• Sean Coates blogs about Matter and Privacy

    ... we have technology that—when employed correctly—can actually improve happiness by having our users recall positive experiences. And we have actual science (which I will link in the future) that proves that their brains will create/release neurotransmitters ("happiness chemicals" in the context of what we’re working on) in line with their original positive experience, making them feel happier. For real.

    So, as a very bare concept, we landed on the idea of allowing users to store photos of these positive experiences, as well as logging ratings of the emotions they experienced so they could recall them later to stimulate these neurotransmitters.

    #happiness #emotions #feelings

  • São José recebe pastor Cláudio Duarte em palestra sobre felicidade
    https://informa.life/sao-jose-dos-campos-recebe-pastor-claudio-duarte-em-palestra-sobre-felicid

    Conhecido por sua abordagem descontraída e cativante, o Pastor Cláudio Duarte tem conquistado milhares de seguidores ao redor do país com suas histórias reais repletas de sabedoria. Com uma mensagem que vai além do religioso, ele busca provocar reflexões sobre a busca pela felicidade genuína em meio às adversidades da vida cotidiana.

    Pastor que faz mais que pregar o evangelho, mas «vai além». E cobra caro.

    #religião

  • How to Read the Bible All the Way Through for the First Time – LarrySanger.org
    https://larrysanger.org/2023/09/how-to-read-the-bible-all-the-way-through-for-the-first-time

    About four years ago, I read the Bible cover-to-cover for the first time. I explained how I did it. It took me 100 days, and yes, as a result, I became a Christian. Since then, I have not stopped reading it. I read it again three more times, and I am now on a fifth pass through. I think I can explain how (and why) to undertake this task, in FAQ form.

    #Bible

  • Do It Now – Steve Pavlina
    https://stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/11/do-it-now

    Clarity Is Key
    The first step is to know exactly what you want. In a Tae Kwon Do studio where I used to train, there’s a huge sign on the wall that says, “Your goal is to become a black belt.” This helps remind each student why s/he is going through such difficult training. When you work for yourself, it’s easy to spend a whole day at your desk and accomplish nothing of value. This almost always happens when you aren’t really clear about what it is you’re trying to do. In the moments when you regain your awareness, ask yourself, “What exactly is it that I’m trying to accomplish here?” You must know your destination with as much clarity as possible. Make your goals specific, and put them in writing. Your goals must be so clear that it would be possible for a stranger to look at your situation objectively and give you an absolute “yes” or “no” response as to whether you’ve accomplished each goal or not. If you cannot define your destination precisely, how will you know when you’ve arrived?

    #organization #success

  • Mornings With God : February 13
    https://www.youdevotion.com/mornings/february/13

    I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth. — Ps 34:1

    It is not hard to bless the Lord at some times. There are days when all is bright. There is no sickness in our house. No recent sorrow has left our heart sad. It is easy then to bless the Lord.

    But there are other times when things are different. Business is not prosperous. Or, health is broken. We begin to say this verse, but we cannot get through it. “I will bless the Lord at ___.”

    We cannot bless the Lord for the broken health, for the empty chair. Yet there the words stand. We cannot make them read: “I will bless the Lord at some times: His praise shall be in my mouth on certain days – days when the sun shines.”

    It is not our business to write Bible verses; it is our business rather to bring our lives up to the standard of the inspired words. So we must learn to say the verse just as it is written.

    We must learn to bless the Lord on the dark days as well as the bright days. We must learn to praise God in pain as well as in pleasure.

    Beautiful thought here, one I need. Today is good, but tomorrow?

    #Bible #suffering #Psalms

  • Mornings With God : February 9

    Drooping, we journey on alone,
    We only mark the heavy stone:
    We do not see the helping love
    Which moves before us as we move,
    Which chides our faithless, vain dismay,
    And rolls for us the stone away.

    #poetry

  • Church Growth in the Book of Acts — By: Allison A. Trites | Galaxie Software
    https://www.galaxie.com/article/bsac145-578-04

    Frank Stagg has described the Book of Acts as “the story of an unhindered gospel.”1 He takes his cue from the unusual adverb ἀκωλύτως (“unhindered,” Acts 28:31) with which the book ends. He sees the whole book focusing on the remarkable growth of the church under the guidance of the Lord and in the power of the Holy Spirit. While many scholars would posit other themes as the author’s main concern, Luke certainly punctuates his account with many summary statements about church expansion (2:43–47; 5:14; 6:7; 9:31; 12:24; 16:5; 19:20). There is no better place to examine the factors that made the early church grow than the Acts of the Apostles.

    #acts #Bible #churchgrowth

  • “Religion says DO, Jesus says DONE”? – La Vista Church of Christ
    https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/religion-says-do-jesus-says-done

    People come up with the strangest viewpoints and don’t realize how unbiblical those ideas are. I keep passing a sign that says the above but offers no scripture reference. Because the Bible is the final authority, I would suggest that both Jesus and His religion say, “Do the will of the Father” (Matthew 7:21f) but false religion says you don’t have to do anything. Besides, the Bible encourages “pure religion” (James 1:27) that Jesus says for us to do. False religion says “It is all done, and there is nothing for you to do.”

    “Not everyone who says to Me, ’Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ’Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ’I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV).

    Jesus says, do!

    #religion #obedience

  • O que mais importa para Deus? – Cristãos
    https://cristaos.org/novas/importa-para-deus

    Esta pergunta, no título acima, é uma entre muitas que trataremos na próxima edição da revista Edificação, cuja tema é: “Perguntas”. Um artigo da edição é: “Perguntas frequentes, respostas rápidas”. A seguir, a resposta à pergunta:

    O que mais importa para Deus? Recentemente, um escritor e comunicador americano fez esta pergunta. A resposta dele foi que Deus se importa mais com o bem e o mal, isto é, “como suas criaturas tratam uns aos outros”. O site disse que é a teoria dele. (Ele não é cristão, então o ser humano não redimido emite muita opinião.)

    #Bíblia #repostas

  • One Solitary Life | RealClearReligion
    https://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2023/12/22/one_solitary_life_1000723.html

    Many years ago, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Los Angeles was Dr. James Allen Francis. Back in the 1920s, he wrote a beautiful passage called, “One Solitary Life.” (Note: Different variations of this short essay have shown up in slightly different variations, often attributed to “Anonymous.”)

    Said Francis: “He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years, He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn’t go to college. He never visited a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.

    “He was only 33 when the tide of public opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.

    “While He was dying, His executioners gambled for His garments, the only property He had on earth. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. [Twenty] centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure of the human race.

    “All of the armies that ever marched, all of the navies that ever sailed, all of the parliaments that ever sat, all of the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one solitary life.”

    #JesusChrist

  • Tony Robbins | 5 Keys to Rise in 2024
    https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tony-robbins-5-keys-rise-2024-tony-robbins-pucwe

    Tony Robbins | 5 Keys to Rise in 2024
    Published Jan 1, 2024

    “But amidst a world of uncertainty, there is a collective hope that resides. It’s an evolutionary part of the human spirit: to endure, to defy the odds, to rise.” – Tony Robbins 

    Welcome to 2024, my friend. 

    As we look ahead at the next 12 months, one thing is clear: we are living in uncharted territory. 

    It’s a time when the economic, political, and social landscapes are changing at a record pace. 

    We are all being touched by the events happening around the globe. No matter where you live, or what you do for a living, what is happening is unlike anything we have ever experienced. 

    It’s easy to feel fearful. 

    But amidst a world of uncertainty, there is a collective hope that resides. 

    It’s an evolutionary part of the human spirit: to endure, to defy the odds, to rise. 

    And much like that innate hope, January 1 is synonymous with a fresh start, a blank slate. The opportunity to start again. 

    There’s an energy to the start of a new year that inspires us. It calls us toward the best version of ourselves. 

    But the truth is life offers us the opportunity to take action and make changes in our lives every day of the year. 

    Did you know that 95% of new year’s resolutions are abandoned by the second week of January? Why is that? 

    It’s because most people set an intention, but they don’t resolve. 

    When we’re resolved, that means we’ll do whatever it takes to meet our goals. We’ll wake up early, stay up late, push through obstacles, and defy all odds to make it happen. 

    All the drive in the world will eventually give out, because you can only push for so long. But when you incorporate a strong enough reason why, and strategy into meeting your goals, that’s when results show up. 

    And while hope is essential, it isn’t a strategy. The truth is no matter what’s going on in the world, there are timeless strategies that will sustain you through any season, and especially in our present winter. 

    So, what’s my strategy to get out of fear and rise to new heights in 2024? 

    There are 5 keys I’ll be using, and I’ll share them with you today: 

    1. Feed Your Mind 
    Stand guard at the door of your mind. My original mentor Jim Rohn taught me that. 

    What does that mean? It means being vigilant about what you consume. Social media, the news – most of it is designed to hook you, scare you, and enrage you. 

    Informing you is not their first priority. 

    And that’s true no matter what’s going on in the world. 

    But it’s especially important to feed your mind in new ways during our present climate. 

    Bring something new to it, otherwise, you’ll keep operating off the same old beliefs, the same old thoughts, the same old emotions that will not get you to the level you want. 

    Growing up, I didn’t have any role models in my life. So, I read about them. 

    I read the history and biographies of great leaders, businesspeople, philanthropists. I learned what made them successful and extracted the principles and applied them to my own life. 

    Feed your mind in the right way, and you’re mastering your internal world. There are two worlds to master, the external world and the internal world. 

    You can’t control the external world, but you can influence it. Start by taking charge of your internal world. 

    I’ll be going deeper on mastering your internal world during a special free event at the end of the month. 

    2. Strengthen Your Body 
    It might sound cliché to talk about fitness at the start of the new year. But it’s a mistake to think the mind and body are not deeply connected. They feed one another. It’s a symbiotic relationship. 

    So much of your psychology is determined by what you do with your physical body. 

    And there is more and more research coming out to support this. 

    Go on a sprint, lift some heavy weights, take a really long walk or run. The key is to push yourself. 

    Every single day, I begin my morning by plunging into a pool of 56-degree water. And if I’m not home, I’ll jump into a nearby river. 

    I don’t do that because it’s fun; I don’t do that because I want to do it. I do it because I’m training my body so that when I say go, we go.

    I don’t negotiate with my mind. 

    Priming your physical body can set the stage for the change you want to drive in you mentally and emotionally. 

    3. Find a Great Role Model 
    If you want the best year of your life, you need to decide to find a great role model, someone who is already getting the results you want. 

    Why? Because success leaves clues. 

    One person I identified on my own journey was Sir John Templeton – at one time arguably called the greatest investor of the 20th century by Money magazine. 

    He started out with nothing, just like me, and became the first billionaire investor. 

    Find someone you want to emulate. It’ll act as a true north for where you want to go in 2024 and beyond. 

    4. Proximity Is Power 
    The truth is you want to surround yourself with people who are out of your league. 

    Think about who you spend time with. 

    If you want to raise your game this year, you must get in proximity to someone who is playing the game at a higher level than you are. 

    Just like if you’re playing a sport, say tennis. If you’re always playing against someone worse than you, you’re never going to get better. 

    You always want to surround yourself with people playing at a higher level. I’ve seen the impact of this on my own life and the lives of others and it is invaluable. 

    In fact, my January 2023 post explored the power of proximity and the opportunity that accompanies it. 

    It’s massively influential in creating success in your life. 

    5. Pay It Forward by Giving More Than You Expect to Receive 
    To all the achievers like me out there reading this, do not miss this one. 

    In 2024, you must also find a way to add value to others. 

    I truly believe that the secret to living is giving. It’s what makes us fully alive and live not just a successful life, but a fulfilled one. 

    For me, feeding people and making sure families are nourished has been my passion for nearly 5 decades. 

    When I was just 11 years old, I was fed by a stranger on Thanksgiving. As a result, I started to feed others. Even when I did not have a dime to spare in my younger years, I managed to find a way to provide a meal or two for struggling families. 

    You too can find a way to give back, no matter your current situation. 

    The world needs your skills, your passion, and your light more than ever. 

    And in giving to others, we in turn give to ourselves. 

    Despite the current climate, you can have the best year of your life, my friend. 

    2024 is yours to create. 

    What do you want your 2024 to look like? 

    How do you want the next 12 months of life to feel? 

    What thoughts and actions might have to change in order for you to get there? 

    It’s all at your fingertips. 

    Happy new year, my friend. 

    It’s been a blessing to share these 5 keys with you. They’ve guided me throughout my life, and they are here to guide you in yours. 

    Return to them whenever you need a reminder. 

    Live with passion! 

    Tony Robbins

    #TonyRobbins #positive #keys

  • Direction: That I May Know Him: A Meditation on Philippians 3
    https://directionjournal.org/51/1/that-i-may-know-him-meditation-on.html

    We have abstracted learning from life. And we marvel that youth are rejecting the abstractions. We enact the role of teacher and they, whether dutifully or cynically, play the role of students. What if it is beside the point that we are sincere and capable? What if the structures we work within (shapes borrowed from the world) make us, despite our prayers, into “enemies of the cross of Christ”? What if the shape of the teacher has helped to subvert the shape of the natural models—and the fathers?

    #learning #teaching