Kombucha

Kombucha is a sour, tangy, slightly carbonated drink that is very good for you. Some people claim to have relief from menstrual issues, illnesses, and discomforts from drinking this seemingly miracle drink. Kombucha will give you energy, and is great for watching your weight, and can make your hair and skin healthier. Kombucha can help you be healthier from the inside out.

Kombucha is a fermented, brewed drink, so it does contain a trace amount of alcohol. There is probably more alcohol in a glass of orange juice left sitting out overnight than there is in kombucha, so don't worry.

Before you can brew kombucha, you need to obtain a scoby, which is a living culture of healthy yeasts and bacteria (SCOBY - Symbiotic Culture Of Baceria and Yeast). Scobies can be purchased, however you'll want to make sure you are getting a clean culture, and not one that is contaminated or cross bred with some other culture. The best way to obtain a scoby, is by getting one from a friend. Everytime you brew kombucha, it will grow a new culture/scoby. You can brew many times with a scoby, before it "dies." When it turns a darker brown, then it is farily used up. Then, you can put it into the blender, and blend it into a paste cream, and use it as a facial. It is very good for your skin.

If you are unable to get a scoby from a friend, then you can grow your own. Here's how...

1. Go to a good health food store, and buy a bottle of kombucha. Make sure it has active, live cultures in it. Look through the bottles, and get one with stuff floating around in it. The more stuff floating in it, the better.

Pour some of the kombuca into a clean, glass jar, and put a clean cloth over the top of the jar, and secure it on with a rubber band or lid ring. Place the jar in a clean, dark place where it will not be disturbed. Leave it alone, for a few weeks to a month. First, you'll see nothing happening, and then one day, you'll peek in at at, and you'll see a skin on top of the liquid. This is the beginnings of a scoby growing. Over the next several days, it will thicken, to look kind of like a pancake. Once it is looking like a pancake, it is ready to brew some homemade kombucha for you.

To brew kombucha, you'll need the following:

- A glass container to brew in. Make sure this container is large enough to hold nearly a gallon of liquid.

- A double layer cheesecloth, or clean flour sack cloth, which can be washed and reused (recommended)

- A rubber band

- Clean glass jars or bottles to keep the finished kombucha in

- Four tea bags of black tea

- A cup of white sugar

- Spring, purified, or super filtered water

- A half-cup of already made kombucha, or a half-cup of apple cider vinegar

- A fourth cup of apple cider vinegar

Here is how to make this amazing drink:

1. Bring four cups of spring/purified water to a boil.

2. Pour the super hot water into your large, glass brewing container. Do not brew or store kombucha in plastic or metal. It will leach toxins.

3. Put in four tea bags, and let them steep in the hot water for ten minutes.

4. Ten minutes later... Remove the tea bags, and stir in one cup of white sugar.

5. Pour in more spring/purified water, until your brewing container is almost full. Leave around three inches from the top.

6. Mix in a half cup of an already made kombucha, and a fourth cup of apple cider vinegar. This will help protect the culture and prevent mold from growing during the brewing process. If you do not have a half cup of already made kombucha, then instead put in a half cup of apple cider vinegar - meaning you'd put in a total of 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar.

7. With very clean hands, gently put the kombucha scoby on top of the tea. Some scobies float, and some sink. As you can see in the below picture, in one brew, the scoby is floating, while in the other brew, it has sunk. It doesn't matter if it floats or sinks; either way is fine.

8. Place a clean cloth over the top of the brewing vessel, and secure it on with a rubber band. Place your brewing vessels in a dark, calm place, where it is kept away from contaminants, sunlight, and kept from being shaken or moved.

9. Leave it alone to brew for one week. Then, take a look at it. It should have grown a new scoby on top. If the new scoby is very thin, or see through, then brew for another week. Else, sniff around the container. If it smells a bit sour, or like vinegar, then it is ready.

10. Remove the scobies, and set them to the side to start another brew. Note: always keep at least one scoby in some kombucha in a jar, stored away for a back up. This way, should you have a brew that molds, then you have a back up scoby to start a new brew. If you have a brew that molds (this only ever happened to me once or twice) then you need to throw out the brew, AND the scoby. Then, you MUST clean the container very well, in scalding hot water - make sure it gets completely disinfected before you use it for a new brew.

11. Pour the new kombucha brew through a fine strainer if you'd like to get rid of the floating bits (the floating bits are small pieces of culture, and are harmless, so it's okay to consume them. Then, pour your finished kombucha into glass jars, bottles, or containers.

In the above picture, you see that I am reusing an old storebought kombucha bottle, and several ex-rootbeer bottles to store my kombucha in. The brown stuff in the container next to the bottles is my sourdough starter. :-)

12. Taste your kombucha. It if is as sour as you'd like it, then store it in the fridge. If you want it more sour, then store it away in a dark cabinet, and taste it again in a week or two, and then move it to the fridge when it is as sour as you want it. When it is at its most sour, then it becomes kombucha vinegar, and yes, it can be used in the pace of regular vinegar in many recipes and salads.

Enjoy your healthy and yummy kombucha.

Build Your Foundation on the Rock of Salvation

The terms "Christian" and "personal relationship with Jesus Christ" have been thrown around so much, that for many people, they have lost their original savor. What is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Is it going to church? Is it being a "good person?" Is it via doing certain rituals, or following certain traditions? No, it is so much simpler than that.

Jesus says:

"Look! I’m standing at the door and knocking. If any hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to be with them, and will have dinner with them, and they will have dinner with me." -Revelation 3:20 CEB

Let Jesus into your heart and life. Put your faith and trust in Him, and in Him alone.

Why did Jesus Christ come to this earth? He came to pay for our sins. Have you ever broken any of the Ten Commandments? Did you know that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that just looking at someone with lust in your heart is the same thing as committing adultery in your heart?

Many people will say I'm a good person. Sure, I've stolen a few paper clips in my time, and I've told some lies, but I've never killed anyone, so I'm good enough for heaven. Don't be so sure. Have you ever felt hatred toward someone? If so, then you are guilty of committing murder in your heart:

"Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that murderers don’t have eternal life residing in them." -1 John 3:15 CEB

If you have stolen, lied, lusted after someone, hated someone, loved someone or something more than God, etc., then you have broken at least 5 of the Ten Commandments. Do you really think you'd make it to heaven? Not according to God's Word:

"Don’t you know that people who are unjust won’t inherit God’s kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Those who are sexually immoral, those who worship false gods, adulterers, both participants in same-sex intercourse, thieves, the greedy, drunks, abusive people, and swindlers won’t inherit God’s kingdom." -1 Corinthians 6:9-10 CEB

But there is good news:

"That is what some of you used to be! But you were washed clean, you were made holy to God, and you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." -1 Corinthians 6:11 CEB

We are all sinners:

"All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory" -Romans 3:23 CEB

Even Mary, the woman chosen by God to be a vessel that would carry Jesus in her womb, was a sinner, and in need of a Savior:

"In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior." - Mary said this in Luke 1:47 (CEB). Only sinners need a Savior, and Mary also accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior.

We are all imperfect, fallible sinners:

"This is the message that we have heard from him and announce to you: “God is light and there is no darkness in him at all.” If we claim, “We have fellowship with him,” and live in the darkness, we are lying and do not act truthfully. But if we live in the light in the same way as he is in the light, we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin. If we claim, “We don’t have any sin,” we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." -1 John 1:5-8 CEB

The blood of Jesus Christ is what cleanses us from all sins. Jesus came to this earth to die to pay for our sins. You see, Leviticus tells us that 'the life is in the blood,' and that it takes spilt blood to atone for sin.

When we choose to truly believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and to live our lives for Christ, then Christ's spilt blood cleanses us from our sins:

"Come now, and let’s settle this, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow. If they are red as crimson, they will become like wool." -Isaiah 1:18 CEB

Jesus tells us this:

"God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him isn’t judged; whoever doesn’t believe in him is already judged, because they don’t believe in the name of God’s only Son." - Jesus said this, in John 3:16-18 (CEB)

Paul gives us a simple "step by step process" on how to be saved:

"Because if you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and in your heart you have faith that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Trusting with the heart leads to righteousness, and confessing with the mouth leads to salvation. The scripture says, All who have faith in him won’t be put to shame." -Romans 10:9-11 CEB

Jesus is our one and only mediator:

"There is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, the human Christ Jesus" -1 Timothy 2:5 CEB

Jesus is our High Priest:

"Also, let’s hold on to the confession since we have a great high priest who passed through the heavens, who is Jesus, God’s Son; because we don’t have a high priest who can’t sympathize with our weaknesses but instead one who was tempted in every way that we are, except without sin." -Hebrews 4:14-15 CEB

We are to follow the Lord and the Bible, not traditions of people:

"Jesus replied, “Why do you break the command of God by keeping the rules handed down to you?" -Matthew 15:3 CEB

Jesus is God:

"Without question, the mystery of godliness is great: he was revealed as a human, declared righteous by the Spirit, seen by angels, preached throughout the nations, believed in around the world, and taken up in glory." -1 Timothy 3:16 CEB

If Jesus isn't the Lord of your life, then I hope that you will let Him into your heart and life this very moment.

"But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us." -Romans 5:8 CEB

Have you built your foundation on the Rock of Salvation?

Jesus is the way. If you would like to receive Jesus into your heart and life, then let Him know. Pray to the Lord, telling Him that you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and that you believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the death penalty for your sins. Tell this to God in your own words, from your heart.

"The wages that sin pays are death, but God’s gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 6:23 CEB

Believe, and Receive:

"You too heard the word of truth in Christ, which is the good news of your salvation. You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit because you believed in Christ." -Ephesians 1:13 CEB

When you believe on Jesus Christ, you receive the Holy Spirit. You are sealed as a child of God.

If you have accepted Jesus Christ into your heart and life as your Lord and Savior, and you believe that Jesus died on the cross in your place, to pay the death penalty for your sins, and that Christ rose from the dead three days later, and you are ready to let Him lead your life, and you will live for Him, then you are saved, and born again.

You are now a saved Child of God, with the Holy Spirit living within you. Dedicate your life to the Lord, and live for Him. Please get a Bible (I suggest the Common English Bible - CEB) and turn to the Gospel of John. That is the fourth book in the New Testament. If you don't have a Bible, then you can read it for free, online - here.

After you've read the Gospel of John, go on to read Acts, and then Romans. These three books will bring you through the Gospel, the early church, and basic Christian doctrine. After you've read these three, then turn to the beginning of the New Testament, and read it all the way through. After that, read both the Old and New Testaments.

You should also follow the Lord and get baptized in water. A Believer's Baptism doesn't save you. Only faith in Christ saves you. A Believer's Baptism is an outward showing of your salvation. It symbolizes you being born again. When you are lowered under the water, it shows you dying to your old self, and when you are raised up out of the water, it symbolizes you being born again, as a new creature in Christ. This is called a Believer's Baptism, because, according to the Bible, a person is supposed to get baptized after they have believed on Christ. Anyone who was "baptized" before having faith in Christ just got wet - nothing more. You don't need to find a church to get baptized in. Any born again Christian can baptize you in any acceptable body of water - even a public swimming pool.

Find a good, local church congregation to attend. Search in your area for a Nazarene church, Foursquare church, or non-denominational Full-Gospel church.

Immerse yourself in the Bible. The Bible is God's love letter to you. It is also your Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.