October / November / December 2007
Dear ones,
A Major Announcement. Major changes in this ministry are in progress, and the Board of Directors is seeking to discern the will of God for its future. One factor driving the changes is a combination of my age and my health. I was very sick for nine months (December to August), and weakened progressively; I continued to function most of that time, but at a greatly reduced level. I am happy to report that I am steadily improving now, exercising again, and getting stronger; but my family would like to keep me around for a while longer, and is understandably concerned for my continued survival. Another factor driving the changes is a steady reduction in ministry income. Ministry income has dropped steadily for the past year, and rather dramatically during the past six months. As a result of all this, the Board of Directors has decided to make some major changes in the operation of the ministry and its functions. One change concerns this newsletter.
You may have noticed that it has been an unusually long time since the last newsletter; and if you have wondered about it, it is because this issue is more than a month late in being published. It should be the October/ November issue, but we couldn’t publish on schedule because we lacked the funds (it now costs nearly $2,000.00 to publish each issue); therefore, this is the October/November/December issue. For the immediate future, the plan is to publish quarterly (funds permitting), rather than bi-monthly as in the past. We may even continue to publish it on the web site, but cease entirely to publish it on paper. I am extremely reluctant to do this, for I know so many of you do not have computers, or do not have access to the internet; and if we should do this, I would feel that I would be abandoning many old friends and supporters.
As most of you know, I have served the ministry from the very beginning without pay, and will continue to do so to the end, whenever and whatever that may be. Our expenses consist primarily of office rent and utilities, secretarial help (much of which is voluntary), and expenses when I travel. We also pay to maintain the web site, and for some professional services, such as editing, typesetting, and our CPA. We have also consistently given 10 percent, or more, of the ministry income to support certain worthy missionaries, and other ministries that are needy and fruitful.
We will continue to do all this as long as I am able, or until the Lord closes the ministry down, which He may do; for one thing that history teaches us is that many things God sets in motion, to advance the cause of Christ, have their seasons—and seasons come to an end.
Only God knows what the future will hold for this ministry and the things we do; but we must accept and embrace His will, whatever that may be, and do the best that we can as long as He chooses to use us. And please believe me when I say that this is not an appeal for funds; I am simply telling you what I think you deserve to know, because I know that you care.
AN ANTI-GOD MOVIE AIMED AT CHILDREN
Due to be released 7 December is a poisonous movie, aimed at children. It is “The Golden Compass,” starring Nicole Kidman, and it is based upon the first of a trilogy of anti-God children’s books, written by militant English atheist, Philip Pullman, called “His Dark Materials.” Pullman despises the works of C.S. Lewis and other Christian writers, such as the Chronicles of Narnia; and he reportedly aspires to “kill God in the minds of children” with his books and the movies based upon them. The first movie is to be deliberately mild, a watered down version of the first book, with the 2nd and 3rd books and movies becoming progressively, and more openly, anti-God. Pullman has been described in England as “the writer atheists would pray for, if atheists prayed.” I not only urge you to keep your children from reading these books and seeing these movies, but also to explain to them what they really are. The marketing strategy is to have the children see the first movie, and then beg for the books for Christmas. This is, of course, in the tradition of the Harry Potter books and movies; the difference will be that the Pullman books will not just promote witchcraft and subtly undermine the clear truth of the Bible as the Potter books do, but will be blatantly anti-God and anti-Christian. Harry Potter is powerful psychological warfare; it appears that the Pullman books and movies will be all-out frontal assaults.
The first book of the trilogy, “The Golden Compass,” (released in England as “Northern Lights”) received the 2005 Carnegie Medal for Children’s Literature. In 2007, it has been awarded the “Carnegie of Carnegies” award as the best children’s book of the past 70 years. The final book of the trilogy, “The Amber Spyglass,” was awarded the 2001 Whitbread Prize, making it the first children’s book ever to win this prize. (Numerous sources, confirmed by snopes.com)
FREEDOM IS NOT FREE
It is healthy to remind ourselves from time to time that America would not be the Land of the Free if she were not also the Home of the Brave. And “brave” doesn’t mean fearless, for there is probably no one within the limits of sanity who is fearless; a better synonym would be selfless. Fighting men don’t do what they do because it’s easy; they endure the dangers and the hardships that are necessary simply because it has to be done. And the risks they take and the heroic efforts they make in order to keep us free, in the case of probably 95 percent of them, go un-reported and unnoticed except for their buddies. They get no medals—just the satisfaction of knowing that they didn’t let their buddies down.
