St. Patrick's Breastplate

St. Patrick's Breastplate

I arise today   
Through a mighty strength, 
the invocation of the Trinity, 
Through a belief in the Threeness,   
Through confession of the Oneness   
Of the Creator of creation.  


I arise today   
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism, 
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial, 
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension, 
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.  


I arise today   
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,   
In obedience of angels,  In service of archangels,   
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,   
In the prayers of patriarchs,   
In preachings of the apostles,   
In faiths of confessors,   
In innocence of virgins,   
In deeds of righteous men.  


I arise today 
through the strength of Heaven,   
the rays of the sun,   
the radiance of the moon,   
the splendor of fire,   
the speed of lightning,   
the swiftness of the wind,   
the depth of the sea,   
the stability of the earth   
the firmness of rock.  


I arise today 
through the power of God:   
God's might to comfort me,   
God's wisdom to guide me,   
God's eye to look before me,   
God's ear to hear me,   
God's word to speak for me,   
God's hand to lead me,   
God's way to lie before me,   
God's shield to protect me,   
God's Heavenly Host to save me   
from the snares of the devil,   
from temptations to sin,   
from all who wish me ill,   
from near and afar,   
alone and with others.  


May Christ shield me today   
against poison and fire,   
against drowning and wounding,   
so that I may fulfill my mission   
and bear fruit in abundance.   


Christ behind and before me,   
Christ behind and above me,   
Christ with me and in me,   
Christ around and about me,   
Christ on my right and on my left,   
Christ when I lie down at night,   
Christ when I rise in the morning,   
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,   
Christ in the mouth of everyone that speaks of me,   
Christ in every eye that sees me,   
Christ in every ear that hears me. 

I Arise: Ancient Paths to Prayer With Power - Controversy

Controversy


I bet you thought I missed some good opportunities to stir things up in the last section "About Jesus." Well, not exactly. I just felt I needed to have a good foundation from which to bloviate. A lot has been written concerning the various events in Jesus' life. I contend and maintain that they are all miraculous from beginning to end. In fact, one word that comes to mind when thinking about Jesus seriously is the word "supernatural". The dictionary definition of "supernatural" is "pertaining to, or being above or beyond what is natural; unexplainable by natural law or phenomena." So it may be a little absurd to attempt to explain something that is by definition "unexplainable" and "above and beyond" what we all experience as natural.


This brings up the question of worldviews, does it not? There are those who would claim to be historic, orthodox, or even Evangelical, with a capital E, Christians, who are not so sure about the nature of Jesus as a supernatural being. They will passionately defend the Deity of Christ, His miracles as historical fact, and even suggest indirectly that those who do not hold to their view of Creation may not in fact be Christians. But if you go and suggest that Jesus is still alive and well on planet Earth and doing the sort of things he said he would when He was here the first time they get a little snippy and suggest that maybe you need Lithium, counseling, and a Bible study, and preferably all three. Thanks to Jack Deere we have a great name for these folks. They are Christian or Bible Deists. Deists were the people that believed God built the world like a watch, wound it up, and left for a vacation. Their Trinity consists of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Bible. Their doctrine, and their hearts, are bulletproof. The suggestion of a need for medication for psychological derangement suggests that their attitude is one of greater trust in the modern Naturalist system that the true Christian worldview. Much of the teaching and ministry in churches reflects a greater trust in psychological theory than in the revelation put forth in the scriptures. Naturalism pervades the thinking of the church because it is the dominant worldview of our culture, and unfortunately the church much more reflects the culture surrounding it  rather than challenging  the culture to see in a new way. The secular method of counseling as a means for personal transformation has all but replaced the life of reflection, prayer, meditation, worship and repentance taught in the pages of God's book. And then a clearly anti-supernatural worldview leads to a stunted outlook on life, church, society, and even the study of Scripture itself. This makes room for all manner of unbelief masquerading as intellectual pursuit. The result is a weak, compromised witness in the culture at large. We have nothing to say and no power to say it with. 


Saint Patrick came into a culture and proclaimed a strong gospel message and backed that message up with real spiritual energy that transformed an entire people group in one generation. His impact is felt to this day. Patrick, the real man, made a real difference on his generation of fellow believers. One of the outstanding facts of the Breastplate is that it stands as a witness throughout the ages of the radical, primitive belief that propelled the Celtic church forward and made it a viable movement for hundreds of years. 


To make a statement of belief in the strength of Christ's birth in our culture would only invite cynicism and derision. In fact the prayer leaves out the part that is so challenging to us these days, but was common accepted knowledge in those days. It was a virgin birth. It was the result of a work of God's Spirit descending upon and overwhelming a human being and causing a kind of life that was in fact both divine and human at the same time for the first and only time in history. It was a singular, unrepeatable event in history, a miracle. 


Jesus' baptism was a miracle as well, for when a supernatural, divine being comes to take the place of merely human, broken beings by identifying with them in their weaknesses and, dare I say this, SINS, He himself being by nature SIN-LESS, a transaction is beginning which will have it's fulfillment in the death of Jesus. The miracle here is that Jesus fully intended to "fulfill all righteousness" by dying on behalf of all who could not stand before God on their own because of sin. Jesus knew from day one what He was doing: He was preparing to die.


