Praying Medic's Blog, page 100

Coffee: A Little Known Cancer Killer?

There’s been a lot of debate over the health effects of coffee, including some reports suggesting that it may be dangerous to our health. But more recently, there have been claims that it may actually have proven health benefits. Being a long-time coffee drinker, I was curious to know if there was any scientific evidence to back up these claims. I did some web surfing and found that there’s research suggesting that coffee may have health benefits—most notably in the area of fighting cancer. I’ll share what I’ve learned below, but I’d also like to share a word of warning: These studies are not conclusive and there are other factors to be considered before we can know the overall effects of coffee on our health.

Coffee and Antioxidants

When hot water runs through coffee grounds while brewing, the substances in the coffee beans mix with the water and become part of the drink. Some of these substances are well-known, including caffeine, but there are hundreds of other compounds in the mix as well—many of which have yet to be identified. Some of these compounds are antioxidants that protect our bodies from oxidation, which involves free radicals that damage molecules in the body. Believe it or not, coffee is the largest source of antioxidants in the Western diet (1, 2, 3).

Coffee and Lifespan

Research that analyzes large populations over a number of years provides the best data for assessing long-term health benefits. A groundbreaking study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2012. In this study, 402,260 individuals between 50 and 71 years of age were asked about their coffee consumption. After following the study group for 12-13 years, those who drank the most coffee were much less likely to have died. (Source)

Liver Cancer

At least eleven studies conducted in southern Europe and Japan have examined the relationship between coffee drinking and the risk of primary liver cancer. One was a meta-analysis of published studies on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that included how much coffee patients had consumed. Researchers combined all published data to obtain an overall estimate of the association between coffee consumption and HCC. The results showed a 41 percent reduction of HCC risk among coffee drinkers compared to those who never drank coffee. (Source)

Colon Cancer

Drinking coffee may help prevent colon cancer, say German scientists, who have identified a potent antioxidant that increased protection against the disease in animal studies. Researchers have suspected for years that coffee could offer some protection against cancer thanks to its high antioxidant content, but for the first time they identified a specific anticancer compound that boosts the activity of phase II enzymes. “Until human studies are done, no one knows exactly how much coffee is needed to have a protective effect against colon cancer,” said study leader Dr Thomas Hofmann, professor and head of the Institute for Food Chemistry at the University of Muenster. “However, our studies suggest that drinking coffee may offer some protection, especially if it’s strong.” Espresso coffee contains about two to three times more of the anticancer compound than a medium roasted coffee beverage, he said. (Source)

Bladder Cancer

Researchers have long considered smoking a risk factor for bladder cancer. But the results of a study published in the January 2001 issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health suggest that risk may be far higher than previously thought. The same study, however, indicates that coffee may protect against bladder cancer, especially among smokers. Analyzing data from 500 diagnosed cases of bladder cancer, as well as 1,000 control subjects, the researchers found that non-coffee drinking smokers were seven times more likely to develop the disease as non-smokers. Coffee-drinking smokers, on the other hand, were only three times more at risk. Coffee appears to somehow reduce the harmful effect of tobacco use on the bladder. (Source)

Skin Cancer

Caffeine appears to lower the risk of developing skin cancer according to two studies (1, 2) done by Rutgers University. The first study demonstrated that a combination of exercise and caffeine protect against the destructive effects of the sun’s ultraviolet-B radiation, known to induce skin cancer. In the second study, they found that topical application of caffeine directly on the skin reduced tumor growth. Both studies used mice, but similar effects may be found in humans.

Breast Cancer

For women with the BRCA1 mutation, a genetic mutation that puts them at greater risk of developing breast cancer, study results suggest that drinking caffeinated coffee offers a significant level of breast cancer prevention. In a study funded by the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance and the National Cancer Institute, researchers examined the records of 1,690 women who have the genetic mutations BRCA1 or BRCA2 and had the women answer a questionnaire about coffee consumption. Women who drank one to three cups of caffeinated coffee per day reduced their breast cancer risk by 10 percent. Women who drank four to five cups reduced their risk by 25 percent and women who drank six or more cups per day were 69 percent less likely to develop breast cancer than women who drank no coffee. (Source)

Diabetes

Drinking coffee, especially when it is decaffeinated, may be associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a report in the June 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. Previous studies in the United States and Europe have linked coffee to a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. The link between coffee and diabetes risk appears to be consistent across different ages and body weights. In addition, most research has found that the more coffee an individual generally drinks, the lower his or her risk for diabetes.  (Source)

These studies are good news for all of us who jump start our day with a jolt of java.

