On August 7, 2021, Norbert Link will present “Comments on News and Prophecy, August 7, 2021,” and Michael Link will present the sermon, titled, “Birds of the Bible.”

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.

Many years ago, the former Worldwide Church of God (now defunct) printed a booklet, called, “The Modern Romans,” showing why Rome fell and drawing parallels with America at the time. Some of the issues raised in the booklet were these:

“What Roman Jeremiah could have prophesied [was] the ravages of wars, taxation, mounting crime, race problems, moral decay, subversion from within, political assassinations and public apathy – not to exclude natural disasters.”

Today, it is much worse, and a comparison with ancient Sodom would definitely be appropriate. Notice how bad things were in Sodom.

Genesis 19:4-5 states:  “Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.’”

They wanted to sexually use and abuse Lot’s guests, not realizing that they were angels.

Some of the parallels with Sodom are striking, but there is much more. It is claimed that the United States is the world hub for pornography, both in production and in distribution, and that it is the world’s largest user of illegal and prescription drugs. Crime in its major cities is out of control, especially since the defunding of police. Divorce is rampant, and we have the spread of the LGBT movement affecting our youths. The Critical Race Theory propagated in schools can lead children to hate other races and may teach that they are themselves racist, if they are white, and to hate rather than love America. The national debt is at its highest level and unsustainable. They want to legalize pedophilia in order to abuse children legally without penalty.

You look at the news and you get the feeling that something is terribly wrong with the USA and other English-speaking nations, including Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Such a godless system cannot and will not survive. It is interesting that Nineveh was warned by Jonah the prophet and repented, and God relented on what He planned to do, even though later on, they were destroyed because they went back to their old ways.

It appears that Sodom was warned by righteous Lot, but the people were so corrupt and perverted that other than Lot, his wife and their two daughters, the whole city was completely destroyed by fire and brimstone from heaven. And even Lot’s wife craved to go back to Sodom and turned into a pillar of salt.

The United States and other English speaking nations have not reached the point yet of all, except for the very elect, being corrupted and perverted, but they are working on it. As a consequence, they will have fire and brimstone leveled on them via nuclear weapons from heaven and yet, because of God’s mercy towards them, being descendants of Abraham, they will get a warning like Nineveh did, but prophecy shows they will not repent of their corruption and sins.

We as part of God’s Church have a commission to give that warning to the English speaking nations and the other nations around the world to warn them of what’s coming.

That commission can only be accomplished through the dedication of faithful members and supporters of the Work through their tithes and offerings.

We need to get the warning out so that we do not fail in our commission. It’s not difficult in the current situation to pray for God’s Kingdom to come to end the madness, but we still have a job to do to bring that about. The world needs us, without knowing it, so let us continue to zealously fulfill our task given to us by God.

by Norbert Link

We begin with a report on a controversial new science fiction movie which might convey a hidden message being much more sinister than what might be apparent at first glance [please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Killing Sabbath-Keeping Aliens,” ] continue with the troubled relationship between Germany and Poland; and speak on Iran’s most recent fatal attack on an Israeli-managed oil tanker, which might have “crossed the deadly line.”

We continue with numerous articles on coronavirus restrictions, with special emphasis on the fear-mongering and draconian measures employed by “democratic” governments, including the UK and the USA. We report on resistance efforts in Germany, France and Italy; and point out obvious inconsistencies when describing the effects of the coronavirus vaccinations. We also speak of the continuing lies and hypocrisies by governments.

We speak on controversial activities by Facebook and Google’s attempt to resist Germany’s hate-speech law, claiming the law to be unconstitutional; the dangerous nonsense of the LGBT agenda; and the fiction of privacy; and we conclude with the removal of some spectacular and popular sculptures in Los Angeles, which allegedly “revive memories of racism and sexual exploitation.”

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

Strange Movie

A new “science fiction” movie with Chris Pratt was released on July 1. It describes the need to destroy hostile Sabbath-keeping aliens, called “White Spikes.” At about 30 minutes in the movie, the following remarks are made about the aliens: “They crawl back into their nest to keep the Sabbath, their day of rest.”

A review by pluddedin.com states:

“The only real reference we’re given to spirituality at all is that the White Spikes, as the aliens are known, rest every seventh day. Naturally, humans call it their ‘Sabbath.’”

The website of sreenrant.com states:

“An intriguing quirk of the Whitespikes’ story in The Tomorrow War is the routine that they go into hiding for one day every week. The absence on the seventh day is a convenient plot device at first, as this gives the human army a designated day to bring new recruits from the past to the future. However, there is never an explanation given for why the Whitespikes do this, to begin with. Are they returning to the Queen Whitespike for breeding purposes? Are they honoring some sort of Whitespikes Sabbath? It is a puzzling mystery that The Tomorrow War doesn’t address.”

Overall, the movie has received many bad reviews. What is concerning is the concept (intentional or not) that Sabbath-keeping aliens are determined to conquer the earth and that they must be destroyed. The movie also claims that these aliens have been on planet earth for a long time without having been noticed. An old Catholic prophecy states that Antichrist will come, claiming to be Christ, and forcing Sabbath-keeping upon mankind. According to that demonic prophecy, Antichrist needs to be fought against. Whether the moviemakers knew anything about this concept, is doubtful. But Satan does know.

Germany and Poland

euronews.com wrote on July 31:

“[Armin Laschet who is] Germany’s centre-right candidate to replace Angela Merkel as chancellor in the country’s September election said he feels ‘deep shame and humility’ over Nazi Germany’s ‘crimes’ against the Poles during World War II… ‘This responsibility will determine our policy toward Poland also in the future,’ said Laschet… ‘Germany must always be aware of its historical responsibility for Poland’s freedom and independence,’ Laschet said.

“Germany was a great advocate of Poland’s joining the European Union in 2004 and is attentive to the current rule-of-law conflicts between the right-wing Polish government in Warsaw and the EU’s leading bodies…

“[Laschet’s visit occurred] exactly 77 years since the start of Warsaw’s two-month devastating struggle against the occupying Nazi German forces… The revolt ended in the surrender of the Polish Home Army resistance fighters. The Germans destroyed the city, believing it would never rise from the rubble or be Poland’s capital again.”

Laschet’s speech was deeply political and delivered with the attempt to woo Poland to stay within the EU and submit to the EU’s “standards.”

Merkel and what Comes Next…

Foreign Policy wrote on July 9:

“Though Merkel would never contemplate cooperating with the far-right Alternative for Germany at home, she was happy for the past decade to ally at the EU level with Orban’s right-wing, autocratic Fidesz party [of Hungary]…. Merkel recognized how good relations with the Orban regime served German commercial interests and hence used her enormous influence to shield him from EU criticism….

“Most analysts agree that Merkel would probably have been reelected if she had chosen to run for an unprecedented fifth term in office. She remains Germany’s most popular politician by quite some distance… Her CDU successor, Armin Laschet, lacks both charisma and fresh ideas…

“Though Merkel may not be the savior of Europe some have made her out to be, she may have paved the path for a new leader who could be.”

Iran Attacks Israeli Tanker

Israel 365 News reported on August 1:

“Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett blamed Iran on Sunday for the attack that left two dead on the Israeli-managed oil tanker in the Arabian Sea on Thursday night… Bennett was quoted… as saying that while Iran is denying responsibility for the incident, ‘I state here absolutely: Iran is the one that carried out the attack on the ship.’ ‘The intelligence evidence for this is there and we expect the international system to make it clear to the Iranian regime that they have made a serious mistake,’ said Bennett, who called the attack ‘cowardly’ and ‘piratical.’ Regardless, he added, Israel knows how to ‘convey the message to Iran in our own ways.’

“The Japanese-owned vessel Mercer Street is managed by Zodiac Maritime Ltd., a London-based company owned by Israeli tycoon Eyal Ofer. It sails under a Liberian flag… A Briton and a Romanian died in the attack… The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and the guided missile destroyer USS Mitscher escorted the Mercer Street to a safe harbor following the attack…

“‘Upon arrival, U.S. forces determined through clear visual evidence that an attack had occurred,’ the statement [by the US] said, adding that initial findings indicated the ship had been hit by a drone strike. Iran and Israel have accused each other of multiple attacks on each other’s vessels in recent months…

“In mid-March, U.S. sources told The Wall Street Journal that Israel had attacked 12 ships illegally carrying Iranian oil to Syria since 2019, using weapons such as naval mines to damage the vessels….”

It will remain to be seen how the “international community” will respond, and what Israel might do.

The Jerusalem Post wrote on August 1:

“The latest attack by Iran on a cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman has crossed a deadly line in the war-between-wars waged by Israel, and could force the Jewish State to rethink its maritime strikes against Tehran. The escalation between the two countries has been ongoing for years…

“When he served as defense minister under Benjamin Netanyahu, Bennett argued that Israel should aim for the head of the octopus, Tehran, and not its tentacles – Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza.”

The Times of Israel wrote on August 2:

“Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Monday warned that Israel must act immediately against Tehran… There are ‘hundreds of Iranian UAVs in Iran, Yemen, Iraq and other countries,’ Gantz warned… ‘We will act to remove any such threat,’ [Gantz said].”

Iran Threatens “Response”

The Algemeiner wrote on August 2:

“Iran will respond promptly to any threat against its security, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday, after the United States, Israel and Britain blamed Tehran for an attack on an Israeli-managed tanker off the coast of Oman… However, an unnamed Iranian official told the country’s Nournews news agency earlier that Tehran considered ‘the threats of Western officials and the Zionist regime (Israel) to be more of a propaganda gesture’…

“Israel has voiced concerns about efforts by Tehran and US President Joe Biden’s administration to revive the nuclear pact, under which Iran curbed its sensitive nuclear work in exchange for lifting sanctions.”

Incidents like these could very well end up in an outright war in the Middle East. And the Bible indicates that Israel will suffer defeat in a war… and that PRIOR to the beginning of the Great Tribulation.

US Supports Hezbollah

Israel 365 wrote on August 5:

“Right after Lebanon’s ruling party Hezbollah attacked Israel with missiles on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden said that Washington will pledge close to $100 million in additional ‘humanitarian aid’ to Lebanon…  It should be noted that Lebanon is currently controlled by the Hezbollah terror organization…

“The Biden administration did not specify how the new funding would be spent but Biden did say that it was in addition to $560 million in humanitarian aid earmarked for Lebanon over the past two years.”

Fear-Mongering in the UK

The Mail on Sunday published on July 31 the following insightful article by Kirstie Allsopp, describing vividly the fear-mongering in the UK:

“Our vaccination rate is among the best in the world. More than 90 percent of adults have antibodies. Infections are falling and even ‘Professor Lockdown’, Neil Ferguson, says the end is in sight. Why, then, is Britain so gripped by continuing fear? Why do we continue with doom-laden public announcements, with the ‘pingdemic’ and with extreme and economically damaging restrictions?

“We can see it all around us – the colleagues who refuse to return to the office; the older people still terrified to leave the bottom of their drive; the clubs, choirs and sewing circles that have collapsed because no one dares take the risk of meeting human beings. Most troubling of all is the growing – and disastrous – acceptance that fresh restrictions might be needed for the autumn and winter ahead… almost a fifth of people favour a permanent 10pm curfew!

“This is partly because the Government has done its best to spread fear, terrifying the life out of ordinary Britons. Early in the pandemic it was recognised that the UK was the most Covid-scared nation in Europe. We were not compelled to keep children inside for weeks like the Spanish, but it turns out many of us did, just the same. We weren’t ordered to wear masks in the street like the French were, but many of us did.

“Brits have gone far beyond the mandated restrictions and have done so with vigour. Is it because our Government did such a good job of scaring us that we are still genuinely afraid? Perhaps. But I worry that there is a deeper reason – that the firm hand of the nanny state is one that too many of us enjoy. And that, today, many millions of us have come to believe in a ‘new normal’.

“A dangerous division is emerging – between those of us who want our freedoms back as soon as possible and those who believe in a new, more regulated life with spells of home imprisonment whenever our medical scientists become concerned. Which is often.

“Facemasks are the most obvious sign of this. Wearing them is no longer compulsory, aside from in specialist locations… Even the repeated assertions that masks work are open to challenge, to put it no more strongly. (The Government spent many months insisting that they don’t, remember.) Yet millions of us continue to wear masks, even in situations where they cannot possibly be effective – in the park, on the beach…

“I am most troubled that the comfortable liberal voices… seem genuinely thankful we are governed not by a functioning parliament but a star-chamber of medical scientists…

“Fear of Covid has made some people very rich indeed and they aren’t going to let go of that in a hurry. The threat to our way of life is serious – and has been coming for some time…

“If we all go round in masks for fear of being thought uncaring, we will end up in a world where people forget how to do the most caring thing in the world – and that is smile…”

This analysis applies to many countries around the world. “Democratic” governments become more and more authoritarian and dictatorial and create ridiculous restrictions to destroy liberty and freedom, and sadly, many gullible and ignorant people love it.

Fear-Mongering and Autocratic Measures in Australia

The following article by Breitbart, dated August 1, describes the awful situation in Australia:

“Footage of police helicopters flying over beaches and parks in Australia to enforce draconian coronavirus lockdown measures is circulating on social media.”

Also note this article by Reuters, dated August 2:

Australia’s Queensland state on Monday extended a COVID-19 lockdown in Brisbane, while soldiers began patrolling Sydney to enforce stay-at-home rules… Meanwhile the lockdown of Brisbane and several surrounding areas comes as Sydney, the biggest city in the country, begins its sixth week under stay-at-home orders.”

The Sun added on August 2:

“Australia is enforcing one of the most severe lockdowns in the world and recently called in the military to help enforce its ‘Zero Covid’ strategy… Borders remain shut…

“On Saturday, up to 1,300 police swarmed Sydney and set up roadblocks in a massive show of force… Tens of thousands of maskless protestors took to the streets in Melbourne and Sydney last weekend to oppose the government’s latest round [of] lockdown restrictions…

“More than half the country’s 25 million people have been ordered to stay at home…”

Australia—a prison camp?

Living in Darkness

The Ron Paul Liberty Report wrote on July 29:

“When the ideas of Liberty dominate – humanity flourishes. When the ideas of tyranny and authoritarianism dominate – humanity suffers.

“Back and forth the pendulum seems to swing. From light to dark; and then dark to light. We live in dark times.

“Many people now look back on 2020 with regret, shame and anger. Rolling over to fear did not work out at all. Allowing government to take unprecedented unconstitutional control over society produced nothing but disaster, as it always has (and always will).

“The masks turned out to be useless, as was the anti-social distancing. The lockdowns produced record drug overdoses, skyrocketing suicides amongst the young (i.e., those least at risk) as well as mental and physical problems that will probably reverberate for many years to come.

“With a virus that has a survival rate of 99.7% (and 99.9% in children) the entire world was turned upside-down; not by the virus itself, but by the government policies enacted in the name of it.

“Even though so many people all over the world now see the light, the authoritarians continue forward without pause. Over the past weekend, there were massive protests all over the world… There is tremendous resistance to the insane follow-up ideas that are being proposed — mandated vaccines and vaccine passports… Civilization itself is being challenged in ways that it’s never been challenged before…”

Protests All Over Europe

The Associated Press reported on August 1:

“More than 200,000 people turned out Saturday in France to protest vaccination requirements for the third straight weekend, at times clashing with police. Some 80,000 others protested in cities across Italy last weekend.”

Deutsche Welle reported on August 1:

“Anti-lockdown protesters scuffled with Berlin police on Sunday, as thousands of people defied a court ban on demonstrations… Judges had prohibited several of its planned gatherings this weekend, including one for Sunday that organizers expected would attract over 20,000 people. The court said it could not allow the rallies to go ahead over fears participants would flout rules on mask wearing and social distancing…”

Nice excuse for suppression of unpopular opinions. Focus reported that the UN may investigate whether the actions of the police against the demonstrators in Berlin were illegal. 

People Will Resist

The Washington Post wrote on August 1:

“In recent weeks, calls for vaccine mandates have increasingly been heard…  there’s a top-down push to get reluctant citizens vaccinated… But if this rhetoric and these efforts lead to a de facto national vaccine mandate, it will backfire: Americans from all walks of life resist being told what to put into their bodies, and many will resent any politician or institution that makes them get vaccinated, creating a crisis of legitimacy for any government, university or business that forces constituents, students or employees to get vaccinated…

“… many of the vaccine-hesitant are well-educated, work in the health-care industry and have questions about how effective the vaccines are at stopping transmission, whether they’re safe to take during pregnancy or if they impact fertility… Not only won’t mandates resolve many citizens’ concerns on these issues, they could lead many to feel that their concerns are being overlooked. And the more that government flexes its political muscles to urge or enforce vaccine compliance, the greater incentive there is for populist politicians to push back, reinforcing the idea that the fight over vaccines is a fight about individual liberty…

“The debate is also about how much faith individual Americans have in the information they’re given… Making people get vaccinated… will likely increase mistrust…”

Italian Eatery Fined

Insider wrote on July 30:

“An Italian eatery in California is requiring patrons to show proof of being unvaccinated and discourages masks… the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR)… issued the establishment five citations on June 17, with fines totaling $165,520 due to be paid this July.

“The violations in the DIR’s report range from ‘serious’ to ‘willful-serious’ and demonstrate a failure to provide sufficient COVID-19 protection to both employees and diners, according to the report. The DIR’s inspection found that the restaurant failed to ‘provide face coverings and ensure they were worn by employees’ indoors, according to its report…

“Elsewhere in the country, some restaurants are beginning to require patrons to show proof of vaccination…”

The DIR’s persecution of the Italian eatery—a logical extension of Biden’s fear-mongering tactics—is unconscionable. At the same time, Biden’s fear-mongering prevails also in other parts of the USA.

The Fully Vaccinated NOT Protected?

msn wrote on July 31:

“About three-fourths of people infected in a Massachusetts Covid-19 outbreak were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus with four of them ending up in the hospital… The new data… also found that fully vaccinated people who get infected carry as much of the virus in their nose as unvaccinated people, and could spread it to other individuals…

“While the delta variant continues to hit unvaccinated people the hardest, some vaccinated people could be carrying higher levels of the virus than previously understood and are potentially transmitting it to others… A CDC document that was reviewed by CNBC warned that the delta variant sweeping across the country is as contagious as chickenpox, has a longer transmission window than the original Covid strain and may make older people sicker, even if they’ve been fully vaccinated…

“Delta, now in at least 132 countries and already the dominant form of the disease in the United States, is more transmissible than the common cold, the 1918 Spanish flu, smallpox, Ebola, MERS and SARS, according to the document. Only measles appears to spread faster than the variant.”

If 74% of the people in this outbreak were fully vaccinated, it begs the question of whether the vaccine actually prevents the spread as the politicians and policymakers say. And so, the fear-mongering continues. Also note the next section.

Vaccines Make Covid More Dangerous?

Life Site News reported on July 30:

“Top vaccine scientist Dr. Robert Malone warned that vaccines could be making COVID-19 more dangerous and said the vaccination push may need to be halted altogether…  Dr. Melone has been the chief inventor of mRNA technology and mRNA and DNA innovations while working with the Salk Institute in the 1980s. Both the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines rely on mRNA technology. Malone is also a licensed physician who received his medical training at Northwestern University, Harvard University medical school, and UC Davis…

“… ‘they think the vaccines are perfectly safe. And not only they’re not perfectly safe… [but] we got the worst case type of adverse event that scares… all vaccinologists, which is antibody dependent enhancement.’

“Hundreds of thousands of complications after coronavirus vaccination have been reported by federal authorities…”

On July 30, Life Site News reported:

“Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed there are no more ‘excuses’ to not get the COVID-19 shots and attributed new cases of the virus to those who have not been jabbed… Recent statistics from the U.K. government show that most cases,  more than 50 percent, of the Delta variant of COVID-19 are in those who have had two doses of the virus jab.”

It is amazing how willfully uninformed governmental politicians claim to be. Trudeau’s claim is demonstrably false. And so, draconian measures to impose vaccinations are being employed, as the next article shows as well.

Going from Door to Door

Life Site News reported on July 30:

“Before the White House announced the government would be ‘literally knocking on doors’ to push coronavirus vaccines, health workers, military personnel, and volunteers in some states were already doing just that…

“This sort of scenario — a government representative pushing an experimental vaccine at citizens’ doorsteps as a menacing soldier stands by — is exactly what many Americans were worried about when then-President Donald Trump said in the fall of 2020 that the ‘military … is going to distribute the vaccine.’ …

“Many Americans may now find themselves wondering what to do if a stranger with a clipboard — or military personnel — shows up at their door [asking] invasive questions and encouraging reception of an experimental shot… While government agents can approach, speak to and even question citizens without violating the Fourth Amendment, Americans have a right not to answer questions or even speak with a government agent….

“While in theory one can refuse to speak with police or other government officials during a ‘knock and talk’ encounter, as the courts have asserted as a justification for dismissing complaints about this police investigative tactic, the reality is far different. Indeed, it is unreasonable to suggest that individuals caught unaware by these tactics will not feel pressured in the heat of the moment to comply with a request to speak with government agents who display official credentials and are often heavily armed, let alone allow them to search one’s property. Even when such consent is denied, police have been known to simply handcuff the homeowner and conduct a search over his objections.

“‘Interestingly, liberals in California, including Governor Newsom, advised illegal immigrants to refuse to open the door in cases where federal law enforcement came to arrest illegal immigrants,’ noted LifeSiteNews Vice President Gualberto Garcia Jones, a legal expert on human rights. ‘While this is not great legal advice for those guilty of a federal crime, it is very good advice for those who wish to protect their privacy from an overreaching government official.’

“‘The White House has tried to downplay the vaccine door-to-door gestapo by stating that it would not be carried out by police or federal officials but by local community partners. In that case there is no possible situation where a resident would be obliged to answer the door and much less disclose private health information such as COVID experimental gene therapy injection status,’ he emphasized.”

These door-to-door tactics are clearly problematic and unworthy of a free society. It is important not to buckle and become a dumb sheep when someone knocks at our doors.

The Lies of the US Government

Dr. Ron Paul wrote the following on August 2 in the weekly column of the Ron Paul Institute:

“… it’s not shocking to discover that a US Administration lies and deceives the electorate… Watching these early months of the Biden Administration it’s hard not to think that lying, deceiving, and manipulation is rising to a whole new level.

“Take ‘ending the endless war’ in Afghanistan…  Just this week, Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that the US is increasing – not ending – its airstrikes on Afghanistan… Then last week Biden announced an ‘end of the US combat mission’ in Iraq by the end of the year… While the ‘mission’ was over, the US troops would remain in-country in an ‘advisory role.’…

“Also, just over a week ago President Biden told us that if we got the vaccine we would not get Covid. Then a few days later his own CDC released data from a Massachusetts study showing that 78 percent of the people who caught Covid were fully vaccinated. Is it any wonder Americans have lost all faith in ‘the science’ as it pours forth from the politicized ‘scientists’ in charge of US public health institutions?

“The US mainstream media has morphed into a de-facto arm of the Biden Administration, however, covering up for all of these lies and word-games and holding precisely no one in government accountable. So much for a free media acting as a check on government power…

“Governments lie. We understand that. It is the nature of politics and power. In the absence of independent institutions to hold government accountable, however, such lies become indistinguishable from facts, and soon ‘freedom’ itself becomes slavery, as Orwell wrote. Let’s hope more of America wakes up soon.”

The sad truth is, there is little hope that America will wake up, as the next article shows.

Blaming the Unvaccinated

The Hill wrote on August 3:

“An overwhelming majority of vaccinated Americans in a new poll blames those who are unvaccinated for a recent spike in coronavirus cases nationwide…

“The poll found that two-thirds of all respondents say they trust the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ‘provide them with accurate information about coronavirus and COVID-19…’”

Likening Coronavirus Restrictions to the Nazi Period

JTA wrote on August 2:

“The chairman of the Oklahoma Republican party is the latest Republican figure to liken coronavirus restrictions to the Nazi period. John Bennett on Friday posted on the party’s Facebook page a photo of a yellow star labeled ‘Unvaccinated.’ He [listed] purported restrictions on the unvaccinated, including not being able to fly or ‘enter a pub, restaurant club or theater,’ as well as limited access to work, services and healthcare…

“The Nazis ‘gave [Jews] a star to put on, and they couldn’t go to the grocery store, they couldn’t go out in public, they couldn’t do anything without having that star on their shirt,’ The Washington Post quoted Bennett as saying. ‘Take away the star and add a vaccine passport.’”

Bennett was strongly condemned for his statements by Oklahoma’s top Republicans and the Oklahoma City Jewish federation.

More Dictatorship in the USA

The Associated Press wrote on August 5:

“The Biden administration is taking the first steps toward requiring nearly all foreign visitors to the U.S. to be vaccinated for the coronavirus, a White House official said Wednesday… The Biden administration has kept in place travel restrictions that have severely curtailed international trips to the U.S… Under the rules, non-U.S. residents who have been to China, the European Schengen area, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa and India in the prior 14 days are prohibited from entering the U.S. All travelers to the U.S., regardless of vaccination status, are required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of air travel to the country.”

Reuters added:

“The White House has held discussions with airlines and others about how it would implement a policy of requiring vaccines for foreign visitors.”

From one dictatorial measure to the next…

Fox News wrote on August 4:

 “Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is expected Friday to announce a mandatory vaccine policy for all active-duty forces in the U.S. military... The directive that all 1.3 million service members will be required to get shots in their arms comes just days after President Biden urged all federal employees to get vaccinated… The Department of Justice was also asked by the president to look into the legality of mandating for the military a vaccine that has yet to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. DOJ officials said a vaccine mandate would require a presidential waiver.”

 A large percentage of active-duty forces are strongly opposed to getting vaccinated. It will remain to be seen what their reaction will be to Biden’s planned mandatory vaccine policy.

Dr. Fauci to be Investigated Criminally?

Fox News wrote on August 5:

“Sen. Rand Paul slammed Dr. Anthony Fauci for ‘very dangerous’ advice on the coronavirus… ‘Dr. Fauci needs to be away from government, away from advice, because almost all of his advice had been wrongheaded. But some of it’s actually very dangerous,’ Paul, who is also a doctor, [said]. The remarks came amid a discussion on an op-ed from the Atlantic titled, ‘Unvaccinated People Need to Bear the Burden,’ which advocated for allowing only vaccinated individuals to fly on domestic flights. ‘Obscene,’ Paul said in response to the op-ed… He went on to say that there’s no correlation between a mask mandate and incidents of the virus…

“The interview comes after Paul and Fauci have had repeated fiery exchanges during Senate hearings… Paul has also sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking for a criminal investigation of Fauci, ‘because he has lied to Congress,’ months after he slammed the doctor as  a ‘left-wing advocate…’”

 It is not to be expected that Fauci will be criminally investigated or charged, as he is one of the strongest supporters of Biden’s draconian restrictions and measures.

Resist!

In an article which was published on August 4 by the Ron Paul Institute, Senator Rand Paul wrote the following:

“Resist. They can’t arrest us all. They can’t keep all your kids home from school. They can’t keep every government building closed – although I’ve got a long list of ones they should. We don’t have to accept the mandates, lockdowns, and harmful policies of the petty tyrants and feckless bureaucrats. We can simply say no, not again. 

“Speaker Nancy Pelosi — you will not arrest or stop me or anyone on my staff from doing our jobs… We will make our own health choices. We will not show you a passport, we will not wear a mask, we will not be forced into random screening and testing so you can continue your drunk with power rein over the Capitol.

“President Biden — we will not accept your agencies’ mandates or your reported moves toward a lockdown. No one should follow the CDC’s anti-science mask mandates. And if you want to shutdown federal agencies again — some of which aren’t even back to work fully — I will stop every bill coming through the Senate with an amendment to cut their funding if they don’t come to work…

“Local bureaucrats and union bosses — we will not allow you to do more harm to our children again this year. Children are not at any more risk from COVID than they are for the seasonal flu… There is no reason for mask mandates, part time schools, or any lockdown measures….

“I’m not a career politician. I’ve practiced medicine for 33 years. I graduated from Duke Medical School, worked in emergency rooms, studied immunology and virology, and ultimately chose to become a surgeon. I have been telling everyone for a year now that Dr. Anthony Fauci and other public health officials were NOT following science, and I’ve been proven right time and time again…  We are at a moment of truth and a crossroads. Will we allow these people to use fear and propaganda to do further harm to our society, economy, and children? Or will we stand together and say, absolutely not. Not this time. I choose freedom.”

However, most Americans, because of fear or willful ignorance or misguided blind support, will not “resist,” and those who do might very well be arrested and prosecuted. This is how dictatorships work. 

Facebook Illegally Removed Posts

Breitbart wrote on July 30:

“A court in Germany has ruled that Facebook illegally removed the posts and account of an unnamed author, because it did not inform the user of why the posts had been taken down… In its three-page summary, the Karlsruhe-based court stated that Facebook’s terms of service regarding the deletion of posts and blocking accounts for violating its community standards were ‘null and void.’

“This, it added, is because Facebook does not undertake to inform the user about the removal of an offensive post at least retrospectively, to advise that it is blocking an account, to give a reason for doing so, or to offer the right of appeal… According to the report, the post that Facebook removed said ‘migrants can murder and rape here and nobody cares! It’s about time the Office for the Protection of the Constitution sorted this out.’”

Facebook’s removal of posts not in line with Facebook’s left-wing agenda has been outrageous for a long time.  

Google Challenges New German Law

Reuters wrote on July 27:

“Google said on Tuesday that it was taking legal action over an expanded version of Germany’s hate-speech law that recently took effect, saying its provisions violated the right to privacy of its users.

“The Alphabet unit, which runs [the] video-sharing site YouTube, filed suit at the administrative court in Cologne to challenge a provision that allows user data to be passed to law enforcement before it is clear any crime has been committed.”

Germany’s laws and measures are becoming more and more dictatorial in so many different areas.

The Dangerous Nonsense of the LGBT Agenda

Life Site News wrote on August 2:

“Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) signed into law a package of extreme pro-LGBT laws this week that legalize knowingly spreading HIV…  HIV continues to be a debilitating, life-threatening illness, with nearly 40,000 diagnoses in the U.S. in 2018 and 1,361 in Illinois…

“The enactment of the HB 1063 makes Illinois the second state, following Texas, to repeal all criminal penalties for spreading HIV. It also comes after the federal government last year substantially reduced restrictions on blood donation for active homosexuals, who still make up the vast majority of HIV cases…

“Other bills approved by Pritzker on Tuesday include House Bill 3709, which reclassifies ‘infertility’ as ‘a person’s inability to reproduce either as a single individual or with a partner without medical intervention’… HB 3709 mandates that insurance companies cover infertility services, like in vitro fertilization (IVF), for homosexuals and single people. IVF, strongly denounced by the Catholic Church, often involves the destruction of human embryos, millions of which may be abandoned or discarded at fertility clinics across the country.

“Gov. Pritzker also signed two bills… that change marriage certificate rules, adding ‘gender-neutral’ options and allowing pronoun changes. Other states, like Wisconsin, have imposed similar measures this year. As the governor’s office noted in a press release last Tuesday, Illinois has already taken several radical pro-LGBT steps, like requiring ‘LGBTQ+ history’ in public school lessons and mandating Medicaid coverage for transgender surgeries, during Pritzker’s tenure.”

Where is this country heading!!!!

