Is the Passover Jewish or Christian? For the Kids: Spring Festivals. Egg Industry Response to Choline & TMAO.

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Is the Passover Jewish or Christian?

“Jews keep it to remember the Exodus, while most Christians disregard it as a Jewish national holiday. But what should Passover mean to you?

Every year Jews celebrate Passover with a special meal called the seder (meaning order). The service involves reading, drinking wine, telling stories, eating foods, singing songs, and other traditions. The service involves four cups of wine, which represent various aspects of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. A cup is also poured for Elijah, whom Jews are waiting for to announce the coming of Messiah. The meal consists of foods used to remind them of the bitterness of the slavery and the joy of their freedom.

On the other end of the spectrum, most of Christendom believes the Passover ended with Jesus’ death on the cross and was later replaced with Good Friday and Easter.

However, both the Bible and history show that the early Church continued to observe the Passover. Polycarp, a pupil of the apostle John, fought zealously against those who proposed changing the Passover to a day not prescribed in the Bible (Leviticus 23:5). To learn more about this interesting history, read “Church History: Polycarp and Polycrates.”

Passover, a memorial of …

For Jews, the Passover is a memorial of the miraculous deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage after God used 10 plagues to show His power over the “gods” of Egypt (see “A Deeper Look at the 10 Plagues”). In His 10th plague, God killed the firstborn of all the households that didn’t have lamb’s blood on their doorposts. The Israelites were spared from death through the blood (Exodus 12:22-23, 30).

About 1,500 years after the Passover was instituted through Moses, Jesus came as the ultimate Passover Lamb of God. But does the Passover have any connection with Christianity? Many are surprised to learn that Passover is just as Christian as it is Jewish. About 1,500 years after the Passover was instituted through Moses, Jesus came as the ultimate Passover Lamb of God (John 1:29). He was sacrificed for our sins on the Passover (Matthew 26:2). The apostle Paul describes Him as “Christ, our Passover” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

Jesus did not abolish the Passover, but actually transformed it by revealing its deep spiritual significance. He introduced new symbols: taking unleavened bread and wine as a remembrance of His sacrifice (Luke 22:15, 19-20). The apostle Paul later reinforced this, explaining that Jesus said we should “do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:24) on the “same night in which He was betrayed”—which was the evening of Passover (verse 23). Paul’s letters never mention anything about Good Friday or Easter.

New symbols

The truth is that the events of the Old Testament foreshadowed what Christ would do when He came as the Son of Man. Here is a brief description of the primary symbols of the New Covenant Passover:

Foot Washing: Represents Christ’s deep love, humility and serving attitude, which we are to emulate (John 13:1, John 13:5-8, 9-11, 12-15; 1 Peter 5:6).

Unleavened Bread: Represents Christ’s sinless and broken body for our sins (Matthew 26:26; 1 Corinthians 11:24). When Christians observe the Passover, they remember the suffering Christ endured to bear our sins and our need to have Him living within us to receive eternal life (1 Peter 2:24; Isaiah 53:5; John 6:53-55, 56-58; Colossians 1:27).

Wine: Represents Christ’s blood, which was poured out for us. His shed blood instituted the New Covenant (Matthew 26:28; 1 Corinthians 11:25). When Christians observe the Passover, they remember the covenant they made with God at baptism. The New Covenant is based on God’s writing His laws on our hearts, forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life (Hebrews 8:8-9, 10-12; 9:15).

The Passover is the first of seven festivals God commanded His people to observe (Leviticus 23). Each of these festivals pictures a part of God’s plan to bring humanity into His family. None of the other parts of God’s plan can happen without forgiveness through Jesus Christ—the meaning of the Passover.” From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/god/blog/is-the-passover-jewish-or-christian/

LEARN MORE

• Passover: What Did Jesus Do for You?

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For the Kids: Spring Festivals

“This weekend, the annual cycle of God’s festivals begins again, starting with Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

This month’s release focuses on the “sign of Jonah” given by Jesus Christ Himself: the three days and three nights He would be in the grave.

3 Days and 3 Nights Activity

Create a timeline of the events that occurred during the 72 hours that Jesus Christ was in the grave.

