at least they still have their sense of humor

cartoon by Steve Kelley of the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper

the common voice

This web site is edited by Jonathan Pait, who many of you will recognize from Bob Jones University. (He was interviewed by Bill O'Reilly on Fox News as the public voice of BJU during the 2000 Presidential campaign) The paragraph below can be found on the home page of www.commonvoice.com

What is The Common Voice?
by Jonathan Pait
September 22, 2003

Recently I was asked the question, “What is The Common Voice and what do you hope to accomplish with the site?” Funny, but every time that question is asked, I am not sure how to respond. I even wrote out a mission in hopes of sorting it out.

The Common Voice is a shared community of individuals with various ideologies and views on the issues of the day. It is a Web site that gives these community members an opportunity to respond to the issues of the day through interactive tools and discussion areas. All this is for the purpose of allowing us all to better understand one another - and ourselves

web sites for teachers

I ran across this site called
The Top 101 Web Sites for Teachers

I thought many of you might benefit from this. The link is www.assortedstuff.com/top101/

no more...please...

cartoon by Steve Kelley of the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper

what do we do with Halloween?

There is a blog posted on sharperiron.org about the topic of “what do we as Christians do with Halloween?” If you have time, go read the blog and the 20 or so responses (comments) posted about this topic. This topic is obviously one with many different opinions. This is one of those areas where many people will agree to disagree. (If you like this article by Cindy Swanson, check out her blog called "Notes in the Key of Life")

In the meantime, here are my thoughts on the matter:
Halloween used to be for kids
When I was a kid, Halloween was basically “trick or treating” for children. Now, in our society we are faced with adults who still want to act like children. From dressing up at work, to costume parties, to the occult and witches, this is not just a “harmless” day any longer. Even when my kids were young, I would take them to a few homes for “trick or treats”, but we would not allow them to dress up in an evil way. Usually they dressed as Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. We tried to keep this as a fun time for them as kids with nothing evil or scary to worry about, and we always went with them. But more and more today, the focus of this day is on the occult, witches, etc., and we as Christians do not want to focus on evil. Our church is having a “Journey through Bible times” on Saturday night, and the children are dressing up as a favorite Bible character. This is a good alternative to going door to door.

Back in the day, when I was growing up, we used to go “trick or treating,” The unspoken rule back then was that you could go out “begging” for candy only until you turned 12 years old, or went to junior high. Usually, we would go with a bunch of friends in the neighborhood, and living in a small town of 2,000 people, we could almost cover the entire town walking door to door in a few hours. Almost, not quite. But we were only going for the treats. We did not even think about “tricks”. Of course, if someone would not give you a treat, then you were supposed to be able to play a trick on them. Now that is not a very good thing for kids to do, so we just emphasized the “treat” part of it, and everything worked out just fine. Except, one Halloween in particular. One year we went to a street “off the beaten path”, as we were older and braver that year. When we knocked on the front door, we heard a lady inside yell to her husband something like, “George! Go get your gun!” We looked at each other and shook our heads, “Nah! she’s got to be kidding” (surely!.) We knocked one more time and again heard the lady inside, this time a little louder, “George! Hurry up and go get your gun!” This time, we looked at each other and decided maybe we should leave this house and try another one. As we turned to walk away, “George” an old, old "codger," came from behind the house with a water hose and sprayed us really good!! We ran as fast as we could! We even warned as many others as we could not to go to that house!

I guess I can see why adults like to celebrate this day, as it was one of the fun times in your life, and you could eat all that candy! (Like Garfield the cat would say, “Candy! Candy! Candy!!”) Just do what I do, buy extra bags of candy, your favorite kind, and then when no one comes to your door, you have an excuse to eat it! And you don’t even have to count out the number of pieces!! (Shh! Don’t tell my wife!)

photo gallery

The female co-pilot was overheard saying to the male pilot as they exited the plane...

"I told you we should have stopped and asked for directions!"


