When that first group of people gathered in Bethlehem, all of them had left home. They didn’t realize their gathering would be immortalized and celebrated every year for the next 2,000 years, but it has been. Remembering their absence from their homes reminds us that we are also away from our true, eternal home this Christmas. With each Christmas celebration, the Lord’s return draws nearer as does our arrival at our own heavenly home. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters at a press conference on Monday that the Jewish State is closely monitoring military exercises being conducted by the Iranian regime, underscoring large-scale repercussions for “any action against Israel” taken by Tehran. “We are following this and doing all the necessary preparations,” Netanyahu stressed. “I want to convey this clearly to Iran: Any action against Israel will be met with a very severe response.”

This was four men “marrying” each other. This was not a legal ceremony as polygamy is not legal in Germany, but the clergywoman said it was “marriage in the eyes of God.” But it is no such thing since God defines marriage as one man for one woman and calls the relationship these four men have with each other an abomination (Leviticus 20:13) and evidence of God turning them over to “dishonorable passions” and then to “a debased mind to do what ought not to be done” (Romans 1:26, 28).

Hundreds of Christians in China will likely spend Christmas in jail this year, according to a recent report. Starting on December 13, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mobilized “more than a thousand police officers, SWAT units, anti-riot forces, and firefighters” in the Zhejiang Province’s Yayang Town in Wenzhou City, raiding churches and conducting mass arrests of Christians, ChinaAid reported Friday.

“Nearly all U.S. hospitals participate in Medicare and Medicaid and this action is designed to ensure that the U.S. government will not be in business with organizations that intentionally or unintentionally inflict permanent harm on children,” the HHS press release stated. “Sex-rejecting procedures on children—which include puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical operations—expose them to irreversible damage, including infertility, impaired sexual function, diminished bone density, altered brain development, and other irreversible physiological effects.”

While the global spotlight on Australia is forcing the government to take long-overdue action to better protect the Jewish Community, the problem may be much more difficult to confront than leaders realize. Dean Dwyer underscored that his country and other Western nations remain "blind to the true source of antisemitism," and as a result, also blind to the cure.

In a culture drowning in emptiness, hurry, and hopelessness, people desperately need to hear the gospel message. The Christmas season hands you the perfect open door to share it. Hearts are more open at this time of year, and more people attend church during this holiday—especially on Christmas Eve—than any other typical day.

By now, I am sure you are all aware of the terrorist act perpetrated against Sydney’s Jewish community on the first night of Hanukkah in the iconic Sydney suburb of Bondi Beach. The warnings issued by Australia’s Jewish community since October 7 had largely been ignored by our ruling class. Now, we see the heartbreaking result of ignoring those warnings. Jewish men, women and children are dead, Jewish shops intend to close permanently for security reasons, and an entire community is in mourning. 

Satan will always have a special hatred for the Jews that is greater than his hatred for all other people, and that hatred will continue to express itself all the way into the Tribulation period as we see in the Book of Revelation. And anywhere you see anti-Semitism in the world, whether you see it in a nation, whether you see it in a city, whether you see it in a religion, whether you see it in an individual heart, or whether we see it in our own hearts, you are witnessing something that is demonic.