Quote of the day:

"Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, And looks to God alone; Laughs at impossibilities, And cries it shall be done."

^{- Charles Wesley}

Today’s Headlines

Hostage Exchange

Over the last week, a brief ceasefire was brokered by Hamas and Israel to coordinate the release of hostages. Friday and Saturday, a total of 26 hostages were released. Yesterday, Hamas released 17 more, including 4-year-old American Avigail Idan. In total, Hamas has freed 58 hostages, mostly women and children, while Israel has released a total of 117 Palestinian women and minors from prison as part of the deal. The temporary truce is slated to end Tuesday, but Israel offered to extend it by a day for every ten more hostages Hamas releases. 

On Friday, Israel Defense Forces reported that unspecified militants in Gaza violated the ceasefire only 15 minutes after it began by firing a rocket towards southern Israel, which was intercepted. The truce was meant to last four days, allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza and the prisoner exchange after weeks of negotiations between Israel, Hamas, and regional powers. Despite the brief violation, the truce continues for now amid hopes it can relieve civilian suffering, though the long-term resolution of intense clashes in Gaza appears distant.

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The Remnant's Response

According to Scripture, no number could denote the value of a single life (Genesis 9:6, Luke 15:10). The hostage exchange, which had "convicted criminals" being released for "innocent hostages," should remind us of a much more of unjust exchange made to our benefit two thousand years ago, when Pilate released a convicted insurrectionist and murderer, representative of fallen humanity, for an innocent Jesus (Luke 23:25). We can all be grateful the Lord takes no delight in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11) and that our gracious Lord desires that none should perish, but for all to come to repentance (1 Peter 3:9). Let us never forget, however, the Lord is a God of justice, and He will not let the wicked go unpunished (Exodus 34:7, Proverbs 11:21). While the released Palestinian women and minors, who were convicted of crimes against Israelis, including stabbings and bombings are assuredly relieved to have escaped temporal consequences for their crimes, without repenting and seeking mercy from the "King of the Jews" they should not overly rejoice as the horrors waiting all unrepentant sinners are far greater than anything they might experience when convicted by a human court (2 Thessalonians 1:9).

Negotiating with terrorists is treacherous business, and while there have been many instances in human history where money, prisoners, or weapons have been exchanged to secure the safety of others, we can be sure there will be no negotiation with the guilty when they stand before the Lord in the day of judgment (Psalm 1:5-6).

The remnant should pray for the repentance of terrorists and prepare themselves for the certain justice of the Lord. We should pray for leaders as they seek solutions that do not incentivize more terror. We should pray for Israel and every land to be ruled by God-fearing men, daily seeking wisdom from above (2 Timothy 2:1-2). We should pray for the men, women, and children on both sides of the border victimized by wickedness, that the Lord would supernaturally strengthen them in the midst of their suffering (Hebrews 13:3).

For Biblical insight and an overview of the history explaining why Israel is in the land and why biblically-minded people support Israel's response to eradicate Hamas, watch/listen to this podcast. Hint: It has nothing to do with Genesis 12:1-3 and everything to do with Genesis 9:6). Don't be an uneducated member of the remnant who wrongly applies Genesis 12 and misunderstands what it means to "bless Israel." 

Drama at Open AI

Friday the 13th, Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI, was ousted by the Open AI board. Altman had recently teased that significant advances were near and led efforts to access computing resources from Microsoft needed to get closer to the "AGI goal," the ability for artificial intelligence to perform any task that a human being is capable of. The board fired Altman despite employee threats to quit, partly due to undisclosed grievances, including commercialization concerns over consequences. 

In a remarkable reversal just four days after his exit, OpenAI announced Tuesday of last week that Altman had reached an agreement in principle to return as CEO, conditional on appointing a new board including former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor. The move followed input from Microsoft CEO, whose company made a $10 billion investment in OpenAI, with employees retracting their resignation threats upon Altman's reinstatement. While exact terms are still being determined, the chaos reflected questionable governance and shortsighted handling of a key leader like Altman in AI's most critical company.

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The Remnant's Response

Reports are that 95% of OpenAI employees signed a letter threatening to resign if Altman did not return. Whether deserved or not, the support of his co-workers certainly evidenced his popularity with those underneath him. The "terror of the King" may be like "the growling of the lion" (Proverbs 20:2), but in this case, the pressure of the herd silenced the roar to remove Altman. Meanwhile, the full reason for the board's desire to remove him remains as much of a mystery as does the full impact of pursuing technology that seeks to replicate "all that human beings were created for." It is worth reminding ourselves that human beings were created to bring glory to God, rejected that calling, and, apart from the grace of God, will only create things that not only mock God but bring horrors to other men (Isaiah 43:7, John 15:5).

We live in a fallen world where wicked intentions abound, especially when billions of dollars are involved (1 Timothy 6:10). We must be careful only to be smitten with the wisdom of God (Proverbs 1:7) and remain skeptical of any solutions promised by men of flesh (Jeremiah 17:5-7).

Human advancement without the passionate pursuit of God will bring heartache, not heaven (1 Timothy 6:3-6). Human advancement that lacks humble awareness of who we really are will take us places we do not want to go (Genesis 4:16-26). Anything we create without the love of God and concern for our fellow man will result not just in disappointing God but in disaster (Mark 12:29-31).

Technology is amoral, but wisdom demands that intelligence be rightly, not artificially, defined (Proverbs 4:4-7). It is good that humans use the creative abilities the Lord has given us, but it is not good when we think we can create things that will provide us freedom from our need to be constantly dependent upon our Creator by whom all things were made, for whom all things are given to exist, and by whom all things are held together (Colossians 1:16-17). If we fail to program that truth into our creations, the judgment and trouble waiting for us won't be artificial (Jude 1:14-16, Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

 Other news you should know

🤑 9.8B spent as American’s practice gratitude… for sales.

🏈 It’s buyout szn in Indiana and Aggieland.

🐔 God’s chicken gives back.

🇦🇷 Argentina elected their first Libertarian President.

🎁 Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday, will you be as strategic with your giving as you were with your “saving” on Friday?

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