Dyno Domains Center

There is continuous creation,
out of the new ideas discovered in the Torah.

Zohar, Genesis, Introduction, 52

OUR PURPOSE FOR THE STUDY

Students of Kabbalah understand the Torah (Hebrew Bible) as a mystical book wherein the Kabbalistic system is embodied in allegories and symbols. Thus, the Torah and the Kabbalah are dependent on and complete each other. . The illumination emanating from the study ignites the soul, setting it on fire with the awareness of a deeper and Higher Reality. Its study and insights are themselves mystical experiences.

INTRODUCTION – BIBLICAL TEXT:

“Come to Pharoah, for I have hardened his heart” (Exodus 10:1)

In this week’s Torah portion, we read that G-d hardens Pharoah’s heart. In Hebrew thought, the heart is the core of a person, the seat of emotions, intellect and will. Regarding the above Biblical verse several questions must be raised: If G-d was controlling Pharoah’s heart, then Pharoah had no choice to do what he did and was therefore not really making his own decisions. Why then
blame Pharoah for anything? Additionally, where is the Free Will in all this?

The following commentaries based on Judaism’s Hasidic tradition shed some very interesting insight into the entire Biblical account, and of course, into ourselves.

It will comprise of three sections, with each section introducing a Spiritual Law:

• First Law – Light is Impartial

• Second Law – Law of Accountability

• Third Law – Law of Correction

FIRST LAW: LIGHT IS IMPARTIAL

The following is a beginning point, taught as a fundamental principle by RabbiNachman of Breslov:

“From the mouth of the Most High comes neither good nor bad. What emanates is a simple Light. However, according to the level of the vessel that receives the Light, so is Light inside formed and perceived.”

In other words, Reb Nachman is saying the following:

Light, as revealed in our world, is not selective, nor does it discriminate. It is present in It’s entirety at all times and in all places. This Light follows the direction we put our attention and energy. Since this Light is all-inclusive and all-pervading, we have a responsibility with where we focus our attention.

Since Light does not discriminate as to where It is led, then why could It not be the very energy behind the hardening of Pharoah’s heart? It is Pharoah who is choosing to harden his heart, Light is just the energy he is using towards his own decisions. As it says in the Talmud, “The door shall be opened for one who comes knocking to defile himself” (Masechet Yoma: 38b)

This is where free choice comes in. According to the Torah, we are even given “assistance” even to make the wrong choices. Again, this is because the Light does not discriminate. It gives of Itself to all.

With this in mind, the following Hasidic commentary comes as a very interesting point to WHY Pharoah needed G-d’s Light to harden his own heart:

“Pharoah needed to be strengthened by G-d in order to keep his composure and make his own choices. Moses and Aaron, were after all, great tzaddikim (holy sages), full of signs and wonders. It would have been impossible not to surrender to them had not Pharoah’s heart been made stronger by G-d.”
(Source: Rabbi Eliezer Ish Horowitz in Noam Megadim).

This idea of G-d being the fuel behind even one’s misdirected, foolish and evil intentions may be shocking, but it is not something new. Our tradition recognizes that conscious thought is the starting point of every new creation, and since our world is a Free Will Zone, we have a responsibility of where we direct and focus our thoughts/energy.

In other words, Torah teaches us personal accountability that must be taken with great sensitivity and awareness, as we come to realize what a tremendous power we have at our conscious disposal. Learning from Pharoah’s misuse of Spiritual
Law, we need to do the opposite, as we shall soon see.

WHAT WENT WRONG?

Since Light is impartial, does this justify Pharoah’s position? Absolutely not.

The Zohar (3:47b) states, “The greatest revelation of G-dliness is the Light that emerges from Darkness.” Thus we see that not only is there value to darkness – but when we attempt to draw Light out from it, it becomes the GREATEST display of G-dliness.

Reb Tzadok HaCohen adds the following insight regarding darkness:

“The (Hebrew) word for darkness – choshech can be read in two different ways,(depending on whether we read the interchangeable middle letter as a shin or a sin) A dot on the right side will give us the word choshech-darkness. A dot on the left will yield the word chosech-to withhold. What then is darkness but the withholding of Light?”

If darkness is the withholding of Light, our job in the world then becomes to reveal it.

A good place to begin is within ourselves.

“Every time you find yourself at conflict with a part of yourself that is self sabotaging -the Pharoah part – remember that the force of might that is behind this destructive part is really an unconscious and misdirected power, a “hardening” of G-d. When you unravel the hardened heart, you will discover that the intention is pure and the power is G-dly, and thus, transformable.” –
Rabbi Avraham of Trisk (Magen Avraham)

What happens to those, such as Pharoah, who do not seek to “unravel the hardened heart”?

When one does not take a personal accountability of their resistances to change, it is inevitable that plagues break out. It took 10 plagues until Pharoah, the archetype of resistance, was able to surrender to the inevitable change that awaited him.

This introduces us to our Second Law – the Law of Accountability.

SECOND LAW – LAW OF ACCOUNTABILITY

In order to understand the Metaphysics behind the Law of Accountability we need to further understand what our role is in dealing with Light and Darkness.

According to Judaism’s mystical tradition, when we encounter darkness, we have an option by which we are held accountable: to either push it away or to transform it. The difference is the following:

“When light PUSHES AWAY the darkness, eventually another darkness shall come. When the darkness itself is TRANSFORMED into light, it is a Light that no darkness can ever again oppose. It is a higher grade of Light”
(Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson).

The Pharoah of the Torah text not only neglects to transform his darkness into light, or even push it away, but resists it, and thus becomes further hardened by it, as a result.

Again, this Pharoah part of ourselves is in truth a Divine part of ourselves but one that remains blocked and unevolved.

The greater the resistance to the Moshe (Moses) liberating force within, the more we witness on ourselves strange behaviors, violent demonstrations of wrath, and crazy outbreaks of irrationality – in other words – plagues.

PHAROAH’S FATE – THE LAW OF CORRECTION

The universe shows us that our daily encounters in the world will persuade us to embrace our inner contradictions, challenge us to make compromises while offering us the reward of wholeness if we surrender to Reality.

