An Atheist Finds God!- Beautiful testimony!
Friday, July 13, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Appreciate the Good
Appreciate the Good
By Maria Fontaine
Download Audio (4.71MB)
One of you wrote me after listening to a song that I had posted on my website, “Thank You for Giving to the Lord,” and drew my attention to a news article that outlined the life story of the author and singer of that song. The article explains that Ray Boltz, the artist, grew up as a Christian, was married and had children, and then at a certain point in his life divorced his wife and became gay, joining a gay and lesbian Christian church. The person who wrote me about this wondered if I had known that information before I posted the song.
Well, I didn’t know that information, and it was a bit surprising to me. But I still appreciate the song, and I don’t feel that this person’s lifestyle choices change the fact that the song has beautiful truth in it and a good spirit. I’m thankful for the way that song has probably motivated many people in the world to do more for the Lord, and I’m thankful that this man who wrote the song is still witnessing and testifying about Jesus, and probably reaching people that some others may be too self-righteous or exclusive to reach.
As I was thinking about why the Lord allowed me to post this song without knowing that information, I realized that maybe it was so that I could share this with you—that we don’t have to embrace everything about a person in order to appreciate the good that they do. We don’t have to agree with all their lifestyle choices, or everything that they believe, in order to recognize and appreciate and even use one aspect of something they have done or said that is good or beautiful or the truth. We can choose the good, appreciate it, use it, be edified by it, and also recognize at the same time that we probably wouldn’t want to embrace absolutely everything about the person.
If we can take on this attitude, it will help us to be much better witnesses. It will help us to find points of common ground with people who have very different beliefs than we do, and we’ll be able to use that common ground to give them Jesus and the answers that we have.
We accept the good and beautiful and inspiring things that many people do or have given us, even though some of them may also do things that we don’t agree with or support, or may have even committed very great sins. If we judged on the basis of some of these specific sins that we abhor or can’t accept or agree with, then we wouldn’t accept the Psalms, because David was a murderer.1 And we couldn’t appreciate Moses or his example of leadership, or the first five books of the Bible that were authored by him, for that matter, because he killed a man in anger.2 We wouldn’t appreciate and benefit from a good deal of the New Testament, because Peter denied Jesus, and Paul was previously Saul, and he caused terrible trouble for the early church.3 We would have little to no inspired music if we started to dissect the lives of those who wrote or produced each song. For that matter, we’d have very little in life that we could appreciate or benefit from, because no one is perfect!
Where would we draw the line?
The point is, when we see a beautiful piece of art, or hear some beautiful music, we can appreciate the inspiration that we know God gave the artist or composer, even if they weren’t living for God or didn’t know Him personally. Whenever something is beautiful or heavenly, they obviously got their inspiration from Him, because “every good and perfect gift is from above.”4
When someone is doing something for the Lord or trying to do something to change the world or to speak up for their faith or to fight injustice or to help the poor, we can appreciate them for that and pray for them and support them in the good they’re doing. We don’t have to agree with their every belief or choice in life.
Think about Jesus and His interactions with mankind when He was on earth. He embraced and welcomed people who had made choices that He certainly didn’t agree with, but that wasn’t what mattered to Him. What mattered was that they wanted His love, and He gave it freely.
If Jesus, perfect and without sin, was that accepting and welcoming of everyone, how can we do less?
Let’s look for the good more—appreciate the good that people are doing, or the truth they’ve found and are sharing with others, or the knowledge or skill they have that we and others can benefit from.
That kind of attitude will make it much easier for us to be good ambassadors for our King, and we’ll automatically carry a lot more of His humble, accepting, unconditional love.
Originally published May 2009. Updated and republished July 2012.
Read by Bethany Kelly.
1 See 2 Samuel 11.
2 Exodus 2:11–12.
3 Matthew 26:69–75; Acts 8:1–3.
4 James 1:17.
Posted in: Audio, Humility, Maria Fontaine, Positive Thinking, Values
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Superando Dúvidas!
Dr. Craig,
Qual o melhor conselho que o senhor pode oferecer para alguém superar dúvidas e questionamentos do tipo “e se”? Essa é a minha maior batalha. Encontro um argumento convincente, mas depois fico pensando, “mas e se...”. O que me joga de volta à estaca zero. Sei que isso se deve em parte ao medo que tenho de me entregar ao cristianismo e descobrir que errei. Está relacionado ao orgulho, porque eu ficaria arrasada. Já passei por isso quando minha fé foi abalada. Mas sei que jamais chegarei a uma conclusão se ficar sempre questionando “e se”. Como faço para superar isso? Outros talvez achem muito simples, basta parar de questionar. Mas quem já passou por um medo muito forte sabe que é muito difÃcil ter essa atitude. Então, para aqueles como eu que sofrem da sÃndrome do “e se”, qual deve ser o próximo passo?—Amanda, EUA
Dr. Craig responde:
Às vezes convido um palestrante para responder a uma pergunta sobre a qual ele já estudou. Recentemente, Michael Licona falou para a minha classe Defenders sobre Dúvida, por isso, Amanda, pedi a Mike para cuidar da sua pergunta. Acho que vai perceber que vocês dois são bem parecidos! Ele deu a seguinte resposta:
Eu entendo a situação dessa “duvidadora”, pois eu tenho mania de questionar já tirando conclusões. Parece que questiono tudo! Não quero tomar decisões erradas nem em questões de pouca importância, então é normal eu ficar em dúvida sobre decisões relativas a questões de grande porte. Não é um exercÃcio intencional. Na verdade, fico frustrado com essa minha atitude. Mas é assim que sou.
