Small 'weapon' makes big difference in war on famine

The news coming out of Africa is always gut wrenching. Famines and wars, wars and famines. There is such a humanitarian crisis in Somalia at present that it's hard to comprehend the level of suffering. Here is a bit of hopeful news (click on link for full article):

Small 'weapon' makes big difference in war on famine:

"SOMETIMES survival can be a simple equation. The difference between life and death for a frail child in Somalia can come down to being fed a peanut-based paste that costs less than 40 cents a serve.

Plumpy'nut - each sachet of the nutritional supplement weighs only 92 grams - is Red Cross aid worker Hilary Floate's not-so-secret weapon in the war on famine. And amid a litany of bad news from the East African drought and conflict zone, it is good news everyone can relish. ..."

Related articles

• VIDEO: On the frontline of Somalia's famine (bbc.co.uk)
• Pope urges end to 'indifference' over Somalia famine (telegraph.co.uk)
• Bono Discusses Relief Efforts With Local Somalis Before U2 Show In Minn. (huffingtonpost.com)

John Stott Has Died

John Stott Has Died | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction:

"John Stott died today at 3:15 London time (about 9:15 a.m. CST), according to John Stott Ministries President Benjamin Homan. Homan said that Stott's death came after complications related to old age and that he has been in discomfort for the last several weeks. Family and close friends gathered with Stott today as they listened to Handel's Messiah. Homan said that John Stott Ministries has been preparing for his death for the past 15 years. 'I think he set an impeccable example for leaders of ministries of handing things over to other leaders,' Homan said. 'He imparted to many a love for the global church and imparted a passion for biblical fidelity and a love for the Savior.' Billy Graham's spokesperson released the following statement from the evangelist: 'The evangelical world has lost one of its greatest spokesmen, and I have lost one of my close personal friends and advisors. I look forward to seeing him again when I go to Heaven.'"

John Stott had a great impact on my early Christian life. I purchased many of his books and found them both challenging and encouraging in my life with Jesus. I had not realised he was still alive till the other day and now I find that he's gone home to Jesus. I'm glad for him.

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• Evangelical Leader the Rev. John Stott Dies at 90 (foxnews.com)
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A couple of his books:

Old cottage @ Jembaicumbene, NSW - photo art

Old cottage @ Jembaicumbene, NSW - photo art, a photo by bhojman on Flickr.

I pass this old cottage each time I go into Braidwood to check my mail or to shop. It's old and it's abandoned yet there's something very appealing about it. I often wonder about the people who used to live there and the stories they could tell.,
I've stopped to photograph it many times. Lately I've been experimenting on my photos using some of my computer art programs, especially one called Dynamic Auto Painter (DAP). The computer is my canvas and this is something I like to do. I quite like this particular result.
Recently someone has begun a restoration project on the cottage. I hope they retain something of the its character.

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, a photo by bhojman on Flickr.

I was up in Sydney this past weekend and was very delighted to see a small flock of black cockatoos in my friends' trees. These cockatoos are not often seen around Sydney. I see them more down my way in the Southern Tablelands. The flock allowed me to creep quite close and take plenty of photos... a satisfying experience! They stopped all their screeching and watched me closely but stayed put in the tree.

Winter woes...

It's winter down here in Australia... and it's cold, of course. The last few days have been extremely windy. In fact, Sydney and the Blue Mountains just west of Sydney have been battered by gale force winds. Stately old trees have succumbed to the fierceness of the winds, houses have shuddered and shook and some roofs have come off. It's none too pleasant to go outside.
On Tuesday I drove down from Sydney back to my little house in the Southern Tablelands. My car was loaded down which helped me stay on the road. As it was my arms got very weary just steering and keeping on the road. The winds were blowing from the side and at time they were very fierce. After leaving Goulburn I sadly noticed a lot of trees had come down though none blocked the road.
I was very glad to finally arrive home. The wind was way too strong to even think about unpacking the car. It wasn't quite as cold as predicted but still cold enough in the wind. The house shuddered and shook, the chimney whistled, and I was glad to go to bed where I could be cosy and warm secure from the the wind.
My muscles are all aching today. Maybe that's from all my rushing yesterday--unpacking the car early in the morning before the winds picked up again, splitting wood and carting it to my woodbox at the house, battling to get the wood fire to light and stay alight, watering my plants, and entertaining visitors, etc. I'm sore!
The forecast says that really cold weather is coming...

