Well, as I sit in my office writing these few thoughts to you, the snow is falling, sometimes at the rate of an inch per hour.  The ground is white.  The snowmobiles are off and running.  The winds are increasing in speed so that drifts are beginning to accumulate around our house.  Could this be the beginning of a white December?  Time will tell.  But it is time to remember those winter driving skills.  From the way cars were skidding into the ditch this morning, many of us have forgotten.  Welcome to Winter in Minnesota. 

This was an historic week...at least an historic event took place this past Tuesday in Annapolis, Maryland.  Some forty nations, most Arab and Islamic, met with President Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Abbas to restart the collapsed talks that could lead to the creation of a Palestinian State.  There was a lot of rhetoric, but little substantive dialogue occurred.  As President Bush read the statement written by the Palestinian and Israeli delegations, the emphasis was upon more assertive talks between Olmert and Abbas in the coming weeks, and more intensive negotiations between the delegates from Israel and the PA.  A goal of reaching a settlement by the end of 2008 was declared.  Is that a realistic goal, you ask.  Probably not.  There are a lot of personal agenda items that will probably keep the focus off the substantive issues.  For example, the Syrians are interested in peace but only if - and it is a big if - Israel agrees to return all of the Golan Heights even before any peace negotiations can take place.  If you have ever been in Israel, you know the strategic value of the Golan Heights militarily to Israel.  It is the prime buffer zone between the Galilean agricultural communities and the Syrians.  The Golan Heights is Syria's agenda item.  Now, you ask, what is the agenda of the Palestinians?  Basically the PA has three items that they have declared are basically non-negotiable.  First, Israel must return to the pre-1967 borders, in effect giving up all of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).  Israel must move thousands of Israelis who have settled in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria since 1967.  (Disengagement is not a policy that has worked well for Israel.  They did it in 2000 from Southern Lebanon and in 2005 from the Gaza Strip).  Second, Israel must grant the right of Arab refugees to return to their homes and villages before the 1948 War of Independence.  Most Israeli leaders are strongly opposed to this agenda item.  If allowed to happen, Israel would cease to be a Jewish state.  It would become just another Arab state with a Jewish minority.  Israeli leaders counter this agenda item with a discussion of the Arab refugees returning to those communities in Judea and Samaria vacated during the Jewish disengagement.  It has further been suggested that those refugees become Jordanian citizens.  Third and most contentious of all is the PA's strong argument for a divided Jerusalem and for PA's control over the Temple Mount.  It is at this point that, I believe, negotiations for a two-state solution will collapse.  According to a recent poll, over 77% of Jewish citizens do not want any of Jerusalem to be given to the Palestinians.  The Jews remember what happened in 1948 when the forces of the Arab League overwhelmed the Jewish Quarter of the Old City.  All Jews were driven out...the Quarter was ransacked and destroyed by the Arabs.  Jews were not permitted to travel to Jerusalem let alone worship at the Western Wall.  There is great fear that if eastern Jerusalem, including the Old City, is returned to the Palestinians, that Jews will be forbidden access to the Western Wall.  And one even wonders about Christian's access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. 

I am thankful that the Annapolis Conference was held.  It really was the first multi-nation conference to discuss the Middle East since the 1991 Madrid Conference under President George H.W. Bush.  You might remember that that conference met with little success.  One can only hope for better results this time. 

Why should Christians even be concerned about that is happening in the Middle East?  I was asked that question this past week during a brown-bag prophecy luncheon that I sponsor once a month.  The person who asked the question thought that our focus should be upon the problems we have here at home.  And, those problems are indeed great and growing rapidly.  I do not want to detract from any emphasis upon our own problems, whether economic or moral.  As Christians we must stand up and be counted...something we have not been good at in the past.  But, the pages of prophetic scripture draw us inevitably back to the lands promised to Abraham and to his descendants.  It is here that the history of our age will climax.  It is here that the new age of God's ruling over the affairs of mankind will occur.  We need not be consumed with the events in the Middle East, but we had better not bury our heads in the sand either.  We do need a proper balance. 

To this end of achieving a proper balance, I am creating a blog site entitled, "Christianity for Today."  It will begin as a weekly column where I want to address, through the eyes of Scripture, some of the events happening in our world.  There will be an occasional book review as well as some devotional thoughts from important texts.  I will give you all the information as to how you can gain access to this site after we are up and running, hopefully within in the next couple of weeks. 

Well we did not get to the last half of John 4 this week.  But I know many of you want to better understand what is happening in your world.  Continue to remember Jerusalem and Israel in your prayers.  This is our challenge from Scripture.  And remember that God is still in control. 

Have a blessed week serving the King.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: We Americans are the best informed people on earth as to the events of the last 24 hours; we are not the best informed as to the events of the last 60 centuries.  (Will and Ariel Durant)