Hey, Wikipedia Editors! You Need a Floor Jack

Getting a little eager, aren’t you? Imagine that. Declaring Rush Limbaugh dead. IN YOUR WILDEST DREAMS, you left-leaning, liberal, lunatic lapdogs. Get yourselves some semblance of a life. Don’t you get tired of being inaccurate 99.9% of the time?

I think, if you put your dunce thinking caps on you might be able to straighten out some of the lies in this link. Oh, I forgot. That’s your M.O.—lie when the truth would do better.

Thank God (that’s who’s in control of the universe, including you, whether you like it or not) there’s Conservapedia. A little sanity is always refreshing. But you wouldn’t know, would you? When they handed out sanity you thought they said “Vanity” (2 Peter 2:18) and that certainly worked for you.

Happy New Year

Love

Granny

Snake or Wizard?

The cold chills have dissipated. The seven stages of grief are nearly behind me. The fits of rage are less frequent now. I think I have finally joined the ranks of those who are thinking, “Three more years. If things keep going the way they are we’ll never survive.” It’s not a passionate thought; it’s more a cold, detached, brooding contemplation, much like a man lying in the desert with his hands and feet bound, exhausted from struggling, watching the coral snake gliding toward him. There’s escape available, but how? From what source? Suddenly he realizes he’s not alone. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of people just like him, seemingly helpless, wondering the same thing: how do we overcome this very clear and imminent danger?

What prompted this was this article which drove home the sad fact of a president who doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing. His blustering and bullying isn’t going to save Americans from the very people he’s been apologizing to for the past year. The curtain has been drawn back, much like the one Toto pulled in the Wizard of Oz, leaving a brisling buffoon, capable of one thing only: winning an election.

For example, from this article: While information is still coming out about the incident, President Obama stated, "Those who would slaughter innocent men, women and children must know that the United States will do more than simply strengthen our defenses: We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, dismantle and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us." (Uh, Mr. President, does that include those at Fort Hood?)

The nation will do all it can to defeat these threats, according to Obama. "As Americans, we will never give in to fear or division," the president said. "We will be guided by our hopes, our unity and our deeply held values." (Well, if that isn’t just plain hogwash, I don’t know what is. I don’t think our unity got that guy with the loaded underwear. I think it was a brave Dutch citizen, after the cluster-muster that allowed the man on the plane in the first place.)

Back to the snake. Not only is he a very dangerous snake, he’s also a very stupid snake. And he has help: the heat of socialism ever at his side and the hundreds of congressional vultures circling overhead. Fortunately, we hapless creatures here in the heat have sheer numbers, and that’s what it will take to overcome the evil that is fast approaching.

Love

Granny

Coincidence? I Think Not

It seems there was a dust up Las Vegas and other cities over Christmas involving some billboards erected byan Atheist group. As a former Las Vegan (not to be confused with the plant eaters) I’m always on the alert for stories coming out of Sin City, since what happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas.

The group which calls themselves Freedom From Religion is responsible for putting up the billboards, which rang a lot of chimes that had nothing to do with the birth of Christ. The story is below, and if you want to click on the link you can watch the video. My comments are in red.

“Atheist Billboards Anger Las Vegas Christians

CBNNews.com

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Christians living in Las Vegas, Nev. want several atheist billboards taken down before Christmas.

For example, some of the messages on the signs include "Heathen's Greetings" and "Reason's Greetings."

A third billboard that read, "Yes Virginia, there is no God," was taken down after numerous complaints.

The man who paid for the signs says they were meant to make people question and not to offend.” Of course not

"There's an awful lot more signs that are religious intent than ours, and so to me, it's tit for tat," said Richard Hermsen.” Whose tit for whose tat? I thought you just said they were not meant to offend. Obviously you were offended by the Christian billboards, so were retaliating.

“But Christians are upset.” I only know about eight or ten Christians in Las Vegas, and I can understand how they feel. However, there are so many billboards in that city that are downright nauseating, these few could probably have blended into the bright lights and drive-by shootings. 

"If I'd had a ladder I would have climbed up there and pulled it down myself," said Las Vegas resident Brenda Kempf. "I'm a Christian. I believe in God, and I didn't like it. I just didn't appreciate it." I’m glad she didn’t have a ladder. She would have gotten arrested and it would have turned into a big ugly mess, instead of just a pitiful attempt to annoy.

 The item that really stands out like a huge carbuncle on the posterior of heathenism is the final sentence in the story. “They say it's just a coincidence that the signs were put up right before Christmas.” I suppose they’ll wait for Easter and say it’s a coincidence that their billboards say, “Who is risen” or “Hosanna in the Lowest.”

Hey, atheist groups, put up all the billboards you can afford. God is still in charge and Jesus is Lord. Hallelujah!

Love,

Granny

9%

The first thing I do every morning is check the Rasmussen poll to see where our president stands among voters. This morning, after I noted that he is 18%—up (or down, depending on which way you want to look at it) 3 points from yesterday. Then I scrolled a little further down on the page and saw that 9% of adults rate the economy as good or excellent. So I toddled into the room across the hall, where my husband was holding forth before his computer, pecking out the latest in an ongoing series of government excoriations.

“Honey,” I said, “Do you know that 9% of the American people consider the state of the economy as good or excellent?”

He looked up from the keyboard and answered, “Yes.”

Huh.

So I pursued it. “Why would even one living person today think that?”

He took a breath and began: “Okay, take the guy who has a good job, whose wife is either incapacitated or dead, so she doesn’t spend all his money, whose kids have good jobs and have no kids in government schools. His house is paid for, his cars are paid for. He doesn’t have any credit card debt to speak of. Life is good.”

“But,” said I, “that means he doesn’t watch the news—any news—or read the newspaper—any newspaper.”

“Right,” he agreed.

Or maybe he’s a monk cloistered in one of those monasteries in a mountain. Or a spoiled starlet, who just had the world handed to her. But do they vote? Rasmussen only polls likely voters.

I guess there are people who are so self-absorbed that they have no idea what’s going on around them. They don’t listen to anyone but themselves; they don’t have any interest in what the government is doing because it doesn’t affect them yet. Their world is so small that the largest thing in it is their big screen TV, on which they watch only movies and MTV. Their favorite pastime is video games and many of them live in their parents’ basements. But again, do these people vote?

Maybe Cecil is right. It’s Mr. Happy Widower, pre-Medicare, with his job, his house, his grown kids, and his own world. But I’d like to meet one of the 9%, just long enough to ask him a few questions. Oh, that’s already been done. Jay Leno used to do it all the time.

The reason I left out the kids in school is that anyone who has children in a government school has to be at least peripherally aware of the creeping secularism and other perils over the past generation. Unfortunately, most don’t really care. But I’ll tell you this little story and then I’ll quit.

The church I attend has a Christian school attached to it. Many or most of the church kids are students at the school but a few are not. Our assistant pastor was recently invited to a “Winter Program” at our local government school (right here in the Ozarks) as a guest of one of the kids who attends our church. He reported hearing a number of secular songs sung by the students and then seeing a play based on “The Arabian Nights.”

Merry Christmas.

Love

Granny

The Whore of Nebraska and the Slaughter of the Innocents

This is a collection of random thoughts which grouped together like sheep on a cold winter morning. It happens when I lie down to rest my healing broken back. I try not to do it too often because sometimes I go to sleep, and the sleeping dreams are far worse than the waking ones.

I was reading up on the alleged killing of babies under the age of two by King Herod. There is actually no written evidence to support this, except in the Bible, of course. Although that’s good enough for me, I realize there are those who need something written by Augustin or Josephus or someone of that ilk (rather than God) to solidify their belief. What we do know is that Herod wasn’t exactly a model father (he killed three of his sons) or husband (and at least one of his wives.) He brought dysfunction and narcissism (until B.O.) to a whole new level.

But someone did make the point that, if Herod did indeed order all male children under a certain age in that area killed, the number would be very small. In his very scholarly article, The Slaughter of the Innocents: Historical Fact or Legendary Fiction? Gordon Franz had this to say:

“Yet Professor William F. Albright, the dean of American archaeology in the Holy Land, estimates that the population of Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’ birth to be about 300 people (Albright and Mann 1971:19). The number of male children, two years old or younger, would be about six or seven (Maier 1998:178, footnote 25). This would hardly be a newsworthy event in light of what else was going on at the time. Please do not get me wrong, one innocent child being killed is a horrific tragedy.” (Emphasis added)

I agree. And that is why I am chronically horrified by the wholesale slaughter of the unborn and the use of the abortion issue as a volley ball in the game of Socialized Medicine. Here’s a paragraph buried in a Washington Examiner article, that tells us exactly how the Whore of Nebraska lies down:  

“ In the end, though, Nelson treated abortion like any other of the dozens of shoddy little deals that have been the hallmark of the legislation. The final abortion compromise that won Nelson's support was not substantially different than the one he had despaired of the week before. The change was that Nelson got free Medicare money for his state and some stroking for his own ego.”

