10 Factors

I know I haven't blogged anything for quite some time now, I wanted to weigh in on yesterday's election by adding my own $0.02.

While there are many more factors that led to yesterday’s election results, here are 10 factors that I think contributed to an Obama victory:

10. G.W.B.A. Factor

Bush made things tough. His administration’s failures paved the way for Obama’s “Change” slogan to really work.

9. Grassroots Factor
The Snowball Effect—Obama really started building his campaign from the ground up. His community organizing skills came into play with the organizing of a nation of Obama voters.)

8. Media Factor
They were in the bag for Obama from the start. News outlets around the world have praised Obama for his accomplishments, failing to dig too deep into his past. From Chris Matthews to Katie Couric, news anchors shamelessly displayed their arduous feelings for Barack, thus inspiring greater appreciation for the Democratic candidate amongst the populace.

7. Broad-stoke Factor
Obama made a solid effort not to focus on individual states, but on the nation as a whole, while McCain invested his time and money into the battleground areas. Obama communicated to the entire country and won, while McCain risked and lost by narrowing his efforts to single states.

6. Age Factor
McCain’s old age made a lot of people nervous; especially considering his “inexperienced” VP choice…

5. Palin Factor
Was McCain’s VP choice of the Alaska Governor too daring?...too “mavericky”? McCain’s effort to gain disenfranchised Clinton supporters may have come off as overly-optimistic and desperate. And while “Sarah” appealed to the Conservative base, she didn’t attract enough undecided voters.

4. Economy Factor
The economy tanked over the last 6 months of the campaign. McCain made the terrible mistake of admitting that economics are his weak point. Compared to McCain, Obama was seen as the savior to America’s economic woes.

3. Messiah Factor
Speaking about being “the savior,” many actually believed that Obama himself is “the One” solution to all America’s problems. Yesterday, America drank the Kool-Aide.

2. Fundraising Factor
It’s simple: Obama knows how to raise money…and he raised a lot more of it than McCain did! Money isn’t everything, but it’s an huge benefit if you use it correctly. Obama used it right.

1. Race Factor
Anyone who denies that the color of Obama’s skin didn’t play the biggest part in his entire campaign is fooled. The “America owes it to them”-mindset had a heavy hand in tipping the scales. The historical prospect of electing the first black President added to the hype and eventually led to a much larger victory for Obama had he been just another old white guy.


Congrats to our new President-elect!

An Apologist's Take On Yesterday's Historic Election

A Biblical perspective . . .

McCain V. Obama

As I've mentioned in a previous post, John McCain hasn't always been my candidate.

But he is now!

It has become cliche to say, "I vote for the person, not the party." Well, in this year's monumental election, that is the exact mindset that we should adopt.

Although many true Conservatives may take issue with McCain on certain policies and his history of playing ball with Senate Liberals, John McCain stands much closer to the ideals of Conservatism in comparison to the alternative candidate. For me personally there are four important areas where the candidate's values are most important to me in this election:

1. Iraq / The war against Islamic terrorism
2. Abortion
3. Supreme Court nominations

First, McCain--not Obama--knows what it means to persevere in spite of difficulty. He knows what it means to fight hard for the sake of individual and national freedom. He knows what it means to sacrifice for the greater good. Barak Obama thinks that he knows about sacrifice because he has worked in the southside of Chicago; McCain knows that he knows about sacrifice because he almost gave his life for the sake of his country. because of his experience as a soldier and his years in American politics, McCain knows how serious a threat Islamic terrorism is to the safety of this country and our allies (particularly Israel, of course). With this sincere understanding, McCain will continue what the current administration has begun by using America's great military power to root out terrorism in all parts of the world, thus keeping this country safe and strong. In the process, McCain will continue to work with the country of Iraq to fully rebuild and strengthen its government.

