So on Mother's Day 2008, I would just like to pass on a great big thank-you to my own mother and to my mother-in-law for the many sacrifices that these women made in order to raise both me and my husband. You are both very special women.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Mother's Day (2008)
Sunday, May 11, 2008 is Mother's Day, a day celebrated in many countries of the world. Although the day has become highly commercial - it is apparently the day that the largest number of people eat out - it is still an important day in the lives of most people in which to honor mothers, grandmothers, step-mothers, mothers-in-law and various other women who have made a major impact on their life.
Friday, May 9, 2008
The Purpose of Justice
What do you think the purpose of our justice system is? Is the intent to punish criminals or to rehabilitate them?
In the early 1970's, Susan Lefevre was arrested in Detroit for selling drugs to an undercover police officer. Although it was her first offence she was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison. At the end of her first year in custody, Susan escaped with the help of her grandfather, and disappeared for over thirty years.
On April 24, 2008, Susan was finally arrested again. She is now living in San Diego using the name Marie Walsh, she has been married for 23 years and has 3 children. She is apparently a model citizen.
Should Susan/Marie now have to complete the 9-19 years remaining on her original sentence plus possibly an additional sentence for the escape charge? The answer depends on whether or not we feel that justice is punitive or rehabilitative. If it is punitive then she must return to prison. If it is rehabilitative, then she has already been rehabilitated and probation is probably adequate.
In the early 1970's, Susan Lefevre was arrested in Detroit for selling drugs to an undercover police officer. Although it was her first offence she was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison. At the end of her first year in custody, Susan escaped with the help of her grandfather, and disappeared for over thirty years.
On April 24, 2008, Susan was finally arrested again. She is now living in San Diego using the name Marie Walsh, she has been married for 23 years and has 3 children. She is apparently a model citizen.
Should Susan/Marie now have to complete the 9-19 years remaining on her original sentence plus possibly an additional sentence for the escape charge? The answer depends on whether or not we feel that justice is punitive or rehabilitative. If it is punitive then she must return to prison. If it is rehabilitative, then she has already been rehabilitated and probation is probably adequate.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Friends
Almost everyone has heard the story by now of how Canadian, Brenda Martin, spent almost two hellish years in a Mexican prison and how the Canadian officials hemmed and hawed about assisting in her release. Almost everyone has also heard of her friend, Debra Tielman, who moved Heaven and Earth to get her friend back home. Has any one really considered the heroic lengths that Debra went to help the friend she hadn't talked to in 15 years and whom she hadn't seen in 32 years? Would any of us have gone to those lengths. Or would we merely have shaken our heads and said "That's terrible. I wish I could help." and then gone on with our own lives? I believe that God put Debra in Brenda's life "for such a time as this."
Brenda Martin is quoted as saying about Debra:
"She has been a godsend," Martin said Monday. "She has been as steadfast and true as any friend you could ever ask for. She gave me hope that I would get out of prison when I had nothing to believe in."
"I think what I have is conviction," Tieleman said. "I believe in what I am telling the public and I try to tell them in a straightforward way so they will understand."
Apparently, as the story goes, Debra looked at her fingernails one day and thought of her old friend, Brenda.
"Red fingernail polish has always reminded me of Brenda Martin, because when we were girls, I was a nail-biter and Brenda had gorgeous nails that she always painted red."
"I didn't know if Brenda was still married or what her last name would be, so I Googled her mom's last name and found one of your stories," Martin said.
She was talking about a newspaper story about how Brenda was in prison in Mexico accused of money laundering for her former employer's pyramid scheme.
The two girls met in grade nine when Debra's family moved to Trenton Ontario. Debra moved to Kitchener-Waterloo a few years later, Brenda followed and the two teens shared an apartment. They drifted apart over the years and lost touch.
Debra is now 52 years old, has two daughters and one grandson and owns her own business. But she put all of that on hold to come to the aid of her friend and run the campaign to free Brenda Martin.
When she realized Martin had been found guilty, she shouted, "This is justice in Mexico?" and rushed, crying, from the courtroom.
"I was devastated," Tieleman said. "I wanted it to be over for Brenda, but have to admit I also wanted it to be over for me. I wanted my life back."
"I was devastated," Tieleman said. "I wanted it to be over for Brenda, but have to admit I also wanted it to be over for me. I wanted my life back."
On Thursday, Tieleman stood in the cold, driving rain at the Kitchener airport hoping for a glimpse of her friend as she stepped off a Canadair jet.
The government had pulled off what Tieleman called the fastest prisoner transfer in Canadian history.
The government had pulled off what Tieleman called the fastest prisoner transfer in Canadian history.
"I have learned about what ordinary Canadians can make happen. We are pretty laid back, but when we have convictions, we are an incredible force to be reckoned with."
John 15:13
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Geese Gone Astray
I managed to get a picture of these two geese who are living in the Inner-City, far from their natural habitat! They have even been spotted hanging out in crack-alley. Someone ought to tell them that you are known by the company you keep. Geese normally prefer wetlands, so what they are doing in this locale is any ones guess. They have been here for at least a couple of weeks. Possibly one is injured and couldn't fly any further. Perhaps they are just taking a break before moving further north. In any case they are obviously adventurous types to be hanging out in an area that is so far out of the norm. 
Eric Grohe's Fabulous 3-d Murals
A friend sent me the following e-mail featuring the wonderful 3-d artwork of Eric Grohe. His work is so lifelike that you can hardly believe that it is done with paint. He truly has a God given talent that needs to be seen to be believed. At the end of this post I have included a link to his web page where you can read more about the artist and see more samples of his work.
Liberty Remembers: Before ...
After ...
How to dress up a drab Shopping Mall - Niagara , NY
After. .
Indoor Murals - Miller Brewery . . . Hallway Before - Miller Fermenting Rooms
After Photos - Past meets Present in the Miller Brewery Fermenting Rooms - hooks, clipboards and aprons were added to the surface of the murals to enhance the illusion . . . You're looking at flat walls!
Liberty Remembers: Before ...
After ...How to dress up a drab Shopping Mall - Niagara , NY
After. .
Indoor Murals - Miller Brewery . . . Hallway Before - Miller Fermenting Rooms
After Photos - Past meets Present in the Miller Brewery Fermenting Rooms - hooks, clipboards and aprons were added to the surface of the murals to enhance the illusion . . . You're looking at flat walls!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Secure In Your Salvation
Many people, sadly enough, do not feel secure about their salvation. If you base your salvation upon works rather than faith you can never be quite sure. How do you know for sure that your good works do indeed outweigh your bad deeds? How can you be certain that you are actually using the same scales that God is using to determine your worthiness? It is frightening to think that the criteria we are using may not be at all the same criteria that God is using.
Matthew 5:20-28
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
The following sermon was written by a good friend of mine, Tom Chambers. I believe it explains very clearly how you really can be certain of your place in eternity.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Death has a wonderful way of showing us what is truly important in our lives. Most often when we think of death we think of those we will leave behind or of those who have gone on ahead of us. In reality Death wipes the slate clean of all the things that are of secondary importance and leaves us with the one thing that is left...our eternal destiny. As believers in God, we have two options: eternity with God or eternal separation from God...that's it. All the things we thought were important are now out of reach.
As Christians we claim our faith in Christ's promise of eternal life. Having accepted His gift of salvation not by our actions or good deeds or anything we have done but because we have professed Him as our savior. Nothing more.
I am not aware of a Christian who has not at some point in their walk posed concerns about their eternal salvation. Every so often when I think about my own walk with Jesus I am reminded of my sinful humanity. I become painfully aware that no matter how hard I try to break free from my sinful past I cannot stop sinning. God cannot and will not accept sin. When we ponder this truth, we can lose heart and doubt our eternal salvation. If God cannot and will not accept sin, how then can we be truly saved and have assurance of salvation? Clearly the confusion and doubt that ensues was not in Jesus' plan for our lives. It is important to remember that as Christians this doubt is not something we need to ponder.
Salvation is so complex and yet so simple. Amid this confusion we read Paul’s words telling us we are all sinners in Rom 3:23 and later telling us in Rom 8:1 that we are no longer under condemnation. So which is it? The short answer is “both”.
The Apostle John is credited with writing the three letters that bears his name. I want to focus in on the first one. It is a short letter that was written close to the end of the first century (around 95 A.D.) and bears a few unusual features.
First, it has no customary greetings associated with letter writing – the author bulldozes directly into a discourse that echoes the first chapter of John’s gospel.
Secondly, there is no audience identified. This letter is directed at Christian believers though none are identified by name or region, but it is clear that the recipients were well acquainted with the author.
It appears that this letter was written in extreme haste - conspicuous because of it's lack of these customary greetings. False teachers who were causing a crisis of faith amongst the Christians. Some of the claims and false teachings forwarded by these individuals were causing many to doubt their salvation. John urgently counteracts these false teaching by reminding them of what they already know. In fact, John uses the word “know” over thirty times in this letter. He also wanted to reaffirm their confidence and remind them of the source of their salvation.
I want to focus on the fifth chapter of this letter in which John lays out the assurance of salvation for his readers. John lays it out in two parts:
In the first two verses John speaks of the testimony of God. What is that testimony? In short God testifies that Jesus is divine, that he is the Christ. The Holy Spirit testifies with the water and the blood, that, according to the law, no charge could be brought against a man unless it could be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If we accept men's testimonies then we surely had better accept God's testimony.
I am reading out of the NIV. (read 1 Jn 5:10-15)
vs 10: Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about His Son.
Vs 11: And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
Vs 12: He who has the Son has life: he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Vs 13: I write theses things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life,
In vs 10:
-the word 'believe' means to commit to and have trust in. This word in Greek means more than just to acknowledge His existence, but to place, commit trust in Him. This belief and trust is a confidence that He will do what He says He will.
-The testimony in his HEART. The testimony is a witness of evidence seated in the core of your being. It is something you “know” in your very core. It represents a “gut” feeling.
Vs 11:
-Eternal of course means perpetual. Eternity is a strange word. It's concept is a word used to describe a time-frame that is beyond time. This is life outside of time. The term forever really doesn't do it justice. God has given us perpetual life which is in His Son and clearly we must have the Son to have this eternal life.
