Ti Amo Con Tutto Cuore mae Caterina (Italian meaning; I Love You With All My Heart)

Of course you knew that already,
didn't you?

Look Who's Been Balancing My Tractor These Past 25 Years

Her kisses are as sweet as icing.

I have been wonderfully blessed.

A Man Needs A Maid(en)

And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.Genesis 2:17-19

Circular Reasoning Tends to End in Cul de Sacs

.
I should know 'cause I've been double parked in one most of my life

Jesus: The Compassion of God

To be a follower of Jesus means in the first place to enter by compassion into his experience, with all that it expresses of the divine and of the human. And it means in the second place to enter with him into the suffering and the hope of all human persons, making common cause with them as he does, and seeking out as he does the places of his predilection among the poor and despised and oppressed.
- Monika K. Hellwig from Jesus: The Compassion of God (The Liturgical Press, 1983)

Ojibway Prayer

Ojibway Prayer
Oh Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds
And whose breath gives life to everyone, Hear me.
I come to you as one of your many children;
I am weak .... I am small ... I need your wisdom
and your strength.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever
behold the red and purple sunsets
Make my hands respect the things you have made.
And make my ears sharp so I may hear your voice.
Make me wise, so that I may understand what you
have taught my people and
The lessons you have hidden in each leaf
and each rock. I ask for wisdom and strength
Not to be superior to my brothers, but to be able
to fight my greatest enemy, myself.
Make me ever ready to come before you with
clean hands and a straight eye.
So as life fades away as a fading sunset.
My spirit may come to you without shame

Happiness 'IS' There!

Wholeness for us, as people of God, is moving ever toward oneness
with God, regardless of the condition of our bodies,
our lives, our minds.
Everyone equally has a capacity to be whole.
Wholeness is a gift from God.
Beth A. Richardsonin "Alive Now!" March/April 1992.

http://www.beliefnet.com/features/peace/test2/container01.html

Simone Weil (ya just gotta love this woman)

God's love for us is not the reason for which we should love him. God's love for us is the reason for us to love ourselves.-Simone Weil

You Know You've Been Ice Fishing Too Long When.....

SPRING COMES TO THE NORTH COUNTRY

hey isn't that Pastor Astor and Steve Berg?

how's the fishing guys?

Red Letter Christians/This is the message we need to preach

http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1401

Help me, O Lord, to make a true use of all disappointments and calamities in this life, in such a way that they may unite my heart more closely with you. Cause them to separate my affections from worldly things and inspire my soul with more vigor in the pursuit of true happiness.
- Susanna Wesleyfrom "Alive Now!" March/April 1992

My House Shall Be a House of Prayer

Matthew 8:11
King James Version (KJV)
And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

We forgive all living beings,
We are friendly towards all living beings,
We seek enmity with none,
We ask forgiveness from all.--Jain prayer



Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.--Christian prayer





In the house made of dawn.In the story made of dawn. On the trail of dawn…Beauty before me, Beauty behind me, Beauty above me,Beauty below me, Beauty around me, It is finished in beauty. It is finished in beauty. --Native American prayer







Christ is risen, and death is overthrown.Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen.Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice.Christ is risen, and life reigns.Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave.To Him be glory and dominion Unto ages of ages!--Easter sermon of St. John Chrysostom

In My House Are Many Mansions....
I go to prepare a place for you........
Will you prepare a place for me?

I arise today through the power of God:God's might to comfort me,God's wisdom to guide me,God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me,God's word to speak for me...-The Lorica of St. Patrick

GOD LOVE THE IRISH

From 'How the Irish Saved Civilization', by Thomas Cahill

The Irish of the fifth century were a pagan, violent, and barbaric people. Human sacrifice was commonplace. Patrick understood the danger and wrote: "I am ready to be murdered, betrayed, enslaved—whatever may come my way."

Cahill notes that Patrick's love for the Irish "shines through his writings . . . He [worried] constantly for his people, not just for their spiritual but for their physical welfare."

Through Patrick, God converted thousands. Cahill writes, "Only this former slave had the right instincts to impart to the Irish a New Story, one that made sense of all their old stories and brought them a peace they had never known before." Because of Patrick, a warrior people "lay down the swords of battle, flung away the knives of sacrifice, and cast away the chains of slavery."





Do you think that we might need someone to tell us a new story to make sense of all our old stories?
Many of our Christian stories (at least in the way we tell them) don't make a lot of sense in our post modern world.

Who will tell us this new story that we so desparately need to hear?

Unlike So Many Other Evangelicals, Philip Yancey Has Something Real To Say

A bird's-eye view of contemporary evangelicalism.
Philip Yancey | posted 2/28/2007 08:51AM

.......The world is full of pain. The prosperity promised on religious television must exist in some alternate universe from what I encounter as I visit churches in person. For all its faults and failures, the church offers a place to bring wounds and to seek meaning in times of brokenness and struggle.

An older man with a lush beard who walked with a shuffle mumbled to me, "God gave me Parkinson's disease. How can I possibly think he listens to what I have to say in prayer?"

A woman told of praying with desperation during her 19 years in an abusive marriage, "Lord, if someone is killed by a drunk driver, let it be my husband."

I met a woman afflicted with multiple sclerosis, shockingly young, who limped up to tell me she was learning all she could about prayer because the disease was progressing so fast that soon she would be able to do little else.

I heard of suicides, birth defects, children hit by trucks, and teenagers raped. One woman, now an ordained minister, spoke of a dark period after her son died when for 18 months she could not bring herself to pray. She cried out one day, "God, I don't want to die like this, with all communication cut off!" Even so, it took her 6 more months before she could pray again.

In one meeting, a 20-year-old came to the microphone and chided me for not taking literally the Bible's promise about faith that can move mountains. I agreed I needed a larger dose of such childlike faith, yet at the same time, I could not dishonor the pain of suffering people by telling them their faith is somehow defective.

From such souls, I learn that life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived. Prayer offers no ironclad guarantees, just the certain promise that we need not live that mystery alone.

Resolved:Rex Murphy Is A Canadian Treasure

read this.......



So much for the incarnation Feb. 27, 2007

Hollywood is an inverted religion.
Like most, I watched bits and pieces of that great orgy of idolatry and self-worship, the Academy Awards.
What we call superstars are the gods and goddesses of our decadent time. Their church, fame, luxury, and immense, obscene wealth.
Al Gore was called in as the pastor of a more austere calling, environmentalism. "An Inconvenient Truth" was given an Oscar to show that Hollywood can take a spell from narcissism and ally itself with something a little more substantial than surgically crafted cleavage and insane self-obsession.
Al Gore is Hollywood's carbon pope.
We may not need popes much longer. The awards were barely over when one of the titans of big film, no less than James Cameron, he of the bloated budgets and blockbusters "Terminator" and "Titanic," two milestones in the history of Western Art, announces that he's about to release a documentary that will expose the last 2,000 years of Christianity as a feeble sham, explode the central mystery of the Christian faith, the resurrection, and while he's at it, prove even beyond the diligence of Dan Brown — book sales be upon him — that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene, died a natural death, and was buried with Mary to boot.
So much for the incarnation.
James, you see, has gone to an oldish story.
There's this tomb, see. Cue Angelina Jolie. And having watched enough "CSI" to bring himself up to speed, has gone all David Caruso on the bones, done the DNA, and, hey, presto, the central faith of the Western World, 2,000 years of belief and scholarship beyond even the reach of Céline Dion has, may I say it, hit an iceberg.
The world is wrong. Hollywood producer, archaeologist, Academy Award winner, king of the world James Cameron has unlocked the greatest mystery in the history of the world. Better than Geraldo at Al Capone's vault.
I expect the Vatican to apologize and close its doors within a week.
Haul down Notre Dame, board up Westminster, give over all the cathedrals and churches to Starbucks.
It was all a scam. If what Jim has on film is true — and he's a formidable ecclesiologist — Christianity is for dupes.
I have one or two minor questions... Do you think we'll see any documentaries of like attempt and equal impertinence from James Cameron on Muhammad or Islam?
To ask the question is to answer it. Hollywood is only daring with Christianity, and why does Hollywood, which worships only itself and money, feel so blithely free to mock, degrade, toy with, and abuse the sacred story of billions of people and offer to Gospels no more respect than they would the script for "Showgirls?"
Probably the answer to that question is that the minds which produced "Showgirls" are so radically vulgar and stimulated at core only by greed and the lust for cheap fame. That frame of mind will prostitute anything... the life of Christ, other people's religion for a stale press conference and a fresh buck.
It's that simple. It also explains Al Gore's Oscar. Having toppled one messiah, Hollywood wanted a more pliable one in the wings. For "The National," I'm Rex Murphy.




see this......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u_4B6JDcgE






Case Closed!

I'm Not Much of A Prayin' Man but

Lord Help Me Be Half The Person My Dog Thinks I Am.

The Royal Law

Why do so many churches make so much out of minutae and ignore things like this?


You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
- James 2:8-9

It is time to wake up and strengthen the things that remain.

This Just In....Michelin Man Denies Paternity Suit

Mamma Mia

This may put a smile on your face

Ask not WWJD
Instead See What Jesus Did








































maybe we should all Go And Do Likewise

Nearer My God To Thee

An American decided to write a book about famous churches around the world so he bought a plane ticket and took a trip to Orlando, thinking that he would start by working his way across the USA from South to North.
On his first day he was inside a church taking photographs when he noticed agolden telephone mounted on the wall with a sign that read "$10,000 percall. The American, being intrigued, asked a priest who was strolling by what thetelephone was used for.The priest replied that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000you could talk to God.The American thanked the priest and went along his way.
Next stop was in Atlanta. There, at a very large Cathedral, he saw the same golden telephone with the same sign under it. He wondered if this was the same kind of telephone he saw in Orlando and he asked a nearby nun what its purpose was. She told him that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 hecould talk to God. "O.K., thank you," said the American.
He then traveled to Indianapolis, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Boston andNew York. In every church he saw the same golden telephone with the same "$10,000 percall" sign under it.
The American, upon leaving Vermont decided to travel to up to Canada to see if Canadians had the same phone. He arrived in Canada, and again, in the first church he entered, there was the same golden telephone, but this time the sign under it read "40 cents per call." The American was surprised so he asked the priest about the sign. "Father, I've traveled all over America and I've seen this same golden telephone inmany churches. I'm told that it is a direct line to Heaven, but in the US the price was $10,000 per call. Why is it so cheap here?"
The priest smiled and answered, "You're in Canada now, son - it's a local call".

The long arm and short brain waves of the Law in Canada

A man was stopped by a game warden recently with two ice chests full of live fish in water, leaving a river well known for its fishing.The game warden asked the man, "Do you have a license to catch those fish?"
"Naw, my friend, I ain't got no license. These here are my pet fish."
"Pet fish?"
"Yep. Every night I take these fish down to the river and let 'em swim' round for a while. Then I whistle and they jump right back into this ice chest and I take 'em home."
"That's a bunch of BS! Fish can't do that!
"The man looked at the game warden for a moment and then said, It's the truth. I'll show you. It really works.""Okay, I've GOT to see this!"
The man poured the fish into the river and stood and waited. After several minutes, the game warden turned to him and said, "Well?"
"Well, what?" said the man.
"When are you going to call them back?"
"Call who back?"
"The FISH!"
"What fish?"

The Beauty of the Canadian Way of Life

A middle-aged guy from Edmonton had recently purchased a rare 1975 Bricklin Gull Wing. One crisp Alberta morning he picked up his double double Tim Horton's coffee at the drive-thru (it actually was a Starbucks 'sit in Grande Latte', but how Canadian is that, eh?) The proud owner took off down the Trans CanadaHwy, he floored it to 120 km/h, enjoying the wind blowing through what Little hair he had left."Not Bad, eh!" he thought as he flew down the road, pushing the pedal to the metal even more. Looking in his rear view mirror, he saw the RCMP behind him, red and blue lights flashing and siren blaring.
"I can get away from him - no problem!" thought the mid-life rebel as he floored it to 130 km/h, then 140 km/h, then 150 km/h.
Suddenly, he thought, "What on earth am I doing? I'm too old for this nonsense (reasonable and law abiding, but not overly uptight about it)!", he pulled over to the side of the road and waited for the Mountie to catchup with him.
Pulling in behind him, the officer walked (with his gun still in its holster) up to the driver's side of The Bricklin Gull Wing, looked at his watch and said, "Sir, my shift ends in 30minutes. Today is Friday. If you can give me a reason why you were speeding that I've never heard before, I'll let you go (exhibiting both fairplay and compassion, not to mention humility)."

The man, looking very seriously at the Mountie, said,
"Years ago, my Wife ran off with an RCMP officer.
I thought you were bringing her back".

Have a good day, Sir," said the Mountie

(semi-British sense of humour).

But whaddya say we not push that whole celibacy thing too hard.

Let's Think About setting Up Our Monastery somewhere near Palm Springs

Here are your first two recruits.

Remonking the Church

A Christianity Today editorial
This article was first published August 12, 1988

Would a Protestant form of monasticism help liberate evangelicalism from its cultural captivity? (Apish Interjection; "I'd say its been more like depravity than captivity. The unsaved didn't make us run after the 'rich and infamous' tele-evangelical,' all prosperity' and 'all fluff' all the time 'Ganrtyeque Gurus'. Nor did it hold a gun to our heads to make us supporters of the state religion of the Empire. Nor did it demand that we become Comforter of the Comfortable and Afflicter of the Afflicted")


John R.W. Stott, the elder statesman of British evangelicalism, has stated recently that if he were young and beginning his Christian discipleship over, he would establish a kind of evangelical monastic order. Joining it would be men vowed to celibacy, poverty, and peaceableness.
Senate Chaplain Richard Halverson, speaking last April to the Anabaptist Hutterian Brethren, said something "cataclysmic" is in the air. Perhaps it is the return of Christ or, less dramatically, a "mighty visitation of God upon the Earth, upon the church." When it happens, "people in the evangelical community will have to move a lot more in the direction you [the Hutterians] are, more toward the simplicity, away from the materialism that I believe now has really infected badly the whole evangelical community."
Fuller Seminary philosopher Richard Mouw, speaking a few months back at Wheaton College, suggested that the church, and its evangelical sector in particular, would benefit from "remonasticization"—the clear and radical witness of a smaller body within the church, calling the entire church to a clearer and more radical witness.
Talk of monasticism from three thoroughly Reformed Christians is striking, and perhaps only coincidental. But perhaps it is not so coincidental. North American evangelicals are now acutely awake to the fact that they live in a post—Christian culture. There is much talk against violence, sensuality, and materialism. Yet even the most casual observer can see that the evangelical church is "infected badly" by all three.

Hey Steve, this sounds just like you, except it might be stretching it a bit to include us in 'X' the Generation?

Emerging Monasticism
A mission renaissance in The New Friars.
Review by Rob Moll posted 3/07/2007 09:12AM
At key moments in church history, says Scott Bessenecker, monastic movements have kept the faith alive. "In the first renaissance [A.D. 400] it was the Celtic and Augustinian monks, in the second [800] it was the Benedictine and Nestorian monks, in the third [1200] the Franciscans and Dominicans, and in the fourth [1600] the Jesuits, Moravians, and Anabaptists."
Related articles and links
Bessenecker believes we are ripe for another renaissance, whose leaders he calls the new friars. "What we are seeing today…is a continuation of this pattern of mission orders—devotional communities that are high on ministry to the outcasts."
Readers may quibble with Bessenecker's reading of history, but they'll be inspired by this very GenX movement. These young evangelicals are taking vows, living and ministering communally, and seeking to bring God's kingdom to the world's poor.
Bessenecker is part of this movement in his work with InterVarsity, so he is inclined to argue that this small group of missionaries will have a disproportionate effect on the church in the next 50 years.
Maybe so. But whether or not he's correct, one hopes to see and hear more from the new friars even if they don't feel at home in celebrity Christianity.
Copyright © 2007 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

The Mystery of Hidden Valley(perhaps Emmaus is in there?)

"Which way to Hidden Valley?"
Asking directions of the local flora and fauna.



At last we arrive at the entrance to Hidden Valley. The area is a box canyon with a discrete source of water, so the place is much greener with different plant types than the surrounding desert. Sort of a subdued garden of eden (if only in contrast with the surrounding desert)



Now I'm just funning with you. This is a view from on top of San Jancito Park way up in the mountains. It was 28 up there when the temperature in Palm Springs was 71 that day.
The picture we took in Hidden Vally didn't come out so you will have to trust me that the plants and trees in the Valley were different enough to be impressive.......just not this impressive.

A Visit to The Joshua Tree National Park is a Must. You've gotta go!

Look what I found Beneath the Joshua Tree.
Its a Yucca and a member of the lily or perhaps the Agaves family......the plant, I mean.


Cathy, my lovely bride of 25 years, and I went to Palm Springs for our 25th Annversary.
It was actually even better than the Honeymoon.......wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more......
http://impossibleape.blogspot.com/2006/03/marriage-counseling-from-impossibleape.html

enough said.

Poolside

Flying into Palm Springs (back in the 'USSA')

As my favourite refugee from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Yakhov Smirnoff, used to say.
VHUT AAHH COUNT$RY!
Home to the stars. Enjoying 365 days of sunshine a year, 366 on leap years.

An oasis of green grass, Tall Palms, lush golf courses nestled in a cluster of mountains (containing some of the oldest and the youngest ranges in the US of A.)

Lying on the San Andreas Fault Line. (Christ have mercy). Surrounded by some of the most ruggedly beautiful desert scenery on the North American continent.

Yakhov was right.

VHUT AAHH COUNT$RY INDEED!

Gawwddd Bless America. May she never lose her way(or good air connections to her northern neighbour)

In Answer to Pastor Astor's Question