Tag Archives: Religion and Spirituality

Oct 15

LIVING IN THE ETERNAL PRESENCE……

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( this message is for anyone who believes in the power of the good, whether you are religious or not.  I only use quotes from the Bible because many believe that is the only source of truth.  I know of many different sources of truth that have convinced me nothing dies, it just changes forms, like mist to clouds to ice or rain to moisturing the earth and repeating.  Just read the following and translate it into your belief system).
 
In the OT there were rituals, rules and laws that are complicated and hard to understand.  Believing that that God wrote every word in all the books of the Bible is dead wrong, even blasphemous. There are other people besides God who are reported to have said things in those books chosen by men.
 
Thank God, later on the prophets began to greatly simplify this.
 
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Mh 6:8)
  
THE ETERNAL ONE DOES NOT CHANGE, BUT HOPEFULLY OUR FAITH CHANGES AS WE COME TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THIS BEING THROUGH STUDY, SCIENCE, PRAYER AND MEDITATION.
  
The WORD OF GOD is not words written in a series of books called the Bible, but:
 
 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
 
Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.  John 1:1
 
 
Then comes this Jesus who is reported to be the Son of the ETERNAL ONE who by his life, words and actions in human form points us to the ETERNAL SPIRIT. 
 
AND WHO DOES GOD LOVE AND GIVE ETERNAL LIFE TO?
 
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
  
He loves the WHOLE WORLD AND EVERYONE AND THING IN IT.  And what does it mean to believe in Him?
 
Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of
 
heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Matt: 21:7

 
Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?
The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.  John 14:10
 
It’s not the going to church, smiling, singing, giving a little money, etc. that gets us into the kingdom of God; 
 
IT’S LETTING THE FATHER (The Eternal Presence, The Holy Spirit, etc) LIVE IN YOUR WHOLE BEING (mind, soul, body, work, play, etc) SO HE CAN DO HIS WORK THROUGH YOU.
 
“The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21nor will people say, ‘Here
 
it is,’ or ‘There it is,’
 
because the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:21
 
 Did we miss that? 
 

7 the LORD God formed the man [a] from the dust of the ground and

breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living

being.

 
In conclusion, to live in the Kingdom of God (Heaven, Eternal Life, etc) RIGHT NOW AND FOREVER is to:
 
FORGET ABOUT WHO WE THINK WE ARE AND WHAT WE THINK WE WANT, AND:
 
Letting the Father, already living in us, doing his work. 
 
Every morning, 1st thing, before anyone else is up:
 
Sit it a chair quietly.  Empty your mind.  Be aware that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  As you breathe Him in deeply, breathe out all your cares, worries, resentments, etc. to make more room for Him.  Repeat this until you are totally relaxed and sense His presence.  Ask Him to live in you and do His work through you today.  Remain quite and silent being aware of what He might want to do through you that day, and then let Him do it.
 
St. Paul states how he did it:
 

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

To be continued.  editor@unbiasedtruth.net  

 

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SEARCHING FOR RELIABLE SOURCES,
not hearsay, rumors, or falsehoods.
Sep 08

BIBLE MORE VIOLENT THAN KORAN? CODE RED ALERT!!!!!!!

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BURNING THE KORAN COULD CAUSE MORE TERROR AGAINST US SOLDIERS AND AMERICANS!
WILL WE ALLOW EXTREME FUNDAMENTALISTS ON BOTH SIDES TO TERRORIZE MORE PEOPLE?
 
(source cited)
In the minds of ordinary Christians – and Jews – the Koran teaches savagery and warfare, while the Bible offers a message of love, forgiveness, and charity. For the prophet Micah, God‘s commands to his people are summarized in the words “act justly, and love mercy, and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Christians recall the words of the dying Jesus: “Father, forgive them: they know not what they do.”

 But in terms of ordering violence and bloodshed, any simplistic claim about the superiority of the Bible to the Koran would be wildly wrong.

 In fact, the Bible overflows with “texts of terror,” to borrow a phrase coined by the American theologian Phyllis Trible. The Bible contains far more verses praising or urging bloodshed than does the Koran, and biblical violence is often far more extreme, and marked by more indiscriminate savagery. The Koran often urges believers to fight, yet it also commands that enemies be shown mercy when they surrender.

  Some frightful portions of the Bible, by contrast, go much further in ordering the total extermination of enemies, of whole families and races – of men, women, and children, and even their livestock, with no quarter granted. One cherished psalm (137) begins with the lovely line,

 “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept”; it ends by

 blessing anyone who would seize Babylon’s infants and smash their skulls against the rocks.
 

Read much more at: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/03/08/dark_passages/

 

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SEARCHING FOR RELIABLE SOURCES, not hearsay, rumors, or falsehoods.
Aug 15

THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM?

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As most of us know, in all believers of faith there are liberal, moderate, and conservative in each faith.  Most tolerate each other out of love and respect.  There is one other group that most have problems with: the extremists.
  
There are 3 MAJOR FAITHS that developed from Abraham Jewish, Christian, and Islam.  Last year several teenagers from these each of these faiths got together believing that if people get to know those of other faiths, conflicts would ease.  over time a conference was formed called: “Children of Abraham: Building Interfaith Peace and Community.” It was organized by the Interfaith Center for Peace, a nonprofit group housed at Indianola Presbyterian Church (click #2 below).  The following article reports on Islam with the same belief that if people get to know those of other faiths, conflicts would ease, and there will be less chance of war. -mackie
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It’s Ramadan — the holiest month for the world’s estimated 1.5 billion Muslims. We won’t discuss Ramadan so much as experience something of its meaning — its delights and its gravity — through the memories and musings of Muslims from far-flung perspectives.
 
The “Multiplicity in Singularity” That Is Islam
 
We’re thrilled to put this program back on the air a year after we created it. It is really more an experience than a show — one that was as full of discovery to produce as to hear.

In fact, we were surprised to find ourselves creating it. At the beginning of the summer of 2009, we extended an invitation to Muslims to reflect on their lived experience of Islam, of what it means — in a daily, particular way — to be part of what is often referred to in the abstract as “the Muslim world.” Responses were slow at first but began to pick up in number and intensity as our query was circulated in networks far beyond the public radio universe. 

 

 Link #2:

 http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/10/26/abraham.ART_ART_10-26-09_B1_I9FFR9V.html 

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SEARCHING FOR RELIABLE SOURCES,
not hearsay, rumors, or falsehoods.
Jul 18

LEARNING FROM THE HOLY DAYS…………..

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There are many roads that lead to the “ETERNAL I AM,” who has been given many names (God,  Jehova, Allah, etc).  Many have travelled different faiths, but the committed seeker for this ETERNAL I AM begins to sense through thought, meditation, and prayer THAT THERE IS SOMETHING THAT IS LARGER, BROADER. AND DEEPER THAN ANY SECT, DENOMINATION, RELIGION, BELIEF, OR FAITH.  ”THE ETERNAL I AM” IS BEYOND WORDS.  WE SENSE THIS “BEING” AT TIMES WHEN WE ARE THINKING OF NOTHING, IN A DAZE, A STILLNESS THAT WE ARE HERE, WE ARE ALIVE RIGHT NOW AND ALL IS WELL.  FOR A FEW MOMENTS THE GUILT OF OUR PAST AND FEAR OF OUR FUTURE ARE BLOCKED OUT AS WE SENSE THE ETERNAL I AM.

 Through learning from the HOLY DAYS we can begin to see the vastness of this Being.-mackie

 7/11 Saint Benedict Day:  Catholic Christian recognition of the father of the The Benedictine Order. It was the first Order of the Western Church Monastic tradition and lived by the Benedictine Rule.  St. Benedict spent the rest of his life realizing the ideal of monasticism which he had drawn out in his rule. He died at Monte Cassino, Italy,while standing in praying to God. according to tradition, on March 21 547. 

 Rule of St Benedict

Seventy-three short chapters comprise the Rule. Its wisdom is of two kinds: spiritual (how to live a Christocentric life on earth) and administrative (how to run a monastery efficiently). More than half the chapters describe how to be obedient and humble, and what to do when a member of the community is not. About one-fourth regulate the work of God (the Opus Dei). One-tenth outline how, and by whom, the monastery should be managed. And two chapters specifically describe the abbot’s pastoral duties. 