So I guess you could say, “Well, shucks, King Herod wasn’t such a bad old guy after all. Fewer than a dozen kids compared to 40 or 50 million? Of course, it takes more than just one king to carry out all that slaughter today. Good thing we have the likes of King-in-his-own-Mind Barack Obama, cabinet member Kathleen Sebelius, most of Congress, and doctors like George Tiller, now dead, and Nancy Pelosi’s pal, LeRoy Carhart, who is alive and well.

The slaughter goes on and the whores continue to spend a lot of time on their backs.



Love

Granny

Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain    
Following yonder star

                                                                                                                                                           

As Christians, we have grown up with this beloved Christmas carol. I can remember as a little girl, sitting in church during the Christmas program and watching it played out by three of the men, my father included. They were dressed as Wise Men and each held a very ornate box or urn and on the appropriate verse, one would proceed down the aisle, holding the gift on high and singing about the particular contents. At that age—I think I was seven—I didn’t have any idea what frankincense or myrrh were. I only knew the Wise Men traveled a very long distance to bring these gifts to the Christ Child.

Here is a sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick, pastor of Crossroads Church in Hamburg, NJ. I posted the entire text and inserted each stanza of the song in italics. It’s a beautiful concept and my hope for you is that it will take away some of the stress of this season and everything else that is eating away at us.

O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy Perfect Light

                                                        “Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

                                                        A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick

Whenever the subject of the "Wise Men", or "Magi" comes up, most of the attention is placed either on the star they saw, or speculation about where they came from. What we want to concentrate on here is the gifts they brought, and what they might signify for us.

Of course, the simplest meaning is that what these men brought were those items which, in their experience, represented the greatest worth. All of these items were rare, precious and expensive. Whatever else we may learn from this story, we know that they gave their best in honor to the One they believed to be the King, the Messiah.

This story reminds us of another visitor to Israel, the Queen of Sheba who came to meet with Solomon. (I Kings 10:2) She also brought gifts including gold and spices. The Magi followed in the same steps, perhaps being spiritually aware that a "greater than Solomon was here" (Matthew 12:42).

There are several lessons about giving that we can note in this account.

1. It's interesting that we don't know their names, but we know what they gave. It's always a bit suspect to me when donors of large gifts want their names associated with their gifts. My daughter attended a college in South Jersey named "Glassboro State College". While she was a student, a successful industrialist gave to the college a gift of 100 million dollars. Suddenly the name of the school changed to "Rowan College". Guess who gave the large donation? On the other hand, it's clear to me that godly men and women who give out of a pure motivation of desire to honor the Lord, these people, like the Magi, don't care to have their names mentioned. That's why we work hard to provide an accounting system that protects the anonymity of each one who gives.

2. They also gave items which were local to their home area - Arabia. The Lord welcomes us to give to Him what is available to us. Unfortunately, in our culture, most of what we give to each other is what we have purchased somewhere in a store, or through a catalogue or over the internet. But there are many who would admit that it's really special when they receive something that has been made by the person who has given it to them. For example, one of the favorite gifts my children have received from their grandmother are the slippers she knits out of the odds and ends of yarn that are left over from other knitting projects.

3. The gifts were a part of their worship. They bowed down before Him, and they offered Him gifts. One commentator points out, "They had known Christ but one day; he had performed no miracles; he had none other to do him homage; he was but a helpless Babe, yet they fell down and worshipped him."

4. Together, the three types of gifts represent three roles of Jesus the Messiah: His kingly office is represented by gold, His divinity by frankincense, and His manhood by myrrh. "They offered him incense as their God; gold as their king; and myrrh, as united to a human body, subject to suffering and death."

5. Also, it's clear that the providence of God is seen in these gifts. It provided the means necessary for a long and expensive journey into Egypt, and to sustain Joseph, Mary and Jesus in a foreign land where they would stay for a considerable time.

But let me tell you a little more about the gifts brought by these unusual traveling companions - we'll look at each of these gifts separately.

The first mentioned gift was gold.”

Born a King on Bethlehem's plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to rein

“Gold was the usual offering presented to kings by their subjects, or those wanting to pay respect. It seems that the metal we know as gold has always held extremely high value - as long ago as 2,500 BC, gold was especially prized, and used as a medium of exchange. Perhaps you remember when the US Mint announced that a new dollar coin was to be released at the beginning of the year 2,000. It was larger than the quarter (unlike the previous dollar coin, circulated around 1979), and it was gold in color. Notice I said "gold in color", there wasn't any gold in it at all.

But why has gold always represented great value? For several reasons:

1. Gold is scarce, which adds immeasurably to its value. But let's not forget, gold is dug from the earth.

2. Gold is, as one writer put it, "warmly beautiful". Have you ever seen the dome of a capitol building, mosque or temple, coated with gold, shimmering in the sun? Or think about a long flowing robe bordered with a gold edging.

3. Gold is enduring, and can withstand all natural acids and even fire. We draw attention to this feature when we perform the wedding ceremony. The ring becomes the symbol of a marriage which will hopefully endure the tests of time, tribulation, hardships, disagreements, illness, bereavement, and - - - teenage children!

4. Gold is adaptable for shaping and readily alloyed with other metals. There's an ancient soldier's helmet on display at the Pennsylvania State University museum. This beautifully crafted head-piece was hammered out of one solid piece of gold. But if it is soft enough to be easily molded, gold can easily be combined with other metals to provide an even greater strength. The ring around my finger would have long ago been pressed out of shape if it hadn't been for the fact that the gold is combined with another, less pliable metal. Even gold, with all its beauty and virtues needs others to compliment it.

Wouldn't it be far better for us to want to be like gold, rather than wanting to have gold? Humility, beauty, endurance, adaptability - a person with these qualities would be rare indeed, and priceless.

In both the Old Testament Tabernacle and the Temple, gold was used plentifully, so we see that gold is also associated with worship. And we are told that in the heavenly city we will "walk on streets of gold." Let me tell you a funny story.

One day a very wealthy man learned that he was going to die. He was so upset at the thought of leaving all his possessions behind that he asked God if he could bring his money with him. To which God replied flatly, "No, you can't take it with you."

But this wealthy man, who never took "no" for an answer, persisted asking. Finally God relented and agreed to allow the man to bring one suitcase with him. The man was so excited he hurried to decide what to pack. First he filled the bag with cash. But decided that perhaps the exchange rates might not benefit him. Then he filled it with stocks, but didn't know how they would perform over eternity. Finally he decided to fill the bag with gold bullion and congratulated himself on his clever planning.

When the day finally came that he passed away, he was happily standing in line at the pearly gates when St. Peter saw him and asked about the suitcase. "You'll have to leave that behind," said St. Peter. "No way" said the man, "I have special permission from God. He told me I could bring one suitcase filled with anything I wanted." "This is highly unusual," said St. Peter, "but let me see what's inside." He opened the suitcase and scratched his head as he pondered the contents. "I don't get it. God said you could bring anything at all with you ... and you brought PAVEMENT?"

When the Magi presented gold, they were honoring Jesus with the very best that they possessed, and they were also recognizing that Jesus was King.

The story is told of an African chieftain who lived in a simple grass hut, and sat on an elegant, hand carved, wood throne. After ruling for a few years, he became a bit haughty and decided that wood wasn't good enough for him, he wanted a gold throne. So he commissioned his craftsmen to create a beautiful gold throne, and he took the wood one and stored it in the small attic of his hut.

A few months later, the sounds of warring natives from another tribe were heard approaching the village, and the African chief quickly assumed that they were probably going to come and steal his gold throne. So he exchanged the thrones, bringing the wooden one back down and hiding the gold throne in the attic. While he sat there anticipating the arrival of the enemy tribal warriors, suddenly the gold throne upstairs broke through the ceiling and came crashing down on the chief's head, and killed him.

So what is the morale of this story? "People in grass houses shouldn't stow thrones."

But what impresses me most about this first gift of the Magi, gold, is that this particular substance is able to survive the fire.

The Apostle Paul uses this analogy when he writes to the Corinthian church concerning Christian works, "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work." (I Corinthians 3:11-13)

Job is the man in the Bible who was perhaps the most sorely tested man of all time. He lost all his worldly possessions, his children had died, and his health was gone, his friends made his burden heavier by trying to lay a guilt trip on him, and his wife advised euthanasia . But in the midst of his suffering, listen to what he says, "He knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." (Job 23:10)

Job isn't the only one who uses this idea of gold surviving in fire.

