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“And He Healed Many” (Mark 1:29-39)Yesterday, on a pastors’ e-mail list that I’m a part of, one of the men, Pastor Jay Webber of Arizona, brought a prayer request to our group on behalf of his son Paul and daughter-in-law Ruth. He’s given me permission to share this with you, by the way. His daughter-in-law, Ruth Webber, is 23 years old, and she is six months into her first pregnancy. However, she has been diagnosed with advanced gastric cancer, stomach cancer. Her chances for survival, Pastor Webber reports, are not good. Right now she’s up at the Mayo Clinic in...

“A New Teaching with Authority!” (Mark 1:21-28)Our text today is the Holy Gospel, the story of Jesus teaching in the synagogue and rebuking an unclean spirit, and the people’s reaction to what he was doing. They rightly saw that this was “A New Teaching with Authority!” “Jesus entered the synagogue and was teaching,” our text says. We sometimes forget that Jesus was a rabbi, a teacher. During his ministry, he would travel around to various places and teach. And one place where he regularly went was to the synagogue. Now the temple in Jerusalem was the place for the nation...

“Net Growth” (Mark 1:14-20)Where are the fish? Where have all the fish gone? This is the question on the mind of most every church in America these days. And no, I’m not talking about trout and catfish. I’m talking about people. Where are the fish, where are all the people? Why aren’t we seeing them in the church like we used to? Whose fault is it? Whom can we blame? Our numbers are down. Attendance, offerings--that’s what we’re fishing for, isn’t it? Maybe we need to try a different net. Why aren’t we seeing any (if you’ll pardon the pun)...

When the story of Jesus known as The Gospel of Mark began to circulate as a written text in the ancient Mediterranean cities, it became engaged in a form of negotiation with the Roman imperial culture. A newly published dissertation from the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) shows, however, that a European colonial heritage probably has caused biblical scholars to neglect the earliest Gospel's primary act of negotiation with its imperial context. Biblical scholar Hans Leander has investigated how Mark's Gospel was related to Rome's Empire when it began to circulate among the early Christians during the first century C.E. He...

“A Trip out to the Wilderness” (Mark 1:1-8; Isaiah 40:1-11)Today and throughout the season of Advent, the church takes “A Trip out to the Wilderness.” We go out there and we meet John the Baptist, our wilderness guide. What John is doing out there is leading God’s people in two things, penitential preparation and hopeful expectation, as we await the coming of the Lord. Penitential preparation, hopeful expectation--these are the distinctive accents of Advent that we will hear in our trip out to the wilderness today. God does some of his best work out in the wilderness. In that desolate...

“Awake until the Coming of Our Lord” (Mark 13:24-37)It is customary for midweek services in Advent or Lent for the preacher to come up with a theme, some connecting thread that ties together the services and sermons for that season. Last year, for instance, our Advent series, for both the Sundays and Wednesdays, was on the seven “O Antiphons” of the hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” It made for a nifty, handy-dandy series theme. But this year for Advent, I wasn’t sure what to do with these midweek services, what sort of a theme to come up with. Then...

“Advent Is Worth the Wait” (Isaiah 64:1-9; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 11:1-10)We don’t like to wait, do we? I mean, we Americans. And especially when it comes to Christmas. Wait till the night of December 24 to start celebrating Christmas? No way! So the Christmas catalogues started coming--when, the day after Labor Day? Then came the Christmas movies: “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas” came out November 4. The Christmas radio stations: “Santa Baby” was “Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree” already a couple of weeks ago. And the TV specials: “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” is this Tuesday. Apparently, Rockefeller...

I was pleasantly surprised to hear Mark Levin, on his Friday show, express his rejection of the phony balanced budget amendment and giving his support to the four Republicans who voted against it. My only disappointment with Mark on this issue is his failure to associate our founder’s expressed intentions to have the rule of apportionment applied when dealing with deficits should they occur, and how the rule of apportionment would make each State’s Congressional Delegation immediately accountable if Congress spent more than is brought in from its normal means of raising a federal revenue, which would trigger the apportioned...

During the 2008 election cycle, political talking heads kept a sharp eye on the alleged extravagance of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. And decades ago they had a lot to say about First Lady Nancy Reagan and her lifestyle in the White House. Why are there no stories about First Lady Michelle Obama? London’s Daily Mail newspaper claims Michelle Obama has spent $10 million in taxpayer money on vacations. And on his Wednesday evening show, radio host Mark Levin went after the Obamas, particularly as the coverage of Michelle Obama in the White House seems lacking compared to Nancy Reagan.

Two short audio clips of Mark Levin (Daily Caller embed) and Tammy Bruce (my YouTube) both saying Palin is in.

As violence and riots sweep through sections London, the rest of the western world can only watch stunned. Earlier, we showed you some of the terrifying pictures taken by British photojournalists, but there’s also tons of video, recorded by Londoners on their cell phones and Flip cameras from rooftops and windows. A journalist however, Sky News’ Mark Stone, was brave (foolish?) enough to go right down on the street and record a pretty stunning video as he forces his camera right in the face of a group of looters. Fortunately for Stone the area he was in (Clapham Junction) doesn’t...

President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies are using U.S. economic problems (which they partially created) to sell Americans on the need to cut defense spending. This is what America’s enemies have wanted for decades. If America can be dis-armed, Russia, China, Cuba and Iran will face little or no opposition to their plans for world domination. More than two years ago, Cuban trained, former Weather Underground terrorist Mark Rudd, warned us that Obama’s game plan would be to exploit economic crises to push for defense cuts . Rudd, an unrepentant Marxist to this day, works closely with at three...

"The land of the free and the home of the brave Seems like I just woke up one day and it was gone, long gone. I know in my heart its still out there. Can someone please tell me where I'm looking for America."

Red Reps 2 here; Mark Miller No State Senator bears more responsibility for the recent events in Madison, Wisconsin than Mark Miller. As Democrat minority leader, Mark Miller led a a boycott of all 14 Democrat State Senators. The group all bailed to neighboring Illinois on February 17, denying Republicans a quorum in the Wisconsin State Senate, so they could not pass Governor Scott Walker's controversial "Budget Repair Bill". Even before thousands of socialists and labor unionists descended on the State Capital, Miller reportedly worked with Madison mayor Dave Ciesliewicz in an attempt to persuade the Secretary of State to...

Let My People Go  Christians versus Muslims in Modern Egypt: The Century-Long Struggle for Coptic EqualityBy S. S. HasanOxford University Press. 320 pp. $49.95.Reviewed by Robert W. ShaffernSana Hasan, an Egyptian scholar best known for her Enemy in the Promised Land, has written another important book in Christians versus Muslims in Modern Egypt—a book in which she honestly confronts the sorry condition of Christians in Egypt, where the “problems faced by the Christian minority are for many . . . a taboo subject.” Hasan courageously describes the discrimination and harm often visited upon one of Christianity’s oldest communions—the Coptic...

Conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin has put out a stunning challenge to those left-wing media personalities accusing conservative talk radio stars and Sarah Palin of encouraging murder. First, he offered $100,000 to Chris Matthews to find any example where Sarah Palin or Levin himself had "promoted the murder of anybody." The direct challenge to Matthews took place shortly after Levin had played clips of Matthews suggesting Levin's passionate radio shows were "angry" and apparently implying that Levin's shows and those of talker Michael Savage had some responsibility for the Tucson murders. The allegation came on the heels of...

And other than Mark Steyn they are uniformly terrible.

The 111th Congress is now history, and Minnesota will not soon forget it. Following the bruising "lame-duck" session, Democrats came home bragging of extending health coverage to 519,000 uninsured Minnesotans and extending jobless benefits for as many as 103,032 people at risk of losing benefits in the coming year.

Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie is a Liar and a Communist Party "Friend" Minnesota Secretary of State; Mark Ritchie has been caught lying - on tape. When Questioned by Minnesota radio show host Chris Baker, on 100.3 KTLK Radio at 6.00 am, December 2, 2010, over evidence that Ritchie was a "non party friend" of the Communist Party USA, the Minnesota S.O.S. evaded the question and called the allegations as "political attack" and "horsepuckey". ; Here's part of the Communist Party USA document that names Mark Ritchie as a "non party friend". For the full four-page document go here;...

Mark Ritchie File 2 hereYou can tell a lot about a politician's true allegiances by identifying who funds him. Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie poses as a moderate, but is in fact an hard core leftist, with ties to several socialist organizations. This becomes important, because part of Ritchie's job is to oversee electoral recounts. In 2009 Ritchie gave a crucial Senate seat to leftist and former comedian Al Franken, though his Republican opponent was ahead on election night. Soon Ritchie will oversee a recount that could put his long time colleague and fellow leftist Mark Dayton into the...

Mark Ritchie file 1 hereControversial Minnesota Democratic - Farmer - Labor Party Secretary of State Mark Ritchie was formerly a key member of radical socialist "alternative" political party - a party that helped launch the political career of Barack Obama. In the early 1990s, the now defunct New Party was founded as a left wing adjunct to and eventual replacement for the Democratic Party. While New Party leaders always touted their party as non socialist and analysis of its leadership gives lie to that claim. New Party News Fall 1994 listed over 100 activists -"some of the community leaders, organizers,...

Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, may be involved in a serious, but so far unreported conflict of interest. One of Ritchie's responsibilities is to supervise the re-count of very closely contested state elections. With the power to decide which ballots may be counted as valid, Ritchie effectively has the power to decide the outcome of closely fought races. This drew national attention in early 2009, when Ritchie handed a critical U.S. Senate seat to Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (the Minnesota affiliate of the Democratic Party) candidate and former comedian Al Franken, though Republican Norm Coleman had been ahead on election night....

When he was elected in 2000, Minnesota Democrat Mark Dayton seemed well prepared, having worked as an aide to Walter Mondale in the 1970s. But he has exhibited erratic behavior since then: ...In February Dayton, 59, made another notable blunder. The Mayo Clinic, which is in Rochester, Minn., was opposed to a South Dakota — based company's plan to expand its railroads into Rochester because it would mean dozens of trains passing by the clinic each day. Dayton told FORTUNE magazine the Mayo Clinic is "worth a hell of a lot more than the whole state of South Dakota." He...

Conservative radio host Mark Levin thinks Delaware Republican senatorial nominee Christine O'Donnell is "smart to bypass" the Sunday talk shows she was scheduled to appear on this week.As the Associated Press reported Saturday, O'Donnell canceled her appearances on CBS's "Face the Nation" and FNC's "Fox News Sunday":Campaign spokeswoman Diana Banister cited scheduling conflicts and said O'Donnell needed to return to Delaware for commitments to church events and afternoon picnic with Republicans in a key county where she has solid backing.

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Time magazine's Mark Halperin engaged in the ultimate condescension Monday morning, arguing that families of 9/11 victims need to be guided by others into the Ground Zero mosque debate."For the families of the victims of 9/11, whatever emotions they want to have, I respect and I honor. But somebody needs to lead them through a discussion," Time's senior political analyst lectured on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." He mentioned a meeting that reportedly took place between the mosque's planners and the 9/11 families, which he insisted "needs to happen."

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said Monday he is working with officials in Utah and Mexico to create a Utah-specific guest-worker pilot program that he believes could serve as a more forward-looking course for immigration reform than the path Arizona has followed. “I do feel very strongly that those who are going to be opposed to the Arizona-style law have to have a counterproposal. Just saying ‘no’ isn’t going to cut it,” he said. “Utah can take control of its immigration destiny by having a comprehensive plan in place that addresses things like employment and security.”

Barack Obama's remarkable powers of oratory are well known: In support of Chicago's Olympic bid, he flew into Copenhagen to give a heartwarming speech about himself, and they gave the games to Rio. He flew into Boston to support Martha Coakley's bid for the U.S. Senate, and Massachusetts voters gave Ted Kennedy's seat to a Republican. In the first year of his presidency, he gave a gazillion speeches on health care "reform" and drove support for his proposals to basement level, leaving Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to ram it down the throats of the American people through sheer parliamentary...

