Next year 2009, is the 500 anniversary of the Reformation, unless, as a friend of mine says, you are a Lutheran.

Let me quote a passion from Steve Gray's book "My Absurd Religion".....The Christians of the first century were not Jews, Catholics, Protestants. Nobody knew exactly what they were. All anybody knew was that their religion was new, and it worked. It transformed lives. People experienced the presence of God. People saw the power of God. They were healed. They witnessed miracles. They were never the same afterward. God came down and helped His people. Does that describe our churches today? Hardly.

Today, lame religion peddles its snake oil to anyone who believes it has the power to "cure what ails ya." Is it any wonder that the real God of heaven is nowhere to be found?

The question on every investor’s mind is “What impact will each candidate and their party have on the performance of the stock market?”

In looking at elections past, market reaction to election results appear to work moderately in favor of Republicans. During the last 15 elections, the S&P 500 stock index rose an average of 2.25 percent in years when Republicans captured the presidency (nine times).  Conversely, during the six times the Democrats won, markets gained an average of 1.31 percent from Election Day to the end of the election year (1).

Historically, during the same 15 elections, the average S&P 500 return for the year following a Presidential election dramatically underperformed that of an election year.  Returns for the S&P 500 during post-election years averaged just 3.06% as compared to an election year average of 9.29% (2).

Will Hispanics be the swing vote in the 2008 presidential election? Sam Rodriguez offers a resounding “yes.”

Rodriguez is president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which is the National Hispanic Association of Evangelicals serving approximately 15 million Hispanic believers in issues of leadership, fellowship, networking, partnerships and public policy.

Rodriguez is also a well-known evangelist, author and founding pastor of Third Day Worship Centers in California. The Voice magazine caught up with Rodriguez to discuss the Hispanic view of the 2008 election.

With a solid, articulate, polished performance during Thursday night's vice presidential debate, Alaksa Governor Sarah Palin made liars of the mainstream media (MSM), which has used edited interviews, elitist snobbery and repeated abuse to try to convince the American people that Sen. John McCain's running mate was nothing more than an ignorant, backwoods hick.

Palin showed that real, ordinary Americans -- like us, and like her -- can go toe to toe with the political class (personified by long-serving Sen. Joe Biden), and reclaim our government.

Palin smashed the expectations game out of the park.  She denied the MSM the opportunity to play and replay a gaffe that supposedly would justify the contempt and vituperation they've heaped on her.