I Am a Debtor to the Greeks and Barbarians

I always wondered about this verse, Romans 1:14.  Why would he be a debtor to Greeks, and barbarians?  Then while reading my devotion this morning, it makes sense.  In "My Life's Spiritual Honor and Duty" Chambers brings up, "I am not a superior person among other people — I am a bondservant of the Lord Jesus. Paul said, “. . . you are not your own . . . you were bought at a price . . .” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; he then goes on to say that he's a debtor to everyone on the earth because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that we are free only to be a bondservant of Christ.

Christ died for everyone by taking on the sins of the world, that they would life eternal, so instead of looking at that idiot in the car in front you who just pulled out, remember that Christ died for them, and they need to know Christ, and they're no worse a sinner than I am, because I just dropped a bomb by call them a a$#hole.

Lord Jesus, I am a sinner, forgive me for what I say, and do that drove...that drive...and will continue to drive the nails into your hands, and the spear into your side.

Never Look for Justice

Today's Oswald Chamber's devotion is one of my favorites.  It leaves you scratching your head, because it goes against everything we think we believe.  It's posted here, http://utmost.org/suffering-afflictions-and-going-the-second-mile/.

At the end of the devotion, there is something I've carried around for the last few years when I see injustice being done.  It's a reminder to us that we are wretched sinners in need of a savior, and a reminder of how to react.

"Never look for righteousness in the other person, but never cease to be righteous yourself. We are always looking for justice, yet the essence of the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is — Never look for justice, but never cease to give it." - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, July 14 devotion.

Pat Condell hits this one out of the park

Pat Condell, an English atheist libertarian, almost an oxymoron, hits this one out of the park:

We Need a Savior

Found this on Theology Bites from D.A. Carson:

http://ia600305.us.archive.org/11/items/TheologyBites8/DaCarson_redemptiveHistory1_problemsAndSolutions.mp3

O is Blindsided by Bibi

O looks like you could break a railroad spike off in his butt, but Bibi lays it out to him in an impassioned speech, and history lesson:

Something to Think About

I found this on Tribalogue's blog, “I was once what you are, and what I am you will become.”  It was written as the writer was looking at the inscription on a tomb.  Presents a need to embrace the Gospel, and repent...

Funny Thor Promo

I don't know if you remember the Darth Vader commercial for the Volkswagen during the Super Bowl.  By the way, who won the Super Bowl??  Who played in it??

http://youtu.be/fSPk_coqOBo

Anyway, this is a funny commercial for Thor that mimics the Volkswagen commercial:

Good Friday

I found this hymn by John Newton, who wrote "Amazing Grace".  The hymn is entitled, "In Evil Long I Took Delight".

In evil long I took delight,

Unawed by shame or fear,

Till a new object struck my sight,

And stopped my wild career.

I saw One hanging on a tree,

In agony and blood,

Who fixed His languid eyes on me,

As near His cross I stood.

Sure, never to my latest breath,

Can I forget that look;

It seemed to charge me with His death,

Though not a word He spoke.

My conscience felt and owned the guilt,

And plunged me in despair,

I saw my sins His blood had spilt,

And helped to nail Him there.

A second look He gave, which said,

“I freely all forgive;

This blood is for thy ransom paid;

I die that thou mayst live.”

Thus, while His death my sin displays

In all its blackest hue,

Such is the mystery of grace,

It seals my pardon too.

Thank you Lord Jesus for your Grace extended!

A Poem

Found this at the Desiring God website:


LOVE (III)
        by George Herbert

Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back,
        Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack
        From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
        If I lack'd anything.

"A guest," I answer'd, "worthy to be here";
        Love said, "You shall be he."
"I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear,
        I cannot look on thee."
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
        "Who made the eyes but I?"

"Truth, Lord, but I have marr'd them; let my shame
        Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?"
        "My dear, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."
        So I did sit and eat.

Rob Bell - Ooops

This will make you think:

Christian Persecution

As I'm reading some of the blogs I frequent, I can't help thinking that about the end times, and Jesus coming any day.  Christian martyrs are being buried almost every day.

