“The King [shall] say unto them on his right hand, Come then. . .shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me.” (Matthew 25:34, 41)
The existence of an objectively real right and left, with some men separated for eternal life on the right while their fellow man are set apart on the left for everlasting destruction, once was considered only a metaphor of speech. But that is not so. It is a fact.
Certain molecules exist in two forms, one being the mirror image of the other, which means they are related like a left hand and a right hand. If I hold my left hand to a mirror, what I appear to see in the mirror is a right hand. So it is with these molecules called isomers. Proteins are exclusively composed of L- (left-handed) amino acids. This is regarded as a unique characteristic of life -- that is, life as we know it, in a fallen creation. The whole purpose of life is to pass from the left, the sinful state to which we belong by nature, to the right, the place of grace. D- amino acids (those of the right hand) are never found in proteins, but in antibiotics which save endangered life.
There exists a right and a left not only in living matter. In 1957, the particle physicists discovered a basic asymmetry in the matter out of which our part of the universe is composed. Electrons emitted during the beta decay of radioactive nuclei such as cobalt 60 are predominantly left-handed. Their particle spin is coupled to their momentum like a left-handed screw. The positron is right-handed.
Nature makes an absolute distinction between right and left, just as there is an absolute distinction between the sons of light and those of darkness. Through repentance the latter can change to the former during their short life span on earth. Those remaining on the left will go to the lake of fire. Time is running out. Hurry!
Reaching Toward The Heights, Richard Wurmbrand, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1977, Mar 24
So easily, today, we forget what we knew yesterday. Richard Wurmbrand was a political prisoner of the Communists. His first book, that brought him into the forefront of our understanding was titled, Tortured for Christ. It is probably out of print, now, but it should be required reading for everyone who was born and raised in this country. Unfortunately, we do not understand political oppression, and with so many, today, crying out for gummint to have total control of our lives and livelihood, it is refreshing to read again, what a political prisoner had to say about being against the gummint cuz he believed in God.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Books I am reading this week:
Francis: The Journey and the Dream, Murray Bodo.
Church History in Plain Language, Bruce L. Shelley.
Guilty, Ann Coulter.
Black Rednecks and White Liberals, Thomas Sowell.
Church History in Plain Language, Bruce L. Shelley.
Guilty, Ann Coulter.
Black Rednecks and White Liberals, Thomas Sowell.
Food Packaging: It’s a trick worthy of a magician
Make a supermarket product look the same but actually contain less. That’s the kind of move that many companies are using to shrink popular grocery items like mayonnaise, ice cream, peanut butter and toilet paper, while keeping the price and packaging the same. The result: Consumers are getting less for their money. Approximately one-third of items at the grocery store have lost content since 2007, according to the Nielsen Co., which tracks market trends. Meanwhile, consumers last year saw food prices rise some 7 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Companies argue that, like consumers, they’re also trying to stretch a dollar; their manufacturing costs have gone up, explains food marketing expert Phil Lempert, editor of http://www.SupermarketGuru.com Factors like hurricanes, record cold weather and the rising cost of energy have driven up the cost of producing packaged goods. "When you're a food manufacturer, you either raise your prices even further or you take a look at putting less in the package and keep the price the same," Lempert says. Still, he agrees that "some packages are blatant rip-offs." For instance, he notes that coffee packages that may appear to be the same size "can have anything from 7.5 to 16 oz. of coffee, depending on the brand, and that's just not fair."
Content downsizing cuts across the grocery spectrum, influencing private labels and even organic products. "You especially see this with products like chips-organic or otherwise-especially when they're packed in airtight bags," says financial writer Jill Westfall, a contributor to Money magazine. Part of the problem, says longtime consumer advocate Edgar Dworsky, is that most consumers "aren't net weight-conscious, they're price-conscious, and the manufacturers know that. That's how manufacturers take advantage of customers. They do these tricks." Dworsky, a lawyer who's worked in the field of consumer protection for 31 years, monitors consumer news on his website http://www.ConsumerWorld.org and recently started a blog, http://www.Mouseprint.org that is focused on the fine print of advertising. "Manufacturers know that customers know the size [of a product] in the relative sense-when you pick up a large tub of margarine, which used to be 3 pounds but is now 45 oz.," you can't really feel the missing three ounces, he says. Some examples of downsizing are:
* Dial Corp. shaved its soap bars from 4.5 oz. to 4 oz.;
* The biggest jar of Hellmann's mayonnaise dropped from 32 oz. to 30 oz.
