new links to websites

Here are some more sites you may want to visit in your spare time. I have also added a few blog sites to my sidebar links. Sharper Iron is a Christian blog site and Stephen's Untold Stories is a tech site.



At www.wordiq.com you can enter a word and do a search several ways - definitions, ebooks, articles, the web and more



You know how much I love the Canadian Brass!! This is their official site and you can find all of their CD's (no, I do not own them all yet!!) as well as published music arrangements your group can play - dvd's, books, and much more. Check it out at www.canbrass.com





The radio broadcast, Running to Win, by Dr. Irwin Lutzer - pastor of Moody Church in Chicago - can be heard at this link to www.oneplace.com/Ministries/Running_to_Win



I found a neat site for brass music this week from Lassus Publications at www.music for brass.com
They have a variety of trombone and tuba selections, as well as Brass Quartet, Quintet, and Ensemble music all available in PDF format - they do not ship your order, but you can purchase and download online from this site.



Ever wonder what the soldiers in Iraq, Afganistan, Europe and around the world get to read in the news? Here is the website for the military newspaper - Stars & Stripes - found at www.estripes.com

photo gallery

Our good friend and former youth pastor in Jacksonville, Mark Dickerson, sent some photos of his mission trip to Taiwan this summer. Here are just a few of the photos from that trip. Mark is now a youth pastor in Midland, Michigan. It has been a unique summer for missions. While our church did not go on a mission trip this summer, several of our friends did. Besides Mark, our niece, April Logan, went to the Ukraine in April for six weeks with a group from Bob Jones University. Another friend, Nathan Chancey, went to mainland China in June and July for six weeks. He went there to teach English and engineering classes. Amy Ridenour, one of our church members, just returned from teaching nursing in Saipan for the last year. It is exciting to see how the doors are opening to the spead of the gospel in these lands, even as the America is closing its schools to God and the Bible.

the Supreme Court

It looks like the Senate will be voting to approve John Roberts to the Supreme Court, maybe this week. While I am pleased that Judge Roberts appears to be a strict constructionalist, and hopefully he will not try to create laws, but interpret the law based on the constitution. I am still a little disappointed that we have not seen a "truly" conservative Christian on the bench. I would hope with the convictions that President Bush has displayed we might one day see a Baptist nominated to the court. Surely there has to be someone out there qualified. I realize that the nominee to replace Justice O'Conner will most likely be a female, and I have no problem with that. Deborah was one of the best judges in Israel's history as we can read in the Old Testament.
Judges 4:4
4And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.

You can see from the chart below that there have been very few Baptist justices in history.

Religious Affiliation of the U.S. Supreme Court
This is what the membership of the Supreme Court will be in the future, if John Roberts is confirmed by Congress. On 1 July 2005 Sandra Day O'Conner announced her retirement, which would be effective upon confirmation of her successor.
Justice Affiliation
Stephen G. Breyer Jewish
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Jewish
Anthony M. Kennedy Catholic
Antonin Scalia Catholic
David H. Souter Episcopalian
John Paul Stevens Protestant
Clarence Thomas Catholic
John Roberts Catholic







You can check out more details of past justices and their religious affiliation at
http://www.adherents.com/

Only three justices in the nation's history were Baptist:
Justice Religion
Charles E. Hughes Baptist
Howell E. Jackson Baptist
Hugo L. Black Baptist

I am not opposed to having judges of other faiths on the court, but it would be nice to see a more balanced court in regards to religious faiths. Since the majority of our nation are Protestants or Baptists, it just makes you wonder why we do not have more Baptists that could be on the court. The late Chief Justice Renquist was a Lutheran(protestant). With that said, I still do believe the Catholic justices we have are the most conservative out of the nine Supremes.

You can find more information at http://www.supremecourthistory.org/

Let's pray that President Bush will seek wisdom from God in his next selection to replace Justice O'Conner.

