Sunday, January 26, 2025

A wonder-filled world to play in

 

A wonder-filled world to play in
Wednesday, January 1, 2025 by Brave Knight Writers

 

Happy New Year! In 2025, may your blessings be many—both those gifted upon you and those you gift to others.

“The Bible is nothing more than a book of fairy tales written by men too long ago to be relevant in our technologically advanced world.”

Many times, I heard these words spoken and wondered what they meant to the one speaking them. Those who say such things tend to be heavily invested in all things man-made or man-written. They tend to have an arrogance and all-knowing nature. If you study fables or fairy tales, you’ll find classics who survive the years always carry with them very basic truths. Often they mimic the redeemer story of Jesus.

 It is not disputed that Jesus used parables in his teachings. A parable is a simple story illustrating a lesson or a narrative which often occurs in life or nature, by which a moral is drawn. The Bible is a great literary work, containing stories, psalms, studies in human nature (which hasn’t changed with technological advances), and parables, so what is the point of the denier? Let’s begin with John 1:12.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

As children we long to be adults, we willingly cast off our innocence to allow ourselves to become jaded and with diminished spirits. As we engage the adult world, we find it to be harsh and uncaring. Many turn to idolatry, which includes drugs, alcohol, and material possessions to numb the pain found in a world filled those who lack an indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

God intended creation to be a wonderland enjoyed with a stimulating curiosity. Play is the highest form of being—on the edge of discovering something new about a life you can’t quite inhabit yet. God intends for us to be as close to Him as we can be, this side of heaven. Playing in His creation— enjoying the ridiculous, immense variety and beauty—is His gift to us.

Without spirit, our false gods fail to suffice for our desires. Our selfish and self-centered ways can leave us embittered by age forty or fifty. All we’ve accumulated leaves us lacking.

Reference 2 Corinthians 4:4 for insight as to why the world exists as it does. When our idols fall, we tend to double down instead of walking away.

Jesus came to restore our spirit, forgive our adult nature and invite us to be renewed in the spirit, a spiritual birth. Does this apply to our modern times? How many of us wish to view the world through the eyes of a child?

So, what can we do with that? When we were born of our mothers, we needed nurturing and to learn the ways of the world. We were given instructions, we imitated the ways of adults and interacted with other children. Our formative years occurred before age seven, beyond that age we refined our ways and piled on more knowledge of the world, but we were well on our way to focus on the physical aspects of existence.

Many became very proficient in satisfying their selfish nature and made decisions based on the question, what’s in it for me? In the Bible Jesus tells Nicodemus, you must be born again. What is going on here? Jesus is also quoted as telling his disciples, Matthew 19:14 “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

After our spiritual birth, we enter a new childhood, filled with wonder. In this new childhood where we don’t imitate other adults, our instructions come from the wisdom found in the word of God. As we interact with other children of God, scripture is our guide. To appreciate more of the value found within the text, seek dialogue with others. A great resource can be found at https://www.thebiblerecap.com/start and can be added to your phone as an app or enjoyed in print.

Ego offers the stumbling block, our vanity to admit our short-comings and follies. Remember ego and vanity were Satan’s flaws. As Christians, we need to reestablish our childlike nature and enjoy life. Jesus is the adult, the one we need to imitate in words and actions. In our second childhood we should develop our love skills, working out the true meaning of the word.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

2 Corinthians 6:18

“And I will be a father to you,

And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,”

Says the Lord Almighty.

 

Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Children-Of-God

God’s creation is our playground. When your eyes open, you’ll find the miracles of life in every corner. I’m a science guy, spent my whole working career dealing with math and physics. The more I study the words of scripture, the stronger my beliefs become.

We also highly recommend Johnathan Pageau or Jordan Peterson for in-depth conversations on scripture at https://www.dailywire.com/. Jordan Peterson brings together intellectuals from all walks of life to discuss their views on scripture with in-depth analysis. You will enjoy hearing contributions from an atheist, Jew, Catholic priest, bestselling authors, and artists—moderated by Dr. Peterson.

Thank you for your support, sales of books help with our volunteer and mission work. In the new year, look for us on Amazon. God Bless.  

 

 

 

Happy New Year! In 2025, may your blessings be many—both those gifted upon you and those you gift to others.

“The Bible is nothing more than a book of fairy tales written by men too long ago to be relevant in our technologically advanced world.”

Many times, I heard these words spoken and wondered what they meant to the one speaking them. Those who say such things tend to be heavily invested in all things man-made or man-written. They tend to have an arrogance and all-knowing nature. If you study fables or fairy tales, you’ll find classics who survive the years always carry with them very basic truths. Often they mimic the redeemer story of Jesus.

