On October 20, 2018, Kalon Mitchell will present the sermonette, titled, “What Has God Done For Me?” and Norbert Link will present the sermon, titled, “Can Biblical Fasting Really Help?”

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.

The Feast of Tabernacles is a time of great joy for us in God’s Church since for some of us who are scattered it is the one and only opportunity within a year to fellowship personally with God’s people. We renew old friendships, make new ones and with the spiritual food we receive, we continue to grow in grace and knowledge which is crucial for our walk with Christ.

What will it take to make you walk away from the Truth?  In the 70’s a couple we knew left the church because in their minds, prophecy was not being fulfilled fast enough. Even in the time of Christ, there were some who walked away. This seems somewhat incredible in view of the fact they witnessed firsthand all the signs, wonders and miracles which He did.

Let us look at the following example in John 6:48-58, beginning with the words of Christ who said:

”’I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.’

“The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, ‘How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.'”

Note the reaction of many of His disciples, as recorded in John 6:66: “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.”

Notice: “Many” just walked away and abandoned Him. In their minds what He was saying was against laws in the Old Testament. They reasoned: “‘Eating His flesh and drinking His blood’– That’s cannibalism, and we know we are not to eat human flesh and drink blood.”

What they failed to do was to ask for an explanation as to what Christ meant by His statements. He was referring to the new Passover symbols which would be introduced by Him shortly, speaking of eating a piece of unleavened bread and drinking a little bit of wine, to picture His suffering and death. This constituted a radical change from the current practice of sacrificing and eating a Passover lamb.

Why they never questioned Him is a bit of a mystery. They just walked away, rejecting His words. When you hear something from the pulpit which doesn’t seem quite right to you, do you head for the door or do you go and ask the speaker as to what he meant by what he said?

As a speaker, sometimes things don’t come out just right as intended. It is the responsibility of the hearer to ask.

As we head into the winter months which in the northern hemisphere are long and cold, we look forward to springtime and the spring Holy Days. We will face trials and tests, as Christ told us. It is important for us not to get rattled by anything which happens to us, including imagined or real offenses, misunderstandings and illusions of our own minds, but rather, to look to the purpose of our calling and to the reward ahead.

When we face serious trials and tests, just how strong will our commitment be? Will we hold fast or will we walk away?

by Norbert Link

We begin with the (predictable) Bavarian election debacle for Angela Merkel and Germany’s grand coalition [please view our new StandingWatch program, “New German Leadership Coming—Merkel’s Days Are Numbered”]; continue with the Brexit fiasco; quote President Trump’s evaluation of the EU’s “hostile” conduct towards the USA; speak on Europe’s “need” for a finance minister and Austria’s “Wunderkind”; and report on President Trump’s nominations and appointments of openly homosexual judges to key positions.

We also speak on the controversial US-Saudi alliance (which some feel must and will end sooner rather than later).

In other news, we address Australia’s intent to transfer its embassy to Jerusalem; possible reasons for Pope Benedict’s abdication; interesting comments by Pope Francis regarding “gentle” demons; attempts by witches to place a curse on Justice Kavanaugh and others; and we discuss the question as to what causes nightmares and present some correct and many wrong beliefs of most American evangelicals.

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

Merkel’s Debacle in Bavarian Election

Politico wrote on October 14:

“The Bavarian wing of Angela Merkel’s center-right bloc suffered its worst result in nearly 70 years in a state election as voters abandoned Germany’s ruling parties for alternatives on both the left and right, sending a clear signal to Berlin that growing numbers of Germans are displeased with the country’s direction… the result delivered an unvarnished rebuke to the ‘grand coalition’ between Merkel’s bloc and the Social Democrats (SPD), which has been beset by infighting and controversy since it took office in March. With its support diminished, there is growing doubt over whether the government will survive its full term until the fall of 2021, at least in its current form…

“The big winners of the night were the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD)… and the Greens… The two parties’ success underscored the ongoing polarization of German politics as well as the continued resonance of the 2015 refugee crisis. One-third of voters cited migration and the integration of foreigners as the biggest problem facing the state… While the AfD attracted many disgruntled former CSU supporters upset over Merkel’s liberal approach to asylum, the Greens drew in centrist voters put off by the CSU’s often-harsh rhetoric on migration…

“The Bavarian result… is bound to fan speculation about Merkel’s own future as chancellor. She faces a further challenge at the end of October with another regional election in the state of Hesse…  A poor showing in Hesse could force Merkel to relinquish the chairmanship of the CDU at a party congress in December…”

AFP wrote on October 14:

“‘Debacle for CSU and SPD,’ ran the online headline of Bild daily, while Der Spiegel called it a ‘bitter defeat’ for Bavaria’s traditional ruling party… The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), which rails against Muslims and demands that ‘Merkel must go’… entered the 15th of Germany’s 16 state assemblies…”

The Telegraph wrote on October 14:

“The results will… add to growing calls within [Merkel’s] own party for the veteran chancellor to stand down…”

Deutsche Welle wrote on October 15:

“The latest debacle could very well spell the end for a coalition that none of the parties really ever wanted in the first place and that in the eyes of many voters is muddling through rather than shaping crucial policies, ranging from immigration to pensions.

“… if the CDU and the SPD experience another drubbing, all bets are off on the grand coalition surviving. That could mean new elections, a CDU-run minority government, or another attempt to form a Jamaica coalition, made up of the CDU, the CSU, the pro-business Free Democrats and the Greens and so named because of the parties’ respective colors: black, yellow and green.

“None of the options are really palatable and what’s keeping the coalition together, albeit tenuously, is a lack of clear alternative.”

Deutsche Welle wrote on October 15:

“This election changes a lot, and not just in Bavaria… Many CSU voters in Bavaria defected to the [EU-loving] Greens because the party seems to take the Christian aspect (specifically love-thy-neighbor in matters of migration) more seriously than the conservatives… many voters still seem unwilling to be persuaded that the fear of ‘Islamization’ should outweigh reason or compassion.

“The other winner, the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), is no surprise… It is a vote in protest of the mistakes made by the CSU… the Bavarian party followed a maxim of its father figure, Franz-Josef Strauss, who once said there must be no ‘democratically legitimate party’ in German politics to the right of the CSU… This worked for decades, until its leaders panicked and started copying the AfD’s policies in 2018…”

Germany’s Mainstream Parties Sound Asleep

The EUObserver wrote on October 15:

“‘The Bavarian result further destabilises Merkel and her government,’ Heinrich Oberreuter, a German academic, told The New York Times newspaper. ‘Society has changed, Bavaria has changed, and Bavarian voters have changed, but the mainstream parties have slept through that change,’ he said.”

Premature End of Grand Coalition More Likely

Der Spiegel wrote on October 15:

“The most important outcome of the election in Bavaria… is the fact that it has made the premature end of the Merkel’s governing coalition much more likely. The leaders of all three coalition partners could lose their posts in the coming weeks and months while the result has shown just how fragile the major parties’ foundations have become. Together, the CSU and SPD lost more than 20 percentage points. Meanwhile, the conservatives and the SPD together have only a razor-thin majority in recent nationwide polls.

“Germany’s governing coalition, of course, was beset by uncertainty even before the election in Bavaria. Since its start in March of this year, it has been distracted by a seemingly never-ending debate over migration and constant provocations from the CSU, which spent months campaigning on an anti-Merkel, anti-migration platform…

“Many SPD members and officials want their party to leave their unloved coalition with the CDU as soon as possible. That pressure is now likely to increase…”

The grand coalition will soon fall apart, and Angela Merkel’s days as CDU party leader and German Chancellor are numbered. The real and clear alternative will manifest itself in the very near future.

