Believing in God

I was talking to a Muslim man who lives in another country through e-mail and we have been having a very pleasant conversation about why we believe, what we believe. This man seems very caring and someone I can actually have a educated conversation with. Some people that believe in their religion so strongly, are hard to communicate with and often start yelling and screaming at me. These conversations and very abruptly and sometimes painfully.

If believing in God makes you right and everything in your religious texts is true, then the least you could do is back it up with some factual information. Factual information is the key to proving any theory or belief. In a court of law, you have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt,... but if my life's at stake here, this really doesn't apply. I won't bet my life on reasonable doubt, but only hard scientific facts and sometimes this doesn't even apply.

Sometimes scientific facts can be proven wrong over time.

Let's say for an instance, that we take the Bible into a court of law and are going to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that one verse is true from this book. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Now that we have our Bible verse, let's just say for the record, that our hypothetical court case was proven to be true, beyond a reasonable doubt. In other words this is now a factual statement.

Just because it's a factual statement based on something that was proven beyond a reasonable doubt doesn't really make it a truth. When someone tells you, for example your parents or a teacher, that something is true (factual information) and you start spreading this rumor as a truth, because you believe these people, without any evidence for factual information, you're spreading a rumor. If these rumors were to be spread for about 2000 years, we come up with a factual belief not a scientific fact.

Nobody wants to hear that their religious text don't make sense to an open-minded person, even beyond a reasonable doubt. The belief that God created the earth isn't a fact, but if enough people say it is, then in their minds it becomes a truth. This doesn't make them right but often makes them feel comfortable.

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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

Eye Of The Needle Christian Stor

Self Esteem Issues - Their Growth and How to Overcome Them

Self esteem is how we perceive our self, the way we value our self, the worth we put on our self as a person. Although this has nothing to do with how other people perceive us, it is about how we perceive other people to perceive us.

If we suffer from low self esteem we will feel very lowly about ourselves thus filling us with self doubt. We can end up doubting everything about us, including our appearance, intelligence, capability, how much people like us and the worth of what we have to say. We can feel very lonely and different from other people.

Low self esteem can be caused by many different things. It could be bullying or constantly being put down. Someone, very often a family member, telling the person that they are not doing well enough, that they are useless or worthless or a combination of all of those things.

Whatever the cause is, it makes little, if any, difference to how the person feels. The overwhelming feelings of being a lesser person, inadequate, useless or worthless, and above all different!

This can happen at any age. Sometimes it can be in the very early, formative years of a child possibly living in the shadow of an older sibling, but could just as easily be at a much later time of life caused through a controlling relationship

These feelings can have a devastating effect on the persons life, restricting them and stopping them from going to certain places. They may avoid some activities or associating with some people for very often the unnecessary fear of being ridiculed. This can stop them from making relationships or pursuing a particular career.

Abusing somebody, be it by bullying, controlling, putting them down by telling them how useless they are, or in any other way, will understandably give that person doubts about themselves. They will think why do people treat me like that? What is it about me that make others treat me like that? There must be something wrong with me. It is these negative thoughts that are the seeds of low self esteem.

When someone has those self doubts and negative thoughts it effects how they act. They avoid situations where they might feel uncomfortable. They act in a negative way and therefore, get a negative response from others making them feel even more negative. This starts a downward cycle of feeling negative, acting negative, getting a negative response, then feeling even more negative.

How other people perceive the sufferer is of enormous importance to them. Unfortunately, what they imagine others are thinking about them will invariably be negative.

So how can we overcome low self esteem? The first thing we should remember is that it will have probably taken a long time for our self esteem to have sunk so low. Going down that spiral of negative feeling, negative actions, getting negative response, making you feel more negative. So what we need to do is become more positive in the way we feel. As negative feelings grow so do positive feelings. To many of us the thought of changing from feeling and acting negative to positive is a massive step and so it is, but the good news is all we need to do is feel a little bit more positive and then allow that feeling to grow.

The thought of changing negative thoughts to positive ones for anyone suffering from low esteem can be very daunting, but all we need to do is start the process.

I have found with my clients if they can accept the fact that they are not as important to others as they feel they are, it can very often help them to start those positive feelings. It is a fact that the only people we are important to are those who love or care for us. It is ironic that it is these people that we all feel confident and comfortable with. To all others it is unimportant what we look like, what we wear, what we say or how we act, as they are unimportant to us. If we are walking along the street and we see someone fall over or walk into a lamp post we may feel sorry for them or have a little smile, but a few steps further we have seen something in a shop window and that person has gone from our thoughts forever because there are too many other things to think about, and that is how every one reacts.

If we accept what we are like is not that important to other people we need no longer worry about what they think about us, a very positive thought. It is only a start, but very often that first small, positive thought is all that is needed to allow the growing process to begin.

Add a relaxation therapy like hypnotherapy or aromatherapy to help the sufferer become more relaxed and calm, then those feelings can start to change and that negative, downward cycle can turn into an upward, positive one.

Henry is a fully qualified hypnotherapist specialising in emotional problems. For more information on low self esteem and hypnotherapy please go to http://www.hypnotherapycounselling.com

Self Employment Ideas For Teens

Have You Read any Good Title Reports Lately?

How long have you been selling real estate? Long enough to know that sales that appear simple are sometimes the most time-consuming, more difficult transactions to close?

Sometimes the sellers know there's a problem, and you begin helping them solve it from the time you take the listing. (If you're especially good at it, you should advertise the fact, by the way.) Other times, you find problems that the sellers didn't know existed.

I ran into my first such problem way back in the dark ages when I first began selling real estate. I had listed a small, remote parcel - way back in the forest at the end of a narrow, rutted, dusty road. It took half a day just to go there to show it. So, I was overjoyed when a buyer came along. It meant no more trips up there!

I wasn't overjoyed for long.

The sellers had purchased the property on a land contract from a corporation that had logged hundreds of acres and then split it up. They bought it on time, and when they made the last payment, they received the deed in the mail. And they put it in a file, or a drawer, or possibly between the pages of a book somewhere. No matter - they didn't have it any more. And they hadn't taken it to the Courthouse to be recorded.

At first I thought this wouldn't be a problem. I'd simply call the Corporate Headquarters, they'd look it up and issue a new deed and we'd be done. But, that thought didn't last long. The corporation was dissolved.

After many conferences with a most helpful title officer, I was able to learn the names of the former officers of the corporation. And through research, I was able to locate two of them. Thankfully, two signatures were all the title company required.

Our attorney prepared a quit claim deed, I mailed it to the first gentleman, and we waited. I called him a week or so later and he assured me that when he had time he'd go get it signed and notarized and would then forward it on to the other man. All told, it took about 6 weeks to get that document back and recorded so we could close.

Remember this was a small, remote, and cheap parcel. By the time I deducted gasoline I think I might have made minimum wage on that transaction. If not, I came close.

The last time was tougher than the first. This time it was a major bank who was involved - a major bank who had sold out to a different major bank.

Usually you can count on a mortgage lender to do their paperwork, but perhaps because of the sale, this one didn't. My clients had refinanced a loan about 3 years earlier and the lien from the original loan had never been removed.

It took even longer to close that time, because finding the person who could sign off and proving to them that the loan had been paid was a major undertaking. I must have enlisted the aid of at least ten different people along the way. Thank goodness there are some people who will go out of their way to help.

Read your title report right away. If you're lucky, any problems you find can be solved in time for your scheduled closing.

Marte Cliff is a Freelance Copywriter and former real estate broker who specializes in writing for real estate and related industries.

Her e-book, Getting Clients, is a resource for beginning real estate agents as well as seasoned agents who want to know how to make more money in less time. Read all about it at http://www.marte-cliff.com/career.html

Marte offers a weekly ezine for real estate professionals and others with an interest in marketing themselves or their property. Subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to realestatehelp@getresponse.com and you'll immediately receive a copy of her real estate ad writing report.

Contact her at: writer@marte-cliff.com

Meeting Your Partners Parents Ti

Create Joy While Doing Boring Tasks

There is something about doing chores and routine tasks that most people dread. Is it the repetitive actions-cleaning, laundry, cooking meals, gardening, etc.-that dulls our enthusiasm and imagination?

When I was nine, I remember the wave of boredom that washed over my mind when I was faced with yet another stack of dirty dishes that I was designated to wash and/or dry. No automatic dishwasher. My younger sister was designated to be the dryer, but, often feigned being sick, until the dishes were done, so I often washed and dried. With a family of six and sometimes hired help, the mountain of dishes often seemed insurmountable, especially when it was bread baking day. The huge mixing bowl, spoon, measuring items, and the 4 or 5 baking tins made the pile higher. Not to mention the milk separator needed to be washed, which was like having another stack of dishes-the huge milk strainer and bowl were nearly half my size.

The thought that I could find joy in these routine chores and tasks I was bored with came to me one morning. I realized that I could change my attitude, a different approach and challenge myself to see how fast I could get the task done. The first morning I estimated the time at thirty-minutes to do the breakfast dishes. Breakfast was not a bowl of cold cereal or a protein bar. Breakfast was bacon, ham, or sausage and eggs with pancakes or oatmeal with grapefruit sections or chunks or other fruit. The oatmeal breakfast was the easiest to clean up. I worked as fast as I could muster and was able to finish in twenty-five minutes.

I was proud of my ability to meet this challenge. Wow! I was onto something. From then on I would estimate the time for the stack that lay before me to see if I could beat that time. It worked to lessen the dullness and boredom of this routine chore. I still use this method today, not for doing dishes, as I have the best automatic dishwasher available, but, for all the other chores and errands life produces, it compels me to 'get things done in record time.'

Gardening is my time to commune with nature and have meditative time. Digging in the dirt is therapeutic for my psyche. And to add more benefit on gardening days, I don't need to go to the gym as I have gotten a light workout.

Many people tend to put off what they dislike doing. Surprisingly, as I learned at age nine, the best approach to unpleasant tasks or dull chores is to dive right in and be fully engaged in what one is doing.
You may not cherish doing laundry or mopping the floors, but you can view it as a loving act for both yourself and your family. Or you can add a challenge of seeing how quickly you can accomplish the task and set a bench mark on which to improve upon next time.

Other ways to change your attitude about chores is saying, 'Thank you,' to the universe for being able to have these chores in the surroundings you have-a lovely home and neighborhood. Each morning, see how quickly and neatly you can make your bed and take pride in knowing that you are taking good care of yourself and your environment.

Another way to create a pleasant experience, while doing mundane chores, is play your favorite music, singing or dancing about while you are working. Creating a mental list of all the things you are grateful for keeps your mind occupied on positive thoughts versus the negative thoughts of how boring and tedious the chores are.

You could ask a friend(s) to exchange helping each other with tasks such as: cleaning the garage, basement, painting or wallpapering a room, etc. Remember to look for joy in doing the mundane tasks and chores and all your life maintenance activities will be a source of enjoyment rather than a duty you simply tolerate.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, Life Coach, Hypnotherapist, Author, "101 Great Ways To Improve Your Life." Dr. Dorothy has the unique gift of connecting people with a broad range of profound principles that resonate in the deepest part of their being. She brings awareness to concepts not typically obvious to one's daily thoughts and feelings. http://www.drdorothy.net

Home Redecorating of The Family Room

The family room or big room is where we spend most of our leisure time when we are at home. It should at once accommodate plenty of seating so our friends and family will be comfortable hanging out with us there, and it should reflect our habits and hobbies. When considering the family room for home redecorating we should take into account how we want the room to reflect our lifestyle and help us create harmony in our lives and the lives of our family members.

