Spiritual Healing and Growth

Christians are Helpingl those in Need

2012-02-01T22:15:00.004-05:00

Although there is always room for growth, Christian churches, Para-Church Groups and compassionate individuals have been offering their help to needy people for two thousand years. In 1983 I was able to visit Kenya as the President of a Christian organization that was focusing on spiritual renewal. While there I saw huge problems with poverty and thousands of people living in squalor. It was depressing and overwhelming.

It was also uplifting and inspiring because I saw the work of dozens of Christian ministries from the US and other western nations who were giving of their blood, sweat and fortune to help the Kenyans build their own projects.

One of the most interesting was a small pond that came from a spring several miles away in the hills above the village. That spring fed pond provided water for all the people and cattle in the village. I discovered that a semi retired couple from Seattle, Washington had traveled to Kenya on several occasions to help them build the pipeline from the hills to the village.

On their first trip the couple saw women with heavy loads of water on their backs traveling daily to and from the spring. their men helped place the huge burden onto the backs of the women but none helped carry the load. After looking the situation over, the couple decided to help the villagers build the pipeline so those women would be set free from such a horrible job.

The came to the Missionary and told him their plan. He reminded them that it might take several years for the village to decide to build the line and several more to figure out how to pay for it. Although the rich couple could have built it themselves and certainly paid for it, they knew it had to belong to the village completely and that meant decide how, when and who would pay.

It only took three years for the village to agree to the plan and another two to get it built and paid for by the villagers. But, after five years the people had running water and the women had respite from a terrible job. In addition, the villagers learned how to plan, build and pay for a big project. They also learned how to work cooperatively with rich white folks from the USA without losing their self respect.

I like the model that the Missionary and the couple from America came up with and I have attempted to use a similar model to equip Christians to care for each other. I am speaking at Xavier University for the Remarkable Families Symposium on Friday, March 2 and that is part of my message. Come and join with us as we share how to listen to and support the parents of kids with a disability.

School Obesity Causes Eating Disorders

2012-01-30T23:21:00.002-05:00

The University of Michigan has concluded that school based programs designed to reduce obesity have failed and promote other kinds of eating disorders.

Using guilt and shame to promote "healthy eating' is bound to fail. I do not know of a single government sponsored program that achieved its goals. The DARE program has failed to prevent drugs, the suicide prevention programs have failed to prevent suicide and so on. When will we ever learn no to throw money and pressure at kids? It far too often promotes "Stinking Thinking". Teach your kids how to defeat depression and anxiety and they will eat better.

Divorce and Beyond Workshop

2012-01-29T15:29:00.005-05:00

Before i finished my blog post on Conflict and Its Impact on Kids I received a note from Bill Koontz who many years ago developed a seminar at the Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati on supporting separated and divorced adults and children. I am very happy to recommend it to you.

If you are having serious conflict, get help. Research shows that Counseling does help in most cases. So, do not delay. Find someone to help you now.

By the way, we have over 30 videos on our sweetenlife.com web page. They are short and free!

Here are the details.

Dear Divorce & Beyond Supporter :

Our next Divorce & Beyond Seminar will be held Friday, March 2nd and Saturday, March 3rd. Instead of mailing brochures this year we are requesting that you forward this e-newsletter on to friends or loved ones who may be separated or divorced. Our hope is to reach more people who can benefit from the seminar.

As an Alumnus of a previous Divorce & Beyond Seminar or group you know how helpful the seminar can be in dealing with the pain of separation and divorce. If someone you invite does not feel comfortable attending the seminar alone, please feel free to come with him or her at no charge.

The Seminar
Divorce hurts, but there is hope. If you are separated from your spouse, going through a divorce or are divorced, we encourage you to seek support. We understand the feelings of guilt, rejection, fear, confusion, isolation, and helplessness that can result from divorce. You may feel like you are on an emotional rollercoaster. Our emotions have a way of fooling us into believing that things will never get better. During this time it is critical to gain a healthy perspective so that you can take the necessary steps to move forward with you life.

KidKare and TeenTalk Seminars
Your children are dealing with their own emotions and it is important for them to understand that they are not to blame. When you are attending the seminar, you can arrange to have your children, ages 8-12, or your teens, ages 13-17, involved in activities and discussions that deal with their feelings, changes in the family structure and self-esteem. The KidKare and TeenTalk programs are coordinated by a team of qualified volunteers.

Divorce & Beyond Support Small Groups
Tuesdays, beginning March 6th, 7-9PM at VC Tri-County
These groups offer an open and honest discussion on the issues surrounding divorce. We will discuss several topics including: loneliness, anger, forgiveness, moving on, what it takes to have healthy relationships, etc. We will use resources including books and videos to facilitate our discussions. These groups are ideal for those who are going through divorce, recently divorced or those who were divorced several years ago. Childcare for support groups is $5/child ($10/max). If someone you know is unable to attend the seminar, they may sign up for a support group by calling the Vineyard Community Church at 671-0422, ext. 6425. Group closes after third week.

Pre-register for childcare at 513.671.0422 x6328

Location
The seminar will be held in Tri-County at:

The Healing Center Auditorium
11345 Century Circle West
Cincinnati, OH 45246
phone: 513.671.0422 x6425
fax: 513.671.2041

Click here to view map

Friday, March 2nd, 2012 at 7:00pm-10:00pm
Saturday, March 3rd, 2012 at 9:45am-4:00pm

Registration
The *cost for the seminar is $25.00 per person in advance and $30.00 per person after September 19^th or at the door.

4 Ways to register:

· Call 513.671.0422 x6425

· Go on line to download registration form at
www.vineyardcincinnati.com and enter a one word search for divorce. Click on the link for Classes: Divorce and Beyond Seminar. Scroll down the page and click on the link for the PDF (mail in) registration form.

