'Lateral Thinking'

 A friend sent me the following fun and interesting quiz. Care to do some 'lateral thinking'?

(Q1)      man 
         ---------
           board

(Q2)      stand 
         ----------
               i 

(Q3)     /r/e/a/d/i/n/ g/

(Q4)    cycle cycle cycle

(Q5)        0
         -------------
         M.D. Ph.D.

 (Q6)            ground 
            -------------------------------
           feet feet feet feet feet feet

 (Q7)    ecnalg

 (Q8)    death ..... life 

 (Q9)    ababaaabbbbaaaabbbb ababaabbaaabbbb......


 Answers: (Q1) man overboard (Q2) I understand (Q3) reading between the lines (Q4) tricycle
                (Q5) two degrees below zero (Q6) six feet underground (Q7) backward glance
                ( Q8) life after death (Q9) long time no 'C'

Hormones in chicken

'Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.' (Isaiah 59:14-15)

Recently I have been seen by another TCM physician, who unlike the previous one, strongly advices her cancer patients not to eat chicken meat, at least cut down to the minimum. Her argument is that with the rampant injection of hormones to make the chickens grow faster, frequent consumption of chicken meat may have adverse effect on the human health in the long run. Indeed, there have been some studies done to address the concerns on the health effects of hormones used by the meat and dairy industries. However, evidences available so far are not conclusive.

Hormones can come in the form of steroids or proteins. Steroid hormones are active in one’s body when consumed, such as hormone pills. In contrast, protein hormones are broken down in the stomach, and lose their ability to act in the body when eaten. Therefore, protein hormones need to be injected into the body to have an effect, such as insulin is a protein hormone for the diabetic patients.

Hormones are used in food production because certain hormones can make young animals gain weight faster. The growth hormone typically acts by triggering the cells to make other chemicals, called growth factors. These growth factors cause the increase in growth rate and milk production. They help reduce the waiting time and the amount of feed eaten by an animal before slaughter in meat industries. In dairy cows, hormones can also be used to increase milk production.

While different hormones are produced by our bodies and are essential for normal development of healthy tissues, synthetic steroid hormones that are used as pharmaceutical drugs, have been found to affect cancer risk. For example, lifetime exposure to natural steroid hormone estrogen is also associated with an increased risk for breast.

The female sex hormone estrogen was first found to affect growth rates in cattle and poultry in the 1930s. Synthetic estrogens started being used to increase the size of cattle and chickens in the early 1950s. Steroid hormones are administered under the animal’s skin of the ear. The ears of the animals are thrown away at slaughter. However, improper use of such implants in other parts of the animal can result in higher levels of hormone residues to remain in the animal meat.

Since it is not possible to differentiate between the hormones produced naturally by the animal and those used to treat the animal, it is difficult to determine exactly how much of the hormone used for treatment remains in the meat or the milk. Steroid hormones in food were suspected to cause early puberty in girls in some reports. Early puberty in girls has been found to be associated with a higher risk for breast cancer.

The scientists have found that the amount of protein hormone, recombinant bovine growth hormone (rbGH) found in milk from rbGH-treated cattle have higher levels of the naturally produced protein called insulin-dependent growth factor-1 (IGF-1). IGF-1 is a protein, and is digested into smaller pieces in the stomach. Whether IGF-I remains intact through human digestion and whether it is biologically active in humans remained unclear. There is the concern that it may somehow cause the human body to make more of its own IGF. Higher levels of IGF-1 in blood have been found in people with cancers, notably prostate and breast cancers.

While there are chemical tests that can distinguish between organic milk and non-organic milk, there are no chemical tests that can distinguish between milk produced using synthetic rBST and "hormone free" milk because cows produce their own hormones also. The only way to ascertain this is to know the source of animal meat or milk production. Giant food retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. had announced in 2008 that its store brand milk in the United States would now come exclusively from cows not been treated with artificial growth hormones.

Since it is not possible for us to avoid hormone-laced food products entirely, may be one can adopt the habit of eating a variety of animal meat, no matter how one may like certain type, while at the same time cut down the number of servings of meat and dairy.

'Cultural Mandate'?

'I (Apostle Paul) am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called by by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - which is really no gospel at all. Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.' (Galatians 1:6-7,10)

Are Christians given ‘cultural mandate ‘by God to reach out to the non-believers by striving to stay ‘relevant’ to the society? Going to church should be fun with great music and songs, like going to a concert, right? Is it true that God wants His children to manifest success in life, happiness, wealth, creativity etc so that the world will envy and seek after Him? 

I think even a non-believer knows the correct answers to these questions but sadly not some Christians. As a result, secular models of entertainment-based worship are promoted. The sermons become less threatening & offensive (‘sugar-coated’), absence of hell & fire; more on motivational, uplifting, whip up emotions. To them, to stay ‘relevant’ means the church has to be ‘user-friendly’ and embraces prevailing social and cultural setting, inadvertently some of the values as well. Financial blessings are the will of God and more donations to the church will result in increase one’s material prosperity. The church leaders are given celebrity status, incapable of any wrongdoings. The church-goers idolized them, hoping one day they too become like their leaders, successful in life, lived in luxury houses and receiving good pay checks.

In reality, the values of the Kingdom of God and the World never converge. To convert a person is a supernatural work and not a result of pure human effort. Using pop music to outreach non-Christians has never shown to work. People become Christians when they come into contact with God’s Word. In the name of ‘creativity’, some of these pop songs and videos went too far that even non-Christians find them offensive. To me, staying relevant means having sermons that touch on our real life issues that we faced daily. Genuine creativity is like people like David Garibaldi whose 'Jesus Painting' is just awesome.( http://vimeo.com/23864881 )                                                  

Christianity’s call for repentance and submission to God’s reign in one’s life goes against human’s self-centeredness. The desire to resist God’s rule and reign is deeply ingrained within each one of us. So how can Man be genuinely attracted to such faith? May be by watering-down some of the biblical teachings, make the seekers more at ‘ease’. Christ warns the cost of following Him. He says, wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13-14). His prayer is not that God takes the believers out of the world but that He will protect them from the evil one(John 17:15). If the believers belonged to the world, the world would love them as its own. As it is, they do not belong to the world, that is why the world hates them. (John 15:19). Christians are reminded not to love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for God is not in them. (I John 2:15)

A mega church functions just like a spiritual shopping mail than a Bible-believing congregation. It is as though one steps into a ‘McChurch’, where you can choose what you like and leave the rest. The ego-centered experience of attending such church is very appealing indeed, that explains the popularity of such church.

Counselling & Faith

“Philosophers can debate the meaning of life, but you need a Lord who can declare the meaning of life.” ― Max Lucado (author)

In any counseling program, besides exploring the unique situation faced by a particular person, it normally first addresses five areas of human functioning- spiritual, rational, volitional, emotional and physical. It is found that many human problems occur because of a relational disconnection or breakdown. The second element in counseling is to explore the background history of the person and their problem,deeper understanding of the real issues. 

As I looked around those whom I know who have gone for counseling, I noticed  that the most common cause seems to do with that person’s view on his identity and self-worthiness. Someone who has a strong sense of security and worthiness is unlikely to stay long in such state of mental condition. He is in a better position to overcome his temporary setbacks and the counseling program is likely to benefit him. As I see it, a person’s faith has an important role to play as faith gives answers to questions like who we are, why we are here, and where we are going after this journey on earth.  Whatever our life experiences, talents, physical ability, or role may be, one cannot go on this life journey without security and purpose in life. Without that, the different parts of our lives are like loose ends, unable to withstand the onslaught of hard knocks in life, and life can fall apart easily.