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We’re trying to connect with the soul’s expression at this age, and the soul’s expression at this age wanted to feel nurtured and loved. You can take that child and give him the nurturance and the love that he wanted, through the Divine Presence of your Deity Yoga visualization.

This to me is a radical new direction in this type of practice. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of such a thingusing a Deity to help you with the selves of your pastbut it’s still a very beautiful thing. I mean, I sure could’ve used Shiva when I was five years old, I’ll tell you.

Essentially, the source of the image that I’m creating is Divine Radiance. It could be called the Clear Light. It is the source of all things, of all possibilities. It is God. In particular, we talked about the fact that it actually isn’t clear or white, but more like silver. It has a more reflective quality than either clear or white light, and it’s sizzling with potential creativity.

When we use the term God, we’re saying that the source of my visualization is this quality of all-giving. Even though I have said that I arise as the Divine Shivathe manifestation of Divine Change that is only an aspect, or a form, of the radiance.

The manifestation of Divine Radiance is an aspect of God. I’m not saying Shiva is everything; I’m saying Shiva is a form of the Divine Change. So the source of my visualization is the Divine Change, and I go to my child with that visualization.

So when you touch the child, when you put your arms around your child, when you speak to your child, the Divine Source is what’s radiating from you. Basically, you’re choosing one that is an aspect that works for you. You’re going direct: you’re going to God. You’re reaching out to the godhead and you’re saying, “I’m in form, and so I’m going to experience the godhead in form, as a quality of expression.” For Shiva, that quality of expression is Divine Radiance.

Yogi Sean is the student of Swami Ramananda and the author of Dancing in the Fire of Transformation, The Everyday Sanyasin, and Experiments in Awareness, a workbook for yogis.

No doubt you’ve heard the story of the Frog in the Pot: If a frog is dropped into a pot of scalding water, it will sense the danger and immediately jump out. However, if a frog is dropped into a pot of tepid water and the water temperature is gradually raised, the frog will succumb rather than trying to escape. Well, people are similar in behavior. Call it gradualism or complacency, it’s happening to the citizens of the U.S. and many other countries. Give us little doses of anything, and we’ll soon be swallowing whatever it is in large doses. Using the broadcast media, for an example, we’ve slowly accepted new levels of shock value to such a degree that we no longer notice a filthy innuendo, word, or scene, much less the lack of moral values portrayed on prime-time and daytime television. Radio isn’t any better. What will it be next? Broadcaster-sanctioned molestation of children? As long as the public accepts it, broadcasters will keep dishing out the filth and immorality. Some call it a reflection of our society. Instead, it is a catalyst for society. It opens up new avenues, new opinions, new belief systems, and an hour-long peek into the subversive, seedy side of the world to our children, specifically. Yes, it’s the responsibility of parents to monitor what their children watch or listen to, however, we need to realize that many parents don’t, and the result is a group of people ruining everything for the rest of us- a group of unmonitored, unloved, beligerant, rebellious
With deregulation, the changes in the FCC laws, in the late 70’s came a new era in radio and television, and a new era in families- one in which we could no longer trust radio or television programming to be virtuous. What is the result, and how does it affect our kids? Children, for the most part, could go their entire childhood without seeing even one instance of murder, rape, vulgarity, sex, or cruelty. Most families have it within themselves to give children a safe place to grow- a healthy vantage point from which to launch their careers, their own family, and their dreams. If we have that within our grasp, then why do we as a society not employ measures to protect our kids from the base and darker side of the human condition? Pressure, laziness, lack of parenting skills, and peer pressure from our cohorts as well as our children’s peers has compromised the value system that our forefathers fought to protect. If you don’t have a TV, you’re weird. If you don’t listen to rap, you’re a geek. If you don’t know the “latest”, you’re out of the loop. Kids face so much pressure to fit in, now. I remember stories my parents told of the depression era, when just about everyone was “poor.” They walked long distances to school carrying buckets with boiled eggs in them for lunch. Their situation was tolerable because it was shared. They were a very innocent generation, who, having been through the depression, wanted to give their kids everything they wanted. There’s one of the major problems. When a child gets everything they want, there’s no incentive to test and grow one’s character. There’s no platform from which to develop character, because those children don’t go a week without most of the things we consider necessities, but which our grandparents considered luxuries.

