Guest review: The Twelve Blessings of Christmas, by T. J. Mills (reviewed by Valerie Phillips)

The Twelve Blessings of Christmas, by T. J. Mills; illustrated by Joy Marie Dock

Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010

Guest reviewer: Valerie Phillips

Okay, I know this is trite and probably untrue, but I am Christmas’ Biggest Fan! The smell of cookies, scraping Fantasy Fudge out of the pan, Christmas carols, all the memories stored away with the Christmas ornaments, the Christmas Eve candlelight service, the store clerk who breaks out in a big smile when you wish her a “Merry Christmas” after she said, “Happy Holidays,” and on and on!

If you have read this blog for long, you know the Phillipses have lots of Christmas traditions, and we are constantly on the look-out for ways to honor Jesus more, to celebrate Him more, to turn our hearts and minds to Him more. So when Dan was offered a review copy of The Twleve Blessings of Christmas, by T.J. Mills and illustrated by Joy Marie Dock, I jumped up and down (figuratively), and said, “Oh yes, please get that!”

Published by Thomas Nelson, this hardbound 7” x 7” book, approximately 150-page book is filled with gift ideas, poems, decoration suggestions and recipes arranged around the Twelve Blessings: warmth, greetings, music, kindness, memories, faith, beauty, friends, love, giving, family, and hope.

What struck me first about this book are the heart-warming illustrations. They remind me of artwork you would see in Gooseberry Patch publications: blues, greens, golds and reds that have been washed with a brown tint, giving that antique heritage look to gingerbread boys, snowmen, a church, a nativity scene. The illustrations are delightful, and I might have bought the book just for them.

For those starting on the path of developing Christmas traditions, this book will get you going with many tried and true ideas: recipes for sugar cookies and caramel corn; gift basket ideas; pomander ornaments (you know, those oranges you stuck with cloves as a kid); providing transportation for the elderly; a birthday cake for Jesus — and more.

Throughout the book, the author shares her poems and musings on the Twelve Blessings. And this is where the book loses me. “Glory to God – And let peace guide the way to the love and celebration of a joyous Christmas day.” What does Ms. Mills mean? How can peace lead the way? Rather, Let God’s promise fulfilled of a Savior guide the way. . . or Let the peace that comes through Jesus’ sacrifice lead the way. . . .

Another: “. . .activities that reflect the spirit of our deep faith in this celebration of God’s love for us.” Do we have deep faith in the celebration, or in God’s love?

Or how about “Let the peace and tranquility of this holy night, be an everlasting source of inner light”; or “As you celebrate the birth of Jesus, celebrate the blessing of your own life and lives of your loved one.”

While there are many sweet, sentimental writings, these examples from the book elicit cringes from me. I’m all for the sentimental, heart-warming, sweet family times of Christmas. But anything that blurs the beginnings of the Gospel message troubles me. Maybe it is because of those times where at Christmas pageants the pastor won’t give a clear Gospel message; or the office Christmas parties becoming Holiday parties; or the “Jesus is what I do for health and wealth and to feel good about myself” that permeates so many pulpits and Christians. I’m bothered whenever the Christmas and Gospel message are toned down.

Should you buy The Twleve Blessings of Christmas? It is a lovely book intended for gift giving, featuring a to/from page in the front. It might be worth it just for the illustrations. You might appreciate it as a beginning book on Christmas traditions, activities, recipes. Maybe you shake your head and wonder why I cringe over the sort of writing I mentioned previously. In that case buy, enjoy, give.

And if you are our way during December, drop us a line. There’s usually cookies and coffee and tea, a warm welcome, a messy house — and LOTS of cat fur!

Monday Music repost from 2009: "O Holy Night" — the rest of the story

Some Facebook friends reminded me of this post 2009 courtesy of DAOD. We've gained a lot of readers since then who may not have had the pleasure, and I enjoyed the reminder so: though I have more good Christmas music on-tap than we have Mondays, we open Christmas season with this repost.

