It All Starts With Me

Don't look outward

for the answer

to the dilemna.

The answer lies inside.

Don't look at others

for a place to point the blame.

There is no one to blame.

Looking outside

instead of going within

is an ego thing anyway.

It all starts with me.

I am the interpreter

of my experience.

I am the creator

of my reality.

It all starts with me.

It's not all about me.

It just all starts with me.

Truth.

Lies.

Illusions.

What do I see?

What am I looking for?

How will this day

be described

when it's done?

Whether good

or bad,

it's up to me.

My focus

is on improving me.

I look inside

to see the real me.

Because...

it all starts with me.

I look inside

where no mask

can disguise

the real me.

No pretending.

No defending.

No mind game.

Inside.

In the midst of me.

In the deep place.

That's where the truth,

my truth resides.

Deep inside

I know that...

it all starts with me.

So...

Who am I?

Where's the Love?

A new decade in infancy.

An old idea resurfacing.

A new way needed.

An old prayer the answer.

Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We [are]. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, [are] in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare [it], that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.
-- John 17:9-26 NKJV)

We are One.

There is no them.

Christ was referring to all of us.

Therefore, let us be active participants within the prayer of Jesus.

LUVWRX. Believe it!

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It is You

It is You.

It is only You.

It has ever only been You.

And because of You, I am a better man. You have never let me fall. It is I who always chose to stumble. You always pick me back up, brush me off, and offer Your acceptance so that I might be made whole again. Though I will surely choose again in error as I make my way along this path we share, I know that I am never ever alone. I know that I will always have You.

It is You.

It is only You.

It has never been that it was not only and forever You.

Thank you for Your Love. Thank you for creating me with the certainty that Love is all we have ever needed. When I make the conscious choice to make Love and only Love my method, I am completely in You. For I have also been created with the certainty that You have always been in me. I am forever grateful to You, and I love You.

It is You.

It is only You.

When the earth crumbles, and all the galaxies fade, it will always and forever only be You.

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

For in his eyes, it has always been you beloved.

It is you.

It is only you.

It has never ever been that it could possibly be about anything other than you.

LUVWRX. Believe it.

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First Love

It is a very quiet Christmas morning as I write. No people. No laughter. Nothing. Or so it seemed as I woke up today.

This has been a year to remember; death, divorce, division, defeat. And in spite of the way those things hang on me like smoke from stale cigarettes, I find that I am anything but alone. The God of the Universe never leaves, never abandons, never ever divides, and can only lift up.

The King of heaven who gave more to me than I have ever been able to comprehend came to my room and gently reminded me that my first Love is the only love I need.... now or ever.

"Return to me," he said. -- Insert an awkward pause here. -- "It has been so long Father, I don't know how to approach you anymore." It was all I could of think to say. Without hesitation, he simply replied, "My child, you just did. And not only do I receive you, I bless you now in my name with joy, peace, and completion." I am reeling from the event, and I just wanted to say to you beloved,

"Return to your first Love."

You are not alone. Don't ever fall for the lie. If you have no people around you at the moment, it may only be so that you can become reacquainted with true Love. The kind of love that is consistent and unconditional. The kind of Love you and I are searching for. The Love that knows us completely, and doesn't find any fault with us.

Merry Christmas.

And take heart, your life is an unfinished script. So help write by filling it with memories throughout this next year. Make memories that will carry you through till the next Christmas where things are sure to be better for us. God's promises are dependable. Talk with him about your hopes and dreams right now. Your First Love is waiting for you.

God Bless You in the name of Christ who we celebrate this day.

LUVWRX -- Believe it!

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Does Love Hurt?

Why do we feel hurt by Love?

Is Love the source of our pain?

OR --

Are our past experiences the real bully?

All our lives we've heard the phrase, "Love hurts..." And all of our lives we have believed it. While it may feel like Love is the bully, that kind of thinking denies that God is Love, and that is in conflict with scripture. (1 John 4:1-21)

Please read all of the above-referenced scripture before proceeding.

