American journalism fails on so many levels to report the truth about our world around us, and our politicians talk in a weird pseudo language that never actually gets to the issues. And the average American doesn't dig deeper than the front page of their Internet browser, but rely on one-sided reporting such as we might find on Fox News.

I really trusted the American news reporting and our President to tell me in some kind of easy language what was going on in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, pre and post 9/11. It wasn't until I read Three Cups of Teaby Greg Mortenson, that I got the long awaited answers.

I wish this book was mandatory reading.

What Greg Mortenson has done (and continues to do through the Central Asia Institute) is open our hearts and minds to the reality that all Muslims are not our enemies and that education is the only way to bring peace to these countries, not fire power. Greg did, through recounting his years to build schools, what all the leaders of the world have never done: put names and faces, hopes and dreams on people we've been taught to automatically distrust and hate because of the radical views and violence of a minority.

I felt selfish to learn how Greg had slept in his car to get enough money to travel half way around the world, time after time, to help the world's poorest people in an inaccessible village (cut off from everything by the Braldu River raging below) because he'd made a Muslim tribal leader a promise. The fateful meeting came after Greg, nearly dead after getting lost after a failed trip up to K2, stumbled into an unknown (by mountain climbers) village and was immediately put under the care of an unlikely mentor, Haji, Ali, the nurmadhar (chief) of Korphe village.

Greg's failed attempt at K2 fades away as we're swept into Greg's world. Soon you're rooting for these poor and uneducated people who seem, by today's standards, destitute, but on the other hand are happy and content with what God has provided. After 9/11 that these impoverished, displaced, homeless, refugees, who watched their families mowed down and bombed out by both sides, can still find faith three times a day to bow down and thank God for whatever He puts in their lives, leaves this Christian humbled and embarrassed.

I thought dropping an envelope into a church basket was all the financial help God expects from his followers. Greg's book has made me rethink Jesus' message, that the church is about helping widows and children. But it's also made me rethink something else, how I've failed to thank God properly for my clean, beautiful home, three squares a day, and the absence of an apocalyptic landscape decimated by war.

That's going to change.

• 0 comments »

So, I got a rather snarly comment by someone who disagreed with my articles about Modern Day Guru's. I didn't post it because he accused me of things (based apparently on his idea of what a Christian is), and he did some name calling, too.

He accused me of being a Republican because I'm a Christian. Calling me a Republican is supposed to be an insult. Suddenly being a Republican is somehow a bad thing? I don't get it. I thought this country was founded on a two-party system, but these days there's a group who wants to get rid of the one half. I've always been a registered Democrat, but this kind of "assumption" is what Christians find themselves up against. There are Christian Democrates.

I've just finished a book titled: They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations, and what's interesting about the comments I received is they falls into line with the theme of this book: presumptions about Christians. Christians are now automatically "radical" fundamentalists. Sadly, the word fundamental has also been hijacked by a weird sub-culture to mean a four letter word.

Being somewhat moderately liberal all my life, being a yogi fit the bill, so my political and moral leanings were never in question. But being a Christian has cast me in a weird bizzaro world. Suddenly complete strangers think they know me, and label me judgmental, negative, homophobic, hater of all religion,s sans Christianity, and take the Bible literally, especially Leviticus!

My commenter said I was ignorant, had a narrow belief system, stuck in dogma, and that my point of view is "what's wrong with Christianity." I got no props for the 30 years I was involved in eastern religion and happen to see things on both sides of the fence. He went on to say that Christians were responsible for all the wars, hate, prejudices and world woes. The article in question wasn't about Christian churches, but deceptive gurus, and the freedom found in Jesus Christ.

He said Jesus was my new guru, but Jesus can't be a guru. A guru is only a spiritual guide. Jesus is the Son of God, and our Savior, but today's current American culture doesn't think believing that is tolerant. The word tolerant has also been hijacked.

Though he was a registered Blogger, his blogs were pathetically void of any content, nor did they identify him, other than he's been to India a bunch of times, so his comment went into the trash.

• 0 comments »

I know what you’re going to say. It’s exercise! It has nothing to do with God. Let’s look at what the Wikipedia says about the word yoga:

1. a school of Hindu philosophy advocating and prescribing a course of physical and mental disciplines for attaining liberation from the material world and union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle.

2. any of the methods or disciplines prescribed, esp. a series of postures and breathing exercises practiced to achieve control of the body and mind, tranquility, etc.

3. union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle.

Not a valid source? How about hatha yoga Webster's Dictionary?

a system of physical exercises for the control and perfection of the body that constitutes one of the four chief Hindu disciplines

If you're a Christian and you're taking Yoga classes, or doing them on you're own, you're practicing a form of Hindu ritual. Sorry, but that's what you're doing.

Yoga opens doors to a New-Age lifestyle. If someone is not grounded in Christ they can easily be awed and drawn into the philosophy that is yoga. Often people subscribe to yoga magazines once they begin classes, and in these magazines lurk new age teachings, swami's, yogi's and guru's all hawking their wares.

Perhaps you can see how easy it is to get involved with eastern mystic religions. You can start out with taking yoga classes, then find yourself dropping your guard when it comes to your own Christian faith when you begin to read about expanding your soul, fountains of energy, and reading "God is in everyone." Yoga classes include short periods of meditation, sometimes incense burning, eastern music and New Age or Eastern religion readings. Sometimes you're given a mantra. If you're reading their material, you've taken the next step away from Jesus Christ. Yoga is a lure, but the postures are just the invitation into an entirely different belief system. Here is an example of some of those beliefs that are incorporated into the poses.

Lotus Pose, in Hindu the Lotus is the thousand fold petals of the soul.

Namaste means the divine spark located in the heart center, so you are bowing to the "god" in each of us. As one yoga teacher states in the Yoga Journal:

Ideally, Namaste should be done both at the beginning and at the end of class. Usually, it is done at the end of class because the mind is less active and the energy in the room is more peaceful. The teacher initiates Namaste as a symbol of gratitude and respect toward her students and her own teachers and in return invites the students to connect with their lineage, thereby allowing the truth to flow—the truth that we are all one when we live from the heart.

Om means the cosmic sound of all of God

Chakra is the Sanskrit word for wheel, and these "wheels" were thought of as spinning vortexes of energy.

Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) is symbolic and has mythic overtones for worshiping the sun.

Yoga always teaches philosophy and "wisdom" with poses. Here is one such wisdom taught, this is from a popular yoga magazine:

Step by Step. If you've been practicing yoga for a while, you're familiar with asana, pranayama, and meditation. But you might not know much about the first two steps of the path: the five yamas and five niyamas. These are the ethical precepts, or core values, of yoga as well as its starting place—meant to be practiced before you do your very first Sun Salutation. They provide a recipe for living in the world with ease. Yoga Journal

Now, watch the "onion unfolds" as you start with postures and end at the "royal path."

Asana: A body position that will give you the control you need to sit in states of God communion.

Pranayama: Breath control, to teach you to become "breathless" so you will become one with God.

Yamas: Rule or Code of living, usually a strict way of life, including vegetarianism, abstinence from sex (even if married).

Niyama: set of behaviors codified as "the observances" in numerous scriptures including the Shandilya and Varuha Upanishads, Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Gorakshanatha, the Tirumantiram of Tirumular and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. All the above texts list ten Niyamas, with the exception of Patanjali's work, which lists only five. They comprise the "shall-do" in our dealings with the inner world, and Swami Vivekananda describes them as the second step of Raja yoga (Sanskrit: राज योग). (Wikipedia)

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a foundational text of Yoga.[1] It forms part of the corpus of Sutra literature dating to India's Mauryan period. In Indian philosophy

Raja Yoga: ("royal yoga", "royal union", also known as Classical Yoga) is concerned principally with the cultivation of the mind using meditation (dhyana) to further one's acquaintance with reality and finally achieve liberation.

This opinion has nothing to do with intolerance. This has to do with knowing what you're signing up for, where yoga originated, where it's going to take you, and if there is another form of exercise you can do that does not include a Hindu disciplines repackaged into something benign.

Are you worshiping the sun or the Son?

BASIC Steps to Godly Fitness: Strengthening Your Body and Soul in Christ

Biblical resources: 1 John 5:21

"Dear Children, keep yourself from Idols."

