Into The Amazon

http://www.intotheamazon.org/
Speaking about boyhood and adventure...I figure I should mention some special video and audio broadcasts that are taking place. If any of you are familiar with Vision Forum Ministries then you have probably heard about this already. Right now 30 men have been and are continuing to travel into the amazon to explore answers to mysteries. (All these mysteries are eventually related back to Biblical passages.) These mysteries include: 

1. The Mystery of the Meaning of the Amazon
2. The Mystery of the Legacy of Adventure and Dominion
3. The Mystery of the Lost Tribes
4. The Mystery of the Plants of the Amazon
5. The Mystery of the Strange Creatures of the Amazon
6. The Mystery of the Mighty Inca Empire
7. The Mystery of the Inca Stones and the Great Peruvian Desert 

So far it is a very interesting and looks like it will continue to be. If you have an interest in the Amazon, and even if you don't, I would definitely recommend looking into this.  Not only do they travel into the Amazon but they also visit a tribe in the Amazon, visit Manchu Picchu , and go to the Great Peruvian Desert.
There is a fee to receive the live videos and audio ($48) but after the series is over one receives a DVD. Also, there is a study guide that comes with the video that relates it all to Him and looks deeper into worldviews surrounding the Amazon. The link above will take you to the online site where there is a video that explains "Into the Amazon" to a fuller extent. 

Here is a short description from their blog:
"This year marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the Inca stronghold Machu Picchu by famed explorer Hiram Bingham. It is also nearly the 100th anniversary of the historic father-and-son expedition into the Amazon down the River of Doubt by Teddy Roosevelt and his son Kermit. Now, as the world welcomes a new year, Doug Phillips leads a thrill-packed expedition of thirty fathers and sons into the heart of the Amazon and then high into the Andes Mountains. For the better part of a week, our team will be living on a boat and in the Rainforest in the heart of Amazonia. They will sometimes catch their own food, debate, dialogue, explore, and investigate. They will build relationships like men and emphasize the importance of fathers and sons working together for the glory of God. Now you can join these thirty men as they travel into a lost world, and seek to share these great experiences and hope to shed light on seven mysteries of importance to Christians in the 21st century: "

Also for the women out there, there is also a trip that Doug Philips wife and daughters went on. They went to the city of Chincherro and learned to how to weave from the locals. What they learn to do is quite beautiful and intricate. Links to her blog, videos, pictures and audio about the technique, and their trip, are all included in the fee for "Into the Amazon."  

By the way, "Into the Amazon" has already begun so if you are interested I would look into it as soon as possible in order to start watching the live videos, listen to the live question and answer time, and viewing the pictures! Hope you enjoy.

Friendship, Boyhood, and Courage

 As Christine, my sister, and I were beginning a new babysitting adventure we sat down to play some Wii with two young boys. Although they were not allowed to play much they enjoyed the game heavily and it was quite enjoyable, though at times intense, to watch them. As they slung the controllers onto their wrists it seemed as if they where strapping on guns, preparing to battle mushrooms, attacking turtles and poisonous flowers in Mario Brothers. The game especially became intense as they came to a particularly difficult section of the game. They had to defeat a creepy castle in which there was lava instead of water, black turtles and turning knobs similar to those in a clock. The boys had to make sure that they both didn't die at the same time or the game would soon be over. During a particularly intense moment the below was said:

Brother A said to his brother: "You have to wait for me!!"

Brother B: "Of course I'll wait for you, even if I have to die I'll wait for you because you’re my brother. We are going to make it through this together."

And as lava was boiling about him he did wait for his brother and although they didn't beat the level it seemed as if they bonded. Brother B said his sentences with such passion that it struck me. At that moment I could picture them on a field of battle apart from the game due to the passion of the boy’s statements. I suppose it shouldn't have struck me so much, men wanting to wait for each other and fight a battle to the end, but in this world, in which men are so feminized and brothers are not often taught to stick up for each other, it is amazing to see any two boys have such passion over something so minimal as a game. It seems in the world of the men and boys such a game isn't minimal, though, because to those boys that castle was the same as any battlefield and they were just showing their true allegiance to each other. Boy B could have been selfish and try to finish the game by himself but their father, it seems, had taught them that they needed to stick by each other no matter the consequences.

It sort of reminded me of Psalm 133, especially verse 1 (I included verse 2 for context):

Behold, how good and pleasant it is

when brothers dwell in unity!

It is like the precious oil on the head,

running down on the beard,

on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
 

And in a very small way it also seemed to be a picture of John 15:3-

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
  

I just thought the above was a wonderful picture of friendship, boyhood, and ultimately manliness in a generation that doesn't always think about or cultivate such qualities.

"In God Do We Trust" - A Memorial Day Rememberance

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. 

Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just, 

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust." 

And the star-spangled banner forever shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!" 

(From the United States National Anthem) 

 

Well, it's been awhile since my last post. Part of the reason has been because I've been extremely busy this year. From working and funerals to weddings and beach days it's been a little fast paced. So please forgive me but I have decided that a post about memorial day is most necessary at this time...

Recently some of our friends came down to be with us on Memorial Day weekend. We generally try to get to the beach and stuff during this weekend but we have not really done much in the recent years, partly because the last state we were in did not have much in the way of Memorial Day memorials. But this year we decided to go to something special, a Memorial Day commemoration on a battle ship in our town.

 

Having never been to such a special memorial none of us really knew what to expect but what began as a whim ended up turning to something I'll remember for awhile. Since it was a memorial to remember those that have died in battle or given their lives in the service of our country, it was only customary to have the Army, Navy, Marine and Coast Guard present. So, flag bearers from all the services greeted us at the gangplank of the battleship.  

 

From then on the eving was full of American flags, patriotism and remembrances first for those who fought so valiantly for the continual freedom of America and then for those continuing to fight for freedom in the world.

 

 

As the official ceremony began a military band played the National Anthem. As I put my hand to my heart, in order to respect the country I love, I could not help notice a very sweet man who had retired from the service. As many years it had been since he had served, he still put his hand up in a wonder full salute to the Flag. And as he did so I could not help feel pride for my country and a sense of thanks for all this man had done to keep me/ America safe. It was a wonderful thing to remember such men who give/gave thier lives, and time to serve the country many of us call home.

 

At the apex of the evening a much revered general took the podium and reminded many of us of what memorial day is all about. As he said: It is not about the hamburgers we eat or the family time we can have but the important thing on memorial day is to remember all those who have fought, died and conquered for our country in order that we can be safe.

It seems that we often don't remember these people, or even seem to care about what they are doing overseas because "it does not affect us" but in the end I do believe that it is important to remember all they do for us as Americans. Even if some of us do not agree about certain wars or battles it is still important to remember that men fight valiently and give thier lives and time so that we can be free. Whether we realize it or not what they do affects everyone one of us, everyday. For in their hands and ours is our freedom; and such a thing as freedom is not to be thought of lightly, for it is worth fighting and dying for!

 

So, with all of that said, and a lot of my patriotism added in, they ended the evening with a gun salute for all those who have perished in war.

 

 

 As the night ended with a bang we left as we had come but we did not leave emty handed for in our hearts we had gained something greater than hambergurs or hotdogs, we gained a surer sence of the price of our freedom, unbridled thanks for our service men, and overwhelming pride for our country. 

So, all I can say now is: May God bless America and may we continue to Trust in Him!

In ending, I wanted to post the National Anthem of our country as I reminder of our wonderful history and hopeful future as a nation. If you do have time I would suggest that you read the entire anthem, as there are messages in it later on that are quite powerful.

The National Anthem of the United States of America

Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines on the stream:

'Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion

A home and a country should leave us no more?

Their blood has wiped out their foul footstep's pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner forever shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Note: I did not come up with this anthem and do not own the copyright of it, if there is one.