This morning I woke up to a comment from someone that says that they don't agree with me 100% but still enjoy my videos. It makes me so happy that they still watch even when they don't agree.
In 2018 it is increasingly difficult to be in a situation to honestly disagree with anyone. Our culture is being formed via validation. "Perhaps if this group all agrees the same way we will be right in thinking so".
It is our God given right to be individuals. To be an individual means...you. We don't need someone else to agree to validate our ideas or opinions. Life is too short. God is too good.
I encourage you all as you head out today, be ok with disagreeing. Don't look for validation. Just be you.
Be well. Be encouraged. Be radical.
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Amen my friend, well said. :D We don't have to all agree, personally I think life would be very boring if we did. :D Thankfully whether we agree or disagree 100%, 10% or even 1% we can still listen to and enjoy others points of view. :D
I'm very grateful that I live in a country where we have that freedom of choice. :D
God bless you and your wonderful family. :D Have an awesome day my fabulous friend! :D
Well said. I love that we have the freedom to think, feel, and be different. I feel very blessed.
Cool message, brother. Are you from Newark? Nice t shirt :)
Hey! No I am not. I get my tshirts at thrift stores. So i get a variety. Haha
Lol, I think i've been to that church, awesome!!!
To be honest when I first saw your videos I saw you were a Christian(being European it is personal what the Christians did to us), but I have watched anyways. You have quality content and i will begin upvoting more. Sorry I haven’t as much,as I watch many of your videos.
Hey! Even Christian has a bad name these days. I say that I am a devotee of Jesus...which is different from christianity. I am a human and I live each day forward. Never holding onto the past. I encourage you to not focus on an aspect of history, but on today. We have a chance to make today amazing. We cant change what happened, or know what tomorrow will hold. Today....we live. Be well.
I agree that we must look to the future, but forgetting the past is indeed a very Christian idea. To me the past is important, I wish to honor my ancestors. Their sacrifice and strength is the reason I am here today. When I face times of weakness I can look inward and see the strength of my ancestors to help me move forward I to the future. I want my children to know the sacrifices we have made as parents as well, so they can learn strength lies within themselves it doesn’t come from an outside source. Today we do live, that’s why I don’t concern myself with the next life. If I live today well it should work out on its own anyways. You’re a great steemian and I respect what your family is doing!
I agree that we often don't need validation, but I think validation is healthy SOMETIMES too.
Being in like-minded company feels good if you are used to being around people that constantly disagree with you. And I think agreeing about some things and disagreeing about other things offers a good balance between the two.
The hardest thing for me in terms of making friends and discussing Christianity is that most people I meet haven't tested the Parables of Christ so they haven't arrived at anything even remotely close to my conclusions.
I love discussing Christianity, life and spirituality but often run in to problems when I try to discuss it with devout Christians.
P.S. I would rather associate myself as someone who studied and tested the Parables of Christ as opposed to calling myself a Christian or non-Christian. I think that would be the most accurate description of my experience with the Bible.
Interesting you say tested the parables what do you mean? Do you state it as you have read and tested Jesus' teachings and found that they weren't for you, or not correct?
The recent comment I made right before this one explains it more. I read the Parables of Christ, did everything it said to do and discovered some of what it is pointing to.
The testing involved following the instructions Christ gave i.e. When he said surrender all of your possessions and follow him I did.
This was over the course of 15 years and sometimes I was focusing on something else but I repeatedly went back to following the instructions he gave at different times in my life and eventually saw the moon so to speak.
I'm still growing though but I am starting to focus more on easing suffering, preventing suffering and in some cases removing suffering. I think that is the ultimate end goal and realization, not Heaven or anything selfish like that. (How could anyone righteous enjoy paradise knowing the majority of mankind was suffering unbearably? Wouldn't happen).
P.S. I just actually had this ultimate realization a couple days ago after discussing this with you. I have been focusing on health for about a year but recently realized that the cessation of suffering is the moment the real war is won. Happiness (i.e. Heaven) health and everything else is just a minor battle.
As long as anyone or anything is suffering, the rest of the whole that we are will be effected too. Sometimes it's delayed but a person or thing suffering anywhere in reality effects us all.
That is amazing. It is great that we have multiple views. Given your description..I think Jesus is the moon. What I mean is that I believe that all things were created through Him. When he gave us directions for life I believe that it was encompassing buddhist thoughts toward suffering. I believe it is deeper though. When we focus on the moon (in my case Jesus) we can see the truth through His teachings, the by product is infact taking care of the suffering in the world. I think it would be impossible to be a devotee of Jesus and not live a life the isnt about yourself. The real difference is in the individual acknowledging Jesus for who He says He is (God) or not...
Thank you for discussing this with me @freedompoint.
I think the main topic is the end of suffering but that following in Christ's footsteps will lead a person to discover that is the most important matter at hand - not pleasure I.e. Heaven or Paradise.
I think it is good enough to speak about easing and removing suffering in and of itself, but the Bible does have pointers. One of the pointers is when Jesus 'says' that he will give you his 'new name' in Revelations.
I believe his new name is:
The 'Jesus' in 'I Am Jesus' was removed with the 'I Am' remaining by itself.
There is more than that but I believe knowing 'I Am' and more importantly, the Great I Am when even the 'I Am' is removed, is more valuable than remembering the storyline that the pointers were framed in.
I really enjoy your company 😊