How bad can you be and still be a Christian?

Billy Graham's Answer 

Christians aren't perfect. Every Christian sins, and every day those of us who are Christians need God's forgiveness and grace. I often think of the Bible's words: "If we claim we have not sinned, we make him (God) out to be a liar" (1 John 1:10).

But when someone claims to be a follower of Jesus and yet makes no effort to obey God and shows no evidence of a changed life, they may be deceiving themselves. The Bible is clear: When we know God, our lives will be different. Yes, our old sinful nature still lives within us, but God also lives within us by His Holy Spirit, and we won't be content to live the way we once did. Jesus said, "Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them" (Matthew 7:20).

The Stump and the Sapling

"He condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit."      Romans 8:3b-4

An axe was once laid to the root of an old crab apple tree, barely leaving the vestige of a stump above ground. The old tree was not only felled, but mortally wounded, never to produce another crab apple. The owner of the orchard then grafted into the dry stump, a sprig bearing the flower of Golden Delicious apples. In time, a sturdy sapling had grown from the base of the stump and bore... what? Crab apples? No way. The fruit took on the identity and distinctiveness of the living graft, not the old stump. It was new fruit from a "new" tree. This delighted the owner of the orchard. But his work wasn't over. He still had to snip off crab-apple sucker shoots which would sprout from the stump. As long as he did, the Golden Delicious sapling flourished. 

Nun Leaves Catholicism

A Roman Catholic nun who has been working in Africa recently made contact with a woman in Atlanta, Georgia. The woman gave the CARM website to the nun to check out the articles written on Catholicism. 

As a result of her examining her church and comparing it to Scripture, she now knows that Roman Catholicism is not true. She has trusted in Christ as her Savior! Please pray for her because she is in the long process of leaving Catholicism. We will give more details on this later.

As a side note, some of you may not know what Roman Catholicism teaches regarding salvation. Consider this. "...the mission of teaching all peoples, and of preaching the Gospel to every creature, so that all men may attain salvation through faith, Baptism and the observance of the Commandments." 

Pears, Pears, Everywhere

Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. — John 15:5

My family had a tree in our backyard that provided two things: shade and countless jars of pear preserves. One day, I asked my mother why she made so many jars every year. Her response was, "If I don't, they will start falling off the tree and go bad." With that, I went outside to take a look for myself. There were pears everywhere--so many, in fact, that the tree branches were beginning to sag and snap under the immense weight of their fruit. It looked to me like my mother's faithful picking was encouraging the tree to produce even more!

Signs of The Times

Written by Rev. Daniel Forster

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“Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.”  (Jeremiah 17:5-6, ESV)

In our over stimulating world it is very easy to dismiss and put off “signs” as they are identified in the Bible. It is easy to dismiss these things when so many around us mock them, or we see an overzealous TV preacher tying to shove it down our throats. Yet, if we live our lives by what others say, how others act, how others feel, or even by the majority, we are living our lives for man, and not for our God. We need to seek answers to our doubts, troubles, temptations in His living and true word.

Jesus becomes so personal while remaining so very practical

Word from Scotland: 

Notice how John is so Christ centred, in these closing verses of John Chapter 14. This passage is focusing upon Jesus Christ, and how Jesus Christ cares for, and is concerned about, those whom He calls.

No matter what you are going through or experiencing in these present days, know that the risen living Jesus cares for you and that He is concerned about every detail.

Jesus has been speaking about peace, and peace can be vague and illusive and many strive for peace, and march for peace, and hold ‘Peace Rallies’, but peace like Jesus Himself is unique and uniquely flows from Him and from Him alone.

Now, that is a lesson the world finds hard to accept, but it happens to be true. Peace is a gift of God and we so need that gift in these troubled times.

HOLINESS IS A FRUIT

"But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone."  Luke 11:42 

LUKE 11:42-44

When Jesus said, "and not to leave the other undone," it is clear that He is not arguing against doing what is right. God's Word stresses holiness in our actions. The Pharisees' error that caused Jesus' rebuke was that they believed their actions could produce a right relationship with God. But a proper relationship with God can only come by humbling ourselves and putting faith in a Savior, who is Jesus. God cleanses our hearts by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8) and then we have our fruit unto holiness (Rom. 6:22). Holiness is a fruit, not a root, of salvation.

In a similar instance found in Matthew 23:26, Jesus told the Pharisees, "Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also." True Christianity comes from the inside out. A good heart will change a man's actions, but a man's actions cannot change his heart.

Why Did Jesus Curse the Fig Tree?

Dr. Ray Pritchard

Fig trees are for making figs.

Pretty simple, really. We plant apple trees because we want apples, peach trees because we want peaches, orange trees because we want oranges, and fig trees because we want figs. We might as well ask what good is an apple tree that doesn't produce apples? You might as well cut it down. Or curse it, as Jesus did the fig tree (Matthew 21:18-19).

How did Jesus know the fig tree was barren? Because the leaves and the fruit typically appear at about the same time. To see a fig tree covered with leaves but with no fruit meant that it was barren.

Three insights will help us understand this story. First, in the Old Testament the fig tree often stood as a symbol for the nation of Israel (Jeremiah 8:13; Hosea 9:10). 

Second, we also need to observe that the cursing of the fig tree occurs on Monday of Jesus's Passion Week, four days before his crucifixion. 

Abiding in Christ

As Joshua Harris points out, in a world full of technology, it’s easy to think we can just unplug from God and recharge when needed. But Jesus Christ is the vine and we are the branches. 

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Hi, this is Joni Eareckson Tada and you’re listening to "Joni and Friends.”

Okay, you know those days when nothing goes right? And if you’re like me, it’s often connected with a medical appointment. Last week for me was peppered with medical appointments, one of which was a bone density test. So as Ken and I headed to the hospital, we were thinking, “Can a bone scan be that complicated.” Well, let me say that for most patients it means slipping on a surgical gown, hopping on the table, and taking a 10 minute nap while the scanner does its thing. Well, not for me in this wheelchair.

What Did You Say?

Mary Southerland

Today’s Truth
“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Proverbs 25:11).

Friend to Friend

Fruit is one of my favorite foods. When I go grocery shopping, it always takes me longer to get through the fruit section than any other area of the store. I spend what some might consider a ridiculously long time picking out what I hope will be the juiciest apples, the plumpest grapes and sweetest bananas. Experience has taught me to quickly discard any piece of fruit that is bruised, mushy or discolored. I shake cantaloupe and thump watermelons. Ripe strawberries have a unique sweet scent and only the reddest cherries will do. Plums and tomatoes must be firm to the touch, bright in color and wrinkle-free while the more wrinkles the better when it comes to choosing passion fruit.

USE YOUR SEEDS OR YOU WILL LOSE THEM ALL!

Serge Roux-Levrat

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells the parable of the sower to the large crowds that had come to listen to him. What He told them can be found in Matthew 13:12: “Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” We all have good seeds to plant, so what is this scripture telling us? It basically reveals to us that if we use (i.e. plant) our seeds, we shall reap abundance.

This is certainly also true in the natural world. If a farmer would only get back one seed from each seed that he plants, then he would not continue sowing seeds as he would be spending his time in utter futility. With just one apple seed, for example, a farmer can expect a harvest of more than 100 apples each year. As the law of harvest applies everywhere, what is true in the natural world is also true in all the aspects of life. Reaping more than we sow is essential, otherwise no one would activate the law of harvest. Thus, we can reasonably expect someone who keeps planting his seeds to be blessed abundantly over time.

→ Let’s now address the warning part of the scripture. If we all have seeds to plant, how can we then find someone who hasn’t any? The answer is not as difficult as we could imagine. We all know people who tell us day after day that they have no talents, that their dreams will never come to pass, that they will never get the job they hope for, that they wished that they were like someone else. Do you see what’s happening? They are not planting good seeds, but bad ones. Where are those seeds coming from? From their thoughts! They basically “engineered” them. Guess what? The law of harvest gets in motion and produces in their lives truckloads of bad fruits.

What Are the Keys to God's Blessing?

I believe that the key to God’s blessings starts with obedience to His Word. We see this theme borne out through the Scriptures time after time where the Lord promises to bless those who will obey what He says.

Psalms 1:1-3
 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Proverbs 3:1-4
 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

Jeremiah 7:23
 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. 

Joshua 1:8
 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. 

James 1:22-25
 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Jeff Newman

gotquestions  http://www.learnthebible.org/what-are-the-keys-to-gods-blessing.html

Eat to Beat Bowel Cancer

By Susan McQuillan

Reviewed by QualityHealth's Medical Advisory Board

Fruits and vegetables provide some of the most important nutrients you can consume, namely, disease-fighting antioxidants in the form of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals (substances found only in plants that are known to protect your cells from destruction).

One of the many diseases that antioxidants can help prevent is bowel, or colorectal, cancer. But it gets even more specific than that. An Australian survey study, published in the October 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, found that different fruits and vegetables may affect certain parts of the bowel.

Previous studies that link bowel cancer risk and fruit and vegetable consumption have had conflicting results. The Australian researchers point out that this could be because until now, no study has looked specifically at the relationship between diet and the different parts of the bowel where tumors could form.

Your gastrointestinal tract is a long tube that stretches from your mouth to your rectum, with lots of twists, turns, bulges, and folds in between. The food you eat travels this entire course to be broken down, digested, and stripped of its nutrients along the way. Those nutrients are absorbed through your intestinal wall and travel through your bloodstream to wherever they are needed. What's left of your meal is eliminated, along with any indigestible fiber contained in the food.

Your bowel has three main parts and each part is divided into distinct areas. Your distal colon includes the large intestine, sigmoid colon, and descending colon in your distal colon. Your proximal colon includes the cecum, appendix, ascending colon, and transverse colon. Your rectum leads to your anus, which is the end of your large intestine and the end of your gastrointestinal tract.

More clinical studies need to be performed to confirm these results, but upon analyzing the diets of almost 2,000 adults who participated in this study, the Australian researchers found the following associations:

• Eating more cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts may be linked to a lower rate of cancer in both the distal and proximal colons.
• Eating more apples and dark yellow or orange vegetables, such as winter squash, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and carrots may be linked to a lower risk of developing distal colon cancer.
• Higher total fruit and vegetable intake may be linked to a lower risk of distal colon cancer, but not proximal colon cancer or rectal cancer.
• Increased consumption of fruit juice may be linked to an increased risk of developing rectal or anal cancer.

Sources:

Annema, N. et al; "Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and the Risk of Proximal colon, Distal Colon, and Rectal Cancers in a Case-control Study in Western Australia." Journal of the American Dietetic Association 111(10):1479-1490 October 2011 Web 20 Oct 2011
http://www.adajournal.org/article/S0002-8223(11)01215-6/abstract

Science Daily: Fruits and Vegetables Reduce Risks of Specific Types of Colorectal Cancers, Study Finds 26 Sep 2011 Web 20 Oct 2011
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110926083346.htm

http://www.qualityhealth.com/digestion-articles/eat-beat-bowel-cancer?ct=39995

Does Eating Fruits and Veggies Make Us More Attractive?

By Kim Carollo | ABC News Blogs 

Eating lots of fruits and veggies may not only improve our overall health, but may actually make us more attractive, according to a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE.

That's because the yellow-red pigments found in fruits and vegetables, called carotenoids, are associated with changes in skin color, the authors found.  They also found that the skin pigment changes may be viewed as healthier and more attractive.

Researchers from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland monitored the fruit and vegetable intake of 35 Caucasians over a six-week period and measured skin color changes.  In a separate experiment, they investigated how attractive people found the skin color changes associated with the increased intake of fruits and vegetables.

Increasing consumption of carotenoids is associated with a more yellowish skin tone, and the authors also found that eating more fruits and vegetables correlated with skin that appeared to have a healthy red tone.

"Such coloration is held to contribute beneficially to the appearance of health in human faces as is the case with skin yellowness," the authors wrote.

The effects on skin color required only a moderately increased intake of fruits and vegetables, they said.

Carotenoids are made by plants.  They are distributed through the bloodstream to various organs, including the skin.  Previous studies have found that high levels of carotenoids offer protection against ultraviolet radiation by decreasing the skin's sensitivity to redness caused by UV light.

But it's the perception on attractiveness that the authors think could potentially be the key to encouraging people to eat more fruits and vegetables, something that adults in the U.S. and the U.K. don't do very much.

"Such inadequate intake is estimated to precipitate 2.6 million premature deaths per year worldwide," they wrote.  "Fruit and vegetable consumption affects skin carotenoid levels; this may lead to skin color change in a fashion that is known to contribute to the appearance of health.  It follows that dietary change may be motivated by illustrating to individuals these beneficial effects on appearance."

The authors also add, however, that further research is needed to determine whether carotenoids affect non-Caucasians the same way.

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/does-eating-fruits-veggies-us-more-attractive-110116012--abc-news.html