Sunday, May 14, 2006

Sabbaths and Sundays, Common Arguments, #5

Claim: The Sabbath is any seventh day after six days of work.

If the spirit of the law is simply "one day out of seven," how come the priests were not commanded to rest one of the other days? They took turns serving in the temple for a certain term. During that term they would work harder on the Sabbath than any other day, yet there is no law telling them to rest Sunday or Monday or every seventh day. If God had meant "every seventh day after six days of work," we'd find some kind of law for the priests.

Additionally, the Sabbath is the only day God blessed. If the Sabbath were any seventh day, there would be no need for God to bless a specific day. Also, He would have told the Israelites to keep whatever day was convenient for them, rather than telling them a specific day to keep.

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Saturday, May 13, 2006

40 Days of Purpose, Day 14

I really enjoyed this lesson because it's one I lived through and I know that "the dark night of the soul" does end and God does eventually show up again. This lesson is "When God Seems Distant." It's about those dry times when you can't feel Him.

Its point is that faith is more important than feelings, and that God is there whether or not we can feel Him. The fact of His presence and the feeling of His presence are two different things and should not be confused.

When I went through this time a couple years ago after Kathi's rejection of me and my being booted from ExWitch, I made the classic beginner's mistake. As V. Raymond Edman said, "Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light." I doubted. I probably wouldn't be a Christian today if God hadn't stepped in and pulled me back from the edge. I gave the goddess a foothold, and got myself in so deep that I couldn't get back on my own.

I failed that test. When God drew me back to Him, I swore then that it would not happen again. I hope it does not, but I hesitate to say, "I will not fail," when I am not in a similar situation at the moment.

This Purpose Driven Life lesson makes the point that we don't grow during the good times; we grow in the valleys. It makes the point that in any relationship there are times of distance and this is true of our relationship with God as well. Our worship is the deepest when we trust Him despite our feelings of abandonment. Our trust in those times IS our worship. He will never leave us or forsake us. That is the promise. Our feelings can lie.

How do you get through these times?

1) Tell God how you feel - He can take anything you say.
2) Focus on God's unchanging nature.
3) Trust in God's promises, not your feelings.
4) Remember what He's already done by dying on the cross. Even if He never did another thing for you, He's worthy of your praise and worship for this alone.

This is an excellent reminder lesson for those who have been through the "dark night" before. If you haven't, study this lesson well for you will one day face it, and I pray that each and every person out there will not fail the test as I did. If you have already failed like I have, commit to passing the test the next time.

Thank You God for loving and dying for me. Help me to trust and follow You no matter what.

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Friday, May 12, 2006

Sabbaths and Sundays, Common Arguments, #4

Claim: Jesus broke the Sabbath.

The Pharisees accused Jesus and His disciples of breaking the Sabbath, but there is not one law from the Bible that Jesus broke. The only laws He broke were the Rabbinical ones defining what "work" was. There were 39 of them. When the disciples were going through the grain fields on the Sabbath and plucking the grain to eat, the Pharisees felt the disciples were breaking the laws against harvesting (picking the corn or wheat), threshing (shucking it or rubbing in between their palms), among others. They did not break one single law from the Bible in doing this.

As for His healing miracles, Jesus said it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath - this includes all kinds of work done to save lives, physically or spiritually. This is the reason no Sabbath keeper argues against essential services continuing, and the reason pastors can work that day and still be "guiltless." The priests worked in the temple that day and were held guiltless. When He healed, He was doing redemptive work which was fine.

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The White Trash Test

I am 32% White Trash.
Not Too White Trashy
The white trash in my blood will not keep me from becoming a doctor or a lawyer, but it will keep me from a good haircut and any sort of fashion sense.

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Thursday, May 11, 2006

I just keep gaining

Back up to 147.2 today, same weight as two days ago. I know some of my weight is muscle, but I can't have gained five pounds of muscle, and how could I have not lost any fat, but I guess I haven't. This is extremely depressing.

Worked out today. Was able to do 3 sets of 10 reps each with the 15 pound dumbbell for the second time (the first time was Monday), so I know I'm getting stronger. Did about 37 minutes of weights, tried to do 100 sit-ups but lost count so I don't know how many I actually did, and did one hour of cardio on the crossramp elliptical (without the moving arms). Whew! I'm wiped! FitDay says 360 calories.

I'm having bad carb cravings - I want a cheeseburger (with the bun!) and french fries. And something chocolate. Lots of lots of something with lots of chocolate, like a big ol' chocolate muffin from Safeway (they have the best ones). I have a planned binge Sabbath after next before the race, but that's nine days away and I don't think I can hold out that long.

Calories yesterday were a disappointing 1859. But I had 82g of fat, so at least the extra calories upped my fat instead of something else. Calories today will be ever higher, as they usually are on Thursdays because I'm up late doing laundry. My tentative menu today has about 2000 calories. I'll update tomorrow with my actual total for today.

I have two weeks of the Metabolife left, so I'll finish those out. I started taking the green tea pills today.

My Carb Options soup mix that I ordered on E-bay arrived today. It's no longer made, but I like keeping it in my locker for those times when I'm really hungry. I lost the auction, but was given a "second chance" and jumped at it. This is the powdered chicken noodle soup, 4 carbs per packet and only 25 calories. I got a whole case - 12 boxes. :) None of the Carb Options products appear to be made anymore, and the Web site is gone. Thank God for E-bay, eh?

Besides the soup I also bought a case of the Atkins brownie mix (12 packets), 60 Atkins Almond Brownie Advantage bars, and two cases (24 cans) of the Atkins strawberry shakes. Still waiting for all those.

I also ordered some stuff off netrition.com - three packets of Dixie Diners chocolate donut mix, two boxes of the Nutlettes cereal, and two boxes (I think) of the sugar-free, sugar alcohol free chocolate bars. The chocolate bars used to be made by Carb Sense/Mini Carb, but changed their name and changed the packaging of course.

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Playing on fear

Science Diet logoHave you seen the new Science Diet pet food commercials? It states that cats and dogs often shed from poor nutrition, and tries to get people to switch to Science Diet brand pet food. Nothing wrong with that. So far, so good.

My gripe is with the timing of the commercial. I don't know about your pets, but after holding onto their coats all winter, both my cats are shedding like crazy, and it isn't due to poor nutrition; it's due to warmer weather. All I have to do is pet either of them and fur goes flying everywhere.

So here SD is trying to make pet owners think that sudden shedding at a time pets normally begin shedding is a nutritional problem. They didn't air this in the middle of winter. They wait until it's warming up around the country.

Before you switch pet foods ask yourself if there could be another reason for your pet's shedding.

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Logo courtesy of Science Diet.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Gaining 1/4 pound a week

Yep...just ran the numbers on FitDay today and over the last two months I have gained an average of 0.2 pounds a week. Looking at only the last month it's even worse - 0.3 pounds a week gained. And over just the last two weeks 1 whole pound gained a week (!).

ARGH! I've cut my calories so I should be losing (but am not) and it's not muscle because I can only get to the gym twice a week to do weight training. Plus my jeans aren't any looser. I really don't understand how I can be gaining. I've begun walking the last leg to work, yet still I gain.

The hunger is still there today. I think the Metabolife has stopped working and it's time to try something else. My lunch did nothing to alleviate my hunger. And I am craving bad carbs. My body is screaming for them now. At Starbucks earlier I wanted to give in and get one of their carby snacks, but settled for just an unsweetened iced green tea.

So I'm dealing with two problems. Hunger for any food, good or bad, and craving for bad food in particular.

Was able to walk to work from BART. Took 27 minutes today and FitDay says 81 calories.

Should be able to make it to the gym three times next week, but two of those days are consecutive, which will mean I won't be able to push myself as hard as I'd like on the weight training the second day.

Yesterday's calories were 1764 and today will be higher. Oh well.

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My favorite movies

Found this cool toy on Diddiditwife's blog.

My favorite movies:

Create your own Movie List @ HotFreeLayouts!

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Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Calories are DOWN, but weight is UP

sad face
I'm absolutely ranvenous today. Maybe it's because my calories were so low yesterday - only 1488. Not bad, eh? I'll somehow get through today without going over the edge, but no 1500 calories for me today!

Walked the last leg to work today and finally used MapQuest to find out the distance from the BART station to work - 1.5 miles! Yippee! I've walked a lot of miles lately. :)

Weight this morning was a whopping 147.2! Ack!!! That's over the maximum I'm allowed (147). All this dieting and I am making NO progress. I think I need to set up an appointment to see a trainer and have a body composition test done. But I'm afraid I'll have gained fat! Double ack! I'm doing so horribly. :(

Finished The DaVinci Code: A Quest for Answers today that Jane gave out at church on Sabbath.

