God's Power is for You!

Ephes. 3:20 (NLT) Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.

Marquee

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Godly Flat Tire

Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve had the chance to sit down with my thoughts. God has blessed us this day in a very tangible way. Although we had a flat tire on the interstate, while traveling to Florida, we were so graciously spared an accident, heatstroke and unimaginable inconvenience.

We did get pretty shook up at the loud sound of the tire going “see-ya” at 70 miles per hour! Dave was able to edge over to the shoulder without incident. It was 89 degrees so he could have easily lost his cool. But, Dave had a can of that instant-fix-tires-temporarily stuff so we crept off Interstate 10, where we immediately came upon the Beaumont Welcome Center. Smiling faces, instant air conditioning and an accessible landline all greeted us as soon as we stepped inside.

We were invited to wait in their employee lounge area on a comfy sofa. Wifi, had been installed this morning and they were all eager to see if we could access their new service on our computers, which, gratefully, we could. Coffee and cool bottled water was also available upon request. So, Dave messed with his email and I dove into the latest Koontz novel, which I have been so looking forward to reading. These conditions worked to sooth our nerves and silently sing God’s praises.

Less than an hour later, (funny how the time seemed to just fly by), the road service fix-it tire guy showed up and put a donut tire on. (Never heard of that silly little tire before. Actually, it did kind of look like a donut.) Anyway, off we were to find the Auto Repair Service department at Sam’s Club, which just happened to be seven miles away, directly off Interstate 10. The shop normally closes at 5: 00 p.m. It was 4:55 p.m. (This could have gotten ugly!) But, the service guy mysteriously decided to make an exception and immediately put a new tire on our little chariot. (Chrysler Sebring Convertible – My last ditch grasp at lost youth.)

There you have it folks: Just like a perfectly set-up line of dominos, every detail fell into place as we experienced the unfathomable grace of our Heavenly Father!

Ya gotta love it…

Monday, May 4, 2009

Benevolence is alive and well at HCF

Hill Country Fellowship sure had the Word in action going on this past Wednesday.
1 John 3:18 (NLT)
“Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions.”
Though we were considerably grimy and tired after an afternoon of sorting and hanging clothes, sweeping a huge, considerably dirty floor, moving toys, furniture and various items into an attempt at some kind of recognizable order, our Benevolence Barn got a fairly decent overhaul for just one day’s labor. Workers showed up, actually being the example of God’s people who laid down their lives for the benefit of others—to help those in need. When we give of ourselves, we give in love and we give a lot!

One of our churches outer buildings, for those of you who don’t know, is full of donations of all sorts of useful items. It’s the old, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” arrangement. Many members of our congregation, as well as others in our community have brought us bits and pieces of their lives to share with anyone who might have a use for them. Those in need take freely, with grateful hearts, from our supply. Those who come can see for themselves that we care about their physical needs and we love to help them. (We will soon be open certain days each month.)

This ministry is strikingly similar to James’s teaching too. James 2:14-17 (NLT)
“Dear brothers and sisters, what's the use of saying you have faith if you don't prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can't save anyone. 15Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing, 16and you say, "Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well"—but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
17So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn't show itself by good deeds is no faith at all—it is dead and useless.”

How clearly do your actions say you really love others? Are you as generous as you could be with your money, possessions, and time? Whether by word or deed, spread some love around every day – After all, that’s what we are here for!

Cancer Precautions & Alternative Treatments

This info was sent to me by a fellow-blogger. It is a good read for anyone who is interested in alternative type treatments for cancer, as well as some precautions we can all take.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies.

Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Cast le Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex, or ceramic containers for heating food You get the same results, only without the dioxin.

So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad, but you don't know what is in the paper dishes. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons. Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

Additionally, chemotherapy and radiation are not the only measures to use in the fight against the growth of cancer cells.
Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.
*CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

11a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small! amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

11b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

11c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

11d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

11e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.


12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells. (No plastic containers in micro. No plastic wrap in microwave. No water bottles in freezer.)

I hope you found this information enlightening...pass it on to your friends and loved ones.