Like Pharoah, when we resist what we perceive as an opposition or threat to our reality, we inevitably attract and must face conflict.

Like Pharoah, when we are unable to take appropriate actions, we inevitably become the victims of Life’s correction.

Like Pharoah, whatever we refuse to embrace about ourselves will ultimately deprive us of our peace.

G-d indeed hardens Pharoah’s heart and indeed punishes him.
But G-d is not the one to blame for it. Pharoah is.

The text implies that during the first five plagues, Pharoah hardened his own heart. It was not until the end of the plagues that the text changes to “G-d hardening Pharoah’s heart”.

This is because although we are given free choice in this universe, it is only up to a point.

In Kabbalah we have what is called, “The Law of the Vessel” or “Law of Correction” which means, the universe (Vessel) has within it a self correcting mechanism. When anything reaches an extreme, the Universe corrects it by brining it back into balance. When a body gets too cold, it shivers. When it gets too hot, it sweats. Likewise, according to the Law of the Vessel, if someone decides to do harm of their own volition, they are given free reign to do just that (which is the nature of free choice), but there’ll come a point where their
ability to freely make their own wrongful moral and spiritual choices will be taken away from them, and both that person and their acts of evil will be undone. Therefore, as our Sages have taught, our Universe is comprised of a delicate balance, perfect in its own way, of both Mercy and Justice – Chesed and Gevurah.

In the meantime, let us continue moving forward with honesty, humility and a willingness to be advocates for G-d’s Light. Tomorrow still holds many seas to cross, a wilderness to wander, and a Promised Land that awaits both you and I.

Blessings,
Rabbi Michael Ozair
http://www.KabbalahCoach.com

Copyright 2003 – Rabbi Michael Ozair

Rabbi Michael Ozair is a spiritual life coach, Kabbalah teacher, counselor and consultant who specializes in Life Purpose and Difficult Transitions coaching. He can be reached at coach@kabbalahcoach.com or by visiting his site at http://www.kabbalahcoach.com

God’s ultimate and highest aim for all of us is our sanctification. God wants to make us more holy like He and His Son Jesus are. He wants to transform us into the express image of His Son Jesus Christ. He wants to consecrate and set us apart unto Himself.

The wording in these verses is very intense. One of the verses will tell us that God wants to sanctify us completely in all three parts of our being – body, soul and spirit. Jesus Himself tells us that He wants us to be perfect just like His Father in heaven is perfect.

When you first look at these verses – you wonder how anyone could ever even begin to achieve any real state of holiness in the cursed world we live in. With all of the lusts of our flesh and with all of the temptations of this world – many Christians never even attempt to give God a chance to start this sanctification process in their life. They feel that this bar is simply too high to even to begin to strive for in this life.

The Bible tells us that all men and all women have sinned and have fallen way short of the glory of God. We are so far from the perfection that God is wanting from each one of us – that we see no real way to obtain it to any degree in this life. As a result, many Christians never ask or seek after God to get this sanctification process started in their life and as a result, there is very little, if any true spiritual growth over the course of most of their lives.

However, if you will study the specific wording of some of these verses – God the Father is showing you very plainly how this sanctification process can start to occur in this life. You don’t have to wait until you get to heaven to get this process started with Him.

One of the first verses I will list below is telling us that we get three specific things as a result of Jesus dying on the cross for all of our sins. We get redemption, righteousness and sanctification. Most Christians know about the first two – redemption and righteousness – but they either forget or do not pick up on the third thing we have available to all of us – and that is our sanctification!

This sanctification is a progressive process – it is not something that occurs instantaneously at our conversions. It is a progressive work done by the Holy Spirit over the course of our entire life. The apostle Paul tells us that we have to “work out” our salvation with fear and trembling. He is telling us that there are things that have to be worked out – and I believe that one of those things is our sanctification in the Lord – the process where God the Father begins to set us apart unto Himself and to transform us into becoming more holy instruments of righteousness for His use.

The different Bible dictionaries and commentaries define the word sanctification as follows:

The state of growing in divine grace To set apart for holy purposes The process of being made holy resulting in a changed lifestyle for the believer

Noted Bible scholar Jack Hayford, in his excellent book titled: “Hayford’s Bible Handbook,” defines sanctification as follows:

“The work of God’s grace by which the believer is separated from sin and becomes dedicated to God’s righteousness. Accomplished by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, sanctification results in holiness, or purification from the guilt and power of sin. Sanctification is instantaneous before God through Christ and progressive before man through obedience to the Holy Spirit and the Word.”

To those of you who have never really sought after God to release this kind of supernatural work to be done by the Holy Spirit – study these verses very, very carefully. God is giving you an incredible spiritual secret that can dramatically alter and change the quality of your life down here on this earth. As I said at the top of this article – you don’t have to wait until you get to heaven to have God start this sanctification and transformation process in your life. It can start right now if you are willing to fully surrender your entire life over to Him and then ask Him to begin to start this sanctification process in your life.

Before I go to the actual verses from Scripture on all of this – consider one last thing. Even though this sanctification process appears to be a major leap to be able to make in the Lord – realize that God will start you off with small baby steps to get this process worked into your life. Rome was not built overnight – and neither will your sanctification in the Lord.

Many in our society have no drawing towards the spiritual things of God. Their only goal in this life is to get as much as they can while they can – not really caring who they hurt and run over in the process to gratify all of the lusts of their flesh.

Many think that trying to become more holy in the Lord is “corny.” Many of these types of Christians have been labeled as being “not cool” and “goody two shoes” by their peers, their classmates or their fellow workers in the work place. Many of our teenagers are made fun of in their schools if they don’t join the crowds in abusing alcohol, drugs or engage in pre-marital sex.

The ways of our God are not the ways of this world!

That is why God tells us that we are considered His enemies if we become too friendly with the things and the ways of this world. That is why God is calling and separating us unto Himself in this sanctification process that He wants to start with each one of us.

To become more holy and more righteous may not be cool to the rest of the world, but it is definitely cool with the Lord – and when everything is all said and done – and we have departed from this life and have to face God for our own personal judgments – the only thing that will really matter is what God thinks – not what the world thinks. We will all be judged by how God views things – not how the world views things.

