Posted on 12/23/2011 5:51:32 PM PST by Kaslin
Our lesson for today comes from the Gospel according to Luke. No, no, not the manger, the shepherds, the wise men, any of that stuff, but the other birth:
"But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John."
That bit of the Christmas story doesn't get a lot of attention, but it's in there Luke 1:13, part of what he'd have called the back story, if he'd been a Hollywood screenwriter rather than a physician.
Of the four gospels, only two bother with the tale of Christ's birth, and only Luke begins with the tale of two pregnancies. Zacharias is surprised by his impending paternity "for I am an old man and my wife well stricken in years."
Nonetheless, an aged, barren woman conceives and, in the sixth month of Elisabeth's pregnancy, the angel visits her cousin Mary and tells her that she, too, will conceive.
If you read Luke, the virgin birth seems a logical extension of the earlier miracle the pregnancy of an elderly lady.
The physician-author had no difficulty accepting both. For Matthew, Jesus' birth is the miracle; Luke leaves you with the impression that all birth all life is to a degree miraculous and God-given.
We now live in Elisabeth's world not just because technology has caught up with the deity and enabled women in their 50s and 60s to become mothers, but in a more basic sense.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
But if Christianity is merely a “useful” story, it’s a perfectly constructed one, beginning with the decision to establish Christ’s divinity in the miracle of His birth.
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that’s good
Good story about John the Baptist coming from Elizabeth and jumping in the womb of his mother when Elizabeth passed by Mary with Jesus in her womb..
Also good that God blessed John to dog the Romans Jewish b!tch running Palestine at the time.. He dogged him with the truth and much hyperbole..
Should we do less?..... with the Obamanoid..
Thanks Kaslin.
Should we do less?.....
Happy Birthday, Jesus!
Steyn ping!
Steyn ping!
Brilliant, as usual. Thanks for posting another very important insight from Mark Steyn.
He doesn’t mention the carnage of abortion world wide. The the USA alone, over 50 million babies, our future, have been crushed and flushed. We deserve the suffering that this sin will exact from our godless society.
Who would want to bring a baby into this world ? Saddling this child w/ debt as far into the future as can be seen, this person exits the womb into a society where the parent is losing control over education, religion and decisions of basic right or wrong are made by 9 men or women in robes who are not elected? Not every-ones decision to not have children are “me” based. Responsible people have made decisions not to bring life into this world because of the direction it is headed.
>He dogged him with the truth and much hyperbole..
I’ve noticed, on the part of “The Authorities,” that there seems to be a general idea/assumption that “if you show passion/emotion your argument is irreverent.”
Perhaps this is because Truth, with a good dose of hyperbole, utterly smashes their “appeal to self-authority.”
(Also interesting is when your appeals, made logically, are ousted based on feelings. It really seems to me that one starts “as a loser.”)
Nevertheless: The Reading today said He would turn the hearts of children toward their fathers, and the hearts of fathers toward their children. God can reorient us --- it's true, He can. And the right time to put your heart right toward God, is right now.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
>Saddling this child w/ debt as far into the future as can be seen, this person exits the womb into a society where the parent is losing control over education, religion and decisions of basic right or wrong are made by 9 men or women in robes who are not elected?
Now that you mention it; wouldn’t that be a De Facto application of involuntary servitude, which is prohibited by the Constitution?
>He doesnt mention the carnage of abortion world wide. The the USA alone, over 50 million babies, our future, have been crushed and flushed. We deserve the suffering that this sin will exact from our godless society.
Indeed we are.
2 Chronicles 7:14 — NIV
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
I wish Fox News would hire Mark Steyn as a permanent commentator.
Those babies that manage to survive the womb are sent into godless and socialist-entitlement K-12 indoctrination centers starting as young as 3 years old. Even Christians and conservatives on this site do it. In these godless schools they learn to think and reason godlessly. They must just to cooperate in the “classroom”. How could it be otherwise?
Why should God save this nation?
And there is the flaw in your argument: an assumption. The assumption is that you must turn your child over to the state.
My parents are a good counter-example (for education): I was home-schooled for all of my pre-college education, excepting one semester of High School when I was with my Grandparents helping to take care of my Great-grandparents.
The "Welfare" (and other) departments issue is kind of tricky, but the 4th Amendment has not been repealed.
I have met more than a few couples who are not signing on to this.
Indeed, but perhaps you misunderstood me: it may be that the greater act of faithfulness would be to have children especially in these times. For whose children will be the next generation, those that do not exist, or those whose were born?
The answer is obvious. And, in light of that obvious answer, the best way to impact a Nation's course is to have children and train them to walk in Righteousness (and not this puny "whatever 'the authorities' say is right" crap some churches seem to push, but) the REAL thing that's not afraid to say "This is Wrong!" and do something about it.
Now, I'm probably the worst to take such a position, as I'm near 30 and still a virgin; but still, I think it is more an act of faith to live in the world, striving for righteousness, rather than try to run away from it.
Because He has said that He will, albeit conditionally:
2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
In these godless schools they learn to think and reason godlessly.
Though not all are; I just posted, on this thread, that people (my own parents) are not surrendering their children to such places.
How could it be otherwise? (Admittedly, Taken slightly out of context.)
Because Jonah was right about God's nature:
Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at God, "God! I knew itwhen I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That's why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!"
Jonah 4: 1-2 (The Message)
Government owned and run K-12 schools are godless in their worldview and a socialist-entitlement. Please send me a link to one that is not.
If a child is to cooperate in one of these government owned and run godless and socialist indoctrination classrooms how can he not think godlessly? How would this be possible and still cooperate?
Why would God save this nation that murders babies before they take their first breath? Why would he save a nation that turns its precious children over to the priests and priestesses of Moloch? Why would he listen to the prayers of those who send their children to godless indoctrination centers for 13 or more years?
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