Dear Friends of Faith around the world,
During this time, this season of my life, I am focused on the Global Faith book series to which I committed myself at the beginning of 2010 thereby completing the first book in the series and self publishing it by the end of November the same year: Global Prayers for All People: Various Occasions, Many Faith Traditions. The exciting news this week is that I finally got this book listed on Amazon.com. It is currently available immediately on Kindle, and the print version should be ready for order soon. If you would like to check the listing out on Amazon.com, click on this link: http://tinyurl.com/8xfsqum
I am currently working on the second book of the Global Faith series. I am boldly calling it "Sacred Scriptures" in the new title, not out of presumption or arrogance but out of a strong sense of faith that this book will be considered a sacred text by other people perhaps in my generation and in the generations to come. I believe God's Spirit has poured and flowed through my thoughts, and given me wonderful words to share with the world. All of it is intended in the spirit of peace. While I believe that portions of a spirit of prophecy may be found in the book (such as in the Wisdom and Prophecy section), I refrain though from lifting myself up in claiming to be a prophet to the world, and likewise, as I'll state in the Author's comments, that I don't make claim to a full inspiration in the sense of the Biblical Christian doctrine on the Bible. In the least, it will be a blessed religious read for the world, if only devotionally.
In mentioning my focus on my Global Faith book series during this season of life leads me to the next discussion of: Global Faith Movement and Ministry Verses Global Faith Organization. In 2009 and 2010, I had planned soon to create the non-profit organization to seek funding in support of my Global Prayer efforts (http://globalprayingservants.com/) and the Global Faith book series. I now see it may be another few years before the setting up a nonprofit organization. But the Global Faith Movement and Ministry continues! And I am setting up a business name to publish my books, with the exception of IF I obtain a publisher for book #2.
May you be blessed, may your needs be met, may you deeply sense the Sacred and regularly lift up your prayers to the Source, believing, and may your good dreams comes true!
Brother Mark
Highlighting illumination of faith to humanity, encouraging, educating, inspiring faith in God, instilling a respect of those whose faith is different from yours, and making faith resources available to you.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Have you taken the Global Faith Pledge yet? You'd be surprised. Its so basic and broad, looking for the universals in humanity, such that virtually all people with faith in God could accept. I recommend you to print and sign your pledge and keep it for your own record. I encourage you to email me too to let me know you have taken the pledge. Brother Mark Email: mark dot globalfaith at gmail dot com.
1. I believe in the innate dignity of every human being, regardless of race
2. I believe in the mutual respect of all human beings regardless of particular creed, faith, religion.
3. I believe in having a basic religious tolerance of all others whose faith or religion may be different from mine.
4. I believe in a freedom of faith that is foremost a spiritual freedom, and the freedom to practice one's own faith, recognizing that some peoples live in countries that restrict their religious freedom in the temporal realm, but blessed are all those who are spiritually free.
5. I believe that each person should seek truth for him or herself, to know it themselves in their own beings, and that they should be free to seek and study in their spiritual journey of life.
6. I feel each person should be guided by their own conscience and not forced to go against their own conscience.
7. I will strive to be moral in my conduct at home and in the community and public. I will strive to do the right thing, and to be an example of good living to my family, to young people, and before the community.
1. I believe in the innate dignity of every human being, regardless of race
2. I believe in the mutual respect of all human beings regardless of particular creed, faith, religion.
3. I believe in having a basic religious tolerance of all others whose faith or religion may be different from mine.
4. I believe in a freedom of faith that is foremost a spiritual freedom, and the freedom to practice one's own faith, recognizing that some peoples live in countries that restrict their religious freedom in the temporal realm, but blessed are all those who are spiritually free.
5. I believe that each person should seek truth for him or herself, to know it themselves in their own beings, and that they should be free to seek and study in their spiritual journey of life.
