Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
America Our Heritage
America, Our Heritage
Saturday, July 4th, 2009
America, Our Heritage is my favorite patriotic hymn. I learned it as a fifth grader and we sang it throughout the year in our classroom. The words are below; the tune is on YouTube: I do not know the author or composer, so if anyone knows, please send me the credit info. Thanks.
America, Our Heritage
High towering mountains, fields gold with grain,
Rich, fertile farmlands, flocks on the plain,
Homes blessed with peace, with love, without fears;
This is the heritage we’ve kept through the years.
Wide rolling prairies, lakes deep and broad,
Canyons majestic, fashioned by God,
Life lived in peace, contented and free:
This is the heritage forever to be.
Stout hearts and true hold fast what is ours
God give us courage through darkest hours.
God give us strength and guide with thy hand
America, our heritage, our homeland.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
2003 ford taurus lx e85
Carmakers are in favor of using E85 because it gives them "green credentials" by allowing vehicles to run on home-grown fuel. DaimlerChrysler says it sold nearly 250,000 E85 flex-fuel vehicles in 2007, and hopes to sell twice that number in 2008. Models with a flex-fuel option include:
* Jeep Commander 4.7L
* Jeep Cherokee 4.7L
* Chrysler Sebring Sedan 2.7L
* Dodge Dakota 4.7L
* Dodge Durango 4.7L
* Dodge Ram 4.7L
* Dodge Caravan 3.3L
* Grand Caravan 3.3L
* Chrysler Town and Country 3.3L
Not to be left behind, Toyota has announced it too will begin selling E85 flex-fuel version of its Tundra pickup truck in 2008.
For a list of 2007 GM flex fuel vehicles, Click Here . GM will indicate which of its vehicles are flex fuel capable by using a YELLOW gas cap.
We will keep you posted.
E85 Flex Fuel Vehicle Application List (1999 - 2008)
Trucks with an E85 Flex-Fuel Option:
1999-2003 Ford 3.0L Ranger Supercab 2WD
1999-2000 Ford 3.0L Ranger Supercab 4WD
2000-2002 Ford 3.0L Ranger 4x2 extended cab pickups
2004-2005 Dodge 4.7L Ram 1500 series
1999-2003 Mazda 3.0L B3000 pickups
1999-2002 Mazda 3.0L B3000 pickups
2000-2002 GM 2.2L Chevy S-10 2WD pickups
2000-2002 GMC 2.2L Sonoma 2WD pickups
2000-2002 ISUZU 2.2L Hombre pickup
2002-2005 GMC 5.3L V-8 Sierra half-ton pickups 2WD & 4WD
2002-2005 GMC 5.3L V-8 Silverado pickups
2003 Chevrolet 5.3L Avalanche 4-door pickups
2005 GMC 5.3L (Vortec) Avalanche
2005 Nissan 5.6L V8 DOHC
Minivans with an E85 Flex-Fuel Option:
: 1998-2003 Chrysler 3.3L Town & Country minivans
1998-2005 Dodge 3.3L Caravan & Grand Caravan SE minivans
1998-2003 Plymouth/Chrysler Voyager minivans, 3.3L
2003 Dodge 3.3L Cargo minivans (all)
Passenger Cars with an E85 Flex-Fuel Option:
1999-2001 Ford 3.0L Taurus LX, SE, and SES sedans
2000-2004 Mercury 3.0L Sable (look for Road & Leaf logo)
2002-2004 Ford 3.0L Taurus sedan and wagon
2004-2005 Ford 3.0L Taurus sedan and wagon (2 valve)
2003-2004 Chrysler 2.7L Stratus sedans (all)
2003-2005 Chrysler 2.7L Sebring sedans (all)
2003-2005 Mercedes 3.2L C320 sport sedan and wagon
2005 Mercedes 2.6L C240 sedan and wagon (all)
Sports Utility Vehicles with an E85 Flex-Fuel Option:
2001-2002 Ford 4.0L Explorer, 2-door (early 2002)
2002-2005 Ford 4.0L Explorer, 4-door
2004-2005 Ford 4.0L Explorer Sport Trac
2002 Ford 4.0L Explorer Sports 2-door
2002 Ford 4.0L Explorer Sport Trac
2002-2005 Mercury 4.0L Mountaineer
2002-2005 GM 5.3L (vortec) Suburban SUVs (all)
2002-2005 GM 5.3L (vortec) Tahoe SUVs (all)
Fleet 2005 GM 5.3L (vortec) Tahoe police package
2002 GM 5.3L (vortec) Denalis (all)
2002-2005 GM 5.3L (vortec) Yukon & Yukon XL SUVs (all)
* Jeep Commander 4.7L
* Jeep Cherokee 4.7L
* Chrysler Sebring Sedan 2.7L
* Dodge Dakota 4.7L
* Dodge Durango 4.7L
* Dodge Ram 4.7L
* Dodge Caravan 3.3L
* Grand Caravan 3.3L
* Chrysler Town and Country 3.3L
Not to be left behind, Toyota has announced it too will begin selling E85 flex-fuel version of its Tundra pickup truck in 2008.
For a list of 2007 GM flex fuel vehicles, Click Here . GM will indicate which of its vehicles are flex fuel capable by using a YELLOW gas cap.
We will keep you posted.
E85 Flex Fuel Vehicle Application List (1999 - 2008)
Trucks with an E85 Flex-Fuel Option:
1999-2003 Ford 3.0L Ranger Supercab 2WD
1999-2000 Ford 3.0L Ranger Supercab 4WD
2000-2002 Ford 3.0L Ranger 4x2 extended cab pickups
2004-2005 Dodge 4.7L Ram 1500 series
1999-2003 Mazda 3.0L B3000 pickups
1999-2002 Mazda 3.0L B3000 pickups
2000-2002 GM 2.2L Chevy S-10 2WD pickups
2000-2002 GMC 2.2L Sonoma 2WD pickups
2000-2002 ISUZU 2.2L Hombre pickup
2002-2005 GMC 5.3L V-8 Sierra half-ton pickups 2WD & 4WD
2002-2005 GMC 5.3L V-8 Silverado pickups
2003 Chevrolet 5.3L Avalanche 4-door pickups
2005 GMC 5.3L (Vortec) Avalanche
2005 Nissan 5.6L V8 DOHC
Minivans with an E85 Flex-Fuel Option:
: 1998-2003 Chrysler 3.3L Town & Country minivans
1998-2005 Dodge 3.3L Caravan & Grand Caravan SE minivans
1998-2003 Plymouth/Chrysler Voyager minivans, 3.3L
2003 Dodge 3.3L Cargo minivans (all)
Passenger Cars with an E85 Flex-Fuel Option:
1999-2001 Ford 3.0L Taurus LX, SE, and SES sedans
2000-2004 Mercury 3.0L Sable (look for Road & Leaf logo)
2002-2004 Ford 3.0L Taurus sedan and wagon
2004-2005 Ford 3.0L Taurus sedan and wagon (2 valve)
2003-2004 Chrysler 2.7L Stratus sedans (all)
2003-2005 Chrysler 2.7L Sebring sedans (all)
2003-2005 Mercedes 3.2L C320 sport sedan and wagon
2005 Mercedes 2.6L C240 sedan and wagon (all)
Sports Utility Vehicles with an E85 Flex-Fuel Option:
2001-2002 Ford 4.0L Explorer, 2-door (early 2002)
2002-2005 Ford 4.0L Explorer, 4-door
2004-2005 Ford 4.0L Explorer Sport Trac
2002 Ford 4.0L Explorer Sports 2-door
2002 Ford 4.0L Explorer Sport Trac
2002-2005 Mercury 4.0L Mountaineer
2002-2005 GM 5.3L (vortec) Suburban SUVs (all)
2002-2005 GM 5.3L (vortec) Tahoe SUVs (all)
Fleet 2005 GM 5.3L (vortec) Tahoe police package
2002 GM 5.3L (vortec) Denalis (all)
2002-2005 GM 5.3L (vortec) Yukon & Yukon XL SUVs (all)
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Paschal fire
Holy Fire
The Miracle of the Holy Fire, by William Holman Hunt
The Holy Fire (Greek Ἃγιον Φῶς, "Holy Light") is described by Orthodox Christians as a miracle that occurs every year at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Great Saturday, or Holy Saturday, the day preceding Orthodox Easter. It is considered by many to be the longest-attested annual miracle in the Christian world. It has been consecutively documented since 1106 A.D., with previous references being sporadic.[1][2] The ceremony is broadcast live in Greece, Ukraine, Russia, Romania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Cyprus, Lebanon and other Orthodox countries like Egypt. Furthermore, the Holy Fire is brought to certain Orthodox countries, such as in Russia, Belarus, Greece, Cyprus, Serbia, Montenegro, Georgia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Armenia, every year by special flights, being received with honors by state leaders at the respective airports.
On the appointed day at noon, the Greek Orthodox patriarch, followed by the Armenian archbishop, march in grand and solemn procession with their own clergies, while singing hymns. They march three times round the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Once the procession has ended, the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem or another Orthodox Archbishop recites a specific prayer, removes his robes and enters alone into the sepulchre. Before entering the Tomb of Christ, the patriarch is examined by Jewish Israeli authorities to prove that he does not carry technical means to light the fire. This investigation used to be carried out by Muslim Turkish Ottoman soldiers. The Armenian archbishops remain in the antechamber, where the angel was sitting when he appeared to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection of Jesus.[3] The congregation subsequently chants Kyrie eleison ("Lord, have mercy" in Greek) until the Holy Fire spontaneously descends on 33 white candles tied together by the Patriarch while he is alone inside the tomb chamber of Jesus. The patriarch then reveals himself from the tomb chamber and recites some prayers, before he lights either 33 or 12 candles and distributes them to the congregation. The fire is considered by believers to be the flame of the Resurrection power, as well as the fire of the Burning Bush of Mount Sinai.
Pilgrims claim the Holy Fire does not burn their hair, faces, clothes or anything else during the first 33 minutes of its appearance. One web site offers videos[4] claiming to show worshipers having prolonged contact with the flames without discomfort or damage to skin or hair.
Patriarch Diodoros of Jerusalem described the process of the coming down of the fire as follows:
I find my way through the darkness towards the inner chamber in which I fall on my knees. Here I say certain prayers that have been handed down to us through the centuries and, having said them, I wait. Sometimes I may wait a few minutes, but normally the miracle happens immediately after I have said the prayers. From the core of the very stone on which Jesus lay an indefinable light pours forth. It usually has a blue tint, but the color may change and take many different hues. It cannot be described in human terms. The light rises out of the stone as mist may rise out of a lake it almost looks as if the stone is covered by a moist cloud, but it is light. This light each year behaves differently. Sometimes it covers just the stone, while other times it gives light to the whole sepulchre, so that people who stand outside the tomb and look into it will see it filled with light. The light does not burn. I have never had my beard burnt in all the 16 years I have been Patriarch in Jerusalem and have received the Holy Fire. The light is of a different consistency than normal fire that burns in an oil lamp.
At a certain point the light rises and forms a column in which the fire is of a different nature, so that I am able to light my candles from it. When I thus have received the flame on my candles, I go out and give the fire first to the Armenian Patriarch and then to the Coptic. Hereafter I give the flame to all people present in the Church."[5]
History
The Holy Fire is first mentioned by the pilgrim Bernard the Monk, in 870 AD.[6] A detailed description of this phenomenon is contained in the travelogue of the Russian hegumen Daniil (Daniel), who was present at the ceremony in 1106 AD. Daniel mentions a blue incandescence descending from the dome to the edicula where the patriarch awaits the Holy Fire. Some claim to have witnessed this incandescence in modern times.[7]
During the many centuries of this phenomenon's history, the Holy Fire is said not to have descended only on certain occasions, usually when heterodox priests attempted to obtain it. According to the tradition, in 1099, for example, the failure of Crusaders to obtain the fire led to street riots in Jerusalem[citation needed]. It is also claimed that in 1579, the Armenian patriarch Hovhannes I of Constantinople prayed day and night in order to obtain the Holy Fire, but lightning miraculously struck a column near the entrance and lit a candle held by the Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem Sophronius IV standing nearby.[8] Upon entering the temple, the Orthodox Christians would embrace this column, which bears marks and a large crack that they attribute to the lightning bolt.
In 1969–1970, the Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem Benedict introduced the Revised Julian calendar prompted by the Geneva-based World Council of Churches, which changed the calculation of the date of the event. That same year, the Holy Fire did not appear at the Holy Sepulchre. The original ecclesiastical chronology (the Eastern Orthodox Church calendar) with the original calculation of the date was immediately restored, and the Holy Fire recommenced appearing the following year and thereafter.[9][10]
On May 3, 1834, the Church was so packed that a stampede caused four hundred deaths, with the governor Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt saved by his guards' swords slicing a way out, as reported by Robert Curzon.[11]
On April 26, 1856, James Finn watched Greek pilgrims battling Armenians with concealed sticks and stones. The pasha had to be carried out before his soldiers charged with fixed bayonets.[12]
Criticism
As with all alleged miracles, many question the validity of the Holy Fire, noting, for instance, that cold-handed pilgrims generally withstand the fire for the same very brief periods of time as can be achieved with any fire.
Criticism dates at least to the days of Islamic rule of Jerusalem, but the pilgrims were never stopped, because of the significant revenue they brought to local governments even at the end of the first millennium. When the apparently uninitiated Crusaders took over the Orthodox clergy in charge of the fire, it failed to appear, increasing the skepticism among Western Christians. But feeling the lack of pilgrim revenues, Baldwin I of Jerusalem reinstated the Orthodox priests in charge, and the fire, as well as the stream of revenues, returned.
In 1238, Pope Gregory IX denounced the Holy Fire as a fraud.
The Ottoman traveller, Evliya Celebi, claimed that a hidden zinc jar of naphtha was dripped down a chain by a hidden monk.[13]
Edward Gibbon wrote scathingly about the alleged phenomenon in the concluding volume of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire:
This pious fraud, first devised in the ninth century, was devoutly cherished by the Latin crusaders, and is annually repeated by the clergy of the Greek, Armenian, and Coptic sects, who impose on the credulous spectators for their own benefit and that of their tyrants.[14]
Some Greeks have been critical of the Holy Fire, such as Adamantios Korais who condemned what he considered to be religious fraud in his treatise "On the Holy Light of Jerusalem." He referred to the event as "machinations of fraudulent priests" and to the "unholy" light of Jerusalem as "a profiteers' miracle".
In 2005 in a live demonstration on Greek television, Michael Kalopoulos, author and historian of religion, dipped three candles in white phosphorus. The candles spontaneously ignited after approximately 20 minutes due to the self-ignition properties of white phosphorus when in contact with air. According to Kalopoulos' website:
If phosphorus is dissolved in an appropriate organic solvent, self-ignition is delayed until the solvent has almost completely evaporated. Repeated experiments showed that the ignition can be delayed for half an hour or more, depending on the density of the solution and the solvent employed.
Kalopoulos also points out that chemical reactions of this nature were well known in ancient times, quoting Strabo, who states "In Babylon there are two kinds of naphtha springs, a white and a black. The white naphtha is the one that ignites with fire." (Strabon Geographica 16.1.15.1-24) He further states that phosphorus was used by Chaldean magicians in the early fifth century BC, and by the ancient Greeks, in a way similar to its supposed use today by the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.[15]
Russian skeptic Igor Dobrokhotov has analysed the evidence for an alleged miracle at length at his website, including the ancient sources[16] and contemporary photos and videos.[17] He has also reproduced fire-bathing and has uncovered contradictions in the story of the "column split by lightning."
Dobrokhotov and other critics, including Russian Orthodox researcher Nikolay Uspensky,[18] Dr. Aleksandr Musin of Sorbonne, and some Old Believers quote excerpts from the diaries of Bishop Porphyrius (Uspensky) (1804-1885)[19] which told that the clergy in Jerusalem knew that the Holy Fire was fraudulent.
Porphyrius was a Russian Orthodox archimandrite who was sent on the official Church-related research mission to Jerusalem and other places (Egypt, Mount Athos). While in Jerusalem, he founded the Russian Mission there. Later, after his return to the Russian Empire, he was made a bishop in the diocese of Kiev
The Miracle of the Holy Fire, by William Holman Hunt
The Holy Fire (Greek Ἃγιον Φῶς, "Holy Light") is described by Orthodox Christians as a miracle that occurs every year at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Great Saturday, or Holy Saturday, the day preceding Orthodox Easter. It is considered by many to be the longest-attested annual miracle in the Christian world. It has been consecutively documented since 1106 A.D., with previous references being sporadic.[1][2] The ceremony is broadcast live in Greece, Ukraine, Russia, Romania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Cyprus, Lebanon and other Orthodox countries like Egypt. Furthermore, the Holy Fire is brought to certain Orthodox countries, such as in Russia, Belarus, Greece, Cyprus, Serbia, Montenegro, Georgia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Armenia, every year by special flights, being received with honors by state leaders at the respective airports.
On the appointed day at noon, the Greek Orthodox patriarch, followed by the Armenian archbishop, march in grand and solemn procession with their own clergies, while singing hymns. They march three times round the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Once the procession has ended, the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem or another Orthodox Archbishop recites a specific prayer, removes his robes and enters alone into the sepulchre. Before entering the Tomb of Christ, the patriarch is examined by Jewish Israeli authorities to prove that he does not carry technical means to light the fire. This investigation used to be carried out by Muslim Turkish Ottoman soldiers. The Armenian archbishops remain in the antechamber, where the angel was sitting when he appeared to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection of Jesus.[3] The congregation subsequently chants Kyrie eleison ("Lord, have mercy" in Greek) until the Holy Fire spontaneously descends on 33 white candles tied together by the Patriarch while he is alone inside the tomb chamber of Jesus. The patriarch then reveals himself from the tomb chamber and recites some prayers, before he lights either 33 or 12 candles and distributes them to the congregation. The fire is considered by believers to be the flame of the Resurrection power, as well as the fire of the Burning Bush of Mount Sinai.
Pilgrims claim the Holy Fire does not burn their hair, faces, clothes or anything else during the first 33 minutes of its appearance. One web site offers videos[4] claiming to show worshipers having prolonged contact with the flames without discomfort or damage to skin or hair.
Patriarch Diodoros of Jerusalem described the process of the coming down of the fire as follows:
I find my way through the darkness towards the inner chamber in which I fall on my knees. Here I say certain prayers that have been handed down to us through the centuries and, having said them, I wait. Sometimes I may wait a few minutes, but normally the miracle happens immediately after I have said the prayers. From the core of the very stone on which Jesus lay an indefinable light pours forth. It usually has a blue tint, but the color may change and take many different hues. It cannot be described in human terms. The light rises out of the stone as mist may rise out of a lake it almost looks as if the stone is covered by a moist cloud, but it is light. This light each year behaves differently. Sometimes it covers just the stone, while other times it gives light to the whole sepulchre, so that people who stand outside the tomb and look into it will see it filled with light. The light does not burn. I have never had my beard burnt in all the 16 years I have been Patriarch in Jerusalem and have received the Holy Fire. The light is of a different consistency than normal fire that burns in an oil lamp.
At a certain point the light rises and forms a column in which the fire is of a different nature, so that I am able to light my candles from it. When I thus have received the flame on my candles, I go out and give the fire first to the Armenian Patriarch and then to the Coptic. Hereafter I give the flame to all people present in the Church."[5]
History
The Holy Fire is first mentioned by the pilgrim Bernard the Monk, in 870 AD.[6] A detailed description of this phenomenon is contained in the travelogue of the Russian hegumen Daniil (Daniel), who was present at the ceremony in 1106 AD. Daniel mentions a blue incandescence descending from the dome to the edicula where the patriarch awaits the Holy Fire. Some claim to have witnessed this incandescence in modern times.[7]
During the many centuries of this phenomenon's history, the Holy Fire is said not to have descended only on certain occasions, usually when heterodox priests attempted to obtain it. According to the tradition, in 1099, for example, the failure of Crusaders to obtain the fire led to street riots in Jerusalem[citation needed]. It is also claimed that in 1579, the Armenian patriarch Hovhannes I of Constantinople prayed day and night in order to obtain the Holy Fire, but lightning miraculously struck a column near the entrance and lit a candle held by the Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem Sophronius IV standing nearby.[8] Upon entering the temple, the Orthodox Christians would embrace this column, which bears marks and a large crack that they attribute to the lightning bolt.
In 1969–1970, the Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem Benedict introduced the Revised Julian calendar prompted by the Geneva-based World Council of Churches, which changed the calculation of the date of the event. That same year, the Holy Fire did not appear at the Holy Sepulchre. The original ecclesiastical chronology (the Eastern Orthodox Church calendar) with the original calculation of the date was immediately restored, and the Holy Fire recommenced appearing the following year and thereafter.[9][10]
On May 3, 1834, the Church was so packed that a stampede caused four hundred deaths, with the governor Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt saved by his guards' swords slicing a way out, as reported by Robert Curzon.[11]
On April 26, 1856, James Finn watched Greek pilgrims battling Armenians with concealed sticks and stones. The pasha had to be carried out before his soldiers charged with fixed bayonets.[12]
Criticism
As with all alleged miracles, many question the validity of the Holy Fire, noting, for instance, that cold-handed pilgrims generally withstand the fire for the same very brief periods of time as can be achieved with any fire.
Criticism dates at least to the days of Islamic rule of Jerusalem, but the pilgrims were never stopped, because of the significant revenue they brought to local governments even at the end of the first millennium. When the apparently uninitiated Crusaders took over the Orthodox clergy in charge of the fire, it failed to appear, increasing the skepticism among Western Christians. But feeling the lack of pilgrim revenues, Baldwin I of Jerusalem reinstated the Orthodox priests in charge, and the fire, as well as the stream of revenues, returned.
In 1238, Pope Gregory IX denounced the Holy Fire as a fraud.
The Ottoman traveller, Evliya Celebi, claimed that a hidden zinc jar of naphtha was dripped down a chain by a hidden monk.[13]
Edward Gibbon wrote scathingly about the alleged phenomenon in the concluding volume of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire:
This pious fraud, first devised in the ninth century, was devoutly cherished by the Latin crusaders, and is annually repeated by the clergy of the Greek, Armenian, and Coptic sects, who impose on the credulous spectators for their own benefit and that of their tyrants.[14]
Some Greeks have been critical of the Holy Fire, such as Adamantios Korais who condemned what he considered to be religious fraud in his treatise "On the Holy Light of Jerusalem." He referred to the event as "machinations of fraudulent priests" and to the "unholy" light of Jerusalem as "a profiteers' miracle".
In 2005 in a live demonstration on Greek television, Michael Kalopoulos, author and historian of religion, dipped three candles in white phosphorus. The candles spontaneously ignited after approximately 20 minutes due to the self-ignition properties of white phosphorus when in contact with air. According to Kalopoulos' website:
If phosphorus is dissolved in an appropriate organic solvent, self-ignition is delayed until the solvent has almost completely evaporated. Repeated experiments showed that the ignition can be delayed for half an hour or more, depending on the density of the solution and the solvent employed.
Kalopoulos also points out that chemical reactions of this nature were well known in ancient times, quoting Strabo, who states "In Babylon there are two kinds of naphtha springs, a white and a black. The white naphtha is the one that ignites with fire." (Strabon Geographica 16.1.15.1-24) He further states that phosphorus was used by Chaldean magicians in the early fifth century BC, and by the ancient Greeks, in a way similar to its supposed use today by the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.[15]
Russian skeptic Igor Dobrokhotov has analysed the evidence for an alleged miracle at length at his website, including the ancient sources[16] and contemporary photos and videos.[17] He has also reproduced fire-bathing and has uncovered contradictions in the story of the "column split by lightning."
Dobrokhotov and other critics, including Russian Orthodox researcher Nikolay Uspensky,[18] Dr. Aleksandr Musin of Sorbonne, and some Old Believers quote excerpts from the diaries of Bishop Porphyrius (Uspensky) (1804-1885)[19] which told that the clergy in Jerusalem knew that the Holy Fire was fraudulent.
Porphyrius was a Russian Orthodox archimandrite who was sent on the official Church-related research mission to Jerusalem and other places (Egypt, Mount Athos). While in Jerusalem, he founded the Russian Mission there. Later, after his return to the Russian Empire, he was made a bishop in the diocese of Kiev
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Blake Shelton
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/12/blake-shelton-adam-levine-man-crush-kiss_n_1338970.html?ref=mostpopular
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
E85 compatible vehicles
E85 Flex Fuel Vehicle Application List (1999 - 2008)
Trucks with an E85 Flex-Fuel Option:
1999-2003 Ford 3.0L Ranger Supercab 2WD
1999-2000 Ford 3.0L Ranger Supercab 4WD
2000-2002 Ford 3.0L Ranger 4x2 extended cab pickups
2004-2005 Dodge 4.7L Ram 1500 series
1999-2003 Mazda 3.0L B3000 pickups
1999-2002 Mazda 3.0L B3000 pickups
2000-2002 GM 2.2L Chevy S-10 2WD pickups
2000-2002 GMC 2.2L Sonoma 2WD pickups
2000-2002 ISUZU 2.2L Hombre pickup
2002-2005 GMC 5.3L V-8 Sierra half-ton pickups 2WD & 4WD
2002-2005 GMC 5.3L V-8 Silverado pickups
2003 Chevrolet 5.3L Avalanche 4-door pickups
2005 GMC 5.3L (Vortec) Avalanche
2005 Nissan 5.6L V8 DOHC
Minivans with an E85 Flex-Fuel Option:
: 1998-2003 Chrysler 3.3L Town & Country minivans
1998-2005 Dodge 3.3L Caravan & Grand Caravan SE minivans
1998-2003 Plymouth/Chrysler Voyager minivans, 3.3L
2003 Dodge 3.3L Cargo minivans (all)
Passenger Cars with an E85 Flex-Fuel Option:
1999-2001 Ford 3.0L Taurus LX, SE, and SES sedans
2000-2004 Mercury 3.0L Sable (look for Road & Leaf logo)
2002-2004 Ford 3.0L Taurus sedan and wagon
2004-2005 Ford 3.0L Taurus sedan and wagon (2 valve)
2003-2004 Chrysler 2.7L Stratus sedans (all)
2003-2005 Chrysler 2.7L Sebring sedans (all)
2003-2005 Mercedes 3.2L C320 sport sedan and wagon
2005 Mercedes 2.6L C240 sedan and wagon (all)
Sports Utility Vehicles with an E85 Flex-Fuel Option:
2001-2002 Ford 4.0L Explorer, 2-door (early 2002)
2002-2005 Ford 4.0L Explorer, 4-door
2004-2005 Ford 4.0L Explorer Sport Trac
2002 Ford 4.0L Explorer Sports 2-door
2002 Ford 4.0L Explorer Sport Trac
2002-2005 Mercury 4.0L Mountaineer
2002-2005 GM 5.3L (vortec) Suburban SUVs (all)
2002-2005 GM 5.3L (vortec) Tahoe SUVs (all)
Fleet 2005 GM 5.3L (vortec) Tahoe police package
2002 GM 5.3L (vortec) Denalis (all)
2002-2005 GM 5.3L (vortec) Yukon & Yukon XL SUVs (all)
Trucks with an E85 Flex-Fuel Option:
1999-2003 Ford 3.0L Ranger Supercab 2WD
1999-2000 Ford 3.0L Ranger Supercab 4WD
2000-2002 Ford 3.0L Ranger 4x2 extended cab pickups
2004-2005 Dodge 4.7L Ram 1500 series
1999-2003 Mazda 3.0L B3000 pickups
1999-2002 Mazda 3.0L B3000 pickups
2000-2002 GM 2.2L Chevy S-10 2WD pickups
2000-2002 GMC 2.2L Sonoma 2WD pickups
2000-2002 ISUZU 2.2L Hombre pickup
2002-2005 GMC 5.3L V-8 Sierra half-ton pickups 2WD & 4WD
2002-2005 GMC 5.3L V-8 Silverado pickups
2003 Chevrolet 5.3L Avalanche 4-door pickups
2005 GMC 5.3L (Vortec) Avalanche
2005 Nissan 5.6L V8 DOHC
Minivans with an E85 Flex-Fuel Option:
: 1998-2003 Chrysler 3.3L Town & Country minivans
1998-2005 Dodge 3.3L Caravan & Grand Caravan SE minivans
1998-2003 Plymouth/Chrysler Voyager minivans, 3.3L
2003 Dodge 3.3L Cargo minivans (all)
Passenger Cars with an E85 Flex-Fuel Option:
1999-2001 Ford 3.0L Taurus LX, SE, and SES sedans
2000-2004 Mercury 3.0L Sable (look for Road & Leaf logo)
2002-2004 Ford 3.0L Taurus sedan and wagon
2004-2005 Ford 3.0L Taurus sedan and wagon (2 valve)
2003-2004 Chrysler 2.7L Stratus sedans (all)
2003-2005 Chrysler 2.7L Sebring sedans (all)
2003-2005 Mercedes 3.2L C320 sport sedan and wagon
2005 Mercedes 2.6L C240 sedan and wagon (all)
Sports Utility Vehicles with an E85 Flex-Fuel Option:
2001-2002 Ford 4.0L Explorer, 2-door (early 2002)
2002-2005 Ford 4.0L Explorer, 4-door
2004-2005 Ford 4.0L Explorer Sport Trac
2002 Ford 4.0L Explorer Sports 2-door
2002 Ford 4.0L Explorer Sport Trac
2002-2005 Mercury 4.0L Mountaineer
2002-2005 GM 5.3L (vortec) Suburban SUVs (all)
2002-2005 GM 5.3L (vortec) Tahoe SUVs (all)
Fleet 2005 GM 5.3L (vortec) Tahoe police package
2002 GM 5.3L (vortec) Denalis (all)
2002-2005 GM 5.3L (vortec) Yukon & Yukon XL SUVs (all)
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
The Methodist are Coming (or going fast)! | The Pastor Rudy Experience | a Chron.com blog
The Methodist are Coming (or going fast)! | The Pastor Rudy Experience | a Chron.com blog: "Here are the facts on the United Methodist Church in the United States, between 1998-2008:
The average worship attendance declined by 9%.
The number of churches declined by 6%.
The number of baptisms decreased by 31%.
The number of professions of faith decreased by 25%.
The make up of clergy are 88% White and 76% male (2008)
The makeup of church membership is 90% White (2008)
The average age of clergy rose from 49 to 54.
The financial expenditures per member rose 61%.
Average church costs in 2008: 36% building and debt; 34% clergy and lay staffing costs; 20% apportionments, benevolence, and programs."
'via Blog this'
The average worship attendance declined by 9%.
The number of churches declined by 6%.
The number of baptisms decreased by 31%.
The number of professions of faith decreased by 25%.
The make up of clergy are 88% White and 76% male (2008)
The makeup of church membership is 90% White (2008)
The average age of clergy rose from 49 to 54.
The financial expenditures per member rose 61%.
Average church costs in 2008: 36% building and debt; 34% clergy and lay staffing costs; 20% apportionments, benevolence, and programs."
'via Blog this'
The Methodist are Coming (or going fast)! | The Pastor Rudy Experience | a Chron.com blog
The Methodist are Coming (or going fast)! | The Pastor Rudy Experience | a Chron.com blog
Here are the facts on the United Methodist Church in the United States, between 1998-2008:
The average worship attendance declined by 9%.
The number of churches declined by 6%.
The number of baptisms decreased by 31%.
The number of professions of faith decreased by 25%.
The make up of clergy are 88% White and 76% male (2008)
The makeup of church membership is 90% White (2008)
The average age of clergy rose from 49 to 54.
The financial expenditures per member rose 61%.
Average church costs in 2008: 36% building and debt; 34% clergy and lay staffing costs; 20% apportionments, benevolence, and programs.
Here are the facts on the United Methodist Church in the United States, between 1998-2008:
The average worship attendance declined by 9%.
The number of churches declined by 6%.
The number of baptisms decreased by 31%.
The number of professions of faith decreased by 25%.
The make up of clergy are 88% White and 76% male (2008)
The makeup of church membership is 90% White (2008)
The average age of clergy rose from 49 to 54.
The financial expenditures per member rose 61%.
Average church costs in 2008: 36% building and debt; 34% clergy and lay staffing costs; 20% apportionments, benevolence, and programs.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Charles Dickins
Charles Dickens and religion — a tale of two viewpoints
Peggy Fletcher Stack, Feb 21, 2012
IMAGE COURTESY BBRAREBOOKS.COM
Charles Dickens wrote 'The Life of Our Lord' as a summary for children of the four Gospels. He wrote the book only for his family, never intending to publish it—though that did happen 64 years after his death. By Peggy Fletcher Stack
Salt Lake Tribune
Britain’s Prince Charles kicked off a yearlong celebration of Charles Dickens’ 200th birthday on Feb. 7 with a wreath-laying ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey.
It seems a fitting gesture, given that the Abbey’s Poets’ Corner houses the famous writer’s remains. But it is also ironic in light of Dickens’ distaste for religious structures and rigid dogma.
Dickens, a member of the Church of England, believed deeply in Jesus as savior and in his moral teachings, but many of the novelist’s most avowedly Christian characters represent the worst in religion: greed, hypocrisy, indifference to human suffering, arrogance, self-righteousness and theological bullying.
“He was more interested in the general spirit than the specific letter of the faith,” said Brian McCuskey, who teaches English at Utah State University. “Holding broad, loose beliefs, he had little patience for either institutional or evangelical Christianity.”
Dickens’ wildly popular Victorian novels, Dr. McCuskey said, “criticize evangelicals as being meddlesome at best and hypocritical at worst.”
To Dickens, says Barry Weller, a professor of English at the University of Utah who specializes in 19th- and 20th-century British literature, “any sectarian commitment got in the way of essential Christianity.”
It was Christian zealots’ attitude toward the poor that bothered Dickens the most.
“What we find again and again in the novels is that [these Christians] want to do charity in a wholesale rather than individual way,” Dr. Weller said. “They are not sensitive to the needs of individual families and their situations. Instead of giving them what they need, they hand out a bunch of [religious] pamphlets. When they visit the poor as representatives of religion, they seem more eager to impress [on the needy] a certain doctrine than try to help them.”
So where did Dickens’ get his wariness toward Christian institutions?
The novelist’s father, John Dickens, was “loquacious, feckless, grandly theatrical,” writes Kenneth Benson in a biographical sketch for the New York Public Library, “and highly skilled at amassing debts.”
After a somewhat idyllic childhood, the 12-year-old Charles was sent to work for 12 hours a day, Mr. Benson writes, “pasting labels on bottles at a tumbledown, rat-overrun shoe polish factory on the Thames.”
The elder Dickens landed in debtors’ prison, where he was joined by his family. The future novelist had to walk three miles a day to the prison from his factory job. Eventually, the family went free, but the young Dickens never forgot the trauma.
“These cruel turns of fate—his humiliating enslavement to menial labor and his father’s imprisonment and disgrace—would haunt Dickens for the remainder of his life,” Mr. Benson writes. “Abandoned children and orphans like Pip—the hero of Great Expectations—are everywhere in his work, and abandonment of course need not be literal to wound deeply and permanently.”
The experience also gave him an instinctual empathy for the suffering masses and an antipathy for those proclaiming the Christian gospel who failed to care for them.
In Dickens’ novels, Dr. McCuskey said, many scenes illustrate the churches’ institutional neglect of the poor, including a parish’s cruel treatment of Oliver in Oliver Twist and Jo, the crossing sweeper in Bleak House, staring up “uncomprehendingly at the cross at the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral, which seems very, very far away.”
Many Christian characters symbolize negative values, he said, noting the “gluttonous Rev. Chadband in Bleak House, who spouts platitudes and sweats train oil, or the fanatical Mrs. Clennam in Little Dorrit, who keeps secret from her son the fact that she is not his real mother.”
Dickens, though, also enjoyed positive experiences with religion.
The first person who taught him to read,” Dr. Weller said, “was an Anglican clergyman in Rochester where the family was living.” As a successful writer, Dickens became involved in many charitable causes, including homes for “fallen women” and orphanages, he said.
Dickens connected his intense empathy for children’s suffering with Jesus’ own receptiveness to the young and innocent, Dr. Weller said, and alludes frequently to the Christian savior’s example in the New Testament.
The novelist believed strongly in “the moral values of Christianity—self-sacrifice, charity, compassion, forgiveness,” Dr. McCuskey said, “and his heroes and heroines embody those values.”
The question that comes up over and over for Dickensian characters is whether there’s a possibility of genuine transformation. The clearest exemplar? Ebenezer Scrooge.
In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is visited by ghosts, not angels, but the pilgrimage through his own past, present and possible future has the same effect: He is eager to alter his destiny.
“I am not the man I was,” Scrooge says to the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. “I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse.”
Dickens’ most overtly religious work, The Life of Our Lord, emphasizes Christ’s “humanity and moral lessons,” Dr. McCuskey said, not his divinity. In this small volume, the novelist penned a simplified version of the New Testament for his children, which retells the Gospels’ familiar stories and parables.
The book concludes with a plea to “do good, always” and to live, without boasting, the “quiet” Christian qualities of love, gentleness, meekness and humility.
