"Inferiority Complexes: Where do they lead us?"

David Allen Brown

"Lovenotes from Above: Who am I? Who I am"

"Inferiority Complexes: Where do they lead us?"

  OK…Guilty as charged. When I was a very tiny little kid up until the 7th grade or so I use to get used as a crash test dummy by the other kids in class. Picture my face as the battering ram and the other kids fists as the new test vehicle. They wanted to see if their fist could survive pummeling my face all afternoon long without getting totaled out . As long as I dropped to the ground before their fist started hurting too bad from the beating, then they would consider the test a succeess.

As I approached my 13th year my body began to play catch up with my mind. I’d always been smarter than I was physically able up until then and finally, I began to hold some ground and the abuse came to a stop for the most part.

You would think under those circumstances that I wouldn’t feel very good about myself but I didn’t really feel what I would call truely inferior about anything because my parents  were both very encouraging and there for me when I needed them.  Mostly I just felt the emotional pain of the putdowns ,which eventually became anger. I did feel my shortcoming in being able to take defend myself because I simply lacked the size to fight back and win very often.

  The other kids took advantage of my size in everything from using me as a punching bag to making fun of my riding the bench in baseball..

Let’s establish exactly what an ‘inferiority complex is and then I’ll tell you my story. An inferiorty complex is the feeling that someone gets when they feel inferior to others in at least one or more ways. Often times there is no real inferiority that exists at all. The perception can be imagined or real. The difference is in how the person handles the perceived inferiority.

  Often times it causes a person to over compensate by driving them to overachieve in other ways ( like it did in me). It can shape a person into someone who feels inclined to go and try to conquer the world so to speak. These feelings of inferiority can also do just the opposite which is to drive a person to run away from potential confrontation. This can become a lifelong pattern if it’s not broken early on.

  Very often inferiority complexes started in the childs upbringing by way of disapproval or verbally abusive remarks by parents or piers. By consistantly pointing out mistakes instead of positively reinforcing good behavior and positive accomplishments the poor kid starts to focus only on his or her negatives. In my case my inferior feelings came from putdowns over my physical size by my friends and piers.

   It was always about my height, my weight or my strength. I was so demeaned by my piers that by the time I turned 13, I couldn’t take the trash talk any more. I had to do something about it. I had always been fascinated by the guys in the bodybuilding magazines and I was particularly taken back by Arnold Schwarzeneggar. Not only was he huge in stature but he had a confidence about himself and if you’ve ever listened to Arnold speak, you would also know that he is quite the intellectual. All of that appealed to me.

  So at the ripe old age of 13, I began to lift weights every day. I was literally weaker than probably half of the girls in my classroom when I first got started. By age 17 I had been so driven to over compensate in the strength and size department, that I become one of the top 10 strongest kids in my school. A high school with more than 3000 students in it. I ate night and day and lived to lift weights. I was determined to never be talked about again by way of being too small or too weak.

  Putdowns can also be about other perceived weaknesses such as being overweight or having to wear glasses or one of a hundred other things. Being called stupid or dumb is another sensitive area. Face it. Kids are cruel and will go out of there way to pick on anyone they see as being weak by their standards. By the time I grew up , I had a definite thing against bully types and whenever I saw anyone bullying someone else, I was quick to jump in and stop it.

   The weightlifting gave me the confidence I needed to stand up to my oppressors. My brother who is actually a very intelligent guy had been convinced he was “dumb” by his piers because the other kids knew he usually made low grades and had failed to advance a couple of times. The thing was, he was passionate about mechanical things and when he left high school to persue mechanical interest he “shined” in that arena. In his particlar field of interest he excelled and was well known for his achievements but he still felt that pain of being torn down for many years to come after he left high school.