6. I feel each person should be guided by their own conscience and not forced to go against their own conscience.
7. I will strive to be moral in my conduct at home and in the community and public. I will strive to do the right thing, and to be an example of good living to my family, to young people, and before the community.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Global Faith Work Updates
The purpose of Global Faith Org is ecumenical, to build understanding among peoples of various faiths. It is a-political, NOT about trying to unite any religious groups into a political force. It is the founder's firm belief from studying historic religions that have conflicted with nations and countries, that a primary factor was because the religion became politically powerful and the existing temporal powers felt their own power threatened. True religion excels and shines where it is meant to shine: inspiring humanity to the realm of transcendent and building the spiritual nobility of humans: faith, love, hope, peace, kindness, etc. Global Faith Org works to build peace among fellow humans through faith education and must remain apolitical in temporal secular affairs. Global Faith focuses on encouraging humanity toward mutual respect and understanding among faith traditions, world religions, in the spirit of peace and the Golden Rule toward spiritual maturity globally, through blogging, writing, speaking, dialoging, gathering, and engaging in ministry, and creating a network of "Global Faith" peoples who also are "ambassadors" of Global Faith.
Dear Fellow People of Faiths Near and Far,
Though you may not find regular (e.g. weekly or monthly) posts on this blog (but you can follow my more regular Tweets on Twitter, GlobalFaith4U), it does not mean that I am not active in my work and mission of Global Faith education. My World Religions course I teach at a college keeps me fairly busy, continually studying more myself in each religion to increase my understanding, and creating new strategies to engage my students instead of just continually lecturing at them.
My number 1 goal for this year is to complete the next book in the Global Faith Series. I had it titled "Global Faith: Universal and Existential." But I am re-titling it "Sacred Scriptures for the 21st Century and Beyond," because it has been planned from the first to become a sacred text, not by sheer individual human will fiat, but by a vision of the Spirit's leading, I believe, that it will eventually become a sacred text for many of various nations and cultures. It will be a blend of many thought patterns from various previous sacred texts of the ages brought into the current age AND fresh material that has come to me, I believe by the Spirit of God. It will all be woven together in such a way as perhaps creating a beautiful sacred literary masterpiece, which in some respects I do not even feel qualified to attempt. But all wonderful thoughts that have come to me, I am compelled out of sheer goodness, out of love of God and fellow human beings, to set all this in writing and publish for the world. Few in history have undertaken the task of writing a text that became a sacred text. I am very humbled at this prospect, but all that has been given me, that which as already been written down on paper with pen (I just need to organize and type it up) I truly feel that this text will be deemed worthy of being called a "sacred" text.
My students are on spring break this week, which gives me some extra time to get back to this sacred project. But before I engaged in it, yesterday, Monday, I first wanted to write "Guiding Thoughts and Questions for Visiting Houses of Worship for the Purpose of Studying the Various Faiths/Religions. I conceived it simply as a few page handout for leading or facilitating local groups to visit and then discuss afterwards to increase their learning of the various faiths. For years I have been planning to engage the local community in this way. After I wrote up the engaging thoughts and questions, I decided to put it into a booklet format which will be easier for the participants for carrying in and out of the places they visit. Therefore then, with this format and title and copyright symbol and date, I sent it off to a local printers. And I submitted a Public Service Announcement for the local newspaper for this new local group. It is open to all: non-student life-long learners and students alike.
This should even become a model for the Global Faith Movement, an important method of engaging the communities in faith education. My model is that groups form from those who respond to the announcement(s). The visits could be once a month or more than that. I presume that more than one person will be interested, thus a "group." After the house of worship visit, the groups should meet to discuss with each other, going through the questions in the Guide, sharing some of their notes (there is space between the questions for writing notes). The discussion is also an important part of the learning process. Even if a large group of 10 people visit any particular "house," each one will have a different experience. So you learn from others as well as from your own experience too. And I recommend the group to meet and discuss soon after the visit, within the next few days. Meeting right after the visit, such as for lunch or brunch may be ideal, while the experience is most fresh.
This Guide with is group use plan, designed to be used at virtually any house of worship or sacred interior space by anyone who is studying faiths more, can become a new model for people studying faiths through visiting actual gathering places. The "Guiding Thoughts and Questions for Visitors to Houses of Worship for...Study..." is a total of 12 pages long (in this booklet format) including an introduction with pre-visit thoughts to prepare for the visit. The main portion leads the learner to reflect on all the main aspects of the experience in the interior space: the lighting/ambiance, the physical setting and design, the images/paintings/symbols (if any) to the rituals of both the leaders and people gathered for the service, to the deeper meaning, the theological and philosophical beliefs behind both the elements in the service and the surroundings. This Guide will sure be a help to many. You can request a copy or a number of copies for a small donation to cover the cost of printing and shipping, by emailing me.
Dear Fellow People of Faiths Near and Far,
Though you may not find regular (e.g. weekly or monthly) posts on this blog (but you can follow my more regular Tweets on Twitter, GlobalFaith4U), it does not mean that I am not active in my work and mission of Global Faith education. My World Religions course I teach at a college keeps me fairly busy, continually studying more myself in each religion to increase my understanding, and creating new strategies to engage my students instead of just continually lecturing at them.
My number 1 goal for this year is to complete the next book in the Global Faith Series. I had it titled "Global Faith: Universal and Existential." But I am re-titling it "Sacred Scriptures for the 21st Century and Beyond," because it has been planned from the first to become a sacred text, not by sheer individual human will fiat, but by a vision of the Spirit's leading, I believe, that it will eventually become a sacred text for many of various nations and cultures. It will be a blend of many thought patterns from various previous sacred texts of the ages brought into the current age AND fresh material that has come to me, I believe by the Spirit of God. It will all be woven together in such a way as perhaps creating a beautiful sacred literary masterpiece, which in some respects I do not even feel qualified to attempt. But all wonderful thoughts that have come to me, I am compelled out of sheer goodness, out of love of God and fellow human beings, to set all this in writing and publish for the world. Few in history have undertaken the task of writing a text that became a sacred text. I am very humbled at this prospect, but all that has been given me, that which as already been written down on paper with pen (I just need to organize and type it up) I truly feel that this text will be deemed worthy of being called a "sacred" text.
My students are on spring break this week, which gives me some extra time to get back to this sacred project. But before I engaged in it, yesterday, Monday, I first wanted to write "Guiding Thoughts and Questions for Visiting Houses of Worship for the Purpose of Studying the Various Faiths/Religions. I conceived it simply as a few page handout for leading or facilitating local groups to visit and then discuss afterwards to increase their learning of the various faiths. For years I have been planning to engage the local community in this way. After I wrote up the engaging thoughts and questions, I decided to put it into a booklet format which will be easier for the participants for carrying in and out of the places they visit. Therefore then, with this format and title and copyright symbol and date, I sent it off to a local printers. And I submitted a Public Service Announcement for the local newspaper for this new local group. It is open to all: non-student life-long learners and students alike.
This should even become a model for the Global Faith Movement, an important method of engaging the communities in faith education. My model is that groups form from those who respond to the announcement(s). The visits could be once a month or more than that. I presume that more than one person will be interested, thus a "group." After the house of worship visit, the groups should meet to discuss with each other, going through the questions in the Guide, sharing some of their notes (there is space between the questions for writing notes). The discussion is also an important part of the learning process. Even if a large group of 10 people visit any particular "house," each one will have a different experience. So you learn from others as well as from your own experience too. And I recommend the group to meet and discuss soon after the visit, within the next few days. Meeting right after the visit, such as for lunch or brunch may be ideal, while the experience is most fresh.
This Guide with is group use plan, designed to be used at virtually any house of worship or sacred interior space by anyone who is studying faiths more, can become a new model for people studying faiths through visiting actual gathering places. The "Guiding Thoughts and Questions for Visitors to Houses of Worship for...Study..." is a total of 12 pages long (in this booklet format) including an introduction with pre-visit thoughts to prepare for the visit. The main portion leads the learner to reflect on all the main aspects of the experience in the interior space: the lighting/ambiance, the physical setting and design, the images/paintings/symbols (if any) to the rituals of both the leaders and people gathered for the service, to the deeper meaning, the theological and philosophical beliefs behind both the elements in the service and the surroundings. This Guide will sure be a help to many. You can request a copy or a number of copies for a small donation to cover the cost of printing and shipping, by emailing me.
