This day in history, August 29

On this day in 1877 Brigham Young, famous leader of the Mormon Church, passed away. Young would become a legend for his polygamy and his leadership in bringing the Mormons to the Salt Lake valley to live.

On this day in AD 70 the city of Jerusalem fell to the Romans. It would mark the end of an era when the Jews would have a temple in Jerusalem. The temple has never been rebuilt and most likely never will be even though some evangelicals would like to see it rebuilt. The rebuilding of the temple fits in with their eschatological schemes, so they want to help God out with this project.

World Wide Coal fires

To begin with, I want to say that I am not on the "Global Warming" bandwagon that is so popular these days. We have a great deal of emphasis, being led by Al Gore, who discovered the Internet, on global warming. The Hollywood community is supporting him as well. It is interesting that we never hear anything from the "other side." What are other scientists saying? We are led to believe that all scientists believe in global warming. My rule of thumb is simple: whenever I am told everyone is doing it, I have my doubts.

But recently I came across articles like the one I am about to append to this page which point out that coal fires in India and China are producing more pollution than all the automobiles in the world. Where is Al Gore with his trusty fire hose to put out these fires?

Andries Rosema of the Environmental Analysis and Remote Sensing (EARS) firm in the Netherlands worked with colleagues using satellite and airplane data to analyze the damage uncontrolled fires caused in China. The team found that the fires released up to 360 million metric tons of carbon dioxide — 2 to 3 percent of worldwide production per year from burning fossil fuels, an amount equivalent to that emitted per year from all automobiles and light trucks in the United States. The economic loss of coal from these fires is as high as US$125 million to US$250 million, estimates Zhang Xiangmin of the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) in the Netherlands.

Reports from the World Bank, World Resources Institute, and United Nations Development Program confirm that China’s atmospheric pollution, primarily from coal combustion, is among the highest in the world. Coal gas and particulate matter are responsible for acid rain and human disease in more than 100 Chinese cities and the problems have spilled into other countries including Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Taiwan. Lung cancer, bronchitis, stroke, pulmonary heart disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — which accounts for up to 26 percent of all deaths in China — are on the rise. In some cases, such health effects are directly linked to coal emissions from indoor cooking and heating (Geotimes, November 2001).

This Day in History August 25

August must be a special month. We have another day when a number of exciting things took place.

For one, this is the day that the famous actor, Sir Sean Connery, was born on this day in 1930. Sean Connery is one of my all time favorites. If a movie comes out that he is in, then it is one I want to see. He became famous as one of the early James Bonds.

Also on this day the city of Paris was liberated in 1944. I was not aware that the liberation of Paris took place only two months after the invasion at Normandy. The Free French were allowed to roll into Paris first and of course, they were more than glad to take the credit for the deliverance of the city. It is sad that the French have forgotten who delivered them from the Nazis. Apparently a short-term memory issue.

On this day an American named John Birch was executed by the Chinese Communists in 1945. He was an American intelligence agent and an American Baptist Missionary. As a result of his death an organization, very right wing, called the John Birch Society, was born. I had a professor in seminary who was a staunch believer in the John Birch Society, so we heard a lot about the organization. Although I never belonged to the Society or agreed with all it had to say, it opened my eyes to the media manipulation of the news. It showed how situations had actually been staged by the media to deliver a message that was exactly the opposite of what was really happening. Of course we gullible Americans believe that if it is on TV then it must be the truth. How can pictures and video lie? After that I always watch the news with a jaundiced eye. I am not sure that what I am seeing is true because I am well aware of the capability of the media to change the story.

For people who refuse to read and who refuse to check out other sources of news such as BBC, and The Christian Science Monitor, they are going to be led astray on what is really going on.

In 1900 Friedrich Nietzsche died. He was a great contender for the "God is Dead" theory. But he also developed the "Superman" concept suggesting that there should be a superior race that would rule over the rest of the world. Adolf Hitler would take his theory and attempt to accomplish that. During WW II Hitler had breeding camps where he put his SS troops in with the most beautiful women he could find with the purpose of breeding this superman race. Of course they had to be blonde haired and blue-eyed. Hitler himself was brown eyed and had black hair. Nietzche became the spokesperson for the prevailing attacks on the Bible and Christianity and his thinking is still very much alive to this very moment.

The first Tsar (Czar) of Russia, Ivan IV was born in 1530. He had the distinguished title of "Ivan the Terrible."