Por causa disso, já duvidei da minha fé cristã muitas vezes. Às vezes chegou ao ponto de eu quase renegá-la. Já me perguntei se sofri lavagem cerebral… “Será que não consigo pensar de maneira objetiva porque fui ensinado a acreditar? E se eu estiver errado?" Eu tenho a paz que Paulo menciona ser uma confirmação interior do EspÃrito de Deus de que pertenço a Cristo.[1] [Mas] como discernir se a minha paz realmente procede de Deus? É uma pergunta difÃcil. E, para ser sincero, ainda não sei a resposta.
Graças a Deus, quando comecei a ter dúvidas na década de 80, um professor de Filosofia entendeu a minha situação porque ele também já tinha passado por isso. Eu não tive aula com Gary Habermas na Liberty University, já que ele lecionava no departamento de Filosofia, e eu fazia um curso de estudos do Novo Testamento. Mas Habermas me ajudou muitÃssimo a entender dúvida e como lidar com ela. A seguir apresento um conjunto de pensamentos de Habermas e meus. E tenho uma boa notÃcia para quem batalha contra dúvidas: É possÃvel lidar com dúvidas tomando estas quatro atitudes certeiras.
Ação Nº1: Reconheça que é normal ter dúvidas. Abraão encontrou-se com Deus, que lhe informou que teria um filho que daria inÃcio a uma grande nação. No entanto, quando Abraão corria perigo, ele mentiu para salvar o seu pescoço, mesmo sabendo que a promessa de Deus de lhe dar um filho ainda não se tinha cumprido.[2] PensarÃamos que ele confiaria que Deus o salvaria. Mas, em vez disso, ele mentiu, e Deus acabou intervindo para ele conseguir recuperar sua esposa, Sara, que tinha sido levada justamente por causa da mentira que Abraão contou. Avancemos oito capÃtulos, e Abraão está diante da mesma situação. Mas desta vez, sabendo que podia confiar na proteção de Deus, sem ter que assumir o controle da situação e mentir. Olha, não aconteceu assim. Abraão duvidou da promessa de Deus novamente, e repetiu o erro. Mentiu para o rei que, como Faraó, levou Sara para o seu harém, e Deus precisou intervir de novo.[3] No entanto, Abraão se tornou um homem de grande fé, cujo nome consta na Galeria da Fama da BÃblia.[4] Na verdade, se existe um MVP (Jogador mais Valioso) na Galaria da Fama, é Abraão.
João Batista era primo de Jesus. Ambos nasceram sob circunstâncias milagrosas. No futuro João viria a batizar Jesus e veria o EspÃrito Santo descer sobre Ele, ao mesmo tempo em que uma voz vinda do Céu confirmava a Sua posição. Mais tarde João foi preso, e durante esse perÃodo enviou alguns dos seus discÃpulos para perguntarem a Jesus se Ele era realmente o Messias ou se deviam esperar outra pessoa. Uáu! Como João podia fazer essa pergunta se já tinha ouvido a história do nascimento milagroso tanto dele como de Jesus, além dos sinais divinos que lhe foram revelados ao batizar? João sentiu-se abandonado na prisão, o que causou uma dúvida de caráter emocional. Ele conhecia a evidência, mas a vida não estava transcorrendo como ele esperava. Na verdade, a situação estava bem desagradável naquele momento. E Jesus sabia disso. Ele disse aos discÃpulos de João para voltarem a ele e contarem os milagres que tinham visto Jesus fazer, milagres que se esperava do Messias.[5] Depois que os discÃpulos se foram, Jesus virou-Se para a multidão que O fitava intensamente. O que Ele diria para aquelas pessoas que tinham acabado de ouvir que o Seu companheiro de ministério estava tendo dúvidas?
Que fostes ver no deserto? Uma cana agitada pelo vento? Sim, que fostes ver? Um homem ricamente vestido? Os que se trajam ricamente estão nas casas dos reis. Mas, então, que fostes ver? Um profeta? Sim, vos digo eu, e muito mais do que profeta; porque é este de quem está escrito: Eis que diante da tua face envio o meu anjo, que preparará diante de ti o teu caminho. Em verdade vos digo que, entre os que de mulher têm nascido, não apareceu alguém maior do que João Batista.[6]
Veja que Jesus não repreendeu João por duvidar, pelo contrário, providenciou evidências, o encorajou e elogiou dizendo que não havia ninguém maior – e sabendo que João batalhava contra dúvidas.
Se Abraão e João Batista passaram por essa experiência de dúvida apesar de terem o favor do Senhor, parece que Deus entende a nossa constituição emocional e tem paciência conosco. Muitos cristãos jamais duvidam. No entanto, para os que passam por isso é reconfortante saber que estamos em boa companhia, com pessoas como Abraão e João Batista. Duvidadores não são cidadãos de segunda classe no reino de Deus!
"Cara! Vai ver que funciona para quem ouviu Deus falar e viu os milagres de Jesus. Mas pra mim não ajuda muito, porque nunca vi nenhum milagre.” Entendo, mas até agora eu só disse que o primeiro passo é lidar com a dúvida: Reconhecer que é normal duvidar.
Ação Nº2: Reconhecer que existe evidência fidedigna a favor do cristianismo. Não podemos entrar em uma máquina do tempo e voltar ao passado para testemunharmos os milagres de Jesus, no entanto, dispomos de sólida evidência histórica comprovando o maior dos Seus milagres, a ressurreição. Gary Habermas mais do que ninguém entende bem desse assunto. Poderiam dizer, “Entre aqueles nascidos de mulher, nenhum conhece melhor a evidência da ressurreição de Jesus do que Gary Habermas."
Se Jesus ressuscitou, o cristianismo sem dúvida é verdadeiro. “Mas”, você pode questionar, “a ressurreição está relatada na BÃblia. Como vou saber se a BÃblia é verdadeira? Será que devo aceitar puramente por fé?" Na primeira visita ao professor Habermas, ele me ofereceu uma sinopse em ordem cronológica da evidência história da ressurreição de Jesus. Foi um consolo saber que tal evidência existe. Mas, devo admitir, havia falhas na explicação. A evidência não me deu 100% de garantia. Mas Habermas não se preocupou. A Ciência também não comprova nada cem porcento. Investigação cientÃfica e histórica só nos leva até um certo ponto. Precisamos procurar a melhor explicação com base nos dados disponÃveis e aceitarmos uma certeza razoável ou até certo ponto adequada, assim como agimos em relação a todas as grandes decisões na vida. O resto fica no campo da fé, e isso se aplica a qualquer visão de mundo, tanto de cristãos como de judeus, muçulmanos, hindus, budistas ou ateus. Mas a ressurreição de Jesus é incomparável, em termos de fortes evidências confirmando sua ocorrência. [Obs.: Veja o link no final do artigo para um e-livro grátis de Habermas.]
Ação Nº3: Reconheça que certeza absoluta é uma expectativa irracional: Algumas pessoas vivem com fé sem jamais duvidar. Isso é otimo. Mas alguns de nós fomos criados de maneira que somos incapazes de ter essa atitude. Alguns anos atrás, tive um momento “iluminado” que mudou minha vida. Percebi que a minha fé é apenas uma das muitas coisas que questiono. Eu duvido de muitas decisões muuuuuuuiiiito tempo depois de tomá-las. É uma mania de infância que eu detesto. Não me refiro apenas a decisões importantes, como, por exemplo, casamento. Às vezes, eu me vejo reconsiderando, re-reconsiderando, e re-re-reconsiderando decisões sem muita importância, como, por exemplo, algo que comprei, quer um relógio, quer um carro ou um perfume. Só reconhecer essa atitude ajudou-me sobremaneira a entender por que duvido. Fui criado assim. Para mim, a certeza absoluta é uma expectativa irracional. Portanto, estou aprendendo a viver satisfeito com um certo grau de certeza.
Ação Nº4: Reconheça que a fé é mais do que um sentimento ou a falta de dúvida. É um compromisso. Certo homem veio a Jesus e pediu que Ele curasse seu filho possesso. Ele acreditava (afinal de contas, foi ele quem procurou Jesus), mas pediu a Jesus para ajudá-lo com a sua incredulidade.[7] Ele dependia de Jesus para curar o seu filho. Pedro caminhou sobre as águas e começou a afundar quando ficou com medo das ondas e duvidou.[8] No entanto, Pedro é que estava fora do barco enquanto os outros observavam. Para o seguidor de Cristo, fé é confiar em Cristo, e só nEle, para a salvação. Ser um seguidor de Cristo significa que, diante de uma decisão moral, eu sigo pelo caminho ensinado por Jesus. ... obedeço a Jesus porque acredito nEle. Posso ter dúvidas persistentes, mas é a fé que vence e determina a minha conduta na vida de fé. Como o irmão de Jesus escreveu, “Mostre sua fé sem obras e eu lhe mostrarei a minha fé pelas minhas obras."[9]
Resumindo, estas são as quatro ações para lidar com dúvidas:
Reconhecer que é normal duvidar.
Reconhecer que existe evidência sólida comprovando a verdade do Cristianismo.
Reconhecer que a certeza absoluta é uma expectativa irracional.
Reconhecer que fé é mais do que um sentimento ou falta de dúvida. É um compromisso.
Pode ser muito bom para o leitor interessado ler mais sobre lidar com dúvidas no livro online de Gary Habermas The Thomas Factor: Using Your Doubts to Draw Closer to God.(O Fator Tomé: Usar as Dúvidas para se Aproximar de Deus.)
Para ler uma defesa cronológica e abrangente da ressurreição de Jesus, veja o meu livro mais recente, The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. (A Ressurreição de Jesus: uma Nova Abordagem Historiográfica.)
Site Reasonable Faith,
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=9333
Publicado no Âncora em junho de 2012.
Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli. Revisão Denise Oliveira.
[1] Romanos 8:16.
[2] Gênesis 12.
[3] Gênesis 20.
[4] Hebreus 11.
[5] Ver Os Pergaminhas do Mar Morto 4Q521; ver também Isaias 61:1–2; Lucas 4:16–21.
[6] Mateus 11:7–11 NET; cf. Lucas 7:24–28.
[7] Marcos 9:24.
[8] Mateus 14:28–31.
[9] Tiago 2:18 NET.
How much money do you need to be happy?
Don't Indulge. Be Happy.
By Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, NY Times, July 7, 2012
HOW much money do you need to be happy? Think about it. What’s your number?
Many of us aren’t satisfied with how much we have now. That’s why we’re constantly angling for a raise at work and springing, despite long odds, for lottery scratch tickets.
Is it crazy to question how much money you need to be happy? The notion that money can’t buy happiness has been around a long time. But it turns out there is a measurable connection between income and happiness; not surprisingly, people with a comfortable living standard are happier than people living in poverty.
The catch is that additional income doesn’t buy us any additional happiness on a typical day once we reach that comfortable standard. The magic number that defines this “comfortable standard” varies across individuals and countries, but in the United States, it seems to fall somewhere around $75,000. Using Gallup data collected from almost half a million Americans, researchers at Princeton found that higher household incomes were associated with better moods on a daily basis—but the beneficial effects of money tapered off entirely after the $75,000 mark.
Why, then, do so many of us bother to work so hard long after we have reached an income level sufficient to make most of us happy? One reason is that our ideas about the relationship between money and happiness are misguided. In research we conducted with a national sample of Americans, people thought that their life satisfaction would double if they made $55,000 instead of $25,000: more than twice as much money, twice as much happiness. But our data showed that people who earned $55,000 were just 9 percent more satisfied than those making $25,000. Nine percent beats zero percent, but it’s still kind of a letdown when you were expecting a 100 percent return.
