Liberty, Grandview, Blue Springs South, Park Hill South, Lee’s Summit West, Ray-Pec notch wins at William Jewell tourney

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After 15 lead changes, top-seeded Liberty slipped past Raytown 59-51 on Saturday at the Niles Media Group Holiday Basketball Tournament at William Jewell. Liberty will face third-seeded Grandview at 7:30 p.m. Monday for the Cardinal Division title.

Consolation bracket games

Pleasant Hill 64, Smithville 58, OT: After trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, Pleasant Hill came back to edge Smithville in overtime in the first Cardinal Division consolation game.

Pleasant Hill took a 47-46 lead midway through the fourth quarter and built up a three-point lead before Brock Mick hit a three-pointer to force overtime. Pleasant Hill went nine-for-11 from the free throw line in overtime to secure the victory.

Derrick Spears led the Roosters with 20 points, and Cameron Haws added 17. Mick finished with a game-high 28 points for the Warriors.

Truman 42, St. Pius X 40: Truman survived a late game comeback by St. Pius X to advance to the Cardinal Division fifth-place game.

After taking the lead midway through the second quarter, Dewayne Thornton led the Patriots on a 10-0 run to close out the half. He scored all seven of his points in that span.

The Warriors Ian Schneider hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to two points with 30 seconds left, and St. Pius X forced a turnover on the next possession but missed a pair of three-pointers to end the game.

Liberty went on a 10-0 run to start the second quarter and built a nine-point lead, but Raytown hung around, trailing by just one point at the half. It took until the final minutes of the fourth quarter for Liberty to finally pull away. Liberty forced two turnovers and finished on a 9-0 run to seal the victory.

Our defensive effort and focus and purpose on those possessions was better than the entire game put together, Liberty head coach Roger Stirtz said. We didnt knock down some shots we usually make, so I think we carried that over to the defensive end.

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Liberty, Grandview, Blue Springs South, Park Hill South, Lee’s Summit West, Ray-Pec notch wins at William Jewell tourney

Faces of 2013: Robert Sarvis

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WHY YOU KNOW HIM: The former software engineer, teacher, lawyer and new media entrepreneur from Northern Virginia was the Libertarian candidate for governor. On Election Day, he got 6.5 percent of the vote.

Sarvis, who ran his campaign on a shoestring, sought to achieve the 10 percent threshold that would give Libertarians automatic placement on future ballots. Polls showed many voters turning to Sarvis as an alternative a dynamic that some suggested adversely affected Republican Ken Cuccinellis chances.

But Sarvis refuses to accept responsibility for the GOPs defeat.

The Republican Party has an amazing ability to always find someone other than themselves to blame for their defeats, he said. Their response to this election is actually kind of emblematic of their politics, where prior beliefs trump evidence whenever the two conflict.

Sarvis was the first gubernatorial candidate for the Libertarian Party of Virginia since 2001, when William Redpath received just 14,500 votes, or 0.8 percent.

A former Republican, Sarvis first threw his hat into the political arena two years ago as the GOP candidate against Richard L. Saslaw, the Democratic leader in the Virginia Senate. Sarvis lost with 37 percent of the vote.

The Fairfax County native has since joined the Libertarian Party and in 2013 ran on a platform of limited government, fiscal responsibility and social liberalism.

Sarvis, who is half Chinese and is married to a black woman, supports legalizing same-sex marriage. He has compared the struggle of gay and lesbian couples to have their unions recognized to his mixed marriage, which would have been illegal in the commonwealth until the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Loving v. Virginia.

UPDATE: Since the election, he has been maximizing family time, Sarvis said.

Im a typical overly proud father. I love seeing Harlan and Ai-Li Mae grow, play, and learn new things. Im also incredibly proud of my wife, Astrid, who finished her residency and was accepted into her top choice of pediatric emergency medicine fellowship programs, he said. Well run out the clock on 2013 before returning to the stresses of the real world in the new year.

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Faces of 2013: Robert Sarvis

Lawrence native, a political neophyte, aims to be elected governor

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Photo by Richard Gwin

Tresa McAlhaney, a Lawrence native, is running for governor in 2014 as a libertarian. She is pictured holding daughter Emma, 2, at the family's Bonner Springs home on a recent day with, from left, daughter Natalie, 12, husband Michael, 10-month-old daughter Maegan, and son Logan, 8.