· By e-mail to carroll@vineyardcincinnati.com

· Go on line to www.vineyardcincinnati.com and enter a one word search for divorce. Click on the link for Classes: Divorce and Beyond Seminar. Follow instructions to pay on line. (NOTE: This requires you to logon to the website BEFORE you attempt to register)

*Includes workbook, continental breakfast & lunch.
*We are committed to healing those experiencing divorce whether fees are in the budget or not. If finances are a problem, let us know... we understand.

In Him,
Mark Lutz
Pastor of Growth & Healing/Divorce & Beyond Ministries

Family Conflict Impact on Kids

2012-01-29T12:52:00.003-05:00

I have been re-reading the research on how divorce and its preceding conflicts in marriage impact the following generation. Kids are impacted deeply and sometimes permanently by divorce.

Dr. Martin Seligman, a world renowned Psychologist and research professor at the University of Pennsylvania is famous for his research on depression. and its causes. He has concluded that the primary cause of depression is the ways we learn to think about Adversity. If we encounter problems that we are unable to change but are ongoing despite our efforts, we tend to develop a sense of Hopelessness or Pessimism.

After that, whenever we encounter any problem or issue we dislike we start thinking immediately that it is impossible for me to overcome. The result is simple: I will give up rather than bounce back. I will not be resilient but think/feel hopeless.

Children of divorce have a long track record of develop this kind of thinking pattern. They often have habits of the mind and heart that focus on Hopelessness because they believe their situation cannot be changed.

Seligman, who is divorced himself, says: Conflict and divorce is the most important facilitator of a child's depression.

In the Princeton-Penn Longitudinal Study on children impacted by conflict and divorce they discovered several things. On average:

Children of divorce do badly. When they were tested twice annually, they were much more depressed than kids from intact families.

That is the very bad news. However, even worse, the depression does not decrease over time. In fact, these children were sadder, act out more at school, have lower self esteem, evidence more physical illnesses, worry more and evidence less zest for life.

If you are considering divorce, get some good couple counseling from a person trained in marriage and family dynamics. If the person is only trained in individual psychology, you will not get the full relational picture.

Parents can definitely help prevent depression in their children.

Spiritual Christianity

2012-01-28T08:09:00.002-05:00

Spiritual Christianity means supernatural faith. Not that my faith is supernatural but that I place my faith in a supernatural, miracle working God. Coming to faith in Christ is a supernatural event or series of events.

I was dead in my trespasses and sin but God supernaturally made me alive. I did not really realize that I was dead when I came to Christ. I was very much alive and kicking against God. So my deadness was not physical but spiritual. As a kid I thought my sin was like a zit; skin deep. Now I can see it was bone deep requiring heart surgery.

Not only that, but I am like Frankenstein's Monster, alive but walking stiffly with a terrible limp. I still needed the Holy Spirit's power on a daily basis to help me walk straighter and smoother as a new person. I still needed God's help to get rid of my old preferences and habits. I still needed my inner life to be saved daily. Anyone who lives the Christian life as if we do not need the supernatural power of God insists on peddling his new car rather than starting the engine and using its power to move forward.

Are we peddling or allowing God's power to move us?

Spiritual Healing is Confusing to Some

2012-01-27T23:00:00.002-05:00

If you read the comments on the prior post you will see that a young woman offered to help me write the blog. She volunteered to write on what she calls, "energy healing". I appreciate anyone that is willing to invest in the betterment and healing of people with cancer but I will not accept her offer.

You may be interested in why I am rejecting her offer. It is simple, I am committed to pray and interact in the Name of Jesus which is above all other names. Over the past few years many people int eh USA and Europe have adopted the term "spiritual". In that context, spiritual can mean any focus on anything including Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

In our nation anyone can believe in and worship almost anything and I like that fact. I affirm the legal right of any person to worship god, gods or God in any way their are led. But i am a convinced and convicted born again, Holy Spirit filled Christian and I do not worship any God but the Lord God of Hosts.

There are three main ways to think about spirituality:

1. Pantheism holds that god or gods are in everything. A Pantheist may have millions of gods and see the in trees, rocks and people. They believe that the physical universe and disease is a myth that exists only in the mind.

2. Secular Humanism is the preferred religion of many educated Westerners. They beleive in the uniformity of natural causes in a closed system that excludes the supernatural. However, they may claim to be very spiritual.

3. Dualism is the religion of many who see a supernatural or spiritual world but hold that the spiritual and physical are not c0mpatible because the spirit is pure and matter is evil. They hold that there is a uniformity of natural causes in a closed system.

4. Judeo - Christian Wholism sees the supernatural, spiritual realm as real and ever present. There is a uniformity of natural causes in an open system.

I am wholly committe4d to live and move and breathe in #4. while Jillian is in, so it seems, #1. so we are in-compatible.

Types of Stinking Thinking

2012-01-17T22:41:00.004-05:00

I am in the business of helping people discover and live an abundant life. That is what Jesus Christ promised but so many have not been able to find the abundance that He came to earth to offer us.

For decades I have had a passionate desire to help churches become healing-growth communities where we practice the "Love of God and neighbor as our selves." There are not many. One of my favorites is "The Dwelling Place" in Loveland, Ohio where Rich Femia Pastors. It is a small, intimate, mutually serving group of people who really love to worship, share and help each other.

But let me get on to my topic, "Stinking Thinking!" This is the type of thinking that impedes the abundant life. Unfortunately, it is rampant among Christians. One of the main reasons so many are happy at Dwelling Place is because they are dwelling in God and His truth not the mis-beliefs of the world, the flesh and the devil.

Here are three examples of Stinking Thinking.

Filtering: Take the negative details and magnify them and filter out all positive aspects of a situation.

Polarized Thinking: Things are black or white, good or bad. You have to be perfect or you're a failure. There is no middle ground, it's "all or nothing."

Over generalization: Coming to a general conclusion based on a single incident or piece of evidence. If something bad happens once, you expect it to happen over and over again.

If you want to be miserable, just start thinking like this. If they are not enough, come back when I add more.

Gary Sweeten

New Life for Newton and Gary

2012-01-11T22:32:00.005-05:00

I can identify with Isaac Newton about whom I posted last. He did what A.A. calls a "fearless moral inventory" and developed a big list of things he did that were sinful. Thankfully, Jesus gave us a way to muddle through sin, guilt and shame and come out victorious. What do you think it is?

1. Try harder___
2. Sin less_____
3. Pledge never to rebel again____
4. Get angry with myself_____
5. Fast and pray_____
6. Read the Bible more_____
7. Go to worship services more often _____
8. Name you favorite_______

Read James 5:15 and 16. It is simple but not easy. It describes the role of the church fellowship.

Want to learn how to live in peace?

Spiritual Giants Must also Repent

2012-01-10T11:07:00.003-05:00

Isaac Newton was one of the most brilliant scientists in history. He was also a committed Christian. However, young Isaac, like the rest of us, had trouble with his heart. It was filled with sins of rebellion, anger, vengeance and bitterness. The list below shows his condition before God at age 19. I would have loved to see what he wrote at age 50 or 60.

Old Isaac Newton’s List of Sins by Maria Popova

BEFORE WHITSUNDAY 1662

Using the word (God) openly

Eating an apple at Thy house

Making a feather while on Thy day

Denying that I made it

Making a mousetrap on Thy day

Contriving of the chimes on Thy day

Squirting water on Thy day

Making pies on Sunday night

Swimming in a kimnel on Thy day

Putting a pin in Iohn Keys hat on Thy day to pick him

Carelessly hearing and committing many sermons

Refusing to go to the close at my mothers command

Threatning my father and mother Smith to burne them and the house over them

Wishing death and hoping it to some

Striking many

Having uncleane thoughts words and actions and dreamese

Stealing cherry cobs from Eduard Storer

Denying that I did so

Denying a crossbow to my mother and grandmother though I knew of it

Setting my heart on money learning pleasure more than Thee

A relapse

I love the last two items!

Gary Sweeten

Stress Begone

2012-01-05T23:06:00.004-05:00

The high school from which I graduated, Mt. Vernon, Illinois, many decades ago has worked to keep in touch with each other over the years. The internet has allowed us to maintain many good relationships. At our ages it also means grieving the losses of family, friends and pets. Yes, I said pets. Let's admit that some of our best relationships have come from loving pet so when we lose them we grieve.

Some of my favorite churches have a strong desire to be a community of love and healing for us when we grieve. Unfortunately the goal can be derailed by the stress of grief. As I look at the past few years and months of some churches history I see a very high number of losses that are effecting the mental, relational and spiritual health of each person and family and the church family. Trust, peace and unity are usually the first casualties of this warfare. This is the “collateral damage” that comes from death, loss of members, family dysfunctions and disappointing events.

Research indicates that anxious stress can weaken our immune system and allow germs and viruses that are otherwise dormant to cause symptoms and sicknesses. Researchers made a list for life change events and gave each event a stress number.

Below are a number of normal life-change events. Place a circle around the numbers in the mean value column for each of those events that have happened to you during the last 12 months. The total number will be explained below. Holmes & Rahe (1967) Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11:213-219. My last post mentioned that joy and happiness are strongly correlated with having good relationships. However, the deeper the relationship[s, the deeper the grief when the relationship ends.

After looking over the following list make you own list and figure up the points.

Death of spouse 100
Divorce 73
Marital separation 65
Detention in jail or other institution 63
Death of a close family member 63
Major personal injury or illness 53
Marriage 50
Being fired from work 47
Marital reconciliation 45
Retirement 45
Major change in the health or behavior of family member 44
Pregnancy of spouse/partner 40
Sexual difficulties 39
Gaining a new family member (through birth, adoption etc) 39
Major business readjustment (merger, reorganization, etc) 35
Major change in financial state (a lot worse off or a lot better off) 37
Death of a close friend 37
Changing to a different type of work 36
Major change in the number of arguments with spouse (a lot more or less) 35
Taking on a significant (to you) mortgage 31
Foreclosure on a mortgage or loan 30
Major change in responsibilities at work (promotion, demotion, transfer) 29
Son or daughter leaving home (marriage, attending college, etc) 29
In-law troubles 29
Outstanding personal achievement 28
Partner beginning or ceasing work outside the home 26
Beginning or ceasing formal schooling 25
Major change in living conditions (building a new home, remodeling) 25
Revision of personal habits (dress, manners, association etc) 25
Troubles with the boss 23
Change in residence 20
Changing to a new school 19
Major change in usual type and/or amount of recreation 19
Major change in church or spiritual activities (a lot more or less than usual) 19
Major change in social activities (clubs, dancing, movies, visiting, etc) 18
Taking on a small mortgage or loan (purchasing a car, TV, freezer, etc) 17
Major change in sleeping habits (lot more or a lot less sleep, or change) 16
Major change in number of family get togethers (a lot more or a lot less) 15
Major change in eating habits (a lot more or a lot less food intake) 15
Holiday or vacation 13
Christmas or other major holiday celebration 12
Minor violations of the law (traffic tickets, jaywalking, etc) 11

Add the circled items to obtain your score

Stressful events affect us body and soul and their effects last for months or even years. The trauma that resulted from 911 were immediate and long term. The greatest effects after the bombing of Oklahoma City were noticed nine months following the blast when depression, suicide, alcohol related problems and family conflicts were the highest. Stress events are similar to throwing a rock into a pool of water making waves that slap up on the shore long after the initial event has passed.

According to the Holmes-Rahe statistical prediction model, a score of 150 or less means a relatively low amount of life change and a low susceptibility (about 30% probability) to stress-related illness within two years.

A score of 151 to 299 implies a 50% probability of a stress related illness. A score of 300 or above implies an 80% probability of experiencing a negative health change.

These predictions are not definite. What produces a change in health status is an interaction of many things such as how significant those life events are to you, your personal capacity to cope with change, and the available support through family, work and friends. However, completing the inventory can give you some insight into the STRESSORS that are potentially dangerous to your health and well-being.

One of the key points to remember is that stress makes us more susceptible to infections and communicable diseases. In fact, many people who get sick during an epidemic are not infected with the virus but have heart attacks, strokes, family disputes, back problems, etc. Although we may not see physical illness increase there is no doubt that mental, relational, organizational and spiritual dis-ease is a result of trauma.

Go to my web page for materials and video tapes on successfully dealing with stress.

The Key To Happpiness

2012-01-04T22:39:00.004-05:00

Have you ever wondered what leads to happiness? I related a story recently about a very wealthy man who was on his death bed and received a visit from an old friend. The sick man lay quietly in the bed with tubes in and out of his face and monitors showing every breath and heart beat.

When the visitor sat down beside the bed, the wealthy man looked up and noted he was sad because he had recently lost several million dollars in the stock market. Money made him happy, or so it seems. Recent research indicates a different story. Things do no satisfy. Not for long anyway.

The key to happiness

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Broadcast: 05/05/2010

Reporter: Tracy Bowden

A comprehensive study has offered an insight into what makes for a good life and a good old age. The director of the Grant study George Vaillant speaks with Tracy Bowden about his results.

Transcript

TRACY BOWDEN, PRESENTER: Just what is the key to happiness? One person in a good position to know is Dr George Vaillant, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. For more than 40 years he's directed one of the most comprehensive long-term studies in history. The grant study has documented the lives of a group of 268 men from youth through to old age with regular questionnaires, medical exams and interviews. Dr Vaillant is in Sydney for the fifth annual Happiness and its Causes conference and I spoke to him earlier today.

George Vaillant, you've been immersed in this study and these lives for more than 40 years now. Are you saying that the key to a good life is in the relationships you have in your life?

GEORGE VAILLANT, PSYCHIATRY, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: Absolutely. This is the only study in the world where you can take 18 year olds and compare them to themselves at 90 so that to answer the question, "Is love the most important thing in the world?", this study was uniquely set up to do that.

Some kids came from families where their parents were multimillionaires and some people came from families where their father worked in a garage and they were on full scholarship. Social class of your parents 40 years on made no difference at all. So that it isn't the class system that governs how we turned out in life, but it matters tremendously whether we are loved and whether we're able to give love.

And if I feel sick to my stomach, if I feel hungry, if I've got the hots for someone, it's all about me. Whereas if I have compassion, if I feel forgiveness, if I trust someone, it's all about them. And it's that distinction that makes the difference in well-being.

TRACY BOWDEN: Now let's talk a bit about ageing. I guess a lot of people aren't too happy about ageing, but has your attitude changed since you've been looking at the grant study men?

GEORGE VAILLANT: Oh, tremendously. When I was 50, I thought ageing was about the most terrible thing in the world, but I needed to study it to support the grant study. So I wrote this grant that I was going to follow these men's decay, of sort of how they, you know, gradually wound their way to their grave. Dying is terrible whether you do it at 10 or whether you do it at 90, but living is a whole lot of fun and the average person who's going to live to 95 at 90 is still in reasonably good health, and if you just hang out with them, which is what I did in running a grant study - the grant study.

My men were healthy at 80, and I interviewed them and they made it clear that they were happier then than they had been earlier on and the careful research shows that people over the age of 70 - and here I'm using happy not in the sense of excited, "Oh, this is my lucky day" happy, but happy in the sense of not being depressed, seeing glasses as half full and basically being glad you got up that morning and enjoying life.

TRACY BOWDEN: So in the end is the message that you, I guess, would like people to take away, is it that it's all about love? A good life is all about love?

GEORGE VAILLANT: Yes, ma’am. Yes, ma’am. But it's all about positive emotions that are genetically created for survival purposes. So I mean we've evolved to be increasingly altruistic and caring about each other. You do a lot better going to a positive church than you do reading (the atheist) Richard Dawkins.

(As) a psychiatrist... I think it's terribly important that my profession spend more time with positive emotion and more time regarding people's spiritual involvement as a virtue rather than something that if they just read enough Freud they could give up.

TRACY BOWDEN: George Vaillant, thanks for speaking to us.

George Vaillant: I am happy to be here.

Our tag line says, "Building a lifetime of great relationships"(R) That means with God, self and others. In this I want to include pets. I have see the addition of a pet bring harmony and happiness to quarreling families. Try it.

I Need Peace

2012-01-03T23:28:00.001-05:00

A Prayer for Courage and Serenity

Rev Reinhold Niebuhr

God, grant me the serenity to accept

The things I cannot change

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference

Living one day at a time,

Enjoying one moment at a time:

Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace:

Taking, as Jesus did,

This sinful world as it is,

Not as I would have it:

Trusting that you will make all things right

If I surrender to your will:

So that I may be reasonably happy in this life

And supremely happy with you in the next

Pastoral Care

2012-01-03T22:56:00.004-05:00

Who is Knocking on Your Kid's Door?

A story about many young people leaving the church has been widely reported and written on. I am appalled by the results of the research the Barna group did with youth. The kids told Barna that the church was not a safe place to raise serious questions about God, sex, friends, heaven, hell and so on.

If Christian kids cannot ask those questions at church or home, where do they ask them? Why not send them to a nice secular college where they can take a "Sex Education Class" and learn all the important things about sex without guilt or shame.

When I was Associate Dean at the University of Cincinnati, the sex ed classes were notorious for attracting upper class men who attended the first few classes where freshman and sophomore girls were being quickly cleansed of any sexual inhibitions. Those very nice older guys always made themselves available to help the young girls learn all about real sex without love.

World Magazine has an excellent article on the research about why young people are fed up with uncaring and intellectually sloppy Christian leaders. I posted it on my Face Book Page as well.

In our research on how churches are ministering to families with a special needs child we found the same inattention and lack of support. Our moms and dads said no one ever visited them or prayed for their child or them. One Dad told us his church was recruiting members to go overseas but had never visited his daughter to pray and never asked about the family.

Why are the children ignored at the place Jesus established to care for them?

Facing eternity

2012-01-02T23:47:00.001-05:00

PS. I heard a very sad story yesterday from a friend I sometimes meet for coffee at McDonald's. (They have senior coffee for 50 cents) He went to the hospital to visit a very sick friend who was dying. He was determined to offer hims some words of comfort at this final hour. The fellow greeted my friend and added, "It is a very sad time." My buddy agreed and started to offer something more but the guy said, "The stock market went down over 300 points yesterday and I lost 4 million dollars. It really upsets me."

He died that night. That is sad because he obviously worshiped his money at the final hour. At the funeral there was no U'HAUL connected to the hearse. One of the man's kids joked that he thought about putting a big check in the coffin.

What are you worshiping? Anything or anybody you can take with you to the great beyond?

Famous Resolutions for the Coming Year

2012-01-02T23:29:00.003-05:00

This list was penned by the great Woody Guthrie in 1942 at the tender-but-just-wise-enough age of 30, is an absolute gem of humor, earnestness, and pure humanity. He was a professional poet and singing of the poems he wrote. So, why would I try to compete against him?

1. Work more and better

2. Work by a schedule

3. Wash teeth if any

4. Shave

5. Take bath

6. Eat good – fruit – vegetables – milk

7. Drink very scant if any 8. Write a song a day

9. Wear clean clothes – look good

10. Shine shoes

11. Change socks

12. Change bed cloths often

13. Read lots good books

14. Listen to radio a lot

15. Learn people better

16. Keep rancho clean

17. Don't get lonesome

18. Stay glad

19. Keep hoping machine running

20. Dream good

21. Bank all extra money

22. Save dough

23. Have company but don't waste time

24. Send Mary and kids money

25. Play and sing good

26. Dance better

27. Help win war – beat fascism

28. Love mama

29. Love papa

30. Love Pete

31. Love everybody

32. Make up your mind

33. Wake up and fight

Commentary by an Internet Guy. (ANONYMOUS)

What's interesting is that the list doesn't map onto the Maslow hierarchy of needs in order, but does contain shuffled elements of its five tiers, perhaps validation for the universality of Maslow's insight into human psychology and aspiration – there is the physiological ("Wash teeth," "Shave," "Eat good"), the safety and security ("Bank all extra money," "Keep rancho clean"), the love and belonging ("Don't get lonesome", "Love mama," Love papa,", Love Pete [Seeger]", "Love everybody"), the esteem ("Wear clean clothes – look good", "Dance better"), and the self-actualization ("Work more and better", "Keep hoping machine running," "Play and sing good," "Make up your mind," "Wake up and fight").

Thank you, Woody, for a timeless list that still speaks to us all – yes, by all means, let's read lots of good books, keep hoping and dreaming, make up our minds, and love everybody. And, you know, bathe.

I would add:

34. Pray more

35. Play more

36. Find warm weather

37. Hug more

38. Talk slowly to friends

39. Love family as much as possible

40. Tell people I appreciate them

Gabe Sweeten wishing you all will be able to wash the teeth you have grown, bought and paid for or found somewhere.

Predictions Anyone

2011-12-31T22:19:00.004-05:00

Here we are on the cusp of 2012 wondering what will happen this year. My family gathers each year at Christmas and New Year to celebrate Christ's birth and celebrate family.

One of our traditions is to write a list of ten or so Predictions about the coming year. Then we gather around the table after dinner and read our predictions and count who has done the best job of seeing into the future. This year Grandma and eldest Daughter tied. If we were judged on prophesy the same way the Prophets of old were we would be facing the guillotine.

With elections coming up we had to choose a Republican and then choose the winner between him and Obama. We also have to predict the Bengals record and the DOW Jones Level. Below are some big predictions by famous people that were dead wrong. It shows you why the USSR was such a terrible economy: the Communist Party tried to predict what would be best to produce and they failed miserably. It is also why the people in DC who predicted that the public really needed gasoline made from corn cost us billions of dollars. And don't get me started on Solyndra.

"Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances."

                -- Dr. Lee DeForest, "Father of Radio & Grandfather of Television."

"The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives."

                - - Admiral William Leahy , US Atomic Bomb Project

"There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom."

                -- Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."

                -- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march

of science, 1949

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."

               -- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that

won't last out the year."

               -- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

"But what is it good for?"

               -- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968,

commenting on the microchip.

"640K ought to be enough for anybody."-- Bill Gates, 1981

This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as

a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us,"

               -- Western Union internal memo, 1876.

