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Stories and thoughts about life written by Vange.

The Innovative Covid Vaccine Mandate

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These days, the outlook on societal issues, deemed right or wrong seem to stem from the influence of certain news sources and liberals in power. As a conservative, if you live in a liberal state, you feel ripped off. All those tax dollars you paid to the state and you get poo-pooed on with bogus new laws pushed on everyone. Mandates being passed are unconstitutional, unsafe, unfair or not well thought-out, like defunding the police or the latest, vaccine mandates.

I was told the other day, that people without the vaccine are handicap. Although those that recovered from covid have antibodies and are more resistant than people that are vaccinated, the vaccine is still being forced on them. In addition, children below 12 years old have less than a 0.1% chance of dying from covid yet, the government and schools want them vaccinated. That’s like mandating the seasonal flu shot on kids.

There are people that don’t qualify to get the vaccines because of their health condition. If they get it, they will die or their body can be permanently damaged, listed on Pfizer’s website. Nonetheless that doesn’t stop big government from forcing all of society to get vaccinated or be jobless or be unable to enter a public space. Unvaccinated people are being treated as less human, it’s pretty much discrimination.

What most people don’t know is that the vaccines currently being used in the U.S., Pfizer & Modena are a new type of vaccine that has taken two decades to get passed and would not have if it weren’t for the rush to get it out. The new part of it was the mRNA which holds a spike from the covid virus. Some sources say that the body doesn’t produce antibodies with the vaccine until covid is detected in the body, yet other sources say it takes two weeks to produce antibodies. Vector vaccines like J&J or Astra-Zeneca are similar, but don’t contain an mRNA. They contain an adenoviral vector, which contains genetic material. Some scientists say that these vaccines can’t change ones DNA or damage it, but others say that it can enter into the nucleus of our cells with evidence to show.

Sources say that the only other time the mRNA vaccine was used on humans was during the recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The CDC says that the reason the mRNA vaccine took so long to pass was that it was unstable, which was solved by using a lipid. The production of an mRNA vaccine was more efficient and less costly to produce than the traditional, which carries a weakened form of the germ, not a mRNA strand.

Reports have shown that some have died from getting the vaccine, after being forced by their employer. Others have had temporary or permanent damage in their body. Considering this and the fact that it’s a new type of vaccine, no one should be forced to get it, most especially, people who don’t need it.

Some might be questioning why many religious people are against getting the vaccine. Possibly because stem cells from aborted babies were used for testing. These are stem cells that multiplied from fetal tissue.

I’m tired of hearing people talk hypothetically about an unvaccinated person getting someone else sick who’s already been vaccinated. That’s the whole point of getting vaccinated is to protect yourself from getting utterly sick from covid.

I get why people would get the covid vaccine to protect themselves, especially if they’re in the vulnerable age group or have preexisting conditions or just scared to get covid, but what I don’t agree with is taking away peoples right to choose. We are after all, a free country with a constitution that says so, not a dictatorship.

Starting the Day on the Right Book

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Every morning there’s that first decision of the day. What is the first thing that I should do? Although the first decision or action of the day may not seem so important, there’s one action that sets the arrow in the right direction, which to me is, reading the word of God.

I can’t count the amount of days where I’ve waken up on the wrong foot, looking at the wrong things on my phone, like the stock market, emails or googled something on my mind; then spent the rest of the day putting God last. Those days usually result in very little focus, getting not much done and feeling…eh.

But when I give the first time of my day to God, somehow, I get so much done, I’m very focused and more chipper than usual. There’s more to giving God the first tenth of your paycheck, but giving Him your first few minutes of the day really pays off. Days even seem much longer as if time was extended.

1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Matthew 4:4 says, “But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

The Benefits of Tithing

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The idea of giving a portion of money away to charity can be an uncomfortable subject wanting to be ignored, but it is a part of doing and walking the walk and as doing other things for God can greatly impact ones life, so can tithing. When you don’t have much, every dollar counts, but that holding onto every penny can become a hindrance. The idea of tithing is not just about giving back to God and trusting Him with your wealth, but it is a sacrifice. Money often seems to be everything to this world, the most valuable thing in life. Some worship it, kill for it or even sell their soul to hell to have much of it on earth. The lust of the eyes creates a deeper desire for more money and some go through great lengths to feed that desire, even neglecting to pay their bills.

Trusting God with certain things like our health or relationships can be different from trusting in God with our money. If you trust God with the other things, why not trust Him with your money?

I have to admit, I’ve been there, holding onto my money so tightly. I found my faith and did not start tithing until a few years after. I always heard about how important it was in church and how in the bible God says to tithe, but I shrugged it off and thought it was just weird how God would need what I considered my money.

Malachi 3:8-12 says, 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse your whole nation because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.”

A tithe means a tenth, which means that a tenth of our income or whatever we make must go back to God. Those that don’t belong to a church might give to some charity, but for someone who goes to church and strives to walk with Christ it’s impertinent to give to the church, which is essentially giving to God. Thinking about it, money is necessary to purchase a church building or have one built. It also cost money to keep the place running, electricity, water, garbage and or maintenance or cleaning. In addition, some people dedicated forty hours a week to administrate activities to keep the ministry going and they have families to feed so they need a paycheck. Many people either don’t think about it or choose to ignore the need.

It does take a while to understand the concept of giving to a church. Thinking about it more, with all the money that goes into running a church, what is their main goal? They work together to reach the community, feed people with spiritual food, help guide the lost, distribute food and other necessities to those in need and most of all, spread the good news of God.

When tithing, giving the first is as important. We should never give God our leftovers, in other words, we get our paycheck at the beginning of the month, but don’t tithe until the last day. When we get paid, the tenth to God should be our first expense.

Genesis 4:3-4 says, “In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.”

Back then, before currency was floating around, a person’s wealth was their land, the food grown from it and their animals that provided milk, meat and butter. Even today, a farmer’s wealth can be from their crops or animals. Imagine if a person who was raising bison to sell for meat had to give it away, especially is it was worth the most by weight.

It is a sacrifice. You’re taking an item that you value, probably the most, and sacrificing it, in other words, giving it to God. If you read through the Old Testament, people had to take their animal or buy one from someone, and sacrifice it to be cleansed from their sins. The animal was the sacrifice. Tithing is sacrificing a tenth of your wealth to God. In doing so, it’s letting go of the desire to posses money, which weakens its ability to posses you. Its like saying, “God you are far more important to me than money.” It’s putting less value on money and more value on God. It changes the heart into a more giving one. It can help to be more comfortable investing money aggressively when not holding onto it so tightly.

Tithing is powerful. I’ve heard story after story of incredible things that have happened when someone gives or starts tithing. Speaking outside the church. I assume giving can be looked at as karma, you give, then you receive. One of the stories is from someone who could not find a job for five years and as soon as he tithed, twenty minutes after, got a call for a job and was hired. Another story is someone who was looking for full-time work for so long and when she began tithing, not long after, she received an offer for full-time work. I’ve heard stories of people miraculously getting bills waived after tithing and those that constantly struggled began to have more than enough.

On top of the tithe, there is also an offering. An offering is going above the tithe. Before I started tithing I was searching for work for several months and as soon as I made the decision and tithed, I got a great offer for a job not even two weeks after. My experience with giving an offering has been seeing God open up doors that were not there in the first place. Sometimes there is no job opening, then all of a sudden a job that was not even there ends up popping up. Then there has been side gigs that were once given to another company, then taken back and given to me. Suddenly extra income comes in when I give above the tithe. The more I give, the more the Lord enables me to do better, which eventually leads to an increase in income. I also notice a greater ability to watch my spending and better manage my finances when I give my first ten percent and or an offering.

I’ve been giving to my home church and other charities for many years now and since then, I have not struggled. There have been times where I was late on my tithe and at those times, I always ended up paying for something I would rather not pay for, like a parking ticket or replacement for a punctured tire.

In the scripture, God says to test Him on it. I believe in tithing because I’ve seen the results of it in my own life and heard about how it’s blessed the lives of others. On the contrary, I hear some believers in the church always talking about their financial struggles, but never tithing. If only they would test it out and take a chance, they would see how powerful it really is.

The King Within

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Transformation of Jesus painting by Vange
Transformation by Vange L.

If you’ve ever watched the movie, The Gladiator, that is one of my favorite movies. What I like about it, is how it focuses on a character by the name of Maximus who went from a commander of an army to a slave; yet although he became a slave, he still had the same ability to lead a team in a fight to victory. He did not loose his identity because he was no longer a commander. He was still the same man that a dying emperor had chosen to take his place. Although Maximus was not a prince nor in the blood line of one, the man on the inside had what was needed to rule a nation and being a slave did not take away what was already embedded inside of him.

Watching the movie jogged my memory back to a story told by my pastor at church. Occasionally churches do outreaches, where they distribute many items to those in need, within or outside of the country. It takes money, volunteers, preparation and time. Sometimes people choose to volunteer their time, others donate money or personal items. The need was announced at the beginning, then at the end of service, a man who wanted to financially help out requested to meet with the pastor. When the pastor first saw the man he noticed his rundown looking clothing and his scruffy facial hair. He could have passed for a homeless man so when he told the Pastor about the amount of money he wanted to donate, it was an absolute shock. The homeless looking man wasn’t just rich, but he was a King from another country.

Before Jesus came into the world, He sat on a throne as king, but He chose to come into the world as a peasant. He did not come dressed as a king with gold and expensive clothing or with a palace. Some came to the realization of Jesus as King by being around Him. Some experienced His miracles and others, His love and grace. He came for everyone: the rich, the poor, the lame, the sinners, even the ones that the world would consider scum. He hung out with a few people that society abhorred, like a tax collector or a woman who once sold herself for money. He touched and healed lepers or what society considered, the unclean. He did not live extravagantly, although He could have by turning water into wine, healing the sick or by being all knowing. He did not need riches to accomplish His purpose, nor clothing to get people to realize that He is the Son of God. People saw that He is Lord, when they looked at His heart. He took the cross as a criminal would and along with it, the sins of the world: the hatred, anger, pain, bitterness and everything else that needed to be washed away in order for us to be clean and right before God. The sin that would have killed us, He took it upon Himself on the cross. With that powerful love comes surrender and worship.

Isaiah 53: 4-5 “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

Religious Comedy

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One of my favorite comedians, Jim Gaffigan. Portion about Jesus from Beyond the Pale. Hilarious!

Foreshadowing of Dreams

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I had a dream a few weeks back. It was one of those dreams that was vivid. The clarity was like I was really there. I was riding in my sisters SUV, either passengers side or the seat right behind. We were driving through winding roads. The car was very close to the edge on the right side of the road. Beyond that, a very steep drop. Trees covers most of the side of the mountain. At a point we were going very slow and again, I looked outside the window and looked down at the valley very far down from the car. I could see the water below us. It was crystal clear. I could see the colorful rocks underneath the water. In that moment, we lost my dog. When woke up and saw my dog in the morning, I felt relieved and thankful that she was still there, cute as ever.

Few weeks after I had that dream, I find myself riding in my sisters SUV on winding roads, trees all around on a steep hillside. We were driving to Yosemite. I sat behind the passengers seat and to the right side of me, I look down, very close to the edge of the road, I see an extremely steep drop. We were about 3000ft above sea level and I can see the valley, streams and a lake as we move along.

When we arrived to Yosemite, we walked straight to the river. I sat on a rock surrounded by crystal clear water, while dipping my feet in to feel refreshed. The rocks were colorful. The river was shallow and the rocks beneath can be clearly seen. At that moment, I received bad news, like in my dream, I lost my dog. In reality, my dog had passed away.

Sometimes it seems as though God forewarns of future events in a dream or a still voice inside as a preparation for the future. Although painful, sometimes heartbreak can bring us closer to God. When life is a party, God is forgotten, but in the hard times, we draw near to Him. God is close to the brokenhearted and as the tears fall, I feel myself drawing close to Him once again.

Psalm 34:18 KJV
[18] The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saves such as be of a contrite spirit.

Understanding the Bible

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Many years back, in middle school, I was handed a tiny New Testament book, which is the other half of the Bible, beginning with Jesus coming into the world and God’s message that spread like fire after the death of Jesus. Although, I must add, the other half of the Bible, the Old Testament, written before Christ was born into the world, foreshadows His birth and purpose.

I kept the New Testament in my room, not intending to read it. We had a Bible at home, which was gigantic and heavy. It seemed to just serve the purpose of decoration for the coffee table. No one ever read it, just opened it to look through, the rest of the time, it collected dust.

There was a time when I opened up the tiny New Testament sitting on top of my radio. It was a hard time for me, one of those emotionally heart aching times when It felt like things were never going to improve. It was a King James Version, the hardest version to read with the old English. After trying to understand the few versus I read, I got frustrated and just threw it, and questioned, “Why God?”

My recollection of Bible reading was just watching both of my Grandmas read it. I always thought it was something to read when one gets closer to potentially passing away. I didn’t hear a testimony from either of them about what it does for them and just assumed it was preparation for them before leaving this earth.

Many years I spent without knowing the treasure it contained, that it is like a guide for life. It has been said that the BIBLE stands for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth and that it is. It reveals who God is and answers life’s questions. Although it’s been written decades ago, the words still apply to life today.

The Bible holds the message of faith hope and love, which remains. There are many theories and philosophies about life, but the Bible holds the truth. When something it true, it can never be denied. Of all books, the Bible is the only one that actually reads the reader. It goes hand and hand with a relationship with God. I’ve heard many say that they’ve read the Bible so many times and they cannot understand it. It’s not just any book. It doesn’t matter how intelligent someone might be, the message speaks to the soul, not so much the mind.

When I first started reading it, I had others interpret it for me, but I questioned their perspective of the message behind the words. I question what sounded contradictory. I question Jonah being eaten by a fish and the donkey speaking to a man. There are many stories in the Bible of the miracles of God, but from a world that looks at a dependency on God as a weakness, pride and self-righteousness can be a blindfold to the truth.

It wasn’t until I restarted my prayer life and kept seeking God and His truth and who He is, that the Bible, the Word of God started to seek me. The situations in my life, the confusion or trouble I was facing would be eased as I opened up to the perfect verse in the Bible. When the eyes of my soul started to open up and I started to realize that God is actually speaking me through His word, it started to make sense. Over an over again, consecutively, I would open up to the few words I needed to read at that exact moment. I could no longer deny His existence. I could no longer deny that God didn’t know me by name.

It took me walking out of a totaled car, after God was telling me about it two weeks before it happened and even that morning, that I finally realized who He is. That He loves me. God loves the world as said in John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” A year later I fully surrendered my life to Him and was baptized. That day I opened up the Bible and for the first time, I could clearly understand the scriptures. Although some passages can be straightforward, there are many that can only be comprehended by the spirit and not the mind.

I pray that anyone questioning the meaning behind the scriptures will start on the path to finding the truth, to seeking out who God is and eventually come to the point of realizing that God is love and He knows your name. I would suggest finding a Bible study to join. I pray it would have a good leader strong in interpretation of the Word. The book of John is usually a good starting point, then there’s the book of Romans and Psalms. There are churches out there with small groups/Bible study groups to sign up for through their church website. May this is a a starting point for many to start walking in the truth and the light of God.