Staggering Numbers

A few days ago it seemed pretty astounding that the death toll from last week's tsunami could reach 40,000. The official number of confirmed dead is now 138,631. That doesn't include all the nameless fishermen who made their living around the islands of Indonesia - and their families.

I've heard the toll could even go as high as 500,000.

The people of South Asia could use whatever help we can offer. Many relief agencies say what they need most is cash.

I also offer up this prayer: Heavenly Father, I ask you to reach out those who have survived this horrible disaster. Give them their daily bread and a safe place to sleep. Help them get on their feet again. Give them hope in the face of despair. These things I pray in the name of your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Nativity Scenes - Latest Additions To Our Collection

My wife S has taken to collecting nativity scenes in recent years. I thought I'd show off our newest additions.

This one I believe is a Cabbage Patch nativity scene. The box that stores these figures actually becomes part of the scene. Clever.

This one is very simple (Mary, Joseph, and Jesus) but pretty much gets the point across, spelling out JOY.

And this one is now our favorite, featuring characters from Veggie Tales. Note that all the figures are vegetables - even the cow is two vegetables in a cow costume! And when you press on the star, it sings O Little Town of Bethlehem in a somewhat childlike voice that strains to hit the high notes (not unlike myself trying to sing on Christmas Eve).

Nice Little Mountain Hike

Yesterday I thought it would be nice to take a little hike and sightseeing tour of the White Tank Mountains located on the far west end of the Phoenix metro area. This photo was taken just inside the entrance to White Tank Mountain Regional Park:

Here's another view of the mountains from the north side of the park looking south.

This photo was taken along the Waterfall Trail, looking upstream. Infrequent torrential rains flow off of the steep, serrated mountain peaks, through the canyons, and onto the plain below. Floodwaters, pouring down chutes and dropping off of ledges, have scoured out several depressions, or tanks, in the white granite below, thereby giving the White Tank Mountains their name. If you look carefully in this photo, you can see how the canyon narrows significantly. At the end of this canyon lies one of these white tanks. The waterfall forming it is just out of the picture to the right of the end of the canyon.

This is the white tank at the end of the canyon.

And this is the waterfall feeding it from above:

The White Tank Mountains also have plenty of these petroglyphs left by the ancient Hohokam Indians.

Earthquake

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. Matthew 24:6, 7

Despite the rumblings of mankind, God always seems to make His presence known. Such was the case yesterday, when a 9.0 earthquake struck deep under the Indian Ocean. The quake itself probably hurt no one. But the massive tsunami created by this massive temblor will perhaps be regarded the most devastating natural disaster in recent history. Somewhere between one-third and one-half of the victims are children.

New estimates predict the death toll could reach as high as 45,000. An estimated one million have been displaced. And to make matters worse, the UN has just issued an epidemic warning for the region.

Numerous relief agencies are already mobilized to deal with the crisis. As for me, I've already designated the offering from my last paycheck towards UMCOR. I hope that you, through whatever organization [more links] you choose, would consider the same.

Amazingly Refreshed

Well it's back to work today and tomorrow. In some ways it didn't seem like a holiday - just a really jam-packed weekend. But evidently I've gotten enough sleep and gotten over my cold enough that I actually feel rested. Work is still a little stressful, but we've got more people working our stuff this week. So it's not too bad. I still look forward to some time off at the end of this week though. Then I can do some serious relaxation!

It Is A Wonderful Life

Merry Christmas to all of you. And I must say that this was an enjoyable day indeed. As usual I didn't ask much for Christmas - I just distributed a wish list to various family members and I got several things off of that list plus a few well-appreciated surprises.

This morning as I was getting ready to head out to our girls' apartment I got a phone call from my four-year old grandson proclaiming that Santa had visited there. Cute.

I arrived with more presents, and after breakfast, the air was filled with the sound of ripping paper and sounds of gratitude. Little J even stopped to look at the new clothes he got. Toys were assembled, and there was much rejoicing. Then J's dad came by to pick him up and it got noticeably quieter. Ah, kids.

