I'm Verne Strickland. I have bone cancer. It will not take my life."

By Verne Strickland / March 27, 2012

I have bone cancer. Multiple Myeloma.

“But,” my doctor says, “it probably won’t kill you.”

He is smiling.

My wife Durrene and eldest son Martin are there with me. We have come for “the report”. They are smiling too. I’m sure I am as well. 

In years not too far behind us, the news likely would have not been so cheery.

“We owe much to modern medicine,” observes Wilmington oncologist Dr. William McNulty. “It is exciting, it is at our disposable, and we apply it gratefully.”

The past month has been a roller coaster ride of ups and down -- biopsies, CT scans, x-rays, MRIs, blood tests, counseling, radiation treatments, trips to hospitals, visits with an impressive array of medical specialists, and the opportunity to meet dozens of cancer patients like myself. 

Through it all, I am impressed and reassured by the one constant that clearly runs through all the waiting rooms, operating rooms, and recovery rooms I pass through.

That unexpected constant element is calm. Serenity. Stoicism. Resilience. The irrepressible human spirit .

What is the source of this confidence, or, should I say, this optimism, or better yet – faith that what we patients share is not a sentence, or even a burden, but an opportunity to interact with others who labor gamely, even joyously, to see this experience through, profit from it, use it to grow in strength and in an appreciation of life.

Some of those I met are at the beginning of this journey. Others near the end of it. But there is a dignity here that I did not expect to encounter. It has meant much to me.

Whereas I am a writer, my tendency here has been to hold the subject – cancer – at arm’s length, and describe what I see. But I am daily brought back to the realization that I observe this from inside the bubble. I too have cancer. I have an uncertain future. And I am suffering.

Let me delay no longer to cut to the chase. I have been given a reprieve. The cancer which has gnawed secretly at my bones has not had much of a head start.

Signs of a real problem came in the form of a mighty pain which slammed into my hips and legs. I soon became almost unable to walk. I had no energy. My appetite vanished. I quickly lost weight, and within a short period was down to within five pounds of my weight when I was a 145-pound soldier in basic training at Fort Jackson. Then I was running my butt off, so to speak. Now, I was simply losing it. No way this was right.

There is a wonderful medical community here in the Cape Fear Region, and I was swept quickly into it. We who live here – in particular the seniors (I am 75) – are fortunate to have such an asset at our doorstep – world-class hospitals, clinics, laboratories, and a cadre of high-caliber physicians – many board-certified -- who guard our quality of life. I have seen it in action, benefited from it, and am proud of what I know and see.

In future columns I will write more about this personal journey seeking escape from cancer. I know that I am a stronger, more compassionate man for the experience.

Although I am a survivor, I am not one who has “escaped” from cancer. Radiation has struck a blow at this malignancy in my bones, but it continues to visit many parts of my body, where it lurks and will become problematic.

My oncologist today shared treatment options which are capable of detecting and killing the cancer cells, hopefully keeping them in check while I succumb eventually to some other malady which will do the same job in a different way.

Sound spooky? To me that sounds great. I may not know the identity of what will eventually claim me. But it won’t be Multiple Myeloma. We live to fight another day. 

The main weapon in the medical arsenal being readied for me will be IV chemotherapy using a new “Wow” drug which specifically targets multiple myeloma, is very dependable and efficient, but has few troubling side effects. I signed up. Treatment starts within a week. 

From the outset of this experience, I have seen God – our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ -- in the midst of it all. He hears our prayers, and he answers them. I’m grateful to friends who have sent up many of those prayers. They matter. They have been a comfort. 

It is through the campaign of my dear friend Ilario Pantano that I have come to know so many of you. This is my real community, and I love and feel close to every one of you. I lean on you at this time.

Ilario Pantano reminded me when he learned of my illness: “Oftentimes the answers from on high are not of our own choosing. But they do come from God. And that is awesome.”

That it is, Ilario. That it is.

Mormons are not Christian -- a scholarly treatment that proves it!

Verne Strickland Blogmaster   
June 15, 2011

This is a response from a reader of our post on Mormonism and the U.S. political leader, Governor Mitt Romney, who is arguably the most famous practitioner today of the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints:

 pathfinder1941 said...

