I ran into this rather “stupid user error” a couple of times already. It’s very easy to solve, however it’s also very easy to do it wrong when configuring Oracle SOA Suite 11g Adapter services through the WebLogic Console.

I hope this blog entry will help new users when running into this problem:

You get the following error in the SOA Server Log when testing your Adapter service:

The setup of the Adapter Connection Factory configuration

as well as the corresponding DataSource (i.e. jdbc/SoaAppUserDataSource) seems to be correct at first sight.

But you might have forgotten to select the server, on which the JDBC data source should be deployed when adding the DataSource in the first place. This is possible when clicking the Finish button too early, before the last step which would ask to select a target server!

The missing target information for the SoaAppUserDataSource is clearly shown in the summary page of the JDBC Data Sources.

To fix that, just edit the Data Source, click on the Targets tab and select the servers or cluster it should be deployed on (i.e. soa_server1 in my case):

After that the error should disappear!

I think it would be good to get an error/warning on the console when trying to add a DataSource without selecting a target server!

Hebrews 9:15

And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

There are two testaments in the scriptures and I am not talking about Genesis through Malachi and Matthew through Revelation.  Instead there are two things that were given to the nation of Israel, first was a law which is the first or old testament.  The first covenant that God made with Israel was based upon their works and obedience to the law which they continually failed to keep.  Then came the new testament which was a contract made with Israel that was not based upon their works but upon the works of God where He would put the Spirit and law in them and make them keep it.  This New Testament has a mediator which is Jesus Christ and through His death on the cross not only does he ratify the new covenant but he takes care of the sins and iniquities of the nation of Israel under the law.  The purpose of this new testament in a word is the “kingdom” but in this kingdom is not just the issue of eternal life but the inheritance that believing Israel will receive according to God’s promises.

Rejoicing in Grace,

Keith

2 Cor 5:14-15

www.richeofgrace.com

While thinking about the story of the birth of the Christ Child, I am filled with excitement. When thinking about the life of Christ I am filled with awe. When thinking about the Crucifixtion of the Redeemer I am filled with sadness. When Thinking about the resurrection I am filled with hope. (Callahan)

Knowing in part How God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ love us should fill us with an undying gratitude. It should stir within us love and joy overflowing. We should want to live our life in a way that pleases our Redeemer so that we may be redeemed and live with Him in the eternities.

Godly Love – How Christ Loves Us

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail — 47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. 48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

      The writer of Hebrews is concerned that his readers understand the importance of the image of Jesus as our High Priest. The priest functions as a mediator between the people and God. This means that Jesus is intimately related to both God and people; he holds both the interests of God and the interests of people close to his heart.

     Unlike other mediators, Jesus does not seek concessions from both parties until a compromise can be reached. Rather Jesus offers himself on behalf of the people, to redeem them and bring them back into relationship with God. The cost of this self-offering by Jesus was to the limit of human experience – he offered himself to death as the sacrifice for other’s sins. This was not a fate that was thrust upon Jesus against his will, but was rather freely chosen by Jesus because of his great love for God and people.

     This deep level of investment – to offer yourself for others – can only come from a mature heart of love. It is also a sure path to heartache, because after investing so much of yourself you would expect that others would understand and appreciate the investment you made for them. Look around you – people rarely do! And yet Jesus continues to love. He continues to lead those who are willing to be led. He stands on our behalf before God in heaven – offering himself continually for us.

Obama administration ‘assures Jewish evacuation’
PA official says U.S. won’t counter proposal giving Temple Mount to Palestinians
Article: WorldNetDaily

Members of the Obama administration recently assured the Palestinian Authority that most Jewish communities in the strategic West Bank will be evacuated, a top PA official told WND yesterday.

The official also said Obama will soon offer the Palestinians a public pledge that a Palestinian state will encompass most of the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem with the exception of what is known as the three main settlement blocs – Ariel, Gush Etzion and Maale Adumim. The pledge will likely be oral and not in the form of a letter, said the PA official.

Further, both the PA official and a source in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office told WND the Obama administration refused to counter a European Union draft document that supports the division of Jerusalem, with the Temple Mount going to the Palestinians.

The White House yesterday issued a statement that the status of Jerusalem should be determined by Israel and the Palestinians, but the statement stopped short of countering the EU proposal.

Sweden, which currently holds the EU presidency, last week presented to Israel and the PA the draft document, which recognizes all of eastern Jerusalem – including the Temple Mount – as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

“The EU will not recognize any changes to the pre-1967 borders, including with regard to Jerusalem,” said the EU ministerial draft, referring to all of eastern Jerusalem.

“If there is to be a genuine peace, a way must be found through negotiations to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of two states,” EU foreign ministers agreed in a statement released last Tuesday.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry, for its part, warned the proposal would damage the EU’s ability to be a Mideast mediator.

Good God. What is this MORON DOING?! In my not so humble opinion; they should just blow the Palestinians off of the face of the planet. That’s right, I SAID IT.

By Steven G. Mehta

How people verbally fight and address conflict can have a direct consequence on their stress levels.  New research shows that the way you argue has a direct connection to the amount of stress you create from that argument.

A professor of biobehavioral health suggests the use of thoughtful words during relationship conflicts can mitigate health problems caused by stress. The latest research from Graham et al. (2009) shows that couples who are more considerate and rational during a fight release lower amounts of stress-related proteins. This suggests that rational communication between partners can ease the impact of marital conflict on the immune system.

Individuals in a stressful situation — as in a troubled relationship — typically have elevated levels of chemicals known as cytokines. These proteins are produced by cells in the immune system and help the body mount an immune response during infection. However, abnormally high levels of these proteins are linked to illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, arthritis and some cancers.

When people used words in a conflict-resolution discussion that suggested a thoughtful discussion — words like think, because, reason, why — the researchers found lower amounts of cytokines, the stress-related proteins. The researchers suggest it is because these kinds of words suggest that people are either making sense of the conflict, or at least thinking about it in a deeper, more meaningful manner.

This is important for mediation and other areas of conflict resolution because it helps people from increasing or escalating the tension or stress levels in a dispute.  It is helpful as a mediator to try to invoke such words and rationalization so as to also limit the amount of stress hormones.  By doing so, the entire argument or conflict can move towards the path of de-escalation to ultimate resolution.

Research Source:

Graham, J.E., Glaser, R., Loving, T.J., Malarkey, W.B., Stowell, J.R., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J.K. (2009). Cognitive word use during marital conflict and increases in proinflammatory cytokines. Health Psychology, 28(5), 621-630.

Welcome back, brothers and sisters.

There are a great many people in this world who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  While this is troubling and heartbreaking, we know from scripture that the majority of people will not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  Instead, the majority of people will endure permanent separation from the Lord, as they will spend eternity in the lake of fire being tormented ceaselessly.  In serving the Lord, our mission is to lead as many people to Jesus Christ as possible so that they are saved from such an eternity.   Today I want to focus on discussing just one group within this multitude of people that have not yet come to know Jesus Christ and have not accepted Him as their Lord and Savior.

The group we will discuss today consists of people that refuse to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, because they do not believe they are worthy to receive God’s love and forgiveness.  People within this group hold to a belief that the sins they have committed are either so numerous, or so terrible, that there is no way God could love them and forgive them.  They know they don’t deserve forgiveness of their sins, and they know they don’t deserve to enter heaven when the Lord calls His chosen home.  Let me tell you two things about this group of people.  First, they couldn’t be more right.  Secondly, they couldn’t be more wrong.  Confusing?  I’ll explain.

