This Grapefruit Ranch Water recipe is made with replenishing electrolytes and will keep you detoxing while you retox!
Grapefruit Ranch Water Recipe
We can’t wait to show you how to make this healthy Grapefruit Ranch Water, but first, let me share the story behind this low carb drink recipe.
Low Carb Alcoholic Drinks
I’m in my mid-fifties now and haven’t imbibed low carb cocktails or other alcohol for decades because I have the MTHFR mutation.
Refreshing Cocktails
But that hasn’t stopped me from whipping up refreshing drink recipes for you.
Whether it’s this Grapefruit Ranch Water Cocktail or my Margarita Recipe, I’ve got you covered with refreshing drinks that are perfect for the Keto Diet.
Pantry Brothers Mixology
And guess who’s helping me out with these healthy cocktail recipes?
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The Pantry Boys are now all grown up, over twenty-one, and able to imbibe legally! They’re a huge help in the kitchen, at the bar too, and incredibly creative when it comes to mixology.
Grapefruit Ranch Water
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Instructions
Gently stir tequila, sparkling water, and LMNT in a large glass
Add ice and a grapefruit wedge
Serve
Prep Time 5 minutesmins
Total Time 5 minutesmins
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What is Ranch Water?
If you’re wondering, what is ranch water, we’re here to help.
Ranch Water is a Texas-style tequila highball drink made with citrus and Topo Chico sparkling water.
Highball Drink
If you’re wondering what are highball drinks they’re alcoholic beverages with a higher proportion of non-alcoholic drink mix, to liquor, so they’re a little easier to get down.
Best Tequila for Ranch Water
Wondering what’s the best tequila for ranch water?
In our recipe we use rosa tequila –the Codijo brand is our favorite, but you can use any type of tequila in this Ranch Water recipe.
Ranch Water with Citrus
Our Grapefruit Ranch Water is a light, bubbly version of a margarita recipe.
While ranch water is a fun summer cocktail, it’s so good we plan on making it all year round.
Ranch Water Recipe
I had never heard the term “ranch water,” until my boys introduced me to the concept.
This cocktail is inspired by LMNT’s seasonal flavor release! Grapefruit LMNT is the boys’ favorite because it’s so tasty, and goes down smooth.
Grapefruit Cocktail Recipe
Along those lines, right when the Grapefruit LMNT electrolytes arrived, my younger son took one look and declared we had to make cocktails with grapefruit.
Let’s just say, I was all in.
Easy Cocktail Recipes
Sometimes I enjoy making fresh lemon or lime juice for our cocktails and mocktails, but other times I just want to rip open a packet of LMNT electrolytes and hydrate quickly.
That’s another thing I love about this healthy cocktail –you don’t need to squeeze fresh lime juice for it.
Paloma Recipe
He toyed with the idea of a healthy Paloma recipe with fresh lime and grapefruit soda, and other cocktails with tequila.
Finally, after a splash here and mix there, he landed on this mouthwatering grapefruit ranch water recipe.
Topo Chico Ranch Water
We up the flavor game of this refreshing summer drink by using grapefruit electrolytes instead of lime juice. This swap fills the mixology process with extra ease.
You can also use LMNT electrolytes to make lime ranch water, and orange, and raspberry work really well too.
Best Electrolyte Drink
Here’s why our LMNT electrolyte cocktail is fantastic:
We love this detox-retox ranch water. Using an electrolyte in your cocktail keeps you hydrated and properly detoxing while you’re drinking alcohol.
Homemade Electrolyte Powder
If you’d like to know how to make your own Electrolyte Powder, I have the recipe for you!
Why are Electrolytes Good For You?
If you’re wondering, what are electrolytes good for I’m here to help. According to Paleo pioneer, Robb Wolf, hydrating with electrolytes is common sense. He states:
“Drinking electrolytes along with water replaces what’s lost through sweat, urine, and respiration.”
He goes on to say that the issue with most of the electrolytes available on the market today is quality. The majority, think Gatorade, are filled with sugar and artificial chemicals that we don’t want in our bodies. This inspired Wolf to create LMNT electrolytes.
What Are Electrolytes
According to Wolf, “Electrolytes are charged minerals that conduct electricity to power your nervous system and balance fluids inside and outside your cells.”
Electrolytes are involved in the following functions in your body:
Nerve Impulse Firing
Healthy Blood Pressure
Fluid Balance in Brain
Support Hormone Production
And so much more!
Dehydration Headache and Other Symptoms
When I started drinking sugar free electrolytes and improved my sodium levels, I stopped getting migraines or headaches and my sluggish bowel motility improved. I also felt more alert cognitively.
For me, the benefits have been enormous. And the crazy thing is, I didn’t realize I wasn’t hydrating properly until LMNT came along.
Further, hydrating with LMNT eliminates symptoms from the “keto flu,” as this electrolyte includes salt, potassium, and magnesium.
Easy Summer Cocktails and Mocktails
Here are some of my other favorite fun and easy to make cocktails and mocktails. They’re all low-carb recipes, so you can enjoy them if you’re on a Keto Diet.
Virgin Mojito
We are all about the highball recipes. With a higher ratio of hydrating mix to liquor, you can’t go wrong!
I’ve stirred the traditional Cuban highball into a healthy sugar free mojito recipe that’s easy.
Just four fresh ingredients and your choice of rum –find the full recipe and many more in Paleo Cooking from Elana’s Pantry!
On The Rocks Cocktails
Backyard BBQ season and the summer heat can now be celebrated with my easy recipes for cocktails, fueling your body with fresh ingredients and hydrating with LMNT.
This Grapefruit Ranch Water Recipe is an oldie but goodie from the archives. I first shared it in 2021.
As we pointed out a couple of days ago, a company called Gametech Holdings, LLC took over the abandoned “Flappy Bird” trademark and turned it over to The Flappy Bird Foundation. The Flappy Bird revival seems to be less about bringing back a hugely popular game to be played by a new generation of mobile phone owners and more about promoting SOL. The cryptocurrency is valued today at nearly $135 for each SOL.
Flappy Bird developer Doug Nyugen says that he has nothing to do with the scammy crypto-involved revival of the game. | Image credit-Dough Nyugen
Besides the classic game mode, there is a basketball game mode, an easy mode, and a Battle Royale mode in which you will compete with up to 99 Flappy Bird players. While that sounds great and all, the deep dive done by Varun Biniwale, a cyber-security researcher, revealed the connection to SOL, the blockchain called Solana, and he posted screenshots showing that players can choose a cryptowallet to use at some point to store “rewards.”
Some of you might be asking what the big deal is but it certainly appears as though innocent Flappy Bird fans are about to get bombarded with promotions for a investment sector that has yet to proven to be trustworthy. Someone is aiming to make a lot of money by pushing crypto via the revived Flappy Birds and guess what! It’s probably not you although it could be at your expense.