Guiding Thoughts and Questions
for Visitors to Houses of Worship
for the Purpose of Studying the Beliefs of Various Faiths/ Religions©
Mark Ahavel
Global Faith Org. Tallahassee, FL
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Global Faith: A Model for the 21st Century
Dear Friends of Faith,
I am very pleased to announce the near completion of the next book (actually booklet) in the Global Faith book series: Global Faith: A Model for the 21st Century. You may go ahead and request your copies for a suggestion donation of $5 (US Dollars) by emailing me at: mark.globalfaith@gmail.com. It will soon be going to the printers.
This book summarizes and articulates the Global Faith I am defining, and presenting it as a model for people of faith, religion buffs, scholars, leaders, and common ordinary folks, globally.
This excerpt in an overview of the overview of this Model:
Worldview: Theistic
Belief System Category: Monotheistic, universal/global
Mutual Respect and Tolerance for all people, whatever creed, ethnicity, race, nationality, or gender
Non-Profit
Faith-based
Non-Sectarian
Not sponsored by any establish Religion or religious Institution
A-Political
International - Multicultural
Decentralized
Non-Proselytizing
Equality of all Humans of all ethnicities, races, genders, creeds, & socio-economic status
Heart for Service and Ministry
Made up Volunteers
Global Faith: A Movement
A Caring community
Each of the qualities, characteristics in the above list all contribute to the defining of this Global Faith and Global Faith Movement. Each of them are explained and expounded upon in the book. The book also includes Vision and Mission statements, and a near comprehensive list of values, highlighting some main ones are: human dignity, mutual respect, tolerance, love, and peace.
This simple and yet profound global faith booklet is a must read for all peoples of faith and those who are searching for the meaning of faith.
I am very pleased to announce the near completion of the next book (actually booklet) in the Global Faith book series: Global Faith: A Model for the 21st Century. You may go ahead and request your copies for a suggestion donation of $5 (US Dollars) by emailing me at: mark.globalfaith@gmail.com. It will soon be going to the printers.
This book summarizes and articulates the Global Faith I am defining, and presenting it as a model for people of faith, religion buffs, scholars, leaders, and common ordinary folks, globally.
This excerpt in an overview of the overview of this Model:
Worldview: Theistic
Belief System Category: Monotheistic, universal/global
Mutual Respect and Tolerance for all people, whatever creed, ethnicity, race, nationality, or gender
Non-Profit
Faith-based
Non-Sectarian
Not sponsored by any establish Religion or religious Institution
A-Political
International - Multicultural
Decentralized
Non-Proselytizing
Equality of all Humans of all ethnicities, races, genders, creeds, & socio-economic status
Heart for Service and Ministry
Made up Volunteers
Global Faith: A Movement
A Caring community
Each of the qualities, characteristics in the above list all contribute to the defining of this Global Faith and Global Faith Movement. Each of them are explained and expounded upon in the book. The book also includes Vision and Mission statements, and a near comprehensive list of values, highlighting some main ones are: human dignity, mutual respect, tolerance, love, and peace.
This simple and yet profound global faith booklet is a must read for all peoples of faith and those who are searching for the meaning of faith.
Global Faith: The Place of Meeting God
This article is a preview from the not-yet-published book: Global Faith: Universal and Existential, the flagship book of the Global Faith Book series which is scheduled to be published in 2012. But this article is included in the new book, about to be published, the second one in the book series: Global Faith: A Model for the 21st Century.
The Place of Meeting God
The prophets of the blessed past called the peoples to meet God of their faith each in their appointed consecrated places which in time became sacred, each in their homeland of origin.
The great Hebrew prophet Isaiah prophesied, "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established on top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ' Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD'" (Isaiah 2:2-3a NKJV).