"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would

pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?"

                -- David Sarnoff's associates in response to his

urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.

"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better

than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible,"

                -- A Yale University management professor in response

to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service.

(Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

"I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not

Gary Cooper,"--Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone

With The Wind."

"A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say

America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make,"

                -- Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs.

Fields' Cookies.

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out," -- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible,"-- Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.

"If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The

literature was full of examples that said you can't do this,"

                -- Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique

adhesives for 3-M "Post-It" Notepads.

"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy,"-- Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill

for oil in 1859.

"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."

               -- Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University , 1929.

"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value,"

              -- Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de

Guerre ,France.

"Everything that can be invented has been invented,"-- Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, US Office of

Patents, 1899.

"The super computer is technologically impossible. It would take all of

the water that flows over Niagara Falls to cool the heat generated by

the number of vacuum tubes required."

               -- Professor of Electrical Engineering, New York University

"I don't know what use any one could find for a machine that would make

copies of documents. It certainly couldn't be a feasible business by itself."

               -- the head of IBM, refusing to back the idea, forcing the inventor to

found Xerox.

"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction."

                -- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse , 1872

"The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the

intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon,"

               -- Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed

Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873.

                And last but not least...

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."

               -- Ken Olson, president founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

Pain is Inevitable Misery is Optional

2011-12-30T17:12:00.004-05:00

The so-called, Self Esteem Movement in America has been a series of unmitigated disasters leading to the development of wimps with depression and fear. It seems that the Self Esteem Movement has attempted to eliminate all short term mental and emotional PAIN and has thereby promulgated long-term misery.

In sports and all other kinds of naturally competitive activities the Self Esteem Movement fanatics see to it that everyone gets credit for winning even if they refuse to show up and compete. The awards ceremonies are filled with non-winners and failures that get honors and awards anyway. Such nonsense tends to develop either adults with a strong dose of cynicism who think all people in authority are dweebs and fakers or conversely those with a hothouse mentality so fragile that they collapse into a heap of self-condemnation at the first sign of a failure.

Far better would be an approach that fostered extreme competition and developed a tough resilient mentality that would not break the first time they were called a bad name. The Self Esteem Movement has led to the development of another American tragedy, the Politically Correct Police and it’s bastard son, Hate Speech Laws.

One day last year a six year old kid called another first grader some kind of bad name. I do not remember exactly what it was but I think it had to do with sexual dysfunction. The offended boy went home and told his mommy who immediately called the school principal and demanded that more protection be placed on the bus so her super-sensitive son would have his ears protected from other little boys name calling.

Unable to get her satisfaction with the principal she went to the school board and demanded more bus police. Can you imagine that her son will not develop the named sexual dysfunction with such an overactive and oppressive mother? Is no one aware of how much such behavior is overkill?

We need kids with hardened ears and resilient brains who will not faint at the first sign of rejection, dislike and conflict. Why are the Self Esteem Movement people teaching kids to give such power to others? Do they not know the old saw “Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me?”

Why teach our children that they should allow every jerk to control their feelings and behavior? This develops adults who are only one insensitive jerk away from total collapse and death from a heart attack.

By attempting to nanny pain away we have almost guaranteed the recipients who buy the lies it is built upon a lifetime of misery. Self Esteem Movement robots can only develop mental notes of helplessness, hopelessness and haplessness.

Great Time With Grand Kids

2011-12-29T20:04:00.002-05:00

I am wondering how many of my friends have been with grand kids during the holiday. Having grand kids is a joy. Karen and I are so much more relaxed now than when we had our own kids. I was so uptight about producing perfect kids that I tried to force my ideas on them rather than trusting God for them.

Since then I have learned the truth of the Bible verse that says, "If you seek to save your life you will lose it". Trying to live my life through my kids or my job always ends in disappointment for me and them. Now, I can let those grand kids be themselves without getting uptight because they are rambunctious or loud or fighting.

How about you? Can you chill out and enjoy the grand kids?

Incarnation is For Me

2011-12-24T11:29:00.003-05:00

How would I make it through life without the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of me? I don't do so very well with the Holy Spirit so I do not like to think how awful I could be without the guidance and love of God actually permeating my body and soul.

Young people and adults with certain kinds of personalities tend to see the world in specifics. so, when they hear that "Jesus is in their heart" an image springs to life in the mind of a tiny Jesus sitting down in the living room of the heart to chat with God or read the Bible. Some might even look down their shirt to try to find Jesus peeking out at them.

Before the Day of Pentecost came with its powerful manifestation of God in the lives of several thousand new believers there was rarely ever any outward sign of God's presence with people. A few very special people like Abraham, Moses, David and Elijah had the Spirit with them but not in them. When the Spirit came upon one of the famous people in the Bible he or she did something remarkable and even miraculous. However, the promise was given by God that some day every believer would have the Holy Spirit.

Joel 2: ²⁵ “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarm—
my great army that I sent among you.
²⁶ You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
and you will praise the name of the LORD your God,
who has worked wonders for you;
never again will my people be shamed.
²⁷ Then you will know that I am in Israel,
that I am the LORD your God,
and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed.

²⁸ “And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
²⁹ Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

This is a wonderful passage that many believers read and prayed to see. When Jesus in John 14 was telling His students to prepare for His leaving He said that Joel was going to come to pass soon.

¹⁵ “If you love me, keep my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

With and In You!

They knew He was the result of the Holy Spirit's coming to Mary and now we shall be able to be visited by that same Holy Spirit who will be a dwelling place for us and we shall be a dwelling place for the Spirit.

Earlier in John 14 when Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many dwelling places..." the flocus is not on heaven but here and now. The dwelling place is the heart. The Disciples will be able to dwell/live in the Spirit. Not only that but the Holy Spirit with dwell/live in them. The many dwelling places are all the hearts of those who know Jesus.

