One Girl’s Heaven is Another Man’s Hell

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Lee — 6 Comments

Once upon a time, a five year old girl named Jayden Sink decided to set up a lemonade stand to raise money for charity. Her plan was a big success! She and her father raised over $170 selling cups of lemonade to local residents—and much more in a matching online fundraiser. Here they are at the lemonade stand:

Jayden Sink and Jon Sink at the Lemonade Stand for Peace

Jayden and her Dad at the lemonade stand

(Photo courtesy of FRESHCASSETTE – Creative Compassion)

Where did Jayden get the idea of selling lemonade for charity?

It may have helped that her father, Jon Sink, founded the humanitarian organization FRESHCASSETTE – Creative Compassion, which raises money for charities such as World Bicycle Relief and The Water Project by distributing free music and requesting donations from anyone who enjoys it.

What charity did Jayden’s lemonade stand benefit?

The money from the fundraiser went to Planting Peace, whose international projects include support for orphanages and safe havens, deworming programs, and anti-bullying campaigns. With permission, Jayden and her father set up their lemonade stand in Topeka, Kansas, on the front lawn of “Equality House,” which is owned and operated by the Planting Peace organization.

The locals showed up in droves to buy Jayden’s lemonade. For her, it was like a magical fairy tale—a little slice of heaven!

But not everyone thought her lemonade stand was heavenly. In fact, the neighbors across the street didn’t like it one little bit. They tried their best to squash little Jayden’s lemonade stand.

They thought it came straight out of hell.

For more on lemonade, heaven, and hell, please click here to read on.

Tagged with: charities, children, Fred Phelps, FRESHCASSETTE Creative Compassion, heaven, Heaven and Hell, hell, Jayden Sink, Jon Sink, Pink Lemonade for Peace, Planting Peace, Topeka KS, Westboro Baptist Church
Posted in Current Events

What is the History and Importance of Bethel in the Bible?

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Lee — 95 Comments

Here is a spiritual conundrum posed by loganfields2:

Could you please explain to me in one of your posts the history of, and the importance of Bethel in the Bible! I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks for the question, loganfields2.

The Old Testament town of Bethel (formerly named Luz) was one of the first places in the Bible where the Hebrew people met with God. The most famous of these encounters was Jacob’s dream of a stairway to heaven, with angels ascending and descending on it, and the Lord standing above it (Genesis 28:10–22).

Because this and several other early encounters with God happened at Bethel, it signifies our first beginnings of knowledge and understanding about God, heaven, and spiritual truth. And since this early knowledge of heavenly things comes in the first stages of our spiritual journey, when we are more earthly-minded than spiritual, Bethel represents a rather external and pragmatic sense of what God and spirit are all about.

One hint at this significance is that in the original Hebrew, Bethel means “house of God.” A house of God is an earthly, physical place (such as a church or temple) that is seen as the dwelling place of God. God cannot really be contained in a physical building or location (see 1 Kings 8:27), but we earth-bound humans often need something solid and physical to remind us of the presence of God, heaven, and spirit.

Before we dig deeper into the history and importance of Bethel, let’s get a visual on where it is located. Here is a map showing the position of Bethel in the Holy Land. It is west and a little north of Jericho, the first city that the Israelites conquered when they entered the Holy Land (Joshua 6). It is north of Jerusalem, which became the spiritual and political center of Israel.

Bethel in relation to Jericho and Jerusalem

(Map courtesy of www.israel-a-history-of.com)

For more on the history and importance of Bethel, please click here to read on.

Tagged with: Abraham, Bethel, God, Holy Land, Israel, Jacob, Jacob's Ladder, spiritual journey, spiritual meaning, spirituality, stairway to heaven, the Bible, unconditional love
Posted in The Bible Re-Viewed

Who was Swedenborg? What Should I Read?

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Lee — 31 Comments

If you’ve encountered Emanuel Swedenborg, and you’re a bit fuzzy on what he’s all about and where to start, the Swedenborg Foundation has just released a new video especially for you!

Jonathan Rose, Series Editor of the New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg, narrates the video. It provides a brief overview of Swedenborg’s astonishing accomplishments, then reviews five of Swedenborg’s most popular books.

At the end of the video there are clickable links to pages where you can either purchase print and Kindle editions or download free e-versions of each of the five recommended books. You’ll also find these links after the YouTube video description below.

Enjoy!

Here is the description of the video from the Swedenborg Foundation’s YouTube channel:

Published on Jun 7, 2013

Emanuel Swedenborg is a fascinating historical figure. Though he was at the top of many of his fields of study in 18th century Europe, he remains relatively unknown in the world today. This may well be because of one of the most unique features of Swedenborg’s career: in his mid-fifties, he underwent a series of spiritual experiences that completely changed the trajectory of his life. He reported having extensive visions and insight into the afterlife, the nature of God, and the purpose of life here on earth. He spent the rest of his days writing down and publishing his spiritual findings in an incredibly systematic, coherent way. He ended up writing twenty-seven volumes on spirituality, which had a significant impact on many important thinkers of his century and those that followed.

You can purchase print and Kindle editions, or download free epub and PDF versions, at the following links:

Heaven and Hell
Divine Love and Wisdom
Divine Providence
True Christianity
Secrets of Heaven

Tagged with: Christianity, Divine Love and Wisdom, Divine Providence, Emanuel Swedenborg, Heaven and Hell, Jesus Christ, Jonathan Rose, Secrets of Heaven, spirituality, Swedenborg, Swedenborg Foundation, the Bible, True Christianity
Posted in Books and Literature

What is the Sin of Sodom?

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Lee — 38 Comments

The sin of Sodom? That’s obvious, isn’t it?

No, it’s not.

The Bible does tell us what the sin of Sodom was . . . and it’s not what you’re thinking!

In the book of Ezekiel, God says:

Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. (Ezekiel 16:49–50)

There you have it. The Bible says that the sin of Sodom was arrogance, overindulgence, indifference, lack of charity for the poor and needy, and haughtiness. It’s all about self-centeredness and lack of love for the neighbor. Not a word about homosexuality.

Oh, yes. It also says that they “did detestable things.” And though Old Testament law does say that sex between two men is detestable (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13), it says that dozens of other things are detestable too, such as:

Making an idol (Deuteronomy 27:15)
Sacrificing an imperfect ox or sheep (Deuteronomy 17:1)
Eating the meat of camels, rabbits, hyraxes, pigs, or any other mammal that does not have cloven hooves and chew the cud (Deuteronomy 14:3–8)

If the sin of Sodom were homosexuality, the Bible would have been more specific about it! In fact, the Bible never mentions homosexuality in relation to Sodom. (Though Jude 1:7 is sometimes translated as if it did, there is much controversy over exactly what the original Greek word means in this context.)

You can think whatever you want about homosexuality. But it’s sloppy Biblical scholarship to claim that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 is about the evils of same-gender sex. Such claims also display an ignorance of Biblical and Middle Eastern culture.

Let’s take a closer look at the story, and see what it’s really about. Though many people avoid the shocking story in Genesis 19, it does offer powerful insights for our everyday life.

For more on Sodom and Gomorrah, please click here to read on.

Tagged with: Christianity, evil, fundamentalism, gang rape, homosexuality, rape, sex, sin of Sodom, Sodom, Sodom and Gomorrah, spirituality, the Bible, violence
Posted in The Bible Re-Viewed

Divine Love and Wisdom, by Emanuel Swedenborg

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Lee — 9 Comments

How did God create the universe?

What does the universe say about God . . . and about the human psyche?

This highly philosophical work will expand the boundaries of your mind, revealing many deep mysteries of the cosmos, the human spirit, and the mind of God:

Divine Love and Wisdom
By Emanuel Swedenborg

Divine Love and Wisdom was originally published in Latin in 1763. I recommend the New Century Edition linked here for the most readable and accurate modern translation. It is also available in a deluxe hardcover edition combined with its sequel, Divine Providence.

To purchase direct from the publisher in various formats, or to download a free PDF or epub version (without the scholarly introduction and notes), click this link.

For further description and review, please click here to read on.

Tagged with: cosmology, Creation, Divine Love and Wisdom, Emanuel Swedenborg, God, humanity, love, philosophy, psychology, religion, science, spirituality, wisdom
Posted in Books and Literature

Creation vs. Evolution: Can We All Just Calm Down, Please?

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Lee — 56 Comments

4th Grade Science Quiz on "Dinosaurs: Genesis and the Gospel" (Page 1)

Creationist Fourth Grade Science Quiz Page 1

4th Grade Science Quiz on "Dinosaurs: Genesis and the Gospel" (Page 2)

Creationist Fourth Grade Science Quiz Page 2

This just viral: a fourth grade science quiz.

Normally, grade school science quizzes are not that interesting. But when the correct answer to the true/false question “The earth is billions of years old” is “false,” that gets people’s attention.

As it turns out, the quiz in question was given at the Blue Ridge Christian Academy in the town of Landrum, S. Carolina, north of Greenville. The children had been shown the DVD presentation “Dinosaurs, Genesis, & the Gospel” by Ken Ham and Buddy Davis, published by an organization called Answers in Genesis. The DVD expounds a “young Earth creationism” view of the Bible, which holds that the Creation story in Genesis is to be taken literally, and that the earth is six to ten thousand years old. The quiz tested the children’s knowledge of what was taught in the video.

The moment a photo of the completed quiz hit the Internet on the r/atheist forum at reddit.com, the heated rhetoric began.

For more on creation, evolution, and heated rhetoric, please click here to read on.

Tagged with: atheism, Christianity, Creation, Creationism, evolution, fundamentalism, Lawrence Krauss, neighbor, religion, science, service, the Bible, young Earth creationism
Posted in Current Events, Science Philosophy and History

Why Didn’t Moses Lead God’s People into the Holy Land?

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Lee — 32 Comments

That’s right. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, and all through the desert, but Moses did not lead God’s people into the Holy Land.

Why not?

That’s the subject of a spiritual conundrum posed by darcydee:

My question to you is, “Why was Moses refused entrance into the Holy Land, after he led God’s people there?”

Thanks for the great question, darcydee! It points to some fascinating stories in the Bible. And those stories point to some wonderful insights on the mental and emotional changes we must pass through in order to reach our own “holy land” of spiritual adulthood.

The short answer to your question is that Moses, because of his character and his cultural and spiritual significance, was the right person to lead the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt; but he was the wrong person to lead them into the Holy Land.

Why was Moses the wrong person to lead God’s people into the Holy Land?

As great a leader as he was, like every human being Moses had his character flaws. He was not allowed into the Holy Land because of his:

Lack of trust in God
Grumbling and complaining
Failure to follow God’s commands exactly
Grandstanding and stealing God’s glory in front of the people

These failings in Moses’ character all came out at a place near Kadesh (also called Kadesh Barnea), just south of Palestine. This place came to be called Meribah (“quarreling”) because of a certain incident that took place there.

That’s where God commanded Moses for a second time to bring water out of a rock for the thirsty people.

And where, instead of following God’s simple instructions, Moses made a big production of it in front of the people.

And thus where God told Moses and his brother Aaron that because they had neither trusted God nor given God the glory, they would never set foot in the Holy Land (Numbers 20:12).

Let’s take a closer look.

For more on Moses’ merits and demerits, please click here to read on.

Tagged with: Christianity, Egypt, God, Holy Land, Joshua, Moses, religion, Sinai, spirituality, the Bible, The Law, The Ten Commandments, water from the rock
Posted in Spiritual Growth, The Bible Re-Viewed

Repentance: The Unpopular Partner of Forgiveness

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Lee — 15 Comments

If the Christian virtues were running against each other in a high school popularity contest, love would probably win.

And forgiveness would probably be in the top five. Who knows, forgiveness might even beat out faith and hope for second place!

Forgiveness is so sweet . . . so nice . . . . Who doesn’t love forgiveness? As the old saying goes, “To err is human, to forgive, divine.” Forgiveness is the pretty, popular girl that everyone is always swarming around and wanting to be friends with.

Repentance, on the other hand, is that ugly, awkward kid nobody likes. “Ewww! Get away from me! I’m not voting for you!”

Yeah . . . repentance would definitely place near the bottom in a popularity contest.

But you know how sometimes the most unlikely kids from high school end out marrying each other and living happily ever after?

What if forgiveness got married to repentance?

“Oh come on! That ugly repentance kid could never land a hottie like forgiveness! Dream on!”

But it’s true!

Repentance and forgiveness are inseparable partners.

For more on the relationship between forgiveness and repentance, please click here to read on.

Tagged with: Anger Management, celebrities, Charlie Harper, Charlie Sheen, Christian virtues, Chuck Lorre, entertainment, forgiveness, punishment, relationships, repentance, spirituality, Two and a Half Men
Posted in Popular Culture, Spiritual Growth

Charlie Sheen: Man and Myth

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Lee — Leave a comment

Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen. He’s old news, isn’t he?

Yes, he has a new gig as lead actor on the FX cable TV series “Anger Management.” But the one or two million viewers who tune in for each episode of his new show can’t hold a candle to the fourteen or fifteen million who used to tune in for each episode of his old show, CBS broadcast TV sitcom “Two and a Half Men.” Sheen played its lead character: TV jingle writer, womanizer, and perpetual drunk Charlie Harper.

In 2011, Sheen was all over the news for his very public meltdown in the midst of drugs, alcohol, and violence, and his subsequent firing from his position as the best paid actor on TV, starring in the #1 ranked television comedy.

Sheen predicted that without him, “Two and a Half Men” would tank. However, with Ashton Kutcher replacing Sheen as the lead actor in a new role as Internet billionaire Walden Schmidt, and with Jon Cryer continuing his co-star role as Alan Harper, and Angus T. Jones continuing in a recurring role as Alan’s son Jake, the show has kept right on attracting almost as many viewers as it did in its “glory days” with Charlie Sheen.

Sheen has been on the talk show circuit lately, presumably to plug his new role in “Anger Management.” But the talk is all about “Two and a Half Men,” and Sheen’s meltdown and firing from that cherry role.

How does an actor get himself fired from the top job in the industry?

The answer lies in the difference between the onscreen myth, Charlie Harper, and the real-life man, Charlie Sheen.

For more on Charlie the myth and Charlie the man, please click here to read on.

Tagged with: addiction, alcohol, alcoholism, Anger Management, Angus T. Jones, celebrities, Charlie Harper, Charlie Sheen, drugs, entertainment, Jon Cryer, sex, Two and a Half Men
Posted in Popular Culture

Don’t Look Back! Press Onwards and Upwards!

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Lee — 8 Comments

Nostalgia never seems to go out of style.

Twenty- and thirty-somethings relive their carefree days of high school and college.
Forty- and fifty-somethings yearn for their years of young adulthood, before their shoulders were weighed down with heavy burdens of responsibility.
Sixty- and seventy-somethings pine for the decades when the adventures and achievements of life lay ahead of them instead of behind them.
Old war buddies mourn the era when the men were brave, the women were strong, and the issues were clear.

It’s a terrible way to live.

Yes, it is good to remember the past. But we were never meant to live there.

Yes, our past brought us to the present. But the present is moving toward the future, not toward the past.

Our eyes are placed in the front of our head, not in the back. We humans are designed to look forwards, not backwards.

Within the ancient pages of the Bible there are many stories and metaphors illustrating the damage that is done when we look back and live in the past. Let’s take a deeper look at a few of them, and see what wisdom they hold for our life today . . . and for our future.

For the Bible’s take on looking back, please click here to read on.

Tagged with: Abraham, Dead Sea, don't look back, Exodus, freedom, Lot, Lot's wife, onwards and upwards, pillar of salt, seven spirits, slavery, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Bible
Posted in Spiritual Growth, The Bible Re-Viewed

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