Another Assualt on the Faith--

Archaeologists and clergymen in the Holy Land derided claims in a new documentary produced by the Oscar-winning director James Cameron that contradict major Christian tenets. "The Lost Tomb of Christ," which the Discovery Channel will run on March 4, argues that 10 ancient ossuaries — small caskets used to store bones — discovered in a suburb of Jerusalem in 1980 may have contained the bones of Jesus and his family, according to a press release issued by the Discovery Channel.

One of the caskets even bears the title, "Judah, son of Jesus," hinting that Jesus may have had a son. And the very fact that Jesus had an ossuary would contradict the Christian belief that he was resurrected and ascended to heaven.

In 1996, when the BBC aired a short documentary on the same subject, archaeologists challenged the claims. Amos Kloner, the first archaeologist to examine the site, said the idea fails to hold up by archaeological standards but makes for profitable television.

"They just want to get money for it," Kloner said.

He also says the theory is 'nonsense'.

Kloner said the names found on the coffins had been found in tombs before, adding: 'It makes a great story for a TV film, but it's impossible. Jesus and his relatives were a Galilee family with no ties in Jerusalem. The Talpiot tomb belonged to a middle-class family from the first century.'

1 Co 15:3-8
...that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. NIV

Amazing that over 500 eye witnesses saw Jesus Christ after the resurrection at one time (I Corinthians 15:6) as well as many other accounts of people seeing Him.

By the way, the box that Mr. Cameron found with the name Jesus on it was EMPTY!

Jesus is still ALIVE regardless of Hollywood's and the media's continual assualt on Christianity!!

How's the Weather - Man?

Unbelievable!!! Hilarious!!!!!

Thanks to Bobby Lepinay...

We All Have Two Choices!

Jerry was the kind of guy who was unpleasantly positive. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say.

He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed Him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood." I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

"Yeah, right, it’s not that easy," I protested. "Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live life."

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I’d be twins. Wanna see my scars?"

I declined but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.

"Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, ’He’s a dead man. "I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. ’Yes,’ I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ’Bullets!’ Over their laughter, I told them, ’I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

note: from the Internet by Francie Baltazar-Schwartz, attempted to verify it, regardless...

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Blessing our Soldiers!

At a time when the Democrats and media are stating their obvious disdain for the war in Iraq and are demoralizing our troops, we decided to show our support of these men and women who are putting their lives in harms way for us.

DFW airport is one of 2 gateways to enter the USA for returning troops back for R&R. Every day there are troops coming thru our airport. So a group of us went there one Saturday morning at 8am and welcomed them home.

It brought tears to my eyes to see these brave young men and women- the emphasis on young! They are so very young and they are there for us. How could anyone look them in the eyes, trash them, spit on them, and not appreciate them?

The place was alive with patriotism, love, appreciation, and thankfulness. Each soldier was made over from handshakes, hugs, pats on the back, expressions of being proud of them, and they were given numerous goodies. We had bags made up with all kinds of neat things for them.

It is a mystery to me that politics has no face accept the faces of the likes of Hillary, Kennedy, Pelosi and others. I would rather look into the face of these young soldiers any day than have to look at these self centered politicians who only have their agendas and are using these brave men and women as pawns to achieve their goals.

God Bless the USA!

Another Reason I Attend Church!

Mummified man found in front of TV, still on

Southampton police responding to burst water pipes in a Hampton Bays home found the mummified body of the owner — dead for more than a year — sitting in a chair in front of a television.The television was still on.

Vincenzo Riccardi, 70, appeared to have died of natural causes in his home, said Dr. Stuart Dawson, Suffolk County deputy chief medical examiner. The medical examiner's office considered Riccardi's body mummified because the lack of humidity in his home preserved his features, morgue assistant Jeff Bacchus said. "You could see his face. He still had hair on his head," Bacchus said. "I've never seen anyone dead that long."

Police and county sources said Riccardi, whose body was found Thursday, had not been heard from since December 2005. The medical examiners said they were baffled as to why the electricity would be on in the home all that time. "He was in his house, sitting in his chair, as if watching television, and the television was, in fact, still on," Dawson said.

Riccardi lived alone; his wife had died years ago, Dawson said. Mail had piled up, but then delivery stopped. Neighbors said Riccardi had diabetes and had become blind in his 50s. His house was up a long driveway and could not be seen from the street.

I attend church so that someone will notice when I am missing and come looking for me!!!

Champions for a Cause

One of the neat things about blogging is you have the opportunity to meet some wonderful people. One such couple is Kris and Rebecca DeMauro. She came across my blog quite by accident or... maybe by God's design?

Rebecca lost a 12 year old daughter, Andi, to kidnapping, rape, and murder. Since then Rebecca has been championing rights for children and their protection. Click here to read about it.

I applaud their tireless efforts in a crooked and perverse generation that has no regard for the rights of children both unborn and born.

Coffee Scare!!!

Decaffeinated????????????????

Explain to me why!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dangers of Online Viewing!

Love this Pluggers' cartoon! It speaks volumes.

Protect our children!

Meekness is Not Weakness!

Been doing a series on the Beatitudes. Especially enjoyed Sunday's sermon on Meekness. Meekness is not weakness!

I get asked how a former Drill Sergeant can be a Pastor. It has to be God and a good dose of power under control!

This picture is of my Associate Pastor, Stan, veteran of the Gulf War and of no small stature with me in a full nelson head lock. Did I trust him, you bet, had to! This was an example of power under control because he could have easily broken my neck with a little effort. Through meekness his power was under control! Thank God!

Another area of meekness is when our tongues are under control!

James 1:26 Anyone who says he is a Christian but doesn't control his sharp tongue is just fooling himself, and his religion isn't worth much.(TLB)

Whether it is gossip, slander, backbiting, cursing, etc., like Arabella Young's tombstone, don't wait until your dead to control your tongue.

Meekness means having the right amount of anger at the right time. It means being angry at what angers God and not just letting our fleshly anger control and get the best of us.

Pure meekness gets angry when injustices are done to others, when God is dishonored, or sin is accepted or condoned.

The result of meekness is receiving what God has promised!

"Happy Valentine's Day" - God

God taught us how to give the best!

Debi and I celebrated Valentine's Day a little early. I surprised her with a trip to Granbury to stay a night in her favorite Bed and Breakfast, The Arbor House. We left after Sunday service and didn't return until Monday evening. We had a delightful time! It is amazing what getting out of town can do for one's soul.

Have a great day! Show your love to someone--

"Christofascists"??? Note- Updated 2/14/07

"Not only that — count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable." Mt 5:11 (from the Message Bible)

I have been called a lot of names in my life: in high school, college, as a Drill Sergeant in the Army and as a Pastor. So it doesn't bother me. But I am amazed at those who call for tolerance, and an end to bigotry and name calling when they coin a new word and think that it is okay for them. It is always a double standard with them.

The current word for conservative Christians is "Christofascists." You can find it on their mean spirited blogs, on the internet, and now in public print. It can also be found among a Presidential candidate's staff.

"Mr. Edwards announced today, after 36 hours of deliberation, that he would keep on his campaign staff two liberal feminist bloggers with long cybertrails of incendiary comments on sex, religion and politics. Deliberations over the fate of the two bloggers, Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan, created a crisis in the nascent Edwards campaign and illuminated the treacherous road ahead as candidates of both parties try to harness the growing power of the online world to their campaigns...In deciding to retain Ms. Marcotte and Ms. McEwan, he extracted public apologies from them for some of their work and a promise from them to maintain a civil tone while in his employ."

"In some of their online writings, Ms. Marcotte and Ms. McEwan used vulgar language to characterize religious conservatives and Roman Catholic teachings on birth control, homosexuality and the virgin birth of Jesus."

"Ms. McEwan referred to conservative Christians as “Christofascists” and Mr. Marcotte said that the Catholic Church’s prohibition on the use of birth control forced women to bear “more tithing Catholics.”

We must be getting to them. For them to coin this word identifies their contempt not only for Christians but also for Christ! These are perilous times and it is not just the attack of Islam we have to deal with but the attack from our own fellow countrymen!

What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable.

Both quit--
Melissa McEwan wrote on her personal blog, Shakespeare's Sister, that she left the campaign because she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the level of attention focused on her and her family.

"This was a decision I made, with the campaign's reluctant support, because my remaining the focus of sustained ideological attacks was inevitably making me a liability to the campaign," McEwan said Tuesday night.

Kate Bedingfield, a spokeswoman for the Edwards campaign, said McEwan left the campaign under her own terms. Both Bedingfield and McEwan declined additional comment.

McEwan's resignation came just one day after another blogger, Amanda Marcotte, left the Edwards staff for similar reasons.

Close Encounters?

And you were sittng where?

Congrats to Tony Dungy and the Colts--

I'll tell you what. I'm proud to be representing African-American coaches, to be the first African-American to win this. That means an awful lot to our country. But again, more than anything -- I said it before -- Lovie Smith and I are not only the first two African-Americans, but Christian coaches showing that you can win and doing it the Lord's way. We're more proud of that. Tony Dungy as he was handed the Vince Lombardi Trophy Sunday night.

It was a wet soggy game. A lot of miscues. That football just wouldn't stay tucked where it was supposed to.

But, there was a victor! Peyton Manning, yes; Rhodes, yes; Addai, yes; but my eyes were fixed on Tony Dungy! Class Act! A Christian Coach! A victor at life's struggles! He had weathered yet another storm!

The storms:
1. Dungy lost his first head coaching job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a series of disappointing postseason runs, only to see the man who followed him (Jon Gruden) lead the Bucs to a title the next year.
2. In December 2005, Dungy went through a parent's worst nightmare when he buried his eldest son James after a suicide. Read what I wrote about that here.
3. This 2006 season was tough. Indianapolis was the worst in the league against the run, allowing yards faster than I could say 'Jesus wept."
4. And others I don't know about.

Yet, Tony Dungy kept the same stoic, unwavering strength that has defined him in both good times and the worst that fate had to offer.

"He has always been a high-character guy," linebacker Rob Morris said. "He believes very strongly in what's important to him and, to him, life and life's lessons are bigger than football."

It is more than winning a championship for Dungy. More than becoming the first African-American coach to capture a Super Bowl. It is about a way of life.

"That's one of the reasons I stayed in coaching – to prove you can win with Christian principles," Dungy said.

This is a coach who doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't curse and doesn't raise his voice. He treats players, coaches and all those who come in contact with him with respect.

After the super Bowl victory, Tony Dungy gave the credit to a fine organization and The Lord!

"The Lord doesn't always take you in a straight line," Dungy said. "He doesn't always take a direct path. I think he tests you sometimes to see if you're going to keep the faith and hang in there and I think we did. We did as an organization and it's just such a great feeling to get, to win this game.

"It's not the biggest thing in the world, but … it feels great."

Isa 43:2
When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. When you're in rough waters, you will not go down. When you're between a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead end — from THE MESSAGE

Life is more than football! It is what you make it even in the tough times and how you make it out of them!

Why I attend Church---

There's a wonderful story about Jimmy Durante, one of the truly great entertainers. He was asked to do a show for World War II veterans. He told them he was very busy, but if they wouldn't mind his doing one short monologue and immediately leaving for his next appointment, he'd come. They agreed. But when Jimmy got on stage he went through the short monologue - then stayed, and stayed. Soon he'd been on stage 15, 20, then 30 minutes. Finally he took a last bow and left. Backstage someone stopped him and said "I thought you had to go after a few minutes. What happened?" Jimmy answered, "You can see for yourself if you look on the front row." In the front row were two veterans, each of whom had lost an arm in the war. One had lost his right arm and the other had lost his left. Together, they were able to clap, and that's exactly what they were doing, loudly and cheerfully.

That's a picture of what's supposed to happen in church!

1Co 12:25-27
The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance. You are Christ's body — that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything. THE MESSAGE

We need each other! We can't afford to stay away from church as some do. We can't go it alone and succeed at what God meant to be a shared life with others.

I am concerned for those that started well but don't finish well; or finish at all!

We need each other so that we can accomplish together what God intended for His church. We also need each other to help us become the people God intended us to be.

God help us to understand our importance to one another!

Heard of 'Footprints in the Sand-'

Now there are 'Footprints on the Tummy'

I believe in Life!!! It begins at conception!!!

http://www.snopes.com/photos/arts/footprint.asp

Once there were Republicans--

But no more!

Dick Morris is no fan of Sen. Hillary Clinton, having spent much of the past decade writing and speaking out against her. And he took his always-quotable opinions to the offices of Americans for Tax Reform Wednesday (01/31/07) at a breakfast sponsored by The American Spectator.

He laid out the political future: “Hillary will be the next president, and she’ll be the worst president we’ve ever seen.” No matter what happens, the situation in Iraq will “assure that the GOP gets massacred in 2008 congressional elections.”

In 2010, the Republicans will take back the Congress — “Hillary will give Republicans the same gift she gave them in 1994” — and they’ll win the presidency in 2012, but thanks to demographic shifts favoring Democrats(namely the rising Hispanic and African-American populations), “that will be the last Republican president we’ll ever see.”

No Privacy!

Get that camera out of my face!

Oooops! Great to be a Dad?

A man was packing for a business trip and his three-year-old daughter was having a wonderful time playing on the bed. At one point she said, "Daddy, look at this" and stuck out two of her fingers.

Trying to keep her entertained, he reached out and stuck her tiny fingers in his mouth and said, "Daddy's gonna eat your fingers," pretending to eat them.

He went back to packing, looked up again and his daughter was standing on the bed staring at her fingers with a devastated look on her face.

He said, "What's wrong, honey?"

She replied, "What happened to my booger?"