Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Are You Good All the Time? Spiritual Advice

I wonder how God would feel, if it came down to earth and walked around for a couple weeks, visiting other countries and walking in and out of peoples homes, and they never even knew he was there. What would God really think about the programs we watch on television, how we treat our children and parents, what our conversations consist of and who we really choose to love.

If God came to your home and was just another fly on the wall, you never even knew he was there, would he be proud, would you be okay with the way your living or would he be disappointed. Are you one of those people who goes to church once a week and puts the bare minimum in required, just so you can tell your friends or show your family what a wonderful person you are. But behind the scenes, you're lying, stealing, cheating or doing something else that God wouldn't be proud of.

Is the fear of going to hell enough to keep us in line for the rest of our lives? You know most people live their lives in fear of something and religion seems to be at the top of their list. If they do something morally wrong, like stealing, they start to live in a world of guilt and wonder why they did it. Is it the fear or guilt that starts to eat away at these people. If I do five good deeds, maybe it will wipe out the bad one, you might have to do more good deeds if it's a really big bad one.

Do you live your life like God is watching you all the time? Are you one of those people who does everything right, because you are afraid that the almighty omnipotent all-knowing God is watching everybody, always. In your heart and soul, are you doing everything you can, every single thing possible, that you could think of, to be a good person. Does guilt play a big part in your life? Consciously or unconsciously.

If God was to find you doing something wrong, would you try and explain your way out of it, even though you're talking to God and he knows everything about you. Or would you start apologizing, like you do with everyone you know, I'm sorry god please, please, forgive me for my sins.

What kind of person are you really? Ask yourself this question honestly and if you believe that you can do better with your life, why not put the effort in, for real, really put the effort in and try to become a better version of yourself. Your children, parents and friends are counting on you.

Some Men Aren't Treated Fairly in Christianity

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

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

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

Is the Bible Historically Accurate? Do You Ever Seek Truthful Answers?

I'm going to start with the first book of the holy Bible, Genesis chapter 1 verse one through five. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

And God said," let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

If the Bible is historically accurate, did God actually create earth. I have been battling over this, my whole life. It's very easy for someone to accept and believe in any religion, government, other people or whatever they truly desire to make real. I see it every day of my life, open your eyes and you will see it to.

It's hard to imagine that a superior entity like God created everything that we touch and see. The moon itself is pretty big and the creation of the sun would prove to be a little more difficult, but if you're God and your all knowing and all powerful, he or she or it, must be one incredible being.

This is only the first couple of paragraphs in the Bible and there is no, I repeat no, historical accuracy to this event. It seems like God or man, whoever wrote the Bible, should have started the Bible with something a little more believable for people that live in the 21st century. It's not hard to imagine someone 2000 years ago, believing in something like this.

2000 years ago the Romans were worshiping their own gods, we might find this ridiculous today but back then the Romans would punish you if you didn't worship their gods. We are not too far from that today. If we don't stop organized religion and their influence on humanity, we're going to have serious problems in the future.

The biggest problem I foresee is common sense. If the Bible has 500 historical accurate facts that can be proven without a doubt by historians, scholars and other intelligent people, but has one thing that can't be explained, how do we handle this. How do we handle the fact that the Bible states God created light? If this is false, what else is false in the Bible.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Have you ever really ask yourself Who is, Jesus of Nazareth?

Greg is currently working on a Personal Power Ideas. If you're ever wondering why some people can achieve success, while others seem to struggle aimlessly, what would it hurt, to take a couple of minutes of your time, if you could actually find the truth.

Finding Something You Don't Like About Yourself - Creating Habits

Finding something you don't like about yourself is usually very easy for most people. Most of the time you don't even have to ask your family or friends because you have heard them complain about the same thing for years. How many times have you heard someone mention, I need to lose weight?

Here's a list of things people don't like about themselves. If you're one of those people that has a hard time finding something wrong with yourself, you could always ask one of your friends for some suggestions. I'm sure they would like that.

1. The need to lose weight. This of course is one of the worst problems with Americans. Most people need to lose weight and let's not forget there are some people that need to gain weight.

2. The need to stop gambling. As more Indian reservations are allowed to build gambling casinos and of course as the Internet gambling gets larger, I've noticed some people with gambling problems.

3. The need to stop drinking alcohol. The abuse of alcohol has been going on for many years. These people have an excuse for why they drink and most of the time it doesn't make sense.

4. The need to stop smoking. This could be one of the most difficult things I've ever seen my friends and family deal with.

5. The need to stop excessive behaviors. For example, gossiping, cruelty, bullying, lying, cheating, stealing, partying etc. You get the idea.

