Live younger and healthier

The Christian and Alcohol

2010-03-30T05:15:00.000-07:00

The Christian and Alcohol
by Doug Batchelor
An Amazing Fact:
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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; increases errors due to lack of attention by 35 percent. —Paul Harvey
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Is it biblically permissible for a Christian to drink alcohol? If so, how much?
This controversial subject has evoked many passionate opinions among Christians. Why? Is God’s Word silent or in anyway unclear about alcohol?
I submit that the Bible is in no way ambiguous when it speaks on alcohol and how it relates to God’s followers. I hope the following study will assist you in forming your own biblically based conclusions on this important subject.

Two Opposing Camps

Among Christians, there are two primary camps of thought on this sensitive topic. The first group argues that Jesus Himself drank wine, and since a Christian is a follower of Christ, how can it be forbidden? And generally, they add with a moderate air: “but even so, drinking should not be done to excess.”
Then there is the other position: Alcohol is an addictive and destructive drug that no sincere Christian should use to any degree.
Of course, between these two diametrically opposed poles, there are countless variations of opinions. In this short work, I cannot possibly address the whole spectrum of perspectives—so using the Scripture and common sense, I will attempt to stay within the core principles.

In fairness, I will state from the beginning that I am firmly in the unfermented camp! I believe that scriptural references to Jesus’ use of wine are of the grape juice variety.
But before the wine connoisseurs toss this book aside, you owe it to yourself to hear me out. I come from the perspective of one who grew up frequently drinking wine or beer with dinner—I even brewed my own beer and made wine once. But I have never been an alcoholic, so my position is not the result of overreacting from a clean and sober victory.

What Is Alcohol?

Let’s begin with a definition. There are many forms of this compound called alcohol. However, there is no mistaking that all of them are classified as poisons—toxins to the human body. The alcohol found in beverages such as beer, wine, and brandy is ethanol (C2H5OH), a clear, highly flammable liquid that has a burning taste and a characteristic odor.
What happens when one consumes this type of alcohol? Well, death usually occurs if the concentration of ethanol in the bloodstream exceeds about five percent! But even for those who use it sparingly, immediate behavioral changes, impairment of vision and unconsciousness can occur at lower concentrations. That’s interesting, isn’t it? That’s exactly the same effect that other illicit drugs such as heroin, and even marijuana, have on those who use those substances. I doubt there are any Christian churches that would ordain the use of these drugs in even a casual social setting—or even to “calm the nerves” before bedtime. Is there any reason that alcohol should not be included in this list of drugs to avoid?

Two Types of Wine—
Biblically Speaking

The word “wine” in the Bible sometimes refers to the new—or fresh juice of the grape; other times it is used to describe the aged or fermented product containing the drug alcohol. The translators never used the term “grape juice.” In the Hebrew text, the writers use different words to distinguish between the two. The word tîyrôsh is used for new unfermented wine, and yayin is generally used for fermented wine, but there were some exceptions (Isaiah 16:10). However, in the New Testament, only one Greek word is used to describe both fermented and fresh grape juice: oinis . But this shouldn’t be a problem. By simply understanding the context of the word in a passage, the appropriate meaning will usually surface. So unless the passage says old or new wine (as in Luke 5:37–39), the context will often tell us what kind of grape juice is being described.
One simple example occurs in Mark 2:22: “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins” (NKJV). Obviously the new wine would be the fresh unfermented kind.
Additionally, from the Old Testament, in Isaiah 65:8, we read, “As the new wine is found in the cluster, And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, For a blessing is in it…’” It is clear in both these passages that the new wine is simply grape juice.

Confusing Verses Clarified

The whole of Scripture is clearly and adamantly against the consumption of alcohol, but human nature will look upon any textual ambiguity as a “loophole” to justify drinking alcohol.
An example of this reasoning is the wedding in Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine. “When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, ‘Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!’” (John 2:9, 10). Those who support the intake of alcohol suggest this must have been alcoholic wine—after all, it was a wedding, and every wedding has wine—right? But let’s pause to consider the implications. There were six pots for Jesus to fill, and each of those would hold 20 to 30 gallons. That’s up to 180 gallons of beverage!
Are we to believe that Jesus made 180 gallons of a destructive drug—enough to get every guest drunk and launch this new marriage with slurring lips and staggering feet? Indeed, He would have been acting against His own Word! (Habakkuk 2:15; Luke 12:46; Ephesians 5:18). If we approach this passage relying on the whole of Scripture, we must surely come to the conclusion that Jesus made unfermented wine—and the governor of the feast complimented the groom on its pure quality. (John 2:4, 6, 10. See also Mark 1:24, 2 Samuel 16:10).

Whatever the Soul Longs For

There are additional passages of Scripture that at first glance might lead a person to think drinking a little fermented wine in moderation might be biblically condoned. In the next few sections, we will address some of the verses that are sometimes construed to condone fermented wine, when in fact they do nothing of the sort.
“And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household” (Deuteronomy 14:26). The phrase “strong drink” is translated from the word shekar. A Shekar is condemned by Solomon as a “brawler” (Proverbs 20:1). And Isaiah pronounces a woe upon those who “run after strong drink(shekar)” (Isaiah 5:11). Strong drink was also prohibited from the priests (Leviticus 10:9–11) and Nazarites (Numbers 6:2–4; Judges 13:3–5). So how could God so clearly condemn the use of “strong drink” in one place in the Bible, and yet approve of it in another place? Like the word yayin (“wine”), shekar is a generic term that could refer to either an alcoholic beverage, as noted above, or to a sweet, unfermented drink as is indicated in Isaiah 24:9. Shekar is also defined by the The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopedia as: “Sweet Wine or Syrup. Shechar, luscious, saccharin drink or sweet syrup, especially sugar or honey of dates or of the palm-tree” or “Date or Palm Wine in its fresh and unfermented state.” In fact, “sugar” and “cider” are derivatives from shekar. Therefore, since shekar could mean either a sweet unfermented drink or an intoxicating drink, we must interpret the word according to the context of the verse. Would God encourage the use of tithe money to purchase a beverage that causes intoxication, health problems and diminishing of moral capacities? The only reasonable conclusion is that this verse is referring to the sweet palm-wine beverage in its fresh and unfermented state.
Even if one refuses to accept this translation of the word, keep in mind, the verse in Deuteronomy 14:26 never tells them it is okay to drink this beverage. Rather, it is addressing how they were to transport offerings to present to the Lord when traveling long distances. Moses was recommending they carry money with them rather than to haul the offerings of beasts, grain, and wine long distances. When they arrived they were to purchase whatever they needed for offerings. The animal sacrifices could be eaten but they were commanded to pour the drink offerings on the ground. “And the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of an hin for the one lamb: in the holy place shalt thou cause the strong wine to be poured unto the LORD for a drink offering” (Numbers 28:7).

What About the Last Supper?

Some argue that if Jesus partook of wine at the Last Supper, and even employed it as a symbol of His purifying blood, then how can drinking a little wine—even just casually—be wrong? Indeed, the very seeds of the New Testament were watered with wine from the Last Supper. There is no arguing that Jesus used wine at the Last Supper, but it is a mistake to assume that the wine was of the fermented variety.
“For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom” (Matthew 26:28–29, emphasis mine). Indeed, here Jesus uses the new wine as a symbol of His new covenant with His people. Jesus also calls wine the “fruit of the vine.” However, after wine goes through the process of fermentation, it is no more the fruit of the vine than yogurt is the fruit of a cow.
Furthermore, we also know that the Passover meal was to be free from all forms of leaven (Exodus 12:19). Fermentation is the identical process of leavening! If the bread was to be free from leaven, which is a type of sin, then we can be sure that the wine, a symbol of Jesus blood, used at the Last Supper would also be free from the poison of alcohol. The perfect, sinless blood of Jesus would never be symbolized by corrupt and putrefying old wine.
Jesus compared His pure teachings to wholesome new wine (Matthew 9:17). Indeed, all corrupted doctrines are likened to the fermented wine of Babylon! Babylon was identified as a place “with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication” (Rev 17:2).
Another example: “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine (Of Babylon) which he drank” (Daniel 1:8).

Was Jesus a Drunkard?

Pharisees frequently accused Jesus of being a winebibber, drunkard and glutton. They also said He had a devil and blasphemed God, among other things. We know He wasn’t a glutton or demon-possessed blasphemer! So if these things are not true, why should we assume that our Lord was a drinker as indicated by the Pharisees, a group of Jesus’ most-outward adversaries well known for their questionable theology?
They were merely contrasting His lifestyle with the austerity of John the Baptist, a practicing Nazarite, who abstained from anything of the vine and ate locusts and wild honey (Numbers 6:3; Luke 7:33–34, 1:15; John 8:48–52; Mark 2:7; Matthew 3:4).
When Jesus hung parched on the cross, Roman soldiers offered him fermented wine mingled with myrrh. But as soon as Jesus tasted it and recognized it was fermented, He refused it. If Jesus refused this beverage even as His body was tormented with extraordinary thirst, why would He have drank wine normally (Matthew 27:34)? (And more to the point, why then should we?)

Alcohol:
The Bible Hall of Shame

The first reference to wine is found in Genesis when Noah, after the flood, created the original fermented grape juice. “Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent” (Genesis 9:21). The sad record is that Noah drank and stumbled around naked and shamefully exposed himself to his sons. This first experiment with a new drug ended with a scathing curse falling on Noah’s posterity.
Lot also drank, and he was therefore easily seduced into having incestuous relations with his daughters. “So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose” (Genesis 19:33). The offspring of this relationship became the nations of Moab and Ammon, the mortal enemies of God’s people. And there is no shortage of evidence today that alcohol often leads to sexual immorality—such as adultery, rape, and incest.
Then there is the infamous experience when the children of Israel drank alcohol, stripped themselves naked and worshiped a golden calf (Exodus 32:6, 25). This fermented “church social” ended in a horrible massacre.
Amnon, another drinker and the son of David, raped his half-sister Tamar. Because of this incestuous act, he lost his life at the hands of his enraged brother while intoxicated (2 Samuel 13:28).
These are only a few examples. For more about the terrible repercussions involving alcohol in the Bible, look at 2 Samuel 13:28, Job 1:13–19. Truly, when one considers the Biblical record of fermented drink, you have to wonder why would any genuine Christian argue in its defense!

Fermented Wine Brings Woe

The word “woe” is not used commonly today in the English vernacular. The word means deep distress or misery—as from grief and/or wretchedness. The Bible is found using the word in many different places; not surprisingly, the use of alcohol is often the reason why the word is used!

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“Woe to those who rise early in the morning, That they may follow intoxicating

drink; Who continue until night, till wine inflames them!” (Isaiah 5:11).
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“Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who hath complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine.” (Proverbs 23:29–30).
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“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, Pressing him to your bottle, Even to make him drunk, That you may look on his nakedness!” (Habakkuk 2:15).

Does the Christian need any more condemnation of alcohol consumption than this? A very safe and simple rule for these issues is: “When in doubt, leave it out!”

A Matter of Health

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's” (1 Corinthians 6:20 KJV). From liver disease to ulcers to dementia, an almost endless list of health problems have been linked to the drinking of alcohol.
Alcohol (also grain alcohol) is a toxin that severely affects the central nervous system when ingested. Most people know that even moderate “social drinking” destroys brain cells.
If a person holds a small swig of whiskey in their mouth for about ten minutes, various parts of the interior of their mouth will become blistered. If you have them blindfolded and have them taste various beverages—for instance, water, vinegar, or milk—you will find that they are incapable of distinguishing one from another. This experiment proves to a certainty that alcohol is not only a violent irritant, but also a narcotic.
I think even the strongest advocate of alcohol must honestly admit that its consumption certainly does not glorify God in their body; instead, it slowly destroys body and mind, which is a clear violation of the Sixth Commandment.
Just as cigarette smoking is suicide on the installment plan, so is alcohol—which is a leading killer in the United States.
Also consider that there is an almost endless selection of other good things to drink that nourishes the body and mind. So why would any Christian want to gamble like this—risking their health, witness, family and eternal life to argue in defense of this destructive substance?

The Most Deadly Substance on Earth

Abraham Lincoln said, “Drink is a cancer in human society, eating out its vitals and threatening its destruction.” So much devastation is caused by alcohol in our community, on the roads and in homes, that this is hardly a bold or surprising statement. Indeed, even if the Bible were silent on the subject, the object lessons of devastation from a thousand years of history would still be crystal clear. But the scriptures say plenty.
“Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it swirls around smoothly; At the last it bites like a serpent, And stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, And your heart will utter perverse things. Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying: ‘They have struck me, but I was not hurt; They have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?’” (Proverb 23:29–35).
And Jeremiah said God would make “bottles of wine” freely available to destroy the nation (Jeremiah 13:12–15). How true is this in our own country—with advertising directed at our youngest and most vulnerable citizens?
Is it a wonder that with a nation consumed by the false merriment of alcohol, it encourages consumption even to our youngest? There is strong evidence supporting widespread alcohol use and the surge of crime committed by young adults—and even children. (Did you know there are 3.3 million problem drinkers in America's high schools alone?)
Micah also warned of lying and false prophets who condone wine and strong drink (Micah 2:11).
Today, they still teach “moderation” with alcohol, but history has shown that moderation with an addictive drug is impossible.

An Issue of Love

It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak” (Romans 14:21). Because one out of seven people who drink wine will become problem drinkers or alcoholics, how can a Christian support an industry that encourages more people to stumble than any other legal substance?
According to Zig Ziglar, authorities know that approximately one in sixteen people who ever take a social drink will become an alcoholic! Would you even step one foot on an airplane if you knew there was a one in 16 chance that it would crash and end your life? (Actually, the odds for a commercial airliner crashing are closer to one in a million—but even with those odds some people will not fly. Yet many of these same people will take a drink!)
Consider this other well-known fact: In the next 24 hours, alcohol will be responsible for nearly half of all…

* …the homicides.
* …the people who will die on the highway.
* …the people who will be admitted to the hospital.
* …the people who will be incarcerated in jail or prison.
* …the people who will be arrested for domestic violence.
* …the people who will be born with birth defects.

In addition, alcohol deserves a mention for being responsible for a quarter of all suicides.
It’s clear enough from these appalling statistics that any clear thinking citizen, especially a Christian, would feel profound conviction to avoid a drug that accounts for a veritable tidal wave of misery to every culture it touches. If we truly love our brother and God, how can we defend drinking alcohol in any degree? Paul said he would neither eat flesh or drink wine or do anything that caused offense to a brother (Romans 14:21). With so many alcoholics struggling to be saved from their addictions, we must never cause them to stumble again by being even slightly inconsistent in our example.

Inviting Temptation

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
It is also a well-documented fact that drinking even the smallest quantity of alcohol impairs reactions and weakens normal inhibitions.
Put simply: It lowers a Christian’s resolve to resist temptation. Why would any Christian want to make it easier for the devil to snare them? Many men and women have awaken after a night baptized by a few glasses of wine or bottles of beer to discover they have violated the Seventh Commandment and forever scarred their lives and reputations.
This is why Peter charges us to be “sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The devil is already bent on getting us! Let’s not make it any easier for him by diluting with alcohol our God-given resistance!
Remember, even when Jesus was hanging on the cross, with acute thirst, He refused to drink the wine they offered Him. “They gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He has tasted it, He would not drink” (Matthew 27:34). With the redemption of the planet hanging in the balance, He would not risk His judgment being impaired by receiving even a mouthful of wine, which might have made His suffering for us a little more bearable. Does He expect less of us?

Tarnished Testimonies

The great Canadian physician Sir William Osler was lecturing one day on alcohol. “Is it true,” asked a student, “that alcohol makes people do some things better?”
“No,” replied Sir William. “It just makes them less ashamed of doing them badly.”
Christians who drink alcohol have tarnished their testimonies to the outside world—as well as to those in the church. And the ones who are hurt the most by these compromised testimonies are the children.
Surely, it must be confusing to children to see their mothers or fathers praying—and then have a few beers. Jesus condemned this hypocrisy with the very strongest language: “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6).
An anxious father approached his pastor and said, “Preacher, talk to my boy about drinking. He came home last night and fell sprawling on the floor—too drunk to get up. His mother cried the rest of the night.”
“Why don't you talk to your own boy yourself?” the preacher questioned.
But the father said, “Pastor, I can't talk to my son about it, because I am to blame. I wanted him to be a man, so I gave him his first glass of liquor. I didn't dream that he'd ever become a drunkard. Please speak to my boy. I can't talk to him.”
It is a sad fact that all over this nation many fathers and mothers are re-living this exact same scenario.
We are commanded to “Come out from among them And be separate…. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:17). But when a Christian begins to drink alcohol, they show that they are not separated from worldly things.
Many Christians then wonder why God does not use them more to do great things. God will not use a compromised Christian for any great work. God only uses clean vessels for such amazing endeavors.

Wine on the Day of Pentecost

On Pentecost, when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, onlookers said, “These men are drunk with new wine” (Acts 2:13). The Greek word here is gleukos, which was either new unfermented wine or “must,” a sweet boiled non-alcoholic grape juice. These onlookers were mocking the devoted disciples by saying, “They are drunk on grape juice.” This indicates that the disciples were known for their abstinence of alcohol! How is it that we should not follow their pointed examples?

A Little for the Stomach?

Paul also tells Timothy to “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities” (1 Timothy 5:23). It is assumed by many that the wine Paul recommends to Timothy is alcoholic. Yet this is a false assumption for several reasons: First, the word oinos is used, and as we’ve already learned, it can denote either fermented or unfermented grape juice. In addition, there are historical references attesting to the use of unfermented wine for medicinal purposes in the ancient world. For example, Athenaeus (AD 280) counsels to use unfermented grape juice for stomach disorders.
Timothy must also have been living as a Nazarite, drinking only water. Paul was telling him to use a little grape juice, which has a very soothing effect on the body—indicating that Timothy abstained and needed to be urged to take even a little new wine. Drinking fermented wine can contribute to stomach ulcers. Paul would never recommend old wine for stomach therapy.
Earlier in the same epistle, Paul instructs Timothy that bishops were to be abstinent (nephalion) (1 Timothy 3:2–3). The apostle would not have encouraged Timothy to drink alcoholic beverages when he had, earlier in the same letter, forbidden their use by church leaders (1 Timothy 3:8), which leads us into the next topic.

Other Medicinal Use

Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts” (Proverbs 31:6–7). This text addresses those who are “perishing” (obed) and those in “bitter distress” (marei naphesh). Both terms in Hebrew denote a desperate, hopeless situation. In other words, this is describing a situation in which a person is dying in painful agony. This was practiced by the Jews, and we find that “wine mingled with myrrh” (Mark 15:23) was offered to Christ on the cross, but He refused to take it. This passage, while not approving of the general use of alcohol, does provide for the medicinal use of alcohol as a narcotic in the specific situation of those who are in terminal misery.

Moderate Drinking

Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double-tongue, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre” (1 Timothy 3:8 RSV).
While on the surface this verse appears to tolerate drinking in moderation, we must remember the biblical context that God approves of the moderate use of those things that are good, and abstaining entirely from those things that are bad. With this understanding, the only logical conclusion is that Paul is admonishing deacons to be moderate in partaking of the good, unfermented wine. Moderation in good things is supported by several Bible passages. Honey, a healthful, natural food is also to be taken in moderation: “It is not good to eat much honey” (Proverbs 25:27).
Gluttony, be it drinking or eating, even with good things to excess is thoroughly condemned in the Bible (Deuteronomy 21:20; Proverbs 23:21), and Jesus describes gluttony as one of the primary sins of the people destroyed by the flood (Matthew 24:38). Eating and drinking to excess was common throughout the Roman Empire. We must further remember that one of the duties of deacons was to visit the homes of the believers. As is common today, visitors were offered grape juice to drink. Deacons were to show their moderation in drinking grape juice so that the charge of gluttony would not be brought upon Christians. Therefore, the most plausible interpretation of this verse is that Paul was forbidding deacons from drinking unfermented grape juice to excess.
When Paul says “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the spirit,” some have thought this verse says just don’t drink too much. But the word excess in Greek is asotia, which is translated as riot and riotous living (Ephesians 5:18, 1 Peter 4:4, Luke 15:13). Darby’s version translates it this way: “And be not drunk with wine, in which is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). We are called to be sacred vessels filled with God’s Spirit.

A Nation of Priests and Kings

Another powerful argument for modern Christians to abstain from alcohol is our royal and religious spiritual heritage. Considering the effect of alcohol and the woes, as the Bible says, it brings to those who have used it in the past, the following verses surely have a more powerful affect on our hearts:

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Exodus 19:6 — “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
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1 Peter 2:9 — “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people.”

And how has alcohol affected those who were a part of this royal priesthood? Consider the following:

*
Leviticus 10:9, 19 — “Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean.”

*
Proverbs 31:4 — “It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Nor for princes intoxicating drink.”

King Benhadad lost a major battle because his judgment was impaired by fermented wine. “But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him” (1 Kings 20:16). He slurred out the ridiculous order: “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; and if they have come out for war, take them alive” (1 Kings 20:18). And then there is Belshazzar, king of Babylon, who was slain in his last drunken exploit—pouring fermented wine into the sacred cups from the temple of God (Daniel 5:2-5).
We are called to be sacred vessels filled with Gods Spirit. “And be not drunk with wine, in which is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18 DNT). Again, could the Bible more clear?

Summary

It is sobering to realize that even 4,300 years later, the sin of Noah is still wrecking families today. Have we learned nothing? Moderate drinking is not God's answer—abstinence is. Every alcoholic begins his or her downward path with a “moderate” drink. The church should never condone or allow that first step by teaching it’s permissible to drink a little wine. Rather, the church should uphold the clear position of the Word of God, knowing that Jesus is the Word made flesh and come to dwell among us.
God’s issue with alcohol is clear, and it always has been. Alcohol is unholy and unclean. Partaking in the worldly drink can only compromise God’s high standards.
If you have a problem with drinking, I invite you to contact Amazing Facts and request our free literature concerning alcohol and the Christian. We have seen thousands freed from alcohol and other addiction by the power of God!
“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

2010-03-30T04:38:00.000-07:00

BEYOND FIXES FOR STRESS
by Gillian Bethel

How would you like a vacation on a palm-fringed tropical island right now? Would it remove your stress? Temporarily, no doubt, but the stress would be back. More practical for most of us would be an evening spent in a relaxed setting, doing something we enjoy. But for how long would that relieve our stress? When it comes to lasting stress management, we definitely need something beyond quick fixes.
A wealth of websites, articles, and books already exist to help us conquer stress. But often they treat stress like a virus that can be isolated and remedied. This booklet is different in two ways: It looks at stress as part of a life story, and it shows how God intervenes in the life and not just in the stress.
Each one of us is unique, and our personal stress levels depend on how we react to all the events of our lives. Because stressors—the triggers of stress—are interwoven with the fabric of our daily experience, true stress management requires a change in the way we relate to life as a whole.

Christianity holds the key to managing this stress. But God is interested in doing more for us than just helping us handle stressors. He wants to make our entire experience in life glow as a result of our knowing Him. He wants to fill our emptiness and be our continual source of guidance, strength, and joy; as well as a place of refuge when things get tough. Yet God does not force anything on us. He gently works to attract us to Him, and we may not feel a need for His help until our stress level becomes overwhelming. In this way at least, stress can be a blessing.
The main purpose of this booklet is to increase your awareness of how God works in the background of our lives by showing you one real-life story of stress, and also to help you realize just how much stress management (and more) He wants to make available to you. I want to share the story about stress that I know best—my own—in the hope that it will encourage you as your life story unfolds.

Chapter 1
SURPRISED BY JOY

First, let’s look at a few facts about stress: Certain stressors, from lack of sleep to noise and even heat, are biologically threatening to our physical functioning.
Other stressors (by far the majority) are often only threatening because we consciously or unconsciously perceive them to be threatening. These might range from the loss of a loved one to running out of gas. They also include work overload, time pressures, poor social relationships, and constant interruptions.
Our resulting reaction to these stressors is called the “fight-or-flight” response. This instinctual reaction enables us to rise to the occasion, such as performing unusual feats of endurance and strength. However, it is ideally suited to handling only short-term challenges and emergencies.
So when a particular stressor or series of them requiring a “flight or fight” response is continuous for months or years because of our life situation, the body and mind sustain strain and ultimately injury unless some other remedy is found to handle the stress.
The symptoms of a long-term “fight-or-flight” stress response will vary from person to person according to their weaker areas in personal health. (You can check for stress symptoms in the appendix.) These “red flags” tell us that we are heading for a complete breakdown in mental and/or physical health unless we reduce the impact of, or eliminate altogether, the stressor.
Yet stressors often cannot be easily isolated. Stress is woven into our lives, and this is not a book designed to show you how to handle a particular kind or group of stressors. Instead, by looking at a life story, you will better understand both how stress works generally on you over time, and how God intervenes, perhaps even using the stress itself to show you can win the battle to overcome it.
______________________________

As a teenager in England, my stress developed from having unreachable goals. I wanted to look like a fashion model, but I didn’t. I wanted to be popular, but I was shy. I had a huge inferiority complex, and I agonized over not measuring up to other people.
Still, at 18 I was full of hope and had many dreams as I started out on my own at college. Hungry for the missing something in my life, I determined to find it in the next few years. But I was naive about this search, and always looking for fun, I was soon following my roommate and her friends into a life of partying. I also started taking drugs, hoping they might help me discover spiritual powers within myself. But even as I began to set this mistaken course in my search, I had a strange experience.
Among the whirlwind of new acquaintances and experiences in those first few weeks, I met Martin. Good looking and always smiling, he spoke with shining eyes about Jesus. My roommate emphatically warned me that he was in the “God Squad,” and spoke scornfully of the campus Christians, but I was intrigued with his happy spirit.
One evening, a throbbing headache kept me home and gave me some time to reflect. Listening to music and curled up in bed, I began to wonder why Martin found Christianity so exciting. Although I had been educated in Christian schools, I never really understood the belief system and thought of the religion as only a collection of myths. “What about Martin’s Jesus?” I mused. “Was he a myth or a real historical person?”
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a voice said, “Yes!”
The answer was as decisive as it was shocking, and in that moment I was completely certain Jesus was real. An incredible joy flooded into me! I was totally amazed.
Despite this wonderful feeling, I felt too afraid of my roommate’s ridicule to talk about it with her. Furthermore, I made a huge mistake by not going to Martin to ask him about the experience. Shyness held me back, and the knowledge of how to cope with that conviction was lost to me. Without guidance from Martin or other Christians, I began hoping that something more exciting than regular Christianity was behind my experience, even wondering if that night I had received a telepathic message from extraterrestrials.
I missed finding my heart’s desire in the first weeks of college by not following that message to thefeet of Jesus. Of course, I never realized that the path I was following was going to lead to all the stress of disappointment, emptiness, frustration, and disillusionment. I had in my grasp all the enjoyment and enlightenment that I would be seeking for years, but it slipped through the cracks. With compassion, Jesus had pointed me in a different direction in an attempt to save me from stress and regret. If I only had followed it right then, He would have helped me so much in my college years. But I didn’t—and I continued to struggle with stress without Him.
______________________________

In hindsight, I now see that Jesus reached to me many times, drawing me to Him continually, even during my childhood. Sometimes it was through thought impressions, sometimes through music or books, sometimes through someone’s words or actions. He never stopped speaking to me or guiding my life so that whatever turn I took, I bumped into Him. At times I even responded, though only partially. I usually just pushed Him away. But He never gave up.
Am I unique? No! Jesus wants to save all of us from the stress we bring on ourselves. He has said, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3). He is working behind the scenes in all of our lives, and there isn’t a single person who He isn’t patiently, lovingly trying to reach. Most of the time we don’t pay any attention. And Jesus, a respecter of free choice, will never forcibly stop us from making mistakes and taking wrong turns. Yet His love for us is steady and inalienable.
In your present situation, Jesus is with you. He is actively involved in your very existence moment by moment, although you may not yet perceive it. “He is not far from every one of us, for in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). You can even speak to Him at any time, and He will hear and answer you. You might not necessarily hear a voice, but you will recognize the answer if you look for it.
Just as He had a better plan for me if I had turned to Him, so He has one for you. He promises, “Call unto me, and I will answer Thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not” (Jeremiah 33:3).

Chapter 2
THE SLIPPERY SLOPE

Although I missed the opportunity to find the source of that joy I experienced that evening, I pursued it relentlessly for the next three years. I sometimes turned to drugs, but whatever enjoyment they gave me evaporated when I came down from a “high.” I also tried to unearth inner powers of telepathy and ESP without results, and I tampered with various forms of meditation. All the while, my personal life staggered into an even worse mess every step I took.
Other journeys into religion brought me close to that joyful feeling again, like studying Hinduism and scouring the writing of mystics, yet it remained ever elusive. Though they stirred my imagination, I always sensed their emptiness—the way to enlightenment seemed too hard. During all this disappointment, I neglected my studies as I tried to fit in with the crowd and find a fulfilling relationship. It was all in vain. Gradually, the stress of depression from unfulfilled hopes became a constant feature of my life. I wondered if life was even worth living.
______________________________

Sometimes we have to hit bottom before we realize we can’t really win. We fight stress in our own strength, but we gradually run out of energy using up our “flight-or-fight” resources. The human body is made to withstand a barrage of multiple stressors, but it eventually succumbs to physical and mental ailments, even disease, if the stress goes unrelieved for too long. At some point, we decide we just can’t beat the problem. That’s when God can step in. If we already know Him, we can ask Him to take over the situation. But if we don’t, and the time is right, He just may do it anyway! That’s what happened to me.
______________________________

Life was continuously stressful. I was disillusioned with partying, and I had failed in my spiritual quest. I even lost my boyfriend. As my three-year college program came to a close, I realized I was on the verge of failing and making a complete mess of my life. I had to make a change.
Having lost so much, I started thinking of my parents and their dreams for me. They had sacrificed for years to give me an education, so I devoted myself to turning around two-and-a-half wasted years. Fortunately, everything hung on a couple of major projects and final exams—it was worth the try.
Amazingly, my stress was tapered when I at last gave up on the social and spiritual struggles. And as I began to focus on someone else’s need, my parents’, and doing what I knew to be right, God began rearranging my life completely. It was nothing short of a miracle.
By God’s grace, I received my degree in Social Anthropology. Although I had been accepted many months before into graduate training as a social worker, I received a letter stating funding for that training was no longer available. I shuddered at the thought of more studying as the college’s anthropology department recruited graduates for research positions, but the department head practically begged me to take an amazing opportunity. Even though I had only wanted a job reference when I went to see him, he surprised me with a fully funded graduate research project in the Caribbean.
Part of what’s so amazing is God’s timing. It was unheard of to just walk into the department head’s office without an appointment, and it was also the very last afternoon before the funding for this project would have been given back to the payee!
An all-expense paid trip to a tropical destination was too tempting to turn down. The past year had seen an amazing turnaround—from near college failure to a graduate dream assignment in the West Indies! Of course, I simply thought this was just a lucky series of events—I never saw the Divine Hand until later. But I did realize that Someone was looking after me.
One evening, before my final exams, I had been studying late in the college library. I was very tired and gathered my belongings to go home. It was a wet and windy night, and I had to ride several miles on my little motorcycle to make it home. Confused by fatigue and temperamental weather, I made an ill-timed turn onto a four-lane highway. In a heartbeat, I came within inches of being struck by a car. I reached home still shaking from the experience. I lit a cigarette and paced my room. I had narrowly escaped death and could only say to myself, “Someone up there must want me alive!”
______________________________

Yes! Someone, in fact, did. It was yet another intervention by the One in whom I unknowingly lived, moved, and had my being.
If your stress seems overwhelming and you feel like giving up, you are in just the right place for God to do something wonderful in your life. “He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). Give your situation to Him, even if you don’t know Him yet. I didn’t even know enough to do that, but I did give up my own attempts to run my life in a vain attempt to find fulfillment. And God had much more in store than I could have ever found on my own! “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings” (Psalm 40: 1, 2). Jesus takes us where we are. He can pick us up out of the deepest hole—the most discouraging circumstances. “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 31:26). He can give us something much better than we could ever find for ourselves.
Jesus never forces His plans on us. Instead, He invites us to respond, even in the smallest way, so He can take us another step. “O Lord thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before and laid thine hand upon me” (Psalm 139:1–5).

Chapter 3
THE WONDERFUL BOOK

Ah! The Caribbean. Tropical beaches, azure waters! I thought surely doing research there would be nothing less than a paid vacation.
But it certainly wasn’t …
I had greatly underestimated the culture shock, homesickness, and social isolation I would feel. Worse, the island people did not want to be studied by an aspiring anthropologist. They even dubbed me “the spy” and proceeded to treat me like one. My research stalled because it took a long time just to understand their dialect. Even more, I was under constant scrutiny on the tiny island—and it wasn’t respectable for a woman to smoke, drink, or party. All my usual “crutches” were denied me if I wanted to be accepted.
College stress was nothing compared to this. Here my back was completely against the wall. The only escape would be paying back the research grant and heading home, but that would greatly disappoint my parents who were thrilled with my academic achievement.
I was trapped. The stress of facing a situation that I could neither control nor cope with was a daily experience for months. My stress symptoms multiplied. Yet I had no choice but to persevere, and eventually my research made progress. Part of that research meant attending church. (God surely must have a sense of humor!) I had to understand the island people’s religious beliefs, and much of the women’s social life focused around their churches.
______________________________

To fit in, I bought a Bible to carry to church like everyone else. For weeks, that was all I did with it. But one day, I lay down on my bed and opened the Book. It opened to Isaiah 40, and I read until I came to this part:

“Have ye not known? Have ye not heard?
Hath it not been told you from the
beginning? Have ye not understood from
the foundations of the earth? It is He
that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,
and the inhabitants thereof are as grass-
hoppers … that bringeth the princes
to nothing; he maketh the judges of the
earth as vanity.”

It was a kind but chiding voice speaking to me. “Haven’t you known all along that I was real?” The lights went on! Of course! The place I should have been looking for something spiritual was the Bible. I never did—why had I thought it was so boring?
From that moment, I started reading the Bible seriously. I didn’t understand everything, but it fed my soul. I found verses that were like notes from a friend. A special favorite was Isaiah 41:10: “Fear thou not for I am with thee, be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” This helped when I felt in great need of strength but had nowhere else to turn for it.
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). It was this peace amid all the stress that I really longed for. “These things I have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). With all the challenges I was having, this one was really encouraging!
Even though I didn’t completely understand these verses, they were so comforting that I wrote them on cards and stuck them on my mirror. I read them often, and eventually memorized them. When I found myself in stressful situations, thinking about them brought peace to me in a way I considered magical. I had never read a book that kept on “speaking” to me like the Bible did.
Many people avoid the Bible, thinking it is just too hard to understand, if not simply old fashioned. It might well be difficult to grasp sometimes, but it is surprisingly up-to-date for the situations in your life. Why? Because it speaks to human needs.
And it’s actually not hard to understand the parts that speak to your need! These passages are loud and clear—and wonderfully personal. If you’re not in the habit of reading the Bible, I encourage you to begin. Start in Psalms, or the Gospel of John, or wherever you feel led to look. You don’t have to start in Genesis, and you don’t need to worry about the things you don’t understand. Just read until you find something that “jumps out” at you—and cherish it as God Himself speaking to you.
______________________________

While on the island, it was more than just the Bible that helped me cope with stressors. Although I did not realize it then, my changed lifestyle, though forced, was excellent for stress management.
At college, I went to bed late, ate irregularly, and drank endless cups of coffee. I smoked and binged on candy, spent the days mostly indoors, and rarely exercised.
But on the island, I was out in the sun and fresh air. I walked everywhere. I went to bed early, ate regular meals and had little or no coffee, candy, or cigarettes. All this helped tremendously to strengthen my body and clear my mind.
Years later while working at a Lifestyle Center as a stress counselor, I found that exercise, rest, and a good diet often relieved the clients’ stress before we even sat down to discuss their crisis. Sometimes a daily walk in the fresh air, more rest and lots of fruit and vegetables—rather than the foods full of salt, sugar, oil, and caffeine we crave—are all it takes to help us see a way through the stress. However, as simple as it sounds, we still need God’s power to make changes. But all we need to do is ask Him for it.
______________________________

Something else happened to me during my research. I saw something in people’s lives that I didn’t have but very much wanted. They seemed so happy and stress free.
I found that when I spoke to them, they talked about Jesus as if He was their next-door neighbor. They also always spoke encouragingly. In fact, they reminded me of Martin, the Christian man I had met in college but never approached to find answers.
But this time I didn’t make the same mistake. I began to search again, but now within Christianity. I wanted to find out what it was really about, not for anthropology fieldwork, but for my soul.
God was working vigorously in my life, stirring me up to feel in need of Him. He spoke to me through the Bible, cleared my mind through lifestyle, and positioned me so that I would finally be able to connect with Him and find that longed-for joy. “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord” (Jeremiah 29:13, 14).
God works in each person’s life differently. He doesn’t necessarily place us in worse stress to help us realize we need Him, but as C. S. Lewis observed, “Pain is God’s megaphone to arouse a deaf world.” If He knows we’ll cruise on indefinitely without Him when things are tolerable, He may turn up the heat! “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path” (Psalm 142:3).
Of course, He does this with great care and concern. We are truly safe in His hands only, and He won’t allow us to be destroyed by the experience. “The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3).
Our temptation might be to run. In fact, I nearly accepted an invitation to drop the fieldwork and sail to the Pacific Islands with a group of young people. But if we run from His lovingly crafted guidance, we will miss God’s best for us.
Yet even then, He will not give up on us. But it’s important not to take the easy way out unless we perceive His guidance and timing in that direction. He has something better in the end—His rest.
“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

Chapter 4
LIFE MORE ABUNDANT

Early on in my fieldwork, I was invited to a church book sale. I felt obligated, so I purchased a copy of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. I remembered listening to it long ago at elementary school, but I doubted I would ever read it. So I left it on my bookshelf to collect dust.
A year went by. I was working as a part-time teacher to try to shake off the “spy” image, and I was beginning to understand the culture quite well. Life as an anthropologist was still difficult and challenging, but the Bible was bringing an increasing glow into my life as I tried to better understand Christianity.
Then one weekend, grounded with a low-grade fever, I noticed Pilgrim’s Progress sitting idly on my bookshelf. I picked it up thinking I’d read just a little, but I ended up reading it cover to cover in just two days. Amazingly, the book had answers to almost allof my questions about Christianity. It taught me what it really meant to take Jesus as my Savior.
When I finished it, I knelt down and asked Jesus to take my whole life into His hands. I begged for His forgiveness and asked Him to make me clean and new. That wonderful joy I felt that night in college and had longed for came flooding back—this time to stay.
Now Jesus was not just someone I knew about, but a living person whom I admired and loved. Even better, I knew that He loved me more. I could hardly believe it! At last, I had found the “something” that had been missing all my life, and it was a wonderful “Someone.”
______________________________

For a long time, I had thought turning my life over to God for His guidance was a scary thing to do. I imagined He would force me to do things I didn’t want, like be a missionary to somewhere outlandish.
Of course, I didn’t know Him well enough then, nor did I understand the real meaning of the Christian life. I have learned that God lets us “try Him out” for as long as it takes to know to trust and love Him. By the time we are ready to fully commit our lives to Him, we want to do it, knowing by experience that it is the happiest way to live. We do it knowing that we aren’t puppets, that He treats our power of choice with the utmost respect. He does ask us to do specific things and make sacrifices, but He also gives us the willingness or desire to do them—and the ability too! We are always free to say “no,” and to leave His service. The struggle then for a Christian is to actively stay close to Him.
______________________________

My life was transformed! I woke each morning remembering that Jesus was real, and I talked with Him about the day ahead, asking for strength and guidance. There was so much joy in hearing Him “speak” through prayer and Bible reading or simply in the way He worked things out through the day. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Now when stress came up, I could talk to Him about it and find help in the Bible. I would also pray for the people involved. Many people said they could see in my face that something good had happened to me.
I even experienced God’s deliverance from addiction. Prior to really turning to Him, I always kept a pack of cigarettes and smoked when things got extra stressful. I had “given up” smoking many times by finishing a pack and vowing to never buy another, but that only worked until another onslaught of stress. This time I threw away a half-full pack, knowing I would not need cigarettes at all any more. And I have never wanted one since.
I felt in awe of this ability—this gift from Jesus. For some people, it’s a much harder battle to stop smoking, but I have seen so many people delivered from addictions that I know there is nothing too hard for God. It was as if He was saying to me, “You won’t need these anymore; I will help you cope from now on.” “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27).
In addition to God’s power over bad habits, I saw more clearly how He protected and guided me in stressful situations. Before I returned to England, a friend and I decided to travel in South America. We took overnight bus trips to save hotel expenses, but we soon found that bus travel wasn’t very predictable. Our first bus was to take us overnight from Caracas, Venezuela, to Bogota, Columbia, but on the way highway repair on one mountain pass stopped the bus in its tracks. A giant pile of dirt stood in the road. We spent a cold, uncomfortable night waiting for the work crew to return. We finally arrived in Bogota late the following evening, eight hours behind schedule. But the adventure wasn’t over yet. On the outskirts of the city, the bus collided with a car. The drivers started shouting at each other, and we realized we wouldn’t be moving until the police arrived to clear things up. Desperate to reach our destination, we got off the bus and started to walk.
Of course, we had no idea where we were and couldn’t speak enough Spanish to ask for help. But suddenly a young man approached us and spoke to us in English! He asked if we needed help, and we gratefully requested help in finding a hotel. He walked with us to a clean, cheap hotel and said goodbye.
Before, I would have thought this young man was just a happy coincidence. But now I often wonder if God in His mercy sent an angel in disguise to help two very vulnerable girls lost on the streets of a strange city, late at night. Certainly He sent us help just when we needed it. “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” (2 Corinthians 1:3, 4). When I decided to give my life to Jesus, I had no idea how it would be affected. All I really knew was that I wanted to walk on His path for me. As time went by, I found I had gained a friend who was so very present with me that I could turn to Him at any moment for strength, guidance in a decision, help in a struggle, or anything else I needed. “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11).
And between those times of struggle, I could praise Him for all the good things in my life, and talk to Him about other people and their needs. I also realized that I could help Him bring joy to others, and one of the greatest pleasures of life was to be His co-worker, helping others as I had been helped.
The Bible continued to become dearer and dearer. It was now a book about someone I knew, and it was full of messages from Him to me. I continued to memorize Bible verses and found them powerful weapons against stress. There seemed to be a promise for whatever challenge I faced! “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).
More than that, I learned to simply give stressful situations over to Him instead of trying to handle them by myself. It saved so much worry! It was amazing how difficulties resolved with God’s intervention. So often He worked things out “exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think,” and I would just marvel! (Ephesians 3:20).
“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

Chapter 5
DON’T CHRISTIANS HAVE PROBLEMS WITH STRESS?