Some pious souls interpret this passage literally and look forward to its fulfillment in a literal Jerusalem. Yet other pious or faithful or scholarly souls interpret this passage spiritually-metaphorically. This latter realistically understands the sheer difficulty if not virtual impossibility of God's global people of faith traveling to Jerusalem, not just once in their lifetime, but perhaps many times as the text may suggest. Better it seems this spiritual-metaphorical interpretation of this prophecy that speaks to all God's people of faith globally, wherever they may live, even Global Faith peoples in these latter days who come to God in spirit and in truth and figuratively to His holy mountain, wherever we hear His words, His teachings, receive them into our hearts and souls, submit our wills to Him, and worship Him in all His glory and majesty.
God foresaw our day, our global age, and a growing movement of Global Faith peoples. God has brought a new age through His holy Son Jesus who proclaimed, "...neither on this mountain [Gerizim in Samaria] nor in Jerusalem [Mt. Zion] will you worship Me but in spirit and truth they shall worship Me" (John 4:21, 23 NKJV). Souls of faith, let God's Spirit inscribe these words into your precious hearts and minds. Notice that this speaks of NO CENTRAL place on earth where God's people meet God and worship Him. There is no geographic latitude nor longitude, but speaks of a spiritual Zion of longevity, where the sacred meeting place is the meeting of the Divine and the human being through his or her soul, wherever their bodies are physically, locally. In the roads of the well known Christian rock song by Petra, "the road to Zion's in my heart."
The believers of Judaism have the Wailing Wall, Christians have the Church of the Holy Sepulchre also in Jerussalem, and Muslims have Mecca, the Sikhs have Golden Temple in Amritsar, and Baha'is have the Shrine of the Bab (international Shrine, Haifa, Israel), but the prophetic scripture above from John's Gospel (claimed to have come from Jesus) looks to our day when and where people of faith are not bound to attend one specific sacred spot on earth-obligatorily-for the meeting place of God, for worship and prayer. The great Hebrew prophet Isaiah (most scholars refer to this section as Deutero-Isaiah) prophesied, "He is called God of the whole earth" (Isaiah 54:5d) and the prophetic scriptures speak through Solomon, "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!" (I Kings 8:27 NKJV).
Therefore, Global Faith does not seek to establish any central sacred place for the meeting of God and His people, but it is intent on remaining decentralized; and likewise it does not to establish even a central global organization or institution. Global Faith peoples do not stress over where to establish a central sacred spot on earth, where it should be, what country it should be located in, consequentially refraining from the potential engine of conflict with established religions or governments. Be let there be thousands of local assemblies of Global Faith peoples who can gather on a regular basis (for example, weekly), locally. Moreover, let it be permitted that Global Faith local communities associate with each other, but remaining decentralized. And let them even establish regional shrines that they may make pilgrimages, either peacefully securing agreement with representatives of existing shrines or establishing new shrines. Global Faith peoples may peacefully worship, pray, and/or meditate in many and various religious settings. But peacefully seek official permission if groups of Global Faith communities want to gather at shrines/houses/temples/churches/gardens or grounds of existing religious institutions or organizations.
The Place of Meeting God
The prophets of the blessed past called the peoples to meet God of their faith each in their appointed consecrated places which in time became sacred, each in their homeland of origin.
The great Hebrew prophet Isaiah prophesied, "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established on top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ' Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD'" (Isaiah 2:2-3a NKJV).
Some pious souls interpret this passage literally and look forward to its fulfillment in a literal Jerusalem. Yet other pious or faithful or scholarly souls interpret this passage spiritually-metaphorically. This latter realistically understands the sheer difficulty if not virtual impossibility of God's global people of faith traveling to Jerusalem, not just once in their lifetime, but perhaps many times as the text may suggest. Better it seems this spiritual-metaphorical interpretation of this prophecy that speaks to all God's people of faith globally, wherever they may live, even Global Faith peoples in these latter days who come to God in spirit and in truth and figuratively to His holy mountain, wherever we hear His words, His teachings, receive them into our hearts and souls, submit our wills to Him, and worship Him in all His glory and majesty.
