There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
…He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
GALATIANS 6:8
To teach that the filling with the Holy Spirit is given the Christian to provide “power for service” is to teach truth, but not the whole truth!
Power for service is but one effect of the experience, and I do not hesitate to say that it is the least of several effects. Contrary to the popular belief, “to serve this present age” is not the Christian’s first duty nor the chief end of man.
The primary work of the Holy Spirit is to restore the lost soul to intimate fellowship with God through the washing of regeneration. To accomplish this He first reveals Christ to the penitent heart (1 Cor. 12:3). He then goes on to illuminate the newborn soul with brighter rays from the face of Christ (John 14:26; 16:13–15) and leads the willing heart into depths and heights of divine knowledge and communion. Remember, we know Christ only as the Spirit enables us and we have only as much of Him as the Holy Spirit imparts!
God wants worshipers before workers; indeed the only acceptable workers are those who have learned the lost art of worship. It is inconceivable that a sovereign and holy God should be so hard up for workers that He would press into service anyone who had been empowered regardless of his moral qualifications. The very stones would praise Him if the need arose and a thousand legions of angels would leap to do His will!
Gifts and power for service the Spirit surely desires to impart; but holiness and spiritual worship come first!1
This groaning is universal among the saints: to a greater or less extent we all feel it. It is not the groan of murmuring or complaint: it is rather the note of desire than of distress. Having received an earnest, we desire the whole of our portion; we are sighing that our entire manhood, in its trinity of spirit, soul, and body, may be set free from the last vestige of the fall; we long to put off corruption, weakness, and dishonour, and to wrap ourselves in incorruption, in immortality, in glory, in the spiritual body which the Lord Jesus will bestow upon his people. We long for the manifestation of our adoption as the children of God. “We groan,” but it is “within ourselves.” It is not the hypocrite’s groan, by which he would make men believe that he is a saint because he is wretched. Our sighs are sacred things, too hallowed for us to tell abroad. We keep our longings to our Lord alone. Then the apostle says we are “waiting,” by which we learn that we are not to be petulant, like Jonah or Elijah, when they said, “Let me die”; nor are we to whimper and sigh for the end of life because we are tired of work, nor wish to escape from our present sufferings till the will of the Lord is done. We are to groan for glorification, but we are to wait patiently for it, knowing that what the Lord appoints is best. Waiting implies being ready. We are to stand at the door expecting the Beloved to open it and take us away to himself. This “groaning” is a test. You may judge of a man by what he groans after. Some men groan after wealth—they worship Mammon; some groan continually under the troubles of life—they are merely impatient; but the man who sighs after God, who is uneasy till he is made like Christ, that is the blessed man. May God help us to groan for the coming of the Lord, and the resurrection which he will bring to us.1
IF ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2, 3 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
So completely are we renewed by regeneration that we are dead to the old life, and only live in Jesus. We cannot love the things of earth: our hearts are in heaven, our very life is there, where Jesus is, and until he comes we live a hidden life which worldlings cannot perceive or comprehend.
5–7 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. (New men should have new manners, and new garments. The cast-off rags of our sinful estate must never be allowed to dishonour and defile us now.)
9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
The heathen gloried in clever deceits; we have for ever done with falsehood of every kind.
10, 11 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
12 Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
14 And above all these things put on charity (or love), which is the bond of perfectness.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. (Sweet precept! How often is it forgotten! “Be ye thankful.”)
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
A golden rule for all times, places, and duties. Life on earth would be like heaven below were this continually practised.
18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
20 Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.
22–25 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
Colossians 4:1
1 Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven. (So that while we are free from the traditions of men, we are under law to Christ. Let us each one observe the precept which belongs to his condition. May the Spirit of all grace make all of us models, whether as parents or children, masters or servants, and to God shall be all the praise.)
Hosea 4:2 — Note the sins: Swearing (Leviticus 19:12/3rd Commandment), Lying (9th Commandment), Killing (6th Commandment), Stealing (8th Commandment), Adultery (7th Commandment). The LORD is not even pointing out the “minor sins” (the 613 commands of the Torah), but just the “Big Ten!”
Hosea 4:6 — Many people use this phrase, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,” but they ignore the context. The “knowledge” referenced is knowing the Law and obeying the Law!
Hosea 4:13 — We’re back to the 2nd Commandment, and God ties the 2nd Commandment to the 7th Commandment. The argument being, if you’re not faithful to me, your spouses will not be faithful to you.
Hosea 5:15 — Do we take spiritual adultery as seriously as God takes it? Do we realize that God takes it as seriously as we take physical adultery? Do we know that God will let us suffer the consequences of our sin until we seek His face?
2 John 1:1 — Who is the “elect lady?” GotQuestions.org notes that she has a sister and is part of the church, but that is all that is known. Chuck Missler suggests that it might be Mary, the mother of Jesus, based on Jesus entrusting Mary to John’s care. Also Mary had a sister (John 19:25).
2 John 1:5 — In this short epistle we have a few commands: “love one another” (2 John 1:5), “walk after his commandments” (2 John 1:6), and “abide in the doctrine” (2 John 1:9). These are similar to the theme of John’s gospel:
Love! (John 15:12) – 57 times in John’s gospel!
Obey! (John 14:15) – If love, then keep!
Believe! (John 20:31) – That’s the point of the writings!
Psalm 125:2 — If you’ve been to Jerusalem, the mountains around the city are incredibly impressive. Deep valleys, tall heights, and sharp cliffs. This psalm is part of the “Song of Ascents” from Psalm 120-134, songs to sing while climbing the road to Jerusalem.
Proverbs 29:11 — No comment necessary!
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If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, blessed shalt thou be in the city.Deuteronomy 28:2-3
The city is full of care, and he who has to go there from day to day finds it to be a place of great wear and tear. It is full of noise, and stir, and bustle, and sore travail; many are its temptations, losses, and worries. But to go there with the divine blessing takes off the edge of its difficulty; to remain there with that blessing is to find pleasure in its duties and strength equal to its demands.
A blessing in the city may not make us great, but it will keep us good; it may not make us rich, but it will preserve us honest. Whether we are porters, or clerks, or managers, or merchants, or magistrates, the city will afford us opportunities for usefulness. It is good fishing where there are shoals of fish, and it is hopeful to work for our Lord amid the thronging crowds. We might prefer the quiet of a country life; but if called to town, we may certainly prefer it because there is room for our energies.
Today let us expect good things because of this promise, and let our care be to have an open ear to the voice of the Lord and a ready hand to execute His bidding. Obedience brings the blessing. “In keeping his commandments there is great reward.”
