"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened"
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Featuring:
A Humble Pre-Christmas Effort
to Share My Enthusiasm for the Bible
David Limbaugh
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"Rise up together as one voice"
"Be careful where you stand"
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Principal to Students: No Christmas for You 
The Grinch tried to steal holiday cheer at one Brooklyn school, where Eujin Jaela Kim, the principal at Public School (PS) 169, wanted to make sure political correctness takes precedence over religious semblance. The New York Post reports, "Santa Claus is banned. The Pledge of Allegiance is no longer recited. 'Harvest festival' has replaced Thanksgiving, and 'winter celebrations' substitute for Christmas parties." Those were the changes made after "[a] memo last month from assistant principal Jose Chaparro suggested a 'harvest festival instead of Thanksgiving or a winter celebration instead of a Christmas party.' He urged staff to 'be sensitive of the diversity of our families. Not all children celebrate the same holidays.'" According to PTA president Mimi Ferrer, "We definitely can't say Christmas, nothing with Christmas on it, nothing with Santa. No angels. We can't even have a star because it can represent a religious system, like the Star of David." The Brooklyn Department of Education bans things that "depict images of deities, religious figures or religious texts." And according to Johanna Bjorken, the business manager for PS 169, "Santa Claus is considered an 'other religious figure.'" However, "[A] DOE spokesman told The Post that Santa is allowed as a secular figure," and the school has traditionally included him. So the choice was made solely by Kim, who, as a member of the grievance industry, is being insensitive to most of her 1,600 students in the name of "inclusivity." Here's a question: If you can't follow the traditions of Thanksgiving and Christmas, why celebrate them at all?
Fortunately, political correctness got run over by a reindeer. Common sense prevailed, and the school has tossed the principal's policy. "I apologize for any confusion this may have caused," Kim said. Confusion, indeed. -The Patriot Post
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Boston Tea Party On Dec. 16, 1773, "radicals" from Boston, members of a secret organization of American Patriots called the Sons of Liberty, boarded three East India Company ships and threw 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.
This iconic event, in protest of oppressive British taxation and tyrannical rule, became known as the Boston Tea Party.
Resistance to the Crown had been mounting over enforcement of the 1764 Sugar Act, 1765 Stamp Act and 1767 Townshend Act, which led to the Boston Massacre and gave rise to the slogan, "No taxation without representation."
The 1773 Tea Act and resulting Tea Party protest galvanized the Colonial movement opposing British parliamentary acts, which violated the natural, charter and constitutional rights of the colonists.
Three years later, this rebellion had grown to such extent that our Founders were willing to give up their fortunes and lives, attaching their signatures to a document that declared, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
For more on our nation's founding and the role the Tea Party played, see Mark Alexander's column, "Essential Liberty."
-The Patriot Post
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WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE
Smithsonian: “A prominent educator and patron of the arts, Henry Coletravelled in the elite, social circles of early Victorian England, and had the misfortune of having too many friends. During the holiday season of 1843, those friends were causing Cole much anxiety …As [Cole] watched the stacks of unanswered correspondence he fretted over what to do… He approached an artist friend, J.C. Horsley, and asked him to design an…illustration—a triptych showing a family at table celebrating the holiday flanked by images of people helping the poor—and had a thousand copies made by a London printer. The image was printed on a piece of stiff cardboard 5 1/8 x 3 1/4 inches in size. At the top of each was the salutation, ‘TO:_____’ allowing Cole to personalize his responses, which included the generic greeting ‘A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year To You.’ It was the first Christmas card.” -Fox News
Smithsonian: “A prominent educator and patron of the arts, Henry Coletravelled in the elite, social circles of early Victorian England, and had the misfortune of having too many friends. During the holiday season of 1843, those friends were causing Cole much anxiety …As [Cole] watched the stacks of unanswered correspondence he fretted over what to do… He approached an artist friend, J.C. Horsley, and asked him to design an…illustration—a triptych showing a family at table celebrating the holiday flanked by images of people helping the poor—and had a thousand copies made by a London printer. The image was printed on a piece of stiff cardboard 5 1/8 x 3 1/4 inches in size. At the top of each was the salutation, ‘TO:_____’ allowing Cole to personalize his responses, which included the generic greeting ‘A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year To You.’ It was the first Christmas card.” -Fox News
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HILLY MEETS WITH MUSLIMS
Star Tribune: “Hilly Clinton cited efforts already underway in Minnesota as an example of how to fight domestic recruitment of terrorists, using a Minneapolis speech on Tuesday to call for a stepped-up effort but one that respects people of different backgrounds…At least 12 Somali-American men from Minnesota have been charged with attempting to go abroad to fight for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL. Minnesota is part of a nationwide pilot project, a collaboration of federal and local law enforcement, Muslim religious leaders and youth groups trying to intervene with young people who might be vulnerable to recruitment. Clinton praised the program and said it should be better-funded.” -Fox News
Star Tribune: “Hilly Clinton cited efforts already underway in Minnesota as an example of how to fight domestic recruitment of terrorists, using a Minneapolis speech on Tuesday to call for a stepped-up effort but one that respects people of different backgrounds…At least 12 Somali-American men from Minnesota have been charged with attempting to go abroad to fight for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL. Minnesota is part of a nationwide pilot project, a collaboration of federal and local law enforcement, Muslim religious leaders and youth groups trying to intervene with young people who might be vulnerable to recruitment. Clinton praised the program and said it should be better-funded.” -Fox News
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Clinton’s Program to Counter ISIS Propaganda ‘Embarrassing,’...
{Daniel Wiser} ~ A program touted by Hilly Clinton that was designed to counter the online propaganda of ISIS has been sharply criticized as ineffective and even embarrassing, according to recent reports... In a speech Tuesday, Clinton, the front runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, mentioned the creation of an interagency center in 2011 while she was secretary of state. That initiative, known as the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, employed specialists to “to wage online battles with extremists to counter their propaganda,” she said. As part of her plan to counter the radicalization of Americans, she said that “we need to step up our game” and intensify existing efforts to combat the digital messaging of ISIS and other terrorist groups.http://freebeacon.com/politics/clintons-program-to-counter-isis-propaganda-embarrassing-in-disarray/
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Media Continue Attacks on Muslim Brotherhood Critics
{Roger Aronoff} ~ The mainstream media never tire of attacking those who warn that the Muslim Brotherhood has established deep ties to the nObama administration and Hilly Clinton... That might just be because the media have forged their own intimate ties to the Muslim Brotherhood group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Preeminent figures who dare to contradict the narrative of the liberal media, arguing that the greater concern is terrorism or shariah law, not Islamophobia, are regularly cast as conspiracy theorists, and worse, outright racists. The head of the Center for Security Policy (CSP), Frank Gaffney, has been repeatedly attacked by the media for his message that Americans cannot be forced to yield to shariah. On December 8th he said on CNN that CAIR has “been established in court to be a Muslim Brotherhood front organization” that associates with the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas..
nObama And Ryan Circumventing Congress To Finance Climate Fund
{constitutionrising.com} ~ Some of those who witnessed the forced elevation of voodoo-based profiteering into a financial commitment imposed upon every American citizen regardless of their wishes... the UN Paris Climate Extortion Agreement, mistakenly believed at the time that it would not be enforceable because the Constitution requires that international treaties be ratified by the Senate. Unfortunately, in many ways the Constitution is only as good as those “public servants” who serve under it and when the executive branch and most of Congress have placed themselves in positions superior to and disrespectful of the Constitution or the oath they took to abide by it that logic no longer applies. In today’s hijacked America, circumventing the Constitution through various legal maneuvers of crafted usurpations is the accepted methodology of governance, with a reliance upon a dumbed down, uneducated, gullible and disinterested public as fruitful ground for exploitation. http://constitutionrising.com/archives/23765.
Young News Anchor message to nObama goes viral - Tomi Lahren
{Tomi Lahren} ~ Following the news of the deadly shooting in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Tomi Lahren used the “Final Thoughts” section of her show to unleash a passionate rant on the president’s fight against terrorism... “President nObama, if you won’t say it, I will — radical Islam. This is not workplace violence; this is not a criminal act with motives unknown, this is terrorism,” Lehren says in the video. “What he linked to ISIS or al-Qaida or Hamas, or any of the other 15-plus offshoot terrorist groups? Does it matter? I’m sorry, but radical Islam is becoming the rule, not the exception. Yesterday’s moderate is today’s terrorist. I care that this S.O.B. killed four of our United States Marines. And I care that our commander-in-chief is more concerned with Muslim sensitivity than the honor and sacrifice made by these Marines.” Lahren is referencing the 24-year-old shooter Mohammad Abdulazeez, who killed four U.S. Marines and one active duty Navy reservist in Chattanooga July 15th. Lahren, who comes from a family of Marines, closed her segment with: -“They, the radical Islamists have brought the fight right here to the red, white, and blue, and it’s about time we bring it to them. Full force. Let’s show them what the United States of America looks like up close and personal. Show them what a B1 Bomber looks like flying overhead. Show them what they’re messing with. Put the fear of God in their desert, because clearly our lack of strategy isn’t working.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABrauM7yvco&feature=youtu.be
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Time To Go Egyptian On Traitors Ryan, nObama, Congress
{constitutionrising.com} ~ The sellout of the American people by the traitors in DC, those who occupy seats in both the Democrat and Republican parties continues and accelerates... The anointment of Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House illustrates the fact that both parties are controlled by political prostitutes who are mere puppets of the money elites, those who truly run our nation. We the people are being sold out by the two year financing arrangement that Paul Ryan is ramming through which is a virtual Christmas present, if that is a holiday he celebrates, to Hussein nObama. It’s surely a holiday nObama doesn’t celebrate, but he’ll take the legislative funding anyway. The reason both parties have solidified their power over the years is not to benefit the incumbents as much as it is to benefit the communist party that supports them. Once they get one of their operatives into power they certainly don’t want to have to repeat the process. Now they’ve got control of both parties which gives them Congress and the White House..
nObama huddles with Bloomberg as he preps order on guns
{CHERYL CHUMLEY} ~ President nObama went behind closed doors, and off official White House schedule, to meet with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg – the nanny of city governance who’s helped finance a massive campaign to challenge with National Rifle Association – and discuss gun control... “The two discussed ways to keep guns out of the hands of those who should not have access to them and what more could be done at the state and local level to help address gun violence in America,” the White House said in a statement released after the meeting. nObama’s close adviser, Valerie Jarrett, also attended the White House meeting, Breitbart reported. http://www.wnd.com/2015/12/obama-huddles-with-bloomberg-to-talk-gun-control/.
Largest Gitmo Transfer Since 2007 Underway
{Matt Vespa} ~ President nObama said he’s gunning to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, and he’s starting by emptying the cell blocks that have housed suspected terrorists since it opened in 2002... Right now, the administration is on the verge of the largest detainee transfer in a single month since 2007 (via NYT): Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter has notified Congress in recent days that he has approved 17 proposed transfers of lower-level detainees, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss matters that have not yet been made public. Congress has required Mr. Carter to certify that security standards have been met at least 30 days before any transfers. President nObama wants to close the Guantánamo prison in Cuba before he leaves office in a little over a year. His administration has stepped up efforts to find countries to take 48 detainees on a transfer list and moved to speed up the work of a parole-like board that might approve the release of others who are currently recommended for indefinite detention..
FBI Chart Reveals Link between CAIR and Terrorist Group Hamas
{Alice Greene} ~ The Muslim advocay group we know as "CAIR" (the Council on American-Islamic Relations) has long been suspected of terrorist connections... Those suspicions have been proven true, according to an FBI chart showing that the organization responsible for forming CAIR was “established to support Hamas.” The chart in question shows undeniable connections between CAIR and a Palestinian terrorist group known as Hamas, including the fact that PALCOM (the Palestine Committee), the group responsible for creating CAIR, was formed to support Hamas. Furthermore, CAIR executive director Nihad Awad used to work as an official for PALCOM. The FBI chart was obtained by the IPT (Investigative Project on Terrorism) through a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request and places CAIR into the jihadi category. The document shows several Hamas-related groups, including CAIR, that were formed to support the Palestinian terrorist organization. The chart also reveals the fact that CAIR’s former vice chairman, Nabil Sadoun, has ties to Hamas. .
Rush Limbaugh: DISBAND The GOP After THIS Final BETRAYAL!!
{thepoliticalinsider.com} ~ Rush Limbaugh is completely fed up. And you should be too. While America was distracted by the GOP debate and gawking at the latest controversy around Donald Trump, the Republicans passed a budget... And it isn’t pretty. Let’s have Rush Limbaugh explain the rest: The country was just sold down the river again by your very Republican Party. I have a headline here from the Washington Times: “White House Declares Total Victory Over GOP in Budget Battle.” That headline’s a misnomer. There was never a battle. None of this was opposed. The Republican Party didn’t stand up to any of it, and the die has been cast for a long time on this. I know many of you are dispirited, depressed, angry, combination of all of that. But, folks, there was no other way this could go. Because two years ago when the Republican Party declared they would never do anything that would shut down the government and they would not impeach nObama, there were no obstacles in nObama’s way and there were no obstacles in the way of the Democrat Party..
Carter’s Rebuke of Navy Budget Proposal Points to Split...
{Sam LaGrone} ~ Secretary of Defense Ash Carter’s list of directives Monday to the Navy to retool its budget for Fiscal Year 2017 revealed a split in priorities between the Secretary of the Navy and the Pentagon on the future of the force... While the reduction of the Littoral Combat Ship buy, from 52 to 40, was the bumper sticker from the four-page rebuke issued to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, the context of Carter’s memo points to a larger question of differing views on the future U.S. Navy operations: an argument of presence versus posture. Since Mabus took his post in 2009 he’s pushed hard to make new ship construction a priority for the service to maximize the Navy’s presence in the world. Carter, however, has emphasized a high-end warfighting posture over lower-end presence functions inherent in the LCS/frigate designs. Budget cuts for the service but not nObama's..
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A Humble Pre-Christmas Effort
to Share My Enthusiasm for the Bible
David Limbaugh
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As I came to Jesus Christ kicking and screaming, I have always been passionate about sharing the epiphanies that led me to become a believer. I love to relate my excitement about the Bible and encourage others to give it a chance -- really give it a chance -- and to avail themselves of the full riches of God's Word.
As I came to Jesus Christ kicking and screaming, I have always been passionate about sharing the epiphanies that led me to become a believer. I love to relate my excitement about the Bible and encourage others to give it a chance -- really give it a chance -- and to avail themselves of the full riches of God's Word.
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I admit that before I embraced the Gospel, I hadn't given sufficient serious thought to whether the Bible actually is the Word of God. It's hard to believe I was so negligent about something that matters so much. To my surprise, I find many people today -- adults included -- who seem to give this very little thought. It is one of my humble goals with this book to nudge people to contemplate it.
I admit that before I embraced the Gospel, I hadn't given sufficient serious thought to whether the Bible actually is the Word of God. It's hard to believe I was so negligent about something that matters so much. To my surprise, I find many people today -- adults included -- who seem to give this very little thought. It is one of my humble goals with this book to nudge people to contemplate it.
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For too many years, I fashioned God in my own image. I thought I could bootstrap my way into understanding who he is without ever going to the very book in which he reveals himself to us and shows us precisely who he is. In retrospect, I wonder how I could have been so unserious as to formulate my beliefs without giving the Word of God a fair hearing. How could I have been so engrossed in my earthly existence that I essentially ignored God's revelation?
For too many years, I fashioned God in my own image. I thought I could bootstrap my way into understanding who he is without ever going to the very book in which he reveals himself to us and shows us precisely who he is. In retrospect, I wonder how I could have been so unserious as to formulate my beliefs without giving the Word of God a fair hearing. How could I have been so engrossed in my earthly existence that I essentially ignored God's revelation?
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When -- in the process of studying Christian apologetics, the Bible and theology -- it finally hit me that the Bible is the living Word of the living God, I was blown away. I was stunned, excited and overwhelmed by this truth that I'd avoided for too long. I finally realized that I was holding in my hands a book whose every word was inspired by the God of the universe. I understood that when I opened that book and began to read it, I was opening myself up to God's direct communication to me.
When -- in the process of studying Christian apologetics, the Bible and theology -- it finally hit me that the Bible is the living Word of the living God, I was blown away. I was stunned, excited and overwhelmed by this truth that I'd avoided for too long. I finally realized that I was holding in my hands a book whose every word was inspired by the God of the universe. I understood that when I opened that book and began to read it, I was opening myself up to God's direct communication to me.
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I'm not talking about sitting around in meditation imagining that I could be receiving promptings from God, which, of course, can also be a legitimate experience. Instead, I'm talking about reading God's words that were written to me and to you -- words that I now understood are unmistakably from him and directed to me individually. This is not a matter of speculation. I had already satisfied myself by putting Christianity's claims to the test and realizing that every bit of Scripture is God-breathed. I can rely on it for life as surely as I rely on every breath I take for life.
