BC CULTURE
Saved by @Alex1Powell

Thread – A Very Strange Christmas Indeed!

1. Went to a Missouri Synod Lutheran Christmas Eve service tonight, as we visited our daughter in Billings. The sermon was great; I will attempt to give the message justice.

 2. This has been a strange Christmas for many people, if not most or all. No advent services, no Christmas parades, no office parties, no jumping from party to party on Christmas Eve. Fearmongering by the Democrat-media complex that minimizes attendance.
3. Social distancing and the wearing of masks in church. Human to human contact minimized. And so forth and so on. It just doesn’t feel like Christmas this year.
4. Yes, this Christmas has been strange. But then think about how strange the very first Christmas was. Here is the Christmas story from the Bible (Luke and Isaiah):
5. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
6. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voiced with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”
7. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
8. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”
9. [The angel continued:] “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, ….”
9A. “… and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
10. And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
11. And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy – the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, ….”
11A. “… and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”
12. And Mary said “Behold, I am a servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your world.” And the angel departed from her.
13. In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town.
14. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
15. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
16. And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.
17. And the angel said to theme, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
18. [The angel continued:] “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
19. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude o the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
20. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.
21. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
22. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
23. For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peach there will be no end, ….
23A. … on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to stablish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

24. Yes, how strange was that first Christmas? God chose a dirty, smelly, and filthy stable for the delivery of his Son into the world. Not a rich man’s house, not a sacred temple, and not under the supervision of the physicians and midwives of the day.
25. He chose to enter this world as a helpless baby, with the first to be informed the lowest of the low shepherds (analogous to the “free grazers” chastised by local ranchers in that Hollywood movie “Open Range,” starring Kevin Costner and Robert Duvall).
26. Not the religious hierarchy of the day, not the king and governor, not the “important people.” But rather those of one of the lowest and most degraded classes of the time.
27. And yet that baby was to change the world and save mankind through grace and faith and love, and by example and through the ultimate sacrifice. The circumstances of that birth were indeed strange on that first Christmas.
28. And look at how the world was subsequently changed from that moment onward to today. The Christmas message resonates regardless of the “strangeness” in which we are mired this year. And we should be of good cheer even in the darkest of times.
29. We are saved by grace and through faith alone – by that baby born over two millennia ago. May the message of Christmas resonate in your heart and mind. Merry Christmas to all! ///The end.

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Thread – Excerpt from a Ross Rant (Election-related)

1. These following are excerpts from a recent “Ross Rant.” Joel Ross publishes these periodic reports that provide commentary on the changing scene with an eye toward wise future investments.

2.

There never was going to be a new stimulus deal. Pelosi did not want to do anything that might help Trump, and she was hoping to trap McConnell, and make him look like he killed it so they could argue the Dems need to control the Senate.

3. My sense is that backfired. It is clear to most that she is the problem, and why, and that she does not give a damn about the people who are suffering. It is all about getting power. Unfortunately, Wall St kept being fooled thinking there would be a deal.

4. So the market was up and down depending on which false rumor they believed. Classic Wall St. Buy on rumor and hope. Sell when it does not happen, then buy again. Trader’s dream.

5. The EU is now in the midst of a major virus surge and that will kill any hope of a near term economic rebound as lockdowns get put back on. While in the US there are a few stories of hospitals in rural areas getting to capacity, reality is, most of the US has lots of capacity.
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Thread – Dump the Legacy Media; Turn to These News Sources

A. We all need sources less tainted by the Big Tech/globalist narratives that are echoed repeatedly throughout the legacy media. My brother sent me a list of alternatives from the Noq report.
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Thread – A Survey of the Current Situation

1. The media (99%), the FBI, and the Justice Department, and most judges in federal judiciary seem fully complicit in protecting those guilty of the most massive corruption and sedition in American history.
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Thread – The Buffoon in the White House (Irony)

1. A pal passed this to me the other day, and I saved it for today. The author is unknown (at least to me), but this has been posted on a number of blogs. An excellent read!
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Thread – Does the Buck Really Stop with Mike Pence?

1. A pal sent me this Facebook post by “Rod D. Martin.” I pass it along as food for thought in the frenzy leading up to the “great expectations” of 6 January.

2.

We absolutely must resist the massive fraud which has just been perpetrated on our country. But at the same time, we must not grasp at hopes which are not hope.

3. Some believe that the Constitution grants Vice President Mike Pence almost magical powers to overturn the improperly certified election "results" from the stolen swing states. They base this on just one clause, plus a lot of internet rumor.

4. This is the relevant sentence, from the 12th Amendment: "The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted."

5. The [various] theories being articulated freight this clause with a shocking amount of weight. Where, for instance, does this clause state that Mike Pence's rulings are unappealable?
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Technicolor dreambowl, found in a grave near Zadar on Croatia's Dalmatian Coast. Made by melding and winding thin bars of glass, each adulterated with different minerals to get different colors. 1st century AD. 📷 Zadar Museum of Ancient Glass https://t.co/H9VfNrXKQK


100,000-year-old abalone shells used to mix red ocher, marrow, charcoal, and water into a colorful paste. Possibly the oldest artist's palettes ever discovered. Blombos Cave, South Africa. 📷https://t.co/0fMeYlOsXG


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