John Jay 1789-1795 - the first Chief Justice

JAGUARS scrapbook

Historic Main Street in Van Buren, Ark., the hometown of Jaguars rookie wide receiver Matt Jones.
KAIA LARSEN/Special


Here is an excerpt from this weeks Florida Times-Union - We read more and more about Matt Jones in the news, this week there was also a two-page spread about his high school and college days...

Jaguars rookie sensation Matt Jones is ... one laid-back Razorback

Receiver always keeps his cool, even in the stormiest situations

By BART HUBBUCH, The Times-Union

VAN BUREN, Ark. -- To this day, Matt Jones says he didn't hear the commotion or even the screams.
Tucked in his upstairs bedroom just before midnight, his 13th birthday less than an hour away, Jones was too tired to care about the winds howling outside his parents' two-story house on that April night in 1996.
Not even the crash of a bookshelf falling on his leg could jolt Jones into using the speed that would one day make him famous at the University of Arkansas and run for cover downstairs.
"I really didn't know what was going on,'' Jones recalled recently, "so I just rolled over into bed and went back to sleep. I probably would have been scared if I knew it was a tornado. But sleep sounded pretty good right about then.''
What was going on was an F3 tornado, one of the worst to hit Van Buren and Northwest Arkansas. The tornado destroyed his parents' home, along with more than 500 others, killed three people and caused an estimated $300 million in damage.
Matt Jones slept right through it. read the rest at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/092505/jag_19861276.shtml

this day in history

If you enjoy watching the History Channel like we do, you should visit their website for "this day in history" at www.historychannel.com/today/. There are eleven categories with major events taking place on the current month and date you are viewing. For example, on this date, September 25 in 1789 the Bill of Rights passed Congress (found under "General Interest") Other categories include the Civil War, the Old West, Vietnam War, Cold War, Crime, Automotive, Wall Street, Literary, World War II, and Entertainment.
Another link on this page takes you to Speeches & Videos - a multimedia guide to the past. Many video clips are available to view, such as JFK speeches about the space race, the Cuban missile crisis and much more. Still another link takes to you Maps - for example you can view the map of Alexander's Empire, 323 BC. There are hundreds of maps at this site.

cartoonist's views of the week

As you can tell from the NOAA five day forecast, Rita will be around for a few more days...

places we have been

I found this picture of the waterfalls of the Reedy River in downtown Greenville, SC. (photo posted at PeterBeninate.org) The city has recently opened a foot bridge over the river south of downtown Greenville. If you have not been there yet, add that to your plans next time you are in town. Greenville is one of the few cities that still has an "active" downtown with shops and restaurants. The Mast General Store is my other favorite place to go. Where else can you spend $15.00 on candy just because it is displayed in barrels!!

aim for the brain

I bet you forgot about the old rubik's cube - and all the hours upon hours you spent trying to get all the colors together. There are quite a few web sites devoted to the game (puzzle, toy, whatever you call it) The best one is at www.eviltron.com/modules/esp/esp.html and allows you to play with the rubik's cube on line (has music and more). Just click on a button (face) to sort the cube and then click on the cube itself to try and re-align the colors. Good luck! and don't blame me if you get in trouble at work playing this game!! Also, you might check out another site with lots of info at www.rubiks.com
Now if you want a games that really demand you think! go to www.playwithyourmind.com which has free word games, math games, typing games, mouse games, etc.

too late to leave now !!

Cindy talked to her Mom out in Nebraska last night. Sounds like all the Baggetts "got out of dodge" by yesterday except her brother, Carl. He lives northwest of Houston and is an EMT, so he will probably need to stay and work through this storm. One of the cousins, Jeremiah and family, drove to Austin, about 2 hours away, and it took them over 12 hours. Brandy and her clan went to Dallas - Kim and her family also headed north.
Tonight, Rita seems to be heading toward the Port Arthur/Beaumont area of Texas. Cindy spent some of her teen years in that area, graduating from Port Neches-Groves High School and her church was in Port Arthur. With all the refineries there, gas shortages could be the norm if there is a lot of destruction.

newseum online exhibits

About the Newseum (No, I did not mispell the word!)