Verne, Never liked the phrase, "with all due respect" for it usually means, here comes the hammer. I personal find the Mormon faith to be no more bizarre than mainstream Christianity. After all, isn't that what faith is all about? Either one believes or one doesn't. It is a divergent path in the forest. Mormons are great people and their faith, as strange as it may seem to mainstream Christians, is quite logically coherent based on their first principles. Bottom line, Mormons are Christians. You guys share a belief in Christ. I see no reason to throw up a religious litmus test. I thought that went out with the election of JFK. BTW you are verging on oversimplification in your treatment of the multiple wives issue.

June 15, 2011 7:31 AM  

*VS: Pathfinder 1941 is measured, lucid and intelligent in his comments. I respect that. But his arguments don't convince me that Mormons are Christians, despite their claims and protestations. Well, this is America, so they don't have to be Christian. But if they purport to be, which they do, they must add to their argument proof of what they say. Which they don't. There is ample evidence that they have ulterior motives for making these errant claims about being Christian. I think the following text by Pastor Cooper B. Abrams needs to be shared.

Why Mormons Are Not Christian.

First: Mormons do not follow or believe in the historic Jesus Christ of the Bible, but rather in a difference Jesus. This is why most Biblical Christians emphatically insist that Mormons are not Christians. Let me explain.
The god of the Mormons is not the God of the Bible. To the Mormons, Jesus is the firstborn son of an exalted "man" who became the god of this world. The man-god of Mormonism was made the god of this world because of his good works on another planet somewhere out in the universe. He "earned" godhood, and was thus appointed by a counsel of gods in the heavens to his high position as the god of planet Earth. The Mormon god of this world was a man, like all men, who became a god. This is what the celestial marriage and the temple vows are all about. LDS men, by doing their temple work, are striving for exaltation by which they, too, shall one day become gods. Their wives will be the mother goddesses of "their" world and with their husband will produce the population of their world. This is the Mormon doctrine of "eternal progression."
Note the following quote from the Mormon Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, page 123, made by the LDS Apostle Orson Hyde:
"Remember that God, our heavenly Father, was perhaps once a child, a mortal like we ourselves, and rose step by step in the scale of progress, in the school of advancement; has moved forward and overcome, until He has arrived at the point were He is."
Lorenzo Snow, late President of the Mormon church, made this statement in the second verse of his famous poem entitled, "Man's Destiny":
"As Abra'm, Isaac, Jacob, too, babes, then men--to gods they grew. As man now is, our God once was; As now God is, so man may be,-- Which doth unfold man's destiny. . ."
The God of the Bible is not an exalted man. The God of the Bible is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. The Bible says He is the only God and there are no other Gods. He had no beginning or end and he is a spirit being and never was a man.

Note the clear teaching of the Bible as to who the real God is:
Numbers 23:19, "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?"
Psalms 102:26-27, "They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end."
Isaiah 43:10-11, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour."
Isaiah 44:6, "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God."
Isaiah 44:8, "Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any."
Isaiah 45:21-22, "Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else."
Jeremiah 23:24, "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD."
Malachi 3:6, "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."
John 1:16-18, "And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."
John 4:24, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
Romans 1:22, "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things."
Colossians 1:15, "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:"
1 Timothy 1:17, "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen."
1 Timothy 6:16, "Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen."
Clearly, Mormonism's god is not the God of Christianity who is the God revealed to us in the Bible. The Mormon god is a god formed from the imaginations of Joseph Smith, and in truth is a false, non-existent god or idol.

Second: The Jesus Christ of Mormonism is not the Jesus Christ of the Bible.

The Mormon Jesus is the son of this man-god. The Mormon Jesus is the brother of Lucifer, and according to LDS teaching, he married several of the Marys of the New Testament. He is not, to the LDS church, "God incarnate" as the Bible plainly states.  

