Operation Christmas Child is a wonderful ministry started by Samaritan’s Purse which involves people around the country packing shoeboxes full of gifts for children around the world.

This year, Samaritan’s Purse is delivering these packed shoeboxes as early Christmas gifts to children in Barbuda whose lives were turned upside down by the devastation of Hurricane Irma.

The Christian Post reports that about 250 children on the Caribbean island have received the shoebox gifts.

Texas pastor Mark Brumbelow, along with his wife, Cherry, whose home was destroyed in Hurricane Harvey, accompanied Samaritan’s Purse workers to distribute the gifts.

For the Brumbelows, the mission was very personal because they know exactly what it is like to have their lives affected by a destructive hurricane.

“Although we weren’t able to take all that they needed, praise God that we were able to take a shoebox and the recipients of these shoeboxes heard the Gospel message and it was so wonderfully presented that day,” said Mark, who is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Wild Peach, Texas.

“More than that, the shoeboxes just put smiles on their faces. Children that had so much to frown about had so much to smile about that day. It was just such a blessing to feel that joy and the excitement and be a part of that,” Mark continued.

The team who traveled to Barbuda…

To combat the doping problem that commonly surrounds the Olympic Games, Mike Miller is considering the benefits of micro-chipping athletes. The Chief Executive for the World Olympic Association is investigating the benefits of this surging technological advancement. “I’m just throwing the idea out there,” he said. “I’m gauging reaction from people but we do need to think of new ways to protect clean sport.”

Radio-frequency identification, commonly referred to as RFID, has been introduced to track animals in case they get lost, and a variety of other beneficial uses have been proposed as well. Imagine not having to worry about our children being kidnapped, or having to dial 911. It’s this kind of evidence that could cause toleration of consumer tracking, and wage the chipping war from both sides. Liz McIntyre, a consumer privacy expert, takes aim at the downside of the RFID chips. She harkens that we live in a peaceful Democratic government now, but technology of this magnitude could be used to collect data by someone less than well-meaning should it ever fall into the wrong hands. “At any time, someone could use that power against us.”

“She likened modern human microchipping to the days of Hitler when Jews were issued punch cards with the help of IBM. These punch cards facilitated genocide and allowed Germans officers to easily identify Jews during the Holocaust.” The…

Republican Congress members in the House of Representatives passed a $1.5 trillion tax reform bill last evening.

This marks a major victory for the GOP, which has struggled to pass other major pieces of legislation, such as healthcare.

CBS News reports that the bill passed mostly along party lines 227-205. The bill would cut the corporate tax rate to 20 percent and implement other provisions aimed at helping businesses.

Before the vote, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) talked about the need to grow the economy, and said this bill would help to kickstart job growth and help the middle class.

“This [economy] has been way under its potential. It’s been growing at a limp 1 to 2 percent,” stated Ryan. “Passing this bill is the single biggest thing we can do to grow the economy, to restore opportunity and help those middle income families who are struggling,” he continued.

Democrats, on the other hand, said the bill would only help the wealthy. “Republicans have brought forth a bill that is pillaging the middle class to pad the pockets of the wealthiest and hand tax breaks to corporations shipping jobs out of America,” stated House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

According to CNBC.com, the bill also passed the Finance Committee, and will now go on to the Senate for approval. President Trump also supports the legislation.

Photo courtesy: Getty Images

Publication date: November 17,…