to the world, Brotherly-love, Brothers, Camaraderie, Chit-chat, Communication, Community, Darrell Creswell, Facebook, Focus, Friends, Friendship, Games, Happiness, Harmony, Internet, Isolation, Jeshua, Jesus, Living in this world, Loneliness, Love of Christ, Luck, Master teacher, Navneet Kaur, Neighbourhood, Plan of God, Planner, Population, Population growth, Questions, Saswata Mitra, Satisfaction, Sisters, Social media, Unity, Virtual world, Wishful thinking, World population, Worry

by Guestspeaker | 2014/04/06 · 9:21 am

Asking for a Re-Blog

Who would not to have many readers on his blog? Those writing on the internet do they not want to share their words with many?
We are no exception. We would love to reach as much people as possible. We would love to bring a message of hope and peace, and show others in the world that there is much beauty to enjoy.

People should also be aware tat they can help each other and do have the possibility to play an important role in spreading some kind of writing, certain messages, either good or bad news. The world encounters already lots of messages of disasters, accidents, wars and all sorts of bad things.Why not having some more positive news. We do hope we shall be able to find enough people who want to contribute to bring more positive news.

Image representing WordPress as depicted in Cr...

Image via CrunchBase

In case Jason and others could help to get more readers, who would mind? Marcus Ampe does like the effort Word Press does to bring more ideas into the world. WordPress now encourages through their front page and “tips” the interaction of bloggers. And Marcus has also liked interaction and wanted to see more people co-operating. Most of the bloggers have a daily life, with a job to sustain them. But somehow they want to find time to communicate with others. That way they also want to grow. We too, would like to communicate with many readers and grow.

Lets all go for it.

7 Comments

Filed under Announcement, Introduction, Re-Blogs and Great Blogs

Tagged as Blogger, Bloggers, Blogging, Co-operation, Communication, Interaction, Marcus Ampe, Message, Message of hope, Message of peace, Positive news, Readers, to Communicate, to Contribute, WordPress, Writing, Writings

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