The greatest trick

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that, poof. He's gone. "  -Kevin Spacey as the narrator in the Usual Suspects.


From People of the Lie by M. Scott Peck.

We must not fall back into Saint Augustine's now discarded doctrine of "privatio boni," whereby evil was defined as the absence of good.  Satan's personality cannot be characterized simply by an absence, a nothingness.  It is true, however, that pervading this personality is an active presence of hate.  Satan wants to destroy us.  It is important that we understand this.  There are quite popular systems of thought these days, such as Christian Science or the Course in Miracles, which define evil as unreality.  It is a half-truth.  The spirit of evil is on of unreality, but it itself is real.  It really exists.  To think otherwise is to be misled.  Indeed, as several have commented, perhaps Satan's best deception is its general success in concealing its own reality from the human mind.

Personally I reject the bubble-gum, feel-good, Pop "Christianity" that seems to permeate Western Culture.  The Truth sets one free, but the Truth often hurts.  The Truth is a double-edged sword.  The Truth cuts both ways, its comforts the afflicted and it also afflicts the comforted.  Any doctrine that does one and not the other is the doctrine of a wolf.  Feel-good, bubble gum, Pop "Christianity" is in my opinion a wolf in sheep's clothing.  Sure it brings comfort, but at what expense?  I have learned my deepest, most profound and important lessons while broken and afflicted.  Though God does not do the afflicting He uses it for my growth.  Only making a deal with the devil ends affliction in this life, but it costs my eternity.  This is a deal Satan always offers.  Salvation is free through God's gift of Jesus Christ, and He guarantees a hard road of affliction in this life, and He guarantees me riches that never rust and last an eternity.  Anyone I see who lives a life free from affliction, and preaches such gives me cause to consider the possibility that he or she sleeps with the Satan clothed as an angel of light.  Test every spirit.

Evil exists, but we have an Advocate with the Father who sent us His one and only Son.

Snack Time

So the Navitas Goji berries are in, and they are a bit drier than those I found at the local market of unknown origin, other than that I enjoy them.
The Navitas Cacao nibs are also in, being 100% cacao they are a bit bitter when eaten alone, but go well with something sweeter like Goji berries.
To add some essential amino acids and essential fatty acids to the mix I add shelled Hemp seeds.  They are fantastic and loaded with all sorts of trace elements, minerals, Vitamin E and the essential polyunsaturated fatty acids in a favorable ratio. 
At the moment I follow this recipe:
56 grams of Hemp Seeds (2 oz)
28 grams of Goji Berries (1 oz)
28 grams of Cacao Nibs (1oz)

Pour them into an empty pill or vitamin bottle and start taking your vitamins as your food!  

This provides me with an excellent macro-nutrient ratio and a good range of micro-nutrients to support all sorts of biological functions in my body and mind. 

 

Servicing Needs

Nearly every action humans execute serve some type of need.  Almost everything we do in some way is an attempt to satisfy a need.  Conflict often occurs when an action satisfies one's needs at the expense of another.  In my experience we can survive only a short time without satisfying certain needs.
Food for 30 days.
Water for 3 days.
Air for 3 minutes.
Hope for 3 seconds.
I have no idea how long humans can generally survive without community.  We are in fact social creatures and the most basic social unit is the family.  Much of what we do is not only in the service of a personal need, but in the service of a need of our family, which in turn indirectly services that inherent need for community.  In addition to family there is a fundamental need to be close to those similar to oneself, this is commonly identified as intimacy.  This need drives us into social groups, such as political parties, unions, clubs, sports teams, and other organizations.  Perhaps this is an out growth of a need to be understood?  There is another need I wish to address, the need to chart your own destiny, the need to have some form of control over your life.  The need for autonomy.  In separating from England the colonists served both the need to be closer to those like them, their fellow colonists, and to chart their own destiny by declaring independence.  Now that we live together in this amazing country we still have these often opposing needs to service.  How do we maintain a sense of community and autonomy?  How do we collaborate together to meet the needs of teachers, firefighters, and nurses to make a living for themselves and their families and the needs of the community at large for education, emergency services, and health care?  I do not know the best answer for a specific community, but I can say that the needs Unions once addressed are now codified in federal law.  Unions no longer are a means to the ends of equitable and ethical employment practices.  Unions have in most cases become an end in themselves, they exist for their own existence.  This is know in some circles as a "self-licking ice cream cone"  Unions now consume more in dues than the benefits they produce.  The increase the price of labor in order to pay union dues reduces the number an employer and consumer in turn can afford.  Americans are independent enough and strong enough to bargain for the wages and benefit they desire without having to pay a union to hold meetings and rallies and all manner of overhead. 
I am all for well paid teachers, firefighters, and nurses, and we can pay them more when they no longer have to pay for union bosses.  Union bosses who served their purpose last century can find another honorable way to meet the needs of their family without breaking the budgets of states across the union.  The need unions served honorably in the past no longer exists, federal law now supports the fluid functioning of the free market to ensure maximized wages and maximized employment. 

Paleo Pancakes - Improved Recipie

After several weeks and a handful of batches I am finally pleased with paleo pancakes.  What are those you ask, they are non-grain, non-dairy, non-legume pancakes.  Basically you use almond meal instead of wheat flour, and apple sauce instead of milk.

Use coconut oil to grease the skillet on medium to low heat, and keep it lightly greased as the almonds will soak it up.

3 Eggs (150 grams)
1 Cup of Almond Meal (112 grams)
1 Cup of Unsweetened Apple Sauce (122 grams)
1 Table Spoon of Almond Butter (32 grams)

Cinnamon (as much as you can stand as it increases your Insulin Sensitivity giving your pancreas a break)

Mix it up, add Apple Sauce to thin, or Almond meal or Butter to thicken.
Pour a few thin pancakes onto the skillet, flip after a few minutes then remove when done.  This part takes some practice.  Keep the skillet greased. 
This makes about 8 pancakes, serves 2.
(11g Carb 27g Protein, 46g Fat)

Paleo Toppings:
Unsweetend Applesauce (1 Cup adds 13g Carbs)
Real Maple Syrup
Bee Honey
Heated Blueberries (unsweetened)
Chopped Apples or Strawberries (unsweetened)

Choose this Day

Now more than ever life confronts us with many choices.  What to wear, what to eat, where to live, where to work, who to hang out with, what is true, how did we all get here, why are we here.  There are as many options for each choice as there are choices.
In recent decades physicists and scientists from various fields have worked to form a theory of everything, a unified field theory.  Choosing from many of the theories and laws of great minds before them such as  Newton's physics, Einstein's theory of relativity, to quantum theory, they still have not arrived at a theory of everything.  Well I fancy myself a scientist, so I feel like I can take a crack at a theory of everything.  Rather than a turning to a particle accelerator or an observatory I decided to turn to Luke Chapter 23 verses 32-43.

Here atop the hill of Calvary with three wooden crosses the history of the world changed forever.  It is here that I find everything I need to explain everyone and everything.

Here on Calvary a division is formed, actually two divisions.  Here I see God divided, and I see Mankind divided.  The vertical beam of the Cross I see represents God, while the smaller horizontal beam represents all of Mankind.  The form of the Cross represents Mankind dividing God, cutting of Jesus Christ from God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Trinity broken by the sin of Mankind as Jesus takes upon Himself all the sins of man.  Now as to the second division, the division of Mankind by God.  To reinforce this symbolism Jesus Christ physically divides the two thieves crucified on either side of Him.  So right here I see everything simplified into one single cross, and when you pan out a bit, the symbolism is emphasized by the three individuals being crucified. 
Jesus of course represents God in the center while every single man, woman, and child is represented by either the thief on the left of Jesus or the thief on the right.  Each thief is there for crimes they committed, while Jesus is there completely innocent.  Am I boiling down all of humanity down to a pair of thieves,

, yes I am.  We are all either one thief or the other, and what separates us is Jesus Christ.  Specifically who we say He is.  You’re eternity rests on your answer to this one Question.  Are you the thief who mocks Jesus saying that if He is the Christ He should save Himself and me with Him?  Or are you the other thief?  The one who rebukes the mocker and defends Jesus?  The one who owns up to  your misdeeds and fears God.  The one who accepts your condemnation and recognizes the innocence of Jesus Christ.  The one who believes in His Kingdom and His Lordship.  

                This is the only division God makes among mankind, all other divisions are man-made. 

Political divisions, there are democrats on both sides of Jesus, there are republicans on both sides of Jesus, there are independents on both side of Jesus, there are Tea Partiers on both sides of Jesus.  Your party cannot save you.

Professional divisions, there are food service workers on both sides of Jesus, there are teachers, and doctors and nurses on both sides of Jesus.  There are Clerks, and secretaries, and CEOs on both sides of Jesus.  There are soldiers, and generals on both sides of Jesus.  Your job cannot save you.

Racial divisions, even these are false man-made divisions, God does not seek brown, red, white, black, purple, or green, He sees that you believe in Him or you believe in yourself.  Your skin cannot save you.

You can chose many things in this life, there are many ways you can divide yourself from your fellow man, but the most important choice is to either divide yourself from God or divide yourself from your Ego.  EGO, E-G-O, Edge God Out.  When we define ourselves by our body, its shape and color, or our possessions, or our positions, or our reputations we Edge God Out.  When we teach and demonstrates to our children that those four things are more important than God and relationship with Him, we divide ourselves and our children from God.  

Now I promised a theory of everything, but I have only explained how this model accounts for everyone.  John in his Gospel explains that everything was made by and through Jesus Christ.  So I could stop there since there He is right in the center of everything.  But I want to take it a bit deeper, by asking why, why does all this exists, why is the universe so incredibly complex, from vast distances between starts and galaxies to irreducibly small distances inside molecules and atoms, to mind-boggling machinery inside a single cell, which somehow coordinates with the collective actions of 60 trillion cells in the human body.  Why is everything the way it is.  I believe that everything is delicately coordinated to one, demonstrate without a doubt the signature of the Creator, like in the corner of a painting.  And what then is the purpose of this masterful painting, it’s a message from God directly to you, through everything, every blade of grass, every dust-bunny in your house, every sneeze, every ray of sunshine, every ache and pain, is there in direct obedience to God’s laws which exists to tell you,  “I love you”  That is God’s message to you, that no matter what you have done, no matter how far you have gone astray, no matter how long you have sat on your hands immobile, God says to you from every angle, “I love you.”  From the twinkle of the stars in the night sky to the crash of the waves of the ocean, to the rain collecting in the gutters of your house during a warm spring rain, It is all part of the Father’s song and the chorus goes “I love you my child, hear and see all that do for you, that you may return to me as a child without your ego, for your body, your profession, your reputation and your possessions, are nothing compared to the work and the riches I have planned for you.”

God is calling to  you to make a very important choice, the same choice Joshua offered the Israelites:
"Choose this day whom you will serve...as for me and my house we shall serve the Lord"

Choose this day to serve the LORD, to thank the LORD, to re-dedicate yourself to the LORD.
Choose this day as the day of your Salvation, choose which side of Jesus you wish to be on.
Choose this day to stop seeing people through the man made divisions of the body, possessions, professions, or reputations.  Choose instead to see people as God see them, as believers in Him or those still needing to hear His message.
Those of us fellow believers we can now see every single person as either a fellow believe to whom we can minister, and also from whom we can receive ministry.  Even Jesus taught His disciples to receive ministry as He washed their feet.  Everyone else separated from us by their disbelief in Jesus Christ and God's message we see as our mission.  Our mission to share with them His message, the Good News of Salvation, the Love of God, God's signature in every single cell, particle, atom, and twinkling star. 
Choose this Day whom you will serve.
Choose this Day to make full work of your ministry and your mission.
Choose this Day to receive God's Love.

Best Books

I have spend a great deal of my last few years reading all sorts of books on all sorts of topics and I select these two as the most outstanding books.  I recommend them because they have the most general and broadest application to any person, anywhere, anytime, in any situation or condition in their life.  I recommend them because they are so basic, simple, easy to understand, and easy to follow.  They each require changes in you and not your surroundings, and that is what makes them so powerful, each one puts the ball in your court.  They are quick reads and in small chunks, you will refer back to them time and again with ease because of the short chapters and examples.  There are no tricks, gimmicks, weird science, mysticism, religion, just basic wisdom that support other changes you may decide to make later in your lifestyle, nutrition, sleep, and other things I address here on Daily Vitamin B.  Most will not pick up either of these books.  Most who do will never read them.  Most who do will never put them into practice.  But the ones that do will recognize one another as we cross paths.

  

Start Winning Friends and Leading People

Start Working the Systems that support your life.

The rest is up to you...

Chocolate

Chocolate has received a bad rap, from causing acne to making kids hyper, these unfounded claims actually have more to do with sugar and milk content than with the chocolate.  Chocolate is actually a great food, the darker the better.  According to renown dermatologist Dr. Nicolas Perricone dark chocolate above 85% is very good for you.  My own experience confirms this.  It provides a nutritious boost of good fatty acids, that support your bodies energy needs and provides substrates for many important hormones which your body uses to send important messages back and forth in order to maintain homeostasis.  Testosterone and Cortisol are both important in your day and both require stearic acid for synthesis.  With our stressful lives you are lucky if you have any stearic acid left over to make testosterone with your high cortisol demands.  Suffering from decreasing bone and muscle mass, are you starving your body of the raw materials it needs to work for you?  Besides chocolate contains all sorts of important minerals, and anti-oxidants and bio-flavanoids.  For more on the subject check out David Wolfe's Book on Superfoods.

For more on why Fats are good for you check out Robb Wolf's Paleo Solution.

I am a big fan of Ghirardelli chocolate.

Lindt Chocolate.

This week I am trying Nativas Chocolate Nibs, more raw, more natural, more nutrients, I shall see.



  

Goji Berries

I have recently substituted one of my daily fruit servings with goji berries.  I have not tried all the brands yet, and the one I used last week was from a local market.  This week I am trying these from Navitas Naturals.   I plan to update this post with my comments on this brand and other brands in the future.  I first tried them two years ago, a buddy swore by them.  I decided to give them a second go after reading David Wolfe's Superfoods last month.  I recommend it and even sent a copy to my mom!  So far I am a big fan of Goji berries and look forward to finding the optimal source.  I also just planted a few seeds and will try to grow my own as well.  I plan to do my best to update my progress.

My vision for the future

I envision a future where people are able to:

Plan and build their own homes
Plant and grow their own foods
Care for and heal their own bodies
Raise and teach their own children
Collaborate and participate with others
Worship and know the One True Living God

Make no mistake, this is the start of an insurgency against established principalities, it is a war which we shall win without fighting, killing or destroying.  Our victory comes through living, expanding, and sharing, person to person, mind to mind, house to house.



"Supreme excellence exists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."  -Sun Tzu.

"Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8

"Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."  John 13:35