World Economic Forum Pushes for End to Private Ownership

The World Economic Forum (WEF) published a paper calling for the end of “wasteful” private car ownership. The WEF argued that communal sharing of cars would lessen global demands for precious metals and fossil fuels. The WEF’s July 18 paper titled “3 circular economy approaches to reduce demand for critical metals” began by saying, “We need a clean energy revolution, and we need it now.” The article continued, “But this transition from fossil fuels to renewables will need large supplies of critical metals such as cobalt, lithium, nickel, to name a few. Shortages of these critical minerals could raise the costs of clean energy technologies.”

 The WEF went on to state that while mining more is one route, doing so could produce “unintended consequences,” and therefore “it is time to look beyond” the current solution and consider “three mindset changes” that can “help reduce demand for critical metals.” The WEF stated “Be honest, you likely have at least one old mobile phone tucked in the bottom of a drawer. Possibly an unused hard drive taking up space too. You aren’t alone.” According to the paper, “The average car or van in England is driven just 4% of the time.”

 The WEF argued for people to sell their cars, walk or share vehicles because “Car sharing platforms such as Getaround and BlueSG have already seized that opportunity to offer vehicles where you pay per hour used.” However, the organization which promotes the “Great Reset” did not stop there. They went on to say this theory could be applied to everything from cars to private homes. The first change encourages people to “Go from owning to using. More sharing can reduce ownership of idle equipment and thus material usage. To enable a broader transition from ownership to usership, the way we design things and systems need to change too.” The group suggested items such as cars could utilize “user profiles” that “create a distinction for work and personal use on the same device” allowing for the “number of devices per person” to be reduced.

 The WEF added, “A design process that focuses on fulfilling the underlying need instead of designing for product purchasing is fundamental to this transition. This is the mindset needed to redesign cities to reduce private vehicles and other usages.” The group continued, “This transition to a fully circular model is now more urgent than ever. If we are to move forward, we need to reconsider at a systemic level how much we use, as well as how we can reduce usage. Unless we can dramatically reduce current metal usage, the debate and tension on finding new mines will not go away.”   

 Biblical Connection: While Christians should want to be stewards of God’s world, a push away from private ownership is contrary to the God’s Word. The Old Testament Law made private property an important feature of Israelite society. While Christians should help others in need, there is nothing in the Bible that states Christians should not have their own property and goods. However, this push should not come as a shock to readers of Biblical prophecy. Revelation 13:16-17 states “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Policies like these, if successful, could make it much simpler for the Antichrist and the False Prophet to strip away property and ownership rights in a future Tribulation time.

 PRAY: Pray that these types of pushes that go against the Word of God will be stopped.

The Taliban and Russia Cozying up Over Oil Sales

While many in the West thought that sanctions against Russian goods, including oil, would bring Russia to the negotiating table with Ukraine, Russia has been able to remain afloat financially because of their relationships with less than desirable nations, first Iran and now Afghanistan. Taliban officials and Moscow are finalizing a deal that would allow the isolated rulers of Afghanistan to purchase much-needed fuel while helping prop up Russia's heavily sanctioned economy. A delegation of Taliban officials met in Moscow to negotiate a deal with their Russian counterparts to secure imports of wheat, gas and oil. The negotiations come as the Taliban seek to thaw the diplomatic freeze that followed their armed takeover of Afghanistan last year and as Russia sidesteps Western sanctions due to its invasion of Ukraine. An unnamed source in Afghanistan's office of the Minister of Commerce and Industry told Reuters that the contracts are expected to be finalized soon.

 No government has formally recognized the Taliban's government after the hardline Islamist group seized power after the U.S. withdrew its presence last year. But Russia, China and other countries antagonistic toward the U.S. have kept their embassies open in Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul. Saddled with severe economic sanctions since the war began in February, Russia has also hosted talks with Taliban trade officials. Afghanistan already gets the majority of its food and oil from Russia and trade between the two amounts to $200 million annually, according to Afghanistan's TOLOnews. Russia already offers less expensive wheat and oil, the news outlet reported, citing the country's Chamber of Commerce and Investment.

 Oil exports have been a key economic lifeline for Russia. Despite the sanctions, Russia saw roughly $93 billion in revenue from fossil fuel exports during the first 100 days of its invasion of Ukraine. Demand for Russian energy was driven primarily by China and India. Additionally, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, France and Poland also helped keep demand for Russian energy high despite the sanctions.

 While Russia has not sold as much oil as previous years, because of the rising cost of oil globally over the summer, they have actually made greater revenue. "Import volumes fell modestly in May, around 15% compared with the time before the invasion, as many countries and firms shunned Russian supplies.” However, reduced demand and lower price for Russian oil cost the country about $200 million a day in May but rising demand globally for fossil fuels has meant Russia's average export prices remained 60 percent higher than last year. Thus, any thought that a lack of oil sales would force Putin to negotiate will definitely not come to pass, especially with the winter months coming to Western Europe and a greater need to oil to possible break oil sanctions.

 While trade deals between Russia and the Taliban may be near, other barriers may prevent the two from exchanging goods. Nooruddin Azizi, the Taliban's acting minister of Commerce and Industry, told TOLOnews that most of the Afghan and Russian banks remain under sanctions, meaning a third country will facilitate the exchange of money. "Some of our technical teams are still in Russia and they want to work on the details, such as what kind of money transfers we may have," said Azizi. Even still, nothing good can come from Russia making deals with the Taliban.

 Biblical Connection: Russia getting more and more involved with the Middle East instead of the West makes complete sense from a biblical perspective. One day in the future, Russia will make an alliance with several Middle Eastern nations in an attempt to destroy Israel (Ezekiel 38-39). We can only expect Russia to continue to push towards the Middle East in the future.

 PRAY: Pray that God’s will, even in areas that we sometimes do not understand, will continue to be accomplished and His plans will push forward.

Court rules Christians can’t be forced by the government to perform abortions, gender reassignment surgeries

Last week, the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rule that would have required doctors to perform abortions and gender reassignment surgeries. In a unanimous opinion, the Fifth Circuit Court upheld a 2021 permanent injunction by a lower court that shielded Christian groups from anti-discrimination lawsuits under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, race and national origin.

 The Department of Health and Human Services had been working on implementing the Biden administration’s “Notice and Guidance on Gender Affirming Care” agenda. This would have forced doctors to perform abortion and body mutilating “gender transition” surgeries, even if they were morally opposed to the practices.

 HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra claimed “This proposed rule ensures that people nationwide can access health care, free from discrimination. Standing with communities in need is critical, particularly given increased attacks on women, trans youth, and health care providers. Health care should be a right not dependent on looks, location, love, language, or the type of care someone needs.”

 In 2016 the Obama administration tried to require healthcare providers to perform gender transition procedures, including on minors, even if the providers held sincere religious objections. The Obama-era mandate was challenged in court by multiple groups, and was eventually repealed during the Trump administration, only to be revived by the Biden administration.

 In August 2021, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas issued a permanent injunction against a similar mandate that required medical facilities and health insurers to cover or to provide abortions and gender transition procedures. O’Connor issued the permanent injunction in the case of Franciscan Alliance, Inc. et al. v. Xavier Becerra, concluding that the mandate violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. “No party disputes that the Transgender Mandate threatens to burden Christian Plaintiffs’ religious exercise … by placing substantial pressure on Christian Plaintiffs, in the form of fines and civil liability, to perform and provide insurance coverage for gender-transition procedures and abortions,” he wrote.

