Beware the Ides of July

Bombing Plotter Captured
A U.S.-trained biochemist was arrested in Egypt for suspected involvement in the London bombings. I still cannot understand the kind of thinking that can motivate someone to take the lives of over 50 innocent people. But then again, we are deluding ourselves if we ever think we can rationalize terrorism.

From Sharks to Marlins
It’s time I fess up to a little addiction. Besides duct tape and ice cream, I am obsessed hopelessly with fishing. Yes, it’s true. I love being on the water and the thrill of hearing the ‘zzzzzz’ of a fish stripping line. I guess it’s because I live in Louisiana and have access to the world’s finest saltwater fishing. All that said, I’ve only been out to bluewater (water far enough offshore to allow sport fishing for sailfish, etc) once, and the largest thing we caught was a blackfin tuna. But I know a little bit about it, and folks this could be the most rare event ever recorded on camera. A marlin, estimated at 600 pounds, struck an 18 year-old angler while fighting near the boat. I’ve never seen anything like it. From seeing the video, I thought since the fish is so big that it just accidentally struck the boat and angler. But the boy’s father has been sport fishing all over the Caribbean for 46 years and thinks the aggressive marlin was actually attacking the boat/angler.

Brain Freeze Breakdown
Here’s the skinny on our beloved friend, ice cream. The truth behind all this technical stuff is that with enough practice, you can master brain freeze. I don’t mean to brag, but… there are people, of which I proudly am one, who have eaten so much ice cream, we’ve burned out those nerves and whatever other brain mechanisms cause brain freeze. I've had so much practice that I can eat ice cream and never feel a thing except the joy of the ice cream itself. It’s a gift really.

Happy Weekending
I'm off to a family reunion to see people who love me for all my weirdness and to push the line of "how serious is God about that 'gluttony thing'" with Aunt Darlene's good homecooking. Hope you have a great weekend too!

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Sharks, Cows, and Christian Fiction-Haters, Oh My!

Today’s Spotlight
Now I’ve heard it all. Did you know that Christian fiction is filled with “bigotry and comic book morality”—all as a guise by Christian readers to prove their superiority and pretend religion has meaning? Such is the case according to the July 12 post by “Canada’s Premier Independent Book Site” (self-hailed).

The post is written in response to this recent article by the Denver Post which shows that the religious book market is rocketing. Instead of merely disagreeing with the Denver Post article or separately critiquing religious literature, the writer launches into a bash on Christian fiction specifically, posing the idea that it’s low-brow and meaningless rhetoric. Beyond just his disdainful opinion of Christian fiction, the writer is convinced religion itself is not “a vital force in modern life.”

As Christians we could argue our personal convictions, but isn’t this debate itself and the articles surrounding it proof enough? If religion is so meaningless, why is the religious book market soaring? Why posts bashing Christian fiction?

What do you think?

More from London
Two minutes of silence were observed across the Untied Kingdom and Europe at large today in honor of those who perished in the terrorist bombings. We will not forget.

Authorities believe they’ve identified four bombers who were among those killed in the horrible explosions. Blair is confident Al-Qaida is behind it.

Meanwhile President Bush asked the U.S. Senate to continue the Patriot Act.

Another Shark Attack
A 14 year-old North Carolina girl was bitten by a shark while in waist-deep waters at Galveston. (See if you can find the grammar error in the article.) Thankfully she is okay and with some surgery will not lose her leg. Meanwhile the young man from Tennessee who was attacked in Florida and unfortunately had to have his leg amputated returned home today.

These shark attacks are getting out of control. I don't ever remember so many attacks in a single summer. You can’t tell me the uncanny migration earlier in the year didn’t have something to do with it.

Cow Appreciation Day
July 15 is Cow Appreciation Day. Rumor has it that you get a free meal at chic-Fil-A if you dress like a cow! Mooorah!

Reader Rave
This is E-mail me!

Oh, No! It’s Wednesday the 13th!

13
Where did the Friday 13th stuff come from? From the movie or did the movie play off an already existing paranoia? Chicken? Egg? This site claims the phobia dates back to ancient times and is called paraskevidekatriaphobia (word of the day). Me? I’m not superstitious. I have been know to turn my cap around backwards when a black cat crosses in front of me to “reverse the charge.” But I'm not superstitious.

Oops
Think you’ve had a rough day at the office? Here’s living proof it could definitely be worse.

Houston, We Have a Problem
Sure enough, they have found a problem with a fuel sensor, and NASA is delaying today’s launch. We don’t have an estimate yet for the new launch time. I don’t like to say I told you so, but…

Folks, I’m getting nervous. I guess part of it is due to the fact that this is the first shuttle launch since Columbia. But I’ve studied software testing methods at work. When you discover a problem during development and can’t figure it out, you don’t just plop a new part on without testing it, stick your head in the sand, and hope it works when you eventually flip the switch. Why wasn’t this fixed right and properly tested when the problem was first discovered? Saving time is not more important that safety.

Hopefully it can be figured out and corrected now, and hopefully all of these technical snafus are not signs of larger underlying problems with the shuttle. At least we are seeing more detailed testing and the discipline to stop and fix problems, even if it is the midnight hour.

Beware the Paper—er…Cyber Trail
Remind me to be careful with this gig. Nobody kidnap my phone or drag up my duct tape addiction when I run for President of the Camp Meeting Alumni Association in 2056.

