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Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for PRESIDENT TRUMP and VICE PRESIDENT PENCE and for AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 JOHN 5:14 Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

December 30 2020 The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas St. Teresa's Church, Hong Kong . Lectionary203Reading 1 1 JN 2:12-17I am writing to you, children, because your sins have been forgiven for his name’s sake.I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.I am writing to you, young men, because you have conquered the Evil One.I write to you, children, because you know the Father.I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God...

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- The search engine currently features a Doodle adorned with Christmasy lights in homage to December holidays, but goes to considerable lengths to minimize the month’s signature celebration. Click on the image at Google.com and up pops “December global holidays” content that downplays and diverts readers from the true meaning of Christmas, the world’s most popular holiday. 'What country does not celebrate Christmas?'First, it shares a default page from worldstrides.com that dryly mentions Christmas and gives equal weight to a list of contrived and obscure celebrations such as Kwanzaa and Boxing Day (sorry, Mum and Canada). It...

December 29 2020 The Fifth Day in the Octave of ChristmasOptional Memorial of Saint Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr St. Thomas Beckett Shrine, Canterbury Cathedral Reading 1 1 JN 2:3-11Beloved: The way we may be sure that we know Jesus is to keep his commandments. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him. This is the way we may know that we are in union with him: whoever claims to abide in him...

By their reckoning, white evangelicals have become reckless plague-bearers with no regard for the poor and oppressed, and their cruelty rightly earns them the world’s opprobrium.So much for peace on earth and goodwill to men. America’s legacy media elites used the Sunday before Christmas for extra Christian-bashing, with white evangelicals the preferred targets. Writing in The New Yorker, Michael Luo complained that “white evangelical Protestants, once again, overwhelmingly supported President Trump in the election,” and that “churches, particularly conservative ones, fought lockdown orders and rebuffed public-health warnings.” New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof interviewed leftist pastor Jim Wallis, with the...

December 28 2020 Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth, Israel Britchi Mirela, ISRAEL, Nazareth Catholic Church Annunciation (interior 26)(Heritage sites in Israel with unknown IDs) Lectionary 698Reading 1 1 JN 1:5—2:2Beloved: This is the message that we have heard from Jesus Christ and proclaim to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then...

The US Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, Don Cochran, said Sunday that the man responsible for the explosion that shook Downtown Nashville on Christmas morning has been positively identified. ... It was also revealed Sunday that a song played before the audio warning and countdown. The song was “Downtown,” the 1964 hit by Petula Clark. The investigation continues into a possible motive and officials are probing whether Warner was a believer of the 5G conspiracy theory. Some people believe 5G towers cause cancer or are used by the federal government for spying on citizens. According to ABC News’...

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wished Americans a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, expressing gratitude to God and courageous citizens. “The President and I want to wish every American a very Merry Christmas,” they said in a video released on Thursday. “At Christmas, we thank God for sending us his son to bring peace to our souls and joy to the world.” The first couple expressed appreciation to citizens for showing courage amid the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, including teachers, students, law enforcement officers, military personnel, etc. “As you know, this Christmas is different...

Source: Myra AdamsOur Bible study this Christmas Sunday concludes the “reason for the season” mini-series. We began with “Why Simeon Meeting the Baby Jesus Is So Profound,” Then stepped back and discussed, “Mary and Elizabeth, Both Miraculously Pregnant, Have a Visitation,” Followed by last week’s “Isaiah Foretells the Coming of Christ,” And now, “Why Jesus Was Born Jewish” – a “controversial” topic that necessitates me donning extra-strength body armor. But before some readers unleash poison arrows through cyberspace, here is a personal Jewish Christmas story that might help reduce the castigation and vitriol heading my way. As loyal readers know,...

December 27 2020 The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Sagrada Familia Church, Barcelona, Spain from visitBarcelona - http://barcelonasights.blogspot.com/2011/01/visit-la-sagrada-familia-for-free.html Lectionary 17Reading 1 SIR 3:2-6, 12-14 God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons. Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and preserves himself from them. When he prays, he is heard; he stores up riches who reveres his mother. Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children, and, when he prays, is heard. Whoever reveres his father will live a long life; he who obeys his father brings comfort to...

“A Great Way to End Things” (Luke 2:22-40) Our text today is the story of Mary and Joseph presenting the infant Jesus at the temple and the reactions of Simeon and Anna. As we will see, what happens in this story is “A Great Way to End Things.” And that applies not only to the persons involved but also to us. A great way to end things. The first thing it ends is Mary’s time of purification. Reading again the opening verses of our text: “And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they...

Black Lives Matter protesters reportedly crashed a Christmas charity fundraiser for children with cancer this past weekend. The fundraiser, protest, and march took place on Candy Cane Lane in the city of West Allis, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that “a group of about 50 Black Lives Matter supporters” marched at a Christmas light show of houses on the street which “has raised money for the Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer.” The Sentinel notes that there were “no arrests or citations” issued during the protest and that “there were no reports of violent activity.” The protesters marched down the...

Berlin police launched an investigation on Boxing Day, Saturday, after several people were shot in a city district overnight. Four people were injured by gunfire in the early hours of Saturday morning, with three men seriously injured, including one who was shot into the leg and who had to be pulled out of the city canal by passing workmen. It is claimed he jumped into the canal to escape further injury. No fatalities have been reported. ....the shooting took place in the “immediate vicinity” of the party headquarters of the Social Democrats (SPD), the left-wing coalition partners keeping the center-right...

Ford Fischer who has done a lot of coverage of Antifa and Black Lives Matter may have come across something interesting when it comes to the bombing in Nashville this morning. One of the most unusual things about the Nashville bombing was that there were reportedly gun shots before hand and then a recording in the RV which warned people to evacuate out of the area before the RV blew up. But then on top of that, Fischer noticed something else odd. Many in media have been sharing a viral video of the explosion area, taken from across the street,...

Barstool Sports Founder Dave Portnoy exemplified the Christmas spirit by raising millions of dollars to help small businesses suffering under state-imposed lockdowns. The “Barstool Fund” has amassed a whopping $6,687,624 with 60,929 supporters so far. The funds have already helped 19 small businesses.

I remember watching this movie when it was broadcast on TV during my youth. Perhaps this helped plant a seed for my later and current obsession with the Victorian Era. I re-watched on Christmas morning as the other members of the family were still asleep. In my mind, this is the best adaptation of the Dickens story. I know there are those who say the Alastair Sims version is the best. George C. Scott owns Scrooge. He plays him as not as an inherently wicked man but as someone whose life was broken as a boy and when it comes...

December 26 2020 Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr Abbey of the Dormition, Jerusalem, Israel (where St. Stephen's remains are interred By Tango7174 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26453619 Lectionary 696Reading 1 ACTS 6:8-10; 7:54-59 Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people. Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at...

Metro Nashville Police said that they found possible human remains at the explosion site and that the motive behind the incident is still unclear. “We have tissue that we believe could be [human] remains and we’ll just have that examined,” Chief of Police John Drake told reporters during a press conference on Friday afternoon. He didn’t elaborate on where the possible human remains were found.

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Australian golf great Greg Norman has revealed he tested positive for Covid-19 on Christmas Day. The 65-year-old two-time British Open champion, who now lives in the United States, announced the news in an Instagram post containing photos of him in a hospital bed. “This sums it all up. My Christmas Day. On behalf of millions, f$&@ Covid,” Norman wrote to his 188,000 followers “Get this $4!+ behind us never to experience it again.”