Tuscaloosa Tornado on Google Earth

Tuscaloosa news photo

Tuscaloosa is our town were we go shopping and now it is hard to believe how much of it is leveled.  We have not been able to see any of the damage up close or have been able to help there because a couple of deadly tornadoes have hit even closer to home.

I have Google Earth and seen the tornado path KLM downloads. I clicked on my "Layers" on my tool bar "places" and unchecked all the other layers except roads and then zoomed in on Tuscaloosa on my map. You will see a blue twister emblem on the map that says Southern Tornadoes.
It will box out an area and you can clearly see the path through town. It also shows the Birmingham, AL twister which is in Jefferson County.
The big building below the path is the University Mall. The big building to the North of the path is DCH hospital. Both are on McFarland in Tuscaloosa. The intersection of McFarland and 15th Street is the one you see in quite a few pictures of the destruction. It was definitely one of the most busy commercial intersections in town. To see how the area looked before the tornado be sure to drag the street view man icon to that intersection and other areas for 360 views. To see a load of images of the destruction google Tuscaloosa News and go the McFarland albums to see this area.


Mat God be with all the people that lost loved ones, homes and jobs.

Alabama Tornados April 27, 2011

About a week and a half before we had spent a Sunday clearing debris and trees from a neighborhood north of Greensboro AL. Then we were warned that Wednesday was ideal conditions for major tornado activity on a broad front. Schools were let out and we watched fast moving clouds come from the S.W. In the super cells you could see constant sheet lightining that increased as it got to eight and nine o'clock. Around six or so I was in Demopolis doing errands and checking up on our ice cream shop. I was in Radio Shack when I heard a tornado had been spotted 5 miles north and was heading towards Greensboro in my county called Hale. I phoned my wife and took off for home. We eventually had to go to our neighbors house to vacate our mobile home when someone later warned us of a tornado coming more from the south. In fact that tornado did not do much damage, but a number of our church people saw that funnel as it tracked across our area.
The tornado to the north that I had heard about in town hit a hamlet called Sawyerville and killed a number of people. Two of my fellow employees the next day gave us a report. A lot of our church brethren were volunteer firemen so they helped locate survivors and bodies between 6-12pm. If I have it right to tornadoes passed along nearly the same track because the rescue unit had to wait for the second tornado to pass. Not to mention this was five miles or less from the other week's two path tornado. Absolutely crazy. The next day   they called for thirty volunteers to search for some more bodies. Our work crew returned to help even though we were nearly two hours from home. By the time we arrived it was done, so we focused on clearing a area for Red Cross,  and help people clear their yards and drive ways,etc. Basically it was walking up the road house to house. Since Tuscaloosa happened at the same time thirty minutes to the north mainly the  locals know about the Sawyerville tornado. Hard to keep track which all towns got hit. I think just in this one local tornado I heard  say twenty three to thirty homes were heavily damaged to destroyed. A lot of places the trailer frames were wrapped around trees. Debris was spread across timber ground. Trees were snapped off about ten feet from the ground giving the area a clear cut look. Wreckage was everywhere. Cars were flung into the mauled timber,etc. Your eyes got tired of devastation. So many trees were down that it took rescuers three hours to reach the worst hit area about three or two miles from the main road. At least one man bled to death because there was simply no way out or in until the roads were clear. It rained a little but not as much as usual.
My wife's family was out from CA and feel like Alabama is quite a dangerous place to live. 

Beijing Cracks Down on House Church in China

160 members of the  Shouwang house church were detained for worshiping in a public area after the government refused them right to worship in the Shouwang's  church building. They have a 1,ooo membership roll and purchased 4 million building for a Church last year. After becoming evicted this month from their building they chose to worship outdoors.
 There has been reported 3,343 instances in which house church members or leaders were detained or beaten in 2010 as the Chinese government is stepping up its program to discourage worship outside the state sponsored Churches.  Read the complete story at 


http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/religion/article_ed2ded48-695e-11e0-8c66-001a4bcf6878.html


There are estimates that two-thirds of China’s estimated 60 million Protestants worship at unregistered churches.

Tasting My Jesus Email

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Each year at the University of Chicago Divinity School they have what is called 'Baptist Day.' On this day each one is to bring a lunch to be eaten outdoors in a grassy picnic area. Every 'Baptist Day' the school would invite one of the greatest minds to lecture in the theological education center. 

One year they invited Dr. Paul Tillich. Dr.Tillich spoke for two and one-half hours, proving that the resurrection of Jesus was false. He quoted scholar after scholar and book after book. He concluded that since there was no such thing as the historical resurrection, the religious tradition of the church was groundless, emotional mumbo-jumbo, because it was based on a relationship with a risen Jesus, who, in fact, never rose from the dead in any literal sense. He then asked if there were any questions. 

After about 30 seconds, an old, dark-skinned preacher with a head of short-cropped, woolly, white hair stood up in the back of the auditorium. 'Docta Tillich, I got one question,' he said as all eyes turned toward him. 

He reached into his sack lunch and pulled out an apple and began eating it. 'Docta Tillich. (CRUNCH, MUNCH) My question is a simple question.
(CRUNCH, MUNCH...) Now, I ain't never read them books you read (CRUNCH, MUNCH), and I can't recite the Scriptures in the original Greek. (CRUNCH, MUNCH...) I don't know nothin' about Niebuhr and Heidegger. (CRUNCH, MUNCH...) 

He finished the apple. 'All I wanna know is: This apple I just ate... Was it bitter or sweet?' 

Dr Tillich paused for a moment and answered in exemplary scholarly fashion: 'I cannot possibly answer that question, for I haven't tasted your apple.' 

The white-haired preacher dropped the core of his apple into his crumpled paper bag, looked up at Dr. Tillich and said calmly, 'Neither have you tasted my Jesus.' 

The 1,000 plus in attendance could not contain themselves. The auditorium erupted with applause and cheers. 

Dr. Tillich thanked his audience and promptly left the platform. 

Have you tasted Jesus? 

Please pass this on, saints! Jesus has risen...and He's coming back one day soon. 

'Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. If you have, rejoice in the hope of the resurrection that your faith in Him brings.' Psalm 34:8

Quote From Menno Simons

It avails nothing, that Christ died, and that we are called by His name, if we do not possess a sincere, regenerating, vigorous faith in Jesus Christ; pure, unfeigned love; willing obedience; and a pious and irreproachable life.

-Menno Simons, in Sincere and True Repentance


-a brother submitted this quote

A Glimpse of the World

I am usually hesitant to show any kind of film material on this site, however this little mosaic of images and verses impressed me somewhat. We do not want to only be stimulated by emotions, but rather by the Spirit and Word of God. I will give into my weakness and share this this one time.

The Great Commission Statistics

 


6.75 billion people live on Earth


 that consists of 16,595 people groups


41.5% are unreached by the Gospel


which is 2.8 billion with little or no access to Gospel


that consists of  6,872 people groups


About 90% of all missionary work and missions giving goes to parts of the world that already have access to the Good News


And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come Matt.24:14






A people group is
 For strategic purposes, a people group is the largest group through which the gospel can flow without encountering significant barriers of understanding and acceptance.


An Unreached People Group is a people group in which less than 2% of the population are Evangelical Christians.


10/40 Window is the rectangle area of North Africa to Japan that includes Central Asia between the 10 and 40 degrees latitudes. 61 % of these 4.45 billion people are considered unreached.




Check out the Joshua Project at http://www.joshuaproject.net/joshua-project.php




This information was provided by The International Mission Board - Global Research, Month 20XX, name of publication, http://www.imb.org/globalresearch/.