Blog on the Lillypad
Saturday, November 01, 2003
 | Relief today
Perhaps the effects of juicing are kicking in, or perhaps whatever allergens have been making me miserable have declined, or perhaps that mysterious process known as perio-menopause has entered a cycle of slacking off. Or maybe all of the above. In any case, today I woke up feeling markedly better after a solid week of weakness, shortness of breath, fatigue, and overall soreness and aches. Earlier this week I did go to see the nurse on site at my workplace. She told me that a lot of people on the job have had complaints of dizziness and weakness. She checked my ears and told me that yes, I did have fluid in my ears, which would account for the dizziness. She also took my blood pressure, which was slightly high but still in the normal range. She told me to start taking a decongestant, and I started taking quercetin with bromelain, which is a natural decongestant and has worked for me in the past. |
After an incredibly bad Monday, I increased my fresh veggie juice intake. I began starting the day with no coffee and 8 - 12 ounces of fresh cranberry juice (aack!), and then would have 30 - 48 ounces (in 6 - 8 ounces servings throughout the day) of freshly juiced vegetables. This week I will continue this program. No coffee, no beer, no chocolate (as they all have dehydrating effects), and fresh juices. I've also added a tablespoon of flaxseed oil per day and a supplement of soy isoflavones. My older sister told me that she started early menopause before 30, was advised to eat soy, and made soy shakes for herself and the symptoms went away until she was in her 40's, when they reappeared on schedule. Soy itself, taken whole, upsets my stomach no matter how it is prepared. But the isoflavone pills (extracted from soy) sit with me okay. I hope they are as effective.
Friday, October 31, 2003
 | The Best Doggone Tales from Texas
James Spurgeon is a graduate (anyway, I think he graduated) from Texas Baptist College, which is associated with Longview Baptist Temple, which is pastored by Bob Gray of Texas. Spurgeon goes by the name of "Coyote" on the FFF, and from now on will be referred to as such. His tales, though usually hilarious, are pointers to the shamelessness, corrupted doctrine, harsh legalism, and moral bankruptcy that is increasingly evident in the IFB-KJVO movement. His first tale, which is in the list below, remains my all-time favorite, but they are all worth reading. However, I have to link to them where they are---on the Fighting Fundamentalist Forum. So please click away to read some of Coyote's tales, but ya'll come back now, y'hear? |
Thursday, October 30, 2003
| More on Doctor Who
Liz Shaw: Goodness and the Material World Liz is the Doctor's first companion. Trying to stay true to what I think the series intended, I depict Liz, a research professor and lecturer from Cambridge who has four post-graduate degrees by the age of 25, as an atheist. And she's not as liberal minded as she supposes. The TV series starts with her subtly mocking the Brigadier for his views on extra-terrestrial life, so she doesn't come off as being all that tolerant. But Liz is in search of the real thing. Intellectual and plutonically intense, she sees through facades and demands a certain purity of thought. Liz discards that which is merely conventional (not realizing where she is conventional) and wants to get things right. Hence her open skepticism of the Brig and UNIT. Any large mass of men trained to act without thinking, in perfect conformity to a uniform mandate, earns Liz's contempt. In her opinion, soldiers are bunglers. |  |
 | However, in the face of genuine and personal religious belief, Liz is not an adamant atheist, and the religion of others, if they are sincerely devout, does not put her off. Liz respects Father Stephen Dunn's beliefs because he risks his life to save a woman who is being abducted (The Fighting Dead). And the gentle acceptance and Christian witness of Sister Mercy in The Dead Go Searching moves Liz to tears. Face to face with devout people whose faith is a reality to them, Liz is humble and even teachable. This humility comes from her intense desire to get things right and understand. |
| Because Liz searches for the "real thing," she is skeptical of the Doctor. Oh, certainly he's brilliant and has traveled in time and space. But there's a lot of twaddle to the Third Doctor, especially early in the series. He wears frilly shirts, velvet smoking jackets, and a flamboyant opera cape. He boasts and he swaggers, and he bullies, and he gets huffy. All of these things diminish him to Liz. She can be tolerant of him, but she cannot unite with him whole heartedly in friendship, because his dishonesty is a roadblock. After all, the Doctor did steal his TARDIS (though he claims he just borrowed it), and he cons people to get what he wants. He would call this "bluffing," but Liz calls it lying. In Night Terrors, Liz concludes that the Doctor's exile is just punishment for him because of his callous pride. To his credit, the Doctor has a fit of meekness and does not dispute with her. |  |