“It outlines his faith,” great-great-grandson Gerald Charles Dickens writes in the introduction, “which was simple and deeply held.”
This story was distributed by Religion News Service.
http://www.umportal.org/main/article.asp?id=8604
Peggy Fletcher Stack, Feb 21, 2012
IMAGE COURTESY BBRAREBOOKS.COM
Charles Dickens wrote 'The Life of Our Lord' as a summary for children of the four Gospels. He wrote the book only for his family, never intending to publish it—though that did happen 64 years after his death. By Peggy Fletcher Stack
Salt Lake Tribune
Britain’s Prince Charles kicked off a yearlong celebration of Charles Dickens’ 200th birthday on Feb. 7 with a wreath-laying ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey.
It seems a fitting gesture, given that the Abbey’s Poets’ Corner houses the famous writer’s remains. But it is also ironic in light of Dickens’ distaste for religious structures and rigid dogma.
Dickens, a member of the Church of England, believed deeply in Jesus as savior and in his moral teachings, but many of the novelist’s most avowedly Christian characters represent the worst in religion: greed, hypocrisy, indifference to human suffering, arrogance, self-righteousness and theological bullying.
“He was more interested in the general spirit than the specific letter of the faith,” said Brian McCuskey, who teaches English at Utah State University. “Holding broad, loose beliefs, he had little patience for either institutional or evangelical Christianity.”
Dickens’ wildly popular Victorian novels, Dr. McCuskey said, “criticize evangelicals as being meddlesome at best and hypocritical at worst.”
To Dickens, says Barry Weller, a professor of English at the University of Utah who specializes in 19th- and 20th-century British literature, “any sectarian commitment got in the way of essential Christianity.”
It was Christian zealots’ attitude toward the poor that bothered Dickens the most.
“What we find again and again in the novels is that [these Christians] want to do charity in a wholesale rather than individual way,” Dr. Weller said. “They are not sensitive to the needs of individual families and their situations. Instead of giving them what they need, they hand out a bunch of [religious] pamphlets. When they visit the poor as representatives of religion, they seem more eager to impress [on the needy] a certain doctrine than try to help them.”
So where did Dickens’ get his wariness toward Christian institutions?
The novelist’s father, John Dickens, was “loquacious, feckless, grandly theatrical,” writes Kenneth Benson in a biographical sketch for the New York Public Library, “and highly skilled at amassing debts.”
After a somewhat idyllic childhood, the 12-year-old Charles was sent to work for 12 hours a day, Mr. Benson writes, “pasting labels on bottles at a tumbledown, rat-overrun shoe polish factory on the Thames.”
The elder Dickens landed in debtors’ prison, where he was joined by his family. The future novelist had to walk three miles a day to the prison from his factory job. Eventually, the family went free, but the young Dickens never forgot the trauma.
“These cruel turns of fate—his humiliating enslavement to menial labor and his father’s imprisonment and disgrace—would haunt Dickens for the remainder of his life,” Mr. Benson writes. “Abandoned children and orphans like Pip—the hero of Great Expectations—are everywhere in his work, and abandonment of course need not be literal to wound deeply and permanently.”
The experience also gave him an instinctual empathy for the suffering masses and an antipathy for those proclaiming the Christian gospel who failed to care for them.
In Dickens’ novels, Dr. McCuskey said, many scenes illustrate the churches’ institutional neglect of the poor, including a parish’s cruel treatment of Oliver in Oliver Twist and Jo, the crossing sweeper in Bleak House, staring up “uncomprehendingly at the cross at the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral, which seems very, very far away.”
Many Christian characters symbolize negative values, he said, noting the “gluttonous Rev. Chadband in Bleak House, who spouts platitudes and sweats train oil, or the fanatical Mrs. Clennam in Little Dorrit, who keeps secret from her son the fact that she is not his real mother.”
Dickens, though, also enjoyed positive experiences with religion.
The first person who taught him to read,” Dr. Weller said, “was an Anglican clergyman in Rochester where the family was living.” As a successful writer, Dickens became involved in many charitable causes, including homes for “fallen women” and orphanages, he said.
Dickens connected his intense empathy for children’s suffering with Jesus’ own receptiveness to the young and innocent, Dr. Weller said, and alludes frequently to the Christian savior’s example in the New Testament.
The novelist believed strongly in “the moral values of Christianity—self-sacrifice, charity, compassion, forgiveness,” Dr. McCuskey said, “and his heroes and heroines embody those values.”
The question that comes up over and over for Dickensian characters is whether there’s a possibility of genuine transformation. The clearest exemplar? Ebenezer Scrooge.
In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is visited by ghosts, not angels, but the pilgrimage through his own past, present and possible future has the same effect: He is eager to alter his destiny.
“I am not the man I was,” Scrooge says to the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. “I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse.”
Dickens’ most overtly religious work, The Life of Our Lord, emphasizes Christ’s “humanity and moral lessons,” Dr. McCuskey said, not his divinity. In this small volume, the novelist penned a simplified version of the New Testament for his children, which retells the Gospels’ familiar stories and parables.
The book concludes with a plea to “do good, always” and to live, without boasting, the “quiet” Christian qualities of love, gentleness, meekness and humility.
“It outlines his faith,” great-great-grandson Gerald Charles Dickens writes in the introduction, “which was simple and deeply held.”
This story was distributed by Religion News Service.
http://www.umportal.org/main/article.asp?id=8604
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