I’ll leave you with one last thought before going into the actual Scripture verses. If you really watch and study people – what is it that people are really searching for and seeking after these days? Why is it that so many people are tempted into entering a life of drugs or alcohol abuse? Why are so many people committing adultery behind their spouse’s back? Why are so many business minded people only chasing after their own personal god – which is the almighty dollar? Why are so many people engaging with other alternative forms of spirituality such as delving into the occult and the many facets of the New Age movement?

If you really bottom line all of the seeking that is occurring in these areas – they are all looking for one thing – and that one thing is an incredible sense of well being. They are all looking for that “high” that will make them “feel good.”

To those who are seeking after the almighty dollar – they are looking for that high that will give them a sense of approval and sense of accomplishment. They are looking for all the material things that money can buy them – thinking that all of those material things will make them feel good on the inside and completely fill that void that is on the inside of them.

To those chasing after drugs, alcohol or illicit sexual encounters – they are looking for immediate gratification of physical, mental or sexual pleasures. They want to feel good right now – and they will do anything they can to get that next high.

However, as we all know, all of the free sex, drugs and alcohol – and all of the money in this world and all of the material things that this money can buy us will never buy us that true inner happiness – that true state of well being that we are all searching for.

All of the material things that we can buy in this life will only keep us high for a very short period of time. Then when that high starts to wear off – we have to find something else we can buy – thinking that the next purchase will make us feel good for a longer period of time. And then it happens again – the high starts to wane and we are once more looking for that next material thing, that next great adventure that will make us feel good about ourselves. These people are constantly chasing the wind – but never really reaching it or really grabbing a hold of it – thus continually falling short of that elusive state of well being that will give them the love, the joy and the peace that they are really seeking after.

Even many Christians are missing the mark on all of this. Too many Christians have become more attached to the things of this world rather than to God and the things that He wants us to get involved in. As a result, there are many Christians who are no more happy and no more fulfilled with their lives than many nonbelievers are.

Once you become saved and born again by accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior – that is just the beginning. Now God wants to start to build you up in Him and all of His ways for your life. The first thing that God will want you to do is to be willing to enter into a full surrender with Him of you and your entire life so that He can set you on the path that He will want you to follow so that you can accomplish His perfect will for your life. The next thing He will want from you is that you attempt to enter into and establish a personal one on one relationship with Him.

However, this will now lead us to the next big step. Many Christians have done both of those things – but they still feel that there is something missing in their lives. They are perfectly following God’s will for their lives, they know how to be led by the Holy Spirit on a daily basis to accomplish what needs to be accomplished, they have established good personal relationships with the Lord – but there still seems to be something missing in their lives and they can’t seem put their finger on it.

Where is that feeling of well being that I should be having more of? Where is that joy, that love, that peace of mind I should be having more of? Why is it that at times I’m no more happier and no more fulfilled than a nonbeliever is?

I personally believe that the missing ingredient in many believer’s life is this sanctification process. This sanctification process is a deeper work in the Lord – and many have not entered into it either because they have not been shown how to properly enter into it or they don’t want to go that far with God. Once you enter into this sanctification process with the Lord – it can be a bit painful at times since God will be working with you to expose and prune out all of the negative qualities that He does not want you to have operating in your personality.

I’ll be doing a lot more articles under this sanctification section of our site giving you all of the verses that will give you the specifics on what it is you should be seeking after in order to be able to work with the Lord in this sanctification process. As you will see in the some of the verses listed below – it is the Holy Spirit that will really be the one that will sanctify you and make you to become more holy in the eyes of God.

However – you will still have to do your part in all of this. As I said in the first article under this section titled: “Mindset: Being Transformed by the Renewing of Your Mind,” you will have to be the one to attempt to “put on” the positive qualities that God wants to instill in your personality and “put away” all of the negative qualities that He doesn’t want you to have.

You have to really work in partnership and in cooperation with the Holy Spirit in order to really get God to move you into this deeper realm of making you to become more holy. But for those of you who are willing to let God go this extra step with you – you will find and obtain what everyone is really searching after and cannot find these days – an incredible sense of well being that all of the money, possessions, drugs and alcohol will never be able to bring to you in this life.

This incredible sense of well being can only be found in the process of allowing God to work His very nature into your own personality thereby making you to become more holy. A perfect example of this is the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit. These 9 fruits are His fruits – not ours – such as love, joy, peace, self-control, kindness, etc. This means that God will start to transmit and impart His love, His peace and His kindness into your personalities. And once that kind of sanctification process starts to occur – that is when you will really start to feel and experience that sense of well being that God really created us to have in Him.

It is only when the very life of God Himself through the Holy Spirit starts to enter into your mind, soul and spirit will you feel that high that everyone is looking for these days. And the only way that you can get the very life of God to start to enter into your mind, soul and spirit is by entering into this sanctification process with the Lord. There is no other way. There are no shortcuts to this process. I really believe that this is one of the main missing ingredients in a lot of believers’’s walks with the Lord.

Article written by Michael Bradley of Bible Knowledge Ministries. Their website is a resource of Bibleknowledge commentary and teaching. They currently have over 100 in depth Bible articles. All free of charge.

H erbert Armstrong: He Was Right.

A look back at the prescient warnings of a lesser-known spiritual leader

>From the very start of his work, when the Church was called the Radio Church of God, Herbert W. Armstrong realized in his study of the Bible that he must warn about a coming religiously dominated European superpower just before the return of Jesus Christ to Earth.

In a July 24, 1983, letter he wrote, “The very first issue of the Plain Truth magazine appeared February 1934–just 50 years ago lacking about six months. The article starting on the cover page warned of a coming sudden appearance of a resurrected ‘Holy Roman Empire’ in Europe–a union of 10 nations in Europe under one government, with one united military force. For 50 years I have been crying out to the world the Bible prophecies of this coming ‘United States of Europe’–a new united superpower perhaps more powerful than either the Soviet Union or the United States!”

That warning continued, unabated, right up to Mr. Armstrong’s death in 1986.

