On April 10, 2021 Dave Harris will present the sermonette, titled, “The Future is Forever,” and Eric Rank will present the sermon, titled, “God’s Hands.”

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.

In one way or another, most Americans celebrated Easter this year. Around the world, Easter was observed by close to one-hundred nations. By contrast, the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread figured prominently in just one country—the nation of Israel.

While various religious organizations lead the way in Easter observance, only a precious few keep the commanded Holy Days of God falling in this time of the year—those who are members of the True Church of God.

Freely, it is admitted that Easter has been adopted from abject paganism. Yet, people who could and certainly should know better call this a “Christian observance.” But this is nothing less than the proverbial attempt of putting lipstick on a pig and calling it pretty. Making up how God is worshipped is rejected by God, and He condemns those who do so!

God expressed His contempt to ancient Israel and Judah for their pagan worship practices—and His warnings apply today:

“‘Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them’” (Isaiah 1:14); and, “‘I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies’” (Amos 5:21).

Unless we observe only God’s commanded Holy Days, God will not accept us or our false and useless worship! The one holiday so dear to many nominally professing Christians, Christmas, is based on downright demonic worship—it has nothing to do with the true Son of God! Short of national days of thanksgiving, prayer or even repentance and fasting, God does not hear—He won’t accept evil!

“‘Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!’” (Isaiah 5:20).

Great national punishment is coming from God. Whole nations will go into captivity, war will ravage the earth and life, itself, will come to the brink of total destruction. Why? Because of violence and rebellion against God! Few understand and still fewer are taking God’s warnings seriously.

To escape these terrible times and to have God’s protection, we must submit to His Will for us. That includes obeying Him by keeping His true Holy Days: the Seventh Day (Sabbath) and the Annual Feast Days of God.

Regarding what we who are living in this godless society should be doing, God warns us: “‘Come out of her my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues’” (Revelation 18:4).

by Norbert Link

We begin with an eye-opening article on the wealth and influence of the Catholic and Protestant churches in Germany; further talk about the establishment of a European army; the shameful collaboration of the EU and the USA against Israel and in favor of the PA; the hateful efforts of the WCC to hurt, smear and destroy Israel; and the shortsighted actions of the USA towards the ICC.

We continue with an alarming buildup of Russian troops at Ukraine’s border; Europe’s new lockdown rules and further dictatorial ambitions, especially in Germany, with their potentially devastating, but largely overlooked consequences for liberty and freedom; and we ask the question as to how reliable polls are when allegedly revealing the feeling of the people.

We report on police actions to enforce coronavirus restrictions in England, Canada and Ireland with remarkably different results and reactions; and address the question as to whether Facebook has become a new worldwide empire with Mark Zuckerberg being its Roman Emperor.

We speak on controversial actions by the Disney franchise; an outrageously blasphemous and demonic development by California’s Department of Education pertaining to the state’s school system [In this context, please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Aztec Demons in California’s Schools?”]; outspoken and true words by the Archbishop of Canterbury; the speculation that Princess Anne spoke on Harry’s and Megan’s child but that she was misquoted; Donald Trump’s advice to parents as to how to deal with their children pertaining to addictive substances; and a short clip about the paganism of Easter bonfires.

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

Germany’s Christianity

Deutsche Welle wrote on April 1:

“The Holy Roman Empire, the birthplace of Protestantism, the battlefields of Christian theology. The lands that make up modern Germany once had front-row seats to some of the most significant developments both in the history of Europe and of Christianity. Today, those Christian roots are hard to overlook. Public holidays based on Catholic and Protestant beliefs provide highly-anticipated vacation days that go beyond just Christmas and Easter. And while ‘Christian’ political parties — Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and the Bavarian Christian Socialist Union, for example — are considered traditional rather than religious, the parties’ names make it clear they were conceived on the basis of Christian values…

“Roughly 45.7 million Germans identify as Christian, be they Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox or non-denominational. That’s nearly 55 percent of German society, according to figures from 2019. The Muslim population comprises approximately 5 percent (4.5 million) of the population; the Jewish community 0.1 percent (94,7000)… The majority of Germany’s Christians are registered as either Catholic (22.6 million) or Protestant (20.7 million)…

“In 2019, the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church collected a record-breaking €6.76 billion ($7.94 billion) and €5.95 billion ($6.98 billion) in church tax, respectively. The right for churches to collect a de-facto membership fee in the form of a tax dates back to 1919… The rate is currently set at 9 percent of one’s income… And as the Finance Ministry handles the tax for them… it also receives a neat 3 percent of the total, which added up to €380 million in 2016…

“The two churches own at least 830,000 hectares  (8,300 square kilometers or 3,200 square miles) of land… The churches themselves have disclosed tens of thousands of buildings that they each hold in addition to at least 21,100 Protestant and 24,500 Catholic churches. When examining buildings related to the churches’ roles in healthcare, education, and charitable work, the Catholic Church has at least 66,000 additional holdings and the Protestant Church a further 50,000…  Moreover, they receive state funds to compensate for property losses dating back to the early 1800s when Napoleon upended the Holy Roman Empire. According to broadcaster Deutschlandfunk, this amounted to nearly €500 million in 2017 and comes from taxpayers whether they belong to a church or not…

“Another reason Catholic and Protestant interests are so visible in German society is the seats church representatives are granted on supervisory boards across a wide variety of organizations. There, the churches sit alongside other interest groups such as conservationists, union leaders, and experts from a range of fields in the name of representing an important demographic. By way of example, the two churches have a voice on public broadcasting councils, from the nationwide ARD and ZDF to the regional WDR, to the international Deutsche Welle (DW), which receives federal funds. Included in these councils’ oversight tasks is helping to select the director-general. Given the innumerable supervisory boards across Germany, it is next to impossible to know exactly how many of these seats are held by the churches….

“When asked by German pollster INSA in 2017 if they believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, only 52 percent of Catholics and 48 percent of Protestants said yes. When asked if they believed in life after death, only 40 percent of Catholics and 32 percent of Protestants said they did…”

This article gives additional meaning to the description of the fallen woman in Revelation 17, riding the beast and being called “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots” (verse 5).

Talks about a European Army

Express wrote on March 31:

“Last week, Brussels rubberstamped a £4.3billion defence project which has been tipped to pave the way for the long-proposed EU army. French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel have both reportedly expressed interest in such a move, particularly after the US pulled out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2018.The so-called EU army doesn’t exist at the moment, with military powers organised individually by the 27 EU member states.

“But during an interview with Welt in Germany, Bundestag President and CDU politician Wolfgang Schäuble [said:] ‘We don’t have much time. We live in a dangerous world in which Europe needs an operational, modern army. The Germans would be up for it. They would immediately be willing to give up a national army…’

“France’s former Defence Minister Sylvie Goulard, who was also taking part in the same interview with Die Welt,… said: ‘Most of the French would not have any reservations about forming a common army with the Germans… It’s a matter of life and death. It must not happen that when the first coffins return to Europe, self-doubts arise about the fundamental necessity of the common army.’”

A European Army will arrive.

EU and USA in Collaboration to Establish a Palestinian State

Israel Today wrote on April 1:

“Two new scandals involving the Palestinian Authority (PA), the European Union, and the current US Administration of President Joe Biden were revealed by Israel’s Channel 13 News and the US news organization The Washington Free Beacon. The scandals show that instead of consolidating its sovereignty in Judea and Samaria (or the so-called ‘West Bank’), Israel is losing the battle over its Biblical heartland. Both the European Union and the Biden Administration are helping the PA to establish a terrorist state in this area.

“Last week, Channel 13 broadcast a blockbuster two-part documentary about the shocking activities of the European Union (EU) in the so-called ‘Area C’ in Judea and Samaria. This area was assigned to Israel under the Oslo Accords and COGAT, the Civil Administration of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), [and it] is responsible for daily affairs there, including issuing building permits… Arabic-speaking employees of this organization disguised themselves as Arabs and went undercover into the Palestinian Authority (PA) to investigate exactly what are the activities of the EU in Area C. The investigation clearly showed that the EU is secretly helping the PA to create a Palestinian state in Area C, as well as Arab Jerusalem… The EU, the United Nations and certain Arab countries are funding the entire project to the tune of three billion euros…

“Then there was a shocking report by Adam Kredo, an investigative reporter for The Washington Free Beacon, an US-based news site. Kredo’s article was about an as yet unpublished US State Department report that described how the PA continues to use foreign aid to pay stipends to jailed Palestinian terrorists and the families of so-called ‘martyrs,’ Palestinian Arabs who died during terrorist attacks. The report stated that the PA has continued to use foreign financial aid to fund payments to terrorists held in Israeli jails for attacks on Israelis until this very day. In 2019, the PA further distributed $191 million to the families of shahids (Islamic martyrs), according to Kredo.

“The funding of these practices by the PA are prohibited under US law, and it was the reason the Trump Administration cut off financial aid to the PA. The new US administration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris has decided to resume financial aid to Palestinian Arabs in Gaza and the West Bank, the State Department stated in the report. ‘The State Department admitted it was unable to certify to Congress that the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization are complying with the Taylor Force Act, the legislation that prohibits funding the PA as long as it continues its “pay to slay” policy,’ Kredo wrote. He furthermore reported that in 2020 the PA allegedly allocated $155 million in foreign aid for its ‘pay to slay’ in program….”

It’s the world against Israel. Note the next article.

The World Council of Churches’ (WCC) Fight Against Israel

 Israel 365 wrote on April 3:

“With an annual budget of almost $30 million, the WCC is succeeding in hurting Israel.  Formed as a collective of 347 churches, denominations and church fellowships in more than 110 countries and territories… it plays a key role in mobilizing churches worldwide to support international… campaigns against Israel.

“The WCC is a central promoter of the Kairos Palestine document, which characterizes terrorist acts of ‘armed resistance’ as ‘Palestinian legal resistance,’ denies the Jewish historical connection to Israel in theological terms, calls to mobilize churches worldwide in the call for BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions], and compares Israel with the South African apartheid regime.

“The WCC is also critical of Christian Zionism, claiming that ‘Christians who promote “Christian Zionism” distort the interpretation of the word of God and the historic connection of Palestinians—Christians and Muslims—to the Holy Land, enable the manipulation of public opinion by Zionist lobbies, and damage intra-Christian relations.’ In February 2021,… Frank Chikane, moderator of the WCC’s Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (WCC-CCIA)… portrayed Israel as ‘demons’ and stating that ‘those who support Israel to brutalize Palestinians,… the blood of the people of Palestine will be sought from them because they collaborate by allowing this system to continue.’…

“In June 2017, the WCC published and circulated a letter by the National Coalition of Christian Organizations in Palestine that called on the UK to apologize for the Balfour Declaration, labeled Israel a ‘colonial state,’ and portrayed Palestinians as the true victims of the Holocaust.”

USA Removes Sanctions against ICC

JTA wrote on April 2:

“The Biden administration removed sanctions that President Donald Trump had imposed on International Criminal Court officials while continuing to decry the ICC’s work targeting U.S. and Israeli personnel. ‘These decisions reflect our assessment that the measures adopted were inappropriate and ineffective,’ Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday in a statement. ‘We continue to disagree strongly with the ICC’s actions relating to the Afghanistan and Palestinian situations,’ Blinken said, referring to separate investigations into alleged war crimes by U.S. and Israeli personnel.

“‘We maintain our longstanding objection to the Court’s efforts to assert jurisdiction over personnel of non-States Parties such as the United States and Israel,’ he said, referring to the fact that neither Israel or the United States have accepted ICC jurisdiction. ‘We believe, however, that our concerns about these cases would be better addressed through engagement with all stakeholders in the ICC process rather than through the imposition of sanctions.’

“Trump last year imposed economic sanctions and travel restrictions against ICC workers directly involved in investigating American troops and intelligence officials for possible war crimes in Afghanistan. In the same executive order, Trump said he may extend the sanctions against investigations into U.S. allies, naming Israel. Israel backed Trump’s sanctions and reportedly asked Biden not to remove them.

“The Palestinian Authority in February cleared a major hurdle to getting the ICC to prosecute Israelis when an ICC panel decided the court has jurisdiction to investigate Israelis and Palestinian terrorists, including from Hamas, for alleged crimes during the 2014 Gaza War.”

What a terrible shortsightedness by the USA towards the ICC.

Russian Buildup of Troops at Ukraine’s Border

Express wrote on April 3:

“Russian troops are gathering close to the border with Ukraine, a move which has sparked concern across the West…

“Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he was ‘gravely concerned’ at the situation, while US President Joe Biden offered reassurances to Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a 50-minute phone conversation yesterday. Ukraine, Western countries and NATO have all accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of sending troops and heavy weapons to prop up proxies in Donbass who seized a swathe of eastern Ukraine in 2014, at the same time Russia annexed the Crimea.

 “Kyiv and Moscow have blamed each other in recent weeks for a spike in violence in the eastern Donbass region, where Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed forces have fought a conflict which has killed 14,000 people in seven years by Ukraine’s estimate. Russia says it only provides political and humanitarian support to separatist fighters in what it casts as an internal conflict. However, speaking yesterday, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the BBC Russia troops were massing at Ukraine’s northern and eastern borders, as well as ‘in the illegally occupied Crimea’. He added: ‘So from three directions we observed a military build-up of the Russian federation. Ukraine is not looking for any escalation – we do not need war.’

“Mr Kuleba has discussed matters with Mr Raab, who subsequently tweeted that he had ‘reaffirmed UK support for Ukraine’s sovereignty & territorial integrity’. He added: ‘We are gravely concerned about Russian military activity which threatens Ukraine.’ After his conversation with Mr Biden, President Zelenskiy said: ‘… President Biden assured me that Ukraine will never be left alone against Russia’s aggression.’…

“The Kremlin said yesterday any deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine would lead to further tensions near Russia’s borders and force Moscow to take extra measures to ensure its own security… Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters yesterday that the situation at the contact line in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatist forces was quite frightening and that multiple ‘provocations’ were taking place there….

“In a statement issued on Thursday, the European Union said: ‘… the Russian Federation has launched yet another conscription campaign in the illegally-annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to draft residents of the peninsula in the Russian Federation Armed Forces. This is another violation of international humanitarian law…’”

The Daily Star added on April 3:

“Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer has warned WW3 could be sparked by rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine… The terrifying alert has come after footage was widely shared on social media showing suspected large scale Russian military movements in regions close to rebel-held eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea… With tension sharply rising, Pavel Felgenhauer, who has written several books about Russia’s political and military leadership… warned events could see ‘war in a month’… ‘The crisis has the potential to escalate into a pan-European war, if not even a world one,’ Felgenhauer warned starkly in an interview with Rosbalt news outlet in Russia…

“‘In the West, they don’t know what to do about it.’… He claimed all the conditions could be in place by early May when Russia will hold a major Red Square parade to mark the anniversary of victory in World War Two, and he suspects a ‘decision has been made already… Some (in the West) say that the Russians should not be provoked, and military intervention is too risky. Others, on the contrary, are in favour of unification (of Russia and Ukraine) and open confrontation…’”

France 24 wrote on April 2:

“Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that most of Ukraine’s military appeared to understand the danger of a ‘hot conflict’ in Donbass. ‘I very much hope that they will not be “incited” by politicians, who in turn will be “incited” by the West, led by the United States,’ said Lavrov. ‘Russian President Putin said (this) not long ago, but this statement is still relevant today, that those who would try to start a new war in Donbass – will destroy Ukraine.’”

Newsmax added on April 4:

“The U.S. European Command has raised its threat level as Russia has increased its aggression in Eastern Europe and the Arctic over the last two weeks, including Moscow’s buildup of military troops and equipment in eastern Ukraine and an ‘unusual peak’ of Russian warplanes flying near Alaskan airspace…”

According to the Bible, Russia and Ukraine will unite to ultimately fight Europe.

Russia-Ukraine Situation Cause for Concern

 Deutsche Welle reported on April 8:

 “Mykhailo Samus of the Kyiv Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies, is convinced that Moscow has long been preparing for an invasion and has already begun concentrating equipment and troops along the border with Ukraine. The analyst says, ‘Russia has effectively created three new armies encircling Ukraine.’ He says six submarines armed with Kalibr cruise missiles — which are capable of carrying nuclear warheads — have been dispatched to Crimea…”

 CNN wrote on April 8:

 “The United States is considering sending warships into the Black Sea in the next few weeks in a show of support for Ukraine…

 “White House press secretary Jen Psaki said…, ‘The United States is increasingly concerned by recently escalating Russian aggressions in eastern Ukraine, including Russia’s movements on Ukraine’s border. Russia now has more troops on the border of Ukraine than any time since 2014. Five Ukrainian soldiers have been killed this week alone…’

 “On Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw troops in order to de-escalate the situation… According to a Kremlin readout of the call, Putin accused Kyiv of ‘provocative actions.’”

 The Daily Star wrote on April 8:

 “It is feared that within days more than 95,000 assault troops, backed by tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery and even thermobaric rocket batteries will be ready to invade. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops— including reservists—have been called up to the border and US advisers are believed to be ‘in [the] country’… American intelligence assessments grade the threat of a major Russia-Ukraine flare-up as [a] ‘potential imminent crisis’ as stated by their European operations centre EUCOM…

 “More than ten heavily-armed Russian warships are now steaming towards the Caspian Sea from the Black Sea, armed with artillery and other weapons to back Putin’s land forces…”

Europe’s New Lockdown Rules and Germany’s Ambitions

Deutsche Welle wrote on April 2:

“Since the start of the pandemic, the Scandinavian country [of Sweden] has… kept bans and prohibitions to a minimum. However, since the start of January this year the government has been clamping down a little more. It passed a new set of  measures… but in comparison with other EU countries, these are very mild. A maximum of four are allowed to sit at a single table in a restaurant. Up to eight people are allowed to meet. Shops and tourist accommodation remain open.”

It does not look like as if Sweden fares worse than the European lockdown countries.  Still, it was announced that a majority of Germans want stricter and tougher lockdown rules and that Angela Merkel should have more authority over the German states. Of course, one has to be very careful with those polls as many are manipulated and ask ambiguous questions. Still, if true, do these Germans really know what they are asking for?

Former German Minister of Interior, Thomas de Maizière (CDU), is demanding a change of the German constitution to allow the enforcement of emergency laws (“Ausnahmezustand”) by the government in case of a crisis (Die Welt, April 3).

The Guardian reported on April 5:

“The interior minister, Horst Seehofer, said a nationwide approach was the only way for the country to effectively fight the virus’s spread. ‘There is a great desire among the population for unified rules,’ he told the newspaper Welt am Sontag. ‘Therefore my proposal is to establish uniform rules with a federal law … which would prescribe which measures have to be taken according to the incidence value.’”

Such a law would deprive the German states of their authority… a dangerous precedence for Germany’s government which has historically proven to abuse empowering laws once it has the chance.

 The Associated Press reported on April 3 that “Germany’s president [Frank-Walter Steinmeier] says the country is enduring a ‘crisis of trust’… amid pandemic restrictions and dissatisfaction over the government´s response… [He] conceded that ‘there were mistakes’ regarding testing, digital solutions and vaccinations.” “Mistakes” is a very mild term. In fact, Germany’s mishandling shows complete incompetence of Germany’s leaders while they are desperately trying, including through unconstitutional dictatorial means, to stay in power.

Deutsche Welle wrote on April 5:

“North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) State Premier Armin Laschet called for a harder lockdown [or “bridge lockdown”] on Monday… However, Laschet’s request has been met with skepticism from fellow German lawmakers… The chairman of the CDU and one of [Merkel’s] potential successors as chancellor…  is asking for fewer private contacts, which could require curfews at night, and for more people to work from home… ‘I think a lot of what Mr Laschet says is unclear,’ said Berlin State Premier Michael Mueller (SPD)… ‘I don’t think Mr Laschet has thought things through.’

“The co-chairwoman of The Left party, Janine Wissler also criticized Laschet… ‘Whether his proposals are based on insight or because he has lost the power struggle against the chancellor, remains [to] be seen. In any case, this crisis management makes one become fearful and anxious.’”

Laschet’s NRW has become one of the most dictatorial and liberty-restricting states in Germany—and not only in regard to coronavirus measures and lockdowns.

The Daily Mail wrote on April 7:

“Angela Merkel has called for a ‘short national lockdown’ to curb Germany’s coronavirus crisis… It comes a fortnight [two weeks] after Merkel made a humiliating apology for the ‘mistake’ of trying to impose a five-day Easter lockdown… But today, her spokeswoman, Ulrike Demmer signalled another flip-flop by the Chancellor.”

According to Bild Online, dated April 7, Bavaria’s Markus Soeder rejected these concepts, saying that this is not the time for “experiments” and that the present coronavirus infection numbers in Germany do not give an accurate and honest picture. Actually, they have not done so for a long time.

Reuters reported on March 31:

“Finland’s government has withdrawn a proposal to confine people largely to their own homes in several cities to help curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic… The decision followed a statement from a constitutional law committee that deemed the proposal too vague and not in compliance with the constitution.”

The Brussels Times wrote on March 31:

“The Belgian State has been ordered to lift ‘all coronavirus measures’ within 30 days, as the legal basis for them is insufficient, a Brussels court ruled on Wednesday… The judge gave the Belgian State 30 days to provide a sound legal basis, or face a penalty of €5,000 per day that this period is exceeded, with a maximum limit of €200,000…”

Other (European) countries should follow Finland’s and Belgium’s lead.

ECHR: Compulsory Vaccinations May Be Necessary!

 Deutsche Welle wrote on April 8:

 “The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg ruled Thursday that compulsory vaccinations  would not contravene human rights law and may be necessary in democratic societies. The ruling came following conclusion of a complaint brought to the court by Czech families regarding compulsory jabs for children… Although the ruling did not deal directly with COVID-19 vaccines, experts believe it could have implications for the vaccination drive against the virus, especially for those who have so far stated a refusal to accept the jab.

“This judgment ‘reinforces the possibility of a compulsory vaccination under conditions of the current COVID-19 epidemic,’ Nicolas Hervieu, a legal expert specializing in the ECHR, told AFP news agency… The decision said that the compulsory vaccines administered by Czech health authorities were in line with the ‘best interests’ of children… By Czech law, children must be vaccinated against nine diseases including diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and measles. The case was brought to the court by families who had been fined, or whose children had been refused access to a nursery for failing to comply with their legal vaccination duty.”

How Reliable Are Big Surveys regarding Vaccine Passports?

Breitbart wrote on April 1:

“Britain is a nation of cowed, compliant, gullible, vaccine passport bootlickers, if you believe the latest survey from Ipsos MORI. Apparently, eight out of 10 Britons think there should be ‘vaccine passports’ for people who want to work as ‘a frontline worker or in the NHS or care sector’. A majority (58 per cent) actually believe you ought to take the jab merely to be allowed to travel on public transport. Have the liberty-loving British really turned so quickly into a nation of joyless, vaccine-compliant, Big-Government-worshipping bootlickers?

“I have my doubts… lots of people [are] enjoying themselves in the sun at Nottingham Park… mainstream media lockdown addicts tried to reframe this as a ‘Covidiots go mad outdoors’ disaster story. But what I see is people behaving naturally — and not buying into the government narrative that coronavirus is just waiting to kill them as soon as they open their mouths…

“Ipsos MORI… suggests to respondents that if ‘vaccine passports’ are adopted, it ‘could lead to coronavirus restrictions being lifted more quickly.’ Ipsos MORI must know — because everyone is feeling it — that people are now so desperate for ‘coronavirus restrictions’ to be ‘lifted more quickly’ that they’d happily sell their grandmothers into slavery and their children to Satan…

“At the time of writing, 90 per cent of respondents have answered that they think the results of COVID polls from the big polling companies are ‘poll-ox’. For once, this is an unscientific opinion poll with credibility.”

Depending on how issues are framed and whether “leading” questions are asked, the desired poll results are predictable.

Police in London Shut Down Worship Service

The Daily Mail wrote on April 3:

“A Good Friday service at a Polish church was shut down by police for breaching Covid rules as worshippers were threatened with £200 fines. Officers shut down the religious ceremony in Balham High Street, south London, at around 5pm yesterday. Footage shared on social media shows an officer tell worshippers that the gathering is ‘unlawful’ and that they have to go home.

“But the parish Parafia Chrystusa Krola — Christ the Believer — has issued a statement saying it believes police ‘brutally exceeded their powers’…

“Official coronavirus guidance states communal worship or prayer can be attended by as many people as a place of worship can accommodate, as long as they are socially distanced. People are also encouraged not to mingle after a service and go back to their homes as quickly as possible.

“In the video, a police officer tells a church full of worshippers wearing face masks that they have to stop the Good Friday service. He says: ‘You are not allowed to meet inside with this many people under law. At this moment in time you need to go home. Failure to comply with this direction to leave and go to your home address, ultimately could lead you to be fined £200 or, if you fail to give your details, to you being arrested…’

“People on social media have slammed the police for shutting down the service, labelling the handling of the situation ‘disproportionate‘. One wrote: ‘I’m actually ashamed of what you did on Good Friday of all days. Stop hiding behind Covid transmission, when we see large scale protests being facilitated at this very minute in London.’”

Breitbart added on April 4:

“The move caused considerable anger among conservatives who traditionally back the police in the face of violent protesters calling to defund them, accusations of ‘institutional racism’, and so on, with Brexit champion Nigel Farage, for example, sharing a video of the ‘bust’ and commenting, ‘I want to support our police forces but this sort of thing makes it very difficult.’”

The police action would have been clearly disproportionate and inexcusable. Sadly, such autocratic actions are not limited to England. Paris just deployed 6,600 police to enforce new coronavirus lockdown rules “which include a ban on traveling more than 10 kilometers (6 miles), a ban on outdoor gatherings of six people or more and a continued nationwide 7 p.m. curfew” (Breitbart, April 3).

Polish Church Stands Up to Police in Canada

Breitbart reported on April 4:

“Police were … expelled from a Polish church in Alberta, Canada after disrupting an Easter service… Pastor Artur Pawlowski ordered the six officers who descended on the Cave of Adullam Church out of the property… accusing them of ‘intimidating people in a church during the Passover’… Pawloski said to the camera as the officers walked away. ‘Passover. The holiest Christian festival in a year, and they’re coming to intimidate Christians during the holiest festival — unbelievable!’ he exclaimed…

“The pastor had been polite but firm with the half-dozen officers originally, telling them: ‘Please get out, get out of this property, immediately get out’ as they clustered together a short distance inside the building. He became markedly firmer as they attempted to linger and put questions to him, insisting: ‘I don’t want to hear a word. Out! Out! Out of this property immediately, until you come back with a warrant — out!’

“Pawloski chastised them as ‘Nazis’ and declared that ‘Gestapo is not welcome here’ as they straggled out, largely in silence…”

The parallels are there, except that the Gestapo, once in full power, might have used their guns and shot everyone.

But Not So in Ireland

ADF International wrote on April 1:

“Irish Christians cannot gather to worship at church this Easter Weekend. This month marks nearly a full year of the blanket ban on public worship being in place throughout the country. Supermarkets and hardware stores remain open with precautions in place, as well as public transport – yet churches are deemed too dangerous to open their doors, even to masked and distanced worshippers… In response to a challenge at the High Court, the government has confirmed that it is a criminal offense for a priest to conduct mass unless for the purpose of a funeral or a wedding. Similarly, worshippers could face a fine or up to 6 months jail time for leaving their homes to attend a place of worship…

“Recently, Scotland’s top civil court found that a similar blanket ban on worship was unlawful… In November, Westminster’s chief medical and scientific advisors conceded that evidence for church closures was… ‘not based on scientific fact.’”

In light of such inconsistent guesswork, words fail…

Facebook—the new Roman Empire?

Breitbart wrote on April 3:

“Here’s a recent headline to ponder from… Axios: ‘The sovereign state of Facebook vs. the world.’… Axios was exaggerating, of course; Facebook is not a sovereign state (although it does plan to issue its own currency). So yes, Facebook is huge and powerful, bidding to be a key partner in… the international reordering of world power, in favor of the powerful. As the article details: ‘Facebook’s 3 billion monthly active users, its mountain of money and its control over the flow of information all put the company on an equal footing with governments around the world — and, increasingly, it’s getting into fights with them’…

“… every conservative recalls that back in January, Facebook banned Donald Trump, even as it continued to allow repressive foreign countries, such as the People’s Republic of China (PRC), as well as left-wing extremists, to flourish on its site. Heck, it’s been reported that Facebook has actually hired citizens of the PRC to help with its censoring.

“Meanwhile, Facebook’s March 3 announcement that it would resume accepting American political advertisements was treated as huge news… Facebook is the single most important media company in America today, and so of course politicians are happy to pay to be seen on its platform.

“… Facebook… founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg [displays] many similarities [with] Augustus Caesar, the first Roman emperor… Zuckerberg has manifestly sought to model himself after that ancient empire-builder…

 “Zuckerberg and Facebook have been fashioning themselves into some sort of world state.  Just last month, The New Yorker magazine published a 7,500-word article, headlined, ‘Inside the Making of Facebook’s Supreme Court.’ As the piece detailed, Facebook has spent more than $100 million to create its own planetary governing body, formally known as the Oversight Board, aimed at adjudicating questions of content and censorship…

“Its stock price has increased by more than a third in the last year, such that Zuckerberg himself is worth almost $100 billion. And yet still, empires fall… no empire, no greatness, is permanent… And yet the globe-girdling social network has so much embedded power and momentum that it will likely do just fine in the future; for instance, if Facebook can work with the Democrats to put the focus on heavy content-moderation, it can create a barrier against smaller rivals, which won’t be able to afford such content-moderation… the Biden administration’s new trade chief, Katherine Tai, announced  just on March 26 that the U.S. government would be imposing tariffs on countries that added taxes to big U.S. digital firms, including Facebook…”

The dangerous influence and power of Facebook is obvious.

Star Wars’ Trans Jedi Knights

Breitbart wrote on March 31:

“The official Facebook page for the Star Wars movie franchise celebrated ‘Trans Day of Visibility’ on Wednesday by unveiling the recently created characters Terec and Ceret, who are ‘trans non-binary Jedi Knights.’ ‘In honor of #TransDayOfVisibility,’ the caption to the artwork reads, ‘we’re proud to unveil an exclusive cover highlighting Terec and Ceret, trans non-binary Jedi, currently featured in Marvel’s The High Republic comic. We support trans lives and we are passionate and committed to broadening our representation in a galaxy far far way.’

“The High Republic project is a new multi-media ‘sub-franchise’ made up of books for kids, young adult and adult novels, and comic books intended to expand the Star Wars universe into all new stories set 200 years before the saga of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. The Star Wars franchise has taken criticism from left-wing activists for its reluctance to introduce fully realized LGBTQ characters into its Skywalker saga movies, books, and comics.

“LGBT Star Wars characters often appeared in fan stories before Disney bought the franchise but some also appeared in officially licensed computer games, novels, and comics. But the blockbuster movies steered clear of gay representation for the most part, bringing criticism onto the franchise. Disney included a lesbian kissing scene in 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Disney made headlines later when it removed the lesbian kiss scene from the film in Singapore, bending to the country’s strict rules surrounding LGBT content in Singapore

“The effort to add LGBT characters has become a concerted effort since 2012, when Disney acquired the property from Lucasfilm for $4 billion. Since the purchase, Disney has been steadily adding LGBT characters to every part of the franchise. The characters are considered ‘cannon,’ and are therefore sanctioned and permanent additions to Star Wars stories.”

At the same time, the Disney franchise warns against Disney movies such as Peter Pan, Dumbo or Aristocats as racially or ethnically problematic. Disney would turn in his grave if he knew what has become of his accomplishments.

California’s Schools to Destroy Christianity?

Israel 365 News wrote on March 29:

“The Department of Education in California… has approved a 900-page ‘Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum’ designed to ‘decolonize’ America. The program aims to right the supposed wrongs of the imperial Christianity that swept the Americas clean of their indigenous religions. The curriculum’s core promise is that it will help root out Christianity, and the capitalism and racism that apparently came with it.

“To empower children as forces for ending such white colonialist hangovers, pupils are being instructed to pray in chants each day to Aztec gods that formerly sacrificed (and sometimes ate parts of) children and their parents. The curriculum instructs the pupils to invoke these gods to empower themselves as ‘social warriors’…

“Huitzilopochtli, the former Aztec god of war and sun, is expected to be particularly helpful in the new curriculum’s mission to right these wrongs. Students are encouraged to entreat Huitzilopochtli (a deity who inspired hundreds of thousands of human sacrifices during Aztec rule) to endow themselves with ‘a revolutionary spirit’ in order to bring ‘transformation’ in combatting ‘white supremacy, racism and other forms of power and oppression.’

“It is not enough, apparently, in today’s ethnic studies to learn about other religions. Children must be made to practice those religions… the new curriculum ‘recommends that teachers lead their students in a series of indigenous songs, chants, and affirmations, including the “In Lak Ech Affirmation,” which appeals directly to the Aztec gods.’ As the pupils chant and clap to the gods, including Tezkatlipoka (the vengeful god of night and sorcery), Quetzalcoatl (the Feathered Serpent regarded as the god of wind and rain), and Xipe Totek (the life-death-rebirth deity who wears a suit of flayed human skin), they will be instructed to seek ‘healing beliefs’ while attaining revolutionary empowerment. The students will shout ‘Panche beh! Panche beh…! You are my other self,’ appealing to the gods to give them critical consciousness.”IF TRUE, then this would be the most blatant blasphemous attempt of California’s Department of Education to teach our children idolatrous concepts and practices in complete violation of God’s biblical commands NEVER to do that.

Village News wrote on March 30:

“California’s state education board unanimously approved a model ethnic studies curriculum Thursday, March 25, after years of divisive debate, multiple drafts and more than 100,000 public comments about the proposal. The nearly 900-page curriculum focuses on ‘historically marginalized peoples’ – particularly racial minorities – and calls on students to study the ‘imperialism, settler colonialism and genocide, both cultural and physical’ of those peoples.

“The curriculum made national headlines early in March after Discovery Institute scholar Christopher Rufo, who researches ‘woke’ ideology in public education, released details of a draft lesson plan about pre-Columbian American history. The lesson plan called for the ‘decolonization’ of American society and would have students chant to the Aztec god of human sacrifice. One of the ‘lesson resources’ included in the draft curriculum would have teachers lead students in an ‘ethnic studies community chant’ to various Aztec gods for the power to become ‘warriors’ of social justice. The lesson plan linked a video showing what appeared to be students participating in a unity chant with similar language described.

“The ‘chants, affirmations, and energizer can be used as energizers to bring the class together, build unity around ethnic studies principles and values and to reinvigorate the class following a lesson that may be emotionally taxing or even when student engagement may appear to be low,’ according to the draft curriculum.

“Tezkatlipoka, one of the Aztec gods mentioned in the chant, is associated with cannibalism and human sacrifice according to the World History Encyclopedia…

“In a March 10 report about the curriculum published in City Journal, Rufo detailed the radical ideas espoused by R. Tolteka Cuauhtin, the original co-chair of the ethnic studies curriculum who worked on the pre-Columbian American history material. Cuauhtin’s book ‘Rethinking Ethnic Studies,’ which is referenced throughout the lesson plan, denounced the U.S. as a ‘Eurocentric, White supremacist, capitalist, patriarchal, heteropatriarchal and anthropocentric paradigm.’ Cuauhtin also claimed White Christians are responsible for ‘coloniality, dehumanization and genocide’ against Native Americans because European colonization of the Americas led to the replacement of indigenous religions with Christianity.

“The curriculum materials call for ‘transformational resistance’ against the ‘hegemonic Eurocentric neocolonial condition.’ One of the terms included in the lesson plan is ‘countergenocide.’ ‘The chants have a clear implication: the displacement of the Christian God, which is said to be an extension of White supremacist oppression and the restoration of the indigenous gods to their rightful place in the social justice cosmology,’ Rufo said in City Journal.

“The ethnic studies curriculum may have been approved by the state education board, but it is still only a recommendation for districts that want to incorporate ethnic studies and not yet a statewide requirement….”

However, it is to be feared that many schools and teachers in California will adopt these blasphemous concepts and practices, and that other states will follow California’s terrible lead.

Snopes, a California fact-checking website which is considered “one of the best” by the left-wing media, and which is run by a couple (husband and wife), wrote on March 31:

“The California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC), which schools can voluntarily adopt or not, suggests that students participate in a ‘community chant’ that includes references to ‘tezkatlipoka’ and ‘huitzilopochtli,’ which are translated as ‘self reflection’ and ‘the will to act,’ respectively. Some historical accounts describe those words as the names of gods to whom the Aztecs carried out human sacrifices. However… Tezkatlipoca and huitzilopochtli are presented in the community chant not as gods of human sacrifice, but as the names of broad indigenous concepts that teach students self-reflection and action…”

Even if the last comments were true, it would make no difference (in fact, it would make it even more dangerous due to the intentional cover-up and secrecy as to what was happening) because these names clearly are associated with awful pagan gods or demons, and the Apostle Paul tells us that we are not to come in contact with demons in any way. Snopes also falsely claims in the article that accounts of mass human sacrifices by Aztecs, if true at all, are largely exaggerated.

Archbishop of Canterbury Warns Against Suppression of Opinion

 Daily Mail wrote on March 31:

“The Archbishop of Canterbury has railed against the creeping trend of cancel culture as a ‘huge threat’ to the Church of England’s future. Justin Welby also defended the right to freedom of speech after a teacher was suspended for showing his class a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad. In a rare intervention, the head of the Church waded into the row engulfing the school in Batley, West Yorkshire, where the teacher has gone into hiding after furious protests from Muslim parents….

“He further slammed cancel culture and those that are trying to expunge Britain’s history. Statues of controversial figures have been targeted by campaigners, and last year a Bristol monument to the slave trader Edward Colston was memorably toppled… Welby said: ‘We can’t erase the past. It’s impossible. We have to learn from it sometimes, often, always… We cannot cancel history. We cannot cancel differences of opinion.’ …

“The Archbishop noted it was an alarming trend growing at UK universities, where controversial speakers have been no-platformed.”

Not Race, but Suitability?

Daily Mail wrote on April 2:

“Lady Colin Campbell today claimed that Princess Anne is the royal Meghan and Harry accused of racism in their bombshell interview with Oprah – but insisted the Queen’s daughter was completely misunderstood by the Sussexes…

“’There were no concerns about Meghan’s colour. Princess Anne was rightly concerned that if the marriage proceeded and there were children there would be huge problems, not because of Meghan’s colour, but because of Meghan’s inability and determination to remain unable to appreciate the cultural differences’. “

Trump Warns against Use of Addictive Substances

The New York Post wrote on April 2:

“Former President Donald Trump took a thinly veiled shot at his White House successor, saying the key to good parenting is keeping kids away from drugs, cigarettes and booze. The… father of five took the apparent swipe at President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter — who has detailed his lifelong struggles with alcohol and drugs in a new memoir — during a Thursday interview with Real America’s Voice anchor Gina Loudon. ‘You have to talk to them, you have to be with them,’ Trump told Loudon. ‘A lot [of] people… don’t give their children enough time.’

“Trump, 74, whose brother Fred died of alcoholism in 1981, then stressed the importance of keeping his kids away from addictive substances. ‘You could have good children, but if they start with the drugs or the alcohol – and I always add cigarettes in there too, frankly – but I say no drugs, no alcohol, no cigarettes and I’ve said it for years to all of them,’ the former commander-in-chief told Loudon. Trump said he stresses his stern anti-drug and alcohol stance to his five children from three marriages – Don Jr., Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany and Barron – to the point that they start ‘going wild’ in response to his fatherly wisdom. ‘You know, they don’t like it,’ Trump said. ‘But it really, so far, I think, has had a pretty good impact.’

“Without elaborating, Trump then told Loudon he had witnessed ‘some really great children go bad’ because… ‘they get hooked on drugs or alcohol, and you really just can’t let that happen, because once that happens, then you’re dealing in a new ballgame,’ Trump told Loudon…

“Hunter Biden’s new memoir, ‘Beautiful Things,’ in which he details his struggle with substance addiction following the 2015 death of his older brother, Beau, who died of brain cancer at 46, will be released on April 6. The 51-year-old Biden has had at least six stints in rehab for alcoholism and drug addiction, including a crack cocaine binge in 2016. Three years later, The Post exclusively revealed that Hunter Biden was suspected of smoking crack at a Washington, DC, strip club where he dropped ‘thousands of dollars’ during multiple visits.”

We would agree with Donald Trump that one should stay away from drugs and cigarettes. However, the Bible does not prohibit the moderate use of alcohol and even recommends it. On the other hand, a former or recovering alcoholic must avoid the consumption of alcohol at all costs. (The only exception for such a person is the consumption of a very small portion of alcohol during the Passover evening, for truly converted Christians, after much prayer to God for His special protection on that occasion.)

 Easter Bonfires.. once pagan but now no more…?

Deutsche Welle wrote on April 4:

“It’s a tradition almost everywhere in Germany to light a big Easter bonfire. The originally pagan custom, which celebrates the arrival of spring, was adopted by Christians to represent the resurrection of Christ…”

God does not accept this kind of worship which has its roots in paganism. He condemns it thoroughly.

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 passage in question reads as follows in the New King James Bible: “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

Let us review Christ’s different statements one at a time.

First, He speaks of His disciples as sheep in the midst of wolves.

Barnes Notes on the Bible states: “I send you, inoffensive and harmless, into a cold, unfriendly, and cruel world.” The Benson Commentary adds: “I now send you forth weak and defenceless among a wicked, cruel, and persecuting people.” Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary elaborates: “Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures.”

In Acts 20:29 and in Luke 10:3, wolves are used as symbols of persecutors and predators. Christ sends us into the world, in the midst of wolves, to overcome them. He wants us to withstand them, and with His help, we will.

In our Q&A, we stated the following about the symbolism of wolves, as referring to world-ruling empires:

“Habakkuk 1:6-8… describes the final rise of the modern Chaldeans—a bitter, hasty, terrible and dreadful nation. In verse 8, God says that they are ‘more fierce than evening wolves’… modern Israel and Judah are described as devouring wolves (compare Zephaniah 3:3 and Ezekiel 22:27, referring to Jerusalem’s judges as wolves, leaving not a bone till morning, and also to Israel’s princes as wolves, tearing the prey, shedding blood, and destroying people)…

“Savage wolves are also used as metaphors for people who are opposed to God and His Church. Christ speaks about false prophets, coming to God’s people, as ‘ravenous wolves’ (Matthew 7:15), and Paul warns the church at Ephesus that after his departure, savage wolves would come in among them, not sparing the flock (Acts 20:29). Christ said that those wolves would catch the unprotected and forsaken sheep and scatter them (John 10:12), because they trusted in uncaring hirelings and not in God’s true shepherds. Christ told His disciples that He would send them as sheep in the midst of wolves (Matthew 10:16). Especially in the end time, when the beast (the final revival of the Roman Empire as well as the final leader) will be manifested on earth, it will behave as a ravenous savage wolf against God’s people. While the world will admire, adore and even worship the beast, it will blaspheme God and persecute the saints (Revelation 13:6-8).”

In our Q&A, we added the following warning against wolves coming to the church:

“On the website whatchristianswanttoknow, we read an excellent description headed ‘The sneaky wolf. They hide until the time is right.’ Continuing: ‘Wolves are sneaky. They watch the prey and plan the attack. The sneaky wolf [that is, a] false prophet is in the church watching and waiting. He is the one who calls secret meetings. He gains the trust of folks and then rises up to attack, taking innocent victims with him. The Bible is clear about how God will deal with these sneaky wolves.”

On the other hand, in Matthew 10:16 (and also in Luke 10:3), Christ is primarily speaking about His disciples being sent, as sheep or lambs, to or among wolves, not the other way around. How then can sheep or lambs be surviving and successful in such a hostile environment of ravenous wolves?

Christ gives the answer in His statements about serpents and doves. It may be helpful to look at some alternate translations of Matthew 10:16.

The New American Standard Bible says: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be as wary as serpents, and as innocent as doves.”

The Good News Translation reads: “Listen! I am sending you out just like sheep to a pack of wolves. You must be as cautious as snakes and as gentle as doves.”