 | Realistically, I recognize that Liz is a beautiful intellectual who reaches her adulthood during the Sexual Revolution. Most likely, she would be an emancipated woman, which is how I depict her. On the other hand, in keeping with her intensely pure pursuit of that which is the real thing and the real truth, Liz would not be casual in her affairs. And in matters regarding telling the truth and respecting the property of other people, Liz would be downright puritanical. She definitely disapproves of the Doctor's self-centered ethics. And with his bluster added into the mix, Liz remains more of an intellectual associate with him and less of a genuine friend. They have their moments of solidarity and even tenderness, but they are never interdependent on each other. |
| Liz is truly a rationalist who cannot perceive that which cannot be quantified. She cannot believe in God. Period. Not if you present Him as a non-corporeal, omnipotent being. But when Liz experiences goodness, she begins to doubt her atheism. As the stories in my canon progress, Liz meets the concrete evidences of God again and again: redemption, mercy, good works, compassion, insight into the needs of others. When she becomes the agent of the redemption of another person, the true breakdown of Liz's atheism begins, for she knows that something acted through her. The invisible aspects of God become visible to her when they operate concretely through her, and for a moment she sees the shadow of the divine. |  |
Liz's closest brushes with grace come at the extremes. In Shadow of the Daleks, she encounters evil and wickedness so profound that her rational training don't equip her to deal with it effectively. It very nearly destroys her life, and certainly traumatizes her emotionally. At the other extreme, Liz becomes empowered to save the life of a homeless street girl, Anne Thompson in The Fighting Dead and realizes that some other influence is acting through her that is not of her---grace. I would assume that if Liz ever were to come to Christ, she would still face many intellectual battles over whether Christ could really be true or not as the eternal Son of God. Liz would be a doubting Christian. But side by side with her doubts, Liz would serve God with all her integrity and purity of intent. Good works will win her, and the depth of God's goodness will convert her, and good works would be Liz's Christian life. My stories do not depict that she converts to Christ. I only point things in that direction.
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
 | First Review of Angles of Light
This just in from David Rubin, one of my regular readers in Doctor Who (and Liz Shaw) fandom: |
What a great start! It's so nice to see another new story from you -
I was afraid that you had decided to stop writing DW-related fiction
now that you're a published author :) (Just teasing) Truly though, I
enojyed reading this chapter and I'm looking forward to the rest (you
_are_ going to be posting them, right?).
I know that you were hoping for some critique rather than just
another "great story" email, but I don't have much to complain about
with it. I was slightly confused about Liz's segue into her dream, but
I figured out what was happening after a few paragraphs.
You've done it again, Jeri. Way to go!
If you check out this story, remember that it is the third in my Liz Shaw series, so you may have to fill in a few gaps on who is who as you go along.
 | Father Jack asks some questions
Ralph, the longsuffering guy who works across the aisle from me, wants to make sure that people who read my blog don't think he's dumb because he's never heard of Jack Hyles or any of this hellish corruption and cover-up. "No Ralph," I tell him. "That doesn't make you dumb. It makes you normal." I must admit, the silly posts, the insults, the tantrums, and frail egos of these IFB preachers belong more to a sitcom than to the ministry. But even IFB-KJVOs fail to be as funny and clueless as my favorite sitcom, Father Ted. Click here to hear Father Jack. |
All humor aside, Ralph is a Baptist man who believes that men who cheat on their wives should be punched, and men who abuse babies and break their bones deserve to be shot (not that he would break the law to do it). After seeing how the preachers on the FFF take all this corruption in stride or cope with it by viciously denying it and accusing the people who won't let it rest of being trouble makers and gossips, it's nice to see a person be shocked by it. Well, it's not *nice* to see a person be shocked, but it's a relief. Yes, there are people who profess Christ and exhibit the Spirit in their lives. And yes, there are men who can laugh off the small stuff but be shocked by the big stuff.
| Being harangued by these IFB preachers doesn't hurt me anymore because I expect no better than what they do. They've lost their credibility with me. But I do have a problem in becoming jaded and cynical after such a long exposure to such toxic preachers. I find myself expecting all men to be willing to call me trash or tell me to "shove it" over my beliefs. Christian men like Ralph, and Mike the new guy (A Christian who works around the corner), or Kelly the Christian guy who teaches the maintenance and utility skills to the tech writers, are refreshing reminders that the Holy Spirit knows and indwells His own. I suppose that all preachers would be better in the pulpit and in their ministries if they spent a few years of adulthood in the workplace, where Christian fellowship is so very welcome. But I doubt these IFB-KJVO preachers could last long working hours like this with a standard of performance to measure up to. I'm still jaded enough to think that talk is all they're good for. |  |
Monday, October 27, 2003
 | Cranberry Juice!
Yes, that food that people eat once a year has been making some headlines recently and---well---not so recently. Traditionally, cranberries extracts and teas were prescribed for asthma and colds (back in the days before standardized allopathic medicine). Recent research has proven that cranberry juice---unsweetened and unadulterated---can help fight urinary tract infections. Now researchers are citing a possibility that cranberry juice also fights middle ear infections. This has not been proved in human subjects, but preliminary studies show that cranberry contains saccharides that bind to certain strains of bacteria known to be big causes of ear infections in children. But the cranberry juice that would work is unsweetened. Aaack! |
In one of my many folk remedy/herbal remedy/juice remedy books (and I have several), I ran across a statement that cranberry juice would help in sinusitis and is also a rejuvenator of the liver. In tradiitonal medicine, bitter herbs and fruits are good for the liver and gall bladder, and you can't get much more bitter than cranberry juice. I'm now drinking 4 - 8 ounces a day, and it's like sucking on aspirin to get it down. But it does appear to be helping my sinuses and liver function. (Liver function, according to traditional medicine, controls menstrual cycles. Thus it's also a part of the regulation of menopause.)
 | Christmas is Coming. Buy Valkyries
If you like what you read here, and you want some not-so-typical Christian fiction to give or receive as Christmas gifts, then VALKYRIES is for you. Also, if you're a Hyles survivor and want to get a look at a realistic depiction of being a sinner after salvation but receiving grace because God is gracious (and not because you have earned grace), VALKYRIES is also for you. This is a two-volume book about a teenage girl who comes to Christ at an IFB tent meeting and is immediately sent into exile at a girls' boarding school by her staunchly Roman Catholic father |
The book has been a pleasant surprise to all readers how have reviewed it, including the FFF's own Phil Johnson, who gave it a great review:Your writing manages to be fast-paced and thoughtful at the same time (no mean feat). The story line is also refreshingly gritty and gut-wrenching. Not a girlie novel. I like your main character, the way you develop her, and the poignant insights you give into her soul. You never bore your readers or insult their intelligence, and you make every word count for something. ...I wish you had written 20 years ago so that I might have had an opporunity to claim some credit for having "discovered" you as a writer. Kudos to whoever is your editor at Moody Press. I'm glad he or she had the courage to publish your books. |  |
Here are some other comments from readers:"I am blessed and encouraged after reading this story. I feel - I remember why I believed in Jesus when I first did. Thank you for reminding me of what is good and true in the Lord." "I'm speechless. I just finished it, and I know I have to write to you, but I truly have no idea what to say. What an amazing story! The way you wrote it made me feel as if I was there watching it. "I have just finished reading your Valkyrie series. It was a work of the very highest standard. Rarely have I read at story that has engendered such a range of emotions in me or moved me in such a spiritual way." "I VERY much enjoyed reading that book. I think it's Christian fiction at its finest." "I just wanted to thank you for your work in writing it and making it available.... The message of God's grace in light of our own failures was not lost on this reader, and I hope it reaches many more people in the years to come." "I genuinely feel...that apart from the undisputed classics like NARNIA and the CURDIE books, VALKYRIES is the best Christian novel for young people that I have *ever* read."
