When We Need Right Discernment in Bible Study

 

For the first time, I feel like I have a tough assignment in making a blog post. So many issues are rising up over the Bible word now, that it's difficult to know what to try to address first.

Some folk are bold enough in error now, that they'll forbid Christians to dispute wrongs, despite how Jesus tells us to take wrongs to your brother and reason it out, and to go to good witnesses and the church if your brother won't listen, and to know you've gained a brother if he is willing to listen and reason together.

God's word doesn't tell us not to dispute wrongs. Instead, Heaven says to

• reason together;

• take matters to the church;

• be peacemakers;

• suffer a wrong if the wrong doesn't have consequences that ruin our witness in Jesus;

• let all you do be for God's glory;

• commit everything you do to the Savior we have in Jesus, even if that means correcting or rebuking;

• avoid foolish arguments and godless mockery;

• never argue with a foolish person;

• run from evil when there isn't any way to bring truth and healing;

• know that God doesn't intend for any one person to help reach every single person who has been in his or her life or who has crossed paths with him or her (Luke 10:4; Jude 1:22, KJV; and other scriptures);

• correct in a Spirit of gentleness;

• know what the word is truly saying;

• recognize biblical error, and rebuke it;

• know that God's New Testament word is a "sword" that may divide even families or households, or that may make shake up a household's thinking; but know that that does not mean the Bible is a literal weapon that murders (not at all!);

• seek Jesus through His word, and seek a good Shepherd to help open up and translate, to give background, and to guide you through difficult Bible books and passages;

• know that, as a Christian, it's okay if your Spiritual feelings and insights are different from how the world sees (for example, the scripture that says we shine like starry light in this error-prone world, isn't about being above others, being known, having notoriety, nor celebrity; it's about being a quiet light, among millions of other quiet, guiding lights, no matter how troubled and perverse the world);

• and know that God's word to us isn't understood by a person outside of faith, not until that person's heart of faith begins to know the love/Salvation we have in Jesus. (That's what the Bible says. So, try not to give a person outside of faith a Scripture that says we "go forth and jump about like calves in the stall"! The person outside of faith might not see right away, that the word isn't saying faith is restless and rambunctious, that what the word is saying is that we have inner joy in Jesus, like a new calf that's just discovering the world around him, even if we're confined to some small way of living.)

Also know that not every Bible translation is clear and accurate to God's meaning, which is why we need to study and pray about our and others' discernment of God's word. One translation says "do everything without grumbling or arguing," which means without grudges and quarrels. But the meaning is not "without dispute." "Dispute" is a word that some Bible translations mistakenly use.

And, here again, Jesus has told us how to handle disputes when we have to or need to.

When the Holy Spirit Speaks

 

When the Holy Spirit says something, we ought to hear His meaning. In Hebrews 13:5, for example, God isn't saying to be okay with not having what you've trusted Him for (Matthew 6:7-8).

Instead, He always says to be patient, even in affliction. And He says that, while waiting on Him to move,

"Be very thankful for and respectful about what you have, not wanting what someone else has" but only what Grace has given you at this time.

Hebrews 13:5

~

Just be sure never to misquote what the Spirit of the Lord has said to you! If you know it's only your own way of talking, not exactly what the Spirit has said, say I'm in agreement with Heaven but this is me talking, like the apostle Paul did.

A Bible-study Idea for Adults

  

 

 

Life is full with choices and dilemmas that keep us in need of prayer. But with prayer, choices become easier.

Some choices are easier when made shortly after being in prayer with others, like finally making peace with a decision just after leaving a church service, or days after beginning to pray for someone about a need.

But some choices also are made easier with grace. When you receive something — even the idea of something — with grace in Jesus, it's easy to receive* that something. But the Bible says if you the individual are not able to receive something in good faith, in good conscience, then that, for you, is sin. And grace may not help that sin.

When the King James Version of the Bible speaks of Heaven's "manifold grace," that means God's grace varies according to our individual relationship with Jesus. That's why, at one point as a minister, the apostle Paul made the decision to abstain from eating the meat he knew he was allowed to eat as a workman in the Lord. Paul reasoned, at least once, that it would be better to abstain, even for the rest of his life, as long as eating all that he was allowed to eat would cause a brother of weak conscience to stumble. That self-control, on Paul's part, could only strengthen Paul in faith.

Paul was one to rejoice, just like Nehemiah, that God made good our freely given sweet (like honey) and meaty foods. But Paul also was one to tell people bold truths: when people were twisting the idea of eating with grace, joy, and thanksgiving from the heart, together with thoughts of perversion or sexuality, as in Romans 1.

And Jesus, before Paul, had given stern warnings.

The truth of the matter is that anything of the life we are meant to have on this side of Heaven, can serve God's grace and glory, even if only for a season. Conversely, things of life on this side of Heaven, can be used ungodly, whether misuse is of food, or of the physical body.

It's shameful, but there are those who boldly say all things were meant for food, and that all appetites are for "God's" glory.

It's sickening, the way some feel.

But thank Heaven we can live delivered or separate from that. ... Thank you, Jesus.

And thank you, Lord, that, as Christians, we can have discernment about what's good for us, and what isn't — and can use that discernment to prepare both healthy foods and foods we realize are a little less healthy but joyful in a heavenly way.

That's because, in Jesus, we realize Heaven doesn't want bickering over food. He wants us to have fellowship, one with another, in as much as we can.

God gave Peter, the disciple, an uncommon calling — sometime after Jesus returned to the Spirit alone, or to His heavenly existence. I'm sure more than one disciple wanted to go onward to Heaven when Jesus wasn't physically present anymore. And I'm sure more than one felt convicted in Spirit, against doing anything of sin (because of a longing for Heaven, not so much because of legalistic feelings about Hebrew law).

I say that, because, in my walk in Jesus, I had so much a closeness to God's word at first, that a pastor who spoke with me personally, muttered, at one point, "too Heaven-bound to be any earthly good." I know that feeling, of being close to the Lord.

God knows that happens in the lives of some Christians. And to help bring our walk back closer to earth, for His good, Heaven may give special assignments. For example, in Peter's case, Heaven's instructions were to step away from His Hebrew understanding for at least a time, and go to fellowship, to eat meals, with Gentiles. Those (non-Hebrew) Gentiles weren't doing anything adverse to health, costly to faith, or against faith when they would eat "fourfooted beasts" (presumably, only those split-hoofed animals that ate grasses — because Heaven's morals had become part of the Christian heart — but maybe prepared in clean ways that were different than the Hebrew way), "wild beasts" (maybe chickens!), "creeping things" (maybe gators?), and birds that flew.

By grace, God gave freedom to make choices about meats He would no longer consider evil to consume for sustenance.

But being faithful, we know that can only goes so far.

Faith is a matter of living in good conscience.

~

* Dear Reader: Thank you for reading. I hope this is somehow a help to you or someone in your life. Please be patient, as I have been, wherever one of my posts may have an awkward sentence or word. I have a problem with someone hacking my posts, and I don't always realize, right away, that someone has changed something I've posted. ... God bless us, going forward.

It's Not about Having a Perfect Diet

     

There's so much to learn on this side of Heaven: how much to eat, and when; how often we can have a favorite unhealthy food; what's truly a blessing for us to eat; and how much we can be thankful for God's kind Grace on the a-little-less-than-healthy choices we sometimes need to make.

All over this world of ours, we're growing to have a little more awareness of God's Grace on our foods. We can thank Heaven for the healthy stuff we can only eat occasionally. And most of us can thank Heaven for the milk and eggs that help fortify us almost each day.

But some of us, like me, need to learn more moderation. And we ought to start talking with others about the moderation we already have.

When it comes to me and bread, for example, I'm not very moderate. I'll eat a lot - a lot! - of the wrong breads, every day, if given the chance. I have the potential to go for a large, factory-processed honey bun, every day, if I don't watch myself, and that's despite the fact that I know those honey buns are made of a fine cake flour and other stuff that a body digests so quickly, that it all (right away!) converts to sugars that put a sudden heavy load on those organs that are trying to handle my blood sugar.

And I know the same about the type of bread and the type of sugar used to make canned ravioli. But if there's ravioli like that to spare, and I'm having a difficult day, and I'm stranded for lunch, that's what I have to be thankful for. Yet it's days like this that remind me how much we need to do better than we are.

When we're thanking God for bread each day (both the bread of His word and the bread that helps us to physically live), we ought to be sure we're thankful. We ought to be sure we're thankful, from our heart of hearts, for whatever it is - thankful whatever it is has come from a place of Grace, and that whatever it is will help sustain us and help shape our sense of peace, thankfulness, and sometimes joy.

We also can be thankful for skills gained and lessons learned on those days we participate in preparing our own meals. Of all the things to be angry about while we're living this life, learning through food preparation isn't anything to protest!

In fact, did you know preschool babies as young as a year old, now, are dabbling in the kitchen - and not only at home? Before COVID, some preschools were having family-style meals, where toddlers were learning to appreciate selecting vegetables to eat at the lunch table, or were growing to like putting fresh lettuce on their individual sandwiches, for example.

Those babies were becoming more mindful and contented about food choices that were good for every day, instead of expecting foods that would have been candy-like, every day.

And some preschools took that a little further. Some encouraged their children by showing them the work that goes into cooking from scratch, and the fun in participating. That's something that has the potential to help a child develop, from an early age, in so many ways!

Just a few strengths built by participating in food-preparation tasks:

• Having stronger fine-motor skills (Fine-motor skills are those that give us dexterity, hand-eye coordination, and overall control of small muscles, including those muscles that help us use our fingers. Internet sources like WebMD say we need fine-motor skills in order to stir or mix food, for example, and imply early development of those skills helps better suit us for more complex tasks, such as playing instruments or participating in sports. But that's not all!);

• Having more aptitude to stand or sit still to engage in a task;

• Developing an ability to keep on task longer;

• Being better able to do coordinated, start-and-stop tasks (such as pressing a rolling pin to start, and quickly stopping to change direction);

• Having an overall awareness that food needs work to prepare;

• Knowing it's fun to complete tasks in a group setting;

• And beginning to know there's more to our day-to-day than just eating whatever we see!

It takes thought to make our meals, and to make food more healthy (and tasty). But I do not mean to say we have to have perfect diets, low-fat everything, or anything else on that order.

Instead, I want to say, we can do better at with our everyday ways of living! We can be more aware and active in living a little better.

We don't have to be vegan. We don't have to have organic. We don't need expensive. And we don't have to ban butter and buttermilk. We just need to be more aware.

We may need to recognize there's not one fresh fruit on God's green earth, that will give anyone diabetes!

And we need to maybe think things like: That old, family teacake recipe is naturally low on sugar; the small ratio of sugar to flour makes it nearly two times lower on sugar than a sugar cookie; it has only half a cup of traditional buttermilk (spread over 40 to 50 cookies!); and it's tastier than bread, because of the citrus juice in the traditional buttermilk, and because the just right amount of butter and sugar combine and caramelize. It's a perfect occasional treat, without changing anything about it. It's much lower on butter and uses a healthier flour than croissants do. And it's better to have that SOMETIMES, than lots of factory-made cinnamon sticks from Pizza Hut.

We need to maybe know a little more about how we digest one food compared to another. And we just need to want better in our every day.

Amen?

Above All: Faith, Our Life and Our Covering

  

In troubled times, we may feel out of communion or severed from the vine we've known as life in Jesus. Situations may cause us to feel so far removed from Him, that we wonder when His love, truth, and unadulterated faith will walk this earth again.

We can't be certain whether prayers should be for His soon return, or for our deliverance back into the church uncorrupted. And we do not know whether to expect His return — or our deliverance from sins as the church — to be through Jesus, the Savior, in a person, or through Jesus, the Savior *, in a people. But we know, with certainty, this one thing:

But as for me, I know my Redeemer liveth, and at last He will stand upon the earth.

Job 19:25

Remember: In Him is true life, and He is meant to live in each of us as Christians.

 

 

***

* I can't be sure of A. G. Lotz's meaning, when she says our Heavenly maker is "racial." But I think maybe she means He created us; knows us; knew us long before we were born; knew how we would evolve as families of people (because, truly, we belong to only one "race" — the human race, and, spiritually, we are only one church); and that He smiled upon our ethnic diversity (not our sins!), the way a gardener smiles inwardly, knowing the diverse beauty his crops will produce.

Escaping Lies that Rob Us

 

 

Did you know U.S. President Harry Truman spent eleven years, as a young man, feeding cattle, gathering milk, and working in his family kitchen? He was a farmer who decided not to be a banker. And he isn't the only one.

At least 15 U.S. presidents were ranchers or dirt farmers, including father and son John Adams and John Quincy Adams. The 15 also include four who were in office during my lifetime; although, we cannot say Ronald Reagan was among those four. Reagan's ranch was a retreat, instead of a farm.

But Lyndon "LBJ" Johnson, who finished as president in 1969, kept in close contact with his farming business while in office. And he invited at least one foreign leader to visit.

More humbly, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt, were quiet about their farm work — and Jefferson kept ranching, and Roosevelt kept farming, hands on, after the White House.

Of special note, Lincoln was so understanding of the importance of farming, that he gave our nation the Land Grants that established universities as centers for agricultural research and rural outreach and support.

Maybe two or three other of the 15 were more business managers than they ever were hands-on farmers. That includes men like James Monroe, whose Charlottesville, Virginia enterprise was built on slave labor.

A Higher Calling

But George Washington's is a more elusive story. Maybe we can't entirely be sure of Washington's role as a farmer. But we know he wasn't a perfect man. We know he had a mistress. We don't know his heart of repentance. Yet, we know he had some measure of Christian faith.

His faith was not full with spiritual sight. Washington apparently didn't understand the Christian church is the "seed of Abraham," spiritually.

Instead, he believed — with childlike faith — that those still in the Hebrew tradition were Abraham's "stock" or seed. And he felt they were blessed as such.

Yet, as a subtext, I get the feeling Washington may have seen some American slaves as destined for inheritance in Christ. And I get the feeling he saw himself as a tutor or parental figure — a shepherd — in the lives of some of those who lived at the Mount Vernon plantation he was faithful to steward or to own.

According to brief information at mountvernon.org, Washington was sympathetic toward slaves and wanted freedom for them. In the story of one Mt. Vernon slave, a seamstress, there was only one whipping in 14 years, and that was with a twig from a hickory tree.

Mt. Vernon slaves tended to be social and visited family and friends at other plantations. They worked hard and apparently were not punished for frequent, small thefts in course of working.

Many also apparently attended church services at local sites away from the plantation.

Washington and wife, Martha, again seemed sympathetic. Washington had inherited the plantation and the slave tradition while he was a young child. Martha had inherited slaves, by law, as part of her late husband's estate. Both seemed to want freedom for the slaves, but, by will — or law — only Washington's slaves (not those from Martha's late husband's estate) were able to be freed upon Washington's death.

And, while he still lived on this side of life, Washington seemed to recognize the law would be hard on slaves were they to escape his watch. His interest in reclaiming one escaped slave, may have been to ensure the boy would not be mistreated. When Washington posted a newspaper article asking for the boy's safe return, he was obligated, under law, to say the boy was his "property."

I think it's possible the very few adult slaves who did "escape" Mt. Vernon, may have been allowed to leave, on purpose. Otherwise, Washington seemed to have Christian hope for those who had refuge there.

I suspect Washington unwittingly had the same hope for slaves at Mt. Vernon as he had for those souls he thought were the "stock" of Abraham, as an article at mountvernon.org may imply. This article may imply that Washington secretly wanted slaves to have their own plots of land, based on the Bible prophecy that says, "but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid."

Washington, in his heart of hearts, known only to God, may have wanted emancipated slaves to enjoy the same fruits as those he thought were Abraham's "stock."

Washinton's Mt. Vernon and its legacy was the exception in early American life — not the rule. In fact, in the brutal South, the law didn't allow slaves to read and write. But George Washington, upon being appointed to lead the Continental Army during the American Revolution, was kind toward Massachusetts slave Phillis Wheatley, who dedicated a poem to his appointment.

It's hard to imagine anyone from Mt. Vernon was denied the human right to read and learn, but I imagine fear of the law kept the Washingtons quiet about any learning among those of whom maybe they considered themselves guardians.

After all, the New Testament holds that the law is only temporary in the believer's life, but then comes awareness, independence, and freedom, including freedom to apply one's knowledge.

 

Escaping Today's Madness

I don't know about anyone else, but I, for one, am weary of today's reverse racism. I'm tired of the devil's accusations toward every person or group who isn't on a "progressive" platform.

I'm weary of accusations that every thing of American legacy is evil, when in fact it's the accuser who often is on the side of evil!

Recently, in our city in Louisiana, a Civil War commemorative monument was removed from the courthouse lawn. And that was well and good. But, now, there are gripes that a gracious, old oak tree at the courthouse is at least symbolic of a past lynching. Some even accuse the tree of being the actual tool of an old, publicized lynching.

But those accusers are souls tormented by the troubled, long-ago past. Those are souls who haven't known the truth, light, and wisdom of Christ Jesus. Those are souls too tormented by evil thoughts, to recognize Jews, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists alike were a past council for good in cities like ours, and that faith could get things done, quietly (including the removal of a wronged tree).

Just think: There has been as much good in our history, as there has been evil.

After all, without light and faith in Jesus, nothing would have prospered for us as a nation, today's darkness would have eclipsed our faith long ago — and the devil's schemes to destroy our faith memories, to hollow and decay our souls, to corrupt Christian marriages, to change our children, to end devout living among unmarried people, to subject us to hell as a way of life, and to end freewill doings in favor of socialism, all would have taken much of the church long ago.

The Bible does warn against a time when the church deliberately would be worn down, when sanctification would be worn out; and it appears in many ways, that we may be at that day.

"But thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:57)

Faithful, Green Grandmother

 

 

One of us remembers a garden in the fertile soil of the alley behind the back fence. Another of us remembers gardens were kept near the clothes-drying lines in the back yard, and also near the street inside the nextdoor neighbors' fence. The nextdoor neighbors, the Greens, let grandpa garden in their treeless yard, I'm assuming so he would have more daylight than under his pecan trees in the alley and back yard.

But it wasn't community gardening. It was just living. And one of my younger cousins was so fond of the childhood memory, that she has based her career on the memory.

Our grandparents were equal parts faithful and earthy, I think. My grandpa, from a distance across the den, could smell like the earth of the back yard, instead of like the petro plant where he worked. His car also smelled earthy.

My grandmother also had distinctive odors about her: usually the smell of garlic and a pleasant bacteria that seemed to be particular to her. You see, she didn't use antibacterial soaps, nor very much bleach, ever.

My grandmother was "green" long before green living became popular. She used simple Ivory soap for washing up, and dishwater and products like vinegar, soda, and Comet for cleaning. And her house smelled like nothing. Her linens and house were odorless, except for cooking. ... Grandmother didn't need cleaning chemicals and fabric softeners, and I never knew her or my grandpa to get sick, not even when she was taking care of a sick grandchild.

Believe it or not, being in the outdoors, close to the earth, and having a diet rich in garlic and fresh vegetables from rich soil and good sun, helped my grandparents, and others nearby, to thrive.

Not being exposed to a lot of cleaning chemicals that cause normal, healthy, disease-fighting bacteria to die, also was probably a help to my grandparents and other elders. The healthy bacteria that thrived in garden soils, not only likely killed unhealthy germs from animals, but probably also helped boost my grandparents' natural immunity.

In fact, some soil bacteria, in places throughout the earth, is so potent with good bacteria, that a few scientists believe they are getting closer to defeating some types of infections that are difficult to get rid of. That's probably why many of the Irish have believed the soils of their homelands are nearly sacred — because those soils had been curative in the ancient and even recent past.

But if the science of healthy soil is not enough proof of God's blessing on a heritage of rich earth, try to believe on the way Jesus opened the eyes of a man who was blind, apparently from an infection.

Jesus put mud — from a certain place, not an infested place — onto the man's eyes. (We don't know for how long.) And, of course, Jesus being God with us, the man was healed.

The Hope in Seeds

 

 

 

Heaven gives us so much. Seed-bearing plants are one of the very first blessings the Bible mentions. Seeds are something an aunt and I look forward to seeing, with hope in heart.

My aunt likes to gather pecans each year. Pecans are seeds of a species of hickory tree native to the southern United States and northern Mexico.

Fruits (including tree nuts), vegetables, and grain plants like rice, all make seeds — unless they've been genetically modified or cultivated not to have seeds.

Although seeds are earthy, not heavenly, seeds do tell us some things about our heavenly Father's nature. Seeds are evidence of many things the Bible helps us know about Heaven's hope for us.