Privacy a Fiction

The Washington Post wrote on August 1:

“The top administrator of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops resigned last month after a newsletter used data from his cellphone to confirm his use of the dating app Grindr and track his movements to gay bars. Questions about hypocrisy aside, this invasion of an individual’s intimate life should be alarming when it happens to anyone — yet it could easily happen to everyone.

“The problem of information privacy can seem abstract to the everyday American. Sometimes, the harms of unregulated data collection look negligible: Who cares if an advertiser is able to target a particular type of shoe to a particular type of person? The more insidious possibilities, meanwhile, can appear hypothetical: Would someone really purchase anonymous location data, go to the trouble of re-identifying its subject and then exploit what they find to publicly harass? Now we know that the answer is yes. The consequences of Congress’s failure to pass federal legislation governing how companies collect, process and sell the reams of data available in the Internet age are starker than ever.

“In the case of the priest, it appears Grindr collected sensitive information and passed it along to third parties, who might in turn have passed it to other parties, until eventually it landed in the hands of a data broker: one of many companies that vacuum up personal data and spit it back out to customers… Something similar happens to most smartphone users most days as they tap on virtual jewels of candies for high scores, or as they check the weather. Information including their location is gathered and sold, usually for the end purpose of advertising: to greet people who recently went to nightclubs with deals on party dresses, for instance, or to lure them into a nearby store. The possibilities for abuse of this already intrusive ability are manifold…

“The data-brokerage business is so lucrative because it’s so easy. There are scarcely any limitations on who can sell information, who can buy it and who can sell it all over again.”

More Nonsense

The Los Angeles Times wrote on July 31 about the removal of some spectacular sculptures:

“The giant white elephants at tourist magnet Hollywood & Highland are being quietly removed as new owners update the famous shopping center where the annual Academy Awards are held and shed references to the movie industry’s past — features that revive memories of racism and sexual exploitation.

“Crews on Thursday night began dismantling two giant white fiberglass elephants, which are part of the complex’s tribute to the Babylon set of D.W. Griffith’s 1916 movie ‘Intolerance.’ All of the faux Mesopotamian elements will be taken out or altered in favor of a design developers hope will be more timeless as part of a $100-million makeover of the mall… that is set for completion next summer…

“Workers are dismembering the enormous elephant sculptures at night…”

Regardless of the reasoning or “justification,” American culture and history are systematically being destroyed.

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.

The Church of God has understood for many years that Jesus Christ was THE God of the Old Testament. In more recent times, some have lost this understanding and teach now that Jesus was “a” God, but not “the” God of the Old Testament, or that He did not exist prior to His human birth. Some even teach now that the Father was THE God of the Old Testament.

All these assumptions and concepts are wrong.

In our booklet, “Do You Know the Jesus of the Bible?”, we said the following in chapter 1:

“Colossians 1:16 states that ‘all things’—visible and invisible—were created ‘by’ and ‘through’ Jesus Christ. We see in John 1:1–3 that ‘all things’ were made through the Word—the Logos—Jesus Christ; and Hebrews 1:1–2; 2:10 tells us that God the Father made ‘the worlds’ or the entire universe and ‘all things’ ‘through’ Jesus Christ.”

This shows that it was Jesus Christ who created Adam and Eve. Continuing:

“Jesus Christ spoke of His own pre-existence over and over again. At one time, He stated boldly that He—AS God—had lived before Abraham. The Jews were so outraged that they were willing to stone Jesus. Notice the dialogue and the reaction of the Jews to Christ’s words in John 8:56–58: ‘[Jesus said,] “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”’

“When Jesus said, ‘I AM,’ rather than, ‘I WAS,’ the Jews understood that He identified Himself as God—as ‘Yahweh,’ the ‘I AM’ or Eternal of the Old Testament. That is why they ‘took up stones to throw at Him’ (verse 59).

“The Jews of Christ’s time rejected Him as fulfilling the office of Messiah and the King of Israel. However, prophecy in the books of the Old Testament pointed to the fact that it would be God who would come to deliver them (compare Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23). Jesus told the Jews, ‘You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me’ (John 5:39). In another instance, following His resurrection, Jesus showed some of His disciples these very proofs: ‘And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself’ (Luke 24:27).

“In addition, in Luke 10:18, Jesus said that He saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven, claiming that He existed when Satan’s rebellion occurred, which happened long before the creation of man.”

The Bible shows that Jesus Christ existed, as a GOD Being, prior to His appearance as a Man over 2,000 years ago.

We also state this in our booklet, “God is a Family”:

“The Jews at the time of Christ did not know—and most still don’t know today—that God is a Family, presently consisting of two God beings. Christ came to REVEAL the Father to them (Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22). The Jews thought they knew the Father, not realizing that the God of the Old Testament, who directly worked with and dealt with Israel, was Jesus Christ—not God the Father.

“We… read in John 1:18 that ‘no one has seen God at any time.’ John 5:37 confirms that ‘you have neither heard His [the Father’s] voice at any time, nor seen His form.’ Again, we read in John 6:46: ‘Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God,’ that is, Jesus Christ. Finally, 1 John 4:12 repeats, ‘No one has seen God at any time.’

“Still, we… read that God did appear to the ancient Israelites. They did hear His voice many times. Some even saw the form of God, to an extent, in His glorified state (compare Genesis 32:30; Exodus 33:11, 17–23; 34:6–8; Numbers 12:8; Deuteronomy 34:10; Isaiah 6:1–10; Ezekiel 1:26–28; 3:23; 8:4).

“According to Biblical testimony, some did see ‘God’ in Old Testament times, and they did hear His voice. On the other hand, Christ and the apostles taught that no human has ever seen or heard the voice of ‘God.’ Since God does not contradict Himself in His Word, He is obviously talking about two different personages here. Indeed, the Bible clarifies that no one has ever seen God the Father (compare again John 5:37; 6:46). But some did see ‘God’—that is, the second being in the God Family—Jesus Christ, in His glorified state.

“The Bible confirms that it was Jesus Christ who appeared to people and spoke with them in Old Testament times (compare John 8:56–58; 1 Corinthians 10:4, 9). In doing so, the Bible emphasizes again that Jesus Christ was GOD before He became a man, and that God is a Family, consisting of God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ. It was, in fact, Christ who dealt directly with Israel.”

From this it follows that Jesus Christ was THE God of the Old Testament in that it was HE who dealt with the people and who was worshipped by the people who did not even KNOW of the existence of the Father. It is true, as we point out in our booklet, “God is a Family,” that those few who were called to salvation in Old Testament times did know about the Father, but this is not true for the overwhelming majority of mankind. God simply did not give them the understanding to know. Even those who studied the Old Testament Scriptures did not understand (Matthew 22:29; New Jerusalem Bible), and Christ had to open up the understanding of the Scriptures to His own disciples (Luke 24:45).

In addition, John 1:18 reads in the New Revised Standard Version: “No one has ever seen God [the Father]. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” Notice the rendering of this passage in the New American Bible: “No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.” A similar rendering is also used in the Luther Bible: “No one has seen God at any time; the only Begotten, WHO IS GOD and who is in the Father’s bosom, has revealed Him to us.”

In last week’s Q&A, we discussed the fact that some people saw God the Father in visions, but they never saw Him face to face, in His glory.

There are reasons for that. When Adam and Eve sinned, God cut them off from access to the Tree of Life, which symbolized the Holy Spirit and with it, spiritual understanding. In addition, all mankind was cut off from such access except for those being specifically predestined to be called prior to Christ’s return.

We say this in our free booklet, “Human Suffering—Why…and How Much Longer?”:

“The fact that mankind was cut off from God was God’s punishment for Adam and Eve’s disobedience–a direct consequence of Adam and Eve’s conduct. After they sinned, the tree of life was no longer accessible to them and in general, to mankind as a whole, and mankind was allowed, under the sway and deception of Satan, to create his own societies, which are ALL in opposition to God’s Way of Life.

“Today, the entire world is under Satan’s rule. This includes ALL countries, including the United States of America, South America, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Great Britain, continental Europe, the Middle East and the Far East, including India, Russia, China, Japan and Korea. This means, no human government today is righteous in God’s eyes. This is one reason WHY true Christians are to come out of the ‘Babylon’ of this world and its politics; to be separate; and not to touch or associate with or embrace or adopt or feed on the uncleanness of this world’s economic, military, educational or religious systems.”

We also stated this in our Q&A on the false concept of “original sin”:

“Adam and Eve’s sin DID do something to this world. The concept of ‘inherited’ original sin is clearly wrong–but notice what DID happen when they sinned. In a brief article in the Plain Truth magazine of September 1963, the following is accurately explained: ‘… Adam and Eve… sinned. They were driven from the Garden of Eden. By sinning, they cut themselves off from the guidance, authority and knowledge of God (Gen. 3:24). Adam not only cut himself off–he was responsible for cutting his children off–from the help and instruction of God. Even his own son became a murderer (Gen. 4:8)… So Adam’s sin was unique in that it was the first human sin–it was he who cut man off from God… We have not been forced to sin because Adam sinned!’

“But the sad fact is that we all followed Adam’s wrong example: We all sinned and brought upon us the penalty of ETERNAL death, and so we read that ‘by the one man’s offense many died’ (Romans 5:15), and ‘by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners’ (Romans 5:19).”

So it is true that due to Adam and Eve’s conduct, humanity was cut off “from God” in the sense that they would not have access to the Holy Spirit and with it, godly understanding, unless specifically drawn and chosen by God the Father to be brought to Christ (John 6:44, 65).

We also said this in our Q&A about Romans 13:3:

“Today, the world as a whole is cut off from God and is subject to the rule of Satan. God placed Lucifer on the throne of this earth, with responsibility for properly governing it, but he rebelled and became known as Satan. When Satan inspired Adam and Eve to turn against God – to sin by going against what God instructed them – God gave mankind 6,000 years to find out for themselves that they cannot live without God… And for that same 6,000-year duration, God has decreed that Satan would remain on his throne. That 6,000-year period will end at the return of Jesus Christ, who will come to replace Satan – a failed ruler – and restore the government of God on this earth…”

But with Adam and Eve’s decision to eat from the forbidden Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, another important and often overlooked consequence needs to be addressed as well. Because, even though we saw that mankind was cut off from God in respect to the Holy Spirit and access to God, we also saw that Jesus 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. And even though Christ—as the Spokesman—acted on behalf of the Father, most did not even understand that the Father existed. That is why Christ, when He came as a Man, had to reveal the Father to the average Jews.

And that is why it is correct to say that Jesus Christ was THE God of the Old Testament, as it was HE who was worshipped. To say that the Father was the God of the Old Testament is misleading, as it wrongly conveys that the Father dealt with the people and was worshipped by them. This was not the case, as Adam and Eve’s sin cut them and mankind [in general] off from access to God the Father.

In Herbert W. Armstrong’s book, “Mystery of the Ages,” we read the following on pages 128-129, under “Humans, Cut Off from God?”:

“The Person in the God family who spoke with Adam was the Logos or ‘Word’ who was later born as Jesus Christ. Adam had no contact with God the Father. When the WORD closed the tree of life, all mankind was cut off from God the Father until Christ would come to earth in supreme power and glory to take from Satan the throne of the earth and to restore the government of God over the entire earth. Meanwhile Christ, the second Adam, came at his first appearing to reveal the existence of God the Father (Luke 10:22). Until that time, the world had no knowledge of the existence of God the Father. That is one reason the religion of Judaism had believed that God consists of ONE PERSON only. That is the reason theologians have lost, or rather never possessed, knowledge of the fact that GOD is a FAMILY into which we may be born as part of that very God family. That, also, explains why, on reading the New Testament of God the Father, and also of Jesus being God, they came up with the false theory of the Holy Spirit being a ‘Ghost’, or third Person of a Trinity…”

Also, the following is stated on pages 144-145:

“At this point, remember, the world had never known of the existence of God the Father until Jesus came and revealed the Father (Matt. 11:27). The world, from its foundation, was cut off from God the Father. Jesus came to reconcile repentant believers to the Father (Rom. 5:10).”

In conclusion, the world has been cut off from God the Father, the HIGHEST of the Godhead, as well as the knowledge as to who God the Father and Jesus Christ are. The Father did not deal directly with mankind, and He was not generally worshipped by the overwhelming majority, including those who read but did not understand the Scriptures. No one has ever seen the Father or heard His voice. It was Christ who showed Himself to and dealt with the people. It was He who was THE God of the Old Testament.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

compiled by Dave Harris

We are very pleased to announce that Arne Tengelsen, from Canada, was baptized this week by Pastor Rene Messier. Welcome to the Church of God, Mr. Tengelsen.

“Killing Sabbath-Keeping Aliens,” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

A new science-fiction movie, titled “The Tomorrow War,” describes the “need” to destroy hostile Sabbath-keeping aliens, called “White Spikes” who have been on this planet for a long time without having been noticed. What is of concern is an old demonic prophecy which contains astonishing and frightening parallels.

“Evil Empires and Evil People—Wild Beasts of the Bible,” a new booklet written by Evangelist Norbert Link, has been sent to our printer. This will be posted on our website soon, and hard copies will be mailed to our subscribers. Please contact us if you would like to receive a copy.

“Wann werden wir Gott den Vater sehen?” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “When Will We See God the Father?”

“Gott lachet ihrer,” is the title of last Sabbath’s German sermonette, presented by Dmitrij Niemann. Title in English: “God Scoffs at You.”

“Don’t Harden Your Heart,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The most-known example of a man who hardened his heart and thereby refused to submit to the Will of God was probably the Pharaoh at the time of the Exodus. But the Bible contains many more examples of people who hardened their heart, and even Christ’s own disciples were not immune. What are the inevitable consequences of a proud, hardened, bitter, rebellious and unrepentant heart?

“Are You Searching For God?” is the title of last Sabbath’s sermonette, presented by Kalon Mitchell.

We will observe the Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day for 2021, in Rapid City, South Dakota, and near Düsseldorf, Germany.  If you would like more information, check out our websites: https://www.eternalgod.org/feasts/  ; https://www.ewigengottes.de/wir-uber-uns/laubhuttenfest-2021/

FALL HOLY DAYS for 2021:

September 7          Feast of Trumpets

September 16        Day of Atonement

September 21-27  Feast of Tabernacles

September 28        Last Great Day

On July 31, 2021, Kalon Mitchell will present the sermonette, titled, “Are You Searching For God?”  and Norbert Link will present the sermon, titled, “Don’t Harden Your Heart.”

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.

We tell people we love them—especially those to whom we are closest. Husbands and wives, parents and children, relatives and friends are people we may openly say this to, “I love you.”

What about God—have you said to God, “I love You”?

Of course, just saying the words might not be enough, but, like in human relationships, telling someone that we love them can really mean a lot. As much as encouraging another person about our commitment to them, we also strengthen our own resolve, and we show that we aren’t taking our relationship for granted.

Popular religious parlance often involves those who claim that they “love the Lord,” but those may be empty declarations without proof. Proof of our love for God is shown when we “keep His commandments” (1 John 5:3). Only when we walk in the truth of God will we then be able to obey what Jesus described as “‘the first and great commandment’”:

“‘“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”’” (Matthew 22:37).

Imagine being asked by Jesus if you love Him! Peter was—three times in a row! (John 21:15-19). The Bible shows Peter did prove His love for both the Father and Jesus—by being obedient and fulfilling his calling.

God has told us that He loves us. In fact, He has loved us first—even before we knew Him: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10); and, “‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life’” (John 3:16).

Knowing that God’s love for us is so complete, so unrestrained and so certain, then let’s make it a point to say to God, both the Father and Jesus Christ, “I love You”—asking as we do for the help to love them as they have loved and still love us!

by Norbert Link

We begin with explosive and troublesome events in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Britain, Russia, Israel and the USA pertaining to governmental restrictive measures and announcements of proposed actions regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

 We speak about the “lucrative” sales of weapons to conflict areas all over the world; Putin’s warning directed towards Great Britain; a possible “understanding” between Putin and Biden regarding Israel; and the tumult in the Catholic Church because of Pope Francis’ restrictions of the Traditional Latin Mass.

