RIP Charles Colson

Please watch this.

Chuck Colson was a captain  of Marines from 1953 to 1955—in between wars, but somebody had to do it.  He later went to work for President Richard Nixon and, after the Watergate scandal broke, he became famous and went to jail. 

Then he was reborn as a Christian and founded Prison Fellowship Ministries. 

One day, shortly before leaving prison, Colson was going about his business in the prison dorm while some inmates played cards.
Suddenly, one of the players, a six-foot-tall prisoner named Archie, bellowed, "Hey, Colson. You'll be out of here soon. What are you going to do for us?
Suddenly, the whole room fell silent. All ears were straining to hear the answer. "I'll help in some way," replied Colson. "I'll never forget you guys or this stinking place."
"Bull!" roared Archie, slamming down the pack of cards on the table. "You all say that. I've seen big shots like you come and go. They all say the same things while they're inside. Then they get out and forget us fast. There ain't nobody cares about us. Nobody!"
But today, 35 years later, thousands upon thousands of Christian volunteers and churches do care. They care enough to visit prison, mentor prisoners, help their families, and share the Good News of Christ with them.
That's because in 1976, Colson founded Prison Fellowship, which, together with churches of all confessions and denominations, has become the world's largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families, with ministry taking place in 113 countries around the globe.

I read his book "How Now Shall We Live?" and it had a profound influence on me.  I once tried to teach it in a Sunday school class for eight weeks and learned that I'm not a teacher. Colson's book is a teacher, though. 

I will miss Chuch Colson. 

So will the world.

RIP

Kim Il Sung

Pyongyang, North Korea (CNN) -- Defying warnings from the international community, North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Friday, but it broke apart before escaping the earth's atmosphere and fell into the sea, officials said.  "It flew about a minute, and it flew into the ocean," said Noriyuki Shikata, a spokesman for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. He added that Japanese authorities "have not identified any negative impacts, so far," though he said the international ramifications could be significant. "This is something that we think is a regrettable development," he said.

Joseph Cirincione, president of the global security foundation The Ploughshares Fund, told CNN that the launch's apparent failure "shows the weakness of the North Korea missile program" and suggests that the threat from North Korea has been "exaggerated."

"It's a humiliation," he told CNN. "I wouldn't want to be a North Korean rocket scientist today."

 

That is exactly what I said today when I heard that the rocket failed (for the third time).  The North Koreans kill or imprison anyone who fails, so it’s no wonder they keep failing.  It never occurs to them that you don’t learn from success.  You learn from mistakes. 

Democrats seem to have the same problem.

“It is absurd for the Evolutionist to complain that it is unthinkable for an admittedly unthinkable God to make everything out of nothing, and then pretend that it is more thinkable that nothing should turn itself into everything.” 
― G.K. Chesterton