As we’ve already established this group of people does not believe that they deserve God’s love.  People in this group do not believe that they deserve to be forgiven, and they do not believe that they deserve to be saved so that they can spend eternity with the Lord.  Beloved, that they are completely correct in thinking those things.  I hope you believe the exact same things.  Do you know why I say that?  Brothers and sisters, absolutely none of us deserve God’s love, forgiveness, and to be in the presence of the Lord for all of eternity!!!  This is what makes God’s grace so very amazing:-) 

Beloved, it is only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ that we are cleansed of our sins and that we receive the “gift” of salvation.  Brothers and sisters, we wouldn’t call salvation a “gift” if we paid for it ourselves, right?  If we paid for it ourselves, it would be like any other purchase we make.  Salvation is the one thing that we couldn’t buy ourselves, regardless of any amount of material wealth in this world.  That’s exactly why Jesus Christ assumed the form of a man in this world.  If we could have purchased salvation on our own, then Jesus would have never needed to suffer the cross so that we could be reconciled to God the Father!!!  The apostle Paul wrote of our indequacy to save ourselves while also pointing out how we are able to be saved as follows: 

“And you [hath He quickened], who were dead in trespasses and sins;  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.  But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)  And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:
That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in [His] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast.” – Ephesians 2:1-9 (KJV)

You see, beloved, truly amazing grace is so much more than a catchy little tune that we sing in church.  God’s amazing grace poured out to us through Jesus Christ is able to separate us from our past sins and makes us into a brand new creation in Christ Jesus.

The truth is that the price of your sins is death and only death.  In the Old Testament you’ll notice how lambs without blemished were sacrificed unto God as sin offerings.  These offerings served to show that the people repented of their sins and that they were offering the life of these valued animals so that the blood shed by these lambs could satisfy the death required by their sins.  There came a point, however, where the sins of the people became so offensive that no number of spotless lambs being sacrificed could come close to paying the sin debt that man had incurred.  When that happened, God didn’t just write us off.  Instead, He sent His own spotless Lamb to be sacrificed to pay the enormous sin debt incurred by man.  This Lamb was one of a kind and incredibly special as this Lamb was, and always will be, of God.  This Lamb also had, and still has, a name.  Perhaps you have heard of this Lamb of God?  His name is Jesus Christ.  Here’s how Jesus explained it in His own words:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 
For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” – John 3:16-18 (KJV)

Again, brothers and sisters, a person is completely correct in believing that we are not worthy of God’s love, forgiveness, and to receive salvation.  As Jesus himself pointed out, God sent Him (Jesus) into the word so that we could be saved through Him.  Coming to the world to live in worldly poverty, be persecuted viciously and warrantlessly, and suffering the cross was not Jesus’ idea of a great and entertaining way to spend 30+ worldly years.  However, Jesus embraced this assignment as the opportunity to perform the will of the Father and save us from ourselves and our sins.  So, don’t beat yourself up about not being worthy any longer.  I conceded the point.  You’re not worthy.  I’m not worthy.  The apostles weren’t worthy.  No Christian walking the earth is worthy.  You see, beloved, one must be perfect in order to be worthy.  That means perfect in every single way.  Only One has ever been that completely perfect, and only One will ever be that completely perfect.  That One is none other than Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God the Father.  Only when we let Jesus into our hearts and accept Him as our Lord and Savior are the stains of our sin washed away.

You see, beloved, Jesus Christ is the spotless Lamb of God that was sacrificed once for all of our sins.  There is no amount of animal sacrifice, or any other kind of sacrifice, that is sufficient to pay for our sins.  Fortunately for us, no other sacrifice of life and blood is needed, because the sacrifice that Jesus made of himself for us is all-sufficient to pay our sin debts.  To sacrifice animals to God as sin offerings after Jesus suffered the cross would be an offense to God.  Why?  Because doing so would be to imply that one rejects the sufficiency of Jesus Christ to pay for the sins of all.  Don’t forget, brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ is God in the form of man.  The power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus unleashed over sickness, sin, evil, and death is none other than the very Spirit of God the Father.   

Through Jesus’ death on the cross, our sin debts are paid.  The death required for our sin was submitted through Jesus Christ dying for us.  When Jesus rose from the grave on the 3rd day, He conquered death once and for all.  By giving our lives to Jesus and having our souls filled with the Holy Spirit, we are able to share in Jesus’ victory over death.  This is the only path to eternal salvation and life everlasting spent in the presence of the Lord.  No matter what any religion, church, or spiritual leader tells you, there is no other path to gain admittance to spending eternity in the presence of the Lord.  Don’t take my word for it.  Take Jesus’ word for it.  Here’s what Jesus said to the apostle Thomas:

“Jesus saith unto him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.’” – John 14:6 (KJV)

Well, I think we’ve established that none of us are worthy of God’s love, forgiveness, and to spend eternity in His presence.  Now let’s address the belief that our sins are too great and/or numerous for us to receive God’s love, forgiveness, and to spend eternity in His presence.  To put it frankly, this belief is absolutely wrong.  Why do I say that?  Well, if a person believes that their own past sins are too great, either in severity or number, for them to be forgiven they are in essence trying to diminish/limit the power of God and the sufficiency of Christ Jesus to save them from their sins.  This would be a mistake.

You see, beloved, you are dealing with two things here.  On the one hand is your own sins.  On the other hand is the Lord God Almighty.  Let me say again……on the other hand is the Lord God “Almighty”.  Which do you think is more powerful?  Let me give you a hint.  I put quotes around “Almighty” for a reason.  Brothers and sisters, He is the Lord God Almighty.  He is greater than your sins!!!  Think about it.  When you say God can’t forgive you for something, you’re trying to put limitations on God that you have put on yourself.  The real issue is that you haven’t forgiven yourself for those past sin.  God is more than capable of forgiving your sins and cleansing you.  You want to know a secret that’s not really a secret?  He already has paid for your sins by sending His only begotten Son to suffer the cross so that you could be save.  You see, beloved, God is love, but God is also just.  Being just means that He requires that your sins be paid for.  If you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then you accept the gift of forgiveness and salvation that Jesus bought for you by giving His own life and blood on the cross.  And that’s not all!!!  Serving as the cherry on top is the truth that once you are forgiven and saved, you gain an inheritance that no one can take from you.  That inheritance involves spending eternity in everlasting life in the presence of the Lord!!!  Does that sound great?  It should, because it is great and so much more:-)  Furthermore, no matter how great you try to imagine that an eternity in the presence of the Lord will be, it will be even better than your loftiest expectations.  Consider the following written by the apostle Paul through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God:

“But as it is written, ‘Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.’” – 1 Corinthians 2:9 (KJV)

Finally, beloved, perhaps you struggle with thoughts/questions about how God could possibly love you after all the sins you have committed and given all your flaws.  I would offer you two things to consider.  First, God has shown you His love time and again, with the biggest example of His love being the fact that He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross so that you (yes, you) could be saved.  He would not have done that if He didn’t love you, right?  I mean, His only begotten Son (Jesus) is absolutely perfect in every possible way, yet He willingly this Son that He loves completely to die for you so that you could come home to be with Him one day.  Secondly, I would offer you that while God has many names (I Am, Jehovah, Yahweh, etc), there is one name that He has that should make perfectly clear to you why He loves you regardless of your less than perfect past.  You know what that name is?  That name is Father.  Beloved, God is our heavenly Father.  We are His children.  We disappoint Him at times, break His heart at times, make Him angry at times.  Sometimes we make Him smile, while at other times we make Him laugh.  We also make Him cry at times.  Sometimes these are tears of joy, and sometimes these are tears of sadness.  Beloved, God loves us all of the time.  Even when He chastises/disciplines us, He does so because He loves us.  God’s love is perfect and powerful and passes all of our comprehension.  At the end of the day, however, He is our Father.  My children do not always do things that put a smile on my face.  However, no matter what, my love for them is not the least bit diminished.  Even much more so, beloved, God’s love for each and every one of us is not diminished by our past transgressions.  He loves as only the ultimate Father could.  Praise God!!!  Thank you, Lord for your abundant mercy, amazing grace, and your perfect love!!! 

I hope that today’s message helps you to draw closer to the Lord.  If you are reading this, and you have put off accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior due to feelings of unworthiness, I pray that this will help you to overcome those feelings and proceed into the waiting arms of the Lord that has given everything just to make sure that you can be reconciled unto Him and spend eternity in the place that He has prepared for all who love Him.  Please join me in prayer as we close today’s message.

Thank You, Lord, for working Your will through our lives.  Though we are flawed, You never cease to make sure we have what we need to fulfill Your perfect will.  Through you, all things are possible.  Thank You for loving us as we are, for changing us from what we were, and for leading us to what You have always intended for us to be.  Thank You for giving hope to the hopeless.  Thank You for giving love to the rejected/dejected.  Thank You for giving comfort and peace to those who are troubled and worried.  Thank You for saving us from our sins, from ourselves, from death, and from evil.  Thank You for everything, Lord.  Truly blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.  All thanks, praise, glory, honor and worship unto You and Your blessed name!!!  In Your precious and matchless name we humbly, thankfully, and faithfully pray.  Amen.

Thank you for joining us for today’s message.  I hope you will be able to join us again for tomorrow’s next message.  Have a wonderful and blessed rest of the day!!!

May the Lord bless you, keep you, guide you, and make His face to shine upon you and your loved ones always.

Your brother in Christ,

Rev Jason Thurwanger

By Steven G. Mehta

We have all heard of Type A personalities.  We may have even heard of type B personalities (the lesser known cousin because it is the type that has a healthy expression of feelings, commitment to something, and desire) but have you heard about a Type C personality?  A new book discusses this new type of personality and its effects on the person.

Michael Jawer in the book he wrote with Marc Micozzi, M.D, Ph.D., called “The Spiritual Anatomy of Emotion: How Feelings Link the Brain, the Body, and the Sixth Sense,” discusses the new Type C Personality.  Here is a brief excerpt of their description of that personality type:

In recent years, a cluster of personality characteristics has come to be identified as the Type C personality, someone who is at heightened risk for a slew of afflictions, from colds to asthma to cancer. In contrast with the Type A person (who angers easily and has difficulty keeping feelings under wraps) and the Type B person (who has a healthier balance of emotional expressiveness), the Type C person is a suppressor, a stoic, a denier of feelings. He or she has a calm, outwardly rational, and unemotional demeanor, but also a tendency to conform to the wishes of others, a lack of assertiveness, and an inclination toward feelings of helplessness or hopelessness.

This is the sort of personality that Canadian physician Gabor Mate has studied extensively. Over his years of family practice, Mate relates, he began to notice a pattern: individuals who were unable to express anger, who didn’t seem to recognize the primacy of their own needs, and who were constantly doing for others, appeared to be the ones most susceptible to a slew of ailments, from asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus to multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. These conditions are all autoimmune disorders. Mate claims that, when an individual engages in a long-term practice of ignoring or suppressing legitimate feelings–when he or she is just plain too nice–the immune system can become compromised and confused, learning to attack the self rather than defend it.

Emotional expression, in Mate’s view is absolutely essential because feelings serve to alert the individual to what is dangerous or unwholesome–or, conversely, to what is helpful and nourishing–so that the person can either take protective action against the thread or move toward the beneficial stimulus. If someone never gets angry, this reflects an unhealthy inability or unwillingness to defend personal integrity. Such “boundary confusion” can ultimately become a matter of life and death. If someone just cannot say no, Mate argues, his or her body will end up saying it in the form of illness or disease.

I have seen this personality type in mediation, and the expression of emotion is a very important one for resolution of the case.  If that emotion is not expressed, often the case cannot get settled because the person doesn’t recognize that they need to let go or express the emotion.  As a mediator, it is important for you to be able to recognize this personality type and help them understand their own needs, which will in turn help them resolve the case.

“Some of the early missionaries, on returning home, were reproved by the Lord in section 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants because they had treated lightly the Book of Mormon. As a result, their minds had been darkened. The Lord said that this kind of treatment of the Book of Mormon brought the whole Church under condemnation, even all of the children of Zion. And then the Lord said, ‘And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon.’ (See D&C 84:54–57.) Are we still under that condemnation?”Reading the Book of Mormon is one of the greatest persuaders to get men on missions. We need more missionaries. But we also need better-prepared missionaries coming out of the wards and branches and homes where they know and love the Book of Mormon. A great challenge and day of preparation is at hand for missionaries to meet and teach with the Book of Mormon. We need missionaries to match our message.”

Ezra Taft Benson, “The Book of Mormon Is the Word of God,” Ensign, May 1975, 65

Stigma and Discrimination: A Safe Space for All Those who are Vulnerable

Tamian called yesterday and asked me for Mr. Calmright’s phone number. I told him that Mr. Calmright gave me a number which I believed was his CDA network cell phone number but it did not seem to work. I called the number at least twice but did not get through to him.

Antonio called yesterday too. He had concerns about his new home and where he will go next? I told him that “high level” people were working on his case and that I suspected there would be a solution soon. I asked him to be patient some more.

Stigma and Discrimination

Stigma is stigma regardless of who wears the stamp. It is an invisible brand that is stamped on “others” by so called mainstream society. Discrimination is discrimination regardless of who feels the pain of the injustice. Whether we stigmatize and discriminate against Antonio (a street boy) or ”Antonette” (a church brother), the effects are the same - the “victim” becomes more vulnerable; they are prone to violent attacks; they do not readily seek services from mainstream society; and they eventually develop coping skills such as banding together with thier own kind and exhibiting duality in behaviour as a survival strategy.  

As I sat and listened to the participants at the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities PEER training yesterday, I was reminded that the rights of ALL MEN must be protected.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” That’s what the Executive Director of Jamaica AIDS Support said on December 2, 2009 at the United States Embassy’s panel discussion on World AIDS Day. She was using one of Martin Luther King Jr’s well known quotations. Miss Yvonne, a little lady with a powerful voice knew the quotation more than anyone in the audience.  

I was also convinced that the Northern Caribbean University’s (NCU) team of videographers at the panel discussion was familiar with the quotation:   “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”  

The White Pegasus introduced “Philadelphia”

I watched “Philadelphia” from beginning to end in the cold auditorium with my husband. Before the movie started I noticed the white horse with wings and recognized him as Pegasus. He approached from the front with his front legs spread apart and his chest high. 

Why was their Pegasus white?

And why is my Pegasus black?

Is there a difference between the white winged horse and the black winged horse?

And what about Springteen’s music? 

Hanks’ Opera?

Washington’s business cards?

Which of these men represent the true meaning of Pegasus?

One of my male mute readers told me before the movies started that he was reading “Seeds of Insight.” He dipped his shoulder to the left side and praised God. I smiled and dipped my shoulder to the right side and praised God.  A female mute reader was standing close by and I knew she was engaged. I told her that I would be working soon and how the job found me. She was not surprised because she knew about the ”energy” and the ”attraction.”

I did not see my mute readers after the movie. They left before the story was completed.

Dancing with “Antonette”

Yesterday I also danced with “Antonette.” They caught us on video at the Musgrave Hotel. 

Who defines me? Who defines my friends? Where do I live? Where is my community? Do we understand how teenagers and youth communicate these days?

When are we going to throw away the damn old boxes?

We have a long way to go with stigma and discrimination in Jamaica. The task ahead is great especially in a country where violence permeates the society. 

The Planning Institute says that we are missing our development targets. Why? Could it be that we are missing opportunities for growth and development by simply excluding our brilliant minds? 

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20091204/news/news5.html

Male Energy that needs to be released

My discriminating cousin-in-law left on Wednesday. He is one of my seeds; a strong force of positive male energy that needs to be released. In 2002 he brought me the blessings of a job at USAID and now in 2009 he came a day before the call from Uruguay and left after he took the photos of my diplomas. He knows that I am now wiser and more prepared; a mediator for the vulnerable and a diplomat for the Church.

