Thomas Jefferson quote

"It is of great importance to set a resolution, not to be shaken, never to tell an untruth. There is no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible; and he who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and a third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's believing him." —Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, 1785

Frank Laubach's Journal - April 27, 1937

     I loved this reminder in the Frank Laubach devotional, "Learning the Vocabulary of God."  Many years ago I felt the Lord say to me that if I would take care of the things that were important to Him, He would take care of the things that were important to me.  He seems to be saying the same thing to Frank in the devotional for Tuesday, April 27, 1937.

"MY child, when you pray to Me of your own little troubles and doubts, your prayer is pretty thin and small.  When you reach out to help other people by offering yourself as a channel for Me, your prayer becomes at once large and noble.  You need not pray about your own personal affairs at all, for I will provide for those.  Pray for others!  Make you whole day a prayer for others.  Think of them one by one and try to help them to a rich contact with Me.  Your effort to bring the picture of Christ into their minds was good.  I will day by day teach you endless ways to make this priceless voyage of discovery in a little-known land of the Spirit.  Put a gentle but continuous pressure on your will to do this.  When reading, put your will effort into those of whom you read.  When talking, pour your prayer into those to whom you speak and of whom you speak.  Thus you will learn what Christ-love in all its fullness and irresistable power is, a terrific, outreaching love-will."

Research is showing that fat is not the culprit in heart disease--sugar is!

     Pharmaceutical companies have been promoting a lie to benefit from the sale of statins.  The following is an excerpt from an article by Dr. Mercola entitled  "Why You May Be Better Off Ignoring Conventional Cholesterol and Low-Fat Diet Guidelines."

...Refined Carbs—Not Fat—Are Responsible for Heart Disease

As noted by the Institute for Science in Society,9 Ancel Keys’ 1963 "Seven Countries Study" was instrumental in creating the saturated fat myth. He claimed to have found a correlation between total cholesterol concentration and heart disease, but in reality this was the result of cherry picking data.

When data from 16 excluded countries are added back in, the association between saturated fat consumption and mortality vanishes. In fact, the full data set suggests that those who eat the most saturated animal fat tend to have a lower incidence of heart disease:

“Nevertheless, people were advised to cut fat intake to 30 percent of total energy and saturated fat to 10 percent. Dietary fat is believed to have the greatest influence on cardiovascular risk through elevated concentrations of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. But the reduction in LDL cholesterol from reducing saturated fat intake appears to be specific to large, buoyant type A LDL particles, when it is the small dense type B particles – responsive to carbohydrate intake – that are implicated in cardiovascular disease.” [Emphasis mine]

We've long acknowledged that the Western diet is associated with increased rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Yet the conventional paradigm is extremely reluctant to accept that it is the sugar content of this diet that is the primary culprit. When you eat more non-vegetable carbohydrates than your body can use, the excess is converted to fat by your liver. This process occurs to help your body maintain blood sugar control in the short-term, however it will likely increase triglyceride concentrations, which will increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Excessive consumption of refined grains and added sugars will also elevate your insulin and leptin levels and raise your risk of insulin/leptin resistance, which is at the heart of many chronic health problems. High insulin levels also suppresses two other important hormones -- glucagons and growth hormones -- that are responsible for burning fat and sugar and promoting muscle development, respectively.

So elevated insulin from excess carbohydrates promotes fat accumulation, and then dampens your body's ability to lose that fat. Excess weight and obesity not only lead to heart disease but also a wide variety of other diseases.So, while whole grains are allowed to make health claims saying they’re heart healthy, and low-fat foods are conventionally recognized as healthy for your heart, please remember that replacing saturated fats in your diet (like those from grass-fed beef, raw organic butter, and other high-quality animal foods) with carbohydrates (like breakfast cereal, bread, bagels, and pasta) will actually increaseyour risk of heart disease, not lower it.

Studies Show Saturated Fat Is Not Associated with Increased Heart Disease Risk, But Sugar Is. ...

Bill & Hilary Clinton Should Be Tried For Treason

    Anyone thinking of supporting Hilary Clinton for President should read this article by the New York Times.  Click here to read it.
     She & her sleazy husband should be tried for treason, not looked up to for leadership!

