Obama & the Bible

Obama & Dobson...what a clash...I am afraid I have to side with Dobson. Check it out.

Visit Focus on the Family to hear the actual broadcast...not just the commentary.

Sunday - Krishna & Christ

Today is a day of rest...so I will rest from the politics for today. I read a good book this week. It reminded me yet again of the amazing simplicity of the Gospel. The book was "New Birth or Rebirth," by Ravi Zacharias. Primarily it was a discussion of the opposing points of Hinduism's Krishna and the Christ of the Bible. Even if one knows little of Hinduism, it is fairly easy to pick up on the points Ravi is making. And it is easy to see yet again the power of the simple Gospel that presents so simply the perspective, the problem, and the solution for all mankind. The older I get, the more I appreciate the way, the truth, and the life of Christ. I encourage all who question the relevancy of the Gospel or who are interested in the challenges of eastern religions to tackle this book and honestly consider its perspectives. Have a restful and Christ honoring Sunday!

New Series - Obama for President...

Time for me to enter the fray on Presidential Politics. I have very real concerns about both candidates running this year. I am not a fan of either one. I am sure my readers will see plenty of positive hype. I am going to air some of my concerns with both of them. I don't know how long this will take...but here we go.

First here is an interesting little blog note...that starts me wondering: Stumper. Please visit and read.

The American Dream

The American Dream Has Changed! One can tell we are a wealthy nation. Check it out at Barna.com . MetLife also has one on their website. Click here to review. What are your dreams and aspirations?

Image from the MetLife site.

Yves Rossy The Swiss Jet Man

QUOTED:

ENGLISH TRANSLATION HERE (I'm not l337 enuf to do subtitles :) The Jet Man, Yves Rossy, a former Swiss military pilot, designed and built a deployable 3-meter wing, holding kerosene fuel for 2 jet engines (as of May 2008 FOUR turbines on a 2.5m wing!!) fixed to the tips and attached it to his back. Rossy launched from an airplane and flew for 4 minutes, traveling over 100 mph, landing by parachute. http://www.jet-man.com/prod/index_en....
OK here's my attempt at translation (if you can, please correct!):
00:16 (VIDEO START)
00:20 (German) Further, further away from the car
00:22 Yes
00:24 (French) Towards the drain
00:25 There?
00:26 Yep
00:33 ('SCOTLAND THE BRAVE' RINGTONE)
00:48 So, the idea is, as we see here, there's the fuel, the smoke cartridges, and the jet engines underneath, for horizontal flight.
01:00 In fact, the Flying Jet Man, that's the idea. And to do that we've developed this folding wing, taking into account the space available in the plane, because we don't have much space. A wing of 3 meters would not fit in the plane without being folding.
01:19 It's nearly a mini-airplane, except that, well, I'm the fuselage. So there's fuel, batteries, gas for starting the jet engines, oil is in the kerosene for lubricating the engine. I have a little handle for moving the ailerons so I can go up and down, so I've got all the controls just like a plane, and like I said I'm the fuselage with two jet engines up my backside!
01:56 The goal - horizontal flight. That's it.
03:08 (START ENGINES IN PLANE, WINGS FOLDED)
03:23 (JUMP)
04:27 (PARACHUTE OPENS)
04:50 (LANDING, WINGS FOLDED)
04:52 (excited) I had a fantastic exit from the plane, that's already a good start, because the wings don't open symmetrically, so I'm always a little tense that that will work well, sometimes that creates a little half turn like that, but I've exited well, and clunk! I was stable, so that's already a good start to the flight.
05:08 Physically it feels great, you're in gliding flight like that, you feel that you're falling, gliding, that's already OK, you're in flight, then you hit the gas, and vroom! bang! you feel how that pushes, and it holds up horizontally, it's great.
05:26 It's like there's a big handle in your back, and the good Lord takes you by it and shoves you through the air, it's fantastic!!

Who's Eating Who?

WHOA!
(Seen online)

Air Show! - Airpower over Hampton Roads 2008

Some pics of the kids at the airshow on Friday night.These first three pictures are of the kids in a helicopter at the air show at Langley.

This is a picture of Julia in front of a miniature Raptor they had at the recruiting booth. We had a lot of fun at the airshow. We beat the crowds coming and going. Yessss!

Haralan Popov

Haralan Popov is one of the modern heroes of the church. Persecuted terribly for his faith, he recounted his story in a book titled, "Tortured for His Faith." I read this book as a boy and have never forgotten it. I encourage you to seek it out. By clicking on the links in this paragraph you may learn more about Haralan Popov and order the book. Mr. Popov also began an organization which you may also visit: Door of Hope International. Please learn more.

International Freedom of Religion Report

The International Religious Freedom report is submitted to Congress annually by the Department of State in compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. This report supplements the most recent Human Rights Reports by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom. It includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide.

Visit: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/

The Persecuted Church - World Update

This is the May update on the world persecuted church.

Voice of the Martyrs

In this ongoing series, about the persecuted church and other churches world-wide, please take time to visit http://www.persecution.com/ the home page of the Voice of the Martyrs.

The Chinese Church

A friend sent this video to me and it is worth viewing. We should take the time to consider our brethren worldwide and lift them up to God in prayer. Have you taken time to care for a missionary or humanitarian worker recently? If possible, take the time to write a letter, record a message, or send a package to show you care.

I found this article at ICR.org It's worth reading and it falls in line with my interest in green technology and sustainable alternative fuels. While I am not sure that biotech is the best way to go, it is definitely something to be further pursued. Enjoy and visit ICR for more great articles.

The Finest Food, Feed, Fiber, and Fuel for the Future: Plant Biotechnology

by Brian Thomas, M.S.*

According to the Dominion Mandate issued to Adam and Eve in the Garden¹ and repeated to Noah² about 1,657 years later, we are to be good stewards of the earth. One aspect of stewardship is the proper management of earth’s organisms. The first recorded instance of genetic modification is in Genesis 30, where Jacob’s sheep husbandry is described. We still use artificial selection in a similar fashion today, but more precise techniques are also now used.

Is biotechnology biblical? Read on.

In artificial selection (and natural selection, for that matter), whole organisms are selected for a particular trait. A deficiency of this procedure is that the selected individual often retains undesirable traits. A subcategory of genetic modification (GM, or GMO for “genetically modified organism”) is genetic engineering, or biotechnology. Typically, however, “GM” is most often used to refer to organisms that are actually genetically engineered. Instead of selecting whole organisms, this method involves the transfer of discrete genes from one organism to another, such that the recipient organism benefits from its new gene product. In this manner, for example, natural pesticides can be manufactured by GM corn, eliminating the need for artificial pesticide spraying.

Reporting in the May issue of BioScience, Lorena Miller and Kan Wang summarize genetic engineering. They report that “the biotech generation of crops has resulted in a 15.3% net reduction in environmental impact on GE [genetically engineered] crop farming land since 1996, owing in great measure to significant reductions in the application of herbicides and insecticides worldwide.”³ It seems that the resistance capabilities already found in different plants are being harnessed and directed for use in agriculture, to the benefit of mankind and our environment. Now, that is good stewardship of the earth.

The report further describes that “genetic engineering has provided the world with successfully commercialized insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant crops, benefiting corn, soybean, and cotton growers around the globe.”³ Though these new technologies are often resisted, there are very few practical detractors to biotech products as they are currently manifested. Many have speculated on the potential ills of widespread use of GMOs, and nobody can be sure that all biotech applications will turn out rosy. So far, though, it has been successful.

However, like nuclear technology could be used either for nuclear power or nuclear war, biotechnology has both good and evil potential. That potential is not inherent in the technology, but in the intent of the people using it. In this, as in our other technological endeavors, we must be good stewards.

References

1. Genesis 1:28.
2. Genesis 9.
3. Moeller, L. and Ken Wang. 2008. Engineering with Precision: Tools for the New Generation of Transgenic Crops. BioScience. 58 (5): 391.

* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer.

Caribbean PVC Marimba Children's Orchestra

Isn't this great?! I love the creativity, coordination, originality, and musicality of it. Way to go!

On A Lighter Note...