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Love Wins

October 11, 2018 By admin

The Apostle Paul was pretty radical and smart. He points out again and again that love is the best means to any end. He actually is quoted saying that the only way we can overpower evil is to do good. This word good—agathos—actually unpacks itself to mean tangible acts of favor. It was a descendant of the ultimate word for love, agape, and was all about literal, audible, seeable expressions of love. It was dropping off a pie, washing a car or sending nice cards.

And what a brilliant idea! Your boss treats you like dirt and tries to get you fired and you send her tickets to the game and her favorite cookies. You do it for real and mean it. You get her coupons for a car wash and you go out of your way to show kindness. You are relentless. Who could stand up to that? The tyrant in all of us would eventually crumble. I figure that people either die on the hill for love, think Jesus, or for themselves, think Judas. Usually, given enough time, mean people crumble down and start returning the favor, when loved. Remember the Titans? Whatever the response, love is going to win out because love is stronger than death itself.

I think one of the reasons we don’t see so much of love winning the day is because most of us are not fully committed yet. We waffle on whether love is truly our best bet. Think about the last time you were given a dose of hate. It was civil, but you knew what it was. So did you meet it with gifts and gentle respect? No? It seems to me that if we stayed the course and trusted love to be the way out, we’d see more beautiful endings and have more beautiful stories.

Back in the seventies Jim Elliot, Nate Saint and a few others flew down south in a little plane and dropped gifts out their windows to a tribe of people who didn’t know Jesus. Their plan was pretty simple. They’d show that they were friends with all these gifts and then land their plane and share the great news about love and Heaven and everything else. I don’t remember exactly how long they flew over before they finally landed. It was probably several months.

Well when they touched down all excited to meet their new friends, their new friends rushed out of the greenery and took them down. I can’t even imagine it. There they were arrowed down with their wives and kids listening in on the radio back home. It was printed up as this huge tragedy. They were all very young and very good citizens. It was also just the beginning.

This story is beautiful because Nate Saint, the pilot, had a sister who decided that all these people needed was a little more loving. Defying instinct she found her way down to this very tribe that had murdered her brother and moved in. And who could stop her? And what would you say to the lady who was insistent on being your friendly neighbor after you killed her little brother? It was over. Those tribal people were busted. They couldn’t argue with that kind of love and they caved.

What’s even better is how they all carry on, even to this day. My sister went to hear Nate Saint’s son tell the story. She said that he brought this tribal chief up on stage next to him. She said they hugged and then the chief said that he had been there when the plane had landed and he was actually the one who had given the order for Nate to be murdered. Yes, and then with this big grin on his face he called Nate’s son his son, and Nate’s grandchildren his grandchildren. They were family thanks to Jesus. You could have heard a pin drop.

And what if we hung on like they did? And what if we kept passing out the love no matter what? I think Jesus would have more of a chance at saving us all, and I think we would all be better for it.

I think that this could be revolutionary. I think that if every person who claimed Jesus to be their Savior made it to loving like this or beyond we would all have to take a few weeks off work each year just to celebrate. What would actually happen is we’d experience something very close to Heaven on earth and we’d feel things we’ve never ever felt before.

Think about it. Every time you have been shown love when you were on the hate of the chart, it inspired and even stretched you towards loving back. And the more profound their love to your hate the more dramatic you changed. Love works in all directions. The more I bestow good on you, the stronger I become. And if it’s crazy hard because you killed my parents or something gruesome like that, the more I will be changed for loving.

This is our power. Love wins.

Clarissa Worley Sproul writes from the Pacific Northwest.

The post Love Wins appeared first on Answers for Me.

Your Amazing Genes

October 10, 2018 By admin

How is it that two children from one family eat the same food and have similar lifestyles and later on one suffers from diabetes and the other child does not? Over the past decades, scientists have explored this question and although a few theories have emerged they seem to agree that our genes play a role in how our bodies respond to food.

Our bodies are made up of cells. Each cell contains a nucleus and inside the nucleus of most of our cells, there are two sets of the human genome. Each genome is like an instructional book written in an unknown language. Scientists do not understand this language but they do know that a genome has 23 chromosomes and each chromosome is thought to have 30,000 – 80,000 genes.

When genes become active they make thousands of proteins. These proteins make up cells, hair, muscles and many other substances. For every action in the body, proteins are involved and genes regulate these proteins. Normally, genes are copied when making new cells. At times, the genes may not be copied exactly as the original. Usually, this is harmless to our bodies but on occasion these changes may cause a disorder in the body.

Scientists know that the impact of diet on genes and disease is quite complex. For example, looking at our genes can help determine if we are at risk for heart disease. But even if we are, will a low fat diet help us or hurt us? Another complex connection is our diet and Type II diabetes. There are many genes controlling or influencing blood sugar levels, insulin, and even the movement of glucose (blood sugar) into the cells.

