Put God First

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Are you feeling motivated this morning?

I certainly hope so. I know that I am.

Bill Keller has written a remarkable
devotional based on his thoughts about
the effects of Hurricane Katrina.  I
recommend it and quote below:

The temporal things of this world will
all be gone one day. Nobody would even
try to argue that in the year 2005,
the United States is a highly
materialistic society.  We have taken
materialism to unprecedented levels
over the last 50 years.   The Bible
has much to say about the "temporal
things of this world."  The temporal
things of this world are the material
things of this life that not only come
and go, but will be meaningless when
this brief journey is over.  Nothing
drives home the truth of God's Word
about how fleeting the temporal things
of this world are better than a
natural disaster like Hurricane
Katrina.

Sadly, many have taken for granted
not only the most basic material
needs of life, but so many people act
like they must have every material
thing this world produces.  We get so
focused on acquiring "things," on
having the most current "thing," that
we lose sight of the fact that these
material "things" of this world come
and go.  They are here today and gone
tomorrow.  In our drive to have the
temporal things of this world, we end
up paying very little attention to the
eternal things of God.

Every day here at Liveprayer we deal
with people who have "lost everything."
Each day I deal with people who have
lost ALL of the material possessions
they owned overnight through natural
disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes,
and floods, to tragic events like
house fires, to being burglarized, to
a divorce where a spouse takes
everything.  It is at those moments in
life that a person realizes what really
is important, what really matters.  It
is at those moments in life a person
realizes that the temporary things of
this world can come and go, but the
relationship we have with the Lord is
the only thing we can always count on
being there.

Let me ask you a question.  Is there
something in this world that you love
more than the Lord?  I have no doubt
some people will pause as they think
of the love they have for their spouse,
for their parents, for their children.
As much as we may love those special
people God blesses us with during our
brief journey through life, our love
for Christ MUST always be first.
This is a truth most people are able
to understand and accept.

More to the point however, is there
some THING in this world that you
love more than the Lord?  We say we
love Christ, we say Christ is first in
our life, but is He really?  Let me be
a bit more specific.  Is Christ first
in your life, ahead of your career?
Is Christ first in your life, ahead of
your hobbies and special interests?
Is Christ first in your life, ahead of
your "things!"  Be careful now, we
know what the RIGHT answers to these
questions are, but are they the TRUE
answers?

Even though I know you don't want to,
let's go a bit deeper.  Does your work
or career take priority over the Lord
in your normal day-to-day life?  Do
you invest as much time each week into
the Lord as you do your hobbies and
special interests?  Do you invest as
much time each week into the Lord as
you do the temporal things of this
world that will one day be meaningless?
One of the profound statements Jesus
made was, "for where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also."
Since that is a great measuring stick
of where our heart is, how much of your
treasure goes to the Lord as opposed
to the pleasures of this world?

Listen, PLEASE do not misunderstand
what my message to you today is.  I
am NOT saying that your career is not
important.  After all, it was God
who gave you the gifts and talents
you have to be successful in your
career, it was God who opened the
doors for you to be where you are at,
and it is God who gives you favor and
blessings each day in your career.  I
am also NOT saying that your hobbies
and special interests are not important.
Again, it was God who gave you the
desires and passions for the things
you enjoy in this life.  Nor am I
saying you should not use some of the
resources God has entrusted to you to
enjoy the abundance of this life.

What I AM saying is that we have to
take inventory of our life from time
to time and ensure that we are keeping
Christ first at all times, in all
things.  We can fall into patterns
at times and slowly ease the Lord
out of our day-to-day life.  Not
consciously, but often without even
realizing it put other things in our
life ahead of Him.  This is a subtle
trap of the enemy since once the Lord
is no longer first in your life, you
are wide open to be attacked.  This
becomes an open door for satan to
enter your life and harm you.

I love you and care about you so much.
It is out of that love that I am
sending you this warning today.
Simply take a moment and ask yourself
the tough questions in regard to where
Christ fits in your life.  Is He
first in ALL areas of your life?
Don't play games with yourself, since
this is for YOUR benefit, not the
Lord's.  This is to protect YOU from
giving the enemy any room to operate
in your life.  It is critical to never
lose sight of what is truly important
to us.  The things of this world that
will one day pass away, or our
relationship with the Lord which will
last for all eternity?

