We went to get the new cake and it was good. The flowers were closer to what Manda had wanted in the first place (burgundy, not lavender) and the cap was close also!

She was concerned about having campers in her graduation picture, so we scouted out an empty site with lots of trees and green in the background

(pretty, right?)

and she cut the cake...

got photos with Grandma and Grandpa (not at the same time, my mom needed to sit)

And all's well that ends well... (and the cake was wonderful)

It could have been such a disaster!

The plan was that we'd have Manda's graduation on the family campout (so Grandma and Grandpa could be there) and have cake, etc. right there. Simple, right?

No - not with our family....(read the story...)

...continue reading →

HOUSE # 1:
A 20-room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house all heated by gas.In ONE MONTH ALONE this mansion consumes more energy than the average American household in an ENTIRE YEAR. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400.00 per month. In natural gas alone (which last time we checked was a fossil fuel), this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not in a northern or Midwestern "snow belt,"either. It's in the South.

HOUSE # 2:

Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university, this house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction can provide. The house contains only 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on arid high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in winter and cools it in summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas, and it consumes 25% of the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifyingtanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Flowers and shrubs native to the area blend the property into the surrounding rural landscape.

HT: Mommy Life

The Feds have tied a charity in Dearborn, MI with Hizballah.

In a 2005 filing with the Internal Revenue Service, the Goodwill Charitable Organization said it helps the poor, not specifying whether the help is given at home or abroad.

But the Treasury Department said the group -- which has no connection with Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit -- is the Dearborn arm of the Iranian Martyrs Foundation, a group with offices in Lebanon and elsewhere that the U.S. government said funds the designated terrorist groups Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad and aids Palestinian suicide bombers and their families.

I guess it makes sense in a twisted sort of way - with the male earners in a family have murdered innocents and killed themselves in the process, the family would be left without a "breadwinner" - they'd be poor.

The Detroit area has one of the most concentrated population of Muslim in the United States.

I wrote about this a year ago (I linked to two news stories; one is no longer available, the other second one - from Ohio - is available. Hashem Sayed, Osma Sabhi Abulhassan, and Ali Houssaiky were in Ohio (at two different times) with many cell phones and (the second two) thousands of dollars. All three of these men were from Dearborn, MI.

According to the story, "The [the phones] are digital for detonating car bombs and they have a particular digital frequency and that's what they're using them for," said Sheriff Larry Mincks.

Mincks says the men also had instructions on how to obtain private flights and airplane passenger information.

I have a memory of a memory that I used to have. Maybe someday I'll "tell all" (it's not abuse of any sort) and I'll generally share in a private setting (it's part of what makes me an oddity). But for right now I'm going to be very vague.

This "thing" happened to me when I was a kid. For years it "just was" - and I found out as an adult that my parents had a similar experience and that my youngest sister did also. About a year ago I spent an "all nighter" talking about it, remembering and (basically) reliving it.

After that night, I no longer own the memory.

It's a weird thing; I can remember remembering. But I can't remember the experience. And I want to know why.

There's this other "thing" about me. I am "anosmic" - I have no sense of smell. Zero - I had a gas leak in my basement and didn't know. But I can remember what certain things smell like.

I even had an MRI to rule out a brain tumor

That's sort of what this is like - I know what I should be remembering, but I don't remember.

Last week I started seeing a psychologist who uses hypnotherapy and I had my third session today. This is going to be an interesting trip through my brain.

Are Mormons Christians? Here is part of a debate between Al Mohler Jr. (SBC) and Scott Card (LDS).

Lots of Mormon information.

"The Lost Book of Abraham". The entire documentary is on Youtube!

This award-winning documentary film investigates the story behind a volume of Mormon scripture called the Book of Abraham. The story is that Mormon founder Joseph Smith translated it from an ancient Egyptian papyrus scroll he purchased from an antiquities dealer in 1835. The Lost Book of Abraham visits prominent Egyptologists and other scholars – both Mormon and non-Mormon – to learn the truth behind this fascinating episode in Mormon history.

I got it here, via Instapundits.

This entire post is "borrowed" from "This Side of Glory" via "He Lives". Resources are listed with the original post.

Mimi mentioned the confusion over Mormon theology back here, and so it seemed as good a reason as any to look into it a little more.

So here’s the Nicene Creed as we say it every week, as Christians have said since the 4th century to express what we believe. As this author notes:

The Nicene Creed is the most widely accepted and used brief statements of the Christian Faith. In liturgical churches, it is said every Sunday as part of the Liturgy. It is Common Ground to East Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Calvinists, and many other Christian groups. Many groups that do not have a tradition of using it in their services nevertheless are committed to the doctrines it teaches.

I’ve marked up the Creed as a Mormon would have to in order to fit their beliefs (as near as I can figure out — see my remarks at the end), and I’ve got footnotes in case you think I’m making this up. I tried to use Mormon sources whenever possible.

There are some other notes of interest that follow the footnotes, and also a challenge that I have for any Mormons who might read this.
*****

We believe in one God, the main God of a number of Gods(1), who acquired His place as Supreme Being over a long period of time by living a righteous life(2), the Father Almighty, Maker one of the Makers (3) of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible (and Who is married, by the way) (4);

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, one of the spirit children of God (Lucifer being another), (5) the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father (6) by whom all things were made: Who won God’s favor by agreeing with God’s plan of salvation when Lucifer disagreed,(7) and who was called Jehovah in the Old Testament(8).

Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, of a physical relationship between God the Father and Mary, (9) and was made man, and was married at the wedding in Cana (10);

And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;

And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures;

And ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father in the celestial kingdom, the highest of the three kingdoms of heaven;(11) And He and Joseph Smith (12) shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have no end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets;

And we believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. in the Mormon Church, which restores Christianity to the form it had in the time of the apostles.(13)

We acknowledge one Baptism – for both living and dead – (14) for the remission of sins as long as that baptism is conducted by the Mormon Church (15)

We look for the Resurrection of the dead which will be presided over by Joseph Smith,(16)

And the Life of the world to come. And Joseph Smith. (17) Amen.

I think that it was White Horse Inn where one of the gentlemen noted that doctrinal creeds not only united Christians - they were written to divide.

They were written in response to something and emphasizes beliefs that oppose the errors that were (mostly) considered the most

The Apostle's Creed laid out beliefs that refuted Gnosticism. The original Creed of Nicaea was written to combat the heresy of Arianism. Why?

Because it is vital to divide those who hold to Biblical Christianity and those who do not.

If we do not identify that which is wrong, it is more difficult to follow that which is right. It's why I talk to my kids about what I believe is wrong doctrine.

It's why I blog about doctrine.

It's why I believe that, as this election cycle really heats up, the idea of what constitutes "Christian" will become a very valid question in the eyes of those who believe in Christ. The question is "who will govern best?"

But there is another question that has little bearing on the election, but that had tremendous bearing on "mainstream" Christianity:

What is "mainstream"

To merely say that "whoever calls themselves a 'Christian' should be considered a 'Christian'" is avoiding real thinking. If a person claims to be a 'Christian', but belongs to a church whose doctrine does not support Biblical Christianity, and that person fully adheres to the doctrine of that church, how can we treat them as spiritual siblings - if they are not?

They should not be treated as siblings, they should be treated as ministry opportunities. And we should be aware of doctrinal differences and not be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, in presenting the Gospel to those who call themselves Christians, but are not.