The way a disease works in our bodies can be influenced by something called gene expression. Gene expression refers to the strength of a gene. If two people have the similar lifestyles and genes that cause heart disease, one person may have little or no symptoms because the genes express themselves mildly. The other person may have severe symptoms because the genes express themselves strongly.

With today’s technology, scientists have discovered some of the mysteries concerning our genes, but there is still much to uncover. One of the important questions that remains unanswered is how will this new information affect us. On one hand, we can be tested to find out if we carry the gene for a specific disease. If we do, we can change our lifestyles to get rid of or minimize the symptoms. On the other hand, we can respond in fear and go overboard to correct a genetic issue including following the wrong advice. Another issue that some fear is that people who carry certain genes may experience discrimination. They may pay more for health insurance or may not get a job. Be on the look out to see how these issues will be addressed.

Genes are not the only factor that affects our health. The environment, choices, foods, exercise and other factors can impact our health. Genes are only one piece of the healthy puzzle.

1. Ridley, M. Genome. Perennial: 1999.
2. www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome

Pamela Williams writes from Southern California.

The post Your Amazing Genes appeared first on Answers for Me.

Read more at the source: Your Amazing Genes

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Answers for Me.

Concern for Others

October 4, 2018 By admin

A few years ago a world-wide media event served as an illustration of how our society does not want us to get along with each other. Recall the cartoons that were drawn of Muhammad by some cartoon journalist in Europe? Apparently someone drew these cartoons which are extremely offensive to Muslims. But I guess not too many people paid it much attention since they were in circulation for months without much fuss. Well, another, more enterprising journalist decided this real offense ought to be published far and wide, so he wrote more about it. And it worked.

Soon the entire world was caught up in a pitched ideological battle about religion and secular society. Politicians and religious leaders weighed in on the issue; riots and demonstrations were held all over the world. Property was destroyed and people were killed over it. And the journalists, newspapers, internet media, and pundits reaped the financial reward of their hard work. And just what hard work was it? The hard work of showing the world the lines of division and discord that they themselves had created! These media sources banked millions of dollars off of our voracious appetite for reading about and engaging in such societal conflict. Conflict created, distributed, and maintained by the media who profited by it!

In this context of division, those of us who care for the presence of a non-divisive and peace-loving religion must stand up and try to make a difference. We do so only by avoiding the urge to fight. By making the personal decision to avoid conflict and seek something greater. One principle in our efforts to get along with each other calls for altruism.

Be Concerned for Others

The intent of 1 Peter 3.15 should move us toward an old value in our society, namely, altruism.

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)

Altruism means that we uphold the interest of the other person as primary in our minds. We set aside our personal interests as the most important part of any interaction and instead set up the interests of the other as of most importance. This is hard in a society that continually encourages us to ask, “What’s in it for me?” Our society pushes us to be egocentric to the extreme. Someone needs to uphold altruism, if we can have any hope for getting along.

This is true on the personal level and it’s true at the international, political level as well. Some simple rules to keep in mind when engaging the other with altruism include the following: First, try to listen without interrupting. It seems so basic but is often not present in our heated conversations with others. When we allow the other to speak we model the kind of character that God would have us practice. Second, we must maintain confidentiality when our conversations are private in nature. The primal drive to be gossipers seems to overwhelm us at times. Altruism pushes us to place ourselves in the shoes of the other and realize that we would not want people talking that way about us, if the roles were reversed.

Why should we uphold the interests of the other, with the reverence that Peter calls us to? We should do so because the other is inherently valued by God. In the book of Genesis 1:27 we read that God created humankind in his image. It is because of this fact, that each and every person carries the image of God, that we must value the other in such a strong way. Even when the other person is a scoundrel, we owe them respect as a creation of God.

Sometimes this pushes us to go outside our comfort zone. Sometime we must negotiate a path between our faith convictions and those of the other so that we can live in peace rather than bloody warfare. In the New Testament book of John, the story is told about a woman who was caught in the act of adultery and then brought before Jesus for condemnation. According to the laws of the Hebrew people, Jesus was supposed to announce condemnation and then have the woman stoned to death. The beginning of John 8 tells how Jesus did not do what the other thought he should do. He upheld the principle of altruism in the face of a crowd of religious leaders who were primarily concerned for themselves. Jesus upheld a primary interest in the life of the woman and taught the others present to do the same. In the end of the story, after the others were gone, he gently chastised the woman to repent and then sent her on her way.

In this scene from the life of Christ, we see that it was the personal character of Jesus that helped ease this tension filled situation. Something he did routinely. Rather than fighting about the rules and regulations of their religion, Jesus practiced the character traits of a loving God as a means of setting aside the ever-present conflict.