 For much more click on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_of_Nursia#Biography

 7/13-15: Ullambana: Buddhist celebration of the ritual of saving the deceased from torments after death.  In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (??), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in Spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in Autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living. On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship.  Click on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Festival

 7/15 Jovan Vladimir: Christian.  He tried to protect Duklja from the expansionist Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria by an alliance with Byzantium; Samuil, however, conquered Duklja in 997 and took Jovan Vladimir prisoner. According to a 12th-century chronicle, Samuil’s daughter Theodora Kosara fell in love with the captive, and begged her father for Jovan Vladimir’s hand. He obliged, returning Duklja to his new son-in-law and giving him the adjoining territory of Dyrrhachium to rule as his vassal. Vladimir was acknowledged as a godly, just, and compassionate ruler. He ruled in peace, evading involvement in the major conflict. The war culminated with Samuil’s defeat by the Byzantines in 1014, shortly after which the Tsar died. Jovan Vladimir fell victim in 1016 to a plot by Ivan Vladislav, the last ruler of the First Bulgarian empire. He was beheaded in front of a church in Prespa.

 Before his death, while he languished in the prison praying day and night, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and foretold that he would shortly be freed, but that he would die a martyr’s death.[4] His fate in captivity is the subject of one of the most romantic tales of early Serbian literature – the story of Vladimir and Theodora Kosara (spelled also as ‘Cossara’), Samuil’s daughter.[2] An oral tradition of the story was recorded in the 12th century in the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja; this is the Chronicle’s description of how Vladimir and Kosara met:[4]
 
“It came to pass that Samuel’s daughter, Cossara, was animated and inspired by a beatific soul. She approached her father and begged that she might go down with her maids and wash the head and feet of the chained captives. Her father granted her wish, so she descended and carried out her good work. Noticing Vladimir among the prisoners, she was struck by his handsome appearance, his humility, gentleness and modesty, and the fact that he was full of wisdom and knowledge of the Lord. She stopped to talk to him, and to her his speech seemed sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.” 

 

 

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SEARCHING FOR RELIABLE SOURCES,
not hearsay, rumors, or falsehoods.
Jul 17

A GREAT WAY TO SHARE WITH THE ETERNAL SPIRIT….

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5“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10your kingdom come,

your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

11Give us today our daily bread.

12Forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.a’

 

14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

 

15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

  

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Jesus also mentions in chapter 6: Giving to the needy, fasting,
storing our treasures in Heaven, and not to worry.
 
 
 

We pray for all the leaders of the world that they may make wise choices for everyone

and that they may lead us to honor one another and serve the common good.

Guide them, O Lord, and hear our prayer.

 

We pray for your wonderful creation, the Earth, and its streams, trees, mountains and plants.

We pray that the animals of the Earth may freely enjoy these resources.

Guide those who manage the world, O Lord, and hear our prayer.

 

We pray for those who have died and for the people who miss them.

May all find peace and strength in You.

Bless all of us, O Lord, and hear our prayer.

 

We pray for those who do not understand or have not found Your love,

that they may seek a deeper knowledge of You.

May Your love find those who need You most.

Guide and bless them, O Lord, and hear our prayer.

 

Please add your thanksgivings and requests. -mackie

 

Click on: http://www.stjohnwilderness.org/prayersp.htm

 

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SEARCHING FOR RELIABLE SOURCES,
not hearsay, rumors, or falsehoods.
Jul 11

WHAT’S IN THE BIBLE, PART I.

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A RELIGIOUS FAITH HISTORY OF A JEWISH GOD, A JEWISH PEOPLE AND THEIR ENEMIES, AN ATTEMPT TO DESTROY THE OTHER GODS AND THEIR BELIEVERS,  AN ATTEMPT AT TRYING TO DESTROY THE ETERNAL LIGHT OF THE WORLD (except for a few), etc.  (see link #1).

Notice the sequence in the story (Genesis):

1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2Now the earth wasa formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the

Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (There is no time period mentioned here.  In our view of time it could have been for thousands to millions of yrs.  Also notice that all creation came out of the deep.)

3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Do you see the big bang theory in the sequence?  The story tellers of that day had no concept of cells, atoms, the Spirit of Truth, the vastness of the Universe and the spiritual eternal world that exists forever.  They didn’t know how to write.  The story was handed down orally thousands of years before a writen language first appeared (link #2).

Even some today when they don’t understand an event call it, “AN ACT OF GOD”(link #3).

