Jonny Castro

Thoughts, Ideas, Questions, Growth. new TWTR.Widget({ version: 2, type: 'profile', rpp: 4, interval: 30000, width: 250, height: 300, theme: { shell: { background: '#333333', color: '#ffffff' }, tweets: { background: '#000000', color: '#ffffff', links: '#4aed05' } }, features: { scrollbar: false, loop: false, live: false, behavior: 'all' } }).render().setUser('JonnyCashtro13').start();

[jonnycastro-blog]

I'm back.

‪I roamed around the wasteland‬ ‪And I swear I found something‬ ‪I found hope, I found God‬ ‪I found the dreams of the believers‬ ‪Oh, God! Save us all‬.

[jonnycastro-blog]

Memories. #withmyCanadian/American #moreBarcafansthanGalaxyfans #madeherembarrassed #atleastwescored #foundoutsheisanarsenalfan😑 #ihaveworktodo #crazytraffic #93000people #humidityequalssweaty #iloveabsurdamountsofhashtags (at Rose Bowl Stadium)

[jonnycastro-blog]

Poor photo. Great show. #ParenthoodFarewell

[robbellcom]

Let’s take a look at a familiar story from the Bible, shall we? How about the story about the Good Samaritan? Because everybody knows that one. It’s about the importance of helping people who are in trouble, right?

You could make it about that. And that might be helpful. But you’d be...

[jonnycastro-blog]

Life

is hard.

[daxtumbler-blog]

My father, Dave Robert Shepard Sr., died on either December 30th or December 31st, depending on what time zone you were in. I received the call on the 30th at 11:30PM in Los Angeles, but the caller, positioned in Detroit, was two hours deep into the 31st. He was dead at 62 years old. Small cell...

[jonnycastro-blog]

You treat a disease, you win, you lose. You treat a person, I guarantee you, you'll win, no matter what the outcome.

Patch Adams 

[jonnycastro-blog]

BOOM. OFFICIAL.

[robbellcom]

A few years ago I was speaking somewhere in the midwest and at the end of my talk I took questions and a young fella stood up at one point with a large Bible open in his hands and he began his question by reading from the book of Romans and then he asked me Is your God big enough to predestine...

[jonnycastro-blog]

“Stop trying to protect, to rescue, to judge, to manage the lives around you . . . remember that the lives of others are not your business. They are their business. They are God’s business . . . even your own life is not your business. It also is God’s business. Leave it to God. It is an astonishing thought. It can become a life-transforming thought . . . unclench the fists of your spirit and take it easy . . . What deadens us most to God’s presence within us, I think, is the inner dialogue that we are continuously engaged in with ourselves, the endless chatter of human thought. I suspect that there is nothing more crucial to true spiritual comfort . . . than being able from time to time to stop that chatter . . . ”

Fred Buechner

[robbellcom]

Don’t call it it a comeback, I’ve been here for years. -LL Cool J.

What is the Bible? Part 30: The Genius of the Dogs and Pigs

Let’s begin What is the Bible? Mach2! with a question from a reader:

colonelcreampuff asked you: Hey Rob! Keep it all...

[wolverxne]

[jonnycastro-blog]

Unconditional Love.

[jonnycastro-blog]

Lack of Integrity

Something I have been noticing lately within myself and others is this internal struggle to have Integrity. What is frustrating to me though is those who do not think about the respect or boundaries of others. It is essential to make sure our needs and boundaries are being met, however there are still other people's needs and boundaries that we as individuals need to be aware of as well. It is safe to say a lot of our own personal boundaries are the same or similar to those around us, however we often can become inconsiderate to the feelings or boundaries of others. We , at times, like to play "dumb", yet we lack the empathy to acknowledge that we ourselves would be hurt if someone was doing the same thing to us. For myself, this is the most frustrating thing to watch. Drives me crazy when we see people partake in things that I know they would feel disrespected or hurt if the same scenario were to take place for them. Having integrity is difficult, and sometimes it might even be nice to not have integrity, but the more consistent we are, the better our boundaries will be noticed and respected.

[robbellcom]

Start at Part 1 of this Series

What is the Bible? Part 28: Authority

A number of you have asked about the authority of the Bible-usually the question goes something like this: Is the Bible authoritative?

To which I respond: Where did you get that idea? Followed by: In which...

[jonnycastro-blog]

YES. YES. YES. BEAUTIFUL.

[jonnycastro-blog]

The most DANGEROUS thing you can do.

Something that has continually been brought to my attention lately is the word VICTIM.

vic·tim

noun \ˈvik-təm\

: a person who has been attacked, injured, robbed, or killed by someone else

: a person who is cheated or fooled by someone else

: someone or something that is harmed by an unpleasant event (such as an illness or accident)

Growing up in the broken home I did, I always had this chip on my shoulder and would always blame my situation as my excuse to feel a certain way, or to act or respond in a certain way. It was ALWAYS somebody else's fault was my excuse for everything and I was good at it. I was good at coming up with excuses, and i was good  at blaming other people. In other words, I played the VICTIM. I blamed everyone else for mistreating me, making me not like myself, and blamed my parents divorcing, for my unhappiness. I expected and depended on others for to give me happiness. As I continued to grow and mature I began not relying on other people for my happiness, which ended up being the right and healthy thing to do. Yet i still struggled (and still do struggle) blaming other people for making me upset, angry, sad, resentful, when I should really be blaming myself. I make myself angry, resentful, aka THE VICTIM. I didn't use my struggles as a positive. I would use them to prevent me from enjoying this awesome thing called LIFE.

This past week I went to a seminar that was about domestic violence. The guy that was leading it, he was a foster kid. Went through multiple homes where he was abused and even witnessed a boy beaten to death and pass away right in front of him, and even touched the corpse of this boy because he was the only "family" of this boy when his body was taken away. And something that he said that stood out to me was that he is not a VICTIM, but a SURVIVOR. He used all the pain, trauma, and struggle to do great things. He became a child advocate and began protecting "his kids" as he would call them. He began began pursuing and striving to make sure that "no one touched his kids". He never wanted anyone to be hurt or to experience what he experienced. He wanted everyone to be better, and happier than he was. He used his terrible past and turned it into something absolutely beautiful.

YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO DO AMAZING THINGS WITH YOUR EXPERIENCES.  Whether they are good experiences or bad, YOU are in control what you do with it. Start taking the responsibility for yourself and stop being the victim. Start being the survivor. Start changing those around you. Start. being. you.

[jonnycastro-blog]

Started from nowhere now I'm here.

It has been a while since I have posted. There are some things that have continually been on my mind lately, but I will keep it short and sweet since that is what attracts people who actually read my essay style posts. 2 THINGS. 1. Words only have meaning and power if you allow them to. 2. Pet peeves.

For #1 as I have continually experienced as a training therapist and just knowing people, it always amazes me how people allow words to have such an effect on their lives. One example I always for my clients struggling with self esteem is this:

"Say you are walking down the street, and someone TOTALLY RANDOM, whom you have NEVER met before, comes out from the alley and says, "HEY!!! YOU ARE A FREAK AND I DO NOT LIKE YOU". Then, someone you know, like a family member comes from the other alley way and says, "HEY!! I DONT LIKE YOU. YOU ARE A FREAK!!".

Whom do you think will have the ability to make you believe the words that they say? Your family member or the total random stranger that you have never met before?

It always amazes me the strength words have on people, no matter who the person is (BTW this post includes me, I struggle with this as well). Why do we allow WORDS to have the strength to control us in a way? Why do we allow other people to control us? Why do we allow our emotions to control us?

 Ultimately, what is the meaning to our life? Why do we put labels, definitions, and put boxes on people trying to define what is "right" or "wrong"?  Why not accept people where they are at and just show the ultimate gift? Love and care?

Why not just listen instead of trying to "fix" or "help" them? Why do we try to control people? What is this thing we call life?

#2 Hypocrites. Why do people go off on people for acting a certain way when they have acted the SAME. EXACT. WAY.

I have noticed lately girls talking about other girls who are, "self centered, immature, sluts, or "need Jesus". We all need Jesus, we are all self centered (some more than others) , and what is the definition of immature, and slut? We need to turn towards ourselves before we try and define others.

Rant over.

Thanks for reading.

[jonnycastro-blog]

Questions. So many questions.