Search For Jesus

During the ancient times until now, people practice meditation because of its provided advantages. Incorporating meditation as part of your daily life can make a big difference regarding your attitude and outlook in life. But because meditate is a procedure, it involves several steps as well as postures when doing it.

1. Cross legged posture. Various spiritual traditions and christian meditation teachers suggest or prescribe various meditation physical postures. One of the most popular postures is the cross legged position which includes the lotus position. It is taught in most meditative traditions that the spinal cord must be kept straight. So, slouching is not a good idea. This is because, when you sit straight, it encourages good circulation of what they call as spiritual energy, which is the life force and vital breath.

2. Seated posture. A meditator can sit on the chair with his or her bare feet, as what the New Thought is teaching. In Orthodox Christianity, a meditator can sit on the stool. While in Theravada Buddhism, a meditator is walking in mindfulness. In Sukhothai, Thailand, meditation cushion of the monks is called bas-relief. The meditator sits up keeping his or her back straight holding the spine and head in alignment without leaning and thighs parallel to the floor. The hands are rested comfortably on the arm’s chair or on the knees.

3. Kneeling posture. The meditator kneels with both knees on the floor keeping his or her buttocks resting on his or her toes and heels which are almost touching. The hands rest on his or his thighs.

4. Lying down posture also known as corpse posture or savasna in yoga. The meditator rests on the carpet keeping his or her legs straight and relaxed. Nevertheless, this is not used more often since it mimics the natural posture of sleeping. The meditator can sometimes fall asleep. This is effective in reducing stress rather than a meditation process.

5. Incorporating mudras or hand gestures. There is a theological meaning behind these gestures. Based on Yogic philosophy, these can affect consciousness. One example is the common hand-position of the Buddhist. The right hand rests on the top of the left hand with touching thumbs similar to the begging bowl of Buddha.

6. Incorporating various repetitive activities in stillness such as humming, chanting, or deep breathing to help in inducing a state of meditation. The Soto Zen practitioners do their relaxation meditation in front of a wall with open eyes. However, most mediation schools are assuming that the eyes are half-open or closed.

The duration and frequency of body meditation also vary. There are nuns and monks who bow for a lifetime meditation. However, the broadly accepted duration is 20 or 30 minutes. This length may increase as the process goes on as what experienced meditators revealed. To obtain the benefits of meditation music, it is advisable to follow the advices and instructions of the spiritual teacher. Most traditions require daily practice. But some may experience frustration or guilt when they failed to do it. Sometimes, meditators may complain about meditators knee especially during long hours of kneeling on one’s knees or sitting on cross legs. Keep in mind that perseverance and acceptance are needed to become successful. This can help you during prolonged hours of meditation and increase focus on your everyday lives.

The internet and the real world have one thing in common - they both hold millions of people, each with his or her own pesonality and preferences. Not all people we meet would have the same likes as we do and neither will we like each one of them. Religious online dating websites can help you here by bringing you closer to people from the same religious and ethnic communities. And among such religious dating services, you will find that the dating websites for Christians are the most popular.

There are, however, other reasons too that make dating websites for Christians so popular. One of these reasons is the fact that online datin sites, especially those that are religious in nature, help do away with having to look for a prospect in the local bar. There are hundreds of profiles online that you could go through before choosing one that interests you. What’s more, you can do this in the safety and privacy of your own room. Once your profile has been created online, every member of that sites, even yur dream date, would be able to view it.

Another advantage of these dating websites for Christians is the fact that there is no pressure to commit. That, and the distance between you and your prospect is what make these sites popular. Because of this, you always have additional time that enables you to decide whether you like a person enough to take the relationship further. One great thing is that there’s absolutely no pressure for you to disclose anything that makes you uncomfortable. There is also no need to spend any real time together with someone you hardly know. So, forget all your concerns and enjoy your time and let the relationship first develop. These are the dating websites where you may not proceed too much until the time you are able to trust each other.

Online dating sites also remove the risk of going home with someone we barely know. This risk can lead to regrets. Of course, no one would want something haunting them for many years.

But above everything else, they offer fun for the members. If These sites are not just for talking about religion. It is also about enjoying other things in life. The Christian community members you will find here come from many backgrounds and professions and they are all fun loving. And because of this, we are so certain that you will enjoy yourself.

Imagine how these would play out: The devil sweet-talks Eve into eating a fruit from the tree of knowledge and persuading her to tempt Adam to do the same. How did Noah keep his family’s spirits up as he led them in building a huge ark under a clear blue sky?

Abraham musters enough faith to obey God’s command (a test) for him to sacrifice his own beloved son? How did Moses address his people as they marched away from Egypt and slavery towards freedom and the land of milk and honey?

The multi-lingual noise that follows the collapse of the Tower of Babel. God’s wrath falling on Sodomites and the sinners of Gomorrah. How calm was Daniel in the lions’ den? Job keeps his faith in spite of the devil’s wickedest tricks.

How honored was Mary when Gabriel told her she would bear the Son of God? John the Baptist sees the reason for his mission, coming to him to be baptized. Jesus takes the beating, the whipping and the humiliation and faces death to redeem our sins.

Bible stories have endeared many generations of Christians, and even non-Christians, but only a superb dramatic narration can make us appreciate the facts these stories present, the values they promote, and the wisdom of the ages they preserve.

Fortunately, the greatest stories ever told are no longer just retold from the pulpits or at bedtime, with Mom or Dad giving their best impressions of prophets and tyrants, sinners and saints. You can now experience the invigorating, life-affirming power of Scripture with the convenience of digital audio technology.

Scripture’s most read and most reliable translation, the New International Version, is made readily available by the International Bible Society through its full-cast Audio Bible production. The multiple-voice dramatization brings the Old and New Testaments to life with world-class narration, colorful true-to-the-text character renderings, fully orchestrated background with sound effects that provide maximum enhancement, and digital engineering from start to finish – delivering the ultimate clarity and listening enjoyment. The NIV Audio Bible also has brief book introductions that give you a quick, preparatory overview of each book of the Bible.

There are several versions of audio Bible online, but only the NIV Audio Bible is well endorsed. Download from an Audio Bible Online vendor and play it with your iPod, computer, or copy it on CDs and listen to your favorite biblical passages at your leisure or when you need to be inspired by mankind’s greatest masterpiece.

I heard someone tell a story about a truck driver that was eating at a diner when three maliciousmotorcycle hoodlums came in. The first took the truck driver’s hamburger, the second drank his coffee, and the third one wolfed down his pie. Quietly, the truck driver got up from the table and left the diner. One of the bikers said, “He’s not much of a man, is he?” The cashier replied, “He’s not much of a driver, either. He just ran his truck over three motorcycles.” When I first heard this humorous story I was reminded of the fact that we do not
always properly respond to the pressures that are loaded upon us. It takes depth of character, especially patience, to respond correctly to life’s trials.

I remember a silly song about patience on a cassette tape listened to by my children. I do not remember all the words but I do remember this part. “I can’t wait to have patience. Patience is such a wonderful thing. Hurry up! Hurry up! Give me some of that patience stuff. I can’t wait to have patience. Patience is such a wonderful thing!” It is true that patience stuff is a wonderful but it doesn’t come in a hurry. It appears through tests and trials and obedience to the Holy Spirit.

In the first chapter of James, God’s word says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing (NKJV James 1:2-4). God’s word is awesome in the way it addresses the everyday struggles of our lives. I enjoy studying and sharing what I study through my free sermons online in order to help people deal with their daily troubles with the help of Scripture. By sharing with pastors and Bible teachers, I am able to touch many more lives.

When difficult times come, and they will, we must respond in the right way if we want the right result. Ironically, James says to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials”. In other words, when the bottom drops out let the praise go up. How we respond to trials demonstrates what we believe about our future and our God.

James goes on to tell us that these trials are also tests. Mark it down, it the middle of a mess there will always be a test. Regardless of who originates the trial it quickly turns into a test.

It is during these times that we discover if we really believe what we say we believe. This is the fire in which Christian character is forged. If we go through a trial God’s way we become more like Jesus. When we don’t respond correctly then it means we are headed in the direction of a correction. When we do respond correctly we are headed for a blessing.

You don’t really flunk such a test. You just take them over and over until you get it right. So when you stumble, find a good free online bible study, study some more and get ready for another test.

The underlying question in the middle of a trial is “Will I wait on God?” Waiting on God can be one of the most intense struggles in the Christian life; yet, it is imperative if we are going to experience God’s best.

In our culture, impatience is in widespread use and is part of the on board equipment of our human flesh. Impatience drives us to go ahead and do what we want without regard to what God wants for us. Let’s not start a testimony meeting about the times we have all ran ahead of God, it would take too long to hear our sad stories of blessings missed and messes created because we refused to be patient and believe in God.

Phillips Brooks was a well-known and widely respected pastor in New England during the late 1800s. He had the reputation of being a man cool under pressure. However, there were times when he struggled with patience just like we do. A close friend recounted one such occasion when he found Brooks pacing the floor like a caged lion. He asked Brooks about the source of his troubles. The pastor replied, “The trouble is I’m in a hurry, but God isn’t.”

What do you do when you are in a hurry and God isn’t? You wait. If you wait the proper way it will be transformed into Christ-like patience. By the way, God’s way of waiting does not involve pawing the ground and shouting obscene angry expressions at the slowness of God while you wait on Him to work. It means in the day-to-day grind and battlefield of the Christian life that you obey God out of a willing heart rejoicing as you go. This is what He blesses and this is when His might is truly flowing through you. If you would be complete, lacking nothing then you will have to first be patient.

Are you ready for patience? Sorry, but you will have to wait!

Blessings,
Eddie Lawrence of Sermon Seedbed

Read about EFT (aka emotional freedom technique), because it helped many people to find inner balance.

This short article will address in a simple way the question, “Why are there so many Bible translations?” The question is legitimate and many other questions emerge as a result of this one. So, let’s cover the question with some questions, okay?

What is a Bible translation? Properly understood, a true Bible translation is the process of converting the text of the original Greek manuscripts (and a little Aramaic) for the New Testament and Hebrew (and a little Chaldean) for the Old Testament into another language.

The language these New Testament scripts were written in were originally authored in Koine Greek. The Greek of the ordinary man as opposed to Classical Greek. The Hebrew of the Old Testament is still amazingly similar to the Hebrew of today. In a very real sense, the first writings were written in the common language of the people of their times.

The translating of Scripture has been done in several thousand different languages. Whole ministries exist to continue the process of Scripture translation until every tribe and tongue has the Bible, or least a part of it, in their own language.

Are all Bibles you see in a bookstore translations from original manuscripts? More correctly they are translations from a compilation of those manuscripts that exist in book form. An example of this for New Testament translation is the famous Textus Receptus. Greek scholars use these compilations in the work of New Testament translation just as Hebrew scholars use the Masoretic Text for the Old Testament.

It is important for you to understand that all Bibles in a bookstore are not exactly translations. Some are paraphrases. A paraphrase is where a scholar basically tries to put the Bible text into a similar meaning that may be more easily understood by a contemporary reader. Technically, this is called use of the dynamic equivalent. In other words, a chariot in Bible days might be seen as a car in our day. Lots of arguments have ensued over these items between scholars.

Which translation is the best? When it comes to translations some are more wooden (literal), while others may be a little more loose with the translation. Anyway, we will leave the debates to the scholars about which serves a greater purpose. Between strict loyalty to the laws of translating and the need for people to clearly understand there is a battlefield of argument. I say let’s just pursue reading and praying for understanding of whatever version of a translation we do read.

There are many different versions of the English translations of the Bible available today and most Bible readers have their favorite. Some are completely loyal to the King James Version (KJV) of 1611 while others choose the New Living Translation. I personally like the New King James Version and it is the one I also use most on the online bible study site I make available for surfers. I like it because I grew up on the KJV and the New King James Version (NJKV) reads similarly but the antiquated words like “concupiscence” have been updated to words we can actually understand. I do want to clarify that when people argue about the KJV of 1611, it is really not the original KJV of 1611 they are reading. Reading it is like reading the Canterbury Tales. Besides, what about other language groups who do not speak English? To be so rigid as to allow nothing but an English version of the Bible is a little short sighted in addition to being prideful. We should have respect for the Bible in all its forms.

My answer to the question, “What is the best Bible Translation?” is simply, “The one you can best understand and that draws your heart toward God.” Most translations are really good.

Now back to the question that birthed the title of this article, “Why are there so many translations?” First, because there are so many different languages spoken on the planet. You would have to go back to Babel to try and undo this fact. Secondly, there are so many translations, because the Bible is an absolutely exhilarating and inspired book. It is amazing that the same verse of Scripture can produce so many different sermons and most of them good. Like to read sermons? Free online bible study are offered online to anyone at anytime. It’s part of my ministry as a pastor.

Yes, the Bible is an absolutely amazing book. Men have died to protect it, died to translate it, and died to deliver it to others who have never read it. Such a book cannot be left alone. Conversely, others have spent their lives trying to destroy it. It lives on and I encourage you to read it today. God Bless You!

Eddie Lawrence of Sermon Seedbed

Side note: for self balance info, read about EFT (emotional freedom technique); it has helped many people to open the heart to life.

There are a few potholes involved in our world of modern conveniences. If we are not careful we will become consumed by our hunger to be consumers. We will run by the important values in life in our hurry to cruise through the drive through on our way to get to the ballgame we are about to miss because of the piano lessons that ran late because we got hung up by the mechanic at the quick lube.

We have cell phones so that we can call anywhere at anytime, unless you’ve got one of those crazy plans that only works 3 miles from the place you bought it. Remember the days when 64K came out and we were so awed by our first computer. In today’s rush, if you have a 2 Gig processor and have to wait a nano-second for the next screen, you get impatient. Time is a valuable commodity and we all seem to be strapped for it. Part of what I do is to provide free sermon outlines for busy pastors. It often takes hours to prepare a solid bible lesson, so I enjoy helping them out from under some of the load and all completely free of charge.

It all really hit me the other day when my wife and I were out of town for a conference. After the evening session we made it back to the Hotel. As we approached the elevator to head for our third floor room I pulled out my keys and began pushing the remote button so that the elevator door would open. My wife laughed me to scorn and is still using the story for mileage. However, it was then I realized how accustomed I had become to convenience. Needless to say, the elevator would not partner with me and I had to reach out my hand and push a button before the door would open. How do we escape this bondage to the quick and comfortable?

To help, make it a ritual in your life to do the following every day:

1. Take a purposeful time-out and consciously thank God for your blessings. If we never pause and thank God for taking care of us, we lower ourselves on the scale of living things. What do I mean? Well, an ole pig never looks up and thanks the tree from which the acorns fall with which he fills his gut. Surely, we can do better than an ole hog. Ever wonder why, grumpy ungrateful people grunt a lot? Hmmmm!

2. Do an inventory on how your negative to positive ratio is running for the day. It is easy in the sometimes vicious demands of life to become negative and lose the light of hope in our eyes and hearts. Stop and do an inventory. If you are really brave, ask a good friend to tell you truthfully if you are getting the ole nasty negative virus on you. Don’t make them pay if they tell you that you are. Just thank them and choose to be positive. No one likes to hang around nasty and negative. It’s like the smell of cigarette smoke, it gets all over you.