The post Coffee: A Little Known Cancer Killer? appeared first on Praying Medic.

Did Saint Nick Raise the Dead?

The post Did Saint Nick Raise the Dead? appeared first on Praying Medic.

The Grinch: A Different Perspective

I spent a couple of hours in the waiting room of an urgent care the other day and sat through the film How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I’ve seen the animated show dozens of times, but I’d never seen the film before. After becoming a believer, the story took on a new meaning for me. I saw the grumpy old Grinch as an unredeemed sinner, and his heart-changing epiphany as his experience of being born again. But as I watched the film version, I began seeing it through yet another set of eyes.

In the film, Cindy Lou Who had an encounter with the Grinch, who had gained a reputation among the residents of Whoville for being a hateful ogre. None of the Whos had ever bothered inquiring as to why he had developed that reputation. In one scene, Cindy became the victim of the Grinch’s cruelty, but then, most unexpectedly, the old sourpuss showed mercy toward her. And she was left with an experience that didn’t jive with the narrative she’d always believed about him. It made her wonder—if the Grinch were incapable of doing anything good, as she had always been told, why then did he do something so kind toward her?

Cindy wanted to know the truth so she began digging into the Grinch’s history. She scoured the town, interviewing all the Whos that had grown up with him. Then she stumbled upon a story that was almost too bizarre to be true. Apparently, when the Grinch was a boy, one of the popular girls had a crush on him. But another boy had a crush on her, and this boy, out of insecurity and envy, did everything in his power to publicly humiliate the Grinch so that the girl would see him as a failure and turn her affections elsewhere. It was at this point—when he was bullied and made the laughingstock of the town—that the Grinch’s life began to fill with darkness.

And then it hit me.

Like most of us, the Grinch became a victim of the spirit of rejection, which preys upon those who are told they’re not smart enough, not pretty enough or in some way, just not good enough. This voice reminded the Grinch daily of how he didn’t measure up, how hated he was and how he would never be loved or accepted. Seeing himself as a failure, he chose a life of solitude, thinking it better to live alone than risk further insult from those who did not love or appreciate him. But the Grinch wasn’t the only victim of emotional trauma in this story.

The Whos held an annual competition for the best holiday lighting display. Two women, Martha May and Betty Lou, took the competition to an insane level, pulling out all the stops because they wanted to win the contest more than anything in the world. Just when Betty Lou thought victory was in her grasp, the judge—in an attempt to gain favor with her more buxom competitor—ignored the decision of the Whos and named Martha May the winner. The unfairness left Betty Lou’s heart broken and bleeding.

What kind of person places such high value on a mere contest?

Someone who has suffered so much rejection that she’s decided she must find acceptance not though friendships, but through her accomplishments.

The Who that caused the Grinch so much suffering as a boy, was himself a victim of the spirit of rejection. One can only imagine how many times he must have been told he was a failure. One way to silence the voice of an accuser is to try to prove them wrong. So the boy grew up to be the Mayor of Whoville. Holding an important office gave him a sense of accomplishment. He needed it, for on the inside, he was terribly wounded. And his wounds caused him to doubt his value to the world and that made him lash out at others in acts of deception and cruelty. It was the mayor who switched winners in the contest, breaking Betty Lou’s heart.

I’d like to share one final illustration from a different story:

Cain killed his brother because his sacrifice was rejected and—misinterpreting the rejection of his sacrifice as personal rejection by God—he killed the one whose sacrifice was found acceptable. Cain was also wounded by the spirit of rejection. It is only because we are wounded ourselves that we wound others.

The bad news is that we are all wound in one way or another. The good news is that we don’t need to remain that way. If Christmas is to to be a time of peace on earth and good will toward men, it may require the healing of our emotional wounds. One of the things prophesied about the child Mary would give birth to is that He would carry upon Himself our griefs and sorrows. Have you ever wondered what that means?

It means we can give Him our griefs and sorrows and receive His healing.

May your Christmas be filled with joy and healing,

~ PM

p.s. If you need more information about emotional healing, I wrote a short book about it.