How Do You Count Three Days and Three Nights?
Discover why a literal three days and three nights matters in this helpful study resource.

Counting 50
Start your count to Pentecost with our updated "Counting 50" resource.

Have a wonderful Feast of Unleavened Bread!

Join other parents, grandparents and guardians to discuss how they are using the EEI Parenting Manual to teach their children in our Facebook Group.”

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Egg Industry Response to Choline & TMAO

“How the egg industry funded a study designed to cover up the toxic trimethylamine oxide reaction to egg consumption.

Transcript of YouTube: https://youtu.be/-IlA5gi8CH0

Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.

“Metabolomics is a term used to describe the measurement of multiple…metabolites in biological specimens, [like] bodily fluids,” with the goal of “identifying the molecular signatures.”

For example, if we compare the metabolic profile of those with severe heart disease to those with clean arteries, maybe we could come up with a cheap, simple, noninvasive way to screen people. If heart patients happen to have something in their blood that healthy people didn’t, we could test for that. And, maybe, it would even help us understand the mechanisms of disease. “To refer to metabolomics as a new field,” though, is to do “injustice to ancient doctors who used ants to diagnose…[people with] diabetes”—because the ants could detect the sugar in their urine.

The first modern foray discovered hundreds of substances in a single breath: for example, thanks to the development of computer technology that made it possible to handle large amounts of information. And, that was in 1971, a time when computers looked like this. “[N]ew…technologies have allowed researchers to measure hundreds, or even thousands, of metabolites at a time”—which is good, since more than 25,000 compounds may be entering our body through our diet alone.

The data come out looking like this, which computers can turn into maps that allow researchers to try to piece together connections. Metabolomics is where the story of TMAO started.

“Every[one] knows that a bad diet can lead to heart disease. But which dietary components are the most harmful?” So, researchers at the Cleveland Clinic screened blood from patients who had experienced a heart attack or stroke, and compared the results with those from blood of people who had not.

Using all sorts of fancy technology, they identified a compound called TMAO, which stands for trimethylamine oxide. The more of this TMAO stuff people had in their blood, the greater the odds they had heart disease, and the worse their heart disease was.

Where does this TMAO stuff come from? Our liver turns TMA into TMAO. Okay, where does TMA come from? Certain bacteria in our gut turn something in our diet called choline into TMA. Where is the highest concentration of choline found? Eggs, milk, and meats, including poultry and fish. So, when we eat these foods, our gut bacteria may make TMA, which is absorbed into our system, and oxidized by our liver into TMAO, which may then increase our risk of heart attack, stroke, and death.

But, just because at a snapshot in time, people with heart disease tend to have higher TMAO levels doesn’t mean having high TMAO necessarily leads to bad outcomes. We’d really want to follow people over time—which is what they did next. 4,000 people followed for three years, and those with the highest TMAO levels went on to have significantly more heart attacks, strokes, or death.

Wait a second, though. If high TMAO levels come from eating lots of meat, dairy, and eggs, then maybe the only reason people with high TMAO levels have lots of heart attacks is they’re eating lots of meat, dairy, and eggs. Maybe having high TMAO levels is just a marker of a diet high in “red meat, eggs, milk, and chicken,” that’s killing people by raising cholesterol levels, or something, and has nothing to do with TMAO at all. “Conversely, [the reason] a low TMAO level” seems so protective may just be because it’s “indicative of a [more] plant-based diet.”

One of the reasons we think TMAO is directly responsible is that “TMAO levels predict the risk of [heart attacks, strokes, and death] independently of traditional cardiovascular risk factors”—meaning whether or not you have high cholesterol or low cholesterol, high blood pressure or low blood pressure, having high TMAO levels appeared to be bad news. This has since been replicated in other studies: up to nine times the odds of heart disease at high TMAO blood levels, even after controlling “for meat, fish, and cholesterol intake—[which is a] surrogate for egg intake.”

But, what about the rest of this sequence? How can we be certain that our gut bacteria can take the choline we eat, and turn it into trimethylamine in the first place?  Easily—they’d just have to administer a simple dietary choline challenge. How do you do that? Just give ’em some eggs.

