via Facebook: CARTOON OF THE DAY … DILBERT by Scott Adams (To Coworker)
Dilbert: I got your email but I didn’t have time to include your upgrades on my analysis. It’s better to be timely than right because our boss can’t judge the quality of our work, but he knows when it’s late.
—Coworker: Why is it that everything true is also sad?
—Dilbert: That’s how the truth works.
Thanks to a friend of Brad Sewell for sharing.
DIG OF THE DAY … I always begin my prayer in silence, for it is in the silence of the heart that God speaks. God is the friend of silence – we need to listen to God because it’s not what we say but what he says to us and through us that matters. Prayer feeds the soul – as blood is to the body, prayer is to the soul – and it brings you closer to God. It also gives you a clean and pure heart. A clean heart can see God, can speak to God, and can see the love of God in others.
Source: Daily Dig for June 27, Mother Teresa, A Simple Path
When is the last time you spent an hour in silence? A half hour? 15 minutes? 5 minutes?
Is your behavior like that of someone who is fearful of silence? What is never-ending distraction protecting you from knowing to be true?
via Facebook: QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Most problems in contemporary churches can be explained by the fact that members have not yet decided to follow Christ.” – Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines.
Thanks to Ryan Sidhom for sharing.
The context: “For at least several decades,” Dallas writes, “the churches of the Western world have not made discipleship a condition of being a Christian. One is not required to be, or to intend to be, a disciple in order to become a Christian, and one may remain a Christian without any signs of progress toward or in discipleship. Contemporary American churches in particular do not require following Christ in his example, spirit, and teachings as a condition of membership–either of entering into or continuing in fellowship of a denomination or local church… So far as the visible Christian institutions of our day are concerned, discipleship clearly is optional… Most problems in contemporary churches can be explained by the fact that members have not yet decided to follow Christ.”
He continues, “The disciple is someone who, intent upon becoming Christlike and so dwelling in his ‘faith and practice,’ systematically and progressively rearranges his affairs to that end… There is no other way. In contrast, the nondisciple, whether inside or outside the church, has something more important to do or undertake than to become like Jesus Christ.”
To put it plain and simple, “We don’t overcome because we don’t intend to overcome,” he says.
From https://ift.tt/37Z4Whi
Image by Raheel Shakeel from Pixabay.
via Facebook: DIG OF THE DAY … Here is the mystery, the secret, one might almost say the cunning, of the deep love of God: that it is bound to draw on to itself the hatred and pain and shame and anger and bitterness and rejection of the world, but to draw all those things on to itself is precisely the means, chosen from all eternity by the generous, loving God, by which to rid his world of the evils which have resulted from human abuse of God-given freedom.
Source: Daily Dig for June 28, N. T. Wright, The Crown and the Fire.
Demonstrated daily on Facebook, if we had any doubts. Trolls swarm the daisies.
1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which comes upon you to prove you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
Demonstrated daily on Facebook, if we had any doubts. Trolls swarm the daisies. May God help us to be more holy, generous and loving.
Image: Field of Daisies, Eric Kilby, Wikimedia Commons.
via Facebook: QUOTE OF THE DAY … “One of the most fundamental marks of true repentance is a disposition to see our sins as God sees them.” – Charles Simeon
Gerard Seghers – The Repentance of St Peter.jpg
From Wikimedia Commons
BLOGS: 825,705
298,330 KinmundyChurch.org
35,653 AmbidextrousChurch.com
193,884 RealityDisciplines.com
85,064 4CorneredRoom.com
207,774 Amateur Disciples
NONFICTION: 146,965
Designing Discipleship Systems
Major League Disciplemaking
24340 One Minute Minister
81,363 Disciplemaking 101
41,262 Orientation to Pastoral Work
38950 Psalms for Divorce (unfinished)
Circles of Grace Trilogy: 227,151
84,652 Ascending Grace
75,196 Descending Grace
67,303 Sending Grace
1,238,771 Total Words
Most of these words were written 2008-2011, except for the dissertation, 2005-2007 @ 79,190 words.
