What's Been On My Mind

Sep 2

Sep 2 What's Been On My Mind

As I mentioned in previous post on Thinking Out Loud, I’ve been posting on Medium, an online consortium of blogs with various publications. Most of the time I post on either Publishous or Koinonia or Faith Hacking.

So, here are the latest blogs since the last time I posted on Thinking Out Loud. Click, read, and enjoy! If you have some thoughts—constructive and edifying ones—then please comment.

Thanks for reading!

Want to Know the Origin of FOMO?

Why we seem to get locked into it

FOMO seems like some type of diagnosable condition or syndrome. Perhaps it will become so.

If you’re not sure what FOMO means — perhaps you’ve just spent a year on the International Space Station, been in a coma, or are unfamiliar with American idioms. Anyway, it’s an acronym for Fear Of Missing Out.

It’s a real thing. We’ve probably all felt it at some point in life. At least when we were children and we thought other kids got to do what we weren’t allowed to do. Read more…

Some people seem obsessed with FOMO

Photo by Rodolfo Sanches Carvalho on Unsplash

Who Has the Right to Be Called a Child of God?

When does life begin — at conception or birth?

Before 1973, the obvious answer would be at conception but the Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision changed that in America.

That decision may have changed the law of the land and people’s opinions but it didn’t change basic biology.

In Asia, age is generally determined by conception and the lunar calendar. For centuries and centuries in the rest of the world and biologically, conception is seen as the beginning of life.

Life on earth has a beginning and end date — our physical birth and death. Yet, billions of people in the world believe in some form of life beyond physical birth and death. Read more…

His True Nature

Loyal though You were

betrayed…your true nature

is revealed…love

abandoned by followers

rejected despised and

forsaken in death

You stand by me when

I fail…fall…go my own way

this your true nature

divine…human…Son

humble faithful proven love

true friend brother Lord

Acceptance and Approval are Keys to a Healthy Self

How I found a trustworthy basis for acceptance and approval

We need to be loved and we need to belong. This is one of the five basic needs Dr. William Glasser identified as essential to our well being as people. I learned of his Reality and Choice theories while pursuing certification for drug and alcohol counseling.

At the time, I was a full-time pastor of a growing church in the southern California high desert with a full counseling load each week. With many young families in our church and our school district’s non-existent policy on alcohol and drug abuse, I realized my need for further education.

It was the mid-eighties and self-esteem was a major focus. Theories abounded on what is needful for a healthy sense of self. They still abound.

Some theories encourage internal centeredness while others give direction on controlling and minimizing externals. But I learned to focus my heart and life on acceptance and approval from an eternal standpoint. Read more…

I Don’t Wanna Be a Pharisee

A children’s song with a serious truth
I remember a children’s song from many years ago with a serious truth. Various versions of the song still exist but one line comes to mind as of late.

I don’t wanna be a Pharisee…cuz a Pharisee ain’t fair you see.

Unless you understand who the Pharisees were, this punning rhyme doesn’t make sense or you won’t relate to it very well. But this simple line explains in a succinct way the drawbacks of being a Pharisee. Read more…

Thanks again for reading!