Such A Year!, 2015 In Review

2015, not exactly a year worth remembering in my book!

January
Twelve Are Killed in Terrorist Attack at Newspaper in Paris (Jan. 7): Two masked gunmen storm the office of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical weekly magazine, in Paris, and kill 12 people, including the paper's top editor, Stephane Charbonnier, several cartoonists, and two police officers.

Boko Haram Launches Deadly Assault on Baga (Jan. 8): Boko Haram takes over Baga, Nigeria, the only major town in Borno state to resist being taken over by the group. News reports say the militants burned the city to the ground and massacred hundreds, if not thousands, of citizens, making it one of the most deadly assaults by Boko Haram.

February
Denmark Sees Worst Terrorist Attack in Thirty Years (Feb. 14): Two people are killed in two attacks. In the first attack, Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein fires into a cafe where Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks is speaking. Vilks, who is on a list of Al-Qaeda targets for his Prophet Muhammad caricature, is unharmed in the attack. One man is killed, and three police officers are wounded.

March
The Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Mosque Attacks as Violence Escalates in Yemen
Troops loyal to Yemen's President Hadi and those allied with the Houthis and former president Saleh, Hadi's rival, battle for control of the international airport in the southern port city of Aden. After pitched battles, Hadi's forces retake the airport and seize a Special Security Force base, which is controlled by Saleh. Hadi's presidential compound is hit by warplanes believed to be under the command of either Saleh or the Houthis. The Houthis retreat and call for talks and an end to the fighting. (Mar. 20): Two coordinated attacks on Zaydi Shiite mosques in Sana kill about 140 civilians during prayers. Sana Province, an affiliate of the Islamic State, says it is responsible for the attacks. The attacks highlight the deteriorating security conditions in Yemen, a terrorist training ground. The U.S. has counter-terrorism advisers based in Yemen, and after the attacks it withdraws 125 members of the Special Operations unit. (Mar. 22): The Houthis take control of Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city. They start sending weapons and troops to Taiz, signaling plans to continue the fight against Hadi and his forces. Taiz is about 120 miles from Aden. (Mar. 26): In an attempt to stop the Houthi advance, Saudi Arabia launches an offensive on Houthi targets in Yemen. More than 100 Saudi jets are involved in the airstrikes that cripple the Houthi's air force. (Mar. 30): A Saudi-led airstrike hits a camp for displaced civilians, killing as many as 40 people. Iran backs the Houthis, and the involvement of Saudi Arabia runs the risk of inflaming tension or creating a broader conflict in the Middle East.

April
I opt for an early foot rebuild operation.

Somalian Militants Continue to Target Non-Muslims: Shabab militants attack Garissa University College in northeast Kenya. In a daylong siege, the militants separate Muslims and non-Muslims, sparing Muslims. The non-Muslims are taken hostage and more than 140 are killed. Security officials free the surviving hostages and kill the four gunmen. In a statement, Shabab says the attack was a planned "operation against the infidels."

Nigerian Army Frees Boko Haram Hostages: Forces in Nigeria advance into the Sambisa Forest and begin freeing the women and children who have been held as hostages by Boko Haram. (Apr. 28): Almost 300 hostages are freed. (Apr. 29): A firefight between the Nigerian army and Boko Haram kills over 400 Boko Haram rebels. One woman is killed and eight others injured. (Apr. 28): The Nigerian military destroys 13 Boko Haram camps and frees more women and children. By the end of April, close to 700 hostages are rescued.

 A magnitude-7.8 earthquake strikes central Nepal, near the capital, Katmandu, killing nearly 4,000 people, injuring tens of thousands, and damaging or destroying thousands of structures, including the treasured Dharahara Tower and the temple complex Bhaktapur Durbar Square. It causes avalanches on Mt. Everest, which kills at least 17 people. The earthquake is felt throughout the country and affects others in Asia. Continuous aftershocks complicate rescue efforts and further traumatize a nation stunned by catastrophic loss.

May
My new foot works wonderfully!  The titanium internals even allow me to wiggle my toes!  But, my ankle snaps in half!  So rebuild on ankle and in a titanium brace.

Ireland Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage in Historic Vote: Ireland becomes the first country to legalize same-sex marriage in a national referendum. Turnout for the vote is 60.5%. Of those who vote, 62.1% choose in favor of changing the country's constitution to allow same-sex marriage. The vote comes 22 years after Ireland decriminalized homosexuality. The referendum's result shows how quickly the historically conservative country is changing. Of the outcome, Prime Minister Enda Kenny says, "With today's vote we have disclosed who we are: a generous, compassionate, bold and joyful people."

June
Seifeddine Rezgui, opens fire at the Port El Kantaoui resort, killing 38 tourists. It is the second attack on tourists in Tunisia in three months. In March, at attack on the National Bardo Museum in Tunis killed 22 people. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for both attacks.

July
Not much in the world news.

I am broken physically, mentally and spiritually by a series of operations, high fevers and disease.  Ultimately, whatever remained of me no longer mattered.

August
During the summer of 2015, the Balkans route replaces the Mediterranean as the most traveled path by migrants. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees projects that 3,000 people a day will attempt to cross the Balkans to reach Western Europe in the coming months. The German government estimates that 800,000 migrants will seek asylum there by the end of 2015, coming from countries such as Syria and Afghanistan to escape war and conflict. Europeans react to the immigration crisis in different ways. To shut off migrants, a fence is being built in Hungary along the border it shares with Serbia. More than 200 attacks on migrants have happened in Germany this year, including two fires set to asylum seeker shelters in August. The bodies of 71 migrants are found near Vienna. In Rome, migrants are evacuated by police after a protest against them turned violent. Macedonia declares a temporary state of emergency while dealing with the increasing number of migrants passing through on their way to Western Europe.

ISIS militants destroy several important antiquities, including the Temple of Baalshamin, one of the most majestic and well-preserved structures in Palmyra, and a 5th-century Roman Catholic monastery. Militants also behead Khaled Asaad, the 81-year-old former director of antiquities at Palmyra. The militants reportedly torture him for information about unexcavated treasures in the city.

September
I begin physical therapy with my new foot and ankle!  All is well.

The immigration crisis in Europe intensifies throughout September. Migrants continue to flee war and conflict in Afghanistan, Syria, and regions of Northern Africa, pouring into the Balkans at a rate of about 3,000 a day. They hope to end up in Western Europe, but many of those nations only offer refuge to a small number of migrants. The impasse creates a crisis in Hungary, where thousands of migrants are stuck at Budapest's Keleti train station as they wait for officials to decide their fate. Hungary responds to the influx by building 109-foot razor-wire fence along the Serbian border and passing laws allowing the arrest of migrants who attempt to cross into Hungary from Serbia illegally. (Sept. 14): European Union officials meet to decide on how to respond to the crisis. However, no agreement is made. Officials cannot agree on a proposal by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, a plan that would give an additional 120,000 refugees asylum within the European Union countries.

The Taliban seizes control over Kunduz, a northern Afghanistan city. It is the first major city that the Taliban has captured in over a decade. Afghan officials respond by saying that a counterattack is coming. (Sept. 29): Afghan forces launch their counterattack to retake Kunduz.

An 8.3 magnitude earthquake hits Chile, killing at least five people and causing one million people to evacuate. It is the largest earthquake the country has seen in years.

October
Revenge of that horrible summer infection returns and costs me a foot and part of a leg.

Two separate explosions kill nearly 100 people during a peace rally in Ankara, Turkey's capital. Hundreds more are wounded in what is the deadliest attack in Turkey in years. The two explosions happen 50 meters from each other and are almost simultaneous, happening just seconds apart near Ankara's main train station. No one immediately claims responsibility for the bombings. However, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says that there are "strong signs" that suicide bombers have been behind the attack. The attacks come at what is already a tense time in Turkey, which has taken in more refugees than any other country from its war-torn neighbor Syria. Plus, the renewed fight with the Kurdish rebels in recent months has killed hundreds. After the explosions, protesters take to Ankara's streets to express their outrage over the bombings.

 During the first two weeks of Oct. 2015, 32 Palestinians and seven Israelis are killed in what was the biggest spike in violence the area has seen in recent years. The violence breaks out in part over what the Palestinians see as increased encroachment by Israelis on the al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a site important to both Muslims and Jews. However, the violence quickly spreads beyond Jerusalem.

Hurricane Patricia becomes the most powerful tropical cyclone ever measured in the Western Hemisphere when its winds reach an unprecedented 200 mph. Beginning as a tropical cyclone in the eastern Pacific, Patricia rapidly intensifies into a Category 5 hurricane and also breaks the record for the lowest pressure (880 millibars) of any hurricane in history.

 A 7.5 magnitude earthquake strikes South Asia. At least 364 people are killed. More than 2,000 are injured. Thousands of buildings and homes are destroyed. Many of the hardest hit areas are in remote, mountainous areas, which are difficult for rescue teams to reach. The earthquake's epicenter is just north of Alaqahdari-ye Kiran wa Munjan, Afghanistan. The majority of the deaths and injuries are in Pakistan.

