Something got me thinking about smoking…

Public smoking in my home city in the US is banned, which makes me happy. Some of my best friends are smokers, and it makes me sad that they have to get up and go outside after a meal to “get some fresh air”. I respect their right, and I’m grateful that I can keep the smoke out of my hair and clothes.

All that said, I’ve been known to have a cigarette or two before. Heck, I’ve even enjoyed cigars. Being a general non-smoker, I was always very careful where my smoke trail went. Some people just aren’t that aware…

So, I’m going to make a poll. Are you a smoker?

Last Wednesday was Armistice Day, when on the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month”, in 1918, the armistice was signed for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front at the end of World War I.

Source:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/11/armistice_day_remembrances.html

Today I ran through my bank statements, and realized that I was spending around $80/month on cigarettes. Normally this number wouldn’t phase me for any other commodity, save for the fact that cigarettes are hardly essential, and definitely not beneficial. It’s been an on-again off-again idea of mine to remove smoking from my daily activities. The main difficulty has been in finding enjoyable activities to offset the cravings.

Yes, I can drink water, go for walks, read books, and exercise, but truly, these things are white devils.

So, I tabulated the number of cigarettes I was consuming monthly, and arrived at 200.

Using the information on the side of the pack, the following values are the minimum and maximum amounts of poison I am consuming (per month):

Tar
minimum: 2.2 grams
maximum: 5.2 grams

Nicotene
minimum: 0.2 grams
maximum: 0.24 grams

Carbon Monoxide
minimum: 2.8 grams
maximum: 5.6 grams

Formaldehyde
minimum: 0.0114 grams
maximum: 0.028 grams

Hydrogen Cyanide
minimum: 0.02 grams
maximum: 0.044 grams

Benzene
minimum: 0.0056 grams
maximum: 0.0134 grams

The most upsetting values are tar and carbon monoxide. Up to 5.2 grams of road covering for my lungs in a month? A guaranteed 2.2 grams at the least? Sadly, these values don’t motivate me to immeadiately cast the pack out the window, however I feel like striking a deal midway.

Playing so much guitar, I’ve come to appreciate the value of incremental progress.

Thusly, if I smoke ~6.6 cigarettes/day,  I’m willing to call it 5/day, and next month, hopefully only 4/day. And so on. By the time I’m down to 1/day, I may end up skipping days, and my exercise routine will be in full swing.

I suspect the cold turkey faction are a bunch of lunatics. I’ve tried it so many times, it causes me to recall a wonderful quote by Mark Twain:

“It’s easy to quit smoking. I’ve done it hundreds of times.”

and with that, I’m satisfied.

I’ve been going through the Old Testament for my Bible reading these days.  Last night I was in the book of I Kings, in the passage where King Solomon dedicates the temple of the Lord.

That’s when I came across a couple of verses that seemed especially familiar:

When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD.  And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple.

                                                                  — I Kings 8:10-11

I realized that the reason why these verses rang a bell is because I’d heard this passage used many times as scriptural support for the practice of “falling out under the power”  – you know, what happens when a preacher “under the anointing” lays hands on someone?

As I’ve said before, since leaving Charismania, I’ve thought a lot about that whole “falling out under the power” experience.  It’s something I’m not sure I’ll ever fully come to understand.  I know that something was happening to make my knees buckle and force me to the floor when Pastor Smith (not his real name) or one of his visiting ministers placed his hands on my forehead.  I’m still just sort of mystified as to what that something was.

Was it the literal power and presence of God Almighty Himself?

Pastor Smith would have had us believe that that’s precisely what it was – that because Pastor Smith “proclaimed the Word” and had an “anointing,” he had the ability to dispense God to his audience.  He frequently referred to himself as “a conduit” of this power.

And he used I Kings 8:10-11 as scriptural support for this practice.

But here’s the thing that struck me as I read in I Kings last night:  in that passage, it is clear that when the presence of the Lord filled the temple, it was so strong and so powerful the priests themselves were rendered unable to stand.

The priests themselves were unable to maintain control of their actions.

Let’s look a little closer at what this tells us.

Something important to keep in mind is that the priests would have been highly motivated to maintain control of themselves.  No matter what your views on God’s unchangeable nature, it is a biblical fact that He appears to have interacted differently with people in the Old Testament than He interacts with us today.  In the Old Testament, people could be killed on the spot for failing to follow God’s guidelines – even if they did so accidentally.  We don’t see a whole lot of unexplained deaths these days in church.  But in Old Testament times, different guidelines seem to have applied.  In Old Testament times, people related to God through the “old covenant.”

Since that was the case, I’m thinking that the priests doing their duty in I Kings would have been highly motivated to pay attention and be sure they followed every last letter of the law.  I think they would have done all in their human power to remain standing, at full attention.

That tells us that the authentic “presence and power of the Lord” is something so strong, something so unspeakably glorious, that no one, not even the most highly motivated individual, is able to withstand it.

Yet when people “fall out under the power” in today’s Charismaniac circles, lots of people are capable of remaining in full control of themselves and their faculties.

The individual who is purportedly dispensing the “anointing” or “power” remains in full control.

And so do the “catchers,” those big guys who follow the minister and break the falls of the people being prayed for/ministered to.

Last night it struck me that this passage in I Kings absolutely does NOT provide any support for the practice of “falling out under the power” as it is practiced in Charismatic circles today.  If anything, I Kings 8:10-11 would prove the exact opposite - that whatever is causing people to fall down these days when the minister touches them simply CANNOT be the actual “power and presence of God.”

If the GENUINE power and presence of God were “in the house” (as Pastor Smith was fond of declaring), then  all human flesh would bow in response, just as the priests in this passage from I Kings were forced to do.

There would not be anyone left standing.

Not the catchers.  And certainly not the pastor himself.

It suddenly seems terribly obvious that God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, does not manifest himself as some sort of “force” that is dispensed at the will of human beings.  The fact that Pastor Smith chose when, where, and how he’d “lay hands on people” – in other words, when, where, and how the (supposed) power of God would be dispensed – would put God at the control and mercy of Pastor Smith.

The Bible shows us that such a notion is absolutely ludicrous.

Greetings!

Well, today is the day I FINALLY quit smoking.  A friend/former co-worker had a heart attack from smoking, a petite female friend of mine had a heart attack from smoking, my dentist has been diagnosed with COPD from smoking, and a former co-worker/acquaintance (Brian Lephew) died at the age of 34 from a heart-related condition brought on by smoking.  How many more signs and clues do I need to see a trend going on here??

Thanks to my medications, I’m actually enjoying living again for the first time in years, and I do not want to do anything to shorten my time here on planet Earth.  So I’m going to quit smoking today simply by not smoking.  No patches, no pills, just discipline and willpower, as much as I can muster.

I am not on an anti-smoker crusade, but if you do smoke I do encourage to think about quitting.  The benefits of quitting outweigh the pleasure of smoking in the long run.

Please take great care of yourself and have a long life!

Best wishes,
Shannon

I have personally used both Champix and the electronic cigarette. My stance is quite clear on which I feel is safer both physically and mentally to ditch tobacco. The electronic cigarette is a hands down winner. I suffered too many side effects with Champix and it just didn’t work.

Despite my lack of success many people have used Champix and quit. But there is a darker side to this cessation approved product that is not so widely publicised. Champix can kill.

Taken from the Truth Will Out blog
“It’s not just doctors that are failing to warn smokers about the more deadly serious side-effects of Champix/Chantix. The so-called “public health charity” Action on Smoking and Health (A.S.H.) have conspicuously failed to update their advice to smokers and health professionals in the light of all the horror-stories over the past eighteen months, choosing instead to take their lead from N.I.C.E., the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, who don’t seem to have updated their recommendations about Champix since 2007.”

Champix Kills

Using an electronic cigarette to quit smoking was a matter of personal choice and experimenting with the other options available. It was a choice I’m glad I made.

There are many electronic cigarette companies springing up all over the place. Some are offering good deals but selling poor quality goods – faulty batteries, contaminated cartridges and kits with missing items.