---

We are all familiar (I trust) with the English-language version of "O Holy Night." Maybe you, like me, have shifted a bit uncomfortably as you sang some of the words, such as: "Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth." Huh? Or again, this:

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease

Okay, that isn't exactly damnable heresy... but is it Gospel? Or social Gospel?

Turns out there is good reason for unease. The carol we sing is not true to the original wording of the French song Mi­nuit, chré­tiens, c’est l’heure so­len­nelle, written as a poem in 1847 by Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure (1808-1877). Cappeau said he wrote it during a coach ride. Adolphe Adam, who wrote the music to Cappeau's poem, was Jewish, which led to the song being rejected by French clergy. However,  Mi­nuit, chré­tiens was embraced by laity, and continued to be sung.

In America the Mi­nuit, chré­tiens fell into the hands of John Sullivan Dwight, who was an abolitionist and a Unitarian (among other things). That is to say, Dwight advocated the abolition of slavery, and he rejected the Biblical truths of the Trinity, of the deity of Christ, of the Gospel — that is, the lost hopelessness of man in sin, and of Christ's penal, substitutionary atoning death as the sole path to reconciliation with God through faith alone. In other words, Dwight would not have affirmed Christmas, the historical Christmas, as narrated and interpreted in the Bible alone.

Ironic, eh?

So Dwight took the Mi­nuit, chré­tiens and imposed his own interests on the lyrics, "massaging" its contents (as you will see) almost to the point of rendering it well-nigh unrecongizable.

Good luck finding those lyrics, if you're not a French-speaker.

Or if you don't have a dear and only daughter with a Master's in French... or if you don't read the blog of someone who does! Were that the case, you would learn that these are the real lyrics, lyrics (at any rate) with Luke's Gospel at the center — and you'd be pretty unhappy at being stuck with a Christ-rejecting heretic's mangling of them:

Minuit, chrétiens, c'est l'heure solennelle,
Où l'Homme-Dieu descendit jusqu'à nous
Pour effacer la tache originelle

          Midnight, Christians, it's the solemn hour,
          When God-man descended to us
          To erase the stain of original sin

Et de Son Père arrêter le courroux.
Le monde entier tressaille d'espérance
En cette nuit qui lui donne un Sauveur.

          And to end the wrath of His Father.
          The entire world thrills with hope
          On this night that gives it a Savior.

Peuple à genoux, attends ta délivrance.
Noël, Noël, voici le Rédempteur,
Noël, Noël, voici le Rédempteur !

          People kneel down, wait for your deliverance.
          Christmas, Christmas, here is the Redeemer,
          Christmas, Christmas, here is the Redeemer!

Le Rédempteur a brisé toute entrave :
La terre est libre, et le ciel est ouvert..
Il voit un frère où n'était qu'un esclave,

          The Redeemer has overcome every obstacle:
          The Earth is free, and Heaven is open.
          He sees a brother where there was only a slave,

L'amour unit ceux qu'enchaînait le fer.
Qui Lui dira notre reconnaissance,
C'est pour nous tous qu'Il naît,
Qu'Il souffre et meurt.

          Love unites those that iron had chained.
          Who will tell Him of our gratitude,
          It's for all of us that He is born,
          That He suffers and dies.

Peuple debout ! Chante ta délivrance,
Noël, Noël, chantons le Rédempteur,
Noël, Noël, chantons le Rédempteur !

          People stand up! Sing of your deliverance,
          Christmas, Christmas, sing of the Redeemer,
          Christmas, Christmas, sing of the Redeemer!

(See also here)

Here is a beautiful version, sung by French operatic tenor Roberto Alagna.

You can also hear versions by Nana Mouskouri, Placido Domingo, French tenor Georges Thill, Enrico Caruso from 1916.

And now you know... well, you know.

Monday music: "O Holy Night" — the rest of the story

We are all familiar (I trust) with the English-language version of "O Holy Night." Maybe you, like me, have shifted a bit uncomfortably as you sang some of the words, such as: "Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth." Huh? Or again, this:

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease

Okay, that isn't exactly damnable heresy... but is it Gospel? Or social Gospel?

Turns out there is good reason for unease. The carol we sing is not true to the original wording of the French song Mi­nuit, chré­tiens, c’est l’heure so­len­nelle, written as a poem in 1847 by Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure (1808-1877). Cappeau said he wrote it during a coach ride. Adolphe Adam, who wrote the music to Cappeau's poem, was Jewish, which led to the song being rejected by French clergy. However,  Mi­nuit, chré­tiens was embraced by laity, and continued to be sung.

In America the Mi­nuit, chré­tiens fell into the hands of John Sullivan Dwight, who was an abolitionist and a Unitarian (among other things). That is to say, Dwight advocated the abolition of slavery, and he rejected the Biblical truths of the Trinity, of the deity of Christ, of the Gospel — that is, the lost hopelessness of man in sin, and of Christ's penal, substitutionary atoning death as the sole path to reconciliation with God through faith alone. In other words, Dwight would not have affirmed Christmas, the historical Christmas, as narrated and interpreted in the Bible alone.

Ironic, eh?

So Dwight took the Mi­nuit, chré­tiens and imposed his own interests on the lyrics, "massaging" its contents (as you will see) almost to the point of rendering it well-nigh unrecongizable.

Good luck finding those lyrics, if you're not a French-speaker.

Or if you don't have a dear and only daughter with a Master's in French... or if you don't read the blog of someone who does! Were that the case, you would learn that these are the real lyrics, lyrics (at any rate) with Luke's Gospel at the center — and you'd be pretty unhappy at being stuck with a Christ-rejecting heretic's mangling of them:

Minuit, chrétiens, c'est l'heure solennelle,
Où l'Homme-Dieu descendit jusqu'à nous
Pour effacer la tache originelle

          Midnight, Christians, it's the solemn hour,
          When God-man descended to us
          To erase the stain of original sin

Et de Son Père arrêter le courroux.
Le monde entier tressaille d'espérance
En cette nuit qui lui donne un Sauveur.

          And to end the wrath of His Father.
          The entire world thrills with hope
          On this night that gives it a Savior.

Peuple à genoux, attends ta délivrance.
Noël, Noël, voici le Rédempteur,
Noël, Noël, voici le Rédempteur !

          People kneel down, wait for your deliverance.
          Christmas, Christmas, here is the Redeemer,
          Christmas, Christmas, here is the Redeemer!

Le Rédempteur a brisé toute entrave :
La terre est libre, et le ciel est ouvert..
Il voit un frère où n'était qu'un esclave,

          The Redeemer has overcome every obstacle:
          The Earth is free, and Heaven is open.
          He sees a brother where there was only a slave,

L'amour unit ceux qu'enchaînait le fer.
Qui Lui dira notre reconnaissance,
C'est pour nous tous qu'Il naît,
Qu'Il souffre et meurt.

          Love unites those that iron had chained.
          Who will tell Him of our gratitude,
          It's for all of us that He is born,
          That He suffers and dies.

Peuple debout ! Chante ta délivrance,
Noël, Noël, chantons le Rédempteur,
Noël, Noël, chantons le Rédempteur !

          People stand up! Sing of your deliverance,
          Christmas, Christmas, sing of the Redeemer,
          Christmas, Christmas, sing of the Redeemer!

(See also here)

Here is a beautiful version, sung by French operatic tenor Roberto Alagna.

You can also hear versions by Nana Mouskouri, Placido Domingo, French tenor Georges Thill, Enrico Caruso from 1916.

And now you know... well, you know.

Classic BibChr Christmas links

Christmas has long been a favorite season and event for me. Christmas carols pre-evangelized me, and it's always been a wonderful time. So I've got some links to my past writing (and some of your contributions, Dear Readers) to share you might have missed:

• From my web site, there's the essay To Tell the Truth, Virginia.... It's a Gospel presentation keying off of Isaiah 7:14.
• From December of 2004 comes the sermon Longing for Christmas, in which I preach on the flow of OT prophecy pointing to the Messiah, Jesus.