Second, McCain--not Obama--understands and believes in the value of human life starting from the time of conception. As President, I trust that McCain will not allow any legislation to pass that further opens the door to more abortions, while an Obama presidency could indeed see a rise in late-term, partial-birth abortions. This too boils down to a fundamental difference in each man's values. Simply put, McCain values the life of the unborn; Obama does not. I often wonder how this fits into the

Third, McCain--not Obama--holding closeer to conservative values will therefore nominate Supreme Court Justices who will be more likely to uphold the original meaning of the Constitution should the seat open during his presidency. This is important for every possible reason--abortion cases, 2nd Amendment issues, gay marriage rulings, and any other cases dealing with individual freedoms.

I appreciate a recent post by Douglas Groothuis over at the Constructive Curmudgeon. He writes about how, now that Hillary is another part of the 2008 Presidential Campain history, Obama is the Democratic party's presidential nominee (and if you ask any true Democrat, he's America's Savior, too). Yet Groothuis gives an honest, but critical look at the dangerous implications of an Obama victory on November 4th. I especially enjoyed his description of the Democratic candidate:

"...an inexperienced, pro-abortion, tax and spend, internationalist, racially confused (think of his church affiliation) extreme liberal who does not understand Islamic fascism or how to deal with it. "

Obama is younger than McCain.

He is black.

He has younger children.

He's a wonderful orator who inspires audiences everywhere.

And he can definitely bring change to America.

...But how many of these things actually qualify Obama to lead the greatest nation on the earth for the next four to eight years?

If these truly are the qualities that many Americans respect in the man, why him? I'm sure there are many other young, well-spoken, black, American men with young children who could also change and inspire America as Obama proposes vaguely to do.

So what sets this candidate apart as a qualified future U.S. President? Is it his Senate voting record? (I hope not!) Is it his economic or foreign relations experience? (What experience?) Is it the innocence that has followed him throughout his campaign? (Don't forget Tony Rezko and Rev. Wright!) Is it his value-system? (You mean the one that values baby-killing?) Or is it his enthusiastic charisma? (DING! DING! DING!)

I hope that on Novemeber 4th, Americans everywhere remember the importance of values and character and vote for the better candidate, John McCain.

Groothuis ends his post on a strong note with the following encouragement:

"Christians should wake up, get in gear, and make a difference. In this election, to my mind, this means: pray for, vote for, and contribute to John McCain for President."

Amen to that!

You can read the entire post here.

ARBCA General Assemby 2008

11th annual ARBCA G.A.

Sycamore Baptist Church, East Moline, Illinois

Me and my dad, John Giarrizzo

Building Tomorrow's Church

Reformed Baptist Young Adults Conference

information table

Me, James Tyler, and Sam Nocita

Grace Baptist Church, Papillion, Nebraska

Chad Bennett and Robin Eckhardt

Me and Nick Kennicot

In the Service of the King

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything substantial and worth reading. The reality of it is this: I have been consumed with work--both secular (how the mortgage gets paid!) and ministerial. Additionally, I think I have between 1 and 2 regular readers, so few people even notice any lapse in time between my posts (which is fine by me--less pressure to be consistent!).

While my occupational endeavors at the University of Phoenix always keep me busy, my work in ministry will wax and wane depending on what tasks the Lord has placed before me. Currently, He has put my hands to the plow in terms of church ministry: between teaching adult Sunday School (we just finished studying The Pilgrim's Progress; now beginning a series on "Church History"), co-leading our young adults group, singing in the choir, leading music on Sunday evenings, and most time-consumingly, coordinating a nation-wide conference for Reformed Baptist young adults (BTC), I am quite busy.

I just returned this week from the annual General Assembly of pastors and leaders from ARBCA churches in East Moline, Illinois. It was a terrific time, and I hope to give another post to this topic. But while I was there, surrounded by full-time church pastors, elders, deacons, missionaries, seminary students, seminary professors, and pastoral interns, I couldn't help but think about how wonderful church ministry truly is. To be honest with you, I wish I could serve Christ and His church full-time. It is a glorious thing (to borrow a now all-to-common expression) to be in the service of the King of kings! In one way, all Christians are to be in His service all the time--living godly lives in pursuit of holiness, encouraging the family of God, evangelizing the lost. But in another, more unique way, those in church leadership positions--pastors and elders--have the higher calling of serving the King by serving His people full time. Spending time with the pastors this last week was an exciting experience for me. Although I was raised in the home of a pastor and thoroughly enjoy learning from my dad, being in the company of dozens of men who have been called to the full-time Gospel ministry is a priviledged opportunity and one where the best thing I find to do is simply listen.

So I thank the Lord for the ministries with which He has blessed me. When I become overwhelmed with the stress of the load, He is gracious in reminding me of Who it is that I serve: a merciful Master, a loving Lord, the King of kings, my Jesus.

Thus I pray for the strength to give Him my all in all He's given me to do.

BTC 2008

“Helping young adults find their place within the body of Christ.”

BUILDING TOMORROW'S CHURCH

Reformed Baptist Young Adults Conference

August 8th - 11th, 2008
Prescott, Arizona

Featuring Pastor Bob Selph
as the keynote speaker

The goal of BTC is to help young people understand
the importance of the local church.
Our hope is that this younger generation of Reformed Baptist believers
will grow in love for Christ and His Church and will pursue
active involvement in the local congregation.

BTC is not a “single’s conference.”
This conference is geared towards all young adults,
18+ yrs old, regardless of marital status.

We hope to see the BTC conference become a regularly anticipated and attended conference
for young adults across the country for many years to come!
Soli Deo Gloria!

REGISTER TODAY
at
www.buildingtomorrowschurch.com

O Day of Rest and Gladness

O day of rest and gladness,
O day of joy and light,
O balm of care and sadness,
Most beautiful, most bright:
On Thee, the high and lowly,
Through ages joined in tune,
Sing holy, holy, holy,
To the great God Triune.

On Thee, at the creation,
The light first had its birth;
On Thee, for our salvation,
Christ rose from depths of earth;
On Thee, our Lord, victorious,
The Spirit sent from heav’n,
And thus on Thee, most glorious,
A triple light was giv’n.

Thou art a port protected
From storms that round us rise;
A garden intersected
With streams of paradise;
Thou art a cooling fountain
In life’s dry dreary sand;
From Thee, like Pisgah’s mountain,
We view our promised land.

Today on weary nations
The heav’nly manna falls;
To holy convocations
The silver trumpet calls,
Where gospel light is glowing
With pure and radiant beams,
And living water flowing,
With soul-refreshing streams.

New graces ever gaining
From this, our day of rest,
We reach the rest remaining
To spirits of the blessed.
To Holy Ghost be praises,
To Father, and to Son;
The church her voice upraises
To Thee, blessed Three in One.

©1997 Christopher Miner Music.

Visit igracemusic for more quality hymns!

Finally, Hewitt Says It...

Maybe he has said this before, but today is the first time I have heard political commentator and radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt promote the "Republicans Unite" idea.

This morning, Hewitt acknowledged that his prized candidate, Mitt Romney, is facing an "up-hill battle" against Sen. McCain, and that if McCain becomes the GOP's go-to guy for November 4th, Republicans across the country need to rally behind him early!

If you ask my friends, I've been saying this for the last 2-3 weeks: No matter who Republican party chooses as the nominee, the rest of the party will do well to fall in line and throw its support behind that man. As of the latest numbers, that man is most likely to be McCain.

If you've read any of my other recent posts, you'll know that my vote went to Romney. However, I am prepared now to give McCain my support in order to beat either Hillary or Obama.

Hewitt, in his marvelous post, mentions "Seven Reasons To Support The GOP's Nominee." I whole-heartily agree with Hewitt's assessment of the situation and will support the nominee for those same 7 reasons.

At this point let me address another Conservative radio personality:
Rush Limbaugh needs to shut up!

I heard Limbaugh mention that if McCain were elected the GOP nominee, he would not vote. Caustic Ann Coulter went even further to say that it would be better to cast a vote for Hillary than for McCain. This notion is ludicrous and illogical. It is political party suicide. To vote for anyone other than the GOP nominee, or not to vote at all, and to promote this decision to other Conservatives, deeply hurts the Republican party as a whole. It is selfish and unintelligent.

In my mind, it comes down to a "lesser of 2 evils" scenario--politically speaking. While I do not agree with many of McCain's political issues, I agree with him more than I would with Hillary or Obama. And the questions that continually come back to my mind with regards to our next President are exactly what Hugh Hewitt mentions: Will McCain select Supreme Court judges who uphold the U.S. Constitution as it was written? And, will McCain support the U.S. military in its fight against terrorism?

I believe that the answer to both of these questions is "YES."

And that's why I am willing to vote for John McCain as my next President.

I Voted Today

...and of course, I voted for Romney.

However, judging by the early exit polls, Mitt may have a tougher time than I thought in a number of states on this Super Tuesday 2008.

Stay tuned for more!!

CNN's Update: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/dates/index.html#20080205

...and click here to check out Medved's USA Today column!

My Candidate

Well, folks, I've gone ahead and decided on a candidate for whom to vote! It's taken me a long time to get to this point. I have probably changed my mind 11.5 different times between the end of 2006 and now. But after much thought, research, and analysis of the presidential hopefuls on both sides of the aisles, I have come to the conclusion that there is only one real potential President in the running at this point in time.

His name is

MITT ROMNEY

To tell you the truth, in some ways I've sort of surprised myself on this one. A year ago, I would not have considered Mitt as my "fave." In fact, I was actually at one time adverse to supporting Mitt simply because of his glowing support from one Hugh Hewitt (who, although I like Hugh, seemed almost infatuated with the guy). But as the candidates have all had their time and chances to promote themselves and each explain their positions on things such as foreign policy (the war on terrorism), the economy, the Supreme Court, illegal immigration, abortion, and gay rights, Romney seems to be the only candidate to continually match my personal views on each topic.

I know that I will likely receive much flack for my decision to support this candidate due to his religion, but I believe that I'm prepared to answer such questions and objections. This is a poltical election. We are voting for a President, not a pastor. Thus, whether the candidate's personal religion is Christian, Mormon, or Catholic, I will vote for the man for his policies, not his religion.* This means that I would not vote for Huckabee solely because he is a Christian, nor will I conversely ignore another candidate because he is a Mormon.

I'm sure I will post more on this topic in the coming weeks and months (assuming that Mitt gets the GOP nod come Super Tuesday). In the meantime, as I do my best to be a thinking American voter, I am a Christian who rests on God's sovereignty. May His will be done.

* - That being said, I have concluded that I could not ever vote for a Muslim candidate. This conclusion is based off the tenents of the religion. Islam is an eastern religion that is based on, in part, the doctrine of Jihad. It is, at its core, a religion founded and continued upon violence. Mormonism, while antithetical to Biblical Christianity, maintains similar values as Christianity based largely upon the priniciples of the Bible.

1-18-08

It's one thing to read about something, isn't it?
It's quite a different thing altogether to experience something personally.

For the past 6.5 months, I have spent way too many hours of my life preoccupied with researching, web-searching, and imagining what terrifying events January 18, 2008 might bring to us.

Tonight, I found out 1st hand.

It's called Cloverfield. By now most of America has seen a preview on television, the internet, or right before Transformers in July. Probably the most recognized symbol of this movie is the ominous graphic of the Statue of Liberty--without her head.


Now I know exactly why she is missing her head.

I just returned from seeing a pre-screening of Cloverfield with my wife and a friend. As the credits rolled less than 2 hours after the Paramount logo twirled onto the screen, I sat in my theater chair
motionless;
speechless;
almost smiling.

Producer J.J. Abrams is a genius. I will say nothing in this post about the movie's characters (any of them!), nor about the plot line. But quite frankly, I'm glad to know that Abrams and Matt Reeves (the movie's director and personal friend of J.J.'s) will enjoy amazing financial success from the upcoming nationwide release of this movie. I say this because Abrams (and Reeves, too) is a genius.

Without giving anything important about this movie away, Abrams is a genius not because of a completely original idea for movie (because, as you see, it's not!), but because of the way he has packaged this movie from start to finish: with the mysterious trailer at the beginning of one of the biggest movie releases of 2007 which kept geeks like me scowering for more info ever since, to the amazingly creative internet ad campaign which never seemed much like movie advertising as it did story-telling, to the entirely novel way the film was written, shot, and cut.

To tell you the truth, Cloverfield is quite a simple story--a story more about human relationships than anything else. But it's a simple story that pulls you in early, takes you for a tornado-of-a-ride, and then drops you back into your theater seat motionless, speechless, and almost smiling. While Abrams himself would admit that the generic idea of the story isn't at all original, the premise in which this idea is set absolutely is.

For your own good, I would implore you to see this movie on 1-18-08 (this Friday!). It could change your life.

And to Abrams, Reeves, and the rest of the Cloverfield team: Thank you for sharing your gifts.

-David


P.S.
For snapshots from the movie, visit http://www.1-18-08.com/.

P.P.S.
Flip the pictures over.

Lakeshore, Mississippi

It's going on three years since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the shores of Mississippi and Louisiana.

On Saturday, a group of five men left from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport to join forces with 140 other people in Lakeshore, Mississippi--"Ground Zero" of Hurrican Katrina--to continue with the rebuilding project in that community for 7 days.
My brother Paul is one of those men.

Paul shared a website with me today that is an ongoing blog chronicling the work being done throughout the week: http://www.arbcainlakeshore.com/. It shows pictures of some of the devasted structures and landscape. It shows men and women hard at work to rebuild Lakeshore. And most of all, it shows the love of Christ being put into action. These 140 men and women from churches across the country and Canada have a common purpose: to shine the light of Jesus Christ to the people of Lakeshore through their words and ministry for the glory of God alone.

From what I understand, this mission was organized by Grace Baptist Church in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in conjunction with Lakeshore Baptist Church there in Mississippi and the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America (ARBCA).

Take a moment to visit this website, which is being updated daily this week, and pray for the workers as well as the surrounding community.

Below outlines how we can pray specifically for this ministry.

Please pray for us and our work in the following areas:
The salvation of men through the outward proclamation of the gospel and the good works of our hands.
The spiritual edification of the volunteers as we worship, serve, fellowship, witness, and study the Word of God.
The physical safety of our crews as they conduct difficult and often very dangerous tasks.
The health and growth of Lakeshore Baptist Church and God’s granting wisdom to pastor Don Elbourne.
The humility of each volunteer as we serve –may God keep us from being prideful and boasting in anything other than the cross.
Patience and flexibility: Hallmarks of disaster relief mission work.

My Books

So I got a few new books for Christmas. I'm in the middle of a terrific book by James L. Swanson called Manhunt: The 12 Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. It's captivating to say the least; rarely a slow moment in its nearly 400 pages!

Now I can share my library with anyone using LibraryThing.com. Challies blogged about it a few times. Here he discusses how to organize a library, in which he mentions this helpful online cataloging tool.

So if you're bored or interested, have a look at some of the books in my library online!

Michael Calls It Right in Iowa...IT'S MIKE!

Since my first year of college, I have been a huge respector (okay, "fan"!) of radio talk show host, movie critic, political commentator, and outspoken conservative Jew, Michael Medved. And today just proved another reason why I'm a "Medhead."

Last night/early this morning, Medved posted an article predicting the GOP winner in the Iowa Caucus today. Guess what?...He nailed it: Mike Huckabee.

Now, Medved has yet to endorse any one candidate (and I am trying to follow his example, although, as of late, I have been impressed more with both Romney and Huckabee than the others), but I sure do appreciate his recent defense of the Huck. Huckabee has faced more undue criticism over the last month or more than any other candidate. Sadly, this criticism has poured out of the mouths of critics on BOTH sides of the media (e.g. Limbaugh from the Right and Russert from the Left). Medved accurately outlines one glaring example of this harsh criticism in another article here.

Check out the above article links, and if you do, I hope you will be enlightened about one Republican candidate vying for the Presidency "of this greatest nation on God's green earth!"

