This Week in the News

Israel Ordered to Pay $1.1 Billion to Iran

Forbes wrote on August 15:

“The Swiss Federal Tribunal, Switzerland’s highest court, ordered Israel to pay $1.1 billion plus interest to Iran in a decades old dispute over a secretive oil pipeline  predating Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution. The verdict was dated June 27, while media broke the story late last week. Until the Islamic revolution and the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979, Israel and Iran maintained close ties. In fact, after the Six-Day War (1967 Arab-Israeli War), Iran supplied a large part of Israel’s oil demand while Israel returned the favor…

“After the fall of the Shah of Iran, however, Israel and Iran became the region’s most stringent antagonists and bitter enemies…

“Israeli media said that Iran had tried for years to recoup its disputed assets from EAPC, despite decades of refusing to recognize Israel. Israel Haymon News said that it remains unclear whether Israel will pay up, given its laws restricting ‘trading with the enemy.’ Lawyers from both countries have failed to comment on the verdict.”

Unlike America’s pitiful payout (a/k/a ransom money) to Iran (which was evidenced in a detailed analysis by the Wall Street Journal), it is highly doubtful that Israel will pay this amount to Iran. Newsmax wrote on August 17 that “President Barack Obama has maintained the $400 million paid to Iran was not a ransom for American prisoners, but a report Wednesday [by the Wall Street Journal] detailed a ‘tightly scripted exchange specifically timed’ with the plane carrying the cash and one carrying three freed Americans.”

The Third Jewish Temple Is Coming

JTA wrote on August 12:

“‘It’s time to build,’ reads the tagline of the Temple Institute’s latest YouTube video. The phrase encapsulates the group’s controversial mission to rally Jews to reconstruct the Temple that was the heart of their religion until its destruction 2,000 years ago. Over much of those two millennia, mourning the loss of the Temple and longing for its restoration has been central to Jewish thought and practice…

“‘Our goal is to raise the consciousness of the Jewish people and all humanity toward the central role that the Holy Temple plays in the life of mankind,’ Rabbi Chaim Richman, the Massachusetts-born co-founder and the international director of the Temple Institute, told JTA…

“Established in 1987, 20 years after Israel conquered the Temple Mount and the Palestinian territories in the Six-Day War, the Temple Institute was one of the first groups to openly advocate the rebuilding of the two temples that once stood on the plaza. Another co-founder is Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, who was among the paratroopers who took the Temple Mount from Jordanian forces in 1967.

“The problem for supporters is that the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem is sacred not only to Jews but to Muslims and Christians, too. The site includes the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque, two of the most significant shrines in Islam. Israel chose to leave it under Muslim control in 1967, and Jewish prayer is prohibited there. Ever since, even rumors of changes to the ‘status quo’ — let alone provocative calls to build a third Temple in their place — have drawn international Muslim ire and Palestinian violence. Tensions surrounding the Temple Mount played a major role in the first and second Palestinian intifadas, or uprisings, and helped trigger the most recent wave of attacks that started in October.

“Some Israelis have always opposed the government’s decision not to reclaim the mount. In the 1980s, the Jewish Underground, a Jewish settler terrorist group, plotted to bomb the Dome of the Rock, in part to catalyze the construction of the third Temple in its place. The Shin Bet security agency thwarted the plot…

“The Temple Institute focuses on preparing the objects and skills needed for the sacrifice of animals and the esoteric rituals that were carried out by kohanim, or priests, in front of crowds of Jewish pilgrims before the last temple’s destruction. All of its work is led by a rabbinical council and based on meticulous analysis of Jewish scripture and academic research…

“These days,… weekly TV and radio shows are among the 914 videos that appear on the Temple Institute’s YouTube channel… Most content is in English to maximize reach, including to the many evangelical Christians who support the group, many through tax-exempt charities in the United States. For many evangelicals, the construction of a third Temple fulfills a prophecy about the second coming of Jesus…

“This year’s campaign is for a school to train the priests to staff the third Temple… The Israeli government provides some funding to the Temple Institute…”

“Israel Heute” added on August 12 that the Temple Institute opened a school to teach descendants of Levi as to how to carry out services in the third Temple.

Trump’s Ultra-Progressive Pro-Gay Policy

The Telegraph wrote on August 15:

“Donald Trump said he would introduce a new ideological test for admission to the United States called ‘extreme vetting’ in which would-be immigrants would be asked what they believe on issues like religious freedom, gender equality and gay rights… The government would use questionnaires, social media, and interviews with friends and relatives to determine if people seeking to immigrate or get visas supported American values like tolerance and pluralism.

“Those excluded would be people who did not believe in the US Constitution, support bigotry and hatred, believe Shariah law is more important than US law, or would not ‘flourish in our country.’… The Trump’s campaign has yet to say whether additional screenings would apply to the millions of tourists who visit the US each year…”

Times of Israel wrote on August 16:

“Donald Trump said he would test would-be immigrants for anti-Semitic beliefs and that Israel would be a key ally in defeating radical Islam…

“The Anti-Defamation League immediately took to Twitter to express concerns about Trump’s reiterated call to ban Muslim entry and entry from countries subject to violence… Also speaking out was HIAS, the lead Jewish group advocating for immigrants and refugees. ‘For the American Jewish community, the thought of barring a refugee family because of their religion or home country is simply unpalatable,’ Melanie Nezer, the group’s vice president, said in a statement…”

Breitbart wrote on August 15:

“Donald J Trump… has just outflanked Hillary Clinton on the Left and announced what can only be described as an ultra-progressive immigration policy… Trump’s plan is to introduce a screening process for prospective immigrants to the U.S., testing their ideological commitment to western values like women’s rights, gay rights, and religious pluralism… Actually, it’s about the most pro-gay policy I’ve ever heard from a presidential hopeful…”

In his speech, Trump also said that Hillary Clinton wanted to become America’s Angela Merkel. The German press (Die Welt, August 16) responded that with this statement, Trump “continued his defamation against Angela Merkel.” Note the next article.

“Donald Trump Has No Clue About Germany”

The Local wrote on August 16:

“US presidential candidate Donald Trump has been on the attack against Chancellor Angela Merkel once again. The lies he told about Germany show how dangerous he is. Discussing his Democrat rival’s health care, education and plans, which he claimed would create a ‘lifetime cost of $400 billion’, Trump concluded that ‘in short Hillary Clinton wants to be America’s Angela Merkel.’

“After lapping up the mixture of jeers and claps he continued on the completely unrelated topic of crime. ‘You know what a disaster this massive immigration has been to Germany and the people of Germany. Crime has risen to levels that no one thought they would ever, ever see. It is a catastrophe.’

“To listen to Trump you would think that Merkel spends most of her free time handing out 100 euro bills to refugees on the street while all around her foreigners are robbing banks and plundering the homes of honest, hard-working Germans. It was interesting to see how the tycoon seamlessly jumped from social spending to immigration and crime – as if these things were one and the same. It told us a lot about how angry conservatives in the USA see Germany, but absolutely nothing about reality in the Federal Republic.

“On closer analysis Trump’s statements turn out… to be complete fantasy. If Trump had even the slightest idea about German politics he would know that Merkel has presided over a government that has an obsession with financial tight-fistedness. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble fastidiously sticks to the concept of schwarze Null, whereby the tax man takes in more than the government spends in a year.

“Critics point to decaying road and rail infrastructure, and to increased levels of child poverty, in appealing to the government to loosen the purse strings and start investing in the country’s future. World Bank figures on government debt as a percentage of GDP shows that Germany is one of the class swots in the developed world, with public debt coming to 52.3 percent of GDP. As a comparison the USA’s public debt is 96.8 percent of GDP and the OECD average is 68.3 percent. And, to Merkel’s credit, Germany manages this while providing free higher education, a national minimum wage and a health care system that ensures no one is left behind.

“Trump’s claim about unimaginable crime levels since the refugee influx of 2015 is even more risible. Crime has been falling in Germany for decades. Since a high point in 1993 of just under 8,500 registered crimes for every 100,000 residents, crime rates have declined and plateaued between 2010 and 2012 at roughly 7,400 registered crimes per 100,000 people. German police figures for 2015 show that the crime rate rose during the year by 4.1 percent to slightly over 6.3 million registered crimes. This came out to just under 7,800 crimes per 100,000 residents.

“But this increase was completely distorted by one statistic: that the huge numbers of refugee arrivals had created an explosion in the number of people illegally entering the country. Take this statistic out and overall crime fell in Germany in 2015 in comparison with 2014 from 7,337 crimes per 100,000 resident to 7,301 per 100,000 residents.

“Crimes committed by migrants, such as sexual assaults in Cologne over New Year (around half of the suspects for which had arrived in Germany in the previous 12 months) and an axe attack on a train in Würzburg in July, have made international headlines. But these only represent a vanishing proportion of overall crime. The fact is in 2015 Germans were safer than they have ever been since the reunification of the country…”

In all fairness, Trump’s comments about Clinton and Merkel were clearly made in the context of immigration and refugees, and NOT in the context of the financial situation in Germany. It is true, however, that the crime rate did not significantly rise because of refugees entering the country. And so, the German anti-Trump reporting continues. Der Spiegel wrote on August 16 that “there can no longer be any doubt that Donald Trump is a liar, narcissist and agitator. As president, he would be a danger for the entire world,” concluding that “Donald Trump represents one of the gravest threats of our time.” It is a fact of life that domestic popularity rises in light of international attacks.

NATO and the USA

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 15:

“The US has long warned its European partners it was losing patience with paying the majority of NATO’s bills. The nomination of Donald Trump has made the threats of a US withdrawal from NATO seem real and present… He pledges if he becomes president, US participation in an Article V operation would depend on whether the ally under attack had ‘fulfilled their obligations’ to the US. It’s unclear whether Trump believes other NATO countries owe money directly to the US for military reassurance, as he also said recently that European allies ‘don’t pay us what they should be paying’ and that he ‘want[s] them to pay.’

“As for whether Trump really would or could pull the US out of NATO, [Reuel Marc Gerecht, a prominent neo-conservative commentator and former CIA officer] speculates a Trump presidency might mean there won’t even be a NATO to quit. ‘Any president has within his powers as commander-in-chief to effectively gut NATO,’ he says. ‘And certainly by simple statements that he’s already made, if he were to make them again after becoming president, that he would not honor Article V, then NATO is de facto defunct.’”

Lying About Having Lied About Lying…

Newsmax wrote on August 15:

“Newt Gingrich on Monday said he was puzzled by the FBI’s decision not to interview Hillary Clinton under oath, but said he’s looking forward to the agency’s notes, which will reportedly be released to Congress.

“As for Clinton’s part in the interview, Gingrich said… ‘This is a person who has lied repeatedly. She lies about lying and now she lies about having lied about lying’…”

How Sick Is Hillary Clinton?

Heat Street wrote on August 15:

“Heat Street has compiled evidence of the media’s growing willingness to touch the forbidden question of the Democratic nominee’s health. Does she need to release those medical records to be straight with the public? What’s going on with Hillary Clinton’s health? That’s a question many people are asking these days. There’s a lot we still don’t know about the mysterious health scare Clinton suffered in December 2012, when she was hospitalized for what was later described as a blood clot on her brain.

“The event was shrugged off as a minor scare, and Hillary eventually returned to work as secretary of state, sporting a pair of very thick spectacles. However, in 2014, Bill Clinton revealed that his wife’s ‘terrible’ health episode ‘required six months of very serious work to get over.’

“Some of Hillary’s behavior over the course of the campaign has been described by observers as ‘erratic’ … leading some critics to raise questions about her current health. Hillary Clinton will turn 69 in October.”

US News added on August 15:

“Fox News, the Drudge Report, and a slew of conservative or conspiracy-theory themed sites on the internet are raising questions about Clinton’s medical fitness to be president… Fox’s Sean Hannity dedicated an entire week to the matter, pointing to an exchange with reporters in which Clinton, Hannity said, did a ‘twitching thing,’ followed by a ‘violent, violent, repetitive jerking of the head.’…

“Dr. Ben Carson, a former GOP presidential candidate himself, wouldn’t declare Clinton’s behavior proof of any specific ailment but did note that ‘as a person gets older, the number of medical conditions that we have to watch for increases,’ and that Clinton should reveal her full medical records. Jane M. Orient, a medical doctor and executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons… is convinced Clinton has something wrong with her… During Clinton’s 11 hours of testimony before Congress on the Benghazi matter – an episode Clinton’s backers point to as an example of her physical endurance – Clinton laughed at length and inappropriately, Orient says, suggesting she was not quite right…”

Even though Trump’s poll numbers are currently dropping, Clinton’s health and her unresolved and still lingering Email scandal (now also involving an investigation of the Clinton Foundation) could change all of this—let alone further terrible events related to terrorism and migration.

Both Flawed… Neither Better Than the Other

Newsmax wrote on August 15:

“Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are flawed and ‘neither is clearly better than the other,’ the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Philadelphia says… ‘This is depressing and liberating at the same time… Depressing, because it’s proof of how polarized the nation has become. Liberating, because for the honest voter, it’s much easier this year to ignore the routine tribal loyalty chants of both the Democratic and Republican camps …

“‘Neither major candidate lives anywhere near the solar system where most Americans live, work and raise families. Nonetheless, we’re asked to trust them,’ he writes. ‘The next few months will determine the next decade and more of our nation’s life..’”

USA Abrogates Control Over the Internet

The Washington Examiner wrote on August 16:

“The Department of Commerce is set to hand off the final vestiges of American control over the Internet to international authorities in less than two months, officials have confirmed…

“The move means the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, which is responsible for interpreting numerical addresses on the Web to a readable language, will move from U.S. control to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a multistakeholder body based in Los Angeles that includes countries such as China and Russia. Critics of the move, most prominently Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, have pointed out the agency could be used by totalitarian governments to shut down the Web around the globe, either in whole or in part.”

The Washington Post’s Strong Condemnation of President Obama’s Failure to Help Syrians  

The Editorial Board of the Washington Post wrote the following  on August 16:

“‘DEVASTATING AND overwhelming.’ Those are the conditions in the ancient and once-great metropolis of Aleppo, according to the head of delegation for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Marianne Gasser, who was in the Syrian city recently. ‘We hear that dozens of civilians are being killed every day and scores more injured from shells, mortars and rockets,’ Ms. Gasser said. ‘The bombing is constant. The violence is threatening hundreds of thousands of people’s lives, homes and livelihoods.’

“War crimes appear to be near-constant also. The air forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his chief backer, Russian President Vladimir Putin, target apartment buildings, bakeries and – this is their specialty – hospitals and clinics. The United Nations is investigating credible reports that Mr. Assad again has used chemical weapons, in this case chlorine gas. Water has been cut off from hundreds of thousands of people.

“The last surviving physicians in the rebel-held half of Aleppo a few days ago begged President Obama to help. ‘The world has stood by and remarked how “complicated” Syria is, while doing little to protect us,’ they wrote. ‘The burden of responsibility for the crimes of the Syrian government and its Russian ally must therefore be shared by those, including the United States, who allow them to continue.’

“Why would these brave, forlorn doctors look to Mr. Obama for rescue? Perhaps one of them, through the terrible din of war, remembers hearing the president promise to stand by the Syrian people as they were being ‘subjected to unspeakable violence, simply for demanding their universal rights.’ Mr. Obama made his pledge during an address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in April 2012. He boasted that he had decreed, in a first for any U.S. president, that preventing mass atrocities ‘is a core national security interest and a core moral responsibility of the United States of America.’ That did not mean that the United States would ‘intervene militarily every time there’s an injustice in the world,’ he cautioned. But when it came to Syria, Mr. Obama was clear.

“‘The Syrian people have not given up, which is why we cannot give up,’ Mr. Obama said. ‘And so with allies and partners, we will keep increasing the pressure, with a diplomatic effort to further isolate Assad and his regime, so that those who stick with Assad know that they are making a losing bet.’ Alas, that was many atrocities ago. According to the Red Cross, more than 12 million Syrians – half the prewar population – have been forced from their homes, with millions more under siege. Hundreds of thousands have been killed. Well over 1 million have been wounded. Iran and Russia continue to place their bets on the Assad regime.

“And Mr. Obama no longer pledges to stand with the Syrian people, though he remains clear-eyed about what they are facing. ‘The regime and its allies,’ Mr. Obama observed at a Pentagon news conference this month, are engaged in ‘vicious attacks on defenseless civilians, medieval sieges against cities like Aleppo, and blocking food from reaching families that are starving.’

“But the administration’s response has not changed: a combination of halfhearted support for the rebels, who increasingly gravitate by necessity to more extremist groups; requests to the Russians to behave better; and finger wagging. ‘It is deplorable,’ the president said during his visit to the Pentagon. Small comfort to the people of Aleppo.”

The German mass tabloid, Bild Online, cited and linked the above-stated article, stating that “Obama has failed in Aleppo,” having given “nothing but empty promises.” Quite an assessment of the world’s “most powerful leader.”

Obama’s Drug Enforcement Administration Accused of Heartless and Mad Hypocrisy

SFGate.com wrote on August 15:

“The Drug Enforcement Administration is enduring perhaps the most pronounced round of criticism in its 43 year-history, after a widely discredited decision last week to keep treating marijuana as the most dangerous drug on the planet. Last week, the DEA denied two petitions seeking to change cannabis’ official federal designation as a schedule 1 drug — a label reserved for drugs with ‘no medical use and a high potential for abuse’.

“Pot is considered by the federal government to be as dangerous as heroin or LSD, and more dangerous than prescription painkillers, which cause dozens of fatal overdoses a day. Cannabis has no lethal overdose…

“DEA critics from Washington DC to the heartland are now blasting the DEA, calling the ruling ‘hypocrisy’, ‘absurd’, ‘heartless’ and 2016’s version of the ‘flat Earth’ theory. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s camp immediately stated Clinton would, as president, downgrade cannabis’ status to schedule 2. ‘Marijuana is already being used for medical purposes in states across the country, and it has the potential for even further medical use,’ Maya Harris, a senior policy advisor to Clinton’s campaign, said in a statement, reported by The Denver Post…

“More than half of polled physicians say cannabis should be legal. Bay Area Congresswoman Barbara Lee tweeted: ‘Politicians aren’t doctors or scientists. Marijuana research prohibitions are outdated, unscientific [and] dangerous…’ Trauma neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta, writing for CNN, called the DEA ruling a danger to countless people who will be denied potential therapies from cannabis research.

“Dr. Gupta called the decision hypocrisy, and cited the DEA’s own judge, who almost 30 years ago ruled, ‘In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. For example, eating 10 raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By comparison, it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death. Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within the supervised routine of medical care.’

“The Los Angeles Times editorial board — usually reticent to support pot-related reforms — put the DEA on blast, saying the decision was based on ‘a bizarre circular logic’ that amounts to ‘a different kind of reefer madness. … The DEA opted to keep its policies mired in the 1970s, which will only exacerbate the growing divide between the states and feds.’

“The San Francisco Chronicle’s relatively conservative columnist Debra Saunders opined that ‘really, how can drug warriors who want to make it harder to prescribe opioids also want to make pain-alleviating medical marijuana off-limits? There is only one reason to cling to the status quo — willful institutional blindness.’ Saunders blames President Obama, and said she will vote for California legalization Proposition 64 this Fall. Prop 64 would direct $2 million per year to study medical cannabis in California, beyond the reach of federal prohibition…

“And the Cannabis Business Alliance noted that the DEA profits from federal drug war funding and asset forfeitures related to cannabis prohibition, and so cannot make an unbiased decision about the plant…

“About 700,000 Americans will be arrested for marijuana this year. Pot arrests are the leading type of drug arrest in the nation, and drug arrests are the most frequent arrests police make in America. Blacks in the U.S. are arrested at almost four times the rates of white for pot, despite similar levels of use, the ACLU reports.”

All of this seems to prove willful political money-driven maneuverings of the Obama Administration. However, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals thwarted the Administration’s unrelenting plans to an extent. Note the next article.

“Ruling: DOJ Can’t Prosecute Medical Marijuana Cases”

Newsmax wrote on August 17:

“The Ninth Circuit’s U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court that the Department of Justice could not prosecute medical marijuana suppliers in states where it’s legal, as long as no laws were otherwise broken. ABC News reported that the department has been ordered to show that 10 pending cases in California and Washington state broke laws in those states.

“Marijuana is illegal under federal law — the court of appeals rejected the Justice Department’s idea applied only to states, not individuals who provide medical marijuana to patients. The appeals court disagreed, saying that all federal marijuana defendants can have hearings where they can try to prove that their actions were legal according to state law…

“Marijuana activists and lawyers that represent medical marijuana suppliers said the ruling adds to what they say is a growing call to legalize the drug. Marijuana is legal for medicinal purposes in 25 states and the District of Columbia, and is on the ballot in ten states for the November election…

“Oregon Democrat Rep. Earl Blumenauer said that the Justice Department has not been quick to notice that lawmakers want prosecutors to pursue organized drug rings, not medicinal marijuana… In July, Republican delegates chose not to support medical marijuana in the party’s official platform… Earlier, the Democratic Party endorsed a ‘pathway’ that would eventually lead to legalization for the drug.”

Disastrous Obamacare

NBC News wrote on August 16:

“Aetna, the No. 3 U.S. health insurer, on Monday said that due to persistent financial losses on Obamacare plans, it will sell individual insurance on the government-run online marketplaces in only four states next year [Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska and Virginia], down from the current 15 states. Aetna’s decision follows similar moves from UnitedHealth and Humana, which have cited similar concerns about financial losses on these exchanges created under President Barack Obama’s national healthcare reform law… Only about 11 million people have signed up through the exchanges, about half as many as expected…

“Aetna said that the current risk adjustment system, in which the government balances out the costs of sicker than typical populations through payments to insurers, is not adequate. Aetna said that it had a second-quarter pretax loss of $200 million on the individual business and has lost $430 million since the plans first went on sale in 2014.”

