The Existence of God without Evidence

Here's a pretty good interview about someone explaining the existence of God.

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Peaceful Warrior God

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Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a christian video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world.

Old Souls Of The World

Teaching Your Children to Be Friends With God

David and Jonathan, of Bible fame, were best buds. They probably spent a lot of time together running around King Saul's castle getting into all kinds of mischief. Later in their lives this friendship was greatly tested. I Samuel 18 - 20 tells us of this amazing relationship.

Friendship is very important to kids. They know very well by the elementary years what it means to fit in with the crowd and what it means to be left out. At this age friendships can end just as quickly as they begin. The friendship of David and Jonathan is a good example for your kids to examine and hopefully put into practice in their own lives.

After sharing the highlights of chapters 18 - 20 of I Samuel, remind your kids that just as David and Jonathan were faithful to each other, Jesus will be faithful in His friendship with them. But in order for a relationship to grow, you've got to spend time with the other person.

Ask your kids what are some ways they "hang out" with their friends. They might say skateboarding or swimming. Then ask them what are some ways they could "hang out" with Jesus. They might say praying or reading His Word.

Some other ways your children can get to know Jesus more can include drawing a picture just for Him. Maybe they could try and write a little worship song giving Him praise. Memorizing a Scripture is another great way to get to know God.

Finally, give them a "commitment card" on which they will write down one way they will spend time with Jesus this week. Bless them with some kind of treat or reward for honoring their commitment and repeat the process next week. Now ask yourself how you will "hang out" with Jesus.

If you liked this Sunday School/Homeschooling idea, then sign up to receive Scripture Lady's Free Email Newsletter packed full with creative ideas and receive 6 FREE Bible Review Games to help get the kids you minister to excited about the Bible!

Just click here: http://freebiblegames.webs.com/ to receive your 6 FREE Bible Review Games.

Kathy Vincent is the director of a performing ministry for children called The Scripture Lady and has been traveling around Southern California for the past 13 years ministering to preschoolers and elementary aged children with the Word of God through musical, thematic presentations.

She is also a regular seminar speaker, author/creator of over 30 products for the Christian children's worker and a veteran homeschooling mom of two.

When Prayer Became Relevant

As far back as I can recall, I remember Jesus in my life. Evidently my parents and Sunday School teachers had taught me to fold my hands, to bow my head, and for bedtime, to kneel to pray. I loved all the "had to's" of my religion.

As I grew older, on my own I realized I didn't need to do all that to speak to Jesus. However, if I earnestly requested His attention and wanted a "yes" answer (and quickly), I'd revert to them.

My dear neighbor and playmate, Diane Clements, two years younger than I, answered my question about her father's profession. He traveled often but not on a daily basis like my father. "He's a salesman."

"What does he sell?"

"Tubes."

"Tubes? Of what?"

She didn't know, so she showed me the tubes. We were both too young to recognize them as samples of what he sold.

Those shiny tubes stayed on my child mind. I told Diane more than once that I'd like to squeeze every one of them.

"Oh, we couldn't!" Diane warned several times. "My dad would be furious."

However, a time comes when a child needs to be disobedient. And I truly mean needs.

One day when I suggested we squeeze the tubes, Diane gave in. What delight rose inside me!

Diane's approval sent me over the edge. No more obedience. No more goody-good girl. Delight thy heart, oh child of God!

We laid the black carrier box on her parents' bed against their white bedspread and opened the lid to lie among the large, red flowers in the fabric. To gaze on those perfect, silver tubes, aligned in their plastic slots, tickled my body and soul. A thrill rushed through me.

As I lifted a tube from its slot, I shot Diane a warning look. "We have to put this on something. We can't get it on the bedspread."
Diane ran immediately to the bathroom and returned with several Kleenexes.

"Maybe we should have more," I suggested. I couldn't tell from the holding the plain tube if liquid was inside.

Diane retrieved more.

As I opened the first tube, the contents smelled something akin to Vaseline. I squeezed gently only on one side to keep our sin from Diane's father. Then I recapped it and laid the tube other side up. I didn't think anyone could tell I'd touched the tube.

Sin grows. Delight yearns for more. After squeezing a couple tubes like that, my deep yearning showed itself. I wanted to squeeze without reserve. I wanted the freedom to squeeze as I willed.

Diane and I both uncapped tubes and pinched tubes here and there, giggling and enjoying ourselves.

When our irrational behavior had its fill, we mixed the concoction with our hands and smelled the odd odor and giggled more.

We smoothed the tubes as best we could, left them with their best sides up, and I took the mixture (evidence!) home.

A few days later when we played outside, Diane's older brother Robby told us her parents had discovered someone had been in her father's samples. And he knew it was Diane. Diane and Carol.

"How do they act?" I asked her brother, who grinned.

"Ohhhh. She's gonna get it. Gonna get it good."

Diane and I looked at each other. What was a little squeeze of a tube? I asked myself. He probably could get more. Money never entered my thoughts. Why make a big deal out of it?

Diane, the sweet, chubby, beautiful playmate I loved. Oh, I worried about this.

"Dad sent me out to get you," he told her.

Diane hung her head and started to leave with Robby.

"Wait!" I called. "I need to talk to her a minute. Alone."

Robby walked further on, but wouldn't leave without Diane.

"We have to pray, Diane," I whispered.

Diane didn't attend church. Neither did her family. So what about prayer?

"We need to do this now, Diane." I looked her straight in the eyes.

Diane looked toward her house and then to Robby and finally to me. "Okay."

I folded my hands and held them like a saint. I bowed my head. Diane's body language-other than folded hands-wasn't in the prayer. I'm sure her heart was full of fear. "Oh, God, our father. Watch over Diane. We didn't mean anything wrong . . ." I babbled on until Robby started moving toward us.

Diane left with him to face her parents. Their family displayed harsh rules. Robby had experienced "the belt."

I didn't come from a home with lots of rules. My parents were older and knew children follow more by imitation than being yelled at and spanked. (But I got some.)

That night on my knees, God reminded me to pray for the entire family. If Diane's parents were to imitate God to her and Robby and their younger brother, Glen, then they needed to know God and His behavior. They also needed to be saved from their sin.

Diane's mother phoned my mother, and I got mild disciplining. However, my mother invited Mrs. Clements to our church. She hadn't asked her in a long, long time. Mrs. Clements said, as always, she'd think about it.

I gave that situation no more thought. I wouldn't be playing with Diane for a while.

Their entire family entered our church the following Sunday.

Diane told me after the service that her parents had talked to her, as my mother had, that those tubes were important to her father's work and he had to pay for them. They were not for play. She said she understood. And that was Diane's punishment. A good talking to. Her father added that they would attend church together the next Sunday.

Had my prayer coaxed God's power to work in the Clements family? In Ephesians 1:19-20, the scripture says we have the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. Had my heart and mind been so intensely on our guilty situation that God knew our fearful, regretful hearts and given us leniency through our parents?

Nothing tangible could prove our prayer had done any of that until I mused to my mother why the Clements hadn't punished Diane harshly.

Mom told me her parents had watched out the window when Robby went to get Diane. My reaction was to pray. That action had stirred their hearts. When my mother invited them to church, they knew it was time to get right with God.

