Below are this week's Articles of Interest as compiled by Mr. Van Baker. This collection of articles is cultivated by Mr. Baker with the goal of highlighting some of the trends, upheavals, and things to watch for in our society. These articles are not necessarily the express views of the United Church of God, Mr. Baker, or me as the pastor, but they are informative of what is occurring in our nation and culture. In accordance with Christ's warning to correctly discern the times (Matthew 16:1-4), it is wise to be aware of what is going on around us. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'He Gets Us' ads return to Super Bowl LIX — a little less political after 2024 backlash – Fans of the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, game day food and creative advertising will all be invited to think about Jesus Christ once again during the 2025 Super Bowl. The “He Gets Us” ad campaign will air a new commercial during the first half of the Super Bowl on Sunday (Feb. 9), marking the project’s third consecutive year of having a presence in the big game, with the hopes of spurring dialogue and curiosity about Jesus. The campaign’s thematic focus in the 2024 Super Bowl drew backlash from both sides of the aisle. More progressive critics accused the ads of offering visuals of “white saviorism,” while conservative critics describe the ads as too “woke.”
https://religionnews.com/2025/02/07/he-gets-us-ads-return-to-super-bowl-lix-a-little-less-political-after-2024-backlash/

Most of Today’s Teens Want to Know More About Jesus – Coming amid the flurry of media coverage in recent years about the growth of the “Nones” — people who tell pollsters they have no religious affiliation — the latest results from Barna about teenagers’ interest in Jesus may come as a shock. “Over three in four U.S. teens (77 percent) say they are at least somewhat motivated to continue learning about Jesus throughout the rest of their lives. Less than one in five are unmotivated, while another 7 percent are unsure,” Barna reports in the latest edition of the famous market research firm’s GenZ, Volume Three study report. That means, according to Barna, that there is an expected level of “openness and curiosity about spiritual matters among today’s teens and young adults. This generation tends to believe there’s something out there more powerful than them." "Still, many remain hesitant to embrace religion or churchgoing.”
https://www.hillfaith.org/consider-this/consider-this-barna-finds-most-of-todays-teens-want-to-know-more-about-jesus/

AI Expediting Bible Translation - Less Than 1,000 Languages Now Need Translating – Wycliffe Bible Translators, a leader in the field of Bible translation for decades, is reporting remarkable progress toward the goal of making the Bible available in every language on Earth. The group is deeply pursuing Vision 2025, a goal established in the late nineties to implement translations in every language by the year 2025. At the time, it was believed they would need to begin programs in 3,000 translations over that span to reach the goal. That number recently fell below 1,000 – an unprecedented victory in the translation space.
https://cbn.com/news/world/god-using-it-ai-expediting-bible-translation-less-1000-languages-now-need-translating

Is This the Final Nail in the Coffin of the Boy Scouts? On Feb. 8, 2025, the Boy Scouts of America marked its 115th anniversary in a disheartening way by officially changing its name to "Scouting America." This rebranding reflects more than just a cosmetic adjustment; it signifies a troubling departure from the organization’s foundational principles, succumbing to the relentless pressures of political correctness and gender ideology.
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/02/10/is-the-final-nail-in-the-coffin-of-the-boy-scouts-n4936853#google_vignette

How Much Longer Will This $10 Million Prize Lay There Waiting for a Winner? What would you do if you knew there was a cool $10 million prize available that anybody can win if they can do something evolutionists have assumed happened billions of years ago by itself? That something would be the process known as “abiogenesis,” which the folks at Britannica define as “the idea that life arose from non-life more than 3.5 billion years ago on Earth. Abiogenesis proposes that the first life-forms generated were very simple and through a gradual process became increasingly complex. “Biogenesis, in which life is derived from the reproduction of other life, was presumably preceded by abiogenesis, which became impossible once Earth’s atmosphere assumed its present composition.”
https://www.hillfaith.org/good-question/good-question-how-much-longer-will-this-10-million-prize-lay-there-waiting-for-a-winner/

Church of England refuses call for gluten-free wafers and non-alcoholic wine – It’s the ancient ritual that unites millions of Christians in faith – but the Church of England is facing accusations that holy communion excludes non-drinkers or worshippers with dietary intolerances. C of E guidance determines the type of bread and wine that can be consecrated as part of the Eucharist ritual... But after being asked to consider non-alcoholic and wheat-free options, church leaders have ruled these cannot be used.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/09/church-of-england-gluten-free-wafers-non-alcoholic-wine-communion

[UK] Employment tribunal rules Voodooism is a 'religion' – An employment tribunal in Birmingham [England] has determined that Voodooism is a protected religious belief, because it has a spiritual belief system and tries to explain mankind’s place in the universe with concepts of spirits and divinity.
https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/news/religion-news-10-february-2025/

PepsiCo pivots away from woke ideology, commits to ‘viewpoint neutrality’ in advertising – In response to successful engagement by shareholders and Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys through the ballot resolution process, PepsiCo has adopted a new stance of viewpoint neutrality in its advertising policies. The move is intended to guard against future instances of viewpoint-discriminatory advertising decisions by the $240 billion corporation.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pepsico-pivots-away-from-woke-ideology-commits-to-viewpoint-neutrality-in-advertising/