Well, welcome to tonight's prophecy update. I'm excited to get into it. And why don't you just kind of get your Bibles out and ready to go. We're going to look at a few scriptures and talk about what's going on. Now, prophecy updates are for the purpose of, you know, looking to Jesus, looking for Jesus. The book of Revelation tells us that Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. So it's not all about the current events. That's the important thing. It does include watching what's going on in the world and just seeing the times that we're living and being familiar with that. And so that's kind of how we really wanna role tonight is just considering what the Lord is doing. So, I'd like to start off, you know, we're going to kind of focus this evening on the war in Ukraine. Obviously, that's been the buzz around the world, and for a good reason. It's a massive conflict between Russia and Ukraine. And, you know, what's interesting, I'd like to kind of begin with just a real cautionary word. Do you guys remember the 1999 movie, The Matrix? And, you know, it's portraying basically a dystopian future where the reality that people inhabit is actually a simulation. created by machines that were, you know, intent on subjugating the human race. And, you know, what's interesting is some of the intellectuals, including Elon Musk, say we could be living in a simulation right now. Like that's what they're saying. What's interesting is biblically, you can almost call what God is doing in some ways as a simulation. I mean, the Bible talks about a whole realm that we don't even know anything about, that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness. There's stuff going on. We're in our own little world here, but there's a greater world and there's a kingdom that's not of this world. So in a sense, we are, those guys are getting closer to the truth when they think we're living in some kind of a simulation, but not really like the matrix. But the thing that the film continued to resonate with people of the matrix is the whole red pill, blue pill thing. Do you want to know the reality or do you want to just live in your bliss and kind of go on blissfully ignorant of what's really going on and be conditioned by technology and mass media and all that stuff? But as it turns out, I believe we've reached feverish levels And I think we're really seeing this in the last couple of years. And I'd say once the coronavirus crisis came, we started seeing different realities. And we saw particularly two extremely different worldviews that were so disconnected, it was almost laughable. I mean, I think of the coronavirus issues where we had rules that people would live and die by. One person would freak out. if you didn't have your mask on when you went into a restaurant and you'd walk from the door of the restaurant to your table, which was like 25 feet. And then you had to be masked up. And then once you sat down, you're in the safe zone, you can sit down. And some people were the place where, yeah, you gotta do that. Saving lives is what you're doing there. Others of us were kind of like, you mean the door to the table is the walk of death, but once you're at the table, it's all good. And then we made outdoors seating for restaurants and they had to be covered. And so we made little miniature restaurants in the cold where everybody's shivering and we're all gathering in a tent instead of in a sealed tent. A lot of those were like waterproof canvas visqueen restaurants. I think that maybe just being in the restaurant would have been safer and better. But that was my worldview. Other people, nope, you're a murderer by going into a restaurant and eating food. And just different worldviews. And then you hear the mainstream media and the disagreement of what's really happening during the coronavirus and all that. But as it turns out, even here with this Russian-Ukrainian crisis, I think one of the big things we have to be really careful is what we're hearing, and is it real? Is it true? Is what's being said actually factual? And I think that that's so far gone now, it's almost like you wanna give up on information because there's so much misinformation or disinformation about what's going on. Did you know many decades ago, George Orwell sounded the warning of modern man's sort of matrix-like condition when he said this. He said, history stopped in 1936. What did he mean by that? And by the way, the source of this intriguing observation is not Orwell's novel, you know, 1984, but it was actually in his 1943 essay called Looking Back on the Spanish War. It was written as a reflection on Orwell's participation in the Spanish Civil War. That would be like 1936 to 1939 was the Spanish Civil War, and that's when he was involved with it. but he fought for the Republican side against the Franco led fascists. And according to Orwell, it was during the Spanish war. that he became aware of the pervasive use of propaganda used to support modern totalitarian regimes. Let me read to you from this essay, and I think it's a little bit shocking at how really on the mark he is. He says, I remember saying once to Arthur Kostler, history stopped in 1936, at which he nodded in immediate understanding. We were both thinking of totalitarianism in general, but more particularly of the Spanish Civil War. Early in life, I have noticed that no event is ever correctly reported in the newspaper. But in Spain, for the first time, I saw newspaper reports which did not bear any relation to the facts. not even the relationship which is implied in an ordinary lie. I saw great battles reported where there had been no fighting at all and complete silence where hundreds of men had been killed. I saw troops who had fought bravely denounced as cowards and traitors and others who had never seen a shot fired hailed as the heroes of imaginary victories. And I saw newspapers in London retailing these lies and eager intellectuals building emotional superstructures over events that had never happened. I saw in fact history being written not in terms of what happened, but of what ought to have happened according to various party lines. And I think that George Orwell was speaking about something that happened way back in the 1930s, but he'd be shocked. at the levels that we've reached really today of that. And I hope as Christians that we're discerning. So much of the misinformation, disinformation out there is actually causing people to hate one another. to be divided. There's anger and hatred and now warfare. And this war that we're seeing, the potential for trouble with the war in Ukraine is, most people don't even have any idea, it's unimaginable. that, you know, nuclear superpowers would ever go to war, that's been something we've never really seen. Because really it was the nuclear superpower of the United States that ended World War II. And we've really not had major conflict between those superpowers until recently, this week. And so this is a somber time, and it might be more than just Ukraine and Russia that we're talking about. This is why the whole world is sort of holding their breath. There's certain people that are more concerned than others, all of Eastern Europe, really most of Europe is concerned. And so we have to be careful with the information we've been given. And I have to be careful too, because I don't really want to dive in in this prophecy update, but who's right and who's wrong. And some of you would say, well, of course, Russia should not have attacked Ukraine. And I would have to agree with that. No one I know approves of what Russia has done in Ukraine, including myself. We're all troubled by this and what this means to the world, but Putin has very boldly threatened the use of nuclear weapons. He's saying that's not off the table. That should cause people in the world to be concerned. It gives me pause when I hear Putin sounding a little bit unhinged. Now, the question, the big question on this, is Putin unhinged? Is he crazy? You know, there's suggestions that he's lost his marbles, you know, and it shows him, you know, because of the coronavirus, he was paranoid about getting sick. And so there's, you can see the videos, like when he's meeting