Smith’s Literal Translation reads: “Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore discerning as serpents, and pure as doves.”

The Mace New Testament says: “By your mission you will be exposed like sheep in the midst of wolves: be then as circumspect as serpents, and as inoffensive as doves.”

Regarding doves in particular, Moffat speaks of being “guileless as doves.”

The Luther Bibles, as well as Schlachter, Menge and Zürcher translate consistently, “be without falsity as doves” (“ohne falsch wie die Tauben”), and Die Gute Nachricht and Hoffnung fuer alle say, “without deceit” (“ohne Hinterlist”).

We might readily accept the concept of the pure, gentle, guileless and inoffensive innocence of a harmless dove without falsity, which we must incorporate, but we may have an initial problem with viewing serpents as “wise” which we have to imitate. Of course, Christ did not refer to Satan, the serpent (Revelation 12:9; 2 Corinthians 11:3), demons which we will tread upon (Luke 10:19) or the Pharisees whom He calls “serpents” (Matthew 23:33). Rather, Christ had something different in mind.

Gotquestions states the following:

“Jesus was using similes (figures of speech that compare two unlike things) to instruct His disciples in how to behave in their ministry. Just before He tells them to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves, He warns them that they were being sent out ‘like sheep among wolves.’

“The world, then as now, was hostile to believers—not incidentally hostile, but purposefully hostile. Wolves are intentional about the harm they inflict upon sheep… Jesus taught His followers that, to be Christlike in a godless world, they must combine the wisdom of the serpent with the harmlessness of the dove… As we take the gospel to a hostile world, we must be wise (avoiding the snares set for us), and we must be innocent (serving the Lord blamelessly)… Wisdom does not equal dishonesty, and innocence does not equal gullibility…

“Jesus showed that He was as wise as a serpent in the way He taught. He knew enough to discern the differences in His audiences (a critical skill)… He refused to be caught in the many traps that His enemies laid for Him… Jesus showed that He was as harmless as a dove in every circumstance. He lived a pure and holy life… He acted in compassion… and He challenged anyone to find fault in Him… Three times, Pilate judged Jesus to be an innocent man…”

Calvarynexus.org adds:

“Jesus sends His disciples out as sheep in the midst of wolves [Matt. 10:16]. They were being sent as His ambassadors to a world that opposed His reign. His disciples are like seemingly vulnerable sheep among seemingly hostile wolves. But the key to being effective is not to be sheepish… they needed to be both wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

 “To be wise as a serpent relates to being prudent, careful, and intelligent. It has the connotation of [being] able to deal with the likely challenges or dangers of life in a potentially threatening place. To be harmless as doves has an association of gentleness and peace; but the Greek term also relates to purity, innocence, and simplicity.”

The word for  “wise“ (phronimos) means, according to Strong’s #5429, “thoughtful, i.e. sagacious or discreet (implying a cautious character).” Young defines it as: “mindful, prudent, provident.”  It is used, for example, in an approving sense in  Matthew 7:24; 24:45; 25:2; describing the wise man building his house on the rock; the faithful and wise servant; and the five wise virgins.

The Pulpit Commentary describes the “wise serpents” in this way: “Wise. Prudent… The prudence of the serpent is specially apparent in the quickness of its perception of danger and the rapidity with which it escapes from it.”

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges adds: “wise=prudent, full of precaution.”

Vincent’s Word Studies states: “Denoting prudence with regard to their own safety.”

Barnes Notes on the Bible writes: “Probably the thing in which Christ directed his followers to imitate the serpent was in its caution in avoiding danger. No animal equals them in the rapidity and skill which they evince in escaping danger. So said Christ to his disciples, You need caution and wisdom in the midst of a world that will seek your lives.”

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible commentary states: “… the wisdom of the serpent would save them from unnecessary exposure to danger.”

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible writes: “The serpent… is… to be imitated by the followers of Christ, as to make use of all proper methods to preserve themselves from the insults and rage of men, and not expose themselves to unnecessary dangers: and, as much as in them lies, they should be careful to give no just occasion of offence, or irritate, and provoke them to use them ill, and to avoid all snares and traps that are laid for them.”

But Christ also says that we must be harmless as doves.

The word for “harmless”, (akeraios) means, according to Strong’s #185, “unmixed, i.e. fig. innocent, — harmless, simple (Phil. 2:15).” Others state that the word could also mean “sincere.” A related word (akakos) can be found in Hebrews 7:26.

The Pulpit Commentary describes the harmless doves as “literally ‘unmixed, unadulterated’ and emphasizes the idea of simplicity of character.”

Vincent’s Word Studies points out: “Lit. unmixed… Used of wine without water… Hence guiltless. So Luther, without falsity (Compare Romans 16:19, Philippians 2:15).”

“Barnes Notes on the Bible states: “He directs them, also, to be harmless, not to provoke danger, not to do injury, and thus make their fellow-men justly enraged against them. Doves are, and always have been, a striking emblem of innocence.”

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible writes: “… maintain the innocence and harmlessness of the dove, being free from all wicked cunning and craftiness, without rancour, malice, and wrath; not meditating and seeking revenge, but meek and humble in their deportment, leading inoffensive lives, and proceeding in the course of their calling, though liable to many insults, and much oppression.”

The Life Application Bible summarizes Christ’s statement regarding the serpents and the doves, quite appropriately, in this way: “We are not to be gullible pawns but neither are we to be deceitful connivers.”

To conclude, Christ sent us into the world to fulfill God’s commission and plan for us (John 17:18), but we are not to be of the world (John 17:16). We are to be aware of the fact that the world is hostile towards God and His Way of Life, full of ravenous wolves which are ready to tear us apart. But following Christ’s admonition and with His help, we can be victorious, if we behave wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

compiled by Dave Harris

“Azetec Demons in California Schools?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary: 

Is the Department of Education in California recommending to invite demons into our schools, by instructing pupils to “pray in chants each day to Aztec gods that formerly sacrificed children and their parents”? Some reports ring alarm bells, while others try to diminish or explain away what is happening. This program will explore what is really going on… and what you as parents or students must do.

“Are Jews and Christians at Odds with Jesus Christ?” is the title of our NEWEST BOOKLET. It is now posted, and copies will be sent to our mailing list and to those who request it. Printing of hard copies has begun.

“Mein Tröster, warum lässt Du auf Dich warten?” the afternoon Offertory presented in Germany on the last day of Unleavened Bread by Robert Kintzi, is now posted. Title in English: My God, Why Do We Have To Wait So Long For You?

“Discerning Salvation,” the morning sermonette presented on the last day of Unleavened Bread by Frank Bruno, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Each of us face a variety of decisions every day—of course some are more critical than others. Occasionally we may be confronted with choices that challenge us to the core of our humanity. To those that God has called He has an expectation that we will use the blessings and skills that He has imbued us with. This is the ability to discern the correct choices and pathway that is in keeping with God’s commandments. During this Passover observance and the Feast of Unleavened Bread we reinforced our understanding that in taking part in the Passover observance we are to first discern the Body of Christ. We are to be aware of His life and that He died so that we could gain access to the Kingdom and the blessing of eternal life with Jesus and the Father. Discernment is a blessing from God and in this Sermonette on the Last Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread we shall together explore the scriptures that will help us to better understand this blessing and the purpose in our lives.

“Overcoming—It’s For Life!” the morning sermon presented on the last day of Unleavened Bread by Dave Harris, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Do you want to live forever, inherit all things and become part of the Family of God? Only those who overcome will do so! Is that what you are doing with your life right now?

“How Deep?” the afternoon Offertory presented on the last day of Unleavened Bread by Kalon Mitchell, is now posted. Here is a summary:

We do heavy spring cleaning before the Days of Unleavened Bread! How do we transition this from being just about a physical activity to being a spiritual one? How can we use the days we have been through to be cleaner as we move forward?

“What Happened Historically During the Days of Unleavened Bread?” the afternoon sermon presented on the last day of Unleavened Bread by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

In this sermon, we will discuss historical events which took place during the Days of Unleavened Bread. These occurrences do not only have literal meaning, but they also have symbolic relevance for us. The godly injunctions and admonitions are surely  important for us today.

April 3, 2021, is the last Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread—see description below.

Live Sabbath 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.

Saturday, April 3, is the Last Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Morning services will begin at 9:00 am Pacific Time; afternoon services will begin at 2:00 pm Pacific Time.

“Discerning Salvation,” is the title of the morning sermonette, presented by Frank Bruno, and “Overcoming—It’s For Life!” is the title of the morning sermon, presented by Dave Harris.

The afternoon service Offertory, titled, “How Deep?” will be presented by Kalon Mitchell, and “What Happened Historically During the Days of Unleavened Bread?” the title of the afternoon sermon for the Last Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, will be presented by Norbert Link.

We live in an age where truth is very difficult to find. In many cases it is considered to be relative depending on who is speaking and especially when politicians are involved. There is a reminder of this in John 18:38 when Pilate, who was well known to be very political, asked the question, probably sarcastically, “What is truth?” In actual fact, the truth was standing in front of him as Jesus Christ is the truth (John 14:6).

In some cases, for an educator even to state an obvious truth like the fact that some races generally perform better in education than others can risk that person losing their job. The fact that it may well be true does not matter. Even to agree with such a statement can be dangerous for one’s employment. And this is only one example; there are many others where it is safer to stay quiet than to reject an obvious untruth. In some countries, even quoting certain parts of the Bible is considered hate speech and can be punished by law. This is causing truth to be suppressed at times due to fear. And yet, God explains what He thinks about truth and lying in Proverbs 12:22: “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal truthfully are His delight.”

Justice also can be hard to find today and the outcome of trials can often depend on what kind of lawyers a defendant can afford. In some cases, the result of justice can depend on the color of a person’s skin. But when we read Leviticus 19:15, we find what God decrees about judgement: “You shall do no injustice in judgement. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbour.”

There are many examples today of the lack of truth and justice that we hear about constantly. But in God’s Word, Isaiah 59 is a chapter mostly on the evils of society. While it certainly applied to Isaiah’s time, the last few verses imply that it also applies to our time and to the near future. Verse 20 states: “‘The Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,’ Says the LORD.”

Verse 4 of the same chapter states: “No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.” God condemns them because they do not seek truth and justice.

Isaiah 59:14-15 repeats this theme forcefully: “Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter. So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice.” Make himself a prey has the meaning of “a person that becomes the victim of an enemy.”

In Matthew’s Bible of 1537, “makes himself a prey” is rendered as “must be spoyled.” The verb spoyled or spoiled in this instance means to plunder, pillage or rob. In this day, for a person to not follow a crowd to do evil (Exodus 23:2), could be considered a reason for the crowd to do harm to that person. In fact, there is an expression, “Silence is violence,” which is used to criticize or harm those who do not verbally support the crowd doing evil.

The Koren version of 2015, a Jewish translation, renders it as “makes himself ridiculous.” In at least three commentaries, this expression is rendered “is counted mad.” Today it is considered by many that if a person relies on his religion to determine his actions, he is considered mad and he will be ridiculed. This can also be a very difficult trial for someone trying to obey God. To be constantly made fun of because of personal beliefs can be very wearying. It is little wonder that God is greatly displeased.

But we must remember that when we are persecuted or ridiculed for doing what is right, ours is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:10-12).

So, to conclude, we have already read that God delights in those who deal truthfully (Proverbs 12:22). He also instructs us in what He considers good, what He requires: “To do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Going back to Isaiah 59:18, we read, “According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, Fury to His adversaries, Recompense to His enemies; The coastlands He will fully repay.” So God will repay for the current lack of truth and justice.

So, to answer the question, what has happened to truth and justice? At the moment they can be quite difficult to find, but when God intervenes, they will be the standard way of life for the whole world. As we read in Deuteronomy 32:4, “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.”

by Norbert Link

We begin with further reports on Israel’s election results and the consequences for the country as well as an alleged shocking agenda of the EU towards Israel; serious questions about Joe Biden’s health and his fitness for office; a dangerous “cooperation” deal between China and Iran; and the Suez Canal fiasco and what we must recognize in light of the incident.

We continue with deeply disturbing comments by Angela Merkel and Jens Spahn and other related developments in Germany and pose the question as to what scientific proof exists for the effectiveness of lockdowns, the wearing of masks and the ban on indoor dining. We also speak on vaccine passports programs and the ineffectiveness of today’s vaccines for coronavirus mutations.

We address the hypocritical censorship of “politically incorrect” news and opinions; and point out the difficulties for Jews in Europe; the attacks on religious freedom in the USA; false claims by Pope Francis [please view our new StandingWatch program “Was Christ’s Mother His First Disciple?”]; and a ridiculous Marxist program for teachers in Oregon.

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

Israel—More Deadlocked Than Ever?

The Times of Israel wrote on March 26:

“Forty-six hours after polling stations closed, Israel’s election results were finally announced Thursday night… Voter turnout was way down — from 71.5 percent a year ago to 67.2 percent… neither the pro- nor anti-Netanyahu alliances have a clear path to a majority…

“… the Israeli electorate was asked to contemplate the mindblowing possibility of Netanyahu… seeking to govern with the parliamentary backing of both Arabs and… anti-Arabs: He would have Ra’am on one flank, and, on the other, the far-right Religious Zionism party… These two beyond-implausible partners do have one thing in common, however: their anti-LGBT stance. So we were also looking at a coalition featuring two anti-LGBT parties and a senior minister who is gay — Netanyahu loyalist Amir Ohana…”

Israel Today wrote on March 25:

“Our fourth election in two years upon which we had placed so much hope failed to bring any clarity. Quite the opposite, the situation now seems to be even more deadlocked than it was after the previous elections.”

This does not sound very promising for Israel’s future.

“EU Agenda: Erase Israel from the Map.”

Israel 365 wrote on March 31:

“A recently released report exposed European Union funding of illegal ‘Palestinian’ construction in the sections of Judea and Samaria designated for Israeli control… the EU has spent approximately three billion Euros in the effort to exert illicit control over areas the Oslo Accords established as under Israeli control. These actions violate international law as well as circumvent any attempts at bilateral negotiations. According to the report, the EU is funneling $952,460 to the Palestinian Authority for new Arab construction in the Old City of Jerusalem and another $778 million for the development of areas around Hebron and Bethlehem. Another $500 million is slated for construction in the Arab city of Ramallah in Samaria…

“Betzalel Smotrich, a Member of Knesset and head of the Religious Zionist Party, warned that ‘this process is one of the most dramatic and dangerous that is currently taking place under our noses in the state of Israel. Very quickly the results will be irreversible… This trend is further exacerbated by the use of an Ottoman-era code based on Islamic law that grants land rights based on agricultural use, effectively allowing Arabs to grab land without any claim of legal ownership.

“Naomi Kahan, Director of the international division of Regavim, [said:] ‘The EU is working very hard to create a de facto ‘Palestinian’ state in total contravention of international law and the Oslo Accords. They don’t hide it and even make statements describing what they do. This goes beyond aid to the ‘Palestinians’. Their efforts are focused on completely erasing the map of Israel. The EU has even planned Arab towns where Israeli towns already exist… The EU is continuing the tradition established by the British when they used their mandate to pander to Arab interests and set up Jordan on land that had been designated for the Jewish state,’ she explained, noting the precedent. ‘They are calling for a return to pre-1967 when Judea and Samaria, which had been designated for Israel, were illegally occupied by Jordan for 19 years in an occupation that nobody except the British recognized…’”

The Bible shows that in these last days, a European power bloc will fight against Israel and invade and occupy the Promised Land.

Biden Not Fit for Office?

The Daily Mail wrote on March 27:

“Texas Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician [with the rank of Rear Admiral], believes President Biden’s press conference performance Thursday raises questions about his fitness for office. The Texas congressman said Friday that Biden’s behavior at his first solo press conference ‘should concern every American who wants to know that their president is fit for duty and in control,’ Fox News reported. ‘The president of the United States was armed with a picture book of friendly reporters to call on and with what appeared to be prepared answers, but he still could barely make it through his first press conference,’ Jackson said.

“Biden’s first formal news conference came 65 days after he took office, far longer of a wait than many of his predecessors, and he answered reporters’ questions for a little over an hour. Among the notable developments were Biden’s announcements that he plans to seek reelection in 2024 with Vice President Harris as his running mate… ‘If President Biden cannot handle questions from his cheerleaders in the White House press corps, then it is concerning to think about how he represents the American people when speaking to foreign leaders,’ Jackson said.”

Speculations are ripe for evoking the 25^th Amendment of the US Constitution against Joe Biden. It says that if the President becomes unable to do his job, the Vice President becomes the President (Section 1) or Acting President (Sections 3 or 4). Unless the President resigns voluntarily, transfers his powers voluntarily to the Vice President or dies, the 25^th Amendment allows the Vice President, together with a “majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide”, to issue a written declaration that the President is unable to discharge his duties.

China and Iran Sign Cooperation Deal

The Algemeiner wrote on March 27:

“Foreign ministers from China and Iran, which are both subject to US sanctions, signed a landmark 25-year cooperation agreement on Saturday. ‘Relations between the two countries have now reached the level of strategic partnership and China seeks to comprehensively improve relations with Iran,’ China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi was quoted by Iran’s state media… ‘Our relations with Iran… will be permanent and strategic,’ Wang said…

“President Hassan Rouhani… voiced appreciation for Beijing’s support within Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers… China, Iran’s largest trading partner and a long-standing ally, agreed in 2016 to boost bilateral trade by more than 10 times to $600 billion over a decade.”

The Times of Israel wrote on March 27:

“The New York Times reported that China will invest some $400 billion in Iran in exchange for oil as part of the deal. The two countries will also step up military cooperation with joint training, research and intelligence sharing… The deal signed Saturday could undermine US leverage over Iran ahead of expected negotiations and lessen American influence in the Middle East.”

In an attack of Asiatic hordes on the Promised Land right after Christ’s return, China and Iran will be in military alliance.

The Suez Canal Fiasco… Massive Container Ship Ever Given Freed…

CNBC wrote on March 29:

“The Ever Given, the massive container ship that became wedged in the Suez Canal and cut off traffic in the vital waterway for almost a week, has been refloated, authorities said Monday… The Ever Given is one of the largest container ships in the world. The 220,000-ton vessel is able to carry 20,000 containers, and stretching more than 1,300 feet is almost as long as the Empire State Building is tall.

“The ship, which ran aground last Tuesday, created further disruptions in a global supply chain already straining under the ongoing impacts of Covid-19. Around 12% of global trade passes through the Suez Canal. Lloyd’s List estimates that more than $9 billion worth of goods passes through the 120-mile waterway each day, translating to around $400 million per hour.

“Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the technical manager of the ship, said last week that the Ever Given ran aground due to heavy winds. Over the weekend Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie said that human or technical error may have played a role in the ship deviating from its course.

“Expert salvage crews were called in to help with the refloat operation. More than 10 tugboats were on the scene, as well as specialized dredging equipment. More than 20,000 tons of sand and mud were removed during the dredging operation. High tide also contributed to Monday’s successful refloating… The ship’s refloating means traffic can resume in the Suez Canal… More than 350 vessels are currently waiting on either side of the canal… This includes container ships, bulk carriers and oil tankers. As the Ever Given remained lodged last week, some ship operators opted to re-route vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, adding more than a week of additional sailing time, while also increasing fuel costs [in fact, hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional fuel costs] …”

Greenwich Time had reported on March 26:

“…  [the] grounded container ship… has come to symbolize the perils of a global economy that relies on goods traveling around the world in larger and larger vessels…. Some tankers have already opted to travel around the southern tip of Africa instead, adding weeks to their journeys through a region known for piracy… Pirates have long preyed on ships moving in the waters off the Horn of Africa, and the seas off oil-rich West Africa are now considered among the world’s most dangerous for shipping…

“[Egypt] spent $8 billion in 2015 to widen parts of the canal, but not the section in question. With more than 200 other ships stuck in the bottleneck, moving the Ever Given will only create a new set of headaches. Many of those vessels will arrive in European ports at the same time, and find they have nowhere to dock….”

The Daily Beast had added on March 27:

“… this same ship was involved in an accident in Hamburg in 2019, when its owners rammed into a ferry and destroyed it…”

This new incident shows how dependent the world is on the shipping industry, and how quickly everything can change and collapse. But the Suez Canal is not the only critical trade chokepoint. Note the next article.

Three More Critical Trade Chokepoints

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 27:

“DW looks at [three other] chokepoints that a strong post-COVID economic recovery relies on.

“Strait of Hormuz. The sea passage between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that leads to the Indian Ocean is the most critical chokepoint for oil and gas. Some 167 kilometers (90 miles) long, about a quarter of seaborne-traded oil and a third of the world’s liquefied natural gas passes through the strait… The strait connects many different powers and oil market players, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq. The actual width of the fairway for the huge tankers is roughly 3 kilometers in both directions, meaning the waterway could be easily controllable during a conflict….

“Strait of Malacca. The 900-km long strait is Asia’s primary chokepoint and one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. The waterway links Asia with the Middle East and Europe, carrying about 40% of global trade… At its narrowest point off Singapore, the strait is only 2.7 kilometers wide…  Some 16 million barrels per day of oil flowed through the waterway in 2016, making it the world’s second most important energy passageway… The strait has become increasingly important strategically to Beijing, with nearly 80% of China’s crude oil imports passing through, from the Middle East and Africa…

“Panama Canal. The 80-kilometer Panama canal spans the narrowest part of Panama and connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. One of world’s busiest shipping routes, it has historically handled about 5% of world trade and nearly 14,000 transits were made last year… In theory, 98% of the world’s shipping can now ply the route, avoiding the lengthy and hazardous Cape Horn route around the southern tip of South America….”

More Dangerous Nonsense from Merkel and Jens Spahn

The Local wrote on March 26:

“Health Minister Jens Spahn has asked people in Germany to ‘ideally’ only meet outside with others before the Easter holidays… Things won’t yet be back to normal by Easter, Spahn said… Current rules allow for gatherings of up to two households, or five people excluding children under the age of 14…”

Bild Online reported on March 27 that Spahn is under investigation because of alleged misuse of tax money in connection with his mask deals, and questions have been raised regarding a potential conflict of interest because of the purchase of many masks, which were in short supply, through his “husband’s” company. According to Focus, Spahn’s popularity is presently in “free fall.”

In addition, many German doctors call for a “2-week hard lockdown despite the public furor over plans for a strict Easter lockdown, which were quickly rescinded” (Deutsche Welle, March 27).

Deutsche Welle reported on March 28:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged federal states to do more to curb infections during a televised interview. She also suggested additional measures such as curfews… If states do not take suitable actions in the ‘foreseeable future,’  Merkel warned the federal government could possibly amend the Infection Protection Act to implement nationwide restrictions… Merkel said all Germans should be able to get vaccinated by the end of September. She said Germany would not get ‘any vaccine that is not produced in Europe.’”

Merkel was severely criticized by some in the press and by politicians and state leaders for these comments. It was pointed out that Merkel or the government has no authority to change the Infection Protection Act. This would be within the sole authority of the German parliament, which is on holiday and it would be extremely unlikely that they would meet before Easter. Bild Online commented: “That was Merkel’s Power Politics“ and „Merkel is not the Legislator.“  (“Das war Merkelische Machtpolitik“ and „Merkel ist nicht der Gesetzgeber.“).  However, other politicians, such as Bavaria’s CSU leader Markus Soeder, apparently supported Merkel’s demands. A very dangerous development towards a German dictatorship.

 Also, Germany demands now from everyone entering Germany [irrespective of the origin of the country] to present a negative COVID-test.

Leaders of two German states Call for NATIONAL Lockdown; AstraZeneca Only for Those Over 60

The Guardian wrote on March 31:

“Regional leaders of two German states… have urged the rest of the country to re-impose a tough lockdown… In a joint letter reported on by Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, Bavaria’s conservative premier, Markus Söder, and the Green head of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, said the situation was ‘more serious than many believe’… Despite the political impasse over another lockdown and an already stuttering vaccine rollout, Germany on Tuesday heeded growing concerns over a rare blood-clotting condition and, alongside Canada and several other European countries, [have] chosen to restrict use of the AstraZeneca jab to those aged 60 and over…

“The daily newspaper Die Welt argued that faith in the vaccine had been eroded so badly that Germany should stop using it altogether. Prioritising AstraZeneca for the over-60s after the country’s vaccine regulator had initially only authorised the same jab for the under-65s, the newspaper said, ‘did not build trust but uncertainty’…

“Young people who expressly wish to receive the AstraZeneca shot will still be able to do so after being informed of the potential side-effects by a doctor. The vaccine regulator is going to decide by the end of April whether the 2.2 million people under 60 who have already a first dose of the AstraZeneca shot in Germany will receive their second dose from the same manufacturer.”

What a confusing mess. Germany’s leaders clearly prove that they are unable and incompetent to deal with the situation effectively.

Also, do lockdowns really work or are they even necessary? Or, could they be counter-productive and harmful? Note the next article.

Where is the Proof that Lockdowns Work?

The Norwegian paper steigan.no wrote the following on March 23:

“Texas Gov. Greg Abbott… [rescinded on March 2, 2021] lockdown, masking orders and other coronary restrictions… Governor Tate Reeves of Mississippi closely followed Abbott, declaring that closures and masking orders would be lifted from March 3 and that businesses could resume in full. But Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds was ahead of them. He lifted masking orders and coronary restrictions on February 8.  Montana‘s Governor Greg Gianforte lifted the masking order on February 12.

“The North Dakota House of Representatives has ruled that masking is illegal. As of March 2, 2021, there are 16 states that no longer have a masking order in the United States. This, of course, has led to strong controversy…

“It’s almost three weeks since all coronary restrictions were lifted in Texas… it seems that there has been no increase in infection or death in Texas since the state lifted the coronary restriction. On the contrary, it looks like the winter virus season is over…

“Florida has always practiced a much less restrictive infection control than, for example, the lockdown state of California. In Florida, life has largely gone as normal, with no lockdown and masking. In Florida, too, we are seeing a marked decline in deaths. The virus season seems to be coming to an end there as well.

“For the sake of comparison, let’s include the opposite pole, the lockdown state of California… It seems that it has not played a particularly big role if you have not had a lockdown at all (Florida), have closed the lockdown (Texas) or have continued with a strict lockdown all the time (California).

“We find the same pattern in [the states of North Dakota and Mississippi.] . It is not possible to trace any increase in deaths after the repeal of the corona rules, and also in these two states the winter virus season is in full swing…

“The lockdown policy has never been based on research, and it has never before been practiced… This policy has inflicted enormous damage on the world, it continues to do so, and it applies not only financially in the form of mass unemployment, but also in the form of deaths and illness due to lack of treatment for other diseases and a massive increase in mental health problems.

“It is those who have proposed and implemented this draconian policy who bear the burden of proof, and so far we have not seen any scientific evidence that this has been a correct course to follow.”

Still, lockdowns are being imposed by politicians and a scared medical field on a gullible public.

Masks and Ban on Indoor Dining Accomplish Very Little

Life Site News reported on March 26:

“Masks and bans on indoor dining do little to stop the spread of  COVID-19, according to a new report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Infection…

“According to the CDC report…  Mask mandates reduced case growth between zero and 1.8 percent, and COVID death rates by .7 and 1.9 percent, with an increase in deaths 21-40 days after the mandate went into effect.  Indoor dining bans decreased case growth between .1 and .4 percent with an increase in cases in four time periods the bans were implemented. Restaurant bans were associated with a slight growth in COVID mortality.

“Media outlets reported the findings but downplayed the numbers. ‘CDC study shows link between mask mandates, reduced COVID-19 spread as states lift restrictions,’ reported ABC on March 5 (the day the result released to the public). ‘CDC study finds easing mask and restaurant rules led to more COVID cases and deaths, as some states move to lift restrictions,’ stated CNBNC…

“The CDC’s findings on masks are in line with a Danish study published in November and a study on quarantined Marine recruits published in the New England Journal of Medicine in December. Both studies found limited evidence that mask-wearing was effective in stopping the spread of SARS-CoV-2.  On September 11, CDC reported in a group of 314 with and without COVID-19, there was no significant difference in vigilant mask use….”

Where is the reporting in our left-liberal mass media about these findings?

Craziness Galore

CBS Dallas wrote on March 30:

“The Catholic Diocese of Dallas is responding to Dallas mother Deirde Hairston’s allegation that she was escorted out of Mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, while holding her baby — for not wearing a mask. And there’s video of the incident. Appearing on Dr. Taylor Marshall’s podcast, Hairston, who’s pregnant, described how she was escorted out by officers after Holy Communion with the eucharist ‘still on her tongue,’ and told the church didn’t want her there. One of the three officers tells Hariston that she will ‘place her in handcuffs,’ if Hairston doesn’t leave… Cell phone footage shows Hariston asking what crime she has committed, to which police replied she was ‘trespassing on a business.’

“Hariston said her parish-priest, Father Ryan called police. Once outside, Hariston said the usher ran to her car and took photos of her license plate as police were taking her information. She also said she was issued a ticket for trespassing.

“Holy Trinity… responded on March 29, two weeks after the incident and two days after Marshall shared the interview on Youtube. In it, they state that Hairston wasn’t arrested or ticketed, merely issued a trespass warning. They also said the pastor of the parish has required masks at Mass out of concern for the health and welfare of its entire congregation. Hariston and her husband said that isn’t true. They said it wasn’t required – only encouraged….”

It seems a balanced and sound approach is thrown out of the window and replaced by a spirit of fear, panic and hysteria.

The Vaccine Passport Program

The Dossier wrote on March 28:

“What was labeled an unhinged conspiracy theory just last year has become a reality today. Unindicted human rights [violator] Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this week that New York has rolled out the nation’s first COVID vaccine passport program with the introduction of the ‘Excelsior Pass.’ According to reports, the COVID-19 vaccine passport is already ready for use at dozens of venues statewide… While advertised as a ‘voluntary’ measure, New York State officials are making it clear that not participating in the program will result in an individual being essentially shut out from society… The ‘Excelsior Pass’ mobile application will display a green checkmark if the person has been vaccinated or tested negative for COVID-19. A red ‘x’ means they have not met this standard…

“New York is just one of several states that is introducing an independent vaccine passport program (Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, to his great credit has ruled it out as a misguided, authoritarian idea). With so many states developing their own applications, this complicates privacy and security matters even more so, given the reality that this means several companies will be able to possess sensitive health information, and will have to send your medical records through multiple networks. Competition for vaccine passport contracts is heating up, and there are many technology companies seeking to profit from COVID Mania.

“… Several European Union members… South American countries, China, and other nations are moving forward on their own vaccine passport systems.”

Newsmax reported on March 28:

“The White House is working on a COVID-19 vaccine passport initiative that could be required for travel, sporting events and even eating out. The report comes as major U.S. airlines and nearly 30 travel and labor groups are pushing President Joe Biden to develop a standardized, government-backed credential to ‘accelerate safe economic activity and recovery.’”

 There can be no doubt that these measures will contribute to the establishment of a dictatorial autocratic society.

Vaccine Passports, Nazi Germany and the Star of David

JTA wrote on March 30:

“Political activists… are comparing the idea of ‘vaccine passports’ to Nazi Germany, with many invoking the yellow Stars of David that Nazis forced Jews to wear during the Holocaust…

“Richard Grenell, former… ambassador to Germany and a member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, tweeted a meme showing a Nazi Gestapo officer in the Quentin Tarantino film ‘Inglourious Basterds’ saying ‘You’re hiding unvaccinated people under your floorboards, aren’t you?’ The original line from the movie uses similar wording in referring to Jews. ‘Speak up now…’  Grenell wrote.

“In Britain, conservative pundit James Delingpole tweeted, ‘Wouldn’t it be better just to cut to the chase and give unvaccinated people yellow stars to sew prominently onto their clothes?’”

The comparison between the contemplated vaccination passports and the Yellow Stars of David is by no means far-fetched.

New Mutations Resistant to Vaccines

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 28:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff, Helge Braun, warned that…  there is a growing danger that the next virus mutation will become resistant to the vaccine…”

In fact, it’s more than just a theoretical danger. It has been recognized that today’s known vaccines do not protect against the corona mutations already occurring in Brazil and in other countries.

Hypocritical Censorship

In several articles, Fox News wrote on March 31:

“Facebook removed a video of an interview with former President Trump conducted by his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, saying any content ‘in the voice of Donald Trump’ would be scrubbed from the social media platform. Facebook permanently banned the former president from their platform in January after the Capitol riot… ‘We are reaching out to let you know that we removed content from Lara Trump’s Facebook Page that featured President Trump speaking,’ the Facebook employee wrote. ‘In line with the block we placed on Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, further content posted in the voice of Donald Trump will be removed and result in additional limitations on the accounts.’…

“The Media Research Center unveiled its latest TechWatch Report on Tuesday, which found that ‘more than 260 conservative users on Facebook and Twitter had their posts about Biden scrubbed from the social media platforms’ in the months leading up to the Democratic National Convention…. The study found that the 129 instances of censorship on Facebook included video of ‘a stammering Biden accidentally endorsing Trump’ and a ‘collage of photos that depict Biden sniffing, hugging, or kissing young girls has been censored on a regular basis,’ [MRC’s] Weaver and Moon wrote…. ‘Facebook and Twitter openly deny working with Biden. Yet the platforms appear to cover for him,’ Weaver and Moon wrote…

“CNN’s tepid coverage of the latest developments in the Andrew Cuomo saga continued this week, this time with no mention of the ninth accuser who has come forward with sexual misconduct allegations against the Democratic New York governor… The pro-Cuomo network has similarly avoided the damning groping allegation made by the governor’s sixth accuser… Meanwhile, CNN has gone nearly an entire week without the explosive reporting alleging that Cuomo had prioritized COVID testing for family members and allies, including his kid brother anchor Chris Cuomo. Chris Cuomo returned to his primetime program on Monday night after being conveniently absent last week when the scandal broke. The host made no mention of the controversy he himself was implicated in…”

It is sickening to see how the left-wing mass media and Big Tech are suppressing anything which is not in line with their agenda. Note the next article.

The Right to Voice our Opinions

Dan Wootton, in the Daily Mail, wrote on March 30:

“… despite my personal feelings, I defend with a passion the right for both Meghan [Markle] and Sharon [Osbourne] to loudly voice their opinions, which should play an important role in our public discourse over the thorny social issues that are, very sadly, starting to divide us… Meghan was allowed to share her ‘truth’, as she branded it, to Oprah Winfrey without even the slightest hint of scrutiny. That’s despite the fact she unleashed a dossier of ludicrous claims that defied long-dated royal protocols, historical fact and basic believability, according to many staff members I’ve spoken to who lived through her tumultuous two years as a member of the Royal Family.

“Sharon, meanwhile, was instantly damned to the modern-day torture of public cancellation for merely raising the possibility that her close friend Piers Morgan may well have more insight as to whether Meghan was indeed telling the truth. One of the biggest threats facing democracy in 2021 is a craven desire to shut down voices who are brave enough to speak out against liberal groupthink on controversial issues…

“… my fear is that free speech advocates like me are losing the battle… the tyranny of suppression and cancellation has never been so real in modern culture…

“Believing in Sharon Osbourne or Piers Morgan’s right to express their opinion on Meghan Markle doesn’t make you a bad person. Believing that Meghan isn’t a very nice person who told a load of porkie pies to Oprah doesn’t make you racist.

“Believing we must question the most draconian restrictions to our freedom and liberty since World War Two doesn’t make you a murderer….”

Very true and very insightful… and VERY politically incorrect…

No Private Wedding of Harry and Meghan

Newsmax wrote on March 31:

“Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has contradicted British royal Meghan’s claim that she married Britain’s Prince Harry several days before the official lavish ceremony at Windsor Castle in 2018. Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, told Oprah Winfrey in an interview earlier this month that she wed Queen Elizabeth’s grandson in a secret ceremony officiated over by the Archbishop a few days before the Windsor event… ‘You know, three days before our wedding, we got married – no-one knows that,’ she said. ‘Just the two of us in our backyard with the Archbishop of Canterbury.’

“But Welby contradicted that. ‘The legal marriage took place on that Saturday,’ Welby was quoted as saying by Die Welt, adding that he personally signed the marriage certificate. ‘I would have committed a crime if I had signed something that was not true.’

“He said he had earlier had a ‘series of private and pastoral meetings’ with Harry and Meghan, but declined to give details on the conversation…”

Jews Unwelcome in Europe

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 28:

“In some cases, the coronavirus pandemic has served as a pretext to restrict worship. Jews in the European Union are deeply troubled by this development… In December, the European Court of Justice upheld a ban on ritual slaughters — a religious and humane method for killing animals for consumption — in Belgium… Banning access to and the producing of kosher meat makes Jewish life impossible. Similarly, proposed bans on male circumcision in Denmark, Finland and Iceland run counter to religious freedom. These policies are de facto bans on Jewish life… While professing to uphold individual liberty, Europe is undermining freedom.

“EU lawmakers repeat over and over that Jewish life must be appreciated and respected. But assertions like these ring hollow and hypocritical in light of recent laws outlawing religious practices… Over the past decade, many Jews have left EU countries, feeling no longer welcome. That stems not only from the growing number of anti-Semitic incidents, but also from the gradual curtailment of religious freedoms…”

Sadly, anti-Semitism is rampant in Europe.

Religious Freedom in Danger in USA

Breitbart wrote on March 27:

“The former archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles Chaput, noted in an interview Friday that religious liberty is in peril in the United States due to declining appreciation for the importance of faith. ‘The United States was founded by Europeans seeking religious liberty,’ Archbishop Chaput noted…

“‘It was a very important issue for them, even though they didn’t really recognize the liberty of Catholics at first, or the liberty of slaves, in the first decades of our country… Today, we don’t have any respect for the dignity of the unborn as a country. When you don’t do that, you begin to embrace ideologies that enable us to interfere with the order of creation, like gender theory. Likewise, if we don’t respect the elderly, which we don’t, then we embrace things like euthanasia,’ he added. ‘Things can turn pretty bad pretty quickly and I worry about that.’ … Bishops themselves contribute to the scandal when they act as if supporting abortion does not harm a person’s relationship with the Church, he added.”

The French Minister of Interior just said in an interview that Evangelicals in France pose an important problem, and that the law of God is inferior to the national law of France.

Was Mary Christ’s First Disciple?

Breitbart wrote on March 29:

“… the Evil One is taking advantage of the crisis to disseminate distrust, desperation, and discord,’ [Pope Francis said].

“‘And us? What should we do?’ he continued. ‘The one who shows us is the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus, who is also his first disciple. She followed her Son. She took upon herself her own portion of suffering, of darkness, of confusion, and she walked the way of the passion keeping the lamp of faith lit in her heart.’”

The claim that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was Christ’s first disciple is absolutely false. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Jesus Christ—a Great Mystery.”

Marxist Ideology in Oregon’s Classrooms

The Western Journal wrote on February 12, 2021:

“The Oregon Department of Education is promoting a course for teachers that links math lessons to racism and a culture of ‘white supremacy’…

“According to the teaching materials, too much focus on asking students to get the ‘right’ answer when solving math problems is connected to white supremacy…  Furthermore, the course will ask teachers to identify and ‘challenge the ways that math is used to uphold capitalist, imperialist, and racist views’…

“In Oregon, the idea that there are wrong answers to math problems is being challenged… If you’re wondering where something so brazenly anti-American originated from, the lesson thanks the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for its ‘generous financial support.’”

Has one ever heard such stupidity?

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 basis of the question is correct; we do think that true Christian values are the only ones that would work in this society making it a much happier, safer and more enjoyable world than it currently is. What we see around us today is a world in turmoil, but this was prophesied.

We have made it clear on so many occasions that we believe that the 6,000 years allocated to man is almost up and that we are living in the end times. A passage in the New Testament sums up the behaviour of man at the end of this age: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

Having said that, man’s history over the last 6,000 years is a catalogue of anti-godly behaviour where evil, in general, has proliferated throughout that time. Man has had more than enough time to show that he can live happily and peacefully with his neighbour but history shows that man has consistently gone the wrong way by thinking that he knows the answers and ignoring the One who created mankind and who has set out a blueprint for happy and abundant living.

We read in Judges 17:6: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” This is repeated in Judges 21:25. Today, this same behaviour has proliferated where legislation is enacted all around the world which is in contravention to God’s Way, and the end result has been disastrous.

The Word of God has been ignored for the most part and, today, man thinks that he knows better than the One who created us all. Laws are pushed through that can often defy the commandments of God and His Way, and this happens around the world.

G.K. Chesterton wrote in “What’s Wrong With the World”, “that people who oppose Christianity do so not because they think it is unreasonable but because they have not truly looked into it.”

A brief overview of the world today clearly shows that God’s Way is ignored and the results include anarchy, hatred, wars, selfishness and much much more.

Almost 2,000 years ago, the apostle Paul set out a list of the works of the flesh as we read in Galatians 5:19-21. These applied to human nature for the previous 4,000 years and these are still extant nearly 2,000 years after this was written:

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Many talk today about values, but their values are often in direct conflict with biblical admonition. The works of the flesh, which we can see wherever we look, are certainly not the way that God wanted man to behave when He created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden around 6,000 years ago. Even the first child born, Cain, was a murderer, and the evil of that action at the dawn of civilisation has continued down to our time now.

Since the time of Adam and Eve, man has tried every available form of government. We have seen autocracy, democracy, communism, dictatorships, monarchy, oligarchy, socialism, presidential, theocratic and so many others – a quick search of the internet will easily reveal a huge number of governmental structures tried out by man.

The ancient nation of Israel had God as their leader but the people wanted to be like all the other nations. In 1 Samuel 8:4-5 we read: “Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, ‘Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.’” This displeased Samuel (compare verse 6) but God said that they had not rejected him but had rejected God (note verse 7). Even when God had looked after and cared for His nation Israel, stiff-necked and stubborn human beings wanted to discard divine protection and just be like all the other nations. They wanted a human king to also lead them in battle and fight their wars (see verses 19-20). How utterly absurd was that decision, and the fruits were not good.

In 1 Samuel 8, from verse 11 onwards, Samuel told the congregation of Israel what would happen and in spite of the warnings given them, they still demanded a king! Their first king was Saul who started out well enough but by the time of the end of his life, he had become a king destroyed by his own jealousy.

When we review true Christian values, we see that these are designed to bring about and sustain a peaceful and supportive environment. Not even the most optimistic person could say that mankind has enjoyed that over the last 6,000 years.

In Deuteronomy 7:7, we read the reason why God chose Israel to be His people:

“The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments…”

They were given instructions on how to live but, generally, Israel failed miserably. God had a plan for mankind and the Saviour, Jesus Christ, came from Judah, one of the tribes of Israel.

In Matthew chapter 5 are the beatitudes (blessings) that come from the way that Jesus taught us how to behave. In this chapter, Jesus states that He had not come to destroy the Law or the Prophets but to fulfil them – that is, to expand and develop them, not to do away with them as mainstream Christianity erroneously believes (verses 17-19).  He then goes on to expand the meaning and understanding of murder and adultery which are the 6^th and 7^th of the Ten Commandments.

If Israel, and mankind, had lived according to these instructions, how much better, more gentle, kinder and sensible society would be today. But that has simply not happened.

The Bible is replete with instruction for right and proper living, and great examples of these are to be found in the book of Proverbs. Add to these, the instructions to keep the law of God and you have a really great resume of how to live a life pleasing in the sight of God and how beneficial it would all be to society.

We know that the commandments of God are sneered at today even by so many professing Christians, but instruction from the 1st book of John are there for a reason:

1 John 2:3-6 states: ^“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”

1 John 3:4 reads in the Authorized Version:  ^“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”

1 John 5:3 says: ^“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”

And in 1 John 5:20 we see where our right understanding comes from:  ^“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”

Please see our free booklet “The Ten Commandments” for a comprehensive review of God’s Commandments.

There are those who might react and accuse Christianity of being “exclusivist,” and they would be right! In Acts 4:12 we read: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

In John 14:6, we read: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”

In spite of some of the other religions, teaching good values and proper behaviour, true Christians understand that there is only salvation in Jesus Christ which is something that everyone alive at the time of Christ’s return to this earth will come to realise.