The family became born-again Christians. Glen was ordained as a minister. And prayer became relevant in my life ever after

2008 Carol Hegberg. Carol Hegberg is a professional freelance editor/writer. With her journalism degree, she has written for local and college newspapers. Her novel PEN PALS was published in 2004, and her non-fiction book ROCHELLE was published in 2007. Her poems, essays, articles, skits, and plays have appeared in several literary and other magazines. She has been published in several anthologies.

How to Get a Libra Man in Love With You

Many women find themselves naturally attracted to Libra men. Men born between September 24 and October 23 have some appealing qualities that are often irresistible to a woman. Libra men are known for placing the happiness of their partner above their own fulfillment. A Libra man in love is fiercely loyal and can often stay committed to one woman their entire lives. If you long for a devoted man who takes love seriously, a man born under this astrological sign is right for you.

Any woman who has ever been involved with one of these special men will tell you that a Libra man in love needs to be supported. He needs to be certain that the woman he adores loves him just as much. He may ask you for reassurance of your feelings from time-to-time. It's important that you are patient and willing to talk to him about how deeply connected to him you feel.

You should be outgoing if you want to capture the heart of a man born under this astrological sign. Women who are slightly aggressive and those comfortable taking the first step in a relationship will generally appeal to a Libra man. You should be adventurous and spontaneous. A Libra man in love is full of passion in every area of his life. Understanding that he has a drive to succeed in everything from personal happiness to his career will help you stay number one in his life.

A Libra man in love wants to be connected on every level to the woman he's with. He's interested in being intimate often and loves a woman who is just as enthusiastic in this area as he is. Being with a man like this means you should be flirtatious and fun. You must know how to laugh and enjoy life. Boring women just don't fit well in the lives of Libra men.

Specific things you say and do can make a Libra man feel helplessly drawn to you. If you are convinced he is the one there are things you can do to ensure he only has eyes for you. For more informative tips about understanding men including a way to get him to fall deeply in love with you, visit this Helpful Site!

Structuring Your Time During the Day

We only have 24 hours in each day, if we're working 12 hours each day, six days a week, planning the time required to create a habit will be a little more difficult, than someone who works four hours a day three days each week.

If you're one of those overachievers and can't seem to rest or sit down for even five minutes a day. This tells me, we need to change this habit first. Most people that tell you, they just don't have any time during the day, for anything. These people usually have a lot more time than others.

Their time is normally unstructured and they often find themselves running around like a chicken with its head cut off. They are not organized or very efficient at most things that they do. Keep in mind that there are some extremely successful people that only work four hours each day and some of these people take vacations every other month.

Structuring your time will allow you the extra time you need during the day.

If you have a daytime organizer, use this to figure out, if there is any wasted time during the day. Pay strict attention to any wasted time and make a list you can evaluate at the end of the day. Do this for one week and at the end of the week evaluate your weekly activities.

If you don't have a daytime organizer, carrying around a scrap piece of paper to keep track of your daily activities. If you don't have a daytime organizer or if this is too much work for you, simply pay attention to any time you might feel, has been wasted during the day.

If we can create better time management habits, it won't be long before we have more time than we ever imagined.

Have you ever thought about Getting up Earlier.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world.

Pablo Picasso

Does God Care About Poor People? Loving Your Beliefs

It's hard to imagine that God really does care about poor people. When I say poor people, I'm not talking about people that live in the United States of America on welfare or use their unemployment payments to survive. I'm talking about people that live in what we call third world countries, people that are starving to death and dying because they're poor.

I heard somewhere, and it's hard to believe and I don't have any proof, but someone told me that 80% of the people in the world today live on less than $20 a day. I made that statement, but in reality I heard that 80% of the world lives on less than two dollars each day. That's hard to imagine with a caring God or caring God's, the creator of the universe who made us in his image.

I've been asking this question for years to rich, poor, middle class, educated, illiterate, good-looking and ugly people. I have heard so many different answers and beliefs on why God treats poor people badly. Here is a small list of reasons why God treats these people this way.

1. They Must Have Done Something Wrong and God Is Punishing Them for Their Mistakes.

2. They Don't Believe in the Right God.

3. One of Their Ancestors Did Something Bad and Now They're Paying the Penalty.

4. They Were Born into the Wrong Family, Country, Nationality, Race or Religion.

And last but not least my favorite, the more someone suffers on earth the greater the glory they received in heaven. I can't believe someone would actually say this, but this is the one I've heard most often. " The meek shall inherit the earth." Why wouldn't God have said, "That the poor and the starving people will inherit the kingdom of heaven, and only after they have suffered, pain beyond mortal believe shall they get to enter the kingdom of heaven and then live in a world of unbelievable riches, with plenty of food, clothes and of course people that love them."

I think if religious text was a little more specific, it would make more sense to people who are actually suffering.

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, You Can Have It All

Greg is currently working on a Christian library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Michael Losier

Fooling Modern Day Christians - Fake Christian Teachers

When I went to church, I would often see people raising their hands, standing up, singing passionately, praising the Lord and some of them, sometimes would even get a little out of hand, with their excitement. I was watching a Christian show on TV and I will leave out the pastors name but it rhymed with Skeeter top off. This Christian teacher was amazing, to say the least.

When I said I was watching a Christian show, this was almost like watching a cross between a documentary and the circus. This guy would stand up on stage and start to become magnetically pulled towards one of the people in the audience. Once he got closer to the person he would start to tell them, what was wrong. The closer he got to his prey, the more excited they both would become as he started laying it on them.

This man would convince them that he knew, what was wrong with them, some of the problems in their life, health related issues and physical handicaps. While watching these shows, I would often pinch myself, go look at the calendar, and verify that I was in the 20th century and didn't go back in time somehow. Later on, this man was caught, but I don't know if he ever had to spend time in jail or prison. I mean that's not that big of a deal, fooling thousands of people and making them believe something that isn't true,... right. Would this be considered a con artist?

Here's how the scam went down. As people would enter this place of worship, they would write down all of their problems on a card and place it in a container or hand it to a trusted Christian usher. After the people were seated, someone would take the cards to a person hidden behind the scenes, this person would direct the Christian teacher towards the people with the problems in the audience.

The Christian teacher had a hidden earpiece and this made him look like he was psychic. This man was a hero to thousands and seen as a divine healer like Jesus Christ. He had fooled plenty of people and I often wonder, how many people were actually healed, just by the belief that someone with extraordinary powers had just healed them.

The mind is extremely powerful and can believe whatever it chooses to. The more you feed the mind, information that you choose to believe in, the stronger these beliefs will actually get. If you don't believe this, start asking someone who beliefs in Christianity, Hinduism, Islam or other religions around the world, why they believe and would it be possible for them to change their religious views. Think about it, most people are passionate about their religious choices.

Question your religion

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Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, You Can Have It All

Wayne Dyer

Simple Words Create Powerful Beliefs - Just How Harmful Can Some Words Be?

Could you imagine someone telling you that if you don't do something, you're going to suffer a horrible punishment and possibly death, because you chose to ignore their message. Can simple words create powerful beliefs, isn't this what some religious doctorines create? Even the media does it, think about it the next time you turn your television on or read the newspaper.

You seem to believe something because someone told you that's how it is and when you go to question them, they simply repeat the simple statement, that's how is. It's hard to imagine a few words, articulated almost perfectly can create an overwhelming emotion in someone.

