Super Paul

Football Field sized asteroid vs. Mars!

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Scientists raise odds that asteroid might hit Mars

Winston-Salem Journal

LOS ANGELES - The chance of a asteroid the size of a football field crashing into Mars next month has been raised to 4 percent, scientists said yesterday after analyzing archival data.

The asteroid, known as 2007 WD5, was discovered in late November by the NASA-financed Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona. Based on the latest information available, scientists said last week that there was a 1-in-75 chance the asteroid could hit Mars on Jan. 30.

The odds were increased to 1-in-25 this week after a Ph.D. student pored through the archives and plotted the asteroid’s motions before its official discovery.

Here's another article on the topic:

Around the Bible in 90 Days!

A group of us are embarking on a project to read the entire Bible in Ninety Days. We'll meet once a week to encourage one another and discuss what we're reading.

Here's a website that explains how it goes - and includes the schedule if you'd care to join us:
http://www.biblein90days.com/

All this got me thinking again about the origins and reliability of the Bible as we know it today. I recall learning a few years ago that there is much evidence for the authenticity of the bible. Apparently, archeologists who specialize in evaluating all kinds of historical manuscripts have specific standards by which they judge these things. (Go figure! Who'd of known...?! Sometimes things make so much sense when you "discover" them for the first time.. D'OH! ;-)

And apparently, according to these standards of measurement, our modern Bible "passes" with flying colors. In fact, it's probably true to say that the book stands the tests beyond any other significant historical document.

This website summarizes the topic nicely:
http://www.allabouttruth.org/Origin-Of-The-Bible.htm

The Sixth Extinction

I thought it was just a fabrication of some paranoid X-Files episode writer - until I Googled it this morning. The Sixth Extinction, and the five previous versions, are actually recognized and described in science. Here are some links to scan:

National Geographic Magazine (1999)
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/9902/fngm/index.html

BBC News Article
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3667300.stm

Science Daily (2004)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/03/040319075340.htm

Feast of Seasons - Steve Bell and WSO

Steve Bell's Feast of Seasons Concert is available here:
http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/singleConcert.html?20071221sbel

These performances are some of the best music I've heard in ages. The WSO seems to really "get" Steve's music - the more they play together, the better it gets! And with the choir.. wow.

I suggest you pour yourself a favourite beverage, put on your best headset, turn up the volume, hit "play all tracks" and enjoy the inspired creativty of this musical feast. Truly delicious!

No Ramada Inn?

The traditional Christmas Eve service was great. Audrey Veal did another fine job of re-telling the ancient story with fresh insight, relating it to our day-to-day lives two thousand years later than the actual events. All while keeping it simple enough for the children in the audience to understand.

Not an easy feat.

Since viewing a documentary a few years ago that discusses the concept of inns and travelling accomodations in that culture, I've viewed the "no room at the inn" part of the story a little differently. Rather than picturing Mary and Joseph parking in front of the Bethleham Ramada and being told the rooms were all booked up for the night, I see it now in the context of family hospitality - or rather the lack thereof. Further rejection of Christ's entry into the world. This website does an excellent job of presenting the details of this translation of the key words:

http://blog.bibleplaces.com/2006/12/in-typical-christmas-pageant-one-of.html

My comment relates to the question of why would Mary travel to Bethleham at all so late in her pregnancy? And my conjecture is this: In a culture where the punishment for marital infidelity is death by stoning, (i.e. even to this day, some related cultures practice Honor Killings - the deliberate murder of any female relative who brings dishonor to the family name), could it be that Mary was safer staying close to Joseph than being left behind in Nazareth? This would fit well with the interpretation that family members in Bethleham chose to offer them shelter only in the lower household area with the animals, and did not offer any greater comforts in the "upper rooms" with the other family members.

It would also solve another difficulty for me. Surely Mary would have needed and had some minimal help from midwives or female relatives during her birth process? I can easily imagine someone in the extended family attending to her with minimal care, despite her "disgraced" condition, but then leaving her and the baby to rest afterwards in the stable area.

Anyway, no matter how we interpret the rather sparse language of the biblical accounts, the point of the story remains the same. God chose the lowest, least glorious route imaginable to enter into his creation.

How can we NOT be attracted to a God who, with all the power and glory of the universe and beyond at his disposal by which he might seek to glorify himself, instead comes to us like this, seeking our allegience. Proving himself (as if he needed to prove anything) to be the One and Only King who's intentions for us are completely honorable and selfless. The kind of King worthy to be chosen as ruler by anyone from the lowliest, humblest shepherd to the richest, wisest Scholar.

Kinshasha Music - Wow!

That 'Polio Band' video led me to this page - wow!

http://www.youtube.com/florentdelatullaye

I loved the quote in "Jupiter's Dance" about music in every home...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxkaVmpgHcs

And this woman (Mimi Mongo) apparently died early this year -- and in this song I don't understand a word she is saying, yet her passion, pain and joy all so evident, brings a tear to my eye as I watch, listen and can't turn away no matter what. Wow!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51ny0HhOwpk

"Special" music ...

Story of developing world issues, poverty, disease, musical rights, and the politics of peace-keeping ... complicated yet fascinating ... As the song itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxfULv7uIhY&feature=dir

Be sure to read the side-bar story and/or the BBC story linked at the bottom of the video notes.

End Hunger, Fast

Are you related?

Here's the place to find out, apparently:

For the curious - maybe this is for you:
http://www.dnaancestryproject.com/retail/

Steve Bell on CBC Radio

CBC Radio (Canada’s national broadcaster) will be recording Steve Bell with his band, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the Prairie Voices Choir in Steve’s Christmas concert “The Feast of Seasons”...

The concert will be broadcast on
CBC Radio One on December 24th at 10:00 p.m. and on

CBC Radio Two on December 25th at 7:00 p.m.

Tune in, and have Steve Bell, the WSO and Prairie Voices over for Christmas!

And for those outside of normal broadcast signals, try this page for a possible webcast:

1. http://www.cbc.ca/listen/index.html#

Old Testament law and Christians.

I thought this Q & A was worth posting - from The Plain Truth weekly update newsletter:

Q. In the November 26 PTM Update you said, "The law fails to bring righteousness and holiness. Righteousness and holiness can only be imputed, by grace; produced by the indwelling of our Lord and Savior. No human or group of humans, no law or combination of laws, produces holiness. It never has and never will."

Could you expound on the value of the Old Testament law as David expressed it in Psalm 119, (and others). I feel like there must be a balance in our attitude toward it, not of course to procure or complete salvation but David seems to have a perspective that I would like to have. Thanks.

A. Before beginning, let me explain that my immediate response is not hostile, but designed to ask you for further input, and hopefully to inspire you to further thinking and study. What kind of "balance" about the OT law do you propose? When reading any passage in the Bible, Christians always "balance" their understanding of that passage with a Christ-centered perspective. All that we know of God, as Christians, all that we experience, is based in Christ. Anything that happened before the cross of Christ must be read in a Christ-centered perspective -- i.e.. the individuals and the values they espoused were before the cross, and while there is much prophetic material in the Old Testament that is Messianic (pointing toward Messiah), it does not diminish or modify Jesus. For those of us who live after the cross -- in our case almost 2,000 years after -- our reading of Scripture always keeps in mind the fact that religion, with its traditions, legalisms, ceremonies, rituals and practices may have taken us off the path of a Christ-centered perspective -- so we too are looking for an authentic Christ-centered view of Scripture.

What did David mean about the law? He meant what all those in the old covenant understood -- that the law was the foundation of their relationship with God. What does the cross of Christ, and his victorious resurrection teach Christians? That Jesus is the basis of our relationship with God, and he gave us new commandments -- commandments which he will live in our lives if we accept him.

What good is the law of the old covenant? Does it save us? No, Jesus saves us. Jesus alone, without any help from the law -- the law of the old covenant, of the new covenant -- any law. What good is the law? The law leads us to Christ. The law shows us that we are dead meat/road kill -- without Christ. The law -- any law -- shows us that we are imperfect, that we are unable to be good enough for God on the basis of our own internal character and ability to perform. The law thus leads us to the place that we yield to Jesus, who does for us what we can never do for ourselves.

Is the law of the old covenant a "balance" in the life of a Christian? No, authentic Christianity is based on faith alone, grace alone and Christ alone. The law of the old covenant -- all of it -- is irrelevant for Christians. We live by faith in Jesus, who died and gave himself for us, that we might be in him, because of the blood of the new covenant. The New Testament tells us the life that Jesus will produce in us as we yield to him -- it will be a moral life, but it will not be produced because of morals. Morals don't produce Jesus -- it's the other way around. Jesus produces morals.One can be a good moral atheist, Buddhist or Moslem -- "better" morally than some professing Christians -- but not "have" Jesus. If we are in Jesus, and he is in us, then we will be moral -- law-abiding -- but we will be that way because of him, not because of our own efforts in building character.

Christianity is all about Jesus -- whereas religion, including any counterfeit of authentic Christianity, is all about the individual and how hard he/she works to please God.

ATC Listening Post

Interested in listening to air traffic control frequencies? This is a useful site:
http://www.liveatc.net/feedindex.php?type=canada

Space, and other bodily functions...

Wings of Hope - with feathers...

My buddy Ester has been living with cancer for over 8 years now so technically he’s a cancer survivor -- that's him with the pink feathers - and he's not actually headless - he's just ducking under grooming his leg. And yes, Ester is a boy. It used to be Lester, but when he introduces himself he often leaves off the 'L' - so now we just call him Ester.

Now, I'm going to be talking about a bird, but maybe you or someone you know is struggling through tough times. Facing trials of different sorts. An illness. A broken relationship. A terrifying setback. Then you know about pain, sorrow and suffering. Because ultimately, it’s all the same pain. It is common to all of creation.

Ester, a moluccan Cockatoom is 23 years old (his normal lifespan is about 80 years). Because human beings "love" cockatoos, Ester finds himself confined to a cage for his entire life. No one asked him if he wanted to be a pet. He’ll never know what it is to fly freely and be everything that God intended him to be.

But I have high hopes for Ester. Hope has already saved Ester from cancer. When he was scheduled to be killed because his vet bills would over-tax his families resources, someone rescued him and paid for his treatments — because they Hoped. After several weeks of chemo-therapy the vet performed a lumpectomy to reduce the size of Ester’s tumor, (you can see the sore on his backside). And Esther fought through all this and still lives! Today Esther is one of the happiest and friendliest little birds at the Refuge. He shows what can happen because of HOPE. And the dedication of people willing to go where HOPE leads.

Jesus asks us to be compassionate - to suffer with those around us. But to encounter pain and sorrow in the world without being anchored by an unshakeable hope, is folly.

So, hope serves as a tether that guides us safely through a world of suffering towards a better future and prevents us from being over-whelmed by the ‘here and now’. But hope for this life alone is only a foretaste of our ultimate hope. The bible encourages us towards a greater hope for every creature who suffers - a time when suffering will have worked its miracle in us and all creation will be released into a new Era!

Romans 4:18-25 (the Message)
That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

Hope fully realized - the return of Jesus Christ, is the ultimate hope that allows me to enter into compassionate ministry and be not swept away by it.

And HOPE is usually all I can hold out to someone in the midst of their trials. A cup of hot chocolate. A shoulder to cry on. A kind word or deed. That’s not much. But often it’s enough and it’s that first step towards salvation.

A salvation that we merely glimpse in each small healing in this life - like Ester’s (This video shows just how well he's healed and how much joy he experiences just being alive!):

Carol Burnett Show

It must have been hard to get a "take" they could put on t.v.! The live audience is sure having fun though. Tim Conway is ad-libbing a long tale about an elephant, preventing the skit from progressing :

The Advent Candles Tradition

Our little community church is not very liturgical, but we do have an informal observance of Advent that leads up to a special Christmas eve service. Because Advent was never a significant part of my previous church experience, I did some research. The traditions vary quite a bit in various churches and denominations. Some are more heavily laden with symbolism and iconic representations than others.

These excerpts convey our church's experience of the season as I understand it:

The light (itself) reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world that comes into the darkness of our lives to bring newness, life, and hope. It also reminds us that we are called to be a light to the world as we reflect the light of God's grace to others (Isa 42:6). The progression in the lighting of the candles symbolizes the various aspects of our waiting experience. As the candles are lighted over the four week period, it also symbolizes the darkness of fear and hopelessness receding and the shadows of sin falling away as more and more light is shed into the world. ...

Finally, the light that has come into the world is plainly visible as the Christ candle is lighted at Christmas, and worshippers rejoice over the fact that the promise of long ago has been realized.

The first candle is traditionally the candle of Expectation or Hope. This draws attention to the anticipation of the coming of a Messiah that weaves its way like a golden thread through Old Testament history. As God’s people were abused by power hungry kings, led astray by self-centered prophets, and lulled into apathy by half-hearted religious leaders, there arose a longing among some for God to raise up a new king who could show them how to be God’s people. They yearned for a return of God’s dynamic presence in their midst. And of course now it represents our hope in the ultimate Advent. ...

It is truly a humbling experience to read back through the Old Testament and see how frail and imperfect all the "heroes" actually are. Abraham, the coward who cannot believe the promise and his wife Sarah who tries to take matters into her own hands. Jacob, the cheat who struggles with everybody and Leah, who participates in deception to become his first wife. Joseph, the immature and arrogant teen. Moses, the impatient murderer who cannot wait for God. Rahab, the turncoat harlot. Gideon, the cowardly Baal-worshipper. Samson, the womanizing drunk. David, the power abusing adulterer. Solomon, the unwise wise man. Hezekiah, the reforming king who could not quite go far enough. And finally, a very young Jewish girl from a small village in a remote corner of a great empire.

It never ceases to amaze me why God could not have chosen "better" people to do His work in the world. Yet if God can use them, and reveal Himself through them in such marvelous ways, it means that He might be able to use me, inadequate, and unwise, and too often lacking in faith that I am. And it means that I need to be careful that I do not in my own self-righteousness put limits on what God can do with the most unlikely of people in the most unlikely of circumstances. I think that is part of the wonder of the Advent Season.

Interesting reading this morning...

Here are some articles I read this morning that moved, challenged and inspired me:

1. The Power of Hope:
I'm giving a short testimonial on the topic of Hope at church this Sunday. This is in conjunction with the Advent tradition that lights a series of candles each Sunday leading up to Christmas and each candle represents certain keys within the Christian faith. I came across this article that reveals how powerful and essential hope is as we confront the terrifying realities of life - in this case, spinal chord injury:
http://www.christianity.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=5171

2. Wisdom and Miracles:
A physician takes a closer look at claims of "miracle healings" and reminds us of the importance of truth. And the fact that ultimately all healing, whether through medicine or otherwise, is still a miracle.
http://www.christianity.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=5160

3. Better Good News:
Some interesting thoughts about presenting the Good News in a wider context beyond the method popularized in guilt-based Western culture.
http://www.christianity.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=5169

How to make a zine

I just wanted to keep this one handy because I could use this to make checklists for the a/c:

Christ is Love in Action

A good example (in my opinion).

http://www.christianity.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=5096

The Art of Protest

Sixth street is a corridor in San Francisco's South of Market Area (SOMA), where the city tries to contain much of it's homeless and poverty-related problems. Local residents are often heard asking the city to please apply the same standards of law-enforcement here as they do in the swankier neigbourhoods. But they don't. So drug usage and pimping and other activities are allowed to go on here - within certain limits anyway, so that the rest of the neighborhoods can be kept "cleaner." Sounds a little like the mess Vancouver created with its east end of Hastings.

Anyway, our mission outpost 'church' / activity center was smack in the middle of the 6th street corridor. And down the block at the corner of Howard, we saw this building that has been converted to a protest-work of art. I forget the exact story, but Lynn Kopec has supplied it:

The original building had a fire in it in the 80's and had to be closed down. The owner did not want to do the repairs, so did not re-open the doors. As the homeless problem increased, he was asked to reopen the hotel and allow people to live there. He said no and actually was quoted as saying "why don't they just move the homeless, they can be homeless in Idaho". As a result, several people broke into the hotel and created the "work of art" using furniture etc from the hotel. The owner has allowed it to stay that way, but it still remains empty.

It's unique and artful way to express a point!

Fwd: Great Comebacks

I'm not pro or anti Bush, but just because I hear an imbalance of Anti-Bush remarks, I thought I'd post these to help balance the scale.  I personally like the third one (which isn't about bush-bashing at all).

When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of 'empire building' by George Bush.  He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.'
It became very quiet in the room.
************************************************************
Then there was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break one of the French engineers came back into the room saying 'Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intend to do, bomb them?'
A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: 'Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck.. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?'
Once again, dead silence.
*************************************************************
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.' He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?'
Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.
You could have heard a pin drop

Rejecting Christ or something else?

When I encounter someone who has rejected Jesus Christ I usually come away thinking that they've rejected him based upon rumour, half-truths and outright misrepresentations. If someone is going to reject the Christian message, at least let them reject it based upon a true understanding of what it is -- and isn't.

The Alpha Course is a good, practical overview of Jesus and his message. Here's an online video of the introductory session:

Jesus vs. Religion...

"You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave."

KURDISTAN, IRAQ (ANS) -- This bit of lyric from the Eagles' "Hotel California," keeps running through my mind as the day closes here. I was just exiting my interpreter Mohammed's car back in April of this year to return to my room when he received a call on his cell phone informing him that fifteen Kurdish Peshmerga (security forces) had just died in Mosul when a car bomb was detonated at their post. This news, coming almost instantly to Mohammed, speaks of the closeness of the Kurds to one another in their precarious place in this part of the world.

The fact is the Eagles had been singing that particular verse in my head all day as I was pondering the recent and senseless death of a seventeen-year old Yezedi girl. She was seized by a group of Yezedi, four men, two women, dragged from her father's house into the street where a mob of gawking spectators gathered to watch as her clothing was torn from her and she was beaten nearly unconscious, her torso and legs covered with large ugly bluish purple bruises; she was finished off by one of her tormenters who crushed her skull with a brick.

Her crime? The "offense" that demanded her death? It was terrible indeed; she, a school girl, had fallen in love with an outsider, a Muslim boy and school mate who dared to ask for her hand in marriage. She dared step outside the sacred fold. Of course if you ask anyone else in these climes who the Yezedis are, they'll tell you, "They're devil worshippers." Normally, Yezedis are good folk, quiet and tolerant of their neighbors. They've suffered much persecution at the hands of Islam because of their strange and convoluted religion, which appears to be a strange mixture of ancient Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam; they're angel worshippers, believing that Christ and Satan are two sides of the same coin, that Satan was long ago reconciled to God. They would like you to believe that this religion goes all the way back to the beginning, to the time of Adam, but I can find nothing in history to substantiate this claim of antiquity, its origins are far more recent.

This is a land bound with ancient ideas which have resisted change even through the Greek, Roman and later Christian periods. My personal conviction is that the spirit that activated Cain and motivated him to kill his brother Abel, then strike out on his own full of self-justification, embarking on an almost manic obsession with city building is the same spiritual root dominating this whole region throughout its bloody history. This is the same spirit that later motivated his progeny, notably, Nimrod, to take it to the next level, that of Empire with State Religion to glue it all together.

This may be an overly simplistic view of history; I realize that there are a lot of pages in between and a lot of names and events not mentioned, but mine is a simple assessment of a prevailing spiritual condition; that of power, domination, religion and violence.

Do you recall the words of Jesus when he spoke to the religious folk of his day, the ultra-orthodox, the defenders of the faith? He said to them, "You are of your father, the devil, he was a murderer from the beginning and his works you will do" (John 8:44).

He wasn't talking about the Jews as a people; he was speaking to that particular breed of the "righteous" who feel it is their responsibility to enforce God's will on the earth. These are the same folks who drew out a woman, "caught in the very act of adultery." to publicly stone her (John 8:1-11). Makes you wonder how they caught her in the very act and what happened to the guy, doesn't it?

I'm not attempting to marginalize transgression but to point out how readily the "Righteous" were willing to participate in the public stoning of a girl who made a mistake. The religious leaders even used her misfortune to bait larger game, namely, Jesus, himself. "What do you say about this, Jesus? Moses and the law say she should be stoned but what's your opinion?" For Jesus to go against the law would be to condemn himself as a transgressor of said law; for Jesus not to speak up for the girl would be to discredit his message of redemption. The religious leaders feel they have Jesus between a rock and a hard place.

It's been portrayed many times and in many ways, how Jesus simply knelt down and wrote something in the dirt, and then said, "He that is without sin, let him cast the first stone at her" (John 8:6-8). Nobody knows what he wrote that day; perhaps it was, "Hypocrites!" or maybe it was a quotation from the Scripture, something like "All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one" (Psalm 14:3; 53:3). Whatever it was, from the eldest first, down to the youngest, they dropped their stones and went away, shamefaced. Jesus then speaks to the young woman and says, "Woman, where are your accusers?" "There are none, Lord!" "Then neither do I accuse you, go and sin no more."

There is the contrast between religion, something done in God's name, and the nature of God himself. There was no Christ physically present the other day for that terrified young girl, whose heart dared reach beyond the boundaries placed on it by her religion. She was born Yezedi and therefore, according to many, by Satan; she died Yezedi. None of this love nonsense, or choice and human dignity stuff, it was "Our way or the highway." This is that murderous spirit that cloaks itself in the holy garments of religion. But in reality, in whatever form this spirit manifests, whether Christian, Muslim, Jew, Yezedi, etc., it is always the same. As Jesus would say, "You are of your father the devil, and his works you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning."

You may ask yourself, "Why is this guy harping on this? What has this to do with anything?" For me however, it's very real, this stoning happened only a short distance from where we did our last outreach to the Yezedi people trying to penetrate that dark religious veil they are cloaked under. I truly wish I had been there to at least attempt to interfere with this lynching.

Just a parting thought -- the broken-hearted father who issued a complaint to the authorities against those that killed his daughter was quoted, as saying, "I, too, thought she should die for her transgression, but not that way!" I asked Mohammed, my interpreter, "What kind of a father would say something like that? He should be hanged with the rest of the murdering so-and-sos" (Not a charitable spirit, I admit, but I was still under the fresh assault of the tragedy). Mohammed's answer was simple; "He said it out of fear, sir; fear for himself and the rest of his family."

This is one example of the realities which we who labor in this part of the world face.

I still can't seem to get those lyrics out of my head " . . . you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave."

Jack Harris
ASSIST News Service

Jack Harris is the Director General of Hands of Hope Foundation (Iraq), a humanitarian aid organization working with the Kurds in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq. He is also a filmmaker -- documenting the truth of what has happened to the Kurds. Jack is an ordained pastor, missionary/evangelist with over 30 years experience in 46 different countries.

Man of the Tombs

Bob Bennet is one of those performers who writes incredibly detailed songs, telling the story of our life with God from some surprising angles. I love Bob's work and was happy to find this song on youtube. (too bad for the subtitles the poster added - they're just distracting. But anyway, the song's worth a listen):



Bob's webpage is here: http://www.bob-bennett.com/

Praise In the Park - Trailer

The wind battered the band and the camera microphone. The sun flared on the camera lens and the temperature alternated between sunlit heat and shaded chill. Yet the Hammond Bay Praise Band rocked on!

The DVD is available for us to view - maybe this week? It would be fun to watch it together and hear it on the big speakers at church - CRANKED OF COURSE!

In the meantime - here's a little "trailer:"

Together - Team Hoyt

I'm so glad this video reappearred on the net. I'd seen it a year ago or so, then is seemed to have disappeared. This is inspiring and demonstrates what love really looks like:

Globe Article

If you buy the Globe and Mail, you'll see there's a story about the Refuge today.

You'll also find the link to the story online right here:

Chi-Chi's Big Walk

My latest video upload at the World Parrot Refuge:

Recovery...

For one reason and another, for much of my life, I've felt a concern for the people who originally lived in Canada and the USA. The European nations who brought western "civilization" to much of the world, have never really faced up to the ensuing genocides, massacres, and ethnic cleansing that went on - not only in the Americas I guess, but all over the world. It's a strange, strange history.

At any rate, it's encouraging to see that in this upcoming generation, some peoples are re-establishing themselves spiritually. And that's where recovery begins:



And recovering a sense of humor seems significant somehow...


Especially in light of a history like this (Wounded Knee was just one of thousands of such crimes during the European Invasion)...

Daniel's Den at MGM Restaurant

The last Friday of each month a local restaurant, the MGM, sponsors Daniel's Den. It's an open-mike night hosted by the Barbarians. These guys perform a couple of sets of mainly original gospel, blues, rock, pop music and then throw the stage open to any guests on hand who'd like to perform something.

The opening song in this video is Marcus Rekers from my congregation who did a 'guest' set this evening. Way-to-go, Marcus!

Lot's of fun - check out my compilation. (I hope that you can appreciate the obvious talent here despite a few technical problems with the sound system on this particular night ;-)

For the Birds

You may have noticed that since I started volunteering at the World Parrot Refuge a lot of my posts have been 'for the birds...' They're a pretty interesting bunch. To prevent boring you to death with that single topic, and to work more closely with the WPR, I'm going to be blogging my bird adventures directly onto their website from now on. I'll probably throw a note in here whenever a particularly interesting posting comes up.

So, this will let me get this site back to the usual variety of other things I blah-blah about.

Buster's Wing

I just posted an item on the parrot refuge website - a video report about a recent arrival at the sanctuary. Buster came in with a badly infected wing and the video may be too strong for some viewers.

Buster's Wing

Father's Day - a little late but...

I just discovered this video posted to youtube in honor of Father's Day. I miss my father who is no longer in this world. I hope you also enjoy this whether you are a Father or a Child of one.

Beach Fun...

Peter Meyers, from the airport just sent me some photos of his aircraft and another, sitting on a beach on the west coast of Vancouver Island. I'm looking forward to joining them on their next flight over! Beautiful.



In the meantime ... I tried to takeoff this morning in my Zenair CH601HDS -- but when the aircraft was getting light on it's wheels and I glanced down to confirm my instrument readings, I saw the airspeed was still firmly frozen on zero.

So I cut the power and returned to the parking area. For the next hour or so Peter and I (with a bunch of the usual airport gang watching on), fiddled and poked and soaked the inside of the pitot tube until the blockage finally gave way. It seemed to be a larva/mud nest of some sort. Either I forget to install my pitot tube cover sometime last year, or the little beasty found a way inside the cover anyway.

After re-connecting the tubes, I had time for three quick circuits. The airplane is flying well and looks like it's ready for action. Again. Finally...

(Waiting for departure, Runway 22, CST3, July 2006)

Michael Hart's Living Room concert

Last week we held a Living Room concert featuring Michael Hart. We co-hosted with friends, Joann and Frans Helmes from church. The Helmes have this great gift of hospitality and they regularly open their home to adventures such as this.

Here are some songs from the second half of the evening to give you a small taste. Enjoy!

Lord of the Mountain


Have a Little Mercy


Nightingale


Si Nous Marchons


Humiliated Son


2 Poems - Yellow Boxes; Grayed Hair


Another Poem: Two Sided Coin


Instrumental - Once a Kid

Esther and Frodo - tour guides extraordinaire!

I just posted a short video update of some new construction progress at the World Parrot Refuge - here it is:

Dinky Doo and Lucky Lou

Dinky is the one on the left, Lucky Lou is his best buddy. Dinky was wild-caught many years ago as a young bird and that was when both his wings were broken along with one leg. Though 80% of wild-caught parrots perish during the capture and shipping to Canada, Dinky hung on to life! Only to be confined to a pet-parrot breeding facility for the next several decades. Dinky is now totally blind and I don't know when or how that happened. Most parrots in captivity are suffering from some (often subtle) form of malnutrition as we just don't have the same food for them as they would eat in the wild. Maybe it was related to that?

When Dinky was "used up" as a breeder, he ended up at the refuge where Wendy Huntbatch had to make the difficult choice whether to keep the little guy caged the rest of his life "for his own good" or let him regain some freedom during his declining years. She opted for freedom. Dinky knows every nook and cranny in the small elevated table and climbing branches where he hangs out with a few good buddies. Still he will occasionally take a nasty tumble to the concrete floor below and have to be treated for shock. This happens from time to time with all the flight-disabled birds. As well as not having flight, these birds also have balance issues due to the lack of healthy wings. But they still have instincts that say climb higher for safety and when necessary, jump and fly!

Despite all this, Dinky is doing fine. He gladly takes the spoon-feeding the refuge offers each evening as a way of ensuring birds like Dinky are well fed. He is bold and confident in his little world, despite his problems. I can only admire and honour the strength of spirit and courage contained within this frail little body.

Like so many parrots at the refuge, Dinky Doo is my favorite!

Ready to Roll...

Procrastinate no more! I finally got out to the airport to install the long-awaited nose-wheel upgrade. The airplane was ably protected by our trained attack bunny. By quite a few actually. They're all over the Nanaimo airport.
France got to work while I took care of the important task of visiting with the many local, very friendly pilots.
Peter owns this yellow beauty in the background. It is a combo of a CH601 forward fuselage, an RV4 tail end an under the hood you'll find a Czech LOM 120 hp aviation engine. Peter says he's cruising at 130 knots! That's impressive. He's done a fine job.
My next job will be getting the bird droppings cleaned off, the annual inspection completed, and then it'll be time to fly! Again. At last.

I Pet "Mad Mike"

And I still have all my fingers!! "Mikey" is a Goffin's Cockatoo (see generic image) and he flies freely around the refuge. He's a little wild and is known to attack people's feet and sometimes attack other birds. Whenever someone is making up the seed and nut trays he'll come close and likes to be given a sunflower seed. But watch out! He'll ignore the seed and stab the end of your finger if he gets a chance. And yet he likes to take seeds by hand when the room has dozens of trays he could feed at. It seems to be a desire for attention and bonding. So...This evening another volunteer was in to spoon feed some of the special needs birds. Mikey was attacking this fellow's heels, and I was afraid the volunteer might trip, get bitten or step on Mikey (he's just a bit larger than a Robin). So I went closer and played "rodeo clown" and got Mikey chasing my tattered old running shoes. Sometimes he'd catch me and that's fine when he bites into the rubber edges, but when he manages to get some toe in that beak - ouch!!

At one point while his beak was full of dirty old running shoe rubber and he was gnawing and chewing away on my shoe, I knelt down and gingerly reached over to gently pet along his back. And he liked it! He visible relaxed and stopped munching so hard. I pet him like that for several minutes. Once or twice he'd let go of the shoe and reach around towards my finger and I'd snatch it back. But then he'd go back to my shoe and 'allow' me to pet him.

This broke up when something else happened, and I went back to what I was doing, while he flew off to the top corner where he hangs out with his non-flying girl-friend. But later he came back and landed at my feet and waited for me to pet him without munching on my shoes at all. He still reached back for my finger a few times. And I'm still not going to trust him not to stab/bite, so I pull my finger back when he does that. But then he turns away and puts his head down a touch to indicate "you can pet me now - see - it's safe - I can't bite you now..." What a little rascal.

RIP Joey

She held a special place in the hearts of all the staff and volunteers. Her life was a long and mostly tragic example of why parrots were never intended to be 'pets' or 'companions.' She passed away early this morning (just after midnight), May 11, 2007, while being held and loved unto the end.

A Tribute Song for Joey ("Somewhere over the Rainbow" sung by Eva Cassidy (songbird):


Below is Joey's story as copied from the website
of her final home, The World Parrot Refuge.

Jan 2006 – Joey – A Greater Sulfur Crested Cockatoo

When she was caught in the wild, approximately 40 years ago, Joey became a caged household bird. In those days, it was perfectly normal to keep a bird in a cage that you spoke to now and then, and treated like a piece of furniture that moved from home to home with you. In Joey's case, moving house included moving from country to country.

Joey was never allowed out of the cage, because her owner was afraid she would fly away and die. Joey didn't have toys - no one in their right mind gave toys to birds in those days - after all, she was just a bird. Joey's diet consisted of sunflower seeds, but the loving lady shared her daily toast and tea with Joey, so she would be happy.

Thirty years passed and Joey had a stroke. She lost the use of her legs, but was able to pull herself around the cage using her beak. Her wing muscles had atrophied long ago, so she could not use them to move herself. Needless to say, she had no body feathers.

Her elderly caregiver suddenly realized after the stroke that Joey could no longer fly away. She opened the cage and started to take Joey out on long walks in a baby carriage. Joey enjoyed the attention and the desperately needed natural light.

The years passed until finally her caregiver was too ill herself to look after Joey. The family thought it would be kinder to euthanize Joey since no-one had the time to dedicate to her, or allergies would be a big problem. The veterinarian telephoned us and asked if we would be prepared to provide the care that Joey needed. After a discussion with the family, it was decided that Joey would be transported here.

On her arrival, we checked Joey for abilities and possible problems. Poor Joey had apparently spent her time hanging from the bars of her cage to hold herself upright. The local vet had made sure that her beak was trimmed regularly as it was growing abnormally due to the manner in which she used it to hold her body weight. Her feet were totally crippled and the heels were badly infected from standing for periods of time in her own very acidic feces. Joey has a gastro-intestinal bacterial infection for which she is now receiving antibiotics. She also received vitamin shots, because her previous diet had not provided much.

In only 5 days, the difference in Joey is startling. A regular volunteer, who was a registered nurse before retiring, has dedicated several hours each day to massaging and exercising Joey's legs in warm water. Joey can now move both legs. The use of her right leg was apparent in only 2 days, but today she moved her left leg totally unaided, both in and out of water. She does not live in a cage but in a three foot square aquarium resting on a big stand. The bottom of the aquarium is covered in thick blankets and sheets and we built a perimeter of rolled towels to support her body. She can see everywhere. She has teddy bears as supports for the sides of her body so that she does not roll over, although she can now hold her right side up very well with the power of her right leg. She has discovered the joy of walnuts, and yesterday she ate cheese and grapes after much tempting. Joey is chatting away in English and her own special language, which I am sure you will be able to decipher as time goes by.

Needless to say, Joey's vet bills are already large and we know that this will continue as she is a very "special needs" bird. She is one of many already here and, goodness knows, of how many more to come.

Please click on the "Donate Now" button below if you wish to contribute to Joey's support. Every dollar helps, and is tax deductible.

Meet Frodo

Frodo was new at the World Parrot Refuge about the same week I started working as a volunteer. Apparently the first day or two after his arrival he hid inside his travel cage and wouldn't come out at all. A couple of days later I was browsing the new arrivals area when he saw me and immediately 'told' me I was accepted as part of his flock. He moved toward me and put his head down - indicating he wanted to be groomed on the back of his neck. After just a few moments of this his foot came up indicating he wanted 'aboard' and I offered him my arm.

I stayed with him just grooming and petting and talking to him for about an hour. When the time came to set him back on his perch I told him and he responded by gripping my hand more tightly and putting his head down so I couldn't put anything in front of his feet to make him 'step down.' I realized just how lonely the little guy was so I went and sat down with him for another hour.

During this time, Esther joined us. In a while Frodo gained enough confidence to move down from my arm to my knee, then the arm of the chair. He still demanded more grooming attention, and later when he sat on the back of the chair he returned the favor and 'groomed' my hair. His technique is very rough which probably explains the terrible condition of his own back, belly and tail feathers. They've been shredded by over-grooming and chewing - sure signs of stress.

Most likely Frodo began life as a hand-fed, weaned-too-early, bird at some local breeder around Calgary. From there he most likely went to a pet store, then to a new home where he was 'king of the roost' -- for a while.

But the emotional insecurities inflicted on baby birds stays with them forever (as with humans). And when the day came that his "owner" found him to be too demanding, too loud, too much of a commitment (Life Happens - people move on... etc.), Frodo most likely became 'last years toy' and was forgotten on the shelf or abandoned in a cage. And that's probably when the feather-picking and over-grooming began. I don't know how many times Frodo was passed on to yet another "good home" before he ended up at the refuge.

(This may not be Frodo's exact story, but it's a good approximation of the life of most "companion" birds.)

On Frodo's third or forth day at the refuge, another bird flew onto his cage and got into a fight with him. Not all birds turn into 'sweeties' after they've been captured and abused (again, much like humans). So for a couple of days, for his safety, Frodo was kept inside his cage. Whatever had sparked the problems with "Mad Max" the wild little Goffin Cockatoo that roams the special needs area, it seems to have passed.

Frodo has slowly become more and more comfortable with his new home since then. In fact, or perhaps due to Max's hostility, Frodo moved himself over to the hospital area where life is a little more calm and there are fewer visitors (both human and avian). Greys can be more solitary than other kinds of parrots, and after living as a single bird in a quiet room somewhere, maybe this feels more like home to Frodo - at least for now.

On the weekend a fifteen-year-old young man also visits Frodo and apparently they also get along famously. Slowly Frodo is letting his belly feathers re-grow and he seems more and more content to make his way at the new home.

I still spend lots of time with him, both one-on-one or while also cuddling others. I'll keep you posted regarding his progress.

Hero of the Day...

I am in awe of people like Wendy Huntbatch at the World Parrot Refuge, and the woman in this video I just found. They just get on with cleaning up the messes we humans are creating.

Church worship practice

On Wednesday evenings we have a devotional time for those involved in the Sunday worship celebration. Afterward the musicians and technical folk who are on duty the upcoming Sunday have a rehearsal.

Here's Holly Firth who does a wonderful job creating slides and announcements and graphics for events as well as running the "Power Point" presentations. She's also produced a great poster and ticket set for our upcoming in-home concert with Michael Hart. I'll post those as soon as they're finalized.

Here's the group on stage practicing:

Fickle Finger of France

France was spending some time with a 70-year-old Amazon Parrot at the refuge last Friday. The bird's a real sweetie, but she's almost blind and has severe arthritis in her feet. I suppose much of this could be from a life in captivity with improper light and diet, and always sitting on the same perch...).

Anyway, when it was time to put the little-ole 'gal' back onto her perch, she had a lot of difficulty stepping back, and got frightened and grabbed France's finger with her beak for security. Of course she 'bit' quite hard and cut the skin, and France couldn't remove her finger for fear the bird would lose her balance and fall. So France bled and needed some band-aid and 'superglue' therapy. According to the refuge owner, Wendy Huntbatch, the original superglue is best for re-attaching skin (instantly) and leaving no scars. (Today France says it seems to be working).

Meanwhile I was busy 'almost killing' a beautiful little umbrella cockatoo. Snowy grabbed my coat and climbed onto me when I wasn't ready to handle her because I was still holding Ester. Snowy's only got one wing and practically no feathers on that. As I was moving with her she got nervous and climbed up to my shoulder, then something spooked her and as her instincts 'command' when she's scared, she leapt... and plummeted six feet to the floor like a rock.

I was really concerned that she may have been injured. So I got her back up onto her cage and called for Lacey, one of the staff who knows what's-what. She saw right away that the bird was going into shock and took her into the 'warm room' (i.e. Bird I.C.U.), and called for Wendy. They treated Snowy for shock, and thankfully she recovered.

Needless to say I was praying very hard. That's all I'd need - "So what did you do today?" "Oh, just went to the refuge and killed a bird..." D'OH!!!

Wendy and Lacey assured me that sometimes these accidents happen with the disabled birds. I'll be careful in the future to be more aware of their needs. Live and learn (with emphasis on the 'live' part.)

Spring Glory

Crow smarts!

Esther Lester

He wanders around the bird refuge like King of the Roost - pretty much having the run of the Welcome Room and the Wellness Center. He climbs up into several different cages to perch, or commune with the various residents. He's one of the gentlest and most charming birds at the refuge.

When guests arrives he's often found welcoming them with a hearty cry of "Hi (L)Ester" as he marches confidently over to them, high stepping happily along in his pigeon-toed bounce (or should that be parrot-toed?) We're never sure if he's introducing himself as Lester or Esther - (apparently he's a male) so I'll just call him Esther-Lester. Because of his affectionate ways he's often called "Esther Lester Pester." He is the proto-typical Mollucan Cockatoo of whom it has been said: "They would surgically attach themselves to you if they could". They're just that affectionate.

Today Lester charmed France after she'd been cuddling him a while. He marched around the compound until he found a scrap of paper. This he picked up and marched back over to France and placed the paper on France's foot. France placed it back into his beak and picked the bird up. At which point Lester carefully inserted the paper into the front of France's coat as if to say: "It's for you! Don't drop it."

Later in the day, after more cuddles, I saw Lester Esther find a peanut on the floor under another cage. Again he took this and set it down in front of France. She picked him up then picked up the peanut and tried to give it back to him. He just stared at her as if to say: "Hey, are you dense or something!? It's another gift!"

He then cuddled into her arms and promptly fell asleep.

What a Don Juan!

By the way. Esther-Lester has a large cancer tumor on his tail-end. He received several treatments for it, but finally he was getting too ill. A tumor reduction surgery was performed and for now the cancer seems to be in remission. I don't know how much longer we'll have the wonder of his company, but he's an inspiration. If I ever face a serious illness, I hope I can weather it with the sweetness and charm and just plain Joy of Life as little Esther-Lester.

Stormin' Norman'

Another of my favorites (I have many) at the World Parrot Refuge, is Norman. He's an African Gray Congo. I don't know much about him yet, except he was a 'wild caught' bird and from there I think he was owned by a breeder. From the way his right wing continually droops (you can see it in the photo), I'd say it was probably broken at some time and never healed properly. A lot of birds are injured when being netted in the wild, and over half of them die before reaching "market..."

Norman does his own thing - he's a rather solitary fellow. He methodically goes after the shoes of anyone who invades his corner. One of the cleaners playfully responds by pretending to chase him and then he 'runs' (i.e. slowly) under the big cage for shelter. Perhaps it's all part of his game? A way to interact?

On our first meeting I didn't find him overly-aggressive so I gently offered my finger to touch his beak and see his response. He very gently took it in the tip of his needle sharp beak and bit me. Ouch! I'm not sure with Norman if it's meant entirely as an act of aggression or as a way of getting a reaction? But he's definitely not a bird who's been handled a lot in a way that he likes. His message is basically, Okay - I may find you mildly amusing, but don't bug me.

I go and say hi to him regularly and I've discovered some sounds he likes. He makes them to me and I make them back. I offer him tidbits of food but I haven't discovered his "to die for" treats yet that might help me win his trust.

It took a year to win the trust of France's little African Gray Timneh when she came to live with us. And she was hand-raised. So, given Stormin' Norman's background, it might take me ten or twenty or fifty years to accomplish this with him. But he's a parrot. He has time. Grays live something like 50 or 60 years as I recall.

I'll keep you posted, and perhaps I'll include photos of my bandaged fingers from time-to-time as I 'lose' some of the engagements along the way - ha ha..

Woodstock in Coombs

The bird, not the music concert...

The Parrot Refuge is now home to these two very precious cockatoos:


If you look closely at the little fella on your right, I think you'll see a strong resemblance to this famous bird from the Charlie Brown comic strips - Woodstock:
The resemblance is even more apparent when you see his profile.

The two birds were kept in a cage barely big enough for one love-bird (you can see the top of it in the photo) for something like 18 years - with one useless 'toy' to keep them company. Since they've arrived at the refuge the expression I see in their eyes is one of great relief. They seem to be thinking: "This must be heaven! I'm so glad to be here!"

Woodstock is very shy about strangers approaching him, but today when he saw me eating a granola bar he came closer and asked to have it. It was almost as big as his head. He took it over to the far side of his cage-top and slowly munched down the whole thing. What a cutie.

Magnolia, sho' nuff...

I always associate Magnolia blossoms with the 'south' ... but apparently we have them planted around here too. Beautiful trees!

5. The Bacteria Revolution

In my on-going series discussing the Marshall Protocol, (it's been a while since post no. 4)...

In 1999 the CBC Radio show, "Ideas" presented an award-winning documentary entitled "The Bacteria Revolution." It featured evidence for the theory that so-called "occult" bacteria cause many illnesses not previously attributed to bacterial pathogenesis.

---------------------

IDEAS:

THE BACTERIA REVOLUTION

Friday, May 28 & June 4, 1999

CBC Radio One, 9:05 pm

Do stress and anguish and improper diet cause heart attacks, ulcerative colitis, cancer, and dozens of other diseases - or could they be caused by germs? New discoveries by infectious disease specialists and new ideas from evolutionary biology suggest that previously unsuspected bacteria are responsible for a wide spectrum of human illness. Science journalist Colman Jones reports groundbreaking research from a New York conference and talks with international experts about the scientific and political battles being waged over the cause of diseases from Lyme to AIDS.

Canadian Science Writers' Association
1999 Science in Society Journalism Award
Radio Items 25 Minutes and Over

Here's a page with a RealAudio link:
http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/shows/bacteria/index.html
(oops - no longer available online but the audio and/or transcript can be ordered.)

Here's a page with an illustrated, readable version:
http://www.radio.cbc.ca/programs/ideas/shows/bacteria/bacteria.html

Here's a newspaper article that summarizes some of the above documentary:
http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/18/40/News/feature.html

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Yolanda Adams

Yoland Adams is not a household name singer like say Celine Dion or Barbara Striesand. But she has had some high profile appearances. The woman can SING.



I have an early album where, like in this song, she really shines singing a style that is more like black gospel / jazz / scat singing. She has a very loyal fan base in the church and gospel niches I think. Did I say, the woman can S-I-N-G.



To say she's had in impact on many people's lives would be an understatement, judging by this introduction:

What makes me what I am?

We humans have the capacity to do something that no other creature on earth (as far as I know) can do. In fact we are required by our very nature to do this. Believe.

Our self-awareness and free-will demand that we choose what we will believe to be true and untrue. And upon which grand ideas and concepts we will base our lives. No-one expressed this better than Rich Mullins in his song, "Creed:" -- "I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am."

Thanks to someone for posting this Rich Mullins song on Youtube.



A few more words from this deep-thinking, deep-feeling songwriter.

"Nothing makes me feel as inadequate as trying to put language on what I saw today." --Rich Mullins

"Deliver us from evil - from moral duplicity and weakness, from laziness and spiritual complacency, from those lies we tell ourselves from our fear of facing the truth." --Rich Mullins

"I think I would envy me too, if I didn't know me better..." --Rich Mullins

"I did not read the Bible today. I am not very good at being religious and don't really feel too bad about not being too good. I do wish that I loved God and His creatures more..." --Rich Mullins

"The best that can happen is that someone can catch a glimpse of the glory you're hinting at." --Rich Mullins

"If you live real good, I can guarantee you are gonna get beat up real bad!" --Rich Mullins

Beach of A Thousand Stairs...

I think we've found a new contender for the title: "Beach of A Thousand Stairs..."

It's worth the effort...

The long climb

But we made it!