A 2020 ‘What If’ Year In Review 💢

Breaking News Updates – December 26, 2020

BY DEBORAH HOMEISTER DECEMBER 26, 2020

A 2020 ‘What If’ Year In Review

Year end reviews are common. But what kind of review is in order for such an uncommon year, as 2020? An uncommon review. What if 2020 is not the storm, but the calm before the storm?

Year end reviews are common. But what kind of review is in order for such an uncommon year, as 2020?
An uncommon review.
If you are at all Biblically familiar, you have heard the popular phrase: ‘last day’s’. And while many may argue that we are indeed in that period of human HIStory, few would suggest that we are in the last of the last days known as The Great Tribulation, which is characterized in part, by a global leader with world-wide dominance, who demands full submission from the peoples of the earth. 
The intent of this review will be to examine what may potentially be a precursor, a global set up if you will, for those dreaded final years. Therefore, this will be a review of 2020 which will focus on a series of very provocative ‘what if’ questions, designed to encourage us to think Biblically, critically, yet outside the box. 
It will not be the purpose of this article to attempt to answer any of these questions. Rather, to suggest that we each examine the Word of GOD and look about us with a Biblically discerning eye, inquiring of the LORD to accurately connect the dots between what He has said and what our eyes see. In other words, to ‘Watch and Pray’, to be ‘sober minded’ in order that we be able to discern the will of the LORD and to not be caught unaware by the schemes of the Enemy. And so…
• This period we are in is being used by Holy, Righteous GOD, as a judgement against all of the innocent blood that has been poured out over the whole earth, by allowing the ‘enemy to come in like a flood’ to set the stage for the final period of human HIStory known as The Great Tribulation/Time of Jacob’s Trouble?
• The use of a global threat of a killer virus – has all been deliberately planned:
(1) To collapse the US economy by the unprecedented, prolonged closing of businesses?
(2) To force as many Americans as possible to become dependent upon the government for their: food, housing, medical care & transportation – so that the truth of the scripture which says “The borrower is slave to the lender” will reach its full application and the vast majority of Americans will have no choice but to come crawling to the almighty provider: The Government?
(3) To erase the lives of the most vulnerable among us, those who cannot contribute to society but are merely a drain on the resources of Government – the elderly, those with multiple ‘co-morbidities’, the disabled and the poor, allowing the young and healthy to be relatively unaffected?
• There is a speedy (‘miraculous’) development of a vaccine just in the nick of time to ‘save’ the human race from a virus with a 99% survival rate?
• This vaccination is accompanied by bold calls for the forced vaccination of the entire population?
• The refusal to be vaccinated would result in the inability to hold a job, freely travel, receive an education, attend public gatherings or receive other medical treatment?
• Your extended family and friends forbid personal contact, unless you’ve been vaccinated?
• Your church family requires proof of vaccination?

What would you do? 
Perhaps it would be wise to consider such potential realities – before – we have the pressure of being faced with such decisions? 
Furthermore, knowing that it is always in the heart of our loving Father, to bless and not curse, that He desires for His bride to ‘return to her first love’ to refine His own like pure gold and that He delights in taking what the enemy has intended for evil and using it for the good of those who are the called according to His purposes might it be possible, even likely that our Sovereign GOD is accomplishing two dramatically opposite things at the same time? 
We need only reflect on the way in which He used the enormously trying experiences of Joseph’s surrendered life, to refine and prepare him for the calling placed on his life as a young boy. And what of the shepherd boy called to be King? 
With a surrendered heart, God was able to prepare David for the Throne. The Word of GOD is replete with examples of how adversity and even judgement could be used to accomplish profound transformation and blessing in both individuals and nations – at the same time – for those willing to surrender to Him.
So, what if – 
• 2020 is not the storm, but the calm before the storm?
• This year long ‘time-out’ which may have been orchestrated by the Enemy of man’s soul, is also being used by the Most High GOD, the lover of mankind, as a Divine gift?
• He allowed this gift of time, to remove all that has distracted us?
• He has allowed this gift of a quiet time, in order to remove all of the ‘noise’, that humanity might ask some really important questions about the purpose of life and what really happens after death?
• He is using what was intended by worldly forces for evil – to invite humanity to seek Him, the source of life and hope?
• He is calling His own to put away ‘the sin that so easily entangles’ that we might know Him on a deeper level, in order to strengthen us to ‘run and not grow weary’ in the real fight that lies just ahead? 
What if – you knew that the ‘night’ is nearly over and ‘day’ is almost here, would it spur you on to get serious with the LORD, would it give you courage to keep on keeping on? 
What if – you knew you only had a short time left to reach someone dear to you, with the love of Christ and the hope of forgiveness and newness of life?
What if – you have become spiritually sleepy, and continued to hit the snooze button when your Heavenly Father has sounded the alarm to you again and again: ‘Wake up, oh sleeper! Arise!’ 
What if – you have grown spiritually lazy and fat and you only had now to get into spiritual shape for the fight before you, remembering that ‘the weapons of our warfare are not carnal’ and that ‘we do not fight against flesh and blood, but spiritual force of wickedness…’? 
What if – 2020 is your last warning from your loving Heavenly Father to return to your first love? 
And what if – the Lord of Glory would want to use you, to be a light in this ever-darkening world, to allow others to draw near to the source of your peace and hope, Jehovah Shalom?
It is my sincere prayer as we approach this year end, reflecting upon the uniqueness of 2020, that we will do so with an air of solemnity, of deep contemplation before the LORD, because He is absolutely speaking. May we each have ‘ears to hear what the Spirit is speaking…’ and hearts that surrender, willingly.