Interestingly, and usefully, it turns out that what we do with our money plays a far more important role than how much money we make. Imagine three people each win $1 million in the lottery. Suppose one person attempts to buy every single thing he has ever wanted; one puts it all in the bank and uses the money only sparingly, for special occasions; and one gives it all to charity. At the end of the year, they all would report an additional $1 million of income. Many of us would follow the first person’s strategy, but the latter two winners are likely to get the bigger happiness bang for their buck.
We usually think of having more money as allowing us to buy more and more of the stuff we like for ourselves, from bigger houses to fancier cars to better wine to more finely pixilated televisions. But these typical spending tendencies—buying more, and buying for ourselves—are ineffective at turning money into happiness. A decade of research has demonstrated that if you insist on spending money on yourself, you should shift from buying stuff (TVs and cars) to experiences (trips and special evenings out). Our own recent research shows that in addition to buying more experiences, you’re better served in many cases by simply buying less—and buying for others.
Indulgence is often closely trailed by its chubby sidekick, overindulgence. While the concept of overindulgence is probably all too familiar to anyone who’s ever attended a Thanksgiving dinner, the word “underindulgence” doesn’t exist. But research shows that underindulgence—indulging a little less than you usually do—holds one key to getting more happiness for your money.
In a recent study conducted by our student Jordi Quoidbach, chocolate lovers ate a piece of this confection—and then pledged to abstain from chocolate for one week. Another group pledged to eat as much chocolate as they comfortably could and were even given a mammoth two-pound bag of chocolate to help them meet this “goal.”
If you love chocolate, you might think that the students who absconded with the chocolaty loot had it made. But they paid a price. When they returned the next week for another chocolate tasting, they enjoyed that chocolate much less than they had the week before. The only people who enjoyed the chocolate as much the second week as they had the first? Those who had given it up in between. Underindulging—temporarily giving up chocolate, even when we have the cash to buy all we want—can renew our enjoyment of the things we love.
USING your money to promote underindulgence requires a shift in behavior, for sure. But another scientifically validated means of increasing the happiness you get from your money is even more radical: not using it on yourself at all.
Imagine walking down the street to work and being approached by our student Lara Aknin, who hands you an envelope. You open the envelope and find $20 and a slip of paper, which tells you to spend the cash on something for yourself by the end of the day. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal. Now imagine instead that the slip of paper told you to spend the cash on someone else. Being generous is nice, sure, but would using the money to benefit someone else actually make you happier than buying yourself the belt, DVD or apps you’ve been dying to get?
Yes, and it’s not even close. When we follow up with people who receive cash from us, those whom we told to spend on others report greater happiness than those told to spend on themselves. And in countries from Canada to India to South Africa, we find that people are happier when they spend money on others rather than on themselves.
But what about individuals who are notorious for their struggles with sharing? Surely the emotional benefits of giving couldn’t possibly apply to very young children, who cling to their possessions as though their lives depended on it. To find out, we teamed up with the developmental psychologist Kiley Hamlin and gave toddlers the baby-equivalent of gold: goldfish crackers. Judging from their beaming faces, they were pretty happy about this windfall. But something made them even happier. They were happiest of all when giving some of their treats away to their new friend, a puppet named Monkey. Monkey puppets aside, the lesson is clear: maximizing our happiness is not about maximizing our goldfish. To be clear, having more goldfish (or more gold) doesn’t decrease our happiness—those first few crackers may provide a genuine burst of delight. But rather than focusing on how much we’ve got in our bowl, we should think more carefully about what we do with what we’ve got—which might mean indulging less, and may even mean giving others the opportunity to indulge instead.
Elizabeth Dunn, an associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, and Michael Norton, an associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, are authors of the forthcoming book “Happy Money: The Science of Spending.”
By Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, NY Times, July 7, 2012
HOW much money do you need to be happy? Think about it. What’s your number?
Many of us aren’t satisfied with how much we have now. That’s why we’re constantly angling for a raise at work and springing, despite long odds, for lottery scratch tickets.
Is it crazy to question how much money you need to be happy? The notion that money can’t buy happiness has been around a long time. But it turns out there is a measurable connection between income and happiness; not surprisingly, people with a comfortable living standard are happier than people living in poverty.
The catch is that additional income doesn’t buy us any additional happiness on a typical day once we reach that comfortable standard. The magic number that defines this “comfortable standard” varies across individuals and countries, but in the United States, it seems to fall somewhere around $75,000. Using Gallup data collected from almost half a million Americans, researchers at Princeton found that higher household incomes were associated with better moods on a daily basis—but the beneficial effects of money tapered off entirely after the $75,000 mark.
Why, then, do so many of us bother to work so hard long after we have reached an income level sufficient to make most of us happy? One reason is that our ideas about the relationship between money and happiness are misguided. In research we conducted with a national sample of Americans, people thought that their life satisfaction would double if they made $55,000 instead of $25,000: more than twice as much money, twice as much happiness. But our data showed that people who earned $55,000 were just 9 percent more satisfied than those making $25,000. Nine percent beats zero percent, but it’s still kind of a letdown when you were expecting a 100 percent return.
Interestingly, and usefully, it turns out that what we do with our money plays a far more important role than how much money we make. Imagine three people each win $1 million in the lottery. Suppose one person attempts to buy every single thing he has ever wanted; one puts it all in the bank and uses the money only sparingly, for special occasions; and one gives it all to charity. At the end of the year, they all would report an additional $1 million of income. Many of us would follow the first person’s strategy, but the latter two winners are likely to get the bigger happiness bang for their buck.
