Logos Bible Software

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They’re also having a special limited-time sale on their Mac and PC base packages and upgrades. Check it out!

Inventive/unconventional advice for job hunting

In Through the Side Door

If you're not scoring many interviews by applying for jobs and forwarding your resume to HR, try more creative means to get the hiring manager's attention.

June 4, 2010

By Lisa Vaas

FILED UNDER: Results-Oriented Resumes.

Got your eye on a specific job? Don’t want your resume to get lost in the shuffle? There are ingenious methods of getting an employer’s attention through the side door.
Instead of sending your resume and job application through the human-resources department, you might want to catch the employer’s attention by flashier means. Establish yourself as an industry expert that the company simply can’t ignore or live without until they’re the ones asking you for your resume.
If you have a target company in mind (or a few), these techniques might make you stand out from the crowd of resumes waiting to be reviewed by the HR department. To learn some of the successful techniques that have worked for job seekers, TheLadders spoke to career coaches who suggested innovative ways for their clients to stand out and interviewed job seekers who won the attention of hiring managers by unconventional means.
The techniques described below won’t work for everyone, warn those who shared their stories. Every job seeker and job is different. What’s the common denominator? In each case, the professional “showed off skills in an area the person really wanted to be in,” said Susan Berg, Ph.D., author of “Choose on Purpose for Twentysomethings.” Instead of copying exactly the approach of others, she recommended job seekers examine why the technique worked and try to find a technique that does the same in your particular situation. “There are no magic bullets. This is about hard work, knowing what you want, and being willing to take risks and be persistent.”

Chime In: the print version

Debra Benton, an executive coach and president of Benton Management Resources Inc., recalled a client who wanted to work for the governor of Colorado.
“Resumes went nowhere; networking wasn't working either,” she said. “So we developed a series of letters to the editor of the Denver Post about issues my client was an expert in and that was of interest to the governor's office. In the letters, we addressed some projects my client had executed (or) completed. We also included thought-provoking approaches to issues of interest to the governor.
“Long story short, (the governor’s) people called to have him come in and discuss his expertise, which ultimately resulted in him getting offered a job on the governor’s staff.”

Chime in: the online version

Blogging is another way to present yourself to the world, if you’ve got something worth saying. Mitchell York, a career coach with The Five O’Clock Club, had one client — an expert on international marketing strategy and PR and a former journalist for NBC News — who did just that.

Career Advice from TheLadders

• Your Resume Is Ready for the Attic
• Making Friends and Finding Free Resume Advice
• Make Your Resume Answer Someone's Prayers
• New Resume Polishes a 'Diamond in the Rough'

“I thought it was a good way [for him] to connect with people he’s interested in and to reconnect with people he’s known,” York said. “That has proven to be the case. He’ll write a post, and he’s incredibly interesting and engaging. ... He’ll send a link to the post to someone in his network who has interest in what he’s writing about, as a way to reconnect with someone and as a way to expose his expertise to new people (as well as) to get people to forward what he’s written. It really shows what he knows about to a wider circle of people. I’ll link to them, retweet them and send them out to my network.”
If you don’t have something worth saying, this approach can backfire, of course. But as York suggested, blogging is a good venue for professionals with a point of view in the area of interest that relates to their job search. “If you have content that’s valuable, it can be a great way to get consulting assignments and freelance work and to just enhance your networking for more meetings with people,” York pointed out. “And meetings are what lead to job interviews, and that leads to jobs.”

Who can resist a FedEx package?

Executive coach Rich Gee directs his clients to bypass recruiters and HR departments by directing their attention to the actual hiring managers.
“They initially reach out to these higher-ups by writing them a short, introductory letter, where they never mention that they are looking for a position,” he said. “I have them FedEx the letter to ensure that they receive it and that they actually read it. They then follow up with a direct call to introduce themselves and ask for a lunch/coffee.” One client did this with a CEO, a CMO and a GVP in the financial sector. When Gee’s client followed up with phone calls, all three were expecting his call and agreed to his lunch invitation. During the conversations that ensued, each one of the executives said the same thing: "You were smart to FedEx the letter. E-mail gets trashed. Mail gets tossed. FedEx gets READ."

Ask for informational interviews

As Chris Perry neared the end of his MBA program last spring, he told us, he was pursuing brand-management opportunities in consumer packaged goods. Unfortunately, he said, while he had marketing experience, he had not previously worked in brand management and quickly discovered how challenging it was to break into the industry.
He started reaching out to brand managers at companies he was targeting via LinkedIn and requested brief informational interviews to discuss their companies and careers. During the calls, he said, “we would both have the opportunity to share our backgrounds, which helped us make an initial connection.”
At the end of each call, Perry would frame the challenge he was having breaking into the industry and ask his subject how she got her foot in the door and what she recommended Perry do to pursue opportunities successfully. By not asking for a job and instead making a connection first, offering a "problem" and the opportunity to help him solve it, Perry had a number of professionals ask for his resume to send around so that their teams could help him out.
“One such request led not only to an invitation to an official interview, but eventually to my current role,” said Perry, who’s working as a career-search and branding expert at CareerRocketeer.

Network like mad

Here are three more networking tips from Abby Kohut, president of CareerWakeUpCalls.com:

1. If your target company is public, buy one share of its stock. That makes you eligible to attend the company’s shareholders’ meeting. Then go and hob-nob with the executives.
2. Volunteer for the charity to which your target company donates time or money. Attend events that the charity hosts, and try to meet the executives.
3. Go to happy hours at the bars near your target company. If the company’s large enough, someone will probably be there from the company. Make friends.

The Effectual Fervent Prayer of a Righteous Man Availeth Much!

James 5:16 This is obviously a conditional statement of many facets here...  It is not simply effectual or fervent or just a righteous man's (meaning mankind for you ladies) prayers that produces results.  Apparently, it is showing ALL the ingredients to get results in your prayers!  I am all ears for this!  I want my prayers to have results and I think I am learning something here so I want to share what I have found so far with you.

First, I must say that I am not a very lengthy prayer person... I have not been exactly a very consistent prayer person most of my life until the last couple years.  I am now learning that I have been praying incorrectly in some ways.  This may sound self-defeating, but really it is not!  I am simply sharing what God is showing me about me because I asked Him to help me see myself - so I can allow Him to can work Godly changes in my life.

Lord willing, I am going to address this topic in a few posts... The focus of this post is studying the biblical definition of a righteous man.   I started researching this a few years ago and what I have found started a change in me that prepared me for what was about to happen a year or so later.  I learned that a righteous man is NOT necessarily a man that looks/behaves righteously as you or I might think.  In fact, we find that the Bible says that a righteous man fails ALL THE TIME!!!  Proverbs 24:16 says, "a righteous man falls seven times".  The number seven represents a the number of completeness, perfection, or whole.  This means part of a righteous man's whole/complete makeup is that he is fallen.  But it does not end there because the same can be said of an unrighteous man - he is fallen too!  So what is the difference?  I am glad you asked!  The distinct difference of a righteous man is that he GETS BACK UP! So maybe an unrighteous man would be the converse definition: a man who wallows in his ways of folly or foolishness and does nothing to repent or strive to get back up.  This brings the words like "upstanding" or "upright" to describe a person to new meaning doesn't it?  This was great encouragement for me personally because I never felt like a righteous person in spite of my reputation as a "goody two shoes" growing up.  I was raised very ultra conservative by most standards.  I was told by kids in public school that I was 'like an angel' when they learned how I lived my life (no TV, no sexual activity before marriage, no listening to worldly/secular music, no dancing, etc), yet I knew what kinds of thoughts, inward struggles and things that were in my heart that I dared not tell anyone out of fear that I would be seen as I was! Scriptures like "as a man thinketh in his heart so is he" (Proverbs 23:7) haunted me!  I lived in condemnation until I started seeking, learning, and then understanding God's Word.  The race is not given to the swiftest, but those who endure to the end (Eccl. 9:11, Matt. 10:22, Mark 13:13).

I believe John the Baptist go it right on a lot of things, since Jesus said that he was the greatest man who ever lived (Luke 7:28)!!  One thing that John said about himself in relationship to Jesus: "He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:28-30) tells us that we must focus on Jesus first.  By doing this, I believe it automatically enables us to decrease ourselves.  If we focus on decreasing ourselves, then we are focusing on something other than Christ which is simply ourselves - this is incorrect!  We are instructed throughout the scriptures (Hebrews 12:2, Matthew 6:33, Isaiah 45:22, Colossians 3:1-3) to seek God and HIS Kingdom FIRST in our lives - in every part of our lives.  This goes back to the Greatest Commandment to Love the Lord with ALL our heart, soul, strength and mind (Luke 10:27)!   When we pray, he wants us to pray for our needs (not greeds), concerns, and forgiveness (as we forgive others), but after we put Him and His kingdom in the proper place in our hearts - first place (not among top three, five or ten).

When we seek/trust Him in spirit (the gift of the holy spirit, grace and the cross) and honesty (mourn - or repent - that we are sinners that are in constant need of Him) this faith is counted unto us as righteousness!  (Luke 18:10-14, Romans 4:5, 22-25).  I could never earn righteousness alone and God knows that there are no righteous, no not one - except Jesus Christ who fulfilled/atoned for our sins.  Thank you Jesus!

Forgiveness - The Antidote to Resentment or Judgment

ALL of our righteousness is like filthy rags... Isaiah 64:6

I was thinking about this scripture and I got a good word picture of what this means...  I began visualizing a greasy, dirty rag and imagining myself trying to clean a window with it or even myself with it.  Then I began to see how God thinks of me trying to be good or clean on my own, by my own works!  Sometimes we think we are good and clean when we are really black as sin to God. He sees two classes of people:  Sinners and Sinners Save by Grace. We are all born sinners.  This also reminds me of another common saying I have heard many times...

"You don't get good to get God, you get God to get good"

The same principle can be stated, "You don't get clean to get God, you get God to get clean".

(I believe it can also be a true statement when you replace "clean" in the above statement with many other attributes of God: love, forgiveness, light, truth, patience, righteousness, joy, peace, happiness, etc)

First, I have to say that I don't agree with the statement as an absolute (unless applied to God)... but only in relative or finite terms when it applies to humans.  Let me explain...  I would define real "clean" or "good" as infinite or absolute attributes of God, but when applied to the finite (our bodies) it is relative to the degree that we can absorb God and His goodness/attributes, etc.  This is why we need God's Mercy and Grace to fill the gap between the infinite/absolute and our finite/imperfect good or righteousness in our lives so we can be in His presence - for the sin in us cannot abide in/with God.  Thank God for His Love, Grace and Mercy - it is His Blood - the blood of Jesus - that covers/cleans us where we lack!

