“When we are unable to face the truth of our own feelings, we will vent our emotional pain upon anyone that goes against what we are trying to control, due to the exhaustion of representing our self as the truth, we wish we could be.”
True freedom can only be felt when we stop concealing our thoughts, desires, and beliefs, and stop pretending to be someone we are not, or pleasing others out of fear; for when our truth is spoken, our spirit emerges, and our fear becomes void, to which freedom of our true self takes flight.
Dear readers, for those who are new, we like to repeat our aims and about the idea behind our sharing.
Sharing Writings and linking
This website wants to bring an overview of interesting articles which were published on the worldwide internet and present some additional views on how we could come to a better world. Up until now we also wanted to bring additional literature in sight of our readers. For that reason we have, up until a few days ago, included several links into the articles, which opened automatically in a new window. But somehow WordPress changed the way to include url links and made it more difficult or time consuming, not allowing the enclosure feature to remember the previous used url codes and having each link to be separately indicated to open in a new window, instead of remembering it for all links on that page. This means we always have to look again for certain links and have to do much more work to include them. This makes writing our articles even more time consuming. For that reason we regret from a few days ago we did not include so many links any more and from today onwards you shall have to chose how to open the link. Until we do not find a solution to keep the fill in for the links remembering what we filled in previously, we shall have to limit such linking to tags and other articles than those of the particular website (in this instance From Guestwriter).
Secondly, we also received regularly complaints from people that we linked to their website or article and had to undo such links or write a letter first explaining why we included that link and asking what they wanted we did with it. Though most agreed then to have the link staying on the article, we had lost lots of energy writing back and controlling everything.
For that reason we are going to refer less to outside articles, but still use Zemanta for presenting some articles, but this time we are going to choose more those sites we do know and for other sites we are not always going to read them all, before placing the Zemanta link, and will withdraw them directly when a complaint or request for “why linking” is presented to us. (Simple as that.)
Now you know also why one or an other site shall be linked to more than others. Those who would also liked to be linked to, can always ask us to examine their website and to follow their writings, so that we can may have a choice out of their articles as well.
Authors sharing their writings
Concerning the writers on this platform, we still wait for more writers willing to share their ideas. Many who we have contacted wanted money to write or to help this site evolve.
We are very limited in funds and as such can not pay our staff. We also believe not everything has to be arranged by money. A money-free future is perhaps not possible, but lots of things could and should be done without money in the back of the head.
We still can do with people writing about the history of way of living, to show us how our lifestyle changed by the years of technological evolution. We also would love to find an author who want to talk about nature and show the world the beauty of it and/or can let our readers now what is important to look at at a certain moment in the year. (Parks to visit, special exhibitions, etc.)
A political and economical analyst is also welcome.
Because of our interest how human beings should try to make the best out of living with each other, we also could use some more writers who talk about keeping the family healthy, spiritually and health wise. Talks about marriage, brining up children are more than welcome.
Not everything for money
All That Money Wants (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We are convinced there are many benefits for not having everything in return for money. Most reasonable people will have no trouble accepting a money-free where people want to share with each other out of brotherly love. That will give better quality of life for all, less inequality, poverty, crime, greed, corruption, pollution and waste; greater health, education, trust, respect, awareness, sustainability, community values, technological advances, etc. Most people want these things, but are they convinced of the feasibility. How is a moneyless society possible?
I am convinced that there is a misconception about the need of money.
Imagining a world without money usually raises the following objections immediately, each of which is linked to a particular lifelong held belief (in brackets):
1. You need to have exchange (You can’t get something for nothing) 2. No-one would do anything (money motivates people) 3. People would take advantage (greed is human nature) 4. I will lose everything I have (fear of loss, ownership) 5. Chaos and violence would ensue (society requires control) 6. Society would stagnate or regress (markets fuel progress)
The good news is that all of these objections can be overturned quite easily using just plain common sense and basic observations.
Something for something or nothing for something
I do agree that most people want something for something else. For generations we people are brought up with that idea. Even worse, often people consider somebody not right in his head when he just wants to do something, not requiring anything in the place. Naturally we all need something to eat and we need a roof above our head, whilst we can not all have the same skill. Not everybody has enough competence to do the things he need. So we often are for many things dependent on others.
I am a believer in the Divine Creator and I am convinced He created all beings in His image and with the idea that all creatures are there for some good reason and to complement each other. Rabbi Jeshua, better known today as Jesus, reminded his listeners to look at the birds who have no money but manage to have their food and everything they need to live.
The master teacher and the prophets of God asked the people to look at nature where we can see what man came to call “symbiosys“. Everywhere in the creation of the Most High where man did not interfere there is balance. We can see that in nature two species benefit each other (the bee taking nectar while helping the plant to pollinate is the most obvious example), but there is no intentional transaction taking place. Both species are ignorant of the desires of the other. Some look at it as purely an accident of evolution that has caused both species to survive and flourish. In nature we can find many plants or animals which make use of each other, but not really demanding a return as such, and most of all not being repaid by something we can compare with money. We invented that idea of intentional exchanges as an essential ingredient to life or to community, to cope with scarcity in more primitive times, and with more complex needs.
Motivation by money not the best motivation
Serious Money (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The money / value system that we humans operate in has its origins in more primitive times, but which has now made us hell-bent on keeping score and accounting for everything in a numerical sense, and at the expense of common sense and sustainability. It is true that people are motivated by money, and that the communist system failed because of people being too egocentric and not willing to work together for a communal idea, building up a society where everybody could live on the same terms and being considered of equal value. We love to have a hierarchical system and I do agree somebody who is just lazy and does not want to co-operate in the system can not have the same advantages as somebody who works hard.
But like in nature those animals not having money, we as humans also do not nervelessly need a currency to provide payment, which proved not always to bring that luck hoped for.
We all have look at “Money” as a handy tool or a commodity accepted by general consent as a medium of economic exchange. In industrialized nations, portion of the national money supply, consisting of bank notes and government-issued paper money and coins, provides a value or currency. Everybody expects everything to be “prized” and expresses the value of things in currencies or in money. In the so called “third world” or among less developed societies, we can see that currency encompasses a wide diversity of items (e.g., livestock, stone carvings, tobacco) used as exchange media as well as signs of value or wealth.
Human motivators Better values
We should come to see and understand that there are much better values than money. Think about the many other human motivators:
the desire to love and be loved, to meet people, to have children, to help others, to improve ourselves and our surroundings, to look good, to feel good, to learn, to challenge ourselves, to express ourselves, to innovate, to demonstrate our skills, etc.
Every person alive is motivated by these desires to some degree. Because, after survival, these desires are what give our lives value and meaning.
Nature doesn’t keep score and why should we put everything in figures and balance it out to get even? Do you find it normal that people would seek exchange in their families or in their circles of friends? So why do we seek exchange in others? Among our loved ones, loving people shall tend to help each other out when they can and no-one will keep score.
Permitting exchanges between people having prices
Trying to get everything for yourself is not a natural instinct but a created attitude which can be transformed back to the innocent position we have a s a toddler. At the beginning of life the human being only asks and takes what it needs. Greed is not a basic element of human nature – it is even a deformed desire to stockpile something what the person may consider scarce and which he need to live, or a wrong attitude having come into the personality by the envy looking at others and comparing to others.
Like a squirrel collecting nuts, some may find greed makes good sense – because we don’t know what the future will bring. In a monetary world, the greatest scarcity is money itself, so it makes sense to accumulate it, and, since there is no upper limit to the money and property you can have, there’s no reason to stop accumulating it.