Bonner Springs Tresa McAlhaney isn't your typical politician.

In fact, she's not even a politician all the more reason she says she'd be the perfect person to govern the state of Kansas.

State government has gotten not only inefficient, says the stay-at-home mom from Bonner Springs, but out of touch with the people it's supposed to serve.

McAlhaney, 34, was never politically involved until recently, when she said she was forced to be. Her homeowners association was in a dispute with the state over the future of a nearby dam, when she noticed how long it was taking state officials to respond. She had also gotten into disagreements with the state over the education of her home-schooled children. "The more I got into the government stuff, the more riled up I got," she said.

She got involved with the Libertarian Party after hearing U.S. Sen. Ron Paul, a libertarian-leaning Republican from Texas, speak during last year's presidential campaign. And after she noticed a lack of Libertarians stepping up to run for governor in 2014, she took it upon herself to become a candidate.

"I think this is one of the safest, nicest places in the world," she said, speaking of Kansas. But until it gets better governance, she says, it will fail to live up to its full potential.

McAlhaney said she doesn't expect any big-money donors to back her campaign (her most successful week of fundraising $1,000 came right after she announced her candidacy). But she says that if she wins, that could end up being a good thing. "We don't want to have to be beholden to anybody," she said.

Her plans for governing include putting the state on a more fiscally sustainable path, with a balanced budget and careful analysis of everything the state funds. She says she's open to eliminating entire departments if need be.

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Lawrence native, a political neophyte, aims to be elected governor

Departing from Kabatas Pier by Ferry on the way to Princes’ islands, Turkey – Video

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Departing from Kabatas Pier by Ferry on the way to Princes #39; islands, Turkey
Kabata is a quarter of Beyolu municipality (belediye) in Istanbul, Turkey. It is situated on the European shore of the Bosphorus, between Beikta and Karaky.

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Departing from Kabatas Pier by Ferry on the way to Princes' islands, Turkey - Video

Volcano Islands, Volcano and Dragons – Indonesia on board a schooner of Bali – Video

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Volcano Islands, Volcano and Dragons - Indonesia on board a schooner of Bali
Take a behind the scenes peek into the lives of liner crew members and discover the pleasures of a life spent at sea. Stopover will take you on prodigious tr...

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Volcano Islands, Volcano and Dragons - Indonesia on board a schooner of Bali - Video

Federal health care exceeds 1m signups

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By JOSH LEDERMAN and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR/Associated Press/December 29, 2013

HONOLULU (AP) A December surge propelled health care sign-ups through the governments rehabilitated website past the 1 million mark, the Obama administration said Sunday, reflecting new vigor for the problem-plagued federal insurance market.

Combined with numbers for state-run markets due in January, that should put total enrollment in the new private insurance plans under President Barack Obamas health law at about 2 million people through the end of the year, independent experts said.

That would be about two-thirds of the administrations original goal of signing up 3.3 million by Dec. 31, a significant improvement given the technical problems that crippled the federal market during much of the fall. The overall goal remains to enroll 7 million people by March 31.

It looks like current enrollment is around 2 million despite all the issues, said Dan Mendelson, CEO of Avalere Health, a market analysis firm. It was a very impressive showing for December.

The administration said that of the more than 1.1 million people now enrolled in the federal insurance exchange, nearly 1 million signed up in December. The majority came days before a pre-Christmas deadline for coverage to start in January. Compare that with a paltry 27,000 in October, the federal websites first, error-prone month.

We experienced a welcome surge in enrollment as millions of Americans seek access to affordable health care coverage, Marilyn Tavenner, the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in a blog post announcing the figures.

The numbers dont represent a full accounting for the country.

The federal website serves 36 states. Yet to be reported are December results from the 14 states running their own sites. Overall, states have been signing up more people than the federal government. But most of that has come from high performers such as California, New York, Washington, Kentucky and Connecticut. Some states continue to struggle.

Still, the end-of-year spike suggests that the federal insurance marketplace is starting to pull its weight. The windfall comes at a critical moment for Obamas sweeping health care law, which becomes real for many Americans on Jan. 1 as coverage through the insurance exchanges and key patient protections kick in.

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Federal health care exceeds 1m signups

62,153 Connecticut Residents Sign Up For Health Care Starting Jan. 1

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FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. -- As of last week,62,153 Connecticut residents had enrolled in affordable health-care through Access Health CT for coverage beginning Jan. 1, the health exchange announced in a statement.

More than 6,700 Connecticut residents and small businesses enrolled for health-care coverage on Dec. 23, more than double prior enrollment results for a single day and the deadline for coverage starting Jan. 1.

Open enrollment continues through March 31.

Were delighted to have enrolled so many Connecticut residents in health care coverage for January 1st; however, our work is far from done, said Kevin Counihan, Access Health CT chief executive officer. Over the remaining three months of open enrollment, we will continue aggressive outreach to enroll even more consumers and small businesses in quality, affordable health care coverage.

Consumers who have already enrolled will receive an invoice from their insurance carriers that must be paid by Jan. 10 for coverage effective Jan. 1, Access Health said in a statement. After the premium payments are received by the carrier, new member materials, including identification cards and welcome packets, will be mailed. Any questions regarding coverage should be directed to the carrier company.

The open enrollment period for health care runs through March 31 so consumers still have time to compare plans and shop for coverage. Visit http://www.accesshealthct.com or call 1-855-805-HEALTH (4325) to speak with an Access Health CT representative.

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62,153 Connecticut Residents Sign Up For Health Care Starting Jan. 1

Futurist And Futurism Bible Prophecy

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The Purpose and Origins of Futurism Introduction

Today Christianity has largely forgotten the importance of the Protestant Reformation, which took place during the 1500s and very few understand the role futurism played in the Counter Reformation. The powerful impact that the Reformers made in identifying the Roman Catholic Church as the Antichrist can scarcely be imagined today. As millions of Christians joined the Reform movement, the Papal Roman Church used methodology that has proved successful for more than a thousand years in order to eliminate those whom it designated as heretics. With the exception of the isolated communities of faithful Christians (often hidden in the natural fortresses of the earth), the Church has been remarkably successful in its persecution. This success was achieved by the arm of the state, which ruthlessly eliminated millions that would not bow to the Churchs authority.

Historians cannot agree on the number of people who were martyred and tortured for their efforts to uphold Bible truth, but estimates range from 50,000,000 to 120,000,000 Christian Saints. These men, women and children lost their lives during the period of Papal domination. Almost all this persecuting was done at the hand of secular governments which subserved the designs of the Papal Church.

The period of the sixteenth century proved different however. Sickened by the corruptions and excesses of the Papacy, many rulers and monarchs embraced the Protestant Reformation and were no longer vassals of the Papacy obeying its commands; thus in a number of European countries, the arm of flesh was not available to carry out the Roman Churchs dictates. This situation naturally alarmed the Roman Catholic Church. The Papacy was not accustomed to this circumstance; therefore, it discerned that a new methodology had to be devised in order to counter the rapid spread of the Reformation engulfing Europe. Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Scandinavia, Britain and other countries all generally accepted the messages of the Reformers.

Europe had been ruled by the iron hand of Rome for almost a thousand years. Only a few Bibles existed then and Christianity was largely permeated with superstition. Faith in Jesus Christ, heartfelt appreciation for His love and a simple trust in His death on the cross was almost unknown. The New Testament truth about full forgiveness, grace and the free gift of eternal life to believers in the Son of God (Romans 6:23), had been buried under a mass of tradition. Then Martin Luther arose like a lion in Germany. After a period of tremendous personal struggle, Martin Luther began teaching justification by faith in Jesus Christ (being declared just by God), rather than through reliance on any human works (Romans 1:16; 3:26, 28; 5:1).

The Discovery of Luther Eventually, Martin Luther turned to the prophecies of the Bible. He read by candlelight about the beast, the little horn, and the man of sin and he was shocked as the Holy Spirit spoke to his heart. He finally saw the truth and said to himself, Why, these prophecies apply to the Roman Catholic Church! As he wrestled with this new insight, the voice of God echoed loudly in his soul, saying, Preach the word! (2 Timothy 4:2). So at the risk of losing his life, Martin Luther preached publicly and in print to an astonished people that Papal Rome was in fact the Antichrist of Bible prophecy. Because of this dual message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ apart from works and of Papal Rome being the Antichrist, the river of history literally changed its course. Hundreds of thousands of people in England and Europe left the Catholic Church.

There are two great truths that stand out in the preaching that brought about the Protestant Reformation, American Bible Commentator, Ralph Woodrow, reminds us, The just shall live by faith, not by the works of Romanism and the Papacy is the Antichrist of Scripture. It was a message for Christ and against Antichrist. The entire Reformation rests upon this twofold testimony. [2] It has been said that the Reformation first discovered Jesus Christ, and then, in the blazing light of Christ, it discovered the Antichrist. This mighty Spirit filled movement for Christ and against the Antichrist shook the world.

H. Grattan Guinness wrote these memorable words: From the first, and throughout, that movement [the Reformation] was energized and guided by the prophetic word. Luther never felt strong and free to war against the Papal apostasy till he recognized the pope as antichrist. It was then that he burned the Papal bull. Knoxs first sermon, the sermon that launched him on his mission as a reformer, was on the prophecies concerning the Papacy. The reformers embodied their interpretations of prophecy in their confessions of faith, and Calvin in his Institutes. All of the reformers were unanimous in the matter, even the mild and cautious Melanchthon was as assured of the antipapal meaning of these prophecies as was Luther himself. And their interpretation of these prophecies determined their reforming action. It led them to protest against Rome with extraordinary strength and undaunted courage. It nerved them to resist the claims of the apostate Church to the utmost. It made them martyrs; it sustained them at the stake. And the views of the Reformers were shared by thousands, by hundreds of thousands. They were adopted by princes and peoples. Under their influence nations abjured their allegiance to the false priest of Rome. In the reaction that followed, all the powers of hell seemed to be let loose upon the adherents of the Reformation. War followed war: tortures, burnings, and massacres were multiplied. Yet the Reformation stood undefeated and unconquerable. Gods word upheld it, and the energies of His Almighty Spirit. It was the work of Christ as truly as the founding of the Church eighteen centuries ago; and the revelation of the future which he gave from heaven, that prophetic book with which the Scripture closes, was one of the mightiest instruments employed in its accomplishment. [3]

The Counter Reformation The Catholic Church in 1545 convened one of its most famous councils in history, which took place north of Rome in a city called Trent. The Council of Trent actually continued for three sessions and ended in 1563. One of the main purposes of this Council was for Catholics to plan a counterattack against the Protestants and Martin Luther. Hence the Council of Trent became a centre for Romes Counter Reformation. Romes main method of attack up to this point had been largely frontal such as the open burning of heretics and Bibles. But this warfare only confirmed in the minds of Protestants the conviction that Papal Rome was indeed the Beast which would make war with the saints (Revelation 13:7). Therefore a new tactic was needed, something less obvious. This is where the Jesuits and futurism come in.

On August 15, 1534, Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish soldier, who had recovered from serious wounds sustained in war, established a new order of priests and brothers called The Society of Jesus, which is better known today as the Jesuits. Ignatius Loyola was born in 1491, just six years after Luther. After meditation in the famous monastery of Montserrat, in the north-eastern corner of Spain, he vowed to forsake his former ways and became "a soldier of God." He symbolized this vow by placing his weapons on the altar of the monastery.

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Futurist And Futurism Bible Prophecy

Assassin’s creed 4 Freedom Cry DLC walkthrough Part 6 PS4 Gameplay Let’s play AC4 Black Flag – Video

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Assassin #39;s creed 4 Freedom Cry DLC walkthrough Part 6 PS4 Gameplay Let #39;s play AC4 Black Flag
Assassin #39;s creed 4 Freedom Cry DLC walkthrough Part 1 PS4 Gameplay Let #39;s play AC4 Black Flag Assassin #39;s creed 4 Freedom Cry DLC walkthrough Part 1 Assassin #39;s...

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Assassin's creed 4 Freedom Cry DLC walkthrough Part 6 PS4 Gameplay Let's play AC4 Black Flag - Video