Pastors Under Attack in Sri-Lanka - http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09946.shtml

Nigerian Christians Killed in Targeted Attacks - http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09941.shtml

Ethiopian Muslims warn Christians to convert, leave city or face death - http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09940.shtml

Assassinated Pakistani Christian cabinet minister on why he defied threats on his life - http://hotair.com/archives/2011/03/02/haunting-video-assassinated-pakistani-christian-cabinet-minister-on-why-he-defied-threats-on-his-life/

Pakistan's only Christian minister killed. Copts massacred. Afghan convert sentenced to death. When will Britain wake up to Islam's persecution of Christians? - http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100078259/pakistans-only-christian-minister-killed-copts-massacred-afghan-convert-sentenced-to-death-when-will-britain-wake-up-to-islams-persecution-of-christians/

Laos Christians Face Starvation, Authorities Cutting Off Food, Water - http://www.christianpersecution.info/index.php?view=10017

Afghanistan Releases Christian Convert Facing Execution - http://www.christianpersecution.info/index.php?view=9995

Pirates Killed Four Americans Who Traveled the World Handing out Bibles - http://www.christianpersecution.info/index.php?view=9984

Christian Students Attacked by Muslim Mob – http://www.persecution.org/2011/03/01/christian-students-attacked-by-muslim-mob-in-ethiopia/.

One thing I noticed was that Islam is the main religion that is behind the killings; Surah 9:5 in action.

There are hundreds of these entries out there.  These are just over the last month or so!  This is an evil out there that is trying in vain to stop the Word of the Lord, and Gospel from being spread:

Persecution – International Church Concern - http://www.persecution.org/
Voice of the Martyrs - http://www.persecution.com/
Christian Unite.com - http://news.christiansunite.com/
Compass Direct News - http://www.compassdirect.org/
Christian Persecution in India - http://www.persecution.in/
Persecution in Sudan - http://www.ryanspencerreed.com/main.html
Persecution Blog - http://www.persecutionblog.com/

I can go on, and on.  I was thinking the other day in church when the pastor was trying to get people to commit their tithes, and hearing the complaining about the new building, I couldn't help thinking that these martyrs are losing their lives because they are Christians; we're complaining because Bill Maher doesn't like Christians, or Richard Dawkins is spreading his new atheist propaganda.

I support these organizations, and I pray.  I can also ask God to keep me aware, and to pray for the families left behind.  Again, their families have to face the continuing persecution.

Right now these martyrs are with our Lord; they are in a much better place.  I wonder how much longer our Lord is going to wait before He comes back, and evil is finally done away with forever.  I guess for now, I'm reminded of Revelation 6: 9-11; they, and we are told to wait a little longer.  God works in His time, not ours.  We are promised, that we will be with him, but I can't help from praying, "Come Lord Jesus", Revelation 22:20.

Random Stuff for 3/2/2011:

1. Chris Matthews showing his shoe size IQ - http://hotair.com/archives/2011/03/02/matthews-gingrich-looks-like-a-car-bomber-dont-you-think/
2. Federal Report: Almost Half the Babies Aborted in NYC Were Black - http://cnsnews.com/news/article/cdc-report-parallels-nyc-health-dep-t-fi#
3. Foster parent ban: 'no place' in the law for Christianity, High Court rules - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/8353496/Foster-parent-ban-no-place-in-the-law-for-Christianity-High-Court-rules.html#
4. New York Billboard that upset a lot of people, and they had to take it down.  Too bad it was true.  Margaret Sanger's dream come true. 

As I'm reading some of the blogs I frequent, I can't help thinking that about the end times, and Jesus coming any day.  Christian martyrs are being buried almost every day.

Pastors Under Attack in Sri-Lanka - http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09946.shtml

Nigerian Christians Killed in Targeted Attacks - http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09941.shtml

Ethiopian Muslims warn Christians to convert, leave city or face death - http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09940.shtml

Assassinated Pakistani Christian cabinet minister on why he defied threats on his life - http://hotair.com/archives/2011/03/02/haunting-video-assassinated-pakistani-christian-cabinet-minister-on-why-he-defied-threats-on-his-life/

Pakistan's only Christian minister killed. Copts massacred. Afghan convert sentenced to death. When will Britain wake up to Islam's persecution of Christians? - http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100078259/pakistans-only-christian-minister-killed-copts-massacred-afghan-convert-sentenced-to-death-when-will-britain-wake-up-to-islams-persecution-of-christians/

Laos Christians Face Starvation, Authorities Cutting Off Food, Water - http://www.christianpersecution.info/index.php?view=10017

Afghanistan Releases Christian Convert Facing Execution - http://www.christianpersecution.info/index.php?view=9995

Pirates Killed Four Americans Who Traveled the World Handing out Bibles - http://www.christianpersecution.info/index.php?view=9984

Christian Students Attacked by Muslim Mob – http://www.persecution.org/2011/03/01/christian-students-attacked-by-muslim-mob-in-ethiopia/.

