this time of year a lot of folks in this area start posting about fog and i’m glad about it.

the truth is, it’s one of the only things our area is famous for.

i snapped the picture up above on a november morning at about 9:30am.

this year kelly and i predicted that the fog was going to be worse than usual. everyone hemmed and hawed at us, acting like it’s this way every year, but we are proud to say that the central valley has been the soupiest in recent memory. in fact, the CHP has taken to frequent pacing of cars on local freeways, which i cannot remember happening in the time that i have been driving.

lots of people don’t like the fog, but i do. what’s not to like? lots of condensation. mist. deadening of sounds. the feeling like you’re in a dickens novel…

ok, so the driving is a drag, but, a little care taken to event planning can make sure you enjoy the fog from the comfort of your living room.

and, please…i’d take fog over tornados/hurricanes/below zero temperatures/humidity/the weather in the rest of the united states any day!

here are a couple other shots around our place in the early november fog:

maranatha

it’s tuesday.

today’s positive post is for my wife, kelly. she’s been the subject before and she’ll be it again.

why?

because she is wonderful and fills me with happiness.

specifically, this week kelly is working @ the office with me, which is buckets of fun for us. i love hearing her answer the phones and coming in to say hello and share some spinach dip with me.

we love being together and despise being apart, thus, it works nicely that she gets to be in the next room while i do my regular stuff.

but, being here also means that she is freed up from molding young minds to post entries on her blog.

go visit her blog and comment on her posts.

why?

because her blog is better than mine.

and better than yours.

sorry. sometimes the truth hurts.

i love you dear.

let your fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of your youth.

- Proverbs 5:18 -

–
i have several times tried to remind us of how difficult it must be to be President Bush or a member of his family. to be so vilified and so reviled by large portions of one’s own country, people and party is a life i do not envy.

seriously…how would you feel if people talked about you like they talked about him?

if bands wrote songs about hating you?

if reporters wrote down everything you said every day and then used snippets to present you as a monster to millions of people around the world?

if bumper stickers cursed you?

if you had become a byword and a slur in even casual conversation?

here is a few minutes from a day in the life of our President:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RFH7C3vkK4&feature=related[/youtube]

i love how he responds.

i also love that he is agile and quick enough to dodge a projectile shoe.

i support President Bush. doesn’t mean i agree with everything he’s ever said or every choice he’s made. but guess what? i don’t agree with everything I’VE ever said or every choice I’VE made.

this isn’t about if you think he’s a great President or not. i do, but this is about something else.

it’s about what it must be like to live as a person who receives this sort of treatment from billions of people.

every day.

let’s pray for President Bush today.

(HT: mr. hill)

click to make big

it’s sunday.

what has your blog been saying?

find out here, then let us know so we can come see your pretty word cloud.

maranatha

we got you something…

come and get it

be here tomorrow.

–
i read something very interesting today:

when the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and Azekah; for only these fortified cities remained of the cities of Judah.

- Jeremiah 34:7

israel had once been powerful and magnificent. her presence and strength under king solomon rivals any society in history.

after solomon, the kingdom had split, not for Godly reasons, but for selfish ones. God’s people became weaker.

by the time of Jeremiah, personal wickedness and national apathy had resulted in a nation with few fortified cities. yes they had 1 or 2 or 3, but those were no match for the forces that had come against them. without the proper defenses throughout the land and on every border, all defenses would fail.

1 or 2 strongholds of holiness are not enough to withstand the attacks that assail us. 1 portion of faith is not enough to endure the siege of sin.

we must be people who are continually fortifying every city in our heart, every village and field. we must be people who understand that the kingdom can not be divided but must stand unified in the faith and holiness and grace that our Sovereign provides.

blessings.

this friday.

–
at our men’s morning group (which meets on wednesdays @ 6:30am for any area fellows who would like some free peets coffee) we have a short section where my dad reads various news items that discuss the current state of the world and, hopefully, spark points of prayer for us.

today there was an interesting and saddening article that i’d like to share.

The Greatest Story Never Told: Modern Christian Martyrdom
- susan brinkmann

here are some highlights

while christians in the secular west languish in spiritual mediocrity, christianity remains a deadly serious matter almost everywhere else.

dying for Christ seems almost surreal to most westerners. we live in a part of the world where Christianity rarely makes the news unless it is to be mocked or defamed.

Even the average church-going christian is not likely to know that 45.5 million of the estimated 70 million christians who have died for Christ did so in the last century.

the true extent of christian persecution during the past 100 years is believed to be of staggering proportions.

in the past 50 years, 300,000 christians in north korea have vanished without a trace.

in bangladesh christians are being denied access to water wells and are frequent targets of physical violence and destruction of property.

the situation in india has become particularly problematic…there have already been more than 200 episodes of anti-christian violence this year…

‘christians are, in fact, the most persecuted religious group in the world today, with the greatest number of victims.’ (ninashea, director of Freedom House’s Puebla Program On Religious Freedom)

read the rest of the article here

lots to pray for.

lots of work set before us by the Lord to accomplish.

God is good and His mercy endures forever.

voice of the martyrs

it’s tuesday.

today i wanted to talk about a wonderful resource for many believers, especially students or folks who often find themselves in discussions about evolution and creation.

it’s a dvd called The Case For A Creator. it’s a recent project from lee strobel, a man who was once an atheist law professor and journalist who eventually discovered that he was a man in need of salvation, and that Jesus Christ offered that salvation.

since that time lee has written a number of wildly popular books such as The Case For Christ, The Case For Faith and many others.

The Case For A Creator is a fantastic 6-part dvd which takes a scientific look at a few areas like biology, biochemistry and the cosmos. it is excellently made and is stocked with concrete evidence of the truth of creation.

just seeing how the physical universe around us points toward our Lord made me so excited. segment after segment i found myself thinking, “no way…that is AWESOME!”

in the end, the dvd presents the evidence and then asks the question of where the evidence points: to a creator or to darwinian evolution?

if you’d like to bulk up on your apologetics in the area of darwinism or secular humanism, be sure to pick up a copy of this dvd.

well done lee and company for making a great resource available to the world.

maranatha!