Reflections on Christmas

I love Christmas. As a youngster, it was about presents and eating. (OK, I still like presents and LOVE to eat) but as I have matured, I am reminded of the significance of this time of the year.

This is CHRISTMAS season, not holiday, X-Mas, Yule, etc. Whatever pagan origins many of our traditions came from, our God is the creator of the universe. It was God the one true God who created items (trees, Yule logs, rituals etc) others may have used. Whatever paganism may have perverted, we can easily Christianize traditions and rescue them from the dark and superstitious errors of paganism.

With that said, why celebrate Christmas? Most importantly, we celebrate the birth of Christ. I will discus Christ later. (Saving the best for last.)

I also reflect on the faith of those seeking Him. I think of Mary. This girl was no more than thirteen or fourteen when God chose her to bring the Savior into the world. When given the Divine Decree, she humbled herself before God, calling Him her savior. Compare the Biblical Mary to the Mary invented by the Catholic church giving attributes to her not found in Scripture. These myths include her conception without Original Sin (Immaculate Conception), her bodily assumption into heaven upon her death(Glorious Assumption), prayers to her (Rosary) her interceding with Christ on our behalf, and unbiblical titles given to her such as co Redeemer, Queen of Heaven, Full of Graces, etc.

I think of Joseph who was given the responsibility of raising the God Man as his own. What must have he thought when he first discovered Mary was with child? The Bible tells us he was about to divorce her when an angel told him not to. Joseph submitted to God, acting in faith, steeping up to the plate to fulfill his duty God gave him. Would that more men would follow the example of this Godly man when raising their children.

We have the story of Simenon the priest and Anna the prophetess. Both waiting and rejoicing when Jesus was born.

Let us not forget the shepherds, outcasts in society who were given the privilege of worshipping the King.

Last of all, I think of the Wise Men. No doubt these men's ancestors heard the story of the coming Christ and believed. A commentary I have says it's possible Daniel was the one who gave the news to these gentiles. They in turn passed it down to their descendants. Luke tells us when they saw Christ laying in the manger, they worshipped him and gave gifts to Mary.

How can we not get excited about this time of year? Rich with theological truth, Christmas tells us of our sins and God's gracious sacrifice for us. As we reflect on this time of year, I'm reminded that because of the price Christ paid, I, my wife, daughter, and all those who have trusted in Him have everlasting life. I will see my mother again because of the debt Christ has paid. Scripture tells us not only did Christ die for our sins, but he will come again to execute judgment and those who trust in Him will reign with him.

Let us as Christians celebrate these truths not only during the Christmas season, but all year long.

Another lawsuit dismissed

Another lawsuit attempting to thwart the will of the people has been dismissed. You can read the story here. http://www.tulsabeacon.com/Story.php?id=142 I'm sure the Professional Victims, who probably have deep pockets, will try again soon. All we can do is wait and see.

Merry Christmas

It's a day late, but Merry Christmas. Remember, Jesus is the reason for the season.

The Odyssey

Now that the power is back on at my house, I can tell you all where we stayed the almost eight days we were living out of suitcases.

WW and I both had to be at work Wednesday so we made arrangements with two friends, one kept our three dogs, and the other loaned us his house. The first night at Tom's his heater needed to be repaired so we slept in his house without any heat whatsoever. I wasn't even able to use my CPAP because the air, even with my CPAP's heater cranked up almost full blast, was so cold it felt like I was breathing ice daggers. Also, condensation built up in the hose (this is called rainout) because my breathing was warm, the air inside the house was cold, causing water buildup. When I'd breath in, it sounded like a soda can filled with pennies, making sleep all but impossible. The good news was Tom had the heater repaired so we had heat the remainder of our stay

Even though the outage was frustrating and I will have to replace all my refrigerated food, I have a lot to be thankful for. While staying at Tom's, the only exception the first night without heat, we had adequate warmth. We even had the house to ourselves since Tom was out of town. It wasn't lost on me that during the entire outage, not once did we have to stay somewhere without power. I thank the generosity of my family and friends for this. Heck, we even had a place lined up Tuesday night in case our power was still out. I also didn't have to worry about my dogs as they were taken care of . As for my food? ALL of it can easily be replaced. WW, myself and WD all came through this without harm.

About the dogs? All three were very happy to see WW when she picked them up and were more than ready to go home.

I can honestly say God did provide for our needs, even though much of the time, I was a little too frustrated to see his handiwork.

Boy if that ain't an example of His grace (continuing to provide for us even though we were frustrated and sometimes didn't see Him in all this) I don't know what is.

Back on the Grid

After seven days and eighteen hours without power we're back!!!!!

We came home from work to check the house and found the porch light on; a neighbor confirmed power was restored around 2:30 this afternoon.

