Blundering Bush's Middle East Foreign Policy

Check out THIS essay for level headed sober analysis.

My Linguistic Profile Y'all

Your Linguistic Profile:

60% General American English

20% Yankee

15% Dixie

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

British Multiculturalism

"The British government needs to stop trying to engage with the “Muslim community” (which simply means those who claim to speak for it), and start trying to engage with the citizens themselves – regardless of their beliefs.

Because, in order for a country to be truly liberal, or even democratic, the general view must be that individuals are of equal worth and that we all share a common, basic human nature underneath the superficialities of culture and upbringing. We all share, to varying degrees, the same needs: food, water, shelter, human company, etc.

It’s this shared nature, the things we have in common, that provides the basis for society – uniting us around common goals and values.

Identity politics – defining individuals based on just one aspect of their personality – is short-sighted, divisive and (by promoting an Us and Them mentality) ultimately quite dangerous."

Source : An Insomniac

Build Me a Son

A poem by General Douglas A. MacArthur

Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face him self when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.

Build me a son whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be;a son who will know Thee- and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.

Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here, let him learn to stand up in the storm; here, let him team compassion for those who fall.

Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goals will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.

And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously.

Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.

Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, "I have not lived in vain."

Loving Jesus

When a Christian dies we say “he/she has gone to be with Jesus” and it’s right that we do. But, do we really believe it? I mean we know it to be “theologically” true but is that sufficient?

There’s a song that is popular right now on the Christian radio station. I can’t remember the title but the chorus goes something like this: “Everybody wants to go to Heaven but nobody wants to die”.

Here is what a missionary to Russia reported in his newsletter last year :

“David’s PSA cancer reading has gone up to 33, so his GP has arranged an early appointment for him with the consultant, so that various treatment options can be discussed. Best of all, each day is one day nearer being with the Lord”.

Do we carry around with us that joyous anticipation of being with Jesus one day?

Just to show this isn’t some crackpot idea here is how the Apostle Paul puts it:

"If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better." (Philippians 1:22-23)

Debate between Iraqi Arab Christian & Indian Muslim

Dr. Zakir Naik (Muslim) debates with Pastor Ruknuddin Henry Pio (Christian).

Biblical Treasures of Turkey Trailer

ABOUT THE FILM: A beautiful journey of discovery. The biblical events that took place in Asia, actually took place in what is now called Turkey! You will see the Roman World of St. Paul and St. John and the Byzantine Empire of the Greek Patriarchs. This film is an “eye opener” that will astound your audience. Robin D. Williams has traveled to Asia Minor for 30 years and this film is the result of his personal discoveries. Partial Scene List: Constantinople, Haghia Sophia, St. Chora, Topkapi Palace, The Golden Horn, The Dolmabache Palace, Sumela monastery, Tarsus, Antioch, Silifke, Side, Aspendus, Perge, Antalya, Ephesus, Urfa, Harran, Mardin Monastery, Diyarbakir, Nemrut Dagi, Lake Van, Ani of the Armenians. MT. ARARAT and the supposed site of Noah’s Ark. Walk the ancient highways with the Apostles. We hear the monks speaking the language of Jesus; Aramaic! We visit whole neighborhoods of Roman houses in Ephesus. Robin has brought the Romans to life! See the faces of the people who lived in the 1st Century A.D. See the ancient cities, caravan routes, ancient harbors and underground cities. The earliest Christian art in Haghia Sofya and St. Chora Church and the Rock Churches of Goreme Valley. The city of the first Ecumenical Council...NICEA! Enter the cave of St. Thecla. Marvel at the beautiful rivers, lakes, waterfalls and mountain scenery.

Leon Morris (March 15, 1914 - July 24, 2006)

Here is a quote from one of Morris's books : Glory in the Cross (p.89)

"The atonement is not ... a way of excusing men from the tremendous moral demands that God makes on them ... [it is] only in the light of the atonement that those moral demands can be seen in all their fulness and met even approximately. Only as we appreciate that Christ had to die to put away our sin can we see sin for the enormity it is. Only then can we understand that certain things are sins, and therefore only then can we really grasp the magnitude of the moral demands that God makes on us."

Mossad Interrogates Captured Hezbollah Kidnapper of Israeli Soldiers

Mujde FM in the Izmir Area

H/T to American Turk who has gently been pointing out my lack of postings recently.

Reason is simple : we have been away on a family holiday visiting my uncle (dayi) and yenge who live near Urla which is practically equidistant from Cesme on the Aegean coast to the West and the city of Izmir to the East.

I happened to turn on the radio in the bedroom of our holiday cottage to find Mujde FM.

Mujde FM broadcasts readings from the Turkish Bible, sermons in Turkish, as well as Bible readings and sermons in French, English and German.

I figured the station is located at 102 on the FM dial . This is confirmed by Mujde FM's own web site which gives the various FM stations over which it broadcasts throughout the country.

Give it a listen if you are in Turkey.