Putting Christmas on Credit

Valerie Cullers 16 Comments

Several years ago, my husband and I were in a retail store. We came down an aisle and met an acquaintance of ours shopping with his girlfriend. His shopping cart was full of toys, and he leaned close to us and quietly said, “I’ll be putting this on my credit card and will be paying for this all next year.” My husband and I looked at each other, and I thought, “Yikes!”

We had set a budget and were buying the last of whatever we needed, and when that money was spent, we were finished. We knew that on the 26th of December, when we woke up, we might not have a bunch of money, but we were not going to get slammed with bills from the credit card company for our purchases.

This may seem a little late in the season to be writing this but did you know that it was always the week before Christmas when I was tempted to put purchases on the card? We had spent our Christmas budget and had other bills to pay after Christmas, so I couldn’t dip into that money. But there were other things I would like to get, nothing necessary but things that would have added to our holiday celebrations. I resisted those temptations but they were there every year nonetheless.

If any of you are feeling those temptations, I want to say, “Don’t do it!” You don’t want to pay for it later, especially now when credit card rates are through the roof. Did you know that when we use credit cards for purchases, we are more likely to pay between 25 and 100 percent more for what we are buying? (Thank you, NerdWallet.) Add on the interest we will be shelling out, and that’s a pretty hefty price to pay for anything.

I know that there are times when we have to use our cards. Perhaps an extra family is coming to our celebrations that we have not planned for. Perhaps the neighbor next door just lost his job and they will not be having any Christmas whatsoever. Perhaps we have lost our job and our family will not have any presents or dinner if we don’t use our card. We still need to set a budget and stick to it and forget about Madison Avenue’s idea of the perfect Christmas. Sometimes smaller is better when we can’t afford more.

Three things I have learned about Christmas that I want to pass on. First, try to put something away each month so that Christmas doesn’t catch you flatfooted. Second, purchase a couple gifts for your kids. One that they want and one that will help them explore their giftedness. Third, the best Christmas gift is the gift of time. Give those you love the gift of your time this year. Plan a few outings you can experience together and it will make this Christmas so much more meaningful for you and them.

Hope you have a Merry Christmas with the ones you love! (And put that credit card away if you don’t absolutely have to use it!)

Finding Christ at Christmas

Valerie Cullers 13 Comments

Have you ever felt overwhelmed during the Christmas season? There’s so much to do besides the normal list of activities. Decorate the tree and house, buy presents and wrap them, attend school plays and church productions, shop, shop, shop, cook, bake, and keep juggling all of the normal balls. I remember many Christmases when I was thinking, “Where is Christ in all of this?”

Was I alone in my thoughts? I don’t think so. It is pretty hard to find time for anything spiritual when your activity level is at a ten plus. Can you relate? Is it possible to take a few steps back from the activity and seek the Savior’s presence? It is, but we must be Very Intentional about it.

Last December, when my husband was in the hospital, Christmas came to a screeching halt for me. There were no decorations put up in my home, no Christmas cards sent, and no parties attended. It was a month of hospital visits and sleep when I could find it. Funny thing though, I may have been closer to Christ than I had been most Decembers.

I could see Him in the doctors and nurses as they ministered to my husband. I could feel His presence in the halls of the hospital as I heard families weeping about their loved ones’ conditions. He was there with the hurting and those doing their best to alleviate the suffering.

If you’re missing Christ this Christmas and can’t find Him at the malls or the office parties, take part of a day and find someplace where people are hurting. Buy a fruit or snack basket and take it to a hospital, nursing home, or homeless shelter. Take a bag of toys to a migrant shelter or soup kitchen. The people there represent those who will not be spending a “traditional Christmas.” They will either be the ones receiving care or the ones giving it. Offer your time and resources to those who need it most. There you will find the Spirit of Christ. He is there among the brokenhearted. You will be enriched and your heart will be affected by those who are suffering and the kindness of others.

“Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me. Matthew 25:40.

An Unfinished Life

Valerie Cullers 21 Comments

About a month before Thanksgiving, my husband and I bought a puzzle from the local library. It was a used 500-piece puzzle, and we decided to put it together over Thanksgiving week. True to form, my husband (the expert), separated all of the pieces by color and put the edges together. He then began to work on the center. Myself (the novice), took all of it in and waited for it to resemble the picture on the box. As I walked by, I would occasionally pick up a piece and set it in place. The funny thing about this puzzle though, several pieces were cut in the exact same shape. You had to choose the one that best fit the picture. On and on we went until there was just a small hole in the upper right of the puzzle. There were about fifteen pieces left, and neither he nor I could make the last pieces fit. I blamed it on the puzzle (of course, it could not be user error), and when neither of us could finish it, I boxed it up and threw it into the garbage…and good riddance. It was frustrating to not finish the puzzle. I didn’t like having left it undone, but there was nothing we could do about it. The picture of it stayed in my mind for a long time. It reminded me of an unfinished life.