Map of the global distribution of economic and physical water scarcity as of 2006
Price systems may be considered the result of scarcity but for the first time in history, we have the technology to eradicate scarcity (or paucity) and to create an abundance of necessities for all humans on Earth with minimal physical effort. Primarily by coordinating the decisions of consumers, producers, and owners of productive resources people have taken refuge with their monetary system. Prices have become an acceptable expression of the consensus on the values of different things, and every society that permits exchanges between people has prices. Because prices are expressed in terms of a widely acceptable commodity, they permit a ready comparison of the comparative values of various commodities.
Machines to do the work of man
Normally we have enough technology to make work light for man. For lots of jobs the machines could do the work for man. What is going wrong today is that certain people, who do not do much work, can earn more than 300% than those who do the dirty work. And that is too much inequality. Such a difference should not exist. This way not having people being rightly paid according to what they do or which responsibility they take at a reasonable reward, prevents a nice way of living for everybody, as it intrinsically requires scarcity to perpetuate itself.
Ownership
Throughout history mankind has tried out several systems which all failed in a certain way. I as a Christian am convinced no human system can bring the right solution, but until the return of the Messiah we have to find ways to make life as smooth as possible and to have the creation in balance, not demanding too much of nature and not destroying so many things around us, which we have in loan and do not own. And there is the difficulty of it all, too many people think they “Own” and want to possess more. It is their fear of loosing what they “own” which makes them behave this way and often makes them blind for the way others (other humans, animals and plants) have to live.
The whole notion of ownership should be revised altogether.
We all need privacy and a certain amount of exclusivity, right?
Who wants to share their toothbrush, or have strangers walking around their home, for example?
Our normalised belief tells us that we define who uses what through something called ‘ownership’. Our laws define and protect ownership, with the threat of punishment to those who disobey (ie. stealing).
But where does this concept of ownership came from in the first place? Did we own nothing before someone wrote the law?
Given in loan
We think we own something and that the earth is ours. Believers in God do know that it is a gift from the Divine Creator and that we have received this earth in loan. It is not ours, it is God’s.
Growing up we make things our own. We create our personality. Growing up we collect certain things we consider our own. But we should know that once we die, the breath of life goes out of us, and we shall be nothing any-more with those treasures we collected. We can’t take those treasures with us in our grave, to an other life. It shall be of no purpose in our death. We shall just decay and become dust like many of those goods also shall become dust.
The point is that most things in the community belonged to no-one. Whatever items within the community that were not morally or logically entitled to anyone were used and shared by all.
So without ownership, what stops people from stealing? What actually stops people from stealing from each other is that it is anti-social, disrespectful and invasive, and people who do so are liable to become deeply unpopular. This social incentive for certain behaviour is far stronger than any rule could ever be, as it is dictated by how we feel about ourselves and our position in society. Yet we commonly mistake the rule of law as being the only thing that governs this behaviour.
Crimes, violence and Respect, privacy and exclusivity
Value for Money (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If we understand that respect, privacy and exclusivity are, in fact, already hard-wired into our social psyche – not dictated by external controlling forces – then we can begin to move beyond the traditional inefficient limits of ownership and with it, any fear of loss.
Throughout history we can see that it was the desire of power and the greed of certain people that brought misery to others. The last few moths I encountered many who said religion is the base of violence. When they would look closer at what really happened in history they would see that most criminal acts where done by non-religious people for political reasons and on second place or by people who used a religion as an excuse for their war of conquest. Today we see this by ISIS who present a similar war as the crusaders and do the same atrocities as the inquisitors a few centuries ago. Their killing had a duration of more than one century, whilst ISIS is only busy for a few years. Their terror is as abominable as the terror other terrorists bring. They bring fear and terror in the hope increasing their power. But most crime and violence is driven by desperation through lack of basic requirements for living, ie. theft, armed robbery, burglary, etc. and by having a low moral. Almost all other crimes can be seen as the secondary effects of poor upbringing. ie. where parents are poor, over-worked, unemployed, frustrated, depressed or disillusioned, etc. – all factors that can contribute to an unstable and unloving environment for children, who may later turn to crime as a result of low self esteem or maladjustment.
No incentive for crime
When you succeed into taking away the inequality and create a world where everyone will have free access to good food, housing, education and technology, it still won’t be perfect or eliminate all crime, but if everyone has a good quality of life and free access, then crime will have little or no incentive.
Driven by passion
In our commercialised society we are so used that everything is valued by a currency and money. The economists or entrepreneurs look at the system we are used to and cite economic incentive and competition as good for progress. Have you ever wondered with what they compared their luxurious system? Might it not be that because they start of with a false key that they come to false conclusions?
Are we really to believe that all innovators, inventors and artists will down tools the moment someone calls time on money? Obviously not, since we all know so many creative people that never achieve financial success, it shows us that they are not driven by money, but rather by their passions and desire to innovate.
Sharing people
I would love to call onto people to come to think about sharing more.
Often I do meet people who are very much afraid of a sharing system and think we can not do without money, though they themself use lots of tools without paying for them. We can find lots of people who are using Open Source Applications, which they take it for granted they can use them because everybody is using them. Often they do not see other large scale innovative projects which are becoming the optimum means of production without a monetary incentive.
Lots of people behind the screens try to invent things which can be used by others, and use themselves things others created. Lots of people do forget that many computer programs like Linux, Chrome and Android have been developed freely by enthusiasts in their spare time,. It ware those people who were willing to spend their precious free time to create something for the good of the whole community and not just for them selves or to gain lots of money. The computer industry has led the way on this, but of course, there is no reason why ‘open source thinking’ cannot be applied in agriculture, crafts, construction or education, etc.
Difficult to get people to share something which they consider of their own
The big problem we are facing today is that there has been created a generation of people who mainly think about themselves. Their ego comes on the first place and they look for gaining as much as they can for their own, often at the cost of others.
In the past the economical factor, being of wealthy parents of a having a privileged background was the creating facility for equanimity or for daring taking risks. Comfortable upbringing, access to good food and education, often provided the luxury of time – not labouring for their keep – but spending it on developing their ideas and skills instead. But we also find lots of creative minds who had no financial security, though created masterpieces.
Having money does not mean being smarter. If society can work better without money, then all potential young Einsteins and Mozarts will have the optimal opportunity to exercise and advance their talents.
If we create a society where talents are recognised and stimulated and people can receive equal opportunities, so much more can come off the ground.
Why not believing in a a moneyless future?
You can see that money does not bring that happiness many people hoped for. It is not a bad tool to be used in exchange for things, but we should not put all our hopes on it.
We should go back to the natives. We best dare to look at those living in the Amazon or other not yet by capitalism spoiled places. We too can learn from populations where money is not the key factor to order their way of living.
We should also come to understand that in our society we do have so many things we do not need or do not need any-more. Why not giving that stuff away that is filling your cupboards? If you have certain talents, why not sharing them with others and letting them also enjoy them?
In case a moneyless future seems something interesting to think about or when you like the idea, why not join “a movement of believers”?
Please have a look at the underneath brief introduction to the charter for a truly free world.
Man worships many things and often uses their religion to do what they want for themselves, having more power and control.
Temple of Hephaestus, a Doric Greek temple in Athens with the original entrance facing east, 449 BC (western face depicted). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Bombs bringing fire and giving the attackers the mythological divinity of fire. They might think to become reborn and having their virgins around them but like Hephaestus, protector of blacksmiths, the Japanese Kojin, which protects the hearths and symbolizes the violence of the elements placed at the service of humanity they will not remembered for long but disappear in oblivion having become dust like their victims who died at this cowardly attack.
But for the living there is light and hands which reach to each other, showing unity which overcomes all sorrow and shows those who try to kill our values that humanity goes on looking forward aiming for a democratic place where many people of all sorts of races, cultures and religions can live together in peace.
