Some people leave a mark. Others leave a stain.

The rental company is never going to believe him.

This morning in Foundations (second hour) we covered the period of OT history that includes the Assyrian empire, followed by the Babylonian Empire. The Assyrian method of maintaining control over the people they conquered was to "mix 'em up and spread 'em around." By blending and resettling the nations they conquered, the Assyrians effectively neutralized them. The likelihood of an insurrection dropped to near zero when nationalism is destroyed, as it is when nobody from the same country lives together anymore.
This meant that the northern two-thirds of Palestine, the land that had been the nation of Israel (the 10 tribes), was resettled with a mix of peoples from a variety of nations. Over many generations this mixture of peoples interacted, intermarried, and eventually forged an identity of their own.
Subsequent invasions by a long list of foreign powers brought successive immigrants to the land, and residents from bordering nations also moved into the land. But that Assyrian re-population of Palestine changed it from the land of Israelites to the land of a mixed-race people that gradually established their own identity.
Here we are, 3,000 years later and still experiencing the effects of that Assyrian resettlement. The modern state of Israel was established in 1948 by an international mandate, but that real estate wasn't sitting vacant, waiting for Jews from around the world to move in and take possession. It was inhabited by the Palestinians, the descendants of an ethnically mixed population that traces its roots back to the Assyrian strategy for maintaining control. The Assyrian King Sennacharib certainly had no idea that his strategies would continue to bring bloodshed in the 21st century as returned Jews and Palestinians battle over a narrow strip of land next to the Mediterranean Sea known as Gaza.

Tough morning. I woke up with half a voice and it went downhill from there. By the end of the sermon it was gravel, and felt like it. But we got through Foundations OK.
Holiday travels and others out sick meant that our attendance was down, too.
The preacher is anxious to get to 2009.

The Cardinals won and looked OK doing it - at least in the second half. The Lions lost and looked like the Lions doing it. The Dolphins beat the Jets (righteous) and Indy is the team to beat.

Here's a pic of Pam's class from this morning. Some are missing because they're with their folks who are out of town for the holidays, and others who are gone for one reason or another - a total of 6 additional kids all under the age of 5 who might have been there. But these young ones acted out the Christmas story this morning (hence the outfits). Besides being an adorable group, these little ones are a great bundle of potential. They are the future of Pathway Bible Church, and if you got to know these children like we have you'd agree it's a bright future indeed.