The Christian life takes work too. It requires the commitment of one's whole being to Jesus—body, mind, emotions, and will—to have a life that is wholesome, attractive, uplifting to others, and fulfilling to oneself. Even then, weeds of selfishness and sinful attitudes can quickly spring up and overrun the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). That was the problem with many believers at Corinth. They had become overgrown with envy and divisiveness (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). So Paul told them to cleanse themselves from all "filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Corinthians 7:1). By "holiness" he didn't mean they could be sinless, but blameless. Lord, help us uproot any weeds of the flesh and the spirit before they become ugly habits. May the beauty of Jesus' character be what others see in us. —Dennis De Haan
1. Identify sins of the flesh or the spirit (Gal. 5:17-21). 2. Call them sin and confess them (1 John 1:9). 3. Stand firm in your position in Christ (Gal. 2:20). If you yield to God, you won't give in to sin.
Why Would Anyone Want To Be Holy? |
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Salute to our Armed Forces, Past and Present.
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Honoring them today, here are a few stories from this site:
Located at This URL
Military dogs help defend Iraq
by Tech. Sgt. Bob Oldham
332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
11/28/2003 - - TALLIL AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) - Hiding behind mounds of dirt or anything else his handler could find, Tino sat and waited for an intruder to breach the base’s fence on his random listening and observation post.
Suddenly, the military working dog’s ears, eyes and nose zeroed in on two men as they entered the base’s perimeter. As the men closed in, Tino stood up, fluffing up his hair and tail to make his presence known.
“You could hear them stop breathing (when they saw Tino),” said Senior Airman Eric Stafford, a military working dog handler here from Moody Air Force Base, Ga. “They knew it was over.”
The two men threw their hands in the air -- their foray onto the base was over. Stafford called for backup, and the two were hauled away. Mission complete.
In today’s Air Force, it takes a special breed of airman and dog -- German shepherd, Dutch shepherd or Belgian malinois -- to secure the perimeter of a military installation, and it is no different here.
To help security forces airmen cope with the hazards of the job, they team with military working dogs to thwart potential aggressors and keep base airmen safe to do their jobs. Stafford and Tino are just one example of that teamwork.
All of the Department of Defense’s military working dogs are trained at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Once trained, dogs are shipped to units and paired with a trained handler. The two work together at home station and temporary duty locations, as is the case with Tino and Stafford. They will separate only when the airman permanently changes duty stations.
Tino is not just a security dog, he is also trained to smell explosives or explosive-making materials. The dog and Stafford are one set of an undisclosed number of dogs and handlers here, keeping intruders and terrorist bombs out, officials said.
While both tasks are important, so is keeping military working dogs healthy. That job falls to a trained Army veterinarian technician who monitors the dogs’ health on a weekly basis, looking for signs of disease or injury.
To keep the dogs hydrated, they drink the doggie version of a human sports drink to replace lost electrolytes. They also have special equipment that works like an ice pack to help them stay cool when temperatures rise, officials said.
Military working dogs are one line of defense in a multi-layered defensive plan. The dogs serve two roles: to detect and to deter, said Tech. Sgt. Michael Silvin, the kennel master here.
Detection is manning a post, looking for bad guys, much like Tino and his handler. Deterrence comes in a couple of forms, like posting the dogs in areas visible to those entering and exiting the base and by word of mouth, such as the two intruders that Tino stopped in their tracks, he said.
“The locals talk,” Silvin said. “They know we have them, and they’re scared to death of them.”
Military working dog aerovaced after operation, hospitalization
by 1st Lt. Kelley Jeter
380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
8/23/2004 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- Staff Sgt. Tim Cox and military working dog, Ronny, have been partners for more than two years, so when the canine cop fell ill on the job recently, Sergeant Cox instantly recognized a problem.
“He just had a complete change of attitude,” Sergeant Cox said. “He got very lethargic and wasn’t himself at all.”
Ronny’s change in behavior was a red flag that he needed immediate medical attention, and he was taken to a veterinary facility in a city near a forward-deployed location. The veterinarian discovered Ronny had a relatively common malady for large-breed dogs called pericardial effusion. It is an unnatural collection of fluid around his heart that began interfering with the heart’s functioning. He was immediately operated on.
“He was put into the equivalent of doggie ICU for three days,” said Maj. David Blocker, 380th Expeditionary Medical Group’s aerospace medicine chief.
Ronny’s heartbeat was irregular for two days after the emergency procedure, which drained the excess fluid off his heart. He was hooked up to a heart monitor, put on oxygen and closely observed until he was out of the danger zone.
Army Capt. (Dr.) Todd Bell, a veterinarian assigned to Navy Central Command headquarters, was summoned to assess Ronny’s condition and assist in a medical evacuation if needed.
“This condition will often resurface six to eight weeks after the initial episode,” Dr. Bell said.
The possibility of Ronny getting sick again cemented the decision to send him to Germany, where he could get a specialty evaluation and maybe a special surgery to permanently fix the condition.
Major Blocker has arranged plenty of aeromedical evacuations for people, but said this was his first experience with moving a sick dog. The aerovac system requires frequent stops and medical re-evaluation to guarantee that people will have the medical care they need available in flight and at every step along the way.
“People may often go home for medical reasons, but not all of them need medical care en route,” he said.
Many can be sent home commercially or on a military rotator and will usually make it home anywhere from five to seven days sooner than if they are locked into the aerovac system.
Unlike people, medics have very few options with regard to moving sick dogs. Ronny needed the constant presence of health-care professionals and a trained eye to watch his condition, should it change; that made aerovac the ideal choice. Military working dogs like Ronny are considered to be active-duty servicemembers eligible for aerovac.
To get him safely to Germany for further triage, Ronny was escorted by Dr. Bell and Sergeant Cox on a special aerovac flight Aug. 22. From there, they will decide whether to treat him in Germany, or to send him home to Texas to get treated.
Sergeant Cox and Ronny are both deployed from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, but the treatment facility for military working dogs is at Lackland AFB, Texas. They were assigned to the 380th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron here, where Sergeant Cox and Ronny worked at the vehicle search area checking incoming vehicles for explosives. After Ronny’s evaluation and possible surgery, he will have about 30 days to recover, and he will be back home and working at the job he has been trained to do.
[ More stories will follow in another reply -- ]
"Of course, the Ten Commandments are religious _ they were so viewed at their inception and so remain. The monument therefore has religious significance," Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the majority in the case involving the display outside the state capitol of Texas. "Simply having religious content or promoting a message consistent with a religious doctrine does not run afoul of the Establishment clause," he said.
Court: Some Ten Commandments Displays OK
The Fourth of July holiday weekend is this next weekend, and Dolly will do the weekend thread, which will run through Monday again. Can you post Military Monday on Tuesday again? :)
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I had not worked in my yard for several weeks, and I was amazed at how quickly weeds had sprung up and taken over. Weeds don't need tending; they seem to love to sprout up for anyone who just lets things go. A bed of beautiful flowers, however, takes watering, feeding, and of course, weeding. Flowers thrive under the care of one who is not afraid to get dirt under his fingernails. 