If knowing God and giving Him our life is the ultimate answer to stress, does it mean that our stress problems are over? Well, it depends!
Obviously, Christians still face stressors, yet they have the means to meet and overcome them in God’s power—the most powerful force possible! The Bible even portrays Jesus’ followers cheerfully facing imprisonment or death. Surely we should be able to handle a difficult work situation or an obnoxious person!
While stressors can still stimulate our natural God-given “fight or flight” response, it can now be directed to fleeing to the refuge of prayer and the grace of God’s promises. God will show us how to fight in His way and in His strength. He promises, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
With God, there is always hope. Even if you find yourself under a continuous barrage of stressors, God’s comfort and strength will let you enjoy regular relief from the stress response that breaks down your mental and physical health. If this is not happening in your life, you are missing out on one of God’s greatest promises to you.
______________________________

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

1. Am I turning this over to God and trusting Him, or am I worrying about it?
2. Am I allowing God to work out His will, or am I doing my own will?
3. Am I dwelling on negative thoughts, or am I asking Jesus to take them away?
4. Am I counting my blessings, or am I wanting more and more?
5. Am I looking for and claiming Bible promises for this situation, or am I hiding from truth?
6. Am I spending quality time with Jesus, or am I so tired and overloaded that I miss out? 7. Am I taking care of my health by eating healthfully, drinking plenty of water, getting enough sleep, and exercising regularly?

Some time ago, my husband and I experienced several stressful months during which he had no regular job. We live in a rural area by choice, and jobs are often not very plentiful. As time passed and our financial situation looked bleaker, it was a real temptation to worry. For our daughter’s sake, we wanted to stay in our beautiful country setting, where she has good friends and an ideal environment.
As time passed, I found myself falling down on the wrong side of nearly all of these questions, so I was experiencing a lot of stress. I had to ask for the Lord’s forgiveness, and His power to make the necessary changes in my heart and life. As I prayed, my peace of mind was restored.
The Lord will often remind us of the many ways He has already taken care of us in the past, so in complete confidence, we must give the situation to Him to work out. Eventually, work came to my husband from an unexpected quarter, as things often do under the Lord’s watch, with the added blessing of giving him a much-needed change of pace. God is so good!
Stressors can come as a vicious cycle in which one problem leads to another, creating intense stress and eventually a breakdown in physical and mental health. Most of the time when a bad situation comes up, we strive in vain for the outcome that we want. In this process, we get tired and frustrated so that even more things go wrong, and in turn we are more likely to dwell on negative thoughts—the downward path begins. We sleep poorly and start the day late, without spending quality time in Bible study and prayer. We worry about the situation until we begin to experience stress symptoms and may ultimately become sick or depressed.
But Jesus is very tender and merciful. “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). He doesn’t leave us to spiral downwards into despair but reaches to us in every way He can, reminding us that He is more than able to handle things for us if we ask Him. “He hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me … Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:5, 6, 8).
Our part is simply to trust and obey. If we take time to remind ourselves of all His promises to us in Scripture, things fall back into their true perspective, and our stress is relieved. “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).
We need to make the well-known prayer our own: “God, help me to remember that nothing is going to happen to me today that you and I can’t handle together.” That is the bottom line in stress management.

Appendix
SYMPTOMS OF STRESS

Symptoms resulting from continuous, unmanaged stress vary according to each individual, but the more of the symptoms listed here you experience, the more likely you are to be suffering from excessive stress, which may eventually contribute to major illness or a mental breakdown if unchecked.
If you find yourself experiencing one or more of these symptoms, I encourage you to seek help. Your first stop should be on your knees, and the second should be found in the Bible. After that, listen for God’s will in your life, look for the answer, and act accordingly.

• Physical
Frequent nervous “tics” or muscle spasms
Frequent infections and viruses
Dry mouth
Stiffness, tension, and pain of neck, back, and joints
Frequent abdominal pain
Frequent indigestion, diarrhea, or constipation
Itchy skin
Arms crossed or fists clenched while conversing
Clutching the steering wheel in traffic
Easily startled Frequent headaches
Frequent insomnia, fatigue, loss of appetite

• Psychological
Frequent feelings of panic and/or not being in control
Frequent depression for no apparent reason
Difficulty concentrating on the simplest tasks
Frequent impatience
Frequent forgetfulness
Sudden emotional outbursts and crying spells
Frequent worrying or feeling trapped by circumstances
Frequent mood swings
Frequent irritation over small difficulties
Routine tasks become nearly unbearable to accomplish
Frequent boredom and/or need for excitement/escapism
Increased use of coping mechanisms: alcohol, caffeinated drinks,
smoking, drug taking, eating, sleeping, etc.

2010-03-03T05:13:00.000-08:00

How to Manage Stress
by Andrew Cate

You may think stress is what you feel when you are worried or anxious, but to your body, any change causes stress, whether it’s a good change or a bad one. Stress is your physical and emotional response to changes you experience that result in positive or negative feelings. Constant internal adjustments are needed to cope with the variety of demands placed on you—like temperature, noise, physical activity, achievements, financial and social worries, and poor health. Stress is not something that happens to you. Rather, it’s the set of physical and emotional reactions your body uses to adapt to change and stimuli. This is known as your stress response.

Good Stress

A small amount of stress can be beneficial. Mild stress can help you work energetically and thrive under pressure. It helps you grow and change, avoid danger, and strive for a goal. Likewise, exercise—physical stress—can produce a temporary strain on your body, but its health benefits are indisputable.

Good stress is usually short term and helps challenge and motivate you, improving your performance and well-being, and adding excitement to your life. Some specific examples of good stress include getting married, planning for a holiday, receiving a promotion at work, watching a sporting event, or playing a sport.

However, many negative effects occur when stress becomes overwhelming or is poorly managed. Prolonged or chronic stress is unpleasant, harmful, builds tension, and can lead to depression and burnout. Some specific examples of bad stress include worrying about having enough money to pay your bills, a bad relationship with a work colleague, or a prolonged illness, whether your own or that of a close family member.

Coping With Stress

We each have different capacities to cope with the events in our lives. The degree of stress in your life and your ability to cope with it depend on a number of factors. Some of the most important ones are your personality, your nutritional status, your energy reserves, your fitness and health, and the quality of your sleep. Also, your previous experiences in life, your support systems and interpersonal relationships, and the number of commitments and responsibilities you have can profoundly affect the way you handle stress. Your optimism and sense of humor will also affect your ability to handle stress. Can you laugh off an offensive remark, or do you carry a grudge? Finally, trusting your life to a higher power can significantly enhance your ability to handle stress.

Types of Stress

All stress isn’t the same. Recognizing the type of stress you are experiencing will help you to use the proper stress management and relaxation techniques to deal with it.

Physical Stress. These stressors involve easily identifiable physical demands and responses on your body, such as exercise, illness, typing all day without a break, eating irregularly, or overeating.

Emotional Stress. Emotional stressors include worries, arguments, disagreements, and other conflicts in your personal life.

Perceived stress. Your imagination and perception are powerful and can make false situations a reality as far as your stress response is concerned. For example, if you don’t like dogs, you could become stressed when visiting a friend who owns a dog, even if the dog is good natured. As long as you think an event or situation is real, you will experience the same stress reaction as if the issue was genuinely happening.

Manage Stress

It is not possible to completely eliminate stress. Indeed, you wouldn’t want to. The key is to find the optimal level of stress that will motivate you without making you feel overwhelmed. The following five suggestions will help you to manage excessive stress, thus reducing its harmful effects on your physical and mental health.

Increased Awareness. You need increased awareness of three things. First, determine what events and specific situations cause you to feel distressed. Second, learn to recognize how your body responds to these stresses. Do you become nervous or physically upset, and if so, in what specific ways? For example, identify areas in your body where muscle tension builds. Third, recognize what your response to stress is. Do you lash out, or do you cave in?

Focus on what’s important to you. Have a look at the direction you are taking in your personal and professional life and identify what’s most important to you. Re-evaluate your goals, and work toward changes that will improve the situation. Try to spend more time doing the things that will result in rewards you value the most.

Strengthen Your Physical Reserves. Prepare your body to cope with stress by exercising regularly, following a healthy, well-balanced eating plan, and maintaining a healthy level of body fat. It’s also important to avoid nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine. Adequate rest and recreation are also good ways to build your reserves, so be sure you get enough sleep and take time for fun. Vacations are good, but so is an hour or two of play in a busy week.

Strengthen your emotional reserves. Develop mutually supportive friendships and other relationships, pursue realistic goals that are meaningful to you, expect and plan for some frustrations, failures, and sorrows, and be a friend to yourself.

Use relaxation techniques. One good way to relax is to take a break from work or other activities that cause you to feel pressured. This releases tension and helps you to feel more calm, happy, and energetic. It will also reduce the risk of stress-related illness and help you enjoy more restful sleep.

There are many relaxation techniques you can practice to reduce tension, prevent stress from becoming cumulative, and improve your health and well-being. Massages and saunas are physically relaxing, while meditation and deep breathing are emotionally relaxing. The key is to find a relaxation technique that is suitable for you, and which will be the most helpful in relieving the type of excess stress you are experiencing.

Reduce Stress

To reduce stress, look at ways to gain control over your thoughts, emotions, schedule, surroundings, and the way you deal with problems. The ultimate goal is to balance your life and have time for everything that’s important to you. To prepare for and minimize stress, you can either modify stressful situations by avoiding or altering them or by changing your reaction to them. Following are some tips on how you can gain control and prevent stress from occurring.

Avoid stressful situations. Learn to say No. Get to know your limits and avoid taking on too much. Rather than looking for ways to squeeze more into your day, find a way to leave some things out.

Avoid negative people. If certain people cause you stress, limit the amount of time you spend with them.

Take a break. If you begin to feel like you’re losing control to your stress, take time to clear your mind. Go for a walk, do something for fun, or take a day off for a long weekend. If you haven’t taken an extended vacation for a long time, use some of your leave time to “get away from it all.”

Talk About It. When something or someone is bothering you, express your feelings instead of bottling them up.

Improve your time management. Being organized can prevent a crisis, giving you energy and helping you sleep better. Time management helps you focus on getting the important things done and using your time more effectively.

Control your environment. Get your surroundings organized and uncluttered, free from noises or images that frustrate you.

Focus on the positive. When you are feeling overwhelmed, take a few moments to reflect on the things you have already achieved. Keep things in perspective and look at each challenge as an opportunity.

Alter your expectations. If you can’t change a stressful situation, try to change yourself. You can adapt to stressful situations and regain your sense of control by changing your expectations and attitude. Don’t expect perfection from yourself or others.

Look for a compromise. Don’t expect others to change without changing some yourself. Make a concerted effort to find a middle ground, and those around you will be more willing to do the same.

A little stress is good. Too much is bad. Learn to recognize both kinds in yourself. Then enjoy the good kind and learn to deal with the bad kind in ways that will reduce it or perhaps even eliminate it from your life.

How Relaxation Counteracts Stress

Relaxation leads to changes that are the opposite of the stress response, and when used effectively, can help to minimize the harmful effects of stress.
Stress Response Body Function Relaxation Response
Increased
Increased
Increased
Increased
Increased
Increased
Increased Heart rate
Blood pressure
Breathing rate
Muscle tension
Sweating
Mental arousal
Adrenaline release Decreased
Decreased
Decreased
Decreased
Decreased
Decreased
Decreased

Stress Red Lights

Check which, if any, of the following symptoms you experience. If they are unusual for you, they may be stress red lights.
Physical Signals

* Tense muscles or back pain
* Sleeping too little or too much
* Sudden bursts of energy
* Cold or sweaty hands
* Headaches
* Eating too little or too much
* Nausea or upset stomach
* Heart racing or pounding
* Extremely tired

Mental Signals

* Forgetfulness
* Difficulty making decisions
* Difficulty concentrating
* Daydreaming and/or bad dreams
* Lack of creativity
* Thoughts of running away
* Constant worry
* Loss of sense of humor

Emotional Signals

* Overwhelming sense of pressure
* Feeling powerless to change things
* Feeling trapped or like a victim
* Feeling bad about oneself
* Feelings of inferiority
* Feeling lonely or blue
* Feeling hopeless or depressed
* Nervous and anxious
* Edginess—ready to explode
* Outbursts of temper
* Crying for no reason

Behavioral Signals

* Deliberately doing sloppy work
* Grouchy, irritable, even mean
* Procrastination
* Inability to get things done
* Loss of interest in appearance
* Getting into arguments

Spiritual Signals

* Feeling empty
* Loss of direction
* Unforgiving attitude
* Loss of faith
* Bitterness
* Resentment

Should you exhibit more than a few of these, you may wish to consult your physician, or at least alter your lifestyle to include some of the suggestions in the accompanying feature.

