Does Anyone Have a Direct Line to God?

I have heard Catholics tell me that the pope has a direct line to God. I don't really know if that's true, but if he does, or anyone else does, I would like to ask them to do me a favor.

I would like them to ask God a few questions, these questions aren't going to be difficult, and we could even make them in yes or no formats, but these answers need to be asked and only God can provide us with the answers.

The first question that I would like to ask God, would be about starvation, why are there so many starving people all over the world? Are we or are we not supposed to be fruitful and multiply? Is overpopulation creating more problems in the world today, than it might have 2000 years ago?

These questions above, could be a little difficult to answer, but they shouldn't be too difficult for someone like God. I believe that God can handle a few tough questions and if the Pope or anyone else has direct communication with God, I would like to suggest something to them, quit wasting your time on frivolous things and start asking God the serious questions, that every one is really interested in.

It doesn't make a lot of sense, to pray and worship to somebody who realistically won't answer or deliver the things that we are requiring. I realize that most religious people are told, that God only answers some prayers or that God isn't ready to answer your prayers yet.

Anyway, if gods not going to answer all of our prayers, couldn't he at least answer some of our questions.

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Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended authors, Don Miguel Ruiz

His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible. This book provides Christians with advanced biblical knowledge, answer some tough questions and should be read by every faithful follower of Christ.

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Embrace the Idea About Learning - Shouldn't You Be Studying the Bible Regularly?

Most Christians own at least one Bible, but the idea of studying it on a regular basis, is normally considered a difficult task for those to perform. If you really want to call yourself a Christian, shouldn't you at least understand, a few things in the Bible?

Maybe something about Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark, or what about that guy, what's his name, I think he died for our sins and wasn't he the son of God, what was his name... You might think I'm kidding, but very few Christians, know very little about the Bible.

How do we get Christians to embrace the idea that studying the Bible could benefit them or change their views entirely about their religion? I've always had problems with those who consider themselves practicing Christians, while trying to convert others to Christianity with a limited knowledge about the religion itself.

If you go to church every Sunday, there's a good chance that you will have to touch the holy book of scriptures, at least once. You might even pick it up and turn some of the pages while listening to the sermon. Is this the only time during the week that you will pick up the Bible? And does this bother you?

What about those who read the Bible regularly and don't take the time to interpret it literally. Read the Bible, word for word in order to get a simple understanding of each Bible verse. Don't try to read anything into it or look for hidden messages.

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to answer simple questions or understand what your church leaders are talking about? When they mention Paul or Isaiah, are you thinking about your cousin and his friend? Spend a little more time learning about your religion and you will reap the rewards that education has to offer.

There Are Plenty of Problems with the Bible and If You Need More Help, Click on This Link Understanding the Bible

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author and a inspiration to millions of people. He has been involved in religious research for almost 30 years, and his influence in the Christian community is growing. The Holy Bible, is the core to Christian beliefs and most Christians don't even question it. Was the Bible actually written by men?

His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible. This book provides Christians with advanced biblical knowledge, answer some tough questions and should be read by every faithful follower of Christ.

Click Here If You're a Positive Christian Person.

Living the Ultimate Lie - Religious Fundamentalism

I've been doing research on Christianity and other religions throughout the world for quite some time and find it hard to believe that most of these religious followers, won't even listen to facts that I and others have found regarding their religion.

I find most of these people to be living the ultimate lie and when it comes to Christian fundamentalism or someone who I would consider to be a super Christian, these people adamantly hold both hands over their ears, while stomping their feet, trying to scare me into submission.

No matter how you slice it, no matter how you want it delivered to you, the truth is always going to be the truth. If you won't listen to the truth, you will live trapped living in a world of lies. It doesn't matter whether you're a Christian who believes in Jesus or an Islamic follower of believes in Allah, the truth, for most people, can only be found outside of your religion.

Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about. How many religions talk about how the world was created, most of their followers, choose to believe their religious leaders and their religious text, without ever questioning, but often doubting what they were taught.

Science teaches us one way, religion teaches us another, however, neither one of them have any scientific evidence to back up their theories.

The minute that you state either one of these beliefs as a truth, you're living in a world of lies. If a scientist or religious leader, can convince you that their way is right, they have simply took a belief, without any evidence and made it into a fact. This illusion, is simply a belief that you have personally made into a truth and as long as you continue to believe this, without doing any of your own research, you will continue to spread lies and rumors throughout the world.

Problems With Noah's Ark Story

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a religous article library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

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Check This Out - 1 Corinthians 14:34

If you're a woman, you might not want to read this article. If you're a man who supports male chauvinistic ways, I guarantee that this is going to be an article that you won't want to miss.

I have watched women who believe in other religions, all over the world, consider men to be superior to them. I have watched men treat women as subservient and sometimes has subhuman beings, even though these women are someone's wives, sisters or daughters.

But the Holy Bible, come on I can't believe that this is the word of God. Read this and if you have to read it again, but is this really in the Bible, did God actually write this or is this something that was written by man, to make women live lives of servitude.