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The Sword Of The Lord ~ Dr. Shelton Editor ~ November 13, 2020

Judges 7:20 King James Version (KJV)
And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.

An Independent Christian Publication, Standing for the Verbal Inspiration of the Bible, the Deity of Christ, His Blood Atonement, Salvation by Faith, New Testament Soul Winning and the Premillennial Return of Christ; Opposing Modernism (Liberalism), Worldliness and Formalism.

The Amen Corner

I believe that a long step toward public morality will have been taken when sins are called by their right names. -Billy Sunday

Prayer – secret, fervent, believing prayer – lies at the root of all personal godliness. -William Carey

Prayer is not learned in the classroom but in the closet. -E. M. Bounds

I have always said, I always say, that the studious perusal of the sacred Volume will make better citizens, better fathers and better husbands. -Thomas Jefferson

Faith goes up the stairs that Love has made and looks out of the windows which Hope has opened. -Charles Spurgeon

I have seen rainbows and orange blossoms and clover fields. I have heard the birds singing and have seen bees sipping honey from the clover blossoms and I have had a bee gum in the backyard of my soul that I haven’t robbed this spring and my bees have swarmed every week for thirty years and my pancake tree is loaded to the waterline and my honey pond is deep enough to swim in and I don’t call the Devil “colonel” anymore. I just call him Devil, for he is one; and he knows he is and I won’t take it back. Amen! -Bud Robinson

Those that have long served God and been kept from gross sins have a great deal to be humbly thankful for but nothing proudly to boast of. -Matthew Henry

If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under. -Ronald Reagan

Some come to me and say, “You do not really believe there is such a thing as everlasting retribution and future punishment, do you?”

Yes I do! The same Christ who talked to us about that bright Upper World has given us a picture of the lost. In Luke 16:19-31 it has been drawn very vividly by the Master Himself. We hear a voice coming up out of the lost world – of the man that was once upon the earth and fared sumptuously every day, yet was lost, not for time but for eternity.

Over and over again, Christ warned those who hung upon His words. Once, in speaking to His disciples, He spoke about the worm that dieth not, about one being “cast into hell…where their worm dieth not” (Mark 9:45,46). -D. L. Moody

Had I cared for the comments of people, I should have never have been a missionary. -C. T. Studd

Secular Activists Want Seat At Biden’s Table To Attack Religious Freedoms

Breaking News Updates – December 16, 2020

Secular Activists Want Seat At Biden’s Table To Attack Religious Freedoms

BY TONY PERKINS/FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL DECEMBER 16, 2020

Like every other radical group hoping to cash in from a Joe Biden presidency, the Secular Democrats for America have come forward with a blueprint of their own to dismantle 240 years of American freedom.

