A Big THANK YOU to God

By Delayla Sperzel (15) – Germany

My mom and I went to my orthodontist because I had to get fixed braces. We went to appointments on three consecutive days and I was trying to predict which pliers the orthodontist was going to use during the application and got it right each time, as I’m a very quick learner. When he heard that, he asked me if I wanted to do an internship at the clinic. Since I was still searching for something at this point, I brought an application with me the next day. He was very enthusiastic about this application and asked me if I had time for an internship and we made appointments together for this.

Therefore, at the beginning of July, I spent 3 days doing an internship in the orthodontics practice.

On the last day of my internship, the boss invited me to his office, where he praised me very much, and told me that he was very impressed that I had done such a wonderful job and that I had a great and positive charisma. After the great praise, he gave me the wonderful message that he would like me to be part of his team.

I give thanks to God and His leadership and how God intervened in my new phase of life and put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Now he has provided me with a wonderful education and a very nice and understanding boss.

Initial Translation: Anna Link

This Week in the News

More Evidence Against President Joe Biden?

The Daily Mail wrote on July 31:

“Hunter Biden’s business partner Devon Archer told Congress in bombshell testimony the ‘Biden brand’ helped Ukrainian firm Burisma from going bankrupt and revealed Joe was on the phone at least 20 times while his son was talking with foreign associates. Republicans claim Archer’s testimony added to mounting evidence that the then-Vice President was involved in Hunter’s overseas deals that raked in millions from nations including China and Romania.  Democrats claimed the phone calls were innocent and did not involve business. 

“Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., confirmed Archer told the House Oversight Committee that Joe had been on speakerphone multiple times while his son was talking with business partners – but insisted they were talking about ‘niceties’ such as the weather

“Oversight member Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told DailyMail.com in an interview Archer testified that ‘the Bidens were in the actual business of influence peddling’… claiming that the 20 phone conversations Archer referred to were directly about business deals

“But Archer is facing legal troubles of his own and is expected to go to prison shortly. He was sentenced to one year and a day in prison in February 2022 for defrauding a Native American tribal entity and various investment advisory clients of tens of millions of dollars, in connection with the issuance of $60 million in bonds…

“Archer, 48, and Hunter both graduated from Yale and were friends for decades. Hunter has reportedly described Devon as his ‘best friend in business.’…

“Archer testified that Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi [and] owner Nikola Zlochevsky put ‘constant pressure’ on Hunter in 2015 to get his father to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was investigating Burisma… In March 2016, Joe Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in aid to Ukraine if Shokin was not fired for corruption…”

Shortly thereafter, Shokin was fired. The pieces of the puzzle are falling into place.

More Criminal Charges Against Trump

Fox News wrote on August 1:

“Fox News correspondent David Spunt reported… that Trump had been indicted on four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

“[Professor] Turley [explained] that special counsel Jack Smith might be ‘yielding to his weakness’ with the indictment. ‘[Smith] may be stretching the law a bit… Jack Smith has a reputation for stretching criminal statutes beyond the breaking point. He went after [former Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell] and secured a conviction there. He was unanimously overturned because he just stretched the law too far.’…

“Host Jesse Watters… expressed incredulity that it appears to relitigate claims of election fraud in 2020 in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Michigan. Watters quipped that Democrats might not want to go back down the road of defending the ‘integrity’ of the election system in Philadelphia…

“Trump has repeatedly claimed Pence had the authority to send the elector slates back to the state legislatures under the Electoral Count Act of 1887… [Former New York federal prosecutor Andy] McCarthy… suggested that no matter how ‘frivolous,’ such machinations, [they] are likely protected speech… ‘it was something that [Trump] was allowed to rely on’…”

Real Clear Politics wrote on August 1:

“[Professor] Jonathan Turley on Tuesday told FOX News host Sean Hannity that… ‘This is a free speech killing indictment. There’s no way around it. I write a great deal in academia in the free-speech area and I [have] rarely seen a more chilling filing by the Department of Justice…  And I have to tell you, this indictment is really [a] sad moment for me… It basically just says that we think Trump is lying that he actually didn’t believe this. I can’t tell you how faciously ridiculous this claim is…’”

Breitbart wrote on August 1:

“Turley said Special Counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump ‘basically just accuses him of disinformation. This is a disinformation indictment’ and charges “many” things that are protected by the First Amendment…’”

CNBC wrote on August 1:

“An attorney who is representing former President Donald Trump in his latest federal criminal indictment vowed to use the charges to ‘re-litigate every single issue in the 2020 election in the context of this litigation.’ The case gives Trump ‘an opportunity that he has never had before, which is to have subpoena power since January 6 in a way that can be exercised in federal court,’ attorney John Lauro said in a Fox News interview.”

In the 45-page indictment, it was alleged about 50 times regarding election fraud that Trump made false statements which he knew were false. With these accusations, Jack Smith has opened up a Pandora’s box as Trump will undoubtedly try to litigate or relitigate the question on the merits whether his statements regarding a “rigged election” were false and whether he knew that they were false. The underlying question is also whether a person can even be criminally prosecuted for conduct while in the office of the Presidency, and whether his statements are constitutionally protected as free speech and therefore immune from criminal prosecution. In addition, note the next article.

npr wrote on August 1:

“… one count of conspiracy against rights refers to Trump and his co-conspirators alleged attempts to ‘oppress, threaten and intimidate’ people in their right to vote in an election. The charge of ‘conspiracy against rights’ goes back to the Civil War era. It was passed after the Civil War as a way to stop members of the Ku Klux Klan and other similar organizations from intimidating, harassing and outright terrorizing Black voters especially in the South. This law was part of the Enforcement Act, passed between 1868 and 1870…”

As can be clearly seen, this law does not remotely apply to Trump’s alleged conduct.

The article continued:

“The case [against Trump] has been assigned to Judge Tanya S. Chutkan [who] stood out for her tough punishment [and “the hardest line against Jan. 6 defendants of any judge serving on Washington’s federal trial court”] for Jan. 6 rioters. In at least seven cases… Chutkan imposed harsher penalties than what federal prosecutors sought for those rioters.”

Chutkan was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama.

Reactions from Republicans

Breitbart wrote on August 1:

“Republican officials blasted the Justice Department’s January 6 probe and the fresh indictment of former President Donald Trump, expressing support for Trump in the face of ‘serial election interference.’… Republican members slammed Smith’s ‘political witch hunt’ targeting ‘every one of his supporters.’

“House Republican Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) released a statement on ‘the disgraceful non-stop witch hunt by Biden’s corrupt DOJ against President Trump,’ calling Tuesday ‘yet another dark day in America’ as Biden continues to ‘weaponize’ his ‘corrupt’ Justice Department against his leading political opponent:  ‘Less than 24 hours ago, Congress heard testimony from Hunter Biden’s longtime business partner that Joe Biden joined Hunter‘s business calls over 20 times. This directly contradicts Biden’s lie that he never discussed business with his son. Today’s sham indictment of Donald Trump is yet another desperate attempt to distract attention away from the mounting evidence of Joe Biden‘s direct involvement in his family’s illegal influence peddling scheme — one of the greatest political corruption scandals in history.’

“According to Stefanik, Trump ‘had every right under the First Amendment to correctly raise concerns about election integrity in 2020.’…

“House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) highlighted how people have recently been informed that Hunter Biden ‘received money from China (contradicting President Biden’s claim),’ that Biden ‘spoke with Hunter’s business associates over 20 times (contradicting what Biden previously claimed),’ and that Biden’s DOJ ‘tried to secretly give Hunter broad immunity and admitted the sweetheart deal was unprecedented.’… he charged that ‘Everyone in America could see what was going to come next: DOJ’s attempt to distract from the news and attack the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, President Trump.’…

“‘Let’s be clear about what’s happening: Biden’s DOJ is cutting sweetheart deals for Hunter to cover for the Biden Family’s influence peddling schemes while at the same time trying to persecute his leading political opponent,’ wrote House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) as he deemed it ‘an outrageous abuse of power.’…

“‘When you drain The Swamp, The Swamp fights back,’ wrote House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH). ‘President Trump did nothing wrong!’…

“‘It’s not shocking that every time the Biden crime family has evidence surface (FD-1023), or a congressional hearing that exposes further corruption and abuses of power, that the weaponized DoJ indicts his top political opponent (Pres. Trump),’ wrote Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL)…

“‘Democrats would rather destroy America than see Donald Trump in the White House again,’ wrote Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN)…”

And many more voiced their disgust with Smith’s indictment. Also, Fox News wrote on August 1:

“Reacting to the charges, a Trump campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital [that] ‘the lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes.’”

Where is America heading?

More Charges Against Trump in the Document Case

Breitbart wrote on July 27:

“Special Counsel Jack Smith on Thursday (one day after Hinter Biden’s “sweetheart plea deal” fell apart) brought new charges against former President Donald Trump in the Mar-a-Lago White House documents case. Smith charged Trump with one count of willful retention of national defense documents and two counts of obstruction. Trump’s valet, Walt Nauta, who was previously charged in the first indictment, also received two new obstruction-related charges.

“The superseding indictment also charged Carlos De Oliveira, Mar-a-Lago’s head of maintenance, with altering, destroying, mutilating, or concealing a document, making false statements, and conspiracy to obstruct justice…

“With the additional charges, Trump is now facing 40 counts in the criminal case.

“Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung blasted the U.S. Department of Justice for the new charges, calling it a ‘continued desperate and flailing attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their Department of Justice to harass President Trump and those around him… Deranged Jack Smith knows that they have no case and is casting about for any way to salvage their illegal witch hunt and to get someone other than Donald Trump to run against Crooked Joe Biden…’

“Judge Aileen Cannon set a trial in this case for next May, just months before the 2024 presidential election.”

In a related article, Breitbart wrote on July 27:

“‘This is harassment. This is election interference,’ Trump said when asked to respond to the superseding indictment and additional charges. ‘I’m protected by the Presidential Records Act totally. It shouldn’t even be a case. It’s not a criminal case. Where’s Biden with all the documents? He’s got 20 times, 30 times the documents I have, and he has not made it easy for them either. He has been hiding boxes. They’re sending boxes to Chinatown… and yet China is paying them millions of dollars. You explain that one. You don’t even hear about it. All you hear about is Trump. No, this is a two-tier system of injustice. That’s what we have. We have a sick country… We have a failing nation and it’s a very sad thing to watch.’…

“Trump also told Breitbart News that if elected president again—he is currently the leading GOP candidate for the White House—he would fire Smith. Trump also cited failed cases Smith’s office has brought against other politicians from both political parties… ‘He’s destroyed a lot of lives… He went after Christians… What he’s done is just horrible. The abuse of power—it is prosecutorial misconduct.’…

“Trump said he thinks history will remember this all as an ‘embarrassment’ for Democrats and for the nation… Trump said he believes the public sees it his way, which is why he says his poll numbers keep rising—in both the primary and the general…”

Trump denied all charges and said he will continue to run, even if he were convicted and sentenced. Questions were raised in the media whether he could pardon himself once he was elected President—a question not addressed in the Constitution. It was also pointed out that if he were to do so, it would be very difficult to challenge this, because, for one reason, who would even have standing to do so in a Court of Law?

GOP Members Outraged by Biden’s “Justice” Department

The New York Post wrote on July 28:

“The three new charges stacked against Donald Trump have left members of the GOP enraged over the timing a day after Hunter Biden’s probation-only plea deal fell apart. ‘It’s so brazen right now, what they’re doing,’ Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told Fox News… ‘It is really a subversion of the rule of law…’

“Hawley said the Department of Justice has begun ‘charging random people’… hinting that the new charges were meant to take attention off the first son. ‘Is it any coincidence that the DOJ rushes to add these new indictments today, after the Hunter debacle…

“The president’s son pleaded not guilty to federal tax and gun charges following the bombshell ruling by the judge, opening the door for the possibility of additional charges in the future — such as for allegedly working as an unregistered foreign agent.

“Hunter Biden admitted during the hearing he had received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Chinese Communist Party-backed companycontradicting President Biden’s claims that his family never ‘made money from China.’

“Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called the charges brought forth by the Democrats ‘a disgrace’… ‘I think Merrick Garland should be impeached and removed from office for allowing the Department of Justice to be turned into a partisan hammer to attack the political enemies of the White House,’ Cruz said of the attorney general…

“Fellow Republican lawmakers have also begun ringing the bell that the indictment is being used as a distraction to benefit the Biden family. ‘The American people understand that Joe Biden and his administration are engulfed in one of the biggest political corruption scandals of all time,’ wrote House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) in a statement shared on Twitter. ‘It is no coincidence that the day after a federal judge throws out Hunter Biden’s corrupt, sweetheart plea bargain, Biden’s weaponized [Department of Justice] continues its witch hunt against President Trump,’ she added. ‘Our Republic is in peril, our justice system is broken.’…”

The Justice Department’s blatant witch hunt against Donald Trump and the appalling protection of Joe Biden are continuing…

What is particularly shocking about the Hunter Biden sweetheart plea deal is that the prosecution and the defense attorneys reportedly tried to hide the immunity clause in an attachment (dealing with the gun charge), which was allegedly given to the judge on the day of the hearing (not before) with the apparent hope that the judge would not even read it and sign off on the deal.

It will remain to be seen whether the judge who has given the parties leave to amend the documents, will ultimately sign off on them, as some scholars have already suggested that she would.  Some have even expressed their fear that the immunity clause will be removed from the written documentation, but a secret verbal understanding between the prosecution and Hunter Biden’s attorneys will be reached to the effect that no further charges against Hunter will be brought, while claiming that investigations are ongoing so that Congress would have no access to uncovered information pending investigation.

This is almost too bizarre to contemplate, but with the existing corrupt Justice Department, even the unbelievable becomes believable.

Great Britain Takes Note of the Biden Scandal

The Daily Mail wrote on July 28:

“This was the week Joe Biden’s ‘s rotten House Of Cards began teetering on the brink of collapse. While Netflix’s fictional U.S. President Kevin Spacey was found not guilty of sex charges by a jury in London, in another courtroom 3,500 miles away the web of lies and secrecy around alleged corruption in the Biden family was unravelling spectacularly…

“A judge in Delaware threw out a disgraceful sweetheart deal which would have seen Biden’s degenerate son Hunter walking free after pleading guilty to tax evasion, gun and drug charges, which would normally have led to serious jail time. Judge Maryellen Noreika refused to rubber-stamp an incredibly lenient plea bargain agreement stitched up between Hunter’s lawyers and the prosecution. It would have given Hunter not just a virtually free pass on past and present crimes but would have granted him immunity against any future charges he might face. After the judge ripped up the deal, Hunter was forced to enter not guilty pleas on two counts to which he had pleaded guilty to minutes earlier. He now faces further investigation into alleged crimes which may well implicate his father.

“On Monday, Hunter’s former best friend and business partner Devon Archer is due to tell a Congressional committee that both Hunter and Joe Biden accepted bribes of $5 million each from a Ukrainian businessman. He is also expected to testify that despite previous repeated denials, the President was involved in his son’s business dealings. Archer says he was present when Joe Biden took part in not one but 24 separate telephone conference calls with Hunter’s foreign clients.

“That’s if Archer actually turns up and isn’t found floating face down in Washington’s Potomac River. Last night he was reported to have gone into hiding, after friends said he had received unspecified ‘threats’ against both himself and his family.

“For once, America’s mainstream media hasn’t been able to swerve the mounting evidence against the Bidens. On Wednesday all three major national TV networks led their nightly news bulletins with reports on the sensational decision by the judge to throw out Hunter’s sweetheart deal. Until now, Joe Biden has enjoyed fawning coverage from NBC, ABC and CBS, along with backing from 95 per cent of America’s big city newspapers. Negative stories have been studiously ignored…

“Peter Baker, who covers the White House for the Democrat-supporting New York Times, admitted it would be difficult for Joe Biden to continue defending his son on the grounds of Hunter’s well-documented ‘battle’ against drug addiction… And tellingly, Baker added: ‘For President Biden, it’s not just about his wayward son but whether he himself had something to do with his wayward son’s business dealings.’ Joe Biden has always maintained he has never even discussed business with Hunter. That changed subtly this week when the White House said he had never been in business… with him…

“Yet if half of what is being alleged about Joe Biden is true, Clinton’s ‘I did not have sex with that woman, Miss Lewinsky’ is at worst a little white lie which pales into insignificance alongside allegations of multi-million-dollar influence peddling. The claim that both Bidens received $5 million each in bribes from a Ukrainian businessman is supported by a recently released document detailing sworn evidence from a source described as an FBI ‘trusted confidential informant’…

“[Hunter’s] laptop hard drive contained a mine of explosive and potentially incriminating material [including] an email from Hunter to his sister complaining that he had to give half his income to his father…

“[Press spokeswoman] Karine Jean-Pierre… refused to answer questions from the Washington Press Corps on the preposterous grounds that Hunter is a ‘private person’ who is trying to ‘rebuild his life’ following drug addiction… As for the notion that Hunter is a private person, how come he was driven to court in a six-vehicle secret service motorcade? If he’s a private person, what is he doing at official functions at the White House, where he appears to live half the time? Why is he flying to Camp David on Marine One… or swanning round the world on Air Force One, accompanying his dad on state visits?…

“Biden’s apologists say he is only trying to protect his son. But, as former Republican speaker Newt Gingrich said this week, President Biden is really trying to protect himself… Even the mainstream media, which has protected Biden for years, appear to be withdrawing their love right now…”

Calls for an impeachment inquiry and impeachment have been growing. Bribery is one of the two offenses specifically mentioned by the Constitution as grounds for impeachment, along with treason. But will it reach that point? Note the next articles.

A Doomed President?

1945 wrote on July 28:

“Those who are concerned that former President Donald J. Trump’s alleged crimes will dissuade independent voters from supporting Trump in the General Election will now have to contend with the fact that President Biden will be under the same—if not more—legal scrutiny than Trump if Biden remains the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee in 2024. 

“Already, President Biden is one of the most unpopular men to have ever run for reelection in modern political history. He’s got slightly less unpopularity than what Trump has. But the presence of this corruption scandal hanging over his head, as well as the likelihood that the Republicans impeach the forty-sixth president, means that his chances for reelection have just declined drastically—and Trump’s chances have increased. 

“This is a nightmare scenario for the Democrats, who now find themselves having to support Biden no matter what or replace him with a far less effective candidate, such as Vice-President Kamala Harris.  Or with a more effective candidate, like California’s Governor Gavin Newsom, who will have difficulty proving to independent voters that they should vote for the obviously unstable Democratic Party in 2024, should the DNC kick both its presidential and vice-presidential candidates to the curb.”

What are the Republicans waiting for in regard to an impeachment inquiry or impeachment? While the Democrats impeached Trump twice with much less “evidence,” Republicans don’t seem to be willing to impeach Biden, while the evidence of his misconduct is mounting. The next article might explain as to why the reluctance.

Impeaching Biden?

1945 wrote on July 28:

“Former Speaker Newt Gingrich has a warning for Republicans on a Joe Biden Impeachment: You will get President Kamala Harris if you impeach Joe Biden and remove him from office… ‘The only short-term consequence of a successful impeachment is Kamala Harris , and Kamala would be such a total disaster for the country that Biden’s corruption is probably preferable to her incompetence,’ Gingrich said…

“The chances of removing Biden in the event he is impeached is slim and none because it takes 67 senators to remove a president from office. Donald Trump’s second impeachment marked the first time a majority of senators voted to remove the then former president. Fifty-seven senators voted to remove and disqualify Trump, falling 10 votes short…

“The precedent set during the Trump impeachments has transformed impeachment into something akin to a vote of no confidence, as exists in parliamentary democracies. Impeaching Biden would expose politically damaging information during the 2024 political campaign and could take the political sting off of the Trump prosecutions. It would then be up to the voters to decide which candidate is the lesser of two evils.”

From that last standpoint, impeachment procedures against Biden would make a lot of sense.

Doomed Either Way–Neither Trump Nor Biden?

The Washington Examiner wrote on July 29:

“A new poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports confirmed what many voters say to each other: we’re doomed. The interesting twist on this survey is that the answer is more indicative of the country’s political tribalism than any particular candidate’s character or platform.

“82% of the country thinks we are doomed if President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump is reelected president in 2024. This breaks down to 40% of ‘likely U.S. voters’ agreeing that the country is doomed unless Biden is elected. Conversely, 42% of voters felt that Trump must win in 2024 or ‘the United States is doomed.’…

69% of liberals agreed in some form with the ‘Biden-or-doom’ attitude regarding the 2024 presidential election. Comparatively, 63% of conservative voters supported the ‘Trump-or-doom scenario.’… only 24% of voters ‘strongly disagree’ with both the Biden-or-doom and Trump-or-doom statements…

“The poll reveals what many people in the country already knew: we are a country divided…”

A division which will NOT be cured.

How Biden “Forced” Censorship of Free Speech

Fox News wrote on July 28:

“The Biden administration is facing intense scrutiny after Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, revealed a ‘smoking gun’ Thursday indicating alleged collusion between the White House and Facebook to censor Americans. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey argued the documents obtained by the House Judiciary Committee show the Biden administration pushed Big Tech beyond its own censorship bounds… ‘We knew that Joe Biden had coerced and colluded with Big Tech social media to silence American voices in violation of the First Amendment right to free speech,’ Bailey [said]. ‘And what this shows is that not only did he coerce and collude with Big Tech social media, but he actually pushed them further than their own internal censorship policies…’

“Earlier this month a judge blocked key Biden agencies and departments from communicating with social media companies to avoid potential First Amendment violations in the Missouri v. Biden ruling… ‘We can’t let Joe Biden destroy free speech in America,’ Bailey continued. 

“‘Never-before-released internal documents subpoenaed by the Judiciary Committee PROVE that Facebook and Instagram censored posts and changed their content moderation policies because of unconstitutional pressure from the Biden White House,’ Jordan wrote Thursday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. ‘During the first half of 2021, social media companies like Facebook faced tremendous pressure from the Biden White House—both publicly and privately—to crack down on alleged “misinformation”… In April 2021, a Facebook employee circulated an email for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg, writing: “We are facing continued pressure from external stakeholders, including the [Biden] White House’ to remove posts.”

“‘They didn’t actually care whether things was true or false to censor it. They just censored it. So, for instance, if you said that you had a pretty good immunity after COVID recovery, well, you could get censored. If you said that people could get vaccine injured [sic] you were censored,’ Dr. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford Medical said Friday. Last year’s ‘Twitter Files’ revealed that Bhattacharya was allegedly on the platform’s ‘blacklist’ because he ‘argued that COVID lockdowns would harm children,’ according to information revealed by reporter Bari Weiss. ‘You could even get censored for saying true things,’ Bhattacharya continued. ‘For instance, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was paused by the CDC. When the White House posted that on its Facebook page, it got censored. It got censored by its own censorship regime that it created. It’s ironic and tragic that the White House violated the rights of American people for nothing.’

“But Jordan said Facebook knew what it was doing when it was succumbing to the administration’s demands in order to maintain a ‘cozy’ relationship… ‘One of those Facebook executives said “this is a significant incursion into the boundaries of free expression.” That is a fancy way of saying this violates the First Amendment…’

“Bhattacharya echoed Jordan’s sentiment, arguing the White House infringed on Americans’ free speech rights, but also ‘harmed public health’ in the process…”

So much more has been revealed in the meantime, including Biden’s pressure on Facebook [now called Meta] to delete footage from Tucker Carlson’s Fox News program (see The Wall Street Journal, dated July 28). In light of this evil development of governmental suppression of free speech— including true statements—, the next article is really shocking.

Most Democrats Support Suppression of Free Speech

The Ron Paul Institute republished the following article by Professor Turley on July 27:

“[A new] Pew found that ‘Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are much more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to support the US government taking steps to restrict false information online (70% vs. 39%).’

“I was raised in a politically active Democratic family in Chicago. Free speech was viewed as one of the defining values of the party and championed across campuses in the country. That changed dramatically in the course of the last ten years as many liberal politicians and professors called for opposing voices to be banned or canceled. I no longer recognize the party as it pushes for censorship and speech regulation

“What is particularly chilling is that this poll is occurring after the disclosure of biased censorship efforts by the government and corporations, including the suppression of views that were later found to be legitimate. That includes the banning or cancelling of scientists who raised concerns over Covid-19 that are now considered valid from the lab theory to the efficacy of masks to natural immunities. It also includes the suppression of political stories like the Hunter Biden laptop.

“The growing support for censorship may reflect the echo chambered media environment… President Biden even charged that companies who refused to censor opposing views on social media were ‘killing people’… former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich has declared free speech is ‘tyranny.’  Many journalists have joined politicians and professors in decrying the dangers of free speech…

“The result left free speech values in free fall in our country… The European crackdown on free speech has now reached our shores and there are a growing number of citizens calling on the government to limit their right to free expression. It is a form of constitutional immolation by citizens who have never known true authoritarian government.

“The Pew poll shows how dire this struggle has become… This is a crisis of faith that we cannot ignore. Justice Louis Brandeis once warned that ‘The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.’”

Another proof that America is descending into authoritarian dictatorship, following Canada’s horrific example.

Robert F Kennedy Jr. Vice-President Under Trump?

Newsweek wrote on August 1:

“Steve Bannon has joined a growing number of conservatives who have suggested that a 2024 presidential ticket with Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could find success with voters.

“Bannon, a one-time senior adviser to Trump, discussed the possibility during Sunday’s episode of his War Room podcast. Though he noted the chances of Kennedy, a Democrat, running with the Republican former president would be a ‘long shot,’ Bannon said the pairing could win in a ‘massive landslide.’

“Kennedy… has found favor with many conservatives. Federal Election Commission filings show he has received large contributions for his presidential campaign from donors who typically give to GOP candidates.

“But some prominent right-wing figures would prefer that Kennedy join forces with Trump rather than running his own campaign for the White House. Roger Stone, another former adviser to the ex-president, has suggested Kennedy should receive a top administration role if Trump wins the White House in 2024. Last week, Stone dedicated an episode of his show on the video platform Rumble to the possibility of Kennedy running as Trump’s VP.

“Numerous social media users have also endorsed a Trump/Kennedy ticket in recent days… Trump himself has also spoken well of Kennedy, saying… that he thinks the Democrat is a ‘very smart person.’”

Adverse Effects From Covid Vaccinations Seriously Underreported

Rebel News reported on July 25:

“The senior Health Canada official [Dr. Celia Lourenco] who approved which COVID vaccines Canadians could take is admitting their surveillance of ‘adverse events’ — caused by the jab — fell short…

“Parliament imposed a vaccine mandate on the public service and federally regulated sectors in October 2021 and abandoned it last June.

“Lourenco ascertains that underreporting adverse effects caused by COVID vaccines is a ‘well-known fact’ because healthcare providers and patients may not report or even be aware of the events.

“… litigator Bernard Desgagné… claimed this degree of underreporting could have caused millions of deaths south of the border… A health department spokesperson told the publication that ‘most pre-pandemic studies about this topic estimate adverse drug reactions under-reporting rates of 90% or higher.’…

“As of writing, the federal government has paid nearly $6.7 million in damages to Canadians caused by COVID vaccine injuries… As of November 2022, Canada administered 93 million COVID doses to residents.”

This is SO irresponsible!

Visiting the Temple Mount? Not Allowed!

The Times of Israel wrote on July 27:

“Far-right National Security Itamar Ben Gvir visited the flashpoint Temple Mount site Thursday for Tisha B’Av, a Jewish day of national mourning, prompting anger from Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas terror group as well as a rebuke from Washington.

“It was Ben Gvir’s third visit to the site while serving as a cabinet minister. Each visit has prompted a furious reaction from the Arab world.

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry warned that alleged unilateral measures by Israel at the site and violations of the status quo ‘threaten to escalate the situation into more rounds of violence.’ ‘We warn against the dangerous consequences of allowing the extremists to reach the mount and allow them to carry out provocations,’ the ministry added.

“In a statement following Ben Gvir’s visit, the US Embassy in Israel said it ‘stands firmly’ for preserving the status quo and the site, adding that ‘any unilateral action or rhetoric that jeopardizes the status quo is unacceptable.’

“The Palestinian Authority’s Foreign Ministry charged Ben Gvir’s visit was part of ‘an official Israeli cover for the ongoing invasions and the plans to Judaize the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to impose forced changes on the existing historical and legal reality, as an inseparable part of the Judaization of Jerusalem.’

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qasem called the visit a ‘dangerous escalation’ and a ‘provocation’ to the Palestinian people, vowing that they would not allow Israel to carry out its alleged ‘plans’ at the site. ‘Our people will defend the identity of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and protect its Islamic and Arab character at all costs, because Al-Aqsa has always been the trigger for revolutions and rebellions,’ the statement read.

“The Saudi Foreign Ministry also condemned Ben Gvir’s visit to the site, calling it a ‘flagrant violation of all international norms and agreements’ as well as a ‘provocation to all Muslims around the world.’…

“Observant Jews fast the entirety of the day in mourning of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE, and then of its replacement in 70 CE. A major reason for the catastrophes cited in tradition is the division and hatred between different groups in Jewish society. The two temples were located at the flashpoint site…

“[Negev and the Galilee Development Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf, a member of Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party] tweeted his hope for the ‘redemption’ of the Jewish people and ‘the building of the [Third] Temple soon in our days, amen.’…

“Last week, Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef accused Ben Gvir of ‘sinning and causing others to sin’ by visiting the Temple Mount. Yosef said Ben Gvir has defied multiple rabbinical rulings stating that Jewish Orthodox law forbids Jews to enter the Temple Mount, citing principles detailed in halacha, Jewish Orthodox law, about preserving the purity of the site, considered the holiest in Judaism.

“Ben Gvir defended the visits in response, saying that he was following the advice of his own rabbis, who said it was a ‘mitzvah’ — the Hebrew word for duty or commandment — to visit the site.”

A third temple will be built, but the contentions among Jews regarding this issue are quite telling.

Ukraine Moves Christmas to December 25

Evening Standard wrote on July 29:

“Ukraine has moved its official Christmas Day state holiday from January 7 to December 25 in a snub to Russia. President… Zelensky said the parliamentary bill would help Ukraine ‘abandon the Russian heritage of imposing Christmas celebrations’…

“Ukraine’s largest Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has long-standing historic ties to Moscow, has previously celebrated the holidays according to the Julian calendar used by Russia.”

Neither January 7 nor December 25 marks the birthday of Jesus. He was clearly not born at that time. But more importantly, nowhere does the Bible tell us that we ought to celebrate Christ’s birthday.

Russia and Africa

Tag24 News wrote on July 29:

“Russia has signed agreements for military cooperation with over 40 African countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Friday in St. Petersburg… Putin stated that African states received a wide range of weapons and technology, some for free ‘with the aim of enhancing the security and sovereignty of the countries’…

“Putin reiterated that Russia would continue to be a reliable supplier of grain to the continent’s countries. The pledge came after Russia ended a deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported through the Black Sea. Ukraine is a major supplier of grain to Africa.

“The chairman of the African Union said in his closing address at the summit that Putin’s proposals to provide grain were insufficient. ‘Yes, this is important, but it may not be quite enough. We need to achieve a ceasefire,’ Azali Assoumani said. ‘President Putin has shown us that he is ready to engage in dialogue and find a solution,’ he added. ‘Now we need to convince the other side.’”

Russia Threatens Ukraine With Nuclear Weapons

The Daily Mail wrote on July 30:

“The Kremlin today bluntly threatened use of nuclear weapons in the wake of the Ukrainian drone strike on Moscow’s skyscraper zone. Three drones struck an elite office building and residential skyscraper in Moscow early Sunday morning in what Russia’s Defence Ministry has branded an ‘attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime’.

“Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president and Putin ally, has warned there is ‘simply no other way out’ and said that Kyiv should ‘pray to our warriors’ that they do not ‘allow the global nuclear fire to flare up’.

“Moscow said it had brought down three Ukrainian drones early on Sunday that had been trying to attack the capital. (Moscow claimed it injured one person and prompted a temporary airport closure). It also claimed its forces had thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to attack Russia-annexed Crimea with 25 drones overnight.

“Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, has been targeted by Kyiv throughout Moscow’s Ukraine offensive but has come under more intense, increased attacks in recent weeks. Kyiv has repeatedly said it plans to take Crimea back.”

The US Cannot Establish Air Superiority

On July 29, the Ron Paul Institute republished the following article by William Schryver;

“I have long asserted, and I continue to be convinced, that the US could NOT establish air superiority against Russia, China, nor even Iran — not in a week; not in a year. Never. It simply could not be done. American air power would prove substantially inferior to the extremely potent and abundantly supplied air defenses arrayed against it in any of those three countries. American suppression of enemy air defenses would prove woefully inadequate to the task… US air power as a theater-wide undertaking could not be sustained in the context of a non-permissive regional and global battlefield.

“In a high-intensity combat scenario in either eastern Europe, the China seas, or the Persian Gulf, the maintenance requirements for US aircraft could not be met… The US would, quite literally after only a few days, see sub-10% mission-capable rates for the F-22 and F-35, and sub-25% rates for almost every other platform in the inventory…  US supply lines would be severely attrited on both a regional and a global scale.

“Russian and Chinese submarines and long-range anti-ship missile systems would wreak havoc on US seaborne logistics… The US could not fight an overseas war in a non-permissive environment against a peer adversary. It doesn’t have the means, let alone the experience and competence, to do so…”

Of course, the real and unappreciated danger is overlooked; and that is the coming prophesied war between Europe and the USA. But, applying the statements about the USA above to a war with Europe, they are frighteningly accurate.

More Women in the Germany Army!

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 30:

Germany wants you for the armed forces — especially if you’re a woman. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Cabinet adopted a series of measures this week to boost equal opportunity in the military… The Bundeswehr needs people to fill its ranks, as part of Germany’s efforts to bolster its military capabilities in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine…

“As the government sees it, putting more women in uniform ‘makes a contribution’ to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development…

“… the improved provisions… follow up efforts elsewhere in the bureaucracy and private sector. Some political parties, for example, require a 50-50 split of candidates running for office. The Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, has strengthened laws to get more women into leadership positions in companies…

“When West Germany’s military was founded in 1955, women were barred from service. That would not change until 1975 — and only then limited to the medical corps. Even after all military roles were open to women, in 2001, the medical corps remained the area with the highest female contingent.

“The story was different in [East Germany]. The country’s socialist character took pride in equal opportunity for men and women. Its armed forces were founded in 1956 and allowed full participation. The big difference: men were drafted, whereas women could volunteer. Those who did mainly fulfilled medical and administrative tasks…

“The Bundeswehr’s push for more women is not only a matter of equal opportunity. It dovetails with new demand for all-around improvements to Germany’s military capabilities.

“The military has the added burden of needing to attract young people [wanting a] high degree of flexible and individual freedom in working life… Those expectations are generally at odds with a military’s rigid hierarchy and command structure. This week’s adoption of stricter equal opportunity standards helps fulfill part of the Bundeswehr’s strategy to expand recruitment.

“Another challenge the military shares with the private sector: workplace safety, especially for women. Sexual harassment lingers in the ranks. The Bundeswehr saw nearly 850 cases between 2018-2020…”

When becoming a part of the military, you are becoming a slave of the military. Paul said we should not voluntarily become slaves of men (1 Corinthians 7:23).

Germany is willing to become the strongest military in Europe—no matter what the challenges and costs. In Revelation 9:8, the coming European army is described as having “hair like women’s hair.”

The Real Dangers With Electric Cars and Bikes

The Sun published the following article by Jeremy Clarkson on July 29:

“For years I’ve told people until I’m blue in the face that electric cars don’t have enough range, that they take far too long to charge up, that they will always be too expensive and that they aren’t even very ­environmental. Happily, people are now starting to listen, so it’s time to move the argument along a bit with this:  Electric cars are also… dangerous.

“As I write, a massive ship is on fire off the Dutch coast and one person has died. No one knows for sure what caused it, but it was carrying 25 electric cars, and experts say it’s likely that one of them had a faulty battery pack.

“Earlier this month, much the same thing happened on an Italian car transporter in the port of Newark, New Jersey.  Two firefighters were killed putting that out.

“And then there was the Felicity Ace, which was carrying cars powered by lithium-ion batteries when it caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean and sank.

“In total, there have been ten major fires on ships carrying electric cars in the past 20 years… in the last five years, the emergency services have been called out to 753 electric vehicle fires in the UK alone.

“Last weekend the World Rallycross Championship at Lydden Hill in Kent had to be abandoned when a faulty battery pack destroyed the pits and burned out two Lancia Delta Evo E racing cars.

“And it’s not just cars. A safety charity announced this week that e-bikes have caused hundreds of catastrophic house fires.

“People have died, and that’s not surprising when you learn that a fully charged e-bike contains the same explosive energy as six hand grenades. And to make matters worse, fires in electric bikes and cars are often very difficult to extinguish.

“The electrical car that Richard Hammond rolled down a hill while filming for the Grand Tour burned for days. And then, after the fire had died down, something in the battery pack called ‘thermal runaway’ caused it to rear back up again. And this went on for weeks.

“The fact is this. It’s only a matter of time before an electric car bursts into flames on a cross-Channel ferry or in the Chunnel. Or in an underground car park…”

Bild Online asked 10 carmakers about the danger of electric cars. Not surprisingly, some responded by denying any danger, limiting their response however strictly to THEIR products, while other companies refused to answer.

Massive “Ocean” Under the Earth’s Crust

On the website of Indy100, we read the following:

“… there’s a massive ocean hidden under the Earth’s crust… there’s a huge supply of water 400 miles underground stored in rock known as ‘ringwoodite’… Scientists made the findings at the time after studying earthquakes and discovering that seismometers were picking up shockwaves under the surface of the Earth.

“From that, they were able to establish that the water was being held in the rock known as ringwoodite… If the rock contained just 1 per cent water, it would mean that there is three times more water under the surface of the Earth than there is in the oceans on the surface.”

God tells us that He will water the dry land (Isaiah 35:6-7; 44:3-4)—not necessarily with salt water from the oceans on the surface. We also read that at Noah’s time, “the fountains of the great deep were broken up” (Genesis 7:11), and that at the end of the Flood, “the fountains of the deep… were… stopped” (Genesis 8:2).

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

Update 1079

Beware the Company You Keep / Our Self-Destruction Is Imminent!

On August 5, 2023, Brian Gale will present the sermonette, titled, “Beware the Company You Keep,” and Norbert Link will present the sermon, titled, “Our Self-Destruction Is Imminent!”

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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Serve God With a Willing Spirit

by Paul Niehoff (Australia)

What kind of attitude does God want us to have when we take a part in His Work? And, of course, His Work at times includes offerings as well as other actions. We know that God loves a cheerful giver which is something we are often reminded of before the Holy Day offerings (see 2 Corinthians 9:7).

In the Old Testament writings, when the tabernacle was being built, the term “willing” was used regarding the offering people gave for its construction. In Exodus 35, the term “willing” or “freewill” is used five times in the New King James Bible, showing how important this attribute is considered by God. The first mention is in Exodus 35:5 where we read, “Take from among you an offering to the LORD. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the LORD: gold, silver, and bronze…” The meaning of “willing” in this chapter is “generous, spontaneous, voluntary, abundant”—all being attitudes that God desires in us as we serve Him.

Much later, when King David was instructing his son to be the future king and to serve God, he used the terms “a loyal heart” and “a willing mind” in 1 Chronicles 28:9. In this case, willing is from a different Hebrew word meaning “delight in, desire, have pleasure.” In other words, delight in serving God and ruling His people correctly.

At the time just before Solomon began building the temple in Jerusalem, we also read in 1 Chronicles 29:6, “Then the leaders of the fathers’ houses, leaders of the tribes of Israel, the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the officers over the king’s work, offered willingly.” They gave abundantly materials for the building of the temple as had King David.

There is an interesting example in the New Testament of a man who was willingly serving God, and that man was Cornelius. He was “a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always” (Acts 10:2). Doing good to all, especially those who are of the household of faith as we have opportunity, which would include giving alms or charitable gifts generously or willingly, is mentioned in Galatians 6:10 as good works we are to perform. What is also interesting in the account of the angel visiting Cornelius is that the angel puts the prayers of Cornelius first before the alms as a memorial before God. (See Acts 10:4 and Acts 10:31). So both are a memorial but God puts prayers first here while He placed alms first in Acts 10:2. Both are part of an important memorial.

Of course, there are warnings if we do not serve God willingly. Jeremiah 48 tells us that God was using an army (possibly the Chaldeans, depending on which commentary is referred to) to destroy ancient Moab because of their attitudes and actions. (We understand, of course, that this entire passage is mainly a prophecy for the “latter days,” note Jeremiah 48:47). In Jeremiah 48:10 we read, “Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD deceitfully, And cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.”

The Pulpit Commentary shows the literal translation of “deceitfully” means “slackly, negligently.” And the New Testament mentions examples of people doing God’s Work deceitfully or negligently.

Early in the New Testament Church, a couple, Ananias and Saphira, tried to deceive the apostles and the Church by claiming their gift was the full amount of what they sold, whereas it was only a part. They were exaggerating their gift—possibly, to receive more praise. See Acts 5:1-2. God inspired Peter to see through the deception and the result was that God killed both the man and his wife because of them lying to the Holy Spirit.

In the letter to the Church of the Laodiceans in Revelation 3:14-22, God condemns the Laodiceans for not being zealous. They believed they were rich, had become wealthy, and had need of nothing, whereas God told them they were wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. By being self-satisfied and not being zealous in their lives, including their need to repent and to overcome, what little, if any, of God’s Work they were doing, they were doing negligently or with a slack hand. Because of this attitude, God intended to vomit them out of His mouth.

So, from these examples, we see that no matter whether we have a large or a small part in God’s Work, we must do our part willingly and zealously, and without any deception. When we do this, our efforts will be a memorial well pleasing to God.

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by Norbert Link

We begin with additional criminal charges filed against Donald Trump regarding the 2020 election, one day after Hunter Biden’s former business partner gave “bombshell testimony” strongly implicating Joe Biden; and we continue with charges made by the Justice Department against Donald Trump in the document case one day after their “sweetheart plea deal” with Hunter Biden fell through. After a long period of silence, the international press and also America’s mainstream media have begun to notice the real danger Joe Biden finds himself in. The possibility of and the problems with impeachment are being raised, and so is the perception that America is doomed—no matter who wins the next presidential election.

Please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Is America Doomed? The Biden and Trump Scandals!”

We speak on the attempts of the Biden government to censor free speech and the shocking revelation that most Democrats support such measures which will inadvertently lead to autocratic dictatorship; and we address new developments regarding the Temple Mount.

We report on Ukraine’s decision to move “Christmas” from January 7 to December 25; Putin’s meeting with African leaders regarding military cooperation and the Ukraine war; and Russia’s response to Ukraine’s drone attacks on Moscow.

We publish an opinion stating that and why America could not win an overseas war; and address Germany’s desire and incentives for women to join the military.

We conclude with real dangers of electric cars and e-bikes; and the discovery of a huge supply of water UNDER the earth’s crust.

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

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More Evidence Against President Joe Biden?

The Daily Mail wrote on July 31:

“Hunter Biden’s business partner Devon Archer told Congress in bombshell testimony the ‘Biden brand’ helped Ukrainian firm Burisma from going bankrupt and revealed Joe was on the phone at least 20 times while his son was talking with foreign associates. Republicans claim Archer’s testimony added to mounting evidence that the then-Vice President was involved in Hunter’s overseas deals that raked in millions from nations including China and Romania.  Democrats claimed the phone calls were innocent and did not involve business. 

“Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., confirmed Archer told the House Oversight Committee that Joe had been on speakerphone multiple times while his son was talking with business partners – but insisted they were talking about ‘niceties’ such as the weather

“Oversight member Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told DailyMail.com in an interview Archer testified that ‘the Bidens were in the actual business of influence peddling’… claiming that the 20 phone conversations Archer referred to were directly about business deals

“But Archer is facing legal troubles of his own and is expected to go to prison shortly. He was sentenced to one year and a day in prison in February 2022 for defrauding a Native American tribal entity and various investment advisory clients of tens of millions of dollars, in connection with the issuance of $60 million in bonds…

“Archer, 48, and Hunter both graduated from Yale and were friends for decades. Hunter has reportedly described Devon as his ‘best friend in business.’…

“Archer testified that Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi [and] owner Nikola Zlochevsky put ‘constant pressure’ on Hunter in 2015 to get his father to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was investigating Burisma… In March 2016, Joe Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in aid to Ukraine if Shokin was not fired for corruption…”

Shortly thereafter, Shokin was fired. The pieces of the puzzle are falling into place.

More Criminal Charges Against Trump

Fox News wrote on August 1:

“Fox News correspondent David Spunt reported… that Trump had been indicted on four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

“[Professor] Turley [explained] that special counsel Jack Smith might be ‘yielding to his weakness’ with the indictment. ‘[Smith] may be stretching the law a bit… Jack Smith has a reputation for stretching criminal statutes beyond the breaking point. He went after [former Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell] and secured a conviction there. He was unanimously overturned because he just stretched the law too far.’…

“Host Jesse Watters… expressed incredulity that it appears to relitigate claims of election fraud in 2020 in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Michigan. Watters quipped that Democrats might not want to go back down the road of defending the ‘integrity’ of the election system in Philadelphia…

“Trump has repeatedly claimed Pence had the authority to send the elector slates back to the state legislatures under the Electoral Count Act of 1887… [Former New York federal prosecutor Andy] McCarthy… suggested that no matter how ‘frivolous,’ such machinations, [they] are likely protected speech… ‘it was something that [Trump] was allowed to rely on’…”

Real Clear Politics wrote on August 1:

“[Professor] Jonathan Turley on Tuesday told FOX News host Sean Hannity that… ‘This is a free speech killing indictment. There’s no way around it. I write a great deal in academia in the free-speech area and I [have] rarely seen a more chilling filing by the Department of Justice…  And I have to tell you, this indictment is really [a] sad moment for me… It basically just says that we think Trump is lying that he actually didn’t believe this. I can’t tell you how faciously ridiculous this claim is…’”

Breitbart wrote on August 1:

“Turley said Special Counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump ‘basically just accuses him of disinformation. This is a disinformation indictment’ and charges “many” things that are protected by the First Amendment…’”

CNBC wrote on August 1:

“An attorney who is representing former President Donald Trump in his latest federal criminal indictment vowed to use the charges to ‘re-litigate every single issue in the 2020 election in the context of this litigation.’ The case gives Trump ‘an opportunity that he has never had before, which is to have subpoena power since January 6 in a way that can be exercised in federal court,’ attorney John Lauro said in a Fox News interview.”

In the 45-page indictment, it was alleged about 50 times regarding election fraud that Trump made false statements which he knew were false. With these accusations, Jack Smith has opened up a Pandora’s box as Trump will undoubtedly try to litigate or relitigate the question on the merits whether his statements regarding a “rigged election” were false and whether he knew that they were false. The underlying question is also whether a person can even be criminally prosecuted for conduct while in the office of the Presidency, and whether his statements are constitutionally protected as free speech and therefore immune from criminal prosecution. In addition, note the next article.

npr wrote on August 1:

“… one count of conspiracy against rights refers to Trump and his co-conspirators alleged attempts to ‘oppress, threaten and intimidate’ people in their right to vote in an election. The charge of ‘conspiracy against rights’ goes back to the Civil War era. It was passed after the Civil War as a way to stop members of the Ku Klux Klan and other similar organizations from intimidating, harassing and outright terrorizing Black voters especially in the South. This law was part of the Enforcement Act, passed between 1868 and 1870…”

As can be clearly seen, this law does not remotely apply to Trump’s alleged conduct.

The article continued:

“The case [against Trump] has been assigned to Judge Tanya S. Chutkan [who] stood out for her tough punishment [and “the hardest line against Jan. 6 defendants of any judge serving on Washington’s federal trial court”] for Jan. 6 rioters. In at least seven cases… Chutkan imposed harsher penalties than what federal prosecutors sought for those rioters.”

Chutkan was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama.

Reactions from Republicans

Breitbart wrote on August 1:

“Republican officials blasted the Justice Department’s January 6 probe and the fresh indictment of former President Donald Trump, expressing support for Trump in the face of ‘serial election interference.’… Republican members slammed Smith’s ‘political witch hunt’ targeting ‘every one of his supporters.’

“House Republican Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) released a statement on ‘the disgraceful non-stop witch hunt by Biden’s corrupt DOJ against President Trump,’ calling Tuesday ‘yet another dark day in America’ as Biden continues to ‘weaponize’ his ‘corrupt’ Justice Department against his leading political opponent:  ‘Less than 24 hours ago, Congress heard testimony from Hunter Biden’s longtime business partner that Joe Biden joined Hunter‘s business calls over 20 times. This directly contradicts Biden’s lie that he never discussed business with his son. Today’s sham indictment of Donald Trump is yet another desperate attempt to distract attention away from the mounting evidence of Joe Biden‘s direct involvement in his family’s illegal influence peddling scheme — one of the greatest political corruption scandals in history.’

“According to Stefanik, Trump ‘had every right under the First Amendment to correctly raise concerns about election integrity in 2020.’…

“House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) highlighted how people have recently been informed that Hunter Biden ‘received money from China (contradicting President Biden’s claim),’ that Biden ‘spoke with Hunter’s business associates over 20 times (contradicting what Biden previously claimed),’ and that Biden’s DOJ ‘tried to secretly give Hunter broad immunity and admitted the sweetheart deal was unprecedented.’… he charged that ‘Everyone in America could see what was going to come next: DOJ’s attempt to distract from the news and attack the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, President Trump.’…

“‘Let’s be clear about what’s happening: Biden’s DOJ is cutting sweetheart deals for Hunter to cover for the Biden Family’s influence peddling schemes while at the same time trying to persecute his leading political opponent,’ wrote House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) as he deemed it ‘an outrageous abuse of power.’…

“‘When you drain The Swamp, The Swamp fights back,’ wrote House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH). ‘President Trump did nothing wrong!’…

“‘It’s not shocking that every time the Biden crime family has evidence surface (FD-1023), or a congressional hearing that exposes further corruption and abuses of power, that the weaponized DoJ indicts his top political opponent (Pres. Trump),’ wrote Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL)…

“‘Democrats would rather destroy America than see Donald Trump in the White House again,’ wrote Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN)…”

And many more voiced their disgust with Smith’s indictment. Also, Fox News wrote on August 1:

“Reacting to the charges, a Trump campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital [that] ‘the lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes.’”

Where is America heading?

More Charges Against Trump in the Document Case

Breitbart wrote on July 27:

“Special Counsel Jack Smith on Thursday (one day after Hinter Biden’s “sweetheart plea deal” fell apart) brought new charges against former President Donald Trump in the Mar-a-Lago White House documents case. Smith charged Trump with one count of willful retention of national defense documents and two counts of obstruction. Trump’s valet, Walt Nauta, who was previously charged in the first indictment, also received two new obstruction-related charges.

“The superseding indictment also charged Carlos De Oliveira, Mar-a-Lago’s head of maintenance, with altering, destroying, mutilating, or concealing a document, making false statements, and conspiracy to obstruct justice…

“With the additional charges, Trump is now facing 40 counts in the criminal case.

“Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung blasted the U.S. Department of Justice for the new charges, calling it a ‘continued desperate and flailing attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their Department of Justice to harass President Trump and those around him… Deranged Jack Smith knows that they have no case and is casting about for any way to salvage their illegal witch hunt and to get someone other than Donald Trump to run against Crooked Joe Biden…’

“Judge Aileen Cannon set a trial in this case for next May, just months before the 2024 presidential election.”

In a related article, Breitbart wrote on July 27:

“‘This is harassment. This is election interference,’ Trump said when asked to respond to the superseding indictment and additional charges. ‘I’m protected by the Presidential Records Act totally. It shouldn’t even be a case. It’s not a criminal case. Where’s Biden with all the documents? He’s got 20 times, 30 times the documents I have, and he has not made it easy for them either. He has been hiding boxes. They’re sending boxes to Chinatown… and yet China is paying them millions of dollars. You explain that one. You don’t even hear about it. All you hear about is Trump. No, this is a two-tier system of injustice. That’s what we have. We have a sick country… We have a failing nation and it’s a very sad thing to watch.’…

“Trump also told Breitbart News that if elected president again—he is currently the leading GOP candidate for the White House—he would fire Smith. Trump also cited failed cases Smith’s office has brought against other politicians from both political parties… ‘He’s destroyed a lot of lives… He went after Christians… What he’s done is just horrible. The abuse of power—it is prosecutorial misconduct.’…

“Trump said he thinks history will remember this all as an ‘embarrassment’ for Democrats and for the nation… Trump said he believes the public sees it his way, which is why he says his poll numbers keep rising—in both the primary and the general…”

Trump denied all charges and said he will continue to run, even if he were convicted and sentenced. Questions were raised in the media whether he could pardon himself once he was elected President—a question not addressed in the Constitution. It was also pointed out that if he were to do so, it would be very difficult to challenge this, because, for one reason, who would even have standing to do so in a Court of Law?

GOP Members Outraged by Biden’s “Justice” Department

The New York Post wrote on July 28:

“The three new charges stacked against Donald Trump have left members of the GOP enraged over the timing a day after Hunter Biden’s probation-only plea deal fell apart. ‘It’s so brazen right now, what they’re doing,’ Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told Fox News… ‘It is really a subversion of the rule of law…’

“Hawley said the Department of Justice has begun ‘charging random people’… hinting that the new charges were meant to take attention off the first son. ‘Is it any coincidence that the DOJ rushes to add these new indictments today, after the Hunter debacle…

“The president’s son pleaded not guilty to federal tax and gun charges following the bombshell ruling by the judge, opening the door for the possibility of additional charges in the future — such as for allegedly working as an unregistered foreign agent.

“Hunter Biden admitted during the hearing he had received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Chinese Communist Party-backed companycontradicting President Biden’s claims that his family never ‘made money from China.’

“Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called the charges brought forth by the Democrats ‘a disgrace’… ‘I think Merrick Garland should be impeached and removed from office for allowing the Department of Justice to be turned into a partisan hammer to attack the political enemies of the White House,’ Cruz said of the attorney general…

“Fellow Republican lawmakers have also begun ringing the bell that the indictment is being used as a distraction to benefit the Biden family. ‘The American people understand that Joe Biden and his administration are engulfed in one of the biggest political corruption scandals of all time,’ wrote House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) in a statement shared on Twitter. ‘It is no coincidence that the day after a federal judge throws out Hunter Biden’s corrupt, sweetheart plea bargain, Biden’s weaponized [Department of Justice] continues its witch hunt against President Trump,’ she added. ‘Our Republic is in peril, our justice system is broken.’…”

The Justice Department’s blatant witch hunt against Donald Trump and the appalling protection of Joe Biden are continuing…

What is particularly shocking about the Hunter Biden sweetheart plea deal is that the prosecution and the defense attorneys reportedly tried to hide the immunity clause in an attachment (dealing with the gun charge), which was allegedly given to the judge on the day of the hearing (not before) with the apparent hope that the judge would not even read it and sign off on the deal.

It will remain to be seen whether the judge who has given the parties leave to amend the documents, will ultimately sign off on them, as some scholars have already suggested that she would.  Some have even expressed their fear that the immunity clause will be removed from the written documentation, but a secret verbal understanding between the prosecution and Hunter Biden’s attorneys will be reached to the effect that no further charges against Hunter will be brought, while claiming that investigations are ongoing so that Congress would have no access to uncovered information pending investigation.

This is almost too bizarre to contemplate, but with the existing corrupt Justice Department, even the unbelievable becomes believable.

Great Britain Takes Note of the Biden Scandal

The Daily Mail wrote on July 28:

“This was the week Joe Biden’s ‘s rotten House Of Cards began teetering on the brink of collapse. While Netflix’s fictional U.S. President Kevin Spacey was found not guilty of sex charges by a jury in London, in another courtroom 3,500 miles away the web of lies and secrecy around alleged corruption in the Biden family was unravelling spectacularly…

“A judge in Delaware threw out a disgraceful sweetheart deal which would have seen Biden’s degenerate son Hunter walking free after pleading guilty to tax evasion, gun and drug charges, which would normally have led to serious jail time. Judge Maryellen Noreika refused to rubber-stamp an incredibly lenient plea bargain agreement stitched up between Hunter’s lawyers and the prosecution. It would have given Hunter not just a virtually free pass on past and present crimes but would have granted him immunity against any future charges he might face. After the judge ripped up the deal, Hunter was forced to enter not guilty pleas on two counts to which he had pleaded guilty to minutes earlier. He now faces further investigation into alleged crimes which may well implicate his father.

“On Monday, Hunter’s former best friend and business partner Devon Archer is due to tell a Congressional committee that both Hunter and Joe Biden accepted bribes of $5 million each from a Ukrainian businessman. He is also expected to testify that despite previous repeated denials, the President was involved in his son’s business dealings. Archer says he was present when Joe Biden took part in not one but 24 separate telephone conference calls with Hunter’s foreign clients.

“That’s if Archer actually turns up and isn’t found floating face down in Washington’s Potomac River. Last night he was reported to have gone into hiding, after friends said he had received unspecified ‘threats’ against both himself and his family.

“For once, America’s mainstream media hasn’t been able to swerve the mounting evidence against the Bidens. On Wednesday all three major national TV networks led their nightly news bulletins with reports on the sensational decision by the judge to throw out Hunter’s sweetheart deal. Until now, Joe Biden has enjoyed fawning coverage from NBC, ABC and CBS, along with backing from 95 per cent of America’s big city newspapers. Negative stories have been studiously ignored…

“Peter Baker, who covers the White House for the Democrat-supporting New York Times, admitted it would be difficult for Joe Biden to continue defending his son on the grounds of Hunter’s well-documented ‘battle’ against drug addiction… And tellingly, Baker added: ‘For President Biden, it’s not just about his wayward son but whether he himself had something to do with his wayward son’s business dealings.’ Joe Biden has always maintained he has never even discussed business with Hunter. That changed subtly this week when the White House said he had never been in business… with him…

“Yet if half of what is being alleged about Joe Biden is true, Clinton’s ‘I did not have sex with that woman, Miss Lewinsky’ is at worst a little white lie which pales into insignificance alongside allegations of multi-million-dollar influence peddling. The claim that both Bidens received $5 million each in bribes from a Ukrainian businessman is supported by a recently released document detailing sworn evidence from a source described as an FBI ‘trusted confidential informant’…

“[Hunter’s] laptop hard drive contained a mine of explosive and potentially incriminating material [including] an email from Hunter to his sister complaining that he had to give half his income to his father…

“[Press spokeswoman] Karine Jean-Pierre… refused to answer questions from the Washington Press Corps on the preposterous grounds that Hunter is a ‘private person’ who is trying to ‘rebuild his life’ following drug addiction… As for the notion that Hunter is a private person, how come he was driven to court in a six-vehicle secret service motorcade? If he’s a private person, what is he doing at official functions at the White House, where he appears to live half the time? Why is he flying to Camp David on Marine One… or swanning round the world on Air Force One, accompanying his dad on state visits?…

“Biden’s apologists say he is only trying to protect his son. But, as former Republican speaker Newt Gingrich said this week, President Biden is really trying to protect himself… Even the mainstream media, which has protected Biden for years, appear to be withdrawing their love right now…”

Calls for an impeachment inquiry and impeachment have been growing. Bribery is one of the two offenses specifically mentioned by the Constitution as grounds for impeachment, along with treason. But will it reach that point? Note the next articles.

A Doomed President?

1945 wrote on July 28:

“Those who are concerned that former President Donald J. Trump’s alleged crimes will dissuade independent voters from supporting Trump in the General Election will now have to contend with the fact that President Biden will be under the same—if not more—legal scrutiny than Trump if Biden remains the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee in 2024. 

“Already, President Biden is one of the most unpopular men to have ever run for reelection in modern political history. He’s got slightly less unpopularity than what Trump has. But the presence of this corruption scandal hanging over his head, as well as the likelihood that the Republicans impeach the forty-sixth president, means that his chances for reelection have just declined drastically—and Trump’s chances have increased. 

“This is a nightmare scenario for the Democrats, who now find themselves having to support Biden no matter what or replace him with a far less effective candidate, such as Vice-President Kamala Harris.  Or with a more effective candidate, like California’s Governor Gavin Newsom, who will have difficulty proving to independent voters that they should vote for the obviously unstable Democratic Party in 2024, should the DNC kick both its presidential and vice-presidential candidates to the curb.”

What are the Republicans waiting for in regard to an impeachment inquiry or impeachment? While the Democrats impeached Trump twice with much less “evidence,” Republicans don’t seem to be willing to impeach Biden, while the evidence of his misconduct is mounting. The next article might explain as to why the reluctance.

Impeaching Biden?

1945 wrote on July 28:

“Former Speaker Newt Gingrich has a warning for Republicans on a Joe Biden Impeachment: You will get President Kamala Harris if you impeach Joe Biden and remove him from office… ‘The only short-term consequence of a successful impeachment is Kamala Harris , and Kamala would be such a total disaster for the country that Biden’s corruption is probably preferable to her incompetence,’ Gingrich said…

“The chances of removing Biden in the event he is impeached is slim and none because it takes 67 senators to remove a president from office. Donald Trump’s second impeachment marked the first time a majority of senators voted to remove the then former president. Fifty-seven senators voted to remove and disqualify Trump, falling 10 votes short…

“The precedent set during the Trump impeachments has transformed impeachment into something akin to a vote of no confidence, as exists in parliamentary democracies. Impeaching Biden would expose politically damaging information during the 2024 political campaign and could take the political sting off of the Trump prosecutions. It would then be up to the voters to decide which candidate is the lesser of two evils.”

From that last standpoint, impeachment procedures against Biden would make a lot of sense.

Doomed Either Way–Neither Trump Nor Biden?

The Washington Examiner wrote on July 29:

“A new poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports confirmed what many voters say to each other: we’re doomed. The interesting twist on this survey is that the answer is more indicative of the country’s political tribalism than any particular candidate’s character or platform.

“82% of the country thinks we are doomed if President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump is reelected president in 2024. This breaks down to 40% of ‘likely U.S. voters’ agreeing that the country is doomed unless Biden is elected. Conversely, 42% of voters felt that Trump must win in 2024 or ‘the United States is doomed.’…

69% of liberals agreed in some form with the ‘Biden-or-doom’ attitude regarding the 2024 presidential election. Comparatively, 63% of conservative voters supported the ‘Trump-or-doom scenario.’… only 24% of voters ‘strongly disagree’ with both the Biden-or-doom and Trump-or-doom statements…

“The poll reveals what many people in the country already knew: we are a country divided…”

A division which will NOT be cured.

How Biden “Forced” Censorship of Free Speech

Fox News wrote on July 28:

“The Biden administration is facing intense scrutiny after Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, revealed a ‘smoking gun’ Thursday indicating alleged collusion between the White House and Facebook to censor Americans. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey argued the documents obtained by the House Judiciary Committee show the Biden administration pushed Big Tech beyond its own censorship bounds… ‘We knew that Joe Biden had coerced and colluded with Big Tech social media to silence American voices in violation of the First Amendment right to free speech,’ Bailey [said]. ‘And what this shows is that not only did he coerce and collude with Big Tech social media, but he actually pushed them further than their own internal censorship policies…’

“Earlier this month a judge blocked key Biden agencies and departments from communicating with social media companies to avoid potential First Amendment violations in the Missouri v. Biden ruling… ‘We can’t let Joe Biden destroy free speech in America,’ Bailey continued. 

“‘Never-before-released internal documents subpoenaed by the Judiciary Committee PROVE that Facebook and Instagram censored posts and changed their content moderation policies because of unconstitutional pressure from the Biden White House,’ Jordan wrote Thursday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. ‘During the first half of 2021, social media companies like Facebook faced tremendous pressure from the Biden White House—both publicly and privately—to crack down on alleged “misinformation”… In April 2021, a Facebook employee circulated an email for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg, writing: “We are facing continued pressure from external stakeholders, including the [Biden] White House’ to remove posts.”

“‘They didn’t actually care whether things was true or false to censor it. They just censored it. So, for instance, if you said that you had a pretty good immunity after COVID recovery, well, you could get censored. If you said that people could get vaccine injured [sic] you were censored,’ Dr. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford Medical said Friday. Last year’s ‘Twitter Files’ revealed that Bhattacharya was allegedly on the platform’s ‘blacklist’ because he ‘argued that COVID lockdowns would harm children,’ according to information revealed by reporter Bari Weiss. ‘You could even get censored for saying true things,’ Bhattacharya continued. ‘For instance, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was paused by the CDC. When the White House posted that on its Facebook page, it got censored. It got censored by its own censorship regime that it created. It’s ironic and tragic that the White House violated the rights of American people for nothing.’

“But Jordan said Facebook knew what it was doing when it was succumbing to the administration’s demands in order to maintain a ‘cozy’ relationship… ‘One of those Facebook executives said “this is a significant incursion into the boundaries of free expression.” That is a fancy way of saying this violates the First Amendment…’

“Bhattacharya echoed Jordan’s sentiment, arguing the White House infringed on Americans’ free speech rights, but also ‘harmed public health’ in the process…”

So much more has been revealed in the meantime, including Biden’s pressure on Facebook [now called Meta] to delete footage from Tucker Carlson’s Fox News program (see The Wall Street Journal, dated July 28). In light of this evil development of governmental suppression of free speech— including true statements—, the next article is really shocking.

Most Democrats Support Suppression of Free Speech

The Ron Paul Institute republished the following article by Professor Turley on July 27:

“[A new] Pew found that ‘Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are much more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to support the US government taking steps to restrict false information online (70% vs. 39%).’

“I was raised in a politically active Democratic family in Chicago. Free speech was viewed as one of the defining values of the party and championed across campuses in the country. That changed dramatically in the course of the last ten years as many liberal politicians and professors called for opposing voices to be banned or canceled. I no longer recognize the party as it pushes for censorship and speech regulation

“What is particularly chilling is that this poll is occurring after the disclosure of biased censorship efforts by the government and corporations, including the suppression of views that were later found to be legitimate. That includes the banning or cancelling of scientists who raised concerns over Covid-19 that are now considered valid from the lab theory to the efficacy of masks to natural immunities. It also includes the suppression of political stories like the Hunter Biden laptop.

“The growing support for censorship may reflect the echo chambered media environment… President Biden even charged that companies who refused to censor opposing views on social media were ‘killing people’… former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich has declared free speech is ‘tyranny.’  Many journalists have joined politicians and professors in decrying the dangers of free speech…

“The result left free speech values in free fall in our country… The European crackdown on free speech has now reached our shores and there are a growing number of citizens calling on the government to limit their right to free expression. It is a form of constitutional immolation by citizens who have never known true authoritarian government.

“The Pew poll shows how dire this struggle has become… This is a crisis of faith that we cannot ignore. Justice Louis Brandeis once warned that ‘The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.’”

Another proof that America is descending into authoritarian dictatorship, following Canada’s horrific example.

Robert F Kennedy Jr. Vice-President Under Trump?

Newsweek wrote on August 1:

“Steve Bannon has joined a growing number of conservatives who have suggested that a 2024 presidential ticket with Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could find success with voters.

“Bannon, a one-time senior adviser to Trump, discussed the possibility during Sunday’s episode of his War Room podcast. Though he noted the chances of Kennedy, a Democrat, running with the Republican former president would be a ‘long shot,’ Bannon said the pairing could win in a ‘massive landslide.’

“Kennedy… has found favor with many conservatives. Federal Election Commission filings show he has received large contributions for his presidential campaign from donors who typically give to GOP candidates.

“But some prominent right-wing figures would prefer that Kennedy join forces with Trump rather than running his own campaign for the White House. Roger Stone, another former adviser to the ex-president, has suggested Kennedy should receive a top administration role if Trump wins the White House in 2024. Last week, Stone dedicated an episode of his show on the video platform Rumble to the possibility of Kennedy running as Trump’s VP.

“Numerous social media users have also endorsed a Trump/Kennedy ticket in recent days… Trump himself has also spoken well of Kennedy, saying… that he thinks the Democrat is a ‘very smart person.’”

Adverse Effects From Covid Vaccinations Seriously Underreported

Rebel News reported on July 25:

“The senior Health Canada official [Dr. Celia Lourenco] who approved which COVID vaccines Canadians could take is admitting their surveillance of ‘adverse events’ — caused by the jab — fell short…

“Parliament imposed a vaccine mandate on the public service and federally regulated sectors in October 2021 and abandoned it last June.

“Lourenco ascertains that underreporting adverse effects caused by COVID vaccines is a ‘well-known fact’ because healthcare providers and patients may not report or even be aware of the events.

“… litigator Bernard Desgagné… claimed this degree of underreporting could have caused millions of deaths south of the border… A health department spokesperson told the publication that ‘most pre-pandemic studies about this topic estimate adverse drug reactions under-reporting rates of 90% or higher.’…

“As of writing, the federal government has paid nearly $6.7 million in damages to Canadians caused by COVID vaccine injuries… As of November 2022, Canada administered 93 million COVID doses to residents.”

This is SO irresponsible!

Visiting the Temple Mount? Not Allowed!

The Times of Israel wrote on July 27:

“Far-right National Security Itamar Ben Gvir visited the flashpoint Temple Mount site Thursday for Tisha B’Av, a Jewish day of national mourning, prompting anger from Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas terror group as well as a rebuke from Washington.

“It was Ben Gvir’s third visit to the site while serving as a cabinet minister. Each visit has prompted a furious reaction from the Arab world.

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry warned that alleged unilateral measures by Israel at the site and violations of the status quo ‘threaten to escalate the situation into more rounds of violence.’ ‘We warn against the dangerous consequences of allowing the extremists to reach the mount and allow them to carry out provocations,’ the ministry added.