The word “day” has several meanings:

“For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.” (Psalms 90:4)

GOD IS CALLED BY MANY NAMES.  THE GOD OF MOSES SAID, “I AM” HAS SENT YOU (Exds 3:14).  EVERYONE THAT USES  THE NAME OF “GOD” HAS THEIR OWN CONCEPT OF HIM.  “God did this,” “God told me,” “God is going to send you to Hell,” etc.  “I AM,” “THE SPIRIT OF THE UNIVERSE,” “THE ULTIMATE CAUSE,”  “THE TRUTH,” etc., may be better ways to describe
who we are talking about.
WHETHER ONE BELIEVES THE CREATION STORY FOUND IN GENESIS OR NOT, ISN’T IT OBVIOUS THAT HUMAN BEINGS DOMINATE THE PHYSICAL EARTH?  IF THE EARTH IS TO CHANGE FOR BETTER OR WORSE, WE (you and me) HAVE TO DO IT.
Gns1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth,b and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

1:31God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

2:1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he resteda from all his work. 3And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Mt. 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.”

Click on Links:

1 http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysummaries/tp/biblestorysummaries.htm

2 http://www.google.com/search?q=when+did+writing+begin&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=&oe=&rlz=1I7ADFA_en

3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_God

more later.

 

May 01

EINSTEIN’S GOD

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CONVERSATIONS ABOUT GOD AND THE HUMAN SPIRIT

Tippett describes religion and science as “pursuits of cohesive knowledge and underlying truths” and seeks to dispel the erroneous assumption that these two realms of inquiry are in opposition.

Tippett looks to Einstein’s “self-described ‘cosmic religious sense’” as a key example of how spiritual insights deepen the resonance of scientific discoveries and vice versa. As listeners to her Peabody Award–winning radio program, Speaking of Faith, know,

Tippett is driven by a genuine hunger for understanding of how the revelations of religious traditions, spiritual practices, and cutting-edge findings in science and medicine can help us live more giving and fulfilling lives and create a less polarized society. Tippett sparks a mind-expanding synergy by gathering 13 far-reaching and often-moving discussions with luminaries working in an array of disciplines, including physicist Freeman Dyson, Darwin scholar James Moore, and surgeons and writers Sherwin Nuland and Mehmet Oz.

Impressively well informed, thoughtful, intrepid, and articulate, Tippett steadfastly pilots her ardent conversations toward an elegant clarity, ensuring that complex concepts are comprehensible and relevant to everyone. –Donna Seaman

To hear and see more click on:

http://www.booktv.org/Watch/11450/Einsteins…

For Krista’s bio click on:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krista_tippett

Mar 22

HOW RUMORS RUIN LIVES AND HELPING SOMEONE CREATES A FRIEND…

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Few characters in the New Testament have been so sorely miscast as Mary Magdalene, whose reputation as a fallen woman originated not in the Bible, but in a sixth-century sermon by Pope Gregory the Great.


Not only is Mary Magdalene misidentified as the repentant prostitute of legend, meditating and levitating in a cave, but she was not necessarily even a notable sinner: Being possessed by “seven demons” that were exorcised by Jesus, she was arguably more victim than sinner. And the idea, popularized by The Da Vinci Code, that Mary was Jesus’ wife and bore his child, while not totally disprovable, is the longest of long shots.

– U.S. News and World Report[51]

For more click on:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalene

Mark 16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 

Mark 15:47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother Joseph saw where Jesus’ body was laid. 


For more verses…
Click Here.

Oct 01

JESUS: A Story of Enlightenment by Deepak Chopra

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New Realities with Alan Steinfeld interviews Deepak Chopra about his most recent book – JESUS: A Story of Enlightenment. In this book Chopra tells the amazing story of how this spiritual Jesus emerged and why it speaks to all of humanity. By revealing the spiritual evolution of Christ, Chopra provides a fresh and unexpected understanding of a story readers thought they already knew.


As Chopra writes, The Jesus who is left out of the New Testament turns out to be in many ways the most important Jesus for modern times. His aspiration to find salvation vibrates in every heart. If it didnt, the brief career of a controversial, largely despised rabbi wouldnt mean much. Yet that obscure rabbi became imbedded forever in myth and symbol.” The Jesus that emerges in these pages is, like so many of us, a seeker in search of a calling. With JESUS: A Story of Enlightenment, Chopra has created a classic tale that will forever change the way we understand God and the soul.

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