Thoughts to Enlighten and Empower the Mind is a compilation of two thousand and one questions and philosophical thoughts extracted from the authors' seminal work, Five Foundations of Human Development. These thoughts follow the same chronology of information that helps to promote fulfilling lives through human development from spiritual, moral, social, intellectual, and physical perspectives. The authors proffer that human beings possess the capacity to rise to a higher state of civilization when we allow our thoughts to permeate our minds with hope and optimism for the future of humanity. Gibbs and Grey support the premise put forward by many great writers who contend that our thoughts determine happiness and effectiveness in life. Our thoughts and our emotions have a great influence on our carnal impulses and desires. We nurture good and bad thoughts, and human effort alone is insufficient to properly manage them. Negative thoughts establish barriers to communications and harmonious living. Positive thoughts radiate harmony among individuals and nations. More importantly, those in positions of great power who lead humanity, must, by their thoughts, help to create a better world, or inadvertently plunge humanity into great chaos as has been recorded in six-thousand years of human history. Only a mind that is free of unhealthy thoughts transcends a life of fulfillment. Positive thoughts permeate our beings and open up new frontiers of positive leadership for the modern age. The global significance of this book is that it informs a more communal view of our world by virtue of the conditioning of our thoughts. It will help inform, enlighten, and empower the minds of leaders to embrace every field of endeavor, including engineering, science, religion, politics, the military, and the environment. This will be accomplished with the most vital, creative, and positive thoughts that rise to a high level of responsibility
THOUGHTS TO ENLIGHTEN AND EMPOWER THE MIND
2001 Questions and Philosophical Thoughts to Inspire, Enlighten, and Empower our World to Limitless HeightsBy ERROL A. GIBBS PHILIP A. GREYAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2011 Errol A. Gibbs & Philip A. Grey
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4567-4071-9 Contents
Foreword..................................................xiPreface...................................................xiiiAcknowledgements..........................................xvPART 1FIVE PREEMINENT FOUNDATIONS...............................1FOUNDATION 1: Who is God?.................................3FOUNDATION 2: Who is Jesus Christ?........................9FOUNDATION 3: What is the Church?.........................13FOUNDATION 4: What is the Holy Bible?.....................21FOUNDATION 5: Who is a Christian?.........................27PART 2FIVE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT.....................39FOUNDATION 1: SPIRITUAL FOUNDATIONFOUNDATION 2: MORAL FOUNDATIONFOUNDATION 3: SOCIAL FOUNDATIONFOUNDATION 4: INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATIONFOUNDATION 5: PHYSICAL FOUNDATIONAPPENDIXES:Select Bibliography.......................................237Epilogue..................................................245Biography of: Errol A. Gibbs..............................247Biography of: Philip A. Grey..............................249
Chapter One
PREEMINENT FOUNDATION 1
—WHO IS GOD? "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth" John 4:24 (NIV). "God is our refuge and strength, an ever–present help in trouble" Psalm 46:1 (NIV). "God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne. The nobles and nations assemble as the people of God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; he is greatly exalted."
Psalm 47:8–9 (NIV)
1) Who is God? Saint John (circa CE 27) tells us: "God is Spirit, and
those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John
4:24 NKJV). God is not merely a Spirit; He is an infinite Spirit.
2) We can feel His spiritual presence within our spirit, but we do not
know how to describe God in human terms, because His existence
has no parallel in our physical existence.
3) There are countless definitions of God, just as there are countless
definitions of religions and countless manifestations of God's
presence.
4) To some, God is a mystery which continues to perplex the human
intellect in our modern era. To the astute, God is an intellectual
probability.
5) In defining God, it is essential to acknowledge God who has
proven His mighty works, which He has chronicled in the inspired
writings of the Holy Scriptures.
6) Biblical history confirms that nations which have violated the
laws of God have suffered grave consequences, and failed to fulfill
their promise (2 Chronicles 7:19–22).
7) God sacrificed the life of His Son Jesus Christ as the perfect
example of suffering for righteousness to be the perfect example for
humanity.
8) God has demonstrated His unique personal attributes through the
life of His Son Jesus Christ, who manifested the heart of God by His
love, joy, peace, patience (longsuffering), kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self–control (Galatians 5:22).
9) The God of the Holy Bible is knowable. His Word transcends
Christianity, which is a way of life, embodied in a corporate society
or fellowship, centered on the worship of God.
10) God has revealed His presence to the world through His Son
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who lived as a humble human being for
about thirty–three years in Palestine.
11) Jesus Christ's presence on earth also accentuated the wondrous
works of God, through the Holy Spirit and thirty–seven miraculous
acts penned by the writers of the synoptic gospels.
12) The Holy Spirit has character, a mind, and emotions. The Holy
Spirit teaches. The Apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians
counsels: "These things that we also speak, not in words which
man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches,
comparing spiritual things with spiritual" (1 Corinthians 2:13
NKJV).
13) Through the revelation of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, we
are enlightened in our understanding of the Triune God (Reference:
Five Foundations of Human Development (FFHD) —Figure 1: The Triune
God (Godhead).
14) We should be no less mindful in the twenty–first century of God
speaking to us through His Son Jesus Christ, who provides His
followers access to His grace and manifestation through the Holy
Spirit.
15) The first imperative of human existence is the realization of God's
great gifts to humanity. His immutable law governs all life, and the
law that governsalllife is God.
16) God is omnipotent (all powerful), omnipresent (everywhere) and
omniscient (all knowing). (Reference: Five Foundations of Human
Development (FFHD) —Figure 3: The Greatness of God).
17) Can we live without a Godhead, Creator, and absolute authority of
the universe that can bind all human civilization into a harmonious
whole? Absolutely not!
18) God in His infinite wisdom gave the world Ten Commandments
as the ultimate moral guide for humanity. The first four
Commandments are directly concerned with religious belief and
worship.
19) The spiritual presence of God in the world enables us to overcome
our inclination to stray from His path. It helps us to understand and
manage the conditions that cause hopelessness.
20) The search for God and the meaning of our existence has both
defined and perplexed every civilization, from the earliest recorded
nations to our modern society.
21) Our search for fulfillment in life is a search for our Spiritual
connection with God through the Holy Spirit, and not a quest for
fame, or fortune, or the other fleeting things which do not
incorporate or further His purpose.
22) Diligent search for God means exercising conscious effort to find
His purpose for our existence.
23) Our search is continual, and will always be continual, because we
can never attain the fullness of God's purpose in this mortal body.
24) The turbulent twenty–first century presents the greatest
challenge to our search, as humanity wanders farther away from our
core religious beliefs.
25) God proves Himself to us every moment of our existence (Romans
1:20 NIV). His divine creation should inspire spiritual awareness in
us.
26) The complexity and perfect balance of God's planetary system
should be a constant reminder that God has revealed himself to us
in a personal way on planet Earth.
27) The unanswered questions of the universe manifest God's creative
power, but it is only His revelation and spiritual guidance that can
ultimately aid us in our attempts to comprehend His creation.
(Continues...)
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