The Brexit Fiasco

The Week wrote on October 15:

“It’s been two years since Britons voted to leave the EU. Why don’t they have the details worked out yet?…

“The Leave campaign said abandoning the EU would bring a financial windfall, but it’s now clear there will be large costs… Financial firms in London, and other service industries, which account for nearly 80 percent of British GDP, are expected to lose $47 billion a year once Brexit goes through. All told, 44 percent of British exports go to the EU, while just 8 percent of EU exports go to the U.K. With the U.K. desperate to preserve some kind of viable access to EU markets, the EU is in a much stronger bargaining position and has so far refused to yield at all on its core demands…

“The EU has already demanded, and won, a pledge that Britain will pay the $51 billion it owes in EU officials’ pension costs and other obligations. It is adamant that Britain cannot have unfettered access to the vast EU single market unless it adheres to all of the EU’s ‘four freedoms’ – free movement of goods, services, capital, and people. The EU says it can’t allow Britain to choose just one or two of those four commitments, lest Brexit set a precedent for other restless countries that might wish to strike their own bespoke bargains. Most importantly, the EU has taken the side of its member state Ireland in insisting that the border between the Irish Republic and the U.K. province of Northern Ireland remain open and free for travel and trade after Brexit…

“The U.K. is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29, 2019. With no trade deal in place, customs checks would have to begin on all goods crossing the British border both ways. Since the U.K. doesn’t have the infrastructure to do that, trucks would back up for miles. The just-in-time supply chains that British stores and manufacturers use would be disrupted, causing shortages of food and other goods. British financial firms would lose their right to sell their services in the EU. Companies would lay off workers. The pound would plummet…

“Some British leaders… are calling for… a second referendum that would be held if Parliament rejects the final Brexit terms. May has absolutely ruled that out… Even if her government were somehow persuaded, it’s by no means clear what the outcome of such a vote would be… A… recent poll found that if given the choice now to stay in the EU or take whatever deal May strikes, 40 percent would vote Remain, 39 percent would vote Leave, and the rest are undecided…”

The Brexit is predestined to happen, and it will be extremely bad and costly for Britain.

EU Summit and Brexit

Deutsche Welle wrote on October 18:

“British Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday hinted at her openness to extending a so-called transition period ‘for a matter of months’ after Britain leaves the European Union… An extension could buy negotiators time to resolve the impasse over the Ireland-UK border, but the suggestion immediately courted criticism from within May’s own party…

“To enable an extension, Britain would have to request it and then the other 27 member states would have to agree to it… The transition period for the UK and EU is only expected to come into effect if some form of preliminary deal is struck before the UK’s scheduled EU exit in late March. In the event of a ‘no-deal Brexit,’ any transition period plans are liable to disintegrate…

“Angela Merkel’s spokesman said that members also discussed cybersecurity, migration, and the continued development of the Eurozone. Reuters also reported that EU leaders would discuss support for free trade, the Iran nuclear deal and combating global warming, but also forging relationships on these topics with China, Japan and Russia as a counterbalance to a more protectionist United States.”

Putin: Russia Will Use Nuclear Weapons Only in Retaliation

ndtv wrote on October 18:

“Russians will ‘go to heaven’ as martyrs in the event of nuclear war because Moscow will only ever use nuclear weapons in retaliation, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. ‘We have no concept of a preemptive strike,’ Putin told a forum of international experts…

“‘In such a situation, we expect to be struck by nuclear weapons, but we will not use them’ first, he said. ‘The aggressor will have to understand that retaliation is inevitable, that it will be destroyed and that we, as victims of aggression, as martyrs, will go to heaven…

“Putin last year unveiled ‘invincible’ new weapons that would render Western missile defence systems obsolete. In 2016 he called for the country to reinforce its military nuclear potential.”

In our free booklet, “The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation,” we explain in detail that a coming nuclear war between Russia and the West is going to happen.

EU Hostile towards USA?

Deutsche Welle wrote on October 14:

“US President Donald Trump on Sunday again railed against the trans-Atlantic trade relationship, claiming that ‘nobody treats us much worse than the European Union.’ ‘The European Union was formed in order to take advantage of us on trade, and that’s what they’ve done,’ Trump said in a televised interview on CBS…

“Trump said his hard-handed tactics against the EU were not hostile toward America’s allies. ‘You know what’s hostile? The way they treat us. We’re not hostile,’ Trump told CBS journalist Lesley Stahl after she suggested the administration was behaving in a hostile manner toward US allies.”

From now on, there will be no more peace between these two power blocs.

USA Wants to Negotiate Separate Trade Deals with the EU, the UK and Japan

Deutsche Welle wrote on October 17:

“US officials formally notified the Congress on Tuesday of their intent to negotiate separate trade deals with the EU, the UK, and Japan… Under American law, the Office of the US Trade Representative is obliged to notify the lawmakers about its goals at least 30 days before the talks begin. The three accords aim to fix ‘chronic US trade imbalances’ and barriers presented to US exporters abroad…

“The move comes just weeks after the US, Canada, and Mexico renegotiated the NAFTA trade deal following opposition from US President Donald Trump. After Trump rallied against the original deal and claimed it was unfair to the US, the accord was renamed as UMSCA and tweaked in areas such as labor rights and rules of origin.

“However, striking deals with other trading partners might prove to be more complicated. French President Emmanuel Macron has said he won’t support EU trade talks with countries outside the Paris climate agreement. Trump has pulled the US from the deal last year, making it the only country in the world to formally oppose it. (Though it’s worth noting that more than a dozen signatories to the deal, including major emitters like Russia and Turkey, are yet to ratify it.) The UK is locked in tense Brexit talks and would not be able to formally negotiate any deals before defining its relationship with the EU.

“Trump’s election campaign relied heavily on promises of balancing global trade and returning manufacturing jobs to the US. However, the US trade deficit has continued to grow since he took office following the 2016 election. In August 2018, the monthly deficit reached $38.6 billion (€33.4 billion) with China and $8.7 billion with Mexico, both of them historic highs.”

Europe Needs a Finance Minister

Handelsblatt Global wrote on October 16:

“The euro is the world’s second-leading currency, but it still lags far behind the US dollar. Two-thirds of all loans issued by local banks in foreign currencies are denominated in dollars, compared to just 20 percent in euros. Similar proportions apply to global foreign-exchange reserves. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is eager to change this.

“Last month, he declared it [is] ‘absurd’ that ‘Europe pays for 80 percent of its energy import bill – worth €300 billion a year – in US dollars,’ even though only about 2 percent of the EU’s energy imports come from the US. He then called for the euro to become ‘the instrument of a new, more sovereign Europe,’ and promised to ‘present initiatives to strengthen the international role of the euro.’

“Mr. Juncker is not alone among European leaders in recognizing how powerful a tool the single currency can be when it comes to projecting power. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has proposed that the European Union establish its own international payments system. But these proposals, while ambitious, may overlook what is really needed to elevate the euro’s status…

“If Mr. Juncker’s vision is to be realized, the ECB (European Central Bank) will have to… adopt a (US) Fed-style role as international lender of last resort… The ECB… lacks a single political counterpart akin to the US Treasury Secretary for the Fed. With no euro-zone finance minister to coordinate with in times of crisis, a decision by the ECB to help third countries – even EU countries – could be met with strong resistance…  euro-zone leaders should complete the reforms of the currency union’s architecture and provide a political counterpart to the ECB (i.e., a European finance minister).”

