Jonathots Daily Blog
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That Always Justify Your Existence
1. Ask the question which everyone is avoiding
2. Answer the need which others have ignored
1 Thing You Can Do This Week to Make the World a More Flowing Place
Start with agreement
One of the more nasty vices that has slipped into our society is the attitude that we must establish how we disagree with one another in order to keep our ideas, our politics and our faith pure.
We lead with it.
We watch a movie and criticize it instead of first offering the things we enjoyed.
We read a book and tear into it before we share the parts that were enlightening.
We listen to music and complain that it’s derivative or doesn’t have the right beat or lyrics, instead of isolating off the portion that was enriching.
I do believe if you came to Almighty God and asked Him to say one nice thing about Satan, He would reply, “You know, he used to work here—as an angel.”
It won’t kill us to do this
And doing so will set in motion a completely different mindset and manifestation of emotion in the room.
Start with agreement
Then if you feel a need for further comment, enter at your own risk.
It’s a wonderful way to cut down on the animosity that has cropped up in the “Mean Streets.”
Just remember it this way:
First, agree.
Then suggest.
And if you must…
Share the rest.
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G-Poppers … December 9th, 2016
Jonathots Daily Blog
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Facebook is actually rather faceless.
Church has become more worship than fellowship.
Politics is about winning instead of communicating.
Concerts are darkened halls, where only the stage is lit up.
G-Pop contends that we’ve lost something. Maybe we’ve sacrificed it. Maybe it was taken away from us to promote corporate profit. Who knows?
But somewhere along the line, the ability to sit down with another human being, share a sandwich and let the small talk grow until it’s big has been lost.
During G-Pop’s holiday time, he has sought out occasions to be with individuals or tiny handfuls of people who use the instigation of a little bit of food to create great thought. The process is so precious and free of complexity that we’ve abandoned it in this era of prideful over-dramatic expressions.
Here’s how it works:
1. Convene.
Find a location that doesn’t need your attention, which can be a catalyst for dialogue.
2. Converse.
Yes, talk. It doesn’t have to be deep, but it will become meaningful because we quickly run out of foolishness and begin to favor some heart.
3. Connect.
Find reasons to listen which will lead to opportunities to agree. Take the agreement and build on it.
It’s time to realize that stuffing twenty thousand people in a building is not a movement–it’s a rally.
G-Pop wants you to know that a movement occurs when a convening of souls leads to a great conversation, which is truly satisfied as we connect.
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity
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Populie: Doesn’t nearly everyone watch porn? … March 19, 2014
Jonathots Daily Blog
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Eleven years old and stuck on a Saturday afternoon at my aunt and uncle’s house, so bored that my brain was itching.
I made my way upstairs to their bedroom and began to look through their drawers–when suddenly I heard a scream from behind me. It was my mother in her fully enraged mode, scurrying in my direction, waving her finger.
“Stop looking in their drawers!”
I was so frustrated and angry about being put in this situation that I fired back, “What’s wrong with it? They won’t care!”
She paused for a moment, and then, in a more even tone, said, “I care. You’d better care. And they should care.”
I will never forget those words.
As I have sat quietly by for the past twenty years and watched America redefine the issue of pornography, entitling it “adult entertainment” and now donning it with the cute nomenclature of “porn,” I am not only appalled, but feel a sense of helplessness.
For after all, to some degree, in order to object I should have some intelligence on the issue, which means I should do a little investigation.
I have not.
I won’t.
It will probably leave you in disbelief when I say this, but I have never indulged in pornography. Only once–I sat at a friend’s house and rummaged through Playboy magazines for about three hours. Those images are still available in my mind, should I check them out from my upstairs library. After that, it just didn’t have any appeal.
The issue is difficult. If you find yourself opposed to porn, people will call you a prude, a moralist or ask you if you have any personal experience.
I’m not a prude. Anyone who spends five minutes with me will tell you that I am certainly relaxed on the issue of human sexuality.
And I’m not a moralist. I’m not judging those who participate or perform in such actions.
I’m not willing to go on an extensive study to try to prove my point.
But I will tell you–I think it is one of the more egregious POPULIE propagated in our society. Here’s what I believe about romance:
- There should be no pain, no humiliation, no domination and no rape.
- It should be filled with pleasure, appreciation, communication and agreement.
I see none of those positive elements in the pictures which are occasionally sent to me over the Internet by young women and men on Tumblr, which I quickly delete.
The fact that they are willing to do this to make money does not change the situation. We certainly would not have allowed slavery to continue in this country because Uncle Tom was comfortable at the Big House.
And we should likewise discourage men and women–but predominately females–from being subjugated just because they temporarily become comfortable with the oppression.