Bill Johnson on the Holy Spirit

     Have you noticed how so many churches today emphasize the importance of the Bible but exclude the Holy Spirit?  Those churches don't appear to be having signs, wonders, and miracles as daily happenings in their services.  I have heard pastors from some of those churches say they don't want those signs of the visitation and habitation of the Holy Spirit in their churches!  How can they be following Jesus and not want that?
     Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel Church, Redding, CA, says,  "It's hard to have the same fruit as the early Church when we value a book they didn't have above the Holy Spirit they did have."
    He is not saying we should not value the Bible, only that we need to be walking with the Holy Spirit when we study and apply the scriptures.  I whole heartedly agree.  Come Holy Spirit!

Yesterday

      Yesterday was a beautiful, cool, sunshiny day and I enjoyed it immensely! (Today is cold and rainy.)  Because of surgery I was not to lift over 15 lbs for 6 weeks.  What a difficult restriction that was for me since every time I looked outside I saw lots of garden work that needed to be done.  It certainly helped me identify with those who are unable to do the things they used to do but wish they could.    
     Yesterday was 6 weeks.  The doctor said I was healing nicely so I could resume normal activity. Therefore, I spent almost all day outside raking, transplanting, weeding, and trimming.  I may have overdone it a little but it sure felt good to be working again!
      I took a break when our oldest grandson and one of his friends stopped by to go mushroom hunting.  It was fun to see them and to enjoy their excitement at finding mushrooms.  We found about 40 so we were all pretty excited!  From talking with others it doesn't seem there are many mushrooms out there this year.  It looks as if next weekend is going to be very warm so maybe there is still a chance of a bunch popping up.

The Bible - A.D.

     Have you been watching the new mini-series, "The Bible A.D." on Sunday nights on NBC?  It is produced by Roma Downey and her husband, Mark Burnett, who also produced "The Bible" mini-series a couple of years ago.  We are dvr-ing so we won't miss any of the episodes.   Since we haven't been able to watch the past 3 Sundays this week we caught up by watching all three.  I am not much of a fan of biblical movies because, in my opinion, they are typically not done well, but this one is an exception!  We thought it was excellent--even better than the first series--maybe because it portrays several chapters in Acts which can more easily be applied to our lives as disciples. The mini-series makes it very apparent how difficult life was for Jesus' followers.
     I highly recommend the series.

Musings

       This morning I was thinking about the Graham Cooke Conference we went to a couple of weeks ago.  One of the things Graham has emphasized every time I've heard him speak is that every problem comes with a promise and a provision attached.  He explains that if you have a large problem you can expect a large provision in the end which will result in an upgrade in your walk with the Lord. Of course, there is a reqirement that we must keep our eyes on Him, rejoicing in who He is.
      As I was reflecting on this I was thinking about how I often get tripped up with thoughts of "but I prayed & believed and instead of the person receiving an upgrade, he/she died."  When I think this way I begin to doubt God instead of seeing the provision and the upgrade.  Yesterday when I was talking with a friend whose husband died recently it occurred to me that we had felt somehow as if we failed him because we prayed and prayed for his healing but he died.  The thought popped into my mind that he had received the ultimate upgrade--he was forever in God's presence.  Isn't that our goal for ourselves and all those we care about?
      Don't we often act as if our goal is to stay on earth for eternity? Why is it so difficult for us to get out of that mindset?   God is the one who decides when we are ready for an upgrade and what it's to look like.  Sometimes it is on earth; sometimes it is in heaven.  His ways are not our ways.  Maybe one person's ultimate upgrade is the very means God will use to bring upgrades in others' lives.  Don't we all say the ultimate upgrade--going to heaven to be with Jesus--is what we want and one reason why we invited Him into our hearts?  I realize we are only being human, but isn't it selfish to look at death for a Christan as anything but an upgrade?
      I want to have eyes to see as He sees, to trust & believe Him more, and to seek His will & His way instead of focusing on my wants, don't you?

Star Parker quote

Columnist Star Parker: "[T]he central question moving forward is whether the American public is happy with the socialism they’ve gotten thus far. If they are, most likely they will choose the white female socialist to replace the black male. Republicans will be tempted to make this campaign about Mrs. Clinton’s very dubious character. An alleged feminist who built her career by staying married to a life-long adulterer because he was successful. The storming of our embassy and murder of our ambassador in Benghazi, Libya, under her watch as Secretary of State. Her use of a private email account for official State Department business and then erasing it all. But as politically juicy as all this might be, it would be unfortunate if Mrs. Clinton’s questionable self defined this campaign. This election should be about what kind of America Americans want. When I began my work in public policy over twenty years ago, my goal was to move black America off Uncle Sam’s Plantation to join the rest of America living freely, creatively and prosperously. Never did I dream ... [that,] rather than blacks moving off the government plantation, the rest of America would move onto it. ... Hopefully Republicans will give voters a real choice in 2016 — a candidate of any race or gender who wants to push back on government, increase personal freedom, and promote traditional family values."

Morels

     Look what I found as I was walking to the barn today.  After looking closely I think there are around 25 in the patch--most not as large as these.  We LOVE morels!  Can't wait to taste them!

See the two in the background, also.

I laid a dandelion bloom next to this one to get perspective.  Pretty nice, huh?

Another Inspiring Thought from Frank Laubach

     I loved the thought Frank Laubach expressed in the April 18 meditation in Learning The Vocabulary of God.  (For some reason I thought today was the 18th so I read that entry--I must have needed it today.)

He says,
"Father, 
Dear Father, 
My soul reaches up once more to Thee, 
For Thy morning Kiss, 
Because Thou, Father God, art Ruler and Lover in one.
What use of this day will wreathe Thy lips with happy smiles, Father, and make Thee give me a kiss of good night with the words, "Well done"?  How loving, how large must my thought be?  Only one simple task--to keep the window wide open, to try to keep consciously obedient to Thy voice--and Thou wilt tell all the rest.

      How touching to imagine God as the loving Father awakening His child with a kiss!  What an intimate picture of God's loving care for us!

Another Sign Of Spring

The bluebells are in bloom--another sure sign of spring! A few years ago I found a huge patch of bluebells growing near a stream on another part of our property so I transplanted these in the woods at  the edge of our lawn.  It looks as if they are beginning to spread.  I hope someday there will be a huge patch here, too.

Spring

Don't you love springtime?  The daffodils are blooming.  The redbuds are beginning to burst forth in beautiful shades of purple.  The trees in our woods are tinged with green.  And we even saw two tiny morel mushrooms pushing their way through the leaves!  What a glorious time of year!

Last fall the Linn Park Garden committee was given 22 daylilies by the Five Acre Dayliliy Farm so we dug up three small garden areas to plant them.  Members of the committee donated tulips and daffodils to help fill in the area.  Yesterday I stopped by to pull a few weeds around the concessions stand.  The tulips were gorgeous with the sun shining through them!  I couldn't resist trying to capture the beauty with my camera.  Of course, it is never the same, but I love having the photo to help me remember.

We will be adding to the beds so that hopefully something will be blooming all summer, but right now it is just exciting to see the beginnings of a beautiful garden!

Heritage Days On The Old National Road Poster

      We hope you are planning to come to this fun, exciting festival.  Our committee has been hard at work preparing for it!  We feel it is going to be an event not to be missed.  All events are free, so why not plan a mini-vacation and come enjoy a peek at the past in a small town atmosphere?  The Friday Night of Bluegrass kicks off the Festival with 4 bands in 4 hours at our new amphitheater and then the daytime events move to the Fairgrounds where there will be great artist vendors selling and demonstrating their hand-made crafts and lots of great festival food.  Kids, in particular, seem to be fascinated by the Native American re-enactors with their teepees and utensils and love the barrel train rides.  The Draft Horse, Mule & Haflinger Show is going to be spectacular!  Since we are a qualifying show for the North American Draft Six Horse Hitch  and the Haflinger Six Horse Hitch, some of the magnificent horses participating have been featured on the RFD Channel's Gentle Giant TV show.
    And who doesn't enjoy a night of laughter?  Aaron Wilburn is one of the funniest men I have listened to.  I can hardly wait for his event at the Amphitheater, but then since it is the closing event of Heritage Days that will mean the Festival is over.  Not to worry though because the fun will continue with the Martinsville Ag Fair which will begin on Monday.

Graham Cooke: The Enemy is not content to depress you---he needs you for an ally

      This is such a good meditation (#10) from Graham Cooke's book Radical Perceptions: Brilliant Thoughts For an Amazing Life. (You can order the book here on Graham's website.)  Obviously, God meant what He said when He told us to give thanks in everything and to think on things that are lovely, pure, of a good report, etc.  He knew there would be serious consequences not only for us but for those around us if we didn't take our thoughts captive.  Graham explains that so well!

The Enemy is not content to depress you---he needs you for an ally
    Whenever we have a negative mindset and confession, we give the enemy permission to afflict us.  Agreement is either the making or the breaking of us, depending upon who we align ourselves with in real terms.  We allow ourselves to be overcome mostly by default.  We are meek in our acceptance of situations and circumstances to the point where we become resigned to outcomes that should be challenged.
     Overcoming a believer is not the prime goal of the enemy.  Turning a Christian into an asset is the chief focus because then he has a resource into the family, church, business, ministry et al.  The negativity, procrastination, doubt, fear, anxiety, anger, resentment, bitterness, passivity, unbelief and resignation generated gives the enemy so many tools and weapons in that confined space to create havoc.  A believer that is so undermined becomes a Trojan horse; a means of internal destruction from without.  How many relationships can be affected?  How many dreams ruined and visions damaged?
    Ten spies out of twelve brave men were so undone by the enemy that they ruined the chances of over a million people reaching the land of promise.  The enemy works by penetration, demoralization and subversion.  Homes, relationships, churches, and the workplace are infliltrated with negativity.  Breaches are caused in fellowship.  We become prone to tiredness, weariness and inertia.  The devil is the prince of the power of the air; he lives in the atmosphere.  Penetrating the atmosphere to create an environment that he can live in is a major strategy.  Check out the atmosphere around you.  If it is not loving, joyful, peaceful, gracious and gentle. . .you have a problem!  We all know when we have an infestation of ants, mice, rats and cockroaches, the signs are everywhere.  What is true in the natural is also true in the spirit.  We must reclaim our own inner territory before we can recover the ground around us.
    Demoralizaion occurs gradually.  There is a softening up process: an attack on morale, general discouragement, feelings of powerlessness.  People imagine the worst and become prone to worry, fear and general malaise, a feeling that nothing much will change.  We want escape, not recovery.  Our prayer life is subdued and we feel resigned, indifferent.  Positive people make us annoyed and we want to burst their bubble.
    Our language and attitude ensnare other people.  Misery loves company.  We are bored, tired, blaming everything and everyone else.  Adrift from rejoicing, no faith connection.  We are done!  Now we are ripe for the enemy to use us in the subversion of others.  We have been won over to a passive acceptance of our circumstances.  By not contributing to the atmosphere positively, we become an unconscious resistor; a drag and a drain on the work and relationships.  Subverted people challenge everything negatively.  They murmur, complain and undermine.  They are a critical, corrupting influence.  They have allowed themselves to be unequally yoked to a negative.
     Negative feelings and thought make us vulnerable to the enemy.  Anxiety is tiring and tiresome!  Sarcasm, cynicism and oppositional humor pulls everyone down.  When something adverse happens, the first things we think, say and do tell us everything about our true spiritual condition.
    When we allow ourselves to become negatively intended, we become like the enemy.  When our mind is renewed, we destroy speculations and bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5-6)

Personal Notes
Where are we on the strategy of Penetration, Demoralization and Subversion?  What are the signs of negative spiritual infestation around us?  Are we contributing to that atmosphere or are we committed to changing it for good?

Read chapers 11-14 of Numbers to understand the process of destabilization that is used by the enemy. How will you counter that process?

Eric Johnson Quote

      Eric Johnson, senior pastor at Bethel Church, Redding CA in the introduction to his new book Christ In You, says:

I believe that God’s intended design called for us to be the boldest, most confident people on the planet— the kind of people who are fully aware of who they are and of whom they serve. Out of that awareness is birthed in us a divine compassion to serve the human race with the cause of Christ. Something is not right when “children” of God are walking in the opposite of that boldness, in shame and timidity. The death and resurrection of Jesus were intended to set us free from the death inherent in sin and were also the keys to our living in the abundance of the King in every area of life.  

The ‘Herman Caining’ of Ted Cruz Has Begun by Mychal Massie

    This is an important article by Mychal Massie.  I hope you will post it on Facebook, Twitter, send by email or however you communicate with your friends.  America needs a leader.  We must support only candidates that are first and foremost Constitutional conservatives and patriots or our way of life and the light we have been to other nations will be completely lost.    
     We certainly don't need more establishment Republicans, or Democrats whose major concerns are keeping themselves in power by giving handouts to those who refuse to use their God given talents to support this country, or by bringing in illegals to gain their vote.  What ever happened to common sense?  I can't for the life of me understand how people can continue to vote for those who are out to destroy the very fabric of this country!
      Let's help to educate the American public--many whose only source of information is the mainstream media.

The ‘Herman Caining’ of Ted Cruz Has Begun

by Mychal Massie on April 7, 2015 in Daily Rant

The “Herman Caining” of Conservative Presidential Candidate Ted Cruz has begun. And first out of the attack gates are half-truths and no truth about his wife and her professional career.

Tuesday, March 24, during an on-air interview on The Manning Report, hosted by my good friend Dr. James David Manning, he quizzed me pursuant to a Ted Cruz candidacy. My response was that we could expect in the very near future negative stories to start surfacing about not just Ted Cruz, but also his wife. I could not have been more prescient.

The attack centers on Mrs. Cruz’s involvement in the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and her alleged role in crafting a CFR document espousing North American unity. This attack is designed to be red meat to those who see the New World Order in juice glasses.

I cannot prove it – yet, but every fiber of my political being says this has Karl Rove and Reince Priebus fingerprints all over it. Rove and Priebus are committed to dragging Jeb Bush to the Republican presidential nomination on a three-wheel dolly if that’s what it takes.

That said, there is no scenario by which they are going to allow Ted Cruz to gain traction if they can help it. Their Erebusic strategy is well written, well rehearsed, and it has been hugely successful because the one thing Republican voters have proven capable of doing better than any other political group is throwing the best candidates under the bus.

The Rove-Priebus modus operandi is to destroy any candidate they deem a threat to the Republican establishment if said candidates are permitted to gain office. Herman Cain and Sarah Palin would have without question been threats to Rove-Priebus accordingly both were politically destroyed.

Sarah Palin’s successful governorship in Alaska should stand as a model to other governors. Her only mistake was to defy the good old boys. As Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) Michael Steele was vilified by Rove-Priebus. The public reasons for vilifying Michael Steele were that he was incompetent and ineffective in the position. But the true motivation for his vilification was that he gave money to Tea Party candidates, and because he dared to disassemble the good old boy establishment network. And even worse, he refused to allow Rove-Priebus to make him their sock-puppet.

I cannot prove it but there are no few of my peers who believe, as do I, that Rove was responsible for the branding of the Tea Party as a racist group. No few of us believe it was Rove who silently sanctioned the attacks on the Tea Party by NAACP and Al Sharpton.

The reason, as I wrote in November 2010, was because Rove understood the very real threat the Tea party posed to the Republican establishment. Rove-Priebus have made no secret of their contempt for the will of the people and their Congressional surrogates have carried out their orders.

Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell blacklisted the Jamestown Group, one of the most prolific Republican fundraising groups because they raised monies for Tea Party candidates. McConnell boasted publicly whenever establishment candidates bested Tea Party candidates even by the smallest of margins. Rove said one Tea Party candidate should be killed.

Rove also made a point of saying no candidates would receive a dime of campaign money unless the candidate was vetted and approved by him and the establishment.

Mrs. Cruz doesn’t deserve the aspersions being hurled at her. One would think that when all is said and done, eight-years of the boorish commonality of the Obama woman, they would be eager for a real lady to once again grace the White House.

Mrs. Cruz is the type of First Lady America needs; that notwithstanding, she is the wife of a patriot America needs. Her husband is neither afraid nor ashamed to fight for We the People. Her husband is not a two-bit pettifogger in an ill-fitting suit whose chief skill was that as a community organizer. Mrs. Cruz has not engaged in the defense of guilty Black Panther Party subversives; she didn’t take $1,000 of questionable origin and turn it into $100,000 of even more questionable origin in the extremely high-risk and volatile world of futures trading.

Mrs. Cruz has actually always loved America and she has always been proud of America. She is the wife of a patriot who actually believes in American exceptionalism. She is the wife of a patriot who understands the Republican Party is being led astray and must return to a true Party of We the People.

This is the first of many Rove-Priebus engineered attacks that will be unleashed on Mrs. Cruz and her patriot husband.

I’m not telling you who to vote for but I am saying, for the record, I can think of no candidate more worthy of support than the patriot husband of Mrs. Ted Cruz.

Sandi Patty God Gave the Song BHL

A friend sent me the link to this beautiful song which she says is a favorite 'pick me upper' on a gloomy day like today.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Happy Easter!!

He Is Risen Indeed!

Pastor Stephen Nash's column on The Daily Rant hits the nail on the head.  Nothing could stop Jesus from coming out of the grave. He is risen and because of it we have everlasting life with Him!

Death Could Not Hold Him

by Pastor Stephan Nash on April 2, 2015 in Faith & Family, Pastor Stephen Nash 0

This week, we have reason to celebrate! From a cold, dark cave to the father’s right hand! Of all the major religions of the world, Christianity basis its claims on the acceptance of the Resurrection of its Founder!

“If Easter be not true, then faith must mount on broken wings, then hope no more immortal spring, then love must lose her mighty urge, life proves a phantom and a dirge, if Easter be not true!” — Unknown

Can a woman stop the birth of her baby? Of course not! If that stone door was not removed by the angel, the sun, moon and stars would have demanded His release! You cannot keep God in the grave! Jesus was deity as well as human and you cannot kill God!

Jesus possesses the office of Eternal Priest – “A Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb. 6:20). Eternal King – “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Ps. 45). He is our Eternal Shepherd (Heb. 13:20). Death could not hold Him because of the things to follow. He would reside at the Father’s right hand as our Great High Priest!

If Jesus did not rise from the tomb there would be no assurance of our resurrection (1 Cor. 15:17). There would be no certainty of being made right with God (Rom. 4:25). “He was raised for our justification!” There would be no advocate in heaven for we who believe (1 John2:1). “If anyone sins, we have an advocate.” We have a Lawyer who is also our Judge!

The Ignorance of People Cannot Darken the Light. “The poor have the gospel preached to them and they are the ones who are rich in faith.” “The people who sat in darkness saw a great light.” The light cannot be extinguished. “The wealthy and the elite shall be humbled and the great light.” The light cannot be extinguished. “The wealthy and the elite shall be humbled and the lowly shall be exalted.” Earth and its inequities; heaven and its equalities! The evil influences of this world shall NOT defeat His kingdom! They can take our money; they can take our belongings; they can even take our lives; BUT THEY CANNOT TAKE OUR FAITH and OUR ETERNITY WITH GOD!

Remember, the Gospels do NOT explain the Resurrection; the Resurrection explain the Gospels. Belief in the Resurrection is NOT an appendage to the Christian faith, it IS the Christian faith!  Our faith is in a Living God who has made us alive in Christ Jesus. As struggling sinners, we have escaped the bonds of guilt, shame and Satan himself. Ps. 124:7 – “My soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowler; the snare is broken and I have escaped!”

The struggling Christian shall NOT be held by trials, temptations, affliction and depression.   “For many are the afflictions of the righteous…” Our bodies shall NOT be held in the grave. “For the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we who are alive shall join…” All creation will burst forth with resurrection life when He gives the signal.   Nothing can stop it!

