May the Lord be praised for these faithful pleas for the truth in this matter of the candidate for Surgeon General and for the other things you comment on. May the Lord help us to walk and talk the way that He shows us in His Word, bringing us to be like Jesus Christ.
My estranged brother's second ex-wife is a Wiccan-Pagan high priestess...and also a "wedding officiant" who caters to all mixes of marriages in Canada; an "open and inclusive person with a warm smile and easy, comforting ways".
Hey, but ANYTHING GOES, eh? "...As long as one is happy and no one is hurt", to quote my brother, who's still searching for himself at age 74.
This is probably a bit off topic, but Leviticus 19:34 absolutely concerns immigrants, if not immigration:
“You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
The "you were strangers in the land of Egypt" is what gives it away.
The big guy did not add any of those qualifications, and he did not stutter. Take it up with him.
I would just add that there is always an excuse available for why we should not have to love a particular one of our neighbors. Were we to take them all together, we don't actually have to love anyone.
The Bible--the "big guy"--absolutely details that they went into Egypt legally, and that the Jews obeyed Egyptian laws. And The Bible--again, the "big guy"--absolutely admonishes man to obey the sovereign's laws. Therefore, I do not have to take it up with him. We are on the same page.
No. You are to love all. But that does not mean that people do not have to obey the law. Nor does it mean that people who break the law should escape consequences. God is a just God. And in administering the law, he emphasizes justice. Hence, if you break the law, it is only just that you face the consequences. So if an illegal alien sneaks across the border, he is to be deported. If he does it again, the consequences increase. Very simple, actually.
For example, God loved Moses. Moses was a righteous man. But Moses angered God, and there were consequences. Moses was not permitted to enter the promised land. Instead, he died in the wilderness. Justice.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37–40
The "deceptive arts" are just that...deceptive. Seeking power or knowledge apart from God is a refusal to trust in the sovereignty and goodness of God. Secular humanists clearly are not seeking power or knowledge from God, what's fascinating and scary is this person is so blatant about where she IS seeking it and for some reason it's ok enough for her to rise to a potential Surgeon General position of the United States. I mean, spiritual crisis indeed, sir. Indeed. :'(
I’m wondering when Casey Means said or did these things. I don’t know that this is her current position. The comments you’re providing, are they current?
The phone number linked takes you to a general line and when the receptionist hears what you need she just connects to any ‘ol Senator, doesn’t even ask for a state.
Are we supposed to be notifying our state senator or someone else?
I found my Senator numbers by Googling and their numbers were answered by a real person, not a recording.
She is not qualified, however I do take exception to your take on Silva Method as I actually took a 2 day course decades ago (so can't vouch for now) it was simply a technique like learning to drive to learn how to meditate, calm yourself, pay attention to your body and to use affirmations it improved my relationship with God. Was very helpful to my father who was coping with Parkinsons and also brought us closer together.
Though not familiar with the particular practice (the Silva Method) in question, I too have found that there are a several "New Age" spiritual practices whose underlying belief systems merely supplement, rather than substitute for, Christian belief.
I agree with you about Casey Means (and quite a bit about Donald Trump). However there are real problems and questions about vaccines. I remember when I was about 10 years out of my emergency medicine residency(around 1998)I happened to come across the recommended vaccine schedule at that time and was shocked to see how much it had grown since I was a kid or even since I was in medical school (I’m not a parent and not being a pediatrician or family practitioner I hadn’t given it much thought other than to enquire whether the child I was seeing in the ER was “up to date”.) At this point I had to admit that maybe the parents who were questioning vaccinations might have a point. My libertarian sensibilities were uncomfortable with coercion and mandates but I still recommended updating the kid’s shots if not current.
Didn’t think a lot about it until Covid. At first I was eager for the Covid jab. I didn’t think Covid was the civilizational threat that the public health establishment claimed but figured it would end the lockdowns (The true catastrophe). When they started talking about incorporating foreign genetic material(mRNA)in to MY cells I said f—no. I started reading a few books on the subject and I would say that I’m now a vaccine skeptic. I don’t now if vaccines cause autism or other problems but we don’t know that they don’t (or at least contribute to it). I’m pretty sure the benefits of vaccines are exaggerated as most childhood hood diseases had declined markedly prior to vaccines so even mild adverse reactions may outweigh any benefit.
I would recommend “Dissolving Illusions” by Suzanne Humphries as a good starting point. If vaccines are as beneficial as we’re told then people won’t need to be forced to take them and if they’re as safe as we’re told then manufacturers don’t need to be protected from lawsuits.
As someone who is unfortunately usually "the outlier" result in these things (measles 4 times) serum sickness from antibiotic shot w pneumonia shot combo, wake up under normal anesthetic I can state I still believe in tried & tested vaccines and without them polio, smallpox, whooping cough will be/are back, I know got whooping cough. We must vaccinate, you are right there to many and maybe some don’t really need to be there or given so early and definitely never given multiple shot is one day. Covid should never have been forced (nor any untried one) and more information should have been available. They have however actually found the culprit for those deaths caused when using the adenovirus as transport an amino acid chain DNA issue positive charge… interesting reading good news as adenovirus is cheapest, fastest, no temp requirements to use they are checking for ways to block that it from happening again. For lawsuits, you can only aim for what is best for the majority and enforce that, warn about known issues as it is simply impossible to make them 100% foolproof as you know we are all extremely different.
I can solve this. We tie Means up and throw her in water. If she floats she's a witch and she gets pulled. If she sinks, she's not a witch and can keep the nomination, if she manages not to drown. Problem solved!
Thanks, Erick, agreed. Here's more scripture on where to seek help and not seek it.
"Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples. I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn."
Thanks Erick for keeping us updated as to the sad state of influence in our nation. Unfortunately, in this case, Georgia is represented in the US Senate by two Godless progressives (Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock), so we have little hope that this nomination will be subverted on their part. We can only pray that the Trump administration will have a change of heart and remove the nomination.
Back in the very early 2000s, my sister (a Wiccan, BTW) gave me a copy of Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig. There was no "good" or "bad energy"; no pie in the sky claims, like there won't be any sickness if we do A, B, & C (our bodies are fallen, too), just facts about the role of fats and traditional, and healthier, methods of preparing foods; facts about the benefits of raw grass-fed milk, dairy, and meat products; the flimsy evidence re: the fat hypothesis that expunged coconut oil, butter, full fat dairy, and tallow from our kitchens, plus the history of traditional ways of preparation and the effects of altered fats, the effects of how fats are processed as well as excess polyunsaturated fats on us. It's part cookbook, part college course; an educational gem full of documentation. Slow cooking all the way, whole foods, healthy fats, good stock and fermented foods, happy pastured/grass-fed animals which, in turn, nourish us (they eat grass and bugs so we don't have to), and no pseudoscience or questionable spirituality.
I think God gave us elements within his creation to serve us, but we have brains to develop techniques and medicines, too. Neither I nor my mom would be alive just 60 years ago due to our rare conditions; delicate surgery I underwent on my spinal didn't exist back then, and modern medication allows me to function without constant excruciating pain.
People used to die early, and children were easy prey for viruses and bacteria. Botanicals aren't sufficient for everything. But over-dependence on meds combined with lack of movement and a poor food supply making our microbiomes a mess: fast food, chemicals, too much Omega 6s, etc - SAD, the Standard American Diet.
"Christians know the miserable bondage we were all in."
Two quick thoughts. Number 1, recalling our own desperate situation without Christ is harder to do the longer we know Him. Odd, isn't it? That was Piper's main point. Remember who you were, before...
Number 2, we are also "in bondage" to the truth of God's Word. We don't get to strike out the parts that don't fit our political persausions. It's not a choice as to whether we love our neighbors. It's our obligation. We can still have different political opinions, but loving people has to be what everything else revolves around. Talk about bondage.
And one more thing. We who voted for Donald Trump, no matter how hard we pinched our noses when we did it, have to accept that he is going to make terrible appointments to positions of power or influence. We can oppose those choices we disagree with. There will be many, but I doubt seriously that one's proclivities toward withcraft, or adultery or abortion for that matter (RFK Jr anyone?), factor into his decision making. I feared what would happen in 2020 if DT became the face of the Republican party. I voted for him anyway in 2024. Make what you want of that. He's done wonderful things and terrible things, but this is just Donald Trump, and the party is his. May the Church remember who our head is.
May the Lord be praised for these faithful pleas for the truth in this matter of the candidate for Surgeon General and for the other things you comment on. May the Lord help us to walk and talk the way that He shows us in His Word, bringing us to be like Jesus Christ.
My estranged brother's second ex-wife is a Wiccan-Pagan high priestess...and also a "wedding officiant" who caters to all mixes of marriages in Canada; an "open and inclusive person with a warm smile and easy, comforting ways".
Hey, but ANYTHING GOES, eh? "...As long as one is happy and no one is hurt", to quote my brother, who's still searching for himself at age 74.
This is probably a bit off topic, but Leviticus 19:34 absolutely concerns immigrants, if not immigration:
“You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
The "you were strangers in the land of Egypt" is what gives it away.
And they went there legally. They obeyed the laws of Egypt. As opposed to what goes on in the United States today.
The big guy did not add any of those qualifications, and he did not stutter. Take it up with him.
I would just add that there is always an excuse available for why we should not have to love a particular one of our neighbors. Were we to take them all together, we don't actually have to love anyone.
The Bible--the "big guy"--absolutely details that they went into Egypt legally, and that the Jews obeyed Egyptian laws. And The Bible--again, the "big guy"--absolutely admonishes man to obey the sovereign's laws. Therefore, I do not have to take it up with him. We are on the same page.
Let me be sure I understand this. We have to love EVEN OUR ENEMIES, but not if they break the law?
No. You are to love all. But that does not mean that people do not have to obey the law. Nor does it mean that people who break the law should escape consequences. God is a just God. And in administering the law, he emphasizes justice. Hence, if you break the law, it is only just that you face the consequences. So if an illegal alien sneaks across the border, he is to be deported. If he does it again, the consequences increase. Very simple, actually.
For example, God loved Moses. Moses was a righteous man. But Moses angered God, and there were consequences. Moses was not permitted to enter the promised land. Instead, he died in the wilderness. Justice.
No, Glen. What He emphasizes is love.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37–40
The "deceptive arts" are just that...deceptive. Seeking power or knowledge apart from God is a refusal to trust in the sovereignty and goodness of God. Secular humanists clearly are not seeking power or knowledge from God, what's fascinating and scary is this person is so blatant about where she IS seeking it and for some reason it's ok enough for her to rise to a potential Surgeon General position of the United States. I mean, spiritual crisis indeed, sir. Indeed. :'(
I’m wondering when Casey Means said or did these things. I don’t know that this is her current position. The comments you’re providing, are they current?
The phone number linked takes you to a general line and when the receptionist hears what you need she just connects to any ‘ol Senator, doesn’t even ask for a state.
Are we supposed to be notifying our state senator or someone else?
I found my Senator numbers by Googling and their numbers were answered by a real person, not a recording.
She is not qualified, however I do take exception to your take on Silva Method as I actually took a 2 day course decades ago (so can't vouch for now) it was simply a technique like learning to drive to learn how to meditate, calm yourself, pay attention to your body and to use affirmations it improved my relationship with God. Was very helpful to my father who was coping with Parkinsons and also brought us closer together.
Though not familiar with the particular practice (the Silva Method) in question, I too have found that there are a several "New Age" spiritual practices whose underlying belief systems merely supplement, rather than substitute for, Christian belief.
Eric, I agree with you concerning Casey Means.
I agree with you about Casey Means (and quite a bit about Donald Trump). However there are real problems and questions about vaccines. I remember when I was about 10 years out of my emergency medicine residency(around 1998)I happened to come across the recommended vaccine schedule at that time and was shocked to see how much it had grown since I was a kid or even since I was in medical school (I’m not a parent and not being a pediatrician or family practitioner I hadn’t given it much thought other than to enquire whether the child I was seeing in the ER was “up to date”.) At this point I had to admit that maybe the parents who were questioning vaccinations might have a point. My libertarian sensibilities were uncomfortable with coercion and mandates but I still recommended updating the kid’s shots if not current.
Didn’t think a lot about it until Covid. At first I was eager for the Covid jab. I didn’t think Covid was the civilizational threat that the public health establishment claimed but figured it would end the lockdowns (The true catastrophe). When they started talking about incorporating foreign genetic material(mRNA)in to MY cells I said f—no. I started reading a few books on the subject and I would say that I’m now a vaccine skeptic. I don’t now if vaccines cause autism or other problems but we don’t know that they don’t (or at least contribute to it). I’m pretty sure the benefits of vaccines are exaggerated as most childhood hood diseases had declined markedly prior to vaccines so even mild adverse reactions may outweigh any benefit.
I would recommend “Dissolving Illusions” by Suzanne Humphries as a good starting point. If vaccines are as beneficial as we’re told then people won’t need to be forced to take them and if they’re as safe as we’re told then manufacturers don’t need to be protected from lawsuits.
As someone who is unfortunately usually "the outlier" result in these things (measles 4 times) serum sickness from antibiotic shot w pneumonia shot combo, wake up under normal anesthetic I can state I still believe in tried & tested vaccines and without them polio, smallpox, whooping cough will be/are back, I know got whooping cough. We must vaccinate, you are right there to many and maybe some don’t really need to be there or given so early and definitely never given multiple shot is one day. Covid should never have been forced (nor any untried one) and more information should have been available. They have however actually found the culprit for those deaths caused when using the adenovirus as transport an amino acid chain DNA issue positive charge… interesting reading good news as adenovirus is cheapest, fastest, no temp requirements to use they are checking for ways to block that it from happening again. For lawsuits, you can only aim for what is best for the majority and enforce that, warn about known issues as it is simply impossible to make them 100% foolproof as you know we are all extremely different.
I tried to call the number you gave but it didn't go through. It's just hung up.
I can solve this. We tie Means up and throw her in water. If she floats she's a witch and she gets pulled. If she sinks, she's not a witch and can keep the nomination, if she manages not to drown. Problem solved!
Good one, Cheese!
Thanks, Erick, agreed. Here's more scripture on where to seek help and not seek it.
"Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples. I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn."
ESV Is 8:16–20.
Whoopi Goldberg: "I'm hoping Dr. Jill becomes the surgeon general"
Donald Trump: "Hold my beer"
Thanks Erick for keeping us updated as to the sad state of influence in our nation. Unfortunately, in this case, Georgia is represented in the US Senate by two Godless progressives (Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock), so we have little hope that this nomination will be subverted on their part. We can only pray that the Trump administration will have a change of heart and remove the nomination.
Back in the very early 2000s, my sister (a Wiccan, BTW) gave me a copy of Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig. There was no "good" or "bad energy"; no pie in the sky claims, like there won't be any sickness if we do A, B, & C (our bodies are fallen, too), just facts about the role of fats and traditional, and healthier, methods of preparing foods; facts about the benefits of raw grass-fed milk, dairy, and meat products; the flimsy evidence re: the fat hypothesis that expunged coconut oil, butter, full fat dairy, and tallow from our kitchens, plus the history of traditional ways of preparation and the effects of altered fats, the effects of how fats are processed as well as excess polyunsaturated fats on us. It's part cookbook, part college course; an educational gem full of documentation. Slow cooking all the way, whole foods, healthy fats, good stock and fermented foods, happy pastured/grass-fed animals which, in turn, nourish us (they eat grass and bugs so we don't have to), and no pseudoscience or questionable spirituality.
I think God gave us elements within his creation to serve us, but we have brains to develop techniques and medicines, too. Neither I nor my mom would be alive just 60 years ago due to our rare conditions; delicate surgery I underwent on my spinal didn't exist back then, and modern medication allows me to function without constant excruciating pain.
People used to die early, and children were easy prey for viruses and bacteria. Botanicals aren't sufficient for everything. But over-dependence on meds combined with lack of movement and a poor food supply making our microbiomes a mess: fast food, chemicals, too much Omega 6s, etc - SAD, the Standard American Diet.
"Christians know the miserable bondage we were all in."
Two quick thoughts. Number 1, recalling our own desperate situation without Christ is harder to do the longer we know Him. Odd, isn't it? That was Piper's main point. Remember who you were, before...
Number 2, we are also "in bondage" to the truth of God's Word. We don't get to strike out the parts that don't fit our political persausions. It's not a choice as to whether we love our neighbors. It's our obligation. We can still have different political opinions, but loving people has to be what everything else revolves around. Talk about bondage.
And one more thing. We who voted for Donald Trump, no matter how hard we pinched our noses when we did it, have to accept that he is going to make terrible appointments to positions of power or influence. We can oppose those choices we disagree with. There will be many, but I doubt seriously that one's proclivities toward withcraft, or adultery or abortion for that matter (RFK Jr anyone?), factor into his decision making. I feared what would happen in 2020 if DT became the face of the Republican party. I voted for him anyway in 2024. Make what you want of that. He's done wonderful things and terrible things, but this is just Donald Trump, and the party is his. May the Church remember who our head is.