The world's first interactive museum of news — the Newseum — opened in Arlington, Va., in 1997. Its mission was simple: to help the public and the news media understand one another better.

There are 20 online exhibits to view at this link http://www.newseum.org/

One you might check out the one called “Today’s Headlines” – it opens to show the front page of 48 newspapers from around the country. You can select a map view and click on the city to view the local newspaper’s headlines at this link http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/

You will find an exibiit of “Prize-winning Pulitzer Photographs” at this link http://www.newseum.org/pulitzer/

Other links found on the home page include "Holocaust: The Untold Story", "War Stories", and more. This site is worth a look.

better get gas today!!

duke basketball news

From a recent duke sports information email release:

Heralded as “America’s Sports Bible” for more than 60 years, Street & Smith's Sports Annuals is proud to announce the release of Street & Smith’s College Basketball 2005-06 Yearbook. Street & Smith’s College Basketball 2005-06 Yearbook goes on sale Sept. 27.
The annual issue is highlighted by Street & Smith’s preseason Top 25 and Street & Smith’s All-America teams. In addition, the yearbook has previews for Division II, III and the NAIA, with top 10 rankings and All-America teams. Duke is ranked No. 1 and features two players (guard J.J. Redick and forward/center Shelden Williams) on first-team All-America. The Blue Devils also have two preseason All-ACC players (Redick and Williams).

newest updates for the blog

I have updated my sidebar with links to Christian websites, other favorite websites, and Christian blog sites. These appear to be truly Christian blog sites and all three sites seem to be indirectly connected to Bob Jones students or graduates. I will add more as I can find them. One thing bloggers love to do is link to other bloggers.

***
I found this fun site with puzzles, riddles, games at www.brainbashers.com. Check it out when you have the time - math and language puzzles, pictograms, even arcade games like Pong, Asteroids and Snake Jump.
Welcome to BrainBashers™, an exciting collection of brain teasers, puzzles, riddles, games and optical illusions. With thousands of brain teasers and puzzles, over one hundred awards, BrainBashers is updated with optical illusions and games regularly and has 5 new puzzles added each week.

***
a little humor...
Life is filled with predicaments that require wisdom. Two men were hiking when they spotted a mountain lion staring at them. One froze in his tracks, but the other sat down on a log, tore off his hiking boots, pulled a pair of running shoes from his backpack and hurriedly began to put them on. "For crying out loud, you can't outrun a mountain lion!" his companion said. "I don't have to," the other shrugged. "I just have to outrun you."

***
I like to listen to John MacArthur's radio program, Grace to You, but never seem to catch it on the radio. On his web site, www.gty.org, you can click on the Listen Now section and hear today's message on line.

new beginnings - FALL

This is my favorite time of the year - the reason being that so many things in life begin in the Fall. School used to always begin after Labor Day and still does in many parts of the country. For 12 - 16 years, we have a new beginning each Fall, another chance to get it right, start over, put the past behind you, and press on. Whether it is school classes or sports or music lessons, many things we do begin this time of year.

We have music lessons at our church on two Monday nights a month, starting in the FALL. This just seems like a good time to start to learn an instrument for band, orchestra, etc. Summer vacations seem to get in the way of music lessons. I remember many summers in high school when I could not even practice, since I used a school instrument. Then when school started in the fall, I felt like I was starting all over again. I can still remember the week I started baritone horn lessons in 7th grade. My teacher was the chorus teacher, Philip Bailey, and he offered to let me play this instrument. Since the school already had an instrument, I would not have to buy one. Sounded like a good deal to me! The only problem - I thought I only needed to blow into the mouthpiece and then I could play the horn. Not knowing anything about embouchure (the correct buzzing technique), I played away, not sounding very good. It was not until my first year of college, when I took private lessons from Mr. Michelson, that I learned how to play the horn properly. It took about one semester of work to break my bad habits - one was a chin that moved up and down with every note played. So I learned that beginning right is more important that just beginning!

brass embouchure(from wikepedia.org)
While performing on a brass instrument, the sound is produced by the player buzzing his or her lips into a mouthpiece. Pitches are changed in part through altering the amount of muscular contraction in the lip formation. The performer's use of the air as well as tongue manipulation can affect how the embouchure works.




