Friday, October 2, 2009

Could You Be a Married Adulterer? - For Christians Only

Adultery has been going on for centuries and obviously was a problem 2500 years ago or it wouldn't have been mentioned in the Bible so many times. Could you actually be married to someone and be considered an adulterer? It's time for you to learn all the rules in the New Testament about adultery.

Here's a Bible verse that could get a lot of Christians in trouble. Mark 10:11-12 (New King James Version)" 11 So He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries commits adultery against her. 12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."

It looks a little more complicated than most of us could have ever thought. Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, has committed adultery. That means that there are millions of Christians all over the world who have committed adultery.

I've got some more bad news for Christians who might have looked at a woman lustfully. Matthew 5:28 (New International Version Bible) "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." This isn't looking good, for men or women is it?

If you've never been married, but while you were at church, notice an attractive woman or man and had lustful thoughts, about them, you're an adulterer. I know, it sounds a little harsh, but I'm not making anything up here, it's right out of the Bible.

I know things aren't looking good but I would like to leave you with a comforting thought. If you were divorced from your spouse because of an adulterous relationship, things might be starting to look a little different with this next Bible verse.

Matthew 19:9 (New International Version Bible) I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."

These are typical contradictions and they are located throughout the Bible. Mark 10:11-12 states that all divorced people who have remarried, commit adultery. Matthew 19:9 states something completely different, if your divorced and your ex spouse has been unfaithful during your marriage and you remarry, everything is okay.

Are you even more confused than when I started? There's a good chance that you are. I'm even confused and I wrote the article. The real question is, can we remarry or can't we.

This would be a good topic during Bible study. You can start by asking, how many people are adulterers?

Read This Today

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 and a inspiration to millions of people. He has been involved in religious research for almost 30 years, and his influence in the Christian community is growing. The Holy Bible, is the core to Christian beliefs and most Christians don't even question it. Was the Bible actually written by men?

His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible. This book provides Christians with advanced biblical knowledge, answer some tough questions and should be read by every faithful follower of Christ.

Click here if you're interested in the Bible truth.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

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

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 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.

Rocking the Foundation of Christianity

Whatever you build a house, you start with the foundation, if you're writing a book, it might be an outline for the table of contacts, but when were talking about Christianity, rarely do any Christians ever research the origins or how Christianity began.

Most Christians assume that Jesus was the one who started Christianity, however, he was Jewish and there is a good chance that he never even thought about starting a new religion. I know, Jesus is God and he knows everything and he knew that he was going to start Christianity. Okay, but what if.

That might not be entirely true. We don't have any proof that Jesus was actually a superior god like being. We can speculate or assume all that we want to, however there is very little evidence to support, that Jesus did anything that the writers of the New Testament, suggested he had done.

I would like to challenge most Christians, to do a little research and quite possibly start rocking the foundation of Christianity. It's much more important to understand Christianity than to call yourself a Christian. Will a little bit of research help or hurt you, as you study Christianity.

You can start by looking at the origins of the Bible, the Council of Nicaea, the Emperor Constantine, the missing years of Jesus in the early Roman Catholic Church.

To understand anything, you must understand its origins. Take some time out of your busy life, to start studying the foundation of Christianity.

Do Christians Believe Everything
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 Christian Article 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.
Thanks

Monday, September 14, 2009

Key Steps to Get and Stay Motivated

One of the biggest obstacles to success is the time factor. Everybody desires a change for better in any given area of their lives: health, finances, self esteem or personal relationships. But not all of us have what it takes to stick to a plan and walk it out.

The truth is that great ideas will not change our lives overnight. On the contrary, the changes we choose of our own will always happen gradually. And their outcome depends on how motivated we are and how motivated we will stay throughout the process.

Let's face it. Being enthusiastic about a new idea for a few days, or even a week, is easy. Anybody can do that. It is when the going gets tough and when it turns out to be harder than we imagined that we lose momentum and eventually give up on our new project.

If you are a giver-upper, here is good news for you: You can change that bad habit-because that is what quitting is all about-and learn how to achieve your goals successfully.

Acquire a Vision

Long term projects cannot succeed if they are chosen randomly as a whim of the moment. You might have very good ideas, but you need to take them one step further if you want to implement them successfully.

First ask yourself who you are and who you want to become.