6. Don't forget the dreaded shopaholic. Most shopaholic's seem to have large credit card debt and can't seem to stop this vicious circle of buying and owing money to their creditors.

7. Working long hours or the workaholic. Sometimes this is a necessity but I would suggest that you change your lifestyle if possible. Reevaluate your reasons for working so hard.

8. Religious fundamentalists. People that spend too much time at their place of worship and soon find themselves feeling guilty if they're not doing something spiritual.

9. The need to be on time. This would include people that have problems giving themselves enough time to get ready for work or school.

10. The need to stop doing drugs. I thought by now, approaching my 50s, that drugs would no longer be a problem in the United States, but it is. It's one of the most damaging things people can do to their lives.

There are plenty of things that people would like to stop doing or start doing. If you're a smoker and you seem to shop excessively near the casinos, I would advise you to start with something small and work your way up to the big stuff.

What are you going to change today about your life? Make a list of things that you're not happy with about your life and start making the changes today that you need to create the life you deserve and desire.

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

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

Religious Fanaticism and How Jim Jones Impacted on My Life

"To the extent the actions in Jonestown were viewed as a mass suicide, it is one of the largest such mass suicides in history, and the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the events of September 11, 2001. One of those who died at the nearby airstrip was Leo Ryan, who became the only Congressman murdered in the line of duty in the history of the United States."

This is a quote from Wikipedia, you can find out a little bit more about Jim Jones by searching Wikipedia or the Internet.

It was November 18, 1978, I was in the 11th grade, living and Anaheim, California when I heard the news about a man and a group of followers that I would think about often throughout the rest of my life. I didn't know Jim Jones or any of the followers but their impact will leave a lasting impression on me for the rest of my life.

As a teenager, during a critical part of my life. I was always trying to understand things that the government, religious and world leaders were doing. Often very confused. I was confused about the life of Christ and couldn't quite get a grip on evolution and creation. I could always count on getting one thing from every person I had ever met, and that was an opinion, with very little factual information to back it up.

It was hard for me to imagine, that anyone would follow another mortal being the distances that Peoples Temple's followers had followed Jim Jones. I guess I could understand this in a supreme being or supreme race extraterrestrial beings, with magical powers and supreme knowledge of the universe. But a regular person, I don't think so.

I rarely watched the news on television and gathered most of my information from teachers and other students who I went to school with. There was an English teacher whom I was fond of and she let the class express how they felt, about what had happened and only then did I realize, this had actually happened. It was real.

I couldn't believe that people were this stupid. How could anyone commit suicide like this? I could understand something like this happening 500 or maybe a thousand years ago but in 1978, it's not possible. I started to get a better understanding as I learned more about Jim Jones and The Peoples Temple based in San Francisco, California. I could understand, that religion offers people hope and we all need a little bit, if not a lot of hope. Hope helps us get through our humdrum and boring everyday lives.

These people were hoping for a better life and when there was no more hope in sight and these people would be going back to live in America, with nothing (most of the people had given everything they owned to The Peoples Temple) I could understand this a little bit better but not clearly enough. When people have no hope or they feel like they're at the bottom of the valley, looking up at an impossible hill to climb, I could see where suicide becomes a viable option.

Looking at 9/11, most of the people that died, had hope. What happened in Jonestown Guyana was a lot different, most of these people did not have hope but all had a reason to live, but chose death. Was this actually their choice or were they so caught up in someone else's dream that they couldn't see reality anymore. There are still fanatical leaders today, causing pain and grief all over the world. Jim Jones was not the first and he won't be the last, make sure you're not one of the victims if this ever happens again.

Over 900 people died that day and I hope we never have to see something like this ever again.

Sir Winston Churchill - "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, You Can Have It All

Here's a question I would like you to think about, winning or losing with Christianity. Fanatical groups like Jim Jones are not a thing of the past, make sure that, what ever religious organization you are following is not leading you down the wrong path. Use common sense and if that doesn't sound right, it probably isn't.

If the Greek Religious Beliefs Were Wrong, Could Other Religions Be Wrong?

Greek mythology is taught in most schools during some time of your education, if you grew up in the United States. I remember looking back at the Greeks and thinking, "I can't believe these people were that stupid, who believes that there is a God of the ocean or one for love." I couldn't believe as a young elementary school student, that these people got caught up in these beliefs.

I mean come on, I was a Christian at that time and there was only one God, how stupid can these people be or misinformed about the way things really and truly are. It's kind of sad, but all the people in the past that did not accept Jesus Christ as the one true God are all living in hell. Well, that's how I thought when I was a child.

Some of the mythological stories are about pain, love, happiness, plotting, scheming and power. Now we're talking about something that most people can understand. These gods were just like regular people, except some of them had extraordinary powers and if they used them poorly, they would have to answer to the gods god, Zeus.

