Good morning,

There is only one present that matters at Christmas, and it is not found under any tree. More on that thought at the conclusion of today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan
Friday, December 22, 2023 

PROGRAMMING NOTE: In observance of Christmas, the Texas Minute will resume on Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023.

Lt. Gov. Patrick: Maybe Biden Should be Taken Off Texas' Ballot?

• After the Democrats on the Colorado Supreme Court ordered Donald Trump's name off that state's primary ballot, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has suggested Texas should consider dropping Joe Biden's name. Emily Medeiros has the story.
       
• Patrick made the comment during an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham as he reviewed the incumbent's job performance. The lieutenant governor pointed to the Biden administration’s failed border policies, which have led to millions of illegal aliens crossing the southwest border. 
            
• The Trump campaign has announced they are appealing the Colorado ruling, which effectively nullifies its effect.

Paxton Secures Injunction Protecting Texas Border Barriers

• The Biden administration won't be allowed to tear down the border barriers erected by Texas, thanks to an injunction issued by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Will Biagini reports the injunction was secured by Attorney General Ken Paxton.
    
• “I am very pleased the appellate court has forbidden federal agents sent by the Biden administration from destroying our concertina wire fences,” said Paxton.
       
• The injunction specifically prohibits federal agents from damaging Texas’ concertina wire fences pending appeal from the Biden administration.

The ‘City With No Property Taxes’... Might Soon Have Them

• On the heels of an election largely centered on candidates’ opposition to implementing a property tax, the Stafford City Council has opened discussion on placing a property tax measure up for a vote next November. Charles Blain has the details.
         
• With just under 20,000 residents and bordered by Houston to the north, Stafford eliminated its property taxes almost three decades ago. The late Leonard Scarcella, who served as mayor from 1969 until his death in 2020, pushed the city to end property taxes and passed a 100 percent abatement in the 1990s.
        
• Members of the city council are looking for new revenues to deal with what some describe as a "precarious" financial position driven in recent years by overspending and debt.

Klein Teacher Arrested for Using Student to 'Gratify' Sexual Desires

• An elementary school teacher in Klein Independent School District was arrested Monday following accusations that he improperly touched a 7-year-old female student “with the intent to arouse and gratify his sexual desire.” Erin Anderson has the latest information.   
         
• Matthew Stegeman Sr., 52, was charged with indecency with a child by sexual contact. He taught at Epps Island Elementary School.
      

• The school’s principal reportedly told police that Stegeman had been “previously counseled about boundaries with students” after he kissed a female student on the cheek.
      

• Stegeman has reportedly been fired.

After Pushing to Defund the Police, Congressman Wants Extra Patrols

• U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, who previously served a decade on the Austin City Council, recently requested additional patrols in his neighborhood. As Adam Cahn reports, the Democrat's request is being branded "hypocrisy" by local law enforcement advocates.
         
• Casar spearheaded the city’s 2020 “defund the police” drive and publicly celebrated his success in reducing the Austin Police Department budget.
         
• Just last week, Casar requested a Justice Department investigation into Austin's beleaguered police force. He accuses the force of violating “constitutional and civil rights” while pursuing “racial discrimination” and “discrimination against people with mental health conditions.”
       
• But he also wants extra patrols in his neighborhood.

Friday Reflection:
Having Real Joy Right Now

If you can get past the inflatable snowmen, blinking lights, tinsel, and presents, Christmas’ focus is on a baby in a manger. Yet even that is just a meager sign pointing us to the destination of a joy that can last much longer than the season.

The coming of the Messiah was prophesied as including a virgin birth in the town of Bethlehem. But it was just a sign.

We marvel at the thought of an angelic host singing over the shepherds. It’s easy to fixate on the helpless babe in the manger; it’s pleasant to think of a cooing child smiling at the visiting wise men.

But our months-long preparations for Christmas are a lot like standing on the roadside for hours admiring the “distance” marker to our destination. The view might be nice, but it is not where we’re going.

To fully appreciate Christmas, we must travel less than ten miles from Bethlehem to the city of Jerusalem. We’re not going inside the walls of the city, though; our first stop is the place known as Golgotha. To meaningfully understand the baby in the manger, we must also see Him as a man hanging on a cross. But not just hanging on a cross—many died in such a manner under the brutality of the Romans. What made this Man so important is that He rose from the dead three days later.

Two places, a 15-minute walk from each other, vie for the title of the burial site of Jesus. One has close to a millennia of history on its side, the other has a geologic formation and a pristine tomb. At one place, you can feel the spiritual connection to millions of pilgrims who have visited the site. At the other, you can see how it might have looked the morning of the resurrection.

The significance to both places isn’t what’s there but what is not.

That baby in the manger is significant because He is the Son of God. He grew sinlessly into manhood and was prosecuted for His righteousness. After hanging on a cross for our sins until dead, He was buried. He conquered death on our behalf and then rose to take His place at the right hand of God the Father.

The joy of Christmas is but a foretaste of the joy of Easter and eternity hereafter. Baubles and trinkets under a tree will perish, but the gift of salvation through the risen Christ lasts for eternity.

As Isaac Watts wrote:

Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns:
let men their songs employ;
while fields and floods,
rocks, hills, and plains
repeat the sounding joy.

Merry Christmas!

Quote-Unquote

"Faith receives the good works of Christ; love bestows good works on our neighbor." – Martin Luther

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REMINDER: The Texas Minute will resume on Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023.