War Costs = $1.6 Trillion

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The total economic impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is estimated at $1.6 trillion by 2009, a congressional committee said in a report released Tuesday.


A soldier with the 101st Airborne Division guards an oil refinery near Baiji, Iraq.

1 of 2 That is nearly double the $804 billion in direct war costs that the White House already has requested so far from Congress, the Democratically-controlled Joint Economic Committee said.

The total war costs could grow to $3.5 trillion by 2017, the committee estimated.

The higher total economic impact comes from, among other things, the cost of borrowing money to pay for the war, the lost productivity due to that borrowing, higher oil prices, and the cost of taking care of wounded veterans, the committee said.

The committee calculated that the average cost of both wars for a family of four would be $20,900 from 2002 to 2008. The cost for a family of four would go up to $46,400 from 2002 to 2017, the committee said.

"For every dollar we spend directly in Iraq, we're going to pay another dollar for the indirect, but immediate, costs of the war," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, said. "We of the baby boom generation and our children and grandchildren will be paying for this war for a very long time to come."

"We cannot afford this war -- $12 billion dollars a month?" Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said. "We just can't. We can't continue." ...

Read the rest of the article here...

6 seconds

I've decided to name the Service Learning Elective "6 seconds", a reference to the generally accepted time which elapses between when two children die of hunger or hunger related illness. I like it.

I made a video presentation of the elective this morning and showed it to our entire school. I think it made a big impact. Since I made it in PowerPoint, I have yet to figure out how to get it into a movie file, but once I do, I will post it here.

The process of putting together this class has already moved me profoundly. I can't wait to see what happens when we actually put it all together.

Innocent...

Innocence.Freedom. I admit, I take it for granted. This man doesn't anymore. He was locked up for 22 years and he didn't do it! Click here for how he found Jesus through it all..

a lot to learn

As I prepare to lead a course on Service Learning as it relates to poverty and hunger, I realize just how unprepared I am to take on such an endeavor. I have decided to call the class - "taking on poverty one step at a time." I'm not promising to eradicate poverty or to end hunger worldwide, vis a vis Bono. I'm hopelessly unprepared to do such a thing. I'm not promising to become a micro loan master. I'm far too ignorant to do such a thing. I'm not promising to change the world. I'm far too small to be such a change.

I do hope I can change one kid or rather one small group of kids. I hope I can challenge my class of 40 to do something about it, not just to talk but to act. And, in that, I promise to act. There is far too little time in our world not to act - I talk way too much.

If you are reading this and you have a moment on your hands, will you please pray for me as I take on this endeavor that I would be a beacon of light...? I am scared to act. I am scared of poverty and of hunger and even of myself. I am scared of trying to teach kids in a public school about the need to take action in a seemingly hopeless world. I am scared that I will let others down. I am scared that I will let Jesus down.

I think this is why I loved the "ray of hope" story in my previous post so much. Jason Ray reminded me so much of Jesus. It's simple really - he died so that others may live, and thus truly lived. It's a great story.

I'm not looking for greatness. I'm just looking to follow what I believe, to act. And it's hard.

A Tear and a Cry

Check this link out. This is a truly amazing piece and if you have kids, be forewarned... you will need a Kleenex. And if you don't have kids, heed the first warning. Wow.




Just click here - picture not working.

Education for the Educator

glumbert - A Vision of Students Today

Service Learning...

So, in about six weeks, I start teaching my first class - Service Learning at the Denver School of Science and Technology. I will be leading two classes on a journey to explore poverty in our world and more importantly what we can do about it. I hope not only to educate these high school students but to motive them to act. And, in fact, we will be doing various service projects throughout the next few months culminating in a trip to somewhere like New Orleans or Mexico to do work with the poor.

Needless to say, I'm super excited about the possibilities.

I was reading Ecclesiastes this morning and noticed something very real and powerful to where I'm at in my life right now. It refers to the idea that life is not fair. And it isn't. As Bono would say, "Why should an accident of latitude and longitude determine why; where or not you live or you die?" Solomon seems to be asking the same thing. He toils and labors and works, but the reward is not always reachable. It isn't fair.

