10 Questions to Ask Before You Get Married. Living Together Before Marriage. Are Energy Drinks Beneficial?

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10 Questions to Ask Before You Get Married

“Whether you have someone special in your life right now or not, here are 10 questions to consider when it comes to choosing your future spouse.

Marriage is a big deal.

In fact, with the exception of your relationship with God, it might be the most important, most life-altering, most far-reaching commitment you’ll ever make in your entire life.

But the decision to commit to God through baptism is a little more clear-cut than the decision to get married. The overall question on the table with baptism is, “Are you going to commit to God’s way of life or not?”  With marriage, there’s the added wrinkle of sorting out who you should make that commitment with, and how you can be sure he or she is the right person, and what you should be looking for to be sure.

What helps with that process is knowing the right questions to ask—which is why we’ve put together this list of 10 important questions to ask about the person you want to spend the rest of your life with.

Is this a comprehensive list of every question you’ll ever have to consider before marriage? Not by a long shot. But it is a place to start—and if you’re willing to answer these 10 questions honestly, they should leave you with a clearer picture of whether or not you’re on the right track.

1. Does he or she show you love and respect?

That might feel like an obvious question, but it’s easy to mistake mutual attraction for mutual love and respect. Just because you like each other doesn’t mean your relationship is anchored by these two essential qualities, so take some time to really think about it.

Paul told the congregation at Ephesus, “Let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband” (Ephesians 5:33).

We don’t show love and respect by accident. They aren’t things that just happen. To be consistent in these things, we have to be making a daily effort to express them—and to better understand what God says they mean. If the person you want to marry isn’t actively showing you love and respect, then the foundation of your marriage will be crippled from day one.

2. Are you moving toward the same goals?

Amos asked, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” (Amos 3:3). By entering into the marriage covenant with someone, you’re agreeing to walk alongside him or her for the rest of your shared lives.

If you’re each looking toward different destinations in life, your marriage will feel the strain. But if you’re both headed the same direction, working with the same goals in mind and operating by the same values, your relationship will blossom and grow in the process. What do you want out of marriage? What do you want your home life to look like? What are your career goals? If you’re each looking toward different destinations in life, your marriage will feel the strain. But if you’re both headed the same direction, working with the same goals in mind and operating by the same values, your relationship will blossom and grow in the process.

3. How does he or she handle stressful situations?

It’s easy to be the best version of ourselves when life is going well—and in the beginning of a relationship, there will be a lot of easygoing, stress-free moments. It might even seem like things will always be that way—but that’s not how it works. Life will inject stress into your relationship, and it’s important to know how your potential spouse handles it.

Early in our relationship, my (then future) wife and I took a wrong turn during a road trip, which led us to a grid of under-construction city streets. After sunset. In an urban area neither of us had been in before.

It was an eye-opening experience because we both saw how the other handled unexpected stress. We made it out of there alive and (relatively) unscathed, and our budding relationship was stronger because of it.

“He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,” says the book of Proverbs, “and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city” (Proverbs 16:32). Marriage works better when the people in it know how to rule their spirits when times get tough—because they will get tough.

4. How does he or she treat others?

One of the most important observations you can make about the person you’d like to marry is how he or she treats others—especially the ones who can’t really do anything about it. Cashiers. Waiters and waitresses. Employees. Total strangers. Anonymous users on the Internet. When there’s no repercussion for being rude or unkind, what kind of personality do you see on display?

Proverbs describes the ideal woman as someone who “extends her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy” (Proverbs 31:20), and Jesus gave us the Golden Rule: “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them” (Matthew 7:12). Make sure your potential spouse is someone who extends kindness and compassion to others, even when there’s nothing to gain from it.

5. What if nothing ever changes?

What’s the most annoying trait of your potential spouse-to-be?

Got it? Okay. Now, if that trait never changed—if you knew it was going to stay just as annoying and just as consistent for the rest of your human life—would you still want to marry this person?

It’s a dangerous game to go into marriage expecting your partner to change in a specific way. Sure, life is full of change, but for all you know, that specific trait might stay the same forever or even get worse. And if it does, are you going to be okay with that? Or is that a deal breaker? The marriage covenant is a very permanent thing (Matthew 19:9), so it’s important that we don’t bank on change that might never happen.

6. How focused is he or she on self-improvement?

In contrast to the last question, being a Christian means being committed to change. Following God means seeking out where we’re falling short of His expectations and learning how to do better.

One of the qualities any potential spouse should have is the desire to improve as God reveals areas that need work. Make sure you’re looking to enter into marriage with someone who makes the effort to grow as a Christian.

7.a. Women: Is this a man you can follow and support, even when you disagree with him?

Paul wrote an instruction that can be hard to swallow: “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything” (Ephesians 5:22-24).

But there it is. In the marriage relationship, part of the wife’s role is to submit to her husband. Women, that doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to voice your concerns or express your hopes as your husband leads. It doesn’t mean you’re expected to become some kind of mindless slave or you’re expected to submit to things contrary to God’s instruction. But marriage does mean committing to following where your husband leads, even when you think another direction might work better.

Make sure you marry a man you’re not concerned about having to follow.

7.b. Men: Is this a woman whose input you will value and consider, even when you disagree with her?

Paul had something to say to the husbands too: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Ephesians 5:25). It’s that last part that often gets overlooked. Men, our job is to love our wives as Christ loves the Church. That’s a deep kind of love—a love filled with self-sacrifice and unflinching dedication. A husband should make decisions that place higher value on his wife and family than himself.

Even though it’s our responsibility to take the reins of the relationship, we’re not the boss or the dictator. We’re the husband, and we are to give “honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life” (1 Peter 3:7, emphasis added throughout).

Make sure you marry a woman whose thoughts and opinions will help you make better decisions as a leader.

8. What’s his or her relationship with God like?

More tough words from Paul: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God” (2 Corinthians 6:14-16).

That’s not optional. That’s not a matter of preference. That’s not a suggestion, a hope or a best-case scenario. This goes back to having the same goals. If the person you’re interested in doesn’t believe in God or in living His way of life, how can you expect to walk together?

Or if that belief or that way of life is just something on the back burner, something that gets pushed aside in favor of other things, do you think the command to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18) is going to be easier or harder for you?

Marry someone whose dedication to living God’s way of life inspires you to do a better job in your own life.

9. Is he or she willing to put God before you?

Ah. Now we’re into really difficult territory. This isn’t the picture Hollywood paints when it talks about romance—or all those inspirational quotes on social media, for that matter. The world around us says that true love is finding someone who makes you the focal point of his or her entire universe, who puts you before anything else.

When we lose sight of who should come first in our life, the other areas of our life are bound to come undone in the process. Marriage is a lot of things, but it shouldn’t be that. Not in a million years.

God was serious when He said, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). It wasn’t a joke. Nothing—nothing, not even your cherished wife or husband—is to come between you and your relationship with God (Deuteronomy 13:6-8).

Jesus also emphasized that God is to come first when He spoke His famous words, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

When we lose sight of who should come first in our life, the other areas of our life are bound to come undone in the process. “All these things”—all the blessings and benefits of life, which include marriage—come second to God.

If you want a successful marriage, make sure you’re looking for someone who will put God first—and you second.

10. What’s your relationship with God like?

But then, all this assumes one very important point—that God matters to you too. That you’re making the effort to put Him first in your life. That you treat others with compassion. That you’re making the effort to improve and grow as a child of God. Because, well, it’s a two-way street—if you’re asking these questions about the person you want to marry, then hopefully the person you want to marry will be asking these same questions about you.

Whether you’ve had someone in mind as you’ve made your way through this list or you’re still searching for that special someone, one of the best things you can do is to start making sure you can measure up to the questions on this list too. It’s a lifelong project, and there’s always room for each of us to continue improving ourselves—both for our own sake and for our spouse’s.

The book of Proverbs tells us that “he who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the LORD” (Proverbs 18:22), and again, “Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD” (Proverbs 19:14).

Marriage, entered into by the right people and for the right reasons, is an incredible blessing from God, and it’s never too early (or too late) to start preparing for it.

Want more? Check out our articles “5 Traits Men Should Look for in a Godly Woman” and “5 Traits Women Should Look for in a Godly Man.”

Sidebar: How You Might Be Ruining Your Marriage Before It Even Starts

In many countries, around 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce.

That’s not a great success rate—especially when you consider that no one enters into marriage with the hope that the relationship will end in shambles.

Unfortunately, there are social norms and decisions people make every day that can make nurturing a healthy marriage increasingly difficult. What’s more, some of these can impact your future marriage long before you have a wedding date (or even a spouse) in mind.

If you want a strong marriage, here are two pitfalls to avoid—and why:

Cohabitation

Moving in together is so common these days that it almost raises an eyebrow when two people decide not to live together before they get married. Most people look at cohabitation as a way to test-drive a marriage—to see if everything is satisfactory before making a big commitment.

Here’s why that’s a problem:

Marriage isn’t about everything working perfectly. In fact, if there’s one thing you can count on in marriage, it’s things not working perfectly. If you’re cohabiting—if you’re just two people living together, bound by nothing more than a feeling of affection—it’s a lot easier to walk away when things get tough.

Marriage—at least the kind of marriage God intended for us to have—is a binding commitment between two people. It’s an agreement that when things get difficult, the husband and the wife will put in the effort to make things work.

You can’t test-drive that kind of commitment.

More than that, God designed the sexual union to exist between a husband and wife exclusively. The Bible says, “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4). Sex serves as a powerful bond between husband and wife—but the more potential marriages you try and test-drive, the more diluted that bond will be when you finally say, “I do.”

Sexualized content

This one umbrella covers a lot of territory. Yes, we’re talking about outright pornography here, but also anything that uses the idea of sex as a selling point or in a provocative way. That includes everything from sex scenes in popular movies to advertisements that want you to focus less on the product and more on the attractive model displaying it.

Understand that the world is selling you a false (and largely impossible) concept of what sex is and how it works. The more you let that imagery in—the more you believe what the world tells you about how sex should look—the more disappointed and frustrated you’ll be when your own marriage fails to live up to those impossible expectations.

Sex is a fantastic, awesome gift designed by God to bolster and enhance a marriage, which is why Satan is eager to cheapen and trivialize it. You don’t have to be married to negatively impact your future marriage—but the good news is, the opposite is also true. You don’t have to be married to set your future marriage up for success. Making good decisions now—and avoiding the bad ones—can make all the difference later.” From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/relationships/dating/questions-before-you-get-married/

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Living Together Before Marriage.

“More couples are living together before marriage. But statistics show the “cohabitation effect” is not what they expected. What does our Creator say?

Despite the fact that individuals who live together before marriage have a greater rate of divorce than those who do not, many who read the statistics simply don’t believe it. They do not believe their chances of divorce increase if they live together before marriage.

Living-together facts

Surveys show that there is a negative “cohabitation effect”—couples who live together before marriage “tend to be less satisfied with their marriages—and more likely to divorce—than couples who do not” (Meg Jay, New York Times, “The Downside of Cohabiting Before Marriage,” April 14, 2012).

In spite of this, the majority of people who responded to this article declared they would still choose to live together before marriage. Many expressed the belief that living together before marriage could help them better determine whether they would be happily married. They believe their experiences will be different—they will be the exceptions to the rule.

Some felt there must be something wrong with the statistics because it would only stand to reason that living together before marriage makes sense. After all, you want to be sure your love is strong enough to eventually marry, and the only way to find out is to live together, or so many believe.

Whatever the justification, it seems that living-together relationships don’t often work out. Various surveys tell us that at least 50 percent and up to 70 percent of those who eventually marry have lived with someone else before marriage. The overwhelming reason given for cohabiting before marriage is to test the relationship before making the commitment of marriage.

From a human perspective, the rationale for living together before marriage may make sense. But what if living together really isn’t better for strengthening your future marriage? Let’s ask a few questions to help find the answer.

What are the health risks?

Is having a sexual relationship before marriage healthy?

There are at least 19 million new cases of sexually transmissible diseases in the United States every year. Women are infected two times more often than men.

Other studies show that 80 percent of young people are sexually active before marriage. It is no secret that sexual activity before or outside of marriage brings a high risk of contracting a sexually transmissible disease. By their late teenage years, at least three-fourths of all U.S. teens have had intercourse, and more than two-thirds of all sexually experienced teens have had two or more partners (“Sexual and Reproductive Health: Women and Men,” October 2002, guttmacher.org).

Each year, about 12,000 women get cervical cancer in the United States. Almost all of these cancers are related to the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV). This cancer often takes years to develop after a woman becomes infected.