The Austrian “Wunderkind”

The Atlantic wrote on October 16:

“Although the CSU ended up performing terribly in Sunday’s election, the party’s choice to bring in [Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian] Kurz to bolster the final days of its difficult campaign made perfect sense. Ever since last October, when Kurz and his rebranded Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) recovered from dismal polling numbers to overtake the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) in the polls and win Austria’s parliamentary elections, Kurz has been hailed as a political wunderkind whose success could serve as an example for ailing center-right parties across Europe. The Kurz electoral playbook—a combination of personality-driven, Emmanuel Macron–style ‘movement’ rhetoric and a sharp turn to the right on immigration—represents one view on how such parties can fight off (and, in Kurz’s case, ultimately work in harmony with) their far-right populist challengers.

“One year later, that assessment still looks valid: Kurz remains popular among the Austrian electorate and, were another election to be held today, polls indicate that his ÖVP may even fare better than it did last October. What’s more, the coalition Kurz built with the far-right FPÖ last December is remarkably stable despite a string of scandals implicating top FPÖ ministers and politicians… there’s little sign the ÖVP-FPÖ relationship will break down anytime soon…

“It helps that, on what is perhaps the dominant political issue in Austria these days—migration—the ÖVP and FPÖ are essentially in lockstep. Over the course of the year, they’ve proposed initiatives and discussed the issue on the European level in a way that makes it clear they are in agreement… the speed with which [controversies] blew over is a sign that, like in the United States, such scandals have become increasingly normalized—and as a result, Kurz’s coalition looks stable for the foreseeable future…”

More Homosexual Judges

Life Site News reported on October 12:

“Another homosexual judge with ties to a LGBT legal group is among President Donald Trump’s latest batch of judicial nominees, this time to the influential Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The White House announced a handful of federal appointees Wednesday, including assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Bumatay… Bumatay would also be the nation’s second openly homosexual federal appeals court judge… The White House’s press release also notes that he’s a member of the Tom Homann LGBT Law Association, an organization dedicated to the ‘advancement of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues throughout California and the nation.’

“The Homann Association has staked out a number of left-wing positions, including disappointment that the Supreme Court upheld Christian baker Jack Phillips’ right to refuse to make a cake for a same-sex ‘wedding,’ and ‘unequivocally denounc[ing]’ the Trump administration’s ban on transgender military service…

“Bumatay follows Judge Mary Rowland, an open homosexual who has ties to the left-wing Lesbian & Gay Bar Association of Chicago and Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, as the second appointee whose background raises doubts as to whether he would separate his homosexuality from his jurisprudence.”

Newsmax added on October 16:

“The three individuals Trump intends to nominate — Patrick Bumatay, Daniel Collins and Kenneth Kiyul Lee — each have Republican ties. Bumatay and Lee are members of the conservative Federalist Society, and Collins clerked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia and worked in the George W. Bush administration.”

Why the US-Saudi Alliance Must End

The Week wrote on October 11:

“Saudi Arabia is no friend of democracy, liberty, or even common decency… Back in the early 20th century, as European empires crumbled, the basic structure of the Saudi kingdom was established as a bargain between the House of Saud and local hardline clerics. The Saudi kings got political power, while the clerics were allowed great religious authority… [establishing] a tyrannical absolutist monarchy akin to the Papal States of centuries past. But gigantic oil strikes — the largest and most easily accessed in the world — allowed the Saudi government to basically purchase the quiescence of the citizenry and the goodwill of Western power. Oil kept the system tottering along — and the clerics exporting their violent, extremist version of Islam around the globe.

“As a result, most of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi…

“The new Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman came to power in 2017, casting himself as a liberal reformer… Since then, it has become starkly obvious that bin Salman was just setting himself up as a ruthless absolute dictator. His domestic opponents have been reportedly kidnapped, extorted, and even tortured. A Twitter account closely associated with the government baldly threatened Toronto with a 9/11-style attack, after the Canadian government criticized the Saudis for arresting a women’s rights reformer with a Canadian family… Saudis have been arming, paying, and recruiting al Qaeda as part of bin Salman’s quasi-genocidal war in Yemen…

“[America] should very obviously ditch the alliance with Saudi Arabia immediately. That kind of despicable, murderous authoritarianism has no place in the community of nations.”

Saudi Arabia’s track record has truly been appalling for a long time. The US-Saudi alliance will indeed end, in order to be replaced with a (temporary) alliance between Saudi Arabia and Europe. For more information on Saudi Arabia’s future, please read our free booklet, “Middle Eastern and African Nations in Biblical Prophecy.”

Saudi Arabia Denies Involvement…

The Guardian wrote on October 16:

“Some areas have been repainted at the Saudi consulate where missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was last seen alive, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has said [and that] police had found evidence of toxic materials…

“In giving credence to the prince’s claims of having been unaware of what happened in the Istanbul consulate, [US secretary of state Mike Pompeo] was echoing Donald Trump who had gone on Twitter to reveal he talked to the crown prince during the meeting and said Bin Salman ‘totally denied any knowledge of what took place in their Turkish Consulate’… Later in the day, the US president claimed the Saudi royal family was being treated unfairly in the widespread assumption that it was behind Khashoggi’s disappearance from the Saudi consulate…

“Later on Tuesday, the New York Times reported that four of the Saudi suspects had links to the security detail of the crown prince, citing social media profiles, leaked records and use of facial recognition software… However, the US president said on Monday, without offering evidence, that Khashoggi could have been murdered by ‘rogue killers’, prompting speculation that the White House may be willing to protect the House of Saud, a key political and trade ally, from blame for the diplomatic crisis.

“But Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential Republican ally of Trump, described the crown prince, known by his initials as MBS, as ‘toxic’ and accused him of ordering Khashoggi’s death. ‘Nothing happens in Saudi Arabia without MBS knowing it,’ he told Fox News, warning that Congress would ‘sanction the h… out of Saudi Arabia’ over Khashoggi’s disappearance…

“Turkish officials allege they have video and audio evidence that proves Khashoggi was interrogated, tortured and murdered by a 15-man hit squad sent from Riyadh. Saudi Arabia says the claims are false, although it has offered no alternative version of events…

“Khashoggi wrote extensively for the Washington Post about Saudi Arabia, criticising its war in Yemen, the recent diplomatic spat with Canada and its arrest of women’s rights activists after the lifting of Saudi Arabia’s driving ban for women…”

Where there is smoke, there is fire; and when a bird walks like a duck, talks like a duck, eats like a duck and sleeps like a duck, there is reason to believe that the bird is not a horse.

Fox News published the following interesting statement on October 17:

“A Saudi contribution of $100 million to U.S.-backed stabilization efforts in Syria arrived in American accounts Tuesday, just as State Mike Pompeo touched down in Riyadh to discuss the missing Saudi journalist…”

The Hill wrote on October 15:

“Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Robert Jordan on Monday warned President Trump against accepting the Saudi government’s denials about the disappearance of a Washington Post columnist. ‘Let’s remember, this is the same King Salman who told me after 9/11 that the 9/11 attacks were an Israeli plot,’ Jordan said…”

“Why Is President Trump Letting the Saudis Push Him Around?”

The Week wrote on October 17:

“President Trump famously hates to look weak. So why is he letting Saudi Arabia push him around?

“The alleged murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi intelligence agents would seem to provide ample justification for a harsh rebuke, if not something stronger. Khashoggi was an American resident, and he appears to have been killed within the Saudi consulate in Turkey. A more blatant violation of diplomatic norms would be hard to imagine. If the Saudis can just get away with that, the White House would seem to be saying they can get away with anything.

“… there’s a long tradition of American obsequiousness toward the Saudi kingdom: President George W. Bush didn’t break with them over 9/11, nor did President Barack Obama over their support for ISIS…

“The Saudis initially refused to even take seriously international concerns about Khashoggi’s fate. And as the conversation turned to sanctions, the kingdom’s swaggering Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman leveled pointed threats to retaliate by turning off the oil spigot and sending the world economy into recession…

“Saudi Arabia is neither a powerful enemy nor a vital ally. It’s a client, dependent on American protection for its very survival. If America were to deny it arms, it couldn’t simply switch to Chinese or Russia suppliers, because our weapons are not inter-operable. Saudi Arabia’s brutal and failing war in Yemen — which looks likely to trigger the worst famine in that country in a century— is far more serious than the murder of a single journalist and is being prosecuted with active American support for the Saudi air force. But that war serves no American interest at all; indeed, our support was originally provided — by the Obama administration — to placate the Saudis, who feared an American tilt to Iran after the nuclear deal… America is no longer dependent on Gulf oil as we were in decades past…

“What’s at issue isn’t ultimately America’s moral authority. It’s our practical authority — whether we or Saudi Arabia are the dominant player in our relationship. That’s a language Trump of all people should clearly understand. The Trump administration has put a lot of chips down on the relationship with Saudi Arabia. But those are Trump’s chips, not America’s. And he’s supposed to put America first.”

Trump: Very Severe Consequences if Saudis Did It

On October 18, Breitbart reported the following:

“While speaking to reporters on Thursday, President Trump… [was] asked if he thinks Khashoggi is dead. Trump said, ‘It certainly looks that way to me. It’s very sad.’ He later added that he’s waiting on the results of various investigations.

“When asked about the consequences the Saudis will face if they are responsible for Khashoggi’s death, Trump stated, ‘Well, it’ll have to be very severe.’”

Trump Threatens to Call US Military to Close Southern Border

Fox News reported on October 18:

“The U.S. military will ‘CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER’ with Mexico if officials there don’t soon stop the northward push of a massive migrant caravan, President Trump warned Thursday, amid reports the procession had swelled in size to about 4,000 people…

“Trump tweeted Thursday morning…: ‘In addition to stopping all payments to these countries [Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador], which seem to have almost no control over their population, I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught – and if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!’

“The caravan… is persistently inching toward the Mexico-Guatemala border, where Mexican officials have sent 500 additional federal police officers ahead of the procession’s arrival… Mexico has said anyone with travel documents and the correct visa will be allowed to pass, and some others in the group can apply for refugee status. But officials also cautioned those who try to cross in an ‘irregular manner’ could be detained and deported…  The AP added that none of the migrants its reporters spoke to were carrying passports, which all but assures a high-stakes showdown with Mexican border officials in the coming days…

“Since 2015, the U.S. government has sent more than $2.6 billion in foreign assistance to the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Trump has repeatedly threatened to cut off that aid if the mass migration continues. The caravan set off last Friday from San Pedro Sula, Honduras’ second-largest city and a place widely considered to be one of [the] most dangerous in the world when judged by homicide rate…”

Australia May Move Embassy to Jerusalem

The Guardian, Australian Edition, wrote on October 16:

“Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, is reported to be considering moving Australia’s Israel embassy to Jerusalem… Morrison [also] declared he was ‘open-minded’ on… recognising Jerusalem as the capital… the prime minister said Australia would also review the Iran nuclear deal.

“The prime minister… insisted Australia remained committed to a two-state solution… Morrison, an evangelical Christian, credited the Liberal party’s Wentworth byelection candidate Dave Sharma, a former Australian ambassador to Israel, with raising the issue, and suggesting a way forward… Wentworth… has a large Jewish community and voters will go to the polls this weekend…

“Even if Australia did not move the embassy it should ‘at least consider recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital without prejudice to its final boundaries or potential status as capital of future Palestinian state,’ [Sharma] wrote on Twitter in May… ‘The idea that west Jerusalem would not be part of Israel in a two-state solution is ludicrous,’ he said…

“So far only the US and its ally Guatemala have moved their embassies to Jerusalem…

“Labor slammed the flagging of a possible change of policy on Israel and Palestine. The shadow foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, blasted the move. ‘Foreign policy, and Australia’s national interest are far too important to be played with in this fashion,’ she said.”

The announcement of the prime minister is causing strong repercussions in Australia and in other countries. Many assume it is because of a by election next Saturday which the government must win to maintain a majority of one seat, and the electorate has a high Jewish enrolment.

As mentioned in the article, the contending Liberal party candidate, Dave Sharma, was previously Australia’s ambassador to Israel and is a very intelligent Jew. Australia’s new treasurer is also Jewish. Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Scott Morrison and he had discussed the move of the Australian embassy to Jerusalem and that he thanked the Australian Prime Minister for his remarks.

Muslims and Arabs Upset

Breitbart added on October 17:

“Australia’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital would strike a ‘really big blow’ that ‘will affect bilateral relations’ with neighbouring Indonesia [described in the article as “the world’s largest Muslim-majority country”], according to a message exchange between Foreign Minister Marise Payne and her Indonesian counterpart… She was joined in her condemnation by 13 Arab ambassadors in Australia who called the suggestion regrettable and asked Mr. Morrison to reconsider… In a statement seen by the Sydney Morning Herald, a spokesman said Senator Payne and her Indonesian counterpart had a ‘constructive discussion’ about the announcement and Australia was aware of Indonesia’s perspective on the Arab-Israeli conflict.

“Minister Payne emphasised that there had been no change to Australia’s commitment to the Middle East peace process and to a durable and resilient two-state solution that allowed Israel and a future Palestinian state to exist side by side, within internationally recognised borders… Australia could still support a two-state solution and recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital…

“Some of Judaism’s holiest sites are located in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount and Western Wall in Jerusalem; the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs in Hebron; and Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus.”

Eastern Jerusalem Consulate Will Merge with US Embassy

JTA wrote on October 18:

“The U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, which primarily serves Palestinian-Americans, will merge with the U.S. embassy, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced. The consulate on Agron Street in the center of western Jerusalem will merge operations with the new Israeli embassy in Arnona, on the eastern-western seam of the 1967 lines that divided the city… Pompeo said that he asked U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman to ‘guide the merger.’…

“The statement added that the merger ‘does not signal a change of U.S. policy on Jerusalem, the West Bank, or the Gaza Strip,’ but rather is driven by ‘our global efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations.’ Pompeo emphasized that ‘the United States continues to take no position on final status issues, including boundaries or borders.  The specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem are subject to final status negotiations between the parties.’”

Israel and US Postal Services Issue Joint Hanukkah Stamp

JTA wrote on October 18:

“The stamp also is meant to celebrate 70 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and the United States, Israel Post said in a statement. The new stamp design was launched simultaneously in the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, the oldest synagogue in the United States, and at the American Center in Jerusalem.

“‘Today’s joint stamp issue is a symbol of the shared values and the cultural affinity between the United States and Israel,’ U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said at the Jerusalem ceremony. Postal Service Judicial Officer Gary Shapiro said in Rhode Island: ‘Starting today, this work of art celebrating the Jewish Festival of Lights will travel on millions of letters and packages, throughout America and around the world.’

“The stamp art features a Hanukkah menorah created using the technique of papercutting, a Jewish folk art, by artist Tamar Fishman. Behind the menorah is a shape that resembles an ancient oil jug representing the miracle of the oil that burned in the candelabra in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem after its sacking and recapture for the eight days necessary to resupply. Additional design elements include dreidels and a pomegranate plant with fruit and flowers.