Did you know that Jesus said there is a catch to obtaining forgiveness?  The only condition for God's forgiveness for us is that we forgive others.  It is the same with judgment - which is the converse of forgiveness - God says to judge not lest you be judged, but IF you do judge, then it is by the same standard of judgment that will be applied back to you.  So we ought to be very quick to forgive and slow to judge!

This is why the greatest commandment to Love the Lord your God with all thy heart, soul, mind and strength is so important.  When we TRULY begin to aspire to love Him with ALL our HEART, SOUL, MIND and STRENGTH.  By doing this, it makes us better people because we then gain access to God's infinite GRACE (goodness/gifts) by tapping into the ground - the source - of our being which is Jesus.  Then and only then are we able to start being better and cleaner people - everyone one at their own level or degree because NOBODY but God can lay a claim on pure good or cleanliness in this life.  We are to "strive" toward perfection having never attained, but ever persevering! Then and only then can we then do a better job of loving our neighbor as ourselves which is the second greatest commandment and like unto the first - according to Jesus.

What is Truth? What is the Biblical Approach to Begin to Know It?

What is Truth?
Where "Truth" (BIG "T") is absolute/infinite Truth and "truth" (small "t") is what we fallible/finite humans may assume - rightly or wrongly - to be Truth.

For Truth to really be true, it must be eternal, absolute, and never change.  If it is ever changeable or not absolute, then it cannot be considered Truth.  Truth is not a moving target.  Sin is anything false that varies off of the target of Truth, regardless of the varying degrees.  It is something that cannot be altered or compromised.  It stands alone awaiting discovery and needs nobody to prove or disprove it.  It just is.  It can be validated consistently and eternally!  Jesus likens a revelation of truth to a "rock" (Matthew 7:24-25, 16:17-18).  You can/should build your life upon it.  We are to "know the Truth and the Truth will set you free"! (John 8:32)  In fact, God and Truth is inseparable because God is Truth.  "In and by Him all things consist" (Col 1:17) - even truth.  Truth is a light of illumination.  His Word also says that God is Light and the Truth is the way.  It also says Jesus is the Way and God is Love.  So I believe it is safe to understand that Truth is Love and so it ought to be told and expressed in love. (He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love 1John 4:8)  Jesus is God.  Therefore, this is a TRUE equation (in no certain order):

Jesus = God = Truth = Light = The Way = Love = Holy = Infinite

ALL these attributes and more are grounded and have their source (emanate) from God.  It is just like light/energy/heat are attributes that emanate and have their being from the sun.  It is in this same way that these attributes (Jesus = God = Truth = Light = The Way = Love = Holy = Infinite) are all attributes of this omniscient, omnipotent, good and infinite God.  In His infinite love, God gave us many gifts (grace).  First, he gave us the gift of our life/being.  He also gave us His Word in three forms spoken, written and living.  His Word is Truth and revelation/illumination.  His Word is with Him, IS Him and it became flesh and dwelt among us.  His word says that one should "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." - 2 Tim 2:15  How do we rightly divide the word, unless we study and seek to understand its meaning in the proper contexts with a heart towards Truth/God/Love/Illumination?   

NOTE: A heart toward anything else without God being paramount, is fundamentally a form of idolatry!  (Definition of Paramount = overriding: having superior power and influence).  

To me this means:  If at any time or place, you allow anything or anyone, good or bad, in your life to sit in the PARAMOUNT seat of trust ("Trust in the Lord with all of thine heart" Prov 3:5), submission ("Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7), love (Matthew 22:36-40), obedience, reverence in your heart, then you are, for that duration of time you allow this to happen, guilty of the sin of idolatry!


Now let's take notice of the converse of this scripture (2Tim2:15):

 "Study [not] to show thyself [dis]approved unto God, a workman [non-working man] that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. [believing/doing that which is right in his own eyes based on out-of-context scriptures]"

This would mean that the lack of study of His Word is directly connected to being ashamed by foolish misunderstandings of God's word based on asymmetric understandings that don't line up with the contexts throughout the Bible as well as earning God's disapproval (a/k/a possibly His judgment - whatever that may be)!  The more you study His Word with a heart towards (an intimate relationship) God (Infinite Truth/Illumination/Love), the more your ideals will start to shape into more alignment with His Ways, which is a way of less sin - this is true holiness and separation from the world!  This is a way to "love not the world, neither the things that are in the world" by loving His Word.  What ever you truly love, you will also seek to know and understand intimately.  Wow!  Isn't this simple to understand, yet it can be so profoundly hard for us to do~!

THE BIBLICAL APPROACH TO LEARNING TRUTH AND BECOMING WISE:


In this order:
BE HUMBLE, SEEK HIS FACE (HIS WORD/HIM) IN PRAYER AND TURN FROM YOUR WICKED WAYS  (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Seek "understanding" instead of "agreement" with people:
The highest objective for many people is that they want everybody ELSE to agree with them that what they believe is true. However, isn't it unrealistic to meet this objective of agreement consistently?  Is this also a very prideful and arrogant-based objective if we start to make it about us being right?  If agreement is not happening, then what do you do about it?  Do you take it personal? If so, why?  Is it about just wanting to believe that you are right?  Do you feel insulted?  <-- This sounds like a pride issue.  Do you separate and ostracize yourself from those that don't agree?  Why?  Is that manifesting the true love of Christ?  This goes back to my original point of Truth and its direct relationship to Love/Light/The Way/God.  Doesn't love seek understanding - to go out from itself to express itself in love/compassion to others - for their benefit - just because... you care?   

However, if you cannot achieve agreement, wouldn't the next highest achievement be understanding?  If I aim for understanding over agreement, I have nothing bad to lose and everything to learn from it.  In the process of seeking mutual understanding, you may indeed also find yourselves ending in agreement!  While you may not quite make the journey from mutual understanding all the way to agreement, then, hopefully at the very least, you will have a mutual respect and/or understanding of the differences.

Let me segway to a scripture about Love:

1 Corinthians 13 

¹ Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.  

² And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  

³ And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,^[a]but have not love, it profits me nothing.

⁴ Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  

⁵ does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;  

⁶ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 

⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

⁸ Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 

⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 

¹⁰ But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 

¹² For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 

¹³ And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Here is the "Cause and Effect" Principle:  Our cause should be understanding (this is an attribute of love), the effect will be either agreement or, if done properly in love and gentleness (fruits of the Spirit), mutual respect.

This is an undeniably good fruit.  At least you have learned something.  You may also discover something from the discussion that prompts you to do more research on a premise you may currently believe.  This is another valuable outcome.  After all, who wants to believe a lie?!  Sadly, there are some that do want to believe something so bad, they will never allow their faith in what they believe to be the Truth to be tested - this is usually based on a fear of some sort (usually pride?).  When I am honest to the truth, I sometimes have had to get my pride out of the way - this is why I ought to be humble and honest with myself.

This leads to another point, if one thinks they have a firm grip on a truth, then why should they feel fear for it to be tested?  The testing of it should only validate it more if it is indeed Truth.  The Bible says that "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear" 1John4:18 and "These [Bereans] were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." Acts 17:11. This tells us that it is "noble" to have "readiness of mind" to receive new understandings in the word and to validate them in the "scriptures daily" to find out if "things were so". If the Bereans were so solidified in their beliefs (I believe they were) but were not willing to take new information into consideration simply because they believed they already had the "truth", then I don't think they would have been called "more noble" - more like stiff necked and self-absorbed people that isolate themselves from any change.

The truth is...  we humans only have the ability to understand finite degrees of infinite truth.  No man has plumbed the heights, the depths, or the breadth of God's infinite love, grace, illumination, ways, mercy or holiness.  It is simply impossible in this finite life!

Here is my current approach to understanding truth: 

• I must love and seek God with all of me
• I must seek to continually refine my finite understanding of truth diligently
• I must read and study God's Word diligently
  
• I must do my best to not be presumptuous.
• I must be remain humble to the fact that I can get things wrong and use these errors as blessings to help me refine my understanding
• I must be loyal to what is true even if it contradicts my own opinions. 
  
• My opinions must be carefully and prayerfully malleable to discovery of new information. 
• My agenda must be for truth alone - not for any selfish desires - they will invariably lead me astray
  
• Loyalty to anything other than Jesus and His Word is a mistake and a sin against to yourself and the Truth/God as well 
• Don't search for perfection on earth or in anything else of His creation - It only exists in Him and His Word.
• I know I won't ever have all the answers to all the questions I have in this life, but I will never let that stop me from striving for them
• I will always strive for more excellence in every facet of my life - not alone, but with His help I can do all things!
• Instead of calling on someone else first, I will call upon the Lord and ask His help because He never fails!
• I will then seek wise counsel of Godly men and affirm it in the Word - knowing that even the most sincere and smartest men are fallible and finite

In using this approach, the outcomes has been more understanding, more clarity, and ironically, more humility than ever before in my life.  This "seeking of truth" is Godly and is encouraged greatly MANY times in the Word.  God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him/God/Truth/Love/Light/etc.  Seek and ye shall find, knock and the door will be opened.  Truth is infinite.  We finite beings should never feel arrogant enough to believe we have all absolute/infinite truth in this life - ever.  Like the apostle Paul, who wrote a lot of the canonized New Testament said, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" 1Corinthian13:12.  Even as authoritative as he was in writing the scriptures/epistles, he still maintained his humility as a finite human being - therefore, also his integrity.  Notice he did not say, "You all see through a glass, darkly and I see it all clearly how it is".  Why should we be any less humble than the Apostle Paul?  Yet in his humility it garnished an undeniable authentic authority that only came from a true man of God.

When you encounter an opposing idea and it seems to contradict what you understand, then you have a choice to make.  Are you going to engage it or avoid it?  If it comes in the form of a person who holds a different view, how are you going to treat that person representing the opposing idea?  Do you try to engage them in love, honesty and humility?  Do you treat them ill?  Or do you avoid them all together?  If you can't support anything you "know", then you don't really know it.  If you honestly don't know/understand anything, my encouraging thought for you is "it's never too late" to start learning and studying now...  Ask lots of questions with a heart to know what is right.  Or you can do like some and just put your trust in someone else and take your chances...  As for me, I never felt that I could completely do that.  I have seen enough people follow false doctrine unwittingly by trusting in someone else.  I have always felt a passionate desire and godly responsibility based on His Word to learn and understand things for myself.  I dare you to try God and seeking Him first before anyone else!