Regarding Israel, please see our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Israel at the Brink of a Catastrophe?”

We report on a huge asteroid nearing Earth; unparalleled water restrictions in light of California’s worsening drought; the “disgraceful” name change of a popular Baseball team; and the unreliability of left-wing Wikipedia.

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

Chaos in Germany Over Coronavirus Restrictions

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 25:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s top aide warned on Sunday that unvaccinated people will have fewer freedoms than those who have decided to get the coronavirus jab. Helge Braun, the outgoing leader’s chief of staff, told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that they may find themselves being denied entry to bars, cinemas or sporting events…

“But the Christian Democrat candidate running to replace Merkel in this September’s election used an interview with broadcaster ZDF to distance himself from the plans. Armin Laschet, the premier of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said on Sunday that ‘in a free country, there are civil liberties not only for certain groups.’ ‘I don’t believe in compulsory vaccination, and I don’t believe in indirectly putting pressure on people to get vaccinated,’ he said.

“The deputy leader of the pro-business Free Democratic Party, Wolfgang Kubicki, hit out at the comments by Braun. He told newspapers from the Funke Media Group that his plans amount to ‘the introduction of compulsory vaccination through the back door.’ ‘Moreover, such a categorization of fundamental rights into a first and second class is clearly unconstitutional,’ he said.”

The Associated Press added on July 25:

“German politicians across the political spectrum on Sunday criticized a warning by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff that restrictions for unvaccinated people may be necessary… Rolf Mützenich, head of the center-left Social Democrats’ parliamentary group, said politicians should be focusing more on getting willing citizens vaccinated than penalizing the unvaccinated. ‘We’re not going to sustainably change the vaccination behavior of individuals with threats,’ he told RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland.”

One wonders what is going on in Merkel’s administration and in Germany as a whole… and where is the “respect” for the Constitution? Now, Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Soeder (who would love to become chancellor, even though he has been “supporting” Laschet) openly disagreed with Laschet and shared his “vision” for Germany, stating that those who are vaccinated should receive “exclusive rights” which should not be given to the unvaccinated. He also supported Jens Spahn’s new proposed test requirements for all travelers, regardless in what way and from what country they arrive in Germany.

The writing of national suppression of liberty and freedom is clearly on the wall.

Germany’s Interior Minister Horst Seehofer Twists the Constitution

dpa wrote on July 27:

“The rising Corona infection figures have reignited the long-standing debate about more restrictions for the unvaccinated. ‘This is not discrimination against the unvaccinated,’ said Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer in an interview with broadcaster RTL/ntv.

“He said he respects it if someone decides against vaccination for personal reasons. ‘But the person who has not been vaccinated must also realise that we have to protect society as a whole and therefore can only allow those who have been vaccinated to attend major community events.’”

So this IS discrimination, pure and simple!

Demonstrations in France and Elsewhere against Coronavirus Passport

Breitbart wrote on July 24:

“Around 300 anti-vaccine passport protesters stormed the town hall of Chambéry, denouncing French measures to implement a vaccine passport…

 “Last weekend, over 100,000 people took to the streets to protest France’s vaccine passport policy, which will see people required to present a health pass to access certain businesses such as restaurants or engage in various forms of travel. Business owners that do not check for the health pass could also be punished under the new policy, with fines for up to Euros 45,000 (£38,487/$53,100) and a year in prison.”

More and more people show their discontent with anti-vaccine passports, which will promote diverse governments, such as France, to respond with and enforce harsh and many times unconstitutional measures.

The Associated Press added on July 24:

“Some 160,000 people… protested Saturday across the country [of France] against a bill requiring everyone to have a special virus pass to enter restaurants and mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for all health care workers.

“Similar protests were held in neighboring Italy.”

Breitbart reported on July 26:

“Despite widespread protests, the French parliament has approved a law requiring… that anyone over the age of 12-years will be forced to present a health pass displaying a negative coronavirus test, vaccinations, or recent Covid recovery in order to do simple things like travel by train or aeroplane in France.

“The pass will also be required for restaurants, museums, swimming pools… In fact, any venue or place that can hold more than 50 people will be required to check guest’s health status…”

Spain Prepares for Emergency Laws

El Pais wrote on July 6:

“All adults will be required to provide ‘personal services’ to the state if a crisis is ever declared in Spain, according to the reform of the National Security Law being prepared by the government. The draft legislation… indicates that all citizens, without exception, must follow the orders and instructions of the relevant authorities if a state of crisis… is declared.

“The reform also states that authorities can temporarily requisition all types of assets, take over or temporarily occupy those that are needed and suspend all activity…”

These are dangerous steps towards an outright dictatorship, reminiscent of the times under Franco.

Britain’s New Pingdemic

Reuters wrote on July 22:

“British newspapers carried front-page pictures of empty shelves in supermarkets, declaring a ‘pingdemic.’… hundreds of thousands of people have been advised — or ‘pinged’ — by the National Health Service’s contact-tracing app to isolate for 10 days.

“The drastic reduction in staffing that has resulted has sown chaos through sectors as diverse as food supplies, haulage, supermarkets, hospitality, manufacturing and media. To avoid disruption, many people have deleted the app from their phones…

“Official data showed the app had told nearly 620,000 people to isolate in England and Wales in the week up to July 14… Government ministers… have allowed some workers in critical roles to carry on working, even when ‘pinged.’”

Whatever man tries to do fails miserably.

Eric Clapton Won’t Play for Discriminated Audiences

The Independent wrote on July 22:

“Eric Clapton has said that he will not play at venues where a COVID-19 vaccine is required for entry.

“Earlier this week, Boris Johnson unveiled plans for nightclubs and large music venues to demand proof of double vaccination to enter from the end of September…. The [world-famous] musician [said] he refuses to perform for ‘discriminated audiences.’”

Good for him.

Just Blame and Accuse the Unvaccinated

La Croix reported on July 13:

“The second-most senior Orthodox bishop in the Moscow Patriarchate has urged all people of Russia to get vaccinated against COVID-19, saying their refusal to do so is akin to committing a sin… The sin consists in thinking only of oneself instead of thinking of others…’

“‘The Orthodox Church does not see pandemics as punishment from God,” Professor Panev [a priest] pointed out. He said it is just the opposite. ‘God did not leave human beings defenseless: medicine is a gift from God; we must use it,’ he noted.”

Strange biblical ideas by the Russian Orthodox Church.

Bennett Accuses Israelis and Is Strongly Attacked

Israel Today wrote on July 25:

 “Over 80 percent of Israelis over the age of 16 are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. But for one reason or another, some one million Israelis eligible for the vaccine have not taken it. Some are ‘anti-vaxxers,’ folks opposed to all vaccination, but far more are merely suspicious of the various coronavirus vaccines.

“Last Thursday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett upset those one million Israelis by accusing them of putting the rest of the nation in danger. ‘One million Israelis are refusing to get vaccinated,’ Bennett said in a primetime television address. ‘They are endangering the entire population, they are endangering the other 8 million citizens in the country.’… Bennett urged vaccinated Israelis to ‘convince’ their unvaccinated countrymen: ‘If you know a vaccine refuser, convince them, explain to them that they are risking the health of others.’…

“Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton said that she was not entirely pleased with Bennett’s speech and felt it would turn Israelis against one another… Shasha-Biton noted that Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar was also uncomfortable with the prime minister’s address, and reminded fellow cabinet ministers that ‘even those who are not vaccinated are still citizens of Israel.’ Many others also attacked Bennett for what they saw as a public shaming of anyone who has chosen not to take the Pfizer vaccine…

“Many of those being infected are already fully vaccinated, showing that the Pfizer vaccine does not prevent infection by the Delta variant. At the same time, the number of infected individuals requiring hospitalization has not risen significantly…”

Apart from the fact that this development shows the disunity within the Israeli coalition government, it also mirrors the attitude in many countries against the unvaccinated who are being labeled and treated as scapegoats, like the Jews were in Nazi Germany.

Fauci Recommends Masks and Booster Shots

The Associated Press wrote on July 25:

“The United States is in an ‘unnecessary predicament’ of soaring COVID-19 cases fueled by unvaccinated Americans and the virulent delta variant, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert said Sunday. ‘We’re going in the wrong direction,’ said Dr. Anthony Fauci, describing himself as ‘very frustrated.’

“He said recommending that the vaccinated wear masks is ‘under active consideration’ by the government’s leading public health officials. Also, booster shots may be suggested for people with suppressed immune systems who have been vaccinated, Fauci said.”

This is a total turn-around and completely contradicts what Fauci recommended earlier.

Breitbart added on July 27:

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set on Tuesday to recommend masks for vaccinated people indoors under certain circumstances… Already some areas of America are bringing back coronavirus protocols, such as Palm Beach, Florida, which has mandated masks and social distancing measures even though 100 percent of residents ages 16 and older are vaccinated.”

It seems like, they do not know what they do.

More Lies and False Promises

Reuters reported on July 26:

“The United States will not lift any existing travel restrictions ‘at this point’… The decision… means the long-running travel restrictions that have barred much of the world’s population from the United States since 2020 will not be lifted in the short term… The announcement almost certainly dooms any bid by U.S. airlines and the U.S. tourism industry to salvage summer travel by Europeans and others covered by the restrictions. Airlines have heavily lobbied the White House for months to lift the restrictions.

“The United States currently bars most non-U.S. citizens who within the last 14 days have been in the United Kingdom, the 26 Schengen nations in Europe without border controls, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil…

“Last week, the U.S. Homeland Security Department said U.S. land borders with Canada and Mexico will remain closed to non-essential travel until at least Aug. 21 — even as Canada said it would begin allowing in fully vaccinated American tourists starting Aug. 9.

“Asked on July 15 at a joint appearance with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about when the United States would lift European travel restrictions, Biden said he would ‘be able to answer that question to you within the next several days — what is likely to happen.’…”

With Biden’s fanatic obsession with restrictions, lockdowns, masks and travel bans, nothing less was to be expected. But he is paying a price. Note the next article.

Biden’s Approval Numbers Way Down

ABC News wrote on July 25:

“As President Joe Biden completed 100 days in office, the country was optimistic about the coming year, but now, just after hitting the six-month mark,  Americans’ optimism about the direction of the country has plummeted nearly 20 points…

“A majority — 55% — of the public say they are pessimistic about the direction of the country, a marked change from the roughly one-third (36%) that said the same in [a] poll published May 2. In the early May survey, Americans were more optimistic than pessimistic by a 28-percentage point margin…

“The decline in optimism has occurred across the board among Democrats, Republicans and independents… The optimism-pessimism flip comes as Americans give Biden his lowest approval rating for his handling of the pandemic… It likely reflects the growing concern that lockdowns could be reinstated…

“Fewer than 4 in 10 Americans approve of the president’s handling of immigration…”

The situation will only get worse…

Biden’s Plot to Snub the UK (and Other Allies)

Express wrote on July 29:

“Americans on both sides of the pond welcomed the UK’s announcement on Wednesday that anyone vaccinated in the US will not need to self-isolate after arriving from an amber list country. But hopes of the US President returning the favour have been dashed… The US is unlikely to allow vaccinated Britons into the country without the need to quarantine them anytime soon… Following the government’s announcement, demand for flights from the US to the UK surged…

“From 4am on Monday, fully vaccinated travellers from the US, the EU and a handful of other European countries will no longer need to self-isolate for 10 days when entering Britain.

“Virgin Atlantic chief commercial officer Juha Jarvinen… urged ministers to ‘go further’ by moving the US to its green travel list, which would also exempt unvaccinated passengers from quarantine…

“It is not possible for most European travellers, including those from the UK, to enter the US due to coronavirus fears. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention also advises Americans against travel to the UK.”

It is amazing how the Biden Administration and its scientific “supporters” are trying to do everything to destroy the US economy and to alienate its (former) friends. And sadly, many, if not most Americans (including theme parks, Las Vegas, etc.) are far too willing to support and embrace Biden’s new rules. But not all. 

As the Ron Paul Institute reported on July 28:

“After months of assuring vaccinated Americans that they no longer need to wear masks, the CDC has suddenly reversed itself and taken the country back to early 2020: everyone must wear a mask! This time, however, there are signs of rebellion particularly among Republican governors. As the CDC has no legal authority to tell Americans what to do, many in positions of authority – for example Texas and Florida governors – have said they will ignore Fauci and his cohorts.”

On the other hand, The Sun reported that it is now claimed that the UK is pretty much over the pandemic due to herd immunity.

More Coronavirus Restrictions… Here We Go Again

Daily Mail wrote on July 29:

“Italy tightened their rules this week, announcing that unvaccinated tourists without the country’s ‘Green Pass’ – an app-based vaccine passport – will be banned from public spaces. The new rules, which start from August 6, is just the first step of the Green Pass rollout, and it could soon become mandatory for plane and train travel too.

“All countries are enforcing their own restrictions of varying degrees of stringency, with some restricting entry to vaccinated tourists only, and others only insisting on a lateral flow or PCR test. It is vital to check the latest requirements before travel or risk being turned away.”

This is TRULY a world held captive by Satan.

Why Don’t Scientific “Experts” Finally Stop Talking?

The Sun wrote on July 27:

“NOTHING has worsened the panic, misery and loss of public confidence more over the past 18 months than freelancing scientists and other politically motivated ‘experts’ baselessly predicting catastrophe… They have loved their 15 lucrative minutes of fame and snapped up every invitation to pontificate before a TV camera… every word is treated as gospel.

“… All involved should be ashamed… It does far more harm than good for self-interested boffins to spout off when their guess is no better than anyone else’s.”

They won’t stop talking, ever, because they love the attention.

Fauci Under Attack by Left-Liberal New York Times

Fox News wrote on July 29:

“New York Times columnist Bret Stephens took aim at Dr. Anthony Fauci Tuesday amid the Biden administration’s efforts to combat so-called coronavirus ‘misinformation.’ In a piece headlined, ‘Covid Misinformation Comes From the Top, Too,’ Stephens… [pointed] to the recent fiery clash Fauci had with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., over whether the U.S. government funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology that may have led to the coronavirus outbreak… He pointed to the explosive report from Vanity Fair last month that revealed State Department officials were told not to explore the Wuhan lab’s gain-of-function research because ‘it would bring unwelcome attention to U.S. government funding of it.’…

“The Times columnist then called out Fauci over his comments about herd immunity, insisting he ‘lied’ about what he saw as the threshold figure… He also listed the CDC’s faulty overestimation over the outdoor spread of COVID and its study that claimed Black and Hispanic children were ‘at greater risk of being hospitalized,’ which became a contributing factor to schools being closed despite consistent evidence that schools were never a superspreader for children.

“‘The impact of this misinformation on everyday life has been immense…’”

The damage caused by the alleged lies of Fauci and others has been done, and cannot be cured. 

Biden Accused Again of Lying

The New York Post wrote on July 29:

“Career politician President Biden is being mocked for claiming he used to drive an 18-wheeler truck… The 48-year political veteran made the claim while visiting a Mack Truck facility in Pennsylvania on Wednesday… But challenged by Fox News to produce evidence, a White House spokesperson could only point to a December 1973 article from the Wilmington Evening Journal that showed Biden rode in an 18-wheeler, not that he drove one…

 “When Fox News again pressed the White House that riding in a truck is not the same as being behind the wheel, a spokesperson pointed to a United Federation of Teachers post that said Biden drove a school bus in the past as a summer job, the outlet said. But most school buses have at most six wheels — a third of the president’s claim, Fox noted.

