Advent Suite

One of my favorite Christmas/Advent songs

Thanks to Jason for introducing me to this artist



"Advent Suite" recorded in 2000 Leesburg.FL

Weather Channel Accused of Pro-Weather Bias

It's a conspiracy I tell you!



HT The Onion

A Gift of a Bible

Penn Jilette, a devout atheist, shares a personal story about proselytizing and his views about it.



“I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. If you believe that there’s a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell, and you think, ‘Well, it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward’…How much do you have to hate somebody not to proselytize?”penn jillette

HT: Caffeinated Thoughts - Shane Vander Hart

Needle Sized Art

Now I wonder if he's made any camels. This takes tons of patience!

Flawed Love - The Julia Marie Band

Check out The Julia Marie Band

Must the Sun Set on the West? - Vishal Mangalwadi

I am usually running a week behind in listening to podcasts, so it came to be that I just finished the November 30th edition of the Apologetics.com radio show featuring Vishal Mangalwadi. I recommend that everyone listen to this to get a grasp of the situation unfolding in India and Mangalwadi's insights into the West's loss of its biblical roots. Here's a short bio from Apologetics.com:

Vishal Mangalwadi joins us on the Apologetics.com Radio Show to discuss his latest project: Must the Sun Set on the West? Commentary and analysis from one of India’s most provocative and important thinkers. Joining him in the studio are Apologetics.com staff apologist Christopher Neiswonger, Lindsay Brooks & Harry Edwards.

Vishal Mangalwadi is an international lecturer, social reformer, political columnist, and author of thirteen books. Born and raised in India, he studied philosophy at universities, in Hindu ashrams, and at L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland. In 1976 he turned down several job offers in the West to return to India where he and his wife, Ruth, founded a community to serve the rural poor. Vishal continued his involvement in community development serving at the headquarters of two national political parties, where he worked for the empowerment and liberation of peasants and the lower castes.

His first book, The World of Gurus, was published in 1977 by India's Vikas Publishing House, and serialized in India's then-largest weekly, Sunday. It was Mangalwadi's books, In Search of Self and India: The Grand Experiment, that first brought his works to the attention of the American public. In demand worldwide, Vishal is a dynamic, engaging speaker who has lectured in 27 countries. He enjoys simplifying complex ideas and inspiring despairing hearts with hope.

Vishal and Ruth are currently in the United States for the production of a television documentary, The Book of the Millennium: How the Bible Changed Civilization, a project inspired by Vishal and Ruth's recognition of India's need for the reforming power of the Bible.

Listen to the show here or download the podcast

NIGERIA: SIX PASTORS KILLED, 40 CHURCHES RAZED IN JOS VIOLENCE

More persecution news, this time from Nigeria reported by Compass Direct News:

JOS, Nigeria, December 11 (Compass Direct News) – The murderous rioting sparked by Muslim attacks on Christians and their property on Nov. 28-29 left six pastors dead, at least 500 other people killed and 40 churches destroyed, according to church leaders.

More than 25,000 persons have been displaced in the two days of violence, according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

What began as outrage over suspected vote fraud in local elections quickly hit the religious fault line that quakes from time to time in this city located between the Islamic north and Christian south, as angry Muslims took aim at Christian sites rather than at political targets. Police and troops reportedly killed about 400 rampaging Muslims in an effort to quell the unrest, and Islamists shot, slashed or stabbed to death most of more than 100 Christians.

Among Christians killed was Joseph Yari of the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA), Angwan Clinic,Tudun-Wada in Jos. On Nov. 28, his wife Mary Yari told Compass, he had returned from his workplace along Ibrahim Taiwo Road saying he was going to a Baptist church that Muslims were setting on fire.

“Shortly after my husband left, I heard anguished cries, only to be told that my husband had been shot dead on the premises of the church,” Yari said.

Her grief notwithstanding, she said she had forgiven the killers, as “they were ignorant of the crime they have committed because they do not know Jesus Christ.”

The Rev. Emmanuel Kyari, pastor of Christ Baptist Church, Tudun-Wada, told Compass that Joseph Yari died helping other Christians who repelled Muslim fanatics bent on burning down his church building.

“Yari was standing beside my wife when he was shot by Muslims,” Rev. Kyari said. “In addition to Yari who was killed, there were also three other Christians who were shot, and two died instantly.”

Mary Yari

Among the six slain pastors was the Rev. Ephraim Masok, pastor of the ECWA Church in the Rikkos area of Jos, who had moved his family out of harm’s way and was returning to the church premises when Muslim fanatics attacked and killed him. Rev. Masok was buried on Saturday (Dec. 6).

A Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) leader in the Chawlyap area identified only as Pastor James was killed in the rioting that left Jos skies covered in smoke, as was the Rev. Bulus Tsetu of an Assemblies of God church. Names of the other three slain clergymen from Roman Catholic, Baptist and Deeper Life Bible churches were not readily available, but their deaths were confirmed, according to church leaders.

Read the rest here

Report by South China Church About Persecution in November 2008

Persecution of the church in China is continuing despite all of the glowing reports of progress made during the Olympics and the recent report of the government reaching out to churches. Here's the most recent report from China Aid:

Christians from South China Church, for whom Christian churches, peace-loving people and all circles within the international community have shown so much concern, have once again been persecuted and arrested by the relevant authorities in Jingmen city and Xiangfan city areas in Hubei province during November 2008.

On November 1, 2008, as Brother Yi Peng, a missionary from South China Church, was visiting a sick believer in Jingmen city when he was arrested by authorities from the Bureau of State Security. He has not been heard from since.

On November 1, 2008, as missionaries Li Duojia, Qiu Xiangying and one other person from South China Church were getting ready to get on a train, they were hit to the ground by seven or eight plainclothes officials from the Bureau of State Security and an investigation team, on the platform. Their hands were handcuffed behind their back. They were taken and detained at a hotel across the street from Jingmen Train Station where they were kicked and punched. The authorities also took away the Bibles the missionaries were carrying with them, saying: “We persecute you and confiscate your Bibles; our purpose is not to allow you to believe in Jesus.” They also said: “Except the TSPM [Three-Self Patriotic Movement], all other organizations that believe in Jesus Christ are cults. Your South China Church has long been determined as a cult. This persecution of you is to thoroughly destroy your church, get rid of the missionaries and disband you believers.” During the interrogation when Li Duojia and others kept silent, the people from the Bureau of State Security said: “Your practice may work in Hong Kong, but not in China.” Saying so, they grabbed them by the hair and forcibly took photos of them from all sides; forced them to press their fingerprints from all 10 fingers; made prints of their palms and prints of the soles of their feet.

Please read the rest here

That's Christmas.

Good video about celebrating Christmas straight from the heart of London.



HT www.st-helens.org.uk/xmas

Joyful Noise - Official Music Video: FLAME feat. Lecrae & John Reilly

For those rap lovers out there, here's a cut from Grammy nominated album "Our World Redeemed" by Cross Movement and Boyce College student, Flame.

40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes

Rise to the occasion with this mix of cinematic motivational talks.

holiday trees?!

Tavin's working at the Christmas Tree lot for some extra money, but they ain't all "Chirstmas tree" Lots in the area.

HT Godward Thoughts

Brian "Head" Welch - I am Second

Brian Welch, formerly of Korn opens up his soul in this interview.

Newsweek shows its Hand in the Gay Marriage Debate

Albert Mohler commented this week on the recent Newsweek article, "The Religious Case for Gay Marriage," by Newsweek religion editor Lisa Miller.

Newsweek magazine, one of the most influential news magazines in America, has decided to come out for same-sex marriage in a big way, and to do so by means of a biblical and theological argument. In its cover story for this week, "The Religious Case for Gay Marriage," Newsweek religion editor Lisa Miller offers a revisionist argument for the acceptance of same-sex marriage. It is fair to say that Newsweek has gone for broke on this question.

Miller begins with a lengthy dismissal of the Bible's relevance to the question of marriage in the first place. "Let's try for a minute to take the religious conservatives at their word and define marriage as the Bible does," Miller suggests. If so, she argues that readers will find a confusion of polygamy, strange marital practices, and worse.

She concludes: "Would any contemporary heterosexual married couple—who likely woke up on their wedding day harboring some optimistic and newfangled ideas about gender equality and romantic love—turn to the Bible as a how-to script?" She answers, "Of course not, yet the religious opponents of gay marriage would have it be so."

Now, wait just a minute. Miller's broadside attack on the biblical teachings on marriage goes to the heart of what will appear as her argument for same-sex marriage. She argues that, in the Old Testament, "examples of what social conservatives call 'the traditional family' are scarcely to be found." This is true, of course, if what you mean by 'traditional family' is the picture of America in the 1950s. The Old Testament notion of the family starts with the idea that the family is the carrier of covenant promises, and this family is defined, from the onset, as a transgenerational extended family of kin and kindred.

But, at the center of this extended family stands the institution of marriage as the most basic human model of covenantal love and commitment. And this notion of marriage, deeply rooted in its procreative purpose, is unambiguously heterosexual.

As for the New Testament, "Ozzie and Harriet are nowhere" to be found. Miller argues that both Jesus and Paul were unmarried (emphatically true) and that Jesus "preached a radical kind of family, a caring community of believers, whose bond in God superseded all blood ties." Jesus clearly did call for a commitment to the Gospel and to discipleship that transcended family commitments. Given the Jewish emphasis on family loyalty and commitment, this did represent a decisive break.

But Miller also claims that "while the Bible and Jesus say many important things about love and family, neither explicitly defines marriage as between one man and one woman." This is just patently untrue. Genesis 2:24-25 certainly reveals marriage to be, by the Creator's intention, a union of one man and one woman. To offer just one example from the teaching of Jesus, Matthew 19:1-8 makes absolutely no sense unless marriage "between one man and one woman" is understood as normative.

As for Paul, he did indeed instruct the Corinthians that the unmarried state was advantageous for the spread of the Gospel. His concern in 1 Corinthians 7 is not to elevate singleness as a lifestyle, but to encourage as many as are able to give themselves totally to an unencumbered Gospel ministry. But, in Corinth and throughout the New Testament church, the vast majority of Christians were married. Paul will himself assume this when he writes the "household codes" included in other New Testament letters.

I urge you to read the rest of the article here.

Whistle-Blowers in Chinese City Sent to Mental Hospital

For you that think the US is taking away freedom and maybe communist China's not so bad, check out this article in the NYT:

BEIJING — Local officials in Shandong Province have apparently found a cost-effective way to deal with gadflies, whistle-blowers and all manner of muckraking citizens who dare to challenge the authorities: dispatch them to the local psychiatric hospital.

In an investigative report published Monday by a state-owned newspaper, public security officials in the city of Xintai in Shandong Province were said to have been institutionalizing residents who persist in their personal campaigns to expose corruption or the unfair seizure of their property. Some people said they were committed for up to two years, and several of those interviewed said they were forcibly medicated.

The article, in The Beijing News, said most inmates were released after they agreed to give up their causes.

Sun Fawu, 57, a farmer seeking compensation for land spoiled by a coal-mining operation, said he was seized by local authorities on his way to petition the central government in Beijing and taken to the Xintai Mental Health Center in October.

During a 20-day stay, he said, he was lashed to a bed, forced to take pills and given injections that made him numb and woozy. According to the paper, when he told the doctor he was a petitioner, not mentally ill, the doctor said: “I don’t care if you’re sick or not. As long as you are sent by the township government, I’ll treat you as a mental patient.”

In an interview with the newspaper, the hospital’s director, Wu Yuzhu, acknowledged that some of the 18 patients brought there by the police in recent years were not deranged, but he said that he had no choice but to take them in. “The hospital also had its misgivings,” he said.

Xintai officials do not see any shame in the tactic, and they boasted that hospitalizing people they characterized as troublemakers saved money that would have been spent chasing them to Beijing. There is another reason to stop petitioners who seek redress from higher levels of government: they can prove embarrassing to local officials, especially if they make it to Beijing.

Read the rest here.

School cancels Christmas nativity in favour of Muslim Eid celebrations

And the politically correctness idiocy continues, this time in Britain. Here's a story from The Telegraph:

By Nick Britten
Last Updated: 4:06PM GMT 04 Dec 2008

Greenwood Junior School sent out a letter to parents saying the three day festival of Eid al-Adha, which takes

place between 8-11 December, meant that Muslim children would be off school.

That meant planning for a traditional pantomime were shelved because the school felt it would be too difficult

to run both celebrations side by side.

The move has left parents furious.

Janette Lynch, whose seven-year-old son Keanu attends the school, in Sneinton, Nottingham, said: "The head has

a whole year to plan for Eid and so she should be able to plan for both religious festivals.

"I have never heard of this at a school. It is the first year my son has been there and a lot of the mums like

me were really looking forward to seeing the children on stage.”

She said a letter, sent from “The staff at Greenwood Junior School', said: "It is with much regret that we

have had to cancel this year's Christmas performances. This is due to the Eid celebrations that take place

next week and its effect on our performers.”

Following outrage from parents, the school was forced to send out a second letter saying that the Christmas

play would be done in January.

Sent by the head teacher, Amber Latif, and Yvonne Wright, chair of governors, it apologised for “any

misunderstanding” but said it had to respect “the cultures and religions of all the children”.

It added: "The Christmas performance has not been cancelled outright but has been postponed until the New

Year.”

Parents said they were originally told the performance was cancelled because children wanted to celebrate Eid

with their families at home, and planning of the school year made it difficult to move performance dates to

another week.

Sajad Hussain, 35, of who has two children at Greenwood Junior, said: "My children will be off for the two

days next week to see their family.

"It's not that complicated; they could have one event on one day and another on another day, they should have both celebrations at the school.

Read the rest here

People for the Ethical Treatment of Plants and Rivers

Thanks to Janet Levy for this post at The American Thinker:

In what they deem a natural progression of age-old struggles for social justice, environmentalists gleefully predict that the 21^st century will be an era of environmental justice. The freeing of nature from enslavement by man is their main objective for this period. Other goals include upholding the right of rivers to flow unimpeded, safeguarding the dignity of plants and consideration for the sensitivities of animals. According to environmentalists, social justice struggles have evolved from emancipation of slaves, suffrage for women and civil rights for minorities to, now, the fight for the inalienable, legal right of nature to exist and prosper.

If this sounds far-fetched, recent developments indicate that this phenomenon is clearly on the horizon. Wild Law - a concept that acknowledges that the elements of nature have rights and that humans exist on an equal plane with other members of the "Earth Community" - is gaining acceptance. Wild Law recognizes the rights of forests to remain unlogged, mountains to remain intact, a bog to resist a drainage project and polar bears to sue for air degradation. Recent laws in Switzerland, Ecuador and the State of Pennsylvania form the vanguard of this emerging crusade, as detailed below. Such a movement away from a human-centered world toward an earth-centered planet is a paradigm shift that could have serious consequences.

Read the rest of this "wild" post here

Leg dropping elves. (Or the real meaning of Christmas)

Here's a great from one of my favorite blogs, Stuff Christians Like. Simply hilarious! Here you go:

Last year, someone gave my family an "Elf on the Shelf." If you're not familiar with it, it's essentially a small elf in a box and a book. The book tells you that you're supposed to hide the elf each night during the holiday season and let your kids find it. It's magic or a messenger of Santa or something. It was wildly popular last year and is probably continuing to sell well this Christmas too.

But as I started to think about the whole "real meaning of Christmas" debate and "is Santa bad" discussion that you almost are required by law to have if you’re a Christian blogger, I started to think about that elf. He was just sitting there with a smug look on his face perched on the fireplace mantle looming over our nativity scene below on the hearth. Instead of the traditional Santa vs. Jesus discussion, I began to imagine what would happen if that elf ever ran into the characters from the nativity scene. What would that conversation look like? I present you:

Elf on the shelf meets the characters from the nativity scene.

Wise Man 1: "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who are you?

Elf on the Shelf: "I'm the Elf on the Shelf."

Wise Man 1: "I can see that. It's right there on your box. I can read, kind of goes along with the territory. I'm a 'wise man.' But what are you doing here?"

Elf on the Shelf: "I came to spread holiday cheer and tell people about the magic of Santa Claus."
Wise Man 1: "That sentence is so wrong on so many levels I don’t even know where to begin. First of all, please help me understand what 'holiday cheer' is. Is that some sort of glitter? Like a pixy dust or giggle spray or other elf razzle dazzle?

Wise Man 2: "Slow down Myrrh man. No need to get sarcastic."

Wise Man 1: "You stay out of this Gold Guy and don't call me Myrrh man. It's 'M&M.' No one knows what Myrrh even is. I sound like some sort of under the sea creature. I knew I should have brought the gold. Everyone loves you. My gift is judged as slightly better than paprika or cinnamon. Awesome.”

Wise Man 3: "Myrrh man, Christmas is not about the gifts we give, it's first and foremost about the gift we received. Jesus Christ."

Wise Man 1: "I know I know, Frankincense Fellow, it's just that you don’t understand the pressure I'm under with the Myrrh reputation. At least your gift sounds like Frankenstein and is easy to remember. When people say my gift, they never know where to finish the word, they always just kind of trail off and say, Mryhhhhhhhh. But this isn't about me, this is about this punk elf."

Elf on the Shelf: "I'm Elf on the Shelf."

Wise Man 1: "Here you go again. There's no shelf in the nativity scene and therefore no elf. I've got some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is I'm wearing my traveling robes and won't be able to tune you up myself. The bad news is the shepherds are always up for a beat down."

Shepherd 1: "What's going on?"

Wise Man 1: "This Peter Pan looking doll over here is trying to distract us from the birth of Christ. He's trying to steal some of sweet baby Jesus' thunder."

Shepherd 2: "Oh, that's not happening on my watch. It's on like Donkey Kong."

Elf on the Shelf: "On like Donkey Kong? Isn't that violent? Can't we all just giggle and watch my Will Ferrell movie, "Elf?"

Read the rest here

The Price of Speech

The folks over at In The Public Square posted a letter to the editor of the Toledo Free Press by Crystal Dixon. She was fired from her position at the University of Toledo for this letter. Here's an excerpt:

Gay rights and wrongs: another perspective

Written by Autumn Lee | | news@toledofreepress.com

By Crystal Dixon

I read with great interest Michael Miller’s April 6 column, “Gay Rights and Wrongs.”

I respectfully submit a different perspective for Miller and Toledo Free Press readers to consider.

First, human beings, regardless of their choices in life, are of ultimate value to God and should be viewed the same by others. At the same time, one’s personal choices lead to outcomes either positive or negative.

As a Black woman who happens to be an alumnus of the University of Toledo’s Graduate School, an employee and business owner, I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are “civil rights victims.” Here’s why. I cannot wake up tomorrow and not be a Black woman. I am genetically and biologically a Black woman and very pleased to be so as my Creator intended. Daily, thousands of homosexuals make a life decision to leave the gay lifestyle evidenced by the growing population of PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex Gays) and Exodus International just to name a few. Frequently, the individuals report that the impetus to their change of heart and lifestyle was a transformative experience with God; a realization that their choice of same-sex practices wreaked havoc in their psychological and physical lives. Charlene E. Cothran, publisher of Venus Magazine, was an aggressive, strategic supporter of gay rights and a practicing lesbian for 29 years, before she renounced her sexuality and gave Jesus Christ stewardship of her life. The gay community vilified her angrily and withdrew financial support from her magazine, upon her announcement that she was leaving the lesbian lifestyle. Rev. Carla Thomas Royster, a highly respected New Jersey educator and founder and pastor of Blessed Redeemer Church in Burlington, NJ, married to husband Mark with two sons, bravely exposed her previous life as a lesbian in a tell-all book. When asked why she wrote the book, she responded “to set people free… I finally obeyed God.”

Read much more here

I Am Second - Jason Castro -

This is from the site I Am Second (www.iamsecond.com) Check out stories from others like baseball's Josh Hamilton and former Korn member Brian Welch.

German Martyrs

Here is an interesting article from TIME dated Dec. 23, 1940. It discusses Christianity and martyrdom under Hitlers Nazi regime. Here's an exerpt:

Not you, Herr Hitler, but God is my Führer. These defiant words of Pastor Martin Niemoller were echoed by millions of Germans. And Hitler raged: "It is Niemoller or I."

So this second Christmas of Hitler's war finds Niemoller and upwards of 200,000 other Christians (some estimates run as high as 800,000) behind the barbed wire of the frozen Nazi concentration camps. Here men bear mute witness that the Christ—whose birth the outside world celebrates unthinkingly at Christmas—can still inspire a living faith for which men and women even now endure im prisonment, torture and death as bravely as in centuries past.

More than 80% of the prisoners in the concentration camps are not Jews but Christians, and the best tribute to the spirit of Germany's Christians comes from a Jew and agnostic (TIME, Sept. 23) — the world's most famous scientist, Albert Einstein. Says he:

"Being a lover of freedom, when the revolution came in Germany, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but, no, the universities immediately were silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks. . . .

"Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom. I am forced thus to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly."

Read the rest here.

HT Challies.com

Should Christians Play Santa?

C. Michael Patton has an interesting post here:

Tonight we went to see my mother with my children and the subject of Christmas was naturally brought up being so close. We sang some Christmas carols to prepare for the season. While others were singing Santa and North Pole songs, I took it upon myself (playing the role of the faithful pastor) to balance our excitement with the good Christian Christmas songs. (Waiting for applause to slow down). My daughters were just wanting to sing the Santa songs. My wife asked my oldest daughter Katelynn (9yrs old now) before I started the balancing act, “What is Christmas all about”? To which she responded “Presents, candy, Christmas tree, presents [again], and Santa.” My wife looked at me with the I-am-about-to-laugh-because-I-know-how-much-trouble-she-is-going-to-be-in-from-daddy look. Then she said, “Katelynn, Christmas is about Jesus, not Santa.”

I know you THINK you know where this is going, but you don’t. At first, my reaction was the typical OK, this confirms it. We are not watching anymore Santa movies, cutting way back on the Santa fun, and not going to talk about getting presents anymore. But that never feels right. I quickly turned away from that and started singing the Santa songs with them. Why?

Find out why by reading the rest here and then tell me what you thought about Patton's comments

INDIA: CHRISTIANS IN ORISSA FEAR VIOLENT CHRISTMAS

The persecution in Orissa, India continues with this story:

NEW DELHI, December 3 (Compass Direct News) – Christians in Orissa state are anticipating Christmas with fear as Hindu extremists have called for a state-wide bandh, or forced shut-down on all sectors of society, on Dec. 25 – a move that could provide Hindu extremists the pretext for attacking anyone publicly celebrating the birth of Christ.

Last year one of the area’s worst spates of violence came during the Christmas season.

The state’s chief minister has said there should be no such shut-down but stopped short of prohibiting the Hindu extremists’ plan. The federal government has expressed its disapproval of the proposal, but the Hindu extremist umbrella organization Sangh Parivar has vowed to press ahead with the shut-down, reported newspaper Outlook India on Nov. 20.

Though such shut-downs were declared illegal by India’s Supreme Court in 1998, the president of the Laxmanananda Saraswati Condolence Society (SLSSS) sent a threatening notice to the Orissa government on Nov. 15, warning that the Hindu extremist group would impose a bandh on Christmas unless the state government arrested those who murdered Hindu leader Laxmanananda Sararawati on Aug. 23.

A Maoist group on Sept. 1 admitted killing Saraswati and four of his aides, and police on Oct. 6 confirmed that Maoists killed them, but the Hindu extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP) has continued to blame local Christians for the assassinations, stoking anti-Christian sentiment that led to a wave of violent attacks for more than two months. At least 500 people, mostly Christians, were estimated to have been killed, according to a report by a Communist Party fact-finding team, and at least 4,500 houses and churches in Orissa’s Kandhamal district were destroyed.

Ratnakar Chaini, president of the SLSSS, has demanded the release of Hindu leaders arrested in connection with the killing of Christians in the violence following the assassination of Saraswati.

In a massive rally in Delhi on Nov. 15, Chaini called for the shut-down in order to ensure “a completely peaceful Christmas.”

You can find more here.

Citigroup says gold could rise above $2,000 next year as world unravels

Here's some scary thoughts from an internal memo straight from Citigroup:

This gamble was likely to end in one of two extreme ways: with either a resurgence of inflation; or a downward spiral into depression, civil disorder, and possibly wars. Both outcomes will cause a rush for gold.

"They are throwing the kitchen sink at this," said Tom Fitzpatrick, the bank's chief technical strategist.

"The world is not going back to normal after the magnitude of what they have done. When the dust settles this will either work, and the money they have pushed into the system will feed though into an inflation shock.

"Or it will not work because too much damage has already been done, and we will see continued financial deterioration, causing further economic deterioration, with the risk of a feedback loop. We don't think this is the more likely outcome, but as each week and month passes, there is a growing danger of vicious circle as confidence erodes," he said.

"This will lead to political instability. We are already seeing countries on the periphery of Europe under severe stress. Some leaders are now at record levels of unpopularity. There is a risk of domestic unrest, starting with strikes because people are feeling disenfranchised."

"What happens if there is a meltdown in a country like Pakistan, which is a nuclear power. People react when they have their backs to the wall. We're already seeing doubts emerge about the sovereign debts of developed AAA-rated countries, which is not something you can ignore," he said.

Read the rest here

Shocking Study: Only 93% of Teens Find Themselves To Be Totally Awesome!

To everyone's surprise, today's teens have a high view of themselves. See this study to see the proof:

American parents and educators were stunned to find out this week that only a measly 93% of U.S. high school students in a recent Josephson Institute survey were “satisfied with their personal ethics and character.” This leaves a whopping 7% who apparently have fallen though the cracks of our educational system and become inexplicably burdened by their moral shortcomings.

If 7% of our kids are still experiencing bouts of low self-esteem, then where did we go wrong, America?

Over the past several years, we have bombarded our children with enough indulgent parenting and ego-boosting school programs to swell the head of the most respectable self-flagellating hermit monk. With this amount of positive reinforcement, even perpetually-defeated Eeyore would get cocky and start talking smack to Christopher Robin in the Hundred Acre Wood. . .

Read the rest here

The miracle teabag: Stem cells in a pack help stroke victim to talk again

Walt Bast, a 49 year-old mechanic from Germany suffered two strokes and agreed to have this new
surgical procedure where:

"a teabag-like sachet filled with tiny capsules, each containing around a million stem cells.The stem cells, taken from bone marrow, have been genetically engineered to make a drug that protects brain cells from dying.This lets the cells rejuvenate and repair the damage done by the stroke."

Walt has regained the use of his right arm, damaged from his stroke and also of course, his ability to speak, where he said a week after the surgery, "I feel a lucky guy."


HT The Human Future

Brain-injured at birth, treated with her own umbilical cord blood stem cells!

"Three months ago, Maia Friedlander, 4, was locked in her own world. Despite six hours of therapy a day for three years, Maia - who was born six weeks premature - struggled to talk, walk properly or even chew her food without choking.

While her twin sister, Ariel, hit all her developmental milestones about six months early, Maia did not learn to crawl till she was three."

Maia was treated at Duke in the U.S. using her own umbilical cord blood stem cells!"

HT The Human Future

In case you missed it on ESPN, there was a wild finish in Division III basketball Tuesday night between SUNY Geneseo and SUNY Oswego.

SportsCenter ranked it as the #1 Top Play on Wednesday morning.

Geneseo's Scott Morton hit a three-pointer with 17 seconds left to put his team up 83-82.

Tommy Downing answered for the Lakers at the other end and scored to put the game at 84-83, Oswego.

But what happened with only seconds left is what got the highlight on ESPN. Morton flips the ball up over his head. It goes in as time expires.

Geneseo beat Oswego 85-84.



HT 9 WSYR

Santa Christ?

Sinclair Ferguson writes about the dangers of seeing Jesus as some kind of Santa Claus. Here's an excerpt:

Santa Claus Christianity
For one thing, in our worship at Christmas we may varnish the staggering truth of the incarnation with what is visually, audibly, and aesthetically pleasing. We confuse emotional pleasure -- or worse, sentiment -- with true adoration.

For another thing, we may denigrate our Lord with a Santa Claus Christology. How sadly common it is for the church to manufacture a Jesus who is a mirror refection of Santa Claus. He becomes Santa Christ.

Santa Christ is sometimes a Pelagian Jesus. Like Santa, he simply asks us whether we have been good. More exactly, since the assumption is that we are all naturally good, Santa Christ asks us whether we have been "good enough." So just as Christmas dinner is simply the better dinner we really deserve, Jesus becomes a kind of added bonus who makes a good life even better. He is not seen as the Savior of helpless sinners.

Or Santa Christ may be a Semi-Pelagian Jesus -- a slightly more sophisticated Jesus who, Santa-like, gives gifts to those who have already done the best they could! Thus, Jesus' hand, like Santa's sack, opens only when we can give an upper-percentile answer to the none-too-weighty probe, "Have you done your best this year?" The only difference from medieval theology here is that we do not use its Latin phraseology: facere quod in se est (to do what one is capable of doing on one's own, or, in common parlance, "Heaven helps those who help themselves").

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