(Worthy Insights) – President Barack Obama made public statements as early as mid-December 2016 indicating that he was endorsing a predetermined CIA view about Vladimir Putin allegedly wanting Donald Trump to win and Hillary Clinton to lose. The intelligence community assessment (ICA) had not even been completed and was still being debated and drafted.

The record — bolstered by newly-declassified documents — shows that Obama was a central figure at key points throughout the Russiagate saga. Obama directed the creation of a new ICA on Russian meddling only after Trump was victorious in November 2016. Well before the ICA was finalized, Obama repeatedly endorsed the controversial and inaccurate conclusion from the CIA, run at the time by Director John Brennan. That conclusion was spun into a widely-adopted narrative that Putin had allegedly ordered election meddling in 2016 to hurt Clinton’s chances and to help Trump win.

Obama endorsed an anonymously-leaked CIA assessment on Russian meddling in mid-December 2016 during an interview with NPR, roughly two weeks before the ICA was finalized in late December 2016. Obama said during the interview that no one should be “surprised by the CIA assessment that this was done purposely to improve Trump’s chances” — a claim he was making following anonymous leaks to the media about the CIA’s alleged position, preempting the completion of the formal ICA later that month. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – The Temple Institute announced on Tuesday that the remaining red heifers that had been brought from Texas by Boneh Israel to perform the Biblically mandated purification ceremony are not suited for the ceremony.

“The three weeks of intensified focus and adoption of customs of mourning over the destruction of the two Holy Temples in Jerusalem have ended,” the announcement read. “But our recap of all the work the Temple Institute is involved with, the one aim of rebuilding the Holy Temple and renewing the Divine service is far from exhausted.”

The Temple Institute described its more than two decades of efforts to find a suitable red heifer. A red heifer is an entirely red female cow with no more than one non-red hair on its entire body. In the language of the Bible, red is not exclusively what we know today as red. It also includes brown and other similar shades of red. This excludes black. All of the hairs on its body must be the same color. The animal must also be two years and one month old. There can be no blemish, no holes in the ear, and it may never have carried a burden. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – Along the storied Silk Road, in the spiritual heart of Central Asia, an unlikely movement is quietly growing behind closed doors.

In Bukhara, a city revered in Islam with more than 2,000 years of history and home to the region’s oldest mosque, a small but determined group of Christians is worshipping, praying, and sharing the gospel with boldness and courage.

Nestled among ancient architecture and bustling bazaars, house churches are emerging, hidden from public view but alive with whispered worship and bold faith. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – Summertime means Vacation Bible School for many churches across the country. For more than a hundred years, VBS has provided children a week-long, faith-based experience combining learning with fun and fellowship.

Excitement filled the air at Kempsville Baptist Church in Virginia Beach on a recent hot Wednesday night in July, as children from kindergarten through 5th grade showed up for their 3rd night of VBS. Bible lessons combined with games, crafts, music and other activities engage the young people while helping them grow in their faith.

This year’s focus is magnifying the Lord.

Lifeway VBS Specialist Melita Thomas told CBN News, “It’s all about seeing the bigness of God in the small details of His creation. For a generation of kids that is plagued with isolation, that’s plagued with anxiety and loneliness and worry to have a message that the God of the universe is never too busy for you, that He sees you and knows you and loves you, He made you, you are not a mistake. He knows how many hairs are on your head. He loves you so much that He chose to die to pave the way for our relationship to be restored to Him.”

[ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – Every Evangelical Christian who values truth should be both sickened and angered by the conduct of the New York Times.

On Friday, the NYT published a front page story with this incendiary headline: “Young, Old, and Sick Starve to Death in Gaza: ‘There’s nothing.’”

To illustrate their accusation that Israel is purposefully starving the two million residents of the Gaza Strip, the NYT ran a photo of a severely emaciated child being held in his mother’s arms as she looks distraught and he looks like he’s on the verge of death. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – The New York Times amended its article that detailed starvation in Gaza on Tuesday to include that a child featured in the story and its front page, Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, had a preexisting medical condition that impacts his appearance.

“We have since learned new information, including from the hospital that treated [Mutawaq] and his medical records, and have updated our story to add context about his pre-existing health problems.”

The amendment came after the Israeli Consulate General in New York made the request, and after the photo of Mutawaq with his brother spread across social media. The consulate informed the NYT of Mutawaq’s medical condition, according to Israeli media, citing Israeli sources. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – President Donald Trump’s administration notched another huge win for Americans of faith on Monday, announcing that they would be able to share their religious beliefs at work.

The memo, The Hill noted, said that federal employees may persuade others why their religious beliefs are “correct” and that they would “be permitted to display and use items used for religious purposes or icons of a religiously significant nature, including but not limited to bibles, artwork, jewelry, posters displaying religious messages, and other indicia of religion (such as crosses, crucifixes and mezuzahs) on their desks, on their person, and in their assigned workspaces.”

“The Federal workforce should be a welcoming place for Federal employees who practice a religious faith. Allowing religious discrimination in the Federal workplace violates the law,” the memo from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management read. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – The release of declassified material has shed new light on the creation of the Russian collusion investigation and many of the names are crushingly familiar. Indeed, Congress is moving to “round up the usual suspects” in light of the new revelations. It is the story of the real Russian conspiracy: how high-ranking officials in the Obama Administration seeded this false claim with the help of an eager, unquestioning press corps.

Not surprisingly, the media, which spent years repeating the false Russian collusion claims, is doing a full-court press to kill the story. Yet, many of these key figures are retaining counsel in anticipation of the unfolding investigation. Many previously secured contracts with MSNBC or CNN, or book deals, where they doubled down on the false claims detailed in these new documents. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – Almost 200 people were baptized during a Sunday night worship service and a planned outdoor event hosted by Manna Church in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

As CBN News has reported, Manna Church is a multi-campus congregation whose expressed mission is to plant a church near every U.S. military base around the globe.

The church hosted a “Worship & Baptism in the Park” event at Festival Park in Fayetteville and saw 193 people make a public declaration to put their faith in God, as many more gathered to praise the name of Jesus. [ Source (Read More…) ]