“He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His Truth shall be thy shield and buckler” – Psalm 91:4
A condescending simile indeed! Just as a hen protects her brood and allows them to nestle under her wings, so will the LORD defend His people and permit them to hide away in Him. Have we not seen the little chicks peeping out from under the mother’s feathers? Have we not heard their little cry of contented joy? In this way let us shelter ourselves in our God and feel overflowing peace in knowing that He is guarding us. While the LORD covers us, we trust. It would be strange if we did not. How can we distrust when Jehovah Himself becomes house and home, refuge and rest to us? This done, we go out to war in His name and enjoy the same guardian care. We need shield and buckler, and when we implicitly trust God, even as the chick trusts the hen, we find His truth arming us from head to foot. The LORD cannot lie; He must be faithful to His people; His promise must stand. This sure truth is all the shield we need. Behind it we defy the fiery darts of the enemy. Come, my soul, hide under those great wings, lose thyself among those soft feathers! How happy thou art!
In this episode of the Cold-Case Christianity Broadcast, J. Warner examines alleged “contradictions” in the eyewitness New Testament accounts. Do variations between witness accounts automatically discredit their reliability? J. Warner provides two examples from the Gospel Resurrection accounts to illustrate the manner in which eyewitness accounts are typically reconciled.
b. The doctrine must concern and be connected to our salvation; that is, it must be salvific.
i. There is, therefore, a distinct difference between what must be true in order for us to be saved and what must be believed in order to be saved.
c. Christ’s virgin birth is connected to salvation because it speaks of His sinlessness and supernatural origin, which are necessary for salvation.
d. Anyone born the natural way would have been—short of divine intervention—a sinner like the rest of us (Rom. 3:23; 5:12); and the virgin birth (i.e., supernatural conception) was one way to circumvent this.
II. Why the Virgin Birth Matters?
a. The virgin birth is necessary to secure both a real human nature and also a completely divine nature.
III. Objection: Pagan Mythology/Plagiarism?
It would have been unthinkable for a Jewish sect (which is what Christianity was initially) to try to win new converts by adding pagan elements to their gospel story. To mix in bits of paganism would have been anathema to most Jews.
“There is no clear parallel to the notion of a virgin birth in pagan literature, only of births resulting from intercourse between a God and a woman (of which there is no suggestion in Matthew and Luke), resulting in a being half-divine, half-human, which is far different from the biblical Christology”- John Frame
Consider some of the usual suspects:
Horus – the best Egyptian account of the myth tells us that that Horus was not born of a virgin. There’s no virgin birth story there to copy.
Dionysus: like so many of the pagan “parallels,” he was born when a god (in this case Zeus) disguised himself as a human and impregnated a human princess. This is not a virgin birth and not like the Holy Spirit’s role we read about in the Gospels.
Mithra: he’s a popular parallel. But he was born of a rock, not a virgin. Moreover, the cult of Mithra in the Roman Empire dates to after the time of Christ so any dependence is Mithraism on Christianity and not the other way around.
False cause fallacy. This fallacy occurs when someone argues that just because two things exist side by side that one must be the cause of the other.
As Boyd and Eddy note, “Similarity is not the same thing as sameness. Parallel terms do not equate to parallel concepts.” (The Jesus Legend, pg. 142)
IV. Objections to Miracles: “I can’t believe in a miracle such as the virgin birth”
“In my own case, the virgin birth was a stumbling block to my coming to faith—I simply could not believe such a thing. But when I reflected on the fact that God had created the entire universe, it occurred to me that it would not be too difficult for Him to make a woman become pregnant. Once the unbeliever understands who God is, then the problem of miracles should cease to be a problem for him.” (Craig, AI, 125)
The rejection is miracles is a metaphysical issue. 1. If God exists, miracles are possible and actual. 2. God exists. 3. Therefore, miracles are possible and actual.
V. Textual Issues
The Sign in Isaiah 7: 14: Since the context of the chapter requires a short-range prophecy – giving a sign to King Ahaz – how can this be applied to the birth of a child some 700 years later, as claimed in Matthew 1:22-23?
b. It is best to read Isaiah 7-9 as a unit.
c. Immediate context:
i. The context of Isaiah 7 is the attack on Judah by the kings of Syria (Damascus) and Israel (Samaria).
ii.The aim of the attack was to depose the king of Judah, a descendant of David, and thereby to end the Davidic dynasty, which God had established and promised to always sustain.
iii.The current king of Judah, Ahaz, was a man of superficial faith. God’s promise in Isaiah 7:7–9 that both His adversaries would come to an end is met with no response of faith on the part of Ahaz. God even offers to give Ahaz a sign, but Ahaz refuses to take God up on His offer – “I will not put the LORD to the test,” he replies, using Deuteronomy 6:16 as an excuse.
iv. God then addresses the entire house of David (using plural pronouns, which means He is not addressing only Ahaz). God takes the initiative and gives the sign of the virgin who will give birth to a son and call him Immanuel.
VI. Who is the special child? Only Jesus? a.Isa: 7: 13-14: Some hold that the sign has a single fulfillment—that is, the sign points originally and solely to the birth of Jesus as the “ultimate” Messiah.
VII. Who is the special child? Double Reference? Typology?
“Double Reference”: There are, therefore, two separate prophecies side-by-side each having their own fulfillment, but with only one fulfillment per prophecy.
Isa. 7: 13-14: It is very likely that Isaiah pointed to a woman who was present at the scene of the prophet’s interview with Ahaz. In this case the woman could be a member of the royal family, or, more likely, the prophetess with whom Isaiah has sexual relations shortly after this (see Isa.8: 3).
c. The sign in 7:16–17 applies directly to Ahaz’s own day. Isaiah’s son Maher-shalal-hash-baz is the near fulfillment (Isa. 8:1–4). In favor of this view is the similarity in language between Isaiah 7:14–15 and Isaiah 8:3–4, the child’s birth is called a sign (Isa. 8:18), and the fact that he once again references Immanuel (Isa. 8:8). Simply put, God would give Ahaz a sign that within a few years, both Israel and Syria would be crushed. This was a sign of deliverance to Ahaz.
d. Many commentators think that this was immediately fulfilled when a young woman in the royal household shortly married, conceived a son, and named him “Immanuel.” Before this boy came to eat solid food, Israel and Syria would be defeated.
e. Even if the prophecy does include an immediate application to the time of Ahaz, however, the prophecy cannot have been fulfilled completely by the birth of someone like Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Isa. 8:1, 3) or by Hezekiah, as some have suggested, since 9:6 prophesies the birth of a son whose name will be “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”—a statement that could apply only to the Davidic Messiah (read Isa. 7-9 as a unit).
