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Thursday, December 23, 2010

400-408 – Debunking 21 Myths of the "Traditional Christmas Story"

            It was the year 0, late in the evening on a cold winter's night on December 24.  A young homeless couple in their early twenties are looking for lodging in the large city of Bethlehem.  The woman is at full term in her pregnancy.  Their names are Joseph and Mary Christ, and they're going to Bethlehem seeking shelter.  Mary is riding upon the back of a donkey, while her husband walks beside her.  Having little luck finding a hotel with a room, they eventually come to the last hotel on the far side of Bethlehem. Sadly, the marquee out front is flashing "No Vacancy."  Joseph, in desperation, begs the night manager for anything out of the winter's cold.  Taking pity upon the poor homeless couple in obvious need of a place to spend the evening, the night manager reluctantly agrees to allow them to spend the night in the stable out back. 

            Joseph and Mary are led to the back of the property where they are shown their evening's quarters, a lean-to shelter filled with hay and farm instruments.  As they settle in out of the weather, the barnyard animals peer through the cracks in the slats to see their new guests.  Joseph looks around and notices an old crude wooden feeding trough (or manger) sitting in a corner, and he breathes a sigh of relief.  "Just in case," he says to himself.  He has just gotten his wife comfortable for the evening, when – just as he is about to fall asleep near midnight – he hears the words "Joseph, I think its time...."

            At that very moment, a few miles away, two young shepherd boys are fast asleep when all of a sudden, a cascade of light falls upon them and they open their eyes to behold a choir of singing angels.  Overcome with awe and wonder, the angels instruct the shepherds to go back to town to visit a stable where the King of Kings lies as a newborn.  The shepherds immediately arise and go directly to the manger in haste, just in time to behold Mary, and the only son she would ever bear.  Now, also arriving at precisely that same moment are three old wise men following a star and bearing gifts.

            The scene is now complete:  Joseph and Mary on either side of the manger, the three wise men standing at a short distance with gifts in their hands, the two young shepherd boys kneeling beside them, and all the barnyard animals staring at the wonderful event that has just occurred in an obscure village in a remote part of Judea.  The angels begin singing "Silent Night," the cattle begin lowing, and the set fades to black...

413-423 – The Christmas Story

428-437 – The Christmas Story

443-452 – The Christmas Story

458-508 – Phil Liberatore, the "IRS Problem Solver" (yourirsproblemsolvers.com) talks about one of the KKLA 12 Days of Christmas families he was able to help this year.

512-523 – • LA Times (12/23/2010) Rainstorms left scores of Southland homes and businesses damaged.

• Charmaine Yoest, Fox News (12/21/2010) How Does a Planned Parenthood Gift Card Say Merry Christmas? Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D. is president and CEO of Americans United for Life, the nation's oldest pro-life organization.

• Fox News (12/23/2010) Armageddon-Fearing Pilgrims Flock To French Village.

• Daily Mail (12/23/2010) Mayor of French village threatens to call in army to deal with influx of UFO hunters who believe nearby mountain is 'alien garage'.

523 – Don Rohde @ Galpin Ford (818) 262-2092.  For the past 38 years, Don has been a sales manager at Galpin, the #1 volume Ford dealer in the world for the past 20 consecutive years.  Galpin has been family-owned and operated for the past 59 years, and 90% of their business is repeat or referral.  Galpin offers Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, Honda, Mazda, Saturn, Volvo, Jaguar, and Aston Martin.  "In the heart of the San Fernando Valley at Roscoe and the 405, it's Galpin Ford" (galpin.com).

528-539 – Calls – Any Christians have a UFO sighting?

544-554 – Calls

558-608 – Calls

612-623 – • Youtube (8/3/2006) The Phoenix Lights Documentary Trailer.  From the sighting on March 13, 1997.

628-639 – • Vermont Royster, WSJ, (12/24/2010, originally published in 1949) In Hoc Anno Domini: So the light came into the world.

644-656 – • NRO Corner (12/23/2010) Baltimore Nuns Sell Honus Wagner Baseball Card.  Collectors, what are your prized possessions?  And, if you could get anything for your collection for Christmas, what would it be?

HADDONFIELD, N.J., Dec. 23 (UPI) — A New Jersey collector said he bought a rare Honus Wagner baseball card from an order of Baltimore nuns after an auction winner reneged on a $220,000 bid. Nicholas DePace, 57, a Haddonfield cardiologist who owns one of the most valuable sports memorabilia collections in the country, said he was contacted by auction officials Monday after the original high bidder backed out of paying the School Sisters of Notre Dame for the card, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

(4:48) Sherri in Glendora shares her favorite Christmas story about just missing Santa when he visited their house (from 12/9).