Holiness and Reward

Holiness is its own reward. Holiness is the reward. Holiness is not merely a goal as if one day you can decide, I will be holy and the story ends. Yes, there is a choice in the matter. But there is also a receiving factor that is separate from the choice to be. There is a choice we must make to receive holiness and retain it. The reception of holiness is the rejection of sin for holiness sake. The comparison of holiness with sin for benefit cannot be used as a valid argument in the pursuit of holiness. In fact it is a deception that can keep one bound to sin because there is always a benefit that one can construe from sin. Of course there is struggle. The end of the struggle seems to be triumph through surrender, triumph through reception which results in action. It is not a triumph of will or action by will. It is interesting when considering Jesus’ battle against temptation. His actions were based not on an immediate benefit but on something else. It is this something else that we encounter in the reception of holiness. It is this something else we embody when we receive holiness.

Remember and Use

This is a foundational principle to education. We need to remember what we have learned. We need to use what we have learned. To remember is not enough for in the end action is what builds relationship and habit. We need to use what we have learned in a corrective manner.

Of course in doing anything we have used what we have learned. But there are instances where we remember one thing, but use something else, when the one thing was the right thing. Remember and use. What is it that I want to remember? The fundamental truths that build character, relationship, and independence from the trappings of this world.

When I remember these things I then need to use them. I need to remember to see how they apply to my everyday life to the actions that we all take every day: going to work, talking to people, reacting to our emotions. I see that many of the missed opportunities in my life were due to not using the truths. Missed opportunities were related to not using or even in some cases not even knowing how to use the truths.

Only I can remember for myself. And only I can “use” for myself. In educating myself and those around me, I must remember and use. I learning from others, I must remember and use. I must do this to the point where I see remember and use as the foundation and starting point for the realization of a bigger dream. They are skeletal concepts upon which I can build that which I have been given to build.

On Liberty

I came across this site http://religiousliberty.tv/ and thought it was a good idea. Then it dawned on me that we are almost always free to choose God once we see him. I was reminded that the religious freedom offered by the culture has nothing to do with the freedom He offers us for the asking. I am not making light of the issue of freedom. I am just pointing out that our liberty in God is not limited by the culture. It is us who must be liberated from the culture that we might choose God: in the culture, not of the culture. No one can offer me more than what God has already offered.

Answering So What…

We look for patterns. Predictable patterns can offer us control. Control offers opportunity to meet desire.

We look for patterns. Predictable patterns can offer us control. Control allows us to create new desires.

The patterns that you see govern what you do. The patterns that you see govern your options. Failure to see deeper patterns relegates one to a life controlled by those that do see them. Ones complaint is less likely to be heard where one has failed to take advantage of the opportunity to search for a pattern.

How To Find Your Way

Struggle with the radical nature of the Gospel until the Spirit speaks, then do what you hear in the context of a community of people who truly share your struggle. Do not settle on the preacher’s words alone because there are thousands of preachers. Do not be afraid of the hard questions and if you’re in a community that does not recognize the hard questions as valid, find a new community.

Mathematics and Childlike Faith

In thinking about how calculus works, I realize that there is an element of faith involved. Evidence points to the fact that something is, but can never exactly say that it is. This is not to say that it is not, it is to say that we can never really verify that it is. Motion is peculiar and in a very real sense unexplainable. This is where childlike faith comes in. There is no need for explanations with childlike faith. We are simply taken in by what is and enjoy it deeply in those moments. This is how babies and children do it. I am not advocating ignorance concerning mathematical truths. What I am advocating is that there is always a deeper truth that mathematics and any of its derivatives cannot touch and that mathematics plainly acquiesces to these truths as it requires logic outside of itself for its strength and application.

When One Is Denied Helping Others

Poverty and the related mentality often prohibit one from getting the help that one needs to learn a different way of helping. The mentality often prevents one from seeing that there is help when it is available. Those that see have a responsibility to help those that don’t. Those that see and do not show others perpetuate poverty and the related mentality.

World of Words

Each word creates a world. Every world is built on words. “So what” is often a sign of ignorance and perpetuates a world of ignorance. Crack the words and you crack the world it represents and simultaneously replace it with a new one. Only what you see is your world.

On Impressing Yourself

The end of impressing yourself is emptiness. You will find that there is nothing there after having made the effort to impress yourself. If you do find something there, you may end up alone or a tool in someone else’s hand. Humility is a habit that looks out for another and there will always be someone to help.

Blinded By Desire

What we want colors what we see. Desire uncontrolled is an airborne virus that silently eats away at your senses until the world becomes callous and empty and desire itself becomes undesirable. We do not know what we might see if we suspend our desires and faith is too often alone in the battle. Yet we must press on giving away that which we control so that faith may grow.

The Perfectionist Dilemma

Anything big can be broken down in to something smaller. There is no bottom. Anything small can be seen as part of something bigger. There is no top. Anything that can be considered as purpose can be reduced to meaninglessness. Why is there no bottom? Why is there no top? Can there really be meaninglessness? Any perfectionist position cannot be supported without answers to these questions. I gave up being a perfectionist long ago.

On Connecting With People

On my desire to connect.

I now see my desire to connect as God reaching out through me to give both me and the persons I reach out to an experience of Him. So yes, there is always an agenda. That agenda is to create an experience of Him that we can take with us and share again with someone else.

I can remember in high school wanting to reach out to people, but never accepted in a way that I thought was reasonable. Of course this had all sorts of negative effects. And of course, no one knew. To be accepted I matched my perceived non-acceptance and the vicious cycle was started.

This cycle was first broken by my religious experience and began a LONG repair process. Reaching out, in light of the extremely complicated nature of life and living, I can no longer rightfully see as self centered. If there is a higher purpose or force than that force/purpose is playing a part whatever is happening. If there is a direction in history, than what I am doing somehow plays a part in that direction. For me, that force/purpose is the living God of the Bible.

I am learning how to do this still and do not always succeed in reaching out as I should, but the based desire to do so is there and draws me closer every day.

Paradox of limitation

The paradox of limitation.

People seem to have unlimited potential. We tell children, you can be anything that you want to be. But can a child be anything? There are limitations. Yet at the same time there are no limitations. Even the direction of the limitation can’t be determined. Simultaneously we are bound by our perception of limitation in some tangible way. This is the real struggle of educational values. “I can” thinking is necessary to achieve that which is desired against the opposition. “I can” is not a panacea for world hunger. This is a difficult issue that must be wrestled with if we are to be balanced in our approach to possibility. The heart must be a guide that puts the correct boundaries on us because we cannot do it all and we cannot do it alone. The heart must seek out that path of peace that cannot be disturbed by anything that happens and yet remains true to the path. Herein is one answer to the paradox of limitation.

Capture Young Minds

Why older people want to capture the minds of the young.

Older people want to capture the minds of the young for a variety of reasons some of which seem to violate a smooth transition of power. To capture the mind of a young person is insure the continuation of ideas and meanings that drive the hunter. The best of them realize that it is not about themselves but that it about the idea that has an effect in the world and are driven by the desire to see that idea continue. The young then, by their very malleable meaning making structures, become targets for the subversive old people with agendas. Now that was a lot of loaded language!

We often have kids because we want them to have better ideas and meaning about the world than we had when we grew up. But industry has kids because of the agendas that focus more on what to wear over why are you wearing it. Instead of viewing youth as time where there is a need for intense training coupled with freeing exploration, we view it as a time of prime consumership since they have nothing better to do.

I know I have some clarifying to do with these thoughts, but the notion of capturing the young seems so powerful to me that I can’t just let it go. Giving people what they want is a form of bondage, especially when the giver knows what they want is not good for them and does not use the giving to bring them up.

Meaning Making 1

I am starting to get more of this meaning making nature of humanity.

We make meaning even when there are no facts to support a conclusion. Exploration requires no justification. Exploration however is driven by a desire for meaning, a desire for things to make sense. In fact at some level, if things do not make sense, they cannot be. This is an interesting observation. Wherever there is a boundary there is a reason that can explain the boundary. We act on the premise that there is at least a reason that can be found if it is not known. This is a part of all of us. It is a connecting feature that generates culture, art, science, and every other human endeavor. When it is so easy to generate differences between people, we forget, or at least I forget, about what connects us. When there is no shared meaning we are connected by meaning making that invents a shared meaning, even if there is agreement that there is no shared meaning.

While these ideas are not new, I would propose they are underutilized. What is the implication for the education with regard to our meaning making? What are the implications on religion and religious life?

Our meaning making is like nature, where there is a void, we will fill it. There is always an implication for our filling. And the implications are always more than simple cause and effect. There are always multiple systems happening and changing at once.

Meaning making reflects the reason why hide and seek is such a fun game in all of its versions. We see something or a possibility. We create a meaning about that thing. We then want to see if the meaning we created was right. If it was right, we are encouraged to do it again. So not only is meaning making part of the make up but an underlying desire for verification. The verification process is not just a desire to be right, but to feel what that something or possibility incited in us. In other words we create and recreate meaning to create and recreate emotions, which then drive what we do.

So this is a meaning making model in the rough. I think however our own personal struggles with these topics will help us get it. And when you get it, you realize that the world you were living in was bound up in all sorts of limitations that no one can tell you are not there. At least not until there is a realization that, yes, there is something more out there.

Obama as President Elect

There is no doubt that last night was an historic evening. There is no doubt that something amazing happened last night with respect to the racial divide in this country. As a professing Christian, not perfect though daily seeking that perfection, I sense the reality of the great divide that the Bible creates between its true followers and those that walk their own way.

There is a greater loneliness in me now, despite the positive feelings due to the crossing of a racial barrier. Increasingly, I do not share values with those in power. I am further separated from the mainstream with each passing moment. Of course I am not alone in my opinion, but I am in a shrinking minority. My voice for God cannot be heard amidst the shouts for change. Something inside me tells me that this is how it has always been. What I feel as shrinkage is not really shrinkage at all, but it is simply a clearer awareness of what always was.

God…his name, in this context, raises many, many questions, primary of which is do we consider this a move of God or do we consider it as the spirit of man at work? My heart tells me this is the spirit of man at work. The ZeitGeist is at work. God will use it, of course, as grace is. And God has the heart of the king in his hand. I think I would be a fool to call it with finality.

To imply what God may be doing is bold enough. God has seen fit to allow Obama to be the 44th President of the United States of America. This does not change my stance on what I believe is right and my willingness to live it and fight for it. It does make me keenly aware that I need to find ways to relate to those with whom, in spirit, I share less and less.

Action That Reveals

What we say and what we do reveal, in some sense, what we have seen and interpreted. When someone says to us “What’s your problem?” they reveal something about themselves. This is true for everyone. Some are better at hiding true intentions/insights then others, but if you hang around a person long enough, more than likely the real person will come through.

Now this simplifies a lot of psychology into a single paragraph, but it very important to see. People will know you by what you do, what you say. They can tell things about you that you don’t know about yourself. This information can be used to help you or hurt you depending on the intentions of the person. The more you are aware of what you see, the more you can be aware of what your actions say. The impact this can have on relationships is tremendous.

Observation, Interpretation, Application

Observation, Interpretation, Application. These three steps are involved in every action we take.

Observation is what you see. Interpretation is the meaning or value we attach to what we see. Application is how we use the interpretation to take action.

If your observations are wrong, there may be negative or unexpected impact of the resulting actions. Same goes if the interpretation is wrong or faulty.

Seeing is the first and most important step. Everything else follows from there. Assumptions color interpretations. Unseen assumptions limit the interpretations from the observations. Unseen assumptions can also trigger a bypass of interpretation altogether.

Remembering, Forgetting

Some things are meant to be remembered: anniversaries, birthdays, happy times, some sad times, certain facts and figures, solutions to problems, etc. Other things are meant to be forgotten: wrongs committed against you, negative feelings associated with failure, superstitious justifications, etc.

Of course the scenario is not totally black or white, but what is true is that negative remembrance is very powerful and whatever tools are at our disposal to fight it, we should employ.

On Christian Yoga

On Christian Yoga

After much debate and conversation, I have come to the conclusion that yogic practice does not conform to biblical principles of worship and meditation. The end of yoga is kundalini which in the end is demonic. Ok, this is strong terminology for some and yes, basic yoga positions won’t kill you, these are not my real point. My point is that practice taken to its logical end is evil and thus the basic positions lead one on a path that is evil.

To those who do find benefit from yoga, I suggest looking seriously to God for a replacement practice. Perhaps there are movements from liturgical dance that can be adapted to positional meditation.

Yes, positional meditation is a biblical practice. What is needed are the right positions and the right meditations. For those that are already familiar with yoga, this is an opportunity to come up with something new that will be pleasing to God. Keep in mind that there seem to be certain positions that are common to much religious practice, like two hands together palm to palm as part of position of prayer. The practice should invite the Holy Spirit and His ends should be the end of the practice. And the name is important yoga is associated with the demonic. Positional meditation as a whole is not.

Here is the main difference between Christian positional meditation and yoga. The Christian has already arrived through the finished work of Jesus Christ. This temporal difference is very important because self striving is eliminated. Instead one is sacrificing oneself in service. It is not so much a matter of obtaining transferable skills, as it is hearing the voice of God and obeying. Positional meditation in an orthodox Christian context is not a “relaxation” technique. It is act of worship focused on God with the intent of relating to him and pleasing him. It is NOT an act whose end is in our own pleasure or performance. Claims of an acceptable combination of classic yoga and Christianity in the end are misleading and not founded in an understanding of who God is. Yes, the debate is complicated, and there are valid arguments to partially support the claim, but if the most developed practice of yoga is in kundalini and the most developed practice of Christian positional meditation is the imitation of Christ, it is apparent which has more value and is truly sponsored by God.

Love as Transcendant and Primal

Pastor Jim Cymbala yesterday described love as both transcendent and primal.

What a beautiful picture.

As transcendent, God is love. It is beyond our greatest expectations and beyond our control. It surpasses any law that we could create and invades our space so that it own law may be obeyed. It is the ultimate expression of the only rule is that there is no rule in its flexibility and its boundary. Where it binds us, it frees us. Where it limits, it provides new opportunity. Where it strikes, it heals.

As primal it is part of our deepest instincts and needs. We cannot live without it. Indeed it controls us in many ways and yet we must endeavor to consciously search it out. It lurks in our unconscious and moves us in ways that we may never understand. It is beyond the question of why even as we seek it out. Our very means of continuance is driven by love even when the expression falls short of transcendent expectations.

And we are here in the middle of this expression of Love, neither transcendent nor primal.

Knowing 1

Knowing means access to information at one or more levels instantaneously.

This is someting to ponder and expand upon.

One insight is that properties of the knowledge change as it is related to more an more information. This of each "piece" of knowledge as a letter in an alphabet. All the complexity of language is now available for expression in an almost infinite types of media.

Thus it is important to never consider a "piece" of knowledge as final in application and balancing this fact with the notion that you'll have to move on if you really want to find and experience new and more complex uses for that "piece."

Touching the World for Jesus In a Place That Doesn't Want Him

I have been thinking about how one goes about touching the world for Jesus in a place where He isn't really wanted.

This is my dilemma. I want to worship where I live. I should not have to travel 20 miles to have fellowship in a church service.

Maybe this is about me. Maybe it is about loving where I live. Maybe it is my own stubbornness. Maybe it is about a commitment to truth that I cannot shake. I can ignore it, push it down, push it aside, but it always rises back up.

I have been thinking about how to go about this and the bottom line is earnest prayer and fasting. There is no other way. In this I believe wholeheartedly.

My desire is "the truth" which is a curse word these days. Mention it and people say it doesn't exist or that we can only address parts of it. I can no longer wait for someone to lead. I must start. I don't want to. I'd rather someone else do it and I'll follow along. It hasn't happened.

It seems like no one wants to discuss truth and move forward on that path, changing what we say, how we say it, leaving behind mistakes, especially when they are public, and continually revamping and recognizing the context. All within 5 miles of where you live.

I will be putting myself out on a limb in a way I have never fathomed. I seem to have few alternatives. I am certainly open to suggestions and will be waiting on God.

I have to believe that there are others like me nearby willing to work together despite the fact most don't seem to care.

Jesus and the Crowds

Jesus attracted people primarily because he was doing the impossible. Followers remained by revelation.

Perhaps this is the formula pastors should follow in their evangelistic and discipleship practices.

I offer this as a beginning to an alternative way of looking at church, not as a fully formed framework.

For me it really puts the onus back on believers to really believe and not move toward humanistic methods for life, living, and relating.

On Biblical Inerrancy

There is a claim that the bible is inerrant.

I propose that at better phrase be used to describe the situation.

It is better to say that no errors in the bible detract or in any way mitigate the central themes of sin, love, and salvation.

I say this because there are copyist errors and a variety of differing manuscripts that comprise the source material.

While this may not be a popular position with purists, it reflects the reality of the situation and allows for forward movement concern the proclamation of the Gospel, without needing to endlessly revisit the topic.

Feelings and Action

The primary purpose of feelings is to empower action.

The best solution is not necessarily the coolest solution

It is possible to try and generate answers that "impress" or answers that are "comprehensive." This attitude is deceptive in that it causes one to over think a problem. A better attitude looks for what is needed to make a situation better and works from there. Yes, being impressive is nice, but it is also subjective, and if you're the one deciding what is impressive in terms of your own offerings, you may be sorely disappointed with others don't agree. Let others think your ideas are cool as you observe what is needed given the constraints of the situation. That is the key. What are the constraints and work within them even as you're trying to find a way around them. The best solution is the one that works. Let what works be your cool.

Nice but not enough...

I think that BET must think black people are stupid with their 25 events that mis-shaped black America program. To include hip hop on the list on the same channel that sells it!

This type of entertainment is typical of today: one lie with one truth, knowing that the lie is actually a lie.

It is clear that the intellectuals in the black community understand the problem, but is enough noise being made to make a difference? The stats would say no. The dependence on welfare remains. Drugs remain. Gangs remain.

The program went so far as to blame religion for the current plight of blacks. This is ridiculous. Misappropriation of religion has not kept them down as much as their inability to, on the whole, form upwardly mobile communities. Of course there are successes, but on the whole, it is safe to say that with such a large percentage of the males in jail, blacks can hardly claim to be a self loving community.

Hearers and Doers

Doers are rewarded. Hearers are not.

What you do changes you...

We need to let our mistakes guide us in a new direction. To ignore them is foolishness. To try will not be enough when payment must be made for the mistake. If you're smart enough to see it, then you are smart enough to do something about it. You can never become what you see until you are willing to act on what you see and put processes in place that force what you see to come to pass. Broken processes produce broken results that keep you from moving forward. What you do changes you.

I thought...

I thought is never a substitute for I know.

Subprime Meltdown

There is no way that a series of events like this can take place and someone intelligent not notice. Americans are kidding themselves if they think the ruling class is interested in any concept close to fair.

Every citizen should expect to be taken advantage of at the point of any major purchase. The cards are stacked against them. It is likely that the meltdown emergent result of unethical nature of the players and we should expect lawmakers to make some changes.

To start, ARM mortgages should be illegal to first time home buyers and for anyone with a net worth under one million dollars. Negative amortization should be illegal for the same group.

For any happening like this it is scary to think that it was done on purpose. This is the worst case scenario for the relationship between the ruling class and working citizens.

If nothing is done to protect the economic system from trillion dollar losses such as this, we can expect American freedom to continually diminish. There will be a point where a new type of enslavement will come to pass.

See the 60 minutes video

Hope as a bottom line...

We are feeling creatures. There is no way around that. Even ascetics have feelings. we must learn to work with our feelings.

Decisions lead to, provide us some control over our feelings. If we don't like the feelings, hope also generates feelings...remain hopeful in your decisions that desirable feelings may be experienced.

Yes, I know, this is peculiarly vague...one particular context for this is the desire for "spiritual" experiences. Some people want them, but don't get them and then say religion, or at least they form they were attempting is "not for them." Cutting to the chase with the assumption that there is truth, hope must in those cases generate the necessary motivating feelings and satisfaction can be found in a variety of other bounded entertainments.

Rick Warren and Joel Osteen...Alternatives?

I was sitting here thinking about the success of Rick Warren and Joel Osteen and what alternatives I could offer over their very entertaining presentations. I realized this very thought is the problem. What should I have to offer? I have nothing but the Spirit of God to offer.

It seems as though the Spirit of God, of Christ, living inside of you is not enough to attract people to fellowship. Isn't that something...in essence these ministries say God is not enough in that they do not centralize their message on the true God, his Word, and his Truth, and his Spirit. There is balance in all things, balance in all of our "getting." I just know I am saved not because of my goodness or lack thereof, but by my faith, which is not even of me. Easy to understand, no. Essential to the life of every Christian, absolutely.

Getting to the next "level"

I often hear of people trying to get to the next level. I also try to get to the next level. I also noticed that there are obstacles. One obstacle is that there may be no one to help you. Advancement is sometimes not possible alone. We are social creatures. We need each other. Like it or not the group function affects us.

More subtley, there may be people to who can help but are either unwilling or unavailable. This is a source and seed for anger. You know that you can get better, but no one is helping to get you there. You see others advancing, but can't seem to do it yourself. This is the most frustrating of situations.

Big Oil Doesn't Want to Quit

This video makes it evident that those in power do not want things to change and are probably willing to do anything to maintain the status quo:

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/51

Download Amory Lovin's book: http://www.oilendgame.com/ReadTheBook.html

Motivation and Habit

"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going."
—Jim Rohn

Questionable Government Action

More on the nature of the Federal Reserve and the Federal income tax:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1656880303867390173

It is a very moving video. There are arguments against it:

http://www.digg.com/educational/Never_pay_federal_income_tax_again

The main point is that no one is really being straightforward about the issue. In the end "we the people" lose out.

This reality leaves many, many questions unanswered.