Right Minded Online

Back in April, while making a stop in Turkey during one of his World Apology Tours, President Obama remarked that we Americans “do not consider ourselves a Christian nation, or a Muslim nation, but rather, a nation of citizens who are, uh, bound by a set of values.”

This was not the first time Barack Obama has denied America’s Christian heritage, nor is President Obama the first leftist to do so. Civil libertarians (ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State) routinely deny the prominent role Christianity played during our founding and throughout our history. Playing down our Christian heritage helps them advance the myth of separation of church and state, as civil libertarians routinely comb the countryside looking for vestiges of Christianity to declare unconstitutional and scrub clean.

In response, Congressman J. Randy Forbes (R-VA) has introduced H.Res. 397, which affirms our Christian heritage. The bill contains considerable documentation on the importance Christianity has played in our development as a nation. It would also establish the first week of May as America’s Spiritual Heritage Week.

Here are few excerpts from the text of H.Res. 397:

Political scientists have documented that the most frequently cited source in the political period known as The Founding Era was the Bible.

The first act of America’s first Congress in 1774 was to ask a minister to open with prayer and to lead Congress in the reading of 4 chapters of the Bible.

Congress regularly attended church and Divine service together en masse.

Throughout the American Founding, Congress frequently appropriated money for missionaries and for religious instruction, a practice that Congress repeated for decades after the passage of the Constitution and the First Amendment.

In 1776, Congress approved the Declaration of Independence with its 4 direct religious acknowledgments referring to God as the Creator, the Lawgiver, the Judge, and the Protector.

Upon approving the Declaration of Independence, John Adams declared that the Fourth of July “ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”

Four days after approving the Declaration, the Liberty Bell was rung. The Liberty Bell was named for the Biblical inscription from Leviticus 25:10 emblazoned around it: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants thereof.”

In 1777, Congress, facing a National shortage of “Bibles for our schools, and families, and for the public worship of God in our churches,” announced that they “desired to have a Bible printed under their care & by their encouragement” and therefore ordered 20,000 copies of the Bible to be imported “into the different ports of the States of the Union.”

In 1782, Congress pursued a plan to print a Bible that would be “a neat edition of the Holy Scriptures for the use of schools” and therefore approved the production of the first English language Bible printed in America that contained the congressional endorsement that “the United States in Congress assembled…recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States.”

Also in 1782, Congress adopted (and has reaffirmed on numerous subsequent occasions) the National Seal with its Latin motto “Annuit Coeptis,” meaning “God has favored our undertakings,” along with the eye of Providence in a triangle over a pyramid. The eye and the motto “allude to the many signal interpositions of Providence in favor of the American cause.”

The 1783 Treaty of Paris that officially ended the Revolution and established America as an independent nation begins with the appellation “In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity.”

In 1787, at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin declared, “God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? … Without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.”

The delegates to the Constitutional Convention concluded their work by in effect placing a religious punctuation mark at the end of the Constitution in the Attestation Clause, noting not only that they had completed the work with “the unanimous consent of the States present” but they had done so “in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven.”

James Madison declared that he saw the finished Constitution as a product of “the finger of that Almighty Hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the Revolution.” George Washington viewed it as “little short of a miracle.” Benjamin Franklin believed that its writing had been “influenced, guided, and governed by that omnipotent, omnipresent, and beneficent Ruler, in Whom all inferior spirits live, and move, and have their being.”

From 1787 to 1788, State conventions to ratify the United States Constitution not only began with prayer but even met in church buildings.

In 1795, during construction of the Capitol, a practice was instituted whereby “public worship is now regularly administered at the Capitol, every Sunday morning, at 11 o’clock.”

In 1789, the first U.S. Congress, the Congress that framed the Bill of Rights (including the First Amendment), appropriated federal funds to pay chaplains to pray at the opening of all sessions, a practice that has continued to this day, with Congress not only funding its congressional chaplains but also the salaries and operations of more than 4,500 military chaplains.

In 1789, Congress, in the midst of framing the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment, passed the first federal law regarding education, declaring that “Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.”

In 1789, on the same day that Congress finished drafting the First Amendment, it requested President Washington to declare a national day of prayer and thanksgiving, resulting in the first federal official Thanksgiving proclamation that declared “it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.”

