Seaman Sha’Quanda Jacobs

Religious Programs Specialist Seaman Sha’Quanda Jacobs rings the bell during commemoration ceremony of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States at Naval Air Station Oceana.

Photo Courtesy U.S. Navy Taken by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Terah L. Mollise

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero.
Those Who Say That We’re In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don’t Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

The Traveler’s Gift.
A new story of uncommon wisdom from the bestselling author, Andy Andrews.
The Noticer is a unique narrative is a blend of fiction, allegory, and inspiration. Exceptional teller of tales Andy Andrews helps us see how becoming a “noticer” just might transform a life forever.
Orange Beach, Alabama is a simple town filled with simple people. But like all people on the planet, the good folks of Orange Beach have their share of problems. Enter Jones, an elderly man who believes in communicating with what he calls “a little perspective.”
Jones explains that he has been given a gift of noticing things that others miss. “Your time on this earth is a gift to be used wisely,” he says. “Don’t squander your words or your thoughts. Consider even the simplest action you take, for your lives matter beyond measure…and they matter forever.”
“The Noticer” is a great book and I highly recommend it!

“So Much for a “Secular Nation”!
Thank you for the reminder that our rights come from God and not any man or group of men.
God Bless America and Semper Fi Marine!”

David W. Hedrick
This was on Fox news.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God.

This is the feast of victory for our God.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Power, riches, wisdom and strength, and honor, blessing, and glory are His.

This is the feast of victory for our God.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Sing with all the people of God, and join in the hymn of all creation.

Blessing, honor, glory, and might be to God and the Lamb forever. Amen.

This is the feast of victory for our God.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

For the Lamb who was slain has begun His reign. Alleluia.

This is the feast of victory for our God.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.LSB 155

While I was saddened by his loss, I couldn’t help but
by filled with JOY, That he was released
from the burden his body had become.

Dad loved The Word Of God, his family, and roses.
But he had an especial love for bald eagles.
When I was first learning the art of digital photography
I made him this.

God Bless you Dad, see you in heaven.

Terry Jones, leader of the Dove World Outreach Centre (“Islam Is Of The Devil”) in Gainesville, Florida is thinking about burning about 200 or so copies of the Koran.

They want to burn these Korans as a reminder of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

This group is affiliated to another hate group led by Fred Phelps, Topeka, Kansas, which gained notoriety in recent years for picketing the funerals of soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He was interviewed August 20, 2010 by Joshua Kors.If you have a strong stomach, have a read.

“If this book burning happens, jihadists tell us “I think the first and most important reaction will be that wherever Americans are seen, they will be killed,” Mohammad Mukhtar, a cleric and an election candidate for the Afghan parliament, said in Kabul. “No matter where they will be in the world they will be killed.”

Enayatullah Balegh, an imam at the Pol-e-Khishti mosque in Kabul, said Afghan religious leaders hope the United States government will find a way to bar the church from burning the holy book.
“If they decide to burn the holy Koran, I will announce jihad against these Christians and infidels,” he said Tuesday. “We will defend the holy Koran.”

Here is an observation, you cannot fight a war knowing your hands are tied, that’s akin to bringing a knife to a gun fight.
That is how we have been dealing with radical jihadists.
If we are going to fight, then fight, quit throwing away lives.

Jihadists outraged? You would think that the outrage would
come from a group that had reason to express outrage.
The American people who have been bleeding and dying to bring freedom to the Muslim world.

Mark Steyn wrote: An “Islamophobic” America might have pondered whether the more extreme elements of self-segregation were compatible with participation in a pluralist society: Instead, President Barack Obama makes fawning speeches boasting that he supports the rights of women to be “covered” – rather than the rights of the ever-lengthening numbers of European and North American Muslim women beaten, brutalized and murdered for not wanting to be covered. America is so un-Islamophobic that at Ground Zero they’re building a 11-story mosque – on the site of an old Burlington Coat Factory damaged by airplane debris that Tuesday morning.

In the past few weeks it’s ALL been about FREEDOM of RELIGION when it comes to the proposed mosque at ground zero. You cannot play the duality game here. Regardless of what you like or dislike,
these individuals have the same protected rights as Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. It is our responsibility to support their rights. Jihad bullies need to stay away. Most folks in small towns are armed and dangerous.
Willing to protect themselves and their families.

It was really nice of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf to mention that freedom isn’t free. But that it comes with responsibilities, I’m sure we were all surprised to learn that. Or that he recognized that.
I especially was gratified by the warning that “This is dangerous to our national security” with a Bible lesson tossed in for free, “Jesus said to love your enemy. We are not your enemy.”

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has also been the figure of controversy. “He has chided the U.S. for killing civilians in Baghdad. He said in 2005 that the U.S. had more Muslim blood on its hands than “al Qaeda has on its hands of innocent non-Muslims.” He has refused to accept Western governments’ designation of Hamas as a terrorist group. Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, he told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that “United States policies were an accessory to the crime.”

Reasoning with the unreasonable, all protected by the first amendment.

Life is full of irony.

Sir Woody ponders the difference between a Bunny’s feet and his paws.
Happy Easter!

Click photo for full sized image.

]]> http://www.petsgardenblog.com/2009/04/12/happy-easterand-big-feet/feed/ 0 http://www.petsgardenblog.com/2008/12/19/christmas-thoughts-a-silent-and-holy-night/ http://www.petsgardenblog.com/2008/12/19/christmas-thoughts-a-silent-and-holy-night/#comments Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:16:00 +0000 pet http://www.petsgardenblog.com/?p=1376 By Dan Bode

It was indeed a Silent and Holy night.

There was little left to do but watch. The animals had long since fallen asleep. The small town activities had for the most part ceased, and those who still escaped the realm of dreams were oblivious to the occasion to which they were not witness. Most were merely puzzled by the Star never seen before even though it seemed to hover right over this little town of Bethlehem, a town whose very existence was based on the industry of providing sacrificial lambs for the temple in Jerusalem.

The only sounds were the moans of a young, soon-to-be mother in the final hours of a labor that had begun in the Garden so long ago. The will of her body was overcome by the need of the moment as contraction after contraction contorted her features with pain. But she had known this was out of her control from the moment she became aware of His presence.

The only other person aware of the import of this moment is the man at her side. The one on whose shoulders fall the responsibility of helping to bring into this world He who will be the Flesh of God.

All the questions that race through their minds are pushed aside as the symphony of the birthing process reaches its crescendo, and suddenly the Life of Man is Present in this world.

I find myself envious of their perspective. They were there at the beginning, and all they knew of the child at that moment was the name of His Father and His role as Savior of the world. They could take joy in the grasping hands and the baby’s laughter.

I, on the other hand, have the historical perspective as well.

I can look back at His birth, and look back at His death as well.

And there lies the difference..

I cannot see the newborn babe without the grown man on the cross.

I cannot see the grasping hands without the nails piercing His flesh.

I cannot see the smooth brow without the thorns.

What I can see is the mercy of our maker.

Some would say we deserve only His pity for what we’ve done with what He’s given us, but pity is merely mercy without action, and God can never be described as complacent.

He has always been active in His love for us, even undeserving as we are. And because of all this I will always see the whole life of Christ as the Great Substitution. Completely undeserved.

Undeserved by Christ for suffering penalties not meant for Him.

Undeserved by me for being unable to make the necessary sacrifice.

It took so long for me to discover that I truly needed a Savior.

And so I sit as the world goes by around me; almost everyone once again oblivious to the occasion to which they are not witness.

So, into this Silent and Holy Night I have these three things to say:

God have mercy.

Joy to the world when you recognize your Lord.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

————————

Copyright 2002 Dan Bode ( http://www.thoughts-of-dan.blogspot.com ).

Click for full sized photo.

For more photo Friday challenges, visit Photo Friday.

“Whenever God Closes One Door He Always Opens Another, Even Though Sometimes It’s Hell in the Hallway.”

Seems appropriate..