Had time to stop at Starbucks and work on my Purpose Driven Life lesson for the day. It's a pain to take notes, but it does help me get more out of it.

A cool thing on the low-carb front - today I received a note from Jimmy Moore by snail mail thanking me for being such a faithful reader of his blog (the pleasure's all mine!), and enclosed was a card for one free entree at Denny's, drink included. Jazzin'! There's a Denny's on my way to work, a 10 minute walk from the BART station, and last I checked they had a low-carb menu, though that was a while ago. Hope they still have it!

New people hired at work and in the process of training; that's why the overtime ended. As I stated in that post, it makes me both happy and sad.

Today was a mail run into the City; tomorrow is groceries, and then I will hit the gym on Thursday. I try to space my workouts with two days between when I can only go twice in the week, and then stuff everything else around it.

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Graphic courtesy of BirthdayCards.com.

What Crappy Christmas Gift Are You?

You Are a Losing Lottery Ticket!

Full of hope and promise.
But in the end, a cheap letdown.

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Monday, May 08, 2006

TheFatManWalking.com, take 4

Just a quite update on Steve. He's in New Jersey, expected in New York by May 9th!

---

Want to walk to NYC with Steve?

Meeting Place: Leaving from the north walkway of the George Washington Bridge at 6pm on May 9th.

MEDIA ADVISORY May 8, 2006 [...]

Pedestrian and automotive safety has become a primary concern as Steve travels through New Jersey and into New York tomorrow. The George Washington Bridge is a highly congested area, especially so during his anticipated time of crossing and it would be unfortunate if traffic was impeded however unintentionally in any way. Further, the Port Authority has indicated that for security purposes photography will not be permitted on the property.

In the interest of safety Steve will not be able to conclude his walk with a brief press conference as originally hoped. Again, your understanding is appreciated.

---

He's also lost about 100 pounds on his journey, starting at 409 and now around 308. He had gotten down to 280, but then put some weight back on. I hope he can keep it off once this is over and he flies home. You can do it, Steve!

Way to go, Steve! Keep up the good work and congratualations on completing this HUGE endeavor!

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Squeezing into my jeans

And it's a tight squeeze. More on that in a moment.

I did really good calorie-wise yesterday after Saturday's disaster. I ate only 1414 calories, and without too much hunger. Today I'm higher, but I went to the gym, so "breakfast" was bigger because I had to make extra of the protein shake so there would be some left for after my workout. FitDay says I burned 338 calories in my workout. I did 35 minutes of weights, 30 on the stationary bike, and 30 on the elliptical (the one without arms). Whew!

After my workout I had the usual fight with my new size 8s. The older ones are looser because the fit is different, but these are meant to fit tight and I have to tug and pull to get them on, and pull the waistband up past my hips so I can button them. Once they are stretched out they are a dream, but when newly washed, it's a workout just to squeeze into them.

I suspect I'm doing so poorly at my diet because I'm not cycling calories and Saturdays are so high that it doesn't matter how good I do the rest of the week.

*sigh*

Must
do
better.
Must
lose
fat
gain
muscle.

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The Hippie Test

I am 27% Hippie.
Wanna Be Hippie!
I need to step away from the tie-dye. I smell too good to be a hippie and my dad is probably a cop. Being a hippie is not a fashion craze, man. It was a way of life, in the 60’s, man.

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Sunday, May 07, 2006

Fat, fat, fat

This weekend:
Friday I bought The Purpose Driven Life Journal, and copied most of the entries in my blank journal into it. Finished that project on Saturday. Keeping up on the readings so far and taking notes as I go along. Friday night I Pay-Per-Viewed "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." Quite dark and quite long (2 1/2 hours). Voldemorte comes back to life and now has the power to hurt Harry.

Saturday at church Jane gave me an old denim skirt of hers. It's a size 8 and fits perfectly. :) I gave away my old one because it was too big and the slit up the front made it too revealing anyway. I'm glad to have a more modest one that fits my new smaller body. :)

Way overdid it food-wise yesterday. Yours truly has a tad of a hangover today and is dealing with the residuals of eating too many sugar free Oreos last night. Went out to dinner with Brad and Regina and Abraham to celebrate my 10th birthday as a Christian. Had two glasses of wine (one white, one red) and an Atkins-friendly meal with just a couple cheat bites. Not too bad and I wouldn't be unhappy if it ended there.

But it didn't.

When I got home I had some more wine and it was too much for me. So now I have a bit of a hangover. I also (for the second time) ate most of a box of sugar free Oreos and only left about 4 cookies. I have no idea how many calories and carbs I ate yesterday, but I just threw 3000 calories and 200 carbs up on FitDay for the hell of it. Trying to drink lots of water and tea today to help flush my system. I probably won't want my glass of wine tonight. Blech. Sorry if I disappointed anyone. Sometimes I do slip and fall on this journey of life.

At any rate, I feel like I undid weeks of hard work with yesterday. :(

Was able to walk the last leg to work today and it's really nice out. I hope the Bay To Breakers race in two weeks is as nice! The walk today took me 25 minutes, and FitDay say 75 calories burned. It'll take A LOT of walks to work to make up for last night! Stopped at Starbucks for a double espresso. What a rip off! $1.65 for this tiny little amount of beverage. :-p

Should be able to make it to the gym tomorrow. Looks like I'll get two workouts in this week.

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My last 12 hour day

Today is my last 12 hour shift at work. I'm happy and sad at the same time - happy that I will now be able to work out every Sunday, and sad that overtime is ending just as my rent goes up. Dad said he sent me some money this month; that should help.

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Guess I have to learn about The DaVinci Code after all...

DaVinciThis weekend at church Jane was giving out books to rebut The DaVinci Code. The book is titled: The DaVinci Code: A Quest for Answers. If I'm going to read the rebuttal, I guess I need to understand what it's rebutting. ;) I'll either read the book or see the movie - haven't decided yet, but I did buy a used copy off Amazon today.

At any rate, the movie can be a decent surrogate if need be. I did the same thing for Harry Potter. I didn't want to read the first book, but I wanted to understand the phenomenon it was, so I saw the first movie (which was so good I've seen the next two).

I wasn't planning on having anything to do with the DaVinci Code, but I guess it's been decided for me. Personally, I think it's crazy that I need to be involved, but it's even crazier that grown adults think the DaVinci Code has anything to do with truth. I don't remember much from my college church history classes, so perhaps this rebuttal book will help. What is it that makes otherwise rational adults believe anything that claims to discredit Christianity? Why do they feel it needs to be discredited? What are they afraid of if it's true?

If you've read the book or plan to see the movie and believe its premise, do yourself a favor get the whole story. None of us should be afraid to seek the truth. There are several rebuttal books. Read one. In fact, if you plug "davinci code" into Amazon, the rebuttals come up, not Mr. Brown's book. In order to get Mr. Brown's book to come up you have to put the article "the" first.

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Picture courtesy DaVinciQuest.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Are you a lion or a witch?




21 - 50EdmundYour instincts are good overall, but you are easily tempted to focus on yourself at the expense of others. You can be impulsive and not think through the consequences of pursuing what you want. You are Edmund, who mocked Lucy when she first told of visiting Narnia, who later fell prey to the temptations of Turkish Delight, before realizing his mistakes and becoming Edmund the Just.
51 - 75Mr. TumnusYou do a lot of good for other people, but often are stymied by fear of repercussions or what others will think. You pursue your own needs and goals but also make time for others. You are Mr. Tumnus, the faun who intends to kidnap Lucy for the Witch but realizes he shouldn't.

I got 56 (out of 120), just a few points above Edmund.  I will point out that in another Narnia test about which character I was, I did come out as Edmund.

Are you a lion or a witch?

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Sabbaths and Sundays, Common Arguments, #3

Claim: Jesus rose on Sunday so that's why we celebrate on Sunday.

Yes, Jesus rose from the grave on Sunday. I won't argue that point, though I know some people will argue for a Saturday afternoon resurrection. Anyway, my point is that we are not told by Jesus, the apostles, or any other Biblical writer, that the day of rest and worship is to change because Jesus rose on Sunday.

Jesus talked to His disciples many times after His resurrection. That would have been the perfect time to say, "Look, I know you have always rested and worshipped on Saturday. But I give you a new commandment. The Sabbath shall now be Sunday." Surely the Gospel writers would not have failed to write down something that important! If Jesus or any of the writers of the New Testament writers had ANY such command, I'd be resting Sunday! In the absence of any Biblical mandate, however, I have to conclude that the Sunday Sabbath is the tradition of men.

