The Super Blogosphere of a parallel word.

We live in an age where mankind is ruling the world. At first thought you would think that this seems like a good thing, but consider carefully those words. A more personal question I could ask is "Who is ruling your inner world or your soul?" If you believe in God, it doesn't guarantee that God has full control of your life, because it depends what religion you belong to. Many religions will disagree on their concept of God, if there is one God, then there are many ideas about God. I heard a priest say once that Catholics who are really Catholics are in danger of not being Catholic at all. This priest went on to say that religion just facilitated a relationship with God, so there is no need to really take this religion seriously. If this is the case, then all religions are just facilitators of the same God. In evangelicalism, we like to call this Universalism. Universalism according to the internet is " the doctrine that emphasizes the  universal  fatherhood of Go...

Just say this prayer, and send your seed faith gift in the mail and your miracle is on the way! Or, God just wants more submission from you, your church is your highest authority and those who do not obey are disobedient to the scriptures! Your bible is your highest priority, and your Pastor is God's mouthpiece? Sound familiar? Well you just might be caught up in the politics of your religion. I have heard well meaning people say that religion was just invented by man to reach God, where all God really wants from you is a relationship. Things like, "your church is just a means of facilitating a relationship with God. Being a christian doesn't mean that you have to be religious, but you must obey!" It is kind of hard to be caught up in church politics and remain faithful to God, after all someone has to run the church, and it might as well be you! Religion is power for some people, and the innocent can become victims of someone's religious dogma. I am not saying ...

At first blush I would look at my life, and comparatively speaking wonder at all the things I am missing out on? I could go into detail and list all the things that I have not yet achieved, but this would be a lie because over the past year, there has been many things that I have done! The question I want to ask myself at this point is "What do you have to do, to be called a man?" Don't feel underappreciated ladies, you can ask yourself the same question. Status and status updates have been the way that I communicated to others how I am feeling, and how I am doing. I am sure you can relate. Just what is on your mind? This question is becoming harder and harder to answer, as I turn 44 this year. Birthdays are a time of great joy for me, I take great pride in turning one year older and I am not ashamed of telling people that. I don't like to hide my age because I feel that with age comes wisdom and experience. When we flip flop around in life, I really don't thi...

Teeth, a very important part of our bodies. I am sure we all have memories of going to the dentist when we were kids. If I remember correctly, I was always a little frightened before going to the dentist, but I have fond memories of sitting in the dentist's chair and my favorite part of getting my teeth cleaned was always the fluoride. I know that times have changed, but still the fluoride is my favorite part of getting my teeth cleaned. I am sitting here trying to think of some kind of metaphor that applies to life and relate it to the dentist, but the only thing that is coming to me is the appreciation I always feel afterwards. I think I found it, we live in a crazy world or at least we like to think we do as adults. As kids growing up, we always used to hear our parents say things like "When I was a kid, things were so much simpler," and "You kids these days have it so easy, with all the technology you have now, you barely have to work for anything!" I admi...

During the beginning of this year, I felt like the foundations of my life were being shaken. I had been a religious person, the kind the media likes to hate. I had been attending and serving in a non-denominational church for six years and found myself being challenged by their leadership. Several years back, I picked up a book about depression and something called "Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy." I have clinical depression and any kind of relief is welcome for me. I had found that with a past in meditation MBCT began working very well for me. I didn't attend a class or anything, I just picked it up by myself. I wrote about this form of therapy in a mental heath recovery book called "Hearts Linked by Courage" for the Canadian Mental Health Association. In this book my brief story tells how 'mindfulness' is really helping me cope with my depression. Unfortunately, this practice is what got me in trouble with an elder at my church. I was on Faceboo...

Pastors and leaders are getting frustrated because they are overworked, and overwhelmed with their jobs. Being a religious minister is appealing for some and in the christian religion the appeal to save souls for Christ can be a strong motivation to serve in the ministry. Whatever your calling is in life, it takes hard work to succeed and there is no guarantee that you will be living out your "calling" for the rest of your life. But this is where most of us are now or somewhere where we want to be in the future. There is no greater delight than taking pride in your work, but if you are a minister or a leader in a church, where do you find the motivation or momentum to keep doing what you are doing? To be motivated in the right way, requires that you know internally what drives you and what you are working for? I am learning from a mentor that if you find a job, external motivation (Things like rewards, fame, accolades, and making a name for yourself) will eventually fall ...

I actually stumbled across the practice of mindfulness one day, after coming across a podcast on iTunes called "The New Psychology of Depression." It was like a second awakening for me as I discovered the book "The Mindful Way through Depression." The practice of MBCT (Mindfulness based Cognitive Therapy) became something I wanted to explore personally, which I did on my own. Mindfulness literally brought me back from the meditation grave which died with me back in 1999 after being diagnosed with clinical depression. Clinical depression is something that is very serious, and I have been living with this for 18 years. With no cure, or healing in sight, what I did know was that before my diagnoses I loved to meditate. When I became depressed, I lost the ability to have a constantly calm mind, and it was frustrating that I couldn't meditate. My attempts to find God again, were attempts to rediscover a peace that I once knew all too well. That I felt was still a p...