Jerusalem/Tehran - Perhaps like myself, you were stunned to learn of the attacks on Iran by Israeli forces in the pre-dawn hours of June 13, 2025. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel dubbed this military campaign Operation Rising Lion and it targeted over 100 sites across Iran, including multiple nuclear facilities. The reason for this assault was simple - the preservation of the state of Israel from one of its fiercest enemies. As Netanyahu put it, "For decades, the tyrants of Tehran have brazenly, openly called for Israel's destruction." Tehran's deadly threats have been backed up as they have continually moved toward the development of nuclear weapons - a danger not only to Israel, but to the world itself. According to Netanyahu, Iran has now produced enough enriched uranium for nine atoms bombs, and they are currently in the process of weaponizing this deadly material. Israel was left with little choice but to launch a preemptive strike to address this "...clear and present...

RED TOP MOUNTAIN STATE PARK - During the first week of June 2025, I had the opportunity to travel to Bartow County, Georgia. My dear missionary friends, Jason and Sarah Sheets of Arequipa, Peru, were beginning their 2025 Home Assignment with a very special stopover in Cartersville, Georgia for their son Nathan's high school graduation. That event in and of itself was amazing, and I will write about it elsewhere, but before any of that happened, I was impressed yet again with my friends' true heart for the gospel. I stayed with the Sheets family in a quaint Airbnb tucked away at the top of a deeply wooded hill about ten miles south of Cartersville where the graduation was to take place. Since space was at a premium in the house, I actually ended up converting the covered porch into my bedroom...