On June 20, 2015, Kalon Mitchell will present the sermonette, titled, “Corruption & Destruction,” and Norbert Link will present the sermon, titled, “What Is the Mark of the Beast?”

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.

Lately, there has been an inordinate amount of media coverage regarding the ways persons identify themselves.  Some men and women are choosing to become their opposites, or somewhere in between.  While ungodly behavior has existed since mankind was created on this earth, modern medical practices are transforming people in perverse ways.

We have a purpose as given to Adam and Eve, to “Be fruitful and multiply…” (Genesis 1:22).  We were created to fulfill God’s Will and increase His Family.  But mankind has rejected most aspects of God’s Laws.  Instead, mankind’s focus is driven inward, towards fulfilling one’s own will and pleasures.

God has always known who His people are and whom He will work with and call. “For surely I will command, And will sift the house of Israel among all nations, As grain is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground” (Amos 9:9).  We can live by, and begin to believe in, whatever lie our carnal minds can devise.  But we can’t fool God.  There is only one way.  Only one truth will lead us to God.

It may be hard for those of us with God’s Spirit to perceive why someone would reject the love and ultimate purpose that God gives to His followers.  Yet we know because of Satan’s pervasive influence, when mankind is given a final chance, some will choose to reject God: “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

Satan cannot be trifled with!  His corruption is complete.  His wisdom in deceit is beyond the ability of carnal minds to combat.  So many in the world think they serve God when they don’t.  Satan didn’t think he was tempting some facet of God when he proceeded to tempt Christ.  Satan knew he was tempting The Logos as a man – a glorious being who emptied Himself of His glory and became fully man, “but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:7-8).  Satan thought he could overcome Christ by temptation.  Satan assumed like all men, Christ would be subject to, and in fact drawn to his deceitfulness.

But Christ overcame Satan’s temptations, because He was filled with the same Spirit that lives within us.  There is no question who each of us are today! “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9).  Focus on pleasing God and it will be His pleasure to give us the Kingdom.

We begin with an interesting dilemma for Moslems regarding the observance of the fast of Ramadan for 30 days during “daylight hours”; speak on the growing number of British politicians proposing a possible Brexit; discuss Europe’s preparation for and anticipation of a possible Grexit; and point out the unconvincing decision of Germany’s chief prosecutor to drop the probe into NSA’s manifested spying activities.

 We continue with articles warning of America’s future as a Third World country; reporting on Donald Trump’s announcement to run for the Presidency; showing the relationship between America’s deplorable gun violence and lax state laws; and addressing a rather unconscionable decision of the US Supreme Court regarding abortion.

 We report on the growing LGBT movement in Latin America, Israel, Germany and of course the USA, which is strongly condemned in the Bible; speak on the Vatican’s first trial of one of its former Archbishops over sexual child abuse charges; and conclude with Pope Francis’ highly controversial and at the same time quite revealing new encyclical and a claim by the Catholic Church that Mexico is infested with demons.

Ramadan — an Interesting Dilemma

The Independent wrote on June 14:

“As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan approaches, and British Muslims prepare for four weeks of fasting during daylight hours, a perennial debate on changing the Ramadan observance times in northern regions has sprung up again. Dr Usama Haswan, an Islamic researcher from anti-extremism group Quilliam, has said that it would make more sense for Muslims in the UK to follow Mecca timings, as daylight lasts much longer this far north than it does in the Middle East.

“In Mecca, daylight during Ramadan usually lasts from around 12 to 13 hours. In the southern part of the UK, it typically lasts around 16 hours or more, and the timings mean that observers will have to wake up at around 4am if they want to eat in the morning. As the start of Ramadan is based on the first sighting of the new moon, it comes earlier and earlier each year. For the last few years, however, it has occurred during summer, meaning a much longer fasting time. This year, Ramadan will begin on 18 June.

“… things get worse the further north you go. In Aberdeen, more than 500 miles north of London, daylight will last for around 18 hours during Ramadan. And elsewhere in northern Europe, such as the far north of Sweden, the sun may only set for a couple of hours a day, if at all. In Kiruna, Sweden’s northernmost town, the sun has not set this month – and it’s not going to go down before August…

“There is no agreed-upon standard – some Muslims choose to observe Mecca time, others observe the timings of their own country. Mohammed Kharaki, a spokesman for Sweden’s Islamic Association, said the organisation had this week issued guidelines that said Muslims should fast between the times that the sun was last clearly seen to rise and fall – despite this concession, this could well amount to a 19-hour fast…

“However, even with a lengthy fast for British Muslims, the vast majority are adamant that they will observe it, no matter how difficult it is.”

Of course, the Bible does not prescribe such a fast at all—perhaps for the very reasons which are explained in the article above. The only enjoined fast takes place once a year, during one day, the Day of Atonement (known by Jews today as Yom Kippur), from sunset to sunset, which is always observed in the autumn.

 “Conservatives for Britain” Prefer Possible Brexit

Newsmax reported on June 13:

 “The number of lawmakers in Prime Minister David Cameron’s party to join a group pushing for Britain to leave the European Union unless it obtains major changes to its terms of membership has jumped from 50 to 110 in a week, a newspaper said on Saturday. One in three of Cameron’s 330 lawmakers, including some ministers, have joined ‘Conservatives for Britain’ (CfB), which is also backed by 13 members of the upper house and 12 members of the European Parliament, the Telegraph reported…

“Cameron angered some in his party at the start of the week when he suggested ministers who did not back his EU strategy, which envisions Britain remaining in a reformed EU, would have to quit the government. He later said he had been misunderstood and that his warning to ministers only applied to the EU negotiation period and not the referendum campaign itself where many Conservatives feel they should be allowed to vote according to their own conscience, rather than following the party line…”

Whether David Cameron will be able to reach agreements with the EU which will satisfy Britain’s euro-skeptics remains to be seen.

Europe Prepares for State of Emergency

Reuters reported on June 15:

“Greece and its creditors hardened their stances on Monday after the collapse of talks aimed at preventing a default and possible euro exit, prompting Germany’s EU commissioner to say the time had come to prepare for a ‘state of emergency’.

“Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ignored pleas from European leaders to act fast. Instead he blamed creditors for Sunday’s breakdown of the cash-for-reform talks, the biggest setback in long-running negotiations to unlock aid. He said his government had a responsibility to defend Greece’s dignity and would resist demands for further pension cuts… Athens now has just two weeks to find a way out of the impasse before it faces a 1.6 billion euro repayment due to the International Monetary Fund, potentially leaving it out of cash, unable to borrow and dangling on the edge of the currency area…

“Despite the deepening crisis, Tsipras is going ahead with a planned visit to Russia from Thursday, the day euro zone finance ministers hold a crucial meeting to review the standoff with Greece. He is due to stay till Saturday, attend an economic forum in Saint Petersburg and meet President Vladimir Putin. EU officials said that without improved Greek proposals by Thursday, the Eurogroup session would be very tough and was likely to present Greece with an ultimatum…

“Although some economists still believe that, as in past crises, a last-minute fix will be found to avoid default, European politicians sound more determined than before to resist compromising with demands they consider unreasonable. Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis retorted in an interview with Germany’s Bild newspaper that a deal could be reached quickly if Merkel took part in the talks. ‘I rule out a “Grexit” as a sensible solution,’ Varoufakis said. ‘But no one can rule out everything. I can’t even rule out a comet hitting Earth.’”

And both might strike…

The New York Times wrote on June 17:

“It is the current doomsday scenario for Europe… Although Europe is better positioned to deal with a crisis than it was a few years ago, when Greece last teetered, there is simply no precedent for a country’s leaving the eurozone. And the big test may be only weeks away.

“Relations between Greece and its lenders have descended into a bitter standoff. The impasse is increasing the chances that Greece and its creditors will fail to forge a deal by the end of the month, when a pile of debt comes due and its current bailout expires.

“Many in Europe still believe that some sort of agreement will be reached at the last minute… But the war of words — and the apparent distance between both sides’ positions — is reducing hopes for a breakthrough…

“Optimistic analysts contend that markets would soon steady themselves after the initial shock of Greece’s crashing out of the euro. Much has changed, they say, since 2011 and 2012, when Greece’s problems spilled over into other countries… There are grounds for such confidence. Private investors and banks no longer have large holdings of Greek government debt, meaning their losses would be minimal if the country were to default. Instead, Greece’s debt is now mostly owed to other governments and official entities…

“Perhaps the biggest difference between the last Greek crisis and now is the stance of the European Central Bank…

“Some analysts are looking beyond the immediate financial repercussions of Greece’s leaving the eurozone… If Greece were to fall out of the eurozone, it would establish a dangerous precedent — and show that the euro is only for certain countries…”

… which, of course, it clearly is, showing again the concept of a Europe with two speeds or a core Europe of influential major countries, leading the rest of Europe. In addition, according to a new poll which was published on Wednesday, “58 percent of [German] people would prefer it if Greece simply left the Euro. Just 28 percent of Germans thought that Greece should remain in, while 14 percent had no opinion” (The Local, June 17, 2015).

The Guardian added on June 18:

“Greece is facing a full-blown banking crisis after a meeting of eurozone finance ministers broke down in acrimony and recrimination on Thursday evening, bringing the prospect of Greek exit from the eurozone a step nearer.

“Some €2bn of deposits have been withdrawn from Greek banks so far this week – including a record €1bn yesterday – triggering fears that a breakdown in talks would spark a further flight of funds. The German leader Angela Merkel, French president François Hollande and Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras agreed to stage an emergency EU summit on Monday as a last critical attempt to prevent Greece going bankrupt. A representative of the European Central Bank told the meeting it was unsure whether Greek banks would have the funds to be able to open on Monday.”

 German Prosecutor Chickens Out

The Local wrote on June 12:

“Germany’s chief prosecutor has dropped a probe into the alleged tapping of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone by US intelligence agencies, his office said Friday… The suspected surveillance and rampant online spying by the US… badly strained US-German relations.

“The German chief prosecutor Harald Range said he had put an end to his year-old probe, citing a lack of hard evidence that would stand up in a court of law. ‘The Chief Federal Prosecutor has closed the investigation over suspected spying on a mobile phone used by the chancellor by US intelligence services .. because the allegation cannot be proven in a legally sound way under criminal law,’ a statement said.

“Media reports in October 2013 said that the NSA had tapped Merkel’s mobile phone – a claim Washington appeared to confirm later when US officials said the cellphone was no longer a target… The German prosecutor’s office on Friday said that the ‘vague’ US comments did not legally amount to proof of past spying activity.”

This was to be expected, of course, but the rationale for the decision not to prosecute appears to be a pitiful, unconvincing and cowardly cop-out. This announcement comes on the heels of a meeting between President Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany, with the publication of some friendly smiling faces and the exchange of political niceties… all of this in an effort to portray unity and harmony between them and their two countries.

America’s Future as a Third World Country?

On June 15, the website of creators.com published the following article by Pat Buchanan:

“Over three decades, [the] border [with Mexico] has been a causeway into the USA for millions of illegal immigrants who are changing the face of America… All sides of this quarrel have been using the figure of 11 million people here illegally. In her new best-seller, ‘Adios, America!,’ Ann Coulter makes a compelling case that the real figure is close to 30 million. If that is true, and if the next president embraces amnesty and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, that will mean the end to America as the Western nation we have been, and the beginning of America’s life as what Ann calls, unapologetically, a ‘Third World hellhole.’…

“Between 80 and 90 percent of those coming are from Third World nations. On average, they have higher illegitimacy rates than native-born Americans, higher drug use rates, higher rates of obesity, spousal abuse and child abuse, higher rates of disease, lower test scores and higher dropout rates, and higher crime and incarceration rates. Children of immigrants are more gang-oriented. And Third World immigrants consume more per capita in social services than they pay in taxes. Hence they contribute to fiscal deficits at every level of government…

“Among the myths or lies drummed into the heads of Americans is that we have always been a ‘nation of immigrants,’ and ‘diversity,’ i.e., racial, ethnic and religious diversity, ‘is a strength.’ But America in 1970 was a white nation with a black minority of about 10 percent…

“Is ethnic, racial and religious diversity truly a ‘strength’? Why then has the most diverse region of Europe, the Balkans — with its Serb, Croat, Albanian, Slovenian, Macedonian, Turkic peoples, and Catholic, Orthodox and Islamic religions — had the bloodiest history?…

“If diversity is a strength, then why are Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen falling apart? Why are Sunni and Shiite, Palestinian and Israeli fighting?… As racial, ethnic and religious hatreds pull people apart and create terrorists all over our disintegrating world, why would we make ourselves ever more diverse?…”

Trump IS Running After All

Breitbart reported on June 16:

“Real estate mogul and businessman Donald Trump announced he’s running for president at a private event in his own Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in New York City on Tuesday in front of dozens of reporters and media outlets. Trump took the stage and promised to be a different type of candidate. While other presidential candidates have provided rhetoric, he promised to implement policies. ‘If I’m elected president,’ he announced, ‘we will make America great again.’