Big Protest in Chapelton

I saw Mass Rudyard and Mass Pearnel on the evening news again yesterday. They were reaching out to the people in Chapelton. Big protest in Chapelton on Wednesday and Thursday!  The people want their hospital to remain open and they were protesting.

I did not notice the hospital when I went up to St. Joseph’s last week. I knew St. Joseph’s was in Mass Pearnel’s constituency though and I could understand why Mass Rudyard was involved.

Wow! A community protest to save the little country hospital brought down two big men from town. And all this was happening under the watchful eyes of the teenage boys on the chosen hills of St. Joseph’s high on top of Mount Zion.

At every chance possible, the judge should suggest alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and the parties should listen.  A judge can tell the attorneys and the clients how expensive and time-consuming litigation is.  He may also schedule settlement conferences, direct or encourage reluctant parties to contribute (i.e.  insurers, and other potential money bags, gold mines, etc.). The judge can also recommend a variety of ADR vehicles such as mediation, early neutral evaluation, summary jury trials, and minitrials.

Welcome back, brothers and sisters!!!

Do you love your enemies?  Do you have compassion for those that ridicule you, cheat you, and look for ways to wrong you?  How do you respond to their attacks and vitriol?

Do you respond with love and forgiveness as Christ Jesus tells us to respond, and as He modeled perfectly for us?  If you don’t then you are disappointing your Master.  I know that it can be particularly hard to forgive and love those who wrong you.  From my personal experience, I am all too familiar with just how hard this can be.  However, I also understand the futility of saying, “I know I should forgive them, but…”.  Beloved, qualified forgiveness is no forgiveness at all.  It’s much like someone who almost trusts you.  They either trust you, or they don’t.  In that same vein, we either offer complete and unconditional forgiveness, or we are not offering forgiveness at all.

Several months ago I was a target of vilification from a group of individuals that were doing everything they could to tear me down and break me.  They used deception, lies, insults, threats, and many different forms of under-handed attacks.  In past years when someone would play these games with me, I was very quick to counter by systemically taking my own swings back at them until they would completely give up.  Though I was very adept at doing so, I was not proud of my ability to “take someone down a peg”.  Nothing positive ever came from it.

Well, as this situation developed and got more vicious (it lasted over 6 months) I became angrier and angrier.  I began to plot exactly how I would make these people pay for their attacks.  Before I implemented my counterattacks, however, something happened.  The more I prayed and shared my burdens and my anger with the Lord, the more I began to feel ashamed for my lust for revenge.  That feeling led me to do something I had never done under such extreme persecution before;  I tried to look at those attacking me through the Lord’s eyes. 

When I did that, beloved, my heart broke for my persecutors.  I no longer saw people who were trying to hurt me.  Instead, I saw a bunch of lost “children” who had been tricked into doing the evil one’s will.  I also realized that if I struck back at them in the manner I had planned, then I would also be doing the evil one’s will.

The moment this realization washed over me, I prayed to the Lord and apologized for the anger that I had allowed to burn hotter and hotter inside of me and for the bad intentions I had planned to respond to these people with.  I also pled with the Lord to forgive the people that had been persecuting me.  I asked that He would open their eyes, ears, and hearts to see the error of their ways so that they might be reconciled unto Him and His will.  I forgave every single one of them that had wronged me, and I felt a strong love burning for them deep within me.  For some time thereafter I prayed for them each and every day, hoping that they would come to Christ and repent of their evil deeds.  I still pray for them on a frequent basis.

Since I began to feel compassion for my persecutors and began praying for them, I have no longer carried the burdens and anger that their persecution initially brought on.  I came to realize that I could only carry so much.  I could either carry those burdens and that incredible anger, or I could carry love and forgivenss.  You see, beloved, we cannot carry both.  We cannot serve the Lord God Almighty by doing the evil one’s work.  I let go of those destructive feelings, so that I could allow all of my being to be filled with the Lord’s love and grow in faith.  By responding to their attackes with forgiveness, and responding to their hate with love, I have lived my faith rather than just speaking it.

Through this experience, the Lord has refined me in faith much further.  While the latest actions of my persecutors show that they have not yet turned to the Lord, I will continue to pray that they will eventually see the error of their ways, repent, and be reconciled unto God.  Though having to separate myself from the situation meant that I no longer would get to work closely with people that I dearly cared about, I was able to do so knowing that on that great day of the Lord, I will be reunited with my friends of faith for all of eternity.  Thank you, Lord!!!

Beloved, don’t fall into the trap of thinking, “Well, I should forgive them, but…”!  There are no “exceptions/buts”.  Judgment does not belong to us.  The Lord handles judgment.  Vengeance belongs to the Lord, so it is not our place to dish it out.  Furthermore, carrying a grudge/resentment will only serve to put distance between you and the Lord.  Is whatever wrong someone committed against you worth turning away from God?  No!!!  Just as Jesus forgave all of us of our wrongs/sins, as faithful servants of the Lord we are to forgive all that offend/attack us as well.

Remember that Jesus made this point when He asked what we gained by only loving those that already love us.  Beloved, is striking back at someone in anger proof of Christ’s love?  No!!!  That’s not what He taught us.  Turning the other cheek is not just some abstract concept.  It is the very instruction that our Lord and Savior gave to us.  He did not qualify that instruction by telling us to follow it only part of the time.  We are to follow the Lord’s instructions all of the time.

Love your enemies, beloved.  They don’t deserve your love, but by responding with love and forgiveness you may just be able to plant a seed that eventually leads them to be reconciled unto the Lord.  You see, beloved, if you expect people to want to be filled with Christ, the portrait you paint in the manner that you live should be a portrait that shines brightly with the Lord’s light.  If people see someone that’s always angry, bitter, resentful, and lashing out, are they going to feel compelled to seek after that which fills them?  No!!!  However, when we respond with the incredible strength and power displayed only through unconditional love, complete forgiveness, and steadfast faith, then people are drawn to learn more about what fills you with such assurance, peace, and joy.  This will help to encourage them to repent of their sins and turn their life over to the Lord.  Remember, beloved, we were just as lost as they are now at an earlier point in our own lives, before we received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  Let’s not break our Father’s heart by making Him watch His children attack each other with hateful and hurtful intrigues.  Let’s make His day by showing Him our love, faith, and obedience by following the example that He set for us.

Precious one, if you have not yet received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, but you would sincerely like to, then please pray the following prayer:

“Lord God Almighty, I know that I am a sinner and that I am lost.  I know that I need to be saved from sin, but I also know that I can’t save myself.  Lord Jesus, I know that only You can save me.  I know that you paid for my salvation with your own life and blood on the cross.  I know that when You rose from the grave on the third day, you provided everlasting life to all who trust in You.  Right now, I lay down my life and let go of my pride, my vanity and every other sin that has kept me from You.  Lord Jesus, I now completely trust my life to You.  I open my heart to You, Lord.  Please come into my heart.  Please forgive me of all of my sins, and please accept me as Your child.  From this point on, I commit my life to You.  Please guide me and provide me strength as I begin to live the rest of my life for You.  In Your precious and matchless name I pray. Amen.”

I you just prayed that prayer, honestly seeking the Lord, then you are now saved.  The robe of righteousness is now available unto you through your Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ.  Though you will still face adversity in this world, you now have the Lord with you to face and overcome anything that comes your way.  Dedicate yourself to your new relationship with the Lord by talking to Him often through prayer, while also studying His word.  Ask the Lord to guide your every path, and follow the path that He sets before you.  I would further encourage you to seek out opportunities for fellowship with other believers.  Serve the Lord with all your heart, and always seek His will in all things.  Welcome to the family:-)  Know that the angels in heaven are rejoicing at your decision to give your life to the Lord today!!!

I want to thank you all for joining today’s discussion.  I hope you will be able to join us for Friday’s day of prayer so that we can unleash the power of the Lord through prayer over this week’s prayer requests.

Remember, if you would like to order the new book “Strapping On the Whole Armor of God – Suiting Up For Spiritual Warfare), please visit my website at http://www.yourbrotherinchrist.com .  If you prefer to order by mail, you will also find the mailing address on that website.  This book is very valuable in helping people understand how to go about securely and effectively putting on the whole armor of God that the apostle Paul refers to in Chapter 6 of Ephesians.  We are praying that many people will receive this book and be blessed in their walk with the Lord by reading it.

May the Lord bless you, keep you, guide you, and make His face to shine upon you and your loved ones always.

Your brother in Christ,

Rev Jason Thurwanger

These are notes I made while preparing for SCEA 5. I would like to thank my friend Sajitha for helping in scribing these notes.

1.     GOF DESIGN PATTERNS

1.1.             Abstract Factory

Provide an interface for creating families of related or dependent objects with out specifying their concrete classes

Advantages

• One level of abstraction higher than factory pattern – It is a factory method that returns one of several factories
• It encapsulates a group of individual factories having a common theme
• Isolates concrete classes
• Makes exchanging product families easy
• Promotes consistency among products

Disadvantages

• Supporting new kind of products is difficult

Example      EJBHome interface that creates new EJBObjects
javax.servlet.jsp.JSPFactory – Abstract class that defines factory methods available to JSP at runtime

1.2.             Adaptor

Convert the interface of a class to another interface that the client expects

Advantages

• Allows two or more incompatible objects to interact
• Reuse of older functionality
• Adapter class ‘adapts’ adaptee to target by committing a concrete adapter class
  • Adapter is a subclass of adaptee
  • Introduces only one object for adaption
  • It will not work when a class and all its subclasses have to be ‘adapted’
• Object adapter has an instance variable of type Adaptee
  • Single adapter works with all of adaptees sub-classes
  • Makes it harder to override adaptee behavior
• Adapter is usually used to avoid changing existing classes [not an up-front design choice when both systems do not exist] Unlike Bridge pattern – both ends of adapter already exist and it glues them together

Example      Vendor specific subclasses of an abstract DAO

1.3.             Bridge

Decouple an abstraction from the implementation so that the two can vary independently

• Abstraction                  =  Entity
• Implementation            =  Behavior
• Similar to Adapter – The Entity adapts the behavior to a different interface [Entity interface]
• Differs from Adapter – It is a design choice [both ends do not exist for Adapter
• Similar to Strategy and State in structure
• Differs from Strategy and State because these two design patterns have a single hierarchy of classes, so the behavior varies but the entity does not.

Advantages

• Two hierarchies of classes that vary independently
• The abstraction [entity] has-a implementation [behavior]
• Used rarely, often combines with AbstractFactory – [creating a family of products – Entity and Behavior]
• Hides implementation details from client
• Allows to assign and change behavior of entities at runtime

Disadvantages

• Behavior interface will be wide if the entities are highly orthogonal [Many varieties of operation]
• Delegation from Entities to Behaviors may degrade performance
• If a new entity is not satisfied with the current behavior interface, then changing interface needs extensive work

Example     DAO Implements Bridge pattern to separate services

1.4.             Builder

Separates the construction of a complex object from its representation so that the same construction process can create different representation

• Special case of strategy applied to create object
• Director has a fixed high-level procedure, but the actual construction process depends on what is being built.  This construction process is encapsulated in a Strategy object called the Builder.  E.g. Builder separates the push scheduler and data formatter for HTTP GET request

Advantages

• Lets you vary a products internal representation
• Isolates code for construction from representation
• Finer control over construction process
  • Director constructs the object step by step
  • Each step is implemented by a concrete builder
  • Once all steps are done Director retrieves the result

Example

1.5.             Chain of Responsibility

Avoid coupling the sender of a request to its receiver by giving more than one object a chance to handle the request.  Chain the receiving objects and pass the request along the chain until an object handles it

Advantages

• Reduced coupling – Client need not know the receiver of request
• Added flexibility in assigning responsibilities to objects

Disadvantages

• Receipt of request is not guaranteed
• Chain may get lengthy and introduce performance problem

Example      Commonly used for parsers

1.6.             Command

Encapsulate a request as an object to parameterize clients with different requests, queue, or log requests and support undo operations

Advantages

• Easy to add new commands
• Can be assembled into composite commands
• Decouples the invoking object from the object that performs an operation
• Similar to Strategy – execute is the strategy method
• Differs to Strategy –
  • command is a user triggered action
  • Various commands can be unrelated – e.g. Strategy represents a single business rule such as tax calculations.  All Strategies do the same thing in a different way e.g. State Tax calculation verses Federal Tax calculation
  •  

Disadvantages

Example

1.7.             Composite

Compose objects into a tree structure to represent whole-part hierarchies

Advantages

• Lets clients treat individual objects and compositions of objects uniformly
• Defines hierarchies of primitive objects and composite objects
• Makes it easier to ass new kinds of components

Disadvantages

• Leaf has meaningless methods like add()
• Design could be made overly general, making it harder to restrict the components of a composite e.g. Make a composite have only certain components
• Type system will not enforce those contraints

Example      Aggregate Entity Beans,   XML DOM Model,     Swing/AWT containers

1.8.             Decorator

Attach additional responsibilities to an object dynamically

• Proxy is a special case of decorator pattern.  Proxy is used with regard to security and networking and typically a class with a proxy cannot be accessed directly.

Advantages

• Modifies the behavior of individual objects without having to create a derived class and do this at run time
• More flexibility then static inheritance [ ‘has-a’ not ‘is-a’]
• Avoids feature laden classes high up in hierarchy
• Each feature is implemented in separate decorator class

Disadvantages

• A decorator and its component are not identical.  So cannot rely on object identity when using this pattern
• It results in a lot of little objects composing the system

Example    The java.io streams library implementation uses decorators to add responsibility to the stream

1.9.             Façade

Unified interface to a set of interfaces in a system.

Advantages

• Reduces number of objects a client has to deal with
• Promotes weak coupling and less compilation dependencies
• Clients can still use subsystem classes [i.e. they do not have to go to the façade]

Example      Session entity façade pattern in J2EE

1.10.        Factory Method

Defines an interface to create an object but it lets the subclasses decide which class to instantiate

• A public creation method typically of the class that the method belongs to

Advantages

• Gives subclasses a hook for returning subclass

Disadvantages

• Have to subclass creator just to create a particular concrete product

Example      EJBHome interface,   Connection factories for EIS

1.11.        Flyweight

Use sharing to support large number of fine grain objects efficiently

Advantages

• Key concept is distinct between intrinsic and extrinsic state – Intrinsic state is stored in the flyweight, Extrinsic state depends and varies with flyweight’s context and so cannot be shared
  • Client objects are responsible for passing extrinsic state to flyweight
• Minimizes memory occupation by sharing as much data as possible with other similar objects
• Reduction in number of objects to handle

Disadvantages

Example      Pooled EJBs,    Pooled database connections

1.12.        Interpreter

Given a language, defines a representation for its grammar along with an Interpreter that uses the representation to interpret sentences in the language

• Special case of Composite is applied to Parsing

Advantage

• Implementing grammar is easy
• Easy to change and Extend grammar

Disadvantages

• Complex grammars are hard to maintain. At least one class per rule.

Example     

1.13.        Iterator

Provide a way to access elements of aggregate object with out exposing its underlying representation.