Some lessons we find in gathering plant seeds:

• Heaven means for us to have more than we've been given. Through making small investments to sow plant seeds, instead of eating everything we receive, we put ourselves to task in an unstressful and a hopeful way. Sowing seeds blesses us to get some fresh air, and to hope for a kind of blessing that can't be gained from just being given something. God blesses the work of our heart and hands.
• God is naturally generous in ways none of us ever can be. That's why there's an old gospel song that says we can't beat God giving, no matter how hard we try. (So, Satan, stop wearing us out to make us give!) God is the one who gives more than enough, so that not a single one of us, trusting in Him, needs to be without. There is more than enough plant seed in earth, to help us live — especially when we're trusting in Him.
• God cares for each of us, individually. When Jesus taught those who would listen, He said each sparrow has more than enough. (Each sparrow has more than enough insects and seeds, for living.) Then, the Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul's ministry, said not to be anxious for anything. Jesus says Heaven knows our needs before we've said anything at all about a need. God even knows those blessings that bring us the most cheer in heart. And we all need cheer.
• When we cheerfully receive, God knows our little giving will be heartfelt and cheerful, no matter what may be wrong in our lives. That's why God has put something of hope in us about seeds! It's not a carnal thing!
• Heaven sees seeds of human flesh, differently than seeds of plants. The Bible even counts it a curse to waste human seed, which is meant, in Christ, to be given one man to one spouse. One type of seed is personal, while sowing plant seeds is for us to do universally (but tamely, or in order). Amen.
  
• Seeing how freely Heaven provides plant seeds, many of us want to freely give of our fruit — both our spiritual fruit, and the natural fruit we've grown ourselves. That's just a natural response in us, when we're allowed to live and sow as Heaven intends, working with our own hands and heart, as the Bible says. (By the way, one sure way to know a gardening business is Christian-owned, is the prices charged for a tiny amount of seed!)
• Plant seeds prove that, because God is good, so we can be good. God's abundance discourages ungodly behaviors, doesn't it? Worldly abundance may cause all kinds of greed and oppression, but God's abundance is different. ... I tell you, if there is a people who covet and often steal even simple plant seeds, I think there's a line of scripture to describe them. I think they're called "children of disobedience."
  
• After all, being fruitful instead of dependent, dogged, stolen from, or persecuted, helps prepare us, personally, for greater works or responsibilities (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12).
  

Isn't the God who we live for, good?

Eating with Joy

 

  

 

This isn't the type post I ever hoped for this blog. But there comes a day when you just feel like you have to lay everything at Jesus's feet. And that's the focus of this outpouring today.

Dear, Lord, help me speak truth, and to walk in your truth. Amen. ... That's the kind of post this is, today.

I remember when I first heard someone say, with conviction, that we were coping with "a trick of the enemy." A fatherly cousin said just that one day.

So, today, I stand ready to say that, often, when someone is frustrating your faith for living free of children of disobedience, your faith for escaping horrors, your faith for witnessing Jesus, your faith for moving forward — when a schemer points at your Heaven-sent provision and plan, and points the word "scheme" at you instead of at his or her own self — you may be coping with an enemy (even an enemy within the church).

That enemy may preach a false gospel that money is power, that being naked is being free, and that the born-again were meant to taste of death.

And you just need to rebuke that enemy. You can rebuke him or her through a direct response, or simply by the way you keep hoping and witnessing and reaching forward to live.

You can cry out that Jesus gave us instructions to remember His sacrifice in a clean, not a bloody, way: that He has given us unleavened bread and the juice of grapes in place of death and blood.

You can cry out that the light of Heaven has no communion with spiritual darkness. You can cry out that Heaven's instructions to Peter were to trust the Lord's judgment (not this world's judgment, but the Holy Spirit's judgment) about meats Heaven has made clean — meats made clean for food, meats sparing us the taste of death.

You can cry out that every good and perfect blessing is from Heaven.

You can cry out that the disciples had not eaten on that very long day when the multitude was fed, and that a boy's fish may have become needed sustenance for all of them — all of the disciples — while those among the multitude were each satisfied with a small portion of bread, because they had eaten at home that day (and then had been spiritually filled by witnessing Jesus's sayings and doings ... on that very long day). That seems to be the most possible truth about that day, according to the King James account of the gospel according to Mark. You can cry out that the multitude went home, where thy likely did eat again. And you can cry out that that's why many churches have a homestyle meal together sometimes, after a long day at worship, even if they've had communion at worship.

You can cry out that God never intended anyone's physical well-being to depend upon a portion of communion alone, but upon every word of our new covenant, including words encouraging us to "eat."

When an enemy within says our Christian joy depends upon lack and tribulation, you can cry out that our joy depends on having met Jesus! Our joy doesn't depend on evil! Our joy survives or persists despite evil. And, if you don't believe that, search the scriptures. Look at the immediate joy in the eunuch from Ethiopia. Look at Paul's joy in remembering the days he first knew his salvation. And then, remember your own walk of faith in Christ, if, indeed, you've walked in Him.

If you've walked in Jesus, you know.

And Heaven knows.

What Is Prayer?

 

It's a little annoying, that so many websites and podcasts answer an apparently popular question: How can anyone pray without ceasing?

It takes patience to listen and to read many of the posts, because, when we know the God of Heaven, it just never occurs to us that anyone would not know what it is to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Some people envision a life of non-stop prayer, a life of becoming more like nuns and monks in order to communicate more with God. But that's not the scripture's meaning.

Another scripture says it another way: The steadfast prayer of the righteous avails much: steadfast prayer gets results.

When I got saved, when I received my salvation and knew so for sure, the sermon that day mentioned a woman who prayed for her husband for decades, until he, too, understood God is real.

She prayed for decades. Clearly, this woman knew something about her husband's heart, that caused her not to give up on praying.

And it's not that anyone is supposed to wear themselves out in prayer, it's not that prayers should be long and dramatic, it's not that prayers should be hands pointed together to make a steeple pointing to Heaven, and it's not that we have an obligation never to give up on praying for each and every person we've ever prayed for (Jeremiah 14:11, 2 Kings 9:22, Galatians 5:19-21, 1 Corinthians 6:10-11, Ephesians 2:1, 1 John 5:12-16).

When Paul told the church not to pray for a brother whose sins lead to death, he meant this was a brother so determined to sin, that his sins would take not only his earthly life but would also lead to his damnation beyond death — and not only his damnation, but the damnation of other souls, as well.

When Paul gave that verdict, he also said all [godly] doings are "lawful" for the church to do; but not all godly doings are effective in bringing someone to righteousness.

Clearly, something about that brother's godlessness, compelled Paul to ask the church to stop praying for the man. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, Paul preached. But, clearly, prayer won't bring all souls to faith in the Lord.

And that reminds me of one of the articles I read last night. It was an uncomfortable article for me to read. It was an essay by a United Nations worker who had survived the Rwandan genocide.

She not only gave praise to having prayed to Saint Mary, but she preached a kind of infinite forgiveness — not recognizing that the men who she forgave, were men who had actually given her mercy, and not recognizing that every man is not capable of stopping himself from sinning, not every man is capable of feeling remorse for having sinned or, on the other hand, thankfulness to Jesus for forgiveness of sins.

Clearly, that faithful woman was fortunate to have fallen into the hands of people who were able to know Jesus one day. Yet, sadly, not everyone is going to be saved.

Some among us are just that determined to be bound for hell. And there comes a point when, truly, we stop praying for them.

That was my feeling when the kidnappings in Nigeria didn't stop. That was my feeling when the bombs in Ukraine kept killing. That was my feeling when Ukraine's president steadfastly called for weapons and money. And that's my feeling, having suffered years of tongue lashings that only lead to hell.

But what can I pray, on a sunshiny Easter day?

• I can pray children will thank Heaven for the warm sunshine upon their skin.

• I can pray that children christened (or pledged to Heaven) as babies, will know complete baptism — having become adults who are able to make that heartfelt, public decision.

• I can pray families who have lost loved-ones, and workplaces that have lost co-workers, to COVID-19, to cancer, to murder, will be comforted and will have peace.

• I can pray for my and our children's release from hell's influence and grip.

• I can pray women will know bodily respect: freedom from any and all molestation.

• And I can pray enemies will cease expecting prayer and praise to be on dark, godless terms.

Those are my steadfast prayers, today.

And I can pray whenever there's a touch of God to remind me. I can pray while working in the yard. I can pray while laying down for sleep (Deuteronomy 6:7). I can pray while in the shower. And I can pray with thanksgiving while eating.

I can pray the enemy is a defeated foe. I can pray about tongues that rise up in condemnation of victims like me. And I can keep praying, with forgiveness, for a loved-one's, friend's, and neighbor's traveling grace and peace.

 

I also can pray for continued work in ministry. I can pray someone gets the message, today, that Jesus didn't label us His "sheep" out of a desire to see everyone on their knees looking up to Him, as in the woman touching the hem of His gown. But He calls us His sheep, because we've faithfully followed after Him, even walking up the kinds of mountains He retreated to at His deepest times of prayer.

Dear Child of God:

 

Some small part of me is still an editor. I've learned to edit since a letter to a friend at maybe five years old.

In a way, placing photographs, and editing or correcting language, came more easily than reading and spelling. In a way, editing has been an exercise in creating music, like a composer who knows, observes, and sometimes breaks the composition rules in order to well communicate something.

In high school, I grew as an editor, because I enrolled in creative writing. Then, I chose journalism as a college major, and learned even more.

But there is a kind of learning that only comes with practice, and that's the learning that matters most. At 53 years old, I have had lots of practice as an editor. I know what's good, and I know what isn't.

I know most people have a writing style that is not quite like someone else's. I have a writing style that's like some of my peers', but that's different from yours.

I have years experience, now — and lots of faith — that blesses me to go to rest at night, knowing I've seen a journal project through to a good conclusion, and knowing each word has served some purpose.

So, I am asking you, please, to stop hacking my blogs, where more than one person vests our faith.

The Bible says two or more in faith agreement, is a blessing. And I just wish you would have better sense, and respect for the blessing that goes into the making. The blessing is those I work with, on one accord.

These blogs are mine.

Jesus is mine.

Please stop ruining what faith has done. And let us go to rest on many good days' work.

Making New Traditions

 

 

Did you know many traditional tortillas were made with pork lard? I mean, pork fat: the parts of pork that are thick and white!

Thankfully, most commercial tortillas, today, are made with vegetable, seed, or olive oils — even those at Taco Bell. So, no-thank-you to recipes that still use lard.

And it's not that lard has so much saturated fat. (There's more saturated fat in butter and in palm oil than in lard.) But lard isn't a best choice. That's because lard that doesn't need refrigeration, tends not to have health benefits but does tend to have trans-fats that, along with the saturated fat, help raise cholesterol. Even refrigerator lard can create trans-fats when cooked at temperatures higher than 370° F.

And, let's face it: Other than the fat in healthy, immune-building milk, animal fat is just gross.

In today's health-aware world, why depend on an animal fat that doesn't bless our hearts?

Although almost any cooking oil can work as a tortilla ingredient, heat from cooking may destroy or diminish some of the heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids and other antioxidants in some cooking oils. The higher the temperature, the fewer the health benefits in oils such as refrigerator lard and extra-virgin olive oil. So, the best oils for putting tortillas on hot iron, are those that keep more of their benefits during high-heat cooking.

Both canola and avocado oils are beneficial compared to other oils used to prepare our everyday foods. And both can take the heat.

Canola (rapeseed) oil has the least saturated fat of all cooking oils — and boasts 93 percent healthy fats, including omega-9, omega-6, and omega-3 fatty acids. As part of canola oil, these healthy fats may survive a few minutes cooking at temperatures up to 400° F.

Canola beats all other cooking oils in another way, as well. Canola (rapeseed) oil has about a 3 to 1 balance of omega-6 fatty acids compared to omega-3 fatty acids, which some health scientists say is far better than oils with high ratios of omega-6 to omega-3.

Some scientists believe omega-3 fatty acids help prevent any inflammation omega-6 acids may cause; and with that 3:1 balance, canola oil is the best of any cooking oil. Canola also can be affordable.

Avocado oil is the only other contender for better health with high-temp grilling.

Avocado oil has 88 percent healthy fat — mostly omega-9. And avocado oil is only about 12.5 percent omega-6, kind of meaning it's deceptively healthy. That's because the corn oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, and other oils used to produce most processed foods (including the fast foods) we're eating daily, are heavy on omega-6, and advocates say we're getting too much of it.

Some dietary science recommends we prepare our own foods, using oils that have less of it — less omega-6, because omega-6, sometimes, can contribute to inflammation, compared to a virtual guarantee that omega-3 foods help reduce inflammation.

We can say avocado oil is "deceptively" healthy, because, despite there being considerably more omega-6 than omega-3 in avocado oil, the 12.5 percent omega-6 in avocado, is far less than the 57 percent omega-6 in corn, 54 percent in soy, and 54 percent in cottonseeds.

Having a cooking oil in our daily diet that has less omega-6, can help relieve high blood pressure and other problems that contribute to inflammation. And, again, avocado oil, like canola oil, can take the heat. In fact, avocado oil and its benefits can hold up, for a few minutes, to a grill as hot as 520° F.

Tortillas grill at about 450° F, and preparing them fresh can make a great new tradition or hobby.

Click the photo above, for a fresh way to use tortilla bread.

 

Did you know cheddar cheese has a tiny amount of natural trans-fat?

In some stick margarines and vegetable shortenings, artificially produced trans-fats occur when hydrogenation forces a liquid fat to become solid, a problem recognized as so serious a hazard to American heart health, that adding artificial trans-fats to cooking oils and processed foods, has been outlawed. Still, small amounts of trans-fats occur when cooking oil is reused in some restaurants; when oils are heated to make stick margarine; and when healthy bacteria cause cheeses to curdle. But, no worries! A little cheddar, sometimes, can be okay.

 

Ugggh! Can We Please Stop Soaking Our Oats?

 

 

 

Everyone makes mistakes. The internet is full of mistakes. And, when it comes to news about our dietary health, what often happens is, one trend or another becomes popular, and everyone wants to say something about it — causing mistakes!

Some folk have published such mistakes in books.

In 2007, one health writer asked kids, "Fruits and Vegetables: What Doesn't Count?" Two foods that didn't count, in that book, are pretty basic to wellness. In the book published by DK Limited, potatoes and sweet potatoes "shouldn't count as one of your five daily servings" of fruits and vegetables!

I wouldn't have believed someone published that. That's pretty outrageous. But that actually appears in print, in a book still being sold today.

If I had to guess, the book's writer didn't mean to say potatoes and sweet potatoes don't have the nutrition we need for good health. If I had to guess, something went wrong when the book was edited. If I had to guess, I think the writer may have written, instead, that fast-food fried potatoes (some types of French fries and tater tots) don't have the fiber and other nutrients we need, just as potato chips and ketchup don't have the nutrition we need.

I'm pretty sure that's what the writer must have said before the book was edited, because "ketchup" is in the book's list of foods that don't count as fruits or vegetables. Ketchup, most fast-food fries, and tater tots, don't count as part of our daily fruits and vegetables. But potatoes, just generally, do.

 

Everyone Makes Mistakes

Potatoes, yams, and sweet potatoes (without the heavy candy coating) are actually packed with nutrition. We just need to know how to prepare them. If we cut them thin and deep fry them, we destroy the nutrition we need. If we cut them thin and put them in a very hot oven so that they dry out, we destroy the nutrition we need. And if we boil them a long time, or if we turn them into soup, we may break down these vegetables' fibers so that the fiber doesn't help our health.

But, ugggh. Everyone makes mistakes.

When that book was written, for children, calendars had turned to a new millennium. And people were talking about all kinds of diets. Editors of the above book may have misunderstood the book's author, because of countless ways people were writing about carbohydrates (or carbs).

Writing about low-carb diets had become popular, because a company called Atkins Nutritionals had begun to sell information and products that capitalized on that trend, according to a CNN Money report in January 2006. But that low-carb trend was beginning to fail, as Atkins lost steam due to bankruptcy — and as some companies (those processing high-carb foods) began to downplay carb craziness through assuring customers they were adding fiber to many products.

More than 15 years later, food science has helped us know so much more than back then. We know whole foods are healthier than any processed food, and that we need to be eating at least a few whole grains with each meal.

 

Let's Have Oats! But Can We Avoid Soaking Them?

Oatmeal is a whole grain that should be very popular. It's a whole food that's inexpensive and potentially healing. But some folks dislike it; many folk misunderstand it; and plenty of internet and book misinformation is leading countless consumers to prepare it in ways that maybe aren't so good.

One thing that's misunderstood about oatmeal, is whether or not it's safe for diabetes. While it's true science is still investigating whether type 1 diabetes can be helped by oats, and while it's true children four-months-old and younger shouldn't have oats (always talk with your child's doctor), one fact of the matter for type 2 diabetic adults, is that rolled oats are safe.

Rolled oats are not only safe in type 2 diabetes cases; rolled oats can be a huge help in these cases. (Read all about oats in my post, Bread is for Living!) One of the beneficial (dietary) carbs in oats, beta-glucan, is different from other beneficial carbs. Despite the seemingly small amount of it in oatmeal, beta-glucan is a soluble fiber that manages to lower blood sugar in cases of type 2 diabetes, and it outperforms the effects of sugary carbs not only in oatmeal — it outperforms the sugary carbs in whole meals, lowering both blood sugar and blood pressure.

As to how to prepare these healthy oats, there is more than a little misinformation out there about that, too! Much of the misinformation may be because of a trend that says to soak your oats overnight. ... Everyone makes mistakes.

One oat-soaking article, online, uses the words "oat groats" interchangeably with "rolled oats," proving the writer read something and tried to explain it, without really understanding. The writer probably read that oat groats have to be soaked overnight, so we can digest the oats well. But the writer made a mistake in thinking rolled oats are the same as groats, and developed an article that is really about soaking rolled oats — not groats — overnight. Believe it or not, that's a popular mistake.

Groats are the hard, whole seeds of oats. We need to soak oat groats, because the whole seeds are not friendly to digestion, can block absorption of some of the nutrients we need, and can cause gas and bloating. But very few people, worldwide, are eating oat groats!

The oats we find on grocery shelves are either steel-cut, old-fashion rolled, or instant. And any of these can be eaten right out of the box (on top of yogurt, for example), without harming digestion. In fact, those three types of processed oats are already lightly cooked — as in very lightly toasted. But boiling them a little can help us get more benefit from eating oats; and, because they are cut into thick slices, steel-cut oats should be boiled or microwaved longer than rolled oats.

 

A Bowl of Healing, in Less Than Two Minutes

How long to boil oats is really up to individual taste, but I suspect many people's dislike of oats is because they are used to eating oats that are very mushy (that are instant, or that are boiled for too long).

I prefer a bowl of oats that has lots of flakes that are still a little stiff and whole, instead of mushy. When I mirowave oats, I want to see a lot of slices of oat that are still whole instead of mushed into cream. I avoid instant oats, not just because instant oats become mushy, but also because the instant oats are chopped into crumbs that don't give us as much benefit as when oats are in slices that are more whole.

By the way, instant oats may not be a good option for diabetics. And, if making an oatmeal smoothie for a diabetic, be sure not to put oats in a blender; instead, prepare the smoothie in a blender, then stir in your oats (right out of the box) with a spoon. That helps preserve the healthy fiber that benefits type 2 diabetes.

Another word of caution about cooking with diabetes: Putting a lid on oats, while they are cooking, causes you to lose more of the beneficial fiber in oats. Recognizing oats cook differently than rice, don't cover oats with a lid, regardless of whether on the stovetop or in the microwave. Putting oats under pressure of a lid can turn them as much to mush as soaking them does.

One way I've found to make a bowl of oats that's the texture I like, is to only pour just enough water to cover the dry oats before microwaving. The more water or milk in the oats, the longer the time for the oats to absorb the water or milk, the more mushy the oats!

And the really good thing about my eating oats that aren't so mushy, is that it's better nutrition for me. At least one study's findings, published in the Journal of Functional Foods in 2017, implies that oats that are close to raw, give us 26 percent of the beneficial fiber that lowers cholesterol and blood sugar, and that increases insulin sensitivity; but very cooked oats only give us nine percent of that beneficial fiber.

The same principle probably applies to oats that soak overnight unnecessarily. By soaking the oats too long (or by eating pre-sweetened and other instant oats), we diminish the helpfulness of a needed fiber: a fiber that otherwise makes oats safe and beneficial.

Soaking can turn a food that's good for type 2 diabetes and for diabetes prevention, into a food that may not be very helpful at all.

So, instead of soaking, why not spend less than two minutes waiting to microwave?

Can I get an amen?

 

 

Some folk like oatmeal that's watery or milky, and that's just fine — as long as the oats have not soaked a long time in the water or milk, and as long as the oats aren't cooked for too long. Click the picture above for a simple, stovetop recipe. This recipe uses apple juice and fresh apples as sweeteners and for added nutrition. And the ground cinnamon (not cinnamon sugar!) isn't only tasty; the cinnamon, a few times a week, adds more antioxidants for good blood pressure — and a boost in helping lower cancer risks.

For only a few minutes more in preparation and cook time, recipes like this offer far more therapeutic benefit, and fewer bad carbs, than in eating small, pre-sweetened packs of oatmeal. Like Cheerios, small, pre-sweetened packs of oatmeal are instant oats that aren't as safe and beneficial for persons with type 2 diabetes; yet such persons may eat as much as three cups of cooked rolled oats (one- and one-half dry cups) as part of a balanced meal (for instance, with eggs and a banana) — and have stable blood sugar for hours, studies indicate.

But let's always ask for grace.

 

I'm Just Going to Pray

I'm asking the Lord to restore this blog to the format and wording I meant it to have, to the personal space I meant it to be. Both the messages and the way this blog held together, were a thing of peace for me. I had "Servants, well done" peace about it. I'm going to rest in the love of Jesus, and pray this space and more, will be again all that gave me peace.

Bread is for Living

 

 

Click the photo, for a simple recipe.

  

Not all Americans made a habit of ordering food for delivery when we found ourselves homebound two or more years ago. Millions went to grocery stores and cleared whole aisles, even clearing baking ingredients at some stores. And millions combed the internet for recipes.

It wasn't that people were cake-making and celebrating. But maybe many were finding reason to be more at home while at home.

Some businesses that surveyed their customers, included The Hershey Company. According to Hershey, customers were finding recipes to work on as activities, with children at home. Hershey also found customers were relieving stressful feelings through kitchen creativity.

For some of us, 2021 was a tumultuous year, and 2022 is offering uncertainty. But we can hold out hope for quieter, more faithful days ahead.

One thing of living I'm looking forward to, is the ability to share a table, at least every now and then.

That's because I know life is meant for living. And our bread was meant for life.

***

What about Whole Grains?

A longwinded word on few things I've learned

(A journalist's notes, in want of an RD's review)

Kimberly H. Johnson

The USDA's 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines says we need at least three ounces of whole grains, daily. It's not only that whole grains give us fiber. It's that whole grains are packed with health!

Old-fashioned rolled oats, for example, gives us a healthy, soluble fiber that lowers cholesterol and blood sugar. The healthy calories in oats also come with cancer-fighting antioxidants.

Similarly, whole wheat has some cancer-prevention properties.

What is whole wheat?

A food is "whole wheat" when it includes all the parts of a wheat seed that we are able to eat. That includes the "bran" (the edible outer skin) of the seed, without the hard, inedible "hull" of the seed.

The whole edible seed of wheat is called a "wheatberry."

Some bread-makers throw in a few slightly cracked or crushed wheatberry seeds, along with other whole seeds that are slightly cracked or crushed (for example, poppy seeds and flax seeds). These breads may be a little unusual.

But, usually, whole-wheat breads are made by grinding all parts of wheat seeds into a powder that's called "flour."

The best whole-wheat breads say "100% Whole Wheat" on their package, regardless of how much bran is in the bread. The 100-percent-whole label means the bread flour is made of all three edible parts of wheat seeds; the 100-percent also means the whole flour is not mixed with any type of white flour that isn't made with all parts of the wheatberry.

White flours that aren't made with all parts of the seed can cause greater spikes in blood sugar, because those white flours are missing fiber and fats that help us.

By the way, white flours aren't white only because they've been bleached with a food-safe chemical. Some flours include bran skins that are yellow-white, instead of brown or tan; and the yellow-white bran makes the flour more naturally white.

Some whole-wheat flours also contain less bran than others, because whole-grain product-makers are only required to include "roughly" the amount of bran a seed has when it's freshly harvested.

However, most white bread flours don't have any bran at all in them.

Most white flours are made by grinding down the seed after the bran and germ — the most healthy parts — are removed. So, most white flours aren't only bleached; most don't have any of the healthiest parts of the seed. These flours are not "whole wheat."

How should we choose?

Some nutritionists may frown on all white flour that isn't made from whole seeds of wheat. But that's probably being a little too restrictive. Most wheat breads, even those that say "whole wheat" (but not "100%"), mix their whole-seed flour with white flour that does not include the bran and germ parts of the seeds. And that can be okay.

A bread that has a little refined (meaning processed to the point of being non-nutritional) white flour can be okay if we're not at high risk for diabetes, as part of a diet that seldom includes soft drinks and the other very processed foods that we call "junk food."

Less than 100-percent whole wheat, or made with a refined white flour, can be okay sometimes. Dieticians would say never have a fast-food burger bun, if white bread were an absolute no-no for everyone. What matters is whether we're avoiding soft drinks, commercially produced fries or potato chips, and other no-fiber, high-carb stuff when we have a meal with refined white bread.

A 2019 Advances in Nutrition article by Glenn Gaesser, professor of exercise physiology at Arizona State University, points to more than 20 studies that conclude refined white breads, by themselves, are "not associated with all-cause mortality," meaning not associated with type 2 diabetes, coronary vascular disease, coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, or cancer. In contrast, he points to studies that demonstrate many of our health difficulties are worsened by the habit of eating foods like "red and processed meat, sugar-sweetened foods and beverages, [commercially processed] French fries" at the same time as processed white breads.

Studies prove it's best not to have a habit of eating refined white breads with other less healthy foods. And, of course, it's good to be in practice of making choices to include at least a little whole wheat or other whole grains with each meal.

Finding products that include at least some "whole wheat," or at least some bran, is one way to do that. But, keep in mind, we can't know whether a whole-wheat bread has more or less bran by looking at it. Some bread-makers add brown sugar for color and taste. And some use the yellow-white bran that makes the bread a lighter color.

What's most important to know about a wheat bread is whether the bread alone causes an individual's blood-sugar to spike if diabetic, and whether we like it, can afford it, and how many whole seeds are in each slice of bread. The more whole seeds in a slice of bread, the more nutrition and the lower our blood sugar.

It's worth saying that some persons who are not at high risk for diabetes, enjoy the texture of breads made with a little white flour, instead of only with whole wheat, and that can be okay, especially if there is enough whole grain in the diet.

Although not every brand of bread tells customers how many whole grains (seeds) are in a slice of their bread, some brands do tell the public how many whole grains are in one slice. These are a few examples:

 

Arnold Whole Grains Bread

9 grams whole seeds, including wheat seeds, in each slice

 

Arnold Whole Grains 12 Grains Bread

13 grams whole seeds, including wheat seeds, in each slice

 

Bunny Made with Whole Grain White Bread

5 grams whole wheat seeds in each slice

 

Nature's Harvest Honey Wheat Bread

8 grams whole wheat seeds in each slice

 

Nature's Own 100% Whole Wheat Bread

13 grams whole wheat seeds in each slice

 

Nature's Own 100% Whole Wheat Sugar-free Bread

11 grams whole wheat seeds in each slice

 

Mrs Baird's 100% Whole Wheat Bread

13 grams whole wheat seeds in each slice

 

Oroweat 100% Whole Wheat Bread

23 grams whole wheat seeds in each slice

 

Pepperidge Farm Thin Sliced 100% Whole Wheat Bread

14 grams whole wheat seeds in each slice

 

Sara Lee Classic 100% Whole Wheat Bread

13 grams whole wheat seeds in each slice

 

This list does not include every whole-wheat bread on the market, and this list is not meant to promote the sale of any brand. But based on these examples, many whole-wheat breads have about 13 grams of whole grains per slice. That's about one and one-fourth tablespoons full of whole seeds per slice. That may sound like a lot, but we're not talking about junk food; we're talking about something we're supposed to eat!

At least one, four-week study shows bread doesn't change the blood-sugar levels in pigeons. Although science has said not to feed bread to ducks and pigeons anymore, because doing so keeps them from hunting and deprives birds of the nutrients they really need, birds eat grains, too. But there's maybe a lesson in that for us: Just don't fill up on bread.

Even healthy lambs, by four months, may eat about four pounds of hay and grains each day, nearly three pounds of that being grains. After all, sheep have something like four tummies to consider!

Although we digest differently from many other animals, we at least know we need some of the same foods.

Oats: The "Best" Alternative

Not everyone is able to eat breads that are made from wheat. Some people's bodies overreact to the protein strands, or gluten, in wheat products. This food allergy is an immune response called celiac disease. 

Persons with celiac disease need to avoid wheat, rye, and barley products; but oats may be a good alternative for those who talk with their primary-care doctors about their allergy and food choices. 

And oats not only may help folk who have a wheat allergy. Whole oats can be a wonder food, for anyone.

A large bowl of old-fashioned rolled oats can be just fine: a whole bunch of whole grain in one serving. One and one-half dry cups (135 grams):

• provides more than 25% of the healthy calories we need each day;

• helps release a hormone that tells us we're full and won't need to eat for a long while;

• has more than 80% of the daily selenium we need (more about that, later);

• has iron (more than half the amount we need each day) and calcium;

• protein: 16.9 to 39 g;

• beneficial fats: 10 to 15 g;

• saturated fat: 0 g;

• cholesterol: 0 mg;

• dietary fiber: 13.5 to 24 g; and

• is a huge help in the fight against diabetes.

One study notes oatmeal was used in an emergency, intensive-care setting: to prevent a diabetic patient from dying. That's because oats don't only have essential calories, vitamins, and minerals. Oats also have antioxidants, and unique fibers, that aren't found in many other foods:

Beta-glucan, a unique soluble fiber in oats, makes up about four percent of rolled oats' weight. This healthy carbohydrate

• improves insulin sensitivity;

• slows the body's absorption of sugars;

• lowers cholesterol, through causing the liver to excrete more cholesterol in bile, so that the liver uptakes excess cholesterol from the bloodstream;

• helps prevent vascular damage from LDL (bad) cholesterol;

• can offer 100% of the magnesium we need each day for heart health and quality sleep;

• can offer five times or more the amount of manganese we need each day for proper blood-sugar regulation, nerve function, and bone health (A diet poor in manganese can lead to stunting in children, and poor bone health as we age.);

• offers a good amount of pantothenic acid, an aid for some types of arthritis;

• helps boost our immune health;

• raises the number of healthy bacteria in the colon;

• helps prevent colorectal cancer by strengthening cells in the colon and intestines; and

• helps eliminate the need for laxatives. (Some studies have concluded laxatives deplete nutrition and lower quality of life — and shouldn't be used often.)

As if that's not enough, oatmeal has two, unique antioxidants that gently open blood vessels for better bloodflow, and that further reduce inflammation.

All this may well make the case that mom knows "best."

Figuring It All Out

Only one dry cup of "old-fashioned" rolled oats gives us the minimum three ounces we need in whole grains. Remarkably, two slices of an ordinary 100-percent whole-wheat bread, only have a little more than an ounce of the grains we need.

Even two slices of the most nutrition-packed breads, may not meet our complete daily need. A bread that has 46 grams of whole-grain wheat in two slices, has only a little more than half the minimum.

To help make sense of that:

Three ounces of whole-grain wheat seeds is about an eighth of a cup (about 85.5 grams). Two slices of an ordinary "100% Whole Wheat" bread in a day, has less than 35 percent of the at least one-eighth cup we need. By the end of each day, we need to have had at least an eighth cup of grains from our favorite products. And, really, that's not a lot.

Different research shows from 40 to 98 percent of us, in the U.S., don't eat the amount of whole grains we need — a fact that impacts our cancer risks for the worse.

But it's not easy understanding why we're not eating many whole grains.

Only one-fourth dry cup of brown rice gives us more than twice the minimum whole grains we need in a day. Plus, rice helps us in many little-known ways.

An Underestimated Alternative

Brown rice isn't the diabetes-prevention and cholesterol-lowering powerhouse oatmeal is. It's a superfood in its own way.

Brown rice is a whole grain that, surprisingly, offers way more benefit than whole wheat — beginning with the fact that brown rice is high in selenium, a powerful antioxidant mineral.

Studies indicate selenium

• is crucial to thyroid function and metabolism;
• heightens immune responses in persons with HIV, influenza, and hepatitis C;
• helps in the fight against heart disease and cancer (even destroying some types of cancer cells);
• relieves side-effects of radiation during cancer treatment; and
• slows memory loss due to neurological decline.

  See https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/selenium-benefits.

Rice, oats, and eggs may be the most affordable food sources of selenium.

Brown rice also has

• vitamin B6, to help lower the amount of an amino acid that contributes to heart disease, and to prevent degenerative problems of the brain and eye;
• manganese for growth and nerve health;
• magnesium for heart health;
• iron for overall health;
• pantothenic acid, for help with some types of arthritis; and
• antioxidants, to reduce inflammation and cancer risks. (A type of antioxidant, lignans, in rice, don't only reduce inflammation; they help lower cholesterol and blood pressure.)

And while it's true that jasmine rice is an unhealthy option, studies indicate many types of rice — including simple, brown rice — may be responsible for lower rates of chronic diseases in some parts of the world. And, while a few people fret over the possibility of high arsenic in rice, the health benefits far outweigh the odds of any poisoning!

People who ate two large servings of brown rice a day, had lower blood-sugar levels after meals, says one study.

Other Whole-grain Options

Every family and individual makes their, his, or her own choices about whole grains.

While boxed cereals aren't usually the best option, some cereal makers do a good job putting whole grains in their products. For people who don't like the texture of oatmeal (despite how beneficial oats are!), there are other whole-wheat options in breakfast cereal.

Options can include whole-grain bran cereals like Fiber One Original Bran cereal with whole grains, Total Raisin Bran, and Great Value Raisin Bran. Manufacturers sometimes change their ingredients, but these examples, at one point, had more fiber and whole grains than most sandwich breads have. (Raisin Nut Bran also used to be a good option, but, at some point, the cereal's maker slacked off on the whole grains and added corn flakes to their bran. Corn flakes are not a good cereal option, at all.) Just check the ingredients label on your cereal. The first three ingredients tell you what the product is mostly made of.)

*       *       *