Introducing Kasama!

One of the elements of my life that I have regretted continually over the past several years has been the absence of a pet--specifically a dog. Increasingly as bw and I move through our daily and weekly activities, we have noticed the dogs around. It rarely mattered what kind of dog, whether pure-breed or mutt, whether gigantic or medium size (not too much into lap-dogs or wannabe's). As long as it was a dog, we noticed him/her and I felt a healthy jealousy (yes, there is such a thing).

Well, over the past 2 weekends we have driven to The Dalles 3 times, to the animal shelter there called "Home at Last." The first trip, on a Friday, proved futile because the dogs we were interested in were both being kept in foster homes. But they would be returned for their Saturday, weekly "adopt a pet" event. So we returned the following day and walked both "Coolio" and "Joey." We decided to adopt "Joey" and arranged for his final shots and micro-chip and that we would get him the following Sat, which was over this past weekend.





Well, the next problem or concern was to find a new name for him. We did not want "Joey" to get confused in any sense of the term with our son Joseph/Joe. So I asked bw to think of some words from Tagalog that would include the "s", "t", and/or "k" sounds. Finally we settled on "Kasama." And here are some pics of the newest member of our family:

No, he's not very big. But he is definitely a dog and too big to be a lap dog. :)

Yes, I can see that the ears (and tail) have been docked. I hate the practice! We did it years ago to our doberman, Gabe, and I vowed never to do it again. But Kasama came this way. And we like him the way he is. :)

He was listed as "Rat Terrier/mix." They explained that virtually all the dogs they get at the shelter come without papers; so they have to list them as "mix." So we don't know if he is pure Rat Terrier or actually mix. But at least he is mostly Rat Terrier (cousin to Jack Russell Terrier). As with other Terriers, this breed can be hyperactive and not condusive to condo life. But I also read that RTs easily adapt to the lifestyle of their home. And Kasama seems to be doing so already: Sometimes playing and other times (such as when we are relaxing) going easily to his bed and catching some z's!

"Yes, Kasama, one of us does need to go on a diet!"

So you want to know what the name means? :)

"Kasama" means "Companion!"

Pics from Jordan, Palestine and Israel

Number 1 son (i.e., first born) recently returned from a trip to Jordan, Palestine and Israel. Not sure how much of Palestine he saw. But he was at least in Bethlehem and crossed the Jordan River.

Anyway, I said that to say this: If you care to check out his slide show of pics he took, you can click on this link. It's a long slide show (353pics). And he gives no notations to tell us where the pic is or what we are looking at. Still I enjoyed it--especially 50 or so pics of Petra!

Well, enjoy!

ttfn

What would it look like?

Hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis... Floods, famines, locusts... Wars, revolutions, civil wars... Senseless murders (redundant?), rape, gang warfare

Our home study group, progressing through Revelation, studied chapter 6 last night. To save you having to look it up: This chapter deals with the first 6 (out of 7) seals, specifically the 4 horsemen, plus the plea from the martyrs (5th) and the promised vindication (6th seal).

Along the way we got to talking about drought and famine. Southeast US continues its struggle with drought. Meanwhile the Pacific NW, while not as dry as the former, has endured a number of years of below average precip. And intermixed with these come floods, sometimes right in the area of a drought. Nature has gone or is going whacko!

Part of me rationalizes this as all part of the cycle of nature: Droughts come and they go; Famine comes and goes; plagues come and go; etc., et.c And in a sense that is true.

But it is not Biblical to write it all off as just a cycle of nature. And I believe it is inconsistent with the tradition of Christian and Old Testament believers to dismiss it all as the ways of nature.

Instead, I tend to stand with what I understand to be the position of the OT prophets: To wit, These nature-caused and human-caused events are God's way of calling his people back to him. They are also his way of trying to get the attention of societies that ignore him.

While we talked about this last night, I reverted to what is starting to become a pet theme for me: The growing burden I sense over God's promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14...

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

At some point a few months back, it suddenly occurred to me: This promise is directed to me and to all the other people who call themselves by the name of Christ. I've heard people pray that God would call our nation to repentance so that God could heal the land. Certainly the nation needs to repent. But this promise is not given to a secular nation. It was given to a people inseparably linked to the name and reputation of God.

By extension, we followers of Christ have embraced the promise for us as well. But to embrace the promise is also to embrace the conditions. In other words, if I/we long to see our nation healed... If we yearn to see the violence in our society fade away... If we ache to see natural calamities ebb... Then we must meet certain conditions:

Condition 1: Humble ourselves.

Condition 2: Pray.

Condition 3: Seek God's face (how is that different from prayer?).

Condition 4: Turn from our wicked ways.

So that leads me to the question in the subject line of this post: What would that look like?

What would it look like if we followers of Christ humbled ourselves?

What would it look like if we followers of Christ prayed?

What would it look like if we followers of Christ sought God's face?

What would it look like if we followers of Christ turned from our wicked ways?

And what effect would that have on the world around us?

I have a few unborn ideas. What do you think?

ttfn

Atheism rebutted

I just read an article I enjoyed very much. It reviews a book by Dinesh D'Souza. The book responds to "New Atheist" diatribes. I think you will appreciate the article. You may even be tempted to buy the book!

Let me know what you think about the article. Thanks!

ttfn

Take a Quiz!

When I initially read and took this quiz from Christianity Today, I thought it was for professional Christians. Well, I could go on about that very term, but you know what I mean: Preachers, pastors, and people who get paid to be good. But it occurred to me afterward that it might also be of interest to those who are not paid to be good, the lay person.

It is called "The Hermeneutics Quiz." Now don't let the long word scare you. Hermeneutics simply refers to the principles by which we interpret the Bible. That is why I thought it might be of interest to any follower of Christ: How do you interpret the Bible? You say you take it all literally? Even the part about the steel ax floating in the river? Even the part about stoning anyone caught in adultery? Even the part about the Sabbath (seventh day) being an everlasting covenant?

Well, this short quiz (only 20 questions) will help you sort out your approach to interpreting the Bible.

After you take the quiz, would you be so kind as to give a comment to this page indicating your score? It's just for my curiosity. If you prefer, you can leave your score comment anonymously.

I hope you will take the quiz and if you do, I think you will enjoy it!

ttfn

P.S.: Per Sara's request, which I should have thought of before: My score was 66, which makes me a "liberal" in our current denomination. LOL