The Germans used propaganda to create fear with a few of these words. It's not just a few of these words, there's more power behind these words if their repeated often. These words can build up someone's hopes and dreams or tear them apart.

Is there a quote that you're fond of? You probably memorized it and it has some sort of significance or creates a certain feeling when mentioned. Quotes are organized words that create powerful beliefs in some people.

If I mention the words," I have a dream" you probably think of Martin Luther King. These four words meant a lot to people that were struggling for their freedom, not only in America but around the world. These words are a example of powerful words that have created a wonderful feeling.

When these powerful words create fear you know it. If you watch the news, night after night and they keep telling you how bad the economy is, it doesn't take long before you believe it. You tighten up your budget and stop spending money, because you are now fearful and don't want to lose what you have. When everyone starts holding onto their money, the economy actually does become worse over time.

Can simple words create powerful beliefs? Yes obviously they can and they do, so be careful when listening to words that create fear and try not to spread this fear around to others. Fear can be turned into relief if the right words are used, I would suggest using happy words to create a happy world. Have a nice day.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, The Magic of the Believing

Greg is currently working on a self improvement articles filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Peggy Mccoll

Council of Nicaea Conclusion - The Origins of Christian Belief

In the year 325A.D the emperor of Rome, Constantine gathered a group of church bishops and other leaders who believes in Christianity. The purpose of the meeting was to define the true God for all Christians and eliminate any confusion within Christ's church.

By the end of this council, Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit were considered one and the same. Before the council, there was confusion about, whether they should believe in one God, two gods or three entities.

Here's a statement from got questions, a popular Christian website, "The Council of Nicea affirmed the deity of Jesus Christ and established an official definition of the Trinity-the deity of The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit under one Godhead, in three co-equal and co-eternal Persons."

This was a pretty interesting article, if you've got time to read it, I would also suggest checking out Wikipedia for more information about the Council of Nicaea.

Here's Some of the Problems I Have with This Small Group of Proclaimed Christians.

If I'm reading this statement correctly, a group of people or religious leaders, 1700 years ago decided that Jesus, God the creator of everything in the universe and the Holy Spirit are the same. What does this mean to you? To me it establishes as a fact that a group of men, at a meeting, under the control of the Roman empire and the Emperor Constantine, made an agreement within the Council of man, not gods, that the Trinity was now a fact.

If this one thing was created by a group of men, doesn't it get you thinking about other things in your religion that might be false or even misleading. These are some of the facts that most Christians tend to either ignore or don't even have a clue that they exist.

I believe more Christians and other organized religions should inspire their followers to learn more about how their religions were formed and where they came from. I cannot verify that the Council of Nicaea ever took place, I'm basing this information on historical writings from man, that I either gather on the Internet or through books. I don't know if any of this is true or false, always use religion responsibly.

I don't need to believe the information, I don't need to believes the information in the Bible, I need to research and gather more information and with this information I can make an educated guess, and be happy with that, I suggest you do the same.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing, marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a self help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Caroline Myss

Having a Spiritual Hernia - Spiritual Education

I have read more information on spirituality, world religions, self-help, motivation and inspirational thinking than you could ever imagine. I probably have about 300 books and about a hundred audios that I could listen to on these subjects. But let's not forget that I have over 200 DVDs and VHS tapes also. Oh I forgot to mention that in October of 2007 my house burned down and along with it was what I would like to refer to it as my lifetime collection on these topics. If I had to value this collection, it would be almost $20,000 in materials.

Now the one thing that the fire provided me with, was a chance to start over and in less than a year of literary accumulation, I'm off to a good start. I have been studying over my lifetime with extreme persistence on how to better my life, which religion to follow and how to make more money.

If someone was to ask me, what I've learned and what books would I recommend, I've got quite a list. I built a website last year to support some of my favorite authors and to help others gather great materials for changing their life. Some of these books have given me what I would like to call a spiritual hernia. So much information and so little time to go through it.

I often ask myself, was this the best use of my time? Could I have done it another way? I really don't know, and I really don't know what will work exactly for you or your friends. I will give you some advice, meditation, contemplation, and meditation, seemed to be the key to a higher spiritual education. Whatever religion you belong to, whether it's Christianity, Hinduism or Islamic thinking, you can spend a little time with your self thinking about your religious choices, on a daily basis.

Simply sit quietly in a comfortable environment for 15 minutes each day. Try to relax, without falling asleep and clear your mind of any thoughts you have during this period. Try to do this every day and soon you will start to see things a little bit clearer. It seems like meditation strips off the layers of crap that are clouding our minds.

Start with 15 minutes and when you feel comfortable, try to extend the time. Some spiritual and inspirational experts, block out at least one hour each day to spend meditating, thinking about the day's events or just trying to get some creative insight for the next day.

I would also like to recommend, one of the best books that I have read on spirituality, laws of attraction and even meditation. The book is by Arnold Patent called "You Can Have It All." This book was also recommended by Oprah Winfrey and other motivational and spiritual authors.

Meditation can provide you with relaxation and creative insight for solving your problems or can be used, just to clear your mind for a while.

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, You Can Have It All

Greg is currently working on a motivation help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Small Things Lead To Change

You Were Born Into Your Religious Thinking

Most of us have been exposed to at least one religion while we were being raised by our parents. I was raised a Christian and lived in a Christian community. Like most Muslims and Hindus, we never had a choice, about which religion we wanted to belong to. Our upbringing determined our future religious beliefs. No matter how good or bad our childhood was, our parents justified their behaviors and we accepted these and will probably pass them down to our children.

I was wondering, what if you took the strongest Christian in this country and put them into a Tibetan monastery, shortly after they were born. Instead of growing up in a Christian community and gathering strength through other Christians, this person would now be exposed to Buddhism.

What do you think would happen now? Do you think that God would intervene and somehow bring him back to the United States or put him in a different Christian community, to be raised as a Christian, instead of a Buddhist? What God intervening and put an end to this nightmare? Do you think that the Christian would now be a Buddhist follower?

We are all products of our environment, whether we like it or not. How you were raised, who you hung around with, the people you admired and of course your parents have all had a certain impact on your life. Believe it or not, your religious views are from your childhood. Now there is a certain exception, those who switch religions, but this is extremely rare.

However, there are people who seem to be waking up from this fog of reality. As the Internet becomes more popular and easier to access, people can often visit other countries from the comfort of their home, through the World Wide Web. The more we are exposed to different points of view and other religions, the more real our world becomes.

The conclusion to this story is, there's a very good chance, by switching a child at birth, their beliefs would be entirely different.

Life Changing Books

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Find out a little bit more about Your Religious Freedom.

Fix Yourself Before Fixing Other

Whose God is Better? Religious Knowledge

If you're part of a religious organization, and were asked this question, "Whose God Is Better" meaning of course, is your God better and stronger or smarter and better looking than the religious competition. Is this something that you believe or were taught while you were young? Obviously you wouldn't think that the Hindu god Brahma is better than Yahweh or Jesus, if you're a Christian. It just wouldn't make any sense to belong to a religion that was weaker than the competition.

It seems like most religions around the world have gods or even one almighty God that is the biggest and baddest god in the neighborhood, maybe even the entire universe.

