I’ll Tell You What…

Today’s reading is from Mark, chapters 7-9.

Israeli warplanes struck Hezbollah guerrilla bases in southern Lebanon late Tuesday, threatening to re-ignite another Arab-Israeli front that has been mostly calm for years.

Israel said it was retaliating for a Hezbollah attack that killed one Israeli soldier and wounded another a day earlier, and said the attacks were intended as a message to Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon.

The United States blamed Hezbollah guerrillas for the escalation and cautioned Syria against giving support to the Lebanese militant group.

There was no word on casualties from the airstrikes in a valley six miles north of the Israeli border near the Mediterranean coast, Lebanese security officials said.

One target, a Hezbollah training position, took a direct missile hit and the sound of exploding ammunition was heard in the area, the officials said. They said they couldn’t determine the extent of damage because of the remote location.

At least three air-to-surface missiles were fired in the two raids, the Lebanese officials said on condition of anonymity. Israeli military spokeswoman Maj. Sharon Feingold said the targeted positions were used by Hezbollah to launch attacks on Israel.

Meanwhile, Israeli troops tore down part of a synagogue at a West Bank settlement outpost Tuesday but made no attempt to move adjacent trailer homes, prompting accusations the government isn’t serious about meeting U.S. demands to dismantle dozens of the outlawed sites.

Demolition on a far greater scale took place in the Gaza Strip, where army bulldozers smashed 25 houses and flattened a mosque in a Palestinian refugee camp, leaving 400 people homeless, local officials said. The military said it targeted buildings from which shots were fired at Israeli forces.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia charged that the Gaza operation and the air strike in Lebanon were “clearly intended at exploding the entire area.” He told The Associated Press, “This is very dangerous.”

Hezbollah’s TV station Al Manar quoted leadership sources as saying the attacks would not deter the group from “confronting any violation” by Israel of Lebanese territory. The Shiite Muslim guerrilla group has maintained offices and observation posts in southern Lebanon since Israeli troops ended an 18-year occupation of the area in 2000.

In past years, attacks and counterattacks have spiraled into wider conflicts involving Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israeli border towns and Israeli air and artillery strikes of southern Lebanon and infrastructure targets deep in the country.

There have been no serious flare-ups since the end of the Israeli occupation. While Israel is engaged in a bloody conflict with the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, its front with Syria on the Golan Heights has been quiet since the 1973 Middle East war.

In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said it was unfortunate that Hezbollah had caused a need for Israel to respond.

“The deliberate action that they took, which resulted in the loss of life, once again demonstrates the nature of that organization,” he said. “We believe that all parties interested in peace should condemn that kind of action by Hezbollah.”

Powell said Syria should understand that any support for terror groups destabilizes the Middle East. The State Department calls Hezbollah a terrorist group. But in Lebanon and in many parts of the Arab world Hezbollah is considered a legitimate resistance movement.

Israeli officials said the missile strikes were retaliation for an incident Monday in which Hezbollah guerrillas fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli military bulldozer that crossed into Lebanon.

Israeli commanders initially denied the bulldozer had crossed the border, but the Israeli army commander in the area, Col. Yair Golan, told Israel Radio on Tuesday that part of the vehicle had crossed into Lebanon while digging up explosives.

Security officials said it went about 20 yards into Lebanon.

Israeli officials blamed Syrian President Bashar Assad for the attack.

“If President Assad thinks he’s going to use Hezbollah as the long arm in the fight against us, he should know that our response will be very clear,” Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said.

Israeli military officials said commanders decided to attack Hezbollah instead of Syria in order not to inflame the situation. Syria has recently expressed interest in resuming stalled peace talks.

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By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer

Source: Yahoo! News

Today’s reading is from Mark, chapters 4-6.

The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, said today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court not to take an equal access case out of Arizona reinforces the constitutional protections afforded to religious speech…

In December, the ACLJ urged the high court to let stand an appeals court decision that overturned, as unconstitutional, an Arizona school district’s discriminatory refusal to distribute an organization’s brochures to promote an event because the event included religious speech.

“There was never any reason for the Supreme Court to take this case,” said Walter M. Weber, Senior Litigation Counsel of the ACLJ, which filed suit against the school district. “The law is clear on this issue. If a school district permits distribution of material from private groups, it cannot prohibit the distribution of literature simply because it promotes an event with a religious viewpoint. The federal appeals court correctly determined that such action is unconstitutional. And, clearly, the Supreme Court saw no need to revisit that decision.”

The case began in 2000 when the ACLJ filed a federal lawsuit against the Scottsdale Unified School District No. 48 on behalf of Joseph Hills, president of an organization called “A Little Sonshine from Arizona” – a non-profit educational corporation that had planned to conduct a summer camp for kids and to advertise that camp through the school system. Although the school routinely distributed other summer camp flyers, the school district refused to distribute the brochure Hills submitted advertising a summer camp for kids because two of the nineteen classes were Bible classes. The school district told Hills it would consider permitting the distribution of the brochure if he removed the descriptions of the Bible classes and removed graphics of the Bible, a cross, and a dove carrying an olive branch.

In a unanimous decision in May 2003, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of Hills saying the school district’s exclusion of the brochure “constitutes impermissible viewpoint discrimination.” The school district asked the Supreme Court to take the case.

“The federal appeals court handed down a straightforward application of settled law,” said Weber. “There is no conflict on this issue among the federal appeals courts. It is clear that private speech – including religious speech – enjoys constitutional protections. The Supreme Court did what it should have done – let the lower court decision stand.”

The case is No. 03-693, Scottsdale Unified School District No. 48, et al., v. Joseph J. Hills.

The American Center for Law and Justice is an international public interest law firm specializing in constitutional law and based in Washington, D.C. The website address is www.aclj.org.

Today’s reading is from Mark, chapters 1-3.

Wow! What a powerful chapter in the life of Jesus. A chapter that only covers part of day in the life of our Savior. It’s hard to imagine how busy Jesus’ life was as He went about doing the work of the father. But one thing is clear from this passage; Jesus took time to minister to the needs of those around Him. These three lives were forever changed by an encounter with the Deliverer, Great Physician and Giver of Life…

Deliverer. (Mark 5:1-20)

Verse 1 tells us that when Jesus arrives on the scene a demon possessed man runs up to Him and starts begging not to be tortured. This man is possessed by many demons that identify themselves as Legion. The tale of this man is a sad one. He was possessed; no one could subdue him; he lived in a graveyard; he experienced severe despair that resulted in self-mutilation, presumably suicide attempts. Could this man’s life get any worse? Probably not but fortunately for him, his life was about to change forever because of Jesus.

He was changed so completely that the people who lived in that region didn’t want Jesus to stay. They didn’t understand what happened and was very afraid. But Jesus didn’t argue with them or even pass judgment on that region. No, He sent a missionary to testify about what the Lord had done in the missionary’s life. (v. 19) The Lord had a plan and that man was a part of it and he obeyed. Verse 20 says that he went to the Decapolis and amazed the people with his testimony. Lives were changed because of this man’s obedience.

Great Physician (Mark 5:25-34)

The woman with the issue of blood is also a very sad tale. She had suffered for twelve years (v. 25) with a condition that caused her to constantly bleed. Every time she went to doctors, she only became worse. (v. 26) And to top things off, she was broke due to the doctor’s fees. She was probably at the bottom and couldn’t imagine ever getting better. But, verse 27 says that she “heard about Jesus” and went out to see him.

Someone must have told her about Jesus and His healing powers or maybe they told her that He was the Messiah. That conversation is left to speculation but the important part is that she was told about Jesus and because of that she believed that He could heal her. So, in an act of desperation she touched the hem of His garment and was healed. Her faith made her well. (v. 34) She was free.

Giver of Life (Mark 5:21-24, 35-43)

There are only a few places were we are told of Jesus raising the dead. And like the story of Lazarus, the synagogue ruler’s daughter was sick and Jesus was requested to heal her. We don’t know a whole lot about this ruler but it’s obvious that he believed that Jesus could heal his daughter. He may have even been a witness to a miracle. Having two daughters myself I can sympathize with this man’s worry. I would have hurried to Jesus (and often do) pleading on behalf of my daughter as well.

On the way to the sick girl, the man is given bad news: his daughter was dead. I wish the story told of the man’s anguish and heartbreak in that moment because Jesus’ response is awesome. In the midst of the chaos surrounding them all, Jesus probably looked the man deep in the eyes with great compassion and told the man, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” (v. 36) Time must have stopped for them at that moment. And believe he did because Jesus raised the little girl from the dead giving her back to her parents.

Did you catch the themes in these stories? People were told about Jesus and what He could do for them and as a result, their lives were permanently changed. Of course, everyone who met Jesus was changed in some way because He was constantly busy doing His Father’s work. The apostle John said in John 21:25, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” (NIV) And you thought your life was busy!

Today’s reading is from James, chapters 3-5.

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the Macintosh, SiliconValley.com has republished an original article covering the Mac. The article first appeared in the Mercury News in January of 1984.

This is a good article to read.

The Patriots are going to the Superbowl for the second time in three years after dominating the AFC championship game 24-14!


Congratulations New England Patriots!

Today’s reading is from Hebrews, chapter 13, and James, chapters 1-2.

Today’s reading is from Hebrews, chapters 10-12.

Today’s reading is from Hebrews, chapters 6-9.