Once infected by an STD, your chances of passing it along to a new partner are extremely high! And with so many people having multiple sexual partners, the spread of STDs has become almost epidemic.

And these factors don’t even take into consideration the emotional and psychological issues associated with disease or the impact of unwanted pregnancy. Are these chances you’re willing to take?

Involvement versus commitment

Are you sure you want to live with someone who is not committed?

Are you sure you want to live with someone who is not committed?Living together is involvement. Marriage is commitment. “Studies done by Pamela Smock, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Michigan, reveal that there might be a fundamental difference in the way men and women perceive cohabitation: Women tend to view it as a step before marriage to that partner, whereas men tend to see living together as something they do before making any commitment” (“Living Together: Do Men and Women Perceive It Differently?” ivillage.com).

To illustrate, consider the advice one young man was given by another man: “Why buy the cow if you get the milk free?” Are women compromising their values in search of possible future security, while actually reducing the chances of a committed marriage?

In response to The New York Times article, a male who was only interested in sexual relations stated, “Of course this would be simpler if my girlfriend and me [sic] could just continue as is but, as is always the case (in my relationships) she wants to build a nest for us.” Perhaps this woman should reconsider their relationship altogether!

Couples who moved in together because it was convenient or because they felt they needed a trial period are the ones who tend to get divorced most often if they marry.

Additional consequences of living together before marriage

Have you considered the consequences of having a child out of wedlock?

The Witherspoon Institute, a conservative think tank out of Princeton, New Jersey, issued a report called “Marriage and the Public Good: Ten Principles.” They identify four threats to marriage, including cohabitation arrangements. The report states that these arrangements “are not a good alternative to marriage but are a threat, and they surely do not provide a good environment for the rearing of children.”

Nearly 40 percent of babies born in the United States in 2007 were delivered by unwed mothers, according to data released by the National Center for Health Statistics. The highest percentage was among women 25 to 29 years old. Can you be sure your “significant other” will continue to live with and provide support for the family after a child is born if he isn’t committed enough to marry you?

To learn more about the problems with living together before marriage, read “Is Cohabitation Before Marriage a Good Idea?”

Is marriage sacred?

According to some, marriage isn’t a sacred ritual anymore. To them, it is just a man-made step in a relationship, so it shouldn’t matter if people live together before marriage. If evolution did blindly develop these wonderful bodies we call male and female, that might be so.

However, if God—who also designed marriage and family—is our Creator, then we must consider His instructions. His commands forbidding sexual relationships outside of the bonds of marriage are not hard to find or understand (Exodus 20:14; Galatians 5:19; 1 Corinthians 6:18).

Furthermore, if you believe, as the apostle Paul did, that the loving bonds of marriage offer a beautiful analogy of Jesus Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:31-32), give careful thought. Before living together, seriously think of the consequences—to your emotions, to your health, to your chances of marital success and to your relationship with God.

Most of those who read the foreboding statistics about the cohabitation effect pay no attention. It seems each person feels his or her situation is different—he or she will be one of those who will find true lasting happiness. But our loving Creator knows that is not true. He wants to save us from the negative consequences. How would you explain your choice to Him?

Avoid the cohabitation effect and instead choose the path supported by research. Choose the path ordained and supported by the Creator of all mankind! As one happy husband wrote: “My wife was a great treasure which I had to patiently wait for. She was burned into my heart and mind as this priceless jewel from the start.”

For more on the appropriate relationship before marriage, see the article “Seventh Commandment: You Shall Not Commit Adultery.”   From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/relationships/marriage/living-together-before-marriage/

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Are Energy Drinks Beneficial?

“What effects do Red Bull and Monster brand energy drinks have on artery function and athletic performance?

Key Takeaways

• One can of Red Bull has been shown to increase blood pressure by 3 or 4 points within 90 minutes of consumption. If you have elevated blood pressure day in and day out, that bump means a 20 percent higher risk of dying from a stroke and a 12 percent higher risk of dying from a heart attack.
• Energy drink manufacturers skirt the FDA’s imposed limit on caffeine in sodas by claiming their beverages are “natural dietary supplements,” not sodas.
• Despite having the same amount of caffeine as coffee, Red Bull results in significantly higher average blood pressure—about five points higher.
• Energy drinks may impair artery function and increase risk of our hearts flipping into a fatal rhythm.
• At greatest risk are families with a history of sudden cardiac death or fainting. Energy drinks may unmask Long QT syndrome, a potentially life-threatening genetic condition.
• Energy drinks were originally marketed to athletes—very successfully—but researchers found no improvement in endurance or resistance training compared with just sugar water and caffeine or straight caffeine, respectively. Energy drink consumption does seem to increase inflammation, though.
• Unlike nitrate-rich vegetables, energy drinks raise resting blood pressure, which is the opposite effect of beets and greens, which improve athletic performance and reduce blood pressure at the same time.”        See YouTube video and article at: https://nutritionfacts.org/2022/12/29/are-energy-drinks-beneficial/?

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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.

Should Christians Keep Mardi Gras? Let This Mind Be in You. Acts for Today's Disciples. Update.

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Police stand next to a pickup truck that slammed into a crowd and other vehicles, causing multiple injuries, coming to a stop against a dump truck.  — Police on Sunday identified the intoxicated man who allegedly plowed into a crowd enjoying a Mardi Gras parade. NEW ORLEANS (AP)

Should Christians Keep Mardi Gras?

“Mardi Gras has its roots in religious tradition. But what does the Bible say?

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

[Steve Myers] “Colorful costumes and masks and pageantry. That’s all surrounding Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras is one of those traditions where…sometimes I’ll talk about the fact that it reminds me of the three Ds. There’s dancing in the streets, there’s drunkenness and debauchery. That kinda categorizes Fat Tuesday. That’s literally what the term Mardi Gras means.

Religiously it’s called Shrove Tuesday because that’s the day before Lent. Lent of course being more of a Catholic kind of a tradition that’s rooted in pagan holidays. And what would happen at Lent is that you would give up something for Lent. And so before you give something up, you certainly want to overindulge and fatten up and, you know, get into food and drink and all those things so that you can then put that behind you and repent for the rest of this religious season.

But when you really think about the implications of that religiously, it’s really ridiculous. In modern carnival traditions and celebrations all around the world and whether it’s in New Orleans or Rio or Nice, France. These are areas where they’ll often celebrate for weeks, leading up to that time. When we lived in New Orleans for a while, I remember they talk about Fat Tuesday, and then instead of Ash Wednesday, they’d call it Trash Wednesday because there was so much junk leftover from these Mardi Gras celebrations. Well, is that something we should have any part in?

These Catholic traditions that are not really based in the Bible at all. I mean, there’s a couple of interesting aspects when you consider this. I was thinking of the passage that’s found in Romans 13:13. It says the basic things. As Christians it says, “Let’s walk properly in the day, not in revelry or drunkenness.”

Of course on TV, they’ll show the parties and the fun but they don’t show all of those types of things because that would certainly take away from the tourism of all those areas of the world. Romans goes on, “don’t walk in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.” And it’s kind of a reminder, those are the things we should give up, but that’s not good enough.

This whole aspect of Mardi Gras and Lent, I think it is something that miss directs us to what the truth of God’s word really is. Yes, we’ve got to give up lewdness and drunkenness and revelry and all those types of things that are against God’s way of life. But Romans points out, it’s not just about giving something up. We have to put something on and so verse 14 in Romans 13 says, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust.”

And so that’s an important aspect of Christianity, true Christianity. We not only put off those things that are wrong, but we’ve got to take it a step farther. We’ve got to put on everything that’s right. So when you begin to hear about Mardi Gras celebrations, and all of those types of things in this upcoming Lent season that this religious world will keep, remember, it’s not rooted in the Bible. In fact, let it remind you of the fact we need to put off the ways of the world, but more importantly then, put on Jesus Christ.”  From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-daily/should-christians-keep-mardi-gras

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Let This Mind Be in You

Philippians 2:3-5

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

The goal of Christian conversion and transformation is to become like Jesus Christ—to think like Him, to love others as He does, to have His mind in us.

Paul lists some of the changes that are necessary for a natural, selfish human mind to become like Jesus Christ’s mind. We must remove selfish ambitions and “empty pride,” replacing them with “lowliness of mind.”

“The Greek word suggests a deep sense of humility. Although the pagan writers used the word negatively, in effect to mean abjectness or groveling, Paul did not. What Paul was calling for was an honest evaluation of one’s own nature. Such an evaluation should always lead to glorification of Christ” (NKJV Study Bible, comment on Philippians 2:3).

Elsewhere Paul says it is not wise to compare ourselves with others (2 Corinthians 10:12). But when we do assess ourselves and do consider others, we should “be severe upon our own faults and charitable in our judgment of others” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary, comment on Philippians 2:1-1”1).

For more about developing the mind of Jesus Christ, see “Christ in Us: How Does He Live in You?” From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/let-this-mind-be-in-you/?

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Acts for Today's Disciple, Part 6

“A scene from the early days of the Church offers us a lesson about effectiveness for us today.

Transcript of YouTube: https://youtu.be/B-sNfZrgbm0

[Darris McNeely] “One of the things we sometimes ask ourselves in our role as a disciple, a follower of Jesus Christ, how effective are we? Are we really accomplishing something with our obedience, with our works, with our service to people, to God, to His Church?

You know, the story of the Book of Acts and the role of the disciples in the early church can help us come to an answer on that question.

There was a scene in the early days of the church in the fourth chapter of the Book of Acts where persecution begins to come out against the church in its earliest days. Peter and John have healed someone in the temple. And that creates a great deal of following and people are listening to their message about the kingdom and about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and His role as their Savior.

The Sanhedrin, the ruling body of the Jews in the temple, they don’t like it. They bring Peter and John before them and they question them. They then tell that “We’re doing this all in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the one whom you kill.” The Jewish leaders don’t like it. They kind of give them a little slap on the wrist and say, “Don’t do this anymore.” But they say, “Well, we have to. We will.” They leave. They go back to their followers. And they recount to them what they have done.

And as they’re in a small group setting in Chapter 4, the church kind of rejoices over what has happened, and the fact that the power of God is quite evident in the actions that they are taking. And they make this statement. It is actually a prayer in Acts 4, beginning in verse 27, 28, and 29 here. They say to God, “Lord, now pay attention to their threats and grant to your servants to speak Your message with great courage.”

The disciples were threatened by the Jewish leaders. The disciples are praying to God, “Please give us courage while You extend Your hand to heal, and to bring about miraculous signs and wonders through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” This was their prayer to God in a collective prayer. When they had prayed, it says, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God courageously.

It’s like God took His little finger and just kind of reached down and shook the room that they were all gathered in and praying in to give them an encouragement that, “You’re on the right track. What you’re doing is of Me. I’m supporting it. Keep doing what you’re doing.” And they were encouraged. They were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

The disciples in their early days in the church, they were a praying group of people. When they were faced with a difficulty, opposition to what they were doing, they got together, they read Scripture, and they prayed to God. And they were effective. And their works were works of God and God supported that. And there was fruit born from what they did.

When we look at that in our own life, how effective are we? How effective are we in the larger church?

This is a good story to go back to, to recognize the elements of what they did. They supported one another, they read Scripture, and they prayed to God. And that was the core of their plan. That was their strategic plan. And God was behind them at that time. And they were effective. Something to think about, when we worry and wonder about what we’re doing, what you’re doing with your life and your service before God.”  From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-daily/acts-for-todays-disciple-part-6

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Update

Bible study on Sunday afternoon was cancelled because the pastor was sick.

Monday was the Brazos Valley Strengthening Relationship seminar’s last meeting, and she brought us some chicken and veggie stew, and we each were given a certificate and gift card for completing the course. This was funded by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.

Tuesday, my daughter came over here with her two dogs and we took all three to the park.  One of her males, another American Eskimo, came from the same house as my little skittish little Foxie, and they seemed pleased to see each other, but Foxie thought that Wendy’s other dog, a male Aussie Shepherd, was the bee’s knees.  They romped and played the best way they could on leashes, that is until we got back here, then she guarded me and wouldn’t let the other dogs near me. 

On Wednesday, another Aggie, from Family and Community Health A&M University came to give us a preview of a new health program that they are starting here.  We were issued pedometers and now they will be coming twice a week and trying to get these old seniors to walk around the block!  We are supposed to walk 5-10 minutes a day to get into the habit.  I walk quite a bit anyway, exercising the dog.

As I was still feeling a bit droopy from my cold, so I just took cookies to the church potluck.  The sermon was about “It Takes Courage, It Takes Heart”.  About the many examples of people’s courage over the years.  King David, Daniel, Jesus Christ, the negro underground railroad, and he even mentioned my going through the bombing during the war.  I told him later, that it didn’t take any courage, because as a child I didn’t know any different, I just accepted it as a part of life.