3. Choose to be grateful and appreciative as much as possible in every circumstance you face. This is closely aligned with the first two suggestions, but a necessary step. Life is a string of choices. Positive choices and a grateful heart go a long way to helping you transcend the business of life and truly enjoy the journey.

These little practices of the heart will help keep things better ordered inside of you. If you like online bible study site spend some time delving into the Scripture. It will feed and enrich your soul.

Blessings,
Eddie Lawrence of Sermon Seedbed

P.S. Read about emotional freedom technique, because it helped many to find the path to self discovery.

A staggering bit of info is that the average minister says that they do not have a really close friend. In addition, a majority also say that have had a conflict with a parishoner in the last month. Sure, sometimes its the fault of the minister. But the fact is a minister is under a ton of stress and the demands of attempting to minister spiritually to a large number of people can have very negative effects. Hence, this article. I want to share five simple things that you can do to make your pastor’s day. I will use male examples but no offense is attended, feel free to change the gender of my phrases.

1. Use Some Ink.
Pick up a pen, write encouraging note, card, or brief letter. An email can be used just as effectively and more easily. Sadly, Pastors receive negative and critical mail for too often. Your contact can be a huge “lift me up”. It will be a brick in the foundation of a strong relationship you can build. Don’t be insincere about it. Begin to see your minister as a real person with real feelings and a real family. He is more than someone who answers your spiritual 911 calls. He has the same needs you do in life. I will occasionally place notes on my free online bible study site for pastors just to encourage them. They need it like everyone else.

2. Be a Surprise Depositor.
Deposit something tangible in your spiritual leader’s life. I remember on one occasion when a man in our congregation came to where we lived and asked that I bring him my dirty dress shirts. I was taken back but did it. Two days later he returned with them cleaned and pressed from the local cleaners. He said, “I also bought a couple of new shirts and put in with these. I just wanted to bless you.” Wow, did that send a powerful message to me about this man. He respected and loved my family. He did this about once a month for quite a season. What is one tangible thing you could do to bless your preacher? A gift card, a night for he and his wife at a nice restaurant, a $100 bill can all be refreshing water to his spirit and his spouse.

3. Spread the Positive
When others talk negatively, spread the positive you see about your minister. Be a person who does not sow destructive news. Actually, you will find that you will reap positively from this attitude in your own life.

4. Thicken Him Up.
I don’t mean take him a pie every Wednesday. I am talking about not requiring that your minister spread himself too thin.

Appointments, visits, training and sermon preparation all take lots of time. One thing I do to try to help pastors is to post free online bible study that they can use to save them time. What can you and other congregants do to lighten his ministerial load? By spreading himself too thin, he will be more likely to experience burn out and failure in ministry. Be proactive in protecting his family time, etc.

5. Talk to God about Him.
Last but certainly not least–Pray for him. Prayer will help you condition your own attitude toward him in the right way and more importantly, I believe God responds to sincere prayer from a pure heart. If you have ought against him, forgive him. Don’t carry a grudge, it will break you down before its over with. Please consider these suggestions to encourage your minister. Thanks– Eddie Lawrence of Sermon Seedbed.

For more self discovery - read about emotional freedom technique (EFT, for short). It has helped many people to open the inner world of their souls.

Thousands and Thousands of people the world over are eager to hear a good Bible sermon. The church member wanting to heighten their spiritual awareness, the Sunday School preacher looking to improve their teaching, or the preacher wanting to glean from other preachers are
examples of people who are looking for sermons.

The ocean is full of fish, but that doesn’t mean you catch what you want every time you go fishing.

Similarly, the world wide web is filled with bible sermons but finding just the right one may not always pan out for the would be sermon seeker.

Just as there are thousands of varieties of fish in the ocean, there are tons and tons of different kinds of bible sermons. A few common examples would be:

-Textual Sermons are sermons that flow directly out of a Bible text.
-Topical Sermons are sermons built around a specific topic.
-Expository Sermons are bible sermons rooted in the original contextual meaning of the Bible passage and shared in an way applicable to our contemporary world.

