Most Viewed Religion & Spirituality Blogs (1,491)

A Compilation 01 April 2012

The natural world was made by God.

Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.—Job 12:7–10 NIV

In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.—Psalm 95:4–5

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.—John 1:3

The power and wisdom of God can be seen in nature.

Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God’s wonders. Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash? Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?—Job 37:14–16 NIV

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.—Psalm 19:1 NIV

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.—Isaiah 40:26 NIV

Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.—Romans 1:20 NIV

O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Here is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both large and small.—Psalm 104:24–25 NLT

God and nature have a living relationship.

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.—Psalm 19:1 NLT
The earth is full of unfailing love.—Psalm 33:5 NIV

You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.—Psalm 65:9–10, 12–13 NIV

The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.—Psalm 145:9 NIV

The beast of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.—Isaiah 43:20

You have made heaven, the earth and everything on it, the seas and all that is in them, and You preserve them all.—Nehemiah 9:6

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.—Matthew 6:26

God expects us to take care of the natural world.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”—Genesis 1:26 NIV

The land belongs to me. You are only foreigners and tenant farmers working for me.—Leviticus 25:23 NLT

A righteous man regards the life of his animal.—Proverbs 12:10

If we don’t take care of our planet, we will suffer the consequences.

The earth mourns and dries up, and the crops waste away and wither. Even the greatest people on earth waste away. The earth suffers for the sins of its people, for they have twisted God’s instructions, violated his laws, and broken his everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse consumes the earth.—Isaiah 24:4–6 NLT

The time has come for rewarding your servants the prophets and people—and for destroying those who destroy the earth.—Revelation 11:18 NIV




Activated TFI [Video Posted - I'm Yours]

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. Revelations 21:3-5 KJV

"Musicians can look forward to playing with the best musicians that ever played. They can even have their own band!--David Berg

"There are going to be animals in Heaven. The prophet Isaiah said that "the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, ... and the lion shall eat straw like the ox" (Isaiah 11:6-9).--David Berg

"God put many animals here [on Earth] for pets, playthings and companions for us and our children, and we're still going to enjoy them [in Heaven].--David Berg

"When we see what He has for us there, we'll agree with Paul, when he wrote about Heaven, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9). -- Things we didn't even imagine could be so beautiful and wonderful.--David Berg

"No man may go to Heaven who hath not sent His heart thither before. --Anonymous

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." - Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

"Everyone will get to Heaven who could live there.--Anonymous

"Day by day we are building for eternity ... Every gentle word, every generous thought, every unselfish deed will become a pillar of eternal beauty in the life to come." --Rebecca Springer

"Here, joy begins to enter into us; there, we enter into joy.--Anonymous

"He who dies with the most toys, wins!" --Texas Bumper Sticker

"Christ brings the heart to Heaven first, and then the person. --Anonymous

"There is a difference between being willing to go to Heaven and wanting to stay on Earth--and wanting to go to Heaven while being willing to stay on Earth. --David Berg

"Can a man chew tobacco and go to Heaven?" was a question put to Dwight L. Moody, the famous evangelist.
His reply, though not elegant and a bit jolting, about covers the situation. "Yes," answered Mr. Moody, "but he would have to go to Hell to spit!"-- Dwight L. Moody

"The resurrection and the judgement will demonstrate before all worlds who won and who lost. We can wait!" - David Berg "

"Every exit is an entry somewhere else." --Tom Stoppard

"Death in itself is nothing. But we fear to be we know not what, we know not where."--John Dreydon

"Come forth into the light of things. Let nature be your teacher."--William Wordsworth

"Love is the only thing that we can carry with us when we go, and it makes the end so easy." - Louisa May Alcott

"Love is most nearly itself when here and now cease to matter." - T.S. Eliot

"This World is not our home, so we don't have to worry about whether it's good or bad. The BETTER it is, the HARDER it is to leave it. The BADDER it is, the EASIER it is to leave it! -David Berg