 It is not disputed that Jesus used parables in his teachings. A parable is a simple story illustrating a lesson or a narrative which often occurs in life or nature, by which a moral is drawn. The Bible is a great literary work, containing stories, psalms, studies in human nature (which hasn’t changed with technological advances), and parables, so what is the point of the denier? Let’s begin with John 1:12.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

As children we long to be adults, we willingly cast off our innocence to allow ourselves to become jaded and with diminished spirits. As we engage the adult world, we find it to be harsh and uncaring. Many turn to idolatry, which includes drugs, alcohol, and material possessions to numb the pain found in a world filled those who lack an indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

God intended creation to be a wonderland enjoyed with a stimulating curiosity. Play is the highest form of being—on the edge of discovering something new about a life you can’t quite inhabit yet. God intends for us to be as close to Him as we can be, this side of heaven. Playing in His creation— enjoying the ridiculous, immense variety and beauty—is His gift to us.

Without spirit, our false gods fail to suffice for our desires. Our selfish and self-centered ways can leave us embittered by age forty or fifty. All we’ve accumulated leaves us lacking.

Reference 2 Corinthians 4:4 for insight as to why the world exists as it does. When our idols fall, we tend to double down instead of walking away.

Jesus came to restore our spirit, forgive our adult nature and invite us to be renewed in the spirit, a spiritual birth. Does this apply to our modern times? How many of us wish to view the world through the eyes of a child?

So, what can we do with that? When we were born of our mothers, we needed nurturing and to learn the ways of the world. We were given instructions, we imitated the ways of adults and interacted with other children. Our formative years occurred before age seven, beyond that age we refined our ways and piled on more knowledge of the world, but we were well on our way to focus on the physical aspects of existence.

Many became very proficient in satisfying their selfish nature and made decisions based on the question, what’s in it for me? In the Bible Jesus tells Nicodemus, you must be born again. What is going on here? Jesus is also quoted as telling his disciples, Matthew 19:14 “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

After our spiritual birth, we enter a new childhood, filled with wonder. In this new childhood where we don’t imitate other adults, our instructions come from the wisdom found in the word of God. As we interact with other children of God, scripture is our guide. To appreciate more of the value found within the text, seek dialogue with others. A great resource can be found at https://www.thebiblerecap.com/start and can be added to your phone as an app or enjoyed in print.

Ego offers the stumbling block, our vanity to admit our short-comings and follies. Remember ego and vanity were Satan’s flaws. As Christians, we need to reestablish our childlike nature and enjoy life. Jesus is the adult, the one we need to imitate in words and actions. In our second childhood we should develop our love skills, working out the true meaning of the word.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

2 Corinthians 6:18

“And I will be a father to you,

And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,”

Says the Lord Almighty.

 

Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Children-Of-God

God’s creation is our playground. When your eyes open, you’ll find the miracles of life in every corner. I’m a science guy, spent my whole working career dealing with math and physics. The more I study the words of scripture, the stronger my beliefs become.

We also highly recommend Johnathan Pageau or Jordan Peterson for in-depth conversations on scripture at https://www.dailywire.com/. Jordan Peterson brings together intellectuals from all walks of life to discuss their views on scripture with in-depth analysis. You will enjoy hearing contributions from an atheist, Jew, Catholic priest, bestselling authors, and artists—moderated by Dr. Peterson.

Thank you for your support, sales of books help with our volunteer and mission work. In the new year, look for us on Amazon. God Bless.  

 

Build a Church, Guadalajara





Thank you, to all who help support our missions with the purchase of our novels.
or
We just returned, what an awesome trip.
I did drywall and electrical work.




https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0164HULKG
 

Saturday, December 7, 2024

Community Building

 

Community Building
Sunday, December 1, 2024 by Brave Knight Writers

 

We welcome our recent sign-ups and offers to guest blog. Watch for a future post from the owner of a company who helps set up businesses for those with a disability. Our family has experience in such matters, as one member became disabled—but went into business and even built a house.

The growth of our Brave Knight Writers community is exciting! Please remember to grab your free copy of the book we sent you. Make sure to check your emails, including your spam file, to find your free e-book.

We have a new book out this month. Check out             Instead, I cooked: you do the dishes

We love feedback, either by email or posted reviews on Amazon.

Guest blogs: we encourage authors to reach out to us, make our site about you and we will share your contact information if your submission meets our standards. Quality works can be shared free of charge on our friends’ page, it will direct interested parties to your purchase site.

If you aren’t an author but want to share your true story about courage or overcoming a challenge, please let us know, we may be able to help you express your thoughts. Our mission is to create a community where everyone shares, we don’t want it to be about us. Become a Brave Knight Writer.

Below are some specifications we adhere to.

We like our posts to be very pointed, every word counts.
Please submit a post between 1400 to 1600 word count.
Your grammar must meet our standards.
Our site lends toward the human spirit, and the courage found in a relationship with God. We won’t refrain from posting an informative and inspirational post which does not mention such beliefs.
No money is exchanged with others on our site. We take no liability for money exchanged by others at their sites. Please include a statement taking all responsibility for your post, the statement should include any technical, medical or financial advice given in your post. We never seek donations or financial support, other than those received from the sales of our literary works. We are not a 501c or church-affiliated. We seek only inspiration to overcome fear and lift others up.
Your post should guide people to contact you directly.
In the future we will publish a book of our blog posts. Please state whether you allow us to do such without financial compensation. You also must acknowledge you have no expectation of financial compensation for any dealings with braveknightwriters.com.
If an edit of your post is required, we will contact you with our recommendations so you can do the edit and agree with our points before we publish it. Please acknowledge we are under no obligation to make posts not meeting our standards. We do not accept political blogs or references.

We hope everyone enjoyed a day of giving thanks, a grateful heart is large and filled with power.

One evening before Thanksgiving one of our granddaughters stopped by to visit. She’s about to graduate from college and plans to enter the medical field. With a love of travel and adventure, one of her options is to join the military. Since my wife is a nine-year veteran, our granddaughter hoped to gain some insights into military life. The visit lasted nearly eight hours so you can imagine we covered more topics than the military. One subject close to my heart involved the influx of people crossing our southern border.

While we welcome immigrants, a country needs to control who enters, and determine if they bring skills useful to our communities and useful in sustaining their own needs. In our discussion, I shared my experience drilling clean water wells in Central America, specifically Guatemala. The countries south of our border are gorgeous and rich in assets, there should be little need for anyone to migrate away from their established communities. The driving force is corruption and crime—both issues need to be addressed. Community building is the answer to the human condition, hearts offer the answer. People’s hearts need to be touched by the Holy Spirit. Our human spirit must overcome greed and a lust for power.

“Everything is meaningless’” (Ecclesiastes 1:2) Here we find a great point to ponder. Replace the word meaningless with vanity or futility. Solomon had it all, yet he found everything under the sun to be empty and void of meaning. Keep Solomon’s point of view in mind, it might appear to be depression, but it is not. In Ecclesiastics 1:14 “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” The key is, under the sun, it references Solomon’s earth-bound perspective. A human life lived with no consideration of God, rests under the sun. From that godless perspective, everything is indeed “meaningless.” Ecclesiastes presents Solomon’s meaningless endeavors when viewed “under the sun”, or without God: human wisdom (2:14-16); labor (2:18-23); amassing material (2:16); life (3:18-22); competition (4:4); selfish works (4:7-8); power/authority (4:16); greed (5:10; wealth and accolades (6:1-2); and perfunctory religion (8:10-14). Keep in mind, Solomon does not say everything is of zero value. He posits that God adds meaning and purpose. So, what can we do about this?

As we drilled our well far out in the country, on a dirt road in an impoverished village, where the school well contained a dead cat and sewage overflowed from flooded latrines, I stood to watch a banana-harvesting machine pass. The machine towered over the rooftops of the village’s huts; the tires kicking dust. The machine likely cost more than the entirety of the village. The land surrounding the village was lush with banana plantations. If not for the village poverty, I thought I was in paradise. What would it take for the large corporations to gift sewage and clean water to this community? I am all for capitalism, but a healthy capitalist builds the community where he does business. The key to the human condition lies in strong healthy communities run by honest caring businesses.

A present-day example might be David Green, former owner of Hobby Lobby. He is quoted, “wealth is a curse” Green credited his faith and higher power as the "true source" of his success, noting that "God was the true owner of my business," He felt he had been nothing more than a steward. Green’s net worth was more than 14 billion dollars, nowhere near the wealth of Solomon, but nothing to sneeze at. Mr. Green gave it all away. Reference check, (ttps://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2022/10/27/hobby-lobby-founder-giving-away-company-wealth/10613377002/). My point isn’t to give away your source of wealth or income, but more to embrace the power and joy of a grateful heart. Let’s all work to build better, stronger families and communities. You don’t have to be a billionaire to help someone. Pass on the love to your children and grandchildren. Volunteer. You won’t need to look far for opportunities in your own community. Volunteer fire departments and churches are usually needing volunteers.

Traveling to impoverished villages in Africa and Central America, I witnessed the imbalance of basic needs and can understand the motivations to head toward what appears to be places of wealth. Desperation offers evil an opportunity to enter even good hearts. Corruption and crime fill desperate hearts with fear. Community building requires filling basic needs, not skyscrapers. It’s the stability of community which offers the true wealth of grateful hearts. Eliminate corruption and crime and allow the freed people to build dreams on their own soil, with the basics filled. The cost of drilling a well is out of reach to so many, it isn’t laziness. The average person doesn’t want to build an empire, they just want to be comfortable, free to pursue happiness, and support their family.

We welcome some companies we’ve noticed, new to our Brave Knight community.

Mhtlaw.com

Houstonmethodist.org

Mizunousa.com

Network Solutions

Twru.com

Praedicat.com

Ace-it.com

abilitator.biz

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