Interview of Anne Graham Lotz by Jane Clayson on CBS' Early Show...

Anne Graham Lotz interview

Regarding the Events of 9/11:

The September 13th Interview of Anne Graham Lotz by Jane Clayson on CBS' Early Show...

"Where Is God?"
                                                                           Thursday, Sept. 13, 2001 - 12:00 AM ET

NEW YORK -- Anne Graham Lotz is the second daughter of Billy Graham. She has stepped in her father's footsteps and formed a ministry that is based in Raleigh, N.C. She calls herself a Bible teacher. She is not an ordained minister.
Her father has called her "the best preacher in the family."  She spoke with the Early Show's Jane Clayson on Sept. 13, 2001 to offer some comfort to the families of the terror victims.

Jane Clayson: We've turned to your father, the reverend Billy Graham, so often in times of national crisis. What are his thoughts about what happened on Tuesday?                                                                          Anne Graham Lotz: I turned to him also. In fact, I called him last night
after you all called to arrange for this. He's reacting like a lot of
Christians around the country, we're all praying. I think about those people you just showed. I wasn't sure I'd be in control when you came on because it just provoked such emotion to see these people carrying pictures of their loved ones and knowing they don't know if they're alive or dead.
And at a time like that, I know the families and the friends of the victims
can hardly even pray for themselves. They don't know what to say or how to pray. I want to say to them - families and friends of the victims, that there are thousands of people in this country who are carrying you in prayer right now.                                                                                  And we're praying for you with hearts filled with compassion and grief and just interceding on your behalf, asking the God of all peace and the God of all comfort to come down in a special way into your life and meet your needs at this time. My father and mother are also praying like that.

Jane Clayson: The pain is incomprehensible for so many of these people. At a time like this it is so easy to lose faith. How do you keep faith, Mrs. Lotz at a time like this?
Anne Graham Lotz: I think it is almost easier to have faith because we have nothing else in some ways. I've watched as this nation has turned to prayer. We've seen prayer vigils. And in our city, we have prayer vigils. And so I think it is a time to turn to God.... Our nation has been hit and devastated by this day of terror and now I believe it is our choice as a nation as to whether we're going to implode and just disintegrate emotionally and spiritually or whether we'll make the choice to be stronger. I think right now, we have the opportunity to come through this spiritually stronger than we've been in the past because we turn to God.

Jane Clayson: I've heard people say, those who are religious, those who are not, if God is good, how could God less this happen? To that, you say?
Anne Graham Lotz: I say God is also angry when he sees something like this.  I would say also for several years now Americans in a sense have shaken their fist at God and said, God, we want you out of our schools, our government, our business, we want you out of our marketplace. And God, who is a gentleman, has just quietly backed out of our national and political life, our public life. Removing his hand of blessing and protection. We need to turn to God first of all and say, God, we're sorry we have treated you this way and we invite you now to come into our national life. We put our trust in you. We have our trust in God on our coins, we need to practice it.

Jane Clayson: So many people have called this an act of war. Has he
expressed anything about what a proper response for an attack like this
should be?
Anne Graham Lotz: No. I've tried to be very careful. I don't ever answer for my father. But I believe in the next few days you're going to be seeing him and hearing from him and perhaps he will express some of those things.

Jane Clayson: As a spiritual adviser, how would you define the feelings
right now?
Anne Graham Lotz: I was watching television the first day and interviewed a construction worker that who had been an eyewitness through all of this in a building next to the World Trade Center. He said, I've seen planes hit this building, people falling out of the sky. He said, my heart is in my throat. I feel like I would say the same thing. You almost don't have thoughts to articulate. Your heart is in your throat. You can hardly stand it. You're numb.
For myself, I fall back on my faith in God and the foundation, speaking of those buildings, as an illustration of America, our foundation is our faith in God and the structure we build on that foundation is what enables us to endure something like this.
...I believe God also knows what it is like to lose a loved one, gave his
only son on a cross. He knows what it is like to see a loved one die a
horrific death. He's emotionally involved in our pain and he has the answers to us and he can bring comfort beyond human understanding.

