While the Enlightenment era didn’t solve all the worlds problems for us, neither did it really hurt us. There’s nothing wrong with reasoning as long as you realize the limitations.

>Inductive- reaching a conclusion on the basis of a particular instance.
>Deductive- reaching a conclusion from “out of” what’s already implicit in an action.

Reason can help us discard that which is obviously and inherently irrational. Listen to its counsel. Reason can reveal flaws in arguments. And reason can lead us to the waters of intuitiveness wherein we must leave it at the banks and dive in spiritually. Faith seeks understanding and God’s reasoning embraces ALL.

In a sense our reasoning about things of God is a mirror- of the mind of God Himself.

But we humans must remember what Paul said in I Corinthians 13. We only see dimly or in part, but let us not discard reason: just use it for as far as we can. My spiritual advice, begins with reason, but certainly does not end there.

Ms. B. I will call her. She had a great impact on my life. She was in her 90′s when she gave a teaching at my Baptist church in Northwest Houston that filled me with fear. She had that kind of grandmotherly demeanor. In essense she was affirming, with power, what my previous pastors had told me, but she did it with such force and power.

Her message was?

God sent Jesus to appease His wrath!

God was totally righteous and holy and He could not look upon me without Jesus being between us. God had to see me through the eyes of Jesus or else His wrath would be kindled hot against me. Sure shook me up. And I always tried to “keep my sins up to date” through confession and repentance.

And then I saw a different God, an abba Father. Jesus did not come to reconcile the Father to us! On the contrary, God was in Jesus reconciling the world to Himself. Wow!

This God didn’t send Jesus to appease His wrath but to manifest His Love!

What a different God! Which one are you following?

The “they” are those people whom we know not, but who’s advice it is that we follow. Sometimes they are scientists, sometimes psychologists, and sometimes no-name experts that may or may not be. Who are you following? Could it be a religious teacher, pastor, mother, father, or all of the above and more? When you come right down to it, most are just following “traditions” that came from God knows where!

Jesus confronted the religious traditions numerous times in Matthew 5, Jesus uses the phrase (KJV), “You’ve heard is SAID“. That was a tip off that whatever someone had once said, wasn’t really true. And Jesus was about ready to set the record straight. In one of those “you’ve heard it said” statements Jesus was referring back to the topic of adultery. Jesus took it a lot further. Instead of saying don’t do it, He said don’t even look at a second of porn on the computer (modern day version).

Here’s the simple question. What is it that YOU “have heard said” that isn’t true?

I know none of us want to admit to that, but I also know that we ALL are guilty to some degree of buying into religious traditions that someone said and we’re going on faith (not the real kind of faith) that the “sayer” was true and accurately representing God.

I have even worse spiritual advice.

Invite as many people into your life that come from religious backgrounds totally foreign to you so that you can add humility to your righteousness. Listen, what we KNOW about God is very important, but what we DO with what we know about God is even more important: greatly so!

Wouldn’t it have been great if Jesus would have stopped with just ONE commandment? Love God!

But, NO!

Jesus added the second commandment- love your neighbor and I’ll de darned if they are Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, gay, lesbian, and names we don’t even have definitions for, let alone any understanding. Ask yourself. Who is my neighbor? Make a list, and then begin with those that are the most different than you. Start there. I think you’ll be greatly surprised and pleased at what you discover.

Tolerance is a good thing. It’s not a giving in to “bad things“, but giving you love, the God within you, that you are (even though you know it not) to “all things“!

Many, way too many, people are not aware that they have the pwoer of God residing WITHIN them. They’ve not been taught or they have failed to understand the true nature of God. He’s not OUT THERE, He is IN HERE. He’s IN all of us just waiting to be of benefit to us.

Jesus did all He could to tell us that the Kingdom of God is WITHIN us.

That’s the UNKNOWN gift.

But just as bad is the fact that many people are aware of the immanence and presence of God, but they don’t touch base. The gift is there, they know it, but without being touched the gift is worthless. It’s one of life’s greatest discoveries to realize that God lives WITHIN us, but if you don’t reach Him., communicate with Him, warm fuzzies are not going to take you very far in life.

