Friday, June 25, 2010
Friday, November 20, 2009
Value and Power of Faith
(also from the book Seven Faith Tribes)
Intellectuals tell us that faith will fade away as people awake to the frivolous nature of belief in a higher power but too many have had it proven too real to them.
Faith continues to be an unassailable source of reasonable hope in an unreasonably hopeless world.
What are the alternatives?
Rely on politicians and bureaucrats, and in the systems they offer.
Trust the business world and the marketplace to solve life's deepest issues.
Live for pleasure and allow the entertainment industry to rule.
Believe the theories and spin that the educational system offers as "truth" until new discoveries or revelations shatter those pronouncements.
Faith provides meaning, hope, health, and a cohesive narrative to make sense of one's life and give it direction.
Intellectuals tell us that faith will fade away as people awake to the frivolous nature of belief in a higher power but too many have had it proven too real to them.
Faith continues to be an unassailable source of reasonable hope in an unreasonably hopeless world.
What are the alternatives?
Rely on politicians and bureaucrats, and in the systems they offer.
Trust the business world and the marketplace to solve life's deepest issues.
Live for pleasure and allow the entertainment industry to rule.
Believe the theories and spin that the educational system offers as "truth" until new discoveries or revelations shatter those pronouncements.
Faith provides meaning, hope, health, and a cohesive narrative to make sense of one's life and give it direction.
12 commitments of great followers
More thoughts from the book Seven Faith Tribes:
Leaders need to have followers in order to lead. Some of us may be leaders, but we are ALL followers in some way. If we want those we choose to follow to be great leaders, we need to do less compromising and expect more of what we really want. Specifically this applies politically, but it also applies at home, in our communities, in our faith groups, and in business.
With that thought in mind, look at this list of what it means to be a great follower:
Know what you are looking for in a leader
Live and die for the vision
Refuse to settle for anything but the best
Provide constructive feedback
Hold leaders to the highest reasonable standards,
and expect them to do the same for you
Always place community interest above self interest
Be proud of your leaders
Become a great team player
Perform your duties with excellence
Add value all the time
Focus on the future
Keep growing personally
(For more details, read the book)
And while we are on the subject of leaders here are a few more thoughts:
Great leaders
appreciate the past
live in the present
and think in the future
Leadership is an act of service,
not an exercise of power.
Never stop increasing in wisdom and knowledge.
When you think you know it all,
you have just lost the heartbeat of life.
Leaders need to have followers in order to lead. Some of us may be leaders, but we are ALL followers in some way. If we want those we choose to follow to be great leaders, we need to do less compromising and expect more of what we really want. Specifically this applies politically, but it also applies at home, in our communities, in our faith groups, and in business.
With that thought in mind, look at this list of what it means to be a great follower:
Know what you are looking for in a leader
Live and die for the vision
Refuse to settle for anything but the best
Provide constructive feedback
Hold leaders to the highest reasonable standards,
and expect them to do the same for you
Always place community interest above self interest
Be proud of your leaders
Become a great team player
Perform your duties with excellence
Add value all the time
Focus on the future
Keep growing personally
(For more details, read the book)
And while we are on the subject of leaders here are a few more thoughts:
Great leaders
appreciate the past
live in the present
and think in the future
Leadership is an act of service,
not an exercise of power.
Never stop increasing in wisdom and knowledge.
When you think you know it all,
you have just lost the heartbeat of life.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Seven Faith Tribes by George Barna
I highly recommend reading this book. It is well researched and enlightening in that research. It is a call to action and a vision on how to bring America back to greatness. America has gone through many National Identities including: Revolutionaries- rebelling against religious restrictions and heavy taxes, Pioneer- exploration and entrepreneurialism, Superpower- economic and military, Vast Consumers- everything from entertainment to food. Now our primary focus seems to be Individualism and Entitlement.Individualism may feel good in the moment but it detracts from the strength of society and is very divisive.
This book takes a look at the worldviews of those living in America and then divides us into seven faith groups including: Casual Christians(68%) Captive Christians(16%) Jews(2%) Mormons(1.3%) Panthiests(1.4%) Muslims(0.4%) Skeptics(11%)
He has chapters on each of the faith groups full of data that tells what by our own perceptions we believe and how we view the world, then he also includes by the data what we do and how we live(how those beliefs translate into action)
From this data he has pulled 20 values that we all share in varying degrees.
Those are:
represent the truth well
develop inner peace and purity
seek peace with others
demonstrate wisdom
be forgiving
practice self-restraint
get yourself together before criticizing
invest in young people
respect life
treat others how you want to be treated
be a good citizen
justify people's respect
avoid harmful behavior
honor the elderly
be generous
do not judge or condemn others
be mutually respectful of human rights
cultivate civility
belong to a caring community
facilitate basic skills
He asks the question "Who do we want to be?" (national identity)
and proposes: expand our experience as world leader in becoming a peacemaker, compassionate ambassadors of justice, sensitive to the basic needs of others around the world. Basically a global servant
We need to model: respect , love, generosity, & care for the less fortunate
There are other things from this book that I will address in additional blog posts such as:
different worldviews
12 commitments of great followers
7 components of unity
value of faith and responsibility of the faith tribe in achieving the national identity
Friday, August 28, 2009
Time
All time is Now. It is only the limitations of mortality that make it difficult to comprehend.
Our perception of the present is limited by our ability to observe and our perceived position in existence.
Our comprehension of the future is limited by our incomplete knowledge of the consequences of every choice. For each choice that we know the consequence we can see (or foresee) the future.
Our view of the past is limited by our ability to remember. The more perfectly we remember, the more we can view or perceive the past in the present.
Our perception of the present is limited by our ability to observe and our perceived position in existence.
Our comprehension of the future is limited by our incomplete knowledge of the consequences of every choice. For each choice that we know the consequence we can see (or foresee) the future.
Our view of the past is limited by our ability to remember. The more perfectly we remember, the more we can view or perceive the past in the present.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Twisted Words
twisted words
distorting truth
deceiving innocent
destroying good
distorting truth
deceiving innocent
destroying good
increasing sorrows
accelerating bondage
freedom lost
deception reigns
Awaken Courageous!
stand fast in Truth
Highlight Joy
break through darkness
Awaken Wisdom!
replace sorrow
comfort (the) suppressed
Let Truth Reign!
freedom lost
deception reigns
Awaken Courageous!
stand fast in Truth
Highlight Joy
break through darkness
Awaken Wisdom!
replace sorrow
comfort (the) suppressed
Let Truth Reign!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Justification, Purification, Sanctification
Yesterday in scripture class, we were discussing Moses 6. Part of that discussion was determining the meaning of and differences of the words Justification, Sanctification, and Purification. This is my understanding and opinion as shared in the class.
Moses 6:60
Justification:
to be made just, or free from guilt and sin. Justification is a daily process. As we work daily to over come sin, we are in the process. The Holy Ghost helps to accelerate this process by revealing where we still need work, warning of temptations, teaching the baby steps of skills we still need to develop, testifying of truths that help us make those life changing reversals.
Sanctification:
Sanctification is not something we have any power in our self to do. It is being perfect. We need to be perfect to be in our Heavenly Fathers presence. Once we have made a mistake of any kind, we are no longer perfect. We cannot go back and unmake the mistake. Only one who is perfect can step in and fulfill the requirements of the law. That is where the mercy and grace come in. Jesus Christ through the atonement steps in for us and fulfills the requirements of the law. Through that power, it takes away all sin and mistakes. We become once again perfect, like the mistake had never happened. Christ then owns our debt, and the required price is repentance. Repentance is basically turning our hearts back to Christ and doing our very best to do all that we are capable of doing. Though we may remember our sins, especially so that we can remember the lessons we have learned from them, with repentance, God will remember them no more. It is because the price has been paid by the atonement and we are once again perfect, as if the mistake had never been made in the first place.
Purification:
The act of purifying our hearts. Intellectually we choose to be obedient to the principles and the laws. We may or may not completely understand the need for those laws. After time and experience we have a new understanding and the law becomes written on our hearts. When it is written in our hearts, there is no longer a need for the law. It becomes so much a part of who we are, that we would never transgress that law under any circumstance. It is the difference between knowing in our head and knowing in our heart. Those things that we only know on an intellectual level we will sometimes still transgress, depending on the circumstances. When it has moved to our heart, we can say our heart is pure in regard to that particular law or principle. The more laws and principles that we are obedient to over time, and with experience, become written in our hearts, the more pure in heart we become. That is the process of purification.
Any questions or comments please ask. I can always use help in trying to clarify my viewpoints and understanding and being able to express them verbally.
Moses 6:60
Justification:
to be made just, or free from guilt and sin. Justification is a daily process. As we work daily to over come sin, we are in the process. The Holy Ghost helps to accelerate this process by revealing where we still need work, warning of temptations, teaching the baby steps of skills we still need to develop, testifying of truths that help us make those life changing reversals.
Sanctification:
Sanctification is not something we have any power in our self to do. It is being perfect. We need to be perfect to be in our Heavenly Fathers presence. Once we have made a mistake of any kind, we are no longer perfect. We cannot go back and unmake the mistake. Only one who is perfect can step in and fulfill the requirements of the law. That is where the mercy and grace come in. Jesus Christ through the atonement steps in for us and fulfills the requirements of the law. Through that power, it takes away all sin and mistakes. We become once again perfect, like the mistake had never happened. Christ then owns our debt, and the required price is repentance. Repentance is basically turning our hearts back to Christ and doing our very best to do all that we are capable of doing. Though we may remember our sins, especially so that we can remember the lessons we have learned from them, with repentance, God will remember them no more. It is because the price has been paid by the atonement and we are once again perfect, as if the mistake had never been made in the first place.
Purification:
The act of purifying our hearts. Intellectually we choose to be obedient to the principles and the laws. We may or may not completely understand the need for those laws. After time and experience we have a new understanding and the law becomes written on our hearts. When it is written in our hearts, there is no longer a need for the law. It becomes so much a part of who we are, that we would never transgress that law under any circumstance. It is the difference between knowing in our head and knowing in our heart. Those things that we only know on an intellectual level we will sometimes still transgress, depending on the circumstances. When it has moved to our heart, we can say our heart is pure in regard to that particular law or principle. The more laws and principles that we are obedient to over time, and with experience, become written in our hearts, the more pure in heart we become. That is the process of purification.
Any questions or comments please ask. I can always use help in trying to clarify my viewpoints and understanding and being able to express them verbally.
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