Like every other radical group hoping to cash in from a Joe Biden presidency, the Secular Democrats for America have come forward with a blueprint of their own (Emphasis on the word blue.) 
Claiming to be the fastest growing non-religious religious group, they’re demanding a seat at the administration’s table to dismantle 240 years of American freedom. Will they get it? Under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, anything is possible.
It’s a document that will make anyone’s head spin. Lashing out at Donald Trump’s four years of what they call “anti-democratic, anti-scientific” policy, they argue that now is the time to take back the country from the Christian conservative movement. Help us, they implore, “dismantle its grip on our government and counter its inaccurate and revisionist messaging around our nation’s founding.”
How? With a laundry list of changes that would take a bulldozer to our religious foundations. They call for things like dropping God from the Pledge of Allegiance and our national motto, ending government partnership with faith-based groups (including hospitals!), abolishing conscience rights, canceling contracts with religious adoption and foster care centers, forbidding the mention of religion or God in federal buildings and offices, banning pastors from speaking on cultural issues, nominating judges that would put secularism ahead of any legitimate First Amendment grievance, putting non-religious people on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, force government officials to check their faith at the door of public service and 25 other pages of dangerous and unconstitutional ideas.
In one portion, they even “support the recognition of humanist chaplains” in the military. Now, wait a minute. They call themselves non-religious but they want to be included in a religious dialogue? 
That only validates the point that’s been made for years about secularism — which is that it’s a religion. And, as we see in this document, they want to be treated like one. Atheist chaplains? That’s like vegetarian carnivores. It’s an oxymoron. They don’t exist.

In true hypocritical fashion, they call out the Trump administration for advancing a conservative Christian agenda, and then offer a path for the Biden-Harris administration to “restore the secular government envisioned by our nation’s founders.” 
A minute ago, they were accusing evangelicals of being too political. And yet, here they are, demanding that their own religion — secularism — reign supreme in the policies of the federal, state, and local governments. Washington, D.C. is just the first wave. Your community is next. “We are hopeful,” they write, “that soon there will be secular or Freethought caucuses in legislative bodies throughout the country.”
They don’t just want to attack your freedom through the federal legislative and executive branches. They want to fight this battle in your state! “We implore you,” these activists go on, “to help educate the American public by reasonably defining what religious freedom really means…” In other words, you can believe what you want in your head, but you can’t live it out in society. That’s what they want.
As hostile as Barack Obama was to religious liberty, his two terms were a love pat compared to what these activists want. This is a nationwide, top-to-bottom cleansing of any faith-based idea, institution, or tradition. 
Would Joe Biden go through with all of it? Probably not, but let’s be honest: he’s a puppet on the strings of the radical Left. And if there’s one group of people they all have in their crosshairs, it’s the faith community. The church needs to understand what’s coming and prepare to stand aggressively against it.
One way we can do that is in Georgia, where two Senate seats can make the difference between giving Joe Biden a blank check and ensuring there is a check on his incoming agenda.
Originally published at Family Research Council – reposted with permission.

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Bracing For A Painful 2021: 38% Of Americans Expect To Live In ‘Survival Mode’

Breaking News Updates – December 15, 2020

BY MICHAEL SNYDER/ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG DECEMBER 15, 2020

Bracing For A Painful 2021: 38% Of Americans Expect To Live In ‘Survival Mode’

Traditionally, Americans have looked forward to the turn of the year with tremendous optimism, but this time around things are very, very different.

If nearly 40 percent of the entire nation anticipates spending the next 12 months in “survival mode”, that is not a good sign for what the coming year will bring.  
Traditionally, Americans have looked forward to the turn of the year with tremendous optimism, but this time around things are very, very different.  2020 brought us the COVID pandemic, tremendous violence and civil unrest in our major cities, and the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.  
Sadly, a large chunk of the country is anticipating more difficulties in the coming months, because one recent survey found that 38 percent of all Americans plan to spend 2021 in “survival mode”…
Of the 3,011 surveyed adults, over 38% said they will spend the year in “survival mode,” meaning they’ll focus on the day-to-day rather than long-term goals to try to get themselves and their families through 2021.
The biggest reason why so many anticipate being in “survival mode” is because of the financial problems that they experienced this year.  According to that same survey, a whopping 68 percent of all Americans say that they experienced some sort of “financial setback” in 2020…
Although some respondents maintained their usual income over the past year, 68% had setbacks. Of those, 23% lost a job or household income; 20% had an unexpected non-health emergency; 18% had to provide unexpected financial aid to family or friends; and 16% had a health emergency in their family.
As I keep reminding my readers, Americans have filed more than 70 million new claims for unemployment benefits this year, but even many of those that have been able to keep their jobs have fallen on very hard times.
Another new survey found that approximately one-third of all full-time workers in the U.S. “have experienced a pay cut” in 2020…
Roughly 1 in 3 full-time workers have experienced a pay cut due to the coronavirus pandemic this year, according to a recent MagnifyMoney survey of 984 professionals surveyed Nov. 6 to 11.
If you were employed throughout all of 2020 and you are still able to pay all of your bills on time, you should be very thankful for your blessings, because you are now in the minority.
For most Americans, the past 12 months have been exceedingly painful, and this new round of lockdowns promises to extend the economic suffering long into 2021.
Some industries that were absolutely devastated by the first round of lockdowns are officially in panic mode at this point.  For example, we have already permanently lost approximately 17 percent of all of the restaurants in the entire country, and the National Restaurant Association is warning that 10,000 more could permanently shut down “in the next three weeks”…
About 17% of America’s restaurants have already permanently closed this year, with thousands more on the brink according to a new report.

The National Restaurant Association is publicly pleading with Congress to pass new stimulus to help the industry that has been damaged by the pandemic. The group said Monday that 10,000 restaurants could close in the next three weeks, in addition to the 110,000 that have already shuttered in 2020.
Even during the best of times, running a successful restaurant is exceedingly difficult.  The margins are razor thin, new competition is always popping up, and employees are constantly coming and going.
When you add a global pandemic on top of all of that, it has become almost impossible for many eateries to keep going, and we are being told that the future for the industry looks quite “bleak”…
87% of full-service restaurants (independent, chain, and franchise) report an average 36% drop in sales revenue. For an industry with an average profit margin of 5%-6%, this is simply unsustainable. 83% of full-service operators expect sales to be even worse over the next three months.
Although sales are significantly lower for most independent and franchise owners, their costs have not fallen by a proportional level. 59% of operators say their total labor costs (as a percentage of sales) are higher than they were pre-pandemic. 
The future remains bleak. 58% of chain and independent full-service operators expect continued furloughs and layoffs for at least the next three months.
Of course it isn’t just the restaurant industry that is laying off workers in large numbers.
Just about every day there are more major layoff announcements in the news, and many experts are expecting the job loss numbers to accelerate as we make the transition into 2021.
Without paychecks coming in, millions of unemployed Americans are unable to pay the bills, and we are being warned that we could be facing a historic tsunami of evictions starting just after the holiday season…
The day after Christmas, the extended unemployment benefits that have kept 12 million people and their families afloat are scheduled to expire. Then, mere days after that cliff, on New Year’s Day, a national ban on renter evictions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also set to lapse.
Overnight, an unprecedented bill of $70 billion in unpaid back rent and utilities will come due, according to estimates by Moody’s Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi. In all, up to 40 million people could be threatened with eviction over the coming months, research from the Aspen Institute says.
The politicians insist that they are keeping us caged up for our own good, but the truth is that they are absolutely destroying millions upon millions of lives in the process.
There is a lot of debate about whether or not the lockdowns have helped to prevent the spread of the virus, but what we do know is that thousands of businesses have been permanently destroyed, millions of jobs have been lost, more people are committing suicide, and Americans are increasingly engaging in self-destructive behaviors…
Overall, one in three Americans report binge drinking during the coronavirus pandemic. The average person also reports spending about four weeks in lockdown this year; spending 21 hours a day at home. More than seven in 10 people in the survey did not even leave their home for work.
If we cannot even handle the COVID pandemic, how in the world is our society going to be able to handle what else is coming?
As things continue to unravel all around us, people are going to be in great need of hope.
Millions of Americans are already in “survival mode”, and the road ahead is certainly not going to get any easier.
Originally published at Economic Collapse Blog – reposted with permission.

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Tis the Season… for Censoring Christians

Pulpit & Pen

“Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.”
-Benjamin Franklin

Be honest.

Have you violated any community standards lately?

We all have, it seems.

Lately, just about any frank statement of truth ends up violating someone’s “community standards.”

At Pulpit & Pen (now Protestia) we told them we would NEVER self-censor. Other news outlets would play the game. We would not. The threat of the Ban-Hammer would have no impact on our conviction that the truth must be told.

While others played it safe this year and ducked under the radar, we chose to speak out more loudly and forcefully than anyone else you can imagine.

We told the truth about the unlawful church closures, fake national emergencies, and the fake Christian theologians selling out the church. We demolished the mainstream media narratives being pushed by everyone—from CNN and Facebook to The Gospel Coalition and Russell Moore’s ERLC.

Our reporting this year has contributed to an undeniable shift in the Christian landscape. The old Intelligentsia are in retreat. They know that the jig is up. The truth will not be stopped.

Our choices have cost us in some ways. At various times, we’ve been throttled, banned, demonetized, blacklisted, and, most recently, simply deleted.