How was the crucifixion miraculous? Well, there are all of those prophecies that were literally fulfilled describing in detail virtually every aspect of the event, from Jesus being beaten and marred to the men playing lots for His clothing. And how about this little bit of trivia, Jesus "gave up the ghost." Jesus cried out with a loud voice and died in such a way that a hardened military officer who saw it said "Surely this man must be the Son of God!" What would make a man familiar with death and dying say something like that? Only a death that was miraculous. 


The burial was miraculous mostly because of the fulfillment of this prophecy seven hundred years prior by the prophet Isaiah,  "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." And the followup to that in the book of Matthew, "As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away."


The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the single most important event in history for the Christian. As the apostle Paul put it, "If Christ has not been raised our preaching is futile and so is your faith." And also, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born." At the time Paul wrote this, he was not trying to get people to believe in something, he was simply reminding them of what they knew by experience, namely that they knew personally individuals who were there when Jesus appeared to as many as five hundred people at a time. They were flesh and blood people who sat across the table from them and or were well known to them in the context of their normal lives. 


Not a lot is said about the Ascension as a supernatural or important event these days. In fact, it's a rather short event, barely two verses of scripture cover it all. "After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “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.” " Of course, this is a highly supernatural event. First of all, the same Jesus who for the last forty or so days has been walking through walls and appearing to people all over the place has appeared to all those gathered, just goes up into the clouds! Then two men in white, angels, tell them to get a move on! Angels, Jesus appearing and disappearing, just another day in Jerusalem, ho-hum. The disciples were so used to supernatural events by this point that they just turned around and went back into town. "Yeah, yeah, angels, I see 'em. Angels are everywhere, man. Get over it!" Trust me when I say this, anyone I know who has really had an encounter with an angel has not been the least bit flippant about. They also generally say that they almost, almost, wish it hadn't happened. 


So what about the part about "His descent for the judgement of doom?" There are a couple of scriptures that could indicate that Jesus went into the place of the dead to proclaim the gospel and receive the faithful believers that hoped for His appearing. Many preachers have had a lot of fun with this as Jesus kind of going into the Devil's town and taking over like some super spiritual John Wayne shoot 'em up scene from a Western movie. Since Satan is a created being, and not equal with God, this cosmic shoot out is highly unlikely. It more likely comes from a misunderstanding of the eighth line of the Apostle's Creed, which simply states, "He descended into hell," or hades, the place of the dead. The real meaning was simply originally meant to reinforce that Jesus did in fact actually die. This is pretty important because there are still those who claim that Jesus never died on the Cross, or that He swooned in some way. In order to have a genuine resurrection you have to have a real death in the first place. 


It is possible that St. Patrick's Breastplate was taught as an extension in prayer form of the early creeds. Well, there you have it, then. Pray on!


from: JavaJazzJesus

Last living US WWI vet dies in W. Va. at age 110

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. –  Frank Buckles was repeatedly rejected by military recruiters and got into uniform at 16 after lying about his age. He would later become the last surviving U.S. veteran of World War I.
Buckles, who also survived being a civilian POW in the Philippines in World War II, died of natural causes Sunday at his home in Charles Town, biographer and family spokesman David DeJonge said. He was 110.
Buckles would have want people to remember him as "the last torchbearer" for World War I, DeJonge said Monday.
Buckles had been advocating for a national memorial honoring veterans of the Great War in the nation's capital and asked about its progress weekly, sometimes daily.
"He was sad it's not completed," DeJonge said. "It's a simple straightforward thing to do, to honor Americans."

When asked in February 2008 how it felt to be the last of his kind, he said simply, "I realized that somebody had to be, and it was me." And he told The Associated Press he would have done it all over again, "without a doubt."
On Nov. 11, 2008, the 90th anniversary of the end of the war, Buckles attended a ceremony at the grave of World War I Gen. John Pershing in Arlington National Cemetery.
He was back in Washington a year later to endorse a proposal to rededicate the existing World War I memorial on the National Mall as the official National World War I Memorial. He told a Senate panel it was "an excellent idea." The memorial was originally built to honor District of Columbia's war dead.
Born in Missouri in 1901 and raised in Oklahoma, Buckles visited a string of military recruiters after the United States entered the "war to end all wars" in April 1917. He was repeatedly rejected before convincing an Army captain he was 18. He was actually 16 1/2.
"A boy of (that age), he's not afraid of anything. He wants to get in there," Buckles said.


Read more: foxnews.com

Iranian Thugery

If I want to know what is happening in Iran, I turn to Michael Ledeen. Last night he confirmed that the two top leaders of the Green Movement have been kidnapped, blindfolded, and stuffed in the trunks of their cars and taken to three different locations, along with their wives.

Rural to Urban, and Back

Today was a rare Saturday off, so I piled the three youngest in the car to go explore downtown Denver. Going downtown in the big city is a really fun thing for us farm kids. First we stopped at the Brewery/Restaurant founded by our current Governor John Hickenlooper. It is a favorite of mine, because it has a big play space on the second floor. We played shuffleboard and darts, while trying to eat a big plate of nachos. We all found we were better at darts than shuffleboard.

Next we put some more quarters in the meter and walked over to the 16th Street Mall. We rode the Mall Bus for a while, then decided to see if we could go up to the top of one of the tall buildings.
We joined a group of college kids who were going to the 51st floor of a building for a class on community organizing! I kid you not! There was a magnificent view from that height.

When we came back down to street level, lo and behold there was a several block long group of protesters marching in solidarity with the leftists in Wisconsin. It gave me a good opportunity to explain to the kids what was happening. Most of the Denver protesters were unhappy about Planned Parenthood losing the ability to take taxpayer money to kill babies, who have no CHOICE in the matter, but there was also plenty of hatred directed toward Wisconsin Governor Walker for asking union workers there to pay a portion of their healthcare and pensions. Sorry, no photos of the baby-killing narcissists who want your money.

If you judge the popularity of an activity by the most amount of time spent doing it, then riding the escalators clearly was the hit of the day! Going down the up and up the down was the most fun.

Your own worst enemy

Are you your own worst enemy? If so, you are probably not fooling other people, when you try to portray yourself as a victim, and thereby blame your behavior on someone else. If you are in that tiny minority who carry around with you toxicity with which you try to infect others, STOP IT! GO AWAY!

I feel better now.

Media priorities

People Magazine knows a good story/photo-op when they see one. Although CBS News has kept largely quiet about what they reported as a "brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating" suffered by their attractive Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Lara Logan, People found a sexy photo of her from 2009, showing lots of breast. The photo shows her next to a man she dated in Iraq, while both were still married to "others." Oh, and the story's bottom line? "She is passionate about what she does." Titillating enough for you yet?

An easy request to fulfill

After our book-reading and prayers, I walked out of Sara's room tonight, but she called out to me as I reached the bedroom door, "Dad?"
"Yes, Sara?"
"In math today Ryan told me that if I didn't stop talking so much, he would call in some Zombies to drink my blood. Can you please make that not happen?"
"Sure, Sara."

Take Your Seats

Via Theo Spark

A Delusional Dictator

Via Theo Spark

A Stroke of Insight

I am reading a fascinating book entitled My Stroke of Insight by Dr. Jill Taylor. Jill was working as a brain scientist at Harvard, when she awoke one morning to the terrible pain of a stroke. She was hemorrhaging blood on the left side of her brain. The book is about that experience and her recovery.

Jill explains some things about the left and right sides of our brains. The left brain houses our linguistic abilities, our calculating abilities, our analytical judgment. When Jill lost those functions, they were replaced by an incredible inner peace, euphoria, and bliss (she also uses the terms "grace" and "Nirvana." She had no verbal cues, but also no lifetime of emotional baggage. The right side of our brains gives us our ability to understand big picture concepts and ideas. Normally there is a constant interaction between our left and right hemispheres. Jill lost that.

Did you know that each of us has approximately 50 trillion cells in our bodies? That most of us have nearly identical brains? It is the 0.01 percent in which we are different, that creates all the fun in the world. Viva la difference! That all living things, including plants, animals and humans share a common DNA? (and, I might add, a common Creator)!

Speaking of our Creator, I found it interesting that Ms. Taylor referred to the "Great Spirit." With only her right brain functioning, she felt "at one with the universe," and a "glorious bliss." Could the right brain be the place where our soul is housed?

Qaddafi Vows to Punish His Libyan Enemies

BENGHAZI, Libya –  Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi vowed to triumph over his enemies on Friday, and told supporters in Tripoli's Green Square that he would open arsenals "when necessary" to arm the Libyan people against the "enemy."
"We can crush any enemy. We can crush it with the people's will. The people are armed and when necessary, we will open arsenals to arm all the Libyan people and all Libyan tribes."
"Get ready to fight for Libya, get ready to fight for dignity, get ready to fight for petroleum," he said.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/02/25/libyan-protesters-new-push-qaddafi/#ixzz1F0UdUq9g

Engadget: Best gadgets and gizmos of 2010

Check out the best in tech this year at Engadget.

CNN co-host Kathleen Parker leaving show

Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- Kathleen Parker, the Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist who co-hosted CNN's 8 p.m. show, is leaving just five months after the show debuted, the company announced Friday.
"I have decided to return to a schedule that will allow me to focus more on my syndicated newspaper column and other writings," Parker said in a statement.
She said she enjoyed her time on the show "Parker Spitzer" with former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, but she had missed focusing full-time on her column in the months she had been working on the show.
"With the show going in a new direction, it is a good time to move on," Parker said. "I want to thank the viewers who have been so kind with their comments and support."
Ken Jautz, CNN executive vice president, said a new program, called "In the Arena," will begin Monday. Spitzer will remain on that show, which will adopt "an ensemble format with several newsmakers, guests and contributors joining Eliot Spitzer each night."
"E.D. Hill and Will Cain join the program as well as others within and outside the CNN family," Jautz said.
Parker will occasionally appear on CNN to "provide her insights and commentary," Jautz said.
"We thank Kathleen for her hard work and all that she has done to help us launch our new 8 p.m. program," Jautz said in a note to staff. "We respect her as a colleague and appreciate her perspective and contributions."
Added Spitzer, "It has been a joy working with her as a teammate, and I continue to be a huge fan of the wisdom that jumps from her written work and the wit, charm and insight she brings to all that she does."
"Parker Spitzer" launched last September in the 8 p.m. hour.
Parker is one of the nation's most prolific and popular opinion columnists, appearing twice weekly in more than 400 newspapers. In May, she was awarded the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for her political opinion columns.

