The Top 5 Plus (December 27)

There were so many exceptionally enlightening articles this week (especially on the critical topics of the persecution of the Church and the rising wave of anti-Semitism throughout the world) that I share links beyond the normal number this morning. And, yes, they’re all well worth the read. 

1) “When the Churches Go Silent at Christmas. Why Christianity endures while Europe locks its church doors.” (Lou Aguilar, American Spectator)

From the article -- This godless philosophy has destroyed Western Europe. The Christian faith that built its civilization and sustained it through a thousand years of darkness has been abandoned, hollowed. Consequently, the two forces Europe soundly defeated -- Islam and Marxism -- are now conquering it with little resistance, enabled by the nations’ leaders.

All over the continent, charming Yuletide traditions are being canceled for fear of Muslim-induced violence. In Germany, for instance, the beloved Christmas markets, the Weihnachtsmärkte, were scrubbed this year. Evil feeds on fear, and removing a spiritual counter to it only hastens its advance.

Related articles regarding the persecution of Christians: “Politico Frames European Christmas Celebrations as ‘Far-Right Spectacle’” (Olivia Rondeau, Breitbart)... “This Christmas was even harder for China's Christians (Christian Shepherd & Huiyee Chiew, Jewish World Review)... “‘The Victims Are Sold in Catalogs Like Property’ -- The Persecution of Christians, October 2025” (Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone Institute)...“CCP Conducts Mass Arrests of Christians Days before Christmas” (S.A. McCarthy, Washington Stand)...“Christian Almost Murdered Twice By Islamists Finds Home In Canada For Christmas” (Casey Chalk, Federalist)...“‘Too White and Male’ -- Woke Museum Issues Guide to ‘Decolonising’ Father Christmas” (Simon Kent, Breitbart)

2) “Cheers for Ben Shapiro” (Editors, National Review)

From the article -- Ben Shapiro did the conservative movement a service last week by giving two speeches that were deliberate acts of provocation. First, at the Heritage Foundation, he argued that a political movement, like a nation, needs borders. He illustrated the point with reference to the Heritage Foundation mission statement, which supports free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.

He then compared those principles with the beliefs of Tucker Carlson, with whom Heritage President Kevin Roberts has been in ideological sympathy, up to and including initially defending Carlson’s interview with Nick Fuentes (before backpedaling). Shapiro persuasively argued that by Heritage’s own standards Carlson — who expresses routine contempt for markets, who launders Russian propaganda, who sees the advantages of sharia law, and who gives sympathetic interviews to white nationalists, Churchill-hating World War II revisionists, and proud misogynists accused of rape — is no longer a conservative.

We assume that Roberts won’t be inviting Shapiro back any time soon, but his talk was received warmly by the audience at the Heritage Foundation.

A couple of days later, Shapiro spoke at TPUSA’s AmFest conference. He addressed the rank pandering to audience, widespread conspiracy-theorizing, and cowardly unwillingness to call out lunacy on the right that has infected the right-wing influencer space. Here, Shapiro focused on the absolutely cracked theories promoted by Candace Owens about the Charlie Kirk assassination; these rancid, obsessive musings, which would set off alarms bells for any psychiatrist if spouted by a patient, have significantly shaped the debate on the right about Kirk’s assassination.

True to form, Owens responded to Shapiro’s speech with an anti-Jewish rant.

Related articles: “What, Exactly, Does the Right Stand For? The American Right must relearn judgment and stop confusing tolerance with moral abdication.” (Josh Hammer, American Spectator)...“For JD Vance, Free Speech Only Means His Friends Can’t Be Criticized” (David Harsanyi, Jewish World Review)...“American conservatism and ‘the Jewish Question’ -- The silence of mainstream conservatives over the antisemitism in their midst is lethal for the Republicans and America.” (Melanie Phillips, Jewish News Service)...“Few on the ‘Far Right’ Turn Against the Jews” (Pierre Rehov, Gatestone Institute)...The Return of the Jewish Question (David Azerrad, Compact)...“Jewish state will always stand with Christians, Netanyahu says on Christmas Eve -- Netanyahu noted that the Jewish state is the only country in the region where Christians continue to live ‘with full rights and in total freedom.’” (Jewish News Service staff)

3) “The Religion of the Strong Horse: The world’s major religions need a better answer to Islam.” (Daniel Greenfield, Trajectories)

From the article -- Conversions to Islam rose sharply after major Islamic terrorist attacks from 9/11 to Oct 7. This runs counter to everything we would like to believe about religion and morality, but it’s reality.

Bin Laden’s ‘Strong Horse’ wasn’t about who would win a military campaign between America and Al Qaeda, as some foreign policy experts insisted on arguing in major publications, it was about who would win the religious and cultural war between Islam and the West. Terrorist attacks were battles for the ‘hearts and minds’ of the rest of the world. 9/11 and other attacks would show the world the religious superiority of Islam by showing it was the ‘Strong Horse’.

America and its allies wasted decades trying to win the ‘hearts and minds’ of Muslims from Afghanistan to Iraq to Gaza with billions in aid and democratic elections. The West welcomed mass Muslim migration to show how generous and tolerant we were. And no matter what we did, Muslim terrorist attacks became a regular feature of our lives because we insisted that being the liberal ‘Weak Horse’ made us morally superior to the men relentlessly killing us.

A generation later, more Americans are converting to Islam and joining the ‘Strong Horse’ than Muslims are converting to the democracy and liberalism of the ‘Weak Horse’. Secularism is on the decline in the Muslim world while Hamas and Hezbollah banners are waved on Ivy League campuses. Osama bin Laden had said that the “deeds” of the 9/11 hijackers had “overshadowed all other speeches made everywhere else in the world.” Terrorism is how Islam speaks and its message is that its followers believe so strongly that Islam is the only acceptable way of life that they are willing to die and kill to force everyone else to believe it too.

Related article: “Iran Opens New Front in Its War Against the U.S...But not the way you think.” (Robert Spencer, Front Page Magazine)

4) “‘We Don't Dispute’ It: Georgia 315k Vote Bombshell Blows a Big Hole in 2020’s ‘Most Secure Election’ Lie” (Rusty Weiss, Red State) 

From the article -- David Cross, a local election integrity activist, made that allegation. He filed a formal challenge with the Georgia State Election Board in March 2022, alleging that Fulton County illegally counted around 315,000 early votes in the 2020 election without required poll worker signatures on tabulator tapes. He spoke at the hearing, telling the state election board of the irregularities he discovered.

“These signed tapes are the sole legal certification that the reported totals are authentic,” Cross said. “Fulton County produced zero signed tabulator tapes in early voting.”

“These are not clerical errors. They are catastrophic breaks in chain of custody and certification,” he continued.

“Because no tape was ever legally certified, Fulton County had no lawful authority to certify its advanced voting results to the secretary of state. Yet it did,” Cross added. “And Secretary Raffensperger accepted and folded those uncertified numbers into Georgia’s official total without questioning them. This is not partisan. This is statutory. This is the law."

"When the law demands three signatures on tabulator tapes and the county fails to follow the rules, those 315,000 votes are, by definition, uncertified.”

315,000 uncertified votes sure seem like a significant issue. For years after the 2020 election, we were told any questioning of the results in the "most secure election in history" was tantamount to a clear and present threat to democracy itself. 

Related article: “The Fulton County 2020 Election Bombshell: A case study in how a deeply unpopular political party manages to win elections.” (David Catron, American Spectator)

5) “Policy Decisions, Immigration, And Greed Drive America’s Poverty Industry” (Allan J. Feifer, American Thinker)

From the article -- Thus, a Wall Street Journal article from last week completely upends the idea that we have many poor people in this country. Yes, I know that the idea is preposterous, yet it appears to be true. Did you know that welfare programs are not counted as income?

In the essay, Phil Gramm & John Early write that federal welfare spending now totals $1.4 trillion. If divided evenly among the 19.8 million families the government classifies as poor, each would receive more than $70,000 a year—yet none of these benefits are counted as income for eligibility or poverty measurement.

Even accounting for the “skim” (the money the government and NGOs rake in off the top), it’s a staggering number. It is impossible to reconcile the $1.4 trillion with what Democrats and the media maintain is a system that “neglects” the poor.

What this suggests is that everything we’re being told about the poor is a lie, or at least being called poor and not having money are separate things. How can we reconcile such foundational issues as “one in seven children go to bed hungry” with the reality that suggests strongly that there is little to no correlation between being poor and hungry and an unjust economic system? In fact, the contrary appears to be true.

Democrat and socialist politics depend on making Americans feel guilty. What if we all woke up one day and realized that the greatest scam of all was the underlying lie that not ‘paying your fair share’ meant you were not paying sufficient graft? In other words, our poverty complex isn’t about helping poor people. It’s about helping criminals (obviously aided by bureaucrats) enrich themselves with taxpayer funds by pretending to help poor people.

Other Excellent Articles from This Week?

Although I regularly scan the news and commentary found at Breitbart, Power Line, Fox News, Lucianne, American Spectator, Federalist, and so on, I am this week highlighting once again the value I regularly find in Harbinger’s Daily by selecting all 5 of this week’s Plus articles from that truly excellent (and almost unique) source:

* “Though Many Try, The Church Cannot Erase The Ongoing Importance Of Israel” (Amir Tsarfati, Harbinger’s Daily)

* “Celebrating Sin And Warping God’s Design: Progressive Church Blesses ‘Marriage’ Of Four Men” (Ken Ham, Harbinger’s Daily)

* “This Christmas, Bow Your Heart And Knee Before The King Of Kings” (Franklin Graham, Harbinger’s Daily)

* “Provoked To Anger Or Forever Changed: The Gospel Is For Everyone. Tell It Boldly” (Will Graham, Harbinger’s Daily)

* The Jesus Of Bible Prophecy: Christ Is No Longer A Little Baby Or Suffering Servant” (Nathan Jones, Harbinger’s Daily)

Some Suggestions for Christmas Inspiration

Looking for a bit of cheer and inspiration for now and for the 12 Days of Christmas coming up?

Why not check out the novel "The Christmas Room" and these 2 short stories, "Christmas on the Freedom Train" and "The Winter in the Woods."  You can find them here. 

Also, there's the intriguing (and free) compilation, "Making the Most of Christmas" which you can find on the Vital Signs Ministries website right here. There you'll find 43 pages with poems, quizzes, recommendations for reading and movies, devotionals, a link to free downloads of Patrick Osborne’s exquisite Winter Night CD, and more. Happy Christmas!

And finally, there's the 1/2 hour audio file of my reading of "The Christmas of the Talking Animals." That's right here.

Happy Christmas!

December's Goin' Just Fine!

With last Friday’s shows at Newport and Brookstone Meadows, Claire and I finished off an absolutely fantastic “When Swing Was King” Christmas season. And, in doing so, we tied a record -- 17 shows in all! Our presentations 2 two senior centers in Branson, 1 up in Tekemah, 1 at New Cassel, 1 “home show,” a special Saturday WSWK Brunch at our house, and then our regular schedule of 11 senior facilities. And, along the way, we enjoyed even more heartwarming conversations than usual with residents, family members, and facility staff. It was really tremendous. Thank You, Lord! 

And yet as beautiful and plentiful as were our “When Swing Was King” moments, there were many, many more highlights of the Christmas season in which we have been blessed beyond measure. Among those highlights -- listening to Andy Williams Christmas music while parked alongside Table Rock Lake outside of Branson with snow softly falling around us...Baking and decorating cookies and handing them out to friends and neighbors...In-person visits with my cousins and Claire’s brother besides our Tuesday Zoom conversations with my siblings...Profoundly Christmassy church services at Aksarben Village Senior Living...Giving away a lot of signed copies of The Christmas Room...Coffees and meals out with friends...Claire’s making our home a gorgeous Christmas atmosphere for reading, for music, for entertaining, for writing letters and cards, for living!...Cleaning snow off the drive and walks (our neighbor’s too)...Prayers and singing Christmas carols with fellow pro-life champions in front of the Planned Parenthood abortion business...And hosting (so far) a Brunch event and 3 dinner parties...with 7 more evening dinner parties and 1 big Christmas Day dinner to go! (That Christmas Day, by the way, will find 11 of us squeezed in here with a large and creative menu to meet our guests’ varied dietary restrictions based on health and/or religious background. (We have 4 internationals attending.)