Vs 12:
-One of the defining features of the apostle John's writings are his use of contrasting ideas. This letter is full of contrasts and this one really hits the nail on the head. This concept is black and white...it's A or B, yes or no. There is no 'maybe' involved. It requires a commitment from the listener or reader.
Vs 13:
-John now limits his audience only to those who have already believed in the name of the Son of God. It means those of you who believe that Jesus is the Son of God can KNOW you are saved just because you have believed. The apostle John covers two things:
1. Believe God; and
2. Believe in Jesus as the Son of God.
That's it.
Either Jesus is accepted as the Son of God and you have salvation, or He is rejected which means that God is not believed. To not believe God is to reject Him altogether.
But in the text John is writing to believers who have believed God and accepted Jesus.
We have accepted the Son of God, therefore we have eternal life.
Now we can move to the second part; this is what we can do with the assurance of salvation:
Let's look at the next two verses.
(Read vs 14 – 15)
vs 14: This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
Vs 15: And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of Him.
Vs 14:
-The word confidence means frankness or bluntness...”the bottom line”. Because we have the eternal life through Jesus sacrificial death and resurrection we now have the freedom to ask for anything with the provision that it falls within His will. But note, God will not bend to our will, but we must bend to His will.
Vs 15:
-Note the present tense of the word 'HAVE'. This word tells us that since God hears our requests (which are in accordance with His will) we can be confident they are granted. This is the floor plan of an effective prayer life! The assurance of God's salvation leads us naturally into furthering His kingdom.
What does this all mean? It means that you can KNOW you are saved. The only reason you might doubt your salvation is because the enemy is throwing lies at you to neutralize your action as a believing Christian. If you doubt your salvation, the focus of your prayer life is focused upon you and the fear for yourself rather than focused on God and furthering of God's kingdom. Inward versus outward.
If you are concerned about your future with God then you are experiencing the Holy Spirit's nudge. This is that “gut feeling” we read about in verse 10. Your spirit is responding to the calling of the Holy Spirit!
John also wrote about this just a chapter or two earlier. Let's go to 1 Jn 3:19.
(Read 1 Jn 3:19-24)
vs. 19: This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set out hearts at rest in his presence...
vs 20: whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.
vs 21: Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God...
vs 22: and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.
Vs 23: And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.
Vs 24: Those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us.
In short, if you are concerned about your spiritual destiny and walk with God, then I would say you are in good shape. Those whose eternal destiny is in question are those who don't know Jesus as their savior and perhaps don't care. We as Christians need to have a healthy dose of reverent fear of God. If we have that assurance of faith then we can experience the joy that the apostle Paul speaks of in Philippians. If you have accepted Jesus as your savior you needn't ever concern yourself with doubts regarding your salvation ever again.
Matthew 5:20-28
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
The following sermon was written by a good friend of mine, Tom Chambers. I believe it explains very clearly how you really can be certain of your place in eternity.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Death has a wonderful way of showing us what is truly important in our lives. Most often when we think of death we think of those we will leave behind or of those who have gone on ahead of us. In reality Death wipes the slate clean of all the things that are of secondary importance and leaves us with the one thing that is left...our eternal destiny. As believers in God, we have two options: eternity with God or eternal separation from God...that's it. All the things we thought were important are now out of reach.
As Christians we claim our faith in Christ's promise of eternal life. Having accepted His gift of salvation not by our actions or good deeds or anything we have done but because we have professed Him as our savior. Nothing more.
I am not aware of a Christian who has not at some point in their walk posed concerns about their eternal salvation. Every so often when I think about my own walk with Jesus I am reminded of my sinful humanity. I become painfully aware that no matter how hard I try to break free from my sinful past I cannot stop sinning. God cannot and will not accept sin. When we ponder this truth, we can lose heart and doubt our eternal salvation. If God cannot and will not accept sin, how then can we be truly saved and have assurance of salvation? Clearly the confusion and doubt that ensues was not in Jesus' plan for our lives. It is important to remember that as Christians this doubt is not something we need to ponder.
Salvation is so complex and yet so simple. Amid this confusion we read Paul’s words telling us we are all sinners in Rom 3:23 and later telling us in Rom 8:1 that we are no longer under condemnation. So which is it? The short answer is “both”.
The Apostle John is credited with writing the three letters that bears his name. I want to focus in on the first one. It is a short letter that was written close to the end of the first century (around 95 A.D.) and bears a few unusual features.
First, it has no customary greetings associated with letter writing – the author bulldozes directly into a discourse that echoes the first chapter of John’s gospel.
Secondly, there is no audience identified. This letter is directed at Christian believers though none are identified by name or region, but it is clear that the recipients were well acquainted with the author.
It appears that this letter was written in extreme haste - conspicuous because of it's lack of these customary greetings. False teachers who were causing a crisis of faith amongst the Christians. Some of the claims and false teachings forwarded by these individuals were causing many to doubt their salvation. John urgently counteracts these false teaching by reminding them of what they already know. In fact, John uses the word “know” over thirty times in this letter. He also wanted to reaffirm their confidence and remind them of the source of their salvation.
I want to focus on the fifth chapter of this letter in which John lays out the assurance of salvation for his readers. John lays it out in two parts:
In the first two verses John speaks of the testimony of God. What is that testimony? In short God testifies that Jesus is divine, that he is the Christ. The Holy Spirit testifies with the water and the blood, that, according to the law, no charge could be brought against a man unless it could be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If we accept men's testimonies then we surely had better accept God's testimony.
I am reading out of the NIV. (read 1 Jn 5:10-15)
vs 10: Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about His Son.
Vs 11: And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
Vs 12: He who has the Son has life: he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Vs 13: I write theses things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life,
In vs 10:
-the word 'believe' means to commit to and have trust in. This word in Greek means more than just to acknowledge His existence, but to place, commit trust in Him. This belief and trust is a confidence that He will do what He says He will.
-The testimony in his HEART. The testimony is a witness of evidence seated in the core of your being. It is something you “know” in your very core. It represents a “gut” feeling.
Vs 11:
-Eternal of course means perpetual. Eternity is a strange word. It's concept is a word used to describe a time-frame that is beyond time. This is life outside of time. The term forever really doesn't do it justice. God has given us perpetual life which is in His Son and clearly we must have the Son to have this eternal life.
Vs 12:
-One of the defining features of the apostle John's writings are his use of contrasting ideas. This letter is full of contrasts and this one really hits the nail on the head. This concept is black and white...it's A or B, yes or no. There is no 'maybe' involved. It requires a commitment from the listener or reader.
Vs 13:
-John now limits his audience only to those who have already believed in the name of the Son of God. It means those of you who believe that Jesus is the Son of God can KNOW you are saved just because you have believed. The apostle John covers two things:
1. Believe God; and
2. Believe in Jesus as the Son of God.
That's it.
Either Jesus is accepted as the Son of God and you have salvation, or He is rejected which means that God is not believed. To not believe God is to reject Him altogether.
But in the text John is writing to believers who have believed God and accepted Jesus.
We have accepted the Son of God, therefore we have eternal life.
Now we can move to the second part; this is what we can do with the assurance of salvation:
Let's look at the next two verses.
(Read vs 14 – 15)
vs 14: This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
Vs 15: And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of Him.
Vs 14:
-The word confidence means frankness or bluntness...”the bottom line”. Because we have the eternal life through Jesus sacrificial death and resurrection we now have the freedom to ask for anything with the provision that it falls within His will. But note, God will not bend to our will, but we must bend to His will.
Vs 15:
-Note the present tense of the word 'HAVE'. This word tells us that since God hears our requests (which are in accordance with His will) we can be confident they are granted. This is the floor plan of an effective prayer life! The assurance of God's salvation leads us naturally into furthering His kingdom.
What does this all mean? It means that you can KNOW you are saved. The only reason you might doubt your salvation is because the enemy is throwing lies at you to neutralize your action as a believing Christian. If you doubt your salvation, the focus of your prayer life is focused upon you and the fear for yourself rather than focused on God and furthering of God's kingdom. Inward versus outward.
If you are concerned about your future with God then you are experiencing the Holy Spirit's nudge. This is that “gut feeling” we read about in verse 10. Your spirit is responding to the calling of the Holy Spirit!
John also wrote about this just a chapter or two earlier. Let's go to 1 Jn 3:19.
(Read 1 Jn 3:19-24)
vs. 19: This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set out hearts at rest in his presence...
vs 20: whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.
vs 21: Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God...
vs 22: and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.
Vs 23: And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.
Vs 24: Those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us.
In short, if you are concerned about your spiritual destiny and walk with God, then I would say you are in good shape. Those whose eternal destiny is in question are those who don't know Jesus as their savior and perhaps don't care. We as Christians need to have a healthy dose of reverent fear of God. If we have that assurance of faith then we can experience the joy that the apostle Paul speaks of in Philippians. If you have accepted Jesus as your savior you needn't ever concern yourself with doubts regarding your salvation ever again.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Heston on Winning the Culture War
By: Charlton Heston
The following is a speech NRA President Charlton Heston gave to the Harvard Law School Forum on February 16, 1999.
I remember my son when he was five, explaining to his kindergarten class what his father did for a living. "My Daddy," he said, "pretends to be people."
There have been quite a few of them. Prophets from the Old and New Testaments, a couple of Christian saints, generals of various nationalities and different centuries, several kings, three American presidents, a French cardinal and two geniuses, including Michelangelo. If you want the ceiling repainted I'll do my best. There always seems to be a lot of different fellows up here. I'm never sure which one of them gets to talk. Right now, I guess I'm the guy.
As I pondered our visit tonight, it struck me: If my Creator gave me the gift to connect you with the hearts and minds of those great men, then I want to use that same gift now to re-connect you with your own sense of liberty...your own freedom of thought...your own compass for what is right.
Dedicating the memorial at a Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln said of America, "We are now engaged in a great Civil War, testing whether this nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure."
Those words are true again. I believe that we are again engaged in a great civil war, a cultural war that's about to hijack your birthright to think and say what resides in your heart. I fear you no longer trust the pulsing lifeblood of liberty inside you...the stuff that made this country rise from wilderness into the miracle that it is.
Let me back up. About a year ago I became president of the National Rifle Association, which protects the right to keep and bear arms. I ran for office, I was elected, and now I serve...I serve as a moving target for the media who've called me everything from "ridiculous" and "duped" to a "brain-injured senile, crazy old man." I know...I'm pretty old...but I sure Lord ain't senile.
