Eight years ago today, we published our very first Omega Letter Intelligence Digest Briefing. (As I type it all out, it occurs to me that is a ponderous title for something nicknamed ‘brief’- perhaps I should have thought of that eight years ago.)

The first OL was pretty basic  -- I suppose ‘brief’ was a more accurate description when we first started out. Eight years ago, we were discussing the politics of oil and the alignment of nations as they relate to Ezekiel 38.

When the first Omega Letter went out, Mike had not yet constructed the Omega Letter website. We sent out the emails through our ISP's email server. At the outset, all we had to offer was promises, and you took them on faith.

You made it possible for us to obtain our own web servers. You waited patiently for us to get our first website off the ground, subscribed when it had virtually no content, stuck with us through our growing pains, and forgave us our errors.

You have been faithful to encourage us through the rough spots, you've supported us when subscriptions sagged, and have forgiven us when the circumstances of life interfered with the timely performance of our duties.

You have made the Omega Letter a family ministry -- one in which we minister to each other, from the far-flung corners of the world.  

You have shared insights and perspectives that, in my own case, have opened my eyes to truths I would never have otherwise seen.

You are my closest friends and my most trusted advisors. This is YOUR Omega Letter. And I am honored to be a part of it.

Today, we introduce Omega Letter v. 8.0 -- a complete redesign of the original Omega Letter by the Omega Letter's original webdesigner.  Mike and Kari deserve most of the credit for this one -- I offered an occasional suggestion here and there, but about the only direction that I gave them was to try and make the OL feel like 'home'.

And that is precisely what they have constructed.  It looks like my OL.  It feels like my OL.  But it's like my OL on steroids.   Let's start at the top.

At the very top of the page on the right side is the login and profile information.   There are two new features "-Width" and "-Flash". 

Clicking 'width' allows the web page to expand to the edges of the browser, for those with wide-screen monitors.  Clicking "-Flash" will toggle Shockwave Flash off or on. 

Continuing right to left, are links to Home, the Forums and the online Bible.  Below that are links to the Daily Briefings, Commentary, a new link called "NewsRoom" , contact information and a site map. 

"Newsroom" is a masterpiece that will quickly become the first page you go to first thing in the morning.

It is a page FILLED with the most up-to-the minute newsfeeds; Fox, Debka, Yaho, Reuters, CNS, WND, Washington Examiner, JPost and lots more.  Pretty much anything you need to know is there, and it is organized in an interface that makes navigation a breeze.  

Below that field you will see categories like Prophecy, Israel, Globalism, Terror, etc. These are links to Omega Letter commentaries organized by topic, displaying in descending order, from most recent to least recent.  Mike designed it to kick back the 25 most recent in each category.

On the main page, you will see a new and improved 'Links' section on the left and a links bar that will take you to the last five Daily Brief forums.  In the center are the usual Commentary, Deja Vu article and the most recent OL, plus a box for  featured commentary from around the web.

Directly to the right one finds the new OL newsfeed tabs.  Clicking on any one of the tabs along the top will take you to the top story summaries from CNS, JPost, World Tribune and WND.  Everything is refreshed every few minutes, so what you see is the latest updated news.

Most of the changes in the forums are in the back end -- for the most part, everything works the way it did before, only smoother and cleaner.   We've a new and improved chat room for live chats.  And, as already noted, we'll be returning the readers's poll feature.

As in any redesign, there may still be a bug or two -- if you find one, please drop us an email and we'll get right on it.  But if there are any, they'll be few and far between.   

So today, please, come visit the website and check out some of the new features.  If you've not visited in a long time, you'll be amazed at how much more user-friendly it is.   We hope you will consider making the new Omegaletter v 8.0 your browser's home page.  

Dig around a little bit -- do some exploring. And then hop on over the member's forum and let us know what you think.     May our God richly bless you and yours -- until He comes!

Happy Birthday,  Omega Letter!