So, you can see, because of these wonderful opportunities yet before us (and because we celebrate all 12 days of Christmas plus 12th Night and Epiphany, there remain for us plenty of Christmas blessings to come! Bring ‘em on!

The Top 5 Plus (December 20)

1) “IVF Embryo Destruction Surpasses Abortion As The Leading Cause Of Death In The United States” (Ken Ham, Harbinger’s Daily)

From the article -- But, according to an analysis of new data from the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART), abortion is no longer the leading cause of death because the number of deaths of embryos as part of the typical IVF (in vitro fertilization) process now tops the staggering number of lives lost to abortion.

As more and more couples tragically struggle with infertility, the demand for IVF has increased. Reportedly, “in 2023, there were 432,641 IVF cycles at 371 reporting clinics, but only 95,860 babies were born.” When the numbers are broken down, this means in just one year, “an estimated 1,946,884 embryos did not survive to be implanted, and another 1,759,664 were either frozen, destroyed, donated to research, or released for embryo adoption.”

That’s a staggering number of babies, many of whom were intentionally destroyed. (Yes, embryos are persons. Everything that made you “you,” a person made in the image of God, was present right from fertilization—nothing new was added. And, of course, a human embryo can’t be anything but . . . a human! “Embryo” just refers to a specific developmental milestone in a person’s life.) But why are so many destroyed?

Well, as these breakdowns from the companies themselves show, IVF cycles create a large number of embryos, and these “embryos [are] graded and labeled during testing, and those not deemed healthy enough [are] automatically destroyed.” It’s eugenics—filtering out and destroying those deemed “not good enough” to be born.

2) “Hanukkah Terror Has Roots in Australia’s Alienation of Jews: Canberra Once Aligned with the United States on Middle East Issues, Including Israel, but Prime Minister Albanese Has Hewn a Different Path” (Danielle Pletka, Middle East Forum)

From the article -- Here’s the problem: Albanese and his Foreign Minister Penny Wong have done their utmost in the twenty-six months since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel to signal their uninterest in the well-being of Jewish communities, in Israel, Australia, and beyond. Like their political counterparts in Europe and the United States, Laborites in Australia have turned on Israel and Zionists everywhere. And like the fringes of the left in the United States, Spain, England, Canada, and France, they have gone further, aligning themselves with Israel’s enemies.

The surfacing of Jew-hatred in Australia has been notable, even by international standards. Aussie Jews, like much of the world’s Jewish communities, believed the pieties about “never again,” but were rudely awakened when a post-October 7, pro-Palestinian march in Sydney began chanting, “Gas the Jews.” A synagogue was firebombed in Melbourne. The leader of one of Australia’s most prominent Jewish organizations had his former home vandalized and burned in Sydney. Two Sydney nurses were caught on video threatening to kill Jews. Universities have, as in the United States, worked assiduously to isolate Jewish students.

The difference between Australia and, say, the United States, is that the government has played a significant role in the alienation of Jews. As a president of Harvard University might say, it’s all about the context. And under Albanese, the context has been a growing hostility to the State of Israel and its supporters. Australia recently repatriated its own “ISIS brides,” and has welcomed pro-Hamas activists, yet banned supporters of Israel, including former Israeli government ministers.

Related articles: “Bondi Was Not a Surprise: The massacre at Bondi Beach was shocking, but after years of denial and equivocation about antisemitism, it was inevitable.” (Jack Pinczewski, Quillette)...“Australia's Government: ‘Moral Bankruptcy on Parade’” (Nils A. Haug, Gatestone Institute)

3) “Trump’s Marijuana Executive Order Is Woefully Half-Baked” (Auguste Meyrat, Federalist)

From the article -- Trump should rethink his support for weed. Increasing the normalization and legalization of pot will only introduce more problems to a nation that has enough to worry about. The health risks of marijuana are legion: studies have found increased risk of heart attack, stroke, schizophrenia, suicidal ideation, and depression. “THC, marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient, soaks into the brain and binds to receptors that are involved in executive function, decision-making, coordination, memory and emotion. Teenage brains are especially vulnerable to the drug’s ill effects and have shown changes on medical imaging that are linked to impaired decision-making and psychosis,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

Marijuana is also a gateway drug. According to a study on this topic, “A large proportion [almost half] of individuals who use cannabis go on to use other illegal drugs.” If a person can justify regularly smoking a joint to relax and escape his problems, he can easily do the same with other substances, especially if his reasoning capacity has been damaged. Marijuana use has fueled our homelessness crisis too.

Even if one tries to liken the unhealthy effects of pot to those of alcohol, this does not somehow make it okay to commercialize it, especially when newer strands of cannabis are over ten times more potent than 50 years ago. The latest executive order ensures ever more ways for people to waste their money, ruin their health, and become permanently dumber.

Related article: “Trump Reschedules Marijuana amid Intense Controversy” (Dan Hart, Washington Stand)...“Rescheduling Marijuana Is the Wrong Call: Trump’s move sacrifices public decency to big business.” (City Journal, Patrick T. Brown)...“Has the war on drugs succeeded? The real problem is far worse.” (Tony Perkins, Christian Post)

4) “The Legalization Of Euthanasia: Illinois And New York Embrace The Culture of Death” (David Closson, Harbinger’s Daily)

From the article -- In both Illinois and New York, lawmakers have emphasized the safeguards built into their physician-assisted suicide laws. Each bill limits “medical aid in dying” to adults with terminal diagnoses. Yet even The New York Times, in its coverage of New York’s proposal, acknowledged that other countries with similar laws have significantly broadened them over time.

Canada offers a striking example. When it first legalized “medical assistance in dying” (MAID) in 2016, eligibility was limited to those with terminal conditions. But in 2021, the law was amended so that a patient’s death no longer needed to be “reasonably foreseeable.” The results were predictable: in 2023, 15,300 Canadians died by assisted suicide, accounting for 4.7% of all deaths nationwide. And in 2027, Canada is scheduled to expand eligibility even further to include individuals “suffering solely from a mental illness.”

