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a fancy Karen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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Dear readers, for those who are new, we like to repeat our aims and about the idea behind our sharing.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
We should come to see and understand that there are much better values than money. Think about the many other human motivators:
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
You are invited to show your support by reading and signing The Free World Charter.
Thank you.
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Preceding articles
Your position about materialistic desires having conquered the world
Learning that stuff is just stuff
Material wealth, Submission and Heaven on earth
Looking on what is going on and not being of it
Misleading world, stress, technique, superficiality, past, future and positivism
How to Find the Meaning of Life and Reach a State of Peace
Why “Selfishness” Doesn’t Properly Mean Being Shortsighted and Harmful to Others
Hoarding Relationships and Things
A bird’s eye and reflecting from within
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Chad Graham of Onetheology.com is not affiliated with any religious organization, denomination, or church. He thinks
pastors have a responsibility, just as doctors and mechanics do, to become experts in their field for the benefit of society and the expansion of the kingdom of God. {Pulpit Authority}
In his article Pulpit Authority he looks at our world where people try to find specialists in different fields. For him it seems theology, doctrine, or philosophy are essential parts of a church community. It looks like a church cannot exist for him without such leaders who have gone to colleges where they were trained to become specialists in theology, doctrine, and/or philosophy.
He also gives the impression that people are not able to get authority without such an education. Though he forgets for the Word of God, they should not so much receive their education from man but more from God Himself. It seems that a lot of religious leaders, pastors and priests exclude God Himself from the educational field. Too many forget that it is the Word of God as given to mankind in the Holy Scriptures which can educate and edify man. Real knowledge about the True God can come straight ahead from the Bible itself. We do not need lots of theological works to give us an idea about Whom God is and what He has done. All is written down in the Bible. That Book of books is sufficient enough. though we do agree other books may help further to give more insight or to make the way of understanding shorter.
Also when we have several believers it is best that they do come together at regular times. We may not forget one of the tasks Jesus had given his followers was to come together, to assemble or to gather with like minded, at regular intervals. The followers of Christ had to become part of the Body of Christ and should find unity in that body (the Church). Organising such a system or community demands work and organisation itself. Wherefore certain people can take charge to organise those meetings and to make the arrangements to keep that community of believers alive. Pastors or elders may well be the persons to do such a thing.
Pastors (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Church needs pastors and leaders who wield their pulpit with authority. {Pulpit Authority}
writes Chad Graham, who also finds that
We need pastors who see their lack of knowledge and work hard to remedy it. {Pulpit Authority}
For him it looks like everything in the church-community turns around a or the Sunday service.
Next Sunday is right around the corner and congregations will show up to hear their beloved pastor deliver his sermon—with authority. {Pulpit Authority}
He does know that reason is not necessary for, or is even opposed to, faith.
However, this position will be showed to be false and the enterprise of apologetics shown to be biblical and worthwhile through the survey of the theological justification for it. {Is Apologetics Biblical?}
It is not because the Elohim frequently throughout the Old Testament got His prophets use rational arguments and verifiable evidence to justify their beliefs in God, that today we do need people to show up arguments ,by having full proof of they being educated by a college enabling them to reason about those matters. Those prophets in the past, not all, went to a high school (universities did not exist yet). God also used non-educated people to go out and to throw out the fishnet for man. Jesus his disciples were not all doctors in medicine like Luke, or doctors in philosophy, nor where the apostles or preachers learned scholars like Paul, but were also ordinary labourers, men and women who used their hands to earn their living.
The writer seems to overlook what he himself quotes:
God, speaking through His prophet Isaiah, said,
“’Come now, and let us reason together’” (Isaiah 1:18). {Is Apologetics Biblical?}
Clearly it was the Most High who invited man to reason with Him. Together they had to plan things. Today it is not different. We too, ourselves have to reason with God. We ourselves have to go into conversation with God. We do not need priests any more, other than the high priest Jeshua (Jesus Christ).
The Supreme Being was,
and is, not opposed to reason when it comes to God, the truth, and the Bible. It is even possible that the account in Genesis 1 of creation was written as an apologetic against the mythical creation stories of other cultures in the Near East. {Is Apologetics Biblical?}
As written already in earlier writings, each individual is created in the image of God and has some inner feeling to look for his own being and for that Divine Creator Who made it possible to be, without Him “The I am Who Is the Being” there is no life possible. Chad Graham knows what we all should come to know, that
The stars, oceans, mountains, and planets were not gods nor were they controlled by gods. Rather, the one true God, Yahweh, brought those things, and everything, into existence and continues to sustain them in their existence. This latter element is a testament to the fact that God exists and has a plan and purpose for creation. {Is Apologetics Biblical?}
“The Old Testament does not often dwell on why we need to do apologetics, but rather it simply sets out its apologias for those with eyes to see. {Philip Johnson, Apologetics, Mission, and New Religious Movements: A Holistic Approach. electronic edition (Salt Lake City, UT: Sacred Tribes Academic Press, 2010), 125-26.}
It is handy and best to have some one to encourage people in the community of faith to engage in spiritual warfare and intellectually struggle for religious truth. But it surely do not all have to be people who had a university degree in theology. It is not to have much knowledge about the different gods and about different human theories about those gods and forms of worshipping. We do need people leading a congregation who have sufficient knowledge and belief in and about the Only One True God, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah. Other gods are not really of any importance. Scriptural knowledge must lead in the forefront and not a knowledge about all sorts of human fantasies and human writings around godheads.
From the evidence in the Old and New Testaments, the examples of Jesus and His apostles, and God’s character in wanting Himself to be made known, there is much theological justification for Christian apologetics. Thus, fideism and any other argument against apologetics fall flat. Rather, it is shown to be a duty of the Christian to “contend for the faith” and “give a defense.” And it is also shown to be useful in evangelism since many biblical accounts record people being saved after hearing a reasoned account of the gospel. {Is Apologetics Biblical?}
That reasonable account of the gospel is best given by some one who truly believes and lives according to that faith in the gospel, being the Word of God. We can find many priests and pastors who earn their living by ‘holding church’, but do not really belief in God and some even not in Jesus (the son of God). Also we may find lots of priests and pastors who are as weak as any other man, also elders, who are not able to live up to the faith, Christ and God requires from godly man. The last few years lots of scandals came in the news and many priests, pastors and so called educated theologians became defiled by atrocious things they had done. Church can do without them. Church can better use people who really belief in what they preach and do what they demand from others to do.
In the world of theology we can find lots of different writings bringing words against each other, words for sure which could potentially spark a lot of controversy, but worse, also lots of words which could bring people further away from Biblical truth.
Some theologians do know and
oftentimes think what seminary enrollment would look like if they pose a picture of Dr. King dead on a balcony on their fliers. What if they made a banner of Bonhoeffer hanging from the gallows? What if they Really showed what happened to Paul, Peter, James, and our Lord? What would enrollment look like if they showed us what would happen if we truly allowed our academics to be the impetus for our actions?
They know exactly what would happen.
That’s why our brochures are filled kids playing ping-pong. {The Subversive Scholar: The Danger of Being a Theologian in the 21st Century}
Theology without spirituality is a sterile academic exercise. Lots of countries do have universities offering courses in theology, where more time is spend on human writings about philosophy and theology than on the study of the Holy Scriptures themselves. The spiritual factor is often missed out and mostly the courses are given from the only point of view to be taken, that of the own denomination. As such in Belgium most Christian universities are Roman Catholic and offer theology to form people thinking the Roman Catholic way. In Leuven there is also an opening for protestant thinking, but also there only one way or protestantism is allowed to be the backbone to succeed end of year tests.
Street pastors (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It is not so much the words of human beings we do have to study, but we should make sure that we come to know what is written in the Bible, God’s infallible Word and take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Elohim commanded to God’s people. If we want to belong to God’s people we should live up to it and love the Adonai, Almighty God and worship Him as our only One God, walking in all His ways, keeping His commandments. It is not required from any person to be a follower of any other man than Christ Jesus. He is the cornerstone of the church and not a theologian or some one who can proof that he has received a degree in theological studies. We have to follow Christ Jesus and to hold fast to his heavenly Father, Jehovah God. We do not have to serve churches of man, but be part of the Body of Christ serving the only One Eternal God with all our heart and with all our soul.