The poor seem to know the feeling.

Often, I get the idea that people can get out. If they would just "X" then "Y" can happen. But, it's not always true. "X" for many of us is achievable, but for the 2.5 Billion people who live in poverty, maybe it's not. Yet, what can we do to help, to change, to influence, to affect...?

There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: righteous men who get what the wicked deserve, and wicked men who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. Ecc 8:14

These are the questions with which I will challenge my students and myself.

A New Post - and maybe more

I haven't blogged in a long time, but I think I might get back into it... here's a start from my family's recent trip to the heart of the Rocky Mountains...

A beautiful speech...

I haven't posted in nearly 5 months... but I was reading this speech and it brought me to tears...this is truly beautiful from a redeemed man...

MICHAEL IRVIN's HALL OF FAME SPEECH

Thank you. Father, I'd like to thank you for allowing us all to travel here safely, thank you in advance for the same in allowing us to travel home.

Father, thank you for the man that you sent me to help me in Bishop T.D. Jakes, my spiritual father. I ask you now to put your arms around my Hall of Fame classmate Gene Hickerson and his family. Father, hold them tight and love them right. In Jesus' name, I pray, amen.

Thank you.

I want to send a special love to all the people in Dallas, Texas, special love to all the Dallas Cowboy fans all over the world. Special love goes to my hometown of South Florida and all the Miami Hurricane fans, St. Thomas Aquinas fans.

I want to send love to every fan everywhere because you hear so often that people say, Oh, these are the guys that built the game. No. It's your hunger and your love for the game, your love for what we do that make this game what it is. I thank you for loving the game like we love it.

Jerry, those were kind words. Thank you. You know, when I first met Jerry he had just purchased the Dallas Cowboys. He had a bit of a concerned look on his face. I said to him, I said, We will have fun and we will win Super Bowls. You see, I knew Jerry had put all he had into purchasing the Cowboys. That's the way I see Jerry. He's a man that's willing to give all he has and all he wants to bring the Cowboy family Super Bowls.

Jerry, I appreciate your commitment to family, the Dallas Cowboy family and your own family. He has a beautiful wife, Jean. I tell her this. I just love her to death. Her spirit exudes beauty. Her mannerisms exude class. She's one of a kind. Jean, I do love you.

They have beautiful kids, daughter Charlotte, son Steven and Jerry, Jr. Each have played a role in my life and I thank all of them.

A heartfelt thank you to the selection committee, especially Rick Gosselin and Charean Williams. Charean is the first woman to have a seat on the selection committee. Charean, congratulations to you.

These gentlemen behind me, these men, they inspired me to become the player that I became. As I spent this week with these gentlemen that I've admired growing up, I kept thinking about how gifted they are. Man, they're gifted to run and cut, gifted to throw and catch, gifted to run through blocks and make great tackles.

And then I met their wives and their families and I realized that it's not only about the gift God gave us, but equally important is the help that God gave us. It's the people that God put in place to support us on our journey. So I will try to put the credit in the right place tonight and share with you my help and my journey.

I thank God for the help of my father Walter Irvin, whom I lost at the age of 17. He was my hero and he loved, I'm telling you, he loved the Dallas Cowboys. I woke up this morning smiling knowing that my father had not be here in the flesh but that he is in heaven watching and celebrating with his all time favorite coach, Coach Tom Landry.

Also Tex Schamm, Derrick Shepard and Mark Tuinei. Those guys, we think about them here, we feel them here. They will always be with us.

Before my father made his journey to heaven I sat with him. His final words to me were, Promise me you will take care of your mother. She's a good woman. As you've heard, my mother raised 17 children, most of whom are here tonight. There were challenges. But she would never complain. She always walked around the house and said, God has promised me that my latter days will be better than my former days. My mom and my Aunt Fanny, her oldest sister, they are part of my travel squad now.

As we travel, all they want is a nice room and an open tab on room service. When my workday is done I get to come by their room and we tell stories and we laugh and we have fun. We always end the night with them telling me, Baby, this is what God meant when he said, Our latter days will be better than our former days.