The Netherlands also offers a cautionary example of how physician-assisted suicide laws can expand over time. In 2002, it became the first nation to formally legalize euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Under the original law, adults experiencing unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement were eligible, and minors ages 12-16 could also request euthanasia with parental consent. Although children under 12 were not included in the law, a 2004 medical protocol (the Groningen Protocol) created guidelines under which physicians could end the lives of infants with severe, untreatable conditions without facing prosecution.

Over time, Dutch practice also broadened to include patients whose suffering is primarily psychiatric, and courts affirmed that mental illness can meet the legal standard of “unbearable suffering.” In 2020, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that euthanasia may be performed on patients with advanced dementia based on a previously written advance directive, even if the patient can no longer express a current wish to die. In 2023, the government announced plans to expand euthanasia eligibility to include terminally ill children between the ages of 1 and 12.

In short, lawmakers in Illinois and New York will champion their new laws and defend them by pointing to the safeguards they have put in place. But history shows that such guardrails rarely hold.

5) “Stop Giving Liberals Tax Money: Conservatives can’t save the country by funding their enemies -- defunding the Department of Education would return billions to taxpayers, cut grift, and let education compete.” (Josiah Lippincott, American Greatness)

From the article -- You might say I’m a utopian dreamer for suggesting that the government not seize money from hardworking, decent people (Republicans) in order to give those funds to profligate losers and communists (Democrats). But indulge me for a moment. Let’s zero in on just one source of left-wing slush fund money: the Department of Education. What would happen if we slashed its budget to zero? Start with the numbers: according to the US Treasury, in FY2024, the federal Department of Education spent $268 billion. That amounts to almost 1% of the United States’ annual economic output.

That’s a lot of dough; it is crucial to remember that it all had to come from somewhere. Before these resources could be distributed to leftist clients, they had to be produced by people with jobs, businesses, and investments.

It is likewise important to remember that the producers who created those resources by transforming raw materials into usable goods with their labor and problem-solving ability did not do so because they wanted to fund the Department of Education. If they had, then they wouldn’t have had to be taxed in order to provide these funds to the state. Producers produce, workers work, and creators create because they want to benefit themselves. Human beings choose to labor because they think the fruits of their labor will be good for themselves. Men reap because they want to sow.

If Americans labored because they loved the Department of Education and its spending, then they would freely donate their funds to the federal government to spend on school programs. Since they have to be taxed, under penalty of law, to provide these funds, we can say with certainty that the vast majority of taxpayers would not fund the Department of Education with their own money if they were given a real, non-coerced choice.

Other important articles from the week:

* “Can the Dark Ages Return?” (Victor Davis Hanson, Blade of Perseus)

* “Nigeria Is a Quiet Test of Trump’s ‘America First’ Foreign Policy: A test we can ill afford to fail.” (Duggan Flanakin, American Spectator)

* “Contrary To The New York Times, Homeschooling Is Still A Much Better Alternative To Public Schools” (Nathanael Blake, Federalist)

* “A 21st Century Trojan Horse” (Jean Garton, NRL)

* “As Europe Steps Back, Asia Steps Up” (Mike Watson, Washington Free Beacon)

The Top 5 Plus (December 13)

1) “Lawlessness Ablaze” (Denny Hartford, Vital Signs Blog)

From the article -- It is an all too obvious and very tragic truth that our world is absolutely ablaze in lawlessness. Absolutely, out of control ablaze. Nevertheless, there remain Christians who stick their head in comfortable sand and try to ignore the flames, while other believers naively downplay the extraordinary degrees of rebellion, blasphemy, and bloodshed of our time, insisting that modern society’s lawlessness is no worse than previous eras in history. The facts are terribly clear, however, that the ever-escalating levels of lawlessness which Holy Scripture reveals as an alarming signal of the end times can be seen daily all around us. 

And the evidence of this lawlessness ablaze is not merely shown in the actions of the primary lawless deeds themselves, but also in the gross inefficiency, indifference, even enablement of our broken judicial system. Indeed, rather than acting as firemen dousing the flames, our modern politics, courts and prosecution policies actually aid and abet the arsonists. For instance, members of my generation can recall days when there were appropriate (and swift) penalties for crimes. But now? Justice is drowned in a complicated, corrupted sea of reduced charges, plea bargains, low (even cashless) bail, early parole and probation policies, laughable “community service” options, and so on. It wasn’t that long ago that “three strike” laws and extended punishment guarantees for gun crimes would put career criminals away for life. But today’s policies excuse and coddle thugs, quickly putting them back on the street to rob, rape, and murder again. Capital punishment even for such crimes as murder, rape, kidnapping, and treason? Forget about it...

And what then of the Christian’s attitude and action in this eschatological crisis? Here are a few of the responses I think are the most important...

2) “The Muslim Long Game: From Syria To Europe And America, Islam’s Global Strategy Is On Full Display” (Amir Tsarfati, Harbinger’s Daily)

From the article -- Al-Sharaa’s soft takeover is indicative of Islam’s global strategy. The clearest sign of this is in Europe where Muslim violence is blending with the vicious nature of the radical left to steal the peace of the continent. Pope Leo XIV criticized Catholics last week who feel threatened by the mass immigration of Muslims to Europe, but I’m not sure what he’s looking at. During this Christmas season, Europe has become a target-rich environment. Just this past week, in Brussels, Muslims crashed a Christmas market and stole and decapitated a figurine of Jesus.

In Milan and many other cities throughout Europe, Islamists and leftists have climbed statues and blasted music at the peaceful gatherings of people just wanting to celebrate the season.

In Paris, an Algerian woman working as a nanny tried to poison the Jewish family she was working for by putting household chemicals in their food. About 200 miles southwest of Paris in Nantes, Muslims and far-left activists attempted to destroy a Catholic bookstore, claiming it was fascist for selling the Bible, Christian books, and statues of Jesus and Mary. But, again, the Pope says you shouldn’t feel threatened by that, so who are you going to believe, the Pope or your own lying eyes?

Many Europeans are fed up and want to get rid of the invaders, including seven out of ten Danes who are now supporting remigration of any immigrant who commits a crime. Unfortunately, Danish policies have made their bed already, and now they have to lie in it.

But it’s not just Europe. It’s global. Even as Khalid Al Hail, president of Qatar’s opposition party made it clear that “Qatar will never allow Hamas to give up its weapons”, FBI director Kash Patel signed two MOUs (memorandums of understanding) with the Gulf nation’s Ministry of Interior to expand bilateral security cooperation in training, intelligence sharing, and capacity-building.

