The Holy Day Satan Hates Most. Day of Atonement ~ Yom Kippur For Kids. Update.

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The Day of Atonement starts tonight at dusk.

The Holy Day Satan Hates Most

“The devil doesn’t like any of God’s holy days, but the Day of Atonement is particularly onerous to him. How should Christians today view this day?

The devil doesn’t like any of God’s holy days, but the Day of Atonement is particularly onerous to him. How should Christians today view this day?

When I was young and just learning to celebrate God’s annual holy days, the Day of Atonement was difficult for me to appreciate. While all of God’s commanded assemblies are collectively termed “feasts” (Leviticus 23:2, 4), the one observed on the 10th day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar—the Day of Atonement—had no feasting at all!

Instead of enjoying nice food and drink as our family did on the other holy days, this day was a day of afflicting our souls by fasting. This meant we were not to eat food or drink liquids for a full 24 hours (Leviticus 23:32; Esther 4:16).

While I recall a minister teaching that this holy day was a time for feasting on spiritual food, that explanation didn’t help my empty stomach. As a tall, skinny youngster with a rapid metabolism, going without food and drink for this length of time was … well, unpleasant to put it mildly. My soul truly was afflicted—which was and is the intent of fasting.

When the seemingly extra-long day finally came to an end and my spirit revived as I ravenously partook of food and drink, I can remember feeling relieved that it would be a whole year before we would observe this day again.

So I quickly learned the “being afflicted” part of the Day of Atonement. What took me a little longer to learn was the positive meaning of this day for me and all of mankind. (Parents who are teaching their children to observe the Day of Atonement should do so by letting them fast for only part of the day—gradually longer each year until they are old enough to do it for the full 24 hours.)

The positive side of the Day of Atonement

One of the great meanings of this holy day is found in its name. It is a day when atonement is made. To atone for something means to make amends, reparation, restitution or compensation for something. This day teaches us that humanity will be offered atonement for its sins and given a chance to be reconciled to God.

While Christians, who have been called to repentance now, can be forgiven of their sins whenever they repent (1 John 1:9; Acts 3:19), the Day of Atonement focuses on how the amazing blessing of the reconciliation of the world to God will be offered after the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord, once Jesus Christ has returned. This most generous and undeserved gift of reconciliation is made possible by Jesus Christ.

The Bible teaches that the result of sin is death and that everyone has sinned (Romans 6:23; 3:23). As such, we all deserve death. The forgiveness of our sins upon our repentance is made possible because Jesus gave His life in our stead. God the Father “made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

As the Scriptures note, Jesus “bore our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). We are “reconciled to God through the death of His Son” (Romans 5:10).

When we come to understand the magnitude of this astounding gift of reconciliation and forgiveness that will be offered to the whole world—which we are reminded of on the Day of Atonement—this holy day takes on profound meaning. What an amazing blessing God is offering to humanity!

Emphasizing just how significant it was to observe this holy day, God told the ancient Israelites that anyone who didn’t observe the day by fasting or who worked on it would be “cut off from his people” (Leviticus 23:29-30). Observing this day was obviously very important back then and still is today.

Fasting helps us realize that the meaning of the Day of Atonement is critical to our future and the future of the whole world. Physically, we are reminded that we can’t survive without food and drink. Similarly, without the forgiveness of our sins and reconciliation to God, we have no spiritual future!

Why Satan hates this holy day

As our adversary, Satan constantly works to deceive us and to get us to sin, which sabotages our relationship with God (1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:9). Because he is actively trying to keep humans from becoming members of God’s eternal family, Satan certainly isn’t pleased with a holy day that pictures our reconciliation with God.

In addition to the overall meaning of reconciliation with God on the Day of Atonement, there are two more aspects of this holy day that likewise anger Satan.

First, fasting done right, that is, in genuine humility, draws us closer to God and causes Satan to shy away from us. As James explains: “‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. … Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:6-8, 10, emphasis added).

It must be especially infuriating for Satan to see humans humbling themselves before their Creator—so much so that he can’t stand being around such conduct. And if he can’t bring himself to be around humans who are drawing close to God, he doesn’t have the opportunity to work against them as he normally does.

Thus, the meaning of our reconciliation with God includes the departure of Satan from us. This departure, of course, is only temporary. Satan will soon be back to do his dirty work and to try to deceive us if he can. But for one day—the Day of Atonement—Satan loses a lot of his influence on those who humble themselves before God.

The bad news for Satan is that this holy day pictures a time when he will be restrained from deceiving people for 1,000 years. There is still one more meaning behind the Day of Atonement that is good news for humans and bad news for Satan. The bad news for Satan is that this holy day pictures a time when he will be restrained from deceiving people for 1,000 years.

Describing this future event, John wrote: “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished” (Revelation 20:1-3).

With Satan restrained and unable to deceive people, everyone will have the opportunity to clearly understand God’s way of life, repent of his or her sins, and receive salvation. This is wonderful news for humanity.

For Satan, however, it is surely going to be a time of frustration and anger because when he is restrained, he will be helpless to prevent thousands upon thousands of people from reconciling with their Creator and receiving eternal life.

A clearer perspective

As I grew older, it became easier for me to fast, and I learned what great news the Day of Atonement represents for us humans and what bad news it represents for Satan. I still miss food and liquids when I fast, but I now observe this holy day with respect and understanding. And to be honest, I enjoy it just a bit more knowing what it means for Satan and why he hates it so much.

If you’d like to learn more about this festival of God, see the article “The Day of Atonement” and the booklet From Holidays to Holy Days: God’s Plan for You.

Sidebar: Two Goats and the Day of Atonement

Under the Old Covenant with ancient Israel, a special ceremony involving two goats was prescribed for the Day of Atonement.

One of the goats was killed as a sin offering, and the high priest would go into the holiest part of the tabernacle and sprinkle some of this goat’s blood on the mercy seat (Leviticus 16:15-16). This goat and the ritual associated with it prefigured the New Covenant means of reconciliation with God—the sacrifice of Jesus, who would pay the penalty for our sins.

The high priest would lay his hands on the second goat and confess over it all the sins of the people. Then it was released in the wilderness (Leviticus 16:21-22, 34; Hebrews 9:7). This goat represented Satan and his deception of people (1 John 5:19; Revelation 12:9).

The placing of sins on the goat’s head indicates Satan’s role in leading people into sin. The Day of Atonement pictures the future binding of Satan for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:1-3).

For further study of this unique ceremony, see the article “Leviticus 16 and the Day of Atonement.””  From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/plan-of-salvation/day-of-atonement/holy-day-satan-hates/

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Atonement: The Root of the Problem

“Atonement, a holy day observed by God’s people since ancient times, pictures an essential step in God’s plan for humanity: the binding of Satan the devil. With his influence removed, our broken world will be given the chance to heal and seek a relationship with its Creator.        See video at: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/learning-center/video-series/feasts-of-the-lord/atonement-the-root-of-the-problem/?