As I have stood in the crosshairs of those who target Second Amendment freedoms, I've realized that firearms are not the only issue. No, it's much, much bigger than that.
I've come to understand that a cultural war is raging across our land, in which, with Orwellian fervor, certain acceptable thoughts and speech are mandated.
For example, I marched for civil rights with Dr. King in 1963 - long before Hollywood found it fashionable. But when I told an audience last year that white pride is just as valid as black pride or red pride or anyone else's pride, they called me a racist.
I've worked with brilliantly talented homosexuals all my life. But when I told an audience that gay rights should extend no further than your rights or my rights, I was called a homophobe.
I served in World War II against the Axis powers. But during a speech, when I drew an analogy between singling out innocent Jews and singling out innocent gun owners, I was called an anti-Semite.
Everyone I know knows I would never raise a closed fist against my country. But when I asked an audience to oppose this cultural persecution, I was compared to Timothy McVeigh.
From Time magazine to friends and colleagues, they're essentially saying, "Chuck, how dare you speak your mind. You are using language not authorized for public consumption!"
But I am not afraid. If Americans believed in political correctness, we'd still be King George's boys - subjects bound to the British crown.
In his book, "The End of Sanity," Martin Gross writes that "blatantly irrational behavior is rapidly being established as the norm in almost every area of human endeavor. There seem to be new customs, new rules, new anti-intellectual theories regularly foisted on us from every direction.
Underneath, the nation is roiling. Americans know something without a name is undermining the nation, turning the mind mushy when it comes to separating truth from falsehood and right from wrong. And they don't like it."
Let me read a few examples.
• At Antioch College in Ohio, young men seeking intimacy with a coed must get verbal permission at each step of the process from kissing to petting to final copulation...all clearly spelled out in a printed college directive.
• In New Jersey, despite the death of several patients nationwide who had been infected by dentists who had concealed their AIDS, the state commissioner announced that health providers who are HIV-positive need not...need not...tell their patients that they are infected.
• At William and Mary, students tried to change the name of the school team "The Tribe" because it was supposedly insulting to local Indians, only to learn that authentic Virginia chiefs truly like the name.
• In San Francisco, city fathers passed an ordinance protecting the rights of transvestites to cross-dress on the job, and for transsexuals to have separate toilet facilities while undergoing sex change surgery.
• In New York City, kids who don't speak a word of Spanish have been placed in bilingual classes to learn their three R's in Spanish solely because their last names sound Hispanic.
• At the University of Pennsylvania, in a state where thousands died at Gettysburg opposing slavery, the president of that college officially set up segregated dormitory space for black students.
Yeah, I know...that's out of bounds now. Dr. King said "Negroes." Jimmy Baldwin and most of us on the March said "black." But it's a no-no now.
For me, hyphenated identities are awkward...particularly "Native-American." I'm a Native American, for God's sake. I also happen to be a blood-initiated brother of the Miniconjou Sioux. On my wife's side, my grandson is a thirteenth generation native American...with a capital letter on "American."
Finally, just last month...David Howard, head of the Washington, D.C. Office of Public Advocate, used the word "niggardly" while talking to colleagues about budgetary matters. Of course, "niggardly" means stingy or scanty. But within days Howard was forced to publicly apologize and resign.
As columnist Tony Snow wrote: "David Howard got fired because some people in public employ were morons who (a) didn't know the meaning of niggardly, (b) didn't know how to use a dictionary to discover the meaning, and (c) actually demanded that he apologize for their ignorance."
What does all of this mean? It means that telling us what to think has evolved into telling us what to say, so telling us what to do can't be far behind.
Before you claim to be a champion of free thought, tell me: Why did political correctness originate on America's campuses? And why do you continue to tolerate it? Why do you, who're supposed to debate ideas, surrender to their suppression?
Let's be honest. Who here thinks your professors can say what they really believe?
It scares me to death and should scare you too, that the superstition of political correctness rules the halls of reason.
You are the best and the brightest. You, here in the fertile cradle of American academia, here in the castle of learning on the Charles River, you are the cream. But I submit that you, and your counterparts across the land, are the most socially conformed and politically silenced generation since Concord Bridge. And as long as you validate that...and abide it...you are - by your grandfathers' standards - cowards.
Here's another example. Right now at more than one major university, Second Amendment scholars and researchers are being told to shut up about their findings or they'll lose their jobs. Why? Because their research findings would undermine big-city mayors...pending lawsuits that seek to extort hundreds of millions of dollars from firearm manufacturers.
I don't care what you think about guns. But if you are not shocked at that, I am shocked at you. Who will guard the raw material of unfettered ideas, if not you? Who will defend the core value of academia, if you supposed soldiers of free thought and expression lay down your arms and plead, "Don't shoot me."
If you talk about race, it does not make you a racist. If you see distinctions between the genders, it does not make you a sexist. If you think critically about a denomination, it does not make you anti-religion. If you accept but don't celebrate homosexuality, it does not make you a homophobe.
Don't let America's universities continue to serve as incubators for this rampant epidemic of new McCarthyism.
But what can you do? How can anyone prevail against such pervasive social subjugation?
The answer's been here all along.
I learned it 36 years ago, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., standing with Dr. Martin Luther King and two hundred thousand people.
You simply...disobey.
Peaceably, yes. Respectfully, of course. Nonviolently, absolutely.
But when told how to think or what to say or how to behave, we don't. We disobey social protocol that stifles and stigmatizes personal freedom.
I learned the awesome power of disobedience from Dr. King...who learned it from Gandhi, and Thoreau, and Jesus, and every other great man who led those in the right against those with the might.
Disobedience is in our DNA. We feel innate kinship with that disobedient spirit that tossed tea in to Boston Harbor, that sent Thoreau to jail, that refused to sit in the back of the bus, that protested a war in Viet Nam.
In that same spirit, I am asking you to disavow cultural correctness with massive disobedience of rogue authority, social directives and onerous law that weaken personal freedom.
But be careful...it hurts.
Disobedience demands that you put yourself at risk. Dr. King stood on lots of balconies.
You must be willing to be humiliated...to endure the modern-day equivalent of the police dogs at Montgomery and the water cannons at Selma.
You must be willing to experience discomfort. I'm not complaining, but my own decades of social activism have taken their toll on me. Let me tell you a story.
A few years back I heard about a rapper named Ice-T who was selling a CD called "Cop Killer" celebrating ambushing and murdering police officers. It was being marketed by none other than Time/Warner, the biggest entertainment conglomerate in the world.
Police across the country were outraged. Rightfully so - at least one had been murdered. But Time/warner was stonewalling because the CD was a cash cow for them, and the media were tiptoeing around it because the rapper was black.
I heard Time/Warner had a stockholders meeting scheduled in Beverly Hills. I owned some shares at the time and decided to attend.
What I did there was against the advice of my family and colleagues. I asked for the floor. To a hushed room of a thousand average American stockholders, I simply read the full lyrics of "Cop Killer" - every vicious, vulgar, instructional word.
"I GOT MY 12 GAUGE SAWED OFF
I GOT MY HEADLIGHTS TURNED OFF
I'M ABOUT TO BUST SOME SHOTS OFF
I'M ABOUT TO DUST SOME COPS OFF..."
It got worse, a lot worse. I won't read the rest of it to you. But trust me, the room was a sea of shocked, frozen, blanched faces. The Time/Warner executives squirmed in their chairs and stared at their shoes. They hated me for that.
Then I delivered another volley of sick lyric brimming with racist filth, where Ice-T fantasizes about sodomizing two 12-year old nieces of Al and Tipper Gore.
"SHE PUSHED HER BUTT AGAINST MY..."
Well, I won't do to you here what I did to them. Let's just say I left the room in echoing silence. When I read the lyrics to the waiting press corps, one of them said "We can't print that." "I know," I replied, "but Time/Warner's selling it."
Two months later, Time/Warner terminated Ice-T's contract. I'll never be offered another film by Warner, or get a good review from Time magazine. But disobedience means you must be willing to act, not just talk.
When a mugger sues his elderly victim for defending herself...jam the switchboard of the district attorney's office.
When your university is pressured to lower standards until 80% of the students graduate with honors...choke the halls of the board of regents.
When an 8-year-old boy pecks a girl's cheek on the playground and gets hauled into court for sexual harassment...march on that school and block its doorways.
When someone you elected is seduced by political power and betrays you...petition them, oust them, banish them.
When Time magazine's cover portrays millennium nuts as deranged, crazy Christians holding a cross as it did last month...boycott their magazine and the products it advertises.
So that this nation may long endure, I urge you to follow in the hallowed footsteps of the great disobediences of history that freed exiles, founded religions, defeated tyrants, and yes, in the hands of an aroused rabble in arms and a few great men, by God's grace, built this country.
If Dr. King were here, I think he would agree.
Thank you.
The following is a speech NRA President Charlton Heston gave to the Harvard Law School Forum on February 16, 1999.
I remember my son when he was five, explaining to his kindergarten class what his father did for a living. "My Daddy," he said, "pretends to be people."
There have been quite a few of them. Prophets from the Old and New Testaments, a couple of Christian saints, generals of various nationalities and different centuries, several kings, three American presidents, a French cardinal and two geniuses, including Michelangelo. If you want the ceiling repainted I'll do my best. There always seems to be a lot of different fellows up here. I'm never sure which one of them gets to talk. Right now, I guess I'm the guy.
As I pondered our visit tonight, it struck me: If my Creator gave me the gift to connect you with the hearts and minds of those great men, then I want to use that same gift now to re-connect you with your own sense of liberty...your own freedom of thought...your own compass for what is right.
Dedicating the memorial at a Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln said of America, "We are now engaged in a great Civil War, testing whether this nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure."
Those words are true again. I believe that we are again engaged in a great civil war, a cultural war that's about to hijack your birthright to think and say what resides in your heart. I fear you no longer trust the pulsing lifeblood of liberty inside you...the stuff that made this country rise from wilderness into the miracle that it is.
Let me back up. About a year ago I became president of the National Rifle Association, which protects the right to keep and bear arms. I ran for office, I was elected, and now I serve...I serve as a moving target for the media who've called me everything from "ridiculous" and "duped" to a "brain-injured senile, crazy old man." I know...I'm pretty old...but I sure Lord ain't senile.