V. Translating “Virgin”
a. While the word ‘almah can refer to a virgin, it does not specifically mean ‘virgin.’ Its basic meaning is primarily related to adolescence, not sexual chastity.” “Almah” can mean “virgin,” as young unmarried women in ancient Hebrew culture were assumed to be virgins. It occurs nine times in the Old Testament, and wherever the context makes its meaning clear, the word refers to a virgin. (For his detailed reasons, see Michael L. Brown, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, vol. 3, Messianic Prophecy Objections, section 4.3.
b. Betulah: This is commonly considered to mean a virgin, exclusively. It is argued that if Isaiah had really meant to say a virgin, then he would have used this word. betulah, while it could refer to a virgin, often simply means a young woman. Some of his observations:
Genesis 24:16 includes the phrase, “a betulah whom no man had known.” Here, the qualifier, “whom no man had known” (which means “whom no man had slept with/had sexual relations with”), is added, showing that betulah by itself was not enough to indicate virginity.
In the following verses, “young woman” makes sense while “virgin” does not: Isaiah 23:4; Ezekiel 9:6; Job 31:1; Joel 1:8 (referring to a widow); Isaiah 47:1 (the betulah loses her husband and her children in verses 8 and 9).
In cognate (related) ancient languages, the equivalent of betulah often can refer to someone who is pregnant or has had intimate relations.
The Septuagint translators, 200 years before the birth of Christ, rendered ‘almah here with Greek “Parthenos” (a specific term for “virgin”) they rightly perceived the meaning of the Hebrew term; and when Matthew applied this prophecy to the virgin birth of Christ (see Matt. 1:23), it was in accord with this well-established understanding of parthenos (“virgin”) as used in the Septuagint and in other Greek writers.
The idea is that Isaiah was simply saying that a “young woman” would give birth, not a virgin. While the near fulfillment may have reference to a young woman giving birth, the far or ultimate fulfillment clearly points to a woman miraculously conceiving and giving birth.
Scientists Detected The Pre-Gog Magog Oct 7 Earthquake Tel Aviv University researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery: seismic stations in southern Israel detected the movement of Hamas vehicles prior to the October 7 attack, potentially opening new avenues for security monitoring.
Israeli Leaders Push for Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, Citing Security and Peace Israeli government officials are advocating for extending Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, with key ministers prioritizing this goal over potential regional peace agreements. “Between the Jordan River and the Sea, there will only be one state,” Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen stated in a recent interview with Makor Rishon.
Hamas agrees to post-war plan that would put Gaza under US supervision The paper printed the “Community Support Committee for the Management of the Gaza Strip” document, which proposes a committee to oversee Gaza after the war under US supervision. Following discussions between Hamas and Fatah in Cairo last Saturday, it was proposed that a committee of experts would govern Gaza with the supervision of US officials.
IAF eliminates Hezbollah’s Syrian envoy in targeted Damascus strike An Israel Air Force aircraft attacked and eliminated Hezbollah’s envoy to the Syrian army, Salman Nimr Jamaa, the IDF announced Tuesday afternoon. The Syrian regime, which has established support for Hezbollah throughout the years and allows the use of their country for the transfer of weapons, heavily utilized Jamaa and hereby endangered the lives of Lebanese and Syrian civilians alike.
University of Minnesota Suspends, Fines Pro-Hamas Rioters: Campus Groups The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities has reportedly suspended and demanded financial restitution from seven pro-Hamas activists who were arrested for commandeering the Morrill Hall administrative building on Oct. 21, an action which aimed to pressure school officials into enacting a boycott of Israel.
Iranian regime change likely to be focus of Trump Middle East policy The Middle East Forum’s “blueprint” for the Trump administration, titled “Reasserting American Power in the Middle East,” predicts that the incoming administration will, via executive order, reinstate policies of the prior Trump administration, including reimposing travel restrictions that both Trump aides and critics called the “Muslim ban.”
Earliest known Chinese inscription discovered in Jerusalem The earliest known Chinese inscription in Israel from about 500 years ago has been uncovered in Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Tuesday. The rare 16th century CE Chinese inscription, unearthed in a dig on Mount Zion and discovered on a porcelain bowl fragment, reads: “Forever we will guard the eternal spring,” the state-archaeological body said. Ancient Chinese porcelain vessels were previously found in Israel, but this is the first to bear an inscription.
The Transgender Debate Plaguing Congress Is Not Just A Scientific Dispute—It’s A Spiritual One These kinds of insane beliefs are quickly eroding the protections women have worked so hard to gain. After all, if a man can be “every bit as biologically female” as a woman despite having none of the biology of a female (artificially created “female” organs are not biologically female—they are modified male organs, and every cell that makes them up has XY chromosomes), then there are no females, and protections for a group that doesn’t exist are nonsense.
Why God Dedicated Over One-Third Of The Bible To Telling Us The Future In Advance The Old Testament contains forty-eight specific prophecies related to Jesus’ first coming, which happened precisely as the prophets of old foretold. The odds that one person could fulfill all of them stagger the imagination, … In the Upper Room, the Savior again told them what was to happen so as to calm their troubled hearts concerning the news that He would soon leave them. His words on this occasion provide us with a key for understanding the purpose of Bible prophecy:
Pope’s jubilee visit to Turkey to advance political, ecumenical agenda Should Pope Francis visit Turkey next year to commemorate a landmark anniversary for the Council of Nicaea, it will mark a key opportunity for him to make progress on several key priorities. Not only will his presence for the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the first great ecumenical council, offer a boost for his ecumenical agenda, but it will also provide Francis an occasion to further move the needle on dialogue with Islam and on his geopolitical agenda for the region.
Fani Full Release Ordered After Fulton DA Sat On RICO Records Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been ordered by a local judge to release all communications between her office, Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office, and the January 6th Committee regarding her RICO case against President Donald Trump and his allies, after she was found to have violated federal law by withholding them.
Universities Have A 2025 Rendezvous With Reality Public confidence in universities has sharply declined due to rising costs, administrative bloat, ideological bias, student debt issues, and discrimination concerns…A Gallup poll taken this year found that only 36 percent of Americans polled either expressed “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education – once the agreed-on touchstone to upward mobility.
Russia Flexes By Test-Firing Missiles In Eastern Mediterranean Drills As Syria Burns Russia’s military has announced Tuesday that it conducted major naval and air force drills in the eastern Mediterranean, off Syria’s coast, in the wake of Aleppo falling to Al-Qaeda linked jihadist insurgents, and at a moment the central Syrian city of Hama is coming under threat. Russia confirmed that it has “increased” its troop numbers stationed in the region as a result of the exercises.
