Cpl. Paul Flewwellin and Sgt. David Petersen

Yesterday was the Marine Corps 234th Birthday. As our custom, I called my bro’ Paul and wished him a Happy Birthday. We hadn’t talked for about a year but it was as if we were still onboard the USS Raleigh in the middle of the Persian Gulf talking about our dreams, goals and our wives. We didn’t know each other very well before that deployment but by the end of the deployment, we became brothers. It’s been about 16 years since I’ve seen him. When we talk, we speak about how fun it would be to get back together. Another year passes and we do it all over again. Our kids grow older, our hair gets grayer (or in Paul’s case – becomes non-existent). But one day a year, we are back on that ship. Laying on the deck staring up into the vast theater of stars provided by God, talking about life and solidifying our bond as brothers.

It is with this fond memory that I wish all who served a Happy Veterans Day. The bond we share is deep and only fully understood by those who have served. God Bless those who are standing in harms way today – forming the bonds that will last them for the rest of their lives.

Semper Fi. I Love Ya ‘Bro.

I was listening to the radio this morning and I heard the announcer read an email that our Democrat Senator Ben Nelson received regarding his stance on the Congressional spending bill they are calling a stimulus package. The email said, “You can scrape a few flys off a poop sandwich but you tell me how it is NOT still a poop sandwich”.

I don’t think it needs an explaination.

Well said.

Take 9 minutes out of your day to watch and listen to his message.

If you can’t see the video above, click here to watch the video.

This week while many people in the United States were fretting over the credit crisis and its effect on their 401Ks, Christians in the Indian village of Sindhipankha were mourning the death of their friend Dushashan Majhi. A bold Christian, he was shot on Oct. 3 by a band of Hindu militants who then cut his body into pieces.

The people in Sindhipankha do not have 401Ks. Many of them, in fact, no longer have homes. Across the state of Orissa, in northeast India, Hindus have ransacked and burned hundreds of Christians’ houses and churches during the last two months. Hundreds have died.

“The violence in August and September of 2008 has been the worst in our 2,000-year history in India,” says John Dayal, an Indian journalist and founder of the All India Christian Council. “Fifty thousand are homeless and 30,000 are hiding in forests, chased like animals by Hindu fanatics who are forcing them to become Hindus or die.”

The number of deaths continues to climb in India while most Americans are consumed with the stock market and the Obama-McCain contest. (You won’t hear too much about the anti-Christian attacks from the mainstream media.) I wonder: Could we call a brief timeout and pray for the persecuted church on the other side of the world? more…
from Fire In My Bones – J. Lee Grady

Reading that article grounds me. When was the last time a Christian was hacked to death in America? Are Christians in America hiding in fear for their lives? When you are facing death – a drop in our 401Ks seems pretty minor. It’s all about perspective.

1. Suspend capital gains taxes for at least 2 years – retroactive to the first of the year – this would encourage more investment (i.e. cash)
2. Reduce corporate taxes – right now corporations are paying a very high tax. I know – I used to own a private corporation! Lower the rate to 10% or even 15% for a couple of years. That would free up some cash and spur growth.
3. There has been some talk of insuring the bad debts instead of just giving them the $700 billion. That, to me, would be a much smarter course of action. How does that work? When I got my first VA loan, the loan was backed by the federal govt. The bank still held the loan but in case something happened, the fed govt insured the loan. This could happen to the current mess.

I’m sure there are other ideas out there that make sense also – I can only speak to what I have experience with. I know the effect the above steps will have on the economy would be positive.

The second part is that we need to “Enron” all those involved in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and any other company involved in this fraud. I am discouraged that I don’t see any hint of an uproar over the failure of either one. From everything I have heard, they did the same thing to their balance sheets as Enron did.

Now – would a certain Maverick please step up! Someone has to lead!

Once you get your breath – check out the incredible numbers!

The Olympic Swim trials are over and I must say that I’m a little sad. I love swimming and it was a blast watching the swim trials on TV. Sarah and I actually went to an evening session last Monday and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was an unforgettable father-daughter day. I was especially impressed with the Qwest Center and how they configured it to host the swim trials. I can’t imagine another venue that would be more perfect than what the swimmers had here.

It has been fun reading some of the comments of people from different parts of the country as they covered the swim trials (and experienced Omaha). Two of the most common sentiments were: 1) they were totally surprised at how nice the city of Omaha and the Qwest center was and 2) the people of Omaha go out of their way to make guests feel welcome. Any time there is an event here with national exposure, those are the comments you are most frequently going to hear. Vicki Terlap of SwimNetwork.com wrote a piece that pretty much sums up what I have been reading from others. In her article she says,

“I’m here to set the record straight. Omaha is FABULOUS. Like the squeaky-clean, freckle-faced, straight-A student in your high school biology class, Omaha is eager to please and willing to go out of its way to make sure everything is done just right.”

But we’ve known that – haven’t we? We have hosted the College World Series since 1950 and will for another 25 years at least! Whenever a tragedy strikes (Von Maur comes to mind), Omahan’s rally around each other to give whatever support they can. Whenever a storm tears up part of our city – it’s the neighbors who go out of their way to help each other out – just like they did the Friday night before the trials started. The Qwest was damaged - half the city was without power – but the trials went on without even a hiccup.

So sure, we have nice facilities and things to do in Omaha but the real treasure in this city is the people who live and work here. Good job Omaha!

Thank you to all who helped out the girls with their school project. You made this school project special.

Monica Lewinsky’s Ex-Boyfriend’s Wife for President

I was walking down the street in Chicago yesterday and saw this t-shirt in a shop. It made me giggle so I snapped a picture. While I don’t try to get too political on this blog, I did think that this kind of illustrates just how absurd our political process has become and the characters to choose to run for office. As for me, this election I’m voting for none-of-the-above.

Like the heart shaped pizza? Special from Papa Murphy’s.

Click to see the Valentines Dance Album

UPDATED:

I created pages for each of the pets to follow them on their adventure!

Rose
Weber
Angel

My triplet daughters have a second grade school project that I would like some help with. It’s called Pets around the World. Essentially, they each have been given a small stuffed pet and a journal. Their mission is to send their pet on an adventure with the eventual homecoming sometime in April. Here is where I need your help.

To participate in this adventure, you would have to agree to accept this small envelope, add to the journal and then forward it to a friend. Eventually, as April 1 approaches, the person who has the animal at that time would then send it back to the school in time for their reunion party.

My oldest daughter did this in 2nd Grade also and Weber took a trip around the world!

How do you participate? Leave a comment to this post and I’ll contact you to get your mailing information. This is an awesome experience for the girls because it helps them learn about other cultures and to realize that we are all pretty much the same!

If you live outside the U.S. or know people outside the U.S. that would be willing to participate, please comment below! Eventually, I’ll have a separate page here to track each of the animals on their journey around the world.

Add to Pingie

Air 5′s MySpace Page
Air 5′s Website

These are two topics I have discussed in previous posts [Understanding the Emerging Church and Time for a discussion in the church about Gay, Lesbian and Transgendered Issues or God's Grace - 101]. These attitudes are rampant in post-modern thought. We are living in a world where compromise is the norm and taking a stand for truth is abnormal.

I have been reading Lee Strobel’s new book, The Case for the Real Jesus. Although I am still in the first few chapters of the book, one point has been sticking in my mind as I read it. Over the years, in an effort to make Christianity more appealing to non-believers, the church has watered down it’s theology. As a church, we have stopped placing an importance on the redemptive act of Jesus’ death on the cross. In an interview with Daniel B. Wallace Ph.D., Strobel was trying to understand the authenticity of the scriptures in light of recent allegations that the Bible is full of mistakes and contradictions and missing some books that teach something else. Dr. Wallace, in addressing a particular allegation said, “It’s disturbing that when it comes to the Christian faith, people don’t really want – or know how – to investigate the evidence. Christians are not being led into proper historical research by their pastors. I have been saying for some time that I don’t think the evangelical church has fifty years left of life to it until it repents.” Strobel responded, “In what way?” Wallace continued, “First, we have to quit marginalizing scripture. We can’t treat the Bible with kid gloves. We really need to wrestle with the issues, because our faith depends on it. And second, we need to quit turning Jesus into our buddy. He’s the sovereign Lord of the universe, and we need to understand and respond accordingly.”

Isn’t that the crux of the whole situation we find ourselves in right now? As a church, we don’t teach theology so when some new theory comes along, we don’t have the knowledge or tools to defend our faith. Some things might even sound good so we compromise our beliefs because we don’t have a theological foundation to stand on. Then someone else comes along with some new special knowledge and we go along with that because we are already started down the road of compromise. We have faith – but we don’t have maturity. It is my opinion that today’s church has become what Paul described when he addressed the church in Corinth.

The Corinthian believers had become aware of the need to reorient their pre-Christian attitudes and actions along Biblical lines, but at first their transformation was incomplete, and they were just “babes in Christ,” to be pitied and nurtured in their immaturity. The Greek word sarkinos implies this infant stage.

However, as the years went on, they continued in their immaturity. By this time they should have grown to Christian adulthood, themselves helping others through the infant stage, but instead they had willfully and sinfully remained in their immature state. For this Paul rebukes them.

It is imperative that we continue to grow in Christ. Everyone needs to learn to emphatically defend their faith. We need to continue to help others through the infant stage into Christian maturity so when beliefs, such as espoused by Mr. Campolo are raised in the church, they can be debated with an argument based in knowledge and not feelings.

A good place to start would be our 21st Century Christian series or any other series we have posted at Grace Learning Center. Another resource that I enjoy is the online theology course at Reclaiming The Mind.