I'm not talking about sitting around in meditation imagining that I could be receiving promptings from God, which, of course, can also be a legitimate experience. Instead, I'm talking about reading God's words that were written to me and to you -- words that I now understood are unmistakably from him and directed to me individually. This is not a matter of speculation. I had already satisfied myself by putting Christianity's claims to the test and realizing that every bit of Scripture is God-breathed. I can rely on it for life as surely as I rely on every breath I take for life.
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Corniness aside, you can imagine the feelings I experienced with this "aha" discovery. I immediately wanted to inhale every syllable of the Bible and learn everything I could as quickly as I could. How could I possibly ever get enough of this spiritual food?
Corniness aside, you can imagine the feelings I experienced with this "aha" discovery. I immediately wanted to inhale every syllable of the Bible and learn everything I could as quickly as I could. How could I possibly ever get enough of this spiritual food?
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As I began to learn more, I became eager to share what I'd learned with my friends and family and anyone else who would listen -- many of whom, I assumed, had been every bit as negligent as I'd been about this most serious of matters. I wanted to help them enjoy the same kind of excitement that was overtaking me.
As I began to learn more, I became eager to share what I'd learned with my friends and family and anyone else who would listen -- many of whom, I assumed, had been every bit as negligent as I'd been about this most serious of matters. I wanted to help them enjoy the same kind of excitement that was overtaking me.
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I was under no illusion that the people I approached would just automatically embrace my new "discoveries," no matter how infectious I'd hoped my spirit would be. I also doubted that many would all of a sudden reorder their schedules to begin studying the Bible and theology with relentless fervor.
I was under no illusion that the people I approached would just automatically embrace my new "discoveries," no matter how infectious I'd hoped my spirit would be. I also doubted that many would all of a sudden reorder their schedules to begin studying the Bible and theology with relentless fervor.
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So, as I've mentioned before, I began to write a book for laypeople that would serve as an introduction to the Bible, beginning with the Old Testament. I intended to walk the readers through the Scriptures, showing how each book of the Bible, beginning with Genesis, points to Jesus Christ.
So, as I've mentioned before, I began to write a book for laypeople that would serve as an introduction to the Bible, beginning with the Old Testament. I intended to walk the readers through the Scriptures, showing how each book of the Bible, beginning with Genesis, points to Jesus Christ.
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Perhaps because I wasn't sufficiently prepared to write such a book then -- more than 20 years ago -- I abandoned the project. A generation's worth of years later, I started the project anew, and I completed it this time with "The Emmaus Code."
Perhaps because I wasn't sufficiently prepared to write such a book then -- more than 20 years ago -- I abandoned the project. A generation's worth of years later, I started the project anew, and I completed it this time with "The Emmaus Code."
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I sincerely hope that you will consider picking up the book for yourself or as a Christmas gift for someone else who you believe might benefit from a book designed to introduce readers to the Old Testament and, most importantly, to its essential Christ-centeredness. Everyone owes it to himself to learn as much as he can about God's Word, and I pray this book will encourage readers to do just that.
I sincerely hope that you will consider picking up the book for yourself or as a Christmas gift for someone else who you believe might benefit from a book designed to introduce readers to the Old Testament and, most importantly, to its essential Christ-centeredness. Everyone owes it to himself to learn as much as he can about God's Word, and I pray this book will encourage readers to do just that.
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Jesus himself told his disciples on the road to Emmaus that they had misunderstood the Scriptures in anticipating that the Messiah would deliver Israel from its political and military enemies. He came not to conquer earthly kings but to die a sacrificial, substitutionary death on our behalf and thereby conquer Satan, sin and death, so that by faith in him, we can live.
Jesus himself told his disciples on the road to Emmaus that they had misunderstood the Scriptures in anticipating that the Messiah would deliver Israel from its political and military enemies. He came not to conquer earthly kings but to die a sacrificial, substitutionary death on our behalf and thereby conquer Satan, sin and death, so that by faith in him, we can live.
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He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" Then he "interpreted to them in all the Scriptures (the Old Testament) the things concerning himself."
He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" Then he "interpreted to them in all the Scriptures (the Old Testament) the things concerning himself."
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