We should study to understand so we share what we have with others.  Once you do this, it opens an insatiable appetite to learn more.  Then one starts to compare notes with others and refine their own understandings, but always using God's Word and His Spirit in you as a compass.  Iron sharpeneth iron!  If you hold a view and you don't even understand it enough to defend it yourself, you are like a blind man following another.  Hopefully, whoever you are following is not blind or the Word says you will both fall into the ditch!  We are all following someone, I hope and pray that it is ultimately Jesus and His Word! 

Here is a scripture that I would like to end with as it comes directly from Jesus to people that claimed they knew "Truth":

John 8:
³¹ Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. ³² And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
³³ They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”
³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. ³⁵ And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. ³⁶ Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (Jesus here seems to tie previous statement about the "Truth" that sets you free to the Son - Jesus - that makes you free)

Abraham’s Seed and Satan’s

³⁷ “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. ³⁸ I speak what I have seen with My Father (He is referring to Truth - see verse 40 below), and you do what you have seen with^[l] your father.” (He is referring to the converse of Truth - lies - see verse 44 below)
³⁹ They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. (The Jewish forefather of  FAITH in God - the Truth) ⁴⁰ But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. ⁴¹ You do the deeds of your father.”
Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.”
⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. ⁴³ Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. ⁴⁴ You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want (He is talking about the heart - the paramount seat of power for the human will - this is where our desires are sourced) to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. ⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶ Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁴⁷ He who is of God hears (loves/emulates/obeys/submits to/is in awe of/is humble to/supremely influenced by) God’s words; therefore you do not hear (do not love/do not emulate/do not obey/do not submit to/are not in awe of/are not humble to/are not supremely influenced by), because you are not of God.”

God has a way of going directly to the HEART of the matter - the heart!

So this tells me that who or whatever you allow in the supreme place of your heart - the seat of the human will - determines your ability to even hear Truth!


Now, read these two scriptures with this perspective and tell me if it does not bring a whole new meaning!



Matthew 6
²⁰But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

 ²¹For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

 ²²The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

 ²³But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

 ²⁴No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (or any other master, mammon was used as one particular example where the love of money can become a supreme god - master - in your heart that has supreme/paramount influence on your behavior)

 ²⁵Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

 ²⁶Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

 ²⁷Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

 ²⁸And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

 ²⁹And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

 ³⁰Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

 ³¹Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

 ³²(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

 ³³But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

 ³⁴Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Now you heard it... straight from Jesus Christ himself:  Not only will you find Truth when you seek It/Him, but He will even provide for all your material needs WITHOUT EVEN NEEDING TO ASK HIM! 

Matthew 15

 ¹Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
 ²Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
 ³But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

 ⁴For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

 ⁵But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;

 ⁶And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

 ⁷Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,

 ⁸This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

 ⁹But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

 ¹⁰And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:

 ¹¹Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

 ¹²Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?
 ¹³But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.

 ¹⁴Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

 ¹⁵Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.
 ¹⁶And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?

 ¹⁷Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?

 ¹⁸But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

 ¹⁹For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

 ²⁰These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. 

Again, God has a way of going directly to the HEART of the matter - the heart! 

So this tells me that who or whatever you allow in the supreme place of your heart - the seat of the human will - determines your ability to even hear Truth!

Idolatry - The Converse of the Greatest Commandment!

Why speak about idolatry?  Why care?  I think I have found a very curious understanding that is changing the way I look at the Lord and put Him in His rightful place in my life... as truly #1.

Here is a scripture that I came across while studying about what happened to the children of Israel when they started worshiping things in God's creation instead of God:

Why should the nations say,
"Where is their God?"
Our God is in the heavens;
He does whatever He pleases.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of men’s hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their
throat.
Those who make them are like them;
so are all who trust in them.
(Psalm 115:2-8)

When I read the last sentence, it hit me.  The idea in this scripture is that you become like what you worship!  It is NOT the question of IF we are worshipers, but it is what are we worshiping?  If you supremely worship (or obey, fear, emulate, honor, reverence, love) anything other (or more) than Jesus, you may actually be committing idolatry!  We tend to think of idols as little or big statues or images, but they can be ANYTHING that is either good or bad that is not Jesus - but is something He created that sits in the supreme throne of your heart.  The explicit thought expressed in the latter part of this scripture in Psalms is this:  What ever you worship or trust in - you will become like it.  So, I believe, in this case, the converse is also true:  If you worship/trust in God, you become more like Him.  This is another excellent reason to worship and trust God in all areas of our lives because we become better Christ emulators/imitators (a/k/a Christians)!

As I started looking at EVERY one of my own choices of how I spend my precious and finite time and resources as forms of worship, it helps me to realize what I am worshiping or where my heart is...  I ask, "Why am I doing such and such?".  Is what I am doing pleasing unto God?  If not, why am doing this?  To please myself or someone or something else?  Is it because I fear losing my pride, something or someone else other than God?  Is it because I am obeying my appetites for myself, someone else other than God?  I submit, that in asking myself these questions, I realized what/who I ultimately feared, reverenced, obeyed, emulated, honored, loved - thus sat in the supreme throne of my heart - the source of the human will!  If the answer was anything/anyone but Jesus, I discovered that God was not truly God to me in that part of my life!  I don't know about you, but there is not anything more terrifying to me than to realize that I allowed myself (wittingly or not) or something else in His creation to be a supreme god to me in ANY part of my life~! 

