8 LESSONS: celebrating Pentecost in the context of war
In just two weeks we will again have the glorious privilege of visiting the church in Lebanon and Syria. We do not take these visits lightly. For us, they are sacred opportunities to learn, to encourage, and to witness the beautiful harmony of the body of Christ across borders and circumstances. It was exactly a year ago that we returned from a similar journey, and the lessons remain vivid in our hearts and minds. As we prepare to travel once more, we pause to recall eight lessons that shaped us then and continue to shape us now. We offer them again in the hope that they will echo the message of Pentecost.
THE WAR IN IRAN: how to make sense of the senseless
How do we respond to a season of chaos? How do we, as bearers of hope and messengers of reconciliation, respond to a world that has tilted into a seemingly endless spiral of destruction? The war in Iran has observers baffled. Fifteen nations are now firing missiles at one another. More than 2,300 people have…
THE CHRIST RESPONSE: when an Ayatollah is assasinated
When the news broke on Sunday morning that the Ayatollah Khamenei, has been killed in a joint USA-Israel bomb attack, one of the first Christian responses I read was by a prominent American Christian journalist/author from THE JERUSALEM POST. He responded as follows: The most wicked leader in the world is dead. Khamenei was finally assassinated on Saturday in a joint operation by the United States and Israel. “He is now burning in the fires of eternal Hell, and rightly so.”
IRAN ATTACK: excuses, reasons and a Christian perspective
DISCLAIMER It is premature to predict how the renewed conflict between the USA and Iran will unfold, how long it may persist, or what lasting effects it will have on the region. What can be of value, however, is to examine the possible reasons behind the attack and the broader regional dynamics that shape these…
GLOBAL WARS: living peace in a fractured world
Global wars in 2025–2026 reveal a world torn by aggression, with Israel and the United States leading in military reach, and seven major conflicts reshaping continents. Yet amid the devastation, the Christian perspective insists that peace is possible—it acknowledges the reality of war but insists on hope. Jesus’ words, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9), remind believers that peace is both a gift and a consecration.
THE RAID ON VENEZUELA: a margin call of oil, currency, and the American empire
On 3 January, the United States executed Operation Absolute Resolve, a sudden military strike against Venezuela. While Washington framed the mission around narco‑terrorism, drug trafficking, and weapons smuggling, those explanations alone feel inadequate. To grasp its full significance, the raid must be examined through wider lenses: the fragile petrodollar system, the economic pressures beneath it, the geopolitical rivalries it inflames, and the humanitarian consequences it leaves behind.
THE IRAN-ISRAEL NARRATIVE: is it true, truth, or a double truth?
How we view the war in Iran can contain information that is true, factual, and verifiable, but even though it might be true, it might be void of truth. When the same truth is applied differently in different situations, it creates a double standard – or a double truth. Here are eight geopolitical double truths that highlight the double standards of Western media in the Iran-Israel conflict.
ANOTHER NATION, ANOTHER WAR – Can beauty save our world?
“Beauty will save the world” These words by Russian philosopher, Fyodor Dostoevsky can be easily dismissed as hopelessly naive, considering all that is happening in the world today. But for Dostoevsky “beauty” seemed to transcend aesthetics, and is what inspires the best in us, our aspirations for what is good and true, and what connects us to each other. Sadly, for many Christians, truth has replaced beauty. It is so much easier to demand submission to the teachings of Christ than it is to radiate the beauty of Christ. Judging people is a lot easier than loving them and condemning sinners is a lot easier than forgiving them.
LEBANON: The People’s Reaction to the War.
At diaLOGOS (www.dialogos.co.za) and The Third Way, we are grateful to have friends, partners, and co-workers in regions that are impacted by the current conflict in Gaza. One of our partners currently serving as a diaLOGOS field journalist in Lebanon, wrote the following report:
FAMINE IN GAZA: CONNECTED EXTREMES IN A DISCONNECTED WORLD
The IPC’s global hunger monitor says Gaza has already surpassed the first two criteria that define a famine- food shortage and malnutrition – and mass death will begin “imminently” without an immediate aid surge. But the global tragedy we are witnessing is not only because of war, hatred and extremism. The challenge is our connected extremes in a disconnected world.