Light up a little flame, and make others think, is what many love to do and which gives a sign to those outside who think they can hurt us. > just think + wonder + ask questions, and maybe read up some author or historical character, or read a new book, or argue, or get angry, and light another flame… One hopes to make think – and to keep thinking, even in the midst of all the terrible things.
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I significati simbolici associati al fuoco sono numerosi, positivi e negativi: rinnovamento, purificazione, immortalità, iniziazione, sacrificio, forgiatura, distruzione… basta pensare al mito della Fenice che brucia e rinasce dalle proprie ceneri, a Prometeo che ruba il fuoco agli dei per emancipare almeno un po’ l’umanità, alle fiamme che custodiscono il sonno della valkiria disobbediente, alla colonna di fuoco che guida Mosè e i suoi nell’Esodo, al fuoco inestinguibile di Vesta, alle fiamme della dannazione eterna. {Fuoco!}
Bandiera rosso e nera con tre fiammelle gialle al centro (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I’ve posted something very similar on my Italian blog, yesterday, but I want to do it again here, because…
Well, because terrible things keep happening, and everything seems to indicate that they will keep happening for Heaven knows how long. I was musing about it yesterday, and thinking how small, how inadequate it feels in such moments to sit down and write of history, and theatre, and books…
And I thought: yes, this is it. This is what I want to do too. Light up a little flame, and hope it will make readers think. Not to make them think something in particular – that readers can agree or disagree with what they read is a given… just think. And wonder, and ask questions, and maybe…
In our second reposting from the paraphrased chronological harmony of the four gospels, by Frank Boulet we look once more at the central message of Jesus which is simply this:
Love God by loving people, even your enemies.
with From Guestwriters we do want to spread this message of love and want to get enough people to see how we do have to control ourselves first before we can try to get a better world.
Our aim is also that those who come along our site, shall make the effort to read the appropriate Bible text and shall take time to meditate on the material.
Insofar as they convey that message, these meditations may be helpful as an introduction to the complete texts of the New Testament, or for daily devotional reading.
Those who call themselves Christian always should remember that they have to be followers of Christ longing for God’s Spirit to feed them. They cannot be called Christian when they do not keep to the laws and teachingsChrist adhered to.
In order to live as God’s child, you must be faithful to the essential spirit of God’s word. {The Mountain: God’s Word}
It was on a mountain that Jesus began giving examples of the spirit of God’s Word. From that sermon on the mountain we should get to know that our faith needs those works Jesus spoke about.
If you’re about to worship God in any way, and you remember an unsettled dispute with another person, first go & make peace with that person, and then return to worship God. {The Mountain: Anger}
God’s law says, do not engage in sexual cheating (meaning sexual relations are to be enjoyed only with your husband or wife). {The Mountain: Sexual Cheating}
This means we have to be faithful to the partner we have chosen to share our life with. That faithfulness demands control and requires acts of love. The keeping our minds focused on the right persons is one of the works we do have to do. Because we should know that we may not even look with lust at a woman, because for God that is considered the same as sexual cheating in your heart!
We also should be careful which words we use and what sort of promises we make.
It has also been said, ‘Do not break your promise to God.’
But I say, do not even make promises to God.
Yes we are told not to promise by heaven, by the earth, by Jerusalem, not even by your own head, because it’s sinful to try to add emphasis to your promises in that way.
We should not do the wrong things but the right things and as such
We also may not seek revenge against any other person, which again shall demand control of ourselves and not getting into anger which would bring us to do wrong.
Jesus gives an indication how in our relation to others we should care for them and even be willing to go with them.
If a soldier demands that you carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles.
Whenever another person asks you for something, give it to him.
Whenever another person wants to borrow something, lend it to him.
Matthew 5:38-42
Also to love your enemies we shall need to be stronger than the first reaction most people get against their enemies or to those they hate.
Jesus concluded:
Instead of being like everybody else, God wants you to love perfectly — just as God himself loves perfectly. (Matthew 5:43-48) {The Mountain: Loving Enemies}
Living for God in this life means you need to have different goals than most people.
• Admitting + Mourning self-inflicted spiritual poverty.
• Regretting your self-inflicted separation from God.
• Desiring to live God’s way
• Expecting & accepting trouble living God’s way will bring in this life.
Living for yourself in this life will never lead to God’s blessings in the next life:
Then the author says:
• goal in this life to be rich => poor in the next life.
• goal in this life to be full => hungry in the next life.
• goal in this life to be happy => sad in the next life.
• goal in this life for other people to speak well of you => no one will speak well of you in the next life.
But with death we have paid for our sins and then there comes an end to our life. When we die it shall be too late to do anything. there shall be no “next life”, except the life we shall continue to live on this earth in this system of things when we have done wrong and do not repent, or after Armageddon and the judgement when we shall be rejected or receive the entrance to God’s Kingdom, being able to live in the restored ‘Garden of Eden‘, the paradise, God’s Kingdom.
It is here, now or never that we shall have to do and make it. Several parables of Christ show us how for many it will be too late for them to change anything for their entrance in the Kingdom of God … they just shall miss it … because they have not done the required worksto be saved.
We have to keep grip or control of the things we want to do. Not only do we have to control our temper, we are told in the gospel and letters of the apostles why and how we should demonstrate more self-control.
The mountain sermon summarizes the works we have to do. Lets not forget them.
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To remember
When Jesus started home to Capernaum and Jesus’ mother & brothers arrived, they sent a message through the crowd, asking for him. When someone in the crowd told Jesus,
“Your mother & brothers are outside, and they want to see you.”
Jesus answered with a question,
“Who are my real family members?”
He looked at the people sitting around him and said,
“My real family members are right here. Those of you who follow the Holy Spirit & do what God wants are the real members of my family & God’s family.” {Family Matters}
Then Jesus again taught his students who were gathered there, emphasizing basic themes he had previously taught them on the mountain (64) and continued teaching his students, still emphasizing basic themes he had taught them on the mountain (65).
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don’t judge other people => God won’t have to judge you for judging them
don’t condemn other people => God won’t have to condemn you for condemning them
forgive other people => God will forgive you => receive a full measure of His blessings
measure of blessing you give to other people = measure of blessing which God will give to you
Don’t criticize a splinter in your friend’s eye > you have a log in your own eye = hypocritical!
take log out of your eye; judge yourself according to God’s standards => be able to help your friend deal with splinter in his eye.
any person, who says good things & still does bad things = not really living for God.
hear these words of Jesus + obeys them = like a man who dug deep & laid foundation of his house on rock
An average Westerner lives in his head. From kindergarten until university he is indoctrinated with the idea that there is an answer to every question and a solution to every problem. In this way his need to understand and control keeps the illusion alive that we have a grip on our reality and have everything under control.
But nothing is further from the truth.
In his book ‘De Schaduw van de Verlichting” Eddy Van Tilt speaks about ‘the over-drive of rationality‘.Because we give our ratio absolute status , we have become estranged of that part of reality that is not rational and with which we have lost touch.
The psychologist Van Tilt asks :
” What happened that caused the heads of Westerners to become so hard and their hearts so weak?”
Because he is confronted with the pathological results of too much ego, the delusion of manipulability and rationalising.
The psychiatrist Mark Epstein reacts to this as follows :
‘our thinking mind is compulsive, because it does not want to forget or be forgotten and therefore always has something to do’.
That is why it will not be easy to ” let go of everything” on holiday.
Because as hungry and restless as our mind is preoccupied with the past and the future, it will need other kinds of stimuli, in order not to forget or be forgotten.
We can put our mind at rest.
In the first place by keeping our heart open, by simply observing what happens inside ourselves and by reconnecting with our body, our surroundings, and by accepting …to be moved. When we enter silence, we will experience “now” and not so much hearing it, but rather feeling it or even better …. experiencing it.
To obtain this , it is not necessary to leave your ego or anything else behind, but to look past its borders.
‘By standing still we do not see new things, but we look at things in a different way’,
is what C.G. Jung concluded once.
Or how going on holiday is mainly… silence in your head and heart.
Sigmund Freud, G. Stanley Hall, C.G. Jung, A.A. Brill, Ernest Jones, and Sándor Ferenczi posed at Clark University, Worcester, Mass. Photograph first published in September 1909. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
illusion of being in control of your own life = an intricate one.
entertain dreams of kids + letting them believe => Making them see a perfect illusion of the world > utopian world
Locus Of Control Is Alive And Well In The Workplace (thoughtcatalog.com)
Locus of control is the idea that people have direct power over events in their own lives. Furthermore, locus of control involves how these events impact, motivate, or empower a person on a multitude of levels. There is a measurable means of pinpointing where someone’s locus of control falls in the grand scheme of things. This brings us to the concept of internal (inner) versus external (outer) locus of control.
A Hundred Days to Happiness #21: Happiness in the Face of Stress (davidicuswong.wordpress.com)
Distress, however, is from negative stress or stress that overwhelms us. This can affect us mentally and physically. It can take the form of competing demands from your work, school, home or social lives, an abusive or adversarial relationship, or situations that seem beyond your control.We function at our best when the challenge of our activities matches our resources and abilities. An example would be the perfect job that absorbs all of your attention, engages your talents and provides you with the time and support you need.
No More Mister Nice Guy (lewrockwell.com)
Nice Guys take a passiveapproach to life and relationships. Instead of standing up for themselves, they let others walk all over them. They’re pushovers and perennial People Pleasers. Nice Guys have a hard time saying no to requests — even unreasonable ones. They’re considerate to a fault. When they want or need something, they’re afraid to ask for it because they don’t want to inconvenience others. Nice Guys also avoid conflict like the plague. They’d rather get along than get ahead.
The one about getting distracted, mean tweets and balance #28daysofwriting (chrisharte.typepad.com)
Our young people are constantly jacked in to a stream of distractions, from Facebook (which they are all abandoning like rats apparently), to Instagram, the deliberately ephemeral SnapChat and the exponentially exploding YouTube, with 100 hours of new video being uploaded every minute.
Social Mobility and “Locus of Control” (cato.org)
Plenty of research confirms that everyone likes to attribute their successes in life to their own virtues, and their disappointments to misfortune. Only at the end of the article does it float the possibility that the causality may, at least in part, run in the other direction: That believing it’s a matter of luck how one fares in life may lead one to do less well, while believing (even somewhat unrealistically) that your fate is in your own hands is a prerequisite for having the motivation to do as well as you can. Perhaps—and there’s a whiff of paradox here—a belief in that kind of personal responsibility for outcomes is one of the lucky advantages that affluent parents pass on to their children.
Tremendous Power Lies In Your Hands (kisslesslove.com)
In order to be successful at any one endeavour we decide to pursue from the depths of our mind, is simply through massive actions. If we were to admit that the outcome of any events because of external circumstances, then we fail to exercise our power as a strong person.Luck then becomes a scape goat for our lack thereof. Therefore, it is dangerous if we consistently push outcomes as a result of luck. In fact, powerful people have been identified with strong internal locus of control. This means that they firmly believe their lives are a result of their actions and inaction.
Modesty and the Lust of Men (godaslove.wordpress.com)
Women are told that if they do not conceal their femininity adequately, they will “cause” men to fall prey to the sin of “lust.”
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The temptation to sin comes from within a person, not from without. It is also important to recognize that we can always say “no”: “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure” (1 Corinthians 10:13, NLT).
Talkin’ About Your Generation (psychologicalscience.org)
We tend to view our preferences and idiosyncrasies as inherently singular — a unique cocktail of traits that emerges from mixing genetic predispositions with our familial and social experiences. But ever since Karl Mannheim proposed his theory of generations in a seminal 1923 essay, researchers have tried to elucidate the influence of the sociocultural environment — including those influences unique to each generation — on aspects of our personalities and attitudes.
God’s voice or mine? Knowing the difference, (part 5, reputation) (faithsighanddiy.com)
Whenever we are deciding what behavior is or is not right for us as followers of Christ, the one thing we mustn’t do is adopt any behavior or give up any behavior in an attempt to appear more righteous or holier than we are. Whatever we decide should be because we simply want to become closer to God. Jesus condemned the Pharisees who used their behavior as a means of appearing better than anyone else, while at the same time treating people poorly. Integrity is more important than image.
if schools learn to teach beyond grit alone, it won’t. The best schools are already pairing grit (or more eloquently, resilience) alongside other character skills like creativity, teamwork, ethics, curiosity and time management.
When it comes to developing children in this way, we don’t simply want a swinging pendulum; we need schools to function like clockwork.
The illusion of you being in control of your own life is quite an intricate one.
Just like adults entertain the dreams of kids bt letting them believe that they have built an actual castle in stead of a sand one.
We let them feel they can do whatever they want.
Are we making them brave,by having the courage to dream? By letting them believe that dreams do come true? Or are we damaging their sense of the reality . Making them see a perfect illusion of the world. A utopian world which doesn’t exist. Are we building them up for a big heartbreak for their future when the reality of life and the world comes crashing down on them? The fact is that sometimes no matter what you do, it’s never enough. Sometimes perseverance isn’t the key. Fate is. Sometimes even in moments of utter desperation you know no…
too often a person is not willing to recognise the “I am” in himself or herself, which gets in his or her way to develop in a good way.
when not able to accept the self and not able to place the self in a good position in this world, the self shall be lost in the wide world of selfish persons and in others who have no interest in ‘loosers’ or in persons who do not believe in themselves.
Instead of looking at others and comparing ourselves with others, we first should look at ourself, seeing the “I am” in ourself.
Lacking motivation? Feeling worthless? Friendless? Frustrated? Disappointed? Most everyday we feel something negative about ourselves. We tend to blame it on the our circumstances. While all the blame my be right there, I’m learning how important it is not to let circumstances alone control you.
Our circumstance will change everyday. Some can be control and some can’t. Instead of focusing on what you can’t control, laser in on what you can. What’s the number one thing you can control? Your thinking.
“The sum of all your thoughts comprises your overall attitude.” -John Maxwell
So I challenge you, write down 100 positive things about yourself. The list isn’t timed, but get to thinking and write them down. Yes 100! This may be challenging. I often find when I think of a positive about myself I’m following it up with a “but I could be better” or “I’m only where I’m…
I am convinced that in case we try to bend all our negative thoughts into the direction of good thoughts we can manage better. Very important to avoid stress situations simply is avoiding those people who could bring us into such a situation. We best avoid negative influences and associate better more with people who can contribute positiveness in our life.
Eliminative Materialism (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We should be careful not to be taken in, by not be focusing on the distribution of material power because that are the matters which can bring us down. Materialism in the end always will kill the person. Always being aware that no way we ever shall get a good working system or any political system that can solve everything. For that we shall have to wait until the return of Christ, when the Kingdom of God shall at last become a full reality. Before that the reality of a perfect world is an illusion. The reality that surrounds us is not in itself a product of the objective forces but one of our shared perceptions, ideas, social values and understanding. We would be fooling ourselves if we believed the state and the inter-state systems, would not be artificial constructs, meaning that they are constructed by humans, and they can be changed and developed in new ways in extreme cases leading to anarchy and a huge security dilemma.
We all should work on coming to understand how the world evolves and what for influence we as human beings have on nature. when you look how we treat nature it more seems that we are very good at destroying it instead of living in symbioses with it.