I will be praying for you today.
Praying that you will never forget
that Christ MUST be first in your life
at all times, in all things.  We can
never allow any person, our career,
our hobbies or interests, or the
"things of this world to become more
important than Jesus.  He has got to
be our first priority and our first
love at all times.  The Lord gives us
special people to share this life with,
He gives us gifts and talents to use
in our careers, He gives us passions
and desires for the things we enjoy in
this life, and it is the Lord who
blesses us with the material goods we
have during our life.

We must never fall into the trap of
loving the things of this world more
than we love Jesus.  When this life
is over, the things of this world
will pass away and it is only our
relationship with Jesus Christ that
will last for all eternity.  Don't get
so focused on the "temporal things of
this world" that you miss the eternal
things of God!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can
contact me through my personal
email at bkeller@liveprayer.com

***ARE YOU 100% CERTAIN WHERE YOU
WILL SPEND ETERNITY?  The fact is you
will die one day.  At that moment,
you will either spend eternity with the
Lord or be cast into everlasting
darkness forever separated from God
your creator.  To know for certain you
will be forever with Jesus, go to:
http://www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html

***GET YOUR FREE LPeMAIL ACCOUNT!
Never miss receiving your Daily
Devotional again.  LPeMail is an
effective email SPAM filtering
application that most ISP's charge
$10/mo, for FREE!  Get your LPeMail account now
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***I am excited to let you know that
the Liveprayer Daily Devotional is
now available via AUDIO each day.
Simply go to
http://www.liveprayer.com/DailyDevotionalAudio.html
Also, you can now listen to the Daily
Devotional by phone by calling
727-856-7055, or access it on your
wireless device by going to:
http://wapdd.com

(C) Copyright 2005, Bill Keller
Ministries. All rights reserved

Thank you for considering these
important thoughts!

May God bless you!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005, Donald W. Mitchell

Of Auras, Art and Awe

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so.

Some people claim to see auras surrounding other people. I'm one of them. Some Russian scientists have found ways to make images of auras. Their images are a lot more impressive than what I see.

Just in case you don't see auras, let me describe them to you. Have you ever noticed that the sun and the moon grow in size when they are near the horizon and shrink in size when they are overhead? That's because the atmosphere has a lens-like effect in magnifying their images when we look through more of the atmosphere (as we do near the horizon).

An aura is a lot like that effect. The aura surrounds a person's body around the edge just like the atmosphere is densest when we look across the earth rather than straight away from the earth.

Some people also see lots of color in auras. I see tints of color rather than lots of color. Think of this as being similar to the way that the sun goes from a white, golden light overhead into a reddish light at sunset as the particles in the atmosphere scatter and distort the light.

Auras change. I am most aware of my own. When I am feeling good and healthy, my aura is thicker and bluer than when I am feeling ill or weak when the aura is thin, yellow and uneven. I can instinctively appreciate many things about others that I cannot put into words simply by observing their auras.

I can also feel my aura. If I put my finger tips away from one another in my two hands at a distance, I don't feel anything. If I push the hands with fingers spread closer together, at some point I feel a little tingle as the aura interacts with itself. I've always assumed that this feeling is what George Lucas describes as the Force in his Star Wars stories.

I find that most people have pretty unimpressive auras . . . thin, uneven, with uninspiring colors and well . . . even blotchy. Then every once in awhile I see a truly inspiring aura.

A few years ago my wife and I attended an alumni congress for Harvard Law School that was held in Rome. The meeting included many memorable events including a marvelous black-tie dinner in a famous palace, training in negotiation skills and the chance to hear about the practice of law in many countries where law is less of a force than in the United States.

But no event made more of an impression on me than our visit to the Vatican. Our group had the good fortune to arrange for a private audience with Pope John Paul II. While neither my wife nor I are Catholics, we were much impressed with this good man and looked forward to meeting him.

The way in is pretty impressive as you pass the Swiss guards and are taken up the back stairs.

But I was even more impressed while we waited in a private chamber, seated in rows of pews. Several cardinals came in while we were waiting for the pope to arrive. One of them was a black man whose skin shone like the sun itself . . . and whose smile was as dazzling as any reflection from the sun I had ever seen off of water. But even more impressive was his aura. The aura was two feet all around him! Compare that to the typical aura I see which is about 1/4 inch. And the aura was white as though this man was infused with light from Heaven itself. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. To this day, I don't know who he was . . . but I felt like God Himself was more present with this cardinal than I had thought possible.

Finally, the pope arrived. And his aura was even larger and whiter!!! Truly, I felt like I was in the presence of remarkable holiness.

As I sat there spellbound just a few feet away from the pope, I immediately thought of all those religious paintings that show halos around the heads of saints and Jesus. Usually those halos look a lot like a glass space-suit helmet that extends several inches around the entire head. Contrast that with the stylized ring over the head that is sometimes used.

