I’ve heard that traveling the world one can see a difference between affluent and poor people. The poor people always seem to be smiling and content with what little they have appreciating the simple things in life. There is little to worry about when one has nothing. Yet, affluent people on the other hand are often concerned and worried about what the future will bring. With wealth brings responsibility and the fear of loss. In one of the richest nations, the United States, people are in a continual state of consumption and personal achievement; never having enough. This life style can often breed greed, lying, cheating, stealing, envy, lust along with many other sinful ways. The Bible gives us guidance on how we should live. If we look carefully enough, we’ll even find the root problem to all sins which will aid us in living Christ like. 

               A rich man once approached Jesus and asked how he might obtain eternal life. Jesus told him to obey the Ten Commandments. Having kept all of the commandments the man wondered what he still lacked. Jesus told him that in order to be perfect the man would have to sell his possessions and give to the poor; after that he could follow Christ. When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he was very wealth. Jesus then said, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:16-24, NIV). This wasn’t necessarily about the money; it was more about living a selfless life.

               God’s ways are higher than mankind’s. God created this world not for his benefit, but for our benefit; God’s ways are selfless in nature. When Adam was created he was put on Earth to maintain it and to be its keeper. When Eve was put on this Earth, it was to help Adam and to be his partner. We were created with the original intent of living selfless lives. But then our human nature took effect, Adam and Eve wanted to acquire knowledge and be like gods thus eating the fruit. Many people would say that the sin was disobeying God and not following God’s orders. Yet if we look at the situation carefully the reason for the disobedience was the pursuit of personal gain, a self centered act thus detaching us from God’s intent and purpose. God’s purpose for us is to live a life of selflessness. Being self-centered is the root of all sins.

               Let’s handle the first objection, what if someone commits a selfless sin such as killing on someone else’s behalf? I believe that God would see the overall good in matter of a selfless act. For example, Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. Obviously Moses was forgiven and later used by God. Yet, it’s hard to imagine anyone killing anybody without some motive. Jesus obviously doesn’t condone killing while giving a selfless examples of turning the other cheek, loving your enemies, and praying for those that persecute you.

Jesus had been questioned in regards to which of the commandments was the greatest. Jesus first answered, “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, and soul and next love your neighbor as yourself.“(Matthew 22:39, NIV). The only way this is possible is to live a life of selflessness. Jesus in his very nature was the perfect example of one who lived selfless life style; an example that we should all strive to follow. Note Romans 8:5, “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” (NIV) “Put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” (Colossians 3:5, NIV).

In short our sinful natures are a result of trying to fulfill our natural desires. We’ve heard of such things as the “Me generation,” and the pursuit of Happiness which is often equated to wealth and achievement. Children often start life care free and charitable but quickly become accustomed to our self-seeking life styles. The root of the problem is that we are naturally self-centered and without taking a conscious step into being selfless, society will continue living a downward spiral driven on ever expanding desires with a thirst that will never be quenched as we tear at one another to get ahead.

God intended us to be selfless, mankind chose to be selfish. Our pride and self consuming nature is the root of all sin.

It must be noted that the Government does not have a clean record when it comes to faulty vaccines and often hides the negative impacts that have resulted. The weakened virus is typically the least of our worries in these shots versus the added chemical which are present. Who really wants a Mercury injected via a flu shot? For kids there are plenty of studies that show the adverse affects that can result. In my opinion mandating any shot is a violation against ones liberties. And if one attempts to keep their child at home in order to avoid getting the shot, law enforcement can be used along with Child Protection Services (CPS) to potentially take the kids away. Home school will soon be the only option. Our system is quickly removing our parental right to raise our children, and it doesn’t stop there…

More are forgoing vaccines for kids

More are forgoing vaccines for kids

By Valerie Schremp Hahn

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Friday, Oct. 09 2009

School nurses have until next week to tell Missouri whether students have all
the vaccinations required to attend school.

And it’s likely thousands of children won’t have them.