Mark F. Carr writes from the Pacific Northwest.

The post Concern for Others appeared first on Answers for Me.

Read more at the source: Concern for Others

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Answers for Me.

Wasp Attack

October 4, 2018 By admin

My husband and I were enjoying a warm summer evening and talking about the trip to Steamboat Rock State Park we were planning for the next day. The park has warm water, sandy beaches, and a protected swimming area. It was the perfect place for a day outing with family.

Even though my husband told me he’d find them, I went to the shed to get the lawn chairs. I had seen them several weeks earlier, so I knew where to look. As I headed back to the house, I disturbed a couple of wasps and two of them stung me on the arm.

We live on a small farm and I’ve been stung numerous times; in fact, I’d been stung just 10 days earlier. But this time I hadn’t taken more than a couple steps when I felt sick to my stomach, and thought, Wow, that’s strong venom.

I set the chairs by the back door and went into the kitchen to wash the dust and cobwebs off my hands which had begun itching. As I did that, I started getting lightheaded. Then I noticed my stomach was covered with a faint, almost invisible layer of hives.

Realizing that something was wrong, my husband said, “I’m taking you to the hospital” and hurried into the bedroom to grab his wallet from the dresser.

By the time he had walked the 20 or so steps back into the living room, I was losing consciousness. I remember him calling 9-1-1 and telling me, “Keep talking. Keep talking to me, Nancy.”

I mumbled a few words but couldn’t form coherent thoughts, so I prayed aloud . . . and as I prayed, I remember being amazed that I was able to form words . . . and then, nothing.

My next memory is a hazy impression of men surrounding me, and a calm voice saying, “Hi Nancy. Do you know who I am?”

I opened my eyes to see a paramedic I knew squatted beside me.

My husband tells me they came in two teams, four minutes apart: the first responders arrived three minutes after he called 9-1-1, and the paramedics rushed into the house four minutes later.

The paramedic gave me a shot of adrenaline, and while they waited for me to become alert, he told me the first call he received was that I was conscious, but less than a minute later, another call came through saying I was unresponsive. He said his unit reached me in seven minutes, a drive from the station to our house that would have taken a car 15 minutes. When they arrived, my heartbeat was 40 and dropping.

They loaded me into the ambulance, started an IV and sped off to the hospital, leaving their equipment scattered around our living room. Once I was in the emergency room, they went back to retrieve their equipment.

The doctor explained that rather than the throat swelling and breathing difficulties many people associate with anaphylactic shock, I’d had a cardiovascular event where my blood pressure and heart rate plummeted – similar to what happens when someone cuts themselves severely and is bleeding out. Without medical treatment, in a few more minutes, I would have gone into cardiac arrest.

The doctor gave me an anti-venom shot, then kept me in the emergency room most of the night, as it took hours for my vital signs to stabilize.

Until I get to heaven I won’t know why I went into anaphylactic shock or, for that matter, why I survived. We also don’t know how people at the brink of death will react. I prayed. God is the most powerful force in our world, and I called on him in my hour of need, and I know He heard my prayer because, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14, NIV).

Nancy Lou Semotiuk writes from the Pacific Northwest.

The post Wasp Attack appeared first on Answers for Me.

Disc Error

October 3, 2018 By admin

“Bad master disc!” This announcement in the window of my CD multi-duplicator sent a shiver down my back. After spending an hour of recording time, mixing down the track, and finalizing the master, I wasn’t fully prepared to swallow the tragic news that all my hard work might be wasted. I spent the next hour and a half doing what I could to reclaim and recover the material that was on the master disc.

A “bad master disc” contains material that is damaged, and it was only after I re-vamped, revised, and re-structured another disc with untainted material that I was able to begin duplicating CDs once again. I breathed a sigh of relief as the duplicator ejected usable copies of the material I had worked so hard to produce.

I’ve reflected on this experience more than once, and I always seem to gravitate back to the same thought: Our spiritual lives can often mirror this idea of possessing “good” or “bad” master discs…largely due to the type of experiences that we have accumulated over a lifetime. The way that we think, feel, act and react speaks volumes about how we view and relate to God on a personal level.

When I treat others harshly and respond to them without consideration and kindness, there’s a good chance that I see God as a dictatorial, angry, and unkind Being; One Who spends much of His time waiting for me to step out of line. If I constantly feel guilty about past mistakes that I’ve made (even after I’ve asked for forgiveness), it’s quite possible that I don’t understand what Jesus came to accomplish while He was here on planet earth.

The spiritual ideals that I ascribe to do make a difference, and they often manifest themselves by what resides on my spiritual “master disc.”

Michael Temple writes from North Dakota.

The post Disc Error appeared first on Answers for Me.

Love Wins

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Your Amazing Genes

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Concern for Others

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Wasp Attack

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Disc Error

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