If we look at the numbers, the Christian God Jesus of Nazareth is the strongest by far. A survey that was done in 2005, showed Christians 2.1 billion strong and growing. With numbers like this, their God must be doing something right. Do you think these numbers are large because of their financial influences in poor countries? Something to think about, how did Christianity become such a large religious institution. They've got plenty of money and pay relatively little taxes. Remember the golden rule, the person with the most gold makes all the rules.

Second on our religious scale are the Muslims, the Islamic religion has over 1.1 billion followers and that puts it at almost half the size of Christianity, but more than doubled the size of the third largest religion by the numbers.

The third largest religion in the world is Hinduism and most of India which is second only to China as the most populated countries in the world are Hindus. Hinduism ranks around 800 million followers.

I'll stop right there. I wanted to give you an idea of religion by the numbers, realistically the Christians and the Muslims believe in the same God but the Muslims recognize Jesus as a prophet and the Christians don't recognize Mohammad at all and Mohammad is the number one prophet for the Islamic religion. But if we put the two of them together, it would be the largest religion by far with almost no competition economically or with military strength.

So to answer our question," Whose God Is Actually Better", I would have to say the Christian God is the most popular and powerful God and the universe. The only problem is, there's no actual proof that Jesus, Mohammed, Yahweh, Krishna or any other supreme being is real. People follow these religions and base almost everything on faith with very little facts that can actually be proven.

I'm not talking about small facts, I'm talking about big ones like, how the world was created, you can choose to believe, anything that you want but until we have some facts or at least something that sounds pretty good, you should probably stop thinking, that your religion is the only way and your God the best. Show some compassion for other religions around the world, their beliefs are no better or weaker than yours.

Hope in Religion

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, religious books

Paulo Coelho

Finding Friendships With Like-Minded People

Have you ever met someone and right from the very beginning they seem to be a wonderful person. Someone who makes you laugh and feel good, treats others with compassion and is a very nice person. Once you start to spend time with them, you start to notice certain faults and become confused at some of the statements that are coming out of their mouth.

After a while, you start to see less and less of these people and over time they become just another memory. Often there is a problem or difficulty in your relationship that led to the demise of your friendship. Maybe you loaned them some money or let them borrow something and they didn't repay you are never returned the item or items you loan them.

Somehow this wonderful relationship ended and usually it was from a problem, one that just didn't make sense to you.

This has happened to me more than once in my lifetime and I have noticed that people who give can always find someone willing to take. Their friendships are often lighthearted and never serious. To them, you are just another person on a long list of people they have used and discarded like a piece of trash.

Somehow these people convince you that you're the problem, you're the reason why the friendship had failed.

I would like to offer those a little hope who have been used or felt like they have been used in a relationship like this. Opposites do seem to attract and if you're a giving person, stop giving and you won't have to deal with people who are always willing to take what you're giving. Now don't confuse this with, changing your core personality or who you really are but rather, be more observant as you offer your services or friendship to those always willing to benefit somehow from your relationship.

If you're the kind of person who doesn't have very many friends, but wishes to have some, keep looking. People who give often don't associate with other givers and people who take don't hang around other takers. If you're looking for someone like yourself, you're going to need to change or readjust your thinking somehow. You're usually the reason why you keep attracting the same type of friends into your life.

If there's a sports, hobby or something else that you enjoy, maybe you can join a club. Spending your life alone or with the wrong friends can lead to misery. Keep trying to improve your friendship skills and pretty soon you'll have friends that are truly that, true friends, people whom you can really trust and appreciate.

Achieving Your Goals

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Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a spiritual video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world.

Mohandas Gandhi

Is Jesus the Only Way to Heaven? - The Good People Get to Go to Heaven Also

I found a website that was recommended to me and it had the comment, is Jesus the only way to heaven at, Gotquestions, seems like your typical Christian website that replies with biblical quotes and simple to follow information. If I was lost, they will help me find a way. There's even a button at the bottom that states, I have accepted Christ today. I guess if I was to push that button, I get to go to heaven and be with Jesus. Hard to imagine, avoiding a life of burning in hell could be as simple as pushing a button and uttering a few simple words.

I found this question and began reading their comment. The first comment is from somebody answering as a nonbeliever in Christianity. It states something like, if I'm basically a good person and live a moral life, I get to go to heaven, right, only the bad people like murderers go to hell.

Now the answer that the website gives, seems to create fear if you do not belong to Christianity and provide you with hope if you join the group.

It mentioned Satan as the ruler of the world, and he can plant these thoughts into your head if you're not a Christian. He also controls your mind and let's you believe, that it would only make sense to any rational person, they get to go to heaven if they're good.

Now this is what makes sense to me but according to this information, I am doomed to rot in hell for eternity, even if I am a pretty good person. All I have to do is accept Christ as God and I get to go to heaven. That seems pretty easy and I wonder why more people don't do it. Just push the button.

I wonder if Satan is controlling, non-Christians minds and that's why there's brutality and war throughout the world. If everyone was a Christian, would our world be better.

Here's a quote from Wikipedia The Crusades were a series of religion-driven military campaigns waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents. Crusades were fought mainly against Muslims, though campaigns were also directed against pagan Slavs, Jews, Russian and Greek Orthodox Christians, Mongols, Cathars, Hussites, Waldensians, Old Prussians, and political enemies of the popes.

These Christian Crusades killed thousands of people. To give you an idea how many people were killed, all I had to do was type the word crusades into a search engine and it took me to the Christian Crusades.

I guess that rules that out, it seems like the Christians a long time ago were pretty aggressive towards their enemies, I wonder if most Christians would refer to these people as enemies today or are they just being controlled by Satan. Do these Christians from the Crusades get to go to heaven? If people like this get to go to heaven, may be hell is a better place anyway.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, Mere Christianity

Here's something to think about, go to heaven

Dale Carnegie

The Wisemen Weren't Very Wise - Christianity

Here's a verse from Matthew in the New Testament, read this first and then I will explain why the wisemen weren't very wise.

"9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route."

The wisemen traveled great distances from around the world to see the new King. The star in the sky obviously pointed the way to his birthplace and when they saw him, they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, and incense and myrrh. It doesn't really say how much or what the value of these gifts was, but if I was to guess, it would've been around $1 trillion dollars. Okay that's pure speculation and let me get back to my point.

Here's the part I don't understand, if Jesus was born King of the Jews, how did we get Christianity. How come the Jewish faith didn't become stronger and more powerful with this newborn King. I know, there's probably all sorts of things you could say in Christianity's defense, like the Jews killed him or even the little dying on the cross incident, kind of put a damper on things, but the Jews lost there king and the wisemen disappeared, never to be heard of again.

Now if I was one of the wisemen or the Magi, I would have been smart enough to stay in contact with Jesus. I couldn't have e-mailed him but could have used the stars somehow to find him, like they did originally. If it were smart enough to use the star in the first place, he could have been found using the solar system a second time. Don't you think.

What it all comes down to, is this, if these Magi were so smart, why didn't they seek Jesus's advice or counsel in days to come. Why would they have given him these gifts, only to never be heard from again in the Bible. Another thing to think about on your religious path to spiritual enlightenment.

Oh by the way, what the heck did Jesus's parents do with the gifts.

Hope in Religion

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Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a self help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Bathroom Windows For Privacy

Simple Words Create Powerful Beliefs - Just How Harmful Can Some Words Be?

