The Top 5 (Plus) (January 11)

1)  "Andrew Breitbart, Mark Zuckerberg and the Two-Way Politics-Culture Street" (Josh Hammer, Jewish World Review)

From the article -- Breitbart, a native Angeleno who frequently inveighed against the fetid rot in his nearby Hollywood, was a culture warrior to his core. He correctly observed — and lamented — the immense power that comes with left-wing dominance of Hollywood, Silicon Valley, the academy and sundry other formative civil society institutions. The message of the Breitbart Doctrine was simple: Win the culture, and you win the war. If you control America's key opinion-sculpting institutions, then you will eventually control opinion itself. And that, in turn, will inevitably translate into victory at the ballot box.

In all this, the sage of Brentwood was correct. But what if the Breitbart Doctrine wasn't actually complete? What if it was missing half the picture? While politics is downstream of culture, it ought to be self-evident that culture is also downstream of politics. For millennia, Western rulers have understood that political (and judicial) power and rhetoric can, and do, affect the culture and the ways that people think.

2) "American Free Speech vs. European Censorship" (Drieu Godefridi, Gatestone Institute)

From the article -- But then, you might ask, why can't the two concepts of expression -- free in the USA, censored in Europe -- coexist, each in its own way, on our respective continents?

The problem is that the European Union has an imperialist conception of its regulation. The EU does not regulate Europe; it seems to think it regulates the world. True to the rich German and French legal traditions, the EU sees itself as a kind of legislative model for the planet. Not only is the EU taking the initiative to regulate sectors that were not regulated before, it also seems to expect the rest of the world to follow suit.

Better -- or worse, depending on your point of view -- the EU is backing up its global regulations with sanctions no less global. Apple was recently hit with a landmark $2 billion EU antitrust fine. Breaches of the Digital Services Act (DSA) are punishable by penalties calculated as a percentage of revenues -- not profits -- received by the company concerned not just in Europe, but all over the world. In the case of companies such as Meta (Facebook) or X, we are talking about EU fines running into billions of dollars. Since they seem not to be able to innovate -- anyhow, they haven't -- they tax Americans, who have.

3) "The Biggest Peacetime Crime -- and Cover-up -- in British History: The serial rape of thousands of English girls went on for many years. Few in power cared. Then Elon Musk started tweeting." (Dominic Green, The Free Press)

From the article -- Britain now stands shamed before the world. The public’s suppressed wrath is bubbling to the surface in petitions, calls for a public inquiry, and demands for accountability. The scandal is already reshaping British politics. It’s not just about the heinous nature of the crimes. It’s that every level of the British system is implicated in the cover-up.

4) Video -- Victor Davis Hanson cuts through the leftist spin on the horrific southern California fires. (My note -- Guys, we need to do what we can to communicate these critical truths to our friends and family who are going to hear only the Democrat excuses, spins, and misdirections from the old guard media.)

See also -- "How the Los Angeles Fires Became So Devastating: A climate scientist explains the causes and offers potential ways to reduce future risk." (Patrick Brown, City Journal)

5) "Carter Hagiographers Are 100% Wrong" (David Strom, Hot Air)

From the article -- I appreciate the impulse to not speak ill of the dead--and I am not going spend a piece ranting about just how awful Carter was. As a man, he was probably above average for a politician, but as a president, he was every bit as awful as people remember and even more than most seem to think. 

Carter's domestic record will garner the most negative attention and his foreign policy the least. This has his legacy exactly backward. Domestically, Carter was dealt a bad hand, and he played it poorly, but later in his term, he made moves that freed some parts of the economy. That is about as nice a thing as I can say about him...

But on the international stage, Carter was nothing short of a disaster. His defenders will point to the Camp David Accords--which no doubt helped stabilize Israeli-Egyptian relations--but they soft-pedal his real legacy: an Iran that for nearly 50 years has been exporting terror and destabilizing the Middle East and the world. 