Clearly, the Mormon god and Jesus are not the true God and Jesus of the Bible
Orson Hyde, the Mormon Apostle said, "We say it was Jesus Christ who was married in the marriage of Cana of Galilee" (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 2, page 80).
Brigham Young, said, "When the Virgin Mary conceived the Child Jesus ... He was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. And who is His father? He is the first of the human family" (Journal of Discourses, pages 50-51).
Compare this with the Word of God, "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35).
Mormons teach that Jesus Christ suffered for sin in the Garden of Gethsemane when He sweat "as it were" great drops of blood. Mormons totally avoid the Biblical teaching of Christ's atonement for sin which was accomplished on the Cross.
Note the following quote from, "What Mormons Think of Christ" (LDS publication, pages 32-34):
"Christians speak often of the blood of Christ and its cleansing power. Much is believed and taught on this subject, however, it is utter nonsense and so palpably false that to believe it is to lose one's salvation."
It goes further to say that salvation is "conditional on faith, and repentance, and baptism and keeping the commands of God."
I would like to add, yes, it is very true that Christians do speak much of the blood of Christ. Note the emphasis the Bible places on the blood of Christ:
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
"How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrew 9:14).
"And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood" (Revelations 1:5).
The ejection of this Biblical truth by the LDS church shows again it is not a Christian church.
Note that in the following verses the Bible says salvation, which is forgiveness of sin and receiving of eternal life, is a gift of God, and it is not obtained by "works":
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Romans 4:5).
I am aware that the L.D.S church has several definitions of salvation and several degrees of glory. A good discussion of the problem is found on the Internet at http:CastYourNet.com/LDS-Shock.
The real Jesus Christ is the "only begotten of the Father." He is not one of many sons and certainly not the brother of Satan as the following Scriptures clearly state:
John 1:18, "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."
John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
John 3:18, "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
Hebrews 1:5, "For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?"
1 John 4:9, "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him."

Jesus Christ of the Bible is God Incarnate in Man

John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
John 1:14, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
John 10:30 "I and my Father are one." Jesus claimed to be one with the Father.
In John 14:9, Jesus said to see him is to see the Father.
In John 8:25, 56-59, 18:6,8 Jesus used the Jehovistic "I AM," identifying Himself as God.
In Matthew 22:42-45, Jesus claimed to be the Old Testament "Adonai."
In Mark 2:5-7, Jesus forgave sin, a prerogative belonging only to God.
In Matthew 14:33; 28:9; and John 20:28-29, Jesus asserted Himself as God by allowing men to worship Him.
John 1:3 states that Jesus is the Creator, and Genesis 1:1 states that God was the Creator.
Only those who believe in the real Biblical God and Jesus Christ have the right to use the name "Christian." The Mormon prophets historically have openly ridiculed those who believe in the God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit that the Bible reveals.
One question that I would ask all Mormons is this: "If I accept you as a Christian, will you accept me as a Mormon?" Would you accept me as a Mormon if I reject Joseph Smith and all the LDS prophets as being prophets of God. If I do not believe in the Book of Mormon or the LDS Scriptures, baptisms for the dead, the temple endowments, the LDS gospel, would you accept me as a Mormon? The answer is obviously, you would not. In like manner, when Mormonism denies the Bible and every Christian doctrine do you think that Biblical Christians should accept Mormons as Christians? Again the answer is very obvious, no we will not. You cannot legitimately claim to be Christians when you refuse to accept what the Bible teaches and what a true Christian believes.
I would implore Mormons to honestly and openly examine their teachings about God and Jesus Christ and examine who the Bible defines as being a Christian. There is no benefit in calling yourself a "Christian" when Biblically you are not.
Because we love the souls of men and want to see them, too, spend eternity in Heaven with our Savior, we strongly object to anyone proclaiming to the world a false Jesus Christ. We do not want to see anyone miss having their sins forgiven and receiving eternal life, because they were deceived.
Jesus said that He alone was the truth, the way and the life.
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6).
Belief in the real Jesus Christ is the only way a man can receive forgiveness of sin and eternal life. The LDS, church in presenting a false Christ is, in fact, leading souls away from salvation and the real Jesus. They reject God's truth and substitute another Jesus who does not exist and cannot save. Only those who believe in the Biblical Jesus Christ will go to heaven when they die. Those who put their trust in a false Christ will be eternally lost. Every true Child of God knows this, and that is why we try so hard to point men away from false churches, prophets, gods and Christs, that they may find God's true Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved.

Let God speak for Himself by His Word.
Matt. 24:24, "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
"Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 14:10-12).
[Pastor Cooper P. Abrams, III, Castle Country Baptist Church, P.O. Box 665, Price, Utah 84501,

http://www.seafox.com/mormons.html

Obama mocks Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible. (If we knew then what we know now!)

Verne Strickland Blogmaster

June 1, 2011

Video & article uploaded by rosaryfilms on Oct 12, 2008 

(Reported as 'not available' at this time)

 

A top U.S. evangelical leader is accusing Sen. Barack Obama of deliberately distorting the meaning of the Holy Bible. 

In comments aired on his radio show, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson criticized the Democratic presidential nominee for comments he made in a June 2006 speech to the liberal Christian group Call to Renewal. 

In the speech, Obama suggested that it would be impractical to govern based solely on the word of the Bible, noting that some passages suggest slavery is permissible and eating shellfish is disgraceful. "Which passages of scripture should guide our public policy?"