We should remember Joshua who gave the departing ones from Egypt a word of exhortation,
Jos 22:5 RNKJV But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of YHWH charged you, to love YHWH your Elohim, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
The writer of etsop95.wordpress.com remarks
You will note in this word from Joshua two important ideas. First, the Israelites were to pay attention to the Lord and do exactly what He said. Second, they were to have their motivation (love) properly in place. This is the idea behind what some people disparagingly call “pattern theology.” Those who do so speak about that which the Lord set in place! {The Pattern}
When people do find God and decide to become baptised, receiving a “new birth”, we and theologians may not forget that it is the work of God and not of us, elder or theologians
since one can’t “join” the family of God (a work of man, presumably), it is a work of God when one is “born” into the family of God. {The New Birth (2)}
Portrait of a pastor at the age of 35. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Too many people stay in the tradition of their family and keep to the faith-group they were born into, though they may not believe or not practice their views. Real faith should come from own choices being made by adult thinking and wise decision.
It is not the result of parental descent, of one’s own willpower, or by “any of man’s religious creeds, systems, or ceremonies.” The new birth is of God; it is a miracle and only God can perform it. {The New Birth (2)}
It is by allowing the Power of God come into our body that our soul (our being) can be transformed. It is the individual who has to make the right decision and allowing God to work in him or her. Only then a spiritual birth, not a miraculous one, can take place.
Nothing in nature has been suspended for one to be “born again.” {The New Birth (2)}
It is when one hears God, and is prepared to do what He wants form His creation that one can become whitewashed and be baptised by the Spirit. Those receiving the Spirit of God than can take up the tasks Jesus has given his disciples and go out to the world, to others, so that they too may find God and convert to the true faith.
Without the foundation in place the strength of a local congregation is only perceived (imagined), not real. {Strength in the Local Church}
It is not necessary by an education institute that we shall come to the God of gods. All Christians should recognise that it is Jesus is who is the way. The Bible tells us even more, that he is the truth, and he is the life. Not the theologians are going to be able to give us life.
Thus, if anyone would know of truth, if anyone would know the way, if anyone would enjoy life, then one must go through Jesus.{Strength in the Local Church}
Furthermore, Jesus said,
“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46)
We should believe what Jesus says and not so much what theologians say, certainly not when in contradict with what Jesus says. so, when we go to a church where things are preached which contradict Bible sayings we should sincerely reconsider what we want to do and where we want to stay. Do we want to follow human doctrines or Biblical doctrines?
We should look at those theologians and question their thoughts and remember what some students could say about their college
With so many of our finest finishing up at denominational institutions, however, breathing the air of seminaries and schools of theology and salivating at the feet of theologians, we’ve lost our mettle against the idea of theology. {Harding University, twice}
As members of the Body of Christ we never may forget that in the church “educated” men also make mistakes.
There are numerous instances when you have two highly degreed men on the opposite sides of an issue. Some do not have an understanding of the implications of certain “facts” that they read. For example, if someone says
“Scholars believe that Mark was written before the other gospels.”
Would we question that? Is it even important? Some may teach that Mark was written first and have no other implication in mind; however, there is a large group of religious scholars that do not respect the inspiration of the Bible and the dates of the completion of the gospel is one of their places of attack.{Systematic Theology, Rex A. Turner, Sr.}
Too often in theology the focus is not on the subject we as members of the Body of Christ should worry about. It does not matter when and by whom a certain book is written. We do need to know the content and where to look for. The order in which the gospels were written is not the issue per se. What matters most is what is written between the lines and not a Pharisaical theological explanation and historical facts. Historical facts may help to place everything and to see the truth of it, but are not the main issue.
G.C. Berkouwer said:
“We live in a time when even theology is exploding with new and revolutionary problems. There is a danger that the serious student will be so impressed by all the problems in theology that he will circle all certainties by a ring of questions. When this happens, an inverse Pharisaism sets in. The doubting student says:
I thank thee, Lord, that I am not as certain as those naïve people. Let Luther say it again: Spiritus Sactus non est scepticus. Indeed, the Spirit is not a skeptic.” {Bales: certainty is not Pharisaism}
Example of appendix from New World Translation of The Holy Scriptures, study edition (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In the ecclesia, our Christian community, house church or church-hall or other church-building, we can come together, meeting with brothers and sisters in Christ, having elders, pastors or priest, non-educated and educated people, all together in humbleness wanting to share the same gospel. In that gathered community, the parish, it is not so much the teaching of a theologian, but the teaching of the Spirit which will unsettle false positions and false attitudes,
but it unsettles them by means of truth and not by means of relativism. {Bales: certainty is not Pharisaism}
It are all members of the ecclesia who have to work together and to share ideas together, not one thinking the other better or worse to give gospel messages. All should follow the task given by Jesus to explain to the lost who the people of God are and why we have to make the right choice to be distinct from the false religions that exist, including those that call themselves Christians but are not, fail to do their duty of proclaiming the gospel of Christ or the gospel of salvation and of the Kingdom of God.