Family Room Functionality
Before you decorate the family room, think about what you want to do in your family room and the best arrangement for you furniture. Is it your home theater? Do you prefer to position the large screen T.V. in the middle of the room as a central focus, with all seats facing towards it? Or do you prefer to move the T.V. off in a corner to allow plenty of room for the kids to spread out their toys and run around during the day. Perhaps you wish to create a quiet corner for the T.V. that represents a retreat for you after you pick up the toys and put the kids to bed.

If you keep a computer in the family room, you might want to create a computer nook, or a video game nook. This allows someone to be at the computer, or playing a video game while someone else in the family chooses to watch television. You could make use of a set of headphones too so that the noise in each corner is contained under a headset.

Family Room Lighting
Lighting is important for the interior decorating of a room and the atmosphere it creates. If your family room serves as a home theater or video game room most of the time, you might like more muted lighting and heavy drapes that can close out the glaring sun. Your home redecorating choices can include darker colors and heavier textures. If your family room is more of a playroom, or a social room for friends to gather, then you might like to adjust your family room dcor to accommodate plenty of light and use sheer, airy curtains that let in the sun, with Venetian or wooden blinds that can be let down at night to create privacy.

Family Room Atmosphere
Decorate your family room in a style that works for your lifestyle. The atmosphere you create will be a product of the home redecorating theme you use in your family room. You can scatter it with toy building blocks or scented candles, and you have one big, sectional sofa that dominates the room or several conversational areas made up of individual recliners, and small chairs. Create a formal look with wall-to-wall carpeting, or a polished wooden floor with a luxurious, wool area rug. Create a more casual family room decor with tiled or vinyl floor strewn with braided throw rugs. Of course the age of your family members will play a large part in the flooring decision. Let your lifestyle influence ideas for interior decorating your family room. Let the decor reflect the ages of your family members, and your combined hobbies and interests. When every member of the family can find their own space in the room, it will truly live up to its name, and bring the family together.

See our blog at 2 LEFT THUMBS for hints and tips on home improvement, remodeling, decorating and maintenance. We also have articles on home decorating, home remodeling, home maintenance and home improvement at 2 LEFT THUMBS DECORATING.

Misquoted Bible Verses or Misused Bible Verses Which is Worse

A clich is a trite expression or idea conveyed so often it becomes common. Clichs usually lack interest or originality but their real failing is that they are rarely ever questioned or investigated. They have a way of creeping undetected into the everyday language of the people. The sheer force of repetition establishes a clich until it is held as something sacred or immutable. For example take the common saying "God helps those who help themselves." This saying is repeated by thousands of people the world over and most of them think it is taken from the Bible. It is not a Bible verse but it has taken on almost as much authority as one. This clich is not just a few degrees off the mark but it is diametrically opposite the Bible teaching. God is a helper especially to those who cannot help themselves. The simple, the fatherless, the widows are all promised special help from God because of their helplessness. Christians have their share of unquestioned clichs. While many of them have some measure of truth in them they beg to be more meticulously scrutinized. Here is one very important example.

"Never Take a Scripture Verse Out Of Context"

This clich is often used when we are trying to establish whether a teaching or doctrine we've heard is true. It is often used to pinpoint the errors of the cults and the so-called pseudo-Christian religions.

The truth is that it is often necessary to take a verse out of its context to convey its most basic meaning. To include the verse preceding or following some verses would tend to cloud their truest meaning in literally hundreds of instances. The scriptures for the most part are not written in a narrative form. This is especially true of the New Testament epistles. A few examples are as follows... In Proverbs 11: 28-30 are three verses that are totally unrelated. If we were to be emphasizing the necessity of keeping peace in the home verse twenty-nine would be a good verse to use.

He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart. (Proverbs 11:29)

Verses twenty-eight and thirty have absolutely nothing to do with keeping peace in the home. We are forced to extricate or disengage the verse from its context to gain the fullest use of it. We can carry our example still a step further to illustrate the weakness of the clich. The first sentence of verse twenty-nine is separated from the second by a colon. The second sentence is in no way thematically connected to the first. In order to get the greatest impact from this verse if we were stressing the idea of peace in the home it would be necessary not only to remove the verse from the context of the passage but we would be forced to split up the verse and leave part of it out altogether. Hundreds of Bible verses are found in similar complexity

Subject matter changes so frequently in the New Testament that it becomes necessary to remove a whole passage from its context to gain the full meaning of it. The weakness of this clich is perhaps best seen in the sayings of the Lord himself. He was notorious for dangling quoted verses in mid air without supportive contextual inclusions.

Many times Jesus would say, "It is written" or "Have ye never read" and quote a single verse taken right out of its context. He made no apologies for not including the preceding or following verses and the effect of his single verse sayings often stopped the mouths of his enemies or illustrated a great principle to his followers. Sometimes the verses he quoted were taken from texts that originally had nothing to do with the subject he was dealing with. Such is the case where Jesus was criticized by the Pharisees for accepting the praise of the little children in the temple...

And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased... (Matthew 21:15)

Jesus answered with a single verse taken from Psalm 8:2 that in its original context had nothing to do with establishing the inspiration or accuracy of a child's spontaneous praises. Psalm eight is a song of recognition of God's glory because of His wonderful creation and a query of the invested powers given to man by God. Yet out of this seemingly unrelated passage Jesus extracted and wielded a single verse to the shame of his enemies, the Pharisees.

...And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? (Matthew 21:16)

If he had included the preceding and following verses of the passage it would have made absolutely no sense. Jesus in fact quoted verses taken out of context over twenty times as recorded in the four gospels. While some are repeated in the parallel gospels this only serves to verify that he did make a general practice of it. Even more amazing is the fact that unlike the apostles, Jesus never quoted more than one verse of scripture at a time. The apostles quoted two or three but never more than four at a time.

The apostles and the writers of the New Testament epistles far exceed the Lord's proclivity for taking verses out of context. Over ninety times from the book of Acts to Revelation verses are pulled out of context and used as proof texts. Less than ten times do they include more than one verse of scripture. The closest some of them come to even identifying their source is with such phrases as "David saith" or "Isaiah saith it" The rest of the quotes begin with such phrases as "he saith also in another place," "Wherefore he saith," "What saith the scriptures," "Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith," "The prophets saith," "wot ye not what the scripture saith," "The scripture saith" and "What saith it." Thirty-eight times the above sayings were used to quote a verse out of context. Only a well studied student with an excellent memory could even hope to guess at where such scriptures might be located. Keep in mind also that they were quoted over thirteen centuries before the printing press was invented. The hearers had to depend largely on the integrity of the speaker or writers for the accuracy of the quote. They couldn't whiz through the pages of their Bibles and read verses preceding or following the quoted verse. If taking a verse out of context is the crime we hold it to be then not naming the source of our quotation must be a cardinal crime and all the writers and figures of the New Testament were guilty of it.

The term used most profusely in the New Testament in connection with a verse taken out of context is "It is written." Every verse Jesus quoted was preceded by it and the apostles used it over fifty times themselves. It is the equivalent of a more modern saying that we are all familiar with, "The bible says." We have all heard preachers who warn that a verse should never be taken out of context and then we hear them say, "The Bible says," literally thousands of times in their teachings This is one inconsistency we should be thankful for because without it teaching would often be incomprehensible and quite dull.

It has become an accepted fact among believers that the enemies or false teachers are the ones who make the habit of taking verses out of context. But by contrast we can see that it is in fact the believer or the Lord himself who have exercised this practice most often A few times the Pharisees said, "Why did Moses write..." or a similar expression and it is recorded twice that the devil said, "It is written." Beyond doubt we can see that the opposing forces of the kingdom rarely practice this most dreaded habit. The reason for this is plain. Paul once said that some men were preaching the Gospel out of envy hoping to add further affliction to him by stirring up the anti-Christian forces. He concluded that it didn't matter why they were doing it. The effect was the same. Souls were saved. (Phil. 1:15-19) Satan doesn't like to quote any scripture even if it is out of context.

For this very reason, in many of the cults the scripture quotes are reduced and often not quoted at all. Another authority or special spiritual experiences often replace them. In reality false teachers do no more than the true teachers when they take a verse out of context. The difference is in the intention. Where there is an evil intention even verses quoted in context can be twisted and misused. We should be far more involved in discerning the spirit in which we are taught rather than the letter. If our teachers have a history of giving sound teaching, and have recognized and certified ministries shouldn't we allow them reasonable latitudes? We should give them the freedom to extract verses for our learning even if they must occasionally resort to the dastardly Practice of "taking a verse out of context."

Rev Bresciani has written many articles over the past thirty years in such periodicals as Guideposts and Catholic Digest. He is the author of two books available on Amazon.com, Alibris, Barnes and Noble and many other places. Rev Bresciani wrote Hook Line and Sinker or what has Your Church Been Teaching You, publisher, PublishAmerica of Baltimore MD. He also wrote a book published by Xulon Press entitled An American Prophet and His Message, Questions and Answers on the Second Coming of Christ. His book is now being heralded as the clearest book on the subject of the second coming of Christ since Hal Lindsey's "Late Great Planet Earth" Rev Brescianis website is,

http://americanprophet.org

When to Hire a Home Painting Contractor

When dealing with home painting, it is often best to consider all options before choosing the best way to go about accomplishing the goals the homeowner has set for him or herself. The homeowner can either hire a professional to handle the work, hire some buddies to help out or can do the entire project alone, without any help from anybody. The last option is often where homeowners get into trouble, but realizing when to hire a contractor can save a good deal of time and money for the homeowner.

Being honest about how complicated a project may be and hiring a home painting contractor to help with the work is often the first step in ensuring a beautifully painted home. Unfortunately, not all homeowners are wise enough to make this decision and instead make poor decisions that end up hurting the quality of the project. Knowing when to hire a contractor and avoid any mishaps that may come about as the result of amateur work will not only save time and money, but can save the homeowners sanity as well.

With less mishaps or mistakes, homeowners will feel less stressed out by the entire project. A home painting contractor will be trained in how to deal with many of these mishaps and can act accordingly when they present themselves. Being able to effectively manage a project and deal with unforeseen problems that may arise may be the best thing for the project. Only a professional contractor has been properly trained in this manner and can offer this skill to his or her clients. A good home painting contractor will truly care about the project as well, putting in the extra effort to ensure that the client is satisfied with the work being done.

Hiring friends to help out with a project is an option that many homeowners choose when deciding to get work done on the house. While this may save money in labor fees, as many homeowners do not pay their buddies to help them out, they will often pay for it by sacrificing quality. Bonding with their friends should be done at a barbecue, and not on ladders when dealing with a complicated home improvement project. If nobody knows what they are doing, then the project will not get done in a way that is satisfying to the homeowner. This can cause even greater frustration and annoyances and can make the experience a negative one.

A home painting contractor will also be able to offer helpful advice when the homeowner is planning the project. Deciding what type of paint to use and what colors complement each other nicely can be a great help to homeowners that may not have had any experience in this aspect of home improvement. Their experience often comes in handy when dealing with the planning phase and can be a great help to the homeowner as he or she develops their ideas. Deciding where they want the project to go is important and involving the contractor will help the two parties get on the same page.

More information on College Works Painting home repair for your home is just a click away.