Even though Aetna’s position and figures may be questioned, the truth of the matter remains that Obamacare has been a complete disaster from the outset.

ISIS Sleeper Cells in Germany

The Sun wrote on August 12:

“ISIS hit squads and ‘sleeper cells’ intent on waging war on Europe have entered Germany disguised as refugees, a leading spy chief has confirmed. Intelligence agencies also have ‘irrefutable’ evidence they are following a command structure, meaning a coordinated attack like those seen in Paris and Brussels is ‘likely’. This was the chilling warning issued by the deputy head of Bavaria’s spy agency, Manfred Hauser, on the BBC’s Today programme this week.”

IBD Under Surveillance

Deutsche Welle reported on August 12:

“Germany’s Federal intelligence services confirmed on Friday that the right-wing group IBD [“Identity Movement for Germany”] is being monitored in nine of Germany’s 16 states, including Bavaria, Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony. ‘We see evidence in the “Identity Movement” of unconstitutional efforts,’ German Intelligence Services Chief Hans-Georg Maassen said.

“The group, which has its roots in France, first arrived in Germany in 2012 and has developed offshoots across Europe. Known for its anti-immigration stance – particularly against Muslims – the German offshoot of the movement first made its presence known online via Facebook and YouTube… In recent months, however, demonstrations and leafleting have also become more common.

“According to German authorities, the IBD believes the current increase in immigration is a conspiracy of the global economy, politics and the media – the objective of which is allegedly to replace ‘Europeans’ with ‘non-European immigrants’ and thus destroy traditional culture.

“The IBD isn’t the first right-wing movement to garner support in Germany in recent months. Anti-Islamization group PEGIDA has been holding almost weekly demonstrations against Islam, refugees and politicians in various German cities since October 2014… Links between the IBD and PEGIDA have already been reported in Germany… Several German states have also reported contact between the IBD and politicians belonging to the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party…”

Military EU Collaboration

Deutsche Welle reported on August 12:

“There is mounting pressure on the Bundeswehr to engage in military action abroad. Operations on home soil are also discussed. To be able to carry out those tasks, the Bundeswehr considers recruitment of EU citizens…

“Since the Bundeswehr was established 61 years ago, only German citizens have been allowed to become soldiers. That’s what Germany’s Military Act provides, and it would have to be changed for the proposed opening to materialize. Until now, the Bundeswehr can incorporate citizens from other nations only on a case-by-case basis…

“By opening up to EU citizens, the Bundeswehr would enter unchartered territory. It has, however, much more experience when it comes to collaborating with soldiers of other EU countries. The German-French Brigade was established in October 1989. August 1995 saw the launch of the German-Dutch Corps. German, French, and Belgian soldiers, among others, collaborate in the Eurocorps. And in 2014, some 2,300 Dutch paratroopers were integrated into the German Division Schnelle Kräfte (Rapid Forces Division).

“This kind of close collaboration is in line with the proposals for a new European foreign policy and security strategy recently submitted by EU chief diplomat Federica Mogherini. While it does not advocate an EU army, it does call for closer collaboration and capacity to act when it comes to collective defense, in order to improve the EU’s ability to respond to crises.”

Restrictions of Freedom of Movement in the UK

The EUObserver wrote on July 29:

“British leader Theresa May has said free movement of EU workers to Britain cannot continue as in the past, while visiting Slovakia and Poland on Thursday (28 July). ‘It’s a very clear message that has come from the vote of the British people – they don’t want freedom of movement to be continued in the same way as in the past, they want some level of control’, she told press in Warsaw, referring to the British referendum, in June, on leaving the EU.”

The Death of a True Hero–Wallenberg Was Killed by Russia

JTA wrote on August 16, 2016:

“Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazi gas chambers, was executed in a Soviet prison, according to a KGB head’s diaries. The diaries of Ivan A. Serov, who ran the former Russian secret police and intelligence agency from 1954 to 1958, were discovered inside the walls of his second home in northwestern Moscow, which his granddaughter is now renovating. Discovered four years ago, the diaries were published this summer, The New York Times reported Sunday…

“A 1991 joint Russian-Swedish effort to discover what happened to Wallenberg… found that documents had been destroyed or altered to eliminate all traces of him.

“Wallenberg was posted to Nazi-occupied Hungary during World War II, where he issued protective passports to Jews in the final months of the Holocaust. He disappeared in 1945 after being seen surrounded by Soviet officers in Budapest. The Soviets later claimed Wallenberg had died of heart failure in prison…”

On February 14, 1957, JTA had published a report revealing that an “affidavit of a German businessman incarcerated in the same Moscow prison where Raoul Wallenberg was held apparently was a key factor in inducing the Soviet Government to admit its arrest of the Swedish diplomat… abandon[ing] their previous insistence that Wallenberg was unknown to them and had never been in the Soviet Union.”

Is Russia Preparing for War with Ukraine?

Business Insider wrote on August 17:

“The Pentagon has identified eight staging areas in Russia where large numbers of military forces appear to be preparing for incursions into Ukraine, according to US defense officials. As many as 40,000 Russian troops, including tanks, armored vehicles, and air force units, are now arrayed along Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia. Additionally, large numbers of Russian military forces will conduct exercises in the coming days that Pentagon officials say could be used as cover for an attack on Ukraine.

“… over the past several months large numbers of Russian troops and tanks have been moving into eight bases stretching from Yelnya, near Smolensk and northeast of Ukraine, southward through Rostov—a city located very close to eastern Ukraine. Defense officials said it is not clear whether the massing of forces is saber rattling by Moscow designed to coerce Ukraine into accepting the takeover of Crimea or preparations for further conflict….”

“Why Jordan Is the ‘Different’ East”

The Local wrote on August 1:

“Geography may appear to be Jordan’s curse… to the north, civil war in Syria; to the west, unrest and violence between Israel and the Palestinian Territories. To the east and south, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. At first glance, not exactly a peaceful neighbourhood, to put it mildly.

“Geography, though, is in fact Jordan’s blessing… its location – nestled on the edge of the Arabian Peninsula and not far from the Mediterranean – has blessed it with an enviable collection of wonders – natural and manmade – that put the country in a class by itself. If it weren’t for Jordan’s geography, it wouldn’t boast the awe-inspiring rock city of Petra; the spectacular canyons of Wadi Rum and Mujib; the ancient city of Jerash; or Mount Nebo, from where Moses saw The Promised Land; or the site of Jesus’ baptism at Bethany Beyond the Jordan.

“In some ways, Jordan’s distinctiveness comes from simply having been around for a long, long time. But more than that, it’s also how the country has preserved the legacy while at the same time embracing what lies ahead… The sentiment was perhaps best expressed by the late King Hussein, who ruled Jordan for more than four decades until his death in 1999: ‘Jordan has a strange, haunting beauty and a sense of timelessness. Dotted with the ruins of empires once great, it is the last resort of yesterday in the world of tomorrow.’”

Zika Virus on the Rise in Puerto Rico

CBS News reported on August 12:

“The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico has reported 1,914 new Zika cases over the past week. Health Secretary Ana Rius said Friday there are 10,690 cases altogether, including 1,035 involving pregnant women. Zika has been tied to severe birth defects.

“The newest statistics were released a day after the U.S. surgeon general visited Puerto Rico and said he expected 25 percent of people on the island will be infected by Zika by year’s end.”

Historic Floods in Louisiana

ABC News reported on August 15:

“President Obama has approved a request from the governor of Louisiana for federal emergency funds to help the state recover from the historic floods that have… submerged thousands of homes and vehicles.”

Reuters used the term, “unprecedented flooding.”

Deutsche Welle added on August 17:

“… a huge clean-up operation got underway in the southern US state of Louisiana on Wednesday, as severe floods receded after a deluge that lasted several days… The American Red Cross described the flooding, which claimed [at least 13] lives and damaged some 40,000 homes, as the worst natural disaster since Hurricane Sandy in 2012.”

State of Emergency in California Due to Wildfires

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 17:

“California’s latest wildfire mushroomed into an inferno covering more than 120 square kilometers (46 square miles) in just a day, the National Wildfire Coordinating Group said on Wednesday.

“The fast spread of the so-called ‘Blue Cut’ fire led to a mandatory evacuation order for at least 82,000 people due to what authorities described as an ‘imminent threat to public safety, rail traffic and structures.’… More than 1,300 firefighters were battling the fire, utilizing air tankers and helicopters to sweep over the flames from the sky. Local media showed footage of ‘firenadoes’ – tornado-like flaming vortices – that were sent spinning into the air by the sheer strength of the blaze. The newest fire also closed several roads including a major interstate highway linking Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

“California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for San Bernardino County, just 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Los Angeles, saying the blaze was too big for the region to fight alone. Emergency teams have been battling wildfires throughout California over the past three months, amid a historic drought, and as NASA revealed that July was the 10th month in a row to break the monthly temperature record, becoming the hottest month since records began in 1880.”

UFO Sightings on the Rise

Oigel.com wrote on August 10:

“Europe is under attack after more than 6 UFO sightings in the area… the continent is no stranger to alien sightings in the past. In fact, Winston Churchill had X-Files of his own that are now public.

“UFO sightings are increasing all over the world but in Europe specifically, there is a concentrated occurrence. In the past, alien researchers suggested that aliens are interested in Earth. Hollywood likes to use [them] to their advantage, implying they have violent intentions. However, many believe these aliens to be peaceful observers. It’s not a coincidence that alien sightings occur around natural disasters or global warfare.

“The European nations are going through intense conflict right now which is likely to attract the attention of intelligent life. They find our meaningless violence fascinating, hence the sudden increase in sightings during the violent year of 2016.”

Many times, UFO sightings are natural phenomena, the result of hallucinations and wishful thinking, or merely made-up faked stories. At other times, something “unexplainable” might be observed or even photographed, but we can be sure that these would not be aliens from other planets. Rather, they would be based on demonic activities. That increased sightings are reported in Europe may be significant, as it has been reported that just prior to World War II, Indian gurus claimed that all their powers had gone to Europe.

Update 749

That Your Joy May Be Full; It’s the Truth!

On August 20, 2016, Eric Rank will present the sermonette, titled, “That Your Joy May Be Full,” and Dave Harris will present the sermon, titled, “It’s the Truth!”

The live services are available, over video and audio, at http://eternalgod.org/live-services/ (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time; 8:30 pm Greenwich Mean Time; 9:30 pm Central European Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

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Guard Your Heart

by Kalon Mitchell

As I live my life, I am aware of things going on around me. One of the most useful things that I have learned so far is that we ALL go through various trials. As I get older and experience life more, I can see the differences between challenges which God’s people cope with and the issues that people face in the world.

But there is one fact that holds true for both – it is that we are all human beings. We all have to deal with our own human nature and with sin. Church members know that God allows trials for their growth and edification. In fact, this is one of the ways that we can KNOW that God is dealing with us and working out His plan for each of us. We read many times in the Bible that God allows us to go through different trials. Each trial is an individual challenge, which no one else can go through. We can pray for each other and we most certainly should lean on each other for help, comfort and support. 1 Peter 4:16 states that there is no shame in suffering. In fact, we need to learn to cope with it humbly, while relying on God (Proverbs 3:5-6).

When we are trained by God’s discipline (Hebrews 12:6-8), we will be able to have good works (Ephesians 2:10). In a world that is increasingly rotten, we have to be willing to do what is right in the eyes of God. As we each go through our trials, we should not be judging each other; but rather, praying for each other. Look at what Paul warns Timothy about in 2 Timothy 3:1-5: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

We CANNOT allow any of these attitudes to permeate our lives. In fact, the warning is so strong that it says to remove ourselves from people with these character traits. If we search ourselves and find any of these attitudes present in our lives, it is important to pray and fast about them and remove them immediately.

One of the most interesting things that Paul states here is that people will be “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” When we seek only after pleasure,  money,  and other things that don’t really matter,  we will lose our way! This has been proven time and again by people who have left God’s Church. But when our ways please the Lord, He will bless us in so many ways. God WANTS to bless us. He wants us to become God beings. This truth is so powerful. It is what we must keep in mind every day and in everything that we do.

Are we willing to guard our hearts against the many things that can ensnare us? Proverbs 5:21-23 states that because of a lack of instruction (including a lack of Bible study), a person will fail. Our ways are constantly before God, but this is not a negative thing. Yes, we ALL fail at times. We all fall down and make wrong choices, but this must not stop us from repenting and moving forward. I personally know how hard it is to not to become discouraged; but rather, I choose to fight on!

In Philippians 4:6-7 we are given great instruction as to how we should conduct ourselves: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

If we allow God’s Holy Spirit to work through us, we will be guarded by God. As we move closer to the return of Christ and the coming of God’s Kingdom, we will encounter trials that will be a lot harder than anything we have seen so far. Now is our time to be drawing close to God; asking Him for understanding; for peace of heart and mind; and for the LOVE of His truth and Way of Life. Matthew 24:12 states that because sin abounds in people’s lives, the love of many will grow colder and colder. This is talking about God’s love in us and the obedience to His Way of Life. We must guard our hearts and not fail, since we are now so close to receiving our just reward.

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We begin with events pertaining to Israel and the preparation for the building of a third temple; and we continue with developments regarding the US primary election campaigns, with special emphasis on Mr. Trump’s proposals on immigration and NATO, as well as Mrs. Clinton’s health issues.

We continue with America’s abrogation of power regarding the Internet; the left-liberal Washington Post’s strong condemnation of President Obama’s “politics” in Syria; vocal opposition to a “hypocritical” and “mad” Drug Enforcement Administration’s determination on medical marijuana and a ruling of the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals disagreeing with the Justice Department on the matter; and further devastating consequences of President Obama’s ill-advised health care adventure (“Obamacare”), which was destined to failure from the outset.

Turning to Europe, we speak on ISIS sleeper cells in Germany and the government’s attempt to combat terrorism with restrictive and controversial measures; while demands for European military collaboration are getting louder. (Please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “The Storm in Europe Has Just Begun!”). We also speak on the concept that free movement of EU workers to Britain might end soon.

We focus on the tragic murder of heroic Swedish diplomate Raoul Wallenberg by the Russians; speak on concerns that war may break out between Russia and Ukraine; explain why Jordan is different; point out the alarming spread of the Zika virus in Puerto Rico; report on Louisiana’s historic and unprecedented floods and California’s State of emergency due to wildfires; and conclude with mysterious UFO “sightings” in Europe.

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Israel Ordered to Pay $1.1 Billion to Iran

Forbes wrote on August 15:

“The Swiss Federal Tribunal, Switzerland’s highest court, ordered Israel to pay $1.1 billion plus interest to Iran in a decades old dispute over a secretive oil pipeline  predating Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution. The verdict was dated June 27, while media broke the story late last week. Until the Islamic revolution and the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979, Israel and Iran maintained close ties. In fact, after the Six-Day War (1967 Arab-Israeli War), Iran supplied a large part of Israel’s oil demand while Israel returned the favor…

“After the fall of the Shah of Iran, however, Israel and Iran became the region’s most stringent antagonists and bitter enemies…

“Israeli media said that Iran had tried for years to recoup its disputed assets from EAPC, despite decades of refusing to recognize Israel. Israel Haymon News said that it remains unclear whether Israel will pay up, given its laws restricting ‘trading with the enemy.’ Lawyers from both countries have failed to comment on the verdict.”

Unlike America’s pitiful payout (a/k/a ransom money) to Iran (which was evidenced in a detailed analysis by the Wall Street Journal), it is highly doubtful that Israel will pay this amount to Iran. Newsmax wrote on August 17 that “President Barack Obama has maintained the $400 million paid to Iran was not a ransom for American prisoners, but a report Wednesday [by the Wall Street Journal] detailed a ‘tightly scripted exchange specifically timed’ with the plane carrying the cash and one carrying three freed Americans.”

The Third Jewish Temple Is Coming

JTA wrote on August 12:

“‘It’s time to build,’ reads the tagline of the Temple Institute’s latest YouTube video. The phrase encapsulates the group’s controversial mission to rally Jews to reconstruct the Temple that was the heart of their religion until its destruction 2,000 years ago. Over much of those two millennia, mourning the loss of the Temple and longing for its restoration has been central to Jewish thought and practice…

“‘Our goal is to raise the consciousness of the Jewish people and all humanity toward the central role that the Holy Temple plays in the life of mankind,’ Rabbi Chaim Richman, the Massachusetts-born co-founder and the international director of the Temple Institute, told JTA…

“Established in 1987, 20 years after Israel conquered the Temple Mount and the Palestinian territories in the Six-Day War, the Temple Institute was one of the first groups to openly advocate the rebuilding of the two temples that once stood on the plaza. Another co-founder is Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, who was among the paratroopers who took the Temple Mount from Jordanian forces in 1967.

“The problem for supporters is that the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem is sacred not only to Jews but to Muslims and Christians, too. The site includes the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque, two of the most significant shrines in Islam. Israel chose to leave it under Muslim control in 1967, and Jewish prayer is prohibited there. Ever since, even rumors of changes to the ‘status quo’ — let alone provocative calls to build a third Temple in their place — have drawn international Muslim ire and Palestinian violence. Tensions surrounding the Temple Mount played a major role in the first and second Palestinian intifadas, or uprisings, and helped trigger the most recent wave of attacks that started in October.

“Some Israelis have always opposed the government’s decision not to reclaim the mount. In the 1980s, the Jewish Underground, a Jewish settler terrorist group, plotted to bomb the Dome of the Rock, in part to catalyze the construction of the third Temple in its place. The Shin Bet security agency thwarted the plot…

“The Temple Institute focuses on preparing the objects and skills needed for the sacrifice of animals and the esoteric rituals that were carried out by kohanim, or priests, in front of crowds of Jewish pilgrims before the last temple’s destruction. All of its work is led by a rabbinical council and based on meticulous analysis of Jewish scripture and academic research…

“These days,… weekly TV and radio shows are among the 914 videos that appear on the Temple Institute’s YouTube channel… Most content is in English to maximize reach, including to the many evangelical Christians who support the group, many through tax-exempt charities in the United States. For many evangelicals, the construction of a third Temple fulfills a prophecy about the second coming of Jesus…

“This year’s campaign is for a school to train the priests to staff the third Temple… The Israeli government provides some funding to the Temple Institute…”

“Israel Heute” added on August 12 that the Temple Institute opened a school to teach descendants of Levi as to how to carry out services in the third Temple.

Trump’s Ultra-Progressive Pro-Gay Policy

The Telegraph wrote on August 15:

“Donald Trump said he would introduce a new ideological test for admission to the United States called ‘extreme vetting’ in which would-be immigrants would be asked what they believe on issues like religious freedom, gender equality and gay rights… The government would use questionnaires, social media, and interviews with friends and relatives to determine if people seeking to immigrate or get visas supported American values like tolerance and pluralism.

“Those excluded would be people who did not believe in the US Constitution, support bigotry and hatred, believe Shariah law is more important than US law, or would not ‘flourish in our country.’… The Trump’s campaign has yet to say whether additional screenings would apply to the millions of tourists who visit the US each year…”

Times of Israel wrote on August 16:

“Donald Trump said he would test would-be immigrants for anti-Semitic beliefs and that Israel would be a key ally in defeating radical Islam…

“The Anti-Defamation League immediately took to Twitter to express concerns about Trump’s reiterated call to ban Muslim entry and entry from countries subject to violence… Also speaking out was HIAS, the lead Jewish group advocating for immigrants and refugees. ‘For the American Jewish community, the thought of barring a refugee family because of their religion or home country is simply unpalatable,’ Melanie Nezer, the group’s vice president, said in a statement…”

Breitbart wrote on August 15:

“Donald J Trump… has just outflanked Hillary Clinton on the Left and announced what can only be described as an ultra-progressive immigration policy… Trump’s plan is to introduce a screening process for prospective immigrants to the U.S., testing their ideological commitment to western values like women’s rights, gay rights, and religious pluralism… Actually, it’s about the most pro-gay policy I’ve ever heard from a presidential hopeful…”

In his speech, Trump also said that Hillary Clinton wanted to become America’s Angela Merkel. The German press (Die Welt, August 16) responded that with this statement, Trump “continued his defamation against Angela Merkel.” Note the next article.

“Donald Trump Has No Clue About Germany”

The Local wrote on August 16:

“US presidential candidate Donald Trump has been on the attack against Chancellor Angela Merkel once again. The lies he told about Germany show how dangerous he is. Discussing his Democrat rival’s health care, education and plans, which he claimed would create a ‘lifetime cost of $400 billion’, Trump concluded that ‘in short Hillary Clinton wants to be America’s Angela Merkel.’

“After lapping up the mixture of jeers and claps he continued on the completely unrelated topic of crime. ‘You know what a disaster this massive immigration has been to Germany and the people of Germany. Crime has risen to levels that no one thought they would ever, ever see. It is a catastrophe.’

“To listen to Trump you would think that Merkel spends most of her free time handing out 100 euro bills to refugees on the street while all around her foreigners are robbing banks and plundering the homes of honest, hard-working Germans. It was interesting to see how the tycoon seamlessly jumped from social spending to immigration and crime – as if these things were one and the same. It told us a lot about how angry conservatives in the USA see Germany, but absolutely nothing about reality in the Federal Republic.

“On closer analysis Trump’s statements turn out… to be complete fantasy. If Trump had even the slightest idea about German politics he would know that Merkel has presided over a government that has an obsession with financial tight-fistedness. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble fastidiously sticks to the concept of schwarze Null, whereby the tax man takes in more than the government spends in a year.

“Critics point to decaying road and rail infrastructure, and to increased levels of child poverty, in appealing to the government to loosen the purse strings and start investing in the country’s future. World Bank figures on government debt as a percentage of GDP shows that Germany is one of the class swots in the developed world, with public debt coming to 52.3 percent of GDP. As a comparison the USA’s public debt is 96.8 percent of GDP and the OECD average is 68.3 percent. And, to Merkel’s credit, Germany manages this while providing free higher education, a national minimum wage and a health care system that ensures no one is left behind.

“Trump’s claim about unimaginable crime levels since the refugee influx of 2015 is even more risible. Crime has been falling in Germany for decades. Since a high point in 1993 of just under 8,500 registered crimes for every 100,000 residents, crime rates have declined and plateaued between 2010 and 2012 at roughly 7,400 registered crimes per 100,000 people. German police figures for 2015 show that the crime rate rose during the year by 4.1 percent to slightly over 6.3 million registered crimes. This came out to just under 7,800 crimes per 100,000 residents.

“But this increase was completely distorted by one statistic: that the huge numbers of refugee arrivals had created an explosion in the number of people illegally entering the country. Take this statistic out and overall crime fell in Germany in 2015 in comparison with 2014 from 7,337 crimes per 100,000 resident to 7,301 per 100,000 residents.

“Crimes committed by migrants, such as sexual assaults in Cologne over New Year (around half of the suspects for which had arrived in Germany in the previous 12 months) and an axe attack on a train in Würzburg in July, have made international headlines. But these only represent a vanishing proportion of overall crime. The fact is in 2015 Germans were safer than they have ever been since the reunification of the country…”

In all fairness, Trump’s comments about Clinton and Merkel were clearly made in the context of immigration and refugees, and NOT in the context of the financial situation in Germany. It is true, however, that the crime rate did not significantly rise because of refugees entering the country. And so, the German anti-Trump reporting continues. Der Spiegel wrote on August 16 that “there can no longer be any doubt that Donald Trump is a liar, narcissist and agitator. As president, he would be a danger for the entire world,” concluding that “Donald Trump represents one of the gravest threats of our time.” It is a fact of life that domestic popularity rises in light of international attacks.

NATO and the USA

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 15:

“The US has long warned its European partners it was losing patience with paying the majority of NATO’s bills. The nomination of Donald Trump has made the threats of a US withdrawal from NATO seem real and present… He pledges if he becomes president, US participation in an Article V operation would depend on whether the ally under attack had ‘fulfilled their obligations’ to the US. It’s unclear whether Trump believes other NATO countries owe money directly to the US for military reassurance, as he also said recently that European allies ‘don’t pay us what they should be paying’ and that he ‘want[s] them to pay.’

“As for whether Trump really would or could pull the US out of NATO, [Reuel Marc Gerecht, a prominent neo-conservative commentator and former CIA officer] speculates a Trump presidency might mean there won’t even be a NATO to quit. ‘Any president has within his powers as commander-in-chief to effectively gut NATO,’ he says. ‘And certainly by simple statements that he’s already made, if he were to make them again after becoming president, that he would not honor Article V, then NATO is de facto defunct.’”

Lying About Having Lied About Lying…

Newsmax wrote on August 15:

“Newt Gingrich on Monday said he was puzzled by the FBI’s decision not to interview Hillary Clinton under oath, but said he’s looking forward to the agency’s notes, which will reportedly be released to Congress.

“As for Clinton’s part in the interview, Gingrich said… ‘This is a person who has lied repeatedly. She lies about lying and now she lies about having lied about lying’…”

How Sick Is Hillary Clinton?

Heat Street wrote on August 15:

“Heat Street has compiled evidence of the media’s growing willingness to touch the forbidden question of the Democratic nominee’s health. Does she need to release those medical records to be straight with the public? What’s going on with Hillary Clinton’s health? That’s a question many people are asking these days. There’s a lot we still don’t know about the mysterious health scare Clinton suffered in December 2012, when she was hospitalized for what was later described as a blood clot on her brain.

“The event was shrugged off as a minor scare, and Hillary eventually returned to work as secretary of state, sporting a pair of very thick spectacles. However, in 2014, Bill Clinton revealed that his wife’s ‘terrible’ health episode ‘required six months of very serious work to get over.’

“Some of Hillary’s behavior over the course of the campaign has been described by observers as ‘erratic’ … leading some critics to raise questions about her current health. Hillary Clinton will turn 69 in October.”

US News added on August 15:

“Fox News, the Drudge Report, and a slew of conservative or conspiracy-theory themed sites on the internet are raising questions about Clinton’s medical fitness to be president… Fox’s Sean Hannity dedicated an entire week to the matter, pointing to an exchange with reporters in which Clinton, Hannity said, did a ‘twitching thing,’ followed by a ‘violent, violent, repetitive jerking of the head.’…

“Dr. Ben Carson, a former GOP presidential candidate himself, wouldn’t declare Clinton’s behavior proof of any specific ailment but did note that ‘as a person gets older, the number of medical conditions that we have to watch for increases,’ and that Clinton should reveal her full medical records. Jane M. Orient, a medical doctor and executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons… is convinced Clinton has something wrong with her… During Clinton’s 11 hours of testimony before Congress on the Benghazi matter – an episode Clinton’s backers point to as an example of her physical endurance – Clinton laughed at length and inappropriately, Orient says, suggesting she was not quite right…”

Even though Trump’s poll numbers are currently dropping, Clinton’s health and her unresolved and still lingering Email scandal (now also involving an investigation of the Clinton Foundation) could change all of this—let alone further terrible events related to terrorism and migration.

Both Flawed… Neither Better Than the Other

Newsmax wrote on August 15:

“Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are flawed and ‘neither is clearly better than the other,’ the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Philadelphia says… ‘This is depressing and liberating at the same time… Depressing, because it’s proof of how polarized the nation has become. Liberating, because for the honest voter, it’s much easier this year to ignore the routine tribal loyalty chants of both the Democratic and Republican camps …

“‘Neither major candidate lives anywhere near the solar system where most Americans live, work and raise families. Nonetheless, we’re asked to trust them,’ he writes. ‘The next few months will determine the next decade and more of our nation’s life..’”

USA Abrogates Control Over the Internet

The Washington Examiner wrote on August 16:

“The Department of Commerce is set to hand off the final vestiges of American control over the Internet to international authorities in less than two months, officials have confirmed…

“The move means the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, which is responsible for interpreting numerical addresses on the Web to a readable language, will move from U.S. control to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a multistakeholder body based in Los Angeles that includes countries such as China and Russia. Critics of the move, most prominently Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, have pointed out the agency could be used by totalitarian governments to shut down the Web around the globe, either in whole or in part.”

The Washington Post’s Strong Condemnation of President Obama’s Failure to Help Syrians  

The Editorial Board of the Washington Post wrote the following  on August 16:

“‘DEVASTATING AND overwhelming.’ Those are the conditions in the ancient and once-great metropolis of Aleppo, according to the head of delegation for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Marianne Gasser, who was in the Syrian city recently. ‘We hear that dozens of civilians are being killed every day and scores more injured from shells, mortars and rockets,’ Ms. Gasser said. ‘The bombing is constant. The violence is threatening hundreds of thousands of people’s lives, homes and livelihoods.’

“War crimes appear to be near-constant also. The air forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his chief backer, Russian President Vladimir Putin, target apartment buildings, bakeries and – this is their specialty – hospitals and clinics. The United Nations is investigating credible reports that Mr. Assad again has used chemical weapons, in this case chlorine gas. Water has been cut off from hundreds of thousands of people.

“The last surviving physicians in the rebel-held half of Aleppo a few days ago begged President Obama to help. ‘The world has stood by and remarked how “complicated” Syria is, while doing little to protect us,’ they wrote. ‘The burden of responsibility for the crimes of the Syrian government and its Russian ally must therefore be shared by those, including the United States, who allow them to continue.’

“Why would these brave, forlorn doctors look to Mr. Obama for rescue? Perhaps one of them, through the terrible din of war, remembers hearing the president promise to stand by the Syrian people as they were being ‘subjected to unspeakable violence, simply for demanding their universal rights.’ Mr. Obama made his pledge during an address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in April 2012. He boasted that he had decreed, in a first for any U.S. president, that preventing mass atrocities ‘is a core national security interest and a core moral responsibility of the United States of America.’ That did not mean that the United States would ‘intervene militarily every time there’s an injustice in the world,’ he cautioned. But when it came to Syria, Mr. Obama was clear.

“‘The Syrian people have not given up, which is why we cannot give up,’ Mr. Obama said. ‘And so with allies and partners, we will keep increasing the pressure, with a diplomatic effort to further isolate Assad and his regime, so that those who stick with Assad know that they are making a losing bet.’ Alas, that was many atrocities ago. According to the Red Cross, more than 12 million Syrians – half the prewar population – have been forced from their homes, with millions more under siege. Hundreds of thousands have been killed. Well over 1 million have been wounded. Iran and Russia continue to place their bets on the Assad regime.

“And Mr. Obama no longer pledges to stand with the Syrian people, though he remains clear-eyed about what they are facing. ‘The regime and its allies,’ Mr. Obama observed at a Pentagon news conference this month, are engaged in ‘vicious attacks on defenseless civilians, medieval sieges against cities like Aleppo, and blocking food from reaching families that are starving.’

“But the administration’s response has not changed: a combination of halfhearted support for the rebels, who increasingly gravitate by necessity to more extremist groups; requests to the Russians to behave better; and finger wagging. ‘It is deplorable,’ the president said during his visit to the Pentagon. Small comfort to the people of Aleppo.”

The German mass tabloid, Bild Online, cited and linked the above-stated article, stating that “Obama has failed in Aleppo,” having given “nothing but empty promises.” Quite an assessment of the world’s “most powerful leader.”

Obama’s Drug Enforcement Administration Accused of Heartless and Mad Hypocrisy

SFGate.com wrote on August 15:

“The Drug Enforcement Administration is enduring perhaps the most pronounced round of criticism in its 43 year-history, after a widely discredited decision last week to keep treating marijuana as the most dangerous drug on the planet. Last week, the DEA denied two petitions seeking to change cannabis’ official federal designation as a schedule 1 drug — a label reserved for drugs with ‘no medical use and a high potential for abuse’.

“Pot is considered by the federal government to be as dangerous as heroin or LSD, and more dangerous than prescription painkillers, which cause dozens of fatal overdoses a day. Cannabis has no lethal overdose…

“DEA critics from Washington DC to the heartland are now blasting the DEA, calling the ruling ‘hypocrisy’, ‘absurd’, ‘heartless’ and 2016’s version of the ‘flat Earth’ theory. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s camp immediately stated Clinton would, as president, downgrade cannabis’ status to schedule 2. ‘Marijuana is already being used for medical purposes in states across the country, and it has the potential for even further medical use,’ Maya Harris, a senior policy advisor to Clinton’s campaign, said in a statement, reported by The Denver Post…

“More than half of polled physicians say cannabis should be legal. Bay Area Congresswoman Barbara Lee tweeted: ‘Politicians aren’t doctors or scientists. Marijuana research prohibitions are outdated, unscientific [and] dangerous…’ Trauma neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta, writing for CNN, called the DEA ruling a danger to countless people who will be denied potential therapies from cannabis research.

“Dr. Gupta called the decision hypocrisy, and cited the DEA’s own judge, who almost 30 years ago ruled, ‘In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. For example, eating 10 raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By comparison, it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death. Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within the supervised routine of medical care.’

“The Los Angeles Times editorial board — usually reticent to support pot-related reforms — put the DEA on blast, saying the decision was based on ‘a bizarre circular logic’ that amounts to ‘a different kind of reefer madness. … The DEA opted to keep its policies mired in the 1970s, which will only exacerbate the growing divide between the states and feds.’

“The San Francisco Chronicle’s relatively conservative columnist Debra Saunders opined that ‘really, how can drug warriors who want to make it harder to prescribe opioids also want to make pain-alleviating medical marijuana off-limits? There is only one reason to cling to the status quo — willful institutional blindness.’ Saunders blames President Obama, and said she will vote for California legalization Proposition 64 this Fall. Prop 64 would direct $2 million per year to study medical cannabis in California, beyond the reach of federal prohibition…

“And the Cannabis Business Alliance noted that the DEA profits from federal drug war funding and asset forfeitures related to cannabis prohibition, and so cannot make an unbiased decision about the plant…

“About 700,000 Americans will be arrested for marijuana this year. Pot arrests are the leading type of drug arrest in the nation, and drug arrests are the most frequent arrests police make in America. Blacks in the U.S. are arrested at almost four times the rates of white for pot, despite similar levels of use, the ACLU reports.”

All of this seems to prove willful political money-driven maneuverings of the Obama Administration. However, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals thwarted the Administration’s unrelenting plans to an extent. Note the next article.

“Ruling: DOJ Can’t Prosecute Medical Marijuana Cases”

Newsmax wrote on August 17:

“The Ninth Circuit’s U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court that the Department of Justice could not prosecute medical marijuana suppliers in states where it’s legal, as long as no laws were otherwise broken. ABC News reported that the department has been ordered to show that 10 pending cases in California and Washington state broke laws in those states.

“Marijuana is illegal under federal law — the court of appeals rejected the Justice Department’s idea applied only to states, not individuals who provide medical marijuana to patients. The appeals court disagreed, saying that all federal marijuana defendants can have hearings where they can try to prove that their actions were legal according to state law…

“Marijuana activists and lawyers that represent medical marijuana suppliers said the ruling adds to what they say is a growing call to legalize the drug. Marijuana is legal for medicinal purposes in 25 states and the District of Columbia, and is on the ballot in ten states for the November election…

“Oregon Democrat Rep. Earl Blumenauer said that the Justice Department has not been quick to notice that lawmakers want prosecutors to pursue organized drug rings, not medicinal marijuana… In July, Republican delegates chose not to support medical marijuana in the party’s official platform… Earlier, the Democratic Party endorsed a ‘pathway’ that would eventually lead to legalization for the drug.”

Disastrous Obamacare

NBC News wrote on August 16:

“Aetna, the No. 3 U.S. health insurer, on Monday said that due to persistent financial losses on Obamacare plans, it will sell individual insurance on the government-run online marketplaces in only four states next year [Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska and Virginia], down from the current 15 states. Aetna’s decision follows similar moves from UnitedHealth and Humana, which have cited similar concerns about financial losses on these exchanges created under President Barack Obama’s national healthcare reform law… Only about 11 million people have signed up through the exchanges, about half as many as expected…

“Aetna said that the current risk adjustment system, in which the government balances out the costs of sicker than typical populations through payments to insurers, is not adequate. Aetna said that it had a second-quarter pretax loss of $200 million on the individual business and has lost $430 million since the plans first went on sale in 2014.”

Even though Aetna’s position and figures may be questioned, the truth of the matter remains that Obamacare has been a complete disaster from the outset.

ISIS Sleeper Cells in Germany

The Sun wrote on August 12:

“ISIS hit squads and ‘sleeper cells’ intent on waging war on Europe have entered Germany disguised as refugees, a leading spy chief has confirmed. Intelligence agencies also have ‘irrefutable’ evidence they are following a command structure, meaning a coordinated attack like those seen in Paris and Brussels is ‘likely’. This was the chilling warning issued by the deputy head of Bavaria’s spy agency, Manfred Hauser, on the BBC’s Today programme this week.”

IBD Under Surveillance

Deutsche Welle reported on August 12:

“Germany’s Federal intelligence services confirmed on Friday that the right-wing group IBD [“Identity Movement for Germany”] is being monitored in nine of Germany’s 16 states, including Bavaria, Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony. ‘We see evidence in the “Identity Movement” of unconstitutional efforts,’ German Intelligence Services Chief Hans-Georg Maassen said.

“The group, which has its roots in France, first arrived in Germany in 2012 and has developed offshoots across Europe. Known for its anti-immigration stance – particularly against Muslims – the German offshoot of the movement first made its presence known online via Facebook and YouTube… In recent months, however, demonstrations and leafleting have also become more common.

“According to German authorities, the IBD believes the current increase in immigration is a conspiracy of the global economy, politics and the media – the objective of which is allegedly to replace ‘Europeans’ with ‘non-European immigrants’ and thus destroy traditional culture.

“The IBD isn’t the first right-wing movement to garner support in Germany in recent months. Anti-Islamization group PEGIDA has been holding almost weekly demonstrations against Islam, refugees and politicians in various German cities since October 2014… Links between the IBD and PEGIDA have already been reported in Germany… Several German states have also reported contact between the IBD and politicians belonging to the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party…”

Military EU Collaboration

Deutsche Welle reported on August 12:

“There is mounting pressure on the Bundeswehr to engage in military action abroad. Operations on home soil are also discussed. To be able to carry out those tasks, the Bundeswehr considers recruitment of EU citizens…

“Since the Bundeswehr was established 61 years ago, only German citizens have been allowed to become soldiers. That’s what Germany’s Military Act provides, and it would have to be changed for the proposed opening to materialize. Until now, the Bundeswehr can incorporate citizens from other nations only on a case-by-case basis…

“By opening up to EU citizens, the Bundeswehr would enter unchartered territory. It has, however, much more experience when it comes to collaborating with soldiers of other EU countries. The German-French Brigade was established in October 1989. August 1995 saw the launch of the German-Dutch Corps. German, French, and Belgian soldiers, among others, collaborate in the Eurocorps. And in 2014, some 2,300 Dutch paratroopers were integrated into the German Division Schnelle Kräfte (Rapid Forces Division).

“This kind of close collaboration is in line with the proposals for a new European foreign policy and security strategy recently submitted by EU chief diplomat Federica Mogherini. While it does not advocate an EU army, it does call for closer collaboration and capacity to act when it comes to collective defense, in order to improve the EU’s ability to respond to crises.”

Restrictions of Freedom of Movement in the UK

The EUObserver wrote on July 29:

“British leader Theresa May has said free movement of EU workers to Britain cannot continue as in the past, while visiting Slovakia and Poland on Thursday (28 July). ‘It’s a very clear message that has come from the vote of the British people – they don’t want freedom of movement to be continued in the same way as in the past, they want some level of control’, she told press in Warsaw, referring to the British referendum, in June, on leaving the EU.”

The Death of a True Hero–Wallenberg Was Killed by Russia

JTA wrote on August 16, 2016:

“Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazi gas chambers, was executed in a Soviet prison, according to a KGB head’s diaries. The diaries of Ivan A. Serov, who ran the former Russian secret police and intelligence agency from 1954 to 1958, were discovered inside the walls of his second home in northwestern Moscow, which his granddaughter is now renovating. Discovered four years ago, the diaries were published this summer, The New York Times reported Sunday…

“A 1991 joint Russian-Swedish effort to discover what happened to Wallenberg… found that documents had been destroyed or altered to eliminate all traces of him.

“Wallenberg was posted to Nazi-occupied Hungary during World War II, where he issued protective passports to Jews in the final months of the Holocaust. He disappeared in 1945 after being seen surrounded by Soviet officers in Budapest. The Soviets later claimed Wallenberg had died of heart failure in prison…”

On February 14, 1957, JTA had published a report revealing that an “affidavit of a German businessman incarcerated in the same Moscow prison where Raoul Wallenberg was held apparently was a key factor in inducing the Soviet Government to admit its arrest of the Swedish diplomat… abandon[ing] their previous insistence that Wallenberg was unknown to them and had never been in the Soviet Union.”

Is Russia Preparing for War with Ukraine?

Business Insider wrote on August 17:

“The Pentagon has identified eight staging areas in Russia where large numbers of military forces appear to be preparing for incursions into Ukraine, according to US defense officials. As many as 40,000 Russian troops, including tanks, armored vehicles, and air force units, are now arrayed along Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia. Additionally, large numbers of Russian military forces will conduct exercises in the coming days that Pentagon officials say could be used as cover for an attack on Ukraine.

“… over the past several months large numbers of Russian troops and tanks have been moving into eight bases stretching from Yelnya, near Smolensk and northeast of Ukraine, southward through Rostov—a city located very close to eastern Ukraine. Defense officials said it is not clear whether the massing of forces is saber rattling by Moscow designed to coerce Ukraine into accepting the takeover of Crimea or preparations for further conflict….”

“Why Jordan Is the ‘Different’ East”

The Local wrote on August 1:

“Geography may appear to be Jordan’s curse… to the north, civil war in Syria; to the west, unrest and violence between Israel and the Palestinian Territories. To the east and south, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. At first glance, not exactly a peaceful neighbourhood, to put it mildly.

“Geography, though, is in fact Jordan’s blessing… its location – nestled on the edge of the Arabian Peninsula and not far from the Mediterranean – has blessed it with an enviable collection of wonders – natural and manmade – that put the country in a class by itself. If it weren’t for Jordan’s geography, it wouldn’t boast the awe-inspiring rock city of Petra; the spectacular canyons of Wadi Rum and Mujib; the ancient city of Jerash; or Mount Nebo, from where Moses saw The Promised Land; or the site of Jesus’ baptism at Bethany Beyond the Jordan.

“In some ways, Jordan’s distinctiveness comes from simply having been around for a long, long time. But more than that, it’s also how the country has preserved the legacy while at the same time embracing what lies ahead… The sentiment was perhaps best expressed by the late King Hussein, who ruled Jordan for more than four decades until his death in 1999: ‘Jordan has a strange, haunting beauty and a sense of timelessness. Dotted with the ruins of empires once great, it is the last resort of yesterday in the world of tomorrow.’”

Zika Virus on the Rise in Puerto Rico

CBS News reported on August 12:

“The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico has reported 1,914 new Zika cases over the past week. Health Secretary Ana Rius said Friday there are 10,690 cases altogether, including 1,035 involving pregnant women. Zika has been tied to severe birth defects.

“The newest statistics were released a day after the U.S. surgeon general visited Puerto Rico and said he expected 25 percent of people on the island will be infected by Zika by year’s end.”