I had a large epiphany. Not all those halos were metaphors . . . those halos in some cases represented auras that the painters had seen on other people. That feeling intensified as I remembered that some saintly figures are captured with light all around them.

Why did these two men have such enormous auras of remarkable whiteness? I don't know . . . but I cannot help feeling that those auras represented something literal about their spiritual qualities. Perhaps when the Bible talks about God's grace those passages are describing in part Divine energy that sparks our souls and bodies in a literal way that some of us can see through auras.

In any event, I felt my faith immediately grow. As that happened, I was reminded of an encounter I had had a few years earlier with a retired priest. We had both been pumping gas in Colorado. He smiled and asked me if I was a Believer. When I said that I was, he asked me if I was a Catholic. When I told him, no, I was a Protestant, he responded that I should consider becoming a Catholic. "It's like traveling first class to God," he said. Now, I thought I knew what he meant.

I have always found the natural world to be more awe-inspiring than what humans make or the people I meet. But for once, I found meeting two humble men of God to be as awe-inspiring as any natural wonder I had ever enjoyed.

I felt like I had moved past any billionaire who hadn't yet established a firm and lasting relationship with God. I pity the spiritual poverty of any who lack that relationship and pray that all may experience and treasure that wonder!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Have Your Dream Concierge Provide a Spiritual Message to Your Group

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so! I know that I am.

Since this blog came out, people have been asking for more information about how to have Your Dream Concierge speak before various groups.

To make it easier for you to recommend Your Dream Concierge to others, I've put together this brief package of my speaker's biography and my two most inspirational speaking topics on spiritual topics. I've also listed other topics that audiences love!

If you have any questions, please write to me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com/.

Feel free to forward the rest of this entry to those who hire speakers for your group.

Donald W. Mitchell's Speaker's Biography

Mr. Mitchell has been a professional speaker for over 30 years. He has spoken about improving spiritual life and accelerating spiritual learning before tens of thousands of people. He regularly runs seminars and workshops around the world to help people learn and apply the lessons of his research on increasing personal and organizational effectiveness for spiritual purposes..

His newest speaking subject is How to Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire (see http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/).

Mr. Mitchell was born in San Bernardino, California where he attended the local public schools. He was born legally blind but no one diagnosed that problem until he was ten years old. Overcoming that problem made learning difficult for him as a youngster. Adding first glasses and later contact lenses opened up a whole new world for him.

At age 13, he devoted his life to Christ following personal epiphanies in which he twice asked for God's help, received more help than he asked for and promised God to follow Jesus.

He graduated as a valedictorian of his high school class and served as director of activities on the student council. He lettered in both track and band. He volunteered more service hours than any other student for charitable activities. While in high school, Mr. Mitchell won a prestigious National Merit Scholarship.

Accepted by all colleges he applied to, Mr. Mitchell elected to attend Harvard University where he majored in history and did original research on the French Revolution of 1848 for his undergraduate thesis. His thesis was placed in the University library for future scholars to use. He worked on the college’s alumni magazine to supplement his two scholarships. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude, Mr. Mitchell was hired to serve as the business manager of the alumni magazine while he attended Harvard Law School.

Mr. Mitchell’s success with Harvard Magazine led the dean of Harvard Law School, Derek Bok, to hire Mr. Mitchell to perform consulting services for the law school while he was a student there. When Dean Bok was named as president of the university, the Time Magazine feature cited many of the projects conducted by Mr. Mitchell as part of the reason for Dean Bok’s selection as president of Harvard.

While a student at Harvard Law School, Mr. Mitchell also took the second year marketing courses at Harvard Business School and completed the required MBA project course in marketing with Distinction grade. His team’s project was on marketing for New York Magazine.

After graduating from Harvard Law School, Mr. Mitchell passed the bar in Massachusetts where he is still active as an attorney.

Mr. Mitchell became the first lawyer hired by the strategy consulting firm, The Boston Consulting Group, where he specialized in strategy for consumer products companies.

Heublein, Inc., a Fortune 200 firm (provider of Smirnoff Vodka, A.1. Sauce, Grey Poupon Mustard and Kentucky Fried Chicken), hired Mr. Mitchell to become the company’s first director of strategic planning and development when he was 27. He established the company’s first strategic planning process while he was there.