God foresaw our day, our global age, and a growing movement of Global Faith peoples. God has brought a new age through His holy Son Jesus who proclaimed, "...neither on this mountain [Gerizim in Samaria] nor in Jerusalem [Mt. Zion] will you worship Me but in spirit and truth they shall worship Me" (John 4:21, 23 NKJV). Souls of faith, let God's Spirit inscribe these words into your precious hearts and minds. Notice that this speaks of NO CENTRAL place on earth where God's people meet God and worship Him. There is no geographic latitude nor longitude, but speaks of a spiritual Zion of longevity, where the sacred meeting place is the meeting of the Divine and the human being through his or her soul, wherever their bodies are physically, locally. In the roads of the well known Christian rock song by Petra, "the road to Zion's in my heart."
The believers of Judaism have the Wailing Wall, Christians have the Church of the Holy Sepulchre also in Jerussalem, and Muslims have Mecca, the Sikhs have Golden Temple in Amritsar, and Baha'is have the Shrine of the Bab (international Shrine, Haifa, Israel), but the prophetic scripture above from John's Gospel (claimed to have come from Jesus) looks to our day when and where people of faith are not bound to attend one specific sacred spot on earth-obligatorily-for the meeting place of God, for worship and prayer. The great Hebrew prophet Isaiah (most scholars refer to this section as Deutero-Isaiah) prophesied, "He is called God of the whole earth" (Isaiah 54:5d) and the prophetic scriptures speak through Solomon, "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!" (I Kings 8:27 NKJV).
Therefore, Global Faith does not seek to establish any central sacred place for the meeting of God and His people, but it is intent on remaining decentralized; and likewise it does not to establish even a central global organization or institution. Global Faith peoples do not stress over where to establish a central sacred spot on earth, where it should be, what country it should be located in, consequentially refraining from the potential engine of conflict with established religions or governments. Be let there be thousands of local assemblies of Global Faith peoples who can gather on a regular basis (for example, weekly), locally. Moreover, let it be permitted that Global Faith local communities associate with each other, but remaining decentralized. And let them even establish regional shrines that they may make pilgrimages, either peacefully securing agreement with representatives of existing shrines or establishing new shrines. Global Faith peoples may peacefully worship, pray, and/or meditate in many and various religious settings. But peacefully seek official permission if groups of Global Faith communities want to gather at shrines/houses/temples/churches/gardens or grounds of existing religious institutions or organizations.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Global Faith Org Vision and Mission Statement
Dear Friends of Faith, globally,
I ended up posting a Global Faith Values Statement in a prior post before first trumpeting the Vision and Mission statement, now, here below. Not only is it fitting but indeed essential for every organization to have a vision and mission statement (currently "organization" is used in a loose sense, since the Org has not yet been formally formed).
Vision Statement:
That people as individuals and as humanity as a whole, globally, grow in mutual respect and understanding of other faith traditions, and that people individually and humanity as a whole grow more spiritually mature.
Mission Statement:
Global Faith Org encourages, inspires, educates humanity toward mutual respect and understanding among peoples of various faith traditions, world religions, in the spirit of peace, grace, and the Golden Rule and toward spiritual maturity globally, through blogging, writing, speaking, dialoging, gathering, engaging in ministry, and fellowship.
Global and Eternal Peace to you,
Brother Mark
I ended up posting a Global Faith Values Statement in a prior post before first trumpeting the Vision and Mission statement, now, here below. Not only is it fitting but indeed essential for every organization to have a vision and mission statement (currently "organization" is used in a loose sense, since the Org has not yet been formally formed).
Vision Statement:
That people as individuals and as humanity as a whole, globally, grow in mutual respect and understanding of other faith traditions, and that people individually and humanity as a whole grow more spiritually mature.
Mission Statement:
Global Faith Org encourages, inspires, educates humanity toward mutual respect and understanding among peoples of various faith traditions, world religions, in the spirit of peace, grace, and the Golden Rule and toward spiritual maturity globally, through blogging, writing, speaking, dialoging, gathering, engaging in ministry, and fellowship.
Global and Eternal Peace to you,
Brother Mark
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