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“Power Made Perfect in Weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:1-10) The words that engage our attention this morning and that will bring comfort to our souls are these verses from our Epistle reading, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, where St. Paul writes: “But he [the Lord] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am...

The second comes from The Atlantic’s Emma Green. Detailing the findings of a survey conducted by her magazine and the Public Religion Research Institute, she notes that 61 percent of white working-class men view college as a “risky gamble.” Green’s report contained this explanation: “The enduring narrative of the American dream is that if you study and get a college education and work hard, you can get ahead,” said Robert P. Jones, the CEO of PRRI. “The survey shows that many white working-class Amer­icans, especially men, no longer see that path available to them. . . . It is this sense of economic fatalism,...

These photos are incredible.

The mainstream media's usual hand-wringing about President Trump's Twitter habit morphed into hyperventilation last week after he shared several "unverified" tweets about terrorism, but the director of the Central Intelligence Agency surprisingly doesn't have a problem with it. CIA Director Mike Pompeo said at a national security event in Simi Valley, California, over the weekend that Trump's tweeting has actually yielded helpful intelligence. The current CIA director sat down with former CIA director Leon Panetta and Fox News host Brett Baier for an hour of discussion on world events from a security perspective at The Reagan National Defense Forum on...

Despite Donald Trump’s controversial tenure as US President, including an investigation for an impeachable offence, Australia’s faith in its alliance with US has risen dramatically since the property magnate took office. Some 65 per cent of Australians believe in our close relationship with the US under President Trump, up from the 51 per cent who supported the alliance during the 2016 presidential election campaign that Hillary Clinton was widely tipped to win, according to a Lowy Institute poll. As many as 77 per cent of Australians believe the alliance with the United States is either “very” or “fairly” important for...

A Bench presser farts while trying to show off for his friends.

For the first time in nearly three months, Russia flew nuclear-capable “Bear” bombers near Japan, Wednesday, the latest sign of increasing tensions in the region, two US officials tell Fox News. RUSSIA: MISSILE STRIKE ON SYRIA BROKE THE LAW The officials said three Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers took off from a base in eastern Russia flying in the Sea of Japan and remained in international airspace. One U.S. official described the Russian bomber flight as “clearly meant to send a message.”

Works every time it's tried Liberal heads can start exploding in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . If you were alive and aware in the 1980s, here are some of the things you remember: Reagan wants a war. Reagan’s going to push all the buttons. Reagan has built enough nukes to destroy the world many times over, and he’s going to do it!

Vanquished Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is empowering — and also repelling — women by going makeup-free for her first speech since conceding the presidential election to Donald Trump. Some fans of the former secretary of state cheered her decision to forgo her beauty prep at the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington, DC, Wednesday night.

Trump For President

According to Cain, the Trump phenomenon can be summed up in three words: "Leadership, fighter and winner." Cain, the former Republican presidential candidate, says the "Trump phenomenon" is so powerful that black women are leaving the Democratic Party to support Trump, a current Republican presidential candidate. Cain might not be that far off base, at least according to political consultant Frank Luntz, who told the online Politico page recently that Trump has a good chance of winning the black vote should he win the Republican nomination. "If he were the Republican nominee, he would get the highest percentage of black...

Do not be upset when things don't happen in your timetable. It takes strong will to move forward and our Lord gives you the necessary strength for it daily. “My grace is sufficient for you,” he said to St. Paul in 2 Corinth. 12:9. If today you are weak, that's where His power works: in weakness.   But in weakness do not lose your hope. Instead, increase your hope because the power of God is working in your if you put your hope only on Him. Yes in weakness. That's what St. Paul says in that very verse quoted above....

One thing that frustrated even the most ardent supporters of George W. Bush's administration was his refusal to hit back hard at over the top, abominable personal attacks against him and his family, including his daughters, by those in the media and in the culture at large. Bush revered the office of the president and, unlike his successor, held it to a higher standard than did gutter snipes such as Sean Penn or the New York Times. This is why Newt Gingrich drew cheers and praise during the 2012 election cycle when he hit back at the media for its...

We're taking Larry deer hunting this weekend. After 35 years in the woods with Larry, sadly, this will be our last together. After 40 years at the same job, he finally had enough and retired this past spring. He's a mere 62 years old. He left his job on a Friday and started his new job the next Monday. Working at a local golf course. Cutting grass, doing maintenance, free lunch everyday and free golf on Mondays. He was in heaven. About three months ago, his eyesight was suddenly failing him. The eye doctor said that there was something affecting...

Let justice be done though the heavens should fall. — John Adams Doctors and scientists said that breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead. — Roger Bannister Let’s Roll. — Todd Beamer on United Airlines Flight 93 Now listen, you queer, you stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I’ll sock you in the godd@mn face and you’ll stay plastered. — William F. Buckley to Gore Vidal I came. I saw. I conquered. — Julius Caesar...

Most aggressors take stupid risks only when they feel they won't be stopped. The world seems to be falling apart. Only lunatics from North Korea or Iran once mumbled about using nuclear weapons against their supposed enemies. Now Vladimir Putin, after gobbling up the Crimea, points to his nuclear arsenal and warns the West not to “mess” with Russia. The Middle East terrorist group the Islamic State keeps beheading its captives and threatening the West. Meanwhile Obama admits to the world that we “don’t have a strategy yet” for dealing with such barbaric terrorists. Not long ago he compared them...

Seventy years ago—July 23, 1944—signs suddenly appeared at prisoner of war camps in Germany: “ESCAPE FROM PRISON CAMPS IS NO LONGER A SPORT.” Those signs meant the Gestapo had murdered 50 escapees from Stalag Luft III. A terrific film you might watch this summer, “The Great Escape” (1963), commemorates that heroic-turned-tragic adventure. Let’s review the reality, the movie, and the metaphor. The reality: A 33-year-old British air force squadron leader, Roger Bushell, organized the great escape. As “Big X” of the camp escape committee, he proposed that the prisoners dig not one but three tunnels—Tom, Dick, and Harry—so if...

July 20, 2014, will mark the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon, the first time humans had ever set foot on another part of the universe. Besides being a tremendous scientific achievement, it was also an important political statement, a battle victory for the US and the West over the Soviet Union and the Communists in the Cold War, a battle known as the Space Race. During World War II the technological leaders in rocket science were the Germans. After the war, with the Cold War underway, the US and the USSR each tried to...

I’m 58. Granted, I’m pretty beat up these days. I’ve had my share of injuries, the result of having lived a rather careless active life outdoors, on horses, motorcycles, bicycles, and the field of competition. People my age who have not spent their years in a chair have an accumulation of aches and pains, most of them earned the hard way. And for us, beat up or not, the best way to stay in the game is to train for strength. The conventional wisdom is that older people (ah, the term sticks in the craw) need to settle into a...

I'm getting old and my memory is failing so please correct me where my memory is wrong or if I'm making up memories. Also, please expand where I fall miserably short. It's my recollection that Reagan was so successful because he was a leader with a vision who promoted strength, freedom, optimism, patriotism and righteousness. And he could communicate his vision with commonsense, humility and good humor. He did not succeed by pandering, evolving and adapting. He brought various factions together by promoting the ideas that freedom was much better than socialism, strength better than weakness, fiscal restraint better than...