The current chaos in the Middle East is Jimmy Carter's legacy most of all. The Iran-Iraq war? He did that. Hamas? Thank Carter. The Houthis? Carter. Hezbollah? Jimmy did that, too. 

See also -- "The Under- and Over-Estimated Jimmy Carter, RIP" (Steven Hayward, Power Line)

6) "Trump and the Panama Canal: Why He Should Invoke the Monroe Doctrine" (John Too, Civitas Institute)

From the article -- Trump clearly intended to do more than merely complain about the fee structure that Panama imposes on US shippers. He was undoubtedly aiming at China, which in recent years has sought to fashion a hold on the Canal – a scenario that Trump regards as a disturbing threat to US national security. Indeed, Trump’s warning may have carried an even deeper message, implicitly suggesting that his Administration would consider reviving the Monroe Doctrine. In short, Trump’s statements may convey powerful signals about his overall strategic intentions, both in this hemisphere and globally.

7) "Remember The Snail Darter? It Was Never Real" (David Strom, Hot Air)

From the article -- As with all such construction projects, the Tellico Dam was controversial. A lot of people didn't want it built, but they had few tools to stop it. Political support for its construction was substantial--Congress eventually passed a law specifically to enable its construction. However, the opposition found a new tool in their toolbox with the passage of the Environmental Protection Act. Conveniently, during its construction, a local zoologist "discovered" a new species of darter fish, which he dubbed the "Snail Darter," which the EPA rapidly declared a protected species. 

And voila!, the lawsuits began, and construction of the dam was stalled...Congress did eventually pass legislation that allowed the construction to move forward, but the whole fiasco meant increased costs, massive delays, and the ignition of a political firestorm over the Environmental Protection Act. Did it go too far? Well, certainly, in this case, it did. There is no such thing as a snail darter. It was a convenient fiction. 

Think of this as the equivalent of the New York case against Trump, which turned a (if you stretch it) single misdemeanor committed many years ago into 34 felonies through legal maneuvering and facts created out of thin air. The desired result was specified, and a case was built to get that result regardless of whether the facts supported the conclusion. 

An Unforgettable NFA Breakfast

Claire and I enjoyed a very inspiring morning down in Lincoln where we were blessed to attend the Nebraska Family Alliance breakfast with their very special guests being the 6 N.U. athletes whose late-minute pro-life TV ad was so profoundly valuable to the defeat of Amendment 439, the abortion extremists’ effort to enshrine unlimited abortion into the state constitution. Indeed, the testimonies of these noble, courageous young women was a momentous and memorable treasure to all of us in that large audience. Thank you, ladies. You were terrific! And thank you NFA for a most stimulating program.

Also noteworthy was that the audience this morning included more than half of the state senators of the Unicameral which started its session earlier this week. We were pleased to get better acquainted with to two of those senators who sat at our table -- Beau Ballard from District 21 (northwest Lincoln) and Stan Clouse, Kearney’s former Mayor who is beginning his first term in the Unicameral for District 37. Also at our table were Gary & Sue Bunjer, longtime friends and colleagues, especially in our mutual involvement with Assure Women’s Center.

Why A Pro-Life Witness Outside Abortion Businesses?

Claire and I and many of our close friends have participated in a peaceful, prayerful pro-life witness and sidewalk counseling outside abortion mills for over 40 years. Here are 5 quick reasons why.

1) The presence of peaceful, prayerful pro-life advocates outside an abortion clinic has a profound and ongoing effect on those with abortion appointments, on the abortionist and his/her employees, on the people walking or driving by the business.  It provides effective (and memorable) messages regarding the wrongness of abortion, the availability of alternatives, and the offer of forgiveness of abortion sins through the mercy of Christ’s gospel. 

