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

The next big war will be about religion – The next major conflict in the Middle East will be driven by ideology, not territory. Global conflicts have increasingly been shaped less by disputes over land, and more by competing belief systems, religious values, and narratives. Current developments in the Middle East, the United States, and Iran suggest that the next major international confrontation may be defined not primarily by land or oil, but by ideology. The global warfare paradigm is changing before our eyes.
https://israel365news.com/416029/the-next-big-war-will-be-about-religion/

The "Pride Machine" Shows Its First Cracks – For 34 years, Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando have hosted a curious yet unofficial event that caters to a small yet vocal segment of the population. GayDays sounds exactly like what you’d expect: gays and lesbians (and everybody that makes up the “+”) descending on the theme parks for two or three days. It’s important to note that Disney and Universal don’t officially sanction the events, but they allow them to happen because of the influx of tourism and merchandise dollars that the events bring. However, GayDays won’t be happening at Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando in 2026, much to the consternation of the Pride Cult.
https://pjmedia.com/chris-queen/2026/02/10/disney-without-gaydays-the-pride-machine-shows-its-first-cracks-n4949333

Did the Ancient Chinese Know About Jesus? This will come as a shock to many readers, just as it did to this author, but there is compelling, though not conclusive, evidence that the ancient Chinese worshiped a monotheistic deity, Shangdi, who exhibited characteristics that closely mirror those of Yahweh, the god of ancient Israel. [video]
URL2

Satellite images reveal ancient rivers that may pinpoint biblical Garden of Eden – For thousands of years, skeptics dismissed the Garden of Eden as religious mythology with no basis in reality. Now, satellite technology has uncovered evidence that the biblical account may describe an actual location that once existed on Earth. Recent analysis of orbital scans has identified ancient, now-dry riverbeds that align with the specific geographical details recorded in the Book of Genesis— rivers whose very existence was doubted until space-age technology proved otherwise.
https://israel365news.com/415981/satellite-images-reveal-ancient-rivers-that-may-pinpoint-biblical-garden-of-eden/

NFL linebacker born without a heartbeat at 23 weeks, given 1% chance to live [played] in Super Bowl – A young Seattle Seahawks linebacker who will be playing in tomorrow’s Super Bowl — who was born without a heartbeat at just 23 weeks and given just a one percent chance to live — is the founder of an organization that supports premature babies and their families. Derick Hall, NFL player and founder of the One Percent Foundation, is alive today and will be playing in the NFL’s premier event “thanks to his mother’s relentless fight for his life,” according to EWTN’s Church POP.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/nfl-linebacker-born-without-heartbeat-at-23-weeks-given-1-chance-to-live-will-play-in-super-bowl/

Actor Tim Allen ‘Amazed’ After Reading the Entire Bible – Actor Tim Allen recently wrapped his quest of reading the entire Bible. “Finished the entire Bible, it’s been a 13-month word-by-word / page-by-page, no skimming journey,” Allen wrote this week on X. “Humbled, enlightened and amazed at what I read and what I learned. I will rest and meditate on so much.” And it appears this won’t be a one-time effort, as Allen concluded with a pledge to once again embark on the same journey.
https://www.faithwire.com/2026/02/06/actor-tim-allen-amazed-after-reading-the-entire-bible-delivers-powerful-message/

Here’s the Percentage of Churchgoers Who Read the Bible Daily... – 31 percent of Protestant churchgoers in America.
https://www.faithwire.com/2026/02/10/heres-the-percentage-of-churchgoers-who-actually-read-the-bible-daily/

An Ode to Oxen – Why are cattle such a "big deal" in the Hebrew Bible? Imagine your car, your savings account, and your power grid were all the same thing, and alive. In the ancient Near East, that was the ox. Oxen pulled plows through hard soil, turned harvests into surplus, powered economies, and quietly determined who prospered and who did not. That is why cattle appear so often in Israel’s laws, sacrifices, and metaphors. Often overshadowed in popular imagination by sheep, the ox (and its uncastrated counterpart, the bull) was a central biblical animal— an embodiment of how connected land, labor, worship, and power were.
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/ode-to-oxen/

A cup (or 2 or 3) of coffee or tea a day helps keep dementia away – Coffee and tea lovers, rejoice; decaf fans, rethink. Those cups of caffeine could lower your dementia risk, new research suggests. In a long-term, observational study of nearly 132,000 healthy adults, daily consumption of two to three cups of caffeinated coffee or one to two cups of tea was associated with lowering dementia risk, slowing cognitive decline and preserving cognitive function.
https://health.yahoo.com/conditions/neurological/articles/cup-2-3-coffee-tea-160000725.html