One thing I noticed was that Islam is the main religion that is behind the killings; Surah 9:5 in action.

There are hundreds of these entries out there.  These are just over the last month or so!  This is an evil out there that is trying in vain to stop the Word of the Lord, and Gospel from being spread:

Persecution – International Church Concern - http://www.persecution.org/
Voice of the Martyrs - http://www.persecution.com/
Christian Unite.com - http://news.christiansunite.com/
Compass Direct News - http://www.compassdirect.org/
Christian Persecution in India - http://www.persecution.in/
Persecution in Sudan - http://www.ryanspencerreed.com/main.html
Persecution Blog - http://www.persecutionblog.com/

I can go on, and on.  I was thinking the other day in church when the pastor was trying to get people to commit their tithes, and hearing the complaining about the new building, I couldn't help thinking that these martyrs are losing their lives because they are Christians; we're complaining because Bill Maher doesn't like Christians, or Richard Dawkins is spreading his new atheist propaganda.

I support these organizations, and I pray.  I can also ask God to keep my aware, and to pray for the families left behind.

The great thing is that these martyrs are there with our Lord, but I do wonder how much longer our Lord is going to wait before He comes back, and evil is done away with.

Come Lord Jesus

Random Stuff for 3/2/2011:

1. Chris Matthews showing his shoe size IQ - http://hotair.com/archives/2011/03/02/matthews-gingrich-looks-like-a-car-bomber-dont-you-think/
2. Federal Report: Almost Half the Babies Aborted in NYC Were Black - http://cnsnews.com/news/article/cdc-report-parallels-nyc-health-dep-t-fi#
3. Foster parent ban: 'no place' in the law for Christianity, High Court rules - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/8353496/Foster-parent-ban-no-place-in-the-law-for-Christianity-High-Court-rules.html#
4. New York Billboard that upset a lot of people, and they had to take it down.  Too bad it was true.  Margaret Sanger's dream come true. 

I've Been Busy

There is almost 7 years between the birth of our two boys.  That meant I was almost 40 years old when Grant was born.  I've always said that raising children is a young man's sport, and I'm not a young man anymore.  I'll admit I need to get out, and exercise some more, but time marches on, and I've got the boot prints on my back to prove it.  My oldest son is getting married next month, and I'm taking the younger one to visit colleges.  In this case it was in Miami, Florida International University.  When you do a round-trip to Miami and back to Clearwater in 27 hour period, it's hard on the old man.  Anyway it's done; I'm not even sure if he wants to go down there, but we had to give him a choice, and open his eyes up to something other than the Tampa Bay area.

Unfortunately, I had to miss a Kairos meeting today.  We were thinking of staying an extra day down there for the big open house at Florida International University, but instead we came home last night.  I wouldn't have been able to make it to the meeting as I didn't get up until 8:00 AM.  I forgot, but I also had our yearly retreat today for the worship team at church, so I probably wouldn't have made it anyway.

Enough of the whining, which is a good segue for our Random Stuff for today:

1. Is Barack Obama Secretly Swiss? - The administration's pathetic, dithering response to the Arab uprisings has been both cynical and naive.  This byline from Slate written by Christopher Hitchens is a telling indictment on President Obama's pathetic Chamberlain'ing response to the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's shanagans.  The last line in the piece says it all about our leader's response to the uprising in Libya, "Instead, and in the crucial and formative days in which revolutions are decided, we have had to endure the futile squawkings of a cuckoo clock."  Here's the link to the article on Slate:  http://www.slate.com/id/2286522/.
2. This is a neat YouTube video, Hideaway in Rockford.  Seems like the Rockford, IL is benefiting from their northern neighbor's senators hiding away there.  I wonder if the Wisconsin governor holds back their paycheck, whether they'll tell refugees to go back?
   