The post The Grinch: A Different Perspective appeared first on Praying Medic.

Podcast 040: Hearing God’s Voice Made Simple

To open in a new window click this link: podcast 040

In this message, my wife talk and I talk about our latest book Hearing God’s Voice Made Simple.

Topics covered:

The not so audible voice of God
How everyone can hear God’s voice
My testimony of becoming a Christian
How can we know we’re hearing God
How God speaks through art
How He speaks through our emotions
How He speaks through the gift tongues
How people prophesy without knowing it

Resources

Hearing God’s Voice Made Simple

Listen or Subscribe

Past Episodes

The post Podcast 040: Hearing God’s Voice Made Simple appeared first on Praying Medic.

Donald Trump: An Unlikely Politician

Note: This article is not an endorsement of Donald Trump. 

For several years, the political pendulum has been swinging toward the conservatives. First the GOP won a majority in the House of Representatives, and then it won the majority in the Senate. If the trend continues we will have a Republican President soon.  Since Donald Trump has the inside track to the White House right now, it may be prudent for us to gain a better understanding of the impact he may have on our nation and the world. This message is about how Trump doesn’t fit the mold of a traditional politician and how this reality impacts the way in which we perceive him.

The first thing a politician learns is that their success is dependent upon their popularity. Popularity equates to votes and without votes, a political career is short-lived. A politician must attempt to gain the support of as many voters as possible while alienating as few as possible. That means a politician, if he is wise, must learn how to guard his words carefully, or risk losing the support of voters. The term political correctness came into being to describe the careful way in which politicians speak, so as to offend as few people as possible. And it’s the way in which he speaks that most strongly suggests Trump doesn’t fit the mold of a politician.

It’s clear that Trump doesn’t see himself as a politician. He sees himself as a businessman. Because he doesn’t see himself as a politician, he isn’t interested in gaining popularity. And because he hasn’t been taught to value popularity—he isn’t afraid of offending people. Because he isn’t afraid of offending people, he says whatever he pleases. The difference between the way Trump and a politician speak can be seen in what they say on the campaign trail.

The politicians who are running against Trump have boasted about their state’s low employment and the bills they’ve sponsored in congress. But Trump has no political accomplishments to speak of. Success for him has always been measured by how many business deals he closes a month. The closest he’s come to achieving any political success is his growing margin of support over his competitors in the weekly polls (which may be why he rubs their noses in the latest polling numbers every chance he gets).

Trump speaks to the issues that are important to him, even if those issues aren’t always relevant to voters. He’s learning which issues are important to voters and which aren’t. Sometimes he stumbles upon a subject no one cares about, but more often than not—he hits pay dirt. He has a knack for speaking to the issues voters care about. And when Trump speaks, he speaks his mind—regardless of how many people may be offended by what he says.

A politician would ever say the things Trump says publicly—even though he may think them to be true—because he knows voters would be offended by them. And a politician can’t afford to offend voters. Many politicians who have rebuked Trump for what they called a foolish idea at the time, came to embrace a nearly identical position a month or so later. Many politicians actually agree with Trump’s thinking privately, though they won’t admit it publicly, because they fear losing the support of voters. It’s only after one of Trump’s ideas becomes the consensus that politicians feel safe endorsing it. And by then, it’s no longer seen as one of his ideas.

So the most popular candidate for President right now is man who is clueless about how a political candidate is supposed to act. Is it any wonder his remarks have the world in a tizzy?

I’m not half as surprised at Trump’s popularity as I am at the fact that the media and his opponents still haven’t figured out why he’s so popular and why their attempts to ruin him have failed.

Politicians say one thing publicly, but they often hold different views, privately. The most effective way to destroy a candidate’s campaign is to bring their most controversial statements out into the open. Expose their private conversations and let the public know what they really think. Once voters get wind of it, their campaign is sunk. That’s how it usually done, but that tactic can’t work against a man like Trump, because no one told him he was supposed to keep his private thoughts to himself. Every time a reporter shoves a microphone in his face, he says something outlandish, because he doesn’t know any better. You can’t dig up any dirt on Trump because his gives it to CNN by the truckload. Trump’s been blabbing every idea that enters his head for months now, without giving any thought to how it might affect his popularity. It’s been driving his opponents crazy, but it’s had a different effect on a large number of voters.