An idol is anything that substitutes for the true faith, anything that robs Christ of his full Deity. (Life Application Bible, NIV, Zondervan)

• 1 comments »

Are you Worshiping the Sun or the Son?

Further reading...

clipped from www.christianitytoday.com The Truth About Yoga Yoga led Laurette Willis into a New Age lifestyle. Now she's warning others of the spiritual pitfalls—and offering an alternative. Holly Vicente Robaina It was 1965, and Laurette's mom, Jacquie, didn't think twice about exercising along with this yoga program that came on the TV after Jack La Lanne. She developed a passion for yoga, and began instructing free classes in her home. Laurette served as the demonstration model for her mom. The young girl relished the attention—and her family never suspected this seemingly innocent exercise would open the door to a New Age lifestyle that would affect Laurette for the next 22 years. Now 46, Christian speaker/author Laurette Willis tells everyone she meets about the dangers of yoga.

• 0 comments »

Christians are as bad as radical Islamic ter*rorists of today..." Post on Home Shopping Network

Sorry, you are not eligible to post. If you feel you have received this message in error, please contact HSNCustomer Service...

This ban was not for the above comment (nor from me)... Read on...

The local newspaper I read online has comments from readers, and about 75% of all comments eventually spin around to say something disparaging about Christians. Whatever is in the news, it's the Christian's fault. But it isn't just the newspapers, its also Internet forums.

When I became a Christian I didn't realize there was also a virtual CROSS in cyberspace! One could have a ministry online trying to defend the faith. What's interesting about this phenomena is how accepted it is to disparage Christians. The following is what lead to Home Shopping Network (HSN) banning me from posting on their forums or giving reviews on products I might buy (even though the two are not related).

HSN Forum poster:

I've never understood why people "of faith" feel the need to attribute everything to the Bible. If G*d created wisdom, do they really believe that He/She stopped giving it out 2000 years ago?! It's right up there with believing that the earth was only created 6000 years ago.

What I responded:

We've established that its prevalent in modern society to discount the Word of God based on public opinion rather than our own personal knowledge of the subject, and it's expected that Christians "take" forms of passive aggression.

HSN Forum poster:

Man wrote the Bible not God. It is not wholly true to Gods word. Man lies and wrote what they wanted in their interpretation.

I'm a person of faith and I don't believe all wisdom "stopped 2000 years ago" or that the earth is only 6000 years old. Most people of faith don't.

"All Christians are destroying the environment, you'll kill animals in the street without any remorse ) and you're the problem with all that's wrong with the world."

It's true, I blew a fuse and called her a paranoid schizophrenic and asked her if she was Nero. I then suggested she look up Nero, and that I'd write an article about her ignorance. Of course, it would not have been about HSN, or her, in particular, but about the general Christian ignorance I've encountered on Internet forums and comments. Perhaps this wasn't clear enough for someone who would willfully post that all Christians were responsible for the world's ills, and then cry like a baby to HSN customer service when she didn't like the response?

At this point she told me I "had a serious problem," apparently HSN listened to her complaint and I'm banned from their forums (they did tell me nicely I could still buy their products), but the clincher was they banned me from reviewing the products I purchased. Said poster, on the other hand was not banned and she's free to provoke Christians. Nor have they removed the many posts of Christian ideals being denigrated by other members, of which I copied them all (but not posted them all) as proof that this is allowed (should HSN ever come to me with objection to my claims). Other posters have questioned these provocations.

The following are the actual posts of the sentiments that are allowed on HSN forums. Now, you tell me how this can be?

These are examples of the HSN Forum environment that they feel is a "free flow of information and ideas."

I don't think you can mention God on this board. As I am an avid shopper with HSN. I may write to the president. I can understand censoring fowl language but banning people and deleting posts for mentioning God, writing about God or quoting the Bible is wrong. Seems to me HSN does not want Christians to participate on this board. If this is the case, I am sure they don't want us to shop either. Maybe I'm just over reacting, I don't know at this point.

Some folks seem to be "outraged" at the most insignificant, meaningless things. Everything Obama does or says is twisted and spun into an insult to Christianity or a hidden "homage" to Islam, an attack on his own country, an appeasement to the ter-ro-rists, a slap at our troops, etc etc. It's really pretty silly, and a waste of time and energy that could be put to much better use.

