Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian’s Blog

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Luke 2:1-7 (New International Version)

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
” ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.  He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”
Matthew 2:1-12 (New International Version)

“What an amazing thing…That the very creator of this universe would humble himself to be born in such meager circumstances.”
-Doug Westbrook, Artist of “The Nativity - A Bible Story Mural”

See Mr. Westbrook’s Bible Story Murals here.

If your church is looking for a unique way to bring the Word of God to it’s children and young people, take a look at Doug Westbrook’s Bible Story Murals. Each wall sized mural is based on the hand painted originals Mr. Westbrook painted at Central Baptist Church in Houston, Texas and represents a different well known Bible story.
They are available on durable vinyl wallpaper for easy installation.

No surprise here.

A new survey commissioned by a media watchdog group claims the news and entertainment media are damaging the nation’s moral values.

The Culture and Media Institute (CMI) has published a report called “The Media Assault on American Values: The conflict between the media, personal responsibility, and respect for religion.” The report finds that 68 percent of Americans say the media have a negative impact on moral values in this country. In addition, 73 percent say the entertainment industry is having a negative impact.

At an event in Washington to unveil the report, CMI director Bob Knight argued the more a person watches television, the less likely he is to accept personal responsibility for his actions. “We believe that the figures show clearly that the more TV you watch, the more you want to depend on the government,” Knight explained.

“The people who are heavy TV viewers, by 63 percent, think government should be primarily responsible for our healthcare,” he continued. “Sixty-four percent believe government should be primarily responsible for retirement. That’s a good deal higher than the light TV viewers and the overall findings.”

According to the report, “heavy television viewers” watch four or more hours each evening; “light” viewers, one hour or less.

The report also shows the more a person watches TV, the less likely he is to value religious principles and obedience to God. “So there’s something happening out there,” Knight commented. “If you watch a lot of TV, you think maybe your problems are someone else’s problems.”

“The Media Assault on American Values” report is available online at the CMI website [PDF].

Original Link.

I couldn’t make this point any better.

Now before you start blaming the oil companies, keep in mind that environmental laws have kept them from building any new refineries in the country for 30 years.
Hummm…keep the air clear by not building domestic refineries, or take into account the fuel burned overseas to refine the oil and then ship it to us.
Who’s really being “green” here?

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What a relief. But Republicans are going to continue to push this junk legislation. They just don’t have a clue what their base wants. Not even the slightest clue.

WASHINGTON — A widely-criticized immigration reform bill died on a procedural motion in the Senate on Thursday night, but key negotiators are suggesting that it may live to see another day.

Republican Sens. Arlen Specter, Jon Kyl, Lindsey Graham and Mel Martinez were all upbeat after a vote to end debate failed 45-50, failing to reach the 60-vote threshold to move toward final passage.

Despite the fact that it was primarily Republicans who voted against the maneuver, all the GOP lawmakers who spoke with FOX News were upbeat that the legislation could be revived soon — even within a matter of weeks, with one negotiator noting that last year’s bill was first pulled from the floor by then-Majority Leader Bill Frist before it was brought back up again and passed.

Graham said he talked extensively with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and is confident the bill will return for senators to take another crack at developing a comprehensive plan to legalize millions of foreigners living unlawfully in the United States.

“I know where the votes are for final passage. … We’re going to get this done,” Graham said, adding that the topic is not going to go away. “All I can say is, if you name a post office, you’re going to be talking about immigration.”

“There are ways we can do this,” Reid said later. “There can be an agreement on the number of amendments. Hopefully we can do that in the next several weeks. We’re very close.”

Reid said support for the bill exists across the country despite repeated polls showing growing opposition to the thrust of the bill and many of its specifics — particularly on the issues of legalization for illegals here now, a guest worker program and chain migration.

Original Link.

Yesterday I mentioned that Paris Hilton was released from jail, after serving only 3 days of her already abbreviated 23 day sentence , to suffer through the rest of it at her $2 million West Hollywood home.
Now it seems that the judge who sent to jail has called her into court to determine if the sheriff’s department had the authority to send her home, especially after he had specifically prohibited her from being under house arrest.

LOS ANGELES — Paris Hilton’s release from jail may not last.

Hours after she was sent home under house arrest Thursday for an undisclosed medical condition, the judge who put her in jail for violating her reckless-driving probation ordered her into court to decide if she should go back behind bars.

Hilton must report to court at 9 a.m. Friday, Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini told The Associated Press.

The celebrity inmate was sent home from the Los Angeles County jail’s Lynwood lockup shortly after 2 a.m. in a stunning reduction to her original 45-day sentence. She had reported to jail Sunday night after attending the MTV Movie Awards.

She was ordered to finish her sentence under house arrest, meaning she could not leave her four-bedroom, three-bath home in the Hollywood Hills until next month.

City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said he learned of her release the same way as almost everyone else — through news reports.

Then, late Thursday, he filed a petition questioning whether Sheriff Lee Baca should be held in contempt of court for releasing Hilton — and demanding that she be held in custody. Soon after that, Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer decided to haul Hilton back to the courtroom.

“It is the city attorney’s position that the decision on whether or not Ms. Hilton should be released early and placed on electronic monitoring should be made by Judge Sauer and not the Sheriff’s Department,” said Jeffrey Isaacs of the city attorney’s office.

Sauer himself had expressed his unhappiness with Hilton’s release. When he sentenced Hilton to jail last month, he ruled specifically that she could not serve her sentence at home under electronic monitoring.

Original Link.