“The stamp is being issued in the United States as a Forever stamp, which will always be equal in value to the current first class mail one-ounce price. It will sell in Israel for 8.30 shekels, the cost of a regular first-class stamp. Hanukkah begins at sundown on Dec. 2.”

Why Pope Benedict Resigned

Bild Online wrote on September 20:

“Five years ago, Pope Benedict XVI (91) resigned… Now shocking letters written by the retired Pope have surfaced that will be highly interesting to church historians. The letters… show that Benedict XVI is deeply concerned about the state of the Church…

“There had indeed been papal resignations in the past, Benedict wrote. One example was Pope Pius XII (1876-1958) who, in 1944, aimed to avoid being ‘arrested by the Nazis’ by stepping down. What is interesting is the comparison to a Pope threatened by the Nazis. Who did Benedict feel threatened by? ‘Pray for me that I may not flee for fear of the wolves,’ Benedict XVI said at his inauguration. Who are the wolves?

“Professor of Philosophy and Vatican expert, Armin Schwibach (53), told BILD: ‘By “the wolves”, he probably meant the network of high-ranking Church dignitaries who have created a system of power, and abuse of power, in the Vatican, and whom he felt unable to cope with.’

“Was Benedict even concerned about being poisoned by henchmen of this network? The ‘Spiegel’ reported in May 2015 that, in October 2012, the president of the Bavarian State Office of Criminal Investigations allegedly travelled to Rome to review gaps in the food preparation for the Pope. Even more interesting: When, given the bewildered state of the Church following the Pope’s resignation, [a] cardinal criticized by the Pope wrote back: ‘May the Lord help his Church’, Benedict replied once more – and with a remarkable sentence. He wrote: ‘Let us rather pray, as you did at the end of your letter, that the Lord will come to the aid of his Church.’ So did the former Pope think that the Church had entered a crisis under his successor, and that only praying would help in this crisis?

“Benedict’s successor, Pope Francis, is currently facing accusations of having supported a powerful US cardinal despite knowing that Benedict had punished him for sexual offences. The editor-in-chief of the Katholische Nachrichtenagentur (Catholic News Agency, KNA), Ludwig Ring Eifel (58), told BILD: ‘The letters allow for fascinating insights into Benedict XVI’s thinking – he is obviously very concerned about the state of the Church.’ Benedict’s private secretary, Arch Bishop Georg Gänswein (62), did not want to comment on the letters to BILD. He recently chose to compare the situation of the Church – shaken by abuse scandals and systematic cover-ups – to the terror attacks of September 11 in New York. The Church, he said, is currently experiencing ‚its own 9/11‘.“

Beware of “Gentle” Demons

Vatican News wrote on October 12:

“Pope Francis celebrated Mass Friday morning at the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican, saying that when the devil cannot destroy head on with vices, wars or injustices, he does so subtly with guiles, gradually leading people into the spirit of the world, making them feel nothing is wrong… When the devil takes possession of a person’s heart, the Pope said, he makes it his home not wanting to leave, and tries to ruin the person and harm him even physically…

“The Pope said [the devil] make us feel comfortable that we are Christians, Catholics who go to Mass and pray.  We do have our defects, our sins, but everything seems to be in order…  Working silently, [demons] make friends and persuade you on the road to mediocrity, making you ‘lukewarm’ with worldliness… [The Pope] urged Christians to watch out against falling…  ‘into this spirit of the world’, which ‘corrupts us from within’.”

Satan pretends to be an angel of light. Many times, he is very subtle by using his evil devices in deceiving and taking hold of unsuspecting people.

Witches on Display

CNS News reported on October 11:

“Witches plan to place a public hex on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh through an occult ritual on Oct. 20 in New York City, an event sponsored by Catland Books, which describes itself as ‘Brooklyn’s premiere occult bookshop & spiritual community space.’ The planned ritual has been advertised on Facebook… It further states that 50% of the event proceeds will go to charity: 25% to the Ali Forney Center and 25% to Planned Parenthood.

“The Ali Forney Center is a homeless shelter and help center for LGBTQ youth. Planned Parenthood is America’s largest abortion provider. It received $543.7 million in taxpayer funding for the year ending June 30, 2017, reads its latest annual report…

“According to the Oxford English Dictionary, to hex, as a verb, means to ‘cast a spell on; bewitch.’ As a noun, hex means ‘a magic spell; a curse.’”

We know, of course, that witches cannot cast a spell on or bewitch someone successfully UNLESS the person believes that it is possible. Then, he opens himself up to evil influences from the dark spirit world.

What Causes Nightmares?

Fox News reported on October 13:

“Trauma survivors — specifically those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) — are more likely to experience nightmares. In fact… up to 90 percent of those with PTSD have reported ‘disturbing dreams with some degree of resemblance to the actual traumatic event’…  Separately… more than 50 percent of Vietnam War veterans with PTSD said they experienced nightmares ‘fairly often,’ while only 3 percent of civilians reported the same…

“Nightmares can also be associated with other psychiatric diagnoses, such as depression or insomnia, and can similarly affect children… children’s nightmares are typically triggered by losing a pet or moving away from friends… Others who suffer from sleep paralysis… have been known to experience horrifying, dream-like hallucinations while falling asleep or waking up…

“Sleep deprivation has been linked to a variety of health issues, such as weight gain, high blood pressure, negative impacts on both short and long-term memory, mood changes, poor balance, among other side effects. In extreme cases, frequent nightmares can ‘dramatically increase the risk of suicide’…”

In a sidebar, Fox wrote: “Once people start paying attention to their dreams, a whole world opens up. …Dreams can be a parallel to how people see their lives.”

Dreams can be very deceptive when we pay close attention to them. We might even fabricate a “dream world” for ourselves which we believe to be real, while it is nothing but an illusion. Another major reason for nightmares is the watching of horror movies and the involvement with the occult and the demonic world during waking hours. While Satan cannot attack us when we sleep, he most certainly can do so when we are awake, and our brain keeps working when we sleep.

Interesting View Points by American Evangelicals

Christianity Today reported the following on October 16:

“A majority of US adults (59%) say that the Holy Spirit is a force, not a personal being.”

This is good news, as the Holy Spirit is NOT a Being, but indeed God’s power emanating from the Father and the Son.

A few additional concepts are also understood correctly by a majority of evangelicals, such as:

“… salvation is found in Christ alone (62%, up from 53% in 2016) and… Jesus Christ will return to judge the world (64%, up from 55% in 2016).”

“On abortion… a ‘slim majority’ of Americans believe that the procedure is a sin (52% vs. 38%), including 57 percent of those ages 18 to 34.”

However, other concepts in which most American evangelicals believe, are clearly wrong and also quite inconsistent, such as:

“God accepts the worship of all religions (51%)

“Jesus was the first and greatest being created by God the Father (78%)

“97 percent of evangelicals do believe that ‘there is one true God in three persons’…

“… more Americans agree than disagree that ‘the Bible’s condemnation of homosexual behavior doesn’t apply today’ (44% vs. 41%)…”

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

The third commandment states the following, “‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain’” (Exodus 20:7). Like the first two commandments, the third describes the proper relationship that man must have with God. One of the distinguishing attributes about this commandment is that it involves how the name of God is used. The act of speaking or writing His name is so important to Him that it appears prominently in the Ten Commandments. How can the use of a word be so important? Why does it matter to God how we use His name? And most importantly, how are we to understand and apply this commandment in our lives today?

To begin with, we must understand that God’s name is holy. He expressed this fact to the nation of Israel as they were introduced to His commandments and Holy Days, teaching them how He is to be worshipped properly: “‘You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the LORD who sanctifies you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD’” (Leviticus 22:32-33). Clearly, God expects that man offers Him reverence, honor, and respect. Not only does respectful behavior involve obedience to His instruction, but also that we acknowledge the holiness of His name.

