It has been nearly 2 years since I seized this jackpot of green-ness. Know what the perps got for it? Probation and $5,000 fines! Pathetic!
9.22.2009
"KABUL24", by Henry O. Arnold and Ben Pearson:
REVIEW:
KABUL, Afghanistan, 2001. Mere weeks prior to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, eight Christian aid workers from Shelter Now International and sixteen of their Afghan co-workers were arrested by the Taliban and imprisoned. Although twenty-four were arrested, the book focuses primarily on eight: Heather Mercer, Dayna Curry, Silke Durrkopf, Katrin Jelinek, Margrit Stebner, Diana Thomas, Georg Taubmann, and Peter Bunch. For 105 days, they faced interrogations, torture, unfair trials, and inhumane living conditions by the hands of the Taliban. At the heart of their imprisonment was their faith in and reliance upon God alone for their miraculous escape and rescue.
Authors Henry Arnold and Ben Pearson take their readers on a fast-paced journey of a test of faith in nine chapters, a prologue, and an epilogue, all within 278 pages. This book is a page-turner, and a must-read.
REFLECTIONS:
I often approach biographies and documentaries with trepidation because I get bored with them quickly. However, “Kabul24” is not that way. It reads like a Hollywood adventure novel, while at the same time inspiring readers to consider how we would react in similar situations.
How long could your faith in God be tested before it wavered? What price would you be willing to pay for Jesus Christ? Would you risk your life to make others’ lives better? To what length would you go to see to it that the cause of Jesus Christ was advanced? Would you sacrifice your freedom for Jesus Christ if you knew ahead of time His cause would land you in prison? Would you pray for your enemies and those who persecute you while facing the harshest of treatment? Would you forgive your captors?
These, and many more, are questions I saw emerge in this gripping account of the Kabul 24. Through it all, I marveled at the number of miracles God performed to show His might. The authors keep their focus on the marvelous hand of God throughout their account of this terrible ordeal: “Often when one is put in extreme situations, the opportunity to experience miracles becomes available. To the skeptic, a miracle might be easy to deny or rationalize (particularly if it is subtle), but when miracles come one after the other, it becomes difficult to explain as mere coincidence” (Epilogue, p.263).
KABUL, Afghanistan, 2001. Mere weeks prior to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, eight Christian aid workers from Shelter Now International and sixteen of their Afghan co-workers were arrested by the Taliban and imprisoned. Although twenty-four were arrested, the book focuses primarily on eight: Heather Mercer, Dayna Curry, Silke Durrkopf, Katrin Jelinek, Margrit Stebner, Diana Thomas, Georg Taubmann, and Peter Bunch. For 105 days, they faced interrogations, torture, unfair trials, and inhumane living conditions by the hands of the Taliban. At the heart of their imprisonment was their faith in and reliance upon God alone for their miraculous escape and rescue.
Authors Henry Arnold and Ben Pearson take their readers on a fast-paced journey of a test of faith in nine chapters, a prologue, and an epilogue, all within 278 pages. This book is a page-turner, and a must-read.
REFLECTIONS:
I often approach biographies and documentaries with trepidation because I get bored with them quickly. However, “Kabul24” is not that way. It reads like a Hollywood adventure novel, while at the same time inspiring readers to consider how we would react in similar situations.
How long could your faith in God be tested before it wavered? What price would you be willing to pay for Jesus Christ? Would you risk your life to make others’ lives better? To what length would you go to see to it that the cause of Jesus Christ was advanced? Would you sacrifice your freedom for Jesus Christ if you knew ahead of time His cause would land you in prison? Would you pray for your enemies and those who persecute you while facing the harshest of treatment? Would you forgive your captors?
These, and many more, are questions I saw emerge in this gripping account of the Kabul 24. Through it all, I marveled at the number of miracles God performed to show His might. The authors keep their focus on the marvelous hand of God throughout their account of this terrible ordeal: “Often when one is put in extreme situations, the opportunity to experience miracles becomes available. To the skeptic, a miracle might be easy to deny or rationalize (particularly if it is subtle), but when miracles come one after the other, it becomes difficult to explain as mere coincidence” (Epilogue, p.263).
9.01.2009
AN EVERLASTING HOPE:
Abbie Barret suggests “10 Reasons for Hope” (“Body + Soul” magazine, September 2009 issue). Of the following 10 statements, only #1, 5, 7, and 10 are presented in their entirety. The rest were shortened for brevity only, and their content was not altered in any way.
1) Thanks to the protection that the Endangered Species Act affords, many animal populations are well on their way to recovery, including gray wolves in the western Great Lakes and parts of the Northern Rockies, grizzly bears in the Yellowstone area, and America’s beloved bald eagle.
2) A 2006 study suggests that the ozone layer has stopped eroding in some areas – and is even showing signs of improvement.
3) Every business day, the construction industry spends $464 million on projects that register with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
4) California aims to attain 33 percent of its energy from renewable resources, such as solar, wind, and geothermal power, by 2020.
5) We really can make a difference! People in 88 countries and 4,000 cities and towns participated in this year’s Earth Hour on March 28, turning off lights for one hour to show support for the environment – and with notable results. Canada alone reported a 15 percent decrease in energy consumption during that time.
6) America has more than four million acres of organic farmland across all 50 states.
7) In 51 cities across the United States, life expectancy has increased by five months, tanks to reduced air pollution. In those cities with the most pollution, but also the best cleanup efforts, the average resident’s life expectancy has jumped 10 months.
8) American purchased nearly twice as many compact fluorescent light bulbs in 2007 as in 2006.
9) A 2007 Supreme Court decision ordered the EPA to determine whether carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health.
10) Based on data from 2000 to 2005, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that, thanks to conservation efforts, the United States has gained forestland at an average of 392,898 acres per year. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wetlands have grown 32,000 acres annually.
Sadly, these items will all one day disappoint. The urgency of the green movement will fade, and those who placed their hope in it will be left empty. Sadly, many people hope in things temporal, movements or philosophies that are here today and gone tomorrow. Joyfully, however, the Bible presents to us a hope that is everlasting!
1) For in You, O LORD, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God. (Psalm 38:15)
2) And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You. (Psalm 39:7)
3) Why are you cast down, o my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God. (Psalm 43:5)
4) For You are my hope, O Lord GOD; You are my trust from my youth. (Psalm 71:5)
5) You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word. (Psalm 119:114)
6) O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption. (Psalm 130:7)
7) Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God… (Psalm 146:5)
8) For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. (Romans 15:4)
9) For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. (Galatians 5:5)
10) To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)
May you find true, lasting hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, the One whose glory will never fade away!
1) Thanks to the protection that the Endangered Species Act affords, many animal populations are well on their way to recovery, including gray wolves in the western Great Lakes and parts of the Northern Rockies, grizzly bears in the Yellowstone area, and America’s beloved bald eagle.
2) A 2006 study suggests that the ozone layer has stopped eroding in some areas – and is even showing signs of improvement.
3) Every business day, the construction industry spends $464 million on projects that register with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
4) California aims to attain 33 percent of its energy from renewable resources, such as solar, wind, and geothermal power, by 2020.
5) We really can make a difference! People in 88 countries and 4,000 cities and towns participated in this year’s Earth Hour on March 28, turning off lights for one hour to show support for the environment – and with notable results. Canada alone reported a 15 percent decrease in energy consumption during that time.
6) America has more than four million acres of organic farmland across all 50 states.
7) In 51 cities across the United States, life expectancy has increased by five months, tanks to reduced air pollution. In those cities with the most pollution, but also the best cleanup efforts, the average resident’s life expectancy has jumped 10 months.
8) American purchased nearly twice as many compact fluorescent light bulbs in 2007 as in 2006.
9) A 2007 Supreme Court decision ordered the EPA to determine whether carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health.
10) Based on data from 2000 to 2005, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that, thanks to conservation efforts, the United States has gained forestland at an average of 392,898 acres per year. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wetlands have grown 32,000 acres annually.
Sadly, these items will all one day disappoint. The urgency of the green movement will fade, and those who placed their hope in it will be left empty. Sadly, many people hope in things temporal, movements or philosophies that are here today and gone tomorrow. Joyfully, however, the Bible presents to us a hope that is everlasting!
1) For in You, O LORD, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God. (Psalm 38:15)
2) And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You. (Psalm 39:7)
3) Why are you cast down, o my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God. (Psalm 43:5)
4) For You are my hope, O Lord GOD; You are my trust from my youth. (Psalm 71:5)
5) You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word. (Psalm 119:114)
6) O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption. (Psalm 130:7)
7) Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God… (Psalm 146:5)
8) For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. (Romans 15:4)
9) For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. (Galatians 5:5)
10) To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)
May you find true, lasting hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, the One whose glory will never fade away!
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