NowTHINK!AboutIt

Avoiding Hackneyed...Making Sense

Fundmentalism’s Biggest Flaw – Negativity

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Codifying beliefs is the equivalent of religious control.

It’s Only An Insecure Person
That Requires Everyone
To Believe The Same Things

Gallop Poll does a survey at the end of each year (End of Year Survey) to measure optimism about the coming year. They ask respondents if they think things will be better, worse or the same.

Compared to the past ten years expectations are low at the moment. According to Gallop, 29% believe 2025 will be more prosperous, 35% believe it will be economically difficult and 31% say it will be the same as the last 12 months.

That last category, the Same, is revealing because at present, confidence levels are at some of the lowest degrees of all time. Not the GOAT but the WOAT.

Expecting things to be the same is the equivalent of expecting things to be as dismal in the future as they’ve been in the recent past. What that means is a total of 66% of those responding had a bleak outlook. Things aren’t looking too good. Hope is generally not up.

And, of course, the question is why is that so? What’s contributing to the negative perception?

One answer would be the government (aka the President).

Nine years ago Obama was finishing his final term as President and things looked very good. There were naysayers and antagonists for sure, but public perception in general was at an all time high.

That period of positivity was followed by Trump and that’s when public perceptions (along with the economic realities we live with at the moment) began to slide. The slide continued until we are hovering at close to all time lows and according to Trump’s own words it will get even worse before it gets better.

In other words, the thing Biden worked really hard to avoid and did a fair job at curbing, Trump is not just embracing but provoking.

But Presidents aside, religion is to some degree guilty too. If you go to church regularly, you’re getting a consistent diet of philosophical negativity. Since fundamentalism is very much in league with the Trump movement, it is fair for us to look a little deeper. We need to understand the what and why of fundamentalism’s negative effects.

I know about this negativity because I played that roll for many years, decades even. [Read more…] about Fundmentalism’s Biggest Flaw – Negativity

One-Worldism From A Different Perspective

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One-Worldism isn't the problem, the world controlled by one person is.

The Outcome Of Loving Your Neighbors
Especially The Ones Who Are Enemies
Is One World

The topic of One-Worldism among evangelical Christians is considered anathema. Rather than an interesting topic for discussion, it’s an evil to be avoided at all cost.

On the odd occasion when the topic is broached, it’s spoken of from one side only and is associated with behind-the-scenes manipulation by Satan and endless conspiracy theories. Anyone tagged as a one-worlder loses all standing among Christian folks.

Pat Robertson’s book, The New World Order (which abounds with conspiracies and gives far more credit to Satan than he deserves), is a good example of how this concept is treated among evangelicals. Robertson’s approach is common and is the reason Christians are loathe to approach this topic in any other way than arms-length.

But is there a way to see a positive side to the issue?

I would suggest that social/political ideas are neither good nor bad and should be discussed openly and often if we’re to gain a useful perspective. The Devil is no more involved with one idea than another, is very willing to distort issues at the cost of humanity and he will gladly use evangelicals to advance his goals whenever he can.

If anything, the Devil loves to breed insecurity and provokes us to think emotionally, which is really just non-thinking. Pat Robertson’s book fuels that outcome. [Read more…] about One-Worldism From A Different Perspective

The Difference Between Clever and Smart

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Clever is inborn. Smart is the result of hard work.

Clever Becomes Smart
When It Develops Character

We’ve all come across people who impress us with their cleverness.

These people never lack for words and often sound quite sophisticated.

They read quickly and have instant recall.

They can be a whiz when it comes to math.

They always have an answer. Not just a response, but an intelligent sounding answer to open questions and they say what they think with confidence.

They are so good at this that they walk into every room mouth first. This may well be the motivation behind so many podcasts.

These are the people who easily made high grades in school and this apparent brilliance gave them a confidence, and occasional charm, that others find appealing.

This person is both easy not to like and difficult to resist at the same time. [Read more…] about The Difference Between Clever and Smart

Reasons To Believe Jesus Cares More About People Than Issues

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Instead of obeying those in authority, Christians would rather become those in autority.

Jesus Exemplified
A People-First Approach
To Ministry

There is no question that Jesus cares. He endured great difficulties during His short life and that alone gives us a measure of His interest.

Just being born exposed Him to humiliation, inconvenience and threat, and then later He was buffeted by insult, doubt, rejection and finally crucifixion.

And none of that was a surprise. He knew this would happen but it didn’t deter Him.

All of that is to say He’s invested. He cares but the question is what exactly does He care about?

He had to have a good reason to willingly subject Himself to these abuses and we need to ask what that was. [Read more…] about Reasons To Believe Jesus Cares More About People Than Issues

Trumps Methods Reveal His Motive

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Bad qualities like lying, cheating, stealing and womanizing can't be formulated in any way that leads to presidential.

Trimming The Government
Is One Thing
Annihilating It Is Another

Here’s what I believe are the facts based on what is happening now.

Trump Is Definitely Colluding With Putin

It is true that the FBI’s investigation into collusion came up with nothing conclusive but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a reality, it only means that it hasn’t been proven. Yet!

Suspending the investigation was a temporary stay, not an acquittal.

But we have to get real here. Can there be in any doubt that Trump has great respect for Putin, styles his leadership in the same way and makes decisions that favor Putin’s invasion of Ukraine?

  • He’s accused Zelensky of starting the war with Russia.
  • During his first term in office, he threatened to withhold congressionally allocated aid for Ukraine unless the Ukrainian government began investigations into Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, and that was done for no other reason than to bolster his efforts to win reelection.
  • He is now strong arming Zelensky into giving away rights to Ukraine’s mineral resources without guaranteeing protection against Russia.
  • Instead of declaring his opposition to Putin’s dictatorship, and all the abuse that goes with it, he makes admiring remarks about Putin’s skills and leadership.

How can you interpret this in any other way than to conclude the two leaders are in league.

The old saying applies. If it looks, sounds and walks like a duck.

Maybe the reason Trump speaks out against war is because he doesn’t want to be put in a position where he might have to do battle with his buddy, Putin.

Trump Now Has Control Of The FBI

It’s a weird state of affairs at the moment, not because Trump’s intent isn’t clear but because it is. He is slowly but surely eliminating legal barriers to his agenda and we aren’t as worried as we should be even though we see it happening. [Read more…] about Trumps Methods Reveal His Motive