There's always next year, right? You bet. We got a new coach with a winning track record and some exciting times ahead of us. We have a win in Tallahassee to look back on. A bowl win would have been nice, but sometimes that's the way the cookie crumbles.

This one comes courtesy of my mother-in-law...

Finally, some sage advice from Dr. Phil...I am passing this on to you because it definitely worked for me and we all could use more calm in our lives. By following the simple advice I heard on a Dr. Phil show, I have finally found inner peace.

Dr. Phil proclaimed the way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started. So I looked around my house to see things I had started and hadn't finished; and, before leaving the house this morning I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of White Zinfandel, a bottle of Baileys, a bottle of Kahlua, a package of Oreos, the remainder of both Prozac and Valium prescriptions, the rest of the Cheesecake, some Saltines and a box of Chocolates.

You have no idea how good I feel.

God grants grace to stand in the strength of tumultuous battle--the battle against the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. Though there be things here that draw us to them and bring us to lust, God's grace is far stronger, and it is strength to stand against all the assaults that Christians do withstand. Though there be pressure to waver, to accept all manner of falsehood and immorality, yet these lead only to death. God's grace and strength are given so that Christendom can stand against it. And God's Word is sure--His promise certain--He will not forsake His Church. The Church militant, assaulted on all sides by all manner of evil, can and does stand firm on God's Word.

Hence, she prays to God looking back at the martyred saints. These noble men and women, who in the face of trial and temptation, would rather face death by sword than face the Death of Hell, are examples of upright living--examples of the strength and grace of God. Therefore, the Church prays earnestly to Her Father that He would grant Her members such faith and zeal for Him, that when the time comes that we should face the sword, we would meet death willingly, knowing that by Him and from Him is Life Eternal.

May Her prayer be granted this day--St. Stephen, Deacon and First Martyr--and every day until He comes again...

People read history books without question. Why is that? Facts are recorded and all according to the point of view of the historian. Regardless, because it is recorded in a history book, it has to be real. You'd think it was a newspaper or something.

Well, it stands to human reason--to Christian human reason--that God saw that coming when He sent his spirit to St. Luke to inspire him to write his Gospel. The Christmas history that he records begins with a recounting of world history: "In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)" These guys really existed. So, Luke is saying the rest of what he wrote really happened.

What did he write? "The time came for the baby to be born, and [Mary] gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room in the inn." Shepherds went to greet him, Magi travelled to greet him (well, in St. Matthew's Gospel). The boy grew in stature, taught the teachers, made his way to Jerusalem to die for the sins of the world. This man was Jesus, given the name because He would save His people from their sins. He is the Son of God. He is God in the flesh; the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, St. John says. He rose again, and ascended to the Father in heaven.

So, if what St. Luke says happened actually happened, then the promises he states that Jesus made are true, too. Just as He is risen and ascended into heaven, He will return to raise the dead and give eternal life to all who believe in Him. As Martin Luther says, "this is most certainly true."

All of this because Caesar Augustus issued a decree. A decree that can be read about in many different history books on Ancient Rome.

Therefore, since it is true, I can, in all confidence wish you a very Merry Christmas. And remember, this is only the first day of Christmas, we have 11 more to go...

Look for my Christmas Eve sermon either later tonight or tomorrow sometime.

Ever wondered about the origins of the "word" Xmas? Well, to put it simply X looks an aweful lot like the Greek letter chi. Chi happens to be the first letter in the Greek word Christ. So, Xmas is shorthand for Christmas.

Well, used to be...

In these last days, people who obviously need something to be offended at have taken offense at the word Christmas (because it contains that aweful word "Christ" </sarcasm> have taken use of the "word" Xmas.

Of course, that's not the only way Christmas is come under attack. Others simply do not use the word at all, full or shorthand. They opt to use the word Holidays. They refuse to say "Merry Christmas," turning to the more politically correct "Happy Holidays."

All of this is a vain attempt to remove Christ from Christmas.

So, let's see where we'd be right now if there were no Christ. Now, grant me a little freedom here, but this is how things might look...

Without Christ, there would be no Christmas. There's a reason we say He's the reason for the season. The term and traditions simply wouldn't exist. December 25 would be just another day. But wait, would it be December 25?

Without Christ, there would be no Christianity. Without Christianity, there would be no Christian monks. Without Christian monks, we wouldn't have our current calendars. So, it would be safe to say there would be no December 25. This time of year would be an ordinary time. Who knows when the New Year would start, according to what calendar. It's a pretty logical assumption that during this time there would be no holidays at all. All of this simple stuff for lack of Christ.

We could go on. There would be no United States of America, at least as we currently know it, where people are free to take exception to every little thing that happens. The first, non-native settlers of this continent arrived here with the idea to practice freely their religion; all of which were Christianity. Our great country was founded on their backs; the forefathers were descendants of these religious refugees. We can debate all night long whether they were Christian or not, but the fact remains that they wouldn't be here if it weren't for Christianity, and the desire to practice it freely. And without the founding fathers, what country would we be living in right now? There's a chance that it would be similar, equal even, but there's an even greater chance it would be far different than it currently is, perhaps even worse socially, economically, racially--whatever-lly.

All of this because there was no Christ. I could get into all the spiritual ramifications of no Christ, but I'll leave that to a parousal of Scripture and some other entry.

Because all of this took place, however, those of you who take offense to Christ are free to do so without persecution. I simply ask the same in return. I'm not out forcing anyone to be Christian--I do not convert people. I invite them to listen to what I have to say about Christianity--I speak of God's Law and Gospel. Stop trying to convert me to atheism or some other false religion, it offends me. Yes, this persecution offends me, but I live with it. I live with it in the knowledge that I have every right to be offended by the next guy and his offense as he is of me because I am Christian. So, you who are offended, don't be surprised when we're offended by you.

An alarmist is said to have stated that the ACLU is out to establish no religion in this country. In other words, the ACLU is trying to have the government ban religion. While their actions in recent years (perhaps since they were founded) seem to point in such a direction, I don't feel ready to concur with an alarmist. On the other hand, alarmists are sometimes well ahead of their times...

It is no secret that the ACLU does not like the inclusion of anything Christian in anything public. It is all done under the guise of political correctness and a separation of church and state. They believe that protecting civil liberties means offending no one (a hopeless task), and so they seek to be politically correct (on a side note, they are sometimes so politically correct that no one knows what they are talking about). They believe that protecting civil liberties means protecting the public from religion, namely Christianity (really, have you see them in a suit against anything Jewish or Muslim or Hindu or Buddhist?).

Now, there is news out of Canada that Christian churches there are prohibited from preaching against homosexuality. Canadian laws stipulates that homosexuality is to be tolerated and accepted. This, then, extends to Christian churches, too. It extends to any religion that holds that homosexuality is a sin; a sin that is expressly forbidden in its scriptures (okay, so some religions claiming to be Christian accept homosexuality as normal...I don't know what they're reading, but it isn't the inerrant Word of God we call the Holy Bible). It may be that the first steps only are being taken in this direction in Canada, but there is legislation specifying this kind of behavior, and some of it has passed; it's only a matter of time before our generally liberal "friends" to the north go all the way, so to speak.

What does this have to do with separation of church and state. Well, exactly that, I suppose. The ACLU holds up the First Amendment of the United States constitution in their defense that Christian symbols and words should not be used in or on anything public. They state that the First Amendment says church and state are to be separate. Of course, this only applies to Christianity, for the First Amendment explicitly states that the Christian church and state are to be separate.

I beg to differ. The phrase "separation of church and state" are found nowhere in the constitution, least of all in the Bill of Rights (also known as the first ten amendments to the constitution for those who flunked American History). Let's take a look at the first phrase in the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...

From there, it goes on to freedom of speech, press, and assembly. I say that the First Amendment actually protects a Christian's rights to be Christian in the United States, to have the freedom to express that Christianity wheresoever he or she pleases. Congress (read, United States Government) can make no law prohibiting the Christian from doing so. In fact, should the alarmist's prediction hold true, that same amendment the ACLU seeks to use as its ally becomes its enemy; for in his alarm, he states that the ACLU is pressing congress to enact a law prohibiting the free exercise of (a) religion. The ACLU's actions, in this case, are unconstitutional.

What does the situation in Canada have to do with this? Well, many fear, myself included, that we are headed in a direction when some entity--be it government or some offended group or individual--will seek to silence the cries against homosexuality (and other things, such as abortion) from orthodox Christian bodies. Should that day come when the government is hearing such a complaint, I hope they throw the book, mainly a single document, at the party issuing the complaint. That document will say, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The First Amendment protects the Christian preacher as he is preaching against all kinds and manner of sins--those things his Scripture speak against--including homosexuality and abortion. By way of the First Amendment, the government cannot prohibit the Church from calling a sin a sin.

May we never get to the point where it is thought to repeal the Bill of Rights...

I've uploaded my sermon from last Sunday. Click the Sermons link above (or to the left for mobile browsers).

Virginia Tech beat the University of Miami, FL 16-10 today.

And this means what for the Gators?

Well, Florida has already accepted a bid to play in the Peach Bowl on December 31. Florida defeated Florida State 20-13 last weekend. Miami of Florida beat Florida State 16-10 back in September. Miami of Florida's record is 8-3, Florida State's record is 8-3, Florida's record is 7-3. With the loss, Miami is expected to receive an invitation to play in the Peach Bowl.

Now, if Florida beats Miami, both teams records will not only be 8-4, but Florida would have defeated both schools and would out-right be the state champion. Hopefully, Florida State could lose, too, then all three schools would have identical records (and Florida still the state champs).

A state championship and the hottest coach in the country. Life would be really sweet as a Gator should that come to fruition. Of course, having the hottest coach in the country is sweet enough...

Urban Meyer that is.

Said to be the most sought after coach in the country on a day when Notre Dame and Florida officials visited with him (the only day anyone has), Coach Urban Meyer is said to have accepted the job offered to him to be the University of Florida's next football coach. He is reported to have accepted this over his dream job at Notre Dame.

If the reports are true, I wish him luck in coaching my Gators. May he have the success of Spurrier, the heart, will, and desire of Zook, and the gratification of the fans. And if he doesn't have the latter, he'll have mine anyway. I may have been tough on the Zooker, but it was his time to go--in any event, I appreciated his zeal for UF, and he has my thanks for being a UF coach. Meyer will receive the same, no matter the outcome.

Welcome coach, I'm glad you're here, and GO GATORS!