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“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63 KJV

Written by David Berg August 2011

Some Christian denominations, as well as some other religions, teach that suffering and sadness are measures of spirituality or religiosity, but it’s supposed to be just the opposite. God doesn’t intend for religion to be grievous, and Jesus certainly didn’t make it that way.

I don’t see how people can be truly happy until they have their deepest needs met. Even if they have everything they could wish for materially, they need something to satisfy their spiritual hunger. Thank God, Jesus does that!

My religion makes me happy, and even my work makes me happy because I know it does people some good. When I’m sick or suffer loss or face other serious problems, I may not feel very happy for a while, but even that doesn’t destroy my overall happiness. My physical condition or present circumstance may leave a little something to be desired, but I can still be happy in spirit.

I have very little to be unhappy about. The only thing I can think of that I want is for other people to be as happy as I am. That’s the only real longing or need that I have—the desire to help others understand how much Jesus has to offer, so they can be happy too. That’s why I take every opportunity to urge others to open their hearts and lives to Him, because I know they will discover the same happiness I have found. If people see that I’m happy and they’re not, they wonder what makes that difference, and they want it for themselves. The difference, of course, is Jesus.
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Joy of the Lord

Having the joy of the Lord is part of our example as Christians, but that’s not the only reason we should pursue it; we also need it ourselves. “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”1 That joy is found in spending time with Jesus—“In Your presence is fullness of joy.”2 It’s found in taking in His Word—“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”3 And it’s found in putting the Word into practice—“If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”4—Maria Fontaine

The high road

True, lasting contentment isn’t found in our possessions or circumstances, but in staying close to God and following His plan for our lives.—Virginia Berg

1. Nehemiah 8:10
2. Psalm 16:11
3. John 15:11
4. John 13:17 KJV

God will use everything you've got if you'll let Him.

"The gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom.11:29), meaning God doesn't change His mind when He passes out the talents.--He knows who to give them to. And since God was preparing you for His Service even before you were saved, He's undoubtedly going to use your hidden talents at some time or other, sooner or later, if you'll just be patient and faithful! (Gal.6:9)

The Lord needs you, and would surely like to use you to help other people. There's so much work to be done, and God needs every ounce of talent that you've got! So you would be wise to sit down and say, "Now God, what do You want me to do?"--Stand back and size up the situation: "This is my calling, but not that. These are my talents, but not that. This is what God wants me to do, this, but not that."

Lord, You know what's best. Give each of us the faith and vision we need, to catch a vision for whatever ministry we are best suited, the faith to exercise it and the willingness to take the initiative to do it! In Jesus's name! God's Will be done!--And it will, in spite of any of us; but don't miss the blessing by missing your part! May you invest your talents well and reap great reward! Hallelujah! Use all your talents!






Activated TFI

Prayer is the link to communicating with, and to God. This is the confidence that we have knowing that, when we make our prayer request (s) known to Him according to His will, His plans, and His purpose'for our lives... He hears us, and His peace will rest upon our hearts and in our minds through Christ Jesus.

Father God, grant me Your peace and'grace to accept the things I cannot'change; Give me courage, strength, and Your wisdom to change those things I can change; Bless me with Your spiritual knowledge and understanding, and self-contentment to know the difference between THE things I can change and those things I cannot change. In THE mighty name of Jesus THE Christ, AMEN!

People need to pray always without ceasing.

As part of twins' honors seminar at university, they spent an hour at campus mosque yesterday. Parents were invited, so dad tagged along. Professors were there as well. Over 100 visitors, and friendly staff gave a little lecture on the faith, then entertained questions, of which the kids had lots, many having to do with recent terrorism and woman's rights. The answers were what we always hear, as in the many Koran statements to kill infidels really being "out of context", and that the many challenges faced by Muslim women "really are cultural, and not Islamic". I know many nice Muslims, but just for once, it would be nice to hear some straight talk here. Islamic terrorism doesn't just magically appear out of nowhere,---same with the repression of women one sometimes sees. Why not just say that these issues are a part of Islam, and are regrettable. It seems anything else just enables the hothead Jihadis, and the men who keep women down. Just my impression. God is still great, and not dead. She isn't even asleep. R.

If I should die before I wake please you're lord my soul too take

Forecasting....No goodluck
I was doing some astrology...accordingly
From november2021. To December
2022....there is going to be...
Lot of confusions....in the western world...
Something like independence day1996..
Movie.something like 2012 movie...
I find difficult to say exactly...but...
Something some unknown...
phenomena....going to hit....in a hard way.
I believe in prayers.....

And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. Mathew 14:29 KJB

A compilation May 03, 2016

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.—Isaiah 43:2

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When Mrs. Booth, the mother of the Salvation Army, was dying, she quietly said, “The waters are rising but I am not sinking.” But then she had been saying that all through her life. Other floods besides the waters of death had gathered about her soul. Often had the floods been out and the roads were deep in affliction. But she had never sunk! The good Lord made her buoyant, and she rode upon the storm!

This, then, is the promise of the Lord, not that the waters of trouble shall never gather about the believer, but that he shall never be overwhelmed. He shall “keep his head above them.” Yes, to him shall be given the grace of “aboveness.” He shall never be under, always above! It is the precious gift of spiritual buoyancy, sanctified good spirits, the power of the Christian hope. When we are in Christ Jesus, circumstances shall never be our master. One is our Master, and “we are more than conquerors in Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.”—J. H. Jowett

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Joy is a spiritual buoyancy that comes when we are rejoicing in God.—Tim Keller

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In 2 Corinthians 4:7–9 we read: “We have this treasure from God, but we are like clay jars that hold the treasure. This shows that the great [extraordinary; transcendent] power is from God, not from us. We have troubles and trials all around us, but we are not defeated or crushed. We do not know what to do, [are perplexed/bewildered], but we do not give up the hope of living. We are persecuted and pursued but God does not leave us, He does not abandon or leave us behind. We are hurt sometimes, struck down, knocked over, but we are not destroyed.”

This joy, this buoyancy, does not mean we are impervious to suffering; it means we are unsinkable. We are constantly getting wet, we are constantly being pushed down. However, we do not stay down; we don’t sink.—Tim Keller

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Our buoyancy comes from a focus on the unchanging privileges that we have in God, namely complete access to our gracious loving Forever Father.—Author unknown

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God seems to ask greater depths of experience of us as we go along the heavenly pathway. First the water of trial is ankle deep, then knee deep, and later loin deep with waters to swim in. Swimming on top of trouble would never be possible in ankle-deep waters. How good that the Lord graduates our trials, which though severe all issue well.—W. M. Wadsworth

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But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.—Isaiah 40:31

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Here is the analogy that comes to mind: it feels as if I am floating on the top of water in a swimming pool on one of those inflatable cushions. When you lie on one of those, and one of your friends tries to push you down under the water level, they can do it, but only for a little while. Why? I believe you call it BUOYANCY.

The definition of buoyancy in Wikipedia (it is on the World Wide Web, so it has to be accurate, right?): “an upward acting force, caused by fluid pressure that opposes an object’s weight.” It goes on to say, “If the object is either less dense than the liquid or shaped appropriately (as in a boat), the force can keep the object afloat.”






Anchor TFI

When the term “God” is mentioned, it seems it is generally assumed that everyone has a clear and common understanding of what it refers to.
But is this really so?

Could it be that there are significant differences in what different persons perceive as God?

I think that it is very important to closely examine the answer to this question in fairness to those who consider themselves to be atheists, and also theists, since these terms are both related to the notion of God.

We define ourselves as beings, that is, human beings. A being is a living entity, endowed with some type of life force which may be termed spirit. Each human being is said to have such a spirit (or soul). God is also normally perceived as a spirit.
A human is viewed as a being at the natural level whereas God is viewed as a being at a higher level, referred to as the Supernatural level.

I wonder if viewing a human being as an entity at the natural or human level and viewing God as an entity at a higher or supernatural level somehow seems to suggest that God may be viewed as a superhuman being. In other words, God is viewed as having human-like attributes, but at a higher or superhuman level. Essentially, this is an anthropomorphism.

Anthropomorphism (Merriam Webster Dictionary):
an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics.

In the Bible, the book of Genesis states that God created man in his own image. George Bernard Shaw said: “God created man in his own image and man has returned the compliment”. That is, man has created God in his own image, with human-like attributes.

Is it possible that one can have a direct apprehension of that spirit (or force) which religion (theology) refers to as God, without viewing it in terms of human or superhuman attributes, that is, natural or supernatural? One simply views it directly as some phenomenon and is contented to apprehend it at that level.

I think most persons would agree that there is some sort of order or principle in the working of the cosmos. Perhaps having a direct awareness of this principle in action is having a realization of the very “essence” of what is commonly termed God. Scriptures or religious teachings attempt to put a “form” to this "essence" and view the essence and form as being synonymous and co-existing with each other. Both are essential from the religious perspective.

If a person has such a direct awareness, that is, of the “essence” without having an interest in the teachings or dogma of any religion, is such a person an atheist or “godless” - a term which, to many, has negative connotations such as evil-mindedness and an uncaring attitude towards others, etc.?

Does one need to believe in God as defined in the dogma of religion in order to love others and to have a caring attitude toward them and, more importantly, to express this attitude in action?

Some of the world's notable philanthropists are atheists. These include Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.
There are several well-to-do theists who profess a caring attitude toward others but do little or nothing to express it in action.

Do you view the term “God” as an anthropomorphism?

I have seen comments by some individuals mentioning the term “higher power” in this regard.

What is your personal understanding, if any, of the term “God”?

Do we really have free will?

At the societal level, the assumption that we have free will is an essential requirement. In fact, our legal system is premised on this assumption, and that we must take personal responsibility for our actions. If a person is tried legally and found to be in violation of the law of that country or state, then he or she is likely to face some form of punishment, even including the death penalty. In some cases, if a person's action is found to be commendable, he or she may be rewarded.

A person's socialization, that is, the type of home and social environment in which he or she was brought up, especially in the earlier stages of life, may be related to his/her actions or behaviour in later life; however, this is not necessarily so. The legal system normally does not make provision for this factor. A person who is legally tried and found guilty of a violation of the law, even if he/she was raised in an “adverse” environment, that is, a “broken home” with a lack of love and support from his/her significant others, and in a “high crime rate” neighbourhood, cannot expect any special consideration from the legal system. The system insists that, regardless of a person's socialization, he or she has “free will” and personal responsibilty for his/her behaviour.

Perhaps, future research may show that a person's genetic make-up may predispose him/her to certain behaviours that violate the legal system; this is only a suggestion. I am not aware of any such research findings at present.
Even if research uncovers such genetic evidence, this is unlikely to impact on the legal position that a person must take personal responsibilty for his/her behaviour.

Most theists, insist that we have “free will”, which is given to us by God.
God is normally viewed as being omniscient, infallible and omnipotent. My personal view is that if we accept those attributes of God, then there is a logical inconsistency between those attributes and the acceptance that human beings have “free will”. I have summarised this position in the following argument:


Premise 1:
To have free will, there must be no constraints on how one chooses to act.
One must be free to act how one chooses.

Premise 2:
God's foreknowledge places a constraint on one's actions.
God is omniscient and infallible. He knows everything - past, present and future.
God knows the future actions of everyone and since he can never be wrong,
one's future actions are constrained by God's foreknowledge since they must be in accordance with it.

Conclusion:
Therefore, in the context of God's foreknowledge, one does not have free will.

The question of whether God's foreknowledge “causes” one to act in a certain way is irrelevant; besides, this blog is not making such a claim.
The fact remains that one cannot act outside the constraints of Gods foreknowledge.


In summary, I agree that I have the freedom to act according to what I honestly feel or believe to be my free will. Thus, relative to my thinking, I am exercising free will, that is, with no constraints.

However, if God knows how I am going to act, even before I do so, and since I have to act in accordance with God's foreknowledge and I cannot do otherwise, I do not have free will.

As an analogy, I exercise my free will within a box, or limited space, constrained by God's foreknowledge.
The question here is:

Is such “free will” really “FREE”?


In the context of God's foreknowledge with respect to the actions of everyone, and if our actions determine our ultimate fate, then God already knows what our ultimate fate will be. Based on this, Reform theologian John Calvin, argued that some people are predestined to be saved and some are predestined to be damned, and there is nothing anyone can possibly do about it.


What do you think?

On 21th December 1917 we celebrate 100 years of Heinrich Böll birthday. Writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature 1972.


"If the dead could speak there would be no more war."



"Writing is - at least for me - movement forward, the conquest of a body that I do not know at all, away from something to something that I do not yet know; I never know what will happen - and here 'happen' is not intended as plot resolution, in the sense of classical dramaturgy, but in the sense of a complicated and complex experiment that with given imaginary, spiritual, intellectual and sensual materials in interaction strives - on paper to boot! - towards incarnation."

"Many writers are radical. I am not, because of my age and because of my terrible fear of demagogy."

"We must learn, and especially we Germans, that resistance is not only possible and allowed in dictatorships. There is resistance that man must perform every day."

"I will never forget the moment when I was liberated by the American Army. I will never forget those very young boys coming up the hill, who had to take me a prisoner to liberate me."

"The Nazi period could have happened only in Germany because the German education of obedience to any law and order was the main problem."

"Humor is really one of the hardest things to define, very hard. And it's very ambiguous. You have it or you don't. You can't attain it. There are terrible forms of professional humor, the humorists' humor. That can be awful. It depresses me because it is artificial. You can't always be humorous, but a professional humorist must. That is a sad phenomenon."

Hi everyone!

In his letter to the disciple Timothy, Paul wrote:'7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.'

And Saint Paul concludes: '10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.' (1 Timothy 6:7-10)

Thank you for reading,