Owen Quote

"It is not the glorious battlements, the painted windows, the
crouching gargoyles that support a building, but the stones that lie
unseen in or upon the earth. It is often those who are despised and
trampled on that bear up the weight of a whole nation."
--JOHN OWEN

Derek a Daddy

Congratulations Derek!

Here is to one of (the many) old room mates, of mine. He is going to be a father…I must be getting old because he is a quite a bit younger than I.

Here is picture proof.------------>

Anyone know of any good triple "D" names for the first and middle names? Got to keep up the triple d tradition....

Protest Site

The Cathedral in Berlin is a great place to watch a protest from!!!

I got to see thousands of angry people venting when Bush ordered us into Iraq. It was great to see that people cared so much about something.

Why don't we have more of those in this country?


-Elephino

Damon

Should have made a Johnny Damon Petition. He is now with the Empire. I bet Theo wouldn't have let him slip. It seems like the sox managers are just trying to make me mad at them. You have got to take care of your peeps...geez.

Dan Shaughnessy wrote,"So now your Boston Red Sox have no center fielder, no shortstop, and no first baseman, to go along with no Theo Epstein and no clue." Not to mention the fact that Damon was their leadoff man and the fact that their pitching is now lacking--I miss Pedro too.


-Elephino

Pray for the Persecuted

I believe that prayer for people persecuted, for their beliefs, would be appropriate this Christmas. I just read a Times (London, of course) article Iraqi worshippers risk their lives to celebrate Christmas in church by Stephen Farrell in Baghdad and my heart and prayers go out to them.

I also pray for my missionary friends in Berlin.


-Crossman

$7,500

$7,500 fine for downloading music. How many people have that much music on their computer?

I doubt this woman does.

I thought that punishments were supposed to fit the crimes.


-Elephino

Orwell Speaks

While looking for a picture to use as my background I found the following quote on The Feline Speaks.

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

-- George Orwell

FOOL

Peter Peter

Peter Peter what are you doing
Following that man
You gave up your life of fishing
Now you fish for me

Chorus:
And you think about the way things might have been
If you’d remained at sea
You’d still be a fisherman.
Peter you’re such a fool

Peter Peter what are you doing
Slippin’ on those waves
You once tried to walk on water
Now you must be saved

Chorus

Peter Peter what are you doing
Sitting by the fire
Now you’ve gone and denied Him
Now he’s gone and died

Chorus

Peter Peter what are you doing
Hangin’ upside down
Peter Peter you know you’re dying
Dying for your Lord

Chorus

I’d sure like to be such a fool (3X)

Coversion of Saul

This struck me today. The God-Man was birthed here and His love is greater than the murder in our hearts. Sweet grace upon grace...remember me.

Acts 9

9Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ 5He asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’ 7The men who were travelling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ He answered, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ 11The Lord said to him, ‘Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, 12and he has seen in a vision* a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.’ 13But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; 14and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.’ 15But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; 16I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.’ 17So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul* and said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ 18And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, 19and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, 20and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’ 21All who heard him were amazed and said, ‘Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem among those who invoked this name? And has he not come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?’ 22Saul became increasingly more powerful and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus* was the Messiah.*

What We Need Friends For

Great friends...that is all we need.

FUKUYAMA!

The big floating head! You will listen to FUKUYAMA!

Jesus, CEO

Jesus, CEO is an article in the Economist that shows what annoys me about the prevailing Baby Boomer church culture. All these bleeding heart pony tails and aging Yuppies have to modernize everything to make it comfortable for their fat rears. Modernize it until it has all the depth and trappings of a Disney park.

I can't understand why a bunch of grown people would throw away Bach, Augustine and the wealth of Christian contributions to thought, music and life for some flashing lights and a Christian Kickboxing class.

I know that each generation makes the church its own but I don't see where most of these changes have anything to do with the God or community. It seems to me that by going to such a large church you can either ignore everyone or avoid people that are any different than you (due to the common focus on groups of people with similar interests).

The church is supposed to be a diverse group where toddlers, teens, couples, singles, octogenarians, rich, poor and whatever other groups we can come up with grow through the contact they have with the message together.

Perhaps I am just crass but I don’t like seeing all of this attention diverted from Jesus. Precious treasures don’t need to be dressed up with cheap lights to hold my interest. I know some people that attend such churches and know that a few people do get something out of these conditions but I still believe these people would gain more spiritual wealth in a real community.


-Elephino

Radiohead

It is good to see that these guys are going to give it another go. I added the Basement Jaxx links because I like their monkey's but I am mentioning Radiohead because I am hoping that they release something that hits me as hard as Kid A or OK Computer did.

The Jaxx

Basement Jaxx

Where's Your Head At

I don't have much else to say.


-Elephino

Community

I helped set up and tear down for a church program today. It was shocking how fast we were able to get a huge project finished with a few willing helpers.

I imagine that this little task could make a great analogy or model for what the church would be capable of if not so broken. I know that great things are done but I would love to see more unification.


-Elephino

BIER!

It is what keeps calling me back to Germany!!!

Boy, she sure does look happy.














-Elephino

German may be the bad thing about Germany

I now remember why I left Germany...Mark Twain reminded me.

A dog is "der Hund"; a woman is "die Frau"; a horse is "das Pferd"; now you put that dog in the genitive case, and is he the same dog he was before? No, sir; he is "des Hundes"; put him in the dative case and what is he? Why, he is "dem Hund." Now you snatch him into the accusative case and how is it with him? Why, he is "den Hunden." But suppose he happens to be twins and you have to pluralize him- what then? Why, they'll swat that twin dog around through the 4 cases until he'll think he's an entire international dog-show all in is own person. I don't like dogs, but I wouldn't treat a dog like that- I wouldn't even treat a borrowed dog that way. Well, it's just the same with a cat. They start her in at the nominative singular in good health and fair to look upon, and they sweat her through all the 4 cases and the 16 the's and when she limps out through the accusative plural you wouldn't recognize her for the same being. Yes, sir, once the German language gets hold of a cat, it's goodbye cat. That's about the amount of it.
- Mark Twain's Notebook

The Awful German Language by Mark Twain sums it--the reason I left--up well.


-Elephino

Why did I leave Germany?

Why did I leave Germany?

Die Toten Hosen!!! The best band in Germany? The best band in the WORLD!!!

I need to get back to Europe, the pop music may not be any better there but at least it amuses me and I am learning German while listening to it!!!

http://www.dietotenhosen.de/neuigkeiten_news_freunde.php

I miss the Germans and the peace that European cities bring me…even when I am near crazy demonstrations.


-Elephino