Yes, we do believe that Christian values are the right ones and are values that Christians in the true Church of God need to keep today. However, they are a tiny minority who are living the way that God wants His people to live while mankind, in general, goes in exactly the opposite direction which is leading to destruction.

The really good news is that the world, under Christ’s loving, caring and righteous rule which is just ahead of us now, will learn how to live properly and according to God’s Commandments as we read in Isaiah 9:6-7:

“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

In the final analysis, 6,000 years of history has shown us in an undeniable way that man’s approach simply does not work, and that it has not worked. In the future, after Christ’s return, true Christian values will be the only way and will work for the benefit of all concerned.

At that time forward, and for eternity, true Godly values will be the order of the day.

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

compiled by Dave Harris

“Are Jews and Christians at Odds with Jesus Christ?” our new booklet, has now entered the final review process before printing. This booklet will be posted soon, and following printing, hard copies will be sent to our mailing list and to those requesting a free copy.

Was Christ’s Mother His First Disciple?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary: 

Recently, Pope Francis claimed that the Virgin Mary, Christ’s mother, was Christ’s first disciple. Why is this comment false, and why is it important that you understand who Mary was?

“War die Mutter Jesu Christi sein erster Jünger?” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program, presented by Norbert Link. This program covers the same topic as described above. 

“Was geschah geschichtlich während der Tage der Ungesäuerten Brote?”  is the title of a new German sermon for the Last Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “What Happened Historically During the Days of Unleavened Bread?”

“The Meaning of the Suez Canal Fiasco—Comments on News and Prophecy, March 27, 2021,” the first message presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

This message covers planned animal sacrifices and the new elections in Israel; the need for encouragement; the concern regarding President Biden’s health; the new treaty between China and Iran; nonsense at Oregon’s schools; the Suez Canal fiasco which shows our fragile worldwide economy; and mutations of the coronavirus for which there are no vaccines.

“The Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

During the Passover night, when He was betrayed, Jesus Christ introduced the new symbols of bread and wine. He said much about it, and much happened during the next day of Passover, which is very confusing to most people. Are we allowed to partake of the “communion” or the “Lord’s supper” at any time? Do the bread and the wine change on that occasion to the body and blood of Christ? Did Jesus say during the Passover night that He would eat no bread and drink no wine until His return to this earth? Exactly how did Jesus die on the cross? And in what way was His body broken, and what does this mean for us today?

“Der Glaube kommt aus der Predigt” the sermonette presented last Sabbath in Germany by Mike Richter, is now posted. Title in English: “Faith Comes from the Sermon.”

“Hingabe,” the sermonette presented on the First Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread in Germany by Christian Mrosek, is now posted. Title in English: “Dedication.”

“Der Betrug der Suende,” the sermon presented on the First Day of Unleavened Bread in Germany by Norbert Link, is now posted. Title in English: “The Deceitfulness of Sin.”

“Just a Second,” the morning sermonette for the First Day of Unleavened Bread which was presented by Frank Bruno, is now posted. Here is a summary:

In the sermons and sermonettes leading up to the Spring Holy Days we have heard and considered that even a person drawn by God to follow Jesus Christ can be beset by sin. Most of us would like to believe that we are basically good people in the eyes of God and among our brethren. However, in this sermonette on the Feast of Unleavened Bread we will consider just how easy it is for a human to sin, and how important repentance is to save us from our nature and mistakes, and even restore our confidence. We need not fall prey to Satan if we remain mindful of the blessing of the Holy Spirit sent to help us move forward. Repentance is the tool that we can wield to return to the embrace of the Father and His Son.

“Who We Are” the morning sermon for the First Day of Unleavened Bread which was presented by Eric Rank, is now posted. Here is a summary:

One characteristic that all Christians share is their humanity. By nature, humans are complex creatures, prone to error, but above all, capable of compassion. The work of a Christian is to strengthen the ability to love and care for one another, recognizing that we are all imperfectly working together towards the same goal.

“Remain Clean,” the afternoon Offertory for the First Day of Unleavened Bread which was presented by Michael Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The Days of Unleavened Bread symbolize keeping sin out of our lives from both a physical and a spiritual standpoint by not partaking in anything leavened during these 7 days. But what about after the 7 days are over?  How are we to remain clean spiritually at all times, and what help do we have?

“The Deceitfulness of Sin,” the afternoon sermon for the First Day of Unleavened Bread which was presented by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

How and in what way does sin deceive us? Why is the way of sin a way of error and of fraud? How can people and Satan deceive us and lead us into error? Why is sin compared with leaven, and why are we to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, the Herodians, and the Sadducees? Can we, on our own, overcome sin?

On March 27, 2021, Norbert Link will present “Comments on News and Prophecy, March 27, 2021,” and the sermon, titled, “The Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ.”

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

Passover will be observed on Friday evening, March 26, 2021, after sundown.

The Night to be Much Observed will be observed on Saturday evening, March 27, 2021, after sundown.

Sunday, March 28, 2021, is the First Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Morning services will begin at 9:00 am Pacific Time; afternoon services will begin at 3:15 pm Pacific Time.

“Just a Second,” is the title of the morning sermonette, presented by Frank Bruno, and “Who We Are” is the title of the morning sermon, presented by Eric Rank.

The Offertory will be presented by Michael Link, and “The Deceitfulness of Sin,” the title of the afternoon sermon for the First Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, will be presented by Norbert Link.

In the sermon from last Sabbath by Dave Harris, “God-Who-Forgives”, something was stated at the end that was of fundamental importance. I have thought about this before, but it really stood out in light of the upcoming Passover, the Night to be Much Observed and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

The thought that stood out was this: “ We (that would include all of us who heard the sermon and who read this Editorial, including myself) can affect the whole world by HOW we repent.” That is truly mind-blowing. We, the poor, the weak, whatever we consider ourselves to be, have the power to help the world NOW.

2 Peter 3:10-14 states in the New International Version: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.”

How often do we take into account that we have the ability to hasten the return of Christ? We pray, or at least we are TOLD to pray, “Your Kingdom come,” but how often does that trickle down into our lives? As we are preparing for the beginning of the Spring Holy Days, what is it that we are focusing on? Hopefully, it is upon what we can do to turn further towards our God! We are told that we have to become without spot; meaning, we have to come to hold the line against sin. We also have to be looking and searching for it.

Once we find sin and we start to root it out, we have to replace it with righteousness. If we are not filling up constantly with God’s Holy Spirit and making gains, then we are in danger of having the same sin, which we worked hard to replace, start to seep back in. We have to be constantly building correctly in our lives. In order to make sure that we are doing this properly, I want to use Paul’s words from 1 Corinthians 3:11-16 where he states in the New International Version:

“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”

The things that we build now will have an impact here and now, but more importantly, in the future. Each of us is the temple of God. Each of us is a vessel for God’s Holy Spirit. The power to overcome and to change is given to each of us because of the great Sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His immense love for us.

The opportunity lies in each of us, though, to carry out something that is larger than ourselves. But we CANNOT lose focus on the fact that each of us is an integral part—contributing to an overall accomplishment.

Ephesians 2:19-22 says in the New International Version: “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

We are God’s people. We are those whom He has called at this end of the age. Living as a true Christian is not going to get easier. The challenges we face are getting more wearisome and challenging. This cannot dissuade us. This cannot stop us from overcoming and moving forward. Rather, as we are making progress, we must constantly harken back to WHY we are doing this! What is it that anchors us and helps us to get back up and keep moving forward?

As we prepare and move through the next few weeks, we should be very mindful of how much we can grow, change and mature in the coming year. It comes down to dedication and resolution. How willing are we to truly allow the mind of Christ to lead and guide us in ALL things?

1 Corinthians 2:6-16 states in the New International Version:

“We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written:

“‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’— the things God has prepared for those who love him— these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”

Do all the quoted Scriptures resonate? Do they find a place in our minds and hearts? Again, we are God’s people and we MUST consider ourselves as such! We have the calling and the opportunities! Let us NOT neglect to find out what is right and proper in God’s eyes and to do those things with all perseverance, courage and speed.

by Norbert Link

We begin with the disastrous meeting in Alaska between the USA and China; continue with some troubling questions regarding President Biden’s health; speak on the prospects of new epidemics; the effectiveness and potential dangers of vaccines; dramatic developments in Germany and Europe pertaining to the coronavirus; the ongoing and heated fight between the UK and the EU; and further developments in the UK.

We address animal sacrifices in Israel; the Israeli elections; and Pope Francis’ fight with liberals and conservatives in the Catholic Church, as well as the rocky relationship between the Catholic Church and President Biden.

We conclude with articles on a homosexual Captain America; Chinese propaganda towards a German children’s book; and a court ruling in Canada pertaining to a transgender kid.

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

The Chinese-US Disaster in Alaska

Breitbart wrote on March 19:

“The meeting [when Chinese diplomats were lecturing their American counterparts on human rights and democracy] took place in Alaska Thursday between American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan,  Yang Jiechi, a member of China’s Communist Party’s Politburo; and the country’s top diplomat and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi… During the first in-person meeting between the Biden administration and Chinese officials, Beijing indicated that it would do what it wants, irrespective of U.S. and its allies’ concerns… China’s top diplomat, Yang, went on to attack America’s democracy, urging the United States ‘to stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world… Many people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States, and they have various views regarding the Government of the United States,’ he said. Saying that the U.S. is mistreating blacks, he blasted human rights in America.

“Yang declared: ‘In human rights, we hope that the United States will do better on human rights. … The challenges facing the United States in human rights are deep-seated. They did not just emerge over the past four years, such as Black Lives Matter. It did not come up only recently. So we do hope that for our two countries, it’s important that we manage our respective affairs well instead of deflecting the blame on somebody else in this world. He also criticized America for ‘invading’ other nations while accusing China of doing the same.

“Yang said: ‘We do not believe in invading through the use of force, or to topple other regimes through various means, or to massacre the people of other countries, because all of those would only cause turmoil and instability in this world… So we believe that it is important for the United States to change its own image …’

“After the meeting, an unnamed U.S. official accused China of ‘grandstanding,’ Politico reported.”

And what about Chinese blatant civil rights violations towards and concentration camps for minorities? China has shown its utter lack of “respect” for the USA.

Joe Biden a National Security Risk?

Fox News wrote on March 19:

In Friday’s ‘Hannity’ opening monologue, Fox News host Sean Hannity sounded the alarm that President Joe Biden’s recent gaffes and [three-times] stumble while boarding Air Force One have become ‘a nightmare scenario.’… ‘

 “‘Honestly, I watched this. It was sad. You got to almost feel sorry for Joe Biden. From what we can clearly observe now on pretty much a daily basis, he is obviously not doing well. He wasn’t doing well on the campaign. And the scary part of it is, now this is a national security issue… The whole world can see what we see every day, including hostile regimes, hostile actors and America’s enemies. Look at Vladimir Putin, openly mocking the President of the United States of America, challenging him to a debate and then saying ‘I hope you’re better, I hope you’re feeling better, good health.’ The Chinese are now literally spitting at the U.S. and our public image on a public stage like they did yesterday. It was a disaster. Then we had groveling and another apology tour beginning. The mullahs in Iran, they are emboldened…’

“Hannity noted that the media [in the US] has been largely silent on Biden’s tripping incident, contrasting that with wall-to-wall coverage of then-President Donald Trump gingerly walking down a ramp following an event in West Point, New York. He played clips of Associated Press reporter Jonathan Lemire and MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough criticizing Trump and theorizing about his fitness for office…”

The Daily Mail on March 19 added:

“Major left-leaning U.S. press outlets are largely avoiding mention of President Joe Biden’s repeated stumbles as he boarded Air Force One, while many foreign publications are devoting prominent coverage to the incident…. In contrast to the lack of interest in Biden’s stumbles, mainstream U.S. outlets heavily covered an incident last year, in which Trump took mincing baby-steps down a ramp at West Point, which he later explained was ‘very slippery.’ Although Trump did not stumble during the incident, it sparked rampant speculation about his health and criticism over his capacities, including from Biden himself. ‘Look at how he steps and look at how I step,’ Biden said in September 2020, in a clip featured on CNN. ‘Watch how I run up ramps and he stumbles down ramps. OK? Come on.’ ‘Trump’s West Point walk sparks questions about his health,’ read one CNN headline. ‘Trump tries to explain his slow and unsteady walk down a ramp at West Point,’ a Washington Post headline ran. ‘Unsteady appearance prompts new scrutiny of Trump’s health,’ read the headline of an MSNBC article, which also highlighted Trump’s use of two hands to sip a cup of water at the West Point event.

“The contrast drew accusations of a double standard from some conservatives and Trump supporters, who accused the U.S. press of covering up the awkward incident… The fall does nothing to reduce concern for and speculation over Biden’s cognitive health which has grown in recent months thanks to a series of mix-ups on his behalf. The White House and Biden’s camp routinely play down concerns about his health and insist he is fit to lead.

“Biden is the oldest President in history; Ronald Reagan was 77 when he left office and he was 69 when he was elected. Trump was 70 when elected and was 74 when he left office earlier this year.”

It was later “explained” by the White House that Biden slipped because of the heavy wind. However, there was only a very slight breeze. It has been speculated for quite a while on social media that Biden suffers from dementia and/or other physically and mentally-destabilizing conditions, and that he will soon have to resign in favor of Kamala Harris whom he has referred to several times as “President Harris.”

The Sun added on March 19:

“[Conservative commentator ] Candice Owens has claimed Joe Biden is suffering from dementia and that led to his fall while climbing the stairs of Air Force One… Owens tweeted: ‘It’s difficult to fall 3 times while going up a flight of steps… Biden has dementia but let’s wait for CNN to tell us this is just another adorable gaffe!’…

“The President has not taken a cognitive test for dementia and his medical and surgical history released in 2019 made no reference to him suffering from the condition. But his frequent gaffes have been picked up by political opponents as evidence of impaired mental ability, with Donald Trump previously tweeting the Democrat had dementia after forgetting Mitt Romney’s name.

“A poll found that nearly 40 per cent of registered American voters believe Biden has ‘some form of dementia’.”

Coming… New Epidemics

The Washington Standard published on March 16 the following commentary by Michael Snyder:

“What would you do if a coronavirus that is much more contagious than regular COVID and that makes people much sicker than regular COVID started to spread all over the globe?  Well, we are being told that is precisely what is now happening.  Technically, P1 is a ‘variant’ of the COVID virus that has paralyzed the entire planet over the past year, but it is proving to be far more dangerous. Over the past week, the spread of P1 in Brazil has caused people to drop dead at a staggering pace… Vast numbers of healthy young adults are being hospitalized, and that fact has prompted the health secretary of Sao Paulo to refer to P1 as ‘a different pandemic from the one we saw last year’…

“P1 appears to evade immunity conferred by previous COVID infection… the P.1 variant could evade immunity from previous Covid-19 infection by up to 61%. “P1… has already spread to a whole bunch of other countries including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Japan, Mexico, Italy and India…

“If we could barely handle COVID, how are we going to be able to handle P1? And if we can’t handle P1, what in the world is going to happen when a pestilence that is much, much worse comes along? Of course, pandemics are just one element of the ‘perfect storm’ that is now upon us. We live in very troubled times, and what we have experienced so far is just the very beginning.”

The Bible prophesies that in these end times, there will be pandemics and disease epidemics of which we cannot be healed.

Ineffective and Dangerous Vaccines

On March 16, Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche, a vaccine developer, claimed that during a pandemic, we must not have mass vaccinations as it will put great pressure on the virus to mutate to survive the vaccine. That the vaccine does not kill the virus but only prevents the sickness it causes. That the patient still is able to transmit the virus to others. Bossche is also mentioned in the article below.

LewRockwell wrote on March 17:

“The vaccines are the source of a new mutation that is being blamed on the Brazilian, South African, UK or any other ‘variant’ diversions… It’s worth noting, that we are dealing with a 100%-synthetic cocktail… the vaccines don’t do what they’re supposed to do. They neither prevent one from contracting Covid nor do they stop the infection from spreading to others… They do, however, relieve Covid symptoms for which they are reportedly 95% effective. But that’s not why people get vaccinated. Most people get vaccinated because they think it will prevent them from getting sick and dying…

“Is Dr. Vanden Bossche right? Is our ‘extensive and erroneous human intervention’ (the vaccines) ‘going to wipe out large parts of our human population’? Have these vaccines turned ‘a relatively harmless virus into a bioweapon of mass destruction?’ Have the ‘current COVID-19 vaccines… increasingly turn vaccine recipients into asymptomatic carriers who are shedding virus’?? Are we now facing the biggest and most deadly public health disaster in history? We believe he is right…

“Let’s [also] say, for the sake of argument, that [Dr. Gilad] Atzmon is right. Let’s say, there is, in fact, ‘a close correlation between mass vaccination, cases and deaths.’ And let’s also say that ‘This correlation points at the possibility that it is the vaccinated who actually spread the virus or even a range of mutants that are responsible for the radical shift in symptoms above.’

“Is that even possible? Can people who have been vaccinated become super-spreaders of a more virulent and lethal form of the virus? Yes, they can. They can become carriers of a more deadly strain of the infection and kill hundreds of others they come in contact with before dying themselves…”

The Covid Blog wrote on March 12:

“The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recently admitted that Pfizer, Moderna and other experimental shots neither stop the spread of COVID-19, nor prevent you from getting the virus. The agency said in a press release that fully vaccinated Americans must ‘continue to take these COVID-19 precautions when in public.’ That includes wearing masks, staying six feet apart from other people, and avoiding large crowds.

“Pfizer’s CEO, Moderna’s chief medical officer, and Dr. Anthony Fauci have also all admitted that these shots do not stop the spread of COVID-19.  You are not alone if you’re now asking yourself rhetorically, ‘then what is the point of getting these shots?’ There are also real-life events further demonstrating that experimental mRNA and viral vector shots do nothing to stop the spread of COVID-19.

“Two staff members and 10 residents tested positive for COVID-19 this week at the Cottonwoods Care Centre, according to CBC TV. The publicly-funded retirement facility has 221 total beds. The report says 82% of residents were fully vaccinated as of February 15. Two-thirds of staff were fully vaccinated. Thus, the proverbial ‘two-week waiting period’ for alleged immunity had passed. Eight of the confirmed cases were fully-vaccinated.”

However, Senator and physician Rand Paul disagree with these conclusions. Note the next article.

Rand Paul Rips Fauci

Fox News reported on March 19:

“White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci ‘is not being honest with the American public’ about when to wear masks, Sen. Rand Paul [said]. Paul joined host Tucker Carlson one day after the senator challenged Fauci to present hard evidence that people should wear face masks even after receiving the coronavirus vaccine. At one point, Paul called Fauci’s double-masking ‘theater’, which visibly annoyed the immunologist…

“Paul told Carlson Friday that Fauci presented ‘no scientific evidence’ to make the case for wearing masks after people have been vaccinated. ‘There was Dr. Fauci’s opinion, his conjecture that someday there might be a [coronavirus] variant that escapes the control of the vaccine and becomes a pandemic and hospitalizes and kills people,’ he said. ‘But there is no evidence it has happened. He thinks it might happen, so you need to wear the mask until he’s sure that things that might happen are not going to happen.’

“Paul went on to describe Fauci as ‘unconcerned about liberty’, adding that the burden should be on him and other bureaucrats to prove their dictates and recommendations are necessary. ‘There are no news reports or scientific studies saying, after vaccination, that there is some sort of widespread contagion that people [who are] vaccinated are spreading the disease,’ he said.”

It remains to be seen what is and will be happening. In any event, the future looks bleak. Note the next article.

Suicide among American Youth on the Rise

The American Institute for Economic Research wrote on March 20:

“Before Covid, an American youth died by suicide every six hours. Suicide is a major public health threat and a leading cause of death for those aged under 25 — one far bigger than Covid. And it is something that we have only made worse as we, led by politicians and ‘the science,’ deprived our youngest members of society — who constitute one-third of the US population — of educational, emotional and social development without their permission or consent for over a year.

“And why? For what? We were scared. We were scared for our lives and those of people we love. And, like your average German-on-the-street in the 1930s and 40s, we believed that doing what we were told and supporting the national cause would save us and our families. The reality is we sacrificed others without a second thought. We have sacrificed our youths’ lives and future livelihoods…

“Covid poses minimal risk to healthy individuals under 65, and is even less of a threat to youths (those aged under 25). In fact, preliminary data suggest Covid accounted for barely 1.2% of all deaths in the under-25 age group…  the other 98.8% of deaths that had nothing to do with Covid…

“… compared to 2018 and 2019 deaths per 100k, 2020 saw one extra death among those under age five, an additional 1.5 deaths among those aged 5 to 14, and a whopping 23 additional deaths among those aged 15 to 24. Overall, deaths per 100k in this age group jumped from 106.4 per 100k in 2019 to 131.7 per 100k during 2020. That’s an increase of 23% — and Covid only accounts for 1.2% of total deaths in ages 0–24 years.”

These are terrible statistics. Suicides of children, teens and young adults… what a tragedy.

Anti-Lockdown Demonstrations all Over Europe

The Associated Press wrote on March 20:

“Protests against government measures to rein in the pandemic… were reported in several… countries across Europe, including [Germany,] Austria, Britain, Finland, Romania and Switzerland. More than 20,000 people participated in the protest in the central German city of Kassel, where there also were confrontations between the demonstrators and counter-protesters… Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday Germany will have to… reverse some recent relaxations of restrictions…

“In London, demonstrators opposing the U.K.’s months-long lockdown defied police who warned of potential fines and arrest for violating prohibitions on most group meetings… In Finland, police estimated that about 400 people without masks and packed tightly together gathered in the capital, Helsinki, to protest government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions… Before the Helsinki rally, some 300 people chanting slogans like ‘Let the people speak!’ and carrying placards with phrases such as “Facts and numbers don’t add up” marched through the streets of the city…

“More than a thousand anti-vaccination protesters took to the streets in Romania’s capital of Bucharest… In Austria, about 1,000 protesters participated in demonstrations against the government’s virus measures near Vienna’s central train station… In Switzerland, more than 5,000 protesters met for a silent march…”

Merkel’s Defeat

On Tuesday, the German government announced further lockdowns during the Easter holiday period. Due to extreme outrage, Angela Merkel was forced to reverse this decision. Here is the rundown of the events:

Deutsche Welle reported on March 23:

“Germany is extending the current lockdown through April 18, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced early Tuesday. The country will enter an even stricter lockdown from April 1 to April 5 over the Easter holiday period, when shops, including grocery stores, will largely have to close…‘We are having a de facto Easter lockdown,’ Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder told reporters… Stephan Weil, Lower Saxony’s state premier,… spoke of ‘five days of hard lockdown over Easter.’ ‘Firms should not produce anything, traveling to work should only take place when it is absolutely necessary. Public life in Germany and human interactions should be reduced to the absolute minimum…’

“Professor Andrew Ullmann, spokesman for the German parliament’s health committee [said:] ‘What I’m really concerned about is that we are running from one lockdown to the next lockdown… with no perspective for our population…’”

Bild Online wrote on March 23:

“Storm of Protest after Corona summit. No plan, no clue, no courage. Do Merkel, Soeder & Co. still know what they are doing?”