We do not have to have a special platform or pulpit and especially trained people as the only speakers in our community. All people do have to have their ‘input.’ all have to make an effort to help each other to grow in the faith. All have to help the ecclesia to grow and have to make sure that the Body of Christ can continue to grow.
Lets make work of it!
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Preceding articles:
Getting out of the dark corners of this world
Passover and Liberation Theology
Daring to speak in multicultural environment
Looking for a shepherd for the sheep and goats
When believing in God’s existence and His son, possessing a divine legislation
Not making yourselves abominable
Perishable non theologians daring to go out to preach
Preaching Christ Is Not Enough
How To Get Started In Sharing Your Faith As a Christian
Perishable non theologians daring to go out to preach
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Filed under Educational affairs, Religious affairs, World affairs
i feel like i am eternally behind where i should be,
my feet are caught in quicksand.
my companions forge on ahead of me, unaware of my predicament.
i call out to them, but no one hears.
bursts of motivation come, and i try to escape.
clutching onto a branch, anything that can keep me afloat.
the struggling makes it worse.
the motivation comes harder now.
part of me wants to just lay down, be enveloped.
be drowned as the slush enters my nose, my mouth, my lungs.
but i want to get out, i want to walk on, i want to see the light of day again.
so this oxymoronic existence continues,
the struggling coupled with submission,
the persistence coupled with apathy.
i wonder if i will ever escape this eternal quicksand,
it feels like ive been here forever,
and im not sure ill be able to get out.
Filed under Being and Feeling, Re-Blogs and Great Blogs
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…
View original post 181 more words
Filed under Being and Feeling, Re-Blogs and Great Blogs
Expectations have to be build on hope, believe and faith. Without believe in him or herself a person shall not be able to get somewhere hoped so easily.
Believing in yourself is the first requirement to get forwards. Having a positive attitude and willingness to dream is the second requirement to get somewhere. Every human being shall have to face difficulties. It is how he or she can cope with it which is going to influence his or her life in the positive or negative way. Going through quite a lot of struggles even can make somebody stronger, more resistant. What is important then is ‘to never give up!’
Others may consider you to be a clown, a swaggerer, a dreamer, or a loony or stupid one. Let no negative reactions stand in the way and go for what you want to achieve. Without dreams nothing can be build up.
If things would not go how you want it, you should try to adjust them so that they can work for you. No matter what you try, how it works out, how negative reactions may be, keep trying, keep going forward trying to pursuing your dream.
Whatever happens try to see the positive in it and always be ready to pursue your happiness. That is the positive lesson in our life where we should keep at.There always have to be motivation to may the dreams work, but some kind of realism is also necessary to not fall to deep in a well. We always should be careful not pursuing our goal out of greed or lechery. Leering at something materialistic can bring us in a spiral where we do not have an eye for the human thing and spiritual matter. A person can become overtaken by the power of money by the desire to have financial gain, more than spiritual gain.The desires of the flesh can break a person instead of building him up to become a better person. We always have to be careful where we want to set our priorities in life.
Today we can find more people who love wealth and modern gadgets? Wealth has become their biggest motivation. when they are young it may be working very well, and they can love it to swim in their fulfilling dreams of material wealth. But what about their spiritual wealth? Are they interested in that also?
It is not by going to have the latest model of phone or pc tablet a person is going to find the real luck and staying happiness. Soon the phone shall be an old model and the person shall be feeling again not so happy because he has not the newest model any more.
It is good to see and to know you need your “best friends” for ever, around you, because they will be there at the more difficult times and they shall be ready to catch you when you fall down. Because each person has to grow up and learn things by falling and standing up again. And that last bit is very important. Never to get so frustrated that you do not want to get up any more. Everybody can mess up things. To start over again is what you have to dare. Do not stand still by what happened, but get up to try again and go every-time in a new adventure.
You have to keep believing in your dreams and aspirations, no matter what negative things may happen or others may say. But never forget also to be realistic and be taken in account others around you. Never go over death bodies to reach your goal and always stay honest to make it come true.The biggest difficulty to conquer when trying to build up a financial wealthy life, shall be the ‘sharing bit’. Without willing to give also to others, without allowing others also to have part of what you have, no real happiness shall come into your life. Around the corner shall always be the material egoism and the avarice, which by some even can turn in the acquisitive and stingy. We always should be careful not to become so greedy or money-grubbing. That is not going to bring happiness, though it may be very attractive at a young age. the jealousy of others can also bring bullying with it, making you feeling so alone, being cast out. And people do need other people.
By changing yourself to fit in for others it never is going to work. A person has to stay his Own. You have to believe in yourself, accept yourself for who and what you are. Without the love for yourself you can not give the right love for the other. Also be sure that in case the others only would become your friend because you changed yourself to their way of thinking, than they would not be the right friends. Good friends are those who are willing you for what you are and respect your own personality, your real ‘I’.
Adapting to people is not the right way and shall not bring the solution. Trying to impress people is what many today try, with their gadgets, their capital gain, their way of clothing and their loose way of living. Presenting their world better than it really is. Look at so many Facebook postings which try to present ‘the would like to be’ people and would like to be ‘friends‘. Always try to stay your own self, being honest to yourself and being honest to others, respecting them, also if they do not fit your plan or dreams, or would not agree with your personality. By time they will turn by and get to know your true self and shall come to respect you too.Without dreams, hopes and aspirations no new worlds can be build, so keep dreaming, keep going forwards, and above all always stay positive.
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Please do find also:
- Greed more common than generosity
- Misleading world, stress, technique, superficiality, past, future and positivism
- Intellectual servility a curse of mankind
- Gender connections
- Within despair
- Preparedness to change
- Getting fate in your change to positiveness
- Helping to create a Positive Attitude
- With Positive Attitude
- Not holding back and getting out of darkness
- Your struggles develop your strengths
- Pain and Suffering is inevitable but Misery is optional
- Your struggles develop your strengths
- When discouraged facing opposition
- Begin your day by, Living your positive attitude
- Science, scepticism, doubts and beliefs
- How we think shows through in how we act
- Don’t be the weakest link
- Be a ready giver
- 30 things to start doing for yourself – #6 is vital.
- Count your blessings
- God should be your hope
- Always set a place in your life for the unexpected guest
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Other articles of interest:
- Celebrating diversity by looking the same?
- Gender Roles & Self Sacrifice
- If you can dream it, you can achieve it.
- Positivism and The Quantity Theory of Money
- If you’re afraid to do it, do it afraid.
- Positivism for Millennium 3
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Related articles
- Global education and the ‘American Dream’ (universityworldnews.com)
Put most simply, the ‘American Dream’ is the belief that everyone has a reasonable chance – although not a guarantee – of achieving success through means under their own control. It is the assurance that personal qualities such as hard work, frugality, honesty and self-discipline can make for a good life, however you (or I) may define that.
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Poorly conceived, however, global education, like the American Dream itself, can overemphasise the pursuit of material wealth and leave learners ignorant of how systemic and structural inequalities in most, if not all, societies frustrate so many dreamers and so many of their dreams.
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The recent movement by some scholars to calculate the gross domestic happiness of a country, in contrast with a simple financial measure, both expands the universe of goods constituting success and allows for cultural variety within this expanded universe.Other cogent criticisms of the American Dream focus on the socio-economic and institutional obstacles to the achievement of success by disadvantaged or disenfranchised groups, which may include women, racial, ethnic or religious minorities, the poor or their children.From this perspective, the American Dream offers a false promise of fair and equal opportunity to achieve success by ignoring the many ways in which the social order fails to recognise and reward merit.
- What is your dream job ? (beautiful69.wordpress.com)
Most people I know have a dream. In fact, I’ve asked hundreds, if not thousands, of people about their dream. Some willingly describe it with great detail and enthusiasm.
Others are reluctant to talk about it. They seem embarrassed to say it out loud. These people have never tested their dream. They don’t know if others will laugh at them. They’re not sure if they’re aiming too high or too low. They don’t know if their dream is something they can really achieve or if they’re destined to fail.- A Journey Toward Your Goals (robertjrgraham.blogspot.com)
Too many of us assume if we just have a larger goal in mind and work towards it then success will follow. Well, guess what?! This rarely works in practice. All of us have dreams, but to be truly effective at goal achievement we need to focus on the path toward the goal and let the ultimate dream be our motivation.
