Sunday, October 28, 2007

Rise of the Mega-Pastor

The book and movie The Secret are very much inspired by the Wallace Wattles book The Science of Getting Rich. In fact this is the book that Rhonda reports being given by her daughter that started everything off for her. (The cover page shot in the movie shows a different book, which is Secret of The Ages by Robert Collier).

I wish to address the following passage from The Science of Getting Rich:

"What is now needed is a demonstration of the science of life from the pulpit. We want preachers who can not only tell us how, but who in their own persons will show us how. We need the preacher who will himself be rich, healthy, great, and beloved, to teach us how to attain to these things; and when he comes he will find a numerous and loyal following."

Mr. Wattles wrote this 100 years ago. If he were alive today, I think he would visit Houston, point to Lakewood Church, and say: See! I told you so!

If you are one of the five people in America who have not heard of Lakewood Church or Pastor Joel Osteen, it is a non-denominational church following similar theology and methods as an Assembly of God church would. Pastor Osteen draws crowds of several tens of thousands every weekend, filling up the former Compaq Center, where the Houston Rockets used to play basketball. At the rate they are growing it seems that the currently unused 60,000 seat Astrodome might be the church's next location. The television audience is numbered in the millions.

To put things in a little perspective, I estimate that about 3-4 million people have had the opportunity to see the DVD movie The Secret. Pastor Osteen reaches twice that many people directly every single week. I do not know the numbers for the book.

And yet several other pastors and leaders from other churches level much criticism for Lakewood Church being really light on doctrine or even repentence, which is scarcely mentioned. In my mind Pastor Osteen is more a motivational speaker than a Pastor, but having grown up as the son of the former Pastor of Lakewood church it was natural for him to follow in his father's footsteps.

And yet to attend motivational seminars that are half as good as what is presented at Lakewood costs several hundred dollars. At Lakewood, the services and the parking are free. The church brings in millions upon millions of dollars from donations from the congregation and from the TV audience, which is quite interesting because the do not show collection on the TV program, and they never ask for money on the TV version (a great plan given what some TV preachers have done in the past).

So, why is this Pastor so popular?

Because his message describes a loving God who is always working to bring better things into our lives. All of his sermons discuss different ways that we block Him from doing that, and how we can stop blocking Him. It is a refreshing change of pace from those who preach that God is uncaring or uninterested in the details of a single persons life, or the message that true spirituality is obtained through poverty and lack.

As information comes to light in this age about the Law of Attraction, we can begin to understand how it was us, and not God, who caused most of what we are complaining about to happen to us. This is an important distinction!

If our afflictions are sent to us by God, then we would be absolutely powerless to do anything about them at all except for muddle through, and pray to the God who sent them to take them away. Does this seem like a disconnect to anyone?

What if instead we attracted them ourself? True or Not, this is a more empowering idea. You see if God is the cause of your afflictions, then i do not know how you do anything different than live your entire life as a victim. The God in this thought universe is the God of Justice, brimstone and damnation.

If instead you attracted them yourself via the Law of Attraction, then guess what? You can do something about it! Given we are taught that God helps those who help themselves, it is apparent that we were meant to do something about it ourselves. The God of this thought universe is the mentor, the loving father, the advocate. The one who wants to bless us with more than we can imagine, but also the one who knows when we are ready to handle something.

Pastor Osteen does exactly what Wallace Wattles said 100 years ago, and he certainly does not lack for a following.

Here is another item to consider. The success of Pastor Osteen is but an example of the success that every human being can attract once they get in line with the Universe and start using the talents that they were blessed with. Combine that with some marketing work to find the right audience, and a similar success story can belong to anyone else who seeks it.

And we should all seek it. How would you like to go to different cities and towns and have hundreds of people line up all telling you that you have so inspired them, that their life is so much better now since they have come to know you. Talk about a virtuous circle, here is the case of someone living in the magic of life.

All of us are meant to do the same, no matter how much we ignore it.

Joseph

Monday, October 22, 2007

The Evidence All Seems to Lead to This . . .

If you watch the DVD or read the book The Secret, then you have a great introduction to the Law of Attraction.

The movie says that the Law of Attraction is everywhere, if you are knowing what it is.

With this in mind, let's look at some of the current trends in the world and see if there is a Law of Attraction reason for them occurring. I will present all the evidence, and then draw a conclusion at the end. The conclusion will be something to consider, not doctrine.

1. The rich are getting richer. This is a matter of simple statistics. There are more millionaires than ever before, and the 400 richest people in the world are worth more than ever before. These numbers are growing in both cases, as more millionaires and more billionaires are coming along all the time.

2. The poor are getting poorer, and the middle class is shrinking. The reason that the middle class is shrinking is that more and more of them are joining the ranks of the rich or the poor.

