Thank you to the administrator(s) for developing this website and forum. I found very interesting the posts that I read so far which is what allured me into joining the forum.

I also am an "unusually open-minded" Christian, a very deep thinker, an animal lover, and have very strong political opinions, especially about respect for human life issues. I have had a burning desire to work in holistic medicine for about 10 years now. And, yes, I have and have had plenty of chronic health problems, some resolved and some still unresolved. Mostly I want a place to share my faith with anyone who is willing to listen.

I am willing to listen.

Thanks.
Interestingly, you're the only other person that I saw that replied to an article that I found today in the media section, under CODEX on Health Freedom. I also wrote a reply to it today. (more will come)

Welcome Christian1,

Thanks for coming to our forum. I would have responded sooner but I've been under a tight software deadline which I met about 4 am this morning.

I would describe myself almost identically as you did yourself. I founded and operate this forum along with my friend and business partner Laura.

We got involved with alternative medicine in the mid 90s when we became sick with what we now know was mercury poisoning from amalgam (i.e. "silver") dental fillings. We had them removed, detoxed and are now healed of our 17 physical symptoms and countless emotional ones.

My Mercury-Amalgam Story

We are both Christians that don't fit will in modern churches (we don't go at the moment and haven't for years). I read the Bible (almost) daily and conduct personal studies on some weekends.

So...

I just wanted to welcome you to the forum and introduce ourselves back.

Welcome and we hope you enjoy your stay.

Thank you very much, I figured that you were probably busy. I began seeking help in Alternative Medicine about the same time and got a lot of help especially from Chiropractic care and Acupuncture. I also had my mercury/amalgam fillings removed and replaced with porcelain but I can't say how much it helped or didn't help. Some things are more obvious than others and every person's situation is unique. Later on I also received miraculous healing through prayer, so God has given me many different kinds of experiences and I'm still continually learning. (in the case of miraculous healing through prayer, I do not believe that it's an instant cure-all for everyone, but every mode of healing is from God and has its own place in the whole thing.)

Very interesting and good to hear that you've received a healing.

If you want, feel free to tell us the story (if you want). I know people would be interested in hearing about it as well as me.

Thanks.

I have actually been healed instantly maybe 4 or 5 times of various things in the past dozens years, through Jesus, amazing... my teeth however are a different story. The reason being, I think, that they are no longer God's creation but every problem I have encounteed with my teeth in the past 20+ years has been the result of bad dentistry I received as a kid, and then sadly, some of late also.

I pulled this most recent lost one for Jesus (I did!)... I prayed about it... his answer was, repeatedly, pull that one, fix the rest... I went into the dentist and he confirmed the same thing. I have walked with Jesus a long time now and I know from experience that if he says do something a certain way, and I do it another way because I am not sure he spoke to me, I always suffer as a result. When i listen to him things go quite well.

The "When I Listen" part is the key. I have disobeyed at times and boy have I learned that it's not worth it. Whew!

Glad to hear about your tremendous experiences. Feel free to give your testimonies so others can benefit. Perhaps I should even start a Christian Testimonies forum on this system. What do you think?

I had a girlfriend that had a terminally-ill father. He had cancer. She prayed desperately and the next doctor visit, there was no cancer found at all. This was not likely a misdiagnosis because they had imaged the cancer multiple times on different visits (if I remember correctly).

Anyway, thanks for sharing and let me know what you think.

Nah, I'd keep the testimonies loose and floating in a non-conspicuous manner as is. Unfortunately dedicated faith arenas seem to lead to debate which lead to arguments which lead to ugly.

Whew no kidding. I do not want to discuss it.

I have heard quite of quite a few firsthand cancer miracles myself. Too bad about the mercury in my teeth, a God forsaken thing it seems. Though my healing from it surely is not.

I was created perfect do you know that Russ? Absolutely perfect, I was a real superstar as a kid, sharp as a tack unbeatable. Then of course my mom took me to a dentist, many times. Things slowly went downhill I think... as my energy waned. But my health has always been pretty good (or so it appeared to me), even in spite of it all. Never went to doctors much, broke a wrist once, an ankle skiing saw a doctor then...