Now is the time to assess our family situations from the home level. That’s the only way we can work to change the world. I do believe this world will be judged severely, and we are getting closer and closer to that point. If we are to survive the coming years, with our faith and virtue intact, then we have to say, “no more” to the media, to friends who urge us to partake in a shallow form of life, and to shutting God out of our daily life. He should be on our minds in every situation, with our seeing His glory and love in all that He has provided, from the slightest bird’s song in the morning to the mundane moments in life. He’s the author, creator, and salvation of our lives. He said, “knock, and the door shall be opened.” We need to start knocking…

We, especially in the western world, have become a society of what has been termed “dialectic materialism.” As long as we have our cars, TV’s, movies, cell phones, boats, 2-week vacations, mortgages, a steady paycheck (earned by both parents), and surround ourselves with like-minded people, we don’t have to think about the have-nots surrounding us, nor the people sleeping under bridges, nor the future of our society, our country, or what’s going to happen to our family lineage. It’s a raging selfishness that is unprecented in the history of the world. We have goodness within us. We just need to get it out where we can share it. Some people in the world call the U.S. the “great satan”. We are great, but we are not completely evil. Yes, there are components in our society that I consider evil. All you have to do is a look for the 100 top search terms on the internet. That will shock you. That shows that we have a long way to go to get back to that “little house on the prairie.” It starts with each of us. In our own home. Sheltering our children, no matter what it takes. We can live with less, in order for a mother to be home with her children. We can do better.

Dianne James has written for newspapers, radio, television, and now for her own MeanderMagazine.com for more than 27 years. She serves as publisher and editor-in-chief of the online magazine located online at: www.meandermagazine.com & Meander Radio. In addition to being a writer, she is a voice-over artist, and owner of a production company producing music jingles and radio advertising, and she serves as a marketing consultant for area businesses.

More on Dianne’s background can be found in Meander Magazine’s Gallery 2, and her writing can be found in many sections of the magazine. Sections include International and World News, Business, Garden, Health, Spirit, Pets, Auto, Food, Earth, Music, Movies, Over 40, Art, Galleries, and the San Luis Valley section

I have recently been reading about the history of various
religions of the world, and something that seems to have
caused a lot of trouble over the centuries has been the
tendency to expect and/or look for infallibility, either in
human leaders/founders, or in holy writings. This tendency
also seems to have led to exaggeration with regard to
supernatural events. The whole thing seems so terribly
pointless, especially when one considers all of the
problems that have resulted from it.

We have dealt elsewhere with the rather hollow attempts by
various Christian denominations to claim infallibility on the
behalf of the Bible, when even the Bible itself does not make
such a claim. The Bible does say that all holy writings
(’scriptures’) are “inspired”, but no mention is made of
infallibility, nor does it establish the bounds of what
constitutes a holy writing and what does not. Nevertheless,
most Protestant denominations say (or imply) that it relates
to every word of the 66 books of the Bible (preferably the
King James Version for many), and to absolutely nothing
else. They further argue that “inspired” (because it means
that the words come from the Spirit of God in the person
writing them) necessarily implies infallibility.

Common sense tells us that these conclusions represent
incredible leaps of logic.

It is part and parcel of the message of the New Testament
that “inspiration” (or the presence of the Spirit of God in an
individual) is now available to all believers. Indeed, we
regularly talk of being inspired to do various things, and of
inspired sermons, inspired songs, and inspired writings.
Yet there is no suggestion that all of this inspiration implies
infallibility on the part of any person being referred to.

Most of us are able to accept quite easily that we are
surrounded by people who are capable of both good and
evil, moments of great inspiration as well as moments of
great error. Even in the midst of the inspired moments, we
generally consider ourselves free to pick and choose which
aspects of the sermon, song, or writing we will embrace,
and which we will reject.

So why can’t we do this with our holy books as well? I have
frequently been told that such an approach to the Bible
would be dangerous, because people would then be free to
take the parts that suit them, and to reject the parts that do
not. But, hey, isn’t that what people do already? All the talk
about infallibility in the Bible has not resulted in widespread
agreement on what it is saying. Instead, it has been used
as the basis for arguing some of the most spurious
teachings, based on an absolute literal approach to any
isolated “proof text”. Anyone questioning the teaching is
seen as wanting to rip that proof text out of the Bible, and
thus of being a heretic.

Of course every fundamentalist (for that is what these
infallibility teachers really are) reverts back to a
non-fundamentalist approach with regard to the proof texts
used by the opposition… which is why you can often listen to
a debate between two fundamentalist factions and never
hear either side give a truly satisfying answer to the proof
texts raised by the opposition. Neither side is really
interested in getting the bigger picture, because they have
been so heavily steeped in a doctrine which actually
originated from some other source. As a consequence,
they will only cling to those bits and pieces that support their
doctrine, and usually have very little problem with simply
closing their ears to the rest.

But I wasn’t going to dwell on Christian fundamentalists in
this article. I was going to note how the same attitude has
worked in other religions, and, more importantly, how it
frustrates efforts to see how God may be working through
virtually all religions to accomplish his will in today’s
world.

Muslims have been called “The People of the Book”
because of their dedication to the Qu’ran (or Koran), a book
that was supposed to have been miraculously given to them
by their prophet Muhammad. Muhammad himself, was
unable to read or write, and so he would memorise sayings
that he felt were coming to him through inspiration, and
teach his followers to memorise them as well. It was quite
some time before all of these were recorded in the book
which is now known as the Qu’ran. Yet the book is treated
with such honour that a true Muslim would not even
translate it into any other language than the language in
which it was originally written (Arabic). While some
Christians behave as though God, Jesus, and all of the
prophets of the past spoke only in King James English,
strict Muslims officially teach that the language of God is
Arabic.

Once again, we see how a doctrine of infallibility about a
book works to trap God inside its pages, and to negate so
much that he may be doing elsewhere, especially if it takes
a slightly different slant on some issues. If, for example,
Muhammad (or Krishna, in the Baghavad Gita) talks of
going to war, and another prophet happens to espouse a
higher ethic (that of turning the other cheek and loving our
enemies), the other prophet must, of necessity, be treated
with suspicion. Each time someone mentions infallibility,
they are implying that there can be no higher revelation. And
anything seen to contradict the infallible revelation pretty
much has to be seen as being in error.

Even attempts at picking the best from various other
religions (whether it be the Sikhs drawing on Islam and
Hinduism, or the Bahais taking bits from all of the world’s
great religions) often result in yet more “packages” that get
the same infallibility treatment. The Bahai idea of uniting that
which is good in all religions is a commendable one. But
they still take an “ultimate” approach to their founder,
assuming that he is a step up from all the rest. I personally
find this frustrating when I see that the ethic Jesus taught
goes far beyond that taught by their prophet.

There is this tendency for each religion to see itself as not
only an improvement on all of the others, but also as the last
and ultimate improvement, i.e the final step to perfection or
infallibility. This tendency really stifles their ability to grow
and prosper according to the will of God.

I have to admit that I do see God himself as infallible, and I
also see Jesus as His ultimate revelation. I have no
problem with calling Jesus the Son of God, accepting the
Virgin Birth, his resurrection, or even that he is worthy of
worship in the same way that we worship God. But I think
there is room even here to understand that such concepts
are fairly pointless in the real world. What matters most is
whether or not what he said actually works, and not some
theological argument about his divinity/infallibility or lack of
it.

If, for example, “infallibility” means that Jesus never wet the
bed as an infant, never harboured germs in his body, or
never missed a question on tests at school, then I think we
are taking it too far. The Bible says that Jesus “learned
obedience through the things that he suffered”. In fact, it is
quite likely that it was his human-ness that made it so hard
for Jesus’ friends and relatives to accept the Spirit of God
that was working through him in his adult life. As he said
himself, “A prophet is not without honour except in his own
house and amongst his own people.”

I see things like Jesus more or less blowing up at the
businessmen in the Temple in the best possible light… as
an expression of loyalty to God, and not one of hatred for
either the money changers or the animals that were being
sold there; but I can understand others saying that this
seems to be an instance of him losing his cool, and thus
behaving in a less than perfect manner.

I say that to underline the need to do the same thing with
Muhammad, Baha’ Ullah (founder of the Bahais),
Siddhartha Gautama (’the buddha’), Confucius, and many
lesser religious founders and leaders, whether it be Joseph
Smith, Ellen White, Charles Russell, William Branham, or
even myself. Not that I am in the same field as these other
people, but just that it is important that no one teach a
standard for others that we would not wish to have applied
to ourselves.

It seems to be the nature of fallible human beings
everywhere, to overstep our divine authority. Joan of Arc
heard God speaking to her through some church bells, and
the result appeared to be somewhat miraculous. She, a
young girl posing as a military commander, led her country
to victory in battle after battle (an imperfect mission in itself,
in my opinion). But then she stopped hearing the voices,
and she went on trying to do the will of God. Her
accomplishments from that point on were not nearly as
dramatic, and actually led to her execution.

Was Joan a fraud? Or was she just an imperfect human
being doing her best with her limited understanding of the
will of God? And was God even prepared to assist her at the
level of spiritual growth that she represented?

Stories like the miraculous (though disappearing) gold
tablets that Joseph Smith was supposed to have used to
write the Book of Mormon abound with regard to the sacred
writings of various religions. They tend to push people into
an all-or-nothing approach to the writings as well as to the
lives and ministries of the people concerned. Was the story
about the gold tablets an elaborate hoax to generate an air
of infallibility about the book? Or could it have been
something that really happened, maybe even something
that God felt was necessary in order to get Joseph to do
what he wanted him to do?

The Catholic Church has protected itself (at least slightly) by
refusing to declare anyone a “saint” (which really just
means a Christian believer) while that person is still alive. In
other words, there are no “living legends” in the Catholic
Church. People are allowed to take or leave any living
Catholic, including (within limits) the pope himself.
(Infallibility is something only a few popes have claimed,
and only on rare occasions.) But this whole business of
waiting until after a person is dead for some years before
deciding whether they are a true believer seems to be a
practice which has only been made necessary by giving
credence to the infallibility thing itself. Why can’t people be
saints, prophets, even founders of new religions, and still
be quite fallible… maybe even downright wrong or bad at
times?

It should be the right (indeed, the duty) of every believer, to
do a bit of picking and choosing to work out what is right and
what is wrong in every religion. Sure, you can do it selfishly.
And what you get will be exactly what you pay for. On the
other hand, if one makes great effort to be honest and
unselfish, this picking and choosing can get us closer to the
real thing than the all-or-nothing approach ever will.

Jesus himself said, “You can be forgiven for rejecting me,
but you can never be forgiven for rejecting the Spirit of God.” I
think he was saying that it is the responsibility of each of us
to extract the truth (i.e. the Spirit of God) from everything that
we experience, without necessarily having to embrace the
messenger through whom the truth comes.

Dave McKay and his wife, Cherry, are co-founders of the
Jesus Christian communities in Australia, Kenya, England,
and the United States. He may be contacted directly at
fold@idl.net.au. The community’s website is jesuschristians.com

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“What ‘That 70’s Show’ Taught Me About Christianity”

- by Caleb Osborne

© Caleb Osborne - All Rights reserved
http://www.ChristThroughMe.com
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What in the world could I have possibly learned about Christianity from “That 70’s Show”? I’m sure that’s what everyone is thinking right about now.

Well today I was watching it and the episode was about the family going to church and generally their take on religion.

The kids didn’t want to go and the mom wanted them to because she kept having these dreams about how if she wasn’t a “Good Christian” and taking her kids to church God wasn’t going to let her into heaven.

The dad didn’t like going to church because it was boring and he didn’t see any point to it. The daughter kept hitting on the youth pastor and overall it was a pretty funny show…but I digress.

What it taught me was that people need to know what being a Christian really means to us and to God!

What do you think would have been the kids reaction to going to church if they realized that they didn’t have to go? Do you think they would of wanted to go because they wanted to get to know the God that sent his son Jesus to die on the Cross for their sins?

Do you think the mom’s life would of been a lot less stressful if she realized she wasn’t responsible for the fate of herself and her family? That she could of gotten into heaven the way she imagined by just accepting God’s gift of salvation by faith?

And the daughter that kept flirting with the youth pastor? Well, she probably wouldn’t have been looking to satisfy her need for intimacy with so many different people when she realized how much God loved her and desired her companionship.

It’s amazing how much it would help the lives of these people on “That 70’s Show” if they realized who they were and who God is. Would it change your life if you knew these things?

God created you and me and loves us very much (Genesis 1:1). He gave us all life and deserves our love and gratitude.

