On June 11, 2016, Robb Harris will present the sermonette, titled, “Authentic or Counterfeit?” and Dave Harris will present the sermon, titled, “I Am Stubborn!”

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.

June 12, 2016, is the Feast of Pentecost. We will present live services beginning at 10:00 am, Pacific Time. Joe Bourque will present the sermonette, titled, “Fervent Love,” and Rene Messier will present the sermon, titled, “Fruit.” In the afternoon, services will begin at 3:30 pm, Pacific Time. Michael Link will present the offertory, titled, “One of a Kind,” and Norbert Link will present the sermon, titled, “Pentecost 2016–God’s Feast of the Firstfruits.”

Some people just think better than other people do!

However, this isn’t an evaluation based on the intellect associated with a high IQ. Rather, this kind of thinking has to do with thoughts that are good as opposed to those which are evil.

Primarily, society judges itself based on actions, but more and more there are attempts to influence and even govern what a person thinks. Proof of this is found in the staggering moral changes now taking place. Behavior once deemed as sinful is now thought of as acceptable.

Our thoughts are not private to us alone. While other people may not be able to know what we think, God does (compare 1 Chronicles 28:9)! Judgment against mankind before the flood went beyond their actions, it included how people thought:

“Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).

The great challenge for Christians is to bring “…every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). That is possible because we have the gift of God’s Holy Spirit. Furthermore, “…we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16).

These spiritual resources must be developed as we grow in our calling. We must learn to think as God thinks (compare Matthew 5:48). The apostle Paul addressed this goal by showing us how we should think:

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

Given this standard, what do YOU think?

We begin with the surprising announcement by German President Gauck that he will not run for re-election, causing further potential problems for Chancellor Angela Merkel and her government.

We report on the planned ISIS attack in Düsseldorf, Germany, which would have been much bigger than originally thought; and focus on strong comments by Germany’s anti-immigration party, the AfD. We also report on the true scale of Germany’s migrant crisis.

We continue with the ongoing troubles between Germany and Turkey; the legal challenge of Austria’s recent presidential election results; news regarding Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, with a strongly worded article, asking whether the Obama Administration is guilty of war crimes; and Europe’s relationship with Britain in view of a possible Brexit. In this context, please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “What if Britain Leaves Europe?”.

We speak on China’s suppression of Ramadan celebrations; Poland’s paramilitary force to counter Russia; Russia’s “effective, advanced” submarines; rewards from the Philippine government for intentionally killing criminals, rather than arresting them; and legally permitted assisted suicide in Canada and other countries.

We conclude with Jewish acceptance of transgender and homosexual rights; and the Catholic Church’s fascination with the Virgin Mary.

Headache for Merkel as Gauck Will Step Down as German President

The Guardian wrote on June 6:

“Germany’s president, Joachim Gauck, has announced he will not stand for a second term in office, prompting an instant race to find his successor and effectively kick-starting the campaign for a general election in autumn of next year. The 76-year-old former East German pastor and civil rights activist said he was stepping down despite appeals across the spectrum for him to stay in office, citing his advancing years.

“His decision is likely to create difficulties for the already embattled chancellor, Angela Merkel, triggering a cross-party race for possible successors to be chosen less than six months before a 2017 general election… He said it had been a huge honour to serve Germany since 2012 as its 11th postwar president, a largely ceremonial, apolitical role. His successor will not be decided by direct vote, but by the political parties, along with a congress consisting of sportspeople, celebrities and other public figures.

“While they might agree on a single candidate, it is more likely the parties will put up rival ones, particularly at a time when there is a lack of unity over Merkel’s refugee policy, most notably within her own grand coalition government of the Christian Democrats (CDU), their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the Social Democrats (SPD)…”

Deutsche Welle added on June 6:

“The timing for picking a replacement president could arguably be better… Gauck’s announcement effectively starts the general election campaign 15 months early, with a conflict Chancellor Angela Merkel would have preferred to avoid.”

The Local added on June 4:

“‘It’s his partner Daniela Schadt who has advised him not to stand for a second term, particularly due to his age and his state of health,’ Bild said… Gauck was named president in 2012 when his conservative predecessor Christian Wulff was forced to quit over corruption allegations.

“His recognition of the 1915 mass killings of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire as genocide in a speech last year, sparked outrage in Turkey. This week, the German parliament adopted a resolution to the same effect. Last year, Gauck also lashed out at xenophobic attacks in Germany on migrants and refugees, describing them as the country’s ‘dark’ side.”

Joachim Gauck, a former Protestant pastor, is still married to his wife, but he has been openly living together with his girlfriend (“partner”) who has been accompanying him on his official foreign trips. This does not seem to bother most Germans.

Planned ISIS Attack on Düsseldorf Much Bigger than Originally Thought

The Local wrote on June 3:

“The Isis plot to [attack] the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia was bigger than previously assumed, with ten terrorists supposed to murder people with bombs and guns, local media report… According to this account [by Der Spiegel], two of the [groups] were supposed to blow themselves up in the Altstadt district, the other men were then to attack more civilians with guns and explosives…

“Meanwhile Focus reports that in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) 37 arrest warrants against people in the Islamist scene are outstanding because the culprits have gone missing… ‘The 37 people who are being looked for are accused of committed crimes including establishing a criminal or terrorist organization, [serious] bodily harm, deception, resistance against state officials and theft,’ said state representative Gregor Golland from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

“Also on Friday, the Justice Ministry said that German prosecutors have launched legal proceedings against 180 suspects linked to jihadist groups in Syria. ‘The chief prosecutor is currently carrying out 120 proceedings targeting 180 suspects in connection with the civil war in Syria, for their membership in, or backing of, a terrorist organisation,’ said Justice Ministry spokesman Philip Scholz.

“Separately, the NRW interior ministry said there were ‘499 potentially dangerous individuals in the field of Islamist terrorism’ in their jurisdiction.”

Germany’s AfD Party Takes Strong Stand Against Merkel, Muslims, Foreigners and Blacks

The Local wrote on June 5:

“The leader of a German anti-immigrant party has hit out at football star Mesut Ozil for not singing the national anthem and accused him of peddling a political Islamic agenda. The attack comes a week ahead of the start of Euro 2016 in France, and hard on the heels of racially disparaging remarks about another German footballer, Jerome Boateng, from [Alexander Gauland,] a member of the same Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

“In an interview published on Sunday in the newspaper Die Welt, AfD co-leader Frauke Petry accused Ozil, formerly of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid but now with Londoners Arsenal, of setting a poor example for children. ‘It’s a pity Mesut Ozil, someone so many children and adolescents identify with, does not sing the national anthem,’ she was quoted as saying. She also accused him of hypocrisy after a picture on social media last month showed Ozil, who hails from Germany’s Turkish community, posing at the Islamic holy site of Mecca. In a nod to Ozil’s lifestyle, Petry said: ‘He doesn’t live according to the rules of sharia.’… Petry also reiterated her party’s stance that Islam is unconstitutional and said it was difficult to draw a distinction between an Islamist and a Muslim.

“Last week AfD politician Alexander Gauland came under fire for saying most Germans would not want Boateng, whose father is Ghanaian, as their neighbor — a comment Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman condemned as ‘vile and sad.’ The AfD co-chief elaborated on his views in comments to news weekly Der Spiegel, claiming that professional football is ‘no longer a question of national identity’…”

AFP added on June 5:

“A German right-wing populist politician has attacked Chancellor Angela Merkel as a ‘dictator’ who is trying to ‘replace the German people’ with migrants, a Sunday newspaper reported. Alexander Gauland, of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, told a rally outside Berlin that Merkel’s liberal asylum policy was radically transforming the face of the country, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung said. He… said Germany’s mainstream parties were pursuing a policy of ‘human flooding’, an ‘attempt to gradually replace the German people with a population coming from all parts of the earth’…

“The three-year-old AfD has assumed an increasingly anti-immigrant and Islamophobic stance as Europe’s biggest economy let in nearly 1.1 million asylum seekers last year. It is currently polling at about 15 percent nationwide after capturing seats in three state elections in March. Analysts say it has tapped into angst over the migrant influx…”

“Germany’s Migrant Crisis Turns into a NIGHTMARE”

Express wrote on June 8:

“The true scale of the migrant crisis in Germany has been uncovered as it emerges 80 per cent of asylum seekers have arrived there WITHOUT a passport – and hundreds of thousands are now planning to bring over their FAMILIES… Between January and April, out of 114,255 of asylum seekers waiting to cross the border, around 91,000 did not have the required documents. And from January to March this year German border officers seized 1,306 fake documents from asylum seekers, of which 145 were Syrian refugees, according to German newspaper Bild.

“Meanwhile, in 2015, federal police seized 4,973 fake identification documents when searching travelling migrants in Germany – 834 of those were fake IDs of Syrian refugees. It seems criminals have managed to slip through the net as since the first four months of 2016, more than 4,000 people who have entered the country are now on the Germany’s most wanted list…

“Chancellor Angela Merkel’s grip on power is growing ever weaker, with rebellion across the country against her controversial immigration policies…

“Germany will now have to brace itself for hundreds and thousands of migrants landing in Germany to join their relatives, according to the federal agency for migration and refugees… During the next years up to 500,000 Syrians could encourage their families to join them in Germany, the study predicts…”

Germany’s Trouble with Turkey Continues

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 6:

“Amid the ongoing row over Germany’s decision to refer to the Armenian massacre as ‘genocide,’ Berlin has hit back at the Turkish president… Steffen Seibert, spokesman to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said on Monday that the Bundestag – Germany’s lower house of parliament – ‘had reached a sovereign decision.’ ‘That must be respected,’ he added…

“As the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, Turkey officially denies that the events that started in 1915 amounted to genocide. Ankara’s official line is that ethnic Armenians represented a fifth column backed by Russia during World War I, and that the mass deportation and accompanying Armenian deaths were not premeditated or intentional – a key requirement in the legal definition of genocide.

“Following the Bundestag’s ‘overwhelming’ vote in favor of the ‘genocide’ resolution, Ankara recalled its ambassador from Berlin, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowing to ‘never accept the accusations of genocide.’ ‘First you need to answer for the Holocaust, then for the murder of 100,000 people in Namibia,’ Erdogan said.

“The Turkish president also accused 11 German MPs with Turkish roots who backed the resolution of supporting ‘terrorism’ by the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), and demanded ‘blood tests’ to see ‘what kind of Turks they are.’ Ankara’s mayor, Ibrahim Melih Gökcek, later tweeted a collage of the 11 politicians, claiming that they had ‘stabbed us (Turkey) in the back.’

“In response to the allegations, Seibert said on Monday that while Berlin also considers the PKK a terrorist group, ‘to associate individual members of parliament with terrorism is utterly incomprehensible to us.’

“Among the 11 MPs was Green party co-leader, Cem Özedemir, who also instigated the vote on the resolution. The politician has since been placed under police protection after receiving anonymous death threats. The 50-year-old from Bad Urach in western Germany is the son of Turkish immigrants. Speaking on Monday, Özdemir said that he wouldn’t let himself be intimidated by Erdogan’s verbal attacks…

“Despite broadly opposing the ‘genocide’ vote, Germany’s Turkish community has nonetheless criticized Ankara’s and Erdogan’s supporters for the pressure which has been placed on German lawmakers of Turkish origin. ‘We find death threats and demands for blood tests abhorrent,’ said chairman of Germany’s Association for the Turkish Community, Gokay Sofuoglu. ‘I think the era when people were defined by their blood ended in 1945. This is absolutely out of place,’ he added.

“The growing tensions between Germany and Turkey have come at a critical time for both countries as they seek to fully implement the recently-agreed EU refugee deal which seeks to control the flow of migrants into Europe…”

FPÖ Challenges Presidential Election Results in Austria

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 8:

“The far-right Austrian party FPÖ has filed a legal challenge against the results of last month’s presidential election, the Constitutional Court has said. The party’s leader [Heinz-Christian Strache] said there were ‘terrifying’ irregularities… In the election in May, postal ballots pushed former leader of the Green Party, Alexander Van der Bellen – who ran as an independent – over the line to defeat FPÖ candidate Norbert Hofer. The margin of victory was under 1 percentage point, or roughly 31,000 votes.

“‘Without these glitches, irregularities and breaking of laws, Hofer could have become president,’ Strache said after filing an official challenge at the Constitutional Court. ‘I think a re-election is very realistic,’ Strache said.

“Lawyers for the anti-immigration Freedom Party said they had found evidence that over 573,000 absentee and postal ballots had been handled without the presence of local election commissions, creating the risk of tampering… The Constitutional Court will rule on the matter by July 8, when Van der Bellen is set [to] succeed Social Democratic incumbent Heinz Fischer, a court spokesman said.”

No Anti-Semitism in the Austria’s FPÖ?

JTA wrote on June 8:

“Jewish leaders in Austria denied a report in Israel that the community had prepared a program for normalizing ties with the far-right Freedom Party, which it now shuns… Oskar Deutsch, the community’s president, said no such plan exists and that he merely spoke hypothetically…

“Heinz-Christian Strache… apologized in 2012 for posting on Facebook a caricature depicting an obese, hook-nosed banker wearing star-shaped cufflinks. Strache’s predecessor, Joerg Haider, praised Nazi employment policies and the Waffen-SS.

“Freedom Party lawmakers often have attended and spoken at events commemorating Nazis, including a gathering in memory of an Austria-born Nazi fighter pilot who shot down 258 planes, almost all Russian. And Strache himself had been accused of using a little-known Nazi salute in 2009, which he denied.

“Strache visited Israel this year and met with officials there. He said he supports Israel’s fight against radical Islam and has argued he has purged his party of anti-Semitism.”

Germany vs. Donald Trump

FP wrote on June 6:

“In an implicit rebuttal to Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, Germany’s ambassador to NATO offered a full-throated defense of his country’s contributions to European security and pushed back at accusations that Berlin was relying on Washington for protection rather than taking responsibility for defending itself.

“Noting Germany’s deployment of troops to Afghanistan and Kosovo, its lead diplomatic role on the Ukraine crisis, and its contribution of 5,000 troops to a new NATO force charged with protecting the alliance’s eastern and southern flanks, Ambassador Hans Dieter Lucas said criticisms about Germany’s purported lack of engagement don’t reflect reality. ‘Germany is heavily engaged in all NATO missions,’ he said during an interview at the German embassy in Washington. ‘Engaged like probably not many others.’

“Trump has specifically and repeatedly lashed out against Germany for, in his view, not doing more to challenge Russian aggression in Ukraine and allowing migrants from the Middle East and North Africa to resettle within its borders… In his campaign, the real estate tycoon has also taken direct shots at Angela Merkel… for her decision to welcome hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa into her country…

“German officials haven’t always taken the hit lying down. In March, Merkel’s deputy, Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, said Trump poses ‘a threat to peace and social cohesion’ and associated him with far-right politicians in Europe. ‘Whether Donald Trump, Marine le Pen or Geert Wilders – all these right-wing populists are not only a threat to peace and social cohesion, but also to economic development,’ Gabriel said.”

Holocaust Denial Illegal in Italy

JTA wrote on June 9:

“Italy’s Parliament approved a bill making spreading Holocaust denial illegal. The bill, which adds to an existing anti-racism bill, was approved Wednesday evening by the lower assembly of the Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, by a vote of 237-5, with 102 abstentions. The new law would go after those who deny genocide or crimes against humanity, using the definition by the International Court of Justice… Those convicted could face prison terms of two to six years.”

Does this mean that those who deny that Turkey committed genocide against Armenians would face prison terms as well?

A Dangerous Precedence… Is USA Guilty of War Crimes?

Salon wrote on June 7:

“Clinton blasted Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump for saying ‘he would order our military to carry out torture and the murder of civilians who are related to suspected terrorists — even though those are war crimes.’

“Yet, while she served as secretary of state, Clinton’s own U.S. government administration may have overseen the very atrocity that she accidentally acknowledged is a war crime. Hundreds of civilians, many of whom were innocent family members of suspected militants, have been killed in U.S. drone strikes in Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia and more. If any of these killings were intentional, they were war crimes…

“This brings up the most prominent example of family members killed in U.S. drone strikes: that of the al-Awlakis. On Oct. 14, 2011, a U.S. drone strike killed 16-year-old U.S. citizen Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, along with his teenage cousin and at least five more civilians, blowing them up as they ate dinner at an outdoor restaurant in Yemen. Why did the U.S. kill a teenage U.S. citizen in a country where it is not officially at war? Years of investigation by an award-winning journalist suggests that it may have been an intentional killing — not because Abdulrahman was involved in terrorist activity, but rather because his father, Anwar al-Awlaki, was a propagandist for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. That is to say, using Hillary Clinton’s own language, President Obama may have overseen ‘the murder of civilians who are related to suspected terrorists — even though that’s a war crime.’

“Anwar al-Awlaki was assassinated by another CIA airstrike on Sep. 30, 2011, just two weeks before his son was killed. He was never given a chance in court, despite the fact that he was a U.S. citizen. He was killed extrajudicially, without a sliver of due process. After Abdulrahman and his cousin were killed, U.S. officials leaked the story to the press, claiming he had been 21-years-old. Yet his family had his birth certificate, which proved he was 16 and had been born in Denver, Colorado.

“Then they claimed Abdulrahman was linked to Ibrahim al-Banna, an Egyptian member of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Award-winning journalist Jeremy Scahill, who spent years investigating the killing, interviewing U.S. officials, speaking to Abdulrahman’s family and friends and poring over government documents, concluded otherwise, noting, ‘There is not a shred of evidence to indicate that this boy had anything to do with terrorism whatsoever.’ The U.S. claimed that it did not intentionally target Abdulrahman, but a former senior official in the White House told Scahill that CIA Director John Brennan suspected that the teenager had been killed ‘intentionally.’…

“Clinton may fearmonger about a potential President Trump extrajudicially killing U.S. citizens, but the Obama administration, in which she proudly served as secretary of state, may have already established this precedent… the Obama administration set an incredibly dangerous standard with its expansion of secretive undeclared drone wars and extrajudicial assassinations. These policies will be continued in the future, and will be justified by pointing to the policies of the Obama administration. If a hypothetical President Trump insists the U.S. must extrajudicially assassinate dissidents, he has a drone program that can do so…”

With her huge wins on “Super Tuesday,” June 7, including in New Jersey, South Dakota, New Mexico and California, Hillary Clinton has now become the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party. As JTA wrote on June 8: “With President Barack Obama’s blessing, Hillary Clinton claimed the Democratic presidential nomination, casting it as a historic win for women and appealing to Bernie Sanders voters to support her.”

Major Step Towards US Police State?

Infowars wrote on June 8:

“The Obama administration is pushing Congress to amend existing surveillance laws to give the FBI unquestionable authority to access a person’s browser history without a warrant, a move Judge Andrew Napolitano slammed as ‘a major step towards a police state.’ Under existing law, the FBI and National Security Agency (NSA) are required to obtain a surveillance warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) before accessing an individual’s electronic records. However, the FBI is able to bypass the court system and access information relating to an individual’s phone records through the use of a ‘National Security Letter.’

“‘NSLs are shadowy administrative subpoenas for information issued by the FBI, whose authority to use them was bolstered by the Patriot Act in 2001,’ as reported by US News and World Report. ‘The requests often are accompanied by a gag order disallowing the company from which information is sought from discussing it.’…

“The new legislation, if passed, would allow the FBI to access an individual’s browser history by using a National Security Letter, rather than a warrant from the FISA Court. A National Security Letter only requires approval from the special agent in charge of a FBI Field Office…

“Appearing with Shepard Smith on Fox News, Judge Andrew Napolitano expressed anger over the amendment and warned the American people to wake up to the ongoing erosion of their civil liberties. ‘It gets worse, it never gets better no matter who is in the White House, no matter which party controls the Congress,’ he said. ‘The American people should wake up….This is a major step towards a police state.’ ‘It’s done in the name of, it’s always done in the name of keeping us safe. Who or what will keep our liberties safe?’”

Politics as Usual…Cameron Will Find a Way to Work with Trump

The Independent wrote on June 3:

“David Cameron has promised to work with Donald Trump if he becomes US president. The Prime Minister said he would ‘find a way’ to get on good terms with the presumptive Republican Party nominee because transatlantic ties are ‘bigger than the individuals involved’. Mr Trump is due to visit Britain the day after the European Union referendum to reopen a golf course he owns in Scotland.

“The PM claimed the billionaire had dropped a proposal to discriminate against Muslims at US border checkpoints – which Mr Cameron had previously described as ‘divisive, stupid and wrong’. Downing Street previously resisted calls to ban Mr Trump from the UK on account of allegations the policy was extremist in nature. Mr Cameron said he stood by his comments on Mr Trump’s proposal of banning Muslims from traveling to the US, and said he would be happy to meet whoever the president turned out to be.

“‘The good news is, my understanding is, he’s already dropped that proposal because there are millions of Muslims living in America and making a great contribution to that country as there are well over a million British Muslims here making a fantastic contribution to our country, so that proposal’s been dropped which I think is the right thing to do,’ Mr Cameron told ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme.

“‘But look, I will await the outcome of the US election, I won’t get involved in any way. Whoever wins that election, I’m sure the British Prime Minister will have a good relationship with them as we always have done…’”

That Trump dropped his proposal regarding the ban of visiting Muslims is news to us. The American press did not report this at all.

Bilderberg’s Fight Against Brexit

IBT wrote on June 6:

“As the EU referendum looms, a great counsel of war is gathering. Henri de Castries, the Chairman of the influential Bilderberg Group, has made his way to the highest hill above Dresden… Responding to his call, 140 or so of the most powerful pro-European business leaders and politicians will… discuss the future of [the] free trade zone.

“The annual three-day Bilderberg conference kicks off on Thursday, and you can be sure the mood in Dresden will be a grim one. The heads of Google, Shell, BP and Deutsche Bank will be there, and Brexit will be top of the agenda. The Bilderberg Group has been nurturing the EU to life since the 1950s…

“‘A disaster for everyone’ is how Henri de Castries, the boss of AXA and a director of HSBC, describes Brexit. But in particular, it is a disaster for his banking and big business colleagues at Bilderberg. Thomas Enders, the CEO of Airbus, who sits on Bilderberg’s steering committee – the group’s governing body – said, in a recent interview with CNBC, that his industry would be ‘lobbying’ against Brexit…”

Even though European leaders may be working behind the scenes, it has become obvious that officially, they are silencing themselves. Note the next article.

Europe Is Silencing Itself Over Brexit

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 5:

“EU leaders are trying to help the pro-European camp in the Brexit referendum by staying out of the debate. That could be a mistake. It also tells us a lot about the state of EU-UK relations…

“At the moment, trips to the dis-United Kingdom are being avoided like the plague. British EU Commissioner Jonathan Hill was the last EU dignitary that dared travel to London – 14 days ago. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has muzzled himself. He has said that he intends to be ‘as quiet as possible’ on the issue. The same goes for the rest of Brussels’ EU crew. The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, urgently warned of the negative consequences of a Brexit, but he did so in a safe haven – an experts’ conference in Brussels.

