On January 27, 2024, Paul Niehoff will present the sermonette, titled, “To Be Like God” and Norbert Link will present the sermon, titled, “When Did God Know You? 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.

I read an interesting quote recently: “One of the greatest challenges each society faces is deciding what constitutes ‘truth.’ Whoever holds that power wields enormous influence and steers the direction of that society for better or for worse. For centuries, ‘truth’ was delegated to the ruling institutions of the time, and hence truth was simply the narrative which conformed to their interests.” These ruling institutions of the various times could be the king, the government or the religious leaders of the day.

Of course, this “truth” was usually far removed from God’s truth and was more than likely inspired by Satan, who we know is a liar. And currently, he is the ruler of this world or the god of this age (refer John 14:30, John 16:11 and 2 Corinthians 4:4). So today, we live in a world with many lies.

Some of these lies may have small immediate consequences, but some are quite deadly. A couple of these lies with deadly consequences come to mind readily. The most recent are statements about the Covid vaccines, that they are safe and effective. This narrative was proclaimed from all official sources basically in unison around the world. As has been shown over the past few years, many thousands have died from these vaccines and many more have been seriously injured. As it also has been discovered, any effectiveness these vaccines had wears off very quickly and makes their recipients more likely to suffer from the current virus or even other illnesses. Those doctors who saved lives with early treatment for Covid were censured because they were going against the narrative (the official “truth”). Some lost their medical license and received fines for going against the government directive that certain early treatments were not allowed.

Another lie we heard in 2003, was that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and they were developing nuclear weapons. This lie was spread so that the U.S. and some allies had a reason to go to war. When the U.S. military invaded Iraq, no weapons of mass destruction were found, neither was there any evidence that nuclear weapons were being developed. In fact, some intelligence agencies knew beforehand that this was a lie, but they were ignored. However, this lie resulted in the death of over two hundred and eighty thousand Iraqi citizens and thousands of US troops.

As it turned out, both of these lies resulted in vast profits for the medical and military industries, so they had a vested interest in pushing these lies. Certainly, this showed that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (refer to 1 Timothy 6:10).

In Proverbs 6:16-19, God lists things He hates. “These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.” In this list, it is significant that lying is mentioned twice to reinforce its importance.

While this sin of lying has been extant over the millennia, it has been greatly enabled by the increased use of technology in this modern age. The use of Artificial Intelligence will further aid the dissemination of lies in the future. It will be more difficult to discern between lies and the truth.

The only hope this world has is for Jesus Christ to return as the king of the earth. So, what will be the ultimate fate of liars? Revelation 21:8 informs us, “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, idolater, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstones, which is the second death.”

Revelation 22:14-15 reinforces this: “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.”

We must be striving in our own lives to avoid lies, and constantly be praying earnestly, “Thy kingdom come,” when God’s truth alone will be lived by.

by Norbert Link

We begin with interesting revelations as to the reason for the October 7 attack on Israel and continue with Netanyahu contradicting Biden’s statement; publish articles about the Houthis and Biden’s war on Yemen which has been viewed to be unconstitutional; speak on another controversial decision by the US Supreme Court; arbitrary prohibitions regarding raw milk, medical marijuana, cigarettes and excessive alcohol consumption; and quote from an article by Boris Johnson concluding that the world needs Trump, and some speculation as to whether Tucker Carlson might be a contender for Vice President. We also report on Trump’s victory in New Hampshire.

We report on Germany’s detention of Arnold Schwarzenegger; the feeling that Germany is committing national suicide; that it must become “war-ready”; and that it fudges the math on Ukraine and NATO. We continue with Germany’s dubious treatment of the populist party AfD and mass demonstrations by leftist activists. Please view our new StandingWatch program in this regard, titled, “Why Germany’s Disaster Is Important For YOU!”

We conclude with an article claiming that Europe is becoming an anti-democratic empire and the perception that Brits are unwilling to fight for their country.

Throughout this section, we have underlined pertinent statements in the quoted articles, for the convenience and quick overview of the reader.

October 7 Attack Because of Red Heifer?

WND wrote on January 18:

“While political experts worldwide pontificate on the war in Gaza, most have overlooked Hamas’ explicitly stated reason for its Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, revealed on Day 100 of the war. Incredibly, according to the terror group’s military spokesman, it has to do with attempting to prevent the ‘ceremony of the Red Heifer’ – a mysterious event of great meaning to both Jews and Christians…

“‘We look back 100 days to remember the educated, the complicit, and the incapacitated among the world powers governed by the law of the jungle, reminding them of an aggression that reached its peak against our path (Al-Quds) and Al-Aqsa, with the start of its actual temporal and spatial division, and the ‘bringing of red cows’ as an application of a detestable religious myth designed for aggression against the feelings of an entire nation in the heart of its Arab identity, and the path of its prophet (the Night Journey) and Ascension to heaven.’

“The ‘red cows’ referred to by the Hamas leader were five red female calves brought to Israel in September 2022 by Boneh Israel, an organization that connects Christian lovers of Israel to the Holy Land, working under the auspices of the Temple Institute, an organization in Israel focusing on establishing the Third Temple…

“After the announcement of the arrival of the cows last year, Hamas reacted almost immediately, warning that the potential Jewish ritual posed a threat to Al Aqsa… According to Jewish tradition, there have been nine red heifers since the mitzvah was given at Mount Sinai and the tenth red heifer will be used in the era of the Messiah…  According to Jewish tradition, there will be only 10 red heifers in human history, with the 10th heifer ushering in the Messianic era…”

The Bible does not say anything about a tenth red heifer; nor, that it is necessary for the building of the Third Temple or the coming of the Messiah. Still, many Messianic Christians and Jews believe that it is.

Netanyahu Contradicts Biden

The Algemeiner wrote on January 20:

“U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday night that a two-state solution is possible with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite what the Israeli leader said publicly in recent days. The Israeli leader later issued a statement underscoring his opposition to a Palestinian state…

“In regards to Biden’s comments on Netanyahu being open to a two-station solution, and how that might look like, the U.S. President said ‘there are a number of types of two-state solutions.’…

“Netanyahu’s office issued a statement clarifying the leader’s stance. ‘In his conversation last night with President Biden, Prime Minister Netanyahu repeated his consistent position for years, which he also expressed at a press conference the day before: after the elimination of Hamas, Israel must remain in full security control of the Gaza Strip to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel, and this conflicts with the demand for Palestinian sovereignty.’’

Is Biden just making these things up?

Watch Yemen and the Houthis

EricMargolis.com published the following article on January 19:

“The first time I went to remote Yemen, this wild, mountainous nation was just creeping into the 7th Century AD. That was 45 years ago…  The ruler back in the day was a despot known to his less than loving subjects as ‘Ahmed the Devil.’ He liked to nail subjects who displeased him to the palace door.

“One of Yemen’s frequent civil wars was raging around the walled, medieval capital between royalists and Shia tribesmen. At dusk a ram’s horn would be blown and the city gates barred… Hardly anyone in Washington knows anything about Yemen except that it’s the southern tip of the remote Arabian Peninsula at the southern end of the Red Sea…

“American ‘experts’ scoff at the Houthis as mountain primitives… The US and Britain have been bombing Houthi tribesmen for seven years. This has only made them angrier. We also dismissed Afghanistan’s ‘backwards’ mountain warrior Pathans (Pashtuns) and look what happened – they whipped us.

“President Joe Biden, who never served in the military, should keep this in mind…”

America is about to create another Afghanistan or Vietnam for itself. Note the next article.

Biden’s Illegal and Unconstitutional Conduct

Judge Andrew P. Napolitano wrote on January 18 in the Ron Paul Institute:

“Last week, Biden used the U.S. Navy to attack militias in Yemen. He did so after learning that the militias had attacked non-American ships carrying goods and fuel destined for Israel… Yet, the questions arise: Can the president fight any war he wishes? Can Congress fund any war it chooses? Are there constitutional and legal requirements that must first be met before war is waged? Can the United States legally attack a country that is a member of the United Nations?

“These questions should be front and center in a debate over the U.S. involvement in the Middle East, Yemen, Africa, Ukraine, Iraq, Syria and wherever else U.S. troops are involved in hostilities. There has been no great debate. The media are mouthing what the CIA is telling them, and only a few websites and podcasts… are challenging the government’s reckless, immoral, illegal and unconstitutional wars.

“All power in the federal government comes from the Constitution and from no other source. Congress, however, has managed to extend its reach beyond the confines of the Constitution by giving money to the president and then looking the other way when he spends it. Congress cannot legally declare war on Gaza or Yemen or Russia, since there are no militarily grounded reasons for doing so. None of these countries poses a threat to American national security, and the U.S. has no treaty that triggers American military support to any ally implicated by those countries. But Congress spends money on wars nevertheless.

“Under the Constitution, only Congress can declare war on a nation or group. The last time it did so was to initiate American involvement in World War II. But Congress has given away limited authority to presidents and permitted them to fight undeclared wars. Examples of this are the unconstitutional War Powers Resolution of 1973 and President George W. Bush’s disastrous and criminal invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Congress has not only not declared war on Yemen; it has not authorized the use of American military forces against it. Yet, Biden has inherited a blank check in the form of the Authorization for Use of Military Force of 2001. That unconstitutional legislation cedes Congress’ war-making powers to the president for the purpose of attacking any person or group involved in the 9/11 attacks. The 9/11 attacks? They were 22 years ago! They were, but all presidents since the younger Bush have claimed authority under this law to kill whomever they pleased in the Middle East.

“In Ukraine, Congress has only authorized weapons and cash to be sent to Ukraine, but Biden has sent troops as well. The U.S. involvement in Vietnam began the same way: no declaration of war, no authorization for the use of military force, yet a gradual buildup of American troops as advisers and instructors, and then a congressionally supported land war that saw half a million American troops deployed, 10% of whom came home in body bags.

“… The War Powers Resolution, which requires presidential notification to Congress of the use of American military force, is unconstitutional because it consists of Congress giving away one of its core functions — declaring war. The Supreme Court has characterized delegating away core constitutional functions as violative of the Constitution’s separation of powers. Stated differently, Congress cannot allow the president to do its job…

“The various treaties to which the U.S. is a party limit its war-making to that which is defensive, proportional and reasonable. So, if a foreign power is about to strike — like on 9/11, while the government slept — the president can strike first in order to protect the U.S. Beyond repelling an actual attack, the basis for war must be real, the adversary’s anti-U.S. military behavior must be grave, the objective of war must be clear and attainable, and the means must be proportionate to the threat.

“Have Russia or Yemen threatened the U.S.? No. What grave acts have they committed against the U.S.? None. What is Biden’s objective? His vision of [the] American empire. Does the Congress uphold the Constitution? Does the president? The answers are obvious…”

The acts by Congress and the President seem to be clearly unconstitutional.

Controversial Decision by the US Supreme Court

The Associated Press wrote on January 21:

“A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed Border Patrol agents to cut razor wire that Texas installed on the U.S.-Mexico border, while a lawsuit over the wire continues. The justices, by a 5-4 vote, granted an emergency appeal from the Biden administration, which has been in an escalating standoff at the border with Texas and had objected to an appellate ruling in favor of the state… Abbott also has authorized installing floating barriers in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass and allowed troopers to arrest and jail thousands of migrants on trespassing charges. The administration also is challenging those actions in federal court.

“A federal appeals court last month forced federal agents to stop cutting the concertina wire. Large numbers of migrants have crossed at Eagle Pass in recent months. In court papers, the administration said… that, in any case, federal immigration law trumps Texas’ own efforts to stem the flow of migrants into the country.

“Texas officials have argued that federal agents cut the wire to help groups crossing illegally through the river before taking them in for processing.

“Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor sided with the administration. Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas voted with Texas. No one provided any explanation for their vote.”

This is not the first time that Roberts, who has proven to be somewhat unpredictable, sided with the liberal wing of the US Supreme Court, and against the conservative wing. The consequence is, of course, that more and more migrants are entering the USA illegally.

Newsmax wrote on January 23:

“Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott, reacting to the Supreme Court’s decision to temporarily let border patrol agents remove razor wire fencing that Texas officials placed along parts of [the] state’s border with Mexico, is vowing ‘this is not over.’

“Abbott made his comments… after justices granted a request by President Joe Biden’s administration to pause a lower court’s ruling that temporarily blocked federal agents from disturbing the fencing while litigation over the issue proceeds…

“Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton… wrote: ‘The Supreme Court’s temporary order allows Biden to continue his illegal effort to aid the foreign invasion of America. The destruction of Texas’s border barriers will not help enforce the law or keep American citizens safe. This fight is not over, and I look forward to defending our state’s sovereignty.’”

Arbitrary Prohibitions

On January 22, 2024, Professor Laurence M. Vance wrote the following in the Ron Paul Institute:

“Forty-six states now allow the sale of raw milk, that is, unpasteurized milk, for human consumption… Only the states of Hawaii, Louisiana, Nevada, and Rhode Island prohibit the sale or distribution of raw milk. The states of Idaho, Iowa, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming all relaxed raw dairy prohibitions in 2023.

“We are still far from food freedom in the United States: the right of any person to grow, raise, produce, buy, sell, share, and eat the foods they choose in the way they choose. But at least things are moving in the right direction. Proponents of raw milk maintain that pasteurization harms the nutritional value of milk, and that raw milk not only tastes better but prevents allergies, protects against skin conditions, and reduces the risk of asthma. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…, drinking raw milk can lead to serious illness…

“States have laws that restrict the sale of raw milk because of its supposedly adverse health consequences. And yet, any adult can go into any liquor store in any state and purchase as many bottles of liquor that he wants to and drink as much alcohol each day as he chooses until he is falling-down drunk as a skunk or passes out.

“The medical use of marijuana, beginning with California in 1996, has now been legalized in 38 states, the District of Columbia, and the other U.S. territories of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands…  We are still far from marijuana freedom in the United States, that is, the right of any person to buy, sell, grow, process, transport, advertise, use, or possess marijuana but at least things are moving in the right direction. Proponents of marijuana tout its effectiveness in treating nausea, loss of appetite, inflammation, chronic pain, seizures, spasms, depression, insomnia, and anxiety.

“However, according to the CDC: Marijuana use directly affects the brain, specifically the parts of the brain responsible for memory, learning, attention, decision-making, coordination, emotion, and reaction time…

“States have laws that restrict the sale and use of marijuana because of its supposedly adverse health consequences. But any adult can go into a convenience store in any state and purchase as many packs of cigarettes that he wants to and smoke as many of those cigarettes each day as he chooses until he smokes like a chimney. Yet, drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes are much more dangerous and deadly than drinking raw milk and smoking marijuana.

“According to the CDC: Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States… More than 10 times as many U.S. citizens have died prematurely from cigarette smoking than have died in all the wars fought by the United States…

“And also according to the CDC: Excessive drinking both in the form of heavy drinking or binge drinking, is associated with numerous health problems…

“The fact that it is raw milk and marijuana that the state governments restrict or prohibit… shows just how arbitrary and nonsensical these restrictions and prohibitions are…”

The real reason why some products are prohibited while others are not, has to do with the incredible and unhealthy influence of lobbyists, such as the medical and tobacco industry, among others.

The World Needs Trump?

Boris Johnson wrote the following article in the Daily Mail on January 19:

“The results from the Iowa Republican caucus have exploded like thunder in every high-minded meeting place… In the editorial conferences of fine old U.S. and UK publications, the leader writers are having hysterics… No! they are saying. Not him — not that man again!… Following his sweeping victory in Iowa, Donald Trump is now the ­overwhelming favourite to be the Republican nominee, and ahead in the polls to take the presidency…

“According to The Economist: ‘Donald Trump poses the biggest threat to the world in 2024.’… If you look at the facts, you can actually make a case… that a Trump presidency could be just what the world needs… The more ­frenzied the effort to cancel him, the stronger he becomes. The more bitterly his enemies wage lawfare against him, the more unstoppable he seems to be…

“And so yes, of course, given some of the views that are glibly ascribed to Donald Trump on this subject, I have been ­pondering deeply what a Trump victory might mean for the war [in Ukraine].. What can we deduce from the record? Well, ask yourself first: which American president was the first to stand up for Ukraine, after Putin’s invasion of 2014? Was it the great liberal ­internationalist Barack Obama? No… He did nothing to push Putin out of Ukraine, either from ­Crimea or the Donbas. Nor did the French, nor did the ­Germans, and nor, frankly, did the UK government of the day which decided — mystifyingly — to wash its hands of the ­matter and entrust the fate of the Ukrainians to the morally bankrupt ‘Normandy Format’.

“It was Donald Trump who gave the Ukrainians those Javelin anti-tank weapons which — together with the UK NLAW missiles and other weapons — were so valuable to the Ukrainians in the battle for Kyiv; and it was at least partly thanks to that bold decision by Trump that the Ukrainians were able to stun the world and send Putin’s armies scuttling from the Ukrainian capital. So, whatever they now say about President Trump, I ­cannot believe that he will want to go down in history as the president who abandoned a country that he has already signally helped to keep free…

“Trump will certainly demand that the Europeans pay more for their own defence — but then that is long-standing U.S. (and indeed UK) policy…

“Can you really say that the world feels safer now than it did when Trump was president? Everywhere, you see the malevolence of Iran, and of hostile actors backed by Iran. We see Putin raining Iranian missiles and drones on Ukrainian civilians. We have seen Hamas — trained and funded by Iran — launch the biggest massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. Now, we see the Houthis using ­Iranian missiles to disrupt global shipping.

“I ask you, in all seriousness — do you think any of this would now be happening if Donald Trump had been president for the past four years? It was Trump who suddenly ­staggered the world, at the beginning of 2020, by violently liquidating Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The diplomatic world had conniptions. But we didn’t hear much from Iran, for the rest of the Trump presidency, did we?

“Or take Syria, where Bashar al-Assad — another client of Iran — ­poisoned his own people in 2013 with illegal chemical weapons. What did America do, under Barack Obama? Nothing. And what did Trump do, when Assad did it again, and used ­poison gas against his own people in 2018? With UK support, Trump hit him so hard, and destroyed so many of his planes, that Assad never used chemical weapons again.

“You could certainly argue, on this evidence, that what the world needs now is a U.S. leader whose willingness to use force and sheer unpredictability is a major ­deterrent to the enemies of the West. If so, that leader is Trump.

“You could argue that, after the nightmare of Covid, and the ­expansion of the state across the West, the world now needs a U.S. president who is an enthusiastic exponent of free markets and ­capitalism. If so, that’s Trump.

“You could argue that among the many things Brexit Britain should be doing is a proper free trade deal with a U.S. president who is ­actually interested in the subject. If so, Trump is your man…”

In his typical chameleon-like fashion, Boris Johnson criticized Trump on other issues and also heaped praise on Biden and the good work he has allegedly done since becoming President. What is concerning now that Trump, too, is making more and more mistakes in his speeches, like Biden is famous for. Trump several times recently confused Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi, blaming Haley for security issues on January 6, 2021.

In addition, “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was worried by the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House, branding Trump’s claim that he could stop Ukraine’s war with Russia in 24 hours as ‘very dangerous’… and appeared to be apprehensive that Trump’s idea of a negotiated solution might involve Ukraine making major concessions to Russia” (Newsmax, dated January 20).

Tucker Carlson a Contender for VP?

Breitbart wrote on January 18:

“Donald Trump Jr. said Thursday… that former Fox News host Tucker Carlson was ‘certainly’ a contender to be picked as his father’s vice presidential running mate… Trump said, ‘… I’d love to see a Tucker Carlson… I mean they’re very friendly, I think they agree on virtually all of these things. They certainly agree on stopping the never-ending wars. And so, I would love to see that happen. That would certainly be a contender.’”

Donald Trump said that Nikki Haley will not be VP.

DeSantis Drops Out

Deutsche Welle wrote on January 21:

“Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspends his presidential campaign, endorsing Donald Trump in the GOP race. His departure narrows the field, with Nikki Haley now the sole GOP challenger to Trump… Two other Republican rivals to Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy and Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, also both dropped out of contention and endorsed the former president earlier in the week.”

Trump Takes New Hampshire

Breitbart wrote on January 23:

“Nikki Haley relied heavily on the support of Independents and Democrats in the New Hampshire primary yet still lost by wide margins. Of Haley voters in the Granite State, CNN said,  ‘about 7 in 10 said they were registered as undeclared prior to Tuesday.’… New Hampshire’s loose requirements allow for voters to cross over, while future Republican caucuses and primaries will consist overwhelmingly of registered Republicans.

“Trump crushed Haley in the New Hampshire primary by double digits [With 91% of the expected Republican vote in, Trump led Haley with 54.8% support to her 43.2%]… The Associated Press called the New Hampshire results within three minutes… Trump’s path to the nomination seems all but inevitable after his crushing victory.”

Politico reported on January 21:

“Trump’s back-to-back wins in Iowa and New Hampshire make him the only non-incumbent Republican candidate in modern political history to win the first two nominating contests [since both states began leading the election calendar in 1976].”

Even though she lost against Trump in Iowa and New Hampshire, Haley declared that she will continue with her candidacy.

The Associated Press wrote on January 23:

“Haley’s path to becoming the GOP standard-bearer is narrowing quickly. She won’t compete in a contest that awards delegates until South Carolina’s Feb. 24 primary, bypassing the Feb. 8 Nevada caucuses that are widely seen as favoring Trump. As South Carolina’s former governor, Haley is hoping a strong showing there could propel her into the March 5 Super Tuesday contests. But in a deeply conservative state where Trump is exceedingly popular, those ambitions may be tough to realize and a home-state loss could prove politically devastating.”

It’s a Long Road to November

The Daily Mail wrote on January 24:

“The biggest unknown in the 2024 election has little to do with primaries, or debates, or election night concession speeches. Keep your eyes on the courtrooms. The timing matters for when Trump stands trial in Washington D.C. in the special counsel’s January 6th case, where he faces four serious criminal indictments for allegedly attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election…

“Exit polls in both Iowa and New Hampshire show a significant cohort of voters — even some Republicans — say they would find Trump ‘unfit’ for the presidency should he be convicted of a crime. What happens in that jury room, may have more impact on Trump’s ability to win than any TV ad or strategy that any nominee can conjure.

“At least for now, the Republican primary contest appears to be decided, but it’s a long road to November, especially when it begins on January 24.”

Still, it appears that every time Trump is accused of something in the courts, his approval rates go up. And if he was convicted of any crime, it depends on how plausible and convincing that conviction would be.

Schwarzenegger Detained in Germany

Breitbart wrote on January 18:

“Action star and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was left furious after being detained for more than three hours at a German airport [in Munich, Bavaria] Wednesday after officials accused him of tax evasion for not declaring a $21,000 watch he was [wearing and] preparing to auction off for charity [in Austria]… It was reported that Schwarzenegger was friendly and cooperative at first, but as the inefficiency and incompetence of the customs officials worsened with every minute, the movie star began getting frustrated.

“The paper [Bild Online] added that officials demanded the action star pay a fee for the potential taxes on the watch, but when the agent tried to use a credit card reader in the office, he couldn’t get it to work. Then they demanded he accompany them to a local bank to withdraw the money for them in cash. But the bank was closed and his debit card had a limit on it that would not let him take out the amount the customs cops wanted. After that, officials took him back to the airport where another official then transported him to yet another bank — one that was open — and he was able to withdraw the amount they were demanding. Thomas Meister, a German government customs agent, told the media that the state is initiating ‘criminal tax proceedings’…

“Schwarzenegger, though, is less than amused at the whole incident… the actor said German officials never asked for any forms to be filled out for the watch ahead of being detained… it was an incompetent shakedown, a total comedy of errors that would make a very funny cop movie… The Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative will properly report it, as all of Arnold’s nonprofits do… His charity auctions raise millions of dollars every year for after-school programs for kids all over the United States and environmental work around the world…

“The spokesman then took a shot at German officials, saying, ‘We hope Germany spends as much energy turning around their economy as they do asking for tax payments for people’s property they bring into the country, and we hope next time they don’t make him pay taxes on his suits.’”

Politico commented on January 19:

“As if we needed any more evidence for the shabby treatment of Austrians at the hands of Germans…This week’s abomination involves none other than… Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was detained at Munich airport enroute to Kitzbühel for allegedly failing to declare a luxury watch in his luggage. Arnie agreed to pay the duties and penalties — to the tune of about 10,000 euros, but in typical German fashion, the border police wanted at least part of the payment in cash!”

The watch was later auctioned off in Austria for 270,000 euros. According to Schwarzenegger and Bild, the customs officers asked him totally inappropriate and unrelated questions, such as, how many children does he have, what is the name of his partner, how much money does he have in the bank, what is the value of his assets, etc.  Schwarzenegger said later: “This is the problem which shows Germany’s sickness. One does not see the forest because of the many trees.” Germany is becoming a laughing stock all over the world.

Germany Commits National Suicide

LifeSiteNews wrote on January 19:

“[The farmers’] protests are not about diesel subsidies, as the mainstream media have reported… the protests are the result of widespread discontent with the direction of Germany under the current coalition. They are symptomatic of a growing spirit of resistance, born of exasperation with years of globalist policies… This is a systemic pushback against the entire globalist agenda.

“It is a pushback which enjoys vast popular support, with one recent poll showing 81 percent of the public sympathetic to the farmers. Despite this, repeated attempts have been made to frame the protests as ‘far right’ and ‘extremist.’… The attempt to marginalize and isolate a vast movement of rebellion against this deeply unpopular government is understandable. After all, it has recently refused to rule out criminalizing the… opposition party which stands for the farmers. With recent polling showing its support at 23 percent, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) says it sees the protest as one result of the years of  ‘wrong policies’ from Germany’s coalition government…

“German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been reluctant to appear in public as his government faces national rail strikes and a deepening economic crisis. Whilst Scholz restricted himself to a video appearance – in which he repeated the ‘extremist’ slur, the German Finance Minister Christian Lindner told farmers ‘there is no more money’ for them.  The question asked by one AfD politician was simple: where has all the money gone? 

“The German Vice Chancellor Habeck replied, ‘The answer lies in the fact we have decided to support Ukraine.’… The financial cost of supporting Ukraine with cash, tanks and other weapons is but one dimension of the catastrophe caused by a government whose policies amount to national suicide.  

“The Green/Red/Yellow ‘traffic light’ government of Scholz and Habeck borrowed heavily to finance lockdowns – leaving a massive hole in the German budget. They borrowed 65 billion euros in ‘emergency funding,’ which allowed them to bypass German laws against adding massive debt to any budget.  But they did not spend the money on the… covid ‘emergency’… They used the funds to implement the WEF-backed Sustainable Development Goals promoted by the United Nations. This move was ruled unlawful by the highest German court in November 2023, seeing Habeck’s own budget struck down as ‘unconstitutional’ – and leading to further crisis. 

“These green initiatives included shutting down all of Germany’s nuclear power plants and other cheap generators, funding windmill projects and other ‘sustainable development goals.’ This in turn led to higher energy costs, and pressure on industry, damaging the economy and driving inflation – a situation which worsened with sanctions on Russia and the sabotage of their strategic gas supply through the destruction of the Nordstream pipelines. A criminal act, long desired by U.S. President Joe Biden and Under-Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, the destruction of Germany’s gas pipelines to Russia was first suggested by current Secretary of State Antony Blinken in 1987. 

“In failing to press for any meaningful investigation, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been complicit in the terrorist sabotage of the prosperity of his own nation. ‘If Russia invades – there will no longer be a NordStream – we will put an end to it,’ said Biden, speaking alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Feb 7, 2022…

“With the framing of the most popular movement in Germany to emerge in years as a threat to democracy, and attempts to criminalize an opposition party with soaring support, the witch hunt in Germany is one led by the government against its own people. This desperate regime is resorting to propaganda, media blackout and perhaps even lawfare to maintain its tenuous grip on power.  Looking at the numbers, it seems to be failing. The people are winning in Germany. They are with the farmers’ movement and against the policies of national suicide which the globalist government has pushed for years…”

What a terrible description of a failing and incompetent government!

Germany Must Become “War-Ready”

Breitbart wrote on January 20:

“Germany’s defence minister… Boris Pistorius… said that while there was a Russian threat in Europe that hadn’t been seen for decades, ‘At the moment I don’t think a Russian attack is likely.’… [He] said they expected a ‘a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible’, saying it was understandable that a country like Sweden had made more alarmist noises of late, because their geography — much closer to the Russian border — puts them ‘in an even more serious situation’.

“This week, alleged German military planning documents were reported as leaked in Europe’s largest newspaper. They prognosticated an alarming escalation of violence in Europe including a renewed Russian assault on Ukrainian capital Kyiv. In the papers, Moscow was also predicted to provoke fabricated border clashes with European states, and finally stage an invasion of NATO member state Poland…

“In terms of what he believes must be done, the politician… said it was time to ‘wake up society’ and make Germany ‘war-ready’ [‘kriegstüchtig’]…  The interview, after all, comes amid a flurry of predictions of either impending of medium-term war with Russia, ranging from Russian aggression in Europe in three years from Poland [and] possible world war on four fronts in five years from the United Kingdom…”

Russia commented too, saying that World War III will begin in the Middle East.

Germany Fudges the Math on NATO and Ukraine

Deutsche Welle wrote on January 20, 2024:

“In the federal budget for 2024, the government will barely reach NATO’s spending target… NATO countries have committed themselves to spending 2% of their budgets on their armed forces each year… Chancellor Scholz promised his partners in Europe and the US that Germany would meet this target in the future.

“The German army was promised an additional… $108 billion… to modernize. This special fund, a separate budget approved by the German parliament, the Bundestag, was established primarily to purchase modern war equipment. However, it has emerged that aid for Ukraine is now also coming from this budget. Germany plans to spend a total of €8 billion on weapons for Ukraine starting this year… Ukraine can hardly deploy any of the Leopard 2 tanks supplied by Germany because of high maintenance requirements…

“Christian Mölling from the German Council on Foreign Relations told DW…  in the worst-case scenario, NATO has just five years to build its forces enough to deter Russia from attacking NATO territory, especially the Baltic states…”

And there will be wars and rumors of wars…

AfD’s Political Agenda

The Telegraph wrote on January 22:

“Britain was ‘dead right’ to leave the European Union and Germany should hold its own ‘Dexit’ vote, the leader of the… AfD… has said. Alice Weidel… said she would push for a referendum on EU membership if her party came to power. Ms Weidel said the vote would be held if an AfD government could not secure reforms to curb overreach by the ‘unelected’ European Commission… Winning such a referendum… would be a tall order, with 90 per cent of people in favour of continued membership. A recent poll found that less than half (45 per cent) of AfD members would vote for Dexit…

“Ms Weidel admitted that the AfD would not be able to take power in Berlin before 2029 but said a future role in government was ‘inevitable’. She predicted that the CDU, the centre-Right party of former chancellor Angela Merkel, would be the first to break the ‘firewall’ of establishment forces and ally with the AfD… The AfD is pro-Russian and is accused of being soft on Vladimir Putin. Ms Weidel said the 1.1 million Ukrainian refugees in Germany should not have been allowed to draw benefits. ‘It’s clear that when the war ends, all Ukrainians will have to go home. They will be needed anyway to help rebuild their country,’ she said… Despite the recent scandal, it has remained popular, thanks in part to Mr Scholz’s failures on the economy.”

Germany will not leave the EU. However, other comments made by Weidel might not be that far off.

Over a Million Leftist Activists “Demonstrate” in Germany Against the AfD

Breitbart wrote on January 22:

“More than a million leftist activists took to the streets of Germany in protest over the weekend amid growing calls to ban the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as it surges in the polls.

“In a welcome distraction for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government — which has become deeply unpopular over economic stagnation, mass migration and most recently a farmer uprising against its globalist agenda — the legacy media, political elites and activist networks have rallied around a common target, the AfD.

“According to organizers, over 1.4 million people took to the streets in protest against the populist Alternative for Germany party over the weekend, under the banner of slogans such as: ‘Against Fascism, Populism and the Right’ and ‘Demo against the right – not an inch from fascism’…

“The protests were urged on by Chancellor Scholz in an apparent attempt to change the narrative from his struggling coalition government…

“The mass protests across the country against the AfD came in response to a report published by the taxpayer-subsidized and Soros-funded non-profit Correctiv… In the report, the left-wing research centre claimed that a November conference in Potsdam was attended by members of the AfD, alongside members of the centrist Cristian Democratic Union (CDU) as well as political activists, including Austrian identitarian activist Martin Sellner, whom Correctiv describes as a ‘neo-Nazi’. The Correctiv report… that Sellner laid out a ‘masterplan’ to enact ‘deportations of people from Germany based on a set of racist criteria, regardless of whether or not they have German citizenship.’ The report went on to draw comparisons between the meeting in Potsdam to the infamous Wannsee Conference in 1942 in which senior leaders of Adolph Hitler’s Nazi regime laid out plans for the extermination of millions of Jews in the Holocaust.

“This assertion that deportations of German citizens were discussed at the November meeting has been disputed by several participants of the meeting, including former AfD parliamentarian Roland Hartwig, who now serves as the personal advisor to the co-leader of the party Alice Weidel. Hartwig maintained that the Correctiv report was ‘complete nonsense’, stating that Sellner did not call for the mass deportations of German citizens and that ‘if he had done so, I would have protested because it would have been unconstitutional.’ The party has also noted that the meeting at the hotel in Potsdam was a private conference that was not organised or endorsed by the AfD.

“A member of the centrist CDU party of former Chancellor Angela Merkel who also attended the event, Ulrich Vosgerau, also denied the veracity of the Correctiv claims, saying: ‘At least in my presence no one said anything like that.’ ‘What was actually discussed was the question of how to deport criminal aliens or rejected asylum seekers more quickly…’

“There has also been no suggestion from the AfD leadership of adopting a programme of deporting German citizens. Rather the party openly rejects any distinctions along racial lines…

“Ultimately the truth of what was said is unclear… Nevertheless, the report has spurred on calls for the AfD to be banned to supposedly protect democracy as the party has surged to around 23 per cent in the polls…

“Earlier this month, the leader of Scholz’s Social Democrat Party (SPD) in the German Bundestag parliament, Saskia Esken argued that a ban on the AfD should be considered given that the party is ‘clearly anti-democratic.’ Last year, the government-funded German Institute for Human Rights (DIMR) claimed that banning the AfD would be justified on the basis that the party is opposed to the ‘free democratic basic order’.

“The calls for the party to be banned come ahead of regional elections in the German states of Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia later this year, all of which are expected to see the AfD make significant gains and potentially even take control of local government posts. The AfD is also expected to be a big player in the upcoming EU Parliament elections in June.”

The German mass media from the left, the right and the middle, has overwhelmingly depicted the mass demonstrations of Germans as a healthy sign that Germany won’t tolerate Naziism anymore, and a justified outcry against the AfD. As the article above shows, none of that is really clear at all.

The Making of the European Empire: Loss of Freedom, Security, and Self

The European Conservative wrote on January 20:

“The European Parliament recently approved an amendment to the EU treaties that would be the next step in abolishing the member states’ veto in the EU Council and increase the powers of supranational institutions. Such a reform is a decades-old federalist dream… The idea has a long history…

“The current proposals are the most concrete manifestation yet of this anti-democratic trend… The abolition of the veto in the European Council would essentially make each member state cease to be a self-governing country and become an administrative unit...

“Germany and France see the EU as a projection of their own power. Their leading position within the EU gives them extra clout at the table. It is no coincidence that both countries are overwhelmingly in favour of greater centralisation—the more deeply integrated the EU is, the more influence they have within the EU and, through it, in the world. The amendments adopted by the European Parliament make it very clear that the relative influence of the smaller countries would drastically decrease while the relative power of the largest countries would increase…

“After all, if we understand (and we do) that a federal EU would be an EU of decisions dictated by Germany and France, what do the rest of us hope to gain from it? What do German and French influences mean in practice?

“In domestic politics, it means more and more leftist ideology, woke thinking, and aggressive culture wars. At present, it is only the veto and similar such brakes that are preventing us from being mandated to declare the homosexual family, abortion, gender reassignment, and limitless migration to be alienated human rights, guaranteed, and enforced at an EU level. Particularly on the issue of border protection, the dominance of the German approach would be disastrous for both Southern and Central European countries. It is even disastrous for Finland, which is also suffering from Russian hybrid attacks and has closed its border to the surprising waves of African migrants hailing from beyond the Arctic Circle…

“In foreign policy, domination by Germany and France means being pragmatic with Russia and cautious with the United States. Many in Western Europe would love that. In Central Europe, it sounds like a recipe for disaster…”

Germany will end up leading the EU and especially a group of 10 core nations. And this will be indeed disastrous for Germany, Europe and the entire world.

Brits Unwilling to Fight?

The Sun wrote on January 24:

“A WAR hero [Ben McBean] who lost an arm and leg in Afghanistan says Brits would have to be dragged kicking and screaming if called up to fight Russia… [He] says poor pay, conditions and shoddy veteran care give Brits absolutely no incentive to sign up… ‘The way the country is being run, and then people being skint and underpaid, there’s not a lot of incentive to want to fight for this country…’

“Sir Patrick – due to step down from his role in June… called for a ‘shift’ in the mindset of regular Brits to get mentally prepared that war with Russia could happen… [He also pleaded for ‘mobilization.’]

“Rishi Sunak today ruled out conscription and insisted military service will remain voluntary. A spokesman for the PM added: ‘… The British military has a proud tradition of being a voluntary force. There are no plans to change that.’”

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

In the 4^th part of this Q&A, we started to look at those who are committed to, and promote, the institution of the God-ordained family.   Let us continue to review this much more positive attitude towards the biblical family environment which is the bedrock of a stable society.

Quoting selectively from the USA website concernedwomen, we see that they are concerned about:

1.    The disrespect for and devaluation of the family and for the unique contribution of fathers and mothers. The attempt to deny biological distinctions between men and women.

2.    Sexual promiscuity, cohabitation and sexually transmitted diseases.

3.    The alarming increase in violence in American households, including same-sex and opposite-sex partner assaults, spousal assaults, and child and elder abuse.

And they are working to see:

1.    The family esteemed as the bedrock institution of society consisting of individuals related by blood, marriage (the legal union of one man and one woman), birth, or adoption. The respect for the distinctiveness of men and women.

2.    Society value and respect marriage, encourage sexual abstinence before marriage and educate on the dangers of promiscuity.

3.    An end to violence within households, especially the sexual abuse of children, while reinforcing the importance and autonomy of healthy families.

And, importantly, they are doing this from a biblical viewpoint, which is encouraging to see.

In his article “In defence of family life” in January 2023, Niall Gooch wrote about a new study investigating the financial costs of having children.

“There is something profoundly wrong-headed about the whole endeavour of trying to evaluate the good of family life in economic terms, or to treat the raising of children as simply one option among many in the great lifestyle marketplace. And yet many people persist with doing so. 

“More fundamentally, some things in life are, and should be, set apart from the realm of price and economic calculation. I am not among those social conservatives who are completely disdainful of the need for growth and prosperity, but it is bordering on immoral to insist that a parent’s responsibility to an abstraction like GDP supersedes their natural and healthy desire — and responsibility — to be closely involved in the raising of their own children. It is, after all, a well-established finding in social science that most women would like to spend more time with their children in the early years.

“This is an entirely reasonable and wise wish. The family is at the heart of our civilisation. As the site of the raising of the next generation, it is crucial to our ongoing survival and flourishing. It precedes all our political and economic arrangements and it will, hopefully, outlast them. At its best it is a place of unconditional love and rootedness. This is what we mean when we talk about Home. It is where we learn the arts of humanity: compromise, forgiveness, tolerance, humour. It is where we find consolation and rest among those whose bonds with us go deeper than choice or shared interests. The value of this way of life is literally immeasurable. 

“The weakening of the family does have consequences. Consider how contemporary culture, especially those parts of it entangled with social media, is increasingly febrile and antagonistic. A special status attaches to ‘safety’, understood not in the traditional sense of physical protection from harm, but as the right to be insulated from strong challenges to personal opinions or conceptions of the world. Commentators often speculate about how this has come about. No doubt the demand for a ‘safe space’ is often made cynically, to intimidate opponents. But equally it seems that many people do genuinely experience questioning of their worldview as an attack on themselves. 

“A society that wishes to remain open and wealthy must pay attention to the preconditions of liberty. Robust families which take care of their own as far as possible, minimising reliance on the state, are one of those preconditions. Rushing parents back into the workplace, to leave their small children with strangers for eight hours a day, and leaving them little time for informal caring responsibilities or community involvement, is almost certainly a false economy.

“There remain, finally, the human truths about the relative importance of work and family. There is nothing to compare with watching your children take their first steps or perform in their first play, or finally master reading. These things have no conceivable monetary value. It’s not your colleagues who will look after you in your old age. Your headstone is unlikely to feature glowing personal tributes to your professional life. I think often of a simple inscription I saw above a grave many years ago: ‘To a devoted father, a loving husband & loyal friend.’ Which of us, when our time comes, could really hope for more than that?”

As we pointed out before, some of these are certainly worthwhile comments, but they also show how difficult it might be to carry them out, since our governmental and economic systems, all being inspired and controlled by Satan, make this often impossible. But again, we can try to do the best under a corrupt and deeply ungodly government and in a God-defying evil and rotten society. 

Some years ago, Rita Kramer wrote a book  “In Defense of the Family,” and Chester E. Finn reviewed this and reported as follows: 

“At once stern and affectionate, (Rita Kramer) harbors what many will deem old-fashioned views, namely, that an authentic family consists of husband, wife, and children, and that raising the children is the foremost responsibility of the parents, not something to be done for them by public or private agencies while the adults engage in other pursuits. Her book, however, is not an exercise in finger-wagging or tradition-mongering. Rather, Mrs. Kramer’s image of the proper ordering of family and society is grounded in her understanding of child development, of human psychology, and of the requisites for the emergence of an autonomous young adult as a responsible and productive member of democratic society who will in time become a competent parent of the next generation.

“To state her thesis simply, the successful development of the child requires the sustained and active involvement of both parents. This does not mean entrusting the child to the care of well-chosen professionals; it means looking after the child oneself. And those doing the looking-after must act like his parents, not his buddies…

“Does a child grow up with the sense of being protected in a world that makes sense?  Such a beginning provides the basis for the flexibility of response that will help him learn and overcome difficulties in later life. Such parents are able to let the child go little by little as he indicates a need and an ability to move out on his own. They instil conscience rather than dependency. The paradox is that only by remaining strong, authority figures can… help their child become independent. He learns from what they are, what they do, what it is to be an adult.

“The centrality of the parents and the stability of the family have several corollaries. Formal institutions, notably the schools, are to play supporting rather than leading roles in the drama of child-rearing. If parents attend to their child’s values and character, if they assume responsibility for sex education and moral development, the schools can concentrate on cognitive skills and subject matter. This is desirable, both because intellectual development is something that schools can do well (and that parents seldom can) and because the controversies surrounding such curricular and pedagogical matters are far less fractious than those involving issues of faith and morals.”

Again, we would not agree with everything stated above, especially with the idea that parents can seldom help with the intellectual development of the child. That concept seems to be dead-wrong. It also overlooks the terrible and God-defying role which schools are playing in far too many circumstances. 

That’s quite a defence, if one was needed, about the necessity and need for a properly constructed family as God ordained.   Her supposed “old-fashioned views” are nothing of the sort; that is a tag that so-called “progressives” like to use in a derogatory way to support their own man-made conclusions that they arrived at where the teachings of the Creator God are ignored or not even considered.   After all, man thinks that he knows best in all things including redefining the family unit.   What a lesson these people will learn in the future!

Finally, in this section, we will quote an article headed “The Decline of the Traditional Family and the Threat to Democracy” by John W. Whitehead, which is a robust support of the God-ordained family and we will quote from this article as follows:

“The traditional family–a married man and woman with children–is in decline, even as lip service to ‘family values’ is being paid to its importance from both the Left and Right of the political spectrum. Under the swirling current of this double-speak, the entire social fabric of American culture is being upended as a result of deteriorating family life and the conditions that undermine care for our children.

“These startling conclusions are backed by a recent report of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. The report concludes that households will move even further away from the family-structure model of a stay-at-home mother, working father, and children. [As we have pointed out before, this rather sad development is many times dictated by economic realities, not necessarily by choice or preference. It is simply not desirable to become homeless while insisting that a mother must stay at home rather than fulfilling the need of supplementing the family income]. 

“Because of divorce, cohabitation (unmarried adults living together) and single parenthood, a majority of families rearing children in the 2lst Century will probably not include the children’s two parents. Moreover, most households will not include children at all. ‘Marriage has declined as the central institution under which households are organized and children are raised,’ commented Tom Smith, author of the report. In fact, a growing proportion of children has been born outside of marriage.

“These structural changes in the family have obviously led to a reassessment of values. And, as the study illustrates, the U.S. has not reached a peak of modernity. More changes, thus, are in store.

“Values have shifted in several areas. For example, ‘the climb in divorce and liberalization of divorce laws,’ the report states, ‘went along with public support for the idea that divorce was preferable to continuing failed marriages.’ [Sadly, if a marriage has failed indeed, perhaps due to adultery and other sins, divorce might very well be the preferable and only alternative.] Moreover, greater tolerance of premarital sex coincided with gains in teenage sexual activity, cohabitation and non-marital birth. In brief, changes in structure and values have gone hand-in-hand over the last generation to transform the American family in both forms and norms.

“However, the effect of this transformation may have other consequences for society. In 1952, a California appeals court touched on what the impact may be:

“The family is the basic unit of our society, the center of the personal affections that ennoble and enrich human life. It channels biological drives that might otherwise become socially destructive; it ensures the care and education of children in a stable environment; it establishes continuity initiative that distinguishes a free people.

“From antiquity, the family has served as the basic building block of free societies. Likewise, we find a strong emphasis on the high estate of parenthood and history. Wherever we turn in the ancient world, to Judaism, to Greece or to Rome, the family structure has been revered. And long before foreign invaders toppled any of those great societies, they collapsed from within, due largely to the deterioration of their family structures.

“The family, not the state or the school, therefore, has been primarily responsible for teaching lessons of independence and proper conduct, which are essential to a free, democratic society. If, as we now see, these family functions begin to break down, then everything else we cherish is in peril.”

You will see that we have deliberately underlined the phrase “has not reached a peak of modernity. More changes, thus, are in store” as structural changes in the family have obviously led to a reassessment of values.  That was prophetic as this was written in 1999, some 24 years ago where society then was markedly different to 2023, and not for the better.   There has been an acceleration in the downgrading of the traditional family to an extent that has been breathtaking in its progress.

As a final note in this section, we quote from our weekly Update #1095, dated 22nd December 2023, under the heading “Blasphemous Woke Nonsense”:

“The Daily Mail wrote on December 18:

““Couples getting married will be asked if they want to be called ‘husband and wife’ under new woke Church guidelines. It is part of new ‘inclusive language’ rules published by The Methodist Church, which warns that old-fashioned terminology ‘makes assumptions about a family or personal life that is not the reality for many people’.

““The guidance also advises preachers to share their pronouns with congregation members ‘to create a safe space for people to be themselves.’… they should use ‘gender-neutral language’, opting for words such as ‘folks, teammates, friends, colleagues, or simply people’.  It adds: ‘People of different genders may choose to use a gender-neutral title such as Mx’…””

Such action from a mainstream Church is both deplorable and laughable and is indicative of the way that mainstream Christianity has, in the main, followed secular leadership in downgrading the importance of the Family unit.

(To be continued)

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

compiled by Dave Harris

“Why Germany’s Disaster Is Important For YOU!” is the title of a NEW StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:  

Germany is a total mess and utterly sick. It is run by a completely incompetent government under a chancellor which has the lowest approval rates of all prior German leaders since World War II. Rather than trying to do something about the utterly disastrous situation which the government has created, it is attacking the German farmers, and the political establishment is attacking the only meaningful popular opposition party, the AfD, while instigating “mass demonstrations” against that party which the government wants to criminalize and ban. It should be obvious that something drastic will have to happen, unless we want to conclude that Germany is done and its sickness incurable. And something drastic WILL occur. That is WHY it is critical for YOU to understand! Please stay tuned until the end of this program for an important announcement.

“Warum Deutschlands Zukunft für SIE so wichtig ist!” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program, presented by Norbert Link. This program covers the same topic as described above.

A NEW Promotional Video about our booklet, “The Rise and Fall of Germany and Europe,” has been prepared by Michael Link and is now posted. A German version has also been posted.

Our NEW booklet, “How Can Young People… Cope with Life,” has been approved for publication. It will be printed in Germany, together with a reprint of our booklet, “The Rise and Fall of Germany and Europe.”

“Die Früchte der richtigen Wahl,” this Sabbath’s NEW German sermon by Michael Link, is now posted. Title in English: “The Fruits of the Right Choice.” 

“Als wir noch in der Welt waren,” last Sabbath’s German sermonette presented by Patrick Flück, is now posted. Title in English: “When We Were Still in the World.”

“Restoration,” last Sabbath’s first split sermon presented by Frank Bruno, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The world’s greatest paintings and other pieces of fine art have one trait in common: they all develop fine lines or craquelure, over time. No matter how youthful our own physical appearance, we too develop superficial cracks and lines. Because of sin, we can also develop cracks in our relationship with God. Artwork can be repaired but the only real restoration we can achieve is through God. In this split sermon, we will consider Scriptures that can help lead us to the restoration that we can receive through repentance, God’s forgiveness, and ultimately, in God’s Kingdom.

“What is the Law of Christ?” last Sabbath’s second split sermon presented by Eric Rank, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Jesus Christ instructs us that if we love Him, we are to keep His commandments. What are the commandments of Jesus Christ? How are we to understand the relationship between the commandments of God the Father and Jesus Christ?

On, January 20, 2024, Frank Bruno will present the first split sermon, titled, “Restoration,” and Eric Rank will present the second split sermon, titled, “What is the Law of Christ?”

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.

When we are confident in our abilities, it brings about gratification and a sense of accomplishment which in return makes us feel good.  

We can be confident in our various talents; especially, when it leads to good fruit.  When we do well and are successful in a sporting event, or a work project, or a school assignment, or when we have finished a task, whatever it may be, we then have that feeling of achievement. 

Being confident in our conviction should also make us feel at ease; especially, since we know what we believe is the Truth and we have the Bible to back us up. 

Paul had this conviction, and he was confident that he was going to make it by overcoming all the trials he had to endure and that he would receive his crown when Christ would return.  He said in 2 Timothy 4:8: “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”  He was absolutely convinced he would succeed as he said in verses 6 and 7: “… the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

When Jesus was on this earth as a man, He could have sinned and was tested repeatedly but He obviously passed the tests and lived a sinless life.  He also had the absolute confidence that He would not sin, as did God the Father, for they knew the crucial role of Christ’s sinlessness to accomplish God’s plan, for the sake of you and me, and all of mankind. 

Just as God the Father and Jesus Christ were confident in their plan, they also have that same confidence in us that we will succeed.  They are convinced that all those whom God calls to eternal salvation in this day and age WILL succeed. He WANTS those whom He calls to salvation to be in His Kingdom— to be in His Family. 

Because Paul knew this, he was certain that the following statement in Philippians 1:3-6 would apply to him as well: “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…”

Is this the kind of confidence we have in ourselves, just as Paul did? And for those of us who are called today, do we believe that we WILL make it into His Kingdom?  It takes work, though, and we need to prove to God that we are serious in our obedience to Him so that our confidence is acceptable by fruits worthy of repentance and of the gospel.

by Norbert Link

We begin with Trump’s landslide historic victory in Iowa; the continuing uproar in Germany; France’s new gay prime minister; and the ongoing attacks of Iran’s Houthi pirates on ships in the Red Sea and America’s more than questionable attacks in Yemen.

We continue with Russia’s declaration never to recognize Ukraine, and Israel’s position never to allow for a Palestinian state.

We conclude with the lies of Anthony Fauci and statements by Pope Francis on war and communism.

Throughout this section, we have underlined pertinent statements in the quoted articles, for the convenience and quick overview of the reader.

Trump’s Historic Win in Iowa

The Daily Mail wrote on January 16:

“Donald Trump’s runaway victory in the Iowa caucuses means the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination has pretty much ended on the day it began. The scale of Trump’s triumph is historic. Just about everything went right for him. Whether it’s right for America and the rest of the world is another matter.

“After Iowa, America seems condemned to a re-run of the Trump-Biden contest of 2020, a repeat a majority of Americans have made clear they do not want but seem powerless to stop. For America’s allies, the increased prospect of a Trump presidency brings nothing but dread, even among conservatives-minded governments. For its enemies, the risk is that opportunities for them to sow mischief will abound.

“Trump won 51 per cent of the vote, a record-breaking 30 points ahead of his nearest rival and more than his two main challengers combined. Until Tuesday, Bob Dole had held the record in a contested Republican Iowa caucus with a 13-point victory margin in 1988. Trump smashed that. He also won 98 of Iowa’s 99 counties, with the only hold out, Johnson County, home of the University of Iowa, going for Nikki Haley by… one vote…

“He swept all before him, winning not just a majority of evangelicals in rural areas and small towns but with clear leads even among more moderate suburban Republicans… Of course, Iowa is hardly representative of America and some will claim you can read too much into Tuesday’s result. But it is representative — largely white, rural, small town, evangelical, blue collar, not college educated — of the Republican Party base on which Trump has such a grip and which will deliver him the nomination… The icing on his Iowa cake was Vivek Ramaswamy’s decision to pull out of the race and back him…

“President Zelensky in Kyiv must be wondering what progress he can make against Russia in Ukraine before a Trump presidency 2.0 threatens to undermine his war effort. The chancelleries of Europe woke up Wednesday morning to the harsh reality that the potential next president of the United States could bring the whole edifice of NATO crumbling down at a time when Europe needs the American-led alliance more than ever. America’s allies in the Middle East and Asia are contemplating new years of confusion and uncertainty…

“Of course, winning the Republican nomination is not the same as winning the White House. But the most recent ABC News poll gives President Biden a record 58 per cent disapproval rating… as things currently stand, Trump must surely be regarded as favourite to win…

“For America it threatens a return to division, chaos, even violence. For if Trump does not abide by the country’s democratic rules why should his opponents? As America is forced to face up to the new challenges of the 21st century and a world which suddenly looks a lot more dangerous than it did even a decade ago, the last thing it needs is a geriatric contest between two of yesterday’s men.

“America’s great strength has always been its ability to renew itself, to pass the baton on to new generations and new thinking… That cannot happen in 2024 if the choice is Trump or Biden. For the rest of the world dependent on American protection, the prospects are just as scary. Trump and his supporters have every reason to celebrate this week. The rest of us have just as many reasons to be fearful.”

The Daily Mail added on January 16:

“The historic landslide came despite Arctic temperatures and the Hawkeye State being battered by blizzards that were expected to decimate turnout. It gives Trump a massive boost as he seeks to win the Republican presidential nomination and return to the White House in what would be the most remarkable political comeback in U.S. history.”

Especially Europe, Ukraine and, to an extent, Israel are in panic regarding the prospects of a return of Trump. Netanyahu said he would not allow Trump to end the Gaza war in the way that he has proposed.

Political Uproar in Germany

Life Site News wrote on January 12:

“Amidst a growing sense of national crisis Germany’s vice chancellor [Robert Habeck] has refused to rule out the criminalization of the main opposition party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD)… Habeck’s comments were reported in German newspaper Handelsblatt, which also noted ‘there are supporters of an AfD ban in almost all democratic parties.’ All but one of these parties lag far behind the AfD, which is now the second most popular in Germany… This increase is explained in part by a decade of mass immigration, which has seen figures of up to three million immigrants arrive in Germany in one year. With support at 23 percent – 10 percent higher than Habeck’s Greens – the AfD has now eclipsed all the parties of government in the polls. The increase of their ‘influence’ is an established fact. What is also obvious is the reasons behind their rise – the chaos created by the policies of the German government, and by Habeck himself…

“Habeck’s decision to cut support to German farmers has triggered a wave of national protests [which] have been characterized as ‘far right,’ in a routine description of any organized opposition… The pressure on Habeck and his government is compounded by a growing economic catastrophe in which he and his party are implicated. The man whose management of the state was ruled unconstitutional is hoping to create a case to criminalize a party for the ‘anti-constitutional’ action – of having popular policies…

“It is Habeck’s party who have presented an alternative Germany… Pro-mass immigration, pro-abortion and strongly supportive of so-called ‘LGBTQ rights,’ their entire political platform aims at the total destruction of the German way of life. 

“The reasons for the move to criminalize popular political movements is obvious: the establishment has no solutions for the problems it has created. Both in the U.S. and in Europe, it is resorting to the desperate measure of lawfare to make any alternative to itself illegal.

“The AfD in Germany is anti-war. It proposes to halt mass migration, restart sensible energy policies, and abandon the Net Zero program destroying the economy…  These policies are popular with people generally, as is evidenced by Trump’s commanding lead and the growing support for the AfD in Germany. Both nations have seen narratives of extremism crafted to characterize opposition to the globalist schemes of forever war and the collapse of industrial society as the enemies of democracy…”

A slightly different report was published by the Associated Press on January 11:

“German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday sharply condemned alleged plans by members of far-right groups who supposedly met recently at a mansion outside Berlin to devise a plot to deport millions of immigrants, even those with German citizenship, if the groups take power. The alleged plan, which was published in an article by the investigative journalists’ group Correctiv on Wednesday, has led to an uproar in the country because it echoes the Nazis´ ideology of deporting all people who are not ethnically German…

“According to the report by Correctiv, members of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, and the extremist Identarian Movement participated in the meeting in November…  Deportation of German citizens is not possible under to the constitution, which can only be changed by a two-thirds majority in the lower and upper houses of parliament.”

The AfD denied having any such plans, as described in the above-stated article. Reuters reported on January 10:

“[The AfD] said on Wednesday it had no plans to pursue deportation of ‘unassimilated’ immigrants with passports if it wins power, after investigative portal Correctiv said that was aired at a meeting… Roland Hartwig, personal assistant to AfD leader Alice Weidel, and Ulrich Siegmund, party leader in Saxony Anhalt state, met neo-Nazi influencers and wealthy businessmen late last year in a hotel near Berlin. At the meeting, Martin Sellner, an Austrian leader of the far-right Identitarian Movement, had proposed a project of ‘remigration’, whereby some immigrants could be forced to leave Germany – even if they had citizenship…

“The AfD confirmed that Hartwig was present at the meeting but said that the reported proposals were not party policy… ‘The AfD won’t change its position on immigration policy because of a single opinion at a non-AfD meeting,’ the party told Reuters. Sellner confirmed he was at the meeting but denied proposing anything illegal…

“Alexander von Bismarck, a descendent of Germany’s 19th century founding chancellor, was also named by Correctiv as a participant…”

Protests Continue

Deutsche Welle wrote on January 15:

“German farmers converged on Berlin on Monday for demonstrations that filled the streets around the city’s famous Brandenburg Gate… The protests drew some 10,000 farmers, with some 5,000 tractors and trucks, along with others from across Germany… Monday’s rally is the culmination of protests that have lasted for more than a week… German lorry drivers and freight forwarders are also supporting the demonstrations.”

Pistorius to Replace Scholz?

Focus wrote on January 9:

“Boris Pistorius [Germany’s defense minister] is the most popular politician in the country, much more popular than the Chancellor. This emerges from various surveys. According to the latest Insa survey, almost two thirds of Germans would like Pistorius to replace his SPD party colleague Olaf Scholz as Chancellor.

“The wild debate about Scholz’s twilight of the chancellor was triggered by the Italian daily newspaper ‘La Repubblica’. The renowned newspaper reported that the Chancellor was about to be replaced – by Pistorius. The sensational article is about speculation surrounding… suspected Russian spy and ex-company boss Jan Marsalek… In the subsequent survey commissioned by ‘Bild am Sonntag’, 64.3 percent of those surveyed were in favor of Pistorius as chancellor… Even among SPD supporters, more respondents are for than against such a change of chancellor (47.9 to 47.1 percent)…

“In any case, it would not be the first time that an incumbent Chancellor in Germany is replaced by another from the same party during a legislative period. Konrad Adenauer (CDU) resigned in October 1963 and was replaced by Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard (CDU). In 1974 Willy Brandt (SPD) also resigned. Helmut Schmidt (SPD) took over the office of Federal Chancellor…. The Italian daily newspaper’s theory is also somewhat reminiscent of the Guillaume [spy] affair, which toppled Chancellor Willy Brandt. Like Brandt, Olaf Scholz would have to resign as chancellor to make way for Pistorius.”

Focus added on January 12:

“Scholz is lonelier than ever, surrounded by a dwindling following and internal party intrigues. What was still satire two years ago is now on its way to becoming reality. The words ‘resignation’ or ‘overthrow of the chancellor’ are already making the rounds, at least in the mild version… They say the time is now for personnel renewal and a new beginning. That sounds less brutal, but in the language of party politicians, it means the same thing.”

Stranger things have happened.

France’s New Prime Minister

The Washington Post wrote on January 12:

“This week, France became the world’s most important country with an openly gay head of government. The French didn’t want to talk about it. French media trumpeted the fact that Gabriel Attal is the country’s youngest-ever prime minister; at age 34, his youth and hypersonic ascent as President Emmanuel Macron’s protégé are no doubt remarkable.

“Yet most news coverage in France mentioned the fact of Attal’s sexual orientation only in passing, or omitted it altogether, until some journalists noticed it had made headlines elsewhere, especially in the United States. That stirred some belated commentary, including a headline… ‘The prime minister is gay, but not too much.’…”

Iran Behind Houthi Attacks

Newsmax wrote on January 11:

“Secretary of State Antony Blinken has admitted that Iran was behind the ‘biggest attack’ by Yemen-based Houthi rebels targeting U.S. interests in the Red Sea… Blinken said the attacks, using unmanned aerial vehicles, were aided by Iran with ‘technology, equipment, intelligence, information, and they are having a real-life impact on people’… “

Newsmax added on January 17:

“The recent series of Houthi rebel attacks on ships in the Red Sea is the most unprecedented assault on merchant shipping since World War II and the Battle of the North Atlantic.”

Further Escalation

Reuters and the Algemeiner wrote on January 17:

“The US military carried out new strikes in Yemen on Tuesday against anti-ship ballistic missiles in a Houthi-controlled part of the country as a missile struck a Greek-owned vessel in the Red Sea. Disruptions to Red Sea shipping caused by Houthi attacks will push up prices of consumer goods in Europe in particular… The Iran-allied Houthi militia has threatened to expand its attacks to include US ships in response to American and British strikes on its sites in Yemen…

“British oil major Shell has suspended all shipments through the Red Sea indefinitely after the US and UK strikes triggered fears of further escalation, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Shell declined to comment…

“European diplomats said member states of the European Union had given initial backing to creation of a naval mission by Feb. 19 at the latest to help protect ships. The existing US-led coalition meant to safeguard commercial traffic in the Red Sea is weak because regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt have not taken part, Yemen’s vice president said on Tuesday…

“Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister underlined the link between Houthi attacks on commercial ships to the war in Gaza. Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said the kingdom’s priority is finding a path to de-escalation through a ceasefire in Gaza.”

America’s Unconstitutional War on Yemen

Ron Paul wrote on January 15 in his weekly column:

“Late last week President Biden started a new US war on the tiny country of Yemen. US warships and fighter jets launched more than a hundred missiles at the country in a massive escalation that the Administration bizarrely claimed would ‘de-escalate’ tensions in the Red Sea. Taking the US to war without a Congressional declaration of war is a grave crime against the Constitution. Not only did Biden show no interest in coming to Congress for a war declaration, he didn’t even ask for authorization. Together with Washington’s reliable junior partner in war, the UK, Biden attacked Yemen. It seems the US Administration consulted more with the UK government than with the US Congress on the attacks.

“But that’s not really the worst part. Far from taking action against this illegal move by an out-of-control president, Congress as a body couldn’t even see fit to criticize the Administration. On the contrary, Congressional leadership in both bodies actually applauded President Biden for brazenly violating US law!…

“To their credit, several Members of Biden’s own party joined with a handful of Republican colleagues to denounce a US president taking the country to war without the authority to do so…

“The Framers of the Constitution gave war-making power to Congress because they understood that leaving such power in the hands of one person was a recipe for disaster. The role of the president is to make the case for a war declaration. Congress deliberates and either authorizes or refuses the proposed action.

“Washington has obviously not learned the lessons of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and all the other failed US interventions over the past 20 years. Why do we keep losing wars? Because we do not go into wars according to the US Constitution. This war will be no different.

“The Houthis in Yemen withstood years of attacks from the Saudis using the latest US weaponry and came out on top…

“So we are left with the strange and sad spectacle of Congress asleep at the wheel as a Defense Secretary launches military strikes from his hospital bed in the service of a president clearly not in his prime. All this in pursuit of a policy that makes no sense and is leading us closer to a major war in the Middle East that will only harm, not serve, the US national interest.”

Paul’s legal analysis seems to be correct.

Russia Will Never Recognize Ukraine

Newsmax wrote on January 17:

“Russia will never recognize Ukraine as an ‘independent state’… even if a diplomatic solution is reached to end the war, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said in a social media post… ‘No matter who stands at the helm of the cancerous growth called Ukraine, it will not make their rule legitimate, nor will it make the “country” legally viable. Therefore, the likelihood of a new fight will persist indefinitely.’

“The statement led a source close to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to say that ‘the Putin regime doesn’t recognize Ukraine’s right to exist’… ‘The existence of Ukraine is mortally dangerous for Ukrainians, and I don’t mean only the current state…’ Medvedev further referred to Ukraine as an ‘artificial country’ and that Russia will never consider it a legitimate nation.”

Russia and Ukraine will unite.

No Palestinian State After October 7

Israel Today wrote on January 12:

‘While there are many lessons to be learned from the October 7, 2023 Hamas invasion of southern Israel, chief among them is that a Palestinian state must never be established in the Land of Israel. That was the conclusion of the ‘Nation, Land & Sovereignty’ conference held in Jerusalem on Thursday…

“According to a poll presented at the conference, 74% of Israelis now oppose the creation of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria…”

Lying Fauci

The New York Post wrote on January 11:

“In recent years, we, the public, have lost faith in institution after institution. Often with very good reason. We’ve seen a multi-tiered justice system. We’ve seen the politicization of every government agency. And we’ve had profound doubts cast — by Democrats and Republicans alike — on the security of the voting system… Research shows that public faith in scientists has fallen off the cliff since the pandemic… And no one is more responsible for that than Dr. Anthony Fauci.

“This week he appeared before a closed House select subcommittee on the coronavirus… His performance was by turns superior, shameless and suspicious… in February 2020, Fauci prompted the drafting of a paper to debunk the lab leak conspiracy theory… anyone suggesting the virus might have come from the laboratory was pushing a ‘conspiracy theory.’… [Fauci] claimed before members of Congress that he in fact never rejected the lab leak theory. That is a bald-faced lie. And unfortunately for him, there are dozens of interviews from that time in which he did exactly that. He said on every available platform that the evidence ‘strongly’ suggested the virus’s ‘natural occurrence.’

“… this week, giving testimony, flanked by his four lawyers (two personal, two government), Fauci is reported to have said ‘I don’t recall’ hundreds of times. He might as well not have been there, considering the number of things he just doesn’t remember. Or claims not to remember. But… what Fauci did remember and commented on this week is damning.

“Questioned by the subcommittee about the 6-foot rule — that we were all ordered to live by — Fauci had one of the most bizarre answers of the whole hearing… Fauci said that the 6-feet-of-distance rule ‘sort of just appeared.’ Without any scientific input.

“Which is nice to know. After all, it wasn’t like it was something that put the public to any kind of trouble. It wasn’t like all those signs on every shop window and every floor actually had any impact on our lives. Or on the people who were kept from seeing loved ones and stood at a distance from them, unable to get nearer than 6 feet…

“It was the same on issue after issue. Back at the height of the virus, Fauci was one of the people advocating for stronger and stricter mandates to push people into having the vaccine. Now he acknowledges that this policy actually caused a huge increase in suspicion of vaccines among the American public. And not just the COVID vaccines, but all vaccines. If we see the spread of old and unfamiliar diseases in the coming years, we will be able to thank this expert in disease control…

“So yes, there is a problem with faith in institutions. And faith in science… It is the direct result of the actions of Dr. Anthony Fauci and ‘evidence’ of the kind he rolled out again this week.”

But Fauci was not the only one responsible for the chaos and harm caused by scientific “experts” and mindless politicians regarding their “analysis” of Covid.

War – a Crime Against Humanity

Reuters wrote on January 14:

‘Pope Francis said on Sunday war was ‘a crime against humanity’… In the prayer, he urged people not to forget those suffering due to the “cruelty of war” in several parts of the world… ‘Let us pray that those who have power over these conflicts reflect on the fact that war is not the way to resolve them, as it sows death among civilians and destroys cities and infrastructure,’ the pope said.”

Francis is right.

Pope Francis and Communism

Life Site News wrote on January 11:

“Hosting a Marxist-Christian dialogue group at the Vatican on Wednesday, Pope Francis urged them to ‘be open, in dialogue, to new ways,’ while avoiding reiterating the Church’s consistent condemnation of Marxism… In his address, the pope urged the Marxist and Christian attendees to ‘never lose the ability to dream.’… the pope did not mention Christ, Christianity, or the Church’s condemnation of Communism and Marxism at all.

“Catholic teaching against Communism is very clear… Pope Pius XI warned the entire Church about ‘the impious and iniquitous character of Communism.’ Describing Socialism as slightly less violent, Pius XI firmly prohibited any attempts to marry Socialism and Catholicism… ‘Socialism… cannot be reconciled with the teachings of the Catholic Church because its concept of society itself is utterly foreign to Christian truth… Communism is intrinsically wrong, and no one who would save Christian civilization may collaborate with it in any undertaking whatsoever…’

“Pius’ words merely built on the constant teaching of his predecessors. Pius IX’s 1846 encyclical Qui pluribus described Communism as ‘a doctrine most opposed to the very natural law,’ which would usher in ‘complete destruction of everyone’s laws, government, property, and even of human society itself.’ Pope Leo XIII’s 1878 encyclical Quod Apostolici Muneris condemned Socialism as a ‘deadly plague that is creeping into the very fibres of human society and leading it on to the verge of destruction…

“In recent years, Francis has increasingly aligned himself with globalist entities such as the U.N…, the International Monetary Fund; the COP climate agenda; and the World Economic Forum.”

The rift in the Catholic Church caused by Francis and his liberal supporters will have wide-ranging consequences.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

After looking at a sample of the criticism of the godly-ordained family where there is so much antipathy towards this institution, let us now look at those who contend earnestly with the opposite view – that of preserving what God has designed although many approach this from a human point of view, resorting to human reasoning, and, often, without any references to God’s instructions on the matter.

In the Daily Mail newspaper in May 2022, excerpts were published from the new book “The Case Against The Sexual Revolution” by feminist Louise Perry.  We will quote, selectively, what she has to say about marriage.

“Monogamous marriage is by far the most stable and reliable foundation on which to build a family.

“But while the monogamous marriage model may be unusual, it is also spectacularly successful. When monogamy is [adopted by] a society it tends to become richer and more stable, with lower rates of both child abuse and domestic violence. Birth rates and crime rates both fall, which encourages economic development, and wealthy men, denied the opportunity to devote their resources to acquiring more wives, instead invest in property, businesses, employees and other productive endeavours.

“A monogamous marriage system is successful in part because it pushes men away from cad mode, particularly when pre-marital sex is also prohibited. If a man wants to have sex in a way that’s socially acceptable, he has to make himself marriageable. That means holding down a good job and setting up a household suitable for the raising of children. In other words, he has to tame himself. [The need to “tame” oneself applies of course also to a woman, not just to a man.]

“The monogamous marriage model is also the best solution yet discovered to the problems presented by child-rearing.

“There was a wisdom to the traditional model in which the father was primarily responsible for earning money while the mother was primarily responsible for caring for children at home. Such a model allows mothers and children to be physically together and at the same time financially supported. In an age of labour-saving domestic devices it has become more feasible for mothers of young children to do paid work outside of the home, as most of us do and take pleasure from. But not during the early months of a baby’s life.

“I know full well that I was irreplaceable as mother to my new born child – not only because I was the only person who could breastfeed, but also because children have a relationship with their mother that cannot be handed over without distress to both mother and baby. If we want to keep that maternal bond intact, the only solution is for another person to step in during these times of vulnerability and do the tasks needed to keep a household warm and fed.

“Perhaps we could call that person a spouse. Perhaps we could call their legal and emotional bond a marriage.

“Which is why – as a feminist – the most important piece of advice I can offer to the young women of today is this: get married and do your best to stay married. Particularly if you have children. And if you do find yourself in the position of being a single mother, wait until your children are older before you bring a stepfather into their home [We would not necessarily agree with this advice at all].

“These directives are hard to follow because we no longer live in a culture that incentivises perseverance in marriage. But it is still possible for individuals to go against the grain and do the harder, less-fashionable thing.

“The critics of marriage are right to say that it has historically been used for the control of women by men, and they’re right to point out that most marriages do not live up to a romantic ideal. The marriage system that prevailed in the West until recently was not perfect, nor was it easy to conform to, since it demanded high levels of tolerance and self control. Where the critics go wrong is in arguing that there is any better system. There isn’t.”

As we pointed out in part 1 of this series, we realize, of course, that the comments above by a “feminist” are extremely “optimistic” and “idealistic” and are in many cases impossible to carry out today. This is especially true for the idea that the man alone can be the breadwinner today while the wife can stay at home. That would be somewhat ideal, but almost far from being doable in today’s societies. Still, the comments above can serve as guidelines to do what we can do under the best of circumstances.

On dailycaller, dated 27th November 2022, Liz Wheeler wrote an article headed “Twelve Republican Senators Betrayed The Institution Of Marriage,” and below are just a few comments from a long article:

“On November 16, all 50 Democratic senators and 12 of their Republican counterparts voted to advance the Respect for Marriage Act, circumventing the filibuster and paving the way for the bill’s imminent passage.

“In what should come as a surprise to no one familiar with the insidious tactics utilized by the Marxists currently in control of our government, the goals of this bill are being completely misrepresented. It’s time we cleared up exactly what this bill means and break down the sinister ramifications of its potential passage.

“At its core, this legislation would force the federal government to recognize any marriage that was performed according to a state law. If a same-sex couple gets married in a particular state— California, for example — then the federal government would be required to recognize that union.

“There are at least three major problems that would necessarily result from this.  First, the bill amounts to a direct assault upon religious liberty. The anti-Christian, anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, anti-religion, anti-God, secular mob will undoubtedly use this law to target people of faith. They will target non-profit organizations. They will target churches. They will target religious schools. You won’t be able to conduct business under the premise of the biblical definition of marriage or you will likely come under fire.

“Which leads us to the second problem: this bill gives government the power to redefine words. This has nothing to do with sexual orientation or sexual attraction. It’s about the definition of the word marriage, and whether government at the federal or state level has the right to redefine what marriage is, and has always been, since before the inception of our country.

“After all, if the federal government can be forced to recognize a same-sex union, what would the limitation be upon recognizing polygamous marriage? What about a marriage between an adult and a child? Once definitions become malleable and subject to political whimsy, they cease to have any meaning, and can be wielded against society at will. There are no limitations.

“Our government does not have the right to redefine words. That is a core tenet of authoritarian rule.”

“Third — and perhaps most importantly — the bill will inherently become a legal catch-all for the Democratic Party’s radical progressive agenda, which hinges upon the deliberate Marxist goal of destroying the nuclear family and ultimately deconstructing our society’s moral fiber.

“Ultimately, this bill is not about equal rights or codifying gay marriage into law. This is a radical leftist agenda that assaults the rights of religious people and institutions, grants government virtually unlimited power to define truth and morality, and provides protection for perverted, anti-American individuals and organizations.”

There are others who have written eloquently about the value of marriage.

Michael Ayling wrote in the Australian Spectator in June 2017: “The Left needs to destroy the family unit to succeed in the long-term. Over the last few years, we have seen numerous attempts to make the meaning of the word ‘family’ whatever anyone wants it to be, to strip it of any collective meaning. The Left needs to attack and to destroy the family as the basic building block of society in order to progress its goals.”

Mr Ayling then goes on to give an account of his schooling and how his school was taken over in 1980 by a highly ideological left-wing couple, calling themselves co-principals where he, and the other students, were exposed to their teaching which was based on their political leanings. Today, in so many areas of education, that same approach continues apace.

Without the protective influence of the family, we are left with “all within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state” as Benito Mussolini once said. The radicals seek to own the idea of the family, by redefining it out of existence.

(To be continued)

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

A new Member Letter (January 2024) has been written and posted. Eric Rank reports on details concerning our efforts to publish and proclaim the gospel–especially, our current booklet advertising campaign. He also addresses the fact that we look to God for help in accomplishing the Work given to us and reminds us of the tremendous resources we are making available through our websites.

“UFOs—Außerirdische, Engel oder Dämonen?” is the title of this Sabbath’s German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “UFOs—Aliens, Angels or Demons?”

“Kann Begierde denn Sünde sein?” last Sabbath’s second split sermon presented in German by Jens Herrmann, is now posted. Title in English: “Can Desire be Sin?”

“Bleibe standhaft,” last Sabbath’s first split sermon presented in Germany by Robert Indlekofer, is now posted. Title in English: “Stand Firm.”

“Is Your Heart Poisoned?” last Sabbath’s sermonette presented by Eric Rank, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Poison is a destructive substance that does damage to those exposed to it. Spiritual poison takes the form of destructive emotions and ideas that lead us away from God, toward the way of sin. How can we tell if our hearts are spiritually poisoned, and what can we do about it?

“Deceived? Not Me!” last Sabbath’s sermon presented by Dave Harris, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Is there a chance that you have been deceived about what you believe—especially when it comes to the Word of God? Is there a way to know what deception is and to avoid it?

On, January 13, 2024, Eric Rank will present the sermonette, titled, “Is Your Heart Poisoned?” and Dave Harris will present the sermon, titled, “Deceived? Not Me!”

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.

This phrase is a public relations strategy that has become particularly associated with the British Royal Family. 

Wikipedia states that “The phrase is believed to have originated with the prime minister of the United Kingdom, Benjamin Disraeli. The surgeon and writer Robert Tuttle Morris wrote in his 1915 book Doctors vs. Folks that ‘It is well to follow the rule to “Never complain, never explain.” A man is judged by his character as a whole – not by individual acts.’   The motto became particularly associated with Queen Elizabeth II and was perceived as crucial to the success of her long reign.”

In the UK, as in many countries in the western world, there has been a certain level of free speech allowed although with the advent of political correctness and wokeness, this has been considerably eroded in recent years.  Nevertheless, criticism of the British Royal Family has been permitted unlike the situation in a number of other regimes where any criticism of their royalty or political leaders is simply not tolerated and any infraction can lead to arrest, and even imprisonment.   

In spite of Queen Elizabeth II having an impeccable reputation for her diplomacy and the way she conducted herself in over 70 years as a monarch, there have been those who would want to replace the Royal Family with yet another set of politicians. Such views can be said and written about in the UK without fear of any legal action although such views seem to be held by a small minority. 

For many decades, she was a figure of national pride and a symbol of stability and continuity who was respected around the world.  With the conduct of some of her family before her death in 2022, she must have been grieved with what she saw and heard and yet no one would have known. It can be so easy to become embroiled in argument and debate, and the Royal Family has not been an exception to that in recent years.

The Bible tells us that Solomon was the wisest person who ever lived (except, as we know, Jesus Christ): “So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom” (1 Kings 10:23); and “…men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to hear the wisdom of Solomon (1 Kings 4:34). No human being other than Christ has surpassed him since then.

Those of us who have been called at this time can learn from biblical examples, and those who set high standards in public life, like the late Queen who, being a God-fearing woman, implemented standards expected of someone in her position.   And the result was, that as the reigning monarch in the UK for over 70 years, no one could ever point an accusing finger in her direction about her life style and behaviour.  She put up and shut up and she never complained and never explained if adverse publicity arose about the Royal Family.   Had she done so, she could have been embroiled in unseemly conduct but her behaviour was impeccable.  She chose her approach early in her reign and stuck steadfastly with that until her death in 2022.

We know that Jesus Christ didn’t argue and debate when He was accused in His last hours before His crucifixion.   He knew, more than any mortal being, that it was neither the time nor the place to do so and that it was foreordained that He was to die for the sins of mankind.   And that was the best example of all!

Solomon gave some brilliant advice as recorded in the Word of God.  I’m sure that the late Queen would have been very familiar with his advice.  Let us look at a few of these wise admonitions:

Proverbs 26:4-5: “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes.”

Proverbs 15:1-2: “A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.”  (Also see verses 7, 23, 28)

Ecclesiastes 3:7: “[There is a] time to keep silence, And a time to speak.”

Ecclesiastes 5:2: “Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few.”

These golden nuggets of information, and there are many more along the same lines, are there to enable us to live a life pleasing in the sight of God.   Like the Queen, we must choose our approach, and the Bible is there to guide us in this matter.

In Matthew 5:16, we see the instruction of Jesus: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

When we, as true Christians, let our light shine, we set the best example of God’s Way of Life which is not seen when we unnecessarily argue and debate with others.

Let us behave as Proverbs 25:11 instructs: “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver.”

by Norbert Link

We begin with the important decision of the US Supreme Court to hear arguments regarding the attempts to strike Trump from the Colorado ballot; continue with the ongoing battle between Biden and Trump; and address the escalating situation in Germany pertaining to its farmers and their fight against the government. We also speak on Germany’s former spy boss’s announcement to found a new party; and the push for compulsory military service in Germany.

We publish an insightful analysis on the civil war and the issue of slavery; and speak about Europe’s perceptive towards Ukraine and Israel.

Throughout this section, we have underlined pertinent statements in the quoted articles, for the convenience and quick overview of the reader.

US Supreme Court Will Decide

Breitbart wrote on January 5:

“The Supreme Court will hear arguments on former President Donald Trump’s appeal of a Colorado Supreme Court decision to strike him from the ballot, a monumental case with implications for similar ballot access challenges in states across the country that could determine the presidential election. The court will hear oral arguments on February 8, 2024, an expedited schedule that demonstrates the significance of resolving the case quickly…

“The [Colorado] Court… determined that ‘clear and convincing evidence’ proved ‘that President Trump engaged in insurrection’ despite Trump having never been convicted of that or any other crime or even been charged in court with the crime of insurrection…

“While Trump has received favorable outcomes in multiple states — including Colorado before its Supreme Court partially reversed that ruling — the Maine secretary of state also removed Trump from the ballot. The Supreme Court has never ruled definitively on the meaning of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court’s decision on the Colorado case could be the final word in Maine as well as other states.”

It is widely expected that the Supreme Court will overturn the Colorado and Maine decisions, as being in violation of the Constitution. Some hope that the decision will be unanimous, but that may not be clear. Note the next article.

Trump Warns

Newsmax wrote on January 6:

“Former President Donald Trump is warning there will be ‘big trouble’ for the United States if the Supreme Court doesn’t treat him fairly and rule that he’s eligible for the 2024 presidential primary ballots. ‘I just hope we get fair treatment,’ Trump said during a rally in Sioux City, Iowa, Friday…

“‘Because if we don’t, our country’s in big, big trouble. Does everybody understand what I’m saying?’…  ‘They’re saying, “Oh, Trump owns the Supreme Court; he owns it… He put on three judges… If they rule in his favor, it will be horrible for them. And we’ll protest at their houses.’ ‘But such pressure is pushing ‘people to do the wrong thing,’ Trump added.”

Biden vs. Trump

The New York Post wrote on January 5:

“Speaking near Washington’s 1777-1778 winter encampment at Valley Forge outside Philadelphia, Biden went scorched earth on both the likely Republican nominee [Trump] and his allies in Congress, claiming the latter group ‘abandoned democracy’ after ‘we nearly lost America’ during the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021…

“Backed by a cheering audience, Biden tore into Trump repeatedly during the roughly half-hour speech — accusing his predecessor of intentionally using the violence of the Capitol riot as a tactic to remain in power and even likening his rival — not for the first time — to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler…

“Trump fired back, telling Fox News Digital that ‘because of his gross incompetence, Joe Biden is a true threat to democracy’…

“Biden enters this election year with approval ratings that rival the lowest of any modern president [Jimmy Carter] with Americans giving a collective thumbs-down to his handling of the economy, immigration, and wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. As of Friday, [Biden] trailed Trump by 2.2% in the popular vote…

“No evidence has emerged that Trump had advance knowledge of plans for violence by some of his supporters during the congressional count of the Electoral College results. In other comments Friday, Biden said Trump could bring the US into an era of dictatorship…”

It is interesting that the Biden administration has been pursuing politics which constitute a threat to democracy and which have brought the USA into an era of dictatorship.

German Farmers Stage Nationwide Blockade

dw.com wrote on January 8:

“German farmers are angered by the government’s plans to slash agricultural subsidies. Blockades have disrupted road traffic across the country, posing a nightmare for commuters.” More than 500 tractors and trucks were parked at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate protesting in the heart of the government quarter in Berlin.”

German Farmers Confront Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck

The European Conservative wrote on January 5:

“A crowd of about 150 angry farmers were awaiting the arrival of a ferry carrying Germany’s Economic Minister and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck on his return from vacation on Thursday evening at the port of Schlüttsiel in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein.  While the farmers demanded to speak to Habeck about the left-liberal government’s tax burdens on the farming community, the minister’s bodyguards advised him to stay on the ferry for security reasons. Habeck himself was willing to let three farmers onto the boat to discuss their grievances, but the protesters demanded that the minister speak to them all outside… There were scenes of scuffles as some of the farmers tried to stop the ferry—with Habeck and his entourage onboard—from leaving. All other passengers were allowed ashore…

“Farmers have been outraged since the government announced plans to abolish subsidies on agricultural diesel and introduce new taxes on farm vehicles. The plans are part of budget cuts and new taxes that will put an even larger burden on households already grappling with the cost-of-living crisis. Thousands of farmers took to the streets of Berlin and other regional centres on December 18th, and are planning more protests…

“Conservative publication Tichys Einblick assessed the situation by saying: ‘Robert Habeck himself can afford a holiday, while the country, along with many citizens, is collapsing like never before since the Second World War. Companies are going bankrupt in droves, freight forwarders can no longer pay drastically increased tolls, ever-increasing electricity and energy costs as well as more and more taxes on CO2. Many are on the verge of extinction or are already extinct, freezing because heating costs are rising exorbitantly.’

“On Thursday, January 4th, the government backtracked somewhat, and decided it would not end the farmers’ tax break on agricultural diesel immediately, but will reduce the subsidy by 40% this year, 30% in 2025, and will end it from 2026. Also, the abolition of preferential treatment in vehicle tax for forestry and agriculture is no longer planned. However, the German Farmers’ Association (DBV) is still not pleased. Its president, Joachim Rukwied said: ‘This can only be a first step. Our position remains unchanged: both proposals for cuts must be taken off the table. This is clearly also about the future viability of our industry and the question of whether domestic food production is still desirable at all.’

“Elsewhere, Rukwied criticised the behaviour of the farmers who demonstrated against Habeck. ‘Personal attacks, insults, threats, coercion or violence are not acceptable,’ he said. Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) called  participants in the protest ‘fanatics’ and ‘radicals,’ and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) tweeted: ‘Where words are replaced by rabble, and arguments by violence, a democratic boundary has been crossed.’

“Politicians from the governing social democrats and the liberal FDP, as well as opposition centre-right CDU denounced Thursday night’s protests. Right-wing opposition AfD’s co-leader Alice Weidel accused the Economy Minister of escaping instead of seeking dialogue. Habeck himself acknowledged on Friday that the mood of the country ‘worries me.’

“The minister has every right to be worried, as the budget cuts, the attack on farmers and the government’s green agenda is causing ever-growing concern among the population. According to the latest opinion polls, the governing parties are in their worst position since they came into power two years ago. In that time, the social democrats have dropped from 26% to 12%, the Greens from 15% to 10.5%, the liberal FDP from 11.5% to 4.5%, meaning the latter would not be able to enter parliament. Meanwhile, the centre-right CDU/CSU alliance has gained in the polls by 10 percentage points, and stands at 34% overall, while the stigmatised AfD now enjoys the backing of 24.5% of the electorate.”

Germans are looking for an alternative. The next article bears that out, even though many feel that that “alternative” will only be short-lived.

False Outrage

Report 24 wrote on January 5:

“The reports of the media read as if an attack had been carried out on the economics minister… The mainstream acts in a horrified way… But what is the real conclusion…? There were no arrests… The spokesman for the Flensburg Police Department stated… that they were refraining from talking about violence. The narrative of the radical farmers is crumbling…

“In any case, the population’s sympathy for the minister [Habeck] is noticeably limited on social networks… it is the Ampel government that is dragging democracy into the mud by openly acting against the will of the citizens… Banning opposition in Germany in the form of the AfD shows that the anti-democrats are among the old parties – and not with the farmers, who, in contrast to the politicians currently in power, work in the service of the population.

“The Schlüttsiel example also shows the federal government clearly what they think of the back and forth of their decisions, their communication and their staff: what is shame for one person is anger for another. And this anger is now everywhere…

“Politicians know very well that they have caused and fomented this anger themselves. In recent months and years, those in government have consistently decided not to act for the benefit of their citizens – and they have hereby betrayed their own people. What was to be expected?… Anyone who continues to ignore the situation in which not only the farmers but also the citizens find themselves and instead covers up for political failure is part of the problem. What’s more, it contributes to escalation.”

Germany’s Former Spy Boss (CDU) to Found New Party

The European Conservative wrote on January 5:

“Hans-Georg Maaßen, Germany’s former domestic intelligence chief has announced his intention to break away from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to establish a new political party..  The new party… will be based on the ‘classic positions of the Union parties’ [CDU and CSU]. He added that, if successfully established, the party could run in this year’s elections in the eastern German states of Saxony, Thuringia, and Brandenburg.

“… the Alternative for Germany (AfD) commands the support of 37%, 36%, and 32% of the population in Saxony, Thuringia, and Brandenburg, respectively… even though nearly half of the German population supports the AfD’s participation in government, all parties with a parliamentary presence have ruled out the possibility of forming a government with it. This could potentially change if Maaßen’s party were to run and garner a considerable number of seats.

“Maaßen stated that he would work with all parties that are ‘ready for a change in policy in Germany,’ leaving the door open for future cooperation with the AfD… The former spy boss didn’t hesitate to level sharp criticism against CDU party leader Friedrich Merz for wanting to continue what he described as the ‘left-wing course’ taken by former Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“Maaßen wrote: ‘…  Merkel’s policies have caused significant damage to Germany in all political areas. The recent statement by the General Secretary of the CDU that Merkel had ‘governed the country well’ confirms the impression that the Merz CDU has not understood the catastrophic situation Germany is in and that it is not prepared to deal with the situation for this. The German people have to deal with Merkel’s catastrophic policies.’…”

Germans are also worried about Russia; hence their desire to reinstate compulsory military service, as the next article shows.

Majority of Germans For Compulsory Military Service

Breitbart wrote on January 5:

“More than half of Germans of all ages… want to restore compulsory military service, a survey [by Die Welt] released Thursday reveals, as war on the European continent between Russia and Ukraine drags on into another year… It shows 52 percent of respondents are in favor of armed service while 32 percent are against it…

“Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) suggested conscription based on the ‘Swedish model.’… Men and women are recruited on an equal basis, one of the only countries in the world to do so… Today, the Bundeswehr is a professional army made up of volunteers — but the volunteers are no longer coming. A recent report found there were some 27,000 positions in the Bundeswehr left vacant in 2022, out of a total of 164,000.”

The Civil War Was Not About Slavery

The Ron Paul Institute published on January 4 the following article by Judge Andrew P. Napolitano:

“When Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley answered a question last week in which she stated that the American Civil War was fought over ‘government,’ ‘rights’ and ‘freedoms,’ she was correct. Yet, like most politicians, when she realized that the popular answer should have been ‘slavery,’ she modified her answer. She should have stood her ground…

“… when it comes to the interrelationship between slavery and the American Civil War, most Americans have their history backward. Because it is nearly always written by the winners, history nearly always makes the winners look good. The American Civil War is no exception… No less an authority on the reasons for the war than Abraham Lincoln acknowledged many times during his presidency that the war was fought to preserve the union, not to eradicate slavery…

“In government schools, we all learned that Lincoln freed the slaves. He didn’t. They were freed by the 13th Amendment, which was ratified in December 1865, eight months after the war ended and Lincoln’s death.

“What about the Emancipation Proclamation? In government schools, we all learned that by that document, the slaves were set free. They weren’t. The Proclamation did not have the force of law on civilians, as it was a military order issued to troops by Lincoln in his capacity as commander in chief so as to enable the Union Army to conscript slaves into the Army against their will — from one form of slavery to another. Moreover, the Proclamation expressly prohibited the Army from interfering with slavery — and thus preserving it — in the five border states; fully one-third of the Confederacy.

“In government schools, we learned that Lincoln was anti-slavery. He wasn’t. In the earliest days of his presidency, he championed the Corwin Amendment — the Republican Congress’s original 13th Amendment — which Congress passed and sent on to the states. Had its ratification not been interrupted by the war, it would have enshrined slavery in the Constitution. The same Congress that moved to abolish slavery as soon as the war ended had moved to protect it before the war started; this is history bent and rewritten by the victors.

“The initial verbal and military salvos in the war were over whether the states — covetous of tariff revenues seized by the feds — could voluntarily leave the union and resume collecting tariffs; hardly a novel concept at the time, but in a government school, you probably never heard this…”

As so often, history is distorted to serve certain political agendas. That the Civil War was NOT about slavery should be known and realized by all Americans… sadly, it is not.

More Money For Ukraine?

On January 2, Ron Paul wrote the following in his weekly column:

“In the closing days of 2023, the Biden Administration once again announced a large military aid package for Ukraine, this time a ‘mere’ quarter of a billion dollars. Without a new authorization of funds from Congress, it is said to be the last bit of money left over from the more than $100 billion already authorized by Congress for the proxy war with Russia through Ukraine.

