Hepatitis C

Grace and peace.

If you have / had any tattoos or piercings, please take yourself to get tested for hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is a blood borne virus that affects the liver and can be spread through contaminated needles. If you have any tattoos or piercings, please take yourself to a doctor and get tested for hepatitis. It is not as rare as people would like to think it is, and many times there is the thought of, “It will never happen to me”. But do know that if everyone thinks that, someone has to be wrong because hepatitis C does get spread. Also, even if you don’t FEEL sick, the CDC states that many people who are infected never have symptoms and therefore never come to the attention of medical or public health officials. The CDC also states:

An estimated 3.2 million persons in the United States have chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Most people do not know they are infected because they don’t look or feel sick.

It can get pretty serious… So think of it this way – Let’s say you have had it for a year or so, no symptoms… well:

Hepatitis C can cause damage to your liver, even if you don’t have symptoms. You’re also able to pass the virus to others without having any symptoms yourself.

Most people infected with HCV (Hepatitis C virus) develop chronic hepatitis. Some people infected with hepatitis C develop cirrhosis, usually within 20 to 30 years after infection. This risk is higher and the progression is faster if you also have HIV infection. Of those who develop cirrhosis, the risk of developing liver failure is about 4 percent a year. In addition, between 1 percent and 5 percent of people with HCV eventually develop liver cancer.

HCV also may increase the risk of developing several types of lymphatic system cancers (lymphomas). Your risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, for example, may increase by 20 percent to 30 percent. Rarely, HCV infection can be associated with skin and kidney problems. The hepatitis C virus is linked to an increased risk of porphyria cutanea tarda, a condition that may cause a blistering rash, to cryoglobulinemia, which can cause a purplish rash (purpura) on your lower extremities, and may cause kidney damage.

Over time, if you have a hepatitis C infection, it can lead to liver cancer, liver failure or cirrhosis — irreversible and potentially fatal scarring of the liver.

So, please, be wise and get tested.

Check out HepCnet for more information.

You're working hard to put food on your family…

While reading the local news site, NBC10, I saw a link, “Presidents Say the Darndest Things”, and thought that it should give me a well needed laugh. And… it did. Here are a few of the things:

People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.
- Abraham Lincoln

It isn’t pollution that is hurting the environment; it’s the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.
- VP Dan Quayle

One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president, and that one word is ‘to be prepared’.
- VP Dan Quayle

No one wants to get this matter behind us more than I do, except maybe all the rest of the American people.
- Bill Clinton (referring to the Lewinsky debacle)

You’re working hard to put food on your family.
- George W. Bush

Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?
- George W. Bush

"Late" 20s?!

In 1980, at 1:50a on September 26th, a little girl was born. She became the only sister to 2 older brothers and the last child to her parents.

She will be 28 years old this Friday. She’s OLD, right!? She is me, lol.

Where did all the time go? It seems like I JUST turned 21! I remember being in high school, lying about my age, saying I was older than I really was. My mom warned me that those days would cease. And they did. Mainly because the Lord saved me so I desire to live in truth, lol, but also, now? When people ask, I say I am in my 20s. Gosh, I am considered to be in my LATE 20s! I don’t want the word ‘late’ attached to me! Late points to expiration!

But all in all, I am grateful. There’s atleast 5 from my high school graduating class of 1998 that are no longer here. Of all the situations I have put myself in before salvation and during salvation, I’m most grateful. Two words – The Lord.

Death by Love

Death by Love: Letters from the Cross

I have started reading a chapter of the book (the one on Katie) which is available in .pdf format as a free download from the site. The book comes out on September 30th.

Nope, not even the pope

No human beings, including preachers, teachers, and even apostles, are ever to be put on a pedestal, because no matter how sanctified or transformed to the image of Christ they become, as sinners, their blood is not qualified to save. Their righteousness is neither perfect nor transferable, and their resurrection cannot bring life to others. There is only one sinless sin bearer. His sacrificial blood is infinitely precious, and His redemptive work is unique and forever unfailing. The best man or woman, by comparison, is no comparison for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). There is an immeasurable gap in righteousness, authority, and power to save between Christ and every human ever born, beginning with Adam. Even the martyrdom of the saint with the most personal holiness and piety is of insignificant worth next to the value of the great atonement of Jesus Christ. Even the great apostle Paul was a sinner in need of Christ’s atonement, just like everyone else.
Jerry Bridges, The Great Exchange p127

Eugenic Abortion

Back in 2005, ethicist George Neumayr commented: “Each year in America fewer and fewer disabled infants are born. The reason is eugenic abortion. Doctors and their patients use prenatal technology to screen unborn children for disabilities, then they use that information to abort a high percentage of them. Without much scrutiny or debate, a eugenics designed to weed out the disabled has become commonplace.”

This is VERY sad.

seen at albert mohler’s blog

Though…

I wrote this last night as a reminder and self encouragement. I wasn’t going to post it, but it may serve as a reminder and encouragement for another brother or sister in Christ.

———–

Though…

Though the darkness is thick and heavy
Though it suffocates me so
Truth shall hold my hand tightly
And lead me wherever I shall go (Psalm 43:3)

Though brokenness knows me well
And pain be far from me not
I shall press to speak to my soul (Ps. 42:5)
And take captive every thought (2 Cor. 10:5)

Though sleep evades me nightly
And tears flow with no end in sight (Ps 22:2)
I shall pour out my heart to God
Whose song is with me in the night (Ps 42:8)

Though it seems no end’s in view
And the doldrums my daily path
I shall take comfort in the reality
That eternally it won’t last (Rev. 21:4)

Though the darkness is thick and heavy
Though it suffocates me so
Truth shall hold my hand tightly
And lead me wherever I shall go (Ps. 43:3)

We're Losing It

seen at sola Dei gloria

Teach me Your statutes!

Psalms 119:1-16 ESV
ALEPH
1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD!
2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,
3 who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!
4 You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.
5 Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!
6 Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules.
8 I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!

BETH
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!
11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!
13 With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.
14 In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

Life Lately

This is a busy week for me. I feel slightly overwhelmed; add the things that have been happening, and you’d think that I would be frazzled. Aside from some tiredness, I am actually okay. That’s all the Lord and none of me, because left up to me, I’d be somewhere, sitting in a corner, knees up to my chest with my arms wrapped around them, rocking back and forth, and singing Barney.

On Monday, I aced my test with a 100. The test was memorizing the 66 books of the Bible. During the 2 hour and 45 minute class, we took the test, discussed Genesis through Deuteronomy (which means ’2nd Law’… I did not know that ’til now! Very cool!), viewed maps, and received our homework assignments. That reminds me, I should get started on those. Before the next class, I must read the entire book of Genesis and study the 1st 3 maps in the back of my Zondervan NASB (borrowed for class) and be ready to identify things and places such as the Red Sea, Sinai, Negev, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Ur, Paddan Aram, Abraham’s Journey, Shechem, Beersheba, and Rameses. Those are just a few of the places. I’m not terribly excited to be honest. I am not that great at maps, but prayerfully, the Lord will show me a method that works for me in memorizing the things that need to be memorized.

I have set out to read Psalm 119 then dive into a 3 month focus on the Gospel(s). For the next 3 months, I want to immerse myself wholeheartedly in learning about and studying the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes, I feel like there are gaps in what I know about it due to my struggles here and there with legalism and even self condemnation (sigh). The Gospel is for all of life. I need it, I need to rightly understand it. I need to know my Lord more.