• Then in December of 2007, in the sermon titled Immanuel, I focus on the prophecy in Isaiah 7, taking note of both the Hebrew and the context. You'll see that I am unpersuaded by the approach many evangelicals take today.
• Though it isn't High Art, here is a painting I appreciated last year.
• I wondered in February of 2007 whether we have actually listened to the "angels we have heard on high."
• Under orders from my dear wife in 11/07, I sparked a good discussion of Christmas music. (You're the ones that made it a good discussion!)
• Then, moving seamlessly from the sublime to the gastronomical, there was the 2006 Christmas Eve pizza spread.
• Now from the gastronomical to the historical, in 12/06 we shut down the humbuggers' popular myth-conception that Christmas is just a pagan holiday.
• So, whatever its associations, should we use Christmas to preach Christ? My man Spurgeon says yes! (For the record, so do I.) (Also for the record, "Duh!")
  
• Back in 2005, I wondered whether "virgin conception" would be a better term than "virgin birth" — though the latter necessarily includes the former, while the reverse is not true. Got that? No? Ask your mom.
  
• And then, gliding to the silly-but-fun, I reviewed a Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas concert.
• Still in a fun vein, a particular subset of my readers will especially enjoy "Open the present... NOW!!!"
• In a post austensibly about preaching, I sneak in my reasons for declining to lie to my children about Santa Pelagius.

Classic BibChr Christmas links (re-post and update from 2008)

Some of you are new arrivals. Since blog readers don't tend to go back through the archives... here you go! (Slightly edited and updated)

Christmas has long been a favorite season and event for me. Christmas carols pre-evangelized me, and it's always been a wonderful time. So I've got some links to my past writing (and some of your contributions, Dear Readers) to share you might have missed:

• From my web site, there's the essay To Tell the Truth, Virginia.... It's a Gospel presentation keying off of Isaiah 7:14.
• From December of 2004 comes the sermon Longing for Christmas, in which I preach on the flow of OT prophecy pointing to the Messiah, Jesus.

• Then in December of 2007, in the sermon titled Immanuel, I focus on the prophecy in Isaiah 7, taking note of both the Hebrew and the context. You'll see that I am unpersuaded by the approach many evangelicals take today.
• Though it isn't High Art, here is a painting I appreciated in 2007.
• I wondered in February of 2007 whether we have actually listened to the "angels we have heard on high."
• Under orders from my dear wife in 11/07, I sparked a good discussion of Christmas music. (You're the ones that made it a good discussion!)
• Then, moving seamlessly from the sublime to the gastronomical, there was the 2006 Christmas Eve pizza spread.
• Since that was a "hit," I came back with even more doughy goodness in 2008.
  
• Now from the gastronomical to the historical, in 12/06 we shut down the humbuggers' popular myth-conception that Christmas is just a pagan holiday.
• So, whatever its associations, should we use Christmas to preach Christ? My man Spurgeon says yes! (For the record, so do I.) (Also for the record, "Duh!")
  
• Back in 2005, I wondered whether "virgin conception" would be a better term than "virgin birth" — though the latter necessarily includes the former, while the reverse is not true. Got that? No? Ask your mom.
  
• And then, gliding to the silly-but-fun, I reviewed a Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas concert.
• Still in a fun vein, a particular subset of my readers will especially enjoy "Open the present... NOW!!!"
• In a post austensibly about preaching, I sneak in my reasons for declining to lie to my children about Santa Pelagius.

Guest review: Fix-It and Forget-It Christmas Cookbook, by Phyllis Pellman Good (reviewed by Valerie Phillips)

Fix-It and Forget-It Christmas Cookbook, by Phyllis Pellman Good

Good Books: 2010

Guest reviewer: Valerie Phillips

Crock pots and busy moms go together like peanut butter and jelly, so I was happy when the publisher offered Dan a review copy of Phyllis Pellman Good’s new slow cooker cookbook called Fix-It and Forget-It Christmas Cookbook.  Over the past few weeks we have enjoyed sampling several of the 600 recipes.

If you are familiar with Ms. Good’s other crock pot cookbooks, you already know what to expect from this addition in the series.  It is a compilation of recipes from cooks all over the country.  There are several recipes for chili; multiple recipes for vegetable beef soup;  and an entire section on turkey!  It’s very handy when you are short on ingredients – just read over the next column or two and you’re bound to find a similar recipe that fits the contents of your pantry. Recipes are laid out in a columnar fashion with three to a page.  Titles are in bright Christmas-y red with little green slow cookers above. Many pages have holiday anecdotes or tips from contributors.

The book’s categories are:  Appetizers, Snacks and Spreads;  Breakfast and Brunch Dishes;  Soups, Stews and Chilis;  Beef Main Dishes;  Pork Main Dishes;  Chicken Main Dishes;  Turkey Main Dishes;  Meat and Bean Main Dishes;  Other Main Dishes;  Vegetables;  Beverages;  and Desserts and Sweets.

Something I especially liked in this cookbook was the addition of the “Ideal slow cooker size” to each recipe.  Having inherited 2, 4 and 6 qt. crocks, it helps me know which one to pull out of the cupboard.  My 1^st edition Fix and Forget-It didn’t have that information or the general guide to slow cooker cookery that opens the book.

While this is called a “Christmas Cookbook”, the majority of the recipes are suitable for everyday sorts of meals.  The book has recipes for wassails, sweet potato casseroles, artichoke dip, stuffing, “Christmas smells,” and other holiday favorites.  The section on Breakfast is disappointing for a Christmas cookbook.  I was expecting breakfast casseroles that I could assemble the night before and serve Christmas morning.  It does have a few recipes of this sort, but mostly recipes for oatmeal, whole wheat, grits, applesauce, etc.

We sampled Salsa Chuck Roast, White Chili, Ham n’ Cabbage Stew, Hamburger/Green Bean Dish, Apple Chicken Stew, Scalloped Pineapple and Caramel Peanut Butter Dip.  Now before I tell you what we thought, I should tell you that my boys (yep, that includes the big one) are not big stew/soup fans and amongst them it can be tricky to put dinner on the table.  Cooked carrots, cabbage prepared any way, potato chunks, mushrooms, tomatoes, and more do not belong in any kind of dish I put before them.

But guess what? All these ingredients were found in my test recipes.  The boys thought I was going to poison them with the Ham n’ Cabbage Stew the other night, but in the end everybody thought it tasted much better than it was making the house smell.  Not a one ran gagging from the room. That’s a high endorsement!

I assembled the recipes per the instructions and didn’t add or subtract, in order to get a true idea of their yummyness.  OK, I did add cheese to the top of the mashed potatoes in the Hamburger/Green Bean Dish and I didn’t have apple juice, so I substituted chicken broth in the Apple Chicken Stew.  The consensus was that the recipes ranged from good to scrumptious.  The one I least liked, my DAOD loved.  Dan, the boys and I all raved about the Salsa Chuck roast, the Scalloped Pineapple, and the Caramel dip for apples.

Having one of Ms.Good’s slow cooker cookbooks, I’m not sure if I would have purchased this, but it is definitely a wonderful resource and the recipes are tasty.  If you need a crockpot cookbook, this is an excellent compilation.  Buy, eat, enjoy!

Hither and thither 12/24/09

It's Christmas Eve... and still, HT time. Don't feel bad for me, though; I get overtime for this.

• We might as well get this out of the way. As you slept, the ironically-named Democrats defied the will of the people and approved a bill few or none of them had read, a massive and arrogant power-grab further moving America from liberty to totalitarian state control. They've put two massive lumps of coal in our grandchildren's stockings. It leaves me wondering at what point one should pronounce America dead. My mind cast back immediately to the lament that pricked the consciences of many who still had not owned up to the horrid mistake they'd made in giving such power to such people.
• What to do? Where to go from here? That will be the subject of future posts, no doubt. For now, I find the statement of physician and senator Tom Coburn to hit pretty close to the mark. When you read the giddy celebrations of the "historic" nature of this vote, think of Coburn's words: "This vote is indeed historic. This Congress will be remembered for its arrogance, corruption and stupidity." Hear, hear.
• Enough of that, for now, except to say: nice Christmas-present, Dems. Nice.
  