As I have stood in the crosshairs of those who target Second Amendment freedoms, I've realized that firearms are not the only issue. No, it's much, much bigger than that.
I've come to understand that a cultural war is raging across our land, in which, with Orwellian fervor, certain acceptable thoughts and speech are mandated.
For example, I marched for civil rights with Dr. King in 1963 - long before Hollywood found it fashionable. But when I told an audience last year that white pride is just as valid as black pride or red pride or anyone else's pride, they called me a racist.
I've worked with brilliantly talented homosexuals all my life. But when I told an audience that gay rights should extend no further than your rights or my rights, I was called a homophobe.
I served in World War II against the Axis powers. But during a speech, when I drew an analogy between singling out innocent Jews and singling out innocent gun owners, I was called an anti-Semite.
Everyone I know knows I would never raise a closed fist against my country. But when I asked an audience to oppose this cultural persecution, I was compared to Timothy McVeigh.
From Time magazine to friends and colleagues, they're essentially saying, "Chuck, how dare you speak your mind. You are using language not authorized for public consumption!"
But I am not afraid. If Americans believed in political correctness, we'd still be King George's boys - subjects bound to the British crown.
In his book, "The End of Sanity," Martin Gross writes that "blatantly irrational behavior is rapidly being established as the norm in almost every area of human endeavor. There seem to be new customs, new rules, new anti-intellectual theories regularly foisted on us from every direction.
Underneath, the nation is roiling. Americans know something without a name is undermining the nation, turning the mind mushy when it comes to separating truth from falsehood and right from wrong. And they don't like it."
Let me read a few examples.
• At Antioch College in Ohio, young men seeking intimacy with a coed must get verbal permission at each step of the process from kissing to petting to final copulation...all clearly spelled out in a printed college directive.
• In New Jersey, despite the death of several patients nationwide who had been infected by dentists who had concealed their AIDS, the state commissioner announced that health providers who are HIV-positive need not...need not...tell their patients that they are infected.
• At William and Mary, students tried to change the name of the school team "The Tribe" because it was supposedly insulting to local Indians, only to learn that authentic Virginia chiefs truly like the name.
• In San Francisco, city fathers passed an ordinance protecting the rights of transvestites to cross-dress on the job, and for transsexuals to have separate toilet facilities while undergoing sex change surgery.
• In New York City, kids who don't speak a word of Spanish have been placed in bilingual classes to learn their three R's in Spanish solely because their last names sound Hispanic.
• At the University of Pennsylvania, in a state where thousands died at Gettysburg opposing slavery, the president of that college officially set up segregated dormitory space for black students.
Yeah, I know...that's out of bounds now. Dr. King said "Negroes." Jimmy Baldwin and most of us on the March said "black." But it's a no-no now.
For me, hyphenated identities are awkward...particularly "Native-American." I'm a Native American, for God's sake. I also happen to be a blood-initiated brother of the Miniconjou Sioux. On my wife's side, my grandson is a thirteenth generation native American...with a capital letter on "American."
Finally, just last month...David Howard, head of the Washington, D.C. Office of Public Advocate, used the word "niggardly" while talking to colleagues about budgetary matters. Of course, "niggardly" means stingy or scanty. But within days Howard was forced to publicly apologize and resign.
As columnist Tony Snow wrote: "David Howard got fired because some people in public employ were morons who (a) didn't know the meaning of niggardly, (b) didn't know how to use a dictionary to discover the meaning, and (c) actually demanded that he apologize for their ignorance."
What does all of this mean? It means that telling us what to think has evolved into telling us what to say, so telling us what to do can't be far behind.
Before you claim to be a champion of free thought, tell me: Why did political correctness originate on America's campuses? And why do you continue to tolerate it? Why do you, who're supposed to debate ideas, surrender to their suppression?
Let's be honest. Who here thinks your professors can say what they really believe?
It scares me to death and should scare you too, that the superstition of political correctness rules the halls of reason.
You are the best and the brightest. You, here in the fertile cradle of American academia, here in the castle of learning on the Charles River, you are the cream. But I submit that you, and your counterparts across the land, are the most socially conformed and politically silenced generation since Concord Bridge. And as long as you validate that...and abide it...you are - by your grandfathers' standards - cowards.
Here's another example. Right now at more than one major university, Second Amendment scholars and researchers are being told to shut up about their findings or they'll lose their jobs. Why? Because their research findings would undermine big-city mayors...pending lawsuits that seek to extort hundreds of millions of dollars from firearm manufacturers.
I don't care what you think about guns. But if you are not shocked at that, I am shocked at you. Who will guard the raw material of unfettered ideas, if not you? Who will defend the core value of academia, if you supposed soldiers of free thought and expression lay down your arms and plead, "Don't shoot me."
If you talk about race, it does not make you a racist. If you see distinctions between the genders, it does not make you a sexist. If you think critically about a denomination, it does not make you anti-religion. If you accept but don't celebrate homosexuality, it does not make you a homophobe.
Don't let America's universities continue to serve as incubators for this rampant epidemic of new McCarthyism.
But what can you do? How can anyone prevail against such pervasive social subjugation?
The answer's been here all along.
I learned it 36 years ago, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., standing with Dr. Martin Luther King and two hundred thousand people.
You simply...disobey.
Peaceably, yes. Respectfully, of course. Nonviolently, absolutely.
But when told how to think or what to say or how to behave, we don't. We disobey social protocol that stifles and stigmatizes personal freedom.
I learned the awesome power of disobedience from Dr. King...who learned it from Gandhi, and Thoreau, and Jesus, and every other great man who led those in the right against those with the might.
Disobedience is in our DNA. We feel innate kinship with that disobedient spirit that tossed tea in to Boston Harbor, that sent Thoreau to jail, that refused to sit in the back of the bus, that protested a war in Viet Nam.
In that same spirit, I am asking you to disavow cultural correctness with massive disobedience of rogue authority, social directives and onerous law that weaken personal freedom.
But be careful...it hurts.
Disobedience demands that you put yourself at risk. Dr. King stood on lots of balconies.
You must be willing to be humiliated...to endure the modern-day equivalent of the police dogs at Montgomery and the water cannons at Selma.
You must be willing to experience discomfort. I'm not complaining, but my own decades of social activism have taken their toll on me. Let me tell you a story.
A few years back I heard about a rapper named Ice-T who was selling a CD called "Cop Killer" celebrating ambushing and murdering police officers. It was being marketed by none other than Time/Warner, the biggest entertainment conglomerate in the world.
Police across the country were outraged. Rightfully so - at least one had been murdered. But Time/warner was stonewalling because the CD was a cash cow for them, and the media were tiptoeing around it because the rapper was black.
I heard Time/Warner had a stockholders meeting scheduled in Beverly Hills. I owned some shares at the time and decided to attend.
What I did there was against the advice of my family and colleagues. I asked for the floor. To a hushed room of a thousand average American stockholders, I simply read the full lyrics of "Cop Killer" - every vicious, vulgar, instructional word.
"I GOT MY 12 GAUGE SAWED OFF
I GOT MY HEADLIGHTS TURNED OFF
I'M ABOUT TO BUST SOME SHOTS OFF
I'M ABOUT TO DUST SOME COPS OFF..."
It got worse, a lot worse. I won't read the rest of it to you. But trust me, the room was a sea of shocked, frozen, blanched faces. The Time/Warner executives squirmed in their chairs and stared at their shoes. They hated me for that.
Then I delivered another volley of sick lyric brimming with racist filth, where Ice-T fantasizes about sodomizing two 12-year old nieces of Al and Tipper Gore.
"SHE PUSHED HER BUTT AGAINST MY..."
Well, I won't do to you here what I did to them. Let's just say I left the room in echoing silence. When I read the lyrics to the waiting press corps, one of them said "We can't print that." "I know," I replied, "but Time/Warner's selling it."
Two months later, Time/Warner terminated Ice-T's contract. I'll never be offered another film by Warner, or get a good review from Time magazine. But disobedience means you must be willing to act, not just talk.
When a mugger sues his elderly victim for defending herself...jam the switchboard of the district attorney's office.
When your university is pressured to lower standards until 80% of the students graduate with honors...choke the halls of the board of regents.
When an 8-year-old boy pecks a girl's cheek on the playground and gets hauled into court for sexual harassment...march on that school and block its doorways.
When someone you elected is seduced by political power and betrays you...petition them, oust them, banish them.
When Time magazine's cover portrays millennium nuts as deranged, crazy Christians holding a cross as it did last month...boycott their magazine and the products it advertises.
So that this nation may long endure, I urge you to follow in the hallowed footsteps of the great disobediences of history that freed exiles, founded religions, defeated tyrants, and yes, in the hands of an aroused rabble in arms and a few great men, by God's grace, built this country.
If Dr. King were here, I think he would agree.
Thank you.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
This sounds like a must-see!
Darwin's Kool-Aid
A review of "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" (opening in theaters April 18)
By J. Matt Barber
April 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com/CWA) - There's a shakeup in the cult of neo-Darwinist pseudo-science, and that endearing, monotone high school teacher of "Ferris Bueller" fame is doing the shaking.
With his new feature documentary, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" (opening in theaters April 18), Ben Stein - actor, economist, presidential speechwriter and all around really smart guy - squares off with some of the world's most prominent anti-theist elites as he gets to the heart of the question, "Who are we, and how did we get here?"
This is not your father's documentary. "Expelled" rocks the house both literally and figuratively. It's gripping, music-packed, comically wry and always entertaining. But its entertainment value is yet surpassed by its educational merit. Throughout the film, Stein boldly shines a light of honest inquiry, revealing time and again that Evolution's Emperor has no clothes. In his trademark deadpan fashion, Stein skillfully debunks the dogmatic neo-Darwinist programming we've all had relentlessly rammed down our throats ever since "Big Science" went bananas over that cute little Scopes Monkey.
Unlike Michael Moore's anti-Bush propaganda flick "Fahrenheit 911" - which sold us a lemon with deceptive editing techniques and staged confrontations - "Expelled" is intellectually honest, cerebrally stimulating and delectably provocative.
Nonetheless, there are those who won't like it, not one little bit.