At the moment how people are making a mess of the world they are also putting stress on the whole community, using everything and every one to get as much material gain as they can. Not many people are really interested in the spiritual site of life. Most people are also not interested to come to know or to come to an understanding of the universe and the world around us.
All the things that happened in the past can never be undone. This can be hard to swallow and it can bring much sadness to us. But it has no use to linger on such bad events, sad happenings and to keep facing depressing thoughts. the world must go on, and we with it.
Instead of having people to succeed to push us in a hole, getting us not believing in ourselves any more, we better try to understand why such people became so envious, jealous, and so frustrated that they like to bully others. They would like to kill all initiative others would take, because that would put them in the shadow. Often such people looking to get all the power would not mind putting all those on their path, standing in their way,to not only put them in the shadow, but to get them in the dark, not having to play any significant role any more. it is all a matter of control. And when we lose control we might come into a phase of stress and they think they also would come in a phase of no power any more.
Sharing control and sharing tasks has not to mean you would or the other would loose control. Together more can be managed than on your own. Often when people start feeling their loosing control they do come in afraid to loose their position in the comfort zone. Some may take on the defence mode and try to suppress the other, others may come in the discomfort zone and feeling stress. at first the one feeling the pressure at work might thing he or she could solve the problem with working harder, giving himself or herself more for the job, but many of such hard-working and optimistically minded individuals have lost their jobs and have come so depressed, taken over by the stress or worries.
We best take care we do not get in a position were we could start dwelling on the negative spiral to nowhere. It leads to nihilism. We too can avoid that others get in a stress situation and loose their optimism. By encouraging others to focus on the positives is an act of ‘brotherly love‘. It also shows a faith in other individuals as well as a faith in what is around you or in the organization you are working for.
Captain Edward Rickenbacker, America’s premier “Ace” officially credited with 22 enemy planes and the proud wearer of the French War Cross as he appeared upon his arrival on board the Adriatic. Underwood and Underwood., ca. 1919 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in experience and achievement.” That is an attitude worth maintaining and nurturing especially when times are so severe.
This world is taken over by materialism, idolatries of power, lust and comfort. Normally you would think all the luxury would bring much satisfaction to the people, but by comparing what others have and what they do not have the jealousy took them down in a spiral of envy and bring them in a stress situation. Lots of people have created their own god. They do not understand that the for them useful and practically effective god of capitalism cannot be the True God. When you look at their god or gods you might come to see that it is no problem at all to unmask their new and popular gods. We can see that many adore the money and have put away The Only One God of religious revelations far away. For them That God can not be seen nor felt and therefore has no value for them. You could ask them: whenever did you try to look for Him and tried to see Him?
We have become surrounded by technique and many are totally taken by it and also have become very dependant on it. Their relationship with all that technical stuff however did not help to bring them into closer communion with their inner life and soul of nature. they might think it brought them closer together, and has created them having more ‘friends’ on the social networks. But they do not see that many of them are ‘virtual friends’ and have not a real social connection at all. We even see that more people become more isolated in their environment of Linked-in and Facebook relatives. They might have many so called ‘friends’ in their circles but they are very lonely … on their own. They, in their isolation, also seem to loose track of their own possibilities.
The machine sets its stamp upon the human spirit and all its manifestations. Thus civilization has neither a natural nor a spiritual, but a mechanical foundation. It represents par excellence the triumph of technique over both the spirit and organism.
With all the focus on material goods not much interest can be found for culture. those working in the cultural field may be tampered and losing positivism as well. They have to find a way to earn their living and are persuaded to greater concessions. Many artists having lost the artistic soul, becoming part of the mainstream ‘civilization’ where spiritual matters are discounted and where quantity has displaced quality.
Vyacheslav Ivanov, Lev Kobilinskij-Ellis, Nikolai Berdyaev (standing) and Andrei Bely (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I do not think like Nicholas Berdyaev that civilization as opposed to culture, which is given up to the contemplation of eternity, tends to be futurist. I do agree that machinery and technique are chiefly responsible for the speeding up of life, but that some might have lost the reason why we could make advantage of such tools. and its exclusive aspiration towards the future. the technique should have helped our society to come more at ease and to be less stressful. Many let the machine take over and concentrated more on the material gain it could bring instead of making use or advantage of the time it could make free for them to do other things.
Organic life is slower, less impetuous, and more concerned with essentials, while civilized life is superficial and accidental; for it puts the means and instruments of life before the ends whose significance is lost. The consciousness of civilized men is concentrated exclusively upon the means and technique of life considered as the only reality, while its aims are regarded as illusory. {Nicholas Berdyaev, Prophet for the Catholic Worker Movement Materialism Destroys the Eternal Spirit}
Berdyaev may think that spiritual culture is unreal, but for me culture is fundamental for a healthy community. Culture is is not a mere instrument of technique, it is the gear transmission of society. It is the sociological controller and instigator for a good relation between end and means. Culture is also the mirror for man to put everything in perspective and the golden thread in history. Today we may see the loss of any sense of purpose in human life, culture and religion.
We as human beings should remember we are only a very tiny element in the universe. We would love to believe that everything turns around us, but we are thoroughly mistaken.
21st Century Materialism (Photo credit: tomislavmedak)
I do agree with Berdyaev that humankind has a solution in front of them, which was already given to them early from the start. And that it is this fundamental moral contradiction we are facing today that invalidates the doctrine of progress, turning it into a religion of death instead of resurrection and eternal life.
There is no valid ground for degrading those generations whose lot has been cast among pain and imperfection beneath that whose pre-eminence has been ordained in blessedness and joy. No future perfection can expiate the sufferings of past generations. Such a sacrifice of all human destinies to the messianic consummation of the favoured race can only revolt man’s moral and religious conscience. A religion of progress based on this apotheosis of a future fortunate generation is without compassion for either present or past; it addresses itself with infinite optimism to the future, with infinite pessimism to the past. It is profoundly hostile to the Christian expectation of resurrection for all mankind, for all the dead, fathers and forefathers. This Christian idea rests on the hope of an end to historical tragedy and contradiction valid for all human generations, and of resurrection in eternal life for all who have ever lived. {Nicholas Berdyaev, Prophet for the Catholic Worker Movement Materialism Destroys the Eternal Spirit}
Our habit of breaking up time into the past, present and future does not entitle us to endow the last with more reality than the first. From the standpoint of the present, the future is no richer in reality than the past, and our efforts should be with reference, not to the future, but to that eternal present of which both future and past are one. {Nicholas Berdyaev, Prophet for the Catholic Worker Movement Materialism Destroys the Eternal Spirit}
More people in this world should make the choice on what they really want to focus. Too much we have forgotten the importance of the choices we have to make and on the direction we have to focus our eyes and mind. We should all be convinced how much we ourselves can regulate our own life and how much depends on the focus on what we want is directly proportional to what we can achieve.
To many of us are more concerned to prove ourselves for man, instead of proving ourselves for the Higher Being. How many of us are not willing to change themselves, just for the sake of wining someone’s approval.
Geetika Garg, who is trying to know more about everything around her, writes on her blog:
You don’t have to prove yourself worthwhile by doing what others wish; it’s certainly not your job. Be confident for who you are, for who you had been all those years, stand strong for all the decisions that you have made and have faith in yourself. You are enough for your ow. {You Matter}
Too many people have forgotten to be their own self and to dare to speak out for themselves. A lot of people who would have loved to have more affinity for the spiritual have been pressed against the wall by the materialists. they put their own inner soul aside, thinking they would be less than the other. they looked for ways outside themselves to prove themselves by doing what others wished them to do. they should know that is not the right way and is neither to help them nor the ones they are hoping to please.