Trump’s supporters have said that the one thing they most appreciate about him is his frankness. They find his transparency refreshing, even if they find some of his remarks to be crass and insensitive. For those who have grown tired of hearing whitewashed speeches, Trump’s unvarnished ramblings carry an air of sincerity. Whatever he thinks, he says, whether it infuriates voters or not. One thing you can’t accuse him of is deceptiveness. With Trump—what you see is what you get. People may not like what he says, but they believe he’s saying what he honestly thinks.

Voters (at least Republican ones) seem to have developed a preference for transparency over political correctness. Rather than support a candidate who makes idealistic promises, they seem to want someone who is willing to tell it like it is. In focus groups, people have said they find Trump to be the most believable candidate. What the politicians fail to understand is that voters no longer believe what they have to say. They’ve lost their credibility. As politically incorrect as he is—Trump’s strong suit is that people actually believe him, even if they don’t find him to be very likable.

During the last debate, Trump admitted that he’s a political rookie. He said he’s learned a lot from the other candidates during the campaign and he’s trying to learn what it takes to transition from being a businessman to being a presidential candidate. The irony is that Trump is now cast in the role of the apprentice. It’s hard to imagine someone in their mid-sixties starting a new political career, but that’s the reality we’re dealing with. Just like anyone else beginning a new career, Trump’s growth as a politician is going to require a lot of patience from us, especially if he makes it to the White House. But this time it will be the voters who decide if the apprentice is fired or if he moves forward. If he does win the election, his term in office will probably be like nothing we’ve ever seen. So if you haven’t yet, you may want to ask God how you can best pray into that.

Related: My Thoughts on Donald Trump

The post Donald Trump: An Unlikely Politician appeared first on Praying Medic.

How God Speaks Through Our Emotions

In my work, I frequently transport people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Many of them are homeless. I’d like to say that I have a heart full of compassion and love for them, but if I said that, I would be lying. To be honest, I don’t have a lot of natural affection for these people. I’ve been on the receiving end of my share of violence and abuse from some of my former patients who were struggling with addiction. Yet God in his wisdom gave me a calling to minister healing to these folks. One of the most frequent ways He communicates to me about an addicted person He wants me to pray with is through my emotions.

I’ve sat in the back of the ambulance a thousand times writing my report as I transported an intoxicated, verbally abusive person to the hospital. I generally try to remain as uninvolved with them as I can. The more detached I remain, the less likelihood there is of an altercation. But I’ve been surprised at how often I’ve felt a deep ache in my soul over the condition of one of these people. There I am, minding my own business, writing my report, when a wave of broken-heartedness comes over me. At first I didn’t understand what was happening when I felt these emotions. I’m sure I shrugged them off a number of times and didn’t respond the way I should have. But gradually, I began seeing a pattern in these emotions and one day, when I was feeling the deep broken-heartedness over a drunk I’d just met, I asked if I could pray for him. He smiled and said, “I’d love that.”

One of the most reliable ways of knowing you’re sensing something from God is knowing it didn’t come from you. I suspect the problem some of us have is that we aren’t sure which emotions are ours, and which are external to us. We’ve been trained to think that every emotion we feel is one of our own emotions. But emotions are tricky things. Demons can make us feel certain emotions, and so can angels. And God often conveys to us His emotions when He wants to communicate something to us. Even though these emotions seem to be ours, because they feel the same as the rest of our emotions—there are subtle clues that point an external origin for some of them.

I think we probably give ourselves more credit for having compassion and love for others than we rightly deserve. It’s feels good to give ourselves a pat on the back when we show unusual kindness to a stranger. It’s human nature to think we’re the one responsible for “paying it forward.” But I suspect that in many cases, what’s happening is that God is communicating the way He feels toward that stranger through our emotions. After we sense His heart for them, we’re moved to do the right thing—something other than what we would normally do. We take the credit for our good deed, but in many cases, God was behind it all. Most of us feel God’s emotions for the people around us more often than we realize, but we’re simply not aware of where the emotions are coming from.

This is an excerpt from my latest book Hearing God’s Voice Made Simple. To check out the book click on this link or on the image below. 

The post How God Speaks Through Our Emotions appeared first on Praying Medic.