Source: Cooling Down Teen Stress, Signs Publishing Company

The TV Trap

2010-03-03T05:03:00.000-08:00

The TV Trap
by Vicki Griffin

Pat was a lonely divorcee, an “empty nester” with children grown and gone—and she was hooked. Planted motionless in her favorite overstuffed recliner, she was held hostage by her television. “I was trying to escape my feelings of loneliness,” she confided, “and I turned to the TV. My habit grew until I would surf the channels, not to find my favorite program, but just to find something—anything!—to watch on the tube. Many times, I would wake up in the wee hours of the morning, having fallen asleep in front of the TV. I often watched things I never would have bought a book to read about, and I was really embarrassed about it.”

But Pat isn’t alone in her habit. Ninety-nine percent of households in America own a television—more than have refrigerators or indoor plumbing. Americans spend half their free time watching TV. In the average American home, TVs are on for seven hours a day, with daily individual viewing for adults topping four hours. That’s twenty-eight hours a week, or two months of nonstop television viewing per year.

American youngsters, on average, spend more time watching television than any activity besides sleeping. Researcher and psychologist Dr. Jane Healy notes that “by ages three to five—the height of the brain’s critical period for cognitive development— estimates place viewing time of the average child at twenty-eight hours a week. Average time for elementary students runs at about twenty-five hours a week, and for high-schoolers, twenty-eight hours a week, approximately six times the hours spent doing homework.” When television time is combined with playing videogames, many teens are spending thirty-five to fifty-five hours in front of the television or game station every week.
TV’s Effect on the Brain

Considering these statistics, it’s sobering to learn that television can have a hypnotic, and possibly addictive, effect on any brain—old or young. One researcher wrote: “Excessive cravings do not necessarily involve physical substances. . . . Most of the criteria of substance dependence can apply to people who watch a lot of television.”

Although people report feeling more relaxed and passive while watching television, once the set is turned off, their sense of relaxation turns off too. Unfortunately, their feelings of passivity and lowered alertness remain. While activities that challenge the brain expand the number and strength of neural connections devoted to that activity, some viewers say television has somehow “absorbed or sucked their energy, leaving them depleted.” Pat’s TV habit left her too tired and depressed to engage in other activities.

One reason for this is that TV, for the most part, is a passive activity for the brain. As Jeff Victoroff, MD, author of Saving Your Brain, notes: “Here’s where we come to the crucial point about mental stimulation and the brain: passive experience does little for the adult brain. To keep the brain learning and growing, we need to generate active responses to cognitive challenges.” Put simply: TV does little or nothing for brain growth.

But according to neurology researcher Dr. Antonio Domasio, TV does do something for the brain: It increases the risk of emotional neutrality because the brain is barraged with too much input. This happens because the information center of the brain receives and processes data at a much faster pace than the emotional center does.

On the news, for instance, it’s not uncommon to see horrific scenes of brutality and bloodshed while basketball scores and stock market figures run simultaneously at the bottom of the screen. “The image of an event or a person can appear in a flash,” Domasio says, “but it takes seconds to make an emotional marking which means that you could potentially become ethically less grounded. You’d be in an emotionally neutral world.”

Victoroff agrees: “Things are shown one after another. No matter how terrifying, images are shown so briefly that we have no time to sense emotionally the horror of a particular event.”
The Ratings Game

In his book, Still Bored in a Culture of Entertainment, psychiatrist Richard Winter cites another potent pitfall of television viewing. The ultimate goal of TV programs is ratings: Ratings attract advertisers, and advertisers bring revenue. So, bottom line, TV is about advertising, not information, and entertainment is the means to accomplish the all-important end—advertising revenue.

As a result, by the age of 20, many viewers have seen more than one million commercials. And what do they learn from these commercials? “Children learn that they are the most important person in the universe,” Winter writes, “that impulses should not be denied, that pain should not be tolerated and that the cure for any kind of pain is a product. They learn a weird mix of dissatisfaction and entitlement. With the message of ads, we are socializing our children to be self-centered, impulsive, and addicted.”

Author Henry Lebalme agrees: “Oddly, this overload of stimulation, information, advertising, and entertainment has produced an unexpected result: boredom. When stimulation comes at us from every side, we reach a point where we cannot respond with much depth to anything. . . . We tend to become unable to discriminate and choose from among the many options. The result is that we shut down our attention to everything.”

But that’s not the only aspect of television that affects the attention of children and adults. The ability to pay attention and focus on a task is an internal choice. But television artificially manipulates the brain into paying attention by violating certain of its natural defenses with flashing images, sudden closeups, and invasive sounds (called saliency). These all alert the novelty, reward, and fear centers of the brain of impending danger. And that keeps you watching—it forces you to pay attention—whether you want to or not, which may contribute to hyperactivity, frustration, and irritability.

Television, when rightly used, can be a source of education, information, entertainment, and even relaxation. Good programs are produced on science, history, nature, religion, art, and human interest. These types of programs can provide a nice occasional diversion and stimulate interest in a new area of study. But higher learning takes place as a result of active mental exertion, which television generally does not stimulate.

This is the trap that Pat found herself in. She recognized that her dependence on television was robbing her of needed social connections and was leaving her more depressed and fatigued as a result. She attended a Living Free seminar on how to break free from behavioral addictions and found positive tools for breaking out of the cycle she was in.

“I went to the seminar and purchased the book Living Free because I knew I needed help. After implementing the spiritual and lifestyle tools in the program, I now feel I have a life again. I enjoy gardening and walking; I have more time to read good books, visit my neighbors and get involved in community projects—I feel that I’m growing spiritually stronger and am more able to handle life’s daily problems without resorting to easy escapes. I take better care of my health, and finally enjoy life again.” (Pat’s testimony and picture are featured in Living Free.)
Instead of TV

What are some alternatives to TV? Getting together with friends and family in positive social gatherings boosts brain hormones associated with well-being and happiness.

Engaging in some challenging new task, project, or hobby increases overall problem-solving ability and creates novelty in a positive way. Outdoor exercise, whether in the form of gardening, hiking, bicycling, or some other physical activity, has a powerful mood-boosting effect.

Playing with pets, enjoying downtime, and connecting with those in need are all ways to give the brain as well as social networks a positive boost. Challenging the brain by reading inspiring and mentally challenging books increases the brain’s ability to solve problems and handle stress.

Taking time to nourish the brain with plenty of fresh fruits, whole grains, vegetables, beans, and nuts provides nutrition that is essential for balancing mood, curbing cravings, and boosting brain power. Replacing caffeinated drinks, alcohol, and nicotine with water and healthy beverages increases mental and physical endurance while eliminating the extreme highs and lows associated with those substances.

But most importantly, the Bible teaches that God is a personal and steadfast Friend “who sticks closer than a brother,” and His presence, power, and plan for living are available to every person who turns to Him for help in times of need.

*Information taken from Living Free: Finding Freedom from Habits that Hurt. For more information, call 1-866-624-5433, or visit lifestylematters.com.

How much is too much?

In August 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued guidelines recommending that children under the age of 2 watch no television or screen entertainment at all. For children over the age of 2 parents need to exert caution, such as setting limits on TV viewing, helping children develop media literacy skills to question, analyze, and evaluate TV messages, and taking an active role in their children’s TV viewing . The AAP also recommends children of all ages should never have a television in their bedroom due to television’s ablity to negatively affect early brain development.

Studies such as the one led by pediatric researcher, Dimitri Christakis, MD, MPH, at the Seattle Children’s Hospital,* have revealed that each hour of television watched per day at ages 1–3 increases the risk of attention problems, such as ADHD, by almost 10 percent at age 7, despite the content of the television programs.

*Dimitri Christakis, “Early Television Exposure and Subsequent Attentional Problems in Children”, Pediatrics, 2004.

2010-03-03T04:57:00.000-08:00

Living With Children: Telling Them They're Adopted
by John Rosemond

I believe no hoopla should or needs to be made concerning adoption. I am convinced that many of the standard recommendations dispensed by so-called adoption experts are pointless, and perhaps counterproductive. These include repeatedly telling the child in question, before he’s even able to talk, that he is adopted, referring to the adoption at every possible opportunity, singing “you’re adopted” songs to the child when he’s a baby, and the like. My recommendation is to treat adoption as a small deal, which all but ensures that it will never become a big one.

One adoption professional who was infuriated at my heresy said that my approach could result in trauma to a child who discovers on his own that he was adopted. However, trauma is not mere upset; it is prolonged suffering. I propose that a child who becomes truly traumatized at the discovery that he was adopted was already emotionally fragile for other reasons.

I am not advocating that adopted children not be informed. I simply believe they should not be told until it is either necessary or they are old enough to truly comprehend the implications, ask intelligent questions, and participate in a rational discussion of what it means.

Once upon a time, people did not think that adoption was a big deal. There were children who, for sundry reasons, had to be separated from their parents, and there were parents willing to take them in. No one thought that this increased a child’s risk of later problems, and there is no evidence that it did.

Today, however, adoption babble includes words and phrases such as “attachment disorder,” “bonding issues,” and, of course, “trauma”—all of which greatly increase the likelihood that adoptive parents will tread on eggshells. It is almost always the case that these eggshells eventually crack and beasts emerge. One such beast is the adopted teenager who suddenly decides, in the throes of the “poor, pitiful, adopted me” soap opera, that all of her problems would be solved if she could just go live with her “real” parents. Every time adoptive parents have asked my advice concerning this adolescent drama, they have affirmed that they had made the adoption a big deal from day one.

Some parents recognize the babble for what it is. One such adoptive mom recently told me that she and her husband have never sat down with their daughter to have the “big talk.” The child knows she is adopted. No effort has been made to hide it from her, but the subject is not brought up unless it is relevant to what is going on or being discussed. That’s eminently sensible. The adoption is not taboo, but neither is it the sole source of meaning in the child’s life.

I have a friend who did not discover that he was adopted until he was nineteen years old, and even then, quite by accident. When he asked his parents why they never told him, they answered that it made no difference to them. And that was that. The explanation was satisfactory, and my friend went on to become a highly successful professional.

Again, never telling the child is not my recommendation, but I offer the story as evidence that when molehills are treated as molehills, they are likely to remain molehills.

Family psychologist John Rosemond is the director of the Center for Affirmative Parenting in Gastonia, North Carolina. For information about his talks and workshops, contact Tracy Owens-Jahn at tracyjahn@sbcglobal.net or (817) 295-1751.

2010-03-02T04:57:00.000-08:00

What Revelation Says About Armageddon by Marvin Moore

The dust hadn’t even settled on Desert Storm— America’s war against Saddam Hussein after he invaded Kuwait back in the early 1990s—when I received an advertisement for a book predicting that this was the beginning of the end. Armageddon was about to be fought. In the book, the author painted a vivid picture of Russia coming down to support the Arabs and the United States moving in to support Israel. Earth’s final battle was surely just around the corner! And the author assured his readers that it would be fought in Israel’s Valley of Megiddo.

The word Armageddon comes from two Hebrew words: Har, meaning “mountain,” and mageddon, meaning “Megiddo,” that is, Mount Megiddo. There is no Mount Megiddo in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. However, the Valley of Megiddo in Israel is located near Mount Carmel, where Elijah confronted the priests of Baal nearly 3,000 years ago.

Many people today believe that Armageddon will be fought between two groups of nations on our planet. This was the view of the author who wrote the book I mentioned a moment ago. But is that correct?
Where it all began

Thousands of years ago, a powerful angel named Lucifer—now called Satan—rebelled against God, and he gained a huge following among heaven’s angels. Satan and his followers were expelled from heaven and cast to the earth (Revelation 12:9), and their struggle against God has continued on our planet ever since.

Armageddon will simply be the final battle in that conflict. Right now this war doesn’t seem real. You and I can chat about it in the same detached way we talk about Rome’s conquest of Greece 2,000 years ago. But the conflict between Greece and Rome is history; no one will ever feel the terror of that war again. Armageddon, on the other hand, is future, and one of these days it will be very real!

Here is one of Revelation’s most important statements that helps to clarify what Armageddon is about. “The dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring” (Revelation 12:17).

The dragon is a symbol for Satan—the devil. The woman and her offspring represent “those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (verse 17). So this war is between Satan and God’s people. Of course, Satan does not personally attack God’s people in this war. He attacks them through his surrogates on earth, especially earth’s political and religious powers that are opposed to God and His truth. And John introduces us to one of these in the very next chapter of Revelation.

John described it as a powerful creature that stalked out of the ocean: “I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name” (Revelation 13:1). John went on to say that people all over the world will follow this beast. They will ask, “ ‘Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?’ ” (verse 4). This beast is invincible! Or is it?

Revelation says this beast was “given power to make war against the saints” (verse 7). The reason why the beast fights against God’s people is that they resist him. They will pay a heavy price for their resistance though. Revelation goes on to say that the beast will conquer the saints. God’s people appear to be doomed!

However, before we reach that conclusion, let’s find out what else Revelation says about this war.
War with the scarlet beast

The next reference to a war comes in Revelation 17. This chapter describes events in the world immediately prior to Christ’s second coming. It opens with a word picture of a prostitute riding on a scarlet beast, which, like the beast in chapter 13, has seven heads and ten horns. And it also attacks God’s people, as we shall see.

Revelation says that the ten horns on this beast represent ten kings “ ‘who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast’ ” (Revelation 17:12). Kings means “heads of state,” which in our day can include presidents and prime ministers. These kings represent the nations over which they rule. Since there are far more than ten nations in the world today, it should probably be understood that these ten kings represent all the nations of the world at the time of this final conflict. And Revelation says that they “ ‘will give their power and authority to the beast’ ” (verse 13).

Now note this: Revelation says that these kings—the nations of the world— will “ ‘make war against the Lamb’ ” (verse 14). The “Lamb” is a symbol of Jesus Christ. So the beast and the nations of the world will join the devil on one side, while Jesus will be on the other. However, since Christ’s second coming is still in the future at this point in Revelation, their attack will not be on Him personally. They will attack Him in the person of His saints.

So are God’s people doomed? Not at all! Verse 14 says that “ ‘the Lamb will overcome them [earth’s nations] because he is Lord of lords and King of kings.’ ”
How the war ends

Christ’s actual victory over earth’s rebellious political and religious powers is described in Revelation 19, and here Jesus Christ personally joins the battle. Verse 11 says, “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.” The Rider on the horse is Jesus.

