Ok all...so I have fallen head over heals in love with Athanasius! This is an early church father whom I came across in my study-time yesterday. He is 5' and has dark curly hair! SO CUTE! If ya'll want a picture of him here he is!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sainta15.jpg
And if you want to read about him here is his page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athanasius_of_Alexandria#Early_life
Thanks for reading!
Athanasius + Sarah = <3
Thursday, September 30, 2010
History of Christendom
Chapter 5 notes:
Over the many years, there have been many different types of councils. A provincial council was where the churches of a providence were represented. A national council is where churches of an entire country were represented. A general council was where all the churches of all countries were represented. That can also be called an ecumenical council. The Council of Nicaea in 325 was the first ecumenical council.
We will be taking a look at four different general/ecumenical councils: the Council of Nicaea (325), the Council of Constantinople (381), the Council of Ephesus (431), and the Council of Chalcedon (451).
The Council of Nicaea: This council was created for the purpose of answering the question of whether Christ, the Son, was as truly and fully God as the Father. We know already that He is just that. So the real debate then would have been over whether the Trinity really existed. The two greatest debaters on this issue were Arius and Athanasius. Athanasius was still a young man, but Arius was advanced in years. Arius believed that if Christ was really as God as the Father, that would make two Gods…and that could not be because Christianity was monotheistic. So according to Arius, Christ is the highest and most powerful being created. Notice the word created there would mean that God made him like humans. On the other hand, Athanasius taught that Christ is as God-like as the Father and the Holy Spirit. This debate is not to be brushed over lightly. This was a very important issue…the belief of the Trinity was at stake here. After a while of them just fighting back and forth, the emperor, Constantine made a general council to decide which was more plausible. More than 300 bishops were present to consider the two matters. The outcome of the whole ordeal was that what Arius had to say was pure heresy. They took Athanasius’s idea and refined it into a creed now called the Nicene Creed.
The Council of Constantinople: But even the Nicene Creed couldn’t stop Arius’s heretical doctrine. Even up to his death, Athanasius fought valiantly for what he believed in. After he died, the office of orthodoxy (the right way of teaching) was handed over to three men known as “the three great Cappadocians.” They came from Cappadocia in Asia Minor. Their real names were Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa. The Nicene Creed had said nothing about the Holy Spirit and so in the year 381, another council to declare its belief in the Holy Spirit. From this point on, Arianism disappeared.
The Council of Chalcedon: Even after all this, the church had a long way to go before it had its understanding was complete. There had been plenty of different views on the true deity of Christ. In 451, yet another council was formed: the council of Chalcedon. There is said to have been 600 bishops attending. In this creed that they made, they reconfirmed the divinity of Christ and then His equally, full humanity.
Ambrose: Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine were three great leaders who lived during the end of the fourth century and the beginning of the fifth century. Ambrose (340-397) lived a life of high status and was well educated. He was elected the bishop of the church in Milan in 374. It was because of Ambrose’s strong faith and discipline that the emperor pulled his act together and acted a bit more Christian.
Jerome: Another leader was born in 340 and was educated in Rome like Ambrose. He loved to travel and went all over the Roman Empire but spent his last 34 years in Bethlehem. Jerome knew Hebrew and went on to make a new Latin translation of the Bible. This was known as the Vulgate.
Augustine: The church father who is said to have been the greatest was Augustine. He was born in 354 and his mother was said to have been the most famous mothers in history. Augustine was given many chances to learn and become a very educated young man, but he often neglected those opportunities. At age sixteen, he went to Carthage, the largest city in North Africa to study. Unfortunately this was a city of evil and he soon fell into the immorality. His mother, however, prayed constantly for his conversion. A Christian friend encouraged her by saying, “A son of so many prayers cannot be lost.” Augustine continued in his evil ways, but did seek for truth. For nine years he followed the ways of Manichean. He often went and listened to Ambrose preach. He didn’t go because he liked to hear what he said, but rather just to listen. His mother joined him in Milan and soon he began to turn from his Manichean thinking. I won’t go into all the details about the story of his conversion, but in the summer of 386, he changed his life around for the good.
Augustine Defending and Expounding: Augustine eventually became the bishop of Hippo in North Africa. He was extremely devoted to the Church. He fought in writing against many different heresies. The ones he spent the most time on were the Manicheans, the Donatists, and the Pelagians. The Donatists believed that if a person had denied the faith and left the church, they were not to be readmitted to the church. This created schism among many Christians. They eventually retreated and created churches of their own. Soon there were more Donatists than Catholics in North Africa. Augustine held firm though and preached that the Catholic Church was the one to follow. Against Pelagianism, Augustine told the true doctrine of man and the manner of his salvation. Pelagianism denied that man had fallen into sin. They didn’t believe in original sin, the total depravity of man, and predestination. Man is not born corrupt. The council of Ephesus in 431 condemned the teachings of Pelagius. However, it didn’t stop there, for in 529, the Synod of Orange condemned the teachings of the Semi-Pelagians saying that it was up to the individual person to accept or refuse God’s offer of grace. The two works he is most known for are The City of God, and Confessions.
The Metropolitan and Patriarchal Systems: We are now going back to our discussion about organization a couple chapters back. Each bishop was considered all on an equal level for a while, but eventually, there would be one bishop who began to take more and more rule in his hand until he became pope.
To explain how this is done, we will talk about the different levels. The bishops in the churches in the larger cities were more looked up to and were soon called metropolitan bishops. Then, the churches of the five cities (Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, and Rome) were even more looked up to and respected. The bishops there were called patriarchs.
Jerusalem was considered the foundation and motherhead of all the churches because she had been there when there weren’t any other churches. However, Jerusalem was soon overshadowed by newer churches. This happened especially after 70 AD. Nevertheless, because it had withstood many persecutions and trials, it was named a patriarch.
Antioch was well known because of Paul’s work there and the different missionaries’ work. It had become known for its deep theological thinkers there. It was also the third city in size and importance in the Empire. So the bishop there also received the title of patriarch.
Alexandria couldn’t boast of an ecclesiastical decent, it was the second city in size and importance and it too had fathered a school of theological thinking. So here also the bishop was allowed the name of patriarch.
Constantinople, which was originally named Byzantium, was not known for its spirituality or archaicism, but it owed its title of patriarch to the fact that it was located in the city which had become the dwelling place of the emperor.
Rome was the first city in size and importance in the Empire. Paul had labored there and it was claimed that Paul had handed the power of the keys of the kingdom to the bishops of Rome. In every disagreement or dispute, the bishop of Rome would be appealed to. There was no church who would dare to compete with the church in Rome. It was finally decided that the bishop of Rome would be named pope (from the Latin word papa which means “father”). Pope Leo I, the bishop first named pope, has been called the last of the ancient and the first of the medieval popes.
1) The councils were so that theological debates could be decided on.
2) The Council of Nicaea (325) made the Nicene Creed; the Council of Constantinople (381) made the statement that in addition to the Nicene Creed, the Holy Spirit was also God; the Council of Ephesus (431) condemned the heresy of Pelagians, and the Council of Chalcedon (451) made the Chalcedon Creed.
3) Ambrose played a major role in the converting of Augustine, promoted Christian hymnology, and forced his emperor, Theodosius to submit to God. Jerome served as secretary to Pope Damasus, established a monastery at Bethlehem, and translated the Bible into Latin. Augustine was known for his apologetic books, and influencing classical thought to Christian teaching creating a theological system of great power.
4) That Irenaeus had written that all the other churches had to submit to the church in Rome, and they were sort of the church in charge anyways.
5) Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople.
6) I already answered this earlier in my notes.
7) Donatism: He taught that the only true Church is the Catholic Church. Pelagianism: He taught that man is born into sin and the only way to salvation is the grace of God.
8) ......
Over the many years, there have been many different types of councils. A provincial council was where the churches of a providence were represented. A national council is where churches of an entire country were represented. A general council was where all the churches of all countries were represented. That can also be called an ecumenical council. The Council of Nicaea in 325 was the first ecumenical council.
We will be taking a look at four different general/ecumenical councils: the Council of Nicaea (325), the Council of Constantinople (381), the Council of Ephesus (431), and the Council of Chalcedon (451).
The Council of Nicaea: This council was created for the purpose of answering the question of whether Christ, the Son, was as truly and fully God as the Father. We know already that He is just that. So the real debate then would have been over whether the Trinity really existed. The two greatest debaters on this issue were Arius and Athanasius. Athanasius was still a young man, but Arius was advanced in years. Arius believed that if Christ was really as God as the Father, that would make two Gods…and that could not be because Christianity was monotheistic. So according to Arius, Christ is the highest and most powerful being created. Notice the word created there would mean that God made him like humans. On the other hand, Athanasius taught that Christ is as God-like as the Father and the Holy Spirit. This debate is not to be brushed over lightly. This was a very important issue…the belief of the Trinity was at stake here. After a while of them just fighting back and forth, the emperor, Constantine made a general council to decide which was more plausible. More than 300 bishops were present to consider the two matters. The outcome of the whole ordeal was that what Arius had to say was pure heresy. They took Athanasius’s idea and refined it into a creed now called the Nicene Creed.
The Council of Constantinople: But even the Nicene Creed couldn’t stop Arius’s heretical doctrine. Even up to his death, Athanasius fought valiantly for what he believed in. After he died, the office of orthodoxy (the right way of teaching) was handed over to three men known as “the three great Cappadocians.” They came from Cappadocia in Asia Minor. Their real names were Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa. The Nicene Creed had said nothing about the Holy Spirit and so in the year 381, another council to declare its belief in the Holy Spirit. From this point on, Arianism disappeared.
The Council of Chalcedon: Even after all this, the church had a long way to go before it had its understanding was complete. There had been plenty of different views on the true deity of Christ. In 451, yet another council was formed: the council of Chalcedon. There is said to have been 600 bishops attending. In this creed that they made, they reconfirmed the divinity of Christ and then His equally, full humanity.
Ambrose: Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine were three great leaders who lived during the end of the fourth century and the beginning of the fifth century. Ambrose (340-397) lived a life of high status and was well educated. He was elected the bishop of the church in Milan in 374. It was because of Ambrose’s strong faith and discipline that the emperor pulled his act together and acted a bit more Christian.
Jerome: Another leader was born in 340 and was educated in Rome like Ambrose. He loved to travel and went all over the Roman Empire but spent his last 34 years in Bethlehem. Jerome knew Hebrew and went on to make a new Latin translation of the Bible. This was known as the Vulgate.
Augustine: The church father who is said to have been the greatest was Augustine. He was born in 354 and his mother was said to have been the most famous mothers in history. Augustine was given many chances to learn and become a very educated young man, but he often neglected those opportunities. At age sixteen, he went to Carthage, the largest city in North Africa to study. Unfortunately this was a city of evil and he soon fell into the immorality. His mother, however, prayed constantly for his conversion. A Christian friend encouraged her by saying, “A son of so many prayers cannot be lost.” Augustine continued in his evil ways, but did seek for truth. For nine years he followed the ways of Manichean. He often went and listened to Ambrose preach. He didn’t go because he liked to hear what he said, but rather just to listen. His mother joined him in Milan and soon he began to turn from his Manichean thinking. I won’t go into all the details about the story of his conversion, but in the summer of 386, he changed his life around for the good.
Augustine Defending and Expounding: Augustine eventually became the bishop of Hippo in North Africa. He was extremely devoted to the Church. He fought in writing against many different heresies. The ones he spent the most time on were the Manicheans, the Donatists, and the Pelagians. The Donatists believed that if a person had denied the faith and left the church, they were not to be readmitted to the church. This created schism among many Christians. They eventually retreated and created churches of their own. Soon there were more Donatists than Catholics in North Africa. Augustine held firm though and preached that the Catholic Church was the one to follow. Against Pelagianism, Augustine told the true doctrine of man and the manner of his salvation. Pelagianism denied that man had fallen into sin. They didn’t believe in original sin, the total depravity of man, and predestination. Man is not born corrupt. The council of Ephesus in 431 condemned the teachings of Pelagius. However, it didn’t stop there, for in 529, the Synod of Orange condemned the teachings of the Semi-Pelagians saying that it was up to the individual person to accept or refuse God’s offer of grace. The two works he is most known for are The City of God, and Confessions.
The Metropolitan and Patriarchal Systems: We are now going back to our discussion about organization a couple chapters back. Each bishop was considered all on an equal level for a while, but eventually, there would be one bishop who began to take more and more rule in his hand until he became pope.
To explain how this is done, we will talk about the different levels. The bishops in the churches in the larger cities were more looked up to and were soon called metropolitan bishops. Then, the churches of the five cities (Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, and Rome) were even more looked up to and respected. The bishops there were called patriarchs.
Jerusalem was considered the foundation and motherhead of all the churches because she had been there when there weren’t any other churches. However, Jerusalem was soon overshadowed by newer churches. This happened especially after 70 AD. Nevertheless, because it had withstood many persecutions and trials, it was named a patriarch.
Antioch was well known because of Paul’s work there and the different missionaries’ work. It had become known for its deep theological thinkers there. It was also the third city in size and importance in the Empire. So the bishop there also received the title of patriarch.
Alexandria couldn’t boast of an ecclesiastical decent, it was the second city in size and importance and it too had fathered a school of theological thinking. So here also the bishop was allowed the name of patriarch.
Constantinople, which was originally named Byzantium, was not known for its spirituality or archaicism, but it owed its title of patriarch to the fact that it was located in the city which had become the dwelling place of the emperor.
Rome was the first city in size and importance in the Empire. Paul had labored there and it was claimed that Paul had handed the power of the keys of the kingdom to the bishops of Rome. In every disagreement or dispute, the bishop of Rome would be appealed to. There was no church who would dare to compete with the church in Rome. It was finally decided that the bishop of Rome would be named pope (from the Latin word papa which means “father”). Pope Leo I, the bishop first named pope, has been called the last of the ancient and the first of the medieval popes.
1) The councils were so that theological debates could be decided on.
2) The Council of Nicaea (325) made the Nicene Creed; the Council of Constantinople (381) made the statement that in addition to the Nicene Creed, the Holy Spirit was also God; the Council of Ephesus (431) condemned the heresy of Pelagians, and the Council of Chalcedon (451) made the Chalcedon Creed.
3) Ambrose played a major role in the converting of Augustine, promoted Christian hymnology, and forced his emperor, Theodosius to submit to God. Jerome served as secretary to Pope Damasus, established a monastery at Bethlehem, and translated the Bible into Latin. Augustine was known for his apologetic books, and influencing classical thought to Christian teaching creating a theological system of great power.
4) That Irenaeus had written that all the other churches had to submit to the church in Rome, and they were sort of the church in charge anyways.
5) Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople.
6) I already answered this earlier in my notes.
7) Donatism: He taught that the only true Church is the Catholic Church. Pelagianism: He taught that man is born into sin and the only way to salvation is the grace of God.
8) ......
Vocabulary words
Vocabulary words for Lecture 3:
platonism: the belief that physical objects are impermanent representations of unchanging Ideas, and that the Ideas alone give true knowledge as they are known by the mind.
manicheanism: an adherent of the dualistic religious system of Manes, a combination of gnostic Christianity, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and various other elements, with a basic doctrine of a conflict between light and dark, matter being regarded as dark and evil.
dualistic: the state of being dual or consisting of two parts; division into two.
ascetic: the state of being dual or consisting of two parts; division into two.
dissipation: a wasting by misuse
Adeodatus: Saint, died a.d. 618, Italian ecclesiastic: pope 615–618.
stipend: a periodic payment, esp. a scholarship or fellowship allowance granted to a student.
patron: a person who supports with money, gifts, efforts, or endorsement an artist, writer, museum, cause, charity, institution, special event, or the like
consecration: the act of consecrating; dedication to the service and worship of a deity.
pelagianism: a follower of Pelagius, who denied original sin and believed in freedom of the will.
arianism: the doctrine, taught by Arius, that Christ the Son was not consubstantial with god the Father.
donatism: a member of a Christian sect that developed in northern Africa in a.d. 311 and maintained that it alone constituted the whole and only true church and that baptisms and ordinations of the orthodox clergy were invalid.
novatianism: The doctrines or principles of the Novatians
neo-: a combining form meaning “new,” “recent,” “revived,” “modified,” used in the formation of compound words
amoral: not involving questions of right or wrong; without moral quality; neither moral nor immoral.
coy: artfully or affectedly shy or reserved; slyly hesitant; coquettish.
patrimony: an estate inherited from one's father or ancestors.
episcopacy: government of the church by bishops; church government in which there are three distinct orders of ministers, namely bishops, priests or presbyters, and deacons.
platonism: the belief that physical objects are impermanent representations of unchanging Ideas, and that the Ideas alone give true knowledge as they are known by the mind.
manicheanism: an adherent of the dualistic religious system of Manes, a combination of gnostic Christianity, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and various other elements, with a basic doctrine of a conflict between light and dark, matter being regarded as dark and evil.
dualistic: the state of being dual or consisting of two parts; division into two.
ascetic: the state of being dual or consisting of two parts; division into two.
dissipation: a wasting by misuse
Adeodatus: Saint, died a.d. 618, Italian ecclesiastic: pope 615–618.
stipend: a periodic payment, esp. a scholarship or fellowship allowance granted to a student.
patron: a person who supports with money, gifts, efforts, or endorsement an artist, writer, museum, cause, charity, institution, special event, or the like
consecration: the act of consecrating; dedication to the service and worship of a deity.
pelagianism: a follower of Pelagius, who denied original sin and believed in freedom of the will.
arianism: the doctrine, taught by Arius, that Christ the Son was not consubstantial with god the Father.
donatism: a member of a Christian sect that developed in northern Africa in a.d. 311 and maintained that it alone constituted the whole and only true church and that baptisms and ordinations of the orthodox clergy were invalid.
novatianism: The doctrines or principles of the Novatians
neo-: a combining form meaning “new,” “recent,” “revived,” “modified,” used in the formation of compound words
amoral: not involving questions of right or wrong; without moral quality; neither moral nor immoral.
coy: artfully or affectedly shy or reserved; slyly hesitant; coquettish.
patrimony: an estate inherited from one's father or ancestors.
episcopacy: government of the church by bishops; church government in which there are three distinct orders of ministers, namely bishops, priests or presbyters, and deacons.
History of Christendom
Chapter 4 notes:
In 306, Constantine was declared emperor over Britain, Gaul, and Spain. Maxentius ruled over Italy and North Africa but he wanted what Constantine had. Before Maxentius could make his move, Constantine marched to war on him with 40,000 men. Shortly after, Maxentius started his army marching so that they would meet in the middle. It was very obvious that Maxentius had the larger army and so Constantine needed some kind of supernatural intervention. The night before he had a sign that he would conquer Maxentius and sure enough, the next day, he did. After that battle, he was sure that this supernatural help came from the God of the Christians. In 313, he issued a decree that said basically what Galerius had done in 311 on his deathbed: that Christians were free to worship. This edict marked the rise of Christianity. They finally got a foothold on heathenism. People from everywhere were interested. After three hundred years, Christianity was free of cruel persecutions. The blood of the martyrs was the seed for the Church’s victory. But the one thing that saw the Church through every suffering, and that is the love and care of Christ for His bride, the Church.
There were plenty of Christians, but many of them didn’t act like true Christians. Rome had finally been won over by Christianity. Although Constantine gave many freedoms to the Church, he also demanded that he should have a large say in everything that went on. This eventually led to a wrong relationship between the State and the Church.
In 361, Julian, the nephew of Constantine became the emperor. He was raised a Christian, but was really a pagan. He tried his hardest to break down the Church, but no matter how hard he tried, heathenism fell on its face. In 363, he finally died in battle.
1) To take over and rule it under his thumb
2) The effects were that people flocked to the church doors. The church grew very unstable. The church grew close to the state and was ruled by it.
3) No, it is ruled instead by popes and bishops.
4) Because it had been under persecution for 300 years.
In 306, Constantine was declared emperor over Britain, Gaul, and Spain. Maxentius ruled over Italy and North Africa but he wanted what Constantine had. Before Maxentius could make his move, Constantine marched to war on him with 40,000 men. Shortly after, Maxentius started his army marching so that they would meet in the middle. It was very obvious that Maxentius had the larger army and so Constantine needed some kind of supernatural intervention. The night before he had a sign that he would conquer Maxentius and sure enough, the next day, he did. After that battle, he was sure that this supernatural help came from the God of the Christians. In 313, he issued a decree that said basically what Galerius had done in 311 on his deathbed: that Christians were free to worship. This edict marked the rise of Christianity. They finally got a foothold on heathenism. People from everywhere were interested. After three hundred years, Christianity was free of cruel persecutions. The blood of the martyrs was the seed for the Church’s victory. But the one thing that saw the Church through every suffering, and that is the love and care of Christ for His bride, the Church.
There were plenty of Christians, but many of them didn’t act like true Christians. Rome had finally been won over by Christianity. Although Constantine gave many freedoms to the Church, he also demanded that he should have a large say in everything that went on. This eventually led to a wrong relationship between the State and the Church.
In 361, Julian, the nephew of Constantine became the emperor. He was raised a Christian, but was really a pagan. He tried his hardest to break down the Church, but no matter how hard he tried, heathenism fell on its face. In 363, he finally died in battle.
1) To take over and rule it under his thumb
2) The effects were that people flocked to the church doors. The church grew very unstable. The church grew close to the state and was ruled by it.
3) No, it is ruled instead by popes and bishops.
4) Because it had been under persecution for 300 years.
History of Christendom (more reading)
Chapter 3 notes:
The inward growth of the church has to do with its doctrine, beliefs, or its organization. This would make it very important. Doctrine is so very important that we can't just brush over it like it doesn't mean anything. But the thought that doctrine doesn't matter has broken up a large part of the Church. Because of this, people have grown up ignorant of true Christian doctrine. We must pound the idea till it's dead...doctrine matters.
The Apostolic Fathers were said to have been personally taught by the apostles. The lived in the first half of the second century. Clement and Hermas of Rome; Ignatius of Antioch; Polycarp of Smyrna; and Barnabas, probably of Alexandria. There were two others, but we don't know their names. The Apostolic Fathers wrote and thought deeply about Christ.
The Apologists were Christians who wrote books in defense of the gospel. Many pagans told false stories about Christians or misrepresented many teachings of Christianity. An apologist is someone who defends what he believes to be the truth. The best known apologists were Justin Martyr and Origen.
Gnosticism and Montanism, two false beliefs, arose to overthrow Christianity. Gnosticism is that Christ never dwelt on this earth in human form. Montanism taught that Christ's promise of the Comforter had not been fulfilled in the upper room on Pentecost, but that the coming of the Holy Spirit was now at hand and that the end of the world was near. Both of these false teachings were gaining a foothold on the Church. They were false doctrines, but they were rapidly increasing in population because many Christians had not been trained in the true doctrine.
The most prominant Church Fathers were Irenaeus and Tertullian in the western, and Clement and Origen in the eastern part of the Roman Empire.
Through the struggles of the two false teachings, there emerged three things: a creed, a canon, and an organization. The creed was the Apostles Creed, something many of us today know. The Canon is a listing of the books of the New Testament. The Organization is the episcopal form of church government.
The church had to have someone who maintained authority, such as bishops. At the beginning of the organization, there were elders and deacons. Sometimes one elder would take the lead. Once that happened, they were considered and overseer or a bishop. Eventually, that bishop came to rule over the whole of that one church. Bishops who gradually gained all authority in a church were called monarchical bishops. By the middle of the second century, practically all churches had monarchical bishops.
At the beginning, there were only churches in the cities and so the country folk were known as pagans.
Cyprian was a man who expressed his ideas about the Church. Soon after he was converted, he became a bishop but was martyred.
1) They were believed to have been personally taught by the Apostles and they lived in first half of the second century.
2) Done
3) Polycarp: Apostolic Father. Origen: Apologist Father and Church Father. Gnosticism: the belief that Christ never came to earth in human form. Montanism: the belief that Christ never sent the Comforter, but the Holy Spirit's coming was at hand and that the end of the world would be soon.
4) Justin Martyr and Origen. They defended the true Christian doctrine. Paul of Tarsus and Irenaeus.
5) Theophilus
6) Because the Apostles creed was written while people were struggling through all the false teachings and were unsure of what to think about Christ.
7) with the church being controlled under the bishop, this could lead to "bishop worship" or "church worship" which is where it did lead to.
The inward growth of the church has to do with its doctrine, beliefs, or its organization. This would make it very important. Doctrine is so very important that we can't just brush over it like it doesn't mean anything. But the thought that doctrine doesn't matter has broken up a large part of the Church. Because of this, people have grown up ignorant of true Christian doctrine. We must pound the idea till it's dead...doctrine matters.
The Apostolic Fathers were said to have been personally taught by the apostles. The lived in the first half of the second century. Clement and Hermas of Rome; Ignatius of Antioch; Polycarp of Smyrna; and Barnabas, probably of Alexandria. There were two others, but we don't know their names. The Apostolic Fathers wrote and thought deeply about Christ.
The Apologists were Christians who wrote books in defense of the gospel. Many pagans told false stories about Christians or misrepresented many teachings of Christianity. An apologist is someone who defends what he believes to be the truth. The best known apologists were Justin Martyr and Origen.
Gnosticism and Montanism, two false beliefs, arose to overthrow Christianity. Gnosticism is that Christ never dwelt on this earth in human form. Montanism taught that Christ's promise of the Comforter had not been fulfilled in the upper room on Pentecost, but that the coming of the Holy Spirit was now at hand and that the end of the world was near. Both of these false teachings were gaining a foothold on the Church. They were false doctrines, but they were rapidly increasing in population because many Christians had not been trained in the true doctrine.
The most prominant Church Fathers were Irenaeus and Tertullian in the western, and Clement and Origen in the eastern part of the Roman Empire.
Through the struggles of the two false teachings, there emerged three things: a creed, a canon, and an organization. The creed was the Apostles Creed, something many of us today know. The Canon is a listing of the books of the New Testament. The Organization is the episcopal form of church government.
The church had to have someone who maintained authority, such as bishops. At the beginning of the organization, there were elders and deacons. Sometimes one elder would take the lead. Once that happened, they were considered and overseer or a bishop. Eventually, that bishop came to rule over the whole of that one church. Bishops who gradually gained all authority in a church were called monarchical bishops. By the middle of the second century, practically all churches had monarchical bishops.
At the beginning, there were only churches in the cities and so the country folk were known as pagans.
Cyprian was a man who expressed his ideas about the Church. Soon after he was converted, he became a bishop but was martyred.
1) They were believed to have been personally taught by the Apostles and they lived in first half of the second century.
2) Done
3) Polycarp: Apostolic Father. Origen: Apologist Father and Church Father. Gnosticism: the belief that Christ never came to earth in human form. Montanism: the belief that Christ never sent the Comforter, but the Holy Spirit's coming was at hand and that the end of the world would be soon.
4) Justin Martyr and Origen. They defended the true Christian doctrine. Paul of Tarsus and Irenaeus.
5) Theophilus
6) Because the Apostles creed was written while people were struggling through all the false teachings and were unsure of what to think about Christ.
7) with the church being controlled under the bishop, this could lead to "bishop worship" or "church worship" which is where it did lead to.
History of Christendom reading
Chapter 2 notes:
For the first 300 years, the church was constantly being persecuted. That time period has been named The Heroic Age of the Church. Many of the apostles died the martyr death because of their faith. Many of the earliest persecutions were administered by the Jews, but eventually included the Roman government.
In the year 64 at the time of Emperor Nero, a fire broke out. After it was rumored to be Nero's fault, he blamed it on the Christians therefore beginning a whole host of sufferings and deaths among them. Many Christians suffered at the hands of Nero. These persecutions were throughout the whole empire. From 68-161, there was no large slaughters of Christians, but plenty of individual deaths of strong Christians. A few of these were Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna, and Justin Martyr.
During the rule of Marcus Aurelius (161-180), a decree was made that the property of Christians would be given to their accusers. This would obviously lead to many people accusing Christians of things they didn't do. For many more years, the Christians were murdered in the most cruel ways. For about 70 years, there was a lull in the persecutions with a few exceptions.
In Alexandria in Egypt there began to be persecutions including the father of Origen, and Irenaeus.
The first emperor to make an effort to persecute Christians to destroy the Church was Decius. He only reigned for two years. They had a break and then had more persecution from Valerian. Another forty years went by quietly and then in 303, Diocletian began the oppression again which was continued by his successor, Galerius until the year 311. Many Christians found refuge in the catacombs, the underground passages. This was the last of all the persecutions. As Galerius lay on his deathbed, he issued a decree to let the Christians to hold their worship services again. The complete victory for the Church was near at hand.
1) It destroyed its foundations by forbidding Christians to worship and by killing off strong Christians.
2) The catacombs were the places that Christians sought refuge from Galerius's persecutions
3) To suffer for Christ
4) They persecuted them because Christianity was a threat to their faith.
5) Because of the desolation of Jerusalem in 70 AD
For the first 300 years, the church was constantly being persecuted. That time period has been named The Heroic Age of the Church. Many of the apostles died the martyr death because of their faith. Many of the earliest persecutions were administered by the Jews, but eventually included the Roman government.
In the year 64 at the time of Emperor Nero, a fire broke out. After it was rumored to be Nero's fault, he blamed it on the Christians therefore beginning a whole host of sufferings and deaths among them. Many Christians suffered at the hands of Nero. These persecutions were throughout the whole empire. From 68-161, there was no large slaughters of Christians, but plenty of individual deaths of strong Christians. A few of these were Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna, and Justin Martyr.
During the rule of Marcus Aurelius (161-180), a decree was made that the property of Christians would be given to their accusers. This would obviously lead to many people accusing Christians of things they didn't do. For many more years, the Christians were murdered in the most cruel ways. For about 70 years, there was a lull in the persecutions with a few exceptions.
In Alexandria in Egypt there began to be persecutions including the father of Origen, and Irenaeus.
The first emperor to make an effort to persecute Christians to destroy the Church was Decius. He only reigned for two years. They had a break and then had more persecution from Valerian. Another forty years went by quietly and then in 303, Diocletian began the oppression again which was continued by his successor, Galerius until the year 311. Many Christians found refuge in the catacombs, the underground passages. This was the last of all the persecutions. As Galerius lay on his deathbed, he issued a decree to let the Christians to hold their worship services again. The complete victory for the Church was near at hand.
1) It destroyed its foundations by forbidding Christians to worship and by killing off strong Christians.
2) The catacombs were the places that Christians sought refuge from Galerius's persecutions
3) To suffer for Christ
4) They persecuted them because Christianity was a threat to their faith.
5) Because of the desolation of Jerusalem in 70 AD
Monday, September 27, 2010
Homework for this week
Small Beginnings: After Acts
Rome was the commercial hub of the urban areas. It was the hub, and the spokes went out to the world. The Romans built their culture through roads, military, and language. The once culture that overthrew them was Greece. Rome began as a republic first, and eventually changed into an Empire.
Julius Caesar (100 BC - 44 BC) ran the triumvirate of the Roman Senate. The triumvirate was a three-part government. It did not, however extend to the providences. Julius wasn't emperor, but he did lay the groundwork for the empire.
Augustus Caesar was Julius's grand nephew. He came into rule in 46 BC; he had a charismatic personality. He was the one who brought all the providences in along with the cities. He also integrated it as a whole...one system and one empire. There began to be a strong relationship between Rome and the outlying cities.
Tiberius was the stepson of Augustus Caesar. He came into rule in 67 AD. The rule during his reign was like a league of centurions...powerful and unstoppable.
Caligula was his nephew/adopted son and he stepped onto the throne in 37 AD. He was thrown into a series of conflicts. This was also about the time when there began to be Caesar worship.
Claudius, his brother, came into rule next but was quickly assassinated.
The next emperor on the throne, was Nero, also named the "Son of Glory." Anything he wanted went well for him, but eventually this went to his head. By the time of 68 AD, everything was in disarray. Within the next 13 months, the city of Rome went through 4 different emperors at varying times. Many people thought of, and still think of Nero as the Anti-Christ. If he really had been the Anti-Christ, however, that would rule out any chance of any future Anti-Christ, which is very unBiblical.
During this whole time, however, the Roman culture was completely uninterrupted.
Flavian, the next Roman ruler, focused mainly on the military. He got rid of all old Roman images and traditions and made it become very militaristic. There became emperor cult worship. All the great emperors were generals and all the bad ones weren't.
Septimius Severus eventually broke up the the civil and military realms.
Vespasian and Titus dissipated the Roman republic.
The Roman army was mainly made up of illegal aliens escaping over the borders fleeing from the Germanic tribes. But their allegiance would lie with other cultures. If you look at our army and nation, you will see this happening. We are freely allowing illegal immigrants into our nation and army. Do you honestly believe that their allegiance will lie with us and our future though??
Emperors came and went. The culture continued despite laws and ages rising and falling. As Rome was known for it's Pax Romana it became easy for Christians to take over and spread very quickly. Rome being the hub got the gospel out in a timely manner.
Pax Romana - Rome makes the peace.
Rome set up the way for Christ. It set the stage and prepared people for what was to come. Within 5 generations, the world was turned upside down. Barbaric invasions, pressure from vigilantes, and terrorists, and civil havoc would normally have had the world in a tizzy, but the world remained rather stable, due to Christianity having swept across the whole world. Even though many emperors attempted to destroy Christianity, it still remained.
Linua Franka - language of trade. Anyone could talk to anyone. It was a common tongue. This opened a trade culture...a cultural norm with standards.
The Jews were the one nation who remained with their cultural traditions faithfully. Just as the Jews remained distinctive and different, the Christians developed this also. This was not very well liked by those looking on around them.
Christianity gave the people an absolute and a standard for people to follow which made it attrctive compared to Rome where there were so many voices and every man did what was right in his own eyes.
Jerusalem's attack in 70 AD was a judgment on the church. The Church was now scattered among Rome, which was now ready to accept the gospel. The Church being scattered made it easier to spread it.
In the 2nd century, the Canon of the New Testament was placed all together. Many people debate this, but the book of Revelations was written before 70 AD.
Antioch was the first real church. Barnabus, a leader of that church, was known as the "son of encouragement". Clement of Antioch wrote a series of letters to the Corinthian church. Ignatius was the pastor of the church at Antioch and he wrote 7 letters. Polycarp was another strong believer who stayed with the faith, even in his old age. Papius was a writer and the pastor of the church in Phrygia. Justin Martyr wrote defenses for the Christian faith. Tatiun established the canon for the New Testament. Clement (a different one) laid down hermeneutics for the Alexandrian church. He was a great lawyer and was trained in the defense of the gospel. He was very effective and persuasive.
Every time the Romans tried to bead down the Christians, even more converted. By the time of 250, Rome was completely won over culturally to Christianity.
Jeruselum: Mother Church - foundation
Antioch: Fountainhead of Hope - sent out missionaries
Alexandria: Safegaurd of Truth - intellectual
Constantinople: Imperial Sea - powerful presence
Rome: First Among Equals - leadership of church
When the church acts like the church, the power of the gospel is irresistible.
Also folks, there will be no Argumentation class notes this week. We didn't get to that class last time.
Rome was the commercial hub of the urban areas. It was the hub, and the spokes went out to the world. The Romans built their culture through roads, military, and language. The once culture that overthrew them was Greece. Rome began as a republic first, and eventually changed into an Empire.
Julius Caesar (100 BC - 44 BC) ran the triumvirate of the Roman Senate. The triumvirate was a three-part government. It did not, however extend to the providences. Julius wasn't emperor, but he did lay the groundwork for the empire.
Augustus Caesar was Julius's grand nephew. He came into rule in 46 BC; he had a charismatic personality. He was the one who brought all the providences in along with the cities. He also integrated it as a whole...one system and one empire. There began to be a strong relationship between Rome and the outlying cities.
Tiberius was the stepson of Augustus Caesar. He came into rule in 67 AD. The rule during his reign was like a league of centurions...powerful and unstoppable.
Caligula was his nephew/adopted son and he stepped onto the throne in 37 AD. He was thrown into a series of conflicts. This was also about the time when there began to be Caesar worship.
Claudius, his brother, came into rule next but was quickly assassinated.
The next emperor on the throne, was Nero, also named the "Son of Glory." Anything he wanted went well for him, but eventually this went to his head. By the time of 68 AD, everything was in disarray. Within the next 13 months, the city of Rome went through 4 different emperors at varying times. Many people thought of, and still think of Nero as the Anti-Christ. If he really had been the Anti-Christ, however, that would rule out any chance of any future Anti-Christ, which is very unBiblical.
During this whole time, however, the Roman culture was completely uninterrupted.
Flavian, the next Roman ruler, focused mainly on the military. He got rid of all old Roman images and traditions and made it become very militaristic. There became emperor cult worship. All the great emperors were generals and all the bad ones weren't.
Septimius Severus eventually broke up the the civil and military realms.
Vespasian and Titus dissipated the Roman republic.
The Roman army was mainly made up of illegal aliens escaping over the borders fleeing from the Germanic tribes. But their allegiance would lie with other cultures. If you look at our army and nation, you will see this happening. We are freely allowing illegal immigrants into our nation and army. Do you honestly believe that their allegiance will lie with us and our future though??
Emperors came and went. The culture continued despite laws and ages rising and falling. As Rome was known for it's Pax Romana it became easy for Christians to take over and spread very quickly. Rome being the hub got the gospel out in a timely manner.
Pax Romana - Rome makes the peace.
Rome set up the way for Christ. It set the stage and prepared people for what was to come. Within 5 generations, the world was turned upside down. Barbaric invasions, pressure from vigilantes, and terrorists, and civil havoc would normally have had the world in a tizzy, but the world remained rather stable, due to Christianity having swept across the whole world. Even though many emperors attempted to destroy Christianity, it still remained.
Linua Franka - language of trade. Anyone could talk to anyone. It was a common tongue. This opened a trade culture...a cultural norm with standards.
The Jews were the one nation who remained with their cultural traditions faithfully. Just as the Jews remained distinctive and different, the Christians developed this also. This was not very well liked by those looking on around them.
Christianity gave the people an absolute and a standard for people to follow which made it attrctive compared to Rome where there were so many voices and every man did what was right in his own eyes.
Jerusalem's attack in 70 AD was a judgment on the church. The Church was now scattered among Rome, which was now ready to accept the gospel. The Church being scattered made it easier to spread it.
In the 2nd century, the Canon of the New Testament was placed all together. Many people debate this, but the book of Revelations was written before 70 AD.
Antioch was the first real church. Barnabus, a leader of that church, was known as the "son of encouragement". Clement of Antioch wrote a series of letters to the Corinthian church. Ignatius was the pastor of the church at Antioch and he wrote 7 letters. Polycarp was another strong believer who stayed with the faith, even in his old age. Papius was a writer and the pastor of the church in Phrygia. Justin Martyr wrote defenses for the Christian faith. Tatiun established the canon for the New Testament. Clement (a different one) laid down hermeneutics for the Alexandrian church. He was a great lawyer and was trained in the defense of the gospel. He was very effective and persuasive.
Every time the Romans tried to bead down the Christians, even more converted. By the time of 250, Rome was completely won over culturally to Christianity.
Jeruselum: Mother Church - foundation
Antioch: Fountainhead of Hope - sent out missionaries
Alexandria: Safegaurd of Truth - intellectual
Constantinople: Imperial Sea - powerful presence
Rome: First Among Equals - leadership of church
When the church acts like the church, the power of the gospel is irresistible.
Also folks, there will be no Argumentation class notes this week. We didn't get to that class last time.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
A newer post about myself
I know, my faithful readers, that I have neglected you sadly in an update on myself. So here I am to tell you all of what I have been doing since Monday the 13th.
Beginning on Monday the 13th, I had work for a few hours, before heading off to my doctor’s appointment. This was the third or fourth time I’ve had to go to the doctors. The reason for this was my cough that had been with me since June. That plus the fact that I was having problems breathing made it difficult to go without seeing the doctor. Well, after all the drugs he put me on, nothing still helped. It has, since then, receded quite a bit, but is still there and bothers me from time to time. That evening, we went to the first night of HSMA. That was a lot of fun. I got to see all my friends that I hadn’t seen since June!
Tuesday, the 14th, I did some school for most of the day. At this point, I have to mention that I really don’t have a lot of school at this point. I’m either trying to begin it or I just don’t have the book. I think I should point this out because I haven’t been very diligent about my school. That evening, I got invited by Aimee to go with her and Emilie to watch the boys play their soccer game up in Lansing. I went, and had an absolute blast. So many of the boys I knew already so that made the game a bit more interesting. Afterwards, Aimee, Emilie, Zach, Jessica and I all went out to dinner. We had even more fun there just hanging out.
Wednesday, the 15th, was our first day of classes. So at 9 in the morning, we piled in the car and headed off to church. Our first class was History of Christendom (if you’re reading this you’ve probably already seen the notes on it) and the second class was Argumentation. They are both a little challenging (Christendom moreso), but doable if I put my mind to the grindstone. The other people in the class other than me are Rachel, Jon, Becca, my mom, Libby, Christian, Abby, and Aimee.
Thursday, the 16th, I recall (although it was a week ago) that I was extremely tired on this day. I did a lot of school and music. I should also mention that back in late May, my left wrist began to hurt an extreme amount whenever I did simple chores around the house, but especially when I played viola. I had gone to see a doctor, but he said that it would probably just go away so take some Advil. Well, here it is in late September, and it remains with me to the point of hurting so much more than back then. On the evening of the 16th, my mom, sister, brother and I all played in the pit for Brigadoon in Holt…so we had our fourth show going on that night.
Friday, the 17th was one LONG day! As I recall, I only got about 4 hours of sleep the night before so that didn’t help a bit. First thing in the morning, Mrs. Billinghurst came and picked me up and took me up to Faith Bible church for HPA. In the morning was the younger children’s show, but I had to be there, because I am on the choreography team for Brigadoon and had to be taught the dances during Aristocats. So since I was there early, I helped set things up for the Organizational Meeting that night before I had to go learn the dances. After that, I had a Devotions Committee Meeting. That was a lot of fun. I’m on the committee with Andrea, Reuben, Matt, Katherine and Stephanie Edwards. The last two weren’t there, but we still had an absolute blast. After that meeting, I just hung out till we had some other stuff go on. We had an ice-breaker type of meeting before doing some ballet workshop stuff and then we showed them the dance, then did some choir stuff. And after that we ate dinner (while having another devotions meeting). Then, while all the others were in their organizational meeting, Rachel, Jon, my mom, and I all headed off to another show in Holt. That was, oh, so much longer and harder than any other night.
Saturday, the 18th was another long day (amazing huh?). We had work and chores in the morning, and then two shows in the afternoon/evening. During the shows, we had a few good hours, so we went out shopping and then to have some coffee with Josh (a guy we met in the pit). After that, we stopped by the Dollar Store to stock up on some items to scare Josh. Apparently he doesn’t care for spiders, so we were glad that the store was stocking up on Halloween items. After our last show, we went to the cast/pit party at Buddy’s. We stayed there and watched the State game until THEY WON. =) Then, we had to bid all our wonderful pit people goodbye. Josh promised he’d come and play in our pit.
Sunday, I don’t really recall doing much. I mean, obviously, we had church in the morning and evening, but I think the day was mostly devoted to relaxing and enjoying the Lords Day. I will probably post my church/Sunday school notes on here sometime. That evening, after church, Aimee came home and had dinner with us.
Monday was the start of another week (well duh). I just felt as if you should all know that. I had to go to work in the morning till the afternoon. Shortly after I got home, we left for HSMA. I had so much fun with Erin during the time that we waited for choir to get out. We were very sneaky. I also got to talk to Madison for a little bit. I talked a little to Mrs. V. about my wrist problems, and she didn’t really say much except to stop if it hurt. I got to be first chair for the first time in forever. At break, I stopped playing, because it just hurt too much. Madison asked if I wanted to go out for coffee, so I did that and got back just in time, because they were just finishing rehearsal. It was just Rachel and I on the way home, because my mom wanted to stay home and practice for Mason orchestra the next night, Jon was sick, and Becca had gone home with my dad. So that was a fun ride home.
Tuesday, was very much full of music and work and school. But the day was BEAUTIFUL. I loved the last day of summer. I had been emailing Libby that day and asked if we could get together. She said that we could and so we both got all our school done really fast. I went to her house at about 4:45 after getting a movie at the library. When I got there, we talked for a little bit and then went upstairs to watch Ladder 49. We both bawled our eyes out. At one part, we both looked at each other and just sort of laughed and then cried even harder. After the movie, it was pretty late, so she suggested that I call my parents and see if I can just stay the night. Well, I still don’t know how I got them to say yes, but I did. Wow, that night was *amazing*. Right after my parents said yes and I hung up, it began to storm really badly. The wind picked up and there was a ton of thunder and lightening and then it was raining. Mrs. Timmis said that we all had to go down to the basement. That was really sweet. So we all piled the blankets and pillows and movies and computers and TVs and such down there. We stayed down there for a few hours. After that, we went up to bed. We both managed to fit on this twin bed of hers. I’d say we stayed up till about 2:30 or later just talking.
Yesterday, we had classes bright and early! So after dragging ourselves out of bed, we showered and grabbed some breakfast and then piled in the car to go to church. We never did get to Argumentation, since we spent so much time on Christendom. I got about 6 pages of notes. Also, since it was the first day of fall, my mom got donuts and cider for after class. I went home and worked on school till 1:30 when I went to work. I worked till 7:30 and then came home to crash. My parents were out with my grandma for a movie and dinner.
Since I don’t know when I’ll write next, I will give you a quick overview of what is in the future. Today is nothing…just nothing. Maybe relaxing and getting caught up on school. Tomorrow is Aristocats and then L’Abri in the evening. Saturday, is the Davis Harvest Party. I am really looking forward to that. Sunday, is nothing once again. Monday is HSMA and work. Tuesday is work again. Wednesday is classes and Thursday is nothing. Friday is Aristocats and Brigadoon. Saturday is Becca’s b-day and Sunday is nothing. So yeah, that’s it! Thank you for reading.
Beginning on Monday the 13th, I had work for a few hours, before heading off to my doctor’s appointment. This was the third or fourth time I’ve had to go to the doctors. The reason for this was my cough that had been with me since June. That plus the fact that I was having problems breathing made it difficult to go without seeing the doctor. Well, after all the drugs he put me on, nothing still helped. It has, since then, receded quite a bit, but is still there and bothers me from time to time. That evening, we went to the first night of HSMA. That was a lot of fun. I got to see all my friends that I hadn’t seen since June!
Tuesday, the 14th, I did some school for most of the day. At this point, I have to mention that I really don’t have a lot of school at this point. I’m either trying to begin it or I just don’t have the book. I think I should point this out because I haven’t been very diligent about my school. That evening, I got invited by Aimee to go with her and Emilie to watch the boys play their soccer game up in Lansing. I went, and had an absolute blast. So many of the boys I knew already so that made the game a bit more interesting. Afterwards, Aimee, Emilie, Zach, Jessica and I all went out to dinner. We had even more fun there just hanging out.
Wednesday, the 15th, was our first day of classes. So at 9 in the morning, we piled in the car and headed off to church. Our first class was History of Christendom (if you’re reading this you’ve probably already seen the notes on it) and the second class was Argumentation. They are both a little challenging (Christendom moreso), but doable if I put my mind to the grindstone. The other people in the class other than me are Rachel, Jon, Becca, my mom, Libby, Christian, Abby, and Aimee.
Thursday, the 16th, I recall (although it was a week ago) that I was extremely tired on this day. I did a lot of school and music. I should also mention that back in late May, my left wrist began to hurt an extreme amount whenever I did simple chores around the house, but especially when I played viola. I had gone to see a doctor, but he said that it would probably just go away so take some Advil. Well, here it is in late September, and it remains with me to the point of hurting so much more than back then. On the evening of the 16th, my mom, sister, brother and I all played in the pit for Brigadoon in Holt…so we had our fourth show going on that night.
Friday, the 17th was one LONG day! As I recall, I only got about 4 hours of sleep the night before so that didn’t help a bit. First thing in the morning, Mrs. Billinghurst came and picked me up and took me up to Faith Bible church for HPA. In the morning was the younger children’s show, but I had to be there, because I am on the choreography team for Brigadoon and had to be taught the dances during Aristocats. So since I was there early, I helped set things up for the Organizational Meeting that night before I had to go learn the dances. After that, I had a Devotions Committee Meeting. That was a lot of fun. I’m on the committee with Andrea, Reuben, Matt, Katherine and Stephanie Edwards. The last two weren’t there, but we still had an absolute blast. After that meeting, I just hung out till we had some other stuff go on. We had an ice-breaker type of meeting before doing some ballet workshop stuff and then we showed them the dance, then did some choir stuff. And after that we ate dinner (while having another devotions meeting). Then, while all the others were in their organizational meeting, Rachel, Jon, my mom, and I all headed off to another show in Holt. That was, oh, so much longer and harder than any other night.
Saturday, the 18th was another long day (amazing huh?). We had work and chores in the morning, and then two shows in the afternoon/evening. During the shows, we had a few good hours, so we went out shopping and then to have some coffee with Josh (a guy we met in the pit). After that, we stopped by the Dollar Store to stock up on some items to scare Josh. Apparently he doesn’t care for spiders, so we were glad that the store was stocking up on Halloween items. After our last show, we went to the cast/pit party at Buddy’s. We stayed there and watched the State game until THEY WON. =) Then, we had to bid all our wonderful pit people goodbye. Josh promised he’d come and play in our pit.
Sunday, I don’t really recall doing much. I mean, obviously, we had church in the morning and evening, but I think the day was mostly devoted to relaxing and enjoying the Lords Day. I will probably post my church/Sunday school notes on here sometime. That evening, after church, Aimee came home and had dinner with us.
Monday was the start of another week (well duh). I just felt as if you should all know that. I had to go to work in the morning till the afternoon. Shortly after I got home, we left for HSMA. I had so much fun with Erin during the time that we waited for choir to get out. We were very sneaky. I also got to talk to Madison for a little bit. I talked a little to Mrs. V. about my wrist problems, and she didn’t really say much except to stop if it hurt. I got to be first chair for the first time in forever. At break, I stopped playing, because it just hurt too much. Madison asked if I wanted to go out for coffee, so I did that and got back just in time, because they were just finishing rehearsal. It was just Rachel and I on the way home, because my mom wanted to stay home and practice for Mason orchestra the next night, Jon was sick, and Becca had gone home with my dad. So that was a fun ride home.
Tuesday, was very much full of music and work and school. But the day was BEAUTIFUL. I loved the last day of summer. I had been emailing Libby that day and asked if we could get together. She said that we could and so we both got all our school done really fast. I went to her house at about 4:45 after getting a movie at the library. When I got there, we talked for a little bit and then went upstairs to watch Ladder 49. We both bawled our eyes out. At one part, we both looked at each other and just sort of laughed and then cried even harder. After the movie, it was pretty late, so she suggested that I call my parents and see if I can just stay the night. Well, I still don’t know how I got them to say yes, but I did. Wow, that night was *amazing*. Right after my parents said yes and I hung up, it began to storm really badly. The wind picked up and there was a ton of thunder and lightening and then it was raining. Mrs. Timmis said that we all had to go down to the basement. That was really sweet. So we all piled the blankets and pillows and movies and computers and TVs and such down there. We stayed down there for a few hours. After that, we went up to bed. We both managed to fit on this twin bed of hers. I’d say we stayed up till about 2:30 or later just talking.
Yesterday, we had classes bright and early! So after dragging ourselves out of bed, we showered and grabbed some breakfast and then piled in the car to go to church. We never did get to Argumentation, since we spent so much time on Christendom. I got about 6 pages of notes. Also, since it was the first day of fall, my mom got donuts and cider for after class. I went home and worked on school till 1:30 when I went to work. I worked till 7:30 and then came home to crash. My parents were out with my grandma for a movie and dinner.
Since I don’t know when I’ll write next, I will give you a quick overview of what is in the future. Today is nothing…just nothing. Maybe relaxing and getting caught up on school. Tomorrow is Aristocats and then L’Abri in the evening. Saturday, is the Davis Harvest Party. I am really looking forward to that. Sunday, is nothing once again. Monday is HSMA and work. Tuesday is work again. Wednesday is classes and Thursday is nothing. Friday is Aristocats and Brigadoon. Saturday is Becca’s b-day and Sunday is nothing. So yeah, that’s it! Thank you for reading.
An old post I wrote up
Ok, I realize that I haven’t written on here for a while, but I really do have a good excuse…how about, I’m busy?? Yes, that’s it…because I have been! Honestly! I have not been home for over 6 hours since Monday, August 2. And here it is, August 13, quite a bit later. Ah well, life can get hectic.
Tuesday, August 3 – I spent the whole day at Rachel Skiba’s house…I think I already have a post on this.
Wednesday, August 4, I had work for the best part of the day. Then, I filled it with reading books and cleaning my “room” and so forth. (I think I need to mention at this point that while I was away at Blue Lake, my family totally made my room look like the best thing ever happened to it. They painted the walls a light shade of pink, and made the floors wood (which has been my dream) and made it all spacey by simply moving everything I owned out to the basement floor.)
Thursday, August 5 – This was spent working the first part of the day and then going down/working at Kzoo’s Comstock for Secret Garden. I don’t remember much, but I know that that night STINKED.
Friday, August 6 – this was the day of our show in Kzoo. This night went decently well, but I sort of had a breakdown half way through it.
Saturday, August 7 – This was our last show and as such, it was kinda hard. The show went marvelously however. After I had done the “old people’s” hair and makeup, I used the extra leftover hair spray to dye my hair a dark brown/black color. It was actually pretty cool. Then Libby put on some really heavy eye-liner so I looked emo. We drove Nathan and Josiah there and back, as well as taking Aimee back too (she just got back from Florida that day). Strike took forever and a day but we finally got out of there at about 1 am. We headed over to Perkins for the after-party. Didn’t leave there till 2 which meant we got home after 3am (we had to drop everyone off at home).
Sunday, August 8 – We had church bright and early in the morning. After church, we left and went up north to Byrom where I got to see Bethy and her little girl Bella Rose at her baby shower! That was a fun afternoon (a tad boring however).
Monday – I was at CPAC for the good part of the day. I got up and my dad dropped me off there and dropped Becca off at the track with my mom. I helped check all the little boys and girls in for Aristocats. Then, I hung out with friends. There were *so* many people I knew who were trying out!! Anyways, so then, I had my auditions from about 1:30-5:30. Then, my mom rushed me home. That night it was just Becca and I at home. My dad was golfing with work people and my mom, Rachel, and Jon were at their first Brigadoon rehearsal for some Holt group who is putting it on. So she watched movies and I fixed dinner and then baked some molasses cookies. That was a long and tiring evening for the both of us, I think. Just stress from all the auditions that day.
Tuesday – was spent at Rachel’s again. We cleaned out the back yard and the front yard and then tore out their downstairs bathroom. After that, at about 4:30, we headed out to play some glow-mini-golf (I’ve never played at all). I scored 60 out of a possible 54 (which I don’t think is too bad for a first time, right??). Then, we went over to Beaners and got coffees! :D Then, we went back to their friend’s house where they’re living at the moment. We stayed there for a few hours and played some random (and not so random) games. We played Pictionary, and MASH, and then some sort of a find-the-duck-right-now-or-you’re-dead game with Mary. That was a fun time. Then, Mrs. Skiba said that my dad called and would pick me up at Horrocks at 9:30. So I spent 13 hours with her. We’re planning on having her come down to my place next Tuesday, but we’re unsure of how it will work.
Wednesday – I had work starting bright and early in the morning!! I stayed there for probably half the day. Then, I came home and began to “move” back in my room. I also got a chance to pull out my viola and dust it off and play with it for a little while.
Yesterday – I worked again in the morning. Then, I came home and made a good effort to bring stuff back in my room. It looks very cozy now. Well, at least my part of the room does at least. Last night, I went and saw Inception with my brother at the theater in town. I really like it even if it does mess with your mind a lot!!
Today, I will be cleaning and working and mowing and such. Also, L’Abri is tonight, so I’ll probably go early and offer to help Mrs. Jane clean for it. Thanks for reading, faithful followers!
Tuesday, August 3 – I spent the whole day at Rachel Skiba’s house…I think I already have a post on this.
Wednesday, August 4, I had work for the best part of the day. Then, I filled it with reading books and cleaning my “room” and so forth. (I think I need to mention at this point that while I was away at Blue Lake, my family totally made my room look like the best thing ever happened to it. They painted the walls a light shade of pink, and made the floors wood (which has been my dream) and made it all spacey by simply moving everything I owned out to the basement floor.)
Thursday, August 5 – This was spent working the first part of the day and then going down/working at Kzoo’s Comstock for Secret Garden. I don’t remember much, but I know that that night STINKED.
Friday, August 6 – this was the day of our show in Kzoo. This night went decently well, but I sort of had a breakdown half way through it.
Saturday, August 7 – This was our last show and as such, it was kinda hard. The show went marvelously however. After I had done the “old people’s” hair and makeup, I used the extra leftover hair spray to dye my hair a dark brown/black color. It was actually pretty cool. Then Libby put on some really heavy eye-liner so I looked emo. We drove Nathan and Josiah there and back, as well as taking Aimee back too (she just got back from Florida that day). Strike took forever and a day but we finally got out of there at about 1 am. We headed over to Perkins for the after-party. Didn’t leave there till 2 which meant we got home after 3am (we had to drop everyone off at home).
Sunday, August 8 – We had church bright and early in the morning. After church, we left and went up north to Byrom where I got to see Bethy and her little girl Bella Rose at her baby shower! That was a fun afternoon (a tad boring however).
Monday – I was at CPAC for the good part of the day. I got up and my dad dropped me off there and dropped Becca off at the track with my mom. I helped check all the little boys and girls in for Aristocats. Then, I hung out with friends. There were *so* many people I knew who were trying out!! Anyways, so then, I had my auditions from about 1:30-5:30. Then, my mom rushed me home. That night it was just Becca and I at home. My dad was golfing with work people and my mom, Rachel, and Jon were at their first Brigadoon rehearsal for some Holt group who is putting it on. So she watched movies and I fixed dinner and then baked some molasses cookies. That was a long and tiring evening for the both of us, I think. Just stress from all the auditions that day.
Tuesday – was spent at Rachel’s again. We cleaned out the back yard and the front yard and then tore out their downstairs bathroom. After that, at about 4:30, we headed out to play some glow-mini-golf (I’ve never played at all). I scored 60 out of a possible 54 (which I don’t think is too bad for a first time, right??). Then, we went over to Beaners and got coffees! :D Then, we went back to their friend’s house where they’re living at the moment. We stayed there for a few hours and played some random (and not so random) games. We played Pictionary, and MASH, and then some sort of a find-the-duck-right-now-or-you’re-dead game with Mary. That was a fun time. Then, Mrs. Skiba said that my dad called and would pick me up at Horrocks at 9:30. So I spent 13 hours with her. We’re planning on having her come down to my place next Tuesday, but we’re unsure of how it will work.
Wednesday – I had work starting bright and early in the morning!! I stayed there for probably half the day. Then, I came home and began to “move” back in my room. I also got a chance to pull out my viola and dust it off and play with it for a little while.
Yesterday – I worked again in the morning. Then, I came home and made a good effort to bring stuff back in my room. It looks very cozy now. Well, at least my part of the room does at least. Last night, I went and saw Inception with my brother at the theater in town. I really like it even if it does mess with your mind a lot!!
Today, I will be cleaning and working and mowing and such. Also, L’Abri is tonight, so I’ll probably go early and offer to help Mrs. Jane clean for it. Thanks for reading, faithful followers!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Argumentation
My other Wednesday class with Pastor is Argumentation. I debated what to call it as I thought other proper names for it could be Critical Thinking, Logic, or Persuasive Arguing, but my mom told me to call it Argumentation.
Argumentation
The key thing to do is to read until you bleed. This is so very important that I can't possibly stress this enough. I got some statistics (now note, they may not all be completely true) that said that 1/3 of high school graduates never pick up a book for the rest of their life, 42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college, and 53 percent read fiction, 43 percent read nonfiction. The favorite fiction category is mystery and suspense, at 19 percent. How very depressing it is that 1) not that many people consider it profitable to read books after they've "stopped" their education and 2) that those who do read really don't tend to read what is wholesome.
Argument = appealing to the mind (basis of persuasive communication). It is a combination of statements meant to 1) change someones mind or 2) co previous beliefs.
Every argument has a premise. It always has a beginning point. You state your premise...you prove it...and then you define it. One thing about argumentation is that you must always define what you mean. Many people will agree with you until you define your words. You have to agree on the definitions or you will go nowhere. Depending on your worldview, your definitions will differ vastly. I read something the other day which I thought was fascinating. It said that words change meaning during the time of any war. This is so very true. The main reason for wars, I would say, is the fighting over the definitions of words.
To argue for God, we must presuppose God. It is a proof that cannot prove. It is something you must presuppose, or you simply presuppose man. This, simply put, means that you must have a starting point. If you starting point is not God, then it is man. You will always have some sort of premise. That is the main point of your entire argument. Your premise is where you are attempting to get the other person to agree with you on. You must be ready to argue for your premise. To challenge the argument, you have to challenge their premise (if you can find it) and then attack that. Keep your premise as short and non-controversial as possible. You will eventually build other premises off of your original one.
You give your premise, and then your conclusion, then go back and support your premise, and finally you connect everything. If they accept your premise you can easily get them to believe your conclusion. You want them ultimately to agree with your conclusion. This is all tied into worldview and faith issues.
Christianity is the life of the mind. Your pastor should always have good argumentation.
Inferences = "If this is true, then that means that this and this and this are true also". The means of tying everything together if they agree with you on one point. Formal logic is full of these, along with premises and conclusions.
People like to introudce emotion when they don't like your arguments. You can never conquer a person who is wrapped up in emotion. The facts are there...but even if they're true, if the other person doesn't care about it, they'll introduce some sort of emotion.
All your arguments are based upon your worldview. This is very key and we must keep this at the front of our mind when we argue with people. If their worldview doesn't match up with yours, then you won't go anywhere with that person.
Argumentation
The key thing to do is to read until you bleed. This is so very important that I can't possibly stress this enough. I got some statistics (now note, they may not all be completely true) that said that 1/3 of high school graduates never pick up a book for the rest of their life, 42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college, and 53 percent read fiction, 43 percent read nonfiction. The favorite fiction category is mystery and suspense, at 19 percent. How very depressing it is that 1) not that many people consider it profitable to read books after they've "stopped" their education and 2) that those who do read really don't tend to read what is wholesome.
Argument = appealing to the mind (basis of persuasive communication). It is a combination of statements meant to 1) change someones mind or 2) co previous beliefs.
Every argument has a premise. It always has a beginning point. You state your premise...you prove it...and then you define it. One thing about argumentation is that you must always define what you mean. Many people will agree with you until you define your words. You have to agree on the definitions or you will go nowhere. Depending on your worldview, your definitions will differ vastly. I read something the other day which I thought was fascinating. It said that words change meaning during the time of any war. This is so very true. The main reason for wars, I would say, is the fighting over the definitions of words.
To argue for God, we must presuppose God. It is a proof that cannot prove. It is something you must presuppose, or you simply presuppose man. This, simply put, means that you must have a starting point. If you starting point is not God, then it is man. You will always have some sort of premise. That is the main point of your entire argument. Your premise is where you are attempting to get the other person to agree with you on. You must be ready to argue for your premise. To challenge the argument, you have to challenge their premise (if you can find it) and then attack that. Keep your premise as short and non-controversial as possible. You will eventually build other premises off of your original one.
You give your premise, and then your conclusion, then go back and support your premise, and finally you connect everything. If they accept your premise you can easily get them to believe your conclusion. You want them ultimately to agree with your conclusion. This is all tied into worldview and faith issues.
Christianity is the life of the mind. Your pastor should always have good argumentation.
Inferences = "If this is true, then that means that this and this and this are true also". The means of tying everything together if they agree with you on one point. Formal logic is full of these, along with premises and conclusions.
People like to introudce emotion when they don't like your arguments. You can never conquer a person who is wrapped up in emotion. The facts are there...but even if they're true, if the other person doesn't care about it, they'll introduce some sort of emotion.
All your arguments are based upon your worldview. This is very key and we must keep this at the front of our mind when we argue with people. If their worldview doesn't match up with yours, then you won't go anywhere with that person.
Intro to History of Christendom
HISTORY OF CHRISTENDOM
One thing in particular that we will be looking at closely this year with this class will be Revisionist History. The definition for this is simply a challenge to current assumptions. For instance, one person could rush in and say that a whole forest was on fire and that everyone had to run in order to escape with their lives, as opposed to a person with a revisionist type of view who could say that the fire was on the other side of the forest; it had just started and the wind was blowing in the other direction so there was no cause to worry. A revisionist view is not always appropriate, appreciated, or admired. You don't always need to take that kind of a stance, but on the other hand you don't need to automatically presuppose that what someone says is true. Christians need to be leaning more toward having a revisionist history type of view. There is a lot of false suppositions and we need to learn to be a bit more circumspect when we hear someone's take on a historical fact, story, or opinion. These are most often told to us in such a fashion that we believe them, but nevertheless, they are told to us by godless pagans and as such, we are not to believe them. The reason for this is simply that they have entire radical and fatuous doctrines so violently opposed to ours that it is morally wrong for us to capitulate with anyone with such notions.
Integration - with integration, you observe how religion drives cultures, architecture, music, and art. We will look at how everything works together and influences each other. We, as a people, tend to compartmentalize all the different areas of our lives, and that can't be the case. Everything is tied together and anyone who says differently is wrong. How can anyone possibly say that God is the ruler over their spiritual life, but not, say their school life, or their family life, or their work life, or their political life? HOW CAN THAT BE POSSIBLE?
History has its roots. It always does. We will learn how to trace it back to the beginning. We will also address the fact that all ideas have consequences. Depending on the idea, the consequences will be good or bad. Therefore, we must be cautious with our ideas or they will end up going bad and we won't be able to understand why. Those who don't study and learn from history are bound to repeat it.
Leaders are readers and learners. If you want power, you must be educated.
Everything is worldview dependent. If you have a different god than someone, you will write and think very differently than that other person.
Everyone answers the questions of the cosmos whether they think they do or not. For the Christian, it would look something like this: Origin of Cosmos = God, Nature of Cosmos = Glory, Destiny of Cosmos = Heaven.
For a pagan or a humanist it go something along the lines of: Origin of Cosmos = Man, Nature of Cosmos = Perfection, Destiny of Cosmos = Kingdom of Man.
Explaining more of the Christians point of view: our Origin is creation from God, our Nature is the image of God, our Role is to glorify God, and our Destiny is the kingdom of Heaven.
Ontology is the question of our being. "How is it that we exist?" The answer to this question is simply we exist because of creation.
Epistemology is the question of knowledge. "How do we know that we know?" "What is knowledge?" The answer to this one has been argued back and forth. Some believe it is Revelation, some say Reason, and others say that it is Intuition. We would say, however that all reasoning and intuition comes from a former knowledge...such as revelation.
Axiology is the question of value or worth. "What is our ultimate value?" For the Christian, we would answer that to glorify and advance the name of God is our ultimate value. For the pagan, they would say that the ultimate value would be to advance the self.
Teleology is the question of finality or the end. "What is the end?" "What is the purpose?" "Where are we going?" For the Christian, we would say that we are going toward and closer to the Kingdom of God = Heaven. For the pagan, they would say that they are moving closer to a Kingdom of Man = a Utopia.
And that ends our first week of notes for my History of Christendom class.
One thing in particular that we will be looking at closely this year with this class will be Revisionist History. The definition for this is simply a challenge to current assumptions. For instance, one person could rush in and say that a whole forest was on fire and that everyone had to run in order to escape with their lives, as opposed to a person with a revisionist type of view who could say that the fire was on the other side of the forest; it had just started and the wind was blowing in the other direction so there was no cause to worry. A revisionist view is not always appropriate, appreciated, or admired. You don't always need to take that kind of a stance, but on the other hand you don't need to automatically presuppose that what someone says is true. Christians need to be leaning more toward having a revisionist history type of view. There is a lot of false suppositions and we need to learn to be a bit more circumspect when we hear someone's take on a historical fact, story, or opinion. These are most often told to us in such a fashion that we believe them, but nevertheless, they are told to us by godless pagans and as such, we are not to believe them. The reason for this is simply that they have entire radical and fatuous doctrines so violently opposed to ours that it is morally wrong for us to capitulate with anyone with such notions.
Integration - with integration, you observe how religion drives cultures, architecture, music, and art. We will look at how everything works together and influences each other. We, as a people, tend to compartmentalize all the different areas of our lives, and that can't be the case. Everything is tied together and anyone who says differently is wrong. How can anyone possibly say that God is the ruler over their spiritual life, but not, say their school life, or their family life, or their work life, or their political life? HOW CAN THAT BE POSSIBLE?
History has its roots. It always does. We will learn how to trace it back to the beginning. We will also address the fact that all ideas have consequences. Depending on the idea, the consequences will be good or bad. Therefore, we must be cautious with our ideas or they will end up going bad and we won't be able to understand why. Those who don't study and learn from history are bound to repeat it.
Leaders are readers and learners. If you want power, you must be educated.
Everything is worldview dependent. If you have a different god than someone, you will write and think very differently than that other person.
Everyone answers the questions of the cosmos whether they think they do or not. For the Christian, it would look something like this: Origin of Cosmos = God, Nature of Cosmos = Glory, Destiny of Cosmos = Heaven.
For a pagan or a humanist it go something along the lines of: Origin of Cosmos = Man, Nature of Cosmos = Perfection, Destiny of Cosmos = Kingdom of Man.
Explaining more of the Christians point of view: our Origin is creation from God, our Nature is the image of God, our Role is to glorify God, and our Destiny is the kingdom of Heaven.
Ontology is the question of our being. "How is it that we exist?" The answer to this question is simply we exist because of creation.
Epistemology is the question of knowledge. "How do we know that we know?" "What is knowledge?" The answer to this one has been argued back and forth. Some believe it is Revelation, some say Reason, and others say that it is Intuition. We would say, however that all reasoning and intuition comes from a former knowledge...such as revelation.
Axiology is the question of value or worth. "What is our ultimate value?" For the Christian, we would answer that to glorify and advance the name of God is our ultimate value. For the pagan, they would say that the ultimate value would be to advance the self.
Teleology is the question of finality or the end. "What is the end?" "What is the purpose?" "Where are we going?" For the Christian, we would say that we are going toward and closer to the Kingdom of God = Heaven. For the pagan, they would say that they are moving closer to a Kingdom of Man = a Utopia.
And that ends our first week of notes for my History of Christendom class.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
HELP!
Ok y'all...I am having immense troubles with my blog. I am very undecided as to what I want to do with it, but I know that I want it very gorgeous and attractive to my viewers (duh). I can't get the colors to do what I want, nor the background that I want, or even side-bar related things that I want. Normally, I am not computerly challenged, but I have to admit for the first time that blogger has puzzled me thoroughally this time.
PLEASE HELP!!
PLEASE HELP!!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
A Couple Quotes
“A common goal of the contemporary women’s movement and modern socialism has been to replace the bonds of marriage and kin with a universal dependence on the welfare state. Feminist analyst, Carol Pateman, argues that women’s growing dependence on the state is a logical corollary to feminists goals, and a stimulus to state entitlements as a substitute for family-centered care.” ~Allan Carlson in Conjugal America: On the Public Purposes of Marriage.
“Both the good and bad civilizations cover us as with a canopy, and protect us from all that is outside. But a good civilization spreads over us freely like a tree, varying and yielding because it is alive. A bad civilization stands up and sticks out above us like an umbrella-artificial, mathematical in shape; not merely universal, but uniform.” G.K. Chesterton
“Both the good and bad civilizations cover us as with a canopy, and protect us from all that is outside. But a good civilization spreads over us freely like a tree, varying and yielding because it is alive. A bad civilization stands up and sticks out above us like an umbrella-artificial, mathematical in shape; not merely universal, but uniform.” G.K. Chesterton
The Grace of God
While thinking on the “Grace of God,”
And what it did for me,
A few reflections came my way
The blessed truth to see.
“G” stands for God’s Eternal Gift
That’s offered free to all;
He’ll not reject one single soul
Who in contrition calls.
“R” stands for Riches that we find
That none can take away;
Though banks may fail, inflations come,
Our riches always stay.
“A” stands for the Atoning One
Who died my sins to bear
That I might be a Child of God,
And all His blessings share.
“C” stands for Christ Who paid the price,
My sinful soul reclaimed,
And now, today, I’ve peace and joy
For which I’m unashamed.
“E” stands for the Expense that grace
Demanded of God’s Son,
But praise the Lord the debts now paid
For you, and everyone.
When someone asks: “What is God’s grace?”
Do not be in suspense;
Just answer them in five short words;
“God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.”
--Arthur J. Stairs
And what it did for me,
A few reflections came my way
The blessed truth to see.
“G” stands for God’s Eternal Gift
That’s offered free to all;
He’ll not reject one single soul
Who in contrition calls.
“R” stands for Riches that we find
That none can take away;
Though banks may fail, inflations come,
Our riches always stay.
“A” stands for the Atoning One
Who died my sins to bear
That I might be a Child of God,
And all His blessings share.
“C” stands for Christ Who paid the price,
My sinful soul reclaimed,
And now, today, I’ve peace and joy
For which I’m unashamed.
“E” stands for the Expense that grace
Demanded of God’s Son,
But praise the Lord the debts now paid
For you, and everyone.
When someone asks: “What is God’s grace?”
Do not be in suspense;
Just answer them in five short words;
“God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.”
--Arthur J. Stairs
Wait on the Lord
Sometimes it’s hard to understand
Why darkness veils the sky,
Why life’s long road must twist and turn;
We often wonder why.
But God knows best, He will not leave
His children comfortless;
He will sustain and guard and guide…
He lives our lives to bless
So, child of God, look up in hope,
Our God will bless you yet
For He who notes the sparrow’s fall
Will never once forget.
We should not question trials sore
Or sorrows hard to bear,
But look in love to One above
Who every load will share.
Dear Father, we would trust You now,
And when the trials press
We’ll cling to You yet more and more
And wait for you to bless.
--Georgia B. Adams
Why darkness veils the sky,
Why life’s long road must twist and turn;
We often wonder why.
But God knows best, He will not leave
His children comfortless;
He will sustain and guard and guide…
He lives our lives to bless
So, child of God, look up in hope,
Our God will bless you yet
For He who notes the sparrow’s fall
Will never once forget.
We should not question trials sore
Or sorrows hard to bear,
But look in love to One above
Who every load will share.
Dear Father, we would trust You now,
And when the trials press
We’ll cling to You yet more and more
And wait for you to bless.
--Georgia B. Adams
No Shadow of Turning
No shadow of turning – Jesus Christ, the same,
Yesterday He loved me and called me by name;
He saved me, and sealed me, with ultimate love,
What a perfect gift from the Father above!
No shadow of turning – faithful is He!
Today He still cares and lives within me;
He is my comfort, my counsel, my guide,
Today I am blessed as He walks by my side!
Now shadow of turning –eternal His view!
His Word is forever – His promises too;
He shall never leave me, never forsake,
One day in His likeness I shall awake!