• We have a Title of the Week, and it is: Man jailed for eating rare tiger. I understand people have individual preferences as to how meat should be prepared — my wife prefers medium-well, I like it on the rare side of medium — but jailing a man over it? Yikes!
• Probably true:

• What kind of an obsessive, anti-American, anti-Christian nutcase would put pictures of a mass murdering tyrant and sexual perverts on their Christmas tree? That would be whatever obsessive, anti-American, anti-Christian basket case decorated the Obama White House Christmas tree, as you can see shown and/or discussed here, here, and here.
• This should be interesting. The Coen Brothers — who brought such odd movies as Fargo, and O Brother, WhereArt Thu?, are remaking True Grit.
• It will surprise few of you to learn that one lone enviro-Druid "created or rewrote 5,428 unique Wikipedia articles" to make sure that the global-warming dogma prevailed.
• I don't know anything about this toy robot, but (A) the video cracked me up, and (B) you do not want your boys watching it anytime near Christmas!
  
• What you get when you hire a Zen sign-maker:

• [Written, obviously, before the vote.] One does tire of endlessly correcting hackneyed clichés, yet sometimes it is necessary. One is that, because (say) I see the Democratic party as a morally and ideologically bankrupt part, rotten to the core and not a good option for any Biblically-faith Christian citizen, and because I say that the GOP is the only viable party in which the Christian's distinctive values are sometimes welcome, then that necessarily means that I think the GOP is cool and pure. Oh boy, no. Regular readers already know better. But let me just say again, if this take on the GOP's plans to cave in the face of the abominable health care disaster Obama and the Dems are forcing on America is accurate, then the Senate leadership is spineless, clueless, gutless, and also other-essential-things-less, and history will view them with contempt. 
• As another Biblical Christianity Blog Public Service, I direct you to the candy-choosing flow-chart.
  
• In the Christmas links post, I referred in passing to the old fraud as "Santa Pelagius." Evidently it caught at least one reader's imagination. VcdeChagn emailed me to say, "I had my kids and their friends (ages 9-3) singing Santa Pelagius is coming to town today...my wife says thanks. Also, we have a board that we write on at night that glows in the dark. I always write a message to them after I put them to bed...I have attached tonight's ...It's been slightly photoshopped for clarity as the iPhone is not the best low light camera."

• This one's for my DAOD. But you can look, too. 
• Hey — it made me laugh:
  

• This surprises me. Mexico City has decided to redefine the word "marriage" to accommodate one particular ruinous sexual perversion. Weird, eh?
• Okay, now, this little linkie-winkie is not for your kiddies... unless you say it is. Half of you will think it's absolutely hysterical. The other half will want to check my baptism. I'll never say which half I am.
• (Oh wait...it's on my blog. Giveaway? Rats.)
• Who says there has to be only one kind of chandelier?

• Ever wonder how to clean your LCD or plasma TV screen? Wonder no more.
   (Hey — you could get one for Christmas!)
• It's not too late!!! Okay, it pretty much is. But regardless, here's a list of gifts for an iPhone lover.
  
• "Play-house"? Pah! Try "Play-mansion."  Do not let your spoiled kids look at these pictures. I warned you.c
• Some folks just have to show you how afraid of the roller-coaster they aren't.

• I'm in my fifties, and I still sometimes get a moment's faint fear when I'm about to commit my weight to an escalator. Do you? Then boy oh boy, this story won't help.

• Staying with kids, here's a depressing story: this girl can type 119 words per minute. And she's in fifth grade. That isn't the depressing part, not in itself. The depressing part is the link in the article, which takes us to a page where we can test our own typing speed. I took a test. Ouch. Took another test. Ouch! Then I stopped.
• Oh my. Question-title fail.
  

• Few things are more stomach-churning than to see some of the outworkings of "abortion logic." I warn you that there is nothing happy nor uplifting about this story, in which a mother cannot be charged for murdering her newborn child — because it wasn't a child. How could a full-term newborn not be a child? Because the umbilical cord hadn't been cut. (h-t Tim Bayly)
  
• Just hunh.

• Important Safety Tip:

• When Nuns Find Snow — Tonight on Fox!

• That's what I've got. Merry Christmas, dear readers. Now I have to run out for a last minute grocery-run.
  

 

Hither and thither 12/24/10

By popular demand, here's the Christmas Weekend edition of Hither and Thither. If I may say so, I think we've got a great, fun, varied collection. Have fun, bring a friend, spread the word. Fun loves company, too. The usual verities apply.

• Happy Christmas, y'all.

• It's... the Christmas truck! (From an email from my mother-in-law.)

• Reader Angie found us a Nativity scene sculpted out of butter.
• Steve Hays has some fun with wizened old souls too pious to commemorate Christ's birth. (Not that I have an opinion on the subject, obviously.)
• Jolly Old Saint Nicholas is given an historical once-over by Kevin DeYoung here, and here.
• Now, combining — not one, not two, but — three frequent BibChr/HT themes along with the holiday:

• Admiral A for the epic win?
• Alphabetically related, Al Mohler has a really good, Biblically-contentful, direct essay on the necessity of affirming the Virgin Birth. And no, I don't say that about all Mohler's essays.
• Mohler plays around Kristof's incredulity at Christian credulity regarding the Virgin Birth. This never, ever ceases to amaze me. What is supposed to be so hard about this doctrine? As S. Lewis Johnson said, affirm Genesis 1:1, and everything else in the Bible makes perfect sense.
• Merry elf Fred Butler pointed me to the worst Christmas gifts, ever. (I don't know... I think the laser looks cool.)
• Every one of my kids has been better than I about going to sleep Christmas Eve. In case yours are more like I was, you might have them read how to go to sleep when you're excited.
• Gotta love getting a timely "fail" from a reader named Win:

• Thinking ahead: you're going to have yummy leftovers, and a number of tough, tough decisions. You want to make good choices. Here, let me help (click to embiggen):

• Stuck for a last-minute Christmas gift? My Josiah just showed me... the answer!
• A Roman Catholic mental health worker in Britain faces disciplinary hearings for giving coworkers a pamphlet suggesting that there may be negative after-affects to abortion.
• Fred Butler found us everything you might want to know about Rubik's Cube... except how to solve it.
• What is currently one of the most effective and widespread avenues for free speech? That would be, of course, The Intrawebs. So, given the Obama administration's legacy of unbridled power-grabs and its march towards a police state, can anyone be surprised at the FCC moving in to control the internet? Of course, it's all in the name of fairness, and helping us. God help us and save us from Big Brother's "help."
• No surprise, John Fund shows leftist groups backing this move towards censorship. They and Obama hate conservatives'/Christians' free access to soapboxes, and would end it today if they could. Never forget: horrible presidential elections have horrible consequences. It isn't over yet.
• And the equally-indispensable Byron York has shown once and again that the group leans left, to say the least.
• Moderates. Pah. Mark me: a "moderate" — political or theological — is just a liberal without the guts (or honesty) to say what he is. Like this newest pathetic distraction, the "No-labels" folks. Eesh.
• Meanwhile, one happy political event we can note together: the passage from power of a nasty, treacherous, arrogant, unprincipled fool. Goodbye, and good riddance, Arlen Specter.
• Another thing to like about Rep. Mike Pence: he introduced a bill to deny taxpayer money from abortion-pusher Planned Parenthood. Should be a "duh!", but it took Pence to do it.
• Aww Alert: Reality Check found us a rescued hummingbird.
• The Dolphin Coalition convention? (Thanks again, RC.)
• Well now, this is different. Some would say "better" — me, I kind of like the First Amendment. But anyway: Mexican politician fined for saying "God." (Thanks to Rita Martinez' honey for the tip.)
• Troublemaker Fred Butler tries nobly (but unsuccessfully) to get some evolutionist pro-homosexual-agenda liberals (did I just say the same thing thrice?) to think logically. Fred, Fred... excellent try, but what were you thinking?
• My first thought is: where's the mayo, lettuce, onions, and all?

• My second is, "Yum!"
• Maybe it's me, but I think an iPad is a pretty expensive cat-toy. (Thanks to RC for the tip.)
• Here is the legacy of shame of Senators who betrayed our military, who suffer and die for their political grandstanding. It is disgraceful that both Dems and GOPers voted to inflict this on the armed forces. But OTOH, do you notice something consistent about all of those who voted to protect the military?
• Mark my words: if this is not countered soon, some really bad results (I first wrote "fruit") are on the way. For instance, immediately the next day, a friend who's in the service stated Congress' betrayal as a reason he'll be heading for the door as soon as he can. And a BibChr reader with 15 years in the service is not looking forward happily to the remainder of his tour.
• Reader Paula notes that the always-wrong Richard Cohen is all for sparking up the torches and starting the witch hunt, ridding the Marines of excellent men to make way to spare the feelings of broken people who embrace a particular sexual perversion. General Amos explained why this was a bad policy; so General Amos must go. Because he might make sexual perverts who will be forced on enlisted men feel uncomfortable.
• Now, the Irony Alert: this same General Amos has pledged to lead the process of integration.
• Now, combining the previous two topics (expense and shameful senators): seriously? $823,200? Yikes!
• An eminently-qualified scientist is rejected as a candidate to run an observatory in Kentucky (in "the Bible Belt," ironically) for the sole crime of being "potentially evangelical." Pretty good job of reporting by The New York Times, though sadly their style-book still seemingly bars the expression "some scientists."
• This is a manifestation of the Church of Darwin's vicious cycle, on which I've often commented. Evolution is true, because no scientists question it. Question evolution, and you are not a scientist, because no scientists question evolution. QED. However, the irony is that this man is an evolutionist. Is the real motivation peeking out from under its rock?
• Hang on, hold up there... the cat wants a closer look.

• In time for Christmas/New Year travelling, Navmii has released a free turn-by-turn GPS for the iPhone. So far, the reviews are mixed and not wildly enthusiastic. When our venerable GPS lost her mind on a recent trip, we turned to Mapquest's voice-driven feature, and made it home.
• And now, a festive, if inappropriate, moment:

• OK, now: I despise NOW, and I despise frivolous lawsuits. So I don't respond warmly to reading that NOW is suing Hooters for catering to children. However... good heavens, what kind of father (or mother) would give a young daughter a T-shirt that reads "Future Hooters girl"? I mean, besides the kind of father who needs his, er, hinder kicked across the room until the little ball rolls back into the little hole?
• Under my initial post on Mary's virtual absence from Jesus' teaching, Barbara noted that Luke 11:27-28 is "brilliant" and reads " Almost as if He knew beforehand that there would be these sorts of problems" (i.e. with idolatrous veneration of Mary). Which leads to...
• ...my tangential thought about the Beast of Revelation. Surely some have wondered, "Why would the Beast adopt any form of 666, knowing what the book of Revelation says about it?" Equally ask, "Why would Roman Catholics worship Mary, knowing what the Gospels say about such veneration?" Hubris is reason enough; what's more, I could easily envision him doing it deliberately to show how little he cares about Biblical prophecy or Biblical-anything-else.
• Deep, huh? Where else, I ask you, do you get this kind of mix?
• So, staying mixed: knowing how many of my readers like CW music, here's Buck Howdy's TSA parody song, courtesy of reader Reality Check. It's actually pretty funny, if uncomfortable.
• A while back, I took off on Francis Chan's whackily-explained lurch off from his pastoral responsibilities. Reality Check noted that Chan is moving somewhere to Asia, for his next chapter in life. I sincerely hope that the move is good for the Gospel, and that Chan follows through on whatever commitment he makes to the people he'll serve.
• And if anyone points out that many TSA employees are dedicated professionals, which many undoubtedly are, my response would be (A) yeah, (B) and yet....
• Finally, "You think it's cold where you are?", and etc.