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Friday, May 05, 2006

Sabbaths and Sundays, Common Arguments, #2

Claim: The Sabbath commandment is not mentioned in the NT; only 9 commandments are.

Oftentimes Christians try to say that only nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament. Therefore, we only have to keep those nine. What one can we ignore? The Sabbath of course. But what they are overlooking is one of the most obvious features of the New Testament.

The Sabbath is talked about a great deal in the Gospels. Why, if the Sabbath had been done away with, are there so many mentions? Why mention something that has been done away with, mention it often, and mention it with no direct command from Christ to stop celebrating it?

The Gospels were written between about AD 60 (Mark) and 90 (John). It is generally recognized that far from being mere biographies, the Gospels were handbooks for the early church. If the Sabbath had been done away with by Jesus or the apostles, it would seem likely that the Sabbath would be de-emphasized in the writings, and likely Sunday given some "boost."

Yet we don't find that. We find numerous references in these writings to a practice that some say was no longer observed. Why mention the Sabbath so much if it didn't matter anymore?

The Gospels were all written after the epistles, and if the Sabbath had already been abandoned by then, why include so many instances of it in the writings? It would have been irrelevant to the early church, so why make so much mention of it? It was mentioned so much precisely because the church was still keeping it. In the stories of Jesus the early church saw how the Sabbath should be kept and the original meaning that Jesus brought back to it.

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More nonsense - Spong is Wrong

Bishop SpongMore nonsense from "Christian" Bishop John Shelby Spong and a very savvy reply from a woman I know named Dolores, who is a liberal Catholic. In this particular instance, I agree with her wholeheartedly.

Spong said:
The whole sacrifice mentality that permeates Christian theology needs to be raised to consciousness and expelled from Christianity. However, it is so deep that many feel that Christianity will die if it is ever separated from this idea.

I believe that the future of Christianity rests on our ability in the Christian Church to escape the language of sacrifice and punishment and begin to think in terms of finding in Jesus the power to live fully, the grace to love wastefully and the courage to be all that we can be.


Dolores' response:
Predictably, Bishop Spong wants the easy way out--whitebread Christianity, with all of that nasty, rough fiber (and all of its nutrients) comfortably milled away.

What is Love without sacrifice? The worthless affection of a fair-weather friend.

Jesus was no child--he made his choice to consent as a grown man, knowing exactly what he agreed to. He had his opportunity to back down. He came close (being tempted in all things--not that it would have been a sin, because he had the right to refuse if he so desired) but out of love for us he chose to go through with the sacrifice.

To be perfectly honest, I do not want a God who has not experienced my suffering. It means a great deal to me that Jesus valued me at such a high price! Without sacrifice, the greatest teachings of Christ devolve into substanceless platitudes, for they have no courage to back them up.

And what a paltry follower of Christ would I be if I had no will to sacrifice in my turn? How could I forgive anyone without sacrifice in my heart? Because I find forgiveness hard! I have to crucify the vindictive part of me every time. How few good deeds would I do if I waited only for easy ones! Why should I send money to tsunami victims if I am not rich? Why should I bother to listen to an annoying friend pour out her troubles to me? Why do work that I can wriggle out of? Why exert myself to patience, or service, or time-consuming compassion?

Every good thing about me carries an element of sacrifice. Not that my faith is a hardship--not at all! For the seed that dies in the earth brings uncounted new seeds to life. I always gain more than I lose from sacrifice, no matter how unlikely that may appear at the time, how difficult to believe. For the cross finds its completion in the resurrection. Christianity does not stop with sacrifice, it passes through sacrifice to something better, something miraculous and unexpected. One sacrifices expecting nothing in return, yet the return overflows beyond the wildest of hopes!

---

Part of the draw to Christianity for me was precisely because this God could understand me. He cares enough to live as one of us. He knows human life better than the goddess ever could. When I read that Jesus is God, it all began to click for me. Here was a God who understood me, understood my pain, loved me enough to live on earth like one of us. I don't suffer physical pain alone - God truly knows that pain, and therefore shares it with me.

Learning that Jesus is God enabled me to take a huge step forward to believing. Knowing He understood made all the difference in the world.

Love without sacrifice is a make-believe love that is really no love at all.

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Picture courtesy Grace Cathedral.