Bild also said this on March 24:

“In the pandemic, the chancellor and the prime ministers are trying to impose their power more and more unabashedly. The Corona Summits are now feasts of patronizing! With how many guests can a family celebrate Easter? With two, three, four? Which shops are allowed to open on Holy Saturday? None at all, just supermarkets, all? What an undignified legislative horse trading in regards to our fundamental liberties and freedoms! As if it were all about harassing the citizens with ever new measures.”

Die Welt added this commentary on March 24:

“What has become of us? Are we a joke? The decisions… prove: Germany is failing. The rulers, an overwhelmed cohort incapable of solving the crisis, are moving further and further away from the electorate in the pandemic. That won’t go well for long in a liberal democracy.”

Merkel’s government realized that they had gone too far. So this happened next:

Merkel Forced to Backtrack and Apologize

 Deutsche Welle reported on March 24

“In a turnabout move, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told state premiers in a video call that there would not be a strict lockdown over Easter after all… During a press conference, Merkel said the Easter lockdown was formed ‘with the best of intentions,’ but on closer analysis, the planned shutdown risked doing more harm than good… Christian Lindner, party leader of the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP), tweeted that Merkel should put a vote of confidence to the Bundestag…”

Reuters wrote on March 24:

“[Merkel’s] comments came against a backdrop of growing public frustration with the conservative-led government over the slow rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and extended lockdown measures… A poll released on Wednesday showed public support for Merkel’s conservatives slumping to its lowest in over a year ahead of a national election in September…”

The Daily Mail added on March 24:

“Despite the U-turn, more than 37million Germans could be facing curfews and forced to wear masks in their own cars under other measures agreed at the talks…”

What complete lunacy. Merkel & Co. have reached the end of their ropes, reflecting utter helplessness and incompetence, unwilling to face reality and to step aside. Trust in the federal and state governmental leaders is at an all-time low. A desire for “productive” change is everywhere. Also note the next article.

Jens Spahn under Scrutiny over Mask Purchases

Deutsche Welle reported on March 21:

“Last year, Germany’s Health Ministry ordered over half a million masks from a company that Jens Spahn’s husband works for [Spahn is openly gay.] The reports have raised eyebrows as Merkel’s conservatives continue to get hit by scandals… The mask deal was first reported on by German news magazine Der Spiegel. According to the report, a media company called Hubert Burda Media GmbH sold the Health Ministry some 570,000 masks in April last year — when supplies were low and protective masks were thin on the ground. The report also revealed that Spahn’s husband, Daniel Funke, holds a high-level position in Burda’s Berlin offices. The company confirmed the purchase to news agency dpa, saying the ministry paid the firm around €909,452 ($1.08 million)…

“The reports on Sunday came amid growing scandals and accusations of graft against Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister-party, the Christian Social Union. Alfred Sauter, former state justice minister for Bavaria, announced on Sunday that he was giving up his CSU party posts after he came under investigation for corruption over mask procurement contracts. Sauter denies any wrongdoing in the case.

“Last month, prosecutors opened a case against senior CSU lawmaker Georg Nüsslein, accusing him of accepting hundreds of thousands of euros to lobby for a mask supplier. Another lawmaker, CDU parliamentarian Nikolas Löbel, also resigned over a separate mask scandal. Prosecutors are likewise looking into his business deals with mask procurement.

“Other conservative lawmakers have resigned over corruption allegations not related to the pandemic, including MP Tobias Zech. The CSU lawmaker resigned on Thursday after reports emerged he did PR work for a political party in Macedonia. The continuous stream of scandals and corruption allegations have hit the conservatives hard just six months before Germany’s general election…”

Britain’s Attack on Von der Leyen and the EU

Express wrote on March 20:

“Has there ever been a better advert for Brexit than this week’s tyrannical, Stalinist rant from the EU’s lost-the-plot boss, Ursula von der Leyen? The woman, who sounds like she’s gone completely mad, has for months headed the worldwide smear campaign against the AstraZeneca vaccine and actively encouraged its suspension. Yet, this week she’s screaming that the EU will commandeer doses destined for us and other countries and then invoke Article 122, allowing the bloc to seize AZ factories along with its patents and control of its production. A pointless exercise obviously because if the EU was too stupid to order enough vaccines it sure… isn’t capable of actually making them.

“Of course none of the threats will ever amount to anything because the consequences would be catastrophic. This is just bluff and bluster from an incompetent leader whose politically motivated blame game has spectacularly backfired and now she doesn’t know what to do. So, she does what the bloc has always done – she threatens. Trouble is, now the world, and especially Britain, sees those threats for what they are – the mark of a blundering, floundering organisation that has failed the only real test it’s ever had, and now feels the ground beneath it crumbling.

“Still, it’s beyond belief that the EU, which is sitting on seven million unused doses of the AZ vaccine, is prepared to go to any lengths to seize every other available dose. This is despite the fact it’s spent months telling the world it’s useless and it kills people. The upshot now, as Covid spirals out of control throughout much of Europe and lockdowns are back, is millions of its citizens are still too scared to have it and hundreds of thousands of unused vaccines are being destroyed thanks to the EU’s killer propaganda.

“Does anyone in the EU actually care about saving lives? Or is it all about scoring points and discrediting Britain and all things British? Yes, this farce is about the EU trying to cover up its own incompetence in not procuring enough vaccines. But it’s also about the bloc’s obsession with trying to hurt us… Britain has so far given 28 million jabs – more than France, Italy, Germany and Portugal combined. And the EU doesn’t like that so it’s desperate to discredit our inoculation programme even if it costs the lives of EU citizens and people all over the world. If it was called the Paris or the Stuttgart vaccine not the Oxford vaccine it would have been a whole different story.

“But this obsession with trying to destroy us had President Macron telling everyone it was ineffective as Chancellor Merkel refused to have it because she said it didn’t work in older people. Then came the claims about it causing blood clots… How must the citizens of those countries feel now, seeing that the EU is playing politics with their lives in order to shore up the bloc’s power and keep safe the jobs of their unelected, overpaid EU masters? ‘All options are on the table,’ said Ursula this week. Well let’s hope those options include her being kicked out before needless numbers of EU citizens die thanks to her towering incompetence.”

This article reflects the ongoing animosity between the UK and the EU, with no hope for healing of any kind. Note the next articles.

Express wrote on March 20:

“Given the EU’s long track record of incompetent and shambolic rule, a Eurocrat [von der Leyen] has to hit spectacular levels of uselessness to be deemed sackable… Her threat to invoke wartime-style emergency powers to block vaccines from being exported out of the EU was meant as a show of strength at a time of crisis. Instead, it has left Brussels looking desperate… Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab likened her threat to the actions of a dictatorship, showing contempt for the international rule of law.”

Deutsche Welle reported on March 20:

“The European Union could stop AstraZeneca from exporting its COVID-19 vaccine from the bloc if the British-Swedish pharma company does not meet its supply obligations, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in comments published on Saturday…”

Deutsche Welle wrote on March 21:

“Despite earlier promises, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has said the bloc cannot donate COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries while it struggles with its own supply. The UK slammed the move as ‘counterproductive.’… Von der Leyen had strongly campaigned for providing vaccines to people worldwide back in spring 2020…

“The EU has accused the UK of imposing its own de facto export ban. The claim was vigorously denied by the UK, however, there is no evidence to suggest that the UK has exported any COVID vaccines at all, as it relies on complex legal arrangements with manufacturers.”

While the fight between the EU and the UK continues, von der Leyen is becoming more and more unpopular within the EU itself.

Status Report on Britain

The European Council on Foreign Affairs wrote on March 19:

“Brexit has not got off to a flying start. UK goods exports to the European Union fell by more than 40 per cent in January; a new row has erupted over UK ministers’ propensity to breach the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol unilaterally; and the government’s incomplete preparations have forced it to delay the introduction of checks on incoming EU goods, to avoid empty supermarket shelves…

“Confidence in the US security guarantee has evaporated – not least in the UK, where a startling 74 per cent agreed that ‘Europe can’t always rely on the US; we need to look after our own defence capabilities’…  Britons are warming to Biden’s America, but the United States remains less trusted than other key security partners, such as Canada, Australia, Germany, and Japan, and is considered a less important relationship than our partnership with the European Union…

“Britain’s national finances are in free-fall… National debt has now exceeded £2 trillion (some 100 per cent of GDP – the worst fiscal position for 70 years) and continues to rise…”

Crazy… Barbeques Cause Global Warming

The Sun wrote on March 19:

“Brighton and Hove City Council has come under fire over the controversial proposal to stop holidaymakers and residents enjoying using the grilling stations in all beaches, parks and open spaces. The Green Party-run authority says disposable barbecues are partly to blame for the world’s rising CO2 levels. It says the move is part of the direction for action on climate change with the aim of making the seaside resort carbon neutral by 2030.

“But the plans have been condemned by residents and tourists alike who have accused the Green-run council of being ‘the worst type of woke’ and trying to kill the summer tourism trade…Every year around 10million holidaymakers and day trippers flock to Brighton and Hove with many enjoying a beer and a barbecue on the beach. The tourism industry supports more than 20,000 jobs and brings in an estimated £850million to the city…”

If one thinks that THAT is crazy, note the next article.

Church of England Institutionally Racist?

Daily Mail wrote on March 19:

“The Church of England is set to introduce a 30 per cent quota for ethnic minority candidates on its leadership programme and carry out anti-racism training, it emerged last night. Officials are also planning to provide information giving context to church statues which may have caused ‘pain or offence’ as part of plans to tackle discrimination.

“Only one of the 42 diocesan bishops come from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. A taskforce was set up last year by the Church after Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said he was ‘sorry and ashamed’ that ‘we are still institutionally racist’. The ‘Lament to Action’ report also calls for an overhaul of education within CofE schools as well as plans to ‘deal with’ controversial statues and monuments.”

According to the Daily Mail, dated March 18, a movement has started in the UK to do away with masculine and feminine terms, as they “reinforce historic gender stereotypes.” Rather, it is suggested that “a move to ‘Mx’ is more of a general term that could replace Mr, Mrs, or Miss… to avoid any offence.” Also, the head of Kew Gardens, Richard Deverell, defends his decision to “decolonize” his botanical paradise, naming and shaming plants from countries that profited from exploitation. 

Jewish Sacrifices and the Temple Service

Israel 365 wrote on March 17:

“During a virtual conference on Wednesday, Rabbi Aryeh Stern, the chief rabbi of Jerusalem, ruled that the Korban Pesach (Passover sacrifice) is incumbent upon the Jewish people today… The rabbi concluded that in his opinion, it is possible for us today to perform the Passover sacrifice even before the construction of the Temple. This is based on the principle [that] the normal rules that prohibit the Kohanim (priests) and public from performing Temple rituals while in a state of ritual impurity are not applicable regarding the need to bring a sacrifice for the sake of the public…

“Rabbi Aryeh Lipo, the secretary of the Sanhedrin, agreed with the conclusion of Rabbi Stern, adding that it is entirely correct according to Halacha to renew the Temple service immediately. He added that one clear purpose of the Temple service was to cope with epidemics.

“Rabbi Hillel Weiss, the former spokesman for the Sanhedrin told Israel365 News, ‘The only thing preventing the Jewish People from performing the Passover sacrifice is the Israeli government. If the government decides to allow it, we must be ready to go up and begin the service… Now we must do what is required, and for now that means being ready to begin the Temple service.’”

The Bible prophesies that the Jews will begin to bring animal sacrifices, which will then be suppressed by an invading European power bloc. It is possible that these sacrifices will begin before the building of the third temple has commenced or has been completed, but they will be brought in anticipation of the third temple.

Election Results in Israel

JTA wrote on March 23:

“With the vast majority of votes counted from Tuesday’s Israeli election, it appears that neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor his opponents have a clear path to forming a government… as it stands Wednesday, the tally shows a split between Netanyahu’s allies and his opponents in Israel’s parliament, the 120-seat Knesset. Two parties remain uncommitted to either group….

“Should no candidate be able to assemble a coalition, which is what happened twice in 2019, Israel holds a repeat election. The results don’t point to any obvious majority coalition… the shape of the next Israeli government, and the identity of the person who leads it, may be unclear for quite some time.”

The Jerusalem Post wrote on March 24:

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not be able to form a government, according to preliminary results from 97% of the regular polling stations… unless he gains support from the Arab-Islamist Ra’am Party…”

Coming… Fight between Biden and Catholic Church?

CNA wrote on March 18:

“HHS has authority over a broad range of concerns—federally-funded adoption agencies, regulation of the abortion pill, refugee resettlement, anti-human trafficking efforts, global health, and family planning, to name a few. Health policy also intersects with the work of the Catholic Church, which historically has had a large and heavy footprint on U.S. health care. Perhaps in no other area, aside from education, does the Church work more with the broader society.

“An estimated one in six hospital beds in the U.S. is in a Catholic hospital, according to the ACLU. Catholics provide adoption and foster care services around the country, and help resettle refugee families. They operate shelters for human trafficking survivors. Catholic doctors, nurses, and foster mothers may work anywhere in the healthcare system, not just at Catholic institutions…

“It is also true that in health care, the ‘culture war’ battles are raging the hardest. A number of groups—chief among them the ACLU—have for years been pushing for contraceptives, abortions, same-sex marriages, and gender-transition procedures to become the norm in health care and family life, whether or not religious organizations agree. An administration which is willing to aggressively back abortion, marriage redefinition, and gender ideology could pick a lot of fights with Catholic organizations—and that is exactly what happened under the Obama administration… many Catholic institutions will be counting up the myriad of Obama-era ‘culture war’ fights that could reignite—and burn hotter than ever before.”

On the other hand, it is reported that Jesuit Pope Francis is happy with Joe Biden, the second Catholic President in America’s history.

Pope Francis Battles Liberals and Conservatives

The Wall Street Journal wrote on March 20:

“Pope Francis is struggling to manage powerful bishops in the U.S. and Germany, two groups at opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, as he tries to advance his progressive agenda without jeopardizing the unity of the Catholic Church. The election of President Biden, a progressive Catholic whom some U.S. bishops want to censure for his support of abortion rights, has exacerbated longstanding tensions between the pope and the largely conservative American episcopate. U.S. church leaders have resisted promoting the pope’s priorities of social and economic justice and care for the environment over opposition to abortion and defense of religious freedom.

“On the left, the pope is trying to rein in German bishops who—encouraged by the pope’s liberalizing gestures on topics including sexuality, ecumenism and the role of women—are pressing for changes that go further than Pope Francis is comfortable with, and that conservatives warn could cause a schism. Pope Francis’ most recent attempt to restrain the Germans came in this week’s Vatican document forbidding clergy to bless same-sex unions , a practice supported by some leading German bishops…

“Following Mr. Biden’s election, Pope Francis broke protocol by phoning to congratulate the president-elect. But on inauguration day, Archbishop José Gómez of Los Angeles, president of the USCCB, said, ‘Our new president has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage and gender.’ Meanwhile, some bishops say Mr. Biden’s abortion stance makes him ineligible to receive the Eucharist…

“Meanwhile in Germany, bishops and leading lay Catholics are engaged in a national synod considering major changes to church life, including the possibility of women clergy, married priests and changes to church teaching on sexuality… Conservative bishops in both the U.S. and Germany have warned that the German synod could lead the church into a split with the rest of the Catholic world… The [Vatican’s] statement [prohibiting the blessing of same-sex marriages] drew defiant reactions from clergy in Germany and beyond, including Austria and Belgium, with some priests vowing to bless gay couples despite the prohibition.

“… Vatican offices have also recently issued statements that rule out giving Communion to Protestants or allowing laypeople to administer parishes on an equal basis with priests, both ideas popular with German bishops.

“Despite disappointment in Germany with the statement on gay couples, liberals there retain an overwhelmingly positive view of the pope, said Ludwig Ring-Eifel, head of the German bishops’ news agency KNA. ‘The perception goes somewhat like this: Francis has opened all the doors which [Popes John Paul and Benedict] had previously declared closed on gays, on celibacy, on intercommunion. But the conservatives in the Vatican still stand in his way, and he alone is too weak to complete the revolution,’ Mr. Ring-Eifel said.”

Marvel’s First Gay Captain America… and more…

Daily Mail wrote on March 17:

“Marvel Comics has unveiled its very first gay Captain America. The character, named Aaron Fischer, will feature in The United States of Captain America – a new comic book series set for release on June 2. Marvel released images of Fischer on Wednesday, touting him as the first openly queer character in Captain America’s 80-year history. “‘Marvel Comics is proud to honor Pride Month with the rise of this new LGBTQ+ hero,’ the company said in a statement.

“Writer Joshua Trujillo has penned the debut issue in the new series which introduces Fischer… ‘He stands for the oppressed and the forgotten. I hope his debut story resonates with readers and helps inspire the next generation of heroes.’… Fischer was illustrated by Jan Bazaldua, who is a transgender artist…. Fischer also has multiple piercings, including a bull piercing in his nose. Comic book fans were thrilled by the announcement, with many taking to Twitter to share their excitement…

“Marvel has been diversifying its comic book characters in recent years. Thor comics have already featured a trans female character named Sera who descends from a group of male angels, before going on to assume a female identity.”

Chinese Propaganda and German Cowardness

Breitbart wrote on March 10:

“A German children’s book that stated that the coronavirus came from China has been pulped after the publisher caved to pressure from Communist Party diplomats and local Chinese people. The book which was published in the summer of last year is entitled ‘A Corona Rainbow for Anna and Moritz.’ The book tried to help children understand the radically different world they found themselves in following the pandemic.

“In the picture book, the children’s father says: ‘The virus comes from China and has spread out from there across the whole world,’ according to The Times. The book was based on advice from a tropical medicine institute in Hamburg. Despite the overwhelming scientific consensus that the virus emerged from Wuhan, in Central China, the communist regime has consistently denied this, even promulgating unfounded conspiracies such as the U.S. military bringing the virus into China.

“The CCP has also tried to attempt to liken the use of the phrase ‘China virus’ — favoured by former U.S. President Donald Trump — to racism, though the CCP has not made the same objections over the use of the so-called ‘UK variant’.

“A social media campaign from Chinese people in Germany saw many take to Amazon to give the book a one-star rating, claiming the book was ‘spreading racism among children in Germany’. Some Chinese residents also vowed to launch legal claims against the publisher and to protest against ‘racism and discrimination’. The campaign was later picked up by the Chinese consulate in Hamburg, who ‘lodged solemn representations against the publisher’.

“An article from the CCP mouthpiece The Global Times said: ‘The Chinese community believes a simple apology is not enough and asked for the recall of the book’… the Carlsen publishing house apologised and decided to destroy copies of the book…

“Communist China is no stranger to book burning and other censorious tactics stretching back to the time of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, in which countless religious icons, buildings and books were destroyed by the young Red Guards…’”

We can have gay and transgender heroes in comics, but children’s books must not speak about the coronavirus coming from China…

Stupidity in Canada too…

Newsmax wrote on March 19:

“A Canadian man has been arrested for violating a court order that prevented him from speaking publicly about his teenager’s gender transition… the man is father to a gender non-conforming biological female 15-year-old who identifies as transgender. The teen prefers the use of male pronouns. However, the man has repeatedly called the teen his daughter, despite the court forbidding it. He has also reportedly referred to the teen with the pronouns ‘’she’ and ‘her’… the man is against the teen undergoing ‘gender affirmative’ medical procedures…

“The court ordered the dad not to stand in the way of the teenager’s hormone therapy and to try to better comprehend gender dysphoria… The judges said the man must acknowledge and refer to his child as a boy and by the name the teen has chosen. The father can also state his feelings to family, close friends and close advisers, provided they don’t work for the media… the justices added the father’s rejection of his child’s chosen gender caused the teen ‘significant pain’ that has ‘resulted in a rupture of what both parties refer to as an otherwise loving parent-child relationship.’

“The teen has said he identified as a boy since age 11 and began exploring transition treatment when he [she] was 13. The man claimed… the child had complex problems. But he said the court blamed them all on gender dysphoria… The man… said that the child had intense crushes on two male teachers and also made a suicide attempt.

“The man… blasted the left for his situation…  ‘I am fighting the far left based on a civil disobedience defense!’’ he reportedly wrote. ‘I am now back in court for a five-day criminal trial that will last at least five days … From April 12-16. That trial that could land me in jail for up to five years for speaking truth about state sponsored child abuse. FYI … I am blocked from sharing any videos at this time that oppose the sterilization of children!’”

How must God feel about such blatant violations of His laws and principles? Sodom and Gomorrah come to mind for sure.. but it’s even getting worse.

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.

We are living in a world that can be very discouraging and depressing, and a word of encouragement can be very uplifting. We know that in our spiritual life, roadblocks will be put in front of us in order to deter us from achieving our goal, but we mustn’t let these deter us in any way! We can and will win if we keep the Way of God.

What is the definition of encouragement?   In collinsdictionary.com we read that it is “the activity of encouraging someone, or something that is said or done in order to encourage them.” It then gives the following synonyms: “inspiration, help, support, aid, favour, comfort, comforting, cheer, cheering, consolation, reassurance, morale boosting, succour.”

