Live Nativity Display Tonight

This is very cool!

The Christmas story will be retold four times this evening in a tradition that began with the theft of a Nativity display 11 years ago at a church on Green Bay’s east side.

A Live Nativity presentation is scheduled for 5:30, 6, 6:30 and 7 p.m. at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, 120 S. Henry St.

The church had displayed the old Nativity statuary for many years until 1998, when the theft occurred, senior pastor David Hatch said. Rather than let the incident ruin the season, the congregation rallied around the idea of a live presentation.

“A whole team of people got together and called people to say, ‘Hey, would you be a shepherd, would you be a wise person, we need a Mary, we need a Joseph,” Hatch said Wednesday. “It all came together in just a couple of days, including the animals.”

The effort caught the imagination of local media, and four television stations sent cameras to that first event, including a live feed to Milwaukee. Since then the Live Nativity has been an annual fixture on Our Saviour’s calendar.

In the early years adults played the various parts, but more recently confirmation-age students (seventh- and eighth-graders) have taken the roles, Hatch said.

A soup and bread supper will be available in between the presentations, including hot chocolate. (Source: GBPG)

A great reminder of the true reason for the season – the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

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It’s called Christmas!

Jesus is the reason for the season.  So this CHRISTmas season – say “Merry Christmas!” when greeting people.

Here’s a great song that does a great job of explaining that it is CHRISTmas with a CAPITAL “C”.

R.I.P. Chris Henry

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Condolences to the Henry family.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry has died, one day after suffering serious injuries upon falling out of the back of a pickup truck in what authorities describe as a domestic dispute with his fiancee.

Police say Henry died at 6:36 a.m. Thursday. Henry was 26.

Away from the team because of a broken forearm, Henry was rushed to the hospital Wednesday after being found on a residential road. Police say a dispute began at a home about a half-mile away, and Henry jumped into the bed of the truck as his fiancee was driving away from the residence.

Police said at some point when she was driving, Henry “came out of the back of the vehicle.” (Source: ESPN)

Wednesday Hero 12/16/09

This Weeks Post Was Suggested & Written By Greta

This week’s Wednesday Hero is both an individual, and a group. The group we honor are the milblogs: the military blogs, spouse blogs, and support blogs who bring you the news and information you can get nowhere else. The information and news that matter to you. The individual we honor today is C. J. Grisham.

Army Master Sgt. C. J. Grisham has always led from the front, from combat that earned him the Bronze Star with V device, to doing right by the men he led. His honesty won him readership and respect, from the White House on down. Yet, when he stood up for his children in school, his command did not stand by him. You can read more at Military Times to get the full story.

Please donate via PayPal; or you can log into PayPal on your own, go to the send money page, and put in his email: dj_chcknhawk AT yahoo DOT com; or, you can send donations directly to:

Grisham Legal Fund
c/o Redstone Federal Credit Union
220 Wynn Drive
Huntsville, AL 35893
Please write “Grisham Legal Fund” in the memo line if you use this option.

Milblogs have been a vital link in getting accurate news and information about the military, and military operations, to you. Today, many milblogs are gone and others are under attack from within and without. Today, you have the chance to imagine a world without milblogs, and to do something about it. Make your voice heard by writing your congressional representatives and others, and by making donations as you see fit.

The battle for freedom of speech and the marketplace of ideas is fought on many fronts and in many ways. Without your help, the battle may well be lost.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Duffy money bomb tomorrow!

Sean Duffy,  who’s taking on Dave Obey over in the 7th District is having a money bomb.

If you can donate to Duffy’s campaign tomorrow.  Help send a message that it’s time for Dave Obey to be replaced.

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Share the love of Jesus …

with children in Appalachia.

From Concordia Publishing House:

As part of its 2009 “simply CHRISTmas” campaign, CPH will team with its customers and the Appalachian Mission Partnership, a ministry of the (LCMS) Ohio district to provide and distribute CPH’s all new Hear Me Read Bible Stories across West Virginia. The product is a collection of the acclaimed Hear Me Read Series written by Dr. Mary Manz Simon and becomes available in the summer of 2010. Hear Me Read is a recognized children’s line that specifically supports language development and literacy. CPH has set a goal for customers to help provide 500 copies for the cause. Customers can visit www.cph.org/read to learn more and make a donation.

The campaign runs through Christmas. “Every customer, whether they shop online, over the phone, or in one of our stores will be invited to give $5, which will add one book to the goal,” shares Gretchen Jameson, who manages Public Relations for the company. “In the summer of 2010, we will work with local AMP teams across West Virginia to get the books into the hands of children. It is exciting work, and this particular resource meets specific needs to support language development, while more importantly connecting children with the love of Jesus.”

According to data available from the Ohio district, of the 1.7 million people living in Appalachia (West Virginia area), close to 1 million have no religious affiliation. “In Appalachia, traditional issues for this region such as widespread poverty and dispersed populations have impacted mission work,” shares Pastor Kevin Wilson, who serves as Mission & Ministry Facilitator for the district. “Our goal is to start 20 new congregations in West Virginia, and to work should-to-shoulder with local residents to engage in real cross-cultural mission work among the people living here.

“Human care ministry is very important to mission work here,” Wilson adds. “God’s grace is a largely foreign concept. When mission teams serve local communities, they model God’s grace in Christ. The Hear Me Read Bible Stories will allow the teams to do this by providing gifts with no strings attached, demonstrate God’s love through caring for children, and share God’s grace through the content of the books.”  (Source: “Here Me Read”, Christian Christmas giving that highlights children, literacy and faith – CPH)
This is a great cause so go and make a donation.

Make a donation, get an autograph

Image via Wikipedia

Very cool.

Two Packers offensive linemen will lend a hand to the Salvation Army Monday night.

Tuesday Night Touchback co-hosts Daryn Colledge and Jason Spitz are ringing bells at the big red kettle in the Younkers wing of Bay Park Square Mall in Ashwaubenon.

They’ll be there from 7 to 8 P.M., and are willing to sign autographs in exchange for donations to the Salvation Army. (Source: Packers players ring bells at Bay Park Square Mall Monday – WBAY)

That’s tonight if you were wondering.

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How to fix healthcare

Great piece on how to make the U.S. healthcare system better, more affordable and more accessible using market-based reforms.

All without raising taxes or implementing more government programs that limit choice and create more dependency.  What a concept!

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Discussing Climategate

Senator James Inhofe was on The Jerry Bader Show last week discussing Climategate.

Great discussion on the fraud of global warming, Cap and Trade, and the EPA’s Endangerment finding.

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Wednesday Hero 12/09/09

Little late this week but here is this week’s hero.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Elsey

Abdul Rashid, a 5-year-old resident of the Nawa district of Afghanistan, receives a dressing for a wound on his face from Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Elsey, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, while a linguist translates at a medical aid station at Patrol Base Jaker Dec. 3. Rashid was injured by a motorcycle earlier that day. Navy hospital corpsmen like Elsey routinely see local residents and children here to treat their wounds.

Photo Courtesy United States Marine Corps

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.