On a scale of 1-10 how aware are you of this gift?

On a scale of 1-10 how well, often, and frequently are you touching base?

Open the GIFTS and give them away to others. It’s the second part of that commandment in Matthew 22. That’s my spiritual advice for tonight, and the rest of your life.

Having said that, I have not given up on the churches that are truly on a quest for transformation: ones that are seeking the spirit life and not the religious life.

Haven’t you had it with “Tithing mini-sermons?”

I used to think I couldn’t have a Sunday service without “taking” an offering, which meant hammering tithe and offering concepts of the Old Testament. But now that we don’t even have a Sunday service (we do it Friday night), NOT taking an offering seems most logical.

But, before you get too giddy and greedy, remember this. While the 10% (can you say TITHE) was under the LAW, the New Testament concept of giving asks FAR ME than 10%. And I said “asks”, it doesn’t require.

Don’t you just hate it when YOU have to decide all on your little lonesome self? Bummer! Still want to be FREE?

Well then, maybe you could try out this “testimonial” from a multi-millionaire who wrote……..

“There are principles that work whether you believe in them or not. In other words, it doesn’t take OUR faith to make His principles work. The giving of your tithe is done out of obedience ….You can believe what He says about giving or not, but He is faithful to his word regardless!

The blessing comes from giving above and beyond the tithe. The area of giving was one that that was difficult for me early in my Christian walk, but once I surrendered, amazing things happened. I am always looking for ways to bless people. One thing I know for sure, I can’t out give God. Try it, you might just like it!

Still wanna be FREE?

In my early life I traveled the road of rejection.

Fatherless before the age of six months. He left my mother for God only knows what or why. I can’t judge the one who gave me life. And there is no bitterness. My natural father died many years ago and I miss him.

Motherless by the age of one. She went off to work in a munitions plant during WWII in order to survive and my grandmother took good care of me. She too has left and I am all alone without parents. She is greatly, and greatly missed. If only I knew then, what I think it is that I know now.

I traveled the road of greed and ambition to try and overcome by insecurities, poverty, and aloneness. I made the trip successfully (became a millionaire), but there was not satisfaction at the end of that trip.

I traveled the road of success and fame by losing the things that really mattered. But by then it’s too late to recover what’s lost.

I’ve traveled the roads of righteousness, religion, and remorse to name a few more. None satisfy!

Along the way I detoured onto the spiritual roads but not for long. Too much of the world beckoned me. I’ve become an experienced traveler now and I’ve come to know that there is only one road for me. It’s the same road that Jesus, the Christ took. I’m following Him and hoping that I can do greater things than He though currently that seems impossible. But, since He said it, I’m believing it.

How about you?

What road(s) are you on?

Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

Sholdn’t WE be doing the listening?

Of course you know the answer, in your heart you do, we all do. We live in a massively EGOIC world wherein we think it is all about US! It’s really not. There is way too much going to God to GET!

God’s not here to SERVE us. It’s the other way around. :ife really comes down to LISTENING to God and then BEING what He says to us, which will eventaully end up in some DOING (of His will).

Don’t ask (for things), don’t tell (God what you want); instead, SIT and LISTEN! Then BE! That’s my advice.

It’s said that people shy away from God (the heavenly father)because of their perceptions of thier natural fathers. It’s probably the same thing with finding a church family. Church is family; however, sicne so many natural families, marriages end up in divorce, is there any wonder people hop from church to church.

Church is where you work out your imperfections, with other imperfect people.

Marriage is where you die to your ego.

You can run, never unite, never be accountable, and never come to the fullness of who God created you to be either. You have to take the good with the bad. That’s life- learning.

Where are you cribbin (calling home)?

I love to know; however, I have come to a place in life just getting to ask questions is more exciting than giving or pretending answers.

If I have learned anything in the past few years it is this. Are you ready?

Leaps of consciousness or transformation in our lives most often comes with the surrender of the illusion- “I know“.

Ponder that, embrace it, and it will serve you better than any answers you might be seeking.