iCasualties: Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom Casualties

iCasualties: Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom Casualties

Iris, A trophy of God's Grace

memories of the days gone by. Iris Urrey Blue and our three kids, Richard, Angela and Annette ... taken a long time ago in our home in Germany.

Ron Owens has written a book about Iris and Blue ... soon to be published.




















Manley Beasley somewhere in Europe .. also taken a long time ago.












Iris and Dwayne surprise me in a sandwich move ... I am actually off the floor a few inches.

Houston CBF and Rachel

This is the main reason we came to Houston to see our beautiful granddaughter.















We also came to see old friends like Jim Smith and Becky.
They were so kind to our daughters Angela and Annette.

Rachel Catrina Sutherland

Rachel Catrina Sutherland
is my beautiful grandaughter and she is almost
two months old.

Annette and Wes plus One: Birth Announcement

Annette and Wes plus One: Birth Announcement

Something Good May be Happening

Francis Shaeffer has been call the father of the religious right. Not many people know who he was ... but I came across this video and it has given me great cause for joy! Watch it and you may agree with me.

YouTube - christian the lion

YouTube - christian the lion

Middle East Pop Quiz - by Charley Reese

There are none so blind as those who will not see. Fundamentalist Christians have duped millions into believing that Israel belongs to the Jewish people and no one else should be allowed to live in the Land. That the Jewish people are God's chosen people and therefore deserving of special treatment. I believe that the Jews ceased being God's chosen people with the coming of Christ. Now all Christians are the spiritual seed of Abraham ... and if you are Muslim ... all Muslims.


Middle East Pop Quiz - by Charley Reese

On Faith: Guest Voices: What is Liberation Theology?

On Faith: Guest Voices: What is Liberation Theology?

This is a good article to help a person understand Liberation Theology from one of Americas outstanding preachers.

Mobile phones 'more dangerous than smoking' - Health News, Health & Wellbeing - The Independent

Mobile phones 'more dangerous than smoking' - Health News, Health & Wellbeing - The Independent

Professor Khurana – a top neurosurgeon who has received 14 awards over the past 16 years, has published more than three dozen scientific papers – reviewed more than 100 studies on the effects of mobile phones. He has put the results on a brain surgery website, and a paper based on the research is currently being peer-reviewed for publication in a scientific journal.

He admits that mobiles can save lives in emergencies, but concludes that "there is a significant and increasing body of evidence for a link between mobile phone usage and certain brain tumours". He believes this will be "definitively proven" in the next decade.

Noting that malignant brain tumours represent "a life-ending diagnosis", he adds: "We are currently experiencing a reactively unchecked and dangerous situation." He fears that "unless the industry and governments take immediate and decisive steps", the incidence of malignant brain tumours and associated death rate will be observed to rise globally within a decade from now, by which time it may be far too late to intervene medically.

"It is anticipated that this danger has far broader public health ramifications than asbestos and smoking," says Professor Khurana, who told the IoS his assessment is partly based on the fact that three billion people now use the phones worldwide, three times as many as smoke. Smoking kills some five million worldwide each year, and exposure to asbestos is responsible for as many deaths in Britain as road accidents.

Late last week, the Mobile Operators Association dismissed Khurana's study as "a selective discussion of scientific literature by one individual". It believes he "does not present a balanced analysis" of the published science, and "reaches opposite conclusions to the WHO and more than 30 other independent expert scientific reviews".

Interesting?

Amazing Grace

Wintley Phipps - Amazing Grace

One of the most magical moments in gospel came when Wintley Phipps, the Grammy-winning Trinidadian, paused during a concert to talk about the history, meaning and power of the Negro spirituals and how all of them are based on "just the black notes" on the piano.
(Skeptical? He proves it.) This combination history lesson, musicology lesson, sermon, and spine-tingling evocation of "Amazing Grace" is something that will probably require a hanky.

Politics and the Pulpit | New York Times Video

Check out this video about religion/politics and evangelicals ... two different views. Very interesting and informative.

Politics and the Pulpit | New York Times Video

While traveling in German in July I had the opportunity of visiting in the home of Rick and Nancy Dill. They are former FMB(IMB) missionaries who were fired because they refused to sign the BFM2000. They were serving in Wiemar where God has richly blessed their work, pastoring a growing church as a part of the German Baptist Union. Thank the Lord that after their termination they were about to stay in Wiemar, in their same house and same church and continue their robust ministry.
I don't think I will ever understand the mindset of a missions organization that would terminate veteran missionaries. The only thing they could use was the fact that they refuse to sign the paper!

