Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday. It is the first day of Lent. Lent is the 40 days, excluding Sundays, prior to the most Holy Day of the Year, Easter - where the Christian community celebrates the Resurrection of Christ.

During the Ash Wednesday celebration, the faithful are marked with the Sign of the Cross on their foreheads with ashes. These ashes are the result of the burning of the palms used for Palm Sunday the prior year.

On the first day of Lent, this signing is done with ashes because they are a biblical symbol of mourning and penance. In Bible times the custom was to fast, wear sackcloth, sit in dust and ashes, and put dust and ashes on one's head (cf. 1 Sam. 4:12; 2 Sam. 1:20, 13:19, 15:32). Ashes also symbolize death and so remind us of our mortality. When the priest uses his thumb to sign one of the faithful with the ashes and says, "Remember, man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return," he is echoing God's address to Adam (Gen. 3:19; cf. Job 34:15; Ps. 90:3, 104:29; Eccles. 3:20). This phrase also echoes the words at a Catholic burial, "Ashes to ashes; dust to dust," which is based on God's words to Adam in Genesis 3 and Abraham's confession, "I am nothing but dust and ashes" (Gen. 18:27).[1]

Don't be alarmed if today you encounter someone with ashes on their head. My friends tell me that I should try to keep count of the number of times someone tries to point out that I have ashes on my forehead. Those who see others with ashes on their head, consider it a reminder of penance and humility. Those of us who choose to wear the ashes, pray for the continual conversion of your hearts and the hearts of your brothers and sisters.

Let us all make this a great Lent, where our sacrifice of omission or inclusion, be a constant reminder of the Sacrifice of Christ and the price that he paid for us all. Let this Lenten Season bring us all closer to Him.

God bless...

[1] The Day of Ashes

Celebrating Memorial of St. Polycarp

Today is the day that the Catholic Church celebrates the death of St. Polycarp. I have mentioned this Saint many times at this blog, and I thought that it would be disrespectful of me, not to mention him on the memorial day of his death.

We celebrate the the death-day of this Saint because this is the day 1,854 years ago, that he entered into Heaven, and gained his crown of martyrdom. After all, which is more important, the day that you are born into the world, or the day that you are born into everlasting life with the Trinity?

If you are interested in learning more about St. Polycarp, or would like to participate in celebrating this martyr, it's easy. Just remember him. You can do so by visiting any of the following links:

Polycarp Video

Catholic Culture - Memorial of St. Polycarp

Polycarp's Letter to the Phillipians

Thank you, St. Polycarp, for your example of Christian Service and heeding the call of true discipleship, even unto death.

The Rapture - Scriptural Perspective

One of the first things that I was asked, after deciding to join the Catholic Church, was if they believed in the Rapture.

Growing up in various denominations, I was always told that there would be a Rapture of the Christians, prior to Jesus returning to setup his Kingdom on Earth. I remember looking up at the clouds, wondering which one it was that Jesus was going to return on to take me up into heaven so that I didn't have to endure the tribulation.

I loved learning about the end times. I read all of the Left Behind Series books, and enjoyed the entertaining story of this band of people who were trying to survive the Tribulation on Earth after all of the Christians had been Raptured. Was this real? Is this the way that the end times would be? Was there really a rapture of the saved people that would occur?

Catholics believe in the Second Coming of Christ. It is in the Nicene Creed, that is recited at every Mass. What the Catholic Church does not believe in is the hidden Rapture, where Christians all over the world, will be taken into heaven to spare them of the Great Tribulation.

Looking at Scripture, I can see how such a belief can be interpreted. In Luke 17, a Pharisee asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God will come. Here is what He said:

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. Luke 17:26-30

This is one of those verses that is used to illustrate the Rapture. It is commonly believed that those who are taken, will be taken into Heaven by Jesus.