“The EU, and especially the European Commission, are extremely unpopular in the finicky kingdom. Therefore, Juncker’s communications strategists have decided that the best course of action is to remain as invisible as possible. It must be said that it is shameful that EU leaders lack the confidence to fight for their own interests. How desperate has the current political culture become when public appearances are now considered provocations? Even those fighting for the truculent Brits to remain in the Union are begging for Europe to refrain from supporting them.

“British Prime Minister David Cameron prefers to fight it out in televised debates on his own. He is playing the role of the lone superhero that tamed the European monster and wrestled the best possible deal for oppressed Brits out of Brussels’ claws. Appearances by the bad boys from Brussels would only confuse this… narrative.

“Meanwhile… clear messages from the EU would likely be counterproductive… Nevertheless, it is still rather perplexing that the European Union has decided to duck the debate in a referendum that is specifically about the Union itself…

“When the dust settles after the explosion that will be the June 23 referendum, people in Brussels will have to ask themselves if remaining silent was really the right strategy… To stand up loud and clear for more Europe is out – tiptoeing is the order of the day… One who is ashamed of doing the right thing can excite no one.”

What If?

The Local wrote on June 6:

“Media reports in recent months have suggested that the financial capital on the Main could steal London’s banking thunder if Britain votes to leave the EU…

“At first glance, Frankfurt am Main looks like the perfect candidate to become the financial centre of the EU if Britain really cuts ties with Brussels after the vote on June 23rd. The city can point to almost 200 foreign banks with a presence there and 62,500 people – almost a tenth of the population – employed in the banking sector. ‘Large numbers of specialist workers, good infrastructure and not least the strongest national economy in the EU’ – as well as the European Central Bank (ECB) planted firmly in its new headquarters just outside the city centre – are sure to provide ‘a certain magnet effect,’ said Stefan Winter of UBS, head of the Association of Foreign Banks in Germany…

“There is no question that banks need a presence in an EU member state to do business with customers inside the Union… As home not just to the ECB but the European insurance regulator EIOPA, Frankfurt may well be the EU’s capital of financial regulation. And Frankfurt-based stock market operator Deutsche Börse is in the process of merging with the London Stock Exchange company (LSE)…

“Many German eyes have turned towards Deutsche Bank with its 9,000 workers in London. ‘If [we’re going to move] at all, it would be Frankfurt,’ CEO John Cryan told the Financial Times (FT) in April. The veteran British bank executive had told the Deutsche Bank annual meeting earlier this year that ‘with its strong presence in Frankfurt and London, Deutsche Bank is well-positioned to manage the short- and long-term effects of a Brexit.’…”

Ramadan in China

AFP wrote on June 6:

“China has marked the start of Ramadan with its customary ban on civil servants, students and children in a mainly-Muslim region from taking part in fasting, government websites said, as the holy month started on Monday. China’s ruling Communist party is officially atheist and for years has banned government employees and minors from fasting in Xinjiang, home to the more than 10 million Muslim Uighur minority. It has also ordered restaurants to stay open.

“The region sees regular clashes between Uighurs and state security forces, and Beijing has blamed deadly attacks there and elsewhere in China on militants seeking independence for the resource-rich region. Rights groups blame tensions on religious and cultural restrictions placed on Uighurs and other Muslim minorities… Several local government departments in Xinjiang posted notices on their websites in the last week ordering restrictions on fasting during Ramadan…”

Poland Plans Paramilitary Force of 35,000 to Counter Russia

BBC News reported on June 3:

“The force will have civilian volunteers trained in military skills. It is aimed at countering ‘hybrid’ warfare of the kind that led parts of Ukraine to break away and pledge loyalty to Russia.

“Nato also plans to reinforce Poland. One Nato battalion will be deployed to Poland and three more to the neighbouring Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The total troop deployment is expected to be about 4,000, on a rotating basis… Several of Nato’s 28 member states will send troops to beef up the alliance’s presence in the east, near the Russian border…

“Russian Foreign Ministry department chief Andrei Kelin, quoted by Reuters news agency, said the deployment of four Nato battalions to the region ‘would be a very dangerous build-up of armed forces pretty close to our borders’. Russia has announced plans to send three new military divisions to areas close to its western and southern borders. Military sources quoted by Russian media say they are likely to be motorised rifle formations of about 10,000 soldiers each.”

“US Navy Alarmed by ‘Effective, Advanced’ Russian Subs”

RT is a Russian government-owned and -funded television network. It wrote on June 4:

“New, silent, and deadly Russian submarines are challenging NATO’s maritime dominance, says a senior US admiral who calls the current situation a ‘Battle of the Atlantic,’ comparing it to the Cold War and the two World Wars. ‘Once again, an effective, skilled, and technologically advanced Russian submarine force is challenging us,’ Vice Admiral James Foggo III, commander of the US 6th Fleet, wrote in the June issue of the US Naval Institute’s magazine, Proceedings.’… ‘Russia has the capability to hold nearly all NATO maritime forces at risk. No longer is the maritime space uncontested. For the first time in almost 30 years, Russia is a significant and aggressive maritime power.’…

“While Russian deployments of attack and ballistic missile submarines are at levels unseen since the Cold War, the US Navy has only 53 submarines in service, and that number will drop to 41 by the late 2020s due to budget constraints’…

“Money worries may be behind the US Navy’s sudden obsession with Russian naval power. At $3 billion apiece, the Seawolf was the most expensive US submarine ever built before the program was canceled in 2005. The proposed Pentagon budget for 2017 allocates $18.3 billion for shipbuilding.”

Governmental Rewards for Illegally Killing Criminals in the Philippines

AFP wrote on June 3:

“Mr Duterte [in the Philippines] won last month’s elections in a landslide after pledging to wipe out crime by killing tens of thousands of criminals, and this week said he would pay bounties to law enforcement officers for dead drug traffickers. Tomas Osmena, mayor-elect of Cebu, the nation’s second-biggest city, offered similar rewards and announced on his Facebook page on Thursday night he had paid out $4,480 to police who killed three men he said were drug traffickers…

“Mr Duterte this week urged security forces to begin the war on crime immediately, calling on them to kill criminals. Mr Duterte announced on Tuesday he would pay $28,509 to law enforcers for killing drug lords, with lesser amounts for lower-ranking people in drug syndicates…

“Mr Duterte’s law-and-order campaign pledges hypnotised millions of Filipinos hoping for quick solutions to the nation’s deep-rooted problems of crime and corruption. However, human rights groups and other critics voiced alarm that a Duterte presidency would lead to extrajudicial killings and a general breakdown in the rule of law…

“Earlier this week, Mr Duterte told reporters there was justification for killing journalists who took bribes or engaged in other corrupt activities.”

It seems that nations are moving toward a de facto state of Marshall Law. Especially ominous is the terrorist situation in Europe—how will nations like Germany react to hundreds and hundreds of extremists dedicated to creating mayhem in the country? Also, there is such a breakdown of civility in the US in the current presidential campaigns that outright rioting seems to be in store for America. To be fair, most of the “riots” at the Trump campaigns are instigated by left-wing radicals who are paid for their appearance and disturbing interruption. But we can easily see that their provocations will be met with retaliation in the longer run.

Assisted Suicide Now Legal in Canada, Some US States and Other Countries

The Associated Press reported on June 7:

“Doctor-assisted dying is about to become legal in Canada without clear legislation on how it would work.

“Canada’s Supreme Court last year struck down laws that bar doctors from helping someone critically ill die, but put the ruling on hold until midnight Monday to give the government time to come up with a new law. The House of Commons passed a law last week but it requires Senate approval and that could take days or weeks…

“Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, Germany, Albania, Colombia, Japan and the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, Vermont, New Mexico and Montana. California lawmakers also passed legislation, expected to take effect in June, where proof of state residency will be required.

“Canada’s Supreme Court ruling means a doctor can’t be prosecuted for assisting death for those with a ‘grievous and irremediable’ illness. The government’s proposed law applies to ‘adults who are suffering intolerably and for whom death is reasonably foreseeable.’ It says the person must be mentally competent, 18 or older, have a serious and incurable disease, illness or disability and be in an advanced state of irreversible decline of capability.

“The proposed Canadian law applies only to citizens and residents, meaning Americans won’t be able to travel to Canada to die. To get a doctor’s help under Canada’s proposed law, written request is required either from the patient or a designated person if the patient is incapable. The request would need to be signed by two independent witnesses. Two independent physicians or authorized nurse practitioners would have to evaluate it, and there would be a mandatory 15-day waiting period unless death or loss of capacity to consent was imminent.

“Some groups have said the law doesn’t go far enough and have noted [the] law excludes people who have received a diagnosis of dementia or Parkinson’s from making a request in advance for assisted suicide.

“Before the Supreme Court decision last year, it had been illegal in Canada to counsel, aid or abet a suicide, an offense carrying a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. But the top court said doctors are capable of assessing the competence of patients to consent, and found there is no evidence that the elderly or people with disabilities are vulnerable to being talked into ending their lives.”

23rd Gay Pride Parade in Tel Aviv

JTA wrote on June 3:

“Approximately 200,000 people, including many tourists, gathered in central Tel Aviv for the city’s 23rd gay pride event… Among the first-time foreign participants this year in the parade is Buck Angel, a transgender male adult film producer, actor and motivational speaker from California… ‘ It’s exciting to see the gay community being accepted in the Middle East, and it’s generating change.’

“… violence against homosexuals is relatively rare in Israel, which is rated by many LGBT publications as one of the world’s best and safest travel destinations.”

Tel Aviv has become the “capital” of LGBT activities in the Middle East… a very sad “honor.”

Jewish Groups Support Transgender “Rights”

JTA wrote on June 2:

“Jewish groups in Massachusetts are hailing the passage of a bill by the state’s House of Representatives that will extend the anti-discrimination protections for transgender people in public accommodations.

“The controversial measure, approved Wednesday by a vote of 116-32, allows people to use facilities such as restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity. Public accommodations include places such as malls, restaurants and libraries. An amendment by opponents that would have specifically excluded religious institutions such as churches and synagogues was defeated.

“… the bill now heads to a joint legislative conference committee to iron out differences with the version approved earlier by the state Senate. The Senate is led by Stan Rosenberg, its first Jewish president and one who is openly gay. The final version will go to Gov. Charlie Baker, who on the eve of the House vote ended his months-long neutral stance, saying he would sign the bill being considered by the House.

“Seventeen other states and the District of Columbia have similar laws. ‘On the first day of Pride month, to kick off this month, it’s a moment that the Jewish community can be proud of to be on the right side of this issue,’ said Jeremy Burton, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston.

“… The state of North Carolina has come under fire for a law passed in March requiring that one use the bathroom according to the gender on a person’s birth certificate.”

Why are we surprised that God, in biblical prophecy, is saying harsh things about the modern state of Israel and the Jewish people in general, challenging them to repent of their abominations?

Two More Saints in the Catholic Church—Worship of “Virgin Mary” Strongly Propagated

The Associated Press wrote on June 5:

“Pope Francis has proclaimed two new saints: a Lutheran convert who hid Jews during World War II and the Polish founder of the first men’s religious order dedicated to the immaculate conception. Francis called Swedish-born Elizabeth Hesselblad and Stanislaus Papczynski ‘exemplary witnesses to this mystery of resurrection’ during the canonization Mass on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square.