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“With the observance of the Feast of Trumpets last week, the fall festivals are underway!

These forward-looking festivals remind us of the hope and joy to come as outlined in God's plan for humanity. This month we focus on the new creation to come and the beauty of New Jerusalem. Enjoy our two new resources!

All Things New Whirlybird game

Enjoy this creative take on the classic schoolyard game and learn about the seven "no mores" once God makes all things new.

Flip the Flap Tree of Life

Familiarize your family with the special, life-giving tree mentioned at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis and at the end in Revelation.

Feast Favorites

Check out our favorite Feast resources: The Feast Travel Journal book, the A to Z Bible Coloring Pages, or puzzles, mazes and more in the Feast Travel Pack.

Have a wonderful Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles!

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

From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/learning-center/youth-development/

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Update.

The week started out with me prepping for a barium x-ray.  I didn’t realize that it was going to be the same prep as for a colonoscopy.  So only liquids on Sunday and Monday ready for the x-ray on Tuesday.

The special little Brazos Transit bus took me there and brought me back, along with some other patients.  You have to book the bus at least 2 days ahead, but it will take you door to door.  I have never seen such service, and Medicare pays for it!  I can also pay them to take me shopping to the big grocery stores in the next town too, or even to my daughter’s home.  I hope to do that next week.

Wednesday we had the annual inspection here at the senior apartments. The management sent out notice of intent to enter. They want to see that we are not storing things in the utility closet that houses the water heater and heat/ac unit, and safety things like that. They check the smoke alarms, make sure we don’t have cords running across the floor, or furniture in front of egress windows, etc.  Some seniors aren’t quite ‘with it’ any more, and have to be monitored.

My darling little cat, Evie, seems to be doing well without any hyperthyroid meds.  I just feed her the best food I can get here, Wellness canned, and she doesn’t throw up any more, wake me up in the night or cry to be fed, like a lot of the cats mentioned on the Feline Hyperthyroid Group.  And just like my vet said, they don’t seem to do any better with the medicines.  She loves to curl up with me, and she is my little treasure, so I would do anything to keep her as happy and as healthy as I can.  I hear about, and see pictures of, so many cats just going down to literal skin and bones with that disease, but there is no way that I would let my little one suffer like that. 

I took my new neighbor, June, to some thrift shops so that she could buy some hanging over the door hook things with several hooks on them.  Then she was able to unpack some more of her things so she would have her place organized ready for the upcoming feasts.

On Friday morning the three of us went through this week’s Sabbath School study lesson ready for the next day, but just Sherry and I went to the church.  June was having the Sabbath meeting with some of her friends on Zoom.  Sherry and I, and the others there, enjoyed ourselves at the Sabbath School.  Then we went to our homes and took it easy the rest of the day.   

Why Can’t We Get Along? Communitarian Justice. Update.

Why Can’t We Get Along?

“Our world seems more divided than ever before. We’re seeing family division, violence and hatred. Why can’t we all just get along?

Why is everyone seemingly at each other’s throats right now? With so many outlets of expression (texting, Facebook, Twitter and so on), many are constantly letting everybody else know what they think and what others should think. When somebody disagrees with somebody, or everybody disagrees with somebody, or everybody disagrees with everybody (which seems to be what we have now)—watch out!

This can cause serious rifts in families and friendships, erupt into violence and public attacks, and destroy reputations and careers. Basically it results in all-around misery for everyone.

Why is this happening?

Let’s look at three reasons: pride, partiality and hypocrisy.

Pride

Pride, an unrealistic and elevated view of ourselves and our opinions, can affect how we think on such a deep level that we often don’t even know it’s there.

Consider the following examples of pride, and how it is causing so many arguments and misery between people.

• Pride of intelligence and knowledge: feeling like one knows more than someone else about an issue (which may or may not be true) and adopting a condescending attitude toward the other.
• Pride of appearance: having a sense of greater worth based on how one looks.
• Pride of race: thinking that skin color makes one inherently superior to someone of a different color.
• Pride of station: believing that one’s career, education, financial status, social status and so forth make one better than someone else. 
• Pride of spirituality: considering that one’s self-perceived righteousness is superior to that of others. 
• Pride of experience: believing that one’s experiences are more valid for making one’s perspectives closer to objective truth than someone else’s.

There are many more examples, leading to many more catastrophic interactions between human beings. The Bible tells us that pride disconnects us from God, but humility draws us closer to Him (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). Likewise, pride also divides us from each other, but humility will bring us closer together.

Partiality

We all have preferences, making us all partial to different flavors, music, interests, entertainment and even personality traits. However, when we become partial in our dealings with other human beings, that’s when sharp division sets in.

Take, for instance, some of these examples of partiality:

• Partiality in justice: “I have more money to defend myself in court and more connections to get myself out of jams.”
• When we become partial in our dealings with other human beings, that’s when sharp division sets in.Partiality in outrage: “This horrible thing is okay because it’s being done by people I agree with, but I can’t stand it when this other horrible thing is done by people I disagree with.”
• Partiality in values: “This really important thing is not so important to me, but this other really important thing is.”
• Partiality in history: “We don’t need to know the messy parts of our history, just what enables us to feel good about ourselves.”
• Partiality in opportunities: “Wealthy people deserve more opportunities than poor people.”
• Partiality in facts: “I like these facts, but these other ones that clearly contradict them should be ignored.”

One of the truly great things about God is that He shows no partiality (Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11). He judges perfectly and without partiality (Deuteronomy 1:17) and views people without partiality (James 2:1-13). When partiality is present, there will always be conflict and fighting over fairness and the truth.

Hypocrisy

Jesus Christ, in Matthew 23, gives several scathing rebukes of hypocrisy to the religious leaders of His time, and for all time. Using some of these specific examples, we can see how hypocrisy is alive and well—and making us argue with each other all the time.

Consider just a few of the many ways we see hypocrisy in our world today:

Business dealings:

• Defending greed and selfish ambition inherent in driving the economy, but decrying those abusing welfare.
• Defending illegal behavior and lack of personal responsibility as people having no choice, but denouncing mistreatment of the poor by the wealthy.

Moral issues:

• Defending the biblical principles against sinful behavior, but secretly practicing the same sins.
• Defending poor moral behavior in someone we agree with, but condemning the poor moral behavior in someone we disagree with.

Hypocrisy makes us angry and distrustful of each other because it never feels as if we are getting straight talk or being respected.