Have people eat two hard-boiled eggs, and you get a bump of TMAO in their blood within about an hour of consumption. Ah, but what if you then gave them antibiotics, to wipe out their gut flora? Then, you can give ’em eggs, and nothing happens. In fact, their TMAO levels are down at zero, showing gut bacteria plays a critical role. But if you wait a month, give their gut some time to recover from the antibiotics, TMAO levels come creeping back up.

These findings did not thrill the egg industry. Imagine you work for the American Egg Board, tasked with designing a study to show no effect of eating nearly an egg a day. How could you rig it to show no difference? Well, if you look at the effect of an egg meal, you get a bump in TMAO levels. But, your kidneys are so good at getting rid of this nasty stuff, by hours 4, 6, 8, you’re back to baseline.

So, all you have to do is just make sure they hadn’t eaten those eggs in the last 12 hours, and you can show no effect and get your study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and collect your paycheck.” From: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/egg-industry-response-to-choline-and-tmao/

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Is Christ Our Passover? Equality Act. How Our Gut Bacteria Can Use Eggs to Accelerate Cancer.

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Is Christ Our Passover?

"The title of this piece might raise a question for some of you. How can Christ be our “Passover”? Isn’t Passover a Jewish holiday? Didn’t Jesus do away with those Jewish laws and customs? Didn’t the early Christians observe Easter, the day on which Jesus rose from the dead? Surely, some will say, a Christian should have nothing to do with a Jewish custom?

The truth is, in a few days many Christians will gather to remember the suffering and death of Jesus of Nazareth for the sins of the world as the Lamb of God. They will gather in a simple but profoundly moving service and take the symbols of the bread and wine in a service directly instituted by Jesus Himself, and later written about by the apostle Paul. I will be one of those Christians.

Notice what Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, one which was largely a non-Jewish group of Christians: “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

On the night before His death Jesus instituted a new manner of keeping an ancient service of Passover which began with Israel’s exodus from Egyptian bondage. Paul was referring to what Jesus did and what all Christians from that time should do. Neither Paul, nor any other apostle in the first century Church, kept Easter. Easter is a heresy that crept into the Church during the second century and corrupted the faith and practice of the Church.

The story of that controversy is well documented in history books. Ministers and members who faithfully held to the example and teaching of Jesus were eventually pushed out of the Church by those who wanted nothing to do with things “Jewish.” Those who continued keeping the Passover and festivals of God correctly held to the teaching of Jesus but were branded heretics for being behind the times.

Your sincerely held practice in observing Easter is something you should examine next to the teaching from the Bible. Jesus kept a Passover with His disciples. Paul taught Gentile Christians to observe the Passover along with a seven-day festival called the Days of Unleavened Bread.

You can follow the story with the help of our study guide, God’s Holy Day Plan. It will challenge your belief. It will help you understand what many Christians are discovering as they examine world religious traditions in the light of biblical teaching. The two are vastly different.

Jesus Christ is our Passover. How we worship Him does matter. He is worshipped in spirit and in truth. Nothing less."        From: Beyond Today.  https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today?source=weeklyupdate and: https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/booklets/gods-holy-day-plan-the-promise-of-hope-for-all-mankind/are-gods-holy-days-relevant-today

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Equality Act

“We are facing another battle in the moral revolution and our ability to preach the gospel is being challenged.

Transcript of YouTube: https://youtu.be/DOTPF4msqes

[Darris McNeely] “The United States and much of the Western world is in the midst of a complete moral revolution. You know that.

But recently, a piece of legislation passed through Congress, and as I speak is now before the United States Senate called the Equality Act. That is a far-sweeping broad legislative effort to overturn essentially the moral order, not just of America, but of life itself against the created order that God Himself has put in place. The Equality Act is a centerpiece of legislation that the new presidential administration in America under Joseph Biden says they want to publish or to enact within the first 100 days of their administration. As I said, it's before the Senate. Why is this so important to understand? Because it strikes as I've said at the very moral order in legislating for the equality of gender issues under the rubric of the LGBTQ acronym that has become a part of our life and the very fabric of so much in America today. And legislating now, gender issues, sexual identity to where it cannot be discriminated against and it will go so far as to remove freedoms that churches, institutions of faith have in place guaranteed by the Constitution.