“Hesselblad saved the lives of several Jewish families by hiding them in the Roman convent where she was superior. She is Sweden’s second saint in 625 years, following Saint Bridget, who was canonized in 1391.

“Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary, as he is known, supported hospitals and shelters for the poor in the 17th Century. His crowning achievement was founding the order of Marian Fathers, which preached the cult of Holy Mary.”

The unbiblical worship of the “Virgin Mary,” which can actually be traced to pre-Christian pagan rites and practices, will increase in the future. Even many Muslims and many Protestants don’t seem to be opposed to this wrong concept.

We see it on television all the time—Catholic soccer players make the sign of the cross when they score or even when they enter the field. Other athletes may make the sign of the cross on various occasions as well. In many cases, it has become a matter of routine. For example, the sign of the cross is made before meals, in church services, and at other times by many people. But what do we know about its origin?The Roman Catholic Church and many other religious organizations claim that the sign of the cross has its origin in early Christianity. The website of catholicstraightanswers.com/what-is-the-origin-of-the-sign-of-the-cross/ states the following perspective of the Catholic Church:

“The sign of the cross is a beautiful gesture which reminds the faithful of both the cross of salvation while invoking the Holy Trinity… The early Church Fathers attested to the use of the sign of the cross.  Tertullian (d.c. 250) described the commonness of the sign of the cross:  ‘In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting on our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupies us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross’ (De corona, 30). St. Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386) in his Catechetical Lectures stated, ‘Let us then not be ashamed to confess the Crucified.  Be the cross our seal, made with boldness by our fingers on our brow and in everything; over the bread we eat and the cups we drink, in our comings and in our goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we awake; when we are traveling, and when we are at rest’ (Catecheses, 13).

“Gradually, about the ninth century, the sign of the cross was incorporated in different acts of the Mass, such as the three-fold signing of the forehead, lips, and heart at the reading of the gospel or the blessing and signing of the bread and wine to be offered. The earliest formalized way of making the sign of the cross appeared about the 400s, during the Monophysite heresy which denied… the unity of the Holy Trinity.  The sign of the cross was made from forehead to chest, and then from right shoulder to left shoulder with the right hand.  The thumb, forefinger, and middle fingers were held together to symbolize the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

We see, then, that the “sign of the cross” is inseparably connected with the belief in the “Holy Trinity.”

The problems with this entire concept are many.

First, the Bible does not teach at all that God is a Trinity. It does teach that the Father and the Son (Jesus Christ) are God and that they are two Beings or Persons within the God Family, but it does NOT teach that the Holy Spirit is God or a Person. For proof, please read our free booklets, “Is God a Trinity?” and “God Is a Family.”

Secondly, to have or use a cross in any way in the connection with worship; to wear it as an amulet; or to have a crucifix in our home; is not biblical. It totally misunderstands the saving work of Jesus Christ. From this it follows that the making of the cross is equally unbiblical.

In this Q&A, we will explore the true history of the “Christian” cross. In the next installment, we will discuss the origin of “making the sign of the cross.”

It is well-known that the Tau Cross (commonly pictured as the type of cross on which Jesus was crucified) has been used as an object of worship long before Christ was born. The website of reginamgeither.com explains in its article, “Legends of the Tau Cross”:

“The cross is a familiar symbol to both religious and secular groups. But few people are familiar with the many myths and legends behind one of the earliest forms of this Christian symbol. The Cross of Tau or Tau Cross, named for the Greek letter T, is thought to have been the first cross used in Christianity, but its origins are believed to date back to the Egyptians. The Egyptian cross called an Ankh is a simple T-Cross mounted with an oval called the Ru.

“In its long history, the Tau cross was also the symbol of the Roman God Mithras and the Greek God Attis. In Norse mythology, the hammer of Thor is seen as a Tau Cross. The Bull as the Astrological sign of Taurus gets its name from the Tau and Ru. Even the Druids used the Tau when venerating trees by scrawling the symbol into the bark of their sacred oaks…

“As Christianity gained followers, the pagan symbols were converted into Christian ones. The Tau was used as the first cross of the followers of Christ and many believe that the cross of the Crucifixion was actually T-shaped, and many early Christians adopted the Tau as the symbol of their religious belief. St. Anthony Abbott (251-356), an Egyptian monk and one of the first Christian monastics used a crutch in the shape of a Tau. When he visited another monk, he would place the crutch outside of the cave, making it a symbol of communion with God. In 1095 the Antonines were founded by a French nobleman after his son was cured of a disease following a vision of St. Anthony instructing him to plant a Tau as an instrument of healing. As a result, Tau Crosses were used in amulets as a protection against disease in the Middle Ages. The most common reference of the Tau in Christianity is with the Franciscan Order of Saint Francis of Assisi who adopted it as his personal symbol of faith and used it as his signature.”

An article by the Examiner, titled “The Cross Was a Pagan Symbol Before It became a Christian Symbol,” explains even further:

“Most Christians don’t give the following a second thought: A crucifix on the wall of the church reminds Christians of God’s act of love and atonement in Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary, ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’. The sacred crucifix also reminds Christians of Jesus’ victory over sin and death, since it is believed that through His death and resurrection He conquered death itself. Here’s more to consider: The cross was not a Christian symbol before Yeshua the Messiah was born! The cross was not a Christian symbol for hundreds of years after Yeshua. A crucifix is a cross with the Lord still nailed to it.

“Do you think He is honored if you have one of these hanging from your neck? With all the fancy talk about what the crucifix means on the walls of our churches; there is a total avoidance of the fact it is still a pagan idol!…

“If the cross is a Christian symbol, then why does the occult use it so much? If the cross is a Christian symbol, then why is it traceable way back to Babylon and Egypt, as far back as 2,000 B.C.? Many ancient cultures used crosses or the mystic Tau. Babylon seems to be the originator from ancient Chaldea, but you can find crosses in Egypt, India, China, Africa, Mexico, Greece, Italy, and South American histories. All before Yeshua was ever born! If pagans had never used crosses as idols, then developed them into instruments of torture and death; you never would have thought to wear a cross with diamonds on a necklace!

“The cross is a most sacred idol to the Roman Catholic Church. This point in itself should raise suspicion. The cross was incorporated into Roman worship after 430 A.D., but it was another 150 years until the cross made it all the way up to the steeples. In the 6th century, the Church of Rome sanctioned the cross. Believe it or not, at the council of Ephesus, it was decreed that a cross was a ‘requirement’ in every home!”

We discussed the history of the cross and the manner of Christ’s crucifixion in our Q&A in Update 347, titled, “Should we have and use crosses or pictures or statues, depicting Jesus Christ?” We are setting forth below some of the excerpts pertaining to the cross:

“When addressing the cross and its worship or use in religious services or at home, we should realize that the Bible does not even say that Christ was nailed to a cross, as it is pictured and portrayed today. In every case when the word ‘cross’ is used in the Authorized Version or the New King James Bible, the Greek word is ‘stauros.’

“According to Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible, the meaning of that word is simply, ‘stake’…  The Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words by Vine adds the following, when discussing the kind of death which Christ endured: ‘… stauros denotes, primarily, an upright pale or stake. On such malefactors were nailed for execution. Both the noun and the verb stauroo, to fasten to a stake or pale, are originally to be distinguished from the ecclesiastical form of a two beamed cross.’

“Since the Greek in the New Testament does not state that Christ died on a cross, as we know it today, how did this idea enter orthodox Christianity? Here is what happened:

“Alexander Hislop writes in his book, The Two Babylons, pp. 197, 199: ‘The same sign of the cross that Rome now worships was used in the Babylonian Mysteries, was applied by paganism to the same magic purposes, was honored with the same honors. That which is now called the Christian cross was originally no Christian emblem at all, but was the mystic Tau of the Chaldeans and Egyptians—the true original form of the letter T-the initial of the name of Tammuz. There is hardly a Pagan tribe where the cross has not been found. The cross was worshiped by the Pagan Celts long before the incarnation and death of Christ. It was worshiped in Mexico for ages before the Roman Catholic missionaries set foot there, large stone crosses being erected, probably to the “god of rain.” The cross was widely worshiped, or regarded as a sacred emblem, was the unequivocal symbol of Bacchus, the Babylonian Messiah.’

“We have found pictures, showing Assyrian, Egyptian, Hindu and Greek gods and goddesses associated with crosses. The ancient Greek goddess Diana is shown with a cross over her head-very similar to the portrayal of the ‘Virgin Mary’ by many medieval artists.

“Vine adds that the shape of a ‘two-beamed cross’ had ‘its origin in ancient Chaldea, and was used as the symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of his name) in that country and in adjacent lands, including Egypt. By the middle of the 3rd century A.D. the churches had either departed from, or had travestied, certain doctrines of the Christian faith. In order to increase the prestige of the apostate ecclesiastical system pagans were received into the churches apart from regeneration by faith, and were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols. Hence the Tau or T, in its most frequent form, with the cross-piece lowered, was adopted to stand for the cross of Christ.’…

“As pagans already worshiped the cross as we know it today, before they entered the Catholic fold; as the Roman Church allowed them to continue to worship the cross—only now in association with Christ; and as the Romans used a two-beamed cross as one of their methods of crucifixion, it can be easily seen how the Roman Church was able to convince an unsuspecting world that THAT was the method of Christ’s crucifixion. However, as mentioned, it is highly unlikely that Christ was killed in that way…”

Since neither the Trinity nor the worship of the cross are biblical, what then is the real origin of making the sign of the cross? Did Catholics just adopt the cross from pagans and then invented the procedure of making the sign of the cross? Or is there more to that part of the story? We will give answers to this question in the next installment.

(To Be Continued)

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

A new Member Letter (June 2016) has been written and sent out. In this letter, Elder Kalon Mitchell addresses the fact that God has called us at the end of the age and that we must stay close to Him in completing the Work given to us. Mr. Mitchell’s full letter is available for reading on our website: www.eternalgod.org

“What if Britain Leaves Europe?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program present by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

On June 23, the British people will decide in a referendum whether or not Britain will leave the EU. We know from Holy Scriptures that ultimately, a Brexit will occur. EU leaders have muzzled themselves, fearing that their involvement would hurt and not help those in Britain who want to stay. These fears are shared by David Cameron. This shows how unpopular the EU is in Britain, and how precarious the relationship has become between the EU and GB. IF and WHEN Britain leaves, who is destined to become the EU’s “financial center” and “capital of financial regulation”?

“Ein heiliges Volk” is the title of this coming Sabbath’s German sermon. Title in English: “A Holy People.”

“Pfingsten 2016–Gottes Fest der Erstlinge,” is the title of the German sermon for the Feast of Pentecost. Title in English: “Pentecost 2016–God’s Feast of the Firstfruits.”

“Desire to Win,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Kalon Mitchell, is now posted. Here is a summary:

How do we accomplish our day to day tasks? Do we do so with joy and happiness, or do we become resentful and angry? The desire to win is put within all of us. It’s what drives us forward. As Christians, we have to take this opportunity and use the potential that God has given to us. Whatever pain and struggle that we have, it will be worth it in the end.