"All souls were created in the beginning and are finding their way back to whence they came." - Edgar Cayce

"Death is nothing more than a doorway, something you walk through." - Dr. George Ritchie





PowerPointParadise TFI [Posted Video - Near Death Experience 7+7]

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:8 AKJV

ARE YOU A NEGAHOLIC? 5 WAYS PESSIMISM IS RUINING YOUR LIFE
Negative Thinking is Powerful—And Not in a Good Way

By Michael Hyatt

Norman Vincent Peale published The Power of Positive Thinking in 1952. But it’s only more recently that we’re learning about the destructive power of negative thinking.

A few years ago, an author cornered me at a publishing conference to complain about his agent, gripe about his publicist, and grumble about his publisher. It was beyond awkward. I tried to change the subject, but he persisted.

Maybe you’ve had a similar experience. I was trapped, and I couldn’t escape!

Some people are relentlessly negative. It’s like they derive their significance from feeling wronged, put upon, and persecuted. You know what it’s like to be around people like this. Everyone is an idiot but them. Nobody can do anything right. Life is rigged.

Whatever satisfaction people get from being negative, I hope it’s enough—because it’s about the only benefit they’re getting. Meanwhile, it’s costing them plenty.

Whatever you get from being negative, I hope it’s enough. Because it’s costing you plenty.-MICHAEL HYATT

In general, pessimists don’t perform as well in life as optimists, according to psychologist Michael Scheier. They “tend to deny, avoid, and distort the problems they confront, and dwell on their negative feelings,” he says.

And the costs only go up from there. Here are just five ways pessimism can ruin your life:

Pessimism kills your creativity. If we want to thrive in our present economy, it’s critical that we offer creative solutions to difficult problems. But pessimism not only kills your own creativity, as Neil Wadhwa says, it also ends up killing the creativity of those around you.

Pessimism harms you emotionally. Research shows that while positive thinking wears off, negative thinking sticks with us for weeks. We may have to work at staying positive, but going negative is easy. And every time you remember a negative thought, your sense of well-being takes a dive.

Pessimism keeps you down professionally. Negative thoughts are often demotivating and can really impact job performance. If you’re heart’s not in your job, leaders and colleagues will notice. And you’ll watch promotions and other opportunities pass you by.

Pessimism damages relationships. As the saying goes, perception is reality. If you’re always thinking and communicating the worst, you’ll turn people off and drive them away. Instead of growing closer, they’ll start looking for excuses to be someplace else with somebody different.

Pessimism makes you sick. You’ve heard of the placebo effect. Researchers have also documented what they call the “nocebo effect.” When we think we’ll get sick, we tend to actually do so. Negative thinking not only drives up our stress levels, it also can lead to heart attacks and other serious health problems, including dementia.

It’s popular to promote counter-intuitive reasons pessimism can be helpful to us. But here’s the truth. I’ve never met a single leader or entrepreneur who was both pessimistic and successful. Why? Negaholics just aren’t up for what it takes to win.

I’ve never met a leader or entrepreneur who was both pessimistic and successful.-MICHAEL HYATT

I finally got free from my pessimistic author friend. I saw an opportunity and ran. I felt immediate relief. His negative attitude wasn’t doing me any favors. It wasn’t doing him any favors either.




TFI [Video - "Saviour King" - Hillsong Live]

By David Berg

Music can be a blessing, & yet it can also be so dangerous! That's why it is so important to listen to the right kind of music. The Pavlovian Method of conditioning reflexes enables evil men to discover secrets of the hearts & minds of men in order to manipulate them for their own evil purposes. People can be mentally conditioned to respond to a set stimuli like a series of tone signals. It's almost like a telephone: You can dial a certain combination of numbers & that keys the equipment to connect one instrument with another instrument.

