I have had some e-mails asking how Joni is doing. Thanks for caring and especially thanks for praying! She is doing really well. Joni looks fantastic and she is feeling better everyday. She is getting comfortable with New Hair – Version 2.0. We just got back from a little family trip to Florida this past weekend and this shot is from our balcony. There are still a couple of areas for prayer. The chemotherapy did do some damage to Joni’s heart function but we hope that will recover in the next few months. To that end Joni has embarked on a walking program and is walking in the 3 Day Breast Cancer Walk in Dallas/Ft.Worth at the end of October. Joni, her sister Gayla and a couple thousand new friends will be walking 20 miles per day for three days to raise money for breast cancer research. You can check out Joni’s 3 Day Walk Webpage by clicking here. Yeah, I know. She is
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Warning: The following post may (or, sadly, may not) contain humor. This blog was produced in a program where irony and satire are processed. May contain sarcasm fragments. If you are allergic to humor or attempts at humor please avoid this product. Richard Dawkins is an atheist who loves to denigrate Christian intellect. In fact, for Dawkins the very phrase “Christian intellect” would be oxymoronic. When asked what the main difference between believers and atheists was, Dawkins had a quick answer: “Well, we’re bright.” I took that as I hope Dawkins intended it. I laughed. Because he surely does not believe that every single Christian in the world is dim-witted. Then again, perhaps he does. If Richard Dawkins genuinely believes that Christians are that intellectually challenged perhaps he should start a business geared toward people of faith. When we struggle with the difficult tasks of life like getting dressed or balancing a checkbook we could simply go to www.we-are-bright.com (not an actual site for any believers
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I miss Rich Mullins. It was just over ten years ago that Mullins was killed in a car accident in Illinois. His music is all over my iPod and one of his songs is the subject of today’s devotional. The song is called “We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are” and it opens with this stanza. Well, it took the hand of God Almighty To part the waters of the sea But it only took one little lie To separate you and me Oh, we are not as strong as we think we are. If only we could acknowledge that we are not as strong as we think we are and then live accordingly. I believe we would see an amazing difference. Yet pride tells me that I am able to handle the situation. Fear tells me that telling the truth in love will only make it worse. So one little lie or misunderstanding dealt with in my own strength
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Today the iPod shuffle landed on a melancholy song by The Beatles. To be honest, the song fit my mood of recent days. The iPod landed on The Long and Winding Road. The lyrics express a feeling of futility. The long and winding roadThat leads to your doorWill never disappear…Paul McCartney talked about the song in a 1994 interview. “It’s rather a sad song. I like writing sad songs, it’s a good bag to get into because you can actually acknowledge some deeper feelings of your own and put them in it. It’s a good vehicle, it saves having to go to a psychiatrist … It’s a sad song because it’s all about the unattainable; the door you never quite reach. This is the road that you never get to the end of.” I talk to and hear from so many people who can relate to McCartney’s pessimistic words. They feel like they are on a road to the unattainable. They strive
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The iPod shuffle landed on a song by The Animals that brought back memories of a childhood lived in black and white. I remembered Ed Sullivan awkwardly introducing “The Animals” on his show many years ago. Forty-two years if anyone is counting. After watching the clip again it was even more awkward than I remembered. The song is called “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” and it produced a surprising time of reflection and prayer. Are you telling me that you don’t have your quiet times around songs by The Animals? The song is an apology and explanation to a love interest. The writer wants her (in this case) to know that he means well and sometimes he is just human. He makes mistakes. If I seem edgy I want you to knowThat I never mean to take it out on youLife has it’s problems and I get my shareAnd that’s one thing I never meant to doBecause I love you…Oh,
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad questioned the official version of the Sept. 11 attacks and defended the right to cast doubt on the Holocaust in a tense appearance Monday at Columbia University. Ahmadinejad made the amazing assertation that there needs to be more research to validate the Holocaust. Maybe we should do more research on gravity.  His comments about the Holocaust reminded me of our visit to the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem on a memorable Thanksgiving Day. Here is that piece written a couple of years ago. I am pretty sure after visiting Yad Veshem that there has been enough “research” to document this horrible example of the potential evil of mankind. I knew that this family Thanksgiving would be a bit different. We were in the midst of a whirlwind tour of Israel when Turkey Day arrived. As the day dawned in Jerusalem I remembered past Thanksgivings with family all around. Watching the Macy’s Parade while the tantalizing aromas of roasting turkey and pumpkin
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Regular readers of the humble ramblings know that I am a big fan of the group Casting Crowns. I pre-ordered their newest CD titled “The Altar and the Door”. I hoped it would be as good as their previous efforts. I was not disappointed. Today’s song in the iPod Devotional series is a song from that CD called “Slow Fade”. The lyrics struck a chord with my heart: It’s a slow fade when you give yourself awayIt’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paidWhen you give yourself awayPeople never crumble in a dayIt’s a slow fade, it’s a slow fade I don’t become overweight in a day. I didn’t get out of shape in a day. And I do not become spiritually lifeless in a day. It is a slow fade. Sometimes the spiritual fade is the hardest to see. Having troubling buttoning the jeans pretty clearly reveals the dietary
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