The internet, and especially gold forums, are getting excited over the possibility of very big news from Germany this Friday. As reported by a Zero Hedge contributor, a forum post at GoldLikeProductions from a user identifying himself as a Deutsche Bank employee, suggests that the big news to be announced this Friday as stated by German politician Gregor Gysi at a recent press conference may be that Germany will announce a return to the Deutsche Mark, eliminating the Euro as their country’s currency: From a forum post by an Anonymous user: I’m working at the Deutsche Bank in Germany. Today...

Market chatter suggests computer generated trading sent Wall Street spiraling out of control on Thursday. And it’s got Mark Fisher of MBF worried, very worried. Mark Fisher, founder and managing member of MBF Asset Management, rarely comes on TV but he felt Thursday's events were so important he agreed to an interview. "I came on TV because as someone who's been doing this for over 35 years I think this is a warning," he says. "I think what we saw on (Thursday) is just the tip of the iceberg," Fisher says.

"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first." ~Thomas Jefferson The founders of our country had lived under a tyrannical government and fought a bloody war to obtain their freedom. The last thing they wanted was a new tyranny to replace the old. So when they established these United States, they embedded a number of features in its Constitution designed to limit federal government power. Many of these we learn about in school,...

Not what it appears to be: the Archaic Mark LONDON. A clever bit of detective work by US scholars and scientists has proven that one of the jewels of the University of Chicago’s manuscript collection is, in fact, a skilled late 19th- or early 20th-century forgery. Although speculation as to the authenticity of the Archaic Mark codex has been rife for more than 60 years, prior to this definitive research many believed it was an early record (possibly as early as the 14th century) of the Gospel of Mark and the closest of any extant manuscript to the world’s oldest...

WASHINGTON -- Don't expect any partying at the White House on Wednesday. Press secretary Robert Gibbs says nothing special is being planned to take note of Barack Obama's first year as president. Obama took the oath of office on the steps of the Capitol around noon on Jan. 20, 2009.

LONDON, England - A London planning commission recently ruled that a London developer cannot turn St. Marks Church into a women's wellness center. In the 1800s, the Anglican Church, located in the Mayfair district on London's West End, echoed the sermons of some of Britain's great preachers. It was also the church where Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower and his staff worshipped during World War II. ... Commonwealth Church became a vital part of Mayfair, meeting the needs of the poor and elderly. But last year Commonwealth was evicted from St. Marks by the Church of England so that the...

South Carolina's First Lady Tells Barbara Walters About Decision Not to Stand Next to Husband Gov. Mark Sanford During Press Conference Jenny Sanford, wife of embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, told Barbara Walters in her first television interview about her husband's affair that she wouldn't have stood by his side when he publicly admitted the affair even if he had asked her to. Sanford, who has moved out of the South Carolina governor's mansion with the couple's four children, openly discussed the heartbreak behind the headlines of their breakup.

“Of Mayans and Millerites: 2012, 1844, and 2009” (Mark 13:24-37)There’s a new movie out called “2012,” maybe you’ve heard of it. It’s about an enormous, earth-shaking event that will take place in the year 2012. No, it’s not a fantasy about my Chicago Cubs finally winning the World Series. No, nothing as far-fetched as that. Rather, “2012” is a big-budget disaster movie about the end of the world. I haven’t seen it, and I’m not planning on seeing it, but from what I can tell, it’s your standard end-of-the-world movie: Big cataclysmic disaster coming, worldwide destruction, some time to get...

Ok, what are we to make of this tweet from Mary Katherine Ham…(via J$) On @oreillyfactor with @marclamonthill (Juan’s out) at 8ish, talking Iran and Obama. Tune in to see us! After Hill’s very public “firing” by Rupert Murdoch no less, seeing Hill back on FNC this soon is rather odd. I mean there isn’t even a wind chill in Hades yet…

“The Widow’s Might” (Mark 12:38-44) Our text today is the story usually known as “The Widow’s Mite.” It’s the story of a poor widow who goes to the temple and puts into the offering box two “small copper coins,” as our translation has it. But the King James Version had as the equivalent for “small copper coins” the old English word “mites”--she put in two mites. Thus the familiar phrase, “The Widow’s Mite,” m-i-t-e. But today I want to talk to you also about “The Widow’s Might,” m-i-g-h-t. For this story tells us as much about the widow’s might, her...

Mark Levin and General George S. Patton demand we get off our ass and take this country back! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmZv_HmNNWo

“A Twofold Idolatry and the One Thing Lacking” (Mark 10:17-22)In today’s Gospel we meet a man who ran up to Jesus with great eagerness. At the end, though, he went away with great sadness. What happened? My friends, our text today is the story of “A Twofold Idolatry and the One Thing Lacking.” The man in this story had a twofold idolatry. It was a false god he worshiped, and it shows up in this story in two forms. And the one thing he lacked likewise was twofold, two sides of the same coin. Now let’s find out what this...

“To Such Belongs the Kingdom of God” (Mark 10:13-16)“And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.’ And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.” This is our text. And little Kyleigh today is our...

Big news from the West Wing: Mark Lippert, one of President Obama’s closest foreign-policy advisers, is leaving to rejoin the Navy. Lippert, who is deputy national-security adviser and chief of staff of the National Security Council, has worked for Obama since his first days in the Senate and later advised him during the campaign. Perhaps no one on the foreign-policy team, save for fellow campaign vet and top NSC aide Denis McDonough, is closer to Obama—a situation that has sometimes raised questions about the relationship between Obama and Lippert’s direct boss, national-security adviser Jim Jones.

“From Selfish Ambition to Humble Service” (Mark 9:30-37; James 3:13 – 4:10)In this long green season of the church year, the so-called non-festival half of the year, the Epistle reading is not chosen to fit the theme of the Holy Gospel, as it is in the festival half of the year. Instead, it’s just a straight reading-through of a particular epistle, and any correlation between the Epistle and Gospel is merely a coincidence. Well, we have such a coincidence today. The Epistle reading from James and the Gospel reading from Mark do have a common theme. It’s the theme of...

Mark Lloyd is another of Obama's Czar's, one of the people he keeps around as an advisor, and confidant. Lloyd is the Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer at the FCC. Here is what the FCC website has to say about him: Mr. Lloyd was most recently the Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights/ Education Fund, where he oversaw media and telecom initiatives. Mr. Lloyd was also an adjunct professor of public policy at the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute, and from 2002-2004 a visiting scholar at MIT where he conducted research and...

“He Has Done All Things Well” (Mark 7:31-37)How do you speak to a deaf man? With sign language, of course. You make the appropriate gestures and actions to communicate the message you want to convey. And so that is what Jesus does to communicate with a deaf man who is brought to him. He uses sign language, if you will, to get his message across to the man before he heals him. But in so doing, and then in actually healing the man, Jesus is also sending a message to us. The question is, Can we read the sign? Our...

Mark Warner Talks Health 'Scare Tactics' via kwout

“Daughters Delivered from Death and Disease” (Mark 5:21-43)Last month was Mothers’ Day. Last week was Fathers’ Day. Today, then, must be Daughters’ Day, because today we will see not one but two “Daughters Delivered from Death and Disease.” One of the two is known as Jairus’s daughter, and she is the one delivered from death. The other one is not called a daughter--oh, wait, she is, actually (more on that later)--and she is the one delivered from disease. Two daughters: one, a woman suffering from disease for twelve years; the other, the girl raised from death, is twelve years of...

“How Does Your Garden Grow?” (Mark 4:26-34)It’s June, and everything is green. We’re into the growing season, and so everywhere you look, you see the signs of green, green growth. Oh, you thought I was talking about outside! No, I’m talking about in here, in the church! It’s growing season now, and things are turning green. Notice, we’ve changed to green paraments, on the altar, and on the lectern and pulpit. Green is the color of growth, and that is why it’s the liturgical color for this season after Pentecost and Holy Trinity, the non-festival half of the church year....

For years tennis player Mark Philippoussis enjoyed the playboy lifestyle of a top level sports star, from owning a fleet of fast cars and properties strewn around the world, to dating a string of beauties, including Paris Hilton and Anna Kournikova. But now, after battling a recurring knee injury, the Australian – who has been Wimbledon and US Open runner up - is facing another painful battle: a million-dollar law suit, the possibility he may lose his home and a depressed mental state he describes as “dark” at best. The 32-year-old has revealed he is badly in debt and looks...