Could you imagine someone telling you that if you don't do something, you're going to suffer a horrible punishment and possibly death, because you chose to ignore their message. Can simple words create powerful beliefs, isn't this what some religious doctorines create? Even the media does it, think about it the next time you turn your television on or read the newspaper.

You seem to believe something because someone told you that's how it is and when you go to question them, they simply repeat the simple statement, that's how is. It's hard to imagine a few words, articulated almost perfectly can create an overwhelming emotion in someone.

The Germans used propaganda to create fear with a few of these words. It's not just a few of these words, there's more power behind these words if their repeated often. These words can build up someone's hopes and dreams or tear them apart.

Is there a quote that you're fond of? You probably memorized it and it has some sort of significance or creates a certain feeling when mentioned. Quotes are organized words that create powerful beliefs in some people.

If I mention the words," I have a dream" you probably think of Martin Luther King. These four words meant a lot to people that were struggling for their freedom, not only in America but around the world. These words are a example of powerful words that have created a wonderful feeling.

When these powerful words create fear you know it. If you watch the news, night after night and they keep telling you how bad the economy is, it doesn't take long before you believe it. You tighten up your budget and stop spending money, because you are now fearful and don't want to lose what you have. When everyone starts holding onto their money, the economy actually does become worse over time.

Can simple words create powerful beliefs? Yes obviously they can and they do, so be careful when listening to words that create fear and try not to spread this fear around to others. Fear can be turned into relief if the right words are used, I would suggest using happy words to create a happy world. Have a nice day.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, The Magic of the Believing

Greg is currently working on a self improvement articles filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

David Roochnik

30 Days to Creating Super Habits

Creating super habits are easier than you could ever imagine. Most people have something they would like to change in their lives. If you ask anyone, they are usually able to answer this question, "If you could change anything about yourself, what would you change." All the self help and personal development programs and books available today are full of useful information that nobody seems to take advantage of. You've seen the TV commercials and listen to other people tell their stories, about how they lost weight.

Are you one of those skeptics that find these stories hard to believe. Do you think it's possible to create a life changing habit within 30 days? If you don't think it's possible, have you ever tried to change something about yourself you don't like.

If you haven't tried, how do you know it's impossible. If you have tried to create change in your life, did you quit, did you quit shortly after you started. This is often what most people do. They either quit before they start and never even get started, or they quit within a short period of time after they started. Usually these people have an excuse, most of the time their excuse is quite simply, it was harder than I thought.

Creating super habits in 30 days is possible and you don't have to be an over achiever to accomplish this goal. Creating these habits will require some effort on your part but the rewards most of the time are worth the effort.

I challenge you to change something about yourself you don't like within the next 30 days.

Go to the next step for more information.

Finding Something You Don't like about Yourself

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a self help video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Father John Dear

Council of Nicaea Conclusion - The Origins of Christian Belief

In the year 325A.D the emperor of Rome, Constantine gathered a group of church bishops and other leaders who believes in Christianity. The purpose of the meeting was to define the true God for all Christians and eliminate any confusion within Christ's church.

By the end of this council, Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit were considered one and the same. Before the council, there was confusion about, whether they should believe in one God, two gods or three entities.

Here's a statement from got questions, a popular Christian website, "The Council of Nicea affirmed the deity of Jesus Christ and established an official definition of the Trinity-the deity of The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit under one Godhead, in three co-equal and co-eternal Persons."

This was a pretty interesting article, if you've got time to read it, I would also suggest checking out Wikipedia for more information about the Council of Nicaea.

Here's Some of the Problems I Have with This Small Group of Proclaimed Christians.

If I'm reading this statement correctly, a group of people or religious leaders, 1700 years ago decided that Jesus, God the creator of everything in the universe and the Holy Spirit are the same. What does this mean to you? To me it establishes as a fact that a group of men, at a meeting, under the control of the Roman empire and the Emperor Constantine, made an agreement within the Council of man, not gods, that the Trinity was now a fact.

If this one thing was created by a group of men, doesn't it get you thinking about other things in your religion that might be false or even misleading. These are some of the facts that most Christians tend to either ignore or don't even have a clue that they exist.

I believe more Christians and other organized religions should inspire their followers to learn more about how their religions were formed and where they came from. I cannot verify that the Council of Nicaea ever took place, I'm basing this information on historical writings from man, that I either gather on the Internet or through books. I don't know if any of this is true or false, always use religion responsibly.

I don't need to believe the information, I don't need to believes the information in the Bible, I need to research and gather more information and with this information I can make an educated guess, and be happy with that, I suggest you do the same.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing, marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a self help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Florence Nightingale

What's Jesus's Real Name - Christian Thought

I've been studying Christianity for over 30 years now and would really like to know what his real name actually is. What was Jesus's real name? In the new International Version Bible it states.

This is from the book Matthew in the New Testament.

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" which means, "God with us."

24When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Jesus has always made sense to me, because I was raised speaking the English language. It wasn't until I was in my teens that I first heard some one tell me about Yahweh and that's pronounced (YAH-WAY) . Now I had a hard enough time, the first time I seen Jesus's name on one of the payroll sheets at work. I couldn't believe my eyes, Jesus was working with us, and I wanted to meet him. Lots of luck, come to find out he was a very busy person.

Later on I found out that Jesus is a popular Spanish name and is pronounced (hey zoos), and that's who was working with me. Now again this isn't the only name for Jesus. How about: God, Lord, Word, Messiah, Alpha and Omega, Redeemer, Savior, Lamb of God, Light of the World, Ruler of Creation, Immanuel , King of the Jews and Rabbi.

Another program I watched, said that Jesus's name was Joshua and was pronounced Yeho-shua . I guess Yeho-shua is the closest I have came to his actual Christian name that might have been given by his mother Mary and father Joseph. Oh wait a minute, there weren't Christians back then so this would have been his actual Jewish name.

Well that's the best I could do, good luck on your search for Jesus's real name. Have fun.

What Happened to the Wise Men's Gifts

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site: Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a self help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Change Can Lead To Suffering

Putting Up With Organized Religion - How Long Do We Follow Something That's Outdated

Let me explain where I'm coming from in my writing. Organized religion worked good 200 or maybe 500 years ago, but I really don't see a need for it today. We fight wars over religion and even kill people that speak out against organized religion. Religions and governments all over the world control people through fear and pleasure.

I'm tired of people fighting and killing all over the world in the name of some religion. I once heard an Iranian man, through a translator, on our local news say, "if he dies in the name of Allah, he gets to go to heaven." I don't know if I want to be signed up for that program but obviously he believes in it enough and is willing to die for what he believes in, right or wrong. Some people view this man is evil while others view him as a hero, how do you think you would do this person?

What the Romans did to people 2000 years ago is what I would consider a very bad. Was the devil actually providing an evil influence for Roman leaders back then. I've never heard anyone mention that but they did kill Jesus of Nazareth and he seemed like a pretty good person.

If Jesus would have kept his mouth shut, he could have lived to a ripe old age. He chose not to, because he believed in his cause. Some Jews believe that he was under the influence of evil, that's hard to imagine. He believed that some of the ideas and teaching of the Romans and Jews were wrong and he was going to make them better. These leaders were afraid of change and decided to eliminate what they view as they evil problem.

I started writing to influence and educate people in a positive way. I really don't want to upset religious followers, but I would like them to understand, a little more about their religion. What causes people to kill others in the name of their god? Is that evil or an evil influence from other religion's of the world.