 Luke Goodrich of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty was critical of the proposed rule, telling The Christian Post that it was “yet another proposal to force doctors and hospitals across the country to perform gender transitions and abortions in violation of their conscience and medical judgment. This has been the announced policy of the administration since the first day President Biden took office.”

 Goodrich commented that if they had lost, the Biden administration would have declared “open season” on religious hospitals that objected to gender transitions.

 Joseph Davis, also of the Becket Fund, called this ruling “a major victory for conscience rights and compassionate medical care in America. Doctors cannot do their jobs and comply with the Hippocratic Oath if the government requires them to perform harmful, irreversible procedures against their conscience and medical expertise.”

 Biblical Connection: One of the many sins that the Canaanites committed that caused God to bring judgment on them was sacrificing their children for their benefit and pleasure (Leviticus 18:21, Deuteronomy 12:29-31).

 PRAISE: This is a major victory reinforcing the rights of Christian medical groups and providers to not to be forced into performing surgeries going against their sincerely held religious beliefs.

Western Response to War in Ukraine Pushing Russian-Iranian Relationship

It is no secret that Russia and Iran have formed a closer relationship over the previous decade. Russia has provided cover for Iran within the United Nations security council with their veto power and has been in Iran’s corner for much of the discussion of the nuclear deal between Iran and the West. Many believe that Russia wants to increase their influence in the region, as evidenced by their support in Syria, and see Iran as a potential ally, along with Turkey, in furthering their ambitions. 

 In a new development, Iran will start to supply aircraft parts and equipment to Russia and service Russian aircraft in a new agreement signed between the two countries. Western nations and their allies moved to isolate Moscow after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. While initially this looked like it may be effective since Russia trades significantly with the west, Russia looked to other rogue nations, including Iran, to help circumvent the sanctions and ride out the immediate economic impact. China and India purchased Russian energy in the run-up to the invasion, and China made some key trade deals with its northern neighbor. Iran has stepped in to sign an agreement that will provide Russia more flight options and airplane assistance in the near term, according to The Moscow Times, citing the Mehr agency.

 The agreement includes a pledge to increase flights between the two nations up to 35 per week – a significant boost when only about 19 countries or states provide direct flight access to Russia. Even those nations have advised that passengers face the risk of lawsuits in countries considered “friendly” with Russia. Western nations ordered the termination of Russian carrier contracts during the earliest phase of sanctions.

 The deal follows an agreement between Tehran and Moscow to supply Russian forces with drones so that the Kremlin can sustain its war offensive, which shifted from a broad attack and attempt to conquer the whole of Ukraine to focus only on the eastern Donbas region. Russia, which believed it would accomplish its goals in Ukraine quickly and easily, was not necessarily equipped to fight a drawn-out technological war and therefore needs significant investments. Iran has become known in recent years as a major player in the drove/UAV market. They have been using them in attacks themselves and also sell them along with training to other nations and terrorist groups.

 National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan disclosed that intelligence agencies had obtained information that indicated Tehran would supply Moscow with drones, as well as training the troops in their use. “Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline,” Sullivan told reporters in the White House briefing room. It’s unclear whether Iran has delivered any of these UAVs to Russia already,” Sullivan said, “but this is just one example of how Russia is looking to countries like Iran for capabilities.” As long as Russia can continue to maintain their economy and supplies through these types of deals with non-Western powers, it is unlikely that Western sanctions alone will bring Russia to the negotiating table.

 Biblical Connection: Many see the Gog-Magog War in Ezekiel 38-39 as an alliance between Russia, Turkey, Iran and several other nations against the nation of Israel that will occur in the end days, either prior to the Rapture, during the Tribulation or at the end of the Millennial Kingdom. A Russian-Iranian relationship should not shock anyone familiar with Bible prophecy.

 PRAY: Pray that plans of those who seek to do evil throughout the globe will be thwarted and peace will prevail.

Israeli Persecution in the Media

When President Joe Biden visited Israel and Saudi Arabia, the eyes of the global mainstream media were trained on the citizens and leaders of the epicenter as they covered the Biden trip every step of the way. Yet an exclusive new poll commissioned by ALL ISRAEL NEWS reveals that Americans have a staggeringly low degree of trust in the mainstream media, and a significant degree of outright anger at journalists and their editors for how they cover events and trends affecting the Jewish state.

 What’s more, the survey reveals that a large number of Americans describe themselves as downright “angry” at the mainstream media and want to find a new source of news and analysis to help them understand what’s happening in Israel and why it should matter to them. Among American Evangelicals, the survey revealed far lower trust in the mainstream media than the general population. That said, the survey also found there is a noteworthy gap between how Evangelicals of different races view the media. The term “mainstream media” generally refers to well-known news gathering corporations and organizations in the U.S. and around the world operating in the print, broadcast, cable, and/or digital spaces. These include The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, and the major broadcast news networks, among others.

 Here is the specific question that were asked in the survey: When it comes to media coverage of Israel, which statement best reflects your view? The results show that only 30% of Americans age 18 and old who were surveyed say they trust the mainstream media’s coverage of Israel. Half of all Americans (49%) say they do not trust the mainstream media’s coverage of Israel or are downright angry about the media and looking for an alternative source of news and information about Israel. Of these, nearly a third of all Americans (31%) say they do not trust the media’s coverage of Israel because they find such coverage is too often “unfair, dishonest, and biased against Israel.” Nearly 1-in-5 Americans (18%) say that they are angry at the media and looking for a news service covering Israel that they can trust.

 Particularly significant is the fact that 18% of Americans are so turned off by the mainstream media’s dishonesty and bias against Israel that they are interested in finding a news service covering Israel that they can trust. That means 46 million Americans of all religions, races and regions wish they could find a credible, honest, trustworthy alternative source of news and analysis regarding Israel and the Middle East. When it comes specifically to born again Evangelical Christians, the numbers are even more striking. Only 25.6% of American Evangelicals say they trust the mainstream media’s coverage of Israel. Almost 6-in-10 Evangelicals (57.4%) say they do not trust the mainstream media’s coverage of Israel or are downright angry about the media and looking for an alternative source of news and information about Israel. Of these, 38.7% say they do not trust the media’s coverage of Israel because they find such coverage is too often “unfair, dishonest, and biased against Israel.”

 Biblical Connection: While antisemitism in the media comes as no real surprise, it is significant that Israel consistently is treated unfairly in both the media and the United Nations. This type of mindset will make it very easy for the Antichrist to persecute the Jewish people during the Tribulation period (Revelation 12-13), just like Hitler was able to use a similar mindset during the events of the Holocaust.

 PRAY: Pray these antisemitic tendencies will continue to be called out and the media will treat Israel in a fairer manner.

Morocco Opening New Embassy in Israel

After a year of waiting, Israel announced the new opening of a Moroccan embassy in the country as confirmed by Yair Lapid, head of Israeli diplomacy. No exact details have yet been given as to when this new phase of good diplomatic relations will officially begin, but it will be available from this summer onwards. Lapid did say that Nasser Bourita, the Kingdom’s Foreign Minister, is expected to pay an official visit to the Hebrew state to welcome the embassy in September. Thus, the relationship between the two peoples, which is constantly developing, is again being consolidated.

The opening of the embassy has been on the table for a year now. Moreover, this coincided with the Kingdom’s decision to transform its liaison offices into official embassies. These changes corresponded with Yair Lapid’s visit to the Alawi kingdom in the summer of last year. This trip was a historic moment in Moroccan-Israeli relations, marking a turning point in ties between the two nations. “Following our visit to Morocco, we have decided, together with the Moroccan Foreign Ministry, to raise the level of diplomatic relations with the Kingdom and transform the two Liaison Offices into two Embassies,” Lapid said on his visit to the country.

The head of Israeli diplomacy stayed in Morocco for two days, where he took it upon himself to accentuate relations between the two sides. In addition to the announcement of the opening, Lapid also inaugurated the Israeli diplomatic mission in Rabat and was responsible first-hand for signing several cooperation agreements. This move is very groundbreaking, as Morocco is roughly 99% Muslim. Many foreign policy experts think that as more and more predominately Muslim nations continue to create international relationships with Israel, it will open the door for other nations to create these relationships as well. However, some do caution that if Israel continues to make new friends in the Middle East and Northern Africa, Iran could feel threatened to quicken their plans for any attack on Israel.

Although the opening of the embassy comes later than expected, the two countries began working on the next steps to establish the embassy last year. In October 2021, Israel announced that Morocco already had an ambassador on its territory. David Govrin accepted his new position as ambassador after moving from being the director of the Israel Liaison Office in Rabat.

The Abraham Accords pushed to establish relations between the two countries. The two countries jointly signed the normalization and restoration of their relations after years of tension and no contact. This new treaty, orchestrated under the administration of former US President Donald Trump, has allowed the Hebrew state to improve ties with some Arab nations and has developed new ties and forms of cooperation between all parties involved. Since that time, the two countries have not stopped establishing agreements and treaties in key sectors of their economies. These have been determining factors that have shown that Morocco and Israel have left the past behind and see a joint future of peace and stability.

In early July, there was hope in Israel that Saudi Arabia was warming to relations when they agreed to open their airspace to Israelite travel planes. However, Saudi Arabia’s decision to grant Israeli airlines the right to fly through its airspace is not a step in the direction of normalization, the country’s deputy ambassador to the UN Mohammed Al-Ateeq said. “The decision to allow the use of our airspace to all airlines is in line with our international obligations,” Ateeq told the UN Security Council on during its monthly meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “This step will not be a prelude to other steps,” he said.

Biblical Connections: Genesis 12:3 states, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

PRAY: Pray that more nations will continue to open relations with Israel and they will be able to create allies in their region.

China’s Rapid Expansion a Problem for the West?

House Republicans are warning that China’s “rapid expansion and militarization” of the Indo-Pacific is a “significant threat” to the United States and allies around the globe, while the Biden administration maintains it has made its concerns “clear” about Beijing’s “shadowy, unspecified deals” in the region. Republican Rep. Lance Gooden led Republican colleagues Nancy Mace, Ken Buck, Lisa McClain and Louie Gohmert in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. It warned that if China is “left unchecked,” the U.S. and allies “will be unprepared and unable to respond to China’s presence in the region…China’s rapid expansion and militarization of the Indo-Pacific region is a significant threat to the United States and our allies across the globe.” They noted that, in recent years, China “has used coercion and intimidation to demand policy changes, assert illegal maritime claims, and threaten countries that work with the United States or our allies.

One example Gooden gave was Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visiting several Indo-Pacific countries in recent weeks to “expand China’s military presence in the region” — specifically the Solomon Islands, which recently signed a security agreement with China allowing the PRC to “send military personnel and Chinese warships to utilize their ports for ‘logistical replenishment…This agreement establishes a concerning precedent and could begin a domino effect destabilizing the entire region,” Gooden wrote. Gooden and Republicans demanded Blinken “undertake all necessary measures to strengthen existing and foster new relationships in the strategic Indo-Pacific region to counter China’s growing influence.”

Gooden pointed to the U.S. treaty with the Republic of Kiribati, which has been in place since 1979, and prohibits Kiribati from “making facilities for military purposes available to third parties except with the agreement of the United States…Despite this treaty, the PRC has previously had a military operation under the guise of a space tracking station on Kiribati’s South Tarawa Island,” they wrote. “Due to China’s growing influence in the region, there are concerns that this facility may reopen in direct violation of our agreement with the Republic of Kiribati.” 

A State Department spokesperson stated that the department “appreciate(s) the bicameral and bipartisan support from Congress for deeper engagement in the Indo-Pacific…As we have said before, we must match action with our policies,” the spokesperson told Fox News. “The president has urged Congress to pass the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, which would authorize over $3.25 billion in diplomatic and foreign assistance resources for the Indo-Pacific.” The State Department spokesperson said the Biden administration envisions an Indo-Pacific that is “open, connected, prosperous, resilient and secure — and we are ready to work together with each nation to achieve it.”

The Biden administration is continuing to broaden engagement in the region, the spokesperson said, referring to President Biden’s recent trip to Japan and Blinken’s trip to the Pacific Islands. “As we have said, each nation will make its own sovereign decisions,” the spokesperson told Fox News. “We, along with allies and partners, including those in the region, have made our concerns clear about China’s shadowy, unspecified deals with little regional consultation.” The administration welcomes “contributions by the PRC to regional development, so long as it adheres to high standards, including in areas such as transparency, the rule of law, sustainable financing and respect for the autonomy of development aid recipients.”

Biblical Connection: While China is not necessarily named in the Bible, the fact that they represent a secular society that continually persecutes Christians should warn believers of the types of governments and political movements that will occur during the Tribulation, where Christianity will be outlawed and massive persecution and martyrdoms will occur (Revelation 6:9-11). 

PRAY: Pray that China’s continual push to expand and persecute will be stopped and religious freedom will be restored in the region.

Britain Continues Attack on Traditional Christian Beliefs of Gender

A London-based employment tribunal has ruled that the British Equality Act protects Christians’ beliefs that do not affirm transgenderism, but they cannot express those beliefs in the workplace. The Employment Appeal Tribunal in London delivered the judgment in a case concerning a Christian doctor whose work contract was terminated over his refusal to refer to a man as a woman.

 In July 2018, Dr. David Mackereth, an A&E doctor with 30 years of experience, was forced out of his job in the Department of Work and Pensions. He subsequently took his case to the tribunal which ruled that biblical beliefs on gender are “incompatible with human dignity” and not “worthy of respect in a democratic society.” The doctor then sought to challenge that ruling.  At first read, this judgment sounded very favorable. It means that the belief that God created humans as male and female and not transgender is a protected belief under both the Equality Act and the Human Rights Act, said the British charity Christian Concern, whose legal arm, the Christian Legal Centre, represented the Christian doctor. “Furthermore, it means that more narrow beliefs flowing from that core belief, such as that affirming a transgendered person in their gender identity belief is harmful, are also protected. The right not to believe in transgenderism is also protected,” Christian Concern added.

 However, the appeals tribunal also affirmed that “while the belief, or lack of belief, in transgenderism was protected, its manifestation in the workplace was qualified.” Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, called the judgment “confusing and muddled…The way in which the judge has driven a wedge between holding a belief and manifesting it means these basic Christian beliefs are protected on paper but not in practice,” Williams said. “The freedom to hold a belief, but not be able to express it, is no freedom at all,” he added.