This is why I believe that God is a jealous God and pride is one of the most harshly sentenced sins in the Bible - it was for that very reason that Lucifer was cast out of heaven! It is a prideful heart that makes one's self god over God Himself!

To the converse, various other scriptures come to mind:

"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4:23-24

One of the Pharisees tested Jesus with a question, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" (Matthew 22:36 NIV).  Jesus replied, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:37-40 NIV). 

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, the fool despises wisdom and instruction - Proverbs 1:7

I love Proverbs.  It is a book that is stuffed with practical wisdom for everyday life.  I found it interesting that in the very first chapter it gives us the KEY to the beginning of wisdom and knowledge.  In Proverbs 1:7 it says that fearing (to hold in awe, to be ultimately controlled/influenced by, worshiping, reverencing, honoring, trusting, believing in, loving) God constitutes the beginning of becoming wise.  To fear anything less than God is what also can be the beginning for one to become a fool!  Ouch!   This is very strong and harsh language because the Bible says to "call no man a fool"!  Worshiping Jesus, who is God, is the BEGINNING of knowledge/wisdom.  According to my understanding of this biblical principle, a fool is someone that can be street or book smart, but if their foundation of trust or belief is in anything other than God, then they are despising God's instruction, truth and knowledge because they think they already know.  The more you begin to understand/love/worship/humble yourself/obey/seek Him, the more you grow in knowledge and wisdom.  The biblical fool who worships his own intellect or anything else the creator created is disobedient to God and is therefore despising TRUE wisdom and instruction.

Fear is not just fear itself in the western view of the word.

The biblical context of "fear of the Lord" is

• To be in awe of
• To be controlled by
• To emulate
• To honor
• To reverence
• To respect
• To love
• To submit to
• To obey
• To be humble to
• To be teachable

So who/what do you want to emulate?
Who/What do you fear?
Who/What do you want to impress?
Who/What do you want to honor?
Who/What do you want to obey?
Who/What do you want to submit to?
Who/What do you hold most precious in Life?
Who/What do you live for?
Who/What do you allow to control your behavior?

IF the answer is Jesus, you are beginning to grow in wisdom
IF the answer is yourself or anything else He created (person or thing), you are going to end up a fool.

The Bible says to call no man a "fool".  I believe this is so because all everyone but God sometimes plays a fool - no exception to the rule.  (Isn't there a song about this?)  To me its kind of like God saying to us, "I don't want any of you foo's callin' each otha' foo's!"  He says it in another way...  Before you start trying to get the splinter out of your brother's eye, try getting the beam out of your own eye first!

God's answer to finding wisdom out of our foolishness is in 2 Chronicles 7:14 in this particular order:

1. Humble yourself
2. Pray
3. Seek Him
4. Turn from your wicked ways

Any other path is considered idolatry.  Idolatry is fearing/worshiping/reverencing/honoring/trusting/believing in/loving anything or anyone (including yourself) more than the one true living God which is Jesus.

Many people make the false assumption thinking they have to turn from their wicked ways first/before they humble themselves, pray and seek God.

This is critical to understand the order here because, I can be sooooo bound to "gods" of pride, money, sports, sex, food, blessings, seeking other's approval, self will, fame, friends, etc (ALL of these can be very good things if kept in the proper context of the scriptures) that we have been unwittingly/blindly/ignorantly worshiping for so long, that we have NO POWER OF OUR OWN to break those loooong attachment bonds!  It can be very painful, but the freedom, joy and peace you get WAYYYY out weighs the bondage or our yoke of idolatry.

By submitting to, praying, worshiping and seeking Him first, we are then able to BREAK those bonds miraculously with HIS help! 

He simply will not accept being second place in ANY part of our life!  If He is going to be God in your life, He must truly be allowed to be God in your life.... anything else that is allowed to take preeminence over God in your life is idolatry. 

God must be first and top priority in every facet of your life.  Anything else is less than what is TRULY His rightful place.  This is sin.  Based on my understanding of the scripture, SIN is:  Anything that is less than 100% perfection - this is completely out of our realm of human fallen nature to attain!


To say we are righteous or holy is so arrogant, ignorant and foolish.  The Bible calls Christians "sinners" that are saved by grace and also states that "All our righteousness is like filthy rags"- Is 64:4-8.  We are to "press toward the mark" with everything that is within us, but we must also realize that we don't just kind of need, but we require Jesus' blood and help to cover us to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  Not that any should boast in himself of his works, but in Jesus' complete work at Calvary.  We need His grace to be sanctified and holy.  Jesus should be our heart's focus for our righteousness, then the fruits of the Spirit will naturally manifest itself in the Christian believer.

By believing in Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, and that He is God and accepting the fact that you are a sinner and that you need/want Him to be Lord God of your life, then you repent/turn from your wicked ways, you will receive His Spirit in your life.  Your sins are then applied to Jesus' blood in baptism in His name and are atoned/covered by His death that He already paid the price for.  You are then free from the judgment of sin because "while we were yet sinners" and all jacked up, Christ died to take the judgment and punishment for the sins of all men (mankind)! 

