ANGELFIRE 9-3-05
Anarchy seems to be the word for New Orleans as I write this Tuesday morning. As one who has always opposed more and more governmental intervention, it's hard to admit that an authoritarian rule has to be the answer. What's not underwater there (80%) is most likely burning as arson, lawlessness and looting have broken out. Every improvement starts going wrong the way that last minute right turn of Katrina on Sunday night, to spare New Orleans from a direct hit, went east causing the huge adjoining lake to rise and break the 17th Street levy. New Orleans sits down in a bowl, so the flooding caused power failure and also loss of nearly all communication and cooling, as well as preventing vehicles bringing in supplies. At first the Superdome seemed a point of refuge, but with summer heat and no working sewage system it's gone stinking bad. Then the Astrodome in Houston seemed a hope in Texas, yet now it's considered full before all the Superdome crowd has been bussed over. Our president's on the way to Mobile AL right now, then a tour of Biloxi MS before flying over NO. (I just noticed negative significance in that citie's abbreviation). It brings back to me the summer of '45 that I spent at Gulfport Naval Station in electronic school. Was on the way to mess hall when I passed another quonset hut where the radio was on telling about Hiroshema. President Truman came on saying "The power that lights the our has been unleashed against the enemies of this nation." Then I heard reporters describe that awesome mushroom cloud never seen before, and I wondered if my own age of 17 would be as long as our whole world was going to last. Now, the governor of Mississippi has compared NO to Hiroshema after that bombing on Aug.5, '45. Today marks 60 years since Japan surrendered. Here's a poem my dad wrote with a quote from Gen. Douglas McArthur asking about "Victory?": (While the documents were being signed aboard the Missouri the sun broke through the heavy overcast.--News Dispatch) In Tokyo Bay a lone shaft of the sun As victor and vanquished both silenced their guns And men made marks on a scroll. There were eyes that saw what was written down And ears that were tuned to each word. There were faces unseen in Tokyo Bay And voices which spoke unheard. From atoll and sand pit and water logged grave, From land, the sea, and air, Were gathered the ones who had paid for that day To see what was happening there. Out of the past of two thousand years These words came thund'rin again, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" This way lies hope for all men. The day marked more than a beaten race And the warning was give afresh As the hard bitten soldier re-echoed the theme "The spirit must save the flesh." This wasn't the triumph, this wasn't the end Though the day brought defeat to a foe. The peace that we seek must come at the last Through these words from the long ago. So gird up the atoms, the rockets, and planes, Uncover the scarcely cooled gun. For mankind must learn that victory and peace Is given to each, one by one.
ANGELFIRE 9-7-05
The water is being pumped out of New Orleans and I heard a military leader say that the downtown should be drained in four days, though parts of the city would take so much longer. He said that break in the levy which has been filled with sand bags was the result of the storm being more than the "cat three," the most it was built to withstand. Makes me think of stories of Holland I heard as a child; how the Dutch children were taught to watch for any leak in the dike and how one boy thrust his arm in to top a small flow he'd seen, then had to lay there all night until found next morning; an heroic tale indeed from long ago. But the leak in NO caused a loss of power in the city, as well as flooding. Even the gigantic pumps could not be run to reverse the flow until now. So power failure in a modern city is as lethal as the flood itself. In fact, NO's police chief has told the evacuees not to return, the city is destroyed: no power, no food, no gasoline, no services, no jobs, nothing to keep life going. Yet some are refusing to leave after Coast Guard rescuers have saved nearly 7000 already, mostly by air lift. Two hundred officers quit their post as chaos reigned last week and several even committed suicide; one who came home to find that his wife and children all dead. Then some are refusing rescue because of pets they're not allowed to bring. One Afro-American said that he had already lived through such fear of being robbed or drowned that his dog had been the only one he could trust. So there was no way he'd forsake that friend now. And I heard a lady express similar devotion to her pet. Such folks deserve rescue with their animals I say. The whole saga is a metaphor, in my view, of Christ coming down to this lost world of humanity. His power of the Holy Spirit has sustained the church for two past millenia, though a flood of wickedness in these last days has resulted in much loss of spiritual power. Even the sky rocketing cost of gasoline seems an earthly sign it's loss. Yet there are surges of glory on the horizon to be seen in the news right now. One is a tale of two cities down south. Not London and Paris as Charles Dickens depicted in his famous novel