04.30.09
Posted in Uncategorized, knitting and crocheting at 12:38 am by Administrator
As I had mentioned in a couple posts down, my camera was getting stuffed with pictures. So here are a few more that were cluttering up my camera. These are the knitting stuff that I’ve been working on. The first pic is of Andrew’s gansey in progress.
Here it is completed with Andrew wearing it.
He actually liked it and wore it recently to my dad’s birthday dinner. The yarn I used was Paton’s wool classics and knitted on a size 7 US needles.
The next project I worked on was for my dad. He and my mom are scheduled to go on a trip provided both their health holds up. I know that plane rides can get pretty cold, plus he’s going to a somewhat cold place, I think–a river cruise along the Danube. So I decided to knit up a hat and cowl for him. Here is the hat in progress.
Here it is completed, and I’ve begun the cowl, which is my first attempt at a knitted moebius. I learned how to cast on using a circular needle from one of Cat Bordhi’s videos, Intro to moebius knitting.
The hat pattern I used is on Ravelry. It’s a free pattern that can be downloaded from Ravelry called Garmisch by Libby Grant. The first hat I made I used the large size, but decided that it was too large. So I ripped it out and started fresh using the medium size. Here’s Brian modeling the hat and cowl for me.
Heheh, isn’t he a sweetie. . . The yarn I used for this was Cascade 220 on 7 US circular needles.
The next project I worked on was for my mom. She asked me to make her some socks with a split toe so that she could wear socks with sandals. I figured I could make to socks similar to how gloves are constructed, but just go backwards, plus construct the outer edges just like I would do a normal toe-up sock. Here’s the result of my first attempt in progress. The first sock is complete, and the second is just begun.
I just picked out a lace pattern from Vogue Knitting Stitionary for the leg portion. Here’s what it looked like completed.
Heheheh, kinda looks funny, huh? Reminds me of camel toes, ha ha! But, apparently there are socks made like this for Japanese clogs, so I decided to try on a pair of sandals to get a better idea of what the socks would look like with shoes.
Hmm. Not bad, I guess. The first thing Brian said was, “Oh, those are cute!” Hee. So I think maybe I should make myself a pair. . . I have already given these to my mom. The yarn I used for this was Universal Yarn Inc’s Pace sized 2 US circular needles.
So moving along to my next project. . .
When I first saw this project a “year” ago, I just knew I wanted to try it. The pattern is by Hansigurumi, a “very” talented designer of knitted things. She recently put out her first book, but her other fun patterns can be purchased on Etsy. I just fell in love with her “peculiar” knits. Her site is called, Knitting the Peculiar. I think I’ve had this pattern for almost a year, but “finally” got to try it out. Here it is completed. . . Nessy!!!
Eeeee! I think it’s so cute. So I had to take another picture of it just before I gave it away. . .
I definitely will have to make more of these. But there are quite a few other animal patterns that I want to try. Hopefully it won’t take me another year to get to them, but who knows. . . Right now I have a pair of socks on the needles for Andrew. But no pictures of it yet. I think this pretty much brings me up to date on my knitting projects. I still have other pictures from another museum that I may post later on. Slowly but surely, I’ll have my camera cleaned up so that it won’t have all sorts of random pictures stored indefinitely.
Marlakins
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04.28.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:18 pm by Administrator
Brian was doing a little spring cleaning in our garage today and found this old tape I made with the boys 13 years ago. It made us laugh to hear it because they sound soooo different now. The boys also got a kick out of it as they said they didn’t remember that their voices were that high, ha ha!
Here’s the short audio of my boys and me April 1, 1996. Andrew was 8 years old and only briefly spoke in the background. Matty was 6 years old and was the most talkative one. Aaron had just turned 3 years old. Oh, does this make me miss babies around here. . .
Click here for audio.
Marlakins
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04.27.09
Posted in Historical Trivia, Uncategorized at 11:41 am by Administrator
Recently I realized that my camera is getting stuffed with old pictures, so thought I’d take a moment to share some before I wipe them off of my memory chip. These pictures are almost three weeks old now of our visit to the Page Museum just down the road from our home.
For those who may not be familiar with the Page Museum, according to their own website they are,
“one of the world’s most famous fossil sites. Located in the heart of Los Angeles, the La Brea Tar Pits is home to over three million fossils from the last Ice Age. It was here that huge mammoths, fierce sabertoothed cats, and giant ground sloths became trapped and entombed in the asphalt that has been seeping out of the ground for the past 40,000 years.”
Well, I don’t quite buy the idea that they’ve been around for 40,000 years since I’m a young-earth creationist, but I find this place interesting anyway. What prompted our recent visit is their recent find of skeletal remains under the LACMA parking lot. Actually I’ve lived in this area long enough to remember that this part of the LACMA used to be May Company. I’ve shopped there years ago and used to park my car in the area where they recently undug the new finds now known as Project 23. I think, IIRC, it was named that because they were able to dig up 23 crates of fossil remains, which are still being worked on today. Here’s a pic of some of the crates outside on the museum grounds.
Basically this area (Hancock Park and the general Rancho La Brea area) is loaded with tar pits where many years ago lots of animals got trapped in the tar and died. Thus today we are able to find their fossil remains still trapped and preserved in the tar. George C. Page, one of the richies in this area founded the Page Museum whereby all these fossils are now displayed and studied. Apparently scientist from all over the world come here when they want to study the Rancho La Brea fossils as this is the spot where they were all discovered. According to one of the ladies working on these fossil crates, none of these fossils are sold as they belong to all of us who reside in Los Angeles. Wow, I didn’t know I owned fossils, ha ha! But some of the fossils are sent abroad for study, but must be returned as they only go out on loan. This is what one of the crates looks like with all the fossils still embedded in the tar.
This is a block from project 81. Inside the museum is a discovery laboratory by which visitors can watch the workers cleaning the fossils. It’s known as the Fish Bowl Laboratory. Here’s a pic of one guy working on ZED, the recently dug up remains of a mammoth found right here in the La Brea Tar Pits. Funny to think how this animal may have run right through my house back then since this museum is within walking distance from our house, heheheh.
If you squint a little, you might notice my boys watching this guy in the background. Brian, Matty, and Aaron are behind the glass looking down at this guy working on one of the fossils.
Here’s another shot of more lab workers cleaning the recently found fossils.
I believe they were working on ZED’s vertebrae as noted on the chart.
A lot of bones and fossils are stored in this museum and cataloged. Here’s a pic of one of their storage units.
Here’s a display of one of the finds in the La Brea Tar Pits. It’s a mastadon, which I think looks similar to the recent find of ZED, which they are currently working on.
Here’s another display of an antique bison that was also found trapped in the tar.
I’ve been to this museum plenty of times, but somehow it just hit me on this visit that bison have “extra” ribs, ha! Well, they’re not really ribs as they are “above” the vetebra, but they sure would look like it on my plate. Amazing creatures!
There are thousands of animals that were apparently trapped and died in the La Brea Tar Pits. They have been working for years now cleaning and cataloging and assembling these finds. There are still open pits on the museum grounds where people can go just to watch the lab workers excavate the bones. I believe project 91 has recently been halted because of the new discovery of project 23. Among some of the older finds were hundreds of skeletal remains of dire wolves, which are currently displayed in the museum.
There are also saber-toothed lions, sloths, ancient horses, birds of all sorts and many other animals currently displayed. A nice little touch is a small section of what this area used to look like before these fossil remains were discovered (and before this area was developed with buildings and houses).
Evidently, this area was an oil field. Hmmm. I wonder if this is where the idea sprung from for the old TV sit com, Beverly Hill Billies? Anyway, we don’t see these oil rigs here anymore. It’s completely developed with buildings and homes. Along this street where the Page Museum is located are several other museums. Just outside of the Page is their display of some animals getting caught in the tar. This is a real tar pit, by the way, still bubbling and oozing with tar.
Wilshire Blvd. is just beyond the gate behind this display. The red thingy behind is a modern art sculpture that’s also been there for which seems forever, ha!
As usual, I did take a lot more pics, but I think there’s only so much to put up with on a small bloggy do. So for now, that’s it!
Marlakins
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04.22.09
Posted in Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, Uncategorized at 11:20 am by Administrator
This morning is a bit cooler here in Los Angeles than the past couple of days. At least the forecast so far is that we’ll hit the 80s, which in my book is a respectable temperature. This morning I can still feel the nice coolness from the night, so hopefully today’s weather will be much more pleasant. So, I’m gonna attempt to pound out a post before it starts to warm up, by which time I likely won’t feel like writing again, heheh. What’s on my mind today? Well, eh, it’s Earth Day today. . .
For some odd reason I find that Christians tend to be opposed to things like “Earth Day.” I kinda laugh because it reminds me of the reaction of a child when his mom says to “clean up his room.” There’s that rebellious nature to resist to clean up one’s room when told. As far as reasons I’ve heard from some Christians as to why Earth Day and global warming and such are bunk, here’s an example explanation that I found on the Hip and Thigh Blogspot:
“. . . Earth Day represents one of the major cultural worldviews Christians have to engage these days during their daily lives. In fact, some have to confront it at their own churches. In my opinion, environmentalism is one of the most diabolical worldviews we have to engage, because the true ruination of environmentalism is felt in poor, third world countries where environmental advocates who have a romantic fixation with “peasant life” insist these poor countries not develop their infrastructure like electricity and water because it will “destroy the pristine environment.” So instead of building a much needed hydro-electric dam, or even a nuclear reactor to bring third world countries into the first world, they are left to toil in the dark, dependent upon worthless solar panels and burning cow manure for fuel.”
The full post can be viewed here.That post also linked to another article which further tries to use the Bible to support this view. Here’s further explanation according the John MacArthur why it’s okay exploit our natural resources, which seems to be summed up like this:
“This earth was never ever intended to be a permanent planet–it is not eternal. We do not have to worry about it being around tens of thousands, or millions, of years from now because God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth. Understanding those things is important to holding in balance our freedom to use, and responsibility to maintain, the earth.”
The full article can be viewed here.
My brief response to that is that just because things are temporary doesn’t mean that it’s okay to destroy it. Our bodies are temporary, but we are still not to destroy it or mutilate it. On the contrary we are to treat it well as we are even told that our bodies are the temple of God.
While I certainly agree that there are likely unsavory agenda’s out there exploiting people through the guise of environmentalism and that some environmentalist go overboard with preserving nature by putting people second in importance to the earth, I do think some Christians also tend to go overboard on the opposite spectrum with their disregard for the earth to the detriment of our health.
Anyone who has read my blog regularly will likely figure that I am concerned about health issues and believe that too much industrialization has harmed our health both Christians and non-Christians alike. I think what we are experiencing is one of God’s principles of reaping what we sow. An example of this is shown in a recent article that came out entitled AP IMPACT: Tons of Released Drugs Taint U.S. Water.
“U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water — contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation.
Hundreds of active pharmaceutical ingredients are used in a variety of manufacturing, including drugmaking: For example, lithium is used to make ceramics and treat bipolar disorder; nitroglycerin is a heart drug and also used in explosives; copper shows up in everything from pipes to contraceptives.”
What does this tell us? Essentially, we are wallowing in our own filth. The annoying thing about it is that we are not only wallowing in our own filth, we are wallowing in everyone else’s filth, too. No matter how hard I/we try to keep myself clean, we still are constantly exposed either wittingly or unwittingly to industrial pollutants to the detriment of my health and my loved ones. The above article states that last year over 51 million Americans were exposed to water tainted with pharmaceuticals. For those who don’t mind pill-popping, I suppose that’s no big deal, but I personally am not happy about the prospect of suffering from some horrid disease as the article further explains that:
“Researchers have found that even extremely diluted concentrations of drugs harm fish, frogs and other aquatic species. Also, researchers report that human cells fail to grow normally in the laboratory when exposed to trace concentrations of certain drugs. Some scientists say they are increasingly concerned that the consumption of combinations of many drugs, even in small amounts, could harm humans over decades.”
How many times have I heard people claim that they live healthful lives yet they come down with serious diseases? Strangely many people just think it’s the luck of the draw that they got cancer or some other life-threatening disease kind of like how life evolved completely by chance. Personally, I think it’s the nature of reaping and sowing that God has warned us about.
The filth doesn’t stop in our drinking water or even the air. Consider the foods we eat, both plants and animals. Not only do we have to seek out organic and bio-dynamic foods to ensure that we are eating as cleanly as possible, but even the animals in the wild are suffering. As we eat those animals we also ingest the pollution that they were subjected to. I know there are many examples of this, but one example that shows how detrimental our pollutants have become is the rates of cancers and other health issues now facing the beluga whales. Evidently, the pollution in the St. Lawrence River has reached a level that has negatively impacted the well-being of the beluga whales among other water life. It was once believed that animals in the wild tended to be relatively healthy. However we are seeing a change as Xenia Shih explains in her article Beluga Whales Under Threat.
“Cancer in the St. Lawrence belugas accounts for 40 percent of all cancers reported in cetaceans
; sadly, the St. Lawrence belugas suffer from the highest rate of cancer of any wild mammal species — comparable to the rate among human adults, in which cancer causes about 25 percent of deaths in the United States.”
Apparently the rate of these cancers in the beluga have increased and the likely cause attributed to their increased cancer rates is this:
“So what causes cancer in St. Lawrence belugas?
“The likely culprit is industrial pollution. Water from the Great Lakes watershed drains into the St. Lawrence River, bringing with it pollutants from the many industries that line the Great Lakes. The St. Lawrence River is highly contaminated by toxic chemicals, including polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH). The chemicals PCB and DDT are now known to be toxic to humans and animals, and PAH is a carcinogen, a substance that causes cancer. The PAH found in the water is likely from the aluminum smelting plants that line the Saguenay River, which also drains into the St. Lawrence.”
So are we immune to the detrimental effects of pollution that the animals and the rest of our environment are suffering from? I think not. Just as our wildlife suffers from our industrial wastes, so do we. As our cancer rates continue to increase as well as many other new diseases on the rise, we continue to ignore God’s law of reaping what we sow. Instead of cleaning up our mess, we act like defiant children, we make more mess in the form or more drugs to “treat” our new diseases and increasingly resistant and virulent forms of older diseases. Then the excess of those drugs and by products go back into our water and earth, and we continue to wallow in more and more filth.
Now I realize that there are natural toxins, and for that I think God has provided our earth with natural ways to clean itself. We see this in the way that plants can neutralize certain toxins through it’s root systems. We see harmful substances break down with time and the acts of decomposition. Even our own bodies produce toxins that it must clear naturally and that is why we have certain organs such as our kidneys and livers and lungs, etc. It’s a system that God put in place and gave to us knowing that there will be some harmful substances. So I don’t completely blame man for all the pollution in the world. Some toxins are unavoidable. Not every pollutant or change in environment is due to man’s recklessness. While there may or may not be any significant global warming, I do think the changes taking place on our earth is due to “both” man and the natural course of the earth’s own system. Certainly we can’t change the direction that the earth is taking on it’s own (i.e. the laws of thermodynamics tells us that things are generally in a state of decline), but we can be a bit more responsible with how we manage our earth’s resources. Lest anyone think that the Bible has nothing to say about destroying the earth, consider Revelation 11:18:
“And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.”
“Destroy them which destroy the earth?” Hmmm. Who are these people who destroy the earth? How are we destroying the earth? And these people are to be destroyed? Just as God will destroy those who corrupt the body through their wickedness, Revelation seems to indicate that God will destroy those who destroy the earth. The Bible tells us there is a time and season for everything. I would venture to say there is also a time to care for the earth, which God has given to us even if it is temporary. Personally, I think Earth “DAY” is not enough. It’s like how people only go to church on Sundays. We should care for the earth “every day,” just as we should observe God’s word every day. We wallow in our industrial pollution as a result of greed and the love of money. How can we as Christians ignore the result of this corruption?
Marlakins
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04.20.09
Posted in Anything goes, Uncategorized at 9:00 pm by Administrator
It’s hot here today in Los Angeles. Brian said that it hit 100F, yikes! And while I was planning on blogging a little more on Frank Schaeffer, I’m just too hot and lazy. . . So I think I’m gonna save that for later and instead write about something that requires less thought, but still enjoyable nonetheless. I know this has made the rounds several times already, but it really was just fun to watch and is a feel good video so I’m gonna put it up for the remote chance that someone hasn’t seen this yet. Like most of those who first saw Susan Boyle, I was pleasantly surprised! Just click onto the picture for the video.
After watching Susan Boyle I started to think of all the people who have lovely voices. Unfortunately, I’m not one, but I wonder if I’ll get a better voice in the next life? Ha! With that thought I thought imagine what beautiful music we might hear in heaven? If we have people here on earth with beautiful voices, just imagine what sounds we might hear in heaven? I bet it would just blow us away.
When it comes to music, I’d say I like a variety of styles. Recently I’ve been enjoying listening to Elisa. I particularly like her song, Dancing. She has such a lovely voice.
For those who are familiar with Bic Runga and her old album, Drive, there is a little part in the music video above that reminded me of Bic Runga. It’s been years since this video came out, but I was happy to find it on YouTube. Brian is the one who pointed it out to me years ago. He said, “You have to see this video. It’s so cute.” Turns out he thought it was cute that this little Asian gal had a crush on this white guy, ha ha! Hmmm. It’s called, Sway. What a lovely, clear voice she has. And I did end up buying her album, too, heheh.
Maybe some other time I’ll put up links to some of the male musicians I enjoy listening to. 
Marlakins
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04.17.09
Posted in Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, Historical Trivia, Uncategorized at 11:44 am by Administrator
While surfing the net recently, I came across some info of and by Frank Schaeffer. While I may not have been too familiar with Frank Schaeffer other than that he was Francis Schaeffer’s son, I did hold Francis Schaeffer in high regard as a Christian leader with a good head on his shoulders like James Dobson. So when I stumbled upon Frank’s interviews, I had to take a peek. I will say that I don’t agree with Frank on everything like his belief that Obama’s education and health plan would result in fewer abortions, I did find that I agreed with much of the rest of what he said regarding the direction the Republican party has taken and how the types of people Palin attracted were quite disturbing particularly because although they were claiming to be right wing conservatives, they seemed to be strangely against what the right used to be like. Frank offers Pastor Jeremiah Wright as an example. As we all know, Wright was being labeled by the Republicans as anti-American because of his statement, “God Damn American.” Which, by the way, was only a tiny snippet of his full message. A fuller view of the context of Wright’s comments can be viewed here and here. Wright’s message was actually the type of thing that the right wing (like Frank’s father, Francis) used to preach about. Sure it’s disturbing to hear about all the “bad” things the U.S. government has been involved with, but the truth is the truth. Wright spoke of the U.S. using atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. True. The U.S. had black slaves, of which many had virtually no rights. True. The government has been known to have involvement with drug trafficking. True. And other such issues. These were not falsehoods. Wright claimed, “God Damn America” for those things that she’s [America] done–that is suppressing and hurting the poor and innocent. Or should God “bless” America for all those horrific things? They were true and a call for humbleness and self-reflection, and for that Palin and her followers accused Wright of being “un-American” or “anti-American.” I could see why McCain was adamant that Wright be “off limits” for their attack because that would have really opened a can of worms. Frank Schaeffer pointed this out in his article, Obama’s Minister Committed Treason, but When My Father Said the Same Thing, He was a Republican Hero. Below is taken from part of the article:
“Consider a few passages from my father’s [Francis Schaeffer] immensely influential America-bashing book A Christian Manifesto. It sailed under the radar of the major media who, back when it was published in 1980, were not paying particular attention to best-selling religious books. Nevertheless it sold more than a million copies.
Here’s Dad writing in his chapter on civil disobedience:
If there is a legitimate reason for the use of force [against the US government]… then at a certain point force is justifiable.
And this:
In the United States the materialistic, humanistic world view is being taught exclusively in most state schools… There is an obvious parallel between this and the situation in Russia [the USSR]. And we really must not be blind to the fact that indeed in the public schools in the United States all religious influence is as forcibly forbidden as in the Soviet Union….
Then this:
There does come a time when force, even physical force, is appropriate… A true Christian in Hitler’s Germany and in the occupied countries should have defied the false and counterfeit state. This brings us to a current issue that is crucial for the future of the church in the United States, the issue of abortion… It is time we consciously realize that when any office commands what is contrary to God’s law it abrogates it’s authority. And our loyalty to the God who gave this law then requires that we make the appropriate response in that situation…
Was any conservative political leader associated with Dad running for cover? Far from it. Dad was a frequent guest of the Kemps, had lunch with the Fords, stayed in the White House as their guest, he met with Reagan, helped Dr. C. Everett Koop become Surgeon General. (I went on the 700 Club several times to generate support for Koop).
Dad became a hero to the evangelical community and a leading political instigator. When Dad died in 1984 everyone from Reagan to Kemp to Billy Graham lamented his passing publicly as the loss of a great American. Not one Republican leader was ever asked to denounce my dad or distanced himself from Dad’s statements.
Take Dad’s words and put them in the mouth of Obama’s preacher (or in the mouth of any black American preacher) and people would be accusing that preacher of treason. Yet when we of the white Religious Right denounced America white conservative Americans and top political leaders, called our words “godly” and “prophetic” and a “call to repentance.”
Full article can be viewed here.
Since I don’t normally watch regular TV, I’m a bit late on seeing this interview, which appears to have aired about a couple months ago. Nevertheless, I found it interesting and do agree with it to a certain extent. I’m familiar with Francis Schaeffer’s older writings and even have his complete works here at home. So when Frank states that the right wing movement is not like what it used to be, I agree. I did not like what I saw during the latest Presidential elections and hated to associate myself with the “religious right wing.” But I still remember at least how well McCain’s final presentation went, and how surprised I was that McCain ended it well after all, with respect. Anyway, here’s Frank iinterviewed by D.L. Hughley.
Below are a couple more links to Frank’s interview back in October 2008 on Democracy Now regarding his formal letter to McCain. I had not seen this during that time, so found it a bit interesting and surprising. While I did have the same sentiments with the direction that the elections seemed to be taking, I don’t think I went as far as Frank to call Palin and her ilks “nut wingers.” (Although after watching some of the videos and the reactions of the crowd, it did cross my mind. . . )
Democracy Now Part 1
Democracy Now Part 2
Finally, and I think I may have to do a second post regarding this, is that Frank has evidently “changed” his religion from, I “think” Calvinist to Eastern or Greek Orthodox. Hmmm. That one had me very curious especially in light of the fact that he’s “Francis Schaeffer’s” son, so have tried to do a little more searching on that to find out what that’s all about. Obvious there’s a problem somewhere, and I’m curious to know more. And of course, I already have some comments on that, but will reserve them until I know a bit more about Frank.
Marlakins
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04.12.09
Posted in Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, God, History, Uncategorized at 9:41 am by Administrator
Today is more commonly known as “Easter,” however as Christians, my family and I refer to this day as Resurrection Sunday. Like Christmas, the holiday commonly called Easter is a fusion of beliefs and ideas. For instance, people often associate Christmas with St. Nicholas and Christmas trees along with Jesus’s birth, when in fact, St. Nick, Christmas trees, and the birth of Jesus are not commemorating the same thing. As such, “Easter” and the famed “Easter bunny,” have separate origins from what we celebrate as Resurrection Sunday. Easter, from what I understand, originated from a pagan celebration of a fertility goddess, Eoster. Rabbits and eggs symbolized fertility. I believe the Jews celebrate passover around this time, also. But on this day, we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, not the goddess of Easter, or the symbols of fertility (eggs and rabbits).
Some Christians believe that Resurrection Sunday should be a bigger holiday than Christmas because while it’s true that Jesus had to be born a man, if he were not risen, then his earthly birth would not have mattered much. The Bible explains this to us in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19.
” Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”
Paul pretty much summed it up for the Corinthians (and us) that our hope as Christians hinge upon the fact that Jesus died and rose from the dead. If Jesus “didn’t” rise from the dead, then all our beliefs and hopes for the next life are false or useless because without the resurrection of Jesus, we would still be in our sins (Jesus died for our sins), AND if Jesus wasn’t raised, then once the dead died, they remained dead. This is literal, not figurative as we believe the Bible tells us Jesus rose “physically.” So this day, Resurrection Sunday, marks a “huge” event for us Christians, which sadly gets mixed up with rabbits and eggs, which has nothing to do with Jesus’s resurrection or our future hope in eternal life with God.
So, I’m off to enjoy this day! Happy Resurrection Sunday!
Marlakins
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04.10.09
Posted in Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, God, Uncategorized at 9:43 am by Administrator
In light of Good Friday, I thought it might be appropriate to share a video series I watched not long ago of a presentation by the late Zane Hodges at the GES Conference in 2008 called, The Upper Room Discourse. The upper room discourse is what is commonly known by some Christians as the final hours Jesus spent with His disciples.
Upper Room Discourse Part 1
Upper Room Discourse Part 2
Upper Room Discourse Part 3
Upper Room Discourse Part 4
Upper Room Discourse Part 5 (Q&A)
I really appreciated Hodge’s insight to the Gospel of John. I hope others find it edifying as well. I was really saddened to hear of Zane’s passing late 2008, but greatly appreciate that we do have some of his writings, videos, and audios left behind to continue his dedication to explaining the Gospel, particularly his efforts to share the gift of eternal life through belief in Jesus as the Messiah in clear and simple terms.
Marlakins
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04.09.09
Posted in History, Uncategorized at 10:00 am by Administrator
The World War II Manila American Cemetery and Memorial is located about six miles southeast of Manila, Republic of the Philippines within the limits of Fort Bonifacio, the former U.S. Army Fort William McKinley. This memorial was built in remembrance of the men who fell about 68 years ago during WWII in the Philippines. I wasn’t able to get far enough to get a complete shot of the memorial since it was quite large. Suffice it to say that it had a circular layout with large slabs of stone flanking both sides of a walkway. Etched on each slab were the names and ranks of each men including their home state. The perimeter of the memorial is surrounded by headstone crosses, while the center of the circle is a grassy lawn. Here’s one view of the memorial looking through the inside of the circle.
This is what the circular path looks like with stone slabs on either side of the walkway.
That’s my son, Matty. If memory serves me correctly, this side of the memorial listed the names of the men who were in the army. The other side listed the men in the Navy or Airforce. Here’s a closeup of some of the names.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the names show up too well when they are shrunken down to fit on the blog. So in case it’s not legible, these names appear to be soldiers from the Navy as some of the ranks inscribed were listed as seaman, IC; quaretermaster, 2C; coxswain, etc.
This memorial is shared with the fallen Americans and Filipinos.
Here’s the inscription on the opposite wall.
This slab has the names of some Filipino scouts intermingled with American soldiers.
At various locations in this memorial are murals depicting the different theaters of war during WWII. Here’s one example.
And another.
And another.
For those who may not know, Leyte is in the Philippines and one of the strategic landing points in reclaiming control of the Philippines. The beach Mac Arthur landed on, Red Beach, when he returned was in Leyte. Depictions of his return made in sculptures and drawings are from photographs of Mac Arthur wading through the water at this beach.
My guess is that there were about a dozen of these murals along the walkway of the memorial. At each location there were benches whereby visitors could sit and contemplate. My mom insisted on taking a picture of us here. Matty is on the left, I’m in the middle, and Aaron is on the right of the picture.
And finally, surrounding the perimeter of the memorial is the cemetery. The stone crosses have the soldiers’ names etched on them along with their home state. However, the Filipinos are only listed as the Philippines, no designated province or city. I noticed some didn’t have crosses, but the star of David instead, so apparently they also accommodated for Jews. It was sobering for me to see the shear numbers of these crosses. I was completely reminded of Arlington National Cemetery. But this is not in the U.S., it’s in the Philippines. And to think this is but one cemetery. These were of young men and women (mostly men, tho) who did not die of natural causes, but as a result of the brutality of war and the diseases that run rampant during wartime.
Perhaps one day in the next life I will be able to meet some of these soldiers. The comfort I have is that at least their suffering has passed long ago.
Marlakins
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04.08.09
Posted in History, Uncategorized at 6:33 pm by Administrator
April 9 marks the 68th year anniversary of the fall of Bataan to the Japanese during WWII in 1942. Approximately 76,000 Filipino and American troops, commanded by Major General Edward “Ned” P. King, Jr., were formally surrendered to the Japanese army. This was the single largest surrender of a military force in American history. Estimated figures of the Fil-American force that surrendered were 67,000 Filipinos, 1,000 Chinese Filipinos, and 11,796 Americans. What followed shortly became known in history as the Bataan Death March wherein the POWs were forced to march 80 miles in the heat, exhausted, and under starvation rations to their prison camps. Thousands of men lost their lives as a result of that march and surrender.
When I was a kid, I didn’t understand why war veterans would get together and have annual reunions. I mean high school reunions are once every 10 years, and family reunions also tend to be spaced farther apart than every year. But as I’ve gotten older and a bit more acquainted with some of the things that soldiers encounter and endure during war time, I can understand now why reunions are so important. Not only is it helpful for moral support, but it is also important in terms of preserving history and honoring the memory of all the fallen. In that spirit, I think one of the positive things I’ve heard all year in terms of “politics” is that the ban on media coverage of the returning U.S. dead has been lifted after 18 years. I know there has been controversy on the ban, which the the BBC article, US War Dead Media Blackout Lifted outlines:
“The media ban was first put in place during the 1991 Gulf War.
“President George H W Bush, who implemented the media blackout, said it was necessary to protect the families of fallen soldiers.
“The BBC’s Kevin Connolly says critics of the ban always felt it was an attempt by the American government to disguise the human cost of the war from public opinion.”
Personally, I think if we are willing to send our people out to war, then we should be just as willing to accept their return with honor as they arrive back home whether they come home whole and healthy, partially dismembered, or dead in a casket. As a mother, I know I would be very hurt and angered to know that my child’s death as a result of supporting the military would be hidden and brushed in some dark corner and hush hushed for political reasons. The truth should always be available to ensure our rights and freedom. Only with the truth are we able to make informed choices. It’s in darkness and secrecy that evil thrives. So for me, the recent lifting of the media ban is a victory in our struggle to hold on to our rights and freedom as Americans. Hopefully with the lifting of the ban, we will be able to properly honor and remember our fallen soldiers and not be oblivious to their sacrifices.
In honor of the fallen 68 years ago on Bataan and Corregidor, Philippines, here’s part 3 of a short 4-part series on the fall of Bataan and the Death March.
While looking for videos on Bataan, I came across this video which is a trailer for the Bataan veterans. I don’t know what year is was done, but the video looks like it was put up on June 2007. The significance to me is that this trailer showed not only some of the survivors of Bataan, but also that it was announcing their farewell gathering. As they get older, fewer and fewer vets are able to meet, so rather than dwindle down to a few members, they figured it would be nicer to end their reunions with a decent number of them still surviving. I know that life has to go on, but it saddens me to think that once their generation is gone, the only knowledge left to us about WWII will come only from history books and documents or whatever films were taken. No more “actual” stories or interviews from live people. We will turn another page in history, and hopefully they will not be forgotten.
To the men and women who suffered and sacrificed their lives for the Filipinos, thank you!
Marlakins
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