Diagram of a trumpet mouthpiece (cut-away view):

1.Inner rim diameter
2.Rim width
3.Rim contour
4.Rim Edge
5.Cup
6.Throat
7.Backbore
8.Shank

more links I have visited recently

Our revival at Victory Baptist Church was well attended this week. There were many decisions each night at church and several at the academy during the morning sessions. You can keep up with the evangelist, Will Galkin at http://www.galkins.org/default.htm. He gaduated from Northland Bible College and earned a master's degree at Bob Jones University. He and his family traveled with the Steve Pettit team for six years (you can visit that site at www.spea.org). He did not play any instrument (my first questions to him) but was the assistant evangelist in charge of teen services. He came with the Pettit team the last two times at Victory, and for the past three years he has been out on his own. He relates to the young and older folks well. We had youth night on Friday and over forty teens were there, but his message was for everyone that night. After the service, the teens were dismissed for an activity time with pizza and games. Will made it a point to speak to as many "older" people as possible, which is something you do not always see from a visiting evangelist, just thanking them for coming each night. It is good to hear one of the "young" generation of evangelists that God is using today. His messages were very timely and I believe God spoke to many people through the Word this week.



Title: Total Commitment
Author: Woodrow Kroll
Source: Lessons on Living From Joshua
Numbers 32:11-12
Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord.

Fortunately, Joshua, along with Caleb, never had such moments of uncertainty. No less than five times (Num. 32:12; Deut. 1:36; Josh. 14:8, 9, 14) the Bible says Joshua "wholly" followed the Lord. There was no hesitation, no second thoughts, no vain regrets. Instead, he gave himself to be and do all that God desired of him. His life had no room for a "maybe," or a tentative "let me think about it." Joshua's mind was made up; he would totally serve the Lord.

When it comes time to give a clear testimony for the Lord, Christians often seem to be afflicted with a bad case of the nerves. They stutter and stumble and just can't seem to "make up their minds." George Gallup, in his studies on American church life, noted that America is a nation of nominal believers, many belonging to a church but few attending. They just can't make up their minds to take a stand for the Lord.

Let's put behind us all our indecisiveness. When the opportunity comes to take a stand for Christ, whether by witnessing for Him or simply identifying with a local assembly of believers, don't hesitate. "Wholly" follow the Lord.

This is from a daily email I receive from Back to the Bible, written by Woodroll Kroll. On their website, you can sign up for a free daily email "devotional". You can read this devotional in its entirety at www.backtothebible.org/devotions/


One more thing, Cindy's Uncle Kelsea sent us this link to an interesting, thought-provoking animation feature called "4 candles" at
http://i.euniverse.com/funpages/cms_content/2529/4candles.swf

a little humor goes a long way...

Just print out this card and mark off each target of blame when you see them.
Get five in a row, and you can stop reading the hyperbolic, vitriolic press coverage for the day.

Jamestown 2007

For all you history buffs out there, there is a website available with information about the 400th anniversary of the first English settlement in America in Jamestown. (The heading and info above are from this site.) There are four main links at the top left section of the home page. The main site is found at www.jamestown1607.org and is called Windows to the New World.

One link is to a new movie being filmed called The New World. I do not know much about it, except that Hollywood can ruin a good story sometimes with all the violence and sex. Hope that is not the case this time. The other links are more interesting to if you like history:
Stories of a Nation, Visit Jamestown, and America's 400th Anniversary

Arkansas former QB Matt Jones - we call him the Duke of Hazzard

Our Arkansas family members will like to know their former University of Arkansas quarterback is becoming quite the star rookie for the JAGUARS. This excerpt below is from the local Jacksonville Times-Union - you can click on the link to read the entire article.