Back to the Classroom, Guys
Some school systems are looking for more male teachers to try to balance the predominantly female education field. According to this article:

"The proportion of men in teaching today is at its lowest level in 40 years, according to the National Education Association, the country's largest teachers union.

Only 21 percent of teachers in U.S. public schools are men."

Any guys out there in need of a job? Might what to think about it.

Mother Nature at Work
Amidst the Dennis destruction, comes this great story. That reminds me... do we believe in Mother Nature? Call it my Apostolic paranoia, but I'm always terrified to acknowledge any life/universe force other than J-E-S-U-S... How Apostolic am I? Can we add that to Wendy's list?

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Tuesdays with the Duct Tape Lady

Headlines
Some tiles had to be replaced on Discovery because a window panel fell off? That’s not very reassuring. Kinda scary if you ask me. I hope they’ve got some duct tape on board. The good news is that they do go through an extensive check-off procedure—20,000 parameters--before launch. Here’s hoping everything’s really okay with the shuttle.

Lance took the lead back.

What do you think about the Karl Rove situation? I’m not sure what to think. I’m tired of drama, but then again, I realize we need to get to the bottom of this for the future safety of our operatives and to uphold accountability among our national leaders.

More from Camp
I failed to mention yet another great thing about the annual trip to camp: stopping in Opelousas for boudin. What is boudin? Glad you asked. Basically you stuff pork, sausage, dirty rice, and lots of seasoning into casing. It looks like raw sausage. To eat the boudin, you squeeze it out of the casing with your teeth, like a popsicle. It’s absolutely delicious and I look for any excuse I can to go through Opelousas or Krotz Springs to get some of Ray’s boudin. That is yet another positive thing about the camp meeting trip I remembered in my effort to think on the bright side.

Duct Tape Use #113
One day they're going to make cell phones that bounce. Until then, there is duct tape. So after weeks of monkeying around with my phone, not to mention throwing/dropping/ kicking/ dropkicking my phone, the antenna is stripped out and will no longer stay screwed in. Did I let my dilemma perplex me? No, because I have the blessed hope that comes from having been rescued oh so many times by duct tape. So thanks to the help of my trusty cousin, we successfully duct taped my cell phone antenna back in. Sure it doesn’t work as good as it used to, but the duct tape is pink, so that counts for something.









Do you have a special duct tape story? Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

The Sands of Time & The Winds of Dennis

The Camp Report
I suppose the burning question in your minds is "how was camp?" Well, let's just say it's best to go for Jesus. Just as we measure how good a service is by how many bobby pins we pick up later, we usually measure how good the social end of it is by how late we stay up. My crew and I were in bed shortly after one.

Turns out a lot of people my age have real jobs too. Of the pack of us that used to hang out all week, a lot couldn't go because of work, many have married and moved away, and many have just married. It's the weirdest thing. But I did see some great familiar faces--even if there were only a few of the old gang, and it was fun to watch the younger generation do their thing.

What's more, church was awesome. Two words: Matt Madix. I hope you've experienced his ministry. We all need to. This is my third time, and even when you know what's coming, there's still something about his brutal honesty and a brush face-to-face with the facts that we have a lot of work to do that is disturbing (in a good way). For years we've went to camp, heard the rhetoric, and determined to take action. But always the issue is just "why" you should be active, never "how." I believe Rev. Maddix has a plan. I earnestly pray his voice will be heard and a program can be developed that will mobilize Apostolic young people to fulfill the Great Commission. There are no doubt many more like me who would give anything to be involved in a well structured, proven-effective evangelism program. In the meantime, I'm determined to baby-step my way into seeing that my weekly Bible study is more anointed and that my other personal outreach is more diligent.

Addendum
Check out more "You Might Be Apostolic If" on Wendy’s blog. Funny stuff. Somebody has mentioned peanut brittle. That reminds me… Years ago, my aunt was one of the first women to enter the computer programming field, which was then in its infancy. She became very successful and at one point was working for a major software firm in Connecticut. One day on the way to work in her high rise building, a young man entered the elevator and proclaimed with absolute joy, "Oh, you must be Pentecostal!" Confident her modest apparel and Godly glow had affected him, she replied in the affirmative. "Wonderful!" he continued, "I'm dying for some peanut brittle!"

News from the Religious World
A friend shared these links with me, and I thought I would pass them on. I’m not one to draw lines in the sand or throw stones at others, and yet I think these incidents remind us of how important it is to proclaim emphatically who we are and what we stand for, and then to live it.

Billy Graham's Daughter Arrested

Pastor Apologizes For Not ‘Communicating Convictions’ on ‘Larry King Live’

Gone With the Wind
Hurricane Dennis weakened before U.S. landfall and was not as bad as expected. There was still much destruction to the already damaged Florida panhandle. However, let's approach it with the "it could have been worse" paradigm.

Haiti, Cuba, and other Caribbean islands are still in much need of help. Remember them and remember your support to international aid organizations and charities are important. Also keep in mind that wherever you are, and in especially during the time of emergencies, one of the most helpful things you can do is give blood.

Wow
I can just feel the 90&9 letters pouring in over this one. Mailbag, lookout! http://www.ninetyandnine.com/Archives/20050711/cover.htm

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!