The Great Separation

Guitar Hero Game Spurs Christian Guitar Praise Game.

Pic'n the strings - Wired has a post about a game coming out for the Mac and Pc in the same vein as the popular Guitar Hero game but it uses Christian artists like Jennifer Knapp.

It's called Guitar Praise: Solid Rock.

What's interesting to me is not that such a game is out for the Christian market, after all that market is huge, but the post on wired is very sarcastic and snarky toward Christians.

If you read some of the comments you will find similar feelings.

Follow the link on the page to the blog BoingBoing where the news of the Guitar Praise game hit first and this quote stuck out to me:

I used to be a Christian. Born of atheist parents, I stumbled upon this on my own. But there was a day my faith disintegrated: it was when I realized that the exact same sensation of God's love that I felt at Christian gatherings was absolutely indistinguishable from the adrenaline rush and sense of cultural belonging that I felt at a rock concert.

Makes my spirit ache. I think this reaction is one of the problems I have with big concerts, particularly those that have altar calls. Too many in our culture live based upon their emotions, the recent so-called "revival" in Lakeland, FL, is one example. The church for the most part has failed to teach and instruct.

You might want to read some of the comments on BoingBoing page as well.

Some of the views about Christians that are expressed are saddening and troubling to me.

Must Read Article by Reporter Reflecting on Close of Olympics.

READ THIS - Mitch Albom has an article reflecting on things he observed in China during the Summer Olympics that is well worth your time today. He was there reporting for Freep.com.

Here's the link to his article: What did we learn as flame flickers?

Here's a couple of salient quotes.

You can shop in this country. You can drive in this country. You can dance and sing and make a fortune in this country. Yet you can't have multiple children and you can't pray where you wish and you can't say anything you please.

And:

On so many levels, in so many places, Beijing looks so much like the United States -- shopping malls, Starbucks, traffic, big buildings -- that you can forget the state runs everything in China. That the Chinese don't hold elections. That there are indeed people in jail for simply expressing their point of view. I tried, in vain, during my time here, to speak to a friend of a friend who was under house arrest for daring to film a documentary about religion in China. He kept balking at an interview because, his friend told me, his phone was tapped and he might suffer penalties simply for a conversation, even off the record.

And:

Still, when you think America was founded on the idea of religious freedom, that the pursuit of happiness is written into our Constitution, and that we hold majority-rules elections, you realize a place where you don't vote, you can't easily pray, and your happiness -- if it involves family -- is capped, well, that's as different as it can be.

Check out the full read. I think you'll learn something.

The Great Separation continues.

Man Lands Record Cat Fish with Toy Barbie Fishing Rod.

Did Barbie load the cricket? - Here's a funny and weird news item that caught my eye. A three year old girl was fishing with her grandpop but had to step away to the restroom.

When she did Grandpop took over and a record setting catfish swallowed the cricket bait attached to the toy Barbie fishing rod.

Ananova reports:

Alyssa returned to find her grandad battling with the monster fish.

"She said, 'Papa, you're going to break my rod,' because it was bent double," said Mr Hayes.

After 25 minutes, the pink plastic toy prevailed and Mr Hayes landed the 21 lbs,1oz catfish on the 6 lbs test line.

The catfish was thirty-two inches long and two inches longer then the fishing rod!

Now that's a fishing story.

Christian American Pastor Disappears in China.

They hate you because of me - In spite of the close of the Olympics, China still manages to be in the news. But it is yet again because of their continued failures in the realm of basic human rights.

Dan Wooding reports: American Activist Disappears After Offering Himself for Arrest In Tiananmen Square.

As the Beijing Olympics drew to a close, an American activist who carried out earlier protests presented himself for arrest in Tiananmen Square and has now disappeared.

A statement released today by representatives says that at 10.15 pm Beijing Time activist Pastor Eddie Perez Romero sought to draw attention to himself in Tiananmen Square and to be arrested. While the exact events were difficult to track precisely, the statement says that representatives believe Pastor Romero was eventually taken away by the authorities in a car. He has not been heard of since.

Click over to read the full report.

The Great Separation continues.

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

Son of Hamas Chief is Born Again Christian.

They hate you because of me - This is a great story of the power of Christ Jesus to redeem a life in some of the heaviest fortified spiritual areas of the Satan.

Mosab Hassan Yousef is the son of one of the Hamas's founding leaders and he has fled Palestine because of the persecution he and his family faced for his choice to make the Son of God, Jesus Christ, his Lord and Savior.

The Sydney Morning Herald has a short article on this story: Hamas chief's son a Christian.

Mosab Hassan Yousef, 30, said his decision to abandon his Muslim faith and denounce his father's organisation had exposed his family to persecution in his home town of Ramallah and endangered his life.

But despite the cost, Mr Yousef said he was convinced that speaking out about the problems of Islam and the "evil" he witnessed at home would help to address the "messed-up situation" in the Middle East and one day bring about peace and his return.

I pray the Lord's protection upon Mosab and I pray that his father in Palestine and others there would also find freedom from sin and eternal life in Jesus.

The Great Separation continues.

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

PETA Wants to Buy SeaWorld.

Freeing all the Willys - With the sale of Anheuser-Busch there is talk of the ten theme parks the company owns being sold off because InBev doesn't want those as part of the deal.

Well, here is a big surprise. PETA apparently is offering to buy one of the SeaWorld parks. Guess what they want to do with the animals.

Michael Stetz reports for UNION-TRIBUNE: PETA: Nothing fishy about SeaWorld bid.

The animal rights advocates said they have a donor willing to put up the bucks to buy at least one of the three SeaWorld parks – in Orlando, San Antonio or, of course, San Diego – put the animals in marine sanctuaries and perhaps return some to the wild one day.

The group wouldn't close the joint. Instead, it would replace the killer whales, dolphins, stingrays and other animals with virtual reality exhibits.

The viability of a PETA theme park to me seems ludicrous. I'm fine with the group, crazy though they be, raising funds to buy something they want, but frankly most of those animals would not survive in the wild. Which I guess is why they are talking about marine sanctuaries. But isn't that basically what SeaWorld is to a degree anyway?

Christians Under Increased Attack in Karnataka, India.

They hate you because of me - Here's an interesting article on increased levels of Christian persecution in Karnataka, India.

Attacks on Christians escalate in India's Karnataka state by Rahul Benjamin for Christianity Today.

The usually peaceful state of Karnataka has seen an alarming rise in the number of attacks on the minority Christian community.

A mob of 200 activists from extremist groups, the Hindu Jagarana Vedike and the Shiva Sainya youth association attacked the house of Pastor Premkumar in Davangere town on 12 August. The police detained eleven people over the incident, including four women.

Click over via the link above for the complete article which details a long number of persecution in the area.

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

Tropical Storm Fay Gets Strong?!!

You must be kidding?! - Things here in the Tampa Bay area have been very tame weatherwise. Fay jogged enough to the East to land early south of Naples with winds around 60 miles per hour.

The strange part about all this is that the storm really wasn't all that well formed. So when it hit land most folk in know expected it to weaken further and pretty much fall apart till it made its way, if it made its way, back over water.

Only that's not what Fay did. It became more defined as a tropical storm on its way to hurricane status and actually strengthened. At the time of my writing this it was up to 65 miles per hour while moving very slowly over land.

Weird.

Update:
Randy Thomas has some "boring" video of the storm moving into his area. His blog is ETC: Everyday Thoughts Collected.

Update 2:
Here's some news related to the storm - `Boomerang' Fay strengthens over Florida.

Tropical Storm Fay rolled ashore in southwestern Florida on Tuesday without much fanfare, but stubbornly hung around like an unwelcome houseguest, gaining power and threatening — once again — to become a hurricane.

The storm first hit the Florida Keys, veered out to sea and then traversed east across the state on a path that would curve it toward to the Florida-Georgia border. The failure of Fay to weaken meant a whole new swath of the state had to prepare for a worse storm, and meant Florida could wind up getting hit three separate times.

Two Items of Christian Persecution.

They hate you because of me - This first item comes from Japan. It's encouraging in that it reports on the conversion and baptism of a woman but it also details the difficulties that people wanting to convert are under in Japan.

Christianity Today | Single mum baptised while others persecuted in Japan.

The Kitamuras say many people in local villages have shown an interest in following the Lord but face family pressure to remain Buddhist.

“We are in contact with other elderly people, and younger people too, who want to follow the Lord but are being held in mental and emotional captivity by their families,” said Elaine.

This next news report out of Bangladesh details a much more physical form of persecution.

OneNewsNow | DNA indicates assault on pastor’s daughter in Bangladesh.

Following a dubious forensics test indicating no evidence of sexual assault, a second DNA test links one of five men accused of gang-raping a village pastor’s daughter to sperm found on her clothing.

Pastor Motilal Das of Laksmipur village says he found his 13-year-old daughter lying unconscious in front of his house early in the morning of May 2 after five men from Mymensingh district raped her. Villagers were upset at his evangelistic efforts and had raped his daughter, according to the pastor, in an effort to drive him from the area.

Perhaps some of the good that will come out of this horrific event is beginning to be seen in the reaction and support by some of the pastor's Muslim neighbors.

Let's not fail to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ around the globe and for those who persecute them, that they too may come to freedom and forgiveness in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let's lift specifically this pastor and his family and his young daughter up in prayer right now.

The Great Separation continues.

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

Another Four Eared Cat.

Can you hear me now? - Okay this is weird and cute all at once. Though I'm not sure exactly who I find this cute. I mean, for pity sake that is one spooky looking cat but I find myself mesmerized by it's cuteness.

You can see the picture of this striking cat named, Yoda, here: Meet Yoda the cat with FOUR ears.

It's something else.

Update:
Here's a picture I found via flickr

related post:
Cat with Four Ears?!