“To begin with, ‘we have to repeal Obamacare,’ he said… He promised to bring jobs back to the United States, and crack down on illegal immigration from Mexico. Trump promised to ‘immediately terminate President Obama’s executive order on immigration.’ … ‘I would build a great wall on our southern border,’ he added, “and I will have Mexico pay for that wall…’ [He later clarified that he would do so by taxing Mexico heavily for their goods imported into the USA.]

“He also promises to beef up the military by finding ‘the guy, the Gen. Patton or Gen. MacArthur’ to lead it. He also vows to get tough with Iran. Unlike Secretary of State John Kerry, Trump says he knows how to negotiate a good deal.

“He also took a jab at Jeb Bush. ‘Education has to be local,’ Trump said, announcing he’ll staunchly oppose Common Core. Bush, who just announced yesterday, has supported Common Core…

“When his financial statement is filed, Trump says, it will show he has $9.240 billion in assets. His net worth, after all debt, he says, is upward of $8.7 billion…”

He also stated that America has become a Third World country [compare the previous article], and that the American Dream is over, but that he would revive it as the “best jobs President that God ever created.” He would tax American firms heavily, such as Ford, which manufacture their products in Mexico or other foreign countries and then import them into the USA. And he said this:

“They [Mexico and other foreign countries] are sending people that have lots of problems, and they are bringing those problems to us. They are bringing drugs and they are bringing crime, and they’re rapists. Some, I assume are good people. But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we are getting. They are not sending us the right people. It’s coming all over South and Latin America and it’s coming probably from the Middle East. But we don’t know because we have no protection and we have no competence. We don’t know what is happening and it has got to stop and it has to stop fast.”

He also stated: “We have people who are morally corrupt. We have people who are selling our country down the drain,” adding that US unemployment has risen sky high, even past 20 percent, challenging government figures that put it at under six percent. “Don’t believe the 5.6 percent,” he said.

The reaction to Trump’s announcement and speech was overwhelmingly negative. As could be expected, Democrats and left-liberal commentators blasted him, being anxious and eager to find “inconsistencies” in his address and his “rambling” and “bizarre” speech and charging him with defamation of the worst kind against American immigrants. Many Republicans blew into the same horn, but a few Republicans [including Sean Hannity] and a few conservative commentators [including Rush Limbaugh] were more reserved, giving him credit for an understanding as to what many Americans are looking for, feeling his comments might “resonate” with the GOP, and stating that he might not be a candidate who could or should be easily dismissed.

CBS commented that “It was a speech that drew immediate scorn online from a series of Republicans, who fear Trump will turn an otherwise serious Republican primary contest into a circus. The Democratic National Committee was just as sarcastic on Twitter…

“Meanwhile, based on guidelines recently announced by the television networks, Trump could play a prominent role in the upcoming nationally televised Republican debate in August. Those who rank in the top 10 in national polls, and Trump currently does, although he’s close to the bottom, will earn a place on the debate stage. That could place Trump in a debate alongside leading candidates such as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who formally launched his candidacy on Monday.

“Trump also said he would not renew his contract with NBC for his reality show, ‘The Apprentice.’ He cannot appear on the network and run for president at the same time.”

Newsmax wrote about Trump on June 15:

“Donald Trump has become one of the most well-known Americans… His grandfather Friedrich and grandmother Elisabeth were born in Germany and emigrated to the United States. Their son Fred Trump married Donald Trump’s mother Mary Ann MacLeod, who was born in Scotland and met Donald Trump’s father during a vacation trip to New York… While Donald Trump did inherit wealth from his father, he is personally responsible for accumulating the great bulk of his fortune. Trump’s father built affordable rental housing, mostly in Brooklyn and Queens in New York City. He had a net wealth estimated at between $250 million and $400 million at the time of his death, but his four surviving children were heirs. By 2011, Donald Trump’s business dealings had boosted his fortune to $2.4 billion, according to Forbes… Trump’s parents sent him to a military school, New York Military Academy, when he was 13 years old…  Trump’s oldest sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, served as a federal appeals court judge. She was nominated for the post by President Bill Clinton in 1999 and unanimously confirmed by the Senate. Prior to that, she had a seat on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.”

Bild Online summed it up this way: “The whole world laughs at Trump’s speech.” At the same time, Trump seems to be serious. Time will tell what this may mean for America, the political landscape and its standing in the world.

Gun Violence in the USA

The Huffington Post wrote on June 12:

 “More than two-thirds of all homicides in the United States are gun-related. Of the 16,121 homicides reported in 2013, 11,208 were caused by gun violence. Including suicides, nearly 34,000 people died in gun-related incidents in 2013…

“Suicide is the leading cause of gun-related deaths across the country in recent years. Of the 33,636 firearm deaths in 2013, more than 21,000 were suicides. In fact, suicide accounted for more than half of gun-related deaths in all but one state with the most gun violence. In three states — Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming — suicide accounted for more than 80% of all firearm deaths.

“… states with the highest rates of suicide often have the strongest culture of gun ownership in the country… While federal gun laws are uniform across the country, state regulations vary, offering more lax or more strict approaches to firearm use. Seven of the 10 states with the most firearm deaths in 2013 have enacted stand your ground laws… many states with these laws likely also have laws that make it easier to possess firearms and buy ammunition.

“In fact, none of the states with the most gun violence require permits to purchase rifles, shotguns, or handguns. Gun owners are also not required to register their weapons in any of these states. Meanwhile, many of the states with the least gun violence require a permit or other form of identification to buy a gun.

“Gun-related homicides were also relatively frequent in the states with the most gun violence. Nationally, there were 3.61 homicides per 100,000 people. Seven of the 10 states with the most gun violence reported homicide rates higher than the national rate… In 2013, Louisiana reported nearly 10 homicides per 100,000 residents, the highest rate in the country…

“The poverty rate in eight of the 10 states with the most gun violence was above the national rate of 15.8%. Mississippi, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Arkansas, the states with the four highest poverty rates in the country, were among the states with the most gun violence. Educational attainment rates also tended to be lower in states with the most gun violence. The share of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree was lower than the national rate of 29.6% in all 10 states on this list.”

A tragic testimony regarding a country which still believes the lie that guns and wars can produce peace and happiness. Only Christ’s return will bring a fundamental change of heart, the abolishment of guns, war and poverty, and the establishment of true education for all.

New US Supreme Court Decision on Abortion Highly Troublesome

The Associated Press reported on June 15:

“The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from North Carolina to revive a requirement that abortion providers show and describe an ultrasound to a pregnant woman before she has an abortion. The justices left in place an appeals court decision that said the 2011 North Carolina law was ‘ideological in intent’ and violated doctors’ free-speech rights. The North Carolina law would have required abortion providers to display and describe the ultrasound even if the woman refused to look and listen — a mandate that the court found particularly troublesome.

“North Carolina is among 23 states, mostly in the South and the Midwest, which passed laws dealing with the administration of ultrasounds by abortion providers, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research institute that supports abortion-rights…

“Tami Fitzgerald, the executive director of the NC Values Coalition and a supporter of increased restrictions on abortion, said it made no sense to her that federal judges would block a woman’s access to what she described as life-saving information. ‘In any other medical procedure, doctors would have a duty to disclose all of the relevant information, and, yet, a procedure as destructive and life-changing as abortion is held to a lower standard,’ Fitzgerald said.”

In addition, the court’s finding that the law violated the doctors’ right of free speech does not make any sense at all, in the context.

Gay “PRIDE” Parade in Tel Aviv

 The Times of Israel wrote on June 12:

“Some 180,000 people marched through Tel Aviv’s streets Friday in the city’s 17th annual Gay Pride Parade, the nation’s largest and oldest gay pride event… The event has become one of Tel Aviv’s most popular annual festivals. Streets and stores have been decorated with rainbow flags for days. Thousands of Israelis flocked to the city center to observe the parade, filling cafes and restaurants along the route to capacity.

“‘Welcome to all our guests from abroad to the gay-friendliest city in the world,’ Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai declared at the event’s launch Friday morning. ‘We’ve been through a lot,’ he added. ‘In 17 years, we’ve achieved a different reality in this city, and also in Israel. I want to tell all the politicians, there is still a great deal of legislation that has to be passed to accept the gay community. We will continue to walk this path, and to support the pride parade.’

“The theme of this year’s parade was focused on transgender rights. Events like the parade are key to advancing recognition for the transgendered, Tel Aviv activist Elisha Alexander said earlier this week… This year’s celebration featured Eurovision song contest winner and LGBT rights representative Conchita Wurst, who was to perform at Charles Clore Park after the march.”

Eurovision song contest winner Wurst, appearing as a lady with a full beard, represents the wide-spread recognition and acceptance of the LGBT community with its aggressive agenda. That Tel Aviv is labeled as the “gay-friendliest city in the world” is remarkable.

God says to ancient and modern “Jerusalem” and “Judah”: “… they declare their sin as Sodom; They do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves” (Isaiah 3:9).  He also says: “Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom; She and her daughter had pride , fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and the needy, And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit” (Ezekiel 16:49-40).

This warning should ring loud and clear in the ears of those who proclaim different standards.

Same-Sex Marriages in Latin America

 The New York Times wrote on June 14:

“In ruling after ruling, [Mexico’s Supreme Court] has said that state laws restricting marriage to heterosexuals are discriminatory. Though the decisions have been made to little public fanfare, they have had the effect of legalizing gay marriage in Mexico without enshrining it in law… the Mexican court’s rulings have added the country to a slowly growing list of Latin American nations permitting same-sex unions.

“Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil already allow same-sex marriage. Chile plans to recognize same-sex civil unions this year; Ecuador approved civil unions in April; and Colombia grants same-sex couples many of the same rights extended to heterosexual married couples…

“The shift in Mexico, the second largest country in Latin America after Brazil, is the product of a legal strategy that advocates used to bypass state legislatures, which have shown little inclination, and often hostility, to legalizing gay marriage. In 2009, Mexico City, a large liberal island in this socially conservative country, legalized gay marriage — a first in Latin America. There have been 5,297 same-sex weddings there since then, some of them couples coming to the city from other states… The Supreme Court upheld Mexico City’s law in 2010, adding that other states had to recognize marriages performed there…

“[The Supreme Court’s ruling] allows gay couples who are denied marriage rights in their states to seek injunctions from district judges, who are now obligated to grant them… The Roman Catholic Church, often an influential force socially and politically in a country that is 83 percent Catholic, objected to the ruling, saying the court had flouted two millenniums of convention…”

The Catholic Church’s sincerity is of course being questioned even by many professing and practicing Catholics, since homosexual pedophiles are active within the priesthood and are being shielded from prosecution by the Church hierarchy, even though a few priests allegedly guilty of active misconduct and their superiors who chose to stay silent were urged to resign by the Vatican. One former archbishop will even be tried by the Vatican State for pedophilia… a case of first impression (see article below).

Debate Continues in Germany

The Local wrote on June 12:

“Germany’s upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, voted on Friday in favour of a resolution calling for full marriage and adoption rights for same-sex couples. The debate followed a referendum in Ireland in which the population voted massively in favour of allowing same-sex marriage… Although the Bundesrat did not vote for a draft law, the move increases pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel to confront more conservative voices in her own Christian Democratic Union (CDU) – and the more strongly religious Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU).

“Currently, homosexual couples can enter a civil partnership (‘Eingetragene Lebenspartnerschaft’, registered life partnership) in Germany and enjoy most of the same rights as married couples following a series of test cases in the Supreme Court. But there remains stiff opposition in the Bundestag, the lower and more powerful house of parliament.

“The Bundesrat, composed of representatives from the largely left-wing state governments, is easy to bring on side. But the CDU-CSU dominates the Bundestag, and is mostly against ‘marriage for all’. Pro-gay marriage Social Democratic Party (SPD) MPs would also be forced to vote against any bill that came up for debate under their coalition agreement with the CDU-CSU…

“Rheinland-Pfalz minister-president Malu Dreyer and member of the Bundesrat said after the vote ‘nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.’”