In the past several years, more and more Missouri schoolchildren have skipped
immunizations for religious or medical reasons. Now health experts fear even
more parents will resist efforts to vaccinate children against swine flu.

Though only a small fraction of parents have excluded their children from
mandatory school vaccinations, last year about 7,600 schoolchildren got
exemptions for each of the required shots. Five years before, that number was
about 4,900. That’s a 55 percent increase in exemptions at a time when
enrollment has remained steady.

In less than a fourth of the cases, the exemptions are for doctor-approved
reasons, such as allergies or a natural immunity to a disease. Far more often,
parents simply claim a religious exemption, which the state or school does not
verify.

School officials often suspect the parent is simply wary and doesn’t
necessarily have a particular religious belief about vaccines; officials are
left to promote the medical benefits and quell fears.

Schools are playing a greater role in immunizing children — many will serve as
distribution centers this fall for vaccines for the H1N1 virus, otherwise known
as swine flu. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is having
to reassure concerned parents, worried that the testing and production was
rushed, that the vaccine is safe.

Koreen Bowers of Jefferson County is not getting regular flu or H1N1 shots for
her three daughters. She figured she would rather deal with the risk of getting
sick from the flu rather than getting sick from the vaccine.

According to an Associated Press poll, as many as 38 percent of parents said
they were unlikely to give permission for their kids to be vaccinated for H1N1
at school, often over concerns about side effects.

Bowers put her daughters on a delayed and selective schedule for other
vaccinations after her oldest daughter, now 6, became jittery and unable to
sleep after receiving vaccinations as an infant. She got religious exemptions
for the oldest daughter, now in first grade, and the middle daughter, now in
kindergarten.

The girls attend a private Lutheran school, and Bowers has since learned some
other school parents have done the same. “I just think people need to be open
to different alternatives and do a little bit more research,” she said. “It
doesn’t mean they don’t care for their kid; it doesn’t mean you’re antivaccine.
It means you’re doing what you think is best.”

Jeannie Ruth, the bureau chief of immunizations for the state of Missouri, says
the increasing numbers of parents who opt out of vaccines is a concern, but not
statistically significant. “But we’re not going to ignore it, and we’re going
to continue to educate people so they understand the safety of vaccines,” she
said.

Linda Neumann, president of the Missouri Association of School Nurses and a
nurse at Hixon Middle School in the Webster Groves School District, said this
year seven of Hixon’s 650 students have religious exemptions on file. Most are
Christian Scientists, who may choose not to get their children vaccinated.
Usually fewer than 10 students every year have exemptions, she said.

“If it’s for their organized religion, we have to respect that,” Neumann said.
“It’s the parents that come in and say, ‘I hear there’s a religious exempt card
I can sign.’ Those are the parents we invite to sit down, and we just talk
about immunizations. Most of the time they get (their children) immunized.”

About 9,700 Illinois schoolchildren, a fraction of a percent of all students,
got religious and medical exemptions for the most common vaccines last school
year, and about 5,300 of them got exemptions 10 years before that. That
represents an 83 percent increase at a time of stable school enrollment.

Anxiety about immunizations is on the rise, even as the cases of
vaccine-preventable diseases has decreased. The Journal of the American Medical
Association has tracked an increase in nonmedical vaccine exemptions between
1991 to 2004.

All states permit medical exemptions, 48 allow religious exemptions, and 18
states allow exemptions based on philosophical or personal beliefs, according
to the National Vaccine Information Center. Missouri and Illinois allow only
religious and medical exemptions.

The reasons for anxiety about vaccines vary. Some parents don’t like the idea
of the government telling them how to oversee their children’s health. Others
may fear adverse reactions, ranging from swelling at the injection site to
death.

In recent years, the most explosive issue has involved allegations from vaccine
safety groups that some vaccines are tied to autism, but federal officials cite
multiple studies that can’t prove a link.

Karla Allsberry of Troy, Mo., chose not to give her now 10-year-old son any
more immunizations or boosters because of severe reactions he had as a baby and
toddler. She said he became ill with intestinal problems and rashes, and his
arm swelled.