“Asked again about the clear difference, the White House did not respond, Fox said. Biden was mocked online for the claim, with some joking that he may have been referring to his favorite toys as a kid…

“Biden has been accused of other flubs over his past, including that he ‘got started out of a HBCU, Delaware State’ — which the historically black college denied.”

Biden’s ongoing alleged lies are quite disturbing, including his more than questionable denials of possessing knowledge of his son’s business deals. It is sad that we almost must assume that politicians are lying to us because otherwise, they would not be politicians. The left-wing media reported consistently when Trump was apparently caught with another of his many alleged lies… but the silence when it comes to Biden’s alleged lies is deafening. 

Weapons All Over the World

Euronews wrote on July 23:

“The US, the UK, Spain and Canada openly supply weapons to the Saudi-led coalition [of Arab nations]… Italy is the fourth biggest weapons exporter in the EU… Belgium, Germany, France and Spain are the other European countries that have allowed exports to Saudi Arabia…

“In the last five years, France’s main clients outside of Europe were Egypt and Saudi Arabia, but it also sold arms to the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Israel, Ethiopia and Afghanistan among many others. Germany has exported to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, but also to countries like South Sudan and Somalia. Spain and Italy’s exports have also headed to the same volatile destinations…

“What is the ultimate purpose of Europe’s defence industry? Is it to protect people? Is it for profit or to gain political and economic influence? What about human rights?”

These are good questions. Of course, it is all in line with biblical prophecy telling us that Europe will become the most powerful military entity.

Putin Warns Britain

Deutsche Welle wrote on July 25:

“[Putin] on Sunday warned that its navy is ready to carry out an ‘unpreventable strike’ on enemy targets if it was in the country’s ‘national interests.’ Putin was speaking in Saint Petersburg during a parade of warships… ‘We are capable of detecting any underwater, above-water, airborne enemy and, if required, carry out an unpreventable strike against it.’

“His remarks follow an incident in the Black Sea in June when Russia said it had fired warning shots and dropped bombs in the path of a British warship to chase it out of Crimea waters… The British government… said any shots fired were a pre-announced Russian ‘gunnery exercise,’ and that no bombs had been dropped… Putin said last month Russia could have sunk the British warship HMS Defender, that it accused of illegally entering its territorial waters, without starting World War Three and said the United States played a role in the ‘provocation.’”

Britain is finding itself more and more as the object of aggression from many countries around the globe, but it does not seem to acknowledge it.  

Putin Emboldened by Biden to Attack Israel?

Israel 365 wrote on July 25:

“For the first time, last week Russia announced it helped Syria operate against an Israeli airstrike in Syria. According to some reports, the change in policy comes in the wake of a meeting between Putin and Biden in which the US president expressed displeasure at Israeli strikes against Iranian targets…

“[A report claims that] Russia is now supplying Syrian forces with more advanced anti-missile systems. Russia maintains a significant military presence in Syria to support the regime of President Bashar al-Assad who has been fighting a civil war for ten years.

“An anonymously sourced report by the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat cited a ‘well-informed’ Russian official as saying that the Kremlin has ‘run out of patience’ with Israeli air raids in Syria. The source credited the shift in policy to an understanding between Russia and the US arrived at in the recent meeting between Presidents Biden and Putin. ‘Washington does not welcome the continuous Israeli raids,’ the Russian source claimed, saying that Moscow now felt free to respond aggressively to Israeli airstrikes…”

Ultimately, the whole world will turn against Israel.

Biden Warns of U.S. War over Cyberattacks

Radio Free Europe wrote on July 28:

 “President Joe Biden warned that a major cyberattack on the United States could lead to an actual ‘shooting war,’ in comments that mentioned Russia and China as threats to U.S. national security. ‘I think it’s more than likely we’re going to end up, if we end up in a war — a real shooting war with a major power — it’s going to be as a consequence of a cyberbreach of great consequence. And it’s increasing exponentially, the capabilities,’ Biden said in a speech to the U.S. intelligence community on July 27.

“Biden noted a growing number of cyberattacks against government agencies and private industry that U.S. officials have linked to Russia and China. Cybersecurity has moved to the top of the Biden administration’s agenda after a string of attacks during his first six months in office, including ransomware attacks.

“At a Geneva summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in June, Biden said the two leaders discussed keeping 16 types of critical infrastructure off-limits to cyberattacks, including the energy and water sectors. Biden entered office having to deal with the fallout of the SolarWinds hack that affected U.S. government agencies and businesses, a sophisticated attack blamed on Russian government hackers.

“Suspected Russia-based criminal groups have also been linked to high-profile ransomware attacks targeting Colonial Pipeline and meat-processing giant JBS. Another hit technology firm Kaseya that impacted hundreds of businesses globally.

“The Kremlin scoffed at Biden’s assessment that Russia ‘has nuclear weapons and oil wells and nothing else,’ saying the speech appeared to be tailored toward the U.S. intelligence community. ‘(The United States) can hardly be called a partner. It is more like an opponent or a “vis-à-vis”,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists in Moscow on July 28… The United States and its Western allies earlier this month blamed China for a global hacking campaign that included a massive attack on Microsoft software and accused Beijing of complicity with hackers in ransomware and other cyberattacks.”

Biden’s weak performance during his meeting with Putin did not help solve the situation.

Russia and China—Joint Military Exercises

Reuters wrote on July 29:

“Russia and China will conduct joint military exercises involving 10,000 troops in mid-August, the Interfax news agency cited the Russian defence ministry as saying on Thursday.

“Moscow has sought to boost relations with China since 2014, when its political ties with the West sank to post Cold-War lows over the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.”

Tumult in the Catholic Church

Breitbart wrote on July 24:

“U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke has expressed his ‘profound sorrow’ over Pope Francis’s recent letter drastically restricting the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass… ‘Those who are attached to the Traditional Latin Mass… ‘are deeply disheartened by the severity of the discipline’ imposed by Pope Francis in his letter and ‘offended by the language it employs to describe them, their attitudes and their conduct,’ Cardinal Burke states in an essay published online July 22.

“‘It is apparent from the severity of the document,’ states Burke, a canon lawyer and the former head of the Vatican’s supreme court, that Pope Francis issued it ‘to address what he perceives to be a grave evil threatening the unity of the Church,’ a perception Burke clearly does not share.

“The pope’s letter places restrictions on the Latin Mass that ‘signal its ultimate elimination,’ the cardinal adds… The pope’s message to the ‘devout faithful who have a deep appreciation and attachment’ to the Traditional Latin Mass is that ‘they suffer from an aberration which can be tolerated for a time but must ultimately be eradicated,’ Burke declares….”

Newsmax wrote on July 25:

“Barely a week after Pope Francis issued his controversial order limiting the celebration of the Roman Catholic Church’s traditional Latin Mass, the leader of roughly 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide found himself under strong fire from some of the top officials of his Church… So far, four Cardinals — the officials second in authority only to the Pope — have voice[d] their strong disagreement with Francis’s July 19 order…

“German Cardinal Gerhard Muller hit this hard, charging that Francis’s goal is ‘extinction in the long run’ of the Mass celebrated by Catholics from the time of the Council of Trent (1545-63) until 1970… ‘Without the slightest empathy,’ wrote Muller, formerly Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope Benedict, ‘one ignores the religious feelings of the [often young] participants in the Masses… Instead of appreciating the smell of the sheep, the shepherd here hits them hard with his crook.’…”

Predictably, Pope Francis’ liberal agenda, as it became obvious from the very start of his papacy, was bound to create a clash with conservative Traditionalist within the Catholic church. Will there be an open schism, as has happened several times in the past, when two and at one time even three competing popes claimed the office simultaneously?

Huge Asteroid to Fly by the Earth

The Jerusalem Post wrote on July 25:

“An asteroid the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza is set to fly by the Earth on Sunday, July 25, in what could be described as a relatively ‘close’ approach…

“Due to flying so close to the Earth (about 2.8 million miles, or 4.5 million kilometers), the asteroid is considered potentially hazardous. However, this is not a significant risk, with the distance actually being almost 20 times the distance between Earth and the moon. However, there is still the potential for danger, as gravitational tugs have the potential for changing an object’s path.

“The danger of an asteroid impact remains among the worst possible natural disasters that could happen to the planet, as mankind does not have much in the way of combating them…”

The Bible indicates that this danger is very real.

Daily Mail added on July 26:

“An ‘unusually large meteor’ briefly lit up southern Norway on Sunday, creating a spectacular sound and light display as it rumbled across the sky. The meteor flew over Oslo at around 01:00, with the phenomena seen as far north as Trondheim.

“Experts believe that a piece of the meteor may have hit Earth, possibly not far from the capital. Thankfully, there have been no reports of injuries. However, experts say finding any remnants is no mean feat, and could take ‘some 10 years.’… Analysis of the meteor suggests it could have weighed at least 22lb (10kg)….

“A meteor that exploded over the central Russia near the city of Chelyabinsk in 2013 rained fireballs over a vast area and caused a shock wave that smashed windows, damaged buildings and injured 1,200 people.”

California’s Worsening Drought

The Sacramento Bee wrote on July 23:

“Forced to reckon with a worsening drought, California’s water regulators are preparing to forbid thousands of farmers from tapping into the state’s major rivers and streams. It’s an extraordinary step — and one that regulators didn’t take during the last drought, which was considered one of the worst on record…

“Most farmers who rely on the State Water Project or the federal Central Valley Project are already struggling with dramatically reduced allocations. The proposed order released Friday covers those thousands of farmers with direct legal rights to pull water out of the rivers…”

It was also reported that “more than 85 large wildfires were burning around the country” (The Associated Press, dated July 25).

What we are witnessing around the world are numerous and manifold natural catastrophes. It is as if God is allowing these disasters to wake us up.

Largest Earthquake in More than 50 Years

New York Daily News wrote on July 29:

“The Alaska peninsula was rocked late Wednesday night by the strongest earthquake to hit the United States since 1965. The powerful 8.2-magnitude quake struck just more than 50 miles south of Perryville, Alaska… So far, there have been at least two aftershocks, one with a magnitude of 6.2 while the other measured about 5.6…

“… the 1965 Magnitude 8.7 was five times as energetic, and the 1964 Magnitude 9.2 Great Alaska Earthquake was 30 times more energetic than tonight’s Magnitude 8.2… The Great Alaska Earthquake is the largest ever to hit the United States…”

When will the really big earthquakes hit the USA in populated areas?

Disgraceful Change of Famous Name of Baseball Team

Newsmax wrote on July 23:

“Former President Donald Trump on Friday criticized Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team for changing its name from the Indians to the Guardians starting next season… In a statement sent via email, Trump said: ‘Can anybody believe that the Cleveland Indians, a storied and cherished baseball franchise since taking the name in 1915, are changing their name to the Guardians? Such a disgrace.’’

“He then claimed that Native Americans… will be the ones most upset about the team changing its name and logo… ‘Wouldn’t it be an honor to have a team named the Cleveland Indians, and wouldn’t it be disrespectful to rip that name and logo off of those jerseys?… The people of Cleveland cannot be thrilled and I, a FORMER baseball fan, cannot believe things such as this are happening… A small group of people, with absolutely crazy ideas and policies, is forcing these changes to destroy our culture and heritage. At some point, the people will not take it anymore!’”

Still, it seems this kind of nonsense will only continue in a world totally cut off from God.

Left-Wing Wikipedia Unreliable

Breitbart wrote on July 23:

“In an interview Thursday for Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News, Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger stated he was embarrassed about helping found the site given its increasing left-wing bias. Noting it helps shape the understanding many Americans have of the world, Carlson asked Sanger what could be done to fix the problems on Wikipedia, but Sanger doubted it was possible to fix the site from the inside..

“Sanger also apologized to those individuals whose reputations have been harmed by Wikipedia because of his role in founding it, though Carlson also noted Google’s role in promoting the site…  Over the past year, Sanger has repeatedly criticized Wikipedia for left-wing bias, stating its neutrality was ‘dead’… He noted how differently articles about Donald Trump and Barack Obama covered scandals in their presidential administrations, as well as how scandals involving Joe Biden have been covered. Sanger also criticized coverage of religious and scientific topics as pushing a liberal or establishment view. Recently, he stated that the site could no longer be trusted to give anything other than a left-wing or establishment view, mentioning the site’s ongoing purge of conservative media…

“Sanger explained that… Wikipedia allows anonymous contributions by anyone…”

We can attest to that. Terrible libelous articles have been published on Wikipedia about our organizations, filled with lies and misrepresentations from “anonymous” writers.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

In a recent Editorial, we stated “that no one has seen God the Father, except in a vision.” When people saw God in the Old Testament, they saw Jesus Christ. We continued:

“When we consider the example of Moses, we find in Exodus 33:11 that ‘the LORD spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend’… in Exodus 33:18, Moses asked to see God’s glory. In verse 20 God or Jesus Christ replied and said: ‘You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.’ In verse 23 we find that God did allow Moses to see His back, but not His face. God stated later that Moses saw the form or similitude of the LORD (Numbers 12:8). In these examples, men and, at times, women, had seen the appearance of God, actually Jesus Christ…”

We state much more about Jesus Christ, being the God of the Old Testament, in our free booklet, “Jesus Christ—A Great Mystery.”

On the other hand, while people never saw God the Father “face to face,” they DID see Him in visions. The Old Testament writers knew about the existence of the Father, and in the New Testament, further visions were given about God the Father to confirm His existence and involvement in our lives. It is interesting to note how the Father is described in these visions.

We read in the book of Daniel about a vision showing both God the Father and Jesus Christ. In Daniel 7, 9-10, we read about what Daniel had seen:

“I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire; A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened…”

The description of the Ancient of Days reminds us of the description of Jesus Christ, in His glory, as revealed in Revelation 1:12-16:

“Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.”

But the description of the Ancient of  Days in Daniel 7:9-10 was not that of Jesus Christ, but of God the Father, as we continue to read about Christ who was brought before the Ancient of Days (the Father) in Daniel 7:13-14:

“I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.”

The similarities in the glorious appearance of the Father and Jesus Christ are understandable when we realize that Christ is the image of the Father. We read in Hebrews 1:3 that Christ is “the brightness of His [the Father’s] glory and the express image of His [the Father’s] person.” 2 Corinthians 4:4 confirms that Christ “is the image of God.”

At one time, Philip asked Christ to show him and the other disciples the Father, adding,”…and it is sufficient for us.” But Jesus responded with astonishment: “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father, so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (compare John 14:8-9).

We also read this about the glory of Jesus Christ, in Ezekiel 1:4-6,22, 26-28, showing again that Christ is the “image” of God the Father:

“Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings….

“The likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out over their heads… And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.”

Ezekiel 1 describes the “glory of the LORD,” Jesus Christ, on His throne, which was transported by four living angelic creatures or Cherubim.

Stephen was allowed to see the Father and Jesus Christ in a vision, just prior to his death, as revealed in Acts 7:55-58:

“… But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, ‘Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’ Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him…”

In 2 Corinthians 12:1-4, Paul explains that he was transferred in a vision to the third heaven where he heard unspeakable words. Even though he does not specifically say that he saw God the Father in that vision, from the context, it appears that he did.

We read in the book of Revelation that John saw God the Father in a vision. We read in Revelation 4:2-11; 5:1:

“Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.

“The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!’ Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: ‘You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.’

“And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals…”

This is a description of God the Father, not of Jesus Christ, who, pictured as a Lamb, is being brought before the Father, as we read in verses 6 and 7:

“And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.”

So we note that some have seen God the Father in a vision. We also know that God’s born-again children will see Jesus Christ in His full glory, as He is, when He returns (1 John 3:1-2). We also know that they will see God the Father, when He comes down to the new earth, as we read in Revelation 22:1-4:

“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.”

This confirms what Christ told His disciples, in Matthew 5:8: “Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.”

But will we have to wait for seeing the Father in His glory until the new heavens and the new earth are created and the Father comes down from heaven to the new earth to dwell here?