But we keep coming back. Here’s why that level of persistence is possible:

1) God is faithful.

2) We believe in our mission to keep reporting the truth, no matter what.

3) You, our readers and donors, believe in this mission just as much as we do.

We are proud of the work we did in 2020. We remain in a strong position to continue doing the same quality reporting in 2021, thanks to you.

There is no doubt about it: Our no-holds-barred model of “guerrilla journalism” works. We know what it takes to get the truth out. With your help, we can continue strong in 2021, reporting in a way that glorifies God, convicts sinners, and edifies the saints.

If we earned your trust in 2020, please consider coming onboard as a regular donor. Or make a one-time gift at the end of the year.

Here are the two ways you can donate:

• To make a one-time gift, click here. Or, you can send a check payable to Polemics Report at 2181 W. Holly St, Sidney MT 59270.
• To set up a monthly donation through Patreon, click here. You’ll get free stuff when you do that.

We are the news source that will tell you the truth, no matter what. Thank you for your generous support and for helping Protestia continue the work of polemics.

Joy to the World

December 25 | Bible in a Year: Zephaniah 1-3; Revelation 16

Joy to the World God so loved the world. John 3:16 READ JOHN 3:1–8, 13–16

LISTEN ONLINE

Every Christmas we decorate our home with nativity scenes from around the world. We have a German nativity pyramid, a manger scene fashioned out of olive wood from Bethlehem, and a brightly colored Mexican folk version. Our family favorite is a whimsical entry from Africa. Instead of the more traditional sheep and camels, a hippopotamus gazes contently at the baby Jesus. The unique cultural perspective brought to life in these nativity scenes warms my heart as I ponder each beautiful reminder that Jesus’ birth was not just for one nation or culture. It’s good news for the whole earth, a reason for people from every country and ethnicity to rejoice. The little baby depicted in each of our nativity scenes revealed this truth of God’s heart for the entire world. As John wrote in relation to Christ’s conversation with an inquisitive Pharisee named Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The gift of Jesus is good news for everyone. No matter where on earth you call home, Jesus’ birth is God’s offer of love and peace to you. And all who find new life in Christ, “from every tribe and language and people and nation” will one day celebrate God’s glory forever and ever (Revelation 5:9). By Lisa M. Samra REFLECT & PRAY Father, thank You for providing salvation through the gift of Your Son. In what unique ways do you celebrate the birth of Jesus? How might the reminder of God’s love for the whole world bring joy this Christmas season?

SCRIPTURE INSIGHTNicodemus is first mentioned in John 3:1. He was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish civil and judicial authority. The Sanhedrin was led by the high priest and consisted of seventy members: “the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law” (Mark 14:53). Nicodemus is mentioned again in John 7:45-52 and finally in John 19:38-42. Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man and another prominent member of the council, asked Pilate for Jesus’ body to be taken down from the cross. Nicodemus and Joseph embalmed His body and buried Him in a new tomb, which belonged to Joseph (Matthew 27:57-60; Mark 15:43; Luke 23:50-53). K. T. Sim

December 25 – God Gave Himself

The Institute for Creation Research

December 25, 2020 God Gave Himself “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) It is singularly appropriate that we look at this greatest of all verses on Christmas Day, for it records the greatest of all gifts. The theme of giving is very prominent in the Bible, with such words as “give,” “gift,” “gave,” etc., occurring more than 2,100 times. The first is Genesis 1:16-17 when God created the sun, moon, and stars “to give light upon the earth,” and the last is Revelation 22:12 when Christ will return with His rewards to “give every man according as his work shall be.” “He…gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons,” as well as “life, and breath, and all things” (Acts 14:17; 17:25). But the greatest gift, clearly, was when God gave Himself for a lost and undeserving world. It was the greatest gift because it met the greatest need, revealed the greatest love, and had the greatest scope and purpose of any gift that could ever be conceived in the heart of an omniscient Creator. That was not the end of His giving, of course. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). “Trust…in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17). This great gift of God is abundantly sufficient to provide salvation and everlasting life for the whole world. But a gift only becomes a gift when it is accepted, and the greatest of all tragedies is that this greatest of all gifts has been spurned and even ridiculed, or—worst of all—simply ignored by multitudes who need it so much. When they brazenly refuse God’s free gift of everlasting life, they can only perish in everlasting death. God did all He could do when He gave His Son; for when He gave His Son, He gave Himself. HMM

Merry Christmas

Exploration Films

Merry Christmas In Tough Times While 2020 has been a tough year for us all we should remember that Jesus was born into a broken world too. King Herod, or Herod the Great as he liked to be called, was a jealous king, placed in power by the Roman Empire. Like most kings he wanted more power, not less power. Then, out of the east come these wise men (or scholars) on camels bearing fancy gifts, asking one question: where could they find the newly born King of the Jews? They added “We have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him” (Matthew 2:2). They didn’t come all this way to see king Herod but another King. Can you imagine what he was thinking? Another king? Here? Where I rule? Jesus represented a new kingdom, and His coming, represented a threat to other powers, by the kings like Herod, or spiritual authorities like the Pharisees, and even teachers of the law later in the gospels.   When the angels announced Christ birth they said  “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”  This is still true. God IS with us, with me and you. This Christmas let us welcome his Eternal Kingdom into our hearts and realize He is with us.  We wish you, your family, and loved ones a very Merry Christmas.

A Baby vs. the World

Colson Center for Christian Worldview

• CHUCK COLSON A Baby vs. the World A Christmas message came to my mind a few years ago as I stood shivering in the autumn chill at the grave side of Father Jerzy Popieluszko. Jerzy was a young pastor who once delivered the dynamic messages that stirred the Polish people to overthrow their Communist oppressors. His theme was always the same: The Christian is called to defend the truth and overcome evil with good.
• Father Jerzy was a young man, pale and gaunt, and his sermons were neither fiery nor eloquent. Yet his monthly masses, dedicated to the victims of Communist persecution, attracted tens of thousands of Polish people. He never preached revenge or revolution. He preached the power of good to overcome evil. It was a passion that dominated his own life, as well. In 1980, martial law was declared in Poland. Tanks and troops clogged the streets until the entire country was one vast prison. Jerzy hated the occupation as much as his countrymen, but he fought it using God’s weapons of overcoming evil with good. On Christmas Eve, Jerzy slogged through the snow handing out Christmas cookies to the despised soldiers in the streets. And even in his death, Jerzy was victorious. In 1984, he was kidnapped by the secret police. The nation was electrified. In churches and indeed in factories across Poland, people gathered to pray. Steelworkers demanded his release, threatening a national strike. Fifty thousand people gathered to hear a tape of his final sermon. Then the blow fell: Jerzy’s body had been found floating in the Vistula River. He’d been brutally tortured, his eyes and tongue cut out, his bones smashed. Yet the gentle pastor had taught his people well. After his funeral, hundreds of thousands of Polish people marched through the streets of Warsaw right past the secret police headquarters carrying banners that read, “We forgive.”
• They were assaulting evil with good. And under the impact, the Communist regime soon crumbled. In 1993, I traveled to Poland for the chartering of Prison Fellowship Poland, a ceremony held outside the very church where Jerzy had preached. His grave is in the courtyard, and as I laid a wreath of flowers on the grave, I looked up at the balcony where the martyred pastor once preached his most powerful message: “Overcome evil with good.” Suddenly, I felt a stab of conviction as though the Holy Spirit were saying to me, “Pick up the baton. Make that your message, too.” In that instant it was clear to me that the message Jerzy preached has always been God’s strategy for overcoming evil. The supreme example is the Incarnation itself, which we celebrate today–-the event when God Himself entered human history to overcome the evil of the world. America is not in the grip of a Communist regime as Poland was, yet Christians are battling a hostile secular culture. And we often wonder how we can fight more effectively. The answer is that God’s people are to fight evil using God’s strategy and God’s weapons. When God wanted to defeat sin, His ultimate weapon was the sacrifice of His own Son. On Christmas Day two thousand years ago, the birth of a tiny baby in an obscure village in the Middle East was God’s supreme triumph of good over evil. This commentary originally aired December 24, 1997  
•   Learn More… Make a year-end gift here! Colson Center | 2020   Get A Student’s Guide to Culture For today’s Christian teens and young adults who live in a culture that aggressively challenges their faith, this book offers a hopeful way forward by providing clear thinking and biblical truth on challenging topics such as gender identity, social media, addiction, pornography, and substance abuse. Order A Student’s Guide to Culture here!  Colson Center for Christian Worldview, PO Box 62160, Colorado Springs, CO 80962, USA, 877-322-5527Unsubscribe Manage preferences

A Weary World Rejoices

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

“And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.” —Matthew 2:9–11, ESV

Wishing you peace and joy this Christmas season.

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association