My personal preference is the VIP No.3 kit complete with UK mains charger, usb charger, two rechargeable batteries, atomizer, 10 cartridges, instructions and 1 year warranty! Cartridges work out at £1 and 1 cartridge equals about 10-15 normal cigarettes in terms of how long they last.

Pick a starter kit up directly from the main VIP supplier and don’t forget to order enough cartridges to last you a full month.

I have received quite a few hits on my article about Chantix that I wrote last year.  At that time, my experiences were fine, and I quit smoking for weeks…  Until I stupidly tried another cigarette and became hooked again.

So I decided to use Chantix again.  Unfortunately, there were some serious side-effects that I feel I need to mention.

Amplification of Suicidal Thinking

As many know by now, I struggle with Atypical Bipolar Disorder, and I have had suicidal tendencies with the condition.  But when I tried Chantix a second time, my suicidal thoughts grew in intensity.  No longer were they passing thoughts, but I was actually plotting out my death.  My family was greatly concerned with my attitude and thinking.

Other Incidents

Two friends of mine also started a second regimen of Chantix.  One became very despondent and withdrawn from people while on the medication.  A second friend began obsessively thinking of death.

Once we had discontinued taking Chantix, our moods and thoughts return to their previous states.

One Time a Charm, Two Times Suicidal Ideation?

It seems odd that with each of us, the first time we tried Chantix none of us exhibited suicidal or depressive behavior.  The only noticeable side-effect was the vivid dreams.

However, during our second run on the medication, severe mood disorders appeared.  I still do not under the mechanism as to why this the case.

Word of Warning

If you are taking Chantix for the first time, be sure you have a loved one or guardian monitor changes in your behavior.  If you have already taken Chantix before and plan on trying it again, be extremely cautious, for our experiences suggest that a second trial may enhance dangerous thinking.

I just wanted to update my personal experiences with Chantix as a cautionary tale.  Please stay safe and realize that smoking, while definitely unhealthy, is less dangerous than losing control over your thoughts and moods.

I hope this post helps to prevent someone from suffering from Chantix-related suicidal ideation.

Best wishes,
Shannon

This is seeming too good to be true. There is a general feeling of impending doom lurking just around the corner and over my head, but not really.  Disbelief, dubiety, incredulity, mistrust, repudiation, spurning, unbelief, unbelievingness, unfaith, all of these and more.  I am calm as a Hindu cow compared to what I was expecting. This is seeming do-able.  ho-ly cow.

I’m chalking it up to the continuous flow of nicotine that is being delivered 24/7  through my Nicoderm patch (dah!), which is reassuring; I always thought my nicfits from previous attempts were all in my head.  Relief.  I’m not incapable. I’m addicted to a drug!  I never thought of myself as addicted to a chemical.  It seemed more like a bad habit that had me “hooked.”  How could I have missed this? My love affair was no love at all… can I spell addiction?  A-D-D-I-C-T-I-O-N.  Now I can.

It snuck right up on me. Blasted cigarettes.  Why did I even start, oh yeah I remember: “I’ll just stop.”  Right, as if.

Now that I’m a whopping 48 hours into this, I’ve managed to learn a few useful things about myself that I need to address.  1) I’m addicted to a chemical (already touched on that,) and 2) Since I’ve been smoking since a teenager it’s likely I’ve never really learned how to deal with stress, my cigarettes, that’s how I deal.   But how do non-smokers deal with stress… hmmmm…..perplexing.  I feel like I was cheated, developmentally that is.  16-27 and I can’t handle stress.  No bueno.

Today is the beginning of the end of my love affair with cigarettes.  I’m feeling surprisingly well about this at the moment.  Maybe it’s too early to tell, maybe the patch is actually doing something?  I kept them next to my bed last night and when my husband kissed me goodbye for work I peeled open my eyes to get one going.  Since I wasn’t actually going to get up for a couple more hours I figured I’d get a head start on the subcutanious nicotine flow.

I almost quit quitting ‘before I even started because the f*^&N patches are so freaken hard to open! “Fold and tear” my ass! After a 5 minute struggle I broke down and started to hunt for a pair of sissors… You’d think they could make them a bit more user friendly.

My arm feels like I taped a jalepeno pepper to it…sweet.  A constant reminder, like tying a string around your finger, that I’m trying to quit.  Good? Bad? not sure yet. I am drinking a cup of coffee and not dying for a cig. so that’s a good sign to me.

So I’ll be heading off to my job without taking a pack of smokes with me.  There is one thought that is really nagging me: How am I supposed to think of an excuse to get away from the psycho babble of my co-workers now?

I was trolling through postings on the internet and came across a discussion raising the question whether snus (or oral tobacco pouches) were the “holy grail” for the tobacco industry.

I first pinched myself to make sure that I was awake, then sent a reply that read as follows:

“Snus can never provide the same sensory pleasure and association that smoking a cigarette can provide. The mere action of poking a tobacco filled pouch under your lip, and more so plucking it out and dropping it into an ashtray, is a repulsive act for the user as much as the observer. Have you tried (if you are a smoker) or imagined having to tip your ash into an ashtary that has a spitball right in the middle? Would you shake the snus-ers hand after you see him pluck out that pouch? Certainly not a pick-up plus point!

Snus will be used by consumers that are not affected by its huge “hit” of nicotine that sends the users heart beat racing, especially at times when a cigarette is out of reach (eg. aircraft, train or taxi, rainy or snowy day, in the office, etc). It will be used more as a smoking alternate rather than a line extension. Perhaps having it as a separate category altogether will not negatively affect established brands.

The difference between a nicotine patch and Snus is marginal. Both provide nicotine to users. The mode of use differs and one has pasteurized tobacco inside a pouch. One is sold by the tobacco industry and the other by pharma industry.

Snus is a pure nicotine delivery device, without the additional impacts of smoking tobacco in the respiratory system, and therefore, whilst the negative results of lung cancer are not linked with it, there will always be the receptor in the brain of the user that clearly does not identify the experience as one of pleasure….rather as a nicotine fix akin to a drug users need for his next dose. It will not significantly reduce smoking incidence or the dependency on nicotine as it provides far more doses at far quicker rate that an ordinary cigarette and will fail in this respect. It is not a smoking cessation product and is considered by anti-tobacco advocates as a gateway product. It is not a pleasure product (yuck!). It is only a substitute, which users will use when he/she cannot engage in the act of smoking due to regulation. Full stop.

Therefore, snus will be perceived negatively by the Gen-Z and will be outright rejected in time to come as a mainstream pleasure product. This is my prediction, anyway. We’ll see what the future holds!”

The clarion call had sounded and to my note came several replies hurling defensive hopeful statements clutching at invisible threads to support an argument that snus should be in the market at all, based on its success in Sweden.

It is onething to be hopeful, but being outright blinded by hope and faith in a commercial industry, is ludicrous. Snus volumes in Stockholm is but a drop in the ocean. No one can be serious using Scandinavia as an example for the rest of the World when talking of a “holy grail”(!). True, the little pouches may be a big hit in Sweden, but is this the future of the tobacco industry??? The World doesnt give a tuppence whether the Scandinavians love snus or not. The future are the BRICI countries. I am not sure about Russians, but I would think that macho Brazilians wouldn’t be seen dead picking pouches from inside their mouths. Breaking the Indonesian kretek hold will be a difficult task for a smoking product leave aside a tobacco pouch that you stick inside your lip. Anyhow, the Indian and Chinese markets are by far the largest and most important markets, and the future of all FMCG companies in the world – at least the serious ones!.

The good news for the “snus marketeers” is that in India and China, the act of putting something in your mouth and keeping it there to get a kick, has been around almost as long as tobacco has been. The interesting thing here is that betel leaf and areaca nut (often called betelnut) chewing is similar to snus-ing as you really dont chew it like chewing gum, but instead, the user chews a few times and then leaves the bundle (sometimes a mix of betel leaf, areca nut, tobacco leaf, lime, cloves, cardamon) between his lip and gum for hours. The user then carries on working with the bundle in place, resuming the chewing only after long breaks in order to renew the flavour and kick.

The problem is that in these two countries, this practise is indicative of your social status, in this case – C class. This is due to betel leaf and betelnut chewing in India and China, being associated with lower labourer classes, who often have to spit out awful looking blood red coloured blobs of stale residue mixed with foul spit leaving splattered stains like bird droppings at Trafalgar Square. This practise also carries with it a long standing warning by health officials of the high incidence of oral cancer associated with betel leaf/betelnut chewing (as an aside: in Taiwan, the notorious betelnut selling girls are known for other more nefarious services, in the red light districts).

In my opinion, snus will fail miserably in both India and China (already banned in Hong Kong and New Zealand and there are moves in India to ban it as a tobacco substitute – fully supported by the local tobacco companies). If tobacco companies plan on marketing snus to markets outside China and India (and EU for now), eg. African countries (can they afford it???) – ok maybe South Africa (abismal results there already!), then perhaps snus will be the BMW or Mercedes of the tobacco industry – then prepare for small volumes – yes, x thousands per annum, more like.

Speaking of branding and behaviour: the fallout of the behaviour is clear – the two largest populations in the World are NOT interested in snus and perhaps never will be, due to social acceptance issues, and no amount of branding will undo that.

As regards branding, pray do tell me what is the USP for snus? Smoking cessation tool – perhaps for the addicted, which is where the similarity to patches comes in – no jokes! But then there are strong arguments for snus being a gateway product to smoking. Sounds pretty conflicting for a serious Government to buy isn’t it? Smoking alternate – now tell me, how many Swedish snusers smoke regularly? You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out: Snus is a farce.

In the end, every discussion on snus fades away into a quiet corner, all talk of big volumes and profits shelved with all other grandoise dreams, and the whisper of “we need to do it anyway because we have to show the stakeholders out there we are a responsible company trying our best to reduce harm in our products” and all the other talk of how the company’s other projects in developing PREPs and PRRPs and PRHPs, etc, etc, etc, get their time in the light, as part of the dog and pony show.

Snus the “Holy Grail” for the tobacco industry – now that’s a BIG joke!

I would just like to draw to the attention of the world that Montenegro beat Wales at football last night!  Great result for my favourite nation in the world!

You can watch the highlights by clicking here*.

This result typifies the dogged progress the Montenegrin national team have made since their cessation from what was left of Yugoslavia in 2006.  They can add Wales to their growing list of scalps that includes Norway who themselves battered Scotland 4-0 last night.

Let’s hope they get down to business in some World Cup Qualifiers now.  They’ve struggled so far but have an upcoming trip to Bulgaria then home games against Cyprus and Georgia which should see them move up the table.

Well done Montenegro!

*I must apologise for the total lack of professionalism by the BBC commentator.  I assume he’s getting paid a fair whack yet he hasn’t got a clue how to pronounce some of the players’ names.

Hi guys,

Just want to encourage people to donate to the cause of Christ abroad. I’m sure a lot of you Christians have been hearing in the news of the fact that a Christian town was attacked in Gorja in Pakistan. Simply because they were Christian.

The closest Acts29 network church is accepting donations for this community and sending the money directly in to this situation and the families that need it.

Apparently it’s gonna cost about 150 dollars per family to sustain them, since they have been burned out of their homes by muslims and have pretty much lost all they had in terms of material possessions.

You can donate here:

http://www.ctkraleigh.org/urgent-need-in-pakistan/

Take care,
God bless.

Don’t neglect prayer for these people as well as sending financial help, we must also pray for spiritual help.

Extract from Sermon on Daniels Praying.

Daniel’s prayer instructs us in the next point. It was excited by zeal for God’s glory. We may sometimes pray with wrong motives. If I seek the conversion of souls in my ministry, is not that a good motive? Yes, it is; but suppose I desire the conversion of souls in order that people may say, “What a useful minister he is,” that is a bad motive, which spoils it all. If I am a member of a Christian Church, and I pray for its prosperity, is not that right? Certainly; but if I desire its prosperity merely that I and others may be able to say, “See our zeal for the Lord! See how God blesses us rather than others!” that is a wrong motive. The motive is this, “Oh! that God could be glorified, that Jesus might see the reward of his sufferings! Oh! that sinners might be saved, so that God might have new tongues to praise him, new hearts to love him! Oh! that sin were put an end to, that the holiness, righteousness, mercy, and power of God might be magnified!” This is the way to pray; when thy prayers seek God’s glory, it is God’s glory to answer thy prayers. When thou art sure that God is in the case, thou art on a good footing. If thou art praying for that which will greatly glorify him, thou mayest rest assured thy prayer will speed. But if it do not speed, and it be not for his glory, why, then thou mayest be better content to be without it than with it. So pray thou,but keep thy bowstring right; it will be unfit to shoot the arrow of prayer unless this be thy bowstring, “God’s glory, God’s glory”—this above all; first, last, and midst; the one object of my prayer.                -         C  .  H .  Spurgeon

Hey guys, So I ain’t been up to a lot since my last personal post. Some things I’ve been doing is the day to day

Reading Scripture, prayer, worship and having fellowship with Christians on sunday.

I’ve also been reading C.S. Lewis’s small book, “Mere Christianity” which is quite good, I would recommend it, it goes through some arguements for the existance of God.

I have also been looking into liberal protestantism over the last few months, mainly in the area of textual critism. So I went and read things about the Jesus seminar guys (John dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg), I looked into some of the historical work of liberals, I watched some of the docuementaries where they are featured and I listened to some lectures/sermons of famous liberals like Bishop John Shelby Spong (retired. Episcopal Church USA) and again, marcus borg.

I’ve kinda ended those studies now but I came to the conclusion

1) they come to scripture with an idea of God in there heads, and if a line of scripture doesn’t fit with their all-inclusive God that loves everyone and demands nothing but social justice and sharing bread with people, then it’s in their view, a later edition. It’s kinda like what the muslims do with the new testament, as soon as something mentions the penal substitutionary atonement of the cross, or the resurrection of Jesus, or  the divinity of Jesus, then  they say well…that was a later edition by some people who tampered with text, or it came from an oral tradition after it had been developed after a while and so there is some myth there.

2) The new testament timeline the Jesus seminar made, has decided…in direct opposition to even normal liberal scholarship, that Matt,Mark and Luke were written post 70 a.d. So there kinda a fringe movement on that one.

3) They come to scripture with the notion that miracles cannot be real in this post-enlightenment day and age and so therefore it’s foolish to attribute miracles and virgin births etc. to fact, instead its better we say it is metaphorical or myth.

4) They allow no harmony for the different gospel accounts. I mean a lot of this is just saying Look! the gospel of mark doesnt include the virgin birth at the start! man it must be a later edition! it’s a contradiction! When of course, it’s really not. I mean if you look at the way mark was written, it looks like it was written whilst mark was in a great hurry, and probably at the time of roman persecution of the Christians by nero after the fires of rome, which he blamed on the Christians and then used this as justification to persecute them further, thus resulting in even Peter and Paul being killed  if I remember correctly. So that kinda explains why a) he was writing in quite a hurry, mainly telescoping events and b) why he never puts his name in the gospel.

I have also been myself trying to get really familiar with the gospel of Mark, by reading it through a few times. I’m kind of a book of Romans fan, and so the gospels oftentimes don’t grip me. but lately I went through it, and it’s really interesting when you start to consider the 1st century mindset and jewish culture that surrounded it. It sheds much light on the passages.

Anyway, I would recommend if your a Christian, and even if your not, that you would go and check out EverydayCommunity.org

It’s a fairly new website, made by people from my old church and there basically making an online community where people can learn about scripture in weekly teachings, and also get involved in a sort of online community. So yeah, check it out.

Take care, God bless.

Arrghhhh....

On my way back to Kerteh, suddenly i decided to quit smoking…This is not the first try tho…i’ve tried so many times but to no avail…So starting from tomorrow, i will again on my journey to stop smoking…Usually, i will try to reduce my dose first with hope it will eventually stop on its own…so i would like to conclude, that method is not suitable for me…I guess by now i already know the obstacles that i’ll be facing along the way…i have no intention to elaborate it here…so i think this blog will cover my journey to quit smoking…hmm…that would be the first assignment for this blog…

http://media10.sa-media.com:8000/sermons101/8130718536.wmv