Knowing is half the battle

What pride, partiality and hypocrisy share in common is that they are all spiritual and character issues. Just as we can all be susceptible to these sins subtly creeping into our lives, we can all strive to avoid them. Pride, partiality and hypocrisy are definitely not the only ingredients in the stew of hatred and division that is brewing to a boil right now, but they are huge factors.

It’s as if we’re dealing with a disease that has taken over our minds, so let’s start dousing pride with humility, partiality with fairness, and hypocrisy with genuineness.” From: From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/blog/why-cant-we-get-along/?

For more insight on pride, read “Three Ways Pride May Be Infecting Us All” and “Overcoming Pride.”

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Communitarian Justice

Deuteronomy 16:18 – Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

“Anarchy and vigilantism are expressly prohibited by God’s Law. There must be judges and officers in the gates of every community. No criminal case can proceed legitimately without the involvement of the duly elected or appointed judiciary. How exactly these men or women are to be appointed is not specified, however the command is addressed to the community as a whole. Presumably a king or governor could appoint whomever he wills. If he does not, however, the community must still ensure the post is occupied.

There is at least one situation in which a course of action that appears on the surface to be vigilante is appropriate. This option should only be exercised in the most rare and extreme cases.

If the community refuses to appoint officers or cannot agree on which men to appoint, then individuals who already legitimately possess some other claim to authority must sometimes appoint themselves.

This is essentially the right of the kinsman redeemer extended to the entire community. There is biblical precedence: Pinchas, who was already a priest, appointed himself an officer of the court when he killed Zimri and Cozbi. Judgment had already been passed and executed on the guilty, but their blood had barely cooled when Zimri blatantly committed the very same crimes. A trial was hardly necessary as all the judges were witnesses to the deed. To stop a plague that was sweeping the camp, Pinchas immediately carried out the sentence already given.

Centuries later, Saul was neglecting his responsibilities in enforcing justice in his own lands and defending the border against the Philistines, so David, who had been anointed by Samuel as Saul’s successor, appointed himself judge.

These exceptions are not blanket authorization to engage in vigilantism or mob justice. In each case, the one who acted was acting to save lives and preserve the nation. Our God is a god of order and authority. He commanded that we create a justice system with a hierarchy of courts and that we obey the rulings of our courts. Every crime must be proved by multiple witnesses and a thorough investigation. All of this means that lynching and rioting are anathema to God’s standards of justice.” From: http://www.americantorah.com/2012/08/19/communitarian-justice/

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Update.

By Monday, I wanted to hurry up and get the blood tests done on Evie, my cat,  to find out what is wrong with her.  I called for an appointment at a vet here in Navasota, so I wouldn’t have to make the long drive to Brenham for our appointment two days later.  It was more expensive but I didn’t want to put Evie, or me, through that long drive in the heat of the afternoon.  I always worry, “What if I have a flat”, what would I do on the side of the road with no shade and a cat?  I am just not used to driving miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles!

At the vet, she was very good while getting blood drawn from her arm, and it took 20 minutes for the results.  It isn’t diabetes, it is hyperthyroidism.  The vet said that it was great that I realized that there is something wrong with her so soon after getting her, and he said “Just feed her plenty of good quality wet food, no dry, and keep her happy”.  He didn’t prescribe anything.  So I loaded up on more cans of Wellness at Tractor Supply. 

This is why she was waking her previous people up in the night, she needed food. It doesn’t bother me, I get up at least once a night anyway, so I feed her then.  I have a recipe for making feline raw food, but I don’t have all the supplements that have to be mixed in it yet.  Feeding people food to a cat doesn’t have all they need, nor a dog.

I trapped one more scroungy-looking stray cat and got him to the shelter. He had to be taken away from these senior apartments because he was scratching people.  Thank goodness this one didn’t give us any trouble getting him out of the trap and into their cage, not like the last one.  That one, a female, got loose in the shelter office and it took several people to catch her, poor thing, she was terrified.

My church neighbor and I went over the study for the Sabbath School on Friday, and we both enjoyed studying it again, with a few more from the congregation, at the church the next day.

Can Satan Deceive You? What's Behind Today's Gender Issues? Free Bible Study Course. Update.

Can Satan Deceive You?

“Just when I thought the streets of America might be settling down, another city burst into flames this week. Kenosha, Wisconsin has been experiencing riots and looting after the shooting of another black man by police. This summer of discontent seems to go on and on.  

Here is the thought that went through my mind:

“Just a few days before the shooting, did people plan to pour into the streets at first opportunity? Were they waiting for an excuse to riot? People who were going about life, were they preparing for this?”

I don’t think it went down that way—although I understand human nature, at times, is just a step away from anarchy.

The Bible says there is a prince of the power of the air, a spirit that works in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2). This describes the work of Satan the devil, the powerful spirit that works to thwart the purpose of God. It is this spirit presence—that most do not understand— that is behind all the evil in this world. Satan and his demonic forces must be understood as part of the story of violence that we see in the streets. How else can we explain the sudden eruption of such anger and its sustained spread night after night?

The blind hatred that you see among rioters is more than ideology. It is more than reaction against injustice. It is a spirit that works among the nations to incite violence. It must be understood. 
My colleague Gary Petty did a Beyond Today program, Satan’s Four Great Deceptions. I encourage you to watch this entire program right till the end. And order the free study guide “Is There A Devil?” It is time to understand this missing spiritual dimension in world affairs. As Gary says, “You may believe that Satan exists. But if you believe that he can’t influence you, you’re already deceived.” 

We are heading toward a new normal. Understanding how the world really works is essential intelligence.

Until next time,  Beyond Today - Help for Today, Hope for Tomorrow”

From: Weekly Update -- Can Satan Deceive You?

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What's Behind Today's Gender Issues?

“A shocking story of a mother transitioning her boy into a girl brings us into God’s Word on this subject.

Transcript of YouTube: https://youtu.be/MJQOO3w3B4Q

[Darris McNeely] “I’ve been doing research for an upcoming “Beyond Today” television program on our spiritual identity in contrast to the gender identity issues that are roiling through society today. And I ran across an article that kind of illustrates what’s going on in the broader culture today. The headline out of “The Christian Post” says, “Mother intent on gender transitioning eight-year-old son into a girl wins a sole medical decision-making power.” This is out of “The Christian Post.”

It goes on to show that a mother who’s attempting to gender transition her eight-year-old son into a girl has been awarded decision-making power regarding her son’s health care and schooling. “In the ongoing case of eight-year-old, James Younger, Dallas judge Mary brown canceled a hearing scheduled for Tuesday and removed his father, Jeffrey Younger, from having any say in his son’s medical, psychological, and psychiatric care. Instead, the Judge gave all decision making power to Dr. Anne Georgulas, a pediatrician and non-biological mother of James and his twin brother, Jude,” according to the report. Younger, the father, has been ordered by the court to pay for trans-affirming counseling sessions.