by that name, but NO and Houston. The Superdome proved to be a dead end when all the lights went out, along with the cooling and lawful protection. So the Astrodome in a neighbor state became the heavenly refuge in comparison, thanks to generous hearted Texans. As an old fashioned Okie, I'm also singing "God Bless Texas". It's been magnificent to see the hospitality they've shown to those thousands of poor refugees bussed into their major city. And another such response has been the offer of Southern Baptists here in OK making their Falls Creek Assembly grounds available. Niece and I drove down Monday and found that the volunteers had already far exceeded an immediate need of only six hundred right now to make ready. If the thousands of refugees are sent as anticipated, there'll be need for many more to help. Brother Wayne Wells of WW 1st Baptist told me this morning that 3000 from NO are to begin arriving today at Falls Creek I'm glad PV already plans to take a family and trust that many other towns will follow the good example. "Disaster of Biblical proportions" is the description we hear repeated on the media. Better still, a response of Biblical measure, as "I was a stranger and ye welcomed Me." I was loaned a copy of that book Will and Cindy Paul wrote about PV and had started it with great interest. Then Katrina disrupted my reading. But the book's so interesting I'll have to finish. Already it's made me aware of how much went before our Old Tower was built. Sort of like my evangelical Protestant faith, which used to begin with Martin Luther. (Now I've discovered much more that happened before 1517ad, when he launched the Reformation). A whole lot of PV was before 1903, year the Old Tower was built, also when aviation and Teddy bears began, plus Bob Hope and numerous American celebraties were born. Soon I'll finish "Shadow of an Indian Star" and then understand what that mysterious title means, I hope. After writing the above I've learned of serious complications that are already being faced and am taking heed of words heard fitly spoken down here at the Democrat, "Let us pray!."
ANGELFIRE 9-10-05
We can hardly pay attention to 9/11 four years ago while we are in such a national crisis right now from Katrina. But a monument was just dedicated in Atlanta that was created by an artist using her own funds to make it. While in the US capitol, an official named Sandy Burger was fined $55,000 for taking papers from federal files concerning 9/11. Our national history keeps churning out the good, the bad and the ugly doesn't it. But we don't ever quit. Rebuilding NO will be a colossal undertaking indeed. Yet it can be a rebirth for that place. Instead of a din of sin, let's pray for a place of grace. Like "Ground Zero" has become. It's obvious that Louisiana didn't really want all those casinos, since they had to be on off-shore barges. And since TX has shown such hospitality to LA, the whole ethos might be thurned from NO into an "ON" instead. That's my prayer for the outcome, as I also await the glorious return of our LJC. I've only read a dozen chapters in "Shadow of an Indian Star" so far. Too much news to watch. But the book is very interesting and I'm getting a glimmer of the meaning of it's mysterious title. I will certainly be more informed of our PV heritage when I finish. In fact, I'm already seeing a way of connecting to my favorite relic of our past. Any who read this column will know the object I refer to. It sure won't fit into the Toy Museum, but is my favorite topic to toy with none-the-less. And next month the unique new feature of PV will begin drawing tourists to town as "The Action Figure and Toy Museum." Wow! Zowie!! Yeehaw!!! Wasn't that a jolt when the NO evacuees didn't want to come to Falls Creek. They said "no." Southern Baptists had generously offered to house the several thousand, who we're told now declined the Godly invitation. There were going to be plenty of complications aplenty with their arrival, so it might be a blessing in disguise for locals. Davis schools would be overwhelmed with new students, not to mention the football upgrading for teams they would play. The Davis "Wolves" couldn't stay top pack, as they have been. Yet, the evacuees may still appear later, and then our Lord's words about hospitality will surely apply: "I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, an outcast and you took Me in." Mt.25. I'm told that the hotels are already full over at Sulphur, where there's been some disturbance. We need to seek the Lord and His righteousness, starting with our inner attitude. Help us Lord to stand against the devil who may be using this hurricane in testing the heart of America. Hearing that AfroAmerican song "Evangeline" about the great flood of '27 caught my interest (that being my year of arrival). The city of Greenville LA was worst hit and so much like NO now. Refrain of the song "It tried to wash us away" echos a feeling that black Americans must have long held since. President Hoover got elected in '28 on promises to help them; then ignored their need. So FDR got the black vote in '32 and thereafter. I'd always wondered why AfroAmericans were not with the party of Lincoln, who freed the slaves. The great Mississippi flood of '27 shows why.
