2016 Year in Review

The year 2016 opened with a group of patriots taking a stand at a wildlife refuge in Oregon on January 2nd protesting the lawless oppression by the Federal Bureau of Land Management.  The standoff with federal agents was led by beloved local resident LaVoy Finnicum.  Finnicum was gunned down on January 26 by FBI agents as he traveled to a pre-arranged meeting with officials to discuss the situation. Following Finnicum’s murder, seven individuals were jailed until October 27, when they were finally aquitted of all charges.

On January 6th, North Korea announced it had successfully detonated its first hydrogen bomb.  Meanwhile, in the midst of Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, Iran seized several US Navy vessels and arrested ten US sailors taunting our nation publicly on world-wide news before releasing them January 13th.  Three days later, Obama’s deal with the terrorist nation officially took effect.  Obama and the UN immediately lifted all sanctions against Iran, and handed over $150 billion, even though Iranian leaders were still jubilantly laughing, and still shouting “Death to America.”

ISIS claimed responsibility for a terror attack in Jakarta, Indonesia on January 14th, and then the following day Al-Quaeda militants stormed a cafe and hotel in the West African nation of Burkina Faso, killing 30 people.  On the 16th, ISIS beheaded at least 150 people in Syria and kidnapped 400 new slaves.

Meanwhile, back in Iran, they finally released four American hostages, including Christian Pastor Saeed Abedin, who had been held there and tortured for nearly four years.  In August, we learned that Obama paid $400 million in cash, all in foreign currency as a ransom to allow the men to be released.  Incidentally, Obama’s Iran Deal allows that country to “self monitor” their own nuclear program, as long as they “cross their heart” and promise to abide by the rules.

On the 19th of January, a UN report revealed that ISIS had killed nearly 20,000 civilians in Iraq over the previous 21 months.  Pope Francis met with the Iranian President at the Vatican on the 26th, and on the 28th the World Health Organization introduced us to the “Zika” virus, calling it a “global emergency.”

On February 6th, thousands of people marched across 14 European countries, protesting the invasion of Islamic “migrants,” and an earthquake toppled a 17-story apartment building in Taiwan.  The following day, North Korea lauched a long-range rocket into space, violating numerous  treaties.

February 12 saw Pope Francis meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, in, of all places, Cuba, to sign an Ecumenical Declaration of unity.  The following day, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died suddenly under suspicious circumstances while vacationing in Texas.  An autopsy was never performed.

In South Dakota, on February 16, the State Senate passed a bill requiring “transgender” students to use restrooms and locker rooms corresponding to their biological sexes, but Governor Dennis Dauggard later vetoed it.

ISIS released the last 40 of 230 Assyrian Christians kidnapped a year earlier — after receiving millions of dollars in ransom on February 22nd.  The following day, Obama presented his outline to shut down Guantanamo Bay.

March 4th:  Islamic gunmen kidnapped a priest and killed 16 people including four nuns at a nursing home in Yemen.  Former First Lady Nancy Reagan passed away on March 6th at age 94.  Obama chose to play golf rather than attend the funeral.  Louisiana was hit hard with major flooding in March, which would return to bring more devastation to that state in August.  And Obama visited Communist dictator Raul Castro on March 20th.

It was March 22nd when three coordinated bombings took place in Brussels, Belgium, killing more than 30 people and injuring nearly 300.  ISIS claimed responsibility.     North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory signed a bill on March 23rd mandating students use restrooms corresponding to their biological sex.  The sodomites, Hollywood elites, music celebrities, and pro-LGBT corporations quickly — and loudly — objected, boycotting the state and causing numerous event cancellations.

Four days later, Muslims targeted Christians celebrating Easter in Pakistan, as a suicide blast killed 75 people and injured 340 others.

The governor of Mississippi signed a “religious freedom” bill on April 5th, designed to protect those who withhold services based on religious objections.  A magnitude 7.8 earthquake rocked the South American nation of Ecuador on April 16th, killing more than 650 people.  On the 20th, it was announced that Harriet Tubman will replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.  And on the 25th, Obama went “all out,” sending a whopping 250 troops to support Syria against ISIS.

May 2nd:  Puerto Rico officially defaulted on its $422 million debt.  On the 9th, North Carolina filed suit against the Department of Justice to defend it’s so-called “bathroom bill.”  In response, the DOJ filed a federal lawsuit to bar the bill’s implementation.  And on May 19 EgyptAir Flight 804 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea en route from Paris to Cairo.

On May 20th, Target Corporation announced that “transgender” people may use the restroom and changing facilities of their choice, regardless of their biological sex.  Obama immediately decreed that all public schools in the nation were ordered to follow suit, or lose federal funding.  But on May 25th, eleven states filed suit against the administration’s perverted demand.

On June 9th, California’s End of Life Option Act went into effect, giving doctors permission to prescribe lethal drugs to terminally ill patients.  Another Islamic terror attack took place on our shores June 12, in an Orlando night club for homosexuals, which killed 49 people and injured dozens more.  Another tragedy in Orlando two days later, when an alligator dragged a two-year-old boy into a lake at a Disney resort.

June 23 was the day that the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, and Prime Minister David Cameron resigned the next day.  Record flooding hit West Virginia in June, killing 26 people and devastating most of the state.  June 27th, our Pro-Death  Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional, two provisions of a Texas law regulating abortion centers, and the next day rejected the appeal of Washington state pharmacists who object to selling abortifacients.  The following day, ISIS attacked the Istanbul, Turkey airport, killing 41 and injuring more than 200.  Obama rounded out the month by ordering all branches of the armed forces to immediately enforce sensititivity training to better accommodate the wishes of gender-confused service members.

Meanwhile, another ISIS attack July 1st, this time at a restaurant in Bangladesh.  More than 20 more people dead.  Racial tension ramped up once again here in America on July 5th, after a police shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  The next day a similar incident occurred in St. Paul, Minnesota.  That same day, the Justice Department closed its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email crimes…. this just days after Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch met secretly, …ostensibly to discuss their “grandchildren.”

July 7, five Dallas police officers were gunned down by a sniper during a Black Lives Matter rally.  One week later, July 14, another Islamic attack in Nice, France, as a crazed Muslim drove a truck into a crowd of people gathered for a Bastille Day celebration.  At least 84 people were left dead and hundreds injured.   An attempted coup of Turkey’s government failed on July 15, but left more than 230 people dead, over 1,000 wounded, and thousands more under arrest.

Three more police officers were killed on July 17th in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Meanwhile, wildfires raged in California, causing nearly 100,000 people to flee their homes, and on July 22nd nine people were killed in Munich Germany and 16 others wounded by an 18-year-old Muslim “migrant.”  More violence — this time in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 13 when mobs began to riot amid growing racial tension there.

It was August 18th, when Obama finally admitted to a $400 million cash payment to Iran in exchange for the release of four American citizens, though he refused to call the transaction “ransom.”  On August 21st, a Texas judge defied the Obama administration, blocking his mandate related to students using restroom and locker room facilities of the opposite sex in public schools.  A magnitude 6.2 earthquake ripped through central Italy on the 24th, leaving a death toll of 240.

More Islamic horror was discovered on August 30th as the Associated Press documented 72 mass graves in Iraq and 17 in Syria containing the bodies of more than 15,000 victims of ISIS.

North Korea was at it again September 9th, in its fifth and largest nuclear test yet.  The blast set off an earthquake near the test site.  Meanwhile, New York and New Jersey police were investigating pipe bomb explosions that detonated just hours apart on September 17th.  And in the heartland, ISIS claimed responsibility for a knife attack at a shopping mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota, in which nine people were stabbed.  The Muslim “refugee” chose his victims because they admitted to being Christians.  September 20th:  more violent protests — this time in North Carolina after another police shooting.

On October 3rd, the US cut off diplomatic contact with Russia and Russia withdrew from a nuclear pact.  Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti on October 4th, killing at least 1,000 victims.  October 13th: 24 nations voted at the UN stating that Israel has NO RIGHT to the holy sites in Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount and the Western Temple wall.  October 24: the Obama administration finally admitted that premiums on Obamacare policies will see double-digit increases this year.

Many rejoiced at the defeat of Hillary Clinton by Donald Trump on November 8th.  Trump’s victory was followed by tearful and often violent protests of liberals across the nation.  On college campuses, distraught socialist students were offered teddy bears, crayons and Play Doh with which to console themselves in their “safe spaces.”  Leftist agitators, including George Soros, allegedly hired thousands of these “protestors” to riot in the streets, battling police, while burning, blocking traffic, looting stores and beating up innocent bystanders to show their outrage at Trump’s presidential win.  These “loving and tolerant” Liberals have threatened even worse violence at Trump’s inauguration.

In the wake of the election, the “powers that be” began talking points regarding “fake news,” as the Leftists blamed Hillary Clinton’s defeat on the fact that Americans were able to obtain their news from ALTERNATIVE sources, rather than relying on the government-sanctioned and left-leaning mainstream press.   This assault on Alternative News Media is just getting started;  in Germany, for instance, Facebook is currently being threatened with huge fines if they allow news stories to be posted that do not come from government-approved sources.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit New Zealand on November 14th.  The 26th, brought the death of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.  And another Muslim attack took place on November 28th, as a Somali “refugee” drove his car into a crowd of pedestrians at Ohio State University before jumping out and stabbing bystanders.

Drought conditions fueled wildfires throughout the South, igniting the Great Smokey Mountains, especially ravaging Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where 14,000 people had to flee their homes at the end of November.

On December 6th, Ohio lawmakers passed a ban on abortion after a baby’s heart begins beating.  Within a week, Governor John Kasich vetoed the bill.  Another earthquake on December 7th — this time a 6.5 magnitude, killing at least 100 people in Indonesia.  And on December 19th, yet another Islamic attack on Christians, at a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany.  Twelve killed and 48 injured.  Police arrested a 23-year-old “refugee.”

Obama rounded out the last year of his reign by sparking tensions with Russia and teaming up with the UN to denounce Israel’s right to their land;  although the US abstained from the final vote, Obama’s hatred of Israel and deep love for all things Islamic  has always been clear, and this move will only serve to further sow discord and unrest in the middle east.

As we step out into the year 2017, there is hope here in America for real change in the political, economic and social sectors, under a new federal administration.  Yet Christian persecution is at the highest levels ever seen in history;  professing “Christian” churches are increasingly mesmerized by the persuasive pressure of the LGBT culture, and lawless judges are still wielding oppressive power over the helpless and innocent.  As has always been the case, the only true hope for this world is Jesus Christ and His Word, and people learning, again, to walk in His ways.  That will only happen if the Church finally wakes from it’s slumber and begins to learn, like a two-year-old toddler what it really means to be Salt and Light in this world.  Let that be our prayer for 2017 — those of us who are awake, alert, watchmen on the walls, those of us who fear God more than we love the indulgence of our carnal appetites.  May God be with us.

Audio CDs and transcripts of this message are available when you call me at Wisconsin Christian News, (715) 486-8066.  Or email [email protected] and ask for message number 185.

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Rob is the founder and publisher of Wisconsin Christian News, a regional Christian newspaper. While the main distribution of the paper is Wisconsin-based, WCN also has subscribers in nearly all fifty states.  He writes a monthly commentary for WCN, and can also be heard twice weekly, (Tuesdays and Saturdays) nationwide on the VCY America Radio Network, with his “From the Editor’s Desk” commentaries.  Rob’s messages offer unique teaching and insights from God's word, dealing with the most important issues of our day.

Rob Pue

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