$ecret$©™
Chapter Eleven:
Prosperity Principle #12:
Total Life Success = 11 Principles of Prosperity + 1 Community
Total Life Success
Our goal is TOTAL LIFE SUCCESS™, not merely the kind of success that helps you to survive, not merely financial success. There is a vast difference between being a “Survivor” and being, as it says in Ro 8:37 “more than conquerors”. Which would you rather be?
Someone who, at the end of the day (or the end of one’s life) is able to pat themselves on the back and say proudly “I’m a survivor” has really accomplished nothing more than what millions of others on this planet have “accomplished”. They’re managed to stay healthy or at least rise above their health problems, to sustain themselves and their families by making a living, and to survive the life-long onslaught of others trying to take away what they’ve worked so hard to acquire. I liken this to those who pride themselves on being able to “Go with the flow”. It's far easier than going against the flow, far easier than daring to stand up to what is wrong and doing something to fix it.
The vast majority of people who ever lived were content
to live a life of mediocrity, to “just” survive.
They got married or didn't; they had children or didn't.
They worked and took care of paying their bills. They reached old age and
retired after having worked for 30, 40 or 50 years. Most spent
their time pursuing frivolous activities or activities of little
consequence in terms of the betterment of humanity. They did what
others expected of them, never wanting to venture outside the "box" or break
out of their "rut".
Please understand that I am in no way
making light of the awesome responsibilities and benefits of marriage. Rather, I am
saying that too many married couples and too many singles choose to stop dreaming in their God given
ability to do great things. At some point the majority of people
realize how hard it is to get to the top or be the best at
anything, so they switch into a comfortable, "getting by" mode.
Hopefully, as you read the above passages,
you either saw yourself as one of those who refuse to settle for
what is merely "good" when you can push a little harder for what is
best, OR you felt uncomfortable, seeing yourself right now as a mere
survivor but wanting to change. In either case, let's be honest and
ask yourself a few questions.
What are the motivating purposes behind my goals? Am I willing to seek after what
is best, to sacrifice "down" time so I'll have time to
think, to question the way I'm doing things
right now? Am I willing to network with others of like mind
and will I make the time to do this? Am I willing
to apply these Twelve Principles of Prosperity? And most importantly, am I
willing to set aside a minimum of one hour daily for
meditation, so I can develop a "Glory to Glory" transformational
time that renews my mind, body and spirit?
Remember, if you don't take the
time to develop a success plan
for yourself and your family, who will? We can help, especially
through meetings held in our web conferencing rooms, but you
are the one who has to make the choice to trust what I'm saying and put these principles
into action. Most of us fail our way to success, so
don't fear failure. Obviously, we all try to avoid it, but failure
must be seen as a stepping stone to success. Be willing to embrace
alternative ways of doing things, even if they may seem impossible right now.
After all, isn't that what faith is all about, believing the impossible,
believing in what you can't see until at last it manifests?
Let's be honest about this new course of action.
You are going to be swimming up stream while everyone around you is swimming
downstream. That means you're going to stick out like a sore thumb.
You'll be labeled as "different", and many of those closest to you will be
the most negative about the changes you decide to make. Which is precisely
why most people avoid being different. But without the desire to be different, to break away from
the ordinary and strive for excellence in everything you do, how can you make a
real and lasting difference in the world or in the lives of your loved
ones? A true leader is someone distinctly different from the
majority. And I believe that every God-believer, regardless of their
religous affiiliation, knows it's their duty to share what they've
discovered about the spiritual side of life. Logically this leads to
only one conclusion, every person who feels so called must assume some
responsibility of leadership.
I want to clarify what I mean when I use the word, "different". By “different” I mean you desire excellence, not mediocrity, both for yourself and your family. By “different” I mean you seek Total Life Success ™, not mere financial “success”. By “different” I mean you seek to connect to your spiritual roots, to that dimension which sustains this physical dimension, and you're not afraid to speak out about your belief in God, even though it’s no longer “politically correct” to do so. By “different” I mean you actively seek to understand issues and when confronted with the truth, you embrace it, regardless of the changes it brings. By “different” I mean you see through the shallow “love” that most parents have for their children; instead of always giving your children what they want (to avoid confrontation) you choose to discipline yourself to do the right thing, to take the time necessary for laying down guiding principles, to “train them in the way they should go”, so when you are no longer there to hold their hand they will still hear your “voice” and make better choices. By “different” I mean you actually spend time together as a family, regularly, willingly pulling the plug on trivial and mindless pursuits, focusing instead on ways to create real-life productive activities that bring with them a sense of shared accomplishment and unity.
This process of developing family bonds, a shared family identity that is strong and lasting, was far easier in days gone by. Back then the survival of a family, whether clearing the wilderness or working the family farm, depended on every member contributing to the workload. In many ways those hardships forced families to work together. But today our lifestyles are pushing every member of the family in different directions. Thus it is that those who wish to achieve success, whether in business or on the home front, must of necessity develop more self-discipline, especially with regards where they spend their time. You may be able to successfully survive without a lot of self-discipline, but I can guarantee you won’t be “more than a conqueror”.
I
want to be clear, however, that I am in no way advocating a return to the
so-called “Good old days”. Though there was the natural benefit of
increased family bonding through shared, common experiences (including shared
suffering) there were also limited opportunities for education, reflection
or liesure, due to onerous workloads. Today we have all the benefits
of technological advances like fast transportation, the
telephone, radio, television and the Internet.
They help us stay in touch more often, widen our world perspective,
provide unprecedented access to life saving medicine and emergency medical
treatment, and provide online educational opportunities, including
do-it-yourself research.
But rather than the anticipated
outcome of more time for family, people everywhere complain that they now
have less time. However, according to the ABC News host
of "20/20", John Stossel, one of the myths of our culture is that we
have less time for family. In his book, "Myths, Lies and Downright
Stupidity", John Stossel cites a university study that has kept statistics since
the 1960's. This time study revealed that we actually have MORE
leisure time now than we did in the 1960's. The only reason
why we have less time to spend with our families is we now spend more of it
on individual leisure activities.
Within the
context of intentional planned communities we discover we have more time to
spend with our family. The main reason for this is simple, everything
is near at hand. No need for long commutes, no need for much of the travel
that is forced upon us in a geographically dispersed living model. And
more often than not, people in a community pool their cars when
supplies are needed, saving both gas and time.
In
other words, through a combination of technological advances and
community cooperation, we get the best of both worlds. In
times past, the full development of one's potential, intellectually,
artistically or politically, was reserved for those who could
afford servants, or else fortunate enough to have a rich patron.
We who choose to live in a 3Circles Community will see first
hand how individual empowerment is a natural outcome of group
empowerment. Because of clearly defined goals, shared beliefs and
common interests, we soon come to understand that what is good for the group is
also good for the individual. At least in most cases. There
will always be some disputes, but because of the benefits we receive and the
love we have for one another, individuals are more easily persuaded to do
what is right for the common good.
If you saw the movie, "A Beautiful
Mind" (which I highly recommend) you saw how John Nash, a budding mathematician
in the 1950's, was able to deal with a deteriorating mental condition and
develop a brilliant mathematical theory that eventually won him the coveted
Nobel Peace Prize. His idea has been used primarily in economics and
game theory but it has applications in many areas. I hope I'm not
butchering his theory here, as I'm taking this from the movie. Basically,
his theory states that individuals who pursue their own best interest, tend to
contribute to the best interest of those they compete with, if they consider the
optimum outcome for everyone concerned. What I get excited about is
the realization that competition and cooperation are not, as so often
presented, mutually exclusive. In the context of 3Circles
Communities, this means we understand and encourage the competitive nature of
our members, since this is what creates the most productive output, the
most bang for one's buck, but we do so by rewarding cooperation within
the community. This leads to building up our love for one
another, which in turn builds up out unity as a community.
