Wonderful Joy

by Dawn Thompson

Sometimes Satan throws his fiery darts in the most trivial ways, annoying little things that eventually merge together. Next thing I know I hear myself complaining on the inside. What’s worse is that it’s not just over one current thing, he brings in everything that has ever bothered me, reminding me of my faults, failures and shortcomings. There is a good ending to this! And thankfully that good ending comes faster these days. Before I was called, these rants could take hours or days to turn around, now it’s in minutes!

I find it quite amazing how many thought processes have changed in my mind and in my heart since being called to the Truth. I am genuinely happy rather than envious. I care with sincerity, not just idle words. I’m not boasting, far from that! I just find it amazing that I no longer search for the proverbial shoe to drop. Perhaps this joy was always with me but it was buried so that I couldn’t even perceive it. I was so scared to even think of joy and happiness. Now, however, I awaken each day, thankful and joyful that God’s joy is in me. In ME! I am just an average woman seeking God on a continual basis, and because of His Son’s Sacrifice for me, God has given me wonderful joy!

Current Events

War is consuming the Middle East, and we highlight Iran’s growing involvement in the Yemen conflict. ISIS—despite claims of containment by the West—is now pushing closer to Damascus. We present articles reacting to President Obama’s “deal” with Iran; report on unbelievable police brutality; and conclude with the ominous drought “punishing” California.

We Aren’t Done!; Man’s Will, God’s Will; Trust Me; How Far Out of Egypt Have We Come?

On April 10, 2015, we will observe the last Day of Unleavened Bread. Morning services from Fort Collins, Colorado, will begin at 10:00 am Pacific Time. Dave Harris will give the sermonette (“We Aren’t Done!”) and Eric Rank will present the sermon (“Man’s Will, God’s Will”). Afternoon services will be broadcast from Ramona, California, and will begin at 2:00 pm Pacific Time. Kalon Mitchell will give the sermonette (“Trust Me”), and Brian Gale will present the sermon (“How Far Out of Egypt Have We Come?”).

On April 11, 2015, the weekly Sabbath, Kalon Mitchell will present the sermonette, titled, “In Tune,” and Brian Gale will give the sermon, titled, “Are You a Profitable Servant?”

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.

Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

We have notified attendees for the US Feast of Tabernacles, to be held in Pismo Beach, California, that final confirmation of their reservations should now be made. If you are interested in attending the Feast with us, please contact us for further information.

The Offertory by Robb Harris and the sermon presented by Dave Harris (Time To Heed) on last Sabbath are now posted.

We are anticipating the baptisms of several people in Germany this Sabbath, to be conducted by Norbert and Michael Link. Your prayers are appreciated.

This Week in the News

Muscle-Flexing by Iran

AP reported on April 8:

“Iran dispatched a destroyer and another naval ship to waters off Yemen on Wednesday, raising the stakes amid a Saudi-led air campaign targeting Iranian-backed Shiite rebels fighting forces loyal to the country’s embattled president.

“The Iranian maneuver came as the U.S. deepened its support for the Saudi-led coalition, boosting weapons supplies and intelligence-sharing and carrying out the first U.S. aerial refueling mission of coalition fighter jets.

“The Iranian warships were sent to the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait as part of an anti-piracy campaign to ‘safeguard naval routes for vessels in the region,’ Iranian Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari was quoted as saying by the English-language state broadcaster Press TV.

“Securing navigation in the narrow strait was a key reason for the Saudi-led air and maritime blockade that began after Yemen’s internationally recognized president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, fled the country two weeks ago as the rebels closed in on Aden, Yemen’s second-largest city where he was based.”

ISIS Pushes Closer to Damascus

Breitbart reported on April 5:

“Islamic State (IS or ISIS or ISIL or Daesh) militias have taken control of a southern district in Damascus, Syria, and are just a few kilometers from the military headquarters of the regime of Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad. Al-Assad’s army has suffered several recent defeats, especially the major military defeat in Idlib, and so it appears that ISIS may present a real military challenge to the regime in its seat of power. Reports indicate that ISIS is also receiving help from the al-Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Nusra Front), a group with which it often has battles in other places and times.

“ISIS’s advance into Damascus is through the Yarmouk refugee camp, home to about 18,000 Palestinian refugees. The camp has been under siege from al-Assad’s army since 2011, since al-Assad feared that the Palestinian refugees would join the fight against him. In the last couple of years, the Free Syrian Army and al-Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Nusra Front) have entered Yarmouk and fought each other, making Yarmouk increasingly dangerous for the civilians living there. Now the invasion of ISIS has turned Yarmouk into a humanitarian disaster. Aid groups are unable to enter Yarmouk, with the result that the civilians have no food and water, no electricity. Anyone who leaves his home risks getting shot and killed by snipers on the rooftops.

“Other reports indicate that al-Assad’s forces are trying to fight ISIS by means of ‘violent shelling by the regime forces using tank shells and ground-to-ground missiles,’ weapons that are more likely to kill civilians than ISIS.”

Obama’s Deal with Iran Weakens the USA

The Editorial Board of the Washington Post wrote on April 6:

“PRESIDENT OBAMA has launched an aggressive lobbying campaign for his preliminary nuclear deal with Iran… Unfortunately… the president’s claims could have a self-fulfilling quality. By loudly insisting there is no alternative to the terms he has agreed to, Mr. Obama helps ensure that the option of maintaining sanctions while insisting that Iran agree to dismantle more of its nuclear infrastructure… is no longer a practical alternative.

“At the same time, the White House stance risks weakening its negotiating position in the crucial bargaining with Iran. Mr. Obama conceded that some vital ‘details’ have not yet been worked out, including how the lifting of sanctions on Iran would be tied to its implementation of steps such as reducing its stockpile of enriched uranium and its base of installed centrifuges. Worryingly, the fact sheets issued by the U.S. and Iranian governments differ sharply… The gulf between those two scenarios is extremely important…

“Similarly crucial differences may be buried in the as-yet-unspecified details of how inspectors will obtain access to new suspected nuclear sites and how they will get answers to outstanding questions about Iran’s previous work on nuclear warhead designs. By insisting that the deal is already the best available, Mr. Obama is making it more difficult for his negotiators to walk away from the follow-up talks if they are unable to obtain satisfactory terms. If Iran continues to insist on the ‘immediate’ lifting of sanctions, will the president give in rather than reverse his rhetoric?…”

America’s foreign policy, including Obama’s controversial and ill-advised “deal” with Iran, is one of utter weakness, inconsistency and failure.

Western Leadership Failing!

AP reported on April 5:

“On a basic level, the framework deal between world powers and Tehran will be judged by whether it prevents an Iranian bomb, but that will take years to figure out.

“A more immediate issue is the projection of Western power. Supporters of the framework deal can argue that the U.S. and world powers extracted significant concessions from Iran, breaking a decade-long impasse and proving that diplomacy backed by tough sanctions can bring about positive change even in the Middle East.

“But if, as critics contend, the agreement ends up projecting U.S. weakness instead, that could embolden rogue states and extremists alike, and make the region’s vast array of challenges — from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Syrian civil war to the fighting in Libya and Yemen — even more impervious to Western intervention.

“The United States wants to rein in Syria’s President Bashar Assad as his ruinous civil war grinds into year five. It would like to encourage more liberal domestic policies in Egypt and push Iraq’s leaders to govern more inclusively. Despite years of setbacks, the U.S. would still like to see a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict…

“The implications of a weak United States, meanwhile, are not just regional but global, affecting events from Russia to China and North Korea — as well as the prospects for global accords on climate change or even significant trade deals.”