Yeshua Hamaschiach. My herb garden is his request also. Imagine that.

"The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while Nature cures the disease."

-Volaire


"A physician is a person that treats a patient until they die;
until their money is all gone;
or until they are cured by nature."

—Descartes
Philosopher, Physicist, Physiologist, Mathematician, 1596 - 1650

I used to talk about things that I believed as every day subjects, just like anything that is visible, because it all seems normal to me, but I was surprised (actually amazed) at how little the people around me were able to believe. I used to try to convince people to believe, but I finally realized that I had to just give up and accept that they won't. This was and is a big disappointment for me, but I have no choice in the matter. There are a lot of things that I would like to share, but now I know that it has to be done very carefully, with caution. I'm pretty sure that everything will come out eventually though, as God leads and opens people's minds to understand. He definitely does have a plan in the whole thing, that's for sure. I have suffered from extreme spiritual oppression for many years, especially the last 7. This has been harder to deal with than my physical problems, though I now know that my current health problems are derived from this - something that I really can't explain for lack of faith. But God showed me what's going on, finally. Now I'm just waiting, always wondering where the end is and struggling to survive day by day. One thing that is very clear through the whole thing, however, is that God is continually healing my body miraculously every single day - that's how I'm surviving through it. But the spiritual oppression has to be removed for the healing to be made complete. My more minor health problems were healed instantly or very quickly when I prayed for myself with faith, when I knew that I really needed it. But I always go for the ointments and medicines, etc. first. In reference to the one self-pulled bad tooth: It seems to me that God often uses physical situations like that as signs for us and for others who hear about it, to speak about a spiritual situation. I had a tooth knocked out when I was 9 years old and I was taken to a very kind-hearted dentist who put my tooth back in and said it would disentegrate and fall out after about 7 years. When I was 18 my tooth was infected inside but I was scared to go to the dentist to have it pulled out because of bad experiences when I was 8 years old. Finally when I was 20 I knew I had to go and I did, but I was crying and shaking on the way to the dentist. When he actually pulled the tooth out, I only felt a little bit of pain for a split second and it was really nothing compared to what I was afraid of and I was filled with joy afterwards just knowing that it was all over finally. The infection was pouring toxins into my head that caused an extremely irritating feeling in my face. This all finally disappeared when the tooth was removed and I now have a porcelain tooth in that place which I like a lot better. I have to baby it more because it is more delicate than the original tooth, but it's okay. And in the last couple of years God showed me how this situation relates to a spiritual situation in my personal life, and in fact directly relates to what "So Sick" said that Jesus said to him over and over, "pull the one tooth and save the others." My interpretation of those words in spiritual significance in my own personal life is something that I can't share openly, but it definitely does have a meaning, and a very important one. (Maybe eventually I'll be able to share it, but not yet at least.) My present physical sickness (and spiritual sickness) is similar to my tooth problem from 15 years ago, but this time it is affecting my entire body, not just my head. Also, I have learned that one person's problems affects everybody else, even people that are seemingly totally unrelated. We're all in the same boat together, literally.

"pull the one tooth and save the others."

wheat and tares, I hadn't looked from that direction but your right I think... and it applies to my life as well, and even many times relative to the things Jesus has taught me over the years, right now in regard to the things God gives us as opposed to the far inferior manmade imitations. There is no subsitute for God's creation and we need to take better care of those things and use more foresight.

Serious, in order for me to be saved I had to literally give up so many (human secular and other odd modern/superstitious) beliefs that had been drilled into me as a child, through gradeschool, high school, college... and relearn who he is from him. I used a spiritual garbge can to dump my head basically and learned to rely simply on him.

It was difficult and my family still does not want to begin to understand. I think there are things, like the pity we feel for others who do not know Jesus... that are sometimes misdirected. In my life I have had to come to terms with knowledge of the fact that they may be blinded yes, but that that is their desire. I do not discuss religion (or politics) with extended family members (parents, siblings etc).

I also didn't go to church for years, but I finally felt that God wanted me to go and so I began looking for My Church. He led me to a specific church which I now feel is mine and I feel very much at home there (not the church I am involved with at present), but I found some serious problems there which I didn't see at first. I believe that God is now in the process of cleansing the church and it is a difficult job, to say the least.

