Thought Quotient

“I have tried and I cannot find either in scripture or history, a strong-willed individual whom God used greatly until He allowed them to be hurt deeply.” -Charles Swindoll

The amazing year since I surrendered my life to God and have pursued to strengthen my relationship with Him has been quite the learning experience, to say the least. My mind has been rewired in many ways. Circuits have been replaced. Traffic has been re-routed. You get the picture, I’m sure. In a real, living, non-cliché way I’ve discovered that God really is love. Pure love. He’s this perfect parent who wants nothing but good for His children. Ya know what I mean, Vern? That learning process continues. I love Him more each day. On a daily basis, I discover something new about his nature from my experiences in… ordinary life.

Letting go of all the anger and bitterness is part of the process of getting to know who God IS. I’m happy to say, those two things are mostly gone. Mostly. There are flare ups from time to time, and perhaps there always will be. But the hatred? I can honestly say the hatred is gone for good.

How was I able to let that hatred go? By making an attempt to see others as God sees them… as he sees me. Despite my garbage, baggage, sin… God loved me. He never let go. He looks at me with even more fondness than I look at my son. I know there is nothing my son could ever do to make me love him any less, and how much more so can the same be said about how God cares for each of HIS children? I’ve said before, if someone disliked my son I think I’d have a hard time liking that person. How can I dislike God’s sons and daughters and expect Him to be happy about it? I’ve discovered that letting go of hatred is mostly a choice. I’ve made that choice. I’ve adjusted the perspective from which I look at others, and have happily discovered I really love people. - Donny Pauling

Here’s another preview of the upcoming FLYLEAF CD/DVD to be released on October 30th - an acoustic version of “Red Sam”…

Now available!!! Here’s your chance to get a special commemorative poster of Godstock 2007. If you were there, you’ll never forget it - as DAY OF FIRE rocked into the night - and the rain poured down!

Fire In The Rain - DAY OF FIRE @ Godstock 2007
by

godstock

Get this custom print
at Zazzle

Thanks to the Wayne County Press, Kelsey and Jess for the pics!

Here’s a little video of their performance…

Related Links:

• Godstock MySpace
• Thought Quotient video archives

The story of the prodigal son from the Bible gives us a great picture of who God is. Here’s Shelley Lubben to vouch for it as she has lived it…

Message to the PornStars

Luke 15:11-24

Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’
“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

Related Links:

• Shelley’s MySpace

What if a child is watching TV and suddenly has access to sexually explicit programming?

That would be wrong.
That would be harmful.
That happens to kids everyday on the internet.

While TV has channels to separate ‘adult’ programming from the rest of its channels, the internet has all of its content on one channel. It’s like a TV programming package giving us only one channel where one hour you’re likely to see Sesame Street and the next hour a hard core pornographic video.

Isn’t that crazy?

Yes - but currently that is the state of the internet. We can do better than this to protect kids from sexually explicit content on the internet. We can do it in a way that protects free speech and the rights of internet users.

TRAFFIC CONTROL is a new documentary that is a candid social commentary on unregulated internet porn - and its effects on the rising generation. It features interviews with pornographers, former porn stars, doctors, psychologists, porn addicts, and children.

Check out the trailer:

“The issue here is not really pornography at all, or even the solution. The real issue here is people. It is about human beings. It is about our children. It is about our future…”

Click below to go to the Official TRAFFIC CONTROL website where you can order the DVD.

• www.trafficcontrolthemovie.com
• Traffic Control MySpace - includes graphics you can add to your MySpace profile

Then head on over to CP80.org to learn about how we as a society can say…
“Give us our channel, give us our choice, give us community port 80″

• www.CP80.org

“America is a democracy - the revolution begins with us. This is our defining hour.”