Here it is, read it for yourself, 1 Corinthians (TWB) 14:34 let your wives keep silent in the assemblies, for it has not been permitted for them to speak; but let them be in subjection, as the law also says. Is this what Christianity is all about or is this just part of what Christianity represents.

Are women really supposed to be quiet in the assemblies of God, in church or places of worship? Am I reading this right? Your wife's keep silent in assemblies, it doesn't say anything about men remaining silent in assemblies.

Oh yeah, for it has not been permitted for them to speak, what the heck are they talking about. Are you telling me that Christian women are not allowed to speak inside of their place of worship? Is that where these assemblies meet or are they talking about something else.

I would like to make a suggestion, too any Christians that are reading this article, this would be a great topic for discussion, at your next prayer meeting or Bible study group.

With religious text like this, you can understand why some women don't have equal rights to men. Its beliefs like these, that will eventually end up forcing large religious organizations to change or become part of our history.

Watch this Video on Women and Bible Problems

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site: If your interested in a different point of view READ THESE ARTICLES - Great Articles For Christians

Greg Vandenberge is a published author and a inspiration to millions of people. He has been involved in religious research for almost 30 years, and his influence in the Christian community is growing. The Holy Bible, is the core to Christian beliefs and most Christians don't even question it. Was the Bible actually written by men?

His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible.

Reduce Workplace Stress

So you want to reduce workplace stress, increase your job satisfaction, achieve greater productivity and, maybe, get promoted. These are great goals and something that we should all be proud to support. But what if none of this is working for you? What are the answers and how do you relieve the stress and get the sort of job you want?

If you are going to go to work, you should be happy. You will spend a lot of time at work, 2000 work hours per year for 40 years - 80,000 hours altogether. You do not want to join the 20 million American adults who have some form of mental disorder annually (includes depression, anxiety, phobias etc). you DO NOT want to be one of the 18.1 million adults who experience either dysthymia (mild, chronic depression) or a major depressive disorder. So what are some of the secrets for being happy and effective at work?

My number one solution is to know yourself. Being self-aware, understanding your skill set, knowing where you are good and where you are not so good all help you to fit in to the workplace culture and expectations. I have talked before about person-environment fit and I firmly believe that if people have a poor fit that they will be unhappy. Being unhappy for 40 hours a week leads to some nasty consequences - not only mood disorders but alcoholism, thrill seeking (perhaps through affairs, adrenaline charged outdoor activities), and de-stabilized relationships.

So coming to grips with yourself in the workplace in a realistic and not negative way is a very important part of how we deal with work or workplace stress. A half an hour ago I declared to my wife, after returning from work at the end of a long week, that while I am good at large scale conceptualization, creating research cultures, building strategic visions etc, when it gets down to supervising administrative staff to make sure that they have attended to all the necessary details and minutiae of my work place - I am definitely not very good. So I have to find a way to work around this so my colleagues and my supervisors do not suffer from my big picture view of the world.

I enjoy the research from Harvard and the work of people like Daniel Goleman. I am very supportive of the research that suggests that self-awareness and emotional intelligence are two of the major performance characteristics that predict successful outcomes. I generally look at five performance factors in an organization: productivity (not easy to measure in some organizations); punctuality (and time on task); absenteeism (sickies etc); presenteeism (at work but doing virtually nothing); and staff turnover. All of these variables impact job output and job satisfaction.

People, especially leaders and managers who are low on self-awareness and emotional intelligence will not be successful in their workplace. They will add to work stress, not reduce it. The productivity of their organizational units will be lower. They will have higher absenteeism, presenteeism, turnover, and lower productivity. Those who work but do not supervise who are unaware and emotionally dull create upward problems just as effectively as managers create downwards problems.

What does it mean if one has a high or very high emotional intelligence (EI)? I will draw upon some material from an earlier article as it sums up nicely why self-awareness and emotional intelligence is important. If you have high levels of EI, you probably have a fairly positive self-esteem, you are probably very happy, you probably maintain good relationships and understand people quite well, you manage life's stressful events and challenges well and you are probably handling virtually all aspects of your life very comfortably.

So you want to improve your lot in organizational life? Start with yourself. Reduce your stress, lower the stress levels of your partners, and minimize workplace stress for your colleagues by sitting down and doing an audit of your personal and inter-personal style. Ask a good but frank and honest friend to give you advice. And, to reduce the stress issues that seem to surround you, work on a personal improvement plan as outlined by your friend.

Dr Jeff, a psychologist, writes about stress. In this article he provides additional insights into the concept of self-awareness and emotional intelligence in terms of their effect on workplace stress. People need to learn how to manage stress and they need help to relieve stress. Dr Bailey integrates sound research with extensive clinical knowledge from his therapy with his patients. He works hard to make his articles practical and helpful but all of his articles are based on sound research evidence. To find out more about how he helps people with stress relief and to learn effective ways to manage and reduce stress, visit his website http://www.drjeffbailey.com/free_stress_book.html to get a free book that will introduce you to effective stress management.