You can always tell when the "christian" right is scared of the reactions of other people of their "idols", when they accuse other people of being fearful. Glen Beck is right up there withLimbauchery. Knock, knock, America is not for Glen to take back, it is not for his viewers to take back, and for all of you righteous "christian" righters you are not the majority of Americans. Thank God for that.

I don't find holiday tree offensive.

I don't find Christmas tree offensive.

I find it offensive when all Christians care about is what we call things, instead of the true meaning of Christmas. There are no Christmas trees in the bible.

Leaving the christian church was the a gift i gave to myself; it lifted a burden from my shoulders, and stopped my being influenced by some serious brainwashing which this institution does. I believe organized religion loves to control, and i want NONE of it! The egos of many leaders are so big! While telling people to love others and be humble, they amass so many riches and pull power trips on others. Try studying the psychological profiles of religious leaders. Very enlightening.

Christians, or more specifically, those whom I refer to as capital C Christians, drove me away. Capital C Christians are those who are quick to point out your sins and the errors of your ways while they go about living their own immoral lives without ever recognizing the irony. The brazen hypocrisy got under my skin.

These posters are still posting and not banned. There are too many to post here.

HSN wrote me and said "any member who breaks the Community Guidelines three times will no longer be able to post on the forums." I never broke the guidelines before. The above examples seem to pass their muster: "We strive to continually offer a fun, engaging and interactive environment throughout HSN.com."

The poster who got me banned was sanctioned to write what she wanted about Christians (along with other posters of which there is no limit!), but because I'm a Christian (who defends her faith) I'm supposed to be Suzy Nice Christian and sit down and shut up, or get banned for my views. The poster had the audacity to tell me I wasn't very "Christian." Well, maybe I wasn't, maybe I'm a human being fraught will all kinds of human issues and maybe my character has a crack in it, but that's what the Bible is all about!

Proverbs 18 comes to mind.

An unfriendly man pursues selfish ends he defies all sound judgment

A fool finds no pleasure in understanding

But delights in airing his own opinions

I certainly don't recommend we run around calling people paranoid schizophrenics on Internet forums, and for that a warning would have been expected, but a total ban even on reviews? I gave good reviews (spent $$$) and who wants to buy if they can't review? It was over kill by people who don't know how to handle conflict resolution. They allow "talk" on forums over cash. This makes no business since to me. What prompted this "outing" on the Internet isn't innocent victim song, since I did get hot under the collar (but not without provocation), but HSN's generic letters of "tough luck" we are not interested in what you've got to say about it, we have the right to ban you and we did, so, basically take your money someplace else.

I gave them the benefit of the doubt. via phone I was told they would "check into it," and when I said I might write an article about this, was told, "do whatever you have to do." Via email, generic letters as I said, and then a nasty email that shut me down with, send a letter to, with a PO Box, because they couldn't help me anymore. Management had made their decision. I shot off a few terse emails, then felt like I was spinning around on the ground like a 4 year old in a bank. I was furious for the Christian bashing allowed, the temporary nastiness of my own response, and the loss of products I really enjoy.

I guess I'm still trying to understand Home Shopping Network business sense when they've had financial problems recently. In this current economy, and all the options to shop online and on TV, why would they take a chance of losing anyone, especially a writer with a means to vent her frustrations? Again, I am not innocent here, I did explode in an unseemly way. But if groveling doesn't resolve the issue, what can?

Finally, why would I bother to write them, to call, and to compose this letter? First, I truly believe Christians should defend the faith, and I hope other Christians notify HSN that they'll not put up with anti-Christian comments on their boards. I also hope HSN reviews their policies and provides some in-services to their front lines who represent their company. HSN was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it, and it just ticked me off that they wouldn't at the least slap my wrist, and be fair.

I wonder if their investors know that they threw a paying customer under the bus and that she's verbal about it? Hummm. Especially since they're laying people off.

(This is a reprint)

• 0 comments »

I just finished reading  Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult by Jayanti Tamm, and though this blog is not a book review site, I often comment on books I'm reading if they relate to the topics addressed on Turtle-Dove.  