I would imagine most of these people choose to accept words from their religious leaders as facts and will never question their faith. If religious followers could understand other religions, maybe they wouldn't persecute them or try to convert them into their own beliefs.

My influence will affect others and will provoke them to think, always question your religion and when they start thinking, this is when I've made a positive influence in a constructive way. If someone starts to think about their religion and it gives them stronger feelings and deeper beliefs, maybe they can answer some of my questions, instead of avoiding them with spiritual scripture or faith.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, The Power of Myth. If you've ever wondered, where religion has evolved from. Check this book out.

James Rachels

Do You Believe in the Bible?

Do you really believe in the Bible? The other day I was listening to an audio book on the Dead Sea Scrolls. The author had a Ph.D. and of course I have no idea what the Ph.D. was in, it didn't say on the audio book cover. He made the statement below and it got me thinking about our beliefs and what we believe in.

"For those who want proof positive that the Bible is true, there's really only one thing to say for those who disbelieve no proof is possible for those who believe no proof is necessary."

The statement is coming from an educated person and it kind of sounds like an oxymoron. For those who want proof positive that the Bible is true, there is really only one thing to say, for those who disbelieve no proof is possible. What does that mean to a Christian and this same statement applies to most religions throughout the world. If you want proof positive, there really isn't any is there.

Researchers can prove certain parts of the Bible like, people's names and that some of these people were actually alive and have some history to them, geographical locations like cities, rivers and oceans, and some beneficial facts to religious believers. I don't want to single just the Bible out here, other religious text can't be proven, proof positive.

There are a lot of sections in the Bible that quite possibly could never be proven. Unless of course God or some sort of superior being with superior knowledge could give us positive proof that the Bible was true. This of course would eliminate the need for faith and faith is pretty much the most important part of believing in most religions.

Let's take the last part of the statement, "for those who believe no proof is necessary". Where do we draw the line between belief and facts, where do we draw a line between faith and truth. What is it going to take to get religious believers to start doing some research on their religious beliefs, instead of following with only faith. You should question your religion.

If you're going to believe in something like the Bible, you have no right to question someone else's beliefs and their religion. The next time a Christian judges a Muslim or Hindu about their beliefs, start thinking about yours a little more clearly, before you pass judgment on someone else who is living their life based on faith.

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world.

Myles Munroe

Success Starting in Your 40s

You're going to find it hard to believe, but very seldom does an individual peak with creativity until they reach the age of 40. The average individual usually makes the most money between the age of 40 and 60. This doesn't have anything to do with retirement. Most highly creative people keep producing until they die.

If you're 55 years old and looking for a new career or can't seem to find a job in the profession you have worked at your whole life, don't be alarmed or fearful. Do you think you could start your own business? Is there something, you have always wanted to do but have put it off until retirement, or until you had enough time to do it?

Why wait, if you can't find a job in a business you never truly enjoyed, maybe you can find a new job doing something you love.

I have worked in construction for 30 years and at 44 years old started to pursue a career in writing and plan to create award winning websites and best selling books, for the rest of my life. This doesn't mean, I won't work in construction ever again, but I will become a best selling author within the next 20 years.

Most people don't take the time required to learn a new profession. If you're sincerely interested in another career, and you're 50 years old, there is plenty of people out there to give you hope and inspiration.

If you would like some proof, here's a couple successful American businessman who succeeded after the age of 40. Henry Ford is probably one of the most popular and became extremely successful after the age of 40. Andrew Carnegie, an American industrialists who transformed the steel business and did not start reaping the rewards of his efforts until he was well past the age of 40.

I gathered this information from the book "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. There is a section in the book where he talks about people after the age of 40 with phenomenal success. Anyone who's interested in gaining wealth through spirituality or finances should read this book.

I've often heard the statement, "People Often Over Estimate What They Can Do in a Year and Often Underestimate What They Can Do in a Decade." If you want to accomplish something after the age of 40, I would advise you to start with a plan and then put that plan and the action. Your plan could take five to 15 years to achieve or longer but think about the rewards, whether spiritual or financial.

Gregory Vanden Berge is working to promote personal development ideas and spiritual reform. He has started a web site for videos and articles based on current information about subject he is very familiar with.

"Education has freed me, to pursue other ideas and release me from the bondage and fear of organized religion."

Gregory Vanden Berge

Bruce Wilkinson

Are You Mentally Constipated? Economic Stress Relief

This article was originally released in March of 2009. We seem to be at the end of a 20 month recession and most people are completely frazzled and seem to be at their wits end. It seems like everyone I talked to, whether it's at a restaurant, grocery store, gas station or work, are upset with the current economic conditions. When is it going to end?

So I'm asking you, quite frankly, are you one of the mentally constipated people? Is your mind so tired of being behind on your bills, worrying about your job and whether or not you're going to have it next week, are you one of those people who was about to retire until the stock market dropped and now you need to work a few more years.

When are things going to become better and how did they even get to this in the first place? Most of the average educated people with a pretty good heads on her shoulders can't answer this question. They have no idea why the economy does great some years and horrible during others.

I often wonder why economics isn't taught in school, something basic. I think it's because, the people who are in charge really don't want us to know what's going on and even though some of the extremely wealthy people have lost some of their money, they will probably make even more once this rebounds.

It's the people like me that I'm worried about, the average person, the person with the mortgage, car payment and utility bills that I'm talking about. These are the people that seem to be mentally constipated and tired of what's going on. These economic cycles seem to take their toll on us.

It said that God only hands out what he thinks you can handle. If this is true, I can't handle any more and I hope that he knows it. While we're waiting for things to get better, keep this in mind, this is the third major recession that I have been through in my lifetime and have survived through them, only by eating away at my life savings. Right as soon as I seem to be sitting pretty good and my bank accounts look nice, something like this comes along and like a giant vacuum starts sucking and cleaning out what I have worked so hard to save.

I, like most of us are tired and worn down, but not worn out. The stock market is starting to come back up and it looks like there's light at the end of the road. Hang in there and if you need to empty your mind and end the mental constipation, start reading a good motivational story. Something happy and positive. This could empty the reservoirs of your mental bowels and provide some relief during these tough economic times.

Another way to exercise the mental garbage is by journaling. Start writing and don't stop until it's out.

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, You Can Have It All

Greg is currently working on a self help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Benjamin Franklin

The True Christian - Becoming a Great Person

For years, I have been trying to figure out what a true Christian believer is, is it someone who studies the Bible on a daily basis and develops excellent habits to keep them in line. Is a good Christian someone who helps people and inspires them to become better Christians. At what point in our lives do we know that we are true Christians. What separates a true Christian from regular Christians.

The true Christian is someone who reads their Bible on a daily basis and develops good study habits. These Christians bring their Bibles to work with them and set a good example by reading the Bible during their lunch break. Often showing every one that they are the above average Christian. Most of these people can answer any questions that are asked to them simply and effortlessly.

The answers will be based on information that they have gathered from the Bible, videos, audios, other Christian related material and of course their church leaders. Often these true Christians are leaders in their church and community. Followers of Jesus Christ are often inspired to help their friends and fellow church members.