Mr. Mitchell co-founded Mitchell and Company, a strategy consulting firm (see www.mitchellandco.com), in 1977 with Carol Bruckner Coles. He serves as the firm’s chairman and chief executive officer. The firm has worked with most of the nation’s 200 largest firms and many large companies based outside of the United States. Services provided include corporate and business strategy, reducing the cost of capital, leadership learning and corporate development.

In 1981, Mr. Mitchell founded Mitchell Investment Management Company, Inc., a firm specializing in acquisitions. He also serves as its president. Mr. Mitchell’s clients are primarily entrepreneurs and successful executives in major corporations.

In 1989, he founded Leading Executive Organizations 100, Inc., and serves as that firm’s president. The company provides leadership and executive learning services to CEOs, CFOs, division presidents and investor relations executives.

Mr. Mitchell is also a coauthor of The 2,000 Percent Solution: Free Your Organization from “Stalled” Thinking to Achieve Exponential Success (AMACOM Books 1999) which was an Amazon.com best seller and is one of the best selling American management books in China (www.2000percentsolution.com), The Irresistible Growth Enterprise: Breakthrough Gains from Unstoppable Change (Stylus 2000) (www.irresistibleforces.com) and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage: Secrets of Continually Developing a More Profitable Business Model (Berrett-Koehler 2003).

He has also been quoted in dozens of publications and interviewed on many radio and television programs including including Business Week, Financial World, Forbes, Fortune, Institutional Investor, Money, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, ABC News, CNBC and United Press International regarding business strategy and investments.

Mr. Mitchell has lately written articles for Chief Learning Officer, Executive Excellence, The Handbook of Business Strategy 2006, The Journal of Business Strategy and Leader to Leader.

Mr. Mitchell is a past director of the Harvard Alumni Association, a former treasurer of the Harvard Law School Alumni Association and a past director of Literacy Volunteers of Massachusetts.

He became a daily meditator in 1995. In the same year, Mr. Mitchell was called to launch a program to demonstrate to the world that 400 years of moral and social progress could occur in only 20 years. You can read about that program at http://www.fastforward400.com/.

He is listed in many biographical references including Who’s Who in the World.

As hobbies, Mr. Mitchell reads and writes book reviews (he is the number one non-fiction reviewer on Amazon.com – see http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A1K1JW1C5CUSUZ/104-5889592-2919129), collects art, plays golf, attends concerts and tutors graduate students of business around the world.

As personal disciplines, he reads the Bible twice a day, meditates twice a day and prays for guidance throughout the day.

Donald W. Mitchell's Most Inspirational Spiritual Speaking Subjects

Live Better than a Billionaire on Five Dollars Extra a Day

Every day, billionaires make bad decisions that harm their lives. Their money also gets in the way of their relationships. Money can also make them lazy and draw them away from their spiritual paths.

Most people don’t realize that and make all kinds of sacrifices to have more money. When they get the money, they aren’t much happier. Why not skip getting more money, and start living your dreams now?

You can substitute a spiritual quest, intelligence and energy for money and achieve a life style that any billionaire would envy . . . on a budget of five dollars extra a day. Whether you’re interested in becoming a world class philanthropist, being entertained by celebrities, living in mansions, writing a best seller, uplifting the lives of millions or simply having a great family life, there are no limits to what you can accomplish. These principles are spelled out daily in his blog at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/.

Apply the 2,000 Percent Solutions You Already Know

In The 2,000 Percent Solution (www.2000percentsolution.com), Mr. Mitchell outlined how anyone can create and enjoy 20 times as many spiritual and material benefits with the same time and resources. It’s like cloning yourself 20 times! Applying his process around the world over the last 20 years, millions of people have seen their lives transformed for the better.

What’s the secret? You already know how human beings regularly achieve near perfection with God's help. You just need to take that knowledge and apply it in other areas where performance is low.

Do people forget to pray when their lives are on the line? Do many people fail to cash their paychecks? Do many soldiers fail to relax when ordered to stand “at ease”? Do many people fail to leave a hotel that’s on fire when they see flames, smell smoke and hear a fire alarm going off? Here are but a few examples of near perfection. In each case, the required action is unambiguous, the person acting has an incentive to take the right step and the individual has had lots of practice leaning what to do. After you look at all the examples you know of near perfection, you’ll be able to derive the universal principles that you can apply to any situation to achieve similarly near-perfect results.

Mr. Mitchell also offers inspirational programs on Spiritual Model Leadership, Using Your Spiritual Strength to Prosper through Adversity and Unveiling the Spiritual Genius within You.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Bill Keller's Devotional on Freeing Yourself from Your Past

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Are you feeling motivated this morning?
I certainly hope so.