WW and I started getting things back to normal; I cleared out all the food in the fridge and both freezers, she went and got our stuff from the friend's house where we were staying waiting out the power outage.

I called PSO and we were supposed to be back on by 10 PM Tuesday. Thank you PSO restoring our power over a day early. Thank you also for the quick response in getting our city's power back on.

FYI, I just heard less than 25,00 in Tulsa are still without power. That's down from 300,000 in Tulsa when the ice storms hit.

Winter Wonderland Part II

After going to the motel lobby for breakfast, I noticed several groups wanting rooms due to the power outage. After reserving our room for a second night we headed out to run errands and take care of our dogs. Once home, we saw the extant of the damage on our street. One branch was in our yard and there was so much debris in our driveway we had to park along the side of the curb. Our next door neighbor had several tree limbs in both his front and back yard.

Once finished with our errands, we went and got food from a store near our motel room. When we got there, we found the power was completely out so I went downstairs to get our money back. The attendant would not give me cash telling me "when power is restored he will put the charges back on my credit card. " (Don't get me started) WW and I spent the next hour or two looking for a place to stay with no luck. I finally decided we'd head to my father's house in Cherokee County where we are now.

Both WW and I have tried to call our offices to find out if they were opened tomorrow (Both were closed today) we discovered the phone lines have been down for some time.

I'm thankful we have a place with electricity but I'll be glad when the power to our house is back on. God only knows if I will be able to salvage any of our foodstuffs in the fridge and deep freezer.

P.S. Our three dogs are fine; they are at a friend's house who has heat.

Winter Wonderland

Here in Tulsa, we're in the middle of a large ice storm. I got up, and, after arriving at church discovered services were cancelled due to power outages. WW and I were hoping we'd get lucky and not lose power, but around 8:30, the lights went out and we spent the next half hour packing by candle light. As of this posting we've checked into a Howard Johson waiting for our power to come back on. Earlier WW learned her office was closed. I won't be surprised if mine is too. We both work in the same building but different companies in Owasso. I doube I'll be in tomorrow.

Nothing to do now but wait.

I've never blogged from a Motel room, first time for everything.

Moral Troubles

Our Attorney General is having a crisis of conscience.

"It was my obligation to defend this. I only have to argue the legality of it. I’m very grateful I do not have to argue the morality of it.” http://www.examiner-enterprise.com/articles/2007/12/04/news/state/news843.txt and http://www.kswo.com/Global/story.asp?S=7447219 Being the inquisitive young man that I am I ask our AG.....

Why the sudden crisis of conscience?

Oklahoma didn't see this new conviction when the AG's office threatened legal action against the Boy Scouts. Their crime? Their organization felt it would not be good allowing gay men in their ranks leading young boys. Our AG, seemed to think otherwise.

There was no moral outrage from the AG regarding legal reform. Our leaders tried to pass sensible reform but Brad (Trial Lawyer) Henry, with the AG holding his hand vetoed the measure. I smell a (Trial Lawyer) rat.

Where was the AG when prosecutors tried for years to put Gene Stipes behind bars for his criminal activities? Even now, any progress is no thanks to Edmondson's office. He has been strangely quiet over this entire affair. For the People's Prosecutor, this is disturbing.

Where was Mr. Edmondson's moral compass when a conservative political activist was arrested and jailed Nazi style? Why? Because he supports a Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Here are the articles http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/204728-edmondson-wants-activists-jailed-over-ballot-signatures and http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/204861-activist-expects-ham-sandwich-justice-from-okla.-ag

And why does the Attorney General have no trouble elevating one crime victim over another because of skin color or other Politically Correct criteria? FYI, I am disabled and am probably a "protected class" person and I find the whole idea of "hate crimes" sickening. Check out this op ed. http://newsok.com/article/3177547/1196906427

It appears Mr. Edmondson's scruples are selective at best.

Or are these "morals" reserved only for causes the Attorney General agrees with?

Hopefully the citizens of Oklahoma will wake up and see Mr. Edmondson's true colors and, come next election, send him packing.

Pandering to Fear

Did you know if you support 1804, not only are you in favor of ruining our states economy but you are also a racist?

That is according to Senator Harry Coats. KFAQ has the story. http://1170kfaq.com/artman/publish/article_15329.shtml I'll take the two issues and address one at a time.

Citing the hardships (read loss of cheap labor) on the construction industry Senator Coats, who himself is a construction consultant, wants to water down 1804. If we don't he alleges, it will cause an unprecedented state wide depression. I have some questions for Senator Coats and his ilk. Why must we the tax payers support illegals through education, social services and free medical care so the business owners can make a buck? Why, dear Senator, are you so intent on screwing the rest of us so your buddies can line their pockets? Why did the construction companies hire illegals to begin with? Why should we feel sorry for lawbreakers? Could it be you and your kind don't care about the cost of financing illegal aliens? Do you not care about the consequences to taxpayers or the exploitation of illegals? Is it simple GREED that is causing you to dislike enforcing the law?

The senator went a step further calling senator Terrill and others who support 1804 "racist". So now the construction consultant turned (RINO) senator is dealing out the race card? Who first mentioned race Senator Coats? I don't remember hearing it from 1804 supporters. If I remember, it was YOU who first used the R-word. Dear Senator, allow me to explain something. We law abiding taxpayers are sick and tired of subsidizing illegals so you can keep your cheap labor force. We are tired of seeing our border unprotected and the Federal (and those like you in the State) government do nothing to solve the problem. Black, brown, white, purple, green, Tye dye, it doesn't matter. If you are illegal, you need to go back and play by the rules PERIOD.

Creating an atmosphere of fear is something I'd expect from Democrats, not us Republicans. No Senator, nobody is racist, nobody that has any compassion wants to deny ANYBODY life saving medical treatment, despite your statements to the contrary. What we want is enforcement of our laws and those that break them (including your business buddies) held accountable.

Is cheap and exploitable labor that important Senator?

If In Doubt, Raise Taxes

What is the solution to all our city's ills? Why raise taxes of course. The Blue Ribbon Roads panel, or whatever they're calling themselves proposed this solution.

We should not be surprised.

I know our roads need fixed, and MAYBE, due to mismanagement, the only recourse is a tax increase; but why is it the only solution to EVERY problem is to raise taxes? Why don't city leaders (of both parties) look at a tax increase as the LAST resort instead of the FIRST?

IF, and I mean IF a tax increase is the only solution, we citizens deserve an answer and those responsible (if they can be) should be held accountable.

For example, Why did KIT and her yes councilors vote to spend millions of dollars moving City Hall? Why did same city leaders side with Chairman Miller and friends in raising taxes (or tried anyway) for "river development" but ignore our roads? Why in the world do we have an arena downtown but no attention given to our streets? Before you blame the county, don't forget it was Mayor Misfortune and other city leaders who were kissing up to the county. (Remember the Billy Bob team?)

Other examples can and should be raised but I've made my point.

I'll say it again, before taxes are to be raised, our leaders need to take a look at the budget. In other words, treat our tax dollars like they are spending THEIR money instead of ours.

IT'S OVER!!!!!

The dinner theater production that is.

I've really enjoyed participating but WW and I are glad to be getting our lives back!

Who knows, maybe we'll participate next time?

Justice Denied Part II

UPDATE: According to the NBC news article in previous post, the Saudi Government will review the conviction and prison/lash sentence of the rape victim.

How does one go from rape victim to convicted criminal? Saudi Arabia is an Islamic state with a strict interpretation of the Koran. According to this interpretation, it is immoral for women to be out in public with another man not their husband or male relative. Since the laws of the Koran (Sharia law) are also the laws of the state, the rape victim was a lawbreaker. When the sentence of ninety lashes and prison were handed down it was appealed. On appeal (judges can do this in SA) the punishment went from ninety to two hundred lashes and prison

Justice Denied

A sickening event from our Mid East "ally"

A Saudi Arabian woman gang raped by seven men was sentenced to six months prison and two hundred lashes for "being alone with a man not related to her" The sentence was issued on appeal. I guess the judge didn't think the ninety some lashes handed down at trial was harsh enough.

The seven men were only convicted of kidnapping but not rape which could land the men the death penalty.

Here is an article and video from NBC's web site. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22006417/

And another article from the Associated Press: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5itRFLIdKb8OnJpiQRpQl1tHq0oGAD8T8U0UO0

Seeing all courts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are Islamic Courts, I guess this is yet another demonstration of the"peaceful" tenants of this religion.

Opening Night

Last night was the opening night of our church drama "The Christmas You've Always Dreamed of." Overall, the play went very well and from what I saw of the audience, they enjoyed both the dinner and performance.

I've enjoyed helping and participating in the play (I have one scene and a whopping one line) Although I wasn't happy about many of the late night rehearsals, I'm thankful God used this event to move me out of my comfort zone. This was a much needed spiritual lesson. Many times God may want his children to serve where they may not feel qualified. In ourselves, we are unable to accomplish His will, through Him, however, all things are possible. This is what Paul meant in Phillipans 4:13, "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me."

I'm also thankful my daughter is able to participate in the production. She is one of the Christmas Tree dancers. She told me she has enjoyed performing for the church and is looking forward to participating in the future. She is also looking forward to her mother coming tonight for the second nights performance.

I pray many lives will be touched and those who usually are not in an area to hear the Gospel will be changed by God's grace. All glory goes to God in this production.