Christine Greenwood is an author, health consultant and business entrepreneur, who finds New years time to be a time for reflection of the past year and goal setting for the coming year. She is also a huge believer in reflection of the year past, distilling the wisdom of lessons learned and a big believer in prayerfully setting annual goals for the year to come and practical strategies of how to get there. {2019 – Our Year of Kindness}
One of the goals she likes to set are character goals, things that she would like to concentrate on her life for that year. For 2019 one she wants to share is Kindness. She writes
I have discovered that every person that I deeply respect and love have has a common attribute. They are Kind. Deeply, consistently, and unapologetically Kind. {2019 – Our Year of Kindness}
Lovely to hear that those people around her have that common attribute. That is not so obvious or normal as many would hope for. Kindness becomes a rare aspect of our materialist world. Not many people are having empathy with others or are willing to show their good heart for them. Kindness is missing in a lot of discussions and talks on the social media. Over-there we can see a lot of ugly words and calling names. The way people talk today says a lot of the wrong going of our society. We have to admit in the so called civilised countries the way they treat people is not always better than in the uncivilised countries.
When Christine Greenwood tries to define kindness, she admits to falter.
If we would know her husband we, according to her, would know that he is gentleness and kindness personified in public. She tells us
I can assure you he is even kinder behind closed doors. It can be mildly infuriating, especially when I am feeling impatient or entitled. {2019 – Our Year of Kindness}
When looking at a person his or her “kindness” we can notice this in the reflection of the way a person acts and reacts. Often kindness shows up before we have to ask for something.
I feel loved with acts of service. Knowing this he cleans every week till the house shines. Even when I am home from work, or on holidays. He does it as though it is his sole joy. He always takes the clothes out of the dryer and off the line and folds them as I also hate this job. These small things mean the world to me. {2019 – Our Year of Kindness}
And perhaps it is in the many small things that we can discover the pure and real love and kindness. It might be difficult to describe or define, yet kindness is easy to recognise in people around us.
If we all think about kindness a person in our lives will always spring to mind as someone who is innately kind. {2019 – Our Year of Kindness}
Kindness is an underrated quality that Mrs. Greenwood is seeking after in her life.
Before we can be kind to others we should be kind to ourselves. To do so we also have to know ourself and love ourself. Practice ‘Kindness’ to yourself is an essential part for making a good life for yourself but also for the others around you. As such a person has to learn to be kind for when he or she feels tired or sad, give himself or herself permission to stop to feel that there are others who care about him or her. Most important is it when the person comes to see how we have a much Greater Being that cares for us. It is when we start feeling and knowing that we have a heavenly Father Who knows our heart and Who is close to the broken hearted and loves to comfort us in our grief. {Kindness In 2019 – Continued}
Christine Greenwood promises
I am going to practice Kindness and release myself from a drive to provide for our family and know that God is our provider and I need not strive for with the motivation of financial resource but rather the Kingdom and let God in his Kindness be our Provider.
I will practice Kindness to myself in everything I do, I refuse to compare myself to others. For I am unique and nobody can do what I can do. {Kindness In 2019 – Continued}
We should remember to
Practice Kindness and do not force yourself to do anything that you do not enjoy or that you cannot maintain. Find something that you love to do. That you would do for Fun. Whether it is walking, dancing, running or surfing and make time to do it. For it is being Kind to yourself. {Kindness In 2019 – Continued}
Big problem in our society of social media is that lots of people want to shine in front of others and dare not to show their real “me”. Many people let their expectations about you known by presenting themselves better than they are or by pushing you should also have this or that, or wear this or that.
Practice Kindness to your body by giving your body permission to be whatever it decides to be and celebrate it. No one else cares about the muffin top over your jeans more than you. No one notices it. You are glorious.
Practice Kindness and wear what makes you feel beautiful and comfortable at the same time. Who cares about what the latest trend is. You dance to the beat of your own drum. No need to conform to anyone around you. Find your own style and flaunt it! {Kindness In 2019 – Continued}
In all this, what surrounds us, we should place ourself as we want to be ourself. We also should remember that kindness is our greatest commodity and is life changing. Though it’s definition may be hard to profess.