First of all, as born-again Spirit members of the God Family, we can see God the Father, through the Holy Spirit, dwelling in and emanating from us wherever He may be. God the Father and Jesus Christ can see everything through their Holy Spirit emanating from them, even though they, as Persons, are at one given “time” in one given “place.”

But will we, as born-again Spirit beings, see and meet God the Father “face to face,” from Person to Person, standing right next to Him and before Him, long before He comes down to the new earth?

We read that when Jesus Christ comes back in all His glory, a marriage supper will be held between Him and His Bride—the spirit-born members of His Church (Revelation 19:7-9). We do not read in the Bible that the marriage supper will take place in heaven; rather, Christ will return to this earth where, apparently, the marriage supper will take place.

We state in our Q&A about where the marriage supper between Christ and His Church will be held  https://www.eternalgod.org/q-a-16/ :

“Christ gave a parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22, presupposing that the wedding feast or marriage supper will take place here on earth. We read in verse 11: ‘But when the king [who had arranged the marriage for his son, verse 2] came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.’ In the parable, ‘the king’ represents God the Father, and ‘the son’ represents Jesus Christ. If the marriage supper were to take place in heaven, the guest without a wedding garment could not have been there — neither as a physical being nor as a fallen spirit being. He could not have been a disqualified saint, as there are no physical beings in heaven and as the disqualified saint would not have been changed to spirit. Nor could he have been a ‘fallen’ spirit being, i.e., Satan or a demon, as by that time, Satan and his angels will have no more access to God’s throne in heaven. Revelation 12:8 speaks of a time, before the marriage supper, stating, ‘…nor was a place found for them [Satan and his demons, verse 7] in heaven any longer.’”

Even though the Bible does not say that Christ will return to take us to heaven to celebrate the marriage supper there and then return with us to the earth, the Bible does say that the Father arranges the marriage supper for His Son and comes into the marriage hall to see the guests. The guests do not refer here to born-again Spirit beings, but rather to Old Testament Israel and the religious leadership at Christ’s first coming who had been called to have a physical relationship with God (see “Are you Predestined to be Saved?”, page 53). The Father comes in to see and be seen by the guests… even though, as human beings, they will not be able to see Him in His glory. (The presence of physical guests would also prove that the marriage supper cannot be held in heaven.) We also realize, of course, that Christ is telling a parable, and the analogies only go so far.

But what can be gleaned from this parable is that the Father presents Himself to those at the wedding, including His servants (verse 13), to see them and be seen by them. If this is true for the “guests,” how much more so for His immortal sons and daughters—born-again Spirit beings in His Family? They would of course see Him at the wedding supper as He is—in His glory. This would be one passage strongly implying that we will see the Father in His full glory, face to face and from “Person to Person,” already at the time of the wedding supper.

Is there also any biblical indication that we will ascend to the third heaven and meet with the Father face to face there, from Person to Person, before new heavens and a new earth are created? The short answer is that the Bible does not tell us. What we do know is that we will not be in the third heaven to rule from there over the earth, but we will rule with and under Christ on the earth (Revelation 5:10). God promises us that we will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). We are the spiritual descendants of and co-heirs with Abraham who received the promise to be the heir of the world (Romans 4:13). We also read in Psalm 115:16: “The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S; But the earth He has given to the children of men.”

These passages do not prove, of course, that we could not ascend to the third heaven to “visit” the Father in person, face to face. After all, we read, for example, that God’s angels in heaven always see the face of the Father (Matthew 18:10). And we will be so much more and greater than angels.

On the other hand, nothing is revealed in the Bible that we will ascend to the third heaven, where God’s throne is; and the question as to why we might not do so is therefore moot. As we saw above, God the Father may visit us on earth, and we have pointed out that as born-again Spirit members of the God Family, we can see God the Father, through the Holy Spirit, dwelling in and emanating from us, at any “time” and wherever He may be.

IF the Bible indicates an answer to the question as to whether we will ascend to the third heaven before new heavens will be created, we might turn to John 3:13, which is translated in the Authorized Version (AV) as follows:

“And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”

The words, “which is in heaven” are not found in many old manuscripts or, if they are genuine, they would have been John’s addition who would have commented on Jesus being in heaven at the time of John’s writing (Christ would not have said that He was in heaven when He spoke the words, as He was at that time here on earth and not in heaven.) But even the remainder of the statement is odd, as worded in the AV: “…no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven.” At the time of Christ’s statement, He had not ascended up to heaven.

For this reason, the rendition in the old Luther Bible of 1891, republished in 1964, seems to make more sense, stating: “No one ascends up to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, even the Son of Man.” With that rendering, it is clear that Jesus, after His resurrection, would ascend to heaven, but it could also follow that no one else would. If this conclusion is correct, then it might perhaps indicate that even we, after our resurrection, would still not ascend up to the third heaven. We could speculate as to whether this would indeed be so, and why that might be the case, but since the Bible does not give us any answers to these questions at this point, we will leave it there.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

compiled by Dave Harris

“Israel at the Brink of a Catastrophe?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

Israel is being ruled by an unruly government … a coalition of totally divided parties which only became united to get rid of Netanyahu. This coalition has no chance of success or survival, and the first hick-ups have already been noticed. But the disunity and ultimate anticipated failure of Israel’s government could have wide-ranging consequences.

Speaking assignments have been made which will cover upcoming Sabbaths and Holy Days for both the United States and Germany. These will soon be posted on our respective websites.

“Dem Tod ins Auge sehen” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Michael Link. Title in English: “Facing Death.”

“Teure Zeiten,” the title of last Sabbath’s German sermonette presented by Johann Schell, is now posted. Title in English: “Expensive Times.”

“Joseph in Egypt and God’s Incredible Work in Our Lives,” the title of the last Sabbath’s sermon presented by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

God is with us, no matter in what situation we might be. If we go through a valley of death, through scourging fire, through howling wind or through overflowing water, God is right there with us. God works in our lives in mysterious ways and brings about events which we would not have believed to be possible. We find a very vivid and compelling example in the life of Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob or Israel.

We will observe the Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day for 2021, in Rapid City, South Dakota, and near Düsseldorf, Germany.  If you would like more information, check out our websites: https://www.eternalgod.org/feasts/  ; https://www.ewigengottes.de/wir-uber-uns/laubhuttenfest-2021/

On July 24, 2021, Norbert Link will present, “Comments on News and Prophecy, July 24, 2021,” and the sermon, titled, “Joseph in Egypt and God’s Incredible Work in our Lives.”

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.

We have just finished the annual ministerial Church Conference with great success and unity. We discussed many things, and we will continue collectively in doing the Work and feeding the Flock. And I want to thank everyone for their prayers in regard to the conference and its success.

It may be challenging at times to look at the size of our respective groups and feel discouraged or frustrated by the apparent lack of members. But something that I take courage and strength in is the fact that within the ministry, we are of like mind, and we uphold each other. At the end of the day, we are each, in our ways, helping to support, maintain and participate in building the Church, as God shows us and opens the doors for us, including how to preach the Gospel as a witness to this world (Amos 3:3). There cannot be dissension and confusion (James 3:16).

When we study the Bible, it is easy to see that, for the most part, the true people of God, in regard to churches, have not been large. Christ speaks about the little flock (Luke 12:32). He isn’t mentioning large swelling churches here, but rather a few gathered in His name, who WILL have tremendous power. While we know this, that doesn’t make it easier. But we KNOW from what Christ Himself says to us, that this will be the case. Matthew 24:12-14 says: “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” We have to continue to endure, persevere, grow and preach the Truth.

I think a lot about Elijah feeling scared about being the “only one” standing up for God, and God replying that He had reserved for Himself 7000 who had not participated in idol worship. We don’t always know what the fruits of our labor are going to produce nor at what time they will be produced. We cannot become discouraged about our numbers or lack thereof. We have to maintain the Truth.

It is also discouraging when people walk away from our fellowship. We cannot allow this to sway us. It is hard and painful at times to deal with these situations as they come up. I have personally dealt with this a few times as I am sure a lot of us have. In 2 Timothy 4:9-11, Paul lists people who left him in regard to the Work. In verse 16, he goes on to say how at first NO ONE stood with him in his defense except God; and this is the point I want to drive home. It doesn’t matter what happens as long as we are the ones staying close to God and accomplishing what needs to be done.

In Matthew 9:35-38, Christ tells us that it is God’s harvest and we are His workers. He tells us to pray for more laborers so they can help with getting the job done. We should each be asking ourselves, how can I help more, how can I participate more? And when there is an opportunity to be doing the Work, in whatever way, we should be approaching that with as much zeal and focus as we can.

As we get ready for the upcoming Fall Holy Days, it may be useful for us all to start preparing mentally so we can use the Feast days to help propel ourselves forward in the Work that lies ahead of us. Yes, it is getting more challenging; yes, it does seem that time is moving faster and the world is falling apart at an accelerated rate. This should inspire us and motivate each of us to draw closer to God, not scare or detract us from fulfilling our duties.

We will accomplish what God wants us to accomplish; we will finish our part in God’s Work as He sees fit; we will continue to grow in the mind of Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit; and we will not fail, if we stay close to God and are obedient to Him.

by Norbert Link

We begin with the stunning revelation that the Biden Administration is assisting Big Tech in censoring anti-vaccine information; continue with the dubious role of Fox News; address the administration’s failure to help the suppressed Cuban people; and speak on the “race war” in South Africa and the temporary calm in Israel, with signs of a coming storm on the horizon.

 We report on Pope Francis’ decision to revoke one of Pope Benedict’s major decisions, which action is unique in its kind; speak on sickening developments pertaining to the gay and race agenda; address the futile attempt of the European Court of Human Rights to “push” Russia; speak on the EU’s military involvement in African countries; publish an article about Putin’s views on Ukraine; discuss the potentially slippery slope of Austria’s ban of the Muslim Brotherhood; report on attempts to plant microchips in our brains and address other cyborg implants; speak on the devastating flooding in Europe and especially Germany; and conclude with an article about the choice to lie or tell the truth. Please view in this context our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Why the Devastating Floods in Europe?”

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

Biden Administration Is “Helping” Facebook—This Is Fascism!

On July 17, the Ron Paul Institute republished the following article by Caitlin Johnstone:

“… the Biden administration has admitted that it is giving Facebook a list of accounts to censor for spreading ‘disinformation’ about the Covid-19 response. ‘We’ve increased disinformation research and tracking,’ Press Secretary Jen Psaki told the press on Thursday. ‘Within the Surgeon General’s Office, we’re flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation. We’re working with doctors and medical professionals to connect medical experts with people, who are popular with their audiences with accurate information and boost trusted content. So, we’re helping get trusted content out there.’

“Psaki told the White House press corps that the administration has a list of accounts who produce most of the anti-vaccine information on Facebook, which civil libertarians are decrying as an obviously authoritarian government overreach. ‘The Biden administration is telling Facebook which posts it regards as “problematic” so that Facebook can remove them,’ Glenn Greenwald said on Twitter in response to the news. ‘This is the union of corporate and state power — one of the classic hallmarks of fascism — that the people who spent five years babbling about fascism support… There is no circumstance — none — in which it’s acceptable for the White House or any other agency of the government to be providing lists to Facebook of “problematic” content it wants removed, yet that’s exactly what Psaki says they’re doing… This is authoritarianism.’

“… All of these online platforms use censorship… to hide undesirable political speech from the mainstream public in direct collaboration with government and government-tied institutions.

“Facebook, the largest social media platform in the world… enlists the government… funded management firm The Atlantic Council to help it determine what content to censor and what to boost… Google, which owns YouTube, has been financially intertwined with US intelligence agencies since its very inception when it received research grants from the CIA and NSA…

“In a corporatist system of government, where there is no separation between corporate power and state power, corporate censorship is state censorship. The actual government as it actually exists is censoring the speech not just of its own people, but people around the world…”

With this development and these admissions by the Biden Administration, the argument that Facebook and other Big Tech giants are just private companies and not subject to the Constitution has been blown out of the window.

Fox News wrote on July 16:

“The remarks [of press secretary Jen Psaki] riled critics already concerned about collaboration between the Biden administration and Big Tech…  Psaki’s remarks Friday drew bipartisan derision, with critics calling Big Tech outlets ‘state actors’ and ripping the Biden administration for playing judge and jury on truth. One writer said it was a precursor to censoring other so-called ‘misinformation’ on social issues…”

That is the fear. A government engaged in such kind of conduct would certainly be willing and capable of enforcing additional restrictions on our liberties and freedoms.

Kamala Harris Invokes the Bible—This Is so Ignorant

Israel 365 News wrote on July 14:

“In a recent video from the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke about vaccinations. Invoking the Bible, Harris claimed that: ‘the act of getting vaccinated, the act of administering the vaccinations, well these acts are the very essence of what the Bible and so many faiths tell us about the importance of our role and our power. When we say love thy neighbor and I truly believe in the power of that’…

“Does this raise questions about the separation of Church and State? What about faiths that oppose vaccines? These questions and more are being asked by some Americans.”

In addition, where does it say in the Bible that you must be vaccinated and that you don’t love your neighbor (as yourself) if you don’t?

Fox News’ Clear Passes and Masks—This Is SO Hypocritical!

CNN wrote on July 20:

“Fox News personalities have spent months both trafficking in anti-vaccine rhetoric and assailing the concept of showing proof of vaccination status. But Fox Corporation… has quietly implemented the concept of a vaccine passport as workers slowly return back to the company’s offices… The system allows for employees to self-report to Fox the dates their shots were administered and which vaccines were used.

“The company has encouraged employees to report their status, telling them that ‘providing this information to FOX will assist the company with space planning and contact tracing. Employees who report their status are allowed to bypass the otherwise required daily health screening…

“The concept… is known internally as ‘FOX Clear Pass.’ While the ‘Fox Clear Pass’ is voluntary for employees, and other companies have similar tools, it is still remarkable, given how vocal Fox’s top talent has been in criticizing the concept of vaccine passports. Fox News has spent months portraying the notion that people might be asked to show vaccination status as dangerous to personal freedom and anti-American…

“It’s not the first time that Fox has been so brazenly hypocritical about coronavirus precautions. While its television hosts railed against face masks, the company issued guidance recommending employees wear them. It also said it would require people attending tapings of host Greg Gutfeld’s show to wear masks.

“It’s unclear whether Fox will require vaccinations when employees fully return to the office… When CNN began to reopen its facilities in June, vaccinations were required in order to come in…”

One must wonder what is going on with Fox News. On Tuesday, Fox News defended Dr. Fauci against Rand Paul, even though it seems pretty obvious that Paul was right with his allegation that Fauci might have lied to Congress. In addition, Fox News and Newsmax ran segments this week advising people to get vaccinated, as allegedly, only the unvaccinated are getting sick now. However, this claim is blatantly false, not to speak of dangerous side effects from the vaccines which have been manifested.

Biden Not Helping Cuba—This Is Hypocrisy

AFP wrote on July 17:

“Thousands of Cubans protesting against their government managed to catch the attention of US President Joe Biden, but they have been left deflated by his response… Prior to his election, Biden had told online opposition news outlet Cibercuba that he would eliminate Trump’s restrictions on remittances and travel, which he said had harmed Cubans and separated families. But six months into his tenure, Cubans are still waiting for concrete action to back up the promises….

“Biden… did not announce new measures. He did, however, trade barbs with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel. ‘Cuba is, unfortunately, a failed state and repressing their citizens,’ Biden said on Thursday. The next day, Diaz-Canel fired back: ‘The United States has failed in its efforts to destroy Cuba, despite spending billions of dollars to do so…’ Russia, China and left-wing governments in Latin America have expressed support for the Cuban regime.

“Not only ordinary Cubans have expressed disappointment at Biden’s lack of action… Ben Rhodes, the former US national security advisor under president Obama, urged Biden to act. ‘Cubans have been bravely expressing their frustrations and exercising their universal rights in ways that are truly inspiring. We should be thinking above all about what we can do to help them,’ Rhodes tweeted on Tuesday.