In a wonderful Messianic passage in Zechariah, there's a prediction and a promise: "'In the whole land," declares the LORD, 'two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, `They are my people,' and they will say, `The LORD is our God.'" (Zechariah 13:8, 9)

To the Laodicean church, the church whose members had become lukewarm in their relationship with God, the message is, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." (Revelation 3:18)

But Peter gives a different slant on this, because he points out that there is something which, like gold is refined in fire, but unlike gold, this other substance never perishes.

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith -- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire -- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 1:6,7)

As by the action of fire gold is proved to be gold by its enduring the fire without losing any thing of its nature, weight, color, or any other property, so genuine faith is proved by adversities, especially such as the primitive Christians were obliged to pass through. "Yet even gold, in process of time, will wear away by continual use; and the earth, and all its works, will be burnt up by that supernatural fire whose action nothing can resist. But on that day the faith of Christ's followers will be found brighter, and more glorious. The earth, and universal nature, shall be dissolved; but he who doeth the will of God shall abide for ever, and his faith shall then be found to the praise of God's grace, the honor of Christ, and the glory or glorification of his own soul throughout eternity. God himself will praise such faith, angels and men will hold it in honor, and Christ will crown it with glory."

Then Peter points out that there is something more valuable than gold, or even the testing of gold - it is the process whereby our faith is tested and strengthened, the adversities, sorrows, hardships, trials of this life which test and strengthen our faith which will hold us through eternity. Notice this about faith, it grows, and bears fruit, unlike gold which, as enduring as we think it to be, will nevertheless someday perish.

The second gift brought out of the boxes by the Magi was frankincense.”

Frankincense to offer have I
Incense owns a Deity nigh
Pray'r and praising, all men raising
Worship Him, God most high

“Frankincense is a very costly and fragrant gum distilled from a tree that is found in Persia, India and Arabia, as well as the East Indies. It is a white resin or gum, and is obtained by slitting the bark of the "Arbor Thurisfrom", and allowing the gum to flow out. The word actually means "whiteness", referring to the white colored juice which flows out of the wound in the tree. This gum hardens for three months, and is gathered at the end of the summer, and sold in the form of "tears", or clumps of hardened resin.

Frankincense is highly fragrant when burned, and was, therefore, used in worship, where it was burned as a pleasant offering to God. ("Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps. He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the LORD for the generations to come. - Exodus 30:7,8) ("He is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and take them behind the curtain." Leviticus 16:12).

It was also used as medicine and as perfume.

The primary lesson from frankincense is that our worship is to be pleasing to God. Remember, this sweet smelling resin comes as the result of the tree's woundedness and pain. When we can worship God in the midst of our sorrow, our brokeness, then it is a sweet smelling offering. That's why David said, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." (Psalms 51:17 )

Much emphasis in worship today is on "celebration". No time for agonizing and tears, only for shouts of joy and victory. While joyful praise is acceptable to God, tears, like frankincense resin, oozing out of our hurts, broken hearts, and tears of repentance are especially pleasing - a sweet smelling sacrifice to the Lord. Anyone can dance and shout when their team is winning, and everything is going their way. But true worship happens when it must overcome feelings of self-pity, fear and doubt.

I've always been a bit mystified by this idea in the Old Testament that God wants a "sweet smelling sacrifice."

In the book of Leviticus, at least 16 times reference is made to the offerings being a "sweet savor". And when God pronounces His judgment on unfaithful Israel in Leviticus 26:31, He indicates that He will turn away from their offerings. "And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors."

Do you really think God cares about the smell of the smoke? We might care - it wouldn't be very pleasant to attend a worship service where there is the horrible smell of burning flesh filling the air. So maybe it was for the benefit of the people that the burning of frankincense was instituted. On the other hand, God is interested in the condition of our hearts when we pray and worship Him. Is it with sweetness, or without of a sense of duty, or even bitterness because we don't feel that God is dealing with us fairly.

The last gift brought by the Magi was Myrrh.”

Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes of life of gathering gloom
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb

“Myrrh is an aromatic gum produced from a thorn-bush that grew in Arabia and Ethiopia, and was obtained from a tree in the same manner as frankincense. This thorny tree, called "balsamodendron myrrha", is similar to the acacia. It grows from eight to ten feet high, and is thorny. When it oozes from the wounded shrub, myrrh is a pale yellow color at first, but as it hardens, it changes to dark red or even black color.

However, if frankincense represents sweetness, myrrh represents bitterness, at least to the taste. In fact, the name itself was given to it on account of its great bitterness. (The Hebrew word is similar to the name given the waters that were bitter when Moses and the people were coming out of Egypt. "And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. - Exodus 15:23) Hear also what Naomi says to her daughters in law - "Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.” (Ruth 1:20)

It was used chiefly in embalming the dead, because it had the property of preserving them from putrefaction. (John 19:39) It was much used in Egypt and in Judea. It was at an early period an article of commerce, (Genesis 37:25) and was an ingredient of the holy ointment (Exodus 30:23). It was also used as an agreeable perfume (Esther 2:12; Psalms 45:8; Proverbs 7:17). For many of the ancients, myrrh was considered to be a favorite perfume, said to keep its fragrance for several hundred years when kept in an alabaster pot. Myrrh also had medicinal qualities, sometimes mingled with wine to form an article of drink. Such a drink was given to our Savior, when about to be crucified, as a stupefying potion, (Mark 15:23; Matthew 27:34).

It's also interesting to note that the Greek word for myrrh, "smurna", is the same as the name of the city and church which received a letter from the Apostle. Smyrna was the second of the seven churches of Asia that John was instructed to write to in the early chapters of the book of Revelation. This church was distinguished by it being persecuted (Revelation 2:8-11) - they understood the bitterness of being mistreated for the sake of the Gospel.

Myrrh then is brought as a gift to acknowledge the human suffering that Jesus partook of when He came into our world. Why did He refuse the drink? Because He had already drunk it. He had prayed at first that He could be spared the cup, but then He submitted to His father's will and drank it - the bitter cup of His suffering.

We too drink from the cup of suffering, and it is bitter. Knowing that He drank it too, and in a fuller amount than we can ever comprehend, helps give us courage to go on. But may we, like the Magi of old, also bring this as a gift to Jesus.

We bring gold to honor Him as King, and to yield to the purification process of the fiery trials.

We bring frankincense to worship Him even in the midst of our brokeness.

And we bring myrrh to recognize that He has identified with us in our pain and sorrow.”

Glorious now behold Him arise
King and God and Sacrifice
Alleluia, Alleluia
Earth to heav'n replies

O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy Perfect Light

“Discussion Questions

Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

1. Besides the Magi of Matthew 1, what other notable person made the pilgrimage to Israel from the east, bringing similar gifts? 2. What are some lessons about giving that are learned from the story of the Magi?

3. How do the three types of gifts of the Magi represent the three roles of Jesus the Messiah?

4. What are some of the reasons gold has always represented great value?

5. If a person wanted to be like gold, what characteristics would he or she possess?

6. How does "surviving fire" relate to the Christian?

7. If bringing gold represents giving honor to Jesus as King, what is represented by frankincense and myrrh?

8. Frankincense was used as medicine and as perfume; how was it used in worship, and for whose benefit?

9. If the sweet smelling frankincense resin comes as the result of the tree's woundedness and pain, what does this suggest for Christian worship?

10. In what way is myrrh different from frankincense?

11. In ancient times, as with frankincense, myrrh was used some for medicine and perfume; but what was the main use of myrrh?

12. The drink offered to Jesus contained myrrh - why was it refused?”



Love and God bless



Granny

Have a Merry Lying, Cheating, Reneging, Narcissistic, Audacious, Arrogant, Socialistic, Inconsiderate, Self-serving, Jihadist Christmas, Mr. Obama

 
In keeping with the spirit of the holiday season I feel compelled to share Jane Chastain’s list of Obama’s presents. The page also leads you to her blog, where you can add ideas of your own. I can only come up with a couple at the moment, but I’m sure more will come to me as time goes on. He should receive, and be instructed in the use of, a teleprompter that has the lies removed. And to go along with that, a roll of duct tape to place over his lying mouth every time his lips start moving.

And now, I'll return to the real world of Christmas and the people who matter to me. I hope you do the same. Remember, no matter the person, God is in control. And God will never leave us or forsake us.

Love

Granny

The Meaning of Christ’s Birth

This morning I was doing my usual perusal of the news: the outrage in Washington and Copenhagen; the continued shredding of Tiger Wood’s private life; and the clamorous and chaotic frenzy of a season gone mad, all of it signifying nothing but corruption, self aggrandizement, bad taste, gluttony and greed.

So I decided to slow down and see if I could lift myself out of the muck. I Googled “The meaning of Christmas” and found thousands of hits concerning paganism, St. Nicholas, decorations and shopping. Then I tried “The meaning of the birth of Christ" and found this:

"The True Meaning of Christ's First Coming

A Bible Helps Booklet No. 313

by Harold S. Martin

During the Advent Season there are so many things in our communities to distract one's attention, that we have a tendency to miss the true meaning of Christmas.

Some link Christmas with decorated trees, sentimental carols, and office parties. Sometimes folks are so occupied with candy and carols, and tinsel and toys, that the real eternal meaning of Christ's Advent is lost. Christmas often involves spending money people don't have for things they don't need. The average American uses seventy feet of Christmas paper and more than fifty yards of ribbon to wrap an average of thirty-two gifts. All this stands in stark contrast to the birth that took place in Bethlehem nearly two thousand years ago, a birth that was rugged and simple.

The good news of Christmas is not a date in history--for no one knows with certainty when Jesus was born. The good news of Christmas is not a festival, with its gifts, fun, feasting, yule log, and lighted Christmas tree--for these are but vestiges of a pagan culture that knows nothing of the true God. The good news of Christmas centers around a person--God's unspeakable gift, a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.

The Advent Season is a time to search hearts. We must think of Jesus Christ not merely as the baby Jesus, but as the risen, presently-living, soon-coming King of kings and Lord of lords. He makes demands on our lives; He is a threat to our smug and self-centered ways of living. Unconditional surrender to His lordship is the price believers need to pay in order to have a joyous testimony for Him.

Of all the titles attributed to Jesus, the one that should warm our hearts most of all, is the title Emmanuel, which means God with us. When Jesus was born, God became man. The One who flung the stars out into space, came to earth and dwelled among the human family. The tiny arms of that Baby in the manger were the arms of the One who laid the foundation of the universe. The coming of Jesus Christ into the world was the time when God came to earth. God took on a human body and dwelled among us.

There are a number of reasons given in the Bible which help us understand why Jesus came to earth. In this message we will take a look at His purposes for coming nearly two thousand years ago.

1. JESUS CAME TO REVEAL THE FATHER

We read this truth in John 1:18. The Bible says, "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he bath declared him." Jesus declared one time that those who see Him have seen the Father (John 14:9). Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Christ is the express image of the person of God.

God is a great spirit. He is invisible. He cannot be seen with the physical eye. All of us at some time or another have asked the question, "What is God like?" One of the ways we can know something about the nature of God is to look at Jesus. Jesus came so that we limited human beings might be able to see God, and so that we might better know what He is like. The Apostle John says, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). The Apostle Paul says, "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, bath shone in . . . the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). Ever since the birth of Jesus nearly twenty centuries ago, we have been able to see the glory of God.

A little boy, the child of missionary parents, was attending school in the United States of America more than a decade ago. He had not seen his parents since the preceding summer, and would not see them again until the next summer. A few days before Christmas, the principal of the school said to him, "Jimmy, what would you like to have most of all at Christmas?" There was a picture on the principal's desk of the boy's missionary father. The lad looked at the framed-picture for a little while-and then after a few moments he said to the principal-"I want my father to step out of that frame." And you know, that little boy voiced the cry of all humanity. The Greek philosopher Plato said many years ago that he hoped some day to see God walk down the streets of Athens. In Israel, generation after generation of people looked for the Messiah. Soon after Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden, they looked for the promised Redeemer. And then one night nearly two thousand years ago, God stepped out of the frame of the universe, and appeared on earth in the Person of Jesus Christ. Before this, the eternal God had not been seen by mortal eyes. Even the Old Testament patriarchs did not see God in His real essence, but only in angelic form, or in what is more properly called a "theophany." Jesus came to this earth so that we might learn to know better what God is like.

2. JESUS CAME TO PUT AWAY SIN

The Apostle John assures us that we can know "that he was manifested to take away our sins" (1 John 3:5). Jesus was speaking of His crucifixion and death when He said, "For this cause came I into the world" (John 18:37). The Apostle Paul says, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief" (1 Timothy 1:15). Jesus Christ came to Bethlehem primarily to die. He came to earth as the Baby of Bethlehem in order that He might later become the Christ of Calvary.

All humans have sinned. Every one of us has fallen short of the standard which God demands. And our sin places a separation between us and God. The gulf between us and God is so wide, and the separation is so great, that none of us by his own efforts is able to close it.

Many seem to think that the gulf between sinful humans and a holy God can be closed by good works. If you say so many prayers, and give so many alms. or make a pilgrimage to some holy place--these things somehow are supposed to erase a sinner's guilt. But this will never do. Take the man who drives his car faster than the speed limit. What can he do to atone for the wrong he has done? If he thinks good works will do it--if he thinks good deeds will atone for the wrong he has done--then he can diligently observe all the traffic laws for the rest of the day. But any policeman will assure us that this is not enough. There is a penalty for disobedience, and no amount of carefulness afterward will atone for the past disobedience. If we fall short of God's standard on Monday, we can never erase that guilt by walking straight on Tuesday. No person can erase his own guilt, and neither can any other human being erase it for him. All persons, no matter how upright and morally clean they are living-still have come short of God's demands and thus need to be saved. Mortal sinful men and women cannot save themselves.

Suppose an airplane is flying toward a base on the continent of Antarctica and suddenly it crashes into the frigid waters north of the continent. Three men are thrown into the ocean, and the plane sinks at once. Nobody is near the spot, and the closest land area is the country of New Zealand, a thousand miles away. One of the men can swim for ten minutes; the second man can swim for two hours; the third man is the world's champion long--distance swimmer. Which of these three men are going to reach safety? The answer is obvious. None of them will reach safety. The only difference between them is that the one man will drown in ten minutes, another in two hours, and the champion will drown a few hours later. And this is a parable of the human family. The criminal is like the swimmer who is able to keep afloat for ten minutes. The average person is represented by the swimmer who can stay on the surface for two hours. And the honest, unusually upright person who is a good citizen and has a tremendous personality, is like the champion swimmer-but is still unable to reach land.

All human beings need a Saviour, no matter how upright and sincere they are, and the message of Christmas is this: "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11). The brightest message that has ever been delivered to the human family is the glad news that in some mysterious way (which we will never be able to quite fully comprehend), Jesus Christ puts himself underneath our sin, and lifts it off from our souls, and takes it away. The Apostle John declares that Jesus Christ was manifested "to take away our sins" (1 John 3:5). The words "take away" simply mean that He removes the guilt and punishment of sin by paying the price. The angel said to Joseph, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).

God did not become a man merely to teach us how to live. Christ did not come into the world primarily to perform miracles. Jesus came into the world primarily to journey toward the cross. And Jesus' death on the cross was an act by which He made it possible for us to be delivered from the dominion of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the beloved Son (Colossians 1:13).

3. JESUS CAME TO DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL

We read in 1 John 3:8, "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." This message is a sentence filled with good news.

The devil is a murderer and a liar. The Bible says that he is lawless and deceitful and subtle. He alienates from God. He blinds to the truth. He promotes selfishness and jealousy and cruelty. But the Bible says that Jesus Christ came that He might destroy the works of the devil.

The "works of the devil" are the sins which human beings commit. Satan is the one who lures us into temptation, and then we find it easy to let unholy desires give birth to sin (James 1:13-15). The Apostle Paul calls them "works of darkness" in Romans 13:12 and again in Ephesians 5:11. The passage in 1 John 3:8 suggests that the works of the devil (our sins) can become like chains that bind us.

The word translated "destroy" is the Greek word "luo." It does not mean to demolish" or "to break up." Instead, it means "to loosen one who is bound," or "to set free." When Jesus raised Lazarus from the tomb, He said, "Loose him and let him go" (John 11:44). The word "loose" is the same Greek word as the one translated "destroy" in 1 John 3:8. Christ came that He might shatter the chains of sin that can bind us, and loose us from them. For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that He might loosen and set people free from the works of the devil.

Eddie Taylor was once a drunkard that slept off his drunken stupors under the boardwalk at Atlantic City, New Jersey. He was about as far gone as a man can get. He staggered from tavern to tavern at the south end of the city, and then after he had soaked himself with liquor, he flopped beneath the boardwalk and slept off his stupor. He wrapped himself in old newspapers to keep warm. (The devil brings men and women into a sorry state when they once fall under his grip.) But one day Eddie Taylor responded to the Gospel invitation and became a new man in Christ Jesus. From that point onward beer and liquor no longer attracted him. Jesus Christ had delivered him. He had not touched alcoholic beverages during the rest of his days on earth. For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that He might loosen human beings from the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).

One of the reasons Jesus came to earth was to destroy the works of the devil. And nothing that the devil has ever done is too hard for Jesus to undo. If you find yourself living under the power of the devil's grip, remember that Jesus Christ came to set you free. If you will surrender your life to Him, He will loosen the grip that Satan has over you, and set you free from the bondage of sin. He will give you power to more and more live a new kind of life. Jesus was manifested on earth that He might set people free from the works of the devil.