ANGELFIRE 9-14-05
National attention is shifting to other things than New Orleans now, but one comparison I see to that disaster is all the forewarning given ahead of it. Yet none were taken very seriously: weakness of the levees, bowl below sea level, and finally the warning as Katrina approached that Sunday before it hit. Even the eastward turn it made just before hitting the city was a divine sign to me. All those casinos along the coast then were in it's path. Every other form of vice goes along with gambling i.e. works of the flesh as listed in Galatians 3:19-21: "adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy murders drunkenness, revelries,,,". But ignoring the call to evacuate until it finally became mandatory is a picture of this world where man lay's up his final treasure instead of heaven. The Lord's return for His own will come ahead of judgement upon all that ignore His divine rule. They will be taken with force by the laws(police) of nature. And that won't be a happy ending for them, because they have set their hearts on this perishing world. On the other hand, there have been heroic episodes in N.O. to inspire the nation, and surely those will be treasured in the New N.O. just as souls of the righteous will be included in the new heaven and new earth that follow Christ's coming again. Under His reign, it will be in transition from time into eternity, as described in 1 Cor.15. So many apocalyptic signs have are being given to mankind ever since a decade ago in our own capitol city bombing of '95 by a demonic person. Terrorists who blow up and destroy, as seen in Iraq, are also agents of deliberate evil. Yet such evil can be the wrath of Yahweh, since He allows Satan to destroy. As we observe the day of prayer for N.O. we should include repentance for the carnality and wickedness we've allowed in our culture. Otherwise, our prayers won't even get off the ground. We worship a holy GOD; not some being created by imagination to impart blessing on whatever we do. The N.O. police chief's reward to his men of a couple of paid weeks for them in Las Vegas sure illustrates the latter view to me, even though I admire the job he did; in spite of desertion by a third of his force, his governor indecisive and the mayor now possibly moving away. Even the FEMA director has bailed out. Eddie Compass may yet be the greatest. His name sounds like "direction" doesn't it.
ANGELFIRE 9-17-05
I thought it was just about PV but realize now that the title "Shadow of an Indian Star" pertains to our whole state. So I'm glad I called it "Paul Day" the Saturday before last which was it's official release. So why not have another next year and maybe recognize all the Pauls, last name or first, male or female, to be found available. There's a St.Paul MN, but I can't fine any other named just "Paul" listed in my world atlas. And that book certainly breathes life into our history; though not very sacred, compared to Paul in the Bible. Of course, he was Saul at first (Hebrew name). But also a Roman citizen, so he might have been named after one of their famous generals named Pallus. I'm sure it helped him in his travels of the Greco-Roman world. But it took 16 or 17 centuries for him to be honored with a cathedral (in London) as Peter had been earlier in Rome. On Feb.22 of this year Paul's sarcophagus was discovered behind a plaque honoring him as an apostle. It was right there by a basilica bearing his name in Rome. We know from the book of Acts that he finally did get to Rome and in 2 Timothy he even describes his coming death (not crucified as is claimed of Peter, but beheaded instead. Crucifixion was for Jews, not Romans). There's no clear reference in the Bible that Peter ever did get to Rome. Just legends of Catholicism. Being so Jewish, it figures he'd stay in Jerusalem. But Anglicans finally built St.Paul's Cathedral, opposite Westminister Abbey Cathedral in the British capitol. When I was in seminary at SMU, a popular radio preacher of our denomination was Norman Vincent Peale. The seminary saying went "Peale is so appealing, but Paul is just appalling." In other words, he went a whole lot deeper than mere "positive thinking." Getting back to PV, I recall my friends Paul Ross who owns The Dairy Twist and Dr.Paul Watkins, my dentist now retired; plus about 150 (Paul or Paula) in the phone directory I've checked; and plus the famous family where our main street and several businesses get their name. Then Paul Harvey's also from OK. And Paul Bunyan might have come down here from up north. Finally Paul Revier who rode to warn American colonists to be on guard in 1775. Maybe we should even designate the Old Tower as "Tall Paul" for that day. It even looks a little battered now, like both Sam and Joe Paul, father and son trying to kill each other. But grandpa Smith Paul is still my hero who stands tall in their book, even though his name seems backwards instead of "Paul Smith." Then I liked that preacher, Rev.McClure! Bill and Cindy's book make the Old Cemetery seem basic for our town. Hard to believe it's been closed to burials since 1902, even a year before the Old Tower was built. And now city hall will be where First United Bank has been, right down town and just a block west from our beautiful depot. I'm astonished, dare I say appalled, at the marvelous shaping up of PV, my beloved home town. Let's see to the spiritual shaping up too, as the Lord's glorious return is so near.
ANGELFIRE 9-25-05
All the repeat of Katrina is now coming with hurricane Rita, and the Gulf is still only half way through that destructive season. This month of September has been "storm" from start to finish. Remember how all those thousands in N.O. who couldn't or wouldn't evacuate were sheltered in the Superdome from the oncoming fury. But then the real calamity turned out to be power failure from flooding, so that it became four days without food or water at super hot temperatures until Houston TX showed mercy and hospitality to open their Astrodome. Well this morning it's Houston that needs mercy and hospitality as thousands from there are fleeing north to Dallas. Interstate-45 has been a trap for those who did leave because they were then stalled in traffic during hot days. Just no way to win, it seems. I found myself praying for Houston last night, "LORD they were so kind to N.O. and now they need Your mercy." So it's good to see that Rita will probably miss both Galveston and Houston. I've been through both cities, though many years ago. It was my purpose back then to visit NASA's headquarters. Now even it's been evacuated, as well as costal cities of Galveston and Corpus Christi. And so is N.O. remaining, in case Rita causes flooding there again. As we used to say in the navy, "batten down the hatches" because there may yet be another hurricane to come. As I've noted before, these storms depict the final days of history's tribulation preceding our Lord's return. He even used the flood of the days of Noah to describe it. And Genesis 1:2 may also be translated prophetically, "The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And a torrential rain was moving over the face of the waters." It foresaw the potential chaos in a creation that would be allowed freedom (for the angels of heaven and then for man upon earth). Thus the parting of the Red Sea for Israel under Moses was reinacting that parting of chaos at the time of creation. In the Scripture I see that the N.T. word in Greek for "storm" can mean either a whirlwind or a hurricane. (You might see tornados as intense whirlwinds and hurricanes as gigantic ones) In the O.T. there are several Hebrew terms, one that always means "hurricane." In the book of Job, the Voice out of the storm begins in chapter 38. It is Yahweh speaking, and in chapter 42 Job begins answering: "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eyes see You. Therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." Job must mean that he's see the LORD in all those calamities he was protesting. They were like a whirlwind, but now he hears a purpose out of the calamities that included Satan in it's prologue/background). Israel's theology becomes more complete with the recognition of evil as a power other than the good LORD. Israel's view had included "false gods" but now they are all combined under the one adversary, with his many legions; who is so bold as to pretend to be one of the LORD's and to get Job put to hard testing. Such is mentioned in the Lord's Prayer that ends with "lead us not into hard testing, but deliver us from the evil one." (The Kingdom, power and glory line was added by Mt. since Lk. doesn't include it). So Jesus's final rescue is from the evil one. All the newer translations make that clear in Mt.6:9-13. Looking at Rita's eye made me wonder what a hydrogen bomb right there out at sea might do to slow her down. It should detonate in the atmosphere instead of the Gulf. Checking that out, I found it would take a ten megaton explosion every twenty minutes to just equal the energy she carries. And even then, I don't suppose it would stop the whirl; just pollute it with radio activity. So I've banished the thought. "More power in prayer" I say now.
ANGELFIRE 9-29-05
Probably everyone's sick of hurricane news by now. Two in a row is way two-oo much. Using the other name, cyclone, might break such over repetition. Or typhoon, as they are called in the Pacific; or even a male instead of female name, which brings the words of Shakespeare to mind that "hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn." Now Louisiana has suffered the double dose and we see New Orleans flooded yet again. I surely hope engineers can provide some way to raise that city to sea level or just rebuild it forty or fifty miles inland to get out of the bowl where it sits. When I flew into N.O. back in the eighties on the way to Central America, I saw the Superdome below and was awed by such a magnificent spectacle. Now it's become a symbol of disaster since all the poor souls endured those days inside without water or sanitation or cooling or electricity or food a couple of weeks ago. I heard a sermon on Ardmore radio about "four days of hell" down there. The minister told how they were crying out to be rescued so long before it finally came, though "hell" was only as a figure of speech. In the real one, there's no delivery for ever and ever. There's certainly no magnificence to the Superdome now. And the "superbowl" even sounds like N.O. sitting down in it's bowl. I realize N.O.'s the place that gave US jazz music and all those songs about the blues that some folks enjoy so much. When I was a student at OU, my roommate in Whitehand Hall, Tom Lagess, was a jazz fan. So I was initiated into it without much choice. He always had his phonograph playing N.O. music. But I've already mentioned my attitude toward that city from my days in the navy at Gulfport Naval Training Station. My buddies liked for me to be along on liberty there because I didn't drink. That way someone would be sober enough to get us back on time. I recall how each place had a barker on the street trying to lure us in. It left an image of wickedness in the mind of this teenager. And "French" had carried such connotations from childhood, which I perceived present in their quarter by that name. Yet today it's only pity we all feel, after so much disaster has befallen them there. We're glad our president has offered all the federal resources available, despite the question of how to pay for it. So ANGELFIRE recommends that they be spent moving up to higher ground (at least 40 miles northwest). My vision is that it might illustrate our hope in Christ Jesus, through Whom we have the promise of a new resurrected bodies (1 Cor.15), because this "flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom." This old carnal nature is terminal, corrupted and passing away. It must be transformed by "glorification" from a terrestrial to a celestial body. The NEW New Orleans could be a vivid sign to all mankind! Instead of an old "sin city" in America, it would be our new "City of Salvation." Rather than the blues town, it would become red blooded Americazville. Instead of gambling, it would face with faith the necessary risks of life. Being like a house built on the Rock of Ages, it would have Godly boldness to laugh at whatever storms may come: tempest, tornado, cyclone, typhoon, whirlwind, hurricane or whatever. Come Lord Jesus!
ANGELFIRE 9-31-05
A headline this Tues. morning says "blast kills at least 60 in Iraq." And I think I heard last night that it as the first female suicide bomber there. We recall with dismay how Muslim women and children had been recruited for such "duty" in other mid-east countries. Besides the explosions, it completely blows our mind. But the very poor are exploited with large sums that are paid to their families, as well as the martyr propaganda of radical Islam. Such religion is clearly satanic. But the devil gains p`ower by pointing out to them crime and wickedness in our culture and calling us "the great Satan." So cleaning up our own house is a big step toward defeating him. New Orleans should be the starting place, in my opinion. The one hero that I could see in that mire was their police chief, Eddie Compass. And now heīs resigned. Maybe thereīs just so much corruption in N.O. and LA. that itīs too overwhelming. But now is the time if any change is to happen. If it doesnīt, then we canīt possibly win a war for freedom in Iraq while remaining slaves of sin right here at home. This month has been the deadliest yet in Iraqi bombings. Evangelical Christians here call for a lot more righteousness than their stands against abortion, family breakup and gay marriage. Prostitution/pornography, gambling/murder and drinking/drugs are evils we tolerate and which Islam as well as Christians condemn. They abound in our culture. So extermists there just want us made extinct and will sacrifice their most precious ones in suicide bombings of any in their land that side with us. Evangelical Pietism was once a strong force and major factor in our national ethos, but the media and money have nearly erased it by now. Even prayer and Bible study have become "underground activities" lest being branded as kooks. Secularity has become the norm for our public life. GOD help us to repent and seek His face again. Nahum 1:7 is our needed text, one that Iīve heard Rev.Wayne Wall here at WW First Baptist call his favorite: "The LORD is good; a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him." Sounds like our national motto doesnīt it. Oh that we would live up to it. That would be great support for the new Iraq that will vote Oct.15 on their own national constitution.
I bought a dictionary/thesaurus at Dollar General and found a name for heaven I had not known: empyrean. Since it was the first thing I discovered, I went to discuss the word with my colleague in Christ, Bob Kanary. We dug into the root meanings of shamayim i.e. paradise, Eden, garden, park, forest, etc. but didn't find "empyrean" in Scripture. Yet I've learned it's the same meaning in Greek as shamayim in Hebrew, "highest or third heaven." (First is atmospheric and second is outer space) Seemed strange to me that the New Testament which was written in Greek had excluded it. But I found empyrean pertains to the "blue fire" which isn't very heavenly sounding to me. More like a blow torch heaven I'd say. But could it be the place of origin for Angelfire, for a blowtorch on sin?