There were some differences with Jayanti’s story and mine.  Her guru was alive, and mine was dead. But it does not matter if a guru is dead or alive. If the guru is not around to direct you, his disciples are willing and ready. She was born into the cult, "a divine birth," and I joined (though was told I was choosen to join). Like my guru, hers had a cavalcade of movie stars and famous followers, which were name dropped to further the proof that the guru was legitimate.  

Like my guru, his followers believed their guru was special, the only guru in the world with the “truth.” 

Like me, the only way out of her cult religion was through her own realization that her guru was a fake.  

No one can be talked out of these cults, as she realized when she left--you go it alone.

Even if you were not involved in an eastern religion cult, the story is riveting. You’ll come to understand the isolation, the control, and the spiritual damage these guru’s do to their followers and how there is nothing you can say to sway them away.

• 0 comments »

It makes me banana's that dharmic religions put Jesus in their temples and churchs.

The name Jesus Christ is like a stamp of approval, and opening a bank account. 

The Indian Guru's who have sailed to America with money in their eyes, knew that to get Judeo Christians in the door they had to get Jesus in first.

A religion with thousands of idols and just as many saints and sages, found it easy adding Jesus.  But reconciling that Jesus was just a guru and not a Savior took some thinking. Basically they threw out that he died on the cross for our sins, and decided to invent "Christ Conciousness," something we could stive for.  Jesus came to remove the law of "works" and the dharmic religions brought it back...in the name of Christ.

If a religion has Jesus, then it must be truth, is the general thinking. How they represent him doesn't seem to matter to a large and growing population. The reason they get away with this kidnapping is two fold.  First, they don't read the Bible, at least not the way you're supposed to read the Bible.  If they did read the Bible they wouldn't be able to sell their message.  

Second, Christians seem apathic to the thief of their Savior's good name.

Sometimes I think readers wonder why I write about these things. Just leave these guru's and their minions alone, and who cares what they think or say, or write or brainwash people to believe about Our Lord?  Well, I was involved in one of these groups and the damage they do isn't easily overcome. You might never have a healthy relationship with God again. To me that's important enough to share.

Of course they don't have Jesus, what they have is a fictional character they made up, like the Jesus who went to India and became a guru.

Eastern religion is theologically different than Christianity and the two do not connect with a few scriptures that are always out of context.

• 1 comments »

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses
And all the king's men,
Couldn't put Humpty together again

I just finished Barbara Brown Taylor's Leaving Church, a Memoir of Faith, and wanted to share some thoughts on this book.

The author was an Episcopalian Priest who walked away from a very strong identity to her church and it rattled her to the foundations of her faith. Anyone who has left a church, regardless of the religion, can relate to the universal truth about feeling betrayed and dislocated without something so pivotal as to how we connect with God.

Like so many of us who bring our idealistic notions into church with high expectations of both serving God and experiencing God, a popped church balloon can send us plummeting to the ground. The ground is very hard and for many of us we end up splattered everywhere and it takes a long time to put Humpty Dumpty back together again--and then we're not the same--what with those cracks all over!

When I left the guru church, I had no idea that others had left--I'm serious when I say that I thought leaving was impossible because I'd taken a pledge (and told I would suffer a thousand years of rebirth without the guru as punishment), but also, I had know idea that Christians had similar "exit" experiences of betrayal, hurt and grief when leaving their churches. The damages done when leaving a church does not seem to be about religion, but more about leaving a conviction in God. We feel betrayed by God. We question how it was even possible to be led down this path? Is it God's fault? Is it our fault?

For the author, she literally had to decide what to do the day "after" she left her clergy position with her church, whereas for some the realization they've left might take a long time.

In my own case, I didn't make a sudden decision to leave, rather I left because of the back-biting and un-devotee behaviors, and my inability to reconcile my mother's death with their comments that she didn't mind dying of cancer, the same as Christ did not mind dying on the cross!

While I was having my hiatus, it began to dawn on me that something was wrong with their beliefs and their hold on their devotees. The contrast really began to shout at me when I read the Bible for the first time. I kept saying, "This isn't what they told us!" It's interesting to note that guru churches make claims of harmony with Christ but they don't read the Bible. 

