Nothing profound...

Hummm...can't find much of anything to say that seems to be worth saying at the end of 2004. I'm going to bed.

United States could be destroyed in a similar manner.

During Friday's prayers in a Baghdad mosque, Sheik Ahmed Abdul-Ghafour Al-Samarie of the Association of Muslim Scholars - an influential Sunni group- demanded that the U.S. troops pull out of Iraq...We have to realize that God is mightier than America and more powerful than the occupation forces, he said. America, which conducted crimes everywhere and supported Israel against Muslims, should take the lesson of the torrent and surge of the ocean in Asia, Al-Samarie said, adding that the United States could be destroyed in a similar manner.

I was waiting for something like this to be said, I was surprised it came from a Muslim, since the majority of people killed in that region are Muslim. I am not sure how he is interpreting this natural disaster, it seems like he is insinuating that God sent the disaster on his own people...strange.

Instead of seeing the aid, the money, the care, the compassion...he sees it as a hammer to use in furthering his relgious/political agenda. He is using the cataclysmic death of innocent people to stir anti-American fervor and inspire people to dream of such destruction hitting the shores of America. I wonder if the Islamic regimes he loves so much would be sending such aid, man power and compassion to our shores. I doubt it.

What you can do now...

Here is a website that has information on humanitarian organizations that you can give to.
It also has fiscal information and historical stuff on each company, good for those who are concerned about how groups utilize the donations.

You are a mist that appears for a little while...

If we then claim that, well, after all, these poor folks are in heaven now so this makes ultimate sense of it all, we are still left wondering that if 30,000 people can be swept away in an instant, how really relevant or important are any of our lives anyway?

-from http://runtowin.blogspot.com

 

I read this today and it really struck home the point I was feeling.

It all seems so random, pointless and chaotic, this disaster.

 

It reminded me of James 4:13-14

Now listen you who say today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money, Why you, do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

 

That scripture really punches a hole in so much of our ego based, self-focused preaching that places the almighty ME at the center of all Gods work on earth. We are so damn important in our own eyes. I find I am humbled in the face of such acts of God...God's plan for mankind doesn't hinge on my life...

 

I am not trying to be nihilistic or too melancholy on you, I am just feeling really small in the face of a really big world with massive need.

 

May the Lord answer you in the hour of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May He send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion. -Psalms 20:1-2.

So often I long to be able to pray the above prayer for those who are in such desperate need but it seems so hollow in the face of such tragic loss and deep pain. It appears as meaningless as a band-aid on a severed limb.

More often I find myself praying this prayer...

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are You so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry out by day, but You do not answer, by night, and am not silent. -Psalms 22:1-2.

In the face of such chaos...I feel so small, so vulnerable and helpless.
We can and should pray and give help and support and I will.
But above all, I long to live a life that brings light into darkness because there seems to be so much darkness that is suffocating us, these days...

I watched The Return of the King Extended Version and it was fantastic! So satisfying, the added 50 minutes were awesome and helped tie together many parts that were left hanging or a bit hollow in the original theatrical release. If you are a Tolkien fan, or a fan of the movies, the extended versions are a must. The creepy witch king scene (what teeth!) at the black gate was worth the whole price of the movie! Brilliant film making.
 

Christmas 2004...done and gone, whew! 

Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me,
because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him. The man who was dying blessed me; I made the widow's heart sing.
I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban.
I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy
Job 29:11- 16

Here are some facts that you might not be aware of:
51% of the people on earth are children.
1 billion of these live in abject poverty their families live on less than one dollar a day.
More than 17 million children will starve to death this year.
Every 14 seconds, a child loses her parents to AIDS.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic is producing orphans on a scale unrivaled in world history. AIDS orphans are expected to number 44 million by 2010.
150 million children live on the streets because of poverty neglect and abuse.
Over 250 million children under the age of 14, work to support their families, they are often sold for only a few dollars and force into slavery or bonded labor.
10 million children are being sexually exploited.

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can
do something. -Helen Keller 

Destiny, my ten year old daughter took this picture this evening, is that a cool picture or what? 

The conservative Starbucks...

The mermaid without breasts.

The liberal Starbucks...

The Mermaid with breasts...

A goverment report on Walmart

Here is a House of Representative report on Walmart, it has some amazing and disturbing information.
Link from Jordon Cooper

Here is a shot of one of Christians more recent pictures. I asked him to draw this for me from The Hobbit. It took him four hours to draw and ink, he is 12 years old. All he does for free time is draw, write and read and a little video gaming too, oh yah, he eats a lot as well and takes a shower once in a while. 

Ok, I have been preaching a series of messages on marriage, sex and Song of Songs, in one message I said that I like full figured women. I mentioned that I was more attracted to the body of a Marilyn Monroe than these host of gerbil diet girls that are on most shows these days. So of course one of my youth leaders goes out and gets me this poster for Christmas! Beware what you preach they might be listening... 

Christians bedroom floor...Comic books, Animals of North America, books on Dinosaurs, a Bible and his drawings... 

Christians room...Lord of the rings, Dinosaurs, Dragons...the evolution of child to young man unfolding. 

This painting made me cry the first time I saw it in a gallery in town. For me, it pictured that moment in time when the boy begins to put away the toys of his younger days. Christian loves dinosaurs, not as much now as then...oh, it is so heart wrenching this parenting thing. See more of Greg Olsens art at www.gregolsengallery.com 

Here is Destiny with her friends Stephanie and Ashley.  

Austin in last nights program, he is in the middle. Angela (LeeEllas sister) did an amazing job putting together the little program. She is too stinking talented for one human being. 

Micah and buddy Spencer last night at our church childrens Christmas program.