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I made a post on a social media, which was my opinion, that Israel and friends need to liberate Gazians from Hamas just as the Allies and Russia liberated Germans from Nazis. I still believe that. I do not expect everyone else to. If you befriend a Gasian so they will trust you, most would say the same thing. They are aware that Hamas has paid informants who try to abstract that from Gazians and then remove their remaining family from being alive. They may never trust you enough; they all have heard stories, fictional or not, of such. Back to the topic, many long-term friends blocked me over that. I suspect most of them were left-leaning, but I could be wrong. Has anyone else had that kind of experience? Stan

Very well written, thank you. Israel, as a nation, has some of the best laws for the protection of religious liberty. That is seldom talked about. In the Israeli military, there are Muslims fighting against Hamas to protect their country. That is seldom talked about. We have all benefited from the inventions and innovations of the Children of Israel. That is seldom talked about.

Stan, I'm left-leaning, but fully agree with you. There are wonderful people living in the land. For centuries they lived together until Western nations started to interfere, and now you have extremists on both sides that hold everyone else hostage. A child of a Palestinian friend of mine made a comment about how the press very much distorts the just concerns that the Palestinians have but make it more extreme than what is being said and twisted to make it anti-Israel. The father, despite being in agreement, had to denounce the child because of death threats. Palestinian Christians worry for their lives, there are different religions among the Arabs who each believe that their version of the faith is the correct version and needs to be imposed on everyone else. Some in all the faiths respect the history of the land of the Bible which helps us to understand the Bible even better, but others want to destroy and forget the history. The original role of Israel was to first, make the most important intersection for trade routes safe from the dangers that the Canaanite superstitions had caused. Then if faithful God would have blessed them and the trade caravans would bring stories about these people to the farthest reaches of the world. If not faithful, they would get curses to encourage them to change, and if nothing else worked, they would go into exile. In exile they were to share with their neighbors God's faithfulness and their unfaithfulness, and thus spread the gospel. If faithful the exile would end in a second great exodus lead by the messiah. In short two possible paths: Live faithfully in the land and the caravans will reach out to the world and the world would come to them for the gospel. The other is Go ye into all the world and spread the gospel. The Hebrews had the land until the Babylon exile, returned for 70 weeks of years of the land, and even got to stay in the land for nearly another 40 years before going back under exile theology. The age of navigation (and even more so aviation) no longer made this piece of property the center of the world, no God's people, no matter where we live, are still living under the framework of "Go ye into all the world." Those who are living on that piece of property can no longer follow the land framework. But they have a secondary job under the framework of exile: That from all the Jews suffered that they can have the joy of the land that means so much to them. Second to protect the history of the land so that we can study the Bible deeper. Third, they are holding in check the multifaceted civil war that would develop by so many of the subgroups wanting their true religion be forced upon everyone else when we look at the extremists. I pray for the more moderate Palestinian people to be freed from Hamas.

Especially for my youngest daughter. Those who know, know.

The celebration of the Passover is explained by various conversations by the characters in this episode. It informs viewers that do not have a Christian background what was happening during this feast. In one scene the high priest is dining with King Herod. They are discussing Jesus and it is presented in such a way that the high priest is clearly threatened by Jesus while King Herod sees Jesus as harmless. We know that Jesus was not a threat to the civil government of Rome. He was a threat to the Jewish religious leadership. After the resurrection and ascension, the new Christian sect was such a threat to Jewish leadership that they became persecuted. We see in this story the "church" and the "state". Jesus was not a threat to the state but was a threat to the church. The state is all about power and treasure in this world. The church is about power and treasure in the world to come. The episode comes to a climax with the cleansing of the temple. Jesus overturns the tables and runs the livestock and vendors out. It is very forceful. It is noteworthy that the Jewish people were expecting the Messiah to come and free them from Rome. They expected the Messiah to attack Rome. However, the Messiah did not attack Rome. He attacked the erroring Jewish establishment. During the first season, Jesus met with Nicodemus. The light came on for Nicodemus when he realized the Messiah didn't come to free them from Rome but rather to free them from sin. Cleansing the temple is an active illustration of Jesus freeing us from sin. The Jewish religion had become rigid legalism. Rigid legalism traps us in sin. If Jesus was here today, would He be trying to reform civil government or would He be focusing on the church? The reality is that Jesus is here today as He lives in those that believe in Him. Should our focus be on the civil government or on the church? How can we be free from legalism and fulfill the purpose God has for us at this time?

So, what to do with those pesky immigrants?

The Voice of Prophecy mourns the loss of Gordon Henderson, long-time evangelist and, in two stints, ministry leader. Pastor Henderson passed away on February 3 at the age of 94. https://www.voiceofprophecy.com/gordonhenderson

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the famed civil rights leader who marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and later ran for president, has died, his family says. He was 84. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jesse-jackson-dies-age-84-civil-rights-leader/

Robert Duvall, Oscar-winning actor and ‘Godfather’ mainstay, dead at 95 https://apnews.com/article/robert-duvall-dead-6ddb67ba5e2242ba9dd96f29b4ce242a?

On a cold night in Alberta on Feb. 8, the RCMP stated that they responded to a report of a charter bus that had hit the median and rolled over at approximately 10:27 pm on Feb. 7 on Highway 43, one kilometre west of Debolt. The vehicle was a charter bus carrying the Grande Prairie Adventist Church Pathfinder Club home from a Pathfinder Bible Experience program in Edmonton. Of the 37 occupants, Pathfinder leader Lillian Banda was pronounced dead at the scene. Of the remaining occupants, six sustained serious injuries and were taken to a local hospital, where they were treated. All the other travellers made it safely home. Alberta Conference president pastor Jeff Potts said the conference will send a team of pastors trained in counselling to Grande Prairie Adventist Church to provide support. Pastor Dan Wilson of Grand Prairie Adventist Church held a special prayer service on Feb. 8 at 6 pm, which included pathfinders conference wide. Youth Director Roberson Dorelus is also supporting the youth. “Please keep the Grande Prairie Church in your prayers,” Potts said. “Pray for [pastor] Dan Wilson as he ministers to his church family.” Written by Pastor Shawn Ellis, editor of Canadian Adventist Messenger, with contributions from Troy McQueen, communications director for the Alberta Conference, and Erika Rolling, reporter for Everything Grand Prairie! https://adventistmessenger.ca/news/alberta-pathfinder-club-caught-in-tragic-collision

James Van Der Beek, a heartthrob who starred in coming-of-age dramas at the dawn of the new millennium, shooting to fame playing the titular character in “Dawson’s Creek” and in later years mocking his own hunky persona, has died. He was 48. The cause was Cancer. Also: Sept. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- AstraZeneca announced today that it has collaborated with actor and father James Van Der Beek on a campaign to dispel common myths about the flu and underscore the importance of annual influenza vaccination for eligible individuals and families.