In addition, sermons are available online in several different forms:

-Audio files that a user can listen to. These are sermons that have been preached, recorded, and uploaded online for users to access.
-Manuscripts are full length printed bible message notes.
-Outlines and Notes are brief overviews of a sermon’s main points and ideas.
-Transcripts are word for word dictations of a sermon that has been preached typed out in printed
form.
-Video files which contain not only audio but video footage of the sermon for a user to both see and hear.

Not only are the above issues factors in choosing a bible message, so is the actual preaching style. There is a buffett of variety here as well. Calm, bold and strong, soft, loud, energetic, laid back, are just a few of the many styles.

Then there are streams of belief that factor in as well. Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Charismatic, Word of Faith and on and on and on. Within the movement or denomination, there is the particular persons writing or preaching the bible sermons. Most folks have their favorites: Billy Graham, T.D. Jakes, Rick Warren, or Bro. Bill around the corner.

Each of them will more than likely have scores of sermons available to scour through. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

So there are a lot of decisions to make. What kind of sermon are you looking for? How do you find the good ones? I have two suggestions: a rifle and a shotgun. First, the rifle approach.

When you do a search in the search engine, be as specific as you can possibly be. Narrow your aim.

Let’s say you are wanting to study a bible message outline about discouragement. Here is what your search entry might look like: free sermon outline discouragement.

An example of what such a search could take you to a free sermons online site containing a sermon on discouragement.

Another option is the shotgun approach. Make your search query wide in scope. Free online bible study is an example that will bring up bible study and sermon sites with tons to choose from. Once there, you can then do a more narrow search among their cyber shelves.

With a little trial and error adding a word or two here and there in your search, you will strike sermon gold eventually. Have a blast finding and then a blessing listening to your sermon.

Find useful tips about self discovery and how EFT can help with that, more emotional freedom technique info on this blog.

With the amount of celebrity stars doing their bit for charity, it is a little harder to benefit a worthy cause when you are average Jo Blogs without a large following of fans. To help you expand some things I thought I would write a few points to help you on the path to setting up a fundraiser of your own.

Firstly what are you attempting to achieve, are you trying to raise awareness or raise funds. Raising awareness is often sorted out by teaching the people that are your target area this can be done in a number of ways be it leaflets, local radio, TV, an event that you do that promotes discussion or has the media showing an interest in following the specific event, the internet or structured meetings.

Fund raising on the other hand is asking someone to separate with their money to fund your chosen issue, once again part of this is teaching people about what your fundraiser is but the other bit is providing the people that are giving you money with something in return. Shock, Horror you might first think but people want to go away feeling like they have helped someone or something. If inside this you can present a person with a thing that is of value to them, or makes them feel good, all the better.

Once you understand what you are attempting to achieve think about where you are about to hold the fundraiser. If it is a village hall fundraising event or a Church fundraising event talk to people in the region about using the village or church hall as a base or if it’s about School fundraising talk to the school itself and find out if you can have the use of their village hall to carry out your fundraising. On the other hand if you are about to throw yourself out of an airplane or run 20 miles it might be of use to have a base to work out from.

What are you going to do to increase awareness or fund raise. There are several businesses out there that can assist you in organising a successful fundraiser. What many of these businesses do is organise an event such as a parachute jump or a Fashion show fundraising where they will show you exactly what you have to do and help you to reach your goal.

With parachute jumps this means you can get out there and get funding from people for your particular stunt and also means that you might be able to bring in others that might like to try a parachute jump for more funding. Whereas a fashion show fundraiser you promote by the simple reason that people can see fashions worn by your models and then purchase them at knock down prices. A decent evening out and fashion shopping at the same instance.

Whatever you do make sure that you get the greatest amount of media coverage as you possibly can, before the event so that people can see what you are achieving and for who so that you can produce as much interest as possible for your fundraising event.