“In a statement following Ben Gvir’s visit, the US Embassy in Israel said it ‘stands firmly’ for preserving the status quo and the site, adding that ‘any unilateral action or rhetoric that jeopardizes the status quo is unacceptable.’

“The Palestinian Authority’s Foreign Ministry charged Ben Gvir’s visit was part of ‘an official Israeli cover for the ongoing invasions and the plans to Judaize the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to impose forced changes on the existing historical and legal reality, as an inseparable part of the Judaization of Jerusalem.’

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qasem called the visit a ‘dangerous escalation’ and a ‘provocation’ to the Palestinian people, vowing that they would not allow Israel to carry out its alleged ‘plans’ at the site. ‘Our people will defend the identity of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and protect its Islamic and Arab character at all costs, because Al-Aqsa has always been the trigger for revolutions and rebellions,’ the statement read.

“The Saudi Foreign Ministry also condemned Ben Gvir’s visit to the site, calling it a ‘flagrant violation of all international norms and agreements’ as well as a ‘provocation to all Muslims around the world.’…

“Observant Jews fast the entirety of the day in mourning of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE, and then of its replacement in 70 CE. A major reason for the catastrophes cited in tradition is the division and hatred between different groups in Jewish society. The two temples were located at the flashpoint site…

“[Negev and the Galilee Development Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf, a member of Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party] tweeted his hope for the ‘redemption’ of the Jewish people and ‘the building of the [Third] Temple soon in our days, amen.’…

“Last week, Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef accused Ben Gvir of ‘sinning and causing others to sin’ by visiting the Temple Mount. Yosef said Ben Gvir has defied multiple rabbinical rulings stating that Jewish Orthodox law forbids Jews to enter the Temple Mount, citing principles detailed in halacha, Jewish Orthodox law, about preserving the purity of the site, considered the holiest in Judaism.

“Ben Gvir defended the visits in response, saying that he was following the advice of his own rabbis, who said it was a ‘mitzvah’ — the Hebrew word for duty or commandment — to visit the site.”

A third temple will be built, but the contentions among Jews regarding this issue are quite telling.

Ukraine Moves Christmas to December 25

Evening Standard wrote on July 29:

“Ukraine has moved its official Christmas Day state holiday from January 7 to December 25 in a snub to Russia. President… Zelensky said the parliamentary bill would help Ukraine ‘abandon the Russian heritage of imposing Christmas celebrations’…

“Ukraine’s largest Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has long-standing historic ties to Moscow, has previously celebrated the holidays according to the Julian calendar used by Russia.”

Neither January 7 nor December 25 marks the birthday of Jesus. He was clearly not born at that time. But more importantly, nowhere does the Bible tell us that we ought to celebrate Christ’s birthday.

Russia and Africa

Tag24 News wrote on July 29:

“Russia has signed agreements for military cooperation with over 40 African countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Friday in St. Petersburg… Putin stated that African states received a wide range of weapons and technology, some for free ‘with the aim of enhancing the security and sovereignty of the countries’…

“Putin reiterated that Russia would continue to be a reliable supplier of grain to the continent’s countries. The pledge came after Russia ended a deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported through the Black Sea. Ukraine is a major supplier of grain to Africa.

“The chairman of the African Union said in his closing address at the summit that Putin’s proposals to provide grain were insufficient. ‘Yes, this is important, but it may not be quite enough. We need to achieve a ceasefire,’ Azali Assoumani said. ‘President Putin has shown us that he is ready to engage in dialogue and find a solution,’ he added. ‘Now we need to convince the other side.’”

Russia Threatens Ukraine With Nuclear Weapons

The Daily Mail wrote on July 30:

“The Kremlin today bluntly threatened use of nuclear weapons in the wake of the Ukrainian drone strike on Moscow’s skyscraper zone. Three drones struck an elite office building and residential skyscraper in Moscow early Sunday morning in what Russia’s Defence Ministry has branded an ‘attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime’.

“Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president and Putin ally, has warned there is ‘simply no other way out’ and said that Kyiv should ‘pray to our warriors’ that they do not ‘allow the global nuclear fire to flare up’.

“Moscow said it had brought down three Ukrainian drones early on Sunday that had been trying to attack the capital. (Moscow claimed it injured one person and prompted a temporary airport closure). It also claimed its forces had thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to attack Russia-annexed Crimea with 25 drones overnight.

“Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, has been targeted by Kyiv throughout Moscow’s Ukraine offensive but has come under more intense, increased attacks in recent weeks. Kyiv has repeatedly said it plans to take Crimea back.”

The US Cannot Establish Air Superiority

On July 29, the Ron Paul Institute republished the following article by William Schryver;

“I have long asserted, and I continue to be convinced, that the US could NOT establish air superiority against Russia, China, nor even Iran — not in a week; not in a year. Never. It simply could not be done. American air power would prove substantially inferior to the extremely potent and abundantly supplied air defenses arrayed against it in any of those three countries. American suppression of enemy air defenses would prove woefully inadequate to the task… US air power as a theater-wide undertaking could not be sustained in the context of a non-permissive regional and global battlefield.

“In a high-intensity combat scenario in either eastern Europe, the China seas, or the Persian Gulf, the maintenance requirements for US aircraft could not be met… The US would, quite literally after only a few days, see sub-10% mission-capable rates for the F-22 and F-35, and sub-25% rates for almost every other platform in the inventory…  US supply lines would be severely attrited on both a regional and a global scale.

“Russian and Chinese submarines and long-range anti-ship missile systems would wreak havoc on US seaborne logistics… The US could not fight an overseas war in a non-permissive environment against a peer adversary. It doesn’t have the means, let alone the experience and competence, to do so…”

Of course, the real and unappreciated danger is overlooked; and that is the coming prophesied war between Europe and the USA. But, applying the statements about the USA above to a war with Europe, they are frighteningly accurate.

More Women in the Germany Army!

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 30:

Germany wants you for the armed forces — especially if you’re a woman. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Cabinet adopted a series of measures this week to boost equal opportunity in the military… The Bundeswehr needs people to fill its ranks, as part of Germany’s efforts to bolster its military capabilities in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine…

“As the government sees it, putting more women in uniform ‘makes a contribution’ to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development…

“… the improved provisions… follow up efforts elsewhere in the bureaucracy and private sector. Some political parties, for example, require a 50-50 split of candidates running for office. The Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, has strengthened laws to get more women into leadership positions in companies…

“When West Germany’s military was founded in 1955, women were barred from service. That would not change until 1975 — and only then limited to the medical corps. Even after all military roles were open to women, in 2001, the medical corps remained the area with the highest female contingent.

“The story was different in [East Germany]. The country’s socialist character took pride in equal opportunity for men and women. Its armed forces were founded in 1956 and allowed full participation. The big difference: men were drafted, whereas women could volunteer. Those who did mainly fulfilled medical and administrative tasks…

“The Bundeswehr’s push for more women is not only a matter of equal opportunity. It dovetails with new demand for all-around improvements to Germany’s military capabilities.

“The military has the added burden of needing to attract young people [wanting a] high degree of flexible and individual freedom in working life… Those expectations are generally at odds with a military’s rigid hierarchy and command structure. This week’s adoption of stricter equal opportunity standards helps fulfill part of the Bundeswehr’s strategy to expand recruitment.

“Another challenge the military shares with the private sector: workplace safety, especially for women. Sexual harassment lingers in the ranks. The Bundeswehr saw nearly 850 cases between 2018-2020…”

When becoming a part of the military, you are becoming a slave of the military. Paul said we should not voluntarily become slaves of men (1 Corinthians 7:23).

Germany is willing to become the strongest military in Europe—no matter what the challenges and costs. In Revelation 9:8, the coming European army is described as having “hair like women’s hair.”

The Real Dangers With Electric Cars and Bikes

The Sun published the following article by Jeremy Clarkson on July 29:

“For years I’ve told people until I’m blue in the face that electric cars don’t have enough range, that they take far too long to charge up, that they will always be too expensive and that they aren’t even very ­environmental. Happily, people are now starting to listen, so it’s time to move the argument along a bit with this:  Electric cars are also… dangerous.

“As I write, a massive ship is on fire off the Dutch coast and one person has died. No one knows for sure what caused it, but it was carrying 25 electric cars, and experts say it’s likely that one of them had a faulty battery pack.

“Earlier this month, much the same thing happened on an Italian car transporter in the port of Newark, New Jersey.  Two firefighters were killed putting that out.

“And then there was the Felicity Ace, which was carrying cars powered by lithium-ion batteries when it caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean and sank.

“In total, there have been ten major fires on ships carrying electric cars in the past 20 years… in the last five years, the emergency services have been called out to 753 electric vehicle fires in the UK alone.

“Last weekend the World Rallycross Championship at Lydden Hill in Kent had to be abandoned when a faulty battery pack destroyed the pits and burned out two Lancia Delta Evo E racing cars.

“And it’s not just cars. A safety charity announced this week that e-bikes have caused hundreds of catastrophic house fires.

“People have died, and that’s not surprising when you learn that a fully charged e-bike contains the same explosive energy as six hand grenades. And to make matters worse, fires in electric bikes and cars are often very difficult to extinguish.

“The electrical car that Richard Hammond rolled down a hill while filming for the Grand Tour burned for days. And then, after the fire had died down, something in the battery pack called ‘thermal runaway’ caused it to rear back up again. And this went on for weeks.

“The fact is this. It’s only a matter of time before an electric car bursts into flames on a cross-Channel ferry or in the Chunnel. Or in an underground car park…”

Bild Online asked 10 carmakers about the danger of electric cars. Not surprisingly, some responded by denying any danger, limiting their response however strictly to THEIR products, while other companies refused to answer.

Massive “Ocean” Under the Earth’s Crust

On the website of Indy100, we read the following:

“… there’s a massive ocean hidden under the Earth’s crust… there’s a huge supply of water 400 miles underground stored in rock known as ‘ringwoodite’… Scientists made the findings at the time after studying earthquakes and discovering that seismometers were picking up shockwaves under the surface of the Earth.

“From that, they were able to establish that the water was being held in the rock known as ringwoodite… If the rock contained just 1 per cent water, it would mean that there is three times more water under the surface of the Earth than there is in the oceans on the surface.”

God tells us that He will water the dry land (Isaiah 35:6-7; 44:3-4)—not necessarily with salt water from the oceans on the surface. We also read that at Noah’s time, “the fountains of the great deep were broken up” (Genesis 7:11), and that at the end of the Flood, “the fountains of the deep… were… stopped” (Genesis 8:2).

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

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How do you understand Paul’s statement that our children are holy? And what are the practical consequences? (Part 3)

In the previous two Q&As, we discussed the fact that children of at least one converted parent are “sanctified” or “holy” in God’s eyes, which means that they can have a special and intimate relationship with God; that they CAN speak to God, expecting to be heard, and that they can experience and obtain an answer from God. We pointed out that they are not cut off from God the Father, but that they must make the decision of wanting to have continuing contact with God, by not neglecting or forsaking the Way of God.

We also discussed the blessing of little children and the fact that God assigns guardian angels to them for their protection, so that they can reach their potential of becoming baptized and ultimately born-again members in the God Family. We also showed that it is eventually the decision of the child or teenager or young adult as to how to conduct his or her Way of Life and whether or not to maintain a relationship with God.

Still, as we alluded to in the previous two Q&As, the teaching and conduct of parents can have great influence on the decision of the children to either become and stay loyal to God or to reject Him. In regard to Sabbath observance, we pointed out that “those children who are being taught and raised by their converted parents must come to the point where they prove for themselves that what they are being taught is true. They might have developed a ‘habit,’ due to the teaching and practice of their parents, to ‘keep’ the Sabbath by ‘going to church’ that day and sitting quietly in services for two hours, but that alone is never enough. Rather, they must prove for themselves in due time that God demands of them the keeping of the Sabbath and the annual Holy Days; the abstention from unclean meat; and the rejection of observing Sunday, Christmas, Easter or Halloween—again, no matter the costs and circumstances.”

This applies, as we explained, to all areas of life. In this regard, the example of parents is very important. For instance, when parents keep the Sabbath just as a matter of routine, but they are doing so grudgingly and with resentment and the attitude that it is a burden, and “we can hardly wait for when the Sabbath is over so we can do our own thing,” they give very mixed signals to the child as to the sanctity of the Sabbath and that it is supposed to be a day of joy.

We stated this in our free booklet, The Key to Happy Marriages and Families:

“In order to be able to teach God’s word effectively, it must first be settled in the hearts of the teachers themselves. Notice Deuteronomy 6:6–7, ‘And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.’

“If the words of God are NOT in our hearts, HOW CAN WE teach them diligently to our children? If we ourselves are not sure whether God’s instructions always apply in every situation without fail, how CAN we teach our children or teens that they do? If we doubt whether it is ALWAYS right NOT to lie, NOT to steal, NOT to kill, NOT to break the Sabbath, NOT to cheat on our wife or husband, how CAN we bring up our children or teens in the admonition of the Lord?”

It is true, as we pointed out in the previous Q&A, that the righteousness of parents does not automatically mean that their children become and stay righteous; but converted parents who behave unrighteously certainly have a bad influence on the upbringing of their children. At the same time, righteous parents who behave righteously most certainly have a good influence on the upbringing of their children, helping them to make the right decision of staying loyal to God and responding to His calling.

The Bible emphasizes time and again that children will follow the example of parents who behave badly. The child of an alcoholic or of a homosexual parent may easily adopt that lifestyle. A father who beats his wife may raise a son who may do the same later to his wife. Abraham lied when he said that his wife was his sister (Genesis 20:2,13); and his son Isaac committed the same sin (Genesis 26:6-7).

David lusted after Bathsheba, but he also took other women, including Maacah, a Geshurite or Canaanite princess (something which God had forbidden; compare Deuteronomy 7:3). Their son Absalom (2 Samuel 3:3) killed his half-brother Amnon who had raped Absolom’s sister Tamar (2 Samuel 13:1-14). David’s son Solomon committed terrible sins when he married pagan wives and followed their pagan religion.

We pointed out in the previous Q&A that God will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those children who hate God (Exodus 20:5). Friedman, Commentary on the Torah, points out that this “may refer to the way in which [bad] behavior recurs through generations in a family.”

Christ emphasized that wicked fathers may bring up wicked children. He explained in Matthew 23:29-35 that even though the children might pretend to have acted differently, they would have done the same thing as their fathers did, as they were engaged in the same kind of practice as their fathers:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.”

This terrible and vicious “circle of life” is, sadly, repeated time and time again. God prophesies that the last generation of Americans and Brits will go into captivity, and Leviticus 26:37-39 explains why: “… you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; also in their fathers’ iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away.”

We emphasize that this development does not have to be automatic. A son can see the wickedness of his father and decide NOT to live that way (Ezekiel 18:14-17). This is especially true, in our context of sanctification, when a child was brought up in the church but then experiences that his parents leave and go back into the world. That child does not need to follow his parents’ example. God had sanctified him or her, and that sanctification or holiness does not automatically cease to exist when the parents leave God’s Way of Life. But it goes without saying that their bad example might have a tremendously bad influence on the child; and the child or teen or young adult must turn to God with all his or her might to maintain his or her sanctified relationship with Him.

On the other hand, parents who live God’s Way of Life and don’t deviate from it have a very positive influence on the child’s development. God promises children tremendous blessings if they stay righteous (Psalm 103:17-18; Proverbs 20:7; Deuteronomy 4:40). God even offers physical protection in these terrible times to come, at a place of safety here on earth, for righteous parents and their children: “In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And His children will have a place of refuge” (Proverbs 14:26).

God speaks very clearly about the responsibility of the parents when He says: “Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 12:28). But God makes clear that when it comes to observing the law of God, more is necessary than just “keeping” it, so that parents can be great examples:

“Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:29).

We all will, to an extent, adopt the bad behavior of our parents. And as they are called upon to repent of it, we, as their children, must do likewise, and the same is true for our children. This command to repent applies also to the “children” of the last generation of Americans and Brits in captivity:

“But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt—then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land” (Leviticus 26:40-42).

As the new generation of Israel was called upon to enter into a covenant relationship with God at Moab, so each of us—grandparent, parent, children and grandchildren—is individually challenged to make that personal decision to follow God and not to walk away. It is interesting to read the words of Moses to that new generation of people who were ready to enter the Promised Land:

“The LORD our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: ‘You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates. See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers–to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.’ And I spoke to you at that time, saying: ‘I alone am not able to bear you’” (Deuteronomy 1:6-9).

Moses reiterates events which had happened 40 years earlier. Most who were assembled now were not even alive when these events had taken place. Still, Moses addresses them directly in saying that he spoke to them. What had happened 40 years earlier had great consequences for the new generation. In Deuteronomy 1:21, Moses said to them: “Look, the LORD your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the LORD God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged.”

The word in Hebrew for “you” is in the singular; Moses addresses everyone individually, because everyone had to make the individual decision to follow God. And so, Moses states this in Deuteronomy 5:2-3:

“The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive.”

Technically, God did not make the covenant at Horeb with the new generation as most were not even alive at that time. But in a sense, God did.

In Hebrew, it says, literally:

“… but with us! We! These! Here! Today! All of us! Living!”

Friedman, Commentary on the Torah, explains:

“Moses speaks to the people in front of him as if they had all been at Sinai forty years earlier. Now he says explicitly, powerfully, unmistakably, with seven different words: Each generation must see themselves as personally standing at Sinai, not just inheriting their parents’ covenant, but as making the covenant themselves. It is a present, living commitment.”

Parents might have entered into the New Covenant relationship at the time of their baptism. But this will not bring their children automatically to the point where they also become baptized. It is up to them. But converted parents can and must help.

Let us conclude with these questions and remarks:

Are you a converted parent? Make sure that you do whatever you can to help your child to live God’s Way of Life.

Are you a sanctified child? Then God has preordained you before you were born to be called in this day and age to have a special relationship with Him and to come to Him. He has chosen YOU and given YOU the opportunity now to become a part His very Family. Value this precious and priceless gift very highly.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

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A Big THANK YOU to God

By Delayla Sperzel (15) – Germany

My mom and I went to my orthodontist because I had to get fixed braces. We went to appointments on three consecutive days and I was trying to predict which pliers the orthodontist was going to use during the application and got it right each time, as I’m a very quick learner. When he heard that, he asked me if I wanted to do an internship at the clinic. Since I was still searching for something at this point, I brought an application with me the next day. He was very enthusiastic about this application and asked me if I had time for an internship and we made appointments together for this.

Therefore, at the beginning of July, I spent 3 days doing an internship in the orthodontics practice.

On the last day of my internship, the boss invited me to his office, where he praised me very much, and told me that he was very impressed that I had done such a wonderful job and that I had a great and positive charisma. After the great praise, he gave me the wonderful message that he would like me to be part of his team.

I give thanks to God and His leadership and how God intervened in my new phase of life and put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Now he has provided me with a wonderful education and a very nice and understanding boss.

Initial Translation: Anna Link

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Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

compiled by Dave Harris

“Is America Doomed? The Biden and Trump Scandals!” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal and its somewhat hidden immunity clause fall apart. More criminal charges against Trump in the Mar-o-Lago documents case are brought one day later. Hunter’s business partner Devon Archer testifies in Congress about Joe Biden’s conduct in regard to Hunter and Hunter’s foreign business associates. One day later, criminal charges are brought in an indictment pertaining to 2020 election events.  Did special counsel Jack Smith open a Pandora’s box, and if so, why and how? Could Smith be indicted himself? Legal experts and scholars such as George Washington University Professor Jonathan Turley and Harvard University Professor Alan Dershowitz rip the indictment apart on constitutional and other grounds. Are we doomed? Many feel that we are!

“Russlands Krieg mit Deutschland,” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “Russia’s War with Germany.”

Our new German booklet, “Aufstieg und Fall von Deutschland und Europa,”  which is a translation of our English booklet, “The Rise and Fall of Germany and Europe,” has been sent to our printer. It has also been posted on our Website. 

“Was ist Gottes Wort?” last Sabbath’s sermonette presented in Germany by Tahir Coban, is now posted. Title in English: “What is God’s Word?”

“In Despair,” last Sabbath’s sermonette presented by Eric Rank, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Life can get pretty hard. We can learn from the examples in the Bible of those who groaned in despair because of their dire circumstances. By hanging on in faith that God will see us through even the most difficult situations, we will be able to overcome, even when things seem hopeless.

“The Power of Love,” last Sabbath’s sermon presented by Dave Harris, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Imagine, for a moment, a world in which love was the basis for all human interactions! God has planned for this, and He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to lay the foundation for just such a world!

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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

In Despair / The Power of Love

On July 29, 2023, Eric Rank will present the sermonette, titled, “In Despair,” and Dave Harris will present the sermon, titled, “The Power of Love.”

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

This Week in the News

Biden Mumbles Indecipherable Comments

The Daily Mail wrote on July 21:

“[Israel’s] President Isaac Herzog had been in Washington D.C. for a meeting on Tuesday… Video footage of their exchange shows Biden mumbling indecipherable comments towards Herzog while avoiding eye contact, and looking down at himself, as if he’s about to nod-off…

“The footage shows Biden with his eyes closed talking to Herzog, saying: ‘We brought Israelis and Palestinians together, at a political level’.”

Biden Struggles to Read From Teleprompter

Rare wrote on or about July 21:

“President Biden held brief remarks today on artificial intelligence from the White House. Biden spoke for just 6 minutes before shuffling out of the door. During his remarks, Biden struggled to read from his teleprompter, repeating himself over and over again. Biden can be quoted as saying, ‘Artificial Intelligence or promises an enormous, enormous promise of both risk to our society and our economy and our national security but also incredible opportunities.’

“As Biden concluded his short 6 minute remarks, reporters shouted questions about a recent Chinese hack of government emails. The hack is purported to have affected high-level Biden officials, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and others. The reporter shouted, ‘Mr. President, can you tell us about the hacking of cabinet officials by China?’ As she spoke, Biden turned and walked away, beginning to talk to Secret Service in the hallway as reporters awaited a response. Biden said, ‘Ready? How we getting these guys down there?’

“There has never been a less transparent Administration occupying the White House than that of Joe Biden. Why are Biden officials still traveling to China? Why have they not appropriately responded to China’s spy balloon, which flew clear across the contiguous United States with no response from our government officials? This is simply absurd.”

Biden is clearly not up to the task, as the next article points out as well.

Biden’s Declining Health

The Telegraph published on July 21 the following commentary by Nile Gardiner, Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC:

“Biden’s evidently declining health should be an issue of huge concern on both sides of the Atlantic. The US President’s schedule on international trips is increasingly being curtailed by his advisers who fear that he is simply not up to the task… Biden’s own team carefully limit his engagements, appearances and speeches, for fear that he will embarrass himself and the United States on the international stage. Biden’s relatively brief visit to Windsor Castle earlier this month was a case in point, with King Charles III having to closely watch Biden’s movements, clearly irritated by his meandering inspection of the Welsh Guards.

“Biden’s recent speeches at home and abroad have been littered with gaffes and gasp-inducing moments… When Biden speaks to audiences these days it’s impossible to predict what exactly he will end up saying or how it will end. He is increasingly reduced to reading out carefully scripted answers in press conferences…

“Biden’s White House aides also have major concerns over his physical frailty, demonstrated by a series of potentially dangerous stumbles while boarding Air Force One in recent months. As Politico reported this week, the President is now using the ‘short stairs’ to board the presidential plane, with just 14 steps as opposed to the traditional 26…

“President Biden’s rapidly deteriorating condition is clearly good news for America’s adversaries, from Beijing to Moscow, Pyongyang and Tehran, given that Biden’s deputy, Vice President Kamala Harris, is viewed as an even less effective leader than her boss. But the Chinese, Russians, North Koreans and Iranians relish even more the weak-kneed policies the Biden administration advances on the world stage.

“This is a feeble presidency at every level, enveloped in woke left-wing ideology while pursuing short-sighted policies of appeasement towards some of the most wicked regimes on Earth… The Biden presidency represents American retreat, decline and despair, headed by a president regarded by the enemies of the free world as a soft and easy opponent.”

Even worldly commentators confirm, inadvertently, the end-time biblical prophecy about America’s decline.

Hunter Biden’s “Sweetheart Deal” Falls Apart

Fox News reported on July 26:

“Hunter Biden’s plea deal fell apart during his first court appearance Wednesday morning and pleaded ‘not guilty’ as federal prosecutors confirmed the president’s son is still under federal investigation. The president’s son was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax, as part of plea deal to avoid jail time on a felony gun charge.

“But Judge Maryellen Noreika did not accept the plea agreement, questioning the constitutionality–specifically the diversion clause [regarding the gun charge] and the immunity [regarding other future charges] Hunter Biden would receive…

 “The judge pressed federal prosecutors on the investigation and questioned whether there was the possibility for future charges, and asked prosecutors if Hunter Biden was currently under active investigation. Prosecutors said he was, but would not answer specifically what the president’s son is under investigation for. Prosecutors on Wednesday, though, said Hunter Biden pleading guilty to the two misdemeanor tax offenses would not immunize him from future charges.

 “At one point… Noreika asked if the government could potentially bring a charge related to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), to which Wise replied: ‘Yes.’

 “At that point, the original plea deal broke down. Defense attorney Chris Clark said he did not agree with that. ‘Then there’s no deal,’ Wise said…

 “The developments in the case Wednesday come after IRS whistleblower testimony revealed allegations of DOJ misconduct throughout the years-long investigation into the president’s son [saying] politics influenced prosecutorial decisions throughout the investigation. 

 “House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith filed an amicus brief to the court, requesting that testimony be considered ahead of accepting the planned plea deal, saying Hunter Biden ‘appears to have benefited from political interference which calls into question the propriety of the investigation of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.’”

Many observers feel that this is currently the worst possible outcome for Hunter Biden and his father, President Joe Biden, as the floodgates of further investigations and possible criminal charges are still wide open. It also appears that the parties tried to pull a fast one. Note the next article.

How the JD Tried to Protect Joe Biden

The New York Post Editorial Board wrote on July 27:

 “With the text of Hunter Biden’s plea deal now public, it’s no longer possible to deny that the Justice Department’s been bending over backward to protect the Biden family — including President Joe Biden. ‘The United States agrees not to criminally prosecute [Hunter] Biden . . . for any federal crimes’ related to the case, the deal reads. It left only the possibility of ‘prosecution for any future conduct.’

“No wonder Hunter and his attorneys were convinced he’d be off the hook for other crimes, such as those related to foreign lobbying — and, perhaps, bribe-taking, influence-peddling or other corruption. Federal Judge Maryellen Noreika questioned such a ‘broad,’ ‘nonstandard’ agreement, and wondered why both parties wanted her to ‘rubber stamp it.’

“Her questioning forced Special Assistant US Attorney Leo Wise to shift gears on a deal he was intimately knowledgeable of because he had hammered it out over weeks with Hunter’s lawyers. Stunning Hunter’s lawyer, and the rest of the court, he suddenly claimed the deal allowed only a narrower set of potential Biden crimes to be off limits to prosecutors. 

“The first son then balked, of course, and his lawyer, Chris Clark, declared the deal ‘null and void.’ Yet why would Justice include such blanket immunity in the first place?… It has little to do with protecting Hunter Biden. And everything to do with protecting his dad.

“… The reason the judge called the deal ‘nonstandard’ — and why Wise couldn’t provide any precedent — is that no normal defendant ever gets such a sweetheart deal… But despite enormous evidence— millions of dollars in alleged bribes to Joe and his family, Mafia-like threats and apparent Watergate-level coverups — don’t expect the Biden DOJ to ever launch a serious probe. Not with Joe [Biden] in office, anyway.”

Joe Biden’s Business Deals With Foreign Entities

Professor Jonathan Turley wrote the following on July 19 in the New York Post:

“The peril of the poorly crafted question was on display in Wednesday’s hearing with two whistleblowers on political interference in the Hunter Biden investigation… Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) often goes where wiser members fear to tread. On this occasion, Goldman may have delivered one of the most damaging moments for the Democrats. In the course of just a few minutes, the freshman New York congressman seemed to demolish the defense of President Biden.

“Goldman was trying to get the witnesses to say that there is no evidence that President Biden was personally involved in the alleged felonies of his son. He raised the shocking WhatsApp message that Hunter had allegedly sent to a Chinese official with foreign intelligence contacts. In the message, Hunter wrote: ‘I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight. And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father.’

“Most Democrats have avoided the message, which is incredibly damaging and seems to contradict the President’s long denial of any knowledge or involvement in his son’s dealings. Goldman pressed veteran IRS investigator Gary Shapley about his suggestion that Joe Biden discussed the foreign dealing with his son. Shapley eagerly said that he would be happy to explain but Goldman cut him off and said that he did not have time for such explanations.

“At this point, most lawyers would have reversed engines out of troubled waters, but Goldman plowed full speed ahead. He said that the references to Joe sitting next to his son does not mean that they actually discussed his business. Goldman then went even further and raised a ‘lunch where Joe Biden came to say hello at the Four Season’s hotel to a lunch that he was having with CEFC executives.’ He then reads from the record in how Biden associate Rob Walker described the origins of the meeting with the Chinese officials to get his dad to stop by: ‘Hunter told his Dad that “I may be trying to start a company or try to do something with these guys.”’

“Goldman then pounced and said slyly ‘Now let me ask you something, that doesn’t sound much like Joe Biden was involved in whatever Hunter was doing with the CEFC if Hunter Biden is telling him that he is trying to do business with them, does it?’ That is when Shapley stated the obvious: ‘No, but it does show that he told his father that he was trying to do business…’

“This is the same Joe Biden who has repeatedly told the American people that he never discussed any of Hunter’s deals and had no knowledge of such deals. He has maintained that denial as evidence has mounted contradicting him. Even when he flew his son to China where Hunter cut lucrative deals, he insists that they never mentioned that deal.

“There are also repeated references to President Biden as the ‘Big Guy’ in emails who was to receive a 10 per cent cut on a deal with the Chinese as well as other benefits. There are other references to Hunter Biden paying portions of his father’s expenses and taxes.

“People apparently were told to avoid directly referring to President Biden…  In one email, Hunter’s business associate Tony Bobulinski was instructed by Biden associate James Gilliar not to speak of the former veep’s connection to any transactions…  There are also the disclosures that Biden met with at least 14 of Hunter’s business associates from the US, Mexico, Ukraine, China and Kazakhstan over the course of his vice presidency.

“Then there is the audiotape message from President Biden for Hunter that specifically discussed coverage of those dealings. Finally, there is another audiotape of his uncle, Jim Biden, telling Hunter that he and his father had discussed his collapsing financial position and could arrange a ‘ safe harbor.’…”

The evidence is mounting that Joe Biden did not only lie repeatedly to the American people, but that he was also involved in business deals with foreign entities which might have jeopardized America’s security. Note the next article:

A Criminal Family Sitting in the White House?

The New York Post wrote on July 23:

“Former House Speaker Newt… Gingrich speculated that the evidence of alleged wrongdoing could soon become overwhelming. ‘What this says to me is that it’s very possible that there was a direct payment to the then-Vice President of the United States,’ Gingrich said… ‘At some point, the dam is going to break and even The New York Times and The Washington Post are going to recognize that we have a huge problem on our hands,’ he added.

“‘We may have a criminal family sitting in the White House that took money from foreigners in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Romania, Russia, and China… Now, that’s a pretty sobering comment that has huge national security implications and also just basic honesty implications,’ he continued…

“As vice president, Joe Biden had sought to leverage US support to oust Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin. At the time, his son was on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company that Shokin’s was investigating…”

None of that looks good for Joe Biden and his family.

The Media Would Love to Move On, But…

The New York Post published the following article by Professor Turley on July 25:

“The media’s desire to ‘move on’ from the scandal is reaching an almost frantic level… the release of the new evidence of corruption had left no room to maneuver for both Democrat politicians and the media… Any question would now trip a wire on the Bidens, so most avoid the allegations in favor of talking about Trump or other shiny objects… No matter the severity of the revelations, the liberal media calls the investigations a ‘clown show.’ Others have continued to tell the public that there remain no alleged ties from Hunter to President Biden despite emails, pictures and witness testimony. Yet it is becoming harder and harder to avoid these details…

“Members and the media were literally citing a plea bargain [the so-called ridiculous “sweetheart deal” with Hunter] as dispositive, even as two lead investigators were saying it was fixed and politically influenced… Others insisted that the allegations were still ‘unproven’ or ‘unverified’ while showing the same lack of interest in establishing the truth. Notably, these same media outlets did wall-to-wall coverage of the false Russian collusion claims in the Steele dossier. They are now simply shrugging off what could be one of the most serious corruption scandals in modern history despite the testimony of highly credible whistleblowers and thousands of pages of supporting evidence.

“None of this is going to work, of course. The public has long ago lost trust in the media… Polls show that the public is not ‘moving on’ and now view this as a major scandal. A majority believes that Hunter has received special protection in the investigation. While the media can continue to suppress the evidence and allegations within their own echo-chambered platforms, truth like water has a way of finding a way out. The scandal is moving forward with or without the media.”

Let’s hope so!

Why No Special Counsel to Investigate Joe Biden

Breitbart wrote on July 24:

“During Sunday’s broadcast of FNC’s ‘Life, Liberty & Levin,’ New York Times best-seller author Peter Schweizer explained why a special counsel had not been appointed to investigate alleged Biden family wrongdoing… ‘The reason that one has not been appointed is if they’re appointed, all hell is going to break loose. Let’s remember what we’re talking about here… Just look at China. Based on the laptop, based on public corporate records, what we know is that Hunter Biden and the Biden family received $31 million from four businessmen in China, and when you look at those four businessmen in China, these are not ordinary businessmen…

“‘These are not even ordinary members of the Chinese Communist Party. Each and every one of them has ties to the highest levels of Chinese intelligence,’ he continued. ‘Xie Feng, who arranged a $20 million deal for Hunter Biden in that private equity deal, his business partner at the same time, he is setting up Hunter Biden was the vice minister for State Security for China, whose job is to recruit foreign nationals to spy for China. Or look at Henry Zhao, who wires $5 million to Hunter Biden. He wires him to $5 million out of an account of a company called Harvest that Henry Zhao co-owns with the family of the former Minister of State Security, who runs the entire spy apparatus in China.

“‘Or you look at Chairman Yi, the CEFC energy company who, sends $6 million to Hunter Biden,’ Schweizer added. ‘His previous job before he gets appointed to this energy position is running an organization that is widely known to be a front for Chinese military intelligence. This was an intelligence operation by the Chinese to extract information, to get their claws into the then Second Family, now First Family of the United States.

“‘Nobody in Washington, DC wants to have that conversation, and Merrick Garland is not going to go there, even though this is the poster child for an independent counsel because of how the investigation is being stifled and who the investigation is actually about.’”

It really sounds as if America’s national security might very well have been compromised.