Seeing that the name of God is holy and that it must be hallowed, it is important that we clearly understand what it means to use His name and refer to Him in the words that we use. Holiness is the distinguishing quality to consider. Holy things are sanctified, special, and distinguished from that which is common or ungodly (compare Deuteronomy 7:6, Ezekiel 22:26, Ezekiel 36:20, Ezekiel 44:23). Therefore, to use the name of God in a way which does not acknowledge His holiness or treats His name as a common thing is a violation of the third commandment. Likewise, since there is one God (that is, one God Family, consisting of the God the Father and Jesus Christ, the Son), and the only one deserving of the name of God, to exalt another name above the true God is also a violation of the third commandment. The holiness of God requires that we glorify His name and treat it with the reverence that it requires, and do not offer that same reverence to any other man or thing.

Unfortunately, in our contemporary society, God’s holy name is widely used in ways that show disrespect rather than the glory and honor that is commanded. It is exceedingly difficult to go through a day without hearing the name of God the Father or of Jesus Christ used in combination with expletives or as an empty exclamation. The use of God’s name in ways that apply it as a common thing, or often much worse than common, is despicable to God. Such wrong use is what it means to use God’s name in vain. When His name is used for show, rather than for the purpose of respectfully referring to Him and His righteousness, the third commandment is violated. This is the clearest way in which the commandment is broken.

As an example, we can see how an individual of the nation of Israel broke this commandment when he cursed God: “And the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the name of the LORD and cursed; and so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) Then they put him in custody, that the mind of the LORD might be shown to them. And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him’” (Leviticus 24:11-14). The punishment sentenced when the name of God was used in the context of a curse was extremely serious. This instance of sin resulted in the penalty of death by stoning. Even though uttering words that show disrespect may seem to be a trivial act, we can see how serious God is about this commandment.

The use of God’s name in the context of a curse is a classic example of using His name in vain. Far from expressing the glorification that is commanded, the use of God’s name in the context of an evil sentiment is only for show. When we apply this principle to the use of our own language, any use of God’s name is in vain when it is used to express anything other than respect and honor to Him. The most obvious example is when God’s name is included in a statement with foul language. However, it is also a vain use of God’s name when used to express surprise or as an exclamation. Such showy use of God’s name diminishes the reverence and honor due to Him and is sinful.

Some may believe that using a substitute for God’s name in vain expressions will prevent one from violating the third commandment. However, such euphemisms must be removed from language as well. In our booklet, “Teach Us to Pray,” we write the following:

“We also defile God’s name, of course, when we use His name in vain (compare Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 19:12). To casually use expressions such as ‘My God,’ ‘O my Lord,’ or ‘Jesus Christ,’ just to utter surprise or emphasis, is therefore clearly prohibited. So is the casual use of a common German welcome greeting (‘Gruess Gott’ or, ‘Gott zum Gruss’—meaning ‘Greet God’ or ‘God as a Greeting’), or the casual use of the French or Spanish farewell expressions, ‘adieu’ or ‘adios’ (both meaning, ‘to God’).

“The same prohibition applies when we use ‘euphemisms.’ A ‘euphemism’ is defined as a substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for another felt to be too blunt or offensive. God instructs us to let ‘no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth’ (Ephesians 4:29). This prohibition applies to careless speaking or using slang expressions or euphemisms, which would profane God’s name, such as ‘gosh’ or ‘gosh almighty’ (a substitute for ‘God’ or ‘almighty God’) or ‘gee’ (a substitute for ‘Jesus’). It also applies to the careless use of words describing characteristics or concepts clearly associated with God, such as ‘my goodness’ instead of ‘my God’ (compare Matthew 19:16-17) or ‘by heaven’ or ‘for heaven’s sake’ (compare Matthew 5:34; Revelation 13:6).”

In addition to the explicit use of God’s name or a substitute of God’s name, another application of the third commandment is the sin of blasphemy. Just as the vain use of God’s holy name is a sin that defiles the glory of God, blasphemous statements or actions do the same thing. Exalting anyone above God is a blasphemous action, showing disrespect. As an example, the “man of sin” mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 exalts himself as God. Daniel 11:36-37 clarifies that this is an act of blasphemy, “Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all.” Such blatant disrespect towards God is a violation of the third commandment in the way that the name of God is applied directly or indirectly to someone other than God.

The Jews in the time of Jesus Christ believed that Jesus blasphemed the name of God when He referred to Himself in a godly context. Jesus expressed that He was the Son of God, which antagonized the so-called righteous Jews (compare Matthew 26:62-66). While the act of exalting oneself above God is an act of blasphemy, since Jesus Christ was speaking the truth in that He was and is the Son of God, His statements were not blasphemous nor sinful.

In our booklet, “God is a Family,” we explain how Jesus Christ is a member of the God Family:

“Reading in Zechariah 4:8–9: ‘Moreover the word of the LORD [in Hebrew, ‘Yahweh’] came to me, saying: The hands of Zerubbabel Have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know That the LORD [in Hebrew, ‘Yahweh’] of hosts has sent Me [‘Yahweh’] to you.’

“We see in this passage that the LORD [‘Yahweh’] sent the LORD [‘Yahweh’]. The expression, ‘Yahweh,’ then is applied to both God beings. As we will see in more detail, both God the Father and Jesus Christ are referred to in Scripture as ‘Yahweh’—the ‘I AM’ (compare Exodus 3:14)—basically meaning, ‘the Eternal,’ or, ‘the Ever-living One.’ This fact alone proves that both the Father and Jesus Christ have always existed—that they are God beings, and that the Old Testament teaches that there is more than just one God being.”

Since Jesus Christ is a member of the God Family, His name must also be treated with the same honor that befits God the Father. The same rules of the third commandment apply in using the name of Jesus Christ because He too is rightfully called “God.”

The way that we behave is an extension of the way that we revere the name of God as well. When we claim that we are Christians and follow God, our actions become a reflection of God’s name and all of the righteousness that it stands for. But when our behavior violates His commandments, God’s name is profaned: “‘As for you, O house of Israel,’ thus says the Lord God: ‘Go, serve every one of you his idols—and hereafter—if you will not obey Me; but profane My holy name no more with your gifts and your idols’” (Ezekiel 20:39). In this example, the nation of Israel is chastised because their actions were not obedient to God. As a result, His name was not venerated with the holiness required.

As we can see from the examples and instructions of the Bible, the use of God’s name is not to be taken lightly. The way that we use His name expresses our respect for Him, and when we use His name to express anything less than the glory and honor He is due, His name is used in vain. There are other ways in which the name of God may be defiled too. When others are exalted above God, His name is blasphemed. When we use the name of God to identify ourselves, but reject the Way of Life that He commands, His name is profaned as well. The lesson for us is clear. In all of our words and deeds, the name of God is to be glorified. The words of David offer us an excellent perspective on this matter: “I will praise You, O LORD my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore” (Psalm 86:12).

Lead Writer: Eric Rank

compiled by Dave Harris

Sermonettes and sermons from the 2018 Feast of Tabernacles in the US and Germany continue to be posted on our English and German websites—viewable at www.eternalgod.org and at http://www.ewigengottes.de

“New German Leadership Coming—Merkel’s Days Are Numbered,” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

The debacle in the German state election in Bavaria has once again shown that Angela Merkel’s great coalition will end soon and that Merkel’s chancellorship is coming to an end as well. But what then? Will a new leadership bring peace and harmony to the current German chaos? Or will it only get worse?