   I wish I could say that I was supportive of him but I wasn’t . Because of my own complex and the fact that I was a straight A student I would call him dumb and stupid too, to make myself feel superior to him. I was no smarter than him but because I felt smarter , I used it to pump up my own feelings of self worth by tearing him down. What can I say? I was a typical kid doing my thing. Picking on my brother and that was that...Continued

I Believe

David Allen Brown

 "Lovenotes from Above: Breaking down the walls to Heaven" 

 I Believe 

.. Good friends sent me this a couple of weeks ago and I thought everyone would enjoy it. Thank you Deborah and Rick, God Bless, Dave

I Believe....
>  That just because two people argue, doesn't mean they don't love each other.
> And just because they don't argue, doesn't mean they do love each other.
>
> I Believe...
> That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry,  but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.
>
> I Believe...
> That we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.
>  
> I Believe...
> That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.
>
> I Believe...
> That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance.
> Same goes for true love.
>
> I Believe...
> That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.
>
> I Believe....
> That it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.
>
> I Believe...
> That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.
>
> I Believe...
> That you can keep going long after you think you can't.
>
> I Believe....
> That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.
>
> I Believe.....
> That either you control your attitude or it controls you.
>
> I Believe...
> That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.
>
> I Believe...
> That money is a lousy way of keeping score. 
>
> I Believe..
> That my best friend and I can do anything, or nothing, and have the best time.
>
> I Believe....
> That sometimes the people you expect to kick you When you're down, will be the ones to help you get back up.
>
> I Believe...
> That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had, and  what you've learned from them.....and less to do with how manybirthdays you've celebrated.
>
> I Believe...
> That it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.
>
> I Believe...
> That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.
>
> I Believe...
> That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
>
> I Believe...
> That you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life Forever.
>
> I Believe...
> Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
>
> I Believe...
> That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.
>
> I Believe...
> That even when you think you have no more to give, if a friend cries out to you........you will find the strength to help.
>
> I Believe...
> That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being..
>
> I Believe....
> That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.
>
> I Believe....
> That you should send this to all of the people that you believe in. I just did.
> The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; They just make the most of everything. Thank you God for all the wonderful people who help us throughout this journey called Life..
>

"Ten months and 200 blogs"

  David Allen Brown 

 "Lovenotes from Above: Breaking down the walls to Heaven"

  Since this is my 200th Blog today, I thought I would comment on what it's been like to speak to everyone on a daily basis for 10 months now. In the beginning I wanted a place I could come to and vent a little everyday when I needed to and share some lessons that I was learning along the way during my trials and tribulations.


  It was easy at first because, let's face it, very few people were reading and if I was wrong about something, it either went undetected or I had to see it for myself. It is quite different now, lol. If I forget to dot an I or cross a T, someone points it out but I don't mind. I always want this to be a place we can learn from one another.


 I am quite happy with some of my readers who have theological backgrounds and call me out when I'm wrong about something. It's not always easy to say "Hey, I was wrong and you're right", but this sight is for Gods glory and not mine.

  This may have been the most trying year of my life. I thought my life was going to take one direction , but it took a much more difficult and emotionally trying one and it happened practically overnight. It just goes to show that we never know exactly what we will come up against from one day to the next or even one minute to the next but I've enjoyed coming here and writing and by trying to make sense out of some of the hardest times I've ever experienced in my life. Maybe I've struck a chord and helped others to see their way through some of lifes little surprises as well.

  I want you all to know that I appreciate each and every one of you and I appreciate the new and good friends I've made here at "Lovenotes" Most of all, I appreciate God getting me through this past year and past the hard times of misunderstandings in my own life. God Bless you all and thanx for stopping by. Dave...

  PS. I'd like to say Happy Birthday to my oldest son Greg today. Happy big 30 Big Man. Whether you know it or not, I think about you every single day of my life. Love you, Pops!

Seek Ye First the Kingdom of Heaven

David Allen Brown

"Lovenotes from Above: Breaking down the walls to Heaven"

Seek Ye First the Kingdom of Heaven 

 I bet fifty-percent of people who pop pills for being bummed just need to get a grip and toughen up a little bit. Don't get upset with me please. I'm a very compassionate person. I just believe that we put on too many band-aids these days because it'e the easy thing to do.We are raising a nation of pill-popping dependants, and it needs to stop.

   Whenever I feel like my life is out of control, and I don’t know if I am coming or going, I'll recall two Bible verses that get me back on the right path quickly. The first verse is: "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and these things will be given to you as well". (Matthew 6:33) That’s right. God doesn’t expect us to be perfect just because we received salvation. He knows that sometimes our commitment can come unwound without us truly knowing it, but He provides a solution to getting back on track quickly and easily. Focus all of our energies on Him and His will. If you will do that, I can promise that He will be focusing on your needs with just as much intensity and loving concern. If we provide the faith, He will provide the rest.

   The second verse we want to commit to memory is: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for these sums up the Law and the Prophets". (Matthew 7:12) In these two simple verses, God has compacted almost every teaching and rule of the Bible into just a couple of easy to remember rules for life.

    A person can function as a Christian and be happy for a lifetime if he or she can stick to living their lives by obedience to these two simple rules from God’s handbook. It’s time spent enjoying the peace that fills your soul while you’re reading! Anyone who has been a Christian for even a short while can vouch for that. As you read, let His words fill you up and calm your spirit. It’s better than a stress pill. That’s a promise. God Bless, Dave

Seek Ye First the Kingdom of Heaven

David Allen Brown

"Lovenotes from Above: Breaking down the walls to Heaven"

Seek Ye First the Kingdom of Heaven

How different we’ve become since we were first saved. We would tell anyone who listened about how God stopped us from doing all the dumb things we used to do. How He made us feel like we were invincible, but in a strong, quiet way.

We would go on and on like He was all of our favorite ice creams rolled up into one perfect flavor. Wow. Jesus was just plain awesome, and we wanted to tell everyone. Now listen to us. Now we feel so lost and so screwed up again, and we don’t have any clue where to start to get it all back. We lay in bed at night…stifled. We open our mouth to say something to God and close it as suddenly as we opened it. Overwhelmed with self-doubt, fear, and confusion as if we weren’t sure if God even remembered we were alive anymore, reasonably sure He was there but wondering what we did to make him not care any more.

Don’t come unglued. You may feel like you’re the only one in the world this has ever happened to, but it’s not true. In fact it’s quite normal. It happens to everyone. It’s easy to get sidetracked when it comes to anything that’s important to us. It can happen and does happen to everybody.

Did He give up on us? After all, before we were saved, we were pretty full of sin…always being selfish, and all we could think about was ourselves and wondering why our lives didn’t click the way we thought they should. Nothing ever seemed to go our way. Nobody would go out with us, or if they did, it was only a matter of time before they would tell us how worthless and wrong we were for them.

Stop me when I get to the reason you felt like you were'nt worth loving. It sounds more like a massive pity party to me, and I’m pretty sure I’m on the money.....Continued

Baking a Christian Pie Part 3

David Allen Brown

 "Lovenotes from Above: Breaking down the walls to Heaven"

             "Baking a Christian Pie"    Part 3

Can he steal your peace? Can he corrupt you with lust or pornography? Can he make you drink or do drugs? What about even yelling at your mom and dad if you are still just a young ‘un as my Granny Bennett use to call the teenagers. She was a riot.

This is not a good guy, and the more you serve God, the more this piece of garbage is going to take notice of you. He doesn’t want you to successfully move in on his territory. He wants you to live in mediocrity at the very best. Salt that has lost its flavor is meaningless to our taste buds and, therefore, is no threat to him at all. When you start invading his territory, he is going to start throwing trouble at you in a big way, take you out of your game, do things to make you lose your faith or blame God for things He didn’t have anything to do with.

  The less mature you are in God’s word, the more susceptible you are to blaming Him or not understanding why God will let bad things happen to good people.

This Satan guy is well known for his lies, deceit, treachery, and manipulation—just to name a few of his ingredients. The Devil does bad things; God does not.

God sometimes allows the Devil to do certain things to us. It is always for the good of God and for our growth and will aid us in serving him better. That is our main goal even if we haven’t clearly defined that goal yet.

The Devil is a master manipulator and, for a start, will turn fathers against sons and mothers against daughters. He is always trying to attack you at your weakest point to make you turn your back on God. Whatever your weakest point is, that is where he goes first. Is your weakness pornography? Alcohol? Drugs? Sex?

He’s going to tempt you in your weakest area and then create so much guilt that you turn your back on God out of shame.

Most of you just identified with that one didn’t you?

Yes you did.

Just say no to Satan and yes to God. He wants you back no matter what you’ve done. Listen folks. If you want to serve God and are ready to live an enriched life full of peace and happiness, then you are doing the right thing now. Just don’t veer off course and flake out when the going gets tough. It will. I promise you at times the Devil will hit you so hard, so often, and so strongly that you will want to give up, but you can’t. That is why we call it commitment.

If you make a bunch of empty promises to yourself or anyone else, then you lack integrity. Is that something which is alright with you, or would you prefer not to be known as a liar? To yourself? To others?

Don’t quit when you feel beaten. Feelings can and do change. Weakness goes away. Act on your promises and not your feelings.

Compartmentalize your thoughts and stick to your game plan, and He will see you through the rough patches. Even if you feel ashamed, ask for forgiveness and trust God to forgive as He says, and He will. Read the book of Job, when it seems like all hope is lost from being continuously pounded. What Job endured is a thousand times worse than anything the Devil can or will throw at you or me. Remember that no matter how bad you have it, someone else always has it worse.

Be sure to add perseverance to your list. If you can and you mean it, then you will succeed. If you don’t really mean to stick to your commitment, even sacrifice and fight for it, then you are wasting your time and might as well be out cutting the grass.

If you want to invest your time in something that actually will make a difference in your life and, quite possibly the lives of others, then make yourself proud and stay the course. Nothing truly worth achieving is ever easy. Otherwise, everyone would do it, and it would require no sacrifice at all.

Baking a Christian Pie Part 2

David Allen Brown

 "Lovenotes from Above: Breaking down the walls to Heaven"

                     Baking a Christian Pie  Part 2

Since you have read this far, I believe you have the commitment. I am not into standing still in the Lord. Progress means moving forward, so why waste time in a half-committed way if we are not going to meet our goal of growing closer to the Lord?

The second thing is we must decide how much of ourselves we are willing to change to make the adjustments we desire. What are the different ingredients we need to add to our lives to give us balance?

For instance, stealing is not a good ingredient, but integrity is. I would urge you to make a list of all of the good ingredients you want to achieve to make one excellent Christian pie.

A good pie doesn’t make itself, and sometimes it takes weeks, months, or years to perfect a recipe for the best pie possible. When you have it down, in time, you will find more and more people who want to spend time with you, sharing in your recipe—people who not only want to eat a meal with you but also want to learn to cook the way you cook.

 There is a desire to savor the recipe containing all of these wonderful individual ingredients, but overall, it’s the combination of good qualities that create a well-balanced individual who produces that one wonderful person everyone wants to be with. Over the course of many weeks, months, and years, we become what God wants us to be: Faithful and willing servants.

At this stage, mentoring then becomes another way to serve God. It takes a lifetime of commitment to be the best person you can be. In time, if you serve Him well, the happiness and inner peace you receive back from the Holy Spirit will cause you to want to update your ingredients. In this way, you can put in more of God and dedicate a larger portion of your life to Him.

Get involved with your church. Spend time with the Lord and other encouraging Christians. Distance yourself from non-believers with pessimistic attitudes and little regard for the ways and the words of God.

I am in a place now where I want as much of God in my life as I can get. I want Him more and more and feel a never-ending hunger to serve Him. I hope to one day have nothing on my agenda but serving him twenty-four-seven.

One thing though. The more you serve Him, the more you will have to counter negatives in your life.

Negatives? What negatives? The more God there is in your life, the smoother things go, right?

No. Let me say that again in case anyone missed it the first time. No!

You see, there is this guy named Lucifer. Ever heard of him? Satan? The Devil? He is not a fictional character or a metaphor for evil. He is as real as God is, and He is constantly on patrol, searching for weaknesses in your defense system.

The only way to fight back against Satan is with a plan of attack. We are talking a premeditated, preemptive first strike. Let’s see if you’ve been taking God’s words into your heart as you’ve gone along.

What do you do first thing as you wake up in the morning? You do what? You put on what?

The full armor of God and you just became Satan’s worst nightmare. You just became a lot of work to him. Not that this will stop him, but you are going to make him scratch and claw for every inch of real estate he is trying to rob you of.

Baking a Christian Pie

David Allen Brown

 "Lovenotes from Above: Breaking down the walls to Heaven"

                   Baking a Christian Pie

One key to continually growing and maturing is as simple as just trying to live a consistent and balanced life. Growing and maturity may also be likened to constructing a puzzle or baking a pie. In my own parable of building a puzzle, we fit together pieces, hundreds of them, maybe thousands.

 Over time, if we continue the process, we begin to see an image of something begin to form. As we continue without stopping, we eventually complete a picture, a picture suitable for framing if we like, or for displaying for our own admiration and self-pride. We build one tiny piece, one upon another until we have something worthwhile, something of value to us.

This puzzle represents patience, hard work, and commitment to see it through to the very end. If we only look at that puzzle year after year without doing other puzzles, we may only enjoy the view of that one, and we may become bored and find something else to take up our spare time, something that may or may not be good for us.

We might also drop it by accident and have to do it all over again. This is the parable of the growth puzzle. In the first parable, we stack one growth success upon another until we have a clear picture of where we want to be, and when we get there, we admire it and live in obedience and faith.

In the second parable, we’ve aged, but we’ve taken no steps to continue our journey with new puzzles. We became stagnant, and in time, we found ourselves bored and occasionally end up in trouble because we were no longer pursuing new growth. We had become as salt that lost its flavor, and we were doing no one, not even ourselves or God, any good.

The third parable is that we pursue God and His glory. We backslide and eventually crumble into a worldly life again, and our unhappiness delivers us back to our starting point, desperate to seek God out once more because we have decided not to give up. We pick up the pieces and rebuild our broken life and start again.

In baking a Christian pie, we look at things from a different perspective. We want to be pleasantly predictable in our Christian behavior, in our persona, and even in our moods. It is important to project stability, peace, and uncommon faith in the worst of all possible moments. This projects our inner-strength and peace of mind while being effective witnesses or advertisers of what God can do for us in body, soul, and mind.

We want this for ourselves and for others, so that others may witness what the Holy Spirit is all about. God in us. 

Imagine that, God is in us. I don’t know about you, but I am wowed by the fact that the Creator of the Heavens and of the earth would come to live inside of me. We all need to have God in our lives. We can’t simply go from being sinners to turning ourselves into monks or nuns overnight. Not the majority of us anyway.

We have already learned putting on the full armor of God reminds us every day to do our best and to be ready to fend off evil. The more we remember and the more often it is practiced, the better chance we stand of living good and Godly lives and creating a positive, maybe even life-changing moment for someone else. To begin with, we need a couple of basic disciplines to accomplish this inner and outer beauty. Both are equally important.

Number one is commitment. If our commitment to growth is nothing more than a flimsy so-so whim, we will never get anywhere. We’ll end up as the same people tomorrow we are today. We’ll be going nowhere fast, spinning our wheels and just running in place.  Continued...

Trusting in the Promises of God, Part 2

David Allen Brown

"Lovenotes from Above: Breaking down the walls to Heaven"

Anytime I mention God’s occasional toughness to a non-believer or a weak Christian, the first thing I always hear is: “Oh, I don’t believe God would do that if He really loves us.” 

My friend, He would not love us if He didn’t take the time to discipline and teach us His ways. He doesn’t want to see us become lost souls.

We are all worthy of His love only because He says so. We all have the same opportunities to believe or not to believe in Him. Do you want to be a child of God or a lost soul with no hope? In His eyes, we are all beautiful. We are all loved equally. No one soul is more valuable than another to Him. There is no feeling sorry for yourself or thinking of yourself as worthless when you're around me.

“God doesn’t make one person better  than another or make one worthless and another one valuable". If you consider yourself as worthless or useless then you are insulting your creator. God wouldn't waste his time making garbage. 

You too, are a great person and as good as anyone else! God took the time to make you and bring you into this world. If He did that, then you are a very important person by virtue of your uniqueness in God’s eyes alone.

Take a deep breath and speak boldly for what should be your number one priority in this world—your love, appreciation, and admiration for your Lord, Jesus Christ. Put your shoulders back and stand up straight. Walk with the swagger of self-confidence that the Lord gives us in knowing He has it all under control. We have nothing to fear in this world.

Don’t be afraid that your friends will call you one of those Jesus freaks and quit hanging around with you. Are you afraid your girlfriend is going to go and leave you for some other cool guy? Get another one. Get a better girlfriend. I am only telling you what Jesus would tell you to do.

You know what? If you love Him, then live Him. You made your decision a while back. It’s time to keep your promises to God and start standing up for your beliefs. He will make you strong if you simply ask Him to do so.

How many of us have been dumped by our girlfriends or boyfriends over next to nothing. Maybe they ran off with someone else who had a nicer car or had a nicer house. How about friends or family who turned their backs on us over something so trivial that we couldn’t even believe they got mad, let alone stopped being there for us? I’ve been there. I’m forty-seven years old, and I thought the older I got, the more I would figure things out and the easier life would be one day. Wrong!  Wives, girlfriends, husbands, and boyfriends are all the same at forty-seven as they are at seventeen.

Face it, people. Life is tough, and people will always leave you for no good reason. However, there is One who promises to never, leave us – ever, and listen to this: He never changes either…

Imagine someone we can always rely on, no matter how stupidly we behave. No matter what we do, He will always be there. He will always love us, even when we are doing that one horrible thing we do, the one we would die over if anyone ever caught us doing it. Everyone has a secret. Most people have a few of them. Closely guarded, but God knows what no one else knows, and guess what? He still loves us.

  That’s why we are forgiven when we simply ask Him. You’ll never hear God say, “I’m leaving you” for acting stupid the other night.

How about, “You better straighten up, or I’m outta’ here?” 

Nope. He loves you yesterday, today, and tomorrow. That’s His promise, and He always keeps His promises.

Don’t you think it’s time you kept yours?

If you want true peace and true contentment, then you are going to have to take that next step. I assume since you are reading this book, then this is exactly what you want, so let’s step forward in faith.

Trusting in the Promises of God

David Allen Brown 

"Lovenotes from Above: Breaking down the walls to Heaven"

TRUSTING IN THE PROMISES OF GOD

What exactly has God done to help us get our lives back on track, assuming that at some time in our life we were on track to begin with? What was wrong with our life before God got involved? How do we know where we will be spending eternity? How can He help anyone and how can He forgive virtually anything? After all, the last time we brought God up in front of someone, they debated us on those very issues, and we got slammed to the mat. It wasn’t such a God-power-packed moment to remember.

Everything I am about to state assumes we have reached a point of agreement in all things Christian. If not, then I’m hopefully still working to get there with you. Most of us are born instinctively feeling that there is a power greater than ourselves somewhere—somehow. At least that’s the way I, and a great number of others feel about the question, “Do you believe there is a God?” 

The Bible tells us so, and the Bible is the undeniable, indisputable Word of God. We know because He says so. We know all of the answers to all of these questions because we read all the answers in this indisputable source. It is all about faith.

Faith is the little voice in our heart that says, “Hey, I’m real, and I’m here for you. I am that I am. I am the real deal, and that is that. I know that I know that I know.”

Some of these statements can be dissected if taken out of context and made to sound doubtful by those who despise the thought of an all powerful God ruling over them. If we share our life and our pain and our joy with our God, then I guarantee you and I will be able to stand by each one of these statements as the  truth.

Some of you newbie’s have doubts once in a while, and some of you professed agnostics and even atheists get curious from time to time, especially when times are tough and you could use a hug. It really bites when there’s no one there to give you that hug.

 Why not go to church and listen with an open mind one Sunday? What have you got to lose besides missing some reality show or a thousand other things that are just time-fillers? Go to church and listen!  You might hear something you like, and you’ll definitely make some friends while you’re there. That’s the least you could gain from the experience.

If you are a non-believer, have you ever wondered why you are more inclined to look for God when times are tough or when you’ve done something really wrong? Have you ever noticed that timing aspect before? Come on, my friend. It’s  an inborn instinct to believe in a higher power.