Revelation goes on to say that “the armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean” (verse 14). The phrase “armies of heaven” probably refers to the angels (chapter 12:7–9). On the other side, John says that “the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army” (chapter 19:19).

This is the battle of Armageddon, and it’s also a symbolic description of Christ’s second coming. The striking thing about Revelation’s description is that when Christ returns to our world, the world’s leaders and their armies will try to defeat Him. In today’s world, the most likely way they will try to do that is to turn their nuclear warheads against Him in an effort to prevent His entry into our planet.

But Christ will not be defeated! Revelation says that “the beast was captured, and . . . thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur” (verses 20). A moment ago, we read the question in Revelation 13:4, “ ‘Who can make war against him [the beast]?’ ” Chapter 19 answers that question: Jesus, the Rider on the white horse, can make war against the beast—and defeat him!

Armageddon is a battle between Christ and His people on one side and Satan and his forces of evil on the other. Throughout most of world history, Satan and his people have appeared to have the upper hand. That’s why Revelation 13:7 says that the beast conquered the saints. However, the tide will turn in the final battle of this ages-long war—what Revelation calls the battle of Armageddon. At this point Jesus Himself will enter the fray, and earth’s evil forces will be doomed.
What difference does it make?

It’s easy to think that the battle of Armageddon doesn’t have much to do with you and me. However, as we’ve seen, Armageddon is simply the final battle in a war that’s been going on ever since time began on our planet. And it isn’t just a war for control of our planet. It’s a war for the control of your mind and mine! Satan and Jesus are both trying to win us to their side. For thousands of years, Satan has tried desperately to compel people to join his side. He especially uses earth’s political powers to try to force us into yielding to him.

Jesus will never do that. Those who join His side will do so by their own free choice, unfettered by any compulsion on His part.

The issue in the conflict is whose side we will join. It will be too late to make a choice when Armageddon is fought. Those who are on the winning side in earth’s final battle will be those who are choosing to be on the winning side right now. It’s a choice Jesus invites you and me to make today.

Which side are you choosing to be on during the battle of Armageddon?

2009-11-23T04:01:00.000-08:00

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2009-11-23T03:57:00.000-08:00

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2009-11-23T03:00:00.000-08:00

What is ethics?
By Roger Pawsey

Introduction

As we look at the subject of ethics it is important that we are able to define what we mean. William Barclay says, "If you want to put it in one sentence, ethics is the science of behaviour. Ethics is the bit of religion that tells us how we ought to behave."
Ethics is a code of behaviour that enables people to make moral judgments about difficult situations. For the Christian such topics could include abortion, suicide, homosexuality, genetics and ecology. It also asks the question "can there be a just war?" or "is slavery permissible?"
There are so many questions it is important that we first look at how we arrive at a code of behaviour that will serve us as practicing Christians.

What is ethics?

A Definition

The Collins English Dictionary gives the following definitions:
Ethics
1. (Functioning as singular) the philosophical study of the moral value of human conduct and the rules and principles that ought to govern it; moral philosophy.

2. (Functioning as plural) a social, religious, or civil code of behaviour considered correct, especially that of a particular group, profession or individual.

3. (Functioning as plural) the moral fitness of a decision, course of action, etc.; he doubted the ethics of their verdict.
The following excerpts were taken from "A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics" for deeper definitions of ethics and Christian ethics.

What is ethics?

Deeper definition of Ethics

The word "ethics" is used in a variety of ways, and confusions between these uses are common. At least three main types of question are called "ethical" in different senses:
(1) Questions as to what is right, good, etc., or of how we ought to behave (normative ethics, morals);

(2) Questions as to the answers given by particular societies and people to questions of type (1) (descriptive ethics or comparative ethics, a branch of moral sociology or anthropology); and

(3) Questions as to the meanings or uses of the words used in answering questions of type (1), or the nature or logical character of the moral concepts, or, in older language, of what goodness, etc., are (theoretical ethics, philosophical ethics, moral philosophy). It is perhaps best, in philosophical writing, to reserve the word "ethics" (unqualified) for inquiries of type (3).
The motive for undertaking them has, how- ever, often been the hope that their results might bear on questions of type (1); whether and in what ways this is possible is the question that above all others vexes students of philosophical ethics, and divides the supporters of naturalism , intuitionism , emotivism , descriptivism , prescriptivism , etc (see glossary).
Excerpts taken from "A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics".

What is ethics?

Deeper definition of Christian Ethics Excerpts taken from "A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics".

Other entries deal with the ethics of various Christian traditions; this one attends to the patterns of Christian ethical writing, their elements and their relations to each other.
Themes. Writings that are systematic have organizing themes (metaphors, analogies, symbols, principles) around which other theological and ethical ideas and concepts cohere. The themes may be theological or ethical, or combinations of the two. Some examples follow:

(a) The theme that backs H. R. Niebuhr's "ethics of responsibility" is anthropological; persons are responders or answerers more than "makers" or "citizens." The theological theme of "God acting in events" to which persons respond coheres with this, as do such procedures as the interpretation of events.

(b) Agape is the supreme moral principle of Christian ethics for Paul Ramsey. Its supremacy is backed by his interpretation of biblical theology. Since it is a rule term for him, and since he believes that biblical ethics are deontological, his practical procedures for making choices cohere with his view of agape.

(c) Luther's theology distinguishes but does not separate the work of God as creator and as redeemer. His ethics of the civic use of the law and of an agent-oriented freedom and love cohere with these themes. They are related to each other; Christians act out of freedom and love in obedience to the law and in their offices in orders of creation.

(d) Augustine interprets human action as motivated by desires and directed toward ends. His view of rightly or wrongly ordered persons and acts coheres with his theological principle that all things are to be ordered proportionately in relation to God, the supreme good.
Base points. Comprehensive Christian ethical writings have four distinguishable base points, or points of reference. They are coherent insofar as the base points are organized around themes, as stated above. The base points are:
(1) Theological interpretation in a restricted sense - that is, the understanding and interpretation of God, God's relations to the world and particularly to human beings, and God's purposes;

(2) The interpretation of the meaning and significance of human experience and history, of events and circumstances in which human beings act, and of nature;

(3) The interpretation of persons or communities as moral agents, and of their acts; and

(4) The interpretation of how persons and communities ought to make moral choices and judge their actions, those of others, and the states of affairs in the world.
Excerpts taken from "A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics".

What is ethics?

Why should we bother about ethics?
Why should we bother about ethics at all? Surely as far as Christian ethics are concerned, well, didn't they go out with the proverbial ark?
In today's world we are exercised about absolutes for behaviour and refuse such notions. Society looks for a fixed point on which to base standards for behaviour in an ever-moving and ever-growing accumulation of reasoning. Therefore in today's society words like standards and responsibility are indefinable, and we face a future in an amoral society.

Imagine that it were possible to mark a molecule of water in an ocean and after several days come back and look for that molecule. Well, we would not find it. This is what happens with an amoral society; it deals with each situation differently.
William Barclay in his book "Ethics in a permissive society" says:
"If you want to put it in one sentence, ethics is the science of behaviour. Ethics is the bit of religion that tells us how we ought to behave. Now it so happens that in regard to ethics we are facing today a situation which the Christian church never had to face before.

Not so very long ago, when I was young and first entered the ministry, the great battle cry was: 'don't bother about theology; stick to ethics.' People would say: 'Stop talking about the Trinity and about the two natures of Jesus and all that sort of thing, and stick to ethics. Never mind theology; just stick to the Sermon on the Mount, and let the abstractions and the abstruseness's and the philosophy and the meta-physics go.' People said: 'Take theology away - I can't understand it anyway.'
But thirty years ago no one ever really questioned the Christian ethic. Thirty years ago no one ever doubted that divorce was disgraceful; that illegitimate babies were a disaster; that chastity was a good thing; that an honest day's work was part of the duty of any respectable and responsible man; that honesty ought to be part of life. But today, for the first time in history, the whole Christian ethic is under attack. It is not only the theology that people want to abandon it is the ethic as well.

That is why it is so important to look at the Christian ethic today, to see what it is all about, and to ask if it is still as binding as ever."
It would seem clear that as society abandons the standards and moral values of its forefathers, behaviour deteriorates. Christian ethics are the standard for conduct and behaviour that is the way forward for the global society of the twenty first century.

What is ethics?

The root of Christian Ethics

Relationship
Christian ethics are first of all relational in that they are based on the relationship that Christians have with Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord. Many times people have tried to separate Jesus Christ and Christian ethics. In so doing they try to remove God from creation, Christ from the Christian, and the perfect from the imperfect.
The essence of Christian ethics is that for an individual to live a life that meets the standards of behaviour and conduct required by God is only possible because of what Jesus Christ has done for the individual at Calvary and the relationship that is gained by that act.
We do not attempt to live to the standards for behaviour and conduct as orphans but with God as our Father and we as his children.
John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
The relationship of God indwelling us by his Holy Spirit enables the individual to change and to grow more like the person who has met God's standards for mankind and that person is Jesus. This relationship enables each of us to live a better life. I am not saying that this relationship makes us perfect, for the truth is that we are imperfect, but it does mean that the Holy Spirit is perfecting us, that we might become more and more like Jesus.
1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
1 John 3:3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
The hope that we have allows the Holy Spirit to work within us to purify us, in other words to change us to be like Jesus, which is our hope.
It is important to note that this relationship was instigated by God and not by mankind and that it is this relationship with God that reveals God's standards to us and enables us to live by those standards.

What is ethics?

Freedom

Another root of Christian ethics is freedom. We are set free through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Gal 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
This freedom of which we talk is not license but the liberty to be free from slavery to sin. It is the liberty that frees us to serve God, as we should. The freedom that this relationship grants is to serve God as a friend, as one who is in daily contact with the Master. Romans 14 is a chapter that gives understanding to the Kingdom laws of liberty and love.

Rom 14:4 Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
and Rom 14:12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Rom 14:13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.
and Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, Rom 14:18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

Rom 14:19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

A godly man once said that grace is to love the Lord and do what you want. This at first appears to be license; however, on closer inspection we must acknowledge the following.

1. To truly love God means that we will do what pleases God.
2. Jesus points out, "If you love me you will obey my commands".
3. Freedom comes through relationship, a love relationship.
Therefore obedience is the natural response and consequence of the freedom that comes through the loving relationship we have with Jesus Christ. This freedom grants the Christian two opportunities:

1. To make choices and to follow what we believe that God has said to us.
2. To gain the revelation of the absolute truths of God and the spiritual principles on which the universe and life are based.

What is ethics?

Love

The most used word in the Bible for love is the word "agape". Agape is Christian love and is the love that God has for us.
Agape indicates unconquerable benevolence, invincible goodwill, and unconditional affection. If we regard a person with agape, it means that no matter what that person does to us, no matter how he treats us, no matter if he insults us or injures us or grieves us, we will never allow bitterness against him to invade our hearts, but will regard him with that unconquerable benevolence and goodwill which will seek nothing but his highest good.

From this certain things emerge:
1. Love is not only something of the heart but also something of the will.
2. Christian love (agape) does not mean we allow people to do absolutely as they like; it is that tough love that still remains love.
3. It must be noted that Jesus laid this love (agape) down as the basis for personal relationship. 4. It is only by the grace of Jesus Christ that a man can have this love.
5. This love means we are involved in doing something for the person, we are called to pray for all men. It is impossible to pray continually for someone you hate.
Mat 22:37 Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
Mat 22:38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'
Mat 22:40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. The standards that God has set are met if we love each other. It is impossible to break any of the following commands if we love our neighbour:
Exo 20:13 You shall not murder.
Exo 20:14 You shall not commit adultery.
Exo 20:15 You shall not steal.
Exo 20:16 You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.
We will not harm or hurt in any way those we love (agape).
Rom 13:9 The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbour as yourself."
Rom 13:10 Love does no harm to its neighbour.
Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law. But how can we love in such a way? The love that God shows and gives to us enables us to love him and other people.
1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.

What is ethics?

Responsibility

The responsibility of helping and caring for others is central to Christian ethics; it is about the loving care of others.
Galatians 6:2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ.
Therefore our concern for each other fulfils the law of Christ. William Barclay in his book "Ethics in a Permissive Society" says the basis Christian ethic is concern.
"…. the basis of the Christian ethic is clear- the basis of the Christian ethic is concern. Here is the essence of three of the great parables of Jesus. In the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25.31-46), the standard of the final judgment of men is quite simply: Were you concerned about people in trouble? In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16.19-30) there is not the slightest indication that the rich man was in any way cruel to Lazarus. The trouble was that he never noticed the existence of Lazarus. Lazarus was there in poverty and pain and the rich man simply accepted him as part of the landscape; he was not in the least concerned; and in the parable he finished up in hell.
The third parable is that of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10.29-37). The whole point of the parable is the concern of the Samaritan. While the others passed by on the other side, concerned only to avoid all contact with suffering, the Samaritan was concerned and did something.
William Booth would always deny that the vast and wide ranging work of the Salvation Army was planned. He used to say:
We saw the need. We saw the people starving, we saw people going about half-naked, people doing sweated labour; and we set about bringing a remedy for these things. We were obliged-there was a compulsion. How could one do anything else?
But the whole trouble is that plenty of people can do something else - they can do nothing. It was this concern that haunted a man like William Booth."
The root of Christian ethics is Christ in that it is he who has set the standard for our conduct and behaviour by his example and it is he who enables, encourages and empowers people to occasionally touch the standard that God has set for mankind.
What is ethics?

The Bible in Christian Ethics

The Apostle Paul when writing to Timothy confidently asserts that scripture, that is the bible, is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
As a result it is fair to say that there is no Christian ethic that would deny the authority of the bible, for apart from scripture the church has no enduring inspiration or authority. However, it should be recognised that even these claims about scripture are human claims and by human interpretation.
With virtually one voice the Church has declared that the bible is an authority for moral discernment and judgement. However, that single voice becomes many voices when the bible is actually used. There is no prescribed methodology dealing with how the bible is used.

Allen Verhey in A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics poses the question, "What is the message of the Bible"?
Verhey makes the point that this is not a new question and that discussion about interpretation of scripture and the methodology for its use has a long history. He says "Augustine candidly insisted that any movement from scripture to moral claims is licensed if and only if it is consistent with the double love commandment, which he identified as the message of scripture".