Enter Richard Dawkins. Dawkins, a prominent evolutionist, outspoken atheist and the best-selling author of "The God Delusion," is featured throughout the film. In one segment, he sits down with Stein for a heart-to-heart. After dancing around several pointed questions about how life began, Dawkins finds himself at a logical impasse with no surplus of sci-fi rhetoric. He's finally forced to concede that, indeed, an intelligent being may have created life on earth. However, that being could not have been "God," but rather, it must have been some organic, alien life form. Of course, that alien life form has to have been a product of "Darwinian evolution."
Through tears of wild laughter, audience members watch as Dawkins - apparently grasping the dizzying nature of his own circular argument - turns three shades of red and becomes purply tight-lipped.
Dawkins? … Dawkins? …
But apart from space aliens, the general consensus among the evolutionary scientists interviewed was that all life, including human life, likely began when lightening struck a mud puddle (you know, like Frankenstein but without all the prefab body parts). This was then followed by a series of unexplainable, unprovable and totally random events that occurred over umpteen million years, eventually resulting in … you.
Although "Expelled" indirectly makes a strong case for the scientific theory of intelligent design, its primary message drives home the need for academic freedom, intellectual honesty and open debate on all scientific fronts.
As the movie masterfully illustrates, we live in a cultural climate where secular elitists in academia, the media and the courts chew up and spit out anyone who dares to question the gospel according to Charles Darwin. They're absolutely terrified to follow the scientific evidence wherever it may lead.
They don't want to upset the morally relative applecart, which is loosely held together by the notion that we're all just a bunch of monkeys with an instinctive, biological excuse for all our behavioral choices. To them, life's a whole lot easier under the theory of evolution. Without a sovereign Creator to answer to, we get to scoot along and party hearty, free from accountability.
Consequently, it's no wonder "Expelled" has Darwin's disciples scurrying for the shadows. Those secular humanist one-trick-ponies in the media, throughout academia, on the blogosphere and elsewhere are in full damage control. They're doing everything possible to discredit the film before it even opens. It's even been reported that two major networks are refusing to cover the movie (Gotta love that journalistic objectivity).
So, if you happen to be one of those evolutionary fundamentalists who were "randomly selected" to evolve with a built-in blindfold and earplugs, and you're comfy with your very limited worldview, be afraid of this film - be very afraid. However, if you're willing to have your eyes opened and are interested in looking at all the evidence, then suck it up, wipe away that Darwinian Kool-Aid mustache and hang out with Ben Stein for a night. What do you have to lose?
For everyone else, "Expelled" is a must-see. If you're already a person of faith, prepare to have your faith strengthened. And even if you're not, you can't possibly walk away without at least admitting that the debate over who we are and how we got here is far from over.
So hold on to your hat. "Expelled" is nothing short of earthshaking. And, as the scientific community clearly recognizes, its tremors may be felt for some years to come.
Matt Barber is one of the "like-minded men" with Concerned Women for America. He is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law and serves as CWA's policy director for cultural issues.
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any Internet re-publishing of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to http://www.lifesitenews.com/. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews that have come from other news sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Charlton Heston
Movie legend, Charlton Heston has died at the age of 84 on April 5 at his home in Beverly Hills with his wife, Lydia, at his side. No cause of death has been released at this time. Heston revealed in 2002 that he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease, saying, "I must reconcile courage and surrender in equal measure."
In 1944 he married another Northwestern drama student, Lydia Clarke. They had two children. The Hestons' newborn, Fraser Clarke Heston, played the role of the infant Moses in the film "The Ten Commandments". They also had a daughter, Holly Ann, born Aug. 2, 1961. The couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1994 at a party with Hollywood and political friends. They had been married 64 years when he died.
He liked to the cite the number of historical figures he had portrayed
:
Andrew Jackson ("The President's Lady," "The Buccaneer"), Moses ("The Ten Commandments"), title role of "El Cid," John the Baptist ("The Greatest Story Ever Told"), Michelangelo ("The Agony and the Ecstasy"), General Gordon ("Khartoum"), Marc Antony ("Julius Caesar," "Antony and Cleopatra"), Cardinal Richelieu ("The Three Musketeers"), Henry VIII ("The Prince and the Pauper"). He also starred in "55 Days at Peking," "Planet of the Apes" and "Earthquake" among many others.
:Andrew Jackson ("The President's Lady," "The Buccaneer"), Moses ("The Ten Commandments"), title role of "El Cid," John the Baptist ("The Greatest Story Ever Told"), Michelangelo ("The Agony and the Ecstasy"), General Gordon ("Khartoum"), Marc Antony ("Julius Caesar," "Antony and Cleopatra"), Cardinal Richelieu ("The Three Musketeers"), Henry VIII ("The Prince and the Pauper"). He also starred in "55 Days at Peking," "Planet of the Apes" and "Earthquake" among many others.
Heston wrote several books: "The Actor's Life: Journals 1956-1976," published in 1978; "Beijing Diary: 1990," concerning his direction of the play "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" in Chinese; "In the Arena: An Autobiography," 1995; and "Charlton Heston's Hollywood: 50 Years of American Filmmaking," 1998.
In late years, Heston drew as much publicity for his crusades as for his performances. In addition to his NRA work, he campaigned for Republican presidential and congressional candidates and against affirmative action.
He resigned from Actors Equity, claiming the union's refusal to allow a white actor to play a Eurasian role in "Miss Saigon" was "obscenely racist." He attacked CNN's telecasts from Baghdad as "sowing doubts" about the allied effort in the 1990-91 Gulf War. At a Time Warner stockholders meeting, he castigated the company for releasing an Ice-T album that purportedly encouraged cop killing. Heston wrote in "In the Arena" that he was proud of what he did "though now I'll surely never be offered another film by Warners, nor get a good review in Time. On the other hand, I doubt I'll get a traffic ticket very soon."
He resigned from Actors Equity, claiming the union's refusal to allow a white actor to play a Eurasian role in "Miss Saigon" was "obscenely racist." He attacked CNN's telecasts from Baghdad as "sowing doubts" about the allied effort in the 1990-91 Gulf War. At a Time Warner stockholders meeting, he castigated the company for releasing an Ice-T album that purportedly encouraged cop killing. Heston wrote in "In the Arena" that he was proud of what he did "though now I'll surely never be offered another film by Warners, nor get a good review in Time. On the other hand, I doubt I'll get a traffic ticket very soon."
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Queen of the New Age
Oprah Winfrey is very well respected and she is probably the wealthi
est and most influential woman in modern times. It is truly amazing what she has done with her life considering that she started with two strikes against her, she is a woman and she is a black woman. That is one of the reasons why it is so sad that she has started down the garden path in the direction that she is going.
1 Corinthians 2:9
Hebrews 9:27 -28
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Isaiah 1:18
2 Peter 2:1-2
1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
est and most influential woman in modern times. It is truly amazing what she has done with her life considering that she started with two strikes against her, she is a woman and she is a black woman. That is one of the reasons why it is so sad that she has started down the garden path in the direction that she is going. Although Oprah claims to be a Christian - she has a Baptist background - she is most definitely a spokeswoman for the New Age Movement or, as they now prefer to call it, the New Spirituality. Her and Eckhart Tolle are leading an on-line course that more than two million people are taking.
In this course they are teaching people that "We are all divine." "We must separate from the ego and become one with the universe." "There is no sin. There is no heaven. There is no Hell." They are teaching people to empty their minds and just feel. "There are many [thousands] of paths to what we call God." They are actually teaching occult practices and emptying the mind to allow demons to enter.
Let's look at their points one by one.
1. "We are all divine. We are all Christ." This is a direct teaching from Satan.
Genesis 3:5
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil
(emphasis added)
Isaiah 14:13-14
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
(emphasis added)
2. There is no Heaven. There is no Hell. There is no judgement. There is no sin.
1 Corinthians 2:9
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Mark 9:43-44
.......it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
Hebrews 9:27 -28
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
(emphasis added)
3. "There are many [thousands] of paths to what we call God." Was Jesus lying when He said the following? Or was He delusional? I think not.
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
(emphasis added)
4. They are teaching people to empty their minds and just feel. That is not what Jesus taught. He never said "Come let us empty our minds and just feel." He taught us to use our minds and to reason.
Isaiah 1:18
come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD:
------------------------------------------------------------------
We must warn everyone we know about this dangerous and evil course of study that Oprah is promoting. It is sad that she and her numerous fans are being lead astray by false teachings. We must all pray for her and for them diligently. Their place in Eternity will be decided by who they choose to believe, Jesus or Satan and his demons.
2 Peter 2:1-2
1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
(emphasis added)
Friday, April 4, 2008
More News About Pastor Berlin Guerrero
I have been posting about the situation of Pastor Berlin V. Guerrero, who has been in prison in the Philippines for the past 10 months. (posts dated - August 10, 2007; September 9, 2007; November 13, 2007 and January 15, 2008) This is the latest news :
To All:
Last March 27 2008 marked exactly the 10th. month of Pastor Berlin Guerrero in jail after that May 27 2007 abduction. How was that day for him and for us?
1) Some 8 young members of the American Mission Team from the Valley View Community Church from Ohio, USA visited Ptr Berlin in jail. The Team was led by Ms Bickbick Mendoza-Miller (a Filipina Balikbayan in Dasmarinas). The visit was a surprise to Ptr Berlin and a tearful reunion between him and Bickbick as classmates from gradeschool to college in the Philippine Christian University. Ptr Berlin joined them for lunch with conversations on his past student activisms and a worship fellowship followed in the afternoon with his cellmates.
2) Ptr Berlin was visited also by his youngest son, 14 year old Pinyen, after the boy's hospital confinement due to his operation on the adhesions in his small intestines last week of February 2008. The boy wore face mask to protect him from further infections.
3) Ptr Berlin's brother Rev Leslie Guerrero, from the Church Among the Palms at the University of the Philippines-LB-Laguna, donated a handsome and strudy "beatbox" for the Prison Ministry to match the guitar used by the Choir.
4) A sumptumous Dinner sponsored by the Mission Team, with the Mendoza family and with the Guerrero family was held at Max's Restaurant. (Not known to everyone that the Mendozas and the Guerreros are family friends way back the UTS-campus life.) The 3 groups with mutual appreciations with each other were expressed thru a short but warm fellowship.
