The Bible tells me so

The number of self-help books on the market today amuses me. The fact that Dr. Phil has a talk show amuses me even more. I must admit, though, that I’ve read my fair share of them.

I read my first self-help book, How to stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie, when I was a teenager. Not that I was a depressed teenager or anything, but a neighbor was cleaning out his room and gave it to me. I was very impressed by the book. It detailed a lot of philosophies and actions that will definitely improve your life. Over time, I have read several of those types of books. Most recently, I read “The Secret.”

Throughout my college and work experience, I have attended numerous seminars that are aimed to develop leadership and personal skills. Most of the seminars were beneficial. After reading all of these books and attending the seminars, I began to realize that most of these books and speakers basically said the same thing. Although these books helped me somewhat, most of the actions they suggested came to me naturally as I aged. Some might call that personal growth.

However, I cannot attribute any personal growth to a self-help book or seminar. These people that are making money by promoting “self-help” are basically stealing their material. This stuff has been around long before Dale Carnegie or Dr. Phil. Most of it’s elementary and should come natural. What’s scary is the fact that the actions recommended by these “gurus” don’t come natural to some people.
The Golden Rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, is the basis for most self-help books. The rest is base on other biblical principles and teachings of Christ (Really? You didn’t expect Dr. Phil to save you, did you?).

Realizing this, I am aghast at the amount of people in these seminars that act as though they are amazed that these techniques work. They act as though they have never heard of these principles before. I’ve seen people amazed that they could benefit from a more productive workforce, have better relationships, and have better general communication skills by simply listening to a person and showing genuine interest in that person. Is that really new knowledge? “But the greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted” (Matthew 23:11-12).

Why is so difficult for people to have good relationships. Why is it so amazing to learn that we can be more effective by improving our relationships? It sounds as if people have become so self involved that they become insecure in their own vanity. “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5).

It is scary to me that so many people do not realize the basic principles to simply live and get more out of life. The Secret teaches that you can have anything your heart desires by simply believing in it. They left the part out about a belief in God and having faith. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:” (Matt 7:7). So now basically, self-help books are stealing the gospel, selling the gospel, but leaving the gospel out of the gospel.

I guess maybe it’s not their fault. We have become so politically correct in this country that we are afraid to offend anybody. Mtv’s The Real World, a show that promotes underage drinking, irresponsibility, and unnatural sexual acts, has been on the air for nearly 20 years now. It has inspired countless “reality” shows that basically promote excessive lifestyles and irresponsibility on a larger scale. An entire generation has been raised with valueless role models. During this same time period, the word God has been stricken from nearly everything with the exception of the GD curse word. I’m not a preacher by any means (nor am I Glen Beck), but I can definitely see the correlation between the lack of social skills and values and the lack of faith.

The country was begun with a revolution. The British considered us traitors. Would we be considered traitors now if we began a revolution of sorts. We definitely need to change people’s minds. Besides, they want us to change their minds. They spend millions of dollars every year on books by self-help gurus to help change their mind.

I wonder what would happen if a high school teacher that taught business or leadership began using the bible as their textbook. They would probably be fired. However, you can find most leadership principles that I have been taught in seminars and other books in the bible.

I could understand the teacher not wanting to do something like this because he would be fired. However, this is exactly how a revolution was started when the ACLU first wanted to eliminate the bible from class and replace it with evolution. Much like teachers are not allowed to mention God now, they could not mention evolution in the 1920s. John Scopes, a substitute teacher, was basically chosen by the ACLU to be their pansy. He taught about evolution and was subsequently fired. A huge court case was formed that was financed by the ACLU. The court case made a mockery of Christianity and eventually led to many other cases that have led to our current condition of decay.

John Scopes was found guilty and fined, but the case was a landmark for evolution theorists and the ACLU. Why can’t we do the same thing? I’d love to see evolution made a mockery of on a grand stage. Big Bang theory? Cavemen and apes? I’m sorry, but I don’t buy any of it.

Do we need change? Yes, but it’s not the same change that hopeful presidential candidates talk about. We just need to get back to basics. Every rule for life is written in the bible. It’s really not that complicated.

Click here for info on The Scopes Monkey Trial

Travel At Your Own Risk

When I accepted the invitation to the 60 min presentation in exchange for a $75 Visa gift card, I knew what I was in for. At a vacation in Gatlinburg a few years ago, a man flagged us down and offered us a $100 bill to listen to a 90 min presentation for a timeshare. The presenter got agitated at me when I told him I had no intention of buying anything and was only there for the $100. He ended the presentation in 30 minutes and awarded us our $100. His blood pressure was a little higher, but my wallet was a little fatter.

I should have known that it wouldn’t be as easy this time. I had rented a few days from my friend’s timeshare property in Florida and booked an appointment for a similar presentation the day after arriving. The host promised that there would be no pressure. “We’re different than everyone else,” she promised. I tried to give her subtle hints. I relayed the scenario in Gatlinburg, but that didn’t seem to register with her. When I expressed my desire to visit New York, she asked what kind of place could we rent in New York with the money we had spent so far on this vacation. I joked that a cardboard box in Central Park would be about all, but she still didn’t seem amused. She continued to attempt to lure me into buying a timeshare by explaining how they had a partnership with Bass Pro Shops and I could go hunting and fishing anywhere in the world. Unfortunately for her, I’m probably the only Tennessean that could care less about hunting and fishing. “Heck,” I explained, “I’ve never even set foot in a Bass Pro Shop.”

Finally, she brought her manager out. I began to feel as if I were on Deal or No Deal. I must admit that they made me some pretty good deals though. I now know that if I ever want to buy a timeshare to act like I don’t want one. I could have gotten it for ¼ of the advertised price. However, a timeshare is not currently in my budget or list of priorities. After 2 hours, I finally told her that I came to Florida for vacation and had no intention of buying anything. Once again, I was asked why I booked the presentation. “For the $75 gift card,” I said. “We’re finished here,” she said.

I understand that she was a sales-person and it was her job to try and sell me the timeshare, but I don’t understand the lengths that she went to. Maybe that's why I'm not a salesman. I used to feel guilty when I worked at H&R Block when the manager used to push H&R Block’s other products on people who couldn’t afford it. Most people were only there to get their taxes back in a quick way. Nevertheless, they usually bought products from the other tax preparers as they didn’t know what they were getting themselves into. I have some sort of a conscience thing going on and never could do that to someone. Some of the stories taxpayers would tell me were heart wrenching. I couldn’t take advantage of them for my gain. That’s pretty much why I was written up for not offering “H&R Block’s additional services.”

When undermining my priorities didn’t work, she tried to gain sympathy by telling me that I made her feel like she wasn’t doing her job good enough. Before it was all over, I had the impression that she was one of those people that thought she was better than the people she was selling to. I interpreted her dialogue to mean that she thought she was smarter than me as well. I’m glad she felt that way. After all, I’m the one that got the gift card that paid for food at Disney (actually 2 large Domino's pizzas and a couple tanks of gas)by listening to her failed sales attempt. I got paid and she didn't.

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When I bought my Garmin Nuvi GPS system last winter, I thought it was the greatest technology ever developed. It has come in useful on several occasions by taking me turn-by-turn exactly where I needed to go. In the past, I’ve relied on directions from Yahoo and Expedia. I had so much confidence in the GPS system that I relied on it solely for our trip to Florida. On our return, however, I was ready to throw it in the garbage.

I was not happy with the route it took me to Florida on. It took us on a bunch of back roads through Alabama when I would have rather taken the interstate. On our return, I entered “Opry Mills” in hopes that it would take me through Georgia on the interstate instead of the back roads of Alabama. After wasting an hour driving through side roads, it finally got me to the interstate….for a little while.

When we got near Atlanta, it directed me off of the interstate into Atlanta city limits. I was legitimately scared of being car-jacked at any moment. I kept thinking of Greg Brady in the Brady Bunch movie, “Well, of course this is a car. But my name's not Jack.” For what seemed like an eternity, I drove through the heart of Atlanta before finally getting back to the interstate. My interstate ride was once again short lived. The GPS directed me to a few more side streets before guiding us back to the same highway that we had exited off of. Luckily, this stretch should have guided us straight into or around Nashville.

The next exit should have been I-440W, but the GPS was forecasting an exit at Franklin, Tn. I’ve driven to Nashville and Chatanooga enough to know that the forecast simply couldn’t be right. After fiddling around with the settings for a few minutes, I programmed “fastest time” into the system. “Shortest distance” had previously been programmed in. That did the trick and I-440W showed up as the next exit on my GPS screen. Had I have known that that would do the trick, I probably wouldn’t have wasted 2 hrs and risking my life by driving through side streets of Orlando and Hotlanta. Stupid me. I was thinking that “shortest distance” and “fastest time” would have been one in the same. Who’d have thunk it?