Blogs

Have you noticed a new emphasis on core strength? This is an important aspect of fitness. Have you noticed that everyone has a particular area of emphasis in their life? Based on education and even more so experience they have become an expert on that subject. Have you seen that this is true in the people you meet, even apart from academic credentials? In my body are many members and like the organs in your body each serves a unique purpose. Each is necessary and all should be honored and respected for what they contribute.

Do you believe in mercy and justice? Which do you think is more important? Can you see that it is difficult to have both at the same time? Do you find that people tend to lean toward one or the other? Those who prefer justice should have a high regard for the principles of justice. This would include a uniform standard applied to every person. But have you seen judgmental people who are eager to excuse their friends and condemn their enemies by holding them to different standards? So it is difficult to hold mercy and justice at the same time, but it is really easy to hold neither one.

Do you desire to acquire as much information and knowledge as possible? Inquisitive curiosity is a good trait. Are you willing to change according to what you find? This is a more difficult step, and not as many take it. Is it beneficial for you to eat your vegetables? It is one thing to know that they are good for you and another to have them for lunch or dinner. No degree of knowledge about their nutritional value will help you if you don’t eat them. This is obvious, but can you extend the principle to other areas of truth? Question all things, and embrace that which is good.

We are excited about our brand new book which just came out last week, Overflow of the Spirit! It is going to make releasing the nine manifestation of the Spirit an easy, daily experience in your life which you can flow in with confidence from this day forward. I wish I had this information 50 years ago.

Do you tell everything to everyone? Only a fool utters all his mind. Yet you do need people in your life in whom you can confide; to whom you can tell everything. This is a human necessity. Otherwise your secrets will eat you from the inside out. You have experienced the release of verbally sharing your burden with someone else. Yet you are selective in whom you choose to do this with. What criteria do you use for selection? Does it have to be someone you have known for a long time? You can unburden yourself to a stranger if you sense trust, interest, compassion and empathy.

Would you say that you know me? Scientists use the idea of a conceptual model to describe their current understanding of phenomena. These models can be improved by further investigation. So is your knowledge of me comprehensive? It is okay with me if you think of your current understanding of me as a conceptual model. Has your comprehension of me grown with time? Hopefully so. I want to show you more about myself. Are you prepared to receive greater revelation of me? Are you prepared to let go of misunderstandings that you have acquired about me?

Do you understand as a matter of basic doctrine that I am everywhere? Are you more aware of my presence in some places than in others? Populated places are influenced by the people who live there. Their beliefs and values affect the spiritual atmosphere, and discerning people are aware of this. I am there too, but if I speak in a still small voice it may be more difficult for you to discern my presence. Have you noticed the more neutral atmosphere in uninhabited places? You may find it easier to discern my presence in places that are free of other influences.

Your car is a vehicle. You use it to go from one place to another, and it requires fuel and maintenance to keep doing this. Do you view your body as a temple? You could also think of it as a vehicle. You can walk from one place to another, but in a more profound sense, your body is a vehicle for your spiritual journey through life. Do you wash your car and keep the oil changed because you depend on it for transportation? How important is it to you to have a dependable vehicle for your spiritual journey?

Have you ever heard of the human mind being compared to a computer, or vice versa? This may have been a useful way to understand early computers. Now that computers can beat human opponents at chess, does it seem that computers have surpassed people?  But computers are machines and will never equal people. Computers will never have free agency, will not have compassion, empathy, or a conscience. Computers will never love and they are not alive, as you are. No matter how fast and powerful they are at processing instructions they are not fearfully and wonderfully made, and you are.

Does your church have a music ministry? This position is invariably referred to as worship leader. How do you evaluate the performance of a worship leader? You don’t do it by watching them or listening to them. If they are effective leaders you should see the congregation respond by entering into worship. If they sit silently and passively are they spectators or participants? It is possible to have a spiritual experience without an outward indication, but if the people are not involved perhaps those on the stage should be called performers.