Obama asked in the speech. "Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK and that eating shellfish is an abomination? Or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount?"

Obama continued, to cheers from his followers: "So before we get carried away, let's read our Bible now," Folks haven't been reading their Bible." 

He also called Jesus' Sermon on the Mount "a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our Defense Department would survive its application."

Dobson said Obama should not be referencing antiquated dietary codes and passages from the Old Testament that are no longer relevant to the teachings of the New Testament. "I think he's deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own world view, his own confused theology," Dobson said, adding that Obama is "dragging biblical understanding through the gutter." 

Obama asksk: "Am I required in a democracy to conform my efforts in the political arena to his bloody notion of what is right with regard to the lives of tiny babies?"  

Dobson said the suggestion is an attempt to lead by the lowest common denominator of morality:"What he's trying to say here is, unless everybody agrees, we have no right to fight for what we believe.What the senator is saying there, in essence, is that 'I can't seek to pass legislation, for example, that bans partial-birth abortion, because there are people in the culture who don't see that as a moral issue,' 

 Dobson continued: "And if I can't get everyone to agree with me, than it is undemocratic to try to pass legislation that I find offensive to the Scripture. Now, that is a fruitcake interpretation of the Constitution." 

In a stunning display of ignorance- and in a speech you will NOT see in the mainstream media, because even they apparently understand how ignorant Obama was on the issue, Obama exposes his disdain for Christians, and exposes his disdain for the word of God, by taking the typical, petty, ignorant position, that the bible advocated slavery and the stoning of children, apparently implying that Christians should live their faith by reinstating customs that were obviously secular laws that were in place in a time long ago. 

Obama not so subtly implied that Christians are hypocrites because they dont agree to put themselves back under the laws of Moses that are no logner relevent to Christians today! The laws of Moses were a Jewish-only set of laws. 

Barack Obama claims he found the Lord, whatever that means to him, but his obvious contempt for Gods word exposes the fact that Christ is not the one in control of his heart. His speech was a blatant misrepresentation of Christianity, and it was a speech whose intent was to malign and denigrate Christians, and to denigrate this great nation of ours. 

Stoning children for blatant disrespect of parents and of God, was a Jewish-only commandment meant to purge evil from among Gods elected people. Nowhere in the bible does God command anyone other than His own elected people, the Jews, to purge evil in such a manner. 

Barack Obama however is apparently too ignorant of biblical truth to realize this fact, and apparently he feels that he is big enough to call God's commandments toward the Jews into question. 

Obama is also apparently too ignorant of God's word to understand that Christians today are not under the law of Moses, and that many edicts in the bible were meant to tell the people that they needed to obey ALL laws, even the secular laws which included laws that allowed slaves, and that the Jews were not just bound to the laws that God instated, but also to the cultural laws at that time.

Obama may not like that- because it completely refutes his petty attempt at maligning God, God's Word, Christians and this great nation of ours. Obama may claim to be a Christian, and he may even succeed in fooling a couple of people, but to those who know better, we see very clearly that his words betray what he claims his heart stands for.

www.youtube.com/user/rosaryfilms 

Jesus Christ the Righteous was hated and mocked by all men. Many still repudiate Him.

"All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head."

--Psalm 22:7 

Mockery was a great ingredient in our Lord's woe. Judas mocked Him in the garden; the chief priests and scribes laughed Him to scorn; Herod set Him at nought; the servants and the soldiers jeered at Him, and brutally insulted Him; Pilate and his guards ridiculed His royalty; and on the tree all sorts of horrid jests and hideous taunts were hurled at Him.

Ridicule is always hard to bear, but when we are in intense pain it is so heartless, so cruel, that it cuts us to the quick. Imagine the Saviour crucified, racked with anguish far beyond all mortal guess, and then picture that motley multitude, all wagging their heads or thrusting out the lip in bitterest contempt of one poor suffering victim! 

Surely there must have been something more in the crucified One than they could see, or else such a great and mingled crowd would not unanimously have honoured Him with such contempt. Was it not evil confessing, in the very moment of its greatest apparent triumph, that after all it could do no more than mock at that victorious goodness which was then reigning on the cross?

O Jesus, "despised and rejected of men," how couldst Thou die for men who treated Thee so ill? Herein is love amazing, love divine, yea, love beyond degree. We, too, have despised Thee in the days of our unregeneracy, and even since our new birth we have set the world on high in our hearts, and yet Thou bleedest to heal our wounds, and diest to give us life. 

O that we could set Thee on a glorious high throne in all men's hearts! We would ring out Thy praises over land and sea till men should as universally adore as once they did unanimously reject. 

Thy creatures wrong Thee, O Thou sovereign Good!
Thou art not loved, because not understood:
This grieves me most, that vain pursuits beguile
Ungrateful men, regardless of Thy smile.

info@lists.backtothebible.org


Verne Strickland Blogmaster

Children die in Israeli attack on Gaza, say doctors. Where's the rest of the story?

Verne Strickland Blogmaster


VS: Look, call me callous and unfeeling, but the weepy story about kids being killed in Palestine by Israeli artillery just leaves me totally cold.

It does no good for the UK media to ratchet up the boohoo with stories like this. Hell, Palestinians have been shelling Israel non-stop since how long?

But all that’s an aside. I come down in Israel’s camp without exception -- because I am Christian, and we are commanded by our Savior Jesus Christ to support Israel and her people. So I do.

Look, I like the East Carolina University Pirates because I graduated from there. So did three of our kids. I like Jack Daniel’s No. 7 Tennessee Bourbon because I’m a son of the South.

And I follow and support Israel because I love Jesus Christ the Righteous, and I obey Him. When I don’t, I mourn my mistakes, ask His forgiveness, and am graciously pardoned.

Case closed? Probably not. But let’s do an autopsy on this story that came down today (March 21, 2011) from BBC UK World News:

Four Palestinian family members, including two children, have died in Gaza, in an Israeli artillery strike. Several Palestinians were also injured in Tuesday's attack.

VS: Is that the story line then? Palestinian children die? Give me a break. It’s a propaganda moment. Likewise the photo posted of a Palestinian man lying “injured” on a stretcher. Sheer melodrama. He might be sleeping off a hangover. Who’s to know?

An unprovoked attack? Hardly.

Anyway, what do you care? What I think and feel and say makes no difference in the grand scheme of things.

I answer only to my Lord, to my conscience where His Holy Spirit dwells, and – somewhere way down the line – to President Obama, whom I will not judge, while questioning his Muslim-tinged “Christianity”, assumed name, and missing birth certificate by which he claims American citizenship, feigned fealty to his adopted country, and right to the crown of the United States of America.

It pains me to say all this, but in my heart I believe it.

The BBC narrative continues:

Another 12 people were wounded when an Israeli tank shell hit a home on the eastern outskirts of Gaza City.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said it was an unfortunate mistake, but added that was "the price of dealing every day with the terrorists".
In a second attack, three people - all members of Islamic Jihad - were killed during an air strike, medics said.

VS: These are the bad boys – the evil ones – whose “religion” compels them to kill “infidels” (you, me, our families, our friends, our countrymen, all Christians and Jews) merely because we are unbelievers. So they kill. And in this instance they are killed.


We again rejoin the narrative:

On Saturday, Palestinian militants fired a barrage of rockets over the frontier, prompting Israeli retaliation.

VS: Got that? The militants provoked return fire, which killed some killers, and, unfortunately, some innocents as well.

Back to the wire story:

The BBC's Jon Donnison, in Gaza City, says the exchanges are among the most serious since Israel's major offensive in the coastal strip between December 2008 and January 2009.

Our correspondent adds that, unusually, the militant wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for at least a dozen of the mortars fired at Israel over the weekend.

VS: Wasn’t that very large of the provocateurs? How could they deny it? Hamas is habitually using Israeli settlements for target practice. Payback comes in due time.

More of the BBC wire story:

In Tuesday's first attack, a grandfather and two of his grandchildren were among those killed when artillery was fired at a house, reports said. Witnesses said they were playing football when they died.

The Israeli defence minister said: "We were not glad of it but that's the price of dealing every day with the terrorists attacking our civilian population from within civilian population on the other side."

Palestinian emergency services said the second attack struck the Zeitun quarter of eastern Gaza City, AFP news agency reports. Doctors from the health ministry in Gaza say those who died are believed to have been militants from the Islamic Jihad group.

VS: Partisan killers, soldiers for Islamic mayhem, terrorists, jihadists, rabid zealots, bad-asses. Anything left unsaid?

And finally, the BBC signs off:

The latest deaths came a day after Palestinian doctors said at least 17 people were injured in Israeli air strikes in Gaza.

VS: Oh. Well, crap happens, don’t it?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12822493