Now, with this being enacted, it is going to have the danger of stripping much of this away. Schools and churches, healthcare organizations are now in a sense reclassified as what will be called public accommodations, which means that in the public expression of the faith of a church or a faith-based institution, that will be something that then falls within the purview of this Equality Act, and therefore, then can be legislated against. In other words, a church, a religious college, or other institution will have to hire ministry, workers perform certain actions that are against their faith and people whose lifestyle and actions are contrary to their faith as well. And to even to express that will then be something that can be enacted legally against.

This has been going on for a long time in our culture, academia, entertainment. The Supreme Court has made judgments about same-sex marriage, abortion, and other matters that have gone against the Bible and other churches and religious organizations now for decades. The swing of the pendulum morally and culturally through business, through big tech, has, in effect, happened. And now, this is the movement's final effort, at least to enact legislation that will, in effect, amend the 1965 civil rights law and extend those privileges and equality to gender issues. And now, it will be the law of the land.

This is something that is going to impact every part of America, probably create some kind of a backlash, but it is huge. It is important. It will impact the lives of virtually everyone. This is big. This is a moral revolution that is coming to pass it seems.

What can we do? What can you do? Many have called for certainly prayer that it would not happen, but it is a movement that has been going on for a long time. And in many ways, prophesied biblically to be a part of what the world and nations are a part of close of the age before Christ's return.

And so, for you and I praying thy kingdom come is going to be even more vital and more important, but also being aware watching and understanding what is taking place to understand the impact that's going to have upon our world, our life, and the gospel is very, very important. Something to watch. Something to understand.”         From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-daily/equality-act

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How Our Gut Bacteria Can Use Eggs to Accelerate Cancer

“The reason egg consumption is associated with elevated cancer risk may be the TMAO, considered the “smoking gun” of microbiome-disease interactions.”

Transcript of: https://youtu.be/Lm0D9HJMS3Y

“We are walking communities comprised not only of a Homo sapiens host, but also of trillions of symbiotic commensal microorganisms within the gut, and on every other surface of our bodies.” There are more bacterial cells in our gut than there are human cells in our entire body. In fact, only about 10% of the DNA in our body is human. The rest is in our microbiome—the microbes that we share with this walking community we call our body. What do they do?

Our “[g]ut microbiota [our gut bacteria microbiome] serve as a filter for our largest environmental exposure—what we eat. Technically speaking, food is a foreign object that we take into our bodies [by the pound] every day.” “And, the microbial community within each of us significantly influences how we experience [those meals].” “Hence, our metabolism and absorption of food occurs through [this] filter of bacteria.”

But, if we eat a lot of meat, poultry, fish, milk, cheese, eggs, we can foster the growth of bacteria that convert the choline and carnitine in these foods into TMA—trimethylamine, which can be oxidized into TMAO, and wreak havoc on our arteries, increasing our risk of heart attack, stroke, and death.

We’ve known about this troublesome transformation from choline into trimethylamine for over 40 years. But, that was way before we learned about the heart disease connection. Why were they concerned back then? Because these methylamines might form “nitrosamines [which] have marked carcinogenic activity”—cancer-causing activity.

So, where is choline found in our diet? Mostly from meat, eggs, dairy, and refined grains. The link between meat and cancer probably wouldn’t surprise anyone. In fact, just due to the industrial pollutants alone (like PCBs), children probably shouldn’t eat more than like five servings a month of meats like beef, pork, or chicken, combined. But, what about cancer and eggs?

Studies going back to the 70s hinted at a correlation between eggs and colon cancer. But, that was just based on so-called ecological data, showing that countries that ate more eggs tended to have higher cancer rates. But, that could be due to a million things, right? It needed to be put to the test.

This started in the 80s, and by the 1990s, 15 studies had been published: ten suggesting “a direct association” between egg consumption and colorectal cancer, and five showing “no association.” By 2014, there were dozens more studies published, confirming that eggs may indeed be playing a role in the development of colon cancer—though no relationship was discovered between egg consumption and the development of precancerous polyps, which suggests that “egg[s] might be involved [more] in the promotional [stage of cancer growth—accelerating cancer growth, rather than] initiating [the cancer in the first place].”