****
NORFOLK Naval Air Station, Virginia -- One of the military's largest
transports got stuck at the end of a runway atop the I-564 overpass for more
than 16 hours. It was unable to turn around at the West end of Chambers
Field at the Norfolk Naval Station. The incident forced the closing of the
field to all but helicopter traffic and made for a dramatic sight for
hundreds of motorists passing beneath it during morning rush hour.

"That thing's like a big building sitting there.'' said motorists. The nose
of the aircraft actually stuck out and OVER the Interstate!

The aircraft's nose was so far over the end of the ramp, the crew was unable
to see the runway where it was supposed to turn around so the pilot simply
had to leave it at the end of the runway. The Air Force C-5 Galaxy, largest
airplane in the free world, is almost as long as a football field and as
high as a six-story building.

Weighing 420 tons with a full load, it uses a system of 28 wheels to
distribute its weight. The aircraft had to wait for a specially made tow
bar trucked in from Dover, Del. When the tow bar arrived, it was used to
hook the C-5 to a tractor that then turned the aircraft around. The plane
was not damaged.

judge shuts down free speech

On September 13, 2005, Judge William A. MacLaughlin issued a court order forbidding public speech on the public property of any courthouse in Los Angeles County. The order was delivered by two police officers to best-selling author and award-winning TV show host Ray Comfort this past Friday, as he addressed about 40 people on public property outside of the Bellflower city courthouse in Los Angeles County.


You can read more about this at www.freespeechrights.com At this website you can watch videos of the street preaching that the judge has banned. Also there are links which give you more information about your rights to free speech in America, such as "Practical Guidelines for speaking in public."

Thought you all would want to know what is taking place in our country, not Russia, not China, but the good old U.S.A.

redneck photos

I usually post one "photo" of the week, but I just had to get these two out of my system. (My apologies to my wife ahead of time!!)


Janelle, doesn't this look like your hubby's baby picture??


I have some neighbors who must use this redneck car alarm!!

duke blue devils

You can preview the DVD about Duke basketball at this link to "A Cut Above"



Baseball is winding down with the World Series this week, and football is in full swing. You know what that means... basketball is just around the corner. Here is a link to goduke.com with photos from this past weekend's "blue-white scrimmage". Duke has four returning seniors and has been picked by many in the media to be the number one team in the ACC this year. All four seniors are co-captains of this year's team.



Duke was the unanimous choice to capture the 2005-06 ACC regular season basketball title in voting by the media at the league’s 44th annual Operation Basketball day at the Grandover Resort & Conference Center in Greensboro, N.C. The Blue Devils received all 87 first place votes en route to being selected as the pre-season favorite for the fifth time in the past six years and 11th time overall.


Coach K speaking at the "blue-white scrimmage" last weekend

Duke Men's Basketball - 2005-06 Schedule

Sat, Oct 22 BLUE-WHITE SCRIMMAGE Durham, N.C. 1 p.m. White W 47-24 & 38-30

Exhibition Games
Thu, Nov 03 CONCORDIA (CANADA) Durham, N.C. 7 p.m. GoDuke.com
Thu, Nov 10 N.C. CENTRAL Durham, N.C. 7 p.m. GoDuke.com

PRESEASON NIT

Mon, Nov 14 BOSTON UNIVERSITY Durham, N.C. 7:30 p.m. espn2
Wed, Nov 16 MANHATTAN / SETON HALL Durham, N.C. 7:30 p.m. ESPN
Sat, Nov 19 DAVIDSON Durham, N.C. 5 p.m. espn2
Wed, Nov 23 Semifinals at New York, N.Y. TBA espn2
Fri, Nov 25 Championship/Consolation at New York, N.Y. TBA espn

artpad digital canvas

Check out this site - art.com artpad digital canvas

waiting on wilma

As one cartoonist puts it, Wilma is acting more like Bamm-Bamm

hurricane season is almost over

Current forecast at accuweather.com

Current forecast from the national hurricane center at www.nhc.noaa.gov


Wilma satellite image from accuweather.com

They say this should be the last hurricane of the year, even though the hurricane season still has about six more weeks to go.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes yesterday as I passed that big milestone in life of "50". As we watch Wilma, we are also praying for my wife's family as her brother was killed Friday morning on the job by a drunk driver. He was getting ready to start work running the cement pump truck on SR 408 east of Orlando. There will be a memorial service for him at a later date, probably in Texas. For now, everyone is in a kind of shock over this.

new web sites and blogs

Our church's web site is back up and working now at www.victoryministry.com




If you are looking for good, conservative Christian music at a good price, I found this site. Always looking for a way to save a few bucks, the CD's are about $2.00 less than anywhere else I have shopped. Check it out at certainsound.com



A couple of blogsites that are not for the weak of heart! These two sites are from our soldiers in Iraq. I assume these bloggers are cleared by their superiors so there is no secret info on the sites. The photo albums are great, you can see what is really going on over there.
One site is at www.thunder6.typepad.com and is called "365 and a Wakeup." The other blog called "Major K." and is found at strengthandhonor.typepad.com/captaink/

Finally, a blog I like to read often is by Corey Godbey and is called "light night rains". He works as a digital illustrator and posts his work, or works in progress. I just wish I could do that with my computer!! Check it out sometime at lightnightrains.blogspot.com

wilma slowing down

national hurricane center at www.nhc.noaa.gov


five day forecast from www.accuweather.com


satellite view from accuweather.com



they say Hurricane Wilma is slowing down now and they are not real sure where this one is going to go ...

de gaulle of him

I have to gas up the car today so...
thanks to the Stroller for this bit of humor...

The Frenchman who almost got away with stealing several paintings from a Paris museum.

After planning the crime, getting in and then out past security, he was captured only two blocks away when his minivan ran out of gasoline. When asked how he could mastermind such an almost flawless crime and then make such a stupid error, he replied, "Monsieur, I had no Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh."

hurricane wilma tracking info

NOAA tracking


Accuweather.com


Hurricane Wilma at 175 mph - the latest forecast from 11:00 am Wednesday

more footprints on the sands of time

My mother was able to attend her 54th year class reunion Saturday night. She graduated from high school in 1951, if my math is correct! I think there were 22 of the 55 graduates still alive and able to attend this reunion. I tried to find something on the web about her school in Caroleen, NC, but the closest thing I could find was this web site for Cliffside, NC. I think she had relatives that lived there back in the day! I am pretty sure I have been through this area and it is in the same geographical area as Caroleen and Sandy Mush, near Rutherfordton. This site is called remembercliffside.com with lots of pictures and history of the area. It sure reminds you of a happier time, a lot less hectic time, and it makes you wish you could live in this area of North Carolina.

photo gallery

New pictures to post of our granddaughter, Natalie. She's so cute!!!


I think she is playing in the kitchen, not cooking yet!


Monkeys jumping on the bed! Her babydoll looks oh so familiar!!


"I'm so busy working, Mom!"


Inquiring minds want to know "everything"!


As you can see, she likes ice cream! Just like grandpa!

record breaking season for hurricanes

Looks like we may be in for another one in Florida this week. This has become the busiest hurricane season in recorded history. Hope and pray this is the last one...

jaguars scrapbook

JAGS OVER THE STEELERS 23-17 IN OVERTIME!




MATT JONES WATCH

First, for all the family back in Arkansas, the rookie Matt Jones had two great catches in the game this week as the Jags beat the Steelers in overtime. The CBS announcer called this one an "amazing catch" when Matt caught the ball with one hand. Pittsburgh challenged the ruling on this play, but after the replay, the ruling stood as a completed catch for a touchdown. It was a good game for the former Arkansas Razorback's quarterback-turned-pro wide receiver.



PICK, GONE, BYE
Mathis interception return gives 4-2 Jags overtime road win
By VITO STELLINO, The Times-Union

PITTSBURGH -- The Jaguars reveled in the sound of silence on Sunday.
When Rashean Mathis jumped a Tommy Maddox pass in overtime and starting dashing toward the end zone, the boisterous Pittsburgh crowd at Heinz Field Sunday suddenly went silent. The fans stopped waving their Terrible Towels.
"We ended up silencing the crowd and that's what you want to do in a big road game,'' Mathis said after his 41-yard interception return for a touchdown with 3:36 elapsed in overtime gave the Jaguars a 23-17 victory over the Steelers.

Franklin's Philadelphia

If you are anywhere near Philadelphia later this year or in 2006 take the time to check out what the city is offering as part of $11 million worth of activities celebrating the 300th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's birth.
It is going to be All-Ben-All-the-Time for more than a year.

Every major cultural institution in the city is involved, as well as institutions across the country, in Britain and in France.

Exhibitions, lectures, concerts, specially composed music, seminars and tours are part of the mix, with programs aimed at kids, tourists and historians.


Here are just a few facts about Benjamin Franklin, the scientist and inventor:
>Invented bifocal reading glasses.
>Invented the basic terms we use today to describe electricity.
>Invented the lightning rod.
>Designed a working battery.
>Designed the Franklin stove.
>Designed swimming equipment.
>Improved street lamp design.
>Invented a new musical instrument, the glass Armonica: Mozart and Beethoven wrote music for it.
>Invented a flexible urinary catheter.
>Designed a three-wheel odometer.
>Designed a three-wheel clock.
>Improved design of early copier.
>Investigated the Gulf Stream, design of ships' hulls, the common cold, the properties of color, lead poisoning, meteorology, population growth, refrigeration, weather forecasting, fossils, whirlwinds, Parmesan cheese, volcanic fog, astronomy.


I found a few sites to check out on the web relating to Ben Franklin. The official site for the Philadelphia celebration is at www.benfranklin300.org You can also check out the world of early america at www.earlyamerica.com Along with information about Ben Franklin, you can also read historical documents such as the Declaration of Independence on this site.

pointless worship

I would like to share this devotional I received by email this week from Back to the Bible, written by Woodroll Kroll. You can read the entire devotional at www.BacktotheBible.org

Psalm 115:1-8
1Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. 2Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? 3But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. 4Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. 5They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: 6They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: 7They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. 8They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.

Psalm 115 tells us about the blessings we have because our God is the living God. He's not one of the "idols of the nations." "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands" (v. 4). How true that is today also. Many people worship silver and gold as their god. They think money can do anything. We do need money for some of the practical things in life. But what good are the things that money can buy if you don't have the things that money can't buy?
The psalmist describes the idols and the pointlessness of worshiping them. "They have mouths, but they do not speak [no promises]; eyes they have, but they do not see [no protection]; they have ears, but they do not hear [no prayer]; noses they have, but they do not smell [no praise]; they have hands, but they do not handle [no power]; feet they have, but they do not walk [no presence]; nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are like them; so is everyone who trusts in them" (vv. 5-). How unlike God. Christians have promises--our God talks to us. We have protection because He sees all that happens. We have prayer because His ears are open to us. We can praise Him. (In the Bible, the smelling of a fragrant offering is a picture of God's acceptance of our praise to Him.) We have power because He has an omnipotent hand.

This passage really makes us stop and think. Am I worshiping an idol of some kind like the unsaved, or am I really worshiping God? If you have the CD "Get on Board" from Sacred Music Services, you also might want to listen to the song, "They Got Eyes", track #4. It is an old spiritual based on this passage. You can listen to excerpts from this CD at www.oldchristianmusic.com

DCI headed back to Madison in 2006

What is DCI, you say? The initials stand for "Drum Corps International" and next year the World Championships are headed back to Madison, WI. The following has been posted at www.DCI.org

Division I World Championships
August 10-12, 2006
Madison, WI
Camp Randall Stadium


DCI is headed back to Madison in 2006, where World Championships will again be held at Camp Randall Stadium (1440 Monroe Street)on the campus of the University of Wisconsin! Drum corps fans know that Camp Randall, already an historic locale for marching music, has undergone an impressive renovation in recent years and is an even better facility than the top-notch field that was last home to World Championships in 2002!
All 24 Division I corps will be competing in quarterfinals competition. The top 17 corps will perform in semifinals, and the top 12 will appear in finals.



I am looking forward to next summer, and I am making plans already, to be in Wisconsin and visit my family AND be able to go to the Drum Corps World Championships! (Talk about killing two birds with one stone, or should I say with one airplane ticket!) In the meantime you can register at DCI.org and receive weekly email updates.

links to comics and cartoons

I already have the ucomics.com/comics link on my blog, but I found another link for more comics-





www./KingFeatures.com/features/comics/comics.html. Sometimes you just need some fun in your life, and between these two sites you are bound to find something to make you laugh.

For more serious, political, sometimes funny and sometimes not so funny cartoons, I like to check out this site at jewish world review.com. Along with Ed Gamble, from the Jacksonville, Fl. Times-Union, there are about ten other political cartoonists available to view, just by clicking on the names. There is a mixture of conservative and liberal cartoonists on this site.

braves fans will have to wait

I was sad to see the Braves lose Sunday against the Astros. After waiting for 18 innings, I just knew we were going to win! We will all have to wait another year, and we can comfort ourselves by checking out the Braves website in the meantime at mlb.com.

the revolutionary war in upstate SC

Growing up in the upstate of SC, I always thought it was neat to live close to a Revolutionary War battleground. We actually lived on "Old Battleground Rd" north of Cowpens. My hometown newspaper has this site with lots of info on THE WAR for the history buff.

jaguars scrapbook

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Byron Leftwich, right, makes a fourth-quarter pass against the Cincinnati Bengals


Another win for the Jags, defeating the "undefeated" Bengals 23-20. The Jaguars are now 3-2 for the season. Sorry to tell you folks in Arkansas, but Matt Jones is still "learning" to play wide receiver. He had three "missed" catches in the game yesterday, but most of the fans still want to see him playing more. You could hear many comments at the game about this guy. Since the game was at 8:30 pm, some of us went to see this one - the ESPN Sunday night game. It was a good game, except I am very tired today. We finished our homecoming activities in the afternoon at church and so we had no services last night. Read about the game at Espn.com:
Palmer, Bengals rally but can't beat Jags

homecoming at church

This is a busy weekend for the Franklins. We are having homecoming services and dinner at Victory Baptist Church here in Jax. This will be our 53rd anniversary. Also, my home church in Cowpens, SC, Calvary Baptist Church, will also be celebrating their anniversary Sunday. As a founding member of Calvary Baptist, and with my Dad as the founding pastor, I really wish I could be there, but we cannot be in two places at once! My sister, Debbie, did drive up to SC for the weekend.
Dr. Fred Coleman, who is the head of the church music department at Bob Jones will be here at Victory Baptist this Sunday, along with his wife, Ruth. They are both accomplished musicians and will be helping with the music Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon. Today, we had a choral workshop with Dr. Coleman, from 9:00 to 3:30 pm and now the choir members are looking forward to Sunday with anticipation! You can read more about the Colemans on the BJU website.

the promises of God

I would like to share some of today's devotional email from Back to the Bible with you.

Genesis 12:2-3
2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed

Blessed Promises
By Woodroll Kroll

God made a promise to Abraham: "I will bless you" (Gen. 12:2-3). Even though Abraham made mistakes and sometimes failed to trust the Lord fully, God never went back on His promise. He blessed Abraham materially until he was "very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold." More important, He blessed Abraham spiritually. God declared in Genesis 22:17-18, "In blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." Through Abraham’s descendants came the Messiah, who brought the blessing of salvation to all nations.
God continues to bless today just as He has promised. Though we quickly forget them, God’s blessings are all around us. He allows some of us to be the stewards of His material blessings, but He gives all of us the opportunity to enjoy His spiritual blessings. His salvation, forgiveness and lovingkindness are promised blessings that God will never forget.
Enjoy the riches that are yours because you are His.

photo of the week

This is NOT why we live in Florida!!

Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Associated Press posted on foxnews.com:

Alligators have clashed with nonnative pythons before in Everglades National Park. But when a 6-foot gator tangled with a 13-foot python recently, the result wasn't pretty.

The snake apparently tried to swallow the gator whole — and then exploded. Scientists stumbled upon the gory remains last week