This is the Daily Article podcast, published by the Denison Forum for Culture-changing Christians.

To receive the Daily article directly to your email inbox each weekday morning, visit thedailyarticle.com.

Now here's today's news, discerned differently.

I spent a day in the United Arab Emirates, UAE, several years ago.

Our hosts demonstrated the hospitality for which the Arab people are justifiably known.

It was obvious, however, that this was a Muslim nation governed by Sharia law.

Flogging, stoning, amputation, and even crucifixion are legal

punishments. Apostasy from Islam is a crime punishable by death. It was therefore a great surprise to

hear on August 13th that the UAE and Israel had decided to normalize relations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to suspend

plans to annex parts of the West Bank in exchange for the UAE's formal recognition of Israel.

As a consequence, the first commercial flight from Israel landed in the UAE yesterday with the delegation of Israeli and U.S.

officials. The UAE is now the third Arab country to officially recognize Israel, following Egypt

and Jordan. Why is this development so significant for not just the Middle East, but for

America and the world.

This topic is too complex to explain completely in a single article,

but we can summarize some of the key factors today.

For more, see my book Radical Islam, What You Need to Know,

and our resources on Radical Islam on our website.

As we'll see, principles at work here apply to Christians seeking to follow and serve Jesus in these chaotic days.

Why have so many in the Muslim world been united against the State of Israel? At least four factors are at work.

One, the Quran says of the Jewish people,

evil indeed are their works. Islam's holy book calls the Jews apes and swine. Two, many Muslims

...