--Violet Mac Petrie
Yesterday He loved me and called me by name;
He saved me, and sealed me, with ultimate love,
What a perfect gift from the Father above!
No shadow of turning – faithful is He!
Today He still cares and lives within me;
He is my comfort, my counsel, my guide,
Today I am blessed as He walks by my side!
Now shadow of turning –eternal His view!
His Word is forever – His promises too;
He shall never leave me, never forsake,
One day in His likeness I shall awake!
--Violet Mac Petrie
Perfect Peace
Although at times it seems too much,
The trials we have to bear;
If we but keep our eyes on Him,
We’ll find Him always there.
For comfort comes in knowing
That our Lord is always near;
To guide us and protect us,
And to dry our every tear.
So when you are discouraged,
And feel quite all alone;
Just look upon the Savior,
And the love He has always shown.
Draw us near to Him in prayer this day,
And you will find release;
For stillness of the heart will come,
Through Christ, God’s perfect peace.
--Rachel Lorene Fields
The trials we have to bear;
If we but keep our eyes on Him,
We’ll find Him always there.
For comfort comes in knowing
That our Lord is always near;
To guide us and protect us,
And to dry our every tear.
So when you are discouraged,
And feel quite all alone;
Just look upon the Savior,
And the love He has always shown.
Draw us near to Him in prayer this day,
And you will find release;
For stillness of the heart will come,
Through Christ, God’s perfect peace.
--Rachel Lorene Fields
Friday, September 3, 2010
Clarification
I think I need to clarify some things...these last few posts have been something I picked off of another blog that I thought was....rather interesting to say the least. I decided to post it here to get some of your views and opinions and what all you thought about its strangness. I don't believe in it, I merely posted them so that I could get some feedback and discussion going. Too often I post something and wonder what on earth my readers truly think about it. Are you scared to speak up or just not reading it? I wonder...if I do have readers...what do they think about what I post? Do they agree? Do they disagree? Anyhow, that is my clarification...all the posts from "Post I found on another blog" to "The Law of Attraction" were all from one blog that I came across randomly recently and decided to share with you.
Thank you all...
Thank you all...
The Law of Attraction
The Law of Attraction:
In this post I want to describe what the Law of Attraction is, how you can use it to attract beautiful things to your life, and then attempt to explain how it works. If you have never heard about the law of attraction before, it may seem like a bizarre concept at first, but don’t let that prevent you from learning what could easily be one of the most important things you can learn in your life.
To put it in simple words, the Law of Attraction states that your intentions become your reality, therefore the more you think about something, the more chances you have to bring it to reality.
The Law of Attraction states that all the power comes from the universe, because at the lowest level, we are all made of the same thing: energy.
Now, you can ignore how the law of attraction works at the lowest level, and still get all the benefits from it. You don’t even have to give it a name, as you can summarize it as a single concept: you become what you think you can.
Successful people have used the Law of Attraction for centuries to achieve the greatest results in history. Many of them have even written about it.
Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions. ~Albert Einstein
Whether you think you can or can’t either way you are right. ~Henry Ford
As you think so shall you become. ~Bruce Lee
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. ~Buddha
You create your own universe as you go along. ~Winston Churchill
It is done unto you as you believe. ~Jesus
Whatever your mind can conceive and can believe, it can achieve. ~Napoleon Hill
All these people agreed on the top-level concept of the Law of Attraction: you become what you think you can.
You are now ready to learn how to use the Law of Attraction to get everything you want in your life.
Learn this, and you’ll be able to attract anything you want in your life
This is the most interesting part for you. I recommend you to read the following paragraphs with an open mind and with a strong desire to learn if you want to get the most out of it.
As I’ve already said before, you become what you think you can, but what I forgot to say, is that this is always true. Let me explain what I mean. If you think that you would like to get a new car, but you also think that you can’t afford it, you are in reality reinforcing the idea that you can’t have a new car. The universe doesn’t mind wherever what you really want is a new car, as it will follow your intentions literally.
This is the reason why you don’t always have what you want, as in those cases you are probably reinforcing the exact opposite of what you really want. Let’s see another example, debts. If you constantly think about your debts, and how hard it is to pay them off, then you are in reality attracting them even more, and you’ll always end up having more of them.
It may seem absurd at first to believe in the Law of Attraction, so before I’ll tell you how to exactly take advantage of it, let me show you how it works.
When you think about something, your brain stores specific information in its internal memory.
If you are thinking about getting a new car, your brain is storing that information for you, and it will automatically think of how to get one (using your so called unlimited potential), and chances are that you’ll get one soon. But if you think about not being able to afford it, your brain will do its best to make it even harder for you to get that new car.
Now, finally, let’s see how you can use the Law of Attraction to get what you want.
The first thing you have to learn is how to ask something to the universe (or to your brain, if that makes more sense to you). This step consists of three main actions: ask, believe, and receive.
Ask. This is where you ask for what you want. It’s extremely important to be specific about what you want, and to use positive and meaningful words.
Believe. This is where you act as you already have what you want.
Receive. This is where you receive what you want from the universe.
When you ask for something, it’s important that you are specific and that you use the correct words. There are many ways you can use to ask for something, for example you may write down in paper your intention. It’s important that you use the present tense, for example you could write something like: “I am happy because I have $100,00 dollars in the bank”, as opposed to “I want to have $100,00 dollars in the bank”.
The believe part is where you live your life accordingly to your wish. Act as if you already have what you want, and really believe it. You can also use visualization to reinforce your thoughts.
Your brain does not distinguish between a real experience and one that’s happening only in your heads, so if you want a new car, close your eyes and imagine driving your new car. If you want to have $100,00 dollars in your bank, write a check with your name and the amount of money and put it where you can see it every day.
The receive part is where you get what you want. You don’t yet know how you’ll get it, so you have to pay attention to your intuition, and be ready to act whenever you have a good feeling.
The universe is extremely fast, so act right away when you receive a sign or message. At the end you most likely have to take action if you really want to get something real.
As I said earlier, there’s a second step to take if you want to get the most out of the Law of
Attraction, and that is to live accordingly to these two rules: be happy, and be grateful.
Fortunately, this is the easier step, and also the one where you can see immediate results.
Being happy means that it’s up to you to interpret external factors in a positive and constructive way. For example it’s not written anywhere that you have to be hungry every time you are in the middle of the traffic. It’s only you that creates your emotion, so it’s your responsibility to always create positive ones. In short, be always happy and positive.
Being grateful means to not take everything you have for granted. Make a habit to dedicate a few minutes every day where you think of all the things you are grateful for. If you do this, you will automatically attract more of what you already like, and at the same time you’ll increase your happiness.
What I described until now is how to use the Law of Attraction in your life. In the next section I’ll attempt to explain how everything works in a lower level. If you are not interested in it, you can jump directly to the conclusion of the article.
How everything works:
I’ll now attempt to explain how the Law of Attraction works. Keep in mind two things, the first is that it doesn’t matter how it works at the lower levels, as you already know how to use it. The second thing is that I’m just saying my opinion and nobody knows yet how the Law of Attraction really works, so you are welcome to provide your contribution in the comments.
On a higher level, our brain stores our thoughts in memory and like a search engine it tries to get them back when we need them. This process happens asynchrony, which means that if you want to remember the title of a song, you don’t necessarily have to focus on it until you get the answer, because your brain can do that for you while you sleep, or do something else.
Another interesting fact is that our brain can’t distinguish a real experience from one that is happening only in your imagination. Psychologists know this, and in fact are helping many Olympic athletes to improve their performance only with the power of their mind (for example by making them run their perfect run in their mind).
When you express a wish, you are in reality asking to your brain how to bring it to reality. Its responsibility is to find a way to make it happen. It doesn’t matter how, and in most cases it will just use past experiences to jump to a conclusion, but it could also use your unlimited power to find an answer. As we said, this process happens asynchrony, so you need to ask it just once, and then reinforce the thought with visualization and by being confident.
On a lower level, philosophers are linking the Law of Attraction with quantum physic. Quantum physic is not an easy topic and I wont discuss much about it here. Suffice to say that at the lower level we are all made of the same thing, which is pure energy, and all this energy is linked together, thus we can potentially control outside events with our thoughts.
This lower level is difficult and counter intuitive to understand, so you don’t have to make sense of it if you don’t want to. Think of it like the binary language of computers, you don’t have to think in terms of zeros and ones to use your computer, yet that’s what is happening at the lower level when you use it.
Conclusion:
I hope that you now have a clear idea of what the Law of Attraction is, and how you can use it to attract good things to your life. I guarantee you that if you apply what you’ve read here you’ll see dramatic changes in your life in the next weeks or months.
In this post I want to describe what the Law of Attraction is, how you can use it to attract beautiful things to your life, and then attempt to explain how it works. If you have never heard about the law of attraction before, it may seem like a bizarre concept at first, but don’t let that prevent you from learning what could easily be one of the most important things you can learn in your life.
To put it in simple words, the Law of Attraction states that your intentions become your reality, therefore the more you think about something, the more chances you have to bring it to reality.
The Law of Attraction states that all the power comes from the universe, because at the lowest level, we are all made of the same thing: energy.
Now, you can ignore how the law of attraction works at the lowest level, and still get all the benefits from it. You don’t even have to give it a name, as you can summarize it as a single concept: you become what you think you can.
Successful people have used the Law of Attraction for centuries to achieve the greatest results in history. Many of them have even written about it.
Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions. ~Albert Einstein
Whether you think you can or can’t either way you are right. ~Henry Ford
As you think so shall you become. ~Bruce Lee
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. ~Buddha
You create your own universe as you go along. ~Winston Churchill
It is done unto you as you believe. ~Jesus
Whatever your mind can conceive and can believe, it can achieve. ~Napoleon Hill
All these people agreed on the top-level concept of the Law of Attraction: you become what you think you can.
You are now ready to learn how to use the Law of Attraction to get everything you want in your life.
Learn this, and you’ll be able to attract anything you want in your life
This is the most interesting part for you. I recommend you to read the following paragraphs with an open mind and with a strong desire to learn if you want to get the most out of it.
As I’ve already said before, you become what you think you can, but what I forgot to say, is that this is always true. Let me explain what I mean. If you think that you would like to get a new car, but you also think that you can’t afford it, you are in reality reinforcing the idea that you can’t have a new car. The universe doesn’t mind wherever what you really want is a new car, as it will follow your intentions literally.
This is the reason why you don’t always have what you want, as in those cases you are probably reinforcing the exact opposite of what you really want. Let’s see another example, debts. If you constantly think about your debts, and how hard it is to pay them off, then you are in reality attracting them even more, and you’ll always end up having more of them.
It may seem absurd at first to believe in the Law of Attraction, so before I’ll tell you how to exactly take advantage of it, let me show you how it works.
When you think about something, your brain stores specific information in its internal memory.
If you are thinking about getting a new car, your brain is storing that information for you, and it will automatically think of how to get one (using your so called unlimited potential), and chances are that you’ll get one soon. But if you think about not being able to afford it, your brain will do its best to make it even harder for you to get that new car.
Now, finally, let’s see how you can use the Law of Attraction to get what you want.
The first thing you have to learn is how to ask something to the universe (or to your brain, if that makes more sense to you). This step consists of three main actions: ask, believe, and receive.
Ask. This is where you ask for what you want. It’s extremely important to be specific about what you want, and to use positive and meaningful words.
Believe. This is where you act as you already have what you want.
Receive. This is where you receive what you want from the universe.
When you ask for something, it’s important that you are specific and that you use the correct words. There are many ways you can use to ask for something, for example you may write down in paper your intention. It’s important that you use the present tense, for example you could write something like: “I am happy because I have $100,00 dollars in the bank”, as opposed to “I want to have $100,00 dollars in the bank”.
The believe part is where you live your life accordingly to your wish. Act as if you already have what you want, and really believe it. You can also use visualization to reinforce your thoughts.
Your brain does not distinguish between a real experience and one that’s happening only in your heads, so if you want a new car, close your eyes and imagine driving your new car. If you want to have $100,00 dollars in your bank, write a check with your name and the amount of money and put it where you can see it every day.
The receive part is where you get what you want. You don’t yet know how you’ll get it, so you have to pay attention to your intuition, and be ready to act whenever you have a good feeling.
The universe is extremely fast, so act right away when you receive a sign or message. At the end you most likely have to take action if you really want to get something real.
As I said earlier, there’s a second step to take if you want to get the most out of the Law of
Attraction, and that is to live accordingly to these two rules: be happy, and be grateful.
Fortunately, this is the easier step, and also the one where you can see immediate results.
Being happy means that it’s up to you to interpret external factors in a positive and constructive way. For example it’s not written anywhere that you have to be hungry every time you are in the middle of the traffic. It’s only you that creates your emotion, so it’s your responsibility to always create positive ones. In short, be always happy and positive.
Being grateful means to not take everything you have for granted. Make a habit to dedicate a few minutes every day where you think of all the things you are grateful for. If you do this, you will automatically attract more of what you already like, and at the same time you’ll increase your happiness.
What I described until now is how to use the Law of Attraction in your life. In the next section I’ll attempt to explain how everything works in a lower level. If you are not interested in it, you can jump directly to the conclusion of the article.
How everything works:
I’ll now attempt to explain how the Law of Attraction works. Keep in mind two things, the first is that it doesn’t matter how it works at the lower levels, as you already know how to use it. The second thing is that I’m just saying my opinion and nobody knows yet how the Law of Attraction really works, so you are welcome to provide your contribution in the comments.
On a higher level, our brain stores our thoughts in memory and like a search engine it tries to get them back when we need them. This process happens asynchrony, which means that if you want to remember the title of a song, you don’t necessarily have to focus on it until you get the answer, because your brain can do that for you while you sleep, or do something else.
Another interesting fact is that our brain can’t distinguish a real experience from one that is happening only in your imagination. Psychologists know this, and in fact are helping many Olympic athletes to improve their performance only with the power of their mind (for example by making them run their perfect run in their mind).
When you express a wish, you are in reality asking to your brain how to bring it to reality. Its responsibility is to find a way to make it happen. It doesn’t matter how, and in most cases it will just use past experiences to jump to a conclusion, but it could also use your unlimited power to find an answer. As we said, this process happens asynchrony, so you need to ask it just once, and then reinforce the thought with visualization and by being confident.
On a lower level, philosophers are linking the Law of Attraction with quantum physic. Quantum physic is not an easy topic and I wont discuss much about it here. Suffice to say that at the lower level we are all made of the same thing, which is pure energy, and all this energy is linked together, thus we can potentially control outside events with our thoughts.
This lower level is difficult and counter intuitive to understand, so you don’t have to make sense of it if you don’t want to. Think of it like the binary language of computers, you don’t have to think in terms of zeros and ones to use your computer, yet that’s what is happening at the lower level when you use it.
Conclusion:
I hope that you now have a clear idea of what the Law of Attraction is, and how you can use it to attract good things to your life. I guarantee you that if you apply what you’ve read here you’ll see dramatic changes in your life in the next weeks or months.
Very Interesting Post
Waking Up at 5 am Experiment - Conclusion:
Wow, it has been a month since I started my waking up at 5 am experiment, and I think it’s a good time to draw some conclusions.
