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MAR'&
APR' 03 FEB'03
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MAY'03
ANGELFIRE COLUMNS FOR JUNE & JUULY '03 MAR'& APR 03
6-3-03
One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Alex was staring up at the large plaque that hung in the foyer of the church. It was covered with names and small American flags were mounted on either side of it. The seven-year-old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside the boy, and said quietly, "Good morning, Alex." "Good morning," replied the young man, still focused on the plaque. "What is this?" Alex asked. "Well, son, it's a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service." Soberly, they stood together, staring at the large plaque. Little Alex's voice was trembling and barely audible when he asked.... "Which service, the 9:45 or the 11:15?"
Now it seems to me that the Catholic church and "the king of pop" have a lot in common. In fact pop and pope both sound alike. And last night I saw "Michael Jackson Unveiled " on TV. It caused some strong suspicion about his highly touted concern for children all over the world. Seems strange that a middle aged male craves having so many of them in his bed at night. Though he asserts that it's a pure kind of love that makes him want to sleep with groups of them. And now I see where loyal Catholic lay members are gong to monitor their church financially. All the misconduct by a those few priests has evidently shaken their confidence. So secret spending is now being brought out in the open. Sounds a little belated review of Enron and WorldCom doesn't it. Yet so many of the best media commentators are Catholic and it's certainly the world's largest oldest denomination. I even found myself praying for pope John Paul II the other day/. He did as much as Ronald Reagan to bring down the USSR. I asked that before he's gone he'll speak out about our Lord's coming again to claim His own and judge this wicked world in righteousness. Theologians call it the parousia, not "second coming." Parousia means a coming or appearing. It's the Greek word that referred to any king's journey to some city in his realm. The term second coming isn't actually used anywhere in the Bible though it's such a common expression among Bible believers. The reason the pope makes no such statement is that St.Augustine in his famous book "Cavities Deu" (City of God) equates the New Jerusalem seen in Revelation 21 with the church. Thus Christ has already come and is present in that divine institution. You might call it "Jesus Inc." because St.Paul taught that Christ's body is the church.. So why talk of another coming if He's always been here? But in the dark ages when that "divine institution" grew so corrupt, it became apparent that Augustine had either been misunderstood or was wrong. Even though Martin Luther was an Augustinian monk, he saw that the true church was built on the personal faith of individual believers or "the just shall live buy faith." And while I can't document it, I've been told that Luther had a very strong expectation of the Lord's return back when he started the Reformation in Wittenburg Germany, 1517, by posting those 95 challenges on the castle door (the public bulletin board). I do applaud the call for financial accountability by Catholic Christians and feel like this pope has been one of their best. If only he'd pray for the soon appearing of our Prince of Peace for resolving the Israeli/Palestinian situation.
Have you noticed that Billy Graham isn't leading a Crusade in OKC, but a Mission insead. Ever since my visits to Israel I've disliked the former name. In history they were the same as Jihads or "holy wars." I remember getting a caravan of cars to drive from Beckham county to the OKC fairground stadoi, in the fifties and then working in another held in at the city arena during the eighties. After that I went to help in one for Washington DC, then stayed an extra week visiting national shrines there. Dr.Graham just seems to look more regal as the years go by. What a blessing he's been to America and the world! Agape, Gaudium & Shalom (Gal.5:22).
6-8-30
Linda Pesterfield introduced her husband W.C. as our Rotary speaker. One thing he told us about seemed strange to me, planting in untilled ground. I've always heard of farming as "tilling the soil." But now it seems there is another way. Made me thing of pain in childbirth that is no longer necessary. Things once seen as a divine curse are now lifted by technology. No wonder we tend to make it a religion. It has added years to human life, but not necessarily life to the years. I go into nursing homes often enough to thank God for them, while feeling anguish about some situations therein. Those who come faithfully to be with their resident spouses or family are truly heroes to me, though it's not much of a life for them. My neighbor was such a one till her health finally broke. Longevity is seen as a blessing in the Bible, but it can also be a strain on the one and drain on the other. Especially when mental faculties are gone. Lord we need you to save us from our own technological triumphs.
I just heard on CNBC that Europe has cut it's interest prime rate down to two percent. And we thought ours was low at four. It's the lowest in the 5 year history of their central bank system. Seems they have an economic slow down worse than ours. And I hear that the once mighty economy of Japan, has become Asia's basket case. Yet our stock market surged on Wednesday and will hopeful continue rising out of the bubble burst that ruined the likes of Martha Stewart. She had been worth a billion before it hit last ear. Now she's in big trouble. Her stock holders were just putting all their eggs in one basket (another basket case), Martha Stewart. I felt sorry for her until it was revealed that she altered the record of conversations with her stock broker to hide her duplicity. Investors deserve sympathy too. Our comeback will take restored confidence in the market. Sure doesn't look like there's much in Europe with that rate so low. But ours could help everyone with a healthy rebound as cheaters are found out. We must truly trust finally in God , as it says on all our money. We've got a lot of good things going right here in Garvin county plus strong faith in the Lord., So that's my economic outlook for Pauls Valley.
When GW Bush was first elected, some interviewer asked him how he began each day. He said he always read the Bible to get started. I thought then (and now) "What a role model for the nation!" I keep praying for him and feel the LORD gave those victories in Afghanistan and Iraq without great loss of lives because of our faith in Him. Now the president has taken up that central issue of world affairs, a mideast peace settlement. I've thought about Pr.26:17, "He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a dog by the ears." Yet we can no longer leave that issue to the EC. the UN, the UK or the Russian Commonwealth ("quartette" as it's now called). So Bush is right there in the middle and things look hopeful for now. He is a Christian and deserves the earnest prayers of all who are opposed to terrorism. That's what made this our own quarrel on 9/'11. "Pray for the peace (shalom) of Jerusalem (city of shalom)."
Body mutilations are becoming a fashion that seem to me as ugly as terrorism. Of course we've seen tattoos that completely cover the body, rings in ears-nose-tongue that disgust us. Now there's tongue splitting. Seems some young people want to have a reptile look that sets them apart. Or even worse, a satanic appearance. But the surgery is still too expensive for it to be very widespread. Reminds me of an old Indian accusation: "White man speak with forked tongue." Guess these are finally coming out in the open with it the way everything else has come out of the closet in recent years. How much better it would be to tame our tongues. James tell us that's the most difficult task of all to accomplish.
6-11-03
As the father of three daughters and three sons, I'm thinking how much gender equality we had in our progeny sequence: daughter, son, daughter (interval) son, daughter, son. I'm thinking now of number three, our daughter Cheryl. Last Thursday was the 50th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary's climb to the