May I quote the lady who believes whatever we are seeking is seeking us too, and has hopes that the day the two will meet, it will be complete, perfect as it is meant to be!
Be confident for who you are, for who you had been all those years, stand strong for all the decisions that you have made and have faith in yourself. You are enough for your own self; you are capable of achieving what all you desire and you require absolutely none to tell you how worthy you are. Instead of focusing on what critics have to say why not concentrate on those who praise you. Those people are the ones with all positivism and happiness. We often tend to forget that they exist and keep believing on all bad about us. They are the people who matter. Let go of rest. Don’t let your ears used to of those cruel words that inhibit your growth, that steal a part of you and things that change your entire being. {You Matter}
Nihilism Cannot Be Disproved (Except by Positivism) (pensatwar.wordpress.com)
Pure nihilism (and not any of the subcategories of it) can be defined simply as: The belief that there is no truth. Positivism is the opposite; that there is truth.
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Nihilists, pure nihilists, do not have a profound effect on society. They can’t. If one truly believes in 100% Nihilism, why do anything? If a person is dedicated to nihilism all the time for their entire life, they will have had no extra effect on reality whatsoever. They will have simply existed and passed, with no meaning.
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Nihilism can only be disproved by Positivism. Its a purely democratic philosophical clash.
Positivism and The Quantity Theory of Money (syesworldview.wordpress.com)
The doctrine of positivism is a form of arch-empiricism that tries to crystallise the supposed process of ‘scientific thought’. An adherent of positivism believes that there are general ‘laws’ of cause and effect in the natural/social sciences and the only way to uncover these ‘laws’ is via the tool of research. An adherent of positivism believes that objective analysis – whatever is meant by this – is the only form of analysis; indeed there exists a zero possibility of the observer influencing the observed. Nature is orderly and regular; scientific knowledge is cumulative in character and all objective phenomena are eventually knowable – all characterize the approach of positivism.
If you’re afraid to do it, do it afraid. (carolynhughesthehurthealer.com)
What are you frightened of? Anything that stops you living your life to the full, whether it’s fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of the future can all impact on your life. Yet it is possible to overcome that detrimental negative thinking. You may never be completely fearless but you can learn to break out of your comfort-zone and find the freedom to take your life to a new level.
Positivism for Millennium 3 (politicalpipeline.wordpress.com)
Positivism describes a process to discover and authenticate knowledge (within reality) via the scientific method, which examines and then verifies (it’s positive). There is an initial hypothesis: this is a folded piece of paper, all swans are white, democracies start wars, etc., and then verification would validate or invalidate the hypothesis. Knowledge, in this manner, forms—and there is something for scientists to teach.In order for this scientific method to move forward, we have come to know six basic understandings of positivism. They are: unified science (created an ideology of a one-layered world, reality may be reduced to physics), empiricism (knowledge gained through mental or physical experimentation), objectivism (uninvolved observer), value freedom (no normative value is placed on the object of study), instrumentalism (observing it as a thing in the world), and technicism (value methods over results) (PSS, 13-14). Positivism took root in western philosophy in the 18th century and decayed in the winters and sprang in the summers of the 20th century.
The Future of Capitalism according to Nikolai Berdyaev (channelclimate.wordpress.com)
Most educated people in the West have heard of Fyodor Dostoevsky. But how many have heard of Nikolai Berdyaev? He was a Russian religious philosopher of the first half of the 20th century. And he had some interesting (albeit controversial) insights regarding the future of Capitalism. In his book The New Middle Ages (1933) that I’m currently reading he made several important observations on the issue.
First, in Berdyaev’s view development of society resembles cycles rather than spirals (in his view, it is somewhat similar to the day-night pattern). Second, the terms progressive and reactionary are relative if not utterly meaningless in a debate; for example, Christianity was progressive compared to the Old Gods but reactionary compared to the Capitalist New History. Third, the philosopher predicted that the 20th century frontier would be between Communism and Capitalism, or between God and The Godless (and he wasn’t referring to the production possibilities frontier). Fourth, he claimed that Russia had never fully embraced the Western way of life, including its rationality, laws, and norms. In fact, Russia has stepped directly from the old Middle Ages into the new Middle Ages. How, you’ll ask? By way of the Bolshevik revolution. According to Berdyaev, Communism is a Satanic religion, but a religion nonetheless, that sent Russia back into the Middle Ages (but note: when he used the term “the Middle Ages”, unlike modern Liberals he didn’t think of it in a condescending way).
Legal Positivism and the Common Law (allenmendenhallblog.com)
Legal positivism, in the most basic sense, holds that laws are the manifestation of sovereign commands. It stands in contradistinction to natural law or the judicial conformity with human reason that supposedly defines the common law.
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What distinguishes the common law from a civil law system is the doctrine of stare decisis (“let the decision stand”), which requires judges to follow precedents established by prior decisions or to distinguish the facts of new cases from the facts of previous cases in order to reach an applicable rule.
Surrendering to positivism (thehimalayantimes.com)
The world is progressing in the field of science and technology, but peace cannot be attained through that. The fact is that peace can be acquired only through spiritual ideas. Until one imbibes the teachings of Swami Vivekananda, peace cannot be understood.
In today’s context, everybody is striving to be perfect, but there still is inequity everywhere. That is the reason why revolution took place in Nepal and other places — because there is lack of proper attention to every individual’s need. People who lead the country should be selfless, but unfortunately, they are corrupt. They lack spiritual ideas.
Negative Positivism (hasarla.wordpress.com)
Help arises when you arises. But if you stand and watch, they will do the same and feel your loss and you been d positive dude/girl programmed to rise after every fall (which is right), stay positive when all looks downright bleak, just keep moving on.
Positivism and Utilitarianism (arulinside.wordpress.com)
According to Dias the positivist movement started at the beginning of the 19th century. It represented a reaction against the a priori methods of thinking which turned away from the realities of actual law in order to discover nature or reason the principles of universal validity. Hart pointed out that the term positivism has many meanings which one of them is that laws are commands. Law as command is associated with Jeremy Bentham and John Austin that both are the founder of the British positivism.
Logical Positivism and the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (unfspb.wordpress.com)
Logical positivism is a more or less loose collection of philosophical theses- some of which are incompatible- which have their genesis in the scientific inclinations of the Vienna Circle members (on this see Friedman 1999 and Uebel 2009). However, one may identify two broadly unifying themes within logical positivism: (1) a verificationist epistemology and (2) an instrumentalist stance toward scientific theories.
Lifestyle and Readers Digest Magazine founded by Marcus Ampe on the 26th of March 2014
Welcome
New to this site. You may like to read this first
If this is your first time you visit us, you might like to know about our aims and intentions.
This site does not want to be a specific religious site, though now and then religious articles may be presented. The main interest on this site is about worldly matters, social affairs and the behaviour of human beings in this universe.
Our aim is to bring first articles about our responsibility in the progress of human relations and peace involvement.
Please find to read about our aims and aspirations:
Messengers of Peace and Positivism – Boodschappers van Vrede en Positivisme
We belong to the Bloggers for Peace and you can join them too. (Click on the picture to know more and to connect.)
Club members their own blog-writings – Clubleden hun eigen persoonlijke blogs
Articles by Guestwriters members – Artikelen bij Gastschrijvers leden
Most club members "From guestwriters" do not have their own blog, but shall write under their own name as "Guestspeaker" on the Lifestyle magazine Stepping Toes.
