So, You Don't Want To Go To Church Anymore?

**WARNING** THIS POST NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART & NOT FOR THE CLOSE-MINDED** YOUR LIFE COULD VERY WELL BE TURNED UPSIDE DOWN**

Ever tired of just going through the motions of Christianity and want to mine the depths of what it REALLY means to live deeply in Christ? Well, we have come to this stark realization over the past few years. We have asked ourselves difficult questions, asked God those difficult questions, and found some far-reaching answers. You might say that our world has been turned upside down - for the better! As I've talked about in previous posts, we made a choice to follow where God was leading and not man - it has forever changed our lives!

We read through Jacobsen's & Coleman's book, "So You Don't Want To Go To Church Anymore; an unexpected journey" several months ago, and I am getting ready to go through it again. Now, before I continue, I must state that I am not replacing this book as my "bible" and I'm not saying that I agree with every single word that is in it. I DO however, believe that this has some KEY truths and elements about how GOD sees our relationship with Himself and what He intended from the very beginning. I am not saying that I think the church is null and I am not saying that you shouldn't go to church - there is a healthy balance between what is being spoken about in this book that I will leave for you to read for yourself, if you choose.

What has been so refreshing and therapeutic for me is the freedom in knowing that I do not have to belong to a church in order for God to move in my life, speak to me, and grow in Him. I do not have to submit to a pastor as if I would my God. (I am NOT saying that we shouldn't respect our leaders, etc. What I AM saying is that God is my God and not another man; and when I say 'man' I am referring to humankind). Yes, I believe God puts pastors/leaders in authority to speak into our lives -what I don't believe is that just because a leader says you must do this or that or else you won't experience this or have that - that I must except that as the inherent truth and word of God. Anyone else who says this isn't right is essentially manipulating/controlling you to some extent so that you can help benefit their own personal agenda and not God's.

This story refers to the church as 'the institution', which I do agree with. Once you have a payroll and a group of leaders governing the overall decisions, you have an institution. There is no such mention of this in the Bible anywhere. God intended for us to be in relationship with Him - yes, have fellowship with other believers - but no in the sense that this one reason would keep you from being in fellowship with Him. This is a concept that I struggled with after we left our church a few years ago. We knew that we couldn't walk in the lies anymore with them, yet we felt like we had no worth, so to speak without being in a church. Now you mustn't confuse this by me saying we shouldn't have fellowship with other believers. The whole idea behind this is that God never said "if you don't go to a church and follow the prescribed formula, you will never be able to have relationship with me." When talking about approval, the book quotes:

"Do what they want and they shower you with affirmation. Cross them and they'll crucify your reputation, with or without the facts." ... "it's a lot easier for you to get out of the system than it is to get the system out of you."

See, we went through the martydom by leaving the church we were at - as if we had some sort of disease and had lost our salvation. We took a stand on what we believed to be wrong and what we believed to be the Truth and chose to follow the Truth. No more approval once we disagreed with what the "masses" told us to believe. At another section of the book, they have a discussion on guilt and how it is used to gain the desired outcome by controlling a situation:

"Guilt does that. It shoves us away from God in our time of need, instead of allowing us to run to him, presenting our greatest failures and questions so that we might receive his mercy and grace....we use guilt to conform people's behavior, never realizing the same guilt will them far from God."

See, it's a dangerous scary game. And we still get caught up in now that we're gone, just because it is human nature and when these things have been literally ingrained/indoctrinated in us since becoming a Christian, it's hard to just 'stop' all of a sudden. But thanks be to God that He is the ultimate in charge and that when we truly choose to follow HIM and not man, it will happen automatically. Your life is turned upside down without you even knowing it because you have been choosing to put God first and not the approval and guilt-driven system of man.

Weather you agree or not, this book is definitely worth reading. If you disagree, this is great material to debate and argue your points with :) - if you agree with stuff inside, then you're in for a whole new ride as well!

Incorporating Medium Chain ‘fatty acids’ into Your Diet Helps Lose Body Fat

I am not a diabetic, but I think this is great to think about weather you are or aren't! I really like this company's products and the coconut oil is quite tasty! I can add this to oatmeal, and Kaileigh eats it right up. Virgin Coconut Oil is an extremely versatile and wonderfully delicious tasting oil. Good quality coconut oil is one of the most stable cooking oils, plus it's highly resistant to rancidity. There are many ways to incorporate coconut oil into your diet. It could be used anywhere you currently use any of the "seed" oils (soybean, corn, canola, safflower, sesame seed, sunflower seed); used as a butter for spreads, over popcorn, or for baking; used in soups or 'smoothies'; eaten right off the spoon; eaten as a "candy" or "white chocolate" when refrigerated or frozen; put in coffee or tea; mixed with peanut butter; etc. I can add this to oatmeal, and Kaileigh eats it right up.

A new study demonstrates that a diet rich in coconut oil protects against ‘insulin resistance’ (an impaired ability of cells to respond to insulin) in muscle and fat. The diet also avoids the accumulation of body fat caused by other high fat diets of similar calorie content. Together these findings are important because obesity and insulin resistance are major factors leading to the development of Type 2 diabetes.

The study is also interesting because it helps explain human studies showing that people who incorporate medium chain ‘fatty acids’, such as those found in coconut oil, into their diets can lose body fat.

Dr Nigel Turner and Associate Professor Jiming Ye, from Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research, compared fat metabolism and insulin resistance in mice fed coconut oil and lard based diets. Their findings are now published online in the international journal Diabetes.

Unlike the long chain fatty acids contained in animal fats, medium chain fatty acids are small enough to enter directly, where they can then be converted to energy.

Unfortunately the downside to eating medium chain fatty acids is that they can lead to fat build up in the liver, an important fact to be taken into consideration by anyone considering using them as a weight loss therapy.

Fat storage is determined by the balance between how much fat is taken in by cells and how much of this fat is burned for energy. When people eat a high fat diet, their bodies attempt to compensate by increasing their capacity to oxidise fat. The medium chain fatty acid (coconut oil) diet was more effective at increasing the oxidative capacity of muscle than the long chain fatty acid (lard) diet leading to less fat storage in muscle and better insulin action.

The lard-based diet used in this research is similar to the diet eaten by people in the Western world. Its fatty acid composition is about 40% saturated fats, 40% monounsaturated fats and 20% polyunsaturated fats, of which the vast proportion is omega-6, rather than omega-3.

So at any rate, that is my 2 cents worth! You can check more out here. I just got a BUY 1 GET 1 FREE @ 12.95 special!!

Drinks for Your Spirit!

So it's 18 degrees at our house today and we have had nothing but freezing drizzle and sounds like that's the plan for the rest of the weekend! Here at the Davis household, we love seasonal drinks - both non-alcoholic and adult - and ALL of these recipes can be made with alcoholic substitutes with just the same great flavor! Today we made some Hot Buttered Apple Rum! Ah..

Hot Buttered Apple Rum

Ingredients

* 4 inches stick cinnamon, broken
* 1 teaspoon whole allspice
* 1 teaspoon whole cloves (I've also used ground cloves too which works)
* 7 cups apple juice
* 1-1/2 to 2 cups rum
* 1/3 to 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
* Butter
( If you want to have this drink alcoholic, alter this slightly by adding everything - except only cook about 1/2cup rum for flavoring. Then add a shot into the mug when serving.) The above recipe is great if you want a great flavored hot rum drink with the alcohol cooked out.

Directions

1. Tie cinnamon, allspice, and cloves in a spice bag. In a 3-1/2-, 4-, 5-, or 6-quart slow cooker combine spice bag, apple juice, rum, and brown sugar. Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 7 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 4 hours.

2. Discard spice bag. Ladle hot punch into cups; float about 1/2 teaspoon butter or margarine on each serving. Makes 10 (6-ounce) servings.

Another favorite fall/winter drink of ours:

"Coffee Alfredo"
3/4 oz. each Kahlua, Amaretto, fill with coffee and top with whip cream. (for non alcoholic, use Choco & Amaretto coffee syrups)

"Hot Apple Pie"
Sparkling Cider, 1 1/4 oz heated Tuaca, topped with whip cream.

"Hot Angel"
Steamed milk (foam or not) with shot Frangelica. (for non-alcoholic, use hazelnut syrup in place of the Frangelica)

Another Year, Another Adventure

The past month I have been focusing primarily on building my consulting business specializing with Social Media. I have really enjoyed working with some clients and watching their business grow, while having such a blast. Another great avenue that's presented itself has been handling a great deal of translation for a government agency that deals with lots of Georgians. How I love to be involved with aspects of international business and Social Media and still have playdough and coloring sessions with Kaileigh at my kitchen table!

So I have begun yet another adventure. This road is a bit more unknown and unpredictable, but the joy, fun, and peace has returned and that my friends, IS WHAT MATTERS!

I've literally been so busy that my own blog and social "fun" networking as slacked. I also realize that I like to keep my profiles up to date so that I can have somewhat of a "living" portfolio for clients to view as well so they can see things working. At any rate, my goal is 3 posts a week here until I get into a my new groove! I've currently been working on re-designing my own website for KMD, so I will post that too when it's done - hopefully this week!