Breitbart added on June 13:

“… campaigners [in Germany] say this is not enough and ordinary marriage should be redefined to cover same-sex couples… While the mainland United Kingdom, Ireland, France, and others have redefined marriage in recent years, Germany sits alongside Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and others who have split same sex unions off into a separate idea of a civil procedure. Well behind with Europe’s progressive agenda are nations like Poland and the rump Ukraine, who do not recognise gay marriage at all.”

Will Germany follow suit and recognize same-sex marriages, or will the country stand strongly in opposition? It is to be expected that the German government, in true political fashion, will end up agreeing with those who seem to have the strongest support.

Portland “Pride” Parade 2015

This week, Oregon Live reported the following:

“Pride Northwest chose recently appointed Gov. Kate Brown as grand marshal of the 2015 Pride Parade, a fitting honor for the nation’s first openly bisexual state leader. It won’t be Brown’s first time in the parade, and she wasn’t invited just because of her LGBTQ identification. Pride Northwest President Debra Porta said organizers have always invited Oregon governors to the parade, but Brown will be the first to participate…

“This year’s parade is expected to be the biggest ever in Portland, she added, shattering the attendance records set in previous years. The two-day Pride Festival will bring vendors, live music and representatives from local organizations to the waterfront…”

Is this a “ fitting honor” for the nation’s first openly bisexual state leader to participate as grand marshal? Fitting? Yes! An honor? That is the question.

Vatican to Try Former Archbishop over Child Abuse Charges

Deutsche Welle reported on June 15:

“Former archbishop Jozef Wesolowski is to stand trial on accusations of paying for sex with minors and possessing child pornography. The case is the first of its kind in the Vatican… The former priest [is] the first person to be tried after Pope Francis introduced anti-paedophilia laws in the Vatican penal code in July 2013.

“The 66-year-old former Polish archbishop was the Vatican ambassador… in the Dominican Republic for five years until 2013, when local media accused him of pedophilia. Wesolowski allegedly dressed in casual clothes, including a baseball cap and visited a beach area where he picked up poor child prostitutes. The former clergyman was then recalled from his position as the Vatican’s ambassador in 2013 and defrocked by a Vatican tribunal. He was convicted last year. The pope then ordered a criminal investigation, following which police found material indicating child pornography on his computer. Officials at the Vatican said at the time that Wesolowski could face up to 12 years in jail.

“If convicted, he would most probably not spend time in the Vatican’s prisons, which consist of only a few rooms. There was a chance the accused would be sent to Italy, which, according to an agreement with the Vatican, houses the holy city’s prisoners. Wesolowski could also be sent to his native country Poland or extradited to the Dominican Republic, Vatican officials told journalists.

“The case is the first high-profile incident since the 2012 trial of Paolo Gabriele, a papal butler accused of stealing and leaking former Pope Benedict XVI’s private papers. Gabriele was later pardoned.

“The Vatican also announced the resignation of two senior US clerics on Monday. Archbishop John Clayton Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piche stepped down after they were accused of failing to act on repeated warnings that a priest in the archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minnesota was a danger to children…

“Abuse victims’ network SNAP welcomed the Vatican’s initiatives, but remained apprehensive about the future. ‘After centuries of abuse and cover up done in secrecy…evidently one pope has seen fit to oust one archbishop for complicity in clergy sex crimes….But it’s only a very tiny drop of reform in an enormous bucket of horror,’ SNAP’s Southern Minnesota chief Frank Meuer told the AFP news agency.”

Pope’s New Encyclical Leaked to the Public… Pope Speaks of Unprecedented Worldwide Destruction and Paints Apocalyptic Picture

The Independent wrote on June 15:

“The Pope warned that the world is heading for ‘unprecedented destruction’ unless mankind confronts climate change and reforms the way it treats the planet, as the most eagerly anticipated papal document in living memory was leaked.

“In a 192-page encyclical on global warming that looks set to define his tenure, the Pope paints an apocalyptic picture in which the world’s poorest are the biggest victims of a web of environmental, human, financial and ethical degradation that puts the entire planet at risk. In an extraordinarily frank document, the Pope lambasts rich countries for ‘looting’ the world and takes aim at bankers and climate sceptics for accelerating its decline. He warns that the world is facing widespread crop failure, economic ruin, mass migration and the destruction of entire eco-systems. ‘If the current trend continues this century we could witness climate change unlike anything seen before and the unprecedented destruction of eco-systems, with serious consequences for all of us,’ he writes.

“Pope Francis has spent months working on the encyclical, the contents of which has been the subject of eager anticipation in the Vatican and environmental circles. It is the encyclical, or papal letter, aimed at everyone in the world, regardless of religion. Environmentalists hope his strident warnings will encourage right-wing climate sceptics – particularly US Christians – to rethink their position.

“The Vatican reacted with fury to the leak on Monday night, accusing the magazine responsible [of a] ‘heinous act’ that amounted to ‘sabotage against the pope’. [In the meantime, the final version of the encyclical was published, and no discrepancy between the leaked draft and the final version has been pointed out so far.] In the encyclical, titled  ‘Laudato Sii’, or ‘Praised Be’, the Pope quotes Patriarca Bartolomeo of the Eastern Orthodox Church as saying: ‘A crime against nature is a crime against ourselves and a sin against God’.

“And he is withering about the financial system… ‘The economic powers shall continue to justify the current world system, in which speculation and the aim for financial returns to prevail that tend to ignore each context and the effects on the environment and on human dignity. So clearly it reveals that environmental, human and ethical degradation are intimately connected,’ he wrote.

“Although the first ever encyclical on the environment concentrated heavily on the natural world, the pope repeatedly linked climate change with the plight of the poor. Pope Francis is also extremely concerned about the prospect of mass migration of animals, plants and humans as global warming means they cannot function in their traditional habitat.

“He calls for a new global political authority tasked with tackling the reduction of pollution and the development of poor countries and regions. Although he accepts that there may be some natural causes of global warming, the pope lays most of the blame for climate change squarely at the feet of mankind… The pope is very critical of anybody who stands in the way of tackling the problem of global warming – whether they are merely indifferent or actively sceptical. ‘The attitudes that stand in the way of a solution, even among believers, range from negation of the problem, to indifference, to convenient resignation or blind faith in technical solutions,’ he wrote.

“The letter to the world’s 1.2bn Catholics is aimed at influencing the debate ahead of crucial United Nations talks in Paris in December at which world leaders have pledged to agree [on] decisive action to curb global warming. The pope hopes that adding a moral dimension to the scientific arguments – together with the support of the huge number of Catholics around the world – will raise the ambition of world leaders to agree [on] a meaningful deal at the talks.

“The encyclical is likely to anger some sections of America, who are sceptical about the presence of climate change and mankind’s role in it…”

The New York Times wrote on June 15:

“Bishops around the world have been sent instructions on how to spread the pope’s message to the world’s more than one billion Catholics. Journalists accredited with the Vatican are supposed to receive official copies on Thursday morning so they can review the contents before the embargo is lifted at midday, after a news conference…

“In one section, Francis writes: ‘Numerous scientific studies indicate that most of the global warming of the past decades is due to the concentration of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxide and others), emitted especially because of human activities.’… In other chapters, Francis… pointedly disputes the idea that population control and contraception are solutions to the planet’s limited resources…

“He also calls for assertive government action, as well as better cooperation between governments, while saying progress has been too slow in addressing climate change… Massimo Faggioli, an associate professor of theology and the director of the Institute for Catholicism and Citizenship at the University of St. Thomas, a Catholic college in St. Paul, Minn., said Francis ‘has always been very consistent that there is a role for citizens, but there is also a role for government in solving problems, and even for global governance.’ He added: ‘This will be particularly difficult for American Catholics,’ referring to those Catholics who believe that the church teaches against relying on governments to solve social problems.”

The Guardian added on June 16:

“Francis… called for a new global political authority tasked with ‘tackling … the reduction of pollution and the development of poor countries and regions’. His appeal echoed that of his predecessor, pope Benedict XVI, who in a 2009 encyclical proposed a kind of super-UN to deal with the world’s economic problems and injustices.

“At the start of the draft essay, the pope wrote, the Earth ‘is protesting for the wrong that we are doing to her…’ He immediately makes clear, moreover, that unlike previous encyclicals, this one is directed to everyone, regardless of religion…

“Francis is likely to want to influence Republicans in Washington with his remarks. Most Republicans on Capitol Hill deny climate change is a man-made phenomenon and have staunchly opposed regulatory efforts by the Obama administration. The encyclical will make for awkward reading among some Catholic Republicans… While many Republicans have praised the pope, it will not be unprecedented for them to make a public break with the pontiff on the issue of global warming.”

The Huffington Post wrote on June 17:

“GOP presidential hopeful Jeb Bush criticized Pope Francis on Tuesday after a draft of his encyclical on climate change was leaked by an Italian newspaper… ‘I hope I’m not going to get castigated for saying this by my priest back home, but I don’t get economic policy from my bishops or my cardinals or my pope,’ Bush said…

“Other Republicans came out against the pope after he first spoke on climate change in January… Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) told a radio station earlier this month the church shouldn’t weigh in on scientific matters. ‘The church has gotten it wrong a few times on science, and I think we probably are better off leaving science to the scientists…’, he said.

“… several Republican presidential hopefuls have question[ed] climate change and its origin. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has said ‘humans are not responsible for climate change in the way some of these people out there are trying to make us believe.’ Business mogul Donald Trump has called global warming a ‘hoax.’ Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has compared climate change activists to ‘flat-Earthers.’”

The Catholic Church has always cooperated with worldly governments and it has many times—far more often than not—influenced them to do its bidding. This collaboration has brought much more harm than good, and the Pope’s proposed human “global governance” is a very dangerous affair, no matter what the circumstances, “justifications” or intentions might be. Please note also the Church’s unchanged unbiblical stance on population control and contraception.

Mexico—a Country Infested with Demons?

 CNA wrote on June 16:

“Can a country with deep Christian roots like Mexico find itself at the mercy of demons? Some in the [Catholic] Church fear so. And as a result, they called for a nation-wide exorcism of Mexico, carried out quietly last month in the cathedral of San Luis Potosí. High levels of violence, as well as drug cartels and abortion in the country, were the motivation behind the special rite of exorcism… the first ever in the history of Mexico.

“But how can an entire country become infested by demons…?  ‘To the extent sin increases more and more in a country, to that extent it becomes easier for the demons to tempt (people),’ Fr. Fortea told CNA. The Spanish exorcist warned that ‘to the extent there is more witchcraft and Satanism going on in a country, to that extent there will be more extraordinary manifestations of those powers of darkness.’”

In our previous Q&A, we pointed out that babies are conceived and born with human nature. We referred to David’s saying in Psalm 51:5: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” We explained that this was not a reference to any illicit acts of David in his mother’s womb, nor of his mother and his father; rather, that David described here HIS human nature with which he was conceived and born.

We also stated, however, that this must not be “confused with the WRONG concept of the ‘original sin,’ which holds that Adam and Eve’s sin was ‘imputed’ to all of mankind, and that because of the sin of Adam and Eve, everybody is guilty. This negates personal and individual responsibility and accountability. But it IS true that due to Adam and Eve’s sin, access to the Tree of Life and God’s Holy Spirit was disallowed, leading to the kind of world under Satan’s influence which we experience today (Romans 5:12)—a world cut off from God and being held captive by Satan. The point is that even an unborn baby has human NATURE, which would have led to sinful CONDUCT following birth (compare Job 13:26; 14:1-4; 25:4; Psalm 25:7).”

Before we address in more detail the difference between human nature and original sin, let us further explain the concept of human nature.

We stated in the above-mentioned Q&A:

“We need to understand that we do not only have to repent of what we DO, but also, of what we ARE. The Bible shows us that apart from God’s Spirit within us, NOTHING good dwells within us (Romans 7:18)… all are born with HUMAN NATURE or, as the Bible puts it, with SINFUL FLESH. Christ never sinned, but He came into sinful flesh (Romans 8:3). He had human nature passed on to Him through His mother Mary, and He needed God’s help to overcome sin in the flesh. He had the fullness of God’s Spirit within Him without measure, and that from conception (John 3:34, Authorized Version), which enabled Him to stay sinless.

