ChuckzBlog
Designed to inform, to encourage, to entertain and to stimulate your imaginations. Enjoy!

Wednesday, August 31, 2005
How Invisibility Cloaks Work Posted by Picasa
Wednesday, August 31, 2005 :: ::

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Photos: Dinosaur sightings - old-school computer hardware Posted by Picasa
Wednesday, August 31, 2005 :: ::

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"Another lesson I learned is that we can't continue down a wrong path and remain untouched by the consequences we create. Even as I continued to make bad decisions, I prayed, "Lord, show me the right way." But he already had! I knew what I should have done, I just didn't do it. When we make a conscious choice against God, we're seldom hit with lightning; usually we just get to hang out in our circumstance, which is more than most of us can bear." You'll be challenged and encouraged by this young woman's account of two nights spent on a percarious perch. --Chuck
 Posted by Picasa
Wednesday, August 31, 2005 :: ::

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005
From today's devotional... "I pretty much expected I would hear from cat-lovers about my recent �superiority of dogs� devotional. The intent was to illustrate something about holding grudges by way of a light-hearted rendering of typically feline behavior. Most of the comments that came back were humorous digs at the ancient feud between cat- and dog-lovers. I love the one who called his cat: "a fetid-mouthed, gelid-eyed mincing little rug of a carnivore, who would have me for lunch if it were the right size.� Posted by Picasa
Tuesday, August 30, 2005 :: ::

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Remember Bob's Big Boy?

I received this from my wife's older brother, Ralph, and thought that those of you (of a "certain age") who grew up in Southern California might enjoy this trip down memory lane.
 
Chuck
     The name Bob’s Big Boy has a privileged place in my book of youthful memories. This book wouldn’t be on anyone’s best seller list, yet it’s like an old friend when I occasionally open it up. I find that I’m visiting it more frequently as the years move on.

     Bob Wian opened a small diner on Broadway Avenue in Glendale, California in 1936, and called it Bob’s Pantry. The legend contends that shortly thereafter he invented the double deck hamburger and named it after a portly kid that hung around the place…Big Boy. I spent three months in the Glendale Adventist Hospital in 1947 and met this young man. The connection was obvious and accurate.

     In the 1940’s the business had grown to a number of sites in and around Glendale and Burbank. While I would occasionally visit the Pasadena, Eagle Rock and Toluca Lake stores, Colorado Avenue in Glendale, and San Fernando Road in Burbank were my usual choices. The San Fernando Road site was just around the corner from Angie Brown Dickinson’s Cedar Street home, making it the sentimental favorite.

     A trip to Bob’s after a movie or a ball game was a treat indeed. The Big Boy was the ultimate hamburger in those days and at thirty five cents, the price was manageable. While the food was superb, the entertainment was sometimes even better. As I recall, you could regularly count on a fight in the parking lot. Often, a couple of clowns, on testosterone overload would be dukeing it out over some sweet young thing that probably didn’t give a squat about either of them. If it wasn’t the fisticuffs, there was always the parade of custom cars. Hot Rodding was born in the 1940’s in the Glendale, Pasadena and Burbank areas, and car that was most often featured was the AV. In case you didn’t remember, an AV was a model A Ford frame and roadster body, circa 1929, 30, 31, modified with a Ford V8 engine. These engines usually had been seriously altered making them much more powerful than the original factory edition. The term then used was “full race”, the engine block having been reamed, bored and stroked. These don’t sound like descriptions for mixed company, however in the parlance of the hot rodders of the 1940’s, they were strictly automotive terms. The engine was finally adorned with extra dressing like Eddie Meyer racing heads, an Edelbrock manifold and duel Stromberg carburetors. This mechanical work of art was then left hoodless for all to see. And, works of art they were, most representing countless hours of painstaking labor. When they would slowly drive into the Bob’s parking lot, they would always draw a large crowd of envious guys, while the car owner would smugly look on. “Eat your hearts out guys”. 

     Finally, there were the girls. The big nights were Friday and Saturday and there always seemed to be a supply of pretty girls in bobby socks, white “Joyce” shoes, skirts and angora sweaters. So, you had the food, the fights, the cars and the girls. Could there really be anything else for a teenage male on a perpetual hormone high? It was a delightful time.

     My Bob’s Big Boy window was a narrow one, lasting only a few short years. College, graduate school and the military took me away from Southern California. I remember longing for a Big Boy while I was gone. I was married with children when I returned and except for a few visits, the window had closed. The food was OK, yet without the cars, the girls and the fights…it just wasn’t the same. I’m sure the hormones had probably leveled off as well.

     Bob Wian eventually became mayor of Glendale and sold his empire to the Marriot Corporation in 1967. He died in Newport Beach in 1992. Nothing lasts forever. I’m grateful that the memories remain.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005 :: ::

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It’s Not About Being a Good Christian - PDL Daily Devotional

 

August 29, 2005


It’s Not About Being a Good Christian
by John Fischer

Here’s one of the greatest things about being a Christian: You can accept yourself for who you are.

Here’s one of the most tragic things about being a Christian: You can be one for a long time without knowing this.

I was. I was what you might call a model Christian. I filled the bill. Any church or Christian school would have seen me as a poster child Christian. There was only one problem: I thought I was, too – when all the while I knew I wasn’t. I knew it was all pretty much a game.

All this was back when I thought a Christian was all about being a good person – someone who would rank high in relative goodness when compared to others more spiritually challenged.

This was before I realized that Christ died to save sinners, and to qualify for the free gift of salvation you have to realize you are desperately in need of being saved. You are drowning. You are dying. As a sinner, you are among the worst.

Once you make “being good” the criteria for being a Christian, you of necessity become the judge of others, because you have to judge others in order to remain good in you own eyes. So if you have not come to this, (i.e. you are still pretty good in your own eyes), and you preach the gospel (many do, from this perspective), it becomes a gospel for other people – not for you. And something doesn’t ring true.

You also remain aloof to just about everybody because you can’t really know anyone for fear they might come to know you and find out your secret, that you really are a scoundrel like everybody else. It’s a lonely life. Believe me. It’s much better to be a sinner whom Jesus Christ loves and for whom He died so you can spread the good news about Him to other sinners like you. Then you have nothing to hide, and only Christ – and a lot of friends – to gain by telling the truth.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Billy Graham lately and I think this is one of the things that made him such a good evangelist. When he preached about the gospel, he never excluded himself from needing it. He knew the gospel wouldn’t preach if it were not, first and foremost, for him.

Which brings us back to being a Christian and accepting yourself as who you are. That’s why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that we all have unveiled faces. We have nothing to hide because we are reflecting the face of Christ whom we worship in continual gratitude for our salvation.

Thank goodness. I never liked being a good Christian anyway.

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18


John Fischer is the Senior Writer for Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals. He resides in Southern California with his wife, Marti and son, Chandler. They also have two adult children, Christopher and Anne. John is a published author and popular speaker.

 

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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 :: ::

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Test posting using Blogger for Word

Thursday, August 25, 2005
Test posting using Blogger for Word….

Chuck
Thursday, August 25, 2005 :: ::

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Why we face the "Terrible T's" -- Troubles, Trespss and Temptation

Monday, August 22, 2005

From the book Secrets to Spiritual Success by Paul Estabrooks  (full of testimonies from persecuted Christians)

"Ugandan pastor, Kefa Sempangi documents his family escaping death by the narrowest of margins.  After studying at an American sanctuary he states:

'In Uganda, Penina and I read the Bible for hope and life. We read to hear God's promises, to hear his commands and obey them. There had been no time for arguments and no time for religious discrepancies or doubts.

Now, in the security of a new life and with the reality of death fading from mind, I found myself reading Scripture to analyze texts and speculate about meaning.  I came to enjoy abstract theological discussions with my fellow students and, while these discussions were intellectually refreshing, it wasn't long before our fellowship revolved around ideas rather than the work of God in our lives....

The biggest change came to my prayer life. In Uganda, I had prayed with a deep sense of urgency. I refused to leave my knees until I was certain I had been in the presence of the resurrected Christ...Now, after a year in Philadelphia, the urgency was gone.

When I prayed publicly I was more concerned to be theologically correct than to be in God's presence.
Even in private my prayers were no longer the helpless cries of a child.  They were spiritual tranquilizers, thoughts that made no contact with anything outside themselves.  More and more, I found myself coming to God with vague requests for gifts I did not expect.'

Monday, August 22, 2005 :: ::

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"Getting the Role of Pastor Right Again"

August 15, 2005
“Getting the Role of Pastor Right Again”
John H. Armstrong
For a long time I have had serious doubts about many of the models of pastoral ministry used and promoted in the West. These models range from academic and biblical teacher models to chief counselor and care-giver. In my estimation they all fail the biblical test at some crucial point, and some fall even further short than others. Worse still these various models generally hinder the church from being the church in the best sense. Until these models are radically altered I do not believe that we will see the kind of renewal that we need in the church in America.

Put very simply, the primary vision of ministry that we gave to pastors, from the time of the Protestant Reformation right down to the present, has been that of a well-trained teacher explaining the Bible to the flock. In response to the specialized priestly role that had developed among the leadership of the church over the course of centuries, the Reformers recovered the centrality of the preaching of the Word of God and restored a pulpit to the church. For this recovery I am profoundly grateful. But, it was by this means that the minister became the primary teacher of the flock in time. When seminaries arose they were specifically designed to prepare the pastor to be the primary specialist in Bible and theology and thus the best teacher in the local church setting. (In reality, Calvin saw two different roles in the Ephesians 4 description of "pastor-teacher." He thought the church was best served by two different persons, the pastor who cared for the flock and the teacher who was the resident theologian who made sure the truth of the gospel was preserved and taught.)

In this development the Bible was central. And the pastor's chief task was to teach it faithfully. By the late twentieth century this role had undergone significant changes as the church began to respond to the modern era. By the 1980s the pastor has become a counselor-therapist in many settings and then, in an even more important shift, the pastor became a manager, or CEO. The stalemate that resulted was huge. On the one side we have people arguing that the pastor should be the scholar/teacher of the flock. On the other we have the pastor as management consultant/visionary/CEO. Other roles pop up now and then but among evangelicals these are the two dominant ones in most of our churches.

I have publicly argued that the first model is primary, at least since the 1980s. I have generally remained skeptical of the second. I am now prepared to say that I can not argue for either as primary. While the second is quite unacceptable, lacking clear and sufficient biblical support, the first is also distorted and lacks biblical support as well, though in a much less obvious way to some. How can I make such a seemingly conflicted statement?

My short answer is simple. To equip the people of God to become meaningfully engaged in the worship and mission of God in Jesus Christ is the primary call of God upon the pastor's life (Ephesians 4). Teaching, at least as an end in itself, is not the pastoral role. But when we make teaching the Scriptures the goal then the pastor who can handle the text faithfully (which, I submit, he must be able to do), and preach like a trained professional, can leave the ministry at that and soon believe that by preaching he has done the job. Put even more crassly, he can feel that he the job is done if he is faithful to the test and what the folks actually do with the teaching is not his real burden at all. He can learn to leave the results to God and the people, and feel he has done his job.

But if the pastor is to “equip [Christ’s] people for works of service [ministry]” (Ephesians 4:12a) then I believe the pastor can only complete the work Christ gave to him when he has taught and prepared the people so that they can be engaged in the mission of Christ, namely service. The verse that follows these words in Ephesians 4:12 further adds that this equipping is “so that the body of Christ may be built up, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12b-13). Pastors, in other words, are not given to the church to simply teach it great truth. They are given to teach people in such a way that they are “equipped” to minister. This is, if the truth is honestly faced, an entirely different calling from simply teaching well.

Based upon this rather simple, but striking profound, observation I deduce the following:

The correctives for this problem include:

Sine I wrote my first draft of this article a fine piece by my friend Glenn Wagner came to me own box and helpfully addressed this problem. Wagner writes:

We clearly need a new reformation in the West. Wagner is right when he says new tools and methods are not the answer. He, like me, calls for a new foundation, an entirely new priority in the ministry. The reformation that we need must provide a number of serious correctives to the traditions that we have assumed to be biblical. One such corrective will be to get the role of the pastor right in terms of the mission of the church as seen in Ephesians 4. Shepherds who know how to love and equip sheep to minister to others will be the job description of the pastor if we are to experience reformation.

Monday, August 22, 2005 :: ::

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"Americans love freedom of choice. In his provocative book, The New Mainstream: How the Multicultural Consumer Is Transforming American Business (Rayo), Guy Garcia presents a powerful case that the ability of Americans to pick and choose for themselves is creating a new economic and social matrix in the U.S. as the country evolves from the mythical "melting pot" to a "salad bowl" of ethnic, religious and gender diversity." Posted by Picasa
Monday, August 22, 2005 :: ::

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Check this out! Is it the "wave of the future"? Posted by Picasa
Monday, August 22, 2005 :: ::

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Thursday, August 18, 2005
Welcome to the most comprehensive collection of optical and sensory illusions on the world-wide web.  Posted by Picasa
Thursday, August 18, 2005 :: ::

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Encouraging reading! Posted by Picasa
Thursday, August 18, 2005 :: ::

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Apple Mac OS X Multiple Vulnerabilities

National Cyber Alert System

Cyber Security Alert SA05-229A

Apple Mac OS X Multiple Vulnerabilities

Original release date: August 17, 2005
Last revised: --
Source: US-CERT

Systems Affected

* Apple Mac OS X version 10.3.9 (Panther)
* Apple Mac OS X version 10.4.2 (Tiger)
* Apple Safari web browser

Overview

Apple has released Security Update 2005-007 to correct several
vulnerabilities affecting Mac OS X and the Safari web browser.
These vulnerabilities have a wide range of impacts, the most
severe of which could allow an attacker to gain access to your
computer.

Solution

Install an Update

Use the Mac OS X Software Update feature to download and install
the updates. Consider scheduling Software Update to check for
updates automatically (this option is enabled by default).

Description

Apple Mac OS X has multiple vulnerabilities that could allow an
attacker to run malicious programs on your computer. Installing
the update from Apple will correct these vulnerabilities.

For more technical information, see US-CERT Technical Alert
TA05-229A and Apple Security Update 2005-007.

References

* US-CERT Technical Cyber Security Alert TA05-229A -
<http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA05-229A.html>

* Apple Security Update 2005-007 -
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302163>

* Mac OS X: Updating your software -
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106704>

____________________________________________________________________

The most recent version of this document can be found at:

<http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/alerts/SA05-229A.html>
____________________________________________________________________

Feedback can be directed to US-CERT. Please send email to
<cert@cert.org> with "SA05-229A Feedback VU#913820" in the subject.
____________________________________________________________________

Mailing list information:

<http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/>
____________________________________________________________________

Produced 2005 by US-CERT, a government organization.

Terms of use:

<http://www.us-cert.gov/legal.html>
____________________________________________________________________

Revision History

August 17, 2005: Initial release

Thursday, August 18, 2005 :: ::

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Virtual Friends

Friday, August 12, 2005
"Virtual is truly the word of the day. The first synonym for virtual that comes up in my dictionary is 'near.' We're nearly friends, but not really. 'Virtual' is a substitute for the real thing." --Click the image below to read more...
Posted by Picasa
Friday, August 12, 2005 :: ::

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THE ISLAMIZATION OF EUROPE

11 August 2005

THE ISLAMIZATION OF EUROPE

On Friday 20th May 2005 a crowd of some 300 Muslims burned a wooden cross
outside the American embassy in London. This was part of a protest against
the rumoured desecration of a Qur’an by American soldiers in Guantanamo Bay,
during which British and American flags were also burned. Perhaps the most
remarkable aspect of this event was that it was not deemed to be newsworthy,
receiving little attention in the national press.

The whole scenario is reminiscent of what happens in so many Muslim-majority
countries: a rumour of an insult to Islam, a violent and blasphemous
anti-Christian reaction, police watching idly, and a complete lack of public
interest let alone outrage. It could have been Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia
or Northern Nigeria. But it was the UK.

Europe is undergoing a rapid process of change as Muslims make their
presence felt in politics, economics, law, education and the media. While
there is a wide range of attitudes amongst Muslims in Europe, with many who
are broadly content with the status quo and just want to live their lives
peacefully, others are striving deliberately to drive forward the changes.
As a result of the efforts of the latter, Europe is gradually being
transformed into a society in which Islam takes its place, not just as an
equal alongside the many other faith communities, but often as the dominant
player. This is not purely, or even primarily, a matter of numbers, but is
more a matter of control of the structures of society. It is not happening
by chance but is the result of a careful and deliberate strategy by certain
Muslim
leaders.

Though the effects are only now becoming noticeable, the planning was done
decades ago. In 1980 the Islamic Council of Europe published a book called
Muslim Communities in Non-Muslim States which clearly explained the Islamic
agenda in Europe. When Muslims live as a minority they face theological
problems, because classical Islamic teaching always presupposed a context of
Islamic dominance; hence the need for guidance on how to live in non-Muslim
states. The instructions given in the book told Muslims to get together
and organise themselves with the aim of establishing a viable Muslim
community based on Islamic principles. This is the duty of every individual
Muslim living within a non-Muslim political entity. They should set up
mosques, community centres and Islamic schools. At all costs they must
avoid being assimilated by the majority. In order to resist assimilation,
they must group themselves geographically, forming areas of high Muslim
concentration within the population as a whole. Yet they must also interact
with non-Muslims so as to share the message of Islam with them. Every
Muslim individual is required to participate in the plan; it is not allowed
for anyone simply to live as a “good Muslim” without assisting the overall
strategy. The ultimate goal of this strategy is that the Muslims should
become a majority and the entire nation be governed according to Islam. (M.
Ali Kettani “The Problems of Muslim Minorities and their Solutions” in
Muslim Communities in Non-Muslim States —London: Islamic Council of Europe,
1980, pp.96-105)

Not all Muslims would support this action plan. The more secularized are
happy to become integrated within the majority society. Even amongst those
who agree on the ultimate goal of creating an Islamic state, there are
differences about methodology i.e. whether this should be a slow and
peaceful transition, or whether it should be hastened by means of political
dominance or even – say some – by violence.

Despite the variety of opinion amongst Muslims, it is not hard to recognize
the different stages of the Islamic Council of Europe’s strategy being put
into practice within today’s Europe. Muslims do tend to live in tightly
concentrated areas, and show little sign of integrating into wider society.
Saudi funding is paying for the erection of large and beautiful mosques,
staffed by imams brought over to Europe from the “home countries”. Sweden’s
third largest city, Malmø, is effectively ruled by violent gangs of Muslims,
and some of the Muslim residents of the city still cannot read or write
Swedish though they have lived there for 20 years. Denmark has recently
seen the Nordgårdsskolen in Aarhus become the first school in the country to
have 100% Muslim pupils. Britain’s Muslim population (variously estimated
at between 1.6 and 3 million) is concentrated in three areas: north-west
England, the midlands and London. In some of these areas Muslims are now
targeting the remaining Christian presence, arsoning churches, physically
attacking church leaders and their property; the aim seems to be to
“cleanse” these areas of non-Muslims.

European Muslims are Islamizing many aspects of life that also affect
non-Muslims. Spanish Muslims have expressed their desire to “regain” the
mosque of Cordoba. This building was originally a church, then turned into
a mosque, and then turned back into a place of Christian worship. Halal
meat is now routinely served in many British prisons,schools and hospitals,
sometimes to Muslim and non-Muslim alike, and the hijab [Islamic headscarf]
is worn in British schools. Muslims in the London borough of Tower Hamlets
have forced name-changes for districts and local amenities if the existing
name sounds too Christian for their liking.

In the UK, where Islam is making its most rapid advance, Islamic law
(shari’a) is already practised unofficially, with shari’a councils and
shari’a courts giving judgments on Muslim family matters. In
education numerous concessions are being made to British Muslims, Islam
often being given more prominence and respect than other faiths at state
schools. An increasing number of university posts are being funded from
Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries on condition that a certain line of
thinking is promoted.

The ultimate goal of taking control of society, as depicted by the Islamic
Council of Europe in 1980, is clearly in the minds of at least some Muslim
leaders. A Dutch Imam has stated that Islamic law is superior to other
forms of legislation so there is no need to obey other laws. Some Finnish
imams preach on the Islamic duty to kill a Muslim who converts to another
faith, adding that it is difficult to carry this out in Finland at present
because Muslims do not yet “own the state”. Furthermore, the freedoms of
European society are being exploited by Islamic militants and their
supporters to plan terrorist activities around the world. London – or
“Londonistan” as it is becoming known – is one of the most important bases
for Islamic terrorism worldwide. This has been illustrated by the July
bombings in London itself.

Despite all these advances, Muslims still tend to portray themselves as
victims in European society, while the majority society in turn struggles to
affirm them and to avoid giving any accidental offence. But this kind of
reaction by non-Muslims can be seen as the typical behaviour of dhimmi. In
classical Islam, Christian and Jewish minorities within an Islamic state
were called dhimmi. They were free to worship and live out their faith, but
had to submit to a raft of discriminatory and humiliating laws. They
learned to be subservient, and to consider the dominance of Muslims as
normal as the Muslims themselves did.

It is typical of dhimmi not to protest if a Christian cross is burned by an
angry crowd, nor even to feel that anything outrageous has occurred.
Likewise the Muslim scheme to turn the cathedral of Cordoba back into a
mosque has the backing of some Spanish government leaders in the city.

At a political level, European countries are responding in different ways to
the challenge of Islam. France is determinedly protecting its secularism,
and has banned the hijab in school. The Netherlands have recently swung
from one extreme to the other, following the ritualized killing of Dutch
film director Theo van Gogh by a young Muslim in November 2004; they are
turning against multiculturalism and becoming concerned to control
immigration. The UK seems to be seeking to replicate the segregation and
communalism of the British Raj in India, whereby the various religious
communities were each given their own laws.This policy would certainly mesh
well with some Muslim leaders’ own plans for Britain. If Britain is to be
sub-divided in this way, perhaps geographically as well as legally, it
raises the question of how the Church would survive in areas of Islamic
rule. What form would Christian ministry be able to take in these areas?

Muslims are still a minority in numerical terms in Europe, with an estimated
20 million living in the European Union. No country apart from Albania has
a Muslim community amounting to more than about 10% of the population.
However, demographic studies indicate that Muslim populations are growing
far faster than the non-Muslim populations. This is due partly to continued
immigration, partly to conversion, but mainly to the larger number of
children which Muslim families typically have. The growing Muslim community
is a mosaic of different ethnic, linguistic, cultural, sectarian and
geographical backgrounds, and characterized by increasing internal tensions
particularly over how to relate to the host society.

Some Christians have decried as faithless pessimism those who predict the
Islamization of Europe before the end of the century. But it must be
remembered that the region which is now Pakistan and Afghanistan was once
Christian, as was North Africa. The Church was completely eradicated from
these areas by the advance of Islam. It would surely be arrogant to think
that this could never happen to the Church in Europe.

As individual Christians we must love our Muslim neighbours and forgive any
wrongs done to us. But as a community the Church must defend herself, as
well as the Judaeo-Christian heritage with which Europe is blessed. For
this her leaders need great wisdom and courage.

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo

Friday, August 12, 2005 :: ::

Chuck :: permalink


America by the numbers

America by the numbers
by Michael Ventura

No concept lies more firmly embedded in our national character than the
notion that the USA is "No. 1," "the greatest." Our broadcast media are,
in essence, continuous advertisements for the brand name "America Is No. 1."
Any office seeker saying otherwise would be committing political suicide.
In fact, anyone saying otherwise will be labeled "un-American." We're an
"empire," ain't we? Sure we are. An empire without a manufacturing base.
An empire that must borrow $2 billion a day from its competitors in order to
function. Yet the delusion is ineradicable. We're No. 1. Well...this is
the country you really live in:

* The United States is 49th in the world in literacy (the New York
Times, Dec. 12, 2004).
* The United States ranked 28th out of 40 countries in mathematical
literacy (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).
* "The International Adult Literacy Survey...found that Americans with
less than nine years of education 'score worse than virtually all of the
other countries'" (Jeremy Rifkin's superbly documented book The European
Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the
American Dream, p.78).
* Our workers are so ignorant and lack so many basic skills that
American businesses spend $30 billion a year on remedial training (NYT,
Dec. 12, 2004). No wonder they relocate elsewhere!
* "The European Union leads the U.S. in...the number of science and
engineering graduates; public research and development (R&D)
expenditures; and new capital raised" (The European Dream, p.70).
* "Europe surpassed the United States in the mid-1990s as the largest
producer of scientific literature" (The European Dream, p.70).
* Nevertheless, Congress cut funds to the National Science Foundation.
The agency will issue 1,000 fewer research grants this year (NYT, Dec.
21, 2004).
* Foreign applications to U.S. grad schools declined 28 percent last
year. Foreign student enrollment on all levels fell for the first time in
three decades, but increased greatly in Europe and China. Last year
Chinese grad-school graduates in the U.S. dropped 56 percent, Indians 51 percent,
South Koreans 28 percent (NYT, Dec. 21, 2004). We're not the place to be
anymore.
* The World Health Organization "ranked the countries of the world in
terms of overall health performance, and the U.S. [was]...37th." In the
fairness of health care, we're 54th. "The irony is that the United States
spends more per capita for health care than any other nation in the
world" (The European Dream, pp.79-80). Pay more, get lots, lots less.
* "The U.S. and South Africa are the only two developed countries in
the world that do not provide health care for all their citizens" (The
European Dream, p.80). Excuse me, but since when is South Africa a
"developed" country? Anyway, that's the company we're keeping.
* Lack of health insurance coverage causes 18,000 unnecessary American
deaths a year. (That's six times the number of people killed on 9/11.)
(NYT, Jan. 12, 2005.)
* "U.S. childhood poverty now ranks 22nd, or second to last, among the
developed nations. Only Mexico scores lower" (The European Dream, p.81).
Been to Mexico lately? Does it look "developed" to you? Yet it's the only
"developed" country to score lower in childhood poverty.
* Twelve million American families--more than 10 percent of all U.S.
households--"continue to struggle, and not always successfully, to feed
themselves." Families that "had members who actually went hungry at some
point last year" numbered 3.9 million (NYT, Nov. 22, 2004).
* The United States is 41st in the world in infant mortality. Cuba
scores higher (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005).
* Women are 70 percent more likely to die in childbirth in America
than in Europe (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005).
* The leading cause of death of pregnant women in this country is
murder (CNN, Dec. 14, 2004).
* "Of the 20 most developed countries in the world, the U.S. was dead
last in the growth rate of total compensation to its workforce in the
1980s.... In the 1990s, the U.S. average compensation growth rate grew
only slightly, at an annual rate of about 0.1 percent" (The European Dream,
p.39). Yet Americans work longer hours per year than any other
industrialized country, and get less vacation time.
* "Sixty-one of the 140 biggest companies on the Global Fortune 500
rankings are European, while only 50 are U.S. companies" (The European
Dream, p.66). "In a recent survey of the world's 50 best companies,
conducted by Global Finance, all but one were European" (The European
Dream, p.69).
* "Fourteen of the 20 largest commercial banks in the world today are
European.... In the chemical industry, the European company BASF is the
world's leader, and three of the top six players are European. In
engineering and construction, three of the top five companies are
European.... The two others are Japanese. Not a single American
engineering and construction company is included among the world's top nine
competitors.
In food and consumer products, Nestlé and Unilever, two European giants,
rank first and second, respectively, in the world. In the food and
drugstore retail trade, two European companies...are first and second, and European
companies make up five of the top ten. Only four U.S. companies are on
the list" (The European Dream, p.68).
* The United States has lost 1.3 million jobs to China in the last
decade (CNN, Jan. 12, 2005).
* U.S. employers eliminated 1 million jobs in 2004 (The Week, Jan. 14,
2005).
* Three million six hundred thousand Americans ran out of unemployment
insurance last year; 1.8 million--one in five--unemployed workers are
jobless for more than six months (NYT, Jan. 9, 2005).
* Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea hold 40 percent of our
government debt. (That's why we talk nice to them.) "By helping keep
mortgage rates from rising, China has come to play an enormous and
little-noticed role in sustaining the American housing boom" (NYT, Dec.
4, 2004). Read that twice. We owe our housing boom to China, because they
want us to keep buying all that stuff they manufacture.
* Sometime in the next 10 years Brazil will probably pass the U.S. as
the world's largest agricultural producer. Brazil is now the world's
largest exporter of chickens, orange juice, sugar, coffee, and tobacco. Last
year, Brazil passed the U.S. as the world's largest beef producer. (Hear that,
you poor deluded cowboys?) As a result, while we bear record trade deficits,
Brazil boasts a $30 billion trade surplus (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).
* As of last June, the U.S. imported more food than it exported (NYT,
Dec. 12, 2004).
* Bush: 62,027,582 votes. Kerry: 59,026,003 votes. Number of eligible
voters who didn't show up: 79,279,000 (NYT, Dec. 26, 2004). That's more
than a third. Way more. If more than a third of Iraqis don't show for their
election, no country in the world will think that election legitimate.
* One-third of all U.S. children are born out of wedlock. One-half of
all U.S. children will live in a one-parent house (CNN, Dec. 10, 2004).
* "Americans are now spending more money on gambling than on movies,
videos, DVDs, music, and books combined" (The European Dream, p.28).
* "Nearly one out of four Americans [believe] that using violence to
get what they want is acceptable" (The European Dream, p.32).
* Forty-three percent of Americans think torture is sometimes
justified, according to a PEW Poll (Associated Press, Aug. 19, 2004).
* "Nearly 900,000 children were abused or neglected in 2002, the last
year for which such data are available" (USA Today, Dec. 21, 2004).
* "The International Association of Chiefs of Police said that cuts by
the [Bush] administration in federal aid to local police agencies have
left the nation more vulnerable than ever" (USA Today, Nov. 17, 2004).

No. 1? In most important categories we're not even in the Top 10 anymore.
Not even close.

The USA is "No. 1" in nothing but weaponry, consumer spending, debt, and
delusion.

Reprinted from the Austin Chronicle.
Friday, August 12, 2005 :: ::

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Thursday, August 11, 2005

The Hype over Skype: Can It Go the Distance?  Posted by Picasa
Thursday, August 11, 2005 :: ::

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God spilled the paint...

Friday, August 05, 2005

The east side of the Carrizo plain, in the Temblor Range,
about 50 miles due west of Bakersfield, California.


For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. Isaiah 61:11
Friday, August 05, 2005 :: ::

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God-talk In the Real World

Thursday, August 04, 2005
God-talk In the Real World
When God speaks to you, who are you gonna tell?
Compiled by Janet Epp Buckingham Posted 7/13/05

Ottawa has been all abuzz lately about God speaking!
Surprised? Well so was the Board of Directors at Nortel when the Chief Operating Officer, Gary Daichendt told them that God had spoken to him and told him that he should be the new CEO. This, of course, would require the Board to fire the current CEO to fulfill God's words to Daichendt.
The headline in the Ottawa Citizen was "Divine ambition is heresy at Nortel." Needless to say, with a headline like that, it is clear that Daichendt left Nortel.
But the story spawned some interesting commentary on the role of religion or "religiosity," as the media calls it, and the workplace. That same day, a column on page A2, next to the continuation of the main story, was titled "Many maintain God speaks directly to them." Not mainstream fare for the secular media, especially on a weekday.
As it happens, my husband preached a sermon just the previous Sunday on "Gadgets, Gizmos and God-talk" on this exact subject. Too bad the Ottawa Citizen did not interview him. He based it on Bockmuehl's book, Listening to the God who Speaks. Bockmuehl has some pretty interesting stories about how those who listen to and follow the God who speaks have changed not only their own lives but even the course of history.
The previously mentioned article was reasonably positive about God speaking. It starts out "So, does God actually talk to us? Surely He can, and many believe He (or She) still does." It concludes with the concern from a local pastor, Rev. Morris, who says that "A person needs to know the Scriptures." My good husband pointed that out in his sermon as well. If we follow what we think is God's voice without knowing what He has already said in His Word, we are bound to get into trouble.
Now, Daichendt was once a director of Walk Thru the Bible, a Christian discipleship program. This gives one a fair degree of confidence that he had a pretty good grasp of Scripture. So, God may well have been communicating—but that does not mean that we can't blow it on our own!
By Saturday, we had a thoughtful commentary from Mark Sutcliffe in the Citizen. Sutcliffe points out that for an executive to admit that he accepts career advice from God shows more humility than most CEOs. Interesting point. But he goes on to say that while "Most of us respect a person who lives his faith," we draw the line when it becomes so dominant that it "overwhelms company operations." He also points out that "Credibility also becomes an issue when God is quoted as advocating drastic action like a management coup."
This thoughtful approach to what the business community in Ottawa clearly saw as horrifying, contrasts rather starkly with the media treatment of Stockwell Day's religion back in the 2000 election. Warren Kinsella, for one, brought a stuffed Barney, the lovable kid's dinosaur, on CTV to ridicule Day's beliefs about evolution. And Dr. Hedy Fry, a Vancouver MP, said that Day's views that Jesus is the only way to God were offensive to other religions.
And remember just a few weeks ago when the newspapers were all agog over a few Evangelicals getting nominated to run in the next federal election? The reality is that when God speaks, as Christians we act on it. But if we make it a public issue, we will be considered suspect and subject to ridicule.
How should we respond to this? Isn't it a double standard?
Maybe, but the exhortation to be "as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves" is as helpful today as it was in biblical times. And this usually requires that we know when to keep our mouths shut. Do we?
When God speaks to us, we must follow His lead; subject to the usual caveats that it is consistent with Scripture and that we have tested it with our close Christian advisors. But we should not share it unless God has told us to.
So, who you gonna tell? Precious few!
Janet Epp Buckingham is director of Law and Public Policy and general legal counsel for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada in Ottawa.
Used with permission of the author. Copyright © 2005 Christianity.ca.
Thursday, August 04, 2005 :: ::

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Info for Foreigners Living in Taiwan


This ROC government site contains an abundance of useful information for foreigners living in Taiwan. Posted by Picasa
Thursday, August 04, 2005 :: ::

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CT Interviews: Anna Popplewell (Susan, in "Narnia")

Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Interviews: Anna Popplewell - Christianity Today Movies:

Anna Popplewell, who plays Susan in the upcoming Narnia movie, fell in love with Aslan when she first met him as a 7-year-old bookworm. But those mice at the Stone Table? Now that's a different story.
by Mark Moring posted 08/02/05

"Sixteen-year-old Anna Popplewell is, in many ways, the perfect choice to play Susan, the older Pevensie sister in Disney's upcoming film adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Like the Susan of C. S. Lewis' beloved Chronicles of Narnia, Anna actually is an older sister, she's studious, she's pragmatic and logical—and thus an unlikely candidate to fall for such a far-fetched fairy tale. But like Susan, once she meets Aslan face-to-face, all of that pragmatism and skepticism falls aside, and she embraces the magic."

Be of good cheer, Narnia lovers...looks like they might be doing Lewis's classic tale justice in the movie. Read more by clicking on the link above... - Chuck
Wednesday, August 03, 2005 :: ::

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Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Four candles slowly burned...one by one, they all went out...except for ONE. Be encouraged by the message of this page! Posted by Picasa
Tuesday, August 02, 2005 :: ::

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What a KICK! This is really one fun bird. (It's a video, so...if ya don't have broadband, your gonna have to wiat a bit.) Posted by Picasa
Tuesday, August 02, 2005 :: ::

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Is e-mail just for OLD people?  Posted by Picasa
Tuesday, August 02, 2005 :: ::

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