* A tub of Breyer's ice cream shrank from 56 oz. to 48.
* Skippy peanut butter now has an indentation at the bottom of its jars, causing the contents to drop from 18 oz. to 16.3 oz, even though the jar looks the same.
* Scott's toilet tissue kept number of sheets (1,000) but reduced the length of the sheets from 4 inches to 3.7 inches, making the roll 300 inches shorter.
* Kleenex tissues shrunk in width by two-tenths of an inch, which adds up to more than 300 square inches less per box.
* StarKist's Chunk Light tuna went from 6 oz. to 5.
* Froot Loops went from 19.7 oz to 17 oz.
* Apple Jacks went from 17 oz to 15 oz.
* Hershey's chocolate bar went from 8 oz to 6.8 oz.
* Country Crock spread from 3 lb to 2 lb 13 oz.
* Tropicana orange juice from 96 oz to 89 oz.
* Friskies cat food from 6 oz to 5.5 oz.
* Chips Ahoy cookies from 16 oz to 15.225 oz
Dworsky says that if shoppers spot a leading brand shortchanging them and it’s a recent development, they should check the other competing brands. Chances are, those brands haven’t changed yet and shoppers will get more for their money. He also encourages consumers to voice their feelings to manufacturers of their favorite brands. “Send a letter and let them know you’re not happy about them changing the product. Maybe at least they’ll send you some discount coupons.” He also recommends that consumers “shop by unit”—that is, check the price per unit posted on the shelf to see what they’re really paying for. Ultimately, though, once the top brands resize their packaging or contents, the other brands—even the private-label store brands—likely will change as well. And nothing seems safe. Even dog food has downsized. At the rate packages are being downsized stand by for the 11 egg cartoon.
[Source: AARP Geoff Williams article 17 Feb 09 ++]
Content downsizing cuts across the grocery spectrum, influencing private labels and even organic products. "You especially see this with products like chips-organic or otherwise-especially when they're packed in airtight bags," says financial writer Jill Westfall, a contributor to Money magazine. Part of the problem, says longtime consumer advocate Edgar Dworsky, is that most consumers "aren't net weight-conscious, they're price-conscious, and the manufacturers know that. That's how manufacturers take advantage of customers. They do these tricks." Dworsky, a lawyer who's worked in the field of consumer protection for 31 years, monitors consumer news on his website http://www.ConsumerWorld.org and recently started a blog, http://www.Mouseprint.org that is focused on the fine print of advertising. "Manufacturers know that customers know the size [of a product] in the relative sense-when you pick up a large tub of margarine, which used to be 3 pounds but is now 45 oz.," you can't really feel the missing three ounces, he says. Some examples of downsizing are:
* Dial Corp. shaved its soap bars from 4.5 oz. to 4 oz.;
* The biggest jar of Hellmann's mayonnaise dropped from 32 oz. to 30 oz.
* A tub of Breyer's ice cream shrank from 56 oz. to 48.
* Skippy peanut butter now has an indentation at the bottom of its jars, causing the contents to drop from 18 oz. to 16.3 oz, even though the jar looks the same.
* Scott's toilet tissue kept number of sheets (1,000) but reduced the length of the sheets from 4 inches to 3.7 inches, making the roll 300 inches shorter.
* Kleenex tissues shrunk in width by two-tenths of an inch, which adds up to more than 300 square inches less per box.
* StarKist's Chunk Light tuna went from 6 oz. to 5.
* Froot Loops went from 19.7 oz to 17 oz.
* Apple Jacks went from 17 oz to 15 oz.
* Hershey's chocolate bar went from 8 oz to 6.8 oz.
* Country Crock spread from 3 lb to 2 lb 13 oz.
* Tropicana orange juice from 96 oz to 89 oz.
* Friskies cat food from 6 oz to 5.5 oz.
