How to Prepare for the End Times. God Will Wipe Away Every Tear. Meat Industry Reaction to New Cancer Guidelines.

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How to Prepare for the End Times

“The Bible prophesies many destructive events in the end times. Is there anything we can do to prepare? As Christians, what should our priorities be?

 There is nothing you can physically do to prepare for the end times.

Nothing. Not one single thing.

Here’s a prophecy from the Bible about what the world will look like shortly before the return of Christ. As you read through it, try thinking about what you’d need in order to survive it:

“I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.

“And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.

“Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.

“And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” (Revelation 6:12-17).

Even if you’ve stockpiled enough survival rations to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, built a bunker that could withstand a nuclear holocaust and hoarded enough guns and ammo to fend off the standing army of a small country, it won’t be enough.

When “the great day of His wrath has come”—when the earth shakes the mountains and the islands out of place, when stars fall from heaven and the sky recedes like a scroll, when kings and slaves alike cower in fear at the judgment God is raining down on a corrupt earth—all the physical preparation in the world won’t make an ounce of difference.

A quick note about emergency preparedness

Before we go any further, let me clarify something. Even though there’s nothing you can do to physically prepare for the end of the world as we know it, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea to prepare for other, less catastrophic emergencies.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recommends keeping a disaster supply kit on hand for your family in the event of an emergency that requires you to “survive on your own for several days.” They even offer a checklist you can use as you build your own kit.

Taking steps to make sure your family has what it needs in the wake of a disaster is a good idea. Taking steps to make sure your family can survive the collapse of civilization? Maybe not so much.

Spiritual preparation is what really matters

That said, God does expect us to prepare for the end times—but that’s a spiritual endeavor, not a physical one.

To prepare for the end times, we need to understand what the end times are.

Technically speaking, we’ve been in the “end times” for the last 2,000 years. Peter wrote that Jesus Christ was made manifest “in these last times” (1 Peter 1:20). Paul explained that biblical examples were recorded “for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).

The end times are the final phase of God’s plan before the return of Jesus Christ. They’re the era we’re living in right now—the same era that the early Church existed in as well. (See more in our blog post “Are We Living in the End Times?”)

But, generally, when people talk about the end times, they’re thinking of specific end-time events—the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord. The Tribulation is a period of 3½ years immediately preceding the return of Jesus Christ to the earth, and the Day of the Lord often refers to a short but intense period when the world is directly punished by God for its sins, leading into the eternal reign of God.

These are the apocalyptic, cataclysmic events of the end time that we cannot physically prepare for—but that we must spiritually prepare for.

The keys to spiritual preparation

Being prepared for the end times doesn’t require exactly predicting the end times. Paul warned that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2, English Standard Version).

We should certainly be aware that the Day of the Lord is coming, and its sudden arrival shouldn’t catch us off guard (1 Peter 5:1-5). But Jesus Himself told His disciples to stay alert, “for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42), and to “be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (verse 44).

Just like putting together a disaster supply kit, it’s important to prepare before things get bad. And just as you can refer to a checklist to assemble your own kit, you can also refer to the spiritual checklist God has provided in order to prepare for these big end-time events:

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).

That’s a short checklist, but it takes a lot of time to tick those boxes. You can put a disaster supply kit together in an afternoon—but doing justly, loving mercy and walking humbly are character attributes that we can spend the rest of our lives refining and perfecting.

God doesn’t expect us to have perfected these attributes before the end-time events unfold. He just expects us to be diligently working on them. Every day gives us new opportunities to be doing just that.

(Read more in our three-part blog series “What Does God Require of You? Do Justly,” “Love Mercy” and “Walk Humbly.”)

What are we preparing for?

In preparing for a disaster, the goal is to survive—to make it safely to the other side of whatever calamity we might experience.

You might say that’s the goal of preparing for end times too—although “making it safely to the other side” looks a little different in this case.

The Bible makes mention of a place in the wilderness where at least some of God’s people will be protected during the events of the Tribulation (Revelation 12:14). Jesus even instructed us to pray for protection during this time: “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).

But the Bible also talks about martyrs who will be “slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held” (Revelation 6:9).

Though we should pray and hope we are “counted worthy” to escape the intense suffering of the Great Tribulation, physical survival isn’t the ultimate goal. Standing “before the Son of Man” at His return is. Jesus promised, “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40).

Even if we die before or during the final events of the end times, our hope is in a far greater kind of survival. Paul explained that Jesus Christ, at His return, will resurrect and transform His faithful followers as immortal members of the God family: “And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man” (1 Corinthians 15:49, see also verses 35-55).

If we do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God—if we live our lives in accordance with His Word and follow His commands—we can expect to make it safely to the other side of the end times, not as physical human beings, but as the spiritual sons and daughters of God Himself:

“‘They shall be Mine,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him’” (Malachi 3:17).

God’s plan means hope for everyone

But the story doesn’t end there. When God the Father and Jesus Christ set Their plan in motion, They were “not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9). In the aftermath of the end-time events, the world’s survivors will need leadership, compassion and guidance.

We will have the privilege of providing all those things as we reign with Christ for a thousand years (Revelation 20:4), teaching the rest of humanity to build their own spiritual survival kits—to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God.

And one day, when “the dead, small and great” (verse 12) are returned to life and brought before God, we’ll be there too, offering a hope for survival that stretches on into eternity.

That’s why we prepare for the end times—not to survive it physically, but because of the incredible future waiting for us on the other side of it. And in that beautiful future, “there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

That’s something worth preparing for.”  From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/christian-living/christianity-in-progress/prepare-for-the-end-times/?

Suggestions welcome.   This article was written at a reader’s suggestion. If you’d like to suggest a topic for future editions of “Christianity in Progress,” you can do so anonymously at lifehopeandtruth.com/ideas. We look forward to hearing from you!

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God Will Wipe Away Every Tear

Revelation 21:4

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

“God clearly shows His love for us and His desire for the end of all suffering. The Bible is the story of mankind constantly choosing the way of sin that results in suffering, while our loving God offers forgiveness and a wonderful way of life that results in blessings.

The context of this passage is after the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-12), when every human being will understand the choice God has given, and hopefully the vast majority will accept Christ’s sacrifice and choose to live the way that leads to life. God wants everyone to choose life and to be saved (Deuteronomy 30:19; 1 Timothy 2:4).

After those (hopefully few) who choose death are thrown in the lake of fire, God promises to make all things new. Everyone alive at the time of the new heaven and new earth will have been changed to immortal, spiritual life.

And so at that time when death and pain have become a thing of the past, God will wipe away every tear from their eyes and reveal an eternity of joy to all His children.” From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/god-will-wipe-away-every-tear/?

For more understanding of the pain and suffering of this current age, see our section on “Why Does God Allow Evil and Suffering?”

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Meat Industry Reaction to New Cancer Guidelines

“What was the meat industry’s response to the recommendation by leading cancer charities to stop eating processed meats, such as bacon, ham, hot dogs, sausage, and lunchmeat.” 

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the video below. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Katie Schloer.

Transcript of YouTube: https://youtu.be/k8SDN4QjEXI

“What was the meat industry’s response to the leading cancer charities’ recommendation to stop eating processed meat—like bacon, ham, hot dogs, sausage, and lunchmeat? They acknowledged that the most recent international cancer prevention guidelines now urge people to avoid processed meat.

It is evident that such a statement represents “a clear and present danger” for the meat industry, reads one response in the journal Meat Science. Processed meat, they say, is a social necessity. How could anyone live without bologna? The challenge for the meat industry is to find a way to maintain the consumption of these convenience products while somehow not damaging public health.

We’re still not sure what it is in processed meat that’s so carcinogenic, but the most probable educated guess for explaining the damaging effect of processed meats involves heme compounds, along with nitrosamine and free radical formation, resulting ultimately in carcinogenic DNA damage.

To reduce the nitrosamines, they could remove the nitrites—something that the industry has been considering for decades, because of the long known toxic effects they cause. The industry adds them to keep the meat pink. There are, evidently, other coloring additives available. Nevertheless, it’s going to be hard to get their industry to change, in view of the positive effects of these substances as preservatives, and desirable flavor and red color-developing ingredients. No one wants green eggs and ham.

It’s like salt reduction in meat products. They’d like to, but one of the biggest barriers to salt replacement within the meat industry is cost, as salt is one of the cheapest food ingredients available. Now, there are a number of taste enhancers they can inject into the meat that can help compensate for the salt reduction, but some leave a bitter aftertaste. So, they can also just inject a patented bitter-blocking chemical that can prevent taste nerve stimulation at the same time—the first of what may become a stream of products that are produced due to the convergence of food technology and biotech.

Or, they could always try adding non-meat materials to the meat. You could add fiber, or resistant starch from beans, that have protective effects against cancer. After all, in the United States, dietary fiber is under-consumed by most adults, indicating that fiber fortification in meat products could have health benefits—failing to note, of course, that their products are one of the reasons the American diet is so deficient in fiber in the first place.

The industry is all in favor of reformulating their products to cause less cancer, but obviously any such optimization has to achieve a healthier product without affecting the hedonic aspects. It is important to realize that nutritional and technological quality in the meat industry are inversely related. An improvement in one will lead to deterioration of the other. They know that consumption of lard is not the best thing in the world—heart disease, being our number one killer and all. However, those downsides are in sharp contrast to the technological qualities of saturated fat, which makes it indispensable in the manufacture of meat products. Otherwise, you just don’t get the same lard consistency. The pigs’ fat doesn’t get hard enough, and, as a result, a fatty smear upon cutting or slicing can be observed on the cutting surface of the knife.”  From: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/meat-industry-reaction-new-cancer-guidelines/

Note: The processed meats mentioned all seem to contain PORK.  (See Leviticus 11)

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Importance of Taking Responsibility. Crossing the Rubicon. The Actual Benefit of Diet vs. Drugs.

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The Importance of Taking Responsibility

“The Bible shows many examples of people refusing to take responsibility for their actions. Must Christians take responsibility for their actions?

Taking responsibility is the willingness to give an account for your actions—to willingly bear the burden of what you have, or have not, done. It is being willing to answer for your conduct and obligations.

However, human nature can lead us to refuse to take responsibility for our actions. In fact, when we’re confronted with our mistakes, we’ll often play the blame game and attempt to deflect our responsibility onto someone else.  

Are there examples of this in the Bible?

Examples of refusing to take responsibility

Here are three examples of individuals who deflected responsibility for their errors onto others:

Aaron

When ancient Israel left Egypt, God led the people to Mount Sinai, where they would receive His laws. Moses went up the mountain to receive the commandments from God Himself. Because Moses was away for so long, the people got weary.

They asked Aaron to make “gods that shall go before us.” Unfortunately, Aaron obliged and made a golden calf for them to worship. He even declared a “feast to the LORD” in honor of the idol (Exodus 32:1-6).

When Moses finally came down and confronted his brother, Aaron refused to take responsibility. Instead, he blamed the people: “You know the people, that they are set on evil” (verse 22). Aaron downplayed his own involvement in the situation, saying, “I cast [the gold] into the fire, and this calf came out” (verse 24).

King Saul

Though Saul had the appearance of a king, he lacked the character to reign righteously. For example, before going into battle with the Philistines, Saul was instructed to wait for Samuel to come and offer sacrifices to God (1 Samuel 10:8).

But instead of waiting for the prophet, Saul got impatient and hastily performed the sacrifices himself. When confronted by Samuel, Saul offered a litany of excuses for why he did it his way instead of God’s way (1 Samuel 13:8-11).

A similar thing happened when Saul was instructed to completely destroy the Amalekites, yet refused to do it (1 Samuel 15:3, 8-9). Saul again blamed the people instead of taking responsibility for his failure (verse 15).

Pontius Pilate

Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judaea during Jesus’ arrest and trial. At the trial, Pilate desired to release Jesus because he knew Jesus was innocent. However, he relented to the demands of the mob to crucify Jesus. To deny any responsibility for executing an innocent Man, he washed his hands of guilt and placed the responsibility on the people (Matthew 27:22-25; Acts 3:13).

Blaming God

People often see God as being harsh, distant and disconnected from their lives. When things don’t go their way, it’s common for people to blame God.

When we fall short, we are to take responsibility, repent and make changes. Consider the following examples from the Bible:

• After being confronted for eating the forbidden fruit, Adam found a way to blame God for his sin: “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate” (Genesis 3:12).
• After killing his brother, Cain complained that God’s punishment was too harsh (Genesis 4:13).
• When they went into captivity for their sins, the ancient Israelites complained that God was unfair and that their punishment was unjustified (Ezekiel 18:25).
• Job’s wife blamed God for the calamity that fell on them and even tried to convince her husband to curse God (Job 2:9).

For more insight on this, read “Who Is to Blame?”

Christians must take responsibility

God expects Christians to be responsible and self-governing. God has given us His laws, which set boundaries on how we are to conduct ourselves. When we fall short, we are to take responsibility, repent and make changes.

A major part of the repentance process is confessing our sins to God, which essentially means we are taking responsibility for our sins before the God of the universe. To learn more about the importance of confessing our sins, read “What Does It Mean to Confess Your Sins?”

God expects us to take responsibility for our actions—instead of refusing to take responsibility and blaming God (or others) for our mistakes—and He aids those who do (Proverbs 28:13). Every human being will have to give an account for his or her life and actions

(Galatians 6:4-5; Hebrews 4:13).

A responsible person is one who is accountable, can be counted on, is trustworthy, upholds his or her word, and is reliable. Responsible people will even make sacrifices for the good of others.

A responsible person is what a spouse looks for, what a family needs, and what makes a strong society and nation.”  From:  https://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/blog/the-importance-of-taking-responsibility/?

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Crossing the Rubicon

“Culturally our society has started "crossing the Rubicon." As Christians we must separate ourselves before the point of no return.

Transcript of YouTube: https://youtu.be/T3roKe8sfPM

[Steve Myers] “By law, no Roman general could lead his troops into Rome. 49 AD, Julius Caesar led his 13th Legion across the Rubicon River into Italy. Now, there was no going back. There was no turning around and it generated civil war for years until he finally became absolute ruler.

That idea of crossing the Rubicon is reaching the point of no return. There is no going back. It's become known for that very thought, point of no return.

