Abundant Life

Spiritual Fads Are a Waste of Time

Breathwork, really? I guess this is the newest “fad” to try and find inner peace.

I have a theory – people are constantly searching for peace, meaning of life, purpose. I feel like “restless souls”, or people who feel the need to constantly move, whether that’s in their daily lives or physically move locations, are simply searching for … something.

I think that “something” is different for everyone and maybe most people can’t define it, but it makes me sad. So when I see videos like this one, I can’t help but roll my eyes because to me, it’s simply another “fad” where people are trying to once again, SEARCH for the elusive SOMETHING.

I believe that “something” is spiritual, in essence. People who don’t believe in a higher being, or have faith in something outside of themselves, are generally unhappy with themselves, with their lives and dissatisfied by life in general.

This is simply my opinion coming from a Christian who likes to observe people and analyze motivations. For example, why are some people into tarot cards? Or Scientology? Or witchcraft? Or any other beliefs outside Christianity? To me, the essence of those beliefs are not any more strange to believe in than the “fate” or messages from cards that a person randomly flips over, or from aliens or from a super natural power than it is to believe in a kind, loving God who started all of this by creating humans to inhabit a world He specifically made for humans. I just don’t understand – if people are willing to put so much FAITH in these alternate beliefs, then why NOT believe in God?

To me, people who participate in alternative rituals or beliefs are almost making a conscious effort NOT to believe in Christianity. As if they are saying, “Nope, I’m not believing in Christianity because it’s an old and antiquated way to believe and the majority of people are Christians and I’m enlightened and different and there MUST be something else out there that I will work hard to try and find just so I can prove EVERYONE else wrong.’

I’m not saying this to insult anyone who is not a Christian, believe what you want, it’s called free will, but as an observer of life and looking at these various “fads” and “religions” from the outside, it truly baffles me that people put so much time and effort into something other than Christianity.

What’s the end goal here? If you’re looking for peace or the meaning of life, or the purpose of YOUR life, the Bible has those answers. Are the answers not good enough? Do they not satisfy a deeply embedded need? Is it not enough? Is it too simple? Do people think it can’t surely be this simplistic and reject it to pursue new and different?

I truly want to know.

Matt talks about “hallucinogenic’ effects of breathwork whenever he would participate. Could it be simply that you’re depriving your brain of oxygen and that’s why you’re feeling this way and it has nothing to do with any spiritual experience? And the fact that he admits to feeling emotional at the retreat, where his wife was present, and not having that feeling when he tried it at home by himself. Could you have had that emotional experience because you heard your wife cry out and empathized with her struggles because you love her and that’s what we do when we love someone? Perhaps it had nothing to do with a spiritual experience and more to do with the fact that you were forced to still your mind and body and be more aware of your surroundings, your thoughts and feelings.

I think breathwork is bogus, but I do appreciate, yet again, an attempt to MAKE people stop and disconnect with technology and appreciate stillness. I think anything that makes us do that is important, especially nowadays where it’s trendy to be “busy” and “connected” through all of these crazy social media outlets.

Don’t you find it ironic that we’re more “connected” than we’ve ever been in the history of man and yet so many people are lonely, sad and unhappy?

We are more connected to “each other through electronics” but more and more people are being persuaded to get away from God because it’s not “cool” to be a Christian and you must be crazy to believe in an invisible, all-knowing, and all-powerful creator.

You don’t think there is some correlation there? Because I do.

All I’m saying is, why not forego these crazy new spiritual “fads” and desperate attempts to create something that brings people peace and fulfillment and just go back to what has been available this entire time: God?

Just a thought.

Camp NaNoWriMo, Sunday Stuff

Jesus Christ: The Lamb and the Lion

Know what’s trending on Twitter today?

#ThingsJesusNeverSaid

It saddens me that people think they know Jesus and what he stood for.  Maybe think is too strong of a word, that people ASSUME they know about Jesus and what he stood for. People with these false misconceptions have never read the Bible, don’t believe the Bible and ridicule people who try and live their lives by the Bible. People who think they know Jesus and all that he stood for only “know” him through what has been spoon fed them.

Let’s take a moment to learn a little bit more about the son of God, shall we?

Again, educate yourself. Step away from the mindless media, you’ll be smarter and happier.

Truly.

Post Fourteen
Abundant Life

Heart Disease is a World-Wide Problem

“The prescription for heart disease is to love the way God intends us to love. Heart disease, the lack of love, causes us to be cold hearted, hard hearted.”

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39 NIV

God asks you to love Him with ALL your heart, ALL your soul, and ALL your strength – do not put your faith in idols, tokens that you assign meaning to – like a lucky rabbit’s foot, or a lucky hat, or choosing to put all of your energy into a video game, or a relationship … anything that takes your focus away from God.

This is why I have dedicated Sundays to God on this blog – to force myself to take a step back from my personal life, my work life, my hobbies, my distractions and remind myself there is a bigger picture here – and it’s wonderful, and loving and gives me hope, especially when bad things happen, like wild animals attacking small children.

Your happiness, your peace of mind, starts with your heart. What do you believe? How compassionate are you? Do you stop and make yourself see the other side to a story? Do you try and put yourself in the other person’s shoes for a minute?

Having the ability to empathize with people goes A LONG WAY toward feeling more compassionate about your fellow man.

So I ask you, take a moment and examine your heart. If you’re not happy, if you have little peace in your life, look to God. He’s there waiting for you to reach out to him. What do you have to lose by trying?

Every Sunday I provide videos and valuable links to the Truth or Tradition teachings. We’ve been following the Truth or Tradition teachings for many years now and they have truly blessed our family. We have found peace and happiness through our beliefs and we walk confidently for God. My hope, by passing on this information to you, is that what you find here, or on the Truth or Tradition website, will guide you to a better, more blessed and abundant life.

Thanks for watching.

Check out Truth or Tradition teachings on:

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iTunes
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Abundant Life

God is Love and Sacrificed His Son for Atonement

This teaching is a little more technical, if you will. John explains how Romans 3:25 has mistranslated propitiation: appeasement of an angry God should actually be translated into atonement – which means bring taking two entities and making them one. It’s a better translation and depicts God as a loving God, not as an angry, wrathful God, which is how many people think of God nowadays.

That thinking/assumption is incorrect.

It’s a great teaching on how God is love and wants to love you, if only you will allow him.

Every Sunday I provide videos and valuable links to the Truth or Tradition teachings. We’ve been following the Truth or Tradition teachings for many years now and they have truly blessed our family. We have found peace and happiness through our beliefs and we walk confidently for God. My hope, by passing on this information to you, is that what you find here, or on the Truth or Tradition website, will guide you to a better, more blessed and abundant life.

Thanks for watching.

Check out Truth or Tradition teachings on:

Truth or Tradition Website
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
iTunes
Online Store

More from Write From Karen

Abundant Life

Why Did Jesus Have to Die and Suffer?

“What do you do with genuinely evil people?”

I love this question – answer? Not allow them to co-exist with you in the afterlife. WHY would you?! They’re evil, they do not have much good in them. They are consumed by darkness and wallow in sin, why do they deserve to rub elbows with God-fearing (which actually means respecting) people?

For example, the nutjob that shot up the club in Orlando Florida last Sunday. Pure evil. Stop looking for a reason, there is no reason. Evil is not something that you can break down into logical chunks, evil exists to cause pain, suffering, chaos and death.  Evil exists to destroy – that’s it. No other reason. Sure, there are motivations, “triggers” that will set evil into action, but you can’t control it, there is no stopping it. It always baffles me how people stand around and scratch their heads after an event like this – how did this happen? They ask. How can we prevent this from happening again? They puzzle.

Answer – YOU CAN’T. Stop trying to make sense of something that has no logic. Stop trying to control something that is uncontrollable.

Evil will exist, evil will get worse – the only cure? Jesus Christ coming back and saving us from ourselves.

Every Sunday I provide videos and valuable links to the Truth or Tradition teachings. We’ve been following the Truth or Tradition teachings for many years now and they have truly blessed our family. We have found peace and happiness through our beliefs and we walk confidently for God. My hope, by passing on this information to you, is that what you find here, or on the Truth or Tradition website, will guide you to a better, more blessed and abundant life.

Thanks for watching.

Check out Truth or Tradition teachings on:

Truth or Tradition Website
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
iTunes
Online Store

More from Write From Karen

Abundant Life

Do You Have Enough Time For God?

I confess, I get distracted. I wouldn’t say I have a short attention span, I’m capable of focusing on tasks and getting things done, especially when I have a deadline, (I work better with looming deadlines), but I do tend to get sucked into things: a book, a TV series, YouTube, (Good LORD, YouTube sucks so much of my time – then again, I LET IT) … and I absolutely don’t utilize my time wisely on the weekends. I’m lazy, comfortable. Which, I suppose is the whole reason behind a weekend – I’ve taxed my brain so much throughout the week, the last thing I want to do is do any more thinking so I tend to gravitate toward things that don’t require thinking: reading, watching videos, listening to music …

So I would absolutely agree I get distracted and should spend more time with God. Me, Kevin and Roy sit in the living room after Sunday dinner every week and watch a few of the Truth or Tradition videos, which is better than nothing, I suppose, and these videos always bless us, but I don’t read the Bible. Kevin, on the other hand, reads his Bible every morning before work. (I admit it, he’s a better person than I am).

As far as “stuff”, I don’t really have a problem with “stuff.” Sure, we are comfortable and I would be pretty upset if we had a house fire and we lost everything, but my world wouldn’t be destroyed – it would be inconvenienced. In fact, this is one of the reasons I get so irritated with Kevin and Roy when they hit the garage sales all weekend and come home with “stuff,” it’s just more clutter in my eyes. Though to be completely fair, Kevin usually finds things that we can use, or were needing, for pennies on the dollar, so it’s not all completely useless.

Clutter is so claustrophobic. It’s hard to think when you’re surrounded by noise – whether that’s physical noise or mental noise. (Our neighbor’s garage across the street is so packed with JUNK they can’t even park their cars in there. I’m pretty sure I would go insane with that much clutter). I think that’s why people love going to the beach and the mountains so much – wide open spaces, fresh air and silence – it gives us a chance to clear our minds and de-clutter our mental closets.

That’s why I like this video – it’s a reminder to step back, assess what is around us and get our priorities straight. I love his parable at the end of this video – it really makes me think – exactly what have I given back to God? 

Every Sunday I provide videos and valuable links to the Truth or Tradition teachings. We’ve been following the Truth or Tradition teachings for many years now and they have truly blessed our family. We have found peace and happiness through our beliefs and we walk confidently for God. My hope, by passing on this information to you, is that what you find here, or on the Truth or Tradition website, will guide you to a better, more blessed and abundant life.

Thanks for watching.

Check out Truth or Tradition teachings on:

Truth or Tradition Website
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
iTunes
Online Store

More from Write From Karen

Abundant Life

Audio Teaching: The Christian Hope: Part Four

Click for Parts One, Two, Three here.

I hope you’ll take time to listen to these audio teachings, if not here, then perhaps you’ll consider downloading them and taking them with you?

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What the Bible really says about Death, Judgment, Rewards, Heaven, and the Future Life on a Restored Earth. God originally planned for mankind to live on earth, and His plan, though postponed by sin, will not be thwarted – it will come to pass in the future when a new earth is created. The Christian’s Hope shows from Scripture that each Christian will be rewarded in the coming world in direct proportion to the quality of how he lives for God in this world.

Click the arrow to listen to the Hope of Israel.

A Biblical Look at “Hope”

In order to properly understand the Christian’s hope, it is important to examine the exact meaning of the word “hope.” “Hope” means “a desire for, or an expectation of, good, especially when there is some confidence of fulfillment.” It is used that way both in common English and in the Bible. However, the Bible often uses the word “hope” in another way—to refer to the special expectation of good that God has in store for each Christian in the future. This includes the “Rapture,” receiving a new, glorified body, and living forever in Paradise. Today, the ordinary use of “hope” allows for the possibility that what is hoped for will not come to pass. However, when the Bible uses the word “hope” to refer to things that God has promised, the meaning of “hope” shifts from that which has a reasonable chance of coming to pass to that which will absolutely come to pass. To be a useful anchor, hope must hold fast.

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