Merry Christmas

Hillary's Prayer: Hillary Clinton's Religion and Politics

(I posted this blog before ... but would be interested in any comments that you, the reader, would make after reading the article posted below.)\ :)

It is not secret to those who know me that I lean to the left in both politics and religion. Nor is it a secret that I strongly supported Bill Clinton both times that he was elected president. And I believe that he was a great president. I do not like GWB at all. I have no great admiration for his intelligence and love David Letterman's regular segment on his show that's called: Great moments in presidential speech. I am not sure if I will be supportive of Mrs. Clinton in her presidential run ... but I am leaning strongly in her favor. I also like John Edwards.

I can across this article in Mother Jones magazine about Hillary Clinton and I was very surprised at some of the things it said. Here is a bit from the 4 page article.

'It was an elegant example of the Clinton style, a rhetorical maneuver subtle, bold, and banal all at once. During a Democratic candidate forum in June, hosted by the liberal evangelical group Sojourners, Hillary Clinton fielded a softball query about Bill's infidelity: How had her faith gotten her through the Lewinsky scandal?

After a glancing shot at Republican "pharisees," Clinton explained that, of course, her "very serious" grounding in faith had helped her weather the affair. But she had also relied on the "extended faith family" that came to her aid, "people whom I knew who were literally praying for me in prayer chains, who were prayer warriors for me."

Taking Christ out of Christmas?

With all of the brain washed Christian right wingers crying and whining about Christ being taken of Christmas and declaring that the secular humanist is making war against Christmas this article is very welcome and worth reading and maybe commenting on.

THE BAPTIST STUDIES BULLETIN"Taking the Christ Out of Christmas"By Bruce T. Gourley
'Tis the season for many Christians to complain that Christmas is under siege by a hostile, anti-Christian American culture. Let's forget, for a moment, that American Christians readily embrace the unbiblical consumerism and materialism that characterizes the Christmas season. And, of course, there is the slightly unsettling fact that the history of Christmas is rooted in an ancient pagan celebration later co-opted by Christianity. These annoyances aside, we should get upset that the religious aspect of Christmas is sometimes downplayed by society, and when someone slights our faith, we need to stand up and fight them. Right? Christmas, after all, should be a celebration of Jesus. And the Jesus of the Gospels surely wrapped himself in a human body for the purpose of championing the pure and undefiled among earth's inhabitants, condemning those of other faiths or no faith, and calling down the wrath of God upon the pagan society that characterized the Roman Empire. Thus by demanding that unbelieving individuals and a pluralistic society bow to our wishes―or else!―we honor the spirit of Jesus at Christmas. Right? As silly as it sounds, that is exactly the message that popular Christendom is communicating to American society: we demand our rights right now, and we'll stomp into the ground any who stand in our way, all because we love Jesus and you don't. Let's get real. The biggest enemies of Christmas in modern America are those who claim the name of Christ yet are wandering in a self-righteous wilderness, turning the Bread of Life into stones and hurling holy rocks at unbelievers. Is it possible that somewhere this Christmas season, a follower of Christ will stand up and champion equal rights for persons of other faiths or no faith in American society? Is it possible that somewhere this Christmas season a local Christian church will extend a hand of friendship to a nearby Hindu or Muslim congregation? Is it possible that somewhere this Christmas season a local newspaper's "Letters to the Editor" section will be spared the annual chorus of complaints of "Christ" being taken out of Christmas? This is the time of year in which joy, hope, peace and love are celebrated in songs of faith and the merriment of family and community gatherings. We are able to celebrate the season because Jesus forsook his own heavenly rights and joyfully came to live among and serve sin-ridden humanity. My hope this Advent season is that somewhere in America, at least a few members of the family called Christians, in addition to moving beyond the enticements of materialism and consumerism, will manage to avoid the temptations of the wilderness of self-righteousness and instead live as servants and light among their fellow human beings. Only then will Christ remain in Christmas. (colored text is mine not the author of the article..rcf)
Visit Bruce's personal website.

Huckabee Hides His Full Gospel?

Huckabee Hides His Full Gospel?

Huckabee is slick and as smooth talking as any snake oil salesman. If he were running for my pastor I would not vote for him because I do not share a lot of his tertiary beliefs ... like about conception, evolution, guns, etc. He would be a disaster as president of the United States. He would turn this country into an American Taliban. Just my opinion! Click on his 30 second commercial or his entertaining 42 minute speech. And if you have some time follow some of the other links located at YOU TUBE.

Annette and Wes in Thailand

This is exciting. Basically because I am learning to insert photos to my blog. Annette recently sent some picture from Thailand. I am only including two here:

Wat in Chiang Mai

Wes is hot after a long hike

Annette sent some more pictures, along with these two, and they can be viewed here.

In case you are interested in looking at some more pictures ... they also spend some time in Vietnam
This has been an educational experience. I have not thought about SE Asia since our troops left Vietnam. It really looks like a beautiful place.