Advantages

• Supports traversals of objects in a collection
• Variation in traversal achieved just by changing iterator

Example

1.14.        Mediator

An object that encapsulates how a set of objects interact

Advantages

• Centralized control
• Loose coupling by preventing objects from referring each other

Example

1.15.        Memento

 Without violating encapsulation, capture and externalize an object’s internal state so that it can be restored to this state later

• Related to Command pattern regarding undo pattern

Advantages

• Preserves encapsulation boundaries
• Simplifies the originator [Object does not have to cache its own state as it changes]

Disadvantages

• Expensive if large data resides in Memento’s state
• It may be difficult in some languages to ensure only originator can access memento’s state
• Hidden cost of caring [and deleting] members

Example      dfs

1.16.        Observer

Defines a one-to-many dependency between objects, so that when one object changes state, all the dependents are notified and updated automatically

Advantages

• Abstract coupling between subject and observer
• Support for broadcast communication

Disadvantages

• Unexpected updates – Since observers are unaware of each other’s presence, they can be blind to the cost of changing the subject.  A seemingly innocuous operation on the subject may cause a cascade of updates to observers and their dependent object
• Without additional protocol to help observers discover what changed, they may be forced to work hard to deduce what changed

Example      Swing/AWT Listeners and Observers

1.17.        Prototype

Specify the kind of object to instantiate using a prototypical instantiate using a prototypical instance and create new objects by copying this prototype

Advantages

• Add/remove concrete products just by registering a prototypical instance with a client
• Define new kinds of objects by instantiating existing classes and registering the instances as prototypes of client objects
• The client exhibits different behavior by delegating responsibility to the prototype
• Reduce sub-classing – Factory pattern often produces hierarchy of creator classes that parallels the product class hierarchy The prototype pattern allows cloning a prototype instead of using a factory method to create a new object

Example

1.18.        Proxy

Provide a surrogate or place holder for another object to control access to it.

Advantages

• A remote proxy provides a local representation for an object in different address space
• A virtual proxy creates expensive objects on demand
• A protection proxy controls access to the original object
• A smart reference is a replacement for a bare pointer that performs additional actions when an object is accessed [e.g. counting number of references, loading persistent objects to memory on access, etc ]

Example    EJB’s remote interface is a proxy for a bean

                   Proxy is used in RMI

1.19.        Singleton

Control the number of instances of a class to a constant usually one and provide single global point of access.

Advantages

• Avoid polluting namespace with global variables
• More flexible than class variables or methods

Example      Math class in Java

1.20.        State

State pattern allows an object to alter its behavior when it’s internal state changes.  The object will appear to change its class.

Advantages

• Localizes state specific behavior and partitions behavior for different states
• Makes state transition explicit – All variables of state change together in a single call.
• State objects can be shared like flyweights if states do not have instance variable [Type is a state]
• State objects are often singletons [Gof page 313]
• Similar to Strategy [& Command] – Single class/interface with many subclasses.  The behavior is that of Strategy / Command design pattern
• Differs from Strategy [& Command] – Intend is different.  Behavior is varied by changing state of object and not by performing[or invoking] a single action.
• Similar to Bridge – State is the implementation of behavior for abstract object
• Differs from Bridge – Bridge separates abstraction from implementation and is not based on the state of the object. Bridge pattern can implement any behavior on any instance of the abstraction

Example

1.21.        Strategy

Defines a family of algorithms, encapsulates each one and makes them interchangeable [Alternative to sub classing – Context ‘has-a’ instead of a ‘is-a’ behavior]

Advantages

• Easier to extend a model to incorporate new behavior

Disadvantages

• Clients must be aware of an understand different strategies
• Increased number of objects
• Single interface for all strategies so simpler implementations may not need all the parameters given – Communication overhead.

Example

1.22.        Template Method

Defines a skeleton of an algorithm in an operation deferring some steps to subclasses

• An alternative to Strategy when there are invariant parts of the algorithm

Advantages

• Fundamental technique for code reuse
• Inverted control structure [parent class calls subclass’s method]

Example      The director in builder pattern may be implementing this pattern – only difference being Builders are not subclasses of Director

1.23.         Visitor

It represents an operation to be performed on the elements of an object structure. 

• Visitor lets us define a new operation without changing the classes of the elements on which it operates
• Each new operation is a subclass of the abstract Visitor

Advantages

• Visitor is after-the-fact substitute for multiple inheritance
• When an element is visited, it calls the visitor operation that corresponds to its class. The element supplies itself as an argument to this operation to let the visitor access its state
• Gathers related operations and separates unrelated ones. [Related operations in visitor and unrelated in their won visitor subclasses
• Visitor can visit objects that do not have same parent class

Disadvantages

• Adding new concrete elements is hard [needs new visitXXX method visitor] Consider whether it is most likely to change the algorithm [visitor] applied over an object structure or the classes that make up the structure
• Breaking encapsulation to allow visitor to access state

Example      jaxb XJC implementation uses Visitor pattern

I am exited to explore in depth the doctrine of Charity, which is the pure love of Christ or the way Christ loves us.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Verses 1-3 tell me how important Charity (Love) is. If we spoke with the tongue of angels or had the gift of prophecy or understood all mysteries, if we don’t have charity then we are as nothing. We need to have charity more than all knowledge or all faith. We can give away everything we have to feed the poor or sacrifice our bodies to be burned but if we don’t live with charity then it is for nothing. If we have all kinds of great gifts bestowed upon us or do any number of great things we are “nothing without charity”. We can’t base our salvation on just one or two things we have to include Charity or it is all in vain.

What is charity? Charity in verse four is broken down in specific attributes so that we may fully understand what charity is.4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Verses 8-13 further illustrate how important Charity is in our lives by comparing it to other important aspects of the gospel of Jesus Christ8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Moroni 10:46-47

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail — 47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. 48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.This additional Christian Scripture passage adds to the importance of charity and teaches us more about Charity. All things must fail but Charity will never fail. This would indicate to me that we should invest much effort and prayer into obtaining the gift of charity so that it fills our sould and heart to overflowing. Verse 47 tells us that we must pray with all the energy of hear to be filled with this love.

This passage also teaches us that Charity is the pure love of Christ and when He comes again the second time if we are filled with Charity we shall be like Him. Charity is a purifying force as well.

So what exactly is Charity that it is so important? Charity is the “Pure Love Of Christ”. So when you read the word “Charity” substitute the phrase “pure love of Christ”.

Suffereth Long
The “pure love of Christ” suffereth long.

What does “Suffereth long” mean? In short “suffereth long” means patience. Consider the verse 1 Peter 3:20 In part that verse says “when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah…” We also know that mankind was extraordinarily wicked in the days of Noah. God was very patient having Noah call them to repentance before the destruction of the flood. One of the online dictionaries defines “long-suffering” as: “patiently enduring lasting offense or hardship”. There again is the word “patience”. Part of the pure love of Christ (Charity) is patience.

This means that we need to have patience. Patience toward who? We are told to have Charity like Christ does and Christ is patient towards all mankind so that implies that we should also have patience towards all mankind and especially those close to us in our own life like our spouse and children and those people we interact with on a daily basis but not to exclude all others.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) The Lord exerts all the patience He can toward us so that we may have as much time possible to repent and turn to Him.

Is Kind

“The pure love of Christ” is kind.

The one of the online dictionaries suggest that “Kind” means: Affectionate, loving. Of a sympathetic or helpful nature. Of a forbearing nature. Gentle. Arising from or characterized by sympathy or forbearance (a kind act). To give pleasure or relief.

A good or benevolent nature or disposition. A loving person. Having, showing or proceeding from benevolence. Considerate, helpful, humane, mild, gentle, loving or affectionate.

Forbearance means “To be tolerant or patient in the face of provocation.” An abstaining from the enforcement of a right. “A creditor’s giving of indulgence after the day originally fixed for payment.” This descriptions of the word “Kind” certainly sound Christ-like. This kind of kindess is what we should be striving for, even praying for.

Envieth Not

“The pure love of Christ” envieth not.

Envy means a painful or resentful awareness of something enjoyed by someone else as well as a desire to possess the same thing the other person has. So if Charity Envieth not then we should not be resentful toward others but rather we should be happy for the things others possess and share their joy. We cannot envy someone if we have the pure love of Christ in our hearts. We need to have joy in others successes and achievements. If everyone “envieth not” think of the drop in the crime rates.

Vaunteth Not Itself

“The pure love of Christ” vaunteth not itself.

“Vaunt” means to brag or to make a vain display of one self? We should not draw undue attention to ourselves. When we brag about ourselves we are setting ourselves up to appear to be better than others. God loves us all the same. He doesn’t love whatever sin or misdeed we may be involved in but He loves us all the same. We should not seek to make ourselves appear to be better than each other.

Is Not Puffed Up

“The pure love of Christ” is not puffed up.

Puffed up means to speak or act in a scornful, conceited, or exaggerated manner. We should just be ourselves or we should be the person we are trying to be as we seek for Charity in our lives. We need to be humble (teachable) and sincere. If we are locked into Charity as a way of life then we would have no insecurities and have no need to be conceited.

Doth Not Behave Itself Unseemly

“The pure love of Christ” doth not behave itself unseemly.

Unseemly means not according with established standards of good form or taste. In other words we should be vulgar or crude.

Seeketh Not Her Own

“The pure love of Christ” seeketh not her own.
To “seek not her own” means being selfish. Anyone who has Charity or seeking Charity is not selfish. We should repent for any selfish behavior and strive to not be selfish.

Is Not Easily Provoked

“The pure love of Christ” is not easily provoked.

Is not easily made mad or one who is slow to anger. Not resentful. If we considered the life of Christ he was very slow to wrath. The only time he showed wrath was when the money changers we disrespecting the Temple. Even when Christ was be unjustly tried for made up crimes he was not provoked. When He hung from the cross, rather than be mad he ask Heavenly Father to forgive the soldiers who were torturing Him.

Thinketh No Evil

“The pure love of Christ” thinketh no evil.

Evil is the opposite of righteousness. Charity does not think of things contrary to righteousness. Ask yourself what is evil and think the opposite. Think of virtuous thoughts. Ask yourself what would Jesus think about and think likewise.

Rejoiceth Not In Iniquity But Rejoiceth In The Truth

“The pure love of Christ” rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth.

Iniquity is both sin and behavior directly in opposition to righteousness. Charity finds happiness in the truth or rejoices in the truth. Thinketh no evil and Rejoiceth Not in iniquity go hand in hand or are companion virtues. Don’t think evil thoughts and do not rejoice in inquity. Do we watch movies or read books where we find ourselves rooting for the bad guy? Is that Charity?

Beareth All Things

“The pure love of Christ” beareth all things.

What does it mean to “Bear”? Looking up the word “bear” on several online dictionaries came to the following conclusions:

To make one’s way steadily especially against resistance. Continuing firm or resolute through trials and difficulties.

To put up with something trying or painful.

The terms Suffereth (Suffer) and Beareth (Bear) are synonyms in parts of their meanings but they also have some differences in their definitions. From what I can ascertain The phrase “Suffereth Long” is more to do with patience. The phrase “Beareth All Things” deals mainly with faithfully overcoming trials and adversity.

Believeth All Things

“The pure love of Christ” believeth all things

This phrase “believeth all things” has to do with faith. Charity, the pure love of Christ wouldn’t teach to believe all things regardless. For instance. Do we believe the God created the earth or do we believe in junk science that the earth was created from a big bang?

Do we believe God created Man in His own image or than man evolved from apes? We don’t believe all things spiritual and worldly but rather “believeth all things” is to have firm religious faith. To accept the gospel as true, genuine or real. Furthermore it means to have assurance or faith in righteousness. Trust in God. To have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, or ability of something. If that thing doesn’t have goodness of efficacy then it is evil and not to be trifled with.

Other definitions of “Believeth all things”: To have confidence in the truth,

Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

2 Corinthians 6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

Hopeth All Things

“The pure love of Christ” hopeth all things.

To look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence. For instance, to look to Christ for ones salvation. To place trust in or rely in. We need to trust in Christ that He will do what He says he will do. To look to the Gospel of Jesus Christ with confidence.

Endureth All Things

“The pure love of Christ” endureth all things. Here is what some online dictionaries defined Endure as.

To undergo a hardship without giving in. To suffer or endure a great pain. To remain firm under suffering or misfortune without yielding. To bear without resistance or with patience.

To support adverse force or influence of any kind; suffer without yielding; suffer patiently. The life of Christ is a perfect example of enduring all things.

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Das darf nicht passieren: In einer juristischen Fachzeitschrift steht, ein als Mediator tätiger Rechtsanwalt habe zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt nach Abschluß der Mediation eine der Parteien (im Mediationsverfahren “Medianden” genannt) vertreten – und zwar gegen den anderen Medianden, der seiner selbst auferlegten Verpflichtung aus der Mediationsvereinbarung nicht nachgekommen ist.

Es ist nicht anstößig, wenn ein als Mediator tätiger Rechtsanwalt einen Medianden rechtlich vertritt – solange es sich um eine andere Sache handelt und keinesfalls die Mediation betrifft. Denn der in der Mediation geltende Grundsatz der Neutralität des Mediators gilt nicht nur während des Mediationsverfahrens, sondern auch darüber hinaus. Nur so ist gewährleistet, daß die Medianden offen über ihre Handlungen, Gedanken und Gefühle sprechen, was wiederum für das gegenseitige Verständnis und letztlich den Erfolg der Mediation erforderlich ist.

Schwarze Schafe gibt es leider in jeder Branche. Der Vorfall darf jedoch nicht darüber hinwegtäuschen, daß sich die allermeisten Mediatoren an den auch über das Ende der Mediation hinausgehenden Grundsatz der Neutralität halten. Eine spätere anwaltliche Tätigkeit in einer Angelegenheit, die Gegenstand einer Mediation war, ist übrigens gemäß § 43a Abs. 4 BRAO auch ausgeschlossen. Einem Mediator, der sich hieran nicht hält, drohen strafrechtliche und berufsrechtliche Konsequenzen.

This is just some ideas rolling around in my head about Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS). If you actually worked for Family Court Services, and were hearing PAS allegations—how do you approach PAS while being fair and impartial???

These are my ideas…

The Allegation: Parental Alienation Sydrome “PAS”/Malicious Mom Syndrome

• Require regular (yearly) mandatory training for Family Court Staff including topics such as ethics, domestic violence, children and trauma and state regulations. This training should be certified and all providers should be thoroughly checked to ensure it is from a credible institution (not some organization with an agenda).

      This can be done! Professions like teaching and mortgage origination have mandatory training…

• Conduct routine audits, performance reviews and satisfaction surveys (anonymously) of Family Court Services as well as follow up on resolved cases
• In order to be fair and impartial, I believe Family Courts should not use the term “Malicious Mom Syndrome” because it is biased, and creates an accusation that is almost irreversible
• Family court personnel should remain independent and neutral while also working together. It should not be that one staff member is just agreeing with another staff member just because—this creates division, and unnecessary strain on the family
• There should be a way to reprimand, punish or even terminate employment for family court staff who act inappropriately (and clear guidelines should be set for conduct, behavior, ethics and job expectations)

• Assess who is making the allegations of PAS, assess also allegations of domestic violence and child abuse (including allegations the child may have witnessed acts of violence). BOTH parties should be held to the same standards.
• Similarly, if PAS is indeed a real syndrome, then both fathers and mothers—as well as other caretakers should be considered for it.

