Feel depressed? Drugs aren't the answer

According to a current American radio ad, "customers who have taken Zentra compared the feeling they had to that of falling in love". They had "an overwhelming sense that everything is well with the world, and that things will get better". Yikes. IT'S A DRUG, not a source of hope and happiness.

Given the side-effects attached to these current drugs on the market, you're probably better off with a bottle of Jim Beam to soften your brain. If you take the drug Ambien for insomnia, there is the risk of suicide, anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, and/or difficulty sleeping. Are you really that desparate for sleep? Have you heard the statistics on America's armed forces who have taken these types of meds? Since 2002, the number of suicide attempts in the army has increased by six times. More than 128 soldiers killed themselves in 2008. We're more dangerous to ourselves than terrorists are! The facts show that placebos are healthier for depression/anxiety sufferers than these drugs. There are many other drugs that are potentially harmful, though claim to be remedial. If you take the birth control pill Yaz, you have the risk of heart attack and/or stroke, among other side-effects. Women who are willing to take that risk for the sake of sexual pleasure need to re-think their priorities.

I understand that clinical depression is a real and serious condition, but it's important to know how it starts. The original cause of it is not a chemical imbalance, which the drug companies and many doctors want you to believe. It starts with your thoughts. If you think of yourself as a useless and unintelligent waste of space, your body will echo that. Our brain is an organ that translates our thoughts into physical response. Our brains essentially control our bodies. That's common sense, but in consideration of where these medications come from, that's not the issue. GlaxoSmithKline, Lily, Pfizer, etc.-- they don't care about the source of the problem, because it doesn't align with their profit goals. The drug co's and doctors never address the importance in seeking psychological counseling first, which would target the actual problem. If you don't work on the solution, then of course things will negatively compound. In the case of depression, without a helpful degree of psych counseling, the brain can be affected so much over time that it eventually does need something to support normal function. Most people who are suffering from depression and anxiety mistakenly take the latter route prematurely. What really boggles me is that these dangerous chemicals are being engineered and sold to the public. Sadly, this is nothing new.

We shouldn't listen to what the mainstream media/government says is good for us. In lieu of America's current debate on socialized healthcare, we need to educate ourselves so that we can scrutinize our own health, as well as the policies that impact our care options. It's not about equal healthcare, it's about profit and control. As long as there are impressionable consumers, there will be people who prey on their vulnerabilities. One of America's current leaders had said that the country's constitution is a negative liberty, in that it says what the government can't do to you, instead of what it can. It's important to know who your true allies are.

Friend, if you are suffering from depression, you need to face your fears and seek to control your thought life. In some cases we can't always do it on our own, that's why counseling should be sought out. Most importantly, you need to seek guidance and protection from The Great Physician. God knew you before you even came into this world, and he knows what you need. Through trust in His Son Jesus Christ, you can begin to see things like depression as a choice, and not as some disease. You may look at Jesus as just a mere coping strategy, but He is definitely not. There is nothing more essential for our lives than faith in Christ. He paid the price for the sins of all mankind, and choosing a life according to that gift makes us victorious over the things that keep us from God's best. We don't have to be victims of ourselves, especially when we understand what is and what isn't in our control.

The Gap Theory, Carbon Dating, and Aunt Ida

We are all aware of the design v. evolution debate. Those two sides will always be at each other's throats. Interestingly enough (but not for long), there is also a group that believes in both as being compatible, and they rely on carbon dating and speculation without a firm ground in sound doctrine. They believe that billions of years took place right after "God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). During those billions of years, all forms of life were created, including the dinosaurs. That would make for a pretty long week. It is a highly speculative detour from God's Word, since He was just beginning to create space and time, as we can see in the next verses.

If you read past Genesis 1:1, it's obvious that God wasn't finished with His creation. The gap theory presumes that the second verse of Genesis describes God's wrath on Earth, making it "without form and void", and that the rest of chapter one outlines what God has already done. It's true that God can do anything, but God's Word is God's Word, and it says nothing about billions of years taking place during the first day of creation. In my entry evolution and intelligent design, I wrote that what drew me fully towards the design belief was the fact of man's original sin. Man's conscience isn't in any way a part of a "chemical evolution", and death is not simply "nature's law". In an article by this amazing ministry called Answers in Genesis, the author addresses the gap theory, and uses sound doctrine that reinforces my view based on man's sin.

"The Bible says specifically that ‘by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin’ (Romans 5:12), so that there was no death in the world until man brought sin into it. The ‘gap’ theory would require billions of years of suffering in the world before man or even Satan had sinned, and that means that God Himself would be directly responsible for sin in the world. God could not be the author of sin. So the ‘gap’ theory is precluded theologically."

So, if you hear a Christian teetering between design and evolution, this is one point you can share with them.

Another fallacy which the gap theory clings to, and what atheists have ignorantly given praise, is the method of carbon dating. Carbon dating, or radiometric dating, has been used in mainstream science to "prove" that the Earth is billions of years old. I am not a scientist, so I won't attempt to explain this scientifically on my own. In regard to Aunt Ida, our "monkey ancestor", you would basically need to know how much carbon was present in her corpse at the time she died, which is individually different for all creatures and impossible to determine from a fossil. Also, there needs to be a certain constant in regard to the carbon level in the atmosphere. 14C in the atmosphere needs to be equal in production rate to the removal rate of 12C from a corpse, which is referred to as an "equilibrium". Since there are various rates of decay between every dead organism, and 14C in the atmosphere isn't fixed, that dating process is inaccurate. The Answers in Genesis article I found on carbon dating goes into excellent detail. It includes that the inventor of the method, who was an evolutionist, knew the discrepancies in carbon dating but chose to write them off as experimental errors. Pride can really screw things up, can't it?

Considering how non-human the fossil 'Ida' looks, isn't it funny how atheist scientists refer to it as the "missing link"? If that's the case, then where's my tail? I got jipped.

In Conclusion...

The more that this world attempts to disprove God and separate itself from Him, the more proof we acquire of His existence and omnipotence. If you deny there is a God, I urge you to open your heart to Him. He came to us as Jesus Christ to be a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. By putting your trust in Him as your Redeemer from the punishment of sin, life is yours. And through repentance (a change of mind), you begin to align yourself with God's best for your life. Man's intellect is a powerful gift from God. Archeology and all of the other forms of science are great blessings. But, if your objective is to elevate man and eliminate God, you are headed down a foolish path.

My Testimony

I'm writing this in the hope that someone will put their trust in Jesus Christ.

In late August of 2007 I was driving home from a weekly charity meal (irony #1), and a minivan pulled out in front of me. He was going slow with the blinkers on, and I started beeping and getting full of myself. He eventually pulled into a store parking lot, and he waved with his arm as to say "come and fight". My ego kicked in over-drive, and I actually did a u-turn in traffic so I could catch up and be a tough guy. After getting out of my car, trading a lot of filthy and weak talk, I gave the guy a back hand slap. He handled it well. I had more than a couple opportunities to walk away, and I did, until he said some more filth that made me walk back from my car. It's pathetic how we let our egos take control of us like that. I wasn't exercising one fraction of real manhood there, just weakness. After more bantering, he quickly gave me a punch right in the center of my face, breaking my nose. I'm not much of a fighter in the physical sense of the word, and it was obvious. I retaliated a little bit, and the guy started flailing so violently that he ripped my shirt in half and left a tiny scar above my lip. Man, I'm a little angry just typing this.

One of the things I've been self-conscious about for years up to that point was my nose, and since it got broken I'm even more conscious about it. Isn't that sad? We have all dealt with vanity to some degree, and we have obsessions about things we can't really change. I continue to deal with those things, and it can bring me down if I let it. Praise God that we are wonderfully made by Him, and that these bodies can be vessels for a spirit stronger than flesh.

So, after that was over I called the police to tell them that I was assaulted. Go figure-- I'm the one that started the whole thing, and now I'm playing the victim. I did get my face jacked pretty good though, and I was bleeding pretty bad. Cops and an ambulance show up, and I'm eventually cuffed to the stretcher I'm laying on inside the truck and arrested for assault. The cop said there was a witness of the whole thing, which isn't exactly true. Before the cops showed up, the guy was talking to a couple of people who didn't actually see everything. In any case, I asked for it. This is irony #2.

Around a week after that incident, I was feeling more bitter and regretful about what happened, and my conscience was talking to me. I already hired a lawyer and paid him $1,500 at that point, and I lied to him by telling him I was hit first. I was sleeping one night, and I had this dream of a head in a box, floating in front of me in a cold, blurred darkness. There was another one in back and to the side of it. The face in front of me was disfigured and contorting in the dark light, and I couldn't distinguish it. It was terrifying, and I thought that it must be my head in that box. I woke up in tears and gave my life to Jesus Christ. I asked the Lord to forgive me and take my life. I declared that I believe in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and I asked for guidance in my situation. That was the last nitemare I ever had.

I was standing in a hallway, outside of the courtroom I was assigned to for my hearing. My case was already called, but the other guy didn't show up yet. I was very conflicted as to whether I should lie or tell the truth and keep some dignity. I was even thinking about mentioning my new found faith during any questioning. Craziness! Standing there waiting, I started to think, 'hey, he might not even show up'. I was struggling with myself so much that it didn't even cross my mind until that day.