Related articles: “Islam’s Trojan Horse is inside the gates” (Troy Carico, 1819 News)...”Hollow Sanctuaries: When Churches Become Mosques” (Kevin Cohen, American Spectator)...”Austria Bans Head Scarves in Schools For Girls Under 14-Years-Old” (Oliver JJ Lane, Breitbart)

3) “Stopping the Bloodshed: Testimony of Tony Perkins before U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa” (Washington Stand)

From the article -- Although the RSF and SAF are in conflict with each other, they have a common enemy in Christians, whom they do not see as fitting their Islamic vision for Sudan. Churches have been targeted by both the RSF and SAF. Christians have been denied food aid and told, “Unless you leave your Christianity, no food for you.” They, along with all the other people of Sudan caught in the crossfire, are the true victims here.

Regional actors are exacerbating this conflict. While the United Arab Emirates’ support of the RSF is in the news, other nations have their hands in Sudan as well to wield influence (Egypt, for example, is the primary backer of the SAF) and extract resources. Iran, Egypt, and Turkey have supplied drones to the SAF. Russia initially backed the RSF in exchange for access to gold, but then switched sides. Just a few weeks ago, it was reported that the Sudanese government offered Russia its first naval base in Africa in Port Sudan.

The ongoing refugee crisis, along with internal displacement and mass starvation, remain significant challenges. Nearly 12 million people are internally displaced, and over four million people have left the country. According to the UN Refugee Agency, many of these refugees have gone to Chad, Egypt, and South Sudan. Chad and South Sudan now face food shortages themselves and do not have the infrastructure to sustain the inflow of people. The Nuba Mountains area, in particular, is in need of more aid that is free from the interference of the RSF and SAF.

With more than 150,000 people dead from the past few years of conflict, and with the death toll only continuing to rise, we must take action.

4) “Cry the Beloved Europe? -- America warns Europe that only one of them is truly fighting to reverse the West’s decline -- and the clock is running out for the other to follow suit.” (Victor Davis Hanson, American Greatness)

From the article -- More than ten percent of Europe’s resident population is now foreign-born—some 45 million people. However, the European host, unlike a classless America, does not have a long tradition of melting-pot assimilation, integration, and acculturation. Unlike America’s mostly Christian-nation immigration patterns, European immigrants are predominantly from the Middle East and North Africa, Islamic, and increasingly anti-Western. Far too many of Europe’s immigrants profess too little desire to assimilate into what they consider a culturally decadent place—one that, ironically, they have no desire to leave.

The Christian Church, the linchpin of Western civilization, was born in Europe. Yet nowhere do atheism, agnosticism, and open hostility to Christendom grow stronger. Europe, the birthplace of a dynamic Western military tradition, has been, by contemporary standards and at least until recently, virtually disarmed and unable to protect its own borders or interests. Europe’s overregulation and war on fossil fuels, combined with a generous social welfare state, have resulted in too little revenue and too many costly dependents.

Americans dare to lecture Europe because the same Western pathologies—open borders, unassimilated immigrants, tribalism, declining fertility, green fanaticism, unsustainable budget deficits, and massive national debt—are likewise beginning to threaten America. But unlike Europe, millions of Americans at the eleventh hour are galvanizing to stop their own insidious downward spiral.

Other Europe-related articles: “Dr. Simon Goddek on the Reality in Europe Today” (Rush Babe 49, Calling All Rush Babes)...”Britain is a neurocracy: Our leaders are exasperated with the people they serve.” (Spaceman Spiff, Postcards from the Abyss)...”Chat Control: The EU’s Plan to Read Your Messages -- All of Them” (Drieu Godefridi, Gatestone Institute)...”Why Is Italy Killing Its Women? -- When a nation of beauty and civility starts legislating against barbarism, it’s admitting a cultural collision it can no longer ignore.” (John Mac Ghlionn, American Spectator)

5) “The Prophetic Significance Of Socialism’s Rise In America” (Mark Hitchcock, Harbinger’s Daily)

From the article -- We have witnessed a real turnaround in America, with people increasingly moving in the direction of socialist candidates. Let’s not forget that socialist Bernie Sanders almost won the Democratic presidential primary in 2020. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) is an avowed socialist who is steadily rising within the Democratic Party. Zohran Mamdani is a self-professed “proud Democratic socialist” who just won the mayoral race in New York City.

In the United States House of Representatives, Cory Bush, Greg Casar, and Rashida Tlaib are vocal socialists. Recently, Tennessee state representative Aftyn Bane, a Democrat who ran on a socialist platform, nearly won a seat in the US House of Representatives. She lost by only nine points in a district that went for President Trump by 22 points!

This dangerous ideology is literally being elected by the hundreds all across our nation in various offices at the federal, state, and local levels. Socialism is clearly on the rise, and there are no signs that it is stopping. In fact, every sign indicates it will continue to mushroom.

The rise of Socialism has profound implications for the future of our nation and, given the fact that America is the global leader, it also has ramifications for the entire globe. It’s nothing short of meteoric. However, beyond those concerns, the popularity of Socialism also has strong prophetic overtones that I believe will pave the way for the rise of the world’s final great tyrant: the antichrist.

5 other recommended articles from the week:

* “Socialized Medicine and its inevitable result. In Canada, woman offered ‘Medical Assistance in Dying’ in lieu of the surgery she needs.” (Rush Babe 49, Calling All Rush Babes)

* “The Manufactured Rise of Nick Fuentes: How artificial virality tricked the platforms -- and the press -- into elevating a fringe voice.” (Colin Wright, Reality's Last Stand)

* “Violent migrants are a far greater threat than the Russians” (Richard North, TCW)

* “Stop Recycling Plastic” (I & I Editorial Board)

* “Climate Activists Are Pricing Coloradans Out Of Heating Their Homes”  (Helen Raleigh, Federalist)

“Lawlessness Ablaze”

It is an all too obvious and very tragic truth that our world is absolutely ablaze in lawlessness. Absolutely, out of control ablaze. Nevertheless, there remain Christians who stick their head in comfortable sand and try to ignore the flames, while other believers naively downplay the extraordinary degrees of rebellion, blasphemy, and bloodshed of our time, insisting that modern society’s lawlessness is no worse than previous eras in history. The facts are terribly clear, however, that the ever-escalating levels of lawlessness which Holy Scripture reveals as an alarming signal of the end times can be seen daily all around us. 

And the evidence of this lawlessness ablaze is not merely shown in the actions of the primary lawless deeds themselves, but also in the gross inefficiency, indifference, even enablement of our broken judicial system. Indeed, rather than acting as firemen dousing the flames, our modern politics, courts and prosecution policies actually aid and abet the arsonists. For instance, members of my generation can recall days when there were appropriate (and swift) penalties for crimes. But now? Justice is drowned in a complicated, corrupted sea of reduced charges, plea bargains, low (even cashless) bail, early parole and probation policies, laughable “community service” options, and so on. It wasn’t that long ago that “three strike” laws and extended punishment guarantees for gun crimes would put career criminals away for life. But today’s policies excuse and coddle thugs, quickly putting them back on the street to rob, rape, and murder again. Capital punishment even for such crimes as murder, rape, kidnapping, and treason? Forget about it.

Drunk and chemically impaired drivers were once taken from behind the wheel and jailed instead of being given pass after pass until they finally cripple or kill someone. Case in point? Just last week, 70-year old, Grammy-nominated musician Roderick Macleod was out walking his dog when he was run over and killed by a car driven by Shannon Godbout, a career criminal with more than 100 arrests with an additional 82 court warrants served against her over the years as well as 40 traffic citations.

How about how vandals, shoplifters, looters, and rioters are dealt with nowadays? Did you steal less than $1,000? Okay, see you later. Destroy an exquisite, centuries old work of art as an act of anti-Israel protest or climate change activism? Oh well; there’s still plenty of paintings and sculptures. Pay a small fine and we’ll let it go. 

Need more evidence still? Consider the overwhelming corruption of our elections; the flood of illegal immigration which so dangerously threatens the Republic; legalized gambling which has now gone far beyond Las Vegas and into every home in the nation through our phones and internet; sex trafficking; endless scams whereby cruel, conniving thugs stealing money from the most vulnerable; shameless vagrancy (often involving public drunkenness); aggressive begging; the multitude of traffic violations so routinely practiced that police cannot begin to keep up; and rampant drug abuse which destroys both the user and the public peace. And yes, this includes the increasing dependence of young and old on legal, yet still mind-numbing “medical” marijuana dispensed by an endless number of neighborhood shops.  

And, of course, the most horrific crime of all, the bloody lawlessness of the wholesale slaughter of preborn boys and girls via savage curettes, monstrous suction machines, and cruel chemical poisons. Oh yes, lawlessness is ablaze in our day.

Another key element of  today’s lawlessness is its arrogant and highly hypocritical posturing. For while all of these crimes are being ignored (even defended), society leaders, politicians and the police, the judges, and the press are targeting grandmas who pray outside abortion chambers instead. Or parents who resist turning their kids over to the dastardly clutches of the NEA and the government schools. Or coaches who dare lead their teams in prayer. Or a homeowner who uses a legal firearm to defend his family from savages staging a home invasion. Or parents who protest sexual deviants invading their daughter’s bathroom and locker room. Or a preacher who dares to keep his church open when told by government bullies to stay closed. Or a pregnant mother who refuses to get jabbed with a new, untested, and potentially lethal drug while proven medical treatments and medicines are denied her. Or a Christian who dares to voice biblical truths on a college campus. And on and on and on.

No, make no mistake. The furious, wicked flames of lawlessness (the Greek word is often translated as transgression as well) are unprecedently burning out of control just as the Bible predicted would be the case in the last days. The Lord Jesus spoke of this lawlessness in speaking to His disciples (recorded in Matthew 24) as He warned them of wars, hatred, persecution, false prophets, earthquakes, famines, and a dramatic increase in lawlessness.

And though 2nd Thessalonians refers to the anti-christ, the ultimate ringleader of this wickedness, as “the man of lawlessness,” it’s important to remember that the initial force behind this surge of sin in the last days is man himself. The anti-christ will be judged for his rebellion against the Law (more specifically, against the Lawgiver Himself), but he isn’t responsible for the righteous judgment directed against human sinners. No, that’s the wages of our sin that must be paid. The anti-christ will ride the crest of this wave of wickedness, but it became a wave in the first place because men and women surrendered to their own unlawful desires, opinions, and deeds, becoming a law unto themselves. 

This is emphasized by a quick look at the Greek word translated as “lawless” in the passages I’m citing...and will cite. The Greek word is anomia -- nomia meaning law and the prefix a meaning without. The word itself could suggest either an absence of law or even an ignorance of the law. But the most common interpretation of the word by conservative Bible scholars is that lawless (and lawlessness) points to a transgression of the law, a deliberate denial of the law’s authority. This fits. For even as we use the phrase, “ignorance of the law is no excuse,” a person who crosses the line unwittingly, still crosses the line. However, more relevant is that an appeal against the judgment of God because, “Golly, I didn’t know any better” denies the striking fact that I did know better!  For not only does the Law exist wherever God is -- and that is everywhere -- making the essence of His Law (the emanations of God’s own character) also omnipresent. But also because the Bible explains that because man is created in the image of God, His law is a part of our very nature. His law is written on our hearts. And what laws of God we do understand, we have broken. We are guilty before His law; we are even guilty before our own. (Romans 2). No one has an excuse. The lawlessness of our time has been riled up by us. 

So, let’s look at this a bit more closely, not only in how the social lawlessness of the end times plays out in history, but in how the lawless spirit in one’s soul plays out in his personal destiny. All men are sinners; all men are transgressors of His Law, whether it is His Law written on stones or His Law written on our hearts. And so, beyond our individual plight of standing before the all-holy God, we must own up to our contributions to the wave of lawlessness which is now engulfing the world, the wages of which are the “second death” and a terrible, eternal separation from God. That is, unless we can find a substitute, one who could satisfy the demands of God’s righteousness, a completely sinless man who could intercede for us and himself pay the penalty of our sin. 

