My Way News - Iran's roar shows widening sway of military
My Way News reports: In the high desert along Iran's Afghan border this week, soldiers from the powerful Revolutionary Guard practiced ambush tactics in subzero temperatures. Next month, the Guard's warships are expected to resume battle drills near Gulf shipping lanes that carry much of the world's oil. Iran looks like a country preparing for war.

My Way News - Japan arrests woman who lived with cult fugitive
My Way News reports: "A woman claiming to have lived with a senior member of the doomsday cult behind the 1995 nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subways turned herself in and was arrested Tuesday for helping him evade police for nearly 17 years [...] Hirata was one of the last three wanted cult members. Nearly 200 members of the cult have been convicted in the gas attack and dozens of other crimes [...] The cult, renamed Aleph, once had 10,000 members in Japan and claimed another 30,000 in Russia. It still has hundreds of members."

CBS News - Nigerian church attacked by radical Muslim sect
CBS News reports: "Members of a radical Muslim sect attacked a church in northeast Nigeria during a worship service, part of a series of assaults that killed at least 13 people, authorities said Saturday [...] The group claimed responsibility for attacks that killed at least 42 people in a Christmas Day strikes that included the bombing of a Catholic church near Abuja."

My Way News - Hamas PM: No ceding ground in struggle with Israel
My Way News reports: "Hamas' prime minister in Gaza says the anti-Israeli militant group will never give up its arms, its territory or its claims on Jerusalem on behalf of the Palestinians. Ismail Haniyeh spoke to a cheering crowd of 5,000 in the Tunisian capital Sunday."

My Way News - Clarification: Russia-Bhagavad Gita story
My Way News reports: "In a Dec. 28 story, The Associated Press reported that books distributed by the Scientology movement were among the texts that Russia had put on its Federal List of Extremist Materials, which bans them from distribution in the country. A Russian court ruled in June that certain Scientology texts were extremist and would be placed on the list, but the decision has not yet taken effect due to a still-pending appeal by the Scientologists."

My Way News - China slams new Asian slant in US defense strategy
My Way News reports: "China on Monday slammed the United States' new Asian-focused defense strategy, saying its accusations of a lack of openness in Beijing's military policy were "groundless and untrustworthy." The strategy unveiled Thursday shifts the U.S. military focus away from Iraq and Afghanistan and makes a renewed commitment to assert America's position in the Asia-Pacific region."

My Way News - Merkel, Sarkozy stress growth a priority in crisis
My Way News reports: "The German and French leaders stressed Monday that boosting economic growth in the 17-nation eurozone is a priority, a recognition that the focus on austerity cuts is unlikely to get Europe out of its debt crisis. Some analysts fear excessive austerity measures will take a heavy toll on weakening economic growth and push the eurozone into recession this year, in turn hindering the region's deficit-cutting efforts."

My Way News - PayPal tests in-store payment system at Home Depot
My Way News reports: EBay's PayPal service is testing out a payments system in brick-and-mortar Home Depot stores [...] To pay using PayPal, customers will be able to enter their phone number and a pin code, or use a special PayPal card."

My Way News - Egypt's Christians celebrate Christmas amid fears
My Way News reports: "Egypt's Christians on Saturday celebrated their first Christmas since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, amid tight security and a display of national unity to allay fears of the growing power of Islamists. The Coptic Orthodox celebration follows an escalation in violence against the minority, an estimated 10 percent of Egypt's 85 million people, over the past year. Many Christians blamed a series of street clashes, assaults on churches, and other attacks on radical Islamists who have become increasingly bold after Mubarak's downfall."

My Way News - Report: Iran begins uranium enrichment at new site
My Way News reports: "Iran has begun uranium enrichment at a new underground site well protected from possible airstrikes, a leading hardline newspaper reported Sunday [...] Iran is under U.N. sanctions for refusing to stop uranium enrichment - which can produce both nuclear fuel and fissile warhead material - and other suspected activities that the international community fears could be used to make atomic arms."

My Way News - Asian economies look to keep Iranian oil flowing
My Way News reports: "China, the biggest buyer of Iran's oil, has publicly rejected U.S. sanctions aimed at Tehran's energy industry while American allies Japan and South Korea are scrambling to find a compromise to keep critical supplies flowing [...] The sanctions approved by President Barack Obama on New Year's Eve have higlighted the importance of Iranian oil supplies to East Asia's energy-hungry economies [...] China buys nearly one-third of Iran's 2.2 million barrels a day in exports. Analysts say China would have a tough time replacing that supply."

My Way News - Gaza premier plays down talks with Israel
My Way News reports: "The prime minister of the Gaza government said Thursday the first meeting between Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators in more than a year was 'a futile gesture' that will lead nowhere."

Comment: Can it be that the news media is waking up to the fact that many Palestinians are not in favor of the peace process?

My Way News - Israel and US to stage major defense drill
My Way News reports: "The Israeli military is gearing up together with U.S. forces for a major missile defense exercise, the Israeli military announced Thursday, as tension between Iran and the international community escalates. The drill is called "Austere Challenge 12" and is designed to improve defense systems and cooperation between the U.S. and Israeli forces. It follows a 10-day Iranian naval exercise near the strategic Strait of Hormuz."

My Way News - China: Bird flu death not from human-human spread
My Way News reports: "The strain of H5H1 bird flu that killed a Chinese man cannot spread among people, a health agency said Monday, appealing for calm after the country's first reported case of the disease in humans in 18 months."

My Way News - WHO: Bird flu research raises safety questions
My Way News reports: "The World Health Organization is warning that dangerous scientific information could fall into the wrong hands after U.S. government-funded researchers engineered a form of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus more easily transmissible between humans."

Comment: So, a mix of good news / bad news on the pestilence front. Bird flu in China has not mutated into a strain easily transmitted between humans, but scientists have impatiently preempted nature and created the blueprint to create such a strain. What could go wrong?

Yahoo! News - Israel, Palestinians hold "positive" talks
Yahoo News reports: "Israeli and Palestinian negotiators held a "positive" first face-to-face meeting in more than 15 months on Tuesday and agreed to meet again on Friday, but cautioned that full-blown talks were still some way off."

My Way News - Iran defiant amid appeals for European sanctions
My Way News reports: "Iran closed out naval war games in the Gulf on Tuesday much the way they began last month: striking a tone of military defiance while Western powers rallied behind tougher oil and financial sanctions as a crippling tool against Tehran's nuclear program."

My Way News - Iran warns US carrier: Don't come back to Gulf
My Way News reports: Iran's army chief on Tuesday warned an American aircraft carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf in Tehran's latest tough rhetoric over the strategic waterway, part of a feud with the United States over new sanctions that has sparked a jump in oil prices.

Yahoo! News - German Volcano Could Devastate Europe
Yahoo! News reports: "The Daily Mail stirs up some Euro anxiety with a headline today 'Is a super-volcano just 390 miles from London about to erupt?' The story talks about the little known Laacher See volcano in northwestern Germany. It last erupted about 12,000 years ago and the Daily Mail believes it is due to erupt again."

MSNBC - Islam terror group tells Christians: Leave north Nigeria or be attacked
MSNBC reports: Christians have been warned by a militant Islamist group to leave northern Nigeria or be attacked, according to media reports. Abul Qaqa, a purported spokesman for Boko Haram, said the terror group was “giving a three-day ultimatum to the southerners living in the northern part of Nigeria to move away”, the English language Vanguard newspaper reported. The group has been linked to many attacks on Christians, most notably the bombings on Christmas Day killed 49 people, most of them at a Catholic church as services were ending."

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

I'm off for my holiday break and wanted to wish you all a happy and joyous Christmas. I know that the news we link to here is often grim but I'm sure that most of you who visit this site are Christians who understand that beyond the headlines we know that God is sovereign and always in control. We know that this effort to be watchful has a purpose and a focus, and that focus is on Jesus Christ.

We watch the signs of His return, but this season is all about the First Coming, not the Second Coming, so as we turn to our families and friends to celebrate the holidays we offer thanks and praise to God and above all, celebrate Jesus as the reason for the season.

Hark the Herald Angels Sing
lyrics by Charles Wesley

Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ by highest heav'n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

My Way News - Europe forges fiscal union, sees way out of crisis
My Way News reports: "Working almost to exhaustion and persuading countries one by one, European leaders agreed Friday to redefine their continent - hoping that by joining their fiscal fortunes they might stop a crippling debt crisis, save the euro currency and prevent worldwide economic chaos [...] Friday's agreement - 23 countries are in favor and three more say they are open to the idea - would force countries to submit their budgets for central review and limit the deficits they can run [...] A breakup of the euro would have disastrous consequences. It would almost certainly trigger a financial crisis while banks figured out who owned what and while countries leaving the union awkwardly transitioned back to their own sovereign currencies."

Comment: It appears that Europe has succeeded in a rescue plan for both the euro and the Union. 26 countries said yes, one said no. There is still much work to be done though in ratifying the new treaties (it's not just one) and many steps along the way where things can still unravel. Will the European Union continue to grow and expand or collapse into a smaller more tightly integrated group? Keep watching.