Podcast 039: Jeremy Mangerchine – What to Do Once You Know You’re Free

To open in a new window click this link podcast 039

I caught up with my friend Jeremy Mangerchine at an airport on his way to India. This is a casual conversation about his latest book The Table and the Dream, the theme of which is what do do with your freedom in Christ once you know you’re free.

Topics covered:


The relationship funnel
Stages of spiritual growth
Being a co-creator with God
Mastering the human experience
What to do once you know you’re free
Routines, habits and creative head-space
Coming alive versus living in dysfunction
Pushing though discouragement and completing a difficult process


Resources
Stages of Faith by James Fowler
The Table and the Dream by Jeremy Mangerchine




Listen or Subscribe

Past Episodes

Behold, the Guardian

Our patient was a 14 year old girl who was being treated for dangerously high blood sugar. She had been evaluated in the emergency department and was being transferred to a different hospital to see a pediatric endocrinologist.  I was talking with her mother when she made an off hand remark about her daughter not doing her chores. During the next ten minutes she brought up the fact that her daughter didn’t like doing her chores two more times.

I turned to my partner and said, “Behold, the guardian personality type.”

He smiled. We’d talked about the different personality types and he understood what I meant.  The patient’s mother looked at me with confusion. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“The guardian personality type,” I replied. “The only reason I say that is because I’m a guardian, too. So are my parents and so is my son.”

“You lost me. Can you explain what you’re talking about?”

“I’d be happy to,” I replied.

I explained that I’d been studying the Myers Briggs personality types as they’re described by David Kiersey and that understanding the different types of personalities and what makes people tick has helped me understand those who don’t see the world the way I do. “When most people take a personality test,” I said, “They’re looking mostly for confirmation of who they are. But the real value in learning about the personality types is that it can help us understand why others act the way they act and why they think the way they think.”

“When I met my stepson,” I continued, “He was the first introvert and rational personality type I’ve ever lived with. For the first year we lived together, I swore he hated me. He never wanted to talk with me. He’d just squirrel himself away in his bedroom for days with his electronic equipment and he’d surface when he needed food, only to submerge himself again in his chamber of silence. It was this same son who taught me about the personality types and who helped me understand that he didn’t hate me. He just didn’t need to talk with me all afternoon the way my other son and daughter did. That’s just how introverts are wired,” he explained. “You guys are extroverts so you need all that conversation, but we introverts don’t.”

“My stepson is also a rational personality type. I’m a guardian, like you. We guardians place a high value on rules, societal norms, traditions and laws. We like it it when everyone pitches in and does their part… like doing their chores. But my stepson is a rational. Rationals don’t value the same things we do. They don’t care as much about traditions. They’re free thinkers. To them, many of the things society has accepted as normal seem like arbitrary decisions that should be re-evaluated. They don’t care how something has always been done. They’d rather know the most effective way it can be done.

Our patient’s mother, chimed in, “That’s my oldest son.”

“He probably drives you crazy, doesn’t he?”

“Yes, he does.  A lot of people do. I’ve spent my whole life wondering why people don’t see things the way I do.”

“My stepson said the greatest problem with us is that we look at others hoping to see ourselves and what we see instead is people who aren’t like us.”

God made us to function differently and He did it for a reason. He created us with different personality types so that each of us would become a specialist in one thing or another. The world would be a pretty boring place if there were no artists or poets—no engineers or philosophers. Some of those personality types have little use for doing household chores like cleaning. They value other things more highly. It doesn’t mean they’re bad people. It just means they’re wired differently. I suggested that she might give her daughter a break about not doing her chores. She could see my point and asked for more information about David Kiersey and the personality types. I gave her his website address and the title for  his book Please Understand Me.

I realize that personality theory is not an exact science. Kiersey is the first to admit that he doesn’t have all the answers, having revamped his own theories repeatedly. I’m also aware that many Christians are opposed to modern psychological theories. The point here is not that researchers have uncovered some indisputable truth about the nature of mankind, but that they may have developed a tool we can use to live more harmoniously with others.

The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.

~Thomas Merton

Should We Further Restrict Our Right to Bear Arms?

