Sugar & Sin

Ever since I was old enough to eat I've had a sweet tooth. When given a choice I'd always gravitate towards the delicious dish rather than the nutritious dish. I was the kid in the closet who ate a whole bag of chocolate chips or went back for a second helping of birthday cake, and I NEVER turned down a treat.

Now eight cavities, one really bad dentist, and a root canal later.....

I hate sugar.

...well don't get me wrong. I am still extremely tempted by it regularly. Like one of my friends said on facebook, "I need to lose some weight, stop eating junk food." *Few minutes later* "Oh my word. Is that a cake?"

However, now that I know what the consequences of eating sugar are and what it really does to my body, I am able to reason with my inner temptation for sweets and choose health instead of the momentary pleasure of a treat.

Still I must make an effort, due to the permanent damage I've acquired, to understand what I consume before I consume it. Also it takes even more work to stay away from sweets since sugar is everywhere and in everything. This culture I live in disgusts me. I have realized that the average American eats a sickening amount of sugar ever day. Have you ever gone to a potluck or a picnic? ....everything is tasty, delicious, full of crap that tricks your brain into thinking that you like what you're eating long enough for you to want another helping.

Sugar, sugar, sugar.

If it's not sweet we don't want to eat it. Food no longer has flavor, it's just sweet. Canned foods, boxed foods, bottled drinks. Everyone goes the easy route and has their food prepared for them and the direct result is a sick nation. Ask anyone about their ailments.... there's usually a wonderfully long list! God said that, "in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread" and so it isn't surprising that man rebels by buying their food from off of a grocery store shelf. Great is the price we pay for this laziness.....

All of my dental struggles and dealings with sugar have made me think of a spiritual parallel:  Sin.

Sin appears to be sweet. Delightfully displayed. Beautifully arranged so that it will be at a maximum temptation. Always lurking in every opportunity. "Sugar coated," is, not surprisingly, what we call it sometimes. It brings momentary pleasure but once you've sinned it brings you destruction.

Proverbs 6:27-28, "Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?"

What we do and what we consume is a choice. It is no mistake. Sure there are the things that happen where if we would have had the proper knowledge or instruction we might have chosen otherwise. Even in that case though, we often choose to ignore advice, wisdom and instruction and that's what leads to our "mistakes." How many times have you heard some woeful bloke say, "If only I'd have listened to so-and-so I wouldn't be in this mess."?
 
So, we can safely conclude that everything in life is a choice... whether it be choosing not to listen and therefore not having the knowledge to choose wisely, or just simply choosing the wrong things.

Sin and sugar. It comes in all sorts of different shapes and forms. Tempting, momentarily pleasurable, and it always ultimately leads to destruction.

Proverbs 13:25 "The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want."

The 236th 4th of July

Once again we celebrate the United States of America! What a blessing to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave, where we have the right to worship our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Happy 4th of July!!!

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Who Doesn't Like Color?

Latest Artwork

I started this one a few days ago and finished it today. We had a lot of rain last week. The clouds and vibrant hues of the land and the sky inspired me.

God Is Love

I watched the movie Fireproof last night with a few friends and was reminded of the lovely blessings that come from serving and putting others before myself. 

Luke 6:31 says, "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise."

The book The Love Dare, which Fireproof was based upon, reminds me of the scripture in Paul's epistle to the Romans. Chapter 12 says that though we Christians are all different in many ways we are all still the body of Christ (Rom.12:5) and chapter 13 verse 8 says, "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." I am sure that The Love Dare was based upon The Word of God.

Romans12:8-21
⁸ Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
⁹ Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
¹⁰ Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
¹¹ Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
¹² Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
¹³ Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
¹⁴ Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
¹⁵ Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
¹⁶ Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
¹⁷ Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
¹⁸ If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
¹⁹ Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
²⁰ Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
²¹ Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

1 Corinthians is often thought of as "the great Love chapter." (by the way, "charity" is love) 

1 Corinthians 13:

³ And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

⁴ Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

⁵ Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

⁶ Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

⁷ Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

 ^...

¹³ And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

  
 1 John chapter 4 is another excellent chapter that I'd encourage you to read. Verses 7 and 8 say,

 "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."

 

God is love and we can understand His love that He has demonstrated for us, in us and through us by reading His word. The Bible is one big book on Love... so dig out your Bible and give it a good read.

Beautiful is the wisdom and the love of God.

1 John 4:19 ^"We love him, because he first loved us."

Here's a cool song that they played during the closing credits on the movie Fireproof:

Voting in Wisconsin

The big recall election has finally come and gone. Scott Walker beat his opponent Tom Barrett by a landslide. You can be sure that I cast my vote for Walker. He's done a good job so far... let's not quit now!

A friend of my told me to read this article:

The Wisconsin Recall Stakes

I found this snippet in the book "The Heart Mender", by Andy Andrews.

"In 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, noticed a continuing pattern in the advance and decline of the world's democracies.
He stated then that a democracy would continue to exist until such time that the voters discover that they can literally vote themselves gifts from the public treasury. From the moment that revelation is made, the majority proceeds to vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury. The final result is that every democracy finally collapses due to loose fiscal policy. That collapse is always followed by a dictatorship.
Tyler charted the ages of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history... an average existence of about two hundred years. Every single time, these nations progressed through the following sequence:
from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; and finally from dependence back into bondage."

‎
This quote pretty much sums up what the above quote says,
"When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."
-- Benjamin Franklin

Here's the message I put on facebook Monday morning:

Dear Wisconsinites,
For the first time in a long time we've been able to stand up and take a step Forward with Walker. I'd hate to see us fall back into a handicapped State again. I just couldn't Barrett.

 

Some Wisecrack Once Said....

"To all the girls who are in a hurry to have a boyfriend or get married, a piece of Biblical advice: "Ruth patiently waited for her mate Boaz." While you are waiting on YOUR Boaz, don't settle for any of his relatives; Broke-az, Po-az, Lyin-az, Cheatin-az, Dumb-az, Drunk-az, Cheap-az, Lockedup-az, Goodfornothin-az, Lazy-az, and especially his third cousin Beatinyo-az.Wait on your Boaz and make sure he respects Yoaz."