What direction am I headed?

I'm sure you all ask yourself this same question all the time. "Am I headed in the direction God wants me to go?" I have been asking myself this question for the longest time and I still continue to ask it. I don't know what direction God has in my life or in my families life. I get so frustrated and wish he would just smack me in the face with it. What does he want me to do? Where does he want me to go? Am I doing what he wants me to do right now?

So many questions and yet, I don't seem to get an answer. Maybe I'm not listening. Please pray for me and my family that we may find the answer to these questions! Thank you.

More on John Edwards (Crossing Over)

First and foremost, people want to believe. That being said, John Edwards is probabally the worst I've ever seen. It is amazing as I sit here and watch this guy how he ropes these people right in. I watched the end of one of his shows where he was talking to Vanessa Williams about her father. Now, if I was having a reading with Vanessa I would have said something like this. "I'm getting the letter M, do you know someone that has passed fairly recently, maybe a male that has like an M at the beginning and an N at the end of his name?" She would sit there shocked, her Fathers name was Milton. I would continue, "I'm seeing a pain, like an abdominal pain, maybe like a pancreatic pain or something." She would again be amazed, I was right, he died from a pancreatic infection. I would again continue, " I'm seeing musical notes, he's talking to me about teaching and how he loved to teach. Was he a music teacher?" WOW! 3 for 3! Now the clencher, "You and your brother Chris were there when he passed weren't you? He says he was really comforted because of that!" My goodness, I am amazing. I could have probabally paid my bills for a year with all the information I just gave them. Now all I need to do is give them some comforting messages from their father and take a stab at a few thing and I'm gold!

Now, John Edwards didn't even do that good. As a matter of fact he pretty much just did a cold reading with them. Took a stab here and a stab there. The thing is, if I was in his line of deception and was going to talk to Vanessa Williams, I would do my research. As a matter of fact, I got all the information about Vanessa's father from this website http://www.thecrusade.net/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=3&t=18551 and it was posted 3 days after her fathers death! I am now watching another episode and he asked his all too famous question ,"Is someone in you family a police officer?" Next, "Are they still with us?" He finally got the woman to key in on her husbands mother that reciently passed away and mentioned a rolling pin. And the womans son said ,"You had just done some baking with her at Christmas before she passed." It is all to amazing how the people volunteer the information after just a few stabs at something.

Let's quit believing in this nonsense. I get more frustrated everytime I watch it! Honestly folks, you can't, nore can anyone, talk to the dead! That's enough for now. Thanks for listening.

Romans 5:8

What's up with the Yout today?

So I'm sitting here at Chili's filling out some paperwork when a girl comes in to fill out an employment application. I hear her say to the hostess, "I don't know my social security number". Now, who in their right mind would go to fill out an employment application without knowing (or at least carrying) their ss number. It just amazes me. why in the world wouldn't you have your social security card if you don't have the number memorized?

Kids today! They just amaze me. Either their parents haven't prepared them for real life or, well, I don't know what else it could be. It just doesn't make any sense to me at all. I'm going to apply for a job but I'm not going to bring all the information I need to fill out an employment application. I don't know, maybe I'm old fashion but help me out here. Why in the world would you go to fill out an application for a job and not bring everything you need to do it? Oh well, maybe it was the first time she filled out an application. Yeah, that's it, she never filled out an application before and she didn't know what she needed. I'll stand by that so I don't go totally insane!

Cold Reading

Cold Reading, not the theatre type, but the psychic type, is something that supposed psychics do to get information from the people that they are with. Many great examples of Cold reading can be found on youtube.com. A few examples, and it's always easier with a group of people, will follow. Let me talk about John Edward for a minute, he will try to get a read on someone and if they say it's not correct he will argue with them. He may say, and I've seen this on youtube, "You have a police officer in the family that has passed away?" The people say "No". and he'll argue, "Yes, you do". What happens here is the people go home and talk to all their relatives about a police officer that was in the family that passed away. Eventually they'll come up with Uncle Joe who was a security guard at Kmart. BINGO. John Edward was right. Was he? Nope, he just took a stab and stuck to his guns!

The thing with cold reading is you have to be confident that you are right. Below is a video of Sylvia Browne goofing up on a cold reading but being confident with her answer. It's amazing how many people actually think this woman is for real. Nothing but a actor taking as much money as she can from a bunch of ignorant people.

I can't embed the video of Sylvia Brown at this time but I can put a couple links that you can click on and view some videos where she messes up on the cold reading.

Sylvia Browne video 1

Sylvia Browne video 2

Sylvia Browne Anderson Cooper 1

Sylvia Browne Anderson Cooper 2

Here are a few examples of John Edward doing some cold readings. Amazing!

John Edward, make sure to watch the reading at the end!

John Edward 2

Not only is cold reading nothing more than a trick but many of these psychics have got rich over pulling the wool over peoples eyes. I think it's due time that we, as Christians, no longer let the ungodly benefit by fooling the public. Sylvia Browne says that her lies are from God. Can you believe that? Isn't that terrible!?

