Andrew and Heather Rozell » Our Lives

With 3 of the 4 Christmas’s done, I decided to share the Joy we have had so far.

This Christmas season, for the first time in a long time, I have tried to dwell on why I celebrate. And I have concluded why I celebrate Christmas; I celebrate Christmas because giving and receiving gifts is easier for me than trying to fathom the birth of the Savior.

There is something truly overwhelming about God becoming Man, born to die so that I might not suffer eternal death. And as much as Easter is a symbol of Christ’s gift to me, Christmas is the symbol of God’s gift to all.

This is my prayer this season:

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 1 Timothy 1:12-17

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas. I hope all can spend time with family and those they love and share in the Joy.

I faintly remember playing Atari when I was a little kid, but my first real memory of video games was our next door neighbor, the Barrett’s, Super Nintendo (SNES) and our Sega Genesis. I distinctly remember debating whether Madden on SNES or Joe Montana Football on Sega was better.

I also remember my parents buying me and my brothers a Nintendo 64 (N64). One of my greatest memories of my brothers is playing GoldenEye, my first introduction to a First Person Shooting (FPS) game. However, I never really got into Playstation or Xbox because I loved and became so familiar with EA games and FPS games on my PC, most notably Call of Duty. To me, I found it easy to play with a mouse and keyboard than a controller. However, last fall, this all changed for me.

My oldest brother, Zach, convinced me to buy an Xbox 360 so we could play Halo 3 over the internet. He promised it was better than GoldenEye on N64. And I quickly began to realize he was right. Then several months later Call of Duty 4 was release on Xbox 360. This, in essence, mixed my great memory of console FPS games with my favorite game from the PC.

The hype lived up to the expectation. Since then, I have shared some great times with all my brothers playing Call of Duty 4 on Xbox Live.

Here is Zach getting is “COD on.”

Although extremely late compared to most, Heather and I finally got our Christmas tree up earlier this week. I like the way the tree looks from the street at night the best. I hope to post more pictures of the decorations later this week, like the stockings Heather made. I also took some pictures of Dylan being very curious about her first Christmas tree.

I have never bought into the premise that humans have an affect on the global climate. Especially since the group of scientists preaching to live “green” is typically from the same camp of individuals who renounce the idea of creationism or intelligent design. I also have never hidden my skepticism of global warming or shied away from a friendly debate. Ask Jasen.

That being said, I felt compelled to post about the subject in light of recent news coming out of the UN global warming conference being held in Poland. For the sake of space and manners, if you would like to read the full text, please click “Full Post” below.

Edit: More Global Warming Proof
Worst Snow in Las Vegas in 30 Years
Malibu gets “freak” snow.
CNN Meteorologist: Manmade Global Warming Theory “Arrogant”

In 2007, 52 UN scientists authored the IPCC 2007 Summary of Policymakers which basically backed Al Gore’s notion that global warming was imminent and citizens of planet Earth needed to change their ways in order to keep the polar ice caps from melting.

Although there was much protest from opponents, this document was published and has been held as the official position of the UN. In August of 2008 at the International Geological Congress meeting in Norway even more skeptics of global warming began to speak out. But it wasn’t until this year’s UN global warming conference in Poland that the skeptics’ noise might have been louder than the 52 UN scientists.

A total of 650 international scientists gathered Poznan, Poland to dissent the claims of the other 52. There was an adamant and infatic theme to the official statements of these highly regarded, skeptic scientists.

And the scientists who oppose Gore and others are not settling with vocal protests at the annual meeting. They are beginning to release their own data, analysis and research to refute climate fears.

Here is what a few of the 650 are saying:

“Since I am no longer affiliated with any organization nor receiving any funding, I can speak quite frankly….As a scientist I remain skeptical.”

- Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Joanne Simpson, the first woman in the world to receive a PhD in meteorology and formerly of NASA who has authored more than 190 studies and has been called “among the most preeminent scientists of the last 100 years.”

“Warming fears are the ‘worst scientific scandal in the history…’ When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists.”

- UN IPCC Japanese Scientist Dr. Kiminori Itoh, an award-winning PhD environmental physical chemist.

“The IPCC has actually become a closed circuit; it doesn’t listen to others. It doesn’t have open minds… I am really amazed that the Nobel Peace Prize has been given on scientifically incorrect conclusions by people who are not geologists,”

- Indian geologist Dr. Arun D. Ahluwalia at Punjab University and a board member of the UN-supported International Year of the Planet.

“Many [scientists] are now searching for a way to back out quietly (from promoting warming fears), without having their professional careers ruined.”

- Atmospheric physicist James A. Peden, formerly of the Space Research and Coordination Center in Pittsburgh.

I personally think the following quote rings true as the most prominent myth we are told and the reason CFL light bulbs even have a market.

“Even doubling or tripling the amount of carbon dioxide will virtually have little impact, as water vapour and water condensed on particles as clouds dominate the worldwide scene and always will.”

– Geoffrey G. Duffy, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering of the University of Auckland, NZ.

I am waiting to read the offical report from the conference which is promised to include great detail about the analysis and research done by these scientists.

If you would like to read more quotes from the 650 or links to some of the research, please click here: epw.senate.gov

For the record, I still believe we are called to be good stewards of what God has blessed us with. I just don’t agree with the “green” movement because I think it is done mostly on false assumptions that living “green” actually will reduce the rising temperatures on the globe.