 Mackereth said during proceedings that he was asked in a conversation by his line manager: “If you have a man 6 foot tall with a beard who says he wants to be addressed as ‘she’ and ‘Mrs,’ would you do that?” And Mackereth replied that in good conscience, he could not. His contract was subsequently terminated.

 Mackereth said he was grateful to the court for at least “recognizing that a belief that we are made by God, both male and female ‘in His image’ is not incompatible with human dignity.” However, he also said he will be taking the case to a higher court. Mackereth said everyone in the NHS should be able to say “publicly without fear that a person cannot change sex, but instead we are being forced to accept a massive change to our concept of the medical reality of sex, with no scientific basis for that change.” He continued: “As Christians, we are not trying to be unkind to people in any way. As Christians we are called to love all people with Christian love. But we cannot love people truly when we live and disseminate a lie. If we are to tell patients that they need to ‘follow the science’, then we must not tell them that they can change sex.”

 Biblical Connections: Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 that, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” We are clearly seeing a change in Western culture in which Christianity is tolerated only as long as it does not offend someone else. The moment someone becomes offended, religious freedom is placated.

 PRAY: Pray that this drive in Western culture toward ungodliness would stop and Christian principles and truth would be put back into the public square.

Woke Culture is a Great Threat to Religious Freedom

The head of a noted religious freedom advocacy organization cited “the dominance of woke culture that thinks it’s OK to silence people who disagree” as the greatest threat to religious freedom in the United States and around the world. Michael Farris, president and CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom, explained that many people, especially Christians, find themselves on “the receiving end of efforts to silence them, to cause them to lose their careers” and “not have the ability to even get their opinions out in public society,” Farris said “the dominance of woke culture that thinks it’s OK to silence people who disagree is very dangerous in many respects for freedom of speech and freedom of religion” in the U.S.

 Farris stated that “in some sectors of the world,” the greatest threat to religious freedom is “the same as the United States,” specifically, “the imperialism of woke culture.” He maintained that the “totalitarian mood” behind woke culture extends to the dominant orthodoxies in other countries as well: “In India, for example, Hindu nationalism operates on a very, very egregious basis and tries to close down people that are differing…I was in India just a few weeks ago and met with a young man who was beaten by the police for simply praying out loud on a neighborhood balcony of an apartment,” he said. “He was charged with a crime of forcible conversion. All he was doing was praying for his uncle’s healing.”

 Farris cited the intolerance of Hindu nationalists in India as well as woke culture in the U.S. as examples of how “we’re in a mood of the world where diversity of opinion is not being tolerated. There’s pressure to adhere to whatever the prevailing viewpoint is in a particular country, whether that’s Hindu nationalism or left-wing cultural wokeism. Get in line or face the consequences is the mood in way too many places in the world,” he said, stressing that “it’s relatively a small, very vocal, very vicious minority that wants to silence people, especially in this country.

 “I don’t think that the majority of Americans support this,” he added, noting that “waking up the big middle of the country to what’s happening” is a necessary step in reversing the trend of intolerance because “most Americans still believe in their heart that everybody should be able to say whatever they want and not suffer the consequences of being subjected to mob violence.” Farris recalled that earlier this year, one of his colleagues, ADF General Counsel Kristen Waggoner, had a mob try to “drown her out” as she addressed students at Yale Law School. At the same time, he expressed hope that “America can listen to its better angels and not listen to people who really want to pursue what I believe to be an un-American position of silencing those that you disagree with.”

 Agreeing that “Christians who hold biblical views on sexuality, gender and abortion are not being tolerated in the public square,” Farris identified “most college campuses or most public schools” as the most hostile environments for those with such beliefs: “It is very, very difficult to be able to communicate your views as a Christian and there is punishment being metered out.” Farris elaborated on his concerns with American education, noting that he had been “litigating cases” involving a tug of war between parents and schools and teachers over what is taught in public schools surrounding sex and gender for 40 years. “There has been some level of this that’s been going on at least that long,” he asserted. Farris said one change in education policy that has already materialized is a doubling of the homeschool population in the last couple of years: “It went from 5 percent of the school-aged population to about 10 percent.”

 Farris attributed the ascendance of critical theory and other concerning curriculum in schools to the fact that “school districts are organized in a way that the teachers’ union has an outsized influence in a number of ways.” He also explained that “the general education establishment, if you’re starting with the teachers’ colleges in the country that control a lot of what happens downstream, has pretty much bought into the culturally woke agenda.”

 Biblical Connection: The early church faced a similar issue when first the Jews and then the Romans tried to silence their voices through persecution and even death. However, the believers stood strong in their faith and continued to spread the Gospel.

 PRAY: Pray for those who are in danger of persecution but also pray that this tide will shift, and many parts of the world will turn back to religious freedom.

The Rise of “Apatheism” and its Impact on the Church

Scripture is full of promises for those who follow Christ — both for the present and the future. Yet nearly a quarter way through the 21st century, the Church is facing some of its most dire challenges yet. Recent poll findings suggest it’s not just unbelievers who are cool towards the Bible and its teachings but also those who already identify as Christians. A newly released study from the Nashville-based Lifeway Research has found apathy inside the Church was cited as the most common “people dynamic” challenge facing pastors today.

 Lifeway’s “Greatest Needs Of Pastors” study asked 1,000 Protestant pastors to identify the primary people dynamic challenges they face in their churches. Their overwhelming response? Apathy or lack of commitment. The survey found that three-quarters of pastors surveyed (75%) listed “People’s apathy or lack of commitment” when asked to identify the “people dynamics” they find challenging in their ministry. That was the only challenge that more than half of pastors identified. These appear to be self-identified followers of Jesus Christ apathetic to Christ’s Church.

 Coming in a long second, third and fourth place in the survey were responses like “People’s strong opinions about nonessentials” (48%), “Resistance to change in the church” (46%) and “People’s political views” (44%). “It can be easy for a church member to check the box and say, ‘I’m doing some activities, I’m coming to church’ ... and feel like they’re doing enough. And yet, if they are not participating, they’re really missing out on some pretty big parts,” Lifeway Research Executive Director Scott McConnell told The Christian Post.

 The findings come as Christian apologist and author J. Warner Wallace has argued that apathetic views on spirituality — particularly among millennials and Generation Z — pose a greater threat to Christianity than atheism. These are views that aren’t specifically anti-Christian or anti-religion, but rather ambivalent towards Christianity or religion in general. Meanwhile, a Barna Group survey from 2018 suggests that more people in “Generation Z” — traditionally defined as those born between 1999 and 2015 — identify themselves as agnostic, atheist or not religiously affiliated than any other generation.

 Apathy can also bleed into theology, with most Christian parents not having enough biblical literacy to even pass down to their children the most basic tenets of the faith, research suggests. A report released in April by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University found that parents of preteens “are in a state of spiritual distress” as American adherence to biblical Christianity fades. George Barna, director of research at the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian, said a paltry 2% of parents of preteens have a biblical worldview, largely because “parents … are too distracted or disinterested to acknowledge and address the parenting crisis.”