There have been some heartfelt responses to the shootings that have been reported in the media recently. Our President has taken the opportunity to lobby for stricter gun legislation in the wake of these tragedies, including a public address to the nation last night. I don’t doubt for a minute that he sincerely believes that restricting gun rights even further is the best road to a peaceful future. I want to say at the outset that I believe everyone involved in this discussion (with the exception of terrorists and violent criminals) has the same goal in mind. We all want fewer gun-related tragedies. We only disagree on how that can be accomplished. It’s important to keep this fact in mind.

Many of my friends are in support of stronger gun legislation and I understand why they feel the way they do. Not long ago, I felt the same way. But recently, my views have changed on this issue. You’re free to hold whatever view you want. I’m not going to tell you that you’re view is wrong. But I’d like to look at a couple of key points that are often overlooked in public discussions. First, I’d like to examine the idea that we’re experiencing an epidemic of gun related killings in the US.

Much of the current momentum on the issue of gun control is coming from those who believe that we are at or near a state of crisis. This belief comes not from looking at crime data, but from evaluating the news reports that have been aired over the past few years. If you look only at the news reports, you might think there is actually an epidemic of gun-related killing right now. But the numbers tell a different story. The FBI has the most reliable information available on violent crimes committed in the US. According to their data, violent crimes (including gun-related homicides) have been dropping steadily year after year for at least the last 20 years. Rather than being in the midst of an epidemic of gun-related killings, we’re in long, steady downtrend.

Some don’t like these figures and they’ve suggested that the numbers can’t possibly be correct. Their view is that homicides—especially those committed with guns—must surely must be more numerous in the last few years, and not less. Under the Obama administration, if the numbers were being manipulated, one would expect them to be fudged in a way that would make the crime rate look worse than it is, not better. That would after all, support the White House’s narrative that more gun legislation is needed. But that isn’t the case. The numbers don’t support the White House’s position, so there’s no logical reason to believe they’re being manipulated.

Despite what the news and our leaders have been telling us, fewer people are being killed every year in the US by guns. In fact, there are more people killed every year by blunt objects like baseball bats or by the use of bare hands than are killed by either rifles or shotguns. (If you’d like to check out the numbers go to this link for a breakdown of violent crimes by type of weapon used.)

Furthermore, since President Obama has taken office, the number of concealed handgun permits issued in the US has soared from 4.6 million to over 12.8 million. During that same time period murder rates have fallen from 5.6 per 100,000 people to  4.2, which is about a 25 percent drop, according to a report from the Crime Prevention Research Center.

If stricter gun regulation is to be based on the argument that gun-related crimes are on the increase, the argument doesn’t hold water. Gun related crimes are not increasing despite the fact that more people are receiving conceal carry permits and carrying guns.

The question we ought to ask is why the media and the White House are portraying such a grim scenario that is not supported by the data. Some have suggested that the narrative of increasing gun violence is an attempt to convince us that we need further gun restrictions.

The second point I’d like to make is that when we discuss making further restrictions to the 2nd amendment, we’re not discussing the right of hunters to carry rifles. We’re not even discussing the right of homeowners to defend themselves against criminals. We’re discussing the right of citizens of a free nation to arm themselves so that if their government were ever to become oppressive they would be able to overthrow it by force. That is the clearly stated purpose of the 2nd amendment and it has no other purpose. To make the discussion about anything else is to create a diversion that only confuses the purpose of the amendment.

Some would argue that the framers of the constitution lived in a different era and had needs we don’t have today. They needed weapons back then for hunting and most of us don’t live that way today. While it’s true fewer people hunt today, this an irrelevant argument. The purpose of the second amendment is not to allow us a way put food on the table. Its purpose is to guarantee us a way to remove an oppressive government and that need never ceases, regardless of the passage of time.

If we surrender our right to arm ourselves, we abandon all hope that we would ever be able to remove an oppressive regime. If you think this could never happen to us, you might look at the recent problems with governments in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Corruption and oppression in government are more common than some of us would like to admit. No one likes the idea of their government being violently overthrown. But if you refuse to reserve yourself that right, the only alternative you’re left with is subjecting yourself to tyranny.

My third point:

Many have argued that we don’t “need” high capacity magazines or fully automatic weapons and that restricting them is a “reasonable response” to what is perceived to be an epidemic of gun violence. As I already pointed out, there is no epidemic of gun violence, but some still argue that we should follow the rest of the world and ban private gun ownership altogether. They say we don’t need guns any longer.