You might not be aware of it, but God has already laid out a wonderful plan for your life. You were not placed furtively on this planet to survive as good as you possibly can. The Bible states you are His masterpiece created to walk in a life He has already prepared beforehand (Ephesians 2:10).

So all you have to do is connect with God and flow with His program!

Fix Your Thought Life

Most of us make the mistake of focusing on externals when we implement changes in our lives. We neglect working on our mindset, the very place where wrong thought patterns will cause our endeavor to fail.

If those wrong thoughts are not dealt with, they will lead you to quit just as they did in your previous projects. Because the thoughts you have today will determine your life tomorrow.

The most powerful way to change wrong thought patterns is by studying the Word of God-the Bible-and finding out what God has to say about your situation. And that leads to key number 3:

Have Faith

Somebody once said, "Faith can move mountains." And it does. Faith is the most important factor when it comes to achieving success in life.

You might say, "But I don't have a strong faith!"

That's easy to solve: Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. It is when you diligently seek God and His way of operating that you will come to see yourself as the one He created you to be: A victorious overcomer.

You can find out what God's plan is for your life and change the course of your life forever. Learn how to flow with God's plan for your life, and how to successfully develop the talents He has given you with my free e-course "7 Steps to Consistently Change Your Life" and e-book "The Power of Self-Directed Learning" at http://www.Self-DirectedLearningForSuccess.com

From Bettina Langerfeldt, who teaches people how to pursue their God-given gifts and talents by designing their own education with self-directed learning.

2008 Freedompioneer

Persuasion Techniques

Don't you just envy how some people seem to get their way more often than not? These people always seem to have all the right words and all the right moves. However, if you take the time to actually study these people, you may be surprised to discover that they have more than just a few persuasion techniques in common.

These persuasion techniques allow them to easily get people to their side and persuade others to their way of thinking. And if you read the rest of this article, you too will be able to tap into this extraordinary power.

Know your audience

As wonderful as it would be to just magically convince another person to share your views, life doesn't quite work that way. You have to know where your audience is coming from in order for you to know which angle you can best appeal to.

If you're dealing with somebody who is more emotional, you can actually use feelings to plead your case. The chances of your success will definitely increase.

Turn weaknesses into strengths

During a job interview orientation, one of the moderators gave me a very helpful advice. She said that when asked for your weaknesses, try to position your statement into something more positive. Instead of, "I'm very shy and soft spoken," you can say, "I'm currently working on my communication skills."

By using persuasion techniques like this, you don't run the risk of scaring your customers away. In fact, they will be delighted to hear somebody with such a positive outlook on life.

Cite the positive facts

Naturally, you would want to tell your audience what the benefits are. People are generally happy to learn what they can gain from something.

You're not going to lie or make up stories. Those do not fall under persuasion techniques. When you persuade, you have to be certain that all your facts are true. Otherwise, your lies will come back to haunt you.

Even when you don't have magic on your side, these persuasion techniques will certainly help you win your audience over. Just follow these basic steps and you'll soon be able to talk your way through anything!

Discover how you can use the psychology of persuasion to change behaviors and influence anyone to your way of thinking! Get a FREE course that reveals groundbreaking persuasion secrets at http://www.20daypersuasion.com/secrets.htm

Sunday, September 13, 2009

The Risks Of Caffeine

Millions of people drink soda each day- diet or not. Those who drink non-diet sodas could be at risk- but exactly how unhealthy can caffeine become for ones health?

Caffeine is both artificially and naturally produced. It is a stimulant, so it has seen many uses in areas of work or study. While most of it is consumed in soda, you can find it in chocolate and pain relievers.

At this point I can honestly say that I have found caffeine to be neither a stimulant nor addictive. I have been consuming it for many years in pretty large quantities. I can take it or leave it and, yes, I can sleep for hours after consuming it. It seems to make no difference.

It should be noted, however, that caffeine is, in fact, addictive- and you can feel the effects of it for up to 6 hours (or so they say). This can include insomnia, a rather large drawback to the drug found in sodas. It not only dehydrates the body, but removes calcium from bones- a vital nutrient in child development.

The maximum amount of caffeine you should consume a day should be no more than 100 milligrams- about two Mountain Dew sodas. It is recommended that if you drink more than this, you try to cut back. If you are sincerely addicted to caffeine-related products- it is recommended you take vitamins to help regain the nutrients you lose.

Caffeine is, and will continue, to be legal. It is strongly recommended intake of it should be limited to help fight obesity, high blood pressure, and other health related problems that come with the addiction- your health could depend on it.

