The Thunder Boomer

This happened a couple of weeks ago out on my front porch during a T-storm. It was deafening, and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up! Needless to say I didn't stay out much longer after that.

Make sure you drag the volume bar all the way up to get an idea of just how loud (and how close) it was.

The Letter

Here's a link to a page on my family web site that I recently updated. Today I scanned in a letter that will be 102 years-old next month. It is a family heirloom of sorts that tells the story of how my g,g grandmother (Letitia Keys Denbo) met with her demise back in 1906. It is a heart-wrenching account as told by someone that was very close to her - one of her children.

It was one of those stories that I remembered hearing while I was growing up but I didn't give it much thought then. It wasn't until much later in life when I became interested in my family genealogy that the stories took on new meaning for me. Seeing the photographs and reading the historical accounts of the lives of my ancestors made them more real and interesting to me. It has also been rewarding to me by way of the emails I've received over the years from various researchers from around the world who have been better able to connect the dots in their own family lines because of the material I've posted online. I've even met some relatives I never knew I had.

Soon I'm going to post a Civil War letter written in 1864 by a distant relative of mine while in a Union P.O.W camp. It is quite intriguing.

Profile of a Savior

Since Easter is right around the corner, I thought I'd post something relevent. It comes from a Christian apologetics web site that I have used for years now.

Profile of a Savior

Greg Koukl

Here at STR we want to wish you a meaningful Easter week. Yes, Jesus was a man, but he was no ordinary man. His death burial and resurrection provides the meaning for all we do here at STR. And we can be assured that our convictions in these events that took place in history are based on the testimony of those witnesses, who on that day of resurrection proclaimed: "He is risen." He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

I hope you find these thoughts a blessing to you as you celebrate Easter.

Jesus was a man, but not an ordinary man.

He was a man born from the seed of woman. Galatians 4:4 "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law."

He was brutally executed by crucifixion. Matthew 27:33-56 "And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink. And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots. And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there. And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS."

Luke 23:33-48 "One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him.... It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT." Having said this, He breathed His last."
He was rejected by His people. John 1:11 "He came to His own and those who were His own did not receive Him."

He was raised from the dead. Acts 1:3 "To these [apostles] He presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40 days...."

But He was not an ordinary man. He was God Himself who laid His life down for us.

Jesus was sinless. Even His enemies could find no sin in Him. Luke 23:13-49 "Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, 'You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion, and behold, having examined Him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against Him.'...Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, 'Certainly this man was innocent.'"

Jesus was God Himself. John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God."
Collosians 1:15, 19 "And He is the image of the invisible God....For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him."
Hebrews 1:3 "And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power."
Romans 9:5 "...from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever."

(Adapted from “The Bible: Fast Forward” by Greg Koukl, available on CD and MP3)

The Spitzer Affair

When this story first broke, I remember thinking to myself: Politicians do this sort of thing all the time. Why him? Why now? And why are they making such a big deal out of it?

Don't get me wrong, soliciting prostitutes is an immoral thing to do, especially if you're married. But as I already wrote above, this kind of thing isn't uncommon in the halls of government at all.

So what gives?

As you will discover after reading the story I'm posting a link to below, Spitzer was really on a crusade to protect the American people from predatory lending practices, and you'll never guess which powerful politician was the primary mover and shaker behind wanting his affair to be exposed.

Or, maybe you will.

The rest of the story: http://www.rense.com/general81/spit2.htm

Tornado

I sure hope we don't have one of these this spring in Oklahoma.

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Russell Means on Lakotah Sovereignty

Listen as Russell Means explains why the Lakota Sioux Nation declared its independence (and not without good reason) from the United States.



More power to you and the Lakota, Russell!