I've never found a perfect church, but as long as it's pretty much right across the board I am happy. I hate infighting and bickering churches, and adulterous groups. Past that, it's not a perfect world, and I am far from perfect so I can accept some imperfections in others also. As long as there is sound biblical teaching and their hearts are in the right place.

I completely agree.

I've been out (busy working) for a few days and am trying to catch up with these conversations.

Both Laura and I can relate to what you said about sharing information and how hard it is for some to believe, or rather that they don't want to know.

"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge..."

—Romans 1:28

It's amazing how this also applies to many other types of knowledge like that pertaining to the mercury issue.

I haven't been to church in years because it's difficult to sit through sermons that are so inaccurate. What a strange time we live in.

Russ, I just sent you a short e-mail last night after reading your mercury story (I didn't know if you knew it was the same person since I didn't make it clear), and you responded immediately (thank you for that), but I was wondering whether or not you got my last e-mail that I sent to your other e-mail address some days ago (I forget which day). (Sometimes I send e-mails to people and they never get them.) I just wanted to give you some background on myself, more than I can do on the forum, since I plan to stick around for probably a long time, now that I'm here. And I want to be able to talk with people one-to-one sometimes as necessary, so I created a new e-mail address just for people that I meet on the web. Mostly, though, I think it's best to stick to sharing in the forum so that other people can benefit from it. In my e-mail I mentioned something about a subject that after reading more of your posts today I now know that you don't agree with me on. And I thought it may be a good idea to bring it up for discussion here. But, first let me make it clear that I have no intention whatsoever to try to force anyone to accept my personal beliefs, nor will I accept that kind of attitude from anyone else. But I do think that God wants us to share these things and as much as we can try to become unified with each other, in HIM. Most important is that we accept and love each other in spite of the fact that we don't know everything and really just admit that we don't, humbly. That said, here is the subject: Christmas! Apparently, you don't celebrate Christmas and though I know this is common for people from different cultures, it surprises me to hear it from someone in my own culture. For me Christmas is very special, so much that when I was in the most difficult times of my life I had Christmas things all over my room all year round, and just about a month and a half ago (I'm still in a difficult time), I finally took my artificial Christmas tree out of my room after having it in there for about 8 months and though I thought I could handle this, I found it wasn't so when I laid down in my bed and got so sad that I started to cry and could not stop crying, because I needed my Christmas tree. The next day I went to the thrift store and got a miniature one and put it on a shelf and now I feel okay. This sounds very strange to most people I guess, but this is the way I am. It's because I'm missing my home so much and my Christmas tree is like a pacifier for me, but you have to wonder (for those of us who don't think we know everything already) why Christmas is so important for me, and not only me but huge numbers of people look forward to it every year and celebrate for generally a whole month. With this great and widespread involvement it seems like there must be something to it - not just something that was made up in the minds of men - just a human tradition. What do you think about it? (if you care to respond which I suspect you will)

Hi Christen1 and thanks for your openness and honesty.

I also don't take offense at the different beliefs of others and I won't try to "force" anyone to accept mine. I am always happy to answer questions. You asked what I think about Christmas.

Well, this is a question I have been asked a lot in the past few years and so my business partner and I have done some in-depth studies about it. This is what we found. I'll try and keep this short.

One of the major themes of the Bible involve the existence of "gods"—lessor gods—fallen "sons of God"—that Yahweh has given the "nations" over to. But Israel, He has reserved for Himself.

"<A Psalm of Asaph.> God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.

—Psalms 82:1

A great study source for this information is found in the work of Michael Heiser. Do a Google search and look for "Return of the Nephilim". The video used to be available on YouTube.com but it seems not to be currently available. There are many names and some information about these fallen angels or "gods" in the Bible, and how they will attempt to influence mankind.

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;"

—1 Timothy 4:1

Many of the ceremonies of Celtic people and other belief systems are repugnant to the teachings of Christ and are directly connected with anti-Christian doctrines. Some of these practices have made it into Christian traditions, including Christmas and Easter.

First, without going into too much detail (perhaps we will later if you want to), the act of bringing a tree (usually an evergreen tree) into a house and decorating it with gold and silver and putting presents under it are Celtic traditions based on very anti-Christian beliefs. The Bible addresses these practices here:

"For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not."

—Jeremiah 10:3-4

Beware that most translations are dead wrong on these verses so stick with the Old King James. These newer translations are horrible. See the awesome research of Gale Riplinger.

It's amazing to learn that even in Jeremiah's day, people were practicing the same things as we do on Christmas and God addresses it here.

[color:"brown"]Also, the word na-cha-sh (naw-`khawsh) from which we get the modern day common names Nicole and Nicholas is actually the name used of the Devil in the garden in Genesis (See Strong's 5175). Amazingly, the Christmas mascot is a character who's name in English (Santa) is an anagram for Satan and who's priestly name is St. Nicholas. This character—dressed in red—enters your house at night by descending into the fire and rewards our good works by participating with us in an unchristian ceremony.[/color]

Easter has a similar story using a fertility symbol as a mascot (a rabbit) and a named derived from the god Ishtar, the Goddess of fertility.

In fact, there are so many symbols in modern life that have very "interesting" origins that books have been written on the subject.

You also mentioned about Christmas being something that so many people look forward to each year. This may certainly be true, but I also know that it is the leading time of the year for depression and suicide. I also would say that almost all of the people I know dread the rush and stress associated with Christmas. We also now know that Christmas is not the time of Christ's birth. I personally believe that focusing on 1 or 2 "Christian" events each years gives people a reason—or excuse—to go to Church during these times to ease their conscience enough to prevent them from being compelled to attend the rest of the year.

The Bible says that the time of the end will contain such deceptions that even the "elect" would be deceived if it were possible, and according to the study we've done, this deception saturates our beliefs, television, textbooks, and even many churches. The prophecy is accurate and we're living in those times that were foretold.

Now, let me just throw in these disclaimers because I don't want to sound in any way that I'm condemning you and I certainly don't want to make you feel bad. I just want to be accurate about what I've found through our study so you and/or onlookers have the opportunity to check this information out for themselves and make up their own minds. I'm sorry to hear how hard it is for you. I spent most of my life in a depression that left me thinking about suicide almost daily (from teen to 35). Only a couple of people in my life know that. Now I speak about it openly because it's gone and I know mercury was the culprit and I want people to be free of this horrible burden.

I know God is everywhere and will never leave us or forsake us. There is nothing that He cannot handle and there is no one who knows us as well as He does. He's interested in every aspect of our lives and is responsive to our prayers if we diligently seek Him. My source of courage and passion revolves around my relationship with Him.

I hope this helps you understand my position and I hope you understand that I know that we are all at different places in our lives. I agree with what you said about loving each other for without love, we are doing nothing more than making a lot of noise:

"If I speak in the tongues of humans and angels but have no love, I have become a reverberating gong or a clashing cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can understand all secrets and every form of knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains but have no love, I am nothing. Even if I give away all that I have and surrender my body so that I may boast but have no love, I get nothing out of it. Love is always patient, Love is always kind, Love is never envious Or vaunted up with pride. Nor is she conceited, And never is she rude, Never does she think of self Or ever get annoyed. She never is resentful, Is never glad with sin, But always glad to side with truth, Whene'er the truth should win. She bears up under everything, Believes the best in all, There is no limit to her hope, And never will she fall. Love never fails. Now if there are prophecies, they will be done away with. If there are tongues, they will cease. If there is knowledge, it will be done away with. For what we know is incomplete and what we prophesy is incomplete. But when what is complete comes, then what is incomplete will be done away with. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up my childish ways. Now we see only a blurred reflection in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now what I know is incomplete, but then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. Right now three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."

—1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Cheers!

Who ever you are where ever you've been He's been there.

Praise Him under open skies everything breathing praising God in the company of all who love the king.

Raise your voice and cry.

Deliver me from all of the madness.

I'll submit a praise report when I finally receive complete healing. Thank you for your words of encouragement. My favorite scripture is: "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord."