Worthy News
A new report by the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) calls on the international community to hold Azerbaijan accountable for what it describes as the systematic “malicious destruction” of Armenia’s Christian heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Iran may be planning an attack on Israel from Iraqi territory using its terrorist proxies with a large arsenal of drones and ballistic missiles, possibly ahead of the U.S. presidential election, according to Israeli intelligence cited by two Israeli sources, Axios reported.
Following the Los Angeles Dodgers’ World Series victory over the New York Yankees, riots and looting broke out across Los Angeles on Wednesday night, leading to over a dozen arrests as the city descended into chaos. Some analysts warn that this unrest may foreshadow similar events after next week’s U.S. presidential election, with over a quarter of Americans expressing concern that the election outcome could spark civil unrest or even a civil war.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Thursday that it had destroyed approximately 70% of Hezbollah’s drones, primarily since intensifying its operations in mid-September. In addition to this significant reduction, the IDF reported the elimination of 10% of Hezbollah’s drone operators, including the commander of the entire unit.
China has significantly advanced its submarine attack program by building three new Shang III cruise missile-firing nuclear submarines, according to US defense officials cited by the Washington Times.
Iranian officials say Israel has caused “deep alarm in Iran” by destroying all four Russian-made S-300 air defense systems protecting the Islamic Republic.
North Korea test-launched a suspected long-range missile Thursday designed to strike the continental U.S. while thousands of its troops prepared for battle in Ukraine.
Organizers of one of South Korea’s largest Christian gatherings in history hope the country’s leaders will “not harm traditional families and restrict the freedoms of churches to live out their faith.”
Enforcing a new law on standards for houses of worship authorities in Rwanda have conducted another round of inspections of churches and have closed down 70% of those they inspected, Baptist Global News (BGN) reports. Most churches targeted by the Rwandan government are smaller prayer houses affiliated with independent Pentecostal ministries.
A peaceful village that is home to both Christians and Muslims in Rambo, Burkina Faso, survived a massive attack by al-Qaeda-affiliated militants earlier this month because residents had prepared to defend their home against surprise terror attacks, Global Christian Relief (GCR) reports.
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[worthy_plugins_news_stories detail_page_uri="/worthy-news/" excerpts=true limit=10 pager=true image=thumbnail image_position=left]Worthy Devotions
The city of Laodicea was founded nearly three centuries before the birth of Christ. Built on a trade route, Laodicea was quite prosperous. The wealth of the city was legendary, as Jews who lived there sent 9 kilograms (20 lbs) of gold to the Temple in Jerusalem on a yearly basis according to historical records.
Laodicea was an idyllic city except for its lack of a water supply. It depended on water from an external source, the city of Hierapolis was located six miles to the north, the site of mineral hot springs which were used for medicinal purposes. These steaming hot waters were piped to Laodicea, arriving there… lukewarm, hence the metaphor in Yeshua’s warning to the Laodicean church.
The church at Laodicea received a stern warning in chapter 3 of John’s Revelation. We would do well to reflect on it.
The word “Laodicea” is a compound in the Greek; “Laos” which principally means “people”, and “dike”, defined as “principle or decision”. One rendering might read, “rule of the people”, or, in modern terms, “Democracy”. In the western world, we have an affection and even a deep commitment to Democracy. Yet this form of government, “rule of the people” is fatally flawed… because we are fatally flawed by our sin nature…
As we continue to probe the lessons from the salt covenant, we now inquire into our part in the covenant.
Yeshua (Jesus) said He is the “bread of life”. It was His body that was broken on our behalf as the substitutionary sacrifice for our sins. Notice that He never once called us to be the “bread of life”! He is the ONLY “Bread of Life” – the true bread who came down from Heaven which anyone may eat and not die. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is His flesh, given for the life of the world.
For years, when I visited my father-in-law’s home in Jerusalem on the Sabbath, we would break bread and bless the bread with the traditional blessing – “Baruch Ata Adonai Eleheynu Melech HaOlam Ha-Motzi Lechem Min Ha’aretz” – which translated means,”Blessed are You Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has given us bread from the earth”. After the blessing, my father-in-law would take salt and sprinkle the challah bread as he broke and passed it to everyone at the table.
One day a passerby saw a homeless man on the roadside. He stopped for a moment to hand him some loose change and casually said “God bless you, my friend”.
“I thank God,” said the homeless man, “I am never unhappy.”
Here in Israel we have an interesting geographical phenomenon – there are two landlocked seas. One is alive and one is dead. The sea full of life is the Kinneret, better known as the Sea of Galilee. The dead sea is…….you guessed it, the Dead Sea. Now the Kinneret is constantly emptying as it flows through the Jordan River valley…. into the Dead Sea. But the Dead Sea does not empty its water at all. Instead, the Dead Sea is continually shrinking, because the intense heat at this lowest place on Earth actually evaporates more water than is flowing in. Do you see a parable here?
One of my passions is studying history, especially the American Civil War. Here is an amusing story about General Stonewall Jackson’s famous Valley Campaign. During the war, Jackson’s army found itself on one side of a river when it needed to be on the other.
We tend to focus on the part of that scripture where God does the blessing — but why did He bless Him? The answer lies in the passage! The Lord told Abraham: “I will bless you — and you shall be a blessing.” Abraham was blessed so that he could be a blessing!
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