Each day is different for little scared Foxie, she will be fine, peeing outside like she should, then she will hear the big trash truck, a noisy train, or people shouting, and she will be all shaky and won’t pee for the rest of the day.

Worldwide Decrease In Crop Diversity. 3 Myths in the Noah Movie. Simon Bolivar. Update.

 

For Scripture Sunday:

Vertical News: Worldwide Decrease In Crop Diversity

"What do global agricultural trends really mean to us on a daily basis?

Source: sxc.hu/pitrih

"United Nations data finds that diversity in varieties of global mainstay crops has and is decreasing, by 75% during the 20 ^th century, and will decrease by another third by 2050. This “globalized diet” consists mostly of wheat, rice, potatoes and sugar, as well as soybean, which was not a staple crop just fifty years ago. Crops in decline include millet, rye, yam, sweet potato, and cassava.

Experts feel that this opens up the world to two dangers; the danger of increased non-communicable diseases like diabetes and heart disease (the result of increased reliance on starchy crops and processed foods as dietary mainstays) and the very real crisis of major, worldwide crop failures. The concern is that plant breeding is controlled by a small number of multinational companies, which focus on a limited number of plant varieties, this further limiting genetic resilience to disease (Mark Kinver, “Crop Diversity Decline ‘Threatens Food Security,’” BBC News at BBC.com, March 3, 2014).

Most of us don’t actively participate in agriculture as a career choice and from the perspective of going to the grocery store, the scale of global food production can seem so immense as to be impossible to comprehend. However, it all comes down to basic facts: humans have to eat and our food has to come from somewhere. If that chain breaks down, many people will suffer.

The book of Revelation outlines events that will occur before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and among those events are worldwide famines. It’s important as a young person to keep an eye on agricultural as well as moral trends in the world because that knowledge will help us to be watchful and alert and actively obedient to God when Jesus Christ does return.

“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, NKJV).

In the mean time, our prayers are very valuable when we pray for God’s mercy on our individual nations and all the nations of the world that food will be accessible to those who need it, which is all of us, every day!" article by Amanda Stiver. From:  http://www.ucg.org/youth/vertical-news-worldwide-decrease-crop-diversity/  See comments, too.

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3 Myths in the Noah Movie

"The controversial Noah movie has been called biblically inaccurate, but visually stunning. Read this review to learn about the major problems with this movie.

Noah, starring Russell Crowe, has hit theaters.

Life, Hope & Truth published a blog post analyzing the film based on early reviews by individuals who had prescreened it: “Read This Before Seeing the Noah Movie.” The author of that blog, Arnold C. Mendez Sr., is one of our experts on scientific issues and has studied and taught the Noah story for many years. On March 30 I was able to view Noah on behalf of Life, Hope & Truth. After viewing the film, I would like to offer our readers further analysis of this controversial movie.

The bottom line

Darren Aronofsky’s Noah can be summarized very simply: manipulation and mockery. The film very blatantly manipulates the story of Noah by adding many fictional elements that go far beyond reasonable dramatic license.

Don’t let Russell Crowe’s portrayal of Noah form your mental image of this important man. Read about the real Noah in Genesis 6-9.  Rob Moore, the vice chairman of Paramount Pictures, was very candid about the film: “The single most important piece of information was that this was not attempting to be a 100% retelling of the story from Genesis. … A 100% literal retelling would not make a great film” (“Films Are His Flock,” Time, March 31, 2014, p. 55). In other words, this was an attempt to make money and entertain people—not to educate them about the Bible.

Unlike the movie, our mission is to help our audience accurately understand the Bible and its message. So, when something like this comes along that could lead to a distorted view of the Bible, we feel responsible to speak out."  Complete article at: http://lifehopeandtruth.com/prophecy/blog/3-myths-in-the-noah-movie/

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Simon Bolivar

An Amazing Fact: "Simon Bolivar was South America’s greatest general. He is known as “the great liberator” because his victories against Spain won independence for Venezuela, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and a country that bears his name, Bolivia.

In 1824, after Bolivar helped Peru win its freedom from Spain, the great general called for a convention to draft a constitution for the new country. After the convention, a delegation approached Simon Bolivar and asked him to become their first president. He gracefully declined, saying that he felt someone else deserved the honor more than he. But the people still wanted to do something special for Bolivar to show their appreciation for all he had done to free them from the oppression of Spain. So they offered him a gift of a million pesos, a fabulous fortune in those days.

Bolivar thoughtfully accepted the gift and then asked how many slaves there were in Peru. He was told that there were about 3,000. “And how much does a slave sell for?” he wanted to know. “About 350 pesos for an able-bodied man,” was the answer. “Then,” said Bolivar, “I will add whatever is necessary to this million pesos you have given me, and I will buy all the slaves in Peru and set them free.” He added, “It makes no sense to free a nation unless all its citizens enjoy freedom as well.”

The Bible teaches that Jesus came into the world to set captives free. Near the beginning of His earthly ministry, Jesus attended the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath day and read from Isaiah’s prophecy about Himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18, 19).

On another occasion, when the Jewish leaders claimed that they were in bondage to no one, Jesus explained that “whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). But He assured the people, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (verse 36). There is true freedom in Christ alone.   Are you truly free?

KEY BIBLE TEXTS: Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. -Romans 6:18

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Update:

The second batch of antibiotics have made me feel a bit more like my old self, so we have been getting a few jobs done around here.

Nala's new playmate, Chelsea the tortoiseshell cat, is now out of hiding, and has the run of the house.  But she and Nala don't have anything to do with each other. Although, Nala has settled down immensely now, and isn't bugging me for attention all the time.  So that's a good thing.

We are still gradually rebuilding the fence that goes between the properties, but then we had to fix a water leak in a water line that goes to the guest house.  Unfortunately it was on this side of the meter, so we have an enormous water bill!!  That leak caused another problem which we haven't fixed yet.  It washed away a drain support that hadn't been installed properly.

It is very depressing that the known burglars who broke into my house when I was in the hospital, still have not been arrested.   Golly, what takes so long?

Ray's back was hurting, so Jay and I went to church without him.  It was a pleasant service even though many were absent, and a great potluck afterwards.  Jay took an angel food cake and strawberry pudding that he had made. (In England we call that a "trifle".)  My contribution was an organic beef Shepherd's Pie for the day.

Your World in 2014. All the Marbles. Misfits. Internet Addiction. Next World Superpower. Oregon Territory.

 

For "Scripture Sunday":

Your World in 2014 - Part 1

December 31, 2013 - "Take a giant step step in "discerning this time" by asking one critical question about today's world events. Get smart about the world."

Transcript at: http://www.ucg.org/beyond-today-daily/christian-living/your-world-2014-part-1

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Your World in 2014 - Part 2

Thursday, January 2, 2014 - "With the turning of a new calendar year our minds turn to taxes and finances. How can you finally get smart about your personal finances?"

Transcript at: http://www.ucg.org/beyond-today-daily/christian-living/your-world-2014-part-2

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Your World in 2014 - Part 3

January 3, 2014 - "Time to get smart about the most important part of our life. Let's get smart spiritually!"

Transcript at: http://www.ucg.org/beyond-today-daily/christian-living/your-world-2014-part-3

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He Who Dies With All the Marbles - Still Dies

"Little boys and girls still play games with marbles. In most cases, the goal is to get the most and the best marbles.

Somehow these lessons carry on into our life. We want to get great wealth, build bigger edifices and stockpile more gold than anyone else. Funny thing about marbles is if you do have all of them there is nobody to play with because nobody has any marbles. In life we know we "can't take it with us" when we die.

The Bible gives the totally accurate picture of the dilemma of one who wanted to build bigger barns, but that night his life was required of him (Luke 12:16-21). All that he gained now belonged to someone else. It is foolish to lay up treasure on earth and neglect the most important need, which is to be rich toward God. The Bible gives clear instruction that we must save, even for our grandchildren (Proverbs 13:22). But a clear perspective of priorities must be in place so God comes first."   From: http://www.ucg.org/this-is-the-way/he-who-dies-all-marbles-still-dies/

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Be a Champion of Misfits

Anne Sullivan with Helen Keller. Source: New England Historic Genealogical Society

"Do you feel you don’t fit in and that you are a misfit? Then read on and discover how much your life matters to God and others.

Helen Keller, who was deaf and blind, published 14 books, met every U.S. president from Calvin Coolidge to John F. Kennedy, visited 35 countries on five continents and was a champion for the blind. The world knows the story of Helen Keller and how her remarkable teacher, Anne Sullivan, turned this wild, hopeless young girl’s life around.

Anne Sullivan could truly have been considered a lost cause—a misfit. She had everything against her. Anne’s mother died when she was young. Her father was a drunk, and was very cruel to the children. He eventually abandoned his children. Anne, half blind herself, was placed in a poorhouse along with people who were considered insane, where survival was a daily chore. She watched her beloved brother die there, and grew more defiant and hostile.

Anne did not allow her childhood to permanently embitter her heart. Instead, she became a teacher and mentor to Helen Keller, who had no hope either until Anne Sullivan came along. Anne Sullivan became a champion of a misfit. There is another example of a champion listed in the Bible—King David.  David, Champion of Misfits:"  Complete article at: http://www.ucg.org/blog/be-champion-misfits/ by Janet Treadway

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Vertical News: Internet Addiction

Source: sxc.hu/mzacha

"Brain pathway research proves that excessive use of the Internet can become addictive.

Remember that episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation when everyone got addicted to a holographic video game? It was a classic episode that brought up an interesting idea, could technology become as addictive as a drug?

Turns out it’s likely that it can, according to researchers from Missouri University of Science and Technology, Duke University Medical Center and the Duke Institute of Brain Sciences. Using data gathered from 69 college students during the two month study, they found that there is a connection between certain kinds of use of the Internet and addictive behavior.

The study concluded that 5 to 10 percent of all Internet users show web dependency, and that brain imaging shows similar brain reward pathways as in drug addiction. Scientists admitted that further research is needed to understand if other factors, such as mental disorders, influence those who show signs of excessive Internet usage. (“Heavy Internet Use May Lead to Addictive Behaviors,” Voice of America at VoANews.com, December 26, 2013).

Any kind of addiction is a serious issue. With technology, always be sure to take a break once in a while. Determine if your use of the Internet, via smartphone or other device, is obscuring important areas of your life like outdoor activities, good health habits, relationships with family, friends, and, most especially, with God. If so, take steps to limit usage and regain balance."  From: http://www.ucg.org/youth/vertical-news-internet-addiction/

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The program on WGN TV this morning:

The Next World Superpower

"The United States will not remain the world's preeminent power. What will occur and why? Discover surprising answers."

Transcript at: http://www.ucg.org/beyond-today-program/kingdom-god/next-world-superpower

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On This Day:

House resolves to stop sharing Oregon, Jan 5, 1846:

"Boldly reversing its long-standing policy of "free and open" occupation in the disputed Oregon Territory, the U.S. House of Representatives passes a resolution calling for an end to British-American sharing of the region. The United States, one congressman asserted, had "the right of our manifest destiny to spread over our whole continent."

In different circumstances, such aggressive posturing might have led to war. The British, through their Hudson Bay Company at the mouth of the Columbia River, had a reasonable claim to the disputed territory of modern-day Washington. In contrast, the only part of the Oregon Territory the U.S. could legitimately claim by settlement was the area below the Columbia River. Above the river, there were only eight recently arrived Americans in 1845. Nonetheless, the aggressively expansionistic President James Polk coveted Oregon Territory up to the 49th parallel (the modern-day border with Canada). Yet Polk was also on the verge of war with Mexico in his drive to take that nation's northern provinces, and he had no desire to fight the British and Mexicans at the same time.

Polk had to move cautiously. Some of his fellow Democrats in the Congress pushed him to be even more aggressive, demanding that Americans control the territory all the way up to the 54th parallel, approximately where Edmonton, Alberta, is today. For five months, debate raged in Congress over the "Oregon controversy," but the House resolution in January made it clear that the U.S. was determined to end the joint occupation with Great Britain.

Luckily, the British agreed to abandon their claim to the area north of the Columbia and accept the 49th parallel as a border. The Hudson Bay Company already had decided to relocate its principal trading post from the Columbia River area to Vancouver Island, leaving the British with little interest in maintaining their claim to area. Despite the cries of betrayal from the advocates of the 54th parallel, Polk wisely accepted the British offer to place the border on the 49th parallel. The new boundary not only gave the U.S. more territory than it had any legitimate claim to, but it also left Polk free to pursue his next objective: a war with Mexico for control of the Southwest."

