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I shared this about a Month ago, but decided to share it again on Christmas Eve. This story comes from chapter 22 of my recently published book, "Sleuthing The Scripture," It's an embellished story, so do not take it as inspired by GOD. I wrote this for pure entertainment, and thus it's but a figment of my active imagination mixed with some facts surrounding the times, the places and the characters. I pray it blesses your heart this Christmas Eve.When you think of the first story of Christmas, it’s usually about Mary and Joseph looking down at their new...

UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Association, announced a number of resolutions just before the weekend started. One, submitted by the Russian Federation, called for defining UNESCO’s role in safeguarding and preserving Palmyra and other Syrian World Heritage sites. Another was about “Enhancing UNESCO’s contributions to promote a culture of mutual respect and tolerance.” A third was simply entitled “Occupied Palestine” and addressed the Jerusalem Old City hotspot that Jews refer to as the Temple Mount and Muslims call Haram Al-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary. Except that the Jewish link to the site, considered the holiest place for Jews,...

I wrote a book that will be published next week. All but one of the chapters will be on various theological topics except for one. This story is an embellished story I wrote about the trip Mary and Joseph took to Bethlehem, over 2000 years ago to be counted and pay their Roman tax. When you think of the first story of Christmas, it’s usually about Mary and Joseph looking down at their new born son in a manger, surrounded by barn animals and maybe a shepherd or two looking on. Angels singing praises of joy to the Lord Most...

Church leaders on Saturday condemned an attack on the Orthodox church in Beit Sahur, near Bethlehem, and called on the Palestinian Authority to bring the assailants to trial. During the attack, which took place on Friday night, dozens of Muslim men hurled stones at the church, injuring a number of people. The church is affiliated with the Jerusalem Patriarchate and managed by the congregation in Beit Sahur. In a statement, the church leaders said the attack came after a “quarrel between some young men.” “We condemn this attack and demand that the Palestinian Authority bring the attackers to trial as...

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The former Lehigh University student accused of threatening to come to campus and shoot a group of students is now in custody. Muhammad Diop, 20, was taken into custody in New York City without incident, university police said Wednesday. He is facing terroristic threats and harassment charges.

Sometime just over 2,000 years ago, contrary to the song, it was not a silent night. In Bethlehem, a young woman gave birth to a baby in a stable. The story went exactly as one would tell a story if one did not want the story taken seriously. The first witnesses were shepherds, men so unreliable that their testimony was inadmissible in court. Key eyewitnesses were women, also seen as unreliable. The father of the child fell out of the historic record. Eventually, Roman imperial forces would exterminate the baby's entire earthly bloodline. His brothers and sisters and their children,...

Some Facts About Mary & Joseph's Journey to BethlehemWe do not know every detail of Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem. We do know some of the facts as recorded in the New Testament. We know that Mary and Joseph were human beings with thoughts and feelings. We can also glean from ancient Jewish Mishnah's, and secular historical sources some information to help us understand some pertinent information not included in Scriptures about the time. Here are some of the particulars involved that may have been a factor in the events leading up to the birth of our Savior.When Caesar...

..the real reason for Christian decline in Bethlehem: the Palestinian Authority and radical Islam. It started with Yasser Arafat. Arriving from Tunis, Arafat immediately set out to suppress the Palestinian middle class across the West Bank, which he understood could be the only real opposition to his planned dictatorial authority. He nationalized most business sectors and squeezed Palestinian small businessmen out of business. Especially hard hit were middle class businessmen of Bethlehem, mainly Christian. Arafat then sidelined the long-time Christian mayor of Bethlehem, Elias Freij, and Arafat’s henchmen led a campaign of terror and intimidation against Christian institutions and families...

What is so interesting about today, March 15, in Christian history?Now I agree this is a bit of a stretch, but in the scheme of things it does makes some sense. If for no other reason than to bring it up for discussion. They say that the more you know the more you do not know, so here is a tidbit to consider. Today is "The Ides of March",which is the fateful day in 44 B.C. when Julius Caesar was assassinated. Why is it interesting to note? Well, the man who succeeded Caesar is Emperor Augustus who brought peace...

How holding Palestinian elections threatens to expose Fatah. The Palestinian attempt to appease the Biden administration by holding Palestinian elections threatens to reveal the flabbiness and collapse of Fatah, which lies at the heart of the Palestinian Authority. Recently, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas threatened Fatah members who opted to run outside the Fatah list with death. This apparently occurred last week during a Fatah Revolutionary Council meeting in Ramallah. Abbas had barred members of the Fatah Central Committee, Revolutionary Council, and Consultative Council from running in the upcoming legislative elections. This ban also included current ministers, ambassadors, governors, security officials,...

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the...

Shantika Briley was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly beating a man with a pipe when he reportedly sexually assaulted her 9-year-old daughter. The 35-year-old Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, mom said she caught the presently unnamed 39-year-old man “licking her daughter’s lips and trying to kiss her.” Briley allegedly responded with a pipe, beating the man in the head and face until he fled out the front door with Briley still in pursuit. [SNIP] Briley has been charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, and harassment but was released after posting a $25,000 bond. As of the time of this writing, she has yet...

This Christmas, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg sought to draw his followers to a sacred story that helps shape the presidential candidate’s worldview and politics. But the pushback he received — mostly from conservative Christians — illuminates how one of the burgeoning culture wars during the 2020 election is the meaning of Christianity. Buttigieg, an Episcopalian who often discusses his faith on the campaign trail, sought to tie the Nativity story to some of the issues dominating political discourse. He tweeted: “Today I join millions around the world in celebrating the arrival of divinity on earth, who came into...

When Israel relinquished control of Bethlehem to Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority as part of the Oslo Accord agreement in 1995, 85% of this prosperous town were middle class Christians. Business and life was good when it was part of Israel. By Christmas 2019, Christians are less than 10% of the population in an economically stricken town. How did this come about? In 1995, Elias Freij was that the last Christian mayor of Bethlehem. He appealed to Israeli Prime Minister, Yizchak Rabin, not to withdraw from the city as part of the Accords due to his fear for the...

Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. … And being warned of...

The Israeli daily Ha’aretz is reporting that a bronze ring found 50 years ago at the Herodion excavation near Bethlehem has been discovered to bear the name of Pontius Pilate, Roman governor of Jerusalem and the man who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus, according to the New Testament. Ha’aretz reports that the name was discovered on the ring with the use of a special camera at the Israel Antiquities Authority labs. The letters on the ring spelled out in Greek writing “Pilatus.” The words surrounded a picture of a wine vessel. Hebrew University Professor Danny Schwartz told Ha’aretz that Pilatus...

A 2,000-year-old bronze ring found near Bethlehem bears the name of Pontius Pilate, the Roman official who ordered Jesus Christ to be crucified, archeologists have revealed.

Researchers have deciphered an ancient inscription on a bronze ring first found 50 years ago pointing to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who ordered Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. Haaretz reported that the ring in question was first discovered at the site of Herodion near the West Bank’s Bethlehem by professor Gideon Forster from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, shortly after the Six-Day War in 1968-69. The owner of the ring had remained a mystery for some 50 years, however, but a recent cleansing and special camera work at the Israel Antiquities Authority labs found Greek writing on the ring, which translates...

A British aid worker was killed Friday in a U.N. compound in the West Bank during a gunbattle between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen — the first senior U.N. official to die in over two years of fighting. The United Nations accused Israeli soldiers of preventing an ambulance from immediately reaching Iain Hook, a senior manager for UNRWA, the U.N. agency that helps Palestinian refugees. The Israeli army said he was evacuated from the U.N. compound in the Jenin refugee camp as soon as possible. The death occurred hours after Israel reoccupied the West Bank town of Bethlehem for the...

Palestinians hang a burning puppet bearing the portrait of US President Donald Trump, during a mock trial for him and Vice President Mike Pence in the Aida refugee camp in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.