When people interpret this scripture passage this way, they fail to realize the context of this whole passage. Jesus begins by telling us that as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man.. Ask yourself this question...In the days of Noah, who was taken? Who was left behind? Was Noah taken and the evil people left behind, or was the evil people taken and Noah and his family left behind? Of course the evil people were taken and Noah and his family were left behind. You can ask yourself the same question regarding Lot and the people of Sodom. Clearly, the people that were left behind were the ones that were actually saved.

Another problem that I have learned regarding the Rapture is no where in the Scriptures will you find the Third Coming of Jesus. There is definitely support for His Second Coming, but not a Third. Jesus came to Earth the first time to redeem us all. Those who believe in the Rapture, believe that He will come again to Rapture the saved people. If this is true, He must be coming a third time to setup his Kingdom on Earth. The problem is we never hear about Jesus Returning more than once. Can anyone show me scripturally where it is ever taught that Jesus is going to return a third time?

If you are interested to learn more about what Catholics believe about the End Times, I would recommend reading Dr. Paul Thigpen's book called The Rapture Trap.

Do I believe that there is a Rapture? No. Not anymore. However, in light of Luke 17, in Paul Thigpen's own words, "If there is a rapture, I want to be left behind".

God bless...

Interesting Online Faith Quiz...

A co-worker of mine and I ran across this online quiz. After answering a number of questions, it shows which denomination best lines up with your particular belief system. The quiz, Christian Tradition Selector, is very interesting and very sad at the same time.

It is sad because we live in a world where, no matter what you believe, regardless of how close it is to the actual truth or not, you can find a church that believes pretty closely to what you believe. We have traded an objective truth for a subjective interpretation of what I believe. How did we come so far?

Overall, I thought that it was an interesting test, and maybe you would enjoy it too...

God bless...

Why a Protestant Minister Becomes Catholic - Scott Hahn

Scott Hahn is one of the most influential Catholic speakers of our time. He was not always that way. As a matter of fact, he was a card carrying Anti-Catholic. He believed that the Pope was the Anti-Christ that was going to lead millions of Catholics straight to hell.

So how did this man go from Anti-Catholic to famed Catholic Apologist? Listen to his testimony here, as he explains Why a Protestant Pastor Becomes a Catholic.
God bless.

Pure Christianity

Sometimes, don't you just wish that you can strip away all of the man-made traditions of the Christian Faith, and believe the same way that the first Christians believed?  Have you ever taken the time, to look around at all of the different denominations of Christianity that we have in America, and wondered if any one of them can lay the claim to complete and total truth?  Here is something that I found on YouTube, that I found sheds some light on what the first Christians believed:

Sanctification and Justification Part 2

Continuing from the previous post titled Sanctification and Justification Part 1...

My commenter continues:

Sanctification, on the other hand, involves the work of the person. But it is still God working in the believer to produce more of a godly character and life in the person who has already been justified (Phil. 2:13)...

Sanctification does involve the work of the person, and it is God that is working within the believer for the purpose of sanctification.  This is what scripture teaches us.  The only part of this statement that scripture does not agree with, is the person has already been justified - as if the justification is some act that has happened in the past.  In order to show that this is not what Scripture says, we only need to look at the verses that my commenter used in order to prove his point that God is the one that works within us.  Instead of starting at Phil 2:13, let us look at the verse before it:

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Phillipians 2:12-13

Continue to work out your salvation...this does not sound as though justification / salvation is a finished act in the past.  This sounds more like we are continually working out our salvation presently.  Sure, we can point to a time and place where we started to believe and started the journey of faith, but that does not mean that we have arrived.  It does not mean that we have actually attained salvation / justification.

The statement that my commenter made does accurately describe the purpose of Grace.  It is not, in and of ourselves, that is working out our salvation.  It is God working within us.  God is the cause of our salvation and He is the cause of our sanctification.  He is moving and pressing us to become more and more holy.  To think that we are doing this ourselves, would be the heresy of Pelagianism.

Sanctification is not instantaneous because it is not the work of God alone. The justified person is actively involved in submitting to God's will, resisting sin, seeking holiness, and working to be more godly (Gal. 5:22-23).
 

I agree.  Sanctification is not an instantaneous event in someone's life.  Holiness, is a high measure, and all of us have a long way to go.  Only through the God's grace can we ever become holy.

Significantly, sanctification has no bearing on justification. That is, even if we don't live a perfect life, we are still justified. 

Sanctification does indeed have bearing on justification.  The root of the confusion goes back to the teachings of Martin Luther and John Calvin.  They both taught that man is justified by faith alone in such a way that the man's sin is never removed or blotted out - instead just merely covered over.  If man's sin is not blotted out, and it is just covered over, then of course justification has nothing to do with achieveing holiness.  That is a very logical conclusion.  What I have learned is that once you build a logical conclusion on something that is completely false, then the logical conclusion also must be false as well.

Did Jesus bless the Earth with his presence merely to cover up our sins, or to take away our sins?  Are our sins and iniquities merely covered over or blotted out entirely (Isaiah 43:25)?  Are they retained, or are they swept away (Isaiah 44:22)?  Are they merely ignored, or are they completely wiped out (Acts 3:19)?

Clearly scripture is telling us, that our sins are not merely covered over, but instead they are wiped out.  If our sins are completely wiped away, then achieving a state of holiness, is in fact part of our justification.  When you consider the evidence that our sins are completely taken away and we are to be made a new creature, and then you consider that this process is not instantaneous, then justification is not a one time event, but instead it is a progressive event that takes a lifetime, whose end state is only determined at the point of death.  Are you in a state of sanctifying grace or not?  That is the final determination.

Another clear verse regarding the relationship between achieving holiness (sanctification process) and justification is:

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord Hebrews 12:14 

Without holiness, no one will see the Lord?  See how holiness and justification is in fact interrelated?  You can't have one without the other.  They are not two separate things and have no bearing on eachother.  They are interrelated and tied together, completely.

Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Rev 21:27 

In order to enter into heaven, we must be holy.  Will everyone achieve this state of holiness while on earth?  No, of course not.  Does that mean that most of us are hell-bound?  Not at all.  God, in His mercy, has given us the opportunity to achieve holiness, to have our sins forgiven, not only in this world, but also in the next.

Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come. Matt 12:32

From the words of our Savior, sinning against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven in this world or the next.  What does that imply?  It implies that other sins, may be forgiven in the next world.  I only mention this because I don't want to paint a gloom and doom picture giving the impression that if you do not achieve a state of holiness in this world, that all is lost.  Instead, this is the reason for rejoicing.  God knows us so well, and His mercy for us is so great, that He has provided a way for our sins to be forgiven, even in the next world.  For this reason, we should all thank God for purgatory.

Where justification is a legal declaration that is instantaneous, sanctification is a process. Where justification comes from outside of us, from God, sanctification comes from God within us by the work of the Holy Spirit in accordance with the Bible. In other words, we contribute to sanctification through our efforts. In contrast, we do not contribute to our justification through our efforts.

Justification, as a whole, like sanctification is a process.  I have shown earlier how salvation is not something that is attained at one point and time, but there are also aspects of it that are currently being worked out with fear and trembling.  Initial justification, through the Sacrament of Baptism, is in fact instantaneous and begins you on your journey.  The moment you are baptized, all of your prior sins are forgiven.  You are in 100% right standing with the Lord - not because He has merely covered up your sins, but because He has taken them away, blotted them out, and removed them completely.

Progressive Justification (ongoing), takes a lifetime through the work of the Holy Spirit which is also sanctifying you.  This is called sanctifying grace. If we want to enter heaven, and God says that nothing unclean shall enter, then we must have somewhere on our plan of salvation to attain that holiness.  We may start the journey in this life, and through the grace of God, completely attain that holiness while still on this Earth, or we will continue the process of attaining holiness after we die in purgatory.