These are just a smattering of the examples set forth in H.Res. 397 that attest to our Christian heritage. To proclaim otherwise is to simply ignore the history of the United States, and to deny the hand of Divine Providence that has enabled us to blossom into the freest, wealthiest, and most generous collection of individuals ever to exist.

In Shelby County, they’re debating a non-discrimination policy regarding sexual orientation.

Bunker said he and the pastors planned the event to precede the ordinance’s hearing before the Shelby County Commission today. It will take several more votes for it to become law.

At the news conference, pastor after pastor repeated the idea that homosexuality can’t be compared to discrimination on the basis of race.

“Homosexuality is a choice. Race is not,” said Steve Gaines of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, one of the white ministers who spoke. Gaines said it’s an insult to black people to compare the struggle for gay rights with what black people went through.

“I feel deep in my heart that this is a gay agenda,” said Rev. Andrew Jackson, the African-American senior pastor with Faith Temple Ministries, a Church of God in Christ congregation in South Memphis. “It has nothing to do with civil rights or equal rights.”

The fascinating part about this is that blacks, who vote overwhelmingly Democrat, also tend to come down on the conservative side of the gay rights issue. We saw this in California last November, where black Democrat voters helped elect Barack Obama, but also helped push Proposition 8 over the top, thereby banning same-sex marriage in that state. It’s nice to see black leaders draw the line against equating gay rights with civil rights. The two have nothing to do with each other.

Memphis pastors, county commissioner speak against anti-discrimination measure : Local News : Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Congressman J. Randy Forbes (R-VA) has introduced H.Res. 397, which affirms the religious heritage of the people of the United States. The bill contains considerable documentation of the importance of spirituality, specifically the Bible, from the Founding Era all the way into the 20th century. This is an important piece of legislation given that civil libertarians would deny our religious heritage, and routinely scour the countryside looking for vestiges of Christianity to declare unconstitutional and scrub clean. Here’s the opening few paragraphs of the text of H.Res. 397:

Affirming the rich spiritual and religious history of our Nation’s founding and subsequent history and expressing support for designation of the first week in May as `America’s Spiritual Heritage Week’ for the appreciation of and education on America’s history of religious faith.

Whereas religious faith was not only important in official American life during the periods of discovery, exploration, colonization, and growth but has also been acknowledged and incorporated into all 3 branches of the Federal Government from their very beginning;

Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed this self-evident fact in a unanimous ruling declaring `This is a religious people . . . From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation’;

Whereas political scientists have documented that the most frequently cited source in the political period known as The Founding Era was the Bible;

Whereas the first act of America’s first Congress in 1774 was to ask a minister to open with prayer and to lead Congress in the reading of 4 chapters of the Bible;

Whereas Congress regularly attended church and Divine service together en masse;

Whereas throughout the American Founding, Congress frequently appropriated money for missionaries and for religious instruction, a practice that Congress repeated for decades after the passage of the Constitution and the First Amendment;

Whereas in 1776, Congress approved the Declaration of Independence with its 4 direct religious acknowledgments referring to God as the Creator (`All people are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’), the Lawgiver (`the laws of nature and nature’s God’), the Judge (`appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world’), and the Protector (`with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence’);

Whereas upon approving the Declaration of Independence, John Adams declared that the Fourth of July `ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty’;

Whereas 4 days after approving the Declaration, the Liberty Bell was rung;

Whereas the Liberty Bell was named for the Biblical inscription from Leviticus 25:10 emblazoned around it: `Proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants thereof’;

Search Results – THOMAS (Library of Congress).

Ron Howard says he was a little frustrated about the influence the Vatican placed on Rome officials in granting filming permits for the movie Angels & Demons.

But he said the Vatican nevertheless exerted influence regarding his filming permits, and he was told it would not be possible even to shoot scenes in Rome that had churches in the background.

“When you come to film in Rome, the official statement to you is that the Vatican has no influence,” he said. “Everything progressed very smoothly, but unofficially a couple of days before we were to start filming in several of our locations, it was explained to us that through back channels and so forth that the Vatican had exerted some influence.”

“Was I surprised? No. Am I a little frustrated at times? Sure,” he said.

If this is true, then hat’s off to the Vatican. You make a movie that trashes the Catholic Church, you should expect them to push back.