At the time in history, that the Greeks believed and their gods, they were one of the most civilized groups of people on Earth. They had some of the best and brightest scholars around. The Roman Empire and some of the United States government was based on information provided by Greek scholars.

Have you ever thought about your religion as being wrong? If we now know that the Greek gods and goddesses do not exist, do you think our modern day beliefs can also be wrong. If we could go into the future 1000 years, could children be studying about Christianity, Islam or Buddhism, like modern day children study about Greek mythology and other beliefs that we view today as unbelievable or impossible.

The Greek gods and goddesses made sense to the citizens of Greece in the past. Do you think in the future that our modern day religions will be viewed in the same way as we now view Greek mythology.

Looking back at the past, often inspires me for a better future.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing, marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, You Can Have It All

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

Radical Religious Leaders - World Religion and Leadership

If we look at someone like Adolf Hitler, he was a radical leader that gave the people what they really wanted. He gave them hope of a new world where they would be at the top of the food chain, he would create a superior race of people and call them Arians. Most of the people in Germany and neighboring countries started to believe in German racial superiority. This thinking gained more momentum as other parts of the world fell from German military strength.

We can look back at history and point our fingers at radical leaders from the past like Adolf Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, and Genghis Khan. The list goes on but one thing is for sure, most of these empires have crumbled to the ground, but have left their mark on the world we live in today.

How do we take someone like Jim Jones, "The People's Temple" leader who was based in San Francisco, California and led his followers to Jonestown, Guyana, in search of something better. These people left their country, to follow their leader, full hope of that Jonestown would provide them with something they were desperately searching for, only to end up committing suicide. Was Jim Jones considered a radical religious leader and can we tell the difference today when were so caught up in their religious beliefs.

It becomes easy for others to see the problems with religious leaders, only when they get caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Should these people be banned from practicing religion because of one, or two, or maybe 50 mistakes. When do you honestly know in your heart that these people are not serving your best interest as religious leaders?

I believe the future of religious leaders is going to play a powerful part in our lives for years to come. It's hard to imagine how someone can follow so closely behind their leaders, that they can't see around them. Is there someone in your life, who you look up to and admire, do these people treat you like a daughter or son, does it seem like there helping you get over hurdles in your life on a regular basis. Do you look to these people for answers, hope and even faith?

There's a fine line between radical religious leaders and great religious leaders. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.

Try not to get caught up in any one person's beliefs. You could soon find yourself in the same situation as Jim Jones followers. It seems hard to imagine has but if you continue to put others interest first and foremost, you could end the becoming part of a radical religious following and only when it's too late will you be able to see the truth. By then it could be too late.

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

Have you ever gave it much thought, choose your religion, did your parents, or friends, or maybe even your grandparents, show you the way.

Are You Mentally Constipated? Economic Stress Relief

This article was originally released in March of 2009. We seem to be at the end of a 20 month recession and most people are completely frazzled and seem to be at their wits end. It seems like everyone I talked to, whether it's at a restaurant, grocery store, gas station or work, are upset with the current economic conditions. When is it going to end?

So I'm asking you, quite frankly, are you one of the mentally constipated people? Is your mind so tired of being behind on your bills, worrying about your job and whether or not you're going to have it next week, are you one of those people who was about to retire until the stock market dropped and now you need to work a few more years.

When are things going to become better and how did they even get to this in the first place? Most of the average educated people with a pretty good heads on her shoulders can't answer this question. They have no idea why the economy does great some years and horrible during others.

I often wonder why economics isn't taught in school, something basic. I think it's because, the people who are in charge really don't want us to know what's going on and even though some of the extremely wealthy people have lost some of their money, they will probably make even more once this rebounds.

It's the people like me that I'm worried about, the average person, the person with the mortgage, car payment and utility bills that I'm talking about. These are the people that seem to be mentally constipated and tired of what's going on. These economic cycles seem to take their toll on us.

It said that God only hands out what he thinks you can handle. If this is true, I can't handle any more and I hope that he knows it. While we're waiting for things to get better, keep this in mind, this is the third major recession that I have been through in my lifetime and have survived through them, only by eating away at my life savings. Right as soon as I seem to be sitting pretty good and my bank accounts look nice, something like this comes along and like a giant vacuum starts sucking and cleaning out what I have worked so hard to save.

I, like most of us are tired and worn down, but not worn out. The stock market is starting to come back up and it looks like there's light at the end of the road. Hang in there and if you need to empty your mind and end the mental constipation, start reading a good motivational story. Something happy and positive. This could empty the reservoirs of your mental bowels and provide some relief during these tough economic times.

Another way to exercise the mental garbage is by journaling. Start writing and don't stop until it's out.