“Is the Earth a Flat Disc?,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Is the earth really a globe, or spherical, as science tells us, or is it perhaps a flat disc, which rests on pillars, as some teach who claim that they base their conclusions on the Bible? How are we to understand Scriptures which tell us that the sun stood still or that it runs its race? Doesn’t this show that the sun revolves or orbits around the earth, rather than the earth revolving around the sun? And doesn’t the Bible say that the earth does not move or rotate? But how can there be day and night at the same time, when from sunrise to sunset, the sun shines during the entire time on the “flat earth”? What happens to the waters of the oceans, if the earth is a disc?

We received the following encouraging comments from brethren in the Philippines regarding our latest booklet, “Punishment for Our Sins”:

“On behalf of Makati church and our group we would like to thank your church for your labor of love in giving us [the] booklet. By the way, we are using your news reports every Sabbath service to update the brethren on what is happening around the world.”

by Joe Bourque

I recently read that I am instructed to be a light to the world and an ambassador of God. I am to stand up for the Word of God, be happy, polite, humble, thankful and above all, have fervent love for each other and God, as He was so gracious to give us this life.

Recent events though have proven that there is more to it!  I had the chance to defend what I believe in my Christian life.  I found myself stumped as what to say when God was blamed for a serious medical condition.  I didn’t have much success comforting and convincing this person that God wasn’t at fault, let alone trying to convince him that God would take care of him one way or another, because we were all praying for him.

This and the recent death of a family member made me realize that I need to be more prepared to give an answer. I know there is not much we can say to people that are of the world and don’t know God, but what if God was to call these people?  There’s more to it than knowing for myself as I may be the one who will be the light of direction for them.

On June 4, 2016, Kalon Mitchell will present the sermonette, titled, “Desire to Win,” and Norbert Link will present the sermon, titled, “Is the Earth a Flat Disc?”

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.

For the last two years a robin had been building her nest on the top of a climbing clematis plant on the corner of my front porch.  It was somewhat of an ideal location–not too high from the ground so when the baby robins left the nest they did not injure themselves, and it was also under the cover of the eves so it never rained on the nest. It was shaded, so it never got too hot, and the mother robin was used to us going in and out of the front door and sitting on our rocking chairs on the porch.

This spring we had to cut back on the clematis and dispose of the nest which had been there for two years. When the robin returned to find no clematis plant or nest to occupy, she was not deterred but built a nest about six feet away on the downspout of my gutters. It is approximately the same height and a bit closer to where we sit on our rockers, which does not bother her.

In the due course after sitting on her eggs and subsequently hatching two baby robins, I was fascinated while rocking on the porch at how much care she and the male robin had for their babies. They would work as a team in feeding them, each bringing worms for them. At times, when she was on the nest keeping the babies warm, he would show up with a worm, give her a portion and feed the rest to the young robins.

I was impressed by the dedication, focus and teamwork they tirelessly kept in order to feed those young birds and keep them warm. I thought, what an example of teamwork, dedication to a cause, and unity of goal, which they exemplified to feed the young robins to the point they could leave the nest and take care of themselves. This brings to mind the Scripture in Psalm 133:1: ”Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!”

We as a church have been given the responsibility to get a message of hope out to a dying world. This gospel is the only hope for mankind. When we work together in unity and focus on the task at hand, then we can and must complete the task we have been given.

As to the robins, what happens to them? They go south for the winter and return again to carry on the teamwork in the spring to bring forth new baby robins, feed and care for them till they can take care of themselves and repeat this process till they die. That’s dedication, teamwork and unity of task.

If we remain faithful in the task we have been given collectivity as a church to work together in unity and focus on the job at hand, our reward is almost incomprehensible. For our dedicated teamwork, we get to live as members of the ruling God Family for eternity. If we die before Christ returns, we get to be resurrected into that very same Family with the same reward. How good and how pleasant it really is for brethren to work together in unity.

We report on the EU’s secret plans to create a unified European army; the role of the Euro; and Germany’s increased activities in military matters. In this context, please view our latest StandingWatch program, titled, “Secret Plans for Unified European Army?”

We continue with articles regarding the possibility of a Brexit and the EU’s preparation in such a scenario; and speak on Islam in Europe; an ISIS plan to attack the German city of Düsseldorf; and the anger of many Europeans.

We point out ongoing troubles between Turkey and Germany; and report on President Obama’s historic visit to and his warning of mankind’s possibility of self-destruction, which is echoed by a sobering follow-up article by the Huffington Post.

We speak on Hillary Clinton’s and Donald Trump’s “liabilities”; the bitter rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia; the spread of a terrible disease in the Middle East and possibly Europe, due to the civil war in Syria; and we close with the undue pressure on parents to vaccinate their children; and with an article on the mysterious Yeti.

Secret Plans to Create a Unified European Army

The Telegraph wrote on May 27:

“British voters are being ‘conned’ by Brussels officials who are keeping plans for a European army secret until after the referendum, leading Tories have claimed. Liam Fox, the former defence secretary who served under David Cameron, told The Telegraph that the ambitions showed the EU is wedded to the ‘dangerous fantasy’ of creating a single defence force. Another eurosceptic Tory MP said voters were being ‘deceived’ and ‘hoodwinked’ about the true scale of the EU’s drive to create a single army.

“The backlash came as it emerged plans to move towards the creation of a European army are being kept secret from British voters until the day after next month’s referendum. Drawn up by the EU’s foreign policy chief, the Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy foresees the formation of new European military and operational structures. This first step towards an EU army is supported by Germany and other countries, The Times reports…

“Mr Fox told The Telegraph: ‘Those of us who have always warned about Europe’s defence ambitions have always been told not to worry, but step-by-step that ever closer union is becoming a reality… The best way to protect ourselves is to stay close to the US… Europe’s defence intentions… risk cutting us off from our closest and most powerful ally.”

A Church of God organization wrote last week: “Bible prophecies have long foretold that just before the return of Jesus Christ, ten kings or groups of nations with links to the ancient Roman Empire will ‘surrender their sovereignty’ to a single European leader and play a major role on the world stage (Daniel 2:40-44; Revelation 17:12-14). The break-up of the EU could lead to the fulfillment of these prophecies.”

This is erroneous, as the Bible does not indicate or even hint at the possibility that the EU will break up (It is true that some nations, such as the UK, will leave the EU, but this will not constitute a break-up of the EU). Quite to the contrary, the EU will remain an extremely powerful bloc– economically, politically and militarily, called “Babylon the Great” in Scripture. It is out of this prosperous power bloc that ten euro nations or groups of nations will emerge, which will then give their power and authority to the beast (a political and military leader). Furthermore, these ten nations or groups of nations do not only have “links” to the ancient Roman Empire, but they will constitute the tenth and last REVIVAL of the ancient Roman Empire. And even though many seem to ignore or forget this important fact, this revival will be under German leadership, with the beast being a MAN (not a woman) of German or Austrian heritage.

EU Leaders Plan for a EU without the UK

The Independent wrote on May 27:

“Senior EU leaders are preparing the ground for a possible Brexit vote with high-level meetings aimed at a “plan B” future of the bloc without the UK, including closer co-operation on security and defence matters. The leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and other core members are likely to ‘double down’ on closer union… the bloc will be unlikely to offer Britain a favourable trade deal in the event of Brexit…

“Closer integration in a post-Brexit EU is likely to take the form of tighter security and defence collaboration, against the backdrop of aggression from Russia in the East, and the threat of Islamist terrorism enhanced by the war in Syria and instability in neighbouring Turkey… the [UK] Government has repeatedly insisted that Britain will never be part of any EU army.

“However, it is understood the plans… are supported by other leading EU countries, and refer to powers set out in the 2009 Lisbon Treaty, which could allow nine or more member states to embark on their own plans for an EU military headquarters…”

The reference to military action by NINE OR MORE European member states is very interesting.

Britain Better Off Within the EU?

The Daily Mail wrote on May 30:

“Withdrawal from the EU would impact badly on Britain’s growth rates over the next five years, according to 88 per cent of the 600 economists. The poll by Ipsos Mori for The Observer also found that 82 per cent of the economists said Brexit would cut household incomes, and 61 per cent thought it would fuel unemployment…

“Mr Cameron welcomed the survey, of 600 members of the Royal Economic Society and Society of Business Economists, saying: ‘This poll confirms the overwhelming view of economists – leaving the EU would damage our economy, costing jobs and increasing prices. We are stronger, safer and better off in the EU.’…

“Another letter signed by 37 faith leaders including former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams warns that Brexit could put peace in Europe at risk.”

Time for Germany to Take a Leading Military Role in Europe

Deutsche Welle reported on May 27:

“Germany is ready to take on a bigger military role to maintain global security, according to a government white paper. The draft document indicates a possible shift away from Germany’s postwar era of military restraint. The government’s position paper on security policy… said Germany was increasingly seen as a ‘key player’ in Europe, and had ‘a responsibility to actively help shape the global order.’

“It added that Germany could do more at a time when the global community was grappling with threats including terrorism waged by ‘Islamic State,’ cybercrime and a more aggressive Russia…  The document also stressed that Germany would avoid unilateral action, and would instead rely on engagement with the European Union…

“The new white paper on security policy, the first of its kind since 2006, aims to provide guidelines for the future operations of the German armed forces. The Foreign and Defense ministries, as well as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office, have reportedly agreed on the draft plan, which is expected to be debated in cabinet before July.

“The paper comes a fortnight after Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced plans to boost troop numbers for the first time since 1990….

“German officials have made similar statements in the past. One of the more recent instances occurred at the annual Munich Security Conference in 2014 when the defense and foreign ministers as well as the president all said it was time for Germany to take a leading role in global affairs.”

And in time, Germany will take THE leading role in Europe, including in economic, political and military matters.

Euro Proof that EU Wants a United States of Europe

Express wrote on May 28:

“As the historic referendum looms less than a month away, a parliamentary veteran delivered a rousing speech drawing parallels with the EU and famous empires throughout history. Lord Owen, who served as foreign secretary in the 1970s, said the single currency showed Brussels bureaucrats are trying to create a unified European state.

“… the former Labour minister said: ‘[The single currency] is the founding element of a United States of Europe… Look at the history, Charlemagne, the first empire that they tried to build in Europe, they had a single currency… There’s pages of history written about creating currency unions across a number of countries and there’s that end result: they either merge or the currency fails.”

The euro is the glue which keeps the Eurozone together. It is therefore short-sighted to propose that the euro will fail and that the individual member states will return to national currencies, since we know from biblical prophecy that ten European nations or groups of nations will gain power together for a short time, and they will, in a united fashion, give their power to a charismatic political and military leader.

Next Rotating EU President: Islam Has No Place in Europe

Breitbart wrote on May 28:

“Just over a month before Slovakia will take the rotating presidency of the European Union, Prime Minister Robert Fico claims that Islam has no place in his country. ‘Islam has no place in Slovakia,’ Fico told media on Wednesday night saying that the problem of the migrant crisis was not, ‘that migrants come, but that migrants change the character of our country,’ and continued, ‘we do not want the character of this country to change. Let’s be honest and say that will not happen in Slovakia’…

“The Slovakian Prime Minister has made similar comments in the past in reaction to the Cologne New Year’s Eve sex attacks when he and several other nations demanded stricter border controls and said, ‘the idea of multicultural Europe has failed… The migrants cannot be integrated, it’s simply impossible.’

“Slovakia, along with Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, also known as the Visegrad 4 nations (V4), have been some of the staunchest opponents of the European Union’s policies toward the migrant crisis. Slovakia has taken part in a total boycott against the bloc’s attempts to spread the burden of migrants across Europe by relocating them according to a quota system.