“The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress .” ― Philip Roth.
Side hustle definition:
A side hustle is any type of employment undertaken in addition to one’s full-time job. A side hustle is generally freelance or piecework in nature, providing a supplemental income. Side hustles are often things a person is passionate about, rather day a typical day job worked in order to make ends meet. [1]
Retired from striving after wind.
Ecclesiastes 1:14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
1:17 And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
2:11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
2:17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
Adjust to the season.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. 9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has put eternity into man’s mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; 13 also that it is God’s gift to man that every one should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil. 14 I know that whatever God does endures for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has made it so, in order that men should fear before him.
Married to strivers, workaholics
Retired from waiting at the table, waiting to be called up.
Luke 14:8 “When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him; 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Proverbs 25:6 Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great; 7 for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of the prince.
Dust off your feet and leave.
Matthew 10:11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it, and stay with him until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, salute it. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And if any one will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomor’rah than for that town.
Proverbs 18:13 If one gives answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.
Answer before a question is asked.
Incarnation … go local.
Here is a man who was born in an obscure village as the child of a peasant woman.
He grew up in another obscure village.
He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty and then for three years was an itinerant preacher.
He never wrote a book.
He never held an office.
He never owned a home.
He never had a family.
He never went to college.
He never put his foot inside a big city.
He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born.
He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness.
He had no credentials but himself.
He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of his divine manhood.
While still a young man the tide of popular opinion turned against him.
His friends ran away.
One of them denied him.
Another betrayed him.
He was turned over to his enemies.
He went through the mockery of a trial.
He was nailed upon the cross between two thieves.
His executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had on earth while he was dying, and that was his coat.
When he was dead, he was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today he is the center of the human race and the leader of the column of progress.
I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that were ever built, and all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon the earth as powerfully as has this one solitary life. [2]
QUESTIONS
SOURCES
[1] What Is a Side Hustle? Definition of Side Hustle, Examples, Benefits of Side Hustles, and More, https://www.wonolo.com/blog/what-is-a-side-hustle.
[2] One Solitary Life. Author: James Allan Francis, 1864-1928, https://www.celebratingholidays.com/?page_id=4456
QUOTE (emphasis mine):
Sweetened dessert wines are obviously full of sugar and are not recommended. However, moderate consumption of red wine does not raise insulin or impair insulin sensitivity and therefore may be enjoyed. Up to 2 glasses a day is not associated with major weight gain and may improve insulin sensitivity. The alcohol itself, even from beer, seems to have minimal effects on insulin secretion or insulin resistance. [1]
NOTE (my commentary)
There has beeen concern about the effects of alcohol on insulin resistance. There are studies that show that excessive drinking impairs insulin resistance as well as causing a host of other problems. Binge drinking, which is defined as the consumption of five drinks of alcohol within 2 hours in men or four drinks in women, once a month or more often is associated with an increased risk for developing the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes … Moreover, in one study, binge drinking was associated with type 2 diabetes in individuals that binge drink as rarely as once a month. It is therefore possible that binge drinking induces metabolic derangements that persist after alcohol has been metabolized and cleared from the system. [2]
moderate consumption of red wine does not raise insulin or impair insulin sensitivity
Dr. Fung, however, does not see a harm in up to 2 glasses a day of red wine. “Up to 2 glasses a day is not associated with major weight gain and may improve insulin sensitivity.”
More alcohol, however, is not recommended.
DISCERNMENT QUESTIONS
What does this quote say?
What does it say that I should obey?
What is the wish? What are the outcomes?
What are the basic steps?
What are the obstacles?
Who needs to hear this?
RESOURCES
SOURCE – Footnotes:
[1] “The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss” by Dr. Jason Fung, Timothy Noakes
[2] Binge Drinking Induces Whole-Body Insulin Resistance by Impairing Hypothalamic Insulin Action by Claudia Lindtner, et al. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3740748/
Please review the page How and Why We Use Quotes.
Key: Fung-02-20.01 Origin: Last Revision: 02/20/2020
QUOTE (emphasis mine): “Despite reducing sugar, diet sodas do not reduce the risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome, strokes or heart attacks. But why? Because it is insulin, not calories, that ultimately drives obesity and metabolic syndrome. The important question is this: Do artificial sweeteners increase insulin levels?
Sucralose13 raises insulin by 20 percent, despite the fact that it contains no calories and no sugar. This insulin-raising effect has also been shown for other artificial sweeteners, including the “natural” sweetener stevia. Despite having a minimal effect on blood sugars, both aspartame and stevia raised insulin levels higher even than table sugar.14
Artificial sweeteners that raise insulin should be expected to be harmful, not beneficial. Artificial sweeteners may decrease calories and sugar, but not insulin. Yet it is insulin that drives weight gain and diabetes.”
[1]
NOTE (my commentary): the issue with gaining weight is too much sugar and too much insulin in the bloodstream.
Because the sugar is not needed for metabolism because the cells are full, the extra insulin happily works to make the excess sugar into fat.
The problem is sweeteners is the increase of insulin in a person whose blood sugar is already high, and the insulin is happy to add to your weight using the excess sugar in the bloodstream.
If insulin is high, then the body’s set point for weight will also be high, and the body will automatically regain to that point of obesity. If insulin is consistently low, then the set point of the body will lower itself as well. Even though sweeteners do not increase blood sugar, they do increase insulin and lead directly to gaining weight rather than losing it.
DISCERNMENT QUESTIONS
What does this quote say?
What does it say that I should obey?
What is the wish? What are the outcomes?
What are the basic steps?
What are the obstacles?
Who needs to hear this?
RESOURCES
SOURCE – Footnotes:
[1] “The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss” by Dr. Jason Fung, Timothy Noakes
Please review the page How and Why We Use Quotes.
Key: Fung Origin: Last Revision: 01/09/2020
QUOTE (emphasis mine): “INSULIN IS NORMALLY released when we eat. It directs some of the incoming glucose to be used as energy and some to be stored for later use. In the short term, glucose is stored as glycogen in the liver, but the liver’s storage space for glycogen is limited. Once it’s full, excess glucose is stored as fat: that is, the liver begins manufacturing fat from glucose through de novo lipogenesis. After the meal, as insulin levels fall, this process reverses. With no food energy coming in, stored food energy must be retrieved. Glycogen and fat stores in the liver are turned back into glucose and distributed to the rest of the body for energy.
The liver acts like a balloon. As energy comes in, it fills up. As energy is needed, it deflates. Balancing feeding and fasting periods over a day ensures that no net fat is gained or lost.
But what happens if the liver is already crammed full of fat? Insulin then tries to force more fat and sugar into the liver, even though it’s already full of fat and sugar. Just as it is more difficult to inflate a fully inflated balloon, insulin has more difficulty trying to shove more fat into a fatty liver. It takes higher and higher levels of insulin to move the same amount of food energy into a fatty liver. The body is now resistant to the efforts of insulin, since normal levels will not be enough to push sugar into the liver. Voilà—insulin resistance in the liver.
The liver, like an overinflated balloon, will try to expel the sugar back into circulation, so continuously high insulin levels are also required to keep it bottled up in the liver. If insulin levels start to drop, the stored fat and sugar comes whooshing out. To compensate, the body keeps raising its insulin levels. Thus, insulin resistance leads to higher insulin levels. High insulin levels encourage more storage of sugar and fat in the liver, which causes even more over-cramming of fat in the already fatty liver, causing more insulin resistance—a classic vicious cycle.” [1]
NOTE (my commentary)
DISCERNMENT QUESTIONS
What does this quote say?
What does it say that I should obey?
What is the wish? What are the outcomes?
What are the basic steps?
What are the obstacles?
Who needs to hear this?
RESOURCES
SOURCE – Footnotes:
[1] “The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss” by Dr. Jason Fung, Timothy Noakes
Please review the page How and Why We Use Quotes.
Key: Fung Origin: Last Revision: 01/09/2020