4. JESUS CAME TO PREPARE FOR A SECOND COMING

We learn by reading Hebrews 9:28 that "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him, shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." At this season of the year our thoughts turn with gladness to the first coming of Jesus. We are reminded of the songs that the shepherds heard, and of the hope that filled their hearts. We rejoice to read about the star that shone over the place where the child lay. And yet, we are all conscious of the fact that this present age cannot continue on like it has been going. Sin abounds on every hand. Crime is on the increase. Lawlessness and sexual immorality are sometimes even encouraged. Peace and righteousness have not been established. The weapons which technicians have developed threaten to wipe civilization off the face of the earth. Deep down within we realize that something more is needed.

The first coming of Jesus was merely the preparation for a great consummation that is still to come. The text in Hebrews 9:28 says that Christ shall appear a second time. One cannot read the New Testament carefully without coming to the conclusion that the Christ who came is still to come. The angel said at the time of Jesus' ascension into Heaven, "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go" (Acts 1:11).

One main theme that recurs over and over again in the Bible is the teaching that Jesus Christ is coming to this earth twice. Most people live as if life as we know it today is going to continue on like it has been forever. They say that the grass is still green, cows still give milk, hens lay eggs, and dogs bark at the moon just like they always have done. This is the way things always have been. But we must remember that God's Word declares that the same Jesus who came to Bethlehem is going to come a second time. Life as we know it today will come to an end.

The Scriptures teach that Jesus Christ is coming to this earth on two different occasions for two different purposes. He has already come on one occasion and accomplished the first purpose-that of paying the price for sin. Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, the Bible revealed that He would be born of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10), that His mother would be a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) and that there would be a massacre of infants in Bethlehem (Jeremiah 31: 15). The prophet Micah named the very town where He was to be born (Micah 5:2). All these things were foretold about Jesus hundreds of years before He came to earth. And just so, the Scriptures prophesy that this same Jesus will come to earth a second time.

Jesus is not coming a second time to put away sin. He is coming a second time to complete our salvation. He came the first time as the Author of salvation. He is coming the second time as the Finisher of our faith. He came the first time to atone for our sins. He is coming the second time to execute judgment on earth. When He came the first time, there was no room for Him in the inn. When He comes the second time, the whole world is going to make room for Him, for the Bible says that "every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10-11). (This does not speak of universal salvation, but of universal recognition that Jesus Christ is supreme over the universe.)

Jesus came the first time to deal with sin, and to pay the price for it. Jesus is coming the second time to set up His kingdom on earth, and to bring peace and order to this troubled planet. These two lines of prophecy are woven all the way through the Bible. The Apostle Peter says that the Spirit testified beforehand "of the sufferings of Christ" and "of the glory that should follow" (1 Peter 1:11). Jesus Christ came nearly two thousand years ago and lived and died to save men and women from Hell. Jesus Christ is coming again to redeem creation, to glorify the church, and to rule with a rod of iron (Revelation 19:15-16).

When Jesus came the first time, the world was ripe for His coming. The conditions on earth were ideal for penetrating the world with God's program of salvation. Alexander the Great, through his world conquests, had spread the Greek culture and language across the Mediterranean world. Greek was the universal language, and so people did not have to spend years studying new languages before they could preach in other parts of the world. The Romans had conquered most of Europe and the Mideast, and had built roads and established a monetary system which eliminated the need for travel visas and money exchanges when going from country to country. People were tired of the philosophies of paganism and as a result were hungering for truth about the great mysteries of life here and hereafter. The world was ripe for the first advent of our Saviour.

Just as the world was ripe for the first coming of Jesus nearly twenty centuries ago, so the world is ripe for the second coming of Jesus in our day. Every sign indicates that our world is ripe for the second coming of Jesus. Jesus predicted that violence would increase and lawlessness would abound as the age draws to a close. He said that people would be eating food and getting married and engaging in business, and not paying much attention to the lateness of the hour (Matthew 24:36-39). Our day might well be described as "The night before the second Christmas." And on that second Christmas day, when Jesus comes again, we are going to be like Him. Our redemption will be complete. Wars will cease and peace will reign on the earth.

As our minds go back across the centuries during this Christmas season to the time and place and setting where Jesus was born, let us try to remember the purposes for which He came:

He came to reveal God the Father.

He came to put away sin.

He came to set us free from the works of the devil.

He came to prepare for the second advent.

If during this Christmas season we concentrate on the real reasons for His coming, surely we will love Him more and we will be able to seive Him better. We can choose not to get caught up with all the frivolous decorations, and the frenzied shopping trips and the wasted weekends traveling to the malls. Instead, we can devote time to visiting friends and family. We can invite almost unknown "strangers" into our homes for a meal. We can sit by a nursing home bed and listen to older folks tell us about the good old days. We can spend time playing with children who need our friendship. It is sad to know that many a heart and home this Christmas will have no more room for Jesus than the Judean innkeeper had in Bethlehem. But each of us has the power of choice, and the greatest thing you can do this Christmas, if you have never done it, is to accept God's unspeakable Gift into your life. He stands at the door of every heart and seeks to enter, but you must open the door. It is not enough that Jesus was born in Bethlehem; He must be born in our hearts.”

Copies of this article sent free on request.


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It sort of puts things in perspective. I know I get a little harsh on this blog. Well, of course I do. We have a president who is headed straight to hell and doing his utmost to take us with him. He is evil personified and I’ll not stand by and murmur politically correct platitudes about him. Our congress consists of 95% power mad criminals and 5% losers. Our Constitution is a pile of ashes and there’s a war going on in Afghanistan that nobody seems to know what to do with. Islamic terrorism is creeping up our flower-lined front walks and we dare not call it what it is. Political correctness is rotting whatever was left of our integrity last November and the “messiah” who defrauded his way into office is Satan’s new best friend.

But there is hope. And that hope is not in the empty suit in the White House, who lies every time his mouth moves. Our hope is in that Little Baby in the stable, who was born to die and rise again so that He could do away with all the lies, outrages, atrocities and fetters of this pathetic world.

Those of you who still believe in God: if you haven't been to church lately, find yourself a Bible teaching one and go this Sunday. You won't be sorry. Meanwhile, have a Merry Christmas and a blessed season. It's okay to say Merry Christmas.

Love

Granny

President Pomp

Having read both pros and cons regarding the president’s speech Tuesday night I have reached a few conclusions. Perhaps I should say I have come up with more questions than answers.


Many of us have wondered why he chooses a large audience and extremely high profile venues for his speeches. But West Point for a “surge” speech that could have and probably should have been made from the oval office? In my humble opinion presidents always look more “presidential” and appropriate when seated behind the desk from where, supposedly, the commander-in-chief addresses issues pertinent to the United States of America. I won’t even go into the cost of flying all over the United States at the drop of a hat; no one seems to take that into consideration anymore. After all, he is the president and if he is incapable of speaking from the oval office, I guess all that expense is worth it. But it bothers me that every time he address the American people it’s from a podium in front of a mass of hand-picked observers who are sure to provide him with the feedback which he apparently craves.

Apparently I am not alone in my ruminations. This is from Nile Gardiner concerning Charles Krauthammer’s comments on the speech. And this is from the Baltimore Sun.

It seems we have a traveling photo-op instead of a president. It could be funny if this photo-op were not the top rung of our teetering republic. His speech Tuesday should have been from the perspective of a take-charge leader promising an unmistakable victory, not a half baked, something-for-everyone non-plan, delivered to some who will die trying to carry out his caricature of a strategy. Let’s face it, this was just another finger-gesturing performance from a Chicago hood, which appeared to be more the scolding of a group of unruly eighth graders than an address to the people who put him where he is in the first place.

Love

Granny

Respectable Evil

The following is an excerpt from The Marketing of Evil by David Kupelian:

"C.S. Lewis’s seven-volume Chronicles of Narnia, the poignant and brilliantly insightful final book,  The Last Battle, describes how the good-hearted but naïve inhabitants of Narnia throw away their cherished civilization—losing both their lives and their world itself—by falling for a shabby ruse perpetrated by a few cunning and unprincipled characters. When you read it you can’t help thinking, 'Oh, my gosh, this isn’t even a very clever con game; it’s crude, full of contradictions, and easily seen through from a thousand different directions.' You just want to shake them and say, 'Don’t you see what you’re falling for?' Nevertheless, as the con men ruthlessly play on the doubts and fears of the Narnia folk, their lies take hold, and the light of civilization goes out.”

He then goes on to point out that we in America are no different. For decades we’ve been suckered into the lie. We know the emperor isn’t wearing any clothes, but we’re too afraid of being labeled racist, judgmental, or homophobic. So whoever is playing emperor that day, or month, or year continues to flaunt his nakedness and we continue to cower under the threat of being politically incorrect.