That is true love because He loves us even though He did/does NOT NEED us.  That is truly perfect love.  We humans usually love for a reason.  So we should love Him because He first loved us!  He loved even those who were murdering Him - He said "forgive them for they know not what they do" while they crucified Him!  This is an amazing, unfathomable and infinite love that we finite beings cannot fully comprehend!  He truly deserves all that He asks of us and much, much, much more!!!

A story of mine that I hope will enrich other people's lives

The recent events in my life has caused me to reflect on a lot of things that are most dear to me. I believe that when life takes it turns and dips for the worst, it is often like winter. I find it a cold, dreary, dark, lonely and miserable place. But, if you choose to fight and endure through it, (it - like all seasons - WILL end) it can often make the spring and summer of your life a whole lot sweeter. The reality is that it can also permanently affect you in a good or bad way. A wise man once told me that we all have a "fight" or "flight" mechanism inside of us that is usually invoked when we are confronted with challenges in life. If I feel overwhelmed by the challenge, the flight mechanism becomes really tempting to me, unless it is threatening something that I hold dear. Of course, if you don't hold anything else dear except for yourself you will probably choose to avoid (flee) any challenges as long as it does not impact you personally.

This reminds me of a quote by Martin Luther: "A man who hasn't found something he is willing to die for is not fit to live". Do you have something to live for? If you believe so, is it worth dying for? If not, then is it really worth living for?

When we are confronted with something that challenges what we hold dear, whether we "fight" for it or not will usually be determined by the degree that we feel passionate about something in comparison to the degree of the challenge. We perform a cost vs. benefits analysis in our minds and the outcome will determine our decision to fight/engage or run/avoid the challenge. I believe that everyone on this planet lives their entire life making these types of little to big choices many times a day... I believe that most people want and need something to live for. But finally, we all have to live with the consequences of the sum total of all those choices. Unfortunately, in our modern society many don't like to face the music and they chose to "flee" as victims that they perceive themselves to be and therefore they can do nothing about their situation(s).

I believe that I have discovered some nuggets of truth that have radically changed my life for the good. I am a 34 year old family man. I have 7 daughters and 1 son. I have a beautiful wife. I am blessed with a great career that I enjoy. But, above all, I am a Christian. I have a personal and intimate relationship with God. I know this sounds weird to some, but it is only because these people are ignorant about God - I pray that will change soon. (After all He is invisible! If you learn philosophy, you learn that supreme reality is all invisible. All visible things or tangibles are changeable and corruptible, therefore are not really real. Ugh! There is too much to digress on - I will leave that to another post)

I believe all people encounter Him and some know in their heart, but have some fear because of the ultimate consequences of that realization. It means that we may be accountable to Him for the way we live the life that He gave us. That thought does not set well with many who want to live their life only as they wish. It is usually people that are not happy with the way they have lived their life that finally try God. Ironically, it is also the same unhappy condition that cause some to leave Christianity and blame God. I know this by personal experience in the last few years. I have been a raised a Christian all of my life and have lived a pretty fulfilled and happy life. I learned how to live this way by learning to be thankful and content with what I have, be thoughtful of others and always strive to be the best I can be through experience and education.

By the way, I do have a few degrees in the world renowned School of Hard Knocks. :o)  I owe a lot of who I am to my parents, and my second spiritual father, Dr. Nathaniel J. Wilson. I am also a big fan of Dennis Prager and his friend Rabbi Joseph Telushkin. All of these people have had a profound positive impact on my life, but most of all Jesus Christ. I have had many fantastic experiences throughout my life with God, but recently He has especially and incredibly changed my life in a way that is really impossible to express, but I am going to attempt to anyway:

Up until about 3 years ago, life with my family has always been blessed, it was almost like a dream. I was brought up in a wonderful Christian family who lived what we believed with all our hearts. My parents are still happily married. I can't say that my life was without many problems, dysfunctions and pains, but I was truly spoiled and blind to how much I was really blessed. I was blessed in marrying my wife who is one of the finest Christians I know. We had seven healthy, beautiful daughters. I had a stable and fulfilling job/career. I felt I had mutual respect with other people. I was used in ministry to teach kids in Sunday School and later to older teens to college and career age for several years. Life had its challenges, but none so great that I felt I could not take them all on.

