New evidence that maintaining a blood pressure under 120 systolic reduces risk for cognitive decline https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/science/systolic-blood-pressure-intervention-trial-sprint-study Advertisements
Update on the Shingles Vaccine
The new Shingles vaccine “Shingrix” is out and updated guidelines for its use have been presented in the MMWR from CDC. Recommended for those aged 50 and up, ok to use if one has previously received Zostavax and can be received whether or not one recalls having had chickenpox as a child (as 99% of…
Purity then responsibility; Sanctification in a nutshell
The process of living a faith life within a secular culture is never easy. Feeling as if one is always going against the grain or swimming up stream can be tiresome. But in looking at God’s promises to us in Hebews 1:1-4 and 1 Thessalonians 4:7, encouraging promises emerge. The first is that God’s action…
John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress and “Shame’s” speech; religion indicted
I have been reading the classic Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan written in the mid 17th century by this English churchman, pastor and preacher. The book is an allegory set inside a dream of the narrator describing the journey of the main character, Christian, as he travels from the city of Destruction to the Celestial…
A Prayer for those struggling with addiction…
I was blown away by this article which described the scale of the opioid epidemic. It prompts any thoughtful person to ask “what can we do?”. While old “medicines” like methadone or newer “medicines” like buprenorphine have been used to ease the cravings that come as one attempts to come off of heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone,…
Protected: Growing pains and growing TULIPs from then to now…
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
1 Corinthians 4:2; Is it faithfulness, obstinacy or incompetence?
Paul gives us an awesome reminder (1 Corinthians 4:2) that the key measuring stick in serving the Lord by serving others is “that one be found faithful.” It is so easy to get caught up in success and not faithfulness. But what the Lord challenges me with in regards to this reminder is in having…
1 Corinthians 1 and 2; is that message foolish? Yes I am.
So often today we are inundated by messages from the philosophical experts telling us what and how we should know and think about things. Even as a blogger, I run the risk of being another one of those persons, a “writing head” so to speak. So as I came across this passage of scripture (1…
Call enlivens volition
It never ceases to amaze me as to how gracious God is. As Ephesians 1 and Romans 8 remind, God finds us when we are not able to find him on our own. He calls us to Himself out of our totally lost situation in love and in wisdom. This calling of us, termed “predestination”…
A son’s testimony to truth and a father’s blessing…
Dad, I found this essay I wrote a while ago about ethics. If you want to read it, it’s not very long. Christian Ethics Any religion, belief system, or otherwise can roughly be divided into and understood in three heads: “what is true,” that is metaphysics; “how does one know what is true or where…
Some thoughts on fearing God
The Psalms are full of reminders about the rewards and benefits of fearing God (for example Psalm 103 and 112). But the bible also tells us that there is no fear in love and perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). So what sort of fear should we have of a loving God who…
For all you coffee drinkers…good news!
See the attached Annals of IM article describing a link between coffee consumption and lower mortality. Regarding a mechanism, the article states… “coffee contains many biologically active chemicals, including caffeine and phenolic compounds, that may impact health by means of various mechanisms, such as antioxidant and antimutagenic capacity, insulin sensitivity, liver function, and chronic inflammation”…