Exerpt from Tim Russert's interview with Governor Mike Huckabee:

Tim, I've been asked more about my faith than any person running for president. I'm OK with that. I hope I've answered these questions very candidly and very honestly. I think it's important for us to talk about it. But the most important thing is to find out, does our faith influence our public policy and how? I've never tried to rewrite science textbooks. I've never tried to come out with some way of imposing a doctrinaire Christian perspective in a way that is really against the Constitution. I've never done that.

Happy 2008!

One of my resloutions for the new year:

blog more.

Peace through Violence

I recently gave a message to our college group at Grace Covenant during our annual Christmas fellowship. A few weeks before, I began thinking about what I might share with the group of young adults. Of course I knew that I would bring a message on the topic of “Christmas,” but the more I began to think about it, the more I realized how many topics and subtopics can flow out of the heading, “Christmas.” Literally thousands of sermons could be preached on the topic of Christ’s birth—the actual event and surrounding events, the prophecies foretelling it, the implications of his arrival, the essence of his person, the miracle of a Virgin birth, the faith of his parents, et cetera, et cetera!

But as I read the 2000-year old story in Luke 2 about the birth of our Lord, God seemed to bring one concept to my mind more than anything else.

As I read that passage in preparation for the devotion, it was verse 14 that really jumped out at me:
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels sang this song from the heavens on that ever-so holy night, they were both proclaiming a doxology of praise to God and passing along the very almost-unbelievable promise of “peace on earth.”

You see, it was this part about peace on earth that stuck with me after reading this passage.
And I’ll tell you why as I ask you—When you read the daily news and see the world’s headlines on TV, does it look to you like there’s “peace on earth”?
No. Of course it doesn’t.

So I had to think deeper on the matter—what exactly were the angels telling those shepherds? How would there be peace on earth through the birth of one little baby in a small town in Bethlehem?

Here’s what J.C. Ryle said about this “peace on earth”—

“Now is come to earth the peace of God which surpasses all understanding,—the perfect peace between a holy God and a sinful man, which Christ was to purchase with his own blood,—the peace which is offered freely to all mankind, the peace which, once admitted into the heart, makes men live at peace with one another, and will one day overspread the whole world.”

You see, I think that this peace on earth is a spiritual peace, not necessarily a physical peace between warring nations or peoples.

Matthew Henry said in his commentary on Luke,

“God's good-will in sending the Messiah introduced peace in this lower world, slew the enmity that sin had raised between God and man, and resettled a peaceable correspondence. If God be at peace with us, all peace results from it: peace of conscience, peace with angels, peace between Jew and Gentile.”

This peace is the peace that God makes with us when he turns our hateful and rebellious hearts of stone into obedient and humble hearts of flesh. This peace is the peace that comes with salvation! Look at these 2 verses that speak about this kind of peace…

“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
Colossians 3:19-20

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 5:1

So the question, and the ultimate point of that message, is this: How exactly did God the Father secure this peace on earth through that baby Jesus? The angels said that there would be peace on earth, but how would this peace become a reality? How would this peace be given, or transferred, to us??

This is where things get interesting!

Let’s read what God’s prophet Isaiah said to help us figure this out…

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5

Whoa!

How was peace brought to us?...through His punishment!
You see, the answer to the question is this: God used violence to bring peace!

I know what you’re thinking: “That’s crazy!”…”How can violence produce peace?”
Well just look at the wars of history—World War II is a good example. Through violence (war), peace was eventually established in both Europe and between America and Japan. Further, throughout the Old Testament we see God using violence to achieve His purposes. One of the most used, God-ordained practices in Israel was blood atonement which always included the killing of an animal. Why do you think God had the Israelites sacrifice to Him like this?...to point to the ultimate sacrifice which came in the person of Jesus Christ!

“In him we have redemption through his blood”
Ephesians1:7

God brought us peace through violence.

The way in which Christ was killed was one of the most violent popular methods of execution known in all of human history! The Romans were brutal when it came to punishing criminals. And yet this is the way God showed His love for us—by allowing His only, beloved Son to come to earth and bring us peace by dying this horrific death. What a Savior we have who was willing to offer Himself in this fashion! And what a Father we worship who gave us this opportunity to find peace in the Prince of Peace, Himself!

Revelation 5:12 reminds us how important an event Christ’s death was for us by telling us that in heaven, the eternal song of the redeemed will be a song about death…

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain”

So it’s as if even the manger was in the shadow of the cross—Christ’s entrance into this world was for the purpose of dying for us in order to bring eternal peace between God and men.

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

May we not forget this important lesson this Christmas season in the middle of all of our shopping and gifting and celebrating; instead, thank Jesus for coming to earth, dying for you, and may God indeed receive the glory for all these things.

Where Are You Thanksgiving?

It was November 1st and I was in Target. My wife, Paige, was looking for some Thanksgiving decorations for our dining table. But we noticed rather quickly that the Halloween merchandise that was being taken down or moved to the Clearance section, was being replaced with Christmas decorations. No fall decorations anywhere.

The other day I was driving through my neighorhood and noticed at least 3 families putting Christmas lights on their houses.

Within the last week or so, I realized that the radio, and most large retail stores, are all playing Christmas music.

It's the middle of November. Have we simply forgot Thanksgiving? There's a song sung by country music star Faith Hill called "Where Are You Christmas?". Well, I would like to sing a song called, "Where Are You Thanksgiving?"

As much as I enjoy the holiday season--and admitedly, Christmas in particular--I can't help but feel bad for the Thanksgiving holiday. I mean, do people even consider the importance of this holiday anymore? What about the those Pilgrims (do I dare say "Puritans"?) who risked everything by leaving England and coming to the New World for the sake of religious freedom? What about the Indians who welcomed the Pilgrims and with whom the Pilgrims established friendship? What about the glorious good news of Jesus Christ which the Pilgrims brought with them to New England? And what about the Pilgrim's gratefulness to the God of the Bible? These things are what Thanksgiving is about.

And all of this talk begs the question: Who's to blame for shoving Thanksgiving into the holiday broom closet?

My best guess would be that we have the retailers to blame. Stores which sell Halloween items from July 5th to October 31st, then Christmas decor from November 1st to December 25th pay little respect to Thanksgiving. It's bad enough that many modern history textbooks pervert the true meaning of Thanksgiving from the Pilgrims thanking God, to the Pilgrims thanking the Indians. But now, it seems to me that Thanksgiving is dwindling to a blip on the yearly holiday radar.

Let this not be the case for you and yours this Thanksgiving! Give thanks to God for your freedom. Give thanks to God for the Puritan Pilgrims. And give thanks to God for His abounding mercies to this fallen race.

Remember the Mayflower!

Happy Anniversary...

...to ME!

It has been one year this month since I first opened this site and made my debut as a blogger.

Looking back at the last year of blogging, I have learned a handful of lessons. However, one thing in particular stands out as the #1 thing I have learned--Blogging consistently is a LOT harder than I thought it would be!


The time and discipline required to make a blog worth reading is probably more than I have right now. Hence, the low number of hits this blog has received since it started. But that's okay. My reason for blogging isn't necessarily to impact a mass populace, but to fine tune my thinking and writing skills and to have an outlet for editorializing. I have enjoyed blogging so far, and look forward to future years of writing in the Blogosphere.

Happy Anniversary, A Fruitful Life.

365 Days & Counting...

Today is election day in the United States, and 264.25 days from today our nation will gather at pollling stations in each of our 50 states to elect for ourselves a new President. In doing so, we will be electing both the President and his (or her) 2nd-in-command, the Vice President. The new President will then decide on a handful of close, trusted officials to serve on his or her Cabinet. Additionally, it is expected that within the next President's 4 to 8 year term, at least 2 Supreme Court Justices will need to be replaced. This, as time will tell, will be the most important role of America's next President: nominating new judges to the Supreme Court bench.

Let us be wise citizens as we listen over the next few weeks and months to the candidates discuss their principles and policies. And let us be fervent in our prayers as we are now exactly one year away from voting into office the next Commander-in-Chief of this greatest nation on God's green earth!