Creed

I thought that this poem really summed up modernism.

We believe in Marx, Freud, and Darwin.
We believe everything is OK
as long as you don't hurt anyone,
to the best of your definition of hurt,
and to the best of your knowledge.

We believe in sex before during
and after marriage.
We believe in the therapy of sin.
We believe that adultery is fun.
We believe that sodomy's OK
We believe that taboos are taboo.

We believe that everything's getting better
despite evidence to the contrary.
The evidence must be investigated.
You can prove anything with evidence.

We believe there's something in horoscopes,
UFO's and bent spoons;
Jesus was a good man just like Buddha
Mohammed and ourselves.
He was a good moral teacher although we think
his good morals were bad.

We believe that all religions are basically the same,
at least the one that we read was.
They all believe in love and goodness.
They only differ on matters of
creation sin heaven hell God and salvation.

We believe that after death comes The Nothing
because when you ask the dead what happens
they say Nothing.
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied,
then it's compulsory heaven for all
excepting perhaps Hitler, Stalin and Genghis Khan.

We believe in Masters and Johnson.
What's selected is average.
What's average is normal.
What's normal is good.

We believe in total disarmament.
We believe there are direct links between
warfare and bloodshed.
Americans should beat their guns into tractors
and the Russians would be sure to follow.

We believe that man is essentially good.
It's only his behaviour that lets him down.
This is the fault of society.
Society is the fault of conditions.
Conditions are the fault of society.

We believe that each man must find the truth
that is right for him.

Reality will adapt accordingly.
The universe will readjust. History will alter.
We believe that there is no absolute truth
excepting the truth that there is no absolute truth.

We believe in the rejection of creeds.

"Chance" - a post-script

If chance be the Father of all flesh,
disaster is his rainbow in the sky,
and when you hear

State of Emergency!
Sniper Kills Ten!
Troops on Rampage!
Whites go Looting!
Bomb Blasts School!

It is but the sound of man worshiping his maker.

by Steve Turner

The Jungle Where I Work.

A rose.
Color.

Lines of pureness.


Petunias.
In the jungle.



It is Joey.

In Christ, the creator of all.

Chip

Mexico Borderless Mission

Flying south, looking east.
Practicing his siesta.

Sunny St. Louis.
Friend made this from the Sky Mall magazine.
Thought this mountain in AZ really looked like God's Thumb from the movie Holes.
The border. Crossing into Mexicali Mexico after dark was most interesting. Getting lost did not help either. Saw both sides of town.
Walking the streets of Mezquital.
The all important water tank.
Campsite.
Team Leader Kay A. explaining how to flush a Mexican toilet. It is not as easy as you may think.
The area where we had devotions every morning and evening. Heard so many incredible testimonies shared here. The Holy Spirit was really at work in this place.
Two front ones are our two team leaders. Both did an amazing job. Thanks to them for so much.
Team Members. Some of them.
Coke in a glass bottle. You can't beat it.
Part of the roofing crew.
The roof. We got the whole thing on by the end of the week.
Marbles.
Pastor David's son. A very cool guy. He was fun. He loved tapping people on their shoulder so they looked the wrong direction. He did it a little to much, people started to catch on.
Went to a border town on Sunday afternoon to do some souvenir shopping. It was odd to think that that piece of tin separated two different governments and cultures. Guess which one I like best?
Never seen so many dentist offices in one town in my life. This was just a couple of the many that were all over town. Another interesting experience in Algodnaz (the border town where we went shopping) was bartering with enthusiastic sellers. It was a fun skill to learn.
We are not in Kansas anymore. I was noticing the Baja California.
Played foozeball with these boys. They were really good, but me and my teammate won. It is so great how even though we did not understand most of what the other person was saying, this old foozball table allowed us to get to know each other.
I guess I owe an explanation for why this post took two months to get here. Well the thing is that towards the end of the trip I was pretty sick. And being so, made my already forgetful brain even more so. So when we got dropped off at the airport, I left my camera in the vehicle. Now it was really okay, because the team we had been traveling with from Minneapolis were not leaving till later, and they were dropping off the rental vehicles then. With a phone call telling them to watch for a camera, and another phone call saying they had got it, everything was good. It simply took two months to get it the rest of the way. That is the simple story. Oh, by the way, being sick in Mexico really was not fun. Glad it only hit the last day.
Pastor David and his family. He pastored at the church where we were helping. Another amazing man, who is so strong in the Lord. He has a lot of courage and faith. He is also the first man who I have seen help roof a church in black shoes and dress pants.
Putting a roof on. That metal gets hot. Ouch!!
These kids rocked at soccer.
Eric. Or when he told me, "EEEEEeerrric!" He was also the king of marbles. His pockets kind of bulged with marbles he had won.
The culvert that we cleaned out and basically rebuilt. Pity I do not have a before picture. Just imagine it half filled with mud and junk and the sand bags laying in more horizontal fashion. Nothing is easy in the Mexico sun.
The amazing Pastor David. He does everything from entertain the kids with magic, speaks spanish, and oversees the construction of the roof. Hence the hardhat.

All in all. An amazing trip. Christ is doing awesome things all over. It was so great to worship the same God with people who spoke a different language. It just is cool. It is kind of like Pentecost.

Please remember these people in your prayers, the country of Mexico is really going through some tough spots, and Christians often feel it the most. Pray that they will have the retain the courage and faith to witness and be lights in a dark place.

In Christ

Chip

Great speech.

Please follow the link. You will not be disappointed.

Yes, it is another Nephew.

Photo courtesy of Sarah L. Ethan Bruce R. 8 lb. 2 oz. 19 3/4 in. long. Born April 1, 2010. God bless you as you grow in God's marvelous world.

Chip

He Has Risen

What more can be said about Easter? I mean that has not already been said? Okay, well maybe I will say it again.

This Holy Day leaves me in awe of my God. His stunning fulfillment of the old covenant. I encourage you to take the time to read Luke 22, 23, and 24 (if you have not already). Think about what was going on in the mind of the people who were experiencing this paradyme change. This day marks the change of the Christian world. God has come into the world and has payed the final price for us. Jaw drop. If you are you a sinner like me your jaw should drop too. He has rolled away the stone of death and risen to victory and redemption. And we are raised with him. Praise the Father, the Risen Son, and Holy Spirit.

Here are some thoughts I wrote a couple months back on the subject of abortion. Tell me what you think, please. I did not cover all issues involved, just some basics.

Abortion is a problem that has been an increasing in the world. While you learn every day about how many soldiers were killed in the war or how many children die in third world countries from starvation, almost never will the media talk about the millions of babies who are murdered here in our own country before they even have a voice to utter a sound.

What is our problem and why have such atrocities been allowed to happen? The first thing I would like to make clear is that no one is in the dark about what is really happening, everyone knows that the two cells you started off as were still you. Even when they say that it is not “living” they know they are killing potential future life. So how could this thing have started? There are many things that led up to the conclusion that killing a baby in the womb is okay, but I think there are two people in particular who can bear the brunt of the blame. First is Charles Darwin and next is Ernst Haeckel. Darwin came up with the theory that humans are just smarter animals who are here by random chance whose only real purpose is to advance evolution, and not that humans are designed by a God who cares. Today this idea is popular, for a people who do not like accountability it works almost perfect. Ernst Haeckel took the idea of Darwin and went on to tell how in the womb we go through our own evolution. Haeckel had no evidence to support his facts so like a true scientist he faked it. He drew pictures of the embryo going through its different evolutionary stages, and back in the time before ultra sound and x-ray it looked pretty good. Today any honest person knows this is a fake and will let people know so. This however is actually used in abortion facilities today where they will tell the woman that her baby is actually just a fish or a piece of tissue.

We see here a trend that is disturbing, when people have been indoctrinated that we are only a more developed order of fish, what is it that is so hard to believe about a human being a fish in its early stage. Also those who know that it is not a fish still have the idea that humans are just higher animals so there is hardly a difference between killing the baby fish and the baby human. So where does it stop, what difference does it make if the baby is in or out of the womb, it is still just an animal. It is interesting to note that the woman who has the abortion still knows that what she is doing is killing a human life, and that it is wrong(no one is ignorant of what is happening). They are sacrificing there child to the god of convenience. Even with the lies as a cushion, people realize the evil.

This is why we need to stand strong in the truth that comes from God and tells us that all human life is his, and that he created it with a purpose, the purpose of serving him. So live as an example of the potential of human life, especially with God as its all encompassing guide.

Chip

Welcome to the Wonderfully, Wild, World Ean

My sister gave birth to a baby boy last Friday. He is so grown up. I can't wait to meet him in person, but it looks like I will have to.

In Christ

Chip

Ticket Please

Life might be best defined by the simple mark ?. Why pain, why disease, why laughter, why mosquitos, why taste, why me, why you... why,why, why. It does all seem a bit odd does it not? We look at God with an eyebrow raised, "um, are you sure you wanted to do that?" If you find you can identify with what I am saying, (even if you can't) I would like to recommend a book.

Notes From a Tilt-A-Wirl by N.D. Wilson, and kindly recommended to me by Havilah B, is a carnival ride in book form. Fun, dizzying, and rather unpredictable. Answering questions and seeing the beauty that is God's created and spoken world. It is so unlike any book I have ever read, and I really, I mean really, enjoyed reading it. I would give it five stars.

In Christ

Chip

Moscow Trip

Behold a cup of coffee from Bucers coffee. Oh so good, and warm.
Great atmosphere in this place.

Little Pete. He has got the most cheerful disposition and such great big brown eyes.
Little Claire. She likes chocolate cake. Among many other things.

Nelly and Ingrid. I love my nieces and nephews. Sadly I do not have picture of my other nephew Lewis, from this trip.
So anyway, had a marvelous trip, We flew there, I really like flying. Walking through airports is so much fun for a people watcher like me. Plus flying is just plain cool. Swam a lot with my nieces and nephews, and oddly enough they never seemed to get tired of swimming. I also loved how every night before they went to bed they seemed to put on afterburners of energy right before they ran up to bed.
It was also fun being in Moscow (ID) again, it had been about two years since I had been there. It is really cool because when I was little that was where we went on vacation, maybe not what most people think when they go there (oh, we should spend a vacation here) but like most places it is the people and memories that make it special. I really like Moscow. Enjoyed the great Sunday service a Trinity Reformed Church. I did for the first time in my life, sit through an entire super bowl. I do not really think it was super, but it was fun. I managed to get a sore throat the day before we left, but felt much better the next day. Which I was very glad of since we left the next day. So yes, A very fun trip.

Chip