2) A pro-life witness outside an abortion business means that men and women -- even those who ultimately decide to commit the abortion -- will forever remember that someone was there to plead with them, “No, don’t do this. Please let us help you and your baby.”  They will retain in the memory of their abortion experience that someone was standing up for their child…and for the mother herself -- for her spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being. Such memories provide a persuasive incentive for repentance, to seek forgiveness and healing from the God Who delivered His Son to die for mankind’s sins.

3) Being regularly at an abortion clinic and coming face to face with the persons availing themselves of the demonic opportunities for child sacrifice fuels, as nothing else can, one’s commitment to fight against abortion on all other fronts. Political action?  Spiritual intercession?  Crisis pregnancy work?  Pro-life education?  Chastity campaigns?  Efforts to de-fund Planned Parenthood?  Medical ministries? Use of the arts to rebuild a culture of life, love, and justice? 

All of these (and more) are profoundly stimulated by a person’s being there at the very doors of death, being regularly reminded by just what the stakes are in this fight.

4) Pro-lifers outside abortion mills save lives by dissuading people from aborting their children...even when they are not aware of their impact. For instance, a winsome pro-life witness challenges the consciences of would-be abortion clients, oftentimes encouraging them to forego their appointment and drive on home. Even clients inside the place will sometimes change their minds and leave.  And, of course, among the dozens or hundreds or thousands who drive by and see peaceful protestors who carry beautiful pictures of babies and signs with such kindhearted messages as “Choose Life,” “Mother and Child: Love Them Both,” and “Life: What a Beautiful Choice,” there will be countless numbers of people who will be moved to reconsider their opinions on abortion. Do you not expect that the Lord carefully tends those seeds of truth thus sown? Do you doubt that people will take what they’ve seen and heard into future meditations, conversations, and especially, abortion temptations? Oh yes; the presence of pro-life advocates outside a place where preborn boys and girls are barbarically destroyed will provide illumination and spiritual conviction that goes far beyond what we can imagine.

5) Because my honor as a Christian is at stake.  Where such brazen, violent injustice is occurring, how can I refuse the opportunity to testify against it?  Think about it -- what does it mean to the reputation of the Church (not to mention her sense of moral priority) if children are brutally murdered in our neighborhoods without us even raising our voices in principled protest?  How much is our evangelism and discipleship tarnished and weakened if we do not take seriously such charges as Jeremiah 22:3 and Isaiah 1:16-17: “Thus says the LORD, ‘Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place.’” And “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Reprove the ruthless. Defend the orphan. Plead for the widow.”

Fewer and fewer American Christians bother nowadays to go in front of abortion mills to pray and give pro-life witness. That is an ominous warning of how far we have been cowed by the world around us.  We have become indifferent, callous, distracted, and wimpy. Nevertheless, the grace of God remains available to us all -- grace that forgives and cleanses, grace that yields wisdom and strength, grace that yet can bring personal and cultural revolution.

Our marching orders are quite clear. We read them in the Scriptures already listed. And we read them in many others, like Psalm 82:3,4: “Vindicate the weak and fatherless. Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.  Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.” And Proverbs 24: 11,12: “Deliver those who are being taken away to death, and those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back.” And James 1:27: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Giving public witness to the sanctity of life in this darkened and depraved culture is certainly not an easy thing.  But it remains extremely high in the values expressed by our Lord. And that’s why we do it...and why, by the grace of God, we will continue to do it. 

Wanna’ come along and join us?

Who Will Speak Up for the Unborn Child?

This afternoon Pastor Doug Russell from Herman Community Church sent over a link to "Who Will?", a 1989 recording by DeGarmo & Key. Though a veteran pro-life activist for more than 40 years, I had never heard this song. But  boy, I'm delighted I finally got round to it. Thank you, Doug, for your VERY encouraging remarks and for sharing this inspirational song. I couldn't help but do the same.

   

It's in his image they're created

Each one a precious gift of life

How can we steal away their future?

What gives us the power? What gives us the right?

Who will stand up for the children?

Who will fight the battle for them?

Who will speak up for the unborn child?

They long for life with every heartbeat

They speak with tiny hands and feet

But who will help our nation hear them?

It is up to you and it is up to me

Who will stand up for the children?

Who will fight the battle for them?

Who will speak up for the unborn child?

Who is gonna be the voice

For those who have no say or choice?

My heart tells me what I must do

It is up to me and it is up to you

Who will? (we will)

Who will? (we will, we will)

Who will speak up for the unborn child?

Who will? (we will)

Who will? (we will, we will)

Who will speak up for the unborn child?

Who will stand up for the children? (we will)

Who will fight the battle for them? (we will, we will)

Who will speak up for the unborn child?

How Present Scientific Knowledge Makes Darwinism Laughable

According to Richard Milton, who wrote Shattering The Myths of Darwinism, the chances of forming protein and self-replicating DNA randomly are as likely as 'winning the state lottery by finding the winning ticket in the street, and then continuing to win the lottery every week for a thousand years by finding the winning ticket in the street each time' (in other terms, one chance in 10 to the 65th power).

The human body develops from an ovum the size of a dot, yet this speck of biological material contains vast encyclopedias of information — huge dictionaries defining every molecule and convoluted recipes to make every chemical moiety, or component. Conception sets in motion domino-like changes in this speck so that it becomes a human being — a multitrillion cell organism with 200 different kinds of cells that make five million different proteins...

(Geoffrey Simmons, What Darwin Didn't Know: A Doctor Dissects the Theory of Evolution)

Manifest the Life of Jesus! Happy Epiphany!

The holiday that is Epiphany (January 6) highlights and celebrates the public manifestations of Jesus as Messiah, as the Divine King of the Israel, as the long-promised Light to the Gentiles. The primary historical events thus celebrated are the first manifestation of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles (the Magi from the East acknowledging Jesus’ divine royalty with their worship), the manifestation of Jesus as the Son of God (the Almighty Father’s blessing on Jesus at His baptism by John), and the manifestation of His miracle-working credentials as the long-awaited Messiah (turning water into wine at the marriage at Cana). The word itself, by the way, derives from the Greek epiphainein and can be translated manifestation, revelation, appearance, and to shine. It is used in in 2 Timothy 1:10; 2 Timothy 4:1,8; Titus 2:11,13; 1 Timothy 6:14; and a couple other passages

The earliest reference to Epiphany is in 361, when Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus wrote about it as an established observance, marking it, along with Christmas and Easter, as one of the 3 major “holy days” in the early Church. And for many Christians in the world, Epiphany remains a major event...including us! Now the ways that Claire and I celebrate Epiphany Eve and Epiphany are different from Christians in Eastern Europe, Russia, Greece, Ethiopia, and elsewhere. We do not, for instance, chalk doorways, go in for public processionals, tuck gifts away in children’s shoes, or escort a replica of the Ark of the Covenant to a lake! But we have, like many Christians of the East, served to our guests fancy pastries and a King’s Cake, sung carols together, and shared prayers and blessings for the New Year. Meaningful traditions of our own devising have included putting away the figures of our main nativity scene (with each guest giving a quick devotional relevant to that character), sharing a resolution or two about the new year, and listening to Dylan Thomas’ own reading of his masterful poem, “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.”  We have found these things personally inspiring as well as effective in stimulating others. Happy Epiphany!

The Top 5 (January 4)

* "The Under- and Over-Estimated Jimmy Carter, RIP" (Stephen Hayward, Power Line)