 Researchers said those categorized as apatheists “simply do not believe, and in the same right, their absence of faith means the absence of anything religious in any form from their mental space.” Strictly speaking, apatheism is less theological and more attitudinal in nature. Instead of declaring a “lack of belief” in God, one could theoretically acknowledge the existence of God and still be disinterested. Since apatheism is a judgment or intellectual position on a type of belief and not a belief or disbelief in itself, proponents say it’s irrelevant for an apatheist whether God exists or not. This combination of apathy and resistance to change among Christians can often result in a stagnant fellowship and even a lack of evangelism.

 Biblical Connection: Revelation 3:14- 16 states, “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” There is no place for apathy in the Christian life. Jesus demands that we bear fruit and this can only occur through following Him.

 PRAY: Pray the American church will awake from its slumber and return back to its mission.

What Is the Impact of Reversing Roe v. Wade?

At any moment, the Supreme Court will release their decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case over a Mississippi law which bans abortion after 15 weeks. In 1973, Roe v. Wade establish abortion on-demand as a federal right. In the almost 50 years since, the Supreme Court has repeatedly blocked a multitude of commonsense pro-life state laws from going into effect.

 When Roe v. Wade was decided, babies were considered viable (able to survive) at 28 weeks. Today, with aggressive medical care, premature babies are able to survive at 22 weeks or even earlier.

 God’s Word reminds us, “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13). Since 1973, medical science has “caught up” to prove that an unborn child is indeed a human life. As early as 5 weeks, babies in the womb have a heartbeat, blood vessels forming a circulatory system, and the brain and spinal cord are begining to develop. At 10 weeks babies have arms, legs, fingers and toes. And at 15 weeks, babies have a fully developed heart, nose, lips, eyelids and eyebrows. They can yawn, hiccup and suck their thumbs … and they can feel pain.

 This momentous decision could immediately enact pro-life laws across America. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 10 states have provisions to ban all or nearly all abortions; four states have passed an amendment declaring their state constitution does not secure or protect the right to abortion or allow the use of public funds for abortion; and 17 states have laws banning abortion at or before 20 weeks.

 Last month, after a draft of Dobbs was leaked, crisis pregnancy centers, pro-life advocacy groups, and churches were targeted. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America released a report listing over 40 incidents of violence and vandalism including activists throwing Molotov cocktails and setting fire to the offices of Wisconsin Family Action in Madison and the offices of Oregon Right to Life.

 Marjorie Dannenfelser, the group’s president, commented “Every abortion is an act of violence – violence against the unborn child who is killed and violence against the mother who is wounded in one of the deepest ways possible. In contrast to that inherent violence, the vast network of pregnancy centers, maternity homes, and other organizations across America exist to peacefully and lovingly serve women and families.”

 Also upset with the Dobbs leak, Nicholas John Roske, armed with a gun and a knife, was arrested near the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and was charged with attempted assassination. Just yesterday, Roske, who has admitted to flying across country to kill Justice Kavanaugh, pled not guilty. A tentative trial date has been set for August 23, but it remains to be seen what the outcome will be.

When the final Dobbs decision is released, there is a very real threat of escalating violence and destruction. Jane’s Revenge, a radical pro-abortion group, has declared “open season” on pro-life institutions that do not shut down threatening, “If abortions aren’t safe then you aren’t either.” They have promised additional attacks saying it “will not stop” or “hesitate to strike” until abortion’s legality is secure.

 PRAY: Pray for safety for the justices of the Supreme Court. Pray for the protection of crisis pregnancy centers and pro-life advocacy groups. In addition to praying, commit to coming alongside those groups who provide pregnant mothers and their children and families with much needed resources that help them embrace life.

Atheist Activist Demands Florida School Districts Ban and Burn Bible

A liberal activist is getting national attention for calling on Florida’s public schools to ban and even burn the Holy Bible over what he says are “obscene” and “harmful” passages. Chaz Stevens of Deerfield Beach, Florida, wrote letters to superintendents in Miami-Dade County Public Schools and other school districts throughout the state asking them to “immediately remove the Bible from the classroom, library, and any instructional material” in their schools.

The campaign came weeks after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 1467, allowing Florida residents to request the removal of books they find objectionable from school classrooms and libraries. Critics have alleged that the measure stifles the free speech rights of students and faculty on LGBT issues and other matters.

Citing HB 1467, Stevens’ letter calls not only for the removal of the Bible and the “banishment of any book that references” it but also calls on education officials to burn what Stevens described as “that giant stack of fiction in a pyre worthy of a Viking sendoff.”

Stevens presented Jose Dotres, the superintendent of Miami-Dade County Schools, with his objections, including references to verses from the Old and New Testament. He sent a similar letter to Kenneth Savage, the interim superintendent of Lee County Public Schools, indicating that his effort to ban the Bible from public schools extends to the entire state.

In his letter to Dotres, Stevens misquotes Genesis 2:18 as “It is not good enough for man to be alone, therefore, encourage one another and build each other up!”

The verse written by Stevens actually combines Genesis 2:18 with a New Testament verse from Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, to which Stevens comments: “The most troubling of issues for many, as it’s obvious once we teach little Jimmy and Susie to show empathy for their classmates, they’re one giant step closer to getting their LGBTQ+ freak on.” Genesis 2:18 actually reads: “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 reads, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, as indeed you are doing.”

Stevens’ letter also takes apparent umbrage with the words of Jesus in a warning of the depravity of the human heart in Matthew 15:19: “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” Additionally, the letter cites the Apostle Paul’s inspired words in Romans 13:13 as a cause for concern: “Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. As the Bible casually references such topics as adultery and fornication — or as I like to think, Date Night Friday Night — do we really want to teach our youth about drunken orgies?” Stevens writes.

Quoting God’s warning to the Israelites not to participate in bestiality in Leviticus 18:23, Stevens says, “one should consider such discussions to be harmful to minors and obscene.” He also linked the Bible’s view of slavery — which calls on masters to treat their servants justly and for servants to obey them as they would obey Christ Himself — with critical race theory, saying he was “concerned our young white students will read such passages and wake up to civilization’s sordid past.”

A note on Stevens’ website says the Bible has been “used to justify slavery, homophobia, and wars for centuries” and “it’s long past time to ban this dangerous book from our public schools.”

Supporters of HB 1557 contend it is a necessary law to support the rights of parents who question the morality of teachers to young children about sexual matters. “Parents’ rights have been increasingly under assault around the nation, but in Florida we stand up for the rights of parents and the fundamental role they play in the education of their children,” DeSantis said in a statement. “Parents have every right to be informed about services offered to their child at school, and should be protected from schools using classroom instruction to sexualize their kids as young as 5 years old,” he added.

This is yet another example of critics attacking God’s Word at every turn and trying to destroy the credibility of Christianity in the public square.

PRAY: Pray these harmful attacks of the Bible will stop and that people will again respect the Bible in the public square.

North Korea Continues to Test Long Range Missiles Amid Nuclear Buildup

North Korea allegedly launched three test missiles into the sea according to South Korea. The purported missile tests came just hours after U.S. President Joe Biden left Asia, where he restated his commitment to defend U.S. allies against North Korea's nuclear threat. The North is believed to have launched an intercontinental ballistic missile and two shorter-range weapons.

 The tests would be the North's first ICBM launch in about two months as nuclear diplomacy talks with the United States have stalled. North Korea said in March that it had test-launched its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile to date, violating a 2018 U.N. resolution on long-range launches. The tests were North Korea’s seventeenth round of missile launches this year and the first since May 12. North Korea's ICBM launch in March marked the first such firing since 2017.