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

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, You Can Have It All

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

Powerful Beliefs in the Bible - How Powerful Exactly is the Bible

If you're a Christian, you probably believe in the Holy Bible and take it for granted, that this is the written Word of God. Here's a book that most people look upon as very sacred. I don't know if they do it anymore, but in a court of law, they would ask you to swear upon the Bible and to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God.

I would assume that this would generate fear in a prospective liar that was a Christian, but if you are a Muslim could you lie or should they switch the Bible to the Koran. Some things don't make sense do they. This made sense to me at one time and I even used this to gather some information from a nine year old boy at one time. I was amazed at how fast he told me the truth, when I pulled out a Bible and was going to have him swear to me that he wasn't lying. Try that one with your children.

I have seen Bible's in museums, on pedestals in churches and visible as you enter someone's home or bedroom. Are the Bibles that are located in people's homes to send you a strong sign of their faith. Do any of these Bibles ever get used or are they just there for looks?

Looking upon the Bible as a sacred symbol can create a sense of comfort and fear. At one time, I believed the Bible was some sort of sacred book and needed to be touched very delicately. I often wondered as a child if I accidentally tore out a page of the Bible, if I would have to spend an eternity burning in a lake of fire.

Are Bibles made at special factories and does each one of them need to be blessed or put in special shipping boxes before they are sent out to be sold or given away? I wonder if they use holy water during the printing procedure, if water is actually required. Do you think the paper come from special trees and are these trees grown on holy ground, maybe in a special forests guarded by angels. This is starting to sound like the makings for a good movie.

People can form powerful beliefs about other objects as well as the Bible. You should think about, some of the things you used to believe in and some of the things you still believe, then compare the two. Some of my old beliefs no longer serve me in a positive way. The Bible is just a book and should be treated like any other book. If the pages get ripped ripped fix them, if the bindings get loose repair them and if they become hard to read or have seen better days, replace them.

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

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

If you want to read something funny and get your daily laugh in, you need to read this, it's funny Using Religion Responsibility. It's based on overindulgence

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Religious Thought - Are You Confused About Heaven?

As a young boy and even into my early adult hood, I asked almost every one that I knew, what they thought heaven was going to be like. These people painted me the most wonderful and beautiful pictures, with the words coming out of their mouths. One woman told me that heaven was going to be the most wonderful place you could ever imagine. She told me that, I would be able to do anything that I wanted to do at any time of the day or night.

All I can say to this, is why are we afraid to die and why do we put that much effort into staying here, when heaven sounds like the place we all want to be. This becomes very confusing during troubled times. We live our whole life to be the best we can possibly be, and then and only then do we get to enter the kingdom of heaven, the most wonderful place in the universe.

Another man told me that, if I wanted to go to heaven, the more good deeds I did on earth, the better buy chances were of actually entering heaven. He said that some people don't get to go, because they did a couple of bad things or maybe one really, really bad thing, like murder. I often wondered what would be worse, murder or painting demonic symbols on the walls of a church, mosque or synagogue. I hope I'm not confusing you anymore than organized religions.

Well now that I have a pretty good idea, that in order to enter into heaven, I need to do good things... that's what I will do for the rest of my life. Sounds simple doesn't it. Now for the bad news, depending on which religion you choose to follow and don't forget that Christianity is one religion that allows you, something special, right before you die, no matter how bad of a person you were to accept Jesus Christ into your heart and accept him as the Almighty God, and this gets you one free pass into heaven.

Am I confusing you at all, does this make sense? When the man told me, that, the only way I would get to go to heaven was by doing good deeds and then the Bible tells me that, I just need to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and I get to go to the promised land, heaven. All right now were talking, this sounds pretty good now. I won't have to do very many good things and before I die can ask forgiveness for all the bad things I did.

I don't know what's true, but I can say that it gets a little confusing and as you go from religion to religion and place of worship to other places of worship, you will hear different stories, from different religious leaders. I can't make much sense out of some religions, but if you want to believe in heaven, there is someone out there who can paint you, the most wonderful picture of heaven in your mind. Whether we really get to go there or not, depends on what you want to believe in.

I wrote this article to get people thinking about the choices they've made and the religions they choose to follow. Is your religion right and others are wrong? Ask yourself this one question, think back, to when you made a conscious choice to follow the religion you're in right now, if any, most of the time you started believing as a child and never really got to choose because your parents, teachers, friends, family or guardians made a choice for you.

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

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

If you want to read something funny and get your daily laugh in, you need to read this, it's funny Using Religion Responsibility. It's based on overindulgence.

War Losers Are Criminals - Military Leadership and Something to Think About

How many wars have been fought over different beliefs and religions? I've been alive for less than 50 years and through the span of history this is a very small amount time but yet I noticed certain patterns by studying history and being part of it.

Why do we accept war as a necessity or a need to acquire something or instill a certain belief into someone else? Is it because we know, we are absolutely right and we know for a fact 100% that our way of living is better than theirs? What makes the winner of the war right and the looser wrong?

I was watching a movie that Robert McNamara made called The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara. I never really put two and two together but he mentioned something in the movie that got me thinking. His superior officer mentioned to him one day," You Do Realize Robert, If We Lose the War, We Are Going to Be Tried As War Criminals."

I never really thought that just because we were right and they were wrong, our military leaders could be executed. But were right aren't we and their wrong, isn't this why we were fighting World War II. The Germans and Japanese were wrong in doing horrible things. We tried their military leaders and found them guilty. After they lost the war of course.

I guess when I was a kid playing baseball and my coach told me "That the winner takes all." This also applies to real life, war, beliefs, society and what were forced to belief. If you study the wars throughout history, you will notice that most of the winning sides acquired benefits from the losers and sometimes even property. Makes sense doesn't it, winner takes all.

Losing a war doesn't make you a criminal, if you're trained as a superior leader, doesn't this involve killing people or are there specific guidelines that military leaders should follow. Are there specific rules and did the Americans and English follow these rules during World War II. Sometimes we need to study leadership books to gain knowledge and skills to become a better leader.

The concept of creating war criminals because they have killed others during the war, will probably never make sense to me. War is a horrible and cruel thing to bestowed on any country and with it comes many acts of horror, it's war and there's only one objective and that's to win, at all costs. If were going to put the losing side on trial, shouldn't we also find out more about the crimes the winning side committed during the war.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. If you've never heard Ernest Shackleton, I recommend you read the book Shackleton's Way it will give you a new perspective on leadership

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

Simple Words Create Powerful Beliefs - Just How Harmful Can Some Words Be?

Could you imagine someone telling you that if you don't do something, you're going to suffer a horrible punishment and possibly death, because you chose to ignore their message. Can simple words create powerful beliefs, isn't this what some religious doctorines create? Even the media does it, think about it the next time you turn your television on or read the newspaper.

You seem to believe something because someone told you that's how it is and when you go to question them, they simply repeat the simple statement, that's how is. It's hard to imagine a few words, articulated almost perfectly can create an overwhelming emotion in someone.

The Germans used propaganda to create fear with a few of these words. It's not just a few of these words, there's more power behind these words if their repeated often. These words can build up someone's hopes and dreams or tear them apart.

Is there a quote that you're fond of? You probably memorized it and it has some sort of significance or creates a certain feeling when mentioned. Quotes are organized words that create powerful beliefs in some people.

If I mention the words," I have a dream" you probably think of Martin Luther King. These four words meant a lot to people that were struggling for their freedom, not only in America but around the world. These words are a example of powerful words that have created a wonderful feeling.

When these powerful words create fear you know it. If you watch the news, night after night and they keep telling you how bad the economy is, it doesn't take long before you believe it. You tighten up your budget and stop spending money, because you are now fearful and don't want to lose what you have. When everyone starts holding onto their money, the economy actually does become worse over time.

Can simple words create powerful beliefs? Yes obviously they can and they do, so be careful when listening to words that create fear and try not to spread this fear around to others. Fear can be turned into relief if the right words are used, I would suggest using happy words to create a happy world. Have a nice day.

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

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

Is Guilt Feeding on Your Conscience, Affecting Your Subconscious Mind Negatively?

Guilt is one of the largest causes of stress in your life. Stop reading this article for a second and think about the people in your lives that often make you feel guilty.

Now did you really stop reading the article and think about the people in your life who make you feel guilty? Okay well if you did this get back to the guilty feelings so many of us have. Guilt goes all the way back to your childhood, your parents, teachers, friends and relatives have gotten to be pretty good at it over the years, often learning from the same group of people when they were children.

Guilt is definitely a big part of our society and can be found almost everywhere you turn. Have you ever turned the television on to notice a commercial about weight loss. A large majority of Americans are overweight and are targets for a guilt creating society.

I was reading a book on writing magazine articles, when they mentioned a fact that I never thought of, most women's magazines run articles on dieting in every issue. Guilt sells magazines.

Do you think weight loss, dieting or nutritional eating habits, sell magazines? If your answer is no, you should check the financial statements of these companies. They know what sells magazines and guilt or fear is one of their best friends. If you answered yes to the question, you won't have to suffer from the guilt of not knowing the answer.

Guilt seems to work on our subconscious mind in negative ways, often producing harmful thoughts that create stressful feelings in our lives. The longer these negative thoughts are held as truths, the harder it's going to be on our self esteem.

If you find yourself around people that make you feel guilty for something you do or don't do on a regular basis, I would suggest finding new people to hang around with. Gathering negative information from people you consider your friends can only create more damage to your conscience.

If you truly and sincerely do not like something about yourself, tell your friends in a nice way, that you would rather talk about your problems in a negative way. If they have constructive and helpful comments, you would love to hear them. Guilt causes stress and stress can lead to death. If you don't believe that, do some research on stress related illnesses.

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

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

Putting Up With Organized Religion - How Long Do We Follow Something That's Outdated

Let me explain where I'm coming from in my writing. Organized religion worked good 200 or maybe 500 years ago, but I really don't see a need for it today. We fight wars over religion and even kill people that speak out against organized religion. Religions and governments all over the world control people through fear and pleasure.

I'm tired of people fighting and killing all over the world in the name of some religion. I once heard an Iranian man, through a translator, on our local news say, "if he dies in the name of Allah, he gets to go to heaven." I don't know if I want to be signed up for that program but obviously he believes in it enough and is willing to die for what he believes in, right or wrong. Some people view this man is evil while others view him as a hero, how do you think you would do this person?

What the Romans did to people 2000 years ago is what I would consider a very bad. Was the devil actually providing an evil influence for Roman leaders back then. I've never heard anyone mention that but they did kill Jesus of Nazareth and he seemed like a pretty good person.

If Jesus would have kept his mouth shut, he could have lived to a ripe old age. He chose not to, because he believed in his cause. Some Jews believe that he was under the influence of evil, that's hard to imagine. He believed that some of the ideas and teaching of the Romans and Jews were wrong and he was going to make them better. These leaders were afraid of change and decided to eliminate what they view as they evil problem.

I started writing to influence and educate people in a positive way. I really don't want to upset religious followers, but I would like them to understand, a little more about their religion. What causes people to kill others in the name of their god? Is that evil or an evil influence from other religion's of the world.

I would imagine most of these people choose to accept words from their religious leaders as facts and will never question their faith. If religious followers could understand other religions, maybe they wouldn't persecute them or try to convert them into their own beliefs.

My influence will affect others and will provoke them to think, always question your religion and when they start thinking, this is when I've made a positive influence in a constructive way. If someone starts to think about their religion and it gives them stronger feelings and deeper beliefs, maybe they can answer some of my questions, instead of avoiding them with spiritual scripture or faith.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, The Power of Myth. If you've ever wondered, where religion has evolved from. Check this book out.

Developing Wealth Building Habits

If you want to be successful, you need mentors or in other words find people that have succeeded. These people can include the ultra rich like Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, but don't forget about the people around you that have created good wealth building habits.

Some of the people have great advice and will need to be listened to very intently, while others need to be put on a list and never spoken to again. If you're going to be developing wealth building habits, you're going to need some advice from wealthy people. Let me make myself clear, when I'm talking about developing wealth building habits, I'm not talking about spiritual, knowledge, Biblical or religious wealth. I'm talking about making money, as much money as you desire or feel you need.

Wealth building habits start with you. Ask yourself this question "how bad do I want or desire wealth?" Really, really, really bad or are you the kind of person that would like to be rich, but that's as far as it goes. Developing any of these habits does not include sleeping in until 11 o'clock in the morning and then complaining the rest of the day about your finances.

Bill Gates used to work 16 hours a day. How many days a week did he do that? These are the questions you're going to find the answers to. If you're interested in making $50 million, you need to find someone who can teach you, how to make $50 million.

It won't be necessary to contact Warren Buffett but I would advise you to gather as much information about him as possible. Wealth building habits start with learning about wealthy people. If they get up at four o'clock in the morning and read the newspaper until six o'clock, then exercise for 30 minutes and start working at seven o'clock, you need to start doing this also. Developing good wealth building habits over time are what most successful businessman and women have been doing for years. Study their habits and start changing yours.

If you do something every day, it will usually become a habit within 30 days.

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

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

Think Twice About the Following Your Leaders - Don't Follow to Close

Large organizations do it, world governments and religions also do it. I'm not talking about sex, I'm talking about imposing their wills and doctrine on their followers. The control others have on our lives can be extremely stressful and full of guilt if we choose to believe that these people are right.

It never has made sense to me that God could let all the horrible things in the world continue to go on, even though he is a loving and compassionate parental figure. Religions and governments seem to be the biggest culprits here, they impose their will and doctrine on others less fortunate. When I say less fortunate, what I'm referring to is the people that don't get to make the rules and are known as the followers.

