USO Canteen FReeper Style Pray for the Troops and President Bush....October 20,2002

FRiends of the USO Canteen FReeper Style ~Coteblanche & Snow Bunny~

[Snow Bunny]

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Although we are always aware
that the Canteen is operating
in Cyberspace, we want the troops
and anyone who is on the receiving end
of prayers at the Canteen,
to know that these prayers are very real.

I hope the troops and Canteeners
alike, will view this Canteen Chapel,
as a place where you might go in times of
trouble or times of joy to be with your God.

"Come unto me all ye who are weary and
burdened,and I shall give you rest." (Matt: 11:28).

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George W. Bush: A President of Faith

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A Man of Prayer

A reporter on CNN was asked

"What did George W. Bush do
on his first morning as president-elect?"

This was Tony Clark's answer:

"He attended a prayer service with family,
friends and staff members."

George W Bush's priorities were established
on the first day of his Presidency.

The President Takes His Faith to Work

President George W. Bush looks over to Thomas Martello, 6,
during the signing ceremony of the Victims of Terrorism
Tax Relief Act in the East Room Jan. 23.
"We're joined today by families who have lost loved ones
in the great acts of evil," said the President.
"As you draw on faith and personal strength to cope with your grief,
I hope you'll also find comfort in the knowledge that
your nation stands with you and prays for you.
We mourn those whom we've lost, and we face the future together."

The President Lives his Faith

President Bush says he prays every day
in all kinds of situations,
and has been seen to quietly bow his head and pray
before news conferences and important meetings.
"I pray for guidance. I do not pray for earthly things
but for heavenly things, for wisdom
and patience and understanding."

"For strength and support, Bush turns to
the same things that have sustained
him for two decades: his faith and his family . . .
Bush prays and reads the Bible every day.
These days, aides say, they often spot
a Bible on his desk in the Oval Office.
In conversation or meetings, he often refers to
passages of Scripture that he has just read."

"There are prayers that help us last
through the day, or endure the night.
There are prayers of friends and strangers
that give us strength for the journey.
And there are prayers that yield
our will to a will greater than our own."

George W. Bush September 14, 2001
National Day of Prayer and Remembrance.

Listen to President George W Bush
in an Inspiring Song by Russ Lee

Don't miss this.

I'm Going To Live What I Believe

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Music for a Sunday

How Great Thou Art (Elvis Presley) ......A Mighty Fortress

Amazing Grace (Statler Brothers).....Praise Adonai (Steve Israel)

The Lord's Prayer.....Ave Maria

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Hymns of the Military

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Army Hymn: "God of Our Fathers"

Navy Hymn: "Eternal Father Strong to Save"

Air Force Hymn: "Lord Guard and Guide the Men Who Fly"

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We, at the Canteen, offer these prayers 
to those serving their country 
today. God Bless you all.

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Psalm 59:1,16&17
(Patti Vaillant)

"Deliver me from mine enemies,O my God:
Defend me from them that rise up against me.
But I will sing of thy power;yes I will sing
aloud of thy mercy in the morning; for thou
hast been my defence and refuge in the day
of my trouble. Unto thee, O my strength will
I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of 
my mercy."

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Our Prayer
(Celine Dion/Andrea Bocelli)

I pray you'll be our eyes, 
And watch us where we go.
And help us to be wise 
In times when we don't know.

Let this be our prayer, 
When we lose our way.
Lead us to a place, 
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we'll be safe. 

I pray we'll find your light,
And hold it in our hearts
When stars go out each night,
Remind us where you are.. 

Let this be our prayer
When shadows fill our day
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace 
Give us faith so we'll be safe.

We ask that life be kind
And watch us from above.
We hope each soul will find
Another soul to love.

Let this be our prayer,
Just like every child,
Needs to find a place, 
Guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we'll be safe.

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Introducing .....

Today we are introducing a new feature to the 
Sunday Canteen - The Chaplain's Corner - with our 
very own FReeper chaplain, Grant Swank. 

Grant has been a regular contributor at the Poetry 
Branch, and we have come to know and appreciate his 
talent and his sincerity. Besides that - he is a 
genuinely nice guy :-).

Let me introduce you to Grant:

Grant Swank is pastor of the New Hope Church. 
He has pastored for 40+ years, 
ministering in Calgary, Alberta; Indianapolis; 
Kansas City; Manchester CT; Akron OH; Fishkill NY; 
Walpole MA and presently in Maine. 

Grant also finds ministry in writing for various 
Protestant and Catholic publications, including 
CHRISTIANITY TODAY, DECISION and THE PRIEST. 

Presently, Grant is providing columns for websites 
such as CHALCEDON, INTELLECTUAL.CONSERVATIVE, 
MENSNEWSDAILY, MICHNEWS and WOUNDEDSHEPHERDS. 

He also writes a weekly column, "Lakes Religion," 
for the PORTLAND PRESS HERALD newspaper, Portland ME. 

He and his wife, Priscilla, have traveled extensively, 
including the Middle East, Europe and South America. 
The Swanks have three adult children: Crystal, Jay and 
Heidi Jo.

We are very fortunate that Grant has agreed to give 
us a brief message every Sunday at the Canteen. We 
hope it will be a comfort to you, and to every serviceman 
and servicewoman joining us.

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The Chaplain's Corner

J. Grant Swank, Jr.,
Pastor, New Hope Church

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WHEN NOTHING WORKS, GOD IS

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How many times in life do you sit yourself down and say, "Nothing is happening. Maybe even God forgot to punch in today."

Oh really?

Go figure, as the teens say today. Go figure what happened with Joe seated in Egypt's jailhouse cell. Nothing was going on. Nothing. Rats ran across the floor. Water gathered flies in the corner bowl. But God had failed to punch in.

Go figure what was going on with Job seated on an ash heap. Nothing was moving but his squirrelly wife who wound his ear drums up tight. "Curse God and die!" Nice woman. Really one sweety pie of a gal. In other words, from all appearances, nothing at all was happening in that man's life but the worst of times.

Go figure with Dan being led to the den. Hands tied with rope. Burly soldiers tossing him about the footpath. An empire breathing down his slender throat. And lions salivating all over the cave floor. Obviously, God had forgotten to punch in.

Go figure with Noah and Mom Noah and three sons with daughters-in-law. Nothing really was happening but more sweat pounded into a backyard boat. And for what? For a "rain" that had never been? For "drops from above" that were mere fiction? Noah had ringing in his ears night and day due to the clamor of neighbors' pans clanging ridicule till dawn. Evidently God had forgotten to punch in.

Go figure with Paul, stoned and left for dead. For doing what? For preaching love, joy and peace. For showing a village how to find their ways to heaven. For befriending Jews and Gentiles alike for Jesus' sake. The end of it all was a ministry of stones pounded into his flesh. God--why don't you remember to show up for work when Paul needs you?

Go figure with you--vacuum, nobody loves you, nothing is going right, friends have betrayed you, enemies are screwing up their ammunition fire for another round, skies are loaded with rain clouds, and a dentist appointment stares you in the face for l o'clock this afternoon!

Do you not believe that when nothing works, God is? Have you not committed yourself to blind faith in His doings, whether you can understand them or not, whether you feel anything religious or not, whether anyone else cares about your mission or not?

Do you not reckon that the journey can be a lonely one? The way of the cross? The pilgrimage of an alien here below?

Then look back particularly on one who--go figure--had all the reasons to conclude that Father had forgotten to clock in on that particular Thursday night, moving into Friday's bloodletting as well.

There He hung--messed up, unsightly, belly bellowing to the Calvary winds, flies buzzing about his crusted brow, arms sagging beneath nails punched into his skin, an army of cowardly disciples hiding out in nighttime's shelters. Nothing was going on. Nothing.

Go figure.

[Kathy in Alaska]

I know, my timing was terrible. Isn't she a beauty? I can see some of our troops drooling. And do you need a bib? I'm sure radu will loan you one.

[Long Cut]

Oh, yeah, she's a BEAUTY! We bought her Saturday afternoon, Mrs. Cut loved her (although she's yet to DRIVE her, and won't think of a name for her until that time). I've been spending some time on Theft-Proofing, and detailing (dealers never do it RIGHT). Here's another shot:

This is her actual color, a midnight blue.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

My day is imploding! The toughest QB in the entire NFL, Brett Favre, is hurt and will be out for the rest of the game. : ( That is RARE for him. (And the Packers WERE winning - I hope this doesn't change the momentum too much.) They're thinking he sprained his knee - I'm just praying it's nothing worse.