 South Korea said following an emergency national security council meeting shortly after detecting the launches; "North Korea’s sustained provocations can only result in stronger and faster South Korea-U.S. combined deterrence and can only deepen North Korea’s international isolation," the South Korean government said in a statement. "Our government is maintaining constant readiness to strongly and effectively respond to any kind of North Korean provocation."

 South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the U.S. and South Korean militaries launched two surface-to-surface missiles in response to North Korea's tests to show their striking capabilities. The statement said the two allies had detected North Korea’s launch plans in advance.

 The White House said that U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan and South Korea national security adviser Kim Sung-han spoke on the phone shortly after the test. "They both condemned North Korea's destabilizing ballistic missile tests and committed to continue building on their close coordination. Mr. Sullivan also reaffirmed the United States’ steadfast commitment to the defense of South Korea," the White House said in a statement.

 Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi called the launches "an act of provocation and absolutely impermissible." U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials have warned that North Korea may also soon launch its first nuclear test in nearly five years. President Biden and South Korea's president said after their summit in Seoul that they would consider expanded military practices in an effort to deter North Korea's nuclear threats. When asked during his trip about possible provocations from the North, Biden said, "We are prepared for anything North Korea does."

 Biden would later meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo. They both promised to work to handle security challenges. These hurdles include North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic programs and China’s "increasingly coercive" behavior. This continues a very difficult time for President Biden’s foreign policy. Between the Russia-Ukrainian War, China’s pressure on Taiwan and both North Korea and Iran continuing to press toward nuclear capability, the world has become a very dangerous and politically divided scene very quickly.

 Biblical Connection: The rise in the desire to proliferate nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction should not shock readers of the Scriptures. The Book of Revelation makes it clear that in the last days there will be massive war and bloodshed unlike any seen in the history of the world. For example, the horseman of Revelation 6 bring war and destruction to the globe and a fourth of the world is killed. The presence and prominence of these types of weapons make this a very real possibility.

 PRAY- Pray for wisdom for the leaders of the world as these challenges continue to arise and evil continues to push for greater impact.

46 Retired Generals, Admirals Urge Against Iran Nuclear Deal

In an open letter to President Biden, 46 retired U.S. generals and admirals voiced their opposition to the ongoing negotiations with Iran on striking a nuclear deal. “In Ukraine, we are bearing witness to the horrors of a country ruthlessly attacking its neighbor and, by brandishing its nuclear weapons, forcing the rest of the world largely to stand on the sidelines,” the letter, penned in coordination with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), said. “The new Iran deal currently being negotiated, which Russia has played a central role in crafting, will enable the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism to cast its own nuclear shadow over the Middle East.”

 Retired Air Force Gen. Charles Wald, who also formerly served as deputy commander of U.S, European Command, said he supports finding a solution to the nuclear issue in the Middle East through diplomacy, but argued no deal is better than a bad deal.

 “The idea of an agreement is a good idea. We agree with diplomacy,” Wald told Fox News. “But we agreed with a fair agreement that would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon breakout and then have weapons delivery systems that would then change the dynamic in the Middle East – particularly for Israel but all other countries too.” Wald said one of his chief concerns with the latest deal is that the Biden administration is not considering Iran’s role in fueling terrorism and backing rebel groups in the war in Yemen – a war that has prompted one of the greatest humanitarian crises.

 President Biden made re-entering a nuclear agreement with Iran a chief priority of his administration and indirect talks through European allies have been on and off for roughly a year. But reports surfaced suggesting the administration was considering a request from Iran to remove its top military branch, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), from the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations. In exchange, the U.S. has called on Iran to end its support for terrorist organizations fueling unrest in the region – but several groups from Iranian American scientists to retired military commanders have little faith Iran will live up to this commitment. “That’s a red flag,” Wald said in reference to removing the IRGC as a designated terrorist group. “That just doesn’t sit well with us because the IRGC is the most malicious group in the region.”

The retired general said the death of 600 U.S. military members could be attributed “directly” to IRGC, and noted they continue to attack U.S. and allied forces in the region. Talks between western nations and Iran appeared to be stalled and officials involved in the negotiations remain tight-lipped on deal specifics. Wald said he would need to see “unfettered access by the IAEA” and assurances that Iran will not continue with its ballistic missile system even if a nuclear agreement is reached, in order for him to support a deal with Iran.

 “The Iranians will push up to the point where they know something bad is going happen to them,” Wald continued. “So the more difficult we make for them to operate with impunity, the more they’re going to take advantage of it.”

 Just last week it was reported that thankfully the Biden administration will not agree to removing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the State Department’s list of foreign terrorists, thus stalling negotiations for the time being. However, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has warned the world that Iran is weeks away from having the necessary materials for a nuclear weapon.

 PRAY: Pray for President Biden to heed the warnings about Iran and to work to keep them from nuclear capability.

America More Indifferent to Religion but More Accepting of Jesus

According to a new poll by Ipsos, nearly four out of 10 adults living in the United States believe that religion makes the country stronger, while fewer than one in 10 believe it makes it weaker. In a study titled “Jesus in America” released and written as a partnership between Ipsos and the Episcopal Church, 38% of respondents said they believe that religion in the U.S. “makes the country stronger,” which was the most popular response.

 By contrast, 28% of respondents said they believe religion in the U.S. “divides the country,” while 20% said they did not know, and 7% said it had “no effect.” Only 6% said they believe religion “makes the country weaker.” Those who said they believe religion “divides the country” included 21% of Christian respondents, 38% of respondents belonging to other religions and 50% of non-religious respondents. For their data, they used a survey of 3,119 U.S. adults conducted from Nov. 22 to Dec. 2, 2021, with a margin of error of +/- 2.0 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

 This 38% number is substantially smaller than previous polling. For example, according to a Pew Research Center report released in November 2019, 55% of respondents believed that religion did “more good than harm” to society. Thus, in only three years, a 15 percent decrease has occurred in the American mindset based on this data. It is also important to note that this is not Christian specific data, but shows that Americans are more hesitant to think any religious beliefs are of value. Certainly, events such as September 11th and the War on Terror have impacted these figures as well. Many Millennials have grown up with America at war for much of their lifetime and blame religion for much of that situation.  

 The data in the study backs up this idea. The study reported that Generation Z Americans — those born after 1996 — were slightly less likely to be non-religious than millennials (Gen Y), who were born between 1981 and 1996. According to the survey, 24% of Gen Z respondents identify as non-religious, while 28% of millennials identified the same. By contrast, 12% of baby boomers and 18% of Generation X identify as non-religious. If this data holds up, then Generation Z would be the first generation to slow this rapid decline in several generations.

However, one of the dangers that comes with both Millennials and even Gen Z is that they tend to be more “spiritual minded” than religious. They may believe in a higher power or different aspects of spirituality, such as karma, meditation, etc., but not necessarily in an organized religion. Interestingly, even though the numbers believing religion is helpful for the nation have declined, the views on Jesus have shifted in a much more positive direction. Among respondents who said their opinion of Jesus had shifted within the last five to eight years, 76% of Gen Z said their opinion changed to be positive, while 65% of millennials said the same.