Airbus A321-200, an 18-year-old Russian passenger plane, crashes just 20 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. All 224 people on board are killed. Investigators exploring the debris say that the plane's fuselage disintegrated in the air while flying over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. The cause of the disintegration is not immediately known. However, The Sinai Province of the Islamic State, an ISIS offshoot, claims responsibility for bombing the plane. 

November
ISIS launches three coordinated attacks in Paris, killing 129 people and wounding hundreds. Eighty-nine people die in an assault at a concert hall, the Bataclan, where an American rock band, the ironically-titled Eagles of Death Metal, is performing at the time. Dozens of others are killed in attacks on restaurants and a soccer stadium where France is playing a match against Germany. Seven of the eight terrorists die during the attacks. French authorities are still looking for the last remaining attacker. The attacks are the worst violence in France since World War II. French president François Hollande calls the attack "an act of war," and retaliates with airstrikes on Raqqa, Syria, ISIS's self-declared capital. (Nov. 16): The United States joins France in the airstrikes, sending warplanes to Syria. (Nov. 17): Hours after Russia acknowledges that a terrorist bomb brought down the Russian passenger plane on Oct. 31, President Vladimir Putin agrees to join with France in the fight against ISIS. Putin orders a Russian missile cruiser to go to Syria and cooperate with French troops "as with allies." (Nov. 18): Police conduct a raid in a northern suburb of Paris. During the raid, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Belgian terrorist suspected of planning the Paris attacks, is killed. At least one other person dies in the raid. Investigators have found evidence that Abaaoud, an ISIS fighter, has been involved in at least four foiled terrorist plots in France this year, including the train attack in August.

Islamic extremists storm into the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali's capital. At least 170 people are taken hostage. The militants are armed with grenades and guns. U.S. and French special operation forces work quickly with Malian troops and take back the hotel floor by floor. At least 27 people are killed, including two of the attackers. An extremist group led by Moktar Belmoktar, a former al-Qaeda commander, claims responsibility for the attack.

December
Fourteen people are killed and more than 20 wounded when two people open fire at a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center, a service facility for people with disabilities and special needs in San Bernardino, California. The suspects, husband and wife Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, are killed in a shootout with police after the rampage.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosives at in the doorway of a Shiite mosque at the end of prayer in Baghdad. Eleven people were killed with twenty wounded, all civilians. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.

Three female suicide bombers attacked markets in different areas of the island Loulou Fou on the Chadian side of Lake Chad, 27 were killer plus the 3 bombers.

Several suicide bombers penetrated the security of a Kandahar Airfield, barricading themselves into an old school building that now contains shops and battled with Afghan soldiers for few hours. The Afghan defence ministry said 50 civilians and members of the security forces had been killed, along with 11 Taliban. A further 35 people were injured, it said. Taliban claimed responsibility.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosives at in the doorway of a Shiite mosque at the end of prayer in Baghdad. Eleven people were killed with twenty wounded, all civilians. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.

Three truck bombs killed up to 60 people and injured more than 80 in the town of Tell Tamer in Syria's northeastern Al Hasakah province. The blasts struck near a Kurdish militia forces field hospital and in the crowded Souk Al Jumla market square, where the majority of the fatalities occurred.

Militants detonated a car bomb near an hospital in central Homs, Syria killing sixteen civilians and wounding another 54. ISIL has claimed responsibility.

Nigerian Boko Haram Islamists, at least some using machetes, attacked residents of the villages of Warwara, Mangari, and Bura-Shika, according to a civilian helping the Nigerian military in its fight against Boko Haram. Thirty were killed, an additional twenty were wounded, and the villages were set on fire, as reported by the vigilante.

A bombing occurred at a clothes bazaar in Pakistan’s Parachinar area in the Kurram Valley. It was not clear whether the bombing was a suicide attack or a remotely controlled detonation. The blast killed 23 people and another 30 were injured.

Three suicide bombers blew themselves up in restaurants in the Kurdish controlled northeastern Syrian town Kamishli, targeting the town's Kurdish and Assyrian Christian populations: 16 killed and 35 injured.

In all, there were over 345 separate terrorist attacks worldwide in 2015!  Yeah, not a year to write home about!

No Easy Choices

Friday I watched a show on ABC, called 20/20, usually I ignore ABC, never have been impressed with 20/20 and certainly anything to do with ISIS is an utter turnoff - I know what affect that subject will have on me - and I already crippled Islamic expansionism out of Yugoslavia once.  Conversely, I also crippled the Slavic Army's attempts to mass murder Muslims in Bosnia.  Hey, am at my core still a Hutterite - I hate war and murder!

But, the program seemed to be about refugees in Iraq, so it might be interesting ...

Link to the program: http://abc.go.com/shows/2020/listing/2015-12/18-2020-121815-escaping-isis

If you are not on a system which allows you to view past programming, you can get the idea via numerous sources here: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=escaping+isis

You really do want to get the idea before you read further:  Rape and murder of women and children, execution for all adult males.

 ... INTERMISSION ...

As I mentioned yesterday, I have been rereading my Bonhoeffer.  He wrote two noteworthy books: "Cost of Discipleship" and "Letters From Prison".  In Cost of Discipleship, he takes a hard look at the cheap grace being sold to the masses through religion and calls for faithful followers of Christ to realize that being a Disciple of Christ comes with a Cost - a very personal and steep cost.  End result however was isolation of the believers and empty piety - the very things he was hammering the Lutheran Church about!  Book backfired because the laity did not understand how to transform from a dead church into a living belief.

His collection of letters from prison make up the second book and you can follow his thoughts across time as he at first believes he is going to be set free shortly, to realizing that he hosed up badly and the gallows awaits him.  Yesterday's quote from him came from the point of realizing he was being held responsible by God.

And so, I watched the Escape From Isis, on ABC.  The story of a refugee camp in northern Iraq of families whose town was run over by Isis.  A Christian town utterly destroyed.  Christians running for their lives - literally!  Of Christians asking the hard questions: "Why" and "What now?".  Ten thousand of them, trying to live their faith in the absence of everything!

Bonhoeffer saw the disappearance of the Jews, he had to have heard the rumors of the camps.  And he did nothing.  He saw the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and never muttered a word in public - although in private he did equate Hitler to Satan incarnate.  And that belief, that Hitler really was Satan, led him down a path of becoming involved in the attempt on Hitler's life!  And a corresponding death sentence for himself and all of the other males in his family whom were involved in the plot.

Coincidental with Bonhoeffer's silence was the rise of the White Rose Group (Die Wiesse Rosen) in Munich.  Kids whom saw the apostasy and lies - and published fliers telling the hard truth of National Socialism and the War on the Eastern Front - which also revealed the existence of the concentration camps.  Bonhoeffer was to follow them to the gallows.

I contemplate the travails of the Iraqi Christians and the cost they are paying for their faith.  Here at home - no one actually cares.  "It does not affect me..." syndrome.

And we, as Christians, now stand at a crossroads - the decisions we make, the leadership we follow, will all have a telling effect upon our our Christianity and witness - or the lack thereof.

God never guaranteed to save any of us from persecution and martyrdom.
God never said life was going to be easy.
God did say He would meet our needs.
God did say all was to be to His glory.

We, like it or not, are to be of one body and we are currently represented by an apostate western church, unworthy of the  price being paid in Iraq by those isolated Christian believers.  The same could be said of believers in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Liberia, Yemen, Egypt, etc, etc, etc!

Get the point?

Christianity is under attack worldwide.
Evil has raised its head.

Now, what are you going to personally do about?  Yes, your choice will be judged and you will be held responsible.  To act is to draw that evil upon you and your loved ones.  To not act will eventually cost the lives of you and your loved ones ...

And what did Dietrich Bonhoeffer think?  Continued from yesterday's poem:
"Until thou wipe out our guilt,
Keep us in quiet patience.

"We will silently prepare ourselves,
Till thou dost call to new times.

"Until thou stillest storm and flood,
And thy will does wonders.

"Brother, till the night be past,
Pray for me!"

So, your move: stand for God and thwart evil or support evil through your disinterest ...  And remember, to fight in God's world is to do so on bent knees - and He will move or He will tell you to.

Standing Convicted

I was reading my Bonhoeffer as I soaked in a hot tub of water - oh such luxury!  I dig my Bonhoeffer books out about every five  years - read, contemplate, sigh and feel inadequate.

Bonhoeffer chose poorly in life.  He rose to head of the National Church (Lutheran), the single most powerful Christian voice in Germany before and during the War.  Unfortunately, the complete lack of a Christian witness during the War, cost the Lutheran church dearly.  A once pious people turned apathetic and then agnostic.

Bonhoeffer's choice to not condemn the assassination attempt against Hitler, brought him to the attention of those with lists. A long investigation as to why, landed him in prison as one of the co-conspirators!  Hitler was cautious, he moved slowly against the head of the church, but eventually - yeah, Bohoeffer and most of the males in his family were jailed and executed.  Bonhoeffer met his end April 9, 1945 - the last official execution by the NAZI's.  There would be no living martyrs allowed in the post war Germany!

Somewhere around July 9,1944, Bonhoeffer wrote these interesting words:

"We sons of pious races,
One time defenders of right and truth,
Became despisers of God and man,
Amid hellish laughter.

"Yet though now robbed of freedom and honour,
We raise our heads proudly before me.
And if we are brought into disrepute,
Before men we declare our innocence.

"Steady and firm we stand man against man;
As the accused we accuse!

"Only before thee, source of all being,
Before thee are we sinners.

"Afraid of suffering and poor in deeds,
We have betrayed thee before men.

"We saw the lie raise its head,
And we did not honour the truth.

"We saw brethren in direst need,
And feared only our own death.

"We come before thee as men,
As confessors of our sins.

"Lord, after the ferment of these times,
Send us times of assurance,

"After so much going astray,
Let us see the day break."

If you think about the perilous times Bonhoeffer lived in, you can understand what he saw as his sins before God.  And knowing God's justice, he knew he was not going to escape, though he longed for freedom.

And think on these words and the state of the world today....

Tomorrow, I have much to say.

Being Faithful

Matthew 1:18-25

Practice Personal Integrity
Joseph was already walking with God and "just" before the crisis confronted him.
We are pressed on all sides ...
If you will be presented with times to mess you up!
Hold on to your faith!
Scripture + friends to walk with us and lift us up.

Trust The One Whom Can See The Whole Parade
Angel told Joseph to marry Mary.
We only see a small portion of time, but the whole is what God sees.
Joseph saw a real problem, but God sees all and told Joseph to do as told!


Leave A Legacy That Lasts
Joseph does as he was told to do in the dream.
Married Mary.
Named the baby Jesus.
He did what was asked of him.

He trusted God.
He was faithful.
He became an example to all of us.
Can you do what He asks of you?

Musical Saturday Morning

You know, George Michaels must like to play the fool - certainly the character portrayed is too dumb to know when to quit and take up needlepoint ...

Merry Christmas

Just a section from the Perry Como 1974 Christmas Special, featuring the Carpenters - and an unexpected outburst from a little kid on stage.  It runs about 13 minutes.  I really liked this special, it shows a part of America I fear to be long dead ... and I truly wish could be resurrected one day.

Christmas Eve

When mother became a Southern Baptist, note I did not say Christian, my high school friends and I were forced into go to Christmas Eve services.  The service was generally meaningless to all of us, but the cookies afterwards were great!  My family really did not have any Christmas traditions - except present opening on Christmas day - and then only presents from "Santa".  Well atheistic Jewish family, what can you expect?

After I became a Christian, I really had no tradition to observe.  What I know of Christmas I learned from Gaelic Girl, to whom Christmas was very meaningful and to be celebrated.  My first Christmas tree was a sage brush - too poor to buy a tree and it was a nice tumbleweed after all.  I found some small - blueberry - sized ornaments and decorated it.  When GG saw it, she was under whelmed, but to this day it is still my favorite tree and Christmas.

Today, post children, all of the kids gather and I cook something they demand.  Of course, this year I am unable to do the kitchen routine, so oldest daughter will be playing chef!  :)  I get to skate on this meal - no hassles and only advice to offer.  Yeah, I am sure I will get yelled at, but hey ...!

So from the chaos which will be my home this day, may I wish for you a Merry Christmas - and a time of Peace.

Off The Charts

Remember that I am writing this earlier in the month!

I have an at home visiting nurse.  They wrote themselves out of my life today.  At only 7 weeks, I am actually fully healed from the surgeries and two klutzy moves which required medical attention - sigh.  The last nurse, whom does amputees, said that it really makes no sense - no one heals this fast nor with utter lack of attitude I display!

Wow!  I can only attribute this to God. I know I am trying to eat right, keep the carb numbers low (6.1) and do what exercising I can.  Beyond that it is up to God to pull me through this.  It appears He has.

Months ahead of the normal path, my physical therapist told the prosthesis guy to get my leg ready because physically I was ready for it.  I think she caught him unaware - LOL! :)  No one is ready two months after amputation to walk again - so they are all telling me.  Walk without support I did!

So at day two with my artificial leg, I was walking without support!  And everyone is freaked out!

God is good - and though i deserve no consideration nor blessing - He is.  It makes one wonder at what the future holds that God moves so dramatically in my "life". 

It makes me  think of Elisha and wonder if I will end up in a cave at some point trying to hide because God has asked too much!

But for now, I am just blown away at how I have from my foot blowing up like a balloon - and about just as fast - to awaking to a question of any future - to an accelerated healing curve.  Sure not going to complain! :)

Now how about that future ..... ???????

Best Christmas Present Ever

So, I have been working with a guy for the past month whom builds artificial legs and feet.  No, like most craftsmen, he does not seem capable of building what is asked for - he builds what he believes you need.  So I got the prototype on Friday.  I know it is only temporary but still I had to wear it, and stand and walk with assistance.

The first thing I did was stand up - slowly! - and take a picture.  Two feet under me, a sight I have not been able to see sincethe beginning of October!

I gently took that first step holding on to a walker, and then another, and another, until I was all of the way across the room. No problems.  As soon as the overly safety conscious builder was out of sight - I took two tentative steps without the walker.

By Wednesday, I was walking without any support at all!  I am more comfortable holding onto the walker, or a shopping cart, or most anything!  But, I can do it!

 Mind you I can only wear the device one hour out of three, and then only walk on it for five minutes - but I can!  I can experience the freedom of movement, more or less.  Still can not drive and often I have to pull the leg off just to get into the vehicle!  But, hey, it goes back on when we get where we are going!

It is only a prototype leg, I still have to wait for the real one, but for now I can walk around and the joy which overcomes me is akin to the only other joy I have ever known in my life - but I am happy now and not going to dwell on the past!  So, yes, I am overcome with joy.  :) 

But, my feelings of joy over this would not be complete without Satan pulling out all of the stops to completely and utterly trash me in the following days.  Yeah, I refuse to play that game.  I am simply not going to give any of my joy to up to "it" to mock me with.  Which of course sends "it"s representative in my life through the roof - when ever we cross paths.  Apparently I am not allowed to know joy in their book - and yet another issue as to why God continues to blesses me - since I am so unworthy in their book. :)

I can hardly wait to see how long I can stand and walk come the New Year!

And then there is that antique show in February ... perhaps I do not need to cancel it?

There Are No Dreams

Someone once wrote,

"In dreams begins responsibility.
So too, perhaps, with love.  
Without dreams, without the hope of a better life, a brighter future, it is difficult for love to flourish.  
And without love ... there are no dreams."

I had lunch with my mother.  It is always hard even talking with her, much less being around her.  A very long history - both ways.  One time Gaelic Girl was hammering me over my issues with my mother and she got to experience one of the very few times I have ever gotten angry.  I actually told her what the problem is between us - she never brought it up again.  Yeah, we are talking beyond the pale of acceptable behavior on my mother's part.  As for my mother, she would have preferred I had been a girl and could have tea parties with me and "discuss" what p.o.c.'s men are.

Years later, I was having lunch with my uncle and he was talking about my father.  Well, yeah, we know there are a few issues there!  ... sigh ...  And I commented that I was highly unhappy with having figured out what a major issue existed between my grandmother, mother and father - and I did not approve in the least!  Then he, in his anger, told me something about my mother I had never even heard whispered in the family ... it explained all of it!  I was and still am surprised I could not have figured this out on my own!

Selective blindness I guess.  So, now I cut her slack because I now understand that brokenness in her.  No there is nothing I can do - except ignore that anger in her constantly.

Tuesday, we sat there, yakking over  Chinese food and she went off on her usual tirade of  "they" and/or "them" are constantly vexing her.  It is so predictable, so frustrating, so unimportant.  Literally, the Earth will not stop rotating on its axis over any of it.  And it irritates me, like sandpaper wearing away what protects her from the old me - still laying deeply dormant - never to be seen again I pray.

And I thought of that quote, of perhaps 20 or 30 years ago ...

She, perhaps all of us, desire to live in a dream.  Dreams are comforting, they are fun, they are usually familiar and we are secure in them.  Then with dreams we are allowed to love, to be transparent, to be vulnerable, to truly love and be loved - the desire of all mankind ...

I have always dreamed, in Techna-Color, usually as the hero saving someone - Bond, James Bond - if you please!  But since becoming human, there is only one dream and no other, repeated every night.  Some might call it obsessive, but it is just pain expressing itself over and over again, because I can not understand.  Well perhaps one day to dream a resolution.  And since I can dream, I find I can try and love my mother.  It is not easy.  Love to her means something entirely different than to me.  And perhaps one day there can be healing between us.

Musical Saturady Morning

A little early for Christmas so just something for a little fun as we get ready for the season. 

Hi Kris

One of the men in the church came over and took me out to breakfast.  We ended up going to a place over in SeaTac called, The Pancake Chef.  Many decades ago, I knew the guy whom had started this business and had worked with his daughter, through the church youth program.  So, I was interested to find out whom was still there 35 years later!

Well, he retired, the daughter appears to run the place and the food was excellent!

"Hi Kris", said the perky voice of a waitress as she passed by.  Uhmmmmmmm ..... ?

We were seated and the perky waitress passed by again, "Hi Kris".

Once I was finally able to stop her, I explained about the complete loss of my memory and that she seemed to know me, but I had no clue whom she was!

"Am I supposed to know you?", I asked.

She laughed and explained that she heard Dave say my name when we came in and that no, I was not expected to know her.

We had a great laugh over that one!  Whew!  I had no idea whom she was, still do not!, but it was weird having someone know your name when you are so utterly clueless.

The next day, we went to Claim Jumpers, in Tukwila and the waitress also knew me!  I have no idea how or why - she even knew my favorite drink (ice tea, no lemon) and that I needed a pitcher because I would put that amount away!  But, I did not want to go through the whole - who are you routine again!  So, just let it slide.  Unfortunately, it is now midnight as I type this and I am totally strung out on caffeine because of her!

At least, I do know all of the entire staff at my favorite Mexican cantina - and they me.  Even to the point of letting me know they did not approve when I came in with the lady from the concert, I knew from decades ago!  They really did not think she was quite what I needed in my life!  Oh gosh, I was laughing so hard on the inside!  Very protective of me.  Well, in a way I am extended family - I know their hometowns, often talking about what is new in Jalisco or Chihuahua and I love their food.  And they are good people :)

Christmas Concert

So, a Hutterite walks into a United Church of Christ, sounds like a bad joke in the making but they were the only one offering a Christmas concert I could find ....

Of course, I am one legged, using a kneeling cart to approach the church - and I figured it was in the basement as this was brightly lit.  Nope, it was up a series of stairs which rose perhaps 60 feet up a hillside to the second level of the church!  OMG!  Really?

But, a little old lady tugged on my sleeve and told me there was a hidden elevator and then escorted all the way into the sanctuary!  Another instance of a little old lady helping an Eagle Scout!  LOL ...

The concert was made up of instrumentals and lots of singing.  But something was really wrong here!

The first song was Silent Night, in German - and since I have been slowly relearning my German - since the last surgery - I was ready to sing along!  Only, it took me a few moments to realize that she did not speak German - but spoke French and every word was pronounced as though it was a French word!  So, just cut off pronunciation of the last two letters of every word and then slur them because you have to do the "quiver" in your voice!  (pick any song and try this, it is hilarious!)  I have no idea why people sing like that - no one can understand a single word when you do!  And about half a dozen vocals were done that way!  ARGH!

There was flute playing and bell ring and several choirs.  And during the bell ringing, standing up there was someone I knew!  One of "my kids" from 30 years ago!  What the heck?  This is one small world!  She did see me as the crowd was thinning out and she was putting her bells away - oh how she exploded in a smile, ran down the aisle and threw herself on me!  Sure glad I was still seated!  We ended up going out for a late dinner and talked perhaps four hours, or so.  From a humanistic viewpoint, she has done well for herself.  Spiritually, well ...

But, as I have thought on this concert last Sunday, I realized there was a huge problem with it - not a single song used the name Jesus, Son of God, nor God for that matter!  Lots of songs about angels though and anytime those unpopular names might appear - a piano solo kicked in.  EEPAH!

So, I guess that sums up the UCC church nicely - a social club were God is not welcome, nor advertised.  I was sorry to see that.  My beloved Uncle Leonard was a UCC member - but he was the definition of a Godly man - so they must have changed since his day.  Or, perhaps, it was the only church in his town.  Sigh ...

Jesus is the only reason for this season we celebrate.  Without Him, well, all you have is feel good-ism, gifts and fractured family gatherings.  Not a Christmas I would care to celebrate.

Turf Wars - Jealousy

Jealousy, the horrible green eyed monster of William Shakespeare!

Jealousy is not envy. 
Jealousy is desire for what another has.
Envy is wanting what someone else has and wanting them to not have it - whether you have it or not!
Either of these can destroy friendships, marriages, business and yes, tear a church apart.
It is a problem for everyone, even you ...

Read Mark 9:38-41

Reach For Jesus
Release the jealousy.
Talk to  yourself - Why am I jealousy of that person?  What is it about their success that bothers me?
It is about Jesus, not my method versus your method.
It is about Jesus, not my success versus your success.

Decide That Different Is Not Demonic
If you are not against us, you are for us.
Different is fine - as long as we are all for Jesus.

There are false teachers, we are warned of them, but if the teaching is Scriptural - well, it is just fine.
 - we are sinners
 - we need a savior
 - Jesus paid the price for our sin

The rest is just difference and what we should not be separating over!
Just stop your comparisons!
Worry about your relationship with Jesus.

Sincerely Applaud The Success Of Others
Their success is based upon their preparation and readiness to be used.
Applaud others accoplishments.
Draw attention to what others do right, not what they do right.
Applaud others victories.
Do not turn conversations to being about you.

Get The Priorities Right
God only asks you to do what you can do - not what you can not do - not what others can do.
Bless others in Jesus name.

God's Way To Bring Joy

I lived most of my young life in villages of less than 750 people, including people, kids, dogs and pigs!  Everyone knew everyone else's business!  You could never get away with anything!  The only saving grace was that most of those villages only had one telephone and so no one could immediately call my parents!  :)  The big joke was that if you sneezed, your neighbor would holler "Geshundeit!"  Just was true was having intestinal distress and if you hollered enough - a neighbor would bring you a newspaper!  (yeah, no toilet paper back in those days!)

Micah 5:2-5

God Comes To Ordinary Places
Think about this: Bethlehem was a small insignificant town.  So small that it did not appear on any ancient maps.  So small that it had to be qualified in the Old Testament, both times, when it was being mentioned!  How small you ask?  Think in terms of perhaps 150 people and easily even fewer!  So just think on what I said above about life in a small village six times the size of Bethlehem!

Everyone knew everyone.  Everyone knew everyone's business!  Remember those shepherds in the field?  Think they did not tell what they had seen?  Think the stable boy was silent?

News travels fast in a small town.

God Uses Humble People
Remember Samuel in the Old Testament?  He traveled to Bethlehem to find Jesse, to find which of his sons would be anointed as King.  Eventually David is called into town to be anointed by Samuel.  So the most insignificant of towns, the youngest son of Jesse - nothing going for him at all!  And yet, one day he would be King and a man after God's own heart.

God Saves Through A Tiny Baby
Because of a Roman census, all Jews had to return to the towns and cities of their origin.  Joseph was apparently from Bethlehem and so traveled there with a very pregnant teenager named Mary.  She was to give birth, more than likely in a field or corral for the stable in town.  The stable could have even been in a cave!

And again, a postage stamp town, a teenage girl giving birth - I well imagine her screams were heard all over the small town.  A baby is being born, whose is it?, where did they come from, why are they here?  Every town has gossips and the news spread about the baby, the star, the shepherds.  Indeed something worth noticing ...

A child was born.
A child whose destiny was sealed.
A child to die as a man on the cross.

Mighty tough destiny ...  The sole purpose to pay for your sins and mine - because, well, mankind does not do too well in the realm of loyalty to our Creator.

God Looks For Open Hearts
Mary was willing to be used by God.
Joseph was willing to be used by God.
A stable boy was willing to be used by God.
Shepherd boys were willing to be used by God.

But, there were those in town whom were not willing to be used, for whatever reason.  I have often wondered what the thoughts of the inn keeper were ... you know he had to have been visited by some wise men and their entourage ... and learned what had happened that odd night.

God uses small things, to accomplish great purposes ... just like your or me, even when we can not see the purpose nor the possible outcome.  But He can and He will use you, with or without your permission - if for nothing else than as an example ...

Do You Want To Be Great?

How do you see people?
Do you see them as Jesus does?
They are trying to deal with life just like you ...

Mark 9:33-37

If You Want To Be Great
Put on your apron ...

Greatness has to do with service, being the willing servant of others.
We are all equal before God - we are all servants.
Some servants are more visible but we are all equal before God's eyes.
Remember Jesus stripped, knelt and dried this disciples feet ...
He was the lowliest of servants.
And modeled this for them.

If you want to be Great
Welcome the child ...

A child is just an example, it is just as easily the new believer, the weak in the faith, those needing our help and support in the faith!

Be the servant to all, that includes children - those whom are of complete insignificance.  They are dependent upon you, they need you, they can not stand without you and your support!!!!!
Think on the implication of that.


You are needed.
Will you be available?
Will you be qualified to serve?
Will you be able to do what is required?
Are you ready for greatness?

Musical Saturday Morning

What across the past two years has become probably my favorite song ...  It causes pain. of course now with no memory, I have no conscious idea what the pain is other than it pains me to listen to it!  You have no idea the misery amnesia brings at the weirdest of situations!

On the other hand, out of the clear blue I remembered my first girl friend's birth date yesterday!  Really?  I can not even remember her maiden name and I have to look up my own birth date!  eepah!  The brain is a weird wonderland.

Just in case I had already posted this in the foggy past, here is a live version to make up for repeating myself, maybe, if I did ... oh, whatever!

Facing Finals

"If  you would be first, then you will be last.  You will be the servant of all.
Receives a child in my name ... receives me and Him whom sent me."

Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem and a fate only He understood.
The Disciples had to be prepared for what was about to happen.

Mark 9:30-37

Follow For The Right Reasons
Jesus tells them plainly what the future holds.
But, it makes so no sense to them - it was contrary to their expectations.
Jesus is the Messiah and yet ... you say what is going to happen?
It did not compute.

What are your expectations because you follow Jesus?
Are you expecting persecution and death?
Why not ... ?
It is what is promised to you.
Forgiveness, Peace, Heaven, the Holy Spirit are already yours.

Talk As If Jesus Is Always Listening
Yup, back to prayer.
Anytime, any place, any situation - Jesus is waiting to be included in your life.
But, remember He is not a supporter of the never ending shopping list so many bore Him with!
Our needs, our prayers for others, our praise, our thanks are all desired by Him.

Let Go Of Your Own Greatness
When a Rabbi was about to teach, they sat down (bema (judgement) seat?), what they had to say was to be listened to.

3 John 9
"... who likes to put himself, does not acknowledge our authority ..."

Do not be great or boastful.  Seek not position but be the servant to all, the least of all in any gathering.

Seek to develop a grateful heart ...

Dealing With Doubt

As children we learn to trust, mostly through trial and error.  Playing begins as trust as we leap into our parents arms and do it again, and again.  But, that is not always so ...

The disciples tried to cast out a demon from a boy and ... well ... they failed.  And doubt set into their minds.

Mark 9:23-24

Understand Faith
Faith is belief in what you can not see nor understand.
Unfortunately we have the ability to place our faith poorly.
Faith is in God and God alone.
If your hope is in Gold, Guns, Groceries and God - well, you have a surprise coming ...
God wants you to come to Him in Faith, for Faith, because of Faith.

Recognize Doubt
A lack of certainty.  Not sure about a situation.
It is not unbelief!
James call this "Double Mined"!
You can not ride two horses at the same time!
You can not live in sin and still walk Jesus' path.

Deal  With Doubt
Admit your doubts.
Seek help dealing with your doubt.
Be honest with God.
Be open with God.
Trust God (perhaps with more than  you can any human being)
Don't be afraid of asking for help in dealing with faith issues.
Act on your faith, not your doubts.  Thinking of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Job, Jonah here.  They acted on faith in what they were told.

Doubt Your Doubts Not Your Faith
Acknowledge your doubt - but have Faith.
Avoid questioning God.  We are His creation - not the reverse!

Go Back To What You Know Is True
The Birth.
The Death.
The Resurrection.
These are true, these were done expressly for you, you can hold to His teachings as your hope.

"God, I believe, help me in my unbelief ..."  Good place to start.

Getting Past The Mountain Top

We all have mountain top experiences: events which lift us up and give us elation.  Too bad that reality has to set in and real life has to intervene.

Read Mark 9:14-29

Stop The Arguing
The father cared about his son, but here are the Disciples fighting.
This Jesus, the Rabbi, is not there!  His son is not going to be healed!
What has been lost is the suffering of the father and the son.
The world does not care about the detail of the Church, yet that is all we battle between ourselves.

Look To Jesus
No one should be coming to the Church to see you, they are seeking Jesus.
You are not the star, you can make no difference what so ever positively.
Jesus is completely capable of handling everything - if He is allowed to!

Express Whatever Faith You Can
When your kids hurt, you hurt.
You worry for your grandchildren.
You are powerless however.
You need strength in your unbelief.
You need to rely on FAITH.
When life is overwhelming - faith is what you need to fall back on!

Make Prayer Primary
Prayer is the most important vehicle we have - to communicate with God, to formulate our own needs so we can understand them, to express what we can not even put into words.  Prayer must be the most important aspect of your life!

Pray over everything in your life!  Pray about your safety before you drive.  Pray your food is not poisoned and be thankful for the hands which provided it.  All aspects of you life need prayer and only you can do it!


Sometimes it is hard to have faith: you are laid off, your loved ones turn their backs on you, everything goes wrong, your health fails and oh so many other examples!  And for me, I have been whacked by all of these!  It seems insurmountable sometimes - but, I know this is when prayer becomes the most important in my life.  My prayers, prayers from those I trust to pray for me, and prayers from my Church body.  Pray when you are driving.  Pray when you are in the quiet of the bathroom!

When opportunity provides itself - pray, like no body else will.  You need far more help than you think, God needs far more praise than you give, your friends and family's needs are more than you know.

The Art of War

This is a book I have heard about for most of my life.  Something written long ago of practical value as much today as it was 1,300 year ago.  I scoffed at the idea.  It is not like weapons have not changed, hence tactic in the field must as well. Or so I thought.

Last week Swede and I were in Barnes and Nobles hunting cheap books to read.  He headed immediately to the Sci-Fi section, I to art magazines.  Then we met over in the discount section.  And there sat a lone copy of the Art of War by Sun Tzu.  I thumbed it open and began to read.  Yeah, I bought it.

As we drove to lunch I was reading from the book to Swede, just random quotes and we were laughing with great regularity.  After lunch, as Swede drove me home I began reading again only this time after each quote, asking him how he apply that statement to his financial dealings?  Again much laughter as he blurted out various scenarios each worse than the previous!

But, I got to thinking ... there are no coincidences in life, so why this book now crossing my path?

Written sometime before 512 BC the Art of War is not a book of tactics or how to wage war but a work on the philosophy and logistics of when and how to address both larger and smaller forces.

I have now read the book five times.  The observations of this man, so long ago, are quite reasonable - in fact it would be hard to fault his conclusions as a general rule, one way or another.  Just as Swede had been able to think through smart aleck answers to the quotes I read him, it is just as easy to think of real answers in normal life to the areas he address.

So, last night, another sleepless one - I sat and thought on this book of ancient wisdom and began to think on how could it be used to layout a strategy for Christian Warfare?  Remember, I am a Hutterite and pacifist - so I am not talking about killing anyone here!  But we are each called to Spiritual Warfare and perhaps I can tell you about the book and how to apply it to your own life now - or perhaps in the future...

So, not immediately, but definitely coming your way in the not so distant future - God willing.

Terrorism

Truly I am heartbroken for America, for this world, for the blood spilt through the recent well publicized terrorist acts of violence.  Last week was a sleepless week.  My mind troubled for I could see that God has pulled His protection and allowed evil to succeed, albeit, it is not by man's consequence that justice was brought so far to at least two of those responsible.

I still hold to the concept that God has complete control of our "days" ... our time is wholly is in His hand alone.  Of course, I now wonder if you are not His, just how precious is your life really to Him?  If you are not a real "Christian" then you have an opportunity, perhaps more, to come to that saving grace of His - as long as you are alive.  Of course, that then insinuates that once you have rolled by your last rejection of Him - well, you are fodder for evil to claim you at any time - true randomness.  And if you are His, and you are murdered (or worse), then your time is over and you have been freed from this physical life, as your days would have to have been complete.  A bus, a bread truck, a faulty light switch, the flu or a terrorist - when you time is up, it is up.

So, exactly how does one deal with this problem of terrorism?  You can take away all of the guns but that does not eliminate them - too many are available worldwide and as Europe has learned - you can be gun free and still have mass shootings.  Russia will always supply weapons to those whom want them, one way or another. As England discovered this past year, the knife in the hand of a maniac can kill and maim just as many in a crowded gathering!  And a less than objective immigration policy throughout the world is allowing the spread of a disease my direct ancestor Fredrick had to deal with in a running battle from Vienna into the Balkans beginning in 1683!

But dear Lord, I pray not for total warfare now!

Consider this: The Later Day Saints, Catholics, Southern Baptists are to Christianity - as - Islam is to either Judaism or Christianity!

Christianity is the completion of Judaism, the Jew has merely to understand and repent - as does all mankind!  The Islamist is Judaism and Hebrew traditions turned sideways.  They need to drawn back towards a truth they can understand and then be shown a true Christianity - not the misunderstanding of the liberal mind!  As for the Christian cults, yeah, they need to be reached and in all of them I personally know real Christians, operating as real Christians and living out their faith, not the cultic values.  But, those whom are sold out to the cult still need to repent and turn to the true Savior, Jesus, not rights, traditions and rules.

And no change can occur until you, my dear reader, as a real Christian, begin to live your faith - showing love towards all - and that would be God's love. Oh, and let us not forget prayer - tons of it! and perhaps God will return His face towards America and change our nation's direction and heart.

Musical Saturday Morning

I think I have sat on this song for over a year.  It touched something in me and I do not think I have shared it before.  But, with this new me, I think I want to be more transparent as to changes I struggle through.  It is also a 1980's!  And if you already know the song, or I have shared it before, well then enjoy:

Mass Shootings

Where have mass shootings of 10 or more people occurred in the past year (2015)?

