The Reason We Celebrate

The Manger and the Cross and …

By A.F. Ticker (12-22-2009)

In this season of the year, I am reminded of the reason for the season through the Christmas story as presented in the Gospels. Angels proclaimed the “good news” to the shepherds as they watched their flocks by night, and a star shone brightly in the sky that guided wise men from the East to seek the “Newborn King.”

The people of that time were sorely oppressed by the government of Rome, as well as by their own Jewish leaders. They were looking for an earthly king who would come and deliver them from their immediate circumstances. They were not looking for a child, born of a young virgin girl, born in a stable, and laid in a manger. They wanted a Messiah born of wealth and power, dressed in finery, a man who would overthrow the oppressive government. Many had forgotten the words of Isaiah, written some four hundred years earlier, which foretold the coming of the One Who would free His people. They only wanted the Messiah who would come to set the captives free and bring the vengeance of God on their enemies.

Isaiah 61:1-2: 1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God …

The remainder of the story was set aside since it did not bring the results the people were looking for. The people were indeed looking for a great warrior King.

Isaiah 53:2-9: He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 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.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Return with me to the beginning:

Luke 2:19: 1 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.) And everyone went to his own town to register.
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Indeed, what a glorious and fulfilling account of events. It does create for many a time of celebration, as it should. It tells the glorious news of a Savior being born, a Savior for all mankind. The shepherds acted in accordance with their directions, which were to go and see. When they did, they found the child who would become the Savior of the world, at least for those who would believe and act accordingly.

We know that He was born a King, for the wise men traveled many miles to find Him. When they arrived in the vicinity, they inquired:

Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him”(Matt: 2:2)

The story does not end with the manger or the arrival of the wise men who proclaimed him a King. For that we have even more reason to celebrate.

For those who have read the story, we know this child, Jesus, grew into manhood, and people were drawn to Him by His Spirit and His compelling message. Many who heard him teach and saw the miracles that he performed followed Him. This displeased those who were in power, especially the Jewish leaders. The Romans were so used to “insurrections” of all sorts that they actually paid little attention to this Man from Galilee. Those in power were fearful of loosing their power, and therefore, many stories were made up against this Jesus of Nazareth.

Among his disciples was one named Judas who would betray him for thirty pieces of silver. And so it goes. In the final part of this story we find Jesus on trial and accused of insurrection and various other “crimes.” Pilate, the Roman head of government in that region, found “no fault in this man.” But like a good politician, Pilate prevent himself from being portrayed as the “bad man” and offered the people their choice of a murderer or Jesus to be set free. The shouts of “Crucify Him. Crucify Him!” rang loud across the courtyard, and the people voted in favor of Barabbas. The known criminal Barabbas was set free, and Jesus was sentenced to death, just as had been foretold in Isaiah.

And so we come to the Cross:

Matthew 27:35-54: 35 Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: “ They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.” 36 Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. 37 And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
38 Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left. 39 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
41 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, 42 “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. 43 He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.
45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” 47 Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!” 48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. 49 The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.”
50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

I have attempted to take you on a journey of celebration, a celebration not only for this season but for every day of the year. I have taken you from the manger to the cross, but I must continue for the story is not complete, and the reason for real celebration is not finished.

We know from the accounts in the Gospels that Jesus was taken from the Cross and buried in a borrowed tomb, but then, on the third day, He arose from the grave, triumphant over death and the grave. And that, dear friends, is a wonderful reason for celebration.

But bear with me. The story continues. Jesus walked and talked with His disciples, and after 40 days was caught up into heaven. While the disciples stood stunned with mouths agape, there appeared two men (angels bearing more good news).

Acts 1:11: 11"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

Now this is a reason for celebration! The King Who came to the world as a child, grew to manhood, was crucified, buried, raised from the tomb, and ascended into heaven is coming again. This time He will not come as a peaceful Child. This time He will come as The King of kings and the Lord of lords.

John gives us a glimpse in the book of Revelation of how this same Jesus, the Son of God, will return.

Revelation 19: 11-16: 11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter."He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Hallelujah! And now we have the complete story and the full reason for the celebration.


Thank you for reading. I hope you have an understanding of why I have written what I consider the Reason for the Season — this time we call Christmas — and why I celebrate it with joy.

Shhh!, It's Taxes Stupid; But Don't Tell

Want to know how Reid and Obummer plan on paying for the so called Health Reform which is no reform at all but a tax and a way of controlling another segment of the American economy?

Senator Harry Reid's health care bill uses the word "tax" 183 times--and each time it hurts more than the last. As documented (section/cost) by Americans for Tax Reform, here are 18 of Sen. Reid's tax hikes:

Individual Mandate Tax (Sec. 1501/$8 billion),

Employer Mandate Tax (Sec. 1513/$28 billion),

Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans (Sec. 9001/$149.1 billion),

Employer Reporting of Insurance on W-2 (Sec. 9002/Min$),

Medicine Cabinet Tax (Sec. 9003/$5 billion),

HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike (Sec. 9004/$1.3 billion),

FSA Cap (Sec. 9005/$14.6 billion),

Corporate 1099-MISC Information Reporting tax (Sec. 9006/$17.1 billion),

Excise Tax on Charitable Hospitals (Sec. 9007/Min$),

Tax on Innovator Drug Companies (Sec. 9008/$22.2 billion),

Tax of Medical Device Manufacturers (Sec. 9009/$19.3 billion),

Tax on Health Insurers (Sec. 9010/$60.4 billion),

The bill seeks to Eliminate tax deduction for employer-provided retirement Rx drug coverage in coordination with Medicare Part D (Sec. 9012/$5.4 billion),

Raise "Haircut" for Medical Itemized Deduction from 7.5% to 10% of AGI (Sec. 9013/$15.2 billion),

Sets a $500,000 Annual Executive Compensation Limit for Health Insurance Executives (Sec. 9014/$0.6 billion),

Hike in the Medicare Payroll Tax (Sec. 9015/$53.8 billion),

Blue Cross/Blue Shield Tax Hike (Sec. 9016/$0.4 billion),

Tax on Cosmetic Medical Procedures (Sec. 9017/$5.8 billion).

Now you know how they manage to “Cook the Numbers” to show it will “save” money. It amounts to TAX, TAX, TAX. But then that is a favorite item in the leftist vocabulary. In other words, it’s a lie, not just a lie but a blatant lie which we use to call back up in the mountains, a low down rotten skunk smelling damn lie. There is no other language to describe it otherwise that is printable on this blog.

Hat tip: FRC

Pelosi Introduces The transaction Tax

I wrote about this tax that was sure to come if Obama were to be elected in September of 2008. On Tuesday, September 9, 2008 I posted this Barack Hussein Obama, George Soros, the Tobin Tax and the Tie That Binds The link is for reference for those interested in reading the entire story of how all this has taken place.The full story includes Obama’s famous Global Poverty Bill, which by the way still languishes in the senate, and I believe will be unveiled with great ceremony when the time is right to proclaim his “savior of the world”. Should his so called Health plan fail to evolve in the way he desires and his “crap and tax” fails we can expect the surprise to come shortly there after and possibly just before the 2010 elections and certainly prior to 2012.

Today Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the money hungry democrats have taken it up as a way to bring prosperity. Prosperity to whom I would ask… certainly not to the common working people who for some reason have elected foolish people such as Pelosi, Reid and Obama to ruin (not a typo) this nation.

One of the organizations that took up the cry for immediate acceptance of this scheme back when it was first mentioned is a group called ATTAC, the Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions to Aid Citizens. The name says about all that is needed to be said at this time about this group. Under their ideology, the Tobin Tax would be used to raise money to spend in the Third World, but it involves calling people on the streets not to denounce capitalist exploitation, so they claim, but to demand a minimal tax on the financial transactions in which capitalists try to swindle each other out of the proceeds of their past exploitation of the working class. It really is one of the most pathetic reform proposals for which people have ever been called upon to demonstrate. When one reads the code words it is easy to see the real intent and purpose of this scheme—redistribution of wealth.

And of course now Pelosi and the democrats have taken up the cry all in the name of “helping the working class folks” of course. Here is what Speaker Pelosi said:

Tax 'em all: "I believe that the transaction tax still has a great deal of merit. The concern that many of us or others have had is that it will send, it will send transactions overseas. ... The fact is, what we are talking about is a global transaction [tax], something that we would do in conjunction with other G nations, whether it is G8, G20, whatever the current G number is. Because it is really a source of revenue that has really minimal impact on the transaction, but a tremendous impact on helping us meet our needs. I think there would be a market for it among the American people to say that we are all participating in the economic prosperity of our country, and we are all pitching in to continue that prosperity." --House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) touting a tax on stocks, bonds and other financial transactions.

This is nothing more that what George Soros has been waiting to do for a number of years now. With his “sock puppet” in place and the introduction of the idea by Pelosi look out folks cause here it comes. Just another step toward relegating the US to a member of a One World Government.

George Soros had taken the Tobin Tax a step farther and created what he calls SDRs, or Special Drawing Rights, which is the method by which the taxes would be distributed. SDRs are part of a country's official foreign exchange reserves. They serve as a means of payment among Fund members. IMF creates SDRs "through a process of allocation and distribution to IMF members (International Monetary Members, created by the UN)." Before the U.S. could become involved in this scheme, it would have to be implemented by the U.S. Congress. Now hang on and you will see shortly how Barack Hussein Obama and his Global Poverty Bill fits into this scheme. Soros sees in this pending SDR allocation a readily available means "to finance the provision of public goods on a global scale as well as to foster economic, social, and political progress in individual countries ..." (Richer countries would donate their SDR allocations to specific improvement projects in poorer countries. Poorer countries would keep their allocations as an addition to their monetary reserves. Can you say, redistribution of wealth?)

Projects worthy of funding proposed by poorer countries would win a place on an approved list created by an independent international board to be set up by the IMF. "Eminent persons"(rest assured that George Soros would be the appointer) appointed for fixed terms and free of control by their governments would make up this board.

Donor countries, using their SDR allocations, would choose to fund any program from the list created by the international board. But unlike the usual practice in traditional foreign aid, the donor countries would not control the programs. An audit commission, separate from the international board, would monitor and evaluate. Donors' choices would be made public. Soros would limit the initial round of eligible programs to a few high-priority areas such as public health, education, information technology, or judicial reform.

The IMF's international board would thus work roughly the way philanthropic foundations work. Poorer countries would submit a proposal to the board the way, say, a college now submits a proposal to, say, the Mellon Foundation. But the board's approval of a program would merely be an enabling act. A richer donor country, interested in giving its SDR credits to a poorer country, would have to step up and select a project for funding from the list of approved projects. In doing so, it would be agreeing to follow the rules established by the board and IMF. Those rules would aim at keeping the donor country from using the "grant" for its own political purposes; and they would aim to place responsibility for executing the program in the hands of locals who were not agents of their governments. So far this type of system has failed but regardless there are those who will continue to call for such redistribution of wealth.

EPA says Greenhouse Gases Endanger Human Health

WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency took a major step Monday toward regulating greenhouse gases, concluding that climate changing pollution threatens the public health and the environment.

The announcement came as the Obama administration looked to boost its arguments at an international climate conference that the United States is aggressively taking actions to combat global warming, even though Congress has yet to act on climate legislation. The conference opened Monday in Copenhagen.

The EPA said that the scientific evidence surrounding climate change clearly shows that greenhouse gases "threaten the public health and welfare of the American people" and that the pollutants — mainly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels — should be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

"These long-overdue findings cement 2009's place in history as the year when the United States government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution," said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson at news conference.


Just in time for the arrival of "the ONE" at the Climate Change Circus in Copenhagen, the EPA makes their sudden revelation. Do you think it was coincidental, or was it to make "the ONE" look good in front of the gathering of clowns in Copenhagen? Certainly it strokes his ego and causes him to "diddy-bop" even more as he takes the platform. The other clowns are thinking, “Why, certainly ... the new king of the world.” And from all indications that is the post the Chief Clown has been campaigning for since day one.

I wrote on another blog some months ago that "the ONE" would use the EPA Regulations already in place in order to get all the attention at the CCC and to bypass any debate in Congress on how much money it would cost to perform this unnecessary task or how much taxes you and I and industry would be paying in the future. It's called taxation without representation and that folks is not Constitutional. We fought a much-needed war over that issue at one time and it appears that we may need to have another one to stop this spread of European Marxism. Using the EPA sure beats the fight "the ONE" would have in passing "cap and trade," or as it is better known crap and tax. I heard a small business owner speak today that he is now paying over $10K a month for cooling his business, and that, given the rough estimates so far, he would be paying at least $20K or more when the ridiculous EPA regulations are set into play. His final remark was, “Yes, unfortunately, the cost will be passed on to my customers.” Not only can EPA regulations control what type of heating and cooling you will use, but they can also tell you what your thermostat will be set on. Can you imagine working in a place with the thermostat set on 85 degrees (F) instead of 75 degrees?

All I can say, folks, is bend over and grab your ankles because this is going to be rammed through the back door.

I can only hope the class of idiots who voted for the Chief Clown will be happy with paying out the wahzoo for heat, cooling, lights, and all other energy they consume. I am sure that this is not part of the "Change" they hoped for. I may suffer, but I will suffer less knowing that I voted for the other guy.