Yesterday, Afrobeats superstar Tems made a special appearance at the Chicago White Sox game at Guaranteed Rate Field. She threw the ceremonial first pitch before the game, wearing a White Sox jersey.
The game ended in a 4-3 victory for the White Sox, defeating the Oakland Athletics and snapping a nearly three-month losing streak.
Tems’ appearance at the game comes amidst her ongoing “Born In The Wild” tour, which kicked off in London on June 12 following the release of her debut album. Since then, she has taken her performed across the globe, gracing stages in the UK, Germany, France, Netherlands, Norway, and several cities in the USA and Canada. Her tour will wrap up in Australia on November 15.
See more photos of Tems and watch her toss the ceremonial first pitch below:
The Climageddon Feedback Loop is why global warming consequences will be far worse than you are being told.
Introduction
Understanding the Climageddon Feedback Loop is not just about climate knowledge; it’s about realizing the urgent need to start preparing for climate chaos.
It’s also about grasping why those climate change researchers who accurately include in their calculations the following Climageddon Loop factors and are not caught by the distortions of the global fossil fuel disinformation campaigns described here are terrified. Many of these well-informed but terrified climate change researchers are quietly relocating their families to safer climate change locations, especially if they live in medium—to high-risk climate change areas.
The Climageddon Feedback Loop
The simple definition of the Climageddon Feedback Loop is:
The Climageddon Feedback Loop is multiple climate systems and subsystems feeding back into each other and continually worsening the conditions and accelerating consequences of many to most of those climate systems and subsystems.
The following expands the above definition with the needed details to understand the danger humanity is in with accelerating climate change accurately.
The Climageddon Feedback Loop illuminates the three critical and interacting climate change factors and forces that will facilitate and then accelerate the extinction of much of humanity over the following 3-5 decades. These three critical climate calculation factors are collectively and woefully missing from almost all climate change calculations done by climate researchers with a single specialty, such as the specialties of glaciers, water vapor, forest carbon absorption, sea ice coverage, ocean temperature, carbonization, currents, etc.
These three interacting factors and highly disruptive forces will be explained shortly, but first, it is necessary to illuminate the hidden danger of already accelerating climate change of itself. Most people will acknowledge that global warming is accelerating. Over the last two decades, it has accelerated by about 50% from one decade to the next. This acceleration in global warming is in perfect lockstep with the key atmospheric greenhouse gases (carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide), as shown in the graph below.
This massive 50% acceleration in global warming over the previous several decades contradicts everything you are hearing in the media from our authorities telling us that we are making progress on fixing global warming. (In case you still do not believe the 50% increase, James Hansen, the world-renowned climate scientist, recently verified this dangerous 50% acceleration in global warming over the last two decades. Click here for this new verification 2024 study by James Hansen.)
The following Climageddon Feedback Loop process explains the powerful and regularly unaccounted-for climate system forces that, behind the scenes, are rapidly accelerating global warming temperatures and intensifying climate change consequences. The effects of the Climageddon Feedback Loop process also explains why the climate change emergency has now grown beyond humanity’s effective and practical control.
For decades, most of the world’s single-specialty climate scientists have overlooked, hidden, denied, ignored, or grossly underestimated the effects of the Climageddon Feedback Loop as a major factor in the accuracy of their climate change calculations. Almost all of our single specialty climate scientists have overwhelmingly failed to include within their calculations the critical cumulative and synergetic effects of ALL other interacting and interdependent climate change systems and subsystems probable, likely, or potential:
a. crossed climate tipping points,
b. inherent or interconnected feedback loops, and
c. non-linear reactions commonly found within the systems and subsystems of complex adaptive systems.
The following illustration helps to demonstrate nonlinear reactions in complex adaptive systems like the climate. In the illustration, system A in the climate is connected to system B, but because they are complex adaptive climate systems, they can and will produce nonlinear, highly unpredictable effects in climate system or subsystem C.
The above three climate-related factors and forces inherently feed into and fuel each other to create the Climageddon Feedback Loop process.
There are about a dozen major climate change systems and subsystems that are interconnected and interacting in most normal climate change transactions. They are glacier melting or glacier break-off status, sea ice coverage, ocean temperature, ocean carbon absorption, ocean currents, methane and carbon release from permafrost, methane release from coastal ocean areas, atmospheric water vapor, the albedo effect, and soil and forest carbon sequestration or carbon release factors. (There are other climate factors and subsystems, but these are the major ones.)
If all of the climate’s probable, likely, and potential crossed tipping points, feedback loops, and non-linear reactions are not accounted for in climate change analysis and forecasts designed to give us accurate climate change consequence timetables and climate solutions, any real chance to fix the climate change emergency before near-total extinction will slip through humanity’s fingers before our leaders and humanity ever realizes its last climate-fixing opportunity is gone.
The illustration below shows what happens before a tipping point is about to be crossed. Just before the collapse, it will start to oscillate faster and faster to higher and lower oscillating levels.
Understanding how the three factors and forces of the Climageddon Feedback Loop interact is critical to humanity’s future. The Climageddon Feedback Loop occurs whenever more crossed climate tipping points, feedback loops, and triggered non-linear reactions interact and accelerate each other’s effects in what can become a near-endless feedback loop.
The three factors and forces of tipping points, feedback loops, and nonlinear reactions interact in the climate to create a new and much larger or mega feedback loop (the Climageddon Feedback Loop) of and between themselves. This now-activated Climageddon feedback loop will continuously fuel and accelerate new levels of rapidly increasing heat and intensify climate change consequences.
In the Climageddon Feedback Loop, more tipping points, feedback loops, and non-linear reactions are pushed into being crossed or activated at faster and faster rates. This once again triggers or accelerates other and more climate tipping points, feedback loops, and non-linear reactions in other climate systems and subsystems. This, in turn, fuels and creates the Climageddon Feedback Loop extinction spiral of ever-increasing and ever more severe climate change consequences at even faster rates!
As the Climagageddon Feedback Loop continues to expand and accelerate as described above; eventually, all that Humanity will be able to do is prepare and adapt and hope that you can live as comfortably as possible under the extreme climate change conditions never seen before by humanity.
The monster climate crisis and extinction threat are hidden by ignoring the Climageddon Feedback Loop in current climate change analysis and predictions.
Today, most climate scientists have notsimultaneously included calculations, algorithmic values, or reasonable allowances for ALL or even most of the probable, likely, or potential crossed climate change tipping points, feedback loops, and non-linear reactions from the dozen most important climate systems and subsystems in their final climate change calculations. This dangerous and gross underestimation issue helps to create a delusional climate change “Perfect Day scenario,” with no nasty climate tipping points, feedback loops, or non-linear reactions to ruin their “Perfect Day” climate change forecasts.
Consequently, our current real climate change risks and threats are not accurately provided to those with the political and financial power to act. Because of this, governments, businesses, and the world’s citizens have not been informed of the accurate and real climate change consequences and time frames we currently face. They have been grossly misinformed about their climate future!
The widespread failure of climate scientists to include the Climageddon Feedback Loop process and scenario in ALL of their climate change calculations explains why the current global warming temperature predictions and time frames that humanity is being given are so far off from what is already occurring and will occur. (We appear to be regularly meeting or exceeding our current worst-case climate change scenario predictions precisely because, in part, of the omission of the Climageddon Feedback Loop in those predictions.)
The undisclosed and uncompensated for Climageddon Feedback Loop is the main reason that humanity has already passed into phase 2 of runaway global warming. Phase 2 of runaway global warming is really bad because it means half or more of humanity will perish by about 2050.
If we do not make radical worldwide fossil fuel reductions immediately, as much as 95% of humanity or more will likely not survive past 2070. Global temperatures will be in runaway mode along with the climate change consequences, and we will be living in climate hell.
To help you understand the global warming-driven side of the coming “Great Global Collapse,” leading to mass human extinction, review the following runaway global heating illustration starting from the bottom up!
Starting from the bottom, this illustration reflects the unfolding natural progression of ever-worsening and interacting consequences with climate change tipping points, feedback loops, and nonlinear reactions included in the projections.
The top of the illustration shows you the later phases of the Climageddon Feedback Loop extinction model processes and consequences. The bottom of the illustration shows you the earlier consequences.
For now, get a general idea of all the runaway global heating consequences, tipping points, feedback loops, and potential non-linear reactions that will be interacting and colliding as well as amplifying and multiplying each other as the Climageddon Feedback Loop extinction scenario unfolds over time in phases and waves.
Remember to review tahe following illustration from the bottom up, beginning with the heating effect of escalating global warming!
(Full explanations for climate tipping points, feedback loops, potential nonlinear reactions, and consequences are here, and in the next link for the 20 worst global warming consequences.)
Points of no return
Tipping points also have a point of no return that, when crossed, will always lead to the particular tipping point being crossed and a system crash. Today, you hear very little about the points of no return in some climate change system tipping point. This is another area of high risk and deep concern for humanity’s climate future. Unless we also understand these points of no return for any particular climate change tipping point, we will keep crossing more and more dangerous climate change tipping points.
What to do:
Click here to review the most important climate change information and learn what you can do to protect yourself and your family from rapidly accelerating climate change consequences.
More Supportive Information
1. The Climageddon Feedback Loop process also invisibly accelerates and significantly distorts the committed and “baked-in” future temperature warming calculations the public is being given. To see far more accurate calculations for future committed global warming temperatures and timeframes that do include values for the many forces of the Climageddon Feedback Loop, click here.)
2. Please click here for a full explanation of the obscene “Perfect Day” climate change calculations distortion that has plagued the climate information being given to the public about their climate change futures. Then please click here for even more on how the public has been denied the necessary truth about our horrible current climate situation.
3. There are at least 11 major climate change tipping points. There are also many factors about tipping points that most people do not understand. To learn more about these two critical issues, click here.
4. Job One for Humanity does include many calculations, algorithmic values, or appropriate allowances for probable, likely, and possible crossed climate change tipping points, feedback loops, and non-linear reactions from the dozen major climate systems and subsystems in their final climate change calculations, consequence timeframes forecasts, and recommended solutions as seen in the ten facts and links found on this page. (Our research and analysis methodology can be found on this page.)
To help do something about the climate change and global warming emergency, click here.
Sign up for our free Global Warming Blog by clicking here. (In your email, you will receive critical news, research, and the warning signs for the next global warming disaster.)
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Navigating the Challenges of Concealed Carry in Cold Conditions
Estimated 8 minute read
Concealed carry in winter conditions demands careful consideration of hand wear options.
The connection between gloves and handguns becomes crucial as gloves impact dexterity and firearm functionality. Here, we explore the intricacies of selecting, practicing, and using gloves for concealed carry in cold weather.
Navigating the combination of gloves and guns in cold weather poses unique challenges for concealed carriers.
In this exploration, we delve into the impact of winter conditions on handgun operations and the importance of choosing the right handwear for optimal dexterity.
The dilemma of freezing or wearing gloves highlighted the need to adapt to using firearms in cold-weather conditions.
While I am familiar with the effect gloves can have on handgun dexterity, the connection between gloves and handguns varies based on the firearm.
For example small-framed revolvers pose challenges when used with gloved hands, particularly if the gloves are not tight and slim.
Quick access to the trigger becomes difficult, emphasizing the importance of practicing trigger manipulation with gloved hands.
Thick gloves may compromise trigger return and reset, potentially leading to malfunctions, especially with J-frame revolvers.
The material of the glove itself can present issues during firing, with the possibility of it becoming stuck in the upper section of the trigger.
Practicing keeping the gloved finger on the face of the trigger is crucial for reliable functionality with revolvers.
Beyond trigger manipulation, gloves also impact other handgun operations. While the cylinder latch may not be a significant issue with gloved hands, the slide lock of a self-loading pistol presents its own set of challenges.
Self-loading pistols introduce reduced dexterity concerns, potentially leading to unintended discharges.
The risk of exerting lateral pressure on the trigger without awareness increases with reduced tactile feedback.
Double-action-first-shot handguns offer some reduction in this danger due to a heavier trigger press for the first round.
However, transitioning to single action after the first shot may introduce challenges similar to single-action 1911s or Glock-style safe-action triggers.
Practicing firing your chosen handgun with gloved hands is essential to developing the muscle memory required for confident and safe firearm use in winter conditions.
Whether facing the challenges of trigger manipulation, slide lock operation, or adapting to different handgun types, diligent practice ensures that concealed carriers can confidently navigate the complexities of cold-weather concealed carry.
Here are our top tips for carrying (and shooting) with your winter gloves
Choosing the Right Glove: The selection of gloves significantly influences the success of concealed carry in cold conditions. A properly-fitting glove is essential, with good adhesion to prevent slippage during firing. Department-store gloves with inadequate traction can compromise firearm control, turning an accurate and controllable handgun into a poor performer. Select gloves that offer both warmth and optimal firearm handling.
Evaluating options based on fit, quality, and durability is crucial. Leather and synthetic materials each have their advantages, and selecting gloves tailored for gun-friendly use is essential for concealed carriers.
Consistent Practice with the Gloves You Wear: Practicing with the chosen gloves is paramount, regardless of the specific pair selected. Proficiency training should include manipulating handgun controls, drawing from the holster, and maintaining firearm readiness. Consistently wearing the same style of gloves contributes to familiarity and muscle memory development.
The common practice of taking gloves off before firing raises concerns about quick access in critical situations.
Practice with gloved hands is imperative, considering that a well-fitted glove may be challenging to quickly remove.
Issues such as unintentional thumb interference with the slide lock can worsen with gloves, affecting the ability to drop the slide efficiently. Practice isolating such problems to ensure readiness.
Considerations for Self-Loading Pistols: Self-loading pistols present their challenges when wearing gloves. Reduced dexterity could lead to unintended discharges, emphasizing the need for practice. The transition from double-action to single action poses potential issues, requiring careful consideration of trigger control.
Critical Handgun Operations: Ensure that you can effectively actuate the safety, magazine release, and slide lock while wearing gloves. While there is ongoing debate about using the slide lock to release the slide, training to run the gun accordingly with gloves is essential. If manipulating the slide lock becomes challenging with gloves, consider retraining and prioritize racking the slide for consistent functionality.
Maintaining a Strong Grip: A strong grip is mandatory when using a pistol with gloves. Some users report pistols seeming to kick more when wearing gloves, emphasizing the importance of a tight-fitting glove that allows a solid grip to mitigate this effect.
An Unfortunate Incident: Highlighting the importance of proper glove usage, an unfortunate incident involving an officer underscores the need for vigilance. Placing the trigger finger on the front of the trigger guard instead of the trigger due to cold hands and gloves led to a critical failure during a confrontation.
In conclusion, the careful selection and diligent practice of shooting gloves are integral components of winter-ready concealed carry.
Consider the fit, functionality, and durability of gloves to ensure optimal performance in critical situations.
As training with gloves becomes a priority, concealed carriers can confidently overcome the challenges of cold-weather conditions!
Before the second session of the Synod on Synodality kicks off in Rome at the beginning of October, participants will gather in retreat to pray together and ask forgiveness for sins in a penitential prayer vigil led by Pope Francis.
In addition, four new forums will be conducted on two dates alongside the monthlong assembly and will provide a public platform for reflection and debate on theological topics being discussed during the synod.
These and other changes to the second part of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops Oct. 2–27 were highlighted by synod organizers on Monday.
Organizers discuss the upcoming second session of the Synod on Synodality at a press conference at the Holy See Press Office on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Penitential vigil
The day before the synod begins, a prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 1 will mark the conclusion of a two-day retreat at the Vatican for synod members. At the public vigil, “some of the sins that cause the most pain and shame will be called by name, invoking God’s mercy,” synod secretary Cardinal Mario Grech said at a press conference Sept. 16.
During the prayer service, three people will speak about their experiences of being harmed by sexual abuse, war, and indifference toward migrants, and there will be a “confession of various types of sins,” Grech said. “It will not be about denouncing the sin of others but about recognizing ourselves as part of those who, by action or at least omission, become the cause of the suffering suffered by the innocent and helpless.”
The event has been organized by the synod secretariat in collaboration with the Diocese of Rome, the Union of Major Superiors, and the International Union of Major Superiors.
According to a press release, attendees will request forgiveness “in the name of all the baptized” for “sin against peace, sin against creation, against Indigenous populations, against migrants; sin of abuse; sin against women, family, youth; sin of using doctrine as stones to be hurled; sin against poverty; sin against synodality/lack of listening, communion, and participation of all.”
The Synod on Synodality will then have its official start with an opening Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 2.
Participants and Methodology
Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the relator general for the Synod on Synodality, said Sept. 16 that there have been “no great changes” to the 368 voting members and 96 nonvoting participants in the second session of the assembly.
To date, only 25 changes have been recorded, mostly replacements for people who are no longer able to attend, he explained, including several for health reasons.
The number of fraternal delegates, representatives of non-Catholic Christian faiths, has increased from 12 to 16 at the request of Pope Francis. The new additions are representatives of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and all of Africa, the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, the Lutheran World Federation, and the World Mennonite Conference.
The overall format for the nearly monthlong meeting remains very similar to the prior year’s gathering — including daily prayer, theological reflections, and “conversation in the Spirit” in small working groups divided by language.
But organizers noted Monday that there will be fewer plenaries (when members have the opportunity to address the entire assembly) in 2024, and instead, representatives of each of the working groups will meet among themselves to share what emerged during conversations.
There will also be “more pauses for prayer and reflection,” according to Sheila Pires, who is on the synod’s communication team.
One of these pauses will be another retreat day on Oct. 21, according to Father Giacomo Costa, SJ, a synod special secretary. He explained that this retreat will allow members to spiritually prepare for the presentation of the draft of the synod’s final document, which they will be called to provide feedback for before voting on the document’s final content.
There will also be voting during the synod to determine what topics will be concretely discussed, he said.
Organizers discuss the upcoming second session of the Synod on Synodality at a press conference at the Holy See Press Office on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Theological-Pastoral Forums
Organizers insist that hot-button topics discussed during the first session will not be on the program in October, which will focus on “how the synodal Church is on mission.”
This year, however, the theological and pastoral underpinnings of the synodal discussions will be open to the public to learn about during four forums on Oct. 9 and Oct. 16 in Rome.
The forums will be on “The People of God, Subject of the Mission,” “The Role and Authority of the Bishop in a Synodal Church,” “The Mutual Relationship Between the Local Church and the Universal Church,” and “The Exercise of Primacy in the Synod of Bishops.”
In each forum, four or five theologians, canonists, and bishops will introduce “the principle questions, focusing on the different perspective from which these issues can be viewed,” Father Riccardo Battocchio, a special secretary of the synod, said Sept. 16.
Afterward, the floor will open up for questions and responses from those present.
According to a press release, the forums are intended for all participants in the Assembly (members, special guests, fraternal delegates, experts). Journalists accredited to the Holy See Press Office are also invited and members of the public may attend according to available space. Registration will be required for anyone who wants to participate, with details on how to register to be released at a later date.
These four forums, Battocchio said, “intend to offer a further contribution of reflections … to those who will participate in the second session … but also to other people interested in the themes of the synod.”
They will tackle, he continued, themes connected to several sections in the Instrumentum Laboris.
The forums’ speakers have not yet been published.
The October assembly of the Synod on Synodality will mark the end of the discernment phase of the Church’s synodal process, which Pope Francis opened in 2021.
The third phase of the synod — after “the consultation of the people of God” and “the discernment of the pastors” — will be “implementation,” according to organizers.
The Instrumentum Laboris for the final part of the Synod on Synodality, published July 9, focused on how to implement certain of the synod’s aims while laying aside some of the more hot-button topics from the October 2023 gathering, such as women deacons, priestly celibacy, and LGBTQ outreach.
These more controversial subjects and others have been delegated to the competency of 15 study groups formed starting late last year.
The 2024 guiding document instead offered concrete proposals for instituting a listening and accompaniment ministry, greater lay involvement in parish economics and finances, and more powerful parish councils.
“Without tangible changes, the vision of a synodal Church will not be credible,” the Instrumentum Laboris, or “working tool,” said.
The 15 study groups will continue to meet through June 2025 but will provide an update on their progress at the beginning of the second session in October.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Sept. 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Soleno Therapeutics (NASDAQ:), Inc. (Soleno) (NASDAQ: SLNO), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of rare diseases, today announced that management will present at the 2024 Cantor Global Healthcare Conference on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, at 8:00 AM Eastern Time.
A live audio webcast and replay of the presentation will be available in the Investors section on the Company’s website at www.soleno.life.
About Soleno Therapeutics, Inc. Soleno is focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics for the treatment of rare diseases. An NDA for its lead candidate, DCCR (diazoxide choline) extended-release tablets, a once-daily oral tablet for the treatment of Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is currently under review by the FDA and was granted Priority Review. For more information, please visit www.soleno.life.
Corporate Contact: Brian Ritchie LifeSci Advisors, LLC 212-915-2578
An early Ethereum (ETH) investor who received 16,636 ETH in 2016 has sold a portion of their holdings, marking an extraordinary return on investment.
According to on-chain data shared by EmberCN, the whale originally acquired the Ethereum for $5.23 per token, totaling $87,135. As of September 16, 2024, that same amount of ETH is worth more than $37.6 million, representing an astonishing 446x increase in value.
Slumbering Trader Makes $819K Profit
The investor, who held onto their Ethereum for nearly eight and a half years, transferred the entire 16,636 ETH to a new wallet before selling 350 ETH at a price of $2,340 per token, realizing a profit of approximately $819,000.
The sale came with the price of ETH hovering around $2,300, down from its recent one-month high of $2,820. However, despite the dip, the whale’s long-term holding strategy has paid off significantly.nTheir transaction comes in the wake of a series of notable Ethereum movements from other dormant wallets.
Recently, several large inoperative addresses have come back to life, with huge amounts of ETH being transferred after years of inactivity. For instance, on August 7, over 789,000 ETH, valued at $2 billion, were moved from wallets that had been asleep for 3.3 years. These wallets were linked to the infamous PlusToken Ponzi scheme dismantled by Chinese authorities in November 2020.
The movement raised curiosity within the crypto community, with many speculating whether the Chinese government was contemplating a move similar to Germany’s when the latter sold nearly 50,000 BTC confiscated from criminal enterprises.
In another instance, a wallet containing over 2,000 ETH, last active during the Ethereum Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in 2014, reawakened on August 26 after more than nine years of dormancy. Its contents, originally worth $620, are now valued at more than $5 million.
Long-Term ETH Holders in Profit
At the time of this writing, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap had seen 5.3% shaved off its price in 24 hours.
Across 30 days, the loss is more marked, with ETH prices suffering an 11.8% dip in that period. Additionally, despite a slight 0.2% rise over the last seven days, ETH is underperforming the global crypto market, which is up by at least 1.30%.
That being said, data shows that a majority of those holding the cryptocurrency are still making money. According to IntoTheBlock, 54% of the coin’s owners are in profit at the current price, with 74% holding onto their assets for over a year.
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This article is part of the The Crossway Podcast series.
The Doctrine That’s Been “the Single Biggest Blessing to Me”
In this episode, Sam Allberry makes a case for why our union with Christ stands at the heart of the Christian faith and is the doctrine that has been the single biggest blessing to him since his conversion.
Sam Allberry
Brief, compelling devotionals by Sam Allberry help believers understand what it means to be “in Christ” and how unity with Jesus shapes their daily lives.
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Topics Addressed in This Interview:
Matt Tully Sam, thanks so much for joining me again on The Crossway Podcast.
Sam Allberry Always a pleasure. Thanks for having me back.
Matt Tully At the end of this new book that you’ve written on union with Christ, you write that meditating on this doctrine, the doctrine of our union with Jesus, has been the single biggest blessing to you since your conversion. And so I want to get into why you say that and what it is (big picture) about this doctrine that it’s just blessed you over and over again. But before we get there, could you just take us back to your conversion and just share a little bit about how that happened?
Sam Allberry I was seventeen, soon to turn eighteen, and wasn’t spiritually seeking. I had no particular heart interest in the Christian faith, but I had a couple of very good friends who were Christians. And so they invited me to their church’s youth ministry, and before I could think of a good enough reason not to go I agreed to go.
Matt Tully And where was this?
Sam Allberry This is back in England in my hometown of Sevenoaks in Kent. So I went to their youth ministry not because I was looking for anything myself but because I thought, Well, it’s probably polite to find out more about what they’re into. So I was thinking I wanted to be a good friend to them and see what makes them tick. But I certainly wasn’t seeking. I was open minded about whether God existed. I would have called myself a spiritual person for that reason. But I heard the gospel, and the first time I heard the gospel it rang true and I realized this is real. And it suddenly occurred to me that if God was real and really had made me, I didn’t know him and I was probably supposed to. And I figured that was my fault, not his. So I very quickly had an awareness that if God existed, then I was spiritually lost. And so then hearing the message of the one who came to seek and save the lost suddenly became relevant to me. So it was very shortly after that I became a Christian. I started going to that youth ministry each week, joined a Bible study, and I think just two or three weeks later really began to understand Jesus’s death for me. And I remember thinking if Jesus really has died bearing my sins, then that can’t just be a nice thing in my life; that has to be everything. It’s everything or nothing. It can’t just be something. So I remember thinking, Well, I’ve got to give my life to him. That’s the only response that fits. I knew next to nothing about what it would mean to be a Christian, but I knew I could trust Jesus. I knew if he had done that for me, then I could build my life on him. And so that was thirty-one years ago this month. So I’m very grateful for that day.
Matt Tully I’m struck by how it seems like the quick understanding that you came to related to the totality of what it means to be a Christian, that to follow Jesus and to be saved by Jesus, really, it connects to our whole lives. Everything about us is wrapped up in that. That’s something that I think sometimes we can hear more often perhaps from those who grew up in the church. That can be that challenge where they view Christianity as an add on, as a thing over here, but then I can live my life the way I want to over here. Do you think there was something about coming to faith as an older young adult that helped you to understand what it means to be a Christian?
Sam Allberry I think coming in cold helped in the sense that a lot of my Christian peers had grown up in the church and had gone through seasons of walking away from the faith or being half-hearted. There was an over familiarity with some of them with what they believed. I was coming in fresh and seeing it with fresh eyes.
Matt Tully Your parents weren’t Christians?