But about three years ago, I found out that my family and I were getting sick from our home. We found out that our family was not just passing a virus around and getting perpetually sick (some getting asthma), but we were being exposed to toxic mold. In March of 2008, we were told that if we stayed in our home, we would be further endangering our family's health, possibly for life - if not already! In a matter of days, we picked up and moved into our family travel trailer temporarily until we could figure out what we could do. Our entire 6 bedroom house was infested with this nasty mold and we had been living in it for about 18 months. This exposure to our belongings meant we had to virtually leave EVERYTHING behind in our home. To do otherwise without proper cleaning would mean that we would likely contaminate our next living environment. We called our homeowner's insurance to try to get coverage for our losses, we were denied multiple times due to the fact that it was "pre-existing" damage. We realized that we had made the purchase of our home in November of 2006 based on fraud and that this incurred damage to our family. The papa bear inclination to fight for my family was in full gear. After discussing with my wife, I decided that it was right to fight for my family as we realized that we were the victim's of others' misdeeds and not of our own. Meanwhile, the costs of legal, family, maintaining two homes (our vacant home and the one we rented), starting almost all over with our possessions was sending our finances to the point of disaster. It was unsustainable, something had to change and we cried out to God to help us. To our demise, we saw it coming to an undesirable end with not very many options other than giving up. With our financial and living situations, it started to take a huge toll on our family and marriage. While all this was going on, my wife found out she was expecting and then later learned our son was found to have a cleft lip. The reality of the continuing stress slowly began to wear away my and my wife's optimism. We unintentionally started turning on one another instead of to each other. Our children could sense the stress and you could see it affect them in some ways. In some ways, I think children are much more resilient and adaptive than us adults are. But the stress of life was starting to tear Shawna and I apart. We both still loved each other, but we were both blind to our lack of proper care and maintenance of each other - we were just caught up in our own cares/stresses and focused at our own individual hurts that we neglected each other unintentionally. When the condition of my relationship with my wife was in such turmoil, I started to turn and ask God why all this was happening? What did I do to deserve this in our life? We faithfully gave our tithes, offerings, attended church regularly at least 3 times a week, lived a godly life - not perfectly, but as good as we could. Where did I go wrong? I started to then question everything, even to the point of if God really existed. Only because of past experiences did I know that He was real. But, I was still struggling in the meantime... I then asked God to show me myself in the proverbial mirror to see myself as He saw me. My wife was also a good mirror for me. :o)
I will just say this, it was painful. I realized that I was not able to be good enough on my own and needed God help more and I believed that the only way I could get to Him and have Him intervene was for me to fast and  pray fervently. My circumstances drove me to my knees - but I decided to stay in the fight. It was after this that some amazing things started to happen. I started praying like I had never prayed before because I was beginning to feel His presence. He rewards them that seek after Him.  The more I felt His presence, the more I began to feel peace, love, joy and happiness. I am not exaggerating and it was blowing my mind, because I saw my circumstances were getting more dire, yet His peace, love, joy and happiness were still present in spite of them.  I had never felt this so strong and evident in my life.  It was the perfect contradiction.  I knew the peace could not have come from anywhere but God.  I was truly blown away at the power that I was feeling in my weakest time of my life. It happened in the time of my life that I had never felt more ALONE, STRIPPED DOWN, BARE and HUMBLED. I began to see errors in my ways that I had ignored before and sometimes even justified in my mind. I did not feel condemnation, but I felt that I needed to embrace TRUTH in my life no matter how painful it was. The more I embraced TRUTH in the Word of God, the more I would literally stumble on another connected truth. It was like a layered domino effect, the more that I would see, the more it would humble me in a positive way and realize that I am SOOO HUMAN and that I need Him. Honestly, I have summarized to keep this short - there is so much I could expound upon... I learned a valuable lesson. I am (we humans are) not near as smart and I/we don't know near as much as I/we sometimes think I do. Ironically, it was the beginning of learning and wisdom to realize this humbling fact I need to depend on Him and His word. I realized even more than before that the only rock that we humans have in this life is His Word - The Holy Bible. It has the answers and we need to emulate, glean, obey, respect and love it a little more every day. But we need to be humble and teachable with our little finite pre-concieved views so He can help us confront our mis-pre-conceptions as painful as it can be and learn His ways. Only with both His Spirit and His Word can we do this. I know this because I have tried to live right on my own all my life even with His Spirit, but not to the degree that I have experienced Him now. You see, it cost me a lot to get here. I had to lose a lot to get here. Because I am so hard headed, I had to hit bottom in almost EVERY area of my life that meant most to me: My marriage, finances, loss of things, my jobe and even my spiritual understandings.  The odd thing is that I did not feel that I did anything that would merit the troubles and tribulations that I was experiencing. I honestly felt like Job in the Bible - I know he went through much more than I did. Job is a hero to me because he endured to the end!  I don't think I could ever handle what he had happen to him.

 Although I hope I never, ever go through the HELL I went through again, the extremely ironic thing is I WOULD go through it all again if I had it to do over again in order to experience the fulfillment and incredible peace and joy that works in spite of my circumstances! I feel more humble, wise, peaceful, courageous, loving and forgiving than I have in my life, yet I know as powerful as it is manifest in my life, I have NOT EVEN COME CLOSE TO THE WIDTH, HEIGHT OR DEPTH of it all. I feel a new vigor of life that I have NEVER felt before. I feel like I have a new zest for life that I have never known before. I feel like I can achieve anything with the help of the LORD. He has truly given me a peace that I am terrified to lose.  About the only thought that terrorizes me is losing my relationship with my Savior. I have very little fear of anything else but God and His Word.  Let God be true and every man a liar.  Our best in righteousness is like filthy rags to Him. We are only righteous through Jesus' and He alone saves us.  We are unable to save ourselves.  I welcome any critic to try Him for their self before they judge contrary.  I believe that we have an obligation to God when He saves us to testify to others that they too can experience God's grace (unmerited/undeserved gifts/blessings) in their own life. I think if everyone understood just an iota of the things that God has for them, they would literally drop any and all false pretenses and fears they had and fall into His arms of love!


Love you all and may God bless you!