From the article -- Carter presents layer upon layer of difficulty to untangle. Carter’s one-time speechwriter Patrick Anderson observed that in Carter’s hometown of Plains, Georgia, neighbors said of him that after an hour you love him, after a week you hate him, and after ten years you start to understand him.  (Anderson added that anyone who didn’t have a personality conflict with Carter, didn’t have a personality.)  Anderson also described him as a combination of Machiavelli and Mr. Rogers.  The Washington Post’s Sally Quinn observed: “The conventional image of a sexy man is one who is hard on the outside and soft on the inside.  Carter is just the opposite.”  Fellow Southern Baptist Bill Moyers said “In a ruthless business, Mr. Carter is a ruthless operator, even if he wears his broad smile and displays his southern charm.” Part of the mystique of Carter was his careful and successful positioning as someone “above politics.”  He gave off an air that he is too good for us, or certainly better than the rest of his peers in politics.  Carter exemplified the paradox of taking pride in denouncing the sin of pride.  He also displays a talent for combining self-pity and self-righteousness, sometimes in the same sentence. He was a maddeningly contradictory figure.

On this topic see also -- "The Sainting of Jimmy Carter by “Christianity Today” Is a Farce" (J.D. Rucker, Liberty Daily)

* "UK Labour Party Blocks Inquiry Into Prime Minister’s Conduct as Prosecutor in Pakistani Sex-Groomer Gang Cases" (Jarrett Stepman, Daily Signal)

From the article -- Author J.K. Rowling wrote, “The details emerging about what the rape gangs (why call them ‘grooming’ gangs? It’s like calling those who stab people to death ‘knife owners’) did to girls in Rotherham are downright horrific. The allegations of possible police corruption in the case are almost beyond belief.”

Sam Ashworth-Hayes, a Telegraph columnist, has been posting details of the sex-grooming cases and the failure of authorities to do anything about it because they feared it would inflame “racial tensions.”

* "Germany’s New Morgenthau Plan" (Victor Davis Hanson, Daily Signal)

From the article -- There is a tragic footnote to the aborted horrors of the Morgenthau Plan. Currently, Germany is doing to itself almost everything Morgenthau once dreamed of. Its green delusions have shut down far too many of its nuclear, coal, and gas electrical generation plants. Erratic solar and wind “sustainable energy” means that power costs are four times higher than on average in the United States.

Once-dominant European giants Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes are now bleeding customers and profits. Their own government’s green and electric vehicle mandates ensure they will become globally uncompetitive. The German economy actually shrank in 2023. And the diminished Ruhr can no longer save the German economy from its own utopian politicians. The German military is all but disarmed and short thousands of recruits. German industries do not produce enough ammunition, tanks, ships, and aircraft to equip even its diminished army, navy, and air force.

* "Broken Windows Policing Is Still the Best Way to Fight Crime: The law enforcement approach has taken its hits from critics in recent years, but facts—and history—are on its side." (John McMillian, City Journal)

From the article -- Put another way, Broken Windows policing, when properly implemented, is not meant to crack down aggressively on people for every possible minor offense. It is much more flexible. Its goal is simply to demonstrate that urban areas are “under control” and that various types of unconstrained disorder will not be tolerated.

In “Justice in New York”—an oral history compiled by professors at John Jay College of Criminal Justice—the late John Timoney, a high-ranking NYPD officer, justified Broken Windows on two grounds. “People deserve to have a decent quality of life, right? You shouldn’t have to watch guys drinking out in the street, pissing on the sidewalk, all of that.” And its corresponding crime reductions were significant.

* "As Biden & Co. leave, they’re doing their best to trash the country they claimed to serve" (New York Post Editorial Board)

From the article -- President Biden and his staff are going out guns blazing — all barrels blasting away to do as much damage as possible to America before they go. Just look at the dirty-laundry list Joe (or whoever’s actually making the decisions) has rammed through as his last days tick down. 

A Foxhole Christmas

Once again this Yuletide, Claire and I were treated to a surprise visit from old friends and pro-life colleagues Tom & Donna Kotchka. And once again, we learned that Tom had a dramatic recitation to delight and inspire us as he performed it in person -- just for the two of us! Last year, he graciously agreed to let me post here on the blog "A Shepherd on Christmas Night" which he had written and presented a few places around town and he did so again this year with his latest.

I regret that you weren't in our living room to hear this in person the other night, but here's the next best thing.

 

A FOXHOLE CHRISTMAS 
By Thomas Kotchka

For some, this evening holds a special significance. For me, not so much. That’s why I volunteered for watch duty here on the ridge, keeping watch for any activity on the valley road below. And not surprisingly, there’s been none. What surprises me is that Billy, from company K, also volunteered. Now if anyone at this outpost on the edge of nowhere would have significance for this evening, it would be Billy. Yet, when I arrived on station, Billy seemed cheerful, greeted me with his usual “Mi Casa, Su foxhole”.

After updating me on the activity on the valley road, nothing, Billy asked if I had any questions. “Well, Billy” I said, “it’s more of an observation than a question but, is it just me, or do the stars seem brighter tonight?”

Billy looked up at the sky, then answered “They’re brighter. Maybe because it’s stopped raining.” And then he added, sort of as an afterthought, “You know, Joe, this is the kind of night I imagine was over Bethlehem.”

“Yeah, thanks for reminding me, Billy. I almost forgot, it’s Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas.”

Billy dittoed the greeting back, and as he started to leave, I said “Billy, I know Christmas is about Jesus coming from heaven to earth. And you’re always saying that Jesus is coming again soon; so, do you think He might come, tonight?”

Without hesitation Billy says “Yep.”

“Really. You actually think He might...uh...show up tonight?”

“Tonight” Billy replied, “would be a perfect night.”

I thought a moment then said, “Well, pardon my $25 word Billy, I don’t get to use them too often out here, but isn’t it… IRONIC… that you’re in a foxhole with a long rifle waiting for the ‘Prince of Peace.’”

Well, Billy didn’t answer, just sort of shrugged his shoulders but I remembered something he had said, oh back around the Fourth of July. “Billy, didn’t you say your Dad fought in ‘Nam and his Dad in World War 2? Did they spend Christmas Eve in a foxhole waiting for the ‘Prince of Peace’?” Billy thought for a moment and said “I think they did. I guess it’s a ‘family tradition’.”

Family tradition. (Pause). Yeah, family tradition. “You know Billy, the wife and kids always go to Christmas Eve service. I never got into the church thing. Presents, a big meal, and a bit of the ‘Christmas Spirits’; that’s Christmas for me”. So, you know what Billy says? “Sorry.” “Sorry,” I says. “Sorry that I didn’t go to church on Christmas Eve?”

“No, no”, Billy answered, “sorry that you won’t have Christmas. If Christmas is presents, food, and a drink, then you’re going to have to rely on an occasional mortar round for a present, an MRE in a can as your feast, and the closest thing you’ll get to a drink out here is the Jim Beam ad on the back of an outdated TIME magazine.

“Well,” I says to Billy, “Christmas is for kids. Say Billy, when you were a kid did you believe in Santa Claus?”

Billy thought for a moment then said “St. Nick, Kris Kringle, Santa Claus, part legend, part story, maybe part true, but now mostly an advertising gimmick surrounded with elves and a red-nosed reindeer.” Then Billy says to me, “You know Joe, there is a Christmas story in the Bible; maybe you remember it from when you were a kid.”

“Don’t have to go back that far,” I answered, “My wife said her Dad always read the Christmas story to her and her brother and sister over and over and over until they had it memorized. She wanted me to do the same. I guess it’s a “’family tradition.’”

(In a changed voice) “’And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed’” --- (regular voice) “And old Caesar is still taking taxes from me. That was 2,000 years ago.”

(Changed voice again) “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace”... (regular voice)” Excuse me Billy for sounding cynical, but I’m not convinced that the “Prince of Peace” has done his job. How many wars have we had in the last 2,000 years, about 2, 000?”

“Actually”, Billy says, “it might be more. You see, the ‘Prince of Peace’ didn’t come to bring peace among neighbors but rather to bring us to peace with God.”

“Yeah, maybe” I said, “But Christmas is still for kids. I think adults grow out of Christmas. The way the world is, us being here, why there’s really not much to celebrate.” And you know what Billy says, he says, “Maybe you’re celebrating the wrong Christmas.”

“Wrong Christmas??! There’s only one Christmas, it’s tomorrow, the 25 th . It’s been like that for a couple thousand years.” (Short Pause) “Right?”

“Well,” Billy says, “there’s actually three Christmases. There’s the commercial Christmas, starts before Thanksgiving and goes to the last ‘after Christmas sale’. It is focused on ‘stuff’ and has a ‘you deserve this’ promise. Oftentimes what’s left after the toys are broken and the batteries run down, is an empty feeling. And there’s the traditional, Currier and Ives type Christmas. It lasts a couple weeks around Christmas. It’s focused on families and being HOME for Christmas. It’s filled with holiday traditions and singing Christmas carols. It gives the cousins a chance to fight and the adults can catch up on the weather across town, across state, across the country. It’s a time to find out how little Tommy is doing in school and “Donna’s in college, why I remember when she was only this high”. But don’t mention religion or politics. It’s sort of like a 4th of July family reunion picnic at the lake, but you don’t have to play croquet with Uncle Fred."

"And the last Christmas is the one you’ve got memorized from the Bible. It doesn’t focus on presents or feasting but on why the creator of the universe set aside the privileges of Heaven to be born a human in a manager.” ‘In a manger’. Can you imagine that? Not a kingly palace but a foxhole-grade stable. It’s a Christmas that reminds us of our broken relationship with a Holy God and how God Himself set about to restore that relationship. You might say that Christmas is a celebration of God fulfilling His promise to send a savior.”

I thought a moment and said to Billy, “That must be the part that goes ‘Behold, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, who is Christ the Lord’”? “That’s it,” Billy answered

“So,” I says to Billy, “no feasting, no reindeer, no Santa, --no presents?” “That’s right,” Billy answered, “No feasting, no reindeer, no Santa.”

“Wait, you said no feasting, no reindeer, no Santa, but you didn’t say no presents. Is, is there a . . .. a present?”

“You just need to unwrap it,” Billy says. “Ever see those signs at big sporting events on TV?”

“Yeah, the ones that say John something.”

Then Billy says “’For God so loved the world’, ---even Joe---, ‘that he gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him’ –even Joe— ‘should not perish but have everlasting life.’” 

I looked Billy right in the eye and said “You… you put that part in about Joe.” Shaking his head, Billy says “No, God did, because He wants to have a personal relationship with you.”

A personal relationship. A personal relationship with God. “You know Billy, I’m scheduled to rotate back to the States next fall. Maybe I’ll go to Christmas Eve service with the wife and kids. Might even look in to that personal relationship thing.”

Then Billy continued the Christmas story, “Then the shepherds said to one another ‘Let us… NOW… go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass’.”

Pause

“Suppose”, I said, “I could even look into that personal relationship next September when I get back to the States.”

“Or,” Billy said, “--maybe--even tonight.”

The Top 5 (December 28)

* "Europe Is Canceling Christmas: Moves in France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Germany are a worrying sign of the West’s renunciation of its Judeo-Christian identity." (Itxu Díaz, Tablet)

* "Irish Times Op-ed: Christianity is a Hate Crime: The tone-deaf Christmastime argument of a post-Christian civilization." (Mark Tapson, Front Page)

* "Drag shows, Arabic Sesame Street, lonely rats: GOP senator details how Biden spent $1T on 'government waste' -- $10K was spent on a 'bearded lady' ice skating show, just one of numerous examples of frivolous federal spending highlighted by the Sen. Rand Paul" (Aubrie Spady, Fox News)

* "Walter Duranty Would Be Proud Of How The Press Covered For Biden" (I & I Editorial Board)

* "McConnell’s Record Is Nothing To Snort At -- REVIEW: ‘The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost His Party’ (Tevi Troy, Washington Free Beacon)