Eric Hartwell oversees "The World's Best Homepage" intended to be a user-generated resource where YOUR opinion counts. Anybody can contribute and all are welcomed. Visit us to read, comment upon or share opinions on food and drink and visit our associated site articles for free.

Light Up Your Life With Feng Shui

Feng Shui (pronounced Foong Shway or Fung Shoy) is the ancient Chinese art of luck management, which works by maximising the flow of energy (known as Chi) in your environment. Every object, inanimate or living, possesses its own energy field and also has an affect on the flow of Chi in your environment.

The orientation and layout of your home, garden or business and its contents can impact your career, personal relationships, health and wealth. Whilst observing the basic rules of Feng Shui can greatly enhance your lifestyle, ignoring its principles can similarly bring misfortune and sorrow.

The most familiar method of Feng Shui is the compass method works on the principle of each sector of your house falling into a different area of your life, depending on its orientation. These sectors are identified by placing an octagonal, nine-sectioned diagram over a plan of your home. This diagram is known as the Ba Gua and is always aligned with the wall containing the front door or main entrance to the premises, with the compass points corresponding to those of the house directions. For example, if your front door faces North, then you should place the Ba Gua diagram on a plan of your property with the North sector (relating to career) aligned with the front door.

In the business environment, Feng Shui increases productivity and profitability, improves the health of its employees, enhances the companys reputation, protects from insolvency and helps you to recognise and exploit opportunities as they arise.

Clearly, not all houses are uniformly square and the front door is not always centrally placed. In these situations, you will find that some of the sectors of the Ba Gua may be missing, indicating trouble in that particular area of a persons life. However, steps can be taken to redress the imbalance like placing a bright light on the wall close to the missing sector to counteract the negative effects caused by areas that are lacking.

Feng Shui is a complex art, but there are simple rules that everyone can observe to help bring harmony into their lives by increasing the flow of positive energy in their environment and using effective lighting is one of the best ways of achieving this. Light is a very powerful tool in Feng Shui and the way in which you illuminate your home or office influences the impression that you create, including the shape, size and style of lighting that you choose.

There are many different types of lighting including decorative, accent, ambient, task and functional, with the most effective lighting schemes being a combination of all these. Accent light can be used to highlight a picture or display cabinet, ambient light can highlight dark corners and task light is used to throw a spotlight onto focused areas, such as a work desk.

A chandelier is one of the few all-round excellent Feng Shui energisers. The crystals in the chandelier reflect light beautifully, bringing in added glow and warmth. Hanging chandeliers in the southern corner of any room is beneficial and a chandelier in the Southwest corner of your home is wonderful if you wish to invite romance into your life or stimulate a current relationship! The Southwest sector relates to marriage and using pastel coloured lampshades with subdued lighting in this area can achieve the same effect.

You can invite excellent energy into your home by installing bright lights just inside and outside the front door are excellent, which for maximum benefit should be left on during the hours of darkness. Good lighting also helps stimulate the general flow of energy and is one of the best accessories for promoting balance and harmony within the home.

Lighting is one of the most cost-effective ways to enhance your environment. The right lighting can make small or uninviting areas feel alive, welcoming and tranquil. Lighting is a simple way of adding colour to a scheme, whether it is through choice of lamp base, shade or bulb. Investing in good quality lighting can also be a more economical alternative to major redecoration or the purchasing of expensive new furnishings.

Invest in a variety of stylish lighting and watch your health, prosperity and wellbeing flourish.

For a wide range of sophisticated and auspicious lighting for your home or office, visit www.thelightcompanydirect.co.uk

About The Author

Jan Andersen is a British Freelance Writer and Copywriter, with 21 years marketing and PR experience. In addition to writing commercial copy for a broad spectrum of audiences, Jan specialises in compelling articles and features on diverse lifestyle topics and social issues. She has also participated in many TV and radio programmes. Jan owns and runs five websites; World Writer, Mothers Over 40, Child Suicide, SACS (Surviving After Child Suicide) and Jan Andersen Writing Services. Until recently, Jan had four children aged 20, 17, 16 and 4. Her eldest son, Kristian, tragically took his own life on 1 November 2002. Whilst campaigning for depression, suicide and drugs awareness, Jan is in the process of completing a book on child suicide entitled, Chasing Death

worldwriteruk@hotmail.com