Change, Happiness, Success And Our Core Values

The saying that "change is the only constant thing in this world" holds profound meaning in every sense of the word. Backed by this universal truth is also the dictum that there is no such thing as 'forever'. However, amidst all these acclaimed universal truths, there are things in this world that stay eternal: One of them our set of core values the fundamentals that enable us to find happiness and success in our lives.

In his # 1 National Bestseller book that sold over 10 million copies, author Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1990 ed.) illustrates his own personal experience on change. As a parent, he claims that to change a situation, we first have to change ourselves, and to change ourselves effectively, we first have to change our perceptions. However, Dr. Phil argues that it's more complicated than that. Illustrated in his book Life Strategies - Stop Making Excuses! Do What Works, Do What Matters (1999 ed.), he firmly wants to instill in our minds the glaring truth about change that we can not change what we do not acknowledge. In similar fashion, I totally agree on his argument. It's like saying that the hardest thing to open in this world is a closed mind - therefore making change difficult to occur.

There are some people who have a mindset to make some changes in their lives and choose to be happy. Even the great Chinese philosopher Confucius would agree in his belief that "man must be wise and unafraid to live a happy life" - a philosophy similarly shared by his contemporary, Mencius where he enumerates three mature virtues of his 'great man' as wisdom, compassion and courage deliberated in Lin Yutang's book, The Importance of Living (1962 ed.) a must-to-read book for daily living.

Likewise, Stephen R. Covey focuses the "Character Ethic" as the foundation of success things like integrity, humility, fidelity, temperance, courage, justice, patience, industry, simplicity, modesty and the Golden Rule.

In his book, he presented Benjamin Franklin's autobiography as the epitome of these values "a man's effort to integrate certain principles and habits deep within his nature", he explained. The Character Ethic, according to Covey teaches us that there are basic principles of effective living, and that people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as they learn and integrate these principles into their basic character.

In addition, Anthony Scire's dynamic and contemporary book The Power of 2 (2003 ed.) promotes building solid relationships over the long term and encouraging us to be "nice, kind and good" to everyone we know and meet. This highlights Henry James's core value of kindness:"Three things in human life are important", he said. "The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind." In the same book, then eminent Bishop Fulton J. Sheen admonished us to also take control of our emotions so that we may live a successful and happy life. He said: "Each of us makes his own weather determines the color of the skies in the emotional universe which he inhabits."

Change therefore is inevitable in our lives. If - and when it comes, our core values should help us adapt to the consequences of change. Hence, as exemplified by great and wise men of past and present generations, our happiness and success depend upon our core values and attitudes.

Letty R. Vendramini
http://www.7PowerWords.com/

Your Voyage To Happiness Begins Here. Learn how you can find real happiness in your life and how to live it to the full. Abandon unhappiness and achieve true lasting happiness. Discover the "real you" and unleash the joy within.

Visit http://www.BestSecretsToHappiness.com/ and receive Your FREE Happiness Report Worth $47 On How You Can Find True Lasting Happiness In Your Life. Click now to download. Alternatively Letty regularly writes articles on How To Sustain True, Lasting Happiness available to view at http://www.BestSecretsToHappiness.com/blog/

Letty R. Stevens Vendramini acquired two degrees in Bachelor of Philosophy (Ph.B) Minor in English and Bachelor of Social Work (BSocWk). Letty teaches subjects in Philosophy, Psychology, Public Speaking, Argumentation and Debate, English Grammar and Composition, Research and Thesis Writing and Business Ethics. Letty is a part-time Private Practitioner in Social Work-Counseling. She is also a writer, a newspaper columnist/correspondent and an editor.

Being Flexible

In each of our lives, there will be times of joy and times of sorrow. In trauma, we are born. In trauma, we leave the world. Somewhere in the midst of living, growing, and understanding life in our maturity, we find ourselves seeking to find what we were born with. Innocence is precious. We really never lose it. We might for a time lose innocence, but life is too large for one perceptual being to embrace fully with the mind and the heart.

Innocence comes alive the moment we realize life is beyond our control, our ability to perceive, and our emotional capacity to feel. It is here we realize that life is beyond our control and we open our hearts and mind to something greater than ourselves. Our ego finds its proper place in our lives and we shift from being the central core of life's existence and attention to something much greater. At this point, we begin to place our life, our heart, our mind, and our soul into the very wisdom that has created us.

This movement from self-centered awareness to life-centered awareness allows us to perceive and have revealed to us information greater than what we know life to be to what can be known through us. Here, we become flexible with life, instead of, life having to go our way. This level of knowing creates a 6th sense, a super sense of awareness, an awareness in higher consciousness. We become more soul than body at this point. We become the awareness that brought us into this world. We become spiritual beings having a human experience. We become sons and daughters of the Universe.

When we remember who we are. We re - member ourselves back into the awareness at birth and at death. This awareness is with us always. We sometimes forget who we are. But, when we re - member who we are. We reconnect ourselves into the sense of knowing we grow through life and we also go through life. Through it all, our soul is in process of maturing and in process of remembering. With this in mind, our ups and our downs find consolation in our essence - in our spirit.

Samuel Oliver, author of, "What the Dying Teach Us: Lessons on Living" For more on this author; http://www.soulandspirit.org