God's unconditional grace was working in my life, even though I was teetering between revenge and doing the right thing. He saved me from making that desicion. God is love. Our Holy Father knows our needs, and he gives us our daily bread even though we never deserve it. Don't fall victim to sin. Put your trust in Jesus Christ, and be victorious in your life. I am so blessed by our Lord, and it took a punch in the nose to see that.

God's Will and Man's Will, In Regards To Salvation

Do we choose faith? Don't we have to choose to believe in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins, in order to be saved? It's biblical fact that faith in Jesus is a gift, something our finite intellects can't fully explain, aside from attributing it to Grace. But, through conversation, reading The Bible, and yes, sinning- through those things do we not arrive at a point in our lives where we feel in our hearts and minds that we are wretched and in need of a saviour? The actual scope of God's Will is beyond comprehension, but rationalizing it is part of our nature.

Charles Spurgeon (1834-92) was a highly influential English preacher, quoted by many of today's brightest Christian theologians. I am going to conclude this brief entry with an excerpt from one of his sermons entitled "God's Will and Man's Will" . Please take the time if you can to read the whole sermon.

"According to their theory—that salvation depends upon our own will— you have first of all this difficulty to meet, that you have made the purpose of God in the great plan of salvation entirely contingent. You have the put an "if" upon everything. Christ may die, but it is not certain according to that theory that he will redeem a great multitude; nay, not certain that he will redeem any, since the efficacy of the redemption according to that plan, rests not in its own intrinsic power, but in the will of man accepting that redemption. Hence if man be, as we aver he always is, if he be a bond-slave as to his will, and will not yield to the invitation of God's grace, then in such a case the atonement of Christ would be valueless, useless, and altogether in vain, for not a soul would be saved by it; and even when souls are saved by it, according to that theory, the efficacy, I say, lies not in the blood itself, but in the will of man which gives it efficacy. Redemption is therefore made contingent; the cross shakes, the blood falls powerless on the ground, and atonement is a matter of perhaps. There is a heaven provided, but there may no souls who will ever come there if their coming is to be of themselves. There is a fountain filled with blood, but there may be none who will ever wash in it unless divine purpose and power shall constrain them to come. You may look at any one promise of grace, but you cannot say over it, "This is the sure mercy of David;" for there is an "if," and a "but;" a "perhaps," and a "peradventure." In fact, the reigns are gone out of God's hands; the linch-pin is taken away from the wheels of the creation; you have left the whole economy of grace and mercy to be the gathering together of fortuitous atoms impelled by man's own will, and what may become of it at the end nobody can know."

Suffering Is The Gateway To Growth

It is not a sin to suffer, but in a lot of cases suffering is the consequence of sin. It's not always fair, but we go through it anyway. Whether we suffer by our own hands or someone else's, we still have to deal with it. It is inevitable.

From my viewpoint, suffering is an opportunity to seek Gods' strength. It is a valley we all must go through, and there's a clear choice put before us each time we enter it. We can make a choice to become embittered, or to humble ourselves and see that we are dependent upon something greater. Suffering is the gateway to growth. It magnifies our vulnerability, so that we can to turn to God and believe in His sovereignty.

Jesus Christ suffered. He took all the sins of the world when he was crucified, so that we could conquer death through Him. He died so that we don't have to. Through faith in His sacrifice and resurrection, life is ours. He is the peak at the end of the valley. Through faith we begin to see our sufferings in a different light, and we cultivate the wisdom of a victor, not a victim.

When you are suffering, think of what Jesus went through, and receive His hope. He did it out of unconditional love for you.

Nothing to Fear

We can look at every negative thing in the world with dread and anxiety, and make ourselves out to be victims. We can feel hopeless and lost in a world that doesn't seem to get any better.

It's true that every day is a battlefield, but we have nothing to fear through faith in the one who can strengthen us. Jesus Christ.

We can be saved through faith in Jesus, because He died and paid the price for all the sins of the world. Past, present and future. He then rose again to prove that He is our Lord. If we confess our sins to Him and repent (change our minds about the sinful lives we lead), a beautiful life is ours forever, and we can start growing in a way we've never known.

Through faith we can truly look at our troubled world with a confidence that we've already conquered it. This kind of faith is real, and there is nothing more powerful. I wouldn't be typing this unless I thought so.

I'm not a preacher, but I know that my faith has changed me. It began to free me from thoughts and behavior, things that clouded my life and truly kept me from Gods' blessings. Faith takes effort and a strong will, and the world makes it tough. But, there is nothing better than the feeling that you're doing Gods' Will by fighting the good fight in faith.

This is a blog, though it is still from the heart. I pray that you think about this message and receive Jesus into your life.

~

Employment: Far away, and yet so close

I was laid off in January from a retail job I held for two months. I was a victim of their budget cut. I signed a temp status agreement, but I was confident I would make the cut. I did a good job. All I could say to make sense of it was that it's typical bureaucracy. I didn't laugh enough at someone's non-jokes, or pretend to be something more than an employee performing a quality service.