I know it’s not popular because the populie has permeated every facet of our society. I will tell you that over half of the ministers in this country–who probably have too much time on their hands–have fallen victim to pornography.
But I think the advice my mother gave me when I was such a snoop so many years ago still holds:
“Stop looking in people’s drawers.”
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity
Click here to get info on the “Gospel According to Common Sense” Tour
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Populie 3: Family is Everything … February 12, 2014
Jonathots Daily Blog
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Things become popular because they make us feel good about ourselves without challenging us to improve. The sensation is so intoxicating that we’re often willing to bottle lies in order to guzzle it down.
This is how we arrive at the infamous Populie, “Family is everything.”
It is really an Old Testament approach to believing that our particular lineage, descendants and tribe have been granted a special anointing from on high–superior in some way to other groups in our nearby community.
Even though in the Good Book, Jesus makes it clear that if you love those who love you, you’re no better than the heathen, we are on some sort of “birthright high” right now, in pursuit of giving extra love to those who possess our DNA.
You might ask, “What’s the big deal? So what if people embrace their own personal households with greater intensity and fervor than they do the other humans around them? Isn’t that natural?”
When you become too intensely involved in your own concerns, you are a clan–and I’m not talking about the Ku Klux version. A clan is just a group that gets together and says, “We are us.”
It sounds like a celebration of life, but clans quickly become clubs. Clubs: “We are different–and special.”
Once you’re a club, you may find it necessary, in order to keep your rendition pure, to become a cloister. “We are separated from everyone else so as to remain free of interferance.”
And unfortunately, cloisters quickly become cliques: “We are better.”
So the same segregation which occurs in high school, forbidding a nerd, a geek, a jock and a prom queen from interacting, is continued on in adulthood, as we establish our own form of that campus life in our family.
We are us too easily becomes we are different–and special. Since we are special, we need to be separated, so we can celebrate how much better we are.
And I must tell you, whenever any group of people are convinced that they are better than others, they soon feel compelled to hurt, or even kill, the inferiors.
What should we feel about family?
- We are blessed to have one.
- It is a great climate for learning patience, and how to treat all people.
- We have a fellowship in agreement with the principle that we are going to love the whole world.
The Old Testament was full of families. When Jesus came on the scene, he started talking about the whole world.
So I will tell you–I am a family man who takes the experience I have with my own kin to reach out to the kindred of the earth.
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity
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Please contact Jonathan’s agent, Jackie Barnett, at (615) 481-1474, for information about scheduling SpiriTed in 2014.
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New Covenant … May 8, 2013
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It seemed like a good idea. It almost always does. When anyone at any time is looking for a way to create or generate a Utopian situation, the main idea that comes to the forefront is to try to make everyone just like us.
God was no exception. In His original “garden plan” of uniting with mankind, He created an ideal environment with ideal circumstances so that ideally, man and God could co-exist practically as equals.
Always remember–the perfection of God is not discovered in His lack of errors, but rather, in His willingness to evolve to better efforts. Once God realized that human beings don’t make good gods, a process was set in motion to get them to understand how to come closer to heavenly conclusions, even if it was just “Ten Commandments at a time.”
They didn’t do so well with that either. Free-will creatures are rarely enticed to righteous decisions by being told what to do.
So one day God just threw away the old covenant–tossed it like a really bad worksheet of a math problem that failed to grant resolution. He came up with a new covenant.
What is a covenant? In its simplest form, it’s just an agreement. But little do we mortals realize that agreement is the grease, fuel and energy of the universe. Without it, we manufacture friction, which keeps things in constant danger of explosion. So what is the new covenant–the new agreement, if you will?
1. Humans can’t be God—so therefore it’s foolish to ask them to be godly. To impose religiosity on them makes them more obnoxious than omnipresent.
2. So God became a human. Yes, Jesus of Nazareth lived a completely human life, speckled with problems, discoveries, pursuit of wisdom, foibles and failures which had to be renovated by resurrection.
3. To teach humans to work with humans. My conclusion after traveling for many years is that most of us would like to have God as our co-pilot–and the rest of the people on the earth stuck in baggage. It doesn’t work that way. My quality is certainly evaluated by how well I play with others.
4. To create humanity–a little bit of heaven on earth. What is humanity?
a. We are not alone.
b. We are not better
c. So get to working together.
This is the New Covenant.
Tonight I go to a tiny church in Sunnyvale, Texas, that has dubbed itself New Covenant.
I am very impressed with their name–especially if they have come to the precious realization that humans can’t be God, so God became human, to teach humans to work with humans, to create humanity–a little bit of heaven on earth.
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity
*****
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