"The kids in girl and boy land," the song says, "will have a Jubilee." But this promise of a coming Jubilee isn't for everyone. Alongside that promise there's also a repeated warning, almost a threat -- "You better watch out." This mix of a promised Jubilee and a repeated warning echoes the very first Christmas song or Advent hymn ever written. Read more
A partial list of things that have lamentably been delayed and neglected since Thanksgiving because the Big Box is offering a rare burst of overtime hours due to Black Friday, Christmas and prep for our annual inventory, and because time-and-a-half is closer to a living wage and that can't be turned down. Read more
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord." Read more
The singular, capital-A Antichrist of PMD prophecy is based on a variety of passages cobbled together from throughout the Bible. He is the Beast of Revelation; the King of the South and the King of the North from Daniel; the false Christ(s) that Jesus warns against in Matthew's Gospel, and Paul's "man of lawlessness" from Thessalonians. The composite sketch derived from all these descriptions yields a portrait that looks a little like Nebuchadnezzar, a little like Antiochus Epiphanes, a little like Nero or Diocletian, and a little like Victor von Doom. Read more
We are aware of all Internet traditions. And as it is now December 4, it is high time for us to click over to Mark Evanier's blog to re-read "My Xmas Story," starring Mel Tormé. Read more
It's a funny scene for what it is -- a child's childish fantasy of the swaggering hero he wishes/imagines he will be transformed into thanks to the purchase of a product (that product being, of course, an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock). But it's not so funny when alleged adults -- people of the legal age to be considered "grown-ups" -- repeat this exact fantasy as the basis for public policy or the lack thereof. Read more
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen. But for every Rudolph and Frosty, there are a dozen such characters who never caught on. For instance, do you recall, the most cynical cash-in attempt of all ... "Jingle-O the Brownie." Read more
"Women Distrust Church on Abortion" reads the headline from the Southern Baptist LifeWay Research, announcing the results of a recent survey. This is precisely backwards. The truth is that LifeWay's church distrusts women. They distrust women when it comes to abortion, and when it comes to almost everything else. Read more
NPR: "At least 14 people were killed and more than a dozen others wounded when up to three suspects armed with long guns entered a facility in San Bernardino, Calif., and opened fire, authorities said Wednesday." Read more
Before we get to "O Come, O Come Emmanuel," most of us start with a different kind of waiting and awaiting during Advent. As a kid, I didn't associate early December with mourning in lonely exile, but with the greedy anticipation of presents. Here's an Advent hymn, of sorts, for the anxious, greedy children some of us used to be. Read more
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