   
3. C. S. Lewis on life's interruptions posted on Trevin Wax's blog.  “The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s ‘own’, or ‘real’ life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life – the life God is sending one day by day: what one calls one’s ‘real life’ is a phantom of one’s own imagination.”  http://trevinwax.com/2011/02/26/c-s-lewis-on-lifes-interruptions/.
4. The Gift of Victor Hugo from the Desiring God blog by John Piper,    http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-gift-of-victor-hugo.

Description of Christians by UC Davis

This was discovered by The Pearcey Report.  It is from World Net Daily, and it was discovered on UC Davis' website; it's their official 'Glossary'.  The original article "University Defines Christians as Oppressors".  In the article, they have the original link http://occr.ucdavis.edu/poc/glossary.html which is supposed to take you to the glossary, but it looks like they took it down as of the time of this post.  


Below is 500 - Internal Server Error message I got.  

500 - Internal server error.

There is a problem with the resource you are looking for, and it cannot be displayed.

Google though, stores cached pages, and below is the link to page that was stored.  It may not be any good anymore?  I'm not sure how long they are stored, or if it is overwritten when they correct the page, and new cached version of the page is shown.  Now what they hoped when you looked it up is that most people will say that they couldn't find it, and go away.  The link still showed this when I posted this up on Friday morning.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:d6Q7gEQ5jDYJ:occr.ucdavis.edu/poc/glossary.html+http://occr.ucdavis.edu/poc/glossary.html&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com

This link does have the offending remarks, as it is a snapshot of the page made earlier, and there is even a notice at the top of the page:

This is Google's cache of http://occr.ucdavis.edu/poc/glossary.html. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on Feb 14, 2011 06:53:46 GMT. 

UC Davis on their site, which is an official glossary which they describe their official Glossary:

Glossary

Words hold power beyond their meanings. A term used in one context or by a certain group may constitute a slur or insult in another context or to someone else. Their meanings also evolve and often cannot be fully described in a few sentences.

With that in mind, this glossary is not an exhaustive list or definitive collection of definitions. Rather, it draws from academic sources used by other universities as a starting point to understand terms related to community, diversity and identity.  

and if you go down the glossary to Religion it shows this as their official definition.  How nice, but what else can you expect from the left coast...  

Religion: 1. An organized belief system based on certain tenets of faith. 2. A belief in a supreme supernatural force or god(s)

Religious/Spiritual Discrimination - The loss of power and privilege to those who do not practice the dominant culture's religion. In the United States, this is institutionalized oppressions toward those who are not Christian.

Click here to see a PDF of their Glossary as of the cached date.  I copied it, and made a PDF of it.  So if it changed, you'll know why.  It's full of other definitions that are not shared by that most of the people who live between New York, and Los Angeles.

Random Stuff for 2/18/2011:

1. The more I read about this, the more I can't believe the horror that these poor, and desperate women went through, The Gosnell Case and American Abortion Law.
2. The article starts with, "The Obama administration has revoked nearly all the conscience protections put in place by the Bush administration".  This is an abuse of executive power, http://www.albertmohler.com/2011/02/18/conscience-trampled-by-the-regime/.
3. Wisconsin teachers showing that they really need to be working in some other type of employment; they're hiring at McDonalds, http://hotair.com/archives/2011/02/17/the-historical-illiteracy-of-wisconsin-teachers/ and 
   
   
   
   
   

I Agree With Chris Matthews

This is something, I think I would never say in my life, "I agree with Chris Matthews."  There, I've said it.  Believe me, it's only once.  We are on different planets when it comes to politics.  Of course, he's on a different one.  This time however, he revisited us, and he's actually speaking the truth.  I mean when you hear Pat Buchanan agree with Chris Matthews, I can't help but look to the sky and see if Jesus is returning.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

This is about President Mubarak of Egypt.  When we deal with our friends in the world, I'm amazed at how quickly we drop them off the cliff.  President Mubarak kept war out of the Middle East for years.  Unfortunately he did it with a iron fist, but then again, this part of the world is a powder keg, and it's worked.  I know that old saying that politics make strange bedfellows, and international politics, takes it up a notch.  We know that thanks to Julian Assange, the David Bowie look-alike at WikiLeaks.  President Obama has basically told his counter-part in Egypt to hit the road, and let the change happen in Egypt.  Oh yeah, he also has to let non-secular interests take part in the formation of a new government:

• It is clear that the increase in democratic representation has to include a whole host of important non-secular actors that give Egypt a strong chance to continue to be the stable and reliable partner,” spokesman Robert Gibbs said only hours before Egyptians were expected to respond to a call for a “march of a million” aimed at ending the 30-year, iron-fisted rule of Mr. Mubarak.

