Don't Poison a Child's Mind.

I was bless with an experience I will never forget when passing through Immigrations in Singapore.  We were in line and in front of me was a Filipino mother and two children.  One child a boy about 10 and a girl about 3. In the next line was an Indian mother with two young boys maybe 5 and 8. 

These children started reacting with each other in spite of language and cultural difference with pure love - no bigotry, no bias, just pure love and delight. It was a reminder to me bigotry is a learned habit or character trait. It is not a God given characteristic. Matthew 21:16 - "...out of mouths of babes and sucklings God prepared praise ..."  NOT HATE!  Oh, if we adults could only learn from the  young children the world would be a better place indeed!

"Hatreds never cease by hatreds in this world.  By love alone they cease.  This is an ancient Law."  

I have shared many thoughts over the year's concerning our thinking for ourselves and not depending upon others to think for us or teach us absolute truths about God, self, world or the universe.

It is delusion for us to allow others to teach us to cherish pride and selfishness when we all know in the end it leads to suffering, loneliness and death.

God did not put upon the heart of every person the right way to live with self and others simply for us to think about them. God put them there for us to practice and to make them part of our daily lives. 

We should control our own minds and keep them clean of evil thoughts concerning greed, jealousy, prejudices and hate.  Love, respect, humility and faithfulness to God (not denomination, nationalities, preachers, priest, bishops, traditions, anger, religions,etc) is the only way to a happy life.  

The youngest Indian child at the airport had a bottle of water and without words he walked over to the youngest Filipino child and sat it down in front of her and backed away.  I knew instantly he was sharing all he had to offer the other child love (water).  Tears filled my eyes and I knew I had witness pure love. 

Our minds, our learned behaviors, can make us like God or like the devil.  We should control our minds and not allow others to leads us away from the right path.  RESPECT each other. Human's have more in common than we have differences.  God created us to be like milk and water to mingle together not like oil and water that repel each other.  

I honestly believe if you do not feel this way you have never had a personal relationship with God.  You certainly are NOT a follower of Christ.  

Life is becoming more clear to me as I grow old and my body falls apart like an old worn out car that has traveled many, many happy miles.  Do not make the same mistakes I did if you are still young in body.  You cannot cram five lifetimes into one there is only so much time.  

You do not need to see or do everything to have a full life. You only need to recognize the importance of love and service to each person you meet.  

God did not ask us to solve all of the world's problems just do the best we can with those we encounter. 

There are always people around you that need an encouraging word, a person willing to listen and or a helpful hand.  It is not all about having large sums of money to give away.  A little becomes a lot when good people come together for one cause. 

Few if any of us would sleep with a poisonous snake in our bed so why go to bed with a poisonous snake (our mind)?  Ephesians 4:26 "...do not go to bed while you are still angry..." Go to bed filled with hate, anger, bitterness, jealousy, prejudices and discontent and  you will awake the next morning with the same bed partner not beside you, but inside you.  You should control your own mind.  Protect your mind from poisonous thoughts of others. 

We should practice being like the children I witness in the Singapore Immigration line.  

Think for yourself!

“Take the risk of thinking for yourself , much more happiness , truth, beauty, and wisdom will come to you that way ..” Christopher Hitchens

I do not understand why people today (worldwide) allow celebrities to dictate or even influence what they should believe, do, eat, wear and even who they should vote for. 

It was obvious the influence celebrities TRIED to have on the 2016 elections in the United States.  A lot of people allowed celebrities to influence their vote.  If you are a celebrity in the Philippines it is almost a guarantee you can win any political position you seek.  Your fame will outweigh your  need for the right qualifications nearly every time.

If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask a celebrity, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly their opinions on life, and they are more than happy to give it to you freely.  I say this sarcastically.

I know I may seem a bit weird or a lot weird to some, but what celebrities think or say have never made me feel happy, content, hopeful, encouraged, or confident.  No I do not know the name of the MOVIE STAR in the latest movies I have seen and do not care to know.  All I care is did I like the movie or not. 

I do not care what these people think, none of whom I know personally, and all of whom live in a world that is so far out of my reach that we have remarkably little in common. If I and one of their domestic staff met in church or any public place I  would have more in common with their staff member than I would the celebrity.

The same is true of CELEBRITY preachers today.  I am not impressed or focusing  on the prophets and teachers and evangelists that millions of Christians come to follow, and worship, as being wiser, more righteous, and blessed than the rest of us.  I have actually have had people tell me, “They’re rich and well-known so that must be a sure sign of God’s favor.”  No, they just  have a charismatic personality and would be good at selling anything and they would make good con artist.  It could have come from the devil or God.  I have always believed this, but recently when Bishop Jake of Potter House in Dallas, Texas said in an interview that “SELLING Jesus is not all that difficult because it is a GOOD PRODUCT and when presented correctly it will SELL ITSELF.”  I take that to mean hurting and desperate people will fall for a line of hope every time if you are charismatic and have sales abilities.

When the Great Christians Leaders give their opinions on homosexuality, people listen, nod their heads, and say, “Prophet Pulpit said it, so it must be right.” When they promote boycotting a store, the believers do it because their Prophet Pulpit is always right.  After all who am I to question Prophet's? When sensible preachers meet with ecumenical leaders to share in a prayer service, some Christians wring their hands, wondering, “Why do they  do this? Pastor Pulpit said it was wrong. Do they not know that Catholics and Evangelical Protestants differ on fundamental issues? and that Jewish people and Christians differ on a REALLY major issue?

The followers of celebrity Christians do not have enough faith in God or confidence in himself to seek wisdom, considering themselves spiritually unqualified to process the tough issues facing people who live in the world today, after all that is what they have been told from the pulpit by these celebrity preachers.  They think if they do not listen to the celebrity preachers and priest they only have mass-media to give them direction in the 21st century.   What about the HOLY SPIRIT, PRAYER, the brain God gave them and their own personal experiences.

God did not call us to be robots of celebrities.   The world is filled, and has always been filled, and will always be filled with difficult issues — difficult because they involve people — and no smart little saying on television, Tweet, or email from any CELEBRITY is going to solve the world’s problems and we certainly should not allow them to think for us.  Some allow others to think for them because they are lazy and it is the easy way to avoid responsibilities.  Simply put not everyone wants to be wise. We actually have to work at becoming wise.

People need wisdom, and wisdom — unlike money, power, celebrity status, and fame is not out of reach of ordinary people. Wisdom is available for the asking, if we only would ask.  You do not have to be a genius to have wisdom.  I know lots of people with extremely high I.Q.’s that lack in wisdom (common sense) and others with little to no formal education that are VERY wise.  Wisdom and understanding are not something you purchase with tuition and class fees, it is a daily, lifelong process of growth.

I have a friend that constantly puts himself down because he looks for the possible negatives in relationships, decisions in general and especially business deals.  I think that is wise.  It means to me he is dealing with reality.  It does not mean he is ignoring the positives, it is only means he is trying to prepare or prevent the negatives.  Being a “happy go lucky” person is not wisdom.  Wisdom means being able to bear the good and the bad in mind simultaneously.

Proverbs 3:13 says, "Happy is the man (or woman) who finds wisdom and the man (or woman) who gets understanding." Proverbs 24:13–14 says, "My son (daughter), eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off." Proverbs 16:16, "To get wisdom is better than gold; to get understanding is to be chosen over silver." It is a matter of life and death.  The ultimate, eternal happiness that all people long for will only be found by those who first "get wisdom."

Wise people do not let others do their thinking and make their decision.  They listen to all advice and then seek guidance from the Holy Spirit and make their own decision.