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Why one look will put the fear of god into you

Well, it looks as if the eyes have it! Have you experienced the unnerving sensation of feeling like you're being watched by a portrait? Such as the Mona Lisa? Or my great great grandfather who's portrait looks as if he's watching your every move no matter where you are in the room?
Then, of course, how many of us are able to look someone in the eye when we've done wrong? As a child could you look your mum in the eye when you'd told a lie? I couldn't. Mum's eyes on me really put the fear of God into me!
Now science has set about to prove it!!

Why one look will put the fear of god into you: "DOES it feel like you're being watched all the time?
An image of a pair of eyes is all it takes to make people more honest or judge the behaviour of others more harshly, research shows.
The effect may help explain why widespread belief in an omnipresent god has evolved.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Pierrick Bourrat, a philosophy research student at the University of Sydney, and his colleagues presented more than 90 people with two stories of moral transgressions - keeping money found in a lost wallet, and faking a resume. Half were given the stories on a piece of paper with eyes on it, and the other half saw an image of a flower." ... [read on]

MI6 hackers hit terrorist website with cupcakes

Image via Wikipedia

Here's one for the record books! Make cupcakes not bombs ...

MI6 hackers hit terrorist website with cupcakes:
"British intelligence has hacked into an al-Qaeda online magazine and replaced bomb-making instructions with a recipe for cupcakes."

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What to do with trouble?

When trouble comes our way, what do we do? Depend on God and look to him to help us in the midst of the trouble? Blame him or someone else? Have a pity-party? I've just started another study on Job and am reminded yet again that the why's of our sufferings are known only to God... and only as we trust him for who he is can we hope to make sense of anything. I thought this little snippet from Paul is helpful. It comes from Reading for Today:

“…  But that happened so that we would not depend on ourselves but on God. He raises the dead to life.”   2 Corinthians 1:9 NIRV 

Anything that causes us to turn to God and lean harder on Him is an asset, not a liability. It's when we lose a job, a marriage, a loved one, our health or our peace of mind that we can turn to God and discover what He can do.

And, for inspirational daily messages, check out www.thewordfortoday.com.au

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God's character building

"We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation."  Romans 5:3,4

God uses tough times like a refining process to bring out the best in us. He controls the heat, because His goal isn't to destroy us but to develop us. Gold only becomes valuable when the impurities have been removed in the fire!

from Daily Readings

Books from Amazon

William Young found dead at his Chiang Mai home

News just to hand tells of the death of Bill Young, a son of missionaries, and a former CIA operative in SEAsia.
CIA hitman William Young found dead at his Chiang Mai home

I knew of Bill when I lived and worked in Chiang Mai. The story of the circumstances of his death have saddened me. Unfortunately, this story focuses on the negatives of his life, and this too saddens me as there is a lot more to his life than is reported. Also, we can never know the heart of another person no matter how good or bad their lives may look to us. What I do know is that depression can strike the strongest of us and drive us to the brink of despair, which seems to be be what's happened to Bill.

I pray God's mercy on his soul, comfort for his family, and that God would bring great good from his life and times amongst the Lahu and other hilltribes folk of SEAsia.

Also check out the New York Times article: William Young...

Close call

Yesterday morning I had a close call and it seriously rattled my body... and it's still rattled.
The Majors Creek bridge will be closed for repairs March 7-April 15 and the detour will go around a back way to the nearby town of Braidwood. The detour is considerably longer and much of it on dirt road. Since I'm fairly new to the area and had not been along the road I  decided to drive to Braidwood via the detour to see how it was and how long it took.
The dirt road is good except for one patch where the gravel is very small, very round and, as I found, very dangerous. I was not going fast and did not touch the brakes but my car suddenly spun out of control sliding all over the road. I was sure I was going to roll, my mind went blank on what to do, and there seemed no way to stop the car... it slid for about 100 mts slewing all over the road before spinning sideways and then doing a 180 degree turn before finally coming to a stop on some different sort of gravel. Needless to say I was very shaken!
Another car coming in the opposite direction stopped to check if I was alright. Their car also slid as it came to a stop. I was very grateful for their kindness, and thankful that they were not a few seconds earlier or we would have collided. They warned me of another patch of the same gravel a bit further on.
I'm convinced that God sent angels to stop my car, and that he protected me from something far worse. There seems to be at least 1km of this slippery gravel... it wasn't easy to walk on it either. I've named it "ball bearing" gravel... very unstable and slippery.
I'm planning to write to the local council about it. It seems too dangerous to be pushing all traffic along this road for 5 weeks.
I am so very grateful for God's care of me. This event had underscored the fact that I have the wrong sort of car for the country... too light, only front wheel drive, not enough oomph... and, after yesterday morning's experience too dangerous for dirt roads.

Five life-changing questions

Some questions to ponder. I don't know about you but I often lose sight of the answers and find I'm anxious when I needn't be. We do need to allow God to work his good things in our hearts and minds.
This comes from The Word for Today which often has some good things to think about. (I've made the 5 questions into separate paragraphs for reading ease.

Friday, 28 January 2011 00:00
'Nothing can ever separate us from His love.' Romans 8:38 NLT
Paul asks five life-changing questions you'd do well to think about:
(1) 'If God is for us, who can ever be against us?' (Romans 8:31 NLT) The presence of God tilts the scales forever in our direction. Really, who can hurt us?
(2) 'Since God did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won't God... also give us everything else?' (Romans 8:32 NLT) Would God save our souls then leave us to fend for ourselves? Would He address our eternal needs and ignore our earthly ones? Of course not!
(3) 'Who dares accuse us...? Will God? No! He is the one who has given us right standing with Himself.' (Romans 8:33 NLT) Every voice that accuses you, including your own, means nothing in the court of Heaven. God's acceptance trumps man's rejection.
(4) 'Who then will condemn us?... the One who died for us... is sitting at the place of highest honour next to God, pleading for us.' (Romans 8:34 NLT) Let your accusers rise up and speak against you. Jesus, your defence attorney, silences them. Why? Because His grace covers you.
(5) 'Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love?' (Romans 8:35 NLT) Paul answers his own question: 'Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away...nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.' (Romans 8:38-39 NLT) Isn't that great?
SoulFood: Ecc 1-4, Luke 6:27-36, Ps 107:1-9, Pr 3:13-18

via The Word for Today.

More on old age...

In Christianity Today is an Q & A article of an interview with Billy Graham on Aging, Regrets, and Evangelicals. Among other things he says:

What advice would you give to people who are aging?
First, accept it as part of God's plan for your life, and thank him every day for the gift of that day. We've come to look on old age as something to be dreaded—and it's true that it isn't easy. I can't honestly say that I like being old—not being able to do most of the things I used to do, for example, and being more dependent on others, and facing physical challenges that I know will only get worse. Old age can be a lonely time also—children scattered, spouse and friends gone.
But God has a reason for keeping us here (even if we don't always understand it), and we need to recover the Bible's understanding of life and longevity as gifts from God—and therefore as something good. Several times the Bible mentions people who died "at a good old age"—an interesting phrase (emphasis added). So part of my advice is to learn to be content, and that only comes as we accept each day as a gift from God and commit it into his hands. Paul's words are true at every stage of life, but especially as we grow older: "Godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Timothy 6:6).
The other piece of advice I'd give is the other side of the coin, so to speak. It's this: As we grow older we should focus not only on the present, but more and more on Heaven. This world, with all of its pains and sorrows and burdens, isn't our final home. If we know Christ, we know we have "an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4). I know it won't be long before I'll be going there, and I look forward to that day. Heaven gives us hope, and makes our present burdens easier to bear.

I thought his take on old age worth repeating here. I hope it encourages you.
(via Q & A: Billy Graham on Aging, Regrets, and Evangelicals | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction.)

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Old Age

“Good people will prosper like palm trees, grow tall like Lebanon cedars; transplanted to God’s courtyard, they’ll grow tall in the presence of God, lithe and green, virile still in old age.” Psalm 92: 12-14 MSG
We can produce our greatest harvest of fruit in our final years. When the sun goes down the stars come out – we can shine brightest in the closing chapters of our life. So why not live right up till the moment you die?

Old age is not a disease that needs healing but rather a normal progression of our life. God has promised that we will still be fruitful in old age (if we allow it). Are we able to live with that promise? Or, do we like so many, try (vainly) to avoid the inevitable and so waste our energies on fretting about what’s happening to us, attempt to turn back the clock, or use some other denial strategy.
God has good things for us in old age! It's time to grab hold of the promises of God about this, and though we might not be able to run, we can surely walk with a firm step and go for all God has for us!

Sun and salvation make a divine holiday...

Here's a story that brings back wonderful memories:
Sun and salvation make a divine holiday for fun-seeking souls.
When I was in my late teens and early twenties I was part of a team that did the same sort of thing -- we camped at Scotts Head, one of the beaches in northern NSW and had special programs for kids and parents. Back then we called them Beach Missions. There were loads of different activities for kids of all ages... lots of laughter, exhausting games, and time for significant conversation. Somewhere in all my stored stuff I have photos and slides of those days. One day I'll find them and post some of the memories of those days.
One vivid memory from one year is of a cyclone that hit right in the middle of the mission... wild winds, wild rain, and a wild time trying to keep the tents from blowing away. Nobody got much sleep, and no one was injured. Everything was wet through!

Maoist hotbed Bastar gets 3G coverage

I worked in Bastar many long years ago. At that time facilities for communication were very limited: telephone (if you were lucky and persisted long enough), telegrams (which might or might go through) and the post. The village where I worked was just one mile from the main highway between Jagdalpur and Raipur, and had no electricity.
Now along with all the troubles the area has been having from the Maoists (Naxalites) there have been great strides in the development of infrastructure which we so take for granted. I am amazed today to read that area now has 3G coverage:
Maoist hotbed Bastar gets 3G coverage
I suppose I would not recognise the place now. I assume the village has electricity and other miscellaneous facilities such as telephones, mobile phones and internet. It's quite a mind stretching exercise to think about. While I'm glad that my friends there have improved facilities I am also distressed that they have suffered over many years from the disruptions caused by the Naxalites.

Our Deep Ache...

"Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His footstool ...." Psalm 99:5 NKJV
We live in a cynical age that discourages wonder, marvel and awe, yet deep down we still ache for it. God created us so that when we experience something awe-inspiring we need to praise it, to wrap words around it. Let's worship God – not because He needs it, but because we do!
For an inspirational daily message, go to www.thewordfortoday.com.au
The Reading for Today is available at dailyreadings.net

Memory damage reversed in mice

Memory damage reversed in mice
Interesting article! Those who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis less likely to suffer from Alzheimers! That's got to be a plus for them given the amount of pain they have to live with day by day.
If this discovery does prove to help those who suffer from Alzheimers then I say it can't come quick enough. What a wonderful thought that maybe even the damage could be reversed. The slow decline of a loved one is so hard to watch. It's confusing and wrought with great pain for the one whose mind is going, and even more painful for those who can only stand by and feel so helpless.

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Meet Sally, still working at 101

Now this is a story I like to read. Here this lady is 101 and still working. She looks way younger than her 101 years. I'm sure there aren't many older people out there who are as active as she is. And, she's been named as America's Outstanding Oldest Worker for 2010. Good for her. I hope I'm as good at her age, if I live that long!

Meet Sally, still working at 101

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Chhattisgarh airlifting doctors to diarrhoea-hit areas

Chhattisgarh airlifting doctors to diarrhoea-hit areas

I spent many years working in this area of India back in the late 60's and 70's. It is a place that's dear to my heart. The troubles that Chhattisgarh has been experiencing over these past decades with the Maoists / Naxalites has been most distressing for me to read about. I often wonder what has happened to those who became such dear friends. There was no postal service when I was there, nor in the the years following so I have been unable to keep abreast of their lives; and, I don't even know if they are still alive. All I can do is pray for them, and trust them into God's loving care.
Now these dear people are yet again being hit with disease and sickness. One a my precious language helpers died from cerebral malaria when he was about 20. It was an awful thing. One minute a joyous young man in the prime of his manhood, and the next gone with that dreadful disease.
It all comes back to me as I read this piece of news from the area.
I went to Bastar District in order to do language research in preparation for Bible translation. I, and my colleague, was able to make significant headway in language learning and analysis. Sadly, our work was cut short and we had to leave. I was only able to translate a small portion from the life of Christ. I left copies of this with those who'd been helping me. I don't know what impact it may have had in their lives. They were very attracted to Jesus because he had power over nature and over demons. This impressed them very much. God alone knows what their heart response to Jesus was. It's a grief that I've had to hand over and leave with God. He is more than well able to sort all these things out.

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