3. According to the Bible and most Christian Churches, the wickedness on the Earth is increasing. It is projected that this will continue to happen up until the return of the Lord to the Earth.

4. This fact is less well known but should not be . . . but the spiritual gifts being bestowed upon the faithful are also increasing. The Spirit of the Lord is being felt by more and more people, and the work of the Lord is increasing in the Earth, and is also projected to continue doing so until and beyond when the Lord comes again.

5. Courtesy of the Internet and the Information Age, it is easier to start a new home based business now than ever before, and increasing numbers of those businesses are successful.

6. Courtesy of the credit card and banking industries, it is now easier to get into tremendous amounts of debt than ever before in history. This trend seems to continue as well.

7. The Network Marketing industry, once dismissed as a sham by most normal people, is growing more in the current 10 year period than it did in the last 50 years. More and more folks are trying Network Marketing, and more and more are succeeding. Big time recommendations for the industry are now coming from folks like Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump. This industry gives a person 100% control of their paycheck, for good or bad.

8. There seem to be more and more natural disasters occurring than there were before. Some would blame Global Warming. Whether that is a real thing or not, there is much more to this than what Global Warming could explain.

9. There is an increasing interest in books and movies like The Secret. Once thought of as "new age religion", now the ideas presented in the movie are reaching millions of people who are not new age followers.

10. There is an increasing interest in what we can collectively call the "dark arts", such as witchcraft and other related things.

11. There is a Wellness revolution going on in the world. More and more people are looking for products that will make them more healthy and will help them live longer.

12. The medical/hospital/drug industry is doing record business that is increasing all the time. A funny thing to consider when you understand that no one really wants to be a customer of this industry. In the US more than 1/7 of the entire economy is health care and related expenses. Currently this is more than one trillion dollars!

13. On national standardized tests, more people are scoring higher than in past years. Perfect scores on the SAT and the ACT were seldom heard of twenty years ago but are happening more often now. Some people are getting smarter and smarter all the time.

14. General test scores for the entire population are decreasing and the numbers of dropouts is increasing to levels not ever seem before.

15. Courtesy of the Internet, there is now more information at anyone's fingertips than ever before in human history.

16. The general ignorance level of society seems to be on the rise, despite the fact that the information is more available than ever before.

17. The amounts of layoffs that are occurring in the corporate world is increasing, and the number of people leaving jobs because they have found better jobs is also increasing. The amount of time on average that someone spends in a specific job is decreasing.

18. The number of jobs to do and business opportunities that are out there is greatly increasing, but the number of people who are willing to do these jobs and take risks on a new business is decreasing.

19. The amount of time that people spend watching television is increasing, along with the numbers of channels available. The amount of good information that can be learned from the television is steadily decreasing, even on the so called "news" channels.

20. The Democratic party is moving to the left, and the Republican party is moving to the right, and there seems to be less and less room in the center. Also in the United States, there seems to be about a 50/50 split between Democrats and Republicans, judging by recent national elections.

So, it appears that everything is being pushed to the extremes, or to the poles.

WHY ??

Because the Vibration of the entire Earth is INCREASING.

What does that mean? It means that the Earth's energy field is moving with an increased vibration, and as a result, the Law of Attraction is working faster.

Those who attract wealth are getting more all the time. Those who attract financial struggle are getting more and more of that. The middle class is disappearing because as the vibration increases, they will be forced into attracting riches or attracting struggle, the middle ground will disappear.

The righteous attract more righteousness. The wicked attract more wickedness. The fence sitters and the neutrals will be bumped in one direction or the other, because the middle ground is disappearing. Depending on how far this goes, we may find that we are either moving mountains with our faith, or fighting against God. Events will continue to happen that push us off the fence.

Notice how the common theme in everything else that I described is the disappearence of the middle ground. In the higher vibrational future we will either be really smart or really not.

So what do we want to do with this information?

Take a second to make sure you know which direction you are going.

Because the higher vibrartion of the Earth is going to push you there faster than you expected to get there, for good or bad.

So where are you headed?

Joseph

Friday, October 12, 2007

What is the best thing that you can do ??

For yourself or for another . . . What is the best thing that you can do?

Consider the following from the DVD movie The Secret from Joe Vitale (Also Book P. 37):

"It's really important that you feel good, because this feeling good is what goes out as a signal into the Universe and starts to attract more fo itself to you. So the more you can feel good, the more you will attract the things that will help you feel good, and are able to keep bringing you up higher and higher."

This is one of the facets of The Secret that is so simple, I am convinced that many completely ignore it. How could just feeling good help anything, and how can we feel good when we have this thing and that thing and life keeps happening to us?

Well, this is reactive mode, and it is the way that we have generally been taught to approach life. Wait for something to happen and then react to it. Learn something first and then do it. Look for someone who is nice and then be nice back. Do something, so that you can Be something.