Jane Clayson: There's such a feeling of helplessness among so many. They don't know what to do beyond giving blood, beyond writing a check to help those in need. What would be your recommendation as a spiritual adviser?
Anne Graham Lotz: I thought Governor Keating said it right when you asked him. He said pray.  I believe we need to pray.  As Christians, we need to pray for people who can't pray for themselves right now. I believe we need to call out to God and ask him to forgive our sins and heal our land.  God is greater than sometimes we think of him and he can solve this, give us answer, give us wisdom, lead us through this in a way that makes us stronger as a nation but we have to turn to him.

Jane Clayson: This event has changed us forever.  I know you believe that.  Going forward, as a nation, what do you say about that?
Anne Graham Lotz: Well, I pray that God will use this event to change us forever in a positive way. And that will strengthen our faith in him. I
thought of all those people who have died in this tragedy.  It doesn't matter right now what political affiliation they had or what denomination they belong to or what religion or what the color of their skin was or their stock portfolio.
What matters is their relationship with God. I would like to see Americans begin to focus on some of the primary things and some of the things that are more important than just, you know, entertainment and pleasure and making more money.

_______________________________________

Commentary: Author Unknown 

In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc.
Let's see, I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare (she was
murdered, her body was found recently) complained she didn't want any
prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then, someone said you better not read the Bible in school...  the
Bible that says "thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal", and "love your neighbor as yourself." And we said, OK.

Then, Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when
they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem.  And we said, an expert should know what he's talking about so we said OK.

Then, someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our
children when they misbehave.  And the school administrators said no
faculty member in this school better touch a student when they
misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity, and we surely don't
want to be sued (there's big difference between disciplining and
touching, beating, smacking, humiliating, kicking, etc.) And we said, OK.

Then someone said, let's let our daughters have abortions if they
want, and they won't even have to tell their parents.  And we said, OK.

Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and
they're going to do it anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms
they want, so they can have all the "safe sex" that they desire, and we won't have to tell their parents they got them at school.  And we said, OK.

Then some of our top elected officials said it doesn't matter what we
do in private as long as we do our jobs.  And agreeing with them, we
said it doesn't matter to me what anyone, including the President, does
in private as long as I have a job and the economy is good.

And then someone said let's print magazines with pictures of nude
women and call it wholesome, down-to-earth appreciation for the beauty
of the female body.  And we said, OK.

And then someone else took that appreciation a step further and
published pictures of nude children and then stepped further still by
making them available on the internet.  And we said OK, they're
entitled to their free speech.

And then the entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and
movies that promote profanity, violence, and illicit sex.  And let's
record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic
themes. And we said it's just entertainment, it has no adverse effect,
and nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why
they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill
strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out.

I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." -Galatians 6:7

"Dear God, Why didn't you save the little girl killed in her
classroom?  " Sincerely, Concerned Student...Could the reply be: "Dear
Concerned Student, I am not allowed in schools."  Sincerely, God.

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why
the world's going to Hell (literally).  Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what God says in the Bible.

Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven, provided they do not have to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says.

Funny how someone can say "I believe in God" but still follow Satan
who, by the way, also "believes" in God.

Funny how we are quick to judge, but not to be judged.

Funny how you can send a thousand 'jokes' through e-mail and they
spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the
Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through
cyberspace, but the public discussion of God is suppressed in the
school and workplace.

Funny how someone can be so fired up for Christ on Sunday, but be an
invisible Christian the rest of the week.

Funny how I can be more worried about what other people think
of me than what God thinks of me.                 _______________________

We invite you to print out this page (and any other of our pages, especially our page: Plan of Salvation) and pass it on to someone else.

Daylight Saving Time 2011: Why and When Does It Begin?

Daylight Saving Time 2011: Why and When Does It Begin?

To My Brother R.I.P.

Don’t grieve for me,
for now I’m free,
I’m following the path
God has laid you see.
I took His hand
when I heard him call,
I turned my back
and left it all.

I could not stay another day
To laugh, to love, to work, to play.
Tasks left undone must stay that way,
I found that peace at the close of day.

If my parting has left a void
Then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss
Oh yes, these things I too will miss.

Be not burdened with times of sorrow
I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.
My life’s been full, I savored much
Good friends, good times, a loved one’s touch.

Perhaps my time seemed all too brief,
Don’t lengthen it now with undue grief.
Lift up your hearts and peace to thee,
God wanted me now; He set me free.

Worth a read!

Nobody seems to know where this comes from.
Worth a read!


You were on your way home when you died.

It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMT tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.
And that’s when you met me.

“What… what happened?” You asked. ”Where am I?”
“You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words.
“There was a… a truck and it was skidding…”
“Yup.” I said.
“I… I died?”
Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies.” I said.
You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. ”What is this place?” You asked. ”Is this the afterlife?”
“More or less.” I said.
“Are you god?” You asked.
“Yup.” I replied. ”I’m God.”
“My kids.. My wife,” you said.
“What about them?”
“Will they be all right?”
“That’s what I like to see.” I said. ”You just died and your main concern is for your family. That’s good stuff right there.”

You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly a woman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty.

“Don’t worry,” I said. ”They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn’t have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.”

“Oh,” you said. ”So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?”
“Neither,” I said. ”You’ll be reincarnated.”
“Ah,” you said. ”So the Hindus were right.”
“All religions are right in their own way,” I said. ”Walk with me.”
You followed along as we strode through the void. ”Where are we going?”
“Nowhere in particular,” I said. ”It’s just nice to walk while we talk.”

“So what’s the point, then?” You asked. ”When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.”
“Not so!” I said. ”You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.”

I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. ”Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly image. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experience it had.”

“You’ve been in a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for long enough, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point to doing that between each life.”

“How many times have I been reincarnated, then?”
“Oh, lots. Lots and lots. And in to lots of different lives,” I said. ”This time around, you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.”
“Wait, what?” You stammered. ”You’re sending me back in time?”
“Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I came from.”
“Where you come from?” You said.
“Oh sure,” I explained. ”I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there, but honestly, you wouldn’t understand.”
“Oh,” you said, a little let down. ”But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself at some point.”
“Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan, you don’t even know it’s happening.”
“So what’s the point of it all?”
“Seriously?” I asked. ”Seriously? You’re asking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a little stereotypical?”
“Well, it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted.

I looked you in the eye. ”The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”
“You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”
“No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.”
“Just me? What about everyone else?”
“There is no one else,” I said. ”In this universe, there’s just you and me.”
You stared blankly at me. ”But all the people on earth…”
“All you. Different incarnations of you.”
“Wait, I’m everyone!?”
“Now you’re getting it,” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.
“I’m every human being who ever lived?”
“Or who will ever live, yes.”
“I’m Abraham Lincoln?”
“And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too,” I added.
“I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled.
“And you’re the millions he killed.”
“I’m Jesus?”
“And you’re everyone who followed him.”
You fell silent.

“Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.”


You thought for a long time.
“Why?” You asked me. ”Why do you do all this?”
“Because someday, you will become like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”

“Whoa,” you said, incredulous. ”You mean I’m a god?”
“No, not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.”
“So the whole universe,” you said, “it’s just…”
“An egg.” I answered. ”Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.”
And I sent you on your way.

Spring Concert @ Gordon Head United Church

Two Waltzes by N.Mordasov


Poetic Picture by E.Grieg


Prelude in G major by G.Handel


Variations of the Radish and Senior Tomato by K.Khachaturian

Randy Pausch

Apring Concert @ Gordon Head United Crch, Victoria, BC

The Snow Girl by N.Chembergi


Variations by S.Maykapar

Seasons Greatings!

Seasons Greatings!, originally uploaded by Instant Moments.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.
I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good- bye.

Wet Kiss

Wet Kiss, originally uploaded by Instant Moments.

Russian Easter Party at Tripp's - 2009

Нисходит в день Святого Воскресенья

Огонь животворящий к нам с небес

Мы говорим друг другу в поздравленье

ХРИСТОС ВОСКРЕС!

Во Истину Воскрес!

It was a great day to celebrate Russian Orthodox Easter. Mindy and Michael as usual were a very good hosts and we all (kids and adults) had a good time. See for yourself: slideshow. (coming soon)