Ordinary Christians are those who go to church every once in a while and never carry their Bible to work. They can however be found drinking coffee and eating doughnuts at local donut houses. Sometimes these donut houses even carry free newspapers that provide unchristian like materials. Every once in awhile I will notice a man, wearing a trenchcoat, taking one of the newspapers home with him. He's a bad and naughty Christian.

HELLO! LISTEN UP

The truth is, that a true Christian is only someone who lives a life like Christ. It doesn't get any simpler than that. Treating people with kindness, compassion and understanding, trying to become a better person or an example for others and their children. It's not necessary to read the Bible every day or associate with Christians only.

Jesus set the example for others to follow, read about him in the Bible and use him as a good example, but not the only example. There's plenty of good examples throughout history. Spiritual leaders like, Buddha, Krishna, Mohammed and Moses are also great teachers and can provide you with other experiences and knowledge.

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world.

Inerrancy Of The Bible

Rethinking Today's Religions - Misleading Our Children

When I was a young man, my parents told me about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Every Christmas, there would be presents underneath the tree from Santa Claus and on Easter I would get a basket full of candy and eggs. However, when I was 11 years old, my parents broke the devastating news to me, there was no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny.

As you can imagine, I cried for hours over the frustration and disappointment. For one, I thought that I wasn't going to get any more Christmas gifts, but my parents provided me with the needed psychological relief and told me that they were going to provide Christmas gifts for me, until I died. Even though I was upset, I was relieved and confused.

If my parents lied about this, could they have possibly lied about something else, anything else. Have you ever thought about this and is there a situation in your life today that could be an old habit that never got corrected. Some theme that your parents told you when you were a child that was a lie and they never told you the truth. Maybe they never told you the truth because they don't even know themselves that it's a lie.

Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny were obviously disappointments to me and most people that I've talked to about their experiences, with their parents and even their children. Why do we do this as parents to our children, even though we didn't like it when it was done to us. Hard to explain why we can't break certain habits and certain traditions.

I love Christmas and the joy of giving. Even though I am no longer a Christian, I enjoy going over to my relatives homes and spending Christmas or Christmas Eve with them. Now for the bad news, if you were raised to believe in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism or any other large religious organization. Let me ask you this, do you think that it could be like Santa Claus, do you think the religion you believe in so strongly could be a story that has gotten out of control over the centuries.

I've spent a life time rethinking today's religions and can't find very many facts to prove any one religion is superior over another. Do your own research and find your own answers. Enlightenment could be as simple as gathering the right information.

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, You Can Have It All

Greg is currently working on a self help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Spending 15 Minutes Each Day

Tithing Education - Giving From Guilt

If you're part of any organized religion and donate money on a regular basis, do you know where your money is going? Have you ever asked what they are spending the money on? Are you one of those people who feels that your pastor and church leaders know best and never even ask them, because you might feel inferior to them? Have you asked in the past and were told not to worry about it but still would like to know.

Before you give your hard earned money away, whether you're doing it out of guilt or pleasure, make sure you're supporting the right organization. You should never feel the need to donate money if you don't have it to give.

I went to a church that had funds for everything, building funds, starvation funds, church funds and even funds to fund of funds if they ran out of money. Okay I just threw that last part in their but all kidding aside, there's plenty of stuff to be done in our country, to help the starving, the poor and the needy. Why do we need to go to other countries?

I want to make a suggestion to people who can't afford to give their money away but feel guilty if they don't. In the Bible it tells you to give away 10% of your earnings to the church. The part that it doesn't tell you is what to do if you can't afford to give 10% to the church. I personally have known quite a few people who give money out of guilt and fear but will tell you that this is a requirement of their religion and its okay. God will take care of us and he always does.

I don't really believe God, the all powerful all-knowing and loving creator, wants us to suffer, if we just don't make enough money to survive. If you're planning on sending your child to a Christian private school and could only afford to send them to that school, using the money that you were going to tithe to the church, what will you do? Tithe the money to the church so that they can use it to feed hungry people in other countries or build a new church somewhere or help with your child's education.

Some of these decisions are made difficult by religious doctrine and these are the parts of organized religion that I have problems with. When do we use common sense, combined with a little education to seek the truth. Does your religion ask you to seek the truth but not to gather your information beyond their religious boundaries?

Only give what you can afford to give and feel good about it. If you don't feel good about giving your money away, don't do it. Take care of yourself, so that you can take care of others, if you choose to. Living a life of fear and guilt doesn't make sense.

Question Your Religion

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Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a religious help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Creating A Habit

How Did You Choose Your Religion? - This Article Could Change Your Views on Religion

How do we come to believe in a religion, one that most of us never even chose? How many people reading this article right now believe in the same religion of their parents and how many of your parents believe in the same religion of their ancestors?

Do you think it has anything to do with repetition? If your parents made it through life, you can do the same and if they went to church every Sunday, by god that's what you're going to do. If these people save their money up for retirement and worked at a 40 hour a week jobs, with all the other hardships that life seems to pass on us, you can do exactly the same thing.

I'm not too familiar with other religions but seem to know a lot about Christianity. As a young Christian I was baptized and went to church every Sunday. The most important part to me about going to church, was the snack I would receive during Sunday school. I really can't tell you what I remember or if I learned very much while attending my church classes.

I do however remember my parents creating a belief in my mind of a God and that God was in charge of everything. If I was bad, God wouldn't like that at all, but if I was good god would like me and maybe if I was even good enough, one day I would get to go to heaven and heaven is a wonderful place to be.

Is this how you came about your religion? You just seemed to follow the path of your parents, family or friends with very little thought, this is just the way it is and you're fine with that. Or are you one of those believers that is almost cult like and could never be convinced that your religion is wrong. You know without a doubt that you need to spread the message of your religion to everyone on earth.

Are you one of the rare individuals who have studied about their childhood religion and have now chosen another path. Has someone convinced you that their religion is better than your old one and now you have switched and can't believe how happy you are.

Thinking about how I never chose my religion, forced me to study other religions, to see which one was right. I am even more confused than when I first started but no longer believe in my childhood religion. I've often wondered what our world would be like without organized religion or somebody trying to control us like the government. Both of these organizations seem to do a pretty good job making us believe they're looking out for our best interests.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. If you want to find out more about life changing spiritual books, you won't be disappointed, this website is filled with the best authors and books on personal development and spiritual beliefs.

Greg is currently working on a religious beliefs library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Thomas Ashley Farrand

War Losers Are Criminals - Military Leadership and Something to Think About

How many wars have been fought over different beliefs and religions? I've been alive for less than 50 years and through the span of history this is a very small amount time but yet I noticed certain patterns by studying history and being part of it.

Why do we accept war as a necessity or a need to acquire something or instill a certain belief into someone else? Is it because we know, we are absolutely right and we know for a fact 100% that our way of living is better than theirs? What makes the winner of the war right and the looser wrong?

I was watching a movie that Robert McNamara made called The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara. I never really put two and two together but he mentioned something in the movie that got me thinking. His superior officer mentioned to him one day," You Do Realize Robert, If We Lose the War, We Are Going to Be Tried As War Criminals."

I never really thought that just because we were right and they were wrong, our military leaders could be executed. But were right aren't we and their wrong, isn't this why we were fighting World War II. The Germans and Japanese were wrong in doing horrible things. We tried their military leaders and found them guilty. After they lost the war of course.