I would argue that The Secret teaches us to live life in Proactive mode. Decide what we will feel and then feel it. Do something in order to learn it. Be nice first with no particular concern about the response. Be something, so that you can Do something.

Other aspects taught in the movie help this one. Feeling Gratitude is feeling good, there is no separation. Visualizing what we want should feel good, and if it does not then we need to do it differently so that it does feel good. Taking inspired action really feels good, because it is taken with the knowledge that the Universe is behind us every step of the way.

Asking should feel good. Truly believing feels really good, and if it does not then we are not truly believing. Unbelief is a real stopper. It must be smashed. Receiving feels great!

Doubt and Fear, or anything else on the bad side of the Emotional guidance scale, never feel good. Nor do negative thoughts, but The Secret is not about preventing those from slipping in, it's about how to show them the exit.

So you have a friend who is not where they want to be perhaps. The best thing that they could do would be to feel good. Perhaps the best thing that could be said to them is "Get a better feeling", but if they are unfamiliar with The Secret they will not likely understand that.

What is the best thing for us if we perceive we are not where we want to be?

Get a better feeling, and do it in the NOW.

Joseph

Friday, October 5, 2007

How Much Does Enlightenment Cost?

I will be on a tightrope for this one, because there are some fine lines here.

I once went to an investment seminar that cost about a thousand dollars. Using the tools I was taught at that seminar, and believing that I was a pro because of attending that seminar, I proceeded to lose several thousand dollars in the stock market. I do not play the market anymore. I learned one thing for my thousands of dollars lost and spent: The market is controlled by fear and greed. The truth of the matter is that no one knows which way the market will go tomorrow, but everyone can tell you why it did what it did today.

You know what? People who were friends of mine had tried to tell me that, but I did not believe them. That unbelief cost me thousands of dollars. I would have to say that the one thousand dollar seminar was not a good value.

There was one thing said at the seminar that did impress me however. One of the presenters asked the crowd if they were suddenly given $20,000.00 to invest, how much of that would they spend on their financial education, and how much would they invest directly?

The presenter said that he would spend 15 of 20 thousand on his financial education, and I remember being impressed by that.

So here is something I found that was a great value . . . The DVD movie The Secret. For just over $30.00 (shipping included) one can have this DVD that presents the Law of Attraction, and does a great job explaining it! The book The Secret, at a similar price, is also a great value.

There are many other books that talk about these topics, several by the teachers in the movie. These are all fairly inexpensive, and the several I have read have all been very good.

Even I got into the act! I wrote a 30 page eBook around The Secret DVD that goes more in depth into the history, some of the subliminal things in the movie, trivia pieces, and a whole lot more. All of that can be had for less than the cost of the movie as well. Do you know which teacher got the most time in each edition? Read my eBook and find out!

But what about the two thousand dollar seminar that purports to reveal all of the "secrets that were left out of the secret" ??

You will undoubtedly get some great information out of such a seminar, but at that price point, it is pretty difficult to see the value it would provide, because your earning power would have to change fairly drastically and quickly to make up for that much money out the door. One would really need to compare and see if they would not make more money by placing that 2000 dollars in a safe investment that returned money to them.

There is the aspect that someone will take it more seriously if they spend so much money on it. Everyone has to decide for themself if this is true for them. I say: Would it not be easier to train ourself to take something seriously without having to put that much money down?

My concern is mostly for those who are new to all of the ideas in The Secret, and who will plop down a large amount of money in the hopes that this will save them from having to do their own research and come to their own understanding.

So I offer a humble suggestion. Set a percentage of your income that you will spend on your own personal development. There is not a better thing in the world to spend money on, except for buying assets that put money in your pocket every month. If you can, start a business in a area where you have talent and enjoying doing it and set aside a percentage of those profits as well for your personal development.

In the beginning with this plan you would have to start out small. Buy a couple of books, or get them at the library. Put what you learn into production and see if it brings you increased income or increased enjoyment which will lead to increased income. Use the books to grow your business. Do not forget the books on Sales and Marketing.

As your business grows, or you income increases as a result of doing this, you will have more to spend and will graduate to buying more expensive things.

But here is a critical point . . . .

If you business does not grow, and your income or your enjoyment have not increased, then it means that there are some basic elements of The Secret which you have not understood yet in their entirety. If you have not yet fully understood and proven the basics, then spending more money will not typically help you. It would be like taking calculus before understanding algebra. You will learn some neat things, but it will not help you.

Is this a failure if we go this way? Only in the sense that everyone's ultimate path to success is built on what they have learned from previous failures. Avoiding failure is a 100% known way to never reach a big success.