We usually think of having more money as allowing us to buy more and more of the stuff we like for ourselves, from bigger houses to fancier cars to better wine to more finely pixilated televisions. But these typical spending tendencies—buying more, and buying for ourselves—are ineffective at turning money into happiness. A decade of research has demonstrated that if you insist on spending money on yourself, you should shift from buying stuff (TVs and cars) to experiences (trips and special evenings out). Our own recent research shows that in addition to buying more experiences, you’re better served in many cases by simply buying less—and buying for others.
Indulgence is often closely trailed by its chubby sidekick, overindulgence. While the concept of overindulgence is probably all too familiar to anyone who’s ever attended a Thanksgiving dinner, the word “underindulgence” doesn’t exist. But research shows that underindulgence—indulging a little less than you usually do—holds one key to getting more happiness for your money.
In a recent study conducted by our student Jordi Quoidbach, chocolate lovers ate a piece of this confection—and then pledged to abstain from chocolate for one week. Another group pledged to eat as much chocolate as they comfortably could and were even given a mammoth two-pound bag of chocolate to help them meet this “goal.”
If you love chocolate, you might think that the students who absconded with the chocolaty loot had it made. But they paid a price. When they returned the next week for another chocolate tasting, they enjoyed that chocolate much less than they had the week before. The only people who enjoyed the chocolate as much the second week as they had the first? Those who had given it up in between. Underindulging—temporarily giving up chocolate, even when we have the cash to buy all we want—can renew our enjoyment of the things we love.
USING your money to promote underindulgence requires a shift in behavior, for sure. But another scientifically validated means of increasing the happiness you get from your money is even more radical: not using it on yourself at all.
Imagine walking down the street to work and being approached by our student Lara Aknin, who hands you an envelope. You open the envelope and find $20 and a slip of paper, which tells you to spend the cash on something for yourself by the end of the day. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal. Now imagine instead that the slip of paper told you to spend the cash on someone else. Being generous is nice, sure, but would using the money to benefit someone else actually make you happier than buying yourself the belt, DVD or apps you’ve been dying to get?
Yes, and it’s not even close. When we follow up with people who receive cash from us, those whom we told to spend on others report greater happiness than those told to spend on themselves. And in countries from Canada to India to South Africa, we find that people are happier when they spend money on others rather than on themselves.
But what about individuals who are notorious for their struggles with sharing? Surely the emotional benefits of giving couldn’t possibly apply to very young children, who cling to their possessions as though their lives depended on it. To find out, we teamed up with the developmental psychologist Kiley Hamlin and gave toddlers the baby-equivalent of gold: goldfish crackers. Judging from their beaming faces, they were pretty happy about this windfall. But something made them even happier. They were happiest of all when giving some of their treats away to their new friend, a puppet named Monkey. Monkey puppets aside, the lesson is clear: maximizing our happiness is not about maximizing our goldfish. To be clear, having more goldfish (or more gold) doesn’t decrease our happiness—those first few crackers may provide a genuine burst of delight. But rather than focusing on how much we’ve got in our bowl, we should think more carefully about what we do with what we’ve got—which might mean indulging less, and may even mean giving others the opportunity to indulge instead.
Elizabeth Dunn, an associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, and Michael Norton, an associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, are authors of the forthcoming book “Happy Money: The Science of Spending.”
Why is walking in the woods is good for you?
Alex Hutchinson, The Globe and Mail, May. 27 2012
In Japan, they call it shinrin-yoku—literally, “forest bathing.” Here, we might just call it a walk in the park. Either way, people around the world have an intuitive sense of the restorative power of natural environments. The question is: Why?
Scientists have advanced a wide range of theories about the specific physical and mental benefits nature can provide, ranging from clean air and lack of noise pollution to the apparent immune-boosting effects of a fine mist of “wood essential oils.” But the most powerful benefits, a new study suggests, may result from the way trees and birds and sunsets gently tug—but never grab—at our attention.
The study, which will appear in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Affective Disorders, found that volunteers suffering from depression who took a 50-minute walk in a woodland park improved their cognition, as measured by the ability to remember a random string of digits and repeat them in reverse order, compared to those who took a walk through city streets. An earlier study found similar results in subjects who weren’t depressed.
The explanation, according to lead author Marc Berman, a research fellow at the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest in Toronto, lies in the distinction between two types of attention: “voluntary,” in which we consciously focus on something; and “involuntary,” in which something grabs our attention.
The ability to direct voluntary attention is crucial in daily life (and for cognitive tasks like remembering random digits), but it’s easily fatigued. Dr. Berman and his colleagues believe that going for a walk in the park gives voluntary attention a break, since your mind has a chance to wander aimlessly and be engaged—involuntarily but gently—by your surroundings.
“In a lot of natural areas, you’re away from loud noises and distractions,” Dr. Berman explains. “It tends to be less crowded so you don’t have to worry about bumping into people, and it also has interesting stimulation to look at, which captures your attention automatically.”
In contrast, honking horns and traffic lights and crowded sidewalks—and pretty much every other ingredient of modern life in a big city—constantly force you to exert your voluntary attention to react or block them out, leaving you more cognitively depleted.
All this makes it sound as if the benefits of nature are mostly in your head. It’s true that simply looking out a window at nature or, to a slightly lesser extent, looking at pictures of nature scenes can produce some of the same effects. But the physical environment itself may also play a role, Dr. Berman notes.
One obvious candidate is air quality: A single exposure to polluted air can trigger lung and heart problems, and chronic exposure has been linked to cognitive decline. Even downtown parks and riverside bike paths are likely to have significantly better air quality than busy city streets, and trees offer an additional protective effect. The level of vehicle emissions just 200 metres away from a road is already four times lower than it is on the sidewalk next to the road.