Translation for the rest of us: "Fox is crushing us, so let's try another something else and see how that works."
My favorite comment on the CNN site: "What's next? Blitzer-Spitzer?" - Cliff

Developing Story: Obama and Leftist Media Silent as Egyptian Military Attacks Christian Monasteries

There are reports that Egyptian army soldiers are using the confusion of this time to attack Christian monasteries. We are still awaiting confirmation of this, but here is an early report:
from Newsreal Blog blogger Lisa Graas. Included in the short report is a link to YouTube video of the attempt to break down a wall outside the St. Bishoy Coptic Orthodox monastery-Wadi El-Natron.

Former employee accused of writing virus to target Whac-a-Mole machines

Whac-A-Mole seems like it could be endless fun.

Moles pop out of five holes in the arcade game and a soft mallet is used to force them back into the holes to score points.

Children and adults alike could whack the moles for hours at a time.

Or at least they could until a worker programmed a virus into the machines to make them shut down after a pre-determined number of plays, Holly Hill police said.

Now they have arrested that man, Marvin Walter Wimberly Jr., 61, of Orlando, who faces a charge of offenses against intellectual property.

It was all a scheme by Wimberly to insure job security, according to an arrest affidavit.

Bob's Space Racers, an amusement game manufacturer, was established in 1970 and created Whac-A-Mole, police said.

Wimberly, who was treated as an independent contractor, began working there in the 1980, according to the arrest report. His job was to write and maintain computer programs that operated the company's games.

Company officials told police Wimberly received a fee for creating and maintaining the programs and that when the volume of work declined in 2002, an hourly consulting fee was added to his compensation.

In 2008, company officials began encouraging Wimberly to become a full-time, salaried employee and set a deadline of March 31, 2009, to reach an agreement, according to the report. His response was to increase the maintenance fee he was charging the company by 250 percent just before the deadline, police said.

Police believe Wimberly began writing the virus into the computer codes in August 2008 and sold the company 443 computer modules with the infected code for a total of more than $51,000. Once the modules shutdown, they were useless, police said, and total loss to the company was more than $100,000.

A year ago, Wimberly supplied the company with modules which contained an even more complex virus, according to the arrest report.

Company officials believe Wimberly did it to profit from selling the modules to the company and charging the maintenance fee and that he intended to start a company that would sell working modules to customers of Bob's Space Racers who were having issues with the modules that were infected with the virus, the report said.

At one point Wimberly admitted to other workers that he programmed a virus into a new Bongo game to intentionally case it to fail, the report said.

from: Orlando Sentinel via Gizmodo

Defiant Gaddafi refuses to quit amid Libya protests

Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has refused to stand down amid widespread anti-government protests which he said had tarnished the image of the country.

n his first major speech since unrest began last week, Col Gaddafi said the whole world looked up to Libya and that protests were "serving the devil".
Reading from the country's constitution, he said enemies of Libya would be executed.
Rights groups say nearly 300 have been killed in the violence so far.
A defiant and angry Col Gaddafi said that he had brought glory to Libya. As he had no official position in Libya from which to resign, he would remain the head of the revolution, he said.
He blamed the unrest on "cowards and traitors" who were seeking to portray Libya as a place of chaos and to "humiliate" Libyans. At other points he referred to them as cockroaches or "rats and mercenaries".
State TV had said Col Gaddafi was going to announce "major reforms" in his speech, but the only such reference was to some devolution of power to local authorities.
read more at: BBC

Andrew McCarthy: Death to Apostates: Not a Perversion of Islam, but Islam

The case of Said Musa shows why we cannot graft democracy onto Islamic societies.


On NRO Friday, Paul Marshall lamented the Obama administration’s fecklessness, in particular the president’s appalling silence in the face of the death sentence Said Musa may suffer for the crime of converting to Christianity. This is in Afghanistan, the nation for which our troops are fighting and dying — not to defeat our enemies, but to prop up the Islamic “democracy” we have spent a decade trying to forge at a cost of billions.

This shameful episode (and the certain recurrence of it) perfectly illustrates the folly of Islamic nation-building. The stubborn fact is that we have asked for just these sorts of atrocious outcomes. Ever since 2003, when the thrust of the War On Terror stopped being the defeat of America’s enemies and decisively shifted to nation-building, we have insisted — against history, law, language, and logic — that Islamic culture is perfectly compatible with and hospitable to Western-style democracy. It is not, it never has been, and it never will be.

This is not the first time an apostate in the new American-made Afghanistan has confronted the very real possibility of being put to death by the state. In 2006, a Christian convert named Abdul Rahman was tried for apostasy. The episode prompted a groundswell of international criticism. In the end, Abdul Rahman was whisked out of the country before his execution could be carried out. A fig leaf was placed over the mess: The prospect of execution had been rendered unjust by the (perfectly sane) defendant’s purported mental illness — after all, who in his right mind would convert from Islam?  His life was spared, but the Afghans never backed down from their insistence that a Muslim’s renunciation of Islam is a capital offense and that death is the mandated sentence.

They are right. Under the construction of sharia adopted by the Afghan constitution (namely Hanafi, one of Islam’s classical schools of jurisprudence), apostasy is the gravest offense a Muslim can commit. It is considered treason from the Muslim ummah. The penalty for that is death.

read the rest at NRO online

I Arise: Ancient Paths to Prayer With Power - About Jesus

Let's continue with the second part of Saint Patrick's Breastplate. It's all about Jesus: 


I arise today   
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism, 
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial, 
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension, 
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom. 


In this part of the prayer we focus on the very person and historically significant actions of Jesus Christ. If you remember, when you "arise" you are exerting your will to choose to bind unto yourself God's choosing of you.


The most important proof of God's care for us was when He came to Earth as a baby, became one of us, identified with us in life and death, and lived an ideal, sinless life of love before us. The smart guys with the degrees in theology call this the Incarnation. In one of the more than than three hundred fulfilled prophetic promises of God's coming to Earth, He even calls Himself "the-God-Who-Is-With-Us," or Immanuel. This person called Jesus came to be a signpost of a new way to live. He came to reveal awesome truth about God, the Father, and His desire that we all should know Him and have a real relationship with Him. He also came to show us the life that we all desire to live, a life that has meaning, purpose, and that makes a difference for all time. Jesus said it this way:  "I am the way, the truth and the life." I would say it like this: "Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life."




Jesus is the Way


Jesus made this radical claim about himself without apology. He said it simply and without any kind of equivocation. He was not apologetic when He said it. He really meant it when He said, "No one comes to the Father but by Me." He didn't give a three hour discourse to explain himself. He just said "I am the Way" and meant it. When you meet the person who says that there are many ways up the proverbial mountain, he has to meet Jesus at the bottom of that mountain, and Jesus is simply going to say to him "I AM THE WAY." 




Jesus Is the Truth


For people in today's a la carte menu spiritual atmosphere, this statement is hard to handle. Even the majority of Christian believers generally think of Jesus as a thinker or philosopher or prophet. When we speak and think like this we basically bring Jesus down to our level in order to try and understand him. There is a danger of attempting to deconstruct or demythologize Jesus in order to explain him. But the truth about Jesus is that He IS the Truth. Truth is a person, Jesus Christ. He is the very essence of all Truth for all time. When someone met Jesus on the road to Nazareth and talked with Him, they met the Truth. Jesus didn't just teach truth, or speak truth, or even learn truth, He was and continues to be, Truth itself.




Jesus is the Life


The writings about Jesus in the New Testament describe two kinds of life. One is called "bios" and refers to mere biological, fleshly life. The other kind of life is called "zoe" and refers to the kind of life that God Himself possesses. It was said of Jesus that "In Him was life and that life was the light of men." In these days we call this kind of life "eternal" life because it is the nature of God to be outside of and unbounded by time. Jesus possessed both the "bios" and the "zoe" kinds of life, thus the statement "In Him" was life. My favorite way to put this is that even the most dogged materialist atheist in the world relies on Jesus for his very life. His life is sustained moment by moment by the very love, grace and choice of Jesus Christ. When I think of a Cosmic Christ, this is what I imagine. Jesus is so filled with Life, the eternal God kind of "zoe" life, that all things have their beginning and end in Him, and are thus sustained by Him. So when Jesus claimed that He was the Life, he was saying something so radical, that either he was telling the truth and is who He says He is, or He was completely insane, or, He was delusional and altogether pure evil. As C.S. Lewis is famous for saying, He was either Lord, a liar, or a lunatic. 


So as we arise and pray this prayer, we are reminded that Patrick's Lord is also ours.  


St. Patrick's Breastplate

I arise today   
Through a mighty strength, 
the invocation of the Trinity, 
Through a belief in the Threeness,   
Through confession of the Oneness   
Of the Creator of creation.  


I arise today   
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism, 
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial, 
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension, 
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.  


I arise today   
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,   
In obedience of angels,  In service of archangels,   
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,   
In the prayers of patriarchs,   
In preachings of the apostles,   
In faiths of confessors,   
In innocence of virgins,   
In deeds of righteous men.  


I arise today 
through the strength of Heaven,   
the rays of the sun,   
the radiance of the moon,   
the splendor of fire,   
the speed of lightning,   
the swiftness of the wind,   
the depth of the sea,   
the stability of the earth   
the firmness of rock.  


I arise today 
through the power of God:   
God's might to comfort me,   
God's wisdom to guide me,   
God's eye to look before me,   
God's ear to hear me,   
God's word to speak for me,   
God's hand to lead me,   
God's way to lie before me,   
God's shield to protect me,   
God's Heavenly Host to save me   
from the snares of the devil,   
from temptations to sin,   
from all who wish me ill,   
from near and afar,   
alone and with others.  


May Christ shield me today   
against poison and fire,   
against drowning and wounding,   
so that I may fulfill my mission   
and bear fruit in abundance.   


Christ behind and before me,   
Christ beneath and above me,   
Christ with me and in me,   
Christ around and about me,   
Christ on my right and on my left,   
Christ when I lie down at night,   
Christ when I rise in the morning,   
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,   
Christ in the mouth of everyone that speaks of me,   
Christ in every eye that sees me,   
Christ in every ear that hears me.


from: JavaJazzJesus

A salute to Texas

Texas is about to pass a law allowing concealed handguns on all their 38 public universities serving more than 500,000 students. Only one other state has had the wisdom to enact such legislation: Utah.

Obama cuts out broadcasts on Voice of America to China

President Obama's budget calls for cutting out all radio and t.v. Voice of America broadcasts into China. Oh well, they were probably pushing values like freedom and liberty.

Found: Al Gore!

Al Gore surfaced last week, just long enough to sell the Brooklyn Bridge on February 17th to a group of tourists from Slovakia. According to this blog, proceeds will go toward his new global warming foundation.

I know my blogging partner will try to disprove this story, but I believe it, so it must be true!

U.N. Silent on Gaddafi

Gaddafi (or Qaddafi, if you prefer), a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, is using high caliber, possibly anti-aircraft, weapons against his people. Doctors treating the wounded say the bullets are as big as their fists. So far, no word from the U.N.

Os Guinness:The Journey: A Thinking Person's Quest For Meaning

Os Guinness leads us on a journey to find nothing less than
THE MEANING OF LIFE! He will tell you about the four phases
of the search for meaning:
1.) A time of questioning
2.) A time for answers
3.) Testing and re-evaluation
4.) Commitment
This is a very challenging talk and will have you on your way to better understanding
the meaning of your life and the part you play in the greater story going on around you.

Unlocking the Mystery of Life (Chapter 1 of 12)

Libyan forces fire on mourners at funeral again

CAIRO –  Libyan forces fired machine-guns at mourners marching in a funeral for anti-government protesters in the eastern city of Benghazi Sunday, a day after commandos and foreign mercenaries loyal to longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi pummeled demonstrators with assault rifles and other heavy weaponry.
A doctor at one city hospital said his morgue had received at least 200 dead from six days of unrest.
The doctor said his hospital, one of two in Libya's second-largest city, is out of supplies and cannot treat more than 70 wounded in similar attacks on mourners Saturday and other clashes.
The crackdown in oil-rich Libya is shaping up to be the most brutal repression of anti-government protests that began with uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. The protests spread quickly around the region to Bahrain in the Gulf, impoverished Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula, the North African neighbors of Tunisia — Libya, Algeria, Morocco — and outside the Middle East to places including the East African nation of Djibouti and even China.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/02/20/libyans-mass-day-protests-1819334753/#ixzz1EW2G58dS

China tries to stamp out 'Jasmine Revolution'

BEIJING –  Jittery Chinese authorities staged a show of force Sunday to squelch a mysterious online call for a "Jasmine Revolution" apparently modeled after pro-democracy demonstrations sweeping the Middle East.
Authorities detained activists, increased the number of police on the streets and censored online calls to stage protests in Beijing, Shanghai and 11 other major cities. Citizens were urged to shout "We want food, we want work, we want housing, we want fairness" — a slogan that highlights common complaints among ordinary Chinese.
Many activists said they didn't know who was behind the campaign and weren't sure what to make of the call to protest, which was first posted on the U.S.-based Chinese-language advocacy website Boxun.com.
China's authoritarian government has appeared unnerved by recent protests in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Yemen, Algeria and Libya. It has limited media reports about them, stressing the instability caused by protests in Egypt, and restricted Internet searches to keep people uninformed.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/02/19/china-tries-stamp-jasmine-revolution/#ixzz1EW0V5GSf

Afghan Red Cross Worker May Be Executed for Being A Christian

An Afghan physiotherapist will be executed within three days for converting to Christianity.
Said Musa, 45, has been held for eight months in a Kabul prison were he claims he has been tortured and sexually abused by inmates and guards.
Mr Musa, who lost his left leg in a landmine explosion in the 1990s, has worked for the Red Cross for 15 years and helps to treat fellow amputees.

Afghans hold prayer service for Said Musa

He was arrested in May last year as he attempted to seek asylum at the German embassy following a crackdown on Christians within Afghanistan.
He claims he was visited by a judge who told him he would be hanged within days unless he converted back to Islam.
But he remains defiant and said he would be willing to die for his faith.
He told the Sunday Times: 'My body is theirs to do what they want with.
'Only God can decide if my spirit goes to hell.'
Defence lawyers have refused to represent him, while others have dropped the case after receiving death threats.
Mr Musa was arrested after a TV station showed western men baptising Afghans during secret ceremonies.
from: The Daily Mail via the Gospel Coalition

Grace people and Law people

In my experience there are two types of people out there: grace people and law people. Grace people understand that we are all in this together and that we all need a little room to be human in the midst of our struggles. Law people judge others as weak or not following the rules rightly. Grace people understand the point of the rules and respect them, but don't use them to control others. Law people are all about control through the only word they know, which is "no." Grace people see the good in others and trust them, and law people assume the worst from the first. Grace people help you clean up after a mess or failure, but law people look to see who to blame for the mess, and it's always someone else. Be a grace person, and you will go a long way on this journey called life.

Would you rather have an Obama phone, or a Reagan phone?

This time Obama gets credit for Reagan's work - no fair!

We had a blog linked from someone today that claimed that there is a cell phone for low-income folks that is free, called the "Obama phone", and is supposedly paid for by the government.

Well, it's a total hoax, folks. It's one of those things that they call an internet urban legend. Now these things happen all of the time, but I am asking you all, please, don't just put up any rumor you see on the net as newsworthy without checking it. Please!!!!!

Apparently, our blogger friend didn't even check out the website itself, which dedicated an entire page to debunking this myth. I found this information just about two or three clicks away.

And you'll really like this next part: the government has very little to do with it! In true conservative fashion, the phone companies give the service away as a blessing to the community.

What's even funnier about this is that the program started when Ronald Reagan was president. So it's really the "Reagan phone." I want a "Reagan phone," don't you?

Lord, bless the bloggers, and please help them to check their sources! Amen!

Is the media going to follow this story?

CBS reported here that one of their reporters, Chief Foreign Correspondent Lara Logan, was a victim of a "brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating" by a mob of protesters in Egypt on the day Mubarek stepped down. CBS says that this photo of her was taken moments before the attack.

El Rushbo

Finally, someone has given Rush Limbaugh his due. Wilfred M. McClay has written this comprehensive piece in Commentary.

Finishing what Reagan started?

Libya? Yes the Arab revolt has spread to Libya, where Qaddafi has ruled mercilessly for 41 years.
Michael Totten provides the link to this video.

A Guide to the Political Left

If you go here, you will learn more about Barack Obama than you could ever want to know.

More Civility from the Left

Doug Ross posts fifteen pictures from leftist demonstrators in Madison, Wisconsin, where Governor Walker has asked public employees to pay for a tiny part of their pension plans and healthcare. Have you seen any of these photos in mainstream media coverage? I didn't think so.

On vagueness

I have, like, nothing to say. Clark Whelton writes in City Journal about "Vagueness, the linguistic virus that infected spoken language in the late twentieth century."

On to the future!

While conservatives debate about whether Obama is evil or just incompetent, Vice President Biden is above the fray, so to speak. Iowahawk breaks this story about Biden taking us into the future with a proposed highspeed rail (Amtrack) jump across the Grand Canyon.

While you are visiting Iowahawk, be sure to scroll down to visit President Obama's weekly school lunch menu newsletter.

The debate is on

So, which is it? Is President Obama "deliberately initiating policies that he knew would injure the economy and the country?" Or, is he merely "arrogant, incompetent, narcissistic, and in over his head?" Rick Moran joins Michael Medved in believing it is the latter, not the former. Like those on the Left, Moran throws out hateful epithets against Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and Palin, calling them "cotton candy conservatives." What is that supposed to mean? That they are insubstantial? Got a little jealousy thing going on there, Rick?

I hope all this fighting among conservatives does not affect our ability to join together to pick and support a strong candidate who can defeat Obama in 2012. Meanwhile, Obama, Soros, and the rest of the Left must be sitting back and enjoying the show.

A good crony

Donald Trump has contributed to the recent political campaigns of Harry Reid, Chuck Shumer, and Charlie Rangel, to name only a few. These facts were dug up by the Center for Responsive Politics and I found them here.

Trump knows how to be a good crony, to grease the skids of powerful politicians.

Prying open the coffin

Ready for some death jokes?
1. A doctor calls his patient and says, "I have some good news and some bad news."
The patient asks, "What is the good news?"
The doctor says, "I got your test results, and you only have 24 hours to live."
The patient asks, "That's the good news? What's the bad news?"
The doctor answers, "I forgot to call you yesterday when I got these results."

2.(This is one Republicans should pay attention to as they debate issues of purity.)
A man is walking across a bridge and sees another man about to jump off the bridge in an apparent suicide attempt. The would-be-rescuer goes up to the man and says, "Don't do it!" The other man says, "Why not?" He says, "Because there is so much to live for. Are you a religious man?" "Yes." "Me, too! See, we have something in common already, so let's talk this thing though! Are you Christian or Jew?" The suicider says, "Christian." The other man excitedly says, "Me, too!" Are you Catholic or Protestant?" "Protestant." "Me, too! Baptist or Episcopalian?" "Baptist." "Me, too! Baptist Church of God, or Baptist Church of the Lord?" "Baptist Church of God." "Me, too!" Reformed Baptist Church of God or Original Baptist Church of God?" "Reformed Baptist Church of God." "Me, Too! Reformed Baptist Church of God Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Church of God Reformation of 1919?" "Reformed Baptist Church of God Reformation of 1919."

The would-be-rescuer says, "Die, heretic scum!" and pushes him off the bridge.
from Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates.

I Arise: Ancient Paths to Prayer With Power - Invocation

Introduction


This is the first part of a short series on St. Patrick's famous prayer called the Breastplate of St. Patrick. Saint Patrick was actually born on the island where Britain is now, in the south of Scotland. He was kidnapped as a young boy and taken to Ireland and lived for several years as a slave shepherding sheep. It was during this time of great suffering and duress that Patrick rediscovered the faith of his youth. He said of himself that he prayed as many as a hundred prayers in the day and as many at night. He had frequent angelic visitations, and in fact was led to escape from his captors by an angel. He returned to his boyhood home, but eventually went to Gaul to seek out spiritual training amongst the Christians there. Patrick tells us in his Confessions the powerful experience that led him back to the place of his captivity, Ireland:

     And there I saw in the night the vision of a man, whose name was Victoricus, coming as it were from Ireland, with countless letters. And he gave me one of them, and I read the opening words of the letter, which were, `The voice of the Irish'; and as I read the beginning of the letter I thought that at the same moment I heard their voice---they were those beside the Wood of Voclut, which is near the Western Sea---and thus did they cry out as with one mouth: `We ask thee, boy, come and walk among us once more.'
And I was quite broken in heart, and could read no further, and so I woke up. Thanks be to God, after many years the Lord gave to them according to their cry.
And another night---whether within me, or beside me, I know not, God knoweth---they called me most unmistakably with words which I heard but could not understand, except that at the end of the prayer He spoke thus: `He that has laid down His life for thee, it is He that speaketh in thee'; and so I awoke full of joy.

So it was that at age forty-eight Patrick left with the blessings of his elders and a few companions to reach the Irish with God's message of love, freedom and reconciliation.


 Invocation


The first section of the Breastplate begins with the statement "I arise today..." Other translations also say, " I bind to myself today..." The word "arise" implies choice on the part of the believer, an intention to seek and walk in covenant with God, in a binding, unbreakable union guaranteed by the very nature of God Himself. This is your choice to choose God's choosing of you. 


The next part of the prayer declares where the strength to arise comes from, the mighty strength of an almighty God. When we pray, when we work, when we love, when we rest, we do it all in the power of the One who is that energetic, all-consuming, eternal fire. God is the fire within us. God does not give us strength, He IS our strength.


To invoke is to declare or decree on behalf of an authority. The next statement, "the invocation of the Trinity," is a call to the God of the scriptures to show up, to become manifest presently, and exercise authority and rule. When you invoke the Trinity, you are quite literally playing with Fire. When you invoke the Trinity, you are calling on Him to come and hear what you are about to say. In a word, you are serious!


The essence of the next phrase, "Through a belief in the Threeness," is belief. You come to God in an attitude and posture of trust and confidence in His ability to hear you and do what you ask. Your trust and belief is in Him. This is not mere mental assent or agreement to a set of doctrines or creeds, but a real experiential knowledge of his goodness, faithfulness and love toward you. It is in this confidence, this belief, that you pray.


True belief leads to confession. The love of God is downloaded to our hearts by the kind intention of the Father. We experience God's goodness in salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son. We are convinced of the faithfulness of God through the witness of Scripture enlightening our hearts and minds through the power of the Holy Spirit. Reminded of these things, we are engulfed in the praise that comes forth from a grateful heart, leading to a confession, a song bursting forth, of the wonder, the magnificence, the beauty and the grandeur of the God who is the Creator of all creation.


It's time to pray the Breastplate...    

St. Patrick's Breastplate


I arise today   
Through a mighty strength, 
the invocation of the Trinity, 
Through a belief in the Threeness,   
Through confession of the Oneness   
Of the Creator of creation.  


I arise today   
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism, 
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial, 
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension, 
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.  


I arise today   
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,   
In obedience of angels,  In service of archangels,   
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,   
In the prayers of patriarchs,   
In preachings of the apostles,   
In faiths of confessors,   
In innocence of virgins,   
In deeds of righteous men.  


I arise today 
through the strength of Heaven,   
the rays of the sun,   
the radiance of the moon,   
the splendor of fire,   
the speed of lightning,   
the swiftness of the wind,   
the depth of the sea,   
the stability of the earth   
the firmness of rock.  


I arise today 
through the power of God:   
God's might to comfort me,   
God's wisdom to guide me,   
God's eye to look before me,   
God's ear to hear me,   
God's word to speak for me,   
God's hand to lead me,   
God's way to lie before me,   
God's shield to protect me,   
God's Heavenly Host to save me   
from the snares of the devil,   
from temptations to sin,   
from all who wish me ill,   
from near and afar,   
alone and with others.  


May Christ shield me today   
against poison and fire,   
against drowning and wounding,   
so that I may fulfill my mission   
and bear fruit in abundance.   


Christ behind and before me,   
Christ beneath and above me,   
Christ with me and in me,   
Christ around and about me,   
Christ on my right and on my left,   
Christ when I lie down at night,   
Christ when I rise in the morning,   
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,   
Christ in the mouth of everyone that speaks of me,   
Christ in every eye that sees me,   
Christ in every ear that hears me. 


Editor's Note: If you want to read the entire series I Arise: Ancient Paths To Prayer With Power in an e-book format(pdf), click on the picture above.