John is specific:  When we choose to believe that Jesus, the Christ, is all he claimed to be; when we choose to live in Love, forsaking everything; Love chooses to live in us. Yet all our lives we've accumulated our fair share of negative experiences that have helped to form our perspectives, our opinions, and our tolerance thresholds. All our lives we have allowed those illusions to blind us to how we come to believe what we come to believe. So instead of taking responsibility for our choices, then and now, all of our lives we have chosen to blame God for our circumstances.

That is a further denial of the truth of scripture.

Please read Galations 6:7-10, Job 4:17, and Psalm 36:5-9.

If we choose to believe we are loved by God, we lose the option of blaming him when we have a bad experience in love. That's a good thing. We are now in the ideal position to let Love off the hook and learn from the experience. God allows us to taste hurt to be sure. The truth is, however, he doesn't desire for us to swallow it.

Learning from heartache (it might be something worse than a breakup) gives us eyes to see others the way God sees them. We are then able to understand that we live in a hurting world. Those of us who call ourselves Christian have been provided the perfect template for avoiding further pain through the simple act of forgiveness, and we are expected to emulate it.

It is also not an option.

When we forgive, we deny darkness the opportunity to deceive us into thinking we've been wronged. Thus we avoid unnecessary pain. When we accomplish this, we see the perceived offense by another, not as hurting us, but as a cry for help.

Love cannot hurt us, and God is not against us.

Love is not designed to participate in pain except to serve as the cure. God would never allow himself to be called Love if there existed the remote possibility that He/It/Love could actually do anything to hurt us. However, he does understand that we blame him.

And to be sure, we do hurt. We hurt for various reasons, and pain in many forms and fashions is sometimes aimed at us by others. And even though we do sometimes hurt, remember this truth:

Love does NOT hurt :)

Beloved, we all want to be loved. It is only natural. So if you ever find yourself at the end of a relationship (or mean people are forcing themselves into your world), don't let Love go just because another person let you go, or another crashed into you. Instead, allow the God of Love to enfold you in his authentic embrace. Then (and this is the hard part) -- extend as best you can the same Love towards that person. Try it. Love works.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. . . and now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. -- Paul

LUVWRX (believe it)

The Gods Aren't Angry

God is not angry.

God is not capable of disliking you. Your God loves you, even if you don't believe it.

Even if you don't believe there is One.

That's the good news of the day.

It is reasonable to assume that there are individuals today whose minds are free to ponder things outside the box of religion, going straight to the heart of the matter. Our questions are valid. Rob Bell is a mind free in Christ. Below is a trailer for a talk he gave that is outside of the mainstream of religious propaganda. It is compelling:

The Gods Aren't Angry -- Rob Bell



I included an additional clip that only hints at the insightful way he gives us pause to dare question all we've been taught. I have viewed both of these films. They are not new. His church is Mars Hill Bible Church, located in Grand Rapids, MI. In response to critics of his teachings, Bell is quoted, "When people say that the authority of Scripture or the centrality of Jesus is in question, actually it's their social, economic and political system that has been built in the name of Jesus that's being threatened. Generally lurking below some of the more venomous, vitriolic criticism is somebody who's created a facade that's not working...But I love everybody and you're next!" he says, giggling. "That's how I respond to criticism." I like him a lot. I hope you do:

Everything is Spiritual -- Rob Bell



Oh yeah, the bad news of the day is that some who see these clips will be upset.

It truly is a sad day when an open mind is somehow meant to imply an empty one. The truth is, only an open mind is offered the potential to become like Christ's mind. It is his deepest desire that our minds be identical to his. Jesus Christ is a peace-loving non-conformist.

Don't be afraid to ask questions.