I shared the good news about this new
blog with Bill Keller who writes the
Daily Devotional from www.LivePrayer.com/.
He kindly offered to let me repeat his
past devotionals that I thought you might
enjoy.  Here's one of my favorites from
August 18, 2005.

If you are not interested in Christian
messages, you may not wish to read this
entry.  But if you want to hear an
inspiring devotional, please do read on.

Bill Keller's devotional begins here:

YOU can be free from your past,TODAY!  This
message applies to every single person who
is reading this right now.  It doesn't
matter how old you are, whether you are a
man or a woman, what your skin color is,
what nationality you are, how much money
you have or don't have, this is a universal
message that is applicable to everyone. 
You see, nobody that has lived very long in
this sin-filled and evil world has escaped
the trials and tribulations of this life
and not experienced some sort of pain. 
EVERYONE reading this Devotional knows the
pain that comes from time to time during
this journey we are on.

For some, that pain was experienced in your
childhood through mental, physical, or
sexual abuse.  Some have experienced that
pain later in life through failed
relationships, many through being divorced. 
Everyone has lived through the pain of the
death of a loved one.  Many of you have
experienced the pain of financial
hardships.  Others have lived through the
pain of losing your job or other employment
and career issues.  Sadly, some have lived
through the experience of being a crime
victim.  Everyone has experienced the pain
from making poor choices at some point in
their life.  Most have had to experience
the pain of some bondage such as alcohol,
drugs, gambling, sex, food, money, shopping,
lying, or a myriad of other bondages that
people get caught up in.

NOT ONE PERSON READING THIS HAS NOT HAD TO
LIVE THROUGH THE PAIN THAT COMES FROM LIVING
THIS LIFE HERE ON EARTH.

Today, I want to share a word with you that
could be one of the most important things
anyone has ever told you.  YOU DO NOT HAVE
TO KEEP LIVING WITH WHATEVER PAIN YOU HAVE
FROM YOUR PAST.  Let me repeat that,
because I really want you to hear these
words clear.  YOU DO NOT HAVE TO KEEP
LIVING WITH WHATEVER PAIN YOU HAVE FROM
YOUR PAST.  If you are, that is only
because you have CHOSEN to live with that
pain!

The fact is, God has made a way through
faith in His Son for you to put the pain of
your past behind you and live your life in
freedom.  Jesus has told us to give Him our
burdens, that He would carry them for us. 
The Bible tells us to cast our cares on Him,
because He cares for us.  You see, God
doesn't expect you to carry the pain of
your past with you each day.  He wants you
to live FREE from your past so that you can
enjoy the abundance that this life has to
offer.

Just hours before going to the cross, Jesus
told His disciples that in this world, they
would experience trials and tribulations. 
But He told them to "be of good cheer"
because HE has overcome this world.  You see
my friend, trials and tribulations are part
of this human experience, but God has made
a way through His Son for us to still enjoy
the abundance that this life can offer
despite those trials and tribulations.

The only reason you are carrying the pain
of your past with you today is because you
have chosen to believe the LIE instead of
the TRUTH.  Jesus tells us in John 8:44 that
satan is a liar.  He is the "father of
lies."  When he speaks, he speaks his
native language, lying!  God on the other
hand is TRUTH.  The Word of God is TRUTH. 
The lie of satan is that you have to carry
the pain of your past around with you each
day like a 1,000 pound anchor around your
neck.  The truth from God is that you can
take that pain of your past and give it to
Jesus.  HE WILL GLADLY TAKE THAT 1,000
POUND ANCHOR FROM YOU TODAY!!!

I love you and care about you so much. 
Everyone reading this Devotional today has
experienced some of the pain that this life
offers.  So many of you have never let go
of that pain and have simply learned how
to live your life each day with that pain. 
Because of that, you are missing the
fullness of the joy, peace, and abundance
that this life can offer.  Because of that,
you are not completely fulfilling your
purpose in this life which is to serve and
glorify God with your life.  Because of
that, you are not living in total freedom
and victory each day.

Right now, this very moment, I want you to
stop whatever you are doing.  If you are at
home, at work, at school, it doesn't matter. 
Stop whatever you are doing right now and
pray this prayer.

"Dear Father, I thank you for this day. 
I know that today was not promised to me,
but it is a gift from You.  Dear God, You
know the pain I have today from what has
happened in my life.  I am tired of
carrying this pain with me day after day. 
It is robbing me of my joy, of my peace,
of knowing the abundance that this life can
offer.  I trust Your Word today that tells
me that I can give this burden to You, that
You will take it from me.  I trust Your
Word today that tells me to cast my cares
on You, because You care for me.  In the
name of Jesus, I give You the pain of my
past today.  In the name of Jesus, I
surrender it to You.  Take it from me, and
fill me right now with Your joy, with Your
peace, and let me live from this day
forward in FREEDOM FROM MY PAST!  In Jesus
name I pray, AMEN!"

I will be praying for you today my friend. 
God loves you SO MUCH!  He cares about you
SO MUCH!  We live in an evil and sin-filled
world.  Because of that, we all will
experience pain in this life, but God has
made a way so that we do not  have to carry
that pain around with us for the rest of
our days.  He has offered to carry it for
us, to take it from us.  I pray today that
you will trust Him and give Him the pain of
your past and live in FREEDOM from this day
forward!

In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can
contact me through my personal email at
bkeller@liveprayer.com

***ARE YOU 100% CERTAIN WHERE YOU WILL
SPEND ETERNITY?  The fact is you will die
one day.  At that moment, you will either
spend eternity with the Lord or be cast
into everlasting darkness forever separated
from God your creator.  To know for certain
you will be forever with Jesus, go to:
http://www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html

***GET YOUR FREE LPeMAIL ACCOUNT!  Never
miss receiving your Daily Devotional again. 
LPeMail is an effective email SPAM f
iltering application that most ISP's charge
$10/mo, for FREE!  Get your LPeMail account
now at: www.lpemail.com .

***I am excited to let you know that the
Liveprayer Daily Devotional is now
available via AUDIO each day.  Simply go to
http://www.liveprayer.com/DailyDevotionalAudio.html
Also, you can now listen to the Daily
Devotional by phone by calling 727-856-7055,
or access it on your wireless device by
going to:  http://wapdd.com

(C) Copyright 2005, Bill Keller Ministries.
All rights reserved.


May God bless you and yours today!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Can You Trump the Donald?

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so.

Sundays are always spiritual times for me. When I enjoy the quiet of a beautiful beautiful summer day with its azure sky and light, scudding clouds, I sometimes think about the virtues of tranquility.

What a wonderful gift it is to simply stop . . . smile . . . and appreciate the beauty of God's world around us!

Sunday in the middle of a three-day weekend is an especially optimum opportunity to do so. With Labor Day coming up, keep that in mind. Hopefully, you will already be where you want to be on Sunday. Even more hopefully, you have those you love around you.

But even if neither is the case, you have God to love you. And all you need to do is think about God's love and bask in it.

The humbler your situation . . . and your prospects . . . the easier it is to do so.

The more you want to build a tower to the skies that the wealthy, the powerful and the envious will consider . . . the harder it is to focus on God's love.

I was reminded of this New Testament lesson recently while walking through a hotel lobby. The hotel was full of enthusiastic church members who can come for a weekend conference. Smiles were beaming everywhere. Hundreds were happily dancing with nary a nasty word nor look in sight. No dirty lyrics were playing. No one seemed to be inebriated or "high" on illegal substances. The joy was pure and unlimited.

Earlier in the night, I had driven past several huge towers that had been recently built by Donald Trump. I saw no smiles. I heard no happy music. In fact, the only impressions I had were of large signs offering to rent apartments and of empty apartments. Seeing that sight made me momentarily sad. I'm glad that I was able to reconnect with joy in that hotel lobby later that night.

May God bless you and yours today!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Of Tin Gods: The Drive for a Billion or an Autograph

Good morning, Happy Souls!

People often ask me to tell them more about what it's like to be a dream concierge. While doing that the other night, the person I was talking to made an interesting comment about our billionaire- and celebrity-obsessed cultures.

This gentleman noted that primitive people saw gods all around them . . . in the very trees and rocks that made up their world. Since then, religions have focused on one God and have developed a complex sense of what it means to be human.

But in the last 50 years, religion has fallen away from the lives of many people . . . and more and more people live their lives without any religious focus or content. For instance, I ran into a 19 year-old the other day who said she had never seen a Bible. As a believer, I feel sad for these people and hope they will discover God.

People seek meaning for their lives. They also seek out significance and connection. The gentleman suggested that for someone who didn't have religion in their lives that billionaires and celebrities play the role that deities played for primitive people.

Having thought about what he said, here's what I think he was getting at.

