Category Archives: Mental-Physical-Spiritual Health

RESIST OR FLEE

Bible Talk, Current Events, Health & Dis-ease, Health & Disease, Holistic Distress, Holistic Health, Humanity & Sin, Living the Word, Mental-Physical-Spiritual Health, Politics


I always taught my children to remember their three things:

  1. Keep your eyes on Jesus.
  2. Obey your authorities- IN THE LORD.
  3. Use good manners.

I taught them who Jesus was and who Jesus is.  I taught them the definition of authority and that some authority is good and of GOD and that some is evil; as every good thing fell in the beginning and can now be perverted.  I told them to follow authority ONLY when authority did not ask them to sin or to go against THE GOD of THE BIBLE.  I taught them that though manners and customs can be very specific as pertaining to different societies, ultimately manners are a way of behaving that does not offend another, and that good manners are defined in the Golden rule.  The Golden rule reminds us to do to others only that we would in our reasonable mind do or want done to ourselves.

In this present world, It is becoming increasingly difficult to know when the authority is in opposition to GOD and to HIS good.  Yet, as always, we must be able to recognize sin, and sin is anything that is displeasing to GOD, and to resist sin or flee from it.  I ask now that my children and all people pray for discernment- BEG for wisdom- and resist any authority in opposition to the good that is GOD.
https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/68/80/73/6a17a66e9ec8c5/US11107588.pdf

Copyright 2021.    L.L. Shelton.

How Well Are We Adulting?

Education, Health, Holistic Health, Mental-Physical-Spiritual Health, ,

Adults educate themselves.

Adults seek and consider counsel.

Adults adopt their own values.

Adults make decisions.

Adults embrace responsibility for their decisions.

Adults are honest with themselves and others.

Adults accept the blame that is due them.

Adults graciously pardon weakness in others.

Adults are respectful and considerate of others.

Adults are motivated by the joy of service.

Adults cheerfully give more than they take.

Adults engage in conflict.

Adults engage in conflict resolution.

Adults demand little and freely negotiate.

Adults remember the past and learn from it.

Adults plan for the future and rest in it.

Adults  live in the present and enjoy it.

How well are you adulting, today?

Copyright 2020.     L.L. Shelton.

Contagious!

Current Events, Family Life, Health, Health & Disease, Mental-Physical-Spiritual Health, , ,

REPORT FROM LOS ALAMOS:

An RO of 6! Yikes! Is it time to panic?!?

  1. Regarding public health and disease, what is an R0 (r-naught)? It is a label for an infectious disease that tells us that each person with that particular illness will possibly-even probably- infect a certain number of other people.
  2. Why is it important to know the actual RO of SARS-cov-2; to know the rate at which it would spread if we were not practicing social distancing? Because the original number, before mitigation, in other words before we practiced social distancing, tells us what would happen if we were NOT practicing staying apart from one another.
  3. What is the ACTUAL RO of the virus that causes COVID-19? According to the report and Vice-President Pence’s confirmation of it, yesterday at the White House briefing, the task force has known from the beginning that SARS-cov-2 has an RO of six.  THAT is why the mitigation, in other words- staying apart from one another- has been extremely important.  Also, they knew less then about the effects of the virus and though more is known now, there is still so much more to know.
  4. What is the RO of SARS-cov-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) with mitigation, in other words because we are practicing staying away from one another? The RO with mitigation in place was at 2.28 and has dropped to between 1 and 2.
  5. Is there any more good news?  Yes.  When the test that will count the evidence of a person’s anti-bodies to the virus is available, we will test a large population of those who have been exposed but did not appear to become sick or seriously ill. Then we will know approximately how many people catch the virus and do not get sick, or contract COVID-19  and are only mildly affected.  This is important because a high RO such as six would be much less dangerous if it applies to a disease that is often only mildly experienced.  The need for drastic mitigation may be reduced in the future when this particular strain of Coronavirus returns.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.07.20021154v1.full.pdf

        L.L.  Shelton, 2020.

The Making of A Murderer

Crime, Education, Humanity & Sin, Mental Health, Mental-Physical-Spiritual Health, Pop Culture, Spiritual Distress, Spiritual Health, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dennis Rader, a.k.a., BTK, was interviewed and profiled by FBI agent and original Mindhunter, John Douglas. Douglas later wrote a book, Inside the Mind of BTK: The True Story Behind the Thirty-Year Hunt for the Notorious Wichita Serial Killer, about him and the encounter. Psychologist, Dr. Katherine Ramsland, has recently written a fascinating account of Dennis Rader’s life in her book, Confession of A Serial Killer, based on several years of communication with him following his incarceration. After reading their thoughts, and those of Rader included in their writings, watching videos of Dennis Rader, including his confession, as well as reading his daughter, Kerri Rader Rawson’s hard-won bittersweet testimony, in her book, A Serial Killer’s Daughter- I believe the initial step toward evil for Dennis Rader, who would eventually devolve into BTK, a serial killer responsible for brutally murdering ten people, including men, women, and children in Wichita, Kansas over a thirty year period, was his assumption that he and other human beings are good. By Dennis Rader’s own admission, he thinks he is a “good person who did some bad things,” [1]. According to the Holy Scriptures, upon which we build our Christian Faith, this is completely untrue. We are totally depraved (intent on evil) from conception [2].

The doctrine of total depravity is obvious to any parent who has closely observed his or her youngest children. Children nearly never need be instructed to pinch, hit, bite, lie, or steal; however the “good” behavior, that behavior respecting the needs and desires of others to be treated fairly, must be diligently taught. Christ teaches us that unrighteous anger, murderous thought (hatred of another) is like murder in regard to God’s judgement of sin. A lustful thought is equated with actual adultery. [3]. The Psalmist along with The Apostle Paul, infused with The Holy Spirit of God in Christ, teaches that apart from Christ we have no good thing- least of all a truly good character [4]. As Saint Augustine confessed, “I have seen and known even a baby envious; it could not speak, yet it turned pale and looked bitterly on its foster brother: Who does not know this?,” [5].

Subsequently, building on this weak foundation, Dennis Rader began a fantasy life as a young boy of ten and ignoring his conscience, continually nurturing instead his own nature to sin; he easily incorporated trauma related to his primary experience of self-gratification, low self-esteem connected to probable learning disabilities and a poorer standard of living than many, as well as being socially awkward, and angry, into his developing sexuality [6]. Dennis began the construction of an elaborate inner world of his own in which he was all-powerful and participated in the degradation of himself and others, and along with that he regularly enjoyed the pleasure of self-gratification through masturbation [7]. He continued building this alternate reality, of which he is the star and is accountable to no one, throughout his adolescence and continuing into his adult life [8]. According to Dr. Katherine Ramsfield’s documentation, he continues adding to it as he resides in a maximum security prison in Kansas serving ten consecutive life sentences. Let us remember Saint Augustine, who wrote in his confessions, “…yet I knew not that evil was but a privation of good, until at last a thing ceases altogether to be,” [9].

I would argue that Dennis Rader must be considered to be retarded in a social, emotional, and sexual sense. While he may be of normal intellectual capacity, of a certain chronological age, and was able to function as a grown-up in a few specific areas for many years, I believe his entertainment of evil ideas, as well as obsessive preoccupation with himself and his immature sexuality; confused his development and locked him into early adolescence socially, emotionally, and sexually. Therefore, he failed to secure a healthy sense of self and of his own masculinity, and consequently felt a constant source of frustration [10]. Jesus taught that our thought-life, our imagination, must be given over to Him and to His control- for “as a man thinks, so is he,” [11]. We learn that we are what we think. We understand that we must learn to think the way Jesus thinks, according to His Word. This is a second doctrine that one must clearly understand and subscribe to, to cooperate fully in his or her sanctification- the working out of his or her faith [12].

Thirdly, Dennis Radar did not seem to possess the sound doctrine that sex was created to be practiced within the bounds of a marriage between one man and one woman, both rightly related to God. Sex was not intended for practice outside of the confines of this right relationship between two people and their God [13]. Fornication, adultery, same-sex relationships, and self-gratification are perversions of this doctrine.  The sexual gratification of self is something a person does either using himself (or herself) alone, or when using another person to indulge absolutely selfish desires with purely selfish motive and is unlawful, sinful [14]. As Thomas a Kempis so aptly expressed, in his, Imitation of Christ, “But he who puts aside the fear of God can not long continue in good, but shall quickly fall into the snares of the devil,” [15].

Next, Rader seems to believe that consistently and continually lying- having the character of a liar- is not unacceptable when it has been constructed as protection of his private inner world and is attempting to keep his two lives from intersecting. He appears to consider himself justified in his lies, particularly as it concerns shielding his family from knowledge of his double life, and at times simply can’t discern his lies from the truth [16]. A basic tenant of the Christian faith is honesty- honesty, to the best of one’s ability to discern, regarding who one is at the core of one’s being, integrity in the presence of self, God, and others [17]. Thomas a Kempis prayed, “Lord, it is true as you say; he who walks before me in truth shall be safe from evil assaults, and the truth shall deliver him from the wiles and slanders of the wicked. If the truth shall make one free, one shall be free indeed, and shall not care for the vain words of men, let it be so with me; let your truth teach me; let it keep me and preserve me safe unto the end. Let it free me from all evil and inordinate affection, and I will walk before you in great freedom of heart,” [18].

Fifth, and certainly not least, though Dennis Rader professes to love his wife, daughter, son, and immediate family, he fails to comprehend the Biblical doctrine of Christian love [19]. This doctrine teaches us that love is not self-centered, but first of all God-centered in Christ. It teaches that each and every human being is our neighbor and is therefore worthy of our unselfish love, and we are commanded to give this love- and we can not accomplish our task without loving ourselves appropriately, as God Himself loves us. [19]. Dennis Rader was initially and continually abusive of his very self [20].

In conclusion, Dennis Rader, who devolved into BTK, a serial killer responsible for brutally killing ten people, including men, women, and children in Wichita, Kansas over a period of thirty years, despite being an active church member in a local Lutheran church, though vice-president of that church when carrying out at least one of the slayings, was not committed to sound doctrine [21]. Was it a failure to believe or an outright blatant rejection of what he knew to be true? Or was he never trained in the Truth? How did he acquire membership status with all its privileges, becoming vice-president of an organized church body professing Christianity, without convincing someone in leadership that he comprehended and applied sound doctrine in his personal life? Did he lie to leadership? Did he unwittingly profess to believe things that he did not really internalize or understand? Was this local church body and its leadership committed to sound doctrine?

I learned that Dennis Rader’s pastor of many years visited him in prison, though no one may speak with BTK personally, but only by means of closed circuit video. His pastor suggested to BTK that he may have been and even be demon-possessed [22]. While this is possible, it is certainly not probable as such instances are extremely rare, and require due to thorough understanding of Scriptural demon-possesion, that the event contain specific elements. Also, we must remember that, according to The Holy Scripture, all who are lost (not yet saved), separate from The Holy Spirit of God and Its resurrecting power; are not possessed by God as Children of His salvation, and are therefore subject to all forms of evil, including but not limited to, literal demonic possession [23].

Finally, whatever the biological and genetic make-up of Dennis Rader, whatever the environmental stimulus of his experience, his walk down the road to perdition and his ultimate demise, was possible due to a lack of sound doctrine. Either he was taught Truth, rejected it and did not become a Believer, or he was never taught, never challenged- and did not become a Believer, and in either case it is a shame as his involvement in the local church was extensive and consistent. Someone in the body of Christ should have been aware of his lost condition, for the sake of those closest to him, including his family members and his other victims, as well as for his sake- though he did a remarkable job of behaving as a wolf while dressed in sheep’s clothing. [24].

Alas, I pray and hope many will pray with me, Lord, deliver us first from the bent toward evil within us, keep us then from the outer forces of darkness, from Satan and his minions as well as all that they stand for, and from all that is anti-Christ, in the strong name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, I pray, Amen.

1. Confessions of A Serial Killer, Katherine Ramsland, PhD, p. 158
2. The Holy Bible, Psalm 51:5, Jeremiah 17:9, Mark 7:21-23, 10:18, Galations 4:8-9, Ephesians 2:3, 2 Peter 2:19, Romans 5:12-19, 7:18,
I John 1:8-10
3. Ibid., Matthew 5:21-22, 5:27-28
4. Ibid., Psalm 16:2, Romans 3:11
5. The Confessions of Saint Augustine, The First Book, My Sinfulness From Infancy
6. Confessions of A Serial Killer, Katherine Ramsland, PhD, Chapter 2, First Inklings of Trouble, and Chapter 3, Dark Explorations
7. Ibid., chapters 2&3
8. Ibid., chapters 2&3
9. Confessions of Saint Augustine, The Third Book, The Source of Evil
10. Confessions of A Serial Killer, Katherine Ramsland, PhD, Chapter 2, First Inklings of Trouble, and Chapter 3, Dark Explorations
11. The Holy Bible, Proverbs 23:7, Matthew 15:16-19, Mark 7:14-15
12. Ibid., Philippians 2:12
13. Ibid., Genesis, chapter 2
14. Ibid., Romans, chapter 1
15. Imitation of Christ, Thomas a Kempis
16. Confessions of A Serial Killer, Katherine Ramsfield, Phd, p. 139
17. The Holy Bible, Proverbs 12:22, John 3:19-21, John 4:24, Colossians 3:9, Revelation 21:8
18. The Imitation of Christ, Thomas a Kempis, Book 3, chapter 4
19. The Holy Bible, Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37-40
20. Confessions of A Serial Killer, Katherine Ramsfield, Phd, p. 56, p. 164
21. Ibid., pp. 144-149, p.193
22. Ibid., p.219
23. The Holy Bible,
24. Confessions of A Serial Killer, Katherine Ramsfield, Phd, p. 93

Copyright 2019. L.L. Shelton.

35 WAYS FOR THE CHURCH TO HELP MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN:

Bible Talk, Church Culture, Current Events, Family Life, Living the Word, Mental-Physical-Spiritual Health, Poetry

1. Stop expecting, worse desiring, for our government to do everything.
2. For all of our sakes STOP asking our government to do it all.
3. Eat and drink carefully and healthily, exercise twenty minutes, and study God’s Word each day in an attempt to keep ourselves in optimal health, to be of service to others.
4. Grow a portion of our own food.
5. If we are able to grow extra food- share it with our neighbors.
6. Buy from local food sources and producers.
7. Eat out at restaurants that serve only what is grown locally.
8. Start a local food pantry to collect from those who have much and redistribute to those who have little.
9. If we are fortunate enough to have opportunity and funding for regular preventative medical care, avail ourselves of the services.
10. If we are healthy and another is not, do what we can personally, to alleviate the person’s discomfort- particularly if this person is our own family member, but certainly do not limit our love and provision to our own.
11. Do our good works among our own and expand outward to others.
12. Start a medical fund in our local church and use it to help those in health crisis, within and outside the Body, who have no (or insufficient) medical coverage.
13. If we have an extra room, share it with someone who has no home of his or her own- particularly if this is a person (or family unit) from our own tribe, and certainly if the person is not in need of constant care or medical attention.
14. If we can afford to hire someone or to offer private care ourselves, open our home to someone needing constant care or who is dependent on medical aid. If the person has a home, supply care in his or her place of residence.
15. If we have an extra house or property of some kind… do we really need to talk about this?
16. Insist that able-bodied-minded persons work for their room and board.
17. If we have a dependable vehicle that is not fully and usefully employed- share it! At the least consider offering someone who is dependent on public transportation a regular ride.
18. Better yet- ditch our gas guzzling vehicle that helps to keep us dependent on foreign oil and/or fracking at home with the possibility of helping to create earthquakes, and cheerfully support public transportation with our tax dollars and our voluntary commitment to it.
19. Support alternative energy research and development.
20. Repair, re-use, recycle!
21. Turn our A/C up and our heat down 2-3 degrees. Give the money we save to someone who has less than we do.
22. Build a lending library of some kind and be sharers! Do this with our local church body and share with the community at large.
23. Educate our own children well.
24. Anytime we have opportunity, faithfully tutor someone else’s child. This can be done simply by seizing a teachable moment, or on a formal schedule of some kind.
25. If we are an employer, provide for the NEEDS of our own family members and those of our employees BEFORE providing extravagances for our family and those closest to us.
26. When someone from our own small society becomes pregnant outside of marriage- particularly with no criminal offense having taken place, assist the person ourselves in managing the pregnancy, the birth, and the rearing of the child, hopefully with the aid of our local church body.
27. Start an adoption fund in our local church and offer financial aid to Christians willing and desiring to open their homes to orphaned children.
28. Be especially supportive of widows, and encourage young widows OF THE FAITH to marry again.
29. Stop insisting that people get married for reasons that are unbiblical. Marriage is for Believers.
30. Stop penalizing people for being unmarried. Support the single members of your group in their choice to remain single. Support Civil Unions.
31. Offer singles and those choosing civil unions, family time with our families in our homes. If they are not Christian, so much the better, we can be like Jesus and offer a witness to The Gospel. (If you are strong, go into their territory when invited and enjoy them while offering a witness to The Gospel. This is not fellowship. Fellowship assumes like-mindedness.)
32. Stop expecting unbelievers to think and behave like we do.
33. Understand that those who are born into suffering are there, in part, to teach us selflessness and patience, and to help us learn to be servant-hearted.
34. As a rule, where and when possible, share with those outside the Church, and faithfully share The Gospel along the way.
35. Set an example of being kind to anyone and anything living- in this way we will nurture life and discourage a culture of death.

At the least, let our speech be encouraging, building up those around us rather than tearing them down. May GOD help us to make America great, and please LORD, let it begin in me.

Copyright 2018. L. L. Shelton.

Have A Happy Healthy Day!

Academics & The Arts, Education, Family Life, Health, Health & Dis-ease, Holistic Health, Mental-Physical-Spiritual Health, Parenting, Physical Health, Spiritual Health

DO YOU USE ESSENTIAL OILS MEDICINALLY?

Responsible use of essential oils includes:

1. An awareness of their medicinal properties and value.

2. A great deal of research and education.

3. The willingness to track and report all use to your primary care physician.

4. The willingness to schedule a visit with your primary care doctor when your use of oils is not reducing your symptoms in a timely manner.

This post is in the interest of your good health!

Learn how to use essential oils appropriately for common ailments. It’s the natural choice.

I have researched several labels. This is a list of quality brand essential oils- in order from most expensive down to least costly- all effective for common ailments, but more oil is needed of the three less expensive brands to accomplish the same results achieved with lesser amounts of Young Living oils.

I do not sell YL as I practice a healing profession and consider there to be the possibility of a conflict of interest, but honestly the longer I study and use the oils, the greater is my preference for the YL oils. (My second preference is NOW.)

1. Young Living Oils
2. Native American Nutritionals
3. Healing Solutions Oils
4. NOW Food Oils

DO YOU USE ESSENTIAL OILS MEDICINALLY?

Responsible use of essential oils includes:

1. An awareness of their medicinal properties and value.

2. A great deal of research and education.

3. The willingness to track and report all use to your primary care physician.

4. The willingness to schedule a visit with your primary care doctor when your use of oils is not reducing your symptoms in a timely manner.

Have a healthy, happy day!

2015, L.L. Shelton

To Tell The Truth

Bible Talk, Health & Dis-ease, Holistic Distress, Holistic Health, Humanity & Sin, Living the Word, Mental Health, Mental-Physical-Spiritual Health

Suspect yourself or someone else of dishonesty if there is a need to retell something again and again and again- in other words there is a genuine yet strange emphasis on the event.  I refer not to the continual resurfacing of the happening and referencing of it, but to the continual need to repeat the story itself,  usually to the same people as often as to someone who may have never heard it.

Of course, there are those who may repeat a scenario over and over and over in their own heads, but are able, by way of temperament or different affectation, to restrain from a consistent public retelling or reworking of the event.  In this case one still should suspect and examine himself or herself for dishonesty, and if necessary seek assistance.  Interestingly, it appears that those given to public display of their stories are often perseverating both publicly and in private.

Traumatic memory is often caught in a feedback loop.  The need to continually, even obsessively, remember the event is rooted in the fact that it was never fully processed, and certainly not in a healthy manner.  The happening remains unresolved in the person’s psyche.  The dishonesty arises as, in the attempt to process the authentic structure of a circumstance, particularly a disconcerting event, the memory is altered to make it into something easier to bear.  This may be intentional but sometimes takes place at the level of the subconscious.  Therefore the author of the memory is not always aware of the restructuring and certainly is not fully aware of why and how the memory was changed.

I believe that the supposed need for the dishonesty occurs at the level of a person”s heart motive.  I work with my clients as a person of faith and understanding, attempting to draw those motives out into the Light (Proverbs 20:5).  For instance, a victim of trauma may have been harmed by someone closely related to her and will attempt to alter the memory to “see” someone else as the perpetrator, or he may “reason” that he was behaving in an inappropriate manner inviting the perpetrator to commit a crime against  him.  Perhaps the victim is one of secondary trauma, having observed a violent happening and failed to intervene.  Occasionally, I encounter someone who has dismissed a large portion or portions of his or her life due to some type of chronic traumatic situation.  These changes soften the impact of the memory for the one who has been victimized,  allowing the victim to maintain some ability to function in the face of tragedy.

On the other hand, a perpetrator of violence, and it should be noted that the perpetrator has sometimes first been a victim, may attempt to rewrite a memory because he or she cannot bear to think the self is capable of the horrendous act. This can arise due to the conscience being severely wounded but not quite dead, or due to the presence of a personality disorder which suggests to the person that they may not be, and indeed in the person’s mind are not, less than perfect.  However, the desired result is the same- a lessening of the severity of both the internal and the external impact of the behavior.  From either the victim’s or the perpetrator’s position there is a convoluted reward for the dishonesty.  The problem arises due to the twisted nature of the prize.  (To avoid confusion, it should be noted here that genuine lack of empathy, as in the case of true character disturbance, has no need to reconstruct memory for the other’s sake. )

My clients are often surprised to find the genuine culprit of the nearly incomprehensible past that has lead to a painful present and a bleakly viewed future, is the person himself or herself.  However, once the revelation has occurred, the path to healing, while requiring a cautious engagement due to the fact that a person’s mental composition can be fragile, is generally swift.

Nevertheless, there are some who have engaged in habits of dishonesty for so long and even willfully, they are unlikely to heal this side of heaven, and some will not reach heaven.  They are those who refuse to acknowledge the possibility and certainly will not acquiesce to the probability that the author of the confusion is the self.  These persons are regularly sent for professional psychological or psychiatric evaluation and are often eventually diagnosed with a personality disorder, or as character disturbed.   At times,  they are found to be psychopathic.

Genuine honesty is a rare strength.  One of noble character, who can find? (Proverbs 31:10)  The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9-10)     Truth is sometimes as difficult to locate as is the perfect gem, but it is without fail, worth a great deal more.  Ultimately, it is the truth that liberates  us (John 8:32-38).  “Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed, save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise,”  Jeremiah 17:14.

Copyright 2018. L.L. Shelton.

You Can’t Have Everything

Education, Family Life, Mental Distress, Mental Health, Mental-Physical-Spiritual Health

It is evident that my paternal grandfather-in-law, Orange Arthur Shelton, whom I never had the privilege of knowing personally, was right concerning at least one matter:  “You can’t have everything.”   While this may seem obvious on the surface, it appears to be quite difficult to comprehend.

I am in practice as a Life coach and Biblical counselor and have heard astounding things in my office.   For instance, I have heard a man complain that his wife is not sexy enough to suit him, after he has willingly given her several children and can not afford for her to have the occasional new dress or to take her out to dinner.  I have listened to a wife who has no need to work outside the home, complain that her hard-working husband is not home enough, that he doesn’t relate well to their child or spend enough time with him, and in the same breath admit that she could never let go of her brand new car or manage without her weekly manicure.  I have been told by another that he can not tolerate his wife’s career success but would not stand for his wife not helping to pay the bills.  One man said that his wife should be home with the children while insisting that she hold a regular job.   A woman complained to me that she wanted to be healthy while stuffing down a third candy bar for lunch and reminding me of her reasons for not getting any physical exercise.   I’ve listened to addicts describe their great desire to abandon their drug of choice and in the next breath state clearly the reason they have no intention of letting it go.  I’ve paid close attention as liars have told me they are aware of the problematic issues resulting from their chronic dishonesty and strongly want to change, and heard them lie to me with their next sentence.

As it turns out, life is all about choices. Granted, some are more easily recognized than others, for example:  If I want to be a concert pianist, the  manicures mentioned previously will not be an issue as my nails must remain clipped short; therefore I can be a concert pianist with nails clipped short or I can forgo such endeavor and keep my nails long. Other alternatives are not as readily apparent.  We must live a little longer, dig a little deeper to unearth the truth.  As with this profundity:  One may not be a person of conviction and at the same time enjoy a conflict-free existence.  There is this to ponder:  We can not feel love without feeling loss.  If we feel one we are guaranteed to feel the other at some point- if not on multiple occasions.  In other words, we may live a life without love or choose love and accept the loss that accompanies it.

Straight up to his death, my father-in-law maintained the opinion that one can not expect to have both sanity and many children.  I decline comment.  The point is that one thing nearly always edges out another.  We would do well to remember the truth in these wise words:  You can’t have everything.

Copyright 2018.    L.L. Shelton.

Sensational Sexuality Diet

Church Culture, Holistic Health, Humanity & Sin, Married Life, Mental-Physical-Spiritual Health, , , , , , , ,

Steps To A Truly Satisfying Sexuality

Stop! Proceed with caution. This list has the potential to alter your life and is intended for married and soon-to-be-married eyes only. Not intended for minor use. Parental supervision suggested. You are on the honor system. You must not continue reading unless you fully intend to read through the last word and to the end. Please thoughtfully consider the terms. If you agree to the terms of use, you may proceed.

Steps to your satisfaction:

  1.  Binge! Throw out that one year Bible reading plan and read ahead to the next chapter. Ask God to join you through His Holy Spirit as you feast on The Word! Enjoy every morsel, each small bite so full of flavor and nutrition, created especially for your dining pleasure. Reconnect with the exciting authentic history, thrilling true tales of prophets and kings, the beautiful poetry, and miraculous moments of discovery and deliverance. Relate anew to the genuine Gospel and the establishment of the Christian church. Eat and drink until you begin to feel hopeful and content with your God.
  2. Purge! Now clean out that ridiculous clutter you’ve been stumbling over for so long. Is there a secret stash of soft porn somewhere? Do you only need to touch a screen to access it? Is there a Victoria’s Secret across the street from where you work? Is that Frederick’s or Chippendale’s catalogue someone brought in laying around somewhere? Are there steamy romance novels- you know the kind- filled with men human husbands could never manage to be, men who are perfect beyond measure, infallible heroes to the end? Are there lewd books, magazines  filled with pictures and stories of strange women- you know the type- perfectly built women with fabulous faces who beg to serve and to participate in aberrant sexual practice and couldn’t care less for a wedding ring? Is there legitimate pornography available to you and used by you, once in a while or regularly? Trash it! Toss it with the understanding that God abhors it. Ask your abba (your daddy) to give you the grace, strength, and courage to resist it. Ask Him to give you a new perspective (a new heart) toward those who are involved in creating these images to incite lust. Pity them. Pray for them as if they were your own people caught in a horrible self-destructive lifestyle. They are, after all, your human brothers and sisters.
  3. Starve yourself! Allow your thoughts of sexual satisfaction to rest on your spouse and only on your spouse throughout your waking hours. Ask God to continue the vigil as you sleep. Ask God to remind you that honest fulfillment in any arena is only possible when you are more concerned with giving than with getting. Recognize when your thoughts threaten to turn selfishly lustful toward your spouse, to linger lustfully on another or to turn sexual toward another, and refuse to stay; immediately command your mind in the name and power of Christ to turn back toward your spouse and toward your God. At this moment, God will remind you of some Truth in His Word regarding Himself. He is attempting to replace the potentially unwholesome thought with thought of Himself. Cooperate! Acknowledge the thought, embrace it and repeat it, again and again until you feel cleansed.  The more you listen to God, the louder He gets!
  4. Start over! When you fail, do not give up. Seek and ask for forgiveness, from God and from your spouse.  Use your will power given to you by The Holy Spirit, and in His strength, begin again. Together, with your abba, put one foot in front of the other, and proceed through these steps.

This diet is guaranteed to radically alter your life! Your sexual urges are designed by God not only to ensure procreation, but to drive you away from yourself and toward your spouse to aid in the development of a particular level of intimacy with God, as well as with your spouse, unique to marriage.  By implementing this plan you will find your own sexuality transformed! If your spouse is committed as well, your joy in one another will be rich.  It will not happen overnight, as with any diet, this one must be participated in fully and committed to as a lifestyle to result in lasting success.

Finally, we make authentic love because we are under the influence of the genuine love of God, and are inspired  to the giving of ourselves and receiving of another in a beautiful way because of it.  Anything less is ordinary loveless sex.

Disclaimer: Some participants will need to focus on God as someone other than “daddy,” as their earthly daddy (or mama) wittingly lead them toward or directly contributed to their sexually retarded development. I urge those to remember that God is a perfect father and cares tenderly for his creation as a good mother cares for her young. Though you may have no immediate earthly example of a Godly parent available, you may find it helpful to imagine such a leader through literary ideal, including biblical, and film illustrations, and to know that God (according to His Word) joins you in your grief.

Copyright 2016. L.L. Shelton.