* Chips Ahoy cookies from 16 oz to 15.225 oz
Dworsky says that if shoppers spot a leading brand shortchanging them and it’s a recent development, they should check the other competing brands. Chances are, those brands haven’t changed yet and shoppers will get more for their money. He also encourages consumers to voice their feelings to manufacturers of their favorite brands. “Send a letter and let them know you’re not happy about them changing the product. Maybe at least they’ll send you some discount coupons.” He also recommends that consumers “shop by unit”—that is, check the price per unit posted on the shelf to see what they’re really paying for. Ultimately, though, once the top brands resize their packaging or contents, the other brands—even the private-label store brands—likely will change as well. And nothing seems safe. Even dog food has downsized. At the rate packages are being downsized stand by for the 11 egg cartoon.
[Source: AARP Geoff Williams article 17 Feb 09 ++]
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Sunday reflection
Once Buddha was in a town where there was a conflict of warring theological views between the monks. some believed one thing and some another, and each of them believed that he alone was right and that all the others wrong. So Buddha told them the parable of the Rajah, the blind men and the elephant.
One day the Rajah called a servant, and bade him assemble, at his palace, all the men in the town who had been born blind. Then he commanded that an elephant should be brought in. Then the Rajah made one blind man touch the head of the elephant, another the ear, another the trunk, a tusk, a foot, the back, the tail, and the tuft of the tail; and to each one the Rajah said that he was touching the elephant.
When they had all felt the elephant, the Rajah said to them, "Have you all studied the elephant? bow tell me your conclusion." The man who had touched the head said, "It is like a pot." The one who had touched the ear said, "It is like a fan." And for the others the trunk became a plough; a tusk, a ploughshare; a foot, a pillar; the back, a granary; the tail, a pestle; the tuft of the tail, a besom. And each blind man thought that what he had touched was an elephant.
They began therefore to argue with each other and to quarrel, saying, "An elephant is like this" -- "No, it is like this" -- "I tell you it is not: -- and so on until, in the end, they came to blows.
That, said Buddha, is what men are like about the truth.
Just as each blind man insisted that the part of the elephant he had touched was the whole elephant, so men insist that the little bit of truth that they have seen and grasped is the whole truth.
It is extraordinary that any man should think that he has grasped the whole truth. Such a confidence can do no other than indicate an arrogance of spirit.
The world would be a more gracious place, if those who claim to worship God had something more of the wideness of the mercy of God and gentleness of the patience of God.
Daily Celebration, William Barclay Word Books, Waco, TX, 1972, pgs 71,72
One day the Rajah called a servant, and bade him assemble, at his palace, all the men in the town who had been born blind. Then he commanded that an elephant should be brought in. Then the Rajah made one blind man touch the head of the elephant, another the ear, another the trunk, a tusk, a foot, the back, the tail, and the tuft of the tail; and to each one the Rajah said that he was touching the elephant.
When they had all felt the elephant, the Rajah said to them, "Have you all studied the elephant? bow tell me your conclusion." The man who had touched the head said, "It is like a pot." The one who had touched the ear said, "It is like a fan." And for the others the trunk became a plough; a tusk, a ploughshare; a foot, a pillar; the back, a granary; the tail, a pestle; the tuft of the tail, a besom. And each blind man thought that what he had touched was an elephant.
They began therefore to argue with each other and to quarrel, saying, "An elephant is like this" -- "No, it is like this" -- "I tell you it is not: -- and so on until, in the end, they came to blows.
That, said Buddha, is what men are like about the truth.
Just as each blind man insisted that the part of the elephant he had touched was the whole elephant, so men insist that the little bit of truth that they have seen and grasped is the whole truth.
It is extraordinary that any man should think that he has grasped the whole truth. Such a confidence can do no other than indicate an arrogance of spirit.
The world would be a more gracious place, if those who claim to worship God had something more of the wideness of the mercy of God and gentleness of the patience of God.
Daily Celebration, William Barclay Word Books, Waco, TX, 1972, pgs 71,72
Saturday, March 14, 2009
BS is initials for...?
Ok, the Gannett mouthpiece for Sioux Falls came through with an online poll this morning that caught my attention.
"Should farmers be taxed if livestock emit greenhouse gasses?"
yes = 15.3%
no = 84.7%
at 9:39 CST
What a crock of bovine scatology!