Certain kinds of music can also be like a combination of tone signals, almost like dialing a number. If they hit the right combination of notes, the right music can bring a certain response in your own heart & mind. It has a psychological & spiritual effect on you. If you're really spiritually tuned, it has just as direct an effect on you as an electrical current or receiving a radio signal.

Certain kinds of music will turn you on for certain kinds of things.--It's spiritual!

It's almost as though it links the heart of the hearer with the heart of the composer. It blends the spirit of the composer into your spirit. It's almost like the composer is a spirit guide & becomes a medium & his music is his crystal ball! When you listen to his music you gaze with him into his crystal ball, & all of a sudden your spirits are united & you both see the same things.--You both see the same pictures. It's just like it sucks your spirit out of your body & transports you into another World. Suddenly you are integrated or revitalized into the World of the Spirit in some other place.

Let me tell you, the spiritual world is far more real than the physical! Music like that is like a vehicle, a crystal ball, like drugs, like electronic keying, tuning into your wavelength, radio tuning. If you're tuned & that's your wavelength & you're supposed to get the message, then you get it!

As the Lord said, "By their fruits ye shall know them"!--MAT.7:20.

What inspires people about our music is that it's happy music & makes them happy! It's good music & makes them want to be good. It's friendly music & makes them want to be friendly!

If it's really effective music, whether good or bad, it will inspire you to action! It will move you! It will cause you to emote, create emotions which put you in motion to do good or evil. How does it make you feel?--Good or bad, Godly or fiendish? What does it provoke you to do? What kind of action does it inspire you to? Acts of love, kindness, mercy, compassion & helpfulness?--Or thoughts of hate, cruelty, vengeance, violence, destructiveness, vandalism, wastefulness, rape, murder & war!

You know the difference by the end result & the final fruits. That's how you know whether our words & music are of the Lord: It's had good results, good fruit, so the tree cannot be evil.--Mat.7:18a. It's gotta be good! It's gotta be God! Listen & see if you can tell the difference. Watch & see if you can see it. How does it make you feel?
**

Family members have composed thousands of original songs in a number of languages throughout our 42-year history. These songs encompass a broad range of styles, which appeal to people of all ages. The Family International produces upbeat, motivational music for youth, inspirational music for worship, instrumentals for meditation, a variety of Christmas music, both original and classic, and educational songs for children.

We believe that music is a vehicle for a message, and music is one of the many means by which we seek to share the good news of the love of God, and the solutions He has to offer.

Free download our Nubeat Music, Magazines, & Videos:

"God is SPIRIT and they that communicate with Him must do so in Spirit and in Truth."--"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." See: John 4:24 - 2 Corinthians 3:17 - 2 Peter 1:19 KJV

By David Berg September, 1975

Girl communicating in the spirit with the Lord
GOD SIMPLY SAYS IN THE BIBLE THAT HE ANSWERS YOUR PRAYERS, because if He had tried to explain prayer scientifically all these years people never would have understood. If He had said the sun doesn't really rise but the Earth is revolving on its axis, they wouldn't have understood! He answers your prayers, He translates those prayers, He amplifies their power and the desire of that prayer to influence the person you're praying for.--You have actual influence on them through your prayers.

THE SPIRITUAL POWER OF GOD WORKS FOR YOU, and you, in a sense when you're empowered by the Spirit, are used by God's Spirit. You use His Spirit to communicate, to pray, to edify, to receive information from His broadcasting station, sort of mutual use.



YOU AND GOD ARE USING EACH OTHER JUST LIKE TWO PEOPLE WHO LOVE EACH OTHER! It's a two-way street. You're both giving and are receiving at the same time, like a transceiver that both transmits and receives. I like to dwell on that which is good. Your prayer actually is an influence in itself, it has power. It does things because God lets it, or empowers it to do so. God empowers it to take effect.

When you're in tune and praying according to His Will with the right wave length or vibes on the right channel, He receives it and amplifies it and lets it do what you intend for it to do. It's two-way and if you love the Lord, what you receive from Him is good and ministers faith, joy, hope, love and praise. The vibes you get off the Lord are all good things. But there is a dark side of the picture, sad to say.