One of the
ways we can reward cooperation is by systematic, scheduled house raisings,
making sure that each community member sees first hand the reason why they are
living in a 3Circles Community. Another way members will see the rewards
of community life is through community wide entrepreneurial assistance. We
care about your home-based business succeeding because your success assures our
success. The benefit of alleviating the need for both parents to
work away from the home is another huge plus for community living, not to
mention community wide day-care for those who must work outside the
community.
As this change in lifestyle necessitates being different, I think it will help to further clarify what this means by examining the context of what Paul the Apostle said to the Roman Christians about being “conquerors”. Ro 8:28-39 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.… If God be for us, who can be against us? He that * * spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?… Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written *, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
It is this kind of love, the kind that does not yield to anything that would separate us from God, from God’s divine and purposeful plan for our life, that allows us to be more than conquerors. This is not “Love” as the world knows love. This is God’s “Agape” (spiritual) love, manifest through the example of Jesus Christ, personally obtained by inviting that same love into one’s heart, and then giving it back to others. And regardless of your religion or where you are on your spiritual journey, the world has never seen a greater love then the example of self-sacrifice and forgiveness which Jesus Christ showed to those who beat him and nailed him to that cross. His words, “Lord, forgive them for they know not what they do”, are still echoing down through history over 20 centuries later.
However, if we allow the things of this world, “things present and things to come”, to separate us from that love, then we are no longer a conqueror. A person who is a conqueror is obviously someone who overcomes every obstacle the world puts in their way, until at last victory is achieved. But how a person overcomes the world is more important than the fact that they were able to overcome it. The question is, do those who overcome do so by their will power alone or do they overcome through a combination of faith and will power, a combination of the divine and one's own self-will?
I’m sure you’ve met people who had no distinguishing
love for God, but by virtue of their connections and their money were able to
overcome every adversary and achieve victorious success. Usually
such a person doesn't even acknowledge God's role in their lives. They
give no thanks for the superior intelligence they possess, no thanks for
the rich friends they inherited. And often they are
full of the wrong kind of pride, being vain and boastful. I
believe in being victorious, but if we have not humbled ourselves before
God, have not sought after a vision as to how God might best use us, have not
prayed daily for guidance and strength to overcome, then our victory is not as
sure, nor is it eternal. Yes, such a person has certainly achieved a
measure of success, but unless they change their attitude about God they will
never know the kind of Total Life Success™ that spills over into every area of one’s life and becomes
a blessing to others. Here is what the Apostle John had to say
about being truly victorious, about overcoming by faith:
1Jo 5:4 “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
The Right Side of the Equation: Community
The
first part of the equation, the Eleven Prosperity Principles, we've already
discussed in detail. Now I want you to focus on the second part of the equation,
"Community". First, it's important to understand the reason why I am
talking about community in a book about prosperity. To understand why,
we'll need to review that passage God revealed to me, which I shared
with you in Chapter Two, The 3Circles Empowerment Principle™.
"Whatever you put your time and
money and resources into, that is what you empower and whatever you empower, you
give power over yourself; It is now time to stop empowering the system that
seeks to destroy you, and to empower one another instead".
Money is power and unless we share that power, not
merely by philanthropic giving but by putting it to work so that more
enterprises can be created and more people’s lives improved, that power will
tend to corrupt us. This means we consciously choose
to determine the best place to invest our money, our time and our
resources, with the idea of contributing to the greater good. That is
the premise behind The 3Circles Empowerment Principle™ . And there is no greater good
than a group of like-minded people joining forces for mutual strength,
determined to be “More than conquerors”, determined to manifest God’s love in
abundance, to the benefit of themselves, their children and the larger community
outside their own.
Time and money are pretty obvious, but what are
"Resources"? This is by no means an exhaustive list, but
resources include: Our possessions; Our education and skills; Our
creativity and inventiveness; Our business, leadership and management
abilities; A large and close knit family. Without multiple
streams of income (as the rich often refer to it, “A diversified portfolio”) or
a network of rich people, your resources and the community of people
into which you invest those resources becomes even more important.
I've known people with large
networks of friends and business associates. When discussing the
possibility of helping to build an intentional community they didn't see
the need. They believed they already belonged to a "community", so
why hassle with trying to build one? That's understandable,
considering they understand "community" only in it's traditional context
and had no experience to compare the two systems of community. To
their way of thinking, the fact they are able to connect with their friends and
associates from time to time, and meet with their fellow church members once or
twice a week, well, that's OK with them. They accept that
everyone leads busy lives and can't keep in touch more often. They had
settled in their mind that this is the best they can hope for. But
is it really the "best"? Or is it just choosing to go along
with what the present world system has forced upon them, because that's far
easier than trying to build something new?
Let's change the situation and
then ask ourselves if having a traditional, loosely-knit community of friends,
loved ones and business associates, is really adequate to meet the
challenges we may face in the near future. For instance, there is
mounting evidence that a major volcanic explosion near the equator in 535 A.D.
led to two years of no summer, causing world wide crop failures, famine and
pestilence (read it for yourself here: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/flash/catastrophe1_script.html). This
in turn led to a huge increase in the rat population, and their spread
of the Bubonic Plague. Millions were killed by this plague and the
resultant loss of tax revenues suffered by the struggling Roman Empire
was the final blow that ended it's 800 year rein as a world
power. This is the beginning of the "Dark Ages", when the Roman
Empire was dealt it's final blow, leaving a vacuum that attracted many
feuding factions.
The
evidence for what led up to this plague is detailed and astounding,
including tree ring databases going back 7,500 years, detailed analysis of
1000 meter long (approximately 3,000 foot) ice cores in Greenland and human
historic records from asian countries like China and Japan, which go back
thousands of years. What these records reveal is that
major, world climate changing volcanic eruptions,
have happened throughout history, occurring on average every 1000
years. This means we are long overdue for another one, since
the last world changing volcanic eruption occurred 1,500 years
ago.
Can it
happen here in America? It already has on a smaller scale. In 1815
the volcano Tambora exploded and this caused what was widely known as "The year
without a summer" in 1816. In New England there were frosts every month of
the year. The resulting famines killed untold numbers of Americans
and caused a mass migration from New England into the Ohio Valley.
Now, given the certainty of
such a world wide catastrophe occuring again; given the likelihood of it
occurring in our lifetime or the lifetime of our children; and knowing
that all our modern technology can't stop the crop failures nor
prevent the resulting famines, ask yourself the following question.
If you knew that such a catastrophe was near, which would you prefer, to
continue living life like everyone else, as if mother nature would always
provide bountiful harvests, or would you prefer to be part of a
community that prepared for such an eventuality, a community that
had it's own electricity system, it's own greenhouses and grow lights, it's
own community freezers and food storage facilities? In our
present system, these lessons of history go unheeded. There is an
economic incentive to pretend the present times of plenty will never end.
They thought that way before the great depression of the 1930's too, when
drought driven dust storms destroyed much of this nations
agriculture. But those few catastrophes our nation has
experienced are only a fraction as severe as what happened in 535
A.D.!
Today we take
convenience for granted. Our entire food delivery system is based on "Just
in time delivery". As goods are consumed, they are
replaced. But this means stores only keep on hand a few days
supply. When food was in short supply after Hurricane
Katrina, marauding bands roamed the streets and took whatever they
wanted. In a community with many unethical self-centered people,
such actions are inevitable.
Personally, I prefer to be a member of a close knit,
self-sufficient community of people who live and work together on a daily basis,
who have the kind of morals that insure sharing rather than hoarding, giving
rather than taking. The worldwide 535 A.D. catastrophe caused crop
failures two years in a row and set in motion 10-20 years of poor crop yields
caused by bad weather, eventually wiping out millions of people.
Our community will have it's own hydroelectric, wind and solar powered
electricity; we will have greenhouses and wood fired heaters; and we'll
have legally approved weapons so we can defend what is ours if need be,
enabling us to survive such a catastrophe. Those who fail to prepare
will perish.
Having lived in both types of communities I have seen first
hand how much richer life is when living within an intentional community
founded on cooperation and love and built around common spiritual
principles. When we choose to empower one another through our collective efforts,
through our collective empathy and giving, every community member is
afforded opportunities they might never have otherwise.
I realize that many of
you reading this will refuse to accept what I say about the emotional richness
and increased spiritual power that comes with living in an intentionally built
spiritual community. And since most of us are successful enough to
take care of our own, why seek "Total Life Succes"? Many of you
could point to the practical outreach provided through giving to
missions, and the charity extended via meals and gifts at Thanksgiving
and Christmas, as proof of your congregations love and concern. Yes,
those are all measures of love, but is that all Jesus requires of us? In
reference to love, Jesus said, "The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is
the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than
these"?
Real love is not just sharing some gifts and meals at
holiday time, it's sometimes giving one's personal possessions and space,
giving what you can't afford to give, what's inconvenient to give, and costs you
more than your spare change. Real love is a total committment to
God, where our work is not determined by a secular system and it's career
paths, but by our desire to do what God wants us to do. Real
love seeks to eliminate the poverty of one's neighbors, not just pray for
them. In all of the many congregations I've worshipped with over the
years, not one ever initiated a long-term entrepreneurial program aimed at
eliminating the poverty within their own congregation.
However, there is one example of
church funded entrepreneurism I've come across. It involved an
extremely poor black congregation in Georgia. One day, one of their
own had an idea of how they could eliminate their members dependence on
welfare (approximately 90% were poor and on welfare). Their collective
poverty spanned generations, ever since their church was founded at the end of
the Civil War. Throughout the years church members pleaded with God,
that their poverty might be taken from them. I can imagine the
preacher shouting out the same half-truth I've heard from a radio
preacher, "All you need is faith". Needless to say, faith was not
enough and their prayers in this area went unanswered.
I believe the reason why it
took over a hundred years to find a solution was because they were looking for a
miracle where none was needed. God gave us a mind and two hands to
work. He's given us principles of prosperity in the scriptures and
all they needed to do was apply them. I guess they didn't fully
comprehend that passage in James 2: 26, "For as the body without the Spirit
is dead, so faith without works is dead also". They could have had
all the faith in the world, and they certainly prayed for help over a
period of many generations, but until they got creative, came up with an idea,
developed a plan of action and involved the entire congregation in working out
the solution, nothing changed. I see this as
the exact same situation with the denominations built on a carnal structure
and living a worldly lifestyle. Until those of us who attend
denominations, who also feel uneasy about the rampant hypocrisy, who have a
sense that there should be something better, actually put our minds and feet and
hands to the task, nothing is going to happen, no matter how many new
programs are created within that structure.
What finally ended the poverty of this congregation in
Georgia was the idea of putting aside the money they had always sent to
missions, so they could make their own congregation the mission
field! They took to heart those scriptures that said it was our duty
to multiply what God has given into our stewardship (i.e. the parable of the Ten
Talents) and fellow believers are to be considered family, the first to
whom we extend a helping hand. Then they pooled the money that came
in through the collection plate for the church building and invested it in
the church instead, in the true church, which is all believers who seek to
live according to the principles of their founder, Jesus
Christ.
By
redirecting these funds to the church business they began, they saw a dramatic
increase in revenues. As the church business became more and more
profitable, they decided to re-invest those profits in the people of their
congregation, seeding it into other businesses started by their congregation
members. The result was nothing less than astounding. Within one
generation they reversed that 90+% welfare dependent figure and now had 90%
of their congregation financially stable, able to take care of their bills
without welfare assistance. To be totally honest, I don't remember the
exact details of this story, only the highlights. So if you recognize your
church and I've erred in telling the details of this story, I hope you won't be
offended by my less than perfect recollection.
This model for removing poverty from the lives of
believers should be widely adopted, yet it is not. I got the above
information back in the mid-80's I believe, and that would mean
they initiated their plan many years before. So why has it remained
an isolated experiment? In a word, "hypocrisy". If we
truly loved one another, we would not rest until our fellow believers were free
of their poverty, free of their slavery to debt. Remember,
Jesus directed his harshest words against the Pharisees and
Saducees. They were considered very religious by their fellow
Jews, yet Jesus called them hypocrites, warning us against their example,
"Beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy" (Luke
12:1).
We say
we love God with all our heart, yet we don't love God enough to obey the Proverb
that declares, "The borrower is slave to the lender". We don't
obey this obvious wisdom because we truly love this worlds goods more than we
love God. Otherwise we would surely discipline our spending and
avoid debt. We need to stop being slaves. And how can we
say we love one another as our self when we fail to take action regarding those
impoverished within our own congregation, whose poverty, debt and emotional
burdens are open sores in the body of Christ?
The time and distance separation
between traditional church members is an insurmountable barrier. It stops
us from having time to spend together regularly, which is the only way we would
really know what most people are going through. When you haven't had time
to talk to someone for a few weeks and then you get together, it would take many
hours to share what's really been going on in your life. So we
almost always carry on conversations that remain at the surface of what is
really happening. In other words, we carry around our masks of
happiness and respectability and friendliness, when many times we are not
what we pretend to be. This is the essence of hypocrisy.
We justify our hypocrisy in this area by saying we don't want to be a
burden to others, all the while ignoring that scripture which tells us to share
our burdens with one another. Do you see the pattern
here? We are living according the world's dictates, not God's.
We rush around according to man's schedule, not God's. This too
is hypocrisy, and further proof that we do not "Love God with
all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and
with all our strength".
We
are told in Galations 6 that we should, "Bear one anothers burdens, and so
fulfill the law of Christ" (the law of Christ is love). We are
also told to, "Exhort (give urgent advice, recommendations, or warnings to) one
another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened
through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of
Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast until the end"
(Hebrews 3:13-14). We know from our own experiences
that few share their burdens until their lives are a total wreck
and it's obvious to everyone. And daily exhortation is only possible in
the context of a close knit community.
In Titus 2 we are told that the older men should teach the
younger men, and likewise the older women teach the younger women, how to
love their spouse and their children. Where do we see that being
applied? I have never seen such a program in my 33 years of
Christian experience and yet this is the essence of what would give us
victory over the widespread relational breakdowns, a mentoring type relationship
with those who are older and wiser for their experience. Is it
any wonder that we who are spiritual have no less a rate of
divorce then those who are without the knowledge of
Christ? To be totally honest, I did hear about one congregation
that sought to apply Titus 2 through cell groups. But this is just
like applying band-aids to cancer. Meeting once a week to share,
most often long after the relational issues surfaced, is just not good
enough. It's really only possible to apply this (and many other)
scriptures within the context of a close-knit community where we see and
interact with one another daily.
At the root of all these disparities is our
hypocrisy. We say we love God but our actions show an unwillingness to
change our lifestyle so we can obey his command to truly love one
another. The truth is that we love things the way they are; we love living
as the world lives, even to the point of tolerating the same divorce rate and
pretending we are powerless to do anything about it.
In a word, we have become friends of the world. James, the
brother of Jesus, puts it this way, "Know you not that friendship with the world
is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is
the enemy of God" (James 4:4).
Once the leaven of this world has been hidden in our heart,
it expands and matures and eventually overflows into the lives of those around
us. The world's system has us and we've chosen to go along with it's
dictates. And because we are just like everyone else we feel
justified in being hypocrites. This is why most of us are
powerless to stop our divorces, or find someone who truly loves us.
We have a worldly mindset and we are reaping what we have sown.
What we have today is a "form
of Godliness", a world centered form that blends in and doesn't cause too many
waves. We're afraid to be the "City on the hill", lest we be thought
"odd" or called a "cult". If we truly believe, then
we will work at empowering one another instead of this world's system,
a system that is moving all the more swiftly towards one
world government by dint of our laboring as it's
employees.
Jesus gave this parable regarding the Holy Spirit and man's
tendency to develop a "form of religion" that denies God's power. The men
and women of God who hold positions of governance or pastoral leadership within
each denomination do not deny God or God's power by their words
but they deny him by their actions. Their very individualistic
and worldly lifestyle, which they promote by reason of their living alone and
separated from the flock, is proof they have become friends with the
world. And it is their continuance within that corrupt, carnal,
denominational structure that furthers the world's purposes, even as they give
lip service to furthering the Kingdom of God. Therein is
the root cause as to why they continue to lie to themselves, believing they are
not hypocrites when they are, because they refuse to disrupt
their comfortable life to conform to God's truth rather than to the
world. Furthermore, they see the movement of God in their
midst and take credit for it, seeing in God's deliverance, which deliverance
would happen with or without them, as proof of their righteousness.
But by such measurements of success we can say that every denomination is
thereby proven righteous and is simply impossible that all should be right.
Paul tells us in I Cor.
3 that a denominational system is carnal, and in II Cor. 3 he tells us that
putting the scriptures above the Spirit of the Living God leads to
death. And yet we all continue to promote and feed this
corrupt, spirit killing system as if it was a pattern ordained by God
rather than created by men. If that's not the essence of
hypocrisy I don't know what is! Is it any wonder that we
have a divorce rate no different than the rest of the world around us? Is
it any wonder that so many televangelists, so many church leaders, so
many priests, are falling into such horrible
sins? Who among their congregation sees them on a daily
basis to exhort them against such dangers? Who among them would dare
to admit they needed to share their burdens with other believers? They
wouldn't, because they know they could not trust those they confided in to keep
it in confidence. So they pretend they are above temptations, and
those who send their money by the boat load pretend these men and women are
somehow different than us.
The denominational system is a prison that locks away it's
followers, keeping them from obtaining the fulness of the Spirit of God. I
have seen the following happen again and again, that no sooner
does the Spirit of God begin to move within a congregation then the
Spirit is quenched because no one dares to interpret or speak outside that
denomination's interpretive box. Keeping in mind that the
Holy Spirit is portrayed in the Bible as "new wine" and both the
individual body and the collective body (the church) are referred to as
"wineskins", here is what Jesus says on this matter: "No one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the
wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined.
No, he pours new wine into new wineskins".
With these understandings I finally had to STOP going to
traditional church services, because the leaven of their hypocrisy, as Jesus had
warned, is not something you can overcome... it overcomes you.
The new wine God was bringing to them through me, they could not receive,
because their mental containers were old and cracked and inflexible, because
they viewed the written word as more important than spiritual unity, and because
they had a form of godliness that prevented the fullness of God's power
working in their midst.
Oh, to be sure they worked up emotions through the songs
they sang, and they felt a sense of peace, as men are able to do in states
of self-induced eupohoria, but the power of God working regular miracles or
speaking his plans into the lives of individual congregants was denied
them. And even the pastors, being taught by other men ABOUT God but
having little or no undersanding as to that glory to glory transformation
which comes to those who meditate in God's presence for a minimum of one hour,
have almost no personal experience with the fullness of God's power. How
can it be otherwise when both the leaders and their congregants refuse to
obey God, choosing instead to remain on the surface of man's
ritual and traditions? Renewal of the mind, as the Bible reminds us,
begins with rebellion against the world's system ("Be not conformed to this
world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind"). This
is what enables us to not just love those who pay us back when we
invite them to diinner, but also to love the unloveable and the deeply
troubled among us.
To be sure there are exceptional and spiritual men and
women of God in every congregation. Even in the Catholic church I met a
nun who helped us establish a ministry for the homeless and the street
kids of St. John's, Newfoundland, a nun who confessed she didn't really
know Jesus Christ until just a few years previous. That's quite an
admission for someone who dedicated her life to serviing God and
Jesus Christ for over four decades previous to
her conversion. Oh she knew much ABOUT Jesus Christ. But
until she was willing to let go of the old, let go of her Church's
teachings and invite Christ to take the place of her church in her heart,
she didn't truly know him.
However, those of us who have experienced the power and joy
of living in community experienced this renewal of the heart and spirit over and
over on a daily basis. We don't have to be emotionally manipulated
to go up to an altar and confess in front of an entire congregation, nor do
we suffer the constant backsliding that is considered normal in
evangelistic circles, where the same people go back to the altar again and
again and again, in the hope of re-igniting the spiritual fire that once
burned so bright. The only way to get a lasting victory is to,
"Come out from among them and be you separate says the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing, and I will receive you" (II Cor. 6:17).
There is only one church and that
church is us, the believers who are presently outside and inside every
denomination. Some of those believers don't even know Jesus
Christ yet. Some of you are presently involved with the New Age or
Occultic practices, yet you sense God speaking to you through my
words. And there are others out there, who at present don't even
believe there is a God. I make no judgement as to where anyone will end up
spiritually, I am simply being obedient to God's call on my life, believing the
Holy Spirit is much better at revealing truth than I.
My purpose is not to teach people
about God, nor is it to focus on scriptural interpretations. Rather, I
am to teach others how to get close to God, so they can have the same
first hand experience of abiding in God's glorious presence. God in them,
and they in God. Or as Jesus put it, in John 14: "I will not leave
you comfortless: I will come to you... At that day ye shall know that I am in my
Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is
that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will
love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto
him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and
not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and
my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with
him. He that loveth me
not keepeth not my sayings".
I do not lust for power or believe that I alone have
the answers. What God has revealed to me is but one piece of the
puzzle. But if I can help even one person discover God's plan for
their life, if I can help them become "more than conquerors", help them become
free spiritually and financially, then I will have fulfilled my
purpose. Those of you who are still worshipping in the traditional
denominational manner and living as everyone else lives, separated by geography,
time and ideology from those you love, you will have the hardest time breaking
free of those denominational chains which bind your mind.
We must rediscover what early
Christians knew, that unity in community is what unleashes the power of God
in our midst. Not just a power that might wash over us a few times in
our lifetime, but a power that washes over us daily. "For we are not as
many, who corrupt the Word of God... You are the epistle (one of the
apostolic letters of the new testament) of Christ ministered by us, written not
with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God; not in tables of stone
(referring to the 10 commandments), but in fleshly tables of the heart... God
has made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the
Spirit: FOR THE LETTER KILLS BUT THE SPIRIT GIVES LIFE... now the Lord is that
Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (II Cor.
3).
A
Little History
In my coming book, "Leave the Church - Your Life
Depends On It", subtitled, "How Denominational Religion Has Shut Up The
The Catholic Church, along with other orthodox
denominations closely aligned with the Catholic church (but who later broke
away) initiated a draconian policy of censorship. This censorship extended
to books of the bible that had been considered inspired for over 300
years. These so-called non-canonical scriptures were ordered burned by the
Catholic Church. And anyone caught with them was burned along with
their non-approved scriptures. As a result over 100 such letters and
"books" were thought to be lost forever. However, discoveries beginning in
the late 19th century and continuing to this day have given us many of those
so-called "lost" books. They were not lost, of course, they were forbidden
and banned.
Keep in mind that these so-called men of God who gave us
our present day New Testament, couldn't even agree on the books of John and
Revelations. For nearly 100 years they went back and forth,
identifying them as canon and then removing them.
The creation of the canon, the officially approved books that
would make up the New Testament, all took place AFTER the first
Council of Nicea which was convened by the Roman Emperor Constantiine, in 325 A.
D. There is no certain answer as to when our present New Testament
was agreed upon, only that we are sure it was sometime around 367 A.D. when the
Bishop of Alexandria, Athanasius, gave a list of 27 books that reflect our
present New Testament. However, different bibles were created
based on the declarations of canon by various church fathers and some of those
manuscripts survive to this day. Some contained books like the
Shepherd of Hermas, the Epistle of Barnabas, 1 & 2 Clement, Acts of Paul and
Revelations of Peter. These facts were never been taught to me in any
denomination I've ever attended. Rather, I was led to believe that
the entire New Testament, being absolutely essential to salvation and
necessary for the buiding up of Church, was delivered
to us shortly after the death of Jesus, as we have them
today. Nothing could be further from the truth.
But here's the real kicker.
The bible itself declares that the New Testament is "Not of the letter, but of
the Spirit" (II Cor. 3:6). Considering that the books of the
bible we today call the New Testament were not agreed upon and gathered into one
book until the late 4th Century, we have to ask ourselves, "What is the new
testament being referred to by Paul in his letter to the
Corinthians?
The New Testament is the covenant of God with
man, through his Son, Jesus, a covenant that is written on our hearts, a
covenant that is not physical, but Spiritual. The REAL New
Testament is God's living Spirit, in us. The REAL New
Testament cannot be seen or held in one's hands. And it is
abundantly clear to those who read the scriptures without the predefined
interpretations of man's denominational religion, that this is the meaning
delivered by the Apostle Paul when he declared that he and the other disciples
of Jesus Christ were "Ministers of the new testament; not of the letter,
but of the Spirit: for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives
life".
Now,
do you begin to see a pattern of deception being practiced by our
denominational leaders, who surely are educated as to how we got our present New
Testament? It may not be intentional on their part, but because they have
been taught by other men, rather than by the Holy Spirit, they are unable
to see this vital truth. For if we continue to think of the New
Testament only as a collection of scriptural letters, then we fail to comprehend
or partake in what Jesus referred to as "The mysteries of the Kingdom of
Heaven".
This is the
pattern for which God has given me discernment, that man in his desire
to create a form of Godliness has purposely transformed the great
mysteries of the Spirit, delivered to us by Jesus Christ, into tangible objects
that appeal to the masses. The New Testament is not the only
one. I'll elaborate on others in my book, "Leave the Church - Your Life
Depends On It". Given the above understanding about the REAL
New Testament it seems blasphemous to me that we call what is physical,
what can be bought and sold, our "New Testament", especially when the book
itself declares it is not!
Another major difference between the shallow "form of
religion" we have today and the deep spiritual form Jesus delivered, is that he
did not try to reach the masses and convert everyone. We have a
record of this in Matthew 13. The disciples notice that
Jesus speaks to them plainly about his parables, explaining their exact
meaning, but to the masses he speaks only in parables. They ask, "Why
do you speak to them in parables"? To which Jesus replies,
"Because it is given to you to know the Mysteries
of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given... For this
people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their
eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and
hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be
converted, and I should heal them".
In other words, Jesus respects the fact that it is the work
of the Holy Spirit to draw men and women to God. If he explains
to everyone the exact nature of his parables, then people will be getting
converted who are not ready and Jesus will be healing those who must yet
suffer in order to discover they are estranged from God and thereby call
out for God's help. The pews of countless congregations are
today filled with people who's "heart is waxed gross" because they had
everything explained to them. Many were even manipulated by "Hell fire
and brimstone" preaching. Given a choice between the possibility of
hell or heaven, many people choose heaven, even though their hearts
are spiritually gross, unable to really understand what such a
committment to Christ really means. The sad truth is that most of those
brought prematurely into the denominational church structure may never
come to know the "Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven".
And so it is that
today's Christian congregations are full of those who cannot see, hear or
understand how to abide in Christ. Others have had a
genuine rebirth in Christ, but the leaven of hyprocrisy within this false and
carnal church structure soon works it's way into their heart, causing
them to backslide. And after many years, they join other
"mature" believers, who once felt that divine spark within but who are
now content to believe that the initial zeal of a new convert must be
expected to go away as one "matures". This is a deception of
the worst sort.
What has all
this got to do with a book about prosperity and my Twelfth
Principle? Plenty. If the multi-faceted prosperity of
Total Life Success™ is your goal, not just making lots of money, then
being part of an intentional community is essential. To be part of a
3Circles Community, you must understand some of the reasons why God has led me
to these understandings, to form it in the way I propose. Whether your
participation is online or in the real world is not as important as stepping out
in faith to get involved.
Since the 1960's I have studied, visited, lived in and
created spiritually centered intentional communities. I have personally
started two communities, one before I became a Christian, and the other one
afterwards. I was also a consultant for two other community
startups. I also lived in several communes back in the 60's.
Establishing communities of faith is my calling, as revealed by God when I
was taken to heaven in June of 1974 (http://www.3circles.net/heaven).
So why, some will ask, has it
taken you three decades to establish the first 3Circles
Community? In a word, "Timing". To elaborate, I should
say, "In God's timing". Believe me, having seen God work extremely
fast in the establishment of those first two communities, I expected it
would be sooner rather than later for the first 3Circles
Community. I was wrong.
One of the things that helped me
finally realize the timing was off in the future was when, over a period of
several years, God repeatedly brought the word "infrastructure"
to mind during my meditations. I soon realized
"Infrastructure", as in facilities, communications and electric utilities,
material goods or the logistics of planning, wasn't what God was trying to get
me to understand. I began to see that creating a successful,
long-lasting, spiritually centered community is about setting up a supporting
infrastructure of ideas. Let's face it, there are going to be many
competing ideas in any community, but if there is a framework of ideas which
everyone can mostly agree with, we'll all be more focused, accomplish more, and
have a greater love and unity for one another. And believe me, if
you want to thoroughly examine the plethora of ideas surrounding community, so
that you understand which one's to keep, then integrate those with
whatever new one's God gives you by reason of inspiration, it will
take decades!!
Here are some of
the ideas I've developed and work that has been accomplished towards the
launch of 3Circles Community:
*
A clear understanding as to why it's imperative to build something new, rather
than continue with the old and attempt to fix what's already in
place.
* Developed
the foundational principles that will help each
individual discover God's plan for their life, and help the
community stay united.
*
Created a plan for community governance that establishes a balance of
power, eliminating potential problems like the founder making all the
decisions or some factions Lording it over others.
* Discovered and developed a
simple but profoud method of daily meditation, after realizing it's
necessity for tapping into God's glory-to-glory transformational power.
* Determined methods
for alleviating psychological & relational problems associated
with living in a close-knit community, based on my own
community experiences.
* Founded and managed my own
Internet access and web hosting business for 7 years, so I'd know how
to do the same for our community, thereby bypassing the need to use an
outside ISP with its attendant problem of compromised privacy for our
community.
* Developed a unique
Internet based marketing plan for 3Circles Community based businesses, one that
eliminates sales hype and offers increased levels of trust to potential
customers.
* Developed a unique
hybrid publishing model that combines author initiated self-publishing with the
distribution and marketing advantages of our own publishing business (3Circles
Community Press) allowing us to offer author commissions far above the national
average. 3Circles Community Press garners additional profits by
helping the author create an info-preneuring empire around their original
non-fiction book.
* Established three
websites, one focused on community, one on spiritual
transformation and one on business. Through these websites we
are able to provide cutting edge facilities for online conferencing, business to
business networking and web-based sales of both community and individual
member products and services.
* The writing of two books, this
one on financial freedom and a second one, called "Leave the Church -
Your Life Depends On It", that focuses on spiritual freedom.
The above milestones are one
form of consolation for my investing these many years of
labor into this calling. But the main consolation will
be the joy I see in other faces as they experience what I experienced so
long ago, knowing that this time what we build together will last for an
eternity. The time for establishment of the first 3Circles
Community is near, very near. From time to time I feel as if
I'm transported to some future time, so real are
the periodic glimpses I get of our communities life. I know
that countless generations will benefit from what we build and establish through
each 3Circles Community. Many hearts will be transformed and
enriched by the love we shed abroad. And think about the positive
effects on our children! It is for all these reasons that I
am totally confident regarding the successful establishment and future
longevity of each 3Circles Community™.
A Little Background
In the summer of 1970 I was traveling with a gypsy fellow
from Poland and his two women. This was 3 and a-half years before I
accepted Christ into my heart. We stopped at a lake to swim and as I
looked across to the other side I had a very profound experience. I
knew, I mean I really KNEW that I was to start a community on the other side of
that Lake. From that moment on I felt like I was inside some giant
vortex of energy. I was connected to that energy in such a way as to know what
to do and when to do it. Everything flowed as though it were
pre-ordained. Within two weeks from the time I revisited the Lake,
making a trip to the other side to scout it out, some 20 plus people (including
a few children) were traveling with me in various vehicles, ready to begin our
new life as a community. We had all the money we needed, all the
tools, and everyone believed it was meant to be.
When we arrived at the edge of this lake we had no boat to get to the other side. We had previously decided to build two rafts, create a make shift sail out of an old parachute, and paddle to the other side, so we did have a plan, albeit a very unorganized one. The land was Crown land, meaning it was owned by the Canadian government, but I had discovered a little known mining rights law that would prevent the authorities from throwing us off the land. This worked initially. When the police came and saw our legal mining claim, they were powerless. Eventually, however, they used immigration laws to divide and conquer, since most of us were Americans living in Canada for various reasons. At the time I did not understand the importance of meeting with the local people, who had been there way before us and were understandably fearful.
My second community experiment began in 1974, about six months after I invited the spirit of Christ into my heart. Four of us believers were led by God to start a Christian community. You can read more about that community experience by reading my free mini ebook,“Taken to Heaven©”. Just go to http://www.3circles.net/heaven.
I
learned much from starting those two communities. But the most valuable
lesson was learning what to do to prevent failure the next time. I realized I
needed an infrastructure of ideas and a plan of action for implementing
them. The ideas would be the glue, the higher purpose that draws people
together and keeps them energized and positive, focused on manifesting God's
kingdom here on earth. As a young man I was often impatient to a fault,
desiring to see 3Circles Communities become a reality that year or the next. To
me, the greatest proof of God's hand upon my life and this ministry is that I
learned to be patient, able to wait till God's wisdom manifested those
infrastructural ideas.
Over the intervening years there has been some 35 people who felt called to join with me. However, not one persevered long enough to see the vision fulfilled. Even though their spirit bore witness with my spirit, even though many admitted God spoke to them clearly and they knew it was God’s will, God’s will did not come to pass for them. I see the same pattern again and again. People, who originally believe something to be God’s will, eventually talk themselves into believing it must not be God’s will. The logic goes something like this, “If this was really God’s will, surely it shouldn’t be this hard”. Or they might say something like, “I’m not being blessed therefore it can’t be God’s will” (i.e. a “blessing” to them means something easy and immediately gratifying). Another mind game goes like this, “Since God is not the author of confusion and I’m feeling so conflicted inside, having no inner peace about this, then what I thought was God’s will must no longer (or never really was) God’s will”.
My fellow believer, when God’s will is revealed we can know
with certainty that the essence of what was revealed will not
change.
If we say that God’s will was “thus and so” and later on we deny what was
originally revealed, it is our determination that has wavered, it is our
unwillingness to suffer through the hard times that diverted us. This is our
doing, not God’s. It saddens me immensely to see this happen again and
again. I have known 4 different people who had angels appear to them,
verifying God’s will regarding what they were wrestling with, and yet 6 or 7
months later, after much re-thinking due to difficulties that subsequently
arose, they were able to totally disregard their angelic visitation, including
the great peace and joy they originally experienced! I firmly believe
that the reason for this wavering is that most believers are still caught up in
the carnal mindset of the denominational structure, and it is that leaven that
works itself into their heart again and again, preventing them from persevering
with any calling that leads them to abandon what is familiar and
comfortable. In other words, they are trained by a system that focuses on
the external scriptures for answers, more often than not this eventually renders
the Spirits calling to do something new, mute.
It is time to declare that
there is a crisis of biblical proportions among believers. That crisis is a lack of faith borne of an unwillingness to
be different, an unwillingness to take the kind of risks that cause others to
label us as "fools" or "crazy". If we truly believe we should "Be not conformed
to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind", then how is it
that we continue to live and act no different than anyone else? There is
definitely an unwillingness to suffer the slings and arrows of ridicule that
always accompanies great accomplishments.
It's inevitable that the early adopters of something new will suffer disproportionately to those who come later, after the community is established. However, those who are part of the initial creation and building of these 3Circles Communities™ will also be blessed disproportionately to the effort they put in, beyond anything those who later follow will experience. The same is true for financial remuneration. That is just the way it is in this physical universe we live in.
This same problem, remaining faithful to our original
understanding of God's will, is something each of us will face before and after
we start a home-based business, especially as we try to put into practice these
Twelve Principles of Prosperity. Without
a disciplined, vigilant mind to help keep us focused on our goal, and without
the faith and patience to see us through the inevitable difficulties that arise,
Total Life Success™ would be unattainable.
Key Concepts for 3Circles Communities
You will find
more detail on my website about 3Circles Communities. However, I want to take
the time here to explore a few concepts vital to their establishment and
success. For a community to thrive, there must be a common belief
system. How do we do this without stifling those who are already on the
path, who may be younger, limited in their understandings by their lack of
experience or knowledge but no less zealous in their desire to know the truth
and do God's will? This is the reasoning behind my concept of the 3Circles™.
In a traditional denomination (or a so-called
“non-denomination”) church membership is given only after you agree to believe
exactly as that denomination believes. In other words when you have
arrived at the “Right” understanding, you receive the "Right Hand of
Fellowship", as it's often called. But in a 3Circles Community™, membership is not determined by one’s level of
understanding or maturity, it is given to anyone who simply believes in God,
regardless of their faith, their religion, or their denominational
upbringing. What matters most is that our spirit bears
witness with their spirit, that they are open, teachable and willing to
grow. This is a more organic approach, one that allows people to
grow together, to teach and learn from one another rather than being divided by
their levels of maturity and understanding or by their socio-economic
upbringing. We are to be a community that learns from one another, a
community of thinkers, a community that breaks down barriers of socio-economic
status and educational upbringing, not a community that seeks to extend
fellowship only for those who agree to interpret the scriptures as we
do.
So, what are the "3Circles" in a 3Circles Community? The
first circle is the “Circle of Belief™”. Belief in
God, in a "Higher Power", in an intelligent design, or whatever you
might identify as the creator of the universe. This is the common thread with
which community members will weave their tapestry of forgiveness, love, unity
and economic empowerment.
However, along with a belief in God, regardless of one's
previous religion or denomination, there must be certain related, common beliefs
to form a strong core of fellowship.
Belief in the “Golden
Rule” is one such common belief, an absolute necessity if we are
to get along with one another. There isn't really much that can be said
about the Golden Rule... it is just one of the best ways to live in harmony with
others.
A
second vital, shared belief, which follows the Golden Rule principle
of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, is a belief
that God has given life to each of us, therefore we believe only God has the authority to take
life. This precludes suicide, euthanasia or abortion as an
individual "right". No one should ever choose to destroy the
life of an unborn child simply because the child was an embarrassment, an
inconvenience or not wanted. A conceived child is a sovereign being who
has a right to life and that principle demands we take up the fight for the
unborn child's right to live. However, in the area of rape or incest there
is not the same moral obligation to the child because there was force against
the mother’s will. In that case the final decision must rest with the
sovereignty of the woman’s will, whose life was forcefully changed by the
violent invasion of her being.
Of course there will be many differences of opinion on many
subjects among a diverse group of people, but this belief in the free will sovereignty of every human
being is central to a community that wishes to experience the fullness
of God's blessings. Unless we hold to the sanctity of life, unless we
assume responsibility for our actions, unless we believe only God should
have the power to give life and take it away, how can we empower our community
to value the sovereignty of each person, even those who have been
conceived but are yet unborn?
Additionally, there are the following life related
beliefs we hold in common:
* A
belief that the sovereignty of one’s nation derives from the individual
sovereignty of it’s people;
*
Upholding the sanctity of the rule of law, and in the United States, upholding
our nation’s founding documents, so long as those documents and laws promote
individual freedom and government limited by the will of the
people;
* The promotion of individual financial and spiritual
freedom;
* A desire to protect our planet for future
generations, so long as that protection does not undermine or destroy the
constitutionally guaranteed rights of the people, especially including
the right to own private property.
In other words, what leads to liberty, preservation of life and freedom
should be part of every community member’s belief system.
The second circle is the “Circle of Learning &
Vision™”. Here is the circle of people who believe life
is a lifelong journey of learning, spiritual insights and helping others. They
understand that a community should each member on their journey towards
greater awareness and freedom: spiritual, financial, emotional, and mental
freedom. To that end there will be course
materials and mentoring. We believe that "without a vision, the
people perish", therefore we believe God will enllighten each of us personally,
with our own vision of our life purpose.
The third or inner circle is "The Circle of Community". I also refer to it as the “The Gathering and Building Circle™”. Those with greater spiritual awareness, who have recognized their responsibility to share the light of God's love through forgiveness, compassionate giving and teaching, form this third circle. They actively seek to lead others to experience the same financial and spiritual freedom they have experienced. Such a person's life teaches more by example then by sermon. Many will be co-managers of their 3Circles Community™, being at the heart of its decision-making, helping to create programs that continually revitalize their community and enable its interaction with other 3Circles Communities.
I
would now like to introduce you to one of our more
important documents: The "3Circles Foundational Principles for
Individuals".
3Circles Foundational Principles for
Individuals©:
1) I believe in a power greater than myself, a creative force, a force which science is continuously proving operates by intelligent design.
2) I humble myself before that power and by quieting my mind I listen, so that I might come to KNOW what is best and what is true in life.
3) I compare myself to the perfection of that power rather than the imperfection of other humans, for the first leads to humility while the second leads to vanity and haughtiness. Through this self-discipline I have learned that no human is perfect, fully holy or totally good. Therefore, in this aspect I am equal to all others and must never respect some more than others.
4) I choose to practice the Golden Rule, to do unto others even as I would have them do unto me because I know that I, along with all other human beings, am created in the image of that intelligence which designed me, with the same qualities of creativity, sovereign free will, and physical adaptability to all environments. Therefore, I have not only the adaptability but also the consciousness and the conscience to rise above my circumstances and be a good steward of that environment which sustains me.
5) I continually choose freedom and to help others become free: physically free, mentally free, and spiritually free. I understand this principle, that whatever I put my time and money and resources into, that is what I have chosen to empower. Furthermore, I realize that whatever I empower I give some measure of power over myself. Therefore, from this moment on, I choose only to empower that which serves to make myself and others free, thereby creating a better world.
6) I accept that I am a spirit being in a fleshly body and that every spirit being has a purpose, therefore I ever seek to understand my life purpose and to help others to find theirs, that each one of us might find happiness and joy, the purpose of which is not to be free of pain or sorrow, but rather to transform sorrow into joy.
7) Having a free and sovereign will, I know that the idea of fate undermines that truth and renders it impotent. I understand that not everything happens for a reason, for the will of another may rob me temporarily of my own free will. Therefore, though not everything is part of God’s plan, whatever happens I will integrate it into God’s plan and work it out to the good.
8) God created male and female by design, not just for procreation but also for our enlightenment. Therefore, contrary to popular opinion, women need men and men need women. We make a conscious choice to embrace our differences, to understand how the opposite sex is vital to our psychological and spiritual wholeness. This is not only for our own well being, but also that there might be a good attitude of respect towards each other, order in the home and the harmony of love through all.
9) There is a hierarchy to all of creation; there is also a hierarchy of effectiveness in our prayers and meditations. By this understanding we come to realize why some prayers are harder to make effectual than others and we learn how to pray with power.
I
am not so naïve as to believe that everyone who says they believe in God
truly believs in God. I am also aware that spiritual growth is
dynamic and fluid, that I was once blinded by many of the beliefs I no longer
hold. Given this understanding, and to assure the peace and tranquility of
a community of people who have come from backgrounds of diverse faith, each
3Circles Community™ will be formed of people who agree to let go of
their traditions and their traditional beliefs in order to embrace something
totally new, something not yet known in it’s entirety.
In other words, community members decide to agree on this basic framework,
an infrastructural framework that promotes un-feigned love and freedom:
spiritual, financial, emotional, and mental freedom.
I want to spend a little more time on Spiritual Freedom. Without Spiritual Freedom our community cannot thrive. If some of our community members believe in it but others do not, there will be disharmony. The process of community growth and decay is a clearly defined historical pattern: Those with new ideas create something new; Those who had the ideas and created the community hold the power and seek to maintain the status quo; Others come along with new ideas but that means change and changes are resisted by those in power; If those with the new ideas gain a substantial following and are not accomodated, they break away and start their own community. The only way to maintain stability and avoid such a scenario is to build an infrastructure of ideas that keep the community vital and growing while at the same time maintaining a balance of power between old and new factions. Such an infrastructure has been created for the establishment of each 3Circles Community.
Individual empowerment, which is at the heart of every 3Circles Community, is enabled in direct proportion to our understanding of Spiritual Freedom. But the understanding of Spiritual Freedom requires us to also understand three interrelated ideas: Free Will; Individual Sovereignty; and The Image of God. The Biblical, Christian premise that we are created in the image of God is the core idea around which the other two, individual sovereignty and free will, revolve. if you happen to believe that man has no special place in creation and that we are no different than the animals with regards the ecology of this planet, please, afford me the courtesy of hearing me out. I can guarantee you've not encountered these ideas and reasonings before.
Here is what I have determined in my meditations regarding
what it means to be created in God’s image.
FIRST, it means that we, like God, are sovereign, because
we possess the same free will. We choose, for the promotion of a just and fair
society, to limit our sovereign individual freedoms through government.
Without imposing limits that are backed by law, man is even free to destroy
those they disagree with.
it says in our Declaration of Independence that all men and
women are created equal in terms of their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and that it was God, not
man, who endowed us with those rights. This understanding, that our
fundamental rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness come
from God and not from man and his man-made government, is unique in all the
world. It is that understanding which limits the arbitrary capricious
power that all governments wield. Our government was founded by men who
understood a government founded on equality must derive its just powers from the
consent of the governed, a sovereign people whose sovereign will
trumps that of the sovereign government they created. Anyone who
doubts that the power of our U.S. republican form of government has, from time
to time, been kept in check by the exercise of the individual free
will of it's people should go back and study their American History.
There is this pernicious lie going around, that we humans
hold no greater significance than an animal or any other part of creation for
that matter. This deception, if allowed to grow, would usher in an era of
even greater tyranny by government. When the sacredness of man's God
given free will is placed on the same level as an animals, men will soon enough
find justification for treating people like animals, to be herded, tagged and
numbered, managed and even "thinned out". The first casualty of this lie has
already taken hold. It is the dismantling of hundreds of years of legal
precedence with regards individual property rights.
The dismantling of private
property rights began with government officials creating laws which
allowed them to take away private held lands for the protection of endangered
species of wildlife. Historically endangered wildlife was protected by
setting aside public lands. But once this pandoras box was created, overly
zealous environmentalists were able to get frivolous laws passed, law that
protected the rights of insects and rodents over the rights of private
property owners.
More recently the Supreme Court of the U.S. further
eroded private property rights. For the first time in our
history, states and local municipalities have been allowed to take any
private property which could be resold to private property developers if
the new developer could show their development would substantially benefit
the municipality or state through increased revenues. All across
this nation a floodgate has been opened and those with money are taking away
private property that heretofore they could not touch, because it was previously
protected by the Constitution. In other words, the Supreme Court has
redefined the Constitution in favor of towns, cities, municipalities,
states and rich real estate developers, taking away the
rights of individuals who cannot provide the same level of financial
"benefit". For instance, long time neighborhoods of individual houses are
now being taken through this redefining of Eminent Domain, so they can
put up condos or high rises.
As an interesting aside, I believe “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” are three circles which correspond with the three I previously outlined: “Belief, Vision and Community”. LIFE is created or destroyed by what we believe and it is because of our belief in life, our determination to pursue life at all costs, that the other two circles are made possible to attain. LIBERTY comes in fullness only to those who have discovered their life purpose, their Vision, and who are actively working to fulfill that purpose. People who do not know who they are or why they are here on this earth are not truly free. HAPPINESS is not the goal, the Pursuit of Happiness is the goal, for there are no guarantees in this life that we will find it. And it is only through a connected life, a life made rich through true friendship and the love of those in one’s community that Happiness can be obtained to the greatest degree.
Now the following fact is very important to
understand. I want you to realize that government, especially a
Constitutional Republican form of government, which is the form we US citizens
have, is something that only humans are able to create, and for all it’s
inherent weaknesses it still represents man’s highest achievement.
And the reason is this, that our government, with its Declaration of
Independence, its Constitution, its Bill of Rights, and a balance of power
between the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches, has provided us with a
way to rise above the animals in this respect, that unlike their world, where it
is ALWAYS survival of the fittest, citizens of the United States are assured, by
law, that they have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,
even if they are not the brightest, the strongest, or the richest.
That egalitarian concept is
something that few ecological or anti-US protesters acknowledge or
understand. Is our society and it’s government flawed? Of
course, but when viewed in the context of history and all the other governments
on the face of this planet, it is the best ever created. This is a truth
made obvious by the millions who seek refuge and citizenship as an
American. It is not so obvious to those who have always been free, who
have taken their freedom for granted.
SECOND, being created in God’s image also means that we, like God, have a capacity to be creative and alter our environment to suit our need, enabling us to go anywhere on earth, from the tallest mountain to the greatest depths of the sea, and still survive. No other animal on planet earth can do that.
THIRD, all of mankind possesses the power of a written, as well as a spoken language. This has allowed people who speak different languages to communicate with one another and share ideas, as part of that creative process. Thus mankind was able to create commerce and multiply it’s collective wealth; initially the wealth of an extremely small number of individuals, but eventually huge numbers of poor people were brought into the middle class, having a higher standard of living then their parents ever dreamed of.
FOURTH, animals do not engage in commerce, only man does. Without commerce there is no civilization. This is a simple but profound truth. With the wealth that civilizations were able to amass, some were free to create art, sculpture and music. Others established museums and educational institutions. Eventually mankind’s creativity led to the invention of the printing press. For the first time in human history the common man was able to promote his own ideas. For millennia before, this was only possible for rich rulers and lords, those who could afford to hire the scribes who laboriously recorded the history of mankind.
We forget, in this day of corporate bashing and hatred towards the rich, that it was the capitalist system of wealth creation which finally gave us humans the resources necessary to research and develop cures to most of natures great diseases: typhoid, diphtheria, polio… the list is long. It also gave us stainless steel and smooth plastic countertops and refrigeration and household cleaning disinfectants, all of which allowed us to create a universal standard of healthy living that is today the envy of every developing country. Without those amenities we now take for granted, our life span would be much shorter, as it is in most of the undeveloped world, due to the stress of fighting off bacterial infections from spoiling foods and unclean surfaces where our food is prepared.
FIFTH, the recording of history is one more thing that man can do but animals cannot. The benefit of historical records is beyond estimation, for they enable future generations to learn from the mistakes of past generations and thereby create an even better world… assuming we teach history honestly and learn from our historical mistakes.
And yet, in spite of the obvious truths stated above, I regularly hear the whining of imbeciles, those who have lost all perspective, believing man is no more important than a plant, an animal or an insect. They turn out in vast numbers to save a beached whale (which I have no objection to, it is a worthy cause) but do nothing to save the lives of the innocent unborn they so willingly sacrifice in the name of “choice”. The baby has no choice, and neither does the man. The responsibility for this genocide I lay at the feet of the self-centered women who believe they have the right to copulate as men without consequence, with no thought for the feelings or the equally sovereign wills of the baby or the man. Many men also champion the cause of this so-called “pro-choice” position, men who have lost their way, who no longer stand for life.
The killing fields of the abortion clinics
which surround us have numbed us to this truth, that being created in the
image of God does not make us God, it simply means we have the same free will,
the same creative potential, the same responsibility as God to be good stewards
of that which he gave us dominion over. I ask you, can a plant or an
animal choose to travel to other planets; can they communicate in multiple
languages so that natural barriers to communication are removed; can they erect
cities, or develop commerce, or record their history for future generations to
learn from; does the mind of an animal have the capacity for ideas that would
result in their building schools to teach others those same ideas?
The answer to all these questions is a resounding NO, and that is why it is so
important to understand what it means to be “created in the image of
God”.
Total Life Success™ begins with understanding the importance of life,
and understanding the importance of life begins with the understanding that
we are created in the image of God. Without that understanding our
choices as to where we invest our time, money and resources will serve only to
further the present corrupt, death enabling system. That is not Total Life
Success™.
But with these understandings comes responsibility.
It is not enough to want to make money and be successful. We must also see
the bigger picture of our role in history, and the importance of improving our
civilization. However, no matter how great the man or woman, no
single person can embrace the whole in such a way as to alter history unless
they join forces with others. In the past, those who united others were
more likely to be conquerors, forcing others to join their cause under penalty
of death. But today, we can appeal to reason and we can form
societies of like-minded individuals to further our cause. We thereby
become "More than conquerors".
And so it is that I present you with my own appeal.
If what I have been saying throughout this book has given you a desire to
contribute