with Macron, the French president, they're at the table that's like 50 feet long, and Putin's sitting at one end and Macron's on the other, and it's because Putin didn't wanna touch anybody or see anything or get the coronavirus from anyone. And some would suggest he's paranoid and crazy about that. Is that true? I have no idea. It's definitely been in the media. They're suggesting that. In fact, it's on the front pages of all the websites that you watch and see and, you know, has Putin lost his marbles? Is he crazy? And what have you. But here's the thing. Is there something else going on that has driven Putin to react to some things that maybe we all don't really see what's going on? I'm not gonna make an argument for or against, I really am not. And truthfully, my heart breaks for Ukrainians who are being shot at, houses and apartment buildings being destroyed. And that's why like on Sunday, last Sunday, we talked about how we need to be in prayer for Ukraine. But I also know that there's gonna be suffering in Russia. And there already is, as some protesters are being detained by Russian officials. That's not a good day in Russia if you're being detained. You may never be seen again, I feel for those people. And really, the average person in Russia, with these sanctions that we've been introducing, it's never Putin and the higher-ups that feel the pain of that. It's always the average ordinary person in Russia that feels the pain of that. So I find my heart breaking for that whole region of the world, Russia, Ukraine. And then here's where I really start getting suspicious about what's going on. Do you remember all the people this past year who have, you know, silenced us on social media when we talk about coronavirus and vaccines and mask wearing and social distancing and just the, you know, all the canceling that we've seen this past you know, year, or two years, really. What's interesting is these are the same people that are really rah-rah-ing and waving the Ukrainian flag, and it just gives me pause. Who are the number one proponents of us going into Ukraine and boots on the ground and, you know, arguing for us to, you know, close the airspace over Ukraine? Now, people don't understand what that means. If NATO or the United States says we're going to shut down the airspace over Ukraine, that means that American pilots will have to shoot down Russian pilots over the Ukrainian airspace. And are we really ready to do that? Is that something we really want to do? Two nuclear powers going head to head, is that a great idea? That's something we do need to ask the question. Well, who are the people that are most raw-rawing those kinds of notions? Well, as it turns out, the real story, Hollywood elites are on board. Nancy Pelosi. George Soros, CNN, MSNBC. These are the same people that were, you know, removing some of our religious liberties and freedoms in the past couple of years. And I'm not sure they're really into democracy as I'm into democracy, but these are the same people saying we need to defend the democracy in Ukraine. Does that give anybody just any questions about are we hearing the true story about that? You see, there's a history in Ukraine that a lot of people don't know about, and I'm not gonna go into all of that, but just like all countries, and I have to be careful because the United States, like I mentioned last Sunday, we're one of the more corrupt countries in the world according to the corruption index. And so this is the pot calling the kettle black, but as the United States has become more and more corrupt politically and our leaders and our nation, one thing we have to realize is there's corruption both in Russia and corruption in Ukraine. And the reason, the leadership of these nations, United States, Russia and Ukraine, they're sinful men at the helm. And as Christians, we shouldn't be shocked at what we're seeing here. And so I do think we need to be careful about the information that's being pushed. You know, there's all kinds of questions, you know? Maybe you guys have, you know, especially if you've put, you know, the Ukrainian flag on the front of your, you know, Facebook page or whatever, and you're all excited, and you heard about the ghost of Kiev. Is it Kiev or is it Kiev? Which one? Well, actually, there's a story behind that. The Russians say more like a Kiev with a little bit of a, W at the end of it, like instead of vodka, it's vodka. It's a little bit like a, but, and we called it Kiev for a long time. Why? Because it was part of the former Soviet Union with the way the Russians called it. The Ukrainians say a little more, and we can't really, I noticed, I don't even know how to really say it correctly, but it's kind of a Kiev. if you're Ukrainian, it's a little shorter and a little more Kiev. And you've been wondering, well, which one is right? We've been told Kiev all this time, and now it's Kiev. Which one is it? Well, it has to do with the battle. Even what's in a name and how you pronounce it depends on who's in charge. But all that to say, you know, what's going on with all this? Well, there's a lot to this conflict, but my job as a pastor is not as much to try to say who's right and wrong in the Russian-Ukrainian issue. And some of you might say, well, it's really clear. And I would just say, be careful of everything you're hearing and what seems to be clear. I'm just not sure. And I'm saying that not out of just total, you know, ignorance. I've actually studied this to pretty extensive levels. And I'm learning a ton about the Ukrainian history, about Russian history and that whole region. And there's a lot to it that is being sort of not even talked about. So be careful. by jumping on bandwagons and all the rah-rahing that Hollywood and Pelosi and Soros and CNN and Fox News, all of them, you have to be really careful about what we're seeing there. But what does this have to do with Bible prophecy? This is where I like to really kind of jump in because, as you know, this is following what Jesus talked about. Let's go back to scripture here. And this is one we often go to. The reason we go to Matthew 24 often in prophecy updates is because, man, it's like two pages in your Bible of red letters where Jesus answered the single question of the disciples. When is the end of the world gonna be and what's it gonna look like? And Jesus just went on and on and on about the end times. Like when people say, oh, you know, I'm just not into end times. Well, as it turns out, Jesus was into end times. And when he was asked that question, he was given, the disciples were given a huge answer. And it kind of starts out, you know, at the beginning here in Matthew chapter 24, verse three, it says this. And as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, tell us, When shall these things be? And what shall the sign of thy coming in the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ. and shall deceive many. And you shall hear of wars and rumors." And I've highlighted that word rumor. Think about that for a second. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation. "'And kingdom,' or Greek word, ethnicity, "'shall rise against ethnicity. "'And there shall be famines and pestilences,' "'also could be translated as diseases, "'and earthquakes in diverse places. "'All these are the beginning of sorrows.'" Greek word there for sorrows is the same as the birth pains of a woman in childbirth. We've talked about that before. But I was kind of thinking through this passage again, you know, and that word rumors spelled in the King Jimmy there, R-U-M-O-U-R-S, that's the old 1611 English, but the word rumor, I thought what a strange word and that concept. I mean, I've said it a million times in teachings, but I thought, you know, I wonder what the Greek word for rumor is. And so I looked it up. And it's this interesting word, and it actually brings to light something that I think is really cool, akoe in the Greek. And the definition in the Greek is the faculty of hearing, but also having itching ears. There's an implication to this idea of rumor. The connotation is not just we're hearing rumors all around about things that are happening. The idea is people love to hear things. Do you want to know where else we read this word, achoe, in the Greek? It's in 2 Timothy chapter four, verse three. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. And you guys, you Bible people know this scripture. This is one we talk about how people don't want to hear the scriptures anymore because It says, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. Those two words, itching ears, is the single Greek word, achoe, in the Greek, which means to have itching ears in the faculty of hearing. In other words, you kind of want to hear, the itching ears sort of idiom is talking about how you just kind of want to hear stuff, almost like you want to hear gossip. or the latest thing, whether it's true or false, it doesn't really matter, as long as it's interesting. That's kind of this itching ears thing. And sadly, this verse, chapter four of 2 Timothy, verse three, has come to pass. Sad to say, a lot of churches and pastors have bailed on sound doctrine, and instead they're teaching things that, you know, give people sort of, ooh, that's the latest information that's interesting. May or may not be true, or biblical, or even godly. but who cares as long as it sort of satisfies our itching ears. That's the problem with some of the church today. But all that to say, it's the same word Jesus employs when he says, you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, itching ears about what's going on around the world in wars. And I worry that maybe this is what we're seeing with this Russian, Ukrainian and the Russian invasion. Do you get the sense in the past week, week and a half, that we're all spectators at a sports event. Like when you watch the news, does it seem weird that people are like calling it play-by-play and you know, you got your pundits explaining about their favorite team and what they're doing and there's even cheerleaders raw-rawing the ghost of Kiev. This fighter pilot that's taken down, you know, I've seen anywhere from six to 16 planes that, you know, Russian planes that he's downed and everybody's like, He's an amazing, the ghost of Kev. It sounds really great. It's almost like watching a movie. Let's get the popcorn as the world watches what's going on. Meanwhile, there's real bloodshed and people dying and it's not a movie and it's not a sporting event. You know, it's shocking to me how we're treating it like that. It's almost like we have this echoing, itching ears. We just wanna hear play by play and what's going on. And so we have to be careful about that. and to remember that this is a real conflict. And especially as Bible prophecy students, we wanna look to scripture and see what's really going on and not just be caught up in the hype or all the news that's out there. This is one of those things I think we have to be really careful about. The information that we're hearing and seeing may or may not be true. So I like to land as a Bible prophecy, Bible teacher, I love to talk about what are the things we know about the Bible end times? What do we know about Russia? What do we know about Ukraine? Well, as it turns out, there are some things we do know. And this is where we link what's going on. And we see possibly what's going on could be linked to the Ezekiel 38 Gog Magog invasion of Israel. Now, first of all, you know, is Putin, Gog, described by, you know, Ezekiel 38 prophecy, some Bible prophecies? Teachers I've heard even this week saying, absolutely yes, Putin is Gog. My answer to that is we'll see, it's possible, but we don't know for sure. Like I think it's lacking, oh, what should I call it? It's lacking discretion. I think to just go out and say, this is for sure Gog of Ezekiel. I'll talk about Ezekiel 38 in just a second, more about the Gog, Magog thing. But if Putin is killed tomorrow, which that could happen, then suddenly what are these Bible prophecy teachers gonna say? Oh, we were wrong, wrong guy, he's not Gog. And it could be a different guy. Like if Putin died, let's say it's Putin's Waterloo, with this whole Ukrainian crisis, and the Ukrainians are saying, hey, we got this, and Putin's going down. If that's true, and it's Putin's Waterloo, who's the next ruler of Russia? That could be the Gog of Ezekiel 38. So I'm apprehensive about us just saying, yes, for sure. In fact, I treat all Bible prophecy that way, be careful. Watch out, and I'd say otherwise, good Bible prophecy instructors, they're good at most of what they do, but I think there's this tendency to say, well, this is for sure what's happening. I think we have to be really careful. One of the big ones, this was the big one, because I was teaching Bible prophecy. I've been doing Bible prophecy stuff for the past, Oh man, almost 40 years now. I've talked about Bible prophecy and done studies in Daniel and Revelation and prophecy updates for a long, long time. But one of the big goofs, I remember when a bunch of those Prophecy Update guys got all into Y2K. Do you guys remember Y2K? You know, this is where, you know, a lot of Bible prophecy teachers lost a lot of credibility. Do you remember like some of the memes from Y2K, like this one, Office 2000, because, you know, it was 1999 and they were getting ready. And they said, this will be your computer, you know, for, cause the Y2K bug that was gonna, you know, hit the world and everybody thought their computers would shut down. And even at Best Buy, this was a real tag from Best Buy. Remember, turn your computer off before midnight on 1231, 1999. And so people were afraid the whole world was gonna go down. And then Christian Bible prophecy guys sadly were saying, this is the end. This is when the rapture is gonna happen or the second coming of Christ. And people got all into that. And then it didn't happen. Everything went on perfectly normal, which by the way, I predicted that that was not going to be the time or the hour. And some people say, well, Brett, why would you be so bold to say that? Well, the reason why is because that was a very hour. People were saying, we know the hour, midnight, 1231, 1999, midnight, everything's gonna shut down and the world's gonna go crazy and Christ is gonna return. And the Lord says, nope, at an hour when you think not. So I said, for sure, it's not happening there, because everybody thinks it's gonna happen on Y2K. I hope you see the logic there. And I was yelled at by some people saying, you're teaching your congregation to be irresponsible about you know, the end of the world. And I said, no, I'm just trying to think biblically. That's what we're going to do. But being dogmatic about some of these things, be careful on that. So is Putin Gog? Who knows? But with all that said, you can see a scenario where Putin may turn out to be Gog, the power that comes down with a hook in her jaw to Israel to go to war against Israel. So, and by the way, you might say, well, what does Israel have to do with this Russian Ukrainian thing? Well, again, when you're talking about Bible prophecy, Israel is the epicenter of all things Bible prophecy. Israel is the epicenter of all things. Remember that. Israel is God's timepiece, stopwatch. Israel is the nation God is most interested in, his chosen people. So we have to start, when we try to make sense of what's going on in the world, we have to always kind of look at that in light of Israel. So that's one of the things we need to do. When it comes to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Israel has enjoyed a decent relationship with both nations, the Ukrainians and the Russians. Now, how did they pull that off? How has Israel been a friend of Ukraine and a friend of Russia? Largely, there's a large Jewish population in Ukraine. And so there's, it sort of makes sense that Israel has a link to that. We'll talk about another link in a second. But how did Israel become sort of friendly with Russia? There's really one answer to that and it has to do with the former leader of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. It seems that somehow he would go and meet with Putin of Russia, and they sort of hit it off, it seems. Like, Putin had real respect for Netanyahu, and it's because he was a statesman, but also I think Netanyahu, you know how Putin's into, I think, what