Now, this has raised a great deal of attention, focus, and even outcry across the nation from groups that are focused on and watching this particular situation. But it speaks to what is happening in our broader culture today in the gender wars and especially the intent of a parent to take an under-aged child and make the decision to trans them, to change their gender based on the sole desire of the parents.

Georgulas says… And the article goes on, “Georgulas has forced James, the boy, to live as Luna, a new name, in a school surrounded by teachers and therapists who do not acknowledge that he has said multiple times to multiple people that he wants to be a boy, and hates being forced to be a girl. Georgulas, the mother is not the biological mother, as he and his twin brother were conceived through the use of a donor egg and IVF reproductive technology.

And so here we have a young eight-year-old boy, being transed, being changed into a girl at the whim of the mother. The courts are involved, and in this case, turning sole control over to a mother, another chapter, if you will. And the ongoing gender wars of the LGBTQ community and issues whether it’s politics, sexual identity, and otherwise, in our society today, having the net effect of actually hiding from us our true identity, as the Bible affirms it in God.

Now for those of us with a biblical worldview, an article and a situation like this is very important to understand and to watch as to what is taking place. And as we view what the Scripture tells us, regarding God’s view of male and female, human beings being created in the image of God, male and female, according to what Genesis tells us, what Christ Himself reaffirmed in Matthew 19, it is very clear from the Scripture as to what are the genders, what are the intended roles and purposes. And God is very clear in that teaching.

Thinking about this and looking at it, it reminded me of the Scripture in Romans 1:24, where Paul describes his first-century world, but it has an application for our 21st-century world with this issue. As Paul describes, “A time where God gave also them up to uncleanness in the lust of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.” Paul describes here activities going on then that speak to today, unclean, unnatural activities that human beings wanted to have, God allowed it to dishonor their bodies among themselves.

The Bible shows us there is a creative order to humanity, to humankind, according to God’s will and purpose. Male and female created He them for a divine spiritual purpose. And when that is changed, when that is denied, as Paul is showing, it was taking place in the first century, we are dealing with a time and a culture that is turning its back ever-increasingly upon God. He goes on in verse 25 to say, “They exchange the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped, and served the creature, rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever, Amen.”

What it means is they serve the creation. They worship the creation. And really at the heart of what we’re seeing, even in the gender identity, the gender wars that are roiling across the culture of America in the Western world is a denial of the created natural order that God placed there and a worship of the creation over what God has intended. For those of us with a biblical worldview, it’s important to have this understanding from what God says, as we face these issues, seek to understand them, and certainly uphold biblical truth.” From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-daily/whats-behind-todays-gender-issues

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Update.

Another week has scampered by, I just don’t know where it went.  The older you are, the faster they go !!

Apart from a doctor visit in the next town not much went on here.  The bus came, took me there and picked me up. The doctor now wants to do a barium x-ray on me. 

After a lot of research, I am pretty sure that my suspicions are right, my little old cat Evie has diabetes. This is why the previous owner told me not to feed her “no-grain’ food, or she will throw it up.  That is because it has more calories in it than grain food, and she can’t tolerate a lot of calories.  They also said they hoped she wouldn’t disturb me in the night.  Well, she gently touches my face about 2.00 am and now I know it is because she feels bad because of her blood sugar and needs to eat. Also her pee was so sticky that it wouldn’t clump the litter, but on her new lo-cal diet fed four times a day, that I have put her on, that seems to be a bit better.

If they had researched more they would have found out what was wrong with her and how to take care of her. And all this was caused by her being fed just dry food most of her life.  She had been handed down through several homes because of this behavior but now she is where she is going to stay.  I won’t throw her away like they did.  You are what you eat, and our pets are completely dependent on us for their correct nutrition. 

Evie sees the vet for tests next week, so I hope that I don’t have to give her insulin shots, but I am hoping that with her new diet of Wellness Core canned food, and real meat, that she will gradually get better.  It is expensive, but you have to pay for quality just like for people. Pay for the right good food now, or pay the doctors and hospitals later.

Speaking of hospitals, my daughter is now home from the rehab after her accident, and will have therapists coming in to help her exercise and get better.

Sherry and I studied this week’s lesson in the church’s Bible study book on Friday morning as usual, but I went to the church on my own because her granddaughter came to pick her up on Saturday.

75 Years After Hiroshima. Repentance: What Does Repent Mean? Update.

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75 Years After Hiroshima, Real Peril, Real Hope

Seventy-five years ago, the United States waged the world’s first nuclear war. Since then, eight nations have detonated 2,056 nuclear weapons, a shocking number. As one analyst warns, nations seem “willfully blind to the peril.” Will humanity survive?   

RomoloTavani/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Jesus foretold a time of great upheaval that only the use of nuclear weapons could bring about—a time shortly before He returns!

As the world marks the 75th anniversary of the ending of World War II with the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and then Nagasaki, what have we learned?

Consider this disturbing account concerning a nuclear test explosion nine years after Hiroshima. On the open Pacific Ocean, it resembled a mystical apparition arising opposite the morning sun. Roused from sleep, the Japanese crew of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru tuna boat crowded on deck to witness a bizarre fireball expanding over the western horizon. A short time later, as the radiant cloud billowed higher into the morning sky, a puzzling fine chalky material began raining all over the ship and the crewmen. The baffling precipitation lasted three hours, sticking to human skin and piling up on deck.

The fine dust, known later as shi no hai (“ashes of death”), was highly radioactive coral debris, which had been pulverized and blasted into the atmosphere by the then-secret 15-megaton Castle Bravo test (America’s largest thermonuclear weapon at the time).

Covered with the deadly ash, the entire crew fell ill with radiation sickness. Seven months later, the ship’s chief radio operator, Aikichi Kuboyama, died of complications from the radiation, becoming the first victim of a next-generation hydrogen bomb. Nine years after Hiroshima, a Japanese citizen was again the victim of atomic weapons.

Since the first test explosion in July 1945, an astonishing 2,056 nuclear devices have been detonated by nine nations. What has this produced?

The Castle Bravo nuclear detonation described above caused the worst radiological disaster in U.S. history—worse even than the former Soviet Union’s Chernobyl accident—raining radio-active debris nearby and in lower levels over much of the world.

In 1961, Soviet military nuclear scientists exploded the largest device in history—the incomprehensible 50-megaton “Tsar Bomba”—chilling even the hardiest of people at the height of the Cold War. Test after nuclear test has blasted massive earthen cavities and heaved multiple tons of radioactive debris into the atmosphere.

Today some 15,000 nuclear weapons exist, with about 9,400 in military arsenals (the remainder are retired or technologically obsolete, awaiting dismantling). Russia holds the most at 4,300, with the United States not far behind at about 4,000.

And what about other nations with operational nuclear weaponry? Besides Russia and America, publicly known nuclear weapons are held (or capable of being produced) by the United Kingdom, China, France, Israel, Pakistan, India, North Korea and possibly Iran.

All this raises the specter of the unthinkable happening—a worldwide nuclear holocaust. Experts estimate that between 100 million and 270 million people would horrifically die within the first hours of a full-scale mutual thermonuclear exchange between Russia and the United States—to be followed by the complete extinction of humanity within a few years.

This leads us to consider: How in the world did we get here? And, more importantly, where do we go from here? Do we face the future with despair or with hope?

Technology arms race—75 years ago

Here’s a short history.

The sailors who caught a glimpse of the enigmatic metal box being welded to the deck of the U.S.S. Indianapolis on July 16, 1945—the same day an atomic bomb was first successfully tested 1,100 miles away in New Mexico—had no idea what its mysterious contents held. As they sailed out of San Francisco Bay, few knew that onboard was a high-tech weapon that would instantly incinerate some 70,000 people in Hiroshima 20 days later.

The weapon was the result of an unprecedented technological, industrial and manufacturing leap. Six years earlier, a letter written by Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard and signed by Albert Einstein changed the course of human history. In early 1939, German scientists had formally confirmed the discovery of nuclear fission. By literally “splitting the atom” in a sub-atomic chain reaction, enormous energy could be released.

Alarmed, several European and American physicists and other scientists were deeply concerned. After a delay caused by the German invasion of Poland, the now-famous Einstein letter finally made its way into the hands of President Franklin Roosevelt on Oct. 11, 1939.

Roosevelt understood the gravity of the situation immediately. The Nazis could not be the first to develop an atomic weapon.

The president promptly set in motion what became known as the “Manhattan Project,” eventually employing more than 120,000 people, to build the first operational nuclear weapon.

Nearly six years later, the New Mexico test with a dense sphere of 13.6 pounds of plutonium-239 heralded in the nuclear age. On July 16, 1945, the “Gadget,” as the test device was called, produced a destructive 22-kiloton blast that shattered windows more than 100 miles away in America’s sparsely populated Southwest.

20th-century nuclear war

The first use of an atomic weapon in warfare commenced a few weeks later on August 6. A modified B-29 Superfortress bomber dropped the first such bomb (named “Little Boy”) on Hiroshima, a Japanese city of some 340,000 people with industrial and military significance.

At 8:15 a.m., 141 lbs. of uranium-235 explosively slammed together, blazed supercritical and detonated at 1,900 feet above the city. Around 30 percent of the populace, 70,000 people, were instantly killed by the blast and radioactive fire. About 70 percent of the city’s buildings were annihilated, even though only a fraction of the uranium (1.7 percent) actually reached critical mass. Thousands more later died painfully of radiation poisoning, burns and related injuries.

The next day President Harry Truman confirmed both America’s new nuclear capacity and the bombing. In a radio broadcast, the president said: “The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima … We knew that our enemies were on the search for it. We know now how close they were to finding it. And we knew the disaster which would come to this nation, and to all peace-loving nations, to all civilization, if they had found it first … We won the race of discovery against the Germans.”

“The danger of total destruction”

Yet, even then, the American president recognized the deadly threat such weapons posed to all of human civilization. He warned: “The atomic bomb is too dangerous to be loose in a lawless world. That is why Great Britain, Canada and the United States, who have the secret of its production, do not intend to reveal that secret until means have been found to control the bomb so as to protect ourselves and the rest of the world from the danger of total destruction” (emphasis added throughout).

Two days later, loaded with the plutonium-fueled “Fat Man” bomb, a second B-29 flew over the Japanese city of Nagasaki. The 11 lbs. of plutonium went supercritical at 1,650 feet. At least 35,000 Japanese civilians died instantly in blazing radioactive horror.

Japan formally surrendered a few days later. In his broadcast of capitulation, Emperor Hirohito recognized the new nuclear threat’s potential of the “total extinction of human civilization.”

The Soviet Union then quickly accelerated its nuclear research program, aided in part by Soviet spies who had infiltrated U.S. top secret research facilities. Four years later, the world reeled in shock on Aug. 29, 1949, at the first successful Soviet nuclear test. Three years after that, the United Kingdom, as a joint participant in the American Manhattan Project, independently detonated its first nuclear weapon in a remote area of Australia.

The deadly nuclear arms race was on.

Importantly, ominous words from the Bible now powerfully came to life. Jesus Christ had foretold a “time of calamity” so destructive that, if not stopped, “not a single person will survive” (Matthew 24:21-22, New Living Translation). The potential expressed in these ancient words had now become reality!

What now?

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, many were gripped by anxiety over the threat of nuclear devastation. Millions of school children practiced survival drills. Public “Fallout Shelters” were stocked and openly marked. Families built bomb shelters. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev almost daily threatened potential atomic war. The United States and Soviet Union faced down each other in a war of words and of nuclear deployment. Missile sites with operational nuclear weapons were established in Turkey by America, then in Cuba by the Russians. Nerves were frayed. Live nuclear exchanges were barely avoided.

Today, the perceived threat of nuclear war has faded. Even the fabled Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has been shifted in some of its focus to the threat of climate change.

Even though many express grave concern about the potential threats of nuclear terrorism and atomic saber-rattling by small nations like North Korea, others seem more worried by pandemics like the coronavirus or economic recovery. As Foreign Affairs magazine recently declared, people seem “willfully blind to the peril” of nuclear-fueled extinction.

But the threat certainly remains. The international Union of Concerned Scientists issued a new call for peace for the 75th anniversary of Hiroshima. It formally reads in part: “Nuclear weapons are the ‘weapons of the devil.’ They could wipe out the human race and all other creatures. They could destroy the environment and turn the globe into a dead planet.”

The short-term threat is real

Nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus was teaching His disciples from the Mount of Olives overlooking the Kidron Valley and the magnificent Jerusalem temple. As He presented His longest recorded prophecy (Matthew 24), He had much to say about our present age.

He outlined a critical sequence of events that would lead to global disruption and cataclysmic upheaval, as noted earlier. But it certainly wasn’t all bad news. This coming traumatic time, rendered in some English translations as “the great tribulation,” would be resolved by the spectacular establishment of the long-awaited Kingdom of God.

Indeed, this Kingdom, the ultimate hope of all humanity, will be ushered in with the open triumphal return of Jesus—then as King of Kings and Lord of Lords—to the very mountaintop from which He was then speaking.

The events Jesus described, as well as many other dramatic statements throughout the Bible, tell of tumultuous and massive upheaval, even the death of billions of people. Only the use of nuclear weapons matches the horrific scope of what is often described.

Why is this important? These times are ahead of us. If trends continue and nations and people continue to move away from the revealed truth of God, life will grow very difficult—even to the point of literal human extinction. But you and whole communities, even whole nations, can seek to turn their lives around, focused on what God has revealed. (See “Can a Nation Turn Back to God?” on page 26.)

Difficult times lie ahead. But there is real hope—hope beyond a nuclear doomsday. May God speed His coming Kingdom!”  From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-magazine/75-years-after-hiroshima-real-peril-real-hope

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Repentance: What Does Repent Mean?

“A major message of the Bible is a call to repent and change. This isn’t popular, but it’s vitally necessary. What is repentance? Why does God require it?

According to the apostle Paul, God “now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30 ).

Repentance is not a popular subject in most of the religious community. Seldom is a modern-day religious audience exhorted to repent.

Yet Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, vigorously preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” and told his audience to “bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:2, 8). Soon after John’s martyrdom, Jesus Christ continued the same theme by preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).

Within weeks following Jesus’ crucifixion, the New Testament Church was founded. Peter’s inspired words to an audience of thousands of devout Jews were, “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).

What does repentance mean? Is it required for salvation? How important is this subject to you? Read more about what the Bible says about repentance in the related articles.”  More at: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/change/repentance/

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Update.

We are still like the Lone Ranger, or bank robbers, with our masks on when out in public.  The lady who lived in the apartment across from me was taken to hospice.  It is such a shame when folks take chemotherapy (chemicals) for cancer when there are better ways with more quality of life. It’s all abut the money.

My health insurance nurse came for her annual visit and declared me fit as a fiddle, and wished all her patients my age (85 this month) were as healthy. 

On Tuesday the apartment manager designated me Official Cat Wrangler and I have their trap.  All the tenants are now faced with eviction if we feed these stray cats. Some of the adult cats were born here and they are not about to leave home.  I have permission to feed them so that they can be trapped, and I caught a silver grey cat that first night.   But Navasota Animal Control wouldn’t take it, they said to take it to a vet and have it PTS at my expense, or dump it in the country.

Neither option sounded right to me, so I found that one a home as a barn cat.  I also have my own trap here, but I don’t dare set the traps because what to do with the cats?  The next few days were taken up with the usual chores and writing to every local rescue and shelter that I could think of.   Finally, I think I have found places for all the cats, so I will start trapping again next week.

The real skinny white one won’t need to be trapped as he will come to me, and I managed to get some Revolution (for fleas, ticks, ear mites, mange mites, heartworm, etc), on him.  I hope that it will make him more comfortable.  I think he must have been someone's pet at one time, such a shame.

On Friday my church neighbor, Cherry, and I studied this week’s Bible study as usual, even though we will not be going to the church for the Bible study on the Sabbath.  I have also been studying with the TV program “Through The Bible” each weekday morning for the last 10 years.  Never can have too much studying, and my main interests are the Bible and nutrition.  “You are what you eat, and what it ate” and  “Let Food be Your Medicine.”

Then I got a phone call from my granddaughter saying that my daughter, Wendy, was in an accident and had been thrown off her golf cart. Because of this Covid thing, no one can go see her in the hospital.  She is basically OK, cuts, bruises and sore head, no concussion, but will have surgery on her mouth today.

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What Is Juneteenth All About? Breast Cancer Facts. All Who Are in the Graves Will Hear His Voice. The Father Raises the Dead. Update.

What Is Juneteenth All About?

by Kevin Epps

“You may have heard of Juneteenth, but what is it about? It’s not listed on most calendars, but most states in the U.S. recognize it. What can we learn from it?

“Juneteenth,” a combination of “June” and “nineteenth,” celebrates the freeing of the last remaining slaves in the United States on June 19, 1865. (It is also sometimes called “Freedom Day” or “Jubilee Day.”) It was on that day that slaves in Texas were finally given their freedom.

Technically, the process started two years earlier with President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, but for the enslaved people of the South, it really began only after the Confederacy was defeated earlier in 1865.

This proclamation was delivered by Union General Gordon Granger:

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves and the connection heretofore existing between them, becomes that between employer and hired labor.”   

Absolute equality

Perhaps the most significant part of the proclamation was the words “absolute equality”—not improved equality. Though it wasn’t realized at that time, these were the right words. From God’s perspective, race relations are about equality, not just improved rights.   More at: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/blog/what-is-juneteenth-all-about/?

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Breast Cancer Facts

“No money, no races, no ribbons, just breast cancer facts.

Before Breast Cancer Awareness month is upon us, I feel that it is important to help you better understand how to prevent this cancer, and quite possibly other cancers as well. The University of Virginia Health System has just published that an unhealthy gut causes breast cancer to become much more invasive and spread more quickly to other parts of the body (1). Mind you, this occurs after a breast cancer diagnosis. Let’s talk about preventing breast cancer based on real scientific data and give you a better picture of the role of healthy intestines in the prevention process. What we swallow ends up defining the health of our intestines. So, medications, food and drinks become our intestines!  Let’s take it from there, because these references are from some of our most respected medical sources.

• Use of antibiotics is associated with increased risk of incident and fatal breast cancer. JAMA. 2004; 291(7):827-35

• Compared to women who don’t drink at all, women who have three alcoholic drinks per week have a 15%higher risk of breast cancer (2).

• A high carbohydrate and starch diet increases the risk of breast cancer. Eating sweets and starches causes a rapid rise in the body’s blood sugar levels, which in turn cues the production of insulin and triggers a biological process that ultimately can influence carcinogenesis by causing cells to proliferate.

No one increases their exposure to breast cancer with one round of antibiotics, one glass of wine, or one baked potato. When we think of carbohydrates we think of grains, and yes, even “whole grains” are sometimes contaminated with fungal poisons called “mycotoxins.” Mycotoxins do increase our risk of and do cause human cancer. It should surprise no one then, that our major exposures to these mycotoxins come from cigarette smoking, alcohol and antibiotics. Each expose us to mycotoxins. Armed with this information, I hope you consider appropriate lifestyle changes that might really have you sleeping more comfortably knowing that your cancer risks can be diminished.”  From: https://knowthecause.com/breast-cancer-facts/?

Related Articles:   Why Antibiotics Should be the Last Line of Defense

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All Who Are in the Graves Will Hear His Voice

John 5:28-29

“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”

Jesus Christ’s statement supports the biblical teaching of the need for a resurrection of the dead. Nowhere does the Bible teach that immediately at death we either go to heaven or hell. Instead it talks about those who are dead waiting in their graves for a future resurrection when they will be brought back to life to receive their judgment.

When all the passages about the resurrection of the dead are put together, it becomes clear that there is more than one resurrection described in the Bible. The resurrection of Jesus Christ to spirit life was the precursor of all other resurrections into God’s family. Then Revelation 20:5 talks about a “first resurrection” of the saints when Jesus Christ returns to begin a thousand years of peace (verse 4). The saints will become immortal in this “resurrection of life.”