I've sent a lot of resumes out since the lay-off, and only received an auto-response today from a phony job ad. It asked me to send a copy of my driver's license. I'm desperate, but not stupid.

It admittedly does make me feel slightly better, knowing that even Americans with masters and doctoral degrees are working at places like Burger King. It's a cheap comfort though, and despite that hard fact I'm trying to decide what I should go back to school for. I'm 29, so I need to get cracking. Music and visual art are the industries I have the most talent in, but they are the most volatile. Ugh.

Only once did I actually get a job through a family member. Other than that, family hasn't been a useful resource for me.

So, welfare or country hermitage? Only kidding.

On a lighter note, there are a lot of success stories out there. It's usually not as bad as you think it is. There's always a silver lining. Don't cry over spilt milk. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush(?). You get the point. In the end, all you have is faith, and that's where the power is.

Valentine's Day

This is a day to make your sweetheart feel special and loved. The rest of the year is open to whatever. I do not have a sweetheart this year.

Holidays are funny to me. Considering their origins, and how they've grown into acts of consumerist bacchanalia, it can boggle those who don't choose a path of ignorance. Two examples are Christmas and Halloween.

The celebratory aspects of Christmas, like the tree and gifts, are rooted in pagan culture. Pop society has always used Christmas to flex it's money muscle, and it never thinks twice or at all about the birth of Jesus Christ.

Halloween is rooted in pagan harvest celebrations, and eventually Roman Catholocism picked that day for praying to all the saints of Christianity. Don't get me started on Catholocism. I'll save that for another time...

~

evolution and intelligent design

edited 6.15.09

When I was saved I first believed in a mix between intelligent design and evolution-- quite a conundrum. It was hard for me to believe we're from apes, and equally as hard to believe we're from Adam and Eve. The innovations of carbon dating show dinosaurs living way before man. Scientists know everything, right? What do I do? Should I ask everyone questions, go on an apologetic research binge, or just blow it off?

Jesus says not to rely on our own understanding, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Still, the issue of design v. evolution can be a difficult one to tackle. This doesn't make me question my existence like it used to (honestly, around four months ago), when I just summed it up as one of God's mysteries. These days I have come to embrace the intelligent design theory based on the origination of man's sin.

God issued a command to Adam & Eve not to eat from the tree of knowledge. They were tempted soon after, defied that command, and immediately felt shame because they stripped away the innocence that a loving God created in them. Needless to say, God was just and brought on His punishment. It was that first encounter with evil that shaped mankind forever, that fall from Grace that birthed idiosyncratic theology. God is who we have inherited life from- who we are made in the image of. The popluar "missing link" theory of mainstream science will always leave a lot to the imagination.

That reminds me of a conversation I had with someone in 2007. This person figured that God's ten commandments given through Moses were actually man-made during the time of hunters and gatherers, in order to protect their families. That would mean the concept of sin is invalid- that actual good and evil doesn't exist. That is because man's law is changeable, therefore fallible and unreliable. God's law has never changed, and it will prevail, despite our intellectual complexities.

I can be perceived as a man of faith, a lukewarm convert, a confused Jesus freak, etc. I honestly don't' worry about that anymore. In the end, it's about living in love and seeking truth in my life. Jesus says "I am the truth and the life...", so I suppose I am seeking Him, whether I know it or not.

initiation

I am pleased to have this medium for sharing anonymous musings, ranting, and other inspired words.

I write what I want, seeking truth and understanding in a troubled world.

So here I go...

I heard today that the Galapagos Islands, the source of Charles Darwin's research, is suffering because of the tourist trade. It nets $400,000,000 a year, but it doesn't reach the residents there. There is no hospital. There are poor people living there asking for help every day. On top of that, the indigenous life is dying.

Spead the love, people.

~

I heard a great second-hand quote from the author of "Backstabbing for Beginners":

"Politics is a battle of interests, masquerading as principle."

How true. I think that statement applies to mainstream civilization as well, who lives according to what is legal, instead of what is moral. Two popular examples of that philosophy are homosexuality and abortion.

I think it's very telling of where society is going, when people fight, push, petition, sue and protect others solely based on their sexual behavior. What is really sad is the twisted comparison made between the gay rights movement and what happened during Dr. King's day. King struggled for equality for black people, based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, whom he preached about. He didn't fight for respect of destructive sexual lifestyles.

I think we need to stop feeding cheap thrills, and start seeking God. Otherwise, we become twisted in ourselves and lose grasp on what is good. It hurts to see others so lost in the world, rather than living in the spirit.

~

Wafaal Balal's (spelling) "Shoot an Iraqi" project further proves how crazy people can be. Check it out.