is it, judo, and taking his shirt off, and shooting things, and kind of a man's man, and sort of a, you know, former KGB guy? Well, as it turns out, you know, Benjamin Netanyahu is that kind of a guy, too. Doesn't take his shirt off, thank the Lord, but He actually was a military hero. His brother was killed at the raid on Entebbe. You know, he was injured in battle, Netanyahu was, and really an amazing guy. And Putin saw that, but also Benjamin Netanyahu was really respected just for his statesmanship. And so Netanyahu seemed to sort of win over Putin, and they respected each other. But now, this is something you have to understand that's changed, that is important. Even as, you know, when we change presidents, is it different from Obama to Trump, from Trump to Biden? Well, of course, those are different presidents and very different worldviews. Well, in the same way, when Netanyahu was ousted after a long, you know, long time of leading Israel, well, the new guy, Naftali Bennett, he's the new guy in office. Netanyahu's out, Bennett is in. And how is Bennett? Well, he, I don't mean to sound insulting, but he is kind of like a child compared to Netanyahu. He's not a seasoned statesman. He doesn't seem to know a lot how to deal with some of these things. He and the, you know, the prime minister and the president, they've made some mistakes. already that I think Netanyahu would have never made. In some of the statements they've made, they've even contradicted each other on the same day. And they're looking kind of clumsy a little bit, Israel, on this whole issue with the Ukrainian-Russian crisis. And so he's facing some, so this new leader, Naftali Bennett, he's facing some really sketchy times for Israel. The Russian-Ukrainian invasion is very important to the Israelis, and you might have to ask why. Why would Israel care about Ukraine or what Russia's doing? Well, as it turns out, do you remember who is on the northern border of Israel as we speak? There's a bunch of nations, actually. The United States still have a small contingency in Syria, the northern border of Israel. But more than that, the Iranians are there. at the northern border by Golan Heights in Damascus in Syria. And the Iranians hate Israel. They've said, they've pulled no punches. They've said, we wanna blow Israel off the map. The Jews are gonna be driven into the sea. Like Israel has real enemies in the north in Damascus. And there as well is the Russian army. There's Russian fighters, fighter jets, there's Russian army in Syria, right on the northern border of Israel. So here's the problem. When the Iranians start hauling all their weapons in and they're just building up weaponry, they're trying to build up their weapons in Syria, to what purpose? Well, it's pretty clear. They don't even try to act like they're not doing this. They're building up weapons so they can eventually try to destroy Israel. That's their ultimate goal. The Iranians hate the Jews and they hate Israel. So because Netanyahu and Putin had good relationship, well, when the Iranians would bring in all these weapons, the Jews could fly, you know, operations, bombing raids into Syria and take out some of these Iranian weapons and stuff. And the Russians would just kind of say, okay, you have clear airspace, knock yourselves out, take out those Iranian positions. but they've just kind of turned around and didn't really look at what Israel was doing. And that's been the relationship really since Netanyahu. The problem is now with the Ukrainian crisis, what is Israel's position on the Ukrainian situation? Well, that's been a tricky deal. In fact, New York Times did an article that's entitled, War in Ukraine Forces Israel into a Delicate Balancing Act. And that's a good way of putting it. That article says, I'll just read part of it to you. Israel is a strong ally of the United States. and its leaders have good relationship with Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukraine's Jewish president. We'll talk about that in a minute. but Israel also doesn't want to provoke Russia. Israel is a key partner of the United States and many Israelis appreciate longstanding cultural connections with Ukraine, which for several months in 2019 was the only country other than their own with both a Jewish president, Zelensky, and a Jewish prime minister, both there in Ukraine, Jewish president and prime minister. But Russia is a critical actor in the Middle East, particularly in Syria, Israel's northeastern neighbor and enemy. And the Israeli government believes it cannot risk losing Moscow's favor. For much of the past decade, an Israeli Air Force has struck Iranian, Syrian, and Lebanese military targets in Syria without interference from the Russians, trying to stem the flow of arms that Iran sends to its proxies, both in Syria and Lebanon, and to limit military buildup in its northern borders, like Hezbollah there over in Lebanon. Israel also wants to leave itself enough room to act as a go-between in the conflict. After Ukrainian requests, Mr. Bennett has offered at least twice to mediate between Russia and Ukraine. That's happened just recently, in the last week and a half. And they've even offered Jerusalem as the meeting place, because you know, Zelensky didn't want to go up to Minsk there in Belarus, you know, early in this conflict. And so they've since moved it. But the question is, why are the Jews trying to say, hey, we wanna be the mediator, we wanna bring peace, we wanna be the go-between. And really this is how Israel kind of is trying to do this, like this delicate balancing act between Russia and Ukraine. Now, this, you know, this delicate balancing act, Israel did, you know, last week, confirm their, you know, they did condemn the invasion of Russia into Ukraine. And that was a bold move. You know, it's easy for the United States to condemn Russia for going into Ukraine, but we don't have Russian soldiers on our border ready to come in. Israel does. Israel has Russian soldiers just a few miles from their border there in the north by the Golan Heights. So this tension that Israel's trying to deal with, if they say the wrong thing to Putin, does that sort of ignite Putin's anger against Israel for standing with the United States against Moscow? See, that's a new part of the Israeli trouble is they wanna be friends with their closest ally, the United States, but they also wanna sort of stay cool with Putin, who is the United States' enemy. right now. So the question is, what's the problem with that? If Russia, well, even some of the defense ministers in Russia are saying stuff like, Israel, be careful, you're gonna lose the right to fly over Syria. We're gonna take away your liberty or that favor you've had with us, where you're just gonna have to be silent. And for a while, we were wondering if Bennett was gonna start, the Iranians were bringing in a bunch of weapons last week. And they were kind of silent, uncharacteristically. The Israelis were doing nothing about all this buildup of arms. It's like the Iranians thought, oh, now's our chance. And they were trying to get weapons into Syria. And we were wondering, is Bennett gonna pull the trigger and defend Israel's safety? And it was silent for a while, but just this last week, of course, the Israelis did rocket and bomb some of these, you know, places where the Iranians were stacking weapons. So the Israelis are still emboldened to defend themselves and bomb in Syria. They're doing that as we speak, but how long will they have access to Syria like that? And if they don't, what does that mean? You see, Israel can't afford to just mess around. We as the United States, we kind of do mess around because nobody's ever fought a battle on our soil. The Americans, we don't know what it feels like to have an oppressive regime at our northern border. You know, Canada, we're just not afraid of Canada. We're not worried about an invasion of Canada, at least not lately. We've never even had that. But Israelis have had to live with that for a long, long time with enemies on all their borders. And they're the size of New Jersey, this tiny little nation that really wouldn't stand a chance technically if all these nations went to war