Historic Floods in Louisiana

ABC News reported on August 15:

“President Obama has approved a request from the governor of Louisiana for federal emergency funds to help the state recover from the historic floods that have… submerged thousands of homes and vehicles.”

Reuters used the term, “unprecedented flooding.”

Deutsche Welle added on August 17:

“… a huge clean-up operation got underway in the southern US state of Louisiana on Wednesday, as severe floods receded after a deluge that lasted several days… The American Red Cross described the flooding, which claimed [at least 13] lives and damaged some 40,000 homes, as the worst natural disaster since Hurricane Sandy in 2012.”

State of Emergency in California Due to Wildfires

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 17:

“California’s latest wildfire mushroomed into an inferno covering more than 120 square kilometers (46 square miles) in just a day, the National Wildfire Coordinating Group said on Wednesday.

“The fast spread of the so-called ‘Blue Cut’ fire led to a mandatory evacuation order for at least 82,000 people due to what authorities described as an ‘imminent threat to public safety, rail traffic and structures.’… More than 1,300 firefighters were battling the fire, utilizing air tankers and helicopters to sweep over the flames from the sky. Local media showed footage of ‘firenadoes’ – tornado-like flaming vortices – that were sent spinning into the air by the sheer strength of the blaze. The newest fire also closed several roads including a major interstate highway linking Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

“California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for San Bernardino County, just 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Los Angeles, saying the blaze was too big for the region to fight alone. Emergency teams have been battling wildfires throughout California over the past three months, amid a historic drought, and as NASA revealed that July was the 10th month in a row to break the monthly temperature record, becoming the hottest month since records began in 1880.”

UFO Sightings on the Rise

Oigel.com wrote on August 10:

“Europe is under attack after more than 6 UFO sightings in the area… the continent is no stranger to alien sightings in the past. In fact, Winston Churchill had X-Files of his own that are now public.

“UFO sightings are increasing all over the world but in Europe specifically, there is a concentrated occurrence. In the past, alien researchers suggested that aliens are interested in Earth. Hollywood likes to use [them] to their advantage, implying they have violent intentions. However, many believe these aliens to be peaceful observers. It’s not a coincidence that alien sightings occur around natural disasters or global warfare.

“The European nations are going through intense conflict right now which is likely to attract the attention of intelligent life. They find our meaningless violence fascinating, hence the sudden increase in sightings during the violent year of 2016.”

Many times, UFO sightings are natural phenomena, the result of hallucinations and wishful thinking, or merely made-up faked stories. At other times, something “unexplainable” might be observed or even photographed, but we can be sure that these would not be aliens from other planets. Rather, they would be based on demonic activities. That increased sightings are reported in Europe may be significant, as it has been reported that just prior to World War II, Indian gurus claimed that all their powers had gone to Europe.

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Why Doesn’t God Answer All Of My Prayers?

One of the foundational practices of every Christian is prayer. It is a tool that we rely on to communicate with God, through Jesus Christ as our Mediator, to share our innermost thoughts. When prayers that we present to God, especially those which include a request, seem to go unanswered, it can be a frustrating experience. Why would God, who promises never to forsake His children, decline to answer their prayers according to their expectations? When this inevitably happens to a Christian, it is helpful to understand exactly why prayers might not be heard and otherwise seem to fail.

To begin with, God clearly instructs that prayer is one of the primary tools that should be used to communicate with Him. Jesus Christ provides some excellent instructions to follow that describe how to pray to God, resulting in being openly rewarded when performed properly (compare Matthew 6:5-13). We have also produced a free booklet, Teach Us to Pray, which describes in great detail how to succeed in our prayers. With such a great promise of being heard by God by following such a simple model, what are the reasons that prayers might seemingly not be answered? Several examples follow which describe different types of situations that can cause God not to answer our prayers according to our expectations.

While it is not the most pleasant answer, the most common cause for a failed prayer involves disobedience. When an individual refuses to listen to God and chooses to sin instead, God in turn may refuse to hear and approve of his or her prayers.

It is quite simple. When Azariah addressed Asa, he summarized the nature of our relationship with God succinctly: “…The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you” (2 Chronicles 15:2). It should be no surprise, then, that if we have sin in our lives for which we are not actively seeking repentance, God may not be willing to hear and listen to us (compare John 9:31; Zechariah 7:13).

The Bible abounds with statements that make it very clear that sin – defined as transgression of the law (1 John 3:4) – may stand in our way of being heard by God. For example: “One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination” (Proverbs 28:9). We can see from this statement that the prayers of those who refuse to listen to God are insulting to Him. This makes sense when we think about it. Why would a request be respected by God if His laws are not respected by the one making the prayer? If we want our prayers to be answered by God, we must begin by committing our lives to obeying Him.

One example that demonstrates a situation of sin causing prayers not to be responded to occurred in Saul’s life. While he began his reign as king in an attitude of humility (compare 1 Samuel 15:17), he later began to take it upon himself to determine what was right, disregarding God’s instructions. This pride led to rebellious disobedience against God’s commandments (compare 1 Samuel 13:13-14). As a result, later in his life when he sought God’s help he could not find it: “When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets” (1 Samuel 28:5-6). Because Saul consciously and consistently refused to listen to God, God in turn refused to answer Saul’s prayers.

It is important to remember that our relationship with God requires that we begin by committing to obeying His commandments. When we demonstrate our willingness to follow God’s commandments in all that we do, God listens attentively to our prayers.

We must also understand that there is a difference between a prayer that is heard, and a prayer that is answered according to our expectations. Even in situations when an earnest effort is made to live a life committed to righteousness, in repentance of sin, prayers may not be answered by God according to our wishes. There are reasons for this—some of which are under our direct control, and some which are not.

One of the reasons our prayers may not be answered involves asking for the wrong thing. When prayers are made that have worldly gain as their object, it shows that our hearts are not in the right place. In all things we do, we should be motivated primarily to grow in spiritual strength and knowledge. As written in James 4:3: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” Prayers that make a request for the passing pleasures of the world are not motivated by spiritual growth. If we know that purely worldly pleasures are enmity with God (compare James 4:4), then why would He answer a prayer that involves such a request? He will not answer these kinds of prayers. Ensuring that the intentions of our prayers are properly motivated is something we can control, which has a direct impact on our chances of having our prayers answered.

When we prepare our thoughts and analyze the intents behind our prayers, we need to make sure we are making requests that are consistent with our spiritual godly goals. When prayers asking for an outcome that brings worldly gain are offered to God, we shouldn’t expect them to be answered.

Another reason why prayers might not be answered involves the way prayer is offered. This too is under our direct control. We must remember that prayers are offerings made to God (compare Psalm 141:2; Revelation 8:3). Because of this, it is important to make the offering in a way that it pleases Him. Our booklet, Teach Us to Pray, describes this in great detail, and it should be referenced to learn the right way of praying. There are two excerpts from this booklet that help to summarize what is needed to be successful in our prayers.

First, we need to address our prayers to the correct recipient – God the Father – and in the name of Jesus Christ (compare John 14:14):

“Jesus teaches that we should address our prayers to the Father, thus pointing to the ultimate relationship that God is creating with mankind! In the account in Matthew concerning Jesus’ instruction about prayer, we read: ‘And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him’ (Matthew 6:7-8).”

When we address our prayers to anyone other than the true God, we cannot expect that He will answer them.

Also in our booklet, a set of principles is offered that helps to structure our prayers to be successful:

“In order to pray successfully, we need to: 1) ask; 2) with faith; 3) with boldness; while 4) keeping God’s commandments; 5) bearing fruit; 6) praying in Christ’s name; and 7) praying always. If we do this, we will receive from God the Father, in His due time, what we ask of Him.”

When these principles are not followed, our prayers stand a great chance of not being heard nor answered by God. The way in which we pray to God is of critical importance and has tremendous influence on whether our prayers will be answered.

In some cases, we may follow all of these principles, but still find that we do not receive the result in our prayers that we request or expect. When this happens, we can be comforted to know that God has something different in mind for us. When we are called by God, and we respond to that calling by living our life dedicated to godly obedience, we actively submit our will to God’s. When we realize that He knows better than ourselves what we need, a prayer that seems to be unanswered is actually answered in a way that allows us to receive an even better outcome. This is the aspect of prayer that is not under our direct control. Even though it might be difficult or painful to endure, God knows what is best for us. This is why we must always seek the Will of God to be done, rather than our own.

Paul prayed to God three times requesting that a painful thorn in his flesh might be removed, but God refused to do so (compare 2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Rather than getting discouraged about his situation, since God was not answering his prayers according to the outcome that he wanted, Paul realized that God’s answer was the best one. The attitude that Paul had in regard to the response from his prayers was excellent. He became reconciled with the fact that what God wanted for him was better than what he requested for himself. When we pray in obedience, following the principles of the right way to pray, we must make our requests known, but leave the actual outcome in God’s hands.

Jesus Christ offers the premier example of this kind of prayer when He pleaded with God to be spared from the need to be physically sacrificed: “And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done’” (Luke 22:41-42). In this example, Jesus Christ made a request to God, which God refused to fulfill. However, because Jesus sought the Will of God to be done, Jesus’ prayer was successful. It is helpful to be reminded that even when our requests might not receive the outcome we are looking for, God’s Will is done for our greatest possible benefit.

When our prayers seem to go unanswered by God, we have a great deal of control in making changes so that our prayers can be more successful. We must begin by changing our behavior to live in obedience to God’s law. Without taking this first step, there is little chance that our prayers will be heard. We also need to ensure that we pray in the right way, addressing God the Father and praying in the name of Jesus Christ. And finally, if the requests we make to God through prayer seek an outcome according to God’s Will, God will answer in the way which is best for us and others.

Prayer is a powerful tool made available to Christians today. We can be strengthened and encouraged by the words of Jesus Christ in this regard: “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:24).

Lead Writer: Eric Rank

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Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

A monthly Tech Team meeting was conducted on Sunday morning, August 14, 2016—via SKYPE.

The Storm in Europe Has Just Begun!,” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

What does the Bible say about Europe’s future? And how will it affect YOU personally… especially, if you live in the USA and the UK? Current developments in continental Europe show that we are nearing the prophetic crescendo just prior to Christ’s return… but most news articles do not even begin to realize what is happening, and many political speculations will prove to be erroneous.

Unsere Kinder in der Versammlung,” is the title of the German sermon for this coming Sabbath. Title in English: “Our Children in Services.”

“Defense for the Gospel,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Kalon Mitchell, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Do we need to continue in preaching the Gospel? Isn’t it enough just to worry about ourselves? Is there more at stake? Could our eternal lives be in jeopardy if we are not involved in preaching the Gospel to the world? What can we expect when preaching the Gospel?

“The Love of Money,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

How does God look at money? Is He against riches? In this sermon, we will cite Scriptures which speak positively about the right use of money, but we will also address the wrong use… and that especially in the religious context.

“Warum Wird Gott Amerika Bestrafen?,” is the title of the German sermon played last Sabbath. Title in English: “Why Will God Punish America?”

Here are the dates for the 2016 Fall Holy Days:

October 3—Feast of Trumpets
October 12—Day of Atonement
October 17 through October 23—Feast of Tabernacles
October 24—Last Great Day

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How This Work is Financed

This Update is an official publication by the ministry of the Church of the Eternal God in the United States of America; the Church of God, a Christian Fellowship in Canada; and the Global Church of God in the United Kingdom.

Editorial Team: Norbert Link, Dave Harris, Rene Messier, Brian Gale, Johanna Link, Eric Rank, Michael Link, Anna Link, Kalon Mitchell, Manuela Mitchell, Dawn Thompson

Technical Team: Eric Rank, Shana Rank

Our activities and literature, including booklets, weekly updates, sermons on CD are provided free of charge. They are made possible by the tithes, offerings and contributions of Church members and others who have elected to support this Work.

While we do not solicit the general public for funds, contributions are gratefully welcomed and are tax-deductible in the U.S. and Canada.

Donations can be sent to the following addresses:

United States: Church of the Eternal God, P.O. Box 270519, San Diego, CA 92198

Canada: Church of God, ACF, Box 1480, Summerland, B.C. V0H 1Z0

United Kingdom: Global Church of God, PO Box 44, MABLETHORPE, LN12 9AN, United Kingdom

Defense for the Gospel; The Love of Money

On August 13, 2016, Kalon Mitchell will present the sermonette, titled, “Defense for the Gospel,” and Norbert Link will present the sermon, titled, “The Love of Money.”

The live services are available, over video and audio, at http://eternalgod.org/live-services/ (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time; 8:30 pm Greenwich Mean Time; 9:30 pm Central European Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

Current Events

We begin with an array of reports centering on strategic actions on the part of nations in Asia—especially, China, and its concerned neighbors; we bring yet another example of Donald Trump’s unbridled public rhetoric causing even German leadership to voice strong concerns about a possible President Trump.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policies draw condemnation as Turkey positions itself more and more outside the EU and into the arms of Putin’s Russia; and England worries that it doesn’t have enough jails for pedophiles!

This Week in the News

Japan’s Emperor to Retire?

The Daily Beast wrote on August 8:

“When the Emperor speaks, Japan listens and so does the world. Monday at 3:00 p.m. local time a speech by Emperor Akihito was televised on a date that commemorated no anniversary or major tragedy, as most of his addresses do. Instead it pertained to the very Imperial System itself.

“The Emperor, who is 82, discussed his health, his position as a symbol of the state under Japan’s modern constitution, the hardship of his duties, his love for the people of Japan—and made clear his desire to abdicate the throne in his lifetime in a way that would cause the least amount of turmoil…

“Monday’s speech left little doubt his desire and intent is to step down, if such a thing can be arranged, but more importantly it marks the prelude to what may be an epic battle between the emperor’s successor, Crown Prince Naruhito, and the man some critics call the Clown Prince—Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

“Media reports in Japan already are calling the consideration of abdication the current emperor’s final act of resistance against the prime minister, a bid to halt the return to Japan’s aggressive pre-war attitudes and policies…

“Japan’s remilitarization is steadily underway. The weapons industry has been revived; the country is shipping arms.

“The State Security Laws will enable Japan to wage war overseas for the first time since the war ended. And if the ruling coalition somehow fails to alter the pacifist constitution, it will push to pass an emergency powers act, which will give the Prime Minister power to rewrite the laws during a time of crisis—something straight out of the Nazi playbook. (Some members of Abe’s cabinet have a well-known admiration for Hitler’s political stratagems.)…

“Prime Minister Abe and his political allies have long derided Japan’s constitution as a humiliation imposed upon the Japanese people by the United States occupation government, impinging on ‘basic human rights.’”

China Pushes Japan

Reuters wrote on August 9:

“Japan warned China on Tuesday that ties were deteriorating over disputed East China Sea islets, and China’s envoy in Tokyo reiterated Beijing’s stance that the specks of land were its territory and called for talks to resolve the dispute.

“The diplomatic tussle comes amid simmering tension as China builds on outposts in the contested South China Sea, including what appear to be reinforced aircraft hangars, according to new satellite images.

“Ties between Asia’s two largest economies have been strained in recent days since Japan saw a growing number of Chinese coastguard and other government ships sailing near the East China Sea islets, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

“The flurry of Chinese incursions into the waters follows a period of sustained pressure on China over its activities in the South China Sea, and China’s criticism of what it sees as Japanese interference in that dispute.”

North Korea Threatens Japan

AFP reported on August 8:

“Japan’s newly appointed defence minister on Monday ordered the nation’s military to be ready to destroy any missiles fired by North Korea that threaten the country, local media reported.

“Tomomi Inada issued the order, public broadcaster NHK said, without mentioning any indication that Pyongyang is preparing to launch such a missile.

“Last week Prime Minister Shinzo Abe picked Inada, a close confidante with staunchly nationalist views, as the new defence minister.

“NHK said Inada is expected to renew the readiness order every three months so that Tokyo can seamlessly maintain a state of alert.”

China Militarizes Contested “Islands”

NBC wrote on August 9:

“WASHINGTON — Recent satellite photographs show China appears to have built reinforced aircraft hangars on its holdings in the disputed South China Sea, according to a Washington-based think tank.

“Pictures taken in late July show the hangars constructed on Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief Reefs in the Spratly islands have room for any fighter jet in the Chinese air force, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

“‘Except for a brief visit by a military transport plane to Fiery Cross Reef earlier this year, there is no evidence that Beijing has deployed military aircraft to these outposts. But the rapid construction of reinforced hangars at all three features indicates that this is likely to change,’ CSIS said in a report.

“China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims.

“The images have emerged about a month after an international court in The Hague ruled against China’s sweeping claims in the resource-rich region, a ruling emphatically rejected by Beijing.”

South Korea’s Relation With China Sours!

Bloomberg wrote on August 9:

“South Korean President Park Geun Hye has discovered first hand the feeling of getting the cold shoulder from China.

“Under the fluent Mandarin speaker’s watch, South Korea had seen improved ties with China, drawn together in part by concern about Japan’s wartime past and the military ambitions of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Park was the only leader of a U.S. ally to attend a military parade in China last year for the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

“Now, relations that were hailed by both countries as the best in history have soured, and Park may get a frosty reception in China next month for the Group of 20 summit. The reason: Her agreement to deploy a U.S. missile shield on Korean soil.

“While South Korea says the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system would be aimed at prickly neighbor North Korea, which has been busy of late test-firing missiles, China has reacted angrily, saying the shield could be applied to it. Russia has also opposed it being stationed in Asia…

“One consequence of the tensions over Thaad could be an arms race in North Asia, with both China and Russia moving to develop more sophisticated weaponry. The deployment may also play into the hands of North Korea, allowing leader Kim Jong-Un to shore up ties with China, its only major ally.”

Vietnam Arms Itself Against China

Reuters wrote on August 10:

“Vietnam has discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with new mobile rocket launchers capable of striking China’s runways and military installations across the vital trade route, according to Western officials.

“Diplomats and military officers told Reuters that intelligence shows Hanoi has shipped the launchers from the Vietnamese mainland into position on five bases in the Spratly islands in recent months, a move likely to raise tensions with Beijing…

“The move is designed to counter China’s build-up on its seven reclaimed islands in the Spratlys archipelago. Vietnam’s military strategists fear the building runways, radars and other military installations on those holdings have left Vietnam’s southern and island defenses increasingly vulnerable.

“Military analysts say it is the most significant defensive move Vietnam has made on its holdings in the South China Sea in decades.”

We know from biblical prophecies that a powerful collaboration of many Far Eastern nations will form, which will be hostile towards continental Europe. It appears certain that nations such as Russia and China will be part of this confederacy, but it is not clear as to what role some of the other countries will play, which are mentioned in the above-quoted articles. It is therefore important that we watch events in the Far East.  

“US Press Aghast at Trump Gun Remarks”

BBC News reported on August 10:

“Trump’s latest remarks on the possibility of the ‘Second Amendment people’ doing away with his opponent drew immediate outcry… The mainstream US press has largely reacted to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s gun rights remarks with dismay and some anger.

“Most forthright is New York’s Daily News, which declares ‘Trump must go’. ‘Hinting at assassination is too much, even for him,’ it explains. The Wall Street Journal reports a ‘new flap for Trump over gun comments’, saying Mr Trump has ‘confounded the hopes of Republicans who want him to run a more measured presidential campaign.’ The New York Times says ‘Trump suggests gun owners act against Clinton’ and reports ‘alarm’ at his remarks… Veteran commentator Thomas Friedman writes… that this is… ‘how Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin got assassinated’…

“The Washington Post describes a tactic of ‘outrage, headlines and then denial’ in Mr Trump’s campaign speeches, which it says may not serve to attract undecided voters to his cause… It gives space to Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman and MSNBC TV host, who calls for his party to ditch Mr Trump… ‘A bloody line has been crossed that cannot be ignored. At long last, Donald Trump has left the Republican Party few options but to act decisively and get this political train wreck off the tracks before something terrible happens,’ he writes…”

German Government Breaks Neutrality on US Elections

The Local wrote on August 10:

“German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier believes Donald Trump becoming US president would be a ‘frightening’ prospect for the world, his spokeswoman said Wednesday. Steinmeier ‘is not neutral’ on whether the Republican candidate is fit to occupy the Oval Office, the spokeswoman, Sawsan Chebli, told reporters. ‘He is of the opinion that it is frightening, if you follow Trump’s remarks, what could become of this world if Trump actually became president,’ she said. ‘The foreign minister is calling attention to that and that is his right.’

“Die Welt reports that it is the first time that a member of the German government has stated an official position on how they hope the US elections will pan out. However Steinmeier, a Social Democrat, had made his feelings pretty clear already when he compared Trump last week to a ‘hate preacher’, saying he had much in common with ‘fear-mongers’ in Germany’s right-wing populist AfD party as well as advocates of Britain’s exit from the EU.

“Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokeswoman told the same news conference that she would stand by her policy of not commenting on the US election campaign. French President Francois Hollande said Trump makes ‘you want to retch’ following the Republican’s ‘hurtful and humiliating comments’ against the Muslim parents of a slain US soldier who criticised the candidate.

“Trump’s bid to take the White House is reeling from a series of self-inflicted scandals after he disparaged Muslims, babies, firefighters and the military, prompting his Republican stablemates to issue awkward denunciations. He stirred new controversy Tuesday over comments interpreted by some as a threat of violence against rival Hillary Clinton.”

Subsequently, Mr. Trump caused further outrage when he stated repeatedly that President Obama and Hillary Clinton “founded” ISIS.

New Emails May Prove Disastrous for Hillary Clinton

The New York Times wrote on August 9:

“A new batch of State Department emails released Tuesday showed the close and sometimes overlapping interests between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department when Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state.

“The documents raised new questions about whether the charitable foundation worked to reward its donors with access and influence at the State Department, a charge that Mrs. Clinton has faced in the past and has always denied.

“In one email exchange, for instance, an executive at the Clinton Foundation in 2009 sought to put a billionaire donor in touch with the United States ambassador to Lebanon because of the donor’s interests there.

“In another email, the foundation appeared to push aides to Mrs. Clinton to help find a job for a foundation associate. Her aides indicated that the department was working on the request…

“The State Department turned the new emails over to a conservative advocacy group, Judicial Watch, as part of a lawsuit that the group brought under the Freedom of Information Act.

“The documents included 44 emails that were not among some 55,000 pages of emails that Mrs. Clinton had previously given to the State Department, which she said represented all her ‘work-related’ emails…

“Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, charged that Mrs. Clinton ‘hid’ the documents from the public because they appeared to contradict her official pledge in 2009 to remove herself from Clinton Foundation business while leading the State Department…

“The F.B.I. spent more than a year examining Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email account, but it is not clear how the work of the Clinton Foundation figured into that investigation. James B. Comey Jr., the F.B.I. director, was noticeably circumspect in an appearance last month before the House oversight committee when Republicans questioned whether the investigation had looked at the Clinton Foundation. Twice, he declined to say.”

Breitbart added on August 11:

“While the federal investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State was underway, ‘several FBI field offices’ asked the Justice Department to investigate the murky connections between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation, but were shutdown, according to a report by CNN.”

The Storm in Europe Has Just Begun…

The Week wrote on August 5:

“In a world filled with political bunglers, German Chancellor Angela Merkel deserves special mention for outstanding achievement in recklessness. Her refugee policy puts all of Europe at risk, though continental elites may be too zealous in their devotion to humanitarian ideals to recognize it…

“The reason we should look beyond the anecdotes is that focusing on them allows Merkel and her defenders to deflect — to suggest that all of these events are outliers, that they don’t represent a portentous glimpse of the European future, and that those who oppose Merkel’s refugee policy are guilty of racism, xenophobia, and other archaic forms of prejudice that all enlightened Europeans are duty-bound to reject out of hand as a precondition for participation in civilized conversation and debate…

“Recall those overwhelming majorities who say they are unhappy with how the EU has handled the refugee issue. Those are voters who helped pass the Brexit referendum in the U.K. And who nearly elected a far-right anti-EU and anti-immigrant party in Austria just four months ago. And who are now giving that same party the lead in the run-up to the re-run of the election scheduled for October. And who are contributing to a surge in the polls for the far-right National Front in France. And so on and so forth.

“All of these developments are a product of growing unease among European voters, who believe (and not without reason) that their leaders are prone to pursue policies, without popular consultation, that will drastically and negatively affect the quality of life in — and the linguistic, ethnic, economic, and religious character of — their nations. This populist discontent began building long before Merkel instituted her well-meant but profoundly foolish refugee policy, but that policy more than any other in recent memory has galvanized it.

“Having set out, with the best of moral intentions, to act like an extra-political citizen of a world without walls, Angela Merkel has ended up reaping a nationalist whirlwind. And the storm has only just begun to gather.”

Germany Is Granting Islam “Too Much Respect”

Breitbart wrote on August 11:

“Bundestag member Erika Steinbach and Iranian-born pastor Mahin Mousapour called for much stronger sanctions for Muslims who abuse Christians in Germany at a press conference on Monday. Highlighting the fact Christians suffer violence, harassment, and death threats in migrant lodgings, Ms. Mousapour criticised Germany for granting Islam ‘too much respect’.  Declaring anti-Christian hate attacks an affront to German values, politician Erika Steinbach advocated the government deport migrants who insult or attack Christians…

“At the press conference Ms. Mousapour, who converted to Christianity more than 25 years ago, reported that Christians face various forms of persecution in migrant housing.

“Ms Mousapour warned that Christians living in migrant housing are told they are ‘impure as a dog’ and deserved death for rejecting Islam. ‘Toys of Christian children are being destroyed, Christian asylum seekers are told not only to wash their dishes after eating but also that they must clean the entire kitchen as it would otherwise be “unclean”. Many Muslim asylum seekers call all Christians unclean. Church services are held in secret, bibles and crucifixes have to be hidden,’ she explained.

“Ms Mousapour… disclosed that even converts who no longer live in migrant housing attract Muslims’ ire…

“Ms. Steinbach advocated deportation for Muslims who attack or insult Christian migrants on the basis of their religion. A vocal critic of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s policy to open Germany’s borders, Ms. Steinbach called for the European Union to set up refugee camps outside the bloc’s external borders. Here, the popular MP said, migrants would ‘stay until the war is over, then go back home’…

“During the Islamic month of fasting, migrant shelters in Germany catered to Muslim eating schedules, with Christians receiving only leftovers…

“Ms. Mousapour commented: ‘We are here in Germany, in a Christian country! We must not allow others to change that.’”

Strict Measures in Germany to Increase Security

The Telegraph wrote on August 10:

“Senior ministers in Germany have called for a ban on burqas and an end to dual citizenship in response to the threat from terrorism. Angela Merkel’s government is preparing to unveil increased security measures in the wake of recent terror attacks.

“Thomas de Maiziere, the country’s interior minister, is to detail a series of new proposals on Thursday, including the deportation of preachers who incite terrorism. But senior elected officials from Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrat party (CDU) believe the new measures do not go far enough, and have published a series of more far-reaching proposals… The document, already known as the Berlin Declaration, has already been signed by state interior ministers across Germany.

“It includes 27 measures to increase security, including thousands of new police officers and video camera surveillance in city centres. But the most controversial proposals are the calls for a ban on the full-face veil in public and an end to dual citizenship. Unlike some European countries, Germany has no restrictions on the wearing of burqas or headscarves in public… The declaration calls for an end to dual citizenship… ‘We reject this divided loyalty,’ the declaration reads. ‘We suggest whoever wants to get involved with the politics of foreign governments leaves Germany.’”

The Local added on August 11:

“German citizens with dual nationality who fight for a terror group should be stripped of their German citizenship, the interior minister said Thursday, unveiling tough new measures after two attacks by Islamic State militants. ‘Germans who participate in fighting abroad for a terror militia and who have another citizenship should lose their German nationality,’ Thomas de Maiziere said…

“But the proposal is controversial. Green lawmaker Volker Beck swiftly condemned it as ‘desperate activism’. De Maiziere himself also acknowledged that junior coalition partner the Social Democrats is likely to raise objections.”

Turkey Does Not Belong in the EU

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 4:

“Autocracies have no place in the European Union… By suggesting Wednesday that talks on Turkey joining the European Union should be reconsidered, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern is just saying what all responsible politicians at EU headquarters in Brussels have known for quite some time: Accession talks with Turkey should be ended. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has also admitted that Turkey will not be ready for membership for years to come.

“Eleven years ago, EU member states still hoped that then EU-friendly Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan could steer a Muslim Turkey into the EU as a modern democracy and a developing economic power within a decade. At the time, EU members politely ignored his claims that Turkey would one day dominate the bloc… Today, the vision has vanished. President Erdogan has gone from being a reformer to being an autocratic president, who undermines the rule of law, curtails freedoms of the press and expression and has most recently begun using emergency laws to prepare for the transformation of the Turkish state into a presidial, autocratic regime…

“Erdogan and the state that he has created are truly unfit for membership. He is no longer even willing to join. In 2014, long before last month’s attempted coup, Erdogan said that he ‘didn’t care’ if the EU accepted Turkey or not. At the time he was incarcerating undesirable journalists with the help of a compliant judicial system.

“Nevertheless, the European Union still clings to the decision it made long ago to continue membership negotiations no matter what the outcome. Why? Especially when everyone knows that they will never lead to Turkish membership?… the willingness of many of the EU’s member states to welcome 80 million people from another cultural sphere is also severely limited. Erdogan himself has complained that Europeans don’t want the Turks just because they are Muslims. There is some truth to that. Above all, skeptical EU citizens would not want Turks that – like Erdogan – see Islam as a superior ideology and contemptuously refer to the EU as a ‘Club of Christians.’…

“In actuality, accession talks have been at a standstill for years. Indeed, they never really started. That’s because Turkey, since 2005, has steadfastly refused to recognize the EU membership of Cyprus, of which, contrary to international law, Turkey currently occupies the northern half. All attempts to find a solution to the issue have failed due to Turkish resistance. For that reason alone, membership negotiations make no sense at all.

“The formal burial of accession talks demands a presumably difficult-to-achieve decision from EU heads of state and government. Turkey’s membership chances died long ago. The beautiful dream of a European Turkey has burst like a soap bubble.”

Turkey and Russia Vow “Friendship”

The New York Times reported on August 9:

“Against a backdrop of rising tensions between Turkey and the West, Presidents Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey pledged on Tuesday to repair relations after nine months of open antagonism.

“Although their meeting in St. Petersburg on Tuesday produced little beyond vows of friendship and cooperation, the symbolism of the two former antagonists coming together for a friendly talk was enough to raise alarms in Western capitals. Besides being a member of the NATO alliance, Turkey is vital to Europe’s efforts to stanch the flow of migrants from Syria and Afghanistan.

“Washington and Ankara, long at odds over American support of the Kurds in Syria and Iraq, have had a series of problems lately. Anti-Americanism has been on the rise in Turkey, amid accusations that the United States played a role in the failed coup in Turkey and widespread resentment of the White House’s criticism of the resulting crackdown.”

Ukraine on Highest Alert

Newsmax wrote on August 11:

“Vladimir Putin summoned his security council and the Russian Navy announced war games in the Black Sea a day after the Russian president accused Ukraine of trying to provoke a conflict over Crimea, which Moscow seized and annexed in 2014…

“Using some of his most aggressive rhetoric against Kiev since the height of the war two years ago, Putin has pledged to take counter-measures against Ukraine, which he accused of sending saboteurs into Crimea to carry out terrorist acts.

“Ukraine has called the accusations false and says they look like a pretext for Russia to escalate hostilities…

“Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he had ordered all Ukrainian units near Crimea and in eastern Ukraine onto the highest state of combat readiness. He was seeking to urgently speak to Putin, the leaders of France and Germany, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and European Council President Donald Tusk.

“In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said the United States was extremely concerned and called on both sides to reduce tension and rhetoric. In New York, the U.N. Security Council held a closed-door meeting at Ukraine’s request to discuss the growing tensions.

“Ukrainian U.N. Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko warned that Russia had amassed more than 40,000 troops in the region and said the build-up could reflect ‘very bad intentions.’”

UK’s Prisons Aren’t Big Enough to Jail All Paedophiles!

The Independent wrote on August 8:

“One of the most senior police officers in the UK has called for greater debate about treating paedophiles rather than sending them to prison, amid concerns there is not enough space in prisons to jail them all.

“Chief Superintendent Gavin Thomas, president of the Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales issued the warning and called for a ‘rethink’ on current approaches to sex offenders, The Times reports.

“Currently, there are close to 45,000 names on the sex offenders’ register. The list contains details of people convicted of sexual offences and is used to monitor offenders following their release from prison. It has been steadily increasing since it was established in 1997.

“Mr Thomas said: ‘One of the major concerns from our members is managing the register already, and it’s growing. For offenders at the highest level there are visits to be made [and] monitoring access to the internet.’

“He added that there is not enough room in prisons to jail all child sex offenders and called for discussion of alternatives: ‘Should we be going down the criminal justice route or, based on a proper assessment, should we be going down the health route? At the moment I am not seeing alternative thinking on how we deal with this issue as it grows and grows and grows’…

“Of 86,200 people who are currently in jail, around 11,500 have been convicted of a sexual offence.”

Update 748

Defense for the Gospel; The Love of Money

On August 13, 2016, Kalon Mitchell will present the sermonette, titled, “Defense for the Gospel,” and Norbert Link will present the sermon, titled, “The Love of Money.”

The live services are available, over video and audio, at http://eternalgod.org/live-services/ (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time; 8:30 pm Greenwich Mean Time; 9:30 pm Central European Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

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Finding Lasting Fulfillment

by Robb Harris

Tony Robbins, an author and motivational speaker, has been involved in business and life training programs for over 30 years. Labeling himself as a “world authority on leadership psychology” he has, as his biography states, “created the #1 personal and professional development program of all time and more than 4 million people have attended his live seminars” (tonyrobbins.com).

Having recently viewed a documentary on one of his seminars, I was left with one impression: seeking happiness without God is a fleeting pursuit without enduring value. While Tony has the ability to inspire and reach people on a very emotional level, these feelings do not lead to God—at least not using the techniques employed in his seminars. Tony isn’t alone in his misguided attempt to effect change in people, regardless of how sincere it might be. Anyone pointing to themselves or their audience as the instruments for true change and happiness are without godly understanding.   Creating happiness in one’s life begins by setting our sights and aspirations on God. David was inspired to write, “Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).

It is imperative that we fortify ourselves against any influences that God would find un-delightful. If we desire happiness, we will only find lasting joy in godliness. Any pursuit that doesn’t point to God leads us in the only other direction possible—towards the god of this world and utter destruction.

As Tony finished off his 6 day seminar in the documentary, he ended the last session with the audience meditating in an eastern-religion type posture. While he made slight reference to God during his presentations, it became very apparent he was not focused on pleasing God but instead prostrating before the god of this world.

Paul warned the church in Rome that this kind of worship would eventually lead us away from our inheritance, “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man… who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…” (Romans 1:22-25).

Godlessness extinguishes the flame that should be continually growing within each of us. There is no “gray area” or “middle ground” in the absence of light, only eternal darkness. Our diligence in testing what is godly and focusing on what is godly will lead us to satisfaction and eternal joy.

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We begin with an array of reports centering on strategic actions on the part of nations in Asia—especially, China, and its concerned neighbors; we bring yet another example of Donald Trump’s unbridled public rhetoric causing even German leadership to voice strong concerns about a possible President Trump.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policies draw condemnation as Turkey positions itself more and more outside the EU and into the arms of Putin’s Russia; and England worries that it doesn’t have enough jails for pedophiles!

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Japan’s Emperor to Retire?

The Daily Beast wrote on August 8:

“When the Emperor speaks, Japan listens and so does the world. Monday at 3:00 p.m. local time a speech by Emperor Akihito was televised on a date that commemorated no anniversary or major tragedy, as most of his addresses do. Instead it pertained to the very Imperial System itself.

“The Emperor, who is 82, discussed his health, his position as a symbol of the state under Japan’s modern constitution, the hardship of his duties, his love for the people of Japan—and made clear his desire to abdicate the throne in his lifetime in a way that would cause the least amount of turmoil…

“Monday’s speech left little doubt his desire and intent is to step down, if such a thing can be arranged, but more importantly it marks the prelude to what may be an epic battle between the emperor’s successor, Crown Prince Naruhito, and the man some critics call the Clown Prince—Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

“Media reports in Japan already are calling the consideration of abdication the current emperor’s final act of resistance against the prime minister, a bid to halt the return to Japan’s aggressive pre-war attitudes and policies…

“Japan’s remilitarization is steadily underway. The weapons industry has been revived; the country is shipping arms.

“The State Security Laws will enable Japan to wage war overseas for the first time since the war ended. And if the ruling coalition somehow fails to alter the pacifist constitution, it will push to pass an emergency powers act, which will give the Prime Minister power to rewrite the laws during a time of crisis—something straight out of the Nazi playbook. (Some members of Abe’s cabinet have a well-known admiration for Hitler’s political stratagems.)…

“Prime Minister Abe and his political allies have long derided Japan’s constitution as a humiliation imposed upon the Japanese people by the United States occupation government, impinging on ‘basic human rights.’”

China Pushes Japan

Reuters wrote on August 9:

“Japan warned China on Tuesday that ties were deteriorating over disputed East China Sea islets, and China’s envoy in Tokyo reiterated Beijing’s stance that the specks of land were its territory and called for talks to resolve the dispute.

“The diplomatic tussle comes amid simmering tension as China builds on outposts in the contested South China Sea, including what appear to be reinforced aircraft hangars, according to new satellite images.

“Ties between Asia’s two largest economies have been strained in recent days since Japan saw a growing number of Chinese coastguard and other government ships sailing near the East China Sea islets, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

“The flurry of Chinese incursions into the waters follows a period of sustained pressure on China over its activities in the South China Sea, and China’s criticism of what it sees as Japanese interference in that dispute.”

North Korea Threatens Japan

AFP reported on August 8:

“Japan’s newly appointed defence minister on Monday ordered the nation’s military to be ready to destroy any missiles fired by North Korea that threaten the country, local media reported.

“Tomomi Inada issued the order, public broadcaster NHK said, without mentioning any indication that Pyongyang is preparing to launch such a missile.

“Last week Prime Minister Shinzo Abe picked Inada, a close confidante with staunchly nationalist views, as the new defence minister.

“NHK said Inada is expected to renew the readiness order every three months so that Tokyo can seamlessly maintain a state of alert.”

China Militarizes Contested “Islands”

NBC wrote on August 9:

“WASHINGTON — Recent satellite photographs show China appears to have built reinforced aircraft hangars on its holdings in the disputed South China Sea, according to a Washington-based think tank.

“Pictures taken in late July show the hangars constructed on Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief Reefs in the Spratly islands have room for any fighter jet in the Chinese air force, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

“‘Except for a brief visit by a military transport plane to Fiery Cross Reef earlier this year, there is no evidence that Beijing has deployed military aircraft to these outposts. But the rapid construction of reinforced hangars at all three features indicates that this is likely to change,’ CSIS said in a report.

“China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims.

“The images have emerged about a month after an international court in The Hague ruled against China’s sweeping claims in the resource-rich region, a ruling emphatically rejected by Beijing.”

South Korea’s Relation With China Sours!

Bloomberg wrote on August 9:

“South Korean President Park Geun Hye has discovered first hand the feeling of getting the cold shoulder from China.

“Under the fluent Mandarin speaker’s watch, South Korea had seen improved ties with China, drawn together in part by concern about Japan’s wartime past and the military ambitions of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Park was the only leader of a U.S. ally to attend a military parade in China last year for the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

“Now, relations that were hailed by both countries as the best in history have soured, and Park may get a frosty reception in China next month for the Group of 20 summit. The reason: Her agreement to deploy a U.S. missile shield on Korean soil.

“While South Korea says the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system would be aimed at prickly neighbor North Korea, which has been busy of late test-firing missiles, China has reacted angrily, saying the shield could be applied to it. Russia has also opposed it being stationed in Asia…

“One consequence of the tensions over Thaad could be an arms race in North Asia, with both China and Russia moving to develop more sophisticated weaponry. The deployment may also play into the hands of North Korea, allowing leader Kim Jong-Un to shore up ties with China, its only major ally.”

Vietnam Arms Itself Against China

Reuters wrote on August 10:

“Vietnam has discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with new mobile rocket launchers capable of striking China’s runways and military installations across the vital trade route, according to Western officials.

“Diplomats and military officers told Reuters that intelligence shows Hanoi has shipped the launchers from the Vietnamese mainland into position on five bases in the Spratly islands in recent months, a move likely to raise tensions with Beijing…

“The move is designed to counter China’s build-up on its seven reclaimed islands in the Spratlys archipelago. Vietnam’s military strategists fear the building runways, radars and other military installations on those holdings have left Vietnam’s southern and island defenses increasingly vulnerable.

“Military analysts say it is the most significant defensive move Vietnam has made on its holdings in the South China Sea in decades.”

We know from biblical prophecies that a powerful collaboration of many Far Eastern nations will form, which will be hostile towards continental Europe. It appears certain that nations such as Russia and China will be part of this confederacy, but it is not clear as to what role some of the other countries will play, which are mentioned in the above-quoted articles. It is therefore important that we watch events in the Far East.  

“US Press Aghast at Trump Gun Remarks”

BBC News reported on August 10:

“Trump’s latest remarks on the possibility of the ‘Second Amendment people’ doing away with his opponent drew immediate outcry… The mainstream US press has largely reacted to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s gun rights remarks with dismay and some anger.

“Most forthright is New York’s Daily News, which declares ‘Trump must go’. ‘Hinting at assassination is too much, even for him,’ it explains. The Wall Street Journal reports a ‘new flap for Trump over gun comments’, saying Mr Trump has ‘confounded the hopes of Republicans who want him to run a more measured presidential campaign.’ The New York Times says ‘Trump suggests gun owners act against Clinton’ and reports ‘alarm’ at his remarks… Veteran commentator Thomas Friedman writes… that this is… ‘how Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin got assassinated’…

“The Washington Post describes a tactic of ‘outrage, headlines and then denial’ in Mr Trump’s campaign speeches, which it says may not serve to attract undecided voters to his cause… It gives space to Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman and MSNBC TV host, who calls for his party to ditch Mr Trump… ‘A bloody line has been crossed that cannot be ignored. At long last, Donald Trump has left the Republican Party few options but to act decisively and get this political train wreck off the tracks before something terrible happens,’ he writes…”

German Government Breaks Neutrality on US Elections

The Local wrote on August 10:

“German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier believes Donald Trump becoming US president would be a ‘frightening’ prospect for the world, his spokeswoman said Wednesday. Steinmeier ‘is not neutral’ on whether the Republican candidate is fit to occupy the Oval Office, the spokeswoman, Sawsan Chebli, told reporters. ‘He is of the opinion that it is frightening, if you follow Trump’s remarks, what could become of this world if Trump actually became president,’ she said. ‘The foreign minister is calling attention to that and that is his right.’

“Die Welt reports that it is the first time that a member of the German government has stated an official position on how they hope the US elections will pan out. However Steinmeier, a Social Democrat, had made his feelings pretty clear already when he compared Trump last week to a ‘hate preacher’, saying he had much in common with ‘fear-mongers’ in Germany’s right-wing populist AfD party as well as advocates of Britain’s exit from the EU.

“Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokeswoman told the same news conference that she would stand by her policy of not commenting on the US election campaign. French President Francois Hollande said Trump makes ‘you want to retch’ following the Republican’s ‘hurtful and humiliating comments’ against the Muslim parents of a slain US soldier who criticised the candidate.

“Trump’s bid to take the White House is reeling from a series of self-inflicted scandals after he disparaged Muslims, babies, firefighters and the military, prompting his Republican stablemates to issue awkward denunciations. He stirred new controversy Tuesday over comments interpreted by some as a threat of violence against rival Hillary Clinton.”

Subsequently, Mr. Trump caused further outrage when he stated repeatedly that President Obama and Hillary Clinton “founded” ISIS.

New Emails May Prove Disastrous for Hillary Clinton

The New York Times wrote on August 9:

“A new batch of State Department emails released Tuesday showed the close and sometimes overlapping interests between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department when Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state.

“The documents raised new questions about whether the charitable foundation worked to reward its donors with access and influence at the State Department, a charge that Mrs. Clinton has faced in the past and has always denied.

“In one email exchange, for instance, an executive at the Clinton Foundation in 2009 sought to put a billionaire donor in touch with the United States ambassador to Lebanon because of the donor’s interests there.

“In another email, the foundation appeared to push aides to Mrs. Clinton to help find a job for a foundation associate. Her aides indicated that the department was working on the request…

“The State Department turned the new emails over to a conservative advocacy group, Judicial Watch, as part of a lawsuit that the group brought under the Freedom of Information Act.

“The documents included 44 emails that were not among some 55,000 pages of emails that Mrs. Clinton had previously given to the State Department, which she said represented all her ‘work-related’ emails…

“Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, charged that Mrs. Clinton ‘hid’ the documents from the public because they appeared to contradict her official pledge in 2009 to remove herself from Clinton Foundation business while leading the State Department…

“The F.B.I. spent more than a year examining Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email account, but it is not clear how the work of the Clinton Foundation figured into that investigation. James B. Comey Jr., the F.B.I. director, was noticeably circumspect in an appearance last month before the House oversight committee when Republicans questioned whether the investigation had looked at the Clinton Foundation. Twice, he declined to say.”

Breitbart added on August 11:

“While the federal investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State was underway, ‘several FBI field offices’ asked the Justice Department to investigate the murky connections between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation, but were shutdown, according to a report by CNN.”

The Storm in Europe Has Just Begun…

The Week wrote on August 5:

“In a world filled with political bunglers, German Chancellor Angela Merkel deserves special mention for outstanding achievement in recklessness. Her refugee policy puts all of Europe at risk, though continental elites may be too zealous in their devotion to humanitarian ideals to recognize it…

“The reason we should look beyond the anecdotes is that focusing on them allows Merkel and her defenders to deflect — to suggest that all of these events are outliers, that they don’t represent a portentous glimpse of the European future, and that those who oppose Merkel’s refugee policy are guilty of racism, xenophobia, and other archaic forms of prejudice that all enlightened Europeans are duty-bound to reject out of hand as a precondition for participation in civilized conversation and debate…

“Recall those overwhelming majorities who say they are unhappy with how the EU has handled the refugee issue. Those are voters who helped pass the Brexit referendum in the U.K. And who nearly elected a far-right anti-EU and anti-immigrant party in Austria just four months ago. And who are now giving that same party the lead in the run-up to the re-run of the election scheduled for October. And who are contributing to a surge in the polls for the far-right National Front in France. And so on and so forth.

“All of these developments are a product of growing unease among European voters, who believe (and not without reason) that their leaders are prone to pursue policies, without popular consultation, that will drastically and negatively affect the quality of life in — and the linguistic, ethnic, economic, and religious character of — their nations. This populist discontent began building long before Merkel instituted her well-meant but profoundly foolish refugee policy, but that policy more than any other in recent memory has galvanized it.

“Having set out, with the best of moral intentions, to act like an extra-political citizen of a world without walls, Angela Merkel has ended up reaping a nationalist whirlwind. And the storm has only just begun to gather.”

Germany Is Granting Islam “Too Much Respect”

Breitbart wrote on August 11:

“Bundestag member Erika Steinbach and Iranian-born pastor Mahin Mousapour called for much stronger sanctions for Muslims who abuse Christians in Germany at a press conference on Monday. Highlighting the fact Christians suffer violence, harassment, and death threats in migrant lodgings, Ms. Mousapour criticised Germany for granting Islam ‘too much respect’.  Declaring anti-Christian hate attacks an affront to German values, politician Erika Steinbach advocated the government deport migrants who insult or attack Christians…

“At the press conference Ms. Mousapour, who converted to Christianity more than 25 years ago, reported that Christians face various forms of persecution in migrant housing.

“Ms Mousapour warned that Christians living in migrant housing are told they are ‘impure as a dog’ and deserved death for rejecting Islam. ‘Toys of Christian children are being destroyed, Christian asylum seekers are told not only to wash their dishes after eating but also that they must clean the entire kitchen as it would otherwise be “unclean”. Many Muslim asylum seekers call all Christians unclean. Church services are held in secret, bibles and crucifixes have to be hidden,’ she explained.

“Ms Mousapour… disclosed that even converts who no longer live in migrant housing attract Muslims’ ire…

“Ms. Steinbach advocated deportation for Muslims who attack or insult Christian migrants on the basis of their religion. A vocal critic of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s policy to open Germany’s borders, Ms. Steinbach called for the European Union to set up refugee camps outside the bloc’s external borders. Here, the popular MP said, migrants would ‘stay until the war is over, then go back home’…

“During the Islamic month of fasting, migrant shelters in Germany catered to Muslim eating schedules, with Christians receiving only leftovers…

“Ms. Mousapour commented: ‘We are here in Germany, in a Christian country! We must not allow others to change that.’”

Strict Measures in Germany to Increase Security

The Telegraph wrote on August 10:

“Senior ministers in Germany have called for a ban on burqas and an end to dual citizenship in response to the threat from terrorism. Angela Merkel’s government is preparing to unveil increased security measures in the wake of recent terror attacks.

“Thomas de Maiziere, the country’s interior minister, is to detail a series of new proposals on Thursday, including the deportation of preachers who incite terrorism. But senior elected officials from Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrat party (CDU) believe the new measures do not go far enough, and have published a series of more far-reaching proposals… The document, already known as the Berlin Declaration, has already been signed by state interior ministers across Germany.

“It includes 27 measures to increase security, including thousands of new police officers and video camera surveillance in city centres. But the most controversial proposals are the calls for a ban on the full-face veil in public and an end to dual citizenship. Unlike some European countries, Germany has no restrictions on the wearing of burqas or headscarves in public… The declaration calls for an end to dual citizenship… ‘We reject this divided loyalty,’ the declaration reads. ‘We suggest whoever wants to get involved with the politics of foreign governments leaves Germany.’”

The Local added on August 11:

“German citizens with dual nationality who fight for a terror group should be stripped of their German citizenship, the interior minister said Thursday, unveiling tough new measures after two attacks by Islamic State militants. ‘Germans who participate in fighting abroad for a terror militia and who have another citizenship should lose their German nationality,’ Thomas de Maiziere said…

“But the proposal is controversial. Green lawmaker Volker Beck swiftly condemned it as ‘desperate activism’. De Maiziere himself also acknowledged that junior coalition partner the Social Democrats is likely to raise objections.”

Turkey Does Not Belong in the EU

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 4:

“Autocracies have no place in the European Union… By suggesting Wednesday that talks on Turkey joining the European Union should be reconsidered, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern is just saying what all responsible politicians at EU headquarters in Brussels have known for quite some time: Accession talks with Turkey should be ended. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has also admitted that Turkey will not be ready for membership for years to come.

“Eleven years ago, EU member states still hoped that then EU-friendly Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan could steer a Muslim Turkey into the EU as a modern democracy and a developing economic power within a decade. At the time, EU members politely ignored his claims that Turkey would one day dominate the bloc… Today, the vision has vanished. President Erdogan has gone from being a reformer to being an autocratic president, who undermines the rule of law, curtails freedoms of the press and expression and has most recently begun using emergency laws to prepare for the transformation of the Turkish state into a presidial, autocratic regime…

“Erdogan and the state that he has created are truly unfit for membership. He is no longer even willing to join. In 2014, long before last month’s attempted coup, Erdogan said that he ‘didn’t care’ if the EU accepted Turkey or not. At the time he was incarcerating undesirable journalists with the help of a compliant judicial system.

“Nevertheless, the European Union still clings to the decision it made long ago to continue membership negotiations no matter what the outcome. Why? Especially when everyone knows that they will never lead to Turkish membership?… the willingness of many of the EU’s member states to welcome 80 million people from another cultural sphere is also severely limited. Erdogan himself has complained that Europeans don’t want the Turks just because they are Muslims. There is some truth to that. Above all, skeptical EU citizens would not want Turks that – like Erdogan – see Islam as a superior ideology and contemptuously refer to the EU as a ‘Club of Christians.’…

“In actuality, accession talks have been at a standstill for years. Indeed, they never really started. That’s because Turkey, since 2005, has steadfastly refused to recognize the EU membership of Cyprus, of which, contrary to international law, Turkey currently occupies the northern half. All attempts to find a solution to the issue have failed due to Turkish resistance. For that reason alone, membership negotiations make no sense at all.

“The formal burial of accession talks demands a presumably difficult-to-achieve decision from EU heads of state and government. Turkey’s membership chances died long ago. The beautiful dream of a European Turkey has burst like a soap bubble.”

Turkey and Russia Vow “Friendship”

The New York Times reported on August 9:

“Against a backdrop of rising tensions between Turkey and the West, Presidents Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey pledged on Tuesday to repair relations after nine months of open antagonism.

“Although their meeting in St. Petersburg on Tuesday produced little beyond vows of friendship and cooperation, the symbolism of the two former antagonists coming together for a friendly talk was enough to raise alarms in Western capitals. Besides being a member of the NATO alliance, Turkey is vital to Europe’s efforts to stanch the flow of migrants from Syria and Afghanistan.

“Washington and Ankara, long at odds over American support of the Kurds in Syria and Iraq, have had a series of problems lately. Anti-Americanism has been on the rise in Turkey, amid accusations that the United States played a role in the failed coup in Turkey and widespread resentment of the White House’s criticism of the resulting crackdown.”

Ukraine on Highest Alert

Newsmax wrote on August 11:

“Vladimir Putin summoned his security council and the Russian Navy announced war games in the Black Sea a day after the Russian president accused Ukraine of trying to provoke a conflict over Crimea, which Moscow seized and annexed in 2014…

“Using some of his most aggressive rhetoric against Kiev since the height of the war two years ago, Putin has pledged to take counter-measures against Ukraine, which he accused of sending saboteurs into Crimea to carry out terrorist acts.

“Ukraine has called the accusations false and says they look like a pretext for Russia to escalate hostilities…

“Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he had ordered all Ukrainian units near Crimea and in eastern Ukraine onto the highest state of combat readiness. He was seeking to urgently speak to Putin, the leaders of France and Germany, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and European Council President Donald Tusk.

“In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said the United States was extremely concerned and called on both sides to reduce tension and rhetoric. In New York, the U.N. Security Council held a closed-door meeting at Ukraine’s request to discuss the growing tensions.

“Ukrainian U.N. Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko warned that Russia had amassed more than 40,000 troops in the region and said the build-up could reflect ‘very bad intentions.’”

UK’s Prisons Aren’t Big Enough to Jail All Paedophiles!

The Independent wrote on August 8:

“One of the most senior police officers in the UK has called for greater debate about treating paedophiles rather than sending them to prison, amid concerns there is not enough space in prisons to jail them all.

“Chief Superintendent Gavin Thomas, president of the Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales issued the warning and called for a ‘rethink’ on current approaches to sex offenders, The Times reports.

“Currently, there are close to 45,000 names on the sex offenders’ register. The list contains details of people convicted of sexual offences and is used to monitor offenders following their release from prison. It has been steadily increasing since it was established in 1997.

“Mr Thomas said: ‘One of the major concerns from our members is managing the register already, and it’s growing. For offenders at the highest level there are visits to be made [and] monitoring access to the internet.’

“He added that there is not enough room in prisons to jail all child sex offenders and called for discussion of alternatives: ‘Should we be going down the criminal justice route or, based on a proper assessment, should we be going down the health route? At the moment I am not seeing alternative thinking on how we deal with this issue as it grows and grows and grows’…

“Of 86,200 people who are currently in jail, around 11,500 have been convicted of a sexual offence.”

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What Does the Bible Say About Jews?

In both its history and prophetic revelations, the Bible has a great deal to say about the Jewish people. In fact, events associated with the House of Judah provide vital keys to understanding God’s great plan of salvation for all of mankind!

The term “Jew” is found in the Old and New Testament and primarily refers to the descendants of one of the sons of Jacob—as distinguished from other of Jacob’s children.

It is important to understand that Judah was ONE of twelve sons born to Jacob. Jacob had twelve sons by four wives (Genesis 35:22-26). These are the ones who became the nation of Israel with each son becoming a distinct tribe and, eventually, individual nations. Not all Israelites are Jews, but all Jews are Israelites. This distinction is vital.

In Genesis 29, verse 35, the birth of the fourth son of Jacob by his wife, Leah, is recorded, and the name given to him was Judah—which means “praise.”

Some further details about Judah are given in the Book of Genesis.

It appears that Joseph was favored by Jacob, and, furthermore, that Joseph was disliked by his brothers to such an extent that they contemplated killing him (compare Genesis 37:18-20). First Reuben and then Judah intervened to save Joseph’s life, and we find that Judah’s suggestion was as follows:

“So Judah said to his brothers, ‘What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.’ And his brothers listened. Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt” (Genesis 37:26-28).

Later, when Joseph’s brothers stood before him, accused of theft, it was Judah who offered himself as a substitute for Benjamin:

“‘For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, “If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father forever.” Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father?’” (Genesis 44:32-34).

Another incident about Judah involved his daughter-in-law (compare Genesis 38). This occurred following the death of two of the sons of Judah—both of whom were successively married to Tamar, but the sons were evil and God killed them. Tamar disguised herself as a harlot, and Judah—not knowing that she was his daughter-in-law—lay with her.

Twins, Perez and Zerah, were born to Judah by Tamar. Shelah was Judah’s son by his wife, Shua, but it is from the lineage of Perez that David was born (Ruth 4:18-22), and from David’s lineage, Jesus Christ was born (Luke 3:23-38).

On his death-bed, Jacob blessed his twelve sons, and he specifically spoke of their circumstances “‘…in the last days’” (Genesis 49:1). Here is what he said about Judah:

“‘Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people. Binding his donkey to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, And his teeth whiter than milk’” (Genesis 49:8-12).

The “scepter”—that is, rulership—was given to the tribe of Judah, and the Bible establishes this fact in the unfolding history of the Jews. David understood this:

“‘However the LORD God of Israel chose me above all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever, for He has chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father, and among the sons of my father, He was pleased with me to make me king over all Israel’” (1 Chronicles 28:4).

In the Psalms, we find this further acknowledgement:

“Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved. And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has established forever. He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance” (Psalm 78:67-71).

A momentous event occurred when Judah and Israel became SEPARATE nations. The reason was because of Solomon’s disobedience—especially his idolatry:

“Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, ‘Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen’” (1 Kings 11:11-13).

From this point forward, ten tribes of Israel and the tribe of Judah were and have remained separate. At times, violent wars were fought between the kings of Israel and Judah. Ultimately, Israel was taken into national captivity by the Assyrians (about 722 B.C.). That record is found in 2 Kings, chapter 17.

Likewise, Judah rebelled against God, and He sent them into national captivity in Babylon (just before 600 B.C. and culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple of God in 587 B.C.).

After a seventy-year period, Jews were allowed to return. They rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and the Temple of God. Judah once again became a nation in their homeland. This set the stage for the prophesied appearance of the Messiah which would occur several hundred years later.

When Jesus was born, Judah was a nation under Rome’s dominion. Jesus preached to the Jews of that time, but He was rejected by all but a very few of that generation—they did not believe that He was the Messiah:

“He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11; compare Isaiah 53:3; Matthew 13:54-58; Acts 3:11-15).

Many Old Testament prophecies revealed that the Messiah would come from King David’s lineage—note this example:

“‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS’” (Jeremiah 23:5-6).

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is identified as a Jew, and this is confirmed by what is written in the Book of Hebrews, “For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah…” (7:14). Furthermore, Paul presents more proof of the lineage of Jesus Christ:

“Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:1-4).

As the promised “Messiah,” Jesus has been appointed ruler over all things:

“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

At this time, the Jewish people reject Jesus Christ as being the hopedfor Messiah. However, Jesus has promised to return to the earth and at that time, the Jews will accept Him. Jesus prophesied of this:

“‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!”’” (Matthew 23:37-39).

Jesus made a remarkable statement about Jews when He told a Samaritan woman, “‘…SALVATION IS OF THE JEWS’” (John 4:22).

The Messiah, God’s Son, was a Jew.

We plan to follow-up with more information which deals with the Jewish people—especially considering the modern day role of the State of Israel.

Additional references:

Was the State of Israel Prophesied?

Who will build the Temple of Ezekiel? Part 1

Who will build the Temple of Ezekiel? Part 2 

Who will build the Temple of Ezekiel? Part 3

Lead Writer: Dave Harris

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Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

Norbert and Johanna Link, accompanied by Margaret Adair along with Michael, Noelle and Mason Link, have returned to Southern California following a very successful visit with brethren in Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and California. Also, during this time, Pastor Rene Messier and his wife, Delia, drove from Summerland, British Columbia, to join in Sabbath services in Woodburn, Oregon.

Here are the dates for the 2016 Fall Holy Days:

October 3—Feast of Trumpets
October 12—Day of Atonement
October 17 through October 24—Feast of Tabernacles
October 25—Last Great Day

“The Prodigal Son,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Rene Messier, is now posted.

“The Four Winds”, the sermon presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The Bible speaks many times about the four winds. We read in the New Testament that four angels will hold the four winds of the earth, or that angels will gather together the elect from the four winds. The Old Testament says that God will scatter Israel and other nations toward the four winds under heaven. We also read about four winds which stand before the Lord of all the earth. What is meant with the four winds?

Our new booklet, “God’s Law… or God’s Grace?” has entered the second review cycle.

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How This Work is Financed

This Update is an official publication by the ministry of the Church of the Eternal God in the United States of America; the Church of God, a Christian Fellowship in Canada; and the Global Church of God in the United Kingdom.

Editorial Team: Norbert Link, Dave Harris, Rene Messier, Brian Gale, Johanna Link, Eric Rank, Michael Link, Anna Link, Kalon Mitchell, Manuela Mitchell, Dawn Thompson

Technical Team: Eric Rank, Shana Rank

Our activities and literature, including booklets, weekly updates, sermons on CD are provided free of charge. They are made possible by the tithes, offerings and contributions of Church members and others who have elected to support this Work.

While we do not solicit the general public for funds, contributions are gratefully welcomed and are tax-deductible in the U.S. and Canada.

Donations can be sent to the following addresses:

United States: Church of the Eternal God, P.O. Box 270519, San Diego, CA 92198

Canada: Church of God, ACF, Box 1480, Summerland, B.C. V0H 1Z0

United Kingdom: Global Church of God, PO Box 44, MABLETHORPE, LN12 9AN, United Kingdom

Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

Norbert and Johanna Link, accompanied by Margaret Adair along with Michael, Noelle and Mason Link, have returned to Southern California following a very successful visit with brethren in Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and California. Also, during this time, Pastor Rene Messier and his wife, Delia, drove from Summerland, British Columbia, to join in Sabbath services in Woodburn, Oregon.

Here are the dates for the 2016 Fall Holy Days:

October 3—Feast of Trumpets
October 12—Day of Atonement
October 17 through October 24—Feast of Tabernacles
October 25—Last Great Day

“The Prodigal Son,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Rene Messier, is now posted.

“The Four Winds”, the sermon presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The Bible speaks many times about the four winds. We read in the New Testament that four angels will hold the four winds of the earth, or that angels will gather together the elect from the four winds. The Old Testament says that God will scatter Israel and other nations toward the four winds under heaven. We also read about four winds which stand before the Lord of all the earth. What is meant with the four winds?

Our new booklet, “God’s Law… or God’s Grace?” has entered the second review cycle.

The Prodigal Son; The Four Winds

On August 6, 2016, Rene Messier will present the sermonette, titled, “The Prodigal Son,” and Norbert Link will present the sermon, titled, “The Four Winds.”

The live services are available, over audio, at http://eternalgod.org/live-services/ (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time; 8:30 pm Greenwich Mean Time; 9:30 pm Central European Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

This Week in the News

France Fights “Islamism”

Express wrote on August 2:

“French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says the country is to shut down mosques, cut foreign funding and police the content delivered in sermons in a massive crackdown on Islamic fundamentalism… The comments come following the murder of 86-year-old French Catholic priest Father Jacques Hamel who was killed on the altar during morning mass last Tuesday and three separate massacres in the country in just over a year.

“In a newspaper interview Prime Minister Valls says the Republic has been forced to intervene to drive out the ‘poison’ of radical Islamism. And he has announced plans to shut down mosques supporting Salafism, an ultra-orthodox religious-political ideology based on a belief in ‘physical’ jihadism practised by some followers of the Sunni faith.

“He said: ‘All Salafists are not jihadists … but almost all are jihadist Salafists… The places of worship that house preachers will be closed systematically… France must become a European centre of excellence in the teaching of Islamic theology.’

“France is also considering legislation that will allow it to remove and expel dual national citizens.”

France to Establish a National Guard 

Stratfor published on July 28:

“France will establish a national guard to help in the fight against terrorism, a statement from President Francois Hollande said July 28, France 24 and AFP reported. According to the statement, parliamentary consultations on the creation of the force — which will reportedly be made up of volunteers from the police, the security forces and the military — will take place in September. Hollande said he hoped the National Guard would be in place sometime in early fall. France has not had a national guard since the last iteration of the force was disbanded in 1872, but the country’s government is trying to reassure a nervous public that it is acting to counter the terrorist threat.”

Germany to Deploy Armed Soldiers in Germany

Daily Mail.com wrote on August 3:

“Germany is on the verge of smashing one of the last post-Nazi taboos by deploying armed soldiers on the streets in peacetime to combat terrorism.

“The Munich massacre has triggered a new security debate which includes stiffer gun laws and the use of troops in force…

“Keeping soldiers in their barracks has been a central tenet of postwar German domestic policy following the demise of Nazism.

“But after Friday’s slaughter – and an earlier incident where a refugee attacked passengers on a commuter train with an axe and a knife – the Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann says soldiers must join in the anti-terror fight in the same way as they do in France.

“’We are facing extreme situations,’ said Herrmann. ‘We do not live in the time of the Weimar Republic now,’ he said referring to Germany’s post-WW1 experiment with democracy which failed spectacularly and led directly to the rise of the Nazis.

“He said that historical reservations about armed soldiers on the streets were no longer applicable, adding: ‘We are an absolutely stable democracy.’

“But he said the decision when and where to deploy the Bundeswehr (army) must rest solely with the police.

“He went on: ‘The Bundeswehr can be deployed under the leadership of the German states who are responsible for internal security to protect the citizens.’

“In tandem with this plan are new discussions in Berlin about tightening Germany’s already strict gun laws.”

Even London Adds Armed Patrols

Sky News reported on August 3:

“Increased numbers of armed officers are to mount patrols across London, including at major landmarks, in the wake of the deadly terror attacks in Europe.

“Revealing plans for the heightened visible presence on the streets of the capital, Met Police chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said it would be ‘foolish to ignore’ the recent atrocities on the continent.

“The extra specialist officers were there to ‘confront terrorists’ and were ‘prepared to deal with the worst situations’, he insisted.

“But the main police union has warned that it could be two years before the promised extra firearms officers are operational.

“Police Federation of England and Wales chairman Steve White said the ‘best case scenario’ would be 24 months to get the additional 1,500 marksmen in place.

“With the terror threat level in the UK ranked as severe, Sir Bernard stressed the need for vigilance with an attack ‘highly likely’.

“He was speaking after warning that a terror attack in Britain was a case of ‘when, not if’.

“The extra armed police on patrol form the first wave of a move to increase the number of firearms officers in London by 600.”

Japan’s New Defense Minister

The Associated Press wrote on August 3:

“A woman who has downplayed Japan’s wartime actions and is known for far-right views was named defense minister in a Cabinet reshuffle Wednesday, a move that could unsettle Tokyo’s relations with Asian neighbors with bitter memories of its World War II-era atrocities.

“Tomomi Inada, a former reform minister who most recently was policy chief in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, replaced Gen Nakatani as defense minister. She is the second female to fill the post…

“A lawyer-turned-lawmaker with little experience in defense, Inada is one of Abe’s favorites. She regularly visits Yasukuni Shrine, which honors war dead including convicted war criminals, a gesture seen as an endorsement of Japan’s militaristic past.

“She also has defended Japan’s wartime atrocities, including forcing many Asian women into sexual servitude in military-run brothels, and has led a party committee to re-evaluate the judgment of war tribunals led by the victorious Allies.

“Her link to a notorious anti-Korea group was acknowledged by a court this year in a defamation case she lost. Inada also was seen posing with the leader of a neo-Nazi group in a 2011 photo that surfaced in the media in 2014.

“Inada, 57, is a supporter of Abe’s long-cherished hope to revise Japan’s Constitution. She has said parts of the war-renouncing Article 9 should be scrapped, arguing that they could be interpreted as banning Japan’s military.”

Merkel Must Go

Daily Mail wrote on July 31:

“Merkel’s premiership is hanging by a thread today as thousands gathered to call for her resignation while a key political ally dramatically withdrew his support over immigration policy.

“More than 5,000 protested in Berlin and thousands more throughout Germany over the ‘open-door’ policy that many have blamed for four brutal terrorist attacks that left 13 dead over the last month. The Chancellor faced a fresh wave of fury after it emerged that two recent terror attacks and a third killing were carried out by men who entered the country as refugees.

“Despite the massive waves of criticism, Merkel defended her policy this week, dramatically proclaiming ‘we can do it’ as she pledged not to let the violent acts guide political decisions. But now her key ally in Bavaria – which bore the brunt of the attacks – has launched a fresh attack on her leadership, distancing his party from Merkel and straining the coalition that keeps her in power.

“Horst Seehofer, the conservative premier of Bavaria, said he did not share Merkel’s ‘we can do it’ credo on accommodating the almost 1.1 million migrants and refugees who arrived in 2015. Seehofer, who leads the Christian Social Union, the sister party to Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats, said today ‘”We can do this” – I cannot, with the best will, adopt this phrase as my own.’

“Speaking after a meeting with the Bavarian government in Tegernsee, he added that the solutions to date were ‘too inadequate.’ Stressing he had no wish to start a quarrel with Merkel’s party, Seehofer said it was important to look ‘reality’ in the face.

“A new survey found that 83 per cent of Germans see immigration as their nation’s biggest challenge – twice as many as a year ago. Recent attacks have fuelled the right-wing movement, which has long called for stricter immigration controls, particularly in Bavaria, where she faces heavy criticism from high-profile politicians…

“Jens Spahn, deputy finance minister and a senior member of Merkel’s conservatives, said that integrating the refugees was a Herculean task but the government needed to put more pressure on those new arrivals unwilling to make an effort to fit in. ‘A ban on the full body veil – that is the niqab and the burka – is overdue,’ he told daily Die Welt. ‘My impression is that we all underestimated a year ago what would come upon us with this big refugee and migration movement.’”

Trump: Accept Russia’s Annexation of Crimea

The Associated Press reported on July 31:

“Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is suggesting the U.S. accept Russia’s annexation of Crimea if it would lead to better relations with Moscow and stronger cooperation in fighting Islamic State militants. In an interview Sunday on ABC’s ‘This Week,’ Trump suggested that the people of Crimea would rather be part of Russia. That runs counter to the Obama administration, which imposed economic sanctions against Russia for annexing the territory in Ukraine two years ago.

“The United Nations doesn’t want countries to recognize Crimea as part of Russia, and some top Republicans are staunchly defending Crimea against what they say is Russian aggression.”

Embarrassing—Trump Tries to “Explain” His Comments

The Associated Press wrote on August 1:

“Donald Trump is trying to explain comments that suggested he wasn’t aware that Russian troops were in Ukraine. In an interview on ABC Sunday, Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin is ‘not going into Ukraine.’ He added ‘You can mark it down. You can put it down.’

“Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has backed pro-Russian separatists in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Western governments accuse Russia of sending troops and weapons to Ukraine, but Moscow denies that. Trump tweeted Monday that Putin is not going into Ukraine ‘if I am president. Already in Crimea!’

“In another tweet, he said that ‘with all of the Obama tough talk on Russia and the Ukraine, they have already taken Crimea and continue to push. That’s what I said!’”

Trump in Hot Water… Again

The Independent wrote on August 2:

“Mr Trump has become embroiled in another controversy after he was criticised by the parents of a slain Muslim-American soldier… Mr McCain, who has issued only a lukewarm endorsement of Mr Trump and is fighting a tough re-election battle for the Senate, said he could not ’emphasise enough how deeply I disagree with Mr Trump’s statement’. ‘While our party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us,’ Mr McCain said in a statement on Monday…

“The controversy surrounding Mr Trump and the Khans relates to an appearance by the couple last week at the Democratic National Convention. In one of the most keenly watched addresses, Mr Khan said the Republican presidential nominee had smeared Muslims while sacrificing nothing himself.

“Two days later, Mr Trump added fresh fuel to the issue when he appeared to suggest that Ms Khan had not spoken during the convention because she had been prohibited from doing so. He appeared to suggest this was because she was a Muslim woman.”

Hillary Clinton Slammed for Lying to Fox News

Newsmax wrote on August 1:

“Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has been severely criticized for her insistence on Fox News Sunday that FBI Director James Comey said her statements on her email scandal were truthful. The criticism against her is even more significant because it is being spearheaded by The Washington Post, which has made it clear that it prefers her to win the election over Republican nominee Donald Trump.

“When Fox News host Chris Wallace noted that Comey said her repeated claims that she never sent or received material marked classified using her personal email server were not true, Clinton said: ‘That’s not what I heard Director Comey say… [he] said that my answers were truthful and what I’ve said is consistent with what I have told the American people, that there were decisions discussed and made to classify retroactively certain of the emails.’

“The Washington Post gave Clinton four Pinocchios for that statement, its worst ranking for truthfulness in its Fact Checker… The newspaper also ripped Clinton apart for claiming that the information was not classified at the time. ‘As for retroactive classification of emails, Comey did say many emails were retroactively classified. But he also said that some emails were classified at the time — and Clinton and her aides should have been aware of that.’

“There were plenty of other public figures who also took Clinton to task for the statements. One such example was Sen. Ben Sasse, who posted on his Twitter account a repudiation of Clinton and gave a link to a YouTube posting that shows his address to the Senate in which he posted Clinton’s statements alongside those of Comey’s to illustrate that she lied about many features of the scandal.”

Harambe for President?

Dailycaller.com reported on August 1:

“A recent poll found that five percent of Americans would vote for Harambe as president if he ran as an independent candidate in the 2016 election.

“Conducted by Public Policy Polling in late July, the poll asked 1,276 likely voters about their various political stances, including their opinions on Barack Obama, Tim Kaine, and Harambe — the infamous gorilla who was shot and killed by a zooworker in May.

“Question 10 asked, ‘If the candidates for President were Democrat Hillary Clinton, Republican Donald Trump, and independent Harambe, who would you vote for?’

“Forty eight percent of respondents said they would vote for Clinton, while 43 percent said they would vote for Trump. Four percent were conflicted by the daunting choice— they answered ‘not sure’ — and the final five percent opted for Harambe the gorilla.”

Pro-Erdogan Demonstration in Germany

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 31:

“Tens of thousands of people came to Cologne to attend a series of rallies in reaction to the recent coup attempt in Turkey…

“The abundance of images of Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party, which he founded in 2001, made it clear, however, that many of those gathered were there to cheer on the leader. Many protesters expressed disappointment, even indignation, at the fact that the Turkish president was not allowed to speak to the congregated crowd via video link. A court order issued the previous day had prevented Erdogan from taking part in this way.

“… there were even calls for the reintroduction of the death penalty in Turkey…

“Though those attending the rally also knew every word to the Turkish national anthem, which was played at the start of the events, fewer appeared to be able to competently recall the lyrics to the German national anthem, which followed immediately thereafter…

“Home to about 3 million Turks or people of Turkish descent, Germany has the biggest Turkish population outside of Turkey… A series of counterdemonstrations also filled the streets of Cologne during the day. The police said the scene at these smaller rallies bordered on ‘tense’ at times…  Those supporting Erdogan’s cause echoed his sentiments in the streets of Cologne, while those who truly oppose him likely opted to stay at home.”

Germany Demonized in Turkey

The Local wrote on August 1:

“No European country is more important in relations with Turkey than Germany – home to the world’s largest Turkish diaspora – but in Turkish media Germany is currently being demonized. Whenever there is tension in relations between Ankara and Berlin, Turkish news editors love to fall back on the well-worn cliche of the Third Reich.

“A day after German authorities prohibited Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan from speaking to tens of thousands of his supporters in Cologne via video link, the reaction was the same. On Monday, Aksam newspaper went with a headline in all caps that read ‘Heil Merkel.’ Next to it was a picture of the Chancellor sporting a Hitler moustache and raising her right arm in a Nazi salute. The publication is one of those which studiously toe the line of Erdogan’s AKP party. Another is Yeni Akit, which went with the even more shrill ‘Germany is not our friend, it’s our enemy’ as its Monday headline…

“Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu threatened on Monday to cancel a controversial deal on refugees that Turkey signed with the EU in March if the EU didn’t offer Turkish citizens visa-free travel into Europe. That he chose to make this statement to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is not likely to be a coincidence – Ankara knows full well that Merkel was the main architect of the pact along with former Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who had subsequently been forced out if his post.

“Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel reacted angrily later on Monday saying ‘under no circumstance will Germany, or Europe, let itself be blackmailed.’

“Another weight on the taut string of bilateral relations is the decision of German parliamentarians to pass a resolution recognizing the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915-16 as genocide. When the resolution was put to a vote on June 2nd, Turkish media also did not hold back with the Nazi comparisons. The Turkish government meanwhile has completely ignored Germany’s ambassador ever since.

“The dispute over the demonstration in Cologne has shown just how low relations have sunk. One statement in particular in the build up to the Cologne rally made it clear just how bad things have become. The Cologne chief of police said that he had successfully managed to prevent Turkish foreign minister Cavusoglu from attending the event in person… talking about the highest diplomat of a NATO ally…”

Breitbart added on July 31:

“Around 50,000 supporters of Turkey’s Islamist president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have rallied in Cologne, Germany to demand his authoritarian reign continues…

“The Islamist crowd chanted ‘Allah hu Akbar!’ and held signs reading, ‘Erdoğan is a human rights activist’, whilst opponents waved banners insisting ‘Stop the Erdomania!’ Members of the Turkish-nationalist, fascist-leaning ‘Grey Wolves’ group were among the crow…

“Some Germans reacted furiously to the huge Islamist rally in the country’s fourth largest city, and groups ranging from far-left ‘anti-fascists’, neo-Nazis and Kurdish separatists held counter-demonstrations. One angry Cologne resident was caught on video insulting the supporters of political Islam, calling them ‘crazy’ and ‘fascists’.”

Turkey’s Fight Against Christians

Express wrote on July 31:

“Turkey, which once boasted two million Christians, has barely 120,000 now, fewer even than Iran. But what shocked people most about July 15’s attacks was how much hatred still remains after almost 10 years.

“Though it is nominally a secular republic there can be little doubt that the government and Turkey’s 117,000 Sunni imams work together. Since the night of the failed coup, imams have been chanting the Selah prayer, usually reserved to announce a death, on a daily basis as a rally call.”

Joe Biden Officiates a Gay Wedding

The Associated Press wrote on August 2:

“Vice President Joe Biden has officiated a gay wedding, a first for the early proponent of same-sex marriage. Biden presided over the union of Joe Mahshie and Brian Mosteller, both longtime White House aides. The White House says the couple asked Biden to officiate. Biden has never officiated a wedding before, so he got a special temporary certification from the District of Columbia to make it legal…

“Biden publicly backed gay marriage in 2012 in the run-up to President Barack Obama’s re-election. The announcement put pressure on Obama to declare his own support shortly after.”

Navy to Name Ship After Gay Activist

The New York Times reported on July 29:

“In a sign of changing times for the American military, the Navy plans to name a ship for Harvey Milk, the gay rights leader and San Francisco supervisor who was assassinated in 1978.

“Ray Mabus, the secretary of the Navy, has notified Congress that he will name a fleet oiler for Mr. Milk, the first openly gay elected official in a major American city. The notice was reported by USNI News on Thursday and was confirmed Friday by a Navy official.

“The move comes five years after President Obama ended the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy, a move that allowed gays, lesbians and bisexuals to serve openly. Last month, the Pentagon lifted restrictions on transgender people serving openly.

“Gay rights activists and friends of Mr. Milk in San Francisco were already celebrating the long-awaited news. In 2012, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution calling on Mr. Mabus to name a ship for Mr. Milk, who served in the Navy from 1951 to 1955.

“Mr. Milk has been the subject of books, movies, a postage stamp and an opera. He was played by Sean Penn in the 2008 movie ‘Milk,’ for which Mr. Penn won an Oscar for best actor. A 1984 documentary, ‘The Times of Harvey Milk,’ also won an Academy Award.”

Update 747

The Prodigal Son; The Four Winds

On August 6, 2016, Rene Messier will present the sermonette, titled, “The Prodigal Son,” and Norbert Link will present the sermon, titled, “The Four Winds.”

The live services are available, over audio, at http://eternalgod.org/live-services/ (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time; 8:30 pm Greenwich Mean Time; 9:30 pm Central European Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

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Good News!

by Dave Harris

World news is bad news—wars, disease epidemics, acts of violence, political turmoil–these are the kind of reports we read and hear about. It is the unavoidable reality of our time.

Added to this are countless conspiracy theories of alien invaders, poisonous chemtrails, secret ruling societies and a host of other troubling or suspiciously fabricated rumors about occurrences happening around the world. Separating truth from fiction is a daunting challenge.

Yet, there is a true message of real hope being given! It is identified in the Bible as the “gospel.” It is the same news Jesus Christ proclaimed as noted in Mark 1, verse 15, when He said, “‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’”

The word, gospel, is derived from a Greek transliteration, euaggelion, meaning “good news.” The Church of God has carried forward the preaching of the gospel. It is a message about God’s Kingdom being established on the earth. It forecasts the end of bad news and promises a time of unending peace, joy and eternal life:

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful’” (Revelation 21:1-5).

This good news has been written in advance to strengthen us, “upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). Our challenge is to see through the darkness that now surrounds us and to continually look forward to the future God has promised:

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

The good news is that God’s Kingdom is coming—very soon!

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We begin with foreboding steps toward a militarized Europe as both France and Germany implement a growing military role within their countries and even London is forced to respond by arming some of their police. Japan seizes headlines with appointment of a new defense chief with far-right sympathies, and Angela Merkel’s immigration policy threatens her premiership in Germany.

We report about the turmoil surrounding candidates Trump and Clinton; highlight Turkey’s contentious actions following the attempted coup; conclude with reports of more acceptance for gay lifestyle in the U.S. (In this context and to understand why the Bible condemns such actions, please see our recent sermon by Norbert Link: Why Will God Punish America?)

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France Fights “Islamism”

Express wrote on August 2:

“French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says the country is to shut down mosques, cut foreign funding and police the content delivered in sermons in a massive crackdown on Islamic fundamentalism… The comments come following the murder of 86-year-old French Catholic priest Father Jacques Hamel who was killed on the altar during morning mass last Tuesday and three separate massacres in the country in just over a year.

“In a newspaper interview Prime Minister Valls says the Republic has been forced to intervene to drive out the ‘poison’ of radical Islamism. And he has announced plans to shut down mosques supporting Salafism, an ultra-orthodox religious-political ideology based on a belief in ‘physical’ jihadism practised by some followers of the Sunni faith.

“He said: ‘All Salafists are not jihadists … but almost all are jihadist Salafists… The places of worship that house preachers will be closed systematically… France must become a European centre of excellence in the teaching of Islamic theology.’

“France is also considering legislation that will allow it to remove and expel dual national citizens.”

France to Establish a National Guard 

Stratfor published on July 28:

“France will establish a national guard to help in the fight against terrorism, a statement from President Francois Hollande said July 28, France 24 and AFP reported. According to the statement, parliamentary consultations on the creation of the force — which will reportedly be made up of volunteers from the police, the security forces and the military — will take place in September. Hollande said he hoped the National Guard would be in place sometime in early fall. France has not had a national guard since the last iteration of the force was disbanded in 1872, but the country’s government is trying to reassure a nervous public that it is acting to counter the terrorist threat.”

Germany to Deploy Armed Soldiers in Germany

Daily Mail.com wrote on August 3:

“Germany is on the verge of smashing one of the last post-Nazi taboos by deploying armed soldiers on the streets in peacetime to combat terrorism.

“The Munich massacre has triggered a new security debate which includes stiffer gun laws and the use of troops in force…

“Keeping soldiers in their barracks has been a central tenet of postwar German domestic policy following the demise of Nazism.

“But after Friday’s slaughter – and an earlier incident where a refugee attacked passengers on a commuter train with an axe and a knife – the Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann says soldiers must join in the anti-terror fight in the same way as they do in France.

“’We are facing extreme situations,’ said Herrmann. ‘We do not live in the time of the Weimar Republic now,’ he said referring to Germany’s post-WW1 experiment with democracy which failed spectacularly and led directly to the rise of the Nazis.

“He said that historical reservations about armed soldiers on the streets were no longer applicable, adding: ‘We are an absolutely stable democracy.’

“But he said the decision when and where to deploy the Bundeswehr (army) must rest solely with the police.

“He went on: ‘The Bundeswehr can be deployed under the leadership of the German states who are responsible for internal security to protect the citizens.’

“In tandem with this plan are new discussions in Berlin about tightening Germany’s already strict gun laws.”

Even London Adds Armed Patrols

Sky News reported on August 3:

“Increased numbers of armed officers are to mount patrols across London, including at major landmarks, in the wake of the deadly terror attacks in Europe.

“Revealing plans for the heightened visible presence on the streets of the capital, Met Police chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said it would be ‘foolish to ignore’ the recent atrocities on the continent.

“The extra specialist officers were there to ‘confront terrorists’ and were ‘prepared to deal with the worst situations’, he insisted.

“But the main police union has warned that it could be two years before the promised extra firearms officers are operational.

“Police Federation of England and Wales chairman Steve White said the ‘best case scenario’ would be 24 months to get the additional 1,500 marksmen in place.

“With the terror threat level in the UK ranked as severe, Sir Bernard stressed the need for vigilance with an attack ‘highly likely’.

“He was speaking after warning that a terror attack in Britain was a case of ‘when, not if’.

“The extra armed police on patrol form the first wave of a move to increase the number of firearms officers in London by 600.”

Japan’s New Defense Minister

The Associated Press wrote on August 3:

“A woman who has downplayed Japan’s wartime actions and is known for far-right views was named defense minister in a Cabinet reshuffle Wednesday, a move that could unsettle Tokyo’s relations with Asian neighbors with bitter memories of its World War II-era atrocities.

“Tomomi Inada, a former reform minister who most recently was policy chief in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, replaced Gen Nakatani as defense minister. She is the second female to fill the post…

“A lawyer-turned-lawmaker with little experience in defense, Inada is one of Abe’s favorites. She regularly visits Yasukuni Shrine, which honors war dead including convicted war criminals, a gesture seen as an endorsement of Japan’s militaristic past.

“She also has defended Japan’s wartime atrocities, including forcing many Asian women into sexual servitude in military-run brothels, and has led a party committee to re-evaluate the judgment of war tribunals led by the victorious Allies.

“Her link to a notorious anti-Korea group was acknowledged by a court this year in a defamation case she lost. Inada also was seen posing with the leader of a neo-Nazi group in a 2011 photo that surfaced in the media in 2014.

“Inada, 57, is a supporter of Abe’s long-cherished hope to revise Japan’s Constitution. She has said parts of the war-renouncing Article 9 should be scrapped, arguing that they could be interpreted as banning Japan’s military.”

Merkel Must Go

Daily Mail wrote on July 31:

“Merkel’s premiership is hanging by a thread today as thousands gathered to call for her resignation while a key political ally dramatically withdrew his support over immigration policy.

“More than 5,000 protested in Berlin and thousands more throughout Germany over the ‘open-door’ policy that many have blamed for four brutal terrorist attacks that left 13 dead over the last month. The Chancellor faced a fresh wave of fury after it emerged that two recent terror attacks and a third killing were carried out by men who entered the country as refugees.

“Despite the massive waves of criticism, Merkel defended her policy this week, dramatically proclaiming ‘we can do it’ as she pledged not to let the violent acts guide political decisions. But now her key ally in Bavaria – which bore the brunt of the attacks – has launched a fresh attack on her leadership, distancing his party from Merkel and straining the coalition that keeps her in power.

“Horst Seehofer, the conservative premier of Bavaria, said he did not share Merkel’s ‘we can do it’ credo on accommodating the almost 1.1 million migrants and refugees who arrived in 2015. Seehofer, who leads the Christian Social Union, the sister party to Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats, said today ‘”We can do this” – I cannot, with the best will, adopt this phrase as my own.’

“Speaking after a meeting with the Bavarian government in Tegernsee, he added that the solutions to date were ‘too inadequate.’ Stressing he had no wish to start a quarrel with Merkel’s party, Seehofer said it was important to look ‘reality’ in the face.

“A new survey found that 83 per cent of Germans see immigration as their nation’s biggest challenge – twice as many as a year ago. Recent attacks have fuelled the right-wing movement, which has long called for stricter immigration controls, particularly in Bavaria, where she faces heavy criticism from high-profile politicians…

“Jens Spahn, deputy finance minister and a senior member of Merkel’s conservatives, said that integrating the refugees was a Herculean task but the government needed to put more pressure on those new arrivals unwilling to make an effort to fit in. ‘A ban on the full body veil – that is the niqab and the burka – is overdue,’ he told daily Die Welt. ‘My impression is that we all underestimated a year ago what would come upon us with this big refugee and migration movement.’”

Trump: Accept Russia’s Annexation of Crimea

The Associated Press reported on July 31:

“Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is suggesting the U.S. accept Russia’s annexation of Crimea if it would lead to better relations with Moscow and stronger cooperation in fighting Islamic State militants. In an interview Sunday on ABC’s ‘This Week,’ Trump suggested that the people of Crimea would rather be part of Russia. That runs counter to the Obama administration, which imposed economic sanctions against Russia for annexing the territory in Ukraine two years ago.

“The United Nations doesn’t want countries to recognize Crimea as part of Russia, and some top Republicans are staunchly defending Crimea against what they say is Russian aggression.”

Embarrassing—Trump Tries to “Explain” His Comments

The Associated Press wrote on August 1:

“Donald Trump is trying to explain comments that suggested he wasn’t aware that Russian troops were in Ukraine. In an interview on ABC Sunday, Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin is ‘not going into Ukraine.’ He added ‘You can mark it down. You can put it down.’

“Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has backed pro-Russian separatists in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Western governments accuse Russia of sending troops and weapons to Ukraine, but Moscow denies that. Trump tweeted Monday that Putin is not going into Ukraine ‘if I am president. Already in Crimea!’

“In another tweet, he said that ‘with all of the Obama tough talk on Russia and the Ukraine, they have already taken Crimea and continue to push. That’s what I said!’”

Trump in Hot Water… Again

The Independent wrote on August 2:

“Mr Trump has become embroiled in another controversy after he was criticised by the parents of a slain Muslim-American soldier… Mr McCain, who has issued only a lukewarm endorsement of Mr Trump and is fighting a tough re-election battle for the Senate, said he could not ’emphasise enough how deeply I disagree with Mr Trump’s statement’. ‘While our party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us,’ Mr McCain said in a statement on Monday…

“The controversy surrounding Mr Trump and the Khans relates to an appearance by the couple last week at the Democratic National Convention. In one of the most keenly watched addresses, Mr Khan said the Republican presidential nominee had smeared Muslims while sacrificing nothing himself.

“Two days later, Mr Trump added fresh fuel to the issue when he appeared to suggest that Ms Khan had not spoken during the convention because she had been prohibited from doing so. He appeared to suggest this was because she was a Muslim woman.”

Hillary Clinton Slammed for Lying to Fox News

Newsmax wrote on August 1:

“Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has been severely criticized for her insistence on Fox News Sunday that FBI Director James Comey said her statements on her email scandal were truthful. The criticism against her is even more significant because it is being spearheaded by The Washington Post, which has made it clear that it prefers her to win the election over Republican nominee Donald Trump.

“When Fox News host Chris Wallace noted that Comey said her repeated claims that she never sent or received material marked classified using her personal email server were not true, Clinton said: ‘That’s not what I heard Director Comey say… [he] said that my answers were truthful and what I’ve said is consistent with what I have told the American people, that there were decisions discussed and made to classify retroactively certain of the emails.’

“The Washington Post gave Clinton four Pinocchios for that statement, its worst ranking for truthfulness in its Fact Checker… The newspaper also ripped Clinton apart for claiming that the information was not classified at the time. ‘As for retroactive classification of emails, Comey did say many emails were retroactively classified. But he also said that some emails were classified at the time — and Clinton and her aides should have been aware of that.’

“There were plenty of other public figures who also took Clinton to task for the statements. One such example was Sen. Ben Sasse, who posted on his Twitter account a repudiation of Clinton and gave a link to a YouTube posting that shows his address to the Senate in which he posted Clinton’s statements alongside those of Comey’s to illustrate that she lied about many features of the scandal.”

Harambe for President?

Dailycaller.com reported on August 1:

“A recent poll found that five percent of Americans would vote for Harambe as president if he ran as an independent candidate in the 2016 election.

“Conducted by Public Policy Polling in late July, the poll asked 1,276 likely voters about their various political stances, including their opinions on Barack Obama, Tim Kaine, and Harambe — the infamous gorilla who was shot and killed by a zooworker in May.

“Question 10 asked, ‘If the candidates for President were Democrat Hillary Clinton, Republican Donald Trump, and independent Harambe, who would you vote for?’

“Forty eight percent of respondents said they would vote for Clinton, while 43 percent said they would vote for Trump. Four percent were conflicted by the daunting choice— they answered ‘not sure’ — and the final five percent opted for Harambe the gorilla.”

Pro-Erdogan Demonstration in Germany

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 31:

“Tens of thousands of people came to Cologne to attend a series of rallies in reaction to the recent coup attempt in Turkey…

“The abundance of images of Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party, which he founded in 2001, made it clear, however, that many of those gathered were there to cheer on the leader. Many protesters expressed disappointment, even indignation, at the fact that the Turkish president was not allowed to speak to the congregated crowd via video link. A court order issued the previous day had prevented Erdogan from taking part in this way.

“… there were even calls for the reintroduction of the death penalty in Turkey…

“Though those attending the rally also knew every word to the Turkish national anthem, which was played at the start of the events, fewer appeared to be able to competently recall the lyrics to the German national anthem, which followed immediately thereafter…

“Home to about 3 million Turks or people of Turkish descent, Germany has the biggest Turkish population outside of Turkey… A series of counterdemonstrations also filled the streets of Cologne during the day. The police said the scene at these smaller rallies bordered on ‘tense’ at times…  Those supporting Erdogan’s cause echoed his sentiments in the streets of Cologne, while those who truly oppose him likely opted to stay at home.”

Germany Demonized in Turkey

The Local wrote on August 1:

“No European country is more important in relations with Turkey than Germany – home to the world’s largest Turkish diaspora – but in Turkish media Germany is currently being demonized. Whenever there is tension in relations between Ankara and Berlin, Turkish news editors love to fall back on the well-worn cliche of the Third Reich.

“A day after German authorities prohibited Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan from speaking to tens of thousands of his supporters in Cologne via video link, the reaction was the same. On Monday, Aksam newspaper went with a headline in all caps that read ‘Heil Merkel.’ Next to it was a picture of the Chancellor sporting a Hitler moustache and raising her right arm in a Nazi salute. The publication is one of those which studiously toe the line of Erdogan’s AKP party. Another is Yeni Akit, which went with the even more shrill ‘Germany is not our friend, it’s our enemy’ as its Monday headline…

“Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu threatened on Monday to cancel a controversial deal on refugees that Turkey signed with the EU in March if the EU didn’t offer Turkish citizens visa-free travel into Europe. That he chose to make this statement to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is not likely to be a coincidence – Ankara knows full well that Merkel was the main architect of the pact along with former Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who had subsequently been forced out if his post.

“Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel reacted angrily later on Monday saying ‘under no circumstance will Germany, or Europe, let itself be blackmailed.’

“Another weight on the taut string of bilateral relations is the decision of German parliamentarians to pass a resolution recognizing the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915-16 as genocide. When the resolution was put to a vote on June 2nd, Turkish media also did not hold back with the Nazi comparisons. The Turkish government meanwhile has completely ignored Germany’s ambassador ever since.

“The dispute over the demonstration in Cologne has shown just how low relations have sunk. One statement in particular in the build up to the Cologne rally made it clear just how bad things have become. The Cologne chief of police said that he had successfully managed to prevent Turkish foreign minister Cavusoglu from attending the event in person… talking about the highest diplomat of a NATO ally…”

Breitbart added on July 31:

“Around 50,000 supporters of Turkey’s Islamist president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have rallied in Cologne, Germany to demand his authoritarian reign continues…

“The Islamist crowd chanted ‘Allah hu Akbar!’ and held signs reading, ‘Erdoğan is a human rights activist’, whilst opponents waved banners insisting ‘Stop the Erdomania!’ Members of the Turkish-nationalist, fascist-leaning ‘Grey Wolves’ group were among the crow…

“Some Germans reacted furiously to the huge Islamist rally in the country’s fourth largest city, and groups ranging from far-left ‘anti-fascists’, neo-Nazis and Kurdish separatists held counter-demonstrations. One angry Cologne resident was caught on video insulting the supporters of political Islam, calling them ‘crazy’ and ‘fascists’.”

Turkey’s Fight Against Christians

Express wrote on July 31:

“Turkey, which once boasted two million Christians, has barely 120,000 now, fewer even than Iran. But what shocked people most about July 15’s attacks was how much hatred still remains after almost 10 years.

“Though it is nominally a secular republic there can be little doubt that the government and Turkey’s 117,000 Sunni imams work together. Since the night of the failed coup, imams have been chanting the Selah prayer, usually reserved to announce a death, on a daily basis as a rally call.”

Joe Biden Officiates a Gay Wedding

The Associated Press wrote on August 2:

“Vice President Joe Biden has officiated a gay wedding, a first for the early proponent of same-sex marriage. Biden presided over the union of Joe Mahshie and Brian Mosteller, both longtime White House aides. The White House says the couple asked Biden to officiate. Biden has never officiated a wedding before, so he got a special temporary certification from the District of Columbia to make it legal…

“Biden publicly backed gay marriage in 2012 in the run-up to President Barack Obama’s re-election. The announcement put pressure on Obama to declare his own support shortly after.”

Navy to Name Ship After Gay Activist

The New York Times reported on July 29:

“In a sign of changing times for the American military, the Navy plans to name a ship for Harvey Milk, the gay rights leader and San Francisco supervisor who was assassinated in 1978.

“Ray Mabus, the secretary of the Navy, has notified Congress that he will name a fleet oiler for Mr. Milk, the first openly gay elected official in a major American city. The notice was reported by USNI News on Thursday and was confirmed Friday by a Navy official.

“The move comes five years after President Obama ended the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy, a move that allowed gays, lesbians and bisexuals to serve openly. Last month, the Pentagon lifted restrictions on transgender people serving openly.

“Gay rights activists and friends of Mr. Milk in San Francisco were already celebrating the long-awaited news. In 2012, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution calling on Mr. Mabus to name a ship for Mr. Milk, who served in the Navy from 1951 to 1955.

“Mr. Milk has been the subject of books, movies, a postage stamp and an opera. He was played by Sean Penn in the 2008 movie ‘Milk,’ for which Mr. Penn won an Oscar for best actor. A 1984 documentary, ‘The Times of Harvey Milk,’ also won an Academy Award.”

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Married or Single – Which Is the Ideal State?

If we search the Scriptures, we will find that depending on the circumstances, God endorses both being married and being single.   Let us look briefly at what He has to say about each state.

In Genesis 2:18 we read: “And the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.’”   In verses 21-24 we further read: “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.  And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.’”

And so, in the second chapter of the Bible, we see that marriage was instituted between a man and a woman.  There is no other combination approved by God’s Word in spite of modern-day secular legislation.

In Unger’s Bible Dictionary under the heading “Marriage” – Origin (page 817), we read the following:  “Marriage is a divine institution designed to form a permanent union between man and woman that they might be helpful to one another (Genesis 2:18).   Moses presents it as the deepest corporeal and spiritual unity of man and woman, and monogamy as the form of marriage ordained by God (Genesis 2:24; cf Matthew 19:5).   Without the marital tie, the inhabitants of this world would have been a mixed multitude.   The family circle, family instruction, and parental love and care would have been altogether unknown.”

There are many instructions to “go forth and multiply,” and this was within the institution of marriage (see for example Genesis 9:1 to Noah and his sons after the flood; 9:7; 35:11; 47:27, etc).   Population was needed after the flood, and the nation Israel would be raised up through whom the Saviour, Jesus Christ, would be born from the tribe of Judah (see Genesis 49:10).

We should also note the references to Christ and the Church.   In Ephesians 5:22-33, instruction is given to both husbands and wives, and in verse 32 we read: “This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”   Revelation 19:7 sheds more light on this relationship: “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife (the church) has made herself ready.”

In our booklet Is That in the Bible? – The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation!,” a number of comments are made about this relationship, as follows:

“As we can see from Ephesians 5:31–32, Paul is addressing here the mystery of the relationship between Christ and His Church.  He emphasizes that those who are called must come out of the ways of this world in order to be joined with Christ.  Christ must be continuously living within them (1 John 2:15–17; Romans 12:2; Galatians 2:20). Paul also shows that the physical institution of marriage is pointing at a spiritual union between God and man. It is pointing at a spiritual marriage between Christ and His Church” (page 115)…

“Jesus spoke of Himself as the ‘bridegroom’ (Luke 5:34–35).When Jesus was on this earth, He taught that He would be taken away and that no ‘marriage’ would be consummated at that time.

“Note, as well, that Jesus gave a parable indicating that He, as the bridegroom, would return (compare Matthew 25:1–13). In this story, Jesus began His teaching with these very important words: ‘The kingdom of heaven shall be LIKENED to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom’ (Matthew 25:1).

“Jesus presented this example of bridegroom and virgins (that is, the bride) as a means of instructing His Church to be ready for His return. Most importantly, the Church was to remain vigilant and not let God’s Holy Spirit (the “oil” for their lamps) fade out of their lives! He would only marry those who were ready.

“John the Baptist also referred to Jesus as the bridegroom (compare John 3:29). In his statement, John attested to the fact that Jesus was the Christ, and that he (John) was in a position of service, as if he were the friend in a marriage ceremony. This is, of course, just an analogy, because John will be in the first resurrection and therefore part of the bride.

“In a deeply symbolic series of statements, Paul instructs married members of the Church to love their mates (compare Ephesians 5:22–33). He draws on the selfless example of Christ’s love for His Church to make his point. Then, he mentions a profound truth about marriage, calling it ‘a great mystery’ (verse 32).

“Why is it a mystery? Because it is a truth hidden in the plan of God—hidden to those not called by God! Yet, God’s Church understands this mystery: Jesus Christ will marry His Church (compare, especially, verses 25–27)! Note what Paul also stated in this regard: ‘For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ’ (2 Corinthians 11:2)” (pages 119-120)…

“The fact remains that Jesus Christ will marry His Church!  We find this specifically promised in Revelation 19. Verse 7 states: ‘Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.’ Understand that the wife spoken of here is comprised of ALL of the saints—ALL of those counted WORTHY for the first resurrection. Christians who live just before Christ’s return, also must be prepared—just as the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 so clearly teaches.

“Carefully consider what is stated in Revelation 19:8: ‘And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is THE RIGHTEOUS ACTS of the saints.’ The focus for who will be in this wedding ceremony centers on those who are righteous—that is, those who obey God! Here we gain insight to the fact that Christ will marry those who live righteous lives—something only possible through having the help of God’s Holy Spirit!” (page 121)…

“Speaking to Israel of a future time—a time when God will establish His Kingdom on the earth: ‘“And it shall be, IN THAT DAY,’ Says the LORD, “That you will call Me ‘My Husband…’”’ (Hosea 2:16). Then, in verses 19–20, we find that God promises to join Israel to Himself in an unending marriage: ‘I WILL BETROTH YOU TO ME FOREVER; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the LORD.’ It is important to realize that God will ‘betroth’ Israel in the future—AFTER Christ’s return and the FIRST resurrection. This shows that the ‘bride’ cannot only include those in the first resurrection” (pages 121/122).

Does this mean that marriage is the only acceptable state to God?   Does God’s command from ancient times “to go forth and multiply” still apply today for every human being?   Is every Christian obligated to follow through on this ancient instruction?   Many men and women today may prefer to stay single for all sorts of reasons. While many of those reasons might be based on selfishness and improper motives, Paul addresses some valid concerns starting in 1 Corinthians 7:25.   This was written at a time of persecution of the church, but the principles still apply today.  In verse 32, Paul writes: “He who is unmarried cares for the things that belong to the Lord – how he may please the Lord.”

We read that Christ, when He was here on earth, was not married; and neither was John the Baptist. On the other hand, most of the apostles were married. As a Rabbi taught under Gamaliel, Paul (then known as Saul) seemed to have been married before his conversion, but some feel that his wife died. In any event, he was unmarried in his later life (1 Corinthians 7:8). He did not have the extra responsibilities, problems and stresses that can come with marriage and a family.   He was able to devote his life to doing the Work of God. Had he been married, perhaps he might not have been so prolific in his writings and in his work of preaching the gospel?  This does not mean that the apostles Peter and James—just to give a couple of examples—were in any way less productive because they were married. We read that Peter’s wife accompanied him on his travels and was undoubtedly a great help to him. However, Paul judged that in his case, it was better for him not to get married, while also emphasizing that it is not a sin to marry.

Jesus explained that some will not marry for several valid reasons, one of which is for the Kingdom of God’s sake (Matthew 19:10-12). As one observer remarked: “It is not a sin to remain single, even for your entire life. The most important thing in life is, not finding a mate and having children, but serving God.”

Of course, it would be physically impossible for everyone to be married anyway.   Quoting from the “United Nations Statistics Division (in 2010)”, they state the following: “In today’s world, there are 57 million more men than women. This surplus of men is concentrated in the youngest age groups and steadily diminishes until it disappears at about age 50, thereafter becoming a surplus of women owing to their longer life expectancy. A surplus of men characterizes the world’s most populous countries – China and India – hence the large surplus of men worldwide.   In most other countries, there are more women than men.”

The original question is, “Married or single – which is the ideal state?”   And the answer is simple.   It is that state which is best for the individual with neither necessarily better than the other.   They both offer opportunities for the people of God Who wants all of His people to be happy, service-orientated and fulfilled, whether they are married or single.

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

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Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

Norbert and Johanna Link, accompanied by Margaret Adair along with Michael, Noelle and Mason Link, will visit the Oregon brethren this coming Sabbath—August 6, 2016.

“Die Vier Winde,” is the title of this coming Sabbath’s German sermon. Title in English: “The Four Winds.”

“Made for Man,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Michael Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

What has God made for man and what has man taken for granted?  God created everything and gave man a big responsibility to uphold His creation and man also had a big responsibility to keep God’s law, but man as a whole has failed to do so by giving into sin.  There are many things which are a mystery to this world like the Sabbath, for example, as to how and why it is to be kept.  Those of us who have been called out of this world need to make sure that we don’t take lightly what God expects of us, by obeying Him and keeping His day of rest holy, or we will miss out of His plan for us.

“Why Will God Punish America?,” the sermon from last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The Bible speaks in no uncertain terms about America’s future defeat in war, and it gives us many reasons as to why God is extremely angry with the USA, as well as other nations. We will see in this sermon why the ancient House of Israel went into captivity. We will also show that America, which is called modern Sodom in the Bible, commits the same sins today, without any real hope for repentance and change.

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How This Work is Financed

This Update is an official publication by the ministry of the Church of the Eternal God in the United States of America; the Church of God, a Christian Fellowship in Canada; and the Global Church of God in the United Kingdom.

Editorial Team: Norbert Link, Dave Harris, Rene Messier, Brian Gale, Johanna Link, Eric Rank, Michael Link, Anna Link, Kalon Mitchell, Manuela Mitchell, Dawn Thompson

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