Every man and woman who has ever put on a uniform and served, whether in combat or not, has helped pay the price to keep us free; and some keep on paying. Such a man was Earl Chenault Dragoo of North Middletown, Kentucky; we called him “Chenny.” (pronounced “Shinny”). He was a farm boy, and probably the naturally strongest man I have ever known. He had never seen the inside of a modern gym, never heard of anabolic steroids; and he wasn’t very big—just strong. In those days, hay bales weighed 100 pounds, and most of us did well to be able to throw them up onto the wagon or truck bed; but Chenny could stand flat-footed on the ground and throw one clear into the hay loft.
I worked with him on the farm until he enlisted in the Marine Corps and went off to the Pacific, where he fought as a rifleman in two of the most horrific battles in American history: Pelelieu and Okinawa. He was twice wounded, recovered, and went with his unit into Japan for the occupation—to Hiroshima! Back home he went north to better himself, and worked in steel mills for 30 years, with shrapnel in his back, too close to his spinal cord to be removed. But he was also exposed to radiation in Hiroshima, and he fought cancers of various kinds the rest of his life. In May, Chenny finally lost the fight, his great strength completely spent, and died. He was one of the 95 percent, one of those selfless heroes; but he never saw it that way. When I told him I had gotten his medals for him at last, his response was, “I didn’t know I had any.”
We all should thank God for such men, the citizen soldiers who pay the price, largely unrecognized, to keep us living in the Land of the Free.
A MOVIE “TOO PRO-AMERICAN”
I like old movies on television. On 25 August, on Turner Classic Movies, “Born Yesterday,” one of my favorite old movies was shown. It is rich in teaching and affirming the founding principles of our Republic; and, as was almost always true of the old movies, good triumphs over evil. In discussing the movie after it was finished were Robert Osborne, resident expert for Turner Classic Movies, and his guest expert, Carrie Fisher. They agreed that, in light of the prevailing anti-American, pro-UN attitudes in Hollywood, such a movie could not be made today for the reason that “it was too pro-American,” and that “it celebrates the principles on which our nation was founded.” This is definitely worthy of our pondering, and should give even the most indifferent and apathetic of us pause. (TCM 25 Aug 2007)
AN URGENT REQUEST:
MY INTERVIEW TAPES WITH LEONORA WOOD
In April 1985 I interviewed my friend Mrs Leonora Wood, Catherine Marshall's mother and the real "Christy" of Catherine's classic Christian novel, concerning the mission experience. Hurricane Katrina took away my interview tapes and transcripts, along with our home. If you, or anyone you know, has a set of the two tapes of the interview, PLEASE let me borrow them so I can make copies for myself and for a friend who is writing a book about Mrs Wood and Dr. Guerrant, her sponsor and inspiration during her mountain mission experience.
CITGO AND CAESAR CHAVEZ
In case you don’t already know, the CITGO petroleum empire is owned by the Venezuelan government, which is controlled by dictator Caesar Chavez, the man who called President Bush “Satan” in a speech before the UN, and said that after Bush left the room the smell of sulfur still hung in the air. He is Fidel Castro’s strongest supporter and friend, and wishes to bring Communism to the Americas. He has vowed to bring down the American government. Since this has become more widely known, CITGO sales have dropped markedly; I never buy that gasoline, no matter what the price. Citgo is also selling its gasoline under the brand, “Petro Express.” (Numerous sources, verified by snopes.com)
WHY SHOULD WE BE SURPRISED?
In Wichita, Kans., LaShanda Calloway, 27, lay dying of multiple stab wounds in a convenience store. No one tried to help her. A security camera recorded the assault, and 5 shoppers who, as she lay bleeding to death, ignored her and simply stepped over her to continue shopping. Well, actually one of them did stop—long enough to take a picture of the dying woman with a cell phone. Wichita Police Chief Norman Williams expressed justified revulsion: “This is just appalling....What happened to our respect for life?” I agree that it is appalling; but why should he be surprised? Wichita is also the home town of the notorious late-term abortionist, George Tiller, known in pro-life circles as “Tiller the Killer.” But the roots of the problem are much deeper than Tiller, reaching all the way back to 1963 when the Bible and its God were expelled from our public schools, and 1973 when abortion-on-demand became the law of the land. When we murder thousands of babies daily, and when brutal violence and murder are a form of entertainment, why should Chief Williams be surprised? He should know “what has happened to our respect for life” without asking. (FOF)
OUR CHRISTIAN HERITAGE
“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the Gift of God?” (Thomas Jefferson 1781)
A POINT TO PONDER
“Man’s ways lead to a hopeless end; God’s ways lead to endless hope.” (Ralph & Jan Palm, Alamogordo, NM)
EMBATTLED HOLY GROUND
The Summer following my high school graduation in 1948 my parents allowed me to visit friends in Massachusetts and New Jersey. In New Jersey my friend Ken Miller and I spent some wonderful time at the beach (in New Jersey they call it “the shore”), where his sister, Jackie, was working for the Summer. The place was Ocean Grove, a community established as an old time Methodist Camp Ground in 1869. The now-valuable ocean front community is still owned by the Methodist-related Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, and it still has strict ordinances controlling public behavior. When I spent happy weeks there, elderly couples and widows rented rooms to kids like us. We called it “Ocean Grave” because it was so quiet, but we liked it; Ken, Jackie and I had a wonderful time. There was never any trouble, because we didn’t drink or disturb the peace in any way. It was a lovely, quiet place, with very strict Sunday closing ordinances. Motor vehicles were not allowed to operate, or pass through, on Sundays, and we thought it was quaint and interesting that chains were literally stretched across the streets at both ends of town until Monday morning. In fact, in an earlier time, President Grant had arrived at the north entrance to the town on a Sunday. The chain was lowered for him, but he was required to dismount and walk, leading his horse through Ocean Grove, where the south chain was lowered for him to exit. The chain was replaced, he remounted, and rode on southward, having taken the inconvenience in respectful good humor.
But that was then. Today there is a pavilion on the boardwalk, overlooking the sea, where regular church services and special revival meetings are held. Now a lesbian couple has demanded to use the sacred precincts for a homosexual “wedding” and is suing for the right to do so. The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group, is representing the Camp Meeting Association. (BP, et al)
Every man and woman who has ever put on a uniform and served, whether in combat or not, has helped pay the price to keep us free; and some keep on paying. Such a man was Earl Chenault Dragoo of North Middletown, Kentucky; we called him “Chenny.” (pronounced “Shinny”). He was a farm boy, and probably the naturally strongest man I have ever known. He had never seen the inside of a modern gym, never heard of anabolic steroids; and he wasn’t very big—just strong. In those days, hay bales weighed 100 pounds, and most of us did well to be able to throw them up onto the wagon or truck bed; but Chenny could stand flat-footed on the ground and throw one clear into the hay loft.
I worked with him on the farm until he enlisted in the Marine Corps and went off to the Pacific, where he fought as a rifleman in 2 of the most horrific battles in American history: Pelelieu and Okinawa. He was twice wounded, recovered, and went with his unit into Japan for the occupation—to Hiroshima! Back home he went north to better himself, and worked in steel mills for 30 years, with shrapnel in his back, too close to his spinal cord to be removed. But he was also exposed to radiation in Hiroshima, and he fought cancers of various kinds the rest of his life. In May, Chenny finally lost the fight, his great strength completely spent, and died. He was one of the 95 percent, one of those selfless heroes; but he never saw it that way. When I told him I had gotten his medals for him at last, his response was, “I didn’t know I had any.”
We all should thank God for such men, the citizen soldiers who pay the price, largely unrecognized, to keep us living in the Land of the Free.
MARTY’S CORNER
Postage stamps have always drawn my attention, perhaps because in the “olden days” they most often depicted historic figures or events — unusual stamps were few and far between. Now, I pay attention to the kind of stamps that people use because they often speak a message in and of themselves as well as one about the user. Two stamps that Christians should be aware of and reject are the EID and Kwanzaa stamps, referred to as “stamps in season” by the US Postal Service.
The EID stamp commemorates the two most important festivals-or eids-in the Islamic calendar: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. On these days, Muslims wish each other “Eid mubarak,” the phrase featured in Islamic calligraphy on the stamp, and translates literally as “blessed festival.” This phrase can be applied to both Eid al-Fitr (marks the end of Ramadan) and Eid al-Adha (the end of the hajj, which is the annual period of pilgrimage to Mecca).
The Kwanzaa stamp commemorates an invented celebration that is observed almost exclusively in the USA. Kwanzaa was created by Maulana (Ron) Karenga** in 1966 and was first celebrated in 1967, the same year that Karenga publicly espoused the view that “Jesus was psychotic” and that Christianity was a white religion that blacks should shun. The first Kwanzaa US postage stamp was issued during William J. Clinton’s administration in 1997.
As respected syncicated columnist Tony Snow wrote in 1999, “There is no part of Kwanzaa that is not fraudulent.” Additionally, scriptures say, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32.
**Note: The cult leader Ron Everett was born in Maryland in 1941, the 14th child of a Baptist minister. He moved to California in the late 50’s to attend LA Community College and later moved to UCLA, where he got a Master’s degree in political science and African Studies. By the mid 1960’s, he had established himself as a leader of the black nationalist movement—United Slaves Organization (also known as the “Us Organization”). In 1966, he created Kwanzaa, changed his name from Everett to the Swahili “Karenga,” shaved his head, and began wearing traditional African clothing. The choice of Swahili, an East African language (although most African-Americans have West African ancestry) was symbolic of Pan-Africanism, especially in the 1960s. He claims that his goal was to give African Americans an alternative holiday to Christmas. He first stated “...it was chosen to give a Black alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society.“ In 1997 he acquiesced his position to one less exclusive, stating that “Kwanzaa was not created to give people an alternative to their own religion or religious holiday.”
Kwanzaa consists of seven days of celebration from 26 December to 1 January, and features activities such as candle-lighting and pouring of libations (a ritual pouring of a drink as an offering to a god), and culminates in a feast and gift-giving. The official stance on the spelling of the holiday is that an additional “a” was added to “Kwanza” so that the word would have seven letters. At the time there were seven “children” in Karenga’s United Slaves Organization; each wanted to represent one of the letters in Kwanzaa. Also, the name was meant to have a letter for each of what Karenga called the “Seven Principles of Blackness.” These principles correspond to Karenga’s notion that “the sevenfold path of blackness is think black, talk black, act black, create black, buy black, vote black, and live black.” Another explanation for the extra “a” to distinguish the Afro-American from purely African. Kwanzaa is also sometimes incorrectly spelled “kwaanza.”
In 1971 Karenga (and two others) was convicted of felony assault and false imprisonment for torturing and assaulting two women from his own Us Organization over a two day period. In 1975, Karenga was released from California State Prison, with his newly adopted views on Marxism, and re-established the Us Organization under a new structure. He later became chairman of the black studies department at California State University, Long Beach, a position he held from 1989 to 2002. Presently he is the chariman the Us Organization and The National Association of Kawaida Organizations (NAKO).
MILESTONES
Born 19 Oct. - Elliot Drew Evans at 8 lbs., 13 oz., daughter of Chris and Allison Evans, longtime Christian friends and owners of The Crittenden Press, which prints this newsletter.
Died 8 Oct. - Linda Shipley Coale, daughter of close Marine Corps friends Jim and Cass Shipley of Crownsville, Md., of complications following the birth of her son, Benjamin.
Died 15 May - Rev. Dr. Jerry Falwell, founding pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., crusader for public morality, founder of the Moral Majority and Liberty University, of heart disease.
1 July. - Former Pfc. Kenneth Dunkle, USMC, a courageous member of my rifle platoon in Korea, in Harrisburg, Pa., of heart disease.
7 Aug. - Wanda Murray, wife of Dr. Bill Murray, in an automobile accident near Union City, Tenn. It was Wanda and Bill who gave me the “miracle van” in which I traveled for so many years, that went 539,000 miles before perishing in a fire.
10 Aug. - Libby Prince, wife of dear friend Bill Prince, charter member of my Bible class in Ocean Springs, a dear, courageous, and inspirational Christian friend, in Ocean Springs, Miss..
28 Aug. - Bill Muse, an amazingly inspirational Christian, known for his generosity in good works for others, his love of the Lord and his unfailing good humor, even when in great pain, in Troy, Tenn.
5 Sept. - The Rev Dr. D. J. Kennedy, senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, of heart disease. He was founder of Evangelism Explosion and eloquent, courageous, leader in the effort to return our nation to its Christian foundation.
14 Sept. - Pat Lidgard, wife of dear friend Dick Lidgard. charter member of my Bible Class in Ocean Springs, a dear, courageous, and inspirational Christian friend, in Ocean Springs, Miss.
11 Oct. - Mrs Catherine Coleman Frith, mother of my dear friend and co-founder of Church of the Good Shepherd, Pass Christian, Miss., Bill Frith, at age 96 in Rocky Mount, Va. Bill said of his late mother, “Not every woman who gives birth to a child is a mama; I had a mama. No matter what the geographical location, if Mama was there, I was home.”
A FINAL WORD
Treasure and use each day as if it were your last, and never give up hope; God has a limitless supply of new beginnings, and He makes beautiful things out of broken pieces.
You are precious,
(Sources: AFRN-American Family Radio News; AP-Associated Press; BAR-Biblical Archeology Review;BBC-British Broadcasting Corp.; BP-Baptist Press; C-Charisma; CBN-Christian Broadcasting Network; CR-Congressional Record; CSN-Calvary Satellite Network; EP-Evangelical Press; Fox (Fox News); FOF-Focus on the Family; FRC-Family Research Council; GN-Good News Magazine; HC-History Channel; IMG-Israel My Glory; JP-Jerusalem Post; LAT-L.A. Times; Mil-Military Magazine; NR-National Review; NM NewsMax.com; NW-Newsweek; NYP-New York Post; NYT-New York Times; ONN-OneNewsNow; PBS-Public Broadcast System; PWB-Pastors' Weekly Briefing; RTLB-Right to Life Education Foundation Bulletin; RTLGC-Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati; USAT-USA Today; USNWR-U.S. News and World Report; VOM-Voice of Martyrs; W-World Magazine; WP-Wikipedia; WND-World Net Daily; WT-Washington Times; WW-Washington Watch.)