against her. But we know that God's not gonna let that happen from the Bible. See, here's what we start to see. The tension between Russia and Israel is mounting with this Russian-Ukrainian invasion, which could possibly trigger the Gog-Magog invasion spoken of in Ezekiel 38. Let's review that just really quickly for some of you newer folks to Prophecy Updates and stuff. In Ezekiel 38, a radical prophecy. It says, and the word of the Lord came to me saying, son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshach and Tubal. And prophesy against him and say, thus saith the Lord God, behold, I am against thee, O Gog. the chief prince of Meshach and Tubal, and I will turn thee back and put hooks in thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses, horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. Now you say, okay, Brett, that sounds very Old Testament. You know, who are these people? Well, we've done old teachings on this. Just look up our Ezekiel 38 teaching on YouTube or on our website. But let me just remind you, the first word here that's key is Magog. Magog is what we would call the land of Russia. And Herodotus talked about the Magogites as being the Scythians, which would become today's modern day Russians. And we've gone into all the, you know, the table of nations of Genesis 10 and how this all works out. But he says, you know, the land of Magog, who's gonna be leading? Well, the next operative word there's Gog. He says, son of man set thy face against Gog. Gog is the leader of Magog. So if you would, this is speaking of a futuristic battle that includes Russia and some of the former Soviet Union. And by the way, there's other nations involved in this as well later on in Ezekiel 38. It talks about Persia, which is modern day Iran, along with Turkey. And it's interesting to watch what Turkey's doing with the Ukrainian. They're falling more in line with supporting Turkey, which is kind of interesting, or pardon me, Ukraine, which doesn't really fit the Ezekiel 38 narrative, just honestly, not as much. But we've known Turkey to kind of flip flop fairly quickly. So that's not even a bit of trouble as far as I see, as far as the prophecies of Gog Magog. But this is basically saying that, you know, the leader of Russia and Russia, they're gonna come down and it says here, notice in verse four, and I will put, you know, hooks in my jaws. Here's this big bear up in the north in Russia. And it says that he's going to put hooks in their jaws and bring forth all the army horsemen. And where are they going to go? They're going to go down into Israel. So Magog, leading Bible scholars say this is Russia and the republics of the former Soviet Union. Most Bible scholars believe Gog is not a name, but a title like Pharaoh or a czar. He's gonna be a dictator who will hatch an evil plan. If you go forward a few verses to verse nine in Ezekiel 38, it says, thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou and all thy bands and many people with thee, thou saith the Lord God, it shall also come to pass. that at the same time shall things come into thy mind and thou shalt think an evil thought. Boy, that's an interesting thing, especially in light of what you're seeing Putin do right now. Why is Putin thinking of saying, I'm gonna invade not just, you know, Eastern Ukraine, but the whole thing? How did that come into his mind? I believe much of this has more to do with spiritual significance more than just even political. Thou shalt think an evil thought, and thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages. I will go to them there at rest, that is in Israel, and that dwell in safety, all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates to, what for? To take a spoil and to take a prey. This tells us why Russia will ultimately come down into the land of Israel in the Ezekiel 38 Magog invasion, is to take a spoil. What kind of spoil will they take? Who knows? It could be natural gas or oil, or even though just the riches of Israel. It could be everything from the rich farmland and agriculture to the science and technology of Israel. Who knows what the spoil is going to be? Now, let me remind you, for you Gog-Bagog people who've already studied Ezekiel 38, all this is review. But do you remember, what do some of the nations around the world do when Gog invades Israel? Well, we call them, I like to call them protesting bystanders. There's gonna be nations, and they're listed there in Ezekiel 38, verse 13, Sheba, Dedan, "'The merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, "'shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? "'Hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey?' In other words, they're just gonna protest, say, what, are you kidding? You're gonna invade Israel? And now this is this, again, for many of you, this is review, but those protesting bystanders, Sheba, Dedan, merchants of Tarshish, that seems to be Saudi Arabia, and perhaps England, the British, with the young lions there. And some people say that could be, the United States, the young lions from Tarshish. That could be speaking of the descendants of Tarshish or British, which would be the United States, the Americans. But these nations, according to Ezekiel 38, verse 13, they're gonna stand by and protest when Russia and the leader of Russia, Gog, comes in and attacks Israel. and they're just gonna stand by and protest. Now, some of you might say, okay, Brett, what does that have to do with the Ukrainian invasion? Well, one thing that you can do, it's almost like we're seeing this past week and a half or so, it's almost like a dress rehearsal for Ezekiel 38, only instead of Israel, it's Ukraine, where, man, what came into the mind of Putin to suddenly just say, I'm gonna invade Ukraine? And you might even call it an evil thought that went into his head to do that. Now, again, there's reasons why Putin felt the need to do that, whether they're, you know, evil from Satan or just misguided or whatever. The truth is, what we've seen this past week is a dress rehearsal for Ezekiel 38. Just the same way Russia rolls into Ukraine as we speak, the same way they will roll into Israel according to the scriptures. And what's interesting is, you know, what's the United States and England and the British and what are we all doing? We're standing by and protesting. This little dress rehearsal we're seeing with the Ukrainian invasion is exactly what Ezekiel says. We're gonna just stand by and protest. And that's really all that America seems to be good at in Bible prophecy. We don't really see the United States as a world power in Bible prophecy, which is shocking. Why is the United States not there? We've talked about that before. I think there's a number of possibilities, many possibilities. One is maybe we destroy ourselves from the inside out. I see that happening. I think we're on a crash course to destroying ourselves internally. It's a little bit like the Romans did, if you know your Roman history. But we're morally imploding, we're politically imploding, we're maybe even economically starting to implode. Who knows? We're seeing all kinds of trouble in America. And not only that, we've lost all respect, really, around the world, largely because of the clumsy Afghanistan pullout And we've just showed great weakness in this past year particularly. So it's important to remember that the predictions found in Ezekiel chapter 38 could happen in our day, our lifetime. Now there's something more you should remember about the Ezekiel 38. And that is what comes before Ezekiel 38? Ezekiel 36 and 37. You say, brother, that's really smart. Well, here's what's amazing, and I wanna remind you of this because this is important. The Ezekiel 36 and 37 prophecies have really, almost all of them have come to pass completely, and many of them in our lifetime. Let me remind you, I'm just gonna give you the high points. You can maybe jot these downs in some of your notes. But the first thing that Ezekiel 36 and 37 talk about is the rebirth of the state of Israel in the end times. That Israel will at the last days become a nation once again. Check May 14th, 1948. Number two, the return of the Jews to the Holy Land after centuries in exile. The diaspora is what we call that, the scattering of the Jews. Ezekiel 36, 10 through 11, 36, 24, 36, 37, 38, all these scriptures talk about the returning of the Jews. And you can check that box as well. The Jews have regathered and much of them, most of them in our lifetime, which is amazing. We've seen 36 come to pass. Number three, the rebuilding of the ancient ruins in Israel. Ezekiel 36, 36 talks about that. And we've seen that. Israel has become a rebuilt country and it's an amazing power in the world. And number four, the re-blossoming of desolate Israel. desert lands to produce fruit and abundant food and all kinds of foliage, banana groves, pomegranate trees. It's an amazing thing to see how Israel was turned into a desolate desert. But in the last days, in our lifetime, Israel through science and modern techniques of farming, the Jews have brought the land of Israel back to life. I'd say the Lord did that. Just like Ezekiel 36, eight through nine, Ezekiel 36, 30 through 35, all of these have come to pass. One more, the creation of an exceeding great army was a fulfillment as well. Ezekiel 37, 11. For the Gog Magog invasion to happen, all of these things had to happen. And most of these, if not all of them, that I just listed of the five, have happened in our lifetime. And the reason I go over that is I just wanna remind you, if Ezekiel 36 and 37 had largely come true in our lifetime, isn't it possible that Ezekiel 38 and 39 will soon come to pass as well? I believe the stage is set and we see an emboldened Russia. And I get a sense that Russia is a little bit in, and this is something you won't see on the news because we're hearing about how powerful Russia is and their nuclear weapons and all that. But we all know the nuclear option is a lose-lose for everyone. I hope everybody knows that. But why is Russia behaving seemingly erratically? It's because I believe Russia feels very threatened by the NATO nations. And Ukrainians wanted to become part of NATO so that they wouldn't have to fear Russia. And Russia's not gonna let that happen. And it's because of fear, it's almost like you don't wanna, do you really wanna make a lion feel afraid? Is that a good idea? And that's kind of what we're seeing as sort of a bear, a hungry bear. And could it be that we're seeing the hook that we read about in Ezekiel 38 being set in the bear Russia and even in its leader Gog and Magog? Could it be Putin? I don't know. But the stage surely seems set for that to possibly happen. Now, Let's talk for a moment about Vladimir Zelensky. You and I are watching kind of a world history defining event that's happening right in front of our eyes. This is something that most people haven't talked about. In fact, I've not heard a lot of people talk about this at all, but how is it that a Jewish guy is at the center of all the world's perceptions and all eyeballs are on this guy. He's a Jewish guy. And so Zelensky is becoming sort of this folk hero. He's sort of the Captain America of Ukraine. How is this happening? If you know the history of the Ukrainian people, there was a huge antisemitism in, in Ukraine. And, you know, not that long ago. There were entire divisions of the Ukrainian army that were given to neo-Nazism. And it was official. They had like a neo-Nazi unit of their army, not that long ago. as it turns out. So how is it, like, you know, the idea of a president of Ukraine being a Jew is something that I find kind of shocking. It's a little bit like, do you guys remember, and this doesn't even do it justice, you know, one of the things, I remember when Obama was elected, I was excited and happy for one reason, and that was not because I agreed with him politically as much, but I thought, finally, we've got an African American guy in the presidency, so we can kind of put that to rest. that the United States is a racist country. To me, a lot of us, and I even heard both sides of the political spectrum saying, wow, we've broken through that racism and now met America elected an African American. And I thought that was awesome. Now, go to Ukraine, it's even more radical that they elected a Jew in a real landslide kind of election to be the leader of the Ukrainian people. That's a shocker, but it happened, and Ukraine is changing. You heard Putin talk about Nazis in Ukraine, and you're like, oh, that's just propaganda. Well, sort of, but it actually isn't. There actually were neo-Nazis and still are small groups, I think, of that in Ukraine. And that's not completely untrue, what he's talking about there. One thing you need to understand about the Ukraine people is they're very, they've been very divided. You know, you've got the Eastern Ukrainians and the Western Ukrainians. And, you know, and it depends on which group you're talking about. And there's maps you can look up, where are the different people groups. And, you know, the Ukrainians are not a solid group of people that all believe the same thing. You know, your eastern Ukrainians are, most of them, Russian-speaking and consider themselves more Russian than Ukrainian. That's why some of those eastern, you know, districts were wanting to, you know, sort of defect, if you would, to Russia. Even in the last few weeks, we saw that. So there's a real divide. Your Crimea is mostly Russian-speaking and all that. But, you know, if you go to the western side of Ukraine, there's very different people groups over there, and there's old school Ukrainians, and different worldviews, and Jews are kind of settled in certain areas, and it's a very divided kind of country. It is interesting, however, to see somewhat of a rallying around this Jewish president. I find that interesting. You know, and is all the stuff we're seeing about him true? You know, we've talked about the ghost of Kiev, you know, and how, or Kiev, how it's been kind of debunked that that actually happened. But then you wonder about all the other stuff you're seeing. Maybe you saw the lady with the bloodied face and it came out that it was a fake picture and she'd been taking that picture three years earlier. And then it came out again that no, it was actually real. And so there's this huge battle of what's true and false. Was the lady with the bloody face real or was it fake from a few years earlier? And then you saw an image article where she's actually interviewed about the Russian attack, and she goes into the apartment and shows the mirror that shattered and made her face bleed. So it ends up that she's actually true and not false. What are we to believe? Well, as it turns out, Zelensky, you know, he's almost like a cowboy now. Remember all over the news last week, you know, like the Times of Israel article summed it up like so many all around the country. Zelensky rejects U.S. evacuation offer. He says, I need ammunition, not a ride. That's kind of a John Wayne sort of thing to say. And he said, the fight is here. Ukraine president tells the US officials from secret whereabouts, secret fighting against Russian forces underway in Kiev, officials say. Now, what's more interesting is, you know, here's this guy who's now kind of this hero of Ukraine, you know, and, you know, these are some older pictures, or at least the one on the left there is an old the older picture before the Russian, but he's in his military garment. So these kinds of pictures are being circulated where he's drinking coffee with his soldiers and he's in bunkers and all that stuff. And he's sort of being presented, which is interesting because this guy is a former actor and comedian who's been serving as president of Ukraine since 2019. So he's a Jew. It's amazing due to the fact that Ukraine was at a reputation of being kind of an anti-Semitic country in some ways in previous years. So big deal that they elected a Jewish president. So what this does, one of the reasons the Russian leader Putin really doesn't like this guy and has threatened to kill him as Ukrainian president, it sort of demolishes years of Russian propaganda by appointing a Jewish guy as prime minister, portraying contemporary Ukraine as a hotbed of fascists and anti-Semites. That's not flying as much now that they've elected a Jewish president. But while this president of the Ukraine is being touted as a hero and brave and everybody's on board with him, how's our president doing? How's the American president faring? Well, most people agree, no matter what side of the aisle you're on, that we've had some big failures in our leadership in America. You know, one of the biggest failures of all is the pullout of Afghanistan and the way that went down. You know, we badly botched the American pullout, and it's been generally a show of weakness. And Putin has timed his invasion when we really don't know what we're doing with our foreign policy. Now, of course, Biden's putting sanctions on Russia, but the problem with sanctions, they're usually, I think, meant to be used before an invasion. It's weird that we're trying to impose sanctions after an invasion. And then when you heard the press conference this last week, did you hear what Biden said? Let me show you a snippet. And this just shocked me when I heard this. This is Biden at the press conference when he was asked a question. Mr. President, if I can, you detailed some severe and swift new sanctions today and said the impact it will have over time. But given the full-scale invasion, given that you're not pursuing disconnecting Russia from what's called SWIFT, the International Banking System, or other sanctions at your disposal, respectfully, sir, what more are you waiting for? Specifically, the sanctions we've imposed exceed SWIFT. The sanctions we imposed exceed anything that's ever been done. The sanctions we imposed have generated two-thirds of the world joining us. They are profound sanctions. Let's have a conversation in another month or so to see if they're working. That's the shocker to me. Let's have a conversation in a month or so and see if these sanctions are working. How's that really gonna help the Ukrainian people in a month? That might as well be an eternity if you're one of the people trying to survive in Ukraine. you know, a month of sanctions. It's gonna be interesting to see how they work, but most of the world's not that hopeful that they're going to work, and Putin's blowing it off like, you know, yeah, whatever. But again, I feel bad because those sanctions that we're imposing are not really gonna hurt Putin as much, I don't think. Maybe long-term, possibly, but it's gonna hurt the people, you know, middle class people of Russia are gonna suffer probably the greatest. And so what happens here is when world leadership is weak, especially the United States, that's when the bullies come out and do what they wanna do. You know, example of this, do you remember when Jimmy Carter was president? Some of you guys remember that. And the big, you know, hostage crisis. Do you guys remember how that came to an end, the hostage crisis? It was on January 20th, 1981. Minutes after Ronald Reagan's inauguration as the 40th President of the United States, the 52 U.S. captives held at U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran were released, ending the 444-day Iran hostage crisis. Maybe some of you are old enough to remember this. seconds into his presidency, why does suddenly the Iranians say, oh, here's your hostage back? You know, it's because they knew Reagan meant business. You didn't wanna mess with Reagan. He was a nice guy. He was a statesman as well. I don't think we've had as many statesmen as like Netanyahu or Ronald Reagan. Those were guys that were more than just politics. They were truly statesmen and the world took them seriously. Our leadership today, both in Israel and the United States for that matter, I'm not sure we're being taken seriously because we sort of have proven we don't know what we're doing. We're sort of Mr. Magoo, trying to figure our way around the world and figure out what's going on. And that's, it's only opened it up for people to do bad actors, to do what they wanna do. Now, this raises all, I haven't even talked about Europe yet. With what's going on in Ukraine, the Europeans are feeling threatened. Now, let me just say, the Europeans, many of them, sanctimoniously, I might add, for the last several decades have been saying, you Americans, you're just, you're kind of, you know, sort of warmongers, we have sort of, we Europeans have sort of risen above warfare. And we've sort of evolved like Star Trek, you know, where they had the prime directive and they got rid of all the weapons of the world and the Europeans sort of viewed themselves, and I would say sanctimoniously, but as it turns out, Europe is freaking out right now because They have sort of been resting on their laurels weapon-wise, and largely are depending on NATO, but is NATO really ready for what's seemingly looming? How far will Putin go after Ukraine? Will he go for some of the other Baltic states and Eastern Europe? He's even mentioned Poland, people are concerned about Romania, and Europe doesn't really have an answer right now. to Putin, except for perhaps the United States. That might be their greatest defense. And so they're sort of, there's a little bit of a change of tune you'll notice geopolitically with the Europeans. Wall Street Journal article, Europe stays in bed after its Ukraine wake up call. That's an interesting title. Leaders understand what's at stake in the conflict, but are in denial about what a solution requires of them. To describe an event as a wake-up call implies the call's recipient will stay awake rather than roll over and fall back asleep. Which will it be for Western Europe now that Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has finally happened? What's going to happen? Leaders, particularly in Germany, seem to have been genuinely embarrassed by their weak and disorganized initial response when it became clear in January that the invasion was impending. So Europe is in kind of a weakened state, and they're worried about, they don't have an answer to Russian power, and Putin is right on their doorstep. And so the main reason NATO, by the way, wouldn't allow Ukraine in is basically because everybody's afraid of Russia. and the power of Russia. They don't really have an answer. So Ukrainian President Zelensky has talked about neutral status. The Ukrainian president was begging for NATO acceptance, but now he's abandoned that notion and not gonna be pursuing being a part of NATO. NATO has let the Ukrainians down as far as they're concerned. They were asking for help and NATO blew them off. You know, NATO could today say, you know, you're in. and we're gonna protect you, but NATO won't because that means really the United States going to war with Russia. And if you think about that, you definitely should have a second thought about that. Meanwhile, so Europe's nervous about what's going on there, of course. But here's another big thing that's going on in the world. This is back in that category of wars and rumors of wars with what Jesus said in Matthew 24. When we see what's going on in China, China's watching with an eagle eye what's happening in Ukraine because basically, you know, Taiwan is an exact comparable situation to what the Russians are to Ukraine, so are the Chinese to Taiwan. The Chinese claim that Taiwan is theirs and they should take back their, you know, their people and their place. New York Times article has this, both sides of Taiwan Strait are closely watching Ukraine's crisis. The article says Beijing, with Russian massing troops along Ukraine's border, President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan felt compelled to act. She ordered the creation of a task force to study how the confrontation of thousands of miles away in Europe could affect Taiwan's longstanding conflict with its larger, vastly more powerful nation, neighbor, China. Taiwan has faced military threats and intimidation from China for a long time, Ms. Tsai told a gathering of her national security advisors late last month, according to a statement by her office. Perhaps more than people in any other place in the world, Taiwanese know what it's like to live in the shadow of an overbearing power, with China claiming the island as its own. Ms. Tsai added, we empathize with Ukraine's situation. So while the correlation is not exact between Ukraine and Taiwan, the confrontation between Russia and the United States over Ukraine's fate has resonated with both sides of the Taiwan Strait, and it's causing great concern. If China pulls the trigger on Taiwan, and by the way, in my opinion, I'm surprised they haven't already done it. While everybody was over here looking at Russia and Ukraine, if China would have done that, oh, the world would have been shocked and all that. But what are we gonna do? Two big fronts. Are we gonna take on both of those situations? Can we walk and chew gum at the same time in America? We're proving that we cannot even do one thing at a time. That's the problem. So, you know, with nuclear superpowers, China and Russia, this threat that you and I as Americans and really much of the world, the threat that we're facing today is actually fairly large. Nuclear superpowers, rattling sabers, Putin threatening to use nukes, that's a big deal. Now, some of you say, well, Brett, that's troubling. Nuclear weapons has been troubling since I was a kid. It's just that we've kind of forgotten of nuclear power and what the implications of maybe one unhinged world leader going nuts with the button. And we need to remember what Jesus said instead of focusing on the trouble. And this is true if you're Ukrainian or if you're a Russian or an American or European. As Christians, remember what Jesus said. It's Luke 21. Luke 21 is the other place Jesus talked about the end times. He said, when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh. Man, I love that. Matthew 24, again, we read this earlier, but he said, you'll hear of wars and rumors of wars. And then he says, see that you be not troubled for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. Now you might say, well, Brett. That's easier said than done, to be not troubled in a troubling world. But don't forget his commandments are his enablements. When he tells us to do something, we can do it. He'll give us the power to do it. So when he says, see that you be not troubled, if you feel troubled, then you need to say, Lord, would you give me a peace? Even if you're an Ukrainian living in Ukraine right now, you can say, I don't feel peace right now. I feel bombs going off in my neighborhood. Jesus can give you a peace that passes understanding if you put your trust in the Lord. Now, I gotta say one more thing and then we'll wrap it up as it is getting late. I do wanna say something that I think is pertinent to our church specifically. And that is, you know, Jesus taught us that our kingdoms, you know, our kingdom as Christians is not of this world. And if you're a Christian, you are more of a Christian than you are an American, at least you should be. and your kingdom is of the Lord. Same with Ukrainians, same with Russians. Your kingdom is of the Lord. And one of the things that I think Satan is trying to do is cause hatred, anger, and division. And I believe that that's right up his alley. He wants to make family member angry with family member. And as we have a large part of our congregation of the Slavic community, we are at risk, I think, of seeing real hatred and division even within our own neighborhoods here around Portland and our brother against brother kind of thing. And as Christians, we need to fight against that. You know, I was talking with one of my buddies who is of the Slavic community, and he sent a note to his family. I won't name him, but I just thought this was an interesting letter. Can I just read you his note that he kind of sent? He said, good morning to his family. He said, I wanted to make my position clear on what's happening now in Europe. First, as a Christian, I'm pro-peace and totally against any killings and or any destruction. Unless you're being personally attacked, I support self-defense and the second amendment. Second, I'm an American and I do not want any of our men or women to go and die there or anywhere else for that matter. I'm against any military conflict that will defend my home. Third, I was born in Ukraine and I wish this stops now because my family is still there and some are fighting against Russia. I blame politicians here and there for allowing this to escalate. which by the way, I think he's spot on there. I think most of the people in Ukraine and Russia probably, did you see the Russians that were apprehended and taken prisoners of war and they were interviewing them and they didn't even know they were going into war. They thought they were in an exercise as they were marching. Like whether that's true or false though, who knows, that could be more propaganda. But anyway, the Russian soldiers seemed to not know what they were getting into. But I, like this guy, I agree, it's these leaders that have messed up. So he says, I blame politicians here for allowing this to escalate. As a fair person, I have to acknowledge Russian position regarding NATO expansion. United States adopted the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, and Russia adopted similar principles after NATO expansion and clearly warned NATO. and hope negotiations between Ukraine and Russia bring this conflict to a resolution. This is painful to watch brotherly late nations fighting and killing each other, brother killing brother. I have to say that our political class has no clue what people want and need in other parts of the world, and their ignorance brings destruction around the world. You can't get rich by destroying life. One should not push your democracy by threats, intimidation, sanctions, and invasions. I also believe Putin made a mistake by invading Ukraine. This will push both Ukrainian and Russian people further apart. May God help us all to see the sins and heal the nations. No World War III. And I have to say, I agree with that synopsis. Nation will rise against nation, ethnicity against ethnicity, but as Christians and Ukrainians and Russians, especially here in America, I think that it's important for you guys to stand together as believers and to understand it's a bunch of wacko politicians that have got us in this mess. And man, we should be gathering, praying. Remember, don't forget what Romans 12, verse 18 says. It says, if it be possible, as much as life in you, live peaceably with all men. That's what we're called to do. And so just a word to the Slavic community, also a word to the Americans who are so quick to jump on the bandwagons and say, oh, those Russians or those Ukrainians. I would say we as Christians need to take it to a higher level and realize there are people who God cares about on both sides. I'm not arguing one side or the other. I'm not even talking about, you know, I've made myself clear about what I think about what Putin's doing, but I think we have to, as Christians, take it to another level. That's my challenge. That's my charge. I know it's easier said than done, but as much as possible, the Lord says, as much as lies within you, live peaceably with all men. Well, Lord, I pray that you would just help my brothers and sisters, especially of the Slavic community, to put aside those differences and all the information that's out there that's true or false or who knows. But Lord, we know that you love people. and you care about them. And I pray that we would love our enemies, do good to those that persecute us. I understand warfare, Lord, is something you actually have used in times past. And maybe even this war is something you're using to orchestrate events in the world. I understand war is real and you got to fight if you're being attacked. I get that. But Lord, I pray that that would not be an excuse for hatred unnecessarily. Lord, I pray that the Christian church would be the place where the world can see that there's something better, something more true and more powerful, and that is the love that you have for us. and the love that we have for each other in your church, Ukrainian, Russian, European, American, either way, Lord, we pray that we'd love one another. So show us how to do that in these difficult times. May Satan not have a foothold in the church of Jesus Christ. So we pray your blessing, your covering in these troubling times. Give everybody that peace that passes understanding, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.