IF GOD HAS MEANS OF COMMUNICATION IN THE SPIRIT WORLD, WHAT ABOUT THE DEVIL? Do you think he has?--Of course he does. Does he have children? Just like God has His Children, the Devil has his captives, and he has his means of communication.



JUST LIKE GOD'S SPIRIT CAN POSSESS US, THE DEVIL'S SPIRIT CAN POSSESS HIS CHILDREN! And therefore, so-called witchcraft, demonology, etc., is a reality in the world of the evil spirits of the Enemy. God's children can pray to the Lord and ask Him to answer and affect certain people for good, and so can the Devil's children communicate with him and project. God has given the Devil certain powers, particularly over his children, those that aren't protected by the Spirit of God, those who have rejected Christ.

THE LORD GIVES PEOPLE A CERTAIN IMMUNITY TO THE INFLUENCE OF SATAN up to the point of decision. "He that being often reproved and hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed!" Every time they resist the truth they are hardening their spirit against the Lord, and therefore, if we reject the truth we receive strong delusion that we may believe a lie.--Those who are the Devil's children, at least. Until someone reaches that point and if he's not made the final decision, as long as God's Spirit is still dealing with him, he still has a certain immunity or merciful protection.

GOD'S SPIRIT PROTECTS AND OVERSHADOWS THE LITTLE CHILDREN until they have made their choice or come to the age of accountability, unless they are the children of unclean parents. The Lord's child, if he's in the spirit, will be in tune with His protective power and under the shelter of His wings.








DeepTruths TFI

We hear so much talk and see the repercussions of the so-called formal and accepted religions. We are subtly influenced from an early age with, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddism, Taoism, Islam and a whole host of other brain-washing ways to be the best person we can be; with the help of God. In light of the revelations (excuse the pun) regarding the Catholic and English churches long history of child abuse, coupled with the exploitation of vulnerable people in Ireland within the Magdalene laundries, is it time to look at alternative religious ways to find salvation?

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: John 11:25 KJV

By David Berg w/ Maria Fontaine 11/80

Souls going up to heaven after an earthquake

(Maria: Why do you suppose the Lord didn't wipe out the big wicked city of Naples in the Italian earthquake (1980 earthquake at Eboli) but instead dealt with all the little mountain towns around it?)

Well, sometimes "His ways are past finding out!" (Rom.11:33.) Well, what comes to me is that He usually deals more strictly with His Own children than He does with the World and the Godless. He deals more stringently with those that know better, "Who know to do good and do it not, to them it's sin." (Ja.4:17.)

The country folk and small town people usually have more of the truth and know it better and profess to follow it. They're more religious and churchy and usually more faithful to the old standards and religious teachings than are the godless or anti-God city people that God just sort of seems to let go their way sometimes until they crash themselves.

But He deals strictly with His own children and those who are the closest to the truth and know better. Like chastisement, "They that are without chastisement are not sons but bastards." (Heb.12:8.) So we're to thank God when we are chastised of the Lord, it's a sign that we are His sons.

No doubt those people are being chastened and chastised of the Lord for their sins, the things He lets city people get away with because they're not His children and godless and are totally destroying themselves. He doesn't have to chastise them, it wouldn't do any good.

He chastises the people that there are still some hopes for, and He punishes them and brings down judgments and chastisements on them to try to straighten them out and get them to repent. With the city people there's not much hopes of repentance, besides, He doesn't have to destroy them, they destroy themselves.

So that's about the way I see it, because I know God is righteous and God is just! God is fair and God is loving, so I know He knows what's best. If He slaughters thousands in earthquakes and so-called natural disasters which are obviously the judgments of God--"acts of God" even as they're called in insurance policies and laws--then we know that it's God's will and that God is doing it or allowing the Devil to do it for some reason, and that His reasons are good and fair and just and loving and even kind.

