Important Takeaways:
- Are we ready for the hope of what will come when Jesus, the very child born in Bethlehem will once again come to reign for eternity?
- Everyone loves Christ in the cradle. The image of baby Jesus in the Bethlehem barn warms our hearts. Each December we recreate the moment on our lawns and beneath our Christmas trees. Stores sell plastic donkeys and wooden mangers. People collect hand-carved images of Mary, Joseph, and the newborn child.
- We love the Christ in the cradle.
- We are fine with Christ the gentle Messiah. Children sitting on his lap. Sheep gathered around him. The apostle John reclining on his chest. Mary anointing his feet. No one has an issue with a pleasant rabbi who offers sage advice, feeds crowds, and replenishes wine at a wedding.
- Christ in the cradle? Wonderful. Christ the kindhearted? Delightful. But Christ the coming King? On a stallion? Roaring out of heaven? Crowned with the crowns of his enemies? On a mission to destroy those who destroy his children?
- The world is less familiar with this view of Jesus. Yet this is the Jesus the world will soon see.
- Did you know that the second coming is mentioned more than three hundred times in the Bible, an average of once every twenty-five verses?
- Scripture gushes with the news of Christ’s return like water in full spate. To the depressed disciples Jesus assured, “I will come again” (John 14:3 nkjv). When Jesus ascended, the angel told the witnesses, “[Jesus] will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Paul referred to “the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Tim. 6:14). Peter affirmed, “The day of the Lord will come” (2 Peter 3:10). Jude announced, “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones” (Jude14).
- We are in the season of Advent. Advent leads us to the beautiful culmination of Christmas, where we celebrate the incarnation of God.
- Are we ready for the hope of what will come when Jesus, the very child born in Bethlehem will once again come to reign for eternity?
- We wait but we must be ready.
- Ready for the arrival of our coming King. Ready. Waiting. Vigilant. Like the soldiers who guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. The men and women who stand guard there display a level of unparalleled fidelity. They devote eight hours to the preparation of their uniforms. Gloves are worn wet to improve the grip on the rifle. Shanks are attached to the inside of each shoe so the soldier can click his or her heels.
- The sentinel repeats the same walk over and over: twenty-one steps, then a twenty-one-second pause, the rifle is shifted to the other shoulder, then twenty-one more steps. He or she repeats this until being relieved at the changing of the guard.
- During the summer months, the soldier is on duty for thirty minutes. During the winter, 60 minutes. They fulfill their task in the heat of August and the chill of January. The routine never varies, not even at night when the cemetery is closed. When Hurricane Isabel moved through the area in 2003, the soldiers never stopped. Not once. Trees fell and the wind-whipped, but they kept their post.
- They have maintained this vigilance every day of every year since 1921.
- Question: If they can display such allegiance rightly given to unknown, dead soldiers, can we not do the same for our living, coming, ruling King? If these sentries are willing to patrol in honor of those who sacrificed, can’t we do even more for our King, who gave the greatest sacrifice? We are members of his battalion. We are enlisted in his regiment. We are returning with him someday. Can we not serve him on this day?
- Let me be specific. What can you do today in honor of your King? What kindness can you perform? What offense can you forgive? What temptation can you resist? What gift can you offer? What discipline can you begin? What sacrifice can you make? What act of love can you show?
- Let’s behave like the people we have been called to be soldiers in the returning army of the King of kings.
- The Christ of the cradle is now the Christ with the crown. He is coming soon.
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Important Takeaways:
- It would be safe to say that sexual immorality is pervasive in our society. From television shows to movies to print media and even the local park or beach, people are engaging in a level of immorality that is worsening by the year.
- When God instructed the Israelites to take possession of the land promised to them, He says this in Deuteronomy 7:1-2: “When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. Furthermore, in verse 5 He says: But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.”
- As we know from the Biblical record, the Israelites did not follow God’s commandment entirely. Because of their incomplete conquest of the land, worship of a false goddess named Asherah survived and subsequently plagued Israel…
- So that the Israelites would not be tempted to engage in religious syncretism, God also gave this command in Deuteronomy 16:21: “You shall not plant for yourself any tree, as a wooden image [Asherah], near the altar which you build for yourself to the LORD your God.”
- Clearly, not everybody obeyed the command. One of the most wicked acts undertaken concerning Asherah is recorded in 2 Kings 21:7 under the direction of King Manasseh who put an Asherah pole in the Temple: “He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the LORD had said to David and to Solomon his son, ‘In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever.’”
- The worship of Asherah was exceedingly wicked and known for its sensuality and ritual prostitution. Although the Israelites were commanded not to have anything to do with it, the worship of Asherah was a recurring problem. Sadly, under Rehoboam, it became even worse. 1 Kings 14:22-24 records: Now Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and wooden images [Asherah] on every high hill and under every green tree. And there were also perverted persons [those practicing sodomy and ritual prostitution] in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
- The Israelites were not only warned against worshipping Asherah, but also a particularly heinous false god known as Molech. In Leviticus 18:21, God warned: “And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.” It was not only the people who failed to heed this command. Even King Solomon stumbled as well. In 1 Kings 11:7 we read: “Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.” The sacrifice of children to Molech was particularly cruel. It is said that they were placed on the outstretched arms of the statue of the “god” and burned alive. Around them, worshippers played instruments in order to drown out the screams.
- The Conclusion
- Those who worship at the altar of sexual freedom soon find themselves at the altar of child sacrifice. Ideally, both altars should be brought down in unison. In other words, the church should not only be actively praying for and lobbying for the elimination of abortion services, but also teaching the full counsel of God when it comes to matters of sexual morality. May God equip us and strengthen us. Lives literally depend on it.
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Important Takeaways:
- Sears has closed its final store in Washington, leaving it operating in only four states across the US.
- The department store, which was once the largest in the country, closed an outlet in the Southcenter Mall in Tukwila, Washington, on December 15.
- In the weeks leading up to its closure, the store, which had been there for three decades, hosted discount sales for shoppers.
- Its closure means that Sears only has eight stores remaining across California, Florida, Massachusetts and Texas.
- The department store was founded in 1892, and as recently as 2012 boasted over 4,000 stores across the US.
- But the vast majority have now shuttered since the company filed for bankruptcy in October 2018.
- The company also closed its final location in the New York area at the beginning of this year.
- Plans for the company going forward are unclear, and it is not known whether further closures are planned in 2025.
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Important Takeaways:
- Mike Huckabee, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominated US ambassador to Israel, reaffirmed America’s commitment to Israel, stating that the Jewish state would never stand-alone during a speech at the One Israel Fund’s 30th anniversary gala.
- “I want to say you will never be alone again in your fight for freedom and to preserve the country and the land and the heritage that God gave you,” Huckabee said.
- During the event, Huckabee also met the head of the Binyamin Council and the chairman of the Yesha Council, Israel Gantz. The two discussed what is expected in the new era under President Trump.
- Gantz also met senior US officials to promote the future of the West Bank.
- “The meetings with the senior US officials are very important, and he heard that they exude a spirit that has not been present in the White House for years,” Gantz told The Jerusalem Post.
- The Binyamin Council head added that “they are true partners of the State of Israel and the settlement, and a large number of them have visited us in Binyamin in recent years. They are capable of promoting a policy based on truth in which the Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel and the axis of evil must be completely eradicated wherever it is.”
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Important Takeaways:
- California has declared a state of emergency for H5N1 bird flu amid fears that the virus could jump to people and start to spread.
- The move comes in response to a major outbreak of the virus among the state’s cattle which has spilled over and infected dozens of dairy workers.
- The announcement follows news that an individual in Louisiana was hospitalized with H5N1, becoming the country’s first severe case.
- The declaration of emergency gives California state and local resources to contain the outbreak, including hiring staff or issuing contracts for things like tests or personal protective equipment (PPE).
- Governor Gavin Newsom said the move would free up funds and ‘streamline and expedite’ the state’s efforts to tackle the outbreak.
- California has identified H5N1 in 645 dairy herds since its first detection in late August and nearly half of those were reported in the past 30 days, highlighting the rapid spread of the virus.
- Thirty-four of the US’ 61 human bird flu cases have also been in California
- Experts have described it as a pandemic ‘unfolding in slow motion.’
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Important Takeaways:
- The deal, thrown together during daylong negotiations between different ideological corners of the House Republican Conference and President-elect Donald Trump’s team, failed 174 to 236, with one voting present and 20 absences.
- An astonishing 38 Republicans voted against the hastily assembled, Trump-endorsed deal, with nine not voting.
- Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance stepped in Wednesday afternoon to drive the final stake in the heart of a previous deal negotiated by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democrats. Support for that deal was deteriorating rapidly ahead of Trump taking action to reframe the debate, insisting the deal should have included a debt limit increase to take the tricky issue off his administration’s plate next Congress.
- The new deal removed over a thousand pages of pork and other provisions unrelated to keeping the government open.
- As a result, only two Democrats supported it, with one voting present and eleven not voting.
- Republicans must now decide on a path forward, not only for funding the government but who can lead them through this and future battles
- It is rare for so many Republicans to buck a bill backed by Trump. Multiple sources tell Breitbart News that many of the 38 nays are a protest vote on Johnson’s continued leadership of the conference.
- The deadline to pass a spending bill is Friday at midnight.
- Republicans must act fast if they want to get a funding bill through — and if they want to get on the same page before Trump takes office.
- They face some difficult questions on how best to move forward.
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Important Takeaways:
- Three days after Cyclone Chido tore through the French overseas territory off East Africa, the hospital’s emergency department has not seen large numbers of injured, leading them to fear the worst, Naouelle Bouabbas said.
- “The fact that we don’t see that many injured from the cyclone when everything has collapsed makes us think that all these people are still buried and are dead,” she told Reuters in a video call from the islands.
- “We expect thousands, tens of thousands would not surprise me,” said Bouabbas, when asked about a possible death toll, adding there was no infrastructure in place yet to remove people from the rubble.
- Authorities have said hundreds or even thousands could have died, but only 22 deaths had been confirmed on Tuesday morning
- The Red Cross said on Tuesday that about 100,000 people were unaccounted for, including about 200 of its volunteers, after the cyclone battered the islands with 200 kph (124 mph) winds in the worst storm in 90 years.
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Important Takeaways:
- Ukraine targets Russia’s mercenaries saying ‘there is no reason for Koreans to fight and die for Putin’
- “Today, we already have preliminary data that the Russians have begun to use North Korean soldiers in their assaults. A significant number of them,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday.
- Ukraine’s military intelligence (GUR) reported the North Koreans were embedded with Russian Marines and Airborne troops – elite units – in the Russian region of Kursk, which Ukraine has counter-invaded.
- Zelenskyy posted that Russia was adopting gruesome tactics to obscure the loss of North Korean soldiers.
- “After the battles with our guys, the Russians are also trying to… literally burn the faces of the killed North Korean soldiers,” he wrote on Telegram.
- He added, “There is no reason for Koreans to fight and die for Putin. And even after their death, all that awaits them from Russia is mockery.”
- There were no statements from Russia or North Korea on these first casualties of Korean mercenaries.
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Important Takeaways:
- Mysterious drones have been reported near military bases in Hawaii and by installations in Utah, California, Maine and Florida — among other facilities scattered throughout the country.
- It comes as residents in New York and New Jersey have reported thousands of sightings of unexplained mystery drones in the night skies.
- House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said Tuesday he believes some of the unidentified drones are “spy drones” from China.
- “We need to identify who is behind these drones,” he said. “My judgment based on my experience is that those that are over our military sites are adversarial and most likely are coming from the People’s Republic of China.”
- Sources have previously raised their concerns to The Post over Chinese landowners, who are usually linked to, or working on behalf of, the country’s communist government.
- Morgan Lerette, a former contractor for private military contractor Blackwater, previously told The Post: “The Chinese are, or will, use this farmland to learn more about US military capabilities, movements, and technology.
- “This will allow them to better understand how to transition their military from a defensive strategy to an expeditionary one.”
- Chinese holdings total under one percent of foreign-owned agricultural land in the US, per NBC, but it’s the proximity to critical military installations which raises concerns, critics have charged.
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Important Takeaways:
- The clock is ticking towards a possible government shutdown at midnight Friday.
- A measure to keep the government open for three more months was rejected by President-elect Trump and other Republicans.
- The 1,500-page spending bill that included pay increases for members of Congress received enormous backlash from Trump who called on lawmakers to go back to the drawing board and pass a better bill before he takes office on January 20, 2025.
- Likewise, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who have been tapped to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, both blasted the bill for earmarking vast amounts of taxpayer dollars on frivolous items.
- Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus also complained the bill was packed with wasteful spending.
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