People who have more of something we think we like (money, appearance, popularity, thinness, athletic skill or whatever) help provide meaning. Some have these greater gifts . . . and we seek a pattern that explains those greater gifts. In doing so, we get a sense of the order of the world around us. When we find order, we are more comfortable. In many cases, we feel we gain by following the "rules" of that orderliness. We save, have plastic surgery, learn how to influence people, go on diets, learn to hold our heads still or sleep with a beauty mask on. That gives us confidence.

In chasing the dreams of having these attributes, we seek significance. We are or can become the anointed, the elect, one of the special ones. The gods have smiled on us, as it were.

At the same time, the more we are different from everyone else, the more we lack connection. That makes us feel lonely.

How do billionaires and celebrities help us? They make people who have special qualities seem more like us. And that makes us feel more like them, as well. For instance, when we spend time with celebrities, any time or attention they pay us reassures us that we are both special and connected. Then, whenever we see that person on television or in person again, we are reminded that the person has "blessed" us by paying attention to us (say, by speaking to us . . . giving us a hug . . . or signing an autograph).

What's really going on? We are in effect raising billionaires and celebrities into the equivalent of the primitive person's deities. In the process, we fill deep psychological needs that are not being satisfied by our religions, our families and our friends. We feel comfortable rather than vulnerable.

In making that comment, I'm reminded of the airplane religions that were discovered in New Guinea after World War II. Some primitive people had never seen airplanes before then. Thinking that the airplanes were some new kind of being, some tribes began making little shrines to them and placing tribute before the shrines. In the same way, many tribes in the Americas viewed the first visitors from Europe as being gods . . . until the gods began acting like spoiled brats and began killing them.

The lesson: Enjoy being with celebrities . . . or enjoy becoming a celebrity . . . but don't treat them like tin gods. Find worthy people to emulate and become more like them. If you remove the unthinking part from your attraction to celebrities, this can be a positive, educational aspect of your life. On the other hand, if you simply obsess, you should realize that you have more fundamental needs for love, appreciation and religion that you are not meeting in traditional ways. When that happens, take time to reestablish all of your life on a sounder footing. When you do, you can have a richer life than the billionaire who can never get enough or the celebrity who can never be successful enough to feel great.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Great Panel Discussions on Living the Good Life!

Good morning, Happy Souls!

I was delighted by the huge response to my blog entry on Live Better than a Billionaire on Five Dollars Extra a Day about creating your own version of Renaissance Weekends.

Since so many people seem interested in that subject, let me share some more insights today.

While many view Renaissance Weekends as being something that only liberal Democrats attend, that's not the case. In fact, before Bill Clinton became president, the group had an extraordinary balance of Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives. In small settings and private conversations, that made it possible to grasp key perspectives on opposing viewpoints that would never emerge in all the screaming and shouting on Crossfire.

From that experience, I learned that we all benefit when a panel discussion can include both world-renowned experts . . . and a wide diversity of opinion.

I would like to share with you my reaction to a panel by religious leaders of many faiths on living the good life. These people not only knew their own religions well . . . they had also deeply studied and considered other religions as well.

For the first time, I heard religious leaders talk together about what they agreed upon in their religions. I was fascinated to find that a major theme was to avoid evil. In that way, we are not even tempted to do evil. Temptation itself can lead to sin. A rabbi reminded the group that Jesus said that we have sinned when we lust in our hearts. That was a biblical reference that I hadn't thought about since Jimmy Carter ran for president and confessed to having lusted in his heart.

There was a lively debate as the high achievers in the audience spoke in favor of the idea of overcoming temptation as being a great thing. The religious leaders politely disagreed. "Favor the good life instead." That was their advice.

When most of us think about the good life, various carnal pleasures are likely to come to mind.

These religious leaders were describing instead focusing on God, God's love for us, spiritual perfection and our ability to follow God's will for us.

That religious discussion in a secular setting had more impact on me than any sermon I've listened to. By bringing religion and religious ideas into the secular setting, I found my religious sensitivities being integrated into all of my life in a new way . . . in a way that seems remote when I'm sitting in church.

So do have fun sharing experiences about great vacations (I've still got a lot of places I plan to go based on Renaissance Weekend reports) . . . but also take time to explore the spiritually good life together. It's great soul food!

In the process, you'll find great peace and understanding about the purpose of your life . . . gifts that may not be available to the billionaire who is solely focused on the next billion dollars while making a big splash on television.

May God bless and keep you on the path to the good life!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Lay Up Spiritual Experiences for Your Soul's Delight

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Let me first share a little background about my perspective. I am a practicing Protestant who had several life-changing experiences in my youth when God touched me and assured me of His presence and support. From that perspective, I've always been interested in having even closer communion with God. And I've wanted to learn to follow His commandments with a glad heart.