“… Even though an unborn baby who dies prematurely in his or her mother’s womb or who is aborted, does not commit sinful ACTS, they are still human beings with human nature, which CANNOT be subject to God’s law (Romans 8:7)…  Adam and Eve… refused to eat from the Tree of Life which would have granted them the gift of God’s Holy Spirit. God did not create Adam and Eve with wicked hearts and rebellious minds; however, He did not create them with a divine nature either, but with human nature, susceptible to the temptations of Satan the Devil. Since they were free moral agents, they could choose, and they chose to follow Satan—falling for his temptation—and to disobey God. Mankind has been following Satan ever since, but many times, man follows Satan without realizing it.

“Satan has control over the whole world. He rules over this world… and he does so often by sending feelings, impulses and emotions, which are contrary to godly love and promote instead unrealized selfish ambitions. We might call this human nature… but in reality, it is SATAN’S NATURE which he instills into human beings. And in that sense, Satan has tempted everyone, to one degree or another… We read in Ephesians 2:1-3 that we all were once targets of Satan, the ‘prince of the power of the air,’ ‘fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were BY NATURE children of wrath.'”

Christ was not in any way guilty or sinful because of an “original sin” which had been passed on genetically to Him when He was conceived in Mary’s womb, but Christ was conceived with human nature. As mentioned, Romans 8:3 tells us that Christ came “in the likeness of sinful flesh” to overcome and condemn sin in the flesh.

David recognized that he was conceived and born with human nature. His statement in Psalm 51:5 (quoted above) does not refer to his parents (even though it is true, of course, that his parents had human nature as well), but David was referring to himself. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown agrees, stating: “In sin did my mother conceive me… not referring to the sin of his mother, but of himself…”

The old Luther Bible translates Psalm 51:5 [Psalm 51:7 in the German Bible] as follows: “Look, I am born in [or as] a sinful nature [or being]” (“in suendlichem Wesen”), pointing at the sinful nature of human beings.

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible explains that David’s statement (“I was brought forth in iniquity”) describes himself, not his mother and his father, stating, “This cannot be understood of any personal iniquity of his immediate parents; since this respects his wonderful formation in the womb, in which both he and they were wholly passive, as the word here used is of that form; and is the amazing work of God himself, so much admired by the psalmist… the sense is, that as soon as ever the mass of human nature was shaped and quickened… , sin was in him, and he was in sin, or became a sinful creature…”

Gill went on to explain that David’s second thought (“And in sin my mother conceived me”) does not refer to a sinful action of his mother or his father, either:

“… Nor does the sin in which he was conceived intend any sin of his parents, in begetting and conceiving him, being in lawful wedlock; which acts cannot be sinful, since the propagation of the human species by natural generation is a principle of nature implanted by God himself… Marriage is the institution of God in paradise; and in all ages has been accounted ‘honourable in all, when the bed is undefiled’, Hebrews 13:4.

“Nor does it design his being conceived when his mother was in ‘profluviis’, of which there is no proof, and is a mere imagination, and can answer no purpose; much less that he was conceived in adultery, as the contenders for the purity of human nature broadly intimate; which shows how much they are convicted by this text, to give into such an interpretation of it, at the expense of the character of an innocent person, of whom there is not the least suggestion of this kind in the Holy Scriptures; but on the contrary, she is represented as a religious woman, and David valued himself upon his relation to her as such, Psalm 86:16.

“Besides, had this been the case, as David would have been a bastard, he would not have been suffered to enter into the congregation of the Lord, according to the law in Deuteronomy 23:2; whereas he often did with great delight, Psalm 42:4. Moreover, it is beside his scope and design to expose the sins of others, much less his own parents, while he is confessing and lamenting his own iniquities…  Nor is the sin he speaks of any actual sin of his own, and therefore he does not call it, as before, ‘my’ iniquity and ‘my’ sin… it being common to him with all mankind. Hence we learn the earliness of the corruption of nature…”

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible agrees, stating:

“Of course, the idea here is not to cast reflections on the character of his mother, or to refer to her feelings in regard to his conception and birth, but the design is to express his deep sense of his own depravity…”

At the same time, the commentary points out that David is in no way expressing the concept of “original sin,” stating:

“There is no statement that the sin of another was ‘imputed’ to him; or that he was ‘responsible’ for the sin of Adam; or that he was guilty ‘on account of’ Adam’s sin, for on these points the psalmist makes no assertion. It is worthy of remark, further, that the psalmist did not endeavor to ‘excuse’ his guilt on the ground that he was ‘born’ in iniquity; nor did he allude to that fact with any purpose of ‘exculpating’ himself. The fact that he was thus born only deepened his sense of his own guilt… The points, therefore, which are established by this expression of the psalmist… are

“(1) that people are born with a propensity to sin; and

“(2) that this fact does not excuse us in sin, but rather tends to aggravate and deepen our guilt.

“And in sin did my mother conceive me – … This language simply traces his sin back to the time when he began to exist… The idea is… ‘as soon as I began to exist… I had then a propensity to sin – a propensity, the sad proof and result of which is that enormous act of guilt which I have committed [i.e., his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah].'”

But being conceived or born with human nature is not the same as being condemned to death because of Adam and Eve’s “original sin” which was allegedly transferred to all of mankind.

In a Q&A on “original sin,” we stated the following:

“Simply put, the concept of the original sin holds that we all ‘inherited’ guilt or transgression from Adam and Eve who ‘originally’ sinned. According to that concept, we inherited eternal death–which is the penalty for sin (compare Romans 6:23)–even though we ourselves did nothing to deserve this penalty. In other words, Adam and Eve’s original sin was somehow arbitrarily transmitted to all, down to the last baby born before Christ returns…

“Romans 5:12, 19 is used as the proof verse of original sin. It reads, ‘… through one man sin entered in the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men… by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners…’ However, this passage does not tell us that we are guilty of eternal death, just because of Adam’s sin, and without any personal responsibility. Rather, an important part of the Scripture was left out in the above quote. Romans 5:12 reads, in its entirety: ‘Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death [the penalty for sin] spread to all men, BECAUSE ALL SINNED…’

“This passage… says that all have sinned, individually. Romans 5:14 says that ‘death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the LIKENESS of the transgression of Adam.’ But, they DID sin. Verse 13 says that sin is not imputed when there is no law. Since death reigned from Adam to Moses, and beyond, there WAS a law, and sin WAS imputed. Sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4, Authorized Version), and the penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23)…”

But does this not contradict God’s statements in numerous places that He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation (compare Exodus 20:5; 34:6-7; Deuteronomy 5:8-10; Numbers 14:18)? We addressed this question in a previous Q&A, stating this:

“Exodus 20:5 speaks of those ‘who hate [God].’ Soncino points out that the phrase, ‘of those that hate Me,’ applies to the children, i.e. God will punish the children if they [the children] hate Him. Soncino comments, too, that the punishment will be brought upon the children, ‘when they retain the evil deeds of their fathers.’…

“… parents must consider the consequences of their actions – not just for their own sakes, but also for the sakes of their children, grandchildren, and future generations (A wrong lifestyle might very well affect the parents’ offspring – even in physical ways). For instance, as long as even one parent is in the Church, his or her children are sanctified (1 Corinthians 7:14), that is, they can and do have access to God. If both parents leave the Church, their children’s access to God is no longer guaranteed and may in time totally disappear. We note that because of Lot’s righteous conduct, God saved his daughters, while David’s adultery caused the death of his child (2 Samuel 12:13-14, 19-23). It should be pointed out here, however, that God did not consider David’s child to be guilty in any way and worthy of punishment. God punished David. The innocent child will be brought back to life by God at a time of peace and happiness, when prejudice and the hatred towards illegitimate children (compare Judges 11:1-2), who did nothing to deserve their fate, will be a thing of the past.

“When Adam and Eve sinned, the penalty imposed on them affected all mankind. Through their sin, they cut themselves – and man – off from God. Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2), and since all have sinned, all have incurred the death penalty for sin (Romans 5:14). One might say that the sin of Adam and Eve affected, at the very least, the third and fourth generation, but since Cain sinned, his sin affected the next four generations, and so on. The effect of sin is cumulative. Finally, sin had become so all-encompassing that God decided to destroy the entire world in a flood…”

The point is that the sins of our parents are not imputed to us, but we are responsible for our own conduct.

Deuteronomy 24:16 states that children are not to be put to death for the sins of their fathers. The same is expressed in 2 Kings 14:6 and 2 Chronicles 25:4. Also, Ezekiel 18:4, 17, 19-20 tells us, “(4) Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son are Mine; The soul who sins shall die… (17) [The righteous son] shall not die for the iniquity of his father; He shall surely live… (19) Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the guilt of his father?’ Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. (20) The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son.'” (Compare, too, Exodus 32:31-33, as well as Jeremiah 31:29-30).

Passages such as Matthew 23:29-36; Luke 11:44-51; or Acts 7:51-52 do not teach something different. Even though all these passages speak about the sins of the fathers or previous generations, it is also emphasized that the sons or descendants committed the same sins themselves, following their forefathers’ bad example. The sins of the fathers were not imputed to the sons; rather, we read: “… as your fathers did, so do you” (Acts 7:51). At first glance, it might appear that the terrible sins of the fathers might be “imputed” to their descendants who were alive at Jesus time, because Jesus said: “… you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets” (Matthew 23:31). But the very next verse negates this, because Jesus goes on to say: “FILL UP, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt.” And even though He says in Luke 11:50-51 that the blood of the prophets “shall be required of this generation,” He condemns that very generation for their terrible deeds and actions, showing that they were sinful themselves, having followed the unrighteous deeds of their ancestors.

The opposite does not follow from Lamentations 5:7, which reads: “Our fathers sinned and are no more, But we bear their iniquities.” The entire book of Lamentations shows the recognition of personal sin (Lamentations 1:5, 18; 3:39-42). So, people bear the iniquity of their fathers because they have engaged in the same kind of conduct and thinking… not because the sins of their fathers were “imputed” to them.

A baby in his or her mother’s womb is not guilty because of “original sin,” nor has he or she committed any sinful acts in the mother’s womb. When Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb, He was not guilty because of any “original sin,” nor did He commit any sinful act in the womb of His mother. But as a human being conceived with human nature, a baby has the propensity of and proclivity for sin, and it would have sinned following birth. (The only exception was the Man Jesus Christ—even though He, too, was conceived with human nature, God the Father’s Holy Spirit dwelt within Him from inception without measure, enabling Him to overcome sin in the flesh—including His own human nature—so that He NEVER sinned.)

In the Great White Throne Judgment period, resurrected human beings (including those who died through abortion or miscarriage) will be given their opportunity to recognize and overcome their human nature, so that they can acquire a divine nature and ultimately be born into the Kingdom of God as immortal God beings.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

“What Is the Mark of the Beast?” is the second of three new sermons dealing with “Prophecy – How to Understand It”—to be presented by Norbert Link on June 20, 2015. This will be followed by the final presentation on June 27. In addition, we are promoting this series through press releases, Facebook and our own webpage, www.eternalgod.org.

“Controversial Political Involvement of the Catholic Church,” is a new StandingWatch program presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

Pope Francis and the Vatican exert tremendous influence on the world’s political scene–the most recent leaked encyclical is just one more example. Is the Catholic Church’s involvement in politics a good thing? Many don’t realize that the Vatican is a state, patterned after the governments of this world. But it is not just a religious institution, but also a mighty political force. The Bible shows where it will all lead. We are offering our free booklet, “The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation!”

“Sind Babies Schuldig wegen der Erbsünde?” is the new German sermon for this coming Sabbath. The title in English would be: “Are Babies Guilty because of Original Sin?”

“Change,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Mike Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The world is experiencing a lot of change: change in the environment, in the way we live, and with society. Trust in God and faith in His laws are not a factor anymore as attempts to make this world we live in are becoming “more acceptable” in the eyes of man. God makes it clear what He prohibits and how we can be saved, before it’s too late.

“666–The Number of the Beast,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

In this first installment of our three-part series on biblical prophecy, we are discussing the famous number of the beast’s name, which is mentioned in Revelation 13. Many have tried unsuccessfully to identify the beast and to calculate its number. But who or what is the beast, and why is it described with seven heads and ten horns? Is the beast a kingdom, a human leader, or both? Is its number 666 or 616? Will the end-time beast receive a deadly wound, which will be healed? Could the beast be a woman? Is the beast the Antichrist?

by Ben Agbayani

Many of my friends and acquaintances know that my wife and I were at one time part of a Pentecostal movement. After we left that organization, my wife and I have been continuously comparing the differences between the true Church of God and the Pentecostal movement. I’d like to share here one particular experience.

When I got sick, I continuously sought God’s help, wherever I thought possible. One of the teachings in the Pentecostal church is the so-called “Holy Laughter,” which is allegedly manifested by the Holy Spirit. Some friends and I attended a church service one afternoon, and we moved to the very middle and up front. As I gazed to my left and to my right, I saw two pastors praying for the people, and as soon as they touched the foreheads after the prayer, people fell down and started laughing. I thought to myself that this might be a very interesting experience for me.

When it was my time for the prayer, I was waiting for that moment of the so-called “slain in the spirit” experience, thinking that beginning to laugh would perhaps cure me in the process. I did not fall and there was NO laughter. The pastors took time to do everything to bring it about, but to no avail. I even felt that one pastor pushed my forehead several times, hoping for me to fall. But I didn’t fall. This got me thinking. Was my faith strong enough? Was it that my intentions were not in line with God’s plan for me? I started to doubt myself. In short, I kept the event to myself, hoping to get an answer one day.

For a period of time I studied and looked for references in the Bible about the phenomena, but I could not find any passage that supports “Holy Laughter.” Years later, my wife and I became members of the Church of God. Yes, I have evaluated what had happened. I was not able to recognize that at the time, we were witnessing a direct demonic possession of the people, and we understand now that the spirit that came to them did not come from God. It was very dangerous. God had prevented me from experiencing such demonic influence.

Being a member of God’s Church, we attended our first Feast of Tabernacles in Vail, Colorado, and it was the most memorable experience my wife and I have had. My first night and day was very difficult, because the altitude affected my spine very badly. I asked for anointing with the laying on of hands by the Church elders. I started feeling relief from that agonizing pressure, due to the altitude. God allowed me to enjoy the Feast and extended the care until we were back home. It was the best time of our lives.

I had to reflect on the fact that a person will never know that he has been deceived until God opens his understanding for the truth. Knowing what I know now, I feel very sorry for those who left the faith and joined instead a Pentecostal movement

On June 13, 2015, Mike Link will present the sermonette, titled, “Change,” and Norbert Link will present the sermon, titled, “666–The Number of the Beast.”

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.

Recently there have been several references to compromise in the messages we have been receiving, and today I’d like to look at why it is so important not to compromise on God’s Word. Once we compromise, we open the floodgates to changes, which can lead to the destruction of the entire Church and also the individual.

Through the leadership of Evangelist Norbert Link, we are determined not to compromise with God’s Word, regardless of the consequences, even if this means low growth, threats or other “setbacks.” One of the key reasons is a matter of trust, as stated by Christ in Luke 16:10:  “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.”

If we as a Church can be faithful in that which is little in comparison–the unfettered preaching of the gospel to the world without compromise or apology–then we can be entrusted with the much bigger task of ruling the world under and with Christ, as revealed in Revelation 5:10: “ And [You] have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”

Rulers and priests (teachers) under Christ will not be intimidated or shy, and they will not compromise in getting the truth out to the world.

This is somewhat of a proving ground for us now. Can we do it as we are commanded, do it faithfully and allow God to open the doors for us, and not to get hung up on looking for huge numbers in the Church nor for a host of other distractions? Bear in mind what God was able to do with Gideon’s small group, after He had reduced the number from 30,000 to 300, to prove the point that God can do wonders with a small dedicated uncompromising  faithful group who are seeking to do His will regardless of the consequences, until the end of their lives or the return of Christ? If they do, then they will inherit salvation and receive the crown of life.

Matthew 10:22 says:  “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

2 Timothy 4:8 adds: “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.”

Paul never let the trials he had to go through blur the reward that was before him. His trials are outlined in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28:

“Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.”

Paul never allowed the trials to hinder his God-given task. I wonder if we would remain that faithful if we were to face even a fraction of what he had to go through.  Paul was aware of the promise from Christ not to ever be forsaken, which must have given him the strength and courage to endure his trials.

Hebrews 13:5 tells all of us: “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.’”

We can draw strength from this promise from Christ, giving us the determination to move forward with the task at hand in an uncompromising way, which will guarantee us a position in the Kingdom of God.

In this issue, we are reporting on anti-Semitism in Germany; the explosive situation in Ukraine; the enduring Russian-Italian friendship and Europe’s unwillingness to defend NATO member states against Russian aggression; the Pope’s visit to Bosnia and his warnings of World War III; the concern of a coming war between Shiites and Sunnis in the Middle East which might have worldwide consequences; and the real danger of ISIS’s ability to build devastating dirty bombs.

 We continue with the surprising election result in Turkey; Europe’s ongoing attempts to rescue Greece; David Cameron’s fight with his conservative party members over Britain’s exodus from the EU; and a challenging assertion that it is not in the British character to speak the truth about “serious stuff,” including abortion, and that Britain’s religious leaders are spineless.

We address Pope Francis’ strong statements against same-sex marriages and the “demonic gender ideology,” as well as the ongoing attempts of left-liberals in the USA to promote their transgender agenda, even in children’s books; the divided picture of the American Republican Party towards transgender people; and Donald Trump’s harsh criticism of his Republican colleagues and Democratic politicians and governmental officials; including his usual announcement (to become official on June 16) that he might run for President.

We conclude with an article suggesting that the Obama Administration will continue with the NSA spying program even though it expired and was rejected by Congress and a federal court; and the arrival of deadly mosquitoes in central Europe.

Enduring Anti-Americanism in Germany

The Associated Press wrote on May 7:

“President Barack Obama is aiming to show unity with Western allies on global challenges during an overnight trip to Germany, especially Chancellor Angela Merkel amid enduring anti-Americanism in her country over U.S. spying programs…

“The spying controversy has grown in recent weeks amid reports that Germany’s own Federal Intelligence Agency, better known by its German acronym BND, may have helped the U.S. spy on European companies and officials as long ago as 2008… ‘While we tend to view a lot of the impact of the NSA revelations in Europe as subsided, they have not subsided in Germany,’ said Heather Conley, director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. ‘This issue is being used in multiple ways to increase, I think, anti-Americanism in Germany and to weaken the chancellor.’…

“Obama said there ‘was no doubt’ the spying revelations damaged impressions of the United States in Germany and that he’s been trying to restore confidence… Julianne Smith, a former Obama White House official who is a senior fellow at the Center for New American Security, said part of the disillusionment in Germany and Europe more broadly comes from their sky-high expectations of Obama when he came to office…”

Ukraine About to Explode

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 7:

“The situation in Ukraine is about to escalate once again… In recent weeks, we were tempted to think, to some extent, that the situation in eastern Ukraine was about to calm down… Now, the period of treacherous calm is over.

“Using mortars and tanks, Russia-backed combatants of the so-called ‘people’s republics’ launched a massive military attack  from Donetsk along a major road stretching to the west. This onslaught could pave the way for a new large-scale attack, which people in the region have been fearing for a long time.

“As yet, no one has come forward to declare that the Minsk agreement, negotiated four months ago in the Belarusian capital, has failed. Instead, there is talk of a ‘setback’ and a ‘violation of the agreement.’ European politicians are voicing their concern and warning of a new spiral of violence. They have made a habit of that since the beginning of the conflict – always, it seems, simultaneously viewing the situation through rose-tinted glasses. Can the Minsk agreement work at all? Is a peace plan realistic if just one of the parties involved shows no commitment at all with respect to the objectives agreed upon?…

“To this day, Russia has denied involvement in the war. In fact, however, there was a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Soldiers from Russia were captured there; many have even died in Ukraine. The issue is controversial to such an extent that, a short while ago, a new law was passed in Russia according to which any reporting on the circumstances leading to the death of an army member is forbidden: a measure adopted to ensure secrecy, as if Russia were involved in a war.

“There are a number of indications that a large-scale attack is being prepared in Ukraine. In that case, the Minsk agreement would definitely be history… There is no indication that Russia – or the separatists – has renounced the path of war…”

Italy’s Ties and “Friendship” With Russia

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 10:

“Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi… spoke of ‘traditional Italian-Russian friendship’ while meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, at the beginning of [the] Kremlin chief’s diplomatic visit to Italy and the Vatican… The Italian prime minister, however, showed no intention of breaking ranks with other Western powers, only days after G7 countries [excluded Putin from their meeting and] reaffirmed sanctions against Moscow at a summit in Germany.

“Despite the G7 snub, the Kremlin still enjoys better relations with Rome than with most EU countries; Italy is Russia’s third-biggest trading partner after China and Germany, with deals between the two countries topping 30 billion euros ($33.9 billion) last year… The EU is due to decide in two weeks whether economic sanctions over Russian annexation of Crimea will stay in place…

“After meeting Renzi, the Russian president is to meet Pope Francis… On Wednesday, The United States urged the Vatican to take a tougher stance on Russia… Putin is also expected to meet long-time Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi, who is a personal friend of the Russian president.”

Everybody is involved in politics and “self-serving” economic interests, which means, that nothing good will come out of these talks. And that Putin and Berlusconi are personal friends does not speak for either one of them.

NATO Unwilling to Defend Russia’s Neighbors Against Russian Aggression?

The Washington Post wrote on June 10:

“After more than a year of war in Ukraine, Western European citizens are extremely wary of using military force to defend NATO allies from Russia, according to a wide-ranging opinion poll released Wednesday. The findings highlight fears among Russia’s NATO neighbors that the Western defense alliance may not be ready if put to the test.

“Fewer than half of those surveyed in Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain supported using military force to defend NATO allies if Russia entered a serious military conflict with one of them… The results came at a time of the worst tensions between Russia and the West since the Cold War…

“The NATO charter requires that member nations defend one another if one comes under attack. But the former Eastern bloc countries that joined the alliance in 2004 have long feared that their partners may not come to their aid…

“The three Baltic countries — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — as well as Poland have increased their defense spending since the conflict started in Ukraine…

“[The] United States was the most open to backing its allies if one was attacked. Of the Americans questioned, 56 percent were in favor of using military force and 37 percent were against. Germany, which has taken the lead European role in negotiations with Russia, was the most skeptical of a military response, with 38 percent in favor and 58 percent opposed…”

The Local added on June 10:

“The survey also shows a significant drop in [German] enthusiasm for Nato. Whereas in 2009 73 percent of Germans said they had a favourable opinion of the military alliance, this number has dropped to 55 percent in 2015. In no other Nato country did the survey find such drop in trust in the alliance.

“Germans are also fairly split over whom they attribute blame to for the Ukraine crisis. 29 percent say that Russia is to blame while 25 percent say that the pro-Russian separatists are responsible. 12 percent meanwhile say that the west is responsible.

“A large majority of Germans are in favour of economic support to the Ukrainian government (71 percent) although far fewer support delivering weapons to Kiev (19 percent.) A majority of Germans also reject both Nato membership and EU membership for Ukraine… There were also significant differences in attitudes between east and west Germany in evidence. While 19 percent of west Germans have a positive opinion of Vladimir Putin this number rises to 40 percent for east Germans.”

The Pope in Bosnia… Speaks of World War III

AFP wrote on June 6

“Pope Francis on Saturday bemoaned the ‘atmosphere of war’ haunting the world as he urged the people of war-scarred Sarajevo to provide an example of how different cultures and religions can co-exist peacefully… Many conflicts across the planet amount to ‘a kind of third world war being fought piecemeal and, in the context of global communications, we sense an atmosphere of war,’ the pontiff said in a mass at the stadium during a one-day visit to the Bosnian capital… ‘But war means children, women and the elderly in refugee camps, it means forced displacement, destroyed houses, streets and factories: above all countless shattered lives…

“The pontiff had earlier referred to Sarajevo, with its synagogues, churches and mosques, as a ‘European Jerusalem’, a crossroads of cultures, nations and religions…In a reference to the legacy of the war, which left Sarajevo in ruins and Bosnia permanently divided along ethnic lines, he urged the country’s Muslim, Serb and Croat communities to reach out to each other at every level… Later, at a meeting with Catholic, Muslim, Jewish and Orthodox religious figures, he said Sarajevo could reclaim its former status as a beacon of multiculturalism…

“Despite a show of unity to welcome the pope, it was not hard to find reminders on Saturday of how fragile Bosnia’s unity is. It was noticeable that there were far more red and white Croatian flags being waved than Bosnia’s blue and yellow ones. The national anthem played for Francis on his arrival remains without words because the three communities have been unable to agree [on] a common text…

“The 1992-95 Bosnian war left nearly 100,000 people dead and resulted in half the population, some two million people, being forced to leave their homes, many of them never to return. More than a third of Bosnia’s pre-war ethnic Croat population have left the country which is now divided in two between a Bosnian Serb republic and a Croat-Muslim federation… Around 40 percent of the population of Bosnia is of Islamic heritage, just over 30 percent are from the Serbian Orthodox tradition and around one in 10, almost uniquely Croats, describe themselves as Catholics.”

This area, formerly known as Yugoslavia, has been a powder keg for many decades and even centuries, and it was here where World War I started.

 Coming – A Shiite-Sunni War?

McClatchy Newspapers wrote on June 10:

“The Middle East crisis that peaked one year ago Wednesday when the Islamic State captured Mosul may result in the breakup of Iraq and an indefinite continuation of a war in Syria that’s already out of control… Yet still worse things could happen. ‘The conditions are very much like 1914,’ says Michael Stephens of the Royal United Service Institute in London. ‘All it will take is one little spark, and Iran and Saudi Arabia will go at each other, believing they are fighting a defensive war.’  Hiwa Osman, an Iraqi Kurdish commentator, was even more blunt: ‘The whole region is braced for the big war, the war that has not yet happened, the Shiite-Sunni war.’

“U.S. and foreign experts say the U.S still has not developed a strategy for dealing with the Sunni extremists who now hold more territory [in] Iraq and Syria than one year ago… The experts criticize America’s detachment from the four wars now under way in the region. And they say the Obama administration is banking on Iran to stabilize the region, a very dubious course. ‘We really don’t have a strategy at all. We’re basically playing this day by day,’ Robert Gates, a former secretary of defense, told MSNBC last month.

“The one conflict where the U.S. has poured money, weapons and military advisers is Iraq, but the outlook after the Sunni city of Ramadi fell to the Sunni extremists is for a long, drawn-out conflict. John Allen, the former retired Marine Corps general who serves as U.S. envoy to the global coalition fighting the Islamic State… said an Iraqi civil war ‘is almost unavoidable’…

“Everyone agrees that the international system is very different from 1914, when the two competing European alliances went to war. But there are similarities. That was ‘a crisis nobody wanted to have. When it came, it would be over in a few months’ time. It would end all wars. Everybody knows what happened,’ said Thorbjorn Jagland, a Norwegian politician and secretary general of the Council of Europe, a human rights watchdog body. ‘I don’t want to call the leaders today sleepwalkers, but maybe they have entered into a situation that nobody intended or wanted,’ he said.

“‘There are too many actors and too many unknowns. Everyone seems to be stuck in his own way,’ said Altay Cengizer, director of policy planning at the Turkish Foreign Ministry. He warned of the dangers of a prolonged crisis. ‘We are playing with fire,’ he said. ‘You cannot all day long play with fire. A fire will start.’”

More Bad News—ISIS Ready to Develop a Devastating Dirty Bomb?

The Independent wrote on June 10:

“The Isis militant group has seized enough radioactive material from government facilities to suggest it has the capacity to build a large and devastating ‘dirty’ bomb…  According to the Australian foreign minister, Julie Bishop, Nato has expressed deep concerns about the materials seized by Isis from research centres and hospitals that would normally only be available to governments… The threat of Isis’s radioactive and biological weapons stockpile was so severe that the Australia Group, a 40-nation bloc dedicated to ending the use of chemical weapons, held a session on the subject at its summit in Perth last week… Ms Bishop spoke at the Australia Group meeting about fears Isis was weaponising poisonous gases such as chlorine…

“The growing concerns about Isis’s development of weapons of mass destruction come at a time when experts fear the militant group will be ‘more active than ever’ to mark the start of Ramadan and the one-year anniversary of its declaration of a ‘caliphate’. Isis said it was changing its name to ‘Islamic state’ following the first public address by its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Mosul on 29 June last year, and the US-based Institute for the Study of War has noted that the group usually reserves its major operations to coincide with the Islamic holy month.”

Turkish President Erdogan Suffers Major Setback

The Associated Press reported on June 7:

“In a stunning rebuke of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ambitions to expand his powers, Turkish voters stripped his party of its simple majority in parliament, preliminary election results showed Sunday. With 99.9 percent of the vote counted, Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party, the AKP, had the support of around 41% of voters… According to projections, that would give it some 258 seats — 18 below the minimum needed to keep its majority.

“The unexpected setback for AKP likely puts an end, for the time being, to Erdogan’s hopes of passing constitutional changes that would have greatly boosted the powers of his office. Instead, he faces struggles to retain his pre-eminent place in Turkish politics without the obvious levers to steer the government through his party in parliament.

“The result is also a bitter blow to Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, whose political prospects are uncertain after leading his party to such a disappointing result. AKP will now have to seek a coalition partner to stay in power, with the nationalist MHP the most likely candidate…

“The biggest setback for AKP came with the rise of the main pro-Kurdish party, HDP, which for the first time easily cleared the threshold of 10% for representation as a party in the parliament. The preliminary results put its tally at almost 13%…

“The vote came amid high tensions after bombings Friday during a HDP rally killed 2 people and wounded scores…”

AFP added on June 7:

“Turkey’s Islamic-rooted ruling party (AKP) lost its parliamentary majority in Sunday’s legislative elections… [This] means the AKP will need to form a coalition for the first time since coming to power in 2002…

“The result was a triumph for the HDP [a party dominated by ethnic Kurds], which in the campaign had sought to present itself as a genuinely Turkish party and reach out to voters beyond its main Kurdish support base to secular Turks, women and gays. It was also a personal victory for the party’s charismatic leader Selahattin Demirtas, dubbed the ‘Kurdish Obama’… He said there would be no coalition with the AKP and instead the HDP would make a ‘strong and honest opposition’.”

The Washington Post added on June 7:

“It was a remarkable achievement for a party [HDP] that was formed less than three years ago and has direct ties to the violent three-decade Kurdish separatist insurgency in Turkey’s southeast. The war between the militant Kurd­istan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and the Turkish state has claimed 40,000 lives since it first flared in the early 1980s… Among the HDP’s parliamentarians are relatives of jailed or slain leaders of the PKK, an organization still considered a terrorist group by Washington and An­kara. Demirtas, the HDP’s charismatic icon, is believed to have a brother among the guerrillas.

“For decades, Kurdish identity was suppressed by the Turkish state. Ironically, it was under Erdogan and the AKP that Kurds began to experience more cultural rights, including the freedom to speak and write in their own language.”

The EUObserver wrote on June 9:

“Turkey faced a near market crash on Monday (8 June) after ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) failed to win a majority in Sunday’s general election, raising fears about the country’s political stability… Markets reacted negatively to the [election’s] results that left president [Erdogan’s] AKP with no majority for the first time since 2002 and no obvious coalition partner… Prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who is due to meet Erdogan on Tuesday, will have forty-five days to form a government and new elections are not ruled out.

“The period could create instability for [a] Turkish economy that benefited much from Erdogan’s rule and AKP links with business… The political uncertainties could also weigh on relations with the EU, Turkey’s top import and export partner. In a statement Monday, EU chief diplomat Federica Mogherini and enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn said that ‘the coming period offers opportunities for further strengthening the EU-Turkey relationship’…”

The Battle for Greece

Reuters wrote on June 10:

“Greece and its international lenders moved closer to the brink on Wednesday… Athens said it was waiting for the creditors to respond to ideas it put forward on Monday. Euro zone officials said the proposals were inadequate to plug holes in the Greek budget and also dodged key reforms to make the economy more competitive…

“Athens is likely to default on a 1.6 billion euro repayment due to the International Monetary Fund at the end of June unless it receives fresh funds from its frozen bailout or the European Central Bank lets it sell more short-term debt to Greek banks. That will only happen if the two sides can agree in the coming days on a cash-for-reform deal that has been the focus of acrimonious negotiations for the last four months.

“A default could lead to the imposition of capital controls and possibly put Greece on a path to becoming the first country to leave the 19-nation single currency area, undermining the euro’s avowed irreversibility… The European Commission said its chief, Jean-Claude Juncker, who accused Tsipras on Sunday of misrepresenting the creditors’ proposals and misleading his parliament, had no plans as yet to meet the Greek premier…

“Greece appears to be insisting it will not sign any deal unless it contains a commitment to official debt relief, while the creditors say they will only start discussing debt rescheduling once a deal is signed and implemented… ‘If Greece does exit then it is possible that all hell breaks loose and that risk assets and peripheral government bonds suffer,’ said Gary Jenkins, chief credit strategist at LNG Capital. ‘However the least likely outcome is that Greece leaves and that the Eurozone takes no measures to stop speculation that it might fall apart.’”

This will remain to be seen. Earlier this week, Bild Online reported that Angela Merkel was apparently willing to come once again to the rescue of Greece, but many members of the coalition parties are allegedly strongly against further monetary help (The German population is overwhelmingly against it). On the other hand, politicians were strongly against monetary help for Greece several times before, and still finally agreed to it on several occasions.

Deutsche Welle reported on June 11 that the “International Monetary Fund has walked out on talks with Greece on Wednesday, dashing hopes of a compromise in ongoing debt negotiations.” Bild Online added on June 11 that a meeting on Wednesday night and Thursday morning between Angela Merkel (60), Alexis Tsipras (40) und François Hollande (60)failed to produce any results and that, as a consequence, Angela Merkel is now also preparing for a “Grexit.” A final meeting is scheduled for next Thursday.

Cameron Warned that 100 Conservative MPs May Vote for Brexit

The Independent wrote on Monday 8:

“David Cameron has been warned that 100 Conservative MPs will vote for Britain to leave the European Union unless he wins the reforms they want when he renegotiates new membership terms. The Prime Minister’s post-election honeymoon with his own MPs ended as Eurosceptic Tories set out demands that he has little chance of securing. They include reforms to the EU’s freedom of movement rules and allowing the UK Parliament to veto EU laws.

“Mr Cameron made clear that Conservative ministers would have to resign if they failed to back his position in the referendum. Speaking at the start of the G7 summit in Germany, he said he expected all Tory ministers to accept the deal he negotiates and that they would have to leave the Government if they decide to support a No campaign…

“But in a move likely to infuriate Tory rebels, Mr Cameron suggested he might be prepared to accept a renegotiation deal that did not include treaty change as long as it could not be challenged by European courts… Treaty change is one of the key demands of Conservatives for Britain…

“Mr Cameron said he could see no reason why the referendum debate could not be held on the same day as other UK elections – despite a call by the Electoral Commission for it to be held on a separate date. That means the plebiscite could be held next May, when there are elections for local authorities, the Scottish Parliament and Welsh assembly and Mayor of London…

“Speaking ahead of a meeting with Mr Cameron, President Obama re-iterated his desire for Britain to remain as a member of the EU… He added: ‘We have no closer partner around the world on a whole host of issues.’”

The Daily Express added on June 8:

“Mr Cameron spoke out at Schloss Elmau in Bavaria, after a new Conservatives for Britain group was announced yesterday… More than 50 MPs are reported to have signed up to the group [this number is expected to grow to 100 and beyond], which will formally support the Prime Minister’s renegotiation drive but could lead the campaign for a British exit if the members are unimpressed with the terms of the deal…

“Tory MP Steve Baker, who is chairing Conservatives for Britain, said: ‘We wish David Cameron every success but, unless senior EU officials awake to the possibility that one of the largest EU members is serious about a fundamental change in our relationship, our recommendation to British voters seems likely to be: Exit.’

“The Daily Express has led the anti EU debate, helping to force Mr Cameron into a referendum.”

David Cameron’s undefined and shifting goals regarding his stance on Britain’s membership in the EU may lead to undesired consequences—either way.

“In Britain, No One Tells the Truth About Serious Stuff!”

Breitbart wrote on June 7:

“In Britain, no one tells the truth about really serious stuff. It’s not in the national character. So reporters had to do some maths this week to work out that, according to official statistics, 27 per cent of all deaths in England and Wales are abortions…

“According to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there were 506,790 recorded deaths in England and Wales in 2013 – the most recent year for which figures are available. These, however, do not include abortions. Separate figures, also compiled by the ONS, reveal that a total of 185,331 abortions took place in England and Wales in the same year.

“Adding the total number of unborn babies who died as a result of abortion in 2013 to the total number of recorded deaths in England and Wales brings the overall death total to 692,121. This means that 26.78 per cent of the deaths were caused by abortion. The figure has remained relatively stable for the past few years, with abortions accounting for 27.76 per cent of deaths in 2010, 28.17 per cent in 2011 and 27.05 per cent in 2012.