There is no limit to the mighty power and endless grace of Jesus Christ! He opens the prisons of justice and death with infinite ease. He will redeem not only the soul, but the body as well. Because He Lives, We Live Also!

Have you lost a loved one recently? Jesus temporarily lost Lazarus, but what did He do? Is there sickness in your family? He heals all manner of diseases or He waits to receive anyone who departs from this world. Are you struggling financially? Our God lives and He is rich! He will provide all our needs! Are you sad and depressed? He lives as our Comforter, Counselor and Companion!

Your life and testimony is perhaps the greatest proof of the Resurrection! It transformed Peter’s courage. It transformed James’ faith. It transformed Thomas’ doubt. It transformed Saul into Paul! Our Lord’s resurrection transformed my selfishness, rebelliousness, ignorance, hopelessness and stubbornness and made a new creation that will see the risen face of Jesus some day. Because of Good Friday we can look back and not be afraid. Because of the Resurrection we can look ahead and not be afraid!

Until this past year when our daughter-in-law was diagnosed with Lyme's Disease, I had been unaware of the prevalence and seriousness of the disease.  This article from Mercola.com sheds some interesting and frightening information about how common it is and mentions several serious diseases researchers are beginning to connect to Lyme's.  It is time the truth is told.

Under Our Skin: The Untold Story of Lyme Disease

Visit the Mercola Video Library

By Dr. Mercola

Unrelenting pain. Headaches, muscle aches, swollen joints, rashes. Loss of coordination and muscle spasms. Intermittent paralysis. Cycles of disabling symptoms that persist for years, causing ceaseless suffering and frustration for patients and their families.

This is the picture of chronic Lyme disease. And yet, many physicians tell their patients there is "no such thing," referring them to psychiatrists, misdiagnosing them, or even accusing them of fabricating an illness or simply seeking attention.

"Under Our Skin," a critically acclaimed documentary and Oscar semi-finalist exposes the hidden story of Lyme disease, one of the most serious and controversial epidemics of our time. Slant Magazine calls it "head-spinning...riveting...a rigorously researched and highly thorough piece of investigative reporting."

Each year, thousands go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, often told their symptoms are all in their heads. "Under Our Skin" brings into focus a troubling picture of a health care system that is far too willing to put profits ahead of patients. The Chicago Daily Herald calls it "a ripping indictment of the medical establishment's failure to uphold its oath."

The History and Discovery of Lyme Disease

Lyme disease rates are escalating at breakneck speed, among humans as well as animals. Today, Lyme disease is the most common vector borne disease in the U.S., far more common and dangerous to the average American than West Nile virus. In fact, there were almost 40,000 reported cases of Lyme in 2009,1which by all accounts is a gross underestimate.

The CDC estimates the real number of cases may be up to 12 times higher, suggesting as high as 480,000, making Lyme far more prevalent than AIDS. The number of Lyme cases reported annually has increased nearly 25-fold since national surveillance began in 1982.2

Lyme disease was named after the East Coast town of Lyme, Connecticut, where the disease was first identified in 1975.3 The disease was first referred to as "Lyme arthritis" due to the presentation of atypical arthritic symptoms. By 1977, the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis, also known as the deer tick) was linked to transmission of the disease.

Then in 1982, Willy Burgdorfer, PhD, discovered the bacterium responsible for the infection: Borrelia burgdorferi. The bacteria are released into your blood from the infected tick, while the tick is drinking your blood.

We now know there are five subspecies of Borrelia burgdorferi, more than 100 strains in the U.S. and 300 worldwide, many of which have developed resistance to our various antibiotics. Although many still attribute transmission exclusively to ticks, according to Dr. Deitrich Klinghardt, one of the leading authorities on Lyme disease, the bacteria can also be spread by other insects, including mosquitoes, spiders, fleas, and mites. This may be the reason so few Lyme sufferers recall being bitten by a tick. There is also increasing evidence that Lyme disease may be transmitted sexually and congenitally.

Borrelia burgdorferi is a spirochete,4 a cousin to the spirochete bacterium that causes syphilis. In fact, they look almost identical under a microscope. B. burgdorferi's corkscrew-shaped form allows it to burrow into and hide in a variety of your body's tissues, which is why it causes such wide-ranging multisystem involvement.

The Invisible Illness

Many Lyme patients who battle this disease on a daily basis appear healthy, which is why Lyme disease has been called "the invisible illness." They often "look good," and their blood work appears normal, but their internal experience is a far different story. Patients struggling with Lyme disease usually become adept at hiding their pain from others as a way to cope and restore some degree of normalcy to their lives.

Part of the problem with diagnosing and treating Lyme disease is that it is so easy to misdiagnose.

Lyme disease is called "the great imitator,"5 mimicking other disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS), arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, ALS, ADHD and Alzheimer's disease. In some cases, Lyme patients can even develop paralysis or slip into a coma. The only distinctive hallmark unique to Lyme disease is the "bulls eye" rash, but this is absent in nearly half of those infected. Laboratory tests are notoriously unreliable.

Fewer than half of Lyme patients recall a tick bite. In some studies, this number is as low as 15 percent. So, if you don't recall seeing a tick on your body, that doesn't rule out the possibility of Lyme disease. According to TBDA3:

"Although the bulls eye red rash is considered the classic sign to look for, it is not even the most common dermatologic manifestation of early Lyme infection. Atypical forms of this rash are seen far more commonly. It is important to know that the Erythema Migrans rash is a clear, unequivocal sign of Lyme disease..."

Besides the rash, some of the first symptoms of Lyme disease may include a flu-like condition with fever, chills, headache, stiff neck, achiness and fatigue. For a complete list of symptoms, refer to the Tick-Borne Disease Alliance6 (TBDA), but some of the more frequent symptoms include the following2:

• Muscle and joint pain
• Neurological problems
• Heart involvement
• Vision and hearing problems
• Migraines

The "Lyme Paradox"

Click here to continue reading full article on Mercola.com

Also Seen on The Patriot Post

FRC president Tony Perkins: "[L]ost in all of this back-and-forth is the reality that this isn't about standing up for homosexual rights -- it's about standing up for everyone's rights. In a civil society, the two don't have to be mutually exclusive. But that's exactly the problem. America, under this administration, is less and less civil -- particularly to men and women of faith. There's no room for polite debate or even coexistence. Instead, the LGBT movement that once said they didn't want the government to tell them how to live, now wants the same government to tell us what to believe and punish those who fail to comply. Where's the tolerance in that?"

A Quote From Today's Patriot Post

Mark Alexander of The Patriot Post, has a much deeper understanding of what is happening in today's world than most and it isn't pretty.  Read the entire article here.

Instead of rushing to retreat, Pence, Hutchinson and Republicans across the country should have gone on an immediate and aggressive offense, publicizing the multiple cases of small business owners who have been penalized, fined and even forced out of business for refusing to participate in same-sex ceremonies in direct violation of their faith and conscience. Republicans should have shown how advocates for the homosexual agenda are working relentlessly to take away 70-year-old grandmother Barronelle Stutzman’s business and are also threatening her home and life savings. Or how the supposed "tolerant" pro-homosexual crowd targeted Sweet Cakes by Melissa, a family-owned bakery that may now have to pay up to $150,000 in fines. Or how the Left cheered when a Catholic couple, Robert and Cynthia Gifford, were fined and ordered to put their staff through sensitivity training (a.k.a., re-education camp) for declining to host a same-sex marriage ceremony at their farm. But instead of pointing out not only the utter hypocrisy but also the blatant fascism of the "tolerant" Left, Republicans asked, “How high?” when Democrats hollered, “Jump!” With a losing strategy like this, who needs enemies? Meanwhile, Republicans’ inability to communicate effectively is racking up losses. According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, Americans are divided on this issue, with 49% saying businesses should be required to serve same-sex weddings and 47% saying businesses should be allowed to decline service for religious reasons. A public that understands Liberty would never be so evenly split. Unfortunately, the Left has translated religious liberty -- and most other rights, for that matter -- into something Americans enjoy at the pleasure of the government rather than something government infringes at its own peril. And this translation is a danger to all Americans.