And when you think about it, have we as a society crossed the Rubicon? Have we reached the point of no return? When you look at the values of the culture around us, there is a war that's going on and it is a war that is tearing us apart. And it's more than just political. It is relentless. It's all around us. And whether it's on the radio, when we listen to music or whether it's the news or whether it's any aspect of what we watch or listen, it is something that is bombarding us everywhere with values most oftentimes that are not godly.

Have we reached the point of no return? I mean, there's been a dramatic realignment of what is important to our society today, and we're caught in the middle as God's people.

I can't help but think of a passage that's back in the book of Lamentations. I don't often turn to the book of Lamentations, but in Lamentations 2:14, we find a warning to ancient Judah. They had ignored God and they had done it for so long. In this book of Lamentation, it really points to the fact that they had reached the point of no return. And, of course, there's connections for us today. And in 2:14, it says, "Your profits have seen you false and deceptive visions. They've not uncovered your iniquity to bring you back your captives, but have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions."

Yeah, our society talks a lot about how great this wonderful new perspective is, new values, new ways of doing things, but those are false prophecies. And what's happened to our world is we have reached the point of no return. And so, we as God's people have to make sure we separate ourselves. We can't fall captive to this world's values. And what's happened to Judah is just a type of what's prophesied to happen as we draw nearer to the time of the return of Christ.

So, it's a reminder. It's not too late for us. We don't have to cross the river. It's not the point of no return for us. Just make sure we don't ourselves to be caught into the values and the ways of thinking of this world. Don't get distracted. Don't allow that to happen. So, guard your heart, be on guard, and don't fall captive to those troops that have crossed the Rubicon.”  From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-daily/crossing-the-rubicon

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The Actual Benefit of Diet vs. Drugs

“The medical profession oversells the benefits of drugs for chronic disease since so few patients would apparently take them if doctors divulged the truth.”

Transcript of YouTube: https://youtu.be/P0y-lO2YpuQ

“One of the reasons people may undervalue diet and lifestyle changes is an overconfidence in the ability of pills and procedures to prevent disease. For example, people tend to wildly overestimate the power of things, like mammograms and colonoscopies, to prevent deaths from breast and bowel cancer, or the power of drugs, like Fosamax, to prevent hip fractures, or the power of cholesterol-lowering drugs to prevent fatal heart attacks. Patients believe statin drugs, like Lipitor, are about a hundred times more effective than they actually are in preventing heart attacks.

Most people wouldn’t take multiple blood pressure medications if they knew the truth, which raises a dilemma for doctors. Most patients want to be told the truth.  They want to be told what the chances are that the drugs will actually benefit them, but there is this tension between the patient’s right to know and the likely reduction in patients’ willingness to take the drug if they were so informed. If taking a cholesterol-lowering drug would reduce your risk of getting a heart attack over the next five years by 100%, then, of course, everyone would take it. Even if there were a 50% chance of benefiting, most would still want to take the drugs. But if the chance of benefit is just a few percent, hardly anyone would be willing to take the drugs every day for the rest of their lives. And that’s the actual benefit.

For most people the chance of benefit is normally less than 5% over five years for cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood-thinning drugs. It’s no wonder that doctors seldom share these figures with patients. So, even high risk patients have less than a 5% chance of benefit; whereas, patients don’t want to take drugs unless they have at least a 1 in 5 chance—even those who just had a heart attack. The study therefore suggests that informing patients of the percentage chance of benefit from preventive drug strategies will substantially reduce the uptake of such drugs. They recognize that for the individual, this is unlikely to be detrimental; after all there’s a 95% chance it won’t do anything for them, but for the population at large, it would make a difference; so, doctors and drug companies tend to oversell the benefits by conveniently not mentioning how tiny they actually are, knowing that most patients wouldn’t take them if doctors divulged the truth. To practice non-lifestyle medicine is to practice deceptive medicine.

The best cholesterol-lowering statin drugs can do here is an absolute risk reduction of 3.1% over six years. A whole foods plant-based diet has been shown to work twenty times better–an absolute risk reduction of 60% after less than four years. Overall, 99.4% of patients who stuck with the diet avoided major cardiac events, such as death from heart attack.

So, when we have to decide whether we want to go diet versus drugs, it’s not a choice between eating healthy to prevent a heart attack, or taking a pill to prevent a heart attack, because in 97% of cases the pills don’t do anything —we’re risking side effects for nothing, whereas if we treat the underlying root cause of the disease, by eating this healthy cholesterol-free diet, we may even reverse the progression of the disease.

Stop eating an artery-clogging diet and our bodies can start dissolving that plaque away, opening up arteries, in some cases, without drugs and without surgery. This wasn’t an Ornish study; so, no exercise requirement, no meditation, no stress management, no yoga; just a healthy whole food plant-based diet may work twenty times better than drugs to combat our #1 killer. Now, that’s something doctors may want to tell their patients.” From: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/The-Actual-Benefit-of-Diet-vs-Drugs/

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Katie Schloer.

