Some seem to be concerned by the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in late March, but some may have missed something that was said during that meeting. Describing their discussions, Putin said, “We are in favor of using the Chinese yuan for settlements between Russia and the countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.” So, what’s the big deal?

Soon after reporting a $1.8 billion loss to shareholders Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the 16th largest bank in the United States (U.S.), experienced a run on its deposits. SVB became the largest bank to fail in the U.S. since the 2008 financial crisis. A couple days after the failure the Biden Administration promised that all depositors would have access to their money after the weekend of the collapse.

About two days after SVB collapsed a second bank, Signature Bank of New York, also collapsed and was afforded the same protection for their depositors.

According to recent federal research, nearly one in three high school girls said they had considered suicide. This is a 60 percent increase from stats only ten years ago. This same research found 15 percent of these girls had been raped. Another six out of ten girls were so sad or hopeless that it caused them to stop regular activities.

This data comes from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They surveyed a nationally representative sample of public and private high school students.

In a new memo dated January 26, 2023, current U.S. Strategic Command leader General Anthony Cotton, acknowledged that China had surpassed the United States in the number of its Inter Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) launchers but not in the number of its actual ICBMs nor the number of nuclear warheads equipped to them.

"The number of land-based fixed and mobile ICBM launchers in China exceeds the number of ICBM launchers in the United States," Cotton said in the memo.

In a few of my blogs over the past three years, I have addressed the decline in church attendance and the percentage of Christians in the United States and the United Kingdom. After reading a recent article, I think it is important to continue to address this subject moving forward. I think it is important because I believe the decline of Christianity anywhere will impact society.

The recent article I read focused primarily on the increase in the closure of churches in the United States. According to Lifeway Research, 4,500 Protestant churches closed in 2019, and only 3,000 new ones opened. This information is from 2019, the last year data was available to draw from, and this is the first year church numbers have not grown since Lifeway began doing this type of research.

With the rise of Christian nationalism in the United States today, there is an ongoing debate in various forms of media as to whether the United States originated as a Christian nation. Many of the early settlers who came to America came from states (nations) that were known as confessional states. This means that the monarch of those nations decided the religion of their people. The early leaders of our country were aware of the problems this caused in Europe with many conflicts that arose over religious differences.

As promised—more alleged biblical discrepancies to address.Let us begin by taking a look at 1 Chronicles 10:6. This scripture tells us that Saul, his sons, and his house died all together. Compare that with 2 Samuel 2:8, which mentions another son of Saul, Ishbosheth, after Saul and his sons, and his house had all died. How could there be any one remaining from Saul’s house in 2 Samuel?

Back in October 2022, a study was published by Stanford researchers reporting that scientists had transplanted clusters of human neurons into the brains of newborn rats. The cells even grew and formed connections. The purpose of the study was to learn about human brain development and diseases affecting the brain.

The clumps of human cells, known as "organoids," grew into millions of new neurons and wired themselves into their new rat nervous systems. Once the organoids had plugged into the brains of the rats, the animals could receive sensory signals from their whiskers and help create command signals to guide their movement.

One of the criticisms some nonbelievers make about the Bible is that it has contradictions and discrepancies. In my years of bible study, I have learned that this is not the case. The alleged discrepancies in the Bible can be resolved.

What I will begin doing in some of my future blog posts is to address some of these alleged discrepancies and their resolutions. The first one I will address has to do with King Ahaziah of Judah.

The discrepancy centers around II Kings 8:26 and II Chronicles 22:2. In the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible II Kings 8:26 tells us that Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became King, and he reigned in Jerusalem for one year.

A January 2020 poll of more than 1,300 US adults finds that about one-third (32%) of US adults say their ideal relationship is non-monogamous. Millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) (43%) are particularly likely to say their ideal relationship is non-monogamous, though an equal percentage (43%) of Millennials say that their ideal relationship is entirely monogamous.

According to YouGov data, when asked in September 2016 about their ideal relationship, 61 percent said it would be completely monogamous. In January 2020, that number dropped slightly to 56 percent. With these statistics in mind, it is not surprising that Ethical nonmonogamy (ENM) is growing in popularity.

We are probably all aware that when we are baptized, we have hands laid on us, and prayer is provided to imbue the Holy Spirit within us. God's Spirit in us then helps us understand that we are God's children (Romans 8:16). The hope is this will lead to our eventual transformation into a Spirit being when Christ returns (1 Corinthians 15).

During the most recent Feast of Tabernacles, a question was posed to our panel of elders during a Bible study in Ohio. The question was about the Holy Spirit. The questioner understood that the Holy Spirit is God in us (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), but they wanted to know what else we get from the Holy Spirit.

On September 25, Italy voted for Giorgia Meloni from the Brothers of Italy party as the new Prime Minister. This is significant because Meloni is the first Italian leader from a political party with a fascist lineage since the time of World War II.

Due to the instability in Italian politics, Meloni is able to rise to the top because her party just needed to get a plurality of the voters. Her party only needed about a quarter of the voters to prevail due to forming a coalition with other parties on the right. Infighting between parties on the left has also helped.

In Hebrews 6:2, we read about some of the elementary teachings about Christ. One of the items mentioned here is the laying on of hands. Let us get a better understanding of this teaching.

To begin, we read about the use of hands in religious ceremony back in Leviticus 8:14-23 and Numbers 8:10-14. We learn that the priests would lay their hands on certain animals before sacrificing them. The laying on of hands here symbolizes transferring the sin of the people to the animals to be offered (Leviticus 1:3-4).

Another Old Testament example of the laying on of hands takes place when blessings are bestowed. In Genesis 48:14, Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, are blessed by Jacob after he lays hands on them.

To answer our question, we need to define the word kosher. This article will define kosher as the laws that the Jews use to determine what food they can eat. These laws deal not only with the food but how the food is prepared. Some of these laws come from the written Word of God (Old Testament), but others are part of an oral tradition.

For example, the Bible tells us in Leviticus 11:7 that we are not to eat swine. This is considered part of the kosher laws of the Jews. The Jews also teach we should not prepare meat foods on the same plates we prepare dairy foods. This law is also kosher, but it is not found in the written Word of God. So it is essential to understand what people mean when they use certain words

Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." Is that not the truth? The Bible is full of examples of how pride led to ruin. I'd like to address some of that here and provide this as a reminder for all of us to check our pride meter. If we are not checking ourselves on a consistent basis we may fall into these negative mindsets like pride.

Pride can be defined as a sense of satisfaction in one's own achievements. It can also be defined as the consciousness of one's own dignity. Neither definition sounds too bad, but there are other definitions. How about this one?: "a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority." Now we are beginning to see what Proverbs 16 is talking about. Let's look at some biblical examples.

Monkeypox is an infectious viral disease that can occur in humans and some other animals. Symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes, and a rash that forms blisters and then crusts over. The time from exposure to symptoms can be between five to twenty-one days, and the symptoms usually last two to four weeks.

The origin of the disease is believed to be from animals. The disease most likely enters the human population from contact with the blood, bodily fluids, or cutaneous or mucosal lesions of infected animals. In Africa, monkeypox virus infection has been found in many animals, including rope squirrels, tree squirrels, Gambian pouched rats, dormice, different species of monkeys, and others.