If the United States government chooses to go to war with another country, it can print money on paper and scraps of metal while convincing the rest of the world and United States citizens that this means something and has value attached to it. They can then use this money to finance what they would like to acquire or accomplish, even if it doesn't benefit others.

A good example of this would be sending your child to war to fight for something you believe in, at that time, but 10, 20 or even 30 years in the future you could find yourself changing your mind. This would become even more devastating if your child was killed in the war. Believing in someone else's cause might not benefit mankind and that's what we need to focus on. Improving the lives of people on the entire planet.

When you impose your will on other people, you eliminate free thinking. Freedom of thinking has added more good to the world than bad with great inventions, literature, people, philosophy, medical treatment and of course the list goes on and on. Some of these great thinkers had to change their thinking and sometimes is required going against their religion or government. Galileo was one of these people.

Think about it the next time you impose your will or your beliefs onto someone else without stating the fact that this was just your opinion and maybe you would like them to think about. But stating something in a way that suggests you're right and someone else is wrong will not benefit you or them in the long run.

Believing you're right, and someone else is wrong, seems to create limited beliefs. Closed minds lead to followers and we have plenty of followers in the world. We could use a few good leaders.

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

Wishing For Riches Can Motivate You to Start

Anybody can wish for riches, and most people do, but only a few know that a definite plan, plus a burning desire for wealth, are the only dependable means of accumulating wealth.

This statement is at the beginning of Chapter 13 from the book "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill.

There are so many different methods, from so many different people, but most people don't know where to start, or plan their way to success.

I have heard some people mention the hardest part is actually starting, while others say you have to start somewhere, anywhere but start. Starting is usually the hardest part for most people, they get defeated by their own beliefs and of course never even start.

Fear of failure and fear of success, seem to be at the top of the list when thinking about starting a business. It's always been hard to imagine people being afraid to succeed, when this is what they seem to desire the most.

Wishing for riches can motivate you to start, thinking about the many different ways to succeed can motivate you to plan. A burning dire to succeed well often motivate you to start and create a plan eventually.

The key to creating wealth is developing habits and good daily habits performed over a lifetime, most of the time, will lead you to wealth beyond your wildest dream's. Sometimes this wealth is going to have nothing to do with money.

Get some books, talk to some people, watch some biographies about successful people throughout history, find out what they did and start paving your own trail. But you're going to have to start somewhere.

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

Greg is currently working on a video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world.

Mark Twain's View on Christianity - Changing Christian Thinking

There is a popular saying from Mark Twain about Christianity. Mark Twain - "If Christ Were Here Now, There Is One Thing He Would Not Be, a Christian."

Giving this some thought and looking around at the people that view themselves as Christians got me to thinking. Do you think, if Mark Twain were alive today, he would have the same view towards Christians and Christianity as a whole? I wonder if Christ's vision of a better world or society is what's going on today. I read somewhere, where this over 33,000 different types of Christian religions, is this what Jesus had in mind over 2000 years ago.

I don't think Mark Twain was referring to Jesus as being a bad person and Christians not wanting to associate with him. I believe it's the other way around, Jesus was an exceptional person and believed in living a life as an example towards others with kindness, forgiveness and love.

Sometimes Christians get a little carried away when they start talking about loving their neighbors like they would themselves or asking for forgiveness while choosing not to forgive others. It's hard to imagine what Jesus would actually think of modern day Christians or even what he would think about Christianity over a hundred years ago.

I wonder what Jesus would have thought a thousand years ago about Christians. Mark Twain brings up a very good point, if Christ was here today, would he be happy. If you're living a life as a Christian and following in the footsteps of Jesus, you should be proud of yourself. If not, maybe you should start thinking about changing your ways.

If you are following the path of Christ, are you following a path that has been changed and manipulated to benefit organized religion and the advancement of Christianity, or are you following the true path of Jesus. Something to think about if you're planning on spending the rest of your life in the Christian religion.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing, marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his latest articles, What Is The Secret Of Life

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

Is Guilt Feeding on Your Conscience, Affecting Your Subconscious Mind Negatively?

Guilt is one of the largest causes of stress in your life. Stop reading this article for a second and think about the people in your lives that often make you feel guilty.

Now did you really stop reading the article and think about the people in your life who make you feel guilty? Okay well if you did this get back to the guilty feelings so many of us have. Guilt goes all the way back to your childhood, your parents, teachers, friends and relatives have gotten to be pretty good at it over the years, often learning from the same group of people when they were children.

Guilt is definitely a big part of our society and can be found almost everywhere you turn. Have you ever turned the television on to notice a commercial about weight loss. A large majority of Americans are overweight and are targets for a guilt creating society.

I was reading a book on writing magazine articles, when they mentioned a fact that I never thought of, most women's magazines run articles on dieting in every issue. Guilt sells magazines.

Do you think weight loss, dieting or nutritional eating habits, sell magazines? If your answer is no, you should check the financial statements of these companies. They know what sells magazines and guilt or fear is one of their best friends. If you answered yes to the question, you won't have to suffer from the guilt of not knowing the answer.

Guilt seems to work on our subconscious mind in negative ways, often producing harmful thoughts that create stressful feelings in our lives. The longer these negative thoughts are held as truths, the harder it's going to be on our self esteem.

If you find yourself around people that make you feel guilty for something you do or don't do on a regular basis, I would suggest finding new people to hang around with. Gathering negative information from people you consider your friends can only create more damage to your conscience.

If you truly and sincerely do not like something about yourself, tell your friends in a nice way, that you would rather talk about your problems in a negative way. If they have constructive and helpful comments, you would love to hear them. Guilt causes stress and stress can lead to death. If you don't believe that, do some research on stress related illnesses.

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

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

What Happened to the Wise Men's Gifts - Thought Provoking Religious Ideas on Christianity

Do you ever wonder what ever happened to the Wise men's gifts that were given to Jesus's parents? Nobody ever talks about it and it was never mentioned again in the Bible. If it was mentioned again I would love to have somebody e-mail me some more information on what Joseph and Mary did with the gifts, that were given to the newborn King or in other words Jesus.

I didn't come up with this idea on my own, I was reading a book by George Seaver called Albert Schweitzer "The Man and His Mind." I found the book in a thrift store near Seattle, Washington while on vacation visiting one of my relatives. I heard a lot about Albert Schweitzer from various personal development and spiritual books and thought this book would be give me some insight on the man.

I really had no clue, that I would find something like this within the first few pages.

Here's a quote from the book.

When I was eight my father, at my own request, gave me a New Testament, which I read eagerly. Among the stories which interested me most was that of the Wise Man from the East. What did the parents of Jesus due, I asked myself, with the gold and other valuables that they got from the Wise men? How could they have been poor after that? And that the Wise men should never have troubled themselves again about the child Jesus, was to me uncomprehensible.

Now this is coming from an eight year old child, not someone who has researched biblical scripture their whole lives. What else are we missing in the Bible that doesn't make sense but we were trained to believe in our religions without ever questioning your religion . It's definitely something to think about and the next time you're reading something or listening to the news on TV, try to figure out if it's fact or fiction.

You definitely cannot believe everything you read or hear from outside sources. I heard once that the only things that are truly real are the things that never change. If you think about it, most things change and therefore would not be considered real.

Ponder That for a While.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Here's a good website if you're interested in, religious classics and looking for evidence.

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

War Losers Are Criminals - Military Leadership and Something to Think About

How many wars have been fought over different beliefs and religions? I've been alive for less than 50 years and through the span of history this is a very small amount time but yet I noticed certain patterns by studying history and being part of it.

Why do we accept war as a necessity or a need to acquire something or instill a certain belief into someone else? Is it because we know, we are absolutely right and we know for a fact 100% that our way of living is better than theirs? What makes the winner of the war right and the looser wrong?

I was watching a movie that Robert McNamara made called The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara. I never really put two and two together but he mentioned something in the movie that got me thinking. His superior officer mentioned to him one day," You Do Realize Robert, If We Lose the War, We Are Going to Be Tried As War Criminals."

I never really thought that just because we were right and they were wrong, our military leaders could be executed. But were right aren't we and their wrong, isn't this why we were fighting World War II. The Germans and Japanese were wrong in doing horrible things. We tried their military leaders and found them guilty. After they lost the war of course.

I guess when I was a kid playing baseball and my coach told me "That the winner takes all." This also applies to real life, war, beliefs, society and what were forced to belief. If you study the wars throughout history, you will notice that most of the winning sides acquired benefits from the losers and sometimes even property. Makes sense doesn't it, winner takes all.

Losing a war doesn't make you a criminal, if you're trained as a superior leader, doesn't this involve killing people or are there specific guidelines that military leaders should follow. Are there specific rules and did the Americans and English follow these rules during World War II. Sometimes we need to study leadership books to gain knowledge and skills to become a better leader.

The concept of creating war criminals because they have killed others during the war, will probably never make sense to me. War is a horrible and cruel thing to bestowed on any country and with it comes many acts of horror, it's war and there's only one objective and that's to win, at all costs. If were going to put the losing side on trial, shouldn't we also find out more about the crimes the winning side committed during the war.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. If you've never heard Ernest Shackleton, I recommend you read the book Shackleton's Way it will give you a new perspective on leadership.

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

Hello Everyone

Jerrys ideas and Some From His Frend Greg... Enjoy...