Then the “rest of the dead” will not be raised until “the thousand years [are] finished” (verse 5). In this second resurrection to physical life, people come before the judgment seat of God (verses 11-12). The Greek word translated “condemnation” in the New King James Version of John 5:29 is krisis, which means “the process of investigation, the act of distinguishing and separating” (Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1985, “condemn, condemnation”).

In this time of judgment, all will be declared guilty of sin (Romans 3:23), but God will ensure that everyone has a full and complete chance to repent and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). God’s Holy Spirit will be offered to those who repent (Ezekiel 37:14) to prepare them for eternal life in God’s family.

The Bible has much more about resurrections, but it is seldom taught in churches today. Read what the Bible says in our section on “Life After Death” and our booklet The Last Enemy: What Really Happens After Death? From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/all-who-are-in-the-graves-will-hear-his-voice/?

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The Father Raises the Dead

John 5:21

“For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.”

Jesus Christ explained that He had been given the same power His Father had—the power to bring a dead person back to life, and the power to give immortal life to mortal human beings! In fact, the following verse shows that the Father had delegated all judgment to Jesus Christ (verse 22).

We can be very thankful to have Jesus as our judge. He lived a physical life, understands our temptations and knows our weaknesses, and He was willing to give His life to pay for our sins. He is a merciful judge who greatly “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).

Read more about the resurrections in our section on “Life After Death.” From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/the-father-raises-the-dead/?

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Update.

My helper and I did some more work moving my items out of the large storage unit with the heavy lift-up garage door into the smaller storage with a regular house type door.  Oh, it is so much easier, I can go over there and sort stuff out by myself.  But on Friday he suddenly dropped it on me that he couldn’t work for me on Monday and Tuesday mornings because he had a two day job in Anderson, so we had to get the storage unit empty right then, because the end of the month is on Tuesday.  We made it, but it will take some sorting to get it organized.

A trip to College Station to the doctor for a check-up, and all is well, thank goodness.  My daughter had met me so we had a nice lunch together.  While I was there I looked for a TV stand with drawers and found one at the Goodwill.

My cat is still in Conroe at my vet tech SPCA friend’s home, he had a little problem with his neutering surgery healing like it should.  But apparently he is a lot younger than what I was told.  I really wanted an old cat, one that no one would want.

On Friday, once again my church neighbor and I went over the Bible study ready for the Bible study at the church on the Sabbath the next day.  Once again it was on Zoom, and the sermon was a live video of a campmeeting because our pastor had to do a funeral today.

D-Day 6th June, Why Another D-Day Is Needed. The My Pillow Controversy. Which Way? Update.

Why Another D-Day Is Needed

“On D-Day, the Western allies launched an invasion to liberate Europe from Nazi Germany. An understanding of history shows why another invasion is necessary.

U.S. soldiers charge the beaches of Normandy under Nazi fire.  Photo: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

Seventy-six years ago, on June 6, 1944, 160,000 allied troops landed on a 50-mile stretch of beaches on the coast of France. Their goal was to establish a beachhead into Nazi-occupied Europe. This beachhead would then become the launching point for an offensive that would strike at the heart of Nazi Germany, with the goal of destroying it completely.  
The landing, backed up by more than 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft, was one of the greatest successes in military history—though the cost was over 9,000 casualties. Once the beachheads were established, it was only a matter of time until the war was over. Sandwiched between the massive numbers of Russian soldiers in the east and the massive amount of men and military equipment supplied by the United States and Britain in the west, the longstanding German fear of a two-front war was validated. Germany was totally defeated less than a year later.

A brief history lesson

To understand how such an evil regime managed to seize power in Germany, we must understand the end of World War I. At that time, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson used his power and influence to force the allied powers (primarily France and England) to accept an armistice that ended the war on Nov. 11, 1918. Wilson then personally led the negotiations that created the Treaty of Versailles. In his zeal to secure the creation of a League of Nations, Wilson allowed his negotiating partners to dictate the terms of the treaty to Germany. The terms were quite harsh.

Mankind has spent almost 6,000 years, as a whole, rejecting God and His law. This has led from one tragedy to the next. The harshness of the treaty was symbolized by Article 231, the War Guilt Clause. This essentially forced Germany to admit total guilt for the war and all the damages that it caused. This gave the allies the justification for demanding large reparations payments from Germany. In addition, Germany’s military was eliminated, except for a small force for peacekeeping.

The extreme harshness of the treaty caused great resentment in Germany. The allies, in their desire for vengeance, exaggerated the level of Germany’s responsibility. Regardless of the guilt they were forced to admit, Germans began to feel like they were victims of the victors.

Adolf Hitler was able to use that victimhood to gain support and attain power. On Jan. 30, 1933, Hitler was sworn in as chancellor of Weimar Germany. Within a month he had convinced the Reichstag to give him dictatorial powers. He immediately began to build up the military in preparation for war—a war that would bring lebensraum or “living space” to those who he believed deserved more of it.     

On Sept. 30, 1939, Hitler unleashed his blitzkrieg on Poland, beginning World War II in Europe. Within a year, he and his Italian ally, Benito Mussolini, had conquered most of Western Europe, including France where the D-Day operation was destined to take place almost five years later. Meanwhile during the long years of Nazi occupation, the people of the captive nations saw wholesale murder, rape and plunder of their material belongings. But this reality of the Nazi regime paled in comparison to the genocide known as the Holocaust that killed 11 million Jews and other minorities. The Holocaust was the worst genocide in recorded human history.

U.S. troops entering Utah Beach on June 6, 1944 (source: U.S. Army Center of Military History).

A world held captive

Sadly, the evil nature of the Nazi regime is not all that unusual in human history. True, the Nazis took it to a whole new level due to their mastery of technology as a tool for murder—but murder, rape and plundering are a common part of the human story.

This brings up the question, why does God allow this sort of evil to exist? The Bible gives a surprising answer to this question. When God first created man and woman in the Garden of Eden, He gave them the opportunity to learn how to live a way of caring and outgoing concern for others. Had they and their children accepted God’s way of life, the misery that has ensued since that time could have been avoided. Instead, they rejected God by listening to the serpent (Satan) and were ejected from the Garden (Genesis 3).
Since then, the majority of mankind has been held captive to the influence of Satan the devil (2 Timothy 2:26).

Since that time, mankind has spent almost 6,000 years, as a whole, rejecting God and His law. This has led from one tragedy to the next. That is why we have things like the Holocaust and World War II.

Another invasion of liberation

The good news is that there is another D-Day coming—a day of deliverance! The Bible reveals that Jesus Christ will return to earth during a catastrophic worldwide human conflict. He will fight the nations that will be leading this future conflict and forcibly stop their warfare (Zechariah 14:3; Revelation 19:19-21).