I guess when I was a kid playing baseball and my coach told me "That the winner takes all." This also applies to real life, war, beliefs, society and what were forced to belief. If you study the wars throughout history, you will notice that most of the winning sides acquired benefits from the losers and sometimes even property. Makes sense doesn't it, winner takes all.

Losing a war doesn't make you a criminal, if you're trained as a superior leader, doesn't this involve killing people or are there specific guidelines that military leaders should follow. Are there specific rules and did the Americans and English follow these rules during World War II. Sometimes we need to study leadership books to gain knowledge and skills to become a better leader.

The concept of creating war criminals because they have killed others during the war, will probably never make sense to me. War is a horrible and cruel thing to bestowed on any country and with it comes many acts of horror, it's war and there's only one objective and that's to win, at all costs. If were going to put the losing side on trial, shouldn't we also find out more about the crimes the winning side committed during the war.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. If you've never heard Ernest Shackleton, I recommend you read the book Shackleton's Way it will give you a new perspective on leadership

Greg is currently working on a skill development library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion

Faith Belief Or Education

Simple Words Create Powerful Beliefs - Just How Harmful Can Some Words Be?

Could you imagine someone telling you that if you don't do something, you're going to suffer a horrible punishment and possibly death, because you chose to ignore their message. Can simple words create powerful beliefs, isn't this what some religious doctorines create? Even the media does it, think about it the next time you turn your television on or read the newspaper.

You seem to believe something because someone told you that's how it is and when you go to question them, they simply repeat the simple statement, that's how is. It's hard to imagine a few words, articulated almost perfectly can create an overwhelming emotion in someone.

The Germans used propaganda to create fear with a few of these words. It's not just a few of these words, there's more power behind these words if their repeated often. These words can build up someone's hopes and dreams or tear them apart.

Is there a quote that you're fond of? You probably memorized it and it has some sort of significance or creates a certain feeling when mentioned. Quotes are organized words that create powerful beliefs in some people.

If I mention the words," I have a dream" you probably think of Martin Luther King. These four words meant a lot to people that were struggling for their freedom, not only in America but around the world. These words are a example of powerful words that have created a wonderful feeling.

When these powerful words create fear you know it. If you watch the news, night after night and they keep telling you how bad the economy is, it doesn't take long before you believe it. You tighten up your budget and stop spending money, because you are now fearful and don't want to lose what you have. When everyone starts holding onto their money, the economy actually does become worse over time.

Can simple words create powerful beliefs? Yes obviously they can and they do, so be careful when listening to words that create fear and try not to spread this fear around to others. Fear can be turned into relief if the right words are used, I would suggest using happy words to create a happy world. Have a nice day.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, The Magic of the Believing

Greg is currently working on a self improvement articles filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

How To Hire A Roofing Contractor

The Wisemen Weren't Very Wise - Christianity

Here's a verse from Matthew in the New Testament, read this first and then I will explain why the wisemen weren't very wise.

"9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route."

The wisemen traveled great distances from around the world to see the new King. The star in the sky obviously pointed the way to his birthplace and when they saw him, they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, and incense and myrrh. It doesn't really say how much or what the value of these gifts was, but if I was to guess, it would've been around $1 trillion dollars. Okay that's pure speculation and let me get back to my point.

Here's the part I don't understand, if Jesus was born King of the Jews, how did we get Christianity. How come the Jewish faith didn't become stronger and more powerful with this newborn King. I know, there's probably all sorts of things you could say in Christianity's defense, like the Jews killed him or even the little dying on the cross incident, kind of put a damper on things, but the Jews lost there king and the wisemen disappeared, never to be heard of again.

Now if I was one of the wisemen or the Magi, I would have been smart enough to stay in contact with Jesus. I couldn't have e-mailed him but could have used the stars somehow to find him, like they did originally. If it were smart enough to use the star in the first place, he could have been found using the solar system a second time. Don't you think.

What it all comes down to, is this, if these Magi were so smart, why didn't they seek Jesus's advice or counsel in days to come. Why would they have given him these gifts, only to never be heard from again in the Bible. Another thing to think about on your religious path to spiritual enlightenment.

Oh by the way, what the heck did Jesus's parents do with the gifts.

Hope in Religion

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a self help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Richard Webster

Is the Bible Historically Accurate? Do You Ever Seek Truthful Answers?

I'm going to start with the first book of the holy Bible, Genesis chapter 1 verse one through five. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

And God said," let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

If the Bible is historically accurate, did God actually create earth. I have been battling over this, my whole life. It's very easy for someone to accept and believe in any religion, government, other people or whatever they truly desire to make real. I see it every day of my life, open your eyes and you will see it to.

It's hard to imagine that a superior entity like God created everything that we touch and see. The moon itself is pretty big and the creation of the sun would prove to be a little more difficult, but if you're God and your all knowing and all powerful, he or she or it, must be one incredible being.

This is only the first couple of paragraphs in the Bible and there is no, I repeat no, historical accuracy to this event. It seems like God or man, whoever wrote the Bible, should have started the Bible with something a little more believable for people that live in the 21st century. It's not hard to imagine someone 2000 years ago, believing in something like this.

2000 years ago the Romans were worshiping their own gods, we might find this ridiculous today but back then the Romans would punish you if you didn't worship their gods. We are not too far from that today. If we don't stop organized religion and their influence on humanity, we're going to have serious problems in the future.

The biggest problem I foresee is common sense. If the Bible has 500 historical accurate facts that can be proven without a doubt by historians, scholars and other intelligent people, but has one thing that can't be explained, how do we handle this. How do we handle the fact that the Bible states God created light? If this is false, what else is false in the Bible.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Have you ever really ask yourself Who is, Jesus of Nazareth?

Greg is currently working on a Personal Power Ideas. If you're ever wondering why some people can achieve success, while others seem to struggle aimlessly, what would it hurt, to take a couple of minutes of your time, if you could actually find the truth.

Cslewis

Developing Wealth Building Habits

If you want to be successful, you need mentors or in other words find people that have succeeded. These people can include the ultra rich like Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, but don't forget about the people around you that have created good wealth building habits.

Some of the people have great advice and will need to be listened to very intently, while others need to be put on a list and never spoken to again. If you're going to be developing wealth building habits, you're going to need some advice from wealthy people. Let me make myself clear, when I'm talking about developing wealth building habits, I'm not talking about spiritual, knowledge, Biblical or religious wealth. I'm talking about making money, as much money as you desire or feel you need.

Wealth building habits start with you. Ask yourself this question "how bad do I want or desire wealth?" Really, really, really bad or are you the kind of person that would like to be rich, but that's as far as it goes. Developing any of these habits does not include sleeping in until 11 o'clock in the morning and then complaining the rest of the day about your finances.

Bill Gates used to work 16 hours a day. How many days a week did he do that? These are the questions you're going to find the answers to. If you're interested in making $50 million, you need to find someone who can teach you, how to make $50 million.

It won't be necessary to contact Warren Buffett but I would advise you to gather as much information about him as possible. Wealth building habits start with learning about wealthy people. If they get up at four o'clock in the morning and read the newspaper until six o'clock, then exercise for 30 minutes and start working at seven o'clock, you need to start doing this also. Developing good wealth building habits over time are what most successful businessman and women have been doing for years. Study their habits and start changing yours.

If you do something every day, it will usually become a habit within 30 days.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a self help video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Lewis S Ford