Breitbart added on July 24:

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr…. called for an investigation into the alleged Biden bribery scheme…  the Democrat presidential candidate said allegations surrounding President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden about allegedly accepting $5 million in bribes are worth ‘a real investigation… I mean, these revelations about the, where you had Burisma, which is, you know, a notoriously corrupt company that paid out, apparently, $10 million to Hunter and his dad. If that’s true, then it is really troubling.’”

Rand Paul Demands Prosecution of Dr. Fauci

Outkick wrote on July 19:

“Rand Paul is not letting the pressure up on Dr. Anthony Fauci. Fauci through his role as head of the NAIAD made any number of unimaginable mistakes. He claimed, inaccurately, that masks work to stop the spread of COVID. He advocated for school closures, afterwards denying he did any such thing.

“His misinformation on the efficacy of COVID vaccines helped usher in the spread of vaccine mandates and passports. Inexcusably, he’s also avoided acknowledging mistakes or admitting that he was wrong about many of these disastrous assertions.

“But one of the most contentious aspects of Fauci’s tenure revolves around the origins of COVID. And as more information emerges, it’s becoming even more clear how hard he worked to protect himself and his colleagues by deflecting from his organization’s role in funding gain-of-function research. The release of new, unredacted, emails shows that he was well aware that gain-of-function experiments were happening in Wuhan. That directly contradicts his previous claims that NIH had nothing to do with funding such experiments.

“And as a result, Senator Rand Paul’s referred him to Attorney General Merrick Garland to prosecute him for potentially lying under oath

“… But Merrick Garland has proven to be far from an independent, unbiased enforcer of the law. Instead, unsurprisingly, he’s function[ing] primarily as an enforcer of Biden administration priorities. Most notably through his lax prosecution of Hunter Biden and alleged interference in an IRS investigation… The odds that this Department of Justice prosecutes him for potentially lying under oath is infinitesimal, to say the least.

“But Rand Paul’s dogged efforts are necessary and immensely valuable to publicize how Fauci repeatedly mislead the public to protect himself. There may never be true accountability, but every opportunity to remove the veneer of Fauci’s credibility is worth pursuing.”

In this context, the New York Post reported on July 25 about Joe Biden’s latest blunder regarding COVID, as follows:

“In yet another embarrassing slip-up, President Biden Tuesday accidentally provided a lowball estimate of COVID-19’s death toll — saying ‘over 100’ Americans have died from the disease since it emerged over three years ago. Biden, 80, committed the gaffe — which was later corrected to ‘over 1 million’ in an official White House transcript — while announcing a new plan for the expansion of mental health care.

“‘We’re still feeling the profound loss of the pandemic.  As I mentioned, we have over 100 people dead,’ Biden said at the White House. ‘That’s 100 empty chairs around the kitchen table. Every single loss, there are so many people left behind and broken-hearted,’ the commander-in-chief added.”

Incredible!!!

The BRICS Economic Bloc

Modern Diplomacy wrote on July 24:

Twenty two nations have formally applied to become members of the BRICS economic bloc… An equal number have also informally sought to join the organization that groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa… Anil Sooklal, the bloc’s ambassador from South Africa… previously said that countries including Saudi Arabia and Iran have formally asked to become BRICS members, while countries that expressed an interest in joining include the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt, Bahrain, Indonesia and others…

“The countries agreed to pool $100 billion of foreign currency, which they can lend to each other during emergencies,,, They founded the New Development Bank — a World Bank-inspired institution that has approved more than $30 billion of loans for projects like water and transport infrastructure since it began operations in 2015… They plan to discuss the feasibility of a common BRICS currency this year…

“BRICS is similar to clubs such as the Group of 20 in representing a move toward a more multipolar world and away from one dominated by the US…”

America’s influence in the world is clearly diminishing and failing…

Russia Threatens Poland

Al Jazeera wrote on July 21:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Poland of having territorial ambitions in the former Soviet Union and said any aggression against its neighbour and ally Belarus would be considered an attack on Russia itself.

“In televised remarks on Friday, Putin warned that Moscow would use any means at its disposal to protect Belarus, which forms a loose Union State with Russia, against possible attacks. Putin said there were reports of plans for a Polish-Lithuanian unit to be used for operations in western Ukraine – parts of which in the past belonged to Poland – and ultimately to occupy territory there…

Poland, a NATO member and one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies in its fight against Russia’s invasion, denied any territorial ambitions in Ukraine or Belarus…

“In his remarks, Putin argued Poland’s western territories were a ‘present’ from former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. ‘Thanks to the Soviet Union, to Stalin, Poland got significant amounts of lands in the west, lands that used to belong to Germany. It is so. Western territories of Poland are the present given by Stalin to Poles. Our friends in Warsaw had forgotten about it. We will remind them.’

“Putin’s comments are a message that ‘Poland has to be grateful to the Soviet Union, to Russia, and instead they are becoming more of an enemy to Russia,’ said Nina Khrushcheva, professor of international affairs at the New School and great-granddaughter of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. ‘Also this is a message to the Ukrainians: “Please remember that for many years Ukraine and Poland were not great friends, and so now you’re being duped.”’…

“Warsaw’s Security Committee decided on Wednesday to move military units to eastern Poland after Wagner fighters arrived in Belarus…”

Germany Pledges Military Support for Poland

Express wrote on July 21:

“Germany’s Defence Minister [Boris Pistorius] has pledged support for Poland in the event the NATO member’s eastern border comes under attack from Belarus or Russia… Mr Pistorius emphasised that if Poland wants assistance, it will receive it since they are trusted NATO members…

“Poland’s intention to beef up its military along the Belarusian border has alarmed the Kremlin. The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov… told reporters: ‘Of course it is a cause for concern. The aggressiveness of Poland is a reality. Such a hostile attitude towards Belarus and the Russian Federation requires heightened attention [from our side].’”

Germany is again at the forefront of potential military activities.

Western Hesitancy Helped Russia

The Washington Examiner wrote on July 21:

“Western hesitance to provide Ukraine with heavy weaponry and training provided Russia with ‘more time than they needed’ to fortify their lines, according to Ukrainian President… Zelensky. ‘We did plan to start it in spring, but we didn’t because, frankly, we had not enough munitions and armaments and not enough properly trained brigades… in these weapons,’ Zelensky said… Friday…

“Much of equipment arrived far later than Ukrainian officials first hoped. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, for instance, declined to authorize the transfer of Leopard tanks until Biden promised to pledge U.S.-made Abrams tanks. That protracted conversation drew to a conclusion in January — weeks after France and the United Kingdom unveiled their respective decisions to provide light and heavy NATO-designed tanks and nearly a year after Zelensky began to ‘express a need for tanks’ and other heavy arms in anticipation of this clash.”

Ukraine will not easily forget “Western hesitance”—especially from Germany.

Zelensky Fires His Ambassador to the UK

The Daily Mail wrote on July 21:

“Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed the country’s ambassador to the United Kingdom… Vadym Prystaiko had criticised Zelensky’s sarcastic response to suggestions from Defence Secretary Ben Wallace that Ukraine should show more gratitude for arms supplies from its allies…

“The row began when Wallace told journalists at a NATO summit in Vilnius this month that Britain was not an Amazon delivery service for weapons to Ukraine and suggested Kyiv could express more ‘gratitude’… Zelensky responded at a press conference at the summit, saying he did not know how else to make clear Ukraine’s gratitude, adding: ‘We could wake up in the morning and express our words of gratitude to the minister personally.’

“The Ukrainian diplomat agreed with a suggestion from a Sky News interviewer that Zelensky responded with ‘a little bit of sarcasm’ to Wallace. ‘I don’t believe that this sarcasm is healthy. We don’t have to show the Russians that we have something between us, they have to know that we are working together,’ Prystaiko added, stressing the need to smooth over relations with the UK…

“Prystaiko is a career diplomat who has served as ambassador to the United Kingdom since July 2020. He became a prominent figure in London amid the UK’s response to the war, often appearing on TV and radio to outline the latest view in Kyiv while also attending various official events in Downing Street and elsewhere linked to Ukraine’s war effort.

“Only last Thursday, he was in the royal box at the Wimbledon tennis championships. Before taking up the diplomatic role in London, he was Ukraine’s vice-prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration and is also a former foreign minister.”

Zelensky’s outbursts and his hasty and unpopular decisions might very well backfire on him.

Trump and His Supporters on the Russia-Ukraine-War

Newsweek wrote on July 23:

“Former President Donald Trump said in an interview broadcast on Sunday morning that Ukraine should receive over $100 billion more in aid from European nations to match what the United States has contributed… In recent months, the former president has repeatedly said that the war would not have happened if he was still president, and that he’d end the conflict in a day if he’s reelected in 2024.Trump’s comments about the war have garnered significant criticism from Democrats and Republicans who strongly support Ukraine…

“… data from the Kiel Institute for World Economy, a German research institute, shows that as of May 31, the U.S. has sent just north of $75 billion of the allocated assistance to Ukraine. Meanwhile…  EU institutions have contributed a little more than $27 billion, while the United Kingdom and Germany have each given more than $10 billion. Several other European nations’ contributions have totaled in the billions of dollars, while a number of others have given hundreds of millions, according to the research institute…

“Although most Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Congress continue to support U.S. assistance to Ukraine, there is a vocal faction of GOP lawmakers who staunchly oppose any support to Kyiv… 43 percent of Trump voters believe the U.S. has provided too much support to Ukraine, while 20 percent felt it was too little. In addition, 20 percent said it was about right and 17 percent answered ‘don’t know.’

“The survey also found that 41 percent of Trump voters believe the U.S. ‘should reconsider our levels of support as the war continues,’ while 20 percent believed U.S. support should stop now. A further 26 percent said support should continue until Ukraine wins the war and 13 percent didn’t know…

“Meanwhile, Trump previously told Fox News that he’d warn Putin that U.S. aid to Ukraine would increase if he didn’t make a deal to end the war. ‘… We’re going to [give Ukraine] more than they ever got if we have to…’”

This Is Obliteration!

Fox News wrote on July 23:

“Former President Donald Trump said in a new interview clip aired Sunday that President Biden is not up to the task during a precarious time for the U.S. amid growing tensions around the globe. ‘Look, this is the most dangerous time in the history of our country because of weaponry. The nuclear power is so enormous. This isn’t two Army tanks going and shooting each other in World War I, World War II, soldiers standing behind a bunker and shooting people,’ Trump said during a sit-down interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo. ‘This is obliteration,’ Trump added…

“‘And we have a man that doesn’t understand what he’s doing. We have a man that … stood up and told the whole world that we have no ammunition,’  Trump said of Biden… ‘You talk about classified documents. That’s worse than any document that you could give,’ Trump continued… ‘So, now these people are sitting back in China and other places that hate us, including North Korea… They’re talking about the United States of America has no ammunition. Think of it. How stupid can somebody be to say that?’” 

The USA will reach a point where it will NOT go out to battle anymore, even if it wanted to.

Germany Critical of Ukraine

The Times wrote on July 25:

“Germany’s armed forces have criticised the tactics adopted by the Ukrainian army in its counteroffensive against Russian positions and said that battle-hardened troops and officers were ignoring methods taught in western training, according to a leaked Bundeswehr paper.

“The Bild newspaper reported that it had obtained a confidential German army assessment of the Ukrainian assault that Kyiv has admitted is making slower progress than hoped.

“The Ukrainian forces were splitting their western-trained brigades into small units of just ten to 30 soldiers in some cases to attack an enemy position, which meant they weren’t putting their western training, superior weapons or large troop numbers to use, the report said.”

Frictions between Germany and Ukraine will continue.

Kennedy: US Pushed Ukraine War

The Daily Beast wrote on July 26:

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. debated Fox News host Sean Hannity during a town hall event Tuesday about the United States’ role in the Russia-Ukraine war, with the 2024 presidential candidate claiming that the U.S. had been ‘pushing’ Ukraine into the war…. ‘Do I trust Putin? No,’ Kennedy Jr. said… [He] then accused the U.S. of sabotaging the Minsk agreements in 2014 and 2015, which aimed to end the Donbas war yet largely failed to stop the fighting between Russian separatists and Ukraine’s armed forces…

“Kennedy Jr. claimed that the expansion of NATO after the fall of the Soviet Union was an example of the U.S. deliberately bringing out the conditions that ultimately led to the war. Minutes later, Kennedy Jr…. dismissed the idea that Russia would lose the war it started. ‘It would be like us losing a war to Mexico,’ he said. ‘They are not going to lose the war.’”

Kennedy also repeated his claim that the CIA was involved with the murder of his uncle, John F. Kennedy. According to an article in the New York Post, dated May 9, 2023, it had been reported:

“RFK Jr. claimed to remember that his father’s first call after receiving the news of his brother’s assassination was to CIA officials, asking them if they were responsible. ‘It was my father’s first instinct that the agency had killed his brother,’ said Kennedy.

“The candidate added that his father had also investigated Jack Ruby, who killed accused triggerman Lee Harvey Oswald on live television, and found he had ties to mob bosses and casino owners who were in ‘cahoots’ with the CIA.”

Hungary Opposed to Unconditional Financial Long-Term Support for Ukraine

Ukrainska Pravda wrote on July 20:

“Hungary has opposed the EU’s attempt to create a long-term fund of up to €20 billion to support the Ukrainian army…

“Foreign ministers met in Brussels on Thursday, 20 July, and discussed for the first time a proposal that would allocate at least €5 billion a year over the next four years to cover the costs of EU countries buying and donating arms to Ukraine as well as training Ukrainian troops.

“But during the meeting, Hungary said it would object to the plan until Ukraine removed Hungarian Bank OTP from its list of ‘war sponsors’… The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has included Hungary’s OTP Bank in the list of international ‘war sponsors.’”

This is idiotic. There are nothing but “international war sponsors” around these days. Many major business corporations or organizations, including in the USA and Europe, are in one way or another involved in promoting and sponsoring war activities.

Hungary and the EU

Hungary Today wrote on July 22:

“Prime Minister Viktor Orbán… claimed that the European Union has rejected its Christian heritage, and it is carrying out a population replacement. Mr Orbán said that people have the feeling that the EU is plagued by anxiety and feels hemmed in. It is a rich and weak Union, which sees around it a world in revolt, millions of people heading for Europe…

The big European companies do not want to break away and leave Russia, Mr Orbán said. He pointed out that seventy percent of energy companies are still present in Russia, and Western companies have paid $3.5 billion into the Russian budget…

“The EU… is waging an LGBTQ campaign against family-friendly nations. The Prime Minister said that Europe has created its own political class, which is no longer accountable, no longer Christian or democratic in its beliefs…”

Europe will become much more undemocratic and dictatorial, and even though its “Christian heritage” will be revived, it will not be the Christianity taught in the Bible.

Gridlock in Spain

USA Today wrote on July 24:

“Spain was plunged into political uncertainty Monday a day after Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s conservative Popular Party narrowly won the country’s national election but without securing the parliamentary majority needed to topple the five-year-old coalition government of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

“The result means Feijóo can’t claim outright victory, though he told his supporters he would try to form a government. That process is likely to take weeks or even months as Sánchez may also be able to secure support from smaller parties to form a governing coalition. A new election could also be called.

“Expectations Santiago Abascal’s far-right Vox party would perform well enough to prop up a Feijóo-led government did not happen…

“Jobs. The economy. The cost of living. These were the issues that appeared to matter most to Spanish voters. However, climate change, nationalism and LGBTQ and gender issues also featured in campaigns.

“Feijóo’s best chances of forming a government had been with a partnership with Vox. That’s unlikely to happen now because of the latter’s poor performance. A route to power for incumbent Sánchez could be if he were able to secure the backing of Junts, a Catalan pro-independent party founded by Carles Puigdemont. Catalonia is a region of Spain with Barcelona as its capital that has long sought to breakaway from Spain’s government.

“‘The results are so close that they leave everything up in the air,’ the Spanish newspaper El Pais wrote Monday. ‘The Spanish political landscape is wide open.’”

The Associated Press added on July 25:

“The divided results have made the hardline Catalan separatist party Junts (Together) emerge as Sánchez’s potential kingmaker. If Junts asks for a referendum on independence for northeast Catalonia, that would likely be far too costly a price for Sánchez to pay. ‘We won’t make Pedro Sánchez PM in exchange for nothing,’ Míriam Nogueras of Junts said…

“Spain’s new Parliament will meet in a month. King Felipe VI then appoints one of the party leaders to submit him or herself to a parliamentary vote to form a new government. Lawmakers have a maximum period of three months to reach an agreement. Otherwise, new elections would be triggered.”

It appears to us that Spain will be one of the prophesied ten nations or groups of nations forming core Europe. The developments in Spain are therefore of great significance.

The EU Is Not UK’s Friend

The Telegraph wrote on July 21:

“During her Tory leadership campaign Liz Truss was asked if President Macron of France was a friend or foe. She indicated it was too early to tell… Today, however, the question is not whether France is our friend or foe but whether the EU as a whole is

“For this week, at the end of a meeting with Latin American states collectively known as Celac, the EU issued a communique which called the Falkland Islands the Malvinas. Regarding their sovereignty the EU merely noted the historical position of the Latin American states on the issue and backed a peaceful solution to the dispute. Frantic British objections before the communique were simply brushed aside…

“Clearly all member states had discussed the matter before agreeing to the communique and backing the Hispanics… The EU must have known that the Argentine claim is baseless. There has been a British colony on the Falklands since 1833. There has never been an equivalent Argentine one. We fought a war to retain the islands in 1982, where 255 British servicemen died. In 2013 in a democratic referendum 99.8 per cent of the population voted to remain British. The EU knows all this but chooses to ignore it because, since Brexit, we are now its enemy. It wishes to humiliate us whenever possible. The defence of democracy matters little to it…

Gibraltar is like the Falklands. The Spanish seized it from the Moors in 1462. The British conquered it in 1704 and acquired it permanently by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. So it was Spanish for 242 years and has been British for 319 years. Moreover a referendum in 2002 showed 98.97 per cent of the population rejected joint sovereignty with Spain. Another in 1967 had shown 99.67 per cent wanted to remain British. Now though, we can expect the new government [of Spain] to blame the situation on Brexit and push again for ‘sovereignty’ talks – with the full support of the EU…

The EU is not our friend. It is only nice to us when it needs us…

“The EU’s true colours have been shown over Northern Ireland, too. There the Windsor Framework was supposed to solve trade disputes by creating a ‘green lane’ which would allow all goods from the UK headed only for Northern Ireland free and frictionless transit. Yet the EU has imposed such a burden of regulation on the ‘trusted traders’ supposed to benefit from this that many have given up trying to use it. In short the EU is making Northern Ireland a foreign country. And it is doing so deliberately…”

The hostilities between the EU and the United Kingdom will continue.

USA Not a True Friend of Israel

Israel Today wrote on July 20:

“The mantras that ‘the US-Israel relationship is rock solid’ and ‘the US has Israel’s back’—so often proclaimed in the breach by both countries—may be wearing thin in Israel…

“Israel knows the US has never truly had its back. During Israel’s 1947-1948 War of Independence, the US imposed an arms embargo to prevent Israel from defending itself against the heavily armed Arab armies invading it. In the 1956 Suez War, the US forced Israel to withdraw from the Sinai and Gaza after Israel’s victory over Egypt.

“In the 1967 Six-Day War, the US pressured Israel to halt its advance on Damascus. In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, US fear of Arab criticism led to delays in resupplying Israel. The 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict, which saw the US temporarily suspend arms shipments, showed again that Israel could not depend on a US resupply during wartime.

“The US opposed Israel’s destruction of Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981 and Syria’s in 2007. Now the US is facilitating Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons. Over the decades, whenever Israel defended itself against attacks from its neighbors, the US intervened to force Israel to back off. This prevented decisive victories that could have discouraged future wars and led to lasting peace settlements.

“The claim that Israel can always count on American military support is a fiction that both countries want to maintain. The US does it to reassure its domestic Jewish population. Israel does it so its enemies will see Israel as that much stronger

“American support, which includes some $4 billion a year in military aid, is a mixed blessing, partly because it comes with strings attached. Israel must spend the lion’s share of the money on US arms that don’t always provide value for money. Worse, the subsidies lead many Americans to believe Israel should be accountable to the US, giving Israel’s critics license to interfere in Israeli affairs

“While many US administrations have been high-handed in their relations with Israel, the Biden administration has been especially discourteous, reflecting increased hostility towards Israel from America’s progressive left. It has referred to the Israeli government as extremist, scolded Israel on all manner of issues and refused to invite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.”

What an insightful and powerful article, stating FACTS which are easily forgotten or suppressed by America’s mainstream media.

Uproar in Israel

CNN wrote on July 24:

“The Israeli parliament on Monday passed a law stripping the Supreme Court of its power to block government decisions, the first part of a planned judicial overhaul that has sharply divided Israeli society and drawn fierce criticism from the White House.

“The controversial bill passed by a vote of 64-0 in the Knesset. All members of the governing coalition voted in favor the bill, while all opposition lawmakers walked out of the chamber as the vote was taking place.

“Huge crowds of angry protesters gathered outside, attempting to block access to the building… Thousands of military reservists – including more than 1,100 Air Force officers – said even before the bill passed that they would refuse to volunteer for duty if it did.

“The so-called reasonableness law takes away the Supreme Court’s power to block government decisions by declaring them unreasonable. Its passing could trigger a constitutional crisis – if the court declares the law itself is unreasonable.”

Breitbart added on July 24:

“The new law prevents courts from using their own idea of ‘reasonableness’ in blocking government policies. Critics had long argued that the ‘reasonableness’ doctrine allowed the left-leaning judiciary to abuse its power, and that it tended to do so more often against Israel’s conservative governments…

“U.S. President Joe Biden, whose administration publicly opposes Israel’s internal reforms, issued a last-minute warning to Netanyahu not to proceed… Many of the reforms closely parallel existing practice in the U.S. and other democratic countries; Israel’s judiciary began amassing extraordinary powers in the 1990s…”

Why does Biden get involved in this? Didn’t he cause enough problems at home?

Justin Trudeau Canada’s Worst Prime Minister

The Telegraph wrote on July 24:

“The votes have been tallied. The results are in.  Justin Trudeau is Canada’s worst Prime Minister… in the past 55 years… Trudeau, a left-leaning Liberal, was once the political darling of the progressive set. That reputation came unglued…

“He’s… spent taxpayer dollars like a drunken sailor on the much-ridiculed federal carbon tax, national dental care, voluntary euthanasia, legalized marijuana, firearms regulation, Covid-19 measures and so on. Private investment and involvement in Canada has dried up like the Sahara Desert. Trudeau embarrassingly took a knee during Black Lives Matter in front of TV cameras. He claimed to admire China’s economy, which was later explained away as a joke…”

If similar honest surveys were to be conducted in other countries, we are sure that Joe Biden would turn out to be the worst President (even though some in the media suggest that Jimmy Carter was the worst President, followed by Joe Biden); Olaf Scholz would be the worst German Chancellor; and Emmanual Macron would be the worst French President. And the list would go on. There are no true leaders around these days…

Pope: God Loves Us As We Are!

ANSA reported on July 25:

“God loves us just as we are, Pope Francis tells a young transgender person in a new podcast produced by Vatican Radio ahead of World Youth Day in Lisbon and released on Tuesday… after hearing the story of Giona, who spoke about the challenges of being a believer, while accepting the reality of having physical challenges and being transgender.”

This is of course NOT what the Bible says.

No More Visa-Free Travel in Europe

Travel Noire wrote on July 21:

“The days of visa-free travel throughout most of Europe are about to change. Starting early next year, the European Union will implement the European Travel Information and Authorization System requiring all visitors from visa-free countries to obtain travel authorization prior to their departure.

“The European Travel Information and Authorization System is not your traditional visa. It’s a straightforward online application process with approval delivered by email. Travelers will need to fill out an online form with basic biographical information, travel plans and travel history, along with security questions. While most applicants will receive approval within an hour, some may experience a wait of up to 96 hours for further checks. The cost of the application is approximately $8, applicable to travelers of all ages. Once approved, the travel authorization will be valid for multiple entries over three years or until the traveler’s passport expires

“European Travel Information and Authorization System will be required for travel to all member countries including full Schengen members, like Spain, France, and Italy, European Free Trade Association countries, like Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland, future Schengen members, like Bulgaria and Cyprus, and European microstates, like Andorra and Monaco…

“As Europe gears up for the rollout, it’s essential to remember that the length of time American tourists can spend in Europe remains unchanged. United States passport holders are still allowed to stay up to 90 days within a 180-day period without a visa. For stays longer than 90 days, a special visa will be required.”

Support for Germany’s AfD Reaches Unparalleled Levels

Bloomberg wrote on July 22:

“Support for the far-right Alternative for Germany climbed to a record, widening its lead over all three parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling coalition. In the latest sign of voter frustration with the government, the AfD — as the party is widely known — increased to 22%, trailing only the conservative Christian Democrat-led bloc [CDU] at 26%, according to a poll conducted for the Bild am Sonntag newspaper by INSA.

“Support for Scholz’s Social Democrats was at 18%. The junior coalition partners, the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats, were at 14% and 7%, respectively. The AfD’s advances in recent months have been fueled by discontent over issues ranging from record immigration, persistently high inflation and costly climate-protection measures.

Coalition infighting, including a drawn-out feud over measures to shift household heating away from fossil fuels, has further irritated voters. The INSA poll said 70% were dissatisfied with the government and 60% with Scholz’s performance as chancellor…”

As reported by Bild Online, dated July 23, according to some experts and observers, the AfD is already the strongest party in Germany, even leading over the CDU.

Criminalizing Politically Incorrect Speech?

The Washington Examiner wrote on July 18:

“A new poll conducted for Newsweek found that ‘44% of those aged 25-34 think “referring to someone by the wrong gender pronoun (he/him, she/her) should be a criminal offense,’ versus just 31% who disagree. The remainder ‘neither agree nor disagree’ or ‘don’t know.'”

“This is a striking finding…  It is worthwhile to ask a simple question: Why?… Knowledge of history, which could teach us that compelled speech is antithetical to the idea of a free society, has gone by the wayside. Fidelity to tradition, which ensures we do not make revolutionary changes without due thought, is now out of fashion. And a sense of humility, which endows people with the sense that the accumulated wisdom of the past may be greater than an on-the-fly thought in the present, has all but disappeared…

“If we value tolerance more than anything else, then why do so many support draconian punishments — quite intolerant, if you ask me — for those who use incorrect pronouns?… even the most tolerant of societies must be intolerant of something. After all, there is no such thing as a society without any standards…’

This whole woke concept is so nonsensical. And the consequences of this brain-washing mentality are alarming and pose real threats to a democratic society, not to speak of the lack of upholding godly standards. Also note the next article.

Mad LGBT Scientists Playing God

IFN wrote on July 22:

“Scientists from the LGBT community have started a biotech firm with the express purpose of seeking to manufacture human eggs and sperm in a lab so that same-sex couples can produce children containing the DNA of both partners…

“If the experimental technology pans out, the human egg created in a lab with the DNA of a gay man in a same-sex relationship could be fertilized by the sperm of his partner, and then the resulting embryo would be carried by a surrogate through to the birth of a baby that is genetically related to both men. Lesbians could also use the technology to create sperm, allowing them to have babies with genes from both women. Transgender couples could also have biologically related babies.

“So much is wrong about this situation. The creation of lab babies to satisfy the desires of LGBT activists is morally and ethically bankrupt. It not only challenges the natural order created by God, but it raises extremely serious concerns relating to issues such as human cloning, designer babies, eugenics and even cross-species developmentThese mad scientists are playing God…”

God DESTROYED Sodom and Gomorrah. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His standards do not change. What the article above is describing is sickening and ungodly.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

Update 1078

In Despair / The Power of Love

On July 29, 2023, Eric Rank will present the sermonette, titled, “In Despair,” and Dave Harris will present the sermon, titled, “The Power of Love.”

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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Humility and Obedience

by Christoph Sperzel (Germany)

Humility and obedience are two characteristics which every Christian should have.

Modern man has a proud, self-satisfied attitude and thinks he can get along without God. Neither does he fear God nor does he respect God’s Word as an authority in his life. He is selfish and puffed up. Is it any wonder then that God does not hear the prayers of such people?

The most important requirement for knowing God is to fear or respect Him and to honor His Word. Psalm 111:10 tells us: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.”

Man must realize that he is only dust and will return to dust when he dies. In James 4:14, we read: “… For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

However, if a person has received the Spirit of God in this life, he will inherit eternal life at his resurrection, which is a gift from God: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

We should be humble and show obedience, understanding that all the gifts and talents we possess were given to us by God.

If we approach God with such an attitude and if we acknowledge His power and authority over our lives, then He will hear us.

When Christ lived as a human being, He also feared or respected God, just as we should do. Hebrews 5:7 tells us, that “in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, [He] was heard because of His godly fear…”

An attitude of humility and fear of God is always essential in prayer. And by respecting God’s Word, we are obedient.

The requirement for an answered prayer is neglected and constantly disregarded by most professing “Christians.” Matthew 6:7 states, for example: “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.”

Very few people know the true God. Most do not look towards God as the authority in their lives. Instead, the society of this world with its morals, customs, traditions and religious practices have become their “god.”

God inspired Paul to write: “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16).

When we are obedient to the ways of sin that are practiced in this world, we are replacing the true God with society and its pagan customs!  God does not want “lip service.” He demands humility and obedience!  If one has not learned to fear and respect the true God and accept His Word as authority in our lives, then one cannot even start to know the true God in the first place.

In 1 John 2:4, we read: “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

So, how can people stubbornly refuse to keep God’s commandments and yet expect Him to hear their prayers? Peter gives us the following answer, “‘For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil’” (1 Peter 3:12).

Sin is the transgression of God’s law, as the Authorized Version accurately states in 1 John 3:4.  The New King James Bible translates it in this way: “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.”

God will not hear the prayers of those who persist in sin and wickedness. If people were to obey God, they would receive answers to their prayers. In that case, God would not seem so far away and so unreachable.

If one goes to God with humility and a repentant attitude, and if one is determined to obey God, He will answer one’s prayers.

As true Christians, we can have extraordinary confidence that God will answer our prayers if we are humble and obedient. 1 John 3:22 confirms this: “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”

Humility and obedience are very closely related, since without humility one cannot have obedience. Both are crucial for a good relationship with God and with our neighbor. Therefore, obedience and humility are two qualities that every Christian must have.

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by Norbert Link

We report on the declining health and deteriorating condition of Joe Biden; the mounting evidence of his business deals with foreign entities which pose serious security concerns; and the question raised whether “a criminal family” occupies the White House.

We continue with a demand for the prosecution of Dr. Fauci; the BRICS Economic Bloc; threats of military actions pertaining to Poland and Russia; and the allegation that Western hesitancy helped Russia in its war against Ukraine. We publish Donald Trump’s warning of the possibility of obliteration in the next nuclear war; and Hungary’s attitude toward Ukraine and the EU.

We speak on the gridlock situation in Spain and we quote assessments to the effect that the EU is not a friend of the UK; and that the USA is not a friend of Israel. We also address the tumultuous situation in Israel.

Please view in this context our new StandingWatch program, titled, “America and Great Britain Without True Friends.”

We speak on the terrible reputation of Justin Trudeau; controversial statements by Pope Francis; the end of visa-free travel to Europe; the unparalleled support of Germany’s right-wing party, the AfD; and the ludicrous idea of criminalizing politically incorrect speech.

We conclude with another appalling attempt by scientists to play God.

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

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Biden Mumbles Indecipherable Comments

The Daily Mail wrote on July 21:

“[Israel’s] President Isaac Herzog had been in Washington D.C. for a meeting on Tuesday… Video footage of their exchange shows Biden mumbling indecipherable comments towards Herzog while avoiding eye contact, and looking down at himself, as if he’s about to nod-off…

“The footage shows Biden with his eyes closed talking to Herzog, saying: ‘We brought Israelis and Palestinians together, at a political level’.”

Biden Struggles to Read From Teleprompter

Rare wrote on or about July 21:

“President Biden held brief remarks today on artificial intelligence from the White House. Biden spoke for just 6 minutes before shuffling out of the door. During his remarks, Biden struggled to read from his teleprompter, repeating himself over and over again. Biden can be quoted as saying, ‘Artificial Intelligence or promises an enormous, enormous promise of both risk to our society and our economy and our national security but also incredible opportunities.’

“As Biden concluded his short 6 minute remarks, reporters shouted questions about a recent Chinese hack of government emails. The hack is purported to have affected high-level Biden officials, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and others. The reporter shouted, ‘Mr. President, can you tell us about the hacking of cabinet officials by China?’ As she spoke, Biden turned and walked away, beginning to talk to Secret Service in the hallway as reporters awaited a response. Biden said, ‘Ready? How we getting these guys down there?’

“There has never been a less transparent Administration occupying the White House than that of Joe Biden. Why are Biden officials still traveling to China? Why have they not appropriately responded to China’s spy balloon, which flew clear across the contiguous United States with no response from our government officials? This is simply absurd.”

Biden is clearly not up to the task, as the next article points out as well.

Biden’s Declining Health

The Telegraph published on July 21 the following commentary by Nile Gardiner, Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC:

“Biden’s evidently declining health should be an issue of huge concern on both sides of the Atlantic. The US President’s schedule on international trips is increasingly being curtailed by his advisers who fear that he is simply not up to the task… Biden’s own team carefully limit his engagements, appearances and speeches, for fear that he will embarrass himself and the United States on the international stage. Biden’s relatively brief visit to Windsor Castle earlier this month was a case in point, with King Charles III having to closely watch Biden’s movements, clearly irritated by his meandering inspection of the Welsh Guards.

“Biden’s recent speeches at home and abroad have been littered with gaffes and gasp-inducing moments… When Biden speaks to audiences these days it’s impossible to predict what exactly he will end up saying or how it will end. He is increasingly reduced to reading out carefully scripted answers in press conferences…

“Biden’s White House aides also have major concerns over his physical frailty, demonstrated by a series of potentially dangerous stumbles while boarding Air Force One in recent months. As Politico reported this week, the President is now using the ‘short stairs’ to board the presidential plane, with just 14 steps as opposed to the traditional 26…

“President Biden’s rapidly deteriorating condition is clearly good news for America’s adversaries, from Beijing to Moscow, Pyongyang and Tehran, given that Biden’s deputy, Vice President Kamala Harris, is viewed as an even less effective leader than her boss. But the Chinese, Russians, North Koreans and Iranians relish even more the weak-kneed policies the Biden administration advances on the world stage.

“This is a feeble presidency at every level, enveloped in woke left-wing ideology while pursuing short-sighted policies of appeasement towards some of the most wicked regimes on Earth… The Biden presidency represents American retreat, decline and despair, headed by a president regarded by the enemies of the free world as a soft and easy opponent.”

Even worldly commentators confirm, inadvertently, the end-time biblical prophecy about America’s decline.

Hunter Biden’s “Sweetheart Deal” Falls Apart

Fox News reported on July 26:

“Hunter Biden’s plea deal fell apart during his first court appearance Wednesday morning and pleaded ‘not guilty’ as federal prosecutors confirmed the president’s son is still under federal investigation. The president’s son was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax, as part of plea deal to avoid jail time on a felony gun charge.

“But Judge Maryellen Noreika did not accept the plea agreement, questioning the constitutionality–specifically the diversion clause [regarding the gun charge] and the immunity [regarding other future charges] Hunter Biden would receive…

 “The judge pressed federal prosecutors on the investigation and questioned whether there was the possibility for future charges, and asked prosecutors if Hunter Biden was currently under active investigation. Prosecutors said he was, but would not answer specifically what the president’s son is under investigation for. Prosecutors on Wednesday, though, said Hunter Biden pleading guilty to the two misdemeanor tax offenses would not immunize him from future charges.

 “At one point… Noreika asked if the government could potentially bring a charge related to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), to which Wise replied: ‘Yes.’

 “At that point, the original plea deal broke down. Defense attorney Chris Clark said he did not agree with that. ‘Then there’s no deal,’ Wise said…

 “The developments in the case Wednesday come after IRS whistleblower testimony revealed allegations of DOJ misconduct throughout the years-long investigation into the president’s son [saying] politics influenced prosecutorial decisions throughout the investigation. 

 “House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith filed an amicus brief to the court, requesting that testimony be considered ahead of accepting the planned plea deal, saying Hunter Biden ‘appears to have benefited from political interference which calls into question the propriety of the investigation of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.’”

Many observers feel that this is currently the worst possible outcome for Hunter Biden and his father, President Joe Biden, as the floodgates of further investigations and possible criminal charges are still wide open. It also appears that the parties tried to pull a fast one. Note the next article.

How the JD Tried to Protect Joe Biden

The New York Post Editorial Board wrote on July 27:

 “With the text of Hunter Biden’s plea deal now public, it’s no longer possible to deny that the Justice Department’s been bending over backward to protect the Biden family — including President Joe Biden. ‘The United States agrees not to criminally prosecute [Hunter] Biden . . . for any federal crimes’ related to the case, the deal reads. It left only the possibility of ‘prosecution for any future conduct.’

“No wonder Hunter and his attorneys were convinced he’d be off the hook for other crimes, such as those related to foreign lobbying — and, perhaps, bribe-taking, influence-peddling or other corruption. Federal Judge Maryellen Noreika questioned such a ‘broad,’ ‘nonstandard’ agreement, and wondered why both parties wanted her to ‘rubber stamp it.’

“Her questioning forced Special Assistant US Attorney Leo Wise to shift gears on a deal he was intimately knowledgeable of because he had hammered it out over weeks with Hunter’s lawyers. Stunning Hunter’s lawyer, and the rest of the court, he suddenly claimed the deal allowed only a narrower set of potential Biden crimes to be off limits to prosecutors. 

“The first son then balked, of course, and his lawyer, Chris Clark, declared the deal ‘null and void.’ Yet why would Justice include such blanket immunity in the first place?… It has little to do with protecting Hunter Biden. And everything to do with protecting his dad.

“… The reason the judge called the deal ‘nonstandard’ — and why Wise couldn’t provide any precedent — is that no normal defendant ever gets such a sweetheart deal… But despite enormous evidence— millions of dollars in alleged bribes to Joe and his family, Mafia-like threats and apparent Watergate-level coverups — don’t expect the Biden DOJ to ever launch a serious probe. Not with Joe [Biden] in office, anyway.”

Joe Biden’s Business Deals With Foreign Entities

Professor Jonathan Turley wrote the following on July 19 in the New York Post:

“The peril of the poorly crafted question was on display in Wednesday’s hearing with two whistleblowers on political interference in the Hunter Biden investigation… Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) often goes where wiser members fear to tread. On this occasion, Goldman may have delivered one of the most damaging moments for the Democrats. In the course of just a few minutes, the freshman New York congressman seemed to demolish the defense of President Biden.

“Goldman was trying to get the witnesses to say that there is no evidence that President Biden was personally involved in the alleged felonies of his son. He raised the shocking WhatsApp message that Hunter had allegedly sent to a Chinese official with foreign intelligence contacts. In the message, Hunter wrote: ‘I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight. And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father.’

“Most Democrats have avoided the message, which is incredibly damaging and seems to contradict the President’s long denial of any knowledge or involvement in his son’s dealings. Goldman pressed veteran IRS investigator Gary Shapley about his suggestion that Joe Biden discussed the foreign dealing with his son. Shapley eagerly said that he would be happy to explain but Goldman cut him off and said that he did not have time for such explanations.

“At this point, most lawyers would have reversed engines out of troubled waters, but Goldman plowed full speed ahead. He said that the references to Joe sitting next to his son does not mean that they actually discussed his business. Goldman then went even further and raised a ‘lunch where Joe Biden came to say hello at the Four Season’s hotel to a lunch that he was having with CEFC executives.’ He then reads from the record in how Biden associate Rob Walker described the origins of the meeting with the Chinese officials to get his dad to stop by: ‘Hunter told his Dad that “I may be trying to start a company or try to do something with these guys.”’

“Goldman then pounced and said slyly ‘Now let me ask you something, that doesn’t sound much like Joe Biden was involved in whatever Hunter was doing with the CEFC if Hunter Biden is telling him that he is trying to do business with them, does it?’ That is when Shapley stated the obvious: ‘No, but it does show that he told his father that he was trying to do business…’

“This is the same Joe Biden who has repeatedly told the American people that he never discussed any of Hunter’s deals and had no knowledge of such deals. He has maintained that denial as evidence has mounted contradicting him. Even when he flew his son to China where Hunter cut lucrative deals, he insists that they never mentioned that deal.

“There are also repeated references to President Biden as the ‘Big Guy’ in emails who was to receive a 10 per cent cut on a deal with the Chinese as well as other benefits. There are other references to Hunter Biden paying portions of his father’s expenses and taxes.

“People apparently were told to avoid directly referring to President Biden…  In one email, Hunter’s business associate Tony Bobulinski was instructed by Biden associate James Gilliar not to speak of the former veep’s connection to any transactions…  There are also the disclosures that Biden met with at least 14 of Hunter’s business associates from the US, Mexico, Ukraine, China and Kazakhstan over the course of his vice presidency.

“Then there is the audiotape message from President Biden for Hunter that specifically discussed coverage of those dealings. Finally, there is another audiotape of his uncle, Jim Biden, telling Hunter that he and his father had discussed his collapsing financial position and could arrange a ‘ safe harbor.’…”

The evidence is mounting that Joe Biden did not only lie repeatedly to the American people, but that he was also involved in business deals with foreign entities which might have jeopardized America’s security. Note the next article:

A Criminal Family Sitting in the White House?

The New York Post wrote on July 23:

“Former House Speaker Newt… Gingrich speculated that the evidence of alleged wrongdoing could soon become overwhelming. ‘What this says to me is that it’s very possible that there was a direct payment to the then-Vice President of the United States,’ Gingrich said… ‘At some point, the dam is going to break and even The New York Times and The Washington Post are going to recognize that we have a huge problem on our hands,’ he added.

“‘We may have a criminal family sitting in the White House that took money from foreigners in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Romania, Russia, and China… Now, that’s a pretty sobering comment that has huge national security implications and also just basic honesty implications,’ he continued…

“As vice president, Joe Biden had sought to leverage US support to oust Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin. At the time, his son was on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company that Shokin’s was investigating…”

None of that looks good for Joe Biden and his family.

The Media Would Love to Move On, But…

The New York Post published the following article by Professor Turley on July 25:

“The media’s desire to ‘move on’ from the scandal is reaching an almost frantic level… the release of the new evidence of corruption had left no room to maneuver for both Democrat politicians and the media… Any question would now trip a wire on the Bidens, so most avoid the allegations in favor of talking about Trump or other shiny objects… No matter the severity of the revelations, the liberal media calls the investigations a ‘clown show.’ Others have continued to tell the public that there remain no alleged ties from Hunter to President Biden despite emails, pictures and witness testimony. Yet it is becoming harder and harder to avoid these details…

“Members and the media were literally citing a plea bargain [the so-called ridiculous “sweetheart deal” with Hunter] as dispositive, even as two lead investigators were saying it was fixed and politically influenced… Others insisted that the allegations were still ‘unproven’ or ‘unverified’ while showing the same lack of interest in establishing the truth. Notably, these same media outlets did wall-to-wall coverage of the false Russian collusion claims in the Steele dossier. They are now simply shrugging off what could be one of the most serious corruption scandals in modern history despite the testimony of highly credible whistleblowers and thousands of pages of supporting evidence.

“None of this is going to work, of course. The public has long ago lost trust in the media… Polls show that the public is not ‘moving on’ and now view this as a major scandal. A majority believes that Hunter has received special protection in the investigation. While the media can continue to suppress the evidence and allegations within their own echo-chambered platforms, truth like water has a way of finding a way out. The scandal is moving forward with or without the media.”

Let’s hope so!

Why No Special Counsel to Investigate Joe Biden

Breitbart wrote on July 24:

“During Sunday’s broadcast of FNC’s ‘Life, Liberty & Levin,’ New York Times best-seller author Peter Schweizer explained why a special counsel had not been appointed to investigate alleged Biden family wrongdoing… ‘The reason that one has not been appointed is if they’re appointed, all hell is going to break loose. Let’s remember what we’re talking about here… Just look at China. Based on the laptop, based on public corporate records, what we know is that Hunter Biden and the Biden family received $31 million from four businessmen in China, and when you look at those four businessmen in China, these are not ordinary businessmen…

“‘These are not even ordinary members of the Chinese Communist Party. Each and every one of them has ties to the highest levels of Chinese intelligence,’ he continued. ‘Xie Feng, who arranged a $20 million deal for Hunter Biden in that private equity deal, his business partner at the same time, he is setting up Hunter Biden was the vice minister for State Security for China, whose job is to recruit foreign nationals to spy for China. Or look at Henry Zhao, who wires $5 million to Hunter Biden. He wires him to $5 million out of an account of a company called Harvest that Henry Zhao co-owns with the family of the former Minister of State Security, who runs the entire spy apparatus in China.

“‘Or you look at Chairman Yi, the CEFC energy company who, sends $6 million to Hunter Biden,’ Schweizer added. ‘His previous job before he gets appointed to this energy position is running an organization that is widely known to be a front for Chinese military intelligence. This was an intelligence operation by the Chinese to extract information, to get their claws into the then Second Family, now First Family of the United States.

“‘Nobody in Washington, DC wants to have that conversation, and Merrick Garland is not going to go there, even though this is the poster child for an independent counsel because of how the investigation is being stifled and who the investigation is actually about.’”

It really sounds as if America’s national security might very well have been compromised.

Breitbart added on July 24:

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr…. called for an investigation into the alleged Biden bribery scheme…  the Democrat presidential candidate said allegations surrounding President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden about allegedly accepting $5 million in bribes are worth ‘a real investigation… I mean, these revelations about the, where you had Burisma, which is, you know, a notoriously corrupt company that paid out, apparently, $10 million to Hunter and his dad. If that’s true, then it is really troubling.’”

Rand Paul Demands Prosecution of Dr. Fauci

Outkick wrote on July 19:

“Rand Paul is not letting the pressure up on Dr. Anthony Fauci. Fauci through his role as head of the NAIAD made any number of unimaginable mistakes. He claimed, inaccurately, that masks work to stop the spread of COVID. He advocated for school closures, afterwards denying he did any such thing.

“His misinformation on the efficacy of COVID vaccines helped usher in the spread of vaccine mandates and passports. Inexcusably, he’s also avoided acknowledging mistakes or admitting that he was wrong about many of these disastrous assertions.

“But one of the most contentious aspects of Fauci’s tenure revolves around the origins of COVID. And as more information emerges, it’s becoming even more clear how hard he worked to protect himself and his colleagues by deflecting from his organization’s role in funding gain-of-function research. The release of new, unredacted, emails shows that he was well aware that gain-of-function experiments were happening in Wuhan. That directly contradicts his previous claims that NIH had nothing to do with funding such experiments.

“And as a result, Senator Rand Paul’s referred him to Attorney General Merrick Garland to prosecute him for potentially lying under oath

“… But Merrick Garland has proven to be far from an independent, unbiased enforcer of the law. Instead, unsurprisingly, he’s function[ing] primarily as an enforcer of Biden administration priorities. Most notably through his lax prosecution of Hunter Biden and alleged interference in an IRS investigation… The odds that this Department of Justice prosecutes him for potentially lying under oath is infinitesimal, to say the least.

“But Rand Paul’s dogged efforts are necessary and immensely valuable to publicize how Fauci repeatedly mislead the public to protect himself. There may never be true accountability, but every opportunity to remove the veneer of Fauci’s credibility is worth pursuing.”

In this context, the New York Post reported on July 25 about Joe Biden’s latest blunder regarding COVID, as follows:

“In yet another embarrassing slip-up, President Biden Tuesday accidentally provided a lowball estimate of COVID-19’s death toll — saying ‘over 100’ Americans have died from the disease since it emerged over three years ago. Biden, 80, committed the gaffe — which was later corrected to ‘over 1 million’ in an official White House transcript — while announcing a new plan for the expansion of mental health care.

“‘We’re still feeling the profound loss of the pandemic.  As I mentioned, we have over 100 people dead,’ Biden said at the White House. ‘That’s 100 empty chairs around the kitchen table. Every single loss, there are so many people left behind and broken-hearted,’ the commander-in-chief added.”

Incredible!!!

The BRICS Economic Bloc

Modern Diplomacy wrote on July 24:

Twenty two nations have formally applied to become members of the BRICS economic bloc… An equal number have also informally sought to join the organization that groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa… Anil Sooklal, the bloc’s ambassador from South Africa… previously said that countries including Saudi Arabia and Iran have formally asked to become BRICS members, while countries that expressed an interest in joining include the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt, Bahrain, Indonesia and others…

“The countries agreed to pool $100 billion of foreign currency, which they can lend to each other during emergencies,,, They founded the New Development Bank — a World Bank-inspired institution that has approved more than $30 billion of loans for projects like water and transport infrastructure since it began operations in 2015… They plan to discuss the feasibility of a common BRICS currency this year…

“BRICS is similar to clubs such as the Group of 20 in representing a move toward a more multipolar world and away from one dominated by the US…”

America’s influence in the world is clearly diminishing and failing…

Russia Threatens Poland

Al Jazeera wrote on July 21:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Poland of having territorial ambitions in the former Soviet Union and said any aggression against its neighbour and ally Belarus would be considered an attack on Russia itself.

“In televised remarks on Friday, Putin warned that Moscow would use any means at its disposal to protect Belarus, which forms a loose Union State with Russia, against possible attacks. Putin said there were reports of plans for a Polish-Lithuanian unit to be used for operations in western Ukraine – parts of which in the past belonged to Poland – and ultimately to occupy territory there…

Poland, a NATO member and one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies in its fight against Russia’s invasion, denied any territorial ambitions in Ukraine or Belarus…

“In his remarks, Putin argued Poland’s western territories were a ‘present’ from former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. ‘Thanks to the Soviet Union, to Stalin, Poland got significant amounts of lands in the west, lands that used to belong to Germany. It is so. Western territories of Poland are the present given by Stalin to Poles. Our friends in Warsaw had forgotten about it. We will remind them.’

“Putin’s comments are a message that ‘Poland has to be grateful to the Soviet Union, to Russia, and instead they are becoming more of an enemy to Russia,’ said Nina Khrushcheva, professor of international affairs at the New School and great-granddaughter of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. ‘Also this is a message to the Ukrainians: “Please remember that for many years Ukraine and Poland were not great friends, and so now you’re being duped.”’…

“Warsaw’s Security Committee decided on Wednesday to move military units to eastern Poland after Wagner fighters arrived in Belarus…”

Germany Pledges Military Support for Poland

Express wrote on July 21:

“Germany’s Defence Minister [Boris Pistorius] has pledged support for Poland in the event the NATO member’s eastern border comes under attack from Belarus or Russia… Mr Pistorius emphasised that if Poland wants assistance, it will receive it since they are trusted NATO members…

“Poland’s intention to beef up its military along the Belarusian border has alarmed the Kremlin. The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov… told reporters: ‘Of course it is a cause for concern. The aggressiveness of Poland is a reality. Such a hostile attitude towards Belarus and the Russian Federation requires heightened attention [from our side].’”

Germany is again at the forefront of potential military activities.

Western Hesitancy Helped Russia

The Washington Examiner wrote on July 21:

“Western hesitance to provide Ukraine with heavy weaponry and training provided Russia with ‘more time than they needed’ to fortify their lines, according to Ukrainian President… Zelensky. ‘We did plan to start it in spring, but we didn’t because, frankly, we had not enough munitions and armaments and not enough properly trained brigades… in these weapons,’ Zelensky said… Friday…

“Much of equipment arrived far later than Ukrainian officials first hoped. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, for instance, declined to authorize the transfer of Leopard tanks until Biden promised to pledge U.S.-made Abrams tanks. That protracted conversation drew to a conclusion in January — weeks after France and the United Kingdom unveiled their respective decisions to provide light and heavy NATO-designed tanks and nearly a year after Zelensky began to ‘express a need for tanks’ and other heavy arms in anticipation of this clash.”

Ukraine will not easily forget “Western hesitance”—especially from Germany.

Zelensky Fires His Ambassador to the UK

The Daily Mail wrote on July 21:

“Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed the country’s ambassador to the United Kingdom… Vadym Prystaiko had criticised Zelensky’s sarcastic response to suggestions from Defence Secretary Ben Wallace that Ukraine should show more gratitude for arms supplies from its allies…

“The row began when Wallace told journalists at a NATO summit in Vilnius this month that Britain was not an Amazon delivery service for weapons to Ukraine and suggested Kyiv could express more ‘gratitude’… Zelensky responded at a press conference at the summit, saying he did not know how else to make clear Ukraine’s gratitude, adding: ‘We could wake up in the morning and express our words of gratitude to the minister personally.’

“The Ukrainian diplomat agreed with a suggestion from a Sky News interviewer that Zelensky responded with ‘a little bit of sarcasm’ to Wallace. ‘I don’t believe that this sarcasm is healthy. We don’t have to show the Russians that we have something between us, they have to know that we are working together,’ Prystaiko added, stressing the need to smooth over relations with the UK…

“Prystaiko is a career diplomat who has served as ambassador to the United Kingdom since July 2020. He became a prominent figure in London amid the UK’s response to the war, often appearing on TV and radio to outline the latest view in Kyiv while also attending various official events in Downing Street and elsewhere linked to Ukraine’s war effort.

“Only last Thursday, he was in the royal box at the Wimbledon tennis championships. Before taking up the diplomatic role in London, he was Ukraine’s vice-prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration and is also a former foreign minister.”

Zelensky’s outbursts and his hasty and unpopular decisions might very well backfire on him.

Trump and His Supporters on the Russia-Ukraine-War

Newsweek wrote on July 23:

“Former President Donald Trump said in an interview broadcast on Sunday morning that Ukraine should receive over $100 billion more in aid from European nations to match what the United States has contributed… In recent months, the former president has repeatedly said that the war would not have happened if he was still president, and that he’d end the conflict in a day if he’s reelected in 2024.Trump’s comments about the war have garnered significant criticism from Democrats and Republicans who strongly support Ukraine…

“… data from the Kiel Institute for World Economy, a German research institute, shows that as of May 31, the U.S. has sent just north of $75 billion of the allocated assistance to Ukraine. Meanwhile…  EU institutions have contributed a little more than $27 billion, while the United Kingdom and Germany have each given more than $10 billion. Several other European nations’ contributions have totaled in the billions of dollars, while a number of others have given hundreds of millions, according to the research institute…

“Although most Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Congress continue to support U.S. assistance to Ukraine, there is a vocal faction of GOP lawmakers who staunchly oppose any support to Kyiv… 43 percent of Trump voters believe the U.S. has provided too much support to Ukraine, while 20 percent felt it was too little. In addition, 20 percent said it was about right and 17 percent answered ‘don’t know.’

“The survey also found that 41 percent of Trump voters believe the U.S. ‘should reconsider our levels of support as the war continues,’ while 20 percent believed U.S. support should stop now. A further 26 percent said support should continue until Ukraine wins the war and 13 percent didn’t know…

“Meanwhile, Trump previously told Fox News that he’d warn Putin that U.S. aid to Ukraine would increase if he didn’t make a deal to end the war. ‘… We’re going to [give Ukraine] more than they ever got if we have to…’”

This Is Obliteration!

Fox News wrote on July 23:

“Former President Donald Trump said in a new interview clip aired Sunday that President Biden is not up to the task during a precarious time for the U.S. amid growing tensions around the globe. ‘Look, this is the most dangerous time in the history of our country because of weaponry. The nuclear power is so enormous. This isn’t two Army tanks going and shooting each other in World War I, World War II, soldiers standing behind a bunker and shooting people,’ Trump said during a sit-down interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo. ‘This is obliteration,’ Trump added…

“‘And we have a man that doesn’t understand what he’s doing. We have a man that … stood up and told the whole world that we have no ammunition,’  Trump said of Biden… ‘You talk about classified documents. That’s worse than any document that you could give,’ Trump continued… ‘So, now these people are sitting back in China and other places that hate us, including North Korea… They’re talking about the United States of America has no ammunition. Think of it. How stupid can somebody be to say that?’” 

The USA will reach a point where it will NOT go out to battle anymore, even if it wanted to.

Germany Critical of Ukraine

The Times wrote on July 25:

“Germany’s armed forces have criticised the tactics adopted by the Ukrainian army in its counteroffensive against Russian positions and said that battle-hardened troops and officers were ignoring methods taught in western training, according to a leaked Bundeswehr paper.

“The Bild newspaper reported that it had obtained a confidential German army assessment of the Ukrainian assault that Kyiv has admitted is making slower progress than hoped.

“The Ukrainian forces were splitting their western-trained brigades into small units of just ten to 30 soldiers in some cases to attack an enemy position, which meant they weren’t putting their western training, superior weapons or large troop numbers to use, the report said.”

Frictions between Germany and Ukraine will continue.

Kennedy: US Pushed Ukraine War

The Daily Beast wrote on July 26:

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. debated Fox News host Sean Hannity during a town hall event Tuesday about the United States’ role in the Russia-Ukraine war, with the 2024 presidential candidate claiming that the U.S. had been ‘pushing’ Ukraine into the war…. ‘Do I trust Putin? No,’ Kennedy Jr. said… [He] then accused the U.S. of sabotaging the Minsk agreements in 2014 and 2015, which aimed to end the Donbas war yet largely failed to stop the fighting between Russian separatists and Ukraine’s armed forces…

“Kennedy Jr. claimed that the expansion of NATO after the fall of the Soviet Union was an example of the U.S. deliberately bringing out the conditions that ultimately led to the war. Minutes later, Kennedy Jr…. dismissed the idea that Russia would lose the war it started. ‘It would be like us losing a war to Mexico,’ he said. ‘They are not going to lose the war.’”

Kennedy also repeated his claim that the CIA was involved with the murder of his uncle, John F. Kennedy. According to an article in the New York Post, dated May 9, 2023, it had been reported:

“RFK Jr. claimed to remember that his father’s first call after receiving the news of his brother’s assassination was to CIA officials, asking them if they were responsible. ‘It was my father’s first instinct that the agency had killed his brother,’ said Kennedy.

“The candidate added that his father had also investigated Jack Ruby, who killed accused triggerman Lee Harvey Oswald on live television, and found he had ties to mob bosses and casino owners who were in ‘cahoots’ with the CIA.”

Hungary Opposed to Unconditional Financial Long-Term Support for Ukraine

Ukrainska Pravda wrote on July 20:

“Hungary has opposed the EU’s attempt to create a long-term fund of up to €20 billion to support the Ukrainian army…

“Foreign ministers met in Brussels on Thursday, 20 July, and discussed for the first time a proposal that would allocate at least €5 billion a year over the next four years to cover the costs of EU countries buying and donating arms to Ukraine as well as training Ukrainian troops.

“But during the meeting, Hungary said it would object to the plan until Ukraine removed Hungarian Bank OTP from its list of ‘war sponsors’… The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has included Hungary’s OTP Bank in the list of international ‘war sponsors.’”

This is idiotic. There are nothing but “international war sponsors” around these days. Many major business corporations or organizations, including in the USA and Europe, are in one way or another involved in promoting and sponsoring war activities.

Hungary and the EU

Hungary Today wrote on July 22:

“Prime Minister Viktor Orbán… claimed that the European Union has rejected its Christian heritage, and it is carrying out a population replacement. Mr Orbán said that people have the feeling that the EU is plagued by anxiety and feels hemmed in. It is a rich and weak Union, which sees around it a world in revolt, millions of people heading for Europe…

The big European companies do not want to break away and leave Russia, Mr Orbán said. He pointed out that seventy percent of energy companies are still present in Russia, and Western companies have paid $3.5 billion into the Russian budget…

“The EU… is waging an LGBTQ campaign against family-friendly nations. The Prime Minister said that Europe has created its own political class, which is no longer accountable, no longer Christian or democratic in its beliefs…”

Europe will become much more undemocratic and dictatorial, and even though its “Christian heritage” will be revived, it will not be the Christianity taught in the Bible.

Gridlock in Spain

USA Today wrote on July 24:

“Spain was plunged into political uncertainty Monday a day after Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s conservative Popular Party narrowly won the country’s national election but without securing the parliamentary majority needed to topple the five-year-old coalition government of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

“The result means Feijóo can’t claim outright victory, though he told his supporters he would try to form a government. That process is likely to take weeks or even months as Sánchez may also be able to secure support from smaller parties to form a governing coalition. A new election could also be called.

“Expectations Santiago Abascal’s far-right Vox party would perform well enough to prop up a Feijóo-led government did not happen…

“Jobs. The economy. The cost of living. These were the issues that appeared to matter most to Spanish voters. However, climate change, nationalism and LGBTQ and gender issues also featured in campaigns.

“Feijóo’s best chances of forming a government had been with a partnership with Vox. That’s unlikely to happen now because of the latter’s poor performance. A route to power for incumbent Sánchez could be if he were able to secure the backing of Junts, a Catalan pro-independent party founded by Carles Puigdemont. Catalonia is a region of Spain with Barcelona as its capital that has long sought to breakaway from Spain’s government.

“‘The results are so close that they leave everything up in the air,’ the Spanish newspaper El Pais wrote Monday. ‘The Spanish political landscape is wide open.’”

The Associated Press added on July 25:

“The divided results have made the hardline Catalan separatist party Junts (Together) emerge as Sánchez’s potential kingmaker. If Junts asks for a referendum on independence for northeast Catalonia, that would likely be far too costly a price for Sánchez to pay. ‘We won’t make Pedro Sánchez PM in exchange for nothing,’ Míriam Nogueras of Junts said…

“Spain’s new Parliament will meet in a month. King Felipe VI then appoints one of the party leaders to submit him or herself to a parliamentary vote to form a new government. Lawmakers have a maximum period of three months to reach an agreement. Otherwise, new elections would be triggered.”

It appears to us that Spain will be one of the prophesied ten nations or groups of nations forming core Europe. The developments in Spain are therefore of great significance.

The EU Is Not UK’s Friend

The Telegraph wrote on July 21:

“During her Tory leadership campaign Liz Truss was asked if President Macron of France was a friend or foe. She indicated it was too early to tell… Today, however, the question is not whether France is our friend or foe but whether the EU as a whole is

“For this week, at the end of a meeting with Latin American states collectively known as Celac, the EU issued a communique which called the Falkland Islands the Malvinas. Regarding their sovereignty the EU merely noted the historical position of the Latin American states on the issue and backed a peaceful solution to the dispute. Frantic British objections before the communique were simply brushed aside…

“Clearly all member states had discussed the matter before agreeing to the communique and backing the Hispanics… The EU must have known that the Argentine claim is baseless. There has been a British colony on the Falklands since 1833. There has never been an equivalent Argentine one. We fought a war to retain the islands in 1982, where 255 British servicemen died. In 2013 in a democratic referendum 99.8 per cent of the population voted to remain British. The EU knows all this but chooses to ignore it because, since Brexit, we are now its enemy. It wishes to humiliate us whenever possible. The defence of democracy matters little to it…

Gibraltar is like the Falklands. The Spanish seized it from the Moors in 1462. The British conquered it in 1704 and acquired it permanently by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. So it was Spanish for 242 years and has been British for 319 years. Moreover a referendum in 2002 showed 98.97 per cent of the population rejected joint sovereignty with Spain. Another in 1967 had shown 99.67 per cent wanted to remain British. Now though, we can expect the new government [of Spain] to blame the situation on Brexit and push again for ‘sovereignty’ talks – with the full support of the EU…

The EU is not our friend. It is only nice to us when it needs us…

“The EU’s true colours have been shown over Northern Ireland, too. There the Windsor Framework was supposed to solve trade disputes by creating a ‘green lane’ which would allow all goods from the UK headed only for Northern Ireland free and frictionless transit. Yet the EU has imposed such a burden of regulation on the ‘trusted traders’ supposed to benefit from this that many have given up trying to use it. In short the EU is making Northern Ireland a foreign country. And it is doing so deliberately…”

The hostilities between the EU and the United Kingdom will continue.

USA Not a True Friend of Israel

Israel Today wrote on July 20:

“The mantras that ‘the US-Israel relationship is rock solid’ and ‘the US has Israel’s back’—so often proclaimed in the breach by both countries—may be wearing thin in Israel…

“Israel knows the US has never truly had its back. During Israel’s 1947-1948 War of Independence, the US imposed an arms embargo to prevent Israel from defending itself against the heavily armed Arab armies invading it. In the 1956 Suez War, the US forced Israel to withdraw from the Sinai and Gaza after Israel’s victory over Egypt.

“In the 1967 Six-Day War, the US pressured Israel to halt its advance on Damascus. In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, US fear of Arab criticism led to delays in resupplying Israel. The 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict, which saw the US temporarily suspend arms shipments, showed again that Israel could not depend on a US resupply during wartime.

“The US opposed Israel’s destruction of Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981 and Syria’s in 2007. Now the US is facilitating Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons. Over the decades, whenever Israel defended itself against attacks from its neighbors, the US intervened to force Israel to back off. This prevented decisive victories that could have discouraged future wars and led to lasting peace settlements.

“The claim that Israel can always count on American military support is a fiction that both countries want to maintain. The US does it to reassure its domestic Jewish population. Israel does it so its enemies will see Israel as that much stronger

“American support, which includes some $4 billion a year in military aid, is a mixed blessing, partly because it comes with strings attached. Israel must spend the lion’s share of the money on US arms that don’t always provide value for money. Worse, the subsidies lead many Americans to believe Israel should be accountable to the US, giving Israel’s critics license to interfere in Israeli affairs

“While many US administrations have been high-handed in their relations with Israel, the Biden administration has been especially discourteous, reflecting increased hostility towards Israel from America’s progressive left. It has referred to the Israeli government as extremist, scolded Israel on all manner of issues and refused to invite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.”

What an insightful and powerful article, stating FACTS which are easily forgotten or suppressed by America’s mainstream media.

Uproar in Israel

CNN wrote on July 24:

“The Israeli parliament on Monday passed a law stripping the Supreme Court of its power to block government decisions, the first part of a planned judicial overhaul that has sharply divided Israeli society and drawn fierce criticism from the White House.

“The controversial bill passed by a vote of 64-0 in the Knesset. All members of the governing coalition voted in favor the bill, while all opposition lawmakers walked out of the chamber as the vote was taking place.

“Huge crowds of angry protesters gathered outside, attempting to block access to the building… Thousands of military reservists – including more than 1,100 Air Force officers – said even before the bill passed that they would refuse to volunteer for duty if it did.

“The so-called reasonableness law takes away the Supreme Court’s power to block government decisions by declaring them unreasonable. Its passing could trigger a constitutional crisis – if the court declares the law itself is unreasonable.”

Breitbart added on July 24:

“The new law prevents courts from using their own idea of ‘reasonableness’ in blocking government policies. Critics had long argued that the ‘reasonableness’ doctrine allowed the left-leaning judiciary to abuse its power, and that it tended to do so more often against Israel’s conservative governments…

“U.S. President Joe Biden, whose administration publicly opposes Israel’s internal reforms, issued a last-minute warning to Netanyahu not to proceed… Many of the reforms closely parallel existing practice in the U.S. and other democratic countries; Israel’s judiciary began amassing extraordinary powers in the 1990s…”

Why does Biden get involved in this? Didn’t he cause enough problems at home?

Justin Trudeau Canada’s Worst Prime Minister

The Telegraph wrote on July 24:

“The votes have been tallied. The results are in.  Justin Trudeau is Canada’s worst Prime Minister… in the past 55 years… Trudeau, a left-leaning Liberal, was once the political darling of the progressive set. That reputation came unglued…

“He’s… spent taxpayer dollars like a drunken sailor on the much-ridiculed federal carbon tax, national dental care, voluntary euthanasia, legalized marijuana, firearms regulation, Covid-19 measures and so on. Private investment and involvement in Canada has dried up like the Sahara Desert. Trudeau embarrassingly took a knee during Black Lives Matter in front of TV cameras. He claimed to admire China’s economy, which was later explained away as a joke…”

If similar honest surveys were to be conducted in other countries, we are sure that Joe Biden would turn out to be the worst President (even though some in the media suggest that Jimmy Carter was the worst President, followed by Joe Biden); Olaf Scholz would be the worst German Chancellor; and Emmanual Macron would be the worst French President. And the list would go on. There are no true leaders around these days…

Pope: God Loves Us As We Are!

ANSA reported on July 25:

“God loves us just as we are, Pope Francis tells a young transgender person in a new podcast produced by Vatican Radio ahead of World Youth Day in Lisbon and released on Tuesday… after hearing the story of Giona, who spoke about the challenges of being a believer, while accepting the reality of having physical challenges and being transgender.”

This is of course NOT what the Bible says.

No More Visa-Free Travel in Europe

Travel Noire wrote on July 21:

“The days of visa-free travel throughout most of Europe are about to change. Starting early next year, the European Union will implement the European Travel Information and Authorization System requiring all visitors from visa-free countries to obtain travel authorization prior to their departure.

“The European Travel Information and Authorization System is not your traditional visa. It’s a straightforward online application process with approval delivered by email. Travelers will need to fill out an online form with basic biographical information, travel plans and travel history, along with security questions. While most applicants will receive approval within an hour, some may experience a wait of up to 96 hours for further checks. The cost of the application is approximately $8, applicable to travelers of all ages. Once approved, the travel authorization will be valid for multiple entries over three years or until the traveler’s passport expires

“European Travel Information and Authorization System will be required for travel to all member countries including full Schengen members, like Spain, France, and Italy, European Free Trade Association countries, like Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland, future Schengen members, like Bulgaria and Cyprus, and European microstates, like Andorra and Monaco…

“As Europe gears up for the rollout, it’s essential to remember that the length of time American tourists can spend in Europe remains unchanged. United States passport holders are still allowed to stay up to 90 days within a 180-day period without a visa. For stays longer than 90 days, a special visa will be required.”