Which brings us to 2015. Maybe it’s the TMAO, made from the choline in meat and eggs, that’s promoting cancer growth. And, indeed, in the Women’s Health Initiative study, women with the highest TMAO levels in their blood “had…approximately [three] times greater risk of rectal cancer”—suggesting “TMAO [levels] may serve as a potential predictor of increased colorectal cancer risk.”

Though there may be more evidence for elevated breast cancer risk with egg consumption than prostate cancer risk, the only other study to date on TMAO and cancer looked at prostate cancer, and did, indeed, find a higher risk.

“Diet has long been considered a primary factor in health. However, with the microbiome revolution of the past decade, we have begun to understand how diet can” affect the back-and-forth between us-and-the-rest-of-us inside. And, the whole TMAO story is like “a smoking gun in [gut bacteria]-disease interactions.”

Since “choline…and carnitine are [the] primary sources of…TMAO production, the “logical intervention strategy” might be to reduce meat, dairy, and egg consumption. And, if we eat plant-based for long enough, we can actually change our “gut microbial communities,” such that they may not be able to make TMAO, even if we try. “The theory of “you are what you eat” [is] finally…supported by scientific evidence.”

We may not have to eat healthy for long, though. Soon, we may yet be able to “‘drug the microbiome’” as a way of “promoting cardiovascular health.”          From: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/flashback-friday-how-our-gut-bacteria-can-use-eggs-to-accelerate-cancer/  

Overcoming Dangerous Emotions: Pride. How to Have a Happy Marriage.

Overcoming Dangerous Emotions: Pride

“The world doesn’t recognize pride as a problem, so how do we overcome something so sly and seemingly harmless? Part 7 of the “Overcoming Dangerous Emotions” series.

It is easier to see pride in others than to recognize it in ourselves.

One of the hardest things to recognize and confront in ourselves as Christians is our pride. For some of us, it has become a major part of our lives, sometimes without our even knowing.

The Bible warns time and time again against pride creeping into our lives. Perhaps the most well-known warning is in Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (emphasis added throughout).

Pride is different from the other emotions discussed in this series (with the possible exception of anger) because we don’t feel that anything is wrong with us. When overwhelmed with other emotions, we know for sure that something is wrong and we need to change. When overwhelmed with pride, we usually think that we are just fine, but it’s just that everyone else has to change.

How do we recognize pride, and how do we combat it once we know we have a problem?

Why is pride spiritually dangerous?

God expects Christians to be confident and strong in their beliefs and actions. However, the Bible is full of warnings against pride, which can manifest itself as undue confidence and strength in ourselves—not in God.

Pride can lead us to:

• Seek recognition to exalt ourselves.
• Treat others unfairly.
• Accept no responsibility for wrongdoing.
• Speak constantly without listening.
• Be only concerned with ourselves.

These are all actions that we know from the Bible are not Christlike. The apostle John warns, “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2:16).

Notice 1 Peter 5:5: “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’”

Pride makes it impossible to be clothed with humility. Christians cannot fool themselves into excusing their pride, since the Bible plainly says that God will resist the proud. Pride hinders our demonstration of the spiritual fruits of love and goodness, so our thinking must change.

Identify the cause of prideful thinking

Until we admit to ourselves that we have a problem, we will make no progress in overcoming pride. How do we know if we have a problem with pride?

Some possible questions to ask ourselves to find out and then identify the cause could be: “How often do I admit I was wrong?” “Why is it so hard for me to admit when I’m wrong?” “How often do I need to be seen or heard by others to feel good?” “Why do I want others to see or hear me?” “How many of my Facebook posts are directed toward me and my opinions?” “Why do I have to talk about myself and my opinions so much to others?” “How much do I brag about my accomplishments or do things so others will see me doing them?” “Why do I need others to validate me?”

Analyze and compare the prideful thinking to reality

When we start to really examine our thoughts, it is shocking how easily pride can be found. When we examine our motives honestly, we may find thoughts like: “That was my idea, but no one is giving me credit.” “I’ll just keep talking since everyone else here is so boring.” “I don’t need your help! I can do this on my own, thank you very much.” “I’m the man! Look at me, everybody!” “YOU are telling ME what to do? How dare you!”