Most drugs have side effects which cause having to take another drug!

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Do It With Your Might. Which Is the Great Commandment? How to Avoid the Obesity-Related Plastic Chemical BPA.

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Do It With Your Might

Ecclesiastes 9:10

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

“Solomon’s writings repeatedly encourage diligence and hard work as necessary ingredients of success. (For more on this, see our article “How to Be Successful.”) Here the wise king adds the perspective that this life is short, and so we must apply our full efforts now. This passage may have been on the apostle Paul’s mind when he wrote, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (Colossians 3:23).

Many churches dispute Solomon’s assertion that “the dead know nothing” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) and that there is no knowledge or wisdom in the grave. The common teaching is that man has an immortal soul. But is this what the Bible teaches? For more on this, see our article “Immortal Soul.””  From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/do-it-with-your-might/

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Which Is the Great Commandment?

Matthew 22:35-38

“Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.”

“The lawyer seemingly intended this as a trick question with many possible answers that would be considered wrong by those experts who had ranked the laws differently. But Jesus Christ cut to the core of all the laws to identify what is truly most important. Loving God with all our being means we will seek to please Him and do everything else He asks us to do.

This first, great commandment summarizes the first four of the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:1-11) where God explains how to love Him the way He wants to be loved. Human ideas of how to worship God may be well-intentioned, but to be assured we are pleasing God, we must worship and obey Him the way He wants us to. The first four Commandments, and the entire Bible, show us that way.”

Study more about how God wants us to love Him in our article “The Great Commandment.”   From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/which-is-the-great-commandment/?

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Which Is the Great Commandment? Part 2

Matthew 22:39-40

“And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

“After telling us to love God with everything we’ve got, Jesus Christ gives the essential key to human relationships. Selfishness destroys relationships, and this love is the antidote. Loving others as ourselves means we will consider how our actions affect others. This is related to what is often called the Golden Rule: “Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).

In the same way the great commandment summarized the first four of the 10 Commandments, loving our neighbors summarizes and gives life to the last six (Exodus 20:12-17). These two great commandments expand out to the 10 Commandments, which can be magnified to reveal the essence of the whole Bible—the Law and the Prophets, along with the New Testament as well.”

Study more about God’s law in our series on the “10 Commandments.”

From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/which-is-the-great-commandment-part-2/?

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How to Avoid the Obesity-Related Plastic Chemical BPA

“Ninety percent of our exposure to the hormone-disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA) comes from certain components of our diet.

Transcript of YouTube: https://youtu.be/KIBsIQu0zNo

“The purported link between hormone-disrupting plastics chemicals, like BPA, and obesity was initially based, in part, on observations that the rise in chemical exposure seemed to coincide with the rise of the obesity epidemic—with graphs like these. But, maybe that’s just a coincidence. There’s lots of other changes over the last half century—like an increase in fast food consumption and watching TV—that would seem to be simpler explanations.

But why are our pets getting fatter, too? Fido isn’t drinking more soda. Of course, the more we watch Seinfeld reruns, the less we may walk the dog. But what about our cats? Well, maybe we’re giving both them and our kids a few too many treats? That would seem an easier explanation than some pervasive obesity-causing chemical in the environment building up in the pet and person food chains.

But how do we explain this? A study of over 20,000 animals from 24 populations, and we’re all getting fatter. The odds that this could happen just by chance is like one in ten million. Large and sustained increases in body weight across the board—even in animals without access to vending machines, or getting [less] physical education at school. So, maybe some environmental pollutant is involved.

Of course, we’re exposed to a whole cocktail of new chemicals besides BPA. But the reason researchers have zeroed in on it is because of experiments like this—showing that BPA can accelerate the production of new fat cells, in a petri dish at least. But this was at more than a thousand times the concentration found in most people’s bloodstream.

We didn’t know if the same thing happened at typical levels, until now. Most people have between 1 to 20 nanomoles in their blood, and even at 1 nanomole, a significant boost in human fat cell production. So, even low levels may be a problem. But, again, that’s in a petri dish. What about in people?

Why not just measure the body weights of a population exposed to the chemical, compared to a population not exposed to the chemical? Because there is virtually no unexposed population; the stuff is everywhere. Okay, then, how about those with higher levels compared to those with lower levels? Good thinking, which is what researchers at NYU did, and the amount of BPA flowing through the bodies of children and adolescents was significantly associated with obesity.

But since it was a cross-sectional study—a snapshot in time—we don’t know which came first. Maybe the [high] BPA levels didn’t lead to obesity; maybe the obesity led to high BPA levels, since the chemical is stored in fat. Or, maybe BPA is just a marker for the same kinds of processed foods that can make you fat.

What we need are prospective studies where we measure exposure, and then follow people over time. But we never had anything like that, though, until now. And indeed, higher levels of BPA and some other plastics chemicals were significantly associated with faster weight gain over the subsequent decade. Okay, so, how can we stay away from the stuff?

Though we inhale some from dust, and some through our skin, touching BPA-laden receipts, 90% of exposure is from our diet. How do you tell? You have people fast, and drink water only out of glass bottles for a few days, and their BPA levels drop as much as tenfold. Fasting isn’t very sustainable, though.

What if you did a three-day fresh foods intervention, where they had families switch away from canned and processed foods for a few days? You can indeed get a significant drop in BPA exposure.

Or, you can do the experiment the other way—adding a serving of canned soup to people’s daily diet, and see a 1,000% rise in BPA levels in their urine, compared to a serving of soup prepared with fresh ingredients.

They used a ready-to-serve canned soup, which, in the largest survey of North American canned foods, has about 85% less BPA than condensed soups, which are even worse. But the worst of the worst appeared to be canned tuna.”

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Katie Schloer.  From: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-to-avoid-the-obesity-related-plastic-chemical-bpa/

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The Founding of the Church. Hope of the Resurrection at the Coming of the Lord. Do Vegetarians, and Vegans, Get Enough Protein?

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The Founding of the Church

"The book of Acts reveals the miracles that marked the Church’s beginning. The story of the start of the Church of God has important lessons for us today.

PDF to print for family reading

Jesus Christ told His followers, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). His Church would continue through the ages. It would never die out.

Christ made that statement nearly 2,000 years ago. It remains true today. Christ is still in charge of the Church that He began in the first century (Colossians 1:18). While many things about the Church are fascinating—from its teachings to the work that Christ has assigned it—one event stands out. Let’s look at the beginning of the Church.

Giving the Holy Spirit

After He was raised from the dead, Christ spent 40 days with His disciples. He taught them in detail about the Kingdom of God and further prepared them for the work that was ahead (Acts 1:2-3). Jesus promised that they would soon be empowered by the Holy Spirit to witness of Him “to the ends of the earth” (verse 8).

A key part of this preparation was training the disciples for the next step in God’s plan. The first step was represented by the first of God’s festivals, the Passover. Christ, the Passover Lamb, had sacrificed Himself for our sins. He also taught His disciples to get rid of sin and to obey His commandments (John 14:15). (This represented the meaning of the second of God’s festivals, the Feast of Unleavened Bread.) Now the stage was set for the third phase: the giving of the Holy Spirit.

God’s Church started out small—very small. At first, there were about 120 who were meeting together when a replacement for Judas was chosen (Acts 1:15). After Christ went to be at the Father’s throne, they did what He had told them. They gathered together in Jerusalem for Pentecost, the third of God’s sacred festivals. (For more about the festivals of God, read “Biblical Festivals: Does God Want Us to Celebrate Them? Why?”)

When they were all together, God gave His disciples the Holy Spirit. With it He sent a “sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind” and “tongues as of fire.” These miracles showed everyone there just how important this event was (Acts 2:1-4).

This giving of the Holy Spirit was an essential part of God’s plan for humanity. And it was necessary for God’s people (John 16:7; 1 John 4:13). With the giving of the Holy Spirit on that Day of Pentecost, the New Testament Church of God began.

Drawn by miracles

The sound was so loud that it brought a crowd of people who came to investigate the noise (Acts 2:2, 6).

The crowd was then astonished by a miracle known as “speaking in tongues.” The Jews from around the world were all hearing these supposedly uneducated Galileans speak to them in their own languages and dialects. (For more on the miracle of speaking in tongues, see our article “Speaking in Tongues.”)

The message of the Church

The crowd was curious and eager to know what was going on. So the apostle Peter used the opportunity that God had given them. He gave a powerful sermon on the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Peter’s message affected some of them deeply. The Bible says it cut them to the heart (Acts 2:37). The Messiah for whom they had been waiting their entire lives had been crucified—and they were responsible! Peter’s sermon started out by explaining from the book of Joel exactly what had taken place (Acts 2:14-21). Then he proved to them from the Bible that Jesus was actually the promised Messiah, but that they had killed Him. He had died for their sins (Acts 2:22-36). Pentecost was a major festival, so Jerusalem was filled with visitors. God had blessed the newly established Church with a chance to preach the good news to people of many different areas—from Rome to Asia to Africa—without leaving Jerusalem (Acts 2:9-11).

Peter’s message affected some of them deeply. The Bible says it cut them to the heart (Acts 2:37). The Messiah for whom they had been waiting their entire lives had been crucified—and they were responsible!

Many responded with an emotional and heartfelt question. They asked, “What shall we do?”

Peter replied, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Jesus Christ had also preached a message of faith, repentance and baptism (Mark 1:14-15; 16:16).