Barbara Brown Taylor went through actual physical withdrawals, finding herself on the floor with horrible headaches. It seemed she started pulling herself together by remembering the Sabbath and making time for a personal relationship with God, rather than all the doing for everyone else. Her healing came through nature and by opening her mind to other religions, weighing them against her own, and finding peace somewhere in the middle.

The author found it hard to go to other churches, and her the transition from leader to follower was unsettling. For me, just attending a Christian church felt like betrayal on the highest order! I'd jumped off the jet and onto the bullcart! Oh what we can do to our spiritual lives.

Like the author, I couldn't find spiritual or emotional support. Local Christian Pastors had no experience to counsel me, and for Barbara she'd been the counselor!

Our differences part here, as Barbara went off looking for the meaning behind other religions and embraced them, while I had been down those "many roads," and had settled onto the Road to Damascus.

She wrote a moving story of her father's decline and death from cancer, another subject that I'm very familiar with, and she made this astute observation while watching him die and wondering about his relationship with God: "All I found out was how helpless love can be, with nothing left to do but suffer alongside with the beloved."

I highly recommend this book to affirm that the loss of a church can be devastating but the return to spiritual health entirely possible.

• 0 comments »

My ex-guru worshipers used to scoff at the way Christians "read" the Bible and their dog-like-devotion to a book. Our egos were so enormous, in that we thought Christians were el-stupido and morons to hold onto such old and moldy beliefs! If you believed Jesus Christ was the Only Way, you were labelled as someone with a crutch.

Mind you, this is from the mentalities of people who were practicing a religion older than Christianity, and with no known orgins...but somehow Guru's Special Hinduism was scientific and modern, buzz words they threw around to validate their beliefs. 

They professed to be a church of all religions but they were not tolerant of Christians behind closed doors.  The mere fact that they published a New Testament interpretation based on the guru's understanding of Jesus Christ is ludicrous.  He based his understanding of Jesus on a few scriptures, such as, " the kingdom of God is within you" and "know ye not that ye are gods," to give him license to hijack Jesus Christ and make him a Hindu Guru!  His pseudo Christ did not die on the the cross and forgive our sins, but is, in fact, living in a cave with Babaji (another Hindu sage) working out the problems of the world.  They take the very core of Christianity out of their teachings, yet claim to be reconciled with Jesus Christ and understand the true meaning of his teachings.  They spin "truth seekers" as their own motto, and anyone else is not seeking truth unless they're reading their teachings.  And for the record this book didn't come out until the guru was dead for over 50 years.  The dead guru continues to churn out books and writings similiar to the prolific after-death writings of L. Ron Hubbard. 

I can so relate to Peter.  How I wanted to expose those Christians for their foolishness!  I didn't hate them, but I pitied them.  They were so lost in delusion, while I was on the golden highway!

One of the most dramatic Christian upsets was during a Thursday night service when someone stood suddenly and yelled, "This is blasphemy!" and they left making a lot of noise. For a moment everyone was shocked, our eyes flying from the door to the pulpit, everyone waiting for our sadhu to say something profound, but he said nothing about the commotion as if it never happened. Our sadhus never, ever said anything about current events, whether in the now or the newspapers.  For example, the day after Princess Diana died I ached for the sadhu to say a prayer or something, but noting was mentioned about the tragic event.  They felt it was better not to "read the news" lest it upset you.  Don't read anything, they'd say, other than the Master's teachings.  Why get worked up?  We were specifically told not to read anything negative about the church or guru.

Every once in a while a group of Christians would arrive and sit in a neat little row, Bibles open, and get about half-way through the service, before they stood quietly and made their way to the exit. Other devotees would make eye contact with each other, raise a "knowing and pititful" eyebrow.  If a Christian sat by me, I would meditate extra hard--back straight, shoulders back and during the chant be as loud as I could, "OM GURU!"  The pride!

Us devotees spoke amongst ourselves how ridiculous it was to quote Bible scripture.  I couldn't get my head around the Bible or it's importance, but once I began to read it--study it, pray over it, I realized how wrong that guru was in saying it took a "master" to understand scripture.