Afghanistan
Cameroon
Egypt
France
Germany
India
Iraq
Kenya
Macedonia
Mali
Niger
Nigeria
Pakistan
Philippines
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
Syria
Tunisia
Turkey
USA

So far that is.  Satan has yet more time to increase this list.  But, you as a real Christian are not powerless!  Prayer is the most powerful weapon you have to address any issue to God.  Prayer and lots of it are all that will ever change the hearts of men, limit Satan's power and restore sanity to this world.

If you are interested, worldwide the second highest number of weapon attacks is via knife. The number one winner for taking human life is non military bombings.

And, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem - for as Israel goes, so will the entire world ...

God's Protection

Most people I know live pretty smug lives.  They are self assured and expect nothing terrible to go wrong in their lives ever.  I suppose it is just the nature of the PRIDE of man to be this way - to expect peace to surround them without any personal cost.  So, they live their lives as if there is no cost - and curse God when suddenly evil rears its ugly head ...

I have quietly been watching for decades the decline of this once great country - borderline Christian but apparently enough so that God seemed to be watching over America.  He was blessing and yes, correcting as well - even bringing international shame upon this nation since 1970's.  But fewer and fewer have noticed.

And just as in Jeremiah's time, any blessing was removed from the nation and replaced by blessings upon individuals.  Of course, as the hearts of the many were turned from God - so increased their wrath against those whom still stood for God.

As the decades have passed, since I first had this terrible thought, I have witnessed the national erosion of blessing with the sins of the many blocking any greatness which God could bestow upon the nation.  When on a governmental level we see murder as the State policy in foreign affairs and often internally as well - something God does care about strongly - can we be surprised at the carnage we are witnessing?

God is not there to protect us, He is there for us to bless Him.  Any blessings we may receive is completely due to His grace and mercy - not because we deserve or have earned it!

How can we possibly regain God's personal or corporate protection?

Two things God hates more than anything, as documented in the Bible:

• Murder
• Divorce

To withdraw from being cursed due to murder, well is a hard to accomplish in this culture!  Outright murder, abortion, surreptitious death sentences, assassination, made up war, bombings would all have to go away.  We live in a culture of death.  We are comfortable with.  We have no concept of the human cost infected by this culture - because after all it is to be expected, it is normal.  This is not say you can not defend yourself, but it does mean to stop being the instigator of the flow of the blood this culture has poured so coldly into the grave.

And divorce.  Sigh.  All generations of my Scottish based family have been thus afflicted.  No, not just randy men but some real honest to gosh psycho women as well!  Why even pretend that marriage means something when there is not even an attempt at permanence?  Why attempt at marriage when divorce is so extremely easy to acquire?  Change begins in the hearts of all us, to stand outside of culture to make marriage mean something - even if it is only to us!  We have to re-cultivate the understanding that marriage is not a piece of paper, some dude saying you are married and then partying.  It is about commitment - which means understandings, knowledge, wisdom, etc - and you possess none of those attributes - you are involved and must stand aside for those whom do possess unbiased status can judge.  OMG!  I used the J word!  Yup.  Understand this, most marriages are not of God and are based on man's desire, not His.  That is why Godly wisdom and judgement are required.  Notice the requirement for God in the lives of those assisting us!

Oh yeah, there are other areas as well we must personally clean up but this is just a swipe at the 80% of the problem.

Trump On Salvation

I have never cared for the 'Donald', just another ego maniac strutting his stuff in the public sector for the past 30 years that I have been aware of him.  And honestly, I have little use for people whom do not know when to shut up on what they are ignorant of.

Take religion for an example.  Now Trump has made many shadowy statements about Ben Carson, things people can point to and howl about - but he can brush off because - hey, he never said that.  Indeed, he never did, he just alluded to whatever the fracas over.

His recent speech in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Trump pronounced Ben Carson’s story of conversion from violent troublemaker to Christian to be so much “crap.”  “He goes into the bathroom for a couple of hours, and he comes out, and now he’s religious . . . . Give me a break. It doesn’t happen that way,” said Trump.

And here Trump shows his complete ignorance of true Christianity.  In true Christianity this is but one of several ways one can find God.  Not necessarily on the toilet, but isolated - thinking - wondering about this whole reality of a Creator - God - Savior.  In history, it has often happened this way.  On the road from Jerusalem to Damascus, a nasty character named Saul got whacked by God and became the utterly transformed Paul.

In A.D. 386 , Augustine heard a child’s voice chanting, “Take up and read,” opened a Bible randomly to Paul’s letter to the Romans, was convicted to the core and abandoned the life of a hard-partying pagan.

Around 1510, a monk named Martin Luther understood Paul’s letter in a new way — one version locates this revelation in the “cloaca,” or bathroom — and “felt I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates.”

On May 24, 1738, John Wesley heard someone reading Luther’s Preface to the Epistle of Romans in a meeting on Aldersgate Street in London, and at 8:45 p.m. felt his “heart strangely warmed.” (as a side note I have to admit that Luther's work on the first seven chapters of Romans to be without equal.)

And in September 1973, a young man whom had been witnessing miracle after miracle for months, lay in bed and finally had to admit this whole God thing just might have something to it.  And I prayed for God to prove it.  No nothing happened.  I slept soundly, I awoke refreshed, my fears were gone and I had peace for the first time in my life.  So, pronounced was the change that I guessed He was real ... it also was apparent to many in my uncle's church.  This troubled young man suddenly seemed far less troubled!

Yeah, Trump would like to be thought of as a progressive Christian, but unfortunately, that ain't necessarily so.  Instead of giving Ben Carson black eyes, and himself some in the process, he would do better to get on his own knees and dump his heart out to God.

Daniel's Detractors - Addressing Names

From out of the 1870's came the " German Higher Criticism"; really nothing more than an attempt to discredit the Bible at a time of philosophical end fighting between scientific humanism and theologians over the mind of man.  Of course what was really at stake was the validity of the concept of God and salvation (much less sin!).

The greatest attacks were against the creation story - which no one can PROVE one way or another via scientific inquiry.  Though I sorely wish that there would be found ... but we are called to faith, not scientific observation, as the basis for salvation.

Falling not far behind is the attack against the book of Daniel.  If you can successfully break the book of Daniel - you have broken the Bible.  Or so were the boasts of the anti-Bible league.  So successful were the attacks on Daniel that even to this day, Christians buy into the arguments against the validity of Daniel .... !

However within 16 years of "German Higher Criticiam" published works on Daniel were some very well researched worked disputing, if not totally discrediting, these arguments - point by point!  And, the arguments are just repeated as though still true ...

The real argument mostly revolved around the lack of archaeological evidence, Babylon had still not been excavated by Europeans, hence obviously, no one in the book of Daniel could actually exist.

And when the Babylonians texts were translated, the detractors were correct; Daniel, Darius, even Nebuchadnezzar, not a o one of them existed in the records ...  End of argument.  The book of Daniel was obvious just a story, perhaps an Israeli pro-nationalistic play, but in no way could it have been true.  Sigh.  However as scholarship has shown, even to the point of actually talking to the people whom lived in the area, Babylonian was far more complex than first thought.  It was far more complex than any modern language and yet, it was phonetic - if you knew how to pronounce the characters.  (a strong argument for actually talking with the people of any area and not assuming you are smarter than everyone!)

So let us take Darius, King of the Medes, the one whom figured out how to break into the walled city of Babylon.  He does not exist because nowhere in the Babylonian texts is anyone with a name spelled Darius to be found.  Then again, on a mountain side was found, in huge letters carved into a cliff face: the deeds and victories of this non-existent ruler, Darius King of the Persians.  I wonder how Cyrus felt about that claim chiseled into eternity!  This was easily read by those in the valley for over 2,500 years before Europeans discovered it.  And in the Babylonian texts, Darius is known as: Darayawaush, Dorejawosch, Dara, Darab, Dareious - all variation of his name.  It depended upon the language his name was written in and to be read by.

Want a really hard one?  Try Nebuchadnezzar!  No matter how you try to decode his name,  you will end up with something appearing to be An-pa-sa-du-sis!  And here is where talking with the locals came in handy to the one whom broke the Babylonian Class 3 codes.  This odd An-pa-sa-du-sis actually is pronounced "Nebukadurriussur".  Okay, pretty darn close ...

Worse part was that all of this was known before 1857!  Long before the German Higher Criticism decided to attack the book of Daniel; including the name mess ups between English and Babylonian translations ....

Naw, no agenda there ....  But, certainly a concern when people of limited education decide to attack something they do not wish to believe in.  What can you say?  Man will always listen to those whom tell them what they want to hear.  And the the harder the understanding, the easier it is to prove an argument against it.

But, 140 years of confusing Christians or those whom might investigate Christianity, has taken its toll in the public arena of thought. 

Hey, Mister!

Kids just crack me up!  And for as much as I have desired for my entire life to live in the shadows of humanity passing by, my disability has drawn much unattended attention to me.

"Hey, Mister!  You lost your foot!"  The young man in question begins a frantic search of the bread section to figure out where it went.  I was just dying of laughter.  His mother dragged him off.