Do you think it was a great accident of the cosmos that we all fell into the lucky genetic code mixing machine one morning and that we all woke up intelligent?

You newbie’s are attempting to make a righteous commitment to getting closer to a God who already knows you better than anyone. Getting to know God hinges on having faith and growing it like a vine. You must allow God to increase your faith through these trying times. That’s why God allows them to happen—to test your resolve and your promises and commitment to Him. He doesn’t play games. He is dead serious. His ways can be hard for us to understand, but at least He cares enough to put you to the test. By succeeding in passing these tests, you can step up to the next level, and then so on. You need a spirit of boldness to test your resolve and to succeed.

What is "Lovenotes from Above" all about?

 David Allen Brown 

 What is "Lovenotes from Above" all about?

 If I had to say it in one sentence, I would have to say that "Lovenotes" is a book of answers. Answers to many questions like , "How do we tear down the self imposed walls  that we create on our own that keep us seperated from God and Heaven"?

   "How can I be sure that God is real and that He'll be there when I need Him"? "How do I grow and mature in God once I've accepted Him into my life"?

   It’s a  book that guides anyone toward Gods loving arms and then walks them down the right path toward the Christian life.  It answers all of those questions we all had when we first cam e to know the Lord. I want to see everyone come to know God in a personal way and accept Him for who He is. He is our Lord and Savior. I know that this book can make an impact on anyone.

   It’s not written so much for the intellectual or the veteran Christian as it is for the new Christian...the agnostic ...and finally for the atheist. It is written simply so that all people , including older children and young adults who aren’t necessarily familiar with scripture can understand where I’m coming from and take something away from it no matter what they think they are looking for. It’s an introduction to Christ as well as a guide to building a bonding friendship with Him until we go to be with Him in Heaven.

   I ask that you give God a chance by taking in “Lovenotes from Above: Breaking down the walls to Heaven”. Tear down those walls that separate you from Him and let him into your heart. It would be the greatest accomplishment of your life bar none. God Bless, David Allen Brown 

Renewing of your Faith Part 2

David Allen Brown

"Lovenotes from Above: Breaking down the walls to Heaven"

"Renewing of your faith"

How can we even begin to understand what He is all about and why He is here for us for to begin with? It’s simple, so simple—too simple—as simple as putting on the full armor of God. Do what? The full armor of God? By reading and learning what’s in the Bible, we retain the knowledge of how to defend ourselves from the sins and temptations of this world. We equip ourselves for battle by putting on the full armor or protection that God’s Word provides for us. If we don’t know what Jesus has to say about something, then how do we expect to know what Jesus would do, or say, about anything?

How many kids and adults are running around with a little bracelet that says WWJD on it, and they haven’t got a clue as to what it means or how to find out what Jesus would do in any given situation? Half of them have one on because it was given to them or it looked good on some other kid, and they had to have one too. On the positive side, this book is for the kid or adult that really wants to know.

The Bible is an instruction book for life. If I ask you to read the instruction manual for life and you are a female, your eyes are probably wide open; you’re taking notes, highlighting verses and looking for answers.

If we are talking about the typical male here, I will assume that most of you do not read the instruction manual on most anything. That being said, when men run into trouble the first time that mower won’t crank or that new DVD recorder doesn’t record, we call out, “Honey, do you know where the instructions are to the mower? How about to the DVD player? I know they are here somewhere.”

I know people who are like that, and it’s not always just the guys. Gals can make the same egregious errors that men make as well. We don’t go looking for a Bible until there’s a problem, and by then, it’s probably too late to make a positive impact on our lives or to change how we handled our latest dilemma.

What would Jesus do? Find out before the situation arises and be ready. Have your armor on beforehand. In other words, make a habit of reading your Bible, and day-by-day, you will increase your capabilities to fend off attack and gain victory over your enemy.

There is not a situation or problem that is not addressed and answered in our instruction book. However, if we haven’t followed up on our salvation promise, then this is where we need to pick up the walk we began. The moment we asked God to show us the way and take us down the road to a better life, was just the starting whistle.