 Therefore, there clearly seems to be a disconnect in younger generations between religion, even Christianity, and Jesus Himself. There is a much stronger acceptance of Jesus than Christianity or religion at large. Perhaps this has occurred from a misunderstanding of Jesus, viewing Him as a sage or teacher instead of God Himself, or this could be simply a reaction to the many scandals that have unfortunately played Christianity over the past decade. Regardless of the reason, the data, while alarming at first, may actually point to a more acceptance of Jesus in the new generations.

 PRAY: Pray that younger generations will continue to show a positive acceptance of not simply the Jesus of culture, but the true Jesus of the Bible, the Son of God and Savior of the world.

Bible Researchers Decipher Earliest Hebrew Inscription Known as ‘Curse Tablet’

Biblical researchers say they have decoded an ancient Hebrew inscription, known as a “curse tablet” that predates by centuries any known Hebrew inscription from ancient Israel. The inscription was found on Mt. Ebal, the mountain of the curse, mentioned in Deuteronomy 27 and Joshua 8. “Cursed, cursed, cursed — cursed by the God of YHWH, you will die cursed, cursed you will surely die, cursed by YHWH cursed, cursed, cursed,” reads the earliest proto-alphabetic Hebrew text recovered on a small, folded lead tablet, the Associates for Biblical Research announced at a press conference at the Lanier Theological Library in Houston, Texas.

 “I believe the amulet dates to the Late Bronze II age, or as early as 1400 BC,” Scott Stripling, ABR’s director of excavations, told The Jerusalem Post. He added, “This is earlier than many skeptics believe the Bible existed, making this the earliest appearance of the word YHWH in Israel and it was found at a covenant site. The implications are enormous and will reverberate for many years to come.”

 The amulet, known as a defixio or curse tablet, came to light in December 2019 when Stripling, also the director of the Archaeological Studies Institute at the Bible Seminary went with his team to wet sift the discarded material from excavations conducted in 1982-1989 in the West Bank. Those excavations were conducted by the late Haifa University archaeology professor Adam Zertal who discovered the altar of Joshua on Mount Ebal near the city of Nablus in the West Bank.

 “This amulet and its inscription do not predate the Bible,” Stripling said. “We believe it coincides with the biblical events. We talk about verisimilitude, a consistency between what we read in the text and what we find in the material culture. If the text were true, this is what you would anticipate finding, and indeed, it is what we found.” Haifa University professor Gershon Galil told The Times of Israel, “This is a text you find only every 1,000 years.”

 Some have raised concerns about the claims, with one unnamed academic telling The Times of Israel, “The fact that they are publishing it in the news before being published scientifically is a bit off.” However, the Associates for Biblical Research said an academic, peer-reviewed article will be published later this year. It is not uncommon for articles in the field of archaeology to take several years to go through the publishing process. The researchers include: Stripling, Galil, Ivana Kumpova, Jaroslav Valach, Pieter Gert van der Veen, Daniel Vavrik and Michal Vopalensky.

 According to the Bible, Mount Ebal was the mountain from which the curses were called out for those who broke God’s law when the children of Israel made a covenant with God before entering the land of Israel. Deuteronomy 11:29 reads, “When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the curses.”

 This discovery, if proven accurate based on these early reports, would be a game-changer. Critical scholars argue that Israel as a nation did not even exist at this point in time, that the Exodus never happened and that the text of the Bible was not written for centuries. Showing that the Hebrews not only could write at this time, but actually had portions of the Bible written in various forms would go a long way to establish the historicity of the Old Testament, something that has been greatly questioned by skeptics for the last few centuries.

 PRAY: Pray we will continue to see discoveries in archaeology that will help to strengthen the historicity of Biblical text.

Is America Becoming too Weak to Stand up for Freedom?

As the war between Russia and Ukraine has captured the attention of the world, one thing that has clearly stood out has been the great passion and love of homeland of the Ukrainian people. Thousands of Ukrainians have flocked to enlist in the military in order to defend their homeland, even many who did not reside in the country at the outbreak of the conflict. Regardless of the ultimate outcome of the war, the strength, passion and dedication of the Ukrainian people for their nation has clearly been demonstrated and has captured the attention of the globe.

 This has led many throughout the globe to question how much of a love of homeland they themselves have.  In a recent poll, Americans were asked what they would do if they were in the same position as Ukrainians are now: stay and fight or leave the country? A majority (55 percent) say they would stay and fight, while 38 percent say they would leave the country. Republicans say 68 - 25 percent and independents say 57 - 36 percent they would stay and fight, while Democrats say 52 - 40 percent they would leave the country.

 This has led many to question what exactly has happened to America? Why is there such a large percentage of the population not willing to stand and fight for their country?

 In a recent Wall Street opinion, Matthew Hennessey wrote, “One can hardly imagine Americans of yesteryear exhibiting such high levels of yellow-bellyism. Where have all the Minutemen gone? The Molly Pitchers? The Audie Murphys? The Todd Beamers? In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and 9/11, when the nation was on its knees, the call was answered without hesitation by rock-ribbed Republicans and true-blue Democrats alike. Even the turbulent Vietnam era didn’t inspire such pusillanimity. Between 1964 and 1973, 2.2 million Americans were conscripted into military service. Another 15 million were granted deferments for one reason or another. Less than 2% of those who were eligible for the draft opted to evade it, either by going underground or emigrating.”

 Cal Thomas similarly wrote, “After two generations where students in public schools and major universities seem to have been taught by mostly liberal teachers and professors that America is not an exceptional nation and is, rather, a country whose “original sin” of slavery and record wealth is an embarrassment, why would anyone want to fight to preserve sin and embarrassment? Maybe in Las Vegas they might ask where these two qualities are in abundance…If the Quinnipiac survey is accurate – and given the current cultural condition, why wouldn’t it be? – the willingness to act seems to be shrinking. Inertia can only last for so long before the power that launched it expires. We have been living off the bravery and sacrifice of ‘the greatest generation’ for some time. It must be renewed if freedom is to be extended for us and for other nations.”

 Now, some might say that love for one’s country is not something that should be a high priority. However, we must remember that it was America that stood against the Nazis. It was America that combated atheistic communism for decades. It is America that has fought the War on Terror for two decades.

 While America certainly has its issues and problems, God has used this nation as a restrainer on evil throughout the globe for many generations. If America no longer has the will or determination to stand up against the forces of evil across the globe, then trouble could be on the horizon.

 PRAY: Pray that America will continue to show the determination to combat evil throughout the globe.

Parents’ Lawsuit Claims School Secretly Helped Kids Adopt New Gender Identities

Two pairs of parents are suing the staff of a Massachusetts middle school for allegedly encouraging their children to adopt new gender identities without their knowledge or consent. Stephen Foote and Marissa Silvestri, alongside Jonathan Feliciano and Sandra Salmeron, filed the lawsuit in a Massachusetts federal district court with the help of the Child and Parental Rights Campaign and the Massachusetts Family Institute. The organizations help parents navigate issues surrounding gender identity and parental rights.

Several school officials at Baird Middle School are named defendants in the lawsuit, including Interim Superintendent Lisa Nemeth, former Superintendent Todd Gazda, Baird Middle School Principal Stacy Monette, school counselor Marie-Claire Foley and former librarian Jordan Funke. Foote and Silvestri claim that they were unaware of the “transitioning” of their young son and daughter, referred to as G.F. and B.F., respectively, in the filing. They say they became aware after their daughter’s teacher, Bonnie Manchester, told them in December 2020 that their daughter was struggling with her self-esteem. The teacher forwarded the parents an email in which their 11-year-old daughter claimed she was “genderqueer,” citing her new name and pronouns as “he/him.” The parents contacted the school, requesting that the school refrain from discussing the issue with their children and allow them to “direct the mental health care of their children.”

The parents claim they made it clear they would provide their daughter with the help she needed from a “mental health professional,” but they believe the school disregarded their instructions. Foote and Silvestri claim their daughter “changed her preferred name at least twice since December 2020” without their knowledge and claim the school continues to address B.F. by “whatever iteration of her name she has indicated she prefers” despite their request not to do so.

The lawsuit also alleges that the couple’s son has “identified as transgender and requested to be called by a female name,” accusing the school of helping him hide this information from his parents. The lawsuit also describes an assignment given to students in September 2019 by librarian Jordan Funke, which allegedly asked students to create videos of their preferred gender pronouns. B.F. and possibly G.F. participated in the assignment without their parents knowing or consenting to their kids’ participation.

The other set of parents, Feliciano and Salmeron, claim that they “are deliberately hindered from ascertaining whether their children are being secretly counseled about and affirmed in discordant gender identities without their knowledge or consent. Efforts to affirm a discordant student gender identity at school violates parents’ fundamental rights under the United States and Massachusetts constitutions and violates children’s reciprocal rights to the care and custody of their parents, familial privacy, and integrity,” the filing states.

The parents also alleged that the school superintendent at the time, Todd Gazda, publicly referred to opposition to gender transitions as “intolerance of LGBTQ people” disguised as “parental rights.” Gazda also reportedly implied that school is the only “safe pace” for students struggling with gender identity. The plaintiffs pointed out that the School Committee did not refute Gazda’s remarks. The lawsuit accuses Ludlow Public Schools of having a “protocol and practice of concealing from parents information related to their children’s gender identity.”

Ludlow School Committee Chair James P. Harrington told MassLive that the school district’s teachers and staff are looking out for their students’ best interests. “It’s a slippery slope,” he was quoted as saying. “We want to support our students the best we can. But we should bring parents to the table, and hope they respond in a loving and supportive way as well.”

Bruce Hausknecht, a judicial analyst for the Christian organization Focus on the Family, told The Christian Post that “gender ideology in many of the nation’s public schools is premised upon secrecy and furthered by school policies that consider parents to be the problem, not the solution.” Hausknecht noted how the secrecy in schools regarding students’ gender identities has sparked pushback from parents in some states. He cited Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act as an example, a law that requires schools to inform parents about changes in services that could impact their child’s well-being.

Hausknecht asserted that the situation in Massachusetts is not unique and that parents “everywhere” must stay “vigilant” when it comes to protecting their children from the “harmful ideologies” their schools may be pushing. “It is our primary obligation as parents to ‘train up a child in the way he should go...’ (Proverbs 22:6),” he wrote. “School policies that set schools, not parents, as the final authority are in direct contradiction of that biblical imperative.”

Pray- Pray for students in our public school systems as they are constantly bombarded by an agenda that is constantly anti-God.

Israeli’s Believe Ukraine is a Sign for Iran’s Future

For many years, Vladimir Putin has complained about the injustice of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the loss of Russia’s rightful hegemony of the former Soviet Republics. In 2005, he said “the demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century... Tens of millions of our citizens and fellow countrymen found themselves outside the Russian Federation.” The world watched him take northern Georgia (2008), Crimea and eastern Ukraine (2014), and did little about it. He took the measure of America during the Afghanistan retreat and read the polls of the American people’s appetite for foreign engagements. The dictators watched closely when the US did not respond to attacks on its soldiers in Syria near al Tanf.

 Putin watched, learned and acted. The authoritarian President Xi Jinping in China, the Revolutionary Shi’ite Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his Republican Guards henchmen, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, are all watching. They are now analyzing and strategizing the best time to invade Taiwan; attack the Gulf states; let loose proxies in Gaza, Yemen and Lebanon; confront India, and threaten the Far East.

 Authoritarian birds of a feather flock together, vocally supporting Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. During the unprovoked assault, Putin met with Pakistani Prime Minister Khan, while President Xi of China offered his support of Russia. The “Butcher of Tehran,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told Putin, “The continued expansion of NATO is a serious threat against the stability and security of independent countries in various regions of the world.” The Iranians know that the US desperately wants to rejoin a weakened nuclear deal. It is an agreement that demands absolutely no restrictions on Iran’s expansionism; its support of aggressive proxies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen; or any limits on Iran’s terrorism, human rights abuses or missile development. The lesson of Ukraine for Iran is to hold out for more, as America under this administration is perceived not as a superpower but more of a 98-pound weakling.

 As Yoav Limor, writing in Israel Hayom, says, “The lesson for the world is broader: Without resolve, the familiar global security order will crack. The Russian invasion of Ukraine poses dangers that could extend beyond the immediate battlefield, potentially changing the world security order for the worse.”

 The Israelis are watching closely and know that their national security is in worse shape than just a month ago. The lesson of Ukraine for Israel is that it must rely on itself by itself, and that is the message most other nations will also take. With a new nuclear agreement whose feeble restrictions on nuclear development will evaporate in just a few years, it means that Israel will need to act sooner rather than later to strike Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

 Ukraine is the flashing signal telling Israel it has to go it alone regarding Iran. The weak western response to the naked Russian act of aggression has increased the chance for regional and global wars.

 Unlike the rest of the world, Israel believes what its adversaries say. Supreme leader Khamenei has called for the destruction of the Zionist entity on innumerable occasions: “Our stance against Israel is the same stance we have always taken. Israel is a malignant cancerous tumor… that has to be removed and eradicated: it is possible, and it will happen.”

 What is the Ukrainian connection to the Middle East? Russia is also the leading outside power in the region with the influence and desire to recreate the Soviet sphere of influence in the Levant and North Africa.

 Russia has solidified its military status with new naval facilities at Tartus and an upgraded airbase at Khmeimim, both in Syria. It now projects on-the-ground military power from its bases in Syria into the eastern Mediterranean, affecting Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Israel, the Gulf States and Egypt. Those Russian bases are close to the Black Sea and Crimea and in range of the Suez Canal, the Straits of Hormuz and Bab-el Mandeb – gateways and choke points of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

 Appeasing Iran with a weak nuclear agreement in 2015, forgetting about previous Russian hegemonic invasions in eastern Ukraine (2014) and Georgia (2008), and ignoring China’s moves in Hong Kong and the South China Sea, were signboards for the dictators to move now or in the near future.

 America’s poor leadership on the global stage, rhetoric with evaporating red lines, and an isolationist sentiment are a perfect storm to ignite regional wars in the Far East, Mideast, Eastern Europe and southern Asia. America is a nation that has lost its way, looking more like America in the 1930s, which ignored the rise of Hitler and Japan until there was no choice. When Emmanuel Macron is the most decisive leader in the West, you know that your adversaries will take notice and act.

 To avoid war, you need the means to fight and for your enemies to believe you have the will to use them. America has the former, albeit somewhat hollowed out in recent years, and lacks the latter.

 Unless things change, by 2030, Xi will be in Taipei. Israel will have struck Iranian nuclear facilities, and Hezbollah and Hamas will have sent tens of thousands of missiles into Israeli civilian areas.

 PRAY: Pray for the protection of Israel. Pray for the return of strong American leadership on the world stage.