“Neue deutsche Regierung kommt—Merkels Tage sind gezählt!” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program, presented by Norbert Link. This covers the same topic as the English version described above. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpfEP-jRew4&feature=youtu.be

“Kann biblisches Fasten wirklich helfen?” is the title of this Sabbath’s German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “Can Biblical Fasting Really Help?”

“Comments on News and Prophecy (October 13, 2018),” presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

In this feature, we are commenting on the resurfacing of the frightening Nazi philosophy in our time; the coming worldwide economic crash; the explosive situation in the Middle East in light of Saudi Arabia’s atrocities; the devastation caused by hurricane Michael; America’s last President; the accelerating differences between the USA and the EU; Angela Merkel’s sinking ship; Germany’s highly controversial and dangerous far-right pro-military AfD party; the imposition of the mark of the beast on Christian values and conduct in Germany; abortions; the ongoing sex scandal within the Catholic Church; and the false teaching of the “prosperity gospel.”

“The Spirit of God, of Angels, of Man and of Animals,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The Bible teaches the existence of a human spirit, a spirit in animals, created spirit beings such as angels and those who became demons, and the Holy Spirit of God. Most do not understand much about this. This sermon will explain the differences and point out Scriptures which are rendered ambiguously in some translations.

On October 13, 2018, Norbert Link will present “Comments on News and Prophecy (October 13, 2018)” and the sermon, titled, “The Spirit of God, of Angels, of Man and of Animals.”

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.

As we return home from the Feast of Tabernacles, there is always a great let-down, and there is a desire to not have to return to our “normal” lives and our daily work. During the Feast, we spend a great amount of truly refreshing time listening to, studying, meditating and thinking about God’s Word, as well as being with people of like mind and Spirit.

But then we get back into the swing of life and things start again to dull up and tarnish over. We fall back into old habits, we don’t make the efforts that we were making before and during the Feast. And so we may start to lose some of that fire, some of that zeal.

Motivation is not something that we can sustain automatically. Motivation is more than just feeling a certain way, and if we don’t feel that way, then we don’t do it. The word “motivation” is derived from the word “motive,” which means “needs, desires, wants or drives” within individuals. It is the process of stimulating people to action to accomplish the goals they set. If we are not crystal clear on our purpose, our calling, essentially WHY we continue to be Christians, then we WILL be pushed off course.

Newton’s First Law of Motion states that “an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an external force.”  This plays out as true in our Christian lives. If we are not consistently making small steps towards overcoming and changing, then our lives will stay the same, and no amount of Feasts will change that. God has called us out of this world and its ways of thinking and acting. That calling is a massive external force. It catapults us forward. But then there is Satan who is another external force. And IF we are not focused 100% on God—and this has to be a critical and integral part of who we are (our WHY)—then we will be pulled off course. Let us make it personal. Let us ask ourselves: What is our “WHY” for being a Christian? People always worry about the “how” and “what”, and while those are important in defining, they don’t hold a candle to the “why.”

• Why do we make effort in DAILY prayer, Bible Study and Meditation? (Compare Deuteronomy 6:1-9; 11:18-22; Psalm 119:1-176.)
• Why do we observe the weekly Sabbath and the annual Holy Days?
• Why do we call ourselves Christians (meaning, to be as Christ, or Christ-like, and letting Christ live in us)?
• Why do we treat each other with outgoing love and concern, by esteeming others higher than ourselves in every relationship—including, if necessary, laying down our wants, desires and wishes for the betterment of others?
• Why do we do the things that we do? Do we do them out of habit, or because of a conscious, active choice?
• The list of “Why’s” could go on and on… what are some you can think of?

If we don’t have answers, then it is time to start figuring those out. We have to have a “why” for the things that we do and the way that we do them. It has to be continuously and always in the forefront of our minds that we are to become like God—to become God—with Him leading at the helm. Psalm 57:2 says: “I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me.” Let us make sure we are crying out to God and asking for help in all areas of our lives.  Psalm 119:105 continues: “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” We must dig into God’s Word for wisdom and answers. We must seek God in all our ways and in all things. Hebrews 11:6 states: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

The “Why” is there. It is up to each of us to define it and engrain it into ourselves so that we don’t lose our direction, our hope and our zeal.

by Norbert Link

We begin with articles warning of America’s current political and economic direction and policies; report on the explosive situation in the Middle East and the devastation caused by hurricane Michael; speculate on what may happen when President Trump reaches his constitutional end of his term(s); and speak on Trump’s big victory regarding the highly controversial and emotionally charged nomination of Brett Kavanaugh as the latest Supreme Court Justice.

We continue with contemplated Marijuana reform in the USA; the increasingly hostile relationship between Europe and America; and we focus on Angela Merkel’s unusually strongly-worded disagreements with President Trump, while pointing out her serious problems in her own country, which might soon lead to a new leadership in Germany. We also publish several articles on Germany’s controversial AfD party.

We conclude with reports on the despicable sex scandal of the Catholic Church and the Vatican’s attempts to cover up the horrendously sinful and criminal conduct of their priests, as well as Pope Francis’ strong stance against abortion.

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

Leading Historian Compares USA with Nazi Germany

Vox wrote on October 5:

“Usually, comparisons between Donald Trump’s America and Nazi Germany come from cranks and internet trolls. But a new essay in the New York Review of Books pointing out ‘troubling similarities’ between the 1930s and today is different: It’s written by Christopher Browning, one of America’s most eminent and well-respected historians of the Holocaust. In it, he warns that democracy here is under serious threat, in the way that German democracy was prior to Hitler’s rise — and really could topple altogether.

“Browning, a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina, specializes in the origins and operation of Nazi genocide. His 1992 book ‘Ordinary Men’, a close examination of how an otherwise unremarkable German police battalion evolved into an instrument of mass slaughter, is widely seen as one of the defining works on how typical Germans became complicit in Nazi atrocities…

“Browning’s essay covers many topics, ranging from Trump’s ‘America First’ foreign policy — a phrase most closely associated with a group of prewar American Nazi sympathizers — to the role of Fox News as a kind of privatized state propaganda office. But the most interesting part of his argument is the comparison between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Paul von Hindenburg, the German leader who ultimately handed power over to Hitler…”

These parallels are truly remarkable.

The Coming Economic Crash

Lobelog reprinted on September 20 the following article from Focus:

“The stock market reached its all-time high at the end of August. In its second quarter this year, U.S. economic growth was 4.1 percent. Unemployment remains below 4 percent, and inflation remains moderate. Even wages are going up…

“… it’s never if there will be a bust but when. On the tenth anniversary of the financial collapse of 2008, it’s worth looking at the potential pinpricks that will… send America crashing back to earth.

“… The deficit for this year will rise to $890 billion… The shortfall in government expenditures will rise above $1 trillion next year… Total household debt reached a new high in August: $13.3 trillion. That includes a record amount of student debt ($1.5 trillion), an ever-growing amount of mortgage debt ($9 trillion, which is perilously close to the $10.5 trillion it reached during the mortgage crisis in 2008), and an overall credit card debt that just surpassed $1 trillion for the first time.

