Yossi Sarid, Israel’s Education minister in the early 1990-s writes about Jewish morality in modern days, on the eve of Shavuot.

“The negotiations between Moses and God were not easy. That is the only explanation for the long stay on the mountain, 40 days and 40 nights, before the Torah was given. According to stubborn rumors that found their way through the concealing cloud, God insisted on more than Ten Commandments, and Moses begged him not to go too far: Even those 10 would be a tough burden to meet”…”Quite a few politicians stick to the ritual commandments while disparaging the Ten Commandments - to hell with morality, long live ritual”.

Yossi Sarid, Haaretz, June 7, 2008

Bishop Botrus Mualem is a prolific Palestinian Christian author. He has written almost three dozens of books and many articles. In his latest book titled “Min Wahi Asa‘ah” Mualem reveals his life-long wisdom through interacting with important Palestinian sociopolitical and/or religious concerns. The title of his book literally means: inspired by the hour. It is mainly a compilation of short essays that appeared in Arab Israeli newspapers and/or were presented on special occasions. In these essays, Mualem brings recent events and contemporary concerns in an interesting dialogue with the biblical text as well as the wisdom of the church. Contemporary events are the source of his inspiration or writing.

Mualem, Botrus. Min Wahi Asa‘ah. 2nd ed. Nazareth: Mualem, 2008.

By Yohanna Katanacho, Special For "Come and See"

Eileen is the Reporter and Editor of "We are wide awake" writes about an encounter with a Christian Zionist in the location where Jesus preached the sermon on the mount:

“The oppressed have become the oppressors. In the 21st century good people are unaware, ignoring or are in total denial of the injustice in the Holy Land. And what about all the Hebrew prophets, such as Micah who reminded the people of what the Lord requires: To be just, to be merciful and to walk humbly with your God!”

"Nobody else spoke to me the rest of the evening or the next day. That was fine with me, for I was listening to the voice within and what I kept hearing was Luke 23:34: “Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

Eileen Fleming, OPED News, June 4, 2008

ALGIERS, May 31 (Reuters) - Algeria hit back on Saturday at foreign accusations minority Christians are harassed, saying Protestant evangelicals were secretly trying to divide Algerians to colonise the mainly Muslim north African country.

Abu Amrane Chikh, head of the government-appointed Higher Islamic Council, said uproar in the West over a recent prosecution of an Algerian woman on a charge of practising Christianity was being fomented for the benefit of foreigners.

"There are some church evangelists and reformist journalists who want to sow discord among brothers, and their long-term political goal is to create a Christian minority coupled with some foreign institutions," he said in an interview with the website of the El Khabar daily newspaper.

By Hamid Ould Ahmed, Reuters, May 31, 2008

Archaeologists in Jordan have unearthed what they claim is the world's first church, dating back almost 2,000 years, The Jordan Times reported on Tuesday.

"We have uncovered what we believe to be the first church in the world, dating from 33 AD to 70 AD," the head of Jordan's Rihab Centre for Archaeological Studies, Abdul Qader al-Husan, said.

Larry King is not known as a tough interviewer. Yet with smooth-talking pastor and author Joel Osteen, he went for the jugular, asking whether Jews and Muslims must believe in Christ to go to heaven. And Osteen blinked: "I'm very careful about saying who would and wouldn't go to heaven. I don't know."

While Osteen later apologized for seemingly downplaying the necessity of faith in Christ for salvation, the pluralistic pressure to waffle on this issue is intense. Several mainline denominations support a two-covenant theology, which holds that Judaism and Christianity are parallel, divinely guided paths to God. In addition, in 2002 the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops released a document, "Reflections on Covenant and Mission," affirming that "Jews already dwell in a saving covenant with God."

Stan Guthrie, CT Website, March 25, 2008

The council of Local Evangelical Churches in the Holy Land (CLEC) establishes “The Living Stones Evangelical Trust”. Funds contributed to LSET will be used to meet urgent needs and empower the ministries of CLEC and its member congregations

The CLEC represents the majority of evangelical pastors and congregations serving in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. The Council was established to encourage fellowship and cooperation among the congregations even though they belong to different evangelical denominations. The Council was also established to represent the evangelical Christian communities before local political and religious authorities and the body of Christ worldwide. The Council is a member of World Evangelical Alliance.

Special For Come and See, May 27, 2008

Over 1000 senior leaders from seventeen provinces in the Anglican Communion, representing 35 million church-going Anglicans, have registered for the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in Jerusalem at the close of the online registration process. They include 280 bishops, almost all accompanied by their wives. Final attendance figures will depend on smooth processing of requested visas, and other factors.

News Release, May 12, 2008

Pope Benedict appealed to Israel on Monday to help stem a sharp decline in the country's minority Christian population, saying Catholics had grown particularly vulnerable to Middle East conflicts.

He also called for Israel to allow greater mobility for Palestinians, including travel to places of worship, "so that they too can enjoy greater peace and security".

By Phil Stewart, Rueters, May 15, 2008