I wanted to tell you about the plugins I use with Gazette to make it into what you see on this site. All the plugins listed below are in use here.

A theme isn't what you see when you first view it fresh from the developer's editor. It is what it becomes after you customize it by changing colors, backgrounds, add information, and images. Only then does it become yours, and makes your blog unique. That is what I tried to accomplish here at the PCB.

I'll begin at the header. I am using the flashfader plugin to rotate the images you see. I used it as a substitute for the header image you see on the Gazette Theme Site . You can get it at B Sides , along with the instructions for setting it up.

Everything you see (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

Gazette, the new five column WordPress Theme is now available and ready for download.

All the pages validate XHTML 1.0 transitional except the sitemap page. I have included it, but you will have to set it up according to the instructions here for creating a page template. Use the sitemap or don't use it, that is your choice.

Please keep in mind that it is still in a beta stage. The style.css does not validate yet, but I will work on that. It is fully functional as you can see here in it's public release form.

You can see the new style, and download the beta release at Gazette's New Site .

 Most of you probably have been wondering what I have been doing since my promise in March to begin writing more politically. So now you are able to see what I have been working on.

I have been learning some php, css, while adding that to my limited knowledge of html to create a new WordPress theme. It is a one of a kind. The only five column in existence that I am aware of, plus it is the only one that has my coding errors. It has been a wonderful experience creating my own theme, and some of you should try it.

I should give you some of the details of how a non-programmer manged to pull this off. I started out by using the excellent tutorial offered by Urban Giraffe,in which he pulls apart all of the files and (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the sixty-third update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Pastor Sprague has sent another update about the ongoing minstry of Trinity Church in the North Shore and New Orleans and hurricane relief.

Crack Pots for Jesus

What a difference eight months makes! Back in August, I was gearing up to re-launch our new ministry year with a full staff and a new building right on the horizon. The Elders had just unanimously approved my 70-page strategic plan. We were ready to roll. Oh, how the Trinity - the Father, Son and Holy Spirit - must have had fun with my plan of operating from strength. What a good chuckle they had over "Michael's plan". They decided they could do better! Exceedingly better! Included in the revised plan was their (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the Democrat's idea of an energy plan.

In other words, they don't have one! So why would you vote for them in November?

(HT to Pat Cleary at Redstate .)

(Cartoon by Glenn McCoy at Slate .)

This is the sixty-second update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

We have another e-mail update from Pastor Sprague about the minstry of Trinity Church in the North Shore and New Orleans.

"The Jesus Movement

Lately, I have been asking questions of the early church that might radically influence the Jesus movement today.

1. How did an obscure, marginalized Jesus movement become the dominant faith of the western world in just a few centuries?
2. How did Christ-followers convince people they weren't vagabonds, gypsies or involved in a cult?
3. How did the Christian community in the first century go from being one, one-zillionth of the population to 56% of the Roman Empire? That is a growth rate of 40% per decade!
4. How did they grow so rapidly with no (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the sixty-first update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Pastor Sprague has sent another e-mail update about the minstry of Trinity Church in the North Shore and New Orleans.

"You're Not Crazy!

You're not crazy! These are words our teams need to hear. Our team volunteers have now exceeded 2,700 and have logged in 110,000 man hours. There were 142 last week. Wow!

Over the past several weeks, the volunteers have included a high percentage of college students. Some of these students have given up the beaches of Florida for New Orleans. They gave up fun in the sun to gut homes. Narcissism has given way to activism. These young adults are about the cause of Christ. They are not crazy! I am so encouraged by hundreds of college (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the sixtieth update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Pastor Sprague in a new e-mail message is calling for all prayer warriors to help in the ministry of Trinity Evangelical Free Church of Covington, LA and hurricane relief.

"Calling all Prayer Warriors

Over the last 6 months I have feasted upon and been sustained by the God of Exodus 17. The people of God faced a great challenge in their confrontation with the Amalekites. Joshua and the men engaged them while Moses went up to the hilltop to raise his hands in dependence upon God. Oh, how he must have prayed. While his hands were raised, the battle went well. When his arms drooped, the mission was hindered and the enemy made inroads. Two friends came to his rescue (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

This is the fifty-ninth update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Pastor Sprague has sent another e-mail with a plea for financial assistance to help in the ministry of Trinity Evangelical Free Church of Covington, LA and hurricane relief.

A Financial Request and More Stories of Grace

I have never been a fundraiser and perhaps never will be. I don't know that I ever want to be a fundraiser. I am simply a pastor of a local church, in the middle of the finest movement of the Spirit of God that I have ever seen. One of my dear friends, and now colleagues in ministry, is raising support to provide for his family to continue to help lead the work of outreach here in the Gulf Region. I am referring to (Read the rest of the story below the fold...)

I haven't written much politically for a while, so I thought I would do something creative to try and get back into the swing of things.

Hugh Hewitt has written a new book, Painting the Map Red , and I have entered the contest at Radio Blogger to try to come up with the most creative graphic to promote it.

The following is my entry:

So go. Buy the book. Read it, and help Spread Freedom Throughout the Land.