I thought the constitution prohibited gummint from setting up or being involved in a religion.
Environmentalism is a religion. It is even beyond debate at this time.
The envriomentalist whakkos want to destroy capitalism, and the truth be known, get rid of all human life on the planet; except maybe for the "elect".
Isn't it bad enough that farmers are already unfairly taxed on their land?
Perhaps what we need to do, rather than adding more taxes on the farmers, let's end the subsidies that make up the CRP. Ain't there enough wealthy people who own land? Why do we have to keep giving them taxpayer money to not farm their land?
Is there a message in that program, that says we no longer want the land here farmed?
There is no doubt in my tired military mind, that there is a movement underfoot to erase what this country has been and is capable of being.
It is truly time for another "Boston tea party"; perhaps what we need today is a little bit different.
Rather than dumping tea in the harbor, maybe we should be mailing cow chips to every elected official at every level of gummint.
Environmentalism is a religion, and the surest way to gather converts is by use of martyrs.
Religion is always fueled by the blood of the martyrs.
Perhaps, to get environmentalism to really take hold, the proponents should just go ahead and lay down their lives for what they love. Any takers?
"Should farmers be taxed if livestock emit greenhouse gasses?"
yes = 15.3%
no = 84.7%
at 9:39 CST
What a crock of bovine scatology!
I thought the constitution prohibited gummint from setting up or being involved in a religion.
Environmentalism is a religion. It is even beyond debate at this time.
The envriomentalist whakkos want to destroy capitalism, and the truth be known, get rid of all human life on the planet; except maybe for the "elect".
Isn't it bad enough that farmers are already unfairly taxed on their land?
Perhaps what we need to do, rather than adding more taxes on the farmers, let's end the subsidies that make up the CRP. Ain't there enough wealthy people who own land? Why do we have to keep giving them taxpayer money to not farm their land?
Is there a message in that program, that says we no longer want the land here farmed?
There is no doubt in my tired military mind, that there is a movement underfoot to erase what this country has been and is capable of being.
It is truly time for another "Boston tea party"; perhaps what we need today is a little bit different.
Rather than dumping tea in the harbor, maybe we should be mailing cow chips to every elected official at every level of gummint.
Environmentalism is a religion, and the surest way to gather converts is by use of martyrs.
Religion is always fueled by the blood of the martyrs.
Perhaps, to get environmentalism to really take hold, the proponents should just go ahead and lay down their lives for what they love. Any takers?
Sunday, March 8, 2009
We gots snow agin
Would you believe that last week we had temps from 30 to the 50s? Just about all the snow had been melted, and the lawns were showing forth, perhaps a little brown in places, but still you knew it was the lawn.
Woke up this morning to find funny white things fallen from the sky, and the grass completely covered with this white stuff. Yeah, I know it is March.
It was 1996 when we had an ice storm in October, and the ice never left the ground until May. With lotsa snow in between. Spose, should not be concerned since this is South Dakota.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Devotional reflection
This morning's Old Testament reading was Genesis 40-42.
The reading reveals to us Joseph's time in prison,his miraculous release from prison, and his attaining the second in command position in all of Egypt.
Additionally, we are shown how God used Joseph to save Egypt from the massive famine; and how Joseph's ten brothers came to Egypt to purchase grain.
What truly caught my attention this morning was the passage found in Genesis 42:38. "But Jacob said, 'My son {Benjamin} shall not go down with you' for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If harm should befall him on the journey you are taking, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow" (NASB).
Perhaps, because I am getting older, or maybe my heart is just getting more tender, I was able to empathize with Jacob, and the ten brothers.
Be sure your sins, and the truth, will find you out.
Anger, hatred, and jealousy, caused the ten brothers to plot against Joseph, and eventually sell him to foreigners as a slave; however, to justify themselves they made up a story that they found a cloak in the wilderness covered with blood.
Scripture tells us that Joseph was seventeen when he was sold into slavery, and that he was thirty when Pharaoh made him lord over Egypt. Quite a long time for Jacob to mourn the death of the son of his true love Rachael.
The usurper was being usurped of all he held dear.