The Church’s beginning, but not its end

That first day the Church grew with about 3,000 baptisms. And God continued to bless the Church with growth (Acts 2:41, 47). The rest of the book of Acts and the New Testament reveal a story of persecution, miracles and faith in God that can encourage us. It can assure us that God continues to be with His Church today.

While the story of the Church’s beginning is told in the book of Acts, it’s a story that continues today. You can be a part of that story. As we approach the second coming of Christ, you need to decide how you will respond to God’s calling.

The story of the Church’s founding is written and finished. But we can be a part of the Church today and the ongoing story of its work.”  From:  https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/bible-study/bible-stories/the-founding-of-the-church/

Read more about the Church, its purpose and your part in it in the article “The Church: What Is It?”

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Hope of the Resurrection at the Coming of the Lord

1 Thessalonians 4:13-15

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.

The apostle Paul mentions that some Christians had “fallen asleep,” a biblical metaphor for death. To have a member of their congregation die unexpectedly must have had a big impact on the young Church. Paul wanted to instruct them and strengthen their faith and hope. God’s truth about what happens after death gives powerful comfort.

Verses 16 and 17 go on to describe the second coming of Christ, which will be announced by the trumpet of God. At His return, the followers of Jesus Christ who have died will be resurrected first, apparently just shortly before those who are alive are changed to spirit and also meet Christ as He comes through the clouds and then descends to the Mount of Olives. As Zechariah records it, “And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east” (Zechariah 14:4).

The hope of the resurrection is a sure hope and real encouragement to Christ’s followers. Of course, there is sorrow at the death of a loved one or friend. But it can be a hopeful sorrow, which is far more comforting than the hopeless sorrow Paul mentions in verse 13.

For more about what the Bible teaches about life after death, see our section on “Life After Death.”      From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/hope-of-the-resurrection-at-the-coming-of-the-lord/?

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Do Vegetarians, and Vegans, Get Enough Protein?

"There is a carnivore conspiracy that lots of protein is needed for non meat eaters.

Don’t fall for the protein trap

https://www.google.com/.../im-a-doctor-who-specializes-in...

How Much is Enough Protein?

https://nutritionfacts.org/audio/how-much-is-enough-protein/

The Great Protein Fiasco

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-great-protein-fiasco/

Garth Davis M.D.

Proteinaholic: How Our Obsession with Meat Is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It

Too much protein is actually making us sick, fat, and tired, according to Dr. Davis. If you are getting adequate calories in your diet, there is no such thing as protein deficiency

When asked Where do you get your protein?

The response should be:

What do you do to protect from getting too much protein?

“But the truth is most of us are already eating way too much protein”

https://www.pcrm.org/news/protein-myth

“A bodybuilding competitor and mom of two reportedly died June 22 from a protein overdose, according to Perth Now.”

Don’t worry or eat yourself to death over protein

https://www.google.com/.../bodybuilding-mom-dies.../amp/

What Is Protein Poisoning?

“The liver and kidneys play key roles in the metabolism of proteins. When excessive amounts are consumed, it can put the body at risk for increased levels of ammonia, urea, and amino acids in the blood. Although very rare, protein poisoning can be fatal because of these increased levels”

https://www.healthline.com/health/protein-poisoning

https://www.forksoverknives.com/.../vegan-protein.../...

https://nutritionfacts.org/.../increasing-protein.../...

https://knowridge.com/.../popular-protein-powders-may.../

Cell Metabolism.

The study found that people who eat a high-protein diet during middle age are more likely to die of cancer than those who eat less protein.

We studied simple organisms, mice, and humans and provide convincing evidence that a high protein diet - particularly if the proteins are derived from animals - is nearly as bad as smoking for your health," said study researcher Valter Longo, professor of biology at the University of Southern California (USC) and director of the USC Longevity Institute.

The study also found that middle-age people who ate foods rich in animal proteins - including meat, milk and cheese - were 75 percent more likely to die of any cause than those who ate a low-protein diet within the study period.”  From: Forks Over Knives Official Plant-Based Group.

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Seven Keys to Better Relationships. How to Deal With Inflation. Is CHOLESTEROL BAD For You?

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Seven Keys to Better Relationships

[From the January/February 2014 issue of Discern.]

“Why do some relationships sour and end? What principles can we glean from the Bible to preserve or heal our relationships with family and friends?

God’s Word teaches us many keys to stronger, healthier relationships—our article below explores seven.

The state of human relationships today is generally poor. No matter the level—whether head of state to head of state, nation to nation or person to person—there are many examples of strained and broken relationships.

Person against person

In the United States, it has sadly become routine to hear of disgruntled employees shooting their supervisors and fellow employees. And then there are the mass shootings at schools, shopping centers and movie theaters orchestrated by angry and mentally disturbed individuals.

Internationally, bullying, stalking, kidnapping and street violence are all symptoms of our damaged world.

At home, in the intimate personal relationships found in marriage, many husbands and wives struggle to get along. In most Western countries about 50 percent of marriages end in divorce, and millions of other couples (many with children) break up without ever making a commitment of marriage.

Dissecting a breakup

Since we humans have had plenty of experience with bad relationships, it is actually quite easy to document and even predict the progressive steps that generally occur as relationships go bad. At the earliest stages of conflict, little disagreements are glossed over or ignored. Eventually something happens that evokes anger and frustration, which moves the relationship into the conflict stage.”        Continued at: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/relationships/friendship/seven-keys-to-better-relationships/?

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How to Deal With Inflation

“With inflation reaching levels not seen in four decades, everyone is scrambling to try to control expenses. Here are some tips and biblical wisdom.

Some of us old-timers well remember the inflation of the 1970s, but for many today, the rapid rise of prices is new and certainly unsettling. Crashing from a global pandemic into an inflationary spiral, with the chance of a recession ahead, has created many worries and difficult decisions.

This post will give you some of the best advice of modern experts, but it is based on a solid foundation of biblical financial advice.

A budget is an essential inflation-fighting tool

To know what you have to adjust, you have to know where your money is going now. Budgeting is necessary to wisely plan as prices rise.

Our article “Christian Budget” offers common-sense steps to take. And our article “The Bible, Budgeting and You” also includes a link to a sample outline budget.

Deal with inflation-fueled debt

God warns about taking on debt (Proverbs 22:7), and this timeless biblical principle becomes even more relevant as interest rates rise.

See our article “Dealing With Debt” for a practical plan for getting out of debt as fast as possible.

Avoid these traps

When money is tight, you will be offered help that might seem too good to be true, or it just may be misleading. Ramsey Solutions suggests avoiding these traps:

• “Buy now, pay later” plans. They will have penalties for missed payments, and Ramsey Solutions found three in four missed a payment in the last three months.
• Store credit cards. “Debt is debt. Even when it comes with a 10% off coupon.”
• Zero percent financing. “When that zero percent ends, these companies usually make up for lost time by hitting you over the head with high interest rates.”
• Personal loans. “Loans don’t fix the problem—they just dig a deeper hole for the problem you already have.”

Inflation-fighting tips from experts from The Wall Street Journal

Here are some tips from a Wall Street Journal article “15 Ways Consumers Can Deal With—and Even Benefit From—Rising Inflation”:

• “Be aware of shrinkflation,” where the amount of product in a package is reduced, but the price is not reduced.
• “Putting off collecting Social Security can be a smart inflation hedge—beyond the built-in increases in benefits tied to the consumer-price index. Every year that Social Security benefits are delayed past full retirement age, the amount of the eventual benefit increases by 8%.”
• Plan ahead so you can time your expected nonperishable purchases for when they are on sale.
• “Look for any recurring expenses for subscriptions or services that may no longer be needed.”
• “One of the best investments for a return on your dollar is to better insulate your home. This is particularly important given the current higher costs of fuel. Often, you can get a free energy assessment from your power company, with a to-do list for lowering your energy costs.”

Consumer Reports inflation tips

Consumer Reports suggests, “Consider switching to a lower-cost cell phone plan, perhaps one from your internet provider. Lower-income families may qualify for a [U.S.] federal program that helps with internet bills, called the Affordable Connectivity Program.”

For food, “You can also save significantly by sticking with warehouse clubs and discount stores, such as Costco, and Trader Joe’s, as well as private-label brands.”

Reducing subscription bills

“Most people underestimate how much they spend on subscriptions by a hefty amount,” The Week reported. A new survey found that “consumers’ offhand guess of how much they spend monthly on subscriptions averaged $86.” But the actual average was $219!

“Subscriptions have exploded over the past decade—‘for just media and entertainment offerings, the average number of paid subscriptions per consumer was 12 in 2020.’ That’s a lot to keep track of. ‘Most people (86 percent) have put some, if not all, of their subscriptions on autopay.’”

Make sure you are not being charged for subscriptions you no longer use, and consider carefully which ones you can cut.

Next steps

These are just a few tips you can use to get your expenses under control. Keep researching reputable advice and you will find many additional tips.

But make sure to start now to set a biblical foundation by budgeting and reducing your debt.”  From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/blog/how-to-deal-with-inflation/?

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Is CHOLESTEROL BAD For You? (Real Doctor Reviews The TRUTH)

    Dr. Sten Ekberg

“Is Cholesterol Bad for you? 12 Truths About Cholesterol To Survive & Thrive (HDL And LDL Myths) Cholesterol may be the most misunderstood topic ever. HDL is often called good and LDL is called bad, when in fact they are both good. Learn the real truth so you can avoid the pitfalls of how to lower high cholesterol. For decades we have been warned about eating cholesterol even though dietary cholesterol is irrelevant. The body makes the majority of cholesterol in the body whether you are vegan or carnivore.”

See YouTube: https://youtu.be/cHIzSS9ZBVY

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