On March 29 was the 100th. graduation celebration of the Union Theological Seminary (UTS) where Ptr Berlin is enrolled for his internship program thru the prison ministry while in jail. Among the special awards given mostly to the graduating students, Ptr Berlin coveted the award on "Community Empowerment" for his excellence in empowering his community- the prisoners and the administration of the jail for the glory of God. While receiving the Certificate of award by his/our father Sam and his wife Mylene on the stage of the Salakot Chapel, a pre-video tape for his "acceptance speech" was shown to the audience. I saw Mylene smiling but with her tearful eyes. (Only if my brother is present to join her to receive his award ...)
On March 30, German Missionaries led by the National Office of the UCCP visited also Ptr Berlin.
Two more months to go, will Ptr Berlin be freed before then? Let us continue praying for the fast resolution of his case at the Supreme Court and his fast freedom.
May our life be inspired by the ministry of Ptr Berlin inside the jail. Thank you very much............ Danielle
To All:
Last March 27 2008 marked exactly the 10th. month of Pastor Berlin Guerrero in jail after that May 27 2007 abduction. How was that day for him and for us?
1) Some 8 young members of the American Mission Team from the Valley View Community Church from Ohio, USA visited Ptr Berlin in jail. The Team was led by Ms Bickbick Mendoza-Miller (a Filipina Balikbayan in Dasmarinas). The visit was a surprise to Ptr Berlin and a tearful reunion between him and Bickbick as classmates from gradeschool to college in the Philippine Christian University. Ptr Berlin joined them for lunch with conversations on his past student activisms and a worship fellowship followed in the afternoon with his cellmates.
2) Ptr Berlin was visited also by his youngest son, 14 year old Pinyen, after the boy's hospital confinement due to his operation on the adhesions in his small intestines last week of February 2008. The boy wore face mask to protect him from further infections.
3) Ptr Berlin's brother Rev Leslie Guerrero, from the Church Among the Palms at the University of the Philippines-LB-Laguna, donated a handsome and strudy "beatbox" for the Prison Ministry to match the guitar used by the Choir.
4) A sumptumous Dinner sponsored by the Mission Team, with the Mendoza family and with the Guerrero family was held at Max's Restaurant. (Not known to everyone that the Mendozas and the Guerreros are family friends way back the UTS-campus life.) The 3 groups with mutual appreciations with each other were expressed thru a short but warm fellowship.
On March 29 was the 100th. graduation celebration of the Union Theological Seminary (UTS) where Ptr Berlin is enrolled for his internship program thru the prison ministry while in jail. Among the special awards given mostly to the graduating students, Ptr Berlin coveted the award on "Community Empowerment" for his excellence in empowering his community- the prisoners and the administration of the jail for the glory of God. While receiving the Certificate of award by his/our father Sam and his wife Mylene on the stage of the Salakot Chapel, a pre-video tape for his "acceptance speech" was shown to the audience. I saw Mylene smiling but with her tearful eyes. (Only if my brother is present to join her to receive his award ...)
On March 30, German Missionaries led by the National Office of the UCCP visited also Ptr Berlin.
Two more months to go, will Ptr Berlin be freed before then? Let us continue praying for the fast resolution of his case at the Supreme Court and his fast freedom.
May our life be inspired by the ministry of Ptr Berlin inside the jail. Thank you very much............ Danielle
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Outing the Heretics
The Christian church is under attack as never before. Yes, we are undergoing attacks by seculars, atheists, non-Christian "religions" and occultists, but the most frightening attacks come from within - those who claim to be Christian, yet preach another gospel.
Matthew 24:23-27
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Galatians 1:6-9
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed
1 Timothy 4:1-2
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
(emphasis added)
Many of our churches and "pastors" are denying the divinity of Jesus, denying the crucifixion and the resurrection, denying that Jesus is the way and the only way that we can be redeemed.
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
(emphasis added)
Was Jesus lying when He said this? Was He delusional? I think not. I am posting a link to three other blogs that do an excellent job of outing the heretics.
Matthew 24:23-27
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Galatians 1:6-9
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed
1 Timothy 4:1-2
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
(emphasis added)
Many of our churches and "pastors" are denying the divinity of Jesus, denying the crucifixion and the resurrection, denying that Jesus is the way and the only way that we can be redeemed.
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
(emphasis added)
Was Jesus lying when He said this? Was He delusional? I think not. I am posting a link to three other blogs that do an excellent job of outing the heretics.
http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/
Friday, March 21, 2008
The Goldie Mystery
March 20 was the first full day of spring. It was also a very sad day for the Paish family. My sister Val and her husband Mike made the very difficult decision that it was time to have their dog, Goldie, put down. She was an unusual dog with one blue eye and one brown eye. Goldie was getting old, thirteen years and she was deaf. Her joints
were going, she could hardly walk and laying down and getting back up were becoming extremely difficult. It was all she could do to climb the three steps on their back deck. Her breathing had become loud and labored and she had lost control of her bladder. The time had come to take her to the vet.
I agreed to meet my sister at the vet's to give her emotional support and then we were going to spend the evening together. Goldie was given her shot and went peacefully to sleep. Val and I decided I would park my car at her daughter's and we would go out together. I got in my car, started it and the radio came on. As I was pulling out of the parking lot, the radio announcer said "and I just want to say, rest in peace, Goldie, rest in peace." I almost freaked!
When I told my sister what had happened, she was shocked. The radio announcer had no way of knowing about Goldie. Val's daughter, her son and her husband were just as disbelieving. My husband accused me of "hearing voices". Later, we tried to call the radio station and find out what the announcer had been talking about but the station office was already closed. It remains a mystery.
were going, she could hardly walk and laying down and getting back up were becoming extremely difficult. It was all she could do to climb the three steps on their back deck. Her breathing had become loud and labored and she had lost control of her bladder. The time had come to take her to the vet.I agreed to meet my sister at the vet's to give her emotional support and then we were going to spend the evening together. Goldie was given her shot and went peacefully to sleep. Val and I decided I would park my car at her daughter's and we would go out together. I got in my car, started it and the radio came on. As I was pulling out of the parking lot, the radio announcer said "and I just want to say, rest in peace, Goldie, rest in peace." I almost freaked!
When I told my sister what had happened, she was shocked. The radio announcer had no way of knowing about Goldie. Val's daughter, her son and her husband were just as disbelieving. My husband accused me of "hearing voices". Later, we tried to call the radio station and find out what the announcer had been talking about but the station office was already closed. It remains a mystery.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
An E-mail About Samuel Golubchuk
On January 7 I reported on the case of Samuel Golubchuk - "The Grim Reaper Wears White" - and on February 16 I printed an update - "Update-Samuel Golubchuk" . Today I received the following e-mail from Mr. Golubchuk's daughter :
March 19, 2008
My name is Miriam Geller,
daughter of SAM GOLUBCHUK.
You recently signed an online petition demanding that the Grace Hospital of Winnipeg continue providing basic care for our father SAM. On behalf of our entire family, I wanted to thank you for your support and prayers, and to provide you with an urgent update on the current situation.
(If this message was forwarded to you from a friend, you may not have signed the petition yet. It can be found here.)
As you will recall, last fall SAM, who had been living in a long-term care facility, came down with pneumonia and had to be moved to a hospital. Thank God, the pneumonia was cured. Unfortunately, due to his weakened condition, SAM has been unable to return to his home. He is currently receiving basic care at the hospital which includes being given food and water and assistance in breathing through the use of a ventilator.
In November the hospital, without our permission, attempted to withdraw this basic care, letting our father die. We obtained an emergency Court Order to stop them from doing so, which the hospital tried - and failed - to have reversed.
Now we are being forced to return to Court again as the hospital fights, at taxpayers' expense, to have the Order overturned.
That's right - rather than giving up, the hospital is continuing to fight us for the right to kill our father.
Let me stress that SAM is not in a "vegetative" state, nor is he suffering from a terminal illness of any kind. He is not suffering and is in no pain whatsoever. The hospital wants to end his life because he's old, he's weak and he's disabled and it doesn't want to spend money on his care - although it doesn't mind using taxpayers' money to fund its legal crusade!
This is not just about our father's life. We're also fighting for ourselves, our children and everyone we care about; We're fighting for the kind of society we want to live in and leave to future generations. If bureaucrats can refuse to care for SAM because he's too old and disabled, then they can refuse to care for anyone they deem unworthy.
In short, we're fighting for you and your loved ones too - but we can't go on without your support!
This is a fight that we can win! A judge has already upheld an Order prohibiting the hospital from ending SAM's care, but we need need your help RIGHT NOW to be able to afford the next phase of the case as the hospital continues trying to have that Order overturned.
Please make a contribution right now by clicking the link below and following the simple instructions. No amount is too small.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW!Alternatively, you can send a cheque or money order to:
Save Sam Golubchuk Fund
P.O. Box 1318 Station B
Ottawa ON Canada
K1P 5R4
In addition to your financial help and prayers, please spread the word by forwarding this email to everyone you know: your church, synagogue, or any other organization, group or network that you know of. If you would like to help us by volunteering some of your time please send me an email at miriam@samuelgolubchuk.com.
Sincerely,
Miriam
March 19, 2008
My name is Miriam Geller,
daughter of SAM GOLUBCHUK.
You recently signed an online petition demanding that the Grace Hospital of Winnipeg continue providing basic care for our father SAM. On behalf of our entire family, I wanted to thank you for your support and prayers, and to provide you with an urgent update on the current situation.
(If this message was forwarded to you from a friend, you may not have signed the petition yet. It can be found here.)
As you will recall, last fall SAM, who had been living in a long-term care facility, came down with pneumonia and had to be moved to a hospital. Thank God, the pneumonia was cured. Unfortunately, due to his weakened condition, SAM has been unable to return to his home. He is currently receiving basic care at the hospital which includes being given food and water and assistance in breathing through the use of a ventilator.
In November the hospital, without our permission, attempted to withdraw this basic care, letting our father die. We obtained an emergency Court Order to stop them from doing so, which the hospital tried - and failed - to have reversed.
Now we are being forced to return to Court again as the hospital fights, at taxpayers' expense, to have the Order overturned.
That's right - rather than giving up, the hospital is continuing to fight us for the right to kill our father.
Let me stress that SAM is not in a "vegetative" state, nor is he suffering from a terminal illness of any kind. He is not suffering and is in no pain whatsoever. The hospital wants to end his life because he's old, he's weak and he's disabled and it doesn't want to spend money on his care - although it doesn't mind using taxpayers' money to fund its legal crusade!
This is not just about our father's life. We're also fighting for ourselves, our children and everyone we care about; We're fighting for the kind of society we want to live in and leave to future generations. If bureaucrats can refuse to care for SAM because he's too old and disabled, then they can refuse to care for anyone they deem unworthy.
In short, we're fighting for you and your loved ones too - but we can't go on without your support!
This is a fight that we can win! A judge has already upheld an Order prohibiting the hospital from ending SAM's care, but we need need your help RIGHT NOW to be able to afford the next phase of the case as the hospital continues trying to have that Order overturned.
Please make a contribution right now by clicking the link below and following the simple instructions. No amount is too small.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW!Alternatively, you can send a cheque or money order to:
Save Sam Golubchuk Fund
P.O. Box 1318 Station B
Ottawa ON Canada
K1P 5R4
In addition to your financial help and prayers, please spread the word by forwarding this email to everyone you know: your church, synagogue, or any other organization, group or network that you know of. If you would like to help us by volunteering some of your time please send me an email at miriam@samuelgolubchuk.com.
Sincerely,
Miriam
Monday, March 17, 2008
St. Patrick's Day 2008
When I was a child we were required to wear something green to school on St. Patrick's Day or run the risk of getting pinched each time another student realised that we had not complied. St. Patrick's day is celebrated all over the world by both Irish and non-Irish people alike. It is an official holiday in only three places - Republic of Ireland, Montserrat and the Canadian province
of Newfoundland/Labrador. Although the first St. Patrick's Day parade in North America was held in Boston in 1761, the record for the longest continuously running parade is held by Montreal Quebec with a parade every year since 1824. Montreal's City Flag even has a Shamrock in one corner. St. Patrick used the Shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish.
The largest parade is held in Chicago, with 2.5 million spectators. They also have been dying the Chicago River green for the day for the past 20 years. They use an eco-friendly vegetable dye, it takes about five minutes to color it and it disappears by evening.
Other traditions include the wearing of something green, pubs and bars serving green drinks including green beer, stories of leprechauns and their pot of gold and eating corned beef and cabbage.
There are those who are Irish and those who wish they were.
old Irish proverb
of Newfoundland/Labrador. Although the first St. Patrick's Day parade in North America was held in Boston in 1761, the record for the longest continuously running parade is held by Montreal Quebec with a parade every year since 1824. Montreal's City Flag even has a Shamrock in one corner. St. Patrick used the Shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish.
The largest parade is held in Chicago, with 2.5 million spectators. They also have been dying the Chicago River green for the day for the past 20 years. They use an eco-friendly vegetable dye, it takes about five minutes to color it and it disappears by evening.
Other traditions include the wearing of something green, pubs and bars serving green drinks including green beer, stories of leprechauns and their pot of gold and eating corned beef and cabbage.
There are those who are Irish and those who wish they were.
old Irish proverb
Terrorists Need Passports Too
A Canadian citizen, Algerian born Fateh Kamel, who arrived in Canada in 1987, has been denied a passport from the Canadian Government on the ground
s that he is a threat to the national security of Canada or another country. Kamel is a convicted terrorist. In 1999 he was arrested in Jordan and extradited to France, where he was convicted of plotting to bomb the Paris Metro and other targets and was imprisoned for eight years. He allegedly has a connection to Ahmed Ressam, who is in prison in the US for plotting to blow up Los Angeles Airport, and to Al Qaeda. A Canadian Judge, Simon Noel, has ruled that the order violates Kamel's rights as a Canadian citizen and has ordered the federal government to amend the law accordingly within six months and to then grant him a passport.
s that he is a threat to the national security of Canada or another country. Kamel is a convicted terrorist. In 1999 he was arrested in Jordan and extradited to France, where he was convicted of plotting to bomb the Paris Metro and other targets and was imprisoned for eight years. He allegedly has a connection to Ahmed Ressam, who is in prison in the US for plotting to blow up Los Angeles Airport, and to Al Qaeda. A Canadian Judge, Simon Noel, has ruled that the order violates Kamel's rights as a Canadian citizen and has ordered the federal government to amend the law accordingly within six months and to then grant him a passport.Their are two separate but equally important issues here.
1. Should a convicted terrorist be issued a Canadian passport? Does issuing a passport in these circumstances undermine the value of a Canadian passport?
Will other countries be unwilling to accept travellers with a Canadian passport when they become aware that the government is knowingly issuing them to convicted terrorists?
2. In Canada, judges are appointed, not elected. Should unelected officials be making our laws? Are judges not meant to interpret and enforce existing laws rather than actually making new ones or forcing the government to rescind existing ones?
These two issues need to be addressed before Canada loses all credibility in the international community. The rumor that Canada is becoming a haven for terrorists does not seem quite so far-fetched as it once did. Prime Minister Harper needs to act quickly and decisively on these issues.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Beware the Ides of March
"Beware the Ides of March" - a literary reference from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" - refers to the superstition that March 15th is a day which brings bad luck with it. It was the day in 44 B.C. that Julius Caesar was assassinated by Brutus and Cassius. (The Ides were monthly midpoints in the Roman calendar that fell on either the 13th or the 15th, depending on the month.)
I am really not superstitious, but today on the Ministry Van everyone we encountered appeared to be in the foulest of moods. We were sworn at several times and I was even called "the devil" at one point. It is much more likely that it was due to a sudden drop in temperature and the heavy snowfall the night before, that took the place of our lovely spring weather, that caused them to be so disagreeable. But just in case.....perhaps I'll sleep through March 15th next year.
The evil that men do oft live after them;
the good is oft interred with their bones.
-From Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
the good is oft interred with their bones.
-From Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
Monday, March 10, 2008
A Very Special Day
March 9 is a very special day for me. On March 9, 1972 my nephew - my sister's son - was born. On March 9, 2005 Ed & I started the first day of our ministry to the homeless at Hope Mission. But most amazing of all on March 9 Ed & I celebrated our 36th anniversary! That's pretty amazing for the couple that most people bet wouldn't last six months. 
+013.jpg)
Mark 10:27
And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
We married very young; I was 18 and he was 20. We had only known each other about a month. We came from very different backgrounds. I already had a child from a previous relationship and we had another baby almost immediately. It wasn't always easy by any means. In fact in the first 10 years of our marriage we could have broken up any number of times. At times it was only sheer stubbornness that kept us together. Neither one of us wanted to be the first one to call it quits.
But 10 years into our marriage something wonderful came into our lives. We found God again. Both of us had Christian backgrounds, but we both had wandered far away. God drew us back. And by His grace we were able to build a relationship with each other that would be virtually impossible to break. Thank you Lord for all of your blessings.
+013.jpg)
Mark 10:27
And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Signs of Spring
I've been seeing signs that spring is just around the corner. No, I haven't seen the geese come back or my first robin yet but I noticed around the end of February that the rabbits are starting to change colour and today I spotted my first motorcyclist of the year. Now that they are going to be on the road again it is time to remind everyone to take a little more care when changing lanes or turning. Motorcycles are definitely harder to see than a car and in the event of a collision the rider has very little protection compared to any other vehicle.
The writer of the following item is unknown but the message is excellent.
THE BIKER*
I saw you hug your purse closer to you in the grocery store line. But you didn't see me put an extra $10.00 in the collection plate last Sunday.
I saw you pull your child closer when we passed each other on the sidewalk. But you didn't see me playing Santa at the local mall.
I saw you change your mind about going into the restaurant. But you didn't see me attending a meeting to raise more money for the hurricane relief.
I saw you roll up your window and shake your head when I rode by. But you didn't see me riding behind you when you flicked your cigarette butt out the car window.
I saw you frown at me when I smiled at your children. But you didn't see me when I took time off from work to run toys to the homeless.
I saw you stare at my long hair. But you didn't see me and my friends cut ten inches off for Locks of Love.
I saw you roll your eyes at our leather jackets and gloves. But you didn't see me and my brothers donate our old ones to those that had none.
I saw you look in fright at my tattoos. But you didn't see me cry as my children were born and have their name written over and in my heart.
I saw you change lanes while rushing off to go somewhere. But you didn't see me going home to be with my family.
I saw you complain about how loud and noisy our bikes can be. But you didn't see me when you were changing the CD and drifted into my lane.
I saw you yelling at your kids in the car. But you didn't see me pat my child's hands knowing he was safe behind me.
I saw you reading the newspaper or map as you drove down the road. But you didn't see me squeeze my wife's leg when she told me to take the next turn.
I saw you race down the road in the rain. But you didn't see me get soaked to the skin so my son could have the car to go on his date.
I saw you run the yellow light just to save a few minutes of time. But you didn't see me trying to turn right.
I saw you cut me off because you needed to be in the lane I was in. But you didn't see me leave the road.
I saw you waiting impatiently for my friends to pass. But you didn't see me. I wasn't there.
I saw you go home to your family. But, you didn't see me. Because, I died that day you cut me off.
I was just a biker. A person with friends and a family. But you didn't see me.
EVEN IF YOU DON'T LIKE US, RESPECT OUR RIGHTS TO RIDE WHAT WE CHOOSE AND TAKE A FEW EXTRA SECONDS TO BE SURE WE'RE NOT IN 'YOUR' WAY – LIVE TO RIDE . . . . RIDE TO LIVE
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Spring Make-Over
To all of my loyal readers out there, yes, you are in the right place. Spring fever has me in it's grip and I decided to go with a whole new look for my blog. New colours, a new layout and some new features. I added a couple of pictures as well as a news reel for the information junkies in my audience. Simply click on any of the featured newspapers and keep informed of current events. So please continue reading and please leave me a comment. I love hearing from you and getting feed-back on what I am writing.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
The Ten Commandments
An Israeli Professor of Cognitive Psychology at Hebrew University of Jerusale
m claims that Moses was using psychedelic drugs when he encountered the "burning bush" and on Mount Sinai when he received the "Ten Commandments" from God. Benny Shanon does not say where he gets the evidence for such a claim. He does not substantiate his remarks in anyway. It is strange to think that such a well thought out list of rules for human behavior - rules that almost nobody can argue about - could have been compiled by someone strung out on drugs. It has been my experience that druggies are not that clear thinking. We are warned in the Bible about the danger of listening to false teachers. In my opinion, Benny Shanon fits neatly into that category. He would do well to check out #9 again.
2 Peter 2:1
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
m claims that Moses was using psychedelic drugs when he encountered the "burning bush" and on Mount Sinai when he received the "Ten Commandments" from God. Benny Shanon does not say where he gets the evidence for such a claim. He does not substantiate his remarks in anyway. It is strange to think that such a well thought out list of rules for human behavior - rules that almost nobody can argue about - could have been compiled by someone strung out on drugs. It has been my experience that druggies are not that clear thinking. We are warned in the Bible about the danger of listening to false teachers. In my opinion, Benny Shanon fits neatly into that category. He would do well to check out #9 again.2 Peter 2:1
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 Timothy 4:3-4
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Flying motorcycle
This may be the way to beat commuting traffic jams. I'd love to try it!He doesn't say how high it flies. Wonder if you would need a pilot's license?
Monday, March 3, 2008
Not Too Smart
The following stories were sent to me by friends who are always on the look-out for interesting items. Sometimes you just have to shake your head and wonder what some people are thinking.
Looking for a truck driver that will not let a little obstacle stand in his way?According to the person who sent this, the driver has only been in Canada a few months. He had missed his turn by Brandon Manitoba and figured he could go over the hill and continue on the road. Apparently he didn't know there were rail tracks on top of the grade..... The truck owner figures he had to hit the angle at over 55 miles an hour in order to make the top.
(I wonder just who gave him his driver's license? And do they still have a job?)
The next story goes in the "dumb criminal" class. Weren't the bikes parked outside of the bar a clue to just who might be inside?
Biker Surprise for Sydney Robbers
Two armed robbers who targeted a Sydney bar that was hosting a bikers' meeting must have 'failed robber school', said the club's chairman. The men stormed the bar brandishing machetes and wearing balaclavas - unaware that 50 bikers were holding a meeting in an adjoining room. Alerted to the robbery, some of the bikers chased the men as they fled. One was caught after trying to escape through a back door. He was later treated in hospital for minor injuries. The other man ran off but was arrested by police in a street nearby. Southern Cross Cruiser Club chairman 'Jester' told local media that the robbers had 'picked the wrong night'. The would-be bandits had entered the bar and ordered patrons to lie on the floor while they emptied the till. But someone managed to run into an adjoining room where the bikers were holding their monthly meeting. 'We were out there minding our own business and then these guys came to the bar here in the pokey (slot machine) area,' Jester told the Sydney Morning Herald. 'One of the guys took off... straight through a glass window, he didn't even bother pushing the button, he just ran straight through it.' Jester said the police were delighted when they arrived on the scene. 'They were really impressed that we caught these guys, because normally they get here and it's all over and done. But we caught the guys, still with their weapons, still in his balaclava and everything else.
'It's a comedy of errors, I can't believe these guys were stupid enough to come into a club with 50 bikers having a bike meeting - just crazy.'
Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7268653.stm
Two armed robbers who targeted a Sydney bar that was hosting a bikers' meeting must have 'failed robber school', said the club's chairman. The men stormed the bar brandishing machetes and wearing balaclavas - unaware that 50 bikers were holding a meeting in an adjoining room. Alerted to the robbery, some of the bikers chased the men as they fled. One was caught after trying to escape through a back door. He was later treated in hospital for minor injuries. The other man ran off but was arrested by police in a street nearby. Southern Cross Cruiser Club chairman 'Jester' told local media that the robbers had 'picked the wrong night'. The would-be bandits had entered the bar and ordered patrons to lie on the floor while they emptied the till. But someone managed to run into an adjoining room where the bikers were holding their monthly meeting. 'We were out there minding our own business and then these guys came to the bar here in the pokey (slot machine) area,' Jester told the Sydney Morning Herald. 'One of the guys took off... straight through a glass window, he didn't even bother pushing the button, he just ran straight through it.' Jester said the police were delighted when they arrived on the scene. 'They were really impressed that we caught these guys, because normally they get here and it's all over and done. But we caught the guys, still with their weapons, still in his balaclava and everything else.
'It's a comedy of errors, I can't believe these guys were stupid enough to come into a club with 50 bikers having a bike meeting - just crazy.'
Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7268653.stm
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Noah's Ark
Working Replica of Noah's Ark Opens In SCHAGEN, Netherlands
The massive central door in the
side of Noah's Ark was thrown open Saturday for the first crowd of curious Pilgrims and townsfolk to behold the wonder. Of course, it's only a replica of the Biblical Ark, built by Dutch Creationist Johan Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible. The ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That's two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house. Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras, bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold. A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine -Biblical Scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been. Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, u
sing modern tools and with occasional help from his son Roy. Construction began in May 2005. On the uncovered top deck - not quite ready in time for the opening- will come a petting zoo, with baby lambs and chickens, and goats. And one camel. Visitors on the first day were stunned. "It's past comprehension, " said Mary Louise Starosciak, who happened to be bicycling by with her husband while on vacation, when they saw the ark looming over the local landscape. "I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been so big. "In fact, Noah's Ark as described in the Bible was five times larger than Johan's Ark. But that still leaves enough space near the keel for a 50-seat film theater, where kids can watch a video t
hat tells the story of Noah and his ark. Huibers said he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in The Netherlands, w
here church going has fallen dramatically in the past 50 years.
The massive central door in the
side of Noah's Ark was thrown open Saturday for the first crowd of curious Pilgrims and townsfolk to behold the wonder. Of course, it's only a replica of the Biblical Ark, built by Dutch Creationist Johan Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible. The ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That's two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house. Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras, bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold. A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine -Biblical Scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been. Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, u
sing modern tools and with occasional help from his son Roy. Construction began in May 2005. On the uncovered top deck - not quite ready in time for the opening- will come a petting zoo, with baby lambs and chickens, and goats. And one camel. Visitors on the first day were stunned. "It's past comprehension, " said Mary Louise Starosciak, who happened to be bicycling by with her husband while on vacation, when they saw the ark looming over the local landscape. "I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been so big. "In fact, Noah's Ark as described in the Bible was five times larger than Johan's Ark. But that still leaves enough space near the keel for a 50-seat film theater, where kids can watch a video t
hat tells the story of Noah and his ark. Huibers said he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in The Netherlands, w
here church going has fallen dramatically in the past 50 years.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Update - Samuel Golubchuk
On Jan 7 - The Grim Reaper Wears White - I reported on the case of Samuel Golubchuk and a Winnipeg hospital that wished to pull his feeding tube and allow him to starve to death in spite of his families opposition. A temporary restraining order was issued against the hospital in November but the hospital was appealing, claiming that they have the sole right to make the decision regarding his continued care and that the wishes of the family, and indeed the patient himself, were irrelevant.
On Feb 13 a judge upheld the original court order, preventing the hospital from acting. Thank God that common decency prevaled. However, we must also pray that the hospital will accept the court's decision and not continue to fight. For further information on how you can help check out this link:
http://www.samuelgolubchuk.com/
On Feb 13 a judge upheld the original court order, preventing the hospital from acting. Thank God that common decency prevaled. However, we must also pray that the hospital will accept the court's decision and not continue to fight. For further information on how you can help check out this link:
http://www.samuelgolubchuk.com/
Thursday, February 14, 2008
New York's Cupid Cabbie
This story is just perfect for Valentine's Day. Ahmed Ibrahim
, a 50 year old Egyptian immigrant and New York cab driver, is also an unlikely looking Cupid. He asks his passengers a variety of questions, keeps a file and then when he finds someone he thinks would make a good match, he introduces them. Apparently, 19 of his couples have stayed together for over one year.
, a 50 year old Egyptian immigrant and New York cab driver, is also an unlikely looking Cupid. He asks his passengers a variety of questions, keeps a file and then when he finds someone he thinks would make a good match, he introduces them. Apparently, 19 of his couples have stayed together for over one year. He started match-making three years ago when a woman got into his cab who was crying because she had just broken up with her boyfriend. Three days later he picked up a man who he thought would be a good match, and the rest is history.
Valentine's Day
The history of Valentine's Day is somewhat murky with no fewer than three separate saints named Valentine or Valentinus, who were martyred, being recognized by the Catholic Church. 
In the second half of the twentieth century, the practice of exchanging cards was extended to all manner of gifts in North America, usually from a man to a woman. Such gifts typically include roses and chocolates. In the 1980's, the diamond industry began to promote Valentine's Day as an occasion for giving jewelry.
One legend is that St. Valentine was a third century priest in Rome. Emperor Claudius II felt that single men made better soldiers than those who had families to worry about so he outlawed marriage. Valentine continued to perform secret marriage ceremonies for young lovers, for which he was condemned to death.
Another story suggests that when St. Valentine was in prison, he fell in love with the jailers daughter. He passed her a note before his execution professing his love to her and signed "from your Valentine."
Other stories say that he was killed helping Christians escape from Roman prisons where they were beaten and tortured.
The first Valentine was sent by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife from his prison in the Tower of London in 1415.
The English practice of sending Valentine's cards appears in Elizabeth Gaskell's "Mr. Harrisons Confessions" (published 1851). In the United States, the first mass-produced Valentines of embossed paper lace were produced and sold shortly after 1847 by Esther Howland (1828-1904) of Worcester Massachusetts. Her father operated a large book and stationery store. She took her inspiration from an English Valentine she had received. Since 2001 the Greeting Card Association has been giving an annual "Esther Howland Award for a Greeting Card Visionary."
In the second half of the twentieth century, the practice of exchanging cards was extended to all manner of gifts in North America, usually from a man to a woman. Such gifts typically include roses and chocolates. In the 1980's, the diamond industry began to promote Valentine's Day as an occasion for giving jewelry.
Quotes:
If music be the food of love, play on.- Shakespeare
Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be.- Robert Browning
Love is the enchanted dawn of every heart.- Lamartine
Never judge someone by who he's in love with; judge him by his friends. People fall in love with the most appalling people. Take a cool, appraising glance at his pals.- Cynthia Heimel
Love is much nicer to be in than an automobile accident, a tight girdle, a higher tax bracket, or a holding pattern over Philadelphia.- Judith Viorst
Love is like the measles; we all have to go through it.- Jerome K. Jerome
Love is like an hourglass, with the heart filling up as the brain empties.- Jules Renard
You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover's arms can only come later when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip. ~Jonathan Carroll, "Outside the Dog Museum"
We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love. ~Author Unknown
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.jpg)