Knowing that the Bible prophesied a final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire, Mr. Armstrong took special care to watch those men who were critical to the planning and formation of the European Union. In the late 1970s, he identified a man we should watch carefully: John Paul II. The appointment of a Polish pope–the first non-Italian pope in over 400 years–was like an electric jolt to the entire world, Catholic and non-Catholic alike. It was clear to Mr. Armstrong that the return of Jesus Christ was drawing near and that this pope, more than any before him, was setting the stage for the most climactic time in history and preparing the Roman Catholic Church for its role in end-time events.

>From our perspective, another man deserves careful scrutiny as well: Herbert Armstrong. The prophecies we often write about–the coming together of the European superpower, the growing alliance between Russia and China, the soon-coming return of Jesus Christ–were covered by him for over 50 years before the Trumpet even existed. Our prophetic understanding is grounded in his work. His instructions to watch the pope as we lead up to the return of Jesus Christ provided an education that far excels that of any news commentator.

Today, both John Paul and Herbert Armstrong are dead, but the actions they took have prepared the way for the prophetic fulfillment of the return of Christ. By reviewing these actions–and Mr. Armstrong’s comments on Bible prophecy during that critical period–we can see exactly how right Mr. Armstrong was to watch the pope.

John Paul II

Karol Wojtyla prepared the way for Europe’s unification, east with west. Read Mr. Armstrong’s comments on this pope’s first trip to Poland, in 1979, and the eventual outcome: “Many of … Pope John Paul ii’s activities point to the fact that he can be the pope that will initiate this European reunion, in a ‘United States of Europe.’ As a matter of fact, his having come from Poland, and the effect of his visit there, indicate that instead of the coming ‘resurrected’ Holy Roman Empire including such nations of Israelitish ancestry as Holland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the 10 nations to compose it may include such nations–now Russian satellites–as Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia. The latter two are long since, to a considerable degree, independent of the Kremlin. The Soviet Union may soon experience a breakaway of some of the Balkan satellite nations. It does seem that the nations of Israelitish ancestry, in western and northwestern Europe, would likely be excluded from the coming 10-nation ‘Roman Empire’” (co-worker letter, Sept. 20, 1979).

In 2004, just as Mr. Armstrong foretold, eight former Eastern bloc countries were admitted to the European Union–including Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. Romania and Croatia are currently in the application process. As Mr. Armstrong stated, John Paul ii precipitated the unification of Eastern Europe with its western counterpart.

The pope also started Europe down the path to religious unification. Mr. Armstrong often talked about how a united Catholic Church would drive Europe, even over the objection of its political leadership. “Bible prophecy says this European unification will be also a union of church and state (Revelation 17). Many European political leaders do not want religious domination, or even participation. But they are coming to realize they cannot be welded together into one great European supernation without the unifying power of the Catholic Church” (member and coworker letter, Nov. 22, 1982).

John Paul II made a habit of being “the first pope ever” to visit certain areas, and his reasons were no secret. He wanted to heal the breach in Europe between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches–a split rooted in a dispute over the infallibility of the pope that goes all the way back to the ninth century. Mr. Armstrong made reference to this dispute: “The Catholic Church is divided between the Roman Catholic Church in the west and the Greek Orthodox Church in the east. The latter has strenuously objected to supremacy of the pope and to the doctrine of papal infallibility. But on this trip we learned in Athens that the Eastern Orthodox church at last is willing to give in on papal leadership, though not yet in agreement on infallibility. I feel sure some compromise or agreement will be reached very soon” (ibid.).

John Paul II spent the rest of his life trying to bring the daughter churches back into the fold. In a May 25, 1995, address, “That They May Be One,” he stated, “How can unity be restored after almost a thousand years? This is the great task which the Catholic Church must accomplish, a task equally incumbent on the Orthodox Church.” But while his life was spent working toward the unity of the Catholic Church, his death was the single greatest catalyst toward achieving that goal. Look at how John Paul’s funeral, the greatest media event in history, brought the world together. Mr. Armstrong’s statements on Catholic unity are right on the verge of coming to pass (see “Returning to the Fold” on page 18). Any actions Pope Benedict xvi will take toward further reconciliation with Protestant and Orthodox religions were made possible by John Paul II.

He Was Right

And yet, on occasion, someone will point out that Mr. Armstrong was not always correct in stating how quickly prophecy might unfold. Remember though, the Apostle Paul believed he would be caught up in the air at Christ’s return as one of “we which are alive” (1 Thessalonians 4:15). When the Apostle John said, “It is the last time [hour],” he truly believed that Jesus Christ was returning shortly. These men, obviously faithful servants of God, were off in their timing by almost 2,000 years.

When the Great Tribulation comes before the return of Jesus Christ, no one will think about the timing of Mr. Armstrong’s comments. They will remember that everything he said came to pass exactly as he said it would in 1934, as well as the words the apostles Paul and John penned so long ago.

How far away does a European superpower seem now? With a Europe-focused conservative new pope, a phenomenon the Trumpet has continually warned we should expect at this time, how probable does it seem that the European superpower will take its final form speedily?

This is not the time to say, as Christ warned against in Matthew 24:48, “My Lord delayeth His coming!”

Far from being wrong in his prophetic statements, Mr. Armstrong has been proven right again and again. He saw the formation of the European superpower on the horizon before anyone else did. He pointed out, decades in advance, that John Paul could be the pope to initiate the reunion of east and west in Europe. In the midst of the Cold War, the headline “Why Russia Will not Attack America!” only ran in one magazine: the Plain Truth. His analysis of world events was consistently decades ahead of those around him. For far more proof of this, please request a copy of our sample Trumpet edition titled “He Was Right,” which illustrates this fact in detail.

Before Jesus Christ came to Earth the first time, John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way. Now, a man in this modern age has prepared the way for Jesus Christ’s Second Coming, which will have a far more dramatic outcome for everyone alive–in fact, for everyone who has ever lived. The announcement given during Christ’s first coming of the good news of His coming Kingdom is about to be realized! And, just as prophesied in Malachi 4:5, the world has been prepared before the coming of that “great and dreadful day of the Lord.”

