Amazing Courage, Cool and Calm, When You Least Expect It, Is A rare Quality!

                   (From left to right, Ruben Guzman, sister Ana Guzman, mother Josefina Guzman, sister Martha Ortiz, and sister Maggie Puente)

On behalf of my wife Martha and her entire family, we wish to express our deepest gratitude for all of those gracious people who responded to our request for prayers during this great moment of grief and sadness.

Martha’s brother Ruben Guzman passed away on March 29, 2010 at precisely 6:04 PM. The preceding 36 hours were filled with extreme grief and sadness as Ruben lay in his hospital bed, at Kaiser Hospital in Fontana, California, basically in a coma from internal bleeding; the last twelve hours with virtually no vital organ functions, depending on life support systems to keep him alive.

Martha and her daughter Gina (both Registered Nurses employed at another hospital) volunteered to monitor Ruben from the very beginning of his admittance. Hospital officials, immediately impressed with their professionalism and nursing capabilities, allowed them to assist the hospital ICU staff. Both took turns for eight hour shifts monitoring Ruben’s vital signs, while many family members (like sister Maggie Punete) remained at his side, praying and consoling one another. Martha, Maggie and Gina’s cool and calm demeanor provided family and friends with the assurance Ruben was in good hands. Nevertheless, Ruben succumbed. Maggie, a Christian minister and a prison chaplain, delivered the last rights.

“Our brother Ruben is no longer shackled with life’s burdens!”

The last 48 hours have been filled with much sadness and grief, realizing they have lost a precious loved one at such an early and the unexpected age of 47 years old. Any loss of family members is traumatic. When a loved one passes away from a long-term illness, such as cancer and other life-threatening diseases, we prepare ourselves for the eventuality, which can take weeks, months and even years. When it happens so suddenly, family members and friends are dumbfounded. Such is the case with Ruben Guzman’s death.

RN’s Martha Ortiz and daughter Gina Abrego

I personally have to share an extremely humbling reaction to these past two day. As I witnessed my wife Martha and her daughter Gina’s gentle, loving and nursing care, their calm and professional demeanor throughout this whole ordeal, I have to express sheer profound awe and amazement. I hear stories from my wife when she comes home from a 12 hour shift at her hospital, and more than often moved as she recounts detail by detail the events that ensued during the preceding evening.  I’m so awed and impressed solely by the details she shares with me. I am always filled with great pride and husband honor as she relays the instantaneous details (and life threatening issues) that require immediate life sustaining decisions. But to witness her and Gina actually performing those duties, right in front of me, makes my contributions to society pale by comparison.

I didn’t stay at the hospital throughout the entire ordeal, spending a few hours and then went home to handle phone calls from concerned friends and relatives. I was not there when Ruben took his last breath. But, yet, my heart broke when Martha called me to tell me that Ruben had succumbed. Her tears during the phone call broke my heart, wishing I had stayed longer, yet no one truly knowing when the time would come.

The beauty of my wife, sister Maggie and her daughter Gina, is their humanity; strong when they have to be, yet fragile when their duty ended. No one can criticize them for sobbing throughout the rest of the evening until the wee hours of the mourning (pun intended); they had lost the physical presence of a dear and beloved family member. A few hours after Ruben passed away, his other sister Ana, her kids ( who all waited patiently during the entire ordeal) joined Martha, Maggie, and Gina drove to Ruben’s mother’s home, Josefina, to be by her side as she informed her husband (Ruben’s father) that his son had died. How does any one person have the strength to do this after being on duty for 36 hours? It’s one thing to be a nurse to an unknown patient during a twelve hour shift (and many of those have died while they were on duty); but to care for a relative who dies in your hands, after tending to them for 36 hours, and then drive a distance to bear the sad tidings to the father of the deceased, is more unimaginable courage and strength than I have ever witnessed! I’m so proud to be a member of this great family!

In attendance throughout the ordeal, were five generations of Ruben’s mother's family, Josefina Guzman. Next to her, is daughter, Martha Ortiz; grand daughter Gina Abrego; great grand daughter Janina Thompson; and great, great grand daughter, DaLayLa Thompson.

The Bible itself tells us that grieving is a natural process, which is allowed to last a minimum of 30 days and longer. I know Martha, Maggie and Gina (and all of Ruben's sons and daughters, parents and friends) may grieve longer than this. I hope to be a source of comfort for them during this period. But, more importantly, I have to say that the courage, verve and strength that these courageous woman demonstrated during this most grievous time, will be indelibly etched in my mind, heart and soul forever!

Ruben Guzman 

9/11/1962 - 3/29/2010

Once again, dear friends, family members and colleagues, we are forever in your debt with gratitude for your prayers, condolences and support!

Oh? Why do I share this with you? While we are extremely grateful for your prayers, we realize that God dearly loves to hear directly from His children. Hopefully, not just during times of need and those great moments of ordeal, but when there are no reasons to cry out for His help .

Hey! He loves your company and misses spending time with you!

HUGZ,

Joe Ortiz

Pre-Trib Rapture's Missing Lines

PRETRIB RAPTURE'S MISSING LINES

By Dave MacPherson

     R. A. Huebner, fanatical follower of John Darby, noticed that several lines in Margaret Macdonald's 1830 pretrib account (such as "The trial of the Church is from Antichrist") were omitted when Robert Norton reproduced it a second time. In order to keep crediting Darby with pretrib, Huebner asserted that Margaret taught only a posttrib coming, her "Antichrist" statement being proof of it.

     In order to falsely claim this, Huebner ignored her MAIN POINT in lines 58-63: "one taken and the other left" BEFORE the revealing of Antichrist. He also suppressed the truth that she saw a pretrib coming of only PART of the church (partial rapturism) and that leading partial rapturists like Govett and Pember, after seeing a rapture of PART of the church, refer to the other PART left on earth as simply the "church"! (Google "X-Raying Margaret" and see MacPherson's "The Rapture Plot" for a full analysis of her account.)

     Actually, when Norton aired his abridgement of her account later on he kept intact her main point and also the essence of the omitted lines with different wording.

     The only change comes when a few misguided pretribs deviously change factual info about Margaret on Wikipedia - which should be called Wicked-pedia since anyone with any ulterior motive can insert lie after lie therein!

     HERE'S THE BIG POINT BEING MADE HERE: If Margaret did initially teach posttrib in the lines later omitted, then the removal of those partial rapturistic lines (combined with her pretrib main point) would have her teaching a pretrib rapture of ALL of the church!

     By asserting that Margaret was initially posttrib, Huebner was inadvertently giving the impression that she (and the Irvingites she inspired) later changed to a pretrib rapture of ALL of the church long before Darby did since Darby didn't clearly eliminate all of the partial rapturism from his own system until the 1870s!

     (BTW, a facsimile copy of Margaret's 1830 handwritten pretrib revelation has been discovered in the British Library in London - and Joe Ortiz' "End Times Passover" blog (Mar. 9, 2010) is the first time a portion of the handwriting has ever been publicly aired!)

     By seeing something sinister in the later missing lines in Margaret's history-making revelation, and talking ignorantly about them on Wicked-pedia, pretrib critics are only drawing attention to the innovative Irvingites and their female inspiration as well as to Darby's long hidden plagiarism of them!

     Thank you brother Dave, for providing our audience this important update. We recognize that those of us who believe the church is being duped by the Pre-Tribulation Rapture are a minority and that we will come under much criticism. But we must continue to reach out and warn our brothers and sister that true Christians  will suffer great tribulation

      What can we say about those who not only distort the truth, but in essence distort the word of God? What type of action should those who are faithful undertake with those who continue to distort God's word?

     Well, we can only continue to speak forth God's truth. We will be chastised, castigated and attacked moreso as the Day draws nigh, and we also know that God's children of promise will be subjected to much tribulation; sadly, this persecution will come from those who truly believe they are the chosen ones, that they are God's elect, that they are special in God's eye, those who will proclaim they prophesied God's word, when in fact the Holy Spirit was not working through them whatsoever; as it speaks of in John 16:1-4:

All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you.

     But the faithful servant who is willing to boldy speak God's truth, even if it means choosing death rather than the big lie, it is they who will at least be able to look Jesus in the face when He returns, and hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant, you were faithful in a few things, I will place you in charge of many."

     As for the others, who continue in their Pre-Tribulation Rapture folly, they need to re-examine their doctrine or they could well suffer grave consequences, and maybe even run over by a horse!

     For more information about this blog, please click here Joe Ortiz

El Chicano Band Member Joins Elite Group in Rock and Roll Heaven

                                          By Joe Ortiz

     Bobby Espinosa, the highly acclaimed organist and co-founder of the legendary El Chicano music group, was memorialized on Saturday, March 20, 2010, by family members, fellow musicians and close friends.
     Espinosa, who has been a part of every recording the group has ever released, and was still actively performing with it in concerts all over the world, passed away on February 27, 2010. The gifted musician was recently inducted into "Hammond Heroes," an elite society of the best players on the Hammond organ, becoming the only Chicano Artist ever to be recognized for his unique style of Blues, Jazz and Latin music on the Hammond B3 organ.
     At a heart warming memorial mass at St Alfonsus Church in East Los Angeles, and a special musical tribute by fellow performers at Stevens Steakhouse in the City of Industry, California, friends, family members and fellow musicians sent Espinosa off to rock and roll heaven, again, becoming the first Chicano to join another elite group of rock and roll musicians.

(Alan O’Day, renowned songwriter, performer, recording artist)

     “I never knew Bobby personally, but I admired his work from a distance for many years, said Alan O’Day, who co-wrote the song “Rock and Roll Heaven” made famous by The Righteous Brothers recording hit in 1974. O’Day, who is best known for his 1977 number I hit, “Undercover Angel,” grew up with and performed with many Mexican Americans throughout southern California.
     “It’s sad that a great musician like Bobby Espinosa has left us,” said O’ Day “but we finally have a Chicano among Heaven’s most gloriously renowned musicians.” In O’Day’s Rock And Roll Heaven song, he cited luminary performers such as Jimmy Hendricks, Janis Joplin. Otis Redding, Jim Morrison, Bobby Darrin and many other legendary rock and roll heroes.
     Over a hundred friends, family members and fellow musicians witnessed a personal musical tribute to Espinosa at Steven’s Steakhouse (a renowned Latino venue) in the City of Industry, performed by fellow El Chicano band members and other Latino musicians who knew and had performed with Espinosa during his 40 year career with El Chicano.

(Left to right, co-founders of El Chicano, bassist and

        manager of the group, Freddie Sanchez and organist Bobby Espinosa)
    
      Freddie Sanchez, fellow co-founder and manager of the El Chicano band, coordinated the tribute to Espinosa, recognizing that his fellow musicians, family and friends needed to personally acknowledge Espinosa’s contribution to the music world, and to thank him for their own personal relationship with the gifted musician.
     “As Bobby's brother and longest musical partner, I put this personal tribute together for everyone to attend with love in their hearts for this Chicano icon, and for everything that El Chicano’s music has always stood for,” said Sanchez.
     “In our commitment to express our positive feelings and our love for our community, it is my intention to continue the legacy of El Chicano, which Bobby was a major part of, that we are still alive, and our new billing and theme will henceforth be "El Chicano Vive".
     Sanchez added that he personally was grateful for the outpouring of sentiments from the musical world and (especially) the East Los Angeles community.
     “I could rattle off the hundreds of names and well wishes and condolences I received from throughout the musical world, and also the great throng of musical brothers and sisters who gathered together to pay personal tribute to Bobby,” said Sanchez.
     “They know who they are, and they would all agree that the important fact is that we finally have a Chicano musician in Rock and Roll Heaven, and many more will join that select group in the future.”
~~~~

3/24/2010 JO/jo                                                                                                                        

 Rock And Roll Heaven by Alan O’Day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2cijNKu9qc

Rock and Roll Heaven by The Righteous Brothers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSi6WigyUxU&feature=related

Undercover Angel by Alan O’Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLPRP5IRuXs



To learn more about this blog and other web sites managed by this author, please click Joe Ortiz

Hispanic Business Magazine Missed The Mark Ignoring Tom Flores' Contributions!

      For the many thousands of Hispanics emerging as fans of professional football, Hispanic Business Magazine doing a story on New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez was a good marketing strategy to acknowledge them, and to make NFL owners aware of their Latino purchasing power. I’m certain many other Latino media will pounce on Sanchez' success last year and we will see a plethora of articles about the gifted quarterback from the University of Southern California.

      Most certainly last year's pro football season for Latinos was definitely one of the most exciting, especially with the feats of rookie NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez leaving USC one year early to present his credentials as a future National Football League star. While Sanchez showed moments of brilliance winning his first three games, he struggled to stay on top of his game the remainder of the season but did manage to guide the New York Jets to the NFC Championship to defeat the San Diego Chargers in the 2009 playoffs. While often criticized much for his rookie mistakes, it wasn’t necessarily his passing that guided them to the NFC playoffs as much as it was the NY Jets league leading running attack; but Sanchez’ inspiring character and excitement for the game had much to do with a successful first season.
    Hispanic football fans have much to be excited about next year and maybe for another decade or so as Mark Sanchez should mature into a true NFL Super star. His charm, personality and good looks will obviously garner him many commercials (which is good for companies wooing the Latino consumer) and Sanchez’ communications skills present potential for broadcasting and even movies down the line. It was a good article for Mark Sanchez but not necessarily for its writer Rob Kuznia, nor for Hispanic Business Magazine!

     I don’t know Mr. Kunzia’s reporting background or how much football knowledge he may have; however, if a news reporter is going mention how only a few Hispanic quarterbacks have blazed a path of glory in professional football, how can you leave off the name of Tom Flores?
      Yes, the names Tony Romo, Jim Plunkett and Joe Kapp bring back great memories of Hispanic quarterbacks (albeit one would have to have a deep interest in their ethnicity to know they are part Hispanic), unlike names like Jeff Garcia and Tony Gonzalez, recognizable Latino names. But, how do you leave off the name of Tom Flores?

     Tom Flores, who is still a great part of professional football as a color man on the Raiders Radio Network, along with Greg Papa, was the first Hispanic quarterback to play professional football when he was signed by the Oakland Raiders in 1960 in the old American Football League. Flores wasn’t a dominating quarterback but still held most of the passing records for the Raiders for many years. He would later play for the Buffalo Bills and was the backup quarterback to Len Dawson on the 1970 Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. Later as an assistant coach to John Madden he helps guide that 1977 team to a 32 to 14 Super Bowl victory against the Minnesota Vikings for his 2nd ring. Flores then win his third Super Bowl Ring in 1984 when then wild card Oakland Raiders rally against three formidable opponent in the playoffs and go on to crush the Philadelphia Eagles 27 to 10 after resuscitating former New England quarterback Jim Plunkett’s career in 1982. Tom Flores continues his coaching greatness and gets his 4th Super Bowl ring in 1985 by beating the Washington Redskins 38 to 9, this time as coach for the Los Angeles Raiders. Hall of Famer Marcus Allen is the MVP of that game. For that matter, the majority of Raiders that are in the NFL Hall of Fame are there to a great degree because of Tom Flores unique brand of inspiring his players.

     Tom Flores has a served as the first Hispanic General Manager of a professional foot team, is member of the American Football League’s Hall of Fame, his old high school in Sanger, California calls their stadium The Tom Flores Stadium, but yet he can’t get his name mentioned as a trail blazer on one of the most prestigious Hispanic magazine’s in the nation?

     I have admired Hispanic Business Magazine for decades. I am personally proud to have been listed as one of its “100 Hispanic Influentials” in its 1988 issue. If I’m correct, I think Tom Flores may have made that list in the past as well. But, how soon we forget to tout the few heroes we have. It’s no wonder we can’t get Tom Flores elected to the NFL Hall of Fame.
     If a noted magazine such as Hispanic Business can forget to mention in a legitimate story one of the greatest trail blazing Hispanics football heroes we have ever had, why should main stream media and the Hall of Fame voters even care?


Joe Ortiz, President
The Official Tom Flores Fan Club

Lolly Vegas, Co-Founder of Redbone Music Group, succumbs.

Redbone members (left to right) include Patrick Vegas,

               Tony Bellamy, Lolly Vegas, and Pete "Walking Bear" DePoe

     Right on the heels of news that Bobby Espinosa, musician extraordinaire and co-founder of the legendary EL CHICANO band, had passed away on February 27, 2010, another renowned Chicano musician has died as well.
     According to fellow musicians Mark Guerrero and Robert Zapata, both informed that the legendary Redbone band co-founder, Lolly Vegas, passed away at his home in the San Fernando Valley, California at 1:00 AM on Thursday, March 4, 2010. He had been battling cancer for many years.
     Guerrero, who has written many articles and chronicled the stories of Chicano music legends for years, states that the original founders of Redbone included brothers Lolly and Patrick Vegas who grew up in Fresno, California. The two Mexican American musicians (who changed their last name to Vegas from Vasquez early in their career) started their musical journey touring with the band of former teen idol, Jimmy Clanton. Patrick Vegas played bass and vocals, and Lolly Vegas played guitar and vocals with Clanton, who recorded two major hits, Just a Dream and Venus in Blue Jeans, in the late 50.s.
     Redbone plays primarily rock music with R&B, Cajun, Jazz, tribal, and Latin roots. Their first commercial success came with the single Maggie from their second album, Potlatch, in 1970, and two other hit singles followed: The Witch Queen of New Orleans (1971, #21 on the Billboard Hot 100) and Come and Get Your Love (1974, #5 on the Billboard Hot 100). Come and Get Your Love, written by Lolly Vegas stayed on the Billboard chart for 24 weeks, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. on 22 April 1974. Both Guerrero and Zapata have performed with Redbone on many occasions.
     A special memorial service for Lolly Vegas will be held on Thursday, March 11, 2010 at Lorenzen Mortuary, 19300 Sherman Way, Reseda, California 91335, beginning at 7:30pm. Friend and acclaimed actress and singer Della Reese will deliver the eulogy.
     For more information, contact Robert Zapata at (323) 333-5817 or (909) 930-2827.
     Click to see video Come And Get Your Love