This looks like great fodder for a conspiracy theory or at least a SF story. Moon rocks are disappearing all over the planet. Scientists cannot find 5 moon rocks that were given to the state of Hawaii:
Toy Story and Toy Story 2 have this ridiculous premise that when Andy leaves his room, his toys become alive and start interacting with each other. These are technologically classic movies which my kids grew up with. They recently came out in 3-D so my family saw them again. Buzz Lightyear comes on the scene as Andy’s special birthday present toy. The problem with Buzz is that he doesn’t realize that he is a toy. Buzz thinks he is a Space Ranger who is fighting the Evil Emperor Zurg. Andy tries to explain to him that he is “only a toy”.
One of my favorite scenes is where Woody is trying to explain to Buzz that he is Andy’s favorite toy, and he shows him his foot, that has “Andy” written on it, the way a six year old would write it. Buzz then shows Woody his foot. It also has Andy written on it – but with more mature handwriting! Touche’ Buzz Lightyear!
When Buzz realizes that he is just a toy, when he sees a commercial on TV, the Space Ranger is all depressed. However, Woody explains that it is not all that bad belonging to Andy. In Toy Story II, Andy finds out that he is a rare and valuable toy and almost gets shipped to a Toy Museum. Woody changes his mind and decides it is better to be a loved toy for Andy, even though Andy will eventually grow up, and abandon his childish toys.
This is similar to us belonging to God. We are created to belong to God, and if God believes in tattoos, he would tattoo “Jesus” on the soul of our right foot, so that we could show everybody who might question that. We belong to God as children of God. Now somebody might say it would be better to be a Space Ranger and chase evil emperors across the universe, but Andy and Buzz would say:
“For a day in Andy’s bedroom is better than a thousand in a toy museum. I would rather be a toy in Andy’s house than dwell in the tent of Sid’s house.”
which is my Toy Story paraphrase of Psalm 84 which says:
“For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God than dwell in the tents of wickedness” Psalm 84:10
Scientists have believed that the moon was created before the earth had water on it – but there is an interesting data source that teaches something different – Genesis 1! Genesis clearly teaches that water was created before the moon was created.
Now lets look at what scientists have thought about the origin of the moon. I am using the wikipedia article The Giant Impact Hypothesis as my primary source. The original theory was postulated by a man by the son of Charles Darwin (child #5) – George Darwin, in 1898. He thought that the earth once was a molten ocean of rock. He believed that centrifugal forces spun off some molten rock billions of years ago. In 1946, Reginald Daly of Harvard University, argued that the moon was more likely to have been created by massive impact rather than by just centrifugal force. This would have happened 4.53 billion years ago. The name of the hypothetical planet that impacted the earth and created the moon is called Theia, named after the Greek Goddess who greek myths teach us is the mother of the moon. Studying the moon rocks that were returned by the Apollo moon missions provided evidence that the earth and moon were created at about the same time (similar oxygen isotopes). The impact of Theia and the Earth would have been hot enough and long enough for the building blocks of water, to completely vaporize.
It is nice that the moon has a lot of water on it, because water (h20) has hydrogen and oxygen it it. There is no longer any need to build a space pipeline along with the space elevator, since maybe we can convert the water into breathable oxygen, and the hydrogen into fuel!
By the way – To the Moon doesn’t know how the moon was created because he wasn’t around at the time, but he knows the One who created it!
Join us on Friday, September 25th, to meet the visionary artist Lily Yeh.
Lily’s work has taken her to communities throughout the country and world. She was a professor of painting and art history at the University of the Arts from 1968 to 1998, and was founder and executive director of the Village of Arts and Humanities from 1968 to 2004. In 2004, Yeh left the Village to pursue her work internationally and founded a new nonprofit organization, Barefoot Artists, Inc., with the mission to bring art to impoverished communities throughout the world through participatory and multifaceted projects that foster community empowerment, improve the physical environment, promote economic development, and preserve indigenous art and culture.
Lily will discuss her recent projects, including the Rwanda Healing Project, the construction of the 1994 Genocide Memorial, the transformation of a survivor’s village in the Rugero district in West Rwanda, and the Dandelion School Transformation Project. The school is situated in a polluted industrial section on the outskirts of Beijing and serves the needs of 620 children of poor immigrant workers from 24 provinces.
Nixon’s plan to make health care affordable for almost all Americans had 4 parts:
1. All employers are required to provide health insurance (and pay 75% of it) to their employees
2. Government aids to the working poor administered by private insurance (medicaid would be shut down)
3. Medicare premiums dropped (paid for by social security)
4. The self-employed would be able to buy cheaper health insurance by having insurance companies offer them group rates through insurance pools
Senator Edward Kennedy insisted that we really needed the federal government to insure every American, and the debate ended in a stale mate until President Clinton took it up again in the 1990s.
..and here is a speech that Nixon made on healthcare:
Gretchen has stomach pains and we are trying to track it down so she has been going to the doctor lots and lots. We spent last Wednesday night in the Emergency Room until 2AM – and it was awful. They sent us home, telling us she did not have appendicitis. So, tomorrow she is having her gall bladder sonagrammed to see if she has gall stones, and on Tuesday she is going to have a camera put down her throat so they can see her stomach better.
My son Ben is at Refreshing Mountain at a summer camp thing with our church. He comes back Tuesday. So, Gretchen and I are empty nesters until then!
On Tuesday, Deborah is moving in with us. She is a missionary nurse coming back from Sudan. She is full of incredibly adventurous and heart-wrenching stories.
I am going to visit Lawrence KS at the end of the month – back to my home town – to celebrate my 30th high school graduation. I will be staying in Lawrence the next week (until Sept 3), so if anybody wants to see me or invite me to their church please contact me.
Some of the adventures I have had this summer: helping Sam and Katie move to a new apartment in Brooklyn, NY. – it has a backyard with a tree in it! I went to see Bob Dylan in Allentown with Ben. I spent a day hiking in the woods by myself. I saw David Byrne at the Mann. We had a terrific house guest – a brilliant photographer, guitarist, and computer programmer, from Rome, Italy. We took him to the beach. Fireworks in Miller Park. Spencer and Hannah came and we had a home concert that was tremendous. We saw Don Quixote in Philadelphia, and Doubt at People’s Light. We went to Hershey Park and the Turks Head music festival. We saw Back To The Future at the guerilla drive in, on the top of the parking lot in West Chester, so it has been a great summer so far!
The U.S. Department of State has given the fund about $700,000 for the project, called “The Future of Babylon,” Holly Evarts, the fund’s spokeswoman, said in a phone interview. The organization is seeking more funding from other sources, she said.
“Iraqi heritage belongs to all humanity,” Samir Sumaida’ie, Iraq’s ambassador to the U.S., said in a statement. “In the immense task of caring for its world heritage, Iraq welcomes help from and collaborations with the international preservation community.”
The ancient city, founded around the 18th century B.C., has sustained damage in recent years from Saddam Hussein’s efforts to make it a tourist attraction, from looting after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 and from being used as a military base during the Iraq War.
Big G And The Cool Cats
Nixon Park
Friday, July 17, 7:30-9:30 pm. Raindate Sunday, July 19, 7:30 – 9:30 (Driving Directions)
Big G And The Cool Cats Swing Band, featuring Big George Whittam and vocalist Barbara Kovachs, promise you a great performance. The band covers a wide range of music for all generations from Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington to Earth, Wind And Fire and Brian Setzer. This talented group of musicians performs all over the tri-state area including Sunnybrook, the largest dance hall east of Chicago. The band is full of energy and George says he is determined to get his audience on their feet, dancing in the park. As leader of the band, George likes to share interesting facts with his audience. Come out, bring a guest and enjoy the show
Turks Head Festival - The bands have been announced here! The festival is on Sunday, July 19 at Everhart Park, West Chester and there will be people selling crafts, tethered hot air balloon rides, and other things to do. This looks like it will be as good as the Roots Picnic – and even better, because it is free.
They are Build a band, Flux capicator, The Hustle, lower case blues, The Sleepwells, Jim George, Chemistry Music, Phantasm, the Scatologists, Rob Deiner and Anomaly, and Spanish Blue (alternative hip hop with funk rok edge)
19 June 2009 – The number of people on the brink of starvation is set to reach a record high of 1.02 billion – or one-sixth of the global population – in 2009, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) projected today. www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=31197&Cr=hunger&Cr1
Is there not a spiritual war going on? Are not the demons using every weapon at their disposal to make the rich and spiritual blind, and to keep the poor poor and to keep people with no access to the gospel to continue to have no access to the gospel? Is not the gospel powerful? Will people not say “When were you hungry?” on judgement day?
Every believer should have a mixed financial portfolio to advance Kingdom Goals on our planet, which God has told Jesus to:
“Rule in the midst of your enemies” (Psalm 110:2)
and has given “All authority in heaven and earth” (Matt 28:18) to Jesus.
Every Christian should have money designated for the war effort. A good mixed portfolio should include both micro-loans to the world’s poor AND micro-gifts to the world’s missionaries who are preaching the gospel. This is not a situation where you give to the poor and not to the gospel or to the gospel and not to the poor. They are interlinked.
A missionary from Bangladesh recently found me on Facebook. Her name is Shiuly Baroi, and she lives in Bangladesh. I have talked to her on facebook, and she has sent me pictures and testimonies of successfully reaching college students for Christ. I believe this couple is going to reach Bangladesh with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and have decided to give them financial help.
