By one's deeds you may know him

source

October 7th, 2017, was Vladimir Putin's 65th birthday and many wishes of health and happiness to him. May God gift him with all that he deserves.

May God gift him, indeed, since Putin is a man with a variety of interesting qualities and activities.

Patriarch Krill of the Russian Orthodox church endorsed Putin's election.  He stated that Putin's terms were a "miracle of God" during the election of 2012.  Since collapse of USSR and lifted oppression of faithful believers, Patriarch Krill has joined an alliance with state.

Wikipedia

The Church even supported Putin's decision to move into Crimea and Ukraine.

Putin is apparently a believer with his religious awakening occurring after serious life-threatening event in his personal life in 1990s. In his early years, his mother had baptized him secretly when a baby and took him to services (held in secret). 

His mother gave him his baptismal cross before a trip to Israel, and asked him to have it blessed.  "I did as she said and then put the cross around my neck.  I have never taken it off since."

Happy trails

  Putin's confessor (according to rumors) is Russian Orthodox Bishop Tikhoshevkunov.

Putin is also actively involved in protection of rare species as Chairman of Russian Geographical Society Board of Trustees.
 

Forget about Syria!  

Forget about Crimea and Ukraine!

Forget about Iran and his support of their nuclear program!

Greeting Iran's leader

Forget about his past as head of the KGB!

KGB leader

Forget about all his choices! He wears a crucifix and has Russian Orthodox Church support after all.

Yes, may God show him the Christian way, whether or not he follows.  May God grant him deserved fruits of his labor. May God provide Putin with an appropriate reward for his many many works.

If Vladimir Putin lived in USA, he would qualify for Medicare. Putin could move into our retirement community. Does he like golf? We do not provide horse back rides.

Putin is now 70 yrs. old. This is a repost from Oct. 10, 2017. To know his choices, one must know his character. 

" By their deeds you will know them. Does a man gather grapes from thorns or figs from briars?”Matt. 6:17

Z is for Zimbalist

Z is for Zimbalist, as in Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.  He was the good guy, always on the side of law, suave yet manly.  “Dapper, leading man” was the way Hollywood described him.

He was best known for his role in “The F.B.I.” series.  He inspired so many kids that they pursued a career in the F.B.I.  In 2009 the FBI director Robert Mueller presented an honorary Special Agent badge to Zimbalist.

He was a private celebrity who valued his family and living his life as a devout Christian. He died in May of 2014 at the age of 95.

b. 1918-- d. 2014

BUT think about it for a moment: he was an actor who was always working, never took roles below his quality requirements: he represented someone that kids admired; he placed family above everything; he lived a Christian life in the atmosphere of a rough Hollywood; his children succeeded in life, and they loved him.

How many men can claim that?

I am aware that many younger bloggers may not know of Zimbalist and his career.  Try to find an episode on Hulu or Amazon Prime.

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To Enter the Gates of Peace

Headstones in Hebrew..transcribed and accessible at this site.

When the sun rose that day, the body of a badly beaten man lay sprawled on the banks of the Mississippi near the small town of Ritfield, Missouri.  Although the only thing of value that remained was his suit and that his face had been battered beyond recognition, every Ritfield resident knew this man and liked him.

Since the site was by the barge landing, most assumed that some rough men crept in and took Levi, expecting a great fortune. That was enough effort given for finding the guilty.

Levi Rosenfeld (this name was chosen randomly and does not relate to anyone, living or dead)  was an upstanding member of the community, dedicated to helping others, and supporting and caring for any who needed help.  “A good man, God Bless ‘em!”

Levi Rosenfeld was a Jewish man in a small Christian town, and presumed to be wealthy, since he was a jeweler who traveled the River to St. Louis to trade.  His wife, Ruth, was the opposite of her Levi; she was vicious and flaunted her own wealth.  When people spoke her name, they crossed themselves.

The rest of the Jewish community continued quietly to work, pay bills, worship in a distant synagogue some sixty miles away.  That they were Jewish was known by all and accepted.  “Stay in their own place, I’ll give ‘em that."

Levi Rosenfeld was buried in a Jewish Cemetery some distance from town, in a partially hidden copse of oak trees.

It was a quiet closing for a good man.

Is this a true story?  Yes and no.

Please go to this site.

This is a Jewish Cemetery in Missouri, across the Mississippi River from our farm land in Illinois.  We had driven by it for years before realizing what it was.