The Emmaus Journal

The Standards Of This World Are Not Our Standards

How often do we hear this righteous phrase and how often do we really
heed this righteous phrase? “The standards of this World are not our
standards.” As Believers these few words should mold our very existence from day
to day. I would dare say in the day and age we live in; from moment to moment and
from choice to choice.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Believing Christians in Rome that they should
not be conformed to this World (the influences of pagan Rome), but be transformed
by the renewing of their minds (the influences of the Gospel of Yahshua), that they
would prove in their demonstration of living in a Roman society; what is good and
acceptable (right standing in judgments and actions) and perfected will of YaHWeH
(keeping His standards first-most in everything). Paraphrased from Romans 12:
2.

If Paul had to admonish his fellow brethren over 2000 years ago, how much more so
you and I today? We, who now live in a world full of deceitful pollutants that have
escalated from Paul’s time onward! We don’t even have to go out our own homes to
be effected by our Romanistic society. Its intolerable presence looms at us from our
televisions, our stereos, our CD’s, our videos, our computers, our movies, and most
entertainments that would try to occupy our lives. Such dark paganism has literally
infiltrated, on a global scale now, into businesses, schools, universities,
governments, and even religious institutions. There is little reprieve from such and
less solace to find within such realms.

We will either go with the flow of this blinding darkness that now permeates our
society; or we will make a quality decision, with help from The Holy Spirit, yielding
first to standards that promote a righteous quality within our lives. Choosing
righteous standards based on heartfelt decisions of faithfulness toward Yahshua
and each others first. Not yielding to the scourge of dark abuse this World
promotes that would blithely sap the essence of any divine righteous spirituality
from our lives.

The standards of this World have sunk to a new low and it is very evident in our
World today. But, brethren, it does not mean we have to go along with it! Within
each day, within each moment we can choose between the World and its standards
or the standards that will uphold our faith and love toward Yahshua. Each choice we
make releases the next choice to be made. Whether seen or unseen, known or
unknown, every choice in thought or action sets its own distinct pattern within our
lives.

The standards of this World do not have to be our standards. We do not have to
mold our lives according to the dictates of this World, and we shouldn’t. Each one of
us instead should be a constant reminder to this World, that there really is a higher
standard. We should be the examples, full of light, that shine in such darkness
providing a light for those who may pass our way.

This is a real challenge in today’s World. This takes walking the talk, and talking the
walk. Here our accountability is on the line, not only to the World, but to the
brethren and toward Yahshua also. For the standards of this World are not our
standards; only when we really desire a higher standard for our own lives first! Know
matter who or what we may be, or even where in this life we may find ourselves
right now; there is still a higher standard for you personally to take very personally
first.

tgy
© C.L. Mareydt d23

Brief Author Bio:

Liberated and Inspired thru The Holy Spirit, C.L. Mareydt writes to Purposely
Share from the Spirit to the to the Spirit. Motivated and Parallel with a Divine Vision,
each Writing is Thoughtfully Expressed to Progressively Inspire, Encourage, and
Propel Inner Growth toward Personal Enlightenment.

This is a short version of story number 14(out of 50) from my book, My Walk with the Lord, www.selahbooks.com

Psalm 37.4 “Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

One Friday afternoon, I got an intense desire for a slice of homemade pecan pie. I had just read the above scripture verse so I prayed and asked the Lord to give me a piece of pie, the desire of my heart at that time.

Saturday night, I went to a gospel sing at a small country church. After the singing was over, refreshments would be served. I knew a pecan pie would be on the dessert table.
The singing was wonderful…a great spiritual blessing was received by all. How that little white church vibrated as the singers and musicians lifted up the name of Jesus.

As someone gave thanks and asked the Lord to bless the food and time of fellowship, my mouth began to water for that slice of pecan pie.

Well, the food was good but I was disappointed because there was no pecan pie in sight…all other kinds were there, but no pecan pie.

Sunday morning, one of my nephews called and invited me to go to a church service honoring high school graduates. He wanted me to pray for the graduates. After the service, refreshments were to be served. I just knew that night, my desire for a slice of pecan pie would be met. I had often been to suppers at that church, and many times I’d seen four or five pecan pies on the dessert table.

The service was beautiful…it honored the graduates and the Lord. As the pastor asked the blessing over the food, I anticipated the first bite of that slice of pecan pie.

We went back to the social hall, and I saved a place on my plate for that pecan pie. I approached the dessert table, and stared with disbelief…no pecan pie in sight! I swallowed my disappointment, and still thanked God for the good food I ate. However, I still wanted that pecan pie…just one slice.

Monday morning, I awoke, made some coffee and read my Bible. The scripture I read was Mark 11.24 (“Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye shall receive them, and ye shall have them.”) I had prayed for that slice of pecan pie and I was still looking for it.

I finished my reading and went to get in my truck to go to town. I opened the door, and there, sitting on the front seat, pretty as you please, was a whole fresh homemade pecan pie. As tears of gratitude to the Lord formed in my eyes, the Lord spoke to me and said, “See, you only desired a slice of the pie but I can give you a whole one!” Thank God that He cares for and loves us so much.

This event happened almost 5 years ago. When I woke this morning, the Lord had me write this true story. Bless God if today, the same neighbor came by and gave me another whole pecan pie as I was writing! That is God’s way of confirming that I should write in a book this wonderful true story.

John 3,27 “John answered and said, a man can receive nothing, except it be given him from Heaven.”

Irvin L. Rozier….iwcroga@aol.com

About the Author

Author, preacher, retired US Army

The question relating to the procedure of selling your house in a time recession when property price falls have made it difficult. If you are prepared to spend a lot of energy and learn the tactics of marketing strategy, then you can sell your house in a couple of weeks. Denoted below are some tips that should be adopted before selling.

Avoid using agents to help you in selling your house with their high commissions. You can perform the task of selling by adopting simple strategies of marketing procedures. In tough times do let your insurance lapse if your premiums too high contact A1 brokers

Make your home airy and spacious by removing cluttered furniture. Replace old and damaged furniture and fittings, remove unwanted objects, and improve the style and look of damaged floorings. You must remember that the kitchen and bathroom attracts major attention. Therefore repair all broken and spoilt items like door knobs and also make arrangements for proper ventilation.