Ouch.

Maybe you guys ought to go on without me today. I'll try to catch the ride at dusk. : (

[Kathy in Alaska]

I sure gotta give Robin Williams credit for going where our troops are. He sure knows how to connect with these kids. Thanks, Sam, for finding and posting these pictures. Please, God, allow their families to see their loved ones.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

I'm REALLY happy for you guys, Long Cut - so, are you road-tripping this week? (She looks GOOD!)

[Long Cut]

Trust me, all of the guys I work with, and teach, are serious gearheads. Trucks, cars, Musclecars, Ricers, Euros(although there has been a marked decline in those fans recently, LOL) bikes, you name it, it seems the boys LOVE it.

Especially if it's FAST, POWERFUL, and BIG.

What do you EXPECT from people in our line of work? If we didn't like machines and other gadgets, we wouldn't have chosen to join the ONE organization that lets you play with them FOR FREE, and PAYS you to do it!

We don't have a name yet. Any suggestions?

[Kathy in Alaska]

I'm watching! The last 2 plays have had 2 guys down. Pederson is doing fine so far. Have faith! I know first hand that "ouch"! Don't you have a little traveling TV that you can bring. We can help you stay calm.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Thank you, Kathy - I'm covering my eyes! Thankfully, they have a bye next week. (And I love Doug Pederson. He's got to be SO nervous.)

In the meantime, we have to help find a name for 'Cut's new ride. I'll get us started: "Midnight"? "Blue Velvet"? I don't know - I'm sure someone can come up with a few more...

P.S. I have JUST the outfit to ride in that carriage. I'll get it.

[Long Cut]

Oh, yeah, I'll be rolling down A1A to my folk's house later this week...I'll try to write that travelogue I told you about afterwards.

And speaking of gearheads, since I KNOW there's some here, here's some numbers:

2001 CHEVROLET CAMARO Z-28 SS

ENGINE: 350 cubic inch GEN III LS-1 aluminum block
POWER: 330 horsepower (net), 320 ft/lbs of torque
WHEELS: 17-inch chrome plated aluminum
FEATURES: T-tops, leather interior, AC Delco "MONSOON" 6-speaker AM/FM CD player, cruise control, theft control, air, automatic/overdrive, traction control, keyless entry
EXTRAS: K&N filtercharger mass-airflow filter, SLP Engineering dual-dual cat-back stainless steel exhaust, SLP custom grille insert.

[Kathy in Alaska]

OK, now that you've made our troops drool, give them all her specs. You know they are talking about her, and I would bet speculating on "what is under the hood". I probably am not using the right words. But I'll bet you know what they want to know. LOL!

[Long Cut]

One more. Someone said that "SS" stands for "Serious Shizzit"

[MeekOneGOP]

Search Ends for Missing Pilots
Sun Oct 20,12:44 PM ET

(KCBS)--The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for four missing U.S. Navy pilots off the coast of Big Sur.

Thanks for the info, Sam.....

Click on Image to hear “Taps”

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

One more. Someone said that "SS" stands for "Serious Shizzit"

LOL! You can't name her that, though. ; )

[Long Cut]

No, you're using the right words. For the NON-gearheads, my old 302-powered Mustang that the SS is replacing got 230 horsepower on a good day. She was pretty damn fast, I'vce had her to 140 before on a straightaway. It COULD have been faster, but the speedometer broke.

The SS, by comparison, has over 100 more horsepower and weighs about the same. ITS spedometer goes up to 155. I believe it's being modest, as I've seen them do 160-165 in tests.

It can hit corners at speeds rivalling a Corvette, and pull over 1 "G" on a skidpad, which means you probably won't out-corner it without a Ferrari under you.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Wow is all I can say. I don't know how the submariners do it, but I sure salute them. Thanks aomagrat for today's naval history of the USS Nautilus.

Thanks, Hostel, for your service as a submariner.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

I'm ready for the carriage ride, Kathy. (I even polished up my crown.) What are you wearing?

[Long Cut]

Rest easy, Gentlemen.

HAND, SALUTE!

TWO!!!!