“President Biden’s request for an additional $100 billion to spread around Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan was rejected by a Congress eager for its winter break, and with each passing day it looks like it’s going to be harder to push it through. Poll after poll show that Americans are increasingly opposed to more of their money being spent on the neocon’s lost-cause war to overthrow Putin in Russia. For example, a recent Fox News poll revealed that more than 60 percent of Republican voters do not want any more money sent to Ukraine. As we enter an election year, it’s probably safe to predict that Republican candidates will be wary of crossing the wishes of the clear majority of voters…

“Last month Secretary of State Antony Blinken inadvertently revealed what exactly all the spending for war is about when he stated that as much as 90 percent of the aid for Ukraine is actually spent in the United States. The money is used ‘to the benefit of American business, local communities, and strengthening the US defense industrial base,’ he said in an interview. In other words, the money ‘for Ukraine’ is actually a massive welfare program for well-connected military contractors back home.”

Amazing!

Time Is Running Out

The Times of Israel wrote on January 5:

“Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says time is running out on diplomatic efforts to end tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, indicating that Israel will soon be left with no choice but to launch a major military offensive against the terror group in Lebanon.”

EU on Ukraine and Israel

On January 3, the official website of the EU published the following article by Josep Borrell, Vice President of the EU:

“Two deadly wars are unfolding on our borders and dominating the European agenda: the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the war that has recently flared up again in the Middle East…

“Hamas is opposed to the very existence of the State of Israel. But the current Israeli government is also opposed, and for a long time, to the two-state solution. Benyamin Netanyahu, the current Prime Minister, promised to his fellow citizens that with him a Palestinian state would never see the light of day, despite the entire international community being in favour of it. This community therefore has a problem with Benyamin Netanyahu’s policy..,.

“But let’s return to Europe and ask ourselves a fundamental question: what is our capacity to act collectively in the face of these conflicts? We are not a state, and not even a federation of states. Our foreign and security policy is still being defined unanimously, which means that the opposition of only one State is sufficient to make us unable to act… If one can impose a veto, the others are obliged to haggle over the return to consensus. Often this haggling is very costly, and above all it wastes a lot of time. We react far too slowly to events, and we often pay dearly for it…

“In the case of Ukraine, unanimity was fortunately achieved quickly… However, this came at a high cost. Inflation rose and the economy held back… Will this unity last? What are we going to do if the Americans reduce their support for Ukraine once they have elected a new president, or perhaps even before then?… we need to act faster and more decisively to support Ukraine, because Russia represents a major strategic threat to the European Union…

“We are the biggest supplier of aid to the Palestinians, and in particular the biggest funder of the Palestinian Authority… Regarding Israel, we are the country’s leading trading partner… This means that we would have the means to influence both players in the conflict, should we choose to do so. However, so far we have not exercised this influence… Europe should be much more involved in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Until now, we have relied too heavily on the United States in the search for a solution to this conflict that directly affects us…”

Needed… A European Army

Reuters wrote on January 7:

“The European Union should form its own combined army that could play a role in peacekeeping and preventing conflict, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said…

“‘In a world with powerful players like the United States, China, India, Russia – with crises from the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific – Italian, German, French or Slovenian citizens can only be protected by something that already exists, namely the European Union,’ he added… Tajani also said the 27-nation EU should streamline its leadership and have a single presidency, rather than the current structure of a European Council president and a European Commission president.”

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

In the first two parts of this series, we looked at just a tiny part of the criticism directed at the traditional family – husband and wife, plus any children they may have.  Much of the criticism, but not exclusively, comes from those intent on pushing the sexual agenda emanating from LGBT+ issues.   With the uptake in different ungodly lifestyles, removal of existing norms is seen as necessary to accommodate the new “freedom” to do what they want and that is expressed as contempt to what the great God of the Bible stated in His Word at the dawn of civilisation.

Another criticism can be read in fee.org. “Even today the aversion to the traditional family remains strong in socialists.  A 2019 article in The Nation, titled “Want to Dismantle Capitalism? Abolish the Family,” offers a glimpse of the modern socialist critique of the institution.

“We know that the nuclear private household is where the overwhelming majority of abuse can happen,” author Sophie Lewis explains. “And then there’s the whole question of what it is for: training us up to be workers, training us to be inhabitants of a binary-gendered and racially stratified system, training us not to be queer.”

“For true believers of collectivism, there’s little question that private family matters are also state matters. Socialism requires collective control of resources, and humans are the ultimate resource. This is why the traditional nuclear family, which places authority in the hands of parents rather than the community, is an affront to so many socialists.”

To be clear, we thoroughly condemn this socialist, communist and fascist approach, as it would give the ungodly state total control over the people.

Timothy P Carney wrote the following in the Washington Examiner, on December 17, 2020:

“In Alienated America, I argue that strong communities need strong families and vice versa. Where community breakdown occurs, it’s often the fruit of family breakdown. Children raised by only a mother are at a disadvantage, but their neighbors suffer, too, because that mother (probably working full time and charged with all household duties) is less available to coach, volunteer, or just sit on the front porch keeping an eye on things.

“Marriage implies permanence, dedication, and commitment. Communities need those things. Less marriage means weaker communities.

“Raj Chetty’s research, in fact, suggests that having many households with two married parents is the best way to guarantee the upward mobility of children.”

An older, but still very relevant essay published by docslib outlines the grim reality of “The Decline of the Traditional Family”:

“The traditional family today has been transformed into a post-modernistic family, as the modern culture has pulled apart the connected bonds of a family. Our popular television shows today portray wrong visualizations to their commonly young audience with inappropriate content and family morals.  The ‘Little House on the Prairie’ TV series, popular in the late 1900’s, was a refreshing family show that portrayed the common traditional family in that era.  However, new TV series accentuate today’s post-modernized family that makes untraditional family morals desirable for their viewers. One of the newest series ‘Modern Family’ portrays the life of three modern related families of today, including same-sex partners with an adopted child.  The appeal to be like the celebrities on these post-modernistic shows are draining away the traditional values families should have.  However, ‘Modern Family’ is one of the top TV series today, winning up to 11 Emmys.

“This essay will focus on the core of the decline of the traditional family as divorces, abortions, same sex marriages, and ignorance of biblical principles increase daily-making our present families diverse from tradition.

“The government is also encouraging the destruction of the traditional family.  One example is the rising of same-sex marriages.  The title, ‘Ex-Lesbian: Obama Destroying Traditional Families,’ is as shocking as it sounds.  Janet Boynes, a former lesbian, is now the leader of her Christian ministry called Janet Boynes Ministries, where she ministers to individuals who either question their sexuality or wish to leave a homosexual lifestyle.  Janet affirms that it is hard to keep the values [of] traditional family ideals today, because our current generation and government powers are advocating rights for homosexuals. Ms Boynes mentions that President Barack Obama is using the financial governmental power to encourage people to accept and normalize same-sex relationships!  This rips apart the picture of the traditional husband and wife.

“The government’s intentional ignoring of Biblical values are affecting the children of America. The children’s educational system that used to be taught with Biblical-based principles is now the design of a humanistic, person-centered program that is corrupting our future traditional families with immoral doctrines.  The ability to pray or talk about God’s love is banished from the classroom and discouraged from children’s vocabulary!  Parental consent is also considered unneeded for the health of their children.

“Today, traditional family values are being destroyed as if crushed by a huge rock.  Matthew 5:13 says, ‘Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?  It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.’  The children of today have lost their identity, living opposite to the Bible!  

“We must stay strong to the faith and proclaim God’s Commandments to all!   Together, let us empower ourselves with the determination, as one nation under God, to revolutionize our future and bring back the traditional family.”

In the Daily Mail, dated Monday, Feb 13th 2023, one of the headlines was: “I’m a psychologist and these are 13 reasons why people DON’T want to get married anymore – and why staying single makes you happier.”   It went on to say:

“If you are about to have a baby, chances are you are more likely to be unmarried than married.  Figures from the Office of National Statistics (in the UK) show that 2021 was the first year on record that more children were born out of wedlock than in it. It follows a long-term trend of declining marriage rates and rising numbers of cohabiting couples seen in recent decades.

“Explaining the decline, Dr Max Blumberg, a relationship psychologist and chartered member of the British Psychological Society, says that marriage no longer offers what it used to.” 

Below is how he breaks down exactly why the traditional institution is on the way out.  We have deliberately not quoted the text under the headings except for number 11, as this was too long to quote in its entirety.

1. Traditional reasons for marriage no longer matter 
2. People marry when they are happy (and we are less happy)
3. Growing acceptance of cohabiting
4. High divorce rates paint a bad picture
5. No evidence to show that marriage makes you happier and healthier (especially for women)
6. Cost of weddings
7. Marriage is not promoted by UK government
8. Women are fine doing motherhood alone
9. People don’t want to invest
10. Being born out of wedlock is no longer a social disgrace
11. Sexual fluidity

The younger generations are far more likely to be open minded than older generations. An increasing number are gay or lesbian or pansexual, as well as being gender fluid. If people want to date people of differing and varied sexes, then again marriage is less likely to be an option, particularly as the church does still not support gay marriage.

12. Lack of married role models
13. Sexual liberation and the pill 

We could respond to each of the items above but that could seem somewhat tedious and the answers are pretty obvious!

Julie Roys, a speaker, freelance journalist and blogger in the USA wrote: “A little known fact about socialism is that, from its beginning, it has sought to destroy marriage and family. In the USA, Grove City Professor Paul Kengor explains this in detail in his book, ‘Takedown: From Communists to Progressives, How the Left Has Sabotaged Marriage and Family.’ Essentially, what socialism seeks is for the state to replace the family. That way, it can indoctrinate children in its Leftist way of thinking, and remove from them any notions of God and religion.

“Friedrich Engels, co-author with Marx of the ‘The Communist Manifesto,’ once wrote that the society he envisioned would be one where ‘the single family ceases to be the economic unit of society. Private housekeeping is transformed into a social industry. The care and education of the children becomes a public affair.’”

We hasten to add that this is not only true for socialist or communist societies, but also for fascist regimes which try to control their people. National Socialism under Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler would be prime examples. 

In a paper “Redefining the Family: Undermining the Family,” by John DeWitt Gregory” from the University of Chicago Legal Forum, the following snippet is interesting: “In addition to casebook editors and treatise writers, professorial contributions of legal scholarship in law reviews have contributed frequently and at length to efforts to redefine the family. One prominent commentator, for example, has stated bluntly: [Our] society has undergone profound transformations in the past century, and the long-standing legal structure of marriage may now be anachronistic. The state’s interest in preserving the traditional family may not be important enough to offset new societal and individual needs which require more flexibility and choice in family forms.”

On the website voiceofthefamily, we read how local government is usurping the authority of parents in raising their children in a family environment.  “A group of parents in Wales is asking the High Court to overrule a decision by the government in Cardiff to make attendance at sex education classes mandatory in local primary schools. When the Welsh government introduced a ‘new code’ for the teaching of ‘sex and relationships education’ (RSE) earlier this year, it removed the right of parents to withdraw their children from the lessons.

“Sadly, parents in the rest of the UK, the Irish Republic and across most of the Western world have already been confronted with the situation unfolding in Wales. And although the legal action against the Welsh government is unlikely to succeed, there is a strong body of international law aimed at protecting the family and the rights of parents. The fact that governments no longer respect these rights is the result of a strategy worked out decades ago by organisations, such as International Planned Parenthood Federation. These organisations, which have managed to seize control of the agencies established by the United Nations, are now sufficiently powerful to have their agenda enforced across the globe.”

We can see how those who want the rights of the godly-ordained family to be paramount are overridden by those who think that the state knows best.   The family is certainly under threat by bureaucrats who think that they know better than God who created the family 6,000 years ago.

The traditional family, according to the Word of God, is simply put: Marriage as God ordained it is between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:24).   For a more thorough exposition on this subject, please see our Q&A as mentioned in the second part in this series: https://www.eternalgod.org/what-is-a-family/

(To be continued)

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

compiled by Dave Harris

“2023—a Year of Chaos… With More to Come,” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

As the New York Post wrote, 2023 was “one of the strangest years in American politics. Both parties contributed, but Democrats were extra strange.” Many examples of incredible and frightening “incompetence’ are given, but the chaos is not limited to domestic issues. Is America’s demise inevitable?

“2023—ein chaotisches Jahr… und mehr wird folgen…” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program, presented by Norbert Link. This covers the same subject as described above.

A Tech Team meeting was conducted on January 7. 2024 via Google Meets. Hosted by Eric Rank, we once again spent much of the discussions reviewing results and needs for our current booklet advertising programs—for both English and German booklets.

The final text for your new booklet about youth has been sent to graphic artist Shelly Bruno to prepare for printing.

Our 2024 Church Conference will be conducted on May 16^th to May 19^th in Escondido, California.

“Die erbauende Liebe,” last Sabbath’s first split sermon presented in Germany by Robert Muhr, is now posted. Title in English: “The Uplifting Love.”

“Was ist die Welt von Morgen?” last Sabbath’s second split sermon presented by Johann Schell, is now posted. Title in English: “What is the World Tomorrow?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNcPq3eGmjg

“How Is Your Conscience?” last Sabbath’s first split sermon presented by Kalon Mitchell, is now posted. Here is a summary:

God has placed a conscience within man. Yet, how do we use this tool given to us? How can we make sure that our conscience is working correctly? We have to be making sure that we are on the right track in regards to the conscience within!

“What Is Your Highest Goal?” last Sabbath’s second split sermon presented by Christoph Sperzel, is now posted. Here is a summary:

It sounds good that we are allowed to enter the kingdom of God. Should we strive for more than just entering the kingdom of God? What should be the true Christian goal? Is God revealing to us that we should strive for more than eternal life?