2009-11-23T02:46:00.000-08:00

Healthy Happy Holy Forever

Pola hidup Newstart adalah kebutuhan setiap orang yang ingin menikmati hidup sehat, bahagia dan suci untuk selamanya. Penyakit tidak pernah akan datang tanpa ada penyebabnya. Mereka yang merusak prinsip-prinsip kesehatan melalui kebiasaan makan, minum, berpakaian, pekerjaan dan yang merusak hukum alam dan akan menerima akibatnya.

Inilah Solusinya!!

N u t r i t i o n - Gisi yang baik, lengkap dan sempurna adalah kuasa yang dashyat dan ajaib. Percayalah bahwa biji-bijian, buah-buahan, dan sayur-sayuran adalah makanan super power food. Makanan yang bergisi adalah kebutuhan tubuh agar kita tetap memiliki kesehatan yang baik.

E x e r c i s e - Berolahraga secara teratur menjamin sehat seumur hidup fakta melalui berolahraga. A. meningkatkan tenaga listrik otak dan syaraf, meningkatkan daya pikir, mengurangi kecemasan, mengurangi tekanan jiwa (depresi). B. Meningkatkan kekuatan jantung, menormalkan tekanan darah, meningkatkan kelancaran peredaraan darah. C. Tulang lebih padat dan kuat, terhindar dari pengeroposan tulang (osteoporosis). Olahraga terbaik dan termudah adalah berjalan kaki.

W a t e r - Semua proses tubuh mutlak memerlukan air yang harus kita penuhi yaitu Darah 87% adalah air membawa zat gizi ke sel dan sampah ke ginjal. Rasa haus bukan pedoman yang baik! Bila merasa haus berarti tubuh sudah kekurangan cairan, jangan tunggu sampai haus, tetapi minum secara teratur.

S u n s h i n e - Energi matahari adalah sumber dasar energi bagi manusia dan hewan, dan memberi kehidupan bagi tumbuh-tumbuhan. Meningkatkan daya tahan melawan penyakit, serta membunuh bakteri.

T e m p e r a n c e - (Pengendalian diri) membutuhkan kesadaran, pemilihan membuat tujuan dan memiliki motivasi agar tetap tekun dalam usaha mencapai tujuan, anda mengendalikan bukan anda yang dikendalikan hawa nafsu, rokok, narkoba dan seks.

A i r - Menghirup udara bersih setiap saat, menjamin sehat seumur hidup. Seorang dapat hidup berminggu-minggu tanpa makanan dan berhari-hari tanpa air, tetapi hanya beberapa detik saja tanpa udara akan mati.

R e s t - Istirahat mutlak bagi kesehatan tubuh yakni untuk memulihkan energi dan memperbaiki struktur agar tubuh segar dan kuat kembali.

T r u s t In God - Beriman kepada Allah setiap saat menjamin sehat lahir dan batin untuk seumur hidup anda.

Make Your Commitment Today!

" Tinggalkan Pola Hidup Yang Tidak Baik !!! Make a Newstart "

Antibiotic Issues!!!

2009-06-18T04:43:00.000-07:00

Antibiotic Issue !!

Antibiotik bukan obat penyembuh segala penyakit.

Terlalu sering meminumnya, malah bikin bakteri kebal terhadap antibiotik.

Balita sakit A, Anda memberinya.antibiot ik. Sakit B, Anda juga memberinya antibiotik. Padahal, antibiotik hanya menyembuhkan penyakit yang disebabkan oleh bakteri, bukan virus Penyakit yang disebabkan oleh virus akan sembuh sendiri oleh kekebalan tubuh. Itu sebabnya, orangtua sebaiknya tidak sembarangan memberi anaknya antibiotik. Mengapa?

Pemberian antibiotik yang terus menerus malah bikin kuman jadi resisten alias jadi kebal terhadap antibiotik. Bakteri yang sudah kebal ini disebut Superbugs. Kalau sudah kebal, semua antibiotik jadi tidak mempan lagi.

Apa jadinya jika balita benar-benar sakit dan memerlukan antibiotik sedangkan antibiotik sudah tak mempan membunuh si kuman? Balita akan mudah jatuh sakit, sakitnya lebih berat, risiko kematian meningkat, lama rawat inap memanjang, dan biaya pun membengkak.

Mari jadi orangtua yang bijak dengan mengenal lebih jauh beberapa penyakit anak, sehingga tidak akan sembarang memberinya antibiotik.

Pilek, umumnya disebabkan oleh infeksi virus, sehingga bisa sembuh tanpa obat, atau tergantung kekebalan tubuh anak yang bersangkutan. Anda bisa membantunya dengan memberi anak makanan yang lengkap dengan gizi seimbang, dan minta agar dia banyak istirahat.

Demam,justru merupakan bagian tubuh untuk melawan infeksinya. Ketika anak demam, hal utama yang perlu kita lakukan adalah:

mengamati kondisi dan perilaku si anak. Perilaku anak merupakan ukuran yang sangat baik untuk menentukan ada tidaknya kegawatdaruratan.
memberi cairan lebih sering dari biasanya (meski sedikit-sedikit) , agar anak tidak dehidrasi (kekurangan cairan).
menawarkan makanan, misalnya makanan ringan yang segar dan disukai anak. Jangan cemas ketika anak tak berselera makan; toh yang paling dia butuhkan saat demam adalah cairan (ASI dan lain-lain).
mengetahui kapan harus ke dokter, yakni bayi kurang dari 3 bulan, demam tanpa batuk pilek sudah berlangsung lebih dari 72 jam (3 hari), kejang, sesak napas, kesadaran menurun, atau dehidrasi berat.

Batuk, bukan penyakit! Kita sering beranggapan bahwa batuk adalah suatu penyakit, sehingga kita terpaku dan terobsesi meminta obat batuk untuk meredakannya. Padahal, batuk adalah suatu refleks untuk menjaga agar saluran napas kita tetap bersih dari dahak, debu, dan untuk mengusir benda asing (makanan/minuman) jika kita tersedak.
Apa yang harus dilakukan ketika anak batuk?

Pikirkan penyebabnya! Kebanyakan batuk pada bayi dan anak disebabkan oleh infeksi virus di saluran napas yang akan sembuh sendiri. Batuk yang berkepanjangan tanpa demam dan anaknya baik-baik saja, umumnya disebabkan oleh alergi.
Jaga asupan cairan balita.
Hindarkan balita dari zat-zat pemicu batuk, seperti asap rokok.
Sebaiknya balita jangan diberikan obat penekan batuk maupun pengencer dahak. Biarkan balita batuk.

Radang tenggorokan, banyak orang tua yang menyangka, ketika anaknya menderita radang tenggorokan, maka ia butuh antibiotik. Yang benar, radang tenggorokan pada anak batita umumnya disebabkan oleh infeksi virus. Semua orang ketika flu atau selesma, tenggorokannya pasti meradang; merah dan nyeri. Kondisi ini sebaiknya diatasi dengan mengamati anak, memberinya cairan lebih sering dari biasanya (biasanya minuman yang hangat akan sangat membantu meredakan peradangan), dan jika perlu, berikan obat pereda demam, yaitu parasetamol.

Diare, juga bukan penyakit, kok. Diare dengan atau tanpa muntah merupakan suatu refleks untuk membuang segala hal yang tidak ”berkenan” bagi saluran cerna kita, misalnya kuman, virus, racun, atau yang menimbulkan alergi. Jadi, diare dan muntah merupakan reaksi penolakan tubuh terhadap semua yang tak berkenan bagi lambung dan usus.
Kebanyakan diare pada anak disebabkan oleh infeksi virus. Semakin sering anak diare, semakin sering kita beri asupan cairan (ASI, oralit, cairan lain termasuk sup atau air buah).

Jangan berikan obat untuk menghentikan diare dan muntah, karena akan memperlambat proses “pengusiran”. Anak juga jangan dipuasakan, tawari makan. Ingat, diare tak butuh antibiotik! Kalau tinjanya berdarah, periksakan di laboratorium untuk menyingkirkan kemungkinan amuba.

2009-06-04T03:06:00.000-07:00

Apakah Mie Instan Dapat
Menyebabkan Kanker?

Apakah diperbolehkan berolahra-ga setelah melakukan donor darah? Atau sebaliknya, apakah bisa sesudah berolahraga kita berdonor darah?

Tidak ada larangan untuk berolahra-ga setelah donor darah, tapi ada baiknya tunda dulu sampai besok. Bila sebelum donor mau olahraga tidak apa-apa, hanya sering setelah olahraga denyut nadi lebih cepat dan kadang-kadang tekanan darah juga naik sedikit.

Saya pernah mendapat email yang memberikan daftar kandung kolesterol dari 10 gram makanan. Yang ternyata masuk dalam kate-gori ‘pantang’ adalah telor puyuh dan yang sehat adalah putih telor. Apakah benar demikian?

Biasanya daftar penukar berdasarkan 100 g atau 50 g atau per butir telur. Kolesterol tinggi pada merah telur baik itu merah telur ayam, bebek ataupun burung puyuh. Putih telur adalah protein (pep-ton dan albumin) dan tidak ada kolesterol. Tapi bagi orang yang alergi maka putih telur bisa menjadi salah satu penyebab alergi terutama pada anak-anak dan bayi.

Cara berdiet yang benar bagaimana dengan kombinasi olahraga?

Tentu sangat baik bila diet yang seimbang dibarengi olahraga yang teratur 3-5 kali seminggu. Diet yang baik tentu harus mengandung protein 3-4 penukar, karbohidrat 3-4 penukar, sumber vitamin dan mineral dari sayuran 3-6 penukar dan buah-buahan sekitar 4-8 penukar. Lemak biasanya selalu ada bila makan sumber protein hewani maupun nabati.

Dokter, benarkah penyedap masakan seperti vetsin dapat menyebabkan efek samping terhadap kesehatan misal-nya kanker, dan sebagainya?
Segala makanan bila dimakan dalam jumlah berlebihan walau-pun itu sehat dapat juga berbahaya, vetsin atau isinya dikenal dengan Monosodium Glutamat (MSG) bila dimakan berlebihan dapat menyebabkan kanker (ini hasil penelitian terhadap mencit yang tiap hari dikasih MSG cukup banyak) tapi pada manusia belum terbukti secara significant. Yang terbukti bahwa bila orang mengkonsumsi MSG dalam jumlah yang banyak maka akan terjadi “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome” dimana kepala sakit, lemas dan sensitif. Umumnya Chinese Restauran dan tukang bakso menggunakan vetsin cukup banyak. Tapi di otak kita ada glutamat sebagai neurotrans-miter otak, jadi dalam jumlah sedikit diperlukan juga oleh otak dan tubuh kita.

Saya sangat senang makan mi instan, tapi saya dengar tidak boleh memakannya setiap hari karena akan mengakibatkan dehidrasi. Benarkah demikian? Apakah ada efek samping me-makan mi instan (seperti penyakit kanker)?

Mana mungkin makan mie instan dapat menyebabkan dehidrasi, apalagi kalau mie instantnya makan pakai kuah. Dehidrasi biasanya disebabkan diare dan muntah atau kejemur di terik matahari dan kurang minum. Efek samping dari Mie instant ya le-maknya, sebab mie instan itu dibuat ya digoreng, lalu ada juga minyak lagi sehingga mem-buat aromanya harum dan menarik. sehingga kalorinya lebih banyak. Ya bila makan setiap hari hanya sebungkus ya masih oke. Penyakit kanker masih banyak teori yang dibuat tapi pe-nyebab pasti tidak tau, mungkin karena lemaknya tinggi maka lebih mudah terjadi radikal bebas sehingga ya ada teori radikal bebas bisa terjadi kanker.

Kita semua tahu tentang ganasnya penyakit kanker, tapi dari yang saya dengar penyakit tersebut bisa dapat di cegah maupun di obati dengan satu komponen bioaktif pangan yaitu fito-kimia. Tapi saya kurang memahami tentang fito-kimia. Mungkin bisa diterangkan sedikit me-ngenai fito-kimia ini. Dan kalau benar fito-kimia dapat menyembuhkan kanker? Makanan Apa saja yang me-ngandung Fito-kimia?

Fito kimia atau yang lebih umum digunakan yaitu phytopharmaco adalah obat-obat tradisionail yang digunakan untuk mengobati suatu penyakit ada yang sudah dibuktikan secara ilmiah tapi banyak yang belum terbukti atau sedang diteliti, ilmu yang mem-pelajari obat-obat tradisionil atau jamu-jamuan ini dikenal dengan phytopharmacology. coming up next article!!!!

2009-05-19T03:06:00.000-07:00

InfoKes!!

1. Mengapa Healthy LifeStyle (Pola Hidup Sehat) itu sangat penting?

2. Mengapa tidak boleh minum air di waktu sedang makan? Dan apa pengaruhnya?

Nantikan artikel yang satu ini!!!!!

CELEBRATIONS

2009-05-15T00:06:00.000-07:00

Fill your life with CELEBRATIONS
Celebrations acronyms

1. Choice - The Cradle of our destiny
2. Exercise - The Elixir of your Energy
3. Liquid - The Lubricant of our functionality
4. Environment - The empowerment of our Community
5. Belief - The Basis of our Spirituality
6. Rest - The Restorer of our resiliency
7. Air - The Activator of our Vitality
8. Temperance - The Temple of our purity
9. Integrity - The Incorruptibility of our honesty
10. Optimism - The Operant of our sanity
11. Nutrition - The Nourishment of our body
12. Social Support and Service - The Social side of our health

Invest in healthy future for yourself and others by accepting the twelve gifts in CELEBRATIONS

Indulge these good things! Enjoy them be thankful and enjoy better health and well-being

McDonaldPress

How Secure is Your World?

2009-05-14T23:57:00.000-07:00

My wife and I have a few dollars tucked away in some individual retirement accounts - more commonly known as IRAs. These accounts make it possible for people to make investments that are not taxable until after retirement. Canada has a similar plan. It's called RSP, meaning Retirement Saving Plan.
Why do my wife and I - and many other people - invest in these accounts? Because we want financial security in our retirement years. Lots of things in our world provide us with security. Grocery stores supply us with food. Gas stations provide us with fuel to run our cars. Utility companies bring electricity, natural gas, and water into our homes. And our jobs provide us with the money we need to pay for these things.

What would your life be like without IRAs, grocery stores, utilities, and jobs? In his article "How Secure Is Your Future?" Ed Dickerson reflects on the real basis for our security in an insecure world. You'll find his article on the next edition.

2009-05-14T07:50:00.000-07:00

Get Your Goals

2009-05-14T07:41:00.000-07:00

Get Your Goals in 6 Easy Steps:

Goal
Goal setting is one of the least practiced, and yet most helpful strategies for life change. Andrew Cate. show you how goals motivate- and keep you committed.

Learning how to set goals can help give you directionand motivation, allowing you to work systematically and progressively towards an end result. It helps to focus your attention, linking knowledge and desire to purpose and action. Goals help to give you a perspective that shapes all other aspects of your decision making.
Goal setting is also an essential part of time planning, enabling you to set priorities and use your time in the best possible way, Goal setting helps you determine what you what to achieve and how to achievei it. Following are six easy steps to effective goal setting. This article will focus on how goal setting can improve your health, but you can apply these goal setting principles to your finances relationship, spiritual development, or carreer.

1. Start with a long-term goal

2. Set some short-term goals

3. Reward your self

4. Write your goals

5. Act on your plan

6. Re-evaluate your goals

you will read in details from the next edition regarding the easiest six steps above:
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What is ETHICS?

2009-05-14T07:20:00.000-07:00

What is ethics?

By Roger Pawsey

Introduction

As we look at the subject of ethics it is important that we are able to define what we mean. William Barclay says, "If you want to put it in one sentence, ethics is the science of behaviour. Ethics is the bit of religion that tells us how we ought to behave."

Ethics is a code of behaviour that enables people to make moral judgements about difficult situations. For the Christian such topics could include abortion, suicide, homosexuality, genetics and ecology. It also asks the question "can there be a just war?" or "is slavery permissible?"

There are so many questions it is important that we first look at how we arrive at a code of behaviour that will serve us as practicing Christians.

What is ethics?
A Definition

The Collins English Dictionary gives the following definitions:

Ethics
1. (Functioning as singular) the philosophical study of the moral value of human conduct and the rules and principles that ought to govern it; moral philosophy.

2. (Functioning as plural) a social, religious, or civil code of behaviour considered correct, especially that of a particular group, profession or individual.

3. (Functioning as plural) the moral fitness of a decision, course of action, etc.; he doubted the ethics of their verdict.

The following excerpts were taken from "A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics" for deeper definitions of ethics and Christian ethics.

What is ethics?
Deeper definition of Ethics

The word "ethics" is used in a variety of ways, and confusions between these uses are common. At least three main types of question are called "ethical" in different senses:

(1) Questions as to what is right, good, etc., or of how we ought to behave (normative ethics, morals);

(2) Questions as to the answers given by particular societies and people to questions of type (1) (descriptive ethics or comparative ethics, a branch of moral sociology or anthropology); and

(3) Questions as to the meanings or uses of the words used in answering questions of type (1), or the nature or logical character of the moral concepts, or, in older language, of what goodness, etc., are (theoretical ethics, philosophical ethics, moral philosophy). It is perhaps best, in philosophical writing, to reserve the word "ethics" (unqualified) for inquiries of type (3).

The motive for undertaking them has, how- ever, often been the hope that their results might bear on questions of type (1); whether and in what ways this is possible is the question that above all others vexes students of philosophical ethics, and divides the supporters of naturalism http://www.watton.org/ethics/images/key.jpg, intuitionism http://www.watton.org/ethics/images/key.jpg, emotivism http://www.watton.org/ethics/images/key.jpg, descriptivism http://www.watton.org/ethics/images/key.jpg, prescriptivism http://www.watton.org/ethics/images/key.jpg, etc (see glossary).

Excerpts taken from "A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics".
What is ethics?
Deeper definition of Christian Ethics Excerpts taken from "A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics".

Other entries deal with the ethics of various Christian traditions; this one attends to the patterns of Christian ethical writing, their elements and their relations to each other.

Themes. Writings that are systematic have organizing themes (metaphors, analogies, symbols, principles) around which other theological and ethical ideas and concepts cohere. The themes may be theological or ethical, or combinations of the two. Some examples follow:

(a) The theme that backs H. R. Niebuhr's "ethics of responsibility" is anthropological; persons are responders or answerers more than "makers" or "citizens." The theological theme of "God acting in events" to which persons respond coheres with this, as do such procedures as the interpretation of events.

(b) Agape is the supreme moral principle of Christian ethics for Paul Ramsey. Its supremacy is backed by his interpretation of biblical theology. Since it is a rule term for him, and since he believes that biblical ethics are deontological, his practical procedures for making choices cohere with his view of agape.

(c) Luther's theology distinguishes but does not separate the work of God as creator and as redeemer. His ethics of the civic use of the law and of an agent-oriented freedom and love cohere with these themes. They are related to each other; Christians act out of freedom and love in obedience to the law and in their offices in orders of creation.

(d) Augustine interprets human action as motivated by desires and directed toward ends. His view of rightly or wrongly ordered persons and acts coheres with his theological principle that all things are to be ordered proportionately in relation to God, the supreme good.

Base points. Comprehensive Christian ethical writings have four distinguishable base points, or points of reference. They are coherent insofar as the base points are organized around themes, as stated above. The base points are:
(1) Theological interpretation in a restricted sense - that is, the understanding and interpretation of God, God's relations to the world and particularly to human beings, and God's purposes;

(2) The interpretation of the meaning and significance of human experience and history, of events and circumstances in which human beings act, and of nature;

(3) The interpretation of persons or communities as moral agents, and of their acts; and

(4) The interpretation of how persons and communities ought to make moral choices and judge their actions, those of others, and the states of affairs in the world.

Excerpts taken from "A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics".
What is ethics?
Why should we bother about ethics?

Why should we bother about ethics at all? Surely as far as Christian ethics are concerned, well, didn't they go out with the proverbial ark?

In today's world we are exercised about absolutes for behaviour and refuse such notions. Society looks for a fixed point on which to base standards for behaviour in an ever-moving and ever-growing accumulation of reasoning. Therefore in today's society words like standards and responsibility are indefinable, and we face a future in an amoral society.

Imagine that it were possible to mark a molecule of water in an ocean and after several days come back and look for that molecule. Well, we would not find it. This is what happens with an amoral society; it deals with each situation differently.

William Barclay in his book "Ethics in a permissive society" says:

"If you want to put it in one sentence, ethics is the science of behaviour. Ethics is the bit of religion that tells us how we ought to behave. Now it so happens that in regard to ethics we are facing today a situation which the Christian church never had to face before.

Not so very long ago, when I was young and first entered the ministry, the great battle cry was: 'don't bother about theology; stick to ethics.' People would say: 'Stop talking about the Trinity and about the two natures of Jesus and all that sort of thing, and stick to ethics. Never mind theology; just stick to the Sermon on the Mount, and let the abstractions and the abstruseness's http://www.watton.org/ethics/images/key.jpgand the philosophy and the meta-physics http://www.watton.org/ethics/images/key.jpggo.' People said: 'Take theology away - I can't understand it anyway.'

But thirty years ago no one ever really questioned the Christian ethic. Thirty years ago no one ever doubted that divorce was disgraceful; that illegitimate babies were a disaster; that chastity was a good thing; that an honest day's work was part of the duty of any respectable and responsible man; that honesty ought to be part of life. But today, for the first time in history, the whole Christian ethic is under attack. It is not only the theology that people want to abandon it is the ethic as well.

That is why it is so important to look at the Christian ethic today, to see what it is all about, and to ask if it is still as binding as ever."

It would seem clear that as society abandons the standards and moral values of its forefathers, behaviour deteriorates. Christian ethics are the standard for conduct and behaviour that is the way forward for the global society of the twenty first century.

What is ethics?

The root of Christian Ethics

Relationship

Christian ethics are first of all relational in that they are based on the relationship that Christians have with Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord. Many times people have tried to separate Jesus Christ and Christian ethics. In so doing they try to remove God from creation, Christ from the Christian, and the perfect from the imperfect.

The essence of Christian ethics is that for an individual to live a life that meets the standards of behaviour and conduct required by God is only possible because of what Jesus Christ has done for the individual at Calvary and the relationship that is gained by that act.

We do not attempt to live to the standards for behaviour and conduct as orphans but with God as our Father and we as his children.

John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

The relationship of God indwelling us by his Holy Spirit enables the individual to change and to grow more like the person who has met God's standards for mankind and that person is Jesus. This relationship enables each of us to live a better life. I am not saying that this relationship makes us perfect, for the truth is that we are imperfect, but it does mean that the Holy Spirit is perfecting us, that we might become more and more like Jesus.

1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
1 John 3:3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

The hope that we have allows the Holy Spirit to work within us to purify us, in other words to change us to be like Jesus, which is our hope.

It is important to note that this relationship was instigated by God and not by mankind and that it is this relationship with God that reveals God's standards to us and enables us to live by those standards.

What is ethics?
Freedom

Another root of Christian ethics is freedom. We are set free through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Gal 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

This freedom of which we talk is not license but the liberty to be free from slavery to sin. It is the liberty that frees us to serve God, as we should. The freedom that this relationship grants is to serve God as a friend, as one who is in daily contact with the Master. Romans 14 is a chapter that gives understanding to the Kingdom laws of liberty and love.

Rom 14:4 Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
and
Rom 14:12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Rom 14:13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.
and
Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
Rom 14:18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
Rom 14:19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

A godly man once said that grace is to love the Lord and do what you want. This at first appears to be license; however, on closer inspection we must acknowledge the following.

1. To truly love God means that we will do what pleases God.
2. Jesus points out, "If you love me you will obey my commands".
3. Freedom comes through relationship, a love relationship.

Therefore obedience is the natural response and consequence of the freedom that comes through the loving relationship we have with Jesus Christ. This freedom grants the Christian two opportunities:
1. To make choices and to follow what we believe that God has said to us.
2. To gain the revelation of the absolute truths of God and the spiritual principles on which the universe and life are based.

What is ethics?
Love

The most used word in the Bible for love is the word "agape". Agape is Christian love and is the love that God has for us.

Agape indicates unconquerable benevolence, invincible goodwill, and unconditional affection. If we regard a person with agape, it means that no matter what that person does to us, no matter how he treats us, no matter if he insults us or injures us or grieves us, we will never allow bitterness against him to invade our hearts, but will regard him with that unconquerable benevolence and goodwill which will seek nothing but his highest good.

From this certain things emerge:
1. Love is not only something of the heart but also something of the will.
2. Christian love (agape) does not mean we allow people to do absolutely as they like; it is that tough love that still remains love.
3. It must be noted that Jesus laid this love (agape) down as the basis for personal relationship. 4. It is only by the grace of Jesus Christ that a man can have this love.
5. This love means we are involved in doing something for the person, we are called to pray for all men. It is impossible to pray continually for someone you hate.

Mat 22:37 Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
Mat 22:38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'
Mat 22:40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. The standards that God has set are met if we love each other. It is impossible to break any of the following commands if we love our neighbour:

Exo 20:13 You shall not murder.
Exo 20:14 You shall not commit adultery.
Exo 20:15 You shall not steal.
Exo 20:16 You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.

We will not harm or hurt in any way those we love (agape).

Rom 13:9 The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbour as yourself."
Rom 13:10 Love does no harm to its neighbour.

Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law. But how can we love in such a way? The love that God shows and gives to us enables us to love him and other people.

1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.

What is ethics?
Responsibility

The responsibility of helping and caring for others is central to Christian ethics; it is about the loving care of others.

Galatians 6:2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ.

Therefore our concern for each other fulfils the law of Christ. William Barclay in his book "Ethics in a Permissive Society" says the basis Christian ethic is concern.

"…. the basis of the Christian ethic is clear- the basis of the Christian ethic is concern. Here is the essence of three of the great parables of Jesus. In the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25.31-46), the standard of the final judgment of men is quite simply: Were you concerned about people in trouble? In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16.19-30) there is not the slightest indication that the rich man was in any way cruel to Lazarus. The trouble was that he never noticed the existence of Lazarus. Lazarus was there in poverty and pain and the rich man simply accepted him as part of the landscape; he was not in the least concerned; and in the parable he finished up in hell.

The third parable is that of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10.29-37). The whole point of the parable is the concern of the Samaritan. While the others passed by on the other side, concerned only to avoid all contact with suffering, the Samaritan was concerned and did something.

William Booth would always deny that the vast and wide ranging work of the Salvation Army was planned. He used to say:

We saw the need. We saw the people starving, we saw people going about half-naked, people doing sweated labour; and we set about bringing a remedy for these things. We were obliged-there was a compulsion. How could one do anything else?

But the whole trouble is that plenty of people can do something else - they can do nothing. It was this concern that haunted a man like William Booth."

The root of Christian ethics is Christ in that it is he who has set the standard for our conduct and behaviour by his example and it is he who enables, encourages and empowers people to occasionally touch the standard that God has set for mankind.
What is ethics?
The Bible in Christian Ethics

The Apostle Paul when writing to Timothy confidently asserts that scripture, that is the bible, is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

As a result it is fair to say that there is no Christian ethic that would deny the authority of the bible, for apart from scripture the church has no enduring inspiration or authority. However, it should be recognised that even these claims about scripture are human claims and by human interpretation.

With virtually one voice the Church has declared that the bible is an authority for moral discernment and judgement. However, that single voice becomes many voices when the bible is actually used. There is no prescribed methodology dealing with how the bible is used.

Allen Verhey in A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics poses the question, "What is the message of the Bible"?

Verhey makes the point that this is not a new question and that discussion about interpretation of scripture and the methodology for its use has a long history. He says "Augustine candidly insisted that any movement from scripture to moral claims is licensed if and only if it is consistent with the double love commandment, which he identified as the message of scripture".

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2009-05-14T07:14:00.000-07:00