The Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne, IN), Monday, 9/2/2024
Heloise Column

Dear Heloise: I’ve been the director of human resources in my company for about 12 years. I’ve seen just about everything come through my office door at one time or another, and I wanted to give your readers some hints on how to improve their chances of getting a job:

• Bring a clean copy of your resume. Please don’t think it’s cool to tell me that resumes are boring or out-of-date. No resume, no job. You’ve just shown me how lazy you are.
• Dress the part. Have enough self-respect to bathe, wear a clean outfit and polish your shoes. You shouldn’t wear anything expensive, but showing up in ripped jeans and a stained sweatshirt (yes, it’s happened) does not impress anyone.
• At the end of the interview, do not ask if you are hired. We might have other candidates to see. We’ll let you know our decision one way or another.
• Don’t insult your former employer(s).
• Don’t make veiled threats that you’ll sue if you don’t get the job.
• Please don’t tell us about your financial woes, We don’t hire employees based on personal problems.
• Do your research. We usually ask candidates why they want to work for our company.
• If you were in an interview, could you answer this question easily? Or, you might be asked an off-the-wall question such as: “Were you ever involved in any extracurricular activities in school?” We normally ask this to see if you can answer an unexpected question intelligently and calmly.
• And as a final note, don’t drink alcohol before an interview to calm your nerves. (It happens more than you might expect.) If we suspect that you’ve been drinking or smell alcohol on you,chances are very good that you won’t be hired.

Take a deep breath and go in smiling with your head held high and shoulders back. Give it your best shot!

Elizabeth, in Pennsylvania

Story

On Tuesday, May 21, 2019, I attended a seminar at St. Marys Catholic Church on expunging your criminal record.  This seminar was sponsored by The Volunteer Center.  There were about 30 people in attendance.

I will provide information to assist you but before you go any further, these are the key things you need to know:

1. The Volunteer Center hosts seminars around every three months.  They have lawyers present and a program to assist you in this process.  You can hire you own lawyer but I would suggest checking their website and planning to attend the next seminar instead of proceeding now.  They are set up to help you and you will need help.  Your best option will most likely be to take advantage of this program.  Click here for upcoming seminar information.
2. Get expert assistance – DO NOT DO THIS ON YOUR OWN!!!!!  THE PROCESS IS DIFFICULT AND COMPLICATED.  You only get one shot at applying for this in your lifetime.  If you have an administrative error in the process, you cannot reapply.  Engage people who have done this many times.  Take advantage of the expertise and assistance in this program so you do it right with the single opportunity you have.

Overview

What is the Second Change Expungement Initiative?
In 2013, the Indiana General Assembly passed legislation allowing a one-time opportunity for some qualified felony convictions, misdemeanors, and arrest records to be expunged from criminal records.  This is a one-time expungement opportunity and citizens are strongly cautioned not to file without legal assistance. Indiana’s expungement law is complicated and this program provides legal assistance to citizens seeking expungements. A criminal history record limits opportunity in housing, education, credit, and career. The primary goal of the program is to help low to moderate income community members and veterans with criminal offenses gain access to employment, housing, healthcare, and education. To learn more about the Second Chance Expungement program, residents may dial 2-1-1 and ask for information from a trained specialist. Residents may also pick up a flyer at  the Volunteer Center offices.

Agency partners in the Second Chance Expungement Initiative are: Volunteer Center RSVP, Indiana Legal Services, Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinics, Volunteer Lawyer Program and IVY Tech Community College NE Indiana.

The Second Chance Expungement Initiative is funded by: City of Fort Wayne CDBG Grant (Community Development Block Grant), Wilson Foundation and the PNC Charitable Trust.

Helpful PDF Files:

1. Summary Chart – Second Chance Law
2. Good Second Chance Information from Marion County
3. IC 35-38-9 – The Actual Indiana Code for the Second Chance Law

Marvin’s Notes From The Seminar:

• Second Chance law does not delete records.  It seals and removes them from public access.  Law enforcement, prosecutors and judges can unseal them and access them if there is a future case.  If there is a future cases, the “expungement” can possibly be removed.
• Different offenses have different waiting periods – see Summary Chart – Second Chance Law
• For Sections 4 and Sections 5 in Summary Chart – Second Chance Law, court is not required to grant the petition and so far they haven’t granted any in these sections.
• The program mentioned above will only help with Sections 1-3 of Summary Chart – Second Chance Law – Not Sections 4&5.
• This of course does not remove information from news media, social media or anything online or that was printed.  Some background check organizations pull official information into their own databases and that information is not deleted through this process.  If you want information deleted from a separate background check database, you need to provide the expungement information to them and they are obligated to remove it from their database.
• If your expunged record is used against you, you can show them your paperwork.  There are legal penalties if they discriminate against you based on expunged information.
• You only have one time in your life to do this.  Once done, it can’t be done again.  If it is rejected due to an administrative or technical issue, it can’t be submitted again.
• Affects Indiana but not Federal.  My understanding is that if you have a felony that is expunged, you still can’t get a gun permit.  Please verify this information.
• This does not affect criminal records outside of Indiana.  Anything outside of Indiana must be handled separately.
• Felonies that cannot be expunged include:  homicide, human trafficking, sex crimes, perjury, official misconduct, conviction while an elected official and battery with serious bodily injury.
• On the Summary Chart – Second Chance Law, you don’t see the current F1-F6 felonies because the new naming has been less than 5 years ago which is the minimum waiting period.
• Where there is a filing fee, a separate fee must be paid in each county for the record affected.  You must file in each county where there is a record.  Some counties are waiving the fees for indigent people but not Allen County.
• If you are 4 years into the waiting period of a D felony from Section 2 and you pick up a new misdemeanor, the 5 year waiting period resets – it is from you last conviction.
• Once your felony is expunged, you can legally answer “No” to the question “Have you ever been convicted of a felony?”  They are supposed to change the question on applications to “Have you ever been convicted of a felony that has not been expunged?”  Organizations haven’t been updating this question.
• Among the things you can do after expungement is vote, serve on a jury and hold office.
• It can’t be predicted how the process will take to be completed and finalized.
• REPEAT – DO NOT TRY TO DO THIS ON YOUR OWN!  IT IS COMPLICATED AND THE STAKES ARE HIGH WITH ONLY ONE CHANCE.  TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS FREE PROGRAM.

Does this pilot know he/she is upside down?
Did you know that especially in the dark with out a visible horizon,
you can be flying upside down and not realize it?

Above are the basic instruments that a pilot must rely on
to stay on course and to avoid being in a position he/she
doesn’t realize which could be very dangerous – even fatal.

This could be the result of someone flying how they feel vs.
using their instruments to show exactly what their position
is to keep from harm.  When you crash, you not only affect
your life but other lives also.

Much training and work is required to go against your
instincts to learn how to trust the instruments.  The hood
above is used to train pilots to focus on the instruments
vs. how they feel.

Introduction

Recently a pilot was practicing high-speed maneuvers in a jet fighter. She turned the controls for what she thought was a steep ascent—and flew straight into the ground. She was unaware that she had been flying upside down.

There is a parable of human existence in our time—not exactly that everyone is crashing, thought there is enough of that—but most of us as individuals, and world society as a whole, live at a high speed, and often with no clue to whether we are flying upside down or right side up. Indeed, we are haunted by a strong suspicion that there may be no difference—or at least it is unknown or irrelevant.   from “The Divine Conspiracy,” Dallas Willard

“Flying upside down? Can’t happen to me! I am smart. My sense of what’s going on is very good. May happen to someone else but not to me. Don’t try and tell me something contrary to what I KNOW. I am in control!”

Headline:  “JFK Jr. Feared Dead in Plane Crash”, By Michael Grunwald, Washington Post Staff Writer, Sunday, July 18, 1999

The following is an excerpt from an internet article by Eric Nolte at www.airlinesafety.com/editorials/JFKJrCrash.htm

The kind of bafflement and panic that killed Kennedy arises in a mind as it struggles with the contradictory signals of its inner ear and its rational faculty. Reason and emotion are at war. The inner ear evolved over millennia to measure one’s movement in relation to the fixed sensation of gravity. Gravity always acts as a vector pointing straight down to the center of the earth. The inner ear is equipped with tubes of liquid that shift in response to any movement while the mind compares these signals against this fixed sensation of gravity. This balancing apparatus signals the pilot’s mind and says, “You are strapped into a seat that is now as level as if you were sitting squarely at your kitchen table.”

By contrast, at the same moment he was feeling perfectly right-side-up, the aircraft instruments, when correctly interpreted, conveyed the message, “Your wings are tilted steeply to the right of level, the nose of this airplane is pointing way down, and your airspeed is already howling past the red line.”

The airplane’s flight path creates forces that befuddle one’s awareness of earth’s gravity. To judge by the sensations in the seat of your pants, you literally can’t tell up from down, left from right. You are as helpless to move out of the airplane’s acceleration field as you would be if you were pinned to the side of a spinning circus centrifuge when the floor drops away.

And here is the crux of the matter: the pilot’s emotions drowned out the flight instruments’ story about banking and diving at high speed, and screamed out, “No way! It can’t be! I’m actually flying straight and level! I know it! I feel it’s true!”

Are you/we flying upside down? Let’s check our instruments against our senses/feelings…

How does flying upside relate to life? What reference do we use to make decisions in our life?

What do we use to answer the following questions?

• Why am I here?
• What is important in my life? What should I focus on?
• Who is God and what is He like?
• What role should God play in my life and why?
• Can I trust my gut? My feelings? My instincts?
• Where should I go for guidance?
• How should I live on earth?
• What will be important when I die?
• Many, many more questions….

Are you/we flying upside down?

How many grew up in a house with a married mother and father? Where have you gotten your guide for life? What do you use to make decisions?

My story – dad was a preacher and parents were getting a divorce when I was in first grade. I went to 10 different schools all during my 1st year of school. My dad was always so busy working and surviving, he never spent a lot of time with me. He never taught me how to live (by example, he taught me a lot about how not to live). I was not well prepared for life.

What do you use as a guide when you make decisions – quick ones and longer ones? What is your standard? How do you know you are not “flying upside down?”

What do most of us use as our guide or our standard? Feelings? Emotions?

I love the Bible. It has provided a guide and standard for me to live. It has given me a light to follow that I didn’t get from my parents or from anyone else.  It is the true “instrument panel” we can rely to check how we are doing.

What does the Bible say about us and it’s guidance?

Isaiah 29:16 (NIV) 16 You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pot say of the potter, “He knows nothing”?

Jeremiah 17:9 (NIV) 9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Do I want to trust me to fly this plane through life?

Psalm 1:1-6 (NIV) 1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. 4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Proverbs 8:1-14 (NIV) 1 Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? 2 On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; 3 beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud: 4 “To you, O men, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind. 5 You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, gain understanding. 6 Listen, for I have worthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right. 7 My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness. 8 All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse. 9 To the discerning all of them are right; they are faultless to those who have knowledge. 10 Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, 11 for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her. 12 “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion. 13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. 14 Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have understanding and power.

Proverbs 3:5-7 (NIV) 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.

Let’s look at some specific examples that I happen to have studied recently that are “upside down” or 180 degrees different than our natural reactions but are a much better path to take:

Proverbs 13:3 (NIV) 3 He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.

What can we learn from this?  How is this different than I am or react?

Proverbs 13:10 (NIV) 10 Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.

What can we learn from this?  How is this different than I am or react?

Proverbs 13:11 (NIV) 11 Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.

What can we learn from this?  How is this different than I am or react?

Proverbs 13:13 (NIV) 13 He who scorns instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command is rewarded.

What can we learn from this?  How is this different than I am or react?

Proverbs 13:18 (NIV) 18 He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.

What can we learn from this?  How is this different than I am or react?

Proverbs 13:21 (NIV) 21 Misfortune pursues the sinner, but prosperity is the reward of the righteous.

What can we learn from this?  How is this different than I am or react?

Philippians 4:4 (NIV) 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

What can we learn from this? What should we do differently?

Philippians 4:5 (NIV) 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

What can we learn from this? What should we do differently?

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV) 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

What can we learn from this? What should we do differently?

Philippians 4:8-9 (NIV) 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me–put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

What can we learn from this? What should we do differently?

Matthew 5:11-12 (NIV) 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

What can we learn from this? What should we do differently?

Matthew 5:38-42 (NIV) 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

What can we learn from this? What should we do differently?

Matthew 5:43-48 (NIV) 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

What can we learn from this? What should we do differently?

What about these? Are you following them or are you flying upside down? How has this been working out for you? Are you trusting your own emotions? Following what people are doing around you?

There are many, many more – guidance for life. All you need to do is to read and study and apply. God loves you so much. He wants what is best for you. Satan wants to destroy you by having you do what you feel like doing. God has provided the very best way for to live here on earth and for eternity. We are separated from God by our sin. We deserve punishment for our sins – we owe a price we can never pay. God showed his love for us that while we were sinners, Christ came and died in our place to pay what we owed.

We can make sure we aren’t flying upside down by surrendering our life to Jesus and following Him. Are there any good reasons for not following Jesus with your whole life? Seriously? Are there any good reasons for not following Jesus with your whole life? Satan wants you to “fly upside down” so he can destroy you. God wants the very best for you because he truly loves you.

Adecco
Alpha Pools
Alro Steel
Applebees
Arbys
Berne Apparel
Buffalo Wings
Busche CNC
Casa Grande
City of Ft. Wayne
Cracker Barrel
Direct Staffing
Don Hall Restaurants
Ellison Bakery
Fetters Construction
Forge
Ft. Wayne Plastics
Ft. Wayne Truck Stop
Golden Corral
Goodwill
Hoosier Pride Plastics
Insulcustics
Jimmy Johns
Leader Staffing
Lowes
Manpower
Master Spas
McDonald’s
Metal Plate Polishing
Nestle
Nucor Building Systems
Opportunity Staffing
People Link
Pilot Travel Center
Pizza by Vito’s
Pro Resources
PTI
Quandrant EEP
R3 Composites
Reliable PMW Tool and Machine
Saratoga Chips
Shambaugh and Son
Spherion Staffing
Steel Dynamics
Subway
Summitt Manufacturing
Swanson Staffing
Swanson’s Staffing
Taco Bell
Unique Lawn Service
UPS
Vertex
Wal-Mart
Ward Aluminum
Wendy’s
Windows, Doors and More

(Article from a Faith Based Mentoring attendee who was in the IDOC Therapeutic Community – Click Here to Download)

Willpower:  Recognizing that the power of will is the supreme court over all other departments of my mind, I will exercise it daily, when I need the urge to action for any purpose; and I will form habits designed to bring the power of my will into action at least once daily. 

Emotions:  Realizing that my emotions are both positive and negative I will form daily habits which will encourage the development of the positive emotions, and aid me in converting the negative emotions into some form of useful action. 

Reason:  Recognizing that both my positive emotions and my negative emotions may be dangerous if they are not controlled and guided to desirable ends, I will submit all my desires, aims and purposes to my faculty of reason, and I will be guided by it in giving expression to these. 

Imagination:  Recognizing the need for sound plans and ideas for the attainment of my desires, I will develop my imagination by calling upon it daily for help in the formation of my plans. 

Conscience:  Recognizing that my emotions often err in their over-enthusiasm, and my faculty of reason often is without the warmth of feeling that is necessary to enable me to combine justice with mercy in my judgments, I will encourage my conscience to guide me as to what is right and what is wrong, but I will never set aside the verdicts it renders, no matter what may be the cost of carrying them out. 

Memory:  Recognizing the value of an alert memory, I will encourage mine to become alert by taking care to impress it clearly with all thoughts I wish to recall, and by associating those thoughts with related subjects which I may call to mind frequently. 

Subconscious Mind:  Recognizing the influence of my subconscious mind over my power of will, I shall take care to submit to it a clear and definite picture of my major purpose in life and all minor purposes leading to my major purpose, and I shall keep this picture constantly before my subconscious mind by repeating it daily.

Discipline over the mind is gained, little by little, by the formation of habits which one may control. Habits begin in the mind; therefore, a daily repetition of this creed will make one habit-conscious in connection with the particular kind of habits which are needed to develop and control the six departments of the mind.

The mere act of repeating the names of these departments has an important effect. It makes one conscious that these departments exist; that they are important; that they can be controlled by the formation of thought-habits; that the nature of these habits determines one’s success or failure in the matter of self-discipline.

I recently ran across an article in the Business Insider.  I have linked the article here with the title:  6 habits of the most likable people.

I read Dale Carnegie’s book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” when I was young and it changed my life.  It taught me things that weren’t intuitively obvious and that would have taken me many, many years to learn from experience.

This article takes some of the key points of the book and provides them in a simple, easy to understand format

I also look at the book and this article as practical instructions in how to follow Jesus when He said to “Love One Another.”

=======================================================================

6 habits of the most likable people by Richard Feloni – Mar. 13, 2015, 5:07 PM

Talent is only a prerequisite for the upper echelon of any industry.

Those who have the best interpersonal and communication skills will always have an edge over their colleagues who don’t.

Dale Carnegie recognized this about a century ago and began teaching public speaking and personal success courses that became immensely popular. He and a team of researchers developed a curriculum based on lessons they derived from the lives of people like Thomas Edison and Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, along with psychology texts.

His most famous work, “How to Win Friends & Influence People,” which was published in 1936, is a collection of his core teachings and has sold over 15 million copies. It uplifted readers during the depths of the Great Depression, but its insights into human nature are as relevant today as they were then.

According to Carnegie, here are six habits of people who are so likable that others go out of their way to help them.

1. They are genuinely interested in others.
   Carnegie writes that the way Theodore Roosevelt treated even the lowest-level White House employee helped explain his popularity with the American public. He cites the writings of journalist and Army officer Archie Butt, who observed Roosevelt when he came to visit his presidential successor, William Howard Taft. Taft was unavailable, but Roosevelt made sure to speak to every servant and ask them how they were doing.

“It was the only happy day we had in nearly two years,” the White House head usher Ike Hoover told Butt.

2. They smile.
   Steel magnate Charles Schwab, who quickly rose from day laborer to an incredibly high paid executive under the industrialist Andrew Carnegie, claimed his smile was worth a million bucks.

“And he was probably understating the truth,” Carnegie writes. “For Schwab’s personality, his charm, his ability to make people like him, were almost wholly responsible for his extraordinary success; and one of the most delightful factors in his personality was his captivating smile.”

3. They remember the people they meet.
   Carnegie had a chance to interview Jim Farley, chairman of the Democratic National Convention and postmaster general — as well as FDR’s first presidential campaign manager — about how he became successful.

Farley said that his ability to navigate politics was due to a habit he developed as a traveling salesman. He asked each prospective client their name and about their family, so that he had enough to link to a face the next time he encountered them. “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language,” Carnegie writes.

4. They encourage people to talk about themselves.
   Most people loosen up in even tense situations if they start talking about what they know. Namely, themselves.

Carnegie writes that he once met an accomplished botanist at a dinner party and, being an amateur gardener himself, asked the man a stream of questions about his line of work. Hours of conversation later, it was time to leave. As the botanist left, he told Carnegie that he had been a “most interesting conversationalist.”

Carnegie barely said anything the entire time, but he listened with genuine interest. “That kind of listening is one of the highest compliments we can pay anyone,” he writes.

5. They are aware of others’ interests.
   Another reason Teddy Roosevelt left such a favorable impression on those he met, Carnegie writes, is that he seemed to know an encyclopedia’s worth of information.

This impression was deliberate. According to Carnegie, whenever Roosevelt hosted someone at his house, he would stay up late the night before, “reading up on the subject in which he knew his guest was particularly interested.”

6. They make others feel important — in a genuine way.
   Carnegie says that the philosopher William James expressed the “one all-important law of human conduct”: “The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.”

Show your appreciation of others, but don’t spread praise so thin that it’s meaningless.

The Bible (from a Latin/Greek word meaning “book”) is the bestselling book in the world and has influenced life for billions of people throughout history. Many countries, including our own, have created societies based on the rules, wisdom and values found in it. It is important that everyone have a good understanding of this incredibly important book.

This is a quick overview of the Bible.  You can study in great detail any of the topics below and other topics about the Bible but this is intended as a brief introduction.

The Bible is made up of 66 different books, written by 40 different authors over a period of around 1,500 years.  The authors included kings, fishermen, priests, government officials, farmers, shepherds, and doctors. The Bible consists of different types of writing including:  history or narrative, law or commands, wisdom, poetry, prophecy, apocalyptic or about the future, parables or stories with a spiritual lesson, letters and romance.  The Old Testament or Jewish Scriptures is made up of 39 books and was originally written in Hebrew and a little Aramaic.  The New Testament consists of 27 books and was originally written in Greek.

Many Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired words of God.  They believe that the very words of the original manuscripts were directly inspired by God, although he did not change the author’s intelligence or understanding while doing so. God worked in a unique way through the author’s knowledge, understanding, personality and background to provide His inspired Words to mankind.  Consider for a moment the amazing opportunity we have if the Creator of the Universe has methodically provided and preserved knowledge, wisdom and a way of salvation for us in the Bible with the unifying theme of teaching us about Himself and about His redemptive plan for mankind.

Ancient books are different than the books we may be used to.  The original writings for ancient books that the writers actually penned including the Bible no longer exist.  Confidence regarding how close what we have to what was originally written is measured by number of copies of manuscripts and how close in age the manuscripts are to when the document was originally written.  With Plato’s writings for example, we have seven copies and the earliest copy is 1,200 years old from the original.  For the New Testament, we have about 6,000 Greek manuscript parts, about 19,000 manuscript parts in other languages and the earliest copy is around 29 years old from the original.  In regards to ancient documents, the New Testament is very reliable.

When translating the Bible from these available original language manuscripts to English, leading scholars work as teams to find the most accurate manuscripts and carefully translate.  As more and earlier manuscripts are discovered, they are compared to previous manuscripts to increase accuracy to small degrees.  For example, the King James Version was translated in 1611 and is a good translation but older manuscripts have been found since 1611 and more knowledge has been obtained which increase the accuracy of newer translations.

Since the original languages of the Bible (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek) are different than English, accurate translation becomes a challenge.  There are two general approaches to translation (with examples of translations):  Word-for-Word (KJV, ESV, NASB) and Thought-for-Thought (CEV, ICB, MSG) and a balance between Word-for-Word and Thought-for-Thought (NIV, CSB, NLT).  This is a complicated subject.  For more information, see http://www.gnpcb.org/assets/products/excerpts/1581346433.1.pdf

When reading the Bible and applying what you read, it is important that you interpret it properly.  Some simple rules would be:  1) Know the literature type you are reading.  2) Consider the context.  3) Look for the obvious meaning.  4) Use common sense.   There is a lot more information you can study about this.

Additional Introduction Resources:

• Videos: https://youtu.be/CriU8nV1Ufk and https://youtu.be/pFJFwuNTPNo
• Books: Knowing Scripture by RC Sproul and How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth: Fourth Edition by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stewart

12/31/2017

(Some of the information below came from https://www.felonyrecordhub.com/housing/indiana/)

Finding an apartment with a felony record will most likely not be easy. However, just because something is not easy does not mean it is impossible – it will just take some extra work. One gentleman that went through the Reentry Court program with violent crimes applied for over 400 jobs before he was hired. He is now a solid worker with several promotions. To overcome difficult situations, you need perseverance and hard work which will pay off. Expect rejection, stay positive and keep moving forward to the next step. Never give up.

Here are some thoughts to guide your process:

1. Avoid applying to large apartment complexes. They usually have rules where they won’t accept you after they run a background check. If you want to reduce frustration, skip large apartment complexes.
2. Instead, you will need to pursue other options which include talking to friends and family, looking on Craigslist, contacting local property management services and any other creative options. If you attend church, someone there may be able to help. The more options you pursue, the more likely you’ll be to find something. Be creative and don’t give up. Talk to lots of people and always ask them who else you should talk to.
3. Here is a list of property management companies and their phone numbers: DBD Homes (260-423-1414),
   Metro Real Estate (260-744-2537), AG Rentals (260-206-6948), Midwest Property Management (260-485-0027) and SMS Properties (260-498-2926).
4. Drive through neighborhoods and look for “For Rent” signs.
5. Present yourself in the best possible way. Being pleasant, friendly and always honest is an excellent way to earn respect and consideration, whether you are accepted or not. Remain positive and professional.
6. Know your background and even consider pulling a background record on yourself. You can search the internet to know how to do this. Be aware if you have a less than ideal record as a renter in the past, that it will affect your options. Understand your background and be honest and understanding.
7. Never take any shortcuts. Always be honest about your background. Just keep moving forward, doing the next right thing, and it will work out for you.
8. Consider writing a letter explaining the changes that have taken place in your life and describe your current efforts and the programs you have completed to better yourself. Ask your case manager or probation officer if they would write a letter for you but only if you have a strong, consistent record of progress and have had a good attitude with them. Consider getting a letter of recommendation from your employee or your pastor.
9. Consider contacting the Fort Wayne Housing Authority (https://fwha.org/ – (260) 267-9300). They have different programs that you can investigate and then put in an application for. Most, if not all of their programs have waiting lists. They have rules regarding background check results but they also may be able to help you. This is not something that you should only apply for but something that you can pursue as you look at other options.
10. Consider options of negotiation such as offering a higher security deposit or showing bank statements and pay stubs. Show any bills you have paid regularly. Think of anything you have done that shows stability that might help in the process. If you were a landlord, what would you like to see?
11. Once you find an apartment, plan to stay at least two years. This will show stability and make getting another apartment much easier.

Renting with a felony background can be difficult but not impossible. Start the process of taking steps to move forward and continue those steps while looking for new steps along the way. Be creative. Don’t give up and make sure you stay positive and professional. Talk to as many people as possible and ask those people who you should talk to. Things will work out as you continue to move forward. Never give up!

08/21/2023