‘Angels & Demons’ director Howard accuses Vatican.

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

– Matthew 28

The man who was supposed to heal America’s broken soul isn’t exactly getting the red carpet treatment from Notre Dame.

Nearly 65,000 people have signed an online petition protesting President Obama’s scheduled May 17 commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, saying the president’s views on abortion and stem cell research “directly contradict” Roman Catholic teachings.

“It is an outrage and a scandal that ‘Our Lady’s University,’ one of the premier Catholic universities in the United States, would bestow such an honor on President Obama given his clear support for policies and laws that directly contradict fundamental Catholic teachings on life and marriage,” the petition at notredamescandal.com reads.

Critics Blast Obama’s Scheduled Notre Dame Commencement Address – Presidential Politics | Political News – FOXNews.com.

Nearly two years after opening, Right Minded finally made it to the Creation Museum (near Cincinnati) on Saturday. The Roses spent more than 4 hours there, and could easily have stayed longer. The one thing that jumped out immediately is that, even though we were squarely on the creationists’ turf, they still present evolution vs. creation side-by-side on a lot of their displays. This is something you NEVER see from evolutionists. In fact, Darwinists go out of their way to ban the creation point-of-view from science textbooks, whereas we creationists are not afraid to present our case side-by-side with evolution.

Of course, those who follow the Biblical model are on the side of truth, and when you are on the same side as God, there is no reason to fear a fabrication such as evolution. Darwinists, on the other hand, live in stark fear of competition, because when your life is dedicated to advancing a lie, the worst enemy you have is the truth. So, evolutionists have no recourse but to ban the truth of Genesis whenever and wherever they can.

Rather than upload my photographs to WordPress as I usually do, I opened up a Flickr account because there are several images that I wanted to display in high resolution, so go on over there to see the slideshow.

Creation Museum

A reader sent me an interesting news story by the Catholic news agency, Zenit, regarding some new research into the role Pope Pius XII played on behalf of the Jewish people both before and during the Holocaust. Pius XII’s legacy has been sort of a mixed bag. This certainly puts a more positive perspective on his efforts to help save the Jews.

The foundations president, Gary Krupp, added these findings to the evidence he already had complied for a Pius XII symposium last September in Rome. Since this event, 300 new pages of original documents have been uncovered.

These documents, available for downloading from the foundations Web site, include a nun’s manuscript from 1943, detailing the Pope’s order to hide Jews in Rome and a list of protected Jews.

Another document is a 1939 report on the “new Pope” by the U.S. Foreign Service, from the American consul in Cologne. The diplomat reported surprise at the “extreme dislike” of Pacelli toward Hitler and the Nazi regime, and his support to the German bishops in their opposition to Nazism, even at the cost of losing German Catholic youth.

The foundation also provides a 1938 document, signed by then Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli, in which he opposes the Polish bill outlawing kosher slaughter because he understood that this law would be a “grave persecution” against the Jewish people.

During the war, Pius XII saved 80,000 lives by persuading the Hungarian regent to prevent the deportation of the Jews. He also requested the Brazilian government to receive 3,000 “non-Aryans.”

ZENIT – Group Gives New Proof of Pius XIIs Help for Jews.

I listened to a recent Ravi Zacharias podcast where the renowned Christian apologist quoted something G.K. Chesterton wrote many years ago, so I went on the Internet to dig it up. This is a profound dissection of what we have come to know as moral relativism.

But the new rebel is a Sceptic, and will not entirely trust anything. He has no loyalty; therefore he can never be really a revolutionist. And the fact that he doubts everything really gets in his way when he wants to denounce anything. For all denunciation implies a moral doctrine of some kind; and the modern revolutionist doubts not only the institution he denounces, but the doctrine by which he denounces it. Thus he writes one book complaining that imperial oppression insults the purity of women, and then he writes another book (about the sex problem) in which he insults it himself. He curses the Sultan because Christian girls lose their virginity, and then curses Mrs. Grundy because they keep it. As a politician, he will cry out that war is a waste of life, and then, as a philosopher, that all life is waste of time. A Russian pessimist will denounce a policeman for killing a peasant, and then prove by the highest philosophical principles that the peasant ought to have killed himself. A man denounces marriage as a lie, and then denounces aristocratic profligates for treating it as a lie. He calls a flag a bauble, and then blames the oppressors of Poland or Ireland because they take away that bauble. The man of this school goes first to a political meeting, where he complains that savages are treated as if they were beasts; then he takes his hat and umbrella and goes on to a scientific meeting, where he proves that they practically are beasts. In short, the modern revolutionist, being an infinite sceptic, is always engaged in undermining his own mines. In his book on politics he attacks men for trampling on morality; in his book on ethics he attacks morality for trampling on men. Therefore the modern man in revolt has become practically useless for all purposes of revolt. By rebelling against everything he has lost his right to rebel against anything.

Orthodoxy – G. K. Chesterton.

According to a Barna Group poll, one in three Christians, or should we say one in three “Christians,” believe Jesus Christ sinned while on earth. Ah, no. The Christ did not sin while on earth. That’s one of the fundamental tenets of Christianity, that Jesus Christ lived a perfect life, which is what enabled his death to represent the perfect sacrifice. Go back and study the Gospels, folks.

1 in 3 Christians says Jesus sinned.

Barack Obama has created a controversy, not on the right, but on the left, for choosing Pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the inauguration. Warren is the pastor of Saddleback Church in California, where he hosted a forum for Obama and John McCain back in August. Obama has defended his choice of Warren because he wants the event to reflect diverse views.

That’s all well and good, but the left has reacted to Obama’s choice of Rick Warren with indignation. You see, liberals have this great fear that Rick Warren will utter the name of “Jesus Christ” during his invocation, and that prospect has them tied in knots. Back in 2001, Reverends Franklin Graham and Kirbyjon Caldwell were criticized for invoking Christ at George W. Bush’s inauguration, and even prompted a lawsuit from infamous busybody atheist Michael Newdow, who is better known for attempting to have the words “under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance.

But there is another reason why Rick Warren is being targeted by the left. It has to do with the fact that he favored California’s Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment that limits marriage to one man and one woman. Voters approved Proposition 8 on Election Day by a 52-48% margin, and gay rights activists haven’t gotten over it.

The Human Rights Campaign, which the Associated Press calls “the nation’s largest gay rights organization,” says Warren’s opposition to gay marriage is a sign of intolerance.

Pot, meet kettle.

Gay rights activists, in the aftermath of the Proposition 8 vote, have written the book on intolerance. But it’s typical of liberals to demand tolerance for all manner of debauchery, while showing zero tolerance toward those who have different beliefs.

Within days after California’s passage of Proposition 8, gay rights activists were so distraught over losing at the polls that some of them actually threatened violence against churches and those who supported the constitutional amendment.

After it was learned that California’s black voters helped push Proposition 8 over the top (yes, the same black voters who voted 95% for Obama also voted 70% for the marriage amendment), actress and liberal activist Roseanne Barr wrote on her blog that “[Black voters] showed themselves every inch as bigoted and ignorant as their white christian right wing counterpartners who voted for mccain-palin and bush-cheney.”

The anti-Proposition 8 crowd ended up taking the brunt of their fury out on the Mormon Church, which heavily supported the amendment, but Christians have been targeted, too.

One individual who attended a gathering of Christians in San Francisco’s Castro district — a gathering that had nothing to do with Proposition 8 — just days after Election Day, describes how they were treated by a mob of gay rights activists (as cited on MichelleMalkin.com):

“Then a crowd started gathering. We began to sing ‘Amazing Grace,’ and basically sang that song the whole night. (At some points we also sang ‘Nothing but the Blood of Jesus’ and ‘Oh the Blood of Jesus.’) At first, they just shouted at us, using crude, rude, and foul language and calling us names like ‘haters’ and ‘bigots.’ Since it was a long night, I can’t even begin to remember all of the things that were shouted and/or chanted at us. Then, they started throwing hot coffee, soda and alcohol on us and spitting (and maybe even peeing) on us. Then, a group of guys surrounded us with whistles, and blasted them inches away from our ears continually. Then, they started getting violent and started shoving us. At one point a man tried to steal one of our Bibles. Chrisdene noticed, so she walked up to him and said ‘Hey, that’s not yours, can you please give it back?’ He responded by hitting her on the head with the Bible, shoving her to the ground, and kicking her. I called the cops, and when they got there, they pulled her out of the circle and asked her if she wanted to press charges. She said ‘No, tell him I forgive him.’”

What happened to Margie Christoffersen is another example of the type of “tolerance” gay rights activists show toward those who believe differently. Christoffersen was a manager at El Coyote, a Beverly Boulevard landmark restaurant that used to enjoy a large clientele. Many of those customers were gay, and Christoffersen, a devout Mormon, donated $100 in support of Proposition 8. She never advertised her politics or religion in the restaurant, but her donation eventually showed up on a donor list, and El Coyote became a target. A boycott was organized on the Internet, with activists trashing El Coyote on restaurant review sites. Then came protesters, some of them shouting “shame on you” at customers. The police arrived in riot gear one night to quell the angry mob.

Says Christoffersen, “I’ve almost had a nervous breakdown. It’s been the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Even though liberals made a clean sweep on Election Day, winning the White House and increasing their majorities in both the House and Senate, they’re just as angry as ever. So when gay rights activists scoff at Barack Obama’s choice of Rick Warren to deliver the inauguration invocation because of his intolerance toward them, just remember that gay rights activists, and liberals in general, demand tolerance for themselves, but have proven themselves wholly unwilling to show tolerance toward others.

The tolerance police continue to stir up trouble over the choice of Rick Warren to deliver Barack Obama’s inauguration prayer, with liberals worried sick over the prospect that Rick Warren might invoke the name of Christ during his prayer. These are the same people, of course, who demand tolerance from everyone else.

Evangelicals generally expect their clergymen to use Jesus name whenever and wherever they lead prayer. Many conservative Christians say cultural sensitivity goes way too far if it requires religious leaders to hide their beliefs.

“If Rick Warren does not pray in Jesus’ name, some folks are going to be very disappointed,” Caldwell said in a recent phone interview. “Since hes evangelical, his own tribe, if you will, will have some angst if he does not do that.”

Advocates for gay rights protested Obama’s decision to give Warren a prominent role at the swearing-in. The California megachurch founder supported Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in his home state. Obama defended his choice, saying he wanted the event to reflect diverse views and insisting he remains a “fierce advocate” of equal rights for gays.

The thing is, gays already have equal rights in the U.S. — even the right to marry. Any gay man can marry any woman who agrees to it, and vice versa, which is the same right heterosexuals enjoy.

Warren’s inauguration prayer could draw more ire – Yahoo News.

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Eliud, Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ. (Matthew 1:1-17)

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:26-38)

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (Luke 2:1-20)

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’” Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Matthew 2:1-15)

Footnote: The genealogy of Jesus Christ given in Matthew 1 does not include those 19 generations that preceded Abraham. (The numbers in parentheses are the ages of the men when they became fathers to the next members in the line of succession.) They are Adam (130), Seth (105), Enosh (90), Kenan (70), Mahalalel (65), Jared (162), Enoch (65), Methuselah (187), Lamech (182), Noah (500), Shem (100), Arphaxad (35), Shelah (30), Eber (34), Peleg (30), Reu (32), Serug (30), Nahor (29), Terah (70), and Abram, who became Abraham, and was born 1,946 years after the creation of Adam. Therefore, all of the generations from Adam to Jesus Christ are 61.

On the night Jesus was born, a star shone in the sky such as had never been seen before. We know the star could be seen from afar, as the Gospel of Matthew tells us that Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and inquired, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

King Herod heard of the inquiry and was disturbed that there was another King of the Jews. So he called together the chief priests and teachers of the law, asking them where the Christ was to be born.

“In Bethlehem in Judea,” he was told, “for this is what the prophet [Micah] has written: ’But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’”

King Herod then summoned the Magi in secret, asking them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent the Magi to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, the Magi went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

We don’t know a great deal about the Magi, except that they came from the east. We often refer to them as the three wise men or three kings, but they were probably nothing more than superstitious astrologers who knew nothing of the Jewish faith or the prophecies that told of a coming Messiah, which makes their appearance at Joseph and Mary’s front door all the more remarkable.

Most nativity scenes depict the presence of the Magi bearing gifts, but the Magi weren’t present at the manger on the night Christ was born. They only began their journey then or shortly thereafter, and their journey probably lasted a couple of years, as the Christ is here referred to as “the child,” and not “the baby,” as he is called in the Gospel of Luke on the night he was born.

At any rate, when they arrived at the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. The Magi then presented the child with their gifts of gold, incense, and myrrh (referred to as ”treasures” in the Gospel in Matthew) – not exactly practical gifts for a peasant Jewish family, but when you’re giving gifts to the Messiah, no gift is ever too good.

Afterward, having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, the Magi began their journey home, back to their own country, taking a different route. By all implication, the three Magi were all warned separately, in different dreams, suggesting a divine revelation.

Once the Magi had departed, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying “Get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

By this time, angels of the Lord had established a pretty good track record with Joseph, and so he did not wait. He took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where they remained until the death of King Herod, thus fulfilling a prophecy of Hosea, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Meanwhile, when King Herod discovered that he had been outwitted, he became furious, and issued his famous decree that all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity aged two years and under be killed, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Thus, what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was also fulfilled: ”A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

After King Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt instructing him to “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

Once again, Joseph did as he was told. He took the child and his mother back to Israel. But when Joseph heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back. Having been warned in yet another dream, Joseph instead withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he, Mary, and the Christ lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

No one can be exactly sure why the Magi play such a prominent role in the birth story of the Christ. They were unlikely characters, having come from a different country, with a different culture, a different language, and a different religion.

Despite this, they were still able to find the Christ child after merely following a star and asking a few questions. King Herod, on the other hand, had the Christ child right under his nose in Judea, yet was never able to get his hands on the real King of the Jews.

Perhaps the irony of this unlikely series of events is the reason for its inclusion in Christ’s birth story, that the Lord God wanted to add one more wonder to a story that was already filled with miracles and the fulfillment of prophecies that were made centuries before.

There is no way the Magi could have known that their journey, their encounter with King Herod, and their presentation of gifts from the East to the Christ child would be preserved in the most-printed book of all time, to be read by persons in many languages, from all over the world, across two millennia.

Conservative Episcopals, finally fed up with the church having corrupted itself by buying into the homosexual agenda, have broken away from the Episcopal Church and established the Anglican Church in North America. It is indeed refresing when Christians insist on heeding the Word of God over the fallacy of man.

Earlier today, I had the privilege of listening to Dr. Tim LaHaye preach at my church in Mt. Juliet. Dr. LaHaye, of course, co-authored the famous Left Behind fiction series, and has written numerous other books on various topics. But his bread-and-butter is Bible prophecy, which was the topic of his message today. I couldn’t let the opportunity pass, and so I went up after the service, shook his hand, and told him how much I appreciate his work.

The following photographs were made at St. Mark’s Monastery in Florence, Italy.

Yesterday at church we had a guest speaker, Lloyd Byers, whose son, U.S. Army Capt. Joshua T. Byers, was killed in Iraq five years ago. I have rarely seen a speaker command an audience the way Mr. Byers commanded ours. You could have heard a pin drop when he held up his son’s dog tags to remind us that freedom isn’t cheap. What a shame, he asserted, that the people we regard as heroes are usually entertainers and athletes, who are often reprobates who have done absolutely nothing to earn their hero status. The real heroes, the ones who get buried on page 5 of the newspaper, are our service members who sacrifice their lives so the rest of us can enjoy freedom — a freedom that we all seem to take for granted.

After the service, I went up and shook Mr. Byers hand and told him, “I’m a former Navy guy. The dog tags did me in. I really appreciate you coming.”

Both generations of Byers have/had a real heart for the Lord. The elder Byers were serving as missionaries in Guam when they learned of their son’s death, and they now operate a fund called “Joshua’s Mission.”

U.S. Catholic bishops have set the record straight on the church’s position on abortion, pointing out that Speaker of State Nancy Pelosi, the most powerful woman in America, was woefully in error when she claimed the Catholic Church didn’t know when life begins.

Pelosi was asked on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday to comment on when life begins. She responded saying that as a Catholic, she had studied the issue for “a long time” and that “the doctors of the Church have not been able to make that definition.”

Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the U. Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Bishop William Lori, chairman of the Committee on Doctrine, said her answer “misrepresented the history and nature of the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church against abortion.”

They noted that the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.”

ZENIT – US Bishops: Pelosi Got Church Teaching Wrong.