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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NPR: The Rapture was a bust, but it still feels like doomsday – The "Christian" rapture didn't happen as predicted, but a lot of you still feel like we're living in [the] end times. Why is that? Right now - from religion to climate change to doomsday prepping - there's a lot of talk about the end of the world. And, yeah, there was a lot of joking (and some believing) this week that the rapture would happen, but this all points to a broader feeling a lot of us have: that something has to change. But what?
https://www.npr.org/2025/09/26/nx-s1-5553661/the-rapture-was-a-bust-but-it-still-feels-like-doomsday

UK government makes digital ID mandatory to get a job – Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday [9/26] that digital ID will become mandatory in order to be employed in the United Kingdom. The new ID is part of a government plan to allegedly help fight illegal immigration. The idea is that illegal employment is what is attracting many migrants to make the treacherous trip across the English Channel to move to the U.K. 'You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID.' Starmer said the IDs would not only make it more difficult to work in the U.K. illegally but that it would offer "countless benefits" to citizens. The BBC reported that senior minister Darren Jones claimed the IDs could also be "the bedrock of the modern state." The prime minister made the announcement at the Global Progressive Action Conference in London.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/uk-government-digital-id-mandatory

Jewish Pilgrimage in Second Temple Jerusalem – The biblical command to appear before God on the three major festivals every year (Deuteronomy 16:16) meant that Jerusalem received thousands of pilgrims at Passover (Pesach), Pentecost (Shavuot), and Tabernacles (Sukkot). Yet we know very little about pilgrimage during the Persian and Hellenistic periods (sixth–second centuries BCE). Fortunately, archaeological exploration in and around Jerusalem has revealed details about what pilgrimage to Second Temple Jerusalem really looked like.
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/jerusalem/jewish-pilgrimage-second-temple-jerusalem/

Moses Unbound- Loneliness is Moses' fate throughout his life – Elie Wiesel [Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor] described Moses as “the loneliest” character in the Bible. Moses is the ruler of an unruly bunch of former slaves, as well as a prophet and lawgiver, and, for a short time, the High Priest [while Moses performed some priestly functions, such as officiating during the seven-day consecration of Aaron and his sons, he was never formally ordained as a high priest himself]. As Wiesel puts it, Moses “embodies the very concept of leadership, with its collective triumphs and personal disillusionments.” And one of those disillusionments is loneliness.
https://jewishjournal.com/judaism/384023/moses-unbound/

70% of churchgoers don't open their Bibles daily – We live in a time when God’s Word is more accessible than at any other point in human history, yet we engage with it less. We scroll endlessly, refresh constantly, and binge on a multitude of screens every day. Yet, when it comes to the book that holds the very words of life, all too often, our response is plain and simple inaction. According to Lifeway research, only 32% of American church-going Protestants (those who attend services at least twice a month) read their Bibles every day. Even more startling, a whopping 12% of these faithful churchgoers — who many of us might deem the ‘A-team’— admit they “rarely or never” open the Scriptures at all. Rarely or never at all?
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/when-70-of-churchgoers-dont-open-their-bibles-daily.html

Churches failing to preach about sin is a 'body blow' – A significant number of Christians reject basic [Biblical] teachings about sin, according to a new survey, which one prominent Evangelical researcher views as a "body blow" stemming from American churches' failure to address the topic.
https://www.christianpost.com/news/barna-calls-churches-failure-to-preach-about-sin-a-bodyblow.html

Oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has died – Russell M. Nelson died Saturday night (Sept. 27) at the age of 101, church officials announced. Nelson, a former heart surgeon, spent four decades in the highest levels of church leadership after he was selected in 1984 to join a top church governing body called the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He ascended to the presidency in January 2018 when Thomas S. Monson died and in 2024 became the first president of the faith to hit the century mark.
https://religionnews.com/2025/09/28/russell-m-nelson-oldest-ever-president-of-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-dies/

Babies could be born without biological mothers – Babies could be born without a biological mother after scientists created functional human eggs from skin. American researchers demonstrated it was possible to replace the DNA from an egg with the genetic material from another person’s skin, and turn it into a sex cell ready for fertilisation.
https://archive.is/o4m9I

The Dark Truth Behind Organ Sales – Organ farming is a common plot line for a science fiction horror tale. It is also real.
https://washingtonstand.com/article/shuttering-the-red-market-the-dark-truth-behind-organ-sales

[How Bad is] Sports Gambling? – Did you know there is a significant increase in domestic violence whenever a highly favored team loses an important game? Or that bad checks, maxed out credit cards, and other indicators of risky financial decisions are significantly higher? This may come as a surprise because it gets no coverage in the mainstream media, but the rise of sports gambling since it was re-legalized in 2018 has been a disaster for America in many respects.
https://www.hillfaith.org/what-would-you-say/what-would-you-say-is-sports-gambling-good-or-bad/