I’ve never been a big Oprah fan except that I learned about Neti-Pots from her show. However, I read about this in a blog I’ve been reading lately and then my mother forwarded the message below. Make sure you read the blogs comments as well; they are quite interesting.


This is very discouraging news to hear about one who has such tremendous influence on the general public. Please ask God to show Oprah the real Jesus Christ.

"Oprah and Friends" to teach course on New Age Christ by Warren Smith and it is very informative. He says : As a former New Age follower and devoted student of A Course in Miracles, I eventually discovered that the Course in Miracles was—in reality—the truth of the Bible turned upside down.
Below are some of the highlights from that article, if you don’t want to take the time to read it for yourself.
Jesus Christ being reinvented, redefined, and blasphemed and, this false New- Age Christ teaching is about to make huge inroads into the world, with the help of the queen of television talk shows, Oprah Winfrey.
Oprah Winfrey, beginning January 1, 2008, on her daily radio program will offer a year-long course on the New Age Christ , in a lesson a day and completely cover the 365 lessons from the Course in Miracles "Workbook."
Listeners will be encouraged to buy A Course in Miracles for the year-long course, and an audio version, recited by Richard (John Boy Walton) Thomas will be available on compact disc.

Those who finish the Course will have a wholly redefined spiritual mindset-a New Age worldview that include the beliefs that there is no sin, no evil, no devil. A Course in Miracles teaches its students to rethink everything they believe about God and life, and, bluntly states: "This is a course in mind training" and is dedicated to "thought reversal."
Oprah told her television audience that Williamson's book, A Course in Miracles was one of her favorite books, and that she had already bought a thousand copies and would be handing them out to everyone in her studio audience. Oprah's endorsement skyrocketed Williamson's book to the top of the New York Times bestseller list .

A Course in Miracles is allegedly a "new revelation" from "Jesus" to help humanity work through these troubled times. This "Jesus"-who bears no doctrinal resemblance to the Bible's Jesus Christ-began delivering channeled teachings in 1965 to a Columbia University Professor of Medical Psychology, Helen Schucman.

One day Schucman heard an "inner voice" stating, "This is a course in miracles. Please take notes." For seven years she diligently took spiritua l dictation from this voice that described himself as "Jesus."

Here are some quotes from the "Jesus" voice of A Course in Miracles :
· "There is no sin . . . "
· A "slain Christ has no meaning."
· "The journey to the cross should be the last ' useless journey."
· "Do not make the pathetic error of 'clinging to the old rugged cross.'"
· "The Name of Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol... It is a symbol that is safely used as a replacement for the many names of all the gods to which you pray."
· "The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself."
· "The Atonement is the final lesson he [man] need learn, for it teaches him that, never having sinned, he has no need of salvation."
Popular author Wayne Dyer told his PBS television audience that the "brilliant writing" of A Course in Miracles would produce more peace in the world.


2 Timothy 3 (King James Version)
1.This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3. Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4. Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

I will admit that when I am the customer I have expectations of good customer service. One of my biggest soapbox issues is getting my name correct. I don't really want to be called by my name when I'm checking out at Wal-Mart or I'm at the bank; after all, the clerk doesn't know me, and we are not friends. But apparently some marketing guru somewhere thought it would be a good idea to call customers by name even if you don't know them. I understand trouble with my last name, but I get really tired of being called Rhonda.

Saturday I was very impressed that everyone called me Rhoda--from the intake clerk, to the business clerk (who got my co-pay before treatment), to the nurse, to the CSA, to the PA. It really made me realize they were looking closely at the chart and trying to make me feel human and not just another chart going through the ER.

So while I will talk to a manager if I get poor service, I also compliment good service. I called the hospital yesterday to let them know how pleased I was with the service on Saturday. The lady who answered the phone wasn't sure who to connect me to when I said I wanted to tell someone about a good experience in the ER. I ended up getting voice mail, and the hospital employee called me this morning. He wanted to let me know he got the message and said that they get calls when people are complaining so a complimentary call is really nice for them.

Now if only the bank would pay attention to my name. After all, if they mess up on a name, how are they messing up the amount on a deposit slip as well???

Wounded, Day 4

Oops, I forgot one of the funniest comments regarding my finger. On Saturday afternoon as I lay on the bed waiting for the numbing agent to take effect, Renae got a phone call from my work team leader regarding a computer question. Renae said, “I’m actually sitting in the ER with one of your team members. Do you want to talk to her?” Renae handed me the phone and Carole said first thing, “What did Renae do to you?????”

Wounded, Day Three

Whenever you are sick or something happens it seems as if all of a sudden most people have had it happen to them or know someone who had it happen to or had that illness. It’s actually quite funny when you start paying attention to this. For instance I’ve seen quite a few scars on people’s fingers from where they have cut themselves in the past or better yet where a scar would have been from a cut except the doctor stitched it so well there is no scar.

Here are a few of the comments I’ve had so far about my finger.

1. Do you want me to get a $1.50 tube of Super Glue to glue it shut?

2. Where’s the rest of your glove? (referring to only one finger being covered with the bandage)

3. Aren’t you glad it wasn’t a different finger? (Actually been asked multiple times. And many, many people will tell you about someone who did have a big bandage on the middle finger proving my point from above.)

4. I’ll not repeat the one someone thought was funny referring to my index finger and my nose. It wasn’t funny.

5. Well, you really did try to cut your finger off.—the PA cleaning out the wound before suturing.

6. Better put the knife in the dishwasher. There's blood on it.

I took off the big white bandage last night to wash the wound and now have only a bandaid. I like the protection of the bigger bandage, but the bandaid is sufficient as it isn’t bleeding. Only once today have I grasped something and had it really hurt.

Bread 1, Rhoda 6 Stitches

Last weekend I made Avanti's bread. On Saturday afternoon I was slicing a piece from the end of the loaf when the bread knife slipped. My friend Renae took me to the ER and two hours later I left with 6 stitches.

I call it my $100 piece of bread--shown below but obviously thrown into the garbage.

The good thing is that the possibility of my playing the piano or ringing handbells professionally is not changed!

The stitches get taken out in 8-10 days.

Obama for President

I find it interesting that when I’ve asked people why they are supporting Obama for president the reason is that he is a uniter or that he is a change agent. They never give any of his policies or issues that they agree with.

I’m not sure uniting is the main criteria for voting for someone for president. The fact is that people only want unity if the other side of the aisle will compromise to side with them.

Is change just for change's sake necessarily good?

Click here to go to a good analysis of Obama from a layman’s perspective.

Interesting Facts

Some facts I learned today:

A study of 23,000 Greek adults showed people who napped regularly were 30 percent less likely to die of heart disease.--USA Today, 2/13/07 Archives of Internal Medicine

Women use an average of 16,215 words a day; men, 15,669--a difference that is not statistically significant.--Science, 7/6/07 University of Arizona

n a survey of 1,000 remote and mobile workers, 12% of men and 7% of women who telecommute said they sometimes wear nothing at all while working.--Management-issues.com, 3/02/06 Insight Express and SonicWALL

Only 44% of women and 33% of men who work remotely shower on work-at-home days.--Management-issues.com, 3/02/06

"Use of a cell phone while driving, handheld or hands-free, incerases your chances fourfold of being in a serious accident."--Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 11/20/07 cnn.com

51% of drivers say they use a cell phone while driving; 32% read; and 70% eat.--Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS), 11/20/07 cnn.com

"Almost one in four adults ages 18 to 50 has at least one tattoo."--USA Today, 11/21/07 northwestern.edu

38% of working dads would take a pay cut to spend more time with their kids.--CNN.com, 8/1/07 CareerBuilder.com

"37% of working dads say they'd leave their jobs if their spouse or partner made enough money to support the family."--CNN.com, 8/1/07 CareerBuilder.com

Winter Take 31

The weather has won out again. I was scheduled to go to Kalamazoo with a team I'm working on to go to the Michigan Blind Center, but the roads were too marginal for our drive down. Of course, by the time we would have arrived the roads would have been fine, but the first hour would have been bad. The call was for the lake effect snow to continue through today, but it has stopped now after dropping about a foot in the last 36 hours.

Life is Rough

This morning I had to laugh at the things we complain about. Notice I'm including myself in this. A lady in another department was lamenting that when she comes in in the morning the restroom closest to her is always closed for cleaning. Now if she had to go upstairs for the restroom this would be a bit more understandable, but the other restroom is about 40 feet across the lobby/meeting area.

Wow, our lives are rough.

Winter, Take 26

What do you know? It's snowing and very windy. Again.

What To Drink?

I’m ready to call Uncle! when it comes to drinking, but I’m thirsty.

I drink Diet drinks; in fact, I couldn’t tell you that last time I drank a sugared carbonated beverage. For years I’ve been sent numerous forwards about Nutrasweet causing headaches, pain, etc. and even putting people into comas! Those forwards, as most are, are not true, and I just ignored them. For every study that says drinking diet drinks make you crave sweets, etc. there are the same number of studies that say that isn’t true.

I also use an artificial sweetener for coffee and tea as well. So, I drink a lot, but I’m not taking in calories from my drinks.

Last week GMA had a story that made me think made since. Purdue U. did a study that showed that taking in artificial sweeteners trains the brain that the sweet taste equals no calories so that when you do eat a sweet with calories, the body doesn’t know what to do with those calories. OK, that isn’t exactly the abstract for the study, but it is the way I understood it.

All last week I really thought about it when I would eat or drink something with an artificial sweetener. I even thought I’d try to drink the coffee at work black, but it was pretty bitter. I even put in just a smidgeon of sugar to hopefully take off some of the bite. I also made an effort to drink more water even though I already drank water as well.

Especially in a restaurant where water can have very different tastes, I like to squeeze a little lemon. This weekend I get an e-mail with this attached.

Arghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! What is left to drink???

Winter

A true Michigander recently said this is the most bizarre winter. We average about 65" of snow in a winter, and this year we have had over 80" so far. Last Sunday the high was 7 degrees and we got several inches of blowing snow. It was probably the worst winter weather I've driven in because of whiteouts. Almost every school in the area was closed on Monday.

Today is a high of 42, the sun is shining and it's raining dreadfully hard. We will probably lose quite a bit of the snow today and all the standing water on the roads will freeze tonight into sheets of ice. And the forecast calls for 1-2" of snow tonight, 1-3" tomorrow, and 2-4" tomorrow night. That means we will have anything from 0-24".

I’ve been listening to some sermons lately of various speakers I’ve enjoyed through the years. I was listening to a sermon I heard on 12/24/06 from a series called Wise Women of Christmas. I appreciated the sermon because it was the first that didn’t come across as a married man being uncomfortable talking about singleness.

The text for the sermon was Luke 2:36-38.

36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. [5] She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

It is interesting that even though Anna was a widow her father’s name and her tribe’s name were mentioned but not her husband’s. Also, it is not mentioned if she had children. The minister pointed out how too often in today’s church a woman is measured by her having a husband and children yet even though Anna had a husband God didn’t see a need to have her identified by that in Scripture.

A Poem

My Morning Commute

Dedicated to the only person who will truly get this.

Snow to the left.
Snow to the right.
Snow in the front.
Snow in the back.
Snow, snow, snow.

Books I've Been Reading

I like to read; I just don't do it as much as I would like. However, in the last year I've worked at reading more and completing several books I've started. I like a variety of books. When I consider what I read and have read, I realize that I have done very little with the classics. I had a gift card to a bookstore that is not in Michigan so over Christmas I used it in Alabama when I was home. I found an compilation of Jane Austen's seven novels. Before I began it there were two books I wanted and needed to finish. (John Grisham's An Innocent Man and Hand of Providence by Mary Beth Brown).












Last night I began Pride and Prejudice while watching the Lady Vols of Tennessee take a controversial victory from Rutgers. So far into chapter 4, so good.

A New Day of Blogging

I've put a message on my Xanga that I'm now posting on blogspot. I don't expect more traffic, but this just seems easier for posting and reading.

My posts won't change; they tend to be random and probably often irrelevant. However, there is something interesting and challenging about putting thoughts on paper or rather a screen.