That is a wonderful promise so grab it and love it.

Christian population shifts from Europe

2011-12-19T21:46:00.003-05:00

By RACHEL ZOLL

AP Religion Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Christian population has shifted dramatically over the last century away from Europe to Africa, Asia and the Americas, yet Christians overall remain the largest religious group in the world, according to a new analysis released Monday.

Europe is home to about one-quarter of the world's Christians, compared to two-thirds a century ago, according to the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life. About one quarter of the global Christian population can now be found in sub-Saharan Africa, while 37 percent live in the Americas and 13 percent reside in the Asia-Pacific region.

Brazil has twice as many Roman Catholics as Italy, while Nigeria has more than twice as many Protestants as Germany, where the Protestant Reformation began, the study's authors said.

Despite these changes, Christians are still the world's largest faith group, with nearly 2.2 billion adherents. Muslims comprise the second-largest group, with about 1.6 billion people, or slightly less than a quarter of the global population, the study's authors said.

Pew compiled the study from national censuses, population surveys, estimates from church groups and other sources in which respondents identified their religion. Analysts compared the findings to surveys from 1910, including data from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass.

The shifting Christian population has been a major concern of church leaders, as they try to build stronger ties with fellow believers across geographical boundaries and reconcile differing views of the Bible.

As just one example, mainline Protestants in the developing world tend to be more theologically conservative than church members in the United States and Western Europe. The tensions have been most visible in the global Anglican Communion since 2003, when the Episcopal Church, which is the Anglican body in the United States, elected the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The 77-million-member fellowship has been fracturing ever since.

Pew researchers concluded that the Christian population is so widely distributed that no specific region can claim to be the center of the faith.

The smallest concentration of Christians can be found in the area where the faith began, the Mideast and North Africa, where Christians are only about 4 percent of the population. Egypt has the largest Christian population in the region, with about 4.3 million Christians, mostly Orthodox, who have been targets of violence, especially in the upheaval since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak.

Still, all but 10 percent of the world's Christians live in countries where they are the religious majority, according to the study.

The countries with the largest number of Christians are the United States, Brazil, Mexico and Russia. Christians comprise nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population, and about 74 percent of Russian citizens.

About 5 percent of China's residents, or 67 million people, are Christian, according to the study's authors. However, accurately estimating China's Christian population is notoriously difficult, due to the mix of government-sanctioned churches and grassroots house churches that operate illegally underground.

"Global Christianity" study:

Incarnation is Here for Us

2011-12-19T20:58:00.002-05:00

Luke 1: 26-37 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

The Holy Spirit was largely unknown until the New Testament. Incarnation means that God's Holy Spirit entered Mary and caused her to conceive a child.

The Incarnation on Tap for Tomorrow

2011-12-17T17:53:00.003-05:00

Praise God I get to speak tomorrow about The Incarnation. Just think, this is the time of year when we who have been changed by God's Holy Spirit can explain to the world about the Change Maker!

When we read Luke 1 about the angel 's response to young Mary when she protested that she could NOT be pregnant because she was a virgin, the meaning and source of change is clear: "

²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled ... and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

^{The Holy Spirit will do it!}

³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”

The Holy Spirit has already done a great miracle with your cousin!

So, the same Holy Spirit that filled you and me and that had raised Jesus from the dead has brought about a miracle of a virgin birth. This was the Incarnation! God and Man came together in one person.

The Creator of the universe was now on earth in a physical body. Amazing. Wonderful. Emmanuel!

John 1---The Word Became Flesh

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

What is next? What can we do to really enjoy that reality?

Gary Sweeten

What is effective Evangelism?

2011-12-17T08:47:00.004-05:00

There is a tremendous reaction today against using terms like evangelism, sin, being saved or even the term Christian. I think I understand the hesitancy to use old, worn out or culturally offensive terms. Every new generation needs to generate its own language and communication strategy.

Back in my days at the University of Cincinnati, Barney Ford, head of the Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship chapter on campus, once commented to me that we need a MOT Manual. (Managing Our Terms Manual) to stop all the confusion among Christians and others about our work.

I have no negative reaction against the new terms or the Seeker Sensitive churches that use them. My concern is that we are still as fervent about doing the real stuff even when we no longer describe it in old fashioned ways. However, let us older Christ Followers openly admit that even though we used terms like Evangelism we were usually confused about what it is Biblical and in actual practice.

In my culture, evangelism usually meant "Verbally reciting a specific verse of scripture or series of terms well known by people inside the Christian community but largely unknown outside that system". Preachers were expected to recite those words at the end of every religious service while giving an altar call asking people to "Come forward to the altar and pray to receive Christ as their savior." This ritual was followed at almost every Sunday school class, worship service, wedding, funeral or public prayer.

Not following that ritual was seen by many as sure evidence that the speaker was a liberal or Roman Catholic. However, as I became older and read the Bible for myself I rarely found such rituals contained in the pages of Holy Writ.

What about your background? Were the rituals of evangelism similar or different? How did you find out what it meant to be a Christian?

What do you think is the best way to "Share your faith? "

Let me know what works for you?

Gary Sweeten

The Impact of Lay Ministry

2011-12-16T09:52:00.004-05:00

When the number of people going to seminary increases the number of church plants and people coming to Christ decreases. Why would this be so? I do not have hard data to prove why but I have a one reason why that makes sense to me.

Seminary trained Pastors tend to wonder what their Seminary Professors and fellow students think of their preaching, teaching and serving. Church leaders who have not been to Seminary tend to be more concerned about what the congregation thinks of their sermons and servings.

Take a look at the following data about new births around the world. Most conversions are the result of lay ministry by family, friends and co-workers. some 95% of all churches outside Western Europe and the United States are led by lay men and women.

All over the world men and women are being encouraged to follow God, discover their gifts and see a vision for touching lives. The following chart shows the worldwide church growth since the New Reformation began in earnest through the Jesus Movement Revivals of the Sixties and the Seventies.

The world population grew by 60% through new biological births. However, the Kingdom of God grew by 126% when we count the new spiritual births.

World Total

60%

126%

Europe is nearly dead, only 11% annual growth in new biological births. By the year 2050 there will b almost no white Europeans left in France, Germany, England and so forth. Thankfully, even in an area of the earth where there are more witch doctors than there are Christian clergy, people are still being converted. In this case 41% growth.

Europe

11%

41%

Thankfully, we in America are growing through new births of babies than they are in Europe. 31% to 11%. While more babies in the US would be great for us, the spiritual growth is outpacing biology. (57% to 31%)

North America

31%

57%

The most dramatic growth biologically and spiritually is happening in Africa, South America and Asia. There lies the best opportunity for God's Kingdom to flourish.

Oceania (Australia, NZ)	53%	93%
Africa	114%	207%
Latin America	76%	233%
Asia	67%	376%

I worked several months each year in Asia and can say that it is there that lay people minister with amazing fervor and energy. Biological growth is very high but spiritual rebirth is even higher. Missionaries, mostly lay persons, from Africa and Asia are now spreading out to Europe, The Middle East, Russia, and the United States and having a wonderful impact. This is our best hope to spread the good news to all people.

What think you?

Gary Sweeten
www.sweetenlife.com

Lay People are Christianity's Growth Engine

2011-12-15T16:31:00.003-05:00

Shepherds do not have sheep as offspring. Only sheep have sheep babies.

Who is most responsible for making babies of new Christians? Is that up to the Pastors who are supposed to Shepherd the Flock or to the Flock of God?

I have not seen the latest research on this but we have traditionally discovered that 95% of all new converts come to faith in Christ because of the influence of a family members, friend or close acquaintance. If that is so, why do we expect the people who are paid to lead the church to also produce the new births?

Many people come to faith in Christ every year at events sponsored by Billy Graham or other platform based evangelists. What percentage of those people were "Ripe fruit ready to be picked even before they went to the stadium to hear Billy Graham?

a. 10%
b. 20%
3. 50%
4. 75%
5. 90%

What does it take to influence others toward coming to faith?

a. Testimonies of famous rich people
b. Preaching a good sermon
c. Emotional music
d. Personal problems
e. Having a great plan for witnessing.
f. All of the above
g. ____________ Other

But I am only a Lay Person

2011-12-14T23:16:00.003-05:00

The early Apostles were not Levite Priests. All were “laity” from Greek term laos, meaning “the people of God”. The term Clergy is, in fact, currently misunderstood, missed and misplaced. It originally comes from the term cleros and means “people who have been called of God”. Both laity and clergy refer to all Christians not just those who are professional Christian leaders.

I have been a strong proponent for involving, training and releasing all of God’s people, both laos and cleros, into positive activities. However, I had a powerful transforming insight about the importance for today in 1983. A group of us met in Oklahoma City to plan the next years’ activities for an international renewal group. During prayer I was struck by a strong sense of God’s voice. It went something like this:

I am pouring out my Spirit for a New Reformation. In the first Reformation, I took my word out of the hands of the few and gave it to all my people. In the New Reformation, I will take my works out of the hands of the few and I will give it to all my people. There will be resistance but not unto death.

This word energized the group and I redoubled my efforts to preach this word and devise ways to release the works of the Holy Spirit in America and around the world. There are over two million congregations outside Western Europe and America and 95% have no educated leaders. Additionally, many of the newer congregations in developed countries are now seeking ways to equip leaders without having to send them to seminary. Ordinary people with an extraordinary God can do great things.

The First Reformation started this revolution by preaching that every believer is a priest who has direct access to God without a human mediator. That truth wonderfully liberated God’s word from its chains and millions of ordinary people began to read the Bible in their own languages. Theology was changed forever. The Reformation affected all churches even the Romans Catholic from which the Reformation sprang. However, ecclesiology or the church structure did not change. The practice of dividing Christians into spiritual leaders who could preach, teach and handle the sacraments from the ordinary people who watched remained in both Protestant and Catholic groups.

For generations church leaders had built monopolistic organizations dependent upon state support. This eliminated competition among theologies and stifled healthy dissent with its needed corrections. The development of new Christian forms was forbidden and creative leaders killed. It stifled the use of gifts and the involvement of ordinary people in service to God. Finally, personal evangelism was discouraged.

God’s word to me in 1983 indicated that these traditions were about to be dramatically and widely challenged and changed. The results of the New Reformation would be as dramatic as the one that began in the Sixteenth Century with Luther and Calvin. The promise was that in the New Reformation millions of renewed believers would be released to serve Christ in the marketplace, home and factory. The result would be a worldwide revival and a powerful awakening.

We can actually see that coming about as we are writing this material. All over the world men and women are being encouraged to follow God, discover their gifts and see a vision for touching lives. The following chart shows the worldwide church growth since the New Reformation began in earnest through the Jesus Movement Revivals of the Sixties and the Seventies.

In many nations the Second Reformation is turning into another Great Awakening when spiritually blessed men and women get involved and strategically in tackling social and spiritual ills. I have trained leaders all over the earth for decades and I can see it happening on every continent.

What about you? Are you on the sidelines or in the game? God, our heavenly coach is calling us to play with all our might and really have a great time.

Gary Sweeten