Like many teens in the 1960s, I was in a band. Those were the days when a rhythm guitarist could play nearly any song if he knew the chords of G, C, and F.

President Obama thinks he knows what the primary objective of Republicans in Washington should be: to “get things done.”

As Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday (Feb. 12) looms, evidence mounts: No way is all the furor over the teaching of evolution going to disappear, or even abate. Not in our own time, brothers and sisters.

Everyone is talking about how much money the government is spending, but very little attention is being paid to where they are spending it or what they are buying with it.

Mom used to say that it was our differences that made us stronger, and with five kids, she had a whole house full of differences to contend with on a daily basis. No wonder she was tired all the time. Of course, she’d usually say those comforting words as she cleaned and bandaged one of us up after yet another after school fight.

There’s a little game I invented to make history more palatable, first for myself, then for my own children. I was never an aficionada of dates and battles, although I’ve improved a lot since I was young, and at least one of my daughters became interested in political fiction as well as fact.

Now that Obama is the president, fasten your seat belts.

During his first year in office, and particularly during his first hundred days, we are about to witness the most prodigious output of legislation since 1981-2 (under Ronald Reagan), 1964-5 (under Lyndon Johnson), and 1933-36 (under Franklin Roosevelt).

I believe the greatest enemy of the Christian Church today is the Church itself. The history of the Christian Church has been a fractious one with new denominations peeling believers away in various directions. In fact, the institution of slavery in the United States created a first-class moral divide, leading to a segregated church up to the present day.

My brother-in-law, Rodney, the wizard of wisecracks in our family, was sitting at the island in my kitchen, watching as I put away food from a Sunday School get-together.

[Two weeks ago] the 2009 Georgia General Assembly was gaveled into session. The first day the entire body was sworn in by the chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court.

As part of the University of Georgia’s Year 2000 millennial celebration, the University Libraries established the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame. It was established as a public awards program and a permanent online exhibit honoring Georgia’s most influential writers.

President Obama’s campaign theme of ending politics as usual and creating a new bipartisanship that will get things done for the American people is about to be tested now that he has the power — or at least some of the power — to make it happen.

Here is what my George Mason University colleague Professor Richard Wagner wrote, which was published by Office of the House Republican Leader:

Answers to your questions about life, religion and the Bible

Answers to your questions about life, religion and the Bible

Barack Obama is now the President of the United States of America. It is my commitment and covenant to pray for him, his family, the Vice-President, and all who serve the current administration. It is an historic time in American history. It is also a time of increased danger for the most innocent, vulnerable, and voiceless Americans.

2009-2010 will rank with 1913-1914, 1933-1936, 1964-1965 and 1981-1982 as years that will permanently change our government, politics and lives.

What nobody is going to listen to during inauguration week is cynicism, or anything that savors thereof: the sound of pins pricking happy balloons, the minimizing tone of voice that says, “Ummm, HMMM, just you wait ...“

He left before we rolled out of bed and rarely returned back home in time for dinner. With a big house, a pretty wife, five kids and a green parakeet that ate hushpuppies off his head, my dad had it all together. I thought he knew all of the answers.

If making speeches is one of the tests of a President of the United States, then Barack Obama has passed his first test with flying colors. He has understood the varied constituencies, and the various hopes and fears he had to address. He said the kinds of things that all these constituencies wanted to hear.

How cold is it?

Friends from Fargo, N.D., think our bone-shivering Georgia cold is like a balmy afternoon back home. We, however, are huddled by space heaters, trying to thaw out. We’ve become wearers of thermal undies, experienced in layering clothes to capture body heat.

In economic times like these, we can easily see which governments have been managing the store and which ones have been shoplifting.

Welcome to Washington, “Mr. President.” I know you’ve been here before for a short time as senator, but this is different. This is The Big Time, the world stage and you are the leading man.

Whatever history’s verdict on the Bush administration might be, it is likely to be very different from what we hear from the talking heads on television or read from the know-it-alls on editorial pages.

George W. Bush had the misfortune to become president when two long-term trends that predated his presidency reached historical tipping points:

When I was a child and given to daydreaming as children often are, I dreamed of what I would be when I grew up. I wanted to be strong, courageous, glamorous and well-traveled. And more than anything, I wanted to tell stories.

I hate to see John Smoltz leave us Braves fans, but I wish him the very best. Smoltz and the Braves parted ways after he signed as a free agent with the Red Sox. The 41-year-old pitcher coming off of major shoulder surgery said he’s doing great and is confident he can contribute this year and even beyond.

Several evangelical heavyweights have joined together in something called the Evangelical Climate Initiative (ECI). The Initiative, anchored by over 250 “senior evangelical leaders,” including Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Gordon MacDonald, Jack Hayford, and a gaggle of Christian college presidents.

There are countless books that provide people with ideas of things they should do before they die. I’d like to add an item to those lists.

We can rarely escape the consequences of our choices.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has our national debt pegged at $1.2 trillion (a staggering 8.3 percent of our gross domestic product) for the year. If President-elect Barack Obama’s sweeping stimulus package is enacted, it could add nearly $1 trillion or more to the red ink over two years.