The bill of rights is a document that guarantees our “rights” as citizens of a free country. It is not a document that guarantees our “needs.” It guarantees our rights. There is a huge difference between needs and rights and some people have lost the distinction between them. No one “needs” to drive a car with 650 horsepower. No one “needs” to live in a million dollar home and no one “needs” to have five pounds of bacon in their refrigerator. But we’re free to have them, if we choose to, because we live in a country where these “rights” are guaranteed to us, even if they aren’t things that we “need.” Few people need an AR-15, but the second amendment guarantees the right of a law-abiding citizen to own one—even if they don’t need it.

The document in question is called the bill of rights—not the bill of needs.  To make the discussion of gun rights about what one person may need (or not need) at any point in their life is to completely confuse the issue. We should not willingly surrender our freedoms—our rights, based on what we perceive to be our needs from one day to the next. Especially if our assessment of those needs is based on an emotional response to what may be nothing more than political propaganda. It seems unwise to surrender our rights because we think (today) that we will never need them.

Lastly, there is the suggestion that we ought to follow the lead of nations like Australia and those in Europe, who have taken the moral (and some would argue the intellectual) high road of banning private gun ownership. It’s been argued that since they’ve banned guns, they have lower rates of gun violence and it only makes sense that we should follow suit.

While it’s true that these nations generally have lower rates of gun violence, that isn’t the whole story. These nations have paid dearly in the past for decisions they’ve made that seemed wise at the time. Again, study your history books and you’ll find that it’s been Americans with their guns who have for the last century come to the rescue of more civilized nations—ones where folks were progressive enough to know they didn’t really need guns—until men like Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini came to power. Americans have suffered a lot of criticism over our love of guns. But we’ve been the one nation that others can rely on in a crisis. Whenever trouble hits, the world knows they can call on those gun-toting Yanks to help them out.

One day, we will learn to beat our guns into ploughshares and we will study war no more. I’m looking forward to that day. But until it comes, we must deal with violent men and women who want to oppress those who desire to live in peace. As long as we are the land of the free, we would be wise to retain our right to keep and bear arms.

“The strongest reason for the people to keep and retain the right to bear arms  is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” ~ Thomas Jefferson 

Is Reading the Bible Sufficient?

This is an excerpt from my latest book Hearing God’s Voice Made Simple. This post is from the chapter “Misconceptions and Myths”, where I answer the most common objections people have about hearing God’s voice.

“God speaks to us through the Bible. We don’t need anything more.”

God does without question speak to us through the Bible. The scriptures have been given to us for correction, for doctrine, for instruction in righteousness, and for encouragement. The Bible is indispensable as a guide that points us to God. But a person who reads the Bible can fall into error if their study is not guided by the voice of God.

I once listened to a group of pastors who were part of a popular non-denominational assembly of churches. They were solid Bible teachers, but they had allowed what I would consider a few false doctrines into their theology, one of them was the idea that healing and miracles had ceased thousands of years ago. I once believed what they taught. Being good Bible teachers, they had their handful of Bible verses to back up their teaching. Although they meant no harm, they had nonetheless embraced some false teachings along the way and they were teaching them to their congregations.

The truth of the matter came to me one day, not as I studied the Bible, but in a dream where God Himself told me He wanted me to pray for my patients to be healed. I didn’t believe in healing at the time, but flatly rejected it. I didn’t accept healing mostly because these Bible teachers had persuaded me not to. They believed healing was not happening today, and I believed what they taught. I had to change my thinking and begin reading the Bible with a new set of eyes. When I did, I saw the many accounts of healing and the clear instructions Jesus gave to His disciples to heal the sick. I realized that supernatural healing is one of the most irrefutable doctrines of the New Testament, despite the fact that many good Bible teachers refuse to see it as such. Here’s a case where personal revelation from God was needed to straighten out a lie I had learned from some of the best Bible teachers in the world.

There is no guarantee that a strict diet of scripture reading will lead us along the complete path of truth. If you read without having the Holy Spirit teach your spirit and interpret the scriptures for you, the exercise may very well lead you to a warped understanding of God. All the major pseudo-Christian cults teach from the Bible. Their error is in not having the Spirit of God interpret and apply what they read.

This book is now available on Kindle. The paperback version will be available December 8th. To check out the book, click here: Hearing God’s Voice Made Simple  or click on the image below.