Why Jesus Came into the World

When my niece, Alexandria, was very young, she was always eager to come and help arrange the figures. She carefully studied the placement of every angel and shepherd, frequently stepping back to evaluate her work. This ritual always seemed to prompt questions: “Did the Baby Jesus get cold in the manger?” she would ask. “Did Mary and Joseph have a blanket to cover Him, or were those swaddling clothes warm enough?” One December, as we put out the worn old manger and its well-loved pieces, my niece asked her most profound question yet: “Uncle Alex, why did Jesus come?”

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Holy Land Tradition Kept Alive by Olive Wood Artisans

Thirty years ago Bassem Giacaman, whose large extended family has lived in this town for generations, immigrated to New Zealand with his parents and siblings in search of a life far away from the turmoil of the Middle East. They left behind a small shop and olive wood factory, one of a few dozen olive wood enterprises in and around Bethlehem, which Christians around the world revere as the birthplace of Jesus.

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Fed Court Rules Atlanta Abused Constitution By Sacking Fire Chief

U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May ruled Wednesday that Atlanta officials violated the Constitution in 2015 when they terminated then-Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran for not getting the city’s prior permission to write a religious book. The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) represented Cochran, a evangelical Christian, in the case, Cochran v. City of Atlanta. The judge upheld…

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Australian Government Worried US Will Take Jobs After Massive Tax Cut

Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison sounded alarm bells about the impact of the recently-passed American tax cuts on Australia’s economy. If Australia doesn’t pass its own version of the Trump tax cuts, Morrison fears the country will take a hit to its GDP of up to 1 percent. Morrison initially proposed a $65 billion tax cut, saying it will add 1 percent to Australia’s GDP. After Trump’s cut, however, Morrison warned that the cuts are necessary for the country’s economy not to contract.

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He Won ‘Survivor’ – and Deserved It for These Reasons

The latest winner of TV’s “Survivor” is a person even non-fans will want to celebrate. Ben Driebergen, an ex-Marine, was crowned winner of the 35th Season of the show, which tests survival and mental skills, on Wednesday night. Driebergen, 34, was open about his experiences with the United States Marines and the struggles he faced during his time spent overseas in Iraq. “I was a company honor man out of boot camp and school, and loved what I did,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “Certain things happen. You lose friends. The Marine Corps was a good experience, but it was also a bad experience.”

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President Trump Will Return to Nashville in January to Speak at Farm Bureau Convention

President Donald Trump will return to Nashville on January 8 to speak to the annual convention of the American Farm Bureau at Gaylord’s Opryland Hotel. “The American Farm Bureau Federation is honored to host our nation’s president,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said in a statement released on the organization’s website last week. “President Trump has said all along that he would make sure agriculture has a seat at the table when it comes to the top issues facing America’s farmers and ranchers. Now, it is our privilege to reserve a spot for him at our podium,” Duvall said. “Duvall considers President Trump’s announced speech as a sign of the high regard in which the nation’s chief executive holds America’s farm and ranch families,” the statement continued: “Farmers and ranchers and our rural communities are the bedrock of our nation. President Trump knows that, and his willingness to devote his time to talk directly with Farm Bureau members will be a memorable occasion,” Duvall said. After three consecutive years of decline in farm sector profits, President Trump will speak to Farm Bureau members during a period of prolonged economic challenge across farm country. Profits have fallen and many farmers have seen…

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Purdue, Maker of OxyContin, Launches Major Ad Campaign to Counter Critics

The company last week launched an advertising campaign in national newspapers, Washington publications, and local papers in its home state of Connecticut. In a statement, Purdue said the ads were part of a broader “long-term initiative,” but declined to provide details about what else would be included beyond the advertisements. “We manufacture prescription opioids,” reads one of the ads, a full-page spread in the Wall Street Journal on Monday. “How could we not help fight the prescription and illicit opioid abuse crisis?”

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Border Hawks Scoff at Dem Durbin’s ‘Compromise’ on DACA

A document described as Sen. Richard Durbin’s compromise offer to immigration hard-liners as part of an amnesty deal for illegal immigrants brought to America as children demonstrates one of two possibilities. Either the Illinois Democratic senator and his allies are lowballing Republicans as a negotiating tactic, or they think they can win legal status for beneficiaries…

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Commentary: Trump DOJ Anti-Trust Actions on Media Mega-Mergers May Protect First Amendment

By Rick Manning   The First Amendment to the Constitution protecting the right to engage in speech is fundamental to a free country. The past few years have seen multiple attempts by the Democratic Party and their far-left supporters to create a new definition of this right – the freedom from speech that one doesn’t like. While this trend toward the left trying to redefine rights as being freedom from activity they don’t like is not new, it has taken hold as the dominant philosophy of the Democratic Party in the past few years. It was just in September of 2014, that Senate Democrats voted to repeal the First Amendment and replace it with language that would end protections for political speech. Now, violent left-wing protesters shut down speeches of those they don’t agree with on college campuses and spent last year attacking Donald Trump supporters with the acquiescence of local officials and the police they direct in places like Chicago and San Jose, California. Facebook, Google, and Twitter have all come under fire for restricting speech from individuals and groups on the right with which their internal political culture disagrees. It is this new, intolerant attitude toward speech that is leading…

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9th Circuit Appeals Court Rules Against Trump Travel Ban for Third Time

A decidedly anti-Trump appeals court issued yet another ruling Friday blocking most of President Trump’s latest version of his travel ban, finding that the White House exceeded its powers. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said would-be visitors from six majority-Muslim countries can still travel to the U.S. despite the policy, as long as they…

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Veteran Owned & Operated Coffee Company ‘Fueling Freedom-Loving Americans’ While Starbucks Focuses on Hiring Refugees

When globalist Starbucks announced its pledge to hire 10,000 refugees in response to President Trump’s executive order instituting a temporary travel ban, former Special Ops veteran Evan Hafer, now CEO and founder of Salt Lake City, Utah-based Black Rifle Coffee Company (BRCC) had a better idea. Hafer said his veteran owned and operated company is working to employ 10,000 veteran service members and others who have served their country. Hafer, who had been roasting coffee for ten years between multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and taste-testing his roasts on the gun range while teaching tactical skills, launched his “premium conservative coffee company” in 2014. During interviews Hafer’s passion for roasting coffee, serving his country and supporting those who have served, is evident. He says simply, BRCC is different from other coffee sellers because it was “built from the ground up for people serving their country.” And instead of Starbuck’s globalist approach to business Hafer says it’s important to shift the focus closer to home. In that context, he makes a compelling case for the potential veteran worker pool of 2.5 million unemployed or underemployed post 9-11 vets and a veteran unemployment rate of 6.3% as compared to a 5% non-vet unemployment rate. Hafer…

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Faith: Verse of the Day for Saturday, December 24

Tennessee Star - Verse of the Day

  VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing December 24, Sunday John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”      

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