Those who do have their own website can be looked at underneath:
Please do find those independent authors their recent postings on their own website:
Van de schrijvers die een eigen blog hebben kan u op hun site als laatste artikels vinden:
Recent Posts on the other Lifestyle Magazine: Stepping Toes
“Many in the church have turned their back on serious study, and have embraced an anti-intellectualism which refuses to learn anything from scholarship at all lest it corrupt their pure faith. It is time to end this stand-off, and to re-establish a hermeneutic of trust (itself a sign of the gospel!) in place of the […]
Many who call themselves Christian do like to follow Augustine, even more than Christ. they do agree with him that reading the Bible is no longer necessary once God had fully cultivated faith, hope, and love in us (On Christian Doctrine, 1.39). In other words, according to them, once we are mature in Christ, the […]
Pew Research Center asked thousands of Americans where they find meaning in life. Their responses were rich, thoughtful and varied. Here are just a few examples of what they told us… “That’s a gosh darn big question for a survey like this, I’m used to the check boxes. I find meaning in career, family, spiritual […]
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President Trump, long a trafficker in anti-Semitic stereotypes, treated American Jews to a classic anti-Semitic canard Tuesday afternoon. When asked about two Congresswomen, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, who had been barred from Israel at Trump’s own behest, he broke out an oldie but a goodie from the closet of anti-Semitic tropes. “Any Jewish people […]
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Het bewijs van Gods bestaan 1. De weg van veel goden naar geen God Een in het kader van ‘Bijbel en Wetenschap’ telkens weer opduikende vraag is: kun je Gods bestaan wetenschappelijk bewijzen? Of heeft de wetenschap juist bewezen dat Hij niet bestaat? Er zijn in principe twee manieren waarop je de beantwoording van zo’n […]
“Het is jammer dat als je kritiek op een religie uitoefent dat je dan opeens wordt neergezet als een boze, ‘witte’ man. Tegen dat ‘witte’ en dat man zijn kan ik niets doen. Boos ben ik eigenlijk nooit. Maar wat veel moslima’s met mij doen is precies wat ze mij verwijten.” ~Jan Jaap de Ruiter […]
We may not forget that reducing the greenhouse gas emissions shall not only have an impact at global warming of 1.5, 2, 4 and 6°C but shall have implications for food, water security, energy security, flooding, infrastructure, ecosystems, health, and human migration. The increase in global mean surface temperature (GMST), which reached 0.87°C in 2006–2015 […]
Already months we can find youngsters coming on the streets to wake up politicians, opening their eyes for the miserable predicament for our climate and conservation of plants and animals. This week, leaders from some of the most heavily polluting industries on the planet – shipping, aviation, iron and steel to name a few – […]
The European Union is only e very tiny part of the world surface. In that Union loads of languages are spoken and it is very important to come to a harmonious co-existence of 24 official languages. It is one of the most distinctive features of the European project. Multilingualism is not only an expression of […]
Great-Britain has its own Trump, who likes to put the whole country at his hands and the European Union at his feet. Boris Johnson is fully aware that he does not have the backing of the House of Commons. Like with so many other matters, he tried to ignore it. Because he felt it would […]
Seventy-six years have passed, but few people have ever heard of Mann, even though she could easily have become a hero and a symbol. Perhaps her story sounds too far-fetched; perhaps it was simply shunted aside by the many other stories of heroism and horror in the Holocaust. But on September 1, the 80th anniversary […]
“Without a single change in the law by Congress, the Trump public charge rules mean many more U.S. citizens are being and will be denied the opportunity to live together in the U.S. with their spouses, children, and parents,” said Ur Jaddou, a former Citizenship and Immigration Services chief counsel and now director of the […]
Originally posted on Croatia, the War, and the Future: Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, President of Croatia (L)Ivan Penava, Mayor of Vukovar (R)Photo: uredpredsjednice.hr When the Constitutional Court of Croatia (of any country) evidently and blatantly misses the beat of its own country’s heart (and reason for existence – in the case of Croatia that reason is victory…
Next year’s Bible School to be held between August 3rd – 8th, at Harper Adams University, Newport, Shropshire, TF10 8NB, UK, God willing, has as theme ‘Great and Marvellous are Thy Works’ . Bro Mark Whittaker from Crewe shall talk about ‘Signs and Wonders’ The Miracles of Jesus. Roger Varleyfrom Birmingham Hall Green brings us […]
Faith Talks are short video presentations which give insight to personal stories and Bible explorations that have inspired and touched the lives of individuals. Faith Talks are faith-building tools that can be viewed independently or used collectively in a group setting. At the heart of each Faith Talk is the desire to sustain a relationship with God, […]
The Agape in Action currently have a very long list of children on the list waiting for sponsorship. Some of these kids, though they are in desperate circumstances, have been waiting for sponsorship for more than one year. All of these children are from Christadelphian families or have been taken in by Christadelphians. Francis was […]
An excerpt from Deuteronomy for Disciples by Brother Alfred Nicholls, page 108 As Israel concludes this year’s celebration of Yom Kippur yesterday, we do well to remember that atonement comes through the Lord Jesus. Moses does not spare to underline the wickedness of the people. Their rebellion at Horeb took place while he was in […]
The 2019 Eastern Winter Study will take place in the pleasant location of Letton Hall, Shipdham, Norfolk, IP25 7SA; beginning after lunch on 27th December and concluding after breakfast on 30th December. This year, God willing, we are looking forward to studies on “Studies in Luke’s gospel” by Bro. John Benson (Stevenage). The aim of […]
Recent Posts by the Brethren in Christ: Broeders in Christus
Lots of people have a lot of difficulties to come to accept the Biblical Truth. Those who call themselves already Christian are the most difficult to convince that the real Christian has to hold on to other teachings than the standard or main church teachings. Lots of Christians think they are saved for ever, when […]
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In de 17de en 18de eeuw, in het Zuiden van Frankrijk, vonden verscheidene jongeren van vervolgde ouders dat ze de geestelijke gedachte en de lezing van de Bijbel moesten verdedigen.
In Scripture, all things are directed towards a man who was a servant of servants, in whom people should come to have faith. First we saw the connection with Eve and her seed, and in this article you may see the connection with Abraham.
Already in the Old Testament we find the focus on a son of man who is called the son of God, who shall be the most pure set apart (holy) servant of God who was been told about in the Garden of Eden, to be the one bruised.
Many Old Testament writers wrote about the prophet to come, about whom is spoke in the book of Moses and who shall be the special “Seed of a woman” given by God and who will bruise Satan’s head whilst his heel would be bruised with nails on the wooden stake.