Obama: “Nuclear Deal Cannot Depend on Iran Recognizing Israel”

Deutsche Welle wrote on April 7:

“Barack Obama has told US radio network NPR that demanding for Iran to recognize Israel would go beyond the scope of the nuclear deal discussed with Tehran… ‘The notion that we would condition Iran not getting nuclear weapons in a verifiable deal on Iran recognizing Israel is really akin to saying that we won’t sign a deal unless the nature of the Iranian regime completely transforms…And that, I think, is a fundamental [mis]judgement,’ Obama said in the interview…

“Meanwhile, Republican leader Mitch McConnell criticized the pact with Iran saying that lawmakers opposed to the deal were planning a formal response…

“On Monday, Israel’s Minister for Strategic Affairs, Yuval Steinitz, said his country was still considering military action against Iran’s nuclear program. ‘It was on the table. It’s still on the table, it’s going to remain on the table…Israel should be able to defend – for itself, by itself – against any threat,’ Steinitz told reporters in Jerusalem.”

Taking America Down…

The Weekly Standard reported on April 8:

“Vice President Dick Cheney had harsh criticism for President Barack Obama in an interview last night with radio host Hugh Hewitt.

“Hewitt asked the former vice president, ‘Is he naïve, Mr. Vice President? Or does he have a far-reaching vision that only he entertains of a realigned Middle East that somehow it all works out in the end?’

“‘I don’t know, Hugh. I vacillate between the various theories I’ve heard, but you know, if you had somebody as president who wanted to take America down, who wanted to fundamentally weaken our position in the world and reduce our capacity to influence events, turn our back on our allies and encourage our adversaries, it would look exactly like what Barack Obama’s doing. I think his actions are constituted in my mind those of the worst president we’ve ever had.’”

America is going down! However, it is because of our national sins and our refusal to turn in heartfelt repentance to God. President Obama may well be an instrument to this end, as Mr. Cheney suggested.

Police Brutality and Abuse in America

The Local wrote on April 7:

“Three German journalists announced on Thursday they are taking the police in the American town of Ferguson to court after they were arrested while covering race riots there in August 2014.

“The journalists, Ansgar Graw of Die Welt, Lukas Hermsmeier of Bild and Frank Hermann, a freelancer for regional newspapers were arrested and detained for ‘refusal to disperse’… Graw told The Local that the police never gave him any official reason for his arrest but that his mugshot was accompanied by the text ‘refusal to disperse.’

“The correspondent said that the case was not about him but about asking ‘whether a county in the USA can accept that their police violate freedom of the press.’ ‘The American police overstep their rights very clearly and too often,’ he said…

“The journalists are arguing that their incarceration was a violation of the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the American Constitution, which cover freedom of speech, freedom of the press and protection against unlawful arrest. Graw, who has been based in Washington since 2009, also complained that conditions in prison were meant to ‘humiliate’ him. He was not only handcuffed but also chained to a wall… ‘In America the attitude is “We are the law and you have to accept whatever we tell you.”'”

Sadly, this seems to be very true far too often—see the appalling report below:

Shot in the Back!!!

Nytimes.com wrote on April 8:

“A white police officer in North Charleston, S.C., was charged with murder on Tuesday after a video surfaced showing him shooting in the back and killing an apparently unarmed black man while the man ran away.

“The officer, Michael T. Slager, 33, said he had feared for his life because the man had taken his stun gun in a scuffle after a traffic stop on Saturday. A video, however, shows the officer firing eight times as the man, Walter L. Scott, 50, fled. The North Charleston mayor announced the state charges at a news conference Tuesday evening.

“The shooting came on the heels of high-profile instances of police officers’ using lethal force in New York, Cleveland, Ferguson, Mo., and elsewhere. The deaths have set off a national debate over whether the police are too quick to use force, particularly in cases involving black men.

“A White House task force has recommended a host of changes to the nation’s police policies, and President Obama sent Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to cities around the country to try to improve police relations with minority neighborhoods.”

Justice has departed from our land!

The Murder of Walter Scott

Deutsche Welle wrote on April 9:

“The man who shocked the world with a video apparently showing a white police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina, shoot unarmed African American Walter Lamer Scott came forward late Wednesday, saying he immediately recognized the significance of the chilling footage he recorded… As a result of the recording, 33-year-old Slager was charged with murder on Tuesday and faces a sentence of life imprisonment or death if convicted. Slager stands accused of killing Scott, 50, after a scuffle that began with a traffic stop for a broken tail light. The video contradicted Slager’s claim that he fired because he felt threatened…

“In an interview with the Associated Press, another North Charleston resident claimed to have lodged a complaint against Slager in 2013 for use of excessive force, but that the officer was allowed to remain on duty following a brief investigation. Mario Givens, now 33, said in the interview that Slager forcibly entered his home and used a stun gun on him despite the fact that Givens had surrendered and put his hands in the air. Givens also claimed that Slager never said what he wanted or who he was looking for…”

One must wonder why persons like Slager are allowed to work as police officers…

California Drought Brings Changes

NYTimes.com reported on April 4:

“For more than a century, California has been the state where people flocked for a better life — 164,000 square miles of mountains, farmland and coastline, shimmering with ambition and dreams, money and beauty. It was the cutting-edge symbol of possibility: Hollywood, Silicon Valley, aerospace, agriculture and vineyards.

“But now a punishing drought — and the unprecedented measures the state announced last week to compel people to reduce water consumption — is forcing a reconsideration of whether the aspiration of untrammeled growth that has for so long been this state’s driving engine has run against the limits of nature.

“The 25 percent cut in water consumption ordered by Gov. Jerry Brown raises fundamental questions about what life in California will be like in the years ahead, and even whether this state faces the prospect of people leaving for wetter climates — assuming, as Mr. Brown and other state leaders do, that this marks a permanent change in the climate, rather than a particularly severe cyclical drought.

“This state has survived many a catastrophe before — and defied the doomsayers who have regularly proclaimed the death of the California dream — as it emerged, often stronger, from the challenges of earthquakes, an energy crisis and, most recently, a budgetary collapse that forced years of devastating cuts in spending. These days, the economy is thriving, the population is growing, the state budget is in surplus, and development is exploding from Silicon Valley to San Diego; the evidence of it can be seen in the construction cranes dotting the skylines of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“But even California’s biggest advocates are wondering if the severity of this drought, now in its fourth year, is going to force a change in the way the state does business.”

European Rapid Reaction Force Ready Within Eight Hours

The Local wrote on April 9:

“Soldiers from Nato’s new rapid reaction force, including hundreds of German troops, were ready to deploy within eight hours of receiving the alert in an exercise simulating an urgent deployment to eastern Europe.

“Around 900 of the 1,500 personnel involved in the 12-nation exercise are based in Germany, where they are supposed to be ready to leave their bases in Saxony, Thuringia and Rhineland-Palatinate with their vehicles and equipment within five days.

“The VJTF was formed in response to growing fears over the threat Russia poses to bordering countries such as Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania in the wake of the Ukraine crisis. By holding forces ready to be deployed at any moment, the alliance hopes to deter Russia from any aggressive moves towards its neighbours in north-eastern Europe…”

Update 683

We Aren’t Done!; Man’s Will, God’s Will; Trust Me; How Far Out of Egypt Have We Come?

