Accepting the "Faith" of a religion is in many ways much simpler and easier that questioning the status quo to find out what is true.

Many religions have the "Statement of Faith" all written out. All you have to do is just agree to that statement and it is all done, neat and clean. Now, just every time your mind doubts and questions anything, just repeat, "Doubt your doubts, believe your beliefs". You never have to go beyond that.

How many times have we heard someone use the name of Jesus to end a prayer. The thought seems to be that if we close the prayer with “In Jesus Name”, that somehow will make God listen better and make him respond to us. But is that how it works? more to come.

Neatly-Packaged Components of life:

Have you ever notices how many of the “once thought of as important” things of life have been (seemingly) all figured out. All you have to do is do things the way that has already been planned out by other people. For instance;

For many years I have been taught and told how important having the "right beliefs". For years I accepted that premise without questioning it. I even went as far as to try to define what my beliefs were. Toward that end I even did a lot of thinking and writing to try to put together something that I could use to be better define what I "believe" about ....

Over my 65 years I have heard many fancy speakers who said nice sounding words.

People can say nice sounding or flattering words. However, watch their actions, see what they have done. See if their track record lines up with the words that they speak.

I was raised as a Christian and thought of myself as that for many years. However, in recent years the "Christian" identity of God has changed and expanded for me. I have liked the way that Bishop Carlton Pearson said it in the title of one of his books: "God Is Not a Christian, Nor a Jew, Muslim, Hindu...: God Dwells with Us, in Us, Around Us, as Us"

For quite some time I have been thinking that Faith and Science should be doing the same thing, searching for that which is true. To me, a "person of faith" should be a diligent scientist, not just blindly following whatever is call "matters of faith."

For a Christian it is a very scarey concept to question God. In fact, in the Bible it says, "Who are you to question God?" Romans 9:20.

Can you be a true friend to someone if that someone  not acting honorably or is not being a true friend to you. Is reciprocity a requirement of true friendship?

A true friend does not help a friend to avoid consequences of wrong-doing. Rather a true friend will encourage and motivate you to do the right  thing within the context of accepting the consequences.

A true friend will not necessarily shun his friend who had done wrong. Rather, depending upon circumstances, the true friend may choose to walk with his friend through the midst of the consequences.

What is God?
What do I mean when I say God?
These two things are not necessarily the same thing. Just because  I think that  God  is something  does  not make it so. At times the word "God" seems beyond my ability to understand or comprehend. And yet for the sake of understanding I must try to explain what I mean when I say God.

As I look around me and look on the Internet I see many labels by which people call themselves. "I am a Christian." "I am a ex-Christian", ,"I am a non-Christian", "I am a Baptist.", "I am a Budhist." and so on.

As I look at all this, I ask myself, "What am I?"

This was inspired by a song that I heard today, of someone trying to find himself. This is the message that came to me following that song. Your true self has been found, live life to the full!

Finding Yourself

True love is from God and is based upon who He is; "God is Love." Because He is love, he is the source of all true love.

Now what does that mean? God loves because that is who he is. That is His nature. We are his children. As his children, we take on the character and nature of God: therefore we are love. We love because that is who we are. Also, remember,  love is a verb,  it is a "being"  and "doing" word.  Love is who we are and, because of that, love is what we do.

You CAN love your wife deeply, even during the times that you don't "feel" love. True Love is not a feeling. True Love is a verb. Love involves the things that you think, say, and do. It has properly been said, "Proper emotions follow proper actions."