Though we may never “say” these thoughts, in an honest evaluation we may find that we definitely think them or act on them.

We can justify and rationalize our prideful thoughts, but when we write them down and truly look at them, we will see they are so very shallow, arrogant, boastful, self-centered and jealous.

How do such prideful thoughts compare with reality?

1. Is it fair/rational to believe that we know everything about every subject ever discussed? Is it fair/rational to believe we have to constantly let everyone know what an “expert” we are?
2. Is it fair/rational to think that expressing our opinions about everything and dominating the conversation is a good thing? God tells us: “For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God” (Ecclesiastes 5:7). “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise” (Proverbs 10:19).
3. Is it fair/rational to think that we are too good to need help from other people or too “whatever” to be associated with certain people or activities? Is it fair/rational to think that our talents, achievements or wealth in this life are solely through our own strength and excellence, rather than from God?

Replace the irrational with rational

The first place to start is to continually remind ourselves that God created us from dust. God remembers that we are dust, so we have to as well. Without going to the other extreme (self-degradation), we must always keep rational thoughts in our head about our limitations and our total reliance on God.

Our irrational desires of wanting more and more attention for ourselves must be replaced with godly desires of giving more attention to others. Instead of asking, “How can I make myself look good?” we can ask, “How can I build up others through recognizing and praising them for their good qualities, and sometimes through self-sacrifice for them?”

Satan wants us to think of ourselves only, while God wants us to have as much concern for others as we do for ourselves (Leviticus 19:18).

What if I’ve already lost control?

If we have a wonderfully clear moment in which we realize we are being prideful, we can immediately pray to God, thanking Him for showing us something that many people never see in themselves. We then can start backing away from the “me, me, me” mentality and move closer to the “love for others as much as we love the self” attitude, clearly demonstrated by Jesus Christ.

Satan wants us to continually believe we have no problem in the area of pride, but after we examine our thoughts and seek God’s help, we can move toward gaining control and overcoming pride.

This is the seventh in an eight part series on Overcoming Dangerous Emotions. To read part 6, see “Overcoming Depression.” To continue the series, see part 8 “The First Month.” From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/change/blog/overcoming-pride/?

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How to Have a Happy Marriage

“Whether you are considering marriage or are already married, you likely have questions about how to deal with the challenges and build a happy marriage.

Over 200 years ago George Washington wrote a letter to a friend saying: “I have always considered marriage as the most interesting event of one’s life, the foundation of happiness or misery.”

It seems the experience of all the intervening generations has not changed this assessment very much.

There are many differing ideas today about what marriage should be. But regardless of one’s approach, marriage always involves blending two different personalities, with unique experiences, biases and visions for the future, into one unit.

Having two people so intimately intertwined in each other’s lives is challenging by itself. But when the pressures of career, finances, children, aging parents and more are added to the mix, marriage can become a very challenging relationship!

With marriages today failing at an alarming rate, some might ask if there is any hope for the modern marriage! If you are contemplating marriage, are there things you should consider to give your future marriage the best chance of success? If you are married, but your marriage is struggling, can it be saved? If your marriage is solid, can it be improved and strengthened?

These topics and more are addressed in this section. It is our sincere desire to help strengthen marriages, and it is in that desire that we invite you to read and study the advice that is freely presented here.”  More at:  https://lifehopeandtruth.com/relationships/marriage/

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Postmortems, Don't Dwell On The Past—Learn From It. There's Petroleum in That? Tech Manners Matter. The Bummer Lamb.

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Postmortems

Jordan Niranjan/Unsplash

“Don't dwell on the past—learn from it.

Start thinking about what to do now and less about what you did then. Lift up your eyes to a bright future. God loved you enough to send His only begotten Son.

I have a friend who can recall every hunting trip we have been on and the details of each animal taken. He rehearses the stories often and we relive the events when we meet. That is not a bad thing, but when we rehearse sad stories or negative and depressing ones, we too can become experts in the details, and relive the events.

Doing postmortems on gripes and past losses can have a strong negative effect on plans for the future. It is important that we learn the correct way and time to bury the past so that we can live in the present and future. Amazing things happen when you put constructive thoughts to work. Learning from past mistakes is good, but after one postmortem, there needs to be a burial. Postmortems are not conducted over and over again on the same subject.

None of us have a history we wish would never have happened as the one the apostle Paul had. The memories of his terrible persecution against the Church never left his mind, but he learned to lock them in a compartment and leave them behind. Otherwise, he would never have been useful to God (Philippians 3:13). We are not able to erase memories completely, but we can learn that it’s possible to place our sins and faults in God’s hands, and we need not dwell on them every day. Repentance and baptism is only needed once in life to forgive sins.

Start thinking about what to do now and less about what you did then. Lift up your eyes to a bright future. God loved you enough to send His only begotten Son.”    From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/blogs/this-is-the-way/postmortems

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There's Petroleum in That?

“Relevant News Item

The rising price of gasoline is frequently in the news these days, but it's easy to forget the other items made from petroleum. One expert suggested that 70 percent of products in a supermarket have some form of petroleum by-product in the item itself or in the packaging.

For instance, petroleum can often be found in antiseptics, baby strollers, balloons, bandages, cameras, clothing, computers, dentures, deodorant, food preservatives, glue, ink, medical equipment, shampoo, toothpaste and vitamin capsules, among other things.

In fact, in the United States, from each 42-gallon barrel of oil 34 gallons go to fuels of various kinds, while the rest goes to produce ingredients for products like those in the above list (Paul Wilson, "Gusher of Goods Made With Crude," The Columbus Dispatch, Jan. 5, 2008).

The price of oil contributes to the cost of more things than just fuel—something to ponder the next time you pick up a tube of toothpaste!” From: https://www.ucg.org/vertical-thought/in-the-news-theres-petroleum-in-that 

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Tech Manners Matter

“Relevant News Items

In the invariably invasive era of cell phones and other digital paraphernalia, how does one master good manners?

Marian McEvoy, hostess and etiquette writer, suggests a few guidelines for keeping the peace between cell phones and friends ("Tech Etiquette," Domino, November 2007):

• When visiting friends, don't greet your host while on the phone, never answer a call at the dining table and leave your cell phone in another room during the meal to avert the temptation to answer.

• Avoid chronic texting because the reason for accepting an invitation is to spend time with one's friends—hard to do if host or guest is constantly tapping texts. McEvoy suggests asking texting guests to do their typing in another part of the house since they are not inclined to mingle.

• Finally, in the case of thank-you notes, love letters, apologies, invitations, congratulations and condolences, opt for a written missive that includes a salutation and a signature. To those born before the digitized age, text messaging shorthand and emoticons are confusing. So make use of the beauty and delights of longhand language and practice your penmanship!”  From: https://www.ucg.org/vertical-thought/in-the-news-tech-manners-matter

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The Bummer Lamb

“Every once in a while, an ewe will give birth to a lamb and reject it. There are many reasons she may do this. If the lamb is returned to the ewe, the mother may even kick the poor animal away. Once a ewe rejects one of her lambs, she will never change her mind.

These little lambs will hang their heads so low that it looks like something is wrong with its neck. Their spirit is broken.

These lambs are called “bummer lambs.” Unless the shepherd intervenes, that lamb will die, rejected and alone. So, do you know what the shepherd does?

He takes that rejected little one into his home, hand-feeds it and keep it warm by the fire. He will wrap it up with blankets and hold it to his chest so the bummer can hear his heartbeat. Once the lamb is strong enough, the shepherd will place it back in the field with the rest of the flock.

But that sheep never forgets how the shepherd cared for him when his mother rejected him. When the shepherd calls for the flock, guess who runs to him first?

That is right, the bummer sheep. He knows his voice intimately.

It is not that the bummer lamb is loved more, it just knows intimately the one who loves it.

It's not that it is loved more, it just believes it because it has experienced that love one on one.

So many of us are bummer lambs, rejected and broken. But He is the good Shepherd. He cares for our every need and holds us close to His heart so we can hear His heartbeat.

We may be broken but we are deeply loved by the Shepherd.

The Lord is MY shepherd... I’m a bummer lamb.”

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