And, to be sure, that’s the exact definition of a Christian; that is, a sinner who has received by simple faith the gift of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross in their behalf. This is the gift which is forgiveness, cleansing, eternal life. This is the path of rescue, the path of redemption, the only path of freedom. Jesus “gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness.” (Titus 2:14). Indeed, trusting in Christ’s loving sacrifice liberates us forever from both the penalty and the power of our lawlessness. (Hebrews 10:17, Romans 4:7,8)

Thus we see the Bible teaching that lawlessness creates four major tragedies. First, it corrupts each human person and increasingly enslaves them. That’s right, Romans 6:19 reveals that our lawless deeds actually lead to yet more lawlessness. Second, that lawlessness sets us up for divine judgment. (Again, unless you let Jesus step in and act as your substitute.) The third tragedy is that individual lawlessness pollutes the group (family, nation, world) and stimulates social disorders that end up running unchecked...as see happening today. And finally, the fourth tragedy is that lawlessness will usher in the eschatological crisis. This, I believe, is the wave of lawlessness that will culminate in the Rapture of the Church and the beginning of God’s holy judgment upon the world.

And what then of the Christian’s attitude and action in this eschatological crisis? Here are a few of the responses I think are the most important.

* Our culture’s blazing lawlessness should cause us to be ever more careful to avoid getting burned ourselves! For instance, we must thoroughly respect and love God’s law and not be tempted to ignore the devastation lawlessness creates. We cannot ignore lawlessness; we cannot make light of it; we cannot coexist with it. Our gratitude and love for Christ must show a daily devotion to holy living and a bold proclamation of biblical truths.

* Biblically-minded believers in Jesus should be the most ardent champions for law and order. We should be active in this responsibility in prayer and proclamation, in our families and churches, in our neighborhoods and nation. So be informed. Be a watchman on the wall. Be a vocal defender of justice. In whatever ways are open to you, be an opponent of barbarism and crime and false teaching. Stand in the gap for the innocent and needy, especially the unborn children, the victims of persecution, the victims of sex trafficking. And be a firm friend of the police and truly conservative public officials. 

* And speaking of being vocal, you might also find, as I have, that talking about the dangers and shame represented by our society’s increasing lawlessness is an excellent springboard for evangelism. Your neighbor (perhaps even your hard-hearted, leftist in-law) most likely sees what you do and realizes -- to some degree at least -- that modern culture is coarser, crazier, and downright scarier than the world he grew up in. You may discover then that he is more open than ever to consider the biblical view of reality including divine creation, the indispensable rightness of moral law, sin and the subsequent judgment, and, most certainly, the gospel. For Jesus is the world’s only hope.

* Finally, one more very important response to the lawlessness of the present age is to let it stimulate your confidence in and yearning for the day when the government of the entire world will be on Christ’s shoulders -- that forever day when peace reigns in redeemed hearts, when the glorified bodies of God’s children enjoy the splendors of the New Earth, and when delightful harmony is the constant in our relationships with God, one another, and all of his creation. Wow!

So to wrap up this devotional...It is of the utmost importance to frankly admit that the lawlessness of the end times is blazing all around us, even to accept the evidence that is accelerating on its way to a foreordained doom.  But Christians serve the living and almighty God Who not only protects us from human enemies, demons, and the league of the anti-christ, but Who also empowers us with the Holy Spirit to fight for justice, righteousness, and truth while we can. Therefore, this is a most excellent time to “win our spurs” in our Lord’s service as watchmen on the wall, as advocates, as ambassadors, as “wolf fighters,” and as teachers and evangelists. And while we bravely take on these honored challenges, Christians should look forward with joy and confidence to the day of our King’s eternal victory -- a day we will share with Him, His angels, and the whole family of the redeemed. Come, Lord Jesus!

"When Swing Was King" and the Christmas Season

Claire and I returned home from Branson Saturday night after enjoying what was actually the second week of our annual 2-week working vacation. The first week was back in October but severe back pain sent us home early and, thanks to Claire’s persuasive skills, the Spinnaker resort allowed us another week with no extra costs. We had a wonderful time -- writing, reading (me: Christmas stories, Claire: the war heroism of young Winston Churchill), having lunch a couple of times at the College of the Ozarks, replenishing our supply of infused oils and vinegars from a Branson Landing merchant, feeding the ducks at Lake Taneycomo, listening to Christmas music while overlooking Table Rock Lake, and watching an old Christmas movie as well as evaluating, planning, talking, and praying. 

Oh yes; there were two other really terrific highlights of the week. You see, when we realized our 2nd week of working vacation would be in December, Claire called a few senior living facilities in Branson and offered them our delightful and inspirational “When Swing Was King” show...and at our regular price -- Free!  Two of them made room in their schedule and our presentations there (and our personal visits with Terry, Natasha, Patricia, Shirley, Bryan, and many other residents) won absolutely rave reviews. Thank You so much, Lord. Also adding a special spice was that our first show saw my cousin Rev. Gary Ellsworth and his wife Martha drive all the way from Bolivar to attend. And, at our next show, it was my cousin Ervin Ellsworth and his wife Alice who dropped in to bless us. So neat.

But, of course, the Christmas “When Swing Was King” experience is just getting
started. Indeed, with 13 more already on the schedule (with 2 more probable’s), this December looks like we may tie our all-time record! 

And that brings me to this; namely, a reminder that one of these upcoming “When Swing Was King” Christmas extravaganzas is available for you this Saturday morning at 10 at our home. But to land one or two of the remaining seats, you'll have to give us a very quick RSVP. It’s a brunch party with delicious food, hearty holiday fellowship, and the always lovely, always heartwarming, always inspirational 45-minute “When Swing Was King” Christmas show. Interested? Contact us ASAP.

The Top 5 Plus (December 7)

1) “A Prophetic Shift Of Gears: Young Adults Express Willingness To Hand Over Government Power, Freedoms To AI” (Mark Hitchcock, Harbinger’s Daily)

From the article -- Artificial Intelligence (AI) is advancing more quickly than any of us could have imagined. For many, it is the realization of a technological dream, but for others, it is a nightmare, leading to unthinkable abuses of power over our lives. No matter which way you view AI, everybody will agree that the ramifications are both alarming and world-changing.

It is no exaggeration to say that AI represents a prophetic shift of gears. It could be called an “end-times accelerant.”

Seemingly daily, we hear about new advances in AI, with these surprising surges emerging closer and closer together. AI is changing everything, and the headlines declaring this reality continue to roll out week after week with no end in sight.

Related articles: “Little By Little, Mankind Is Being Discipled By The Tech Industry” (Dean Dwyer, Harbinger’s Daily)...”Majority of pastors now using AI to prepare sermons amid rapid embrace of technology” (Leonardo Blair, Christian Post)

2) “Abortion Is Everything,’ the Children's Book You’ll Want to Buy for Christmas” (David Strom, Hot Air)

From the article -- I keep coming back to a term I never thought I would seriously use in everyday conversation: demonic. But I gave up on thinking in purely temporal terms. Whether you believe that literal demons walk the earth or just that something akin to Satanism has become normalized, evil is afoot. 

The latest example comes from the founder of "Shout Your Abortion," who has written a children's book for children ages 5-8, teaching them that abortion is a "superpower" that only humans possess. The book is steeped in transhumanist ideology—the same ideology that underlies alphabet ideology, and is informed by Marxist Critical Theory. The basic idea is that the only way to liberate our minds is to overcome biological reality itself. 

Of course, children in this age range are not about to get abortions. However, as you see from alphabet ideology, children are already encouraged to dispense with biological reality in other ways. Still, the propaganda campaign is aims to "liberate" children from the idea that we are grounded in a fundamental reality. 

This is not about pro-abortion advocates softening kids up with arguments for why women might want or need an abortion in some circumstances; by characterizing abortion as a "superpower," the goal is to inculcate the belief that the ultimate good is pure realization of our desires. 

3) “Confirming Covid Jabs Killed Kids Reinforces Gen Z’s Distrust Of Government” (Brooke Brandtjen, Federalist)

From the article -- Now that we know that the vaccine had deadly effects on children, young people will respond to this in one of two ways. For those who are caught in the legacy media bubble, they will never be exposed to this truth. Fifty-one percent of American teenagers primarily get their news from social media, putting it ahead of both television and news sites. Eighty-six percent of Gen Z go to social media for news updates. Social media platforms, like the China-sponsored TikTok, will downplay the FDA’s admission of guilt if they acknowledge it at all.

Social media intentionally isolates teenagers from the truth, so that they are never exposed to data that challenges their leftist ideology. Instead, these teens will continue to mock “anti-vaxxers” and berate the Trump administration. Their political values have been ruined by hypnotic liberalism...

The other response from teenagers will be outrage...

Covid was the dividing moment for members of Gen Z. It destroyed their childhoods and fractured their friend groups into those who were and weren’t vaccinated. In June of 2020, I spent my 18th birthday alone because my friends’ parents were too afraid for their kids to be around other kids. One of my friends was graciously allowed to sit on the porch with me for an hour — but had to sit five feet away.

The young people who experienced this gross misuse of power will never trust institutions again. Their skepticism about Covid was justified, and they now know that their childhoods were stifled without cause. As more conservative conspiracies turn out to be true, this trend will only continue. From Russiagate to the mental decline of Joe Biden to election fraud, the institutional lies have become standard. 

4) “We Must Not Be Silent in the Face of Evil” (Eric Metaxas, Decision)

From the article -- When believers do not understand or ignore what they know is God’s will, they’re inclined to make pious-sounding excuses, even quoting Scripture, to do what is actually the opposite of God’s will.

For instance, they say, “God has not called us to politics.” The idea that we’re supposed to divorce our faith from the political or cultural realm is a complete misreading of Scripture, and it’s exactly what happened during German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s time. The German church used spiritual-sounding excuses to avoid standing up against the Nazis, and they allowed evil to be unleashed because they thought they were being good Christians by refusing to get involved politically. They were deadly mistaken.

If the churches had understood God’s call to live out their faith in the culture, as Bonhoeffer did, the Nazis would never have been able to take power. But most Christians didn’t want to cause trouble, and they believed that they were theologically correct in that. So they abdicated the vital job that God gave them to put their faith into action and to take their faith into the political sphere against the Nazis.

It’s as important as anything can be for Christians to know that we are not called simply to give intellectual assent to theological ideas. We’re called to live out our faith in Christ, whether it’s in politics, in our communities or any other realm. We live out what we believe by taking action.

5) “UN COP30 Climate Summit Unites World Religions Under The Cult Of ‘Earth Worship’” (Alex Newman, Harbinger’s Daily)

From the article -- Two crucial spiritual elements long documented by The New American about this environmental holy war were on full display in Belém. First, COP30 showed unprecedented religious convergence — a “spiritual coalition” bringing all the major religions and religious movements of the world together behind the UN climate program. The unity revolves around an emerging new moral framework that replaces historic biblical understandings of sin with a new vision, where CO2 emissions and other alleged offenses against “Mother Earth” are the real moral evil. COP30 culminated with a virtual interfaith climate liturgy.

Second, COP30 and the broader climate movement are now increasingly and openly integrating pagan and pantheistic spirituality into everything — all while marginalizing the biblical worldview. This was on full display throughout the summit. At official events throughout COP30, Indigenous rituals and pagan earth-worship symbolism were not only present — they were center stage in discussions about the damage humans are supposedly doing to “Mother Earth.”

Supposed man-made climate change has for years served as the perfect pretext for uniting the religions of the world behind a common cause. As The New American reported in 2022 from the COP27 in Egypt, a global interfaith coalition worked with the UN to unveil a new “Ten Commandments” on Mount Sinai. Meanwhile, the George Soros and UN-funded group Religions for Peace, an outfit described by its leader as the “UN of religions,” brings together virtually all major religious organizations and traditions behind the UN and its agenda.  

Other recommended articles:

* “America’s stunning lack of academic freedom” (Richard D. Land, Christian Post)

* “Anna Lee Stangl: The Global South and Religious Freedom” (Yoe Suarez, Washington Stand)

* “He Put Her Into the Hospital; She Was Arrested for Using a Slur to Criticize Him for Doing So” (David Strom, Hot Air)

* “Raking In Hundreds Of Millions For Trafficking Kids Destroys U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Credibility On Immigration” (Maureen Mullarkey, Federalist)

* “The bishop who became Santa Claus” (Obianuju Mbah, Christian Today)