If you like the trailers,the films can be purchased here -- http://store.flannel.org/eis.html

There is no God of Wrath. The proof is in the bloodshot eyes of the one who, like Bort, can see God's Mystery, and has still found it possible to not ask questions. I asked my earthly daddy to teach me what he knew. He taught me love. I have asked God to teach me what he knows. He has taught me that Love can change everything.

God is love.

It is not a new thing. God never changes so that we can have the joy of experiencing Love that can never fail.

LUVWRX -- jb

When All Is Said And Done

I know that I am misunderstood by some readers. I also know that it is hopeless to attempt to explain myself through words -- written or spoken. I get grief for purposefully being open to others. The truth is, I am willing to accept anyone and everyone just as they are. I live my life as close as I possibly can to the example of Christ for the simple reason that he told us it is a good way to live. It is The Way. There are others who have gone before me that exude his goodness and his genuine love for All, and I try to follow their example too.

I am not into apologetics, yet I find myself actually bothered that some so-called Christians find fault with me because of my openness. Let's be frank: I am who I am. You are free to think of me as you wish. Just be honest: If you are saying ugly things about me, you don't know me.

I make mistakes every day. I am so far from perfect that I don't seek after it. I seek to be a peacemaker, and by my witness I hope to share with you what Christ means to me. If you are Buddhist, Muslim, Jew, or Pagan; I love you. I accept your beliefs. I accept your wisdom. I accept you. I want you to know the Christ that lifted me from my blind state of judgement, found me faultless, and dusted me off, patted me on the back and said, "Keep doing just what you're doing. I like the fact that you think enough of me to try and emulate My Way."

I sleep just fine at night with this way of thinking. I converse with him daily to ensure I am still on my path. Some of you Christians who read these words and assume I am something strange, or even worse, someone who is beneath you; I love you too.

I love you.

I have prayed that those of you with the most awful ideas about me, who spread lies and innuendo to any who will listen, will bump into me somewhere in public. I pray that we will lock eyes. I pray that you will not hate me -- even though you profess to be a follower of Christ, you know you hate me :) Yet, I sincerely want peace for you. You can't rob me of mine because my peace is beyond your ability to understand. Most days it is beyond my understanding too. I would give a body part to have a discussion about how we differ, if in fact we do.

When all is said and done and I stand before my Maker, I will know without doubt that I did the best I could to love, accept, embrace, and relate to All. It is not my place to judge anyone ever. I adhere to that just like Jesus said I should. I want to be understood, but I accept the fact that some people are intimidated by a person that can't condemn another to hellfire and eternal damnation just because they see things differently than I do.

Here's a visual for those of you that are cringing as you read this:

Imagine every living being alive today joined together, hand in hand, encircling God. Clearly we are only able to see God from where we are, yet we still see God. If my perspective is different as a result of where I am as I look, yet I love what I see and recognize through my understanding that it is God, how can I judge you and say you don't know God? Why would I take it further and believe that since you don't see him/her (God has no genitalia) the way I do, you're wrong? Did God tell you that?

Think. About. It.

Every time we unfairly decide for another person that our way is better than theirs without first considering their perspective, we spit on God's plan for the world he created. He never wanted us to hate another for any reason, yet we do it anyway. Remember:

There is no them.

There is no them except in your mind. That is not the Mind of Christ my friend, and you know it! If you've ever been one of them-- as I am to some of you -- you would never want to inflict such unfair judgement again. If Jesus is God, and even if you believe that God killed everyone that he didn't like (including pregnant women and children) in his wrath, did he just change his mind when he appeared on earth as the savior of the Jews? Why and how did Christ forgive his murderers while they were in the act of killing him? Is God unchanging yet he won't forgive anyone for their sins except when they are killing the kindest, most accepting person on earth? You tell me. You have all the answers; right? Your God of wrath is also just in your mind. God is Love. PERIOD! I like to think that I am a willing participant in what God is doing in his world. And loving All is part of it.

LUVWRX.

Try it out on those you H8 today, and see if you don't feel better about yourself.

Peace. -- jb