US Steel Takeover By Japanese Company Will Be Blocked, Says Trump President-elect Donald Trump said on Dec. 3 that he would prevent the acquisition of U.S. Steel Corp. by Japan’s Nippon Steel Corporation. “I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company,” t
The Hunter Biden pardon gives Donald Trump powerful new political cover In his sweeping pardon of Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden did not just protect his son. He also handed President-elect Donald Trump a template to shield his own allies and stretch the pardon power even further. Legal experts say Trump now has fresh precedent — and political cover — to issue expansive pardons absolving his allies not only of specific offenses, but even any undetermined crimes they may have committed.
Chicago Residents Tell Trump to Arrest Mayor Brandon Johnson If He Tries to Block Deportations Soon after Trump’s victory last month, Johnson said he “will not bend” to the president-elect’s plan to carry out the largest deportation program in American history. Since then, Johnson has proposed a $300 million property tax hike to collect more funds for newly arrived migrants. At Monday’s city council meeting, residents called on Trump and Homan to arrest Johnson if he gets in their way of detaining illegal aliens in Chicago.
House Committee Releases Report on Social Distancing, COVID Vaccine House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released a final report regarding its two-year investigation into social distancing, masking, and COVID vaccine mandates. It was revealed that “the six-foot social distancing requirement was not supported by science.” Regarding the usage of masks and mask mandates, it was “apparent” that the CDC “and the Biden Administration cherry-picked observational data to fit their narrative that masks are fully effective.” Also COVID “vaccine mandates were not supported by science and caused more harm than good.” And “contrary to what was promised, the COVID vaccine did not stop the spread or transmission of the virus.”
House Oversight Report Supports Chinese Lab-Leak Theory For COVID-19 Origin “By nearly all measures of science, if there was evidence of a natural origin it would have already surfaced,” the oversight subcommittee said in a statement. The report said that the Wuhan Institute of Virology has a history of conducting “gain-of-function” research under low biosafety precautions. Several researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell sick with a COVID-like virus months before the first case of the outbreak was allegedly detected at a wet market, according to the report.
Israel warns it will go after Lebanon directly if cease-fire with Hezbollah collapses Israel issued a direct warning to Lebanon on Tuesday and said it will no longer distinguish between Hezbollah and the country should the tenuous cease-fire with the terrorist group collapse. “There will no longer be an exemption for the state of Lebanon,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said, according to the Times of Israel, adding that Jerusalem will “show maximum response and zero tolerance.”
Netanyahu, Israeli leaders praise Trump’s ‘all hell to pay’ vow, Gazans fear the worst PM Netanyahu thanked US President-elect Trump for issuing a toughly worded statement demanding that hostages held in the Gaza Strip be released ahead of his January 20 inauguration. “Hamas is required to release the hostages. President Trump put the emphasis in the right place, on Hamas, and not on the Israeli government, as is customary (elsewhere),” Netanyahu said. Other Israeli leaders also hailed the pledge that there would be “hell to pay” in the Middle East unless hostages held in the Gaza Strip were released ahead of Trump’s inauguration. Israeli ministers lined up to thank Trump for his hard-hitting words.
SCOTUS weighs gender mutilation: This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in United States v. Skrmetti, a case brought by the radical leftist American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT & HIV Project against the state of Tennessee over its law banning gender mutilation on minors. Chase Strangio, a woman who identifies as a “transgender” man, made oral arguments before the justices representing the ACLU. Using the twisted euphemism “gender-affirming care,” Strangio asserts that Tennessee’s ban violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of “equal protection of the laws.” To make this claim, she argues, “A teenager whose sex assigned at birth is male can be prescribed testosterone to conform to a male gender identity, but a teenager assigned female at birth cannot.” Of course, that complaint rests on the false claim that biological sex distinctions only exist within the mind of an individual and, therefore, can only be known once that individual expresses a gender identity. Tennessee has argued, “It is not unconstitutional discrimination to say that drugs can be prescribed for one reason but not another. It defies biological reality to suggest, as the government does, that males and females are medically the same for purposes of receiving testosterone and estrogen.”
Government & Politics
Will Trump replace Hegseth with DeSantis? Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, is on Capitol Hill today, meeting with more senators and trying to save a nomination that appears to be on the ropes. Yesterday, Trump and Ron DeSantis reportedly met to talk about the job of defense secretary. It’s a fascinating prospect on multiple levels, and it would be a bold move, to be sure. But if anyone could clean that massive DOD house and eliminate its woke bureaucracy, it’d be the no-nonsense Florida governor, who has two years left in his second term. Would he accept? If so, we’re guessing his lieutenant governor, Jeanette Nunez, would replace him and thereby become the state’s first female and first Hispanic governor. In any case, if The Wall Street Journal is floating this DeSantis trial balloon, it means that sources within the Trump campaign wanted it so. And it means that Hegseth’s days as the nominee are likely numbered.
Chronister withdraws from DEA spot: For the second time, one of Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees has withdrawn from consideration. On Tuesday, Hillsborough County, Florida, Sheriff Chad Chronister announced his decision to withdraw from nomination for administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency. “Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I’ve concluded that I must respectfully withdraw from consideration,” Chronister explained. “There is more work to be done for the citizens of Hillsborough County and a lot of initiatives I am committed to fulfilling.” Chronister had come under fire from some conservatives, including Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie, over his heavy-handed actions during the COVID pandemic. In 2020, Chronister had a pastor arrested for allegedly violating social distancing orders, he pushed his deputies to get the COVID vaccine, and he released 164 inmates out of fears of spreading COVID in the jail. Massie responded to the news by posting on X, “Glad to see him withdraw from consideration. Next time politicians lose their ever-lovin minds, he can redeem himself by following the Constitution.”
Trump transition signs agreement for FBI background checks (Fox News)
Judge blasts Biden for “rewriting history” on Hunter’s tax felonies (Washington Examiner)
Harris did not lose because of low base turnout: Kamala Harris did not lose the election to Donald Trump because Democrat voters failed to show up to the polls. Indeed, the Democrats’ hard-left base did turn out in force. What Harris lost were Democrat swing voters. These swing voters are registered Democrats who, in 2020, voted for Joe Biden, but in 2024, they either voted for Donald Trump or elected to stay home. According to the numbers, a majority of these swing voters cast their votes for Trump. Even if these registered Democrats who chose to stay home had voted, it is unlikely that it would have changed the election outcome. Indeed, had they voted, there’s a strong likelihood that it would have increased Trump’s total vote. The short of it is Harris was beaten badly, and the Democrat Party needs to engage in some serious soul-searching if it wants to win back these disenchanted Democrat swing voters.
Democrat flips House seat in California in last congressional race to be decided (Washington Examiner)
DOGE considers ending Daylight Saving Time (Daily Wire)
Idaho salon owner finds Trump hatred is bad for business: Idaho doesn’t strike us as a particularly blue state. Indeed, the Potato State went [checks notes] 67-30 for Donald Trump earlier this month. So perhaps Coeur d’Alene-based salon owner Tiffney Prickett should’ve thought twice before spouting off on social media about the deplorable and garbage nature of Trump voters, whose candidate she described with words such as “racist, homophobic, and misogynistic” in a viral video. Not that we begrudge Prickett her right to free speech. It’s just that “freedom of speech” doesn’t mean “freedom of consequence from one’s speech.” Apparently, as the New York Post reports, her customers are “dropping like flies.” Said Prickett in a subsequent video: “So this is me suffering the consequences of my own action. I just had a client send her husband into my salon and demand a refund for gift cards — pre-purchased — because of my stance. … If I lose my business because … I posted a video that said if you support a racist, misogynist, homophobic, rapist, and you’re OK with it, then you are those things, I guess I lose my business.” Sounds like she at least has the courage of her convictions.
Rule of Law
NYC Mayor Adams defends Daniel Penny: He’s a Democrat, but he’s also a former cop. In addition, he’s under what appears to be a selective indictment by a Democrat Department of Justice that apparently didn’t like the way he was spouting off about the Biden-Harris administration’s open borders policies and the effects that as many as 60,000 criminal illegals have had on his city. So perhaps it’s not surprising at all that New York City Mayor Eric Adams offered some words of support for Daniel Penny, the good Samaritan and subway hero who in May 2023 took action to defend himself and his fellow subway passengers against a deranged and dangerous fellow rider who ultimately died after the encounter — a death that pathologist Satish Chundru blamed on “the combined effect of sickle cell crisis, the schizophrenia, the struggle and restraint, and the synthetic marijuana.” Said Mayor Adams: “Those passengers were afraid. I’ve been on the subway system. I know what it is as a police officer to wrestle or fight with someone. … Based on all the facts that’s laid out, a jury of his peers will make the right decision.” The case is now in the hands of the jury, and Penny faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. Let’s hope the jury gets it right.
Delaware judge guts Musk’s compensation: It might be that Elon Musk has the world’s deepest pockets, but that doesn’t mean he won’t feel it when an activist judge tries to pilfer him of $100 billion. “A Delaware chancery court on Monday overturned his Tesla pay package — worth some $100 billion at the company’s current stock price The Wall Street Journal reports. “The decision … sets a bad legal precedent that will damage American corporate law.” The judge in the case believes that some of the Tesla board members who negotiated the compensation package were “conflicted.” Conflicted by what, corporate profit? “A Delaware judge just overruled a supermajority of shareholders who own Tesla and who voted twice to pay Elon Musk what he’s worth,” said the company in an X post. Something tells us we haven’t heard the last of this.
Willis ordered to turn over communications with Smith: Did Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis collaborate with the Biden administration in her decision and efforts to prosecute Donald Trump? To answer that question, Judicial Watch made an Open Records Act request for any communications between Willis and special counsel Jack Smith or the House J6 Committee. Willis initially denied any communication between her office and Smith or the J6 Committee. However, it turned out that she did have records of communication. Judicial Watch sued, and on Monday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered Willis to turn over the requested records within five business days. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton observed, “Fani Willis is something else. We’ve been doing this work for 30 years, and this is the first time in our experience a government official has been found in default for not showing up in court to answer an open records lawsuit.” Given this latest development, it is likely only a matter of time before this case against Trump is dropped. One wonders if Willis will eventually be held to account for her blatant corruption. She certainly deserves it.
Misc.
Martial law declared in South Korea, then quickly voted down (Hot Air)
UnitedHealthcare CEO fatally shot outside of Hilton hotel in Midtown in possible targeted attack (New York Post)
Joy Reed complains that Trump is trying to get hostages back from Hamas (Daily Wire)
Dem staff member arrested for bringing ammo into House Office Building (Fox News)
There’s a school of thought that says any man, given the circumstances and the wherewithal, would’ve done for Hunter Biden what his dad did for him.
But there’s another school of thought — a school with a much bigger student body — that says we’ve all got “C-H-U-M-P” tattooed on our foreheads.
That second school is composed of American taxpayers — especially those who’ve had an encounter of any kind, at any time in their lives, with the Internal Revenue Service. To that group, Joe Biden’s pardon of Hunter is especially infuriating. Indeed, if ever there existed an example of two-tiered justice, this is it.
Here, we might remind ourselves of the fearsome and timeless nature of taxation. It was the landmark McCulloch v. Maryland case of 1819, after all, that caused Chief Justice John Marshall to write, “The power to tax is the power to destroy.”
The IRS is the instrument of that ability to destroy. Anyone who thinks the tales of this agency’s overreach and vindictiveness are overblown ought to peruse this collection of IRS horror stories. Did you know, for example, that the agency has been the subject of multiple wrongful death lawsuits due to the emotional distress that their raids have caused?
And yet. “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son.” So said our unhinged, unburdened, unreasonable president in an attempt to justify the unjustifiable.
Okay, we’ll bite. Here’s a reasonable conclusion reached by a pair of IRS whistleblowers who testified before Congress last year specifically because they knew the opposite is true: that Hunter Biden was getting grotesquely favorable treatment, not being “singled out.” The handling of his investigation “was very different from any other case in my 14 years at the IRS,” said Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley. “At every stage, decisions were made that benefited the subject of this investigation.”
Shapley’s colleague, Special Agent Joseph Ziegler, noted Hunter’s willfulness, arguing that he’d approved allegedly false business deductions as recently as 2020, long after he’d given up the Russian hookers and the blow. “I’m a Democrat,” Ziegler said, “and I’m a person that believes in the rule of law. When you look at what he was charged with, criminal tax evasion, and what he pled guilty to, there are thousands of taxpayers who honestly file their taxes, they pay their taxes on time, and I think they should be disappointed by this because they’re held up to a standard that’s different than the political elite.”
But it’s even worse. Remember that this is the same Joe Biden whose Inflation Reduction [sic] Act included a whopping $78 billion for hiring and funding 87,000 new IRS agents and associated staff to stop scofflaws from evading taxes and reduce the so-called tax gap, which is the difference between what people pay and what they owe.
Joe Biden then: We need to crack down on these tax cheats!.
Joe Biden now: Er, except for my son.
Yesterday, a judge terminated the tax case against poor, poor, pitiful Hunter, but not before diplomatically noting that the Big Guy’s complaints about his son having been selectively prosecuted were disparaging to plenty of good people and “stand in tension with the case record.”
“The President asserts that Mr. Biden ‘was treated differently’ from others ‘who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions,’ implying that Mr. Biden was among those individuals who untimely paid taxes due to addiction,” Judge Mark Scarsi, a Trump appointee, wrote in a five-page order. “But he is not.” Scarsi continued:
Two federal judges expressly rejected Mr. Biden’s arguments that the Government prosecuted Mr. Biden because of his familial relation to the President. And the President’s own Attorney General and Department of Justice personnel oversaw the investigation leading to the charges. In the President’s estimation, this legion of federal civil servants, the undersigned included, are unreasonable people.
If there’s any consolation in all this, I suppose it can be found in the bipartisan nature of the opprobrium. Amid some initial silence and weak attempts at Trumpian me-tooism, a growing chorus of Democrats is lashing out. Our Nate Jackson captured a few of them yesterday: “He put his family ahead of the country,” said Colorado Governor Jared Polis. Representative Greg Stanton asserted, “He got this one wrong,” noting that it “wasn’t a politically motivated prosecution” but one in which Hunter was “convicted by a jury of his peers.” Senator Gary Peters mused, “This was an improper use of power, it erodes trust in our government, and it emboldens others to bend justice to suit their interests.” Senator Michael Bennet agreed, saying it “further erodes Americans’ faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all.”
Much of this outrage is calculated, of course. There’s no defending what Joe Biden has done, and the Democrats know it. Perhaps they’ve been shaken by the words of the usually mild-mannered Democrat polling geek, Nate Silver, who lashed out immediately after word of the pardon became public on Sunday night: “Don’t vote for any Democrat in 2028 who doesn’t repudiate the pardon within 48 hours.”
For what it’s worth, that post has been viewed a remarkable 8.3 million times. And Silver’s 48-hour clock expired last night.
Humor: 12 Irrefutable Proofs That Climate Change Is Real — Lots of ignorant bigots believe climate change is a hoax. We’ve compiled this list of 12 compelling reasons climate change is quite obviously real — and it’s going to kill us all.
‘I’ve Got Nothing For You on That’ — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) dodges questions about Joe Biden’s pardoning of his son Hunter.
Jennings Takes a Blow Torch to CNN Panel — Scott Jennings notes that the Biden administration got together to lie to the American people regarding Joe Biden’s plan to pardon Hunter.
The Truth About Black Friday — Black Friday has become a bizarre spectacle of consumer chaos, but it also reveals a deeper issue with how we view economic growth.
Did Trump Make a Mistake? — Trump’s appointments have been win after win. But this weekend, the streak broke with his DEA pick. Thankfully, his supporters are calling him out.
America’s Stone Age Ports: How Unions Block Progress — At some ports, remarkable machines now move shipments with no humans in sight. That innovation upsets unions. International Longshoreman’s Association president Harold Daggett says they’ll soon strike if automation isn’t completely banned.
SHORT CUTS
The BIG lie
“The fact that Kash Patel is profoundly unqualified for this job is not even like a matter for debate.” —disgraced former FBI Director Andrew McCabe
For the Record
“Eternal life should be the subject of sermons by preachers and topics in seminary classrooms, not government agencies and programs.” —Cal Thomas
“The melting pot isn’t just a history-book fantasy. It is real. The rapid increase in interracial and intercultural marriages is making racial distinctions almost obsolete.” —Stephen Moore
“Hunter Biden’s business was selling access to daddy. The real crook here is Joe Biden. The Biden family, they made tens of millions of dollars selling favors from Joe Biden. Listen, nobody pays Hunter Biden. Nobody pays a crack head money when he has no marketable services. He was not selling anything other than daddy. When Joe Biden entered this pardon, it is about protecting his own rear end” —Ted Cruz
“If the differences between men and women were imposed by society, it’d be much less concerning to have women in combat roles. They aren’t.” —Victor Joecks
Political Futures
“Months ago, Democrats treated Biden like a hero — the second coming of George Washington. He was selfless, patriotic, and the most consequential modern president, they said. Clearly, after being forced out of the 2024 presidential race by his own party, the surge in political capital he got is all but gone. They no longer have to pretend that Biden was all these great things. The Teflon is gone. It’s open season on this lame duck.” —Matt Margolis
“We’ll do every possible regulation we can get to. We’ll use it on everything possible that’s a bad regulation. It’s a wonderful tool for undoing the bureaucratic excess of the Biden administration.” —Senator Rand Paul on using the little-used Congressional Review Act
Deportation Flashback
“I think we’ve got to have tough conditions. Tell people to come out of the shadows, and if they’ve committed a crime, deport them. No questions asked. They’re gone.” —Hillary Clinton, March 2008 campaign speech
Good Catholic
“For the second year in a row, Biden issued a Thanksgiving proclamation that totally left out God and, thus, the entire history of our country.” —Gary Bauer
Top Zinger
“If Canada can’t survive without ripping off the U.S., they’re free to join America as our 51st state.” —Donald Trump, discussing our nation’s trade deficit with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau at Mar-a-Lago
And Last
“I have never seen language like this in a pardon document, that purports to pardon offenses that have not apparently even been charged, with the exception of the Nixon pardon.” —U.S. pardon attorney Margaret Love
Israeli leaders are demanding that Lebanon’s army stop Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel in violation of the recent ceasefire, and warns Lebanon of what could happen Israel returns to war; Israeli Prime Minister thanks President-elect Trump for his threat to Hamas about releasing the hostages, and the father of a hostage tells CBN’s Faith Nation Trump’s language is what’s needed; a new report says the Trump Administration is likely to focus on regime change in Iran; and Christians in Aleppo under fire from radical Islamist forces; Chris Mitchell talks about what Israel might do in Lebanon if Hezbollah in Lebanon if the war resumes, potential Hezbollah strikes on northern Israel as people finally return home & how Israel might protect them, the impact of President-elect Trump’s threat to Hamas, the possibility of bringing down the Iranian government, the outlook for Christians under fire in Aleppo, and an upcoming Jewish-Christian summit in the US; why TikTok faces a potential ban in the US over national security concerns, with a judicial decision expected this week; and our Studio 5 conversation with singer, songwriter, worship pastor and painter Jon Reddick, who music and art deal with themes of hope and redemption. Want more news from a Christian Perspective? Choose to support CBN: https://go.cbn.com/ugWBn CBN News. Because Truth Matters™
Today’s 20-min top headline news brief includes: [1:46] -Newsmax’s Rob Finnerty: Lame duck Biden once again proves he hates us. [Finnerty] [8:44] -Sen. Tuberville: Patel and Hegseth are the answer to the problems with military and DOJ. [Rob Schmitt Tonight] [14:06] -Jason Miller: Trump’s first 100 days are going to be non-stop. [Newsline] [17:29] -Fred Fleitz: South Korean president likely to be impeached & jailed. [Newsline] [21:13] -Fl. Rep Brian Mast delivers thoughtful, emotional remarks at police memorial.
