"I Am My Brother's Keeper" by Jeffrey & Craig Weiss

I finished this book awhile ago, but haven't said anything on it, so here are my thoughts. First of all, this book is one of the most amazing books when it comes to amazing story after amazing story. All the way through the book, i found myself stopping and telling Leah what I had just read simply because it was so unbelievable.

The book is about American and Canadian involvement with Israel during the War for Independence throughout 1947-49. It is the compilation of many interviews and recently declassified information, and takes the reader chronologically throughout the war, showing the amazing sacrifices people made to serve the cause they completely believed in. just some amazing amazing stories.
here are a couple of examples.

the man who was responsible for training the Rangers in the US military, Mickey marcus, and served the US in WWII. he convinced his superiors to send him to England to be a liason. While in England, he met up with the 101 Airborn and convinced someone to let him jump with them the day before D-Day. So he gets out there, and out of the thousands that jumped, only two had never jumped out of an airplane before, he was one of them. So he jumps and helps the platoon he's with, and leads one group to remove a key machine gun nest overlooking the beaches. By now, the department of defense finds out where he is and calls him back to the US. Mickey marcus went over to Israel to help organize the infant army and make them into a fighting machine. he lost his life in Israel.

there is another story of smuggling planes out of the US and trying to get them to Israel. These guys managed to get the planes out of the US when they started to get pressure. They convinced Panama that they were a forming airline company, so they gave them a piece of the airport to use. The government down there starts getting antsy that this company hasn't made any flight or started, so they figure their time there is coming to an end. they tell the government that they're going to take their five planes and try out different routes to Europe. Well, the government brings all of these diplomats and business persons out to see the launching of this great airline complany. the planes take off, and the last one turns around, waves to the crowd, and they never returned.

the book is absolutely jam packed with amazing stories and I could go on and on, but I can't. if you are at all interested in this subject, i reccommend this book to you!

A Star Shall Guide Them

i know its not Christmas time, but i read this little cool fact in a book for my New Testament History class.

When Julius Ceasar died, there was a comet in the sky and people saw it as a sign of his spirit leaving. Then when Augustus Ceasar was living, there was another comet that people said was a good omen for him. And on the Roman coins, a star appears above the heads of both Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar's head.

Think what people would have thought when the Magi came seeking the King of the Jews saying they followed a star.

God's Team

ok, that's probably blasphemy, but i thought this article was encouraging. In the era of self obsessed athletes, this story is refreshing to read. doesn't hurt that its the red sox!

click here

faith and who its about

Matthew 17:14
14 When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, 15 and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, because he is epileptic and suffers terribly, for he often falls into the fire and into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they were not able to heal him.” 17 Jesus answered, “You unbelieving and perverse generation! How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I endure you? Bring him here to me.” 18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was healed from that moment. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” 20 He told them, “It was because of your little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you.”



last night at bible study we were going over a couple chapters in 'Spiritual Depression' by Martyn Lloyd Jones that were covering faith. here are a few things that got me thinking and encouraged me.

first of all, when Jesus said that if we had faith the size of a mustard seed, then mountains would be moved. now that has has always sort of perplexed me. but what we talked about last night really cleared it up. when we have faith in a situation that God is faithful and in control, it is our faith that brings us to God. It is not that we ourselves are empowered somehow to do great things within ourselves. It is that if we have even a small amount of faith, it is that faith that brings us to God, and THEN mountains can be moved.

in the church today, the gospel and the whole christian movement really has become man centered. I can picture many preaching through this passage and telling their congregation that they can move mountains and do great amazing things in God's name if they just have faith. but that isn't what it is about, it is about that small amount of faith that brings us to God and then He does amazing things.




then we talked over two episodes on the Sea of Galilee with the disciples. the first was when a storm was overtaking them and they woke Jesus up saying, 'Lord, don't you know we are perishing'. This got me thinking about what my reaction would be. I couldn't think of reacting in any other way. these were normal fishermen who were used to the Sea of Galilee, so the storm had to be great. My reaction would have been to go get Jesus. but what was wrong about what the disciples did? Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith, so we know they went wrong somewhere. My conclusion was that they went to Christ with the wrong mindset.

Jones talked about three things to do in these times. the first was to stay calm, not to panic. the second is to remember God's promises, the third is to act on those promises. They could have come to jesus and said, look, we're doing everything we can, but we might need you to do one of those miracles.

The next story was when Peter walked out on the water. Now Jesus never asked him to come out onto the water, but he was eager to show Christ his faith. We were reminded here that often times our stregnth will be our weakness. Peter had faith to walk out there, but he went a bit too far with it, or as Steve said, not far enough.


in the end, God can do so much with us if we just show a little amount of faith. that doesn't mean that we are great, but it is that little amount of faith that brings us to God, who in Himself Power.

the band

so this is the band picture of the groomsmen. i love this pic so i thought i'd put it up. its a classic 'band picture' because only the lead guy is looking at the camera, no one is smiling, and they're sorta spread out.