Ok, so I guess that was invite to the Muslim Brotherhood, who going back to 1928, when Ataturk the President of Turkey ended the caliphate, the Islamic form of government and brought in a western form of government.  They are the oldest form of Islamic radicalism in the world, and every Islamic radical group since them has sprung from them.  Here's an article by Brigette Gabriel at Human Events.  The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt wants the peace treaty with Israel abolished.  That's just what we need.

Is this what John was prophesying in Revelation 9:16 with the invasion of a 200 million man army.  Israel is slowly being surrounded by Sharia law based countries, who call for the destruction of Israel. With 1.3 billion adherents to Islam in the world, and a conservative estimate of about 10% being fundamentalist, it makes you wonder; only 700 million more to go, and we'll have 200 million.

It's going to be interesting to see what happens, but in the mean time, our view in the world has been diminished as we throw another leader under the bus, and it's reported by the mainstream media as business as usual.  Then again, this is all being orchestrated by God, and we have to be obedient.  Never look for justice in this world, but then never cease to give it.

Random Stuff for 2/5/2011:

1. A peak at a couple of Super Bowl commercials, http://hotair.com/archives/2011/02/04/superbowl-commercials/
2. Who's going to replace Keith Olbermann?  Here's Jon Stewart's rant on it:
   
   

   The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
   Olbertunity Knocks
   www.thedailyshow.com
   Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> The Daily Show on Facebook

   
   
3. This is a good article on the social costs of pornography, http://takeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com/2011/02/social-costs-of-pornography.html
4. From TakeYourVitaminZ blog, http://takeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com/2011/02/older-and-better-version-of-follow.html.
5. From HotAir.com on Mark Kelley, Gabrielle Gifford's husband, and his new found faith, http://hotair.com/archives/2011/02/04/gabrielle-giffords-husband-expresses-newfound-faith/.
6. Excellent post from John Piper's Desiring God website on the first published black poet, Phillis Wheately, http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/first-published-black-poet-in-america.

Random Stuff for 1/29/11

Just some stuff that has come up over the last couple of days:

1. The Greatest Robot Movie Ever? This was made in India. It's CGI gone wild!
   
   
    
   
   
2. Joel Osteen get pinned by the new CNN replacement for Larry King about homosexuality.  While I'm not a Joel Osteen fan of his prosperity gospel, at least he doesn't back down about homosexuality being a sin.  Good article by Albert Mohler, http://www.albertmohler.com/2011/01/27/the-osteen-moment-your-own-moment-will-come-soon-enough/.
3. Funny video about reading.
   

Unexpected

I was working the sound board this morning, working on getting monitors, and sound levels right before the service.  I looked around, and noticed everyone reading the church bulletin, The Weekly Herald.  There seemed to be a lot of talking going on.  A friend of ours, turned around, pointing at the article on the front page, and asked if I had seen it.  I looked at her, and shook my head, and went on working on the sound.  People sometimes don't understand the stress that goes on, when you're working the sound board.  The previous service gets out about 9:30, and the service I'm working starts up 15 minutes later.  During that time, we get everything plugged in, test levels, get in-ear monitor levels set.  It's a lot of stuff to do, so when people talk to me while I'm doing this, I seem distant, and uninterested in their questions, or uninterested in their conversation.  I don't mean to, but I'm just focused on what's in front of me.

After the music, and at the start of the sermon, I took a walk down to get me a copy of the church bulletin.  As I started to read it, I knew what it was.  David Landers, our church pastor for the last 22 years was going to step down, and turn over the reins of this ministry to another senior pastor.  David Landers is a man I admire.  He has a heart for the Lord, and he has been at the helm of our church since we started going there 18 years ago.  We haven't always agreed with each other, but on the Word of God, we do.  Dan Mullett, our lay leader announced to the crowd that Romans 8:28 was David's verse he was leaning on.  We all knew that he was going to step down eventually, but just not at this time.  (Notice I didn't say retire, because as David has told us, there's no word of retirement in the Bible.)  He's just moving on to another ministry.  David has always been very transparent in his walk.  He knows that he is a sinner saved by grace, and he's been very up front about that.  Thank you David for your ministry, and helping me walk along part of it with you.  May you, and Trish enjoy then next phase of your Walk With God.  I thought this was a good description of you, http://headhearthand.posterous.com/the-shepherd-leader.

Random Stuff for 1/16/2011:

1. Good posting by Trevin Wax, http://trevinwax.com/2011/01/16/christs-anguish-is-our-joy/.
2. Nancy Pearcey on How Critical Thinking Saves Faith, http://www.pearceyreport.com/archives/2010/12/nancy_pearcey_barry_lynn_radio.php.
3. The Dark Side, a spoof on the The Blindside starring Sandra Bullock, and Peyton Manning
   
   
4. Katie Davis runs a ministry in Uganda, an orphanage, where she's the Mom to 14 little girls.
   

Starting the New Year

The last couple of weeks, I've just been trying to get on schedule.  Things are shaking out at work, and there's an air of change going on.  Last time this happened, I lost my job.  I'm going to trust God on this.  Last time, even though it was tense, I was able to land in this job, I'm currently doing, and I love to do.  Unfortunately, there are people who are going to be directly affected by this, and I pray that they trust in the Lord, and land in a place where they can flourish.

Yesterday, an acquaintance at work, came by, and told me he's going to be gone for the next 5 weeks.  He's a Muslim, and from what I could get from him, he's going to Manchester, England to study.  While he was talking, I was praying that God would tell me what to say.  I wanted to debate him, and tell him we weren't talking about the same God.  Instead, we spoke to each other about God, and Jesus.  I reiterated what I believe about Jesus.  After he left, I prayed that God would intervene in his life.  He's recently divorced, and is having problems with his teen-age son.  He's retired Air Force, and he seemed to be upset about the monies he's sending his wife for child support, and probably alimony.  I'm not sure why he's going to Manchester.  A quick look online, I can see why he'd want to go there.  The talk about how England's increasing Muslim population is true.  There seemed to be a lot of Shia mosques, and presence in the city.  I'm not sure why he's going.  We talked about how society is leaving God out, and what the result is.  I shared with him what I see in the prison system.  We both talked about how man needs God, and we are to worship Him, but I knew we were talking about a God called Allah, and the God, Jehovah-jireh, Jehovah-rapha, and Jehovah-nissi.  I hope things go well for him while he's there, and I pray that God will remove the cover off of this heretical religion Islam, and show it for what it is.  I also hope that he appreciates the grace that God gives, and that another Christian in England might befriend him, and talk to him about Jesus.  After he left, I prayed for him.

That said, it's been a week since the shooting in Arizona that claimed 6 lives, and wounded many others, including Representative Gabby Giffords.  I've been appalled at the response to this from both on the left, and right politicos.  Meanwhile, a mother, and father grieve the loss of their 9 year old child,  other families, including a federal judge, a social worker, an older man who shielded his wife, a mother, and wife of 50 years whose husband wasn't able to save her, and widow, who spent her winters in Tuscon.  These families are suffering, and they need our prayer, as they deal with this tragedy in a very personal way.  After these 6, there are 14 other families that were directly impacted as their loved ones are in the hospital injured.  Praise God, that Gabby is getting better.  This is Jehovah-rapha, the God who heals in action here.

Random Stuff for 1/15/2011:

1. This was an amazing run by Marshawn Lynch of Seattle.  After he gets by the line, he puts Tracey Porter on his rear-end.  The guy's a beast!!
   
   
   
2. This will upset some people.  I agree with what he's saying, http://goo.gl/RlvJD.
3. Good post on The Thinklings website, http://thinklings.org/posts/jesus-and-the-imago-homo.
4. Imagine surfing a wave for 5 miles.  These guys did it in Alaska.
   
   
5. How to tell if a Catholic is driving too fast.