The Great Separation

That Scuba Dog is Far Too Adorable.

Scuba-dooby-gurgle - You must see this photo of Mondex the chihuahua decked out in his scuba gear.

Ananova reports on this pup who was in a fashion show in the Philippines. Click over for the full story.

I wonder what's going through that pups mind? :-) I wonder if he's happy with the whole fashion scene? I wonder if he's on a special doggy model tight where he starves himself so he can get into the latest fashions? I wonder if the runway fashion walk was hard in that diver's mask?

He's definitely one of the cutest chihuahuas I've seen and he makes me laugh.

Pastor Wright is Wrong.

Quick view. - I caught some of Pastor Wright's message this morning on the TV and I think the man is off his rocker.

He talks of a different gospel, a separate gospel, and I find that very concerning to me as a follower of Jesus Christ. There is but one gospel and we are warned in the Bible that such people preaching a different gospel other than the deity of Jesus Christ crucified and risen that they will be condemned. So I have a great deal of concern about what this man preaches.

Secondly, there are no blacks or whites in Jesus. All are one. But I am concerned by his constant message which seems to me to relish division of race.

Thirdly, he claims the god of Islam is the same God of the Bible. And that is a lie straight from the mouth of satan.

Snippet from OneNewsNow:

Pastor Wright also finds himself in agreement with President Bush that the god of Islam is the God of the Bible.

Scientists Need Women Volunteers for Chocolate Study.

This line could get long. - Hey, wait just a minute what about the guys?

Here's an oddity item for you that you may want to try and sign up for.

Ananova is reporting that a group of scientists are looking for 150 women to eat one chocolate bar every day for 365 days.

Sounds like a winner to me.

Here's a snippet on the reasoning:

The aim is to test the theory that chocolate can help women with type 2 diabetes ward off heart disease after menopause.

Experts say flavonoids, plant compounds found in cocoa and soy, have been shown to reduce heart disease risk factors.

Picture Perfect Friday: Frog Tongue.

LOL - This just tickles my funny bone. Click on Pics to enlarge them.

God's creatures are humorously wonderful.

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Sticks and stones - Songs have been vocalized, poems penned, and T.V. pleas spouted all in the hope of peaceful co-existence. Sadly it ain't happening. Not this side of the Second Coming of Christ.

This comes to mind because my friend, Stacy Harp, over at Active Christian Media is in the thick of it with a number of pro-sin-of-homosexuality bloggers and other folk. She's not unused to being vilified by a number of people on the Internet. And, as is the case now, some are sending her hate mail.

Of course the natural inclination in such things is to react against them in a like manner. But in my experience it's typically best not to react as the world would. Not always an easy thing. We Christians still battle with the flesh and all it's sinful desires and sometimes we fail. Until that day when all that is contaminated by sin is burned up, we will continue to face the temptation to react and do things like the world. Thankfully, when we rely upon the Holy Spirit and the Word we can receive victory against such temptations. That means all temptations, be it the sin of homosexuality, the sin of heterosexual sex outside of marriage, or the sin of lust, they can all be overcome through the blood of Jesus.

That said, there is another simple fact pre-Second Coming: we can't all get along all the time.

And that is because of sin.

When we humbly stand in the truth of God's Word, the world will hate us for that. And right now it's hating Stacy, a person I know to love the Lord and who I know desires that others know the life saving grace of the cross of Christ too.

Jesus tells us that the world is going to hate us, but like Him we need remember that we are not to hate back. Something to remember as the return of Jesus draws closer.

And if you are reading this, and are not a Christian, the Good News is that Jesus gave up His life for you so that you could be freed from the bondage of the sins that chain you. One of the bonuses in that freedom is a personal relationship with God the Father, the Creator of the Universe. Want to know more? Go here.

The Only Man Who Can Save You is...

The only man who can save you is the Man who carried your cross.

Christians Worshiping in Church Attacked by Men with Machetes.

They hate you because of me - This is a must read story of what Christians are enduring in foreign lands for naming the Name of Christ Jesus.

From Compass Direct News:

Eight Muslims wielding razor-sharp machetes and knives broke into two village churches in southern Ethiopia earlier this month and began wounding worshipers, instantly killing one Christian.

Tulu Mosisa of Kale Hiwot church died after a machete blow nearly beheaded him, according to an eyewitness. Another two members of the Kale Hiwot and Birhane Wongel Baptist churches in the remote village of Nensebo Chebi both lost a hand each in the March 2 attacks, and a 5-year-old boy is still hospitalized after his arm was slashed to the bone.

A total of 23 Christians from the two congregations were injured before local militia officers drove off the attackers, who launched what one observer called “a seemingly well-planned,” simultaneous assault midway through Sunday worship services.

You simply must read the entire report. It is heart breaking, and even some of the militia officers were apparently sympathetic to the Muslim men who were attacking the Christians. It's stunning.

We must continue to remember our brothers and sisters in Christ who live in areas of the world held in the grip of satan. We must pray, too, for their persecutors, that they would come to know the freedom from bondage and sin that can only be found in the Name of Jesus.

The Great Separation continues.

For further information on Christian persecution around the globe the Christian Persecution Blog is a good source.

Man Falls Down Elevator Shaft. Lands on Woman.

What are the odds? - Here's one odd item I stumbled across this morning.

A man slipped and fell down an elevator shaft. A story odd in its self but even more strange is that he fell on a 57-year-old woman who slipped and fell down the shaft the day before.

Ananova reports:

Police spokesman Manfred Vonhausen said: "The woman had been lying unconscious in the shaft for some time already.

"Although it made her injuries worse it also probably saved her life that he fell on her as it meant he knew she was there and managed to get help."

Rescue workers said that without Wilhelm's plunge the woman would have died from internal bleeding.

Now that is a serendipitous plunge.

A Spirit of Violence Permeates the Land.

Repent! - By now only those who are disconnected from all forms of media, aka, those hermits living in a cave, have yet to hear about the cheerleaders who spent thirty minutes gang banging a fellow student. Bad enough as kidnapping and abusing a person is, it is even more horrifying to me that they would post the video to the Internet with the obvious intent of glorifying the deed.

What kind of human beings are these girls? And what do they think of the rest of humanity that they would display their sin proudly to the rest of the world?

But this is not an isolated incident. We hear more and more reports along these lines as this item that I just spied today: 'Fight Club' Busted at Local High School.

Or there's this item of a young mother's terribly violent murder of her six year old daughter: Mom stabbed girl because of demon.

Did you happen to see the terrible news about the two-year-old girl beat to death with a video game controller by her mother's boyfriend?

Looking at these stories, music and movies, and the youth that I deal with in the ministries at my church it has become clear to me that there is a spirit of violence that is soaked into the hearts and minds of men and women in our land.

I'm reminded of this Scripture.

“Say to the people of the land: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says about those living in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel: They will eat their food in anxiety and drink their water in despair, for their land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who live there.” (Eze 12:19 NIV)

From what does this attitude, this spirit, come?

Some will say, and perhaps with some validity that it is economic pressures, though the teenagers I'm sure are not experiencing such pressures. Some may say one of their problems is excess.

Others might say it is a reaction to the stress of a world at war, and that too may have some truth, but the reality is that war with terrorism across the ocean does not effect the daily lives of people here in America.

I believe that one of the primary reasons for this violence is that society has been told that life is an accident, via the mantra of evolution. Add to that the promotion of abortion and that the life within a woman's womb is said to be mere tissue until it escapes into the air and I find a nation of people unconcerned about life, about people, and about themselves.

In essence man has said there is no God, and our children, unknowing to their condition, are reacting in violence to the hole in their spirit that aches to be filled with the love of God, Jesus Christ.

As a nation and as individuals we must repent of the violence in our lives and seek the forgiveness of Jesus or I fear our land is in for much darker times.

If that's the way it is, I Just Won't Get Married Then!

Yeah. You heard me. - I'm single and have been since before my first breath. That's my confession. Though it's not much of a confession as everyone who knows me knows exactly what my marital status is.

I won't bother going into the list of why's for this continued stratum.

However, one of the big one's hit me between the eyes the other day. It came from the lips of a woman for whom I do some part time work. Let me just note that I know that she is a good woman who does care about people and is working at helping out a couple of churches in various ways that the Lord has gifted her.

But she said one of the subversive lies that slithers through much of the Church today.

We were outside in front of one of her homes looking over her small flower garden in bloom. Across the street we watched the rocking masts of boats docked in the marina.

She's one of the women in my life who sees my singleness as something to fix. I'm not saying that's a bad thing mind you. And frankly she's been very tactful and less matchmaker-like then others who have taken up that campaign.

But she said to me, "Wouldn't this be a great place to have your honeymoon, Hal?"

It came out of nowhere. Kind of like the bait a fisherman drops down in front an unsuspecting snook.

I said with a laugh something rather self-pitting-like, "Well, that's seems increasingly unlikely as I've struck out on my previous attempts of pursuit."

Yeah, pretty sorry I know. But I had almost arrived at the point of full acceptance that my life was not going to be a two-some adventure. Or rather, I was almost back to my acceptance campsite from years earlier were set up my tent. I wandered away from it after coming across some tracks outside my tent flap that I saw as being worthy of pursuit.

Stop.

I really don't intend this to be a post about myself. But I suppose it is because I'm part of the Church and this is what I see from my vantage point.

Anyway. After my comment she said, and I paraphrase, "Well, you know it's usually the second marriages that are the best anyway."

That comment struck me between the eyes.

My answer, "If my second marriage is going to be the best, I won't be getting married at all! Because 'IF' I marry it will be for life."

Is that naive?

The world says it is and the world has infected the Church with this poison. Furthermore, the Church allowed this to happen.

Christians, would Christ Jesus divorce you?

Christians, will you divorce Christ Jesus?

Do you not know that marriage is more than a metaphor for the relationship that Christ has with the Church? It is a living example to the world!

Why do we Christians abide this poison? Why do we continue to live like we are still dead?