One of the most beautiful explainations of the Bible came to me from our old family Bible. It's The New Standard Alphabetical Indexed Bible with a copyright of 1936 (last printing anyways), and tucked in the middle of this musty, moldy book is a beautiful description of what the Bible is:

This book contains:

...The mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, doom of sinners and happiness of believers.  It's doctrines are holy, it's precepts are binding, it's histories are true and it's decisions are immutable.  Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy.  It contains light to direct you, food to support you and comfort to cheer you. It is the travelers map, the pilgrims staff, the pilots compose, the soldiers sword and the Christians charter. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened and the gates of hell disclosed.  Christ is its grand subject our good it's design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the mind, rule the heart and guide the feet.  read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully.  It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgement and be remembered forever.  It involves the highest responsibility, rewards the greatest labor, and condemns all who trifle with its holy contents.  

This Book unfolds Jehovah's mind.

This Voice salutes in accents kind

This Friend will all our need supply

This Fountain sends forth streams of joy

This Mine affords us boundless wealth

This Good physician gives us health

This Sun renews and warms the soul

This Sward both wounds and makes us whole

This Letter shows our sins forgiven

This Guide conducts us safe to heaven

This Charter has been sealed with blood

this Volume is the Word of God.

What a powerful reason to never touch the meaning or interpretation of the Bible.

• 3 comments »

"The experts of our day haven’t a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn’t have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross." ~ 1 Corinthians 2 8-9

Once I became a Christian I thought I'd joined the Christian Club.  My spiritual life was going to revived after six years in a desert!  How joyful I would be; life was finally right-side-up and I was right with God. I was worshiping, praising God, smiling at my new Christian friends, hugging, praying, confessing, boy, I felt like a million bucks in this new club!  I was flying so high, I couldn't see the ground. Someone "not so kindly" told me I'd hit the ground in a year or two. That's the kind of encouragement you can expect when you become a Christian.  Other comments, from well-meaning family, were, "you're no fun anymore," or "you've ruined everything."  

I expected this from non-Christians, but imagine my surprise when I learned a thing or two about my new Christian peeps.  

Slowly, not all at once, but slowly, I began to learn that some of my new Christian friends were, say, unreliable, procrastinators, egotistic, alcoholics, and... well, just like everybody else. Then I began to see why us Christians get a bad rap with being hypocritical.  We can get just as bogged down in legalistic, theologies, rules and regulations as anybody.  We say one thing and do another. Guilty as charged. But it sucks when it's pointed out.  

I've wanted to write about this being-found-out issue, and had started this article but nothing really pushed me to finish it until the other day.  

I know I'm a Christian because I believe Jesus Christ atoned my sins by death on the cross and was resurrected, and that he offers me eternal life.  I study the Word, but I'm trying to change directions from some very old well-worn paths--and which Christian isn't?  My writings here are not perfect, you'll find theological inconsistencies, some contradictions of thought, and some snarly behavior.  But my path is consistent with what Paul wrote to the Corinthians, that when people become Christians they don't immediately make nice.

"Conversion to Christ and his ways doesn’t automatically furnish a person with impeccable manners and suitable morals." The Message

But Paul addresses something else to the Corinthians.  The beginning of introducing Jesus Christ. 

You’ll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God’s master stroke, I didn’t try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified.

I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate—I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it—and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God’s Spirit and God’s power did it, which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God’s power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else. ~ 1 Cor 2  1-5 The Message

This is exactly how I felt when I first started Turtle-Dove.  Satan weighed right in on the matter. He sat me down and clearly pointed out how I knew nothing about being a Christian so just exactly would I write about?  Wasn't there already millions of Christian's blogs out there? Boring.

Next, he assured me that sharing my last foray into this "God thing" was cult-ish at best, so why would anyone believe I'd found "the way" now?  Duped once, duped twice. Right?  Then, he told me that there were so many branches of Christianity that I couldn't possibly settle on one, anyways, I was going to embarrass myself and do nothing for the faith. He said I didn't know enough about the Bible to really have an opinion, and no one was going to listen to me anyways and this blog would die in the blog sphere.  He was very understanding of my dilemma and I almost listened to him.

But I didn't.  Satan is a liar and a deceiver.

So, I just started reading, studying God's word and wrote about what I felt God wanted me to write about. I've been extremely reserved about sharing my past religion, not because I fear them, but because I do not promote hate, and we do need tolerance--but tolerance does not obliterate the Truth, nor can I discount my life in a spiritual quagmire for almost 30 years as now meaning nothing. 