Support for Germany’s AfD Reaches Unparalleled Levels

Bloomberg wrote on July 22:

“Support for the far-right Alternative for Germany climbed to a record, widening its lead over all three parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling coalition. In the latest sign of voter frustration with the government, the AfD — as the party is widely known — increased to 22%, trailing only the conservative Christian Democrat-led bloc [CDU] at 26%, according to a poll conducted for the Bild am Sonntag newspaper by INSA.

“Support for Scholz’s Social Democrats was at 18%. The junior coalition partners, the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats, were at 14% and 7%, respectively. The AfD’s advances in recent months have been fueled by discontent over issues ranging from record immigration, persistently high inflation and costly climate-protection measures.

Coalition infighting, including a drawn-out feud over measures to shift household heating away from fossil fuels, has further irritated voters. The INSA poll said 70% were dissatisfied with the government and 60% with Scholz’s performance as chancellor…”

As reported by Bild Online, dated July 23, according to some experts and observers, the AfD is already the strongest party in Germany, even leading over the CDU.

Criminalizing Politically Incorrect Speech?

The Washington Examiner wrote on July 18:

“A new poll conducted for Newsweek found that ‘44% of those aged 25-34 think “referring to someone by the wrong gender pronoun (he/him, she/her) should be a criminal offense,’ versus just 31% who disagree. The remainder ‘neither agree nor disagree’ or ‘don’t know.'”

“This is a striking finding…  It is worthwhile to ask a simple question: Why?… Knowledge of history, which could teach us that compelled speech is antithetical to the idea of a free society, has gone by the wayside. Fidelity to tradition, which ensures we do not make revolutionary changes without due thought, is now out of fashion. And a sense of humility, which endows people with the sense that the accumulated wisdom of the past may be greater than an on-the-fly thought in the present, has all but disappeared…

“If we value tolerance more than anything else, then why do so many support draconian punishments — quite intolerant, if you ask me — for those who use incorrect pronouns?… even the most tolerant of societies must be intolerant of something. After all, there is no such thing as a society without any standards…’

This whole woke concept is so nonsensical. And the consequences of this brain-washing mentality are alarming and pose real threats to a democratic society, not to speak of the lack of upholding godly standards. Also note the next article.

Mad LGBT Scientists Playing God

IFN wrote on July 22:

“Scientists from the LGBT community have started a biotech firm with the express purpose of seeking to manufacture human eggs and sperm in a lab so that same-sex couples can produce children containing the DNA of both partners…

“If the experimental technology pans out, the human egg created in a lab with the DNA of a gay man in a same-sex relationship could be fertilized by the sperm of his partner, and then the resulting embryo would be carried by a surrogate through to the birth of a baby that is genetically related to both men. Lesbians could also use the technology to create sperm, allowing them to have babies with genes from both women. Transgender couples could also have biologically related babies.

“So much is wrong about this situation. The creation of lab babies to satisfy the desires of LGBT activists is morally and ethically bankrupt. It not only challenges the natural order created by God, but it raises extremely serious concerns relating to issues such as human cloning, designer babies, eugenics and even cross-species developmentThese mad scientists are playing God…”

God DESTROYED Sodom and Gomorrah. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His standards do not change. What the article above is describing is sickening and ungodly.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

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How do you understand Paul’s statement that our children are holy? And what are the practical consequences? (Part 2)

In the previous Q&A, we discussed the fact that children of at least one converted parent are “sanctified” or “holy” in God’s eyes, which means that they can have a special and intimate relationship with God; that they CAN speak to God, expecting to be heard, and they can experience and obtain an answer from God. They are not cut off from God the Father, but they must make the decision of wanting to have continuing contact with God, by not neglecting or forsaking the Way of God.

We also discussed the blessing of little children and the fact that God assigns guardian angels to them for their protection, so that they can reach their potential of becoming baptized and ultimately born-again members in the God Family.

It is true, of course, that the teaching and conduct of parents can have an influence on the decision of the children to either become and stay loyal to God or to reject Him, but, as we will show, it is ultimately the decision of the child or teenager or young adult as to how to conduct his or her Way of Life and whether or not to maintain a relationship with God.

For instance, we read in 2 Kings 22:1–2, “Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.”

Josiah was eight years old when he became king. His mother is mentioned by name—Jedidah. Although the son of an evil father, Amon, he turned out to be one of the most righteous and outstanding kings that have ever lived (compare 2 Kings 23:25). It is obvious that his mother Jedidah had trained him up “in the fear of the LORD.”

When Josiah was 16 years old, “while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David” (2 Chronicles 34:3). Notice, it was he himself who made the decision; it was his decision—not the decision of his mother—prompting him to really seek the true God and to become more and more familiar with Him.

It is critically important to realize and emphasize the individual decision of the child. The righteousness of parents does not automatically mean that their children become and stay righteous; and the unrighteousness of parents does not mean that their children must become and stay unrighteous.

David was a righteous man who will be in the Kingdom of God. But his son Absalom rebelled against his father and God. David’s son Amnon violated his step-sister. David’s son Solomon departed from God’s Way of Life–at least temporarily.

Samuel was a righteous prophet of God, but his sons did not walk in God’s ways (1 Samuel 8:3).

Noah was a righteous man, but the Bible does not say that his sons were righteous. In fact, we read that his grandson Canaan, the youngest son of Ham, violated and sexually abused his own grandfather (see Genesis 9:20-27; it was Ham’s youngest son Canaan who had violated Noah, compare verse 24 in most translations, but Ham was not Noah’s youngest son).

Lot was righteous, but this cannot be said about his two daughters (Genesis 19:30-38).

There is even strong evidence to conclude that Moses’ grandson, Jonathan, was deeply involved in idolatry (Judges 18:30; other translations and commentaries say here that Gershom was the son of “Moses”; not of “Manasseh”).

The Bible makes it very clear that in the end, every person is individually responsible for what he or she is doing. To blame shortcomings on others is not an acceptable “excuse” in the eyes of God. In Ezekiel 18:4, God explains that the soul who sins shall die. He then describes a righteous father who begets an unrighteous son, and explains that the unrighteous son will die because of his unrighteousness, while the father will live because of his righteousness (Ezekiel 18:5-13). We read in Ezekiel 14:19-20:

“‘Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out My fury on it in blood, and cut off from it man and beast, even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,’ says the LORD God, ‘they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”‘

On the other hand, we also read in Ezekiel 18:14-17 that if an unrighteous father begets a son who sees and considers the sins of his father and decides to live a righteous life instead, he will “not die for the iniquity of his father; He shall surely live.”

Exodus 20:4-6 does not contradict the foregoing. It reads: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image… you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

This passage does not say that the child will be cursed by God because of his or her parents’ sins, even though the child itself is innocent. Note that Exodus 20:5 speaks of those “who hate Me.” Soncino points out that the phrase applies to the children; i.e., God will punish those children who hate Him. Soncino comments, too, that the punishment will be brought upon the children, “when they retain the evil deeds of their fathers.”

The Companion Bible comments on Ezekiel 18:4, 20: “Descendants were not punished for the sins of their ancestors unless they persevered in their ancestors’ sins.” In addition, passages like Deuteronomy 24:16 state that children are not to be put to death for the sins of their fathers. The same is expressed in 2 Kings 14:6. Again, it depends on the child’s decision to either live righteously or unrighteously; to either be blessed or cursed by God. The child of a converted parent is “sanctified” or “holy”; that is, he or she CAN have a relationship with God, but the child must respond to God’s sanctification in order to ultimately receive his or her glorification. 

Rightly understood, Proverbs 22:6 does not teach that a child who has been trained by a righteous parent will continue automatically in God’s Way of Life. Proverbs 22:6 reads: “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Some claim, this passage implies that the child might depart for a while from God’s Way of Life, but later return to what he or she has been trained in. Some go a step further and claim that the correct rendering should be, “Train up a child in the way he should go, EVEN when he is old he will not depart from it.” They teach that this passage conveys the thought that the child will never depart from his way, throughout his life, including or even when he or she is old. Most, though, reject this rendering and interpretation for good reasons, as this understanding is clearly not biblical.

The Broadman Bible Commentary points out: “The ‘way he should go’ of v. 6 is not defined specifically, but in the context there can be little doubt that it includes the way reflected in the positive elements of vv. 1, 3, 4, 5, i.e., pious and properly prepared for life. However, this may well include vocational training as well. The training needed for life should be given in the early years, when habits and patterns of behavior and work are set.”

In light of the fact that the Bible emphasizes individual responsibility, it must be concluded that Proverbs 22:6 does not intend to impress the idea that the righteous teaching of parents will automatically lead to the conversion of a child. It is true, of course, that parents are to teach their children about God and His Way of Life (Deuteronomy 11:18-19). But this does not mean that converted parents can bring about the conversion of their children. They have their own responsibility in the matter.

Ultimately, a child who is “brought up” in God’s Church CAN make it into God’s Kingdom. Those who are called today for salvation have been foreknown and predestined by God to be called before they were born. This does not only apply to converted parents, but also to their children (Of course, many times those who were predestined to be called in this day and age were not even children of believing parents, but we are concentrating in this Q&A on those children who were and are being raised by converted parents.)

This means, God is willing to protect them, beginning with conception and birth and continuing throughout their growth until they reach the point where they can become baptized. (Of course, God will continue to protect His converted children.) The influence of their converted parent(s) can be of great help in this regard, but even if both their parents were to leave God’s Church and His Way of Life, this does not mean that the children must follow their bad example. If they have learned that it is God’s Will for them to keep the Sabbath, they can and must decide to continue to do so—even if they are the only ones in their family, in school or on the job. God looks at those who stand up for Him—no matter the costs and circumstances. This requires a strong will and great conviction—but God will give them the strength and the wisdom to continue in His right Way of Life, if they are willing.

It is also true, of course, that those children who are being taught and raised by their converted parents must come to the point where they prove for themselves that what they are being taught is true. They might have developed a “habit,” due to the teaching and practice of their parents, to “keep” the Sabbath by “going to church” that day and sitting quietly in services for two hours, but that alone is never enough. Rather, they must prove for themselves in due time that God demands of them the keeping of the Sabbath and the annual Holy Days; the abstention from unclean meat; and the rejection of observing Sunday, Christmas, Easter or Halloween—again, no matter the costs and circumstances.

The sanctified child, growing up, has a wide-ranging responsibility for making right decisions. Having been taught that it is wrong to smoke or to take drugs or to get tattoos, the child or teen must decide not to smoke or to take drugs or to get tattoos. The sanctified child had been taught that it is wrong to engage in pre-marital or extra-marital sex, and as a teen, he or she has to make the decision not to engage in such practices. The sanctified child had been taught that it is wrong to marry someone who is not converted; and as an adult, he or she has to make the decision not to even consider such a mixed marriage. The sanctified child had been taught that it is wrong to live an alternate lifestyle; as a teen, he or she will have to refuse to become and live as a gay or a lesbian; and he or she will certainly have to refuse to change his or her sex with which he or she was born.

A sanctified child had been taught to stay away from the bad crowd—not to “enter the path of the wicked” (Proverbs 4:14); as a teen or young adult, he or she will need to decide not to follow them or be a part of their company (compare Psalm 1:1). A sanctified child was taught about the Law of God; as a teen or young adult, he or she will have to decide to have “delight… in the law of the LORD” (Psalm 1:2; compare Psalm 119:97). He or she will have to appreciate that the law of God makes him or her wiser than his or her enemies and even his or her teachers (Psalm 119:98-99); and he or she will grow more and more in godly wisdom when doing what God commands (John 7:17; compare John 8:31-32).

As a sanctified child, he or she has been taught that it is wrong to cheat or to lie; as a teen or young adult, he or she will have to decide not to cheat or to lie, having convinced him- or herself that lying is of the devil (John 8:44). As a sanctified child, he or she has been taught that it is wrong to steal or to kill; as a teen or a young adult, he or she will have to decide never to steal or to kill, and his or her conviction will also prevent him or her from joining the army or the police force (compare Matthew 26:52; Revelation 13:10). This is not to say that a young child should ever engage in evil; but in many cases, he or she will behave “correctly”—generally speaking—due to the influence, direction and discipline of his or her parents; but the time will come for the teen or young adult to become thoroughly convicted and, based on this conviction, to decide doing the right thing irrespective of his or her parents.

As we pointed out before, King Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He did what was right, due, no doubt, to his mother’s influence, but when he was sixteen, he himself began to seek the true God, and when he was twenty, he had become convicted and bold enough to carry out what he, as the king in the service of God, was obligated to do (compare again 2 Chronicles 34:3). He started as a young boy and he became a strong man. Others started as young girls and became strong women. They had been sanctified by God, and they fulfilled their destiny (Compare Song of Solomon 8:8-10: When she was young, her older brothers protected her and took care of her, making sure that she lived the right way; when she grew older, she herself decided to live the right way).

It is a priceless privilege to be a “sanctified” child. Only very few children have this privilege today; and those who do should regard it as invaluable. It must never be belittled or neglected or treated in a lackadaisical way. Rather, a sanctified child is holy to God. It must be holy to us as well.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

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Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

compiled by Dave Harris

“America and Great Britain Without True Friends,” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

We all know that Russia, China, North Korea and Iran are not America’s friends. But what about America’s so-called closest ally, Israel? Surely, their relationship is rock solid, right? 

And then, many believe the lip services of European countries, especially Germany, claiming that they are true friends and trusted allies of Great Britain, but are they really?

“Aufstieg und Fall von Deutschland und Europa,” our new German booklet has been sent to graphic artist Shelly Bruno for finalization. This has been translated from, “The Rise and Fall of Germany and Europe.”

“Warum Israel, Amerika und England im Dritten Weltkrieg besiegt werden!” this Sabbath’s new German sermon will be presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “Why Israel, America and England Will Be Defeated in World War 3.”

“Laodizäa 2.0.” last Sabbath’s first split sermon presented by Daniel Blasinger in Germany, is now posted. Title in English: “Laodicea 2.0.”

“Gottes Warnungen an diese sterbende Welt!” last Sabbath’s second split sermon presented by Mike Richter, is now posted. Title in English: “God’s Warnings to this Dying World!”

“Love for God,” last Sabbath’s sermonette presented by Rene Messier, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Even though many profess to have a love for God, they deny that love by not keeping the first four commandments which demonstrate our love for God.

“The Mystery of Biblical Numbers,” last Sabbath’s sermon presented by Michael Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

When it comes to symbolism, the Bible is full of explanations and specific reasons for certain numbers, showing how the Bible complements each number. In this sermon, we will discuss the meaning of the numbers one through four.

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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

Love for God / The Mystery of Biblical Numbers

On July 22, 2023, Rene Messier will present the sermonette, titled, “Love for God,” and Michael Link will present the sermon, titled, “The Mystery of Biblical Numbers.”

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

This Week in the News

Trump a “Target in the January 6 Investigation”

The New York Post wrote on July 18:

“Former President Donald Trump revealed Tuesday that his attorneys had informed him he is a target of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot — and that he is prepared for ‘an Arrest and Indictment’ in the case. Trump… decried what he called a ‘WITCH HUNT’ and ‘ELECTION INTERFERENCE’ on his Truth Social platform.

“‘WOW! On Sunday night, while I was with my family, having just arrived from the Turning Point event in Florida, where I won the Straw Poll against all other Republican candidates with 85.7%, with all polls showing me leading in the Republican Primary by very substantial numbers, almost everyone predicting that I will be the Republican Nominee for President, and as I am leading Democrat Joe Biden in the polls by a lot, HORRIFYING NEWS for our Country was given to me by my attorneys,’ Trump wrote.

“‘Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment.’

“Trump added: ‘So now, Joe Biden’s Attorney General, Merrick Garland, who I turned down for the United States Supreme Court (in retrospect, based on his corrupt and unethical actions, a very wise decision!), together with Joe Biden’s Department of Injustice, have effectively issued a third Indictment and Arrest of Joe Biden’s NUMBER ONE POLITICAL OPPONENT, who is largely dominating him in the race for the Presidency. Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before, or even close.’”

This looks more and more like the methods of a Banana Republic, especially in light of the fact that nothing seems to happen in the Joe Biden/Hunter Biden numerous scandals. View our new program “America, Where ARE You Going?”

Biden’s Involvement in Trump’s Political Prosecution

The New York Post published the following opinion piece by Michael Goodwin on July 19:

Most Americans are not fooled and see… the dirty hand of partisan politics, and conclude the whole thing is corrupt… There is no way to be more politically obvious than the way [AG Merrick Garland] slow-walked and settled the Hunter Biden case [with a “sweetheart deal”] and the vengeance with which he repeatedly goes after Donald Trump…

“There was never any doubt  [that Trump would become a “target” in the January 6 events]—that was the whole point when Garland took Nancy Pelosi’s tainted House select committee file and made a federal case out of it. Even when Garland, in a phony bid to appear fair, named headhunter Jack Smith as special counsel to go after Trump…, the smell of a fix was unmistakable… all the prosecutors gunning for him are Democrats, but we are told to believe politics has nothing to do with it…

“We’re also supposed to believe that… Biden… is playing zero role in Garland’s decisions to go after Trump. Some extremely naive people might have swallowed that once upon a time… But there is no excuse for cluelessness now that the truth of how the Justice Department behaves under Garland stands so nakedly obvious.

“Indeed, the results unfolding before us were predictable, thanks to a New York Times article back on April 2, 2022. Here’s a key section:

“‘The attorney general’s deliberative approach has come to frustrate Democratic allies of the White House and, at times, President Biden himself. As recently as late last year, Mr. Biden confided to his inner circle that he believed former President Donald J. Trump was a threat to democracy and should be prosecuted, according to two people familiar with his comments.

“‘And while the president has never communicated his frustrations directly to Mr. Garland, he has said privately that he wanted Mr. Garland to act less like a ponderous judge and more like a prosecutor who is willing to take decisive action over the events of Jan. 6.

“Assuming the article is accurate, it would mean Biden has been telling people he wanted Trump prosecuted since late 2021. And how precious of the Times to say Biden never spoke ‘directly’ with Garland about the matter, as if that makes it all kosher. In reality, anonymous White House sources tell the Times what Biden wants, and the Times delivers the message to Garland and the world with its story. The two men don’t have to speak ‘directly’ when the Gray Lady plays messenger.

“… that the zealousness for prosecuting the former president compared to the soft, favored treatment given the current president and his son smells to high heaven. That, too, [ought to] be a crime.”

The Storm on the Capitol Infiltrated by Federal Agents?

On July 17, Life Site News republished the following article by WND News Center:

Tucker Carlson has dropped a bombshell during an interview, one of few he’s given since his abrupt departure from the [Fox] cable network. It’s that the Jan. 6, 2021, events at the U.S. Capitol, where a few hundred people rioted and vandalized parts of the building, were ‘filled’ with federal agents.

“How does he know? He got it from then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund… Carlson pointed out Sund would know, as ‘he was in charge of security at the site.’

“Carlson was canceled by the Fox News Channel before that interview could be aired.

“There long has been discussion of the idea that multiple federal agents acted as provocateurs at the events that day, encouraging those who may have been no more than interested participants in the Trump rally earlier in the day to become violent. Their goal would have been to trigger violence, which they then could blame on Trump, as Democrats have done in recent months. In fact, one person who was ranting around that day, telling people to go into the Capitol, and is on video doing so, but never has been charged.

“Carlson indicated he hopes to interview Sund again, this time without the restrictions imposed by Fox on the first interview.

“The PJNewsletter said, ‘We all suspected that the “conservative” network fired Tucker for speaking his mind. Some noted the timing of his cancellation – just days after he aired real footage from J6. And he revealed that Fox dumped him before he could report on this… The timing of this interview and Tucker’s ousting seems highly suspicious to some. Was it possible that Fox News was trying to censor this interview? Do they not want Americans to know that the U.S. Capitol Police chief believed that the crowd of “Trump supporters” had been infiltrated by federal agents?’”

Suspicious timing indeed.

The Cocaine Scandal Cover-Up

On July 16, The New York Post published the following editorial by Miranda Devine:

“Of all the excuses offered by the Secret Service to explain why it shut down the White House cocaine investigation last week after just 11 days, one jumped out as particularly ridiculous. 

“It couldn’t conduct interviews of potential cokeheads known to be in the vicinity of where the bag of drugs was found because it didn’t want to infringe on their civil rights, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told NBC… Tell that to the hundreds of people rounded up by the FBI for just being in the vicinity of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. 

“Sorry, nobody believes that the Biden administration cares about safeguarding civil liberties unless it’s part of a cover-up... Shifting stories about where the cocaine was located add to the public skepticism, and then a flat-out lie about when the president and his son left the White House for Camp David that weekend compounded the problem. 

“Despite enlisting the help of the FBI, the Secret Service found no fingerprints or DNA evidence on the bag of cocaine [So the culprit wore gloves?] Even more astonishing is that, in a complex bristling with security cameras, the Secret Service said no surveillance video footage exists because the baggie was located in a ‘blind spot.’…

“Donald Trump, who is more familiar with the White House than most people, told Fox News on Sunday: ‘You know how many cameras they have opposite the front door of the Situation Room? [It’s] where you decide on war, where you decide on nuclear.’…

“Biden has a history of cozy relationships with the agency. Hunter once told a friend, in a message left on his laptop, how his father leveraged favors through his Secret Service agents: ‘guys that he got their daughter into the naval academy that he had to the VP residence and let them use his apartment to stay and cost the White House, guys he paid their health insurance premiums for anonymously.’’ 

Nobody believes that the culprit could not be found if there was a real interest in doing so.

More on Joe and Hunter Biden

 The New York Post wrote on July 20:

“A bombshell FBI informant file describing a $10 million bribery allegation against President Biden and his son Hunter was released Thursday by Sen. Chuck Grassley, showing that a Ukrainian oligarch claimed that he was ‘coerced’ into making the payoff.

“Mykola Zlochevsky, the owner of natural gas company Burisma Holdings, told the FBI informant in 2016 while meeting at a coffee shop in Vienna, Austria, that ‘it cost 5 [million] to pay one Biden, and 5 [million] to another Biden,’ according to the redacted FD-1023 form. ‘Zlochevsky made some comment that although Hunter Biden “was stupid, and his (Zlochevsky’s) dog was smarter,” Zlochevsky needed to keep Hunter Biden (on Burisma’s board) “so everything will be okay,”’ the June 2020 document says. 

“The source asked whether Hunter Biden or Joe Biden told Zlochevsky he should ‘retain’ the younger Biden; Zlochevsky allegedly replied, ‘They both did.’”

The New York Post also reported that Zlochevsky allegedly said: “Don’t worry Hunter will take care of all of those issues through his dad.”

How FBI Director Christopher Wray Lied to the American People

Professor Jonathan Turley wrote the following on July 13 (the article was republished by the Ron Paul Institute):

“Yesterday’s hearing with FBI Director Christopher Wray was another maddening experience of faux contrition and the open evasion. Wray apologized for violations that have already been established by courts or Congress (often over the best efforts of the FBI). However, on ample public evidence of new violations, Wray continued to use his favorite testimonial trilogy to block any questions: expressing (1) lack of knowledge, (2) ongoing investigation, and (3) promises of later answers or briefings…

‘Despite the near total lack of substance, Wray did make one surprising denial. He insisted that the FBI does not engage in censorship efforts, focuses only on ‘foreign disinformation,’ and does not pressure companies to censor others. Those denials are not only directly contradicted by the recent opinion of a federal court and the Twitter Files, but a new release from the Twitter Files and journalist Matt Taibbi…

“[Wray’s] statement is obviously false. The FBI maintained a large operation of agents actively seeking the censorship of thousands…  Taibbi, however, has released another example of how aggressive the FBI was with social media companies. In the latest Twitter Files release, there is one email exchange where Twitter ‘immediately’ suspended accounts flagged by the FBI without investigation.

“Taibbi explained: ‘In one shot, you can see the FBI asks to remove three accounts, that gets forwarded to Twitter, Twitter immediately suspends them, the accounts. But more importantly, when there’s a glitch, and the accounts remain up, the FBI immediately writes back and says, what’s the deal? We just wrote to you, why is it still up? So, that shows the nature of the relationship basically that it’s not really a collaboration. It’s much more like somebody reporting to an authority…’

“We also have hundreds of emails that show the FBI and other agencies targeting individuals for a wide array of disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation. The latter category is truly Orwellian…

“The latest email does not suggest that the FBI was the passive, helpful agency portrayed by the Director…”

The FBI, as well as many other American governmental agencies, have fallen into utter disgrace—so much so that many are advocating their complete overhaul, from the top down, or their total abolition.

NATO Members Furious With Zelensky

Breitbart wrote on July 14:

“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s exasperated complaint about the slow pace of an invitation for his country to join NATO, delivered as the annual NATO summit began in Vilnius, Lithuania, may have actually moved the process backward by alienating the United States and allied leaders, the Washington Post claimed…

“Zelensky on Tuesday called it ‘unprecedented and absurd’ for NATO to speak vaguely about inviting Ukraine to join without setting a time frame and to add ‘conditions’ by demanding political reforms not demanded of the two newest alliance members, Finland and Sweden. ‘Ukraine also deserves respect,’ Zelensky fumed, blaming NATO’s hesitancy for giving Russia ‘motivation to continue its terror.’ ‘Uncertainty is weakness,’ he concluded.

“Some NATO leaders were publicly annoyed by Zelensky’s outburst. British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace on Wednesday said a ‘slight word of caution’ was in order for the Ukrainian president, and suggested he try showing a little ‘gratitude’ if he expected allied countries to ‘give up their stocks’ of weapons to defend his nation

“… according to the Washington Post on Thursday, the Biden White House was so miffed by Zelensky’s complaints that it ‘considered scaling back the “invitation” for Kyiv to join’ NATO. What NATO actually did at the conclusion of the Vilnius summit was declare that ‘Ukraine’s future is in NATO’ and promise that Kyiv will be invited at some undetermined point in the future, which is precisely the approach that made Zelensky angry…

“The Ukrainians believe full membership, with its commitment to collective defense, could have prevented Russia from invading, and full membership now might make the Kremlin back down instead of risking a world war… At one point, Zelensky threatened to boycott the Vilnius summit unless a firm timetable for Ukrainian membership was put forward. The Washington Post’s inside sources said the NATO leaders gathered in Lithuania were ‘stunned’ by Zelensky’s public rebuke, and the United States delegation was downright ‘furious.’…

“Zelensky fired off a string of Twitter posts after departing Vilnius that each contained the words ‘grateful’ or ‘thanks,’ suggesting a desire to put the controversy behind him…”

Still, ultimately, the rift between Europe and Ukraine will widen. Note the next two articles.

Zelensky Blocked From Attending EU Summit

Express wrote on July 15:

“Ukraine’s President Zelensky was left stunned after Latin American countries blocked his attendance at an upcoming EU summit with its leaders… on July 17-18.

“The Spanish Prime Minister extended an invitation to President Zelensky to attend the summit… However, several Latin American leaders objected strongly to Zelensky’s presence at the summit, forcing the Ukrainian president to pull out…

Many Latin American countries enjoy good political and economic relations with Russia and are keen not to upset the Kremlin. Brazil, in particular, has seen its commercial ties with Moscow grow strongly… Other countries suspected of being within the Russian orbit include Mexico, Colombia and Argentina, as well as Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela.

“Latin American leaders were also reported to have ‘thrown cold water’ on the EU’s efforts to unite the continent in its support of Ukraine… Brussels had intended to issue a summit declaration text, that would have included several paragraphs of support for Ukraine…”

The monetary and economic interests of Europe pertaining to Latin America are perceived to be much more important than the “support” of Ukraine, which is, in any event, judged as being merely of self-serving importance, as the next article suggests.

The NATO 2023 Summit

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on July 15:

“On the one hand the US and its NATO allies came face to face with the reality that endless promises of ‘unlimited’ military aid to Ukraine to defeat Russia would not achieve that goal. Five weeks of the much-anticipated Ukrainian counter-offensive have produced zero results. They have only snuffed out another estimated 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers, this time mostly drawn from the shrinking pool of forced – and barely trained – conscripts… when President Biden was asked right after agreeing to send Ukraine a tranche of ghastly cluster bombs why he did so, he replied, ‘we’ve run out of ammunition.’ It was an incredible admission, particularly considering the massive increase in already astronomical US military spending…

“Americans might want to know how their government can spend a trillion dollars per year on ‘defense’ and in addition add another hundred billion or so for Ukraine and end up with…no ammo…

“While many – especially in Kiev – expected some kind of concrete signal from NATO that Ukraine had a clear path to join the club… the path to membership was made more vague than ever. To add insult to injury, Stoltenberg remarked that a perhaps mortally-wounded Ukraine must win the war with Russia before NATO membership could even be considered. Biden himself painfully drove that death sentence for Ukraine home, remarking that, ‘no one can join NATO while a war is going on.’…

“One can certainly feel for Zelensky… NATO… never had any intention to go to war with Russia over Ukraine

“So at the end of the day, the seemingly unremarkable Vilnius summit was in fact quite illuminating. Regimes fall slowly and then suddenly and we are seeing that process clearly in place with NATO. Ukraine has been hung out to dry, even as the dark lords of war will continue to spend billions shipping weapons to [Kiev]. After all, there is money to be made from this and everyone’s in on it.”

Others feel likewise that NATO has become obsolete. The most prominent proponent of that idea has been Donald Trump. But others agree. According to the New York Post, dated July 15, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “suggested this week that NATO should be disbanded. ‘It is insane to even keep NATO going…’ He was non-committal when asked by The Post whether, as president, he would pull the United States out of the longstanding alliance… ‘I don’t know how to handle it right now. There are many many options,’ he said.”

Russia Seizes Foreign Companies

The Wall Street Journal wrote on July 17:

“Russia has unexpectedly seized the local operations of Carlsberg CABGY [a Danish brewing company] and Danone DANOY [a French company–the largest dairy company in Russia], two of the world’s largest consumer-goods companies, in a move that escalates economic hostilities with the West… Russia placed Danone and Carlsberg’s local operations under temporary management, putting them under the control of the federal state property management agency

“The move is the second time Russia has seized Western assets in the country since the Kremlin unveiled a decree in April that allows the state to take temporary control of assets of companies or individuals from what Moscow calls ‘unfriendly’ states. Russian officials have said that the seizures are in retaliation for similar moves by Western countries. In April, Russia took control of utilities owned by Germany’s Uniper and Finland’s Fortum…

“Among the Western companies to remain are several makers of food, drink and household products… Other major companies looking to exit Russia include brewing giant Heineken, which said in March it was doing everything it could to find a new owner for its business…

“Last year, Germany took control of the German business of Russian oil giant Rosneft and put Gazprom’s German natural-gas business, formerly known as Gazprom Germania, under trusteeship. Russia at the time warned that it could seize more Western assets.”

This development will not end any time soon.

Russia Stops Grain Deal With Ukraine

The Associated Press wrote on July 17:

“Russia halted an unprecedented wartime deal on Monday that allows grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty.

“Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced Russia would suspend the Black Sea Grain Initiative until its demands to get its own agricultural shipments to the world are met — even though the country has been shipping record amounts of wheat and its fertilizers also have been flowing…

“It’s the end of a breakthrough accord that the United Nations and Turkey brokered last summer to allow food to leave the Black Sea region… The deal provided assurances that ships won’t be attacked entering and leaving Ukrainian ports… [Ukraine announced they would continue with their shipments. Russia responded that they would consider those ships as hostile and subject to attack.]

“The warring nations are both major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products that developing nations rely on…

“Asked Monday whether an [Ukrainian] attack on a bridge connecting the Crimean Peninsula to Russia was a factor behind the decision on the grain deal, the Kremlin spokesman said it was not…”

This is hard to believe, given the fact that Russia called the attack on the bridge a terrorist attack, allegedly killing children.

Kennedy: I Never Suggested That Corona Was Engineered to Target Jews

Breitbart wrote on July 15:

“Democratic presidential challenger Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is defending himself from claims of antisemitism after a New York Post reporter falsely claimed the candidate said COVID-19 was engineered to protect Jews… video of Kennedy’s remarks… show that Kennedy never actually said that coronavirus had been ‘ethnically targeted’ to spare Jews.

“What Kennedy does say is he believes that several governments have developed the ability to target bioweapons at particular ethnicities. As evidence that this might be possible, he cites research that suggested some groups were more susceptible to COVID-19 than others — but he adds that he does not know if that was intentional… He also said he ‘never, ever suggested that the COVID-19 virus was targeted to spare Jews’…

“Rabbi Shmuley Boteach… defended Kennedy Saturday evening… ‘Bobby’s father was murdered by Palestinian terrorist Sirhan Sirhan because of his strong support for Israel and Bobby recently marched with me against the demonization of the Jewish state at the giant ‘Israel Day’ parade in New York City carrying an enormous Israeli flag. He has publicly called upon the Biden Administration not to give Iran billions of dollars in a second Iran deal that would ultimately result in an Iranian nuclear weapon. In our recent interview together Bobby called upon the Democratic Party to return to the strong, unconditional support of Israel that was the hallmark of the party under the leadership of his uncle…’

“Kennedy is experiencing the same treatment doled out to Donald Trump, who — as a candidate and as president — was constantly smeared by the media as an antisemite despite defending Jews and supporting Israel strongly.”

As the Editorial by Brian Gale in this Update admonishes, one must separate fact from fiction or fake news. Note the next two articles.

Kennedy’s Support for Israel

Breitbart wrote on July 16:

“Kennedy explained why he supports the Jewish state… ‘I believe, in my heart, it is core to the values I was raised with,’ noting the pro-Israel views of his father, the late Sen. Robert Kennedy (D-NY), and his uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA)…

“Kennedy’s father, notably, was assassinated in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968, by a crazed Palestinian, Sirhan Sirhan, who targeted Kennedy on the first anniversary of the Six-Day War over his public support for Israel. Kennedy had been on track to win the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination on an anti-war platform.

“Kennedy expressed his concern for growing antisemitism within the Democratic Party and a younger generation of Americans…”

Sadly, antisemitism is rising again throughout the world. In reality, it never was dead.

No Stronger Champion for Israel Than Kennedy

Israel 365 News wrote on July 18:

“The lawyer… has come under fire for recent remarks about COVID-19. Many have said that Kennedy’s comments on a study, which suggested that Ashkenazi Jews were less affected than others by the virus, are antisemitic. Many others, including prominent Jewish leaders, have defended him. ‘It’s clear to me now that I need to be much more careful,’ Kennedy told JNS. ‘I have to learn a lesson from this, and the lesson I learn is that I have to understand that the words that I use have impact, and they can be misused and misinterpreted,’ he said. ‘I regret talking about that study, and I am going to be careful to make sure that I don’t do anything like that in the future.’…

“His father, Robert “Bobby” Kennedy, a former U.S. attorney general and senator, and his uncle, the former president, were strong supporters of Israel. Bobby was in Israel in 1946 and 1947, and both he and his brother supported “the sacred alliance between Israel and the United States,” said the current presidential candidate, who is known as RFK Jr.

“Kennedy added that his uncle, the late Edward ‘Ted’ Kennedy, a longtime U.S. senator from Massachusetts, ‘was the architect of the exodus of oppressed Soviet Jewry to safe havens’ in the 1980s and early 1990s. ‘There is nobody in the presidential race who is going to be a stronger champion for Israel than me,’ Kennedy told JNS…

“What was once ‘an oasis for justice and rights in the Middle East’ is instead seen as an ‘imperial nation’ that oppresses the ‘indigenous population of Palestinians,’ Kennedy said. ‘There’s very little understanding of the evolution of the Jewish state, of what was happening in Palestine prior to the Ottoman Empire, the British Mandate after the empire. The entire history going back thousands of years.’ 

“Kennedy told JNS that he is aware of no other country that has Israel’s military discipline, or what he calls, its ‘unique moral approach’ to warfare…

“Kennedy, who is Catholic, sees Christianity as an extension of Jewish scripture. ‘Jesus never stopped being a Jew, by the way,’ he said. ‘His disciples basically opened up his ideological and religious philosophy to non-Jews. We were raised with the idea that we were kind of little brothers of the Chosen People.’…

“‘[Israel is] the historical homeland of the Jewish people, from which they were driven and to which they returned as well.’ It is a ‘prevailing yet erroneous’ view that ‘Israel settled in a place where they didn’t belong,’ Kennedy said. ‘The idea that is just a distortion, a perversion of history.’”

In fact, the Promised Land is the historical homeland of the House of Israel and the House of Judah. For more information, please read our free booklet, Biblical Prophecy—From Now Until Forever.”

AGAIN! Democrats Try to Censor JFK Jr. At Hearing on Censorship

Fox News wrote on July 20:

“House Democrats on Thursday tried unsuccessfully to remove Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. from a hearing on federal government censorship… That effort and others by Democrats to silence him at the hearing prompted Kennedy to say, ‘This is an attempt to censor a censorship hearing.’ Kennedy… was  invited by Republicans to testify at a hearing at the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. But after Kennedy’s opening remarks, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., moved to take the hearing into executive session to discuss  Kennedy’s alleged violation of a House rule aimed at banning testimony that defames or degrades others. Wasserman Schultz said the witness made ‘despicable’ antisemitic and anti-Asian comments in the last few days, referring to his comment [about] COVID.

“Kennedy used his opening remarks to lament the Democrats’ efforts to censor his speech, and broader efforts to censor his run for the White House. He said his speech announcing his candidacy was censored five minutes into his speech by YouTube. ‘Censorship… was appalling to my father, to my uncle, to FDR, to Harry Truman, to Thomas Jefferson…’ Kennedy noted recent emails that show the Biden administration tried to censor his comments about vaccines, just three days into the start of that administration. ‘They had to invent a new word called “malinformation” to censor people like me,’ he said. ‘Malinformation is information that is true, but it is inconvenient to the government, that they don’t want people to hear.’”

According to Breitbart, dated July 20, “Democrats notably tried to censor Kennedy after his opening statement during the hearing, in which he defended his record on racism and antisemitism, and disputed claims by 102 Democrats in a letter that he had allegedly ‘spread vile and dangerous antisemitic and anti-Asian conspiracy theories.’”

None of the House Democrats came to Kennedy’s defense, but Kennedy commented that not all of the House Democrats signed the letter. In fact, the majority did not.

War Propaganda: They Are Coming For Your Children!

On July 17, the Ron Paul Institute published the following article by Ron Paul:

“As a rule, US war reporting since Vietnam has been mostly mainstream media cheerleading the mission rather than digging beyond government war propaganda. After all, it was images of American boys coming home in body bags shown on the six o’clock news across America that finally galvanized mainstream opposition to that war.

“The Pentagon learned its lesson by the first Gulf War, and it severely restricted up-close media coverage. Only ‘trusted’ journalists were able to report from the front lines. Most of the press corps wrote up stories based on US military press releases from luxury hotels in Baghdad.

“By the time of Gulf War II the Pentagon came up with the concept of ‘embedding’ select journalists with the troops. This allowed the story to be framed by the Pentagon with the false impression that actual journalism was taking place. It felt authentic, because the journalist was with the troops and close to the action, but the story presented what the Pentagon wanted to be presented.

“This is perhaps a long way of pointing out that US mainstream media coverage of the war in Ukraine leaves a lot to be desired… Russia is losing, they report. Russia has already lost, as Biden said recently. Most Americans don’t go out of their way to listen to actual experts like Col. Doug Macgregor, who from the beginning has been telling a very different story. Thus Americans continue to be fed propaganda…

“We are on a very slippery slope, with Biden’s neocons continuing to escalate in the face of massive Ukrainian losses and an apparent shortage of US troops. Make no mistake, if the US/NATO proxy war with Russia is not halted the next step will be to look at the US Selective Service. That means they are coming for your kids. How long before America wakes up and says ‘NO’?”

This development will also be repeated in Germany and other European nations. Will the Germans say “NO”? Would the government even care? Note the next articles.

Germany Is Ukraine’s Second Largest Arms Supplier

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on July 15:

Germany is actually Ukraine’s second largest arms supplier, after the United States. Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged a new arms package worth 700 million euros, including additional tanks, munitions and Patriot air defence systems at the Nato summit in Vilnius, putting Berlin, as he said, at the very forefront of military support for Ukraine…

“The Ukraine crisis has provided the context for accelerating Germany’s militarization… Germany is the Biden Administration’s closest ally in the war against Russia…

“Rheinmetal, the great 135-year old German arms manufacturing company, has disclosed that it is opening an armoured vehicle plant in western Ukraine at an undisclosed location in the next twelve weeks…”

Running Out of Ammunition

CNN wrote on July 18:

“The US and Europe are struggling to provide Ukraine with the large amount of ammunition it will need for a prolonged counteroffensive against Russia, and Western officials are racing to ramp up production to avoid shortages on the battlefield…

“The dwindling support of artillery ammunition has served as a wake-up call to NATO… since the alliance did not adequately prepare for the possibility of a protracted land war in Europe following decades of relative peace… the ammunition will still take ‘years’ to mass produce to acceptable levels, National Security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN Sunday…

“A German government source told CNN that Berlin has taken steps to try to close existing gaps in ammunition stocks and to increase ammunition reserves, noting that the munitions for the Swiss-made Gepard tank, which has been provided to Ukraine, is now being produced in Germany…”

It was clear from the outset that, unless Russia were to win very quickly, the war would rage for a long time.

Army Technology wrote on July 18:

“The German Bundeswehr has just issued a large-volume order for service and practice artillery ammunition worth around 1.3 billion Euros ($1.46bn)… The framework contracts will help to assure a secure supply of ammunition to the armed forces of Germany and other Nato nations…”

Germany to Have the Best Equipped Army Division?

The Economic Times wrote on July 17:

“Germany is confident it will have the best equipped army division amongst European NATO allies in 2025, Army Chief Alfons Mais told Reuters, as countries are scrambling to gear up their troops in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine… Berlin… aims to have the first of three divisions operational by 2025, with the second to follow in 2027…

“‘This will be good enough,’ the lieutenant general said. ‘It will be sufficient, in any case, to contribute the best equipped division of all European NATO partners in 2025. At least, this is our joint goal with our Dutch partners.’”

The war machine is in full gear. And it will get worse. Note the next article.

Europe to Become a Nuclear Deterrent?

Express wrote on July 17:

“Alarm bells rang when German general Klaus Naumann, French admiral Jacques Lanxade, former Labour UK Europe minister Denis MacShane and German former senior foreign policy adviser Margarita Mathiopoulos jointly authorized an article for the Atlantic Council calling for a European nuclear deterrent. The article suggested that the UK, France and Germany should get together to provide a Europe-wide nuclear deterrent in the face of threats from Russia…

“There are also worries over reports that President Joe Biden wants European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to be the next NATO General Secretary. Ms von der Leyen is a former German defence minister who has pushed strongly for an EU army.

“The article said: ‘… Europe will need a convincing conventional and nuclear deterrent of its own, and Germany will be key…’ The four said that the war in Ukraine made it clear Germany needs to play a more significant role in NATO which means it needs a nuclear deterrent… ‘This, then, is the moment to start a debate in Berlin, Paris, and London about a trilateral French, British, and German nuclear European Defense Initiative, and the responsibility of those three powers to protect Europe if Article 5 is invoked in a worst-case-scenario.’ [Article 5 says that an attack on one NATO ally is to be considered as an attack against all NATO member states].”

The Bible says that Europe, under German leadership, will become a nuclear power… and that it WILL use nuclear weapons against their enemies!

German Chancellor Wants to Stay in Power

The Associated Press wrote on July 14:

“German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed optimism Friday that support for a far-right party which has been surging in the polls lately will shrink to previous levels again by the time of the next national election in 2025… Recent polls have shown support for the party, known by its German acronym AfD, at around 20% and ahead of Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats…

“Aside from fears about growing migration, AfD has benefitted from skepticism in parts of the electorate about the government’s plans to tackle climate change and Germany’s military aid to Ukraine. The German domestic intelligence agency recently warned that anti-war views and climate disinformation are partly spread by Russia-backed channels and pro-Moscow influencers [NOTE: These are alarming developments. Suddenly, everyone who is opposed to war—any war—is being treated by Germany’s “domestic intelligence agency” as a “Russian agent”?].

“Scholz insisted that the gradual increase in support Germany is providing Ukraine — which includes 17 billion euros ($19 billion) worth of arms such as high-end Leopard 2 tanks and advanced air-defense systems — enjoys mainstream backing…

“On climate change, he played down the recent dilution of a bill on replacing fossil fuel heating in millions of German homes following strong pushback from the opposition, tabloid media and even members of his own three-party coalition. Scholz admitted he wasn’t happy with months of bickering over the bill between his junior governing partners, the libertarian Free Democratic Party and the environmentalist Greens, but made clear he could live with the compromise, which still needs to be passed by parliament…

“The 65-year-old, who took office in late 2021, also made clear that he expects to hold the reins in Berlin for some time. ‘I’m at the beginning of my work as chancellor,’ he said.”

Scholz appears to be totally oblivious as to what is really going on in Germany. His coalition government is being perceived by most Germans as an utter failure.

A European Move to the Right!

The Daily Mail wrote on July 14:

“Across the continent, millions of citizens are shifting their allegiance towards populist Right-wing parties. The dramatic development will transform the EU if the swelling wave of populist sentiment translates into political power at the bloc’s parliamentary elections next year.

“… the EU’s traditional social democrats, green ideologues and Left-wingers are losing their appeal at the ballot box. The rebellion has been growing — and the dominos continue to fall. Right-wingers have gained power in Sweden, then in Italy, Finland and Greece. The Spanish could be next, with national elections in a week, then Holland and… Germany could soon follow.

“… more than a third of the EU’s 27 member nations are now run, or highly influenced, by populist-style governments or factions. All favour halting uncontrolled migration, tackling crime, promoting traditional families and pausing hated EU laws aimed at forcing people to alter their lifestyles to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

“The change in political outlook means the EU, a bloc rooted in technocratic social democracy, may soon become too liberal for the ordinary people living within its borders…

“Vienna University’s Anthony J. Constantini, who specialises in studying populism [says:] Voter anger on migration is a ‘clear driver’ of Right-wing victories… adding that supporters of populism have been ‘lambasted as racist’ and ‘most of the Right-wing victories have been chalked up to disinformation’. He continues: ‘The EU is either ignoring the facts, or wilfully misunderstanding them. There remains a persistent reluctance (within the EU) to understand exactly why populists and the far-Right are succeeding.’

“Eight years ago, when then German Chancellor Angela Merkel unilaterally invited 1.3 million Syrian migrants into Germany, some who arrived were opportunists from Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, sub-Saharan Africa and the Balkans… pretending to be escaping war and persecution…. Europeans are telling their politicians to look after their own people first, amid soaring inflation and energy and food price rises.

“Millions of voters also blame high immigration — the EU received almost 900,000 asylum seekers last year alone, nearly double the number in 2021 — for rising crime, a crippling housing shortage, terror attacks, social problems and what they may see as an erosion of European culture.

“Migrant youths stand accused of fuelling a gun-and-gang crime wave in Sweden unseen in that liberal nation until the influx of new arrivals from 2015… on those arrested, prosecuted and sentenced for firearms offences over five years to 2021… 85 per cent were born abroad or had a parent who hailed from overseas… The majority had roots in Iraq, Somalia, Syria, Turkey and Lebanon as well as Balkan countries, Kosovo, Bosnia and Serbia…

“Last September, 12 of Germany’s 16 states blocked further arrivals, insisting they could not ‘absorb’ any more. A national shortage of 700,000 homes is expected by 2025, with surveys showing that half of Germans blame immigration for the crisis. Anger rose further when 110 elderly nursing-home residents in Berlin were evicted earlier this year to give their rooms to migrants.

“Uglier still, according to the Right-wing Alternative for Germany MPs, half of the gang-rape convictions in Germany last year were committed by recently arrived foreigners without citizenship. A record high of 789 gang rapes, exceeding two a week, was logged by the Berlin government. This has fuelled an anti-migrant revolt by German women and families.

“There is also a growing sense of unease across Europe that a new wave of Islamist terrorism will soon break out. According to Dutch intelligence, the terror group Islamic State has started reintroducing active ‘commando units’ through the EU’s borders.

“Thibault de Montbrial, president of France’s Centre for Reflection on Homeland Security, said in a recent interview that the easy infiltration by Islamic State was down to the ‘tragic’ decision by Angela Merkel to open borders to all-comers. In the past eight years alone, hundreds in France have been killed by Islamist terrorist attacks and nearly 1,200 wounded.”

Like Olaf Scholz, many governmental leaders in Europe seem to be unwilling to consider the fact that to a large extent, THEY and their unrealistic policies are to be blamed for the dissatisfaction and “rebellion” of their citizens.

Canada Is Fallen—Trudeau “a Modern-Day Caligula”

Fox News wrote on July 16:

“The son of a Canadian pastor drew raucous applause from the European Parliament earlier this month when he pleaded for international pressure in the case of his father…

“‘I am here today in desperation, a cry for help,’ Nathaniel Pawlowski, 23, told members of the EU Parliament on July 4. ‘I would like to stand here and tell you all the things about freedom and democracy that I like, but I no longer know those things. They have been taken away from us Canadians. Canada has fallen.’… his father, Pastor Artur Pawlowski… [was arrested] five times after he continued to conduct services in defiance of a court order, including once in the middle of a busy highway on his way home from church…

“Pawlowski was found guilty in May of mischief and breaching a release order when he delivered a 19-minute speech to truckers who were protesting federal vaccine mandates by blocking Alberta’s border with Montana in February 2022. In the speech, Pawlowski advised truckers against their plan to go to the provincial capital of Edmonton, urging them instead to remain peaceful but not to ‘break the line’ against the government at the border. He was arrested days later and spent 50 nights in two separate prisons…

“Pawlowski remains under house arrest as he awaits another court date on Aug. 9, and also faces a charge pending a constitutional challenge under the provincial Critical Infrastructure Defense Act for allegedly participating in blocking the border crossing, which could carry a sentence of up to 10 years.

“‘We no longer have freedom of religion, or freedom of speech, or the right to protest or assemble or associate or express ourselves or have free media or disagree with the government,’ Nathaniel Pawlowski told the EU Parliament. ‘Anyone who does so is arrested, charged and jailed as political dissidents.’ His speech was followed by a recorded video in which his father likened his situation in Canada to growing up behind the Iron Curtain in communist Poland.

“The pastor’s son has himself has been slapped with charges for a sermon he delivered in April outside a drag queen story hour with children at the Calgary Public Library, during which he allegedly violated a municipal bylaw passed in March that prohibits protests within 100 meters of a recreation facility or library entrance.

“The law was passed after Pastor Derek Reimer was thrown out of a public library in Calgary after interrupting a drag queen story time for children. Reimer was subsequently arrested and jailed for continuing to protest such events. Artur Pawlowski told Fox News Digital at the time that the arrest of Reimer, whom he knows, indicates that the way authorities enforced COVID-19 protocols in Canada is now being used to enforce ideology.I myself have been charged for preaching and reading the Bible publicly because the government claims the Bible isn’t inclusive and is hateful,’ Nathaniel Pawlowski told the parliament…

Likening Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ‘a modern-day Caligula,’ Pawlowski continued, ‘We cannot allow these mad emperors to run mad. And remember, all of this is being done under the guise of health, safety and protecting us by stripping our rights and ushering in tyranny.’

“Among the European MEPs who invited Pawlowski to address parliament was Christine Anderson, a German who rebuked Trudeau to his face in March 2022, accusing him of trampling ‘fundamental rights by persecuting and criminalizing his own citizens as terrorists just because they dare to stand up to his perverted concept of democracy,’ and calling him a ‘disgrace for any democracy.’..

“Nathaniel Pawlowski told Fox News Digital that when he returned to Canada, customs officials in Montreal, Quebec, told him that there was a warrant out for his arrest…

“Artur Pawlowski told Fox News Digital that he is ‘enraged’ at how he and his family are being treated by Canadian authorities… ‘Now they want to hurt my children, my family, my wife. They are coming after our children, and those are the tactics of every totalitarian regime. The Gestapo did it. The KGB did it. Every totalitarian regime, every dictatorship has this playbook… if I could deliver a message to them, I would simply say that one day they will stand before the Judge of judges who does not take bribes, and they will give an account for every word that they said and everything they have done. One day justice will be served.’”

AMEN to that! As we reported many times before, Canada has become a dangerous totalitarian dictatorship under Justin Trudeau, but very few governmental leaders in the West seem to care.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

Update 1077

Love for God / The Mystery of Biblical Numbers

On July 22, 2023, Rene Messier will present the sermonette, titled, “Love for God,” and Michael Link will present the sermon, titled, “The Mystery of Biblical Numbers.”

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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Fake News – and the Truth!

by Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

In an article in “Money Marketing” a little while ago, entitled “Why everyone is over-reacting to the mini-Budget,” the writer, Max King, made this observation:

“In the rush to publish and pontificate, media analyses of Budgets are, inevitably, simplistic, shallow and populist. They are often governed by consensus group-think and politically influenced. The interviews with ‘ordinary people’ are designed to support the narrative.” 

A short while before the above comment, I was talking to a near neighbour that I speak to occasionally, whilst walking my dog, about the state of the nation in general.   He seemed to be convinced that the media, and our national broadcaster in particular, were able to produce actors who supported the regular accusation of left wing bias.   In a BBC article in January of this year, we read: “The idea of ‘crisis actors’ – people who pretend or are hired to act out some particular tragedy or disaster – is part of many contemporary conspiracy theories.”

In this editorial, I don’t want to get into conspiracy theories or politics, but suffice to say that fake news is currently alive and kicking, and it seems to permeate the very fabric of western society.

In a Daily Mail article in 2019, it was stated that “The consequences of fabricated news stories may have lingering effects on your perception.  According to a new study, voters may develop false memories after reading a fake news report. And, they’re more likely to do so if the narrative lines up with their own beliefs. Researchers presented over 3,000 eligible voters in Ireland with legitimate and made-up stories ahead of the 2018 referendum on legalizing abortion. In subsequent questioning – and after being told that some of the reports were fake – nearly half of participants reported a memory for at least one of the fabricated events, and many tended to be steadfast in these beliefs.”

Trying to work out what is right and what is wrong, what is factual news and what is fake, can take quite a bit of research and discernment, and is necessary to ensure that we have the right narrative—and, never more so than in the realm of our calling.

Now, here’s a thought.   When Jesus was addressing the stubborn Jews, He said:

 “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44).

Matthew 24 gives us information from Jesus about the times to come:  “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many” (verse 11).   In verses 23-24, we further read: “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”   And in verse 25, we have this admonition: See, I have told you beforehand,” and so we have been warned!   A lot of fake news has been prophesied!

We must recognise that Satan is the father of fake news.   He has sold the world on his lies, which are manifold.  

When we keep the Feast of Tabernacles each year, we are showered daily with Truth from God’s Word, showing us the marvellous future that awaits those of us who remain faithful to our calling until the end.  

The Truth is far more interesting than fake news and will be the norm in the coming Kingdom of God.

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by Norbert Link

We begin with the announcement that Donald Trump has been made a target in the  “investigation” of the January 6 riot and point out the obvious political motives and serious questions regarding the integrity of those involved in “prosecuting” Trump and the lack of action against Joe Biden and his son Hunter; address the recent cover-up of the White House cocaine scandal; and continue with controversial testimony of FBI Director Christopher Wray before Congress which was contradicted by the available evidence; continue with the public annoyance of several NATO members with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s outbursts and criticism; and Zelensky’s prevention from addressing the EU summit on July 17-18.

We publish a critical article about NATO’s need for existence and the devastating state of affairs of the American military; Russia’s seizure of foreign companies and its decision to end its “grain deal” with Ukraine.

We report on Robert F Kennedy Jr.’s denials of alleged critical statements pertaining to Jews and his pro-Israel stance.

We continue with American and German war propaganda. In this regard, please view our recent program, “Cluster Bombs and Our Endless Wars—Comments on News and Prophecy, July 15, 2023.”

We point out German Canceller Olaf Scholz’s oblivious “analysis” of current affairs in Germany; Germany’s military ambitions and involvement; frightening prospects of Germany becoming a nuclear power; and the undeniable fact that Europe is moving to the right—to a large extent because of soaring inflation and energy and food price rises; housing concerns; uncontrolled migration and, connected therewith, rise in crime; attacks on traditional families; and the enaction of hated EU laws aimed at forcing people to alter their lifestyles to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Please view our new StandingWatch program, ”Watch Germany!”

We conclude with a report on Canada which is perceived as having fallen into the hands of a modern-day Roman Emperor where there is no longer “freedom of religion, or freedom of speech, or the right to protest or assemble or associate or express ourselves or have free media or disagree with the government.”

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

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Trump a “Target in the January 6 Investigation”

The New York Post wrote on July 18:

“Former President Donald Trump revealed Tuesday that his attorneys had informed him he is a target of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot — and that he is prepared for ‘an Arrest and Indictment’ in the case. Trump… decried what he called a ‘WITCH HUNT’ and ‘ELECTION INTERFERENCE’ on his Truth Social platform.

“‘WOW! On Sunday night, while I was with my family, having just arrived from the Turning Point event in Florida, where I won the Straw Poll against all other Republican candidates with 85.7%, with all polls showing me leading in the Republican Primary by very substantial numbers, almost everyone predicting that I will be the Republican Nominee for President, and as I am leading Democrat Joe Biden in the polls by a lot, HORRIFYING NEWS for our Country was given to me by my attorneys,’ Trump wrote.

“‘Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment.’

“Trump added: ‘So now, Joe Biden’s Attorney General, Merrick Garland, who I turned down for the United States Supreme Court (in retrospect, based on his corrupt and unethical actions, a very wise decision!), together with Joe Biden’s Department of Injustice, have effectively issued a third Indictment and Arrest of Joe Biden’s NUMBER ONE POLITICAL OPPONENT, who is largely dominating him in the race for the Presidency. Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before, or even close.’”

This looks more and more like the methods of a Banana Republic, especially in light of the fact that nothing seems to happen in the Joe Biden/Hunter Biden numerous scandals. View our new program “America, Where ARE You Going?”

Biden’s Involvement in Trump’s Political Prosecution

The New York Post published the following opinion piece by Michael Goodwin on July 19:

Most Americans are not fooled and see… the dirty hand of partisan politics, and conclude the whole thing is corrupt… There is no way to be more politically obvious than the way [AG Merrick Garland] slow-walked and settled the Hunter Biden case [with a “sweetheart deal”] and the vengeance with which he repeatedly goes after Donald Trump…

“There was never any doubt  [that Trump would become a “target” in the January 6 events]—that was the whole point when Garland took Nancy Pelosi’s tainted House select committee file and made a federal case out of it. Even when Garland, in a phony bid to appear fair, named headhunter Jack Smith as special counsel to go after Trump…, the smell of a fix was unmistakable… all the prosecutors gunning for him are Democrats, but we are told to believe politics has nothing to do with it…

“We’re also supposed to believe that… Biden… is playing zero role in Garland’s decisions to go after Trump. Some extremely naive people might have swallowed that once upon a time… But there is no excuse for cluelessness now that the truth of how the Justice Department behaves under Garland stands so nakedly obvious.

“Indeed, the results unfolding before us were predictable, thanks to a New York Times article back on April 2, 2022. Here’s a key section:

“‘The attorney general’s deliberative approach has come to frustrate Democratic allies of the White House and, at times, President Biden himself. As recently as late last year, Mr. Biden confided to his inner circle that he believed former President Donald J. Trump was a threat to democracy and should be prosecuted, according to two people familiar with his comments.

“‘And while the president has never communicated his frustrations directly to Mr. Garland, he has said privately that he wanted Mr. Garland to act less like a ponderous judge and more like a prosecutor who is willing to take decisive action over the events of Jan. 6.

“Assuming the article is accurate, it would mean Biden has been telling people he wanted Trump prosecuted since late 2021. And how precious of the Times to say Biden never spoke ‘directly’ with Garland about the matter, as if that makes it all kosher. In reality, anonymous White House sources tell the Times what Biden wants, and the Times delivers the message to Garland and the world with its story. The two men don’t have to speak ‘directly’ when the Gray Lady plays messenger.

“… that the zealousness for prosecuting the former president compared to the soft, favored treatment given the current president and his son smells to high heaven. That, too, [ought to] be a crime.”

The Storm on the Capitol Infiltrated by Federal Agents?

On July 17, Life Site News republished the following article by WND News Center:

Tucker Carlson has dropped a bombshell during an interview, one of few he’s given since his abrupt departure from the [Fox] cable network. It’s that the Jan. 6, 2021, events at the U.S. Capitol, where a few hundred people rioted and vandalized parts of the building, were ‘filled’ with federal agents.

“How does he know? He got it from then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund… Carlson pointed out Sund would know, as ‘he was in charge of security at the site.’

“Carlson was canceled by the Fox News Channel before that interview could be aired.

“There long has been discussion of the idea that multiple federal agents acted as provocateurs at the events that day, encouraging those who may have been no more than interested participants in the Trump rally earlier in the day to become violent. Their goal would have been to trigger violence, which they then could blame on Trump, as Democrats have done in recent months. In fact, one person who was ranting around that day, telling people to go into the Capitol, and is on video doing so, but never has been charged.

“Carlson indicated he hopes to interview Sund again, this time without the restrictions imposed by Fox on the first interview.

“The PJNewsletter said, ‘We all suspected that the “conservative” network fired Tucker for speaking his mind. Some noted the timing of his cancellation – just days after he aired real footage from J6. And he revealed that Fox dumped him before he could report on this… The timing of this interview and Tucker’s ousting seems highly suspicious to some. Was it possible that Fox News was trying to censor this interview? Do they not want Americans to know that the U.S. Capitol Police chief believed that the crowd of “Trump supporters” had been infiltrated by federal agents?’”

Suspicious timing indeed.

The Cocaine Scandal Cover-Up

On July 16, The New York Post published the following editorial by Miranda Devine:

“Of all the excuses offered by the Secret Service to explain why it shut down the White House cocaine investigation last week after just 11 days, one jumped out as particularly ridiculous. 

“It couldn’t conduct interviews of potential cokeheads known to be in the vicinity of where the bag of drugs was found because it didn’t want to infringe on their civil rights, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told NBC… Tell that to the hundreds of people rounded up by the FBI for just being in the vicinity of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. 

“Sorry, nobody believes that the Biden administration cares about safeguarding civil liberties unless it’s part of a cover-up... Shifting stories about where the cocaine was located add to the public skepticism, and then a flat-out lie about when the president and his son left the White House for Camp David that weekend compounded the problem. 

“Despite enlisting the help of the FBI, the Secret Service found no fingerprints or DNA evidence on the bag of cocaine [So the culprit wore gloves?] Even more astonishing is that, in a complex bristling with security cameras, the Secret Service said no surveillance video footage exists because the baggie was located in a ‘blind spot.’…

“Donald Trump, who is more familiar with the White House than most people, told Fox News on Sunday: ‘You know how many cameras they have opposite the front door of the Situation Room? [It’s] where you decide on war, where you decide on nuclear.’…

“Biden has a history of cozy relationships with the agency. Hunter once told a friend, in a message left on his laptop, how his father leveraged favors through his Secret Service agents: ‘guys that he got their daughter into the naval academy that he had to the VP residence and let them use his apartment to stay and cost the White House, guys he paid their health insurance premiums for anonymously.’’ 

Nobody believes that the culprit could not be found if there was a real interest in doing so.

More on Joe and Hunter Biden

 The New York Post wrote on July 20:

“A bombshell FBI informant file describing a $10 million bribery allegation against President Biden and his son Hunter was released Thursday by Sen. Chuck Grassley, showing that a Ukrainian oligarch claimed that he was ‘coerced’ into making the payoff.

“Mykola Zlochevsky, the owner of natural gas company Burisma Holdings, told the FBI informant in 2016 while meeting at a coffee shop in Vienna, Austria, that ‘it cost 5 [million] to pay one Biden, and 5 [million] to another Biden,’ according to the redacted FD-1023 form. ‘Zlochevsky made some comment that although Hunter Biden “was stupid, and his (Zlochevsky’s) dog was smarter,” Zlochevsky needed to keep Hunter Biden (on Burisma’s board) “so everything will be okay,”’ the June 2020 document says. 

“The source asked whether Hunter Biden or Joe Biden told Zlochevsky he should ‘retain’ the younger Biden; Zlochevsky allegedly replied, ‘They both did.’”

The New York Post also reported that Zlochevsky allegedly said: “Don’t worry Hunter will take care of all of those issues through his dad.”

How FBI Director Christopher Wray Lied to the American People

Professor Jonathan Turley wrote the following on July 13 (the article was republished by the Ron Paul Institute):

“Yesterday’s hearing with FBI Director Christopher Wray was another maddening experience of faux contrition and the open evasion. Wray apologized for violations that have already been established by courts or Congress (often over the best efforts of the FBI). However, on ample public evidence of new violations, Wray continued to use his favorite testimonial trilogy to block any questions: expressing (1) lack of knowledge, (2) ongoing investigation, and (3) promises of later answers or briefings…

‘Despite the near total lack of substance, Wray did make one surprising denial. He insisted that the FBI does not engage in censorship efforts, focuses only on ‘foreign disinformation,’ and does not pressure companies to censor others. Those denials are not only directly contradicted by the recent opinion of a federal court and the Twitter Files, but a new release from the Twitter Files and journalist Matt Taibbi…

“[Wray’s] statement is obviously false. The FBI maintained a large operation of agents actively seeking the censorship of thousands…  Taibbi, however, has released another example of how aggressive the FBI was with social media companies. In the latest Twitter Files release, there is one email exchange where Twitter ‘immediately’ suspended accounts flagged by the FBI without investigation.

“Taibbi explained: ‘In one shot, you can see the FBI asks to remove three accounts, that gets forwarded to Twitter, Twitter immediately suspends them, the accounts. But more importantly, when there’s a glitch, and the accounts remain up, the FBI immediately writes back and says, what’s the deal? We just wrote to you, why is it still up? So, that shows the nature of the relationship basically that it’s not really a collaboration. It’s much more like somebody reporting to an authority…’

“We also have hundreds of emails that show the FBI and other agencies targeting individuals for a wide array of disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation. The latter category is truly Orwellian…

“The latest email does not suggest that the FBI was the passive, helpful agency portrayed by the Director…”

The FBI, as well as many other American governmental agencies, have fallen into utter disgrace—so much so that many are advocating their complete overhaul, from the top down, or their total abolition.

NATO Members Furious With Zelensky

Breitbart wrote on July 14:

“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s exasperated complaint about the slow pace of an invitation for his country to join NATO, delivered as the annual NATO summit began in Vilnius, Lithuania, may have actually moved the process backward by alienating the United States and allied leaders, the Washington Post claimed…

“Zelensky on Tuesday called it ‘unprecedented and absurd’ for NATO to speak vaguely about inviting Ukraine to join without setting a time frame and to add ‘conditions’ by demanding political reforms not demanded of the two newest alliance members, Finland and Sweden. ‘Ukraine also deserves respect,’ Zelensky fumed, blaming NATO’s hesitancy for giving Russia ‘motivation to continue its terror.’ ‘Uncertainty is weakness,’ he concluded.

“Some NATO leaders were publicly annoyed by Zelensky’s outburst. British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace on Wednesday said a ‘slight word of caution’ was in order for the Ukrainian president, and suggested he try showing a little ‘gratitude’ if he expected allied countries to ‘give up their stocks’ of weapons to defend his nation

“… according to the Washington Post on Thursday, the Biden White House was so miffed by Zelensky’s complaints that it ‘considered scaling back the “invitation” for Kyiv to join’ NATO. What NATO actually did at the conclusion of the Vilnius summit was declare that ‘Ukraine’s future is in NATO’ and promise that Kyiv will be invited at some undetermined point in the future, which is precisely the approach that made Zelensky angry…

“The Ukrainians believe full membership, with its commitment to collective defense, could have prevented Russia from invading, and full membership now might make the Kremlin back down instead of risking a world war… At one point, Zelensky threatened to boycott the Vilnius summit unless a firm timetable for Ukrainian membership was put forward. The Washington Post’s inside sources said the NATO leaders gathered in Lithuania were ‘stunned’ by Zelensky’s public rebuke, and the United States delegation was downright ‘furious.’…

“Zelensky fired off a string of Twitter posts after departing Vilnius that each contained the words ‘grateful’ or ‘thanks,’ suggesting a desire to put the controversy behind him…”

Still, ultimately, the rift between Europe and Ukraine will widen. Note the next two articles.

Zelensky Blocked From Attending EU Summit

Express wrote on July 15:

“Ukraine’s President Zelensky was left stunned after Latin American countries blocked his attendance at an upcoming EU summit with its leaders… on July 17-18.

“The Spanish Prime Minister extended an invitation to President Zelensky to attend the summit… However, several Latin American leaders objected strongly to Zelensky’s presence at the summit, forcing the Ukrainian president to pull out…

Many Latin American countries enjoy good political and economic relations with Russia and are keen not to upset the Kremlin. Brazil, in particular, has seen its commercial ties with Moscow grow strongly… Other countries suspected of being within the Russian orbit include Mexico, Colombia and Argentina, as well as Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela.

“Latin American leaders were also reported to have ‘thrown cold water’ on the EU’s efforts to unite the continent in its support of Ukraine… Brussels had intended to issue a summit declaration text, that would have included several paragraphs of support for Ukraine…”

The monetary and economic interests of Europe pertaining to Latin America are perceived to be much more important than the “support” of Ukraine, which is, in any event, judged as being merely of self-serving importance, as the next article suggests.

The NATO 2023 Summit

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on July 15:

“On the one hand the US and its NATO allies came face to face with the reality that endless promises of ‘unlimited’ military aid to Ukraine to defeat Russia would not achieve that goal. Five weeks of the much-anticipated Ukrainian counter-offensive have produced zero results. They have only snuffed out another estimated 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers, this time mostly drawn from the shrinking pool of forced – and barely trained – conscripts… when President Biden was asked right after agreeing to send Ukraine a tranche of ghastly cluster bombs why he did so, he replied, ‘we’ve run out of ammunition.’ It was an incredible admission, particularly considering the massive increase in already astronomical US military spending…

“Americans might want to know how their government can spend a trillion dollars per year on ‘defense’ and in addition add another hundred billion or so for Ukraine and end up with…no ammo…

“While many – especially in Kiev – expected some kind of concrete signal from NATO that Ukraine had a clear path to join the club… the path to membership was made more vague than ever. To add insult to injury, Stoltenberg remarked that a perhaps mortally-wounded Ukraine must win the war with Russia before NATO membership could even be considered. Biden himself painfully drove that death sentence for Ukraine home, remarking that, ‘no one can join NATO while a war is going on.’…

“One can certainly feel for Zelensky… NATO… never had any intention to go to war with Russia over Ukraine

“So at the end of the day, the seemingly unremarkable Vilnius summit was in fact quite illuminating. Regimes fall slowly and then suddenly and we are seeing that process clearly in place with NATO. Ukraine has been hung out to dry, even as the dark lords of war will continue to spend billions shipping weapons to [Kiev]. After all, there is money to be made from this and everyone’s in on it.”

Others feel likewise that NATO has become obsolete. The most prominent proponent of that idea has been Donald Trump. But others agree. According to the New York Post, dated July 15, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “suggested this week that NATO should be disbanded. ‘It is insane to even keep NATO going…’ He was non-committal when asked by The Post whether, as president, he would pull the United States out of the longstanding alliance… ‘I don’t know how to handle it right now. There are many many options,’ he said.”

Russia Seizes Foreign Companies

The Wall Street Journal wrote on July 17:

“Russia has unexpectedly seized the local operations of Carlsberg CABGY [a Danish brewing company] and Danone DANOY [a French company–the largest dairy company in Russia], two of the world’s largest consumer-goods companies, in a move that escalates economic hostilities with the West… Russia placed Danone and Carlsberg’s local operations under temporary management, putting them under the control of the federal state property management agency

“The move is the second time Russia has seized Western assets in the country since the Kremlin unveiled a decree in April that allows the state to take temporary control of assets of companies or individuals from what Moscow calls ‘unfriendly’ states. Russian officials have said that the seizures are in retaliation for similar moves by Western countries. In April, Russia took control of utilities owned by Germany’s Uniper and Finland’s Fortum…

“Among the Western companies to remain are several makers of food, drink and household products… Other major companies looking to exit Russia include brewing giant Heineken, which said in March it was doing everything it could to find a new owner for its business…

“Last year, Germany took control of the German business of Russian oil giant Rosneft and put Gazprom’s German natural-gas business, formerly known as Gazprom Germania, under trusteeship. Russia at the time warned that it could seize more Western assets.”

This development will not end any time soon.

Russia Stops Grain Deal With Ukraine

The Associated Press wrote on July 17:

“Russia halted an unprecedented wartime deal on Monday that allows grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty.

“Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced Russia would suspend the Black Sea Grain Initiative until its demands to get its own agricultural shipments to the world are met — even though the country has been shipping record amounts of wheat and its fertilizers also have been flowing…

“It’s the end of a breakthrough accord that the United Nations and Turkey brokered last summer to allow food to leave the Black Sea region… The deal provided assurances that ships won’t be attacked entering and leaving Ukrainian ports… [Ukraine announced they would continue with their shipments. Russia responded that they would consider those ships as hostile and subject to attack.]

“The warring nations are both major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products that developing nations rely on…

“Asked Monday whether an [Ukrainian] attack on a bridge connecting the Crimean Peninsula to Russia was a factor behind the decision on the grain deal, the Kremlin spokesman said it was not…”

This is hard to believe, given the fact that Russia called the attack on the bridge a terrorist attack, allegedly killing children.

Kennedy: I Never Suggested That Corona Was Engineered to Target Jews

Breitbart wrote on July 15:

“Democratic presidential challenger Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is defending himself from claims of antisemitism after a New York Post reporter falsely claimed the candidate said COVID-19 was engineered to protect Jews… video of Kennedy’s remarks… show that Kennedy never actually said that coronavirus had been ‘ethnically targeted’ to spare Jews.

“What Kennedy does say is he believes that several governments have developed the ability to target bioweapons at particular ethnicities. As evidence that this might be possible, he cites research that suggested some groups were more susceptible to COVID-19 than others — but he adds that he does not know if that was intentional… He also said he ‘never, ever suggested that the COVID-19 virus was targeted to spare Jews’…

“Rabbi Shmuley Boteach… defended Kennedy Saturday evening… ‘Bobby’s father was murdered by Palestinian terrorist Sirhan Sirhan because of his strong support for Israel and Bobby recently marched with me against the demonization of the Jewish state at the giant ‘Israel Day’ parade in New York City carrying an enormous Israeli flag. He has publicly called upon the Biden Administration not to give Iran billions of dollars in a second Iran deal that would ultimately result in an Iranian nuclear weapon. In our recent interview together Bobby called upon the Democratic Party to return to the strong, unconditional support of Israel that was the hallmark of the party under the leadership of his uncle…’

“Kennedy is experiencing the same treatment doled out to Donald Trump, who — as a candidate and as president — was constantly smeared by the media as an antisemite despite defending Jews and supporting Israel strongly.”

As the Editorial by Brian Gale in this Update admonishes, one must separate fact from fiction or fake news. Note the next two articles.

Kennedy’s Support for Israel

Breitbart wrote on July 16:

“Kennedy explained why he supports the Jewish state… ‘I believe, in my heart, it is core to the values I was raised with,’ noting the pro-Israel views of his father, the late Sen. Robert Kennedy (D-NY), and his uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA)…

“Kennedy’s father, notably, was assassinated in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968, by a crazed Palestinian, Sirhan Sirhan, who targeted Kennedy on the first anniversary of the Six-Day War over his public support for Israel. Kennedy had been on track to win the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination on an anti-war platform.

“Kennedy expressed his concern for growing antisemitism within the Democratic Party and a younger generation of Americans…”

Sadly, antisemitism is rising again throughout the world. In reality, it never was dead.

No Stronger Champion for Israel Than Kennedy

Israel 365 News wrote on July 18:

“The lawyer… has come under fire for recent remarks about COVID-19. Many have said that Kennedy’s comments on a study, which suggested that Ashkenazi Jews were less affected than others by the virus, are antisemitic. Many others, including prominent Jewish leaders, have defended him. ‘It’s clear to me now that I need to be much more careful,’ Kennedy told JNS. ‘I have to learn a lesson from this, and the lesson I learn is that I have to understand that the words that I use have impact, and they can be misused and misinterpreted,’ he said. ‘I regret talking about that study, and I am going to be careful to make sure that I don’t do anything like that in the future.’…

“His father, Robert “Bobby” Kennedy, a former U.S. attorney general and senator, and his uncle, the former president, were strong supporters of Israel. Bobby was in Israel in 1946 and 1947, and both he and his brother supported “the sacred alliance between Israel and the United States,” said the current presidential candidate, who is known as RFK Jr.

“Kennedy added that his uncle, the late Edward ‘Ted’ Kennedy, a longtime U.S. senator from Massachusetts, ‘was the architect of the exodus of oppressed Soviet Jewry to safe havens’ in the 1980s and early 1990s. ‘There is nobody in the presidential race who is going to be a stronger champion for Israel than me,’ Kennedy told JNS…

“What was once ‘an oasis for justice and rights in the Middle East’ is instead seen as an ‘imperial nation’ that oppresses the ‘indigenous population of Palestinians,’ Kennedy said. ‘There’s very little understanding of the evolution of the Jewish state, of what was happening in Palestine prior to the Ottoman Empire, the British Mandate after the empire. The entire history going back thousands of years.’ 

“Kennedy told JNS that he is aware of no other country that has Israel’s military discipline, or what he calls, its ‘unique moral approach’ to warfare…

“Kennedy, who is Catholic, sees Christianity as an extension of Jewish scripture. ‘Jesus never stopped being a Jew, by the way,’ he said. ‘His disciples basically opened up his ideological and religious philosophy to non-Jews. We were raised with the idea that we were kind of little brothers of the Chosen People.’…

“‘[Israel is] the historical homeland of the Jewish people, from which they were driven and to which they returned as well.’ It is a ‘prevailing yet erroneous’ view that ‘Israel settled in a place where they didn’t belong,’ Kennedy said. ‘The idea that is just a distortion, a perversion of history.’”

In fact, the Promised Land is the historical homeland of the House of Israel and the House of Judah. For more information, please read our free booklet, Biblical Prophecy—From Now Until Forever.”

AGAIN! Democrats Try to Censor JFK Jr. At Hearing on Censorship

Fox News wrote on July 20:

“House Democrats on Thursday tried unsuccessfully to remove Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. from a hearing on federal government censorship… That effort and others by Democrats to silence him at the hearing prompted Kennedy to say, ‘This is an attempt to censor a censorship hearing.’ Kennedy… was  invited by Republicans to testify at a hearing at the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. But after Kennedy’s opening remarks, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., moved to take the hearing into executive session to discuss  Kennedy’s alleged violation of a House rule aimed at banning testimony that defames or degrades others. Wasserman Schultz said the witness made ‘despicable’ antisemitic and anti-Asian comments in the last few days, referring to his comment [about] COVID.

“Kennedy used his opening remarks to lament the Democrats’ efforts to censor his speech, and broader efforts to censor his run for the White House. He said his speech announcing his candidacy was censored five minutes into his speech by YouTube. ‘Censorship… was appalling to my father, to my uncle, to FDR, to Harry Truman, to Thomas Jefferson…’ Kennedy noted recent emails that show the Biden administration tried to censor his comments about vaccines, just three days into the start of that administration. ‘They had to invent a new word called “malinformation” to censor people like me,’ he said. ‘Malinformation is information that is true, but it is inconvenient to the government, that they don’t want people to hear.’”

According to Breitbart, dated July 20, “Democrats notably tried to censor Kennedy after his opening statement during the hearing, in which he defended his record on racism and antisemitism, and disputed claims by 102 Democrats in a letter that he had allegedly ‘spread vile and dangerous antisemitic and anti-Asian conspiracy theories.’”

None of the House Democrats came to Kennedy’s defense, but Kennedy commented that not all of the House Democrats signed the letter. In fact, the majority did not.

War Propaganda: They Are Coming For Your Children!

On July 17, the Ron Paul Institute published the following article by Ron Paul:

“As a rule, US war reporting since Vietnam has been mostly mainstream media cheerleading the mission rather than digging beyond government war propaganda. After all, it was images of American boys coming home in body bags shown on the six o’clock news across America that finally galvanized mainstream opposition to that war.

“The Pentagon learned its lesson by the first Gulf War, and it severely restricted up-close media coverage. Only ‘trusted’ journalists were able to report from the front lines. Most of the press corps wrote up stories based on US military press releases from luxury hotels in Baghdad.

“By the time of Gulf War II the Pentagon came up with the concept of ‘embedding’ select journalists with the troops. This allowed the story to be framed by the Pentagon with the false impression that actual journalism was taking place. It felt authentic, because the journalist was with the troops and close to the action, but the story presented what the Pentagon wanted to be presented.

“This is perhaps a long way of pointing out that US mainstream media coverage of the war in Ukraine leaves a lot to be desired… Russia is losing, they report. Russia has already lost, as Biden said recently. Most Americans don’t go out of their way to listen to actual experts like Col. Doug Macgregor, who from the beginning has been telling a very different story. Thus Americans continue to be fed propaganda…

“We are on a very slippery slope, with Biden’s neocons continuing to escalate in the face of massive Ukrainian losses and an apparent shortage of US troops. Make no mistake, if the US/NATO proxy war with Russia is not halted the next step will be to look at the US Selective Service. That means they are coming for your kids. How long before America wakes up and says ‘NO’?”

This development will also be repeated in Germany and other European nations. Will the Germans say “NO”? Would the government even care? Note the next articles.

Germany Is Ukraine’s Second Largest Arms Supplier

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on July 15:

Germany is actually Ukraine’s second largest arms supplier, after the United States. Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged a new arms package worth 700 million euros, including additional tanks, munitions and Patriot air defence systems at the Nato summit in Vilnius, putting Berlin, as he said, at the very forefront of military support for Ukraine…

“The Ukraine crisis has provided the context for accelerating Germany’s militarization… Germany is the Biden Administration’s closest ally in the war against Russia…

“Rheinmetal, the great 135-year old German arms manufacturing company, has disclosed that it is opening an armoured vehicle plant in western Ukraine at an undisclosed location in the next twelve weeks…”

Running Out of Ammunition

CNN wrote on July 18:

“The US and Europe are struggling to provide Ukraine with the large amount of ammunition it will need for a prolonged counteroffensive against Russia, and Western officials are racing to ramp up production to avoid shortages on the battlefield…

“The dwindling support of artillery ammunition has served as a wake-up call to NATO… since the alliance did not adequately prepare for the possibility of a protracted land war in Europe following decades of relative peace… the ammunition will still take ‘years’ to mass produce to acceptable levels, National Security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN Sunday…

“A German government source told CNN that Berlin has taken steps to try to close existing gaps in ammunition stocks and to increase ammunition reserves, noting that the munitions for the Swiss-made Gepard tank, which has been provided to Ukraine, is now being produced in Germany…”

It was clear from the outset that, unless Russia were to win very quickly, the war would rage for a long time.

Army Technology wrote on July 18:

“The German Bundeswehr has just issued a large-volume order for service and practice artillery ammunition worth around 1.3 billion Euros ($1.46bn)… The framework contracts will help to assure a secure supply of ammunition to the armed forces of Germany and other Nato nations…”

Germany to Have the Best Equipped Army Division?

The Economic Times wrote on July 17:

“Germany is confident it will have the best equipped army division amongst European NATO allies in 2025, Army Chief Alfons Mais told Reuters, as countries are scrambling to gear up their troops in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine… Berlin… aims to have the first of three divisions operational by 2025, with the second to follow in 2027…

“‘This will be good enough,’ the lieutenant general said. ‘It will be sufficient, in any case, to contribute the best equipped division of all European NATO partners in 2025. At least, this is our joint goal with our Dutch partners.’”

The war machine is in full gear. And it will get worse. Note the next article.

Europe to Become a Nuclear Deterrent?

Express wrote on July 17:

“Alarm bells rang when German general Klaus Naumann, French admiral Jacques Lanxade, former Labour UK Europe minister Denis MacShane and German former senior foreign policy adviser Margarita Mathiopoulos jointly authorized an article for the Atlantic Council calling for a European nuclear deterrent. The article suggested that the UK, France and Germany should get together to provide a Europe-wide nuclear deterrent in the face of threats from Russia…

“There are also worries over reports that President Joe Biden wants European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to be the next NATO General Secretary. Ms von der Leyen is a former German defence minister who has pushed strongly for an EU army.

“The article said: ‘… Europe will need a convincing conventional and nuclear deterrent of its own, and Germany will be key…’ The four said that the war in Ukraine made it clear Germany needs to play a more significant role in NATO which means it needs a nuclear deterrent… ‘This, then, is the moment to start a debate in Berlin, Paris, and London about a trilateral French, British, and German nuclear European Defense Initiative, and the responsibility of those three powers to protect Europe if Article 5 is invoked in a worst-case-scenario.’ [Article 5 says that an attack on one NATO ally is to be considered as an attack against all NATO member states].”

The Bible says that Europe, under German leadership, will become a nuclear power… and that it WILL use nuclear weapons against their enemies!

German Chancellor Wants to Stay in Power

The Associated Press wrote on July 14:

“German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed optimism Friday that support for a far-right party which has been surging in the polls lately will shrink to previous levels again by the time of the next national election in 2025… Recent polls have shown support for the party, known by its German acronym AfD, at around 20% and ahead of Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats…

“Aside from fears about growing migration, AfD has benefitted from skepticism in parts of the electorate about the government’s plans to tackle climate change and Germany’s military aid to Ukraine. The German domestic intelligence agency recently warned that anti-war views and climate disinformation are partly spread by Russia-backed channels and pro-Moscow influencers [NOTE: These are alarming developments. Suddenly, everyone who is opposed to war—any war—is being treated by Germany’s “domestic intelligence agency” as a “Russian agent”?].

“Scholz insisted that the gradual increase in support Germany is providing Ukraine — which includes 17 billion euros ($19 billion) worth of arms such as high-end Leopard 2 tanks and advanced air-defense systems — enjoys mainstream backing…

“On climate change, he played down the recent dilution of a bill on replacing fossil fuel heating in millions of German homes following strong pushback from the opposition, tabloid media and even members of his own three-party coalition. Scholz admitted he wasn’t happy with months of bickering over the bill between his junior governing partners, the libertarian Free Democratic Party and the environmentalist Greens, but made clear he could live with the compromise, which still needs to be passed by parliament…

“The 65-year-old, who took office in late 2021, also made clear that he expects to hold the reins in Berlin for some time. ‘I’m at the beginning of my work as chancellor,’ he said.”

Scholz appears to be totally oblivious as to what is really going on in Germany. His coalition government is being perceived by most Germans as an utter failure.

A European Move to the Right!

The Daily Mail wrote on July 14:

“Across the continent, millions of citizens are shifting their allegiance towards populist Right-wing parties. The dramatic development will transform the EU if the swelling wave of populist sentiment translates into political power at the bloc’s parliamentary elections next year.

“… the EU’s traditional social democrats, green ideologues and Left-wingers are losing their appeal at the ballot box. The rebellion has been growing — and the dominos continue to fall. Right-wingers have gained power in Sweden, then in Italy, Finland and Greece. The Spanish could be next, with national elections in a week, then Holland and… Germany could soon follow.

“… more than a third of the EU’s 27 member nations are now run, or highly influenced, by populist-style governments or factions. All favour halting uncontrolled migration, tackling crime, promoting traditional families and pausing hated EU laws aimed at forcing people to alter their lifestyles to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

“The change in political outlook means the EU, a bloc rooted in technocratic social democracy, may soon become too liberal for the ordinary people living within its borders…

“Vienna University’s Anthony J. Constantini, who specialises in studying populism [says:] Voter anger on migration is a ‘clear driver’ of Right-wing victories… adding that supporters of populism have been ‘lambasted as racist’ and ‘most of the Right-wing victories have been chalked up to disinformation’. He continues: ‘The EU is either ignoring the facts, or wilfully misunderstanding them. There remains a persistent reluctance (within the EU) to understand exactly why populists and the far-Right are succeeding.’

“Eight years ago, when then German Chancellor Angela Merkel unilaterally invited 1.3 million Syrian migrants into Germany, some who arrived were opportunists from Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, sub-Saharan Africa and the Balkans… pretending to be escaping war and persecution…. Europeans are telling their politicians to look after their own people first, amid soaring inflation and energy and food price rises.

“Millions of voters also blame high immigration — the EU received almost 900,000 asylum seekers last year alone, nearly double the number in 2021 — for rising crime, a crippling housing shortage, terror attacks, social problems and what they may see as an erosion of European culture.

“Migrant youths stand accused of fuelling a gun-and-gang crime wave in Sweden unseen in that liberal nation until the influx of new arrivals from 2015… on those arrested, prosecuted and sentenced for firearms offences over five years to 2021… 85 per cent were born abroad or had a parent who hailed from overseas… The majority had roots in Iraq, Somalia, Syria, Turkey and Lebanon as well as Balkan countries, Kosovo, Bosnia and Serbia…

“Last September, 12 of Germany’s 16 states blocked further arrivals, insisting they could not ‘absorb’ any more. A national shortage of 700,000 homes is expected by 2025, with surveys showing that half of Germans blame immigration for the crisis. Anger rose further when 110 elderly nursing-home residents in Berlin were evicted earlier this year to give their rooms to migrants.

“Uglier still, according to the Right-wing Alternative for Germany MPs, half of the gang-rape convictions in Germany last year were committed by recently arrived foreigners without citizenship. A record high of 789 gang rapes, exceeding two a week, was logged by the Berlin government. This has fuelled an anti-migrant revolt by German women and families.

“There is also a growing sense of unease across Europe that a new wave of Islamist terrorism will soon break out. According to Dutch intelligence, the terror group Islamic State has started reintroducing active ‘commando units’ through the EU’s borders.

“Thibault de Montbrial, president of France’s Centre for Reflection on Homeland Security, said in a recent interview that the easy infiltration by Islamic State was down to the ‘tragic’ decision by Angela Merkel to open borders to all-comers. In the past eight years alone, hundreds in France have been killed by Islamist terrorist attacks and nearly 1,200 wounded.”

Like Olaf Scholz, many governmental leaders in Europe seem to be unwilling to consider the fact that to a large extent, THEY and their unrealistic policies are to be blamed for the dissatisfaction and “rebellion” of their citizens.

Canada Is Fallen—Trudeau “a Modern-Day Caligula”

Fox News wrote on July 16:

“The son of a Canadian pastor drew raucous applause from the European Parliament earlier this month when he pleaded for international pressure in the case of his father…

“‘I am here today in desperation, a cry for help,’ Nathaniel Pawlowski, 23, told members of the EU Parliament on July 4. ‘I would like to stand here and tell you all the things about freedom and democracy that I like, but I no longer know those things. They have been taken away from us Canadians. Canada has fallen.’… his father, Pastor Artur Pawlowski… [was arrested] five times after he continued to conduct services in defiance of a court order, including once in the middle of a busy highway on his way home from church…

“Pawlowski was found guilty in May of mischief and breaching a release order when he delivered a 19-minute speech to truckers who were protesting federal vaccine mandates by blocking Alberta’s border with Montana in February 2022. In the speech, Pawlowski advised truckers against their plan to go to the provincial capital of Edmonton, urging them instead to remain peaceful but not to ‘break the line’ against the government at the border. He was arrested days later and spent 50 nights in two separate prisons…

“Pawlowski remains under house arrest as he awaits another court date on Aug. 9, and also faces a charge pending a constitutional challenge under the provincial Critical Infrastructure Defense Act for allegedly participating in blocking the border crossing, which could carry a sentence of up to 10 years.

“‘We no longer have freedom of religion, or freedom of speech, or the right to protest or assemble or associate or express ourselves or have free media or disagree with the government,’ Nathaniel Pawlowski told the EU Parliament. ‘Anyone who does so is arrested, charged and jailed as political dissidents.’ His speech was followed by a recorded video in which his father likened his situation in Canada to growing up behind the Iron Curtain in communist Poland.

“The pastor’s son has himself has been slapped with charges for a sermon he delivered in April outside a drag queen story hour with children at the Calgary Public Library, during which he allegedly violated a municipal bylaw passed in March that prohibits protests within 100 meters of a recreation facility or library entrance.

“The law was passed after Pastor Derek Reimer was thrown out of a public library in Calgary after interrupting a drag queen story time for children. Reimer was subsequently arrested and jailed for continuing to protest such events. Artur Pawlowski told Fox News Digital at the time that the arrest of Reimer, whom he knows, indicates that the way authorities enforced COVID-19 protocols in Canada is now being used to enforce ideology.I myself have been charged for preaching and reading the Bible publicly because the government claims the Bible isn’t inclusive and is hateful,’ Nathaniel Pawlowski told the parliament…

Likening Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ‘a modern-day Caligula,’ Pawlowski continued, ‘We cannot allow these mad emperors to run mad. And remember, all of this is being done under the guise of health, safety and protecting us by stripping our rights and ushering in tyranny.’

“Among the European MEPs who invited Pawlowski to address parliament was Christine Anderson, a German who rebuked Trudeau to his face in March 2022, accusing him of trampling ‘fundamental rights by persecuting and criminalizing his own citizens as terrorists just because they dare to stand up to his perverted concept of democracy,’ and calling him a ‘disgrace for any democracy.’..

“Nathaniel Pawlowski told Fox News Digital that when he returned to Canada, customs officials in Montreal, Quebec, told him that there was a warrant out for his arrest…

“Artur Pawlowski told Fox News Digital that he is ‘enraged’ at how he and his family are being treated by Canadian authorities… ‘Now they want to hurt my children, my family, my wife. They are coming after our children, and those are the tactics of every totalitarian regime. The Gestapo did it. The KGB did it. Every totalitarian regime, every dictatorship has this playbook… if I could deliver a message to them, I would simply say that one day they will stand before the Judge of judges who does not take bribes, and they will give an account for every word that they said and everything they have done. One day justice will be served.’”

AMEN to that! As we reported many times before, Canada has become a dangerous totalitarian dictatorship under Justin Trudeau, but very few governmental leaders in the West seem to care.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

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How do you understand Paul’s statement that our children are holy? And what are the practical consequences? (Part 1)

1 Corinthians 7:14 reads, “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.”

The Ryrie Study Bible gives the following correct explanations of this passage:

“The presence of a believer in the home sets the home apart and gives it a Christian influence it would not otherwise have. A believing partner,
therefore, should stay with the unbeliever. However, this does not mean that children born into such a home are automatically Christians. They
are holy in the sense of being set apart by the presence of one believing parent.”

Even though they are not automatically Christians (as rightly understood, we are only Christians when the Spirit of Christ dwells in us (Romans 8:9)—the Holy Spirit which is given to us upon proper baptism (Acts 2:38)—that does not mean that our children are cut off from access to God. Even during the time of the Old Testament, Christ DID deal and work with humans, including the nations of Israel and Judah. Christ did not deal with them by offering them access to the Holy Spirit and an opportunity for salvation (this will occur later, in the Great White Throne judgment period), but He DID speak to them and showed Himself to them. It was Christ who spoke the Ten Commandments to the ancient Israelites—not the Father. He was the Rock who led Israel out of Egypt and dealt with them in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:4, 9). 

Christ makes it very clear that one must be called by God the Father to have access to Him. Generally, when Adam and Eve sinned against God and were driven out of the Garden of Eden, God the Father cut Himself off from mankind. Christ says in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” In this day and age, God the Father calls or draws only very few. Most people today simply cannot understand the Truth of God, because God has not chosen to reveal it to them yet (compare 1 Corinthians 1:26-28; 2:6-14). He will do so later, in His due time (compare Romans 11:26; Ezekiel 37:11-14, 23-28).

God has decreed that the children of those whom He calls in this day and age do have access to Him. They are already called—like the rest of us—“in holiness.” They are not spiritually “unclean.” Even if only one parent is a Christian, his or her children are “holy”—that is, they CAN be blessed by having a relationship with God (compare Proverbs 20:7). They still must respond to their calling and choose to take advantage of the privilege that God has bestowed on them—nevertheless, God considers them “holy”—they have been set apart for the holy purpose of walking in God’s Way of Life.

When we read that the unbelieving husband is sanctified by his believing wife, and that the unbelieving wife is sanctified by her believing husband, the Greek word for “sanctified” is “hagiazo,” which conveys the thought of being separated or set apart for a holy purpose. For instance, we read in John 10:36 that God the Father “sanctified” Jesus Christ and sent Him into the world to fulfill the holy purpose of His Coming. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ asked the Father to “sanctify” His disciples by the Truth of God, which is God’s Word (John 17:17). They were to be separated from error and false human wisdom for the holy purpose of living truthful and godly lives. Paul says in Romans 15:16 that the Gentiles should become an acceptable offering to God, “sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” It would be through the gift of the Holy Spirit that they would be acceptable to God by becoming holy, acceptable and living sacrifices (Romans 12:1).

The Greek noun for “sanctification,” “hagiasmos,” conveys the same thought as the verb “hagiazo.” In 1 Thessalonians 4:3 we read that our sanctification, according to God’s Will, means to abstain from sexual immorality. We are set aside for the holy purpose of living pure lives which includes possessing or dealing with our own vessel (our mate) in sanctification and honor (verse 4). In 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Paul repeats the thought that “God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” And 1 Peter 1:2 states that we are the “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.”

As we can see, sanctification describes a process. God chose us “from the beginning” and “according to His foreknowledge” to sanctify or set us apart for the holy purpose of following Him and ultimately inheriting eternal life as immortal and glorified God beings in His Kingdom. This process is also described in detail in Romans 8:28-30.

Returning to 1 Corinthians 7:14, Paul is also saying that the children of at least one converted parent are holy. The Greek word for “holy” is “hagios,” and it too describes the fact that those children are sanctified, separated or set aside for a holy purpose of God. Luke 1:70 speaks of God’s “holy prophets”—they were set aside by God to proclaim His Word. In 1 Corinthians 3:17, Paul says that we are the temple of God which must not be defiled, as it is “holy”—being separated from the world and set aside for the purpose of living holy lives.

Those who are called today for salvation have been set aside or “sanctified” “from the beginning,”—before they were born; before the” foundation of the world” and even “before time began” (compare Jeremiah 1:5; Ephesians 1:3-4; 2 Timothy 1:9). This is not to say that those who are called in this day and age are automatically saved, but they have been given the opportunity to have access to God the Father and to respond to Him. 

The same is true for the children of converted parents. They have also been sanctified or set aside for the purpose of having a relationship with God—they CAN speak to God, expecting to be heard, and they can experience and obtain an answer from God. They are not cut off from God the Father, but they must make a choice. They must not forsake the Way of God and neglect that precious and priceless opportunity of having communication with their Creator. And if they stay loyal to that Way of Life, then, in due time, when they are old enough, they can also become baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit which is a guarantee, a security and a downpayment for their eternal salvation in God’s Kingdom.

Our children are very important to God. Jesus Christ, while here on the earth as a Man, specifically and ceremonially blessed little children: “And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them” (Mark 10:16; compare Matthew 19:13-15 and Luke 18:15-17). The Church of God now follows this example by blessing little children, and especially, to ask God to grant them His protection and guidance. 

The laying on of hands is meaningful and critical. The symbolic act of laying on of hands at baptism sets the baptized person aside or sanctifies him or her for the divine purpose of receiving from God His Holy Spirit. The prayer for the blessing of healing is accompanied with the laying on of hands by the elders, setting the sick person aside for the divine purpose of physical healing. During the marriage ceremony, the minister places his hands on the couple, while asking God in prayer to sanctify the marriage and to set aside the couple for the holy purpose of the marriage relationship—so that the marriage will be blessed by God. And finally, ordinations are always accompanied by the laying on of hands–setting the ordained person aside for the godly office of a deacon or deaconess or a minister.

Likewise, Christ blessed little children by setting them apart for God’s special protection, guidance and a special relationship with Him. In addition, when the ministry blesses a little child, they are asking God the Father to assign an angel to the child, as the Bible clearly teaches the existence of guardian angels.

In Genesis 48:15–16, Jacob acknowledged the presence of his guardian angel throughout his life. We read in the Revised English Bible, “The [G]od in whose presence my forefathers lived, my forefathers Abraham and Isaac, the [G]od who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the angel who rescued me from all misfortune, may he bless these boys.” Jacob was convinced that God had been with him all of his life, and He was specifically present through a particular angel whom He had assigned to watch over Jacob.

Acts 12:15 shows that the disciples thought that Peter’s angel had appeared, as they believed Peter to be in prison. They specifically said, “It is his angel.” In other words, they thought it was the particular angel whom God had assigned to watch over Peter.

Notice, too, the following remarkable statement of Jesus Christ in Matthew 18:10, in talking about little children that believe in Him, as well as true Christians who must become “as” little children: “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.”

We read that a star appeared to the wise men from the East, leading them to the place where Jesus Christ dwelt, after He had been born. We read in Matthew 2:1–2 that they had “seen His star in the East.”

This was not an ordinary star, but a bright, shining angel. The Bible identifies and compares stars with angels on numerous occasions (compare Revelation 1:20; 9:1–2; 12:4). Note that the wise men from the East refer to this star as “His” star—that is, the star, or angel, of the Christ Child.

If they understood that the star was an angel, then they also knew that this angel was assigned to the Christ Child. This is not to say, of course, that only one angel watched over Christ. On one occasion, He mentioned to Peter that He could ask His Father for “more than twelve legions of angels” (Matthew 26:53)—more than 72,000 angels.

God may assign one angel to guard or protect numerous people, or an entire nation. For instance, the archangel Michael is described to Daniel as “The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people” (Daniel 12:1).

The fact remains that God assigns guardian angels to our children for their protection, and God’s ministers will ask God during the blessing of the little children ceremony to do so. We do not mean to say that God will only do so when a little child is blessed; we saw that in many cases, God had assigned guardian angels to people for their protection even though their blessing as a little child is not mentioned. We do not know when God, exactly, assigns guardian angels to people in general; but we do know that the children of converted parents are being protected by angels so that they can reach their potential of becoming baptized and ultimately born-again members in the God Family.

(To be continued)

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

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Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

compiled by Dave Harris

“Watch Germany!” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

This program presents many unknown or unrealized facts showing what is really going on in Europe and especially in Germany, from increased skyrocketing militarism to dissatisfaction of Europeans and Germans with their governments; frightening statements by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency; and terrifying discussions about new German laws reminiscent of Germany’s dark past. You need to watch these events carefully, if you want to understand biblical prophecy. 

“Achten Sie auf Deutschland!” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program, presented by Norbert Link. This German language program covers the same topic as described in StandingWatch.

“Preiset den Herrn alle Völker,” last Sabbath’s German sermonette presented by Marc Voeller, is now posted. Title in English: “Praise the Lord All Nations.”

“Cluster Bombs and Our Endless Wars—Comments on News and Prophecy, July 15, 2023,” the first message presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Many years ago, Bob Dylan wrote the song, “Masters of War.” This song is as relevant today as it has ever been. We are now “perilously close to all-out, life-destroying nuclear war,” while the war industry is flourishing. We are being led “into World War III, which would be a nightmare beyond imagination—obliteration.” The horrific use of cluster bombs—now being given to Ukraine by Washington—is another step of killing mostly civilians and children and of rendering “affected areas uninhabitable” for decades to come. Will we ever learn?

“Regeneration – To Create Again,” last Sabbath’s sermon presented by Kalon Mitchell, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The God family is a family of creators. They created everything and sustain everything. Sadly, due to Satan’s rebellion and man’s failures as well, there has been nothing but destruction ever since. 

Yet the God family is not done creating. There is more to their plan. How will their plans for regeneration affect us and all of mankind in the future? 

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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

Comments on News and Prophecy–July 15, 2023 / Regeneration – To Create Again

On July 15, 2023, Norbert Link will present “Comments on News and Prophecy—July 15, 2023,” and Kalon Mitchell will present the sermon, titled, “Regeneration – To Create Again.”

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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