      Family court staff  should also be suspect for creating alienation against one favored parent, if needed, should be investigated and reprimanded. There should be red flags for certain types of behavior—several one sided reports that seem to condemn or denigrate one parent over the other, staff giving legal advise to one parent, serious or ongoing allegations of child abuse ignored, complaints against staff (past and present) etc…

• Consider the origin of symptoms—was PAS present before the custody proceedings were initiated? Has anyone other than the accusing party witnessed any concerns? Is there any medical or forensic documentation to support PAS OR disprove it?
• Consider whether there is any other explanation for the suspect behavior—and investigate. Example: Parent hesitant and/or fearful but claiming domestic violence…before blindly slapping the parent with the label PAS, investigate these claims and gather more information
• Gather collateral information: Doctor reports, Court psych evals, Visitation logs, Family studies, School reports, Parent history, etc
• Consider behavior by parent making allegations that may be abusive, threatening, or alienating.

      Here is a good example: My abusive ex ctells the Guardian ad Litem that I am  “alienating” the children from him.  As “proof” he claims that he gave my child a birthday card and that I ripped it up & threw it away.  GAL believes these allegations without investigating the claims, and never spoke to me. She writes a       report, which is handed in to the Court, claiming I am “alienating” the children  from their father, and using this incident to support her claims. It NEVER  happened! I actually have the birthday card, and saved it for my child. I even produced the card for the GAL—but by then it was too late. The GAL report had been issued to the Court, I have been negatively portrayed and the GAL  refused to retract her remarks.

Parents should have a means to defend themselves in court, and to correct false or misleading statements with truth and fact. When a parent is silenced, threatened      and their voice is ignored that is alienation!

• Consider factual evidence, research, data and statistics concerning PAS—is this even a valid syndrome? What are the risks to the family? Are there other theories or information available that would better explain the situation OR support credible facts?
• Would you consider Dr. Richard Garnder a reliable witness? If you were to hold Dr. Gardner to the same standards as a parent sitting in front of you….what would your recommendation be? Seriously, think about it before adopting PAS.

 I am just getting started here….please feel free to add your thoughts and other ideas…

 Evanlee, 2009

Parental Alienation Syndrome Information on Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), SMART Ritual Abuse Pages: http://ritualabuse.us/research/parental-alienation-syndrome/

Antonio called me yesterday at 6:08 pm while I was on my way home. I recognized his name on my cell phone screen.

“Hi Antonio!”

“Hey.”

“How are you doing man?” The tone of his voice was different. He was comfortable.

We exchanged more greetings as my son and my cousin listened in on the conversation.

“Allison gone till Sunday,” he said, sounding as if he was really missing her. 

“Really? But Tamian comes back on Friday, right?” I had to give him hope that his angels were not far away.

“Yes,” he replied, with a soft and relaxed tone.

I knew he was feeling more comfortable. I could tell by the sound of his voice.

“Are you going away too?”

My heart skipped a beat as I heard his voice asked the big question that all my men had been asking for months now and I knew that I was going to be honest with this young hopeful boy.

“No Antonio, I am not going anywhere right now. I will be here for a while.”

I then decided to ask him about his parents. “How do you feel now that your parents are back…?”

“Mi feel good.”

“Did you get into anymore problems? I hope that there is no more war.”

“No man.”

I told Antonio that I called St. Joseph’s on Wednesday to talk to Mr. Calmright but was told that he was out of office and that I could call again on Thursday. Antonio confirmed that Mr. Calmright was indeed away on Wednesday but would be back on Thursday.

Mediator

My cousin who is here visiting from the US called me a “mediator” this Ben Johnson morning. I smiled and told him that I was never trained as one but somehow God was using me to mediate in the lives of people in crisis.

“Yes man you are a mediator and a diplomat too.” He insisted.

I did not challenge his statement. If he felt that I was a mediator and a diplomat, then what could I say?

Then we started to talk about the grandparents and their way of life. I laughed out loudly, clapped my hands and jumped three times in the kitchen as I explained My Truth about Rastafari and the Church with Miss Liz paying close attention. 

My husband looked at me quizzically. He had never before heard me talk like that. He asked:”What is Babylon?”

And I explained.

There was silence.

Mrs. Prospect

I called Mrs. Prospect as promised to tell her about the interview. I knew she was eager to learn about the job prospect. I gave her all the information that I had about the organization with which I took the interview. 

“Oh!” She said.

It seems as if, at least for a moment, that some of my readers thought I was being self-serving.

I smiled.

They really do not know me. They do not know Mar Campbell at all.

Seems as if they were saying that I was going after Mary Clarke’s job…apparently she is about to retire. 

Good Lord!

I am here for a specific purpose 

Let me assure you all that I am not going after anyone’s job. I am here for a specific purpose; to sow (thanks Bethany), yes, sow “Seeds of Insight” using the positive energies of men across Jamaica and the world. I am also here to help women to smell the sweet scents just before dawn through my “Senses at Dawn.”

And I want to thank you all for taking this journey with me. I know you are reading because I can “see” you through my computer screen and I can feel your spirits. I can even tell when people translate my blog posts into a language that they understand.

I am here! I am living in a new world and I love it!

Don’t worry! I am not possessed by evil spirits. Rather, I am merely following God’s Design for my life and moving according to the will of the Universe.

HALLELUJAH!

BLESS!

“The Lord said, ‘I will hasten my work in its time’ (D&C 88:73). Surely anyone observing the recent growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is keenly aware of that hastening process. This should make us humbly grateful for the Lord’s omnipotent hand. Obstacles that seemed insurmountable have proven to be merely challenges for the faithful, for ‘with God nothing shall be impossible’ (Luke 1:37). “Inspiration has prepared the way from the beginning, when the Lord impressed the Prophet Joseph Smith to compose the twelfth article of faith: ‘We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.’ This inspired statement was surely written for our day. The Prophet knew that the gospel was ultimately to be taken to all nations regardless of their governmental differences. He knew that the ordinances of salvation and exaltation could bless the lives of people regardless of their politics. And he knew that people who were taught correct principles and who were loyal to their civil leaders and observing of their local laws would be most able to enjoy the blessings of the gospel.”

Elder Russell M. Nelson

Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion. Jude 11

John MacArthur explains:

Korah rebelled against the Word of God. Whereas Cain ignored the God’s command, and Balaam sought to circumvent it, Korah blatantly rebelled against it. Korah, a cousin of Moses, resented his exclusion from being a priest and envied Moses as God’s mediator. In effect, Korah said, “Forget it. We don’t need priests, and we don’t need Moses.” Abiram, Dathan, and two hundred and fifty others agreed with Korah and joined in his rebellion. According to Numbers 16:3, they believed that the entire congregation was holy and could there enter into God’s presence without having a mediating priesthood. As a result of that rebellion, God opened the ground so that the three leaders with all that belonged to them were swallowed up. He consumed their two hundred and fifty followers with fire.

b. The Application

You say, “That’s pretty serious.” Yes, it is. Korah was a classic example of somebody who doesn’t think that sinful man needs a Savior to serve as a Mediator between himself and a holy God. Such a person propagates the “fatherhood of God”: He claims that all men are the sons of God and have access to Him apart from Christ. That false view asserts that Jesus didn’t have to open the way of access, because God accepts everybody. They think that He is too “loving” to send anyone to hell. If there is such a thing as sin, they are sure that God is only too glad to overlook it.

But God clearly showed that He is greatly displeased with those ideas. Paul said, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). Jesus said, “…no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (Jn. 14:6). Although God had established the priesthood and Moses as His mediator, Korah claimed that he didn’t need a priest or any other mediator. He thought everybody in the congregation was holy enough to approach God. In effect, he was blaspheming the holy character of God by assuming that a mortal man could enter the presence of God without a mediator. But that is ridiculous. Apostates who claim that they need no Savior may not be judged as immediately as Korah was, but God’s judgment will certainly catch up with them. Their verdict is stated by Jude in verse 11: “Woe unto them!…”