From Dynamic To Disheartened

From My Perspective - - -

Worldview – what is it? Is it completely objective or somewhat subjective? Does it identify itself by and with present trends or by foundational Core Beliefs and Values? Those who attempt to define it state: “It is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing natural philosophy; fundamental existential and normative postulates; or themes, values, emotions, and ethics…it refers to the framework of ideas and beliefs through which an individual interprets the world and interacts with it.” From a German Perspective, it is noted as – “The Weltanschauung of a people originates from the unique world experience of a people, which they experience over several millennia. The language of a people reflects the Weltanschauung of that people in the form of its syntactic structures and untranslatable connotations and its denotations. Worldview can be expressed as the fundamental cognitive, affective, and evaluative presuppositions a group of people make about the nature of things, and which they use to order their lives…” Does that assist you in understanding what a Worldview is or should be? I didn’t think so!

A simpler approach and statement about a Worldview is: “Everyone has a worldview. Whether or not we realize it, we all have certain presuppositions and biases that affect the way we view all of life and reality. A worldview is like a set of lenses which taint our vision or alter the way we perceive the world around us. Our worldview is formed by our education, our upbringing, the culture we live in, the books we read, the media and movies we absorb, etc. For many people their worldview is simply something they have absorbed by osmosis from their surrounding cultural influences. They have never thought strategically about what they believe and wouldn't be able to give a rational defense of their beliefs to others.” A Worldview that borders on the subjective will be flawed and non-constant. It is devoid of reality and rests on hopeful/wishful thinking.

An example of this is given in a New York Times article on October 16^th, 2010 written by Martin Fackler. It is entitled: “Japan Goes From Dynamic To Disheartened.” Following is a description of a Worldview: “Like many members of Japan's middle class, Masato Y. enjoyed a level of affluence two decades ago that was the envy of the world. Masato, a small-business owner, bought a $500,000 condominium, vacationed in Hawaii and drove a late-model Mercedes…his living standards slowly crumbled along with Japan’s overall economy. First, he was forced to reduce trips abroad and then eliminate them. Then he traded the Mercedes for a cheaper domestic model. Last year, he sold his condo — for a third of what he paid for it, and for less than what he still owed on the mortgage he took out 17 years ago.” What happened to cause this disintegration and overall collapse of personal wealth and lifestyle? The answer is seen in this observation: “Few nations in recent history have seen such a striking reversal of economic fortune as Japan…Japan rode one of the great speculative stock and property bubbles of all time in the 1980s to become the first Asian country to challenge the long dominance of the West. But the bubbles popped in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and Japan fell into a slow but relentless decline that neither enormous budget deficits nor a flood of easy money has reversed. For nearly a generation now, the nation has been trapped in low growth and a corrosive downward spiral of prices, known as deflation in the process shriveling…to an afterthought in the global economy…”

Jesus addressed a worldview not based on core values and firm foundations when He taught in Matthew 7:26-27 (ESV): “…everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. "The choice Jesus set before the crowds was both clear and obvious – build on solid rock and endure, or build on shifting sand that will result in collapse and failure. The wise man chooses the rock – the firm foundation and solid core values, whereas the foolish man – grabs for what he deems to be the fastest means to achieve a short-term goal – but in the process loses it all! What choice(s) have you made? Are you among the “dynamic” with a strong faith in God, or among the “disheartened” because your hope was in a man-conceived Weltanschauung? Consider these things with me!

Fixation Of The Moment

From My Perspective - - -

It was reported that more than one-billion people were captivated by what was about to happen! What was it that had and held the attention of people across National and Cultural barriers? The world stopped and watched to see a spectacular rescue of 33 men trapped almost one-half mile under the earth’s surface for 70 days. The NBC News Service reported: “Chile's trapped miners were shuttled up a narrow escape shaft to freedom and joyous reunions on Wednesday in a meticulously planned rescue operation that ended the longest underground entrapment in human history. One after another, the miners climbed into a missile-like steel capsule barely wider than a man's shoulders and took a 15-minute journey through 2,000 feet of rock to the surface…All of the miners were freed Wednesday night in a rescue operation that advanced rapidly without hitches…The last miner out was Luis Alberto Urzua, 54, the shift foreman credited with helping the trapped miners endure 17 days in isolation before Chileans discovered the men had survived the mine collapse. We have done what the entire world was waiting for, he told Chilean President Sebastian Pinera immediately after his rescue. The 70 days that we fought so hard were not in vain. We had strength, we had spirit, we wanted to fight, we wanted to fight for our families, and that was the greatest thing…”

It’s strange how it takes an Actor with access to the President to remind the Nation and World of the tremendous and continuing need in Darfur. Where is Darfur? How did it come into existence? How large is it? Many do not know the answers – it just represents in the minds of those who care a place of need and suffering. Wikipedia indicates: “Most of the region is a semi-arid plain and thus insufficient for supporting a large and complex civilization...An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian Forces…During the mid-18th century the country was wracked by conflict between rival factions, and external war with Sennar and Wadai. In 1875, the weakened kingdom was destroyed by the Egyptians…” And the suffering and need continues to this day.

A Cable News Network is investigating financial matters regarding Haiti. “On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti and devastated the capital city, Port-au-Prince. Although the exact number was difficult to determine, reportedly more than 230,000 people were killed. The Presidential palace, Parliament and many other important structures were destroyed, along with countless homes and businesses, leaving many homeless.” More than one and one-half billion dollars was raised to provide relief for that impoverished nation – but where is it? What happened to that money? Why is it that so little has been done to provide relief for a very needy and suffering people?

The following email from a religious organization – written by Arklie Hooten - appeared today. “Growth is Possible- the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied" (Acts 12:24). It is amazing to watch ministry develop once a need is recognized, defined, people called, and resources committed…Growth is an awesome thing…Folks could just stay the same, with a static blandness, and that would be utterly normal, if it's all we knew. But we're made to grow, to blossom, to be transformed and to flourish. It's in our nature. That is how the Creator created us. It's the glorious thing about a believer's new nature…The Bible has a lot to say about it…especially the New Testament which is full with the theme of growth.God grows His people - 1 Corinthians 3:6-7; The seed sown in good soil grows - Mark 4:8, 20; The temple of God, the church, grows - Ephesians 2:21-22; The milk of the Word makes the Christian grow - 1 Peter 2:2; The church body grows - Ephesians 4:15-16 and Colossians 2:19; The faith and love of the saints grow, and they grow abundantly - 2 Thessalonians 1:3; The gospel grows…among all whom it transforms - Colossians 1:6.” The Foundation and Starting Point for any growth is found in the concluding instruction in II Peter 3:17-18, “…take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” One should be guarded lest there is a response based upon the Fixation of the Moment.” Biblical-type response is a constant – not a fixation! Consider these things with me!

Economics and Faith

From My Perspective - - -

Economics – is it a boring subject or one that is vital to how you exist now and in the near future? The following - even though it is politically motivated – should at least gain some attention (taken from Boortz):

Figures From The Wall Street Journal:

When the Democrats took control of Congress in 2007, the debt held by the public was 36.2% of GDP. It rose to 40.2% the next year. This year it will be about 63.6%, next year 68.6%, then 77% of GDP in 2020. And the Obama administration's budget estimates 218% in 2050. The deficit in 2007 was $160 billion. In the next year the Pelosi-Reid Congress took it up to $458 billion, and when President Obama came into office in 2009 it hit $1.4 trillion. The current 2010 projected deficit is $1.6 trillion, which will lead to a tripling of our national debt from 2008 to 202o.

Budgets Proposed By Presidents:

If Obama had simply kept Bush's spending policies in place, federal deficits over the next eight years would be 60 percent lower. In 2018, we'd have a deficit of just $188 billion, instead of the projected $996 billion under Obama's budget.

The following is excerpted from Jerome Corsi's Red Alert, an online newsletter:

The Institute of International Finance, a group that represents 420 of the world's largest banks and finance houses, has issued yet another call for a one-world global currency…A core group of the world's leading economies need to come together and hammer out an understanding…There needs to be a return to the G-20 commitment to utilize International Monetary Fund special drawing rights to create an international one-world currency alternative to the U.S. dollar as a new standard of foreign-exchange reserves…A July United Nations report called for the replacement of the dollar as the standard for holding foreign-exchange reserves in international trade with a new one-world currency issued by the International Monetary Fund.

An Additional Report states: Senior Citizens Brace For Social Security Freeze (Drudge Report):

Seniors prepared to cut back on everything from food to charitable donations to whiskey as word spread Monday that they will have to wait until at least 2012 to see their Social Security checks increase. The government is expected to announce this week that more than 58 million Social Security recipients will go through a second straight year without an increase in monthly benefits…More than 58.7 million people rely on Social Security checks that average $1,072 monthly. It was the primary source of income for 64 percent of retirees who got benefits in 2008; one-third relied on Social Security for at least 90 percent of their income…Advocates for seniors argue the Consumer Price Index doesn't adequately weigh the costs that most affect older adults, particularly medical care and housing.

Lastly, the following report: Dollar Falls As 'Currency War' Concerns Linger:

The dollar fell against the euro and yen on Monday after the world's top finance officials failed to reach a consensus on measures to head off what some see as a looming ‘currency war’…The euro reached 1.40 dollars, while the US unit hit a fresh 15-year low against the yen amid growing expectation that the Federal Reserve will…bolster the struggling US economy…

The world is facing uncertain times. Question: In “What” or in “Whom” is your Faith and Confidence Placed? Can Almighty God – Will the Faithful God - provide for His people? The answer is – Yes!

Matthew 6:25-34 urges one “not to worry about what you will eat, drink or wear…your Heavenly Father knows…” and for those who seek Him first – all these things will be cared for and provided.

Matthew 17:24-27 records the miracle of the coin in the mouth of the fish that was used by Jesus and His disciples to pay their Temple Tax.

Do you remember I Kings 17:1-15 and the time of famine? The Lord provided for a faithful and caring widow by making certain that her supply of oil and flour remained constant.

The God and Savior who is the same yesterday, today and forever wants us to cast all of our care upon Him, and know of His care for us (I Peter 5:7)! He knows all things (Omniscience); He is able to do all things (Omnipotence); and He is with you wherever you are (Omnipresence). Trust Him! Consider these things with me!

The Ego and Me

From My Perspective - - -

Something to think about: How important is the “Me” in your life? Is “Me” the center of attention? Does everything have to go “My” way? What if people want to challenge “Me” and “My” policies and agenda – what should “My” response and reaction be? In recent weeks, a political event rally and primary results raised a thought or two regarding that which drives a politician and how he/she views the election process – and the significance of the “Me” Factor.

First, Senator Murkowski (Republican from Alaska) lost the recent Primary to Joe Miller, a candidate backed by the Tea Party. After the Absentee Ballot Count began, the following news item appeared that quoted Senator Murkowski: "I don't see a scenario where the primary will turn out in my favor, and that is a reality that is before me at this point in time. And for that reason, and for the good of the state of Alaska…I am now conceding the race for the Republican nomination." Note the use of “Me” and “My” in the concession statement: “…”My” favor”; “…the reality that is before “Me” at this time…” However, a few days later she would surface with a new approach to satisfy the “Me” factor. She decided to run as a write-in candidate so “the people of Alaska will have a choice…” What is the error and folly here? The people of Alaska made their choice and she lost by 1,630 votes.

Second, on October 7, 2010 Abby Phillips writes about an event that occurred in Bowie, Maryland and submits a news item: President Obama Rallies Faithful In Maryland. It states: “President Barack Obama’s message to thousands of African Americans who came to see the man they voted for two years ago was simple: Get out and vote for the Democratic ticket in next month’s mid-term elections, even though he’s not on the ballot. Don’t make me look bad, now, he quipped. The campaign by itself didn’t deliver the change that we need. It just gave us the chance to make the change happen, Obama said. We’ve got a lot at stake right now. On November 2nd, I’m going to need you just as fired up as you were in 2008. I hope you’re ready to fight, he said.” The key phrase emphasizing the “Me” Factor is: “Don’t make “Me” look bad, now…”

In 2007, a book was published with a fascinating title: Take Me to Truth; Undoing the Ego by Nouk and Tomas. Among several areas, one that requires remedy is the commitment one has to the “Me” Factor. In an unrelated writing, taken from Beyond the Frontier of the Mind by Osho, the following thought is shared: “Ego - The False Center.” Osho comments: “…you have two centers. One center you come with, which is given by existence itself. That is the self. And the other center, which is created by the society, is the ego. It is a false thing - and it is a very great trick. Through the ego the society is controlling you. You have to behave in a certain way, because only then does the society appreciate you. You have to walk in a certain way; you have to laugh in a certain way; you have to follow certain manners, a morality, a code. Only then will the society appreciate you, and if it doesn't, your ego will be shaken. And when the ego is shaken, you don't know where you are, who you are.” Once again, the “Me” Factor is front and center.

The Apostle Paul understood the dangers and limitations of the “Me” Factor. In Galatians 2:20-21,The Message Translations states: “I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not mine, but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.” He dealt the “Me” Factor and the “Ego” detractor a death blow once and for all. It requires the “I” to be crucified with and to Christ. Being obsessed with the centrality of “Me” is like one standing in quicksand. Consider these things with “Me”? No! Let us consider these things together and learn to walk humbly with our God and Savior!

Hanging By A Thread

From My Perspective - - -

Dana Milbank, Political Reporter for the Washington Post, wrote a column with the Headline: “Mormon Prophecy Behind Glenn Beck's Message.” The column states: “In one of his first appearances on Fox News, Glenn Beck sent a coded message to the nation's six million Mormons -- or at least those Mormons who believe in what the Latter-day Saints call the White Horse Prophecy.” The coded message was: “We are at the place where the Constitution hangs in the balance, Beck told Bill O'Reilly on November 14, 2008, just after President Obama's election. I feel the Constitution is hanging in the balance right now, hanging by a thread unless the good Americans wake up." Milbank’s “coded” phrase is: “hanging by a thread.”

Milbank continues: “The Constitution is hanging by a thread” - - Most Americans would have heard this as just another bit of overblown commentary and thought nothing more of it. But to those familiar with the White Horse Prophecy, it was an unmistakable signal. The phrase is often attributed to the Prophet Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon Church. Smith is believed to have said in 1840 that when the Constitution hangs by a thread, elders of the Mormon Church will step in -- on the proverbial white horse -- to save the country. When the Constitution of the United States hangs, as it were, upon a single thread, they will have to call for the Mormon Elders to save it from utter destruction; and they will step forth and do it, Brigham Young, Smith's successor as head of the church, wrote in 1855.

If this coded phrase is supposed to activate the Mormon elders who will preserve the Constitution of the USA – How will they be able to do it? Worldwide, there are less than 14 million Mormons – almost half of them – 6.3 million live in the USA. Milbank gives no hint as to how this coded phrase – “hanging by a thread” – would trigger a national takeover in order to preserve the US Constitution.

One is caused to wonder if Milbank misunderstands the distinction between colloquialisms and conspiracies. A “colloquialism” is: “a word or phrase appropriate to conversation & other informal situations…” A “conspiracy” is: “an evil, unlawful, treacherous, or surreptitious plan formulated in secret by two or more persons; a plot; a combination of persons for a secret, unlawful, or evil purpose…” The phrase: “Hanging by a thread” is an Idiom that has varied meaning. The Idiom-Free-Dictionary illustrates with the following examples: “(1) if something hangs by a thread, it is likely to fail in the near future - Peace and democracy hang by a thread in this troubled country; (2) to be in danger of having something unlucky or bad happen - Roberta was told that her job hung by a thread, and she needed to be more serious about it. For several days after the accident, his life hung by a thread; (3) to hang by something very thin, such as a thread or a hair. The tiniest part of the mobile hung by a thread, the rest are on plastic cords.”

The Bible records the rise and fall of armies and nations. An interesting conspiracy theory appears in II Kings 6:8-13, “Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said: I will set up my camp in such and such a place. The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there. So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places. This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them: Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel? None of us, my lord the king, said one of his officers, but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom. Go, find out where he is, the king ordered, so I can send men and capture him." Conspiracy? No! Divine Revelation? Yes!

One of the dangers for our nation is the absence of God being our frame of reference within our culture. The Church has diminished its responsibility and message. The Schools have abandoned Prayer and Bible Reading. Government Officials are hesitant to reference God and Biblical Standards! This brings us to the precipice where Psalm 14:1 states: “The fool says in his heart – There is no God.” Will you be among those who are wise and put on the “whole armor of God” and “Stand”? Consider these things with me!

Facing Obvious Choices

From My Perspective - - -

What one thing dominates the landscape of our lives? Are we robotic and/or habit driven, or do we have goals and objectives as part of a life-plan? Have we become avant-garde in terms of how we approach life and its consequences? One meaning for avant-garde is: “a pushing of the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm, or the status quo, primarily in the cultural realm. The notion of the existence of the avant-garde is considered by some to be a hallmark of modernism, as distinct from postmodernism. Postmodernism posits that the age of the constant pushing of boundaries is no longer with us.” If not avant-garde, have we become ambivalent? Ambivalence is: “uncertainty or fluctuation, esp. when caused by inability to make a choice or by a simultaneous desire to say or do two opposite or conflicting things. In Psychology: the coexistence within an individual of positive and negative feelings toward the same person, object, or action, simultaneously drawing him or her in opposite directions.”

When one faces obvious choices, a Decision must be made. A Choice necessitates a decision! Last week (09-27-10), The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled: “Why So Many People Can't Make Decisions.” The article states the following: “Some people meet, fall in love and get married right away. Others can spend hours in the sock aisle at the department store, weighing the pros and cons of buying a pair of wool argyles instead of cotton striped. Seeing the world as black and white, in which choices seem clear, or shades of gray can affect people's path in life, from jobs and relationships to which political candidate they vote for, researchers say. People who often have conflicting feelings about situations—the shades-of-gray thinkers—have more of what psychologists call ambivalence, while those who tend toward unequivocal views have less ambivalence. High ambivalence may be useful in some situations, and low ambivalence in others, researchers say. And although people don't fall neatly into one camp or the other, in general, individuals who tend toward ambivalence do so fairly consistently across different areas of their lives.”

The article presents the distinction in decision-making in the following comparison:

People Who See The World As Black And White Tend To...

• Speak their mind or make quick decisions.
• Be more predictable in making decisions (e.g., who they vote for).
• Be less anxious about making wrong choices.
• Have relationship conflicts that are less drawn out.
• Be less likely to consider others' points of view.

People Who See The World In Shades Of Gray Tend To...

• Procrastinate or avoid making decisions if possible.
• Feel more regret after making decisions.
• Be thoughtful about making the right choice.
• Stay longer in unhappy relationships.
• Appreciate multiple points of view.

As the Children of Israel saw their entry into The Promised Land, The Lord declared to them – Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (NLT Selected) – “Today I am giving you a choice between prosperity and disaster, between life and death. I have commanded you today to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands…If you do this, you will live and become a great nation, and the Lord your God will bless you…But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen…then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed…Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses…Choose to love the Lord your God and to obey him and commit yourself to him, for he is your life. Then you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." An obvious choice and decision – what would you choose? What would your decision be? Prayerfully make the right, wise, best decision that squares with God’s plan and will for your life. Consider these things with me!

Emergencies and Other Stuff

From My Perspective - - -

The journey of life is exciting at best and uncertain at worst. The unpredictable and unexpected can impact the most organized individuals as well as those who limit themselves in terms of the potentials of life. At the very least, everyone would be well-advised to know what to do when an emergency arises and who to call at such a time. A friend of my brother shared the following suggestions and recommendations:

Emergency Telephone Numbers– In the long-run, these are more effective than 911

When – - -

• You are sad, phone John 14
• You have sinned, phone Psalm 51
• People have failed you, phone Psalm 27
• It feels as though God is far from you, phone Psalm 139
• Your faith needs stimulation, phone Hebrews 11
• You are alone and scared, phone Psalm 23
• You are worried, phone Matthew 8:19-34
• You are hurt and critical, phone 1 Corinthians 13
• You wonder about Christianity, phone 2 Corinthians 5:15-18
• You feel like an outcast, phone Romans 8:31-39
• You are seeking peace, phone Matthew 11:25-30
• It feels as if the world is bigger than God, phone Psalm 90
• You need Christ like insurance, phone Romans 8:1-30
• You are leaving home for a trip , phone Psalm 121
• You are praying for yourself, phone Psalm 87
• You require courage for a task, phone Joshua 1
• Inflation and investments are hogging your thoughts, phone Mark 10:17-31
• You are depressive, phone Psalm 27
• Your bank account is empty, phone Psalm 37
• You lose faith in mankind, phone 1 Corinthians 13
• It looks like people are unfriendly, phone John 15
• You are losing hope, phone Psalm 126
• You feel the world is small compared to you, phone Psalm 19
• You want to carry fruit, phone John 15
• Paul's secret for happiness, phone Colossians 3:12-17
• With big opportunity/ discovery, phone Isaiah 55
• To get along with other people, phone Romans 12

ALTERNATE NUMBERS- - -

• For dealing with fear, call Psalm 47
• For security, call Psalm 121:3
• For assurance, call Mark 8:35
• For reassurance, call Psalm 145:18

All These Numbers May Be Phoned Directly.No Operator Assistance Is Necessary.All Lines To Heaven Are Available 24 Hours A Day.Feed Your Faith, And Doubt Will Starve To Death.

Your life can have purpose, meaning and satisfaction. If you look merely at the circumstances of life, it can cause one to become discouraged and/or depressed. One study suggests that one out of every ten people is depressed. There are Resources – and – The Source available to you. Isaiah 55:6 (NLT) continues to be a valid option: “Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.” Another important and valid option is Psalm 119:105 (NIV), “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” Be sure to retain and utilize these Emergency Numbers. Consider these things with me.