I can't tell you how it makes me feel to know that God uses me to deliver His promise. I love you, mom. I love you, Aunt Fanny.

For better or for worse, those are the vows we take before God in marriage. It's easy to live with the for better, but rarely can you find someone who sticks around and endures the for worse. Sandy, my beautiful wife, I have worked tirelessly, baby, to give you the for better. But I also gave you the for worse, and you didn't deserve it. You didn't deserve it.

But through it all I experienced the depth of your love and I thank God for you. I love the mother that you are, the wife that you are, I love the way that you take care of our family, our daughters Myesha and Chelsea, and our sons Michael and Elijah. I thank you from a place that I can't mention, I can't even express, baby, for keeping our family together. I love you so much.

My football family, as Jerry told you, began at St. Thomas Aquinas High School under the wise tutelage of a great coach named George Smith. George Smith dedicated 37 years to that great program. He's a great man. I thank all the people at St. Thomas for believing in a young man like me.

And then I went on to the University of Miami. I think most of y'all know how I feel about the U. Yeah, the U. You better believe it. After that I was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys where I played and worked with some of the best to ever be around this game. For example, Emmitt Smith. Emmitt Smith is the all time leading rusher.

The great thing about that, his rookie year he said to me he was going to become the all time leading rusher. I doubted him like I think everybody would have. But what an inspiration to be in a room and see a man set a goal so high and then be persistent, be dedicated, and accomplish that which he set out to accomplish. Emmitt, you're an inspiration to so many.

The third part and the third member The Triplets is Troy Aikman. My quarterback, our leader. Troy Aikman led us to three Super Bowls. When I said "led," I mean led, to three Super Bowls. He's the winningest quarterback in the decade of the '90s. If you talk to him and you ask him what's his most memorable game, he will tell you that '94 NFC Championship game that everybody's talking about.

It's a game we were down by 21 and we lost, but we never gave up. That's the mark of a true leader. All he wants is for each player to give all he has all the time. That's Troy Aikman.

That game is one of my most memorable games for all those reasons, but it had a little something extra for me. We were down 21. Troy came to that huddle with those big blue eyes and he looked up and he said, Hey, I'm coming to you no matter what. Whew, let me tell you. As a wide receiver, that's all I ever wanted to hear. Just come to me no matter what. And he did, he did. He came to me no matter what.

But, Troy, you've always come to me no matter what, and I'm not just talking about on the football field. For that, you have a special place in my heart. You always will no matter what. I love you, Troy. I love you deeply.

As The Triplets, we received most of the press, the credit. But we were surrounded with some great guys, great players, talented guys. Guys like Darren Woodson, Dallas Cowboys all time leading tackle. My Cowboy counterpart Jay Novacek, what a great tight end he is. Daryl Johnston, the unsung hero, Moose. Larry Allen and Eric Williams are two of the better linemen, if not the best linemen, to ever play this game. The big fella, Nate Newton. Jim Jeffcoat. And one of the best cornerbacks and the finest athlete I've ever been around, that's Deion Sanders, Prime Time.

So, so many more.

You can't accomplish what we've accomplished with just great players. You also need great coaches. And we had that. We had guys like Norv Turner, Dave Wannstedt, Dave Campo. My position coach, coach Hubbard Alexander, who is my heart. Coach, you took me as a young man out of high school, and I know I gave you a lot of mess through the years. Thank you for being there, Coach. And our head coach, he had always be my head coach, that's Jimmy Johnson.

We worked hard. We had the best, and I'm telling you the very best, and I'm willing to take an argument with anybody on this, strength and conditioning coach in the world. His name is Mike Warsick. He has six Super Bowl rings. Six, people. Twice he has won three Super Bowls in four years, once with us and now with the New England Patriots. So if anybody wants to take an argument, I am a debater. I am here and ready.

Mike Warsick, you are, man, the very best. You put me back together from that knee injury. As we always tell each other when we say good bye, MissPaw (phonetic), which means may God hold you till we see each other again.

I also walked on campus at the University of Miami the same day with our PR director, Rich Dalrymple. I know some of you are saying it's fitting that you are tight with the PR director, Michael. But Rich has been a great friend. When I walk in his office now Rich has a picture of us. He has pictures of us at the University of Miami with this nice beautiful black hair, and then he has pictures of us now when he's all gray.

He says to me all the time, You see these gray hairs? I say, Yeah. He says, You gave them to me. I tell him, I say, Well, you see those four championship rings you have? I gave them to you, too.

I have experienced all this game has to offer on the football field, the losing, going 3 13, even 1 15. In my second season the career threatening knee injury, thinking I would never play this game that I love again. And even in 1999, the career ending neck injury. That which football players fear the most.

But I've also had some beautiful victories. We won three Super Bowls in four years. I can't tell you what that feels like. And we did it with guys that we loved to play with and guys that we loved. Folks, I'm telling you, that's the true essence of a football family, and that's exactly what we are not was what we are. I love all of those guys that I played with.

Since retiring I have developed a deeper awareness and understanding for this game. First as a fan and then as an analyst. That is why I've learned it's so much more than merely a game. Thanks to ESPN. Thank you, ESPN, for giving me the opportunity to travel to NFL stadiums throughout this country, visiting with fans, and seeing this game from a completely different perspective.

The movie, Remember the Titans, is my favorite movie, staring Denzel Washington. I love the way in this movie the game of football brings those boys together, it unites those boys on that football field. It unites a whole town, black, white, old, young, rich and poor. It happens every year around this time in NFL locker rooms and NFL stadiums. So don't tell me it's just a game.

My favorite day was Monday, September the 25th, 2006. New Orleans, Louisiana, site of the Superdome. I watched our people who had suffered so grievously through Hurricane Katrina fill a stadium hours before a game and stay hours after the game. I witnessed those fans as they looked for each other, hugged one another and just be thankful to be in that stadium.

You see the game flexed its greatest muscle that day: the ability to heal. I experienced a football game that contributed to the healing of a city. So don't tell me it's just a game.

You know the Bible speaks of a healing place. It's called a threshing floor. The threshing floor is where you take your greatest fear and you pray for help from your great God. I want to share something with you today. I have two sons. Michael, he's 10, and Elijah, he's 8. Michael and Elijah, could you guys stand up for me. That's my heart right there. That's my heart. When I am on that threshing floor, I pray. I say, God, I have my struggles and I made some bad decisions, but whatever you do, whatever you do, don't let me mess this up.

I say, Please, help me raise them for some young lady so that they can be a better husband than I. Help me raise them for their kids so that they could be a better father than I. And I tell you guys to always do the right thing so you can be a better role model than dad. I sat right here where you are last year and I watched the Class of 2006: Troy Aikman, Warren Moon, Harry Carson, Rayfield Wright, John Madden, and the late great Reggie White represented by his wife Sara White. And I said, Wow, that's what a Hall of Famer is.

Certainly I am not that. I doubted I would ever have the chance to stand before you today. So when I returned home, I spoke with Michael and Elijah . I said, That's how you do it, son. You do it like they did it. Michael asked, he said, Dad, do you ever think we will be there? And I didn't know how to answer that. And it returned me to that threshing floor. This time I was voiceless, but my heart cried out. God, why must I go through so many peaks and valleys?

I wanted to stand in front of my boys and say, Do it like your dad, like any proud dad would want to. Why must I go through so much?

At that moment a voice came over me and said, Look up, get up, and don't ever give up. You tell everyone or anyone that has ever doubted, thought they did not measure up or wanted to quit, you tell them to look up, get up and don't ever give up.

Thank you and may God bless you.

Transcript provided by the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Asher is 2

we do not peddle the Word

The Book in Candlelight
Originally uploaded by Photo Doocker.

In step with my recent post about the vision of the church, i was thinking more about my own perspectives both past and present about... well, about church.

the vision

Sensation White Edition 2006 Amsterdam
Originally uploaded by Cngz D.

I've been reflecting a lot lately on the Vision of the church and how I've seen it or not seen it over the years. I spent a lot of time thinking about vision when helping at the Zolder and at various other stages of my life.

Man made. I'm realizing how man made my view of vision can be. God made. My vision is exactly that, mine. But there is another. It's God's. It's been here for a long time and I'm not really sure why I or anyone else for that matter feels like we have to come up with some crazy vision for the church. It's already in writing. It's on paper. We don't need marketing or some sort of slick verbage trying to explain it any further. It's here...

Revelation 7:9-17

The Great Multitude in White Robes

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

"Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!"

Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?"

I answered, "Sir, you know."

And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,

"they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

There it is - the vision. Of course there are a number of ways in which we can accomplish this vision, which all, by the way, start and end with Jesus. I'm kicking myself though. Why have I been trying to come up with something on my own. It's right in front of us all the time.

Every nation. Every culture. Every language. Every color. Washed in the blood of the Lamb. Life forever.

Global Warming and God

I was reading this article on Global Warming, which started like this...

New alarms are rung on perils of global warming
The Associated Press
Published: February 27, 2007

UNITED NATIONS, New York: To head off the worst of climate change, governments must pour tens of billions of dollars more than they are into clean- energy research and enforce sharp rollbacks in fossil-fuel emissions, a scientific panel reported to the United Nations on Tuesday.

The United Nations itself must better prepare to help tens of millions of "environmental refugees," the panel said, and the authorities everywhere should discourage new building on land less than one meter, or 39 inches, above sea level.

The 166-page report, two years in the making, forecasts a turbulent 21st century of rising seas, spreading drought and disease, weather extremes, and damage to farming, forests, fisheries and other economic areas.

"The challenge of halting climate change is one to which civilization must rise," said the panel of 18 scientists from 11 nations...

I've been following Global Warming, much like many others, over the months and can't help but to think it's important. Very important. It is a problem to which "civilization must rise up" as the article says. Rise up.

I don't have a lot of conclusions just yet, but I'm quite certain that God created the Earth and put Man in charge of taking care of the Earth. Somehow, when we destroy the Earth through industry and complacency and apathy, we are hurting God. I've come across a new thing I hadn't thought of before as well - how does Global Warming affect or will it affect Global Hunger...? I know Bono is doing some work in this area and so are others, but again, I don't know enough about it yet.

Think about it though, if creation is groaning (see Romans 8:22) both inwardly and outwardly for redemption, there must be some part of that which means we have to RISE UP. More on this later.

the memories of culture

Amsterdam Market
Originally uploaded by Photo Doocker.

Jayla just forwarded me this wonderful explanation of what its like for someone with a global mind, someone who thinks and breathers globally...

"To the extent we identify with people of another culture and become global, we find ourselves alienated from our kinsmen and friends in our homeland. It is a basic difference in how we now look at things. We have moved from a philosophy that assumes uniformity to one that has to cope with variety, and our old friends often don't understand us when we return.

In one sense, global people never fully adjust to one culture, there own or their adopted one. Within themselves they are part of both. When abroad they dream of their home country, and need little rituals that reaffirm this part of themselves-a food package, a letter, a visitor. When in their home country, they dream of their adopted country, and need little rituals that reaffirm this part of themselves-a visitor from that country, a meal, etc. Global people seem happiest when they are flying from one country to another."

It really hit home for us as just last night we were thinking about how wonderful some of the Dutch culture is and how we miss it. It is a beautiful thing to enjoy so much about the world and to think about culture and God and world redemption in the same breath. It is the breath of like in fact, and for me it is all there is. So long as I only think of my world, I am doomed to myself.

Cool Links

Surface Below

My good friend Ross is currently travelling through Africa and India photographing children as part of a mission from Children's Relief International and other organizations. His pictures and stories are wonderful. And did I mention his pictures... remember his name cause I think we'll be seeing some of Ross's images grace the covers of many prominent news publications in the years to come.

Cambodia: A Poster Child for Modern-Day Slavery

This is an amazing article from World Vision about the a young girl in Cambodia, sold into slavery, raped and beaten and now on the road to recovery. It is a tragic and heroic story at the same time.

Did they find Jesus' grave...?

This documentary by James Cameron, which will play on the Discovery Channel soon is trying to link an archaeological find to Jesus burial place. Should be interesting...