But we chose to disobey Him and al of us has failed to do what is right (Romans 3:23). We may not be as sinful as that guy down the street or we may be even worse than him or anyone else we know; but either way we are ALL guilty before God (1 John 1:8).

God is a perfect, completely good, and always just. Because of this He can’t overlook the fact that we have all sinned. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). The fair punishment we deserve for our rebellion against God is death.

Jesus, the only Son of God, came to earth and lived a perfect sinless life–he was completely innocent. He received the punishment that we deserved when he was crucified on the cross, he took it all upon himself–the death sentence that should of been ours. (Romans 5:8) But he did not remain dead, after three days he rose from the grave and later ascended into heaven. And he will return one day.

Jesus died for you. You can be saved by asking Him for forgiveness from your sins. If you are willing to repent of your sin, He is waiting to forgive you. It doesn’t matter what you have done in the past, if you cry out to Jesus for forgiveness, He won’t reject you. The word “repent” literally means “to turn away from.” You need to look at your life, admit that you are a sinner, genuinely desire to turn your back on that sin, and ask Him to forgive you. If you do this, He promises to forgive you.

True Christianity is not about attending a particular church, or trying to make your behavior fit some model of how a Christian should act. Being a Christian means that you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, that He is your Savior.

Jesus is always present. He can hear you now if you ask Him for forgiveness. If you want to pray and ask Jesus to be your Savior, you can say a prayer something like this:

“Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. The truth is that I have sinned by my choice, and I am responsible for it. I know that the fair punishment for my sin is death. Jesus, I believe that You died in my place. Forgive me for my sin. I am relying totally on You because I know that I can do nothing to fix my situation. I repent. Come into my life, take away my sin, and give me the life that you’ve promised me.”

If you have prayed this, YOU ARE SAVED! You are now completely forgiven, a new creation, holy and blameless in the eyes of God. If you messed up here and there, don’t worry, the words are not what’s important–they are just simply our faith being expressed through prayer.

Congratulations and welcome to the family of God!

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About the Author

–
Caleb Osborne, a native of Virginia, is an up and coming author who has just completed publishing his first book–Christ Through Me. He is now in the process of working on other projects and running his website at www.ChristThroughMe.com where he has a FREE email newsletter that all are encouraged to sign up for.

John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am,
there you may be also.

Yashua ascended to Heaven from the Mount of Olives and He
will return to the Mount of Olives and liberate Jerusalem and
reign from there with His glorified saints!

Acts 1:9-12 Now when He had spoken these things, while they
watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their
sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He
went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who
also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into
heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven,
will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” 12
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet,
which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey.

This agrees with Zechariah 14:3-4 3 Then the LORD will go forth
And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of
battle. 4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of
Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east.

Yashua has gone to Heaven and is preparing for the coming
Kingdom of God, making room for us (converted Christians then
transformed) in His Administration, preparing our positions and
government seats in the Kingdom-Family of God, and will
then return and receive us to Himself, sharing His glory and
power and honor with us from Jerusalem, the seat of God’s
government, the Throne of David, the Throne of the LORD:

John 17:24 “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may
be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You
have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the
world.

Yashua will return and reign in Jerusalem, but the King of
KINGS and Lord of LORDS will not rule alone! The apostles
have been promised leading positions in God’s Kingdom over the
Twelve Tribes of Israel:

Matthew 19:28 So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you,
that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne
of His glory [in Jerusalem], you who have followed Me will also
sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.

But Christ will also gladly share power with us in the Kingdom
of God, so we may rule with but under Him, as He rules with but
under the Father (who is all in all):

2 Timothy 2:12 If we endure, We shall also reign with Him.

Revelation 3:21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with
Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My
Father on His throne.

Revelation 5:10 And have made them kings and priests to our
God; And they shall reign on the earth.”

Revelation 20:4-6 …And they lived and reigned with Christ for
a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again
until the thousand years were finished. This is the first
resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first
resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but
they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign
with Him a thousand years.

The Royal Family of God-Beings, the Immortal Kingdom of
God, will soon administer the government of God over all the
Earth and later throughout the Universe!

Daniel 7:27 Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of
the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to
the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’

God’s servant Her
bert W. Armstrong was the first to bring these brilliant
Scriptures to my attention and I read them for myself in the
Bible and was amazed that it’s right there before us - if we’ll
only open our eyes to see and believe and gladly receive it!
AWESOME!