Rethinking Today's Religions - Misleading Our Children

When I was a young man, my parents told me about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Every Christmas, there would be presents underneath the tree from Santa Claus and on Easter I would get a basket full of candy and eggs. However, when I was 11 years old, my parents broke the devastating news to me, there was no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny.

As you can imagine, I cried for hours over the frustration and disappointment. For one, I thought that I wasn't going to get any more Christmas gifts, but my parents provided me with the needed psychological relief and told me that they were going to provide Christmas gifts for me, until I died. Even though I was upset, I was relieved and confused.

If my parents lied about this, could they have possibly lied about something else, anything else. Have you ever thought about this and is there a situation in your life today that could be an old habit that never got corrected. Some theme that your parents told you when you were a child that was a lie and they never told you the truth. Maybe they never told you the truth because they don't even know themselves that it's a lie.

Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny were obviously disappointments to me and most people that I've talked to about their experiences, with their parents and even their children. Why do we do this as parents to our children, even though we didn't like it when it was done to us. Hard to explain why we can't break certain habits and certain traditions.

I love Christmas and the joy of giving. Even though I am no longer a Christian, I enjoy going over to my relatives homes and spending Christmas or Christmas Eve with them. Now for the bad news, if you were raised to believe in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism or any other large religious organization. Let me ask you this, do you think that it could be like Santa Claus, do you think the religion you believe in so strongly could be a story that has gotten out of control over the centuries.

I've spent a life time rethinking today's religions and can't find very many facts to prove any one religion is superior over another. Do your own research and find your own answers. Enlightenment could be as simple as gathering the right information.

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Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, You Can Have It All

Greg is currently working on a self help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Does Anyone Have a Direct Line to God?

I have heard Catholics tell me that the pope has a direct line to God. I don't really know if that's true, but if he does, or anyone else does, I would like to ask them to do me a favor.

I would like them to ask God a few questions, these questions aren't going to be difficult, and we could even make them in yes or no formats, but these answers need to be asked and only God can provide us with the answers.

The first question that I would like to ask God, would be about starvation, why are there so many starving people all over the world? Are we or are we not supposed to be fruitful and multiply? Is overpopulation creating more problems in the world today, than it might have 2000 years ago?

These questions above, could be a little difficult to answer, but they shouldn't be too difficult for someone like God. I believe that God can handle a few tough questions and if the Pope or anyone else has direct communication with God, I would like to suggest something to them, quit wasting your time on frivolous things and start asking God the serious questions, that every one is really interested in.

It doesn't make a lot of sense, to pray and worship to somebody who realistically won't answer or deliver the things that we are requiring. I realize that most religious people are told, that God only answers some prayers or that God isn't ready to answer your prayers yet.

Anyway, if gods not going to answer all of our prayers, couldn't he at least answer some of our questions.

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:
Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended authors, Don Miguel Ruiz

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

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Jesus' Missing Years in the Bible

It looks like there is a big problem in the Gospels. There are more years in Jesus' life that are missing than years of his life that were ever recorded. Why weren't these years listed in the Bible?

All the Gospels talked about the death of Jesus, the birth of Jesus and a few years in between, but all of the Gospels are missing some very important years from his life. When raising a child, some of the most important years of their lives, will be those when they were teenagers and often those of their young adulthood.

The Gospels talk about Jesus at the temple at around the age of 12 or 13. After that, there is very little known until he reaches the final years of his life. Was there someone or a group of people or even a community who influenced his life? Could Jesus have learned something from a spiritual master Guru that changed the world forever?

There is more speculation on Jesus' missing years than you could ever imagine. Some say that Jesus went to Egypt to study with their masters or priests. Egypt obviously wasn't that far from where Jesus was raised, but like most of the stuff in the Bible, there is very little evidence to support any of these speculative stories.

Could Jesus have went to India and studied with the Buddhist masters or even a Hindu scholars? Did Jesus study with advanced Jewish scholars? This is only a little bit of the historical speculation, but if the truth was ever to be known, it could help Christianity solve a lot of problems.

Most Christians rarely even question these missing years. There are quite a few Christians that don't even know that there are any missing years in Jesus' life. I wrote this article to get people thinking and hopefully to start educating themselves about early Christianity. Good luck and God bless.