First, I want to say that I started this experiment to see what would have happened if I started to wake up early. As a 23 years old guy, I knew that it would have been hard, but I decided to try anyway. After all, I knew I could have quit after 30 days if I wanted to, so it was not a lifetime commitment.
If you are just looking for the quick answer, yes, I’ll continue to wake up at 5 am now that the experiment is over. Keep reading if you want to find out why.
Waking up:
Waking up at 5 am may seem difficult to do, but it’s not. If you’re going to bed a bit earlier, then it’s really like changing a timezone.
Before starting this experiment, I used to sleep 8-9 hours per night, but now I get 7-8 instead, and I still feel very energetic. This means I go to bed between 9 and 10 pm.
One thing that’s worth mentioning is that I have no problems doing high intensity activities during the day. For example I have a martial arts class at 9pm on wednesday, but I can still do it without feeling tired.
Having said that, if I want an immediate boost of energy I would simply take a 20 minutes nap. Napping is a powerful art that lets you recharge your batteries in a very short amount of time. Since I already sleep 8 hours per night, I rarely need napping, except maybe for wednesday, where I want to have more energy.
Social life
What about social life? This seems to be a major concern for most people who would like to get up early. After all, how can you go out and party until late at night while still waking up at 5?
The good news is that there are solutions for this. One of them is to embrace polyphasic sleep and get a 4-5 hours of core sleep at night, and then another 2 or 3 hours during the day. I don’t do this but my father does, and it works very well for him.
Another solution is to allow yourself to sleep in when necessary. If you only want to go out once or twice per week, then you can avoid getting up early the day after. In my case I decided in advance that on thursday morning I was allowed to sleep in, but now that the experiment is over I can extend it to other days when necessary.
Waking up early is a tool, not a religion, and you are free to adapt it as you want.
The benefits of waking up early
So what are the benefits of waking up early? In one word, time.
By waking up at 5 am I get a very big amount of time where I can do what I want. To understand why this is important, take a look at the pictures below:
You can already see from the graph that when I wake up at 5 am I have more free time available. I left out time for eating, running errand, and other stuff that might happen during the day (blank spaces).
But that’s only half of the truth. In fact, I can rarely get much stuff done in the evening because I am tired from the day. In the morning tough, that’s another story. Indeed, when I just wake up I don’t have to think about calls to return, errands to make, etc. It’s also very rare to be interrupted by someone at 5 am!
I can rarely get much stuff done in the evening because I am tired from the day. In the morning tough, that’s another story.
I can now say that I finally have the time to do all the stuff that I was putting aside. It’s incredible but it’s the truth.
It’s an awesome sensation being able to do all the stuff that you previously couldn’t, like going out for a two hours bike-ride, or to simply get some exercise. In the previous month I used this time mostly for writing, completing a few projects and studying new topics. Now that spring is finally arrived I plan to go out more. I will finally be able to exercise 1+ hour per day.
How to wake up early in the morning
I understand that I’ve not been doing this for a long time, but I also know that the firsts weeks are the hardest. If you want to start waking up early and start to enjoy this new lifestyle, these tips will hopefully help you to get there.
Set a goal. The first thing to do is to set a goal. If you want to wake up early, you have to be clear about it. Take a piece of paper and write down something like “I’m going to wake up at 5 am for 30 days no matter what”. Be crystal clear about the details of your experiment, and decide in advance in which days you’re allowed to sleep in.
Be public. One thing that will help you a lot is having to report back to someone else. If you have a blog, you can do it there, otherwise you have to be creative (forums are another great tool). Use the comments here as your journal if you want.
Have something to do. The reason you want to wake up early is that you probably want more time to do the things that matter to you. Don’t wait until your alarm clock goes off to decide what you’re going to do. Instead, plan for it the day before. If in doubt, go outside for a morning walk.
These are not rules, they’re just tips that have worked for me. You are free and encouraged to find out what works for you.
Right for you?
Of couse this can’t be appropriate for everyone. If you work in evening, or you are a night owl, then you can probably use your time differently.
The point is not about waking up early, but rather to have the time to do whatever you want without feeling tired, and while still having a day job perhaps.
If you have any question or you want to get some support, feel free to leave a comment below. The Next 30 days challenge wil start on friday.
Wow, it has been a month since I started my waking up at 5 am experiment, and I think it’s a good time to draw some conclusions.
First, I want to say that I started this experiment to see what would have happened if I started to wake up early. As a 23 years old guy, I knew that it would have been hard, but I decided to try anyway. After all, I knew I could have quit after 30 days if I wanted to, so it was not a lifetime commitment.
If you are just looking for the quick answer, yes, I’ll continue to wake up at 5 am now that the experiment is over. Keep reading if you want to find out why.
Waking up:
Waking up at 5 am may seem difficult to do, but it’s not. If you’re going to bed a bit earlier, then it’s really like changing a timezone.
Before starting this experiment, I used to sleep 8-9 hours per night, but now I get 7-8 instead, and I still feel very energetic. This means I go to bed between 9 and 10 pm.
One thing that’s worth mentioning is that I have no problems doing high intensity activities during the day. For example I have a martial arts class at 9pm on wednesday, but I can still do it without feeling tired.
Having said that, if I want an immediate boost of energy I would simply take a 20 minutes nap. Napping is a powerful art that lets you recharge your batteries in a very short amount of time. Since I already sleep 8 hours per night, I rarely need napping, except maybe for wednesday, where I want to have more energy.
Social life
What about social life? This seems to be a major concern for most people who would like to get up early. After all, how can you go out and party until late at night while still waking up at 5?
The good news is that there are solutions for this. One of them is to embrace polyphasic sleep and get a 4-5 hours of core sleep at night, and then another 2 or 3 hours during the day. I don’t do this but my father does, and it works very well for him.
Another solution is to allow yourself to sleep in when necessary. If you only want to go out once or twice per week, then you can avoid getting up early the day after. In my case I decided in advance that on thursday morning I was allowed to sleep in, but now that the experiment is over I can extend it to other days when necessary.
Waking up early is a tool, not a religion, and you are free to adapt it as you want.
The benefits of waking up early
So what are the benefits of waking up early? In one word, time.
By waking up at 5 am I get a very big amount of time where I can do what I want. To understand why this is important, take a look at the pictures below:
You can already see from the graph that when I wake up at 5 am I have more free time available. I left out time for eating, running errand, and other stuff that might happen during the day (blank spaces).
But that’s only half of the truth. In fact, I can rarely get much stuff done in the evening because I am tired from the day. In the morning tough, that’s another story. Indeed, when I just wake up I don’t have to think about calls to return, errands to make, etc. It’s also very rare to be interrupted by someone at 5 am!
I can rarely get much stuff done in the evening because I am tired from the day. In the morning tough, that’s another story.
I can now say that I finally have the time to do all the stuff that I was putting aside. It’s incredible but it’s the truth.
It’s an awesome sensation being able to do all the stuff that you previously couldn’t, like going out for a two hours bike-ride, or to simply get some exercise. In the previous month I used this time mostly for writing, completing a few projects and studying new topics. Now that spring is finally arrived I plan to go out more. I will finally be able to exercise 1+ hour per day.
How to wake up early in the morning
I understand that I’ve not been doing this for a long time, but I also know that the firsts weeks are the hardest. If you want to start waking up early and start to enjoy this new lifestyle, these tips will hopefully help you to get there.
Set a goal. The first thing to do is to set a goal. If you want to wake up early, you have to be clear about it. Take a piece of paper and write down something like “I’m going to wake up at 5 am for 30 days no matter what”. Be crystal clear about the details of your experiment, and decide in advance in which days you’re allowed to sleep in.
Be public. One thing that will help you a lot is having to report back to someone else. If you have a blog, you can do it there, otherwise you have to be creative (forums are another great tool). Use the comments here as your journal if you want.
Have something to do. The reason you want to wake up early is that you probably want more time to do the things that matter to you. Don’t wait until your alarm clock goes off to decide what you’re going to do. Instead, plan for it the day before. If in doubt, go outside for a morning walk.
These are not rules, they’re just tips that have worked for me. You are free and encouraged to find out what works for you.
Right for you?
Of couse this can’t be appropriate for everyone. If you work in evening, or you are a night owl, then you can probably use your time differently.
The point is not about waking up early, but rather to have the time to do whatever you want without feeling tired, and while still having a day job perhaps.
If you have any question or you want to get some support, feel free to leave a comment below. The Next 30 days challenge wil start on friday.
Healthy Habits
30 Habits that Will Change your Life:
Developing good habits is the basic of personal development and growth. Everything we do is the result of a habit that was previously taught to us. Unfortunately, not all the habits that we have are good, that’s why we are constantly trying to improve.
The following is a list of 30 practical habits that can make a huge difference in your life.
You should treat this list as a reference, and implement just one habit per month. This way you will have the time to fully absorb each of them, while still seeing significant improvements each month.
Health habits:
Exercise 30 minutes every day. Especially if you don’t do much movement while working, it’s essential that you get some daily exercise. 30 minutes every day are the minimum recommended for optimal health.
Eat breakfast every day. Breakfast is the more important meal of the day, yet so many people skip it. Personally, I like to eat a couple of toasts in the morning along with a fruit beverage.
Sleep 8 hours. Sleep deprivation is never a good idea. You may think that you are gaining time by sleeping less, when in reality you are only gaining stress and tiredness. 8 hours are a good number of hours for most people, along with an optional 20 minutes nap after lunch.
Avoid snacking between meals. Snacking between meals is the best way to gain weight. If you are hungry, eat something concrete. Otherwise don’t. Update: for clarification, I mean don’t eat junk food between meals, but eating real food it’s ok.
Eat five portions of fruits and vegetables every day. Our body and brain loves getting vegetables and fruit, so I highly recommend eating as much of them as possible. Five portions is the dose that’s usually recommended by many health associations.
Eat fish. Fish is rich of omega 3 and other healthy elements. At least one meal per week of fish should be enough for getting all these nutrients.
Drink one glass of water when you wake up. When you wake up, your body is dehydrated and needs liquid. Make the habit of drinking one glass of water after you wake up in the morning. Also, drink more during the day.
Avoid soda. Soda is often one of the most unhealthy beverage you can find. Limit your consumption of soda as much as possible and you’re body will be grateful for that.
Keep your body clean. I don’t advise spending your day in front of the mirror, but a minimum of personal care does never hurt.
If you smoke, stop it. There’s no reason to smoke anymore, and quitting is easy.
If you drink, stop it. Same as above. Don’t think that alcohol will solve your problems. It never does. The only exception is one glass of wine per day during meals.
Take the stairs. This is just a hack that forces you to do a minimum of exercise. Instead of taking the elevator, take the stairs.
Productivity habits:
Use an inbox system. Make the habit of keeping track of all the ideas and things that comes to mind. You can use a notebook to do this, and then sync everything on your computer.
Prioritize. If you have a list of things to do, where do you start? One way is to prioritize your list. If you are in doubt, ask yourself: “If I could only accomplish one thing today, what would it be?”
Plan, but not too much. Planning is important, and you should decide in advance what you are going to do today or this week. However, planning for more than a few weeks is usually inefficient, so I would not worry too much about that.
Wake up early. Waking up early in the morning is a great way to gain extra time. I personally like to wake up at 5 am, so that by 9 am I have already accomplished what otherwise would have taken me many days..
Check your email only twice per day. Email can easily become an addiction, but it’s usually unnecessary to check it every 10 minutes. Make an effort and check your email only once or twice per day, see if the world will still rotate as before after you try this.
Eliminate unimportant tasks. Being busy all day does not mean you are doing important stuff. Eliminate every activity that’s not important, and focus on what really matters.
Clean off your desk and room. Having a clear room and desk is important to maintain focus and creativity.
Automate. There are a lot of tasks that you need to perform every day or every week. Try to automate them as much as possible.
Set strict deadlines. When you do something, decide in advance when you’re going to stop. There’s a rule that states that you will fulfill all the time you have available for completing a task, so make an habit of setting strict deadlines for maximizing your productivity.
Take one day off per week. Instead of working every day, take one day off per week (for example sunday) where you are not going to turn on your computer. Use that time for doing recreational activities like going for a walk.
Personal Development habits:
Read 1 book per week. Reading is a good way to keep your brain active. With just 30 minutes per day you should be able to read one book per week, or more than 50 books per year.
Solve puzzles. Quizzes, word games, etc. are all good ways to exercise your brain.
Think positively. You are what you think, all the time.
Make fast decisions. Instead of thinking for one hour wherever you are going to do something, make your decisions as fast as possible (usually less than 1 minute).
Wait before buying. Waiting 48 hours before buying anything is a tremendous money saver, try it.
Meditate 30 minutes per day. A great way to gain clearness and peace is through meditation. 30 minutes are not a lot, but enough to get you started with meditation.
Career habits:
Start a blog. Blogging is one of the best way to put your word out. It doesn’t have to be around a specific topic, even a personal blog will do.
Build a portfolio. If your job is creating stuff, building a portfolio is a great way to show what you are capable of. You can also contribute stuff for free if that applies to your work.
What do you think? What are the habits that changed your life?
Developing good habits is the basic of personal development and growth. Everything we do is the result of a habit that was previously taught to us. Unfortunately, not all the habits that we have are good, that’s why we are constantly trying to improve.
The following is a list of 30 practical habits that can make a huge difference in your life.
You should treat this list as a reference, and implement just one habit per month. This way you will have the time to fully absorb each of them, while still seeing significant improvements each month.
Health habits:
Exercise 30 minutes every day. Especially if you don’t do much movement while working, it’s essential that you get some daily exercise. 30 minutes every day are the minimum recommended for optimal health.
Eat breakfast every day. Breakfast is the more important meal of the day, yet so many people skip it. Personally, I like to eat a couple of toasts in the morning along with a fruit beverage.
Sleep 8 hours. Sleep deprivation is never a good idea. You may think that you are gaining time by sleeping less, when in reality you are only gaining stress and tiredness. 8 hours are a good number of hours for most people, along with an optional 20 minutes nap after lunch.
Avoid snacking between meals. Snacking between meals is the best way to gain weight. If you are hungry, eat something concrete. Otherwise don’t. Update: for clarification, I mean don’t eat junk food between meals, but eating real food it’s ok.
Eat five portions of fruits and vegetables every day. Our body and brain loves getting vegetables and fruit, so I highly recommend eating as much of them as possible. Five portions is the dose that’s usually recommended by many health associations.
Eat fish. Fish is rich of omega 3 and other healthy elements. At least one meal per week of fish should be enough for getting all these nutrients.
Drink one glass of water when you wake up. When you wake up, your body is dehydrated and needs liquid. Make the habit of drinking one glass of water after you wake up in the morning. Also, drink more during the day.
Avoid soda. Soda is often one of the most unhealthy beverage you can find. Limit your consumption of soda as much as possible and you’re body will be grateful for that.
Keep your body clean. I don’t advise spending your day in front of the mirror, but a minimum of personal care does never hurt.
If you smoke, stop it. There’s no reason to smoke anymore, and quitting is easy.
If you drink, stop it. Same as above. Don’t think that alcohol will solve your problems. It never does. The only exception is one glass of wine per day during meals.
Take the stairs. This is just a hack that forces you to do a minimum of exercise. Instead of taking the elevator, take the stairs.