Kindness is the outworking of the love one has for an other. It is taking time for the other and showing gratitude. Kindness also shows when a person is willing to show his dedication to the other and willingness for doing the unexpected things to help others or to be there for others, showing the agape love.
Kindness shows also by the way a person communicates with the other and by the way he or she chooses words and speaks with patience and love.
The best way to bring and show kindness is to give out kindness and friendship without expecting something in return. It starts by showing respect, compassion, positivity, and love. Kindness can come around when we treat everyone as we would like to be treated ourselves.
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.
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.
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:
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 priestJeshua (Jesus Christ).
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 imageof 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 OneTrue God, the ElohimHashemJehovah. 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 scandalscame 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?
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.
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.
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.
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 brothersandsisters 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,
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.
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…
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 positiveattitude 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.
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.
Most people I know have a dream. In fact,I’ve asked hundreds, if not thousands, ofpeople about their dream. Some willinglydescribe it with great detail and enthusiasm. Others are reluctant to talk about it. Theyseem embarrassed to say it out loud. Thesepeople have never tested their dream. Theydon’t know if others will laugh at them.They’re not sure if they’re aiming too highor too low. They don’t know if their dreamis something they can really achieve or ifthey’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.”
“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.
Stay Positive! Maintain a Positive Attitude and Relieve Stress (massageenvy.com)
One of the easiest and most effective paths to a happier life is to develop an attitude of gratitude. It’s no coincidence that giving thanks is a foundation of prayer in every religion and culture.
Expressing appreciation requires you to take stock of the blessings in your life, which in turn reminds you to acknowledge that so much good regularly comes your way.
A TPCASTT Of A Short Poem (fhs9honors.wordpress.com)
You changed my world with a blink of an eye, / That is something that I can not deny, / You put my soul from worst to best, / That is why I treasure you my dearest Marites.
More than a feeling? Behavioural safety in the workplace (rospaworkplacesafety.com)
One thing you should be familiar with is the acronym SKATE (Skill, Knowledge, Attitude, Training and Experience). It is usually used when discussing a person’s or organisation’s competency and is relevant whether you are recruiting a new employee, promoting an existing one, offering tenders to contractors or even benchmarking your organisation in the marketplace.
5 Motivational Pep Talks That Will Turn Around Any Defeated Attitude (wonderfultips.wordpress.com)
How do you turn a defeated attitude into a positive outlook? With a pep talk that’s sure to reinforce the notion that you’re able to accomplish anything. Sometimes the only thing standing in our way of achieving our goals is our own minds. Check out five encouraging messages below, filled with the motivation you need to reach your dreams. Soon you’ll be on your way to the success you’ve earned — and deserved!
Smile, Attitude Is Everything (afriendofjesus2013.com)
Attitude drives facial expressions. So smile and have an attitude of gratitude because we look marvelous today!
Positive Life (iamlikenoother.com)
Without Love or being loved, We feel Nothing
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Never give up your dreams, I’m sure one day You can achieve more than you ever dream.
Advice from Snagajob members (snagajob.com)
you need to remember to keep a positive attitude even if you get the interview but don’t get the job. You never know when you will need to apply again. You want to leave a lasting, but Positive impression. A positive attitude and a smile will get you far! – Latasha M.
Therealization of a dreamisninety percentof imaginationand ten percentof attitudes. We can imagine, design, stand in therealization of the dreamtwenty-four hours aday, butunless we haveat leastten percentof attitudes, our dreamswill evenstayin the dream world. To realize a dream, we mustbelieve that itpossibleimaginehow it will bewhen we getthere andwe takeconstantactionsto achieve it. Accomplishour dreamsis not a desirebutan action.
Stay Positive! Maintain a Positive Attitude and Relieve Stress (massageenvy.com)
Expressing appreciation requires you to take stock of the blessings in your life, which in turn reminds you to acknowledge that so much good regularly comes your way.If you’re stuck on what exactly to be grateful for, take a few seconds before you get out of bed each morning to value the potential in each new day, suggests Gloria J. Burgess, a Seattle-based leadership development expert. Tell yourself, “I’m grateful to be here,” and you’ll find that thought will improve how you treat yourself and others.
Attitude of Gratitude (clarabelle.org)
being in the hospital made me think about how grateful I am for my own health and wellbeing and all the abundance I have in my life.
Choose Your Attitude (orlandoespinosa.wordpress.com)
Having a positive attitude will enable you to see the brighter side of any situation you may be enduring.Having a positive attitude can provide you with a new level of hope and understanding.
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
The Jewish Museum of New York her latest core exhibition reveals a distance from Judaism indistinguishable from disregard, embarrassment, and disdain. Menachem Wecker’s essay on Scenes from the Collection, the latest permanent exhibition at the Jewish Museum of New York, talks about the city’s venerable 115-year-old Jewish Museum. Its collection of about 30,000 objects makes […]
Meerderen in België maken zich zorgen over de relatie tussen de overheid en de religies/levensbeschouwingen in hun land. Ten aanzien van de erkende erediensten in België stelt de Belgische staat zich welwillend neutraal op. De staat erkent bepaalde erediensten en niet-confessionele organisaties. Die erkenning gaat gepaard met bijvoorbeeld de financiering van de wedden van de […]
De mens, geschapen naar Gods beeld en als Zijn gelijkenis De mens is voortdurend op zoek naar zijn identiteit: ‘Wie zijn wij en waar komen wij vandaan?’. Voor wie niet gelooft in de Schepper is dit een nooit eindigende zoektocht. Maar in plaats van het wetenschappelijk bewijs voor onze oorsprong in de natuurwereld te zoeken, […]
De ‘overbodige’ God Een opmerkelijk verschijnsel in de wetenschap is dat je zelfs daar af en toe op een duidelijke vorm van fundamentalisme kunt stuiten. Nu is dat karakteristiek voor mensen in het algemeen, dus ook voor (bepaalde) wetenschappers. Sinds de ‘Verlichting’ is men alle vormen van godsdienst gaan zien als vormen van onderdrukking van […]
De NRC-journalist en schrijver Bas Heijne gelooft niet dat God bestaat, maar sympathie voor het geloof heeft hij wel. Hoewel hij zelf niet gelovig is opgevoed, kreeg Heijne er in zijn gereformeerde dorp wel veel van mee. Hij begrijpt dat mensen houvast vinden in hun geloof. Zelf houdt hij liever open hoe iets zit. Een […]
Originally posted on Dear Kitty. Some blog: https://youtu.be/gQOBDCSQKbw This 10 April 2019 video says about itself: First-Ever Black Hole Image Released The Event Horizon Telescope captured an image of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. From USA Today today: It’s our first glimpse of one of the weirdest spectacles in…
Originally posted on Purplerays: ‘Tis hard for man to rouse his spirit up–It is the human creative agony,Though but to hold the heart an empty cup,Or tighten on the team the rigid rein.Many will rather lie among the slainThan creep through narrow ways the light to gain–Than wake the will, and be born bitterly. But…
Als men in de België en Nederland kijkt hoe bepaalde christenen omgaat met andere mensen kan men zich veel vragen stellen over hun christen zijn. sommigen zouden eens moeten kijken naar Wim Wijnholds directeur van Perspectief Groep, hoe die 24 uur per dag christen probeert te zijn. “In een bedrijf is dat iets gemakkelijker, omdat […]
Originally posted on Victors' Corner: WHAT TOLERANCE REALLY MEANS By Victor Uyanwanne 13/03/2015 I have always been interested in learning new words and I have usually made conscious effort towards achieving that aim. I remember way back in school when we were much younger when we used to keep “New Words and Meaning” notebooks as…
Het is algemeen geweten dat vele niet-gelovigen of atheïsten er over spreken dat als er een god zou bestaan deze zeker niet een van liefde kan zijn, want er gebeuren zo veel afgrijselijke dingen in deze wereld. Velen vergeten hierbij wie eigenlijk de schuldige is voor die vele wreedheden en wie de eigenlijke veroorzaker is […]
Thoughts by and a Look at the world by Marcus Ampe on: Marcus Ampe's Space
Environmental challenges are everywhere. There is an urgent need to stop biodiversity losses and to improve air, water and soil quality – to name but a few problem areas. Among examples of global environmental problems, the loss of bees is symbolic. Bees’ well-being and role as pollinators are significant for biodiversity. More than 50% of […]
Milieu-uitdagingen zijn alomtegenwoordig. Zo moet het verlies aan biodiversiteit dringend een halt worden toegeroepen, en moet de kwaliteit van lucht, water en bodem dringend worden verbeterd, om maar een paar voorbeelden te noemen. Symbolisch voor de wereldwijde milieuproblemen is de teloorgang van de bijen. De rol van bijen als bestuivers en het welzijn van de […]