How many times have people passed, especially when they are younger, and we feel that they left an unfinished life. “If only,” we think, “They could have done so much more.” I remember those who passed in Junior High and High School, and I feel that sentiment when I think of them. I know that I am not the only one who feels this way.

So what is an unfinished life? We all have our own definition but primarily it is a life that was not able to experience the usual milestones we pass as time goes on. If the person is talented and gifted, we think of all the good they could have done in the world. I remember thinking that of a few doctors I knew who passed relatively early. Oh, how the world would miss them, and I was right. They left a hole in our small community when they were gone.

After I became a believer in Jesus Christ, I thought that way about Him for several years. Why did He have to die at the age of 33? Think of all the people he could have healed, raised from the dead, and the many demons he could have cast out. It was only later that I realized His life was not unfinished. He accomplished what He came to earth to do. He laid down His life as a payment for the sins of the world. His life fulfilled everything it was meant to.

So the question becomes, how do we live so that when we leave we haven’t left an unfinished life? Do we need to have all of our projects done at work? What about things that need to be done around the house? Is it about dotting every i and crossing every t on our list of things to do? I don’t think so.

No matter when we are called to go, there will always be something left undone…a bed unmade, a project not signed off, or that right person not hired. But those things can be remedied by others. There are things that we do not want to leave unfinished, things that only we can do. Have we called our relative that we need to reconcile with? Have we forgiven someone who hurt us? Have we reached out to the hurting in our community in a way that will make a significant difference, or have we only lived for ourselves?

As we approach the beginning of another year, let’s make an effort to not leave the important things unfinished. As we take our last breath on this earth and wake up in the rarified atmosphere of eternity, let us make sure we have not left the most important thing unfinished: that of our relationship with the Lord. If nothing else, let’s get that right before we pass. If you haven’t taken care of it, don’t let another day go by before you do. You never know when it will be your time to leave this world, and you don’t want to live in eternity regretting that you left it unfinished in this life.

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.” Hebrews 9:27

So Very Thankful

Valerie Cullers 27 Comments

This year, our family has so much to be thankful for. We have gotten a bonus year with my husband, Mike. Almost a year ago, Mike suffered a hemorrhagic stroke from the Plavix he was on. After nine days in the hospital, he could only walk about three steps side to side. holding onto a walker. After another three weeks in a rehab hospital, he came home. He was still very weak and had little, if any, feeling on his right side. Three months of physical, occupational and speech therapy gave him his life back. He continued to work on his rehabilitation, and by the end of May, he was driving. We were very thankful but knew at any moment our lives could be thrown back into the same routine.

On July 26, he suffered another hemorrhagic stroke caused by the aspirin he was on. Another brush with the Grim Reaper, but not so serious. He spent seven days in the hospital and two weeks in a rehab facility, followed by two months of physical therapy. This stroke left him with constant vertigo and nausea. We carried his little blue bags everywhere in case he got sick.

Fast forward to today. His vertigo is only intermittent and he walks about a mile and a half several times a week. He still has a great attitude and continues to work on his exercises for balance. His attitude is pretty good most of the time and when he gets the vertigo, he says, “It’s good for me, it builds character.”

We are so grateful for all of the prayers, support and love we have received from our family and friends both near and far. The Lord has been gracious to us and we do not take it for granted. We are grateful for our bonus year and any bonus days we get. If you have been part of our journey, a big THANK YOU to all. May the Lord Richly Bless You!

Mike at The Village in Meridian in September 2023.

“Whatcha gonna do?”

Valerie Cullers 18 Comments

For over a month, I have been shocked at the level of antisemitism I have seen in this country. As a child of a father who was in WWII, I have been aware of the Jewish Holocaust. I have seen the pictures and read much about what the Nazis did to them. The level of suffering is almost incomprehensible, and those who perpetrated it were pure evil. Full stop…end of sentence.

I have no problem with people protesting a war they do not agree with, but those who carry signs that say “Gas the Jews” or “Hitler was Right” are either ignorant of history or evil themselves. I will bet that yes, some of those who carry those signs are evil, but for the most part, when I see the students, I believe they are historically ignorant.

Do they know, for example, that Hitler killed about fourteen million people? Yes, he came for the Jews, but he also came for many Christians, political dissenters, the physically and mentally handicapped, the gypsies, Slavic people, Poles, and the gays. No one was exempt if they were considered an enemy of the Reich. Many who started out in Hitler’s good graces were “retired” when his paranoia got the better of him.

You see, when the killing starts, no one is exempt. Ask those in Russia, where Stalin is purported to have killed about forty million in his purges. And what about the Cultural Revolution in China during which between five hundred thousand and two million people were killed? You may think you will be spared but in truth, no one is safe once a pogrom has started.

So to quote the theme song from Cops, “Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?” Please think about it, because eventually they will and you who are approving of the genocide of others may become a victim yourself.

Photo of Auschwitz by Carl S. Courtesy of Pixabay

Prophetic

Valerie Cullers 12 Comments

On Sunday morning, October 8th, I woke up and looked at the news feed on my phone. I read about the Hamas attack on Jewish settlements on the border of Gaza. This attack looked much different from the attacks Israel has faced from Hamas in the last 15 years. I then thought about Bill Salus and how he had written a book about Psalm 83 and a future war Israel would be fighting with the diverse ethnic groups around its borders. Bill just happened to be at a prophecy conference that morning and was giving an impromptu talk that I listened to. He said we must wait and see how it will develop to see if this war fits Psalm 83 in the Scriptures. Since then, I have listened to Amir Tsarfati, a Messianic Jew who is also an Israeli. He is convinced that the Psalm 83 war happened in 1948 when Israel fought its War of Independence. He feels the current events might possibly be a prelude to the war of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38 and 39.

So who is right? Well, we must all wait and see if this particular war has any prophetic implications or not. You see, when thinking about prophecy, we don’t make Biblical prophecy fit the events that are happening. The events must fit the prophecy exactly in order to be true. Also, many times, prophecies have more than one fulfillment, one closer to the time it was written and one further down the timeline.

Recently, Jack Hibbs said, “The world is catching up to the Bible.” Thousands of years ago, a couple of hundred prophecies were written about the return of Christ. Others were written about Israel and what would happen to it in the last days. I believe that just as over three hundred prophecies were fulfilled about Jesus’ first coming, so the remaining prophecies will be fulfilled about what will happen to Israel in the last days. But they will all be fulfilled in God’s good time and not our own.

In the gospels, Jesus talked about what the world would look like immediately before his return. We see that the world does look very close to what He said it would be like. We were also instructed to watch and pray. What we can know is that time is getting short. As we watch nations aligning against Israel, we know it will have to defend itself against a larger host of armies at some point in the future.

So does this particular war fulfill any prophecies in the Bible? At the moment, we must wait and see and not jump to any conclusions.

Contagion

Valerie Cullers 14 Comments

When I first saw the images of the attack on Israel, the first thing I thought was, “Hatred.” Yes, hatred is the contagion that drives these acts of violence. I have since watched the protests against Israel, many were carrying signs and slogans with horrible sayings on them against the Jewish people. Again, I thought, “Hatred.”

You see, every murder, every act of violence, every war springs from evil within the human heart. The motivation could be hatred, jealousy or greed but all of these acts spring from emotions hiding in the heart. In the case of the Israeli – Hamas War being conducted now, hatred is at the center of it all. People are taught to hate from the time they are little, and hatred pervades some people like a sick evil.

Like every other contagion, hatred is easy to assimilate into our bodies and souls. It is natural to pick up an offense and let it fester in our souls until it spews out of our mouths in some form of a derogatory comment. As a believer in Jesus Christ, I must fight the temptation to pick up this hatred in any form it comes to me. It could be in the aerosol of a newscast or in the germ of an article I read in the news.

I’ve thought a lot about what Jesus would have me do in relation to this conflict. Yes, I can choose sides, but I must choose not to hate. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5: 43-45.

How do I do this? I can pray for mercy on the non-military population. I can pray that innocent civilians will not get hurt. I can pray for aid to reach those who need it. There are lots of things I can pray for those I believe are in the wrong. I can pray for a lasting peace and an end to hostilities. I can pray for good leadership. The list goes on. And most importantly, I can pray that the contagion of hate will not permeate my own heart and soul.

Image by Astral Ember. Courtesy of PIxabay.

H+ TRANSHUMANISM

Valerie Cullers 36 Comments

Several years ago, I realized I needed to learn more about the field of Artificial Intelligence and so I decided to do some research on the subject. I read Hugo De Garis’s book “The Artilect War – Cosmists vs. Terrans.” It was written for the general public and was a great place to start learning the language and concepts being used in the AI field today. Because I read it, now when I read articles about AI written by Bill Gates or Elon Musk, I am more able to assimilate the information and contextualize it.  

Another area that overlaps with part of the AI field is the field of Transhumanism. So, what exactly is Transhumanism? Transhumanism is the enhancement of the human body through technological, genetic, mechanical or synthetic means. It is a broad field with scientists and researchers moving forward to actualize their goals to move human beings past their biological limitations and create a “new and improved human.” This human will not be fully human but will have enhancements in one form or another in their bodies, brains, or genetic makeup. It will literally be a Human 2.0.

If we have an artificial hip or shoulder, have we become Transhuman? Technically, no. Anything we do to our bodies to bring them back to a normal functioning level is not Transhumanism. Although, while reading this book,  I did call my husband a Cyborg because he had an artificial hip. Needless to say, he was not amused! In other words, just replacing worn-out body parts is not Transhumanism. A person is still a Human 1.0 who has had this kind of surgery.

Just as I needed a primer on AI, I needed a primer on Transhumanism to begin to understand the concepts and where the scientific research is taking us. I chose the book, “The Milieu,” by Dr. Thomas R. Horn, for my initial introduction to the subject. 

This book has nine other contributing authors who tackle the bioethical concerns relating to this subject. The authors give the reader the historical context of where the idea of Transhumanism originated and how the scientists got where they are today. They each take a different area of this vast subject and share their view of how this research will affect us in the future. When does a person move from being a human to being a Transhuman? If we allow animal DNA to be implanted in our bodies, have we ceased being human? Will an animal/human hybrid still have a soul? What are the societal implications of Transhumanism? These and many more questions are explored in the book.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this emerging field. As many in our society are discussing this subject, the leading nations of the earth are moving forward with their research in this area. The hope of producing a “super soldier” through genetic mutation, mechanical augmentation, and brain implantation is no longer in the realm of science fiction. It is being played out in laboratories throughout the world every day of the week.

When I started this book, I was concerned that I wouldn’t understand it and that it would be too technical for me. Yes, I did have to look up several words to understand the initial concepts in the first few chapters, but after that, it was pretty much smooth sailing. By the time I was about page 80, I had moved from being concerned that I wouldn’t understand it to being concerned that I did understand it, as I was becoming more aware of where scientific research is taking us as a human race.

Transhumanism is quickly moving from the realm of science fiction to real science, and I would hope we would all become educated about the biological, societal, and spiritual implications that come with it. Better to begin to be aware of what is coming than wake up one day and have to try to form some sort of bioethical groundwork for how this will affect us societally. After all, most of us are still  Humans 1.0.

Note: This is an updated version of a post I wrote a few years ago. I wanted to give you a few resources in case you wanted to investigate this field further!

The Brain Chip

Valerie Cullers 16 Comments

A few weeks ago, it was announced that the FDA had approved clinical trials for the medical use of Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain chip. At the moment, the FDA has not approved clinical trials for Neuralink’s brain chip that would connect the brain to the internet. Since then, I have been reading a book on transhumanism in order to write a blog that would inform you about the dangers of such a chip.

I was halfway through the book “The Milieu, Welcome to the Transhuman Resistance” by Dr. Tom Horn et al, when I came upon an article this morning in the news. It is from The Daily Mail dated 7-19-23, and entitled “UN warns unregulated AI brain chips threaten democracy, mental privacy” by Matthew Phelan. I will quote from this article for the next five paragraphs. The information is self-explanatory and will provide you the reader with a cursory understanding of the subject.

“IBC advised that engineers and programmers in neurotech should swear an oath like ‘the Hippocratic oath ‘ sworn to by doctors and other medical professionals.“

“A United Nations panel has warned that brain chip technology being pioneered by Elon Musk could be abused for ‘neurosurveillance’ violating ‘mental privacy,’ or ‘even to implement forms of forced re-education, threatening human rights worldwide.”

“The UN’s agency for science and culture (UNESCO) said neurotechnology like Musk’s Neuralink, if left unregulated, will lead to new possibilities of monitoring and manipulating the human mind through neuroimaging and personality-altering tech.”

“We are on a path to a world in which algorithms will able us to decode people’s mental processes,” said UNESCO’s assistant director-general for social and human sciences, Gabriela Ramos. “The implications are far-reaching and potentially harmful,” Ramos said, “given breakthroughs in neurotechnology that could directly manipulate the brain mechanisms in humans, underlying their intentions, emotions and decisions.”

“Neurotechnology like Musk’s Neuralink implants will connect the brain to computing power via thread-like electrodes sewn into certain areas of the brain. Because neuron signals become directly translated into motor controls, Neuralink could allow humans to control external technologies such as computers or smartphones, or lost bodily functions or muscle movements, with their mind. “

If you think that AI or neurotechnology is a subject that you don’t need to be aware of, please think again. These enhancements to the human brain will be available in the near future. Many will want them as they will enhance their brain’s power to learn. However, there is a dark side to this technology and we must make ourselves aware before we submit to it. Mass mind control of humans is not out of the question if this technology is used with malicious intent.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay