Belief | christopherhildreth

Archive for the ‘Belief’ category

Ron Martoia

August 4, 2008

Well, today we had our first meeting with Ron Martoia as a staff and board. He is a great guy who brings so much to the table as far as corporate and personal development and growth. Joe and I had visited him at a meeting in Birmingham, Alabama last week and have been plugged in on Sunday evenings with a container called Spiritual Explorations Live.

The information and questions that Ron poses and brings to the surface are questions that have to be grappled with and looked at intently. These questions – personally – concern a need for us as individuals to take responsibility for ourselves and develop positive rhythms in our lives; – theologically – deal with a conversation going on across the globe as to the fidelity of current church practices and beliefs.

No, there is not a desire to throw everything away, but there is a need to examine. You’ve heard me say before that if something is true, it is true regardless of source. Truth “is”. Practices, methods and the message itself should be examined and re-examined. If something is “off limits” to examination, I question its ability to stand up to the examination. We can’t live a life where the foundation of our belief is “off limits”.

More is to come, but it is always good to have another viewpoint added to an ongoing conversation.

Categories: Belief, Context, Influence, Lifepoint

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Pillars

August 2, 2008

This Sunday we begin a new series based on some of the foundational ideas/doctrines/disciplines of the church. We will be looking at prayer, serving, fasting and all kinds of subjects that you may have heard about, but were unsure of their existence/relevance in today’s spiritual culture.

This is going to be a great change of pace and I’m certain it will bothrefresh and revive many people. Don’t miss this important new look at something old in the church.

Categories: Belief, Context, Lifepoint, Message Series, religion

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Book – The Intention Experiment

July 29, 2008

I wrote about this book several months ago. It was the sort of book that I needed to read, then set aside and then read again. I finished the book during our vacation last week and had to comment on it.

Some of the subject matter is both intriguing and disturbing. The author posits some radical thoughts about the very act of thinking and the thoughts influence on the world around it.

Definitely for the brave of heart, I found myself at times putting the book down and verbally asking questions out loud…to no one in particular. This book provoked my thinking and stoked the intensity of my belief in the incredible possibilities in human development.

“The Intention Experiment” takes you through plausible, though detailed, studies and experiments on the power of the humnan mind and spirit. In the end you are invited to continue the “experiment” yourself and interact with an online community of people and experience the power of intention personally.

Though I do not hold to all the author describes and concludes, I do think the subject matter is of importance to those who desire to see the interconnectedness of the mind and the spirit.

Categories: Belief, Books I'm Reading, Context, Cultural Ideas, Influence, Life

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World Vision

July 28, 2008

I’ve been having a thought lately about what the possibilities could be for people like you and me to have a large influence on the endeavor of both health, education and hunger relief in our world. World Vision is one of the most respected aid organizations in the world today. They utilize detailed accounting to express their importance in keeping track of donations from their side, and accountability from the donors side.

A “what if” question I have had is, “What if World Vision were able to reduce it’s expense in fund raising, how would that help the bottom line in terms of monies being spent to help people?” Last year World Vision spent 9%, or 88 million dollars on fund raising. If that number could be cut in half, a tremendous surge could begin toward even more of the incredible effort they pursue in global aid.

Think about the possibilities and remember that Jesus said – “everything is possible”.

Categories: Belief, Cultural Ideas, Influence, Life, Vision

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Box Top or Puzzle Piece?

July 27, 2008

Today’s message was spot on about the need to look closely at where we are positioning ourselves in our spiritual walk. Some of the questions that were brought up were – “Are we to follow the picture we’ve been given in putting the pieces together?” or should we “let the pieces come together and follow where they are leading us?”

In the church world there is so much static in the airwaves, that to gain some understanding of what to do and where to go is virtually impossible. Everyone considers themselves an expert and wants you to follow “their way”.

When we stop and speak to God and listen and allow Him to work in us – however that may look or feel – we gain the authentic knowing that can only come from God. When we’ve heard what we should do, there is always a degree of question, but when we engage the spiritual and receive a response, our steadfastness becomes far more secure. Jesus was very truthful when He said, “Seek and you will find.” Our path will only reveal itself when we begin to walk it out…one step at a time.

Categories: Belief, Life, Message Series, religion

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Inspiration

July 21, 2008

There is only one thing I can say about inspiration – It is vital and powerful. OK two things, but the key is that a life lived without inspiration really can’t be classified as living. I am not talking about some things labeled inspirational today. Not talking about a feel good story or song here. The essence of inspiration is to live “in spirit”. When you open your eyes to visibly and spiritually see the world around you, your spirit takes note and responds.

Few of us listen to our own spirit, we are often too busy with the minutia of life. We have schedules and they need to be followed and so on. Inside each of us there is an answer to the question “What am I here for?” We go to others to ask their help, but we know the answer instinctively. Your inner spirit is constantly telling you to “do what you are here to do.”

Quit making excuses and begin with the first step. Today.

Categories: Awareness, Belief, Creativity, Goals, Influence, Life, Starting

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Restoration

July 20, 2008

A key word in today’s message was the word “restoration”. In relation to the typical meaning of the Gospel, I love the way that “restoration” completes a largely incomplete thought which for years,the establishment church has asked us to accept.

Many people have gone to church this Sunday thinking that they have a “ticket to heaven” or a “get out of hell free card”. The problem with this mentality is that it negates the vastness of the purpose of Christ’s coming to Earth in the first place. To buy in to a quick fix religion may make you feel better, but it hardly exemplifies anything that would require giving my life for.

Let’s face it, most of what is served up as Christianity today is a mixture of some three or four word phrase taken out of context to drive home a point that is at best a diluted truth and at worst a man-made, man-created, man-centered doctrine. What are you willing to die for?

That is a question that ought to bring up family and proven core ideals. If your church or belief system isn’t among the list of “to die for” items, you need to reevaluate the substance of your beliefs. Only then will you be able to “know” what you believe.

Restoration is not just a onetime process either, if a home has survived hundreds of years, it has gone through many restorations. Time and use wear away and restoration lets us bring back the feeling of new while preserving the past. The same is true with the church and ourselves. Restoration continually brings back the “new” in our lives. Our appreciation and value of Christ increases and we again reconnect to the Source with renewed vigor, excitement and confidence.

This cycle of wear, restore, wear and restore brings us closer and closer to an unwavering realness in our journey with God. With each cycle His reality overtakes our notion of reality and He is made anew in our eyes.

Instead of struggling against this process, embrace it as a way to be drawn closer to a heart that is affectionate and fond of you.

Categories: Awareness, Belief, Context, Cultural Ideas, Life, religion

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Why do we still have big questions?

July 18, 2008

Kevin Kelly is by far one of my top ten people alive right now. His ability to see and understand the complex world of evolving science and then express that understanding in simple terms is one of his many gifts. The following is a portion of an article about the big questions.

“Information is expanding 10 times faster than any product on this planet – manufactured or natural. According to Hal Varian, an economist at UC Berkeley and a consultant to Google, worldwide information is increasing at 66 percent per year – approaching the rate of Moore’s law – while the most prolific manufactured stuff – paper, let’s say, or steel – averages only as much as 7 percent annually. By this rough metric, knowledge is growing exponentially.

. A decade ago, author John Horgan interviewed prestigious scientists in many fields and concluded in his book The End of Science that all the big questions had been answered. The world of science has been roughly mapped and all that remains now is to color in the details.

So why do we still have so many unanswered questions? Take the current state of physics: We don’t know what 96 percent of the universe is made of. We call it “dark matter,” a euphemism for our ignorance.

Yet it is also clear that we know far more about the universe than we did a century ago, and we have put this understanding to practical use – in consumer goods like GPS receivers and iPods, in medical devices like MRI scanners, and in engineered materials like photovoltaic cells and carbon nanotubes. Our steady and beneficial progress in knowledge comes from steady and beneficial progress in tools and technology. Telescopes, microscopes, fluoroscopes, and oscilloscopes allow us to see in new ways and to know more about the universe.
The paradox of science is that every answer breeds at least two new questions. More answers mean even more questions, expanding not only what we know but also what we don’t know. Every new tool for looking farther or deeper or smaller allows us to spy into our ignorance. Future technologies such as artificial intelligence, controlled fusion, and quantum computing (to name a few on the near horizon) will change the world – that means the biggest questions have yet to be asked.
– Kevin Kelly, author of Cool Tools

When Kevin is talking about every question breeding two more, I think the application can be found in the church. If we are wiling to begin to ask questions (which some do not believe we can/should), the result is more and more questions, but also a more distilled and refined view of religious ideas long left unchallenged and untouched. Unless we embrace the undulation of the living Journey, we will be destined to be included with those who said automobiles, television, personal computers and the internet were a fad.

Ask. Search. Seek. Question. At the end of these actions is real life!

Categories: Belief, Context, Creativity, Cultural Ideas, Influence, Life

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Uncertain certainty

July 13, 2008

For most of my life I sought after control over the various aspects of my life – job, finances, friends, vocation, etc. In each of these and many more I attained a certain amount of what I perceived to be control. The truth is, I have never had control and neither have you, but I can’t argue that there is comfort in the delusion that we have acquired control.

Lately I have found myself in a remarkable place – mentally and spiritually. In seeking to find “the answer” to a number of things, I have come to the realization that the end result of “the answer” is not near as important as the journey I take in seeking. This is counterintuitive to the nth degree, but the investment of time and emotion spent “in search of” something is vastly more valuable than any found answer.

We have a need to seek, find and move on to something new – a form of spiritual ADD – but taking in the moment by moment events in the journey toward an answer reveal themselves as divine stepping stones, not toward The answer, but inward toward the realm of The Kingdom Within.

In the end, I have found that the only thing I can be certain of is the constancy of uncertainty. If I refuse to act unless I have certainty, I will remain immobile and ineffective. The greatest joy is that the pull of Spirit to spirit is stronger than my need for certainty. So on I go in the journey.

The real revelation is that if we are eternal beings, the journey can’t possibly have an end.

Categories: Awareness, Belief, Context, Influence, Kingdom of God, Life, religion

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Anxiety

July 12, 2008

I’m a quote fiend, and Thomas Merton is a good victim for me. “Anxiety is the mark of spiritual insecurity.” You may need to read and re-read those words. In general terms, anxiety of any kind stems from two forms of fear. One is the fear of losing control and the other is mistrust of the One to whom you are losing your control.

A repetitive topic here is that of Ego and its negative influence over our inner essence. Ego desires to remain in total control of your life indefinitely. Any fluctuation that may mean a renouncing or relinquishing of any control by your Ego will result in many different reactions. Frustration, guilt, shame, hate, anger and jealousy are just a few.

Specifically when related to spiritual, or as some would call “religious” issues, anxiety is the major symptom of intense insecurity. Another term this could be known as is “I believe it because ‘they’ told me and I haven’t really bothered to check it out myself, but I’m willing to cut friendships, offend family and ostracize myself from other people anyway” syndrome.

Never in all of scripture, both Christian and otherwise, is a follower told to “take someones word for it” in regard to spiritual teaching. Instead most spiritual documents call for a follower to look inside themselves and find the Truth. If the Kingdom was not “within” Christ would have never said so, especially if it was 180 degrees in the “out”. The difficulty is that “within” is a place few of us are willing to enter.

Last week I suggested that we look inside ourselves to begin the process of becoming Aware. The one thing I know is that the first step of peering deep in the crevices of our spirit is the most important. At the portal to our inner self He waits to guide us down and ultimately back up. It has been said that “the journey of a thousand steps begins with just one.” Take that first step within and prepare for the journey of a lifetime!

Categories: Awareness, Belief, Context, Influence, Life, religion

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