Thursday, September 28, 2017

Weight Loss Made Easy

The posts from the last two days were pretty heavy so let us lighten it up a little bit. How is this for a beautiful picture?


I can feel inspiration leaping off the canvas right into my stomach heart. Can you hear the news interview with that farmer?

Reporter: We are here today with the farmer that grew the grand champion cheeseburger at the county fair. In fact this is the third blue ribbon they have taken home in the last five years. I have never seen a farm that could consistently grow cheeseburgers this big. Tell, us what is your secret.

Farmer: Well, there are a lot of factors and some of them I can not disclose here, but it comes down to the soil and technique. We try to plant at the right time, we use quality seeds, we must have the right mix of rain and sunshine, but we have been blessed with good soil and a greasy thumb. Yes sir, my granddaddy had a greasy thumb. He passed that down to my daddy and my daddy passed the greasy thumb down to me.

Reporter: There you have it folks. He is not giving up his award winning secrets but still giving us fascinating insight into how the professionals raise  champion cheeseburgers.
______________________

Speaking of cheeseburgers moves me right into a discussion of weight loss. What a tremendous segue! 

I know you want to read about loosing weight, right? Before anyone takes offense, please remember I am not a novice in this area. I know whereof I speak.

I have the perfect formula for you.

Have you ever heard of BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)? Basically it tells you the number of calories you can eat each day to maintain your present weight. If you know your BMR then you can eat fewer calories and lose weight or eat more calories and gain weight.  The equation to find your BMR is below...

Body Weight [lb] x 15 + (moderate activity [mins/day] x 3.5)

If you wish to lose weight then you must eat less than your BMR each day.  Each person burns calories at a different rate but according to the formula if the average person eats 500 less calories than his/her BMR per day they will lose one pound per week.

Let us plug in some actual numbers.

We will use the average ordinary 350 lb man who exercises moderately for 10 minutes each day.

350 lbs. (Body Weight) x 15.  That equals 5250.

Add to that 10 minutes of moderate activity per day x 3.5.  That equals 35.

So 5250 + 35=5285. That is the BMR for a 350 lb man with minimal exercise.

According to this the average ordinary 350 lb man who exercises moderately for 10 minutes each day needs to eat 5285 calories a day to maintain his weight!

So if he eats 500 less calories per day he can lose one pound a week.

Now, follow me on this.

A 350 lb man can eat 4785 calories a day and lose 52 pounds a year. That is a BMR of 5285 minus 500. The 350 man must limit himself to 4785 calories each day to loose one pound per week and 52 pounds per year. Got it? 

One of the most difficult parts of dieting is limiting yourself to the allotted calories and finding the right foods.

Let me put 4785 calories each day into perspective for you. We need to come up with a menu for a whole week that has enough variety to keep you from falling off the diet. 

OK? Here we go.

Day 1
4785 calories is three Triple Whoppers with cheese and 1095 calories left over for vegetables like French Fries! Not bad for the first day.

Day 2
A little over 7 large slices of Meat Lover's 18" Pizza from Pizza Hut.

Day 3
Almost 15 KFC Original Recipe fried chicken breasts or 16 thighs or 34 wings.

Day 4
5 Classic Lasagna dinners from Olive Garden. Sorry no extra bread sticks

Day 5
The 72 ounce, 4.5 lb. steak and all the trimmings at the Big Texan in Amarillo, Texas. That meal is 5400 calories so you would have to save that one for your cheat day.

Day 6
12 Burrito Supremes from Taco Bell and you still have room in your calorie count for 2 orders of Cinnamon Twists! If you like sour creme on your Burrito Supreme you may have to limit yourself to 11 instead of 12.

Day 7
Two dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts hot and fresh with about 200 calories left over for about 20 ounces of broccoli.

There is your plan. Who knew weight loss was so easy? Let me know how that works out for you.

Davy

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Fake News Part II

Today's post should hopefully stand on its own but it is Part II in relation to the post yesterday. You are welcome to click below and read Part I if you need to catch up. I am not in a hurry so I will wait right here on you.

Yesterday's post, Fake News Part I

I ended yesterday with the conclusion that in my opinion lazy reporting and preconceived ideas and bias clouds most news stories and gives them all an element of fakeness.

In recent years several high profile reporters and respected news anchors have been caught red handed "massaging" the so called facts they were reporting to support their mindset and prejudices. They spin the story so that it points to their viewpoint as the only sensible conclusion.

By the time they finish manipulating the narrative it is obvious that anyone that believes contrary to their proven conclusion must be a low life, right wing, gun toting, Bible thumping, uneducated, narrow minded, bigoted, imbecile that should not expect to be heard or even breathe free air.

The list of honest heartfelt opinions that will earn you that kind of hate and venom from the "enlightened" ones is growing every day.

If you dare to believe that 


-Marriage is intended for one man and one woman until death parts them or
-Homosexuals are not born homosexuals or
-Life is sacred and unborn babies of all races are precious in God's sight or
-Global warming is not man made or

-Guns are not evil or
-God created the world in six days or
-Jesus is the only way to Heaven or
-The Bible is God's Word 

Or... The list goes on and on and on. If you dare to believe any of these things and more, then you are lower than pond scum and totally undeserving of expressing your depraved opinions.

That silences all debate in the minds of the liberal elite and confirms that their side of the story is the only logical thing to believe. Therefore if they massage the facts or make up stories to support their narrative then the end justifies the means.

If I were a touch more cynical I would believe absolutely nothing I read! But hold on to your hats, there is one source I believe completely. That source predicted that fake news would be believed more than truth. 

It warns us that the lies of fake news would seduce us, cause us to depart from the faith. People will not hear the truth and will rather believe fables. 

This source encourages us to not be shaken by deceivers and lies and smooth words. It charges us to shun lies, know the truth, grow strong with words of faith and doctrine and turn a deaf ear to fables.

Examples? Read some for yourself and then I will conclude below.

II Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

I Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

II Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

II Timothy 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
 14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;

II Timothy 2:14 Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.
15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
 16 But shun profane and vain babblings...

I Timothy 4:6 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.
 7 But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

II Peter 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

One of the biggest lies of all is above in II Peter. It is the fake news that says Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

They say, where is the proof the Lord is coming back? All things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

What? Seriously? All things continue as they were? There has never been a more fraudulent fake story in the world. For this they are willingly ignorant of! Things are not the same! 

We do not live in the garden of Eden any more! We were cast out because of sin! Man has devolved into sin and because of sin for 6000 years. Generations of sin has damaged the world and the human race.

All things are not the same! That is fake news.

All things are following the exact path predicted in the Bible. Sin is reigning, morals are declining, the world is shaking and man is self destructing!

But God is still saving, the blood is still cleansing, the cross is still redeeming, the stripes on Christ's back are still healing and the Lord is still coming!

Reject the fake news and receive the good news!

I Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

The world is falling apart. Nations are being destroyed. Churches are being attacked. Morality is being persecuted. Evil seems to triumphing in many areas.

All of the bad news is being promoted but it is exaggerated. It is fake! It will drive you crazy. It will give you a nervous breakdown. It will cause you to lose hope. It will compel you to lose hold.

But comfort one another with these words! The Lord is coming back for His church! Hallelujah!

And God is still reaching for humanity and redeeming those that come to Him!

I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

That is the good news that you can count on! That is good news you can tell your neighbors! That is good news you can share with your family and friends! That is good news that will help you sleep at night in a world of bad, fake and destructive news!

Tell and sing the news, friends! We are not without hope. If we had hope in this world only, we would be most miserable! But we have hope in Christ! We have hope in eternity. We have hope of peace here and rest there!

Hallelujah! Tell and sing the good news.

Thank you for reading and for sharing.

Davy

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Fake News Part I

This post started germinating in my mind after two text conversations. 

Bro. Scott Morris text me about the multitudes of "prophecies" concerning the end of the world or the coming of the Lord. His thoughts were that all of this may be an evil plan to cause people to grow numb to the message that the Lord IS coming back again although we do not know when.

My brother Steve and I had a conversation about fake news and how that everything looks like fake news now days. Do we swallow it all? Do we even know what is real and what is fake?

What about "Fake" news? Is it a real thing? My opinion is that most news has been partially fake for a long time. It has become a "thing" to point out now, but it is not a new thing or a surprising thing.

First, most stories have at least one inaccuracy and sometimes many inaccuracies in them. We have been in a position several times to know about various events that were later reported in the news. Some of those stories were reported locally and some nationally.

Absolutely every time a story was reported that we had previous knowledge about, there were real known facts that were reported completely wrong. Every time. Whether it was a story about a family, an accident, a fire, a church, a special event or whatever. They always get some fact askew.

Most of the time the blunders were relatively minor. The city was incorrect, the age was wrong, they were mistaken about a hometown or name, the color or make of the car was inaccurate or the dates were erroneous.

At times it seems that a reporter made things up out of thin air but most of the time it could obviously be attributed to lazy reporting. The facts that were misstated were very easily verifiable IF someone had tried to verify them.

That is the second thing about news. Do we even have any real reporters? I am sure they are out there some where doing their job but here is the way a bunch of stories read.

"It has been reported else where..."
"A reputable news service is reporting..."
"The Facebook post has been deleted but here is a screenshot of what they posted this morning..."
"They tweeted moments ago..."
"An anonymous source said..."
"A police source that was not authorized to speak said..."

What about a reporter getting up out of his/her chair and actually going down to the scene of the tumult and investigating, you know, gathering facts?

Here is an absurd example:

One report says that twelve people were shot multiple times with a gun, probably an assault rifle, purchased undoubtedly at a gun show. Witnesses tweeted that the bearded gunman escaped in a Chick-fil-A van with a "I Love Dobson, Duck Dynasty and the Duggars" bumper sticker. He was wearing a blond wig and stiletto heels and shouting "Put Hillary in jail and Trump in 2020." 

That report is blasted on ten social media platforms and 439 lazy reporters Google the story and write their own versions of the tale complete with all the "facts" in the original.

Soon all the 24 hour news stations are breathlessly interviewing congressmen, senators, gun control "experts", animal rights advocates and vegans that are screaming about the gun show loophole, crazy president Trump, Rush Limbaugh working right wing gun nuts into a frenzy and the horrible evils of Chick-fil-A. 

The talking heads desperately hope the attacker is a white male Christian republican homophobe and life time member of the NRA. They are most irate because the mention of the bearded gunman escaping wearing stiletto heels and a blond wig was insensitive to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community. 

Only the facts are wrong every time. When the dust settles the gun man was a disgruntled ex-employee that shot his boss with a stolen gun and was stopped by a good guy with a gun before he was able to kill a bunch more. 

The only time they mention the good guy with the gun is when they point out it is never a good idea to confront an active shooter. That is what 911 is for. They refuse to mention the many lives were saved by a well trained, armed good guy.

Most likely the bad guy never listens to Rush Limbaugh, hates Trump, believes in outlawing guns, hugs trees, is anti coal, anti oil and anti fracking and maybe even voted for Hillary Clinton for president. Yeah, I made those facts up too, but my made up facts are as fair and accurate as their made up facts. Plus, I admit my facts are made up.

I am convinced that many stories are written in front of a computer by a "reporter" that understands nothing more about the story than you do. They are only regurgitating what they read on social media or in other news reports.

No wonder news is so fake. We have come to accept whatever we read as fact and since we readily accept it, that is what we are fed each and every day.

As I said before, news reports about events that we know about personally always have inaccuracies in easily verifiable areas.

Yet, when I read a story about which I know nothing, I forget that most stories have inaccuracies and I am quick to believe everything the story says. I know nothing about the facts so I assume the writer is writing facts.

The endless repeating of biased supposition mixed with preconceived ideas along with lazy reporting lends itself to creating fraudulent news. It all has an element of fakeness. 

If I were a touch more cynical I would believe absolutely nothing I read! But hold on to your hats, there is one source I believe completely. 

I have rambled on long enough. I will get into that source tomorrow by His grace.

Thanks for reading.

Davy

Monday, September 25, 2017

Weekend Woundup and Weview #40

The last full weekend of September is now behind us and what a great weekend it was. We finished revival in Richton Friday night with another good service. It was tough to say goodbye, but we do have a few pictures of the Richton folks and visitors.






















We visited way, way too late Friday night after church with Pastor Scott Morris and his family but we were having a great time. We did not have to travel a full day Saturday so the late night did not hurt us as bad as it normally would have. After all was said and done, it was a super great way to end our wonderful week with dear friends in Richton.

Saturday morning we visited some more before pulling out a little before noon. It is only about an hour and 20 minutes from Richton to the Tanner Williams church by car. The bus takes longer but we still arrived with plenty of daylight to get parked and settled in.

The Apostle Donald C. Williamson and his wife, the Epistle😆, were at Tanner Williams Holiness Church to welcome us back home. We have been preaching for Bro. Donnie and his folks for several years and they have embraced us and loved us as family. We love being here.

About dark we loaded the sound equipment in the church and set up. This is a picture of the bus and car as we came out of the church.


This is Sunday morning on my way to church.








We had two wonderful services Sunday to begin revival. These folks love to have church and that makes me love them and love to be in church with them!












We met Penny and Mike at Tent Revival in Richton a year or two ago. They came to Richton revival one night last week and Sunday night at Tanner Williams. It was very nice to have them and to get to visit with them a little more. May God bless them for driving to be with us.







That wraps up our weekend. If you are any where near Mobile we would love to have you join us this week. You can click HERE for service times and the address. I know you will enjoy being with these fine folks.

Thanks for stopping in to sit a spell. Be careful out there.

Davy

Sunday, September 24, 2017

View Out The Front Window September 24, 2017

Here are the links from our posts this last week.







This is our beautiful view out the front window in the park like setting behind the Tanner Williams Holiness Church near Mobile, Alabama.


This is our view out the front door.


These views are different from all the other times we have parked here at Tanner Williams. They have redone the parking lot and now we are able to back into this space rather than pulling in. It has always been a pretty place to park but now it is even better.

We are beginning revival this morning and we would love to have you with us.

Thank you for reading.

Davy

Saturday, September 23, 2017

Lucas Is A Miracle

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting in this weekend. Our week has been fabulous. God blessed us with a great revival in Richton, Mississippi. We always love being with Pastor Scott Morris and the dear people at First Assembly. 

I want to personally thank Bro. Scott, Sis. Kim, Regan and Rylee Morris for opening your home to me. You always make me feel right at home and I love staying with my Mississippi family. I appreciate your hospitality! I love you all!

Thursday night I got to meet another Miracle Baby. My friends Jamie and Alison Brownlee have prayed and longed for a child for several years. We have joined them in praying for their miracle too. Last fall I received a text letting me know their answer was on the way!  We rejoiced with them and anticipated the baby’s arrival. 

This spring they were blessed with a bouncing baby boy. I have been waiting months to officially meet Lucas Warren Brownlee! I have gotten pictures via text and seen him through FaceTime, but to actually meet this miracle in person was awesome. 

Lucas is a definite answer to prayer!  Many times we have been in services with Alison and Jamie and I just knew God was going to answer their prayers. I am so thankful He gave them the desires of their heart. 

Lucas is a precious baby boy. He was pretty happy Thursday night and it was wonderful to see and hold him. I just had to share with you this miracle that looked impossible with man, but God made it a reality.

Are you waiting for a miracle like I am? Please be encouraged today. God sees the big picture and He has a plan. He will answer our prayers exactly when and how they need to be answered. He still does miracles today! Seeing Lucas builds my faith to keep believing and waiting for my miracles to happen. 

Here are a few of the pictures I snapped Thursday night. I could not choose a favorite. 







I had to enough snuggles in to last for a few months. 


The Brownlee Family 


We are looking forward to beginning Homecoming revival tomorrow at Tanner Williams Holiness Church in Wilmer, Alabama. We always have a fantastic time with Pastor Apostle Donald C. Williamson. Come be in service with us. Revival will be Sunday through Friday and Homecoming is next Sunday morning, October 1st. 

I hope you have a great weekend.

Odie