Are You Somebody's Thorn?

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. —Proverbs 27:17

It is sobering to realize that you may be a thorn in the flesh to someone else. 

Has it dawned on you that you are another person's problem because of your particular personality? The problem is, of course, yours, but you unfortunately make it somebody else's as well. It may be the person who has to live with you, work with you, or deal with you from time to time. You force that person to have to walk on eggshells around you. He or she loses sleep because of you. How does that make you feel? Well, it sobers me to my fingertips, knowing that I may very well be another person's thorn in the flesh.

Perhaps you are aware of your problem, but you say, "I can't help it. This is who I am." You have prayed about it often. But have you really tried to get help? You are never too old to learn as long as you want your problems solved.

cavemen knew how to keep the home-fires burning.

Boston University: “Playing with Fire”

Promethean hypothesis picks up steam from residual cooking fire.

by Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell

South African archaeological spelunking has confirmed “cavemen” knew how to keep the home-fires burning. High-tech “microstratigraphic” analysis of sediment excavated 30 meters inside the cave entrance provided “unambiguous evidence in the form of burned bone and ashed plant remains that burning events took place in Wonderwerk Cave during the early Acheulean [Homo erectus] occupation, approximately 1.0 Ma,”⁸ write the investigators in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“We collect an intact block of material, something the size of a milk container where everything is preserved in its original shape,” says co-author Paul Goldberg. “We can pick out a block of this stuff . . . dry it, soak it in polyester or epoxy resin and turn it into a rock, essentially. Once we do that, we can slice it just like geologists do, mount it on a slide and then look at it under the microscope.”

This archaeological confirmation of an ancient cooking fire comes on the heels of a recent study⁹asserting the small teeth of Homo erectus were “adapted to a diet of cooked food”⁸ and supporting—according to evolutionists—primatologist Richard Wrangham’s “cooking hypothesis.” The title of Wrangham’s book, Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, sums up his contention that learning to control fire and cook food was the secret to humanity’s evolutionary success. (See News to Note, August 27, 2011 for a discussion of these culinary ramifications.)

“It [cooking food] gave extra energy, used for evolutionary success; reduced feeding time, freeing men to hunt; lowered weaning time, creating bigger families; allowed brain size to increase; gave us our shortfaced, flat-bellied anatomy; enabled the sexual division of labour,” says Wrangham. “It was so important that it likely drove the evolution of our genus Homo.Basically, if the cooking hypothesis is right it turned us from advanced ape to early human.”

The researchers, like Wrangham, believe “the ability to control fire was a crucial turning point in human evolution”⁸ and that the ability to cook had to be in the hominin skill set by 1.9 million years ago, the time evolutionists claim Homo erectus evolved. These findings are the “earliest” known evidence of controlled use of fire and therefore are assumed to support these Promethean concepts of human evolution. (For readers rusty on their classical mythology, Prometheus was the Greek Titan credited in Greek mythology and the plays of Aeschylus and Shelley with giving mankind the gift of fire.)

The researchers have ruled out wildfire, convinced the fire was a controlled fire fed by plant material and that debris was not washed or blown in. Goldberg believes “it was unlikely there was any vegetation of wood or wood-like material that would have been there [30 meters inside] to burn on the spot – you can exclude local burning of material by natural causes. These ashes are really quite delicate, so they can't have been transported by wind or water, they would have never survived as intact pieces. It [the fire] has to be something local, right there on the spot.”

They also found pot lids made of iron. Fractures in these iron artifacts are consistent with those achieved by experimentally heating to over 500 degrees Celsius, again suggesting the fire was used for cooking.

The million-year date ascribed to the burned debris was obtained by integrating paleomagnetic data and cosmogenic isotopic (26Al/10Be) ratios measured outside the cave in recent years.¹⁰The latter measurements are based on decay of beryllium-10 and aluminum-26 isotopes formed in sand exposed to cosmic radiation. Magnetic field reversals are thought to affect the rate of isotope formation, allowing magnetic and isotope data to be integrated. (Decreased magnetic field intensity during reversal would allow more cosmic rays to reach earth causing an increase in isotope production.)

Paleomagnetic reversals are conventionally thought to indicate long ages based on the assumed long age of the earth. Creationist physicist Dr. Russ Humphreys has proposed, however, that convection currents in the core of the earth—affected by Flood-associated tectonic shifts—reversed earth’s magnetic field every few weeks during the global Flood.¹¹ Subsequent research has documented analogous rapid magnetic field reversals in thin layers of cooled lava.¹² Thus paleomagnetic dating is unreliable because magnetic reversals can occur rapidly and likely did so during the global Flood.

Furthermore, many factors can affect the geochemical cycling of these isotopes, including altered production rate due to magnetic reversals and other causes, changes in atmospheric circulation of the isotopes, and changes in precipitation.¹³ Thus these dating methods, singly and together, suffer from the usual problems with unverifiable assumptions that haunt other radiometric dating methods. In particular, the global Flood very likely affected the calibration of at least one of the parameters in a dramatic way for which observable geology has provided an analogous model. Without the million-year date, these findings become merely confirmation that early humans knew how to cook.

Homo erectus was fully human and, like Neanderthals and early modern humans, had smaller teeth than apes’ teeth. Intelligent descendants of people scattered from the tower of Babel, they would all know how to cook. There is no proof cooking enabled “hominins” to evolve bigger, better brains. Brain size is not linked to human intelligence, so the fact that Homo erectus had cranial capacity on the small end of human average and Neanderthals had cranial capacity on the large end fails to show an ascending human evolutionary path. Nothing in the study supports the concept of human evolution from brutish or ape-like ancestors.

On the other hand, the historical accounts in the Bible shed light on the post-Flood Ice Age and the dispersion of Noah’s descendants from Babel, showing how human fossils like Homo erectusfit the biblical picture. Homo erectus, Neanderthals, and Denisovans appear in the Pleistocene rock layers as do extinct Ice Age animals. While Genesis does not offer the details of the post-Flood climate change, the natural result of the global Flood was the Ice Age that affected so much of our world for hundreds of years. People migrating from Babel had to cope with those climate changes and probably used caves for shelter and to bury their dead.

Homo erectus fossils, with “large brow ridges, small chins, and receding foreheads”¹⁴ along with their characteristic tools are preserved near Babel in the Lower and Middle Pleistocene layers of East Africa and Central Asia. Homo erectus fossils also appear farther from Babel in Upper Pleistocene layers along with other varieties of people, such as Neanderthals and the very shortHomo floresiensis of Indonesia. Yet the fossil record does not preserve further record of these members of the human race after the Ice Age, suggesting they ultimately succumbed. Without DNA from Homo erectus we cannot document whether they live on in modern humans as do Neanderthals, but there is no reason to doubt their humanity or their intelligence—or to suppose they were evolving quasi-humans whose humanity depended on newly acquired culinary skills.

For more information:

• Axing Evolutionary ideas—Stone Dead!
• Still Trying to Make Ice Cores Old
• The ‘Principle of Least Astonishment’!
• See also Answers magazine volume 7, number 2 (April–June 2012) which contains several articles and helpful diagrams (example, right) explaining how “cavemen” can be explained within the biblical timeline in the special feature: “Finding a Home for Cavemen: Who were they? When did they live? How are they different?”

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2012/04/07/news-to-note-04072012#one

Where Did it Fall?

The fourth key to regaining your cutting edge is found in verse 6 of 2 Kings 6,

So the man of God said, "Where did it fall?"  And he showed him the place.  So he cut off a stick, and threw it in there; and he made the iron float.

The words I want you to focus on are, Where did it fall?  That is quite a question.  And look at the response,  And he showed him the place.

That is the fourth key, to know where you lost your cutting edge.  Unless you go back to that place, you cannot retrieve it; and unless you are willing to deal with whatever issue caused you to lose your cutting edge, you will never regain it.

Did you notice that the man knew right where he lost his cutting edge?  If you will be honest, you can probably point right to the time you lost, or began to lose, your edge spiritually.

Perhaps it was when you became offended because of what someone did.  Or maybe it was when you started watching too much television, or when you began hanging around with a certain person.

If when asked, "Where did it fall?" you cannot immediately point to the place, take some time to commune with your own heart and be still.  It won't be long before your answer comes. 

This is essential because if you are to regain your edge, you need to start where you lost it.

Visit the Answers with Bayless Conley website for more ways to Connect with God
and
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10 Best Foods for Your Heart

10 Best Foods for Your Heart

By Alana Brager, Life2PointOh.com 

Did you know that heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States? Scary! Luckily, we have tasty ways you can keep that heart of yours pumping longer!

1. Oatmeal contains a certain element of fiber called beta-glucan, which has been shown to reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol. It also contains a special antioxidant called avenanthramides, which prevents free radicals from attacking good cholesterol and helps reduce the risk of heart disease. Oatmeal also helps keep your arteries clear and contains calcium, omega-3's and fiber, which have been proven to stabilize blood sugar. Just skip the instant oats, since they're loaded with hidden sugars and sodium!

2. Salmon is the premiere source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are healthy fats that the human body cannot produce on its own. Omega-3's are known to minimize symptoms of inflammatory diseases and reduce blood pressure. Salmon is very high in protein, low in cholesterol and also contains astaxanthin, a very powerful antioxidant that's converted to vitamin A in the body.

3. Avocados contain oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that may help lower bad cholesterol. They're high in potassium, which can help ward off high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. They also contain a heart healthy fat that contains lycopene, a potential cancer-fighting agent.

4. Olive Oil oil is full of monounsaturated fats, which can help lower your risk of heart disease and help normalize blood clotting. The antioxidants found in olive oil can also help protect against some cancers while boosting your HDL (good) cholesterol.

5. Nuts, like almonds and walnuts, are full of monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats, a fat that's mostly found in plant based foods and oils. They are also full of protein and omega-3's, which are great for the heart. About a handful a day is enough to do the trick.

Heart Healthy Month may be coming to a close, but it’s vital that you follow healthy practices year-round to prevent heart disease. Here’s Part 2 of our list of foods that make your heart happy! 

6. Berries are full of powerful antioxidants called polyphenols, which have been known to lower the risk of heart disease. Studies have shown that eating a moderate amount of berries may increase HDL (good) cholesterol and reduce blood pressure. They’re also rich in disease fighting phytochemicals that can help prevent heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

7. Legumes, or beans, are incredibly low in fat and contain no saturated fat or cholesterol. Beans are a high plant based protein that also have fiber, iron, folic acid and the heart healthy omega-3’s. Red and black beans also contain eight types of flavanoids, which reduces the risk of a stroke.

8. Spinach is an antioxidant rich super food that’s high in vitamins A, C and K, all of which are good for your bones and heart. It has been shown to lower the risk of some cancers while also being incredibly rich in fiber and folate, a water soluble B vitamin that’s important for building and maintaining healthy cells.

9. Soy is a nutrient dense, heart healthy food. It contains B-vitamins, unsaturated fats, calcium, zinc and fiber. It’s cholesterol free and a healthier, leaner protein, compared to meat. Soy is a complete protein, meaning it contains all of the essential amino acids that the body cannot produce. Studies have shown that soy protein could lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, which can help prevent heart disease.

10.  Tomatoes are packed with vitamins and lycopene, which has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease. When lycopene is combined with other antioxidants found in tomatoes, such as beta-carotene or vitamin c, the body works to neutralize free radicals that could damage cells. Studies have shown that tomato products prevent the oxidation of LDL (bad) cholesterol.

http://life2pointoh.com/2012/02/heart-healthy-foods/