Today, say a prayer for all of the psychics of the world. Not just the Sylvia Browne's and the John Edward's of the world but also the local palm readers and local psychics that they come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior and turn from their evil ways!

To God be the glory for ever and ever, AMEN!

Matthew 5:44

Mentalism Starting Out

It is interesting how many people want to believe in something spiritual and instead of trusting in Jesus for their spiritual support, they turn to other things. Reaching out to palm readers and tarot card readers, astrology, tea leaves, crystal balls, tickle me elmos (OK, so I just threw that one in to see if you were paying attention). Any of these use practices such as Cold Reading (hit and miss attempts to find things out about a person and concentrate on the Hits and dismiss the misses. They also use very vague readings that would apply to most people. Let's first of all, today start out with being vague. Listen to this and tell me if it sounds like you at all:

Some of your aspirations tend to be pretty unrealistic. At times you are extroverted, affable, sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary and reserved. You have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. You pride yourself on being an independent thinker and do not accept others’ opinions without satisfactory proof. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety, and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. Disciplined and controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside. Your sexual adjustment has presented some problems for you. While you have some personality weaknesses, you are generally able to compensate for them. You have a great deal of unused capacity which you have not turned to your advantage. You have a tendency to be critical of yourself. You have a strong need for other people to like you and for them to admire you.

This is a reading that was written by Bertram Forer, a psychologist that believed that people would accept vague information as unique to them. It's interesting how many people hear something like the above from their "psychic network" and consider it as gospel. Let's look at a few other vague things.

You're especially thoughtful today, and ought to find that people are more willing to give you the space you need to figure out what's really going on in your family. Your intuition should be right on. Listen to your emotions and let them dictate the day's activities (within reason, of course). You may have been keeping yourself from telling a friend what they really need to hear, or asking out that one crush. Friends or family members come to you asking for help with an argument. You can play referee quite well, though you may need to make a ruling that irks one or even both of them. Stand by your call!

Does this apply to you? If so, and some of it probably does, it apply to most of us. These were 3 different Horoscopes from today's date. Interesting fact is you can throw all these together and they look like one reading. You will find that all horoscopes are very vague and apply to most everyone.

The thing that bugs me is why Christians would turn to psychics instead of Jesus to answer their questions. We will get into that later. As for now just know that we as people, for some reason, believe that we are unique, and that anything that pertains to us couldn't possibly apply to anyone else. Tomorrow we will discuss more about Cold Reading.

Timothy 6:12

Time to Get Moving

I performed a birthday party today for a friend of mines 6 year old son. It actually went better than I thought it would but I still don't enjoy performing at birthday parties. One thing I miss doing more often is performing an evening performance for a church. This is what I really enjoy and really believe that I am good at it. I think, with some proper marketing, I can get back into this but I really need your prayers and support.

I don't know how long it will take for me to get this going but I do know that I need to be more organized to be able to put new routines together. One thing that I really feel God has called me to do is to inform people, especially Christians, about how they are being debunked by these, so called, psychics like Sylvia Browne and John Edwards. Believe it or not, even Christians are falling for these fakes. I have been studying a lot about mentalism and cold reading and have learned that they are really just good at cold reading. More on this later.

In the mean time, please pray for me and my family and the Lord to guide us in the direction that he would have us go. Thanks for all your support and prayers.

9When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 10There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 11Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. 13Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. 14For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do. Deuteronomy 18:9-13

Children's Message 1 (Two Dollar Window) You and the Holy Spirit

My first Children's Message was about the Holy Spirit and how, when Jesus left, he said he was going to send someone else in his place. I used the trick Two Dollar Window by Penguin Magic for this message. This is an instant download if you want the trick, and at $9.95 it is a great value. I carry it in my pocket and do it all the time. Click Here for info on the the trick.

This is the message, I start out by talking about how Peter was afraid when Jesus was being persecuted. As a matter of fact, he denied Christ 3 times. Refused to admit that he even knew him. All because he was scared of suffering the same fate that Jesus was going through. But after Jesus died, came back, and then ascended into Heaven, he made a promise. That he would send a comforter, the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit entered Peters life, he was filled with courage and was no longer afraid of the consequences of what would happen if he preached the word of God.

I take out the 2 bills to give the example of us and the Holy Spirit. Then I mention that before we accept Christ, us and the Holy Spirit are separate. But after we accept Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit enters us and becomes one with us and gives us strength. Then I say, I guess the best way to illustrate this is to take the 2 bills a fold them together. Maybe fold them twice. Still not getting the point across, maybe a 3rd time. Nope, maybe this is the best way to illustrate your relationship with the Holy Spirit, then I do the bill switch and discuss that once you accept Christ, you and the Holy Spirit are one, like the 2 dollar bill.