Merriam Webster gives these definitions of encourage:

to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope: HEARTEN

to attempt to persuade: URGE

to spur on: STIMULATE

to give help or patronage to: FOSTER

We know that when we were called to God’s Way of Life, it was not an easy way that lay ahead of us but was the “narrow way” (compare Matthew 7:13-14) and while pursuing it, encouragement can greatly help us in our goal of making it into the Kingdom of God.

In the Old Testament we read of discouragement in Ezra 4:4-5: “Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.” This resistance to rebuilding the Temple came from outsiders – the people of the land. As we know, the Temple was rebuilt years later.

We know that Elijah was extremely discouraged after his Mount Carmel victory over the prophets of Baal. In 1 Kings 19:1-10 we read that “he prayed that he might die” after he was threatened by Jezebel and said: “I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” We read in the following verses that God encouraged him and he went on to do more things in the name of the LORD.

Today, many of us live in countries where we do not suffer any real persecution at all, but that does not detract from the fact that a true Christian lives a completely different Way of Life from those who have not had God’s great calling at this time. Even with the astounding and wonderful knowledge that God has made available to us, we can still feel down, and discouragement is not unknown to God’s people. Satan will, of course, want to throw us off track as we read in 1 Peter 5:8: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” We have been warned!

The following is an old story that is worth repeating in the context of discouragement.

“The devil was holding a yard sale one day and displayed his most useful tools, marked at different prices, on a table. Lying side by side were some of his most notable implements of destruction: hatred, envy, jealousy, deceit, lust, lying and pride- all on sale. But over to the side of the yard on display was a worn-out tool that cost more than all the others combined. The tool was labeled DISCOURAGEMENT. When asked why it was more expensive than the other tools, the devil responded, ‘It’s more useful to me than any of the others. When I can’t bring down my victims with the rest of my tools, I use discouragement, because so few people realize it belongs to me.’”

An internet writer observed: “Discouragement is a thief.  It steals your vitality, your zeal, your joy, your peace, and your contentment.  If discouragement dwells long with you, its friends will soon join.  Their names are fatigue, hopelessness, despair, self-pity, depression, doubt, and bitterness. Sometimes, discouragement can be so strong that you even don’t want to go on living.”

If we find ourselves discouraged at any time, we should take this to God in prayer and ask for His help in turning this difficulty around.

It is interesting and helpful to review positive information about encouragement in the Bible. In Acts 4:36 we read that “Joses  who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement)…” This is the first time in the Bible that he is mentioned and it shows his outstanding example of generosity when he sold a field that he owned and then took the money to the apostles to distribute to those in need (verse 37).

Barnabas was a nickname given to him: a product of his character. It seems that he played a vital role in the early church. Here we see that he had sold some land to help provide for fellow Christian believers. The Church members in Jerusalem were in severe economic need and what did he do – just give out sympathy? No, he encouraged everyone by providing for their needs.

In Acts 9:26-27, Barnabas is seen encouraging the apostle Paul. He even took him to the apostles in Jerusalem for an introduction. Two chapters later he encouraged new believers in Antioch (compare Acts 11:22-24).

We read the apostle Paul’s instruction in Hebrews 3:13: “… but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” The NIV uses the word encourage where the New King James Bible uses the word exhort, but exhort means to urge and to encourage.

The apostle Paul further instructs us in 1 Thessalonians 5:11: “Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing,” and the margin in the New King James Bible says that we are to “encourage” each other.

Do we encourage others? Is this part of our Christian Way of Life? It certainly should be! Hebrews 10:24 states, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.” In a world of doom and gloom, a word of encouragement can work wonders. As the saying goes: “Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticise me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you.”

We know that in this life now, we will have tests, trials and tribulation, as our calling is tested, and Jesus told His followers nearly 2,000 years ago and, by extension today, to be of good cheer as He had overcome the world (compare John 16:33).

In 2 Timothy 2:3-4, we read about being strong in Jesus Christ: “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.  No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”  This clearly tells us that there is to be hardship – the Greek word can also be translated as to undergo hardship, be afflicted, endure afflictions, to suffer trouble.   The true Christian Way is not easy, and we will be tested throughout the rest of our lives.   God has got to see whether we are serious about our calling and His Way of Life.   If it were easy, anyone could do it, but the reward is so glorious and wonderful – and will last for eternity – that God has to be sure of us.   And that is why we will be tested.

When was the last time that we encouraged or sincerely complimented someone?  Negative comments are easy to make but encouragement is a quality not normally exercised by too many.

Another internet writer put it this way: “Encouragement makes it easier to live in a fallen world in a holy way. Encouragement makes it easier to love as Jesus loved (see John 13:34-35). Encouragement gives hope (Romans 15:4). Encouragement helps us through times of discipline and testing (Hebrews 12:5). Encouragement nurtures patience and kindness (see 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and Galatians 5:22-26). Encouragement makes it easier to sacrifice our own desires for the advancement of God’s kingdom. In short, encouragement makes it easier to live the Christian life.”

It has been said that encouragement is the greatest tool available to adults to boost children’s self-esteem. The psychologist Rudolph Dreikers once said, “Like a plant needs water children need encouragement.” It is through encouragement that we help others to achieve greater things than they thought possible.

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 says: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.”

This tells us that God is a God of mercy and comfort who comforts us, and that we may comfort others. There many verses in the Bible that can be helpful and encouraging and which can lift our spirits, and here are but a few of so many that are worth reviewing: Psalm 18:1-2; 27:1, 46:1; Isaiah 12:2; Acts 1:8; Romans 14:19; Philippians 4:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:11.

Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us: “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” The New Living Translation uses the phrase “motivate one another” instead of “exhorting one another”, and this is another way of encouragement.

What a future God’s people have to look forward to in the Kingdom of God and a time when encouragement, not doom and gloom, will be the order of the day!  The original question was “How Important is Encouragement in the life of a Christian?“ This answer has shown that it is vital.  Encouragement is the expression of approval and support.   We should, in the true Church of God, support each other and help in any way we can.

Don’t ever give up. Tough times will come and go. For a true Christian, everything happens for a purpose, and God is always with us. The future is wonderful, and at this time, we should acknowledge this and use encouragement as a vital part of our Christian life.

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

compiled by Dave Harris

The March 2021 Member Letter is now posted.

“Der Leib und das Blut Jesu Christi,” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “The Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ.”

“Der Betrug der Sünde,” is the title of the afternoon sermon on the First Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “The Deceitfulness of Sin.”

“Mit welchem Recht?” last Sabbath’s German sermonette which was presented by Johann Schell, is now posted. Title in English: “With What Right?”

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

The life of a Christian involves a lifetime of spiritual growth and development, requiring hard work in overcoming sin and bringing the fruit of the Spirit to maturity.

“God-Who-Forgives,” last Sabbath’s sermon presented by Dave Harris, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Throughout the history of mankind, evil has become so all-pervasive that God has been moved to destroy individuals, nations and even the entire world. Yet, because righteousness was found in some, God relented. That, however, did not remove all the consequences of sin.

On March 20, 2021, Eric Rank will present the sermonette, titled, “Get to Work,” and Dave Harris will present the sermon, titled, “God-Who-Forgives.”

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.

In the Current Events section of our weekly Update no. 961 on February 19^th 2021, there was an item headed “Black List for LGBT-‘Hate’ Groups,” which included the following comments:

“C-Fam wrote on February 12:

“‘The UN rights office is collecting the names of anyone who opposes the LGBT agenda in any way. Politicians, religious leaders, and organizations from around the world who defend life and family will likely be put on a blacklist by the UN office for human rights. The drastic new measure may be used to impose sanctions on pro-family advocates and expose them to terrorist attacks…

“‘In the broadly worded prompt, the UN rights office asks for examples of “public expressions or statements by political and/or religious leaders” who challenge LGBT rights… The UN rights office is especially focused on religions of pro-life and pro-family groups. It asks for any “examples where the concept of gender has been used in religious narratives or narratives of tradition, traditional values or protection of the family” in opposition to new LGBT laws and policies.’”

This was interesting as I had been reading a book entitled “Trigger Warning – Is the Fear of Being Offensive Killing Free Speech?,” where the author, Mick Hume, makes this excellent analysis:

“More recent struggles for freedom and equality in Western societies were just as intimately bound up with freedom of speech. The demand for free speech, the right for their voices to be heard, has proved central to the struggles for women’s emancipation, gay liberation and racial equality in the UK and US. There is a grim irony in the fashion… for feminist, trans or anti-racist activists today to demand restrictions on free speech as a means of protecting the rights of the identity groups they claim to represent. Without the efforts of those who fought for more free speech in the past, these illiberal activists would not be free to stand up and call for less of it in the present.”

Mr Hume went on to say that “we are living in the age of the reverse-Voltaires… Voltaire was a pioneer of free speech in eighteenth-century Enlightenment France. Voltaire is credited with one of the great historical sayings on the subject: ‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.’ The cri de coeur [that is, the passionate outcry, as of appeal, entreaty or protest] of today’s hardcore offence-takers turns his principle inside out: ‘I know that I’ll detest and be offended by what you say, and I will defend to the end of free speech my right to stop you saying it.’ The reverse-Voltaires do not wish to dispute ideas or arguments that offend them. They would deny the other person’s right to say it in the first place.”

Put another way, those who have used the right to free speech in the first place are happy to have done so in pursuit of their agenda, and when that has been achieved, they then try and close down any comment, discussion or debate on that very same subject. Freedom of speech or no free speech, we all know which! It can also be called the cancel culture.

Game, set and match to them, or so they think. Perhaps for the time being, but there is coming a time when this nonsense will simply come to a grinding halt. There will be no need for family groups to defend their position nor will those promoting LGBT rights and other ungodly practices be allowed to function in such a capacity. Rather, they will learn and understand how wrong they had been all along.

The Truth given to us by God in His Word which is casually and callously discarded by those who seem to think that they know better, will become the norm, and society in the soon-coming Kingdom of God will practice the way that leads to a properly ordered society and happiness at every turn. Those of us who have been called to the knowledge of this Truth look forward eagerly to such a time!

by Norbert Link

We begin with reports on safety concerns regarding the vaccine AstraZeneca and its suspended use by numerous countries; and report on scandals in Germany and a major hit Angela Merkel took in Sunday’s state elections.

We continue with an eye-opening article about the dangerous rise of dictatorships worldwide and the demise of democracy in over 100 countries [please view our new StandingWatch and AufPostenStehen programs in this regard]; address an alleged massive Chinese cover-up regarding the origin and outbreak of the coronavirus; and speak on the political downfall of Governors Newsom and Cuomo.

We address the “crisis” or “challenge” at the US-Mexican border and the ongoing unrest and violence in Oregon.

We also speak on two European states which have opened branches of their embassies in Jerusalem; and point out another diplomatic row between Israel and Jordan. We also report on a new alleged discovery of Dead Sea scrolls.

We conclude with the Vatican’s announcement not to bless same-sex unions, and more stupidity from England.

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

Safety Concerns for Vaccine

Bloomberg wrote on March 12:

“The World Health Organization called for immunizations with AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 vaccine to continue after [many] countries suspended use of the shot over safety concerns… after concerns emerged in Austria last weekend, when the country stopped using some supplies of AstraZeneca’s vaccine as a precaution following reports of a death and illness among recipients. In rapid succession, Denmark, Italy and Norway followed suit, pointing to instances of blood clotting potentially linked to batches of the product. Thailand has suspended AstraZeneca vaccinations.

“The moves threaten to derail Europe’s already stuttering vaccine rollout, which trails campaigns in the U.K. and U.S. and could prolong the social and economic pain of the pandemic. They follow complaints from Europe that Astra isn’t delivering enough doses, along with age restrictions that many countries put on the shot in January before recently clearing it for all adults…

The Guardian reported on March 14 that Ireland is suspending the use of the vaccine “as a precautionary measure following further reports of blood clots in people who have received it, this time from Norway… Ireland cited a report into a death and three hospitalisations in Norway that came out on Saturday.” Other countries include Iceland and Bulgaria. Subsequently, it was announced that the Netherlands, Germany and France and Sweden also suspended the use of the vaccine “as a precaution.”

On March 13, MSN reported that “President Joe Biden’s administration is holding on to its stockpile of AstraZeneca PLC vaccines, even though the shot isn’t authorized for U.S. use… the U.K.-based company has begun manufacturing doses in the U.S. to fill an order for 300 million shots the American government placed last year… An AstraZeneca executive told CNBC last week that the company expects to have 30 million doses ready to ship when the shot receives authorization from the Food and Drug Administration.”

Deutsche Welle reported on March 16:

“The EU regulatory body… is ‘still firmly convinced that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19 with its associated risk of hospitalization and death outweigh the risk of these side effects,’ Executive Director Emer Cooke [said]…”

Dramatic Escalation between EU and UK over AstraZeneca’s Vaccine

The Sun wrote on March 17:

“In a dramatic escalation of their furious row with the pharma giant, EU boss Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc could even suspend patents on the lifesaving jab so anyone could produce it – but critics branded the threats ‘Stalinist.’ In a bombshell intervention, the raging German said she did not rule out triggering emergency powers to ‘make sure Europeans are vaccinated as soon as possible’ – warning ‘all options are on the table’. And in an astonishing broadside aimed at Britain she warned the bloc may restrict vaccine shipments to countries whose rollouts are going far better than its own. Her explosive comments come despite several EU nations pulling the plug on the very same jab earlier this week…

“The remarks reignited a fuming war of words between Britain and the EU…

“The massive row comes after 20 EU countries fully or partially suspended the use of the AZ vaccine over unsubstantiated blood clot fears this week. In Germany doctors at one vaccination centre were reported to have been brought to tears by having to destroy a batch of unused vaccines, describing the situation as a ‘disaster beyond all expectations’… The head of Italy’s medicines agency railed against the move as a ‘political choice’ and vowed to resume vaccinations at a greater than ever pace as soon as possible. Meanwhile in Poland – which has not suspended use of the jab – a top adviser to the PM suggested a commercially motivated ‘disinformation’ campaign designed to benefit AZ’s rivals was behind the decisions.”

Reuters added on March 17:

“The European Union on Wednesday threatened to ban exports of COVID-19 vaccines to Britain to safeguard scarce doses for its own citizens facing a third wave of the pandemic that would jeopardise plans to restart travel this summer… Von der Leyen said the flow of vaccine products was smooth with the United States but aired frustration over lack of deliveries from AstraZeneca in Britain…

“The situation threatens plans announced by the Commission to launch ‘green digital certificate’ that would collate information on vaccinations, tests and COVID recovery to let travellers cross borders freely again.”

Quite an interesting contradiction, as Europe wants more AstraZeneca vaccines while suspending its use.

Europeans Resume Use of AstraZeneca Vaccine

 Deutsche Welle wrote on March 18:

“Germany, France and several other EU countries on Thursday have decided to continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) deemed the shot ‘safe and effective’…  Germany will resume administering the jab on Friday, according to Health Minister Jens Spahn. The vaccine, however, will come with new advice on potential side effects…

“France, Italy, Latvia, Bulgaria and Slovenia will also move forward with the AstraZeneca vaccine following the EMA’s guidance. French Prime Minister Jean Castex plans to receive the AstraZeneca shot on Friday to boost public confidence in the vaccine… Spain will reintroduce AstraZeneca vaccinations on Wednesday, but will exclude some demographic groups to minimize health risks. 

“Lithuania will resume using the AstraZeneca jab on Friday… Norway and Sweden will keep the AstraZeneca vaccine suspended as their public health bodies assess the situation… Norwegian Institute of Public Health director Camilla Stoltenberg told reporters [that] it was ‘premature’ to come to a final conclusion on the vaccine.  Sweden has said it ‘needs a few days’ before coming to a decision on the jab.”

Secret Contracts and Corruption in the EU?

Express wrote on March 12:

“AUSTRIA has accused some EU states of having ‘secret contracts’ for coronavirus vaccines in a snub to the bloc’s shambles jabs programme. In a fiery intervention, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz claimed Covid vaccines are not being distributed evenly within the EU. He called for greater transparency because some countries had been able to get ahead after receiving more doses than they were due under the bloc’s pro-rata system. Mr Kurz has held talks with his counterparts from Greece, Belgium, Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic to compare the vaccine delivery figures…

“Mr Kurz suggested there has been a ‘bazaar’ for life-saving vaccines within the EU, with secretive side agreements reached between a ‘steering board’ and drugs giants.”

Money makes the world go around. Several German politicians had to resign when it became known that they had allegedly manipulated the system by profiting financially, having received payments for brokering face mask procurement deals.

In addition, Deutsche Welle wrote on March 12:

“A year ago, Germany was effusively praised for its coronavirus response. Nobody would think to do that now. If anything, the international view today is a mixture of astonishment and schadenfreude… Germany has morphed from model student to pandemic problem child in short order, fighting failure in a number of subjects.”

Merkel Takes Major Hit in Regional Elections

The Guardian wrote on March 15:

“Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats face questions over… the impact of a corruption scandal involving face mask production following historic defeats in German regional elections on Sunday – just six months before a national vote. Merkel’s successor as chancellor is due to be chosen by the voters in September and the CDU’s worst ever results in the states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, which were once considered its strongholds, have increased pressure on the party to work out how it can regain the confidence of the public in time.

“In the wealthy southern state of Baden-Württemberg, the CDU’s result slumped to just 24%, way behind its main rival, the pro-environmental Greens, who made gains to secure 33%. The CDU had previously ruled the state from 1953 for almost 58 years. In Rhineland-Palatinate, south-western Germany, the CDU vote fell by more than four points to 28%, with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) securing victory with 36%.

“The CDU has had to face up to the fact that a corruption scandal involving alleged kickbacks over face mask procurement, which led to the resignation of three MPs within a week, in the run-up to the votes, has seriously damaged its image… A sluggish nationwide vaccine rollout,  which has been largely blamed on Merkel and her health minister Jens Spahn’s decision to allow the European commission to take control of orders, is also thought to have contributed to voter distrust…

“The fact that the CDU has returned such historically bad results, which have plunged the party into its worst crisis for years two months after electing a new party leader, Armin Laschet, has raised serious questions as to whether he is the right candidate to take it forward…

“Sunday’s state elections kicked off what has been labelled ‘superwahljahr’ or ‘super election year’, to include further votes in the state of Saxony-Anhalt in June, Lower Saxony and Berlin in September and culminating in the federal election on 26 September, together with elections in the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Thuringia on the same day…”

Newsmax added on March 14:

“The results are also a blow to CDU party chairman Armin Laschet, who took pole position in the race to succeed Merkel by winning the CDU leadership two months ago… Soeder, the leader of the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), is the preferred conservative candidate for chancellor among German voters… Soeder and Laschet want to settle the candidacy matter by May 23. No German chancellor has ever come from the CSU.”

AFP wrote on March 14:

“‘This is a dark hour for the CDU,’ said Die Welt daily, while Die Zeit newspaper called it ‘a disaster’… The Greens… could emerge as kingmakers in September’s elections.”

Interesting developments in Germany…

Dictatorships on the Rise all over the World

On March 12, 2021, the American Institute for Economic Research published the following report:

 “… few people have recognized how pandemic-spurred crackdowns have devastated democracy around the world. Emergency proclamations have entitled presidents and other government officials to seize vast new powers previously forbidden to them. Government bureaucrats became a new priesthood that could sanctify unlimited sacrifices merely by invoking dubious statistical extrapolations of future perils.

“In October, Freedom House issued a report…  which warned that since the pandemic started, ‘the condition of democracy and human rights has worsened in 80 countries.’[According to new estimates, the number has climbed since then to at least 100 countries.] Abuses of power have been propelled by a presumption that government officials are entitled to all the power they claim to need to keep people safe.

“When the pandemic arrived in America… New York Governor Andrew Cuomo set the standard when he effectively declared that he was entitled to inflict any burden on his state’s residents to ‘save just one life.’ Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer prohibited anyone from leaving their home to visit family or friends. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti banned people from walking or bicycling outside. More than ten million jobs were lost thanks to lockdowns, a major reason why life expectancy in the United States last year had its sharpest plunge since World War Two.

“Australia imposed some of the most heavy-handed restrictions. In August, the state of Victoria dictated an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew for the Melbourne area and prohibited people from venturing more than three miles from their residence…

“Britain unleashed some of the most absurd restrictions. In June, it prohibited couples who live in different homes from having sex indoors…

“New Zealand has imposed four separate lockdowns in its pursuit to banish the virus from the island, repeatedly placing residents in the capital city under house arrest. In October, the government announced it was creating ‘quarantine centers’ for anyone who tests positive and refuses to obey government orders…

“In Uganda… only the government may hand out food aid. Anyone else who does so can be charged with murder… since they might do it in a disorderly way, attract crowds and thereby spread the coronavirus…

“In Kenya, police killed at least 15 people during brutal crackdowns on alleged violators of lockdown decrees. Amnesty International declared that the Covid-19 pandemic provided ‘the perfect storm for indiscriminate mass violence’ by the police…

“Many regimes have expanded the definition of ‘fake news’ to justify repression.

“An Associated Press article in January explained why Californians were denied access to the information that determined the fate of their freedom: ‘State health officials said they rely on a very complex set of measurements that would confuse and potentially mislead the public if they were made public.’ But many data-driven dictatorial policies relied on data that was either fraudulent, politically contrived, or laughably inaccurate…

“The pandemic’s precedents pose a long-term peril for liberty around the globe… the media in some Western nations were the biggest cheerleaders for obliterating limits on political power…

“Federal judge William Stickman IV declared in September, ‘Broad population-wide lockdowns are such a dramatic invasion the concept of liberty in a free society as to be nearly presumptively unconstitutional.’ But unless there is a similar stark ruling from the Supreme Court, shutdowns could return whenever politicians can panic enough citizens with some new threat… The pandemic painfully illustrated how government officials can always concoct the data to justify whatever decree they itch to issue…  Covid-19 crackdowns are a warning for people to be wary of oppressive governments regardless of their purported mandate. The world doesn’t need any more Cage Keeper Democracies where citizens’ ballots merely designate who will place them under house arrest.”

This article is by no means exclusive. Many European countries, including Germany, France, Spain and Italy, could also be mentioned with their dangerous and autocratic lockdown measures.

In his first prime time address to the nation, President Biden stated that “if we do our part,” then “there is a good chance” Americans will be able to have “small” events by Independence Day. He clarified that he does not mean large events with lots of people together, but that there is a good chance that “your families, and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout or a barbeque” (compare Breitbart, March 11). Apart from the fact that the President has no constitutional authority to make or enforce such proclamations, in a segment of the “Ingraham Angle” on Fox News, Senator Rand Paul ridiculed the naivety of the President and his lack of contact with reality, stating that such meetings “in our backyards” have taken place for a long time all over the country, with or without the President’s blessing.

Paul also compared Dr. Fauci with a “Greek philosopher” who tells “noble lies” to help the “ignorant” public “because he doesn’t think you are smart enough to make any of these decisions on your own.” Paul also stated: “You can sequentially look at the date when each mandate was passed and when it got ratcheted up. You can look at the incidence of the disease, and what you find is they were proportional, meaning the more mandates we got, the more disease we got. The mandates did not cause the disease but there is no evidence the mandate slowed down the disease at all” (see Fox News, March 13).

Massive Cover-Up of COVID-19 Origin?

Fox News reported on March 13:

“[David Asher] the State Department’s former lead investigator who oversaw the Task Force into the COVID-19 virus origin tells Fox News that he not only believes the virus escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, but that it may have been the result of research that the Chinese military, or People’s Liberation Army, was doing on a bioweapon… He believes the Chinese Communist Party has been involved in a massive cover-up during the past 14 months. ‘And if you believe, as I do, that this might have been a weapons vector gone awry, not deliberately released, but in development and then somehow leaked, this has turned out to be the greatest weapon in history,’ Asher said… ‘You’ve taken out 15 to 20 percent of global GDP. You’ve killed millions of people. The Chinese population has been barely affected. Their economies roared back to being number one in the entire G20.’…

“‘China has been involved in this type of virus research since 2003, the SARS outbreak,’ according to Miles Yu, the State Department official who co-wrote a recent op-ed in the WSJ with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the virus origins. ‘China’s biosafety standard is really low and is very dangerous. So this is an accident waiting to happen.’”

Numerous theories exist as to the origin of the virus, including the Chinese population’s consumption of infected bats and other unclean animals.

On March 15, The Times of Israel and AFP reported:

 “Experts believe that SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, originally came from bats, and jumped into humans via an intermediate animal. However, samples from tens of thousands of wild, domestic and farm animals in the region revealed no trace of the virus. The scientists are also uncertain as to where and when the outbreak started, though the Wuhan cases remain the earliest known…

‘There was conduit (back) from Wuhan to the provinces in south China where the closest relative viruses to SARS-CoV-2 are found in bats,’ Daszak [of the WHO team] told an event hosted by Britain’s Chatham House think-tank last week… The team also did not rule out transmission through frozen meat — imported frozen food packages being Beijing’s favorite theory [saying that frozen wild meat from neighboring provinces remained a ‘very valid option.’

“The idea of a lab leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology — a hypothesis promoted by former US president Donald Trump’s administration — is ‘the least likely on the list of our hypotheses,’ said [a team member]… However, back in Geneva, in the face of clouds of suspicion that continued to hang over the mission, WHO boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted all hypotheses remained on the table…

“Trump had accused the WHO of being China’s puppet. Though his successor Joe Biden has changed the tone towards the UN health agency since becoming US president in January, Washington has continued to voice serious concerns about the WHO investigation, and has pushed Beijing to provide more information…”

Recall Looms for Gavin Newsom

Deadline wrote on March 11:

“Late Wednesday night, the group organizing the recall of California Governor Gavin Newsom announced it had collected over 2 million signatures… About 1,500,000 signatures are needed to trigger a recall election under state law…

“Organizers have until March 17 to gather signatures. Election officials have until April 29 to verify them. If there is a recall election, it will most likely be in November and feature just two questions on the ballot: ‘Should Gavin Newsom be recalled?’ and another asking voters to choose a replacement…

“The governor has been barnstorming the state for weeks visiting Covid-19 vaccination clinics and announcing the reopenings of schools in the state, theme parks, restaurants and generally loosening the restrictions that have many Californians so angry.”

Democratic Governors Newsom and Cuomo (see below) misused their powers to such an extent that their political survival is now on the line.

Walls Closing in for Andrew Cuomo

The Associated Press wrote on March 12:

“Facing unprecedented political isolation, a defiant New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo insisted on Friday that he would not step down in the wake of sexual harassment allegations and condemned the sprawling coalition of Democrats calling for his resignation as ‘reckless and dangerous.’… The embattled governor’s comments came on the day his party in New York and beyond turned sharply against him following allegations of harassment as well as sweeping criticism of Cuomo for keeping secret how many nursing home residents died of COVID-19 for months… A majority of Democrats in the state legislature and 21 of the state’s 27 U.S. House members have called on him to step down…

“Never before has the brash, 63-year-old Democratic governor, the son of a New York governor himself, been more politically alone… The state Assembly allowed an impeachment investigation into Cuomo on Thursday as lawmakers investigate whether there are grounds for his forcible removal from office.”

By March 12, seven women have claimed inappropriate sexual conduct by Cuomo towards them. More than 30 women who have worked or interacted with Cuomo allegedly confirmed that bullying was a defining element of his management style (New York magazine, March 12). Cuomo has denied all of the allegations. His brother Chris, moderator at CNN, was prohibited by the network to speak about his brother Andrew. The following high-ranking Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler as well as Adam Schiff and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), called on Cuomo to resign. Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden spoke on the issue as well, but refused to demand Cuomo’s resignation. Biden said Cuomo should resign if harassment and sexual misconduct allegations are confirmed. He added that he thinks Cuomo will probably end up being prosecuted.

Joe Biden under Attack

The Daily Mail wrote on March 12:

“Biden’s flights of fantasy: President WRONGLY claimed that Covid-19 cost more lives ‘than WWI, WWII, Vietnam and 9/11 combined’ and MISLED the public on timelines of Trump’s response to the virus and number of vaccine doses he ordered…

“What unity, Joe? Biden marks passage of $1.9T COVID bill with Rose Garden ceremony featuring NO Republicans…”

None of the Republicans had voted for the COVID-19 bill, claiming that it included billions upon billions of dollars for unrelated “gifts” (pork) in support of numerous Democratic pet projects. This country has never been as divided since the Civil War, as it is today.

“Still No Crisis?”

The Daily Mail wrote on March 13:

“In recent days, more than [3,600] unaccompanied teens and children have been held in Customs Border Patrol (CBP) detention centers designed for adults with most children spending on average 108 hours in the facilities – much higher than the 72-hour limit.

“The surge comes after Biden lifted a policy that had forced migrants to remain in Mexico while awaiting legal hearings to enter the US. This has fueled an influx of migrants but facilities and shelters cannot cope with the rise in demand. Children at the Donna facility in south Texas are reportedly going hungry and are only able to shower once a week as the center is at 729% of its legal capacity.

“However the official line coming from the Biden administration continues to be that there is no crisis, with Press Secretary Jen Psaki refusing to be drawn into saying the word Thursday…”

A crisis because of the government’s own making…

Deutsche Welle reported on March 14:

“The US Department of Homeland Security has ordered the government’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help care for a rising number of migrant children… to make sure the children are safely accommodated and transferred to people who will take care of them, such as relatives already in the US… The order comes as hundreds of children arrive at the border every day in what is fast becoming a major humanitarian challenge for President Joe Biden…

“The increased influx of minors comes after Biden reversed some of the restrictive migration policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump. The danger of coronavirus infection in shelters is an additional headache for US immigration authorities… The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is meant to take in such children after they have been processed by border authorities, is also overwhelmed, with some 8,800 unaccompanied children in custody… There have been reports of parents sending their children across the border from Mexico unaccompanied.”

Unrest in Oregon

The Daily Mail wrote on March 13:

“Cops detain an ENTIRE block of Antifa protestors on the second night of chaos in Portland: Activists smash windows in ugly clashes with the police…

“The ugly scenes occurred Friday after a group of activists assembled to march against the Department of Homeland Security. One local journalist claimed that between 100 and 150 protesters started making their way through the city’s Pearl District and began ‘breaking the glass of businesses’ and ‘attacking’ anyone who was filming them.”

On Thursday, according to The Daily Mail, Antifa protestors had set fire to American flags and smashed windows of the courthouse. Further violence was reported Friday night. The violence did not stop with the change of the Presidency.

Czech Republic and Hungary Open Branches of their Embassies in Jerusalem

JTA wrote on March 12:

“The Czech Republic opened a branch of its embassy in Jerusalem, becoming the second EU member state to make such a move after Hungary… The Czech Foreign Ministry has told journalists that the new mission is not a recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city, which the United States in 2017 recognized but the European Union and many other countries and international bodies have not pending Israeli peace talks with the Palestinians.

“But observers… have argued that the  mission’s opening cannot be seen separately from the debate about the status of Jerusalem… Rudolf Jindrak from the [Czech] presidential office described this as a highly significant symbolic step and the president’s spokesman, Jiri Ovcacek, even connected it directly with the effort to move the embassy there…”

The refusal of the EU to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has wide-ranging prophetic consequences.

Diplomatic Row between Israel and Jordan

Times of Israel wrote on March 13:

“Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi on Friday lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a canceled visit to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount by Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein. Safadi confirmed that Jordan held up granting Netanyahu overflight permission in retaliation, causing him to postpone a planned visit to the United Arab Emirates.

“The diplomatic spat underscored… tensions between the two neighbors that have simmered for years… Hussein had been set to visit the Temple Mount on Wednesday for Lailat al-Miʿraj, a holiday marking a journey undertaken by the Prophet Muhammad. Safadi accused Israel of violating an agreement on the arrangements for the visit, while Israel has said Hussein arrived with heavier security than promised…

“Under their 1994 peace treaty, Israel recognizes Jordan as the custodian of the Temple Mount, which houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Temple Mount is the holiest place in Judaism and the site of the third holiest shrine in Islam. Israel captured the Temple Mount and Jerusalem’s Old City from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War. However, it allowed the Jordanian Waqf to continue to maintain religious authority atop the mount, where Jews are allowed to visit, but not to pray.

“Netanyahu said Israel straightened out matters with Jordan and that he would visit the UAE soon…

“[It was] also reported the US told the UAE to scale back Netanyahu’s trip, before it was canceled, due to concerns over interfering in Israel’s March 23 elections… [a] news report said Netanyahu wanted to sign a peace treaty with Sudan while in Abu Dhabi, but the US told the UAE hosting such a ceremony would amount to election interference.

“Hebrew media reports on Wednesday suggested Netanyahu may have also been hoping to meet Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and/or Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the trip, which was scheduled to be held 12 days before Israel holds its fourth national election in two years….”

Discovery of More Dead Sea Scrolls

ABC News reported on March 16:

“Israeli archaeologists on Tuesday announced the discovery of dozens of Dead Sea Scroll fragments bearing a biblical text found in a desert cave and believed hidden during a Jewish revolt against Rome nearly 1,900 years ago. The fragments of parchment bear lines of Greek text from the books of Zechariah and Nahum and have been dated around the first century based on the writing style, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority. They are the first new scrolls found in archaeological excavations in the desert south of Jerusalem in 60 years.

“The Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of Jewish texts found in desert caves in the West Bank near Qumran in the 1940s and 1950s, date from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D… The roughly 80 new pieces are believed to belong to a set of parchment fragments found in a site in southern Israel known as the ‘Cave of Horror’ — named for the 40 human skeletons found there during excavations in the 1960s — that also bear a Greek rendition of the Twelve Minor Prophets…

“The fragments are believed to have been part of a scroll stashed away in the cave during the Bar Kochba Revolt, an armed Jewish uprising against Rome during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, between 132 and 136…”

Skepticism as to the age is in order as the article also stated that “the exhibit included far older discoveries of no lesser importance found during its sweep of more than 500 caves in the desert: the 6,000-year-old mummified skeleton of a child, an immense, complete woven basket from the Neolithic period, estimated to be 10,500 years old…”

This is highly questionable, as man was only created by God about 6,000 years ago.

Vatican Won’t Bless Same-Sex Marriages

The Associated Press reported on March 15:

“The Vatican [with the approval by Pope Francis] decreed Monday that the Catholic Church won’t bless same-sex unions since God ‘cannot bless sin’… [The Vatican] distinguished between the church’s welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it upheld, but not their unions. It argued that such unions are not part of God’s plan and that any such sacramental recognition could be confused with marriage… Catholic teaching holds that marriage, a lifelong union between a man and woman, is part of God’s plan and is intended for the sake of creating new life. Since gay unions aren’t intended to be part of that plan, they can’t be blessed by the church, the document said… Francis has endorsed providing gay couples with legal protections in same-sex unions, but that was in reference to the civil sphere, not within the church.

“… the head of the German bishops’ conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, said the new document would be incorporated into the German discussion, but he suggested that the case was by no means closed… Other commentators noted that Catholic Book of Blessings contains rites of blessings that can be bestowed on everything from new homes and factories to animals, sporting events, seeds before planting and farm tools.”

CNN added on March 15:

“… the Holy See referred to homosexuality as a ‘choice,’ described it as sinful and said it ‘cannot be recognized as objectively ordered’ to God’s plans… The decision is a setback for Catholics who had hoped the institution would modernize its approach to homosexuality…

“The statement says that gays and lesbians, as individuals, may receive a blessing if they live according to Church teaching. But blessing same-sex unions, the Vatican said, would send a sign that the Catholic Church approves and encourages ‘a choice and a way of life that cannot be recognized as objectively ordered to the revealed plans of God.’… In a commentary provided with the Monday statement, the Vatican insisted that ‘the negative judgment on the blessing of unions of persons of the same sex does not imply a judgment on persons.’”

The Bible teaches that homosexual practices are sinful, but the Vatican’s double-talk and inconsistent practices are more confusing than helpful.

More Stupidity from England… Men Under Curfew?

The Daily Mail wrote on March 11:

“Men should be banned from being outdoors after 6pm to ‘make women a lot safer’ after the abduction and suspected murder of Sarah Everard in London, a Green Party peer has suggested. Baroness Jones made the comment in a discussion in the House of Lords during a debate on domestic violence.

“The issue of women’s safety has been again thrust into the spotlight following the disappearance of 33-year-old Ms Everard as she walked home to Brixton from her friend’s home in Clapham, south-west London, on March 3…

“[Baroness Jones] calls for a curfew echoed those made during the Reclaim The Night rallies in the 1970s, when members of the Women’s Liberation Movement took to the streets in the wake of the Yorkshire Ripper murders. Baroness Jones added later on Twitter her solution was ‘better than the Met telling women to stay indoors,’ following reports of officers cautioning women to be careful… [Jones] came third in the 2012 election won by Boris Johnson.”

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 importance of this period relates to the covenants God made with Abraham—which included God’s promise to deliver Abraham’s future descendants from slavery:

“Then He said to Abram: ‘Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions’” (Genesis 15:13-14).

The time did come when God began to fulfill His promise to save the people of Israel, and God chose Moses to lead the nation out of Egypt:

“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’” (Exodus 3:7-10).

God revealed Himself to Moses, saying, “‘I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’” (Exodus 3:6). Likewise, God told Moses to tell the children of Israel about God and what He was going to do:

“‘Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, “The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, ‘I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey’”’” (Exodus 3:16-17).

That the Israelites of that time were anticipating help from God—especially the “elders of Israel”—seems apparent based on their traditional knowledge of God’s relationship with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. For Joseph had left instructions for his bones to be carried to the land God had promised (Genesis 50:24-25). Also, Stephen spoke of how Moses, before God revealed Himself to him, considered himself as one who might save Israel from Egyptian slavery:

“For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand” (Acts 7:25).

But God did deliver the people out of slavery, and He did use those whom He chose for this responsibility. This is important to understand, and we will see how the events of the Passover were enacted through God’s instructions and followed by Moses and the people. Also, consider how God memorializes His actions in delivering Israel, as noted in Micah 6:4, “‘For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, I redeemed you from the house of bondage; And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam’”; and Psalm 103:7, “He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.”

With great power God brought terrible destruction to the nation of Egypt. In a series of relentless plagues, Egypt was so decimated that even Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “‘Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?’” (Exodus 10:7).

Yet, a final plague, the tenth, did cause Pharaoh to free the Israelites, but Egypt paid a bitter price:

“Then Moses said, ‘Thus says the LORD: “About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals. Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again. But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the LORD does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel”’” (Exodus 11:4-7).

Just as God warned through Moses, so the firstborn of Egypt died:

“And it came to pass at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock” (Exodus 12:29).

God gave very specific and detailed instructions to Moses and Aaron regarding the observance of the Passover, calling it “‘the Passover sacrifice of the LORD’” (Exodus 12:27). This included the institution of His calendar, insofar as the order of the months are concerned, with instructions of when and how to observe the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Note chapters 12 and 13 in this regard).

While both the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread had specific meaning for the Israelites of that time, their observance was instituted as part of God’s choosing them to be His nation with implications for successive generations, as well. In fact, God specifically commanded that the observance of these holy times to be continued:

“‘So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day [the first Day of Unleavened Bread] I will have brought [or better: “I brought,” compare NIV, RSV] your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance’” (Exodus 12:17).

“‘And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this [Passover] service [of eating the Passover lamb].  And it shall be, when your children say to you, “What do you mean by this service?” that you shall say, “It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households”’” (Exodus 12:24-27).

Shortly after leaving Egypt, God revealed the weekly Sabbath day (Exodus 16) to Israel. Even though the Sabbath was in force and effect since the creation of the first man, it seems that Israel had forgotten about it, while in Egyptian slavery. Three months following their departure from Egypt, God spoke His commandments from Mount Sinai and made a covenant with the children of Israel. We see that God was accomplishing much more than freeing the Israelites from captivity:

“And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel:  “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel’” (Exodus 19:3-6).

After forty years and just before his death, Moses once again reminded Israel of God’s purpose in saving them from captivity in Egypt and making them His chosen people:

“‘For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments’” (Deuteronomy 7:6-9).

Returning to the events in Exodus 12 and 13, we find a remarkable testimony about how the children of Israel responded to God’s instructions about the Passover through Moses and Aaron:

“Then the children of Israel went away and did so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did” (Exodus 12:28); and, “Thus all the children of Israel did; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did” (Exodus 12:50).

That remarkable attitude of careful obedience to God on Israel’s part serves as an example for Christians, today. However, they left another, regretful example, because the thankfulness for God’s mighty intervention on their behalf soon waned into outright rebellion. Moses confronted Israel about this, and it is left as a warning we should heed:

“Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD” (Deuteronomy 9:7).

The Passover and the annual Holy Days of God, along with the weekly Sabbath, have been observed throughout the generations but only rarely with the commitment and zeal that God has commanded. Following the reigns of David and Solomon over all Israel, the Holy Days of God lost their place in the lives of the now divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel.

Israel in particular, under the rule of Jeroboam, was led into idolatry and rejected God’s rule over them. From that state of rebellion, the ten-tribe nation of Israel never recovered and was eventually driven into national captivity (2 Kings 17).

Judah, on the other hand, experienced times when a righteous king arose and restored national obedience to God. In particular, both King Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 30) and King Josiah (2 Kings 23) restored true worship of God in Judah. That restoration centered on re-establishing observance of the annual Holy Days of God—especially, the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Following their return from Babylonian captivity, the Jews once again observed the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Ezra 6:19-22); also, the Feast of Tabernacles was kept again (Nehemiah 8). Weekly Sabbath observance was strictly practiced under the strong leadership of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 13).

That brings us to the New Testament times of Jesus. It is not within the scope of this Q&A to review all the references about Jesus and His disciples observing the weekly Sabbath and annual Holy Days, but note carefully that they indeed kept what God had commanded.

Jesus Christ observed and brought full meaning to “the Passover sacrifice of the LORD” as mentioned in Exodus 12:27. He instituted a different way for His followers—those who are baptized members of the Church of God—to keep this Feast. Here are Paul’s instructions—just as He received from Jesus:

“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

It should be more than obvious that we, as Christians, must keep the Passover just as Christ has commanded.

It is important to consider what Jesus said to His disciples during this Passover service. He referred to the future in God’s Kingdom, when the elect of God would be with Him:

“‘But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom’” (Matthew 26:29).

The events surrounding the first Passover are absolutely and profoundly relevant to true Christians, today! The knowledge and observance of all that God has commanded separates us from this world—a world held captive to sin through the powerful deception of Satan the Devil (1 John 5:19).

“But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered” (Romans 6:17).

Like Israel of old, God has chosen us, but our calling from God is to enter His Family and to be given eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Let’s never lose sight of this incomparable opportunity:

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10).

Lead Writer: Dave Harris

compiled by Dave Harris

“Coming… A Worldwide Dictatorship,” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

The whole world is being prepared today for accepting a global autocratic dictatorship. Its beginning is already manifesting itself on the world scene. Do you know what is happening, and why, and that the Bible has prophesied this end-time development thousands of years ago?

“Eine weltweite Diktatur kommt!,” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program. Presented by Norbert Link, this video covers the same topic as described in the English version. 

“Unsere Hindernisse überwinden,” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon which is presented by Michael Link. Title in English: “Overcome Our Obstacles.” 

“Are Jews and Christians at Odds with Jesus Christ?” is the title of our newest booklet. This has been sent to graphic artist, Shelly Bruno, in preparation for printing. While this will be posted to our website, hard copies will be available upon request.

A new member letter has been written by Eric Rank who discusses what is really important for true Christians in light of the upcoming Passover and Spring Holy Days. The letter will be distributed next week to our members and subscribers. 

“Die Ewigkeitsklausel,” is the title of a split sermon presented last Sabbath in Germany by Thilo Hanstein. Title in English: “The Eternity Clause.”

“Stehen wir alleine vor Problemen?” is the title of a split sermon presented last Sabbath in Germany by Christoph Sperzel. Title in English: “Are We Facing Problems Alone?”

“Fatigue,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Kalon Mitchell, is now posted. Here is a summary:

What happens when you are in a role where there are a lot of alerts always coming at you? The natural tendency is to start to ignore important issues. What happens when this occurs to us as Christians? How do we combat this?

“The Leaders and Followers,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Michael Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

What makes a good leader and what are the responsibilities they must uphold to be considered as such?  What are the roles of a follower and how do the followers and the leaders complement one another?