Jesse Fisher (playlist)

The Problem With Our World

There is no adequate explanation for what is happening throughout the world except that there is a moving of gigantic spiritual forces of evil that are gaining momentum and strength, and that behind these activities are the person and power of Satan. The Scripture says: "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" Ephesians 6:12

Those who do not study the Bible cannot possibly see beyond human affairs. They see only the human actors in the drama of history. Wicked rulers, ruthless dictators, tyrants, oppressors, kings, governors and presidents are to them the only real characters in the drama of political life. They have no conception of the unseen realm of evil personalities that energize and motivate these human agents. 

Nevertheless, the Bible is clear that the unseen personalities of the evil, supernatural sphere are just as real-and even more active-than their visible human agents. Any true interpretation of history must take into account this invisible demon activity and warfare that has been waged for centuries. The Bible teaches that demonic activity has always been prominent in history, but as the age draws to a close, it will be intensified. God is permitting, under certain restrictions, Satan and his myriad demon helpers to work at his unholy ambition. However, Scripture promises that Satan's program is doomed to failure and destruction. This doom and destruction began at the cross, where Christ died for our sins. It continued with the triumph of the resurrection, and it is going to be culminated at the coming again of Jesus Christ. Satan's destruction will demonstrate to the entire universe the folly of a creature acting in independence of and in opposition of God. Though Satan's powers are curbed by God, he nevertheless exercises tremendous authority and power today. Paul referred to Satan as the "prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2). Jesus referred to him as the "ruler of this world" (John 12:31) The Bible teaches that those outside of Christ can be organized and directed by Satan in a great evil federation. Because the world system has rejected Christ, it furnishes an ideal sphere for the operation of Satan and his demons. In order to oppose this violence, revolution and chaos throughout the world, spiritual forces must be employed.Some politicians say that the answer to our problems is to spend more money and build a bigger military machine. I warn you that this is a deception. The world battle is being fought on a spiritual level. Our desperate need is for a spiritual counterrevolution that will throw back the forces of evil. I am convinced that on the spiritual battlefield, Christ has taken up His position and is summoning His followers to stand with Him. God said in the Book of Ezekiel, "I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one" (Ezekiel 22:30). But we have such a One-Jesus Christ. The people for whom God is waiting are men and women who have caught the vision of the battlefield with all its possibilities and perils, who are awake to the devices of the enemy, and who have set themselves in union with the living Christ to attack every position Satan occupies and give deliverance from his oppression. There can be no victory while we depend on military powers alone. There can be no victory as long as we depend on our wealth to buy more friends around the world. We will only be postponing the day of reckoning. Our only hope is that the remnant of God's people will pay the price of intercession, prayer and obedience. A few years after King Jehoshaphat came to the throne, a great multitude from beyond the sea came against him. There seemed no possibility of victory. There was only one way out of the difficulty, and he took it. Desperately he called upon the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughput Judah. A swordless victory was won because the Israelites first repented of their sins and sought the Lord. On the spiritual battlefield today, the Lord is calling for volunteers who will pay the price to throw back the enemy. It is in prayer and obedience that we fight the battle. Because of the authority that belongs to the crucified and risen Son of God, situations on the earth can be controlled, forces in the unseen realms moved, changes effected, powers of evil dislodged and routed, and the purposes of God pressed forward to final triumph. World leaders have asked me, "What is wrong with the world? Why can we not solve our problems?" Each time I have replied, "It is impossible for you to understand what is happening in the world until you understand that this is a spiritual warfare." The Bible teaches that the whole human race has a spiritual disease called sin. It has gripped the human heart. Until we understand that man is sinful before God and that he has the possibility of being controlled by evil forces under the direction of Satan, we will never understand what is wrong with our world. In this hour of the plight of the nation, we should not ignore the hand of God, which has worked miracles of deliverance when God's people have understood that the problem is sin, repented of their sin and tuned to God. The tragedy is that we have so few statesmen who understand what is actually happening in our world. Let us stand together in prayer, making possible a release of divine power in this nation. The call to each of us who loves Christ is to pray for His intervening mercies. Mere eloquence in prayer is without value. Moses stammered, but his prayer was answered. Hannah muttered words that men misunderstood, but she triumphed in her intercession. Her problem was physical barrenness; our problem today is that we are spiritually barren. Oh, that Christians would cry with passion for the lost and unconverted, that they might be born from above. Oh, that the thousands of pastors might be heartbroken about the barrenness of their people. Spiritual revival comes as a result of the broken and contrite church, bowed in supplication and intercession, distressed at the sight of perishing millions. They may wait for days, weeks and even months until the Spirit of God moves upon and through them, until Heaven opens in revival blessing and a nation is stirred and blessed and even saved. In our barrenness today, let us call upon God and believe He will give us fruit in this hour of world crisis. 

I am convinced that hell's legions can be stopped and turned back. I am convinced that the invading heathen darkness can be hurled back. It is not too much to believe that the Lord can endue people with a baptism of the Holy Spirit for this end-time ministry as He did at Pentecost. Then Jerusalem trembled under God-intoxicated men from the Upper Room. It is not too much now to believe that God can shake this nation in a manner of months. But we must repent of our unbelief, weep over our unfruitfulness and take time to be holy. 

BILLY GRAHAM

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

"If you want to achieve your highest aspirations and overcome your greatest challenges, identify and apply the principle or natural law that governs the results you seek."

How we apply a principle will vary greatly and will be determined by our unique strengths, talents, and creativity, but, ultimately success in any endeavor is always derived from acting in harmony with the principles to which the success is tied.
Many people do not think this way, at least consciously. In fact, you will increasingly find that principled solutions stand in stark contrast to the common practices and thinking of our popular culture. Allow me to illustrate this contrast with a few of the most common human challenges we face.

Fear and insecurity. So many people today are gripped with a sense of fear. They fear for the future. They feel vulnerable in the workplace. They are afraid of losing their jobs and their ability to provide for their families. This vulnerability often fosters a resignation to riskless living and co-dependency with others at work and at home. Our culture's common response to this problem is to become more and more independent. "I'm going to focus on 'me and mine.' I'll do my job, do it well, and get on to my real joys off the job." Independence is an important, even vital, value and achievement. The problem is, we live in an interdependent reality, and our most important accomplishments require interdependency skills well beyond our present abilities.

I want it now. People want things and want them now. "I want money. I want a nice, big house, a nice car, the biggest and best entertainment center. I want it all and I deserve it." Though today's "credit card" society makes it easy to "get now and pay later," economic realities eventually set in, and we are reminded, sometimes painfully, that our purchases cannot outstrip our ongoing ability to produce. Pretending otherwise is unsustainable. The demands of interest are unrelenting and unforgiving. Even working hard is not enough. With the dizzying rate of change in technology and increasing competition driven by the globalization of markets and technology, we must not only be educated, we must constantly re-educate and reinvent ourselves. We must develop our minds and continually sharpen and invest in the developmental of our competencies to avoid becoming obsolete. At work, the bosses, drive results, and for good reason. Competition is fierce; survival is at stake. The need to produce today is today's reality and represents the demands of capital, but the real mantra of success is sustainability and growth. You may be able to meet your quarterly numbers, but the real question is, are you making the necessary investment that will sustain and increase that success one, five, and ten years from now? Our culture and Wall Street screams for results today. But the principles of balancing the need to meet today's demands with the need to invest in the capabilities that will produce tomorrow's success is unavoidable. The same's true of your health, your marriage, your family relationships, and your community needs.

Blame and victimism. Wherever you find a problem, you will usually find the finger-pointing of blame. Society is addicted to playing the victim. "If only my boss wasn't such a controlling idiot...If only I hadn't been born so poor...If only I lived in a better place...If only I hadn't inherited such a temper from my dad...If only my kids weren't so rebellious...If only the other department didn't mess up orders all the time...If only we weren't in such a declining industry...If only our people weren't so lazy and without a drive...If only my wife was more understanding...If only...If only." Blaming everyone and everything else for our problems and challenges may be the norm and may provide temporary relief from the pain, but it also chains us to these very problems. Show me someone who is humble enough to accept and take responsibility for his or her circumstances and courageous enough to take whatever initiative is necessary to creatively work his or her way through or around these challenges, and I'll show you the supreme power of choice.

Hopelessness. The children of blame are cynicism and hopelessness. When we succumb to believing that we are victims of our circumstances and yield to the plight of determination, we lose hope, we lose drive, and we settle into resignation and stagnation. "I am a pawn, a puppet, a cog in the wheel and can do nothing about it. Just tell me what to do." So many bright, talented, people feel this and suffer the broad range of discouragement and depression that follows. The survival response of popular culture is cynicism-"just lower your expectations of life to the point that you aren't disappointed by anyone or anything." The contrasting principle of growth and hope throughout history is the discovery that "I am the creative force of my life."

Lack of life balance. Life in our cell phone society is increasingly complex, demanding, stressful and absolutely exhausting. For all our efforts to manage our time, do more, be more, and achieve greater efficiency through the wonders of modern technology, why is it we increasingly find ourselves in the "thick and thin things"- subordinating health, family, integrity, and many of the things that matter most to our work? The problem is not our work, which is the sustaining engine of life. It's not the complexity or change. The problem is that our modern culture says, "go in earlier, stay later, be more efficient, live with the sacrifice for now- but the truth is that balance and peace of mind are not produced by these; they follow the person who develops a clear sense of his or her highest priorities and who lives with focus and integrity toward them.

What's in it for me? Our culture teaches us that if we want something in life, we have to "look out for number one." It says, "Life is a game, a race, a competition, and you better win it." Schoolmates, work colleagues, even family members are seen as competitors- the more they win, the less there is for you. Of course we try to appear generous and cheer for others' successes, but inwardly, privately, so many of us are eating our hearts out when others achieve. Many of the great things in the history of our civilization have been achieved by the independent will of a determined soul. But the greatest opportunities and boundless accomplishments of the Knowledge Worker Age are reserved for those who master the art of "we." True greatness will be achieved through the abundant mind that works selflessly-with mutual respect, for mutual benefit.

The hunger to be understood. Few needs of the human heart are greater than the need to be understood-to have a voice that is heard, respected, and valued-to have influence. Most believe that the key to influence is communication- getting your point across clearly and speaking persuasively. In fact, if you think about it, don't you find that, while others are speaking to you, instead of really listening to understand, you are often busy preparing your response? The real beginning of influence comes as others sense you are being influenced by them-when they feel understood by you-that you have listened deeply and sincerely, and that you are open. But most people are too vulnerable emotionally to listen deeply-to suspend their agenda long enough to focus on understanding before they communicate their own ideas. Our culture cries out for, even demands, understanding and influence. However, the principle of influence is governed by mutual understanding born of the commitment of at least one person to deep listening first.

Conflict and Differences. People share so much in common, yet are so magnificently different. They think differently; they have different and sometimes competing values, motivations, and objectives. Conflicts naturally arise out of these differences. Society's competitive approach to resolving the conflict and differences tends to center on "winning as much as you can." Though much good has come out from the skillful art of compromise, where both sides give on their positions, until an acceptable middle point is reached, neither side ends up truly pleased. What a waste to have differences drive people to the lowest common denominator between them. What a waste to fail to unleash the principle of creative cooperation in developing solutions to problems that are better than either party's original notion!

Personal Stagnation. Human nature is four dimensional- body, mind, heart, and spirit. Consider the differences and fruits of the two approaches:

BODY
Cultural tendency: maintain lifestyle; treat health problems with surgery and medication.
Principle: prevent diseases and problems by aligning lifestyle to be in harmony with established, universally accepted principles of health.

MIND
Culture: watch television, "entertain me."
Principle:  read broadly and deeply, continuous education.

HEART
Culture: use relationships with others to forward your personal, selfish interests.
Principle: deep, respectful listening and serving others brings greatest fulfillment and joy.

SPIRIT
Culture: succumb to growing secularism and cynicism.
Principle: recognize that the source of our basic need for meaning and of the positive things we seek in life is principles-which natural laws I personally believe have their source in God.

I invite you to keep both these universal challenges and your own unique needs and challenges in mind. As you do, you will find enduring solutions and direction. You will also find the contrast between the popular culture's approach and the timeless, principled approach of the ages will become more and more evident.

STEPHEN R. COVEY 

Why I chose to study Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic medicine is a system of medicine based on the belief that the human body has a remarkable innate healing ability. Naturopathic Physicians view the patient as a complex interrelated system and focus on promoting health through natural, nontoxic therapies such as nutrition, lifestyle modification, herbal remedies, psychological measures, and many others. The new paradigm in medicine also focuses on the interconnectedness of body, mind, emotions,  social factors, and the environment. While the old paradigm viewed the body basically as a machine that can be fixed best with drugs and surgery, the emerging new model considers these measures secondary to natural, noninvasive techniques that promote health by supporting the body's own healing processes. 

A Brief History

Naturopathy (“nature cure”) is a method of healing that employs various natural means to empower an individual to achieve the highest level of health possible. Despite its philosophical links to many cultures, modern naturopathic medicine grew out of natural healing systems in 18th- and 19th-century Europe and the United States. The European tradition of “taking the cure” at natural springs or spas had gained a foothold in America by the middle of the 18th century. The custom helped make Germany and the United States especially receptive to the ideas of naturopathy. Among the movement’s earliest promoters were Sebastian Kneipp, a priest who credited his recovery from tuberculosis to bathing in the Danube; and Benedict Lust, a physician who trained at the water-cure clinic that Kneipp had founded in Europe. Lust arrived in the United States in the 1890s and began using the term naturopathy to describe an eclectic compilation of doctrines of natural healing.

In 1902, Lust founded the first naturopathic college of medicine in the United States in New York City. It taught a system of medicine that included the best of what was then known about nutritional therapy, natural diet, herbal medicine, homeopathy, spinal manipulation, exercise therapy, hydrotherapy, electrotherapy, stress reduction, and other natural therapies. The basic tenets of Lust’s view of naturopathy are summarized in his article “The Principles, Aim and Program of the Nature Cure”:1

The early naturopaths, including Lust, attached great importance to a natural, healthful diet. So did many of their contemporaries. John Kellogg, a physician, Seventh-day Adventist, and vegetarian, ran the Battle Creek Sanitarium, which utilized natural therapies; his brother, Will, built and ran a factory in Battle Creek, Michigan, to produce health foods such as shredded wheat and granola biscuits. Driven both by personal convictions about the benefits of cereal fibers and by commercial interests, the Kellogg brothers, along with a former employee, C. W. Post, helped popularize naturopathic ideas about food.

Naturopathic medicine grew and flourished in the early part of the 20th century. However, in the mid-1930s several factors led to the medical profession’s establishing the foundation for its current virtual monopoly on health care: (1) the medical profession finally stopped using therapies such as bloodletting and mercury dosing, replacing them with new therapies that were more effective for treating symptoms and much less toxic; (2) foundations supported by the drug industry began heavily subsidizing medical schools and drug research; and (3) the medical profession became much more of a political force, resulting in the passing of legislation that severely restricted the viability of other health care systems.2

The Philosophy of Naturopathic Medicine

Although the term naturopathy or naturopathic medicine was not used until the late 19th century, the philosophical roots of this medical system go back thousands of years. Drawing on the healing wisdom of many cultures, including India's ayuryeda, China's Taoism, and Greece's Hippocratic school of medicine, naturopathic medicine is a system founded on seven time-tested principles:

Principle 1: The healing power of nature (vis medicatrix naturae). Naturopathic physicians believe that the body has considerable power to heal itself. It is the role of the physician to facilitate and enhance this process with the aid of natural nontoxic therapies.

Principle 2: Identify and treat the cause (tolle causam). The naturopathic physician is trained to seek the underlying causes of a disease rather than simply supress the symptoms, which are viewed as expressions of the body's attempt to heal. The causes of disease can arise at the physical, mental-emotional, and spiritual levels. 

Principle 3: First, do no harm (primum non nocere). The naturopathic physician seeks to do no harm with medical treatment by employing safe and effective natural therapies.

Principle 4: Treat the whole person (holism). Naturopathic physicians are trained up to view an individual as a whole, a complex interaction of physical, mental-emotional, spiritual, social, and other factors. 

Principle 5: The physician as teacher (docere). The naturopathic physician is foremost a teacher, educating, empowering, and motivating the patients to assume more personal responsibility for their health by adopting a healthful attitude, lifestyle, and diet. 

Principle 6: Prevention is the best cure. Naturopathic physicians are specialists in preventive medicine. Prevention of disease and support of health are accomplished through education and life habits. 

Principle 7: Establishing health and wellness. Establishing and maintaining optimal health and promoting wellness are the primary goals of the naturopathic physician. While health is defined as a state of health characterized by a positive emotional state. The naturopathic physician strives to increase the level of wellness regardless of the disease or level of health. Even in cases of severe disease, a high level of wellness can often be achieved.  

Naturopathic Therapy

Naturopathic physicians' primary focus is on promoting health and preventing disease. In addition to providing recommendations on lifestyle, diet, and exercise, naturopathic physicians may elect to utilize a variety of therapeutic modalities to promote health.

Mother Dying of Cancer Gives a Godly, Life Changing Final Speech

Agape Love

Agape is selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love, the highest of the four types of love in the Bible.

 A love that stems from the ability of the initiate to see the divine spark in all life.

In Ancient Greek, it often refers to a general affection or deeper sense of  "true love" rather than the attraction suggested by "eros".  Agape is used in the biblical passage known as the "love chapter," 1 Corinthians 13, and is described there and throughout the New Testament as sacrificial love. Agape is also used in ancient texts to denote feelings for one's children and the feelings for a spouse, and it was also used to refer to a love feast. Agape was appropriated by Christians for use to express the unconditional love of God.

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

"In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:37-39

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

"See what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are." 1 John 3:1

"Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law." Romans 13:8

"Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them." John 14:21

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7

"A new command I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you; you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35

"Saving us is the greatest and most concrete demonstration of God's love, the definitive display of his grace throughout time and eternity." David Jeremiah