{"id":541,"date":"2015-08-29T10:28:33","date_gmt":"2015-08-29T14:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etvfc.org\/wp-blog\/?p=541"},"modified":"2015-08-29T10:33:27","modified_gmt":"2015-08-29T14:33:27","slug":"bringing-home-the-bacon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/etvfc.org\/wp-blog\/2015\/08\/bringing-home-the-bacon\/","title":{"rendered":"Bringing home the Bacon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I have studied this out and prayed about it. I also have had stretches where I am eating good and fasting regularly and stretches (years might be more honest) where I am eating not-so-good and fasting here and there.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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I started by thinking about bacon. \u00a0Earlier this week, I posted this on my Facebook wall. \u00a0“Perhaps, I am superstitious, but while some folks wear garlic to keep away vampires, I started wearing a bacon necklace and so far, ISIS hasn’t bothered me.”<\/span><\/div>\n
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So now that I had bacon on the brain, I ended up responding to a post on a debate regarding dietary laws.<\/div>\n
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I also wanted to share a difficult topic. Probably more of us Christians who at least are trying to live for God (or better phrased want God to live though them) today have more of a problem with Dolly Madison than with Ashley Madison. I had wrote a blog post called “A Nation of Coke Addicts” on here that dealt with the greatest addiction in America. \u00a0And you might be addicted to Pepsi instead. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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I have a deacon friend who doesn’t eat pork. Here’s some thoughts. if you want to eat bacon (and i love bacon) go for it and i cannot judge you as being less spiritual if i don’t eat bacon.<\/div>\n
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The bible says bodily exercise profiteth little. however that doesn’t say eating right and exercising doesn’t benefit at all. But our priority is keeping our “spirit in shape.” \u00a0Our flesh is not the priority, but we need to keep it in subjection or it will lead our lives and render our spiritual lives ineffective.<\/div>\n
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That said i should treat my body as a temple and put some effort into eating better, losing weight, not being a glutton, and limiting foods that are addictive and harmful. There are real health risks with pork and bottom feeders etc and God designed animals that chew the cudd differently than pigs which eat garbage. There are parasites in pork that are not in beef or deer, for example. Animals that are not forbidden or animals specifically mentioned to eat (such as chicken, where God forbids birds that eat dead animals, or fish with scales which have Omega 3 heart-healthy oils in them) <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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The dietary laws are not required to please God, but if we can see the health applications from them we can apply that. When i eat right for example, i don’t feel like a piece of dead sludge. When i eat right, i am not a jerk on days God wants me to fast, because i am not in withdrawal from junk food and high fructose corn syrup. When i exercise, i have a better energy level and can do more for God. <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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When i take care of my body, i just might live longer and have more time to influence my kids, my wife, my church, and the world. if i lose weight, i will be a better testimony when i preach. yes, i have “liberty” to eat whatever i want, whenever i want. <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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But i also am to esteem others better than self and deny myself because this life isn’t about me. It’s not trying to keep a law. It is not thinking i am more spiritual because i have a lamb burger instead of a hamburger or hotdog. it is about Jesus and loving him so much that I can even surrender my diet to him. Not to be spiritual, not to please him, but so i can be a more efficient and more useful vessel. I wouldn’t pour sludge in my car because i had liberty. <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Why then do i demand the right to do that to my body? I have found it is simply because my flesh wants the foods and flavors of this world.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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I have studied this out and prayed about it. I also have had stretches where I am eating good and fasting regularly and stretches (years might be more honest) where I am eating not-so-good and fasting here and there. I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/etvfc.org\/wp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/etvfc.org\/wp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/etvfc.org\/wp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/etvfc.org\/wp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/etvfc.org\/wp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/etvfc.org\/wp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":544,"href":"http:\/\/etvfc.org\/wp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541\/revisions\/544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/etvfc.org\/wp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/etvfc.org\/wp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/etvfc.org\/wp-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}