On April 10, 2015, we will observe the last Day of Unleavened Bread. Morning services from Fort Collins, Colorado, will begin at 10:00 am Pacific Time. Dave Harris will give the sermonette (“We Aren’t Done!”) and Eric Rank will present the sermon (“Man’s Will, God’s Will”). Afternoon services will be broadcast from Ramona, California, and will begin at 2:00 pm Pacific Time. Kalon Mitchell will give the sermonette (“Trust Me”), and Brian Gale will present the sermon (“How Far Out of Egypt Have We Come?”).

On April 11, 2015, the weekly Sabbath, Kalon Mitchell will present the sermonette, titled, “In Tune,” and Brian Gale will give the sermon, titled, “Are You a Profitable Servant?”

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

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A Matter of Choice

by Dave Harris

When God calls someone, tremendous change must take place, and that becomes quickly obvious as a Christian confronts this world and its present social order.

You see, living as a Christian requires that we can no longer just go along with what everyone else is doing. We are forced to make choices—to reject one course of action and to choose another. While some of the steps we have taken, such as repentance and baptism, help lay a foundation for living in a godly manner, we are still constantly challenged to apply God’s laws in making decisions.

Hard choices require that we seek God’s Will in a matter. The Bible, through specific instructions and abundant examples, can help us understand the best course of action to take (Psalm 119:97-104). Seeking God’s guidance by prayer is available to us, but we must ask (James 1:5). The Church of God, through the ministry, may also assist us in difficult situations, if we are willing (2 Timothy 4:2-3).

Furthermore, when the answer is given from God, will we have the faith to go forward (Hebrews 11:6)? Our Christian growth is reflected by how successful we are in transcending this present evil age, but never forget that God’s Way is narrow and difficult when compared to the world in which we now live!

As each new issue arises, what will our choice be—obey God or compromise with Satan?

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War is consuming the Middle East, and we highlight Iran’s growing involvement in the Yemen conflict. ISIS—despite claims of containment by the West—is now pushing closer to Damascus. We present articles reacting to President Obama’s “deal” with Iran; report on unbelievable police brutality; and conclude with the ominous drought “punishing” California.

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Muscle-Flexing by Iran

AP reported on April 8:

“Iran dispatched a destroyer and another naval ship to waters off Yemen on Wednesday, raising the stakes amid a Saudi-led air campaign targeting Iranian-backed Shiite rebels fighting forces loyal to the country’s embattled president.

“The Iranian maneuver came as the U.S. deepened its support for the Saudi-led coalition, boosting weapons supplies and intelligence-sharing and carrying out the first U.S. aerial refueling mission of coalition fighter jets.

“The Iranian warships were sent to the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait as part of an anti-piracy campaign to ‘safeguard naval routes for vessels in the region,’ Iranian Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari was quoted as saying by the English-language state broadcaster Press TV.

“Securing navigation in the narrow strait was a key reason for the Saudi-led air and maritime blockade that began after Yemen’s internationally recognized president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, fled the country two weeks ago as the rebels closed in on Aden, Yemen’s second-largest city where he was based.”

ISIS Pushes Closer to Damascus

Breitbart reported on April 5:

“Islamic State (IS or ISIS or ISIL or Daesh) militias have taken control of a southern district in Damascus, Syria, and are just a few kilometers from the military headquarters of the regime of Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad. Al-Assad’s army has suffered several recent defeats, especially the major military defeat in Idlib, and so it appears that ISIS may present a real military challenge to the regime in its seat of power. Reports indicate that ISIS is also receiving help from the al-Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Nusra Front), a group with which it often has battles in other places and times.

“ISIS’s advance into Damascus is through the Yarmouk refugee camp, home to about 18,000 Palestinian refugees. The camp has been under siege from al-Assad’s army since 2011, since al-Assad feared that the Palestinian refugees would join the fight against him. In the last couple of years, the Free Syrian Army and al-Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Nusra Front) have entered Yarmouk and fought each other, making Yarmouk increasingly dangerous for the civilians living there. Now the invasion of ISIS has turned Yarmouk into a humanitarian disaster. Aid groups are unable to enter Yarmouk, with the result that the civilians have no food and water, no electricity. Anyone who leaves his home risks getting shot and killed by snipers on the rooftops.

“Other reports indicate that al-Assad’s forces are trying to fight ISIS by means of ‘violent shelling by the regime forces using tank shells and ground-to-ground missiles,’ weapons that are more likely to kill civilians than ISIS.”

Obama’s Deal with Iran Weakens the USA

The Editorial Board of the Washington Post wrote on April 6:

“PRESIDENT OBAMA has launched an aggressive lobbying campaign for his preliminary nuclear deal with Iran… Unfortunately… the president’s claims could have a self-fulfilling quality. By loudly insisting there is no alternative to the terms he has agreed to, Mr. Obama helps ensure that the option of maintaining sanctions while insisting that Iran agree to dismantle more of its nuclear infrastructure… is no longer a practical alternative.

“At the same time, the White House stance risks weakening its negotiating position in the crucial bargaining with Iran. Mr. Obama conceded that some vital ‘details’ have not yet been worked out, including how the lifting of sanctions on Iran would be tied to its implementation of steps such as reducing its stockpile of enriched uranium and its base of installed centrifuges. Worryingly, the fact sheets issued by the U.S. and Iranian governments differ sharply… The gulf between those two scenarios is extremely important…

“Similarly crucial differences may be buried in the as-yet-unspecified details of how inspectors will obtain access to new suspected nuclear sites and how they will get answers to outstanding questions about Iran’s previous work on nuclear warhead designs. By insisting that the deal is already the best available, Mr. Obama is making it more difficult for his negotiators to walk away from the follow-up talks if they are unable to obtain satisfactory terms. If Iran continues to insist on the ‘immediate’ lifting of sanctions, will the president give in rather than reverse his rhetoric?…”

America’s foreign policy, including Obama’s controversial and ill-advised “deal” with Iran, is one of utter weakness, inconsistency and failure.

Western Leadership Failing!

AP reported on April 5:

“On a basic level, the framework deal between world powers and Tehran will be judged by whether it prevents an Iranian bomb, but that will take years to figure out.

“A more immediate issue is the projection of Western power. Supporters of the framework deal can argue that the U.S. and world powers extracted significant concessions from Iran, breaking a decade-long impasse and proving that diplomacy backed by tough sanctions can bring about positive change even in the Middle East.

“But if, as critics contend, the agreement ends up projecting U.S. weakness instead, that could embolden rogue states and extremists alike, and make the region’s vast array of challenges — from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Syrian civil war to the fighting in Libya and Yemen — even more impervious to Western intervention.

“The United States wants to rein in Syria’s President Bashar Assad as his ruinous civil war grinds into year five. It would like to encourage more liberal domestic policies in Egypt and push Iraq’s leaders to govern more inclusively. Despite years of setbacks, the U.S. would still like to see a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict…

“The implications of a weak United States, meanwhile, are not just regional but global, affecting events from Russia to China and North Korea — as well as the prospects for global accords on climate change or even significant trade deals.”

Obama: “Nuclear Deal Cannot Depend on Iran Recognizing Israel”

Deutsche Welle wrote on April 7:

“Barack Obama has told US radio network NPR that demanding for Iran to recognize Israel would go beyond the scope of the nuclear deal discussed with Tehran… ‘The notion that we would condition Iran not getting nuclear weapons in a verifiable deal on Iran recognizing Israel is really akin to saying that we won’t sign a deal unless the nature of the Iranian regime completely transforms…And that, I think, is a fundamental [mis]judgement,’ Obama said in the interview…

“Meanwhile, Republican leader Mitch McConnell criticized the pact with Iran saying that lawmakers opposed to the deal were planning a formal response…

“On Monday, Israel’s Minister for Strategic Affairs, Yuval Steinitz, said his country was still considering military action against Iran’s nuclear program. ‘It was on the table. It’s still on the table, it’s going to remain on the table…Israel should be able to defend – for itself, by itself – against any threat,’ Steinitz told reporters in Jerusalem.”

Taking America Down…

The Weekly Standard reported on April 8:

“Vice President Dick Cheney had harsh criticism for President Barack Obama in an interview last night with radio host Hugh Hewitt.

“Hewitt asked the former vice president, ‘Is he naïve, Mr. Vice President? Or does he have a far-reaching vision that only he entertains of a realigned Middle East that somehow it all works out in the end?’

“‘I don’t know, Hugh. I vacillate between the various theories I’ve heard, but you know, if you had somebody as president who wanted to take America down, who wanted to fundamentally weaken our position in the world and reduce our capacity to influence events, turn our back on our allies and encourage our adversaries, it would look exactly like what Barack Obama’s doing. I think his actions are constituted in my mind those of the worst president we’ve ever had.’”

America is going down! However, it is because of our national sins and our refusal to turn in heartfelt repentance to God. President Obama may well be an instrument to this end, as Mr. Cheney suggested.

Police Brutality and Abuse in America

The Local wrote on April 7:

“Three German journalists announced on Thursday they are taking the police in the American town of Ferguson to court after they were arrested while covering race riots there in August 2014.

“The journalists, Ansgar Graw of Die Welt, Lukas Hermsmeier of Bild and Frank Hermann, a freelancer for regional newspapers were arrested and detained for ‘refusal to disperse’… Graw told The Local that the police never gave him any official reason for his arrest but that his mugshot was accompanied by the text ‘refusal to disperse.’

“The correspondent said that the case was not about him but about asking ‘whether a county in the USA can accept that their police violate freedom of the press.’ ‘The American police overstep their rights very clearly and too often,’ he said…

“The journalists are arguing that their incarceration was a violation of the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the American Constitution, which cover freedom of speech, freedom of the press and protection against unlawful arrest. Graw, who has been based in Washington since 2009, also complained that conditions in prison were meant to ‘humiliate’ him. He was not only handcuffed but also chained to a wall… ‘In America the attitude is “We are the law and you have to accept whatever we tell you.”'”

Sadly, this seems to be very true far too often—see the appalling report below:

Shot in the Back!!!

Nytimes.com wrote on April 8:

“A white police officer in North Charleston, S.C., was charged with murder on Tuesday after a video surfaced showing him shooting in the back and killing an apparently unarmed black man while the man ran away.

“The officer, Michael T. Slager, 33, said he had feared for his life because the man had taken his stun gun in a scuffle after a traffic stop on Saturday. A video, however, shows the officer firing eight times as the man, Walter L. Scott, 50, fled. The North Charleston mayor announced the state charges at a news conference Tuesday evening.

“The shooting came on the heels of high-profile instances of police officers’ using lethal force in New York, Cleveland, Ferguson, Mo., and elsewhere. The deaths have set off a national debate over whether the police are too quick to use force, particularly in cases involving black men.

“A White House task force has recommended a host of changes to the nation’s police policies, and President Obama sent Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to cities around the country to try to improve police relations with minority neighborhoods.”

Justice has departed from our land!

The Murder of Walter Scott

Deutsche Welle wrote on April 9:

“The man who shocked the world with a video apparently showing a white police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina, shoot unarmed African American Walter Lamer Scott came forward late Wednesday, saying he immediately recognized the significance of the chilling footage he recorded… As a result of the recording, 33-year-old Slager was charged with murder on Tuesday and faces a sentence of life imprisonment or death if convicted. Slager stands accused of killing Scott, 50, after a scuffle that began with a traffic stop for a broken tail light. The video contradicted Slager’s claim that he fired because he felt threatened…

“In an interview with the Associated Press, another North Charleston resident claimed to have lodged a complaint against Slager in 2013 for use of excessive force, but that the officer was allowed to remain on duty following a brief investigation. Mario Givens, now 33, said in the interview that Slager forcibly entered his home and used a stun gun on him despite the fact that Givens had surrendered and put his hands in the air. Givens also claimed that Slager never said what he wanted or who he was looking for…”

One must wonder why persons like Slager are allowed to work as police officers…

California Drought Brings Changes

NYTimes.com reported on April 4:

“For more than a century, California has been the state where people flocked for a better life — 164,000 square miles of mountains, farmland and coastline, shimmering with ambition and dreams, money and beauty. It was the cutting-edge symbol of possibility: Hollywood, Silicon Valley, aerospace, agriculture and vineyards.

“But now a punishing drought — and the unprecedented measures the state announced last week to compel people to reduce water consumption — is forcing a reconsideration of whether the aspiration of untrammeled growth that has for so long been this state’s driving engine has run against the limits of nature.

“The 25 percent cut in water consumption ordered by Gov. Jerry Brown raises fundamental questions about what life in California will be like in the years ahead, and even whether this state faces the prospect of people leaving for wetter climates — assuming, as Mr. Brown and other state leaders do, that this marks a permanent change in the climate, rather than a particularly severe cyclical drought.

“This state has survived many a catastrophe before — and defied the doomsayers who have regularly proclaimed the death of the California dream — as it emerged, often stronger, from the challenges of earthquakes, an energy crisis and, most recently, a budgetary collapse that forced years of devastating cuts in spending. These days, the economy is thriving, the population is growing, the state budget is in surplus, and development is exploding from Silicon Valley to San Diego; the evidence of it can be seen in the construction cranes dotting the skylines of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“But even California’s biggest advocates are wondering if the severity of this drought, now in its fourth year, is going to force a change in the way the state does business.”

European Rapid Reaction Force Ready Within Eight Hours

The Local wrote on April 9:

“Soldiers from Nato’s new rapid reaction force, including hundreds of German troops, were ready to deploy within eight hours of receiving the alert in an exercise simulating an urgent deployment to eastern Europe.

“Around 900 of the 1,500 personnel involved in the 12-nation exercise are based in Germany, where they are supposed to be ready to leave their bases in Saxony, Thuringia and Rhineland-Palatinate with their vehicles and equipment within five days.

“The VJTF was formed in response to growing fears over the threat Russia poses to bordering countries such as Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania in the wake of the Ukraine crisis. By holding forces ready to be deployed at any moment, the alliance hopes to deter Russia from any aggressive moves towards its neighbours in north-eastern Europe…”

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What Can We Learn From the Parable in Matthew 25:1-12?

This parable is a very important aspect of God’s people being prepared. In the previous chapter, Matthew 24, this state of preparedness and readiness is emphasised (see verses 36-44). This last verse states: “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him.”

Ten virgins were waiting to welcome the bridegroom, five being wise and five being foolish.

The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary observes that “Then—at the time referred to at the close of the preceding chapter, the time of the Lord’s Second Coming to reward His faithful servants and take vengeance on the faithless.” The word “then” can be overlooked as it comes at the start of a new chapter; had this man-made separation of chapters not occurred, it would have more easily have been seen as a continuation of the same theme at the end of the previous chapter.

The bridegroom is Jesus Christ (compare Matthew 9:15; Revelation 19:7-9). We must remember that some of the early apostles expected Jesus to return during their lifetime; for instance, Peter, Paul, James and John (see Acts 2:16-21; 1 Corinthians 7:29; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; Hebrews 1:2; James 5:3; 1 Peter 1:20; 1 John 2:18).

In the parable we are addressing, there was one group of virgins who were unprepared for the long delay of the bridegroom. When the cry was heard at midnight (verse 6), the two groups were told to go out and meet him.

Interestingly, in the parable that Christ gave before the one that we are now reviewing, the faithful and evil servants are addressed (Matthew 24:45-51). We read in verses 48-50: “But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of.”

The evil servant was more involved in society rather than with the ways of God, and it is a lesson for God’s people of every age.

The foolish virgins (verse 3) took their lamps with no oil in them and the wise (verse 4) took oil in their lamps. As will be shown, the meaning is that the five foolish virgins did not take any EXTRA oil with them. They still had oil in their lamps, as their lamps were still burning, but it was not enough. The foolish failed to take into account all circumstances including that of the possibility that the bridegroom might come later than expected. As they all slumbered and slept (verse 5), the wise virgins would awaken and get ready but the foolish would be ruing their lack of foresight and application. They tried to obtain oil from the wise virgins but this was not possible. They had foolishly assumed that the wait wouldn’t be for too long. Only the wise virgins became ready to attend the wedding.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary makes these observations: “The wise virgins kept their lamps burning, but they did not keep themselves awake. Too many real Christians grow remiss, and one degree of carelessness makes way for another. Those that allow themselves to slumber will scarcely keep from sleeping; therefore dread the beginning of spiritual decays. A startling summons was given. Go ye forth to meet Him, is a call to those prepared. The notice of Christ’s approach, and the call to meet him, will awaken. Even those best prepared for death have work to do to get actually ready, 2 Peter 3:14. It will be a day of search and inquiry; and it concerns us to think how we shall then be found.”

The Church has long understood that oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. This also applies to the oil in the parable of the ten virgins, in Matthew 25.

The Holy Spirit is not static. It is being used and needs to be refurbished. Even the lamps of the foolish virgins were still burning… the five foolish virgins say in verse 8: “our lamps ARE GOING OUT.” So, the Holy Spirit was still within them, but they did not have enough of the Holy Spirit to get them ready for the return of Christ.

In our Q&A on oil and the Holy Spirit, we state the following:

“There are many passages that convey and support the understanding that oil is used biblically as a symbol for the Holy Spirit. For instance, we read in Mark 6:13 that Christ had His disciples anoint sick people with oil, and they were healed. We know that Christ healed the sick with the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 8:43-46 — the Authorized Version has here, ‘virtue,’ but the literal meaning is, ‘power,’ compare New King James Bible. Compare, too, Mark 5:30; Luke 6:19).

“Christ gave His disciples the same ability to heal sick people by the power of the Holy Spirit (Mark 16:18), which presence is symbolized by the anointing of the sick person with oil (James 5:14).

“Another example for this symbolism is found in the famous parable with the 10 virgins (Matthew 25:3, 4, 8). They all fell asleep, and the oil of the five foolish virgins was going out — that is, they were losing more and more of the power of the Holy Spirit within them.

“1 John 2:27 speaks of our anointing abiding in us. This is a clear reference to the Holy Spirit that had been promised by Jesus Christ (John 14:16; 16:13). In 2 Timothy 1:6, Paul admonishes Timothy to ‘stir up’ — or to ‘re-kindle’ — the gift of God, referring here to the Holy Spirit….”

It is interesting that this parable does not end with the warning that the five foolish virgins will be cast into outer darkness or the lake of fire; and that there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. It is therefore possible that the unprepared five foolish virgins will live on, in the flesh, with other human beings, into the Millennium. They will most certainly not be transformed into Spirit beings at the time of Christ’s return, but it does not say that they will be killed or thrown into the lake of fire at the time of the third resurrection. Still, the point of the parable is that those who are unprepared will not enter the Kingdom of God when Christ returns.

The Pulpit Commentary observes as follows: “These virgins represent believers divided into two sections; evidently they are all supposed to hold the true faith, and to be pure and undefiled followers of the Lord (2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 14:4), to be waiting for his coming, and to love his appearing; but some fail for lack of… perseverance…”

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible states the following:  “… there is a very lively description given of the… judgment… as also, because it appears elsewhere, that such will be the formal, lukewarm, cold, indifferent, secure, and sleepy state of the church, before the second coming of Christ…”

How many people over the years have looked at and studied prophecy to conclude that the end of the age was near and when this didn’t happen as they predicted or expected they just gave up on the Christian way of life?   Christian behaviour should never depend on a deadline for the Second Coming.   We are called to a way of life and the Father will send Christ back to this earth at precisely the right moment without any help from any human being.

Jesus Christ will return to this earth as many prophecies in the Bible clearly show.   For those who think that He doesn’t need to return, that the Church is the Kingdom of God and other wrong ideas, they will be in for a shock when this event does occur.   Matthew 24 clearly shows that Jesus will return and if He didn’t then mankind would literally blow itself to pieces: “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved [alive]; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (verse 22).

The elect of God are those whom God has called over the course of the last 6,000 years. They will be in leadership positions in the Kingdom of God (compare Isaiah 2:1-4 and 9:6-7). In 1 Corinthians 1:26-28 we read about those called: “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are.”

Scoffers were predicted in the last days: “…knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts” (see 2 Peter 3:3). We must never fall into this category.

Our preparation and readiness for this event involves our own continual personal growth and supporting the true Church of God.   We need to have a sense of urgency because even if Jesus Christ does not return in our lifetime, when we die, our next waking moment will be at His return if we are faithful to the end (see 1 Corinthians 15:52). We simply don’t know how long we each have to live.

Preparedness, alertness, anticipation and readiness are qualities that we all need, and letting down in our Christian life will put us in the same predicament in which the five foolish virgins found themselves!

Lead Writers: Brian Gale (United Kingdom) and Norbert Link

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Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

We have notified attendees for the US Feast of Tabernacles, to be held in Pismo Beach, California, that final confirmation of their reservations should now be made. If you are interested in attending the Feast with us, please contact us for further information.

The Offertory by Robb Harris and the sermon presented by Dave Harris (Time To Heed) on last Sabbath are now posted.

We are anticipating the baptisms of several people in Germany this Sabbath, to be conducted by Norbert and Michael Link. Your prayers are appreciated.

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How This Work is Financed

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

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

Technical Team: Eric Rank, Shana Rank

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

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

Donations can be sent to the following addresses:

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

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

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

Maintenance Free; The Fall of Satan; Offertory; Time to Heed

On April 4, 2015, we will observe the first Day of Unleavened Bread. Morning services from Woodburn, Oregon, will begin at 10:00 am Pacific Time. Joe Bourque will give the sermonette (“Maintenance Free”), and Rene Messier will present the sermon (“The Fall of Satan”). Afternoon services will be broadcast from Ft. Collins, Colorado, and will begin at 3:00 pm Mountain Time. Robb Harris will give the Offertory, and Dave Harris will present the sermon (“Time to Heed”).

The live services are available at http://eternalgod.org/live-services/. Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

Norbert Link and Michael Link arrived safely in Germany earlier this week. They will conduct Passover services and observe the Days of Unleavened Bread during their visit.

The sermonette, “How Much Is Enough?” presented by Kalon Mitchell, and the sermon, “My Candidate is Not Standing,” presented by Brian Gale are now posted. These are messages from last Sabbath, March 28, 2015.

We have notified attendees for the US Feast of Tabernacles, to be held in Pismo Beach, California, that final confirmation of their reservations should now be made. If you are interested in attending the Feast with us, please contact us for further information.

Current Events

We begin with alarming news about worsening drought in California; report on persecution against Christians in Northern Ireland; present more of Hillary Clinton’s email saga; and include several articles which highlight events from Ukraine to the volatile changes taking place in the Arab world as the US and its allies struggle to contain Iran’s nuclear ambition.

We conclude with two articles pointing to President Obama’s role in betraying US support for the State of Israel and the historical counterparts he has seemingly adopted.

This Week in the News

California Drought Becoming Critical—Rationing Grows!

Reuters wrote on April 1:

“California Governor Jerry Brown, acting in the face of a devastating multiyear drought, ordered the first statewide mandatory water restrictions on Wednesday, directing cities and communities to reduce usage by 25 percent.

“The cutbacks, to be implemented by state and local water agencies, will affect consumers and businesses throughout the most populous U.S. state, but farmers, who are already making do with less water for irrigation, will be exempt.

“‘We’re standing on dry ground and we should be standing on five feet (1.5 metres) of snow,’ Brown said at a state snow monitoring station in the Sierra Nevada community of Phillips near Lake Tahoe, where dry grass lay limp on the ground.

“‘This is rationing,’ said Brown, a four-term Democrat whose two non-consecutive stints in office have coincided with two of the state’s worst droughts on record. ‘We’re just doing it through the different water districts.’

“The governor said the move, which comes as California reports its lowest snowpack levels on record, would save some 1.5 million acre-feet of water over the next nine months.

“Brown said he was ordering that 50 million square feet (4.6 million square metres) of lawns across the state be replaced with drought-tolerant landscaping and the creation of a consumer rebate program to replace old appliances with newer, more water-efficient models.

“Different parts of the state will have to reduce their water use more than others, because some have already cut way back, Brown said.

“Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the state Water Resources Control Board, said regulators would not hesitate to issue fines of up to $10,000 per day to water districts that do not succeed in implementing the cutbacks.”

These dire circumstances are increasing for not just California but for the entire country. California’s food production is distributed nationwide, and the state’s economy will begin to erode without adequate water supplies. This is the very thing which God warned would happen to our people if we rebelled against Him!

Religious Persecution in Northern Ireland

NewsWithViews.com wrote on March 28:

“Every now and then, an unassuming character of quiet strength and integrity comes into the limelight, and the world once more watches the unjust, and uncalled for battle of good versus evil.

“Daniel McArthur, General Manager of Asher Baking Company, Northern Ireland, which is a small family business operating for 23 years, is one such man, who along with his family have become the latest target of inequality accusations, after the bakery politely turned down the commission of a wedding cake, when it was discovered it was ordered to bear the inscription ‘support gay marriage’.

“Mr McArthur, a committed Christian, has stated that they have declined other requests in the past, where customers wanted bad language or lewd images, decorating their cakes. However, on this occasion, when he declined to promote another contradictory statement to his faith, he promptly received a letter from the Equality Commission, stating they would be seeking compensation from him on the grounds of discrimination against the customer. He was ordered to pay damages within one week.

“He joins a growing number of people in the workplace who have all been hounded and persecuted, not for any attack they have made on another, but for quietly living according to their conscience. Many have lost their jobs.”

As it is so often the case in history, minorities who might have been persecuted in the past are now becoming persecutors.

The Dark Side of Germany’s Co-Pilot Murdering 149 Innocent People

Reuters reported on March 28:

“The co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing a passenger plane in the French Alps told his girlfriend he was in psychiatric treatment, and that he was planning a spectacular gesture that everyone would remember, the German daily Bild reported on Saturday. The newspaper published an interview with a woman who said she had had a relationship in 2014 with Andreas Lubitz… ‘When I heard about the crash, I remembered a sentence, over and over again, that he said,’ the woman, a 26-year-old flight attendant… told Bild.

“‘“One day I’ll do something that will change the system, and then everyone will know my name and remember it.”… He did it because he realized that, due to his health problems, his big dream of working at Lufthansa, of a having job as a pilot, and as a pilot on long-distance flights, was nearly impossible… He never talked much about his illness, only that he was in psychiatric treatment,’ she told the paper, adding they finally broke up because she was afraid of him. ‘He would suddenly freak out in conversations and yell at me,’ she recalled. ‘At night he would wake up screaming “we are crashing” because he had nightmares. He could be good at hiding what was really going on inside him.’

“German authorities said on Friday they had found torn-up sick notes showing that the co-pilot was suffering from an illness that should have grounded him on the day of the tragedy. Germanwings, the budget airline of the flag carrier Lufthansa, has said he had not submitted any sick note at the time…”

According to Welt Online, Lubitz suffered from a severe psychosomatic illness, and investigators found several medications in his home. In addition, according to the New York Times, Lubitz “sought treatment for vision problems that may have jeopardized his ability to continue working as a pilot.”

Daily Mail added: “The disclosures will raise more questions for Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, as to how he was allowed to fly a passenger jet when he was known to suffer from depression – and to have suffered burnout and mental illness. Unusually, Lubitz’s file with the German Civil Aviation Authority had been ‘flagged’ with the warning that he needed regular psychological assessment before being allowed to continue to fly.”

It is indeed almost incomprehensible to believe that Germanwings and its parent company, Lufthansa, did not know or that they shouldn’t have known about Lubitz’s dangerous state of health.

Hillary Clinton’s Email Nightmare

The Associated Press reported on March 27:

“Hillary Clinton wiped her email server ‘clean,’ permanently deleting all emails from it, the chairman of a House committee investigating the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, said Friday. Rep. Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican, said the former secretary of state has failed to produce a single new document in recent weeks and has refused to relinquish her server to a third party for an independent review, as Gowdy has requested…

“The Benghazi committee demanded further documents and access to the server after it was revealed that Clinton used a private email account and server during her tenure at State… Here is what the committee’s statement said: ‘… We learned today, from her attorney, Secretary Clinton unilaterally decided to wipe her server clean and permanently delete all emails from her personal server. While it is not clear precisely when Secretary Clinton decided to permanently delete all emails from her server, it appears she made the decision after October 28, 2014, when the Department of State for the first time asked the Secretary to return her public record to the Department.

“‘Not only was the Secretary the sole arbiter of what was a public record, she also summarily decided to delete all emails from her server, ensuring no one could check behind her analysis in the public interest…’”

Hillary Clinton is also in hot water—not only because former President Bill Clinton’s controversial history of having committed adultery and perjury under oath—but also because her son-in-law, Eaglevale’s hedge fund manager Marc Mezvinsky, has now been accused of having engaged in controversial business transactions, according to Bild Online, the New York Times, and the Washington Times, dated March 25.

The Washington Times wrote:

“The latest Clinton saga — this is from the scandal machine that keeps on giving — was revealed this week by The New York Times. Marc Mezvinsky, husband of Chelsea, has apparently used his inside track with his in-laws to attract investments to Eaglevale, the hedge fund he co-founded and manages. Several wealthy Wall Street friends of his mother-in-law, who have contributed to her presidential campaign, have become Mr. Mezvinsky’s investors, too.

“There’s apparently nothing jail-y or even unethical. So far. But it’s curious and maybe a conflict of interest when mother-in-law is running for president. It may be only the reckless gamble of a cocky young man…”

Politics is such a predictably dirty business. And political GOP candidates are known to “change their views,” when it is convenient for them, to gain more votes. Just listing two recent examples, Ted Cruz fought Obamacare, pledging to “kill” it, until now, when he signed up for it. Rand Paul has consistently advocated the decrease in military spending, until now, when he asked for an increase of 190 billion dollars. And so the list of flip-flopping candidates goes on and on…

Russia Threatens Nuclear Response

The Independent wrote on April 2:

“Russia has threatened to use ‘nuclear force’ to defend its annexation of Crimea and warned that the ‘same conditions’ that prompted it to take military action in Ukraine exist in the three Baltic states, all members of Nato.

“According to notes made by an American at a meeting between Russian generals and US officials – and seen by The Times newspaper – Moscow threatened a ‘spectrum of responses from nuclear to non-military’ if Nato moved more forces into Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

“The Russians told the meeting, which took place in Germany last month, that an attempt to return Crimea to Ukraine would be met ‘forcefully including through the use of nuclear force’.”

Russia’s continuing belligerence is receiving a much more attentive ear in Europe than in the U.S., and leaders in the European Union are being forced to respond by turning to their own resources for a much stronger home-grown military capability.

The Danger of Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO’S Nuclear-Armed Members

Hoover.org reported on March 25:

“A US government study recently concluded that a 10-kiloton nuclear bomb detonated by terrorists a few blocks north of the White House would kill 45,000 people and leave 323,000 wounded. That bomb would be less powerful than most tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) now sitting in European storage bunkers. What is even more alarming: TNW are smaller and more portable, making them inviting targets for terrorists.

“TNW were originally deployed by NATO and Russia during the Cold War to reduce risks—in this case, a war on the European continent. There has never been much transparency or regulation associated with these deployments. Neither NATO nor Russia provides information on their number or location throughout Europe. So NATO and Russian publics have little information with which to assess the risks or benefits associated with their continued deployment…

“In April 2010, General James E. Cartwright, who at the time was vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, made clear his view that these weapons do not serve a military function… former senator Sam Nunn wrote in 2011 that… TNW are more of a security risk than an asset to both NATO and Russia…

“While NATO as an international organization does not possess nuclear weapons, its claim to be a nuclear alliance is based on the willingness of its nuclear-armed members to make their own weapons available to NATO for deterrence and defense. All of the United Kingdom’s ­submarine-based nuclear weapons are formally assigned to NATO, except where the UK may decide that its supreme national interests are at stake. France’s nuclear weapons, while not assigned to NATO, ‘contribute to the overall deterrence and security of the Allies.’ (France is not a member of NATO’s nuclear structure.) While there is no formal consensus on the extent to which US nuclear forces are assigned to NATO, America’s TNW are often assumed to be; they have remained deployed in Europe under nuclear sharing arrangements with NATO members for decades…

“Data from various non-governmental sources indicate that the United States currently deploys somewhere between 150 and 240 air-delivered nuclear weapons (B61 gravity bombs) that are deliverable by NATO aircraft (F-15s, F-16s, and Tornados) at six air force bases in five countries…”

Ukraine in an Almost Impossible Situation

Business Insider wrote on March 27:

“Russia will not negotiate delaying repayment over its $3 billion (£2 billion) loan to Ukraine that is due in December… This leaves the Ukrainian government in an almost impossible situation — either try to change Russian minds, convince the IMF to shift the conditions of its already contentious bailout package (it is highly unusual to provide funds to countries undergoing a civil war), or seek to inflict even deeper losses on private bondholders.

“The $3 billion loan was negotiated in 2013 by the previous government under President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled the country following huge anti-government protests on the streets of the Ukrainian capital Kiev. It stipulated that Ukraine had to keep its national debt below 60% of its GDP — a condition that the country has clearly breached as a civil war has hammered state finances and driven the country into a deep recession.

“This has given Moscow the ability to recall the loan whenever it sees fit, acting as a sword of Damocles over the head of the authorities in Kiev.”

Putin Guilty of Hypocrisy, Saudi Arabia Says

Reuters wrote on March 29:

“Saudi Arabia accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of hypocrisy on Sunday, telling an Arab summit that he should not express support for the Middle East while fuelling instability by supporting Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. In a rare move, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced that a letter from Putin would be read out to the gathering in Egypt, where Arab leaders discussed an array of regional crises, including conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Libya…

“Relations between Saudi Arabia and Russia have been cool over Moscow’s support for Assad, whom Riyadh opposes. The civil war between Assad’s forces and rebels has cost more than 200,000 lives in four years… The Saudi rebuke may have been awkward for summit host Egypt, which depends heavily on billions of dollars in support from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab allies, but has also improved ties with Moscow.

“In February, Putin received a grand welcome in Egypt, signaling a rapprochement.”

Arabs Want to Form Joint Military Force

AFP wrote on March 29:

“Arab leaders agreed on Sunday to form a joint military force after a summit dominated by a Saudi-led offensive on Shiite rebels in Yemen and the threat from Islamist extremism. Arab representatives will meet over the next month to study the creation of the force and present their findings to defence ministers within four months, according to the resolution adopted by the leaders…

“The decision was mostly aimed at fighting jihadists who have overrun swathes of Iraq and Syria and secured a foothold in Libya, Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said ahead of the summit. On Sunday, Arabi told the meeting the region was threatened by a ‘destructive’ force that threatened ‘ethnic and religious diversity’, in an apparent reference to the Islamic State group.”

The New York Times added on March 29:

“The Arab states said on Sunday that they had agreed to form a combined military force to counter both Iranian influence and Islamist extremism, a gesture many analysts attributed in large part to their drive for more independence from Washington.

“The agreement came as American and other Western diplomats in Lausanne, Switzerland, were racing to beat a self-imposed deadline of Tuesday to reach a deal with Iran that would restrict its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of economic sanctions. In response, Saudi Arabia and other American allies in the region have made clear that they are seeking to bolster independent regional security measures because they see the proposed accord as a betrayal of Washington’s commitment to their security.

“Regardless of Iran’s nuclear program, they complain, the deal would do nothing to stop Iran from seeking to extend its influence around the region by backing favored factions, as it has done in Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain and Yemen.

“Many of the Arab states, including Egypt, Jordan and most of the Gulf monarchies, have thrown their support behind a Saudi Arabia-led campaign of airstrikes to counter advances by the Iranian-backed Houthi movement in Yemen; Washington is providing only intelligence and logistical support, but Saudi Arabia is leading the bombing while Egypt, with the largest Arab army, has pledged to send ground troops ‘if necessary’…”

Nuclear Agreement With Iran “Worse Than Feared”

Thomson/Reuters wrote on March 29:

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned on Sunday the framework Iranian nuclear agreement being sought by international negotiators, saying it was even worse than his country had feared. Israel has mounted what it terms an ‘uphill battle’ against an agreement that might ease sanctions on the Iranians while leaving them with a nuclear infrastructure with bomb-making potential. Tehran says its nuclear program is peaceful.”

AFP added:

“[Netanyahu] said the ‘Iran-Lausanne-Yemen axis’ was ‘dangerous for all of humanity’ and that combined with Tehran’s regional influence, a nuclear deal could allow Iran to ‘conquer’ the Middle East.”

An Arab joint military force (without and in defense against Iran) might prevent any (further) Iranian occupation of the Middle East. At the same time, American foreign policy is almost too incomprehensible and inconsistent as to make any sense. While America tries to strike a deal with Iran, it supports the fight against Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen, while supporting the fight against Iranian-opposed Sunni radicals (IS) while supporting both Sunni and Shiite rebels against Syria’s Assad, while antagonizing Israel…

Washington Lacks Sympathy For Its Partners and Friends

Foreign Policy wrote on March 30:

“As a March 31 deadline looms in the negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, the United States and France, two strong allies, have found themselves increasingly at odds, at times quite publicly. While the White House has been pushing hard for consensus on the framework for a deal ahead of the deadline, Paris has been pushing back…

“Relations between Paris and Washington have been tainted with suspicion ever since Syria used chemical weapons in August 2013 and Obama failed to enforce his ‘red line.’…

“Paris is in good company, alongside many of Washington’s traditional allies in the region, including the Gulf states, Israel, and Turkey, which have all felt shunted aside in the interest of reconciliation with Iran…

“Behind the Iran nuclear talks hovers the question of the future and shape of American power and leadership. For a decade, European countries have worked on trying to rein in Iran’s nuclear program. France, like the other countries, has taken an economic hit in this effort, thanks to the sanctions regime. Now the view from Paris is of a Washington that seems to lack empathy and trust for its longtime friends and partners — more interested in making nice with Iran than looking out for its old allies.”

April Fool’s Day Deal with Iran?

Reuters wrote on April 1:

“Six world powers and Iran will meet again later on Wednesday in a bid to reach an outline accord reining in Tehran’s nuclear programme, after failing to agree [on] crucial details such as the lifting of U.N. sanctions by a Tuesday deadline.

“The negotiators ended talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne in the early hours of Wednesday and said they would reconvene later in the day, with Iran and Russia expressing optimism that an initial agreement was within reach…

“With Iran asserting its ‘nuclear rights’ and the United States threatening on Tuesday to abandon the negotiations, the talks have been bogged down on the issues of nuclear research, the lifting of U.N. sanctions and their restoration if Iran breaches the agreement.

“Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said negotiators had reached a general accord on ‘all key aspects’, according to Russia’s TASS news agency, while his Iranian counterpart said a draft agreement could be prepared on Wednesday.

“But a diplomat close to the talks denied that such an agreement had been reached…”

Controversial Deal With Iran Reached

The Associated Press reported on April 2:

“After marathon negotiations, the United States, Iran and five other world powers announced an agreement Thursday outlining limits on Iran’s nuclear program to block it from developing atomic weapons and directing negotiators toward a final accord this summer.

“The United States and Iran each hailed the framework, reached by weary but upbeat diplomats after a week of intense diplomacy in Switzerland that capped 18 months of negotiations. Speaking from the White House, President Barack Obama called it a ‘good deal’ that would address concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“Crucially for the Iranians, it also would provide them broad relief over time from international sanctions that have crippled their economy. Still, critics in both nations as well as wary U.S. allies Israel and Saudi Arabia were likely to oppose the ‘plan of action’ because of concessions allowing Iran to maintain significant elements of a program that could be used to produce either energy or nuclear arms…

“Negotiators from the nations involved — including Russia and China — will now start writing the text of a final accord…”

Iran Deal Complete Capitulation of the West

Breitbart wrote on April 3:

“The P5+1 powers have, as expected, reached a ‘framework agreement’ on a nuclear deal with Iran. And, as suspected, the agreement allows Iran to retain its enrichment facility at an underground bunker. It also allows Iran to maintain a small amount of enriched uranium, and will offer the regime sanctions relief as soon as it can show it is keeping its end of the bargain…

“The deal is a near-complete capitulation by President Barack Obama… Obama taunted his critics, saying that a deal was surely better than war, which he suggested was the only alternative.

“But the question at stake is not whether there will be war with Iran. There already is. Iran’s Houthi proxies ousted a government in Yemen that had provided the most important foundation for Obama’s policy of attacking Al Qaeda terrorists who threaten the United States. The Iranians are also propping up Bashar al-Assad in Syria, whom the Obama administration is at least theoretically committed to deposing. And though it is fighting ISIS in Iraq, Iran is taking over what the U.S. once defended.

“The question, simply, is not whether there will be war, but whether Iran will be able to obtain a nuclear weapon. And while President Obama promised Thursday that the framework agreement closes off all paths to a bomb, that is simply not true. Iran maintains a significant amount of control over international inspections. It has been forgiven for its past cheating, and allowed to maintain significant nuclear assets. And it may have other secret nuclear facilities, including military ones yet unknown.

“The negotiations took place as if in a vacuum, separate from the role Iran is playing in the region—as if its ongoing “non-negotiable” pledges to destroy Israel did not matter, as if Iran were not supervising the slaughter of innocents in Syria, or trying to bomb an embassy in Uruguay….

“There is only one way to close off Iran’s path to a bomb, and that is to depose the regime. The region wants them gone. The Iranian people want them gone. And the mullahs nearly were gone, six years ago. But Obama preserved them by refusing to intervene on behalf of the pro-democracy movement. He preserved the Ayatollahs for this moment, for the gesture of a grand bargain….”

“Obama’s Revenge”—“US Declassifies Report Detailing Israel’s Nuke Program”

Newsmax reported on March 26:

The U.S. government has chosen to declassify a top secret document that pulls the lid off Israel’s nuclear weapons program… It is believed to be the first time the U.S. has publicly acknowledged Israel has nuclear arms. The 386-page document provides a detailed breakdown of how Israel developed nuclear weapons in the 1970s and 1980s.

“Israel is ‘developing the kind of codes which will enable them to make hydrogen bombs…’ reads the report… [saying that] Israel was ‘reaching the ability to create bombs considered a thousand times more powerful than atom bombs’ in the 1980s.

“The document also says Israel’s nuclear research laboratories ‘are equivalent to [the United States’] Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Oak Ridge National Laboratories.’ ‘As far as nuclear technology is concerned the Israelis are roughly where the U.S. was in the fission weapon field in about 1955 to 1960,’ reads the document…

“In the section about Israel, the report details the nation’s several weapons programs, complete with charts and pictures that depict weapons systems. The report was written by the Institute for Defense Analysis, an agency working in tandem with the Pentagon.”

Obama a Modern Haman and Chamberlain?

The Jerusalem Post wrote on March 29:

“Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, chief rabbi of Efrat, on Saturday night compared US President Barack Obama to Haman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Mordechai. Speaking at the Jerusalem Great Synagogue, the American-born Riskin said that he could not understand what was going through Obama’s mind. ‘The president of the United States is lashing out at Israel just like Haman lashed out at the Jews,’ he said… Just as Mordechai was focused on saving the Jews of Persia from destruction, he said, so Netanyahu is focused on saving Israel and the world from destruction…

“Riskin drew an analogy between the conquest of Babylonia by ancient Persia and the armed conflict between Iran and Iraq. In relation to Iran, he said that the only difference between Iran and the Islamic State was who would be using power to control the world…

“Riskin was not the only prominent rabbi to criticize Obama over the weekend for his diplomatic policies. The World Values Network, founded and run by American rabbi and public figure Shmuley Boteach, took out a full page advertisement in The New York Times on Saturday comparing the deal being drawn up with Iran on its nuclear project to the Munich Agreement signed in 1938 by British prime minister Neville Chamberlain with Adolf Hitler, widely seen as an act of appeasement that emboldened the Nazi leader.

“The Times ad bore a picture of a pensive-looking Obama with an inset picture of Chamberlain holding aloft a copy of the Munich Agreement that he infamously declared to represent ‘peace for our time,’ just 11 months before Hitler ordered the invasion of Poland marking the beginning of the World War II.

“The ad described Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a ‘terror overlord’ and a ‘Hitler-wannabe,’ and said that the deal being discussed with Iran would ‘enable the world’s foremost sponsor of terror to become a nuclear power.’

“It called on Obama to demand that Khamenei personally and publicly repudiate his threats against Israel, that Iran cease support for terrorist groups and for the US president not to approve a deal that ‘allows the potentially catastrophic one-year-weapons-breakout period, which endangers Israel, the Middle East, America and the world.’”

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