What a powerful two weeks in Israel… I was staying with a fantastic Jewish family who were very devout. We were able to compare notes between the Christian New Covenant and the Jewish law as practiced by orthodox Jews. I was up until 2am with Dan, and it was amazing to learn about the Jewish Pentecost, Festival of Booths, etc… and to make the links to my Christian faith. He said to me after I explained our feasts… “those early Christians REALLY were Jewish weren’t they.” Oh Lord help Israel as it faces so many threats from all sides.

PS I’ll post my photos of all the pilgrimage sites soon!

As we wind down another year, I can’t help but feel our present age is always hoping for a new beginning, but never willing to begin again. That leap of faith is so hard to take. Sometimes the radical shift is only in our hearts and other times it is in our life circumstances.  

This year was full of wonder. I saw the financial poverty and spiritual wealth of Christian India. I walked the beaches of Islamic Dubai, where it is illegal to hold Christian prayer meetings.  I witnessed the majesty of Scotland’s mountains where I could hear the echo of my ancestors playing the pipes and drums. I stood in English castles and imagined all that empire’s grandeur that has faded into desperation.

Above all, I could hear my heartbeat, the quiet dance of God’s gift to us all, the gift of life, a gift to one another. It is the echo of a tiny heartbeat in the womb of Mary 2000 years ago, which is still beating in you and me.

May your new year be filled with opportunities to live Christmas every day, where the love of our Saviour is born in your heart.

David MacDonald

The King of atheism has basically admitted defeat as far as I can see. He has pushed the theory that there is no such thing as God upon an intellectually lazy community of scientists and now he’s trying to jump ship and head off for space.  He’s one of the most brilliant men on the planet and his Big Bang theory may or may not be true.  But the one thing he doesn’t get is that if there was a Big Bang that Big Bang would have been created by God. And now the logical conclusion of his godless universe has hit a roadblock.  The thing I find interesting is that he’s basically agreeing with the book of Revelation. However far from admitting the biblical conclusions to that discovery he thinks we can escape into space.

I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out that space is a hostile environment for humanity and that long-term sustained existence there is a pipe dream of a scientist who is clutching with intellectual pride to a position that can only be explained as barbaric. A position that the universe needs no God to explain its existence and the position that the universe needs no devil to explain the source of human selfishness.

Stephen Hawking takes weightless plunge

AP, CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA
Saturday, Apr 28, 2007, Page 7
….Hawking said he had an ulterior motive for going on the flight. He said he wants to increase public interest in space since he believes humans’ survival depends on going into space.

“I think life on Earth is at an increased risk of being wiped out by disaster, such as sudden global warming, nuclear war or a genetically engineered virus or other dangers,” Hawking said. “I think the human race has no future if it doesn’t go into space.”

I grew up in an atheistic household with all the regular social norms that go along with that. I remember hearing the odd thing about an organization named “Planned Parenthood.” I didn’t know much about them but I thought they were the folks you went to when you got pregnant, or if you wanted to learn about Sexually Transmitted Diseases. I heard that they were part of the United Way and therefore representing generally good causes such as health, happiness etc… that was all I knew about them.

In the last 10 years after healing from 2 abortions and after living out the social lie that sex is safe, fun and natural for any human being, regardless of their willingness to commit to marriage, it has become clear to me that Planned Parenthood is an organization that is responsible for more abortions than any other organization in the world. They lobby to change sex education teaching and then say “ok kids now if you ever do get in trouble with STD’s or pregnancy you can come and see us.”

They talk about safe, fun sex, knowing that kids are about as good at contraceptives as they are at making their beds. Planned Parenthood sets up teen web sites to show how to have fun sex and how to rationalize the guilt you feel and the pain and heartache of being taken advantage of by someone of the opposite sex. They make money every time you go to them to get an STD treated, every time you get an abortion. And they make money off the government for teaching people about sex. They are pushing sex down the throats of young people they are pushing sex education down the throats of the government, and they are pushing abortion down the throats of incident unborn human beings. They are getting money from Bill Gates, and they are pushing legislation on the 3rd world and they are trying to export abortion the way that McDonald’s exports hamburgers to the 3rd world.

The founder of Planned Parenthood was the leader of the Eugenics movement of the 1920’s. The following quotes from their journals show their ill founded reasoning.

“Before eugenicists and others who are laboring for racial betterment can succeed, they must first clear the way for Birth Control … to assist the race toward the elimination of the unfit…” (Margaret Sanger. “Birth Control and Racial Betterment.” Birth Control Review, Volume III, Number 2, Feb1919, page 11.)

“Parenthood should be a licensed profession and only those fully equipped should be allowed to become parents … Dr. Hart believes that the race has deteriorated and that this deterioration can be stopped only by scientific methods of reproduction ..” ” (Birth Control Review, Volume VIII, Number 12, Dec. 1924),

After the war when Nazi Germany became associated with the Eugenics movement Margaret Sanger dropped the word Eugenics, but she never dropped the philosophy. Planned Parenthood is responsible for the majority of the 44,000,000 North American Abortions in the last 30 years. And they made a profit on every one.

Bill Gates Foundation fails at its anti AIDS vaginal gel

One of the most intelligent men in the world and the richest human on the planet ate humble pie this week. After an investment of more than 40 million dollars Bill and Melinda Gates brainchild of a solution to AIDS in africa has turned out to actually increase the incidence of AIDS. Test trials on 3,000 high risk women (prostitutes etc) using the anti-AIDS vaginal gel completely failed and tons of them got AIDS. In fact, the vaginal gel actually increased the incidence of AIDS among these women. The directors of the tests called the women “heros.” I couldn’t help but think what he actually thought they were human laboratory mice. He said this was empowering to women, while he caused them to be infected with AIDS. These African women became failed guinea pigs for clinical testing that he could not get away with on North American women. All in the name of humanity eh?

The press says we Catholics are “old fashioned” and “dangerous” to think that the idea chastity and faith is the answer for Africa. I’m still waiting for them to come up with a better idea. Bombing them with condoms has been a complete failure.

I pray that this year has brought you closer to Calvary. This year has been a remarkable year for me in so many ways. I have been privileged to travel quite a bit with work and music. The world is so beautiful. I’m not sure why, at this time of my life, the Lord has chosen to show me so much.
Standing in sharp contrast to the beauty is a war for the hearts of the youth who are being spiritually, physically and emotionally ravaged in every nation that I’ve visited. But some great leaders are rising up from among them, and there is a stirring inside their hearts which gives cause for much hope.

The miracle for me is the brokenness I feel for the world. Something has shifted in me and this affliction of spirit I feel for others is a great gift. It is the gift of compassion, of concern, and a deep conviction to do whatever the Lord calls to help build his kingdom as we march onward toward our destiny. I don’t know where He will take me next but I pray that I will always say “yes.” For in that “yes” is eternity. May your New Year be filled with opportunities to live Christmas every day, where a love of the Saviour is born in your heart.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

There is a very clever shell game that is going on in the retail stores around the Broadway district. I had previously been looking for wide angle lens so when the salesman said that he had a wide angle lens for my Kodak EasyShare camera I got interested. He said it retailed for $645 and would give me a “deal” for $400. I tried it, in the dark because it was night time. I bought the lens.

Bower Macro Crystal series 0.5x high resolution pro digital lens

When I got the photos on my laptop I realized that they were pretty grainy. I did some internet research and found the same lens retailing for $69 from reputable venders.

I called up Bower USA, (46-24 28th St. Long Island City, New York 11101, USA 1-800-446-7244 sales@bowerusa.com) the distributer for the product and asked them the MSRP. They said they had no Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). Within a few minutes I realized that they knew this racket was going on in New York, Paris and other high density tourist areas, and that many other people had called them from around the world with similar complaints. Then he said something very profound. He said to me:

Buyer beware!!!

That was his response. I said that reputable manufacturer’s provide a MSRP to prevent this very problem from happening, and Bower’s refusal to have a MSRP indicates they support this practise of 400% inflated prices. After a couple of minutes of that he hung up on me.

So there you have it. I bought a $70 lens for $400. Net loss $330. For sure, I should have done my research beforehand, which was a big mistake. I’m used to retail stores that have some ethics. So don’t make the mistake I did and pay big bucks for them. Retailers in and around Time Square are less than ethical. I should have known that since I lived in NYC for 5 years. But that was 20 years ago, and I guess I forgot.

So if you want your money’s worth
don’t buy Bower camera lenses in the big city.