I do have some churchy Christian friends who like to say that they don’t want to get involved in a “culture war”, and they don’t see much difference between the political parties. I have an idea of why they say things like this, and I’ll talk about that below. But first, let’s see two examples of how the Biden-Harris administration went after Christians, and is even doubling down on the persecution.
First story is from the wonderful Virginia Allen, who writes for the Daily Signal and also does their podcast.
The Biden-Harris administration finalized a rule in April requiring foster parents to affirm a child’s gender ideology.
“The provider must commit to establishing an environment that supports the child’s LGBTQI+ status or identity,” according to the rule issued by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The policy, says Herbie Newell, president and executive director of Lifeline Children’s Services, “made people of faith into a different category of foster and adoptive parent, saying that because they didn’t give in to this pro-radical LGBTQ+ agenda, that they couldn’t foster any child with gender dysphoria or any child that might be having any questions about their LGBTQ status.”
“Faith-based Christian people were put on the sidelines and not able to participate in our foster care and adoption system in the same way,” Newell says.
I heard about this story on the Daily Signal podcast, so if you would rather listen to the interview with the Lifeline guy (I thought he was very good, although he did say “during Biden’s pregnancy” when he meant “during Biden’s presidency”). Virginia Allen sounds great.
Anyway, you would think that this would be a concern for the church Christians, who don’t want to get involved in the “culture war”. Usually when I tell them stories like this, they say “well, I think Jesus would attend a same-sex wedding, I certainly would”. So, that’s their attitude to sin, go and participate in it. And the Christians who don’t deserve to be persecuted by the state.
Anyway, here’s another one that I found in Daily Signal. It’s written by Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell. This article is even more scary, because the DOJ is facing a house-cleaning right now, and you would think they would cool it with the secular leftist fascism. But no. More fascism. Fascism piled on top of fascism.
It says:
The Justice Department filed a reply Tuesday supporting its motion for a gag order against Dr. Eithan Haim, a surgeon indicted by the Biden-Harris administration after he blew the whistle on sex-change procedures for minors.
“The prosecutors in @eithanhaim’s case are doubling down on their shameless effort to ask the court to censor us and our client on @X,” the Burke Law Group, which is representing Haim, said on X. “We will continue to zealously represent @EithanHaim’s liberty, and now his (and our) First Amendment right to Free Speech.”
Haim initially came forward as an anonymous whistleblower to expose gender treatments being performed on minors at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. He is facing four felony counts of violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, also known as HIPAA, according to journalist Chris Rufo, who first reported on Haim’s story.
The Justice Department’s reply in support of its motion for a gag order against Haim and his legal team said the order would “prevent the defendant and his attorney from making inflammatory and unfairly prejudiced statements.”
[…]Haim was a resident at the Baylor College of Medicine from June 2018 to June 2023. He worked at Texas Children’s Hospital during part of his residency.
The gag order would “completely prevent Dr. Haim or his counsel from criticizing the prosecution, no matter how correct the criticism,” according to Burke Law Group.
[…]The DOJ particularly wants to prevent Haim from retweeting allies who have defended him on X, including Ethics and Public Policy Center legal expert Ed Whelan; Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas; psychologist and author Jordan Peterson; and Rufo, according to Burke Law Group.
So, this “gag order” procedure is very common. In fact, if you watched Matt Walsh’s first movie “What is a Woman?”, he spoke to a father who was having his child transed against his will. The court slapped a publication ban on the legal proceedings. The father was banned from speaking about the trial and from “misgendering” the child. Basically, they want to control people’s lives, but they don’t want anyone to publicize what they are doing, so that they might be shamed or disapproved of.
So, here is why many Christians say “I don’t want to get involved in the culture war”.
The reason is that they don’t have a plan to serve God that would be affected by laws and policies. They read the Bible. They attend church. But if they have to choose between advocating for Jesus’ vew of marriage, or going to a same-sex wedding in order to appease their leftist spouse, then they choose to appease the leftist spouse and go to the same-sex wedding. Why? Because they don’t think that obedience to God should ever result in any bad consequences for them. No bad feelings. No social disapproval. No being cut off by family members, like in Matthew 10:34-38.
For me, I have an interest in laws and policies because I do have a Christian life plan. And I understand that the secular left does not want me to achieve that Christian life plan. They have all of their own ideologies, and they want me to give up on Jesus, and bow down to their ideologies. And they get a lot of “Christians” like David French and Russell Moore to swap out Jesus for their ideologies. Me, I would prefer to stick with Jesus. And I understand that if the laws and policies don’t allow the secular left to force me to choose between Jesus and secular left ideologies, then I will have a much more productive life for my Boss. Instead of having to face false accusations, pay legal fees, go on trial, go to jail, etc. I can take more of my money and give it to FreeThinking Ministries (which has a matching grant right now!) or Eric Chabot or someone else worthy. So that’s why I care about laws and policies.
Appearing the Ingraham Angle on Fox News Tuesday night, incoming White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller had a blunt message about President-elect Donald Trump’s first day in office: “Everything in the world is going to change on January 20th, because the President of the United States is going to use every single legal, diplomatic and financial tool to halt the entry of all illegal aliens into this country.”
“But everything in the world, everything in the world is going to change on January 20th, because the President of the United States is going to use every single legal, diplomatic and financial tool to halt the entry of all illegal aliens into this country.
There will be no benefits. There will be no entry. There will be no asylum. There will be no admission. You may be prosecuted. You will certainly be arrested, and you will absolutely be deported.
The entire world—-Mexico, Northern Triangle, Central America, South America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East—-will get this message: There is no unlawful route to enter the United States of America.
Every presidential authority, including his absolute authority under Article Two to defend the territorial sovereignty of the United States will be used from the Department of Defense, to the Department of Justice, to Homeland Security and every single other lawful authority at his disposal.
It will be the end of the invasion. It will be the beginning of the liberation.”
The interview was about migrant caravans in Mexico heading to the U.S. border.
Complete interview:
Trump has spoken to the leaders of Canada and Mexico to make clear, under threat of steep tariffs, he wants the flood of drugs and migrants into the U.S. to stop.
Trump spoke by phone with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum lasy week and met in person with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Mar-a-Lago last weekend.
Do you remember when myself and a very few others warned you to avoid the Covid “vaccine”? We were accused of spreading misinformation that would increase the lethality of Covid-19 by discouraging people from protecting themselves with a “safe and effective vaccine,” to use words from the lying mouths of Tony Fauci and Joe Biden.
Now medical experts and public authorities are calling for a halt to all mRNA vaccination. The rising deaths and enormous increase in deadly diseases and health conditions following the mass vaccinations can no longer be denied.
The medical profession is controlled by Big Pharma, and Big Pharma thinks only in terms of its profits, our health be damned. Perhaps something can be done about it now that Bobby Kennedy has been appointed Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, assuming Big Pharma doesn’t block his confirmation in the Senate, and now that Trump has nominated Jay Bhattacharya to head the NIH. Bhattacharya, a Stanford University School of Medicine professor, was an early critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates. The Big Pharma controlled medical community tried to label Bhattacharya “unscientific” and destroy his career. Big Pharma, a gangster industry, will definitely be out to block Bhattacharya’s confirmation.
In a surprising turn of events, Bible sales are up 22% in 2024, a sharp contrast to the rest of total U.S. book sales, which have been flat with less than a 1% lift in the same period.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, 9.7M Bibles were sold in the United States in 2019, compared to 13.7M in the first 10 months of 2024. This comes at a time when the number of people who say they are religiously unaffiliated is at an all-time high, with 23% citing a lack of faith in a 2023 Gallup survey.
Several Christian bookstore owners have suggested much of the growth comes from a mix of first-time buyers, with a smaller percentage being current Bible owners wanting to diversify and add new versions to their collections. For the former, these include people who pick up the scriptures after seeing social media influencers sharing their faith.
Jeff Crosby, president of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, told WSJ, “People are experiencing anxiety themselves, or they’re worried for their children and grandchildren. It’s related to artificial intelligence, election cycles…and all of that feeds a desire for assurance that we’re going to be OK.”
Similarly, popular Bible app YouVersion says engagement with their software is at an all-time high, citing Philippians 4:6 (“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”) as the most searched-for verse. CBN reports:
“Every month of 2024 became the highest month in YouVersion for both app installs and daily use…YouVersion saw an average of 11.2 million new device installs per month and about 14 million people engaging in the Bible every day.
Conversely, J. Mark Bertrand, founder of Bible design website Lectio.org, was more pragmatic in his assessment of why folks were picking up new Bibles: “I’d like to say there is a craving for knowledge of scripture, but a lot of smart people are thinking about Bible marketing and catering to every whim for Bible study.”
In a blistering rebuke, a federal judge has openly questioned the constitutionality of President Joe Biden’s recent pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, calling it an overreach of executive power aimed at rewriting history and undermining the integrity of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
On December 1, 2024, Joe Biden issued a full and unconditional pardon to his embattled son, Hunter Biden, who faced charges of tax evasion and corruption. The pardon, however, quickly drew ire for its timing and the breadth of its language.
Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.
Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form.
Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.
The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election.
Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the court room – with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process. Had the plea deal held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.
No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong.
There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.
For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded.
Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further. I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.
Hunter Biden provided notice of the pardon through a hyperlink to a White House press release rather than a certified document. This unusual approach drew the court’s ire.
Federal Judge Mark Scarsi
Federal Judge Mark Scarsi, presiding over the case in the Central District of California, did not mince words in a court order issued shortly after Hunter Biden’s legal team submitted the pardon notice.
The court’s order highlighted that the presidential statement accompanying the pardon presented a narrative conflicting with the judicial record, particularly claims that Hunter Biden was treated unfairly due to his familial ties and addiction issues, which the court found misrepresented.
Scarsi also noted that the pardon’s presentation and its claims stand in stark contrast to the established facts of the case, including Hunter Biden’s own admissions of guilt regarding tax evasion and misuse of funds for personal expenses.
“The President asserts that Mr. Biden “was treated differently” from others “who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions,” implying that Mr. Biden was among those individuals who untimely paid taxes due to addiction. But he is not. In his pretrial filings, Mr. Biden represented that he “was severely addicted to alcohol and drugs” “through May 2019.”
Upon pleading guilty to the charges in this case, Mr. Biden admitted that he engaged in tax evasion after this period of addiction by wrongfully deducting as business expenses items he knew were personal expenses, including luxury clothing, escort services, and his daughter’s law school tuition.
And Mr. Biden admitted that he “had sufficient funds available to him to pay some or all of his outstanding taxes when they were due,” but that he did not make payments toward his tax liabilities even “well after he had regained his sobriety,” instead electing to “spen[d] large sums to maintain his lifestyle” in 2020.
The judge’s order pointed out that while the U.S. Constitution grants the president broad powers to issue pardons, it does not empower him to rewrite historical facts or the conduct for which the pardon was granted.
The court also questioned the authenticity of the pardon document itself, noting that it was not substantiated by an appropriate declaration verifying its accuracy and legality.
“In short, a press release is not a pardon. The Constitution provides the President with broad authority to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, but nowhere does the Constitution give the President the authority to rewrite history.
Although Mr. Biden attached a purported copy of the pardon to a subsequent filing, the copy is not substantiated by an authenticating declaration, so the Court is left to assume it is a true and correct copy of the clemency warrant.”
The order also criticized the executive overreach, suggesting that the pardon was used as a tool to sidestep the judicial process and protect personal interests at the expense of legal and governmental integrity.
The court’s document asserted that such actions by the executive could set a dangerous precedent, undermining the rule of law and the separation of powers outlined in the Constitution.
To many on the left, America’s First Amendment seems to be a hurdle to overcome because it stands in the way of their radical agenda. Dr. Jerry Newcombe looks at the intent of those who wrote the First Amendment. #FoundingFathers #FirstAmendment #ForGodAndCountry #CoralRidgeMinistries
The ‘Fox & Friends’ co-hosts react to the massive price tag of the migrant crisis and analyze a cost comparison of historical events and projects like World War I and the Manhattan Project. #FoxNews
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