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Set realistic goals. This doesn’t mean that you should not aim for the stars. However, keep a realistic state of mind, taking into account your level of talent and capabilities, as well as, your individual situation. If you presently don’t possess the talents or qualifications to reach your goal, make sure that one of your short-term goals is to acquire some of those skills so that you can reach your long-term goal.- Sebastiano Serafini 030 – Dream a little every day – (sebastianoserafini.wordpress.com)
In order to live our lives without limits we must be willing to never let our imaginations die, and we must never forbid ourselves from dreaming at least a little bit every day. Without our dreams we have nothing in our lives to reach for or to go after.- 10 Habits Of People Who Follow Their Dreams (theunboundedspirit.com)
People who are true to their purpose and are really successful didn’t always get there because they had the financial means to do so or were just lucky enough to have been brought up in a confidence boosting environment. There are actually a few common habits that have helped them get to where they are.People who are true to their purpose and are really successful didn’t always get there because they had the financial means to do so or were just lucky enough to have been brought up in a confidence boosting environment. There are actually a few common habits that have helped them get to where they are. The best part is that these are habits that anyone can attain! – See more at: http://theunboundedspirit.com/10-habits-of-people-who-follow-their-dreams/#sthash.lfFd7SzI.dpuf- Greed is Wrong, But What About Wealth Itself? (palamas.info)
Is it morally wrong to pursue wealth? The question was asked because both of my conversation partners had heard from different priests that in fact, yes, the pursuit of wealth is wrong. Christians especially, we are frequently told, should not seek to become wealthy but focus our lives on more noble goals. On the one hand I agree with this. Wealth is not an end in itself and to make becoming wealthy the sole, or even central, goal of one’s life is not compatible with a wholesome human life much less the Gospel. While granting that working to become wealthy simply for the sake of becoming wealthy is immoral, does this mean that is it morally wrong to pursue wealth? In other words, it is sinful to want—and so to work to become—wealthy?- Virtuous egoism (profitableandmoral.com)
Egoism is virtuous because it makes possible the achievement our long-term well-being and happiness without initiating physical force on others. The moral justification of egoism is that it makes it possible for us—who don’t have automatic knowledge about the goals we should pursue and about the means to reach them—to achieve our values in the long-term: to survive and to be happy. It is a moral code for living and flourishing.
Starting from the premise that the pursuit of self-interest is moral and necessary for our well-being and happiness, Ayn Rand identified seven egoist virtues—principles that define the actions required to achieve long-term self-interest: rationality, independence, integrity, honesty, justice, productiveness, and pride. Rand and others have written much about these virtues, so here I focus only on rationality, the primary virtue on which the others rest. Rationality guides us to use reason—to adhere to reality through observation and logic—as “our only means of knowledge, our only judge of values, and our only guide to action.”- Chasing Your Dreams (landeniv.wordpress.com)
“Go after your dream, no matter how unattainable others think it is.”
“Every morning you have two choices: continue to sleep with your dreams or wake up and chase them.”
“It’s not enough to dream your dreams. You’ve got to pursue your dreams.”
- Don’t Give Up On Your Dreams (sarahcolevaondemand.wordpress.com)
Every day you are faced with a choice and that is, do you pursue your dream with determination and zeal or do you sit and wait for that dream to materialize by itself? I believe in taking action steps every day in order to be a participant in the realization of our dreams.- Pursuing the Guyanese dream (guyanatimesgy.com)
Hundreds of Guyanese are now in a position where it is possible for them to pursue the Guyanese dream, regardless of their socio-economic circumstances, ethnicity or political beliefs.The Guyanese dream refers to a situation in which nationals possess the ability to access equal opportunities to work and recreation. It also refers to the ability to achieve prosperity and a higher standard of living through hard work and determination.The Guyanese dream is founded on the principle of a realistic society where there are high levels of religious, political and social tolerance. It contemplates a situation where a largely mixed, plural and diverse cultural and ethnic society can co-exist with little or no conflict.
I realized something.
It came to me rather slow.
I was pursuing a thing,
I barely even know.
Living up to people’s expectations.
Doing what others think is best.
Handling a lot of limitations.
Maybe this was all a test?
I must say, by all means,
Realizing this is not the way.
Living other peoples dreams,
While mine are slowly fading away.
Missing out on opportunities.
Missing my life because others take it away.
Being part of all those communities.
Being part of something where I have nothing to say.
Time to step up my game and live my life.
Not the one other’s tell me to live.
Time to step it up and go all in on my thrive.
Believe me, I have a lot to give.
My motivation is enormous,
My dedication is grand.
Watch out for my performance,
‘Cause everything is going as planned.
You can be…
View original post 128 more words
Begin your day by,
Living your positive attitude with
a smile on your face,A happy heart stays in
A Day In, A Day Out,
Let us be positive in everything we do.
Lawrence CH Hiun
Lawrence CH Hiun is a management consultant and trainer by profession, having a B.Sc. (Hon.) in Chemistry from USM Penang, West Malaysia and MBA from Open University UK.
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Filed under Being and Feeling, Poetry - Poems, Quotations or Citations
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## ———- AMOS 9:11 11 In that day will I raise op the Tabernacle of David which is fallen, and close up the breeches thereof; and I will raise up the ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old. 12: That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all […]
You are invited to the 7th Midlands Praise day on Saturday the 9th of December, from 2pm – 6.30pm for an afternoon of Praise, Worship, Prayer and Exhortation on the theme of ‘Hope – an anchor for our Souls’, with thoughts led by brother Mick Roberts of Ashby Ecclesia. It is at a new venue, […]
Following another successful conference this year we would like to invite bookings for 2018 God willing. These can be made through: Bro John Mallinder 177, Huddersfield Road, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX3 0AS In our week together, we seek to encourage brethren and sisters to study the Scriptures, to try to understand our Lord and His […]
The Gospel inevitably, as Jesus taught in the parable of the Sower, sorts men out into groups. Of these the largest of all is made up of those who reject the Gospel outright – those by the wayside, that “hear” but in whose case there at once “cometh the devil, and taketh away the word […]
As we move into the final stage of 2017 our faith continues to be strengthened by events on the world stage. Through hurricanes and storms, atrocities and disasters, perhaps the Father is sending a wake-up call before the great day of Christ’s return. One thing is certain: we need the Lord Jesus Christ back in […]
When we are looking for some one for having a good or close relationship with, we can assure you the best one to have a good relationship with is the Most High Divine Creator God Who made it possible for you to be here in the first place. Having a relationship with Him is a […]
When wondered about a godhead and having come to the conclusion that there must be a Divine Creator or Supreme Being that surpasses all human and animal beings, we may question if it is possible for us to have a relationship with that Higher Being. What does it take to begin a relationship with God? […]
In March 2016 we created on Weebly a website to talk about man’s relationship with God. After we had done all the placing of pages and came to the contact form and placing of a Gravatar for the replies, we were brought to WordPress where we not only could choose a Gravatar but also got […]
Throughout history of mankind there have many groups of people who worshipped a triple deity (sometimes referred to as threefold, tripled, triplicate, tripartite, triune or triadic, or as a trinity). Those people who worshipped such tri-une god all claim they only worship one deity. Such deities that are worshipped as one are common throughout world mythology; the number three has a long history of mythical associations. Carl Jung considered the arrangement of deities into triplets an archetype in the history of religion. But the God of the Bible is clear about Which God has to be worshipped, not a more headed, be it an eightfold, three-une or bi-one god, but only the God of Abraham, Which is only One God of gods.
Find out in this article and its links how Jews, Christians and Muslims may have been influenced by the pagan gods and false teachings and how they have to separate them from such pagan teachings.
You may wonder if there really exist a God. You have all reason to question His existence and to check if you are feeling right or thinking the right way. We are even requested to examine our own faith. It is important to know what you want to believe, what you want to take for […]
A man and a woman created for each other, accountable to their Creator, in whose image they are made creative beings.
From August 2017 Jeshuaists came connectible via some websites and Facebook accounts, pages and a group.
The centuries-old five-pointed geometric figure is most known as a symbol of the Jewish community. In this article we will outline the interpretation as well as the possible point of view for us today.
After the wrong choice and action of the first human beings the elohim had no other choice than to bring over man the curse He had warned them for. But out of love for His creatures He also provided straight away a solution against the curse of death and gave man a second chance.
In the second and third chapter of the Bereshith (the book of the beginning) we find that God, Who had made man in His image, brought a helper for the ish or man so that they could live together in a bond of union, related to the other living beings and to the Most High Elohim, in a state we now call marriage.
An invitation to become an ambassador for Christ.
Coming closer to the day of return of Christ the world is in need of diplomatic ministers who can show the world how much false sayings or teachings about Jeshua or Jesus Christ are common good in the Christian world, but are a stumbling block or obstacle to enter the narrow gate of the Kingdom of God.