Great Christian Books And Articles

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Religious Education And Fear

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

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

Healing Through the Written Word

Healing through the Written Word - Writing is the medicine we need to heal our everyday wounds and provide us with the immunity to go forth and live, knowing we have a powerful healer at our fingertips.

Everyday wounds are those hurts that present themselves to us on a daily basis through our relationships and interactions with others and stay with us until they are addressed and eventually healed. Each day we are presented with situations that can develop into wounds or contribute to our growth as a Higher Ground Human. It all depends on what we choose.

"Everyday wounds" consist of the following:

* Fears we have not faced or embraced. * Hurt feelings that either are not recognized or addressed. * Blocks or obstructions that keep us from achieving our goals, evolving, or developing self esteem. * Lost dreams due to overwhelm. * Feelings of isolation. * Frustration * Negativity and judgments. * Unable to focus.

We can choose to walk in integrity taking us one step closer towards becoming a Higher Ground Human or as many of us do we can choose to take the safe route, hide our true feelings, protecting our vulnerability and safely hiding our fear.

When we choose the latter, we are being untrue to ourselves, the biggest sin of all. We are our own worst enemy. Once we realize and accept our hurtful behavior we are ready to step onto our healing path and begin the journey. To do otherwise would be deliberately unkind.

Writing is an untapped natural healer, which according to The Med Serv. Medical News, reporting on a study by Smyth & colleagues, concluded that "The simple act of writing about bad times can be potent, and a low cost, method of relieving pain and symptoms of chronic illnesses....

Healing our emotional wounds is necessary for us to move forward, to grow spiritually, to live peacefully and to Be the best we can be.

Walking in integrity means our thoughts; actions and feelings are all aligned, all in accordance all congruent (in agreement). Actively and consciously inhibiting and holding back our thoughts and feelings takes work AND can lead to stress, ultimately affecting our immune system often putting us at risk for major and minor diseases.

James W Pennebaker, PhD is his 1990 book; Opening Up showed a relationship between expressing our emotions through writing and the positive effect this type of writing has on our immune system.

Healing is learning to be true to ourselves. To be true to ourselves and to trust ourselves takes courage and a knowing of who we are. To become true to ourselves we must embrace our fears, walking through them to the other side. When we do this we open ourselves to trusting and experiencing life.

Knowing who we are is a life-long journey AND it takes willingness on our part to consciously take that first step.

I believe we are all aware of what happens when our emotions are left dangling with no where to go, or no release. They can manifest themselves into physical ailments, leaving us confused and often making visits to the doctor's office.

Healing our everyday wounds is necessary for our mental health AND for personal growth.

Everyday wounds are painful and many of us choose to simply ignore or eliminate the pain by being in a constant state of denial.

For those who choose to travel through the pain, we find integrity and personal growth on the other side.

Writing is a powerful tool to have when moving through the pain. Through writing we can make sense out of confusion, giving meaning to emotional hurts, pin-pointing the root of our pain and sadness and opening us up to a whole new world.

Writing on a daily basis at the same time is a simple everyday ritual we must develop. When you have a conflict between your thoughts and your actions sit down and begin to write giving yourself a prompt. Your prompt may be "Why was I angry yesterday.........?" and just let the words flow through your fingers onto the paper. This free writing is powerful. You will know when you are finished.

Now give yourself the prompt "Why was I not truthful .......?" and begin to write, letting the words flow out onto the paper.

Once you are finished sit quietly and read both writings. I promise, you will be exposed to the answers to both of your prompts, giving you the opportunity to make amends to yourself by bringing your actions and your thoughts in alignment. You will begin to walk your thoughts and your talk AND be yourself. There is nothing more powerful and a battle worth fighting.

The famous American poet, EE Cummings, said, "To be nobody-but-yourself----in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else---means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight...."

This exercise will take only 30 minutes of your time, yet it is invaluable when it comes to your personal growth.

Writing helps us get in touch with what is hidden from us, giving us answers to those questions that seem to baffle us often exposing the reason behind our anger.

Writing gives us energy and frees us from the ties that bind. When we write we create a spiritual, truthful connection with ourselves and with others.

Give yourself the gift of writing.

Virginia Dever Writer - Coach - Healer

Be the Best

So, what does it take to be the best in the world, or, to be the best in YOUR world?

THREE STEPS:

The most crucial first step in achieving a goal is to get out there on the edge and make it big. In the words of Donald Trump "If you are going to think anyway, you might as well think big." When you bite off more than you can chew and declare to the world that you are going to do something amazing, this boldness motivates and excites you to tackle your challenge and invest the appropriate amount of energy into it. Anything less and you just won't care enough.

YOUR BOLDNESS motivates and excites you to tackle your challenge and invest the appropriate amount of energy into it. Anything less and you just won't care enough.

And that is exactly why being bold works. If your chances of succeeding at anything in life are directly proportional to the amount of energy you invest into it, then being Bold is really all about ramping up your commitment level regarding your goal.

When you are bold about what you have set out to accomplish, the energy you invest into achieving it will result in a motivated vision of your success and the formulation of that most crucial vision is the SECOND STEP. Your vision will keep you on track and will be your road map that will guide you on your journey. Your vision will become your reality by changing the way YOU behave toward your pursuit of your goal in the following three ways:

1. A bold vision will prepare you for failure - even make you welcome failure as a PART of your success
2. A bold vision will provide you with a way to deal with and conquer your fears.
3. A bold vision will provide you with the energy you require to push yourself beyond your personal limits.

And finally, the THIRD STEP in accomplishing a goal is to be bold, and to simply BEGIN IT. Just start the journey - bite off more than you can chew, then focus on the next bite, then the next, then the next. And don't forget - you are ALWAYS STARTING your journey! EVERY step is the FIRST step in the rest of your journey.

Do you have any goals that you just don't seem to be making any progress on? Reached a kind of dead-end? That proverbial "brick wall"? Maybe a task at work, a financial goal, or a personal goal like weight loss, improving your fitness, or a challenging relationship?

What if I were to suggest that maybe the problem isn't that the challenge is too big for you' Maybe the challenge isn't big enough. Is your challenge safely within your comfort zone?

Is there a way you can nudge your challenge from INSIDE your comfort zone into the bold "think big" zone. It doesn't take much, just a bit - just enough to excite you and motivate you to tackle your challenge.

When you think about your challenge, it should get your heart pumping - that's always my test. My wife calls it the bathroom test because every time she thinks about her upcoming Ironman race, her bowels start working and she has to run to the bathroom!

Secondly, have you developed a clear VISION of your success? Do you visualize your success day and night? Do you want it so badly that you would do anything to get it?

And finally, if you can do those two things - be bold about your goal and develop a clear vision of your success, then all that is left is simply to BEGIN IT. Take your very next step toward achieving your dream. Motivational Speaker.

About Greg Kolodziejzyk:

Greg Kolodziejzyk is a Motivational Speaker , and successful software entrepreneur who holds 2 Guinness world records for the most distance travelled by human power in one day on both land and on water. Greg has also completed over a dozen Ironman triathlons including qualifying for and competing at Ironman World Championships in Hawaii.

Greg's next project is something that has never been done before. He plans on crossing the Pacific ocean from Canada to Hawaii under his own power in a custom made, 24 foot long x 3 foot wide completely encapsulated pedal powered boat.

After 3 years of speaking to school kids about his various world records, adventures, accomplishing goals and the benefits of staying active and healthy, Greg is now passionately focused on spreading his message to a wider audience by building a keynote motivational speaking career.

Greg's motivational speech titled "Bold!" is an impactful commentary about the kind of attitude that it takes to accomplish a dream. Greg has lived his life by the words of German Poet Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe "What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it, for Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." Greg's spirit is contagious and his message is vital.

http://www.human-power.com

Book Review - Lillian Too's 168 Feng Shui Ways to Energize Your Life

I have been a big supportive fan of Master Feng Shui Practitioner and Teacher Lillian Too's for sometime since reading several of her books a few years ago and have been hooked ever since. She continually amazes me with her books and in how much in following her instinctive Feng Shui practical tips have helped and aided me in creating the life I have always wished to lead and have.

So I just had to share which of her books have helped me the most. In her latest book "Lillian Too's 168 Feng Shui Ways to Energize Your Life", She continues to teach us to be aware of energy all around us and in our homes. She not only shows you how to become aware of the energy, bad or good, but shows you how to alter this energy into allowing all good things to come to you in your life.

As always, her style of writing is easy to read, but specifically the Feng Shui concepts described in this book are well spelled out to easily understand in simple terms. In turn, this allows anyone to apply the Feng Shui practices in their own home and for their own well being without great effort.

As I become more knowledgeable about Feng Shui, there are many additional factors that other books simply skip over. This book does not do that, but in fact addresses these more complicated Feng Shui issues with tact and great knowledge allowing the layman in all of us to easily understand, say for example what the 'Three Killings' are, or which Celestial Guardians are best for you to help ward off bad luck and how to easily address these issues.

I am currently rereading this book for a third time, only since I truly wish to digest all the information at hand and save it to be deep in my memory. I highly recommend any of her books, but it you are new to the ideas of Feng Shui, "Lillian Too's 168 Feng Shui Ways to Energize Your Life" is a great first book in understanding the concepts of Feng Shui and to learn and understand the importance of energy and how it effects everything we do to 'bring' or 'attract' goodness into our lives.

This book consists of seven chapters, each page is filled with its own Feng Shui tip to apply in your home and livelihood. I definitely liked how this book gives you information in finding out which corners in your home can bring you success. It further shows you how to use symbols, art and furniture placement to affect the best possibilities in bringing in good Qi (chi) into your life and how to balance ying when you need more yang and visa versa in each of the rooms of your home whether you live in a large house or an apartment in the city.

If you wish to easily learn how to apply Feng Shui techniques into your life and home that brings you more prosperity, family happiness, wealth and career luck, then this is the book for you! I have followed many of her tips and have seen for myself the changes in my overall life. You will be amazed at how bringing in new fresh energy as she describes has a domino effect in all areas of your life. You will feel "revitalized and recharged" by reading this great Feng Shui book by Lillian Too. And soon, you too will receive the bounties the earth has set out for you.

Leah Quinn is a writer specializing on food, health, feng shui, self-improvement and entertainment and is a multi-media artist living in New York. Feel free to stop by at http://divaliscious.blogspot.com to read many of her other articles and feel free to visit her food site to learn about healthy and interesting recipes at http://dinner-and-jam.blogspot.com

How to Face the Hair Loss Battle?

Majority of men have been unwittingly drafted into the hair loss battle that no one ever wants to be a part of. The true power of the foe has yet to be sensed. When the infantries are slowly falling one by one and the division being blasted into oblivion, and every private seems to be on a retreat - that is when you will feel the menacing power of the enemy tagged as 'hair loss.'
Many men are defeated due to such formidable opponent and it is but proper that you have to know how to face the hair loss battle. Starting from denial to acceptance and everything in between, all of these will be outlined to better prepare you:

Denial Stage

You are in your early thirties lavishing the single life and its perks. You grasp a professional life where your name is synonymous with respect dabbed with a bit of fear. The ladies want you and the men want to be you. Life is sweet! Then all of a sudden your assistant tells you that you have a bald spot. What the heck is she talking about?! With a smile, you try to brush off the issue. The next day you wear a cap on your way to the office. Then you suddenly positioned your chair against the wall telling everyone that you had the urge to remodel and do "feng shui". These solutions are temporary, it will not take long before your friends and associates figure out what you have, or what you don't have under that cap.

Anger Stage

Your sweet life is now officially pungent. Hair loss is no longer a figment of your imagination. The days spent in the shower staring blankly on the clogged drain and the mornings exhausted picking out strands of hair atop of your pillow---this is your reality. Damn parents! Cursed genetics! To hell with your the bloody lineage! Why is this happening? Gramps still has his hair and he is already 76. This stinks and you are angry!

Bargaining Stage

When desperation sinks in, people do crazy things. And you are not an exception. You now prefer to watch home TV shopping rather than the ball game. Fed up with your situation, you consider making a pact with the medical staff, the TV dude, even the owner of the corner store wig. Comb-over is a welcomed option but this is the best time to try out different hair loss medications and hair growth creams.

Depression Stage

You hear snickering and mocking as you passed by the babbling teenagers with your balding head. But you do not feel a thing. No reaction came out, just nothing.

Acceptance Stage

All efforts proved fruitless. You are ready to wave your white flag. As you stare at your mirror, reality gingerly pats you at the back. And with that reality check, you instructed your trusty barber to shave it off. As the razor touches your head, you kept thinking, this is the proverbial end. Like the adage goes, if you can't beat them, join them. You have valiantly fought against hair loss, the mighty opponent.

The author is an online medical researcher and webmaster of Hair Loss Treatments. You may be interested in: DHT and Hair Loss and "Treatment for Thinning Hair and Massive Hair Loss".