...thoughts expressed here are not necessarily final.


Author Iris Chang Found Dead in California

Iris Chang, a best-selling author who chronicled the Japanese occupation of China and the history of Chinese immigrants in the United States, was found dead in her car of a self-inflicted gunshot, authorities said Wednesday. She was 36.
Chang, who won critical acclaim for her books "The Rape of Nanking" and "The Chinese in America," was found along Highway 17 just south of Los Gatos, Santa Clara County authorities said. On Tuesday morning, a motorist noticed her car parked on a side road, checked the vehicle and called police.

One friend observed that she was so depressed from the focus on her work highlighting the atrocities of torture and abominable evil of human to human, she gave up on life.

Hear the story on NPR

November 11, 2004 Fetal Footprint

this image has been circulating on the internet- it has not been identified as an urban legend- yet- check out

http://www.snopes.com/photos/arts/footprint.asp

Liquid Church

"In his book 'Liquid Church' missions consultant Pete Ward states that the Church must be like water - flexible, fluid and changeable, so it can embrace the liquid nature of culture. He urges his readers to move away from the traditional notion of church as a gathering of people meeting in one place at one time to the dynamic notion of church as a series of relationships and communications. In the Liquid Church, membership is determined by participation and involvement. Liquid Church is continually on the move, flowing in response to the Spirit and the gospel of Jesus, the imagination and creativity of its leaders, and the choices and experiences of its worshippers."

My take- the church is built on a Rock- it is laid on the immovable and sure foundation that never shifts. The metaphor of being all things to all men doean't seem to fit this notion. The fountain flows from the Rock. the flow goes where it will, but the rock never shifts- maybe we all need to learn this together?

The Seven Wonders ...

A group of students were asked to list what they thought were the present day 'Seven Wonders of the World.' Though there were some disagreements, the following received the most votes: 1. Egypt's Great Pyramids 2. Taj Mahal 3. Grand Canyon 4. Panama Canal 5.Empire State Building 6. St. Peter's Basilica 7. China's Great Wall While gathering the votes, the teacher noticed that one student had not finished her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied,"Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many." The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have and maybe we can help."

The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the 'Seven Wonders of the World' are: 1. To See 2. To Hear 3. To Touch 4. To Taste 5. To Feel 6. To Laugh 7. To Love .... The room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. The things we overlook as simple and ordinary and that we take for granted are truly wonderous! A gentle reminder... that the most precious things in life cannot be built by hand or be bought by man.

Found at http://sunfields.blogs.com/ 5.50 a month for a gig of storage space!

1966 messages. That's the total generated on the free Barnes and Noble site that hosted the C. S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia Great Books course taught by Bruce Edwards. There was great participation from many of the 350 people who signed up for the course. I am sure the course will continue to be a favorite among Narniaphiles.

You won't find Lewis mentioned on the National Public Radio site- check it out...

Philip Pullman hates Lewis- check out this site with great links on Pullman versus Lewis at http://www.focus.org.uk/lewis.htm

Born Again Christians Were a Significant Factor in President Bush's Re-Election

November 9, 2004 (Ventura, CA) -

Most of President Bush's supporters did at least two things during the first week of November: they voted to re-elect the President and they went to church. The acclaimed "values voters" turned out in huge numbers on Election Day to support the incumbent and thereby prevent a replay of the 2000 cliffhanger outcome. Had it not been for the unusually high turnout among voters driven by religious convictions, the results might have been different, according to a new nationwide survey by The Barna Group.

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Clooney's Commandments

According to Variety, George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh are producing a 10-hour project for FX that will explore spiritual and moral issues surrounding the Ten Commandments. The project will be set in modern times, and each one-hour episode will be helmed by a different director, TV Guide reports

http://www.tvguide.com/news/entertainment/041111.asp#D

Prof Fired for Conservative Views Seeks Damages, Reinstatement

Jim Brown and Jenni Parker, AgapePress

A former professor at a New York community college claims he was fired because of his conservative political and religious beliefs. Dr. Michael Filozof has filed a First Amendment lawsuit against Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York, alleging liberal members of the school's Political Science Department waged a campaign of harassment and ridicule against him. According to Filozof's representative, attorney Nelson Thomas, his client's support of President George W. Bush and the Iraq War sealed his fate. The lawyer says the official argument that the school gave for letting the instructor go "was that he was not a good citizen and he was philosophically conservative." Meanwhile, Thomas says, "In the evaluations that he received from the college -- even the ones in which he was terminated -- they went through what a wonderful teacher he was, how well respected he was by all members of the student body, including Democratic students in his class." However, the attorney notes that the otherwise widespread appreciation of Filozof was not shared by the political science department at Monroe Community College, which he says clearly does not value ideological diversity in earnest. The former MCC faculty member alleges his constitutional rights were violated. Thomas is seeking all damages available to Filozof, including his lost wages, and is asking the court to order that his client be reinstated at the college.

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Sierra Leone: A Village Called "There Is No God"

Christian Aid

When native missionaries in Sierra Leone were searching out areas in need of the gospel, they came across a rural village whose name, when translated, means "there is no God." Stricken by the hopelessness such a name implies, they immediately made plans to take the message of Christ to this isolated community. The village is in a northern province of Sierra Leone that has become an Islamic stronghold. Those who are not Muslims practice occultism, consulting juju gods and living in constant fear of evil spirits. This particular village was known throughout its district for its terrible name. Native missionaries visited the village to build relationships with the chief and elders. God blessed them with favor, and chiefs gave the missionaries permission to start gospel work. Missionaries are using a holistic approach to evangelism, bringing physical aid to this poverty- stricken community in the name of Christ, thus opening people's hearts to His truth. The community has asked the missionaries to take over the village school, which was suffering desperately from lack of leadership. Now, the new generation in a village called "there is no God" will hear His gospel. The missionaries face many obstacles in their work. Native gospel workers are determined to give this village a new name by the power of Christ.

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There is a way that seemeth right to a Man

A Portuguese shepherd took up arms in despair after he bartered 15 goats and 2,500 euros (3,000 dollars) in exchange for a young new wife, who never turned up, a newspaper reported.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1220427/posts

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No Brainer: Reverse Mentoring

When CEO Jack Welch of General Electric realized that GE was falling far behind other companies in its use of the Internet as a business tool, he knew he needed help. But who could he ask? Welch himself rarely surfed the Web, finding it overwhelming, but he realized that understanding and embracing online technology was critical to GE's long-term success. To catch up, Welch instituted a 'reverse mentoring' program at GE. He required more than 500 of his top executives to find a younger, tech-savvy 'web mentor' to teach them how to use the web and understand e-business. Emerging implications for church leaders: what if seasoned ministry leaders followed such an example and used reverse mentoring to gain understanding of the emerging culture? "As postmodern thought continues to permeate our culture, church leaders would be wise to become fluent in the language of the emergent conversation," says columnist Angie Ward of Leadership Journal. "The best way to do this is to become a willing and intentional student of the culture, to become the humble protege instead of the "mentor."

That's one of the issues I have with the whole concept of mentoring- the biblical model of discipleship places old and young alike together at the feet off Christ to be taught by the Holy Spirit. Baptists in particular have embraced a syncretistic mentoring mania which advances ideas that solidify false hierarchies in opposition to Biblical concerns.

The idea of one anotherness- allelon- demands we learn from and are accountable to each other in a synergystic body of believers who have vital interrelationships based on our unity and identification IN One Lord, One Faith and One baptism. Mentoring is borrowed from a world view that is distinctly capitalist and only overlaps Christian principles in select areas.

November 11, 2004 I am back...

from the CIT conference at League for Innovation in Tampa where i presented twice. It was an interesting experience and helpful in that Iwas able to get up to speed on where Macromedia and Adobe are going in regard to education. The sessions I attended were not so helpful- we are ahead of what many are doing. I will be putting together a clearinghouse of info for dissemination to the campus at large.

My spam is at over 1000 after the 5 day trip even with deleting several hundred at the conference. I learned about the next internet telephony communications nemesis at the conference : "SPIT"

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996445

Things got rather interesting as we decided it was a good time for Earnie to visit friends and particularly those who pray for us in Dallas as we go into this next faith venture withy Seminary. After the Amtrack trek turned into a 20 hour wait-fest I procured a ticket from Southwest so we could rendezvous in St. Louis.

Earnie got in at 6:30 from Dallas and I landed at 7:10 but it took 45 minutes to get my luggage, 20 minutes to find Earnie, and hour to ride the metrolink to our car and then after we went to Amtrack to pick up Earnie's car we go home about 10:30. So the logistics on the ground after the flight took longer than the 2.25 hour flight from Tampa to St. Louis. So 2 hours 15 minutes from the gulf coast to St. Louis and then three and a quarter hours or so to get from the airport home.

Missy was at her doggie hotel- Doggone Kennels where they know and love her. She is up to just over 50 pounds this trip so it was 8 dollars a night- a real bargain too. She gets to go on a diet with her masters. She was ready to come home this morning- I picked her up in the rain just before I came to work.

I am at work today doing paperwork but will take off tomorrow as Earnie will be going in for her Ma Smith shift Saturday. Pray it won't be for more than a week or so.

Mr. Uncredible-->

The Incredibles

I caught The Incredibles Saturday night after getting settled in for the convention. It was Incredible!

These animated characters had more depth than most of the the flesh and blood ones Ihave seen on film lately. I laughred, I nearly cried- there were themes of redemption and lessons learned throughout the plot.

The characters are loosely reminiscent of a Fantastic Four with powers swapped around- remember Mr Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Thing, Human Torch?... but much funnier, as the main character is dealing with a middle-age crisis that is more dangerous than the villains he has encountered.

The plot follows the misadventures of a family of former superheroes rediscovering the true source of their powers -- in one another. Mr. Incredible (Bob Paar) fought evil and saved lives on a daily basis until he started getting sued for trouble and was forced into retirement by the government. Fifteen years later, he and his wife Helen (the former Elastigirl) struggle to maintain "normal" civilian identities and have been relocated to the burbs by the government.

Bob now fights boredom in his job and a bulging waistline while reminiscing and eventally moonlighting as a covert superhero. Brad Bird is a GREAT storyteller, and ultimately that is what it takes to make a great movie.

 

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From the personal weblog of Anthony Foster @http://anthonyfoster.com/blog/