Now there’s a lifelong journey to take. A journey that never ends because the journey is the true adventure and the destination only exists in the hereafter. Whether or not you have just received salvation and you are on fire for God or you are a down-and-out or depressed Christian who knows there is more to this, stop for a moment and ask yourself, “Am I determined to change my life? Do I want to be happy? Do I have the commitment to see this through?” 

If you answered yes to all three of those questions, then read on. You are a candidate for greatness.

"Renewing of your faith"

David Allen Brown

 "Lovenotes from Above: Breaking down the walls to Heaven"

About a year ago I decided to write a simple book on how to grow as a Christian but I wanted it to be a little different from the rest of the "How to grow" books that are out there. The question is not "how do I do that?" but rather "why would I do this?" The reason is simple. After getting saved, about 99% of us are thrown to the dogs within a couple of days. We all get the same walking orders. Go read your Bible and get into a good church. Within a month or so we are burned out and slipping right back into our old lives again. I decided that we need more.

We need a book that points us in the right direction for years to come. A book that serves more as a mentor rather than a 1-2-3 plan. This book is designed for "Newbies". People who have just turned their lives over to God or those that are thinking about turning their lives over to God. This chapter entitled    is my own personal short story of what happened to me and why I wanted to write a book like "Lovenotes from Above: Breaking down the walls to Heaven". I hope you enjoy and let me know if your story is anything similar to mine. Lovenotes is designed to get all Newbies past the point of burning out and keep them on the path to growth. God Bless, Dave.

                                     " RENEWING OF YOUR FAITH"

There’s one thing we are all born in need of—a friendship with Jesus. I remember with such clarity the day I was saved. I was 12 years old, and I was at vacation Bible school. I jumped off the bus and ran up to the house to tell my mom about the cool experience I had that day.

We had always gone to church and Sunday school, but salvation had never really registered until that week in vacation Bible school. I couldn’t wait to get home. I was excited. I was pumped with a capital ‘P’. They gave me a small pamphlet welcoming me to the body of Christ and explained what the wonderful promise I had accepted meant to me and to the Kingdom of Heaven. It told me that a place was being prepared for me on a street of gold. I was twelve-years-old, and all I could think about was telling everyone I knew.

Twelve is a wonderful age. We get so on fire for things, and if taken by the hand and molded at that age, we could become world changers. The problem is how many people are going to take the time to mentor a twelve-year old? If only someone, anyone, is willing to guide us at that time, then some real good could be accomplished. Lives could be changed forever. People could grow up to be things they never imagined and do things that would change the world.

When I got home, I went upstairs, sat down, and started reading the Bible like they told me to, and in a week…I was bored out of my mind—and then it was back to life as usual. I say back to usual, but it wasn’t really back to the way it was before. I still had a little fire left, but I had no idea what to do or how to do it. There was no one to lead me or books to guide me, except for the one that was so hard to understand and so intimidating just to look at!

I was cool as a cucumber in two weeks, except now I had some things that felt like negatives because I didn’t understand what I was feeling or what it meant. Now I had a guilty conscience most of the time, and it made me feel very, very ashamed of most of the things I did. I didn’t understand why they were wrong, only that I felt sick to my stomach if I stared too long at a pretty girl with the wrong thoughts running through my head.

Mostly because I was too young to get it on my own, and there was no one around to tell me that God loved me and that He wasn’t there to simply punish me for everything I did wrong. Being the grandson of a true Southern Baptist, fire and brimstone, you’re-all-going-to-hell preacher, I was raised on gobs of guilt and constant fear of going to hell. It wasn’t so much about doing well for God and pleasing Him.

It wasn’t so much about going to Heaven and meeting a loving father who forgives me of my imperfections. It was about how “bad” David really was. In a very short amount of time, I was back to worrying, feeling guilty and blaming God for everything that went wrong in my life. How little I truly understood about how God really worked.

Although Jesus is all about faith and love, education plays a vital role in understanding all about the man Himself. If, after all, we don’t really know Him or His words, then how do we get to draw Him deeper into our hearts and our everyday life?