Where's Wan Yanhai?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15909130

"How wonderful it is, that your in my life" Christ that is

www.woodmenvalley.org/images/images_WVC/ChristmasEve_MHeard_24Dec06.mp3

Interactive AIDS/SIDA map de Africa y Darfur

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16335462/

My Retirement home in Trabzon

If only I could find one like it in Denver!

Rapping into CO in July

I get to switch out my Licence plate for the beautiful green and White. Can't wait. Anyone in the Denver area need a roomate, climbing/skiing parter?

All for His Purposes

7But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith-- 10that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. - Philippians 3:7-11

Update on Baby Luke-Skywalker

Dear Friends and Family,

I apologize for not being able to update you until now. This has been an exhausting week to say the least. As we had hoped, Luke showed significant seizure activity while being monitored in the hospital. This helped the doctors locate the source of Luke's seizures and therefore better treat the problem. However, Luke did not initially respond well to the new medication and his convulsions became difficult to control. For 3 days we watched Luke suffer numerous seizures where both his heart and lungs were affected (in other words, his heart slows down and his breathing stops completely). We spent two nights in pediatric intensive care. Now we are in the pediatric ward of Boston Medical Center until Tues. or Wed., if Luke does not have any more seizure activity.

The doctors have narrowed their conclusions to two possibilities: benign partial epilepsy or temporal lobe epilepsy. The first option is positive: Luke responds well to the medication and will eventually outgrow whatever is causing his outbursts (cause unknown, but easily treatable). Because Luke is developing very well up till now - he's a strong, active, bright little 6-month old - this is much more likely. However, there is a slight possibility that Luke will not respond well to the new medication and will continue to suffer severe seizures (the latter option). If he does not continue to grow and develop well, there may be a future need for treatment and possibly even surgery.

So with this information in mind, we (following doctor recommendations) have decided to stay in the States for 6-8 months as we continue to monitor Luke and his development. Honestly we are super disappointed to not be returning home to *******, but are excited to reunite with many of you while we're here.

As we finish up our time in Boston we would appreciate your continued prayers for the following:

* Full healing for Luke, that he would not have any more seizures, ever!
* Peace and rest for Andrea, Andy, Elias and Luke; this past week has been extremely stressful and exhausting for all of us.
* Wisdom and discernment as we redirect our responsibilities in ********* and for those picking up our slack.
* For a smooth transition into our new life in the States; we were not expecting to stay here for an extended period of time, and the news has been a shock to all of us, especially little Eli. Pray also for all the details that we need to take care of as we quickly reestablish a new home.
* And finally that the insurance will cover all our hospital bills!

Thank you again so much. We dearly appreciate you all!

Love,
Andrea for the family

All I have is the Lord's

Please pray the Lord will show me what He is trying to teach me through all of this. Right now it just feels like a financial burden I can't afford. I know that is a lie and know He is THE provider and in truth everything is His and I am just a steward to which it has been entrusted. Please pray that I would have the strength to increase my tithing/offering. Right now it doesn't seem as though I can but earlier today I felt a burden to pray about expanding and increasing my support for a couple different causes. Pray that the Lord will show me whether this is Him closing the door for now or challenging me to give in spite of my circumstance. Ultimately it is not what I can do for the Lord's work but what He is doing to continually draw me into a closer relationship with Him. May this always be my reality.
PS: From my perspective this is really trivial when compared to the daily struggles faced by victims and orphans of AIDS, soldiers in Iraq or an Iraqi civialians, a Bolivian women sold into the sex trade trying to buy her way to freedom, a Turk, an Afgan, a N Korean persecuted for his/her faith, a Sudaneese refugee in Dafur or south sudan wondering where their next meal will come from, an East Timor citizen wondering when he/she will have the opportunity to raise a child without fear of civil war. And the list goes on. I find great peace Solice in the Knowledge that my savior and friend is a savior and friend to them as well and seeks to individually fellowship with us irrespective of our circumstances and what we think we can offer Him.
with a thankful heart

In my hometown "I am one of the religious right, and I don't like us"

Your Turn
A taste for granola
by Kevin Feldotto

A taste for granola I live in Colorado Springs, home of God. There are more Christian ministries in this town than you can shake a Harry Potter book at. Apparently, this makes us some sort of Christian Mecca. I'm not buying it.

The ugly truth is that we are a town divided by hate. It's the granola-eating, pacifist, pro-homosexual tree-huggers versus the holier-than-thou, flag-waving, pro-life, Bible-thumpers, and we have been divided for a decade. We don't have time to stand in the park and yell at each other, so we wage war with our bumper stickers. "FOCUS ON YOUR OWN DAMN FAMILY" is a popular bumper sticker that reveals more about our community than about any organization.

Being a Christian conservative, I am keenly aware of this battle. Recently I saw a bumper sticker that made me spew my latte. It read, "DOING MY PART TO PISS OFF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT." While that would make some wish they had a shoulder-mounted grenade launcher, it made me laugh out loud. Personally, I love controversy — not for the sake of confrontation, but because it makes people think.

I wanted to kidnap the owners of the bumper sticker (with my grenade launcher) and buy them a beer. I would ask them how they feel about the religious; how they feel about the right. Then I would ask them how they feel about Christians. I would then do something so radical, it would completely freak them out. I would listen; no arguing, no defending, just listening. In fact, I might just be nodding my head in agreement.

You see, I am one of the religious right, and I don't like us. Our ranks are filled with arrogant know-it-alls who wear the label "evangelical" like some kind of medal; people who think "right" refers not to their political stance but to their level of correctness. If you are not a member of the club, you probably know what I mean. As soon as they figure out your label, you get the distinct impression that you have dog doo on your shoes.

I was still laughing about the "religious right" sticker when it hit me: If Jesus had a car, he might have had that bumper sticker on it, right next to the one that said "WHAT WOULD I DO?"

Hear me out on this. Whenever Jesus went on the attack, who did he launch against? It wasn't the liberals; it was the religious right, the conservatives. It was the religious leaders who knew the Scriptures like they were written on their underwear. The pious people who were convinced that they had the corner on being right.

Instead of giving them a good ol' boy slap on the back, he got in their faces at every opportunity. Time and again, Jesus said, "Have you not read?" He knew darn well they had not only read it, they had memorized it. When he repeatedly remarked, "You have heard it said this, but I say to you that," he purposefully challenged their authority. When Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, he was not ignorant of rabbinical law. He did it to force the issue.

I find it very interesting that he never seemed to hang with the religious right. He ended up at parties with the wild crowd, while the conservatives hovered outside and talked about what he was doing wrong. He intentionally spent time with those whom the conservatives looked down on.

What does this say about us as evangelicals? Perhaps we don't have the corner on being right. (Be still my heart.) Possibly, we have been unwilling to see our weaknesses because of our own arrogance. Could it be that the bumper sticker, "THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT IS NEITHER" is more than just wordplay? We need to be willing to honestly ask ourselves if we have been wrong. No, I take that back. The question should not be "Am I wrong?" but "Where am I wrong?"

Now that I have voiced these heresies, I may get thrown out of the club. That may be OK. If you're a pro-homosexual, tree-hugging pacifist, let's talk. I actually like granola.

Kevin Feldotto has lived in Colorado Springs for 17 years. He can be contacted at ColoradoWriter@earthlink.net.
http://csindy.com/csindy/2006-09-14/yourturn.html