In my Bible reading, I've always been sensitive to the teaching of Jesus about how a rich person can fall in love with her or his possessions and miss the Kingdom of Heaven. To help counter that risk, I have sought to find places and ways to feel God's presence more often.

Let me share with you some of the happiest and most moving of those experiences -- ones that I hope you can duplicate.

Nature can provide a great sense of the Divine. Three places in nature have proven to be most powerful for me. One is the Grand Canyon in Arizona. I have been visiting that remarkable hole in the ground since I was a child. I have flown over it, flown through it, gazed down from the rim and hiked from the top to the bottom and back up again. It's that last experience that was the most profound. While I did my hike on a hot summer day, I recommend that you try this during the cooler spring and fall seasons. If you pick the right trail, there's water and shade every one thousand feet of elevation. Be sure to carry some plastic water bottles or canteens to refill. You'll need a lot of water and food to make this arduous journey. I also recommend that you do some hiking to get into shape before taking this trip. Be sure to take the hike with someone, just in case one of you needs help. There is no charge beyond entry into the park for such a hike. If you decide you want to stay overnight before climbing back up, be sure to make your reservations with the Park Service well in advance. Space at the bottom is in high demand.

As you proceed down the canyon, you gradually leave most people behind. Before you are done, there will be times when you see and hear nothing beyond your own breath and footsteps except an occasional bird or deer. This relative silence and solitude provide a sort of walking meditation. Also, you're working pretty hard so you fall into a patient pace while your body is flooded with endorphins which lift your mood. The deeper you go, the more you begin to appreciate how tiny we and our day-to-day concerns are. That feeling is ultimately replaced with a sense of awe and appreciation for this great natural wonder that lifts your heart and mind. Be sure to take some photographs of your journey, and you will be able to recreate the experience emotionally whenever you want. It's well worth it to carry a camera all of that distance. Even today, when I fly over the canyon different formations seem to greet me from the ground . . . reminding me of the great communion I shared in their midst.

The second awe-inspiring sight is found in a place that is more accessible by air and car, Yosemite in California. In the south of the park, you can walk among trees that are hundreds of feet high and centuries old on misty mornings that seem like the Creation is brand new. In the main valley, you have amazing cliffs, waterfalls and intriguing trails to explore. While I have never hiked to the top of the valley, I'm sure the experience is well worth the effort and provides many of the same rewards as the Grand Canyon hike. Everywhere there is dense silence even though the park receives great numbers of visitors. All you have to do is walk at least a hundred years away from a road, and you will feel like you've gone back a million years in time.

The third place in nature where I have felt the same spiritual uplift is in whale-watching, something that less than one percent of the people in the world have done. In the United States, great whale-watching sites are located off of Boston Harbor during the late spring, summer and early fall, off the California coast in spring and fall, in Alaska during the summer and between Maui and Lanai in the winter in the Hawaiian Islands. During such visits, you will find yourself out with graceful sea mammals whose length may be as great as your boat's. If you have the good fortune to contact humpbacks, you can expect a show. Humpbacks may stick their heads out of the water to get a better look at you, take great leaps from the water, flap their fins hard against the water or dive gracefully to give you a beautiful view of their tail flippers. No two trips are the same. Such a trip will usually cost around $40 for an adult and last 4-5 hours. I like to go on hot days when the offshore breezes provide natural air conditioning over the colder ocean waters.

But I've felt much of the same spiritual connection and tranquility in other places such as the Zen garden in Seattle, watching the sun rise over Haleakala's crater on Maui, driving through the Painted Desert in the Southwest, and spending the night in a hotel overlooking Niagara Falls from the Canadian side.

While you may not have visited all of these places, I hope you will seek them out if you have the opportunity to be in the vicinity. In the meantime, do go to those places that have already provided you with a spiritual connection to our Creator. Sunday's a great day to do this . . . or pick the day of your Sabbath if you do not observe on Sundays.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Introduction to This Blog

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Many people see all the beauties of life being tied up in having lots of money. For those who strongly believe this way, they may spend decades working in every possible way to accumulate wealth.

But instead, each of us can choose to nurture our souls first. With God behind us, our material needs will be met and we will prepare both better for this world and the next.

In this blog, I will begin by reprinting entries from my popular blog, Live Better than a Billionaire on Five Dollars Extra a Day (http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/) so they can be accessed more easily. I will also write special blog entries from time to time for those who are interested in spiritual more than material matters for life improvement.

Please send me your suggestions for this blog.

May God bless you!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell