On December 19, 2020, Eric Rank will present the sermonette, titled, “Access to Opportunity,” and Dave Harris will present the sermon, titled, “What Does a Christian Do?”

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

This phrase, as quoted in the title of this Editorial, was coined by Pilate in the presence of Christ during His trial (John 18:38), just prior to His crucifixion. We know of course that the Bible tells us that God’s Word, the whole Bible, is Truth. So are His commandments.  Psalm 119:151 states: “You are near, O LORD, And all Your commandments are truth.”

John 17:17 quotes Christ’s words to the Father as follows: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”

Truth seems to be in short supply these days with all the lies, half-truths, gross exaggerations, hyperboles, and the miss-spoken (nice way to say that one lies) and false statements which are prevalent today. All of this adds credence to the old adage: “Believe nothing that you hear and only half of what you see.” This makes the world we live in pretty pathetic. The news media constantly pushes lies, and so do a lot of politicians and of course the governments, at times.

How did we reach such a state? The originator and father of lies is Satan, as stated by Christ in John 8:44: “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

When dealing with man, Satan spoke that original lie to Eve in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:4 records this lie:  “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.’” By telling this lie to Eve, as they DID die, he was also saying that God was a liar who had told them they would die for eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Talk about twisting and perverting the Truth! Satan was guilty of what he was accusing God of, that is, of lying.

We see this approach today in some politicians. One in particular was accusing the President of the USA for four years of being a Russian spy, a collaborator with and an agent for Russia which was a blatant lie without merit or proof, but the mainstream media ate it up and spread that lie. In the last few days it has been revealed that in the past, that politician was apparently associated with a real Chinese spy who helped him raise money to get into Congress. So what he accused the President of was what he seemed to have been guilty of himself. This may help to explain why few people believe what politicians say.

Another politician spent four years saying without proof that he had evidence that the American President was colluding with the Russians. This turned out to be a lie, and that politician was called by a news commentator as being a “congenital liar.” That description would really look good on one’s resume!

Thankfully, this age of lies and deceit is coming to an end when we will have just government on earth under the leadership of Jesus Christ in the Millennium. Isaiah 9:7 reports in advance: “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.”

Notice, judgment and justice will prevail from that time forward. It will be a world where lies and deception are no more, and when we can truly reap the fruits of Truth.

by Norbert Link

We begin with a short overview of important events in 2020, continue with the apparent motives of the left-liberal mass media’s suppression of the Hunter Biden scandal, and speak on developments surrounding the presidential election and possible short-term and long-term consequences for the USA.

We speak on the top European Court’s decision to allow  the prohibition of ritual slaughter (please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Europe’s Attack on Religious Freedom and the coming Great Tribulation”).

We address the dangerous controversy over fishing rights between the UK and EU; an interesting article about Merkel’s successor; and we discuss the new devastating hard lockdown in Germany; the German government’s fight against anti-lockdown demonstrators; and different positions in Germany, the UK, the USA and Israel regarding coronavirus vaccinations.

We conclude with Pope Francis’ plea for a world authority and global governance; and further “adjustments” for the remission of temporal punishment through indulgences, in connection with an apparition of “Our Lady of Guadalupe.”

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

2020 in Review

The Associated Press wrote on December 12:

“Not since World War II has a single phenomenon dominated the news worldwide as the COVID-19 pandemic has in 2020. In the United States, a tumultuous presidential election and a wave of protests over racial injustice also drew relentless coverage. Overshadowed, to an extent, were other dramatic developments. Among them: China’s crackdown on Hong Kong’s democracy; an apocalyptic explosion in Beirut; the shocking helicopter-crash death of basketball icon Kobe Bryant and his daughter.

“Some seemingly epic events early in the year now seem distant, like President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial and the January announcement by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle that they were exiting their prominent roles in Britain’s royal family. Just a few weeks later came the long-awaited Brexit, Britain’s formal withdrawal from the European Union. As most of the world battled COVID, armed conflicts broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan and in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. Afghanistan’s seemingly endless war dragged on… Massive protests challenged the ruling powers in Belarus and Thailand…

“The year ended as it began with tensions between Iran and the U.S. inflamed by the killing of a top official. On Jan. 3, a U.S. drone strike killed Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Iran responded with a missile attack that injured dozens of U.S. troops in Iraq. In December, a mysterious attack near Tehran killed a nuclear scientist whom the U.S. and others had identified as organizing Iran’s effort to seek nuclear weapons two decades ago. Iran blamed that attack on Israel [with support from the USA]…

“It was such a historically busy hurricane season that forecasters had to turn to the Greek alphabet after running out of assigned names. In the U.S., Louisiana took the brunt of the onslaught: three hurricanes and two tropical storms… Thousands of wildfires raged throughout the western U.S…. bringing apocalyptic scenes of orange skies and hazardous air. … massive brush fires… raged for months… in Australia.”

We should not expect really good news on the world scene in 2021 either.

The Hunter Biden Scandal… What If the Mass Media Would Not Have Suppressed it?

The New York Post Editorial Board wrote on December 11:

“‘Collusion’ was perhaps the media’s favorite word these past four years, even when it wasn’t true. But you know what real collusion looks like? It’s when left-leaning media, that is the media in general, decide en masse that something is ‘not a story’ because it harms their preferred political candidate. That’s a key takeaway from Wednesday’s bombshell news revealing a federal probe of Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, that reportedly involves emails from his laptop — which The New York Post reported on exclusively in October. We even noted back then that the FBI had seized the computer and hard drive; Fox News later confirmed that it was part of an FBI money-laundering probe.

“Other media outlets didn’t just ignore the story; they tried to suppress it. Then social media stepped in, preventing the story from being posted (Facebook) and even banning The Post (Twitter)… Many Americans who’d already cast ballots in early voting sought to change their votes after learning of the emails… All of which raises serious national-security questions.”

There can be very little doubt that in the present climate, Hunter Biden will not be convicted for most of the crimes which he allegedly committed, and any alleged connection between Hunter Biden and his father, President-elect Joe Biden, will be carefully and systematically suppressed.

“This Hunter Biden Cover-Up Stinks”

On December 10, Mail Online published the following article by Piers Morgan:

“I said at the time that the media’s abject failure to properly report the New York Post’s scoop about Hunter was a shameful dereliction of journalistic duty driven by the inherent liberal bias of much of the US media – and I said it as a liberal myself… They were happy to buy into Joe Biden’s line that it was all a hoax driven by nefarious Russians to discredit him…

“I find it deeply suspicious that we’re only now hearing about the federal probe into Hunter Biden’s business conduct, a month after the election. Why did prosecutors not go public before, given that they started the investigation in 2018? How did it not leak in an era when everything leaks? Or did it leak, and once again, the media suppressed it?

“This announcement is also deeply embarrassing for all the journalists who have worked so hard to NOT report on Hunter’s business conduct lest it damage his father’s election chances… this time, most of America’s media is guilty…”

Especially CNN is guilty of the systematic suppression of the Hunter Biden story. The political director of CNN “advised” “his” journalists and moderators NOT to report on the story before the election. Of course, most CNN reporters and moderators are Democrats anyhow.

Mass Media Guilty of Dereliction of Duty

The Hill published on December 11 the following article by Joe Concha:

“The story was outright banned from public discourse by social media giant Twitter, which limited its members from sharing a New York Post report on Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine and China. This New York Post report… contained actual emails from Hunter Biden’s own laptop… an election was coming. And, so, the media mantra apparently became: Protect the candidate at all costs. Dismiss the story as an ‘alternative facts,’ ‘right-wing media’ fantasy.

“Gallup and the Knight Foundation have found that 84 percent of Americans believe the media bears the blame for the divide in this country. Just one-in-ten believes social media has a positive impact on the country…”

The carefully staged suppression of the Hunter Biden story by the mass media and Big Tech to protect their political candidate, Joe Biden, is appalling and sickening.  It shows once more the utmost corruption of a country which is doomed to fall very soon.  

US Supreme Court Rejects Texas Case against Pennsylvania and other States for “Lack of Standing”

CNN wrote on December 11:

“The court’s order Friday night was unsigned, and [the] court did not provide a vote count…

“The order states: ‘The State of Texas’s motion for leave to file a bill of complaint is denied for lack of standing under Article III of the Constitution. Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections. All other pending motions are dismissed as moot.’”

CBS News added:

“Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, said the court does ‘not have discretion to deny the filing of a bill of complaint in a case that falls within our original jurisdiction. I would therefore grant the motion to file the bill of complaint but would not grant other relief, and I express no view on any other issue.’”

This means, they would not grant any other relief at this point, until the matter has been adjudicated in a trial.

Breitbart wrote on December 11:

“All three of President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court appointees — Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — joined Chief Justice John Roberts and the three liberal justices in declining to hear Texas v. Pennsylvania… The three new Trump appointees voted with their liberal colleagues, whose votes were never in doubt. Roberts has lately moved toward the liberal camp, and voted accordingly… Four justices out of the nine would have had to agree to hear the case for it to have proceeded at the Supreme Court.”

In fairness, as Fox News pointed out, “The court did not provide a complete vote breakdown, so it’s unclear how Trump’s nominees, Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett may have voted on the appeal.” It is clear, however, that at least two of the three would have voted against it.

Texas clearly had standing and the Supreme Court had a legal obligation to take the case. Their outright denial without a hearing is a sad example of cowardness on the part of the conservative judges (with the exception of Alito and Thomas who made their disagreement public) and of political motivation of the left-liberal judges. This will backfire, as nearly 77% of Trump voters and over 35% of Independents and Democrats believe that the election was stolen, while no court, so far, has had the courage to examine the facts in a trial and to get to the bottom of it. Those who claim that the election was stolen believe that they are truly witnessing a totally corrupt legal system!

Trump Supporters Outraged

Daily Mail wrote on December 13:

“Donald Trump supporters have voiced outrage after the Supreme Court refused to hear [the Texas] case… White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany [blasted] the Supreme Court for ‘dodging’ the lawsuit and ‘hiding behind procedure’.

“Texas GOP Chairman Allen West put out a statement suggesting states should secede from the union in response to the ruling…

“Giuliani fumed about the court’s decision as he spoke on Hannity from his hotel, where he is recovering from COVID-19. He branded the move ‘censorship’ and a ‘scandal’ that will ‘go down in history’. ‘So far the facts have been suppressed, they’ve been subject to censorship by big media, censorship by big tech, censorship by the Democrat party, and censorship by the courts,’ he said… Giuliani accused the Supreme Court of ‘evading its responsibility’…

“He added: ‘I think this is going to be a terrible thing in American history… this is going to live in our history and the Supreme Court has made a terrible mistake in not getting this resolved in a fair, decent, and equitable way because it’s going to leave a real black mark with regard to the selection throughout our entire history.’”

Giuliani might be right with his assessment.

Civil War Because of Supreme Court?

“The Ron Paul Institute wrote on December 15:

“By washing its hands of responsibility to hear the Texas challenge to the 2020 presidential election, the nine Justices of the US Supreme Court may have sealed the country’s fate and made a kinetic civil war much more likely… The irony here is that the Supreme Court could have actually prevented another civil war had it chosen to hear the Texas lawsuit, and then ruled against it on non-pretextual grounds. That, at least, would have sent the message to Trump supporters that the System works, and that they should continue to place their trust in it. There would always be the possibility of a rematch in the 2022 midterms or 2024…

“Instead, they literally abdicated their constitutional responsibility – and sent a message to 75 million Americans who voted for Trump that their votes don’t matter. Worse, that the System of government that supposedly made the US special, takes a back seat to the media, Big Tech and the consensus manufactured by people who tend to riot when they don’t get their way…

“Civil wars begin when a faction decides it can no longer pursue its goals through the political, legal or economic means, as they have all been foreclosed to them… Whether rightly or wrongly, [Trump supporters] believe the election was stolen and that the people who did so got away with it. How likely are they to trust any election going forward? About as much as they trust the media, the corporations, or the courts right now.

“The Supreme Court had a chance to defuse this ticking time bomb. Instead, they channeled Pontius Pilate and said ‘not our problem.’ That’s how Bosnia happened. I hope and pray that doesn’t happen here, but fear that it shall.”

What prospects…

Trump Vows to Continue the Fight

Fox News wrote on December 13:

“President Trump vowed that he and his campaign ‘are going to continue to go forward’ with their legal challenges against November’s election results… ‘No, it’s not over… We have numerous local cases,’ Trump said… ‘we caught them, as you know, as fraudulent, dropping ballots, doing so many things, nobody can even believe it.’ Trump said that there were votes cast in the name of dead people and that ‘tens of thousands of ballots’ were illegally submitted.

“The president said it was ‘a rigged election’ and attributed this to local Democrats who ‘outsmarted’ their Republican counterparts… Trump said he worries about the U.S. ‘having an illegitimate president’ due to alleged fraud. ‘What happened to this country is we were like a third world country,’ he later said.”

Newsmax listed, as of Sunday, December 13, 15 cases still pending in front of courts in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nevada.

Newsmax added on December 14:

“A forensic audit of the presidential vote tally by Dominion Voting Systems software used in Antrim County, Michigan, showed a more than 68% error rate, with auditors claiming the system intentionally creates the errors so the machine can have them ‘adjudicated’ – allowing individuals to change the result. The error rate is astounding considering the Federal Election Commission allows a maximum error rate of just 0.0008 percent for computerized voting systems.

“‘We conclude that the Dominion Voting System is intentionally and purposefully designed with inherent errors to create systemic fraud and influence election results,’ the audit report prepared by Allied Security Operations Group read… The audit was released Monday by state court Judge Kevin Elsenheimer of the 13th Circuit Court of Michigan in a case brought by county resident William Bailey against Antrim County, Michigan… Trump attorney and former federal prosecutor and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said… ‘The evidence of fraud is indisputable.’”

But the courts are unwilling to look at the evidence.

In the explosive Senate’s hearing on “2020 voting irregularities” on December 16, it was clearly established what was—or should have been—known all along; namely, that fraud and irregularities occurred in the presidential election.  False claims that courts had ruled that there was no fraud were convincingly debunked by pointing out that courts only ruled on procedural matters, such as “lack of standing.” The sworn testimony by attorneys James Troupis and Jesse Binnall showed that attempts were also made to systematically suppress access to voting machines, voter ballots and other documents preventing to prove the full scale of massive voter fraud. The question is now: What, if anything, is the Senate willing to do about it?

Breitbart wrote on December 14:

“President Donald Trump’s senior adviser, Stephen Miller, told Fox News on Monday morning that the president will continue to challenge the 2020 election, even after the electoral college votes on Monday for former Vice President Joe Biden as president-elect. ‘The only date in the Constitution is January 20, so we have more than enough time to right the wrong of this fraudulent election and certify Donald Trump as the winner of the election,’ Miller said during the interview.

“Miller also said an ‘alternate slate of electors’ will vote in contested states, and those results will be sent to Congress… If the Trump campaign won additional court cases in the contested states, Miller stated, the alternate set of electors could be certified. Miller cited three major legal issues in the 2020 election: improperly cast absentee ballots in Wisconsin, violation of the Equal Protection Clause in Pennsylvania with cured ballots, and changes to the signature matching in Georgia without state legislature approval. ‘Those three violations alone make Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 election,’ Miller said.”

This would be an uphill battle, as the courts so far have refused—for whatever reason—to be willing to focus on the underlying factual allegations. The ballots of the Electoral College’s vote on Monday, declaring Biden to be the elected President, will be delivered to the Senate by December 23, and Congress will meet in a special joint session on Jan. 6 to count the electoral votes. The final step is the inauguration on Jan. 20. In a highly divisive speech belying his claim that he wants to unify the nation, Joe Biden declared victory on December 14 after the Electoral College’s vote had been announced.

Biden’s Priorities… or the Lack Thereof

The Times of Israel wrote on December 11:

“Unlike his predecessors, US President-elect Joe Biden is not entering office with plans to launch a major Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative. There’s no talk of reaching the ‘ultimate deal,’ as Donald Trump described it in 2016, and there’s no intention to appoint a special envoy for the Middle East on his first day in office as Barack Obama did in 2009. No marathon peace negotiations like the ones led by Obama’s secretary of state John Kerry in 2013 and 2014 and no Vision for Peace like the one unveiled by Trump and his son-in-law/adviser Jared Kushner in 2019 and 2020…

“Some Biden aides have been more willing to admit that Israel, and even the Middle East more broadly, is not going to receive the amount of attention that it has enjoyed during the tenures of recent presidents. One senior adviser to the campaign told Foreign Policy magazine in October that the Middle East would be ‘a distant fourth’ in the list of foreign policy priorities, after Europe, the Indo-Pacific, and Latin America… The conflict will almost certainly be overshadowed by other issues in the region, namely the Iran nuclear deal, which Biden has made clear he plans to rejoin…

“But possibly the easiest manner in which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could skip to the top of Biden’s agenda would be if violence breaks out in the West Bank or Gaza. The territories have been relatively quiet in recent months, but are not known for extended periods of calm…”

If Biden becomes President, he and his team might concentrate on a better relationship with Europe and perhaps Iran, while throwing the UK and Israel under the bus.

War Always Seems to Win

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on December 14:

“… we learned that if Joe Biden ends up in the White House next month he intends to put a deep state member of the military-industrial complex in charge of the Pentagon… Gen. Austin was head of the US Central Command under an Obama Administration that launched a brutal war on Libya under false pretenses and pursued a regime-change policy in Syria that involved arming and training jihadists. Upon retirement, as is all too common with military leaders, he cashed in on his service with a position on the board of military contractor Raytheon.

“Austin will be ‘business as usual’ for Washington’s warmongers and the military contractors who make a fortune inventing endless conflicts overseas. Then things went from bad to worse, as the yearly monstrosity called the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was passed with an amendment severely restricting the US president’s ability to remove troops from Afghanistan and Europe… The amendment all but guarantees that America’s longest war in history will continue pointlessly onward.

“A coalition of warmongering Democrats and Republicans have been furious with President Trump for his last minute effort to draw troops down from Afghanistan and elsewhere, and they appear to have a veto-proof majority to tie the president’s hands. Congress has for decades believed that the president can go to war whenever or wherever he pleases without a declaration, but if the president dares attempt to end a war their belief in a ‘unitary executive’ is thrown out the window. What hypocrisy.

“The Constitution is clear that the president is the commander in chief of the military and as such should have the authority to move troops as he sees fit. The Founders understood that 535 Members of Congress trying to micromanage troops on the battlefield is not a good idea. Congress has it backward. It should be very difficult for a president to take the country to war and easy for that war to be ended… no matter how sick the American people are of endless war, the war machine finds a way to keep chugging along…”

Very sad… and very true.

European Court of Justice Allows Ban on Ritual Slaughter

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 17:

“The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that EU member states could legally ban stun-free slaughter… [stating] that ‘the principle that an animal should be stunned prior to being killed meets the main objective of the protection of animal welfare.’…

“In September, a legal expert from the ECJ said exceptions should be made to allow religious slaughter… ‘The people who kill animals while hunting or fishing or controlling harmful organisms, on the one hand, and the people who kill animals according to special slaughter methods prescribed by the customs of religious worship, on the other hand, are treated differently without reasonable justification,’ the statement said.”

JTA wrote on December 17:

“Israel’s ambassador to Belgium called the ruling [‘catastrophic’ and] ‘a blow to Jewish life in Europe.’…

[The court specifically said EU member states have the ‘discretion’ to enact measures such as the Belgian bans.]

“In Judaism and Islam, animals need to be conscious when their necks are slit for their meat to be considered kosher or halal. That has made ritual slaughter a ripe target in Europe from both liberals who cite animal welfare as their main concern and right-wing nationalists who view the custom as foreign to their countries’ cultures. (Ritual circumcision, too, has united opponents on the left and right.)”

Please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Europe’s Attack on Religious Freedom and the Coming Great Tribulation.” 

Europe’s Military Ambitions

Science/Business wrote on December 15:

“MEPs and the German presidency of the EU Council reached agreement on a new defence R&D programme worth €7.9 billion on Monday, giving the EU more firepower to reduce a longstanding reliance on US military technology. As of next year, the fund will place the EU among the top three defence research and technology investors in Europe, with the European Commission starting implementation of the programme in January 2021…

“The new defence fund is part of a broader strategy by the EU to flex its geopolitical influence in the world and to cover gaps in EU’s defence system left uncovered by the US…”

Who Will Succeed Merkel?

Project Syndicate wrote on December 11:

“Within the next few weeks, the CDU will hold its 33rd party convention, and choose a new leader. Whoever it is will most likely be anointed as the CDU’s candidate for chancellor when Merkel steps down…

“The three men vying for the party’s top job are not household names abroad. The first (going in alphabetical order) is Armin Laschet, the minister-president of North Rhine-Westphalia and a longtime party workhorse whose charisma does not match his competence. Next is Friedrich Merz, who led the CDU caucus in the Bundestag two decades ago, until he was driven out by Merkel as she prepared her own run to the top. After slinking off to the private sector and making oodles of money, he is pushing for a comeback. The third contender is Norbert Röttgen, the chairman of the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee. He served a brief stint as environment minister under Merkel until she fired her then-fair-haired boy.

“Laschet is Merkel’s unspoken favorite, if only because the other two have accounts to settle with ‘Mutti’ (mom), whose path to power is strewn with the corpses of not-so-steely rivals…There is no real front-runner…

“Throughout the first half of the twentieth century – from Kaiser Wilhelm II to the Führer – Germany was… a political volcano, and a deadly threat to its neighborhood. Today… Germany [does not] have a Donald Trump on the scene…

“In addition to the three declared CDU contenders, there are two dark horses who, instead of going the conventional route – first chairman, then candidate chancellor – are playing a waiting game. Maybe the party will get bored with the trio of Laschet, Merz, and Röttgen, and will want somebody who is in the public eye daily. One is Minister of Health Jens Spahn, a hard-working politico who, thanks to COVID-19, is constantly in the news. The other is CSU leader Markus Söder, a man of burning ambition who tirelessly works the interview and talk-show circuit…”

None of these five candidates is good news for Germany.

Merkel is Playing Hardball

Breitbart wrote on December 14:

“Germany’s Angela Merkel has rejected Boris Johnson’s pleas for face-to-face talks to help secure an 11th-hour Brexit deal, with a source saying she is ‘determined to make Britain crawl across broken glass’ for an agreement.

“Boris Johnson has been trying desperately for a breakthrough, flying to Brussels to talk directly to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and offering to do the same for high-profile national leaders such as Chancellor Merkel and France’s Emmanuel Macron. He has gotten nowhere, however, with the Brussels talks producing nothing and Merkel and Macron both declining to meet with him…

“Talks have stalled in large part over the EU’s refusal to agree a deal if Britain does not agree to so-called ‘level playing field’ rules — in essence, continued submission to EU regulations, as interpreted by EU judges, but without even the often inconsequential input the British were afforded as EU members — and continued EU control over Britain’s national fisheries.

“While even European Economic Area (EEA) members Norway and Iceland are allowed to control their own territorial waters, the EU is reluctant to give up its longstanding and profitable jurisdiction over Britain’s fisheries, having assigned the lion’s share of them to other EU members for decades — destroying tens of thousands of British fishing industry jobs and more than halving the national fishing fleet.

“This hardline position comes despite Britain having already made a number of huge concessions to the EU, including an agreement to pay a massive multi-billion divorce settlement to the bloc and allowing it to exercise continued control over swathes of Northern Ireland’s state aid and regulatory policies, in exchange for virtually nothing in return.”

Prophecy says that Britain will try to get help from Germany, but won’t get it.

War over Fishing Rights?

The Daily Mail wrote on December 11:

“Four Royal Navy vessels will be dispatched to Britain’s territorial waters if a trade deal is not agreed with the EU. Armed with cannon and machine guns, they will patrol the English Channel and Irish Sea to stop illegal fishing. In a dramatic ratcheting-up of No Deal contingency planning, Wildcat and Merlin helicopters are also being placed on standby to help with coastal surveillance. And military personnel have been seconded to the Joint Maritime Security Centre to help deal with any clashes in fishing grounds. The naval ships could even be ordered to impound rogue French fishing vessels. The potential deployment evokes memories of the Cod Wars of the 1970s. At times the Royal Navy stopped Icelandic boats interfering with British trawlers…

“Norway yesterday said it might close its fishing waters to European and British vessels from January 1. Oslo concluded a bilateral agreement with Britain in October but first wants this to be part of a trilateral deal with the EU… European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen… insisted that European boats had a ‘legitimate expectation’ to maintain access to British waters as they have done for ‘decades, and, sometimes, centuries’.”

The Sun wrote on December 14:

“French fishermen have vowed to blockade Dover and Calais if there’s a No Deal Brexit – and warned it could lead to ‘warlike’ tensions in the Channel. Trawlermen said they would respond to being shut out of UK waters by stopping ferries carrying vital goods from entering major ports. And they said Britain’s threat to send gunboats in and to repel foreign vessels would mean that ‘we are negotiating things that relate to war’.

“Dimitri Rogoff, president of Normandy’s regional fisheries committee, said that will lead to Dutch, Belgian and German ships piling into French waters… There will therefore be blockages to ferries, since this mainly happens by ferries… the UK has decided to leave but from there to sending warships, it’s unimaginable.’”

A prelude to the prophesied war between the UK and the EU?

Hard Lockdown in Germany

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 13:

“Germany is to impose new coronavirus curbs from Wednesday… On Sunday, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that most stores would shut from Wednesday, along with schools and day care centers… The decision is set to cause a major disruption for retailers, the education system and the public in the lead-up to the Christmas holidays…

“All nonessential shops and services will close until January 10, including hairdressers. Schools are urged to send students home and continue lessons online, as well as extend the winter break until January 10. Day care centers will also close, but parents will be able to take paid holidays in order to look after their children. Employers are encouraged to allow employees to work from home. People will not be allowed to drink alcohol in public. Religious events in churches, synagogues and mosques may take place if they follow hygiene rules [including social distancing and wearing masks throughout the service], but communal singing is not allowed.

“States still plan to ease stricter contact restrictions for December 24 to 26 so that close family members can spend Christmas together — a household may, during this time, invite up to four adults from other households but only from the immediate family, plus any number of children under 14. People may not purchase fireworks for New Year’s Eve.

“The chancellor also recommended that families who are planning to meet up should isolate for a week beforehand to be safe…. Hans Brandt, a DW reported in Berlin, explained the relevance of the speedy decision that the government and heads of Germany’s 16 states made. ‘It was somewhat surprising that they agreed so quickly,’ Brandt said. ‘The whole meeting took just over an hour…’”

Bild Online added that the new restrictions might last a lot longer than just January 10 (The German government has lied about deadlines before). It was even suggested by a spokesperson of the government that it was very unlikely that the measures will be lifted by the end of January at all. The mass tabloid Bild also stated that the government is partially to be blamed for the disaster, also because of stirring up paranoia while neglecting older people and placing them in house arrest, rather than helping them. It was also pointed out that Health Minister Jens Spahn lied on September 1 when he said that based on what we know now, no small shops or stores would have been closed, and it will not happen again, but now, all the small stores will be completely closed.

In other words, German politicians are destroying small businesses on an unparalleled scale. At the same time, the government prohibited the filing of applications for bankruptcy, at least until the end of January (MSN, dated December 14.). In addition, Bild Online listed in a related article (“The Broken Corona-Promises of Politics”) four more broken promises of the German government. Bild asked: “Are the politicians acting against better knowledge?”

The German government recommended NOT going to church, but to watch services online (Breitbart, December 14). The left-wing German paper, Der Tagesspiegel, wrote on December 14 that church services should be PROHIBITED, as they are contributing to the spread of the pandemic. The ironic conclusion of the article is: “Would Jesus have wanted that many were to assemble on His birthday and take the risk of contracting and passing on a dangerous virus? To ask the question means, to know the answer already.” Ironic, because Christmas has nothing to do with Christ’s birthday, and even a left-wing paper like Der Tagesspiegel should know that.

What is Really Behind Germany’s Anti-Lockdown Demonstrations?

Breitbart reported on December 11:

“Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), has claimed… that the Querdenker (Lateral Thinker) group have ‘intensified escalation potential’ but also noted that many small anti-lockdown protests have been largely peaceful, despite a small number of attacks on police and media at some of the more well-attended events. According to a report by Deutsche Welle, members of the Querdenker movement in Baden-Württemberg are under observation after the region’s interior minister Thomas Strobel announced the move earlier this week on Wednesday. Beate Bube, the head of the region’s intelligence agency, alleged that the anti-lockdown group’s members were ‘opposed to the peaceful democratic order.’

“Other regions have come out against the movement as well, such as Lower Saxony, whose Interior Minister Boris Pistorius said: ‘From within the movement, legitimate protest against coronavirus measures has developed into an attack on the state and democracy.’ North Rhine-Westphalia’s Herbert Reul, meanwhile, claimed the members of the Querdenker were becoming ‘increasingly violent.’

“Last month, supporters of the group entered the German parliament and confronted several MPs over the coronavirus lockdown following a large demonstration in Berlin. Several politicians blamed the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and said members of the party had smuggled in the activists.

“Violence against Querdenker members has also been seen in recent weeks, particularly from Antifa counter-protesters in various cities across the country. In November, police in Frankfurt were forced to use water cannons to disperse the far-left extremists who denounced the Querdenker movement as ‘Nazi propaganda.’ In Leipzig, Antifa members brutally attacked Querdenker members, with 15-20 black-clad extremists surrounding and beating two men, stomping and kicking their heads. Police were forced to fire a warning shot in order to disperse them, and the Leipzig police far-left extremism task force launched an investigation to identify the Antifa attackers.”

Who, then, are the real violent troublemakers? “Querdenker” members or far-left extremists like “Antifa.” And why are German governmental politicians so desperate in their attempt to control and silence those who are concerned about draconian restrictive measures, such as a new lockdown?

Allergic Reaction to Coronavirus Vaccination

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 11:

“It wasn’t even two days before authorities in the UK issued a warning:  People with significant allergies should avoid getting vaccinated against COVID-19 for now… especially if they experienced an anaphylactic shock in the past. That’s what scientists call a significant allergic reaction to food, medicines or vaccines. Anaphylactic shock is a serious bodily reaction that can be life-threatening. It is the strongest known form of an allergic reaction and considered an absolute medical emergency…

“Irrespective of an individual’s allergy history, people with allergies will not get the vaccine for now [in the UK]. That’s especially the case for people who carry an adrenalin ‘autoinjector’ pen…”

That should ring some alarm bells. Even Dr. Fauci advised “caution” against taking the vaccine if one has a history of allergic reactions.

In Germany, vaccinations are supposed to be voluntary. However, some governmental leaders are already speaking of mandatory vaccinations for those who are at risk, including doctors and nurses. Otherwise, they might lose their jobs (Focus, December 13). Others debate mandatory vaccinations for the military, or they criticize the lack of enthusiasm by medical personnel for vaccinations (Der Spiegel, dated December 14).

How Radical Jewish Spiritual “Authorities” View Vaccinations against Coronavirus

The Jerusalem Post wrote on December 13:

“Anyone who refuses to take the coronavirus vaccine should be hit with limited social sanctions as a result, Tzohar Center for Jewish Ethics director Rabbi Yuval Cherlow said in a statement. The sanctions proposed by Cherlow, who is a leading ethicist in Israel, would consist of keeping people from frequenting business establishments like retailers and public transportation. Businesses, he explained, should be allowed to ask customers for proof that they’ve been vaccinated, and public transport and flights have an ethical obligation to turn away those who haven’t been vaccinated… ‘The ethical question becomes when the decision people make for themselves impacts on others – in this case increasing the risk for widespread infection by refusing to vaccinate,’ Cherlow explained. ‘We cannot allow certain people who disregard the overwhelming science in support of widespread vaccination to impact the fate of the population at large.’…

“Many in Israel and abroad have expressed hesitance in getting vaccinated, should one become available, some of whom also refuse to take vaccines in general. For many who are hesitant only towards a COVID-19 vaccine, this appears to be due to fears that the vaccine is too new and rushed, rather than being tried and tested… For those against vaccines entirely (also known as anti-vaxxers), however, this is due to a belief… about the dangers of vaccines, along with wide distrust for authority.”

Israel 365 News wrote on December 13:

“Rabbi Pinchas Levin, a prominent rabbinic scholar, recently published his Halachic (Torah law) opinion concerning the recently available vaccine against COVID-19: ‘To all who adhere to guidance from HaShem,’ Rabbi Levin wrote. ‘In the near future, our Government agencies will authorize the usage of a vaccine for the coronavirus. Our entire Government believes this is a good thing. The only argument is if they will make the vaccine mandatory for the entire population or voluntary… We hereby inform you that this belief is contrary to the instructions of our Torah… The only time a vaccine is permitted and maybe even obligated is if it’s necessary to prevent an illness to the person, and not to possibly prevent it from spreading to others…  in the case of the coronavirus vaccine the prohibition is absolute according to all opinions. There is no room for leniency….

“The rabbi delineated  two distinct reasons for ruling against taking the vaccine:

“1) There is no need for a vaccine. There are many ways to prevent and cure this virus naturally or with safe medications and vitamins.

“2) The virus is not dangerous for the overwhelming majority of the population. For them, the sin of inserting toxins into the body remains. For the minority of high-risk patients who would otherwise be permitted to do a damaging procedure to possibly save their lives, there is no safe vaccine, as the trials to prove the vaccine to be safe are only being done on healthy people.

“Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Chief Rabbi of Tzfat, posted on Facebook his Halachic opinion that people should get vaccinated: ‘This is a very serious issue and many lives depend on it,’ Rabbi Eliyahu said… ‘A lot of people approached me following my call to use vaccines and told me about the risk of vaccines in general and the risk of the coronavirus vaccine. I listened to them closely. They brought me a lot of material to read about the risk of vaccines. I read about people who died after getting the vaccine. I read about people who got sick after vaccines,’ the rabbi wrote. ‘After all this, I tell everyone to take vaccines. Those harmed by vaccines are very few and it is not at all certain that they died because of the vaccine…’

“Rabbi Halperin…  is a recognized authority on medical ethics. ‘Simply put, my opinion is that… people should get vaccinated… the dangers must be weighed against each other: what is the danger of taking the vaccine compared to not taking the vaccine. Currently, the authorities have reported very minimal dangers and the side effects are minimum. There is a great chance of being infected. Therefore, even though it is halachically forbidden to actively do something which endangers your life, but since the chance of this happening from a vaccine is minimal, it is permitted to be vaccinated. And since the benefit may be saving your life, it is even recommended.’…

“‘If it is true that an unvaccinated person can endanger the public and if it is true that there is no danger in getting vaccinated, then the public, that is the government in a democracy, can force or demand that everyone be vaccinated. Religion in general and Judaism in particular highlights how our physical and spiritual well-being is intermingled. We are dependent upon and responsible for each other. This vaccine is the modern-day answer to Cain’s question of, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The answer to this question weighs the freedom of the individual over the needs of others,’ Rabbi Halperin concluded.’

With this mind-boggling confusion and twisting of the Holy Scriptures, it is no surprise that God is very angry with Judah’s religious and spiritual “leaders”. The same goes for Christian religious leaders.

Forced Vaccinations in Israel?

Israel Today wrote on December 14:

“The pandemic started not too long ago, and we already have an authorized vaccine in our hands… a vaccine normally takes about 10 years to develop, with the 1st research stage taking between 2-5 years, pre-clinical development of 2 years, a 3-phase clinical development that takes about 5 years, regulatory review of 1-2 years, and finally manufacturing and delivery… People are understandably cautious, if not suspicious…

“In case something does happen, the drugmakers won’t be able to be held accountable, as the law protects vaccine manufacturers from design-defect charges as long as they can prove that the vaccine was properly manufactured and carried adequate warnings labels…

“23% of Israelis will agree to be inoculated, 26% would like to wait several months, 20% will wait for others to get jabbed first, and 22% said they would flat out refuse the drug. The Ministry of Health doesn’t view these numbers favorably. In a meeting held with the epidemic treatment team, they examined the possibility of enacting a law that would require the public to be vaccinated against COVID-19, while preparing a program of procedural and legal incentives for the public who choose to be inoculated.

“Among the possible restrictions that could be imposed on those who refuse the vaccine: Will be denied a certificate enabling freedom of movement, especially flying abroad; Will be required to quarantine upon return from abroad; May not enter cinemas or other cultural establishments; Will be denied entry to hotels; Will not be permitted use of gyms or entry to sporting events…

“Our health is not something to be trifled with, yet the trends that follow us from the inception of the pandemic are increasingly alarming: banning worship and prayer at our synagogues and churches; tracking our phones; lockdowns specifically on biblical Feasts, etc.

“All of this allegedly for the sake of the safety of the citizens, while at the same time the politicians who impose it on us fail to follow their own recommendations and instructions. We can fight a common-sense fight against COVID-19, but it cannot come at the expense of our God-given freedoms.”

Sadly, this is exactly what is happening… and it will only get worse.

US Bishops “Clarify” Church Doctrine on Covid Vaccination

Vatican News reported on December 15:

“… the US Bishops have decided to further clarify the Church’s position regarding vaccines that have some connection to cell lines originating from aborted foetuses, reminding that since the beginning of the pandemic it has advocated for the development of a vaccine that has no link to abortion.

“Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Doctrine, and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities reiterate that, given the urgency of the crisis, ‘the lack of available alternative vaccines, and the fact that the connection between an abortion that occurred decades ago and receiving a vaccine produced today is remote, inoculation with the new COVID-19 vaccines in these circumstances can be morally justified’…

“According to the US Bishops, although all the three vaccines produced by Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca now available in the US have some connection to cell lines connected to aborted foetuses, their use would be morally justifiable in consideration of the present circumstances. These are: the lack, at present, of an available alternative vaccine ‘that has absolutely no connection to abortion’, the serious risk to public health and, most importantly, the need to protect the more vulnerable from the disease.

“With regard to the AstraZeneca vaccine, the US Bishops note that it is ‘more morally compromised’ than the other two, and therefore ‘should be avoided’ if there are alternatives available. However, if ‘one does not really have a choice of vaccine, at least, not without a lengthy delay in immunization that may have serious consequences for one’s health and the health of others’, they state that ‘it would be permissible’ to accept it.”

Vaccinations and Testing

CLI wrote on December 3:

“…a majority of vaccine candidates did not use abortion-derived cell lines in their production. Several used abortion-derived cell lines in laboratory testing, or their use in testing could not be determined.

“CLI’s expert scientific analysis finds that many leading vaccine candidates supported by Operation Warp Speed do not use abortion-derived cell lines in their production. This is encouraging news. Unfortunately, some vaccine developers have unnecessarily put American families in a difficult position by choosing to use controversial human fetal cell lines in production or testing, or by a lack of transparency. Many developers already opt to use animal cell lines, non-fetal human cells, yeast, or chicken eggs instead. We urge all developers to avail themselves of these options going forward. Doing so will reduce vaccine hesitancy for those who oppose the use of fetal cell lines, thereby increasing the public health impact of the vaccine.

“CLI will continue to provide the public with access to timely and accurate information so that individuals and families can weigh all factors – including secular science and religious traditions – and make vaccine decisions in line with their conscience.”

Get Your Digital Vaccine Passport!

BBC News wrote on December 4:

“There is… growing interest in how people can prove they have been vaccinated… Quite soon, millions of people will have been vaccinated, and they may want a simple way to show they no longer pose a threat of infection. Some businesses may even demand it.

“The Australian airline Qantas has suggested it may need to see an ‘immunity passport’ before passengers are allowed on board. The UK government has suggested it may look at making vaccination records a feature of the NHS Covid-19 contact-tracing app in England and Wales…

“Professor Deborah Dunn-Walters, chair of the British Society for Immunology… worries about the implications of only letting people into places such as pubs or restaurants on the condition that they have such an app…

“Dr Ana Beduschi, an associate professor of law at the University of Exeter… has been researching immunity passports and says they present legal problems…

“In addition, Prof Dunn-Walters says it’s too early to talk about vaccination passports when there are still things we don’t know about the vaccine. ‘We have evidence that having a vaccine would protect me, but not necessarily that it would protect my family or anybody else I come into contact with,’ she explains…

“Dr Beduschi argues that freedom of association, as well as privacy, would be imperilled if the authorities decided only people with immunity passports could use public transport or attend churches, for example.”

However, in this climate of propaganda and paranoia, we can foresee that courts will uphold the violation of individual rights “for the greater good.”

Pope Pleads for World Authority

Democracy without Borders wrote on December 11:

“… the pope brings to the fore [in his latest encyclical letter, ‘Fratelli tutti’] a new ethics for international relations. It is stated that a new global political order is to be established based on the principles of subsidiarity, rule of law and a renewed trust in international cooperation… Pope Francis’ call to reform global governance and for the establishment of a ‘world authority’ confirms the priority that world federalism is to be given…

“A common denominator can… be found in the secular notion of ‘global citizenship’, which is conceptually promoted in pope Francis’ encyclical…

“Building a global community is also an international responsibility of states, says pope Francis.. The pontiff recalls that successful prototypes can be found in the European Union and many other regional integration models… He delves into more details in the following paragraphs: ‘… When we talk about the possibility of some form of world authority regulated by law, we need not necessarily think of a personal authority. Still, such an authority ought at least to promote more effective world organizations…’

“While the notion of ‘personal authority’ used by pope Francis is unclear, the promotion of a rules-based international order, secured by the executive power of a world authority entrusted with instruments of international sanctions is crystal-clear… In its original Spanish version, the pontiff uses the expression of ‘global legislation’ as a synonym for ‘governance’ when defining the best possible instruments for tackling global issues…

“The call for a ‘world authority’ included in this latest encyclical has firm roots in catholic social teaching… it was put forward before in the encyclicals ‘Laudato Si’ of pope Francis in 2015, in ‘Caritas in veritate’ by Benedict XVI in 2009 or in ‘Populorum progressio’ of Paul VI in 1967, among others.”

A godly world authority will come when Christ returns to this earth to establish the Kingdom and Government of God at the beginning of the Millennium, but not before then. All other attempts would be Satanic counterfeits, as “envisioned” before, when, for example, Hitler proclaimed his short-lasting “One Thousand Year Reich” (“das Tausendjaehrige Reich”).

New Rule for Plenary Indulgence

In addition to our eight-part series on indulgences in our Q&As, here is an additional novelty.

Catholic News Agency wrote on December 10:

“Pope Francis has granted a plenary indulgence to Catholics celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe at home this Saturday. Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes… explained that in order to receive the indulgence — which the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines as ‘a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven’ — Catholics must fulfill certain conditions.

“First, they must prepare a home altar or other place of prayer in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Second, they must view a livestreamed or televised Mass from the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City on Dec. 12 ‘with devotion and with exclusive attention to the Eucharist. Third, they must meet the three usual conditions for receiving a plenary indulgence — sacramental confession, the reception of Holy Communion, and prayer for the pope’s intentions — once it is possible to do so…

“Up [to] 15 million pilgrims normally visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe during the first two weeks of December. But Church authorities decided to cancel this year’s pilgrimage because of the pandemic… The feast day commemorates the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego, an Aztec convert to Catholicism, in 1531. The apparition and its miraculous Marian image led to mass conversions of native American communities to Catholicism. Devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe has continued for native communities, Mexicans, and across the Americas and the world.

“Concluding his letter, Aguiar said: ‘Let us allow Our Lady to visit us in our homes this year. Let us open our doors to her and lift up our hearts so that she may bless us and cover us with her mantle. May Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Most Holy Mother, St. Mary of Guadalupe, continue to accompany us and bless us on this painful journey for all the people of God who wander in our archdiocese and throughout the world.’”

Inviting “Our Lady” into our homes? Since this “Lady” was NOT Mary, the mother of Christ, who died and is still in her grave, awaiting her resurrection from the dead to eternal life together with all Christians who have died, this deceitful “apparition” with its “miraculous Marian image,” if it ever occurred, would have been clearly demonic.

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.

For members of the Church of God who have been attending services for many years, they may recall that they have never observed the Day of Atonement on a Friday or a Sunday. It does not matter whether they attended the Worldwide Church of God, the Global Church of God, the Church of the Eternal God, or most other Church of God fellowships. In fact, in examining a calendar listing dates between 1845 and 2072, the Day of Atonement has not and will not occur on a Friday or a Sunday in any of these years.

This may seem strange seeing how, in our Gregorian calendar, a fixed date can occur on any day of the week. And, in fact, with a solar-lunar calendar, a fixed date would normally be expected to occur on any day of the week. And yet it does not. This is a feature of God’s sacred calendar, of which the basics will be described below.

At the time of the exodus, God informed Moses and Aaron in which month the year was to begin (Exodus 12:1-2).  Remember that each month in a solar-lunar calendar begins approximately on the new moon. This is basically at the conjunction of the earth, moon and sun, when they are aligned. At this time the moon is not visible, as the moon is directly between the earth and the sun. In calendar terms, this is called a Molad, meaning birth.

Further on in Exodus chapter 12, God also established His Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread. Early after they left Egypt, God revealed through Moses to the people on which day was His Sabbath rest (Exodus 16:23). In the book of Leviticus, chapter 23, God listed all of His Holy Days in order and He commanded them to be kept as a statute forever.

Now for us to be able to observe this beginning of the year, the Sabbath and these Holy Days today, someone had to preserve when they were to occur for future generations. Otherwise there would be no possible way to know from the Bible which days to observe in obeying God. Therefore, a calendar had to exist and to be preserved.

To begin to answer the question asked at the beginning, we need to acknowledge who God has chosen to preserve His calendar. We can read in Romans 3:1-2; “What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.” According to Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, “Unto them were committed – Or were intrusted, were confided. The word translated ‘were committed,’ is what is commonly employed to express ‘faith’ or ‘confidence’ and it implied ‘confidence’ in them on the part of God in intrusting His oracles to them, a confidence which was not misplaced, for no people ever guarded a sacred trust or deposit with more fidelity than the Jews did the sacred scriptures.” Romans 3:3-4 reminds us that even if some Jews did not believe, God would still be true and would have His oracles preserved.

As we should realize, the oracles also include the calendar, and no one else in the world has preserved God’s sacred calendar like the Jews have. Unless the Jews had preserved God’s calendar, we would not be able to obey God by keeping His Holy Days because we would not know when to correctly observe them. After all, the Bible does not inform us of how many days are in each month, which years have thirteen months or exactly when the year should start. The Bible does not even inform us of which day is God’s Holy Sabbath.

In our Q&A, titled, “Why do you use the current Hebrew Calendar for establishing the dates of God’s annual Holy Days?” we explain in detail why the Church of God has decided more than 70 years ago that we must follow the Hebrew calendar in order to be able to observe the weekly and annual Holy Days at their proper times.

This calendar that the Jews have the responsibility for preserving, has a number of features and it is calculated around the Feast of Trumpets each year, named by the Jews as Rosh Hashana. In the calendar calculations, it is called the Molad of Tishri. As stated above, it is calculated approximately at the time of the new moon or Molad with certain modifications and delays (called Postponements).

The first and obvious modification is due to the fact that twelve lunar months are shorter than twelve solar months by approximately 11 days. In order to ensure the Passover falls in its correct season each year, the Feast of Trumpets is postponed by one month seven times every nineteen years. So, in a nineteen-year time cycle, twelve years have twelve months and seven years have thirteen months. The years with thirteen months are the third, sixth, eighth, eleventh, fourteenth, seventeenth and nineteenth years in the nineteen-year cycle. The Hebrew term for these years translates into English as “Pregnant Years” as opposed to the western calendar term leap years.

Adding this extra month does not affect, on which day of the week Holy Days occur, but it was necessary to ensure that there was enough barley to be harvested so that the required wave sheaf offering could be presented (Leviticus 23:10-11). (See below.) However, there are four other postponements which do affect, on which day of the week Holy Days occur. These four postponements are concerning other calendar rules regarding the time of day of the Molad of Tishri, the permitted starting days for the year and the minimum and maximum number of days of each year.

The first postponement logically to be considered is the time of day of the occurrence of the Molad of Tishri. If it were to occur at noon or later, the Feast of Trumpets is to be postponed to the next day. Traditionally, this postponement was considered necessary to ensure the visibility of the New Moon on the Feast of Trumpets. However, this postponement sometimes could result in the Feast of Trumpets occurring on a day of the week that the second postponement does not allow. If this were to happen the Feast of Trumpets is to be postponed a second day.

The second postponement logically to be considered requires that if the Molad of Tishri were to fall on a Sunday, Wednesday or Friday, then the Feast of Trumpets is to be postponed to the next day. This rule was for ritual convenience. Excluding Wednesday and Friday is to prevent the Day of Atonement from occurring on either side of the Sabbath. If this were to happen it would be ritually inconvenient with regard to the burial of a corpse of a person who died on the Day of Atonement before the Sabbath or died on the Sabbath before the Day of Atonement. Excluding Sunday is to prevent the need for a ceremony of beating willow branches on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles from occurring on the Sabbath. (While we do not partake of this practice, the Jews who maintain the calendar have added this requirement, even though they do not fully understand why it is done now).

Of course, these ritual considerations alone would not be a compelling reason for us to follow the Jewish “lead.” (The same would be true for the sometimes false counting of Pentecost by mainstream Judaism today, which leads them to keep Pentecost at times on a wrong date. See our Q&A. Another example would be their false observance of Passover, see below.) In fact, nothing would prohibit us today from conducting a funeral on the Day of Atonement, if there is no other option. (This has happened in the Church of God in the past.) However, there are further considerations regarding the postponement affecting the Day of Atonement, which are compelling for us. We point out in our Q&A, “Can you explain some of the peculiarities of the Hebrew Calendar?”:

“When the new moon (more accurately, the ‘Molad’ or ‘birth’; that is, when the moon is directly between earth and sun and it is therefore invisible) occurs on Sunday, Wednesday or Friday, the Feast of Trumpets is postponed to the following day. The reason is that the Day of Atonement [which is to be kept 9 days after the Feast of Trumpets, on the tenth day of the month] should not occur on the day before or after the weekly Sabbath, and the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles should not occur on a weekly Sabbath, as it is followed by an annual Sabbath—the Last Great Day.

“In his article, ‘The Hebrew Calendar—Authoritative for God’s Church Today,’ Dr. Herman L. Hoeh wrote:

“‘Why do God’s festivals fall when they do? Have we ever asked why… the fast of the Day of Atonement does not occur on Friday or Sunday? Or why the seventh day of the Festival of Tabernacles does not fall on the weekly Sabbath—but the eighth day commonly does?… If Atonement were to fall on Friday, housewives would have to prepare food for the weekly Sabbath on a Thursday…

“‘Hillel II realized that … the Day of Atonement should not fall on Friday, the preparation day of the Sabbath. The rule, therefore, is that if the new moon of a seventh month could occur on a Wednesday (beginning the previous evening), that day is not to be declared the new moon. It is to be postponed. But the day following is to be declared the new moon… that is, a Thursday (beginning the previous evening) is the first day of the seventh month. That Thursday is consequently the Feast of Trumpets… and the Day of Atonement, which is the 10th day of the month, falls in such a year on the weekly Sabbath.’”

The third postponement is to ensure that twelve-month years never have 356 days as those years are only allowed to have 353, 354 or 355 days.

The fourth postponement is to ensure that thirteen-month years never have  382 days as those years are only allowed to have 383, 384 or 385 days.

Therefore, from these modifications and postponements, it can be seen that the sacred calendar is quite complicated. When the mathematics required to perform the calculations are taken into account, it becomes even more complicated. We know that at the time of Christ, an extra month had to be added from time to time to ensure the Passover was celebrated in its correct season. We state in our above-mentioned Q&A, quoting from an article by Raymond F. McNair:

“… in order to be able to offer the ‘wave sheaf’ (Hebr. Omer) of ripened barley during the Days of Unleavened Bread, it was sometimes mandatory that the high priest in ancient Israel postpone the beginning of Nisan 1 by a whole month… the Feast of Unleavened Bread [must] fall in the spring (thereby necessitating certain one-month postponements to the beginning of the sacred year). There is no record of Christ and His disciples objecting to the calendar or instituting a different one.”

When Christ walked on the earth, He observed the existing calendar that the Jews had preserved till then. He may not have interpreted it in the same manner they did and in some cases with the strictness that they did, but He observed the same Holy Days. One obvious example of Him interpreting their practices differently is that He kept the Passover on the beginning of the fourteenth day of the first month, whereas the Pharisees in Jerusalem kept it at the end of the day into the beginning of the fifteenth day (John 18:28). However, the Sadducees kept it at the right day, and they sacrificed the lamb at the beginning of the 14th day of Nisan, as prescribed in the Bible, unlike the Pharisees who did so at the end of the 14^th. As we follow the Bible, the Church of God keeps Passover on the beginning of the 14^th day, even though most Jews don’t today.

Please see our Q&As, “Why does the Church of God keep the annual Passover one day earlier than the Jews?” and “Why was the religious establishment usually at odds with Jesus?” (Part 2). There, we say: “Jesus recognized that the Sadducees were in charge of the Temple service, and that they were correct in their understanding as to when to sacrifice the Passover lamb. While they did so at the beginning of the 14^th of Nisan, the Pharisees sacrificed it one day too late, at the end of the 14^th or the beginning of the 15^th of Nisan. Most Jews follow today the wrong lead of the Pharisees and keep the Passover one day too late, by confusing it with the Night to Be Much Observed.”

It is believed that in the Old Testament, the priests used observation and calculation to determine when the new moons were to occur. We can notice from some of the events mentioned that it was known in advance when the next new moon would occur. In 1 Samuel 20:5, David knew the next day would be the new moon, which obviously had to be calculated rather than observed.

This was satisfactory while there was a priesthood and Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, but with the scattering of the Jews into many countries, and the prohibition by the Romans preventing the Sanhedrin from meeting or disseminating Jewish information, Patriarch Hillel II in 358 A.D. publicised the system of calendar calculations so the Jews everywhere in the world could observe the same Holy Days without any confusion. His calendar calculations are still being used by the Jews all over the world and therefore by most members of God’s Church to this day. They are expected to continue to be used unless a properly constituted Sanhedrin is established and they see a genuine need for a revision.

Therefore, the answer to the question posed at the beginning of this Q&A is this: Because the Jews, and only they, have God’s authority to preserve His Sacred calendar, and they have determined that the Day of Atonement will not occur on a Friday or a Sunday, we also do not observe it on either of those two days.

Lead Writers: Paul Niehoff (Australia) and Norbert Link

compiled by Dave Harris

Pastor Rene Messier informed us that he baptized Donald Briard from Saint-Jerome, Quebec, during the past week. Our warm welcome to Mr. Briard!

Europe’s Attack on Religious Freedom and the Coming Great Tribulation,” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary: 

This program addresses another European attack on religious freedom, this time mainly directed at Jews and Muslims, but with wide-ranging consequences for all religions, including true and nominal Christianity. We talk about the permission granted by Europe’s highest court to prohibit ritual slaughter of animals, but the implication of the decision is not limited to that aspect, but it is much broader and much more frightening. It also sets the stage for prophesied events leading to the terrible Great Tribulation described in the Bible.

“Warum verurteilt die Bibel die Sklaverei nicht ausdrücklich?” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: Why Doesn’t the Bible Condemn Slavery Explicitly?”

“Fürchte Dich nicht!” is the title of last Sabbath’s German sermonette, presented by Robert Kintzi. Title in English: “Do Not Be Afraid!”

We received the following comments from a viewer of our StandingWatch program, “Should You Get Vaccinated Against Coronavirus?” 

“Thank you for the videos, we and several others have been watching them regularly.  We need our shepherds issuing warnings and trying to protect the flock.  So thank you for the effort you put into these.  My husband and I grew up in WCG.  Things are progressing now at such speed, everyday new developments and further alignments are occurring.  It’s hard to keep up with everything.  What a blessing to know God’s truth!”  

Another viewer wrote:

“You’re StandingWatch programs, booklets and the services that the Church gives us on [the] Sabbath have opened up my heart to the words of the Bible and God’s law”.

Another viewer wrote:

“I want to thank you for your continuing dedication to His truth and I pray that you will be protected and upheld by His mighty angels. Thank you for your continuing presentation of the truth! By the way you are right Pres. Trump did win; it just needs a little ‘adjusting’ for it to be ‘official.’ But I wonder if all those who think he is their ‘savior’ will be glad after they see what is in store for them… “

“Are We Afraid of the Truth or Opposing Viewpoints?” the first message presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Here are some of the topics discussed in this presentation: The Hunter Biden scandal; the Supreme Court’s denial to hear the Texas case because of “lack of standing”; the attack on free speech; and the German government’s fight against opponents of Coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns. What do all of these topics have in common?

“What’s Right in Their Eyes,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Kalon Mitchell, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Scripture introduces us to the concept of right and wrong—what is based on God’s Word and what isn’t. Oftentimes the Bible captures stories of what was happening so many years ago. Do those stories we read about have anything to do with the time we find ourselves living in at this juncture of history? Are we guilty of choosing wrong over right? Can we discern if we are or if we are not?

On December 12, 2020, Norbert Link will present “Comments on News and Prophecy (December 12, 2020),” and Kalon Mitchell will present the sermon, titled, “What’s Right In Their Eyes.”

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.

“I want to prove it for myself…” is something we all have thought, said or done. Being warned to not touch a hot stove does not always prevent us from getting burned. Unfortunately, good advice to not make dangerous mistakes may not be enough for us.

It certainly wasn’t for the nations of Israel and Judah:

“And the LORD God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy” (2 Chronicles 36:15-16).

These nations proved what God had said would be the consequence for their disobedience. They chose sin and rebellion against God, all of which led to national captivity. Daniel wrote of this:

“We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster…” (Daniel 9:10-12).

And so it is, today! Great disaster is coming upon the whole world, and it will first focus on the modern descendants of Israel and Judah (prophetically spoken of in Jeremiah 30:7 as “‘the time of Jacob’s trouble’”).

We know these and many other similar biblical passages. They have been a motivating force in our lives. In recent decades, there were others who, for a while, believed God but then chose to ignore what they once knew. They have separated themselves from God—only to eventually learn firsthand the price of sin.

The world is not mindful of God or His laws, and with impunity people are unrestrained in following their own ways—defiant in their self-willed choices.

Jesus makes an epic comparison between the pre-Flood world and that of society just before His return to the earth by pointing out that people were and would be living separate from the Will of God (Compare Luke 17:26-30). His words are a warning for all who will listen.

When he was warned, Noah paid attention:

“By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Hebrews 11:7).

Here is a warning we in the Church of God must take to heart with all urgency and seriousness:

“And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues’” (Revelation 18:4).

If we are to be saved from the coming tribulation, now is the time to heed the warnings from God!

by Norbert Link

We begin with mounting evidence of voter fraud during the Presidential election and the desperate attempts by the left-wing mass media, as well as state courts, to suppress or deny the facts in an effort to declare Joe Biden as the next President. We also report on many lawsuits by the Trump legal team and others, all of which have been unsuccessful so far.. but this still could change. We publish an article from an Israeli news outlet pointing at the terrible consequences of a Biden Presidency, by just focusing on his contemplated choice of leaders within the Health Department and his proposed Coronavirus Taskforce.

We speak on side effects of coronavirus vaccinations. In this regard, please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, Should you get vaccinated against Coronavirus?” 

We also address the “cruel illogic” of new devastating lockdowns, including in California and Germany. Violence because of frustration and desperation has broken out, for instance in Los Angeles, and more might follow. Also, we report on Germany’s descent into a dictatorship.

We are reporting on a surprisingly strong verbal attack on Israel by a Saudi prince; and the increasingly hostile assaults between the UK and the EU, combined with the clear threat of military action.

We conclude with an eye-opening article regarding planned worldwide mind control and censorship by powerful “actors.” The attempt by the left-wing media to discredit the news agency publishing the article speaks for itself.

Regarding some of our articles in this issue, please watch our recent presentation, titled, “America in Crisis—Voter Fraud, Lockdowns and Harmful Vaccinations.”

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

“Biden Vote Fraud Claims Hit ONE MILLION in Five Key States”

Express wrote on December 5:

“An independent human rights organisation has claimed that it has identified more than a million instances of potential fraud in five key states in the US Presidential election to support legal challenges to the presumptive victory for Joe Biden.

“The Amistad Project of the Thomas More Society, which is a non-party political and [which is] not officially affiliated [with the] Trump campaign, has filed its latest motion in Arizona which Mr Biden won by just 10,477 votes… According to expert data analysis for the Amistad Project more than 200,000 illegal votes were potentially cast for Mr Biden in the state while 100,000 legal ballots were not counted… according to the independent Amistad Project, the data, compiled and analysed over the course of ‘weeks of rigorous investigation’, show that the total number of illegal ballots counted and legal ballots not counted likely exceeds 300,000 votes — 30 times more than the number of votes separating the presidential candidates.

“In five closely fought states, including Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania, where the Amistad Project is challenging reported results, it claims its investigators have identified over a million instances of potential fraud… The latest challenge follows the Amistad Project unveiling a number of whistleblowers last week who have signed legal documents saying they are willing to testify to instances of voter fraud and running fraudulent votes across state lines.”

According to the mass media, all of this is baseless and without any evidence. Really?

US Citizens In Israel Receiving Multiple Mail Ballots

 Israel 365 News reported on December 10:

 “US citizens living in Israel received multiple email ballots from Pennsylvania to vote in the presidential elections on Thursday, five weeks after election day.

 “Joshua Wander, a reporter for Israel365 News, was shocked when he opened his email on Thursday morning, December 10, and discovered three sets of email ballots to vote in the US presidential elections that were held on November 3… Wander, formerly a resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania had applied to vote via email in Allegheny County but actually voted via mail-in paper ballot. Wander contacted five acquaintances who had also voted in that county via mail-in ballots and all had received multiple email ballots. Upon receipt of the email ballots, Wander submitted a request for an investigation by the Congressman, state councilman, county councilman, as well as several attorneys involved in election-related irregularities. ‘This makes it absolutely clear that there is a serious glitch in the system that must be explained,’ Wander said…

“Devorah… Freeland, a resident of Tsfat (Safed) Israel and a self-described ‘recovering attorney’, also received several sets of emails… ‘Receiving these emails, which are still coming in, just shows me that the Pennsylvania election officials don’t know what they’re doing,’ Freeland said. ‘There’s no rhyme or reason to this. It’s time-stamped today, weeks after the elections. They don’t know what their computer system is doing. How can they report election results if they don’t even know who or when they are sending out mail-in ballots?’…

“It is important to note that in pre-election polls, 70% of the 184,000 US citizens of voting age currently residing in Israel supported the reelection of President Trump. Only 17% of the US voters in Israel said they would support Joe Biden…

“Marc Zell, chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel, was deeply concerned about the emails, noting that glitches in voting systems had serious implications. ‘The Pennsylvania presidential election has been fraught with irregularities, illegalities, and even fraud,’ Zell said. ‘This latest batch of email ballots is puzzling and worrisome. It highlights the inherent and systemic problems in Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting…’”

Courts Dismiss Voter Fraud Lawsuits… Here is Why

Fox News wrote on December 7:

“Attorney Sidney Powell suffered losses in two states Monday morning, with judges in both Michigan and Georgia ruling against her clients in lawsuits challenging the election results in those states. Both cases alleged widespread voter fraud and errors having to do with absentee ballots and vote counting. In the Michigan case, U.S. District Court Judge Linda Parker [who was nominated by President Obama] said that because the election has taken place and its results have been certified, it is too late to grant an injunction…

“Powell’s lawsuit called for decertification of the results, an injunction blocking state officials from sending the results to the Electoral College, an order to send certified results that name President Trump as the winner, an order for a manual recount for absentee ballots, and an order that votes that were tabulated by machines not be counted unless the machines were certified according to state and federal requirements. ‘If granted, the relief would disenfranchise the votes of the more than 5.5 million Michigan citizens who, with dignity, hope, and a promise of a voice, participated in the 2020 General Election,’ Parker wrote [Now, what a rationale and basis for a decision is THAT?]… Plaintiffs could have lodged their constitutional challenges much sooner than they did, and certainly not three weeks after Election Day and one week after certification of almost three million votes,’ Parker wrote… [It takes time to accumulate the evidence of voter fraud. Judge Parker should have known that.]

“Parker concluded by accusing the plaintiffs of attempting to sow doubt among the public when it comes to democratic institutions. ‘[T]his lawsuit seems to be less about achieving the relief Plaintiffs seek—as much of that relief is beyond the power of this Court— and more about the impact of their allegations on People’s faith in the democratic process and their trust in our government,’ Parker said.

“In stark contrast to Parker’s 36-page order, the federal judge in the Georgia case ruled from the bench, speaking directly to the parties. While Parker merely denied a request for an injunction in the Michigan case, Judge Timothy Batten dismissed the Georgia case.”

Based on the information provided above, the rationale for the decision by Judge Parker seems to be highly questionable, and the judge seems to have been highly biased. But it is apparently another effort to gloss over the many affidavits of voter fraud in an attempt to just restore the “trust” of the American public in a functioning democracy… but this trust has been irreparably destroyed BY THE MASSIVE EVIDENCE of voter fraud and corruption.  

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Texas Lawsuit

The Palmieri Rreport wrote on December 8:

“[The] U.S. Supreme Court will hear Texas’ lawsuit against Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin over potential voter fraud. The case was added to the Supreme Court docket today…

“In a novel legal strike, the state of Texas has asked the Supreme Court to invalidate the election results in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia, arguing officials in those four battleground states violated the Constitution by making changes to how ballots were cast and counted without legislative approval.

“The lawsuit filed late Monday night by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the justices to issue a temporary restraining order preventing the states ‘from taking action to certify presidential electors or to have such electors take any official action including without limitation participating in the electoral college.’

“The suit argues that changes made by the state’s governors, secretaries of states and election supervisors were ‘inconsistent with relevant state laws and were made by non-legislative entities, without any consent by the state legislatures. The acts of these officials thus directly violated the Constitution.’”

To the question of standing, it was pointed out that Texas would be affected and harmed, as would be the entire country, if Joe Biden would become the President due to voter fraud in those named states.  

Breitbart added on December 9:

“Tuesday during an appearance on FNC’s ‘Hannity,’ Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton elaborated on the merits of a lawsuit his state of Texas has against Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, claiming those states violated the election guidelines set by the U.S. Constitution in the 2020 election. Paxton also noted that when a state sues another state, or in this case, multiple states, the case goes directly to the U.S. Supreme Court as the court of jurisdiction.”

Fox News reported on December 10:

 “Missouri and five other states on Thursday threw their support even further behind the Texas lawsuit aiming to prevent Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin’s electors from casting their electoral votes by asking the Supreme Court  to let them join the Texas suit. Missouri on Wednesday led a group of 17 states in filing a brief that supported the Texas lawsuit, which alleges that the four key swing states that voted for President-elect Joe Biden violated the Constitution by having their judicial and executive branches make changes to their presidential elections rather than their legislatures. But the Thursday filing led by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, which also includes Arkansas, Utah, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina, would make those states parties before the court in the case rather than just outside voices weighing in. President Trump’s campaign did the same on Wednesday.”

 The eighteen states are: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia. It is now up to the Supreme Court to decide what is going to happen next.

CNN wrote on December 10:

“First the court would have to allow Paxton to file the suit. Then the court would have to block certification of the Electoral College vote, determine that the four states had allowed massive amounts of ‘illegal’ votes, have the states revisit their vote counts and then resubmit the numbers. The court could also, Trump’s filing suggests, let state legislatures determine who wins each state or throw the entire election to the US House of Representatives, where each state delegation would have one vote — and since Republican delegations outnumber Democratic delegations, Trump would win… The Supreme Court is going through standard procedural protocols, placing the case on its docket. Each of the four states responded Thursday afternoon. The court could act after those filings [have arrived] or wait until Texas files a brief replying to the arguments made by the battleground states… They do ‘meet’ Friday for their regular conference, now held over the phone… it will take five justices to agree to allow Paxton to file his suit…”

Of course, the fact that the Supreme Court accepted to take the case and asked the sued states to respond to the allegations in the lawsuit does not mean that they will make a correct decision. No court so far has been willing to even acknowledge the evidence of massive voter fraud unparalleled in the recorded history of the USA. Also note the next article.

Supreme Court Rejects Pennsylvania Lawsuit

The Week wrote on December 8:

“The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a request from Pennsylvania Republicans, including Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), to block the state from certifying its presidential election results… It’s not exactly clear what each individual justice thought of the plaintiffs’ final brief, but there were no public dissents, and the decision to reject it — which was revealed via a one-line order — reportedly took just 34 minutes to make, indicating there was little drama.”

As npr “explains”:

“The lawsuit was brought by Republican Rep. Mike Kelly, who argued a 2019 state law authorizing universal mail-in voting is unconstitutional [the allegation being, the expansive vote-by-mail law is unconstitutional because it required a constitutional amendment to authorize its provisions] and that all ballots cast by mail in the general election in Pennsylvania should be thrown out… Kelly, along with several others, filed the lawsuit on Nov. 21 and requested Pennsylvania either reject the more than 2.5 million ballots cast by mail or allow state lawmakers to select presidential electors. Republicans control Pennsylvania’s Legislature.”

It’s hard to keep track of all the pending lawsuits and those which are still to come, but here is an interesting article in this regard, as published by Newsmax on December 8:

 “President Donald Trump’s legal team is reportedly moving full steam ahead with courtroom election challenges that are now expected to continue into January. Tuesday marked the ‘safe harbor’ deadline, historically accepted as the date by which all state-level election challenges — such as recounts and audits — are supposed to be completed. But Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, representing Trump in his bid to overturn the election results, said the courts will look at challenges into next month, well past that deadline…

“‘Justice [Ruth Bader] Ginsburg recognized in Bush v. Gore that the date of ‘ultimate significance’ is Jan. 6, when Congress counts and certifies the votes of the Electoral College,’ they said in a statement… ‘The only fixed day in the U.S. Constitution is the inauguration of the president on Jan. 20 at noon.’…”

“Biden Officially Secures Electoral College Majority after California Certifies Votes”

CBS News wrote on December 5:

“California certified its presidential election Friday and appointed 55 electors pledged to vote for President-elect Biden, officially handing him the Electoral College majority needed to win the White House… with 279 electors… That’s just over the 270 threshold for victory.

“Edward B. Foley, a law professor at Ohio State University [said:] ‘It is a legal milestone and the first milestone that has that status… Everything prior to that was premised on what we call projections.’

“The electors named Friday will meet December 14, along with counterparts in each state, to formally vote for the next president… Results of the Electoral College vote are due to be received, and typically approved, by Congress on January 6… lawmakers can object to accepting the electors’ votes…

“The Democratic-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate would both vote separately to resolve any disputes. One already has arisen from Pennsylvania, where 75 Republican lawmakers signed a statement on Friday urging Congress to block the state’s electoral votes from being cast for Mr. Biden…

“The last remaining move to block the election would be the… effort to vote down the electors in Congress. This tactic has been tried — a handful of congressional Democrats in 2000, 2004 and 2016 objected to officially making both George W. Bush and Mr. Trump president. But the numbers were not enough to block the two men from taking office.”

No More Fraud?

Breitbart reported on December 9:

“Google-owned video platform YouTube has announced plans to remove any content that questions Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 U.S. presidential election despite the fact that legal challenges involving multiple states continue… In the blog post, YouTube writes [on December 9]:

“‘Yesterday was the safe harbor deadline for the U.S. Presidential election and enough states have certified their election results to determine a President-elect. Given that, we will start removing any piece of content uploaded today (or anytime after) that misleads people by alleging that widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, in line with our approach towards historical U.S. Presidential elections. For example, we will remove videos claiming that a Presidential candidate won the election due to widespread software glitches or counting errors. We will begin enforcing this policy today, and will ramp up in the weeks to come…’”

The Ron Paul Institute added on December 10:

“[YouTube] used the end of the ‘safe harbor’ period for counting votes to justify censor those with lingering doubts or those who want to post explanations of why the count remains suspicious, including presumable an array of members of Congress who have called for investigations. For free speech advocates, the move is a raw example of corporate censorship but Democrats and many liberals applauded the action… It appears that Big Brother is now being embraced as a protector of truth.

“… some polls show up to 90 percent of Republicans believe that election was not fair and honest. Roughly half of the country voted for President Donald Trump and many of them hold this view. The best way to address such views is to expose them to debate and challenge. That is the value of free speech. Otherwise, you end up on a slippery slope of censorship of any views that you deem harmful or misleading.

“This action notably occurs just weeks after companies blocked discussion of the Hunter Biden story. It was only after the election that the CEOs then said it was a mistake.  Biden is now under federal investigation and the laptop and its disturbing emails now appear to be legitimate… We are watching free speech drain away to the applause of those eager for less freedom.”

What Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services Would Look Like

Israel 365 News wrote on December 7:

“Joe Biden announced his choice to head the Department of Health… His choice, the current California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, has plenty of experience prosecuting journalists who uncover ugly truths about the abortion industry. In this respect, the appointee will feel right at home running the branch of the federal government in charge of the task force tasked with battling the COVID pandemic which is dominated by advocates for abortion and euthanasia… as a career lawyer and politician, he does not, in fact, have any previous experience in the area of health or medicine…

“In 2015, David Daleiden, an undercover journalist and anti-abortion activist, released videos showing footage of Planned Parenthood officials discussing fees for human fetal tissue and organs… In 2017, Becerra filed 15 felony charges against Daleiden. Less than one month later, Superior Court Judge Christopher Hite dismissed fourteen of the charges, with leave to amend, on the grounds that they were legally insufficient. Less than two weeks later, Becerra refiled those charges and they are still active. Daleiden is still in a legal battle, fighting the felony charges, and is appealing a civil suit filed by Planned Parenthood in excess of two million dollars.

“In April 2016, Kamala Harris, then the California Attorney General, order[ed] the Department of Justice [to serve] a search warrant on Daleiden, [to raid] his apartment [and to seize] multiple computers, hard drives, documents, cell phones and other matters collected in his research on Planned Parenthood… Both Becerra and Harris were accused of having a conflict of interest in pursuing the prosecution of Daleiden as they both have a long history of receiving contributions and support from Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion organizations…

“In legal circles, Becerra is known as ‘the man who sued Trump more than anyone else’ having brought over 100 cases against the president as the California attorney general. If Biden is declared the winner of the presidential election, Becerra will have to be approved by the senate.

“If Biden does become president and Becerra is approved as the head the Department of Health and Human Services, the people tasked with saving the country from the pandemic will be of an interesting breed, having more in common in their approach to ending human life than in saving it. Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, one of the 13 members of [Biden’s] coronavirus task force, authored a book on medical ethics titled The Ends of Human Life in which he advocated for doctors engaging in passive euthanasia…

“Dr. Emanuel is not an outlier in Biden’s coronavirus task force. One of the chairmen is Dr. David Kessler, a former FDA commissioner. He is… an advocate for physician-assisted suicide.

“It should also be noted that another task force appointee, Dr. Vivek Murthy who, when he served as the Surgeon General from 2014 until 2017, advocated for stricter laws enforcing vaccination of children. In an interview with CNN, he said he was ‘concerned’ that vaccine exemptions for religious and other reasons ‘in some states is too permissive.’”

This is truly APPALLING!!! Another Catholic priest just stated that Biden, who is proudly proclaiming to be a “Catholic,” should not receive communion based on his stance on abortion and other life-ending measures.

“Side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine means ‘your body responded the way it’s supposed to,’ experts say”

USA Today wrote on December 4:

“Americans will likely experience at least one side effect from the COVID-19 vaccine, but doctors say that’s normal and you should still get vaccinated. In Moderna’s Phase 3 trials, [the] company said the most common side effects were fatigue, muscle soreness and aches, joint pain, headache, and pain, redness or swelling at the injection site. More than half of Moderna’s study participants had side effects from the vaccine in Phase 1 trials…

“… Physicians emphasize that these side effects are not just normal but also a sign that the body is reacting properly to the vaccine.

“Dr. Melanie Swift, an occupational medicine physician helping lead the COVID-19 vaccination plan at the Mayo Clinic, said it’s important to educate Americans about the vaccines’ side effects or it may deter people from getting the second dose…  ‘It’s important to take both doses or that first dose was all for nothing.’… If someone is going to have a bad reaction to a vaccine, it is likely to occur in the first six weeks after vaccination, according to medical experts. But experts still don’t know the long-term effects of the COVID-19 vaccines and won’t know until after the trials are completed and researchers monitor participants in the real world for years after…

“The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has numerous national monitoring systems in place to track reportable adverse events from vaccines. However, the agency added another layer of safety monitoring for the COVID-19 vaccine: V-SAFE. It’s a new smartphone-based, post-vaccination health checker for essential workers who receive the COVID-19 vaccine. For those who enroll, the program will use texting messaging and web surveys to check in with people for health problems following vaccination… Text messages and emails will be sent daily for the first week post vaccination and then weekly thereafter for six weeks. The agency will not only ask about side effects and possible adverse events, but it will also ask about COVID-19 infection to better understand effectiveness and how long vaccine protection may last.”

If all of this is not reason to be greatly concerned, what is?

CNBC wrote on December 8:

“One Pfizer trial participant told CNBC that after the second shot, he woke up with chills, shaking so hard he cracked a tooth. ‘It hurt to even just lay in my bed sheet,’ he said.”

The Daily Mail wrote on December 9:

“There are fears over how safe Pfizer’s COVID vaccine is after two British healthcare workers who were among the first in the world to receive it on Tuesday went into anaphylactic shock hours later, prompting British authorities to tell anyone with a ‘severe’ allergy to food or medicine not to get it [to be more precise, the advice is against vaccinating anyone with a history of significant allergic reactions to medicines, food or vaccines]… In America, that applies to at least 200,000 people who have food allergies and many more who have drug allergies.”

The Jerusalem Post reported on December 9 that two participants died. It also stated: “At the same time, the FDA said that currently there is not enough research to guarantee the vaccine’s safety for immunocompromized groups, pregnant women and children.”

RT added on December 9:

“Four trial participants who received the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine experienced facial paralysis, according to the Food and Drug Administration… Bell’s palsy, a form of temporary facial paralysis, was reported by four participants during phase 3 trials… The condition resembles a stroke, with most sufferers watching helplessly as one side of their face droops and their muscles go limp. In some rare situations, both sides of the face may become paralyzed…”

For much more information on potential side effects and moral issues, please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, Should you get vaccinated against Coronavirus?” 

Gov. Newsom’s New Lockdown in California

The Guardian wrote on December 7:

“More than 23 million people in southern California have been placed under the harshest lockdowns in the US, as Covid-19 cases hit record levels in the country’s most populous state. The restrictions require people to stay at home and minimise contact with other households. They came into effect at 11.59pm local time on Sunday (0659 GMT) and will remain in place for at least three weeks, covering the Christmas holiday. All retail stores can stay open, although at 20% capacity, along with outside spaces such as parks and beaches, but restaurants, bars, hair and nail salons and tattoo shops are required to close…

“The new shutdowns were a gut-wrenching move for small businesses…”

SFGate wrote on December 5:

“Many Bay Area small businesses barely survived the first shutdown in March, only to go under during the summer when California’s watch list system imposed another round of mandated closures… People want evidence their businesses are actually contributing to the spread of the virus. This question came up during Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Thursday press conference announcing the new stay-at-home framework, but he was highly evasive… The lack of data and transparency is infuriating for so many… With no federal help on the way just before the holidays, people are scared they may close for good… To say that people are incensed with California’s leaders would be an understatement…”

RV Business wrote on December 5:

“Californians will see sharp new limits on public gatherings and shopping under a new statewide order issued today by Gov. Gavin Newsom… parks and other campgrounds in five regions of the state will be prohibited from accommodating overnight guests… For at least 21 days, the rules will limit many activities in areas facing critical care shortages that could last through the holidays…

“Affected communities will be required to close personal service businesses including hair and nail salons, playgrounds, amusement parks, bars and movie theaters. Restaurants will be required to return to take-out service only. Hotels may not rent rooms to tourists, although essential travelers can be accommodated.”

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on December 7:

“The cruel illogic of this latest round of Covid lockdowns has infuriated more and more Americans and exposed the corruption and hypocrisy of the ‘leaders.’ While outdoor dining is being forcibly shut down in places like California – with no ‘science’ to back the move up – indoor shopping at big-box stores continues unabated. Small restaurants are going under by the thousands while the powerful and well-connected are reaping record profits. America is being pushed to the breaking point by hypocrite ‘do as I say not as I do’ governors like California’s Gavin Newsom and many more.”

All of this is INSANE! The California government is DESTROYING the lives and businesses of thousands upon thousands of people. In doing so, they are following the lead of Satan the Devil who is called the “destroyer” in the Bible.

LA County’s Abuse of Power

Politico wrote on December 8:

“A judge on Tuesday issued a blistering rebuke to Los Angeles County public health officials… saying an indefinite ban on outdoor dining announced late last month was ‘unsupported by any findings’ and an abuse of emergency powers… The tentative ruling to block the indefinite ban won’t have immediate practical consequences for Los Angeles-area restaurants, as the county is now under a temporary stay-home order… But it marks a symbolic and legal victory for those challenging the emergency powers flexed by state and local officials — and a rare setback for public health authorities…

“The judge’s 73-page assessment found that the county failed to justify its decision to shutter outdoor dining or perform a required risk-benefit analysis about the restriction. Outbreak data provided to the court, [the judge] wrote, showed that cases traced back to bars and restaurants accounted for just 3.1 percent of the non-residential outbreak locations, ‘the vast majority of which were chain/fast food type restaurants’ and almost exclusively involved employees rather than customers.”

The Los Angeles Times Newsletter added on December 9:

“A judge has limited Los Angeles County’s outdoor dining ban to three weeks, even as a state order will keep the restriction in place past Christmas, according to a tentative decision announced Tuesday. Once the ban expires — on Dec. 16 — county public health officials must conduct a risk-benefit analysis to extend the closures, according to the judge’s ruling.”

How the Rich Get Richer

ABC 7 News wrote on December 9:

“At least eight companies partially owned by Gov. Gavin Newsom collectively received millions of dollars from the Paycheck Protection Program, according to an ABC7 analysis. While data released by the Small Business Administration earlier this year showed the PlumpJack Group received up to $350,000 worth of PPP loans, newly-released data by the SBA indicated PlumpJack businesses – including wineries, bars, and restaurants – received more than eight times that amount at nearly $3 million altogether….

“Gov. Newsom is not affiliated with the operations of the companies as his interests are in a blind trust. However, he is listed as the founder on the website and his sister Hilary Newsom is listed as the company’s President and Partner. According to the governor’s 2019 Statement of Economic Interest, Newsom does have an ownership interest in eight companies affiliated with PlumpJack that received PPP funding… the governor’s 2018 tax returns show he and his wife made $1.2 million from wages and investments – a majority of which stems from his ventures in wine and hospitality.

“The PlumpJack Group will have two to five years to apply for loan forgiveness if they choose to do so. This means the company may not have to pay back these loans… If companies don’t seek forgiveness of the loan, they have to pay it back – but these companies still benefit. ‘They were able to benefit from this extremely low interest rate the government was providing,’ said Danielle Brian, the Executive Director of Project on Government Oversight. ‘These are one percent loans…it’s essentially free money for them.’”

Incredible and shameful. And that occurs, while millions of small businesses are forced to go under…

How We Are Destroying Our People

The Los Angeles Times wrote on December 8:

“Dino Ferraro texted friends from a concrete bench next to the Huntington Beach Pier on Monday as he tried to sort out his worries. He has mounting bills — more than $100,000 from back rent owed for his two restaurants… He spent thousands of dollars deep-cleaning and disinfecting both businesses, three times each in the past months, he said, along with complying ‘with every demand required.’ Now, like thousands of other restaurants in much of California, he began Monday with a new set of restrictions, including a suspension of outdoor dining, which had been a lifeline for his business…

“The timing of the state’s latest [stay-at-home] order is the newest blow, in a year full of them…   Ferraro, who grew up helping his mother make pizza and lasagna, says he is not just concerned about himself. He said he had 58 employees and that meant ‘58 families are getting fed — how can we think of layoffs?’”

The Washington Post wrote on December 7:

“Millions of Americans who lost their jobs during the pandemic have fallen thousands of dollars behind on rent and utility bills, a warning sign that people are running out of money for basic needs. Nearly 12 million renters will owe an average of $5,850 in back rent and utilities by January… Economists say the data underscores the deepening financial disaster for many families as the pandemic continues to [correctly: as governmental restrictions] shut off work opportunities…

“‘The tidal wave is coming. It’s going to be really horrible for people,’ said Charlie Harak, a senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center… Nashville mother Nikki Cornwell is $4,000 behind on rent and fears she will be evicted right after Christmas. Her water was shut off on Monday. Her landlord filed the paperwork already, and her court date is set for Jan. 5 — just after the federal eviction moratorium is set to expire…

“Economics warn low-income families won’t be able to suddenly pay back three to six months of rent at once… Shelbie Selewski is $2,100 behind on rent and utilities after losing her job as a medical receptionist in Macomb County, Mich. Her landlord has taped eviction papers to her door three times, and her electricity was shut off in September — on her son’s third day of virtual kindergarten. She begged friends and relatives for help to get the electricity back on, but bills are piling up again…”

A Matter of Survival

7 San Diego wrote on December 9:

“A day after new state shutdown orders went into effect, many small businesses are refusing to comply with the orders and are defiantly staying open for business… with customers expressing support for… defying the shutdown order… Meanwhile, the Escondido Police Department released a statement regarding enforcement… ‘Businesses that refuse to comply with the health orders are subject to citations, which may result in fines.  The county public health department has also been issuing cease-and-desist orders to businesses failing to comply throughout the county.’”

Shameful and appalling indeed.

Playground Closure Infuriates Parents

The Los Angeles Times Newsletter reported on December 10:

“L.A. County’s playground closures had infuriated and confounded many parents. Why, they asked, were outdoor playgrounds closed when indoor malls remained open and filled with shoppers? What made swing sets and monkey bars more dangerous than tennis courts, golf courses, beaches, skate parks and hiking trails, which all remained open? And after months of Zoom school and not seeing friends, hadn’t kids suffered enough?… Following outcry from parents and some legislators, the state has reversed course on closing playgrounds as part of its regional stay-at-home order. Los Angeles County — which had closed outdoor public playgrounds prior to the state’s order — will also follow the state’s lead and allow playgrounds to reopen.”

Violent Clashes in LA

The Los Angeles Times Newsletter wrote on December 6:

“The new order… will further pummel the California economy and many small businesses…  Los Angeles police clashed with protesters outside Mayor Eric Garcetti’s official residence on Sunday, leading to one arrest and a skirmish with baton-wielding officers that several elected officials later denounced as police brutality and a violation of demonstrators’ free speech rights.”

A foretaste of what is to come in the USA?

Germany’s Deceitful Restrictions

Reuters wrote on December 7:

“German leaders came out on Monday in favour of stricter measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus… Chancellor Angela Merkel told party colleagues that existing lockdown measures – with bars and restaurants closed and shops admitting limited numbers – were too little to get the virus under control…

“Markus Soeder, premier of the southern state of Bavaria… said he was certain regional and national leaders would agree tighter measures before Christmas. They had previously agreed not to revisit lockdown rules before Jan. 10…

“Meanwhile, some states are going further on their own initiative: Rhineland-Palatinate banned takeaway sales of mulled wine… From Wednesday, Bavaria will allow people to leave home only for essential reasons, while evening curfews are planned for hotspots with the highest infection rates.”

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 7:

“Germany has been under a partial lockdown since November 2 that was supposed to last one month. It was extended to January 10, following a meeting between Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of the 16 federal states…”

And while the German government keeps on lying to the German people, who are in many cases gullible enough to believe the lies and the “explanations” by power-hungry and well-fed governmental officials (what else is new?), millions of lives are being destroyed, and millions of euros are pouring into governmental suitcases from fines for violations of corona “restrictions.”

How to Destroy Opposing Views

Deutsche Welle reported on December 9:

“The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution in the German state of Baden-Württemberg on Wednesday declared that it will begin to surveil a Querdenker, or ‘lateral thinking,’ group opposed to coronavirus-related restrictions.  The state office responsible for domestic security, formally classified the group as an object of observation as the group has been ‘infiltrated by extremists.’… The ‘lateral thinking’ movement has been responsible for organizing some of the largest demonstrations against coronavirus restrictions, including a protest in Leipzig last month, which saw over 20,000 attendees.

“The founder of the group is Stuttgart-based entrepreneur Michael Ballweg… ‘We are a peaceful movement and not a political party,’ he told the dpa news agency…

“At a meeting of federal and state ministers on Thursday, politicians are set to focus on groups such as the Querdenker movement. According to the draft resolution, ministers will look at ‘the attempted influence on the formation of opinion in society through disinformation of foreign powers and through conspiracy theories used by extremists,’ as such views ‘could develop into a tendency toward radicalization and new extremism.’ The aim of the meeting is to figure out ways to combat the ‘negative effects and possible threats to the free democratic basic order – especially against the background of the current pandemic in connection with conspiracy theories.’”

Reuters added on December 9:

“‘Legitimate protest against coronavirus restrictions is increasingly making way for a general hate against state and politics,’ Baden-Wuerttemberg’s Interior Minister Thomas Strobl said, without specifying how many people were being observed. Strobl accused the movement of spreading false claims to incite hate against the state, making ‘absurd comparisons’ with the Nazis, and downplaying the Holocaust…

“‘Querdenken 711’ representatives… have in the past rejected accusations of extremism. Last month, police fired water cannon and pepper spray to scatter thousands of protesters in Berlin angry about coronavirus restrictions.”

Germany’s descent into a dictatorship is only too obvious.

Saudi Prince Attacks Israel

The Times of Israel wrote on December 6:

“A Saudi prince and former senior government official on Sunday launched a blistering attack against Israel, describing the Jewish state as a belligerent and apartheid-practicing occupier, and saying that peace will remain elusive until the creation of a Palestinian state along 1967 lines. ‘Israeli governments have arrested thousands of the inhabitants of the lands they are colonizing and incarcerated them in concentration camps under the flimsiest of security accusations — young and old, women and men who are rotting there without recourse or justice,’ said Turki al-Faisal al Saud, the former head of the kingdom’s intelligence service… ‘They’re demolishing homes as they wish, and they assassinate whomever they want to. And yet, the Israeli Knesset passed a law that defines the citizenship of Israel as exclusively Jewish, denying the non-Jewish inhabitants of Israel equal rights under the law. What kind of democracy is that?’ He also lamented Israel’s construction of the West Bank security barrier, which he called the ‘apartheid wall.’…

“Al-Faisal led Saudi intelligence for more than two decades and served as the kingdom’s ambassador to the United States and United Kingdom. Although he currently does not hold any official position, his stance is seen as closely mirroring that of King Salman. In contrast, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has signaled greater willingness to quietly engage with Israel to counter their common enemy, Iran, and boost foreign investment in the kingdom…

“Saudi Arabia has insisted that any normalization between it and Israel can only happen alongside a lasting peace deal involving a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict…”

This means, then, there will not be lasting peace between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

No Deal Most Likely

The Daily Mail wrote on December 10:

“Boris Johnson has warned there is now a ‘strong possibility’ of the UK and the EU parting ways on December 31 without a trade deal in place. The Prime Minister said this evening he is stepping up British preparations for a chaotic split from Brussels at the end of the ‘standstill’ post-Brexit transition period.”

The Sun added on December 10:

“No Deal is now the most likely outcome of Brexit trade talks as Brussels wants to keep the UK as its twin, Boris Johnson warned last night.”

Is the UK Threatening Europe with War?

Express wrote on December 7:

“Boris Johnson has sent a warning to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron after France threw the Brexit talks into chaos by hardening the EU’s fishing demands at the last minute. In response, Environment Secretary George Eustice announced that the capacity of the Royal Navy fisheries protection fleet has been increased to police British waters. He said that this increase will ‘stop EU boats coming in to fish’… in case an agreement is not reached with the EU.

“Mr Eustice said: ‘Yes, we have taken on two additional vessels to supplement the work that the Royal Navy do to increase capacity. It’s also the case the Navy have just put forward three new off-shore patrol vessels and have decided not to decommission the old ones at this point so there are some reserve capacity to draw on.’

“He said: ‘There are certain things we’ve been clear from the start that we cannot compromise on and that is our sovereignty as a nation, our ability to control our own laws, our ability to control access to our waters.’”

This could be a prelude for worse developments to come.

German DW Attacks the UK

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 6:

“Some things uttered by politicians are so stupid they leave you speechless… the British government seems awkwardly obsessed with the possibility of boasting about some sort of coronavirus vaccine success. For those unaware of what is actually going on: German scientists (of Turkish background) working at a German firm in cooperation with the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer developed the vaccine using a pioneering approach. Their research was financed from a number of sources, including the EU — and the UK had absolutely nothing to do with any of it.

“The whole incident seems quite childish and is perhaps best ignored. Still, it touched a nerve… The desire to leave the EU seems to have now given way to a new neurosis, one in which Brexiteers crown themselves with others’ laurels and constantly pound their chests in an attempt to sell the UK as a ‘global leader’ — no matter the topic. This type of propaganda tends to be rather embarrassing but seeking to instrumentalize the coronavirus pandemic is simply beyond the pale… The Stone Age nationalism born of Brexit has nothing to do with [cooperation with the EU].”

And so, there will be no cooperation between the EU and the UK on any given topic. The hostility between these two powers will increase.

Planned: Worldwide Censorship and Mind Control

Distributed News wrote on December 2:

“An all-powerful global government has already formed, and they have already made their plans public. They plan to use covid-19 lock downs and public health orders to strip people of their individual rights, to forfeit private property ownership, and to submit sovereign countries to a one world economy that is complete with heightened data collection and surveillance of human beings with vaccine passports and a wealth redistribution system that quashes the American dream and submits everyone to an ‘equitable’ future replete with controlled markets, a digital currency, and central bank economic controls. This will admittedly be accomplished through a sophisticated brainwashing initiative launched by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the United Nations (UN) and Big Tech…

“They openly admit they want to use governments, researchers, businesses and influencers to promote their communist system… Big Tech censorship, which accelerated over the past four years, is only the first part of the deception — a period of elimination — where free thought, free market ideas, independent journalism and scientific advancement are restricted. Any information that gets in their way will be labeled as ‘misinformation’ and will be mocked and blocked. The next phase of thought control will include overt manipulation, a coordinated attempt to convince people in influential positions to promote a new ‘sustainable’ world economy, where people have no privacy or consent in what is mandated regarding their body. The system they want everyone to accept will require bodily submission to the public health orthodoxy, coupled with a more invasive surveillance state.

“The UN and WEF have partnered to launch the #PledgetoPause initiative. UN communications director Melissa Fleming called the program ‘the first global behavior change campaign on misinformation.’ Multiple NGOs backed by George Soros and all the Big Tech companies are on board. The program has already weeded out and removed online content that challenges their agendas. Now their goal is to ‘mobilize experts and researchers, government, influencers, civil society, businesses, regulators and the media to block out any “wrong information” regarding covid-19 vaccines, lock downs, economic controls, masks, social distancing, gathering restrictions,’ etc. The initiative has already coordinated with a left-wing activist group called Purpose. This group strives to promote the LGBT movement and has recently launched attacks on Poland’s pro-family laws and culture, while eliminating any dissent through online censorship. The initiative has also partnered with Google and the Gates Foundation to eliminate any open discussion about vaccines, informed consent, individual rights, medical privacy, vaccine injury, etc.”

Of course, this world is already a prisoner and victim of mind control, brainwashing and censorship, due to the fact that Satan the Devil rules mankind. But if one needed any confirmation as to the veracity of Distributed News, then listen to the irresponsible attempts of “mediabiasfactcheck” to discredit them and other outlets:

“Overall, we rate Distributed News an extreme right biased Tin-Foil Hat Conspiracy website that also publishes pseudoscience. This source is associated with Natural News, which is one of the most discredited sources on the internet.”

“Discredited,” because Natural News is highly critical of the so-called “accepted”” science by Dr. Fauci and others regarding governmental restrictions and “safe” and “harmless” vaccinations! Distributed News also published quite a few articles regarding voter fraud and irregularities during the Presidential election, which have all been verified or collaborated, as far as we can tell, by other sources. Not everything which the above-quoted article alleges might be provable, but there is enough there to raise much more than just a few eyebrows.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

In the previous parts of this series, we discussed many concepts taught by the Roman Catholic church, related to their doctrine of indulgences. We saw that indulgences are required, according to Catholic tradition and theology, to ensure that help and assistance is given in Purgatory (a place that doesn’t exist and has no validity from Scripture), so that humans can go to Heaven (which Scripture clearly shows is not the place for the dead, nor is Hell, as commonly understood in orthodox Christianity!)  We also pointed out that the idea of indulgences applies in different ways: It addresses those who are in “Purgatory” and for whom prayers and “indulgences” are given by the living or the “saints in Heaven”, so that they can be freed from Purgatory; and it can apply to people in this life who give indulgences (for themselves and others) so that they do not have to suffer in Purgatory (or Hell) for as long as they otherwise would have to.

We also discussed the concept of partial indulgences (removing part of the “temporal” punishment due to sin), and of plenary indulgences (removing all temporal punishment due to sin).

Let us look at a further explanation in the following Catholic website: https://douglasbeaumont.com/2019/04/01/indulgences-explained/

“Indulgences are not ‘Get Out of Hell Free’ cards, nor can one gain enough indulgences to earn entrance to Heaven. Rather, indulgences have to do with avoiding the sufferings of Purgatory for temporal sins prior to entering Heaven. Scripture supports the theology of indulgences in seed form, even though (like many doctrines) it is not stated as such. Finally, the Church has clarified the requirements for – and rewards of – indulgences throughout its history and tradition. By understanding this teaching more clearly, the animosity generated by 500 year-old misunderstandings can be avoided.”

In this short summary, we can glean the following information:

Entrance to Heaven, as we have proved, is not the reward of the saved. As Purgatory is a false supposition, avoiding the sufferings there “for temporal sins prior to entering Heaven” is a non-starter. Scripture does NOT support any theology of indulgences in any form. The requirements and rewards of indulgences are a figment of man’s imagination with no Scriptural basis whatsoever. As this teaching is not supported by Scripture, any “misunderstandings” are just not applicable.

For those dead and in Purgatory, as is believed,  it reduces the time spent there before entering Heaven. As we have proved previously, neither Purgatory nor people going to Heaven are biblical concepts, but as Catholics believe in these, they believe that they can pray for the dead and have an effect on the time they will spend in Purgatory.

A vital part of understanding is that an indulgence, if it was true (which it is not), would also negate for those alive, the sowing and reaping principle which we have already reviewed but is worth reiterating: We read in Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” In such circumstances, how would we ever learn lessons that God has in store for us?

Let us review the example of king David when considering the false concept of indulgences for the living. David became guilty of a terrible crime by committing adultery with Bathsheba and then having her husband, Uriah, killed. We can learn about this in 2 Samuel 12 where we read the story given by Nathan the prophet and king David’s confession (verses 13-14). There were consequences to David’s action and the child died.  The sowing and reaping principle was shown to be in action very quickly.  Cause and effect cannot be negated just because someone undertakes some action. Had the child lived, it could have been misconstrued that it was perfectly fine to commit such an appalling action with no consequences, as David was the king and a man after God’s own heart, and that God condoned such outrageous behaviour. Of course, God did not, and the reaping and sowing principle remained intact and is still applicable today in spite of Catholic indulgences giving a different and wrong impression of what can happen. In fact, David was punished further in that he would have wars until the end of his life, and in that he was humiliated publicly by the actions of his rebellious son Absalom who slept with David’s concubines in plain sight of the people.

We read in Leviticus 26 the promise of blessing and retribution, and in Deuteronomy 28, blessings on obedience and curses on disobedience are listed, showing that blessings would be given for living God’s Way, and curses for actions if they were disobedient. There is no hint that indulgences, or anything similar, would negate any wrong behaviour by the children of Israel. It was cause and effect; it was sowing and reaping. As we explained, sincere repentance of a person or a nation can avoid punishment and can lead to God’s supernatural intervention to diminish or abolish a certain effect, but “indulgences”—prayers for one’s self or others without any true repentance—cannot do that. And even with true repentance, some effects will still take place, as we saw in the case of David who truly repented and was sorry for his crimes, but they were so egregious that God would not abolish the effects and the punishment. No amount of indulgences could have changed that. Another example is Moses who sinned against God by dishonouring Him before the people, and God told him that because of that, Moses would not be able to enter the Promised Land. Moses pleaded repeatedly with God for a change of His mind, but God did not abolish the punishment.

In 1 Corinthians 10 we read about Old Testament examples showing that we are not to follow that wrong way and that “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (verse 11).  Ecclesiastes 8:11 advises: “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” Some may be encouraged to sin if they see others doing wrong if they feel that there will no punishment for the evil committed. Without question, sowing and reaping is a principle that is fully operational and indulgences to mitigate their effect are unbiblical and unworkable.

There is no Scriptural evidence about indulgences being available or that someone, in this case, the Pope, could make them available as and when he thinks it is appropriate. It is all founded on a lie and, unfortunately, so many are “taken in” by such pronouncements.

As you will recall, this series of Q&As came as a result of the following quote from one of our Updates:

“Pope Francis invited everyone to receive the ‘Pardon of Assisi’, which can be obtained from the evening of 1 August until midnight on 2 August… ‘It is a plenary indulgence that may be received by partaking of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist and visiting a parish or Franciscan church, reciting the Creed, the Lord’s prayer and praying for the Pope and his intentions,’ the Pope pointed out. He recalled that the indulgence can even be obtained for a deceased person…

“The ‘Pardon of Assisi’ dates back to 1216, when Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and angels appeared before St. Francis. The apparition took place in the tiny Portiuncula, the chapel Francis had built in the Italian town of Assisi. When Jesus asked him [what] he desired for the salvation of souls, St. Francis asked for God to grant a plenary indulgence for all those who enter the chapel. The indulgence was later extended to anyone who visits a parish or Franciscan church on 1 August or 2 August.”

Our comment was: “This is so blasphemous and idolatrous”.

We have endeavoured to cover the original question with other inter-related doctrines and beliefs. We know that at the end of this current age, a great false church will exercise much power.

We have shown in this series that we don’t have an immortal soul; that the soul is the person; that the spirit in man goes back to God at death but that it does not have any consciousness when the person dies; that people don’t go to Purgatory, Heaven or Hell when they die; and that indulgences are simply a plan concocted in the mind of man under Satanic influence.

Further, “Catholic Answers” opines as follows:

“Catholics… recognize that the true ‘rule of faith’—as expressed in the Bible itself—is Scripture plus apostolic tradition, as manifested in the living teaching authority of the Catholic Church, to which were entrusted the oral teachings of Jesus and the apostles, along with the authority to interpret Scripture correctly.’  We read in https://amazingdiscoveries.org/ : ‘The fact that Scripture and Tradition belong together accounts for two rules that direct the way the Church approaches God’s revelation. The first of these rules is stated very simply by Vatican II in these words: It follows from what has been said that the Church does not draw its knowledge of all that God has revealed from holy Scripture alone. That is why both (Tradition and Scripture) must be accepted and respected with equal affection and honour. Secondly, the unbreakable bond between Scripture and Tradition accounts for the fact that for Catholics, Tradition is the context within which the Scriptures are interpreted, just as Tradition itself has to be understood and lived with reference to Scripture.”

This further shows they believe that “Tradition” is on a par with the Bible which is ridiculous, but such an approach certainly enables them to inculcate into their religious system non-biblical beliefs.

In the last Q&A, we quoted Christ’s condemnation that we worship Him in vain when we teach traditions and as doctrines the commandments or concepts of men (Matthew 15:9; Mark 7:9), while at the same time rejecting God’s Word and His commandments.

Let us finish this series quoting from our booklet “Is That in the Bible? The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation”. In chapter 20, “The Fall of Babylon the Great – Revelation 18,” we state:

“While in Revelation 17 the religious nature of the last resurrection of the Roman Empire is vividly depicted, Revelation 18 focuses more, but not exclusively, on the economic nature of that last resurrection.

“Let us quote again these interesting comments by the Ryrie Study Bible, in their annotation to Revelation 17:5: ‘In chapter 17 Babylon represents the false religious system that will center in Rome… In chapter 18 it represents more the political and commercial aspect of the revived Roman Empire…Thus the term stands both for a city and for a system (religious and commercial) related to the city (much like “Wall Street,” which is both a place and a system).’…

“God warns His people not to participate in this Babylonian system, by accepting the mark of the beast and becoming RICH thereby (compare Revelation 18:3–4…) Its merchandise even included ‘the bodies and souls of men’ (Revelation 18:13). Also in it, the blood of the saints was found (Revelation 18:24), and through its false teachings and sorcery all the nations were deceived (Revelation 18:3, 23).

“Lehman Strauss comments on modern Babylon’s wealth and religious persecution, as follows: ‘The wealth of the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant denominations combined adds up to many billions of dollars (p. 298)… The unscriptural doctrines of purgatory, the last rites, and masses for the dead have brought untold wealth into the treasury (p. 310)… Sir Robert Anderson, of Scotland Yard fame, estimated that Rome was guilty of the death of 50,000,000 Christians (p. 299)… She will be judged because of the untold number of victims whom she slaughtered in the inquisition and in St. Bartholomew’s Massacre. She must pay for those shocking murders and for the many bloody persecutions which followed (p. 314)’ [and which still will occur in the near future].

“God will destroy the modern city of Babylon (Revelation 18:10, 16, 18, 19, 21) ‘in one day’ and ‘in one hour’ (Revelation 18:8, 10, 17). God will totally wipe out that city, as well as the religious, economic, political and military system it represents, to become a habitation and prison for demons (Revelation 18:2).

“The warning and the lesson for God’s people is very clear: ‘Come out of her, My people,’ God says. Have nothing to do with her. Be and stay separate, and don’t touch what is unclean. Don’t participate in other men’s sins. There are always some who think that they need to remain within an apostate religious system and perhaps try to ‘reform’ it. It never works—and it is against God’s specific instructions!

“We will observe, very shortly, the final revival of the ancient Roman Empire in Europe. A most powerful world-ruling Empire will emerge, attempting to impose its religious and military ‘values’ on everybody. As we know these things, we ought to take very seriously Christ’s warning in Luke 21:34–36: ‘But TAKE HEED to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to ESCAPE all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man [at His return].’”

It will serve as a fitting conclusion to repeat what we said at the very beginning of this series, namely:

This series on indulgences and underlying concepts is focusing on just one example to show how incredibly unbiblical certain Roman Catholic teachings are. It is so sad that millions upon millions of people believe these ideas without even realizing the absolute absurdity contained in them. Very soon, the Roman Catholic Church, which is described in the Book of Revelation as a fallen church which has rejected God’s Truth, will impose the “mark of the beast” on people readily willing to accept it. This will be the culmination of satanic blasphemy. Protestants have for a long time identified the Catholic Church as the “Babylon” of the book of Revelation, without fully realizing that they are thereby including themselves in that description, as the fallen church is depicted as the “mother church” which has “daughter churches” or “harlot daughters.”

We have much more information on that famous mark of the beast. If you are interested, please read our free booklets, “Europe on Prophecy,” “Is That in the Bible? The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation”; “The Ten European Revivals of the Ancient Roman Empire,” and “Obeying God Rather Than Men.”

The purpose of this series has been to speak out for the Truth. We are not fighting against flesh and blood or any human organization, but against Satan, the god of this world and the prince of the power of the air, who has found an easy target in Roman Catholic and Protestant concepts which are really nothing else but pagan ideas which have been given a “Christian” mantle.

Satan has deceived the whole world, which does not know that it is deceived—for otherwise, it would not be deceived anymore. But God has opened your eyes and ears if you have read this series with understanding. Then, God expects your response in turning to Him with your whole heart and embracing His Word, while leaving behind the false ideas, concepts, doctrines and traditions of men.

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

compiled by Dave Harris

A new Member Letter (December 2020) has been written and posted with copies being sent to those on our mailing list. In this letter, Pastor Brian Gale points to the quest for power by so many in society, but notes that many have corrupted and abused power once it is attained. In addition, he draws a contrast to the spiritual power the people of God will receive in the Kingdom of God.

Should You Get Vaccinated Against Coronavirus?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

This must be your decision, based on your individual circumstances and conviction. But your decision should require proper investigation, inquiry and knowledge; it should be an informed decision and not just based on emotion. This program will discuss much of what has been reported about the vaccines and their morality, safety and side effects… and again, you must ascertain for yourself, as best as you can, as to whether those reports are factual or not.

“Muss sich ein Christ alles gefallen lassen?” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “Does a Christian Have to Put Up with Everything?”

“Sodom und Gomorra,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath in Germany by Manuel Mueller, is now posted. Title in English: “Sodom and Gomorrah.”

“America in Crisis—Voter Fraud, Lockdowns and Harmful Vaccinations,” the first message presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The evidence of voter fraud in the last Presidential election is mounting, while the mass media is unwilling to admit this fact, thereby “damaging trust in America’s democracy.” Lockdowns are on the rise again, even though it has been claimed that they do not work… and that they destroy the physical and spiritual wellbeing of many thousands of people. The new COVID-19 vaccines will produce side-effects which some medical experts declare as being normal, while others call the vaccines a crime against humanity, as they will allegedly cause genetic defects, due to genetic manipulation.  We are also speaking about the assassination of Iran’s leading scientist and discuss why this happened now… and who might have been behind it.

“That Which is Certain,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Michael Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

In these times of uncertainty, it is difficult to predict what exactly will occur and how much time we in fact have left.  However, God is very clear about what He promises and what will certainly come to pass in the near future, which is why it is vital that we remain close to God.

On December 5, 2020, Norbert Link will present “Comments on News and Prophecy (December 5, 2020),” and Mike Link will present the sermon, titled, “That Which is Certain.”

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 past months, half of the U.S. population has earnestly proclaimed the need for political change of the current administration.  In the previous election, this same sentiment drove the population to elect our current president.  Previous to that, President Obama based his campaign on “Change”.

This sentiment is nothing new in the ushering in of new administrations and is the foundation used to create that change.  What is noteworthy, especially in recent elections, is the impassioned desire of people to create these changes.  An amazing amount of money and time is spent in these endeavors, and for the party that loses an election, those resources are seemingly squandered.

In the bigger picture that God’s elect understand, we know that the world’s political infighting is all dross. But seeing the fervent desire of so many for temporary and unattained change should prompt us to question our passion for lasting change.

In so much darkness, it’s not always evident if our lights have dimmed.  Our zeal for the lasting change that only God can bring about can grow into an attitude of complacency.  We adhere to the law and look to our future with God but without zeal.  This attitude is prophesied for our generation.  Christ warns that we can become “wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked…” and He says to those with that attitude to “…be zealous and repent” (Revelation 3:18, 19).

The Church has always fought against this attitude, but this mindset is even more encompassing in these end times.  Without question, the world will drag us down with its Satanically inspired doctrines and erroneous passions. Keeping our lights bright takes enthusiasm, not just adherence, to God’s principles.

Paul encouraged the Church at Corinth to fight this same battle.  “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

We will be beaten down (mentally and possibly even physically) for our love of the Truth.  All of those of The Way experience hatred from the world.  Remember Peter and those apostles with him, after being jailed and released, were “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.”  They didn’t cower and hide the Truth but instead “…did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:41-42).  Change is going to happen because God’s Plan for mankind is real.  Let’s keep that hunger for life everlasting always before our eyes.

by Norbert Link

We begin with further developments on the hotly-contested US election, due to alleged voter fraud and appalling “manipulations” and “irregularities.”

We continue with the assassination of a top scientist in Iran; the speculations as to who was responsible for the killing; and the potential consequences for the Middle East.

We also address the opposition to and the physically and spiritually damaging consequences of lockdowns; the unreliability of coronavirus tests; and the polarization of mask-wearing and other alleged “means” of combating the coronavirus; as well as a new vaccine against the pandemic.

Regarding our articles on voter fraud and the coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions, please watch our recent presentation, titled, “Expose the Many Lies to My People!”

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

Trump Speaks Out

Fox News reported on November 29:

“President Trump blasted judges’ rejections of his legal challenges to 2020 election results… ‘We’re not allowed to put in our proof. They say you don’t have standing… I would like to file one nice big beautiful lawsuit, talking about this and many other things, with tremendous proof. We have affidavits, we have hundreds and hundreds of affidavits… You mean as president of the United States, I don’t have standing? What kind of a court system is this?’…

“Trump said the Supreme Court needs to be ‘willing to make a real big decision… The problem is, it’s hard to get into the Supreme Court’… ‘We’re trying to put the evidence in, and the judges won’t allow us to do it… My mind will not change in six months. There was tremendous cheating here’…”

He also said that the FBI and the Department of Justice were “missing in action” on claims of massive fraud in the 2020 election.

CNN and other left-wing outlets condemned Trump’s remarks right away, spinning their false narrative that his allegations are baseless and without evidence.

Daily Mail added on December 2:

“President Donald Trump released a… 46-minute video that he posted on Facebook where he called for the election to be ‘overturned’ and admitted his remarks would be ‘disparaged.’…

“At one point, he held up a chart purporting to show a scheme to steal an election… He made repeated claims of fraud, dead people voting, mysterious anomalies in voting machines, and alleged corruption in big cities with Democratic votes that went for Joe Biden…

“He pointed to ‘unexpected success all over the country and right here in Washington,’ saying: ‘It is statistically impossible that the person – me – that led the charge lost. The greatest pollsters… that are fair and honest, [he] said “We can’t understand a thing like this…’

“Trump… called the election a ‘total catastrophe’ and said the results couldn’t be trusted. He complained about ‘machinery that was stopped during certain parts of the evening miraculously to open with more votes.’ ‘Many people in the media and even judges so far have refused to accept it. They know it’s true… But they refuse to say: you’re right. Our country needs somebody to say you’re right,’ he said…

“’Maybe you’ll have a revote, but I don’t think that’s appropriate. When those votes are corrupt, when they’re irregular, when they get caught, they’re terminated, and I very easily win,’ Trump said. Earlier Wednesday, former Trump national security advisor Mike Flynn blasted out an article that called on Trump to declare martial law and have the military oversee a revote.”

In the article, Flynn wrote, according to the Daily Mail:

“When the legislators, courts and/or Congress fail to do their duty under the 12th Amendment, you must be ready Mr. President to immediately declare a limited form of Martial Law, and temporarily suspend the Constitution and civilian control of these federal elections, for the sole purpose of having the military oversee a national re-vote… You must also act, like Lincoln did, to silence the destructive media’s one-sided propaganda designed and proven to influence the election outcome, and end the unlawful censorship of Big Tech, to restore the confidence of the American People in our electoral process or we cannot continue as a nation. Failure to do so could result in massive violence and destruction on a level not seen since the Civil War. Limited Martial Law is clearly a better option than Civil War!‘”

Are we coming to this?

What’s Going on in Georgia?

“Fox News wrote on November 30:

“President Trump called on Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to override Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on matching signatures during the state’s recount, in a tweet Monday. Raffensperger has said that matching the signature on the outer envelope to the absentee ballot on the inside is impossible, because the ballots are separated from the envelopes when they are opened to protect voter privacy. The Trump campaign, which formally asked for a recount Nov. 22, says that ‘without signature-matching, this recount would be a sham and again allow for illegal votes to be counted.’… ‘Why won’t Governor [Kemp] use his emergency powers, which can be easily done, to overrule his obstinate Secretary of State, and do a match of signatures on envelopes,’ Trump tweeted Monday…

“Georgia Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, two Republicans involved in runoff races, have backed the president’s signature-matching demands and called for Raffensperger’s resignation. But emergency rules that were adopted ahead of the presidential election explicitly require… that ballots be separated from their envelopes so they cannot possibly be joined back together…”

Fishy!

Iran and China Behind the Voter Fraud?

Newsmax reported on November 27:

“An analysis by a onetime military intelligence analyst whose name was redacted in an affidavit with lawyer attorney Sidney Powell’s lawsuit against Michigan officials insists there’s ‘unambiguous evidence’ that Dominion Voter Systems servers were accessible to and were ‘compromised by rogue actors, such as Iran and China.’ … a separate complaint in Georgia expands on the assertion…

“The analyst, who allegedly claimed to have ‘extensive experience as a white hat hacker used by some of the top election specialists in the world,’ said that they scanned Dominion network nodes and found a number of interrelationships with foreign entities, including access to Dominion’s server by a network from Hunan, China. Another review is said to have confirmed links to an Iranian IP address. The analyst said the findings represent a ‘complete failure’ on the part of Dominion to provide ‘basic cyber security.’”

Brazil Does Not Recognize Biden Victory

The Associated Press wrote on November 29:

“Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro… said Sunday he’ll wait a little longer before recognizing the U.S. election victory of Joe Biden…

“‘I have my sources of information that there really was a lot of fraud there,’ he said. ‘Nobody talks about that. If it was enough to define (victory) for one or the other, I don’t know.’”

Why is it, then, that the left-wing mainstream media totally denies that there was or could have been fraud? The answer should be self-evident.

Newt Gingrich: Democrats Stole the Election—Biggest Presidential Theft since 1824

Newsmax wrote on November 26:

“Election officials in Democratic strongholds of Pennsylvania ‘exceeded their authority in order to give voters preferential treatment,’ but their work was sloppy and lazy and the courts ‘’need to stop them from destroying more evidence,’’ former House Speaker Newt Gingrich writes in a column for The Epoch Times.  Gingrich… said officials in certain counties used ‘a variety of illegal practices that were used to inflate the number of votes received by Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden, including disparate treatment of voters based on where they live and outright manipulation of Pennsylvania’s voter registration system by partisan activities.’

“‘Specifically, election workers illegally “pre-canvassed” mail-in ballots to determine whether they were missing a secrecy envelope or failed to include necessary information,’ writes Gingrich. ‘When ballots were found to be flawed, voters were given an opportunity to correct, or “cure,” their ballots to make sure they counted. In at least some cases, Democrat Party officials were even given lists of voters to contact about curing their ballots.’

“Gingrich said Democrat Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar, specifically, issued guidance authorizing the illegal practices ‘despite lacking the statutory authority to do so.’”

Breitbart added on November 28:

“‘The more data comes out on vote anomalies that clearly are not legitimate the more it looks like 2020 may be the biggest Presidential theft since Adams and Clay robbed Andrew Jackson in 1824,’ the former House speaker said… Gingrich encouraged Republican state legislators to read an analysis from Patrick Basham, founding Director of the Democracy Institute and senior fellow of the Cato Institute. Basham lists ten ‘peculiarities’ which he believes lack ‘compelling explanations,’ including swing states halting their ballot counts on election night and removing observers, statistically abnormal vote counts, and ‘historically low absentee ballot rejection rates.’

“Basham makes clear the election was almost certainly stolen in 5 states. Every American should be worried by the theft,” he added…”

He also stated the following in a roundtable discussion, according to Newsmax, dated November 29:

“Not only do you have crooked politicians running crooked elections, but you have crooked . . . Internet companies deliberately censoring and biasing… I never thought it would be this corrupt… [The prospective Biden administration] may be the most corrupt administration since Harding in 1921… The Hunter Biden stuff is real… The amount of money coming out of China, Russia and Ukraine is real. The degree to which all of that has been covered up is real. I think all of us have to recognize how serious a problem this is.”

What a politically-corrupt country the USA has become!

How the Mainstream Press Damages Trust in America’s Democracy

The Future of Freedom Foundation wrote on December 2:

“While President Trump continues to maintain that the presidential election was marred by massive fraud, the mainstream press continues to maintain that Trump’s charges are ‘false’ and ‘baseless’ and that his allegations are damaging trust in America’s democratic electoral system. Actually, however, it’s the other way around: It’s the mainstream press, owing to its extreme deferential attitude toward the Washington, D.C., establishment, that has severely damaged trust in America’s democratic system…

“The problem with the mainstream press in the Trump-Biden race is the speed by which it concluded that the 2020 presidential election was not marred by fraud. It reached its conclusion before the election was even over… the mainstream press reached its conclusions immediately and never conducted any independent investigation…

“That’s where the mainstream press has failed America and has severely damaged America’s democratic system. It has essentially become a loyal lapdog of the Washington, D.C., establishment, never daring to challenge it, question, or investigate it at a fundamental level. That’s why people don’t trust the mainstream press. That’s one big reason why mainstream papers have lost massive numbers of subscribers.

“… when there are extreme anomalies with respect to votes, as there have been in the Trump-Biden race, it is incumbent on an independent press to severely scrutinize them. Extreme anomalies, of course, don’t equate to fraud but they do equate — or should equate — to the need for extremely careful scrutiny to ensure that there is no fraud…

“Of course, the passive and deferential nature of the mainstream press has been going on for much longer than the 2020 presidential race. One of the best examples is the Kennedy assassination. From the time Kennedy was declared dead, the mainstream press has always automatically accepted the official version of events of the national-security establishment, never daring to conduct independent investigations into whether that version was false and baseless…

“Many years ago, the American people discovered the existence of Operation Mockingbird, a secret illegal operation of the CIA to convert journalists in the mainstream press into CIA assets and operatives. Mainstream journalists who were asked to serve loved it and considered it a great honor to secretly serve the national-security establishment.

“… the entire mainstream press has willingly made itself a de facto asset of the national-security state. The American people have been left without an independent mainstream press whose mission is to keep the government honest… In the process, the mainstream press has done a tremendous disservice to the American people and to America’s democratic processes by abdicating its responsibility to be a watchdog, not a lapdog, to the Washington, D.C., establishment.”

Why this Election Must Be Investigated

MSES.ORG wrote on November 27:

“There’s at least one good reason to support Donald Trump’s ongoing lawsuits challenging the election results in several states: the US foreign policy establishment doesn’t want you to. As Newsweek reported last week, ‘A group of more than 100 national security experts’ from Republican administrations have condemned the president’s challenges to some states’ vote-counting process. These ‘experts’ are claiming these legal efforts ‘undermine democracy’ and ‘risk long-term damage’ to the nation’s institutions…

“More reasonable people… should see the value and necessity of a slow, thorough, and public legal examination of the election. Regardless of how one feels about Donald Trump, anyone who values fair play, honesty, and the votes of legal voters should want thorough audits and investigations… After all, whenever political power is at stake, there is no reason whatsoever to assume honesty and integrity are guiding the actions of all involved.

“Fraud occurs with every election, of course. Anyone who claims any election contains no fraud lives in a fantasy land, or is lying. Voter fraud exists anywhere that votes are cast. Anecdotes of fraud in this election are plentiful… The question is whether or not this sort of thing is widespread enough to change the outcome. In a number of lawsuits, the Trump campaign has suggested that it has been widespread…

In this Satanically-ruled world of lies and deceits, we might never find out the full Truth as to what has happened. 

Barr Sees no Evidence???

CNN wrote on December 2:

“William Barr has been somewhat of a hero in the right-wing media universe… But his celebrity status took a hit on Tuesday when he undercut President Trump’s… contention that there was massive voter fraud in the 2020 election. Speaking to the Associated Press, Barr said that, ‘to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.’…

“Fox Business host Lou Dobbs… attacked Barr in brutal terms on his show. ‘For the attorney general of the United States to make that statement — he is either a liar or a fool or both,’ Dobbs said. Dobbs then went further, suggesting Barr was ‘perhaps compromised.’ He characterized Barr as having ‘appeared to join in with the radical Dems and the deep-state and the resistance.’

“Newsmax host Greg Kelly… went after Barr on his show. ‘Some of us are wondering if he is a warrior with the Constitution or if he’s just a bureaucrat,’ Kelly said. Kelly added that he ‘can’t believe’ if Barr ‘looked for voter fraud he wouldn’t find any.’ And Mark Levin said he ‘regret[ted] to say’ that Barr’s comments were ‘misleading.’…

“The Gateway Pundit, a fringe website which Trump has repeatedly promoted, published a post that said Barr had revealed himself as ‘totally deaf, dumb and blind.’… It concluded, ‘…  Our days of tolerating betrayal are over.’”

 A DOJ spokesperson said in a subsequent statement: “Some media outlets have incorrectly reported that the Department has concluded its investigation of election fraud and announced an affirmative finding of no fraud in the election. That is not what… the Attorney General stated. The Department will continue to receive and vigorously pursue all specific and credible allegations of fraud as expeditiously as possible.”

Breitbart added on December 2:

“The Trump Legal Team, led by Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, said…”

“’With all due respect to the Attorney General, there hasn’t been any semblance of a Department of Justice investigation. We have gathered ample evidence of illegal voting in at least six states, which they have not examined. We have many witnesses swearing under oath they saw crimes being committed in connection with voter fraud. As far as we know, not a single one has been interviewed by the DOJ. The Justice Department also hasn’t audited any voting machines or used their subpoena powers to determine the truth.’

“They added they would ‘continue our pursuit of the truth through the judicial system and state legislatures, and continue toward the Constitution’s mandate and ensuring that every legal vote is counted and every illegal vote is not.’ ‘Again, with the greatest respect to the Attorney General, his opinion appears to be without any knowledge or investigation of the substantial irregularities and evidence of systemic fraud,’ Giuliani and Ellis said.”

In light of the seemingly overwhelming evidence of voter fraud and voter “irregularities,” Barr’s remarks are really astounding.

Iranian Scientist “Assassinated”

Fox News wrote on November 27:

“An Iranian scientist dubbed the leader of Tehran’s military nuclear program [Mohsen Fakhrizadeh] until it was ended in the early 2000s was… killed on Friday… Fakhrizadeh led Iran’s so-called ‘Amad,’ or ‘Hope,’ program, which Israel and the West described as a military operation to build a nuke… Fakhrizadeh’s death will be another major blow to the Tehran regime, which has struggled amid ‘maximum pressure’ from the Trump administration and saw the U.S. leave the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and impose waves of sanctions on the Islamic dictatorship.

“Last year, the U.S. took out Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in a strike in what the Trump administration described as an act of self-defense against an ‘imminent’ attack. Axios reported this week that Israel Defense Forces have been preparing for the possibility that the U.S. military will strike Iran during the last two months of President Trump’s time in office. It comes a week after the New York Times reported that Trump asked senior advisers about his options to strike Iran’s main nuclear site after international inspectors reported details about a significant increase in… Iran’s stockpile of nuclear material. “

“Iran’s foreign [minister] Javad Zarif… blamed Israel for the attack, writing on Twitter: “Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today. This cowardice—with serious indications of Israeli role—shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators. Iran calls on int’l community—and especially EU—to end their shameful double standards & condemn this act of state terror.”

Israel and USA Responsible?

The Jerusalem Post added on November 27:

“Two years after Israeli PM Netanyahu first named Mohsen Fakhrizadeh as the father of Iran’s nuclear project, he’s been assassinated near Tehran… Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned in 2018 of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who many referred to as the ‘father’ of Iran’s nuclear weapons project. But over the course of two years, no one remembered that name…

“Netanyahu made the comment when he divulged that Israel had obtained 100,000 files from Iran’s secret nuclear archives. He said that Fakhrizadeh, a brigadier general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and a professor of physics at the Guard’s Imam Hussein University, played a central role in the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program… Fakhirzadeh returned to drive Iran’s nuclear program, Project Amad, specifically to develop nuclear warheads for the multitudes of ballistic missiles the Islamic republic already possesses… in 2013 Fakhrizadeh had attended a North Korean nuclear weapons test. The New York Times in 2014 compared him to Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the American nuclear bomb…

“Several Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated over the years, but Fakhrizadeh was by far the most important nuclear scientist to be assassinated to date. He was so important that it was not until Netanyahu showed his picture, there were no photographs available of him and Iranian authorities even denied numerous requests from the Atomic Energy Agency to interview him. It was an effort by Iran to protect him from assassins, a sort of protective shield around him. Until today…

“Senior Israeli officials have met with their American counterparts several times in recent weeks, with the two sides… discussing the threat posed by Iran… Israel has warned repeatedly about Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and has pledged to never allow it to obtain such weapons which can threaten the Jewish State. Israel considers Iran’s nuclear program as the number one concern…

“Over the summer, shortly after the opening of the Strategy and Third-Circle Directorate, Iran was hit by a number of mysterious blasts-specifically sites connected to the country’s missile and nuclear project… His death is also a major signal that Israel and the United States will not give up on preventing the country from obtaining such weaponry. The message is clear: Remember, no nuclear scientist is safe.”

Newsmax added on November 27:

“Iran said Israel and the U.S. were likely behind the assassination… and vowed revenge, sharply escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf…”

Express wrote on November 27:

“The apparent assassination [of] a scientist believed to be masterminding Iran’s push to build nuclear weapons has triggered a furious reaction from Tehran, with a senior military chief pointing the finger at Israel and warning of ‘full-blown war’… Iran swiftly… suggested [Israel] had acted with the blessing of US President Donald Trump. Irrespective of who was behind the attack, it is guaranteed to escalate already raised tensions between Tehran and Washington…”

Fox News reported on November 28:

“The European Union has strongly condemned the killing of a top Iranian nuclear scientist, calling it a ‘criminal act.’

Not surprisingly, so have the United Kingdom, Turkey, some Arab States and the UN (compare Times of Israel, November 29).

Going out with a Bang?

The Guardian wrote on November 28:

“The assassination of the country’s top nuclear expert raises fears that the outgoing US president is determined to take further action… Speculation that Trump might soon initiate or support some kind of attack on Iran, overt or covert, kinetic or cyber, had swirled across the Middle East in the wake of last weekend’s unprecedented meeting in Saudi Arabia between Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, and the Saudi crown prince…  What the three men discussed remains a closely guarded secret, a fact that has only served to encourage conspiracy claims. In the absence of an official statement, it’s suggested they may have agreed to intensify efforts to provoke and weaken the Tehran regime. Any ensuing retaliation by Iran might then potentially be used to justify an attack on its nuclear facilities…

“Iran’s leaders have little doubt that Israel, with a probable green light from Washington, was behind the assassination… Was the assassination a one-off designed to damage Iran’s nuclear programme? Or could all this be a prelude to something more strategically explosive as Trump strives to secure his wished-for legacy as scourge of Iran and saviour of Israel?…

“It’s a fateful moment for the entire Middle East… Trump… may be tempted to go out with a bang.”

Why the Assassination NOW?

 The Washington Post wrote on November 30:

“Commentators… have moved on to asking what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hoped to achieve. Did he seek to draw Tehran into a military response that would, in turn, justify an American assault on Iran’s nuclear program in the waning weeks of the Trump administration? To spoil conditions for the diplomatic reset that President-elect Joe Biden is expected to seek with Iran? Or did Netanyahu simply seize an opportunity to take out Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the brains of Iran’s nuclear program who topped Israel’s target list, in hopes that Iran would show restraint in its response, as it has since the attack?

“Each theory — or combination of them — has its proponents among Israel’s national security veterans and analysts… Netanyahu is wary of Biden’s promise to offer Iran ‘a diplomatic path’ back to compliance and, by some accounts, he is pushing Trump to strike a decisive blow against Iran’s nuclear program…

“The sophistication of the assassination, which has been attributed variously to a squad of hit men, car bomb and satellite controlled superweapon, was of the type that takes months of planning. If an opportunity arose to pull the trigger, Netanyahu may have given the okay despite the tensions of the moment, not in an effort to ramp them up.

“Israel is bracing for a counterattack in any case. Its embassies are on alert. The Israeli Defense Ministry is coordinating with the United Arab Emirates in the expectation that thousands of Israeli tourists about to descend on Dubai and Abu Dhabi — following the signing of the Israeli-UAE peace accords — are potential targets for an Iranian attack, according to Israel’s Channel 12 News… As Iran buries its slain nuclear scientist, leaders vow revenge and no negotiations with the West.”

Interesting scenarios. They all point to more turmoil in the Middle East.

Iran Wants to Play Hardball

 JTA wrote on December 2:

 “Iran’s parliament passed a law on Wednesday aimed at pressuring President-elect Joe Biden to reenter the Iran nuclear deal almost as soon as he assumes office.

“The bill gives the United States until early February to lift sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump after abandoning the 2015 agreement more than two years ago. Otherwise, Iran will ban entry to international nuclear inspectors and increase uranium enrichment to a level closer to weapons-ready…

“The law, passed by the majority hard-liner parliament, was spurred in part by the assassination last week of Iran’s top nuclear scientist…”

And So Does Israel

AFP wrote on December 2:

 “Israel received the first of its new missile boats on Wednesday, with a top naval officer telling AFP the fleet upgrade ‘dramatically’ improves the country’s ability to counter regional rivals, including Iran. The procurement of four naval vessels and three submarines from German industrial giant Thyssenkrupp has been the subject of long-running corruption probes involving top allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But graft allegations aside, the ships themselves form a key part of a major naval upgrade in the Jewish state, Israel’s head of naval operations… The vessels — Saar 6-class corvettes — are equipped with… the (most) sophisticated radar on board any vessel in the world…”

The Spiritual Harm of Lockdowns

Mises.org wrote on November 28:

“More and more states have begun to once again impose ruinous lockdowns. The media and Twitter are filled with self-righteous scolds shrieking about the impending doom of families gathering together for Thanksgiving… If such people had their way, everyone would remain under veritable house arrest and not see anyone else for months or even years… That such ideas are even being considered demonstrates just how out of touch with human reality much of our ‘expert’ class and their hordes of lemming-like followers are…

“Nearly every culture and religion throughout human history has held that humans are both material and spiritual beings. However, living in the secular age as we do, the material aspect of our existence has supplanted the spiritual to such an extent that it is barely recognized to exist… Humans are social beings…

“There are few events more brimming with the spiritual unity of the attendees than a wedding, a celebration of the literal unity of two persons as one in the presence of their friends and loved ones with feasting, singing, and dancing. Yet how many weddings have been canceled or celebrated in private this year thanks to lockdowns? How many shared meals have not been eaten? Dances left undanced, songs left unsung, conversations not had? How many parents and grandparents in nursing homes did not get to see their loved ones before they departed this earth? How many children have suffered in front of a screen alone all day?…

“…Suicide rates are up all around the country, in some places as much as 70 percent compared to the same time last year. Military suicides are up 20 percent. Drug overdose deaths are on track to reach an all-time high. The RAND Corporation has found an upswing in heavy drinking this year. The Associated Press reports on the horrific conditions in nursing homes around the country that may have led to the deaths of tens of thousands of residents in excruciating and horrific circumstances, as their families have been forbidden from caring for them. What’s more, it seems many patients simply withered away, their spirits broken from being locked in veritable solitary confinement with no contact with friends or family for months.

“Medical central planning that doesn’t even recognize the spiritual and social aspect of human existence has caused the deaths of untold numbers of people around the country, perhaps more than the virus itself in the long run.

“Our vaunted leaders may act like pure materialists when it comes to their dictatorial decrees obliterating society and our very humanity, but on some level they obviously understand the importance of their own spiritual health. Why else would the leaders of California be breaking their own rules to dine at luxurious restaurants or flying to Hawaii for meetings and not be content with takeout and Zoom like the rest of us peasants? But what else can be expected from a system of top-down control?

“…Just as we have material needs that central planners cannot anticipate, so too do we have spiritual needs that can only be filled in a myriad of ways that central planners cannot plan for, especially when they don’t even recognize they are needs at all. When they are not fulfilled, our physical health suffers just as assuredly as if we had a virus. The social and communal aspects of human life, whether a holiday dinner with family, going to church, having a wedding, or even the mundane relations of everyday life are not mere luxuries that can be dispensed with, they are human life itself. People must be free to navigate these difficult times armed with the knowledge of their circumstances that only they possess.”

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 29:

“Domestic abuse spikes during the holidays and the coronavirus lockdown will only make things worse. One quarter of all women experience abuse in their lives, and lockdown measures are making it harder to get help. [They] have led to increased incidences of abuse as couples and families are further isolated from the outside world. Now, observers fear a combination of the two will have grave consequences.

“Social distancing measures have also  made it more difficult for victims of abuse to seek help and extricate themselves from torturous relationships…”

The Political Transformation of Mask-Wearing

The American Institute for Economic Research wrote on November 30:

“The speed with which mask-wearing among the general public transitioned from unheard of to a moral necessity struck me as suspicious. After all, if the science was as airtight as those around me claimed, surely masks would have been recommended by January or February, not to mention during prior infectious disease outbreaks such as the 2009 swine flu. It seemed unlikely that the scientific proof became incontrovertible sometime between late February and late March, particularly in the absence of any new evidence surfacing during that time period…

“To conclude on the basis of low death rates in several countries that masks prevent coronavirus transmission is patently absurd, illogical, and unscientific… it is obvious that the issue has become so politicized that mainstream media outlets, politicians, and even scientists seize upon the slightest bit of favorable evidence, dismiss out of hand anything that conflicts with their theory, and most egregiously of all misrepresent the data, to support the conclusion that masks worn by asymptomatic people prevent coronavirus transmission.

“And masks are only one part of this story: school closures, lockdowns, and social distancing all have been dogmatically embraced as a means of controlling infection. The substantial evidence that these mechanisms are not effective, particularly beyond their duration, has been automatically rejected for too long. This is not science: it is politics, and those within the profession who have refused to examine their confirmation biases, or manipulated the evidence to score political points, are utterly unqualified for the job.”

Amen to that!

Rock Music Legends Stand Up to Lockdowns

Breitbart wrote on November 27:

“Rock music legends Van Morrison and Eric Clapton have teamed up for ‘Stand and Deliver,’ a song that takes coronavirus lockdowns to task. ‘There are many of us who support Van and his endeavors to save live music; he is an inspiration,’ Clapton said according to Variety. ‘We must stand up and be counted because we need to find a way out of this mess. The alternative is not worth thinking about. Live music might never recover.’ Clapton also said that the end of live entertainment due to coronavirus lockdowns is ‘deeply upsetting.’…

“Van Morrison has already released several songs that are critical of the lockdowns, including ‘Born To Be Free,’ ‘As I Walked Out,’ and ‘No More Lockdown.’ Morrison’s criticism of lockdowns has stirred controversy in certain circles, especially among government officials. The ‘Moondance’ singer recently drew criticism from Northern Ireland’s health minister Robin Swann who called the protest songs ‘dangerous.’”

What is dangerous are the ill-conceived lockdowns.

The Ron Paul Institute added on November 28:

“Clapton and Morrison have moved beyond joint condemnation of some of [the] draconian measures taken in the name of countering coronavirus. They have joined in a musical collaboration to record a song that challenges these measures. Sales of the song will raise money for Morrison’s charity helping financially harmed musicians. The song ‘Stand and Deliver,’ written by Morrison and performed by Clapton, will be available on December 4.”

Covid-19 PCR Tests Unreliable

RT wrote on November 27:

“Earlier this month, Portuguese judges upheld a decision from a lower court that found the forced quarantine of four holidaymakers to be unlawful. The case centred on the reliability (or lack thereof) of Covid-19 PCR tests. The verdict, delivered on November 11, followed an appeal against a writ of habeas corpus filed by four Germans against the Azores Regional Health Authority. This body had been appealing a ruling from a lower court which had found in favour of the tourists, who claimed that they were illegally confined to a hotel without their consent. The tourists were ordered to stay in the hotel over the summer after one of them tested positive for coronavirus in a PCR test – the other three were labelled close contacts and therefore made to quarantine as well.

“The deliberation of the Lisbon Appeal Court is comprehensive and fascinating. It ruled that the Azores Regional Health Authority had violated both Portuguese and international law by confining the Germans to the hotel… They were also scathing about the reliability of the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test, the most commonly used check for Covid. The conclusion of their 34-page ruling included the following: ‘In view of current scientific evidence, this test shows itself to be unable to determine beyond reasonable doubt that such positivity corresponds, in fact, to the infection of a person by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.’

“In the eyes of this court, then, a positive test does not correspond to a Covid case. The two most important reasons for this, said the judges, are that, ‘the test’s reliability depends on the number of cycles used’ and that ‘the test’s reliability depends on the viral load present.’ In other words, there are simply too many unknowns surrounding PCR testing… This is not the first challenge to the credibility of PCR tests… Earlier this year, data from three US states – New York, Nevada and Massachusetts – showed that when the amount of the virus found in a person was taken into account, up to 90 percent of people who tested positive could actually have been negative, as they may have been carrying only tiny amounts of the virus…

“It is a sad indictment of our mainstream media that such a landmark ruling, of such obvious and pressing international importance, has been roundly ignored… Testing, especially PCR testing, is the basis for the entire house of cards of Covid restrictions that are wreaking havoc worldwide. From testing comes case numbers. From case numbers come the ‘R number,’ the rate at which a carrier infects others. From the ‘dreaded’ R number comes the lockdowns and the restrictions, such as England’s new and baffling tiered restrictions that come into force next week…”

So, the whole world, being deceived by Satan the Devil, seems to have it upside-down.

Covid-19 Vaccinations

Algora published on November 22 the following article by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., vaccine injury lawyer and son of the former U.S. Attorney General under his brother President John F. Kennedy:

“I would like to draw your attention urgently to important issues related to the next Covid-19 vaccination. For the first time in the history of vaccination, the so-called last generation mRNA vaccines intervene directly in the genetic material of the patient and therefore alter the individual genetic material, which represents the genetic manipulation, something that was already forbidden and until then considered criminal.

“This intervention can be compared to genetically manipulated food, which is also highly controversial. Even if the media and politicians currently trivialize the problem and even stupidly call for a new type of vaccine to return to normality, this vaccination is problematic in terms of health, morality and ethics, and also in terms of genetic damage that, unlike the damage caused by previous vaccines, will be irreversible and irreparable.

“Dear patients, after an unprecedented mRNA vaccine, you will no longer be able to treat the vaccine symptoms in a complementary way. They will have to live with the consequences, because they can no longer be cured simply by removing toxins from the human body, just as a person with a genetic defect like Down syndrome, Klinefelter syndrome, Turner syndrome, genetic cardiac arrest, hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, Rett syndrome, etc.), because the genetic defect is forever!

“This means clearly: if a vaccination symptom develops after an mRNA vaccination, neither I nor any other therapist can help you, because the damage caused by the vaccination will be genetically irreversible. In my opinion, these new vaccines represent a crime against humanity that has never been committed in such a big way in history. As Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg, an experienced doctor, said: In fact, this ‘promising vaccine’ for the vast majority of people should be FORBIDDEN, because it is genetic manipulation!

“The vaccine, developed and endorsed by Anthony Fauci and funded by Bill Gates, uses experimental mRNA technology. Three of the 15 human guinea pigs (20%) experienced a ‘serious adverse event’.”

“Spahn Lashes out at Britain”

Express wrote on December 2:

“[Germany’s health minister] Jens Spahn dismissed suggestions that the UK had benefited from a speedy approvals process thanks to Brexit, and pointed out that the vaccine developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech is a European-made product. His slap down comes after Mr Hancock claimed the UK had been able to push ahead of the pack in the race for an approved vaccine and ‘not go at the pace of the Europeans’ due to the fact it is no longer a member of the bloc. But Mr Spahn told reporters at an EU briefing on Wednesday that while Britain had been the first to approve the vaccine, he was optimistic that the European Medicines Agency would soon follow… Mr Spahn said he felt proud that a German company had played a central role in developing the COVID-19 jab.

“Mr Spahn said member states had the option of going it alone on the path towards a vaccine. But he said governments including Angela Merkel’s had opted to stick with the EU pack which effectively means they will have to wait longer for the green light. Mr Spahn explained: ‘It’s very important we do this to help promote trust and confidence in this authorisation.’ … Eurocrats admitted the EU’s medicines watchdog will not be able to approve the jab until the end of December at the earliest – weeks after Britain is set to begin administering the vaccine…

“He stressed he was not the only official irritated at Britons celebrating being the first to approve as a national triumph.”

Apart from the political maneuverings, the real question is: How SAFE is this vaccine? Reading the previous article, it does not appear to be very safe at all!

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on December 3:

 “Like so many other ‘crises’ that preceded it, the Covid-19 ‘pandemic’ has provided fertile territory for the authoritarians who seize any opportunity to destroy freedom and liberty under the false claim of ‘keeping us safe.’ The PATRIOT Act passed after 9/11 was supposed to do the same thing: keep us safe by targeting the terrorists who wanted to kill us. But [the] Patriot] Act was designed to view us as the enemy, to be spied on, tracked, and harassed. The Covid ‘crisis’ and coming vaccine will be the same. Will Americans resist?… And an LA County mayor claims anyone without a mask is a ‘domestic terrorist.’”

 In this context, “Joe Biden said during an interview Thursday that he plans to ask the American public to wear masks for 100 days, starting the day he is inaugurated” (Fox News, dated December 3). Biden has also asked Dr. Anthony Fauci to “serve as a chief medical adviser and member of Biden’s COVID-19 response team once his administration begins” (The Week, dated December 3).

 Words fail. 

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

In the previous parts of this series, we began to discuss many concepts taught by the Roman Catholic church, related to their doctrine of indulgences. We saw that indulgences are required, according to Catholic tradition and theology, to ensure that help and assistance is given in Purgatory (a place that doesn’t exist and has no validity from Scripture), so that humans can go to Heaven (which Scripture clearly shows is not the place for the dead, nor is Hell, as commonly understood in orthodox Christianity!)  We also pointed out that the idea of indulgences applies in different ways: It addresses those who are in “Purgatory” (or “Hell”) and for whom prayers and “indulgences” are given by the living or the “saints in Heaven”, so that they can be freed from Purgatory (or Hell); and it can apply to people in this life who give indulgences (for themselves) so that they do not have to suffer in Purgatory (or Hell) for as long as they otherwise would have to.

We also began to discuss the concept of partial indulgences (removing part of the “temporal” punishment due to sin), and of plenary indulgences (removing all temporal punishment due to sin). We also saw that the Catholic church teaches that indulgences “cannot remit the eternal penalty of hell. Once a person is in hell, no amount of indulgences will ever change that fact. The only way to avoid hell is by appealing to God’s eternal mercy while still alive.”

With this background, we will continue to discuss the FALSE concept of indulgences and explain and prove further from the Bible WHY it is false.

On the website https://www.catholic.com/tract/myths-about-indulgences, we read the following:

“How many of one’s temporal penalties can be remitted?

“Potentially, all of them. The Church recognizes that Christ and the saints are interested in helping penitents deal with the aftermath of their sins, as indicated by the fact they always pray for us (Heb. 7:25, Rev. 5:8). Fulfilling its role in the administration of temporal penalties, the Church draws upon the rich supply of rewards God chose to bestow on the saints, who pleased him, and on his Son, who pleased him most of all.”

Both Scriptures mentioned above have nothing to do with indulgences [or the “saints in heaven” praying for the living or for those who are “suffering in purgatory or hell”]. Hebrews 7:25 is an affirmation of the fact that Jesus Christ is our High Priest and shows that we don’t need to use a Catholic priest to have access to God the Father. In 1 Timothy 2:5 we read: “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus…”

We read in Wikipedia: “Absolution is an integral part of the Sacrament of Penance in Roman Catholicism. The penitent makes a sacramental confession of all mortal sins to a priest and prays an act of contrition (a genre of prayers). The priest then assigns a penance and imparts absolution in the name of the Trinity, on behalf of Christ Himself, using a fixed sacramental formula.”

The Catholic church believes that a Catholic priest can give absolution to a dying person but this is not biblical. Only God can forgive sins upon true repentance (see Luke 5:21 and Mark 2:7). We read that absolution, in the ecclesiastical sense, implies a remission of sin or its penalties. In the Roman Catholic church the power to absolve is vested in the priest as we read above, and he assigns a penance! However, we are NOT to confess our sins to a priest, but to God.

Also, this absolution is made in the name of the Trinity which is yet another non-biblical error.  There is nothing biblical about this approach at all.

As we have seen, the Bible does not teach the Trinity. God is a Family, consisting of God the Father (the Highest in the Godhead), and of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Holy Spirit is NOT a Person or part of the Trinity, but the POWER emanating from the Father AND the Son, and it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that both the Father and the Son can live and dwell in a converted Christian. God wants to enlarge His Family, and those who have received the Holy Spirit upon proper baptism are BEGOTTEN children of God. They will become BORN AGAIN children of God at the time of their resurrection or change to eternal life. THEN they will enter God’s Family as immortal God beings. The Trinity, which is an unalterable and closed concept without the possibility of access into the Kingdom and Family of God, DENIES this important doctrine and is therefore blasphemous.

The above-cited website continues:

“The rewards on which the Church draws are infinite because Christ is God, so the rewards he accrued are infinite and never can be exhausted. The rewards of the saints are added to Christ’s—not because anything is lacking in his, but because it is fitting that they be united with his rewards as the saints are united with him. Although immense, their rewards are finite, but his are infinite.”

We don’t even try to “explain” this unintelligible babbling. Continuing:

“If the Church has the resources to wipe out everyone’s temporal penalties, why doesn’t it do so?

“Because God does not wish this to be done. God himself instituted the pattern of temporal penalties being left behind. They fulfill valid functions, one of them disciplinary. If a child were never disciplined, he would never learn obedience. God disciplines us as his children — ‘the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives’ (Heb. 12:6) — so some temporal penalties must remain.

“The Church cannot wipe out everyone’s temporal punishments because their remission depends on the dispositions of the persons who suffer those temporal punishments. Just as repentance and faith are needed for the remission of eternal penalties, so they are needed for the remission of temporal penalties. Pope Paul VI stated, ‘Indulgences cannot be gained without a sincere conversion of outlook and unity with God’ (Indulgentarium Doctrina 11).”

These “explanations” are likewise convoluted and confusing. As we pointed out in the last instalment, the Catholic church’s teaching on having to endure temporal punishment (the time a person is being tortured in Purgatory) is blatantly wrong. But what can be gleaned from them is this:

The Roman Catholic church takes too much upon itself, erroneously thinking that it has power to do such things which it does not. In our Q&A, “Was the Apostle Peter the first Bishop of Rome and the first Pope?,” we write as follows (where we also point out that Peter was NOT the first Pope but even if he had been, he would not have been given that kind of authority which popes are claiming for themselves):

“The word ‘Peter,’ i.e., ‘petros’ in Greek, means ‘a little stone.’ The ‘rock,’ on which Christ would build His church, is ‘petra’ in Greek, meaning a solid rock. Christ was not saying here that Christ would build the church on ‘Peter,’ but on THE ROCK — Christ Himself. It is CHRIST who is identified as ‘THE ROCK’ in passages such as 1 Corinthians 10:4. Peter, as well as the other apostles, in addition to the prophets, are part of the foundation, but Christ is the CHIEF cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20). The Church is built on Christ, who is the LIVING Head of the Church (Ephesians 4:15).”

Continuing:

“How does one determine by what amount penalties have been lessened?

“Before Vatican II each indulgence was said to remove a certain number of “days” from one’s discipline—for instance, an act might gain “300 days’ indulgence”—but the use of the term “days” confused people, giving them the mistaken impression that in purgatory time as we know it still exists and that we can calculate our “good time” in a mechanical way. The number of days associated with indulgences actually never meant that that much “time” would be taken off one’s stay in purgatory. Instead, it meant that an indefinite but partial (not complete) amount of remission would be granted, proportionate to what ancient Christians would have received for performing that many days’ penance.

“To overcome the confusion Paul VI issued a revision of the handbook (Enchiridion is the formal name) of indulgences. Today, numbers of days are not associated with indulgences. They are either plenary or partial.”

To be clear, the above “explanation” only attempts to confuse the Catholic church’s teaching even more. As we pointed out in our series, it is CLEARLY the Roman Catholic church’s teaching that indulgences are given for the purpose of shortening the TIME a sinner suffers in Purgatory. The above-cited “explanation” is hopelessly convoluted, and if it is supposed to convey that indulgences are not meant to shorten the time of suffering in Purgatory, it is incorrect, but it shows that even Catholics do not understand their own teaching.

The Catholic church and the Pope can continue to make explanations of an absurd doctrine which has no biblical basis and “blind” their faithful, but Purgatory and indulgences make a mockery of the truth which the Bible reveals to those with eyes to see.

Continuing with the above-cited Website:

“What’s the difference between a partial and a plenary indulgence?

“An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin (Indulgentarium Doctrina 2, 3). Only God knows exactly how efficacious any particular partial indulgence is or whether a plenary indulgence was received at all.”

Again, the same false and blasphemous concept is conveyed here that God tortures a person who died and dwells in Purgatory.

“Don’t indulgences duplicate or even negate the work of Christ?

“Despite the biblical underpinnings of indulgences, some are sharply critical of them and insist the doctrine supplants the work of Christ and turns us into our own saviors. This objection results from confusion about the nature of indulgences and about how Christ’s work is applied to us.

“Indulgences apply only to temporal penalties, not to eternal ones. The Bible indicates that these penalties may remain after a sin has been forgiven and that God lessens these penalties as rewards to those who have pleased him. Since the Bible indicates this, Christ’s work cannot be said to have been supplanted by indulgences.

“The merits of Christ, since they are infinite, comprise most of those in the treasury of merits. By applying these to believers, the Church acts as Christ’s servant in the application of what he has done for us, and we know from Scripture that Christ’s work is applied to us over time and not in one big lump (Phil. 2:12, 1 Pet. 1:9).”

What the above-cited statement misunderstands is the concept of giving an account to God, which DOES occur after a person has been resurrected back to life. But this has nothing to do with remaining penalties after sins have been forgiven. For a thorough explanation, please read our free booklet, “Punishment for Our Sins.”

A key concept in the quoted statement above is that “Indulgences apply only to temporal penalties, not to eternal ones”. The Bible reveals, when properly understood, that “temporal penalties”, the sowing and reaping principle, is something that a true Christian has to be cognisant of in this life now. No intervention by a large church can countermand this. When we have fallen short and sin, as we often do, we repent personally, not through some human church representative, but to God to ask for forgiveness. It is a personal matter as repentance can only come from the individual concerned.

Continuing:

“Isn’t it better to put all of the emphasis on Christ alone?

“If we ignore the fact of indulgences, we neglect what Christ does through us, and we fail to recognize the value of what he has done in us. Paul used this very sort of language: ‘Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church’ (Col. 1:24).

“Even though Christ’s sufferings were superabundant (far more than needed to pay for anything), Paul spoke of completing what was ‘lacking’ in Christ’s sufferings. If this mode of speech was permissible for Paul, it is permissible for us.

“Catholics should not be defensive about indulgences. They are based on principles straight from the Bible. Pope Paul VI declared, ‘[T]he Church invites all its children to think over and weigh up in their minds as well as they can how the use of indulgences benefits their lives and all Christian society. . . . Supported by these truths, holy Mother Church again recommends the practice of indulgences to the faithful’ (Indulgentarium Doctrina, 9, 11).”

We have already explained WHY much of what is written above is blatantly wrong. But one aspect needs our comment. The statement above claims that indulgences benefit all involved, as they somehow relate to completing what is lacking in Christ’s suffering. Apart from the fact that this concept would be totally contradictory from a Roman Catholic teaching’s standpoint (as indulgences would prevent such completion), Paul is drawing an analogy, stating that as Christ suffered, so he must too, and that he has to complete the suffering allotted to him, also for the sake of the members—he would stay a bit longer with them rather than dying soon–—but he refers to THIS life, not to some sort of an “afterlife.”

Continuing:

“How to Gain an Indulgence

“To gain any indulgence you must be a Catholic in order to be under the Church’s jurisdiction, and you must be in a state of grace because apart from God’s grace none of your actions are fundamentally pleasing to God (meritorious). You also must have at least the habitual intention of gaining an indulgence by the act performed.

“To gain a partial indulgence, you must perform with a contrite heart the act to which the indulgence is attached. To gain a plenary indulgence you must perform the act with a contrite heart, plus you must go to confession (one confession may suffice for several plenary indulgences), receive Holy Communion, and pray for the pope’s intentions. The final condition is that you must be free from all attachment to sin, including venial sin. If you attempt to receive a plenary indulgence, but are unable to meet the last condition, a partial indulgence is received instead.

“Below are indulgences listed in the Handbook of Indulgences (New York: Catholic Book Publishing, 1991):

“An act of spiritual communion, expressed in any devout formula whatsoever, is endowed with a partial indulgence.

“A partial indulgence is granted the Christian faithful who devoutly spend time in mental prayer.

“A plenary indulgence is granted when the rosary is recited in a church or oratory or when it is recited in a family, a religious community, or a pious association. A partial indulgence is granted for its recitation in all other circumstances.

“A partial indulgence is granted the Christian faithful who read sacred Scripture with the veneration due God’s word and as a form of spiritual reading. The indulgence will be a plenary one when such reading is done for at least one-half hour [provided the other conditions are met].

“A partial indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who devoutly sign themselves with the cross while saying the customary formula: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

“In summary, the practice of indulgences neither takes away nor adds to the work of Christ. It is his work, through his body the Church, raising up children in his own likeness.”

However, the concept of indulgences CLEARLY DESTROYS the Work of Christ, both adding to or taking away from the Truth. We can see how much ridiculous human thinking and reasoning has gone into coming up with a non-biblical doctrine. First, one must be a Catholic to gain any indulgence (It does not matter to us as indulgences are a human invention anyhow and in contraction to God’s Word.)  Apart from the ridiculous distinction between plenary and partial indulgences, just looking at the listed indulgences above is an apt testimony to (ungodly) requirements that have just been arbitrarily thought up by some human being without any underlying biblical instruction or godly understanding or authority. For example, the place and circumstances of praying the rosary (an ungodly and pagan practice) is to decide whether one receives a plenary or partial indulgence. Also, the last one quoted above talks about signing with the cross [a pagan symbol and a pagan practice] while saying a prescribed formula. There is nothing in God’s Word that approves such an approach but is simply concocted out of the mind of man. In fact, Christ condemns such kind of “worship.”

In Matthew 6:7, Christ warns us against meaningless repetitions (like praying the rosary which is also vain and meaningless as Mary is dead and in the grave): “But when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many [repetitious] words.”

Christ also told us this, in Matthew 15:9: “And in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” In Mark 7:9, He added: “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”

How can one honestly deny the fact that the concept of indulgences is a human tradition which is contradicted by God’s Word and which rejects God’s commandment to worship Him in spirit and in TRUTH (John 4:24)?

(To be continued)

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

compiled by Dave Harris

“Wollen wir Gott wirklich in allem folgen?” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “Do We Really Want to Follow God in Everything?”

“Werden unsere Gebete bei Gott Gehör finden?” is the title of a split sermon presented last Sabbath in Germany by Christoph Sperzel. Title in English: “Will Our Prayers be Heard by God?”

“Beherrsche Deinen Unmut,” is the title of a split sermon presented last Sabbath in Germany by Thilo Hanstein. Title in English: “Control Your Displeasure.”

“Expose the Many Lies to My People!” the first message presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

This world is in Satan’s clutches. The Church’s responsibility is to announce as a witness the soon-coming rule of Christ on and over this earth, and, in the meantime, to cry aloud and show the people their sins. As sin is the transgression of the law, the Church must preach love towards God and love towards neighbor.  We do not love God if we practice false worship, and we do not love neighbor if we lie to him. This presentation exposes lies by scientists and the mass media in many different areas—the lie of evolution; lies in connection with the coronavirus and man-made climate change; and lies pertaining to the US election, including the false designation of Joe Biden as President-elect and the denial of voter fraud.

“Draw Close to God,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Rene Messier, is now posted. Here is a summary:

This sermon points out the importance of utilizing the tools God has given us to maintain a close relationship with Him, as we enter a difficult time in human history just prior to the great tribulation.

On November 28, 2020, Norbert Link will present “Comments on News and Prophecy (November 28, 2020),” and Rene Messier will present the sermon, titled, “Draw Close to God.”

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.

Over the years I have had many visits from a usually well-dressed couple of people who wanted to discuss Jesus Christ. At times I would answer their questions, but it was always obvious that they believed they knew the truth and wanted to explain it to me. As you might realise, their congregation was named Jehovah’s Witnesses. And they believed that what they were doing was a required part of their calling to be a witness.

The question that arises from this is, do we have a part in witnessing for Jesus Christ and, if so, what is it? First of all, we must know what a witness is. Here are some definitions from various dictionaries of what a witness could be.

1. An eyewitness. A person who sees an event and gives testimony about it.
2. An expert witness. A person who does not see an event but is highly knowledgeable about a pertinent subject and uses that knowledge in testifying.
3. In a religious sense, it can be an open profession of one’s religious faith through words or actions.

In the New Testament Church, the original apostles were eyewitnesses. They lived with Jesus Christ for three and a half years, ate with Him, saw His miracles and were taught by Him personally. He sent them out to the whole world as witnesses. Acts 1:8 reads: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Wherever they travelled, they taught about Christ from their extensive personal experience. The apostle Peter mentions this in 2 Peter 1:16: “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” The “we” refers to Peter, James and John who all saw the vision of the transfiguration of Christ on the mountain (Matthew 17:1-9). The apostle John also mentions this in John 1:14.

There are many other passages where the apostles, especially Peter, claimed to be eyewitnesses of the life and teachings of Christ. The apostle Paul was also directly taught by Christ and instructed to be a witness in Rome as well as Jerusalem. Acts 23:11 reads: “But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.’”

After these apostles, others were called to continue preaching and witnessing about Christ. An early biblical example is the evangelist Timothy. 2 Timothy 3:14-15 informs us that he was taught what was needed to be an evangelist, but also, that he had known the Holy Scriptures from childhood. While he was not an eyewitness, he would today be called an expert witness. Because of his knowledge and understanding, he was able to preach and teach (2 Timothy 4:2).

In Revelation 2:13, we read about another witness at Pergamos, Antipas. Most old and new versions of the Bible, except basically those related to the King James Bible or the Authorized Version, state that he was “My faithful witness who was killed among you…” This is, of course, where the Editorial’s title comes from. Actually, in three places God names His people as witnesses to the fact that He alone is God (Isaiah 43:10, 43:12 and 44:8).

That is some biblical history of witnesses. But what about us today, what is our role in witnessing? We know the Gospel will be preached in all the world as a witness (Matthew 24:14), and the Church will continue to be a part in that. While the ministry performs most of the preaching of the Gospel, the members support that preaching with their prayers and offerings. But individually, we also have a part to play in the witnessing.

In the sermon of the mount, Christ made this comment about His people, in Matthew 5:14,16: “You are the light of the world… Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Jesus Christ wants us to live our lives as examples to all who see us. He wants us to interact with others in a manner and behaviour that shows a good light on God. In effect, we are to be a witness to God. Notice it does not say many words but good works. They may not understand what this witness means now, but they will understand in the future.

But there is a time to use words. As Peter writes in 1 Peter 3:15: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” If we are seriously asked what we believe and why we believe it, we should be able to respond to their questions in an appropriate and friendly manner. Colossians 4:6 also gives us instructions on how to answer: “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how you ought to answer each one.”

So, none of us in this day are eyewitnesses and only a few are called to preach, but all of us should be living our lives in a manner that is pleasing to God. We should be a right example to others by our way of life and behaviour and by the way we answer them. In other words, each of us is to be a faithful witness to God.

by Norbert Link

We begin with a report on the current “unsatisfactory” status of Europe’s fragmented and unprepared defense abilities and the renewed push for a unified European army; French President Macron’s “Napoleon Moment”; and Poland’s and Hungary’s warning of European dictatorship reminiscent of the “communist regime of old.”

We continue with events in or related to the USA, including the sad likelihood of and preparation for civil unrest or even civil war (please view our new StandingWatch program in this context, titled, “Are You Prepared for Civil War?”); the ongoing attempts of the Trump legal team to prove massive voter fraud, which, if true, would reveal an appalling degree of political corruption within the USA; and we report on a lone voice in the wilderness and a mission by the US Air Force to the Middle East. We also speak of a “report” about “storming” the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and Pope Francis’s rather strange ideas and positions.

Focusing on governmental restrictions because of the coronavirus, we publish an eye-opening article of Britain’s Daily Mail, questioning the official data and predictions of the British government, and the subsequent attempt of the government to ridicule or even silence the paper, which attempt backfired; and we speak on Britain’s intention to create “freedom passes” and coronavirus certificates.

We also address ongoing demonstrations in Germany against the coronavirus restrictions; the German government’s harsh and polemic response; and California Governor Newsom’s incredible hypocrisy and a warning to people in Oregon not to become “rats.” We speak on corona vaccines’ side-effects and the coming vaccination mandate for (at least) international travelers; publish an article claiming that, based on science, “lockdowns are the greatest policy error of this generation,” and conclude with interesting discoveries regarding Mars.

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

EU Lacking Military Capacities—Action Urged

Reuters reported on November 21:

“The European Union acknowledged on Friday that it lacks the capabilities to meet its goal – pushed most strongly by its biggest members – to become a standalone military power able to help NATO or deploy troops rapidly to regional crises. Seeking to address major shortfalls, the EU’s first annual defence review, presented to the bloc’s defence ministers on Friday, found that only 60% of the national troops and weapons nominally available to NATO are in a fit state to be deployed.

“EU governments are also reluctant to deploy those troops, the report found. Formal EU military missions receive just 7% of all EU states’ military personnel committed worldwide, with problems generating troop levels, it said. While such EU weaknesses were largely known, because the bloc has never had the military strength to match its economic might, major EU governments including France, Germany, Italy and Spain hope the detailed review and public recognition of failures will be a watershed… EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters: ‘European defence suffers from fragmentation, duplication and insufficient operational engagement.’…

“Meanwhile, tiny Belgium and Luxembourg are among the lowest military spenders in Europe, and Denmark has opted out of EU defence initiatives. France and Germany also disagree on how far to develop EU military cooperation independent of the United States, by far the biggest power in NATO and Europe’s effective security guarantor since World War Two. But after four years of hostility towards NATO from U.S. President Donald Trump, the EU says it can no longer rely solely on the United States to solve crises in its neighbourhood.

“The EU has been working since December 2017 to develop more firepower independently of the United States. The effort has been led by France, the EU’s remaining major military power after Britain, which opposed such cooperation, left the bloc. With a weapons development fund being set up, backed by 8 billion euros ($9.50 billion) from the EU budget for the first time next year, French President Emmanuel Macron has called for more ‘sovereignty’ in the EU’s ability to defend itself.

“The 27-nation EU aims to draw up a military doctrine by 2022 to define future threats and ambitions. The report, part of an EU strategy to develop self-standing military capacity over the next decade, urged EU governments to jointly produce six areas of weaponry and end costly national duplication, including focusing on a new battle tank, a patrol class surface ship and counter-drone technology.”

This “wakeup call” might trigger renewed efforts to create a unified European army. However, some European countries might not want to participate. The “need” for a core Europe of powerful wealthy member states seems to become inevitable.

German Social Democrats (SPD) Seek an Independent EU Army

Express wrote on November 18:

“A working group on Security and Defence Policy of the SPD ‒ Germany’s second-biggest political party ‒ has published a plan to create a 28th EU Army. Instead of concentrating on the further development of cooperation between the 27 national armed forces as before, the 12-page paper reveals how a new, separate force is to be created – parallel to the national troops such as the Bundeswehr. The 28th Army would report directly to the EU Commission and would be under the responsibility of a newly-appointed Commissioner for Defence… Fritz Felgentreu, Defence policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, said: “Our aim is to improve the EU’s ability to act, regardless of the tiresome questions of sovereignty… According to the concept paper, the nucleus of the 28th Army is based on already existing battlegroups…

“The original 12-page concept paper was originally published in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper… According to one of Germany’s most senior defence officials, the creation of an EU Army is now pretty much inevitable. In 2017, Hans-Peter Bartels, a former national defence commissioner, called for NATO’S EU members to organise their forces into a single unit. Mr Bartels said: ‘… In the end, there will be a European Army.’…

“Britain has repeatedly blocked plans for an integrated European defence policy, but other member states have warned it cannot expect to have a say in the issue post-Brexit. France has also led calls for a European Army. The Netherlands and Germany  have already merged some units, while the Czech Republic and Romania have expressed interest. Funding for a European Defence Fund has been included in the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) this year.”

The push for a European army from all sides and political parties is increasing.

Macron’s Napoleon Moment

The Algemeiner wrote on November 20:

“Napoleon Bonaparte… came to power at a crucial moment in French history. The glorious revolution of 1789 had descended into chaos. He saved it and restored order and French pride.

“At this moment, France is at a crossroads again. The decapitation of schoolteacher Samuel Paty by a Muslim extremist, and other subsequent attacks, is the continuation of an existential struggle for France’s character and future. Every country has the right to decide its character. If France wishes to remain an open and free society for all its citizens, it must fight for it. This is President Macron’s Napoleon moment…

“Napoleon had shown sympathy for Jewish aspirations at the siege of Acre in 1799 when he published a proclamation in which he invited all the Jews of Asia and Africa to gather under his flag. Unfortunately, Napoleon’s forces lost to Britain and he could not carry out his plan… The Jews of central Europe regarded Napoleon as the major forerunner of Jewish emancipation. In Austria, Chancellor Metternich said, ‘I fear that the Jews will believe [Napoleon] to be their promised Messiah.’ All the states that came under French authority applied Napoleon’s reforms. In Italy, the Netherlands, and the German states, the Jews were emancipated and able to act as free people for the first time in those nations. After Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo, the Council of Vienna reimposed all previous restrictions on Jews outside France and the restoration of discriminatory measures. And post-Napoleon France’s antisemitism was so endemic that it led to the Dreyfus Affair, Marshall Petain, and continues to this day in certain circles.

“Napoleon was probably the greatest European military genius. His armies swept across the continent, winning battle after battle. But his success had the effect of forcing others to unite to destroy him. Even after defeat and exile to Elba, he was able to come back and try again with the support of his faithful armies. Finally, at Waterloo in 1815, he was brought down. Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena…

“Napoleon enshrined the concept of secularism in France. This vision is now being challenged and faces enormous pressure from a growing threat of radical Islamism in France. Up to now, Europe has treated the threat half-heartedly. At this moment, President Macron is talking the talk, but I doubt that he will do anything. Political expediency seems to override principle everywhere. Napoleon must be turning over in his grave.”

Whether the assessment of Napoleon is accurate or not, the article shows the “dilemma” Macron finds himself in, and the warning against extreme radical Islamism in France is well-taken. The question is, How will France react?

Poland Warns of Dictatorial EU

Breitbart wrote on November 22:

“Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has accused the European Union of wielding a ‘propaganda bludgeon’ against his country like the communist regime of old. ‘We know the use of propaganda bludgeons very well from communist times,’ he recalled, adding that a European Union ‘in which there is a European oligarchy that punishes the weaker and pushes them into a corner is not the EU that we joined. This is not an EU that has a future,’ he warned…

“‘The establishment in Germany and Brussels is trying to carry out a revolution and create a single European state based in Brussels or maybe Germany,’ warned Zbigniew Ziobro, a member of the United Poland party which governs alongside Law and Justice who serves as Minister of Justice. Prime Minister Morawiecki also bristled at suggestions that… Poles must ‘get on their knees’ and accept being dictated to…

“The Poles and Hungarians do have some reason to believe that the EU’s dominant powers intended to use any ‘rule of law’ in the budget to interfere in domestic politics, with European Parliament vice president Katarina Barley, of Germany, having suggested they should be ‘starved financially’ if they do not govern in a way Brussels approves…”

Poland and Hungary may have a point. Their warning should not be ignored.

Preparing for Civil War?

The U.S. Sun wrote on November 20:

“Hundreds of far-right groups have sprung up across the US and are ramping up recruitment in the fallout from the highly charged election and the coronavirus pandemic. Online forum My Militia – which promotes itself as an ‘American Patriot Network’ – has more than 20,000 users and has seen a flurry of activity in recent weeks. The network claims there are 544 militias currently active in the US, carries instructions on how to make explosives and improvised weapons, survivalist tips, threads dedicated to conspiracy theories, and lists of names of members of ‘Antifa.’  Many of the self-appointed militiamen say they are preparing to ride out mass civil unrest, while others more dramatically predict an upcoming ‘Civil War.’

“It comes after a string of violence over the summer with Donald Trump blaming extreme left-wing groups for stoking mayhem. Some groups are braced for attacks by ‘Antifa’ who Trump branded ‘scum’ after clashes at a recent march in Washington DC. Dr Rakid Ehsan, a research fellow from think tank the Henry Jackson Society,… warned the potential of these organisations clashing with extreme left-wing groups could turn the US into a ‘powder-keg’…

“Antifa is an umbrella term for far-left militant groups… Trump has blamed Democrats for enabling the movement, and Barr has said police in ‘every city’ where there has been protests ‘identified Antifa as the ramrod for the violence’.”

Violence in the USA over the outcome of the election and regarding other matters, such as coronavirus restrictions, is inevitable. Please view our new StandingWatch program in this context, titled, “Are You Prepared for Civil War?”

When Christmas Was Cancelled in England…

The Conversation published an article on November 13 by  Martyn Bennett, Nottingham Trent University:

“… it seems likely that 2020’s [Christmas] festivities will be much more intimate affairs, potentially with households banned from mixing indoors.  But what if families ignore distancing rules, should they remain in place, and celebrate together rather than on Zoom? Politicians seeking to come down hard on rule-breakers might wish to recall a previously restricted yuletide.

“Back in 1647, Christmas was banned in the kingdoms of England (which at the time included Wales), Scotland and Ireland and it didn’t work out very well. Following a total ban on everything festive, from decorations to gatherings, rebellions broke out across the country. While some activity took the form of hanging holly in defiance, other action was far more radical and went on to have historical consequences.

“In 1647, parliament had won the civil war in England, Scotland and Ireland and King Charles was held in captivity at Hampton Court. The Church of England had been abolished and replaced by a Presbyterian system. The protestant reformation had restructured churches across the British Isles, and holy days, Christmas included, were abolished.

“The usual festivities during the 12 days of Christmas (December 25 to January 5) were deemed unacceptable. Shops had to stay open throughout Christmastide, including Christmas Day. Displays of Christmas decorations – holly, ivy and other evergreens – were banned. Other traditions, such as feasting and the celebratory consumption of alcohol, consumed in large quantities then as now, were likewise restricted.

“Christmas Day, however, didn’t pass quietly. People across England, Scotland and Ireland flouted the rules. In Norwich, the mayor… ignored illegal celebrations across the city. In Canterbury, the usual Christmas football game was played and festive holly bushes were stood outside house doors. Over the 12 days of Christmas, the partying spread across all of Kent and armed force had to be used to break up the fun.

“Christmas Day was celebrated in the very heart of Westminster and the churchwardens of St Margaret’s church (which is part of Westminster Abbey) were arrested for failing to stop the party. The London streets were decked with holly and ivy and the shops were closed… Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk also celebrated Christmas rowdily. Young men armed with spiked clubs patrolled the streets persuading the shopkeepers to stay shut.

“Taking up arms and breaking the rules weren’t just about experiencing the fun of the season. Fighting against the prohibition of Christmas was a political act. Things had changed and the Christmas rebellion was as much a protest against the ‘new normal’ as it was against the banning of fun. People were fed up with a range of restrictions and financial difficulties that came with the Presbyterian system and the fallout of the civil war.

“The aftermath of the Norwich Christmas riots was the most dramatic. The mayor was summoned to London in April 1648 to explain his failure to prohibit the Christmas parties, but a crowd closed the city gates to prevent him from being taken away. Armed forces were again deployed, and in the ensuing riots, the city ammunition magazine exploded, killing at least 40 people. Norwich was not alone. In Kent, the grand jury decided that the Christmas party-going rioters had no choice but to answer to the law and the county went into exuberant rebellion against parliament. Royalists capitalised on the popular discontent and began organising the rioters.

“Successively in 1647 and 1648, parties led to riots, these riots led to rebellions, which, in turn, caused the Second Civil War that summer. King Charles was put on trial after his defeat in the war and was executed. This resulted in a revolution and Britain and Ireland became a republic – all because of Christmas.

“This Christmas, police across the country are ready to enforce COVID regulations and break up gatherings… politicians could learn from the fallout of the last time Christmas was cancelled. Like in 1647, many people today are fed up with the government’s restrictions. Many have also suffered financial difficulties as a result of the COVID regulations…

“Such a situation will have to be handled gingerly. There has already been civil disorder over lockdowns…  the last thing the country needs is further unrest…”

This goes for America too, as well as for other “Christian” nations. Even though God does not want His people to celebrate Christmas, the parallels between 1647 and 2020 are striking.

Explosive Charges

Newsmax wrote on November 21:

“Levying explosive claims of widespread voter fraud specifically tied to Dominion Voting Systems and potentially a pay-for-play scheme with GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell… vowed to deliver a ‘biblical’ voter fraud case this week…

“Among the most explosive claims alluded to by Powell were: Joe Biden votes being ‘weighted’ at 1.25 times and President Donald Trump votes being parsed at 3/4. Algorithms that gave Democrats 35,000 extra votes. Modifications made to voting machines after statutory cutoff dates for changes. Past election victories, including Hillary Clinton’s primary victory over Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., being forced decided by Dominion Voting Systems. Alleged pay-for-play kick backs to public officials, potentially even Georgia GOP Gov. Kemp for a late grant to use Dominion Voting Systems.

“‘Georgia is probably going to be the first state I’m gonna blow up,’ Powell said rhetorically with her pending lawsuits alleging massive voter fraud.”

If massive voter fraud can be proven, then America stands convicted as a terribly corrupt country… to be comparable with the worst dictatorships… whether the presented evidence will allow Trump to stay in office or not.

Powell Not Part of Trump Legal Team?

Breitbart wrote on November 23:

“Lawyer Sidney Powell said in a statement Sunday evening via Gen. (Ret.) Michael Flynn that… she understood the Trump campaign’s statement that she is not part of the campaign’s legal team and she is proceeding to file an ‘epic’ lawsuit this week. After Twitter suspended Powell for 12 hours, Flynn posted her statement on his Parler account, which said:

“‘I agree with the campaign’s statement that I am not part of the campaign’s legal team. I never signed a retainer agreement or sent the President or the campaign a bill for my expenses or fees. My intent has always been to expose all the fraud I could find and let the chips fall where they may —whether it be upon Republicans or Democrats. The evidence I’m compiling is overwhelming that this software tool was used to shift millions of votes from President [Donald] Trump and other Republican candidates to Biden and other Democrat candidates.  We are proceeding to prepare our lawsuit and plan to file it this week.  It will be epic. We will not allow this great Republic to be stolen by communists from without and within or our votes altered or manipulated by foreign actors in Hong Kong, Iran, Venezuela, or Serbia, for example, who have neither regard for human life nor the people who are the engine of this exceptional country…’

“Powell released the statements after the Trump campaign legal team, led by Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, released a short statement that said: ‘Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own. She is not a member of the Trump Legal Team. She is also not a lawyer for the President in his personal capacity.’”

The Trump team had clearly said previously that Powell was part of their team, and Trump had declared that Powell was one of his attorneys. What is going on? Giuliani subsequently attributed the break to the pursuit of two different legal theories.

Sidney Powell Files Lawsuits in Georgia and Michigan because of Alleged Organized Voter Fraud

Breitbart wrote on November 26:

 “Attorney Sidney Powell filed lawsuits Wednesday challenging the results of the presidential vote in Georgia and Michigan, alleging ‘ballot stuffing,’ which she alleges was ‘amplified and rendered virtually invisible by computer software created and run by domestic and foreign actors.’…

“She alleges in Georgia: Mathematical and statistical anomalies rising to the level of impossibilities, as shown by affidavits of multiple witnesses, documentation, and expert testimony evince this scheme across the state of Georgia… This scheme and artifice to defraud affected tens of thousands of votes in Georgia alone and ‘rigged’ the election in Georgia for Joe Biden.

 “Powell makes similar allegations in Michigan, noting an ‘especially egregious range of conduct in Wayne County and the City of Detroit, though this conduct occurred throughout the State at the direction of Michigan state election officials.’ Powell traces the fraud to ‘software and hardware from Dominion Voting Systems Corporation,’ which she said derives from software created by ‘Smartmatic Corporation, which became Sequoia in the United States.’ She goes on to allege, in both the Georgia and the Michigan complaints, ‘Smartmatic and Dominion were founded by foreign oligarchs and dictators to ensure computerized ballot-stuffing and vote manipulation to whatever level was needed to make certain Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez never lost another election.’

“Based on the affidavit of a whistleblower, Powell alleges that the systems were designed to make ballot-stuffing hard to detect by a ‘simple audit.’ They were manipulated, she says, by people who had access to the systems.

“In Georgia, she says: [V]ideo from the State Farm Arena in Fulton County shows that on November 3rd after the polls closed, election workers falsely claimed a water leak required the facility to close. All poll workers and challengers were evacuated for several hours at about 10:00 PM. However, several election workers remained unsupervised and unchallenged working at the computers for the voting tabulation machines until after 1:00 AM. She also claimed that ‘the Dominion software was accessed by agents acting on behalf of China and Iran in order to monitor and manipulate elections, including the most recent US general election in 2020.’ One expert, she says, ‘concludes that hundreds of thousands of votes that were cast for President Trump in the 2020 general election were transferred to former Vice-President Biden.’

“And she adds that ‘Georgia’s election officials and poll workers exacerbated and helped, whether knowingly or unknowingly, the Dominion system carry out massive voter manipulation by refusing to observe statutory safeguards for absentee ballots. Election officials failed to verify signatures and check security envelopes. They barred challengers from observing the count, which also facilitated the fraud.’

“In Michigan, Powell says, in addition to problems with Dominion, there were ‘additional categories of “traditional” voting fraud and Michigan Election Code violations, supplemented by healthy doses of harassment, intimidation, discrimination, abuse and even physical removal of Republican poll challengers to eliminate any semblance of transparency, objectivity or fairness from the vote counting process.’

“Powell alleges, citing expert testimony, that Michigan saw tens of thousands of ‘excess voters,’ where unassigned or blank absentee ballots were filled out by election workers, and nearly all of those votes went to Joe Biden. She also alleges that in four precincts, more ballots were counted than could be physically processed during a two and-a-half hour interval Nov. 4. She alleges that glitches in Michigan — such as one that mistakenly counted 6,000 votes for Biden in Antrim County — were always in Biden’s favor. There are enough ballots affected, Powell argues, for the courts to set aside the results of the 2020 election in each state.”

Trump Approves Transition Proceedings, but…

The U.S. General Services Administration chief [Emily Murphy] informed Biden that her agency would move ahead with transition proceedings, stating: “In the days ahead, transition officials will begin meeting with federal officials to discuss the pandemic response, have a full accounting of our national security interests, and gain complete understanding of the Trump administration’s efforts to hollow out government agencies.” Trump pledged to continue his legal challenge of election results, tweeting: “Our case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good fight, and I believe we will prevail! Nevertheless, in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily [Murphy] and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same” (compare Fox News, dated November 23, 2020).

In addition, Newsmax added on November 24:

“President Donald Trump is vowing to ‘never concede,’ the ‘most corrupt election in American political history’— despite the General Services Administration giving the go-ahead to Joe Biden to begin a transition to the White House. Trump’s remarks came in a late Monday night tweet. He wrote, ‘What does GSA being allowed to preliminarily work with the Dems have to do with continuing to pursue our various cases on what will go down as the most corrupt election in American political history? We are moving full speed ahead. Will never concede to fake ballots & “Dominion.’”

Newsmax wrote on November 24:

“Newsmax is naming Joe Biden the winner of Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania after those states officially certified their election results. Newsmax has not yet called the entirety of the 2020 presidential race for former vice president Joe Biden, but expects to make a determination shortly after reviewing legal challenges made by the Trump campaign.”

Voter Fraud in Pennsylvania?

 Breitbart wrote on November 25:

 “Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani appeared at a public hearing of Pennsylvania Republicans Wednesday to review his claims of voter fraud and election irregularities in the commonwealth… Several witnesses appeared in person to describe the voting irregularities they witnessed as they were prevented from meaningful access to the voting process… Other witnesses explained that thousands of ballots were counted in secret, as they were kept out of the room… Attorney Justin C. Kweder, a certified canvass observer… also raised concerns about more than 5,000 damaged mail-in ballots that were duplicated by poll workers.

“Other witnesses appeared via video teleconferencing to talk about their concerns with ‘illegal pre-canvassing,’ as Democrat counties contacted voters to help ‘cure’ their ballots so they would be counted… Giuliani also brought an election security specialist to talk about the voting systems in the United States. The expert questioned the anomaly of reporting spikes in the voting counts for Biden late in the evening as a ‘prime indicator of fraudulent voting.’ He claimed that there was a discrepancy of around 700,000 ballots between the number of mail-in ballots sent out and the mail-in ballots that were received. The audience laughed and gasped in shock as the expert noted a point when a spike of votes recorded in Pennsylvania had 600,000 votes for Biden and only 3,200 for Trump.

“President Trump called in to the hearing, appearing impressed by what he had heard from the witnesses. He vowed to fight the results of the election and thanked everyone present for sharing their testimonies. ‘We have to turn the election over, because there’s no doubt,’ Trump said. ‘We have all the evidence, we have all the affidavits, we have everything. All we need is to have some judge listen to it properly without having a political opinion or having another kind of a problem.’”

Where there is so much smoke, there got to be huge fires.

Trump said on Thursday he will leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for Joe Biden. The Electoral College is scheduled to make this decision on December 14, but it will only be publicly announced on January 6.

Trump Pardons Flynn

 Breitbart wrote on November 25:

 “President Donald Trump pardoned his former National Security Advisor, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (Ret.), on Wednesday… Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI. He later withdrew his plea as exculpatory evidence emerged…

 “After Flynn had taken up his position at the White House, Comey sent FBI agents to interview him there, advising him not to bring counsel. Notes suppressed by the FBI but later revealed indicated that the FBI agents had discussed whether their purpose was to have him fired, or prosecuted. Flynn was not told that he was being investigated. He was asked about his conversations with the Russian ambassador. Agents later reported that they did not believe he was lying to them.

 “However, after the contents of the surveillance intercepts were leaked to the Washington Post, Flynn was accused of having lied, both to the FBI and to Vice President Mike Pence, who had defended Flynn several weeks before. By the second week of February, Flynn was forced to resign… Flynn accepted a plea deal that required him to cooperate with the [Mueller] investigation, which he did; it later emerged that prosecutors had also pressured Flynn, ostensibly by threatening to prosecute his son as well…

 “The Department of Justice soon asked to drop the prosecution. But Judge Sullivan refused… [He] was accused of… waiting for a new administration to appoint new prosecutors to the case… [The pardon] was not the exoneration Flynn might have wanted, nor will it make him whole, or silence his critics, or restore faith in the justice system. But to millions of Americans, Flynn’s pardon is, at long last, the least he deserved.”

 What corruption galore!

“Trump Should Pardon Himself”

 Click Orlando wrote on November 25:

 “Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz said President Donald Trump should pardon himself and others in his administration before leaving office to prevent the ‘radical left’ from prosecuting them. Some Democrats have called on the incoming Biden administration to investigate Trump and other members of his administration for possible crimes such as conspiring with the Russians during the 2016 campaign, illegal campaign contributions and obstruction of justice…”

 It was pointed out by legal experts that even if a President can pardon himself legally [an open question which has not been addressed in the Constitution, nor has it ever been decided in courts], a pardon in this case would be “difficult” as Trump has not been convicted of anything. 

What If…?

The Ron Paul Institute wrote on November 24:

“If Joe Biden is successful in his fight for the White House, he will be bringing with him a foreign policy team that is responsible for some of the biggest and deadliest fiascos in the past quarter century.

“From the idiotic attack on Yugoslavia, to arming jihadists in Syria, to the murder of Libya and the Ukraine coup, the team of rabid interventionists readying themselves to return to power have left a scorched earth behind them.”

Putin Not Ready to Recognize Biden

Newsmax reported on November 22:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin said he… isn’t ready to recognize the election victory of Joe Biden. ‘We will work with anyone who has the confidence of the American people,’ Putin said on Russian state TV Sunday. ‘But that confidence can only be given to a candidate whose victory has been recognized by the opposing party, or after the results are confirmed in a legitimate, legal way.’

“The comments are some of the most detailed since the election from Putin, one of a dwindling number of leaders who haven’t recognized Biden as the next U.S. head of state… When asked if the move could damage U.S.-Russia relations, he said: ‘there’s nothing to damage, they’re already ruined.’”

A lone voice in the wilderness…

US Supreme Court Sides with Churches against Cuomo

CNN wrote on November 26:

“In a 5-4 ruling, the US Supreme Court sided with religious organizations in a dispute over Covid-19 restrictions put in place by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo limiting the number of people attending religious services… it highlights the impact of Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the court… In the late-night decision, Barrett sided with her conservative colleagues in the dispute, while [left-leaning] Chief Justice John Roberts joined the three liberal justices in dissent. Last spring and summer, before the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the court split 5-4 on similar cases out of California and Nevada, with Roberts and the liberals in the majority siding against houses of worship. Barrett was confirmed in October to take Ginsburg’s seat…

“In the main, unsigned opinion, the majority ruled in favor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Agudath Israel of America that argued that the restrictions violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment because the regulations treated the houses of worship more harshly than comparable secular facilities…

“Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote his own concurrence… to explain his vote. He said that other businesses such as bicycle repair shops, did not have similar restrictions. ‘So, at least according to the Governor, it may be unsafe to go to church, but it is always fine to pick up another bottle of wine’ or ‘shop for a new bike,’ Gorsuch wrote…”

With Barrett on the Court, preventing Roberts to cast a “decisive vote,” future decisions might have a different outcome. 

Air Force Sends Bombers to Middle East

KFYR wrote on November 21:

 “B-52 Stratofortress crews assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base conducted a ‘short-notice, long-range mission’ in the Middle East Saturday, according to U.S. Central Command… the mission was intended to ‘deter aggression and reassure U.S. partners and allies.’… the bombers integrated with at least four other national defense elements.

“It’s unclear how many aircraft or crew members from Minot were involved in the mission… the last U.S. long-range bomber presence in the Middle East took place earlier this year. Minot Air Force Base is one of two military installations in the United States that houses the B-52s, the other being Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.”

 Just a “routine” exercise… or more?

The Times of Israel added on November 23:

“The United States this week rapidly deployed several heavy [B-52] bombers to the Middle East this week in an apparent threat to Iran, amid swirling speculation that US President Donald Trump plans to take military action against Tehran before President-elect Joe Biden enters office… The bombers were accompanied on the mission by F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, as well as KC-10 and KC-135 refueling planes…”

Storming of the Temple Mount?

Israel 365 wrote on November 23:

“Wafa News and other Palestinian news sources reported that former Likud Knesset Member Rabbi Yehudah Glick had ‘stormed’ Al Aqsa Mosque located on the Temple Mount… Among the offenses listed was the police allowing Jews to visit the site for an extra half-hour on Sunday, from 12:30-2:00 instead of limiting Jewish visitation to the site until 1:30. The Palestinian authorities also accused 28 Jews of breaking into the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Jews are expressly forbidden from entering the Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock located in the Temple Mount Compound…

“Rabbi Glick, the man accused of ‘storming’ Al-Aqsa, was surprised to hear of his alleged exploits. ‘I “storm” the Temple Mount every Sunday,’ Rabbi Glick told Israel365News. ‘I don’t know why the Arab media thought yesterday was different. Everyone is welcome to join me in “storming” the Temple Mount.’

“Rabbi Glick has been misidentified in the past by the left-wing media as ‘the most dangerous man in the Middle East’ due to his advocating universal rights to pray at the Temple Mount. In 2014, Rabbi Glick survived an assassination attempt by a Palestinian who shot the rabbi four times at close range. ‘Sunday was one of the quietest, most pleasant days on the Temple Mount,’ Rabbi Glick said…

“This month, a prominent Saudi journalist published an article in which he dispelled the claim that the mosque on the Temple Mount is the Al Aqsa Mosque described in the Koran. Rabbi Glick founded the Shalom Jerusalem Organization to ‘redeem the Temple Mount from the Muslim demands for exclusive rights there, ensuring that all religions enjoy total freedom of access to and worship on the Mount, in order to turn the Mount into the prophetic House of Prayer for All Nations and pave the road for the rebuilding of the Third Temple.’”

 A third Temple will be built in Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount before Christ returns.

The Pope’s Strange Ideas

The Sun wrote on November 23:

“Pope Francis appears to compare President Donald Trump’s rallies to Hitler’s and praised Black Lives Matter reforms in his new book. In the pope’s 150-page book, set to be released on December 1, he supports demands for racial justice in the wake of Floyd’s police murder last May. He also blasted Covid skeptics and the news media that spread conspiracies in the book, which was penned during the Vatican’s coronavirus lockdown.

“In parts of Let Us Dream, it appears as though Francis is directing a message directly [to] the United States. Without identifying the US or Trump by name, Francis singled out Christian-majority countries where nationalist-populist leaders seek to defend Christianity from perceived enemies. ‘Today, listening to some of the populist leaders we now have, I am reminded of the 1930s, when some democracies collapsed into dictatorships seemingly overnight,’ Francis writes in his book. ‘We see it happening again now in rallies where populist leaders excite and harangue crowds, channeling their resentments and hatreds against imagined enemies to distract from the real problems.’…

“Francis also touched upon the pandemic and blasted people who have protested lockdown restrictions. He blasted those people ‘as if measures that governments must impose for the good of their people constitute some kind of political assault on autonomy or personal freedom!’

“[He also related] the respiratory infection that nearly killed him when he was 21… After being saved, Francis decided to join the Jesuit religious order. [He also spoke about] the nearly two years he spent in exile in Cordoba, northern Argentina, as penance for his authoritarian-laced reign as head of the Jesuit order in the country….

“But he also revealed that [while in Exile] he read a 37-volume of the ‘History of the Popes.’ ‘Once you know that papal history, there’s not that much that goes on in the Vatican Curia and the church today that can shock you,’ he wrote.”

Indeed. It’s truly a corrupt church, and the Jesuits, too, have a lot to answer for.

What They do NOT Tell You about Covid

Daily Mail wrote on November 20:

“How accurate were the Government’s grim predictions? The short answer is: not very. In a July report commissioned by Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, scientists estimated that there could be 119,000 deaths if a second spike coincided with a peak of winter flu. Yesterday, that figure stood at 54,286 – less than half that… In mid-September, Sir Patrick made the terrifying claim that the UK could see 50,000 new coronavirus cases a day by mid-October unless more draconian restrictions were introduced. Yet we have never got near that figure.

“What about its prophecies on deaths? Ditto. Its warnings simply don’t bear any relation to reality. During the ‘Halloween horror show’ press conference used by Sir Patrick and Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty to scare the Government into implementing a second lockdown, one of their slides suggested that daily Covid-19 deaths could reach 4,000 a day by December. With ten days to go, we’re still at less than 15 per cent of that figure… the current death rate is significantly below almost every modelled winter scenario.

“Are hospitals close to full capacity? The answer is ‘no’ – contrary to what the Government experts would have you think after they last month published a chart that gave the impression that hospitals were close to overflowing, when at least half didn’t have a single Covid-19 patient. Currently, only 13 per cent of NHS beds are occupied by patients with Covid-19. On Monday this week, 16,271 hospitals beds across the UK were taken up with patients who had tested positive for Covid-19. This did show a steady rise from the previous Monday, when there were 14,279 patients with Covid. But to put this figure into perspective, the NHS in England had 101,255 general and acute beds available in March of this year plus 15,392 in Scotland and 10,563 in Wales.

“How does it compare with last year? Remarkably… the number of NHS England beds currently occupied is lower than last year’s average. On November 5, the most recent date available, there were actually 1,293 fewer patients in hospital beds than last year’s November average…

“So who is Covid-19 killing? To put it simply, the victims are overwhelmingly the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions. Of the 37,470 Covid-19 deaths recorded by NHS England up to November 18, 53.7 percent were of people aged over 80. In comparison, there have been just 275 deaths (only 0.7 per cent of the total) in people under 40. And crucially, those who have died from Covid-19 are overwhelmingly likely to have suffered from a pre-existing condition. Of those who have died from coronavirus, 35,806 people (95.6 per cent of the total) had at least one pre-existing serious medical condition. In fact, there have been just 42 deaths of people aged under 40 without a pre-existing condition…

“Are more dying now than in the first wave? No. The number of Covid-19 deaths is significantly lower than the peak in April… On April 21, for example, there were 1,224 Covid-19 deaths, and a daily average for the week of 838. Yesterday, 511 new deaths were reported.

“Are more dying now than last year? Despite what the fear-mongers would have you think, deaths are not far above average for this time of year…

“Surely more elderly people are dying than normal? It doesn’t look like it. According to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures – for October 2020 – in spite of all the Covid-19 deaths, the average death rate in the over-75s was significantly lower this year than it was last October – 6,901.7 per 100,000 people, compared with 7141.7 for last year.

“But isn’t the infection rate now going up? The latest ONS estimate shows that in the week ending November 14, new infections were already levelling off: one in 80 people in England had the disease that week, compared with 1 in 85 the week before. And it could now be falling: according to research published this week by scientists at Cambridge University – whose data is used by the Government’s Sage advisory group – infection rates of Covid-19 have actually stopped growing across England… the infection rate is actually highest in school-age children and students – the least vulnerable demographics – and lowest among the over 70s.  In the week to November 14, the infection rate among secondary school pupils was 2.03 per cent, while in those over 70 it was just 0.48 per cent and falling…”

We dare to say that the same development can be seen in other countries as well, including in the USA. However, the British government’s response to the article was swift… and appalling. Note the next article.

British Government Fires Back.. but It Backfired

Daily Mail wrote on November 22: “Big Brother fury as the government uses Twitter as a propaganda tool to attack the Mail’s coronavirus analysis… last night a post on the [Health] department’s Twitter account declared: ‘This article is misleading. This is a global pandemic – national restrictions have been introduced to keep people safe and save lives. It is vital people follow the rules and continue to stay at home so we can bring the transmission rates back down and get back to normality.’

“Last night, leading Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith rebuked the Department of Health – telling it to get on with its job of looking after people’s health and stop criticising newspapers. The former Tory leader praised the Daily Mail report as ‘good journalism’ and said it was right to look beneath the official figures which ‘ultimately do not help the public understand the nature of the disease.’ He said: ‘The Daily Mail is right to highlight the problems with the [official] figures that are being produced. It’s what good journalism is about…’

“Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the Tories 1922 backbench committee, signalled that it was not the Department of Health’s job to stifle debate on tackling the virus. ‘Our British tradition is that the people tell government what it can do – not the other way round,’ he said. ‘It’s essential that we have an open, national debate about the best way to tackle Covid-19 and everybody should be free to contribute to that.’

“Meanwhile, the Department of Health came under fire itself on Twitter last night. Ex-England footballer Matt le Tissier wrote: ‘Slightly desperate sounding tweet’. Carol McGiffin, of ITV’s Loose Women tweeted: ‘How? Exactly? No it IS NOT a global pandemic. It has nothing at all to do with ‘keeping people safe and saving lives’ and you know it?!!!’… Talk Radio presenter Mike Graham said: ‘Why is it misleading?…’”

It is incredible and disgusting how arrogant governments all over the world are trying to suppress the voices of those who dare to disagree with the “official” position.

“Freedom Passes” in the UK

Breitbart wrote on November 22:

“The British government will reportedly introduce ‘freedom passes’… for those who have two negative coronavirus tests per week. The government is also working with passport manufacturers to create coronavirus certificates for those that can prove they are free of the virus, according to The Telegraph.

“The immunity certificate would be stored on people’s phones after they receive a letter, card, or document from the government on testing negative for the virus. It is thought that the pass will permit Britons to see members of their families, which is largely banned at the moment, as well as being able to travel without a mask…

“It is not clear at the time of this reporting whether the government will be handing out the ‘freedom passes’ to those who have been vaccinated… Factories and workplaces across the country will be subject to mass testing… It is possible that the military may carry out testing…

“The government will likely need the support of the left-wing Labour Party to pass the measure through Parliament, as a group of 70 Tory MPs has threatened to vote against the restrictions. In a letter to Mr Johnson, the anti-lockdown Covid Recovery Group of Conservative MPs demanded that the government reveal the economic damage that further lockdowns would incur… It is likely that the measures would pass through Parliament, however, as the Labour Party has consistently favoured harsher restrictions on the British public.”

The same is true for the USA where it is mainly left-wing Democrats who insist on harsher restrictions. The name for the passes is telling. If you have them, you are “free”… if not, you remain a slave and a captive?

“Gavin Newsom the Hypocrite Punishes Californians with Curfew”

The Washington Times wrote on November 22:

“Show the governor in a bad light — and you will pay. That’s the message sent Californians’ way after a photo that outed Gov. Gavin Newsom as a face mask-less, non-social distancing partying hypocrite surfaced, and shortly after, he ordered state residents to obey a curfew… It’s hard to see how this is scientific. It’s hard to see how this order comes by way of consideration of the real, true, accurate dangers of the coronavirus — and not as a petty toddler tantrum reaction to being shown a hypocrite.

“That’s right; Newsom is a hypocrite. Just a few days ago, a photo showed he and his wife dined in the cushy French Laundry restaurant with several friends and acquaintances — and lobbyists — in celebration of the 50th birthday of political adviser Jason Kinney. In midst of his scolding California residents to social distance, wear face masks, stay home when possible. In midst of his canceling of Thanksgiving — or, more to point, his order to residents to stay home for Thanksgiving and give up the normal family gatherings…

“That’s what hypocrites do — place demands upon others that they themselves refuse to abide. This is not the way of good governance. This is not the way of good leadership.

“In America, the people are the bosses, the governing officials the employees, and the Constitution the rule of law that’s supposed to be equally applied. The first rule of leadership is to lead by example, not dictate. Newsom, like too many in today’s coronavirus times, falls far short of that rule. It’s high time for citizens to demand accountability and insist public servants follow the same rules they create for others…

“A government of separate and unequally applied standards is not a republic. It’s a dictatorship. And far too many governors are using the coronavirus as cause to dictate.”

Sadly, so true. Such vindictive hypocrisy!

More Hypocrites

Breitbart wrote on November 23:

“Denver Mayor Michael Hancock (D) is flying to Mississippi to spend Thanksgiving with his family despite advising residents against traveling for the holidays if possible as part of an effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus. His spokeswoman confirmed that Hancock was traveling to Houston Wednesday to visit his daughter in Mississippi, and that his wife is already there. About 30 minutes before the flight, Hancock’s account tweeted out to ‘avoid travel, if you can’ in order to slow the spread of COVID-19… an email to city employee obtained by 9News, shows Hancock advised: ‘[A]s the holidays approach, we all long to be with our families with [sic] person, but with the continued rise in cases, I’m urging you to refrain from travel this Thanksgiving holiday. For my family that means cancelling our traditional gathering of our extended family.’

“Hancock’s decision to ignore his own travel advice comes after Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called off Thanksgiving plans with his 89-year-old mother and two of his daughters after strong backlash. In recent days, Cuomo has urged New Yorkers to  ‘stay away’ from their loved ones during the holidays.”

This is incredible and SO appallingly hypocritical! Where is this country heading with such kind of “leadership”?

Covid-9 rate in Oregon Way Overblown

FM News 101 kxl reported on November 20:

“The covid-19 positivity rate in Oregon could actually be about half of what officials thought it was. The Oregon Health Authority now says the rate is about seven percent. They were saying it was about 13 percent… the OHA admits the virus numbers have not been accurate. Until now, people were testing negative more than once, and only their first result was counted. The state is now tracking the total number of tests taken, including all test results, which lowers the positivity rate. That rate is one of the metrics that decides if schools should be open and if businesses should close.”

However, that does not fit into the paradigm of Oregon’s governor. Note the next article.

You Tell on People? Shame on You!

Breitbart wrote on November 23:

“Not only is Gov. Kate Brown (D-OR) instituting an utterly pointless six-person limit on at-home get-togethers during Thanksgiving week, she’s calling on Oregon residents to snitch on one another if the six-person limit is violated… if you call the police on them, you are not being a good citizen, you are being a rat, a snitch, a tattletale, a jerk, and un-American. Shame on you forever.

“People have the right to do whatever they want in their own homes, and the Constitution declaratively goes out of its way to protect the right to peaceably assemble, and that includes over turkey and dressing…

“Another story has revealed the human cost of lockdown as video footage revealed the moment a great-great-grandmother with dementia living in a care home was told she couldn’t hug her daughter… Man, you’d have to be a real scumbag, a born and bred authoritarian, to snitch on a neighbor because he invited over one too many aunts. Your neighbor did nothing to harm you, and you’re turning him into the Democrat-run Stasi, setting him up for 30 days in jail, a $1,250 fines or both…

“Governor Stalin is illegally imposing these lockdowns and bans (you can’t eat out, can’t go to the gym, etc.) by way of an executive order. The Marion County Sheriff basically said he won’t enforce any of this. ‘We recognize that we cannot arrest or enforce our way out of the pandemic, and we believe both are counterproductive to public health goals,’ he said in a statement.

“Now that’s a great American.”

Demonstrations in Germany

RT wrote on November 22:

“German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has hit out at protesters who compared their struggle against restrictions to the struggle of the anti-Nazi resistance, accusing them of ‘trivializing’ the Holocaust. ‘Anyone who compares themselves to Sophie Scholl or Anne Frank today is mocking the courage it took to take a stand against Nazis,’ Maas tweeted on Sunday.  ‘It trivialises the Holocaust and shows an unbearable ignorance of history. Nothing connects the corona protests with the resistance fighters. Nothing!’

“Maas’ outburst came a day after a woman in Hanover spoke at a protest against coronavirus restrictions, telling the crowd that she felt ‘just like Sophie Scholl’, a student sent to the guillotine by the Nazi regime in 1943 for distributing anti-war leaflets in Munich. At a demonstration in the city of Karlsruhe last weekend, an 11-year-old caused uproar when she compared her lockdown-defying birthday party to Anne Frank’s life of hiding from Hitler’s forces in occupied Amsterdam.

“Germany… went into a new partial lockdown on November 2. Restaurants, bars, theaters, cinemas, and gyms have been forced to close for a month, with private gatherings limited to 10 people from no more than two households…

“Protests against the partial lockdown have broken out in cities across the country, with some gatherings drawing counter-protesters and police deploying tear gas and water cannons. Germany still struggles to atone for its Nazi past, and criminalizes Holocaust denial and National Socialist symbols and insignia. Yet politicians and activists there are apparently as keen as anywhere else to fling Nazi comparisons at their opponents, particularly as the government limits liberty in the name of fighting the coronavirus.

“The right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has compared Merkel’s new lockdown-enabling Infection Protection Law to the 1933 Enabling Act, which granted Adolf Hitler the power to rule by decree. Anti-vax protesters have used Nazi-era Stars of David at their demos, while left-wing counter-protesters [in an article of November 21, RT described them as “Antifa members”] have marched against the ‘Corona deniers and Nazi pigs’ on the sceptics’ side. Maas has been busy sniping at anyone making such comparisons. Shortly after the AfD compared the lockdown legislation to the Nazi-era Enabling Act, he tweeted that ‘whoever makes such opprobrious comparisons mocks the victims of National Socialism and shows that he learns nothing from history.’”

Propaganda and unsubstantiated accusations don’t destroy the facts. What is happening in Germany, under the disguise of protecting the German population, is horrifying. The frightening thing is that most Germans, IF you can believe the published polls, are in favor of such drastic and draconian governmental restrictions.

How Germany Wants to “Save” Christmas

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 23:

“German state premiers have agreed on new coronavirus lockdown measures for December and probably January. They also include a mini-amnesty over the Christmas period, from December 23 to January 1…

“The restrictions imposed this November are set for an extension for at least three weeks, until December 20.  Hotels, restaurants and gyms will remain closed. People should stay at home as much as possible, avoiding unnecessary travel and contact. Private gatherings will be limited to members of two households and up to five people…

“Christmas exemptions [to] apply from December 23 to January 1: Meetings involving people from more than two households to be permitted. Maximum of five may be increased to 10 people (under-14s still exempt). Afterwards, people will be encouraged to voluntarily self-isolate for several days. Churches may be permitted to conduct festive ceremonies — aiming to avoid typical, larger services.”

How does this make any sense???

New Controversial Coronavirus Measures in Germany

 Deutsche Welle wrote on November 26:

 “New coronavirus measures in Germany will last until at least January, Angela Merkel has told lawmakers in the German Parliament [on Thursday]. A Christmas amnesty cannot be guaranteed… The speech in Parliament came after new restrictions were agreed during a seven-hour meeting with Germany’s 16 state premiers… If things go well, the rules will be relaxed slightly between December 23 to January 1 for the celebration of Christmas. Up to 10 people are to be allowed to meet, with children aged 14 and under exempt from the limit. Restaurants and bars will still be required to stay closed over the holiday period. People are urged to voluntarily self-isolate before and after holiday gatherings…

“After the speech, Beatrix von Storch, deputy leader of the AfD’s parliamentary party, told DW that the new laws were too onerous, and claimed that they were in breach of the constitution. ‘They are shutting down businesses, they are forcing people to stay home, they are forcing people to stay under quarantine. They are forcing people to wear masks… We can sit in the parliament, 1.5 meters apart from one-and-other, without a mask. And at the same time we ask people to wear a mask when they go shopping. We tell the people they can’t meet at home with more than 10 people, … but if you want to meet all your friends then go to a public bus. … There you can meet your friends.’

“The leader of the Left party in Parliament, Dietmar Bartsch, claimed the Chancellor and State Premiers were ‘not legitimized’ to intervene in basic rights. Business-friendly FDP faction leader Christian Lindner accused the government of setting the wrong agenda, saying it was relying on broad measures to prevent a spillover to vulnerable groups.”

Opposition was also expressed from a member of Parliament of Merkel’s own party. The German government has set the date of September 26, 2021 for new elections, which will determine who will succeed Merkel as the next German chancellor [assuming Merkel will not run again, as she had promised.]

“Lockdowns Greatest Policy Error in this Generation”

The Ron Paul Institute published the following article on November 21:

“Lockdowns are back on in Europe and are making a quick comeback in the US as well. Spain, the UK, Belgium, and France are back in full lockdown mode, although a multitude of restrictions on movement within each country remained in place even when full lockdowns were ended over the summer… Moreover, eastern Europe… is quickly finding that lockdowns aren’t likely to suppress total deaths there, either…

“… politicians and their allies in the ‘public health’ bureaucracies insisted that lockdowns would substantially reduce total deaths in countries that imposed them. Countries that failed to lock down would, on the other hand, experience runaway contagion with total Covid deaths per million orders of magnitude higher than those seen in countries that didn’t lock down. That’s not what happened.

“As early as July, studies were already beginning to show that lockdowns didn’t actually suppress total mortality. This one in The Lancet, for example, concludes [that] government actions such as border closures, full lockdowns, and a high rate of COVID-19 testing were not associated with statistically significant reductions in the number of critical cases or overall mortality.

“And in 2006, an extensive study in Biosecurity and Bioterrorism reported: ‘There are no historical observations or scientific studies that support the confinement by quarantine of groups of possibly infected people for extended periods’ to slow the spread of influenza. No evidence has been offered for why this might be true of flu, but not true of Covid. Moreover, in a recent report from JPMorgan, Marko Kolanovic concluded that ‘re-opening did not change the course of the pandemic’ and that “While we often hear that lockdowns are driven by scientific models, and that there is an exact relationship between the level of economic activity and the spread of [the] virus—this is not supported by the data.’ Overall, evidence backing the lockdown theory has simply failed to materialize.

“Dr. Gilbert Berdine [said:] ‘The data suggest that lockdowns have not prevented any deaths from covid-19. At best, lockdowns have deferred death for a short time, but they cannot possibly be continued for the long term.’ This, of course, is why even the WHO does not recommend lockdowns except as a very short term and ad hoc measure. The side effects of the lockdowns themselves are too dangerous.

“We already know that isolation, unemployment, and other social ills caused by lockdowns affect both physical and mental health. But we also know that lockdowns lead to deaths from untreated medical conditions. Moreover, government health experts in many cases have callously cut off the elderly from all their social and family support. The Associated Press estimates that for ‘every two COVID-19 victims in long-term care, there is another who died prematurely of other causes.’ Many of these deaths are brought on by neglect and isolation caused by state-mandated lockdown policies..

“After taking the unprecedented economic depression into account, history will likely judge these lockdowns to be the greatest policy error of this generation.”

But millions upon millions of people have suffered from the lockdowns in the meantime, with people dying or their livelihood being destroyed. Those responsible for such suffering WILL have to give account to God for their actions.

Beware of Side Effects!

MSNBC wrote on November 23:

“The CDC must be transparent about the side effects people may experience after getting their first shot of a coronavirus vaccine, doctors urged during a meeting Monday with CDC advisors. Dr. Sandra Fryhofer said that both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines require two doses and she worries whether her patients will come back for a second dose because of potentially unpleasant side effects after the first shot. Both companies acknowledged that their vaccines could induce side effects that are similar to symptoms associated with mild Covid-19, such as muscle pain, chills and headache… ‘We really need to make patients aware that this is not going to be a walk in the park,’ Fryhofer said… ‘They are going to know they had a vaccine. They are probably not going to feel wonderful. But they’ve got to come back for that second dose.’…

“Participants in Moderna and Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine trials told CNBC in September that they were experiencing high fever, body aches, bad headaches, daylong exhaustion and other symptoms after receiving the shots… One North Carolina woman in the Moderna study who is in her 50s said she… suffered a bad migraine that left her drained for a day and unable to focus…

“During the meeting on Monday, Patsy Stinchfield, a Children’s Minnesota nurse practitioner, said officials and drugmakers could try talking about the side effects in a more positive way… ‘These are immune responses,’ said Stinchfield…”

Interesting. Present serious side effects as positive immune responses. Or to put it differently: Explain why healthy people become sick when they take the vaccine.

No Vaccination Mandate? Think Again!

The Sun wrote on November 23:

“AUSTRALIAN airline Qantas will require travelers on international flights to have had the coronavirus vaccine once an inoculation is ready, CEO Alan Joyce said. He told Australian news programme A Current Affair: ‘Whether you need that domestically, we’ll have to see what happens with COVID-19 in the market, but certainly for international visitors coming out and people leaving the country, we think that’s a necessity.’ Other airlines are likely to impose similar requirements once health regulators around the world approve a vaccine, according to Joyce.

“He said the policies could be enforced by providing travelers with a digital ‘vaccination passport’ that shows what vaccine they’ve received and whether it’s ‘acceptable to the country you’re traveling to.’ He added: ‘I’m talking to my colleagues in other airlines around the globe and I think it’s going to be a common theme across the board. There’s a lot of logistics, a lot of technology that’ll be needed to put in place to make this happen, but the airlines and the governments are working on this as we speak.’”

The Associated Press wrote on November 24:

“South Korea’s largest airline has a similar message. Jill Chung, a spokesperson for Korean Air, said Tuesday there’s a real possibility that airlines will require that passengers be vaccinated. She said that’s because governments are likely to require vaccinations as a condition for lifting quarantine requirements for new arrivals… Air New Zealand echoed Chung’s position.”

We knew this was coming! Big Brother’s dictatorships continue.

Megafloods on Ancient Mars?

New Atlas wrote on November 22:

“Mars may be incredibly dry and dusty today, but evidence continues to pile up that it was once a very watery world. Now the Curiosity rover has found signs of an ancient flood of biblical proportions, most likely kicked off by a climate-changing asteroid impact. Apart from a few super salty underground lakes, modern Mars is a global desert. But that wasn’t always the case – decades of observations by orbiters in the sky and rovers on the surface have revealed the dried-up remains of rivers, lakes, and even oceans…

“In the new study, researchers from Jackson State University, Cornell, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Hawaii identified sediment structures in Gale crater indicating that megafloods occurred there around 4 billion years ago.

“Alberto G. Fairén, co-author of the study [said:] ‘The planet had the conditions needed to support the presence of liquid water on the surface – and on Earth, where there’s water, there’s life. So early Mars was a habitable planet. Was it inhabited? That’s a question that the next rover Perseverance will help to answer.”

What we know from the Bible is that God created in the beginning the heavens (the universe) and the earth, and that due to catastrophes, the earth became void and empty. The assumption is that the universe was also not created in a waste and empty state, which it is in today, but that it became that way due to similar catastrophes. For more information, please read our free booklets, “The Theory of Evolution” and “Heavens and Earth.. Before and After the First Man!”

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

In the previous parts of this series, we began to discuss the concept taught by the Roman Catholic church that the “immortal souls” of departed ones may be in Hell or Purgatory, and that “indulgences” or prayers for the dead can allegedly remove, partially (“plenary”) or completely (“in full”), punishment for sin, so that their souls can be freed from Purgatory or even Hell to go to Heaven. In order to answer the question regarding indulgences, we reviewed, among other questions, related issues such as the fact that we do not have an immortal soul; that we neither go to Heaven (where we, as immortal saints in Heaven, could allegedly receive prayers from the living and intervene on their behalf), nor do we go to Hell (as defined by orthodox Christianity) or Purgatory when we die.

We also discussed the spirit in man and showed that it is not just another concept for an immortal soul; but that the spirit in man has no consciousness when a person dies. We then began to review the Roman Catholic church’s teaching on Purgatory and showed why this concept is wrong.

With this background, we will now discuss in much detail the Roman Catholic church’s teaching on indulgences.

Indulgences are required, according to Catholic tradition and theology, to ensure that help and assistance is given in Purgatory, a place that doesn’t exist and has no validity from Scripture, so that humans can go to Heaven which Scripture clearly shows is not the place for the dead, nor is Hell, as commonly understood in orthodox Christianity! However, understanding the mind of man at work in setting up an elaborate and unnecessary system in an apostate church, which it has been throughout its existence and which it will continue to be at the end of this age, the enemy of true Christians, helps us to realise where many of our future problems will emanate.

To better understand the concept of indulgences, we should point out that it applies in at least three different ways: It addresses those who are in “Purgatory” (or “Hell”) and for whom prayers and “indulgences” (see below) are given by the living or the “saints in Heaven”, so that they can be freed from Purgatory (or Hell); and it can apply to people in this life who give indulgences (for themselves) so that they do not have to suffer in Purgatory (or Hell) for as long as they otherwise would have to.

On the website https://www.aboutcatholics.com/beliefs/indulgences/ we read the following:

“The History of Indulgences

 “Indulgences have a controversial place in the history of the Catholic Church. The buying and selling of indulgences is what helped to launch the Reformation.

 “Indulgences began in about the ninth century A.D. as a means to substitute a set of tasks for a difficult to fulfill penance. Since the time of the early Church, penance for sins was usually long, difficult, and severe. Someone might do penance for years. So sometimes praying a particular prayer or performing an act of piety could substitute for a penance altogether or take some time off the assigned penance. This type of practice created a sort of Church currency by which people could exchange a difficult penance for a calculated number of prayers or alms. Indulgences showed the mercy of God, exercised through the authority of the Church.”

It is interesting to read that “people could exchange a difficult penance for a calculated number of prayers or alms.” We read in Matthew 7:13-14: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Those who are looking for an easier way out are not those who expect to live a difficult way of life because of the opposition to the true Way of God.  It is a reduced “opt-out” clause which cannot be sanctioned by the correct reading of Scripture!

Christ asks the timeless question, in Matthew 16:26: “… what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” The answer is, he cannot buy himself or others out of their destiny. David adds: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require… I delight in Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:6, 8). In Psalm 51:16-17, we read: “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, you will not despise.” Again, the thought is conveyed that one cannot buy himself or others out of punishment by giving God (or the church) money or “sacrifices.”

“During the Crusades under Pope Urban II (1088-1099) Christians who could not participate in the Crusades personally could do so vicariously by almsgiving. Those who personally took part received a plenary indulgence upon death.

“In 1343 Pope Clement VI officially sanctioned the view that Christ had left the Church a treasury of satisfactions that Church officials could dispense (an indulgence) for the remission of the temporal punishment due to sin. By this point indulgences usually were associated with time in Purgatory rather than public penance on earth. One obtained an indulgence, usually granted by the Pope, by performing some good work, sometimes a donation of money. Official doctrine always required internal repentance by the recipient, even if the practice of donating money was often abused.”

Our good works do not save us from death, nor do they abolish punishment. Eternal life is a gift from God—we do not receive it because of our works—and punishment for sin (eternal death or physical consequences because of sin) can be mitigated or avoided upon deep and sincere repentance of the wrong which we might have done.

There is no biblical evidence “that Christ had left the Church a treasury of satisfactions that Church officials could dispense (an indulgence) for the remission of the temporal punishment due to sin.”  This is simply the Catholic church taking to itself power that it has not received in the first place and Scripture has to be manipulated to make this an official doctrine.

“The Controversy Surrounding Indulgences

“Martin Luther objected to indulgences because the common practice of his day did not fit well with his view that good works could not take away the punishment due to sin. Indulgences also set up the Church as a mediator of God’s grace, a role that Martin Luther thought the Church could not and should not play. Furthermore, although Catholics would disagree with Martin Luther’s theology, it is undeniable that abuses were occurring at the time.

“With the abuses of indulgences in his day, often the only thing that was officially preached by Church leaders was offering indulgences in exchange for making a donation to the church. Often there was little emphasis on Christ’s sacrifice and the forgiveness of sin which only comes from God. Luther did not initially seek to strike down indulgences altogether (although by the end of his theological career he was entirely against indulgences), but he challenged the common practice at the time.

“The practice of trading indulgences for money wrongly de-emphasizes the need for interior conversion and repentance. Although donating money is a pious action, it is easy to see how this practice devolved into people believing they could buy their way out of Purgatory.”

It is true that ONLY the supreme Sacrifice of Jesus Christ can free us from eternal death, upon our repentance and belief in His Sacrifice. In addition, donating money is not necessarily a pious action; it can be given for personal enhancement.  People could not buy their way out of a place that didn’t exist in the first place (Purgatory), but it helped the finances of the church, a very rich church, to increase their wealth through an unproved and unscriptural way.

“The Council of Trent, which was held to respond to the challenges of the Reformation, addressed indulgences. The Council affirmed that the Church has the right and the power to grant indulgences. However, the Council agreed with the Protestant reformers that there were many abuses surrounding indulgences that needed to be corrected.”

The concept that “The Council affirmed that the Church has the right and the power to grant indulgences” shows that this was a self-serving council who either had no real biblical knowledge or were complicit in deceiving their membership. No wonder they didn’t want the Bible to be available to the masses, in English or in any other “common” language spoken and understood by the people, as their fraud could have been discovered by those with sufficient learning at that time. It is abhorrent, but true, to realize that the Catholic church FORBADE their members to possess or read the Bible and that even today, Catholic priests do not have to study the Bible to become priests.

“Later History of Indulgences

“Pope Paul VI changed the norms around indulgences by seeking to eliminate the commercial aspect they had acquired over the centuries. He described it as a treasury of merits. Indulgences are now designed to spur Christians to spiritual tasks such as devotion, penance, and charity.”

The concept of “penance” is another false idea. The Bible does not speak of penance, but of repentance. It does not require certain actions–such as going on a pilgrimage—but a change of heart and mind—a deep recognition as to how wrong one has been and has acted, and to acquire a new heart, to leave the false way behind and to go the Way of God.

We then read about the types of indulgences from this same website.

“A partial indulgence removes part of the temporal punishment due to sin.

“Some ways to gain a partial indulgence are by

     “Praying the Magnificat or Hail, Holy Queen;

     “Praying the Acts of Faith, Hope, and Love, and the Creed;

     “Making the sign of the cross;

     “Visiting the Blessed Sacrament; or

     “Visiting a cemetery.

“A plenary indulgence removes all temporal punishment due to sin.

“The conditions for a plenary indulgence are

     “Receive the sacrament of Reconciliation;

     “Receive Holy Communion; and

     “Say a prayer for the Pope. 

“Some ways to gain a plenary indulgence are through 

     “Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for at least one-half hour;

     “Reading Scripture for at least one-half hour;

     “Reciting the Way of the Cross; or

     “Praying the rosary in a church or with a family group or religious community.

“There may be other ways not listed here that the pope or a local bishop could authorize as a means to gain a partial or plenary indulgence. Often plenary indulgences are attached to actions Catholics can do appropriate to particular feast days.

“Note that the ways to obtain an indulgence all involve prayer or an act of piety. This is because our sins hurt the world, and our prayers can help the world heal from the hurt our sins cause.”

When you read some of the requirements as above, it would be humorous if it were not so serious! Making the sign of the cross, visiting a cemetery, saying a prayer for the pope, reading Scripture for at least one-half hour, praying the rosary, plus much more! All made up from the mind of man – and no Scriptural references whatsoever. In addition, many of the concepts associated with the way as to how to obtain indulgences are blatantly blasphemous—such as praying to Mary, “the holy Queen” (whereas the true Mary, the mother of Jesus, is dead and in her grave).

There was a comment from someone who had read all of these “rules and regulations” as above, who wrote:

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). Only God can forgive sin, and only by his grace through Jesus Christ – nothing that we can do. Making up all these rules to ‘pray this’ and ‘read scripture for at least a half hour’ makes a mockery of the free gift that Jesus gives.”

We will address the concept of the removal of “temporal” punishment below.

On the website: https://www.catholic.com/tract/myths-about-indulgences we can read about a number of myths that the Catholic church address. We will quote just a few of these.

“Myth 1: A person can buy his way out of hell with indulgences.

“Since indulgences remit only temporal penalties, they cannot remit the eternal penalty of hell. Once a person is in hell, no amount of indulgences will ever change that fact. The only way to avoid hell is by appealing to God’s eternal mercy while still alive. After death, one’s eternal fate is set (Heb. 9:27).”

Again, we see that the Catholics believe that people go to hell which we have proved by our many writings over many years is not a biblical concept.

In addition, it is not true that when a person dies, his or her fate is sealed. This is only correct for those who died in Christ (as true Christians)—they will be resurrected to eternal life in the Kingdom and Family of God—and for those who have committed the unpardonable sin. They will be cast in the Third Resurrection into the lake of fire, to be burned up. The parable of Lazarus and the rich man shows that at that time, nothing can be done to change that fate; no amount of prayers or indulgences will save the unrepentant sinner from total annihilation.  But for those who were not called in this life and who did not commit the unpardonable sin, they will be resurrected to a physical existence in the Second Resurrection, and then they can determine their fate—whether they are willing to live God’s Way of Life, or whether they are willing to die the eternal death. But again, indulgences won’t help them in regard to their fate.

“Myth 3: A Person can ‘buy forgiveness’ with Indulgences

“The definition of indulgences presupposes that forgiveness has already taken place: ‘An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven’ (Indulgentarium Doctrina 1, emphasis added). Indulgences in no way forgive sins. They deal only with punishments left after sins have been forgiven.”

The belief is that indulgences can be for people still alive and who are “in purgatory,” neither of which have any Scriptural support.

When the Catholic church speaks of “temporal” punishment, they mean the time of torture in Purgatory. This concept is blatantly false and blasphemous. But it is true, of course, that sins can have physical consequences. We discuss this in great length in our free booklet, “Punishment for Our Sins.” A person who drinks and drives might have an accident and lose a leg. His sin will be forgiven upon true repentance, but the physical consequence—the lost leg—is something he will have to live with, and indulgences won’t restore the person to his former state in this life. (Of course, certain physical and spiritual consequences can be mitigated or even eradicated in this life, due to prayer and faith in Christ’s Sacrifice and in God’s almighty power, subject to the Will of God, such as the consequence of depression due to sin or the contraction of a disease due to sinful conduct.) On the other hand, once a person dies and then is resurrected, he is NOT resurrected with only one leg if he lost the other leg prior to his death, due to his sin. This kind of “temporal” penalty does not exist, either.

“Myth 5: An indulgence will shorten the time in purgatory by a fixed number of days.

“The number of days which used to be attached to indulgences were references to the period of penance one might undergo during life on earth. The Catholic Church does not claim to know anything about how long or short purgatory is in general, much less in a specific person’s case.”

As there is no Purgatory where the soul will suffer, the whole concept of trying to figure out as to how long the person (the “soul”) would suffer in Purgatory without indulgences, and how to shorten that time through indulgences, is just ludicrous. It would also certainly compound a grave error if the Catholic church were to claim the length of any case of [a non-existent] Purgatory. By propounding such a doctrine makes it an opponent of true Christianity.

“Myth 6: A Person Can Buy Indulgences”

“The Council of Trent instituted severe reforms in the practice of granting indulgences, and, because of prior abuses, ‘in 1567 Pope Pius V canceled all grants of indulgences involving any fees or other financial transactions’ (Catholic Encyclopedia).”

At least the Catholic church acknowledges abuses although it would be difficult to do otherwise as history shows that Martin Luther made a great play of their unscriptural basis.

(To be continued)

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

compiled by Dave Harris

“Are You Prepared for Civil War?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

We are facing numerous challenges, all of which can lead or have already led to violence, but the outcome may not only be civil unrest, but also civil war. This program discusses some of the current challenges, from the contested US election and racism to coronavirus restrictions, which, taken together, are turning the US into a “powder-keg” and creating a perfect storm; and it presents an astonishing and frightening lesson from history. Are you prepared for what might be coming very soon?

“Die Last, die wir tragen,” is the title of last Sabbath’s German sermonette, presented by Daniel Blasinger. Title in English: “The Burden We Carry.”

“What Does Matthew 28:19 Prove?” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Dave Harris, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Baptizing “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” is a flagrantly false practice. All other references in the New Testament for how to baptize a person use only “the name of Jesus Christ.” The Word of God does not contradict itself!

“Be Of Good Cheer,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Eric Rank, is now posted. Here is a summary: On several occasions, Jesus Christ offered encouragement to His disciples as they faced obstacles and uncertainty. What can we learn from those events recorded in the Bible to find encouragement and strength in our lives in this age?

On November 21, 2020, Dave Harris will present the sermonette, titled, “What Does Matthew 28:19 Prove?” and Eric Rank will present the sermon, titled, “Be of Good Cheer.”

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.

A while ago, in the UK, a row broke out about the seating position of two presenters in a BBC breakfast programme. Unknown to most people except those concerned with such matters, it appears that the one who sits on the left (as viewed on television) is the more senior of the two presenters. A new male presenter replaced the exiting gentleman and was placed on the left with the existing female presenter, continuing on screen, on the right.

A BBC spokesman said: “There is no seniority in terms of who sits where on the BBC Breakfast sofa. It’s all about judging which is the best camera angle for the presenters.”

A large sexism row broke out and the outcry, particularly from the female lobby, bordered on the ridiculous. One blamed “deep-rooted misogyny in newsrooms” for the way male presenters are nearly always seated in the position considered more senior on the left.

This got me to thinking about man’s (and woman’s) need for position, power, seniority and the need to feel and be important. It would appear that the seating arrangements were far more important than the content of the programme. Whether this was a breakfast programme or a serious news programme, the same rules applied.

On news programmes, no doubt some of the reports would have been about such serious issues as the migrant crisis, wars in different parts of the world, serious accidents and political issues which may well have impacted on the whole of the population. In addition, serious concerns with human suffering, population displacement and death and destruction tend to be a staple diet of news programmes but the main concern of the presenter and those supporting her position seemed to be about where she sat to report such news and what it said about her position as the senior (or otherwise) presenter of the programme.

Talk about getting priorities wrong! This was a classic example of the “me first” society that we live in today. Such an approach seemed to be that the need to be important, seen as important and anything that impacts adversely on those two requirements was to be challenged.

But what about true Christians – we’re different, aren’t we? We certainly should be, but how do we do in such circumstances?

The Bible gives a number of bad examples of where position was so very important to some. We read in Matthew 20:20-28 about the ambition of James and John. What was the motivation—to serve or be served? It was obviously to be served and therefore the fruits were those of selfishness as they wanted power, position and influence. In Acts 8:18-20, Simon Magus offered the disciples money in order to receive the Holy Spirit which he perceived to be power which would give him position and standing. And a third example is in Isaiah 14:12-14 where we read about Satan’s ambition being thwarted. It was all about himself, and he lusted about having the very highest position in the universe.

Do we have any of these failings? If so, then the example given by Jesus in Matthew 18:1-4 should be a clear reminder of the humility we need in order to make it into the Kingdom of God.

Of course, those who were fretting about where a presenter should sit were getting their priorities all wrong. It was an unhealthy concentration on minutiae, almost navel-gazing in personal self-interest. It was an ego trip and an example of coveting which God says we must simply not be involved with. Of course, such petty and self-serving examples reveal quite clearly that God is not involved in their lives, and that hardly comes as a surprise in today’s secular society.

We can smile at such nonsense but we had better be careful that we never fall into any such similar attitudes or it could spell disaster for us, because God does not accept behaviour of this sort from His people.

We had better remember to always do the right thing because right matters!

by Norbert Link

We begin with a startling report from Israel about a potential soon-coming attack of Israel and the USA on Iran; Trump’s unique relationship with Israel; and the ongoing developments and conflicting reports regarding the outcome of the Presidential Election.  We also speak on the outbreak of violence in Washington D.C. between dissenting factions.  

We continue with an eye-opening article about the hypocritical and political stance of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops towards Biden; further lockdowns and other governmental restrictions in the USA and Europe; a controversial and highly dangerous new law in Germany which has been compared to a law paving the way to Hitler’s dictatorship, “temporarily” limiting or abandoning individual rights and liberties granted in the German Constitution [please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Germany’s March to Dictatorship and its Corona Chancellor”];blatant hypocrisy of governmental leaders; religious discrimination in the USA; and some controversial anti-Semitic comments by a CNN moderator.

We conclude with the establishment of the world’s largest trade pact and the U.N.’s fear of wide-spread hunger and famine in 2021, due, in part, to new lockdowns and the consequential rippling economic impact.

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

A US-Israel Strike against Iran Coming Soon?

Israel 365 News wrote on November 12:

“It’s no secret that tensions between Washington and Teheran have been tense since Trump’s inauguration in 2016, recent developments indicate that a potential joint Israel/US strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities could be closer than we realize.

“US President Donald Trump has fired his defense secretary, Mark Esper earlier this week. And while many speculate that the reason is because Esper was at odds with his boss over deploying US troops into cities during violent Black Lives Matter protests, there could have been another reason for the move that many seem to be overlooking… Esper also contradicted Trump on Iran and the assassination of top IRGC general Quassem Soliemani – walking back some of the Commander in Chief’s statements. But that’s not all.

“The New York Times reported that ‘Defense Department officials have privately expressed worries that the president might initiate operations, whether overt or secret, against Iran or other adversaries during his last days in office.’

“Trump then appointed Esper’s replacement, Christopher Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Officials claim that  Miller was a driving force in some of Trump’s policies against Iran and its terror proxy, Hezbollah. He was also a catalyst for anti-terror efforts in both Syria and Iraq. And although those officials remain anonymous, former National Security Advisor H.R McMaster went on the record saying that ‘it’s a possibility’ Israel will strike Iran’s nuclear sites before Trump leaves office.’

“Finally, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has planned an upcoming visit to Israel where he will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss ‘joint efforts to address Iran’s malign activities.’ According to Israel’s Walla military reporter Avi Bohbot: ‘Pompeo’s visit appears to be a last ditch effort to move against Iran’ adding that IDF sources report that the Israeli Military’s commander in Chief Aviv Kochavi is ‘extremely concerned’ about the prospect of a Biden administration. He is then scheduled to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed ‘to discuss security cooperation and regional issues.’ Pompeo is also set to visit Qatar where he will discuss ‘bilateral and regional issues, including the importance of Gulf unity.’

“And if there’s anything that the Gulf can unite around, it is their opposition to Iran as demonstrated in the annual Gulf Co-operation Council summit where GCC member states were in agreement that ‘the greatest threat to the region was Iran.’”

Whether this will really happen remains to be seen. According to the New York Times, Trump had raised the issue to his advisors who allegedly dissuaded him from attacking Iran. However, it has been reported that Israel and the USA have worked together to secretly kill in Iran the No. 2 terrorist of al Qaida, Aby Muhammad al-Masri. He was accused of being one of the masterminds of the deadly 1998 attacks on American embassies in Africa. At this point, no one — Iran, Al Qaeda, the U.S. or Israel — has publicly acknowledged the killing, but intelligence officials confirmed that he was killed, according to the New York Times which also stated: “The attack was carried out by Israeli operatives at the behest of the United States, according to four of the officials…”

Trump also announced that he will reduce US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Deutsche Welle commented on November 18: “Donald Trump’s plan to reduce US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq to 2,500 each by mid-January is a slap in the face of US allies and strengthens extremism.”

Trump—the Anomaly for Israel

The Jerusalem Post wrote on November 12:

“Israelis have forgotten what a non-Trump president looks like. Whether it was Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush or Barack Obama, every president opposed settlement activity and actively pushed for a two-state solution.

“Some focused on it more, others less…  The point is that opposition to settlements has always been US policy. The change came with Trump, the most unconventional of presidents, who took an alternative position on a complicated conflict. He was the anomaly, not the new normal.”

Assumption there is a Second Term

Politico wrote on November 13:

“White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Friday that the Trump administration is operating as if it will extend into a second term…  ‘We are moving forward here at the White House under the assumption there will be a second Trump term,’ Navarro said on Fox Business,  echoing a refrain from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the president’s most steadfast allies…

“The president has refused to concede to Biden and his administration has rejected any appearance of assisting with the transfer of power while Trump’s campaign pursues a portfolio of legal challenges in a last-ditch attempt to save the president’s reelection. ‘Until we do that, our assumption is a second Trump term,’ Navarro said. ‘Any speculation about what Joe Biden might do, I think, is moot at this point.’”

Trump Did NOT Concede

The Hill wrote on November 15:

“President Trump seemingly acknowledged President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in a tweet early Sunday while continuing to [speak] about a rigged presidential election. ‘He won because the Election was Rigged. NO VOTE WATCHERS OR OBSERVERS allowed, vote tabulated by a Radical Left privately owned company, Dominion, with a bad reputation & bum equipment that couldn’t even qualify for Texas (which I won by a lot!), the Fake & Silent Media, & more!’ Trump tweeted in response to a clip from Fox News’s Jesse Watters.

“‘All of the mechanical “glitches” that took place on Election Night were really THEM getting caught trying to steal votes. They succeeded plenty, however, without getting caught,’ the president said in a subsequent tweet. ‘Mail-in elections are a sick joke!’ Trump said in a tweet later Sunday morning, however, that his earlier post was not meant as a concession. ‘He only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA. I concede NOTHING!’ the president said. ‘We have a long way to go. This was a RIGGED ELECTION!’”

 Among many other publications within the mass media, the UK’s Independent also falsely reported on November 15 that Trump “admits for the first time that Biden won the election.” So did the Daily Mail: “Trump Admits Defeat.” The left-leaning anti-Trump Drudge Report also wrote falsely: “Trump finally admits: Biden ‘won.’”

Wishful thinking by the anti-Trump mass media.

“I Won the Election”

Newsmax wrote on November 16:

“President Donald Trump late Sunday night declared on Twitter, in a four-word, all caps tweet, that he ‘WON THE ELECTION.’ The message came after a day of speculation that he’d admitted Joe Biden had won the presidential election in a message posted earlier in the day…

“Sunday night Trump also posted messages attacking the ‘fake news media’ for saying Biden will ‘ascend to the Presidency’ by not allowing his campaign to show ‘how badly shattered and violated our great Constitution has been in the 2020 Election.’ He also claimed, in posts flagged by Twitter, that large numbers of poll watchers were thrown out of vote counting rooms, ‘millions of ballots’ were altered by Democrats, and that votes were allowed after the election was over. Also, he tweeted that the ‘Radical Left owned Dominion Voting Systems, turned down by Texas and many others because it was not good or secure’ had helped throw the election Biden’s way. ‘Those responsible for the safeguarding of our Constitution cannot allow the Fake results of the 2020 Mail-In Election to stand,’ said Trump. ‘The World is watching!’…

“Newsmax has not called the election for Biden, citing the numerous legal complaints mounted by the Trump campaign.”

“The Greatest Theft in American History”

Newsmax added on November 15:

“President Donald Trump appears to be nowhere close to conceding the presidential election to former Vice President Joe Biden… In a story published Saturday night, Trump told [New York] Post columnist Michael Goodwin that the election ‘was stolen.’ ‘It was a rigged election, 100 percent, and everyone knows it,’ Trump said in the Friday night interview. ‘It’s going to be that I got about 74 million votes, and I lost? It’s not possible.’…

“Goodwin writes that Trump seems convinced that Biden’s victory was corruptly engineered by Dominion Voting Systems, a technology used by most states, including Michigan and Georgia. Trump repeatedly cited Dominion, according to Goodwin. ‘It was turned down by the state of Texas because it is insecure,’ Trump told Gooodwin. Trump also repeated allegations that the company’s owners and investors have ties to Democrats. Goodwin reports that ‘it is true the firm made a contribution and worked with the Clinton Family Foundation during the Obama-Biden administration.’

“The Associated Press also reported that a former top aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is one of the company’s lobbyists. The firm also employs a lobbyist who worked for Republicans Dick Cheney and John Boehner.

“Trump, according to Goodwin, views the suspicious election results as ‘the concluding act of a confederacy against him that began with the Obama-Biden administration’s corrupting of the FBI and CIA to spy on him in 2016 and tip the election to Hillary Clinton. That effort gave birth to the Russia, Russia, Russia narrative that wasn’t fully revealed as false until the probe of Special Counsel Robert Mueller finally concluded in 2019.’… ‘Then this, the greatest theft in the history of America. And ­everybody knows it,’ Trump told Goodwin.”

More than half of Republicans believe that the election was “rigged” against Trump.

The Week wrote on November 18:

“President Trump tweeted on Tuesday evening that he has fired Christopher Krebs, the head of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency who [had denied] voter fraud… In his tweet about Krebs, Trump claimed that it was ‘inaccurate’ for Krebs to say the election was secure, and ‘therefore, effective immediately,’ Krebs has been terminated.”

In fact, Krebs or those speaking on his behalf even said that the vote was “the most secure in US history.” As many reports show, this allegation is laughable and totally wrong. So, Krebs’s termination should not surprise anyone.

Trump’s Legal Strategy?

Newsmax wrote on November 14:

“The legal battle for President Donald Trump is no longer about him reaching 270 electoral college votes, but denying Joe Biden from reaching it, according to legal expert Alan Dershowitz on Newsmax TV… ‘What he’s trying to do is to deny Joe Biden 270 votes, by challenging in Pennsylvania, Georgia, in Nevada, in Michigan, in Arizona.’ Keeping Biden from 270 would put the election on the House delegations – a state-by-state majority held by Republicans 26-23-1 – as designated by the U.S. Constitution. ‘If he can keep the Biden count below 270, then the matter goes to the House of Representatives, where of course there is a Republican majority among the delegations of states, and you vote by state if it goes to the House,’ Dershowitz told host Carl Higbie…

“You need a perfect storm for it to work. You need to get enough states, enough state attorneys general, or state departments, or whoever, secretaries of state or governors that are Republican that legitimately refuse to certify the results because they’re under challenge on the day the electoral college meets by statute. ‘If on that day, Biden doesn’t have 270 votes – you don’t get to vote two or three times on that; as far as the Constitution’s concerned, it’s one vote – and if the one vote doesn’t give the leading candidate 270 electoral votes, then automatically it goes to the House of Representatives, where a whole new process takes over, and a process that clearly favors President Trump.’”

Dershowitz has been wrong before on numerous occasions. We will see…

Massive Planned Centralized Election Fraud?

Breitbart reported on November 19:

“Rudy Giuliani and other lawyers representing President Donald Trump’s campaign outlined their case Thursday that the Nov. 3 presidential election was so deeply flawed in several key states that the results should be overturned in the president’s favor.

 “Giuliani said there was a pattern to the alleged irregularities in key states that suggested, he said, a ‘plan from a centralized place’ to commit voter fraud in cities controlled by Democrats. He said widespread adoption of vote-by-mail had allowed Democrats to take big-city corruption practices nationwide. ‘They picked the places where they could get away with it.’…

 “Voting machines and software are allegedly owned by companies with ties to the Venezuelan regime and to left-wing donor George Soros. Sidney Powell argued that U.S. votes were being counted overseas, and that Dominion voting machines and Smartmatic software were controlled by foreign interests, manipulating algorithms to change the results. Powell noted specifically that Smartmatic’s owners included two Venezuelan nationals, whom she alleged had ties to the regime of Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro. The legal team alleged that there were statistical anomalies, such as huge batches of votes for Biden, that could not be explained except as manipulation — which, they alleged, happened in the wee hours of the morning as vote-counting had stalled.” 

It will be interesting to see whether Giuliani and his legal team can prove those outrageous allegations in a court of law.

Judge Jeanine Pirro: Not Going Quietly into the Night

The Daily Mail wrote on November 16:

“Judge Jeanine Pirro launched an attack on Democrats and others who are telling President Donald Trump and his supporters to accept that he lost the election… at the top of her Fox News show on Saturday night… The host… insisted Trump has no obligation to concede until they are investigated fully.

“‘We’ll pursue all legal avenues where there are irregularities, anomalies, illegalities and corruptions, and until the certification and the electors vote, that is not a lot to ask,’ she said of herself and other Trump supporters. ‘So don’t you dare ask us to just accept it and move on, and don’t you dare tell me I’m being un-American by questioning what even a Supreme Court justice has put a hold on. ‘And don’t you dare ask us to go quietly into the night.’

“Pirro pointed out that it is not up to the media to declare the winner of the election… She also questioned the true motivations behind changes made to this year’s election procedures in response to the coronavirus pandemic, as Trump has done. ‘We are criticized because we are asking questions,’ she said. ‘Under the cover of Covid, rules were changed, providing opportunities for wrongdoers…

“Pirro listed off several allegations of voter fraud pushed by the Trump campaign in lawsuits across various states, such as GOP poll watchers being barred from counting centers, ballots being accepted late and corruption of machines that tally votes… Pirro insisted that they must be probed extensively.”

 Fox News’ conduct and position has been more than dubious. Newsmax had reported that Fox News had suspended Pirro for a week and had cancelled her proposed show about election fraud.

It Has Begun–Violence Breaks out

Fox News reported on November 14:

“President Trump lashed out against ‘ANTIFA SCUM’ and the media Saturday night as violence continued in Washington, D.C., where pro-Trump supporters gathered for the ‘Million MAGA March.’ In a series of Twitter messages before midnight ET, the president also blasted counter-protesters as ‘Human Radical Left garbage’… Trump accused Antifa activists of returning under cover of darkness to cause mayhem…

“Trump also accused the ‘Silent Media’ of ignoring the Washington clashes, retweeting a message from Republican U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York, who alleged a ‘total media blackout’ as leftists launched ‘abhorrent’ assaults against Trump supporters… Earlier Saturday, the march was largely peaceful. But as the sun went down, snippets of scenes shared on Twitter showed chaos had overtaken areas of the nation’s capital…

“A National Park Service permit for the rally was issued for up to 10,000 people, although several thousand more appeared to show up.”

This is just a small foretaste of what is going to happen…

US Catholic Bishops under Attack over Biden/Harris Pro-Abortion Agenda

Breitbart wrote on November 14:

“National pro-life leaders from the American Life League (ALL) have denounced the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for congratulating abortion rights supporter Joe Biden, asserting the bishops are accepting of a so-called Catholic politician who is ‘spitting at the face of Christ.’ Judie Brown, the president of ALL, the nation’s oldest grassroots, Catholic pro-life organization, said in a statement this week: ‘The USCCB has affirmed what many of us have suspected for many years, and that is that most Catholic bishops have no problem with a Catholic politician spitting at the face of Christ by supporting the vile murder of the preborn. Joe Biden is such a man; he claims to be Catholic, yet he gives 100 percent support for abortion every day of the week and in every manner of brutality against the innocent. The Catholic bishops have erred, and as a Catholic, I am ashamed of them.’…

“Hugh Brown, ALL’s executive vice president said in the statement the election is still contested and ‘is not over.’ He added, nevertheless, Catholics should not be shocked that the bishops have congratulated Biden: ‘The reality of the USCCB issuing a statement of congratulations to Joe Biden should not be a surprise to anyone. The USCCB is a feckless spineless conglomerate of dead souls. They are not the descendants of the Apostles. They are what St. John Paul II referred to when he wrote of the Anti-Church. Every Catholic should shake the dust from his feet regarding the USCCB. Listen to them not. We must put our faith in Christ.’

“Jim Sedlak, ALL executive director and founder of its STOP Planned Parenthood… program, said in the statement the bishops’ message demonstrates the conference is a ‘political entity’: ‘In issuing its congratulations, the USCCB calls on Catholics to COMPROMISE with regards to the law and public policy. For Catholics, the law is the Law of God as expressed in the 10 Commandments. Which commandments should we compromise on? Perhaps God really didn’t mean ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ After all, Biden/Harris have spent all of 2020 telling us that, if elected, they would expand abortion in the United States. They also said they would restrict religious liberty. The clearest takeaway from the USCCB’s statement is the confirmation that they are now a political body issuing a politically correct statement.’

“Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, also tweeted his deep concerns about the USCCB statement of congratulations to Biden: ‘A dark cloud has descended on this nation when the USCCB and Planned Parenthood speak in unison in support of a Biden-Harris administration that supports the slaughter of innocents by abortion for all 9 months of pregnancy.’”

The entire Roman Catholic Church, led by the Pope and the Vatican, has always been a political organization, being identified as the fallen woman riding the beast in the Book of Revelation. The Catholic Church does not even purport to be loyal to the Ten Commandments… it has flagrantly abandoned the fourth commandment of keeping the sabbath (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset) by replacing it with the worship of a pagan day—Sunday—which was kept by Gentiles to worship their pagan sun gods.

Racism against Whites in New York City

Daily Mail wrote on November 18:

 “Journalist Megyn Kelly will pull her kids from their ‘far-left’ New York City school because they have ‘gone off the deep end’ following the death of George Floyd. Her sons Edward, 11, and Thatcher Bray, 7, attended the Collegiate School (inset) on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where a letter was sent around to faculty that claimed ‘white school districts across the country [are] full of future killer cops’. She said the letter asserted that white children are inherently racist, that ‘there is a killer cop sitting in every school where white children learn’ and that ‘white school districts across the country [are] full of future killer cops.’ Kelly said the schools ‘have always been far-left’ but they’ve now ‘gone around the bend… I mean, they have gone off the deep end.’”

Travel Advisory for People Coming to California

KCRA reported on November 13:

“… the California Department of Public Health on Friday issued a travel advisory saying that people entering the state should self-quarantine for 14 days… ‘Persons arriving in California from other states or Californians returning from other states or countries could increase the risk of COVID-19 spread…’

“During the quarantine period, people should limit their interactions to their immediate household, according to the advisory, which applies to both visitors and Californians returning home… The advisory also encourages Californians to stay home or in their region and to avoid non-essential travel to other states or counties… [LA county even “advised” that  residents don’t travel out of state for Thanksgiving and, if they do, that they quarantine for 14 days upon their return.]

“The governors of Oregon and Washington state on Friday also issued travel advisories that urge against non-essential, out-of-state travel and ask people to self-quarantine for 14 days after arriving from another state or country…”

The Associated Press added on November 14:

“The governors of Oregon and New Mexico ordered near-lockdowns Friday in the most aggressive response yet… Oregon Gov. Kate Brown [Wikipedia: “the first openly bisexual governor in US history”] ordered a two-week ‘freeze’ starting Wednesday, under which all businesses will be required to close their offices to the public and mandate work-from-home ‘to the greatest extent possible.’ While most Oregon stores will remain open, gyms, museums, pools, movie theaters and zoos will be forced to close, and restaurants and bars will be limited to takeout. Social gatherings will be restricted to six people. The Democratic governor warned that violators could face fines or arrest.”

MSN added on November 14:

“Violators could face up to 30 days in jail, a fine of up to $1,250, or both.”

At the same time, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on November 13 about California Governor Newsom’s hypocrisy, as follows:

“Gov. Gavin Newsom attended a birthday party for one of his political advisers last week that included people from several households, the type of gathering his administration has discouraged during the coronavirus pandemic. The dinner the night of Nov. 6 at the famed French Laundry in Yountville in Napa County brought together at least 12 people to celebrate the 50th birthday of Jason Kinney, a longtime friend and political adviser to Newsom who is also a partner at the lobbying firm Axiom Advisors. In addition to the governor, his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, was in attendance.

“State guidelines limit gatherings, defined as ‘social situations that bring together people from different households at the same time in a single space or place,’ to no more than three households. Representatives for Kinney and Newsom declined to specify how many households the diners represented, but did not dispute that it was more than three.”

Incredible! He seems to be following the lead of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) who has “defended holding a large dinner for incoming members as Democrat leaders across the country urge Americans to cancel their traditional Thanksgiving plans to combat the Chinese coronavirus” (Breitbart, dated November 13). Due to the enormous backlash from co-Democrats, the dinner was finally cancelled.

Fox News wrote on November 13:

“While President Trump and Republican lawmakers have long been criticized for appearing to not take the pandemic seriously by not practicing mask-wearing and social distancing at multiple large events, it’s been Democratic officials who have been slammed for urging others to be cautious but appear to scoff at their own advice. Earlier this year, Pelosi was caught maskless on a security camera at a hair salon in San Francisco, breaking state and city ordinances in the process. Pelosi remained defiant, however, insisting she was “set up” by the salon owner.”

Pelosi has been under attack from Democrats “of all persuasions,” being blamed for not having achieved a (bigger) victory in the House and the Senate, due to her compromising attitude toward the “Squad” and other radical socialists.

More Draconian Measures in the USA—amidst Newsom’s Hypocrisy

Breitbart wrote on November 19:

“California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a curfew Thursday that will run from 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., starting Saturday, lasting for a month, in “purple tier” counties hardest hit by the coronavirus surge, covering 94% of the state’s population…. An ongoing surge in coronavirus cases has prompted several [Democratic-majority] U.S. governors to bring back draconian lockdown rules and tighten other restrictions, severely limiting where people can go, how they can worship, and whom they can see, all ahead of Thanksgiving and other holidays.”

Why is it always Democratic governors and mayors who are quick in restricting personal liberties and freedoms?

 Also, as the LA Times reported on November 19:

 “Anger over the perceived hypocrisy of California lawmakers continued to boil over Wednesday, as newly published pictures raised doubts about Gov. Gavin Newsom’s claim that his French Laundry dinner was held outdoors… To add insult to injury, two top officials from the California Medical Assn. — a leading organization representing doctors in the state — were among those in attendance at the dinner…

“…All of which intensifies the anger over the decision made by more than half dozen a California lawmakers to attend an annual policy conference at a luxury Hawaiian resort this week… the names of more lawmakers attending a Maui junket surfaced. The opulence of both indiscretions — a nine-course dinner at a world-famous restaurant [with and several days at a Hawaiian resort where even the street-view rooms will set you back upward of $500 a night — certainly adds salt to the wound. Many Californians have been financially devastated by the pandemic, and the latest round of restrictions puts even more businesses and livelihoods in jeopardy.”

Fox News added on November 19:

“Among the Purple Tier counties are Napa, where the Democratic governor attended a friend’s birthday party earlier this month at the upscale French Laundry restaurant – even as coronavirus cases were spiking and as he preached daily to exercise increased caution. His administration didn’t acknowledge the birthday dinner until a week later when a reporter was tipped and asked about it… Last month, his office was widely ridiculed for tweeting: ‘Going out to eat with members of your household this weekend? Don’t forget to keep your mask on in between bites.’”

Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace added: “If you look up hypocrisy in the dictionary… there is a picture of Gavin Newsom.”

New Restrictions Coming, but… Lockdowns and Masks Don’t Work

Breitbart wrote on November 15:

“Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) promised he would do ‘everything’ he could to ‘prevent’ a lockdown if former Vice President Joe Biden officially wins the presidency… Paul said the country cannot be under lockdown and be forced to wear masks like it has the majority of 2020 ‘forever.’ The physician-turned-senator said the idea of remaining inside and canceling Thanksgiving is ‘ridiculous’ and ‘not based in science.’

“‘Today, Biden’s talking more about a lockdown. This is absolutely why he’s going to be a terrible president if we get him,’ Paul warned. ‘He’s going to ruin the country. Lockdowns don’t work. And in fact, all of the evidence on mandatory masks show that they don’t work either. There’s about 10 different countries or venues, maybe 20, that instituted mandatory masks, and [in] every one of them — to a T — the infection rate, the COVID rate went up after the mask mandate…’”

Trump said last week that under his administration, there would be no lockdown. Dr. Fauci said on Sunday that even after someone is vaccinated, they should still continue to wear the mask and practice social distancing. Even though another company (US Firm Moderna) just announced their vaccine is 94.5% effective. And Pfizer declared, their vaccine is safe and 95% effective. Of course, we would not want to blindly accept such announcements. But what is Dr. Fauci up to?

In Germany, a draft for new regulations proposes:

“People being urged to abstain from private parties completely; Youngsters being encouraged to meet with only one particular friend in their free time; Families limiting private get-togethers to their own household and people from one other particular household; Meetings in public restricted to members of one household and a maximum of two people from another household; Masks that cover the mouth and nose are to become compulsory for teachers and pupils of all ages on school premises and during lessons” (see Deutsche Welle, November 16).

AFP/The Local reported on November 16:

“Germany may see four to five more months of coronavirus restrictions, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Sunday, dashing hopes of a quick end to a partial lockdown introduced two weeks ago… Several demonstrations against the restrictions were held on Saturday across Germany, including one in Frankfurt where water cannons were used against counter-demonstrators.”

This would be complete lunacy. Another example of lunacy: “Germany has applauded the country’s ‘heroes’ who stay at home, ‘lazy as raccoons.’ In the ad, the government encourages citizens to do what is expected: ‘Absolutely nothing.’” (Deutsche Welle, November 15).

Jens Spahn and Sebastian Kurz—the new Dictators

Bild Online reported on November 12 that the two most popular German politicians are Angela Merkel (74%) and Jens Spahn (65%). It also informed about the proposed new health law which would give Spahn unique powers so that he would become the “corona chancellor,” according to the mass tabloid. As sole ruler, he would be able to reign without consent by the different German state premiers or mayors.

Not surprisingly, Austria follows suit. As Der Spiegel reported on November 14, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced a total lockdown for Austria, generally prohibiting to leave one’s home, beginning on Tuesday, November 17, and lasting, for now, until December 6. He said: “Do not meet anyone for the next few weeks. Every social contact means, it’s one too many.” Only one important person outside one’s own household can be met with.

Dr. Fauci declared that it is time for Americans to “obey” and to set aside their “independent spirit.” The world’s “rulers” and “scientists” must all be talking to each other. More and more are speaking now of a “dark winter,” suggesting that new lockdowns will last much longer than just for one month.

More Powers to German Government to Abolish Liberty and Freedom

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 18 that the German Parliament approved a revision of the Infection Protection Law which was also signed by the German President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. This law, which has been highly propagated by Jens Spahn, has been widely compared to the Enabling Act of 1933 and the signing of the law by German Reichspresident Paul von Hindenburg. That law paved the way for Adolf Hitler’s dictatorship. At the same time, Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Reichskanzler:

“… today’s Infection Protection Law does indeed transfer some legislative power from the parliament to the executive, the government… It will now create a legal basis for the government to restrict some fundamental rights enshrined in the German constitution in its attempt to fight the pandemic… In fact, a comparison to the Weimar Republic, Germany’s first democracy that lasted from 1919 to 1933, could be drawn…  In 1923… Germany was facing a currency crisis, hyperinflation with severe economic and social repercussions. The Reichstag then passed an ‘Enabling Law,’ making it possible for the government to take financial, economic, and social measures it considered necessary… And ten years later, it became a precedent for the ‘Enabling Act’ the Nazis pushed through.

“…  the movement against lockdown measures seems to be growing steadily. According to a survey by the Allensbach polling firm, the percentage of Germans critical of the government’s anti-coronavirus policies has risen from 15 to 28 % over the last three months.”

One must indeed be blind not to see the parallels between what is happening now in Germany and what occurred in Nazi Germany. According to Die Tagesschau, dated November 18, the new law temporarily supersedes the German Constitution and permits the government to “temporarily” restrict or abandon personal liberties and freedoms, including ordering the wearing of masks and practicing social distancing, travel restrictions, prohibitions to leave the home, contact limitations, closure of shops and businesses, prohibitions of assemblies and church services. These prohibitions and mandates can be unilaterally enacted by the government for four weeks, and can be extended if “reasons” are given to the parliament.

The Local wrote on November 18:

“In the parliament (Bundestag) 415 delegates voted on Wednesday in favour of the reform, which aims to give coronavirus measures a stronger legal footing. A full 236 voted against it, while eight abstained in the roll-call vote. During parallel protests, several thousand participants rallied against the change in the law as well as current coronavirus measures on Wednesday. There were clashes with police and more than 100 arrests…

“In the debate, federal Health Minister Jens Spahn defended the coronavirus restrictions and asked for further trust in government crisis management… The parliamentary director of the AfD faction, Bernd Baumann, said: ‘Today’s bill is an authorisation of the government, the likes of which has not been seen since historical times.’ Members of other parliamentary groups rejected the accusations. But the AfD was not the only parliamentary party that spoke against the reformed law, with members of the Free Democrats (FDP), Greens and Left Party also speaking out.”

The German government did not respond kindly to such comparisons. Breitbart wrote on November 18:

“German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas reacted sharply to the accusation from some protesters that the measures were akin to the 1933 ‘Enabling Act,’ which allowed the Nazis to enact laws without parliamentary approval. ‘Everyone, naturally, has the right to criticize the measures, our democracy thrives through the exchange of different opinions,’ he wrote on Twitter. ‘But whoever relativizes or trivializes the Holocaust has learned nothing from our history.’”

It appears it is Maas who tries to relativize or trivialize troublesome developments in today’s Germany.

Religious Discrimination

The Associated Press wrote on November 13:

“Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito sounded an alarm about restrictions imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic, saying they shouldn’t become a ‘recurring feature after the pandemic has passed.’ ‘The pandemic has resulted in previously unimaginable restrictions on individual liberty,’ Alito said… he said it is an ‘indisputable statement of fact’ that ‘we have never before seen restrictions as severe, extensive and prolonged as those experienced for most of 2020.’

“Alito was particularly critical of two cases earlier this year where the court sided with states that, citing the coronavirus pandemic, imposed restrictions on the size of religious gatherings. In both cases, the court divided 5-4 in allowing those restrictions to continue with Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the court’s liberals. In May, the high court rejected an emergency appeal by a California church challenging attendance limits at worship services. The justices turned away a similar challenge by a Nevada church in July.  Alito said in both cases the restrictions had ‘blatantly discriminated against houses of worship’ and he warned that ‘religious liberty is in danger of becoming a second-class right.’

“Both cases came to the court before the death in September of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. The liberal justice’s replacement by conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett could change how the court might come out on similar cases in the future. Currently before the court is a case involving the Catholic church and limits on in-person services in New York.”

The unconstitutional prohibitions of religious services continue in most of the Democratic-run US states. The hypocrisy in all of this is mind-boggling.

“CNN Host’s Comparison of ‘Kristallnacht’ to Trump Era Derided as ‘Despicable’”

The Algemeiner wrote on November 13:

“CNN anchorwoman Christiane Amanpour raised eyebrows on Thursday when she marked the 82nd anniversary of ‘Kristallnacht’ — the November 1938 pogroms targeting Jews in Germany and Austria — by appearing to liken the values of the Nazis to those of US President Donald Trump. ‘This week, 82 years ago, Kristallnacht happened,’ Amanpour said. ‘It was the Nazis’ warning shot across the bow of our human civilization that led to genocide against a whole identity.’ ‘And, in that tower of burning books, it led to an attack on fact, knowledge, history, and truth,’ she continued. ‘After four years of a modern-day assault on those same values by Donald Trump, the Biden/Harris team pledges a return to norms.’

“Amanpour’s remarks were met with widespread derision on social media. The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council (OJPAC) called her words ‘despicable.’ The StopAntisemitism.org watchdog group tweeted, ‘Hey @CNN @camanpour please stop using the horrors of the Holocaust to justify an agenda. Our suffering is not yours to play political ping pong with.’”

Many asked for her resignation or an immediate public apology for the “unacceptable comparison.” JTA reported on November 17: “CNN’s Christiane Amanpour said she ‘regrets any pain’ caused by her invoking the Kristallnacht pogroms in criticizing President Donald Trump, saying she ‘should not have’ juxtaposed the two issues.” Not quite an apology or a retraction.

Macron: Europe Needs Own Defense

Reuters reported on November 16:

“Europe still needs its own independent and sovereign defence strategy, even if it is dealing with a new U.S. government which may result in friendlier ties, French President Emmanuel Macron [said]… Macron rebuffed comments from German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to Politico on Nov. 2, in which the German minister said Europe would have to remain dependent on U.S. military protection for the near future.

“‘I am in complete disagreement with the opinion article published in Politico by the German defence minister,’ said Macron, adding he believed German Chancellor Angela Merkel shared his position on this issue. ‘The United States will only respect us as allies if we are serious about our own position, and if we have our own sovereignty regarding our defence,’ said Macron.”

The statements by German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer were indeed totally out of line with what is happening in Europe.

The World’s Largest Trade Pact

The Associated Press wrote on November 15:

“China and 14 other countries agreed Sunday to set up the world’s largest trading bloc, encompassing nearly a third of all economic activity… Apart from the 10 ASEAN members, it includes China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, but not the United States. Officials said the accord leaves the door open for India, which dropped out due to fierce domestic opposition to its market-opening requirements, to rejoin the bloc…

“ASEAN members include Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.”

Very soon, we can expect that Russia will join that fold as well, while countries such as Australia and New Zealand might be leaving the bloc.

Worldwide Hunger and Famine

The Associated Press wrote on November 14:

“20 countries ‘are likely to face potential spikes in high acute food insecurity’ in the next three to six months’… Of those, Yemen, South Sudan, northeastern Nigeria and Burkina Faso have some areas that ‘have reached a critical hunger situation following years of conflict or other shocks,’ the U.N. agencies said, and any further deterioration in coming months ‘could lead to a risk of famine.’

“Other countries requiring ‘urgent attention’ are Afghanistan, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Lebanon, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somali, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, they said. [An official said:] ‘We’re very, very, very concerned’ that with deferred debt payments for low- and middle-income countries resuming in January, new lockdowns and the rippling economic impact, ‘2021’s going to be a very bad year…’”

These terrible lockdowns will greatly accelerate worldwide hunger and famine. It is interesting that the Editorial Board of the Washington Times published an article last week, saying that LOCKDOWNS DON’T WORK.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

In the first three parts of this series, we began to discuss the concept taught by the Roman Catholic Church that the “immortal souls” of departed ones may be in hell or purgatory, and that “indulgences” or prayers for the dead can allegedly remove, partially (“plenary”) or completely (“in full”), punishment for sin, so that their souls can be freed from purgatory or even hell to go to heaven. In order to answer the question regarding indulgences, we reviewed, among other questions, related issues such as the fact that we do not have an immortal soul; that we neither go to heaven (where we, as immortal saints in heaven, could allegedly receive prayers from the living and intervene on their behalf), nor do we go to hell or purgatory when we die.

We also discussed the spirit in man and showed that it is not just another concept for an immortal soul; but that the spirit in man has no consciousness when a person dies. Rather, upon death, the entire human being—spirit, body and soul (1 Thessalonians 5:23)—ceases to “live” or have any conscious “life” in any manner, shape or form.

In part 4, we began to review the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching on purgatory, and we will continue to show in this part why this concept is wrong.

We again quote from the website of https://www.catholic.com/tract/purgatory in regard to this Catholic teaching, falsely attempting to “prove” that the early Christian Church believed in it:

“Why No Protests?

“A study of the history of doctrines indicates that Christians in the first centuries were up in arms if anyone suggested the least change in beliefs. They were extremely conservative people who tested a doctrine’s truth by asking, Was this believed by our ancestors? Was it handed on from the apostles? Surely belief in purgatory would be considered a great change, if it had not been believed from the first—so where are the records of protests?

“They don’t exist. There is no hint at all, in the oldest writings available to us (or in later ones, for that matter), that ‘true believers’ in the immediate post-apostolic years spoke of purgatory as a novel doctrine. They must have understood that the oral teaching of the apostles, what Catholics call tradition, and the Bible not only failed to contradict the doctrine, but, in fact, confirmed it.

“It is no wonder, then, that those who deny the existence of purgatory tend to touch upon only briefly the history of the belief. They prefer to claim that the Bible speaks only of heaven and hell. Wrong. It speaks plainly of a third condition, commonly called the limbo of the Fathers, where the just who had died before the redemption were waiting for heaven to be opened to them. After his death and before his resurrection, Christ visited those experiencing the limbo of the Fathers and preached to them the good news that heaven would now be opened to them (1 Pet. 3:19). These people thus were not in heaven, but neither were they experiencing the torments of hell.”

There are several matters to address in the above statements.

The following assertion is patently wrong: “A study of the history of doctrines indicates that Christians in the first centuries were up in arms if anyone suggested the least change in beliefs.”   The Catholic Church brought in the change of Sunday worship instead of the weekly seventh-day Sabbath and we don’t read of protests at all at that time.

In an old Global Church of God booklet from 1995, we read about what happened to the Church.

“When we look at the story of the mainstream, professing Christian church throughout the centuries, it appears to be a vastly different church from the one described in the pages of your New Testament. In the book of Acts we find that God’s church celebrated ‘Jewish’ holy days (Acts 2:1; 13-14, 42, 44; 18:21), talked about the return of Jesus Christ to judge the world (Acts 3:20-21; 17:31) and believed in the literal establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth (Acts 1:3, 6; 28:23).

“Yet, less than 300 years later, we find a church claiming apostolic origination, but observing the ‘venerable day of the Sun’ instead of the seventh-day Sabbath. When that church assembled its bishops to discuss doctrinal matters at the council of Nicea, the meeting was presided over by, of all people, a Roman Emperor – Constantine! How could such an amazing transformation have taken place? What happened?

“Protestant author Jesse Lyman Hurlbut acknowledged the dramatic change that took place in his book, The Story of the Christian Church. He wrote, ‘For fifty years after St Paul’s life a curtain hangs over the church, through which we strive vainly to look; and when it at last rises, about 120 A.D. with the writings of the earliest church-fathers, we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the day of St Peter and St Paul” (page 41).

“The story of the Christian church between Pentecost of 31 A.D. and the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., almost 300 years later, is an amazing story. It is the story of how yesterday’s orthodoxy became today’s heresy and how old heresies came to be considered orthodox Christian doctrine. It is the story of how church tradition and the teaching of the bishops came to supersede the Word of God as a source of doctrine. It is a story that is stranger than fiction, yet it is very much historically verifiable.”

That explains why this heretical church changed the weekly Sabbath day to the first day of the week and why there were no protests. The fact of the matter is, the true Church became persecuted and had to go into hiding, while the false church produced and published a narrative to its liking. Dissenting viewpoints were systematically suppressed and dissenters declared to be “anathema” and killed. However, the true Church of God remained intact keeping the doctrines that had been given to it and has remained faithful down through the ages. Although small, apostolic Christianity is today taught by the Church of God which is comprised of those who have the Holy Spirit after repentance and baptism (compare Acts 2:38).

We also need to address the assertion that “After his death and before his resurrection, Christ visited those experiencing the limbo of the Fathers and preached to them the good news that heaven would now be opened to them (1 Pet. 3:19).” This is in error. This cannot be a reference to dead human beings as Jesus went to preach to the spirits in prison who were the angels who sinned. In 2 Peter 2:4 we read: “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment.”

We say in our Q&A, “Does the Bible teach character development in angels?”:

“We are told in 1 Peter 3:19–20: ‘… by which [the Spirit] also he [Christ] went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water’ (Authorized Version).

“The correct understanding of this passage is that Jesus Christ preached to the spirits in prison—the demons—at the time of Noah, when God was about to protect Noah from destruction. Christ used this example to show that the demons who had sinned ‘sometime’—before the creation of man—were still awaiting their judgment.”

This was not after Christ’s resurrection but more than 2,000 years earlier and it is talking about “in the days of Noah”. As we explained in previous instalments, when Christ died, He was in the grave for three days and three nights without any consciousness. He—or His “soul”—did not keep on living. Christ could not have gone anywhere after His death and before His resurrection. He could not have gone to “spirits” to preach to them about the past or the good news that “heaven was open to them” or the coming judgment—because we read that those who are dead know NOTHING. To try and say that this describes the limbo of the Fathers AND that heaven would now be opened to them is a blatant twisting of Scripture. As we proved earlier, no one ascends to heaven after death.

There is also no hint that any “oral teachings of the Apostles” and the Bible confirm the concept of purgatory and/or limbo. As we have seen, the Bible totally rejects the concept of limbo and purgatory. And God’s true apostles would not have preached something which is so diametrically opposite to foundational biblical teachings. The “tradition” of the Catholic Church is just that—human ideas which deny the Truth of God. These traditions, as so many others, have been adopted, as we saw, from paganism and are strongly condemned by God. Compare Matthew 15:3, 6; Colossians 2:8.

Again, returning to the website: https://www.catholic.com/tract/purgatory and reading the explanation “Purgatory Not in Scripture”:

“Some Fundamentalists also charge, ‘The word purgatory is nowhere found in Scripture. This is true, and yet it does not disprove the existence of purgatory or the fact that belief in it has always been part of Church teaching. The words Trinity and Incarnation aren’t in Scripture either, yet those doctrines are clearly taught in it. Likewise, Scripture teaches that purgatory exists, even if it doesn’t use that word and even if 1 Peter 3:19 refers to a place other than purgatory.”

The existence of purgatory has never been a part of the teaching of the true Church of God and is not mentioned in Scripture, although the great false church has adopted this as they have in many other areas. The trinity is not mentioned in Scripture either as they rightly say because it has never been a doctrine of the true Church of God. For a thorough explanation on this subject, please see our booklet: “Is God a Trinity?” 

The third area they mention that is a teaching but not mentioned in Scripture is Incarnation. Wikipedia gives this explanation of the word Incarnation: “Incarnation refers to the act of a pre-existent divine person, the Son of God, in becoming a human being.” Also, in the incarnation, as traditionally defined by those Churches that adhere to the Council of Chalcedon, the divine nature of the Son was united but not mixed with human nature in one divine Person, Jesus Christ, who was both ‘truly God and truly man’. This is central to the traditional faith held by most Christians.”

The concept of the TRUE incarnation is indeed taught in Scripture, but not the concept of the false incarnation, as erroneously taught by the Catholic church and most Protestant churches. We have already addressed the impossibility that Jesus was fully God and fully man.  It is impossible to be both at the same time, when both concepts are in opposition, in spite of mainstream Christianity’s belief that it is so.

The Truth is that Christ was fully man. He became fully flesh and blood. This is explained in our Q&A, titled, “Who was Jesus Christ when He was here on earth about 2,000 years ago?”. We also explain there what the biblical concept of the Incarnation means. Simply put, it teaches that God became Man:

“Jesus Christ was God before He came to this earth…  He was and had to be God–the ‘Immanuel’ or ‘God with us’–when He came to this earth during His First Coming. God clearly tells us that the Word—Jesus Christ—who was God before His human birth, BECAME flesh. Christ came in the flesh by BECOMING flesh. This means that He became totally and fully flesh and blood, like you and I! This is CRUCIAL for you to understand! When Christ BECAME flesh, He was no longer Spirit. He was no longer fully God, because He had become fully man!…

“When Mary became pregnant with Jesus, how did that happen? We read that the Holy Spirit of God, the Father, came upon her—that the power of God overshadowed her (Luke 1:35). From this we can understand that through the Holy Spirit, God, the Father, changed the all-powerful Spirit being, Jesus Christ, into a tiny physical human sperm, fertilizing the egg in the womb of Mary, thus impregnating her. The fetus grew within Mary’s womb like any other human fetus. Jesus was born as a little baby like every other human baby. He was fully flesh, just like you and I are fully flesh…

“The Bible teaches clearly that Jesus Christ–the God of the Old Testament–‘emptied’ Himself and became a human being… It was absolutely NECESSARY for Christ to become FULLY MAN, because only in that way could He become the Savior of man… The only way that Christ—who had been GOD since all eternity—could die, was to become flesh. When He became flesh, He was totally human!… When Christ became flesh, He gave up all of His divine attributes and powers. Simply put, He became a man so that He could die! He was no longer a Spirit being, He was no longer God as we think of God, since God, a Spirit being, cannot die (compare Luke 20:35–36; Isaiah 57:15; 1 Timothy 6:16; 1 Timothy 1:17)…

“Christ became flesh so that He could overcome sin in the flesh. He had to prove that it is possible for man, with the help of God’s Holy Spirit within him, to overcome sin!… Christ was tempted in all points, as we are, but He stayed sinless (Hebrews 4:15, ‘[He] was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.’). He overcame sin in the flesh, resisting temptation (Revelation 3:21). God, a powerful perfect Spirit being—cannot be tempted (compare James 1:13). But we read that Christ WAS tempted. This proves that He was not the all-powerful perfect Spirit being when He was here on this earth that He HAD been prior to His birth as a human being…

“Christ had been an immortal God being. He was changed into a human being, but He was still the same personage He had been since all eternity. Christ, who became human, was still the personage He had always been. He was still the one who had previously met with Abraham, the one who created Adam and Eve, and the one who spoke to Moses face-to-face. He lived as a human being—growing as children do, developing into a young man, and then becoming a rabbi, or teacher, in Judah. But He was still the same individual that He had always been. He had been an immortal God being and He knew that He would become an immortal God being again, subject to qualifying by being and remaining sinless… Christ, when He was here on earth, was, quite literally, Immanuel, or, ‘God with us.’…”

Discussing the concept of purgatory, we read the following on the website https://www.equip.org/article/is-purgatory-a-biblical-concept/ :

“The interpretation of Scripture (called hermeneutics) is built on three preliminary laws. The first is this: Scripture interprets Scripture, called ‘the rule of analogy.’ The second law of hermeneutics is this: The plain meaning of Scripture is usually the true meaning. The third rule is this: Simple passages of Scripture help explain complex passages of Scripture—the simple informs the complicated. Roman Catholic hermeneutics concerning supposed proof texts for purgatory violate all of these laws of hermeneutics. There is no clear, plain, and simple text about purgatory, as there is about both heaven and hell. The Apocrypha cannot be placed equal to inspired Scripture. The Bible plainly speaks about life, death, and judgment: ‘And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment’ (Heb. 9:27)… There is no mention of postmortem purgation at all. Purgatory is an extrabiblical idea, imported into the church in the Middle Ages—a product of tradition but not Scripture. And the Catholic efforts at grasping for hermeneutical straws to support this false belief—‘fire,’ ‘the age to come,’ ‘souls in prison’—betray a lack of clear, precise, and biblical evidence for that place called purgatory.”

With this extensive background, we will now begin to show the connection between the erroneous concept of purgatory and the erroneous concept of indulgences. We will address this connection in much detail in the next instalment. To conclude this part, let us quote from Wikipedia, as follows:

“Catholic doctrine on purgatory is presented as composed of the same two points in the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, first published in 2005, which is a summary in dialogue form of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It deals with purgatory in the following exchange:

“‘210. What is purgatory?

“‘Purgatory is the state of those who die in God’s friendship, assured of their eternal salvation, but who still have need of purification to enter into the happiness of heaven.

“‘211. How can we help the souls being purified in purgatory?

“‘Because of the communion of the saints, the faithful who are still pilgrims on earth are able to help the souls in purgatory by offering prayers in suffrage for them, especially the Eucharistic sacrifice. They also help them by almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance.’”

Wikipedia also states the following under their comments on “the history of purgatory”:

“The idea of Purgatory as a physical place (like heaven and hell) became Roman Catholic teaching in the late 11^th century. Medieval theologians concluded that the purgatorial punishments consisted of material fire. The Western formulation of purgatory proved to be a sticking point in the Great Schism between East and West.  The Roman Catholic Church believes that the living can help those whose purification from their sins is not yet completed not only by praying for them but also by gaining indulgences for them as an act of intercession.”

If there is no purgatory, there is no need for indulgences. In fact, indulgences would be worthless and a waste of time (and money). This will become much clearer in the next instalment.

(To be continued)

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

compiled by Dave Harris

“Germany’s March to Dictatorship and its Corona Chancellor,” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary: 

A new law in Germany regarding the coronavirus, granting the government and its health minister, Jens Spahn, unilateral powers to restrict fundamental rights of liberty and freedom, as guaranteed in the German Constitution, has caused many to compare it with the Enabling Act of 1933 which paved the way for Adolf Hitler’s dictatorship. But Germany’s new law is only the last step so far in a series of developments which are deeply troubling. 

“Deutschlands Marsch in die Diktatur und sein Corona-Kanzler,” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program, presented by Norbert Link. This program addresses the same material presented in English–as described above.

“Hatte Salomo jemals den heiligen Geist Gottes?” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “Did Solomon Ever Have God’s Holy Spirit?”

“Taking God to Work,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Frank Bruno, is now posted. Here is a summary:

As this world continues its spiral, members of God’s Church must remember that a relationship with God and with Jesus Christ must not end with the Sabbath. In order to be sure we are following His Commandments, we must rely on Him as we face challenges in our work life as well. In this sermonette we will explore Scriptures that help us to honor Him and reflect our faith in our work and all that we do.

“Maintain the Grit to Succeed,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Robb Harris, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Too often we become stuck in a rut of spiritual complacency. Understanding and practicing the necessities in our relationship with God can become rote. It takes a concerted effect to grow and not just sustain our connection with God.  We must always be learning and increasing in wisdom and in so doing, our lights will continue to shine brightly.