Tackling the pollution challenge is vital to securing human well-being. It is a critical insurance policy for current and future generations, the fulfilment of whose rights depends on a healthy environment. Special attention must be paid to the needs of women, the poor and the disadvantaged, many of whom depend on well-functioning ecosystems for their […]
In the previous posting we saw that the water which comes out of the tap does not always have to be safe water. There are many souls who can tamper with it. But to make it clean drinkable water the providers have to make costs to clean the available water to make it as pure […]
Last year the media in Belgium had to bring warnings about the availability of water and requested people to use water scarcely. In February and March again a water alert went out, not about having to much water, like one would expect in those months by having the Spring Storms, but for having a too […]
From the unpublished material: 2019 January 01 Several countries may be afraid for water scarcity because of their population growth and higher temperatures and more droughts alternated with uncontrollable many devastating rainstorms. For Egypt for example, unless the current fertility rate of 3.47 changes by 2030, Egypt’s population is expected to grow from the current […]
Today’s Thought ” … the earth will be shaken” (May 23) What place is named in the first and last books of the Bible – and in many in between? Yes, it’s Babylon, yet you may not recognize that it occurs in Genesis because it is translated in its Hebrew form of Babel. The account […]
Today’s Thought “The earth shall be full of …” (May 21) Today’s Isaiah chapter is that marvellous one which tells us of the time to come when “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (11:9). The first part of the chapter is about the work […]
Today’s Thought “The people … in darkness have seen a great light” (May 19) What darkness covers our world today! Nearly all have given up looking for light; they have come to the conclusion that this life is all there is. They have come believe that they are the highest form of the animals, that […]
Today’s Thought “The whole earth is full of his glory” (May 16) It is impossible to meaningfully imagine the time when “the whole earth [will be] full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:3). In one sense it is so today – for all the wonders of creation reflect the power and presence and glory of its […]
Today’s thought “If you are willing and obedient” (May 12) Today we started reading the wonderful prophecy of Isaiah. His time as a prophet of the Lord covered the reign of four kings, beginning with the reign of Uzziah who suffered leprosy as a punishment for becoming too proud in his later years and entering […]
Recent Posts by the Brethren in Christ: Broeders in Christus
Geloof heeft te maken met “dingen die men niet ziet”. Die staan tegenover het zichtbare, het tastbare – het stoffelijke, dat wij wel kunnen zien, aanraken, koesteren, bezitten, verlangen – en hetgeen wij nu zijn – ons aanzien, de eer die wij ontvangen, de macht en de invloed die wij hebben. De menselijke begeerte doet […]
Na zijn intocht in Jeruzalem, trof Jezus in de tempel twee radicaal tegenovergestelde groepen mensen aan – de kinderen en de priesters (Mattheüs 21:14-16). Eindelijk had Jezus zichzelf als Messias aan de schare geopenbaard. Door op een ezel binnen te rijden, vervulde hij de profetieën van Zacharia 9:9 en Jesaja 62:11. Tot dan was zijn […]
Op een dag brengen sommige mensen hun kinderen bij Jezus. Ze vragen hem de handen op hen te leggen en voor hen te bidden. Jezus’ leerlingen maken bezwaren en berispen die mensen. Kennelijk willen zij niet dat zij hun leermeester storen in zijn werk. Maar Jezus denkt daar anders over. Hij zegt tegen hen: ‘laat […]
Kennismaking met bijzondere vrouwen en mannen in de Bijbel: Abigaïl Abigaïl (vreugde van vader) was een verstandige en God vrezende vrouw. Haar man, die Nabal (dwaas) werd genoemd, was een ruwe, gewetenloze man, waarmee niet te praten was. Hij had David, die met zijn mannen zijn kudden lange tijd had beschermd, diep beledigd. Toen David […]
Over twee dagen mogen wij de aanzet geven tot het belangrijkste weekend van het jaar 2019. Op vrijdag 19 april komen wij samen voor het avondmaal van 14 Nisan. Op die zeer speciale avond kijken wij naar de wereld, hoe dat deze weg van God is gegaan en door de geestelijke en werkelijke vervuiling een […]
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 […]
Do you know where in the Bible we find God‘s first promise to send the Messiah? The answer is foundational to our faith because within this first Messianic Prophecy mentioned in the Bible lies our fate of eternal separation from God. Too many christians limit the Bible to the second main part, the Messianic Writings, […]
The Divine Creator of heaven and earth wished not to leave the ones sent out of the Garden of Eden on their own. Though Adam and Eve rebelled against God, Him having expelled them, the Elohim was willing to stay close to them and to help there where He could or where it was appropriate […]
Those people coming from the first man and woman in a certain way got infected by the wrong choice these people made. God gave a free will to the human beings He created. He did not want them to go wrong or to have it bad, but because they objected to His ruling or His […]
Recent Posts: Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten
Tonight we come together for remembering what Jesus has done for each of us. During Jesus’s last days on earth, he new calamity was approaching. First he wanted to start the Festival of unleavened bread with his closest friends. He was very well aware of the meaning of that remembrance day every Jew had to […]
After God made a covenant with the People of Israel at Mount Sinai, Moses and the 70 leaders of Israel “saw God, and they ate and drank.” (Exodus 24:11) the did not literally saw God but felt His nearness. Every year Gods People also came together for a special meal, remembering how the Most High […]
Op 27 maart laatst leden spraken spraken in het programma van de Vlaamse televisie zender Eén ‘Pano’ verschillende voormalige Getuigen van Jehovah openlijk over seksueel kindermisbruik binnen de organisatie. De dagen daraop konden dan meerdere programma’s op Eén en Canvas de aandacht trekken rond dit schandelijk gebeuren van verzwijgen van kinder- en seksueel misbruik. Volgens […]
Originally posted on Dear Kitty. Some blog: https://youtu.be/OPcYn4AiwQE This 2015 video from the USA says about itself: Candace Conti: Former Jehovah’s Witness Takes on Church over Sex Abuse Allegations Candace Conti says the church failed to protect her from a predatory pedophile, which Jehovah’s Witnesses has denied. Translated from Belgian daily De Standaard, 3 April…
The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, has instructed elders in all 14,000 U.S. congregations but also in many other countries to avoid costly lawsuits by keeping cases of child abuse secret, even from law enforcement. And it has effectively silenced members, also in Belgium, who speak up about abuse through the tortuous practice of disfellowshipping and shunning.
Recent Posts by bible Scholars: Bijbelvorser = Bible Researcher
In the 15th century, the invention of the Gutenberg press meant that every literate Christian could read the Bible for themselves. This sowed the seeds for the Protestant reformation in which the self-interpreted Bible supplanted the church magisterium as the basic authority for Christian teaching. In the 21st century, the Internet and specifically the blogosphere and […]
Bijbelse landstreken, steden en dorpen, toen en nu Hebron Hebron bestond al in de tijd van Abraham: “Daarna sloeg Abram zijn tenten op en ging wonen bij de tere binten (eiken) van Mamre, bij Kirjat-Arba, nu Hebron …”(Gen. 13:18). Het is daaroméén van de oudstebewoondeplaatsen van het land. De oorspronkelijkenaam van Hebron was Kirjat–Arba (Vier-Stad). […]
De Here Jezus vroeg zijn tijdgenoten ‘Hebt u niet gelezen’ en ‘Staat er niet geschreven?’ Zo maakte Hij duidelijk dat het geschreven woord van God boven alles staat en dat het belangrijk is onderscheid te maken tussen wat God heeft gesproken en de menselijke opvattingen daarover. Hoe leest u? – Wat leest u? “In het […]
Kan er wel iets goeds komen uit het land van Nazareth vroegen zich 2000 jaar velen af. Men keek neer op alles wat van die stad in Galilea kwam. Jeshua (zoals hij werkelijk noemde) werd later beter gekend onder de naam Jezus. Jezus’ ouders, Jozef en Maria, woonden daar en Jezus groeide er op, maar […]
Bijbelse landstreken, steden en dorpen, toen en nu Nazareth (Hebreeuws: נצרת – Natsrat of Naẕerat, Arabisch: الناصرة – Elnasrat, an-Nāṣira) stad in Israël en het centrum van de enige hoofdzakelijk Arabische agglomeratie in het land. De plaats ligt in het noorden van Israël, in Centraal Laag-Galilea. In het Nieuwe Testament wordt Nazareth geassocieerd met Jezus als […]
In this world we see lots of religious groups and can find lots of people they believe in god/God. But we can wonder in which god or God they believe. The majority seems to believe in an other god than the God of the Bible. That god of the Holy Books is a Singular Spirit […]
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.
Recent Posts by: Immanuel Verbondskind - עמנואל קאָווענאַנט קינד
In response to the plea of persons who had become ritually impure through contact with a dead body, and could not, therefore, prepare the Passover offering on 14 Nisan , God established the 14th of Iyar as a “second Passover” (Pesach sheini) for anyone who was unable to bring the offering on its appointed time in the previous month.
Originally posted on Ahava: A Spiritual Experience in the Jewish Tradition: Be grateful. Count your blessings. Treat others well. Make every day count. Be kind. Take a full accounting of yourself. Be generous. Use gentle speech. Be compassionate. Remind yourself how to be a better person. Count the Omer… We are now in the period…
A period to think about the blessings we receive from the Bore and how we should offer kindness to His creatures, as kindness and deep love is given to us.
Before going to the memorial meeting each of us should not only have cleansed his house, but also the inner being, having thrown away his “old leaven”, our old being.
זֹאת תּוֹרַת אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ נֶגַע צָרָעַת . . . בְּטָהֳרָתוֹ: (ויקרא יד:לב) This is the law regarding someone suffering from a lesion of tzara’at . . . when he is to be purified. Leviticus 14:32 * If the person formerly afflicted with tzara’at could not afford the lambs required for his sacrifices, he could […]
In de maand van menselijk ondernemen en Omer-tellen krijgen wij nog eens de kans om over onze onzuiverheden en de nood aan zelf-verfijning na te denken. Met Pesach Sheni kan de mens nogmaals aangeven zijn band met God te willen vestigen.
Le mois de l’entreprise humaine nous donne la possibilité de penser que nous ne sommes pas purs mais les différentes étapes du service divin représentées par Pessa’h Richone (le premier Pessa’h) et Pessa’h Chéni se reflètent dans l’une des différences halakhiques (rituelles) les concernant. À Pessa’h Richone, toutes les traces de ‘hamets doivent être effacées ; à Pessa’h Chéni, bien que l’on mange de la matsa, on peut posséder du ‘hamets.
Cette année, Pessa’h Chéni est observé le dimanche 19 mai 2019 Un an après l’Exode d’Égypte, D.ieu ordonna aux Enfants d’Israël d’offrir le sacrifice pascal l’après-midi du 14 Nisan et de le consommer ce soir-là, grillé au feu et accompagné de Matsa et d’herbes amères, comme ils l’avaient fait un an auparavant juste avant de […]
De Chabad organisatie wil een cursus aanbieden die mensen een diep inzicht kan geven in het onderwerp van het verloop van de Joodse geschiedenis, zodat men woord gedwongen om de eigen houding in het eigen dagelijkse leven te heroverwegen.
De Nederlandse Chabad organisatie is begonnen met het aanbieden van een cursus waarin men de geschiedenis van het Jodendom onder de loep wil nemen.
Om grip te krijgen op grote delen van de tijd die de Joodse geschiedenis bepalen, wordt in de cursus de geschiedenis opgedeeld in basisperioden, waar elk tijdperk wordt vertegenwoordigd door een Joodse man of vrouw die fungeert als een “interface” tussen hemel en aarde.
Onze huidige maatschappij waarbij meerdere Joodse families ook ver weg wonen van geloofsgenoten wegens werkomstandigheden, maakt dat velen een beetje de gebondenheid met hun cultuur en volk verloren hebben. Een vernieuwende, toegankelijke en tegelijkertijd een cursus van hoog niveau over het Jodendom Onthuld kon meer dan honderd joodse Nederlanders meer inzicht over de ontwikkeling van het Joodse gedachtegoed en de wetgeving geven.
Originally posted on Hamesjek: Het is bijna Pesach. Het feest met de vijand in de vorm van onze dagelijkse brood. Geen brood, geen broodkruimels. Het is de revolutie van het platte ongerezen brood. De matse. Overal in het verzorging en verpleeghuis wordt schoongemaakt, etenswaren en vaat, die niet geschikt zijn voor Pesach worden opgeslagen. Het…
These days of Spring-cleaning are very special and are the preparation for these coming very special days were we learn and remember two special liberations, one for a particular people and an other one for all who want to accept the liberation of the curse of death.
When having many questions an interesting blog to look at: their old and more recent Posts: Questiontime - Vragenuurtje
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 […]
For most people life is just a big question-mark. Living this small life, earn and die is just not satisfying for them and it does not seems like the purpose of life.
In the capitalist countries money often receives the first place of importance and many forget that love for each other is so much more a valuable asset for having a better life.
Several churches want to be popular and promise their followers excellent health with a lot of wealth, as long as they contribute richly to the church.
Abundance is on the inside. It’s a feeling first, an amount second.
We face a world were secularism is growing and more people think their politicians would and should have all the right answers to create for them the ideal world.
In 2016 I started with writing articles on this website. In a certain way I had hoped I also would come to hear from other people what they would think about Some One or a divine Supreme Power behind the creation of the universe. The first year of this blog got to see 17 articles […]
Recent Posts: Unmasking anti Jehovah sites and people
Like Richard Dawkins despises religion we see many others reacting strongly against lovers of God, though they do not see zero purpose, zero usefulness, zero value, and zero reason in religion and question why anyone else should either.
In people saying God knows everything and claiming that Jesus would be God, adversaries of God receive an easy gainsaying danger because they can see how Jesus not at all knew everything, or in case he knows everything than it is clear that Jesus would not have told the truth on more than one occasion and as such would be a liar. The God of Jesus has man given the own possibility to choose what to believe and what to do, therefore it is up to man to make the right choice and to believe in the Only One true God or in the god man has created for himself or to please himself.
Trinitarian Christians claim to be monotheists thought their subgod Jesus has lesser qualities in common than many polytheists their main god and subgods. God may perhaps not to be found in perceivable attributes but when looking around and reading the Bible like the words are written in that book then it should not be so difficult and not so confusing to come and see Who God really is.
People can be irreligious, delusional or belonging to lovers of agnosticism, ignosticism, ietsism, scepticism, pantheism, atheism, strong or positive atheism, implicit atheism, and apatheism. After the rebellion of man God saw the world turning against Him but kept hoping in a good relationship with His creatures.
as ‘n mens ‘n storie wil skryfmoet jy weet wat jy doendaar is immers ‘n begin’n middelen ‘n eindeal wat ek nou voel is blind 19 januarie 2019God says you should stop being anxiousHe has been with you since the beginningHe is with you nowYou should surrender completelyand go into a posture of restthere is […]
Ek het lankal bevestig dat ek sal kom. Dis goed so, want ek staan op en ek is nie regtig lus nie. Maar dis ‘n commitment en ek besluit om te gaan. Net voordat ek by die huis uitloop gryp ek my Afrikaanse Bybel. Dit voel stowwerig, ek lees deesdae meesal Engelse Bybels. Sy ontvang […]
Everyone comes into life to serve a great purpose. That is our destiny. We extend a hand in life to help the broken, but it’s Christ who chooses the believers He wants to represent Him. Faith is a large part of the commitment, but it’s the renewed spirit which Christ blesses each time. I, too, [...]
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Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten
Bijbelvorsers
Christadelphians
Guestspeaker
Immanuel Verbondskind
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Vragensteller - Inquirer
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Marcus Ampe
Success Inspirers' World
Relating to God