Kupelian continues, “How strange. Out of the thousands of years of suffering and oppression that comprise human history, a light burns brightly for just a couple of hundred years. The American experiment: a revolutionary idea that the common man can be free, master of his own government, so long as he himself is ruled by God. For a short time this brilliant young country dazzles all the world and all of history, not just with its power and productivity and progress, but with its goodness.

“And then, out of pure hatred—the same rage and rebellion institutionalized in communism, Nazism, and all the other ‘isms’ that have paved the world’s roads with corpses throughout the last century—haters of truth scheme to extinguish this shining light. So they concoct an absurd, fantastic ruse—that animals should have the same rights as humans beings, that white people are inherently racist and oppressive, that self-destructive sexual compulsions are perfectly normal and noble. Each passing year brings new and more bizarre delusions being held up as truth.

How much stranger that we’ve bought it.”

In the 1983 movie The Dead Zone, based on Stephen King’s novel, Christopher Walken’s character Johnny Smith awakens from a five-year coma to find his girlfriend Sarah has married and that he has been imbued with strange powers: by touching someone he can see into their lives and futures. The end comes when he shakes the hand of a popular politician, Greg Stillson, and sees him as future president, starting the final war. He sets his sights on assassinating this guy, played by Martin Sheen—and he almost succeeds in shooting him—until Stillson, sensing danger, shows his true colors by grabbing Sarah’s baby, holding the child in front of him as a shield.

I remember how righteously outraged and horrified we were. Even though Johnny dies for his efforts, truth and justice prevail: Greg Stillson’s career is ruined. Keep in mind this was 1983. Ronald Reagan was president. There was still a modicum of sanity in Washington. Most sexual deviation was still considered a disease—or a sin. We still had dominion over the animals, or so we thought. It was okay to be white without apologizing. The Dead Zone spoke to the decency in all of us. It was easy to understand why Martin Sheen’s character had committed political suicide by one cowardly act.

The line between good and evil, already on its way to blurring even then, has now become nearly imperceptible. Two years ago we began watching a young, bright senator from Chicago, who burst on the scene in a blaze of glory, the promise of a new era in America. “Our next president,” we heard from every corner of the media. We began learning fascinating details of his life: that he was born in Hawaii to a white mother and black (sort of) father; that he attended a prestigious law school and shot his way up the political ladder; he would be the perfect candidate to inject new life into a bogged-down America. Then we learned still more: that he got his political start in the home of Bill Ayers, a known terrorist; that, for twenty years, he attended a church run by an America-hating, white-hating, vitriol-spewing radical. He used Saul Alinsky and Frank Marshall Davis as role models. He was closely connected to Tony Rezko, who gave his early bid for the senate a financial lift. During his run for the presidency he was stripped bare. Every day brought a new revelation about his socialist/Marxist commitment. As late as October of last year, bloggers were publishing lists of Obama’s friends and associates, dating back to his childhood. America haters all.

Ah, but this was the candidate of hope and change. This was the silver-tongued, spellbinding Black Man, who told us what we wanted to hear. This was America’s escape from guilt. Vote for the Black man; all your white responsibility will be swept away in the winds of change.

If you don’t vote for him you’re a racist.

Now we have a president who has no need to pretend anymore. His agenda is clear; his actions speak for themselves; his change is rapidly bringing America to the brink of extinction. He could hold up that baby to protect himself, but it wouldn’t make any difference; with a stroke of a pen shortly after the inauguration he sealed the fate of thousands of babies without a moment’s hesitation. What difference would one more baby make? Who would be outraged?


Love,

Granny

The Fat Calling the Prez Human

This is weird on so many levels it overwhelms me just thinking about it. But the thing that struck me as absolutely hilarious was M.M. telling B.O. he still has a "few more hours" to listen to his heart. WHAT? Do either one of them even know what a heart implies? It implies life. Spare me.

Read it. It might make you go, "Huh? Or something else.

Love

Granny

Thanksgiving and God

The following arrived today in my email from Christian Reader.


" Thanksgiving and God

by Gary DeMar

On Thursday, September 24, 1789, the First House of Representatives voted to recommend—in its exact wording—the First Amendment to the states for ratification. The next day, Friday, September 25, Congressman Elias Boudinot from New Jersey proposed that the House and Senate jointly request of President Washington to proclaim a day of thanksgiving for “the many signal favors of Almighty God.” Boudinot said that he “could not think of letting the session pass over without offering an opportunity to all the citizens of the United States of joining, with one voice, in returning to Almighty God their sincere thanks for the many blessings he had poured down upon them.” [1]

Roger Sherman spoke in favor of the proposal by reminding his colleagues that the practice of thanksgiving is “warranted by a number of precedents in holy writ: for instance, the solemn thanksgivings and rejoicings which took place in the time of Solomon, after the building of the temple…. This example, he thought, worthy of Christian imitation on the present occasion.” [2]

The colonists of another era were aware of the many instances of thanksgiving celebrations found in “holy writ.” Thanksgiving, as it was practiced by the colonists, was a religious celebration that shared the sentiments of their biblical forerunners, giving thanks to God for His faithful provision. For these devoutly religious people, thanksgiving would have come naturally. “Twice en route the passengers [aboard the Arbella] participated in a fast, and once (two days after sounding ground beneath the Arbella) a ‘thanksgiving.’ When the sailing season ended with all ships accounted for, ‘we had a day of thanksgiving in all the plantations.’” [3]

There are numerous claims to the first Thanksgiving. One of the earliest recorded celebrations occurred a half century before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in 1621. “A small colony of French Huguenots established a settlement near present-day Jacksonville, Florida. On June 30, 1564, their leader, René de Laudonnière, recorded that ‘We sang a psalm of Thanksgiving unto God, beseeching Him that it would please Him to continue His accustomed goodness towards us.’” [4]

In 1610, after a hard winter called “the starving time,” the colonists at Jamestown called for a time of thanksgiving. This was after the original company of 409 colonists had been reduced to 60 survivors. The colonists prayed for help that finally arrived by a ship filled with food and supplies from England. They held a prayer service to give thanks.

This thanksgiving celebration was not formerly commemorated yearly. An annual commemoration of thanks came nine years later in another part of Virginia. “On December 4, 1619, 38 colonists landed at a place they called Berkeley Hundred [in Virginia]. ‘We ordain,’ read an instruction in their charter, ‘that the day of our ship’s arrival…in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God.’” [5]

While none of these Thanksgiving celebrations was an official national pronouncement (no nation existed at the time), they do support the claim that the celebrations were religious. “Thanksgiving began as a holy day, created by a community of God-fearing Puritans sincere in their desire to set aside one day each year especially to thank the Lord for His many blessings. The day they chose, coming after the harvest at a time of year when farm work was light, fit the natural rhythm of rural life.” [6]

On October 3, 1863, Abraham Lincoln declared that the last Thursday of November 1863 would be set aside as a nationwide celebration of thanksgiving. His proclamation stated that

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the most high God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy…. I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday in November next as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent father who dwelleth in heaven.

Starting with Lincoln, United States Presidents proclaimed the last Thursday in November for Thanksgiving. Franklin D. Roosevelt changed the celebration to the third Thursday in November “to give more shopping time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. At this point Congress enacted the ‘fourth Thursday’ compromise.” [7] Ever since this pragmatic and commercial approach to Thanksgiving was promoted, its original meaning has steadily been lost.


[1] The Annals of the Congress, The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, Compiled From Authentic Materials by Joseph Gales, Senior (Washington, DC: Gales and Seaton, 1834), 1:949–50.

[2] Annals of the Congress, 1:950.

[3] David D. Hall, Worlds of Wonder, Days of Judgment: Popular Religious Belief in Early New England (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989), 166.

[4] Diana Karter Appelbaum, Thanksgiving: An American Holiday, An American History (New York: Facts on File Publications, 1984), 14–15.

[5] Jim Dwyer, ed., Strange Stories, Amazing Facts of America’s Past (Pleasantville, NY: The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., 1989), 198.

[6] Appelbaum, Thanksgiving, 186. The celebration of Christmas, in addition to Thanksgiving, has become an ordeal in censorship. Silent Night and other sacred songs have been stripped from public school Christmas pageants and replaced with Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman. Public school officials and school teachers are made to substitute “winter holiday” for Christmas. In St. Paul Minnesota, an affirmative action officer for the state tax department, banned what she called the “unwelcome greeting of Merry Christmas” via the department’s electronic mail. (“‘Merry Christmas’ offense, bureaucrat rules,” Atlanta Journal/Constitution [December 11, 1994], A11).

[7] Edmund H. Harvey, Jr., ed., Readers Digest Book of Facts (Pleasantville, NY: The Reader’s Digest Association, [1985] 1987), 125.

This article is an appendix from Gary DeMar's bestselling book, America's Christian History: The Untold Story."

Love

Granny

You Might be a Racist

As a white woman (haole) living in Hawaii during the Vietnam War I was embedded in a delightful multicultural blend. With a few rather insignificant exceptions, I was never aware back then of “diversity” as much as I am now every time I go to my local Wal-Mart. There was no in-your-face different-ness that made me want to apologize to everyone I met whose skin color or eye shape wasn’t like mine. For six years we lived among Japanese, Filipino, Portuguese, and yes, a few Blacks and I feel richer for the experience. I adopted the dress, the cuisine, the customs, the music, and much of the language. When we returned to the mainland I suffered greatly at the loss of a huge slice of my life.

Not so now. I live outside a very small community which consists of some white people, but mostly Mexican who work at the various chicken processing plants which dot the countryside in the Missouri Ozarks. I don’t know any of them. They keep to themselves and live their lives pretty much they way they were accustomed to but with all the benefits of living in the United States. They don’t speak English so we don’t have conversations. They don’t appear to want to blend with the local folks so we don’t bother them.

For most of my life I have considered myself racially tolerant. But even that doesn’t describe it. The term implies an awareness that demands a stand. I’ve had no stand. I’ve simply lived with people and they with me. I could cite countless examples but I won’t. To do so would only make it sound like I’m saying, “See how tolerant I am?” Nor will I use the term “colorblind” because that is just plain stupid. Black is black. White is white. But a couple of incidents come to mind. Recent incidents, and that’s what makes them all the more significant.

Last year, just before the election, we were talking at work about the candidates and some of the issues. One fresh-faced (white) kid, who would be voting for the first time, asked me if I was going to vote for Obama. I said no, that I was voting for John McCain. He replied, “Oh, you must be a racist.”

In a blog post some time ago I was giving my opinion of Colin Powell and what a disappointment he has turned out to be to us conservatives. I received a comment from a “lady” telling me that it must be terrible to be such a racist a**hole. Hmmm. Hadn’t thought about race as I was illustrating Powell’s walk to the left. Perhaps my use of the word “entitlement” struck a nerve. There is a growing list of words, phrases and definitions that have been left as bloody sacrifices on the altar of political correctness during the last few decades.

Several years ago I was employed as a nurse at a detox facility in a large Midwestern city. Most of the staff assistants with whom I worked were recovering alcoholics or addicts and many of them were black. Things often became tense given the nature of the work and the unpredictability of the clientele. At no time did we as nurses feel threatened by the patrons who passed through our doors. The staff with whom we worked was always diligent in adhering to their job descriptions and keeping us safe. Through the daily challenges there was no color. There was size; some of my assistants were well over six feet and I was always thankful for that. There was also a camaraderie that can only arise from a common purpose.

When I transferred to the hospital with which the detox was affiliated, the work became more rehab oriented and now we had clients who were at least dried out, if not completely motivated. During the time I spent there the third floor was being renovated and readied for a very special patron: the Black professional. The (white) staff on the second floor had no knowledge of what transpired upstairs with the exception of the occasional rumor that floated down. Exquisite decor, top-of-the-line furnishings, color-coordinated paints, a separate entrance. Whose money? Who knows? An administrator was hired from Chicago or St. Louis or God knows where and she arrived a week or two before the grand opening. She came by and introduced herself and later her assistant told us that if we had to come up there for any reason we were to call first and someone would meet us. The (white) staff from downstairs was not to hobnob with the (black) staff from upstairs.

Racism? Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines racism as: “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.” If you really want to get involved here’s a link to Wikipedia, with all its prejudices and false information.

A concerned neighbor called the police one day when she saw two men apparently trying to break in to a nearby house. When the police (one black, one white) arrived one of the men (black) claimed it was his home but could or would not produce proof that this was true. He then became so abusive and belligerent that the officer (white) had no choice but to arrest him. In the firestorm that followed the arresting officer was called racist, bigoted, stupid (thanks to our open-minded president) and every other epithet that the poor downtrodden African Americans like to apply. Never mind that the (white) officer in question was simply doing what he was trained to do.

Racism? Against whom?

Now there’s a state highway patrol officer in Tennessee who hit the wrong key on his computer and sent an email to everyone on the address list. Here is approximately what was in the text of the email. Keep in mind Officer Gobbell did not compose it. I’m having trouble finding anything in it that is not true.

“Proud to be White

Michael Richards makes his point..............

Michael Richards better known as Kramer from TVs Seinfeld does make a good point.

This was his defense speech in court after making racial comments in his comedy act. He makes some very interesting points...

Someone finally said it. How many are actually paying attention to this? There are African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, etc.

And then there are just Americans. You pass me on the street and sneer in my direction. You call me 'White boy,' 'Cracker,' 'Honkey,' 'Whitey,' 'Caveman'... and that's OK.

But when I call you, ******, Kike, Towel head, Sand-******, Camel Jockey, Beaner, ****, or Chink ... You call me a racist.

You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you... so why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live?

You have the United [Negro] College Fund. You have Martin Luther King Day.

You have Black History Month. You have Cesar Chavez Day.

You have Yom Hashoah. You have Ma'uled Al-Nabi.

You have the NAACP. You have BET... If we had WET (White Entertainment Television), we'd be racists. If we had a White Pride Day, you would call us racists.

If we had White History Month, we'd be racists.

If we had any organization for only whites to 'advance' OUR lives, we'd be racists.

We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a Black Chamber of Commerce, and then we just have the plain Chamber of Commerce.

Wonder who pays for that??

A white woman could not be in the Miss Black American pageant, but any color can be in the Miss America pageant.

If we had a college fund that only gave white students scholarships... You know we'd be racists.

There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US. Yet if there were 'White colleges', that would be a racist college.

In the Million Man March, you believed that you were marching for your race and rights. If we marched for our race and rights, you would call us racists.

You are proud to be black, brown, yellow and orange, and you're not afraid to announce it. But when we announce our white pride, you call us racists.

You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us. But, when a white police officer shoots a black gang member or beats up a black drug dealer running from the law and posing a threat to society, you call him a racist.

I am proud... But you call me a racist.

Why is it that only whites can be racists??

There is nothing improper about this e-mail. Let's see which of you are proud enough to send it on. I sadly don't think many will. That's why we have LOST most of OUR RIGHTS in this country.

We won't stand up for ourselves!

BE PROUD TO BE WHITE!

It's not a crime YET... but getting very close!”

It became a crime when Officer Gobbell pressed the wrong key on his computer. Now he’s been labeled, stereotyped, given a vacation without pay and thrown under the bus by left-wing hysterics, who have not bothered thinking through his “crime.” But we can’t give liberals credit for thinking, can we?

And finally, please read this article, which I lifted from Drudge this morning:

The comments are especially telling. Tell me that Jesse Jackson is not racist and then tell me why.

Racism comes in many colors. It’s just a fact. But when it comes from a black, or Hispanic, or Asian, it’s justified and called something else. If I say I’m not going to vote for someone because I’m conservative and he’s around the bend liberal, I’m racist. It doesn’t make sense to me. But why should I expect sense from a culture that is so driven by a history of hatred that there’s no room for reason? But sometimes I wonder about the (white) Jews who were enslaved for so long by the (black) Egyptians. I guess it’s the old double standard rearing its ugly head.

By the way, back to the hospital and its Black Professional treatment unit: they opened with all the horns, bells and whistles, and after several months and one (1) client, the entire hospital closed its doors on Christmas Eve.

Love

Granny

The Hypocrisy Never Ceases to Amaze

It was one of those “OMG!” moments. I caught the headline early yesterday morning but in the hustle and bustle of the day I lost it again. So I had to Google it. No problem. I found this article from the Baltimore Sun, which will suffice in demonstrating the arrogance and hypocrisy (like we need one more demonstration) of the president. I particularly liked: "I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger a society becomes, " coming from the mouth of the man who has brazenly censored Fox News, and is succeeding in shutting the American people out of every aspect of his “transparent” administration.

Compare it with this with Don Storch’s post, published October 20th (that’s a month ago, folks) and then try to pin some lucidity on the prez’s speech to the Chinese. You can’t. Because the man is a dolt, a liar, and an embarrassment to thinking people worldwide. Of course, that excludes liberals, doesn’t it? Which is why he continues to lumber about like some out-of-control Frankenstein monster, destroying everything in his path that is good and pure and truthful. May God have mercy on his soul.

Love

Granny

The Connection—What Connection?

Not to burden you with too much information, but this did happen after we went to bed last night. Sometimes we actually take all of 2.025 minutes to talk before I succumb to my muscle relaxant, pain med-induced coma and Cecil dives into the sleep of the just. He probably has the worst end of the deal. He puts my brace on to get me up, dresses me, walks the dogs, gets the meals, does the laundry, helps me shower, drives me to church (well, he goes, too,) does the grocery shopping, and still manages to keep up with his blog. Since October 13th, when my car morphed into a crazed being and dumped me into a ditch, then careened across the road and became airborne, diving nose first into an embankment, fracturing my T9 vertebra, I’ve been doing a pretty convincing imitation of a beached whale.

Back to last night. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about our president’s non-reaction to the Fort Hood massacre by an Islamic Jihadist. From the nauseating “don’t jump to conclusions” to his copious use of the word “tragedy” he’s pretty much distanced himself from the outrage of patriots like you and me. Then I realized, heck, he’s been widening the gap by miles at a time ever since his swearing in ceremony. The only time he even attempts to connect with the American people is when he’s campaigning for one of his causes. And, fortunately for him, there are enough on the left to give him the feedback he needs to feed his self-centered ego. So I said, “Honey, has it occurred to you that our president doesn’t have any rapport with the people?” Or words to the effect; it was late. After several seconds my wide-awake spouse answered, “Yeah.” Validation. I felt much better.

But it’s not just a disconnect; it goes deeper than that. It’s more like an ineffable, untouchable, almighty god which has placed itself so far above its subjects that to try to communicate on any level would mean certain death. While countless critics, both right and left, have rhapsodized about his eloquent and riveting speeches—the ones with the teleprompter—I have never seen it. I see, and hear, choppy, stilted, cold words, delivered in a calculated, dispassionate  and overly-efficient style. Maybe it’s my one (1) speech class that I took in college a hundred years ago that has left me so critical. But, I don’t see any warmth there. No heart, no soul, no—humanity. Okay, so that’s another post for another day, when I’ve got my tinfoil hat on.

I guess it was the Fort Hood massacre (Yes, it was a massacre) that drove it home. Remember President Bush on 9/11? Of course we do. The president everybody loved to hate had a way of bringing us together and causing us, for a time, to actually entertain a rational thought or two. He did it on 9/11; he did it when he visited the troops in Iraq; he did it briefly during Katrina, until somebody began yelling, “He didn’t do it soon enough!” Demonized by the mainstream media, excoriated by the liberal hate mongers, George W. Bush, with all of his faults, managed to present a dignified, composed and unifying demeanor even when the world was falling apart all around him. He didn’t give “shout outs” to someone in the audience when thirteen citizens lay dead; he didn’t tell us not to leap to conclusions after the carnage of 9/11. He didn’t bow to the Saudi Arabian king.

The danger is far more subtle than meets the eye. It isn’t just an arrogant, narcissistic lack of empathy; it is a cold, uncaring detachment, which diminishes not only the office of the President, but also the sovereignty of our nation. The lack of recognition of we the people—on any level—indicates the direction he and his comrades are going, dragging us along and shredding our freedoms along the way.

Love

Granny

Thank You

      Thank you from a grateful American.

                                                           

To those who gave their all.

Any who gave up years of their lives, went through basic training and beyond, wore the uniform of the United States Military, defended the Constitution, and served at home and abroad gave their all.

Bush or Obama: The Quiz

Bush or Obama: The Quiz

Socialized Medicine

So the House has passed their beloved healthcare bill. More socialized medicine. $1.2 trillion. Now it goes to the Senate. If it passes and we become subject to government run health care anyone with half a brain knows what lies down the road: increased taxes, decreased Medicare, rationed healthcare doled out by someone who doesn’t know medicine from Marxism. Gone will be any modicum of quality of care because any doctor worth his salt will find another way to use his God-given talents. The cheering by those who believe this is the answer to the nation’s health woes will soon turn to questions, blank stares, and then anger when they realize they’ve been had once again. Of course, by then it will be too late and another one of our choices will have bitten the dust, mashed by another giant socialist footprint.

Think about this: a rough estimate of the number of protestors who marched on Washington DC on September 12th is 850,000. My husband was there; he should know. The number of people who participated in the tea parties all across our nation from the first whiff of Obamunism blowing in the wind is nearly impossible to estimate. The MSM was not interested in even acknowledging that they were taking place, and that they continue to take place, and will continue to take place until members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle realize just who employs them. The House passed socialized medicine despite an uprising of thousands of thinking citizens who saw the writing on the wall and despite a summer of town hall protests and despite the absence of any coherency in the so-called bill.

And who is bringing us the bill? A bill that will enhance the stranglehold on the American economy and American ideals and American freedom in every sector? Why, none other than the Marxist president and 536 members of a congress who already shoved that $787 billion stimulus bill down our throats in February. You remember the bill: the one that stimulated unemployment? Oops. Oh, yeah, it also stimulated John Murtha’s airport.

The same president and congress who took over the automobile and banking industries and are on the verge of doing a sleight of hand with the carbon tax. But we know all that, don’t we? We know how much they care for us and our wellbeing? Now let’s look at these people, who are employed by us, who sit in their hallowed halls, which are owned by us, pull in salaries paid by us, salaries which most of us could only dream of seeing in our entire lifetimes, with perks which are stolen from us. Let’s look at their health care benefits. With a wide range of choices and very reasonable premiums considering their salaries, they are set for life from the second they come on board until their dying gasp.

"Health Care for Members of Congress?


August 25, 2009


Q: What type of health insurance do members of Congress receive? Is it a single-payer, government-run system?


A: Members of Congress are covered by private insurance under the same system that covers all federal workers.


FULL ANSWER

Members of Congress have good health insurance by any standard, but it’s not free and not reserved only for them – and it’s not government insurance. House and Senate members are allowed to purchase private health insurance offered through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which covers more than 8 million other federal employees, retirees and their families.

It’s not a "single-payer" system where the government acts as the one and only health insurance company. As President Bush’s chief of personnel Kay Coles James said in 2003, while lecturing at the conservative Heritage Foundation, "the FEHB program is not centralized, government-run health care." It has drawn praise both from conservatives and liberals, including President Obama, who held it up as a model for his own health care proposals.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the FEHBP offers about 300 different private health care plans, including five government-wide, fee-for-service plans and many regional health maintenance organization (HMO) plans, plus high-deductible, tax-advantaged plans. All plans cover hospital, surgical and physician services, and mental health services, prescription drugs and "catastrophic" coverage against very large medical expenses. There are no waiting periods for coverage when new employees are hired, and there are no exclusions for preexisting conditions. The FEHBP negotiates contracts annually with all insurance companies who wish to participate. There is plenty of competition for the business; FEHBP is the largest employer-sponsored health plan in the U.S.

Those who don’t like their coverage may switch to another plan during a yearly "open season" period. To help with the choices, FEHBP conducts an annual "satisfaction survey" of each plan with more than 500 members and publishes the results.

Like other large employers, the government pays a large share of the cost of coverage. On average, the government pays 72 percent of the premiums for its workers, up to a maximum of 75 percent depending on the policy chosen. For example, the popular Blue Cross and Blue Shield standard fee-for-service family plan carries a total premium of $1,120.47 per month, of which the beneficiary pays $356.59. Washington, D.C.-based employees who prefer an HMO option might choose the Kaiser standard family plan. It carries a total premium of $629.46 per month, of which the employee pays only $157.36.

In addition, members of Congress also qualify for some medical benefits that ordinary federal workers do not. They (but not their families) are eligible to receive limited medical services from the Office of the Attending Physician of the U.S. Capitol, after payment of an annual fee ($491in 2007). But services don’t include surgery, dental care or eyeglasses, and any prescriptions must be filled at the member’s expense.

House and Senate members (but not their families) also are eligible to receive care at military hospitals. For outpatient care, there is no charge at the Washington, D.C., area hospitals (Walter Reed Army Medical Center and National Naval Medical Center). Inpatient care is billed at rates set by the Department of Defense.

-Brooks Jackson

Sources:

English, Barbara. "Health Benefits for Members of Congress." Congressional Research Service. 25 Sep 2007.

"Non-Postal Premium Rates for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program; Fee-for-Service Plans (FFS)." Office of Personnel Management. rates for 2009. undated, accessed 24 Aug 2009.

"Non-Postal Premium Rates for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program; Health Management Organizations (HMO)." Office of Personnel Management. rates for 2009. undated, accessed 24 Aug 2009.


Posted by Brooks Jackson on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 11:11 am

Filed under Ask FactCheck • Tagged with Congress, health insurance"

Why are these people so concerned about healthcare for the masses? Is it that they are really agonizing about all the pitiful uninsured, which are piling up in untreated heaps outside the emergency room doors? Do they really give a rip about the great unwashed who drag their infants and their grannies into clinics and get turned away in droves because they don’t have coverage? THEY COULDN’T CARE LESS! It’s about control. Only and always control. And we are circling the drain of the great and powerful toilet of totalitarianism. Wake up, folks. It’s almost too late. We need 2010 and we need it badly. And soon.

Love

Granny