Jewish and Christian literature since the time of Yeshua or Jeshua have pointed to Genesis 3:15 as the first reference to the Messiah in the Torah. Genesis 3:15 NHEBJE I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his […]
The first human beings had chosen to go their own path. As any good father would do when his children had done something wrong, God punished them. But as a loving Father He in His great mercy promised for a solution and preserved David’s bloodline and the Messianic promise. Mankind had chosen Yet, we each […]
Recent Posts: Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten
Matthew 23:23-24 – Woe 4: A Disregard for Justice and Mercy || Luke 11:42 MT23:23 “WOE to you hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees because you tithe[1] the mint, dill, and cummin,[2] but you leave out the weightier matters of the Law:[3] justice and mercy and faith.[4] The former is necessary to perform[5] but also the latter. […]
Matthew 23:16-22 – Woe 3: Blind Guides and Gold MT23:16 “WOE to you blind guides who say, ‘It is useless to swear by the Divine Habitat;[1] but if you make an oath[2] by the gold of the Divine Habitat it is binding.’ MT23:17 Blind morons,[3] which is greater: the gold or the Divine Habitat which […]
Matthew 23:15 – Woe 2: Evangelists of Gehenna MT23:15 “WOE to you hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees, because you travel over land and sea[1] to make a single proselyte;[2] and, when he becomes such [a convert to Judaism] you make him a son of Gehenna[3] twice as much as you. * [1] Travel over land and […]
Matthew 23:13-14 – Woe 1: Shutting Up the Kingdom || Luke 11:52 MT23:13 “WOE to you hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees, because right in front of people[1] you are closing the door to the Realm of Heaven.[2] You do not enter and you prevent those who might from entering.[3] MT23:14 [[Woe to you hypocritical Scribes and […]
Matthew 23:1-12 – Prominence and Humility || Mark 12:38, 39; Luke 20:45, 46 MT23:1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds as well as his disciples, saying: MT23:2 “The Scribes and Pharisees sat down on the seat of Moses.[1] MT23:3 So, everything they preach to you, do and observe;[2] but do not imitate their actions,[3] for […]
Recent Posts by bible Scholars: Bijbelvorser = Bible Researcher
As Bible scholars, historians and archaeologists we would always love to find the most hidden places and love to come to know more about what happened in the past. We are fully aware that archaeology doesn’t provide 100% certainty on what we are looking for or on what we find. With our hands we are […]
When driving through Gaza one cannot miss all the damage of the ongoing battle between Hamas and Israel. Gaza has a “second face: the face of culture, the face of tourism,” says Hassouna, who teaches archaeology at Gaza’s Islamic University. “We want to be Gaza open, for the people, for the world. Only that.” Records […]
In the Bible we can find a peaceful region which in our days has become very difficult to get a reasonable picture from. Worse than in Roman times it is now a place of indiscriminate assaults on civilian populations. Confined in the crowded, sandy coast enclave of 2 million, where poverty and unemployment hover around […]
From the time of Alexander the Great in the fourth century B.C.E., Jews lived in a world in which Greek culture carried a certain prestige and offered a route to political influence. Hellenistic and Roman-era art from the Biblical world shines a spotlight on Judean identity and cultural influences during a formative period in the […]
You must love your neighbor as yourself.—Jas. 2:8. James added: “If you continue showing favoritism, you are committing sin.” (Jas. 2:9) In contrast, love will move us to avoid any discrimination based on education, race, or social status. Indeed, impartiality needs to be more than a veneer. It must be a genuine part of our […]
First of all to come to a good relationship with some one, one has to talk with that person and has to listen to what that person has to tell. God talks to the people by the way of His Word, presented to mankind by the many Bible translations, so that most people can read […]
The One Who created everything and Who gave His Word, did all He did with a purpose and out of love. The Bible teaches us that “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) Everything God does is motivated by love. Out of love created man in His image also with the intention to have a good relationship […]
In the previous writings we saw that the Divine Creator gave His Word to the world so that people could come to know Him. The Bible is a gift from God. It gives us information that we can’t find anywhere else. For example, it tells us that God created the heavens, the earth, and the […]
Elul, the month to reflect and to prepare oneself to perfect oneself plus preparing oneself to enter a new phase in facing the Elohim, coming closer into the Divine presence.
The surest way of ensuring our happiness and success in life is by devoting ourselves wholeheartedly to learning what God expects of us (by studying His Torah), by addressing our prayers directly to Him, and by fulfilling His will.
De beweging voor een onafhankelijk Biafra blijkt de positie van het judaïsme te versterken. De vervolging van de Joden de eeuwen door is bovendien herkenbaar voor de Igbo’s.
When positively reacting to the wedding invitation, we should be willing to step in the sent one from God his footsteps and should help to spread the Good News
Joden indien zij hun oude Geschriften diepgaand onderzoeken kunnen tot de ontdekking komen wie de lang beloofde Messiach is en kunnen daarbij ook voldoende redenen vinden om die Messias of Christus te volgen en deelgenoten te worden van ‘zijn lichaam’ en alzo als Jood voor Christus door het leven te gaan.
In het Joodse geloof zijn er de apart geplaatste boeken maar ook legendes welke vertellen over de man Abraham welke wij als onze aartsvader aanschouwen, omdat de elohim hem heeft uitverkoren om de vader van velen te zijn.
De Bijbelse naam Abraham betekent ‘verheven vader’. Dit was de Chaldese naam van Abraham. Toen Abram door God werd gekozen om de stamvader te worden van Gods volk, werd hij Abraham genoemd, wat ‘vader van vele volken’ betekent.
Adam mag dan wel de eerste man zijn die de wereld kent, maar voor ons geloof is de nomade wiens naam van Abram naar Abraham verandert is door God veel belangrijker.
In voorgaand en volgend bericht gaan wij dieper op die Bijbelse figuur in.
In ons geloof kijken wij gerust ook naar het begin aller tijden maar betreft ons geloof nemen wij anderen dan Adam en Eva als onze grote voorouders. Hij die voor ons de eer krijgt om onze aartsvader te zijn is Abraham.
When having many questions an interesting blog to look at: their old and more recent Posts: Questiontime - Vragenuurtje
Volgens de Bijbel is de mens geschapen naar het beeld van God. Allah schiep de aarde en alles erop en eromheen. In plaats van dankbaar te zijn voor wat de mens van hun Schepper ontving, twijfelden ze aan Zijn autoriteit en wilden ze net zoveel kennis en macht hebben als Hij. Daarom aten ze van […]
According to Scriptures man was created in the image of God. Allah created earth and everything on it and around it. Instead of being thankful for what man received from their Creator, they doubted His authority and wanted to have as much knowledge and power like He has. Therefore they ate from the Tree of […]
The intention of this site was to be able to find answers to some serious questions and to know what others thought about it. But there were no answers from others and silence continued to form the fog.
Bedoeling van deze site was op enkele ernstige vragen antwoorden te kunnen vinden en te weten hoe anderen er over dachten. Maar antwoorden van anderen bleven uit en stilte bleef de mist vormen.
In this world we shall become even more confronted by people, be them politicians or church-leaders who would love to tell us than matters or different than we see it. Many of them will give the lie to make sure they would be more popular and receive more power. We must know that we shall […]
Recent Posts: Unmasking anti Jehovah sites and people
It is not just of this present day that real followers of God and of Christ were not liked so much and that church leaders wanted people to have in control and being considered as important persons to be spoken to by their tittle.
Coming closer to the Latter days we should know about the necessity to proclaim the Gospel or to go out to preach the Good News of the coming Kingdom of God, even when we may encounter many who would like to do everything to discourage us and to put us in a bad light.
Always there have been real followers of Jesus who only worshipped his One God, the God of Israel. Many centuries they worked and preached behind closed doors, avoiding persecution and death on the balefire. In fear of the stake for centuries the real followers of God baptised people in their faith, not demanding to be part of one or another church but being part of the Body of Christ.
An invitation to Jehovah’s Witnesses who want or did leave the Jehovah’s Witnesses organisation. for them there are many other non-trinitarian groups willing to welcome them as brothers and sisters in Christ.
it is such a grand thing to be a mother of a mother that’s why the world calls her a grandmother jou pa en ma het my lankal laat weeten ek moes jou snoesigweligin my hart laat groeiek het die dae getelwat later wekeen nou maande geword hethoe kan my hart jou langer omsluit? jy […]
ek onthou eendag lank gelede toe ek my eie gastehuis bedryf het was die kamers vol en ek was alleen op die werf in my haas het my voet aan die plaveisel vasgehaak en toe ek neerslaan nerf af het ek net so bly lê toe ek opkyk toe sien ek die mooi tuin en […]
How often do you drive down a road and notice the plants and weeds growing along its edge? You might see them if they are shockingly beautiful, but otherwise – not so much. Would you ever think a Mexican roadside weed could become a symbol of Christmas, or be linked to Christianity? Poinsettia, a name … Continue reading Flowers of the Holy Night
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I’ve posted something very similar on my Italian blog, yesterday, but I want to do it again here, because…
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Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten
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Relating to God