“New York-based anti-embargo lobbying group Cuban Americans For Engagement (CAFE) hit out at the Biden administration for being ‘hypocritical when it claims to support the Cuban people while complacently applauding the demonstrations.’”

Restoring the Internet—This Is Difficult

Yahoo!News wrote on July 16:

“President Joe Biden’s suggestion that Washington bring full internet access to Cuba following government restrictions could break new ground on digital rights but face major technical and geopolitical hurdles…

“Cuba has been limiting both fixed and mobile internet access with cuts to some apps like Facebook and Instagram, and has used other methods to filter online content with Chinese-made technology…

“Democracy activists in authoritarian regimes have used a variety of techniques to get around internet limitations including virtual private networks… but none have been used on a large scale. Satellite, drone and balloon internet services remain at an early stage and often are delivered through official carriers…

“Havana would likely consider any effort to bring an unfiltered internet a violation of its sovereignty…”

These problems also exist when other dictatorial countries shut down the Internet for their citizens, as they are prone to do.

Troubles in South Africa—This Is a Race War

Hal Turner Radio Show wrote on July 14:

“All food in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province of South Africa has been either looted or intentionally destroyed. The Zulu tribe is now publicly saying they intend to ‘starve-out’ the white and Indian (sub-continent) people in that province… It looks like a race war is upon South Africa…

“These troubles in South Africa are being carried out by some of the very same type of people we saw here in America, doing much the same, last summer. At the time, they dressed-up their race-hatred with slogans like ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ANTIFA; but the base hatred is still the same…

“So BARBARIC are these people [in Johannesburg], they step over the dead bodies so they can continue looting…”

Israel’s Tense Calm—This Is Only Temporary

Israel Today wrote on July 20:

“This past Sunday was… the fast day that commemorates the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem that once stood at the site where now two Muslim structures are located, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. These two Muslim shrines were built in the 7th century for the purpose of expressing Islam’s superiority over Christianity and Judaism…

“In 2021, the reality is no different and Muslims on the Temple Mount behave as if they have more rights to that sacred compound than other religious groups, and especially than Jews whom they routinely accuse of ‘defiling’ the holiest site in Judaism. The 1,600 Jews who visited the Temple Mount’s courtyards on Sunday were again referred to by several Muslim states and the Palestinian Authority as ‘settlers’ who allegedly ‘stormed’ the Al-Aqsa Mosque. In reality, however, Jewish visitors have no interest whatsoever in Al-Aqsa and do not even try to enter it…

“Prime Minister Naftali Bennett this week contributed to the confusion and tensions with Muslim groups and countries. He first announced that Jews had the right to ‘pray’ in their sacred place… Bennett later retracted his words, saying… that Jews had the right to ‘visit’ the Temple Mount… The flip-flop by Bennett most likely had to do with the flood of condemnations that came from the Muslim world, including that of Ra’am, the Islamist political party that is now part of the new Israeli government, as well as from alternate-Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid…

“‘The Al-Aqsa Mosque and dunams around it are the exclusive property of the Muslims and no one else is entitled to it,’ Ra’am said in a press release. It marked the first time that the Islamist coalition partner went directly against its own government. Ra’am also used the words ‘storming’ and was annoyed that a group of Jews had sung the Israeli national anthem… during their visit to the Temple Mount. Ra’am further warned that the events on the Temple Mount could heat up the situation in Jerusalem and the entire region and even lead to a ‘catastrophic religious war.’

“The media in Israel later reported that Lapid was the one who had spoken to Bennett and forced him to amend the content of his original statement. It showed that Lapid, who is the leader of the coalition’s largest faction… is in reality much more than ‘alternate prime minister’ and foreign minister. He’s the one pulling the strings until he replaces Bennett as prime minister in less than two years…

“There were fears that Palestinian terrorist movements in Gaza would violate the shaky ceasefire with Israel… A tense calm now reigns on the Temple Mount following Sunday’s clashes…  The tensions over the Jewish visits and prayers at the Temple Mount probably couldn’t have been avoided, but Bennett’s flip-flop should have been. It was the first time the new Israeli PM was really tested since he assumed office in June and, according to some observers, he failed to pass the test.”

This was predictable. How long can this obscure “coalition” be successful?

Reversing Pope Benedict—This Is Disappointing!

Fox News wrote on July 16:

“Pope Francis cracked down Friday on the spread of the old Latin Mass, reversing one of Pope Benedict XVI’s signature decisions in a major challenge to traditionalist Catholics who immediately decried it as an attack on them and the ancient liturgy. Francis reimposed restrictions on celebrating the Latin Mass that Benedict relaxed in 2007, and went further to limit its use. The pontiff said he was taking action because Benedict’s reform had become a source of division in the church and been exploited by Catholics opposed to the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that modernized the church and its liturgy.

“Critics said they had never before witnessed a pope so thoroughly reversing his predecessor. That the reversal concerned something so fundamental as the liturgy, while Benedict is still alive and living in the Vatican as a retired pope, only amplified the extraordinary nature of Francis’ move, which will surely result in more right-wing hostility directed at him…

“Under the new law, bishops must also determine if the current groups of faithful attached to the old Mass accept Vatican II, which allowed for Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than Latin. These groups cannot use regular churches; instead, bishops must find alternate locations for them without creating new parishes. In addition, Francis said bishops are no longer allowed to authorize the formation of any new pro-Latin Mass groups in their dioceses…

“The pope’s rollback immediately created an uproar among traditionalists already opposed to Francis’ more progressive bent and nostalgic for Benedict’s doctrinaire papacy.

“This is an extremely disappointing document which entirely undoes the legal provisions,’ of Benedict’s 2007 document, said Joseph Shaw, chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales. While Latin celebrations can continue, ‘the presumption is consistently against them: bishops are being invited to close them down,’ Shaw said, adding that the requirement for Latin Masses to be held outside a parish was ‘unworkable.’ ‘This is an extraordinary rejection of the hard work for the church and the loyalty to the hierarchy which has characterized the movement for the Traditional Mass for many years, which I fear will foster a sense of alienation among those attached to the church’s ancient liturgy,’ he said.

“Benedict had issued his document in 2007 to reach out to a breakaway, schismatic group that celebrates the Latin Mass, the Society of St. Pius X, and which had split from Rome over the modernizing reforms of Vatican II….

“Some of these traditionalists and Catholics already were among Francis’ fiercest critics, with some accusing him of heresy for having opened the door to letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive Communion… For years… Francis has made known his distaste of the old liturgy…”

Is a split within the Catholic Church between traditionalists and liberals inevitable?

New Emoji Designs and Change of Bird, Bug and Fish Names—This Is Insane

Daily Mail wrote on July 16:

“A pregnant man and a gender neutral person wearing a crown are among the emoji set to be approved this September and coming to smartphones next year….

“The pregnant man and pregnant person recognise that ‘pregnancy is possible for some transgender men and non-binary people’, Emojipedia says. The gender neutral person wearing a crown… comes in a range of different skin tones, as do 15 new handshake combinations.”

Daily Mail added on July 15:

“Woke warriors are behind a drive to rename hundreds of bird species because their names are deemed to have links to slavery and colonialism… It comes after bug experts are getting rid of the name ‘gypsy moth’ because some Roma people consider it to be an ethnic slur….

“The Oriental rat flea, Asian needle ant and the West Indian cane weevil are also now being scrutinized…”

NBC Chicago wrote on July 17:

“Minnesota state Sen. Foung Hawj was never a fan of the ‘Asian carp’ label commonly applied to four imported fish species that are wreaking havoc in the U.S. heartland, infesting numerous rivers and bearing down on the Great Lakes. But the last straw came when an Asian business delegation arriving at the Minneapolis airport encountered a sign reading ‘Kill Asian Carp.’ It was a well-intentioned plea to prevent the spread of the invasive fish. But the message was off-putting to the visitors.

“Hawj and fellow Sen. John Hoffman in 2014 won approval of a measure requiring that Minnesota agencies refer to the fish as ‘invasive carp,’ despite backlash from the late radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, who ridiculed it as political correctness….

“Now some other government agencies are taking the same step in the wake of anti-Asian hate crimes that surged during the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service quietly changed its designation to ‘invasive carp’ in April. ‘We wanted to move away from any terms that cast Asian culture and people in a negative light,’ said Charlie Wooley, director of its Great Lakes regional office.

“… The four species described collectively as Asian carp — bighead, silver, grass and black carp — were brought from China a half-century ago to rid Southern sewage and aquaculture ponds of algae, weeds and parasites. They escaped into the wild and have migrated up the Mississippi and other major rivers. The Great Lakes and their $7 billion sport fishery are vulnerable.”

This insanity has been going on for years, but is becoming more and more aggressive and hostile these days all over the Western world.

Converting Children to Become Gay—This Is Sick!

The American Spectator wrote on July 9:

“The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus released a music video July 1 titled ‘A Message From the Gay Community’ that details their mission of ‘converting’ children. A soloist introduces the virtual music performance by dedicating the song to progress made in Pride Month… He continues, ‘We’ll convert your children, it happens bit by bit, quietly and subtlety and you will barely notice it…’

“The soloist then begins a duet, with another singer joining in: ‘Just like you’re worried, they’ll change their group of friends…’ The verses slowly build into a boisterous chorus of ‘we’re coming for your children’ and ‘the gay agenda is coming home.’ The video concludes by flashing LBGTQ flags over the screen…

“Both conservatives and people of faith responded with criticism and worry, arguing that the choir is saying the leftist agenda out loud… The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus released a statement on July 8 defending the song… The group said the ‘tongue-in-cheek humor is lost on many,’ adding, ‘After decades of children being indoctrinated and taught intolerance… from using the Bible as a weapon to reparative therapy, it’s our turn.’”

The ”tongue-in-cheek humor” is indeed lost. The reference to the Bible is even more alarming.

EU Court Tries to Push Russia—This Is Futile

Life Site News wrote on July 16:

“Russia rebuked a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) this week that pushed the country to recognize same-sex ‘marriage.’  The ECHR’s order, handed down on Tuesday, held that Russia’s refusal to register homosexuals as ‘married’ violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which includes a ‘right to family life,’ and Article 14, which prohibits discrimination. The Strasbourg-based court has interpreted the articles… to apply to same-sex unions, despite previous rulings to the contrary and no language about homosexuality in the text of the European Convention…

“Russia slammed the ECHR ruling, reaffirming on Tuesday that marriage in the country remains strictly between men and women. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that same-sex ‘marriages’ are ‘not allowed’ under Russia’s constitution…

“The ECHR… does not have enforcement powers, and the Russian government enacted a law in 2015 allowing the country to overturn ECHR verdicts. Russia, which joined the Council of Europe in the 1990s, has not implemented nearly 90% of leading judgements from the court in the past ten years…

“Last Tuesday, the ECHR issued another ruling against Russia for letting a woman prohibit her gender-confused former husband from visiting their children. A Russian court had declared that being around the father, who had undergone surgery to impersonate the opposite sex, would have a ‘negative impact on the mental health’ of the children.

“The ECHR’s attempts to impose LGBT ideology on Russia resemble ongoing efforts by the European Union to force Hungary to rescind a new children protection law that bans pro-LGBT materials in schools… ‘Brussels bureaucrats have no business at all, no matter what they do, we will not let LGBTQ activists among our children,’ Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán responded.”

The EU must know that its push against Russia will not result in any change of conduct. It seems that the EU’s obsession with the LGBT agenda can be compared with the behavior of an angry bull in a China shop.

EU’s Military to the Rescue—This Is Dangerous

The Defense Post wrote on July 12:

“The European Union… formally established a military mission for Mozambique to help train its armed forces battling jihadists in the north of the country. A deadly insurgency by militants linked to the Islamic State group has ravaged the gas-rich Cabo Delgado province since late 2017, claiming some 3,000 lives and displacing 800,000 people. Former colonial master Portugal is already providing training for Mozambican troops. Lisbon’s military instructors on the ground are expected to make up some half of the new EU mission, which will be headed by a Portuguese commander.

“‘The aim of the mission is to train and support the Mozambican armed forces in protecting the civilian population and restoring safety and security in the Cabo Delgado province,’ an EU statement said, without giving details on the overall size of the deployment. ‘The mandate of the mission will initially last two years…’

“A senior European diplomat told AFP in June that other countries including France, Italy, and Spain are also expected to provide personnel for the mission. The approval of the EU training mission comes as regional powers are also looking to bolster their support for Mozambique’s fight to crush the insurgency. Last month, … 16 southern African countries… as Mozambique’s government said it was open to foreign boots on the ground to battle the jihadists…

“The EU has several other training missions in Africa, including in Mali, Central African Republic, and Somalia. The operation in Mali — aimed at boosting the fight against jihadists — has continued to operate despite concerns after the latest… strike of military coups hit the country in May.”

Europe will get more and more involved in military actions outside its territory.

EU Getting Ready for a Large-Scale Military Operation in Libya?—This Is Remarkable

Express wrote on July 19:

“A leaked document revealed that Brussels is finalising plans for ‘large-scale’ operations in the North African state in the coming months. It will pit the EU against Chad, Egypt, Jordan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, which have all become involved in Libya’s brutal civil war. The internal report, obtained by the EU Observer website, highlighted the need for an EU military mission in the region to curb human and arms trafficking…

“EU ambassadors are expected to discuss the plans soon but the Commission’s foreign affairs arm has yet to announce the formal tabling of the proposals… France is expected to be one of the main supporters of a military mission to Libya. Its foreign minister Jean Yves Le Drian echoed the sentiment of the EU report in a speech at the UN’s Security Council in New York on Thursday…”

The military ambitions of the EU are becoming SO obvious.

Putin: Ukraine Created by Soviets and Bolsheviks, at Expense of History—This Is Noteworthy

RT wrote on July 12:

“Russia’s president has claimed that much of Ukraine is historically and ethnically Russian, and Kiev’s turn to the West since the 2014 Kiev Maidan amounts to a rejection of its deep ties with Moscow and its political reality.

“In an article published on the Kremlin’s website on Monday, President Vladimir Putin described how almost all of the Eastern European nation had fallen under the Russian Empire, and how Ukrainians and Russians can trace their culture and history back through shared roots. ‘Thus,’ he argued, ‘modern Ukraine is entirely the brainchild of the Soviet era. We know and remember that, to a large extent, it was created at the expense of historical Russia.’ According to him, ‘the Bolsheviks treated the Russian people as an inexhaustible material for social experiments. They dreamed of a world revolution, which, in their opinion, would abolish nation-states altogether.’ As such, Putin argued, Russia’s ‘borders were arbitrarily cut, and generous territorial “gifts” were handed out.’

“The status of the disputed Crimean peninsula, for example, has been a key point of contention between Moscow and Kiev. Ethnically dominated by Russians, it was historically administered from Moscow until 1954, when it was signed over by then-Soviet premier Nikita Khruschev, in what amounted to a technicality given the lack of internal borders in the USSR. However, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Crimea was governed from Kiev until it was reabsorbed by Russia in 2014.

“According to Putin, the shared interests of both the Russian and Ukrainian people were ignored by those behind the 2014 Maidan and those supporting the uprising from abroad. ‘Western countries directly intervened in the internal affairs of Ukraine and supported the coup,’ he said. ‘It was dominated by radical nationalist groups. Their slogans, ideology [and] open aggressive Russophobia in many ways began to determine the state policy in Ukraine.’

“The president went on to criticize a new bill being considered by politicians in Ukraine, which would deny ethnic Russians, who trace their presence in the region back centuries, the right to be considered ‘indigenous people’ in the country. ‘The most disgusting thing is that Russians in Ukraine are forced not only to renounce their roots, from generations of ancestors, but also to believe that Russia is their enemy,’ he said. ‘It is no exaggeration to say that the policy of forced assimilation and the formation of an ethnically pure Ukrainian state, aggressively disposed to Russia, in its effects is comparable with the use of weapons of mass destruction against us,’ Putin wrote.”

According to the Bible, Russia and Ukraine will be united against Europe. It is clear that Putin’s thinking goes in that direction. How this “unification” will take place remains to be seen.

Austria Bans Muslim Brotherhood—This Is a Slippery Slope

Breitbart wrote on July 16:

“Austria has become the first country in the European Union to ban the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood as part of a new anti-terrorism law.

“The law bans the Egyptian-founded Muslim Brotherhood by adding it to a list of organisations linked to ‘religiously motivated crime’. It sets a punishment of a month in prison and a €4,000 (£3,407/$4,717) fine for those who propagate the group’s literature or disseminate its slogans… the Muslim Brotherhood has a long history in Austria. It first opened an office in the city of Graz in the mid-1960s, which was used as the group’s financial hub before moving to Switzerland…

“The new designation for the Muslim Brotherhood comes after the Austrian government has also banned the symbols of the ultranationalist Turkish Grey Wolves, the far-left Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the Islamic State, and other extremist groups.

“The move to ban the Muslim Brotherhood comes after Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, in the aftermath of the Vienna terrorist attack, promised to create a new criminal offence related to ‘political Islam’, saying it would allow the government to ‘take action against those who are not terrorists themselves, but who create the breeding ground for it.’”

Could this be a precursor for the persecution of other “religiously motivated” groups, even though they do not commit violence or crimes? The Bible predicts a martyrium of true Christians in continental Europe.

Microchips in Our Brains and Cyborg Implants—This Is Scary

Life Site wrote on July 19:

“Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF), called for microchips to be implanted ‘in our brains.’ Schwab… detailed his microchip prediction in a 2016 interview with Swiss broadcasting group RTS, saying that brain chips would be widely introduced ‘certainly in the next ten years.’…

“Schwab’s predictions may appear easily dismissible as the ramblings of a Marxist social engineer from a Nazi-linked family. However, five years out, his microchip fantasy seems to have been just about spot-on.

“Facebook, for example, has been building brain-reading technology since at least 2017… Facebook unveiled plans to develop a ‘brain mouse,’ purportedly to allow users to type with their minds. The social media giant’s brain-computer projects have made steady progress since then… Facebook researchers can reportedly convert brain data to text with an error rate as low as 3 percent…”

Forbes had already written on June 5:

“DARPA, the Pentagon’s research arm, has long been exploring technology for ‘super soldiers’ with extraordinary capabilities… Their latest effort, known as ADAPTER involves cyborg implants to toughen soldiers against two of the commonest health issues in modern warfare: limited access to safe food and water, and sleep disruption. Each implant will be a miniature factory full of bacteria producing therapeutic substances on demand…

“A key benefit of ADAPTER is that soldiers will not need to carry multiple types of medication around with them, remembering to take them on a specific timetable. The implant will do all that automatically…

“While ADAPTER will target [two] specific problems… the longer term implications are much greater… ADAPTER promises to make U.S. troops healthier and more capable in the field. Putting bioelectronic bacterial factories into soldiers’ guts might seem like a radical idea, but the American military has always pushed the boundaries. In 1777, George Washington ordered mandatory inoculation against smallpox for the Continental Army. In that sense, the futuristic ADAPTER is just part of a long tradition.”

This technology does not give us more hope for a better future. One is reminded of God’s conduct at the tower of Babel when He decided to intervene because, otherwise, man’s thirst for scientific advances might have reached the point of destroying the earth and mankind much earlier.

Devastating Flooding in Europe—This Is Unique and Sad

CBS wrote on July 16:

“The death toll from devastating flooding in western Europe climbed to over [150 on Saturday], as buildings continued to crumble under the force of raging torrents unleashed by storms that parked over the region for days… the scale of the disaster is unlike anything the area has seen in living memory.

“Entire neighborhoods lay in ruins after days of heavy rains — the worst deluge recorded in the region in more than 200 years. The downpour sparked flash flooding across huge swathes of western Germany and several neighboring nations.

“Water spilled over the banks of rivers and turned roadways into torrents so powerful that they crushed much of what stood in their way.

“… thousands of residents in Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate states had been forced to evacuate their homes, while 165,000 were left without electricity.

“… The amount of rain that fell over 48 hours was double what normally would have fallen for the entire month of July.

“… Neighboring countries Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have also been badly affected…”

The Associated Press added on July 16:

“The governor of North Rhine-Westphalia, who hopes to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel as the nation’s leader after Germany’s election on Sept. 26, said the disaster had caused immense economic damage to the country’s most populous state.”

As it was predictable, the rain falls were blamed on global warming and climate change, even though it is difficult to see any real cause-and-effect connection. In other news, it was reported that Siberia suffers from unprecedented burning; and that China was hit by deadly floods and the worst rains in 60 years, affecting tens of millions.

Newsmax gave the following update in an article, dated July 21:

“A relief official said on Wednesday rescue crews were unlikely to find any more survivors in the rubble of villages devastated by floods in western Germany… At least 170 people died in last week’s flooding, Germany’s worst natural disaster in more than half a century, and thousands went missing… Any victims that are found now are likely to be dead…

“For immediate relief, the federal government will initially provide up to 200 million euros ($235.5 million) in emergency aid, and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday more funds can be made available if needed. That will come on top of at least 250 million euros to be provided from the affected states to repair buildings and damaged local infrastructure and to help people in crisis situations… The full extent of the damage is not yet clear, but… rebuilding after previous floods cost about 6 billion euros…

“The floods have dominated the political agenda less than three months before a national election in September and raised uncomfortable questions about why Europe’s richest economy was caught flat-footed. Two-thirds of Germans believe that federal and regional policymakers should have done more to protect communities from floods… Chancellor Angela Merkel… said authorities would look at what had not worked after being widely accused of not being prepared despite severe weather warnings from meteorologists…”

Rejecting Lies and Accepting Truth—This Is Simple

The Ron Paul Institute republished on July 14 an article by Chris Rossini:

“I was struck by a quote that I’ve certainly read before, but it’s just so relevant when reading it again today: ‘We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, but they are still lying.’ – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn…

“Many choose to achieve their goals by harming others, and either taking or destroying their property… It’s no surprise then that lies are a very popular means that are used to achieve ends. Truth and lies are interchangeable for these individuals…

“No man is all-knowing… we will frequently be presented with ideas that are untrue. Those ideas come from the mouths of other ignorant individuals. That doesn’t mean that the false ideas that come from others always come with malicious intent… when it comes to people in power, you always have to assume first that what’s being said is intended to dupe you. It’s a shame that it has to be that way…

“Whether or not the lies that we’re presented with on a daily basis are malicious or simply out of ignorance, we each have a monumental choice that must constantly be made. Do we choose to believe it? Or not? Each of us is responsible for choosing which ideas to accept and believe, and which to reject… We’re each responsible for telling the truth or telling lies. We’re each responsible of choosing what to believe and what to reject….”

Very true. Spreading and believing lies is an individual choice… but it will have dire consequences for those who believe and practice the lie.

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.

One of the issues one must consider when answering the question posed in this Q&A is the warning given to us by Christ, in Matthew 24:4-5:

“And Jesus answered and said to them: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many.’”

Notice, there will be many out there trying to deceive you. Notice also verse 24: “For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”

So the warning is, there will be many false prophets and much deception.

Ironically, there are numerous individuals claiming to be the two witnesses. One is claiming that he and his wife are the two witnesses which is patently absurd since they are called prophets, not prophetesses. Revelation 11:10 tells us: “And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.”

The Bible reveals that beginning with the New Testament Church, there were no longer prophetesses, and there is no indication that there will be some prior to Christ’s return. For further information, please read our Q&A on the Old Testament prophetess Deborah.

On the other hand, it is very likely that the two witnesses will be supported and accompanied by others, as was the case with Elijah and Elisha (who had with them “sons of the prophets,”) and John the Baptist (whose followers were called “disciples.”) Jesus Christ Himself was also accompanied by male and female “disciples.”

The two witnesses are chosen by Christ Himself; notice Revelation 11:3: “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” Christ calls them His two witnesses, not some self-appointed individuals or someone making false claims about his qualifications to fill that position. Notice also Ephesians 4:11 which tells us: “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers…” It is Christ who is choosing and giving His Church men to fill these positions.

Let us look at a few examples of prophets called by God to fulfill His purpose.

One of these prophets is Moses, about whom we read in Exodus 3:1-10:

“Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, ‘I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.’ So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then He said, ‘Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.’

“Moreover He said, ‘I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the LORD said: ‘I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.

“‘Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.’”

Moses was a prophet. Deuteronomy 18:15 says so: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear…’” Moses did not self-appoint himself but he was appointed by God to fulfill the task of bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land. Notice also Deuteronomy 34:10: “But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face…”

Notice also that the prophet Jeremiah was chosen by God. Jeremiah 1:4-5 reads: “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; And I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” He was ordained and selected by God to be a prophet to the nations.

Let us return to Revelation 11 to see what else is revealed about the two witnesses. As quoted above, Revelation 11:3 states: “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” They will be given power or authority or the ability from God (the word “power” has been added by the translator and is not in the original), and they will prophesy for three and a half years, which is the same time frame as the duration of the Great Tribulation.

Revelation 11:5 continues: “And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner.”

This passage does not tell us whether the two witnesses will directly cause the death of their enemies, or whether, what is more likely, God will supernaturally intervene and use them as “vehicles” or “instruments” to bring about the results, thereby proving the fact that they are HIS witnesses.  Something similar occurred in the time of Elijah, as we will discuss below. In any event, it is evident that they must be able to discern real threats from bluffs. They have to be mature and grounded in the faith. Bear in mind also that not everyone has the stomach to participate, in some way, in taking human life which is a serious matter. On the other hand, others might be tempted to abuse and misuse that power.

Let us look in this context at an event in the life of the prophet Elijah. We read in 2 Kings 1:9-14:

“Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men. So he went up to him; and there he was, sitting on the top of a hill. And he spoke to him: ‘Man of God, the king has said, “Come down!”’ So Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, ‘If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.’ And fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. Then he sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty men. And he answered and said to him: ‘Man of God, thus has the king said, “Come down quickly!”’ So Elijah answered and said to them, ‘If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.’ And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. Again, he sent a third captain of fifty with his fifty men. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and pleaded with him, and said to him: ‘Man of God, please let my life and the life of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight. Look, fire has come down from heaven and burned up the first two captains of fifties with their fifties. But let my life now be precious in your sight.’”

Notice that it was fire coming down from God in heaven which devoured the soldiers. But Elijah the prophet had an active role in this matter (he pronounced that this would happen, if God had approved of him as His prophet), and he was not afraid to act as he did. The only reason the third captain did not get killed and his men with him was because he approached Elijah in a humble and fearful manner, which is easy to understand with a hundred dead bodies around him and Elijah still being alive and well.

Later on, even two of Christ’s apostles—James and John, the sons of thunder – misunderstood why and how Elijah acted, and Christ rebuked them by implying that they were, at that moment, influenced by Satan the Devil.  So, this type of power is not given to a novice or to someone who would abuse it.

Let us also review an incident in the life of Samuel the prophet, as recorded in 1 Samuel 15:32-33:

“Then Samuel said, ‘Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.’ So Agag came to him cautiously. And Agag said, ‘Surely the bitterness of death is past.’ But Samuel said, ‘As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.’ And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.”

Samuel just did not kill him with a single blow of the sword, but he hacked him to pieces. King Saul had refused God’s explicit command to kill Agag, so Samuel did what Saul was supposed to have done. Moses had done something similar when he ordered the execution of many Israelites who had worshipped the golden calf. In general, Israel fought in war, and so did David. But as we point out in our free booklet, Should You Fight in War?”, this was never God’s initial intent. In fact, David sinned when he fought in war.  We are not saying here that Samuel and Moses sinned when they acted in the way they did, as they followed God’s explicit command, and so did Abraham when God commanded him to kill his son Isaac (which was a test, because God never intended for Abraham to carry out that task), but we are saying that these examples must in no way be used today by any of us to justify harming or killing others.

Another example regarding Elijah can be found in 1 Kings 18:40: “And Elijah said to them, ‘Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!’ So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.”

The point is, not just anybody can carry out in a proper way what the two witnesses will have to do or participate in doing during the time of their testimony.

What other powers will they have?

Revelation 11:6 states:

“These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.”

They can bring plagues on the earth as often as they desire to make a point or achieve some goal which of course would include the death of human life. This is similar to the plagues of Egypt, including the last one when the firstborn of all people and animals were killed, excluding the Israelites and their livestock. Even though Moses pronounced the plagues, it was still God—not Moses—who carried them out.

So the plagues which will be proclaimed by the two witnesses and carried out by God can affect both man and beast.

This is a grave responsibility which has to be given to the mature. Moses was eighty years of age when he exercised the powers given to him by God. Some prophets were chosen young, others older, but not all had the power ascribed to Elijah and Moses and the two witnesses.

The two witnesses will eventually be killed by the beast power (showing that they are mere men, not angels) and be resurrected when Christ returns. Revelation 11:11-12 tells us: “Now after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here.’ And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.”

Sometime in the future, Christ Himself will use two faithful and chosen servants to carry out a most important task during the Great Tribulation. They will be given powers and responsibilities unheard of or unseen in modern times. We assume that these men are alive today and waiting to be revealed by Christ. We would also assume that the beast and the false prophet are also alive today whom Satan will reveal in due time. Once the task of prophesying and witnessing is complete, the two witnesses will be killed and their dead bodies will lie in the street of Jerusalem, and after three and a half days, they will be resurrected to eternal life to receive their reward in the Kingdom of God, together with all the faithful saints and prophets of old.

Lead Writer: Rene Messier (Canada)

compiled by Dave Harris

Our annual Church Conference was conducted via SKYPE on July 18-19, 2021. All our ministers participated along with several of our deacons and deaconesses.  Several important topics were discussed which focused on more successfully conducting the Work of the Church.

“Why the Devastating Floods in Europe?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

CBS wrote on July 16 that “the scale of the disaster is unlike anything the area has seen in living memory—the worst deluge recorded in the region in more than 200 years…” Newsmax added on July 21 that thousands are still missing who are most likely dead. But why do disasters like these happen? Is it because of man-made global warming, or is the real cause overlooked? And once the cause is identified, do people respond and react in the right way? 

“Hat Noah den Kanaan für Hams Sünde verflucht?” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “Did Noah Curse Canaan for Ham’s Sin?”

“Wahrer Reichtum,” is the title of a split sermon presented last Sabbath in Germany by Thilo Hanstein. Title in English: “Real Wealth.”

“Selbstgerecht,” is the title of a split sermon presented last Sabbath in Germany by Christoph Sperzel. Title in English: “Self Righteous.”

“A Two Front War,” is the title of a split sermon presented last Sabbath by Frank Bruno. Here is a summary:

Increasingly, each day we are barraged directly by Satan’s temptations and challenged by carnal nature which leaves us more susceptible to sin. We also face the work of men and women who confront us with issues and choices which require our discernment and reliance on God for guidance. This can be overwhelming. In this message, we will explore Scriptures that can help us to understand what we are facing, and act as God wants us to.

“Why Watch?” is the title of a split sermon presented last Sabbath by Eric Rank. Here is a summary:

The Bible contains numerous admonitions to watch and pay attention to the world we live in. What are we to watch for, and why is it important to heed these instructions?

We will observe the Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day for 2021, in Rapid City, South Dakota, and near Düsseldorf, Germany.  If you would like more information, check out our websites: https://www.eternalgod.org/feasts/  ; https://www.ewigengottes.de/wir-uber-uns/laubhuttenfest-2021/