Paul was not worried about offending anyone in sharing Jesus Christ, or making mistakes. He died for his belief in Jesus Christ.  If he'd sought to be a perfect Christian after picking himself off the road to Damascus, he would have entered a monastery, not hit the road running to share what he'd experienced there.  

As a Christian writer who keeps a blog, I have reached out to a few other blog writers.  If I see something that I can add or correct, or wish to contribute, I'll email that writer.  When we reach out in this world we become vulnerable. That's just a fact.  Being vulnerable isn't a place I like to stay long, as I've been hurt by total strangers on the Internet.  Because I am a Christian, I've been persecuted without provocation.  Especially by people who were wounded in a religion (SRF in particular), as they usually turn to atheism, or Buddhism, or a take a radical stance on a particular theology.  I understand this because I had a difficult time with the word "meditation" even though we can meditated on God without trying to be God.

Now, I reached out to a group who denounces the Word of Faith Moment because they'd written about cults and I thought I could add another perspective.  My bad because I didn't realize they were so outspoken about the WOF  movement they'd go through my blog with a fine-tooth-comb.  It helps to do some research before extending the branch.  

I received a reply by one of the writers who felt that because I supported Joyce Meyers Ministries (in a monetary way) I am still in a cult, and practicing Hindu-Light.  He also denounced me as a Christian.

Welcome to radical judgement from the body of Christ.  We don't need atheists.

Now, my work here is to write about what I know within my own personal experiences. I can't take on the world of religions or theologies.  I won't do the work of the Lord, which will be fulfilled on judgement day. I'm not sure I even have a deeper objective, other than I enjoy writing about my own freedom in Jesus Christ after nearly 30 years of being on a razor's edge, and if the Holy Spirit wants to work in the readers hearts, then wonderful!  

It's really up to each individual to do their own scriptural study and not follow anyone blindly. I learned the hard way, and I gather from this man's response, so has he.  I'm not sure who his offender was in the WOF movement, but he followed someone down their path and he was wounded.

Sometimes we just get very enamored by charismatic people and we get hoodwinked into their spin on things, and next thing we know we're in the middle of Works.  It happens.  Not only in churches but in marriages and businesses and friendships.  

Everything we need to know about God is between Genesis and Revelations.  That doesn't mean I don't read other books, because I do, but we start with the Word.

I truly felt a "no thank you" from this group would have been appropriate, rather than name calling and making judgements.

When other Christians start demanding other Christians to obey they're way of thinking, I always go back to 1 Corinthians.  I think, if only that person would have read the Word before they responded to a fellow Christian.  

Let's say we get some theologies wrong.  Let's say our ministry is not perfect, or it's grown from several years ago, or mistakes were made.  Do we reject those who bring people to the Lord? Not according to Paul.  God is working through us, straighting out the kinks and it takes time.

What does Paul say about this behavior amongst Christians?  Let's look at 1 Corinthians.

I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. I’ll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common.

I bring this up because some from Chloe’s family brought a most disturbing report to my attention—that you’re fighting among yourselves! I’ll tell you exactly what I was told: You’re all picking sides, going around saying, “I’m on Paul’s side,” or “I’m for Apollos,” or “Peter is my man,” or “I’m in the Messiah group.”

I ask you, “Has the Messiah been chopped up in little pieces so we can each have a relic all our own? Was Paul crucified for you? Was a single one of you baptized in Paul’s name?” I was not involved with any of your baptisms—except for Crispus and Gaius—and on getting this report, I’m sure glad I wasn’t. At least no one can go around saying he was baptized in my name. 16(Come to think of it, I also baptized Stephanas’s family, but as far as I can recall, that’s it.)

God didn’t send me out to collect a following for myself, but to preach the Message of what he has done, collecting a following for him. And he didn’t send me to do it with a lot of fancy rhetoric of my own, lest the powerful action at the center—Christ on the Cross—be trivialized into mere words.

The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It’s written,

I’ll turn conventional wisdom on its head,

I’ll expose so-called experts as crackpots.

So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn’t God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb—preaching, of all things!—to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation.

The Message 1 Cor 1:10 - 21

• 1 comments »