Perhaps I am getting old, and sentimental in my years. Perhaps, because I have lost a child, I understand a little where Jacob was mentally. Perhaps, when it seems you have lost just about all you can lose, you understand the emptiness that comes from the fear of losing what you might have left.
Though Scripture does not address it directly, I wonder if Jacob had received the news of the death of Joseph, and did not seek the comfort of God, the One who had brought him through so many trials. I remember well, being in the hospital, and being told the rules would not allow me to see my daughter, because we were both patients. I remember too when I was informed that she had died; I still was not allowed to see her. Then, because there was so much damage to her head, a closed casket funeral was held; still I was not able to see her. Can you believe, that forty-two years later, I still have a question in my mind and heart whether or not she is really dead? I have received the peace in my heart that she is in heaven, and will be there when my time is up on this earth; how much I am looking forward to seeing her again.
One plus God is a majority!
Perhaps, if Jacob would have sought out God, he would have received affirmation that Joseph was OK, and that God was in control. I don't know, I ain't God and I ain't Jacob.
Anyway, Jacob's statement "you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow" just touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes.
Many years later, the shepherd king, David would pen the words, "yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff comfort me."
How easy it is to get our eyes off God and Jesus, and the Holy Spirit and onto our precious little life. No matter how much God has made a difference.
Our precious little ego tells us that so much of what we have loved, and what God has given us has been taken away, and we have a right to be angry and afraid. We forget!
Job, I guess, said it the best: "Though He slay me, still I will trust in Him."
Where is our trust, this day? Where is my trust, this day?
The reading reveals to us Joseph's time in prison,his miraculous release from prison, and his attaining the second in command position in all of Egypt.
Additionally, we are shown how God used Joseph to save Egypt from the massive famine; and how Joseph's ten brothers came to Egypt to purchase grain.
What truly caught my attention this morning was the passage found in Genesis 42:38. "But Jacob said, 'My son {Benjamin} shall not go down with you' for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If harm should befall him on the journey you are taking, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow" (NASB).
Perhaps, because I am getting older, or maybe my heart is just getting more tender, I was able to empathize with Jacob, and the ten brothers.
Be sure your sins, and the truth, will find you out.
Anger, hatred, and jealousy, caused the ten brothers to plot against Joseph, and eventually sell him to foreigners as a slave; however, to justify themselves they made up a story that they found a cloak in the wilderness covered with blood.
Scripture tells us that Joseph was seventeen when he was sold into slavery, and that he was thirty when Pharaoh made him lord over Egypt. Quite a long time for Jacob to mourn the death of the son of his true love Rachael.
The usurper was being usurped of all he held dear.
Perhaps I am getting old, and sentimental in my years. Perhaps, because I have lost a child, I understand a little where Jacob was mentally. Perhaps, when it seems you have lost just about all you can lose, you understand the emptiness that comes from the fear of losing what you might have left.
Though Scripture does not address it directly, I wonder if Jacob had received the news of the death of Joseph, and did not seek the comfort of God, the One who had brought him through so many trials. I remember well, being in the hospital, and being told the rules would not allow me to see my daughter, because we were both patients. I remember too when I was informed that she had died; I still was not allowed to see her. Then, because there was so much damage to her head, a closed casket funeral was held; still I was not able to see her. Can you believe, that forty-two years later, I still have a question in my mind and heart whether or not she is really dead? I have received the peace in my heart that she is in heaven, and will be there when my time is up on this earth; how much I am looking forward to seeing her again.
One plus God is a majority!
Perhaps, if Jacob would have sought out God, he would have received affirmation that Joseph was OK, and that God was in control. I don't know, I ain't God and I ain't Jacob.
Anyway, Jacob's statement "you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow" just touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes.
Many years later, the shepherd king, David would pen the words, "yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff comfort me."
How easy it is to get our eyes off God and Jesus, and the Holy Spirit and onto our precious little life. No matter how much God has made a difference.
Our precious little ego tells us that so much of what we have loved, and what God has given us has been taken away, and we have a right to be angry and afraid. We forget!
Job, I guess, said it the best: "Though He slay me, still I will trust in Him."
Where is our trust, this day? Where is my trust, this day?
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