Advent 1

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee O Israel


Prayer for Advent - Stir up Your power in us, Lord Jesus, so that by Your grace we may be rescued from all of our sins. Deliver us, O Lord, from the sin of the world around us, and the sin that dwells within us, so that we might be ready for Your coming. For You live and reign together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Thanksgiving prayer

and thank God for Linus ...

George Winston - Thanksgiving

C.S. Lewis said that even when he was an atheist, he had a longing deep inside himself that he could not explain, something which he later would call "joy".

That's the feeling I get when I listen to George Winston's music. A deep longing for something more, something I can't explain and don't even fully understand, but something I know I was created for.

It's something that permeates from the soul (that "god-shaped hole") as it fills the heart and expands the mind, pointing me to something far greater than myself.

To God.

VI Day

We won. The Iraq War is over. November 22, 2008 has been named "Victory in Iraq Day." (Hereafter known as "VI Day.") By every measure the United States and coalition forces have conclusively defeated all enemies in Iraq, pacified the country, deposed the previous regime, successfully helped to establish a new functioning democratic government, and suppressed any lingering insurgencies. The war has come to an end. And we won.

What more do you need? An announcement from the outgoing Bush administration? It's not gonna happen. An announcement from the incoming Obama administration? That's really not gonna happen. A declaration of victory by the media? Please. A concession of surrender by what few remaining insurgents remain in hiding? Forget it. The moment has come to acknowledge the obvious. To declare a fact that has already been true for quite some time now.

WE WON THE WAR IN IRAQ!

(from gateway pundit)

Umm ... Why?

from one of the youtube comments -
"this isn't just dumb, it's...
sublimely, transcendentally ludicrous.
It makes me inexpressibly happy, and I am burning off calories from laughing so hard. God bless you, Speedfit!"

P.....B.S.

PBS is set to broadcast a program this week that says the Old Testament is a bunch of made-up stories that never happened. "The Bible's Buried Secrets", scheduled to air on Tuesday, November 18th, basically says that the Bible is not true.

Producer Paula Apsell says: "It's designed for intelligent people who are willing to change their mind. …it will give intelligent people who want to read the Bible in a modern way a chance. If we insist on reading the Bible literally, in 25 years, nobody will read it any longer."

Really? Intelligent people?!?

Among highlights (or lowlights) of "The Bible's Buried Secrets":

- The Old Testament was written in the 6th century BC and hundreds of authors contributed.
- Abraham, Sarah and their offspring didn't exist.
- There is no evidence of the Exodus.
- Monotheism was a process that took hundreds of years.
- The Israelites were actually Canaanites.
- The Israelites believed that God had a wife.

Although PBS broadcasts some quality programming at times, this program is a perfect example of why I don't pledge money at tele-thon time.

Liberals Clinically "Mad"

WASHINGTON – Just when liberals thought it was safe to come out of the closet, an acclaimed, veteran psychiatrist is making the case that the ideology motivating them is actually a mental disorder.

"Based on strikingly irrational beliefs and emotions, modern liberals relentlessly undermine the most important principles on which our freedoms were founded," says Dr. Lyle Rossiter, author of the new book, "The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness."

"Like spoiled, angry children, they rebel against the normal responsibilities of adulthood and demand that a parental government meet their needs from cradle to grave."

While political activists on the other side of the spectrum have made similar observations, Rossiter boasts professional credentials and a life virtually free of activism and links to the

"vast right-wing conspiracy."

For more than 35 years he has diagnosed and treated more than 1,500 patients as a board-certified clinical psychiatrist and examined more than 2,700 civil and criminal cases as a board-certified forensic psychiatrist. He received his medical and psychiatric training at the University of Chicago.

"A scientist who understands human nature will not dismiss the vital roles of free choice, voluntary cooperation, and moral integrity as liberals do," he says. "A political leader who understands human nature will not ignore individual differences in talent, drive, personal appeal and work ethic, and then try to impose economic and social equality on the population – as liberals do. And a legislator who understands human nature will not create an environment of rules which over-regulates and over-taxes the nation's citizens, corrupts their character and reduces them to wards of the state – as liberals do."

Dr. Rossiter says the liberal agenda preys on weakness and feelings of inferiority in the population by:

creating and reinforcing perceptions of victimization;
satisfying infantile claims to entitlement, indulgence and compensation;
augmenting primitive feelings of envy;
rejecting the sovereignty of the individual by subordinating him to the will of the government.

"The roots of liberalism – and its associated madness – can be clearly identified by understanding how children develop from infancy to adulthood and how distorted development produces the irrational beliefs of the liberal mind," he says. "When the modern liberal mind whines about imaginary victims, rages against imaginary villains and seeks above all else to run the lives of persons competent to run their own lives, the neurosis of the liberal mind becomes painfully obvious."

(from WorldNetDaily)

I always believed this to be true, and now its based on scientific fact! Thank you Dr. Rossiter!

Brrrrrr!

It has plagued scientists and politicians for decades, but scientists now say global warming is not the problem. They say we are actually heading for the next Ice Age.

British and Canadian experts warn the big freeze could bury the east of Britain in 6,000ft of ice. A taste of the future: Plunging temperatures around Britain will create 2-ft icicles over Sleightholme River in Scotland, while Northern Ireland and England could be covered in 3,000ft-thick ice fields. The expanses could reach 6,000ft from Aberdeen to Kent – towering above Ben Nevis, Britain’s tallest mountain.

And what’s more, the experts blame the global change on falling - rather than climbing - levels of greenhouse gases.

Lead author Thomas Crowley from the University of Edinburgh and Canadian colleague William Hyde say that currently vilified greenhouse gases – such as carbon dioxide – could actually be the key to averting the chill. The warning, published in the authoritative journal Nature, is based on records of tiny marine fossils and the earth’s shifting orbit.

The Earth has seen dramatic climate fluctuations – veering between cold and warm extremes - over the past many years, the researchers say. And changes in the Earth’s orbit and slowly falling levels of carbon dioxide are the cause. The team says we are approaching a turning point, in the next 10,000 years which will lead to the new ice sheets smothering much of Europe, Asia and South America. The theory, which is based on computer models, suggests ice sheets will also slash sea levels by up to 300m, so Russia and Alaska will be connected by land. The North Sea will become part of a huge glacier stretching from Holland and Scandinavia to the Russian Far East.

Still, Professor Crowley reminds us that the stark findings do not mean that we should "push the panic button."

An inconvenient truth, indeed.

Discover Ancient Rome in Google Earth

Our Veterans - America's Heroes

No More Gore

Here's some inspiring words of wisdom from former Nobel Prize Award Winner, Academy Award Winner, and Presidential Election Loser Al Gore Jr. , as printed in the New York Times.

"The inspiring and transformative choice by the American people to elect Barack Obama as our 44th president lays the foundation for another fateful choice that he — and we — must make this January to begin an emergency rescue of human civilization from the imminent and rapidly growing threat posed by the climate crisis."

Huh? An emergency rescue of human civilization?

Wait, he's not done. There's more brilliance to come ....

"The electrifying redemption of America’s revolutionary declaration that all human beings are born equal sets the stage for the renewal of United States leadership in a world that desperately needs to protect its primary endowment: the integrity and livability of the planet."

If you ask me, I think Al Gore has been inhaling too many fumes from all that jet fuel put out by his private G5 jet airplane.

Happy Birthday Martin!

born November 10th, 1483

what teamwork ...

you knew this was coming...

can you say .... blasphemy?

Oldest Hebrew Text Found

Five lines of ancient script on a shard of pottery could be the oldest example of Hebrew writing ever discovered, an archaeologist in Israel says.

The shard was found by a teenage volunteer during a dig about 12 miles southwest of Jerusalem, on a hilltop above the valley where David is said to have battled Goliath.

Preliminary investigations since the shard was found have deciphered some words including judge, slave and king.

Experts at Hebrew University said dating showed it was written 3,000 years ago - about 1,000 years earlier than the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Rally in Jeff City

Went to the big Sarah Palin Rally in Jeff City yesterday. They say there were 18,000 people gathered around the Capitol, making it the 2nd largest gathering in the city's history.
Senator Kit Bond was there along with Governor Matt Blunt, candidate for Governor Kenny Hulshof, and other candidates and dignitaries. Hank Williams Jr. sang the National Anthem.
It was a beautiful day and an exciting time, now we'll just have to wait and see what happens today at the voting booth. Say a prayer for our nation and GO VOTE!

Sarah came out wearing blue jeans. You gotta love her.

One of our friends, Mark Russell, is sitting directly under the "O" in this picture.

They probably will get the Victory in Missouri - I'm not so sure about everywhere else.