Bo Steele [HQ]~ Victory In Jesus

Redeemed! - Fanny J. Crosby (hymn with words and music)

The Four Immortal Chaplains

Stories of some events which reflect honor, courage and compassion are so important they should be told over and over, especially now when it seems so many people do not know or  appreciate American history. An example is the story of the Four Immortal Chaplains.

On September 3, 1943, the troop ship Dorchester  was in the North Atlantic with  more than 900 soldiers    and sailors on board, headed for battle action.  Many were very young. Also on board were four chaplains -- Father John Washington, Roman Catholic;  the Rev. Clark Poling, Dutch Reformed; Rabbi Alexander Goode, Jewish, and the Rev. George Fox, Methodist.

When the ship was about 100 miles off the coast of Greenland, it was struck by a German tornado and forced to sink. On board it was chaotic and the chaplains did what chaplains do -- they calmed and comforted the troops.  More than 600 drowned but 250 were rescued and they told how the chaplains gave their life jackets to others and sank under the water, going down with their arms around each other.

Four men  of religious differences but all serving the same God. Let us remember them for their actions, some 62 years ago.

We don't deserve the Marine Hymn

From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli
We fight our country's battles
In the air, on land, and sea.

Terrorists invade a hotel in Tripoli, kill nine and take others hostage. America does nothing and is mocked for its cowardice.  No, we do not deserve to boast our bravery any longer.  Who can sing the Marine Hymn with honor?

Reduced price of oil hurts state's revenue

Louisiana is one of those oil producing states that is in a financial bind because of the drop in the price of oil.
 We are looking at a possible increase in taxes, cuts in some departments, or both.

Regardless, some change is inevitable in the TOPS program, Costing near  235 million dollars now, it is on the way to around 400 million.

A program I favor abolishing, is benefits to film makers.  I do not favor paying a company to make a film in the state.

Our 42nd anniversary

Jen and I celebrated forty-two years of marriage Tuesday, January  27.  Celebrated may be  too strong a word:  we took pleasure in knowing the marriage has lasted that long when some people gave us six months at best.

The first priest we contacted to preside over the ceremony refused   but one  had no problem and so we went forward.  I can still see Jen coming down the aisle, trembling and crying.  I thought if she feels that badly, let's call it off.  I told my brother I was going to slip away, but he calmly said it would be too embarrassing to the families, so I stayed.   I forgot to kiss the bride when the ceremony calls for it and had to yank Jen back and kiss her.

Will we have another 42 years?

Thinking back 70 years

Seventy   years. . I began thinking about what I was doing 70 years ago and I remember that   as 1945 began I was at Hawaii on the USS Pickens, APA 190, preparing to attack Iwo Jima.  We would spend a week with Marines, loading them into boats and taking them to attack a vacant island.

 We would  return those Marines to base, load on another group of Marines, and do the same thing again.

 I don't remember when we became aware that our training was for the attack on Iwo Jima. 

When doing wrong is right

How great it is to learn that one of my many faults is good for me!  I am referring to studies that show that drinking coffee reduces by 20 per cent the danger of melanoma cancer.   As studies continue to find that what used to be considered  harmful are instead healthful, the day may come when I have no bad habits at all!

My solution to Deflategate

I seldom write about sports on this blog, but the mysterious deflation of footballs and the shadow cast on the coming Super Bowl forced me to come up with a solution.  Here it is:

Substitute Green Bay for New England and replay the Green Bay game with Seattle.  Seattle won and is properly in the  Super Bowl but Green Bay was the victim of some unusual plays and deserves a replay. 

There's nothing wrong with a short sermon

Jessica found the secret  to being a popular preacher Sunday; cut the sermon short and let the congregation get out 15 minutes early. 

She said she  does not understand what she did to shorten the service.   I say she's doing something right.

What if --

There was truth and honor in politics?  Then President Obama"s state of the union speech would truthfully admit the economy is bad and ISIS is winning everywhere.

The economy may be just fine for the wealthy and the welfare  population, but it continues bad for the working people.  The work force continues to decline  in number; many try to survive on 30-hour weeks;  wages are stagnant, and our tax policy discourages companies from creating jobs.

A revision of the tax code to favor job creation is urgent, but no tax revision will get money from billionaires like George Soros, Warren Buffet and the Walton family.

What is Obama's policy for opposing radical Islam?   He can't even  call  it what it is while ISIS is winning in Yemen and everywhere else.

Birthday shared with Lee

Mark, our youngest son, observed his birthday Monday, January 19, sharing the day with one of my heroes, Robert E. Lee.  In a recent American Legion poll, Lee was included among America's favorite heroes, as was Stonewall Jackson. 

I tried to persuade Jen to wait until January 20 to have the baby because that was the day Reagan was installed as president. Women are stubborn  about those things;  I can remember she even got angry at my suggestion.

That's so wrong it'a silly

Obama has called for European nations to "integrate with the Muslims."  Is he that ignorant or is he determined that the terrorists not be named what they are --  radical Islam?  The Muslims don't want to integrate; they want sharia law rather than the laws of the country in which they reside.

The war being waged against us is ideological. We are to have a choice  --convert to Islam or be killed.  We must win ideologically as  well as against terror.

Jessica to preach Sunday

Daughter Jessica will preach this Sunday at Apex United Methodist Church.  As a member of the staff, she will give several more sermons during her final term at Duke Seminary.  I will be thinking about her as I lead the Sunday School class in study of this week's lesson.

Homer Clhamber of Commerce meets

Half a century?  That's how long the Homer Chamber of Commerce has operated.  It will be observed Tuesday,  January 27, with  guest speaker  Dr. Jimmy Andrews, orthopedic surgeon famed for treating injured star athletes.

Before the chamber was formed the Homer Lions Club   filled that role.  I remember making the motion for the Lions to finance a summer of work by Dr. Clay Durham and LSU students to gain an idea of how much iron ore was available in the parish.  Their work was so encouraging the state expanded and paid for further study,

Is Duke wrong?

With my daughter Jessica soon completing her third year at Duke Seminary. I am more concerned than most about the university's decision to sound Muslim call to prayer  each Friday from a bell  tower.

Not everyone is happy about this, especially when radical Islam is waging war against the West, killing Christians and other religious groups.  Among those speaking out  is Franklin Graham.  He said:

As Christianity is being excluded from the public square and followers of Islam are raping, butchering and beheading Christians, Jews, and anyone who doesn't submit to their Sharia Islamic law, Duke is promoting this in the name of religious pluralism."   He called on donors and alumni to withhold support from Duke until this policy is reversed.

A World War II story of compassion

Is this story factual? I think so, but we need some acts of kindness to think about, taking our minds away from the threat ISIS has made about a dirty bomb.

A B-17 was returning from a bombing raid over Germany in 1943.  It had been heavily damaged by flak and by fighters.  The tail gunner was dead and most of the tail and stabilizer shot away.  None of the  guns were working and the waist gunner had lost a leg.  One engine was out and another was acting out.  The nose was torn apart and the plane had plummeted thousands of feet to  a low level with little chance of making it the 240 miles back to England.

A German fighter pilot with 27 kills to his credit took off after the crippled bomber. As he approached from behind he could see the dead tail gunner and through the holes in the side of the plane he saw the wounded crew huddled together.  He pulled up above the pilot and co-pilot and looked down at them.   They looked up to him in fear.

After flying beside them a few minutes  the German pilot suddenly saluted  them, peeled off and let them go.  A few hours later the bomber made it back to England.

Forty years later at a reunion in Florida the American and German pilots met with tears in their  lives Twenty-five children and grandchildren of the surviving crew gathered around the German pilot and thanked him for their lives.

One was noticeably absent

Led by families of victims of terrorism, two million marched in Paris Sunday against radical Islam.  Taking part were 50 world leaders, who mourned for the 20 murdered and pledged cooperation in opposing the terrorists.   One who some consider a leader, Barach Obama, was notable for his absence.  He has returned from another vacation in Hawaii, which cost taxpayers more than four million dollars.

Getting ready for the Pinewood Derby

A recent report claimed the automobile industry (yes the one that got taxpayer money) had a good year and is on the way back.I don't know how true that is but the Pinewood Derby is still thriving.

Local Cub Scouts took the first step today as they met to get their blocks of wood sawed  into a variety of styles.

My first experience with the Pinewood Derby was over 30 years ago, and though I have a grandson participating I leave up to him and his father.  The first cars I helped make were shaped by a handsaw, a pocket knife and a chisel.   My oldest sons are twins so it was double duty for several years.  This meeting as a group and having an expert use a bandsaw is a great improvement.

You just think it's cold

Yes,  I have seen the same map you have, with low temperatures shown everywhere, including 3 here in Shreveport.  But Obama and the UN among others inform us that it's not cold -- our problem is global warming and we must spend trillions and take  away jobs to end global warming.  It's only our uneducated imagination that we can't understand -- the problem is global warming.

Call a Muslim terrorist what he is

Call it what it is -- a terrorist attack by Muslims.   I am sick of political correctness, that we must not hurt the sensibility of Muslims.  Obama said in 2007 that once he was elected all problems with Islam would end. He has continued to refuse to admit that radical Muslims are attacking the world's Christians.  The Muslim religion calls for converting or killing all who resist them.

The murder of 12 in Paris should bring to an end the defense of the Muslim religion.  I am not calling every  Muslim a terrorist, but I am calling for Islamic terrorists to be called what they are.

Jessica returns to North Carolina

Jessica returned to North Carolina Tuesday, ending a month-long holiday with the family.  She will enter her final term at Duke Seminary and will also resume her job as youth counselor.   In addition she will write papers  that answer 11 questions the Methodist church  requires before she can be commissioned as a pastor.  After commission, she plans to spend a year in Israel as  a missionary.

"Undecorating" the tree is no fun

Taking the decorations off  the Christmas tree   takes about the same time as decorating it, but one task is exciting and fun,  and the other is boring. Maybe that's life-- when we create we are rewarded with joy; when we do something negative we are punished with boredom and pain.

Meddlesome first ladies

Every first lady develops a project which is inflicted  upon us whether we like it or not.   Some projects are worthwhile even though we opposed.  I think of Mrs. Johnson's fight against billboards near highways.

One of the most harmful is Mrs. Obama's school  lunch edict, resulting in hungry kids and wasted food.

I  was thinking  about this the other day and realized  that the only first lady I met face to face was Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of Franklin Roosevelt, who was president almost forever.  I met Mrs. Roosevelt when she visited the San Diego Navel Hospital. during World War II.

What will our nation do about terrorists?

Will 2015 see an improvement of many of the problems of the outgoing year or will our many troubles as a nation become even worse?   Republicans will control the Senate and House and could eliminate many of the thousands of Obama regulations that hurt the economy, especially low wage workers.

We go into the new year in more danger from Islam terrorists than when the past year began.  Will we regain the courage to fight the war that is waged against us or will we lie down like worthless cowards?  All other problems are secondary to the war against terrorism.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone. May God be with you throughout  2015 and the year be healthy and prosperous for you.