Boko Haram.

Boko Haram jihadists kill seven people and abduct a teenage girl in Christmas Eve raid on Christian village in Nigeria

Dozens of fighters driving trucks and motorcycles stormed into Kwarangulum in Nigeria on Tuesday, shooting residents and burning homes after looting food (file photo of soldiers in the region). Mail.

Oh, Dear.

Random Fact.

"At any one time about 0.7% of the world’s population is drunk."

Probably So.

Mealy-Mouthed, Democracy-Defying Bercow Is Sickening.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/25/john-bercow-decries-populism-in-alternative-christmas-message

May You Enjoy A Christ-Centred Christmas.

Churchianity or Christianity?

The impact of the Christian faith on the cultural history of the West is inescapably visible all around us. But how does the gospel of Jesus Christ relate to the society in which we live? What is the relationship between God’s Word-revelation and the Christian’s life in the world?

In Churchianity or Christianity?, Joe Boot answers these questions, calling Christians to see the need for scriptural cultural theology.

First edition, 2019.

Compassion, Kindness, Humility, Gentleness and Patience.

Some Stat!

Two-thirds of all Roman emperors died violently during their first year of rule.

Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology applied statistical methods used to test engineering components to the time-to-death. Mail.

Birdie.

In The Immortal Words of Mandy Rice-Davies - "Well, he would, wouldn't he?"

BBC Chief dismisses accusations of bias in politics coverage. Grauniad.

Nutz.

Franklin Graham ...

... is coming to preach in Sheffield later this year.

The campaigning to prevent him bringing the Word of God is noisy and has all the customary traits of the rent-a-mob hooligan mentality.

(Naturally, the CofE has taken against him.)

Preaching the Word can offend. So be it!

Odd though that when his Dad came to preach in the city more than three decades ago he was welcomed with open arms.

Well, the Gospel has not changed one jot in the intervening years ... but look at what our society has done to itself in the interim.

               The Word of God Is Eternal.

Arise SIR Nigel?

Should happen. This is the man without whom there would have been no Brexit at all.
Will it, though?

Bishop Patrick Wooden Sr.

Outspoken North Carolina Bishop Patrick Wooden Sr., founder of the conservative Upper Room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, slammed William J. Barber II, pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church, for hosting gay Democratic presidential candidate, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and for arguing that Jesus didn’t speak out against homosexuality.

“I’m a registered non-affiliate, so I don’t want you to think I’m in any party. I’m for the Lord and what is right, but it is a disgrace that we live in a country where, if a person of color dons a ‘Make America Great’ hat, people now, on MSNBC and other news agencies, they call that hat a trigger ... But you can invite a man married to man to a Christian church and there is no outcry,” Wooden declared in a message to his church earlier this month. “Something is wrong with that. And the only way to get you to buy into that, they’ve got to try and get you to ignore the Scriptures and to take Jesus Christ out of the public eye.” CP.

Missionary Doctor.

Dr. Tom Catena | African Mission Healthcare

It’s been nearly 20 years since award-winning American Catholic missionary Dr. Tom Catena arrived in Africa. Next month, Catena will complete his second decade of service as he has become one of the continent’s most important people.  

Catena, a 55-year-old native of upstate New York, is the only surgeon serving 1.3 million people in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, a region hit hard by government bombings against rebel-controlled communities. 

The Duke University graduate and former U.S. Navy doctor told The Christian Post in an interview that he originally traveled to Kenya in the early 2000s and only planned to stay for one year. 

But one year turned into two, and two turned into three, and before he knew it, he found himself being called in 2008 to help open and run a new hospital in a war-torn region of Sudan in desperate need of help as they faced genocidal violence and starvation.

“Once I came here, I just kind of stuck,” Catena said. “It was difficult and challenging. But even in the worst of times here, there is no place else I’d rather be.“

“Even when things are really bad and the fighting is serious and [we’re] in fear of being killed or have problems with the staff or logistics, I really feel like I want to stay here,” he said. 

Catena has all the reasons to stay now as he got married three-and-a-half years ago. Additionally, he and his wife, a local from East Nuba, are in the process of adopting a 1-and-a-half-year-old boy from South Sudan and are expecting his arrival any day now. 

“I am more or less here to stay,” Catena told CP. Sam Smith.

Christians Studying Law?

https://www.christianpost.com/sponsored/heres-what-christians-should-know-before-entering-law-school-expert.html

Extremist Songs = Hymns?

Tajik pastor charged with singing 'extremist songs' released from prison after 2.5 years

BY SAMUEL SMITH

A pastor in Tajikistan has been released from prison over two-and-a-half years after authorities raided his church, according to advocacy organizations. 

Failure After Failure - The Reality of Socialism.

Life Under Socialism

"They should wake up," says Gloria Alvarez. She is from Guatemala and says, "I've seen the impact of socialism. My father escaped Cuba. My grandfather suffered under Communists in Hungary before escaping."

"As a child, I was taught to mock socialism," she says, "but democratic socialism sounded OK. It made sense that government should take care of the economy. Then I watched democratic socialism fail in Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Chile, Nicaragua and Uruguay. I learned that every time a country started down the socialist path, it fails."

But every time a country tries it, even just a little of it, people applaud.

When Castro came to power, people cheered because he was going to help the poor and make everyone equal.

But governments can't plan things efficiently without the prices and constant individual decision-making that free markets provide.

The result in Cuba was economic stagnation and horrible loss of freedom.

Cuban refugees who now live in Miami's "Little Havana" neighborhood warn Americans about socialist promises.

Michel Ibarra told Alvarez, "You don't see any future. Everything is stagnated. Health care, education — nowadays they're in ruins."

Embracing Failures

Venezuela didn't learn from Cuba's problems. They voted in Hugo Chavez when he said that "capitalism is the realm of injustice" and promised wealth would be distributed equally.

But when there was no more money left to take from rich people, he did what many governments (including our own) do: He printed more.

That's caused inflation approaching 1 million percent.

When business owners raised prices to try to keep up, Chavez and his successor just seized many of them.

Again, Venezuelans applauded. Taking from the rich is popular. Ramon Muchacho, a former mayor in Caracas, told Alvarez that when Chavez seized businesses, people were "clapping so hard. They were like, 'Oh, finally there is somebody here making social justice!'"

But government grabbing private businesses creates shortages. Governments aren't good at running supermarkets. One Venezuelan refugee told Alvarez, "It's like the apocalypse. No food. No medicine."

But in the U.S., socialism still holds appeal.

False Comparisons

"Plenty of (socialist) countries are nothing like Venezuela," says comedian John Oliver.

"When I talk about democratic socialism, I am not looking at Venezuela," says Sen. Bernie Sanders, "not looking at Cuba. I'm looking at countries like Denmark, like Sweden."

So many American politicians now cite Denmark as a socialist paradise that Denmark's prime minister felt compelled to go on TV to say, "Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy. Denmark is a market economy."

Exactly. Socialism, democratic or tyrannical, means government owns or controls businesses.

In Scandinavia, business is largely left alone. Governments don't even set a minimum wage. Economic freedom rankings give Scandinavian countries high scores on property rights and business freedom.

Those countries do have big welfare programs, but they are funded by thriving free enterprise.

In addition, many cut back on their welfare programs after they discovered they were unsustainable or discouraged work.

Think about that the next time you hear celebrities saying "Sweden" and praising socialism.

As one Venezuelan refugee told Alvarez, "You don't need the government to dictate how to live your life, how much money you should make, how your family should be treated."

Increased government control rarely helps people. It wrecks economies. It wrecks lives.

• Stossel is author of "No They Can't! Why Government Fails — But Individuals Succeed." IBD.