Productivity habits:
Use an inbox system. Make the habit of keeping track of all the ideas and things that comes to mind. You can use a notebook to do this, and then sync everything on your computer.
Prioritize. If you have a list of things to do, where do you start? One way is to prioritize your list. If you are in doubt, ask yourself: “If I could only accomplish one thing today, what would it be?”
Plan, but not too much. Planning is important, and you should decide in advance what you are going to do today or this week. However, planning for more than a few weeks is usually inefficient, so I would not worry too much about that.
Wake up early. Waking up early in the morning is a great way to gain extra time. I personally like to wake up at 5 am, so that by 9 am I have already accomplished what otherwise would have taken me many days..
Check your email only twice per day. Email can easily become an addiction, but it’s usually unnecessary to check it every 10 minutes. Make an effort and check your email only once or twice per day, see if the world will still rotate as before after you try this.
Eliminate unimportant tasks. Being busy all day does not mean you are doing important stuff. Eliminate every activity that’s not important, and focus on what really matters.
Clean off your desk and room. Having a clear room and desk is important to maintain focus and creativity.
Automate. There are a lot of tasks that you need to perform every day or every week. Try to automate them as much as possible.
Set strict deadlines. When you do something, decide in advance when you’re going to stop. There’s a rule that states that you will fulfill all the time you have available for completing a task, so make an habit of setting strict deadlines for maximizing your productivity.
Take one day off per week. Instead of working every day, take one day off per week (for example sunday) where you are not going to turn on your computer. Use that time for doing recreational activities like going for a walk.
Personal Development habits:
Read 1 book per week. Reading is a good way to keep your brain active. With just 30 minutes per day you should be able to read one book per week, or more than 50 books per year.
Solve puzzles. Quizzes, word games, etc. are all good ways to exercise your brain.
Think positively. You are what you think, all the time.
Make fast decisions. Instead of thinking for one hour wherever you are going to do something, make your decisions as fast as possible (usually less than 1 minute).
Wait before buying. Waiting 48 hours before buying anything is a tremendous money saver, try it.
Meditate 30 minutes per day. A great way to gain clearness and peace is through meditation. 30 minutes are not a lot, but enough to get you started with meditation.
Career habits:
Start a blog. Blogging is one of the best way to put your word out. It doesn’t have to be around a specific topic, even a personal blog will do.
Build a portfolio. If your job is creating stuff, building a portfolio is a great way to show what you are capable of. You can also contribute stuff for free if that applies to your work.
What do you think? What are the habits that changed your life?
Post I found on another blog (I will have more)
27 Traits Of Successful People:
Is it really possible to become a successful person in just one day? I actually believe you can become a successful person in just one second.
Why? Because to be a successful person you only have to change your thoughts and start to think like a successful person. Your have to program your brain to respond differently to situations that it was previously refusing.
But how exactly are successful people made and how do they think? I’ve read and studied a lot of books on the subject, as well as experimenting and asking around. The following is list of 27 traits that distinguish successful people from ordinary people. If you take the commitment to apply every day each principle in your life, you’ll start to see amazing results in no time.
They are positive. Successful people don’t let negative events alter their ego. They see the glass half full and not half empty. They are known as the ones who raises positiveness among others. Benefits: other people want to stay with them because they make them feel better.
They say yes to everything. They take every opportunity they can. They are not afraid of doing something new, like giving a talk in public. They take everything like a challenge with themselves. Update: what I really mean is that they are not afraid of trying something new, but at the same time they still focus on those few activities with the highest return.
They don’t say no. Of course they can’t say yes to everything. But instead of just saying no, they explain their answer instead of finding excuses.
They never criticize others. Successful people don’t criticize others when when they are not listening, because otherwise people among them will recognize them as persons who tend to talk behind others.
They never complain. Every one is able to complain about things. Bad things happen and complaining about them it’s not a good solution to stop them to happen.
They offer their help for free. Successful people offer their help for free whenever they can. Some examples include blogging and free consulting. They do so to rise their popularity and interest among other people.
They smile. They smile often and genuinely to rise positiveness and build strong relationships.
They offer solutions. Successful people are problem solvers. When something doesn’t work as expected they try to find solutions instead of complaining about the problem.
They give more than what’s expected. When you pay for something, you usually receive only what you paid for. Nothing wrong, but what if you receive something more? Of course you would be happier and you would buy more (or recommend) in the future. Successful people know this and give more than what’s expected so that other people will remember them.
They are genuinely interested in other people. Successfully people are genuinely interested on building strong relationship with others, they don’t just do it because it’s networking is important.
They know how to listen. People like to talk. Why? Because they think there is someone listening, so in reality people like to be listened. Successful people talk less and listen more. If they don’t know what to say, they ask questions instead of talking about themselves.
They make others feel important. They make other feel important by letting them figure out important things themselves. By doing so, they are recognized as intelligent people.
They are calm and they think a lot. They pause before talking, they don’t say everything that comes out from their brain just because they can. By doing so they appear more intelligent and interested in the argument being discussed.
If they’re wrong, they admit it. What’s the worst thing that could happen if you say that you were wrong? I don’t know, but I do know that admitting to be wrong is a sign of superiority, and that’s what successful people do.
They don’t say that you’re wrong. What’s the point? Seriously, how do you feel when someone points out that you are wrong? So why would you want to have all reasons at all costs? What about saying something like: “Hey, I thought something else, let’s try to dig deeper and figure out something more”?
They encourage other people. They inspire others to follow their path. They teach how to became successful at something. Many people do this with blogs to reach the highest number of people possible.
They take responsibility. Successful people are responsible for what they do. Even when something out of their control affects their feelings, they promptly act and take responsibility for improving the situation.
They are excited in everything they do. Can you imagine being excited to hear the sound of your alarm clock in the morning? It’s an awesome sensation and it can be reality if you are excited about what you’ll do today. Successful people are excited in everything they do, and they try to deliver the best possible outcome with every opportunity.
They fail. You can’t be always right the first time, everyone fails, and those who win more are those who fails more. Failure it’s an integrant part of success, and successful people try and fail until they reach their goals.
They learn everything they can. Successful people are avid learners. They try to learn everything they can get their hands on. But they don’t spend their whole days on books because they put in practice what they learnt to see if it really works or not.
They network with other people. You’ll have an hard time becoming successful without the help of other people. Don’t skip this part. Start today and make as many genuine connections as possible. Successful people know this, and they all agree that a huge part of success is built with the help of others.
They are persistent. If you want to see results, you have to persistent and try for a long enough period of time. Successful businesses as well as successful person, are not built over night. They had to work long hours before enjoying the four hour work week.
They are optimistic. Having an optimistic mentality is everything. Scientists are telling us that people who are optimistic are getting the most out of their actions. Being optimistic helps in every situation from work to life. Successful people know this and they are optimistic when they start a new project.
They know how to focus. Probably the most important element in productivity, focus is essential for the completion of your goals. Successful people don’t like to be distracted when they are working, and for a good reason.
They do less, and they do it well. Successful people think that it’s highly unproductive to have a lots of projects going on. To contrast this, they get rid of all the projects where they are wasting time and they focus on the few that are providing the highest value in return.
They are open mind. Everything changes. Twenty years ago nobody was using computers and internet, but today it’s an essential tool for every business. Still, there are many people who don’t know how to properly use one. Successful people embrace changes and take advantage of technology to improve their business.
They are confident. Successful people believe in themselves and in their actions. They know that everything will turn right if you give it enough time and passion.
User contributions
Successful traits contributed by users. Leave your contribution in the comments.
They Take Calculated Risks. Of course, everything involves some sort of risk. Successful people think well and take calculated. Contributed by Mr I.
They make affirmations. Successful people use affirmations to exercise their powerful mind. Contributed by Lindsay.
They make quick decisions. Napoleon Hill in “Think and Grow Rich” discusses that successful people make quick decisions, but are slow to change them. The unsuccessful person makes slow decisions but is quick to change them. These leaders have an unwavering courage to change decisions made even in the wake of immense failures. Thomas Edison failed over 10,000 times when he invented the first light bulb. If he had quit his name might not be known today. Successful leaders continue to move forward with consistent and persistent actions. Contributed by Shirland.
They know they will succeed. Successful people know that they will succeed. Success has been internalized in them from the beginning. Contributed by Walter.
They look ahead. They do not look at their current circumstances and situation as an obstacle but instead look past that to what CAN BECOME. If they stick with it and do not give up. Contributed by Casey.
They are curious. that natural ability we’re born with, that makes learning, growth and development possible as children, and that successful people keep on using in addition to all of their reasoning, analytical, and generally smart grown-up skills. Contributed by Barak.
The define success. They define what success means to them and then go out and get it. Contributed by Tim Brownsons.
Conclusion
We have explored a lot of traits that makes successful people what they are. While it takes an instant for you to start acting like a successful person, it’s very easy to fall back with your old habits, so I suggest you to take one principle a time from the list and to come back often to this page to confront your actions and refresh your thoughts.
Is it really possible to become a successful person in just one day? I actually believe you can become a successful person in just one second.
Why? Because to be a successful person you only have to change your thoughts and start to think like a successful person. Your have to program your brain to respond differently to situations that it was previously refusing.
But how exactly are successful people made and how do they think? I’ve read and studied a lot of books on the subject, as well as experimenting and asking around. The following is list of 27 traits that distinguish successful people from ordinary people. If you take the commitment to apply every day each principle in your life, you’ll start to see amazing results in no time.
They are positive. Successful people don’t let negative events alter their ego. They see the glass half full and not half empty. They are known as the ones who raises positiveness among others. Benefits: other people want to stay with them because they make them feel better.
They say yes to everything. They take every opportunity they can. They are not afraid of doing something new, like giving a talk in public. They take everything like a challenge with themselves. Update: what I really mean is that they are not afraid of trying something new, but at the same time they still focus on those few activities with the highest return.
They don’t say no. Of course they can’t say yes to everything. But instead of just saying no, they explain their answer instead of finding excuses.
They never criticize others. Successful people don’t criticize others when when they are not listening, because otherwise people among them will recognize them as persons who tend to talk behind others.
They never complain. Every one is able to complain about things. Bad things happen and complaining about them it’s not a good solution to stop them to happen.
They offer their help for free. Successful people offer their help for free whenever they can. Some examples include blogging and free consulting. They do so to rise their popularity and interest among other people.
They smile. They smile often and genuinely to rise positiveness and build strong relationships.
They offer solutions. Successful people are problem solvers. When something doesn’t work as expected they try to find solutions instead of complaining about the problem.
They give more than what’s expected. When you pay for something, you usually receive only what you paid for. Nothing wrong, but what if you receive something more? Of course you would be happier and you would buy more (or recommend) in the future. Successful people know this and give more than what’s expected so that other people will remember them.
They are genuinely interested in other people. Successfully people are genuinely interested on building strong relationship with others, they don’t just do it because it’s networking is important.
They know how to listen. People like to talk. Why? Because they think there is someone listening, so in reality people like to be listened. Successful people talk less and listen more. If they don’t know what to say, they ask questions instead of talking about themselves.
They make others feel important. They make other feel important by letting them figure out important things themselves. By doing so, they are recognized as intelligent people.
They are calm and they think a lot. They pause before talking, they don’t say everything that comes out from their brain just because they can. By doing so they appear more intelligent and interested in the argument being discussed.
If they’re wrong, they admit it. What’s the worst thing that could happen if you say that you were wrong? I don’t know, but I do know that admitting to be wrong is a sign of superiority, and that’s what successful people do.
They don’t say that you’re wrong. What’s the point? Seriously, how do you feel when someone points out that you are wrong? So why would you want to have all reasons at all costs? What about saying something like: “Hey, I thought something else, let’s try to dig deeper and figure out something more”?
They encourage other people. They inspire others to follow their path. They teach how to became successful at something. Many people do this with blogs to reach the highest number of people possible.
They take responsibility. Successful people are responsible for what they do. Even when something out of their control affects their feelings, they promptly act and take responsibility for improving the situation.
They are excited in everything they do. Can you imagine being excited to hear the sound of your alarm clock in the morning? It’s an awesome sensation and it can be reality if you are excited about what you’ll do today. Successful people are excited in everything they do, and they try to deliver the best possible outcome with every opportunity.
They fail. You can’t be always right the first time, everyone fails, and those who win more are those who fails more. Failure it’s an integrant part of success, and successful people try and fail until they reach their goals.
They learn everything they can. Successful people are avid learners. They try to learn everything they can get their hands on. But they don’t spend their whole days on books because they put in practice what they learnt to see if it really works or not.
They network with other people. You’ll have an hard time becoming successful without the help of other people. Don’t skip this part. Start today and make as many genuine connections as possible. Successful people know this, and they all agree that a huge part of success is built with the help of others.
They are persistent. If you want to see results, you have to persistent and try for a long enough period of time. Successful businesses as well as successful person, are not built over night. They had to work long hours before enjoying the four hour work week.
They are optimistic. Having an optimistic mentality is everything. Scientists are telling us that people who are optimistic are getting the most out of their actions. Being optimistic helps in every situation from work to life. Successful people know this and they are optimistic when they start a new project.
They know how to focus. Probably the most important element in productivity, focus is essential for the completion of your goals. Successful people don’t like to be distracted when they are working, and for a good reason.
They do less, and they do it well. Successful people think that it’s highly unproductive to have a lots of projects going on. To contrast this, they get rid of all the projects where they are wasting time and they focus on the few that are providing the highest value in return.
They are open mind. Everything changes. Twenty years ago nobody was using computers and internet, but today it’s an essential tool for every business. Still, there are many people who don’t know how to properly use one. Successful people embrace changes and take advantage of technology to improve their business.
They are confident. Successful people believe in themselves and in their actions. They know that everything will turn right if you give it enough time and passion.
User contributions
Successful traits contributed by users. Leave your contribution in the comments.
They Take Calculated Risks. Of course, everything involves some sort of risk. Successful people think well and take calculated. Contributed by Mr I.
They make affirmations. Successful people use affirmations to exercise their powerful mind. Contributed by Lindsay.
They make quick decisions. Napoleon Hill in “Think and Grow Rich” discusses that successful people make quick decisions, but are slow to change them. The unsuccessful person makes slow decisions but is quick to change them. These leaders have an unwavering courage to change decisions made even in the wake of immense failures. Thomas Edison failed over 10,000 times when he invented the first light bulb. If he had quit his name might not be known today. Successful leaders continue to move forward with consistent and persistent actions. Contributed by Shirland.
They know they will succeed. Successful people know that they will succeed. Success has been internalized in them from the beginning. Contributed by Walter.
They look ahead. They do not look at their current circumstances and situation as an obstacle but instead look past that to what CAN BECOME. If they stick with it and do not give up. Contributed by Casey.
They are curious. that natural ability we’re born with, that makes learning, growth and development possible as children, and that successful people keep on using in addition to all of their reasoning, analytical, and generally smart grown-up skills. Contributed by Barak.
The define success. They define what success means to them and then go out and get it. Contributed by Tim Brownsons.
Conclusion
We have explored a lot of traits that makes successful people what they are. While it takes an instant for you to start acting like a successful person, it’s very easy to fall back with your old habits, so I suggest you to take one principle a time from the list and to come back often to this page to confront your actions and refresh your thoughts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