A dash of Slash

Jones' roles give Jaguars a dynamic new flavor

By VITO STELLINO, The Times-Union

Like a mad scientist working on a magic potion, Carl Smith was back in his laboratory Monday.
The Jaguars' first-year offensive coordinator viewed videotape of how his new unit performed during its first test drive -- Sunday's season-opening 26-14 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.
"It's just more real to us when you see the tape of our guys with our players in a real game for four quarters,'' Smith said.
The next question is how many trick plays Smith has up his sleeve for the team's new version of "Slash" -- wide receiver/quarterback/running back Matt Jones

Quarterback Byron Leftwich also likes the extra dimension that Jones brings to the offense when he lines up behind the center and Leftwich is flanked out as a receiver.
"You can't really compare him to anybody," Leftwich said. "The closest person you can compare him to is Randy [Moss]. They're different type of receivers, but I'm telling you that this guy [Jones] has got the talent that not a lot of people on this planet have.''

read the rest of the article at -
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/091305/jag_19752651.shtml

new music from the pettit team

Just found out these new recordings are available from the Steve Pettit Evangelistic Ministries. One is by a former team member, Christy Galkin. She and her husband Will ministered with the Pettit's for about six years. Will has been on his own as an evangelist for the last three years. He is leading our revival at Victory this week. We have really enjoyed his preaching of the Word. You can go on line to www.spea.org to order these cd's direct from the ministry. Other literature, sheet music, sermon tapes and cd's are also available, as well as pictures of the current team and itinerary.

Photo gallery for August

At Ryan and Laura's wedding reception - Josh and Janelle with Nathan and Eva



At our table - from right to left - Cindy, Mom, April and a friend from college



Brandon doing his "best man" duties



Ryan and Laura serve each other cake



April, Mom and Cindy getting ready to eat at Mom's birthday party

Footprints on the sands of time, Chapter 2

As you know, I have been working on the family history. Using www.genealogy.com I have a family tree set up. This is a free site and I am at a point where the tree is full - it only allows you 200 entries. I will have to purchase a program to continue this hobby, but in the meantime I did some more research on the Baggett family history. As I mentioned in the last post called "footprints...chapter 1", we have traced the Baggetts from Cindy, her dad - J.L. Baggett Jr., - her grandfather - Joel Layton Baggett Sr., - her great-grandfather Samuel Martin Baggett, all the way back to her great-great-grandfather, Silas Baggett. This is as far back as we know from the family records. I entered a search online for Silas at www.familysearch.org and possibly found the father of Silas. First, the record I found for Silas listed his last name as being spelled "Bagget". It appears the name has changed spelling from its origin in England, possibly changing from Bagot to Bagget to Baggett over time. Second, the record for Silas lists his three wives which are very similar to our records. We did not know his first wife's name, but this record shows it to be Nicey Williams, and they married in May, 1822 in Perry, AL. The second wife is listed as Fereby Williams, and they married in 1837 in Kemper, MS.(Our records list her name as Parby Williams, but this could be the same person). Now the third wife actually matches our family record, Mary Ann Mitchell, and they were married on July 22, 1861, in Jefferson, AR. This appears to be our Silas Bagget (Baggett) in our family history book. The record I found lists his birth in 1804 in North Carolina and his death on Feb 4, 1872, in Cleveland, Arkansas. It also list his father as Cyrus Bagget and the only information on Cyrus listed that he was born around 1778 in England.
I also found an interesting website - http://baggetthistory.com/home.html. I am not sure if this is the same line of Baggetts, but the information has been compiled by Maury Baggett. Make sure you check out the photo gallery.

Where do they get these names from?

Mikhail Vrubel Hamlet and Ophelia, 1883














Ophelia (character)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Ophelia is the submissive daughter of Polonius, a chief advisor to the new King Claudius, in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. She is the sister of Polonius's other child, Laertes, and is extremely loyal to her family. Her mother is not mentioned in the play. Ophelia is believed to be around 16-19 years old.

She was also Hamlet's girlfriend. Polonius uses her to try to trick Hamlet into revealing the truth about his feigned madness, having Hamlet meet her while he and Claudius are in hiding and eavesdropping. Because Hamlet is aware of this, he must play the role of the madman to the hilt. Ophelia ends up convinced that he truly is mad, and mourns him in eloquent sorrow. After Hamlet accidentally kills her father Polonius, believing him to be Claudius, Ophelia goes mad and drowns in a brook. While her grave is being dug, Hamlet finds the skull of Yorick, the court jester of his slain father.

The death of Ophelia was a popular subject in art during the nineteenth century. The most famous painting depicting her is by John Everett Millais

Tracking Ophelia - 5am forecast

News from Cowpens

Last month, we made a quick trip to SC and missed out on going to my favorite hometown restaurant - the Wagon Wheel Fish Camp in Cowpens. I just read this brief note in the Stroller column of the Spartanburg newspaper about a new dessert they serve. We will have to try this next time we are in town.

DEEP-FRIED OREOS?: They always enjoy the fish, the catfish stew and the sweet potatoes -- the traditional fare -- at the popular Wagon Wheel Fish Camp in Cowpens, so when the waitress suggested something new and far from traditional, they were a little reluctant. It was fried Oreos. "She explained that they roll Oreo cookies in funnel cake dough and fry them," tells Mr. Bramblett, now a true fried Oreo fan. "I didn't think I would like them, but we ate them all, a plate of six."

How do we solve a problem like Maria???

Looks like Maria will be no problem after all. We are thankful for that!

It is a busy week in Florida - We are watching Nate and hoping that it continues to move away from the US

We were traveling from SC to Jax on Labor Day in 1979 and we had a flat tire just about an hour from home on I-95, right during the worst of Hurricane David, which was about 60 miles away, heading north. I was driving my sister's new car, with one of those small "spare" tires. Never used one of those before, but I learned really fast! Well, it is Labor Day week and it looks like this tropical system will be dumping rain on us all week. Brings back a lot of memories!!

BJU Video gallery

Bob Jones University has added a video gallery to their web site at www.bju.edu/videos/. Now you can watch clips of various classes in the university, seminary and school of applied studies. Josh is seen as a student listening (not talking)in the video of a seminary class. The video clip of the "gold rush daze" from last spring was fun to watch, but too short! This event happens once every four years, so maybe they will add some more clips.

Hurricane Relief Efforts

My son, Josh, sent us this info today

Bob Jones University has recommended this web site for those who want to help the victims of Hurrricane Katrina. This is a Christian organization called Operation Renewed Hope and they will be working with fundamental churches that were in the devastated areas.

Footprints on the sands of time, chapter 1

The Baggett family tree goes back at least four generations. Cindy's dad, Joel Layton Baggett, Jr., who we knew as J.L., was named after her grandpa, Joel Layton (Joe) Baggett,Sr. While compiling the family history, I found that this namesake goes back to a minister, Rev. Joel Layton Baggett. Cindy's grandpa was one of fourteen children of Samuel Martin Baggett and Goldie Sarah Ruth (Royals). Samuel Martin's father and mother was Silas Baggett and third wife, Ann(Mitchell).

Silas Baggett and his first wife (name unknown to us) were natives of North Carolina. They had six children and we have no information on them. Silas married his second wife, Parby (Williams), in Mississippi and then moved to Arkansas. They settled in the woods near Rison, AR, in 1845. Of the seven children they had together, only one name is known - the Rev. Joel Layton Baggett. He was born in December, 1837, in Choctaw county, Mississippi, so he was about 8 years old when the family moved to Arkansas. Silas and Parby moved to Texas in 1856, and while there Parby died. Silas then moved back to Arkansas in 1857 and married his third wife, Ann (Mitchell). Cindy's father(b.1931), grandfather(b.1909), and great-grandfather(Samuel Martin b.1862) are from this wife. Samuel's brother(half-brother) would be the minister, Rev. Joel Layton Baggett(he was about 25 years old when Samuel was born).

Only a little more information is known about Silas Baggett - He was a farmer and mechanic by occupation. He fought in the War of 1812 with General Jackson. He and his second wife were members of the Baptist church.

Drum Corps on ESPN this tuesday night at 10:00pm

This photo reminds us to support our troops