A more unusual suggestion, proposed by researchers at Japan’s Nippon Medical School, is that trees emit a fine mist of health-giving “wood essential oils.” In a series of shinrin-yoku studies, the researchers have reported that walking for two hours in a forest enhances immune function (as measured by levels of “natural killer cells”), reduces levels of stress hormones and lowers blood pressure, compared to similar walks in downtown Tokyo.
(Before you rush out to buy a case of wood essential oils, it’s worth noting that this research was funded in part by Japan’s Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute.)
Still, the fact that pictures of nature can produce cognitive benefits suggests that at least part of the effect is mediated by what we see. One simple hypothesis is colour: Nature scenes tend to feature more green than urban scenes. A more subtle possibility is that natural landscapes have more fractal patterns—a mathematical classification that describes the complex shapes of phenomena like coastlines, mountain ranges and broccoli florets—compared to the simple straight lines that characterize man-made environments.
“Maybe looking at these fractal patterns captures attention automatically, which leads to this more restorative process,” Dr. Berman says.
Teasing out the key variables will take time—and ultimately, it seems unlikely that there’s a single magical quality or essential oil that fully explains the call of the semi-wild. For now, it’s enough to know that the benefits of exposure to nature are real and measurable. And in an increasingly distracting and distracted world, they’re more important than ever.
Damascus will be destroyed!
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2011
Damascus will be destroyed
elizabethprata@gmail.com
There is a prophecy in the bible that I have always found fascinating. It is in Isaiah 17:1:
"The burden against Damascus.
“Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city,
And it will be a ruinous heap."
Since Damascus, Syria is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, this prophecy has never been fulfilled. In the past, the city has been devastated, partly abandoned, sure, but never has it been a ruinous heap and has never been completely wiped away from being a city. So this is a prophecy that is in front of us. The way things are progressing in the Middle East and with Israel/Jerusalem, it looks to be in front of us in a short period of time, in my opinion.
First, notice the language in the prophecy. It is the passive tense. The prophecy doesn't say "Israel will destroy Damascus." It doesn't say "God will destroy Damascus." The only thing we know is that Damascus in Syria is destroyed, and that's it. We don't know who, or how, and certainly not when. It could be destroyed by disease, though that is not likely because though the population would be killed but the city would still be standing. It could be destroyed by Israel but that may not be likely either because Israel's strikes tend to be surgical rather than of the obliterating kind. Perhaps someone throws a nuke, that is one kind of war matériel that would obliterate a city and reduce it to a ruinous heap, for sure.
I've been watching the events in Syria. Since last spring when the Middle Eastern countries erupted in violence (now known as the Arab Spring) finally Syria erupted too. Though many of the nations that had revolted, for example, Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, Algeria, etc, have calmed down, Syria never stopped revolting. And its dictatorship is strong and has had no compunction in oppressing its people in order to quell the violence. I've seen references to Youtube video of rivers of blood and bodies being dumped. I didn'tlook at the videos to check them myself, but I believe that Syria is doing those things. I believe it because Syria's only friend in the neighborhood, Turkey, is now extremely impatient and making diplomatic moves to press Syria to stop it and stop it now. A fifteen day deadline was actually delivered by Turkey to Syria.
Russia joined Turkey in the pile-on, pressing Assad of Syria to stop the violence and introduce reforms. 'Or else prepare for a sad fate.' "In his toughest comments on Syria to date, Mr Medvedev said that time was running out for Mr Assad to halt a crackdown against his people, hinting that the Kremlin, a traditional ally, may support tough action against Damascus in the United Nations if bloodshed continues."
With what is happening within Syria, we must also keep in mind several other prophecies that add into the mix. Turkey will abandon all vestiges of wanting to align with the West and eventually ally with Russia, Iran, Armenia, and the northern tier of the African nations in the Gog-Magog war. This alliance will surprise attack Israel in the last days. (Ezekiel 38-39).
With that background explained, here's some interesting news out of the Middle East today that involves Syria, Turkey, and Russia.
Iran's state media, 'PressTV' reports today "'NATO planning military attack on Iran.'" Now, this may be true and it may not be true. But at this point time, far along as we are, a reaction can be fomented just as easily from the perception of truth as it can from the fact. The article states:
"Russia's envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin says the NATO is planning a military strike against the Islamic Republic to overthrow the Iranian government. Rogozin said in an interview with Russia's Izvestia daily newspaper published on Friday that the NATO was pursuing a long-reaching goal of preparing an attack on Iran, adding that the alliance intends to change governments whose views do not coincide with those of the West. "The noose around Iran is tightening. Military planning against Iran is underway. And we are certainly concerned about an escalation of a large-scale war in this huge region," Rogozin added."
I think we can agree that the noose is tightening and that a large-scale war in that region does loom. You notice, I hope, that it is the Russian envoy taking up for Iran... The UK's Sovereign Independent picked up on the story,
"Twelve hours after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned Assad he faced a “sad fate” if he failed to introduce reforms, Moscow’s envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin accused the Western alliance of planning a military campaign against Syria to help overthrow the Assad regime “with the long-reaching goal of preparing a beachhead for an attack on Iran.”"
Meanwhile, Yahoo news reports, "Turkey's friendship with Syria nears breaking point"
"Turkey's friendship with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stood near breaking point as Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu prepared to visit Damascus on Tuesday in a last-ditch effort to persuade Assad to stop his security forces attacking civilians. On Sunday, one of Assad's advisers warned Davutoglu would be given short shrift after Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said his minister would deliver a "decisive message," having seen past entreaties to halt the violence ignored. A Turkish official said Davutoglu would repeat the earlier calls. But the official did not want to venture into what Turkey will do if its words continue to fall on deaf ears in neighboring Syria."
It can be stated that the incestuous, dysfunctional family of the Arab-Gog/Magog allied nations are getting even more shrill, dysfunctional, and violent. It is pretty extraordinary that Turkey said "We can't be held responsible for what we do if you ignore our warnings, Assad!"
Turkey is someone to be reckoned with. In 2008, the Turkish Army had around 402,000 active personnel and is the second largest army of NATO (after the United States). (source). When they tell Syria's Assad, 'stop or we can't say what we're gonna do!' it must be taken seriously. Would Turkey get mad enough to raze Damascus? Who knows these days, what any person or nation will do.
I'm back to the first part of this essay now. Damascus will be destroyed. By whom, we do not know. But it is wise to watch Syria closely these days, and pray.
The Power of Resting in the Lord
The Power of Resting in the Lord
By John
About two months ago I started having frequent headaches which didn’t go away. Normally I don’t suffer from headaches. It got so bad that I thought I might have malaria, which I also don’t normally get. Finally I went to our doctor friend and checked for malaria. It didn’t show, but since sometimes it doesn’t show, he suggested taking the treatment anyway just to make sure. I took it, but the headaches didn’t go away.
So, he suggested I take off for a week and just rest. I thought, Wow! You mean I should stop working--for a whole week? Yes, that’s what he said! I thought, I can’t do that. There is just too much to do! But the doctor ordered it, and finally it dawned on me that the Lord wanted me to have a break. He told me to read about resting in the Lord.
It was a life-changer for me. I listened to audios about resting in the Lord I don’t know how many times. Each time I got more from them.
Here are some of the jewels that spoke to me (these are from messages from Jesus):“You can choose to stay a little longer in My arms when you feel tempted to get up and get into your work right away. You can choose to pray for something instead of getting involved yourself. You can choose to hear from Me before giving an answer. You can choose to praise Me for the victory and refuse to let yourself get worried when you hear bad news.”
This one is almost hilarious, but sometimes I actually feel like this, ha! “Do you feel like the mountains of work you see before you are never going to go away, and you'll probably have to stay on earth during the Marriage Feast to try and finish it up, if not into the Millennium?”
This one spoke to me, as I’m climbing up in years: “Do you know why so many of My greatest prophets‚ warriors, and miracle workers throughout history were old before they began their truly powerful tasks for Me? It was in part the training, the wisdom, and all those things that took many years of experience to grow into.”
When my headache turned into a sinus infection, it hurt, and though I tried a saltwater rinse and some nose drops from the pharmacy, it didn’t go away. Finally I thought back on how the Lord healed me in my early days of living for Him. At that time I had some problems with my eyes, and when all the medicine didn’t help, a brother told me that we could just pray for the Lord to heal me. We did and He did! He actually healed me from several ailments at the time to show me His healing power. So now, after I took a stand of faith, the Lord is actually healing me.
And what does “resting in the Lord” have to do with my sinus infection and healing? Well, better health is just one of the benefits you can receive when practicing this wonderful way of life. The Lord said: “As you learn to slow things down and rest more in Me, you will reap the benefits‚ both physically and spiritually. For example … you won't have to make as many doctor visits or take as much medicine.”
Do you have tons of thoughts constantly going through your mind? Are they saying “Hello!” the minute you wake up? We have a lot of big challenges in front of us with our school project in the bush [in Africa], starting a new base in East Europe, planning follow-up visits into Congo, and setting things up so they run well without us being here all the time. At the same time, the Lord is teaching me plenty of personal lessons—lessons of love, balancing things out when there are opposite viewpoints, etc. All these things keep my mind occupied, and I needed to switch from thinking, worrying, planning, etc., to resting, loving, and trusting Him to work things out.
Here is something that helped me along that line: “The Enemy fights your getting calm in spirit; he hopes to convince you that it's ‘your responsibility’ to tend to things, and that because there are so many demands on your time, you can't afford the little ‘extras’ here and there to get calm before Me. That stinks of the Enemy and his demons of accomplishment, who try to get you so accomplishment-oriented that you forget that your work must be done primarily in the spirit.”
And what about the power of prayer? He says: “[Intercessory prayer] is really worth something spiritually. To accept this, and to do it, is a move toward fuller spirituality, as you're believing Me when I say that it's more effective than an equal amount of time spent on your other work.”
And meditation? Here is one quote that spoke to me, just to show that it’s really not so complicated: “Basically, any time you slow down and think about Me, focus on Me, and stop all the busy thoughts going through your mind and the busy impulses of your spirit, you're well on your way to meditating.”
Here are some practical tips the Lord gave me to help me put this way of life into action:
Take a little time to listen to the Lord before starting the day. If possible, write it down.
Before going to work, make a little priority list for the day, asking the Lord to fill me with His Spirit.
Taking mini breaks every so often in between my writing work. I found it actually helps to get up from the chair, walk away from the desk, raise my arms, and even do some light exercises, like swinging my arms to avoid back aches, moving my legs to circulate the blood through my body, breathing deeply, and getting my mind on the Lord, committing what I’m doing to Him, praising Him for what’s getting done, etc.
When I send an email I try to send a little prayer along with it, asking the Lord to bless it—the recipient and the request.
Taking short stops in between witnessing appointments, praying for the contact we just visited and for the next one we’ll be visiting.
Asking for prayer for specific needs is a great help, and when praying for others, the Lord blesses it.1
Meditation is one exercise I need to learn so much more about, but it helps me to let go of my burdens and take a little spirit trip on the mountain (or wherever the Spirit leads me), alone with Him, leaving the daily grind behind and breathing His fresh air, smelling flowers and enjoying His creation.
Keeping good communication with the people around me—my wife, child, teamworker, anybody around. As a team we do it better! It takes a bit of time, but afterwards more gets done and it bears better fruit.
Since we are surrounded by a lot of obstacles in this part of the world, I need to make a major push in my life to think about all the good and positive things in any situation or with any person I come into contact with.