Click here for more info and a link to order VALKYRIES
Sunday, October 26, 2003
 | 10/28/03 Addendum: Forgiveness in Bizarro World
Remember the old Superman comics that occasionally featured Bizarro World, where everything ran the wrong way? Yesterday on the FFF, Marty Braemer (now famous for telling me twice to shove it in a public post), posted a message that he loved me in Christ, so I posted back and told him I didn't believe him because there was no evidence of it. So then two other guys posted messages that indicated that something better was expected of me. I was confused. I couldn't make myself believe Marty loves me; I'd have to give it time and see if there was evidence. |
So then today, Marty posted a longer post on whether forgiveness is asked for or received. Then I got his drift. He wanted me to express forgiveness of him. This is where the Bizarro stuff kicks in. The last he wrote, he had lowered himself to tell me to shove it, but I deserved it. So after several questions to figure out what he was getting at, I frankly told him that I could not forgive him for a sin he committed against himself. So, finally, he posted, "I have apologized for my tone and my phrase of "shove it.""
Actually, I thought, he never did apologize to me for either one. He only said he had lowered himself (and if that's a sin I have no power to forgive it) and that his opinion of me remained unchanged. But it was time to give him the benefit of the doubt. So I did. I wrote: "I forgive that--easily."
But it was all backwards: First a somewhat doubtful (to me) claim to love me in Christ after calling me Trailer Lot Barbie and telling me to shove it. Then an expectation from him and two others for me to forgive him when 1) he hadn't asked for it, and 2) I wasn't mad. I thought the "shove it" post was both funny and tragic. But it was useful in terms of my documentation. So then I did grant the forgiveness, and he--by the way--claims to have forgiven me for what I did. But all I did was ask for dates to clarify a timeline; I told him I plan to keep documenting these abuses and the ongoing corruption and cover-ups in these types of churches, so if he thinks that's a sin against him, he'll have to keep forgiving me: I don't plan to stop. However, he seemed satisfied with that. It was all backwards, I thought. But I guess it made sense to somebody.
I wasn't going to post an account of it because it is confusing, but since I documented the beginning of the matter, I thought it was right to document the end of it.
| | Juicing!
With aches and pains galore, sleeplessness, hot flashes, etc., I have pulled out the Champion Juicer and have started juicing again. I bought 15 pounds of carrots this weekend, as well as several pounds of celery, two bunches of spinach, a bunch of parsley, several cucumbers, a bunch of beets, and two bunches of radishes. Oh, and two bags of cranberries. Juicing has saved my life before, and I'm hoping it will do the job now. But I have less time now, and juicing is time and labor intensive. Today I drank 24 ounces of carrot-spinach juice and 48 ounces of carrot-radish juice. Then I made 24 ounces of carrot-radish juice, another 24 of carrot-celery-radish juice, and a final 24 of carrot-celery juice. Oh, and I juiced the cranberries and got about 15 ounces of very pulpy cranberry juice. It is the most bitter drink in the world, but cranberries are great for a few different ailments, though most people associate them strictly with urinary tract infections (one of the few problems I *don't* have, but cranberries are good for several things.) |
| I rely on Norman Walker's book, FRUITS AND VEGETABLE JUICES, but it's out of print. I lost my first copy and found my second copy on the net, through a used book dealer. Walker lived past 100 and spent his life doing what he liked and staying active, even to the end. And the juicer I use is the workhorse of all juicers, the Champion Juicer. It's a pain in the neck to clean, but most people who own them buy one and it lasts a lifetime. It juices *most* things but cannot handle extremely watery stuff like strawberries. And very fine leafy veggies have to be done slowly. I've gotten into the rhythm of doing spinach and celery (chopping them small helps), but parsley is still a challenge. |  |
My over view of veggie juice for health is that the darker veggies are for liver (beets and spinach, but these are never juiced together in the same formula). Aromatic veggies (radishes) are for lungs and sinuses. Celery for muscle work and fluid balance (also cucumbers for fluid balance), and carrots for everything. Carrots are the base of every juice formula and they go with everything. Parsley, an herb, is juiced as a veggie but can be taken only sparingly, or you go ga-ga with nervous tremors. It helps with menstrual difficulties and is used in other juice formulas as a detoxifier.
If you're wondering why juice and not just eat more veggies: Juicing maximizes the nutrition per ounce of what you consume, providing most of the vitamins and minerals of the raw veggie, but you get more because to get 16 ounces of juice you'll process way more veggies than you could eat in one sitting and throw away the bulk (the fiber and pulp) that contains no nutritional value. (And of course you still need fiber every day, but juicing's purpose is nutritional value.)
Second, juicing is not the same thing as using a blender. With a juicer, the vegetable pulp/fiber comes out the spout as a dense, sawdust-like substance. The juice comes out the bottom sieve, extracted from the fiber. The theory is that digestion alone is not as efficient at getting all the enzymes and perishable nutrients that you get from juicing. Advocates of juicing are hardcore about it. While I hate the trouble and expense of doing it, I agree it did pull me back to good health once before. I'm hoping it will do the same for me again.
 | Pastor Marty Braemer SpeaksYesterday on the FFF, I posted a request for information on the correct dates for a timeline on Jack Hyles. Although Jonathan Farris himself gave me the year that Dave Hyles came to PPBT, Marty Braemer went berserk as only a hundred percenter can. I'm not going to include his whole post, but you can go check it on the FFF. I'm presenting the title and date: |
BASS, SELF APPOINTED JUDGE & JURY
Posted by Pastor Marty Braemer on Oct-25-03 11:54am
(In reply to: Timeline Questions posted by BASSENCO on Oct-25-03 6:47am)
Hey Bass...
All kidding aside and I mean this from the bottom of my heart (don't bother to waste your breath with a Bass-o-matic Rebuke either): Take your time line and SHOVE IT! [More follows in original]
I wasn't all that surprised that a hundred percenter would say this to anybody. And where some people would be especially surprised that anybody styled as a pastor would say it to a woman, I figure that a woman is more likely to get such a remark from these hundred percenters. They don't know what to do with women who don't fit their view of what a woman is. And since no woman can fit that view, they're always angry and frustrated with women.
Anyway, I told him his compassion is slipping and figured it would be the end of it. But then a lot of people jumped in. I was surprised again. Maybe I'm jaded. I figure Marty's acting exactly as he's been programmed to act. And it's worse for him because he is losing his security blanket. Marty's world is not a safe world unless Jack Hyles is God's man. And now that so many forces are toppling that idol, Marty is a high priest with no god to serve. He probably is having a spiritual crisis, and I'm sure the world is not making sense to him right now. I think Jack Hyles does form a big part of the personal religion of these 100 percenters. Idolatry is always painful, and it always comes to this: the idol is toppled and a way of life goes into crisis as it finds it has to end and begin anew. But I'm mindful of the fact thata few virgins always get sacrificed in desperation by the high priests when a false god is destroyed. So I try to be careful.
 | Anyway, while the dim witted BAPTIST (of course) engaged in some mutual back slapping with Marty for having posted what they both thought was a witty and unstoppable declarationSpeed Racer, Green Beret, hugo and some posters I'm not as familiar with, (justmama), jumped in to rebuke him for his language. Marty and BAPTIST kept arguing, of course, for they seemed to think it was quite a victory, while meanwhile, curious FFF'ers were re-checking my site to see what in the world I am posting that got Marty so mad. (See the post on the Hyles Dynasty, below.) So site visits for the day almost doubled. And yes, I did post my thanks to Marty and BAPTIST for increasing my readership. Finally, this morning, I saw that Marty had posted an apology of sorts: |
| | Re: A Word for AllPosted by Pastor Marty Braemer on Oct-26-03 2:56am (In reply to: A Word for Pastor Marty posted by Peace on Oct-25-03 9:20pm) |
I apologize for my choice of phrase. Though I stand by assessment of her as a pot stirring trouble maker who is NEVER taken to task by those who support her anti IFB slant without question and defend her "passion" and "zeal", as a pastor I should not have lowered myself to her level.
You'll see in his statement that Marty is actually blaming me for any indignity that I suffer. I'm "never taken to task by those who support [my] anti IFB slant" etc. This is a good snapshot of the mind of some of these guys. A woman needs to be kept in line. Her male friends really need to take her to task, because listening to her is not nearly as important as controlling her. It's not a question of getting input and exchanging ideas for the best possible consideration: it's a matter of keeping a woman under control. Of course, if you view the thread, you see that plenty of the FFF guys are confident enough and self assured enough (and respect God enough) to treat women with respect and courtesy. But not the 100 percenters.
And please don't blame God or blame the Bible for this. Malachi chapter two includes the prophet's rebuke to the men of Judah for treating their women badly, warning them twice to take heed to their spirit, and telling them that God would cut them off for their sins against their wives. Whether that warning is a threat of death or alienation from God, I'm not sure. But Peter's admonition to men to treat their wives with honor and concern is backed up by asserting that such behavior is necessary so that their prayers are not hindered, a possible echo of Malachi chapter two, according to some scholars. One reason that the 100 percenters and Hyles-Style churches are in the state they're in is that prayer has become a contest to them, and while this has on occasion produced a lot of babbling, overall they have very little use for or time for prayer. And I think they've lost the power of prayer because of the way they treat their wives and other women.
Concerning the Lord Jesus, remember that it was a woman who first knew that He was coming. It was a woman who first identified Him as the One who must die for His people's sins, (the woman with the alabaster box). Women stayed by Him on the Cross when His disciples had fled, and women were the first to see that He had risen and a woman was the first to speak to the risen Savior. The Bible teaches that the dispensation of gifts is given across both genders. Though rule and authority are given to men in ecclesiastical matters, power still comes to the humble and contrite heart. And Mary herself, sister of Martha, was given the student's place at the feet of the Lord Jesus---a position that the Lord would not allow to be taken from her.
Furthermore in the Bible, no woman is ever recorded as objecting to or resisting the ministry of Christ. And every woman that Christ encounters, including a Samaritan woman and an adulterous woman who is about to be put to death, receives rescue from Christ. Twice, he raised the dead on behalf of women. Even when He sensed that His time had not yet come, He granted his mother's request and produced wine for the wedding feast. So when these hundred percenters go off on their power plays, and speak vile words to women, don't think it's Scriptural. It's not. The evidence of where the Grace of God settles will be in the demonstration of the Grace of God. Where Grace is not demonstrated, Grace is not present.
 | The Latest Liz Shaw Story
I did some tightening yesterday on Angles of Light. I still can't decide if I like it or not. Gary Merchant, the fellow from the UK who does my covers, wrote to say he'd read one episode and was hooked on it. That's always good news. If you're new to my writing, though, Angles of Light is the sixth story in an ongoing series. For new readers who would like to try a Doctor Who story from my site that features Liz Shaw, I'd recommend Shadow of the Daleks. You don't even have to be all that familiar with Doctor Who to enjoy it, and it depicts a well-meaning atheist who finds herself confronting truly depraved evil. Sort of a left-handed way of showing the fallacy of atheism. |
 | Thanks for spiritual lesson, Father Ted I received two great DVDs of Father Ted on my birthday last month, and I am still one episode away from having watched them all. Here is another great Father Ted quote. Father Ted's famous explanation to Dougal on how to praise God. |