Late this afternoon we had my folks and my brother over for dinner and more gift exchanges. It was a pretty simple but well-put-together dinner. My dad brought over a honey-baked ham and we made the fixings (including green bean casserole cooked in S's brand-new Campbell's Soup Green Bean Casserole Dish!) Meanwhile the dog kept us entertained by looking pretty and circling several times before plopping down into her doggie bed.

Perhaps the most poignant moment came after we left the girls' apartment and dropped in on S's brother and his family. There was a bit of a falling out with S's brother this past year because of some issues he was having (which really weren't his fault). Nonetheless, some feelings had been hurt and damage done. But S decided to make a bold move toward reconciliation. Earlier in the fall, she had been making scrapbooks (with family photos and stories) for the girls. S took it further and made one for her brother J (which he picked up on his last visit from California). By then she was inspired to make one for her other brother J (who lives just over a mile from us).

Dropping by J's house with this gift was the awesome experience I hoped it would be. Whatever walls had been built between S and J came tumbling down in an instant. Of course there were hugs all around. It was good to see J and his wife again. It was also good to see my nephew, two nieces, and my grand-niece again. We had gotten there as they were in the middle of opening presents; it was a lot of fun to watch that going on. But it was especially touching to see S and J sitting together as J looked at each page and told S all the family stories he remember from the photos. That's what Christmas is about, isn't it?

It really is a wonderful life!

Wrapping Presents - A New Tradition

I don't know about you but I hate wrapping presents. It's just a dreary job that takes too long. And that was the task that I had to look forward to coming home from work yesterday.

There was something else I desperately wanted to do, something to make my Christmas season more complete - watch It's A Wonderful Life. I just love that movie.

So I popped in our DVD of It's A Wonderful Life and had it playing while I wrapped the presents.

I think I've found a new holiday tradition!

Terrible Week to Have a Cold

There's never a good time to catch a cold and have to deal with it. But this was definitely not a good week.

I've heard it said that a cold generally lasts a week if you do nothing, but if you do the rest and fluids and take all the drugs to relieve your symptoms it takes seven days. Do the math. And this was definitely not a good week.

Did I mention this was not a good week to have a cold? Well, it wasn't.

First of all, I had just gotten over bronchitis (a bacterial infection) a week before. But this was a virus. Probably the same one my wife was hosting while my anti-bacterial meds were whipping my last bout of bronchitis. I thought I was home free as far as being able to sing Christmas Eve. The prickly feeling in the back of my throat a week ago said otherwise.

I immediately attacked with some Zicam which is supposed to lessen the severity and perhaps shorten the duration of your cold. Well, my symptoms were less severe. However, I still had a bit of trouble with my vocal cords after last Sunday. By Tuesday I was pretty hoarse (although I didn't quite sound like Barry White as I have in the past).

Thankfully, I had the bulk of my Christmas shopping done, so the stress of holiday shopping was not a factor. I just had some gift certificates and a CD to buy, and that was a piece of cake.

Most of the stress came from work. We had a rather high volume come in and only half of our usual crew to get it done. We had to be creative to get it all done, and didn't quite finish (but we did quite well anyway).

Thursday night's rehearsal found me with not much workable singing voice and not much help to the rest of the tenor section. But it was a rehearsal I couldn't very well skip as Christmas Eve was the next night, and our music needed some serious work. At least I could listen. Also, as choir chaplain, I had a very inspirational devotion to share with the choir.

Ah, Christmas Eve day. I was starting to feel almost human. Since Fridays are half-days for me, I was able to come home for a short nap. All that was really left for Christmas was to wrap presents, take shower, and head out to the church.

I still wasn't in full voice when the evening began. Singing at the 7:00 service was a little challenging, but it went okay. By 9:00, I actually felt that my voice was stronger. We had done some switching around in the tenor section and I sang next to one of the stronger voices (at his request!). It was a little better.

It was nice not having to sing the 11:00 service this year. At least I could get home sooner and get to bed sooner.

Then I get home and there's a message from my wife S. As planned, she was spending the night at our daughter's/grandson's apartment so she could get a head start on breakfast and we'd open presents in plenty of time. But what wasn't planned was that when she took her bedtime insulin, she injected the wrong insulin, essentially overdosing on the long-term insulin. The doctor told her not to go to sleep for another four hours and to eat all the sugar she could get her hands on. It worked - she's fine now.