Sam Allberry I wasn’t raised going to church. Growing up in England, you get taught certain bits and pieces in high school. So I was familiar with some of the Bible stories at least, but I hadn’t heard the gospel before. I hadn’t really understood the message of Jesus before. So it was all new to me and just exciting. It was like being parachuted into this amazing new world that you had to explore and discover. So I think that helped. And I had lots of conversations with my new Christian friends where I think me coming in helped them see their faith again through my eyes, and I think a few people found their own faith being rekindled at the same time. Growing up in England and living outside London, London never did anything for me. Since moving to America and visiting London with American friends and seeing it through their eyes, I’m amazed at London now. I love London. It was there that whole time, but I needed to see it through fresher eyes to really appreciate it. I think something of that happened as I came to faith.
Matt Tully As we look around the world today, and many people have observed this because it’s almost a truism at this point, but the issue of identity is such a foundational cultural topic that we see pop up in lots of different contexts. Lots of the conversations, even the controversial conversations, that are happening around us in our society today in some way connect to that issue of identity. Tim Keller was a mentor to you, and I know he was someone that you were very close with. He once said in a sermon that the issue of identity is the moral absolute—the only one in our culture today—and that would be that you got to be yourself; you have to be true to yourself. And we hear this language in movies and music and just broader culture all the time. And as I was thinking about talking with you today, taking a step back and even looking at things that you’ve written on, things that you’ve spoken about in the past, it struck me that a lot of what you’ve engaged with over the years has related in some way to this topic of identity. You’ve written on our physical bodies and why they matter to God, why they have an inherent meaning; you’ve written about singleness and marriage and how we think about ourselves in those ways; and you’ve written about homosexuality and some of those issues as well. All of those connect, again, to some of the biggest identity-related issues today. And then obviously this doctrine of our union with Christ and this new book that you’ve written, I can’t think of a doctrine that maybe has more direct application to how we view ourselves (our identities) than this one. As you think about your own work, whether writing or speaking, do you think there is a throughline there related to identity? Is that intentional? What would you say about that?
Sam Allberry I hadn’t seen the through line there. I’m not clever enough to have intentionally built out a body of work around that one theme. If it’s a recurrent theme, I don’t think that’s because it’s central to my theology. I think it’s because it’s so central to our culture. And so it’s hard to talk about anything without it affecting identity because, as you say, that’s the core conviction of so many people around us now. You can almost say identity is everything to people, and therefore whatever part of Christian truth you’re speaking about, you’re going to bump into how someone understands themselves. Christianity confronts us. I discovered that at age seventeen. I was thinking I could hear the message of Jesus and keep it at arm’s length. I was just there to understand it so I could better understand my Christian friend. But you can’t keep the message of Jesus at arm’s length because it confronts us about our hearts. The whole biblical doctrine of sin and our fallenness—we have to come to terms with who we are before the Lord. That’s such a fundamental part of the Christian faith. And it collides so spectacularly with the cultural idea of I’m good deep down inside, and I’ve just got to be true to that good deep down me. So I think it’s an unavoidable issue, which is why it feels like every part of Christian truth seems to connect to it in some way, just because it’s that big a deal to our culture. I think fifty years ago I could have written books on the same topics and you wouldn’t have to think about identity because that just wasn’t as big a category in people’s minds then.
Matt Tully I think previous generations seemed like they were far more comfortable or willing to accept this idea of a given identity, that by virtue of all kinds of things about us—our birthplace and our gender and all these other things—our identities are kind of shaped by outside forces. Not that we don’t have any role to play in that, but today it feels like the reaction has been so strong towards let’s throw off every possible boundary, every possible constraint, and we get to define ourselves completely.
Sam Allberry Yeah. There were certain things that were given and assumed in earlier generations. And they had other issues where the gospel needed to do more work. But the whole issue of anthropology and who we are and how we know who and what we are is something we cannot assume today. That is the area where we most need to think things through as Christians and try and explain the gospel in the light of that. That’s a big feature of the time in which we live here in the West, certainly.
Matt Tully And that’s one thing that I love about this doctrine of our union with Christ because it does speak to our identity as Christians very fundamentally and it has this two-fold dynamic to it. It both is a constraint—it tells us who we must be, who we are, how God has made us in certain ways, or remade us—but it also brings with it so much freedom and blessing and grace. It’s redemptive. And so it’s both a message of constraint and a message of freedom at the same time, which feels like such a unique thing. That’s maybe a segue into talking more about union with Christ. Here’s a two-part question for you. How would you say that your own personal story and your own life today as a single man doing pastoral ministry impacted your approach and your thinking about this doctrine? And then on the flip side, how would you say that this doctrine has shaped your own perspective on your life and your own story?
Sam Allberry I’m much more conscious of the latter than I am the former, because I can see how this doctrine has wonderfully invaded my life in so many areas. I don’t know if it seems silly to have favorite doctrines, but I feel like it’s the doctrine that has most helped me. I was familiar with the doctrine for years and you pick up these things in systematics and all the rest of it, but there’ve been so many points in my life where this doctrine has suddenly waved at me and said, “This is what I’m for.” I talk in the book about how I had quite a breakthrough when I realized that my relationship to sin has totally changed because I’m in Christ. And so holiness isn’t this weird trying to be someone I can never be thing; it’s actually my truest identity now. It’s who I am. And sin is going against the grain of that, not trying to be godly. That was a huge breakthrough for me. So you learn doctrine and then you learn to discover as you go through the Christian life what a blessing those doctrines are. I can think of certain areas where this has really intersected with my life at just the right moment and given me what I needed. I also talk in the book about trying to explain atonement to someone who’s not a Christian and how can it be right for someone who’s innocent to take the punishment of someone who’s guilty. And again, I remember wrestling with that. I had friends who were non-believers who would raise issues about that, and I think, Yeah, that’s a good question. What’s the answer? And again, union with Christ comes and waves and goes, “Hey, look at me! This is how you understand that.” So it’s brought so much clarity to my Christian life and so much comfort to me as well, because it means Jesus really is the one who’s closer than a brother. When he says, “I’m with you always to the very end of the age,” this is how he is with us to the very end of the age. So I can’t remember what the question was now, but those are some of the ways that it has really shaped me. And therefore it’s something I’ve wanted to teach and help other Christians come to a clearer understanding of it. It serves us so well to understand this.
Matt Tully As you were talking there and as I was reading through the book, I was struck by how this doctrine is so special. Not that it’s more special than other doctrines, but it really does seem to, for so many of us and I know for me, it meets us in a very practical, pastoral way. It’s such an encouragement to me spiritually as I meditate on it, but it also serves as such a foundational theological doctrine that helps to make sense of so many other ones. It helps to make sure they can fit together well. You alluded to that with justification and imputation. It’s such a foundational doctrine for both our lives and our experience as Christians and our theology that it can be surprising that it is—and maybe in certain circles it’s probably changing somewhat—but it feels like it’s a doctrine that is sometimes not very well understood or even misunderstood in Christian circles and churches. You highlight the fact that at least in the New Testament, that this is a key doctrine. We see it as foundational. And you even contrast how often we see language related to “being in Christ” compared to language like “being a Christian.” There’s maybe three instances in the Bible where it refers to believers as Christians, but there’s over 100 where we’re referred to as those who are “in Christ” in some way. Can you unpack that a little bit more, the prevalence of this doctrine in the Bible?
