Capt. Phil Harris of TV's 'Deadliest Catch' dies after stroke

From CNN

(CNN0 -- Capt. Phil Harris of the Discovery Channel show "The Deadliest Catch" died Tuesday of complications from a stroke suffered late last month. He was 53.

Harris, the tattooed and gruff captain of the Cornelia Marie, was a fan favorite in the reality show about crab fishing off Alaska.

"Discovery mourns the loss of dear friend and colleague Captain Phil Harris. He was more than someone on our television screen. Phil was a devoted father and loyal friend to all who knew him," a statement from the network said. "We will miss his straightforward honesty, wicked sense of humor and enormous heart."

Harris suffered a massive stroke on January 29 while his crew offloaded crab at St. Paul Island, Alaska.

"It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our dad -- Captain Phil Harris," said a statement from his sons, Jake and Josh Harris. "Dad has always been a fighter and continued to be until the end."

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Captain Phil was one of my favorites on the show. A hard worker and great fisherman who knew his way around the Bering Sea.

But it doesn't matter who you are or where you are when death comes for you.

It will come for you.

Are you ready for death?

Are you ready to face God on Judgment Day?

To find out if you are prepared to make your final stand, go to Need God and take the Good Person Test right now.

The Glorious Exchange

From Banner of Truth

My mom reminds me of Jesus. Not because she always acts likes Jesus. In fact, she would be the first to admit that, in her attempts to behave the way Jesus behaved, she fails more often than she succeeds. She reminds me of Jesus because she birthed me. Let me explain.

The very process of giving birth is a beautiful picture of what Jesus Christ has accomplished for sinners like me. In his remarkable book Jesus Ascended, author Gerrit Scott Dawson puts it this way: "A child is conceived through the loving communion of husband and wife. The child grows inside the sheltering womb of the mother. But the child cannot live there forever. He is made for another world, a world of daylight and air, starlight and sky. So in the hours of her labor, the mother offers a new and living way. The way to life as a human being into the world passes through the curtain of her flesh. The curtain must be torn that the child might live and reach the daylight world. The mother is the new and living way. By her pain, the child is born."

This is precisely the way the Bible speaks of Christ's work on the cross. In Isaiah 53, the prophet foretold of a "suffering servant" who would one day bear the sin of many. He tells of a "man of sorrows" who would take on himself the punishment we sinners deserve. He would carry our sickness and swallow our disease. He says in v.6, "All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all." He goes on to say in v.5, "He was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed." Approximately 750 years later, the apostle Peter assures his readers that Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy (1 Peter 2:22-25). It was Christ who accomplished a glorious exchange: his death brings life. In the same way that we were brought into this world through the pain and suffering of another, we are brought into fellowship with God through the pain and suffering of Christ.

The way to true everlasting life passes through the curtain of Christ's flesh. Because of my sin, he had to die so that I might live. He is the one who passed through the "valley of the shadow of death" so that I might enjoy the "still waters" and "green pastures" that friendship with God brings.

So when I think about my mother, I can't help but think about the suffering she endured to give me life. I was born because, in love, my mom spent herself in pain and agony. Her blood, literally, brought me into this world. Similarly, Christ's blood brings sinners into fellowship with God. Jesus is the new and living way (Heb. 10:20). He not only provides passage to God, he is the passage to God. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

What good news!


W. Tullian Tchividjian

US debt to hit proposed ceiling by end-February: Treasury

From Google News

WASHINGTON — The US debt is on track to hit a congressionally proposed debt ceiling of 14.3 trillion dollars by the end of February, the Treasury said Wednesday, a day ahead of a key vote to raise it to that level.

"Based on current projections, Treasury expects to reach the debt ceiling as early as the end of February. However, the government's cash flows are volatile, making it difficult to forecast a precise date," the Treasury said in a statement.

The current limit on the public debt of the United States is 12.374 trillion dollars.

The US debt exceeded 12.349 trillion dollars on Monday, according to Treasury data.

The US House of Representatives will vote Thursday on whether to raise the US debt limit to a historic 14.3 trillion dollars, allowing the United States to borrow another 1.9 trillion dollars.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said representatives would take up the measure a week after the Senate approved the higher debt ceiling in a 60-39 vote.

In December, both houses agreed to increase the debt limit by an interim amount of 290 billion dollars to ensure the US government would continue to function.

The Senate also last week passed an amendment to legislation raising the debt ceiling that requires new budget items to be paid for, dubbed "pay-as-you-go."

The measure is intended to prevent the federal government from spending money it does not have and to control the massive US budget deficit.

The House has adopted a similar measure.

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I thought that this news story was interesting after Joe A's last comment on the "Ironic" post from the other day.

Joe A said, "Also, we're not going to pay off the debt, especially if we increase it. Let's not forget the unfunded liabilities of the grand government pyramid scheme known as social security and its relations. That's been estimated at around $50 trillion.

Ya, I find truth in the rhetoric of this question, to be frank: "Is America a society of law or is it simply one more corrupt and crumbling oligarchy about to collapse into the dustbin of history?"

Ironic??

From Las Vegas Now

President Obama is catching heat from Nevada lawmakers and business leaders regarding his comments Tuesday criticizing trips to Las Vegas.

During the president's town hall meeting in Nashua, New Hampshire, he discussed the need to curb spending during tough economic times. "When times are tough, you tighten your belts," the president said. "You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college."

Rest of story HERE

(Italics and bolding mine)

Tebow versus the left -

From The Christian Post

Though people complain that the upcoming Focus on the Family Super Bowl ad is divisive and controversial, the commercial is simply allowing a family to tell its personal story, contends a theologian.

Dr. Darrell Bock, research professor of New Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary, said there is a push back on the ability of someone to tell a personal story, or the right to free speech.

“Some people use the word hate speech [to describe the ad] and they haven’t even seen it,” Bock told The Christian Post Friday. “This is particularly odd in a society where all kinds of free speech that would be uncomfortable for a lot of people [are aired]. But someone tells a personal story and they try to cut that off.”

Bock said the ad should be aired and be part of the continuing conversation about the issue of abortion.

Read rest of story HERE

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Why are so many on the left opposed to this commercial when they have not even seen it yet?

What could possibly be wrong with Tebow's mom explaining why she chose life over death?