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Yesterday:

After I had fed the animals, Wendy and I had our Saturday phone call, then I got ready for church.  I hadn't heard from Jay, so I assumed he wasn't going.

The Bible reading was the continuation of Genesis 41:1 – 44:18 about the Pharaoh's dreams which only Joseph could interpret, so Joseph was made a ruler over Egypt.  He made great food storehouses as he had interpreted the dreams to mean that there would be a terrible famine after 7 years.  During that famine, his brothers came to him, not recognizing him, wanting to buy food.  But the youngest brother was not with them.  Joseph sold them food, but said they had to return with the the youngest brother when they returned for more food. When they did, Joseph sneaked a silver cup into the youngest, Benjamin's sack, and said that whosoever had the cup would be his servant. 

The other Bible reading was about King Solomon suggesting cutting the baby in half, in I Kings 3:15 – 4:1

The song service was great, as usual, and the message was about all the different times that God forgave Israel for breaking his covenants, and practicing pagan rituals. Then the tasty potluck with good fellowship.

Ray took care of the SPCA Cat Habitat in the afternoon, and when he returned he told me that Peekers had been adopted.  He also said that he heard that there was an older couple who wanted to adopt Nala.  I will miss her a lot and that will be a sad day for me, but for her hopefully, a happy day.

Pricey Postage. Ages of Rocks. Safer Sofas. Tiny Terrariums. Pure Wine. Statin Stats. First VP To Resign. First Labor Day.

 

For "Summary Saturday", or News, Some New, Some Old:

Going up: First-class stamps to cost 49 cents soon

Pony Express-stamped letter, 1860, courtesy of the National Postal Museum

Mailing a letter is about to get a little more expensive. The new rate is effective Jan. 26.

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How do we know how old a rock or fossil is?

"Dear Dave,
How do geologists determine the age of an ancient volcanic eruption or a glacial advance? How do we know how many years ago Tyrannosaurus lived?" Bertina H., Saint Louis, MO

"Bertina, Geologists, paleontologists and archaeologists often want to know the age of a soil deposit, a rock layer (such as a lava flow), or the fossils in the rocks. We speak of two types of 'ages'. 1. Relative age is the relation in time between rock layers (and the fossils they may contain). Relative age can tell us that a particular rock layer is older or younger than another. It CAN'T tell us if a rock or fossil is 3 million or 300 million years old. 2. Absolute age is the time in years before the present time. If the rock can be dated at all, the absolute age can be determined. An example: a lava flow is determined to be 32.4 million years old (almost always with some imprecision, expressed. for example, as " ± 0.2 million years").
This week I'll deal with relative age. I'll tackle absolute age in a future blog post. That will help us understand how long ago Tyrannosaurus lived.
There are some basic laws that state the principles of relative ages of rocks. Geologists apply these to the rock record to determine sequences of time.

The "Law of Superposition" says that any undisturbed sedimentary rock layer that lies above another is the younger of the two. This principal was formalized in the mid-1600s by a Dane, Nicolas Steno, who is among the founders of modern geology.

Steno's Law of Superposition says that the rocks higher in the stack are younger than those below. Sounds like common
sense now, but this was a radical thought in the 1650s, when all sedimentary rocks were held to be the same age: deposited by Noah's Flood over a period of 40 days and 40 nights.

More at: http://askdoc-rock.blogspot.com/2013/07/how-do-we-know-how-old-rock-or-fossil-is.html

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Calif. Ends Rule That Poisoned Us with Flame Retardants

"The reason most furniture sold in this country contains flame retardants is a 1975 California regulation called TB 117, which requires furniture foam to withstand an open flame for 12 seconds before igniting. Because the vast majority of furniture fires start from cigarettes, which smolder rather than flame, the open flame standard has been shown to be largely ineffective at curtailing furniture fires. In other words, much of our furniture contains flame retardants that end up in our bodies and our children’s bodies, but that do not protect us from fires.

Thankfully, last week California revised its flammability regulations, changing them from a chemical-dependent open flame standard, to a smolder standard that can be met with non-toxic fabrics. Taking effect starting in January 2014, the new rule eliminates the need for furniture makers to inject the chemicals into upholstered chairs, sofas, and other items.

Given the widespread presence of flame retardants in consumer products containing foam, this change comes none too soon. As one small reminder of the problem, here is a chilling study by the Center for Environmental Health, which found these toxic chemicals in 38 out of 42 pieces of children’s furniture that were purchased and evaluated."  More at: http://earthjustice.org/blog/2013-november/calif-ends-rule-that-poisoned-us-with-flame-retardants

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Magical Miniatures: How to build terrariums with kids

"As winter approaches, a terrarium, generally defined as a glass or plastic container used for growing plants indoors, is a wonderful way to keep a little green in your life as well as a creative way to keep kids engaged with nature.

“Looking for the tiny plants and mosses that make up the terrarium requires close inspection of the small things underfoot—the kinds of plants and lichens that many people simply pass by or step on,” Salter said. “Building terrariums puts those humble wee plants on center stage and gives kids a chance to marvel at them.”

One of the great things about terrariums is that they can be built very inexpensively. Salter’s grandmother picked up cool jars and glass containers at yard sales to use in her creations. In Martin’s book, she describes making terrariums with everything from fish bowls to canning jars to vases, items you may already have in your home."     More at: http://greatkids.outdoors.org/2013/11/magical-miniatures-how-to-build.html

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Pure Wine

An Amazing Fact: "In 1869, Dr. Thomas Bramwell Welch, a physician and dentist by profession, successfully pasteurized Concord grape juice to produce an “unfermented sacramental wine” for fellow parishioners at his church in Vineland, New Jersey.

He was inspired to do this after a visitor became drunk and unruly following a communion service in which fermented wine was used. Since antiquity, there have been several methods of preserving wine from fermenting, but they always sacrificed much in the way of taste. Dr. Welch’s process preserved both. Today, Welch’s Grape Juice is an international food company.

Alcohol consumption is a national problem in America. It destroys people’s ability to think clearly and act properly. Tests show that after drinking three bottles of beer, there is an average of 13 percent net memory loss. After taking only small quantities of alcohol, trained typists were tested and their errors increased 40 percent. Only one ounce of alcohol increases the time required to make a decision by nearly 10 percent, hinders muscular reaction by 17 percent, and increases errors due to lack of attention by 35 to 60 percent.

Using the illustration of grapes, Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1, 2). When we do not abide in Christ, the fruit that we bear is permeated with sin. Like fermented grape juice, the results of a life without Jesus are impure, broken, and impaired. Unless we are connected to Christ, we will not bear good fruit. Unless we abide in Jesus, we will be cut off.
Spend time with the Lord every day. Press the Word against your heart. Talk to God in prayer. And let the pure spiritual “wine” flow, unfermented by sin, out of your life to bless others."

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Consumer Alert: 300+ Health Problems Linked To Statin Drugs

"A growing body of clinical research now indicates that the cholesterol-lowering class of drugs known as statins, are associated with over 300 adverse health effects -- research boldly flying in the face of national health policy, medical insurance premium guidelines, statin drug manufacturer advertising claims, and the general sentiment of the public, with approximately 1 in every 4 adult Americans over 45 currently using these drugs to "prevent heart disease."

The Cholesterol Myth

For well over 40 years, statin drugs have successfully concretized a century old myth about the primary cause of heart disease: namely, that cholesterol "causes" plaque build up in the arteries, ultimately leading to obstruction of blood flow, and subsequent morbidity and mortality.

Indeed, the medical establishment and drug companies have been singing the praises of this "cholesterol myth," to the tune of 25 billion dollars in statin drug sales, annually.

While it is true that oxidized low-density lipoprotein is found within the atheromatous plaque that is found in damaged arteries, it is less likely a cause than an effect of heart disease. The underlying damage to the lining of the artery, which could be infectious, chemical, stress and/or nutritionally-related, comes before the immune response that results in plaque buildup there.

Blaming LDL cholesterol for causing heart disease, is like blaming the scab for the injury that caused it to form, or, like blaming the band-aid for the scab it is covering -- this is, after all, the inborn and fatal flaw of allopathic medicine which focuses only on symptoms of disease, which it then -- fool-heartedly -- attempts to suppress by any chemical means necessary.

Death By Statins?

No one can deny that statins do exactly what they are designed to do: suppress cholesterol production and reduce measurable blood serum levels. The question is, rather, at what price do they accomplish this feat, and for what ultimate purpose?

Moreover, statin myotoxicity is not exclusive to skeletal muscle. If you consider that the heart is also a muscle, in fact, is our most tireless muscle, an obvious red flag should go up. It is a remarkable fact that it took over 40 years before the biomedical research and publishing fields were able to produce a human study, like the one published in the Journal of Clinical Cardiology in Dec. 2009, showing that statin drugs, despite billions of advertising/marketing dollars to the contrary, actually weaken the heart muscle. This finding may also explain why rates of heart failure may be increasing in the general population given these drugs."       More at:  http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/consumer-alert-300-health-problems-linked-statin-drugs

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On This Day:

Calhoun resigns vice presidency, Dec 28, 1832:

"Citing political differences with President Andrew Jackson and a desire to fill a vacant Senate seat in South Carolina, John C. Calhoun becomes the first vice president in U.S. history to resign the office.

Born near Abbeville, South Carolina, in 1782, Calhoun was an advocate of states' rights and a defender of the agrarian South against the industrial North. Calhoun served as secretary of war under President James Monroe and in 1824 ran for the presidency. However, bitter partisan attacks from other contenders forced him out of the race, and he had to settle for the vice presidency under President John Quincy Adams.

In 1828, he was again elected vice president while Andrew Jackson won the presidency. Calhoun soon found himself politically isolated from national affairs under President Jackson. On December 12, 1832, Calhoun was elected to fill a South Carolina Senate seat left vacant after the resignation of Senator Robert Hayne. Sixteen days later, he resigned the vice presidency.

For the rest of his political life, Calhoun defended the slave-plantation system against the growing anti-slavery stance of the free states. In the early 1840s, while secretary of state under President John Tyler, he secured the admission of Texas into the Union as a slave state.

Together with Andrew Jackson, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun dominated American political life in the first half of the 19th century.

For his second term (1833-1837), Jackson's Vice President was Martin Van Buren, who followed him as the 8th US President."

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America's first Labor Day, Dec 28, 1869:

"The Knights of Labor, a labor union of tailors in Philadelphia, hold the first Labor Day ceremonies in American history. The Knights of Labor was established as a secret society of Pennsylvanian tailors earlier in the year and later grew into a national body that played an important role in the labor movement of the late 19th century.

The first annual observance of Labor Day was organized by the American Federation of Labor in 1884, which resolved in a convention in Chicago that "the first Monday in September be set aside as a laborer's national holiday." In 1887, Oregon became the first state to designate Labor Day a holiday, and in 1894 Congress designated the first Monday in September a legal holiday for all federal employees and the residents of the District of Columbia."

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Yesterday:

For the first time in a few days, Misty didn't get me up during the night to go out.  But she still doesn't hold her tail high, so I hope she isn't in pain.  That inoperable tumor is getting bigger.

Friday is a 'Preparation Day', so I was doing all that I could, to be prepared for the Sabbath. 

Luke 23:54 - And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on.
Mark 15:42 - And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath.

After feeding the animals their breakfasts, I put some chicken broth and chopped up veggies in the crockpot for the church potluck, and while that was cooking, I touched up my grey roots.    If I don't do that, I look like a dull, dingy, washed out snow tiger with light and grey hair mixed. (TMI)

Ray came over, and raked and burned some more. There were even more visitors at his house, and he wanted out of there.  He raked up the pine needles on Lot 3, (my side lot), and those in front of his son's house, next door to me. 

Peekers, my foster kitten goes to our SPCA Cat Habitat on Sunday for a month, unless he gets adopted during that time.  He is a sweet, purring, playful, happy, well adjusted little guy, so I don't think it take him long to be adopted.  Nala, my shy foster cat, is supposed to be in the Habitat with him, but I think she will stress out again and have to come back here.  They had to have their Revolution put on their necks, and all their medical records and care instructions printed out, ready to go with them

Another thing I did was postpone the nuclear stress test.  I didn't think that New Year's Eve was a good time to expect the best medical care.  I know they are professionals, but it just didn't seem to be the best time to do it when they are  anticipating getting off for the evening's revelry.

I should have gone shopping yesterday, but I postponed that to conserve on gas, as I have to take the foster cats to Conroe anyway on Sunday.