He has a medical exemption on file, even though her son is now home-schooled,
Allsberry says. Her younger son, 4, attends preschool two mornings a week and
is exempted for religious reasons. Because of his brother’s reactions,
Allsberry has not had him vaccinated, and the boy is very healthy, she said.

“I’m not an antivaccine person, I just advocate for safer vaccines,” says
Allsberry, who would like to see more third-party oversight on vaccine
ingredients like thimerosal. “I don’t think anybody — a doctor, the governor —
should tell a parent that they should or should not get their child vaccinated.
I think it’s the parent’s decision to decide that.” And parents should learn
for themselves what goes into vaccines, she said.

Studies say unvaccinated children are at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases,
and interventions such as school immunization requirements have led to record
or near-record lows in the levels of vaccine-preventable diseases. Experts also
say the vaccines have been proven safe.

“The most common side effects are just redness at the injection site and some
swelling. Other side effects are very rare,” said Arleen Porcell-Pharr,
spokeswoman for the CDC. “The decision of not getting your child vaccinated is
not without risk either.”

Ruth, with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, says the
department has sponsored several more ad campaigns in the past year than
previously, mainly because it is getting more immunization grant funds from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The campaign includes public
service announcements in English and Spanish on radio stations and magazines
such as Rural Missourian, which reaches audiences that might not have access to
information on vaccines or adequate medical services.

“We really need to have healthy Missourians,” she said. “Vaccines are one of
the best public health practices ever. When you look at how disease rates have
gone down by 98 percent because of vaccines, that just makes you feel good at
the end of the day.”

“An expert on religion says the Neumanns may have become too focused on one way of thinking in their religious beliefs, and that may have ultimately contributed to their daughter’s death.”

ARTICLE: Expert On Religion Says Neumanns May Be Too Focused In Their Religious Thinking 

It is interesting to see rationality meeting up with religion. I do believe a family has the right to seek or avoid medical assistance. However, there does come a valid point in a life or death situation of a child where one should be required to seek medical attention or consultation such as in this case. In some cases such as cancer it might be best to alleviate the child’s pain and make the best of the situation allowing them to enjoy what little they have left. In Wisconsin some are looking for reform and have some concern.

“It [legislation] does not change any existing laws that require medical care for children who are at risk of serious illness.”

COLUMN: Reform faith-healing law right

Technically all children have a potential risk for serious illness unless you live in a glass bubble. Unfortunately, I would hate to see this case be used for a hidden agenda, taking away the rights of parents to decide on immunization shots for their children. I would not be surprised if they use this case down the line to take out religion as a reason to avoid medical attention such as a flu vaccine. Rather than taking precautionary drugs with possible side effects (such as death), I personally would prefer to avoid any and all treatments until I had proven ill or dying.

This case and what stems from it will definitely be something to watch.

Some related links:

http://www.wsaw.com/home/headlines/63681302.html

http://www.mauritiustimes.com/091009drgopee.htm

http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20091009/APC06/910090494/Column–Girl-who-died-while-parents-prayed-deserved-better

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2009/10/091007_prayer_medicine_wup_sl.shtml

Luke 4:43 “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.”

Luke 8:1 “¹After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:11 “He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.”

Mark 1:15 ”The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Matthew 24:14 “And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations.”

Matthew 6:9-10 “This then is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’”

Jesus’ message and Good News was about the coming of God’s kingdom through Jesus Christ.

 Man changed his message and I was told that I was wrong for agreeing with Jesus.

Show me how Jesus is Omnipotent. How can this be possible when scripture clearly shows that he is in the flesh, yet has ascended into heaven and will return the same way he left? I guess it possible that the spirit of Jesus is with us, but then what about his physical body that is to return. If Jesus is here why does he let his people suffer? What if scripture is true and Christ is gone until his return as foretold in Revelations. The problem is that if Jesus isn’t omnipotent as the Bible shows, then the Trinity doesn’t hold up.

Acts 1:11  “They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking into the sky? Jesus, whom you saw taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you saw him go.”