The look of the garden can be enhanced by planting small shrubs, maintaining the shape of grass edges and hedges and also installing a new and adorable water feature.

Creative advertisements facilitate in the selling of the house, you can post advertisements by the help of print media to enable a fast house sale. Therefore, now you can sell your property in a less time.

Many people who had faulty hip implant applied in their hip cup replacement surgical operations are discovering that there are negative ramifications that far exceed the natural expectations for recovery. These unfortunate people are experiencing a lot of additive anguish for lengthier time periods, facing revision surgical processes and enlarged medical expenses, and losing revenue by being unable to work at their normal jobs. Although Zimmer Holdings, Inc. is demanding that that their hip replacement implant is not possibly malfunctioning and not to blame for the faililng hip implants, many implant recipients are filing lawsuits against them and obtaining settlements.

In the month of October, 2008 Zimmer announced that it had set-aside $47.5 million to compensate for claims that had been filed against them. Many MD’s have reservations that the hip implant device is good to go and without problems. In Point Of Fact, when Zimmer provided on-line training to MD’s in order to instruct them what they said were more precise methods for executing the implant surgical operation, half of the docs refused to participate. Therefore, the entire state of affairs continues to be trying for all doctors attached, but none more than the hundreds of patients who are looking forward to revision surgical operation because of the issues with their implant coming loose in the socket.

These troubled people definitely merit some aid and compensation which is the reason product liability attorneys are encouraging them to file lawsuits. dorum cup has been settling some of these claims, too. All The Same, even if the settlement they are being offered sounds like alot to them, in numerous cases unfortunate people are settling too quickly and with no clause being made for ongoing issues in the future. If they don’t hold off and wait, to find out what an actual case is worth, individuals might find themselves incurring alot more expenses from their own personal assets when further complications return.

If your orthopedic surgeon tells you that youre going to need revision surgical process to resolve your Zimmer Durom hip replacement device, get in touch with an attorney right now.

As soon as lawyer determines that you have a case, be prepared to spend some time waiting it out for the best possible settlement that your attorney can get you. Take the advice your lawyer gives to you and do not get impatient and demand a quick timeframe for restitution. Being patient at this stage of the case can pay off vs. just rushing the process.

Mike Dunville* had a decision to make. As the new operations manager for Alpha Staffing, he wanted to make a difference at the dynamic staffing firm. The principals of the firm had charged him with making the day-to-day operations run smoothly and efficiently while they concentrated on growing the business in today’s challenging economy.

With his background in operations and finance in the insurance industry, Mike had confidently and successfully translated some of those service practices into Alpha’s daily staffing and recruiting operations. Now it was time to take the next step, and modernize the hodge-podge of computer systems that until now had been reasonably adequate for their three-office operation.

But where to start? He needed a real staffing software package. Mike knew that the custom system his former employer, an insurance giant, had implemented the year before had done wonders to improve efficiency and overall profitability. It had also taken three years to develop, and another to implement. In fact, when he had left, they were still making “customizations” — a process he figured would go on forever.

Mike didn’t think that Alpha could invest that kind of time or money. Could he could bring in some business software consultants and work with them to develop a tailored package in a shorter period of time? Mike knew that the continued success of Alpha Staffing, and its entrance into new markets and business lines would be greatly dependent on a successful staffing software system implementation.

This reinforced Mike’s doubts that one of the “off-the-shelf” staffing software packages would fit their needs, even if it were quicker and easier to implement. The more he thought about it, the more Mike felt that his decision on business automation would be his biggest, and if wrong, his last. He reached for a bottle of antacid.

Mike’s business is unique, like yours. Special. Unlike any other competitor in the whole wide world of staffing. Your business practices are equally different. As a result, your staffing business requires specialized information technology that addresses those unique needs. You are convinced that with the right IT infrastructure — the right staffing software — you will be more efficient, productive, and profitable. If you subscribe to this common belief, you, like Mike, have three options to achieve that end:

1. Develop your own custom staffing software and technology infrastructure;

2. Hire a consulting firm to develop the staffing software and IT for you;

3. Buy from a staffing software/IT vendor familiar with your industry.

Of these three options, which do you think is most likely to work the best, cost the least, and get implemented the fastest?

If you, like the high-profile public staffing firms of Norrell (now Spherion) and Manpower choose to develop your own software solution, you too may have a very expensive future write-off to enjoy. In fact, Manpower’s write-off for its failed three-year software development effort in the late 1990’s was pegged at $57 Million.

The right answer to this perplexing question is to buy from a staffing software vendor who is intimately familiar with the industry.

Surprised? After all, you’re special, unique, different, right? Well, not exactly. Yes, it is very true that you and your competitors differ in a number of important areas, such as management styles and objectives. However, you and all of your competitors also share a wealth of common traits, such as tracking employees and candidates, performing the business transactions of orders and assignments, making payroll, and billing customers.

These shared business issues are at the core of your staffing and recruiting business, and it is these issues that a staffing software vendor familiar with your industry is best qualified to address. After all, such a vendor has researched the issues to develop the necessary technology. These industry-specific software vendors can often implement a solution that can handle 80 percent to 90 percent or more of your business operational needs. (It should be noted however, that vendor solutions may vary greatly in quality, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness, depending on their expertise and previous success in the marketplace).

But let’s say that the “90 percent solution” that an industry-familiar vendor has to offer just isn’t enough for you. You want it all. Or you want some features or functions that the vendors don’t have.

Your options then are to either do the job yourself or hiring the project out to outside consultants. Both are similar in that you, the client, assume the overall project management risks, and, in the case of doing the job yourself, the programming chores for your unique staffing software. If you decide to take either of these routes, do so with extreme care — as industry surveys indicate that there is nearly a 60 percent probability of its failure.

According to one survey of thousands of software projects, conducted by the Standish Group of Hanover, Massachusetts, four of 10 software projects failed outright. To make matters worse, an additional 33 percent of software projects were completed late, went over budget or were completed with fewer features and functions than originally specified. Can your staffing business afford to make that kind of risky investment?

In an even more unexpected finding, the study also revealed that the use of IT consulting houses — even highly respected companies such as Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and Lockheed Martin — increased the risk of a project’s failure. This is astonishing because such consulting firms have staked their reputations on and are hired for their claimed expertise at developing or implementing enterprise software from such giants as SAP and PeopleSoft.

But the reason for their poor results is not so surprising — as it pointed to business practices that leave a lot to be desired, frequently at the considerable expense of their clients.

It should be no wonder then that dissatisfaction with IT contractors has reached an all-time high. A poll of 200 MIS managers conducted by Information Week revealed that 63 percent of them had either eliminated or rebid an IT service contract within a year. This was typically due to unacceptable performance or failure to deliver as promised.

Why the low success rate of home-grown “Do-It-Yourself” software projects?

With a success rate of only roughly 40 percent, you might be tempted to accept the premise that the very complexity of custom software would have a bearing on the success or failure of project. To a degree, this is true, however, the three main causes of software development failure, as determined by industry surveys, are not related to the technology itself, but to experience, management, and politics. They are:

1. Inexperience: Technologies and programming methods change rapidly. This means that both business-side and/or contract programmers and program managers are not always up to speed on the latest development technology. What is more important, IT-oriented program managers and programmers are rarely totally familiar with the business issues to be addressed, and so may not be able to make the connection to the best technology needed to address them.

Consulting companies, including the largest and most well-known of the accounting/IT consulting firms, often use novice talent, fresh out of school, to handle programming and management chores. This inexperience leaves clients open to potentially massive cost-overruns or, worse, a system that never works even after years of development.

You probably won’t hear much about these consulting firm failures though; both the firms and their clients have a vested interest to keep such admissions of failure quiet. Only when it reaches the “public scandal” or “write-off” stage does such information become public knowledge.

2. Management mis-objectives: Any firm trying to develop a staffing software project for itself must first fully and clearly define the objectives for the project. Few do this to the extent needed.

Software development and implementation is an incredibly complex process, even for a moderately sized firm. Senior management must be involved from the get-go. End-user considerations are paramount if the technology is to be fully accepted. Questions regarding business practices, methods, and future business or technology possibilities must be answered.

Critical to the success of the project is both established accountability and an understanding that software development is inherently risky due to rapidly advancing programming technology. It’s useful to remember that the billions of dollars allocated to correcting Year 2000 computer problems were the result of management and programming decisions made, in some cases, in the 1960’s.

At a time when CEO’s often focus on the performance of the next quarter, trying to plan and manage something that may take years and millions of dollars is difficult at best. Even with long-range planning and management, mis-steps are fairly typical. And it takes unusually strong and pragmatic business leadership to admit that they’ve taken the wrong development road and make any needed course changes.

3. CYA CIO’s: The CEO who does not want to get involved in software or IT projects is often tempted to place all of his eggs in the basket of a trusted CIO or similar IT manager. Doing so may set the firm up for a humpty-dumpty fall.

Years ago, the MIS department was often referred to as the “glass house”, where massive mainframes resided, presided over a technical priesthood whose mystic incantations were the interface between the “big iron” and the information needed to run the business. Today, business-savvy CIO’s and networked computer systems are the rule.

However, the firm’s CIO and the MIS department may still have a vested interest in the technology and methodology with which they are already familiar. They may want to protect their turf at all costs. As a result, their tendency is to do things “the way we’ve always done them”, only bigger and more expensively.

At the other extreme are sometimes visionary CIO’s who see a new IT project as an opportunity to bring in the latest and greatest technology, without fully understanding it or its applicability to the business. Here, they may apply an attitude that if the business sotware is “not invented here”, it won’t work right.

Either way, the firm loses, (although the CIO and MIS department staff may gain some new programming skills they can use on their next job).

Can you ensure the success of any “Do-It-Yourself” home-grown software project?

With so many variables — technology, management, business practices, internal politics, competitive issues, and more, it is virtually impossible to predict the success of any custom software development project. At best, you’ve only got a 40 percent chance of success. You can, however, improve your chances somewhat by following a few simple guidelines:

1. Establish goals. The most important thing is to define, exactly, what you want to accomplish. What is your firm’s business plan? How does IT relate and contribute to it? What should its objectives be? Be realistic in setting the goals, then document them. Get buy-in on these goals from senior management all the way to end-user.

2. Establish budget and time specifications. No matter how you cut it, software development is all about time and money. Working from your goals, consider the cost to develop the software, AND those areas where budget and time requirements can increase exponentially. This includes testing, documentation, implementation, and end user training. And don’t forget ongoing support, development, and “bug” fixing.

3. Establish project milestones. Hand-in-hand with establishing your budget and time-frame — determine what goals you have to achieve in the development process to complete the project on-time and on-budget. Some of these milestones should be, as NASA says, “GONO GO”, milestones; that is, if not achieved, the project doesn’t fly. Remember, 40% of all projects fail outright, so be prepared to cut your losses.

4. Obtain warranties and guarantees. When dealing with outside consulting firms, this is crucial. It is all too easy to point fingers after the fact, less so if clear communication between client and consulting firm spells out the expected results. And the consequences of failure. Have a “Plan B” that you can, if necessary, fall back on.

5. Avoid “mission creep”. There is often a temptation to add features and functions beyond the scope or goals of the project as it progresses. This is especially true as new technology raises the “wow” factor of the possible. Stick to the established goals and avoid the quick-sand of the “never-ending” software development.

Can you succeed with the pragmatic alternative?

If all the preceding talk of the failure rates of custom software development makes you think it may not be worth the gamble, you’ve one viable option left. Go back and talk to those industry-specific staffing software vendors some more.

Find out exactly what they have to offer, and what they have on the boards for the future. Can their “90 percent” software be customized for the other five percent or ten percent you believe you just HAVE to have? Or, do you really need that five percent more?