So stick to the plan. There is enough in the initial book or DVD to get someone started in the right direction. There is enough additional information for free on the Internet to keep us busy at first. Let's make sure we understand the basics via proving it with increased income and increased enjoyment. It is a staircase to success, not a high jump.

Joseph

Monday, October 1, 2007

God and The Secret

Those of you who have watched the movie The Secret or read the book know that they reveal some amazing things, many of which seem like spiritual truths.

And yet they are not doing it from the point of view of any specific religion. In fact the concept of God is barely mentioned; and never discussed.

Add to that the quote by Neale Donald Walsch about "no one will stand in judgement of it, now or forever", and it is not a surprise that some start to wonder if the truths taught in The Secret can be reconciled with their religious beliefs. And what about all the money? Materialism?

If you have had any of that conflict within you, then I salute you. The truths taught in this movie are very powerful, and yet it is a good thing for us to be careful at first with any new information until we can apply the "test of truth" to it.

And what is the "test of truth"? That is the question now isn't it! For those who follow the Christian scriptures, the answer is given by the Lord Himself: "By their fruits ye shall know them". In other scripture we read that "all that is good cometh from God".

Things that are good invite, entice, and persuade all men to do good. The movie makes the delicate point that you must think good before you can really do good. All of their efforts to help us "think good" are for one sole purpose, and that is so that we might do more good, provide more value, enhance more lives, including our own. The movie is making the point that we must enhance our own life before we can clearly enhance another, and this is in line with the messages from Robert Collier and Wallace Wattles upon whom much of this work is based.

So the question becomes: Does the movie and the book do the things that we just described?

Everyone must answer this question for themselves, I would never presume to do it for you.

But if you come to the answer that it is good, and as such ultimately from God, then comes the part of fitting it in with what you already believe about God.

This need not be an arduous exercise. I cannot spell out how every belief fits in because there is a very wide variety of religious beliefs, but I can state a few things that may help. Obtaining clarity of mind and singleness of purpose will bring the required inspiration for the rest.

1. Why is God mentioned so little in the movie?
A: I make a guess, because I was not involved in the production of the movie, but I am pretty sure it was done in order to make the movie acceptable to as wide an audience as possible. If any hint of the movie leaning towards any specific religion appeared, then a great many people who were not of that faith might feel less welcomed. This was done because it had to be done to reach as wide of an audience as it has reached.

2. What does the Neale Donald Walsch quote mean about no one standing in judgement?
A: Neale can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that he is referring to what we decide to do with our life, i.e. our career or our choice of what to do with our free time. There are some who believe that God wills them to a certain career, which in some cases is a career that they do not enjoy. The movie says "Follow Your Bliss". He is saying that God will not adversely judge those that do so. The scriptures say that man should, of his own free will and choice, bring to pass much righteousness, and be anxiously engaged in a good cause; and following one's bliss will always lead to a career or a business that will provide great value to others, and bring much good to the world. Compare this to slaving away at a job we do not like ??

3. They talk so much about money and lots of it, but isn't it more spiritual to be poor? I mean, when the Lord was here, he did not seek for riches.
A: 100% the truth! The Lord did not seek Himself for riches, although the temptor tried to use them to entice Him once. When you have the command of the Natural Laws of the Universe as He did, and can manifest food and other things at any time, then there would be little need to ever worry about money or how much of it you had.
But for the rest of us, the scripture says this: By the sweat of your face shall you eat your bread all the days of your life . . .

The world runs by money. Those breadwinners who do not attempt to earn some are not doing what they should. The scripture says that it is the love of money that is the root of all evil, and others have said that it is the lack of money that is the root of all evil.

But it is the love of people that is the root of all good, independent of any amount of money.

There is one case and one case only where it is more spiritual to be poor . . . it is the case of someone who loves something else, possibly money, more than people. The poverty that is faced will often help the person to humble themselves, and seek for God. Those who humble themselves and seek for God will of a surety find Him. Once they find Him, then the way will be made clear for them to love their fellow man.

A prophet once said to a group of the poverty stricken: I behold that your poverty hath humbled you, and in your humility you have sought the Lord and been blessed. But more blessed are those who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; those who remember the Lord and love people in their prosperity. Those who give thanks in all things.

Unto such will more prosperity be given, because they use it to bring value and good to the world, and thus the vibration is strengthened.

So is it more spiritual to be poor? Only in the case described above. If we love people, and are providing value to the world, then having more money will only mean one thing:

We will have more resources with which to love people, and bring more value to the world.

And we will ultimately conquer lack thinking, which has been programmed into most of us for years and years and for generations and generations. I personally see this as one of the great awakenings of this life; the chance to conquer lack thinking once and for all.

Because where we are going, it will not serve us. Greater enlightenment is now coming to the world, not moving away from it.

Those who are grateful for the enlightenment that they have will recieve more, yea even an hundred fold.

Joseph