Finally, on this day in 325, the Council of Nicaea brought to an end the controversy over the relation of the Son to the Father. The outcome was the trinitarian concept with which we are familiiar--the Son is equal to the Father. The controversy developed when a group let by Arius and called Arians claimed that the Son was inferior to the Father. The Jehovah's Witnesses today still hold to the Arian position rather than the traditional one. Either by translation or by explanation they remove all references to the deity of Jesus Christ from the Bible and their material.

A Notorious Day in History

This day in history—August 24
What a day this has been in history. Note the following events.
It is the birthday of Yassar Arafat in 1929 who would be the key leader of the Palestinian revolt against Israel. When you read his biography you realize that he was a ruthless man who would do whatever he had to do to gain his goals. He was not someone you could trust as the Israelis would soon learn. But he maintained control of the Palestinian rebellion until his death.
In AD 79 Vesuvius erupted in Italy totally destroying the cities of Pompeii and Herculanium. The cities would not be uncovered until the 18th century. When they were it was obvious that the moral level of these cities was incredibly low as seen in the wall art that was found. For years people were not allowed to visit because of the obscenities found there.
In 1572 Roman Catholic nobles encouraged by Cartherine de Medici, massacred the French Huguenots in the notorious St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. The Huguenots were French protestants.
Then in 410 Alaric, chief of the Visigoths (so-called barbarians) led an army into Rome which signaled the end of the Western Roman Empire. As a result of this the Roman Catholic Church stepped to the front to replace the lost authority of the government and would become a force to be reckoned with politically for the rest of history.

General Tom Romig reception

Early in August we received in the mail for Vicki an invitation to a reception for the new dean of the Law School at Washburn--General Tom Romig (retired). Vicki is in Alaska learning how to be a lawyer and her parents and dog are here. So I sent an e-mail to the person in charge of the reception and requested permission to go to the reception as parents of a graduate and a friend of Tom Romig. In a few minutes the reply returned that we were welcome. I just needed to send my wife's name.

Well, last night, August 22, was the big night. We drove out to the most posh area in town next to the Colbert Hills Golf Club. The reception was in a million dollar home. We were cheerfully greeted by the hosts of the reception and immediately were greeted by Tom Romig. A little later we were privileged to visit with President Farley of Washburn. He was quite excited about the success of our little girl.

There were a few speeches concluded by Tom.

Arletta took this event very seriously. She went out and bought a beautiful black dress. I didn't ask what it cost. She also got me a new black suit, so we made quite the couple. But the event was fun. Good food and good visiting. Can't call it fellowship; that's reserved for church.

Life in a small church

Last summer we experienced a real blow to the church when the associate minister decided to resign. I felt especially close to the young man, so it was a very painful experience for me. The church was in shock. BUT

Since that time some interesting changes have taken place. First of all, the Angel Food Ministries project which the former minister had introduced, took off with a great deal of enthusiasm. People stepped up from every direction to make the project go. There is a strong sense of unity in this helping-hand program that we have started.

Secondly, one of the men in the church said the rest of the men, "Let's get together occasionally and do some good deed in the area." Last night, six men responded to the call and we cleaned up the yard of an elderly man who has cancer. This man is 70 years old and is still caring for his mother. The six men had a good time, great fellowship and we stopped for ice cream at Shakes in Manhattan. I took a leap of faith and ordered ice-cream. Diabetics are not supposed to eat the stuff--too much sugar. But when I checked my glucose levels later, everything was normal. A great time of fellowship for a bunch of guys covered with dust and grime.

Third, we had three baptisms yesterday, August 19. Two of these were adults who are determined to focus on Christ for their lives. One, a young woman, has struggled with pain in her back. Yesterday she announced the pain had gone away, an answer to prayer.

So what looked like a potential disaster turned into a real blessing.

This Day in History August 20

A Dane named Vitus Bering working for the Russians found Alaska in 1741. I'm sure that Vitus had no idea what a great treasure he had uncovered. Our younger daughter, Vicki, moved to Alaska in 1988 and except for occasional visits to the "lower 48" made that her home. I have other relatives who made and lost their fortunes in Alaska. One year when we had our only family reunion on my father's side of the family, one of my great-uncles brought smoked salmon to the reunion. Everybody raved over how good it was. I never eat smoked salmon without thinking of Uncle Clarence Pearson and what he brought that day. Last year for Christmas Vicki had king crab legs shipped in. We had a feast on them because only Vicki and I would eat them. So I just want to thank Vitus, who must be a cousin somewhere along the line. Of course we did not completely forget him. The stretch of water between Alaska and Russia is now known as "The Bering Straits."

On a sadder note, on this day in history in 1619 the first slaves were brought to Jamestown. What started there we have never recovered from.