Sam Allberry This is one of the key eye-opening moments for me was thinking if the New Testament’s main way of talking about being a believer is different to ours, then it probably means there’s something we’re not seeing that we should be seeing, and realizing that that language of being in Christ is just scattered all over the pages of the New Testament. It’s hard to open the New Testament at random and not see a reference to it. And yet it’s something I hadn’t heard preached on or talked about a huge amount. There’s been a wonderful flurry of books and things on it in the last five years or so. I feel like the consciousness of it is growing. I can think of another couple of books coming out in the near future that will also be really good on this. But yes, if our concept of the Christian life is different to the New Testament’s, then we’re lacking something. And the New Testament’s principle paradigm is being united to Jesus, being in him. We’re still followers, we’re still disciples and servants and friends and worshippers and all those other things, but that seems to be the one the New Testament has most locked in on. And we’re going to be diminished in our understanding if we don’t come to terms with that. So I hope it will raise awareness of that. That’s part of the reason for writing the book is just to help us see something that is right in front of us there in the New Testament on pretty much every page. And again, as we see it, we then see so many other things in the light of it.
Matt Tully I think Ephesians 1 is a great example of a chapter of Scripture where this doctrine is so foundational, so present. Is it just because it’s such a simple little phrase and this simple little preposition and then “Christ” that makes it sometimes fly under the radar? We almost just read over it and don’t even stop and think about what’s being said?
Sam Allberry Yeah, I think so. In one sense, it’s familiar language because it’s there all over the place. But we don’t stop to think, What does that actually mean to be in Christ? Why is that the recurring motif of these New Testament writers? So I think it is one of those things where it just sort of sounds like a religious way of saying “Christian.”
Matt Tully I mean, we sign our letters sometimes saying “in Christ.”
Sam Allberry Yeah. It’s conventional language, and again, it’s one of those things where our familiarity with it stops us noticing what it actually means. So you can go through the Christian life using that language and not really understanding what it means to be in Christ and not knowing that there’s something you’re missing. That was my Christian life for many years. I would sign emails with “Yours in Christ,” or whatever it might be, without really thinking what that means. I think I used it to mean yours affiliated to Jesus or something. I wasn’t stopping and thinking, What does it mean to be someone else’s in Christ? So it was just sort of one of those weird, quirky New Testament ways of speaking that we didn’t really stop to think about.
Matt Tully So then help us start to understand what this actually means. We’ve been talking a lot about how common it is, how important it is, but we haven’t actually defined it yet. So how would you concisely explain what it means for Christians to be in Christ?
Sam Allberry What it means is that when we put our trust in Jesus Christ, we become united to him. That’s what the New Testament is showing us. We become so profoundly one with him spiritually that we can be said to be in Christ and he can be said to be in us. Both those ways around it are used in the New Testament. (More commonly, it’s referred to as being in him than he is in us). It means that there’s a profound union there, one that is akin to marriage, and it’s likened to marriage at various points in the New Testament. I think I had always thought that being a Christian is being a follower of Jesus, and it is, but I think conceptually that meant that Jesus is a dot on the horizon that I’m always struggling to keep up with and never quite making it. Now, there’s a sense in which that is true. Obviously, I’m trying to follow the example of Jesus and never in this life will I be succeeding in that fully. But I was missing the spiritual closeness of Jesus that is really made clear by understanding myself to be in him. That is how tight we are with him. So it isn’t just an affiliation. It isn’t just a respect of him. It isn’t just that I follow his moral precepts. As we come to faith in him, we’re plunged into this uniquely deep, tight relationship with him, which means we’re in him from now on. Everything about our lives is bound up with him and everything about his life is bound up with us. We’re fully defined by him. And all of that is just glorious. We have everything there is to have of Jesus in our lives. We have him so fully that we are one with him.
Matt Tully One thing that I think that can sometimes be confusing about this doctrine is there does seem to be this spatial dynamic to it. It’s a locational kind of thing. We are inside Jesus—in Christ. And that can be a little confusing. What does that mean? Are we literally in Christ in some way or is it just a spiritual thing? How would you explain that to somebody who’s kind of struggling with the spatial locational dynamic to this?
Sam Allberry It’s such an unfamiliar concept. But what we’re looking at is the fact that we have both a physical location and a spiritual location. Physically, right now I’m in Nashville, Tennessee. Spiritually, I’m in Jesus. Both those things are true concurrently. I don’t have to be in a particular geographical spot on planet earth to be closer to Jesus or further away from him. I can be in Jesus wherever I am on planet earth. And we see that in the New Testament letters where the letters are addressed to the church in Corinth that is in Christ Jesus. Both the physical and spiritual addresses are being used there. So I liken it in the book to how strange to us the language of being born again is, because we can have been physically born of a woman and spiritually reborn—born of the flesh and born from above, both at the same time. So it is an unusual concept, but it’s so unavoidable in the New Testament. We can’t just push it to one side. It’s everywhere. We won’t understand our Christian lives without it. But it’s so comforting because, again, it means it doesn’t matter where I am on this planet; I am in Christ. I will not have to spend a waking moment away from his presence. I can have intimacy with him anywhere. So that is just a deep comfort. It’s reassuring. It’s stabilizing to know that.
Matt Tully So you talk about how this doctrine is all over the New Testament, and perhaps the apostle Paul is probably the preeminent theologian of our union with Christ in the New Testament. It’s kind of woven throughout virtually all of his letters. But you actually highlight a few other examples in the Gospels and in other letters where we do see this doctrine coming out. I wonder if you could just point us to a few of those other examples.
Sam Allberry The language is there in John’s writing, both in his Gospel and his epistles as well. I was just looking at a book that came out last year that is a study of union in Christ in John. Jesus famously talks about himself being the true vine and us being the branches. That’s one of those biblical analogies for being in Christ. So it’s there in other forms in other parts of the New Testament too. And each of those different ways of describing it help us see it with a different angle and see how multifaceted and rich it is.
Matt Tully Do we see this doctrine in the Old Testament in any way? Are there hints of this idea of being directly connected to God in a significant way?
Sam Allberry I think in some ways, yes. It’s not as explicit. I think the yearnings of the psalmist in so many of the psalms, just longing to be near to God, show us why, ultimately, we would be unsatisfied with anything less than union with Christ. So wanting to be enfolded in the Lord’s goodness and kindness and protection, and knowing that we can be through Jesus. There’s a picture of it, and my memory is terrible with names, but when Jacob tricks Esau in Genesis and gets his inheritance and he puts on Esau’s clothing and goes before their father, who is old and unable to sort of see clearly who’s in front of him, but he sort of smells Esau and he reaches out and he feels what feels like Esau and he grants Esau’s blessing to crafty Jacob. That is a picture of someone doing through trickery what Jesus does through generosity, because Jesus gives us his clothing to come before the Father so that as we come before the Father, we’re clothed in Christ, we’re bearing the aroma of Christ, and we can receive the blessing that Jesus the firstborn himself deserves. And Jesus does that for us. We don’t trick him out of it. He voluntarily gives us that. So it’s interesting that some of the concepts are kind of anticipated in the Old Testament. And certainly, there’s so much in the Old Testament about the kind of intimacy God’s people are designed to have with him that we only really understand in its fullness when we come to this doctrine.
Matt Tully And that makes me even go back to Genesis 3. I think it’s verse 21 where we see God, after Adam and Eve sin and fall, God creates these garments out of skins and clothes them. And many Bible scholars and theologians will point to that as this little hint, this little shadow of the idea of God clothing us—clothing our nakedness and our shame and our sin, providing, even through sacrifice, the means of that clothing. Ultimately, that idea develops into this idea of being clothed with Christ himself, which is just such a beautiful trajectory that we see starting back in the garden.
Sam Allberry Yes, that idea of needing to be covered. David talks about this in Psalm 32. It was when he confessed his sins that God covered them, and it’s the New Testament that shows us exactly how God does cover our sins. He covers us in Christ. So again, it means we are so identified with him, so enfolded in him that we can come before the Father with that, and wonderfully, we receive the blessings of Jesus.
Matt Tully Such a beautiful doctrine. Well, maybe a final series of questions. So often with theology, we can fall into the trap of talking about these doctrines in the abstract and even enjoying them and relishing them in that way. But we sometimes can struggle to let them trickle down from our heads to our hearts and out into our hands and really think about the practical implications or just the day to day implications of these things. And so I wonder if you could help us reflect a little bit on how this doctrine of our union with Christ—how even a greater understanding of it—could affect our lives as Christians. You highlight a few different ways in which this has impacted you. One of them that I thought was really interesting was just our confidence in Christ as Christians. How would you describe the way that this has given you more assurance as a Christian?
Sam Allberry I would say it’s done so on a number of different fronts. One is simply that the whole point of the book is to try and show how this sheds light and brings clarity to so much of the Christian life. It all makes more sense when we see it through this lens. That in itself has given me assurance because things are clearer now and fit together more coherently because I’ve understood this doctrine. But it also means that if I’m following Jesus, it’s very easy for me to conceive of not following him. I could slow down too much and he just disappears off the horizon and I’ll never see him again. If I’m united to Jesus, I can’t be un-united from him. Something has happened there that I can’t undo. “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it”—and I do every day. I feel the ways in which my heart will draw me away from Jesus. But I’m united with him, and he would have to come back down from heaven and climb back into the grave for that not to be true. That gives me assurance because it means my sense of Christian confidence isn’t based in myself; it’s based on my union with him. And my union with him is based on what he’s done, not based on what I’ve done.
Matt Tully Yeah, that’s so good. Another example that even kind of then arises out of that foundational assurance that we can have as Christians is our pursuit of holiness, our pursuit of sanctification. How has that been impacted by this doctrine for you?
Sam Allberry As I said earlier, it makes me realize sin isn’t the natural way for me to live now; holiness is. One of the big lies of the devil is, “Stop trying to be this Christian thing that you’re clearly not.” Whereas my union with Christ shows me, no, that is who I am. That is me at my most me now that I am who I am in Jesus. So that is game changing. The fact that, from a practical point of view, 1 Corinthians 6 says that when the believer goes and sleeps with a prostitute, the very body with which he’s sleeping with a prostitute is a body that belongs to Jesus now and is inseparable from him. And so we’re taking Christ with us into our sin. That’s a negative motivation to avoid sin is when I’m sinning with my body then I’m sinning with a body that Jesus is united to. I can’t leave him outside the room. And then the positive motivation is that I know I will be like him when I see him. First John 3 tells me that we will be like him and we shall see him as he is. And that is the motivation to then be pure now. I want to reduce the culture shock when I get to heaven. And the more we see of Jesus, the more we want to be like him, and my union with him shows me where this is going ultimately in the future. And therefore, why would I live in a way that contradicts that now?
Matt Tully So the final implication I wanted to hit on with you is just one that feels ever relevant and perhaps more relevant today in the culture in which we live and the way that the church is doing today—the evangelical church broadly. That’s the issue of Christian unity—our relationships with other believers who are also united to Christ, just like us. How do you see this doctrine impacting how we think about those relationships?
Sam Allberry Oh, it helps us enormously. It underlines the seriousness of our Christian unity. Because again, I’m not just affiliated to Jesus; I’m united to him. Therefore other people who are united to Jesus, I am united to them. That’s a reality and I have to honor that reality and live in a way that’s consistent with it. So I can’t keep other believers at arm’s length. I can’t demean them. I can’t diminish them. I can’t be a lone ranger Christian if I’m united to Jesus. So it really does raise the stakes on Christian unity because Jesus longs for us to be one, just as we are one with him and he is one with the Father. Our visible unity is meant to be a reflection of, an expression of, a result of the union we have with Christ. So it makes the Christian community we have extremely significant. We’re not just another club. There should be something about what is binding us together that is not explainable other than there’s a heavenly spiritual presence that is actually knitting us together.
Matt Tully Sam, thank you so much for helping us to take a step closer to understanding this really amazing, foundational doctrine that has the potential to really connect to virtually every facet of our lives as Christians and our doctrine. We appreciate it.
Sam Allberry It’s my pleasure. Thanks for having me.
Hundreds of drivers in New York City have joined the union in the hope of obtaining better pay and working conditions. The union says a majority of drivers at each of three delivery service partners (DSPs) working out of a Queens warehouse have signed authorization cards.
According to a , the drivers have been organizing for a year to secure fair pay, consistent schedules, reasonable workloads and proper pay maintained trucks. They as part of a nationwide protest against Amazon’s alleged unfair labor practices and union-busting efforts.
At least on paper, joining the union should give the drivers more leverage as they push Amazon for better working conditions. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the company will play ball. The Amazon Labor Union, one of the within the company in the US, has yet to secure a union contract, . The group .
However, the union has found some success on behalf of Amazon workers. Last month, a regional National Labor Relations Board director that Amazon is a joint employer of some third-party drivers in Palmdale, California. The Teamsters hope that finding will set a precedent for the rest for DSP drivers elsewhere. The Queens drivers are the first Amazon workers to organize with the Teamsters following that decision.
