Is Government Responsible for the Increase in Poverty?

Many people think the causes of the terrible increase in poverty, homeless and violence can be found in Washington D.C. Although I do not agree that government is totally responsible, in my view, the policies of DC have made the situation worse, much worse!

Watch the enclosed video of a seminar we did several years ago and see what you think. In it we lay out correlations of several human foibles that are linked directly to poverty. After watching, tell me what you think government policies have to do with the problems we lay out.

I'm From the Government and I am here to helpYou

In my youth a comedian named Brother Dave was famous for a skit about Federal Government "Help". During the Depression, many people planted gardens in order to survive. One day a man in a black suit driving a new Ford drove up to  a farm and said to the sweating farmer, "I'm from the Government and I am here to help you".

The hard working farmer asked, "Great! I need help. What can you do for me?"

The Federal man said, "Plow that garden up!"

That is still going on. Beware anyone bearing free gifts, especially if they are from DC. They always make it worse.

Taking advice from a Government Bureaucrat about fixing poverty is like taking marital advice form a teenage girl. All emotion and no wisdom or experience.

How to Help the Poor

The Pope has said many great things that we as Christians can support.

1. He is focusing on leading with Love not The Law.
2. Leading with Love is biblical. Leading with the Law is not.
3. His message is good and true but incomplete. To implement what he says as an institution or church we must also develop infrastructures that prepare care givers for the poor and ways to help them leave poverty thinking behind.

If you want to love the poor and destitute as well as the sick and traumatized masses I will support your efforts and assist you in developing systems that deliver them from their pain.

Get my books from our web store and from Amazon. They do more than preach a big picture of love and acceptance. they teach how to impact people for generations.

Go here for materials. 

Work with the Poor and Disenfranchised

I grew up in a poor home and know the limitations of poverty. Thankfully we were not part of the generational poverty we see now so we worked hard, saved our money and got an education.

Many young people are stuck in a system that promotes generational poverty. That is tragic and we need to put our best thinking caps on to figure out ways to help people break that cycle.

Breaking any generational cycle is difficult because all of us are like the fish of the sea. We swim in whatever water we grow up in. To suggest that fresh water is better than salt water sounds irrational and impossible. Poor people have poor ways, my dad always said. They grow up in poverty with a lack of education, poor habits, overspending, etc because that is what they know.

But poor people can change. They can develop positive, healthy patterns if they get a chance. DOHN Community Recovery School in Cincinnati is giving high school students an opportunity to learn new habits and thrive in a school that supports them in their struggle.

Healthy Visions, Inc., led by Carole Adlard received a grant from the state to prepare 25 Mentors to volunteer to go into the school and support 25 students as they study, learn and discover ways to prosper. I spent the day with those Mentor Trainees today going over the keys to building a successful relationship with those young men and women.

Can you support us in our effort? See more here.

The Pope has been preaching compassion and service to the poor during his visit and I agree that it is necessary for us Christians to do what we can to help them break the cycle of poverty.

Thanks for your prayers and support.

What Do We Do to Heal the Heart?

I stated last time that the foundation of brokenness in life can be summarized as Four Factors. I almost bought a house one time that had a crooked foundation. We knew something was wrong because there were cracks in the wall and some floors were not quite level.

The salesman attempted to assure me that they were only surface problems that could be fixed simply with a little paint and carpentry. However, I had a carpenter look it over. He knew about the importance of a solid foundation and he spotted the real issues quickly.

 "The foundation is broken and the entire house is sinking on one side. It can only be fixed by a major construction project that completely replaces the foundation."

Many writers that focus on human issues fail to deal with foundational brokenness. A little paint will not fix it. Shame is not a surface problem caused by being teased or bullied. The fear of transparency comes from shame not the other way around. The answers suggested to get rid us of shame are things like, "Stop bullying" or "Give everyone a trophy even if they fail" or "Just start being transparent".

If the problems are foundational, it will take a deeper and more basic answer. Who fixes foundations?

Get the book The Healing Release of the Holy Spirit to understand the foundational issues.

One of My Books on Amazon

My very competent co-worker, Andrea, has been able to wade through my book on renewing the mind and get it on Amazon.com. It is an E Book title Power Christian Thinking, and you can download it on a PDF and read it on any computer.

Just put my name in Amazon.com and my books will come up. Some are old versions I wrote years ago and the materials are still valid but Power Christian Thinking is up to date and ready to help people Take Every Though Captive to Christ's Love.

Here is the page on Amazon.com 

Bene Brown and Other Experts Point out Human Pain

The Vicious Cycle of Poverty illustrates how "The Four Factors of Human Frailty" bring cause from generation to generation.

If you have ever heard Bene Brown speak or read her materials you will probably decide she is not only a great communicator but an insightful professional. I am not expert on her ideas but what I see I like.

My main problem with most of the presentations about Guilt and Shame from Bene and others is missing some thing. Like most people who write from a humanistic, non-theistic point of view, they start with current human frailties. To them,   individuals and families cause the Guilt and Shame Feelings we all have.

My professors nor current writers have insights into the pain and shame fail to look at the "First Cause" of Guilt and Shame.  In fact, they rarely discuss root causes but focus on symptoms rather than causes. Why do so many people act in ways that harm others and cause so much Guilt and Shame?

Let me say here that emotional, relational and mental problems, in every culture, society, religion and psychological experience can be boiled down to four basic issues.

1. Deep Brokenness of mind, body, spirit and relationships that cause unstoppable imperfections. Bondage/Disease

2. A lack of Identity about "Who we are in this huge universe".
Shame or Loss of Person hood

3. Patterns, habits and behaviors that hurt ourselves and others. Pride or Rebellion

4. A sense of failure and remorse about our lack of perfection. Guilt or Conviction

These are the root causes of all harmful behavior and the resulting emotional problems in life. If every human is tempted to behave in harmful ways, then every human being is harmed while on earth.

Why is every person on the planet beset by temptations to cause harm and thus be harmed by others? These are the root causes and there must be ways to deal with them. No model that fails to identify the roots and then align the answers to those root causes will be like a man that blows the seeds off a dandelion but never digs out the roots.

My book, The Healing Release of the Holy Spirit offers my explanations. See what you think. It might blow your mind.

Crises are Multiplying

The pain and trauma happening daily in our society and world is overwhelming every institution we have.

Schools are unable to teach and produce people that can function.

Counseling Centers are unable to handle all the requests for assistance.

Doctors are unable to see a patient for more than six minutes no matter how complicated the illness.

Hospitals are unable to handle all the deep illnesses that people are bringing to them. Veterans are dying while on a waiting list!

Nursing homes are facing a tsunami of old and fragile adults with 10,000 new Baby Boomers reaching age 65 every day.

Illegal immigrants are flooding into America and the Western Democracies from every poor country at an alarming rate further straining the resources of every institution. There are 7 Billion people in the world want to live here and run the nation. I do not blame them. If I lived anywhere else I would fly to the USA myself.

What can we do? How do people of compassion and conscience respond to the hordes?

Speak and Live the Truth in Love.

In St. John 8:31-32 Jesus said, If you live and get your sustenance from me you shall be my students with the truth that will set you free.

That has several meanings but let me point out one of them

Truth means: Unveiled Reality! The essence of a matter. 

We must face reality in life and in this situation. What are the facts? There are not enough Doctors, Psychotherapists, Social Workers, Teachers, Counselors, ETC to make a dent in the tsunami.

The only hope is each school, community group, church and para-church organization to multiply the health and maturity of their people. 

Here is how. 

Want Hell at Home?

I just heard of a Country and Western song. It has the lyrics:

Why would I want to kiss those lying lips that have chewed my _____________ all day?

That is what leads to divorce and bitterness for 50 years. Jesus says it will lead us to hell on earth and as a family counselor I have see a lot of very unnecessary hell on earth.

The fourth level of conflict is hard to stop. It is when we get so bitter and frustrated that we attempt to change our mate by attacking him or her viciously with CONTEMPT!

4.  Contempt:  Personal insult, shame mocking, character attacks.  Opposite of admiration and respect.

4.  The Result: High anxiety and stress. Heavy heart beat. Shallow breathing fight/flight response  hyper vigilant, brain freezes  Reactive and Extreme Fight or Flight!

One who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the hell fire. Mt 5:21-22 Character attacks cause severe emotional wounds.

Once it starts the downward cycle leads to death unless there is real repentance. Find a great therapist!! 

Read Humpty Dumpty and watch our videos. 

Is All Family Conflict Bad or Sinful?

The ways Bitterness causes trouble for us.

According to my mother, the answer is "YES"! One time I asked her why she was so mad and she genuinely answered, "I am not mad just frustrated. Christians do not get mad."

To me, the "frustration" of a red haired Irishwoman looked a lot like mad!

Is that what the Bible teaches about emotions we call anger? Well, no. In Ephesians 4:26, St. Paul, from a psychological sense, wrote some incredibly insightful statements about relationships. He  said: "You can be upset and angry but be careful and do not sin or "miss the mark" with that dangerous feeling.

He added, "Do not let the day pass and a spirit of bitterness overtake you." These are two completely different terms and they have very different consequences. The first means angry feelings that spill out suddenly. That happens and we cannot hide it. It can assist us in dealing with a COMPLAINT.

The second term "bitterness" means means "A settled mindset of demanding punishment from the object of your feelings."

Paul was very well acquainted with feelings of anger and bitterness. I think it was his "Thorn in the flesh." He wrestled with it for a long time.

So, to summarize, feelings of hurt and anger are normal and placed in us by the Spirit for protection. It brings the fight or flight impulse that can save us from danger when we automatically react to a threat without thinking.

Bitterness is a longer term issue that eats us up inside. This is great psychology and ministers life to the psyche or soul. Read my books on thoughts and feelings.

The Beginning of Bad a Relationship

3.  Criticism:  A vague blaming. "You" statements.  Focus on person not behavior.  A flaw in person.  Global statements.  Somewhat attacking.     

3. Raised anxiety and fear.  Raised blood pressure, increased BPM& breathing rate, muscles tighten, eyes dilate, reduced digestion, elevated blood sugar, etc.  Increase in Flight/Fight

Anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca is answerable to the Sanhedrin.

Raca is calling a brother or sister “stupid”. A lack of listening and patiently allowing others to have a private opinion. 

Read Hope and Change for Humpty Dumpty and watch our videos on relationships!

Damaging Relationships? #2

2. Complaint:  A specific behavioral statement.  Healthy "I" statements (I want, I think, I don't like. May have some anger but is handled well.

Personal Results:  Slight anxiety & fear.  Increased heart rate-BPM & breathing muscles tense. Minor Fight/Flight

Jesus said: Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. (Attack or Attend?)

Summary: Be careful about anger, bitterness and rage. It is not always a sin but it must be handled carefully. Judge ourselves or we shall be judged

Read our materials and view our videos on edifying speech!

Jesus Tells Us About Relationalships

Here is the exact correlation between Jesus and John Gottman. It just took Dr. John 2000 years to catch up with the "Lowly Jesus"!  When I left to enroll in Grad School with a focus on Counseling college Students, my church friend warned me to "Stay out of Psychology. It is from the devil."

!. Contented and at peace with others.

This statement has a very high correlation with reality. All psychological research suggests it is true. Just look at how much Jesus knew about relationships.

John Gottman says: Relaxed.  Thinking and feeling calm Male heart rate:  72  Female: 80

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. I tell you not to get mad at each other.

Jesus brings a new teaching about caring in addition to physical relationships. This is critically important in family life. 

Death or life are in the power of the tongue. Proverbs 18:21

If you want to promote health, welfare and peace, edify others in speech and behavior. Here is a book on how to do it. Hope and Change for Humpty Dumpty.

Politically Correct but Intellectually Dead

I have been thinking a lot about the ridiculous nature of the Politically Correct Movement. The last few days I read about the rush to outlaw all references to gender. The University of Tennessee hired a person to deal with sexual issues. Her credentials, as far as I can see, are little more than being confused about her own sexual identity! As a result she is determined to make everyone else confused.

One of her fanatical missions is to forbid any student or faculty member from referring to others as he or she. From now on they will all be ze. To a rational person this is unscientific and silly. It is especially galling that it is at a university campus. Universities have historically practiced freedom of thought, freedom of speech and freedom to do scientific research.

Several Ivy Leagues schools also seem to be falling into the trap of extremely irrational, hyper emotional, anti scientific, and Stalinist era speech codes.

Race and sex are especially volatile areas where some are rushing headlong into developing rules that are antithetical to a free society and will lead to more friction, conflict and violence. They will also lead to the persecution of the minorities they are designed to protect. When  minorities really tick off the majority, the reactions will be tough.

Once a society abandons their Jewish/Christian roots and its rational basis, everything tends to fall apart. 

The Bible and Psychological Science

Let's face facts. Most hard scientists don't consider things like Psychology, Psychiatry, Social Work, etc to be real science. Only math, chemistry, astronomy, physics, etc are scientifically based.  In many ways they are correct. The ideas and conclusions of Psychology have never been based on real scientific data but more on values, morals, religion and philosophy.

But what little research there is tracks very closely with the teachings and principles of the Bible. My last few posts have been based on research by Dr. John Gottman and his associates> They placed electronic sensors on couples to gauge how they reacted in discussions and arguments.  He can predict divorce with 90% outcomes if people attack one another. Of course, we can change but few that love to attack will change into caring people.

He saw that when a couple or family member argues, it affects the bodily response of the other persons.  It varies dramatically based on how their mate acts.

Discussions that are:
1. Contented and Harmonious: The bod responds with Stable Blood Pressure
2. Complaining Brings a Slightly raised BP and anxiety
3. Criticism raises the stakes and causes Greatly raised BP
4. Contempt brings on a Hyper anxious and spiked BP.

This tracks exactly with what Jesus taught in His Sermon on the Mount. How did Jesus know about the mental, emotional, relational and physical reactions of others to our behavior? 

Tomorrow I will show the exact correlations.

Get our teachings on being Contented and Peaceful. 

We also have FREE videos on these topics. Prevent your next divorce or family storm!