Look at your own business with a critical eye to determine if your business practices can or should be adjusted to fit the available IT solutions. Remember that with any highly experienced staffing software vendor you’re buying all the improvements they’ve made over the years for many, many clients. You may find that, while the software solution offered may not be exactly what you want, it will in all likelyhood measurably enhance the productivity of your current operations.

Above all, remember that you’re in the staffing business, not the speculative, expensive, and time-consuming software development business. Stick to your own core business competencies, with the understanding that software and technology should support and enhance your business operations, efficiencies, services, and profits.

And what about Mike Dunville and Alpha Staffing? Well, he thought it through, had a lot of talks with everyone on the staff from top down, rated all of the staffing software vendors to find the one that met 80 percent of their expected needs and had the most experience and the best R&D and support capabilities, and bought it.

That was last year. So far this year sales are up 15 percent, billable hours per desk are up 20 percent, and net margin is up 12 percent. They’ll add two more offices soon without a hitch, and staff retention is better as well. Mike really enjoyed passing out the big bonus checks to everyone. And getting one himself.

*Mike Dunville is a fictitious character, as is Alpha Staffing. His story, however, is fairly typical of the clients who have come to VCG, Inc. for their staffing software needs.

About VCG, Inc.
Our focus is your success. Since 1976 staffing firms have counted on VCG, Inc. for staffing software solutions that help them improve the productivity and profitability of their operations. Founded by staffing professionals and technologists intimately familiar with the business of staffing, VCG is the staffing industry’s largest and most experienced dedicated staffing software development firm. VCG solutions today power hundreds of successful staffing companies and 12,000-plus staffing professionals throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australia. VCG, C-PAS, StaffSuite, TempWare-V, WebPAS, StaffSuite WorldLink, and WebPAS WorldLink are registered trademarks of VCG Inc.
VCG Staffing Software

Phil McCutchen is Marketing Manager for VCG, Inc., the leading provider of staffing software to the staffing industry. He has been associated with the staffing industry for nearly 14 years, and has more than 25 years of marketing related experience.

Computer accessible sports wagering web pages are by and large governed by means of three organizations. These are called the OSGA (the Offshore Gaming Association), IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) and finally the Fidelity Trust Gaming Association FTGA. bet create sports

The OSGA is an autonomous “watch-dog” body that currently keeps checks on the overseas gambling business, they labor to give sports betting lovers a reliable way to to quickly determine reputable businesses to play betting games on, without unease. The OSGA labors to support consumer’s rights, and also they do not demand any joining or annual costs. The agency is a professional and equitable third party agency which asserts impartial viewpoints, founded around your feedback, objective scrutiny, phone calls, insider tips and additionally to deliver inside bulletins.

The Interactive Gaming Council are a not-for-profit council. The administration was set up to allow a platform for concerned individuals to address points also to improve shared worries in the international web-based betting industry, in an effort to establish frank and also sound industry protocols and routines which aim to raise consumer confidence in interactive wagering products and benefits, also to help as the trade’s generic procedure representative and it also offers an information center.

The IGC have built a distinction for dependability, stability also plausibility by virtue of the ethical standards it stands for, also its allure for business enterprises of exemplary practise. The IGC monitors overseas sports betting via championing a particular 10 point operating process and bills gambling sites a price for the use of the council’s logo. Dispirited gambling afficionados may, if they desire, give an account of their disagreements to the Interactive Gaming Council.

The Fidelity Trust Gaming Association was founded in an effort to generate a standard to improve the actions of live sports gaming commercial enterprises. The agency believe that by carrying on business with web sites of good reputation, they can fashion a coalition of the fairest and most professional cyberspace betting operations in the world at large. These are councils which function to guide the practises of world wide web based gaming and which should hopefully help to allay any fears because of apprehension experienced by skeptics. Web based sports gaming websites are at present consistently safe, now that individual details should not be requested also the payments and the gaming odds are equivalent to a typical Vegas-style bet. These web sites lower travel, but retain the underlying atmosphere, but nowadays you may game in your own house.

First let’s start with definitions:

SEO: Search Engine Optimization, SFO: Search Friendly Optimization.

These two things are what most webmasters have trouble balancing. These things seem to always be on opposite ends. On one hand you have to make sure search engines can crawl your website without any problems. On the other you have to keep the site looking good to keep your visitors.

These are all based on what kind of site you plan on making. A corporate website selling shoes in the real world might focus on keeping the site looking good to visitors. And maybe pack it up with flash and all kinds of descriptive images. On the other side a site about online products, e-commerce, might cut back on the images and focus on seo. I will go into both of these just in case.

Let’s start with seo. The first thing you need if you choose seo is to meta tags. Now there many meta tags generators out there for a quicker way to make them. But I suggest like me you make them yourself according to the search engines you want your site to better perform at. In short you have to study those search engines and find out how they get their content and what meta tags they require or may find usefull. Mine is based on google so check out the source of the blog and those are the tags that google uses.

Also a site that may help you out with your seo is: http://sitesubmit.ca/ they require you to be a member to use their tools but it’s worth plus it’s free. They have many seo tips and tools. In your reaserch of the search engine don’t forget ranking. Find out what they base their search results on and how they decide which results show up first when a user queries. Like google uses google googlerank and overall page rank. But you may hav eto increase your content on a subject in order to increase your keyword density and such.

Second sfo. SFO is fairly easy to accomplish once you have the right info. Like many sites they host regular polls and surveys about what users like and their personnal opinions. It’s an effective way of knowing your audience. Once you know most of your visitors like certain kinds of things you start providing them. Therefore pleasing your users and making a successful site. But never forget about the stalistics the users don’t need to tell you. Like what browsers usually visit your site and what operatinf systems they use. And as many webmasters know firefox and internet exploer(leading browsers) have different rendering engines. So find out which most of your users use and customize your site to it. Also if the stalistics show that they have just about equal users use what we a splash page. To allow the user to show which version of the site they want to view. Two versions of your site may be hard to keep up but remember it’s worth it. In one case one of my friends had to do four different versions. And keep them updated at the same time.

But also you may have to balance the two together if you want them both. Though it is hard it may be for the best.

Owner of All About Adsense! I write articles of my knowledge in my spare time.