After all, even all of those who were killed are as the World would say the "lucky" ones or the blessed ones, because if they did know the Lord or they did have faith or believe, they've gone to a better World where they'll learn better. The ones left behind and suffering either pain or grief are the ones God is still trying to reach.
**
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?

O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:51-58



TFI

"If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? John 3:10-12 KJV

It is incompatible for us temporal beings in a temporal world to make any solid statements on Heavenly things. Yet, from what we can glean from 'Near Death Experiences', as well as from the Scriptures, we can draw certain valid conclusions which give us a greater understanding about what we more or less will be like, in the next world and dispensation. PPP

"Paul observed, "We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out" (1 Timothy 6:7). He was referring to material things, wealth. However, we will take our knowledge and experience and training from this life with us into the next life.--David Berg

In Heaven, God will reveal what on Earth He chose to conceal.

"In Heaven, a lot of things will be different, but many things are going to be the same, enough so that we'll still be able to use much of the knowledge, skills, talents and experience that we have gained in this life. God will not allow all the training we have received to be wasted.--David Berg

"This life is just your schooling for what you have to do when you graduate.--David Berg

"We will be able to travel backward or forward in time and see what has been and what is going to be, as well as experience the glorious wonderful present! We will see, hear, feel and experience the very events of the past, just as they happened.--David Berg

"God will probably allow us to ask questions about and discover some of the things we've always been curious about. Isn't it marvelous to think about how we will be able to actually meet and talk to people who lived throughout history?--David Berg

"Heaven is not the end: It's only the beginning!--David Berg

A Down-to-Earth Heaven.

"A lot of people think Heaven is sitting around on a cloud playing a harp all day, doing nothing except being "holy" -- and they don't find it very appealing! Thank God that is not what Heaven is like!--David Berg

"Heaven is not a state or condition. Heaven is a place. "I go to prepare a place for you," promised Jesus. "In My Father's house are many mansions" (John 14:2).--CLA

"Heaven is a pretty practical, common sense, down-to-earth place!--David Berg

"Heaven is not so terribly different from this present existence to where we can't even comprehend or understand it. Otherwise, when we arrived there, we would be completely lost and we wouldn't be able to relate to it.--David Berg

"We're going to be surprised when we discover that things in Heaven are normal and natural, much like this life. Of course, it will be better, much more beautiful and supernatural, without all the troubles, trials, tribulations, suffering, tears and pain we have here. However, it will still be enough like this life that we will survive the change and not suffer some sort of traumatic "culture shock." It'll be life very much like we're living now, only without the bad and evil.--David Berg

"Heaven is not a place of eternal rest, but a place of eternal life.--CLA

"Concerning the loved ones who have passed on do not try to make me believe that they are doing nothing, merely resting, careless ever. That would imply the condition of Hell, not of Heaven.--Campbell Morgan

"We must get away from the traditional idea that the saints in Heaven have one eternal holiday; that they have nothing to occupy them save playing a harp and incessantly singing.--H. Lockyer





PowerPointParadise TFI [Posted Video - "Walking with Elephants" Mario Basanov]

For centuries (if not longer) the Anti-Christ has been talked about. We have been led to believe that the Anti-Christ was going to be a figure-head (person) and he would at one time or another in our future come. When he has arrived, it was supposed that it would not be a good thing for humanity, and some would say he would bring outright evil.

Now, talking with a friend, it had occurred that with the turning away from the Christian religion...I am not saying that everyone should convert to Christianity...but I am talking about the decline in people being part of the Christian religion. I think I heard one time, about 10 years ago, there has been a 40% decline in people proclaiming to be Catholic, compared to the 1950's.

With this decline, people, by default, are turning away from the Bible. The Bible is the teaching of Jesus Christ (Word of God). Does it not make sense, if you are turning away from the teaching of Jesus Christ, you are therefore an anti-Christ?

"As a man thinketh...so, he is.......