The returning Jesus Christ will not just be returning to liberate the world from these destructive armies but will be returning to liberate mankind from its own destructive nature! He will bind the ultimate source of human suffering and deception—Satan the devil (Revelation 12:9; 20:2)—and begin the process of establishing peace throughout the earth, based on His law (Isaiah 2:3).

Though D-Day was critical in liberating Europe from the tyranny of Hitler, this future deliverance will liberate an entire world held captive!”         From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/prophecy/blog/why-another-d-day-is-needed/?

To learn more about why we have evil in this word, read our free booklet, Why Does God Allow Evil and Suffering?

To learn more details about Jesus Christ’s future liberation of humanity, read “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”

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The My Pillow Controversy

”An interesting media story during the coronavirus pandemic brings us a helpful reminder.

Transcript of YouTube https://youtu.be/TIxEWQRf7k4

[Darris McNeely] You remember the pillow guy, the one who spoke at the White House back during the pandemic when we were all shut down and President Trump was having a lot of the businessmen from the various companies in the United States come in and speak and say what they were doing to help with all of the quarantine and the pandemic and all of that to deal with it in the American system. There was a man who sells pillows. His name is Mike Lindell. He was converting his factory over to materials that would help the frontline people who were fighting the COVID-19 virus. And he had a minute to speak in the Rose Garden of the White House.

And he talked about what his company, a pillow company, was doing. My Pillows is what he sells, and I actually have one of them. After he gave his talk about his company, he then had something else to say. And he was very appreciative of the President and his efforts, but then he made a comment as he spoke to the audience and to America in this one little soundbite that he had. He said, “We should be, while we’re shut down and in our homes, we should be spending time with our families. And we should be reading our Bibles.” And that kind of electrified everybody here in the White House in the Rose Garden, the press, the national media. People were shocked, in one sense, the Bible was being invoked at the White House.

Well, he sat down and everybody was a little bit uncomfortable in one sense. The President thanked him, they went on with the business but that’s been on YouTube and it created a bit of a talk for a while but interesting. We should be reading our Bibles at a time of crisis. I think he’s right. 2 Chronicles 7:14, God says this, through Solomon through a time of dedication at the temple, “If my people…” and it was in the context of a time of crisis “…who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

It’s a promise from God spoken through Solomon, during this time of dedication of the temple at a time when there may be a need, and when people would turn to God. And so here’s a man who manufactures and sells pillows in the American capitalist system. With his moment and his time in the national spotlight, he said “we should be reading our Bibles” and turning to God. What if he’s right?”  From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-daily/the-my-pillow-controversy

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Which Way?

“What should we do when we are faced with different choices in our lives?

Transcript of YouTube: https://youtu.be/vKmnq1OOatE

[Steve Myers} There’s no doubt we live in challenging times. So often in our life, we come to a point where there are quite a few options ahead of us. We could go this way, we could go that way. In a sense, we’re standing at a crossroads. We’re at a turning point. And in our life, there may be one or more ways that we could go. So what do you do? How do you come to a good decision when you’re challenged in that way? When we’re challenged in what direction to go? When we’re faced with more than one option? What do you do?

Well, I think of Yogi Berra. Yogi Berra once said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” But wait a second, it’s not that easy.

What do we do? Do we look to our Creator for His guidance and for His direction?

There’s a powerful passage in Jeremiah 6 I think that helps give us directions and really speaks to that idea of standing at the crossroads. What do we do? Well, here’s what Jeremiah 6 says. In fact, here’s what God says, “Thus says the Lord” verse 16, “Stand in the ways and see.” That word for ways can mean crossroads, you’re standing at the crossroads. He says, “Look, ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it.”

So don’t just assume you know the best way to go. Seek God’s will, ask His direction, seek His path. In fact, Jeremiah goes on and it says, “Then you will find rest for your souls, your life, you’ll find the right path when you seek that path.”

And so it’s interesting that it says, “The old paths.” Well, what does that mean? Well, the word of God talks about the path that we need to take. God’s way, His direction. So the old paths are the true paths, the true way, the sure path, the best way, this is the best way to go. And so seek it out. God prescribed the way to go. It’s by His direction, it’s by His standard, it’s by His method. And that is the best way, the good way. It may not be the way everybody else is going, but it’s the way God wants you to go.

So just don’t take it for granted that you know what’s best, seek it out, seek God’s direction, and head down His path, because you’ll be sure to find the ultimate journey’s end.”  From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-daily/which-way

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Update.

As time gets closer to the 11th and my colonoscopy, the more nervous I am getting.  So as not to scare folks who might be facing the same procedure, I won’t go into details about my past experiences with that.  The doctor is trying to arrange for me to be admitted to the hospital for the “cleansing” part, too. 

The stray cats here at the apartments are disappearing.  One was found dead behind the apartments. It seems that someone is poisoning them, how cruel! They needed to be gone, so as not to spread diseases, but not like that.

I miss my cat who is staying in Conroe until after the 11th so that he is safe and cared for while I am getting all this done. He is an indoor cat, like all cats should be. They get FIV and FeLV from the diseased cats outside, or get run over, or kill birds. He has now been vetted (vaccinated, checked for FIV/FeLV and neutered) and I can’t wait for him to come home.  When one is anxious about something it is nice to curl up with your pet, they seem to understand how you feel.  A lot more than people do!

My oldest great grandson graduated.  First, they had a virtual graduation and then yesterday, a ‘real’ one where each student could have 6 people attend.  As his mother was killed by a drunk driver when he was a toddler, my daughter stood in for her, and I know it must have been very moving for her. For some stupid computer glitch reason, I can’t post any of my own pictures in here, only ones in articles.

Finally, a storage unit with a regular, and not garage-type, door became vacant, really close to my small one.  I keep my own excess stuff in the small one, like the extra seats out of my van, some of my dog grooming tools, extra cages, bags of gardening soil and stuff that I don’t need to keep in the apartment.  My large storage unit has a very heavy garage door and it isn’t adjusted right, so I can’t even open it.  I keep stuff for sale in there but with this corona thing I haven’t had to open it recently.  The flea markets are closed down for now and people aren’t going around buying used things.  My helper and I just haven’t had time to move anything yet, but we have until the end of the month, God willing.

Well, we “Zoomed” for the Bible study at church today, even though the church was back to normal for the first time.  Not many people showed up, I guess it got too easy to do it at home. The pastor had been held up in traffic, so others in the congregation went to distribute some things among the neighbors and have the sermon afterwards. My church friend and I left, because she can’t sit very long, and so I watched sermons online.

Sabbath things aren’t quite back to normal, because we didn’t have a potluck today.