Volgens de Tenach en Bijbel wordt uit de man een mannin geschapen. De Chavah, ook “Heva” of Eva gevormd uit de rib van de man waren in eerste instantie schaamteloos en konden in eenheid met elkaar samen leven. De mannin werd in leven geroepen als ezer (hulp of helper) en mocht als de “leven gevende” de stammoeder van het mensengeslacht worden.
Oorspronkelijk waren de bezigheden die de mens toegedragen kreeg niet tot last en behoorde een blijven leven tot de eigenschappen van zijn staat van gelijkenis met God.
Het Boek Bereshith of de Genesis wil een krachtig signaal geven wie er achter het universum met haar plantenrijk, dierenrijk en mensdom staat. Hiervoor gebruikt de schrijver soms ook een dubbele betiteling om de toehoorders of lezers duidelijk te maken dat het over Die Ene Ware God gaat die boven alle andere goden staat. Zo laat Moshe in zijn 2° hoofdstuk zien hoe de mens in de Gan Eden wordt geplaatst.
Vooraleer wij verder kijken naar de samenvatting die Moshe vervolgens geeft over de begintijd, staan wij even stil bij de zevende dag en een rustende God.
De term Messiasbelijdende Joden is in dagelijks spraakgebruik onder West-Europese christenen redelijk gemeengoed, maar stuit op enige controverse. Allereerst omdat de Messiasbelijdende Joden niet in alle gevallen Joden zijn, qua afkomst noch via bekering. Verder beschouwt het jodendom hen als een christelijke sekte. Religieus gezien heeft het jodendom volgens sommigen dan ook geen aanknopingspunt met deze religieuze groepering. Vrijwel alle Joden beschouwen deze godsdienstige groepering dan ook als een onderdeel van het christendom, waartoe de grootste kerk van de Messiasbelijdende Joden (Jews for Jesus of Joden voor Jezus) ook officieel behoort.
Voor ware Messiaanse Joden komt er op aan naar de buitenwereld duidelijk te maken dat men niet behoort tot christenen die de Drie-eenheid aanhouden maar dat men zich houdt aan van Godswege die de Weg naar God is en redding voorziet.
Verder moet men zich afvragen in welke mate men aan welke uiterlijke tekenen moet houden en tot welke dagen of feesten die door God zijn ingesteld men zich moet houden.
Dat Joden die moeten beschouwd worden als Gods uitverkoren volk betekent niet dat ze op enigerlei wijze als superieur boven andere groepen beschouwd moeten worden, maar dat zij wel onderworpen zijn aan zekere verbintenissen met en wetsregelingen van die God. toen meer goyim of niet Joden zich bij de volgelingen van Jeshua wensten aan te sluiten kwam dat Joods-zijn volgens sommigen in gevaar.
De Niet-zienbare Eeuwige sprak tot de mens en gaf hun Zijn Tien Uitspraken, de Thora of Wetsvordering die zij ter harte konden nemen om hun leven ten goede op te bouwen. Doorheen de eeuwen heen gingen velen die toch beweerden god te volgen lichtzinnig om met die geboden, met gevolg dat het nu voor ware God liefhebbenden het moeilijk is om zich aan te sluiten bij een religieuze groepering, omdat zij De Wet van God willen voorop stellen.
In het begin van onze tijdrekening was er een man die veel aandacht trok door zijn wijze van spreken en zijn wonderbaarlijke handelingen. In zekere zin had hij ook een bijzondere aantrekkingskracht, ook al doordat hij zich niet verlegen voelde om hoog ingeschatte personen die in de tempel werkten met hun eigen woorden te ontkrachten. […]
Op het net wordt de mogelijkheid gegeven voor Facebook gebruikers om teksten van Jeshuaists te volgen via een Facebook Pagina, alsook om in discussie te gaan met elkaar via een Facebook Groep.
die onverwagse oorbelle die onverwagse pienk rokkie die onverwagse profetiese woorde die onverwagse hart oopmaak die onverwagse lagbuie die onverwagse kuier gisteraand die onverwagse gedig in my hande die onverwagse blydskap in my hart she let go she let go. without a thought or a word, she let go. she let […]
Sometimes you just need to talk to a four-year-old and an 84-year-old to understand life again. (Kristen Butler) I have been in a tug of war to write this article. It is easy to write when you have worked through your feelings, or when time has passed and healing has taken place. At this […]