The closer I stay to Jesus and the more time I take with Him, the more peace I have and the more fruitful my work is. So, time given to Jesus is time gained in results. It doesn’t make sense mathematically, but it proves true every day. And that’s basically what “resting in the Lord” comes down to for me.
1 Luke 6:38.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Syria Roundtable! the corbett report.com
The Corbett Report updates
Interview 524 – Syria Roundtable with Nile Bowie and Eric Draitser
Posted: 09 Jul 2012 07:36 PM PDT
Eric Draitser of StopImperialism.com and Nile Bowie of nilebowie.blogspot.comjoins James Corbett for a wide-ranging discussion on possibilities for peace in Syria. We discuss Nile’s “Scenarios for Syria” article and talk about whether it is possible to imagine a non-violent (or less violent) resolution to the conflict. We also examine the geopolitical ramifications of what happens in Syria.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
Mentoring Moms in the Military!
Georgia Purdom
Mentoring Moms in the Military
Posted: 10 Jul 2012 06:00 AM PDT
Last week I received this post from Kate on my Facebook page:
How would you answer this question from young mothers? “I want my children to know the truth of creation, but they are in public school where I know they will be ridiculed by kids and teachers alike for believing the Bible’s account is truth. I want to protect them from ridicule and humiliation! . . . Does it make sense to let it ride while they are still quite young and more sensitive and then tackle the issue of a literal biblical creation when they are older?”
This is a question posed to me in our summer Creation Bible study (part 2) with American military and contractor wives at a USAF/RAF base here in England. I taught a study using the 7 Cs of History in the winter for the Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC). The women were hungry for truth and God showed up and opened their eyes! It was awesome! Now a smaller group has requested to continue in the topic this summer.
What a great question! Here is how I responded:
My daughter is in public school and so I’ve had to face this issue. It is so important that parents instruct their children about the truth of God’s Word beginning in Genesis right from the start. They are never too young. The more we build that foundation and give them answers now, the less likely they are to question as they get older and the better equipped they will be to give a defense for God’s Word.
I have told my daughter that if she shares what she believes with those at school that she will be likely be made fun of. That has not stopped her from sharing! I’ve used AiG materials to equip her and prepare her to give answers so that when her friends laugh at her and ask questions about her beliefs she has the ability to share the truth. I think that has given her a lot of confidence. I don’t want my daughter to be on the defense but rather on the offense! Praise God for your ministry to these women and ultimately to their children! I have a new DVD that you might find helpful: Kid’s Most Asked Questions About Science and the Bible.
Kate replied and shared specifically how she is using AiG resources and how her interest in biblical creation began:
Thanks! I’ll share your response to my ladies on Tuesday! And check into the new DVD. I just collected my kids’ materials to take so the gals can look them over and find that I have a stack 3 feet high! It includes everything from the Answers Books for Kids 1–4 through the Answers for Kids curricula through It All Begins with Genesis to Demolishing Strongholds. I’ve worked mostly with kids in the past, before coming to England three years ago. Now I am enjoying teaching adults!
The ladies in PWOC come from a wide and varied church background. I am astounded at how they have responded to the biblical creation teaching, which has been totally new to 99% of them! OH, my! God is so good! And I thank Him all the time for AiG and the outstanding materials available to me in this ministry! Thought my husband and I are nearing retirement age, we were married just 3 years ago before coming to England. And believe it or not, we went to the Creation Museum for our honeymoon! While there, we acquired a brimming box full of books and DVDs that were on a special sale. We thought it would be a good investment and that maybe God would give us an opportunity to use them in England. We started with a Creation Bible study shortly after arriving and haven’t stopped yet!
I hope others will be encouraged to step out and use AiG resources to help start studies. One of the things we found really successful when we ran the Answers with Ken Ham series, and which would probably be the same with the new Foundations series, is to take a break one week and play a DVD that addressed an issue in more detail. For instance, we have 4 about dinosaurs, or Lucy, She’s No Lady, several on the Grand Canyon, Dr. Gitt’s In the Beginning Was Informationhad us applying ice packs to our brains but we hung in there! I guess we have another 3 foot stack of DVDs that aren’t for kids’ ministry.
AiG makes it really easy to create a good study without having to do a lot of personal research. It may require some financial investment to build a library, but it’s so worth it! This is all pretty new to my husband, too.
I was hooked on biblical creation when I was 15. Back in the late 60s, my family was attending a church that promoted the Gap Theory, thanks to Scofield Bible notes. My dad was sent overseas in the air force to Turkey. He came home with a book from a man who attended the church services held by a Southern Baptist mission for the military. This gentleman was British science professor teaching at the university in Ankara on an exchange program. Dad got an autographed copy of the book, and, intrigued, I slogged my way through it. The man was A.E. Wilder Smith and the book wasMan’s Origin, Man’s Destiny. I have been intensely interested in biblical creation ever since! Watching AiG grow has been a thrill! . . . My husband and I are looking forward to driving down toIpswich in August to hear Ken Ham! Can hardly wait. We each just got the new Henry Morris Study Bible and plan to have him autograph them! Several of the Bible study ladies are interested in going as well, so hopefully we can show up with a group of Americans at this British church to hear our favorite Aussie!
God bless you. That you have taken the time and interest in our little group means so much! Due to the nature of military life, people come and go frequently. I just pray that they will have discovered a new confidence in God’s Word and an interest in continuing to search even after they leave. I am constantly saying, “Check the AiG website.”
What an amazing testimony! Reading it really encouraged me (which is why I decided to share it on my blog!) and reminded me of the far-reaching effects of the AiG ministry.
I’m off to Branson this week for a little bit of vacation time with the family and then speaking at the AiGProclaiming the Faith conference there next week. Hope to see you there!
Keep fighting the good fight of the faith!