Derisory Sentencing Is An Insult To Justice!

Four men have been jailed for more than 22 years in total after sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl who was 'passed around like a piece of meat', sold for sex and raped.

The Asian grooming gang from Telford forced their victim to perform sex acts in a churchyard, raped her above a shop on a filthy mattress, and violently abused her when she tried to refuse their advances, a court heard.

In all, five men went on trial at Birmingham Crown Court, leading to convictions for four of the defendants while another was cleared.

Sentencing the defendants on Thursday, Judge Melbourne Inman QC told the defendants: 'Each of you knew this girl was utterly defenceless and was being used as a sex object by others.'

Addressing the ring-leader Mohammed Ali Sultan, he said: 'At the relevant time, the victim was very vulnerable. The evidence is she lost her father in April, 2001.

+8

Pictured L-R: Mohammed Ali Sultan, Nazam Akhtar, Amjad Hussain, Mohammad Rizwan and Shafiq Younas

+8

+8

Shafiq Younas, 35 (left) was convicted of indecent assault and was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison. Amjad Hussain (right) who was found guilty of a single count of indecent assault but cleared of a similar offence, was jailed for four-and-a-half years

'In the months following, she fell victim to another man who abused her, raped her and other men repeatedly abused her.

'You, Sultan, became aware of her vulnerability and her helpless position, and when the other man who controlled her left, you took control of her yourself.

'At the time, you were only 18 months older than she was. You were 15 or 16 yourself.

'By then she was so vulnerable she submitted to your demands.

'The victim was clearly extremely frightened of you, and you exercised significant control over her.

'Sometimes you reinforced your control by a slap or her hair being pulled to ensure obedience.

'She described how you pulled off her lower clothing and raped her in the back of a car.

'Your control caused others to commit sexual offences against her.

'It's clear on the evidence you told the victim to perform sexual acts with your associates.'

The victim, who is now an adult, said the abuse started when she was 12 but lasted until her mid-teens after she was befriended by a man named Tanveer Ahmed.

+8

+8

Mohammed Ali Sultan, 33, formerly of Telford, was convicted of rape and three counts of indecent assault. Mohammad Rizwan, 37, of Telford, was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault and caged for five-and-a-half years

She claimed she was traded between men and forced to perform sex acts in a churchyard and raped above a takeaway shop on a dirty mattress in Telford, Shropshire.

Mohammed Ali Sultan, 33, formerly of Telford, was convicted of rape and three counts of indecent assault at Birmingham Crown Court.

Today, he was jailed for eight years with an extended licence period of two years and made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Sultan was also slapped with a restraining order preventing him from having contact with the victim indefinitely.

He already has previous convictions, in 2012 and 2015, for similar offences against young girls and an 18-year-old.

The current sentence will run consecutively to a six-year sentence he is already serving, giving a total of 14 years with an extended licence period of two years.

Mohammad Rizwan, 37, of Telford, was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault and caged for five-and-a-half years.

Forever.

Laura Kuenssberg Tells The Truth About Undemocratic Remainers.

The BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg insists that history will condemn Remainers for trying to subvert democracy and overturn Brexit. Speaking on the BBC's Brexitcast, Kuenssberg said historians will look back at this period of time and be mystified at why people tried to undo a democratic decision. This comes after Boris Johnson announced that the wrangling over Brexit was over, after MPs backed his plan to leave the EU at the end of January.

Kuenssberg said: "From a historical point of view, I think when people look back at this period and they examine the extent of the Labour defeat.

"I think people will look back and think, 'hang on - people voted for something in 2016 and then lots of people in the political establishment in Westminster spent three years trying to undo that. What?' Express.

"People thought we would be out the next day. Politicians on both sides, including the then-Prime Minister David Cameron stood on platforms and said if you vote this way, it will happen.

"They said there was no going back, and that this wasn't a vote that you can have a second opinion on."

Birdie.