God bless you all....

Sanctification and Justification Part 1

In recent conversations with a Non-Catholic commenter, we started discussing Justification and Sanctification.  I think that he did a fair job in summarizing the Non-Catholic belief of how Sanctification and Justification are seperate - sanctification being a result of justification.

I told him that was going to start a new blog post where we can discuss this matter further.  In order to start this post, I am going to give a response to his last comment.  His responses will be in blue.  He says...

Justification is the work of God where the righteousness of Jesus is reckoned to the sinner so the sinner is declared by God as being righteous under the Law (Rom. 4:3; 5:1,9; Gal. 2:16; 3:11). 

My brother in Christ and I agree that Justification is the work of God.  God through grace is the cause of our justification.  It is a free gift that is available for us, if we choose to accept it.  Where we may disagree in this statement is the declaration of righteousness.

If by declaration, he means that we are only declared righteous, without an internal change through the Grace of God, then this is not what the Bible teaches us.  Instead of spending time in this post, sharing the Biblical evidence for infused righteousness as oppose to merely imputed / declared righteousness, I would suggest reading my last post (Infused vs. Imputed Righteousness) on this subject.

This righteousness is not earned or retained by any effort of the saved. Justification is an instantaneous occurrence with the result being eternal life.

This statement, I can completely understand the rationale behind.  You see, in history, there was a heresy called Pelagianism.  The Pelegians believed that you can earn your own salvation through your own efforts, completely without the grace of God.  This is the true works-based righteousness, that Catholics often get accused of.  I find it ironic that it was the Catholic Church that stamped out the Pelegian heresy, so why it is being accused of it now could only be due to confusion.  There was also another heresy that attempted to combine the teachings of Pelagianism and St. Augustine of Hippo that taught that man, of his own free will, can turn toward God, and the increase in faith is actually the work of God.  The Catholic Church stamped this heresy out as well, saying:

If anyone asserts that we can, by our natural powers, think as  we  ought,  or  choose  any  good  pertaining  to  the salvation of eternal  life  .  .  . without  the  illumination and inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit  .  .  .  he  is  misled  by  a heretical  spirit  .  .  .  [the  canon  later  cites  John  15:5,  2 Corinthians 3:5] Council of Orange

Note:  I am sharing this to show what Catholics really believe, as oppose to what we are accused of believing.

Falling into the trap of believing the Pelagian heresy, is cause for caution. At the same time, falling into the trap of believing that there is nothing required of you, as a servant of God is also a dangerous belief as well.  Many would make it appear as though if you do anything more than lay on the ground and accept Jesus Christ, then you are attempting to work your way to heaven.  This is a very extreme view, and not at all in agreement with Scripture.

I agree that righteousness is not earned, but I disagree that it is not retained by the effort of the saved.  If it is not retained by our actions, then the next conclusion must be that it cannot be lost by our actions.  Think about it.  If there is nothing that we can do to retain our salvation, then logically, there must not be anything that we can do to lose our salvation.  However, I believe that scripture is clear that our actions do affect our salvation:

You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. Romans 11:19-23



Here we see St. Paul telling the Gentile believers that they are the wild branches who were grafted into the faith, due to the unbelief of the natural branches - the Jewish people.  Because of the unbelief of the Jewish people in Jesus Christ, we Gentiles become heirs of the salvation that was meant for them.  St. Paul also tells us that this kindness that we are shown, by God, is not unconditional.  In order to continue in our present state of being grafted into the root of faith, we must continue in His kindness, Otherwise, we will also be cut off.  

What does it mean to be cutoff?  Remember the Jews were cutoff because of their unbelief.  If unbelief was the cause of them being cut off, and the result of us not reamining in His kindness will be to be cut off, can we say that there is absolutely nothing that we do, within the grace of God, to affect our salvation?

Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. 1 Timothy 1:18-19 

St. Paul is telling Timothy to hold on to the instructions that he has given him, so that by following them, he will hold on to the faith.  In other words, by being obedient, he will hold onto the faith.  We know that is what St. Paul means because in contradiction, he tells us the result of not holding on to the instructions.  Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.  How did they shipwreck their faith?  They shipwrecked it by not being obedient to the instructions that St. Paul had given.

Another example that is worth mentioning, where our actions do have impact on our justification is:

Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 1 Cor 15:1-2

Here we see that St. Paul is telling his audience that by the message that he preached to them, they are saved, without any other condition placed on them whatsoever....right?  No.  In fact, it says that it is conditional.  We know that it is conditional because of the word if.  It is like someone took a paint brush that is dipped in the if paint, and took broad strokes in the Bible, spreading if all over the place.  When St. Paul says if here, he says that salvation is theirs if they hold firmly to the word that he preached to them.  What happens if they don't hold firmly?  Their belief would have been in vain.  This means that their hope and reason for believing would have counted for nothing.

What about the instantaneous occurrence of Justification?  I don't see any evidence of some one point in time of justification within scriptures.  Instead, I see that justification is a process.  It is a process that occurs over a lifetime.  Sure, there are examples of justification spoken of in the past tense.  There are also examples in scripture of Justification being talked in the present and future tense (1 Cor. 1:8, 2 Cor. 2:15, Phil. 2:12)

It is based completely and solely upon Jesus' sacrifice on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24) and is received by faith alone (Eph. 2:8-9)

I agree with every part of this - except of course, the alone part.  The only reason why we have hope in salvation is because of Christ and his eternal sacrifice.  It is received by faith, but never is it received by faith alone.  The scriptures do not show that, especially the ones that I have shown.

Now these things that we are doing, these works, are not ours either.  It is the work of God within us, through his grace.  I know that I have mentioned this before, but just in case, it is definitely worth mentioning again.  I think that St. Augustine said it best:


What merit of man  is  there before grace by which he can achieve grace, as only grace works every one of our good merits  in  us,  and  as  God,  when  He  crowns  our merits, crowns nothing  else but His own gifts? St. Augustine.

Note: Before someone gets caught up with the use of the word merit, understand that it is completely biblical (Matthew 5:12, 19:17,21,29, 25:21, 25:34  ff., Luke 6:38, Romans 2:6, 1 Corinthians 3:8, 9:17, Colossians  3:24, Hebrews 6:10, 10:35, 11:6, 2 Timothy 4:8, Ephesians 6:8)

I feel as though I have only scratched the surface of this discussion, but in the interest of keeping things digestible, I am going to set this up into separate blog posts.  However, I will leave with this statement:

Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14


With this verse alone, it would seem as though justification and sanctification are complimentary linked and not as separate as many fellow Christians would have us believe.

Current Events: Denying Catholic Politicians Eucharist

This is a repost from Steve Ray's blog.

Bishops required by canon law to refuse Communion to pro-abortion politicians: Vatican official
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=1895
Archbishop Raymond Burke has repeated his argument that bishops are obligated by canon law to withhold Communion from public officials who support legal abortion. “The Church’s law is very clear,” the archbishop told LifeSite News in an exclusive interview. Archbishop Burke, formerly of the St. Louis archdiocese, speaks with considerable authority on matters of canon law, since he is now the head of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church’s top canonical court.

LifeSite reports:
Archbishop Burke called “nonsense” the accusation, regularly made by some bishops, that refusing Holy Communion “makes the Communion rail a [political] battle ground.”

What are your thoughts on this?  Should Catholic Politicians who clearly go against Catholic Teaching be denied communion?  Is this too harsh, or is this justice?

Infused vs Imputed Justification

I had a conversation over the weekend with a Catholic family member. We were discussing differences between Catholic and Non-Catholic theology. I am in no way an expert on either of these two subjects, but I shared with her what I know about my Non-Catholic theological background when it comes to the subject of justification. I told her that Catholics have a view of infused justification whereas many Non-Catholics have the view of imputed justification. She was not familiar with this difference, so I thought it would be worthwhile also sharing it with you.

Many (I can't say all, because not all Non-Catholics believe or are taught the same) Non-Catholics view justification as something that is imputed, external or outward only. They believe, like I once did, that we are covered with the Blood of Jesus and therefore when they stand before God during Judgement, it is not them, the individual that will be seen, it is instead the Blood of the Lamb. God will look upon the Blood of His Son and declare the individual as righteous and acceptable. God will not look at the individual and declare him as righteous or justified. This gives the false impression that there is no change to the individual that takes place or is necessary. All that is required is to believe in Jesus and he simply covers your sins.

After doing some reading, I can see how this belief came about. It all comes back to the separation of faith and works. If someone holds to the position that we are saved by faith alone, then there is nothing that you can do (even when cooperating with the Grace of God), to affect your salvation. So, in order to be considered justified, then of course it is not the individual that is seen - because the individual does nothing pleasing in the Lord's sight. God only sees the Blood of the Lamb which covers us.

Infused justification is exactly the opposite. Infused justification means that God wants to transform us and make us perfect and acceptable to him, from the inside out, through his grace. God is calling all of us to be holy, and He is inviting us into a relationship with Him. This holiness can only be achieved through the grace of God through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. At the same time, it requires us to work with that grace to achieve the state of holiness. We see evidence of this infused justification in the following passages:

Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. Luke 1:6

Notice how in this passage the two individuals are considred upright in God due to the fact that they were observing all of the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. This involves a cooperation with the grace of God, not to be confused with true works based righteousness - Pelagianism. What we do, does in fact have an affect on our standing with God.

..."Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!..."John 1:29

Did Jesus come to take away the sins of the world, or did he come to merely cover them up with his blood? The Bible says that he came to take away the sins of the world. This is God we are talking about. God died on the cross for our sins - mine and yours. Do you think that His power is only limited to covering our iniquities, or does He have the power to actually reach into our soul and transform us from the inside out?

Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. 2 Cor 7:1


St. Paul tells us clearly here that we have the responsibility, the charge to attain holiness. In no way, does this verse suggest that this responsibility of attaining holiness, does not require our participation. We are not merely covered by the Blood of the Lamb, we are transformed internally through God's grace.


Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous...This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. 1 John 3:7, 10

In order to be declared righteous, there has to be a change internally that would cause you to behave like a child of God. Children of God do what is right. God does not just declare a person as right, He changes them from the inside out.


On a side note, it is very interesting discussing with a cradle-Catholic (meaning born and raised Catholic), Non-Catholic theology. I would imagine that they felt the same way that I did when someone was trying to explain to me, in the past, Catholic Theology. As a matter of fact, I think that my family member had the same look on their face as I did when someone was teaching me about what Catholics believe. You know the face, it was sort of like.....Huh?

God bless you all.

Current Events: Congratulations Michael Steele

Michael Steele, has just recently been elected as the Chairman of the G.O.P.  There are two things that I want to mention about Michael Steele that make me believe this appointment is monumental for the Republican Party:

• Michael Steele is African American
• Michael Steele is Roman Catholic

Amazing!!!  Absolutely Amazing!!!

If you are interested in learning more about Michael Steele, I would highly recommend Deacon Keith Fournier's article Opinion: Michael Steele, Black, Pro-Life Catholic Takes the Helm of the G.O.P..

What does this mean?  Does this mean that the Republican Party is going to attempt to run against Obama in 2012 with Michael Steele?  Who knows.  At the same time, wouldn't that be interesting?  Either way, congratulations Michael Steele, but more importantly, congratulations G.O.P..

God bless...