I'm feeling much better today. Who knows? Perhaps I'll have a pretty decent singing voice tomorrow! Anyway, terrible week to have a cold.

Uh-Oh, There Goes That Temple Mount Wall Again

Haaretz is reporting the immenent collapse of an embankment at the Western Wall of the Temple Mount.

Jihad

You know there's a lot of debate going on over our involvement in the Middle East, particularly our military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I'm not really crazy on the whole idea of going to war. I know a couple of young men in Iraq, and I know quite a few people who have sons or daughters who have been there, are there now, or in all likelihood will end up there. I pray for them daily.

Our President has stated that we are not targeting Islam. And he is correct. But that seems to have created a lot of confusion amongst the public because, after all, the ones we're going after are Muslims. But much of the public does not realize what kind of enemy we are up against.

First, let me remind you that we did not start this war. If you have forgotten that, perhaps you need to take a look at this picture again:

(source: www.knoxstudio.com/SIEGE/slideshow/wtc)

The image you see here is when the jihad came to America. Islamic terrorists have had America in their sights for quite some time and they mean it.

Muslims claim The Five Pillars of Islam in the practice of their faith: Creed, Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving, and Pilgrimage. Some Muslims claim a sixth pillar of faith: Jihad, or Holy War, which entails physical battle and strict discipline. This violence is even sanctioned in the Qu'ran:

So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving,
Merciful. [Surah 9:5]

Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Apostle have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.
[Surah 9:29]

There are many who say that Islam is a peaceful religion (given the Five Pillars of Faith by themselves, it is). So what of these violent extremists? And then there's those troubling passages advocating violence against non-Muslims. So what of those many millions of peaceful Muslims? Do you not see the contradiction?

I suppose I could get a better viewpoint by reading the Qu'ran. But I don't see the point in doing that. George Carlin once said (and I paraphrase): "Do you ever look for something and then say, 'It was in the last place I looked!' Well of course it was in the last place you looked! You don't find something and then keep looking for it!" I don't desire to read the Qu'ran because I have already found that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to God except through him. [John 14:6, paraphrased] Period.

Now I'm not saying that Christians are perfect. Far from it. In fact, I can best show you a count of all the perfect Christians I know by hiding my hands behind my back. But through the grace and love of God (which Islam doesn't even mention) played out in the death of Jesus, we are redeemed.

Jesus taught that conversion was act of faith, not forced upon. History has shown that in the lands conquered by Muslims, those who did not convert were enslaved or killed. In a Muslim society, there is only one way to be politically correct - there is no alternative. In that kind of faith, where is the devotion?

There are some evil people out there who very much want to take their jihad to America. The last time they tried, 3000 innocent people were killed. How many will it be next time? That's the reason why we're in Iraq and Afghanistan - so that there will be no next time. But if we let ourselves withdraw without eliminating the threat, there definitely will be a next time. How many will die then? Who will it be? Will it be you? Your children? You wanna take that chance?

There may come a time when others try to force their beliefs on us. Ain't gonna happen to me. Granted another person can kill my body, but they can't kill my soul - it belongs to Jesus now. Jihad? Bring it on.

I've read the Book. I've read the Ending. We won. As far as I'm concerned, I'm already on the winning side.

Excavation at Cana

There's a favorite Scripture passage (John 2:1-11) that is read in some Christian weddings today (including my own). It describes a wedding in the village of Cana that Jesus, his disciples, and his mother attended. Then when the wine had run out, Jesus performed (at the behest of his mother) his first miracle, changing the water in six stone jar into wine.

The Associate Press is reporting today that American archaeologists excavating a site near what has been thought to have been Cana have "found pieces of stone jars from the time of Jesus, and believe they have found biblical Cana."

Now stone jars were fairly common, and there is little or no chance of proving if these were THE stone jars. But the evidence is certainly intriguing. Shards from these vessels are "large enough to be the same type of jars described in the Gospel of John."

Further excavations are needed, but there seems to be no doubt that this new site will become a destination of many pilgrimages.

Christmas Spirit

For the first time in years, I feel like I really have the Christmas spirit in full force. I can't really put my finger on why, except to say that perhaps I've learned to pace myself.

Granted this is a very busy time of year. So many demands are made on our time and our money. It seems that the more I've said "Bah, humbug," the more down I get. But if I take the lead of George Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life and just say "Merry Christmas!" no matter how pressured I feel, the better I feel.

It was last year I decided to pace myself more, and just work into the season gradually. Boy, what a difference that made!

This year has been no exception; in fact I've made it more of a point to get with it and stop fighting it. I started with a little bit of Christmas shopping a few weeks ago. I finished the bulk of it yesterday (I used to pride myself on doing all of my Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve - my record is two hours and fifteen minutes). Now that the shopping is about done, however, I feel much more relaxed.

Our plans for Christmas dinner are pretty much set (just need to confirm the time, that's all). We all know where we're going and who's bringing what for dinner. Nice.

It was this morning that I fully realized the joy of the season. We had a wonderful contemporary worship service this morning, with the contemporary choir singing, with lessons and carols. The youth that took part did an awesome job as well. My wife S was singing in the choir while I sat with our daughters and grandson in the congregation. The service was put together completely by our worship leader. It was amazing, uplifting, and very worshipful.

Although I got over bronchitis a week ago, I seem to be catching a cold. I've got the sore throat and everything. I'm wondering how well I'll be able to sing for the Christmas Eve services. Yet I'm looking forward to how this week will play out. As chaplain of the Sanctuary Choir, I have a really wonderful devotion planned for Thursday's rehearsal, based on a story I saw on TV last night (I will share that with you all later). So I really hope to be in good health just for that. I am optimistic. I feel that with today's infusion of joy, I am being sustained - even healed (my sore throat is better, and it feels as if my cold is actually going away rather than progressing).

Ah, but I ramble on. I think you get my drift. I'm feelin' it!

God's Message Unveiled

This message from God was revealed after Hurricane Charlie ripped through Orlando. [source truthorfiction.com]

War For Oil

Osama bin Laden continues to hurl tapes at us. Now he's saying that oil should be $100 a barrel. Actually I favor that as well. If nothing else, that may finally force the industrialized world into developing alternative sources of energy. It will also backfire on the nations of the Middle East who have little to offer in terms of resources.

Now some have said that our current war in Iraq is over oil, as was the first Gulf War that liberated Kuwait. I agree. And believe me, if the world's oil supply was as truly threatened as bin Laden would like it to, there would be a lot more nations involved in cleaning up the mess in Iraq than there are now.

Those who would disdain war over oil need to take note that this is not as recent occurrence in history as they would like. In fact, we can trace that as far back as World War II. As Japan was hungrily building their empire in China and the Pacific, the U.S. stepped in and denied Japan access to key resources - with oil amongst the most important. The Japanese knew that in order to sustain their conquests, they had to eliminate the United States as a threat. And even then, they knew the respite would only be temporary. That's when they planned and carried out their attack on Pearl Harbor.

What's really disturbing, though, about wars for oil is that it's only going to get worse - much worse. Experts are now saying that the world oil supply will last only 40 more years. Conservative estimates say it will only last 30 years. Do the math. The world oil supply will disappear in our children's lifetimes, if not our own.

It's not going to run out all at once either. Some places will run out before others. It could run out in, for example, in Venezuela first. Then the North Sea. Then Russia, etc., etc, etc.

The point here is that as oil runs out in one place, the real estate where the oil remains becomes that much more valuable - and hotly contested. Oil wars will break out well before the 30 or 40 years runs out (and war tends to drain oil even faster). Imagine a war in 2030 on our own soil over the oil fields in Texas, Oklahoma, and the Gulf of Mexico!

For more reading here's another article on the subject.

So are we fighting a war for oil? You betcha. But just wait.

Why Poodles Need Grooming

The scruff-muffin before...

...and four hours later. Ah, much better. Now we don't mind scritching her head.

A Few Changes To This Blog

I'm going to make a few more changes to this blog, so please bear with me. I'm going to eliminate the Religion and Politics page altogether and fold all of those posts into the main page.

Why? Just to make editing and posting somewhat easier for me, of course. If you've visited here before you may have noticed that I like to play around with the look of the pages. I usually do that on a blog set up just for experimentation and editing, then I copy and paste to the rest of the pages. It's a little time consuming (but fun, nonetheless) to do it that way. I also figure that the Pancreatitis and the Travelogue pages should have their own look (maybe a map for a background on the Travelogue and - I don't know - little pancreases for the Pancreatitis page?)

I also figured that in some cases, the editorial content between Religion and Politics and the main page is in somewhat of a gray area. Sure, some of it is purely religious, some purely political, and some purely nonesense. Some may say it's all nonsense!

Anywho, that's what's going on here. It may or may not take a while to get 35 posts from Religion and Politics reposted over here, but what the heck? I hope you enjoy what I have planned.

Is Russia Flexing Its Muscles?

In one of my previous posts (Israel in Prophecy - Part 3) I mentioned the role of Russia in end-time prophecy. Now Russia certainly has had it challenges since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. It may be only a matter of time before Russia has a change in fortune. The fact that Russia desires a bigger part on the world's stage is no secret.

Perhaps the most bizarre story of this year may the the political crisis in the Ukraine. This year's presidential election was more hotly contested than the one here in the U.S. The two major candidates were Viktor Yushchenko, (who favors stronger ties with the West) and the Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovych (who has the support of outgoing president Leonid Kuchma - and Russian president Vladimir Putin).

Election results seemed to indicate that Yanukovych received 49.46% of the vote while Yushchenko received 46.61%. But something didn't seem to be right, and supporters of Yushchenko, donning orange scarves and waving orange banners, flocked to Kiev's Independence Square. It seems that there may have been widespread election fraud, including where, "In one region," [Yushchenko] said, "turnout increased by a half-million voters after polls closed."

As demonstrations broke out and troops were called in, it looked as though the Cold War had broken out again. It was even rumored that Russian Special Forces units, posing as Ukrainian troops, had been called in. The US, EU, and other western nations questioned the election results. Russian President Putin then issued a stern warning stating basically to "butt out of it." Nonetheless, authorities in the Ukraine have since bowed to pressure, both within and without. A new runoff election is scheduled to be held on December 26.

Meanwhile, the story has taken on an even more bizarre twist. It appears that the opposition candidate Yushchenko has been deliberately poisoned, perhaps last September while campaigning. All indications seem to show that this was an assassination attempt from the outside. Hmmmmm.

As the December 26 election approaches, Yushchenko is leading in the polls. This may resolve itself peacefully, but there seems to be a lot of anxiety from Moscow. Is Russia indeed flexing its muscles?

I'm Back!

It was sure nice to have a decent singing voice again today. That makes the whole choir experience pleasant for everybody. I'm not quite 100% yet, but it's close enough. At least I didn't have to cough much. Ah, the healing power of antibiotics!

Another Pastor Search Begins

I'm starting to wonder if our church is getting to be known as one that chews up pastors and spits them out. Pastor D, who came to our church last year, has announced his upcoming retirement effective June 30, 2005, which will mark the end of a 35-year career.

This will mean we will have had four senior pastors in a timeframe of five years. I hope our church can sustain another major change like this.

Diabetics Who Love Chocolate

I had a nice visit with my doctor today. The results from my thyroid show that it's normal. That's good news. However the results from my hemoglobin-A show that my blood sugar is still a bit too high, and higher than the last time. I'm going to watch my diet better and get more exercise. I go back in a month to see how I'm doing. In fact I did a little yardwork today - that's usually pretty decent exercise. Boy, it's tough being a diabetic who loves chocolate, especially this time of year when it's so plentiful around the office.

Fortunately my bronchitis is much better. I still have a bit of a cough, though, and it was tough singing in choir practice last night. But I still have my upper range. Provided my throat doesn't tickle, I think I'll be okay on Sunday.

My blood pressure was a little high (as it was last week). Dr. R was about to prescribe something for that; then it occurred to him and he asked if I had been taking decongestants. Boy, have I! So he suggested some other over-the-counter remedy. We'll see how the blood pressure is next month.

Boy, it sure sucks getting old.

I Love You More!

It is said that love is contagious. About a month or so ago, our four-year-old grandson has added a new phrase to his repertoire. Often when we exchange I love you's, he quickly adds, "I love you more!"

Now when my wife and I leave for work in the morning, or one of us goes to the store or something, we'll exchange I love you's with an extra, "I love you more!"

No Wonder We Can't Understand Each Other

I was reading another blog where they had used Babelfish.com to translate a previous post into Spanish, then back to English. It was rather funny. So I thought I'd try the same thing and see what I could come up with. I translated a statement into various languages, then back to English. Here are my results:

Original text in English: My cat thinks I am weird; the feeling is mutual, I assure you.

Chinese: My cat thought I am strange; The feeling is mutual, I guarantee you.

Dutch: My cat thinks I bizar is; the feeling is reciprocal, insures I you. The Dutch word bizar did not translate back to English, but I think it's pretty obvious.

French: My cat thinks that I am strange; the feeling is mutual, I ensure you. This is the most normal of the bunch. See, the French can do some things right.

German: My cat thinks that I am strange; the feeling is, I insures you mutually.

Greek: My ga'ta thinks that I am strange the sentiment he is reciprocal, to you I certify.

Japanese: My cat thinks of that I am incomprehensible; Mutual, me you guarantee feeling, is. Sounds kinda like Yoda, if you ask me.

Korean: It goes out and the thing which is weird my cat thinks; The sense believes firmly the trade name, or. Huh??????????

Portuguese: My cat thinks that I am I find odd; the feeling is mutual, me assures it. I like this one.

Russian: My tomcat thinks 4 weird; feeling is mutual, 4 convince you. Now how did they know we have a male cat? Is that old KGB still out there?

Spanish: My cat thinks that I am strange; the sensation is mutual, I assures to him.

And here's my personal favorite -

Italian: My cat thinks that it is bizzarro; the sensibility is mutual, I assures them. I just like the word bizzarro. Heck, I've even used it in a sentence or two.

I think this clearly demonstrates how easily things get lost in translation.

By the way, any resemblance of the above statement to me and my cat is purely coincidental.

Why You Should Put Up Christmas Lights

When I was a little boy, my dad never put Christmas lights on the house (he still doesn't). But that was okay because there were other houses I could look at in marvel and wonder.

Now that I'm all growed up, I put Christmas lights on my house. I do it for all the little kids and all the big kids (like me) who like to look at Christmas lights.

My affirmation of that came on Tuesday after I picked up our grandson from daycare and brought him home for his mother to pick up after work. As we pulled up to the house, the lights were already on, and J exclaimed his wonder. I said, "I did that for you."

"Thank you!" he said, and then, "That's the best grampa!!!"

And that's why you should put up Christmas lights on your house.

Down, But Not Out

Looks I've got bronchitis now...lovely. I went to the doctor's office and was seen by the physician's assistant (nice name for nurse practitioner) which was fine with me as long as she can prescribe antibiotics (which she did). So for now I'm on plenty of fluids and rest and hopefully soon the drugs will kick in. I skipped choir practice last night - it's hard to sing when you have to cough after every third breath. I sound pretty froggy today, too. Maybe by Sunday I can sing, but I was told not to plan on it.

We killed two birds with one stone...I see my doc next Friday anyway to check up on my diabetes (okay, I'm overdue, but I think I'm doing alright anyway). I mentioned that I suspected maybe a low thyroid (I've had an unexplained, sudden weight gain and I'm more fatigued lately). So we had some blood drawn to check my hemoglobin-A and my thyroid. Besides, if my bronchitis isn't getting better by then, we can deal with it then.

Bush and Kerry In the Boardroom With Donald Trump

This recording comes courtesy of KDKB radio in Phoenix - it's a clever recording of Bush and Kerry in the boardroom with Donald Trump. They're both getting raked over the coals by Trump, then Trump fires Kerry!