“Slovakia, alongside Poland and Hungary are being threatened with €250,000 fines per migrant they refuse to rehome from the European Union. ‘I do not wish tens of thousands of Muslims coming here and promoting their own stuff,’ Fico said, confirming that he will not back down on his views that Islamisation is a threat to Slovakian culture.

“The six month term presidency of the European Union will give the Slovakian Prime Minister a platform to express his views to the council of ministers which he will chair and the European Union Commission who are fiercely opposed to attitudes of his country and the V4.

“President of the EU Commission Jean-Claude Juncker has already expressed displeasure over the views of the V4 and the rise of anti-mass migration candidates across Europe…

“Juncker has also vowed to use his power to make sure no right wing populists can be elected in a European Union member state. ‘There will be no debate or dialogue with the far-right,’ he told media. The comments were in response to the Austrian presidential elections that saw the right wing Freedom Party (FPOe) candidate Norbert Hofer lose by just 31,000 votes.

“Many, including FPOe leader Heinz-Christian Strache have questioned the result and the many irregularities surrounding the postal vote which tipped the election in president-elect Alexander Van der Bellen’s favour.

“Fico has also indirectly commented on the rise of the FPOe in Austria saying that… Slovakia had gone down the same road as the Austrians in regards to the migrant crisis they would also see the rise of right wing parties. He claimed that it is, ‘not enough to lead by example alone, there are also developments in Germany, where radical parties have gained support.’ The last Slovakian election also saw the rise of populist anti-mass migration parties earlier this year.”

The European resentment against Islam and those politicians who tolerate or invite it is becoming greater.

ISIS Attackers in Germany

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 2:

“Germany’s Federal Prosecutors Office said three Syrians have been arrested for planning an ‘Islamic State’ attack on Düsseldorf’s historic city center. The arrests took place separately in three German states. The Karlsruhe-based prosecutors said a fourth Syrian national was arrested in Paris in February and was in French investigative custody while pending extradition to Germany.

“The German news agency DPA said the arrests announced Thursday had taken place in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), in Germany’s southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg as well as the eastern state of Brandenburg…

“The Federal Prosecutors Office said the quartet had intended to carry out the attack, but added that there were no indications they had actually begun to implement the plan. The alleged plan was for two suicide attackers to detonate their vests in Düsseldorf’s city hub, the Heinrich-Heine Allee.

“Afterwards, additional attackers were to shoot and kill as many passersby as possible with guns and explosive devices… German prosecutors said two of the accused had joined IS in Syria in 2014 and received instructions from IS leadership to attack Düsseldorf.”

The People Are Angry!

On May 27, Breitbart published the following editorial by Geert Wilders, a member of the Dutch Parliament and leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV) in the Netherlands:

“Last November, Pew Research revealed that only 19% of Americans still trust the government. And 55% are convinced that ‘ordinary Americans’ would do a better job of solving national problems than the elected politicians.

“Elsewhere in the West, the situation isn’t much different. Research by the Social and Cultural Planning Bureau (SCP) in the Netherlands indicates similar distrust towards the government, with people complaining that politicians do not listen to ordinary citizens. 55% state that they want to have a bigger say…

“The anger of the people is caused by the failure of the present ruling classes to address the problems of the people. Our governments are failing in their most basic obligation to keep country and people safe.

“Take Germany for example. Official crime statistics, published earlier this month by the German Interior Ministry, show that immigrants were responsible for 26% of all crimes committed in Germany in 2015 – up from 8.4% in 2014…

“Take Britain for example. Last month, a poll revealed that 2 out of 3 British Muslims will not report it to the police if someone close to them is getting involved with people supporting terrorism…

“Our governments have also failed to deliver economic progress to middle-class and working-class Europeans and Americans… Domestic jobs are being outsourced to foreigners, fiscal transfer payments are being made to foreign shores. Meanwhile, our people are suffering rising taxes and austerity measures, their retirement is being postponed, their pension provisions cut, their healthcare dismantled [while being confronted with] rising levels of crime and Islamization…”

Anger has caused many peaceful or violent uprisings in the past, including the toppling and replacements of governments and political leaders.

More Trouble with Turkey

The Local wrote on May 30:

“Turkey on Monday strongly warned the German parliament against adopting a resolution recognising the mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide, saying it could have repercussions for bilateral ties. The German lower house of parliament is set to vote on Thursday on the resolution over the two years of slaughter from 1915, which carries the contested word ‘genocide’ throughout the text. ‘Germany is our friend and our ally where many citizens of Turkish origin live,’ said deputy prime minister and government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus. ‘Germany must be careful concerning its relations with Turkey. I do not think that the German parliament will destroy this relationship for the sake of two or three politicians’ who put the resolution before the Bundestag, he added.

“The debate over the resolution also comes at a hugely sensitive time in Berlin-Ankara relations. Turkish authorities are angry over the failure to grant citizens visa-free travel to the EU and Germany is worried by the worsening rights situation in Turkey. Turkish authorities have long lobbied Western allies not to recognise the killings as genocide and stepped up efforts last year on the 100th anniversary of the tragedy. Armenians say up to 1.5 million were killed between 1915 and 1917 in a targeted campaign of genocide by top Ottoman officials to wipe out their people from Anatolia. Modern Turkey insists comparable numbers of Armenians and Turks died in a collective tragedy when Armenians sided with invading Russian troops in World War I.”

Deutsche Welle added on June 1:

“Armenia’s president has urged German politicians to brand deaths in 1915 Ottoman Turkey as ‘genocide’ and not be intimidated by Ankara… More than 20 nations, including France and Russia, have already recognized the mass deaths as genocide, albeit prompting diplomatic tension with Turkey… Germany has extensive ties with Turkey, including 3 million residents of Turkish origin, dating back to a ‘guest worker’ scheme in the 1960s and 70s.”

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 2:

“Germany’s Bundestag passed a resolution qualifying the Ottoman era Armenian killings as ‘genocide’. The lower house of parliament voted almost unanimously, with one vote against the motion and one abstention…

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and the leader of the Social Democrats, Sigmar Gabriel, failed to attend the vote on account of other appointments. Critics have said, however, that they deliberately attempted to dodge a difficult vote…

“The co-leader of Germany’s Green party, Cem Özdemir, who has a Turkish background, told reporters that Germany was even involved in the massacres 101 years ago, highlighting that the German Empire at the time provided the Ottoman Empire with the weapons needed to carry out such war crimes. Özdemir added that the German Empire had also sent military consultants, who supported and fought with the Ottomans. ‘They knew exactly what was going on,’ Özdemir said. ‘In this respect we’re guilty of complicity, and have to admit this.’

“During the parliamentary hearing, Germany’s former Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung admitted that the German Empire allowed the events to happen and supported them quietly. Both politicians also called on parliament to address another past massacre, this time actively carried out by the German Empire. In what is Namibia today, up to 100,000 Herero and 10,000 Nama tribal people were reportedly killed under German colonial rule. The massacres took place between 1904 and 1907 and are commonly referred to as the first genocide of the 20th century.”

Mankind Possesses the Means to Destroy Itself

The New York Times wrote on May 27:

“President Obama laid a wreath at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial on Friday, telling an audience that included survivors of America’s atomic bombing in 1945 that technology as devastating as nuclear arms demands a ‘moral revolution.’ Thousands of Japanese lined the route of the presidential motorcade to the memorial in the hopes of glimpsing Mr. Obama, the first sitting American president to visit the most potent symbol of the dawning of the nuclear age. Many watched the ceremony on their cellphones.

“‘Seventy-one years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed,’ Mr. Obama said in opening his speech at the memorial… [He said] that technology often outruns the human ability to manage that progress…

“Many survivors long for an apology for an event that destroyed just about everyone and everything they knew, and there were small demonstrations near the ceremony on Friday by protesters demanding an apology. But Mr. Obama said before his trip that he would not apologize for the attack…

“In his speech, Mr. Obama… said that the bombing of Hiroshima demonstrated that ‘mankind possessed the means to destroy itself.’ But he said that in the 71 years since the bombing, world institutions had grown up to help prevent a recurrence. Still, nations like the United States continue to possess thousands of nuclear weapons. And that is something that must change, he said.

“In a striking example of the gap between Mr. Obama’s vision of a nuclear weapons-free world and the realities of purging them, a new Pentagon census of the American nuclear arsenal shows his administration has reduced the stockpile less than any other post-Cold War presidency…

“Noting that far more primitive weapons than nuclear arms are causing widespread destruction today, Mr. Obama called for humanity to change its mind-set about war…

“People in Asian countries that were brutalized by imperial Japan had warned that a presidential apology at Hiroshima would be inappropriate. Mr. Obama not only did not apologize, he made clear that Japan, despite a highly advanced culture, was to blame for the war, which ‘grew out of the same base instinct for domination or conquest that had caused conflicts among the simplest tribes’… failures by the Japanese to acknowledge their own role in the bombings has long bothered the Chinese, Koreans and others who suffered under the empire’s rule… [Prime Minister Shinzo] Abe has promoted a version of history that plays down Japan’s wartime transgressions, and he has moved to give the military limited powers to fight in foreign conflicts…”

The sad truth is that mankind has not learned at all from the past, and that it WOULD destroy itself, if Christ were not to return to shorten the days of human madness.

We Make—or End—History!

The Huffington Post wrote on May 27:

“… the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki have not produced eternal peace. Instead they opened a Pandora’s box that can never be fully locked back up…

“The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ ‘Doomsday Clock’ has this ominous message today: it is still three minutes to midnight. Beginning in 1947 the clock’s hands have moved based on the scientists’ evaluation of whether events are pushing humanity closer to or further from nuclear apocalypse…  In January 2016 they announced it has not changed: ‘Last year, the Science and Security Board moved the Doomsday Clock forward to three minutes to midnight, noting: “The probability of global catastrophe is very high…”

“When anyone argues that the world might be safer if more countries had nuclear weapons it is yet another reminder that history can and may repeat itself on our watch if we are not vigilant. The clock is still ticking.

“…Thomas Merton… wrote this in the essay ‘Nuclear War and Christian Responsibility’: ‘… History does not make us, we make it—or end it.’”

Hillary Clinton’s and Donald Trump’s Liabilities

Deutsche Welle wrote on May 27:

“Hillary Clinton’s email scandal and the fact that she can’t seem to lock up the Democratic race against Bernie Sanders are only symptoms, but not the cause of her campaign problems… ‘One of her top liabilities when we look electorally is her net favorability rating,’ said Adam Ramey, a US politics scholar at New York University Abu Dhabi. ‘Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in both their respective parties have the dishonor of being the least favorably viewed major party candidates in any presidential election since we began gathering data on candidate favorability.’

“Clinton is currently viewed unfavorably by 55.8 percent of Americans… Only 37.6 percent of respondents have a positive impression of her.

“The favorability ratings of… Trump are only slightly worse… [He] is disliked by 58 percent of those polled, with only 35.4 percent viewing him positively.

“These figures show that many voters, even in her own party, don’t consider Clinton likable or trustworthy… ‘Her honesty and her trustworthiness is the single biggest issue she faces, and it funnels into everything else,’ Ramey said…

“Trump has managed to ride the anti-establishment wave all the way to the Republican nomination. For Clinton, who is considered the personification of the establishment by many, that is a bad sign, because Trump is bound to try to exploit that perception ruthlessly in his campaign.

“That Trump has been successful so far in styling himself as an anti-elite candidate and riling up anti-establishment fervor is intriguing – or vexing if you are Clinton – because Trump himself is as establishment and elite a candidate as they come, said Scott Lucas, a professor of American studies at the University of Birmingham in Britain… ‘We have two candidates who are very much inside the establishment, albeit Trump being inside the business establishment whereas Clinton has been inside the political establishment.’ The difference is that Trump has so far been able to convince voters that he does not belong to the establishment…

“‘The big thing is, Hillary just doesn’t connect with people the way that Bill did and still does,’ Professor Lucas said. ‘She is very awkward in public, whether it is set-piece campaign appearances or just meeting people.’ Ramey… said Clinton was widely perceived as ‘robotic and inauthentic’ and that her public appearances leave many people questioning where she really stands on various issues…

“Meanwhile, Trump – despite or because of his many outrageous statements, his abrasive style and his flip-flops on party affiliation and political issues – is viewed as authentic by many. ‘Trump is like bad political jazz. He is just saying what comes into his head,’ Lucas said…

“But it won’t be enough for Clinton to bet that Trump will undermine himself in the general election with his off-the-cuff remarks, Ramey said: ‘If Hillary wants to have a fighting chance, she will have to exude some sort of human quality and some way to communicate authenticity to the average voter.’”

Trump has been totally underestimated from the start. First, political “experts” predicted that his run would last for only a month; then they kept saying, time and again, that he would never become the Republican nominee, but all desperate efforts to the contrary did not prevent his steady rise. The same “experts” finally admitted that they were completely wrong, as the “rules” don’t seem to apply to Trump. Nevertheless, they kept pronouncing that he did not have a chance of winning against Hillary Clinton, and polls were published stating that he was far behind. Recently, it was indicated that both have equal poll numbers. It appears more and more likely to us that Trump will beat Clinton and become the next US President, which would fall in line with biblical prophecy.

Iran and Saudi Arabia Bitter Rivals

The Telegraph wrote on May 29:

“Iran accused Saudi Arabia of ‘blocking the path leading to Allah’ on Sunday when Tehran announced that its pilgrims would not perform the Hajj in Mecca this year. If this ban is enforced, the annual Hajj in September will be the first in 30 years without any pilgrims from Iran, the largest Shia Muslim nation.

“Iran and Saudi Arabia are bitter rivals, seeing themselves as the leaders of Shia and Sunni Islam respectively. Officials from both countries have tried to negotiate arrangements for Iranians to perform the Hajj this year, but without success…

“Last year, 60,000 Iranians travelled to Mecca. But a stampede caused the death of 2,300 pilgrims, including 464 Iranians, leading Tehran to accuse the kingdom of being unable or unwilling to manage the Hajj safely.

“Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with its regional neighbour in January after a mob stormed and looted the kingdom’s embassy in Tehran, retaliating for the execution of a prominent Shia cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Among other counter-measures, Saudi Arabia banned Iranian airlines from entering its airspace. In addition, there are no Saudi diplomatic missions in Iranian where pilgrims could collect their visas.

“The latest talks have failed to overcome these practical obstacles to Iranians performing the Hajj, although Saudi Arabia was willing to allow selected flights to carry pilgrims . Whether Iran will actually prevent its citizens from travelling to Mecca in September – or whether the latest announcement is simply a negotiating tactic – remains to be seen.”

The idea that either Iran or Saudi Arabia will become the leader of all Arab nations in the region is an unrealistic fantasy.

Disease Epidemic Spreading in Middle East and Possibly Europe

The website of news.com.au write on May 30:

“A FLESH-EATING tropical disease is sweeping the Middle East and may yet end up in Europe, after Islamic State’s civil war helped to create the perfect breeding grounds for infected vectors. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease caused by bites from infected sand flies, which are thriving in the squalid conditions created by the war in the Middle East. The disease can eventually lead to severe scarring, and is spreading rapidly as displaced people and refugees flee the ISIS strongholds where the disease is thriving…

“Those infected suffer from open sores on the skin, nose bleeds and difficulties breathing and swallowing, with more serious strains of the disease leading to death, if left unchecked. In its most deadly form, leishmaniasis can be a destructive and debilitating condition, which eats away at the mucous membranes of the nose, mouth and throat. The civil war has been largely blamed for the emergence of the flesh-eating disease, with the war torn surroundings creating serious health risks for those unfortunate enough to be trapped in conflict zones.

“A lack of medical facilities and doctors, coupled with serious water shortages, have only served to help the disease’s spread, with most cases going undiagnosed and untreated. Previously, the disease had been contained to Syria… but now the parasite is eating its way through the entire region… The disease has emerged in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan, after over four million Syrians fled the country to seek asylum from the bloody conflict in their home country… with health experts concerned that the disease may soon spread to Saudi Arabia as well.

“It is possible that the disease has already been spread to Europe by refugees, who are made more susceptible to illness while living in temporary camps. These camps tend to be overcrowded, with poor medical facilities and low hygiene standards similar to the conditions in the Middle East, where the disease originated.

“Dr Waleed Al-Salem, of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, told MailOnline: ‘It’s a very bad situation. The disease has spread dramatically in Syria, but also into countries like Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and even into southern Europe with refugees coming in. There are thousands of cases in the region but it is still underestimated because no one can count the exact number of people affected. When people are bitten by sand flies — which are tiny and smaller than a mosquito — it can take anything between two to six months to have the infection…

“‘Someone might have picked it up in Syria but then they may have fled into Lebanon or Turkey, or even into Europe as they seek refuge…’”

Disease epidemics are a logical consequence of war and famine. The four horsemen of the Apocalypse describe, in the following order, the occurrence of religious deception, war, famine or shortness of food and water, and disease epidemics.

Mandatory Vaccinations

The website of pewtrusts.org published the following article on May 25. We are omitting the slanted comments approving and endorsing mandatory vaccinations, but we quote the following excerpts, as they are of interest to those parents who oppose vaccinations because of medical and/or religious grounds:

“When Jennifer Stella’s two children were babies, she made sure they got all the usual vaccines. But when one started having seizures and the other developed eczema after they’d gotten immunizations, the Vermont woman decided her kids would no longer get shots required to attend school. Stella, a co-founder of the Vermont Coalition for Vaccine Choice, is among a growing number of parents who are opting out of childhood vaccinations because they’re worried about their safety…

“All states require children to get vaccinated to attend school… [Some] have pushed lawmakers to eliminate exemptions from state vaccine requirements and sought to make it more difficult for families to qualify for the exemptions that remain… children in California can only be exempted from vaccines if their doctor determines immunization to be unsafe for them.

“Vermont eliminated its philosophical exemption in 2015, leaving only religious and medical exemptions. In the last year, similar bills to eliminate philosophical or religious exemptions were proposed in at least seven states: Hawaii, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

“… it’s about to get harder for parents to exempt their children from regular vaccines in Colorado. New rules issued by the state Board of Health that take effect in July will require parents to apply for an exemption every time their children are due for a vaccine, rather than filing one exemption for an entire childhood… The rules will also force schools to report their vaccination numbers so parents can choose not to send their kids to a school with a low vaccination rate.”

The Mysterious Yeti

The Telegraph wrote on May 30:

“It is one of the world’s greatest enduring mysteries. Stories of a yeti, or an abominable snowman, have been entrenched in Himalayan folklore for hundreds of years… Tibetans refer to the yeti as ‘miché’ – which translates loosely as ‘man-bear’. They also use the term ‘mirka’ – which loosely boils down to ‘wild man’. In China, the yeti is known as ‘yeren’ or ‘wild man’. Other names that the yeti goes by include Almas (Mongolia), Batutut (Vietnam), Bigfoot (North America), Yowie (Australia) and Fear liath (Scotland)…

“Has the yeti ever been seen? There have been plenty of supposed sightings of the beast – and of course, plenty of hoaxes. Stories of the yeti have been around for hundreds of years, so the idea of something existing up in those mountains is not utterly improbable. More common than sightings are mysterious footprints spotted on the icy trails of the Himalayas…

“Alexander the Great is said to have coveted a yeti during his conquest of the Indus Valley in 326 BC… The first publicised report of a Yeti sighting came from a German photographer. N.A. Tombazi, a photographer and member of the Royal Geographical Society, provided one of the clearest descriptions, of a ‘figure in outline was exactly like a human being, walking upright … It showed up dark against the snow, and as far as I could make out, wore no clothes.’…

“During the Second World War, Sławomir Rawicz, a Polish soldier, who claims he escaped from a Siberian gulag and walked across the Himalayas to India, said his path was blocked, at one point, by two yetis… Photographs published [in 1951] of several large footprints, taken by Eric Shipton, a respected mountaineer, sparked renewed interest… After one expedition, James Stewart, the actor, is said to have helped smuggle parts of the supposed remains of a yeti from India to London, by concealing them in his luggage… Reinhold Messner, a celebrated mountaineer, claimed to have had a face-to-face encounter with a yeti [in 1986]…”

For a further discussion on the mysterious Yeti or Bigfoot, please read our free booklet, “Heavens and Earth… Before and After the First Man.”

The Bible in fact has plenty to say about life insurance or protection through life insurance, which is applied by many different principles.  It’s however a lack of knowledge which confuses many when it comes to life insurance.  In the 1972 Good News magazine, Vol XXI, No. 03, the questions were asked if Christians should purchase life insurance in today’s society; if there is any need for God’s people to have insurance today; and “why most people feel their insurance payments serve no useful service except to swell the bulging pockets of someone else.” For the answers, we will quote extensively in this Q&A from the above-stated article.

First, an article in the 1960 Good News magazine, Vol IX, No. 01, pointed out:

“Understanding what insurance IS can help you properly exercise both FAITH in God and solid GODLY WISDOM!  Insurance is not a way to get something for nothing. Neither is it solely a way to protect the self. Nor is it a gimmick that costs you money from which you’ll never get any value.  Insurance can be defined as a pooling of resources exposed to a common risk to which a certain percentage of people will fall victim during a given period.”

Insurance doesn’t prevent accidents or death; it provides protection for unanticipated expenses you couldn’t otherwise pay; and as the above-quoted article continues to state, it “merely compensates you if you suffer such a loss so that you can regain your economic feet.  In case of death, insurance provides security for widows and children.”

“What does the Bible have to say about this kind of insurance?  In Deuteronomy 14:28-29 we read about the principle of third tithe:  ‘At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates.’  Who is it stored up for? Ourselves? No! It’s for ‘the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates.’ Why? So that they ‘may come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.’

“This is INSURANCE!  Here is God’s insurance program to take care of widows and orphans in case of death of the husband and father. It often happens that people will not have sufficient laid up for emergencies until later in life. God knew this might happen. To provide for this He ordered the people to save 10% of their income once in three years – that is, the third and sixth year out of every seven years. We commonly call this the THIRD TITHE. The same command is repeated in Deut[eronomy] 26:12.

“Such problems as this have already faced God’s Church.  Sometimes women who have young children are converted. Either the husbands have died or have left them without means of support. What shall the Church do? It is the responsibility of its members to save THIRD TITHE to take care of just such emergencies. Such young women should not be working, but ought to be at home taking care of their children, until they become old enough to support themselves.

“Insurance is the principle of saving to help others. God wants us to save the third tithe once in three years as an insurance program for the Church, just as He wants us to save the FIRST TITHE for the spread of the gospel.  It is a lack of faith not to save the third tithe for the fatherless and widows. Saving the third tithe is a test of your faith!  It is also a type of ‘life insurance,’ aiding the widows and the young children if the head of the household dies unexpectedly. This can and does happen!” (For a thorough discussion regarding the requirement of saving third tithe, and the different purposes for the Church’s use of third tithe funds, please read our free booklet, “Tithing Today?”)

But we should also consider a personal responsibility of each member in God’s Church.  In 1 Timothy 5:3-4, 8, 16, Paul wrote to Timothy that it was Timothy’s duty that nobody would take advantage of the financial sacrifice of God’s people. “Honor widows who are really widows. But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents; for this is good and acceptable before God… But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever…If any believing man or  woman has widows, let them relieve them, and do not let the church be burdened, that it may relieve those who are really widows.”

The 1960 Good News magazine, Vol IX, No 01 wrote: “If you are able – and some think that they are not able when they are able – to support widows and orphans in your household, you are to do so. That is acceptable before God, Paul said. It is not the Church’s duty in such cases to use the third tithe. God doesn’t want spongers in His Kingdom.”

Quoting from the 1972 Good News magazine, Vol XXI, No 03:

“… insurance, in principle, is similar to third tithe. In cases where third tithe assistance is needed to help sustain widows and their families, a financial loss has resulted from the death of the husband who was the breadwinner. Unless some financial provision was previously made, the widow often faces severe economic hardship. Third tithe — contributed by a large number of individuals — helps alleviate this situation.

“The United States government has instituted for the nation a very similar program. It is the Social Security system. In essence, Social Security is merely a federal insurance program subsidized by employers as well as employees… (Many people don’t realize, however, that Social Security benefits and pension plans are generally designed as supplements to retirement income, rather than as a means of sole support. Husbands and breadwinners should therefore develop — if possible — other means of strengthening their financial security. One good way of doing this is through life insurance).”

Regarding life insurance, the article in the 1960 Good News magazine, Vol IX, No 01, pointed out:

“The problem of owning insurance continues to perplex many in the Church.  It is often reasoned by those who don’t have insurance that it would be showing a lack of faith to be ‘protected’ by insurance.”

Brian Gale, our Pastor in the United Kingdom, sent us the following remarkable comments:

“I was in the insurance industry from 1961 to 1993 and when I first started attending church in 1973, I was concerned as to whether insurance was in accord with biblical principles.   My mind was soon put at rest.   It was interesting though that the local minister told me that he had taken out an insurance policy when younger but when he came into the church he cancelled it as he would never reap the benefits at age 65.   He died aged 85 last year and Christ has still not returned!”

This is very true. We don’t know when Christ will return and for that very reason it is good to have protection through insurance.  Not only that, insurance is constantly upgrading and today, one does not have to wait until one is 65 years old to reap the benefits, depending on what kind of insurance one has, but with a cash value policy, one could access money much sooner, and the money is tax free and penalty free.  So if the local minister wouldn’t have cancelled the policy, which appeared to have been a cash value policy, and depending on how much he was putting in each month, he would have accumulated a lot of money at the time of his death.

What does the Bible say about owning insurance, even about saving for the future?  Notice what the prophet Agur said in Proverbs 30:24-25: “There are four things which are little on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise: The ants are a people not strong, Yet they prepare their food in the summer.”  The ant prepares and SAVES for the winter and they are wise and not lazy creatures, that don’t need to beg for food. Just as Solomon said in Proverbs 6:6-8: “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.”  Preparing for hard times is the wise thing to do which is why the Bible advises “laying up for a rainy day.”

Jesus also applied the principle of saving for the future in Matthew 6:19-21, where He said: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

The 1960 Good News magazine, Vol IX, No 01, stated: “Does this mean that Jesus frowned upon saving for the future? Not at all! Jesus sanctioned saving for all eternity—‘treasure up for yourselves treasure in heaven.’ That saving Jesus will give us as a reward when He returns. But Jesus warned not to treasure up ‘for yourselves’ earthly savings. Don’t save for yourselves-save for others! A good man does not lay up for himself. He saves for his grandchildren! A wise man does not build up a bank account only for himself, but for his family.”

God is our source and provider for everything we need (Philippians 4:19) and the Bible teaches that saving money is a wise practice for many different reasons.  God provides for us through money and it is our job to manage that money well (Matthew 25:14-27) and saving money allows us to be prepared for the future, which is a good thing.  Planning ahead and saving money makes it easier to accomplish goals and God certainly urges planning ahead, as in the story of Joseph which not only saved the nation of Egypt but also the people of Israel and the lineage of Christ (Genesis 41).

Now what about today? There are many different types of insurances available today. Do you know about life insurance, the difference between Term, Whole Life, Variable, Universal, and Index Life?  Do you know about the tax advantages of cash value in life insurance such as tax deferred growth, tax free withdrawals and tax free death benefit?  Yes, insurance can most certainly be a financial life saver and there are so many different benefits for having it.  When it’s used properly, it can help a family during a major illness or disability; provide replacement income for the loss of a spouse; it can rebuild a damaged home; it can pay for costly medical bills during a prolonged stay in a nursing home.  Is it a lack of faith when we purchase insurance?  Not at all!  Insurance can be a wise way to protect the assets and income God blesses us with and He also instructs us to prepare during good and bad times, which demonstrates proper planning.  He also wants us to provide for our families (Proverbs 13:22).

The following is stated in “Finance 101, Saving Your Future-World System Builder (2015)”:

“Life insurance isn’t a fun topic, but it’s a critical part of your financial strategy.  People don’t often talk about it.  Most don’t understand it. Few want to buy it. Even those people who buy it don’t necessarily understand or appreciate its importance in building and preserving wealth.  As a result, a lot of people don’t have any life insurance protection.  If they do, most don’t have enough.  Today, people have all kinds of protection.  They insure their house, cars, phones, and appliances. They even buy travel insurance for their vacations.  But when it comes to life insurance, people remain skeptical. The most important insurance that protects their family and their children is not taken seriously.  Life insurance doesn’t insure your life. It insures your family’s ability to continue on without being financially devastated.  A good number of people believe that they won’t die anytime soon.  Why would they need life insurance?  Some take it easy by just signing up with their employer’s group life insurance.  There’s no need for a medical checkup. Others get it free from their company.  However, the company may not provide enough coverage, and if their employment terminates, they don’t have protection.  They may also have difficulties buying individual life insurance if they have medical problems and need more coverage.

“Do stay-at-home parents need life insurance?  Yes, they do. A lot of people think life insurance is for the breadwinner only.  But stay-at-home parents should have protection to replace their valuable services to the family. Without them, these services can cost a lot.

“Do single people need life insurance? Most people buy life insurance to take care of their spouse and children. However, single people buy life insurance for different reasons.  They have loved ones to take care of, they may start a family soon and want to buy when the cost is lower or while they are healthy and insurable, they are in a business partnership and want to protect their business, they want to take advantage of the tax benefits of savings in the policy and have coverage at the same time, or they may want to leave a legacy to the cause they are passionate about.”

The 1960 Good News magazine, Vol IX, No 01 stated: “Accidents can happen to YOU! The experience of our own church members proves it! God is not going to prevent you from reaping the consequences of carelessness. But He will deliver you. Thanks to God we can always pray to be healed or to be protected from infection in case of injury. No insurance can replace faith. Otherwise God would not have provided life and disaster insurance for His people in His own law in the form of third tithe. If you are one who believes that insurance replaces faith, that is merely proof that you probably DID NOT HAVE ABIDING FAITH IN THE FIRST PLACE.”

The 1972 Good News magazine, Vol XXI, No 03, added: “If a person looks to the physical only for his source of security, protection and peace of mind, he is showing a lack of faith toward God. God is our Rock, our security, our peace and our whole life. We must still trust in Him, over and above any physical source, and beyond anything we are able to do. Insurance is never a substitute for faith.  Faith is that assurance that God will deliver you out of every difficulty you may become involved in. Paul was in several shipwrecks… often lost property. God alone could deliver Paul from death in such accidents. No insurance could have! But savings in the form of insurance would compensate Paul for his loss.  That is how God wants us to view the question of insurance and third tithe…

“What is the purpose of life insurance? Simply to provide funds to compensate for the financial loss resulting from a death. Does that mean it is a lack of faith to purchase life insurance? Not at all. It is proof that we believe that God means what he says — that human beings are temporal, mortal and shall DIE! (Hebrews 9:27).

“Some may feel that because they won’t personally benefit from the proceeds of their life insurance, they don’t want to spend money on it. What selfish and foolish reasoning! Life insurance can be of personal benefit. A cash value policy builds funds as a form of savings. But primarily, life insurance is for others! A man’s family responsibilities go on even after he is dead — especially if he dies prematurely. What better way is there in today’s society to lay up for our children than through life insurance?

“Of course, sound judgment must be exercised in its purchase. You should ask yourself, ‘How much, if any, can I afford? Will it curb my ability to serve the work financially? How much insurance coverage is right for my situation?’ We must be balanced!

“The three basic coverages needed by every family for their own as well as the protection of others are liability, property and life insurance. Amounts and coverages must be based on your needs and your budget. These are best determined in consultation with a knowledgeable, experienced and trustworthy insurance agent. Insurance can be a physical means to meet a spiritual obligation. Through insurance (sharing the risk with others for the benefit of all) you can provide for the future and protect the present.”

Time is precious and we are only growing older each day.  Look at the frightening statistics when it comes to cancer. For example, 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will have the risk of developing cancer during their lifetime.  Also 80 million Americans have one or more types of heart disease (www.cancer.org/cancer/cancerbasics/lifetime-probability-of-developing-or-dying-from-cancer).   Just because we are in the Church doesn’t mean that we are exempt from getting sick or dying.  There have been many faithful members who have gotten sick, who have gotten cancer, who have lost their lives.  In fact, God says that even Christians will die (compare again Hebrews 9:27).  Time is money and procrastination is the enemy of saving. We shouldn’t procrastinate and assume that nothing can happen to us because we do not know what will happen tomorrow (James 4:14).  Often times we may come up with excuses why we don’t “need” to get insurance yet, even though we KNOW we need it for our loved ones, and Christ tells us, “If you KNOW these things, blessed are you if you DO them” (John 13:17).

Lead Writer: Michael Link

We will observe Pentecost on Sunday, June 12, 2016. There will be morning and afternoon services on this Holy Day. You might want to check out the following booklets: “God’s Commanded Holy Days,” and “The Meaning of God’s Spring Holy Days.”

“Secret Plans for Unified European Army?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

Far too many are indifferent or confused about what is going on in continental Europe, including the secret goal to create a unified EU army under the control of “nine or more member states”; the “leading role on global affairs” which Germany is destined to fulfill as “a key player” with the “responsibility to actively help shape the global order”; and the euro as the “founding element of a United States of Europe.” Many claim wrongfully that the EU will break up and that the euro will fail. They simply do not understand biblical prophecy.

“Hebräische Namen für Gottesanbetung?” is the title of this week’s new German sermon. It is based on our recent Q&A, “Should We Use Hebrew Expressions in Our Worship of God?”

“ASK,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Dave Harris, is now posted. Here is a summary:

As Christians, we are taught to ASK. Asking God about things in our lives is paramount for how we live. And what we ask for now will dramatically affect our future!

“Hesitation and Haste,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Eric Rank, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The timing of our actions is an important factor that affects our successful, Christian development. If we wait too long to commit ourselves to do what is right in the eyes of God, we may miss out on opportunities to learn, grow in righteousness, and put our talents to practice. But on the other hand, if we lose our patience and take action too soon, we may not be demonstrating our faith in God, and place too much trust in our human judgment. Finding the right balance between hesitation and haste is important for us to practice so we can spiritually develop our character to its fullest potential.