“The current consensus, which appears to be that a woman’s body is hers to do with as she pleases until the little brat pops out, strikes me as utterly sociopathic and wrong. When two lives are at stake, surely a mother has a moral duty to consider the well-being of her unborn baby…

“I instinctively recoil from abortion as one of the great horrors of civilisation… it would be nice to have the conversation… without being told that men have no right to express an opinion on the subject, or that women must simply be left to murder as many of their children as they please, without care or consequence, and that neither society nor the law ought to encourage them to think it through.

“You rarely see anyone in Britain stating the pro-life position with any ferocity. It’s normally done apologetically in newspaper columns and in Catholic magazines… I wonder why that is. Is the reason we don’t even talk about this subject that there’s no strong religious conservatism in our public life? Because there really isn’t… The Catholic Church is almost as bad as the Church of England when it comes to speaking plainly about God. Our bishops would much rather bleat on about climate change — driving away thousands of young people, who come to the church seeking spiritual enlightenment, not green propaganda.

“Our religious leaders are spineless…”

The above-quoted comments ring so true… sadly!

Pope Francis: “Marriage Under Attack from ‘Demonic Gender Ideology’”

Breitbart wrote on June 9:

“Following the recent Irish referendum that recognized same-sex marriage, Pope Francis insisted again on Monday that the ‘complementarity of man and woman’ is essential to marriage, but is under attack from ‘so-called gender ideology, in the name of a freer and fairer society.’ The Pope has repeatedly warned his audiences of the dangers of an ideology of gender that seeks to undermine the proper understanding of marriage as well as human sexuality…

“Noting that the family is under attack from a series of social ills, the Pope underscored ‘the value and beauty’ of marriage, founded on ‘the complementarity of man and woman,’ which he called ‘the crown of God’s creation.’…

“This is not the first time the Pope has sounded the alarm on the dangers of gender politics. Francis has used the strongest language imaginable, calling modern gender ideology ‘demonic,’ and comparing gender theory with ‘the educational policies of Hitler.’ The Pope has also said that gender theory fails to recognize ‘the order of creation.’… Basing himself on Biblical theology, the Pope has declared that God creates people as ‘male and female,’ rather than an ever expanding spectrum of contrived pseudo-sexual genders.”

“Transgender Children’s Books Gain Popularity, Indoctrination Rises”

Newsmax reported on June 7:

“As transgender issues become more mainstream, so have books about the subject for children…

“The books include not only memoirs, but science fiction and young adult romance, the Times notes. And though some are printed by publishers that focus on gay and lesbian themes, mainstream publishers such as Scholastic Press and Disney Hyperion are getting on board. ‘As our culture is starting to acknowledge transgender people and acknowledge that they are part of the fabric of who we are, literature is reflecting that,’ Scholastic Press’ David Levithan told the Times.

“But not everyone is happy… Scholastic’s upcoming ‘George,’ has faced resistance from some teachers and librarians who say third- and fourth-graders may not be ready for the transgender discussion. But the publisher has actually increased its first printing from 35,000 to 50,000 copies based on strong pre-orders.”

This is abominable!

Jenner Welcome in Republican Party

Fox News reported on June 7:

“Republican presidential contender Lindsey Graham says his party has room for transgendered people like Caitlyn Jenner. The South Carolina senator calls himself a ‘traditional marriage kind of guy.’ But he says he ‘can only imagine the torment that Bruce Jenner went through’ before becoming a transgendered woman. He hopes that, now, she’s ‘found peace.’

“The underdog Republican candidate is campaigning on the need to counter threats from terrorists and Islamic State militants. He shares the opposition to same-sex marriage expressed by his rivals but says the Supreme Court is settling that question. Graham says if Jenner wants to be a Republican, she’s welcome. And he says if she wants a safe country and a strong economy, she should vote for him… Jenner has suggested earlier that he is a Republican.”

Lindsey Graham’s controversial statements are in total opposition to conservative commentators, such as radio host Rush Limbaugh, who warned Republicans not to go that route.

Will Trump Really Run This Time?

The News & Observer reported on June 7:

“Billionaire businessman Donald Trump all but confirmed he’ll run for the Republican presidential nomination during a stop Saturday at the N.C. GOP convention. Trump says he’ll make his formal announcement on June 16. ‘I think a lot of people are going to be very happy’ with the decision, Trump told The News & Observer before a sold-out speech Saturday night. ‘They’re tired of watching America go down. … It’s about making America great again. I can do it, and nobody else can do it.’…

“Trump referred to the constantly growing field of Republican candidates as ‘clowns’… [He specifically singled out Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio in this context.]

“Addressing criticism that he lacks the political experience to be president, Trump said he’d be strong on foreign policy. ‘I’ve made a lot of money beating China and other countries,’ he said. ‘I only have experience beating other countries. Is that good experience?’

“Trump offered an alternative plan for the international trade negotiations under way. He said Ford and other companies looking to move manufacturing to Mexico or overseas should face a 35 percent tax when they ship the goods back to the U.S…

“Trump wasn’t modest about his credentials. ‘I would be the greatest jobs president that God ever created,’ he said. ‘I would be strongest by far on security, because I’m very big into the military, very big into the vets.’ He said he knows how to beat the Islamic State militants and criticized the Obama administration’s approach… Trump called President Barack Obama ‘most likely incompetent.’ He questioned why Secretary of State John Kerry bicycles at age 71… And he said Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign is ‘unusual’ because she avoids media questions…”

Donald Trump has been announcing time and time again that he was contemplating running for the US Presidency… but he never did. Will it be different this time around?

America’s Spying Program… Back from the Dead?

The Guardian wrote on June 9:

“The Obama administration has asked a secret surveillance court to ignore a federal court that found bulk surveillance illegal and to once again grant the National Security Agency the power to collect the phone records of millions of Americans for six months.

“The legal request, filed nearly four hours after Barack Obama vowed to sign a new law banning precisely the bulk collection he asks the secret court to approve, also suggests that the administration may not necessarily comply with any potential court order demanding that the collection stop…

“Justice Department national security chief John A Carlin cited a six-month transition period provided in the USA Freedom Act – passed by the Senate last week to ban the bulk collection – as a reason to permit an ‘orderly transition’ of the NSA’s domestic dragnet. Carlin did not address whether the transition clause of the Freedom Act still applies now that a congressional deadlock meant the program shut down on 31 May.

“But Carlin asked the Fisa court to set aside a landmark declaration by the second circuit court of appeals. Decided on 7 May, the appeals court ruled that the government had erroneously interpreted the Patriot Act’s authorization of data collection as ‘relevant’ to an ongoing investigation to permit bulk collection. Carlin, in his filing, wrote that the Patriot Act provision remained ‘in effect’ during the transition period…

“On Friday, the conservative group FreedomWorks filed a rare motion before the Fisa court, asking it to reject the government’s surveillance request as a violation of the fourth amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures. Fisa court judge Michael Moseman gave the justice department until this coming Friday to respond – and explicitly barred the government from arguing that FreedomWorks lacks the standing to petition the secret court. ‘The only federal appeals court to have considered this surveillance concluded, after very careful analysis, that it’s unlawful. It’s disturbing and disappointing that the government is proposing to continue it,’ said Jaffer, of the ACLU.”

But bad habits seldom die quickly…

The Danger of Deadly Mosquitoes in Europe

The Austrian edition of The Local wrote on June 10:

“The summer may bring hot sunny days and long evenings, but it also brings mosquitoes and this year experts are warning people to be on guard against ‘exotic’ species which bite during the day. ‘Unfortunately in the last two or three years we have noticed more exotic mosquito types in Austria – such as the Asian tiger mosquito – which are active during the day,’ Franz Allerberger, from the Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), told the ORF. He says the invasive Asian mosquitoes have already been spotted in Graz, and are likely to come to the Vienna area in the next year or two.

“The Asian tiger mosquito has become more common in central Europe, due to the global transport of goods and increasing international travel. It doesn’t need wetlands to breed and can survive colder winters. Researcher Bernhard Seidel, who first discovered the species in Austria in 2011, says that they came to Austria via Slovenia and Switzerland. They tend to colonise urbanised areas and will breed around houses and gardens in small containers such as bird baths, containers, and old tires. There are concerns that the mosquitoes, which are vicious biters, could transmit diseases such as West Nile virus, as well as new, emerging diseases like dengue fever and chikungunya – both of which can be deadly.

“Allerberger said the common house mosquito is more likely to breed after flooding, and the easiest way to eliminate them is to empty water that collects in buckets, cans, jars, barrels, boats, discarded tires, clogged roof gutters, paddling pools or pool covers and any artificially created collection of water. Cutting down weeds, trimming and maintaining shrubs and grass also helps reduce adult mosquito populations that hide in vegetation.

“In 2011 the common house mosquito was found to be carrying West Nile virus in Lower Austria, and in 2014 mosquitoes in Vienna were also found to be carriers of the disease… there is no vaccination for it.

“Experts recommend using mosquito nets, fly screens, and wearing light coloured, loose fitting clothing with long sleeves and legs to prevent bites. Mosquito repellent sprays contain chemicals which deter the mosquito from biting, but should not be used on small children or babies. Mosquito nets are recommended as the best way to protect babies in prams.”

This is an intriguing question. In a recent Q&A, we stated the following:

“The Bible does NOT say that people will DIE in the Millennium TO BE RESURRECTED TO IMMORTALITY at a later time. It appears LIKELY that all will indeed live until the end of the Millennium, so that all will be exposed to Satan’s evil devices when he is released from prison. Most (except for those very few who survive the Great Tribulation and live on into the Millennium) had never had any experience with Satan who was bound in prison for all this time, while they were born in the Millennium and grew up; so God might want to test all of them to see where they really stand. This is not the case with those who will be in the Second Resurrection, because ALL of them had been tempted by Satan in their prior life. Therefore, there is no need for God to keep Satan around to allow him to tempt them once again.”

A specific question was asked as to how this statement applies to unborn or aborted children. In what way were they tempted by Satan before their life ended prematurely? And how will they be judged by God in the Great White Throne Judgment period, since they were never born and did not sin in their mother’s womb?

First of all, let us recall that, and exactly how, aborted babies will be resurrected.

We stated the following in a previous Q&A:

“The Bible also teaches that all those who did NOT die ‘in Christ’ will be resurrected AFTER the Millennium to be given their chance to choose God’s Way of Life. This is commonly referred to in the Bible as the ‘second resurrection.’ But they will be resurrected as physical beings, not as Spirit beings. When they are raised from the dead, they will receive a new physical body–not a spiritual body… God will be using their spirit in man (which returned to God upon death) to create through it a new physical body for them. God will give them a new flesh and blood physical body, as He pleases, using the spirit in man as a ‘mold’ which has retained even the outward appearance of the person.

“This is not to say that the persons will be raised exactly to the same physical existence that they had when they died. For instance, we don’t believe that a person who, through an accident or a birth defect, had only one arm or one leg, will be resurrected to exactly that identical state, but, in all likelihood, with two arms and two legs. We find it reasonable to conclude that blind persons will be raised with eyesight. An aborted fetus will obviously not be resurrected as a fetus, but as a human being who will be capable of living on his own [To clarify, a fetus is a human being. But he or she will not be raised in the Second Resurrection as a fetus, but as a physical human being capable of living on his or her own.]. When Adam and Eve were created, God did not create them as little children, but as grown adults, perhaps in their early or mid-twenties, and He placed in them the spirit in man, even though they were without any prior experience… all [in the Great White Throne Judgment] will be resurrected to live healthy lives for about one hundred years, which–as the Bible indicates–is most likely the time allotted to them during the Great White Throne Judgment period, prior to the creation of new heavens and a new earth (compare Isaiah 65:17, 20, indicating that a ‘child’–that is a Christian who is to become like a child–will live for one hundred years, and that an unrepented ‘sinner,’ being ‘one hundred years old,’ shall be ‘accursed’).”

In chapter 11 of our free booklet, “Biblical Prophecy–From Now Until Forever,” we added the following:

“After the Millennium, there will be a Second Resurrection when God will resurrect all those who did not commit the unpardonable sin, and who were not already changed into Spirit in the First Resurrection or during or at the end of the Millennium. Everyone who died without having been given an opportunity to accept the truth and to live God’s way of life will receive that opportunity then. They will be resurrected as a human being, in a physical state, here on earth, and will live for about 100 years (compare Isaiah 65:20). During that time, they will also be given the opportunity to qualify to enter the Kingdom of God.

“This Second Resurrection is also commonly referred to as the ‘Great White Throne Judgment’ period, during which all persons who have ever lived and who were never called by God for salvation during their lifetime, will have their first opportunity to accept Christ as their Savior…

“Revelation 20:5, 11–12 describes the SECOND resurrection: ‘But the REST OF THE DEAD [who were not in the FIRST resurrection] did not live again UNTIL the thousand years [the Millennium] were finished… Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it… And I saw the dead, small and great, STANDING before God… And the dead were JUDGED…’

“Ezekiel 37:7–11 describes the resurrection of the entire house of Israel to PHYSICAL LIFE. They will be resurrected in the SECOND resurrection… It is not only the people of Israel who will be resurrected at that time. We read in Matthew 12:41–42 that the men of Nineveh and the queen of the South ‘will RISE UP in the JUDGMENT’ together with people who were alive at the time of Jesus Christ…

“At the end of the Great White Throne Judgment period, there will be a ‘judicial’ finding. Those who qualified for the Kingdom of God will be changed into immortal God beings, entering the very Family of God. Those who irrevocably decided against God’s Way of Life will be condemned and die. They will subsequently be resurrected again in the Third Resurrection [to be destroyed in the lake of fire]…

“Christ will rule on the throne of David in Jerusalem during the Millennium. His rule will continue during the Great White Throne Judgment period. He will continue to RULE on the throne of David in Jerusalem (Luke 1:32-33)—His government and peace will be everlasting; His throne will stand forever, and His rule will be without end (compare Isaiah 9:6-7; Daniel 7:27; 2:44)…

“We referred earlier to Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones, as set forth in Ezekiel 37. It describes the resurrection of the entire house of Israel. We are specifically informed that the dead Israelites will be resurrected to PHYSICAL life. They will come to know God (verse 6). God will open their graves and bring them to the land of Israel (verse 12). This implies that they will be resurrected where they died and/or were buried, but that God will then bring them to the places He wants them to be…

“After they are resurrected from the dead, apparently at the place where they were buried or died, they will all be brought before Christ in Jerusalem, to appear before His throne and judgment seat. It is very likely that angels and immortal saints will assist in this process of bringing the resurrected persons to Christ’s throne in Jerusalem.

“Remember that we read in Revelation 20:11-12 that John sees in vision a great white throne and Him that sat on it, and the dead are standing before God to give account and hear God’s pronouncement of judgment—the death penalty for everyone, since all have sinned. But then Christ will explain that because of His death and sacrifice, their sins can be forgiven, and the Holy Spirit will be offered to them…

“God will then ‘dismiss’ them to settle in those places on earth designed for them. The Gentiles, as well as the Israelites, will have an allotted time of perhaps 100 years to qualify for the Kingdom of God. Even though God will remove the spiritual veil from people’s minds, they still need to be taught the right way, and they have to be encouraged to stay on that right path, as is explained in Isaiah 30:20-21, referring to teachers showing the way. God’s immortal saints will be those teachers, and the God Family will hasten righteousness in mercy on the earth (Isaiah 16:5; Psalm 96:13; 67:3-4).”

In a Q&A about the spirit in man in man we pointed out the following:

“In the book of Isaiah we are told that each human being has a spirit within him. ‘Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it…’ (Isaiah 42:5)… The Bible strongly indicates that God gives the human spirit at the time of conception, and then takes it back at the time of death. We read in Zechariah 12:1, ‘Thus says the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.’ Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, ‘Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.’ When the spirit in man leaves a person, that person is dead. James 2:26 says, ‘For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also…

“… each person has a human spirit which God gives to each human, apparently at the time of conception, and which goes back to God in heaven when the person dies. This spirit is not the person, nor is it immortal or eternal, nor does it have a conscious existence when the person dies.”

This means, then, that an aborted baby or a baby who dies prematurely in the mother’s womb, has received the spirit in man, apparently at the time of conception; he or she has therefore become a human being since conception and will be resurrected in the Second Resurrection of the Great White Throne Judgment period.

In light of the foregoing statements, we are ready to answer the question as to how aborted babies and those who die prematurely before birth, will be judged. We read in Revelation 20:12:

“And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.”

A reference to opened books at the time when the court is seated can also be found in Daniel 7:10. The “books” which were opened refer to the books of the Bible (compare for example Exodus 17:14, referring to the writings or books of Moses; Jeremiah 30:2, referring to the book of Jeremiah; Luke 4:17, referring to the book of Isaiah—see also Isaiah 29:18; John 20:30, referring to the book of John; Hebrews 10:7 and Psalm 40:7, referring to Old Testament writings; and Revelation 1:11; 22:7, 9, 10, 18, 19, referring to the book of Revelation).

But the books are ALSO referring to the deeds, actions and thoughts which have been and will be recorded in heaven (Psalm 56:8; Psalm 139:16; Malachi 3:16). The judgment of those who will be resurrected in the Second Resurrection refers to their prior life AND to their lifetime during the Great White Throne Judgment period. As God’s judgment is already now on the house of God (1 Peter 4:17), so God’s judgment will also be upon those in the Second Resurrection until the end of that period. They will be judged in accordance with the contents of the books of the Bible. The contents will then be open to their understanding (compare Psalm 119:18), and they will be evaluated as to how they will live in compliance with the Bible.  The Book of Life will also be open for them, as then will be THEIR time for salvation, when their names can be written into the Book of Life to grant them eternal life and preserve them from the lake of fire (compare Revelation 20:15).

At the BEGINNING of the Great White Throne Judgment period, all will stand in front of Christ’s throne. They will be confronted with their sins in their prior life, which they have to realize, confess and repent of, so that they can obtain forgiveness of their PAST sins. But how can this apply to an unborn baby, and how did Satan tempt the baby in the mother’s womb?

We need to understand that we do not only have to repent of what we DO, but also, of what we ARE. The Bible shows us that apart from God’s Spirit within us, NOTHING good dwells within us (Romans 7:18). The disciples asked Christ on one occasion whether a man or his parents had sinned because he was born blind, and Christ responded that neither of them had sinned (John 9:1-3). That is, neither of them had committed a particular sin which led to the blindness of the person at birth. But this does not mean that they did not have human nature, because all are born with HUMAN NATURE or, as the Bible puts it, with SINFUL FLESH. Christ never sinned, but He came into sinful flesh (Romans 8:3). He had human nature passed on to Him through His mother Mary, and He needed God’s help to overcome sin in the flesh. He had the fullness of God’s Spirit within Him without measure, and that from conception (John 3:34, Authorized Version), which enabled Him to stay sinless.

But this is not true for anyone else, nor is it true for those who will be resurrected in the Second Resurrection. When they were born, lived and died, they did not have any measure of God’s Holy Spirit within them (let alone Holy Spirit without measure), as none of them had been called in this day and age. Instead, all were born and conceived with human nature or “sinful flesh.” Even though an unborn baby who dies prematurely in his or her mother’s womb or who is aborted, does not commit sinful ACTS, they are still human beings with human nature, which CANNOT be subject to God’s law (Romans 8:7). In the Great White Throne Judgment period, they will realize that even as unborn babies, they were hopelessly doomed to failure and that they need Christ’s Sacrifice for the forgiveness of their “sinful flesh,” followed by the development of divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), which can only occur through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

It should be obvious that those humans who die prematurely or who are murdered through abortion will have a much easier time to accept God’s Way of Life than those who might have lived in sin for seventy, eighty or ninety years and who have to unlearn the bad habits of an entire lifetime. Persons who prematurely die as little babies will not have to UNLEARN much, if anything… but they still have to qualify by accepting God’s Way of Life and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Adam and Eve were in a similar category, but they refused to eat from the Tree of Life which would have granted them the gift of God’s Holy Spirit. God did not create Adam and Eve with wicked hearts and rebellious minds; however, He did not create them with a divine nature either, but with human nature, susceptible to the temptations of Satan the Devil. Since they were free moral agents, they could choose, and they chose to follow Satan—falling for his temptation—and to disobey God. Mankind has been following Satan ever since, but many times, man follows Satan without realizing it.

Satan has control over the whole world. He rules over this world… and he does so often by sending feelings, impulses and emotions, which are contrary to godly love and promote instead unrealized selfish ambitions. We might call this human nature… but in reality, it is SATAN’S NATURE which he instills into human beings. And in that sense, Satan has tempted everyone, to one degree or another, who will be resurrected in the Great White Throne Judgment. We read in Ephesians 2:1-3 that we all were once targets of Satan, the “prince of the power of the air,” “fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were BY NATURE children of wrath.”

The Bible shows that following the time of conception, sinful human nature is there, even in a baby. We read David’s words in Psalm 51:5: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.”

This is not a reference to any illicit acts of his mother and his father; rather, David describes here HIS human nature with which he was conceived and born.

The New International Version says: “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”

The Pulpit Commentary interprets David’s words as follows:

“Not only have I committed acts of sin (verses 1-4), but sin is thoroughly ingrained into MY NATURE. I was conceived in it; I was brought forth in it; only the strongest remedies can cleanse me from it (verse 7). But cleansing alone is not enough. I need renewal (verse 10); I need thy Holy Spirit (verse 11)…”

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible says:

“Hence we learn the earliness of the corruption of nature; it is as soon as man is conceived and shapen; … and that it is the case of all men: for if this was the case of David, who was born of religious parents, was famous for his early piety, and from whose seed the Messiah sprung, it may well be concluded to be the case of all. And this corruption of NATURE is the fountain, source, and spring of all sin, secret and open, private and public; and is mentioned here not as an extenuation of David’s actual transgressions, but as an aggravation of them; he having been, from his conception and formation, nothing else but a mass of sin…”

The Ryrie Study Bible says: “It is not that the acts of giving birth or conceiving are in themselves sinful, but that from the moment of conception a person possesses a SINFUL NATURE.”

A similar statement can be found in Psalm 58:3. Even though it speaks of the wicked person, it goes back to his “origin,” showing where the development would lead if God was not to intervene. We read: “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.”

This is not to be confused with the WRONG concept of the “original sin,” which holds that Adam and Eve’s sin was “imputed” to all of mankind, and that because of the sin of Adam and Eve, everybody is guilty. This negates personal and individual responsibility and accountability. But it IS true that due to Adam and Eve’s sin, access to the Tree of Life and God’s Holy Spirit was disallowed, leading to the kind of world under Satan’s influence which we experience today (Romans 5:12)—a world cut off from God and being held captive by Satan. The point is that even an unborn baby has human NATURE, which would have led to sinful CONDUCT following birth (compare Job 13:26; 14:1-4; 25:4; Psalm 25:7). And it is that human nature, instilled by Satan, which needs to be recognized by those in the Second Resurrection, realizing that they will have to replace their heart of stone (the natural heart) with a new heart of flesh (a godly heart, leading to the development of divine nature).

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

“666–The Number of the Beast,” is the first of three new sermons dealing with “Prophecy – How to Understand It”—to be presented by Norbert Link on June 13, 2015. This will be followed by presentations on June 20 and 27. In addition, we are promoting this series through press releases, Facebook and our own webpage, www.eternalgod.org.

A new Member Letter has been mailed. In this letter Brian Gale addresses the evil of war, especially noting the recent history of world wars which have never led to peace. He also focuses on the promise we have been given of Jesus Christ establishing true and lasting peace in God’s Kingdom.

“World War III and Christ’s Return” is the title of the most recent StandingWatch program presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a Summary:

Jesus warned that just prior to His Second Coming, an all-encompassing World War would threaten the very survival of mankind. We are living in those times today. Just this week, numerous articles were published, showing how World War III could begin… and where! While the world is asleep and its leaders are like sleepwalkers, reality paints a terrible picture. You NEED to know what is REALLY happening! We offer our free booklet, “Biblical Prophecy–From Now Until Forever.”

“Wann Nimmt Satans Macht ein Ende?” is the title of this week’s German sermon. Title in English: “When Will Satan’s Power Be Over?”

“Adapt,” the sermonette presented by Eric Rank last Sabbath, is now posted.

“Misguided Perceptions,” last Sabbath’s sermon presented by Robb Harris, is now posted. Here is a summary:

How do we view the world in light of our spiritually enabled eyesight? For thousands of years Satan has been misguiding mankind with one purpose: to lead us away from God.