A little girl following along behind her mother had riveted eyes on my leg.  Then she shifted her bear to her other arm and pointed to my missing foot.  I nodded my agreement with her observation.  She looked around randomly and then lifted her right foot up and wiggled it at me.  I am not sure what she was thinking there but I laughed anyway.

One young lady got intensely in my face and had all manner of questions about my leg, how was the foot taken off, what did the doctor say, etc!  Oh my gosh - she was not going to let go of this conversation until her knowledge had been expanded well beyond her years!  I was very surprised and I rolled away wondering if she was headed for a life as a medical child prodigy!  I am just as curious about her and her future as she was about my leg!

The best one though was a little boy whom stopped me in our local Kroger's: Fred Meyers.  He stepped in front of me as I was trying to reach the garlic bread and greeted me with the now familiar, "Hey Mister!".

"You lost your foot!"
"What happened to it?"
"Why did it have to come off?"

At this point his mother has him by his neck and is apologizing profusely as she tries to drag him away.  I assured her that his curiosity was normal and he deserved answers.

So I explained to him in simple terms what had happened so recently.

"Well, when are they going to put it back on?"

So I then explained about artificial limbs and before I could explain how they work to this young man, his mother was now in a panic over her son's behavior and was apologizing profusely as he was dragged off out of his clothes she was pulling so hard.

Swede just burst out laughing!  As did I, it really was a funny scene.

Musical Saturday Morning

Oh my gosh!  Nice song, but the video - really?????

Someone was very, very, very stoned for this filming ..... just think Debbie Harry without the style:

Picnic In The Woods

Do you like going on picnics up in the woods?  I sure do, I have loved them ever since I was but a little rascal!  Some of my best stories are actually the product of those picnics and associated hikes for decades!

Obviously this is a staged series of photos I found on the internet.  The woman is a model by the name of Irina (Ir-eena, if you want to say it right) and her daughter on a picnic outside of Moscow.

Well, what picnic would not be complete without a bear?  Especially in Russia and a GRIZZLY bear at that!

Of course, these bears are native to North America only and the only one was ever imported to Europe for the filming of the movie, The Bear, many years ago.  Hated that movie for all the right reasons.  This guy is probably from a circus or similar.

Extremely gentle, he apparently has never eaten meat and loves Mozzarella cheese sticks!  But, then, who doesn't?!?!?!?!?  So, any blondes out there need nuzzled and want to feed me a cheese stick?  ROAR! - ack, ack, cough, cough, cough ...  No one?  Anybody?  Okay, how about red heads .....

A Grateful Heart

I have so wanted to post something about this for many weeks, but what better time to talk about gratitude than on Thanksgiving Day?

Due to the nature of my own creation, gratitude is not something I knew.  I was "thankful" for much, to the degree I could be, but nothing like you know of gratitude.

But that was to begin to change in 2012 as God began to change my nature.  But, change is slow to absorb and understand.  Much less, the concept of practice.  I knew what God was doing because He was driving me crazy with these new emotions and feelings I had never had.  Bit by bit I was walked through emotions for family, for friends, then commitments.  I thought He was done in 2014 - what more could He possibly do to me?

Like a dumb animal eating a new food - yum!  The changes were real and long lasting, it was great.  But, there was no gratitude and I KNEW it was only going to be temporary anyway.  Nothing every happens for real in my life it seems.  One day I would wake up and Kris would be shafted as usual.

And in time, I had to live through 2015.  A year of hospitals, surgeries without end, and the death of Kris in all manners.  I expected in April's surgery not to live.  It was a horrible surgery and I had no support in place to help me through recovery - that too had been lost.  There was no hope.

Then another operation, worse than the first.  Dutchman commented by text that he felt God was calling someone to help - and maybe they were not listening.  Thank you so much!  Sigh ...

And then the fever, where I may as well as have died.  I expected brain damage from that one, but it seems not in the long term anyways.  And I was reduced to pleading for life, not because I wanted to live - I wanted life, but because I could see all too well where life would take me.

And then the antibiotic resistant staph ... and it was all over.  I was now broken in all manners.  Emotional, spiritually, mentally and now physically.  This means something to a German.  Being whole is not a concept it is a state of being.  If you are not whole - you are no longer a man.  And I was shattered.

But, when I regained my mind on October 17th, it was an even newer me than had existed before.  More change to experience and accept!

And that change was God gave me a grateful heart.

My nature is no longer even a shadow of what it once was.  I am truly thankful - for the first time in my life.

From wool to real food, from family to half-hearted friendships, I am grateful for what God has and is providing me.  Yeah, everyone remarks, everyone is unsure.  Like frightened squirrels, do they shake my hand or not?  It is funny.  What was I like before that people were standoffish towards me?  I can not say, I thought I was very approachable before ....

Pray for god to help you develop a grateful heart - though through means far less drastic than what I went through!

And thank you Lord for a safe venue by which I can tell of your mercies and blessings .....  Most of you I do not know but I am thankful for each one of you - even my eMail detractors :)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving can be reduced to the thought of possessing a grateful heart.

Thanks, is something you GIVE or express not just feel on the inside.

Hebrews 13:15-16

Give a sacrifice of praise with your lips
Say it!
Mean it!
Look for it!
Clarify it!

Give the sacrifice of praise with your life
Live it!
Show it!
Express it!

Walk the Talk!

Even when you do not feel like it!

Give the sacrifice of praise to the Lord
Focus on Him!
Daily!
In all things!

There are so many verses on praise and thrankfulness that it is hard not to make this a tome!  But, just a like take on a very large subject ... got to leave room for dessert here!

As The World Sees The Church

Just as all Islamic sects are lumped together as being "Islam", Christians of all tastes and varieties are also lumped together by the world as being Christian, when in fact there is nothing Christian  about them or their activities.

So to this end was this interesting essay I read on the "Christian Church" and its goings on:
*****
How can a church whose officialdom is worldly and corrupt present Jesus to the world? Pope Francis thinks it cannot. He once told people at the morning Mass in his small chapel, “To be believable, the Church has to be poor.” He has spoken of personal revulsion at seeing a priest drive an expensive car. When he spoke of money as “the devil’s dung” (he was quoting a church father, Saint Basil), some took this as an attack on Western capitalism. But it was a more general message, part of his apology in Bolivia for the church’s role in colonialism. And when Francis looks around the Vatican, he finds the same devil-stench. In one of his earlier interviews as pope, he said, “The Curia is Vatican-centric. It sees and looks after the interests of the Vatican, which are still, for the most part, temporal interests.” He said to assembled Cardinals that some approach the Vatican as if it were a royal court, with all the marks of such courts — “intrigue, gossip, cliques, favoritism, and partiality.’’

That list of sins could be taken as a table of contents for the scandalous activities recorded in Gianluigi Nuzzi’s new book, “Merchants in the Temple,’’ a title taken from the Bible account of Jesus driving money lenders from the Temple court. Nuzzi is the journalist who received the “Vatileaks” from the papal butler, revealing the scheming and profiteering that occurred during Benedict XVI’s papacy. He demonstrates an equal access to secret documents and conversations in the papacy of Francis, which show a concerted resistance to papal efforts to make the Vatican bear at least some resemblance to Jesus, however remote.

The official church is wealthy and poor because it always overspends itself. It lives on display, favoritism, and unaccountability. Its 14 personnel agencies create honorary posts for clients who will be subservient to their patrons. This is as true of the Vatican State Department as of the Vatican banks. We know of the scandalous and money-laundering Institute for the Works of Religions — commonly called the Vatican Bank. But another money manager is equally unaccountable — the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See.

In what is called Peter’s Pence, Catholics from around the world send money to be spent on the poor. But four-fifths of that money is spent on maintenance of the bloated Vatican itself. The official church owns large amounts of real estate inside and outside Italy, but these holdings drain as much wealth as they collect, because so many of them are given at low or no rent to prelates and their flunkies, who redecorate them to their refined tastes, using Vatican money to do it.

Francis, who handled financial scandal in the diocese he took over in Buenos Aires, knew that he could not get control of the Vatican unless he had a true audit of where all the money was going. So he set up a special body to find this out – COSEA (Commission on Organization of the Economic Administration of the Holy See). This commission hired outside auditors, internationally recognized experts, to go over the money in all the papal departments (dicasteries). But faced with this demand for records from lay experts, the skilled ecclesiastical maneuverers in the departments reported sluggishly, incompletely, or not at all. COSEA’s frustrations over this may be why their members leaked tapes of their meetings to Nuzzi and others. Indeed two of them (a monsignor and a lay woman) were arrested in early November by Vatican gendarmes for leaking — though these leaks are on the pope’s side, unlike the earlier leaks.

Controversy about the official church has normally centered on doctrinal disputes, over things like contraception and abortion. These are seen as struggles for the mind of the church. Francis is more interested in the soul of the church. Does the church really speak from prelates’ posh apartments in Rome and from bishops’ palaces around the world? In our trips to Rome, my wife has given up entering Saint Peter’s, since she cannot find anything like Jesus in that riot of celebration of the great papal families, with monstrous large statues of past pontiffs in all their ecclesiastical regalia. Jesus did not wear expensive chasubles and jeweled mitres (or any ecclesiastical garments).

What Francis is engaged in is less a matter of theological dispute than a re-Jesusing of the church. If he fails, we have failed Jesus.
 *****

And this is a thought we must take seriously:  how do we collectively, as well as, individually - fail Jesus commission of us?  How are we individually failing God's expectations of us in our daily lives?  Failure is not acceptable in either situation ... and yet this is actually what we do.

And so what you are going to change your failure in life to God?  What are you going to do to address your failures with other your Christian family?  What are you going to do to address your church's direction?  The list goes on because we are surrounded by and overcome by the failure of ourselves, others and organizations.

Yet, we are told to go ... have you, are you, will you?  Faiurel is not okay I fear.

Thoughts About Paris

Even with my friends I have been uncharacteristically quiet on the issue of what has happened in Paris and the immigration issue here.  Being a student of history, I am seeing the replay of the isolationism which led this country, and the world, into world war twice in the past century.

One group in my face has felt that my silence is because I hate Frenchmen and they got what they deserved.  Unfortunately, I lived in France for many years, spoke the language only - for eight years and was where I studied for my chef skills.  So, been there, extremely familiar with the French and their problems.  But, no I do not hate the French, I still have several online friends whom communicate with me regularly.  Most of them date back to my  life in northeastern France.  I may joke about being one of the 5,000 survivors of the NATO gulag of Laon - but make no mistake - the French are a wonderful people no more deserving what happened to them than anyone else.

And others have this hodgepodge mix of views pro-Islamic/anti-Islamic etc.  But, hey, I have worked with Islamic co-workers for decades from Jordan, Iraq and Iran - with no difficulties at all.  Even if my ancestry is Hebrew (on both sides!) there was never ever a problem.  So, no, I have lived in peace with Islamist's and they with me.  But, with that said, this little atheistic Hebrew boy was smart enough to know not to take that computing contract in Saudi ...

Conversely, importing scores of 17 to 40 year old single able bodied males is really just an invitation to horror!  Not paranoia, just a observations from all over the world across the past 40 years.  Europe and the America's should have learned from over a hundred years of terrorism throughout the Middle East, Near East and Pacific Island countries.  We (western culture) will not be immune.  There is no excuse for such naive stupidity - history is there for all to read and learn from!  And, oh, there is only one view of history - not multiple, and it is based on facts with the appropriate conclusion attached - not well wishes.

Yet, the story of the Syrian issue is one of US and British culpability for having created ISIS in the first place!  Yeah, we have the photos and news reports, even of Biden meeting with these power hungry thugs!  And yet, no one remembers, no one cares, no one wants to hold this US administration accountable for this ongoing apocalypse in Syria and throughout Africa!  And, yet, God will.

And where do I live now?  In the northwestern part of the USA with my family and even extended family now.  Paris is but one occurrence of foreign terrorism and through acts such as a blind immigration policy ... it is just a matter of time I fear.  All I can pray is for the safety of my own, should violence extend to this isolated spot in the world.

Again, prayer, lots of prayer is what is needed for your safety, you family's safety and God to move against those accountable for what happens.  Unfortunately, lots of innocents can be hurt in the meantime but that is in God's hands and His time table.  And lots of innocents can be hurt when we do not allow valid immigration for refugees to occur as well.  A fine line but not an invisible one.

As for Paris, the blind mania to allow immigration based upon an open border and pictures of children (when they are by and large an army of able bodied men) has led to the obvious problem and more to come.  A country which refuses to arm its citizens should express no surprise with high causality counts.  The populaces' allowance of a press' unwillingness to tell of the terrorist acts in Hamburg and Copenhagen only fuels the problem.  To wax poetically on metal fatigue when a tail section falls 3 miles from the body of an aircraft only causes to confuse - it is a bomb that does this - not metal fatigue!  But, we listen to the voices of the uninformed and the ignorant, failing to use the brain each one of us possesses.  To have no uproar over the literally hundreds of thousands of Christian executions in the past year .....  I am sorry if drugs, partying and games fill your life - it does not remove the requirement for you to use your brain.  Nor your own personal culpability before God.

And yes, God is going to allow you to be held accountable for your disinterest and isolation.  ISIS is but a symptom, the disease is this modern "culture", sorry but the cure is a terribly hard pill to swallow.

(Now my eMail audience, aren't you sorry you asked?)

As for me ...  I will continue to live in peace with all men, until such time as they feel empowered to not do so with me and mine.  And just as I have done in the past, those whom are guilty will be brought to justice, but not vengeance, because I am a pacifist and I believe in the sanctity of human life.  For those whom do not, well it is best they learn before they are brought openly to face God.

Musical Saturday Morning

So, I thought I would branch out and try something different, Winehouse, Gaga or Bennett.  Yup, still strongly dislike all of them!  Somethings at least have not changed!

Hence, none of the above ...  I seem to remember this from Dutch TV some time ago, but worth listening to again ...

First Love

John captures in the opening to the book of Revelation (John's Apocalypse, et al, to the non-American World) with an address to the Seven Church's.  Lots of arguments as to why seven, why these, etc - but this is not what this post is about.  Ephesus is the one we want to look at today.

Revelation 2:1-7, consider verse 5

If you are a normal human being, you have a first love - even I had one.  Think back to the exhilaration of that love ...  There is an excitement associated with even thinking about that person.  Yeah, I know, humans rarely can maintain that first love - because one or the other or both will go their own way and leave a wound behind.  (Probably how God feels about us at times ... sigh)  But, try to remember that instinctual euphoria you felt, perhaps as  a teenager - for that very special person!  (Yes, even with almost complete anesthesia I can at least remember that much!  And, the pain of utter rejection.)

You want to be with them, around them, you think about them, they literally take all of your waking attention and perhaps your dreams as well.  Sigh ...

And God is telling John about how the Church of Ephesus needs to remember their first love.

Now Paul had founded the church, Timothy had been a pastor there and the Apostle John was the overseer of the churches throughout the area.  It was in Ephesus John was arrested and sent to Patmos, was thrown in boiling oil to kill him for his Christian belief, was as an old man to be carried by bearers throughout his ministry area to continue when he no longer could walk.

Remember That First Love
Of course we are talking about the word used here: Agape - God's divine love.

If you can not remember your first love, then your lampstand will be removed in Heaven - a harsh consequence.

If you can remember your first love, then you will will be allowed to eat of the Tree of Life - a blessing.

Reignite That Passion
For your first love - Jesus.
Change your mind, change your direction, repent of your abandonment of your love.

Relaunch That Lifestyle
Do what you did at first!
Repent!
Restart that relationship.
Relive the euphoria.

Of course, we learn from history that the Church of Ephesus flourished and certainly had a witness for centuries.  However, in time, the harbor was to silt up and the town essentially abandoned.  And what happened to that original church?  Those faithful believers that God called back?  Well at least I wonder ...

And they faded away?

No not really.  In truth many whom are reading this are descendants in the faith from those first early Christians.  I know the name of whose witness led me to the Lord, but not whom led her or further back - what is the string of witnesses?  Yes, we are all the product of the ministry of the Holy Spirit and its witness - including bringing those physical witnesses into our life.  It would be cool to know if you were the product of John's witness or Paul's or Peter's or ....  But, in the end that has nothing to do with our relation ship with Jesus or God the Father.

And like those in Ephesus, we need to vigilant that we do not leave our first love for God ...

Artificial Skin?

Makes the mind swim the implication of an artificial or second skin which could be used on patients.  Burn victims and surgeries requiring massive scarring could all benefit from such a novelty ...  I often thought in high school and college how cool it would be if I could come up with what artificial skin would be composed of.  You see I had several friends through the years whom had been badly burned for various reasons: house fire, fireworks, camping accidents.  Yeah, they all eventually died from their injuries, there was no way to trap the moisture the body lost through the wounds.  Very sad.  Even if death was meaningless to me, it still was sad to know they did not need to die - if only ...  But, near as I could figure out, it would take about 15 years in college - and there was no money back then.  In fact, the only reason was able to get my college in was through a Bureau of Indian Affairs grant - never  hurts to a grandfather whom was 100% Umatilla.

So I was in the infectious disease office yesterday, reporting as required.  He did not want me going in for a casting for a mold if there was any hint of infection left.  Seems he was not so sure I was not going to be losing more leg!  ARGH!  But, after several test holes, he had to admit that there was no trace to be found of that dreaded infection - thank you God!

But, this started bleeding on a level you would have to see to believe - you would never question my relationship to the Hapsburg's poor DNA ever!  So, my genetic defective blood stream is all over the place and he eventually had to go with a package of something I had never seen before - a second skin!  OMG!  It does exist today!

It stopped the bleeding - BANG - just like that!

Apparently, it will stick on for a few days and then fall off, as nature allows.  If I need more, I can just stick some on from the remaining partial sheet he had trimmed pieces from.

Wow, I am impressed.