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For 24 hours from when the promotion went live, everyone can download my 450 page, heavily illustrated book, "Henry Livingston, Jr., The Poet You Always Loved" for FREE! So glad it worked.

The Kindle book I wrote last year about the life of Henry Livingston, Jr., identified by multiple scholars as the actual author of "Night Before Christmas", is available for free on Amazon for 24 hours starting 26 Sep 2017.

Yes, Virginia, there is an anti-Christian bias in the land. At least in the Land Down Under. Wednesday’s Daily Telegraph headline reads, “Big W Removes Christmas References from Festive Tree Products.” Yes, a major Aussie retail outlet has removed all instances of the word “Christmas” when referring to . . . “Christmas trees.” Instead, shoppers encounter labels like “Grand Pine Tree” and “White Forest Tree.” How festive. Is this a war on a particular day? I guess. The fear of offending — or, apparently, mildly discomforting — non-Christians has led many governments and businesses and organizations to downplay the whole...

The birth of Jesus Christ is the one of the most significant events in all of history and when we understand the truths regarding the true date of his birth it will thrill and inspire your heart. Tradition has made December 25th the birthday of Jesus. but the Bible clearly reveals he was not born on that day. It was not until the 4th century after Christ that December 25th began to be celebrated as the day of ChristÂ’s birth. It was the old pagan holiday celebrating the winter solstice and the birth of the sun god and celebrated when...

The shops in our tiny town at Christmas, to "Deck the Halls." The Trail Band.

I've never tried to be part of the Christmas decorations. My wife has yet to put away our Costco Nativity displays. I told her yesterday that Jesus called and is ready for his foam box nap. Her Irish wit said that if He is talking to me, I should put him away. Any help out here?

Turkey’s Association of Protestant Churches recently issued its 2016 Human Rights Violations Report, which describes in detail the problems the Protestant community experienced in Turkey last year.According to that report, Turkey’s Protestant Christians – like in previous years – did not have the right or freedom to own their own places of worship, to share their faith, to train religious leaders, or to be exempt from the Islamic “religious culture and moral knowledge classes” in schools.Moreover, the Protestant community in Turkey is not even officially recognized as a “legal entity” by the government. The association’s report said that “The legal...

January 8, 2017 The Epiphany of the Lord Reading 1 Is 60:1-6Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,the glory of the Lord shines upon you.See, darkness covers the earth,and thick clouds cover the peoples;but upon you the LORD shines,and over you appears his glory.Nations shall walk by your light,and kings by your shining radiance.Raise your eyes and look about;they all gather and come to you:your sons come from afar,and your daughters in the arms of their nurses. Then you shall be radiant at what you see,your heart shall throb and overflow,for the riches of the sea shall...

January 7, 2017 Christmas Weekday Reading 1 1 Jn 5:14-21Beloved:We have this confidence in God,that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask,we know that what we have asked him for is ours. If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly,he should pray to God and he will give him life.This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin,about which I do not say that you should pray. All...

January 6, 2017 Christmas Weekday Reading 1 1 Jn 5:5-13 Beloved:Who indeed is the victor over the worldbut the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is the one who came through water and Blood, Jesus Christ,not by water alone, but by water and Blood. The Spirit is the one who testifies,and the Spirit is truth. So there are three that testify,the Spirit, the water, and the Blood, and the three are of one accord. If we accept human testimony,the testimony of God is surely greater. Now the testimony of God is this,that he has...

January 5, 2017 Memorial of Saint John Neumann, Bishop Reading 1 1 Jn 3:11-21 Beloved:This is the message you have heard from the beginning:we should love one another,unlike Cain who belonged to the Evil Oneand slaughtered his brother. Why did he slaughter him? Because his own works were evil,and those of his brother righteous. Do not be amazed, then, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to lifebecause we love our brothers.Whoever does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer,and you know that no...

Incarnation and the First Letter of John Msgr. Charles Pope • January 3, 2017 • Åâàíãåëèñò ÈîàííIn the weekday Masses following the Christmas octave we celebrate the Word becoming flesh. We read from the First Letter of John, which emphasizes the Incarnation of Jesus and demands that we experience the Word becoming Flesh in a practical way in our own lives.Fundamentally, the Incarnation, the Second Person of the Trinity becoming flesh, means that our faith is about things that are real and tangible. As human beings, we have bodies. We have a soul that is spiritual, but it is...

January 4, 2017 Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious Reading 1 1 Jn 3:7-10 Children, let no one deceive you. The person who acts in righteousness is righteous,just as he is righteous. Whoever sins belongs to the Devil,because the Devil has sinned from the beginning. Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the Devil. No one who is begotten by God commits sin,because God's seed remains in him;he cannot sin because he is begotten by God. In this way,the children of God and the children of the Devil are made plain;no one who...

This story may be the must bemusing and illogical of 2016, and it happened as the year came to a close. Ken Ham is the Founder and CEO of Answers in Genesis and the creator of the amazing Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky. He is also a leader in the conservative evangelical community, where his work focuses on Biblical creationism and Christian apologetics. He and his team recently made the decision to use the rainbow as part of the decoration in their Ark Encounter Christmas celebration. Visit the Ark at dusk to see it illuminated with rainbow colors as a...

January 3, 2017 Christmas Weekday Reading 1 1 Jn 2:29–3:6 If you consider that God is righteous,you also know that everyone who acts in righteousnessis begotten by him. See what love the Father has bestowed on usthat we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are.The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.Beloved, we are God's children now;what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,for we shall see him as he is.Everyone who has this...

Was Muhammad really a prophet? Did he really pray with Jesus, Abraham and Moses, all of whom lived hundreds and hundreds of years before Muhammad was born? Did Muhammad really ascend into heaven from the Dome of the Rock at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, accompanied by the angel Gabriel? Perhaps the Old Gray Lady simply fears for her life and does not want her shiny glass louvered building off Times Square reduced to rubble. You remember — “Je suis Charlie” and all that? Perhaps The New York Times believes it is wrong to question the teachings of Islam, especially...

The above photos say everything: Countries with virtually no Muslim immigration can celebrate Christmas in peace, while West Europe needs to deploy heavily armed police to protect Christmas. Selling homes in Poland and other East European countries — especially to Swedes, Germans and Fr[ench] — will become big business very soon. And if you haven’t noticed: It is no longer a shame to say publicly — at lunch at work, at Christmas dinners with family or friends, at Facebook — that “I think that Islam is a danger to our freedom and safety”… “I think we should stop Muslim immigration”...

Thought you all might enjoy Larry's take on political correctness at Christmas time- Very funny stuff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6VfWh1atU4

A Florida pitbull freaked out on its family, hospitalizing two of them, when they attempted to put a Christmas sweater on him. The dog, named Scarface, attacked its owner Brenda Guerrero when she went to put the garment on him and then bit her husband, Ismael Guerrero when he struggled to wrestle the angry dog off of his wife, WFTS reported. The Guerrero’s adult son Antoine Harris was next to attempt a rescue by stabbing Scarface in the head with a knife, but he too was attacked. All three family members ran into the home and left the dog in...

January 2, 2017 Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church Reading 1 1 Jn 2:22-28 Beloved:Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist. Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father,but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well. Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you,then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise...