think on these things

Last Sunday, Pastor Sweatt gave us these nuggets to think on regarding Peter's pride, his enemy, his apathy and his failure:

"Be thankful that God allows U-turns." If we are going the wrong direction, we can be "converted" and turn back toward God.

"Remember that all of the devil's apples have worms!"

Jesus asked his disciples to "watch and pray" in the garden of Gethsemane. "To watch without prayer is to trust ourselves; to pray without watching is hypocrisy."

Peter failed to take a stand, denying Christ three times before the cock crowed. "Failure to stand is preparation to fall; If you do not take a stand, you will fall!"

family photo Sunday

Another early photo from my childhood - I don't even remember seeing this one until Mom gave me an envelope full of old photos recently. I was about one year old, so this was taken sometime in 1956.

Expelled: the DVD/movie trailer

When we went to the ACSI convention in February, I noticed that several of the display booths, such as the Institute for Creation Research, were selling the DVD of this movie (actually a documentary) by Ben Stein - "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed." I finally rented the movie and watched it this weekend. What an excellent documentary explaining the issues in the science community and universities today of Darwinism vs. Intelligent Design. It appears from the many interviews of scientist presented, that if you do not believe in the origin of the species as taught by Darwin, then you are an idiot. Many scientists and professors have lost their jobs by teaching intelligent design, or in some cases just mentioning ID as an option. I also enjoyed the footage from the past and learned some things about Hitler and the Nazis that I did not know. Near the end, Stein uses footage of President Reagan in Berlin when he made the famous speech asking that they "tear down the wall" between East and West Berlin. Funny how things that happened in the past fade from our memories so quickly. The seven minute trailer for the movie is below and I recommend you watch this and the DVD when you get a chance. There are also clips of the famous Edwin R. Murrow, television news journalist from the 1950's. Note that he is shown smoking a cigarette in the clip, and that is one of the reasons the DVD is rated PG instead of G ("for brief smoking'.) Personally, I do not believe in using the term "ID" but I believe in the Creator (God) and creationism as the Bible teaches in Genesis. God created the world and all that is in it, including man, in six days and rested on the seventh day. I think it is a waste of time to try to disguise the Creator as an "Intelligent Designer." The Darwinistic science community regards ID as a disguise for religion anyway. By the way, did you know the state of Tennessee won the Scopes trial? The media always presents the story in such a way that it would appear that the theory of evolution won and creationism lost.

who needs Joe the plumber

After several weeks of trying to clear the bathtub drain, I had resigned myself that I would have to call our plumber. I had bought a liquid plumber (called "The Works") but it did not work much at all.

Well, who needs Joe the plumber when you have Cindy Lee the plumber and You Tube videos? While I was working in the yard Saturday, my wife was looking for a video that would show you how to un-stop the drain. Much to my surprise, when I returned from the grocery store, she had watched the video below and cleared our drain, saving us about $100 plumbing charge.

family photo Sunday

Stephen must have been our most athletic son :-) Here he demonstrates how to use the hula hoop while on vacation in Arkansas (1990).

Video - D C I 2009

The 2009 drum corps season begins in June. This video uses brief clips of various drum corps performing over the last 40 years and combines them into one video.

Sophie's 1st birthday

Some photos from the big day - birthday #1 celebrated at the zoo for our youngest granddaughter, Sophia Martha. Thanks to Leah for the photos and we wish we could have been there.

close to home

The comic strip writer for ADAM must have been visiting our house. This one is so close to home!

photo gallery of Dad's 83rd birthday

We enjoyed getting together with my family in SC to celebrate Dad's 83rd birthday on March 28th. If I counted correctly, 23 of Dad's family made this an enjoyable dinner at the Wagon Wheel Fish Camp in Cowpens, SC.

The Wagon Wheel is always a favorite place to eat when I go home to visit. We have had many meals there over the years. The first meal that I remember eating there was a special dinner to honor the Cowpens High School football team AND the Cowpens High School Band members. (I was a member of the band) In the fall of 1972, our football team won the championship and the booster club treated us all to a free meal. I am not sure how we all squeezed into that place, but I remember it being a special dinner.

The first few photos are of some of the antique furnishings on display in the entrance hallway. Click to view slideshow.

family photo Sunday

This photo was taken when I was 4 1/2 years old. Dressed in our Easter outfits with Grandma and Grandpa Rice in 1960. My little sister, Loretta, was 1 and Deborah was 7 years old. By the way, Happy Birthday today to my older sister Deborah who turns 56 today!

celebrating Easter

As we celebrate the season of Easter, it is interesting to note how others are celebrating(or not) this week. President Obama hosted a Seder meal at the White House Thursday night. This is a meal to celebrate the Passover, when Israel left the captivity of Egypt after being in bondage for 400 years. This meal occurs at the end of Passover, which began Wednesday at dusk. It is the first time the Seder meal has been hosted at the White House.(link to read the news article) Just another way for President Obama to prove that the United States is not a "Christian nation" now. Even though our nation was founded on Christian principles and most of Americans believe our country is a Christian nation, we learned this week from President Obama (speaking overseas to Muslims) that the United States is NOT a Christian nation, just a nation of citizens who live by ideals. I wonder what kind of history class he took? link to view video


"Come Touch the Robe" is the title of our Easter cantata at Berean Baptist this Sunday. We will begin the day at 9 AM with an Easter Brunch. The choir members have been working on the music for about two months. I have really enjoyed preparing for this Easter musical written by Pepper Choplin.


You will not hear this in the news, but according to Joel Rosenberg (a converted Jew) there are more Ex-Muslims celebrating Easter than ever before this year. Read his blog posted at this link.


One of my favorite choir numbers at Easter is "The Healer." When I first joined the choir at Victory Baptist in the late 1970's, as a choir member under the direction of brother Bob Stewart, I remember singing this song at least once a year. Later when I took over as the choir director, we would sing this song every other year before Easter. I wish I could remember all the words but the chorus reminds us that we are "healed" from our sins "and made whole" by the death of Christ on the cross:

"He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquity. Surely He bore our sorrows, and by His stripes we are healed, yes, by His stripes we are healed."

Slideshow - APRIL Birthdays

more vacation photos

I finally completed my photo gallery of pics from our trip to PA in March. You can view the photos at this link to my Franklybagg's Gallery

Cooliris.com

Check out this free download at cooliris.com. Using this program, you can view your images in a 3-D like wall of photos. Cooliris used to be called piclens, and it works well with Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Blogger, and Kodak photo galleries - basically wherever you store your photos online. I have been using it (or playing with it) for almost a year and I really enjoy the way my photos become clearer, sharper and almost a 3-D effect. It works a little differently using the Internet Explorer browser as compared to the Firefox browser, so you would have to download it twice if you want to use it for both browsers like I do. When installed, there should be a "Cool Iris Icon" in the left corner of your picture that you will click on and then your gallery becomes a wall of photos on the screen. You can click on each photo to enlarge it, bring it closer to full screen, or to make it smaller, and there is a full screen button in the left corner of the desktop. To leave the full screen view, just press the "ESC" button on your keyboard. If you do not store any photos online yourself, you can still view your friends photo gallery on facebook, etc. using this tool. link to www.cooliris.com for more info and demos.

family photo Sunday

We had a weekend reunion with my three sons and their families as we were all in Hanover, PA, for Joshua's Ordination service on March 15, 2009.

signs along the journey

Three more favorite bumper stickers that are circulating on the internet....

Slideshow - photos of our grandkids

I thought a quick photo of our granddaughters was a good idea, all dressed up for church. Who said girls were easier than boys?