Several leading bishops from the Vatican recently visited a “Christian” village in the Gaza Strip.  This event was done in coordination with the Palestinian Authority (PA).  Also, in December a Vatican center in Jerusalem hosted a conference with Christian and Muslim leaders entitled, “How to live together in a future Palestinian state?”  (IsraelNationalNews.com, January 11, 2012).

When I was in high school, I was in a one-act play that reached the state finals. Our last competition started at 9:00 p.m.—on Friday evening. As a Sabbath-keeper, I wasn’t able to participate. One girl from our cast asked me, “Can’t you miss church once?” She casually added, “God would understand.”

Iran and the U.S. are “rattling sabers” once again in the Persian Gulf.  Tightened sanctions on Iran have resulted in military exercises and threats of retaliation if the U.S. brought its carrier group back to the gulf (which it has now done).  An Iranian general recently warned, “I recommend and emphasize to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf… we are not in the habit of warning more than once” (National Post, January 6, 2012).

“A group of scientists that tracks the likelihood of a global cataclysm says the world is moving closer to doomsday.  The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced Tuesday that it has moved its ‘Doomsday Clock’ to five minutes to midnight…”

The Bible can seem like an ancient book, full of “thees” and “thous”. It can seem confusing, with dragons, and dreams, and lots of things that “theology experts” argue about. But when we actually read what the Bible says, its often more relevant to our modern society than we might think.