“… This summer, corporate debt hit a new high of $6.3 trillion. Worse, the cash-to-debt ratio, which was 14 percent in 2008, has dropped to 12 percent: that’s $1 in cash for every $8 of debt… all this debt is like the termites eating away at the foundation of your house…

“Currently, the U.S. government owes $21 trillion, which is slightly more than the household and corporate debt combined. The owners of U.S. debt include federal agencies like Social Security…, the Federal Reserve…, mutual funds, and banks. Foreign countries also hold about a third of the debt… The big player… is China, and right now the Trump administration is escalating its trade war with China. Trump just announced tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese imports after targeting $50 billion of goods in the first round. If China retaliates with more tariffs of its own, the Trump administration is threatening a third round  sanctioning all Chinese imports… China could retaliate in other ways, such as devaluing its currency. A potentially more devastating action would be to follow Russia’s example and sell its stake in Treasury bonds… At a certain point, foreign creditors will no longer support unsustainable U.S. spending…

“For much of the post-World War II era, international transactions have been conducted in dollars… But that situation is changing… As of July, it was used in 39 percent of transactions. The euro was in second place at 35 percent. Further down the list came the pound, the yen, and the yuan. The fall of the dollar anticipates an eclipse of U.S. global economic hegemony.

“It’s hard to predict when all of these indicators will converge. Hedge fund manager Ray Dalio expects a major economic downturn in the United States in two years, after the impact of the tax cuts disappears and the government finds itself short on money… This will be no ordinary downturn. Irrational exuberance has pushed up stocks above their value, sent household and corporate debt into the stratosphere, and burdened the government with debt it will have greater difficulty covering. Interest rates remain low, so there’s no real option to lower rates to stimulate the economy… if the United States goes down, it will drag much of the global economy with it. After all, U.S. debt is only part of a larger problem. As Walden Bello explains:…  There is a consensus among economists along the political spectrum that this debt build-up cannot go on indefinitely without inviting catastrophe.”

Project Syndicate wrote on September 13:

“… by 2020, the conditions will be ripe for a financial crisis, followed by a global recession… Unlike in 2008, when governments had the policy tools needed to prevent a free fall, the policymakers who must confront the next downturn will have their hands tied while overall debt levels are higher than during the previous crisis. When it comes, the next crisis and recession could be even more severe and prolonged than the last.”

Sooner Than Expected?

Express wrote on October 11:

“Global markets have been plunged into chaos today with stocks plummeting in Europe and Asia following Wall Street’s worst day since February. Shares sank into a sea of red as world markets slumped to their lowest level in eight months…

“… in Europe, the market has…  felt the ripple effects of the ongoing fallout between Italy and European Union chiefs over Rome’s deficit budget proposal… Markets also sunk this morning in Asia, with Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 losing 3.9 per cent, its biggest daily drop since March. China witnessed its lowest stock market level in almost four years…

“The turbulent start for investors comes after the US stock market tumbled…

“The crumbling of global markets comes following concerns from investors surrounding global economic growth and rising interest rates. The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates which makes it more expensive for companies to borrow and harms share prices… President Trump described the Fed as having ‘gone crazy’…”

Explosive Situation in the Middle East

Reuters wrote on October 10:

“U.S. President Donald Trump increased pressure on Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to provide information on what happened to missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi [a US resident working for the Washington Post] and said he wanted to get [to] the bottom of what he called ‘a very serious situation.’… Pressure appeared to be building worldwide on close U.S. ally Saudi Arabia on the whereabouts of Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Saudi policies, who was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get documents for his planned marriage… Turkish sources said they believe Khashoggi was killed inside the building and removed, allegations that Riyadh dismisses as baseless…”

Bloomberg added on October 11:

“Allegations that Saudi agents flew into Turkey and murdered one of the kingdom’s leading critics would have sent shock waves through bilateral relations at any point. But with the two countries already on opposite sides of some of the Middle East’s defining rifts, the accusations… are potentially even more explosive. Each chilling leak about the possible fate of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and the resultant international condemnation, makes a behind-the-scenes compromise that much harder…

“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he can’t remain silent over Khashoggi’s fate, adding to growing differences between the countries. Those disagreements run deep and extend far: from Turkey’s support for a leading Islamist group that Saudi Arabia has designated as terrorists, to relations with Shiite power Iran and the Saudi-led boycott of Qatar…”

These developments are of high significance for the USA, as both Turkey and Saudi Arabia belong to America’s close allies.

Hurricane Michael’s Devastation

Deutsche Welle wrote on October 11:

“Hurricane Michael has caused widespread damage across the Florida Panhandle. The Category 4 monster was among the most powerful hurricanes in half a century to strike the mainland United States.

“The storm blew ashore early Wednesday afternoon near Florida’s Mexico Beach as a Category 4 hurricane. It was just short of being categorized as level 5. With winds surging to 155 mph (250 kph), Michael wreaked havoc on the Florida Panhandle, leaving a devastating trail of destruction along the Gulf coast…

“… Michael was… the most powerful hurricane to hit the Florida Panhandle…

“Some 375,000 people had been urged to leave their homes for stronger shelters in Florida, but many residents were trapped after they were caught surprised by the storm doubling in strength as it approached land. By Wednesday night, more than 400,000 people in Florida, Georgia and Alabama were without power… [The figure rose to over 900,000 homes and businesses without power by Thursday.]

“The governors of North and South Carolina urged residents to prepare for heavy rain and winds, which come less than a month after Hurricane Florence battered the mid-Atlantic coast… In the past year, several massive stormsbattered the US coasts, including Irma, Maria and Harvey. Houston’s metropolitan area suffered a record-equaling $125 billion (€108 billion) in damage…”

Many blame climate change for the increased hurricane activities. Whatever the truth, it is clear to us that Satan, the prince of the power of the air, is the real instigator of these devastating developments, but God allows them in His attempt to wake America up.

What if Trump Refuses to Leave?

 Politico wrote on September 20:

“What if, after having moved into the White House and gotten comfortable, Donald Trump refuses to check out when his term ends?… Who’s to say that Trump’s legal advisers might construct some pretext — a national security crisis or charges of election fraud — that would place him above the constitution and cement his place in the Oval Office?

“The fear that a president might not go at his appointed time has a precedent. President Franklin D. Roosevelt… contemplated taking dictatorial powers at the beginning of his first administration, but then reconsidered… Nixon intimates began to believe that he was contemplating some sort of a coup d’état to maintain power.

“… half of all Republicans surveyed favored postponing the 2020 election until new standards made it certain that only eligible American citizens could vote… This isn’t the first time the idea of postponing the federal election has surfaced. In 2004… Congress… passed a resolution, 419-2, declaring that nobody could shelve an election. So if Trump couldn’t postpone an election, could he just ignore it? The nation would erupt, of course…

“The president’s cheerleading for anti-democratic authoritarians like Vladimir Putin, Rodrigo Duterte, Xi Jinping and Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and the mutual admiration pact he’s signed with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un does not bode well for an orderly transition of power in 2020 or 2024 or whenever…”

As we have proclaimed from the outset (when Donald Trump announced his presidential candidacy) that Trump would become America’s 45^th President, we have also stated time and again that we believe strongly that Trump will be America’s last President.

Brett Kavanaugh Sworn in as USA Supreme Court Justice

The Guardian wrote on October 8:

“Donald Trump, speaking at a triumphalist White House ceremony, has made the baseless claim that the new supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh was ‘proven innocent’ of allegations of sexual assault. In what he acknowledged was a break from tradition, the US president told a packed East Room on Monday: ‘On behalf of our nation, I want to apologize to Brett and the entire Kavanaugh family for the terrible pain and suffering you have been forced to endure. Those who step forward to serve our country deserve a fair and dignified evaluation, not a campaign of political and personal destruction based on lies and deception.’

“… The president added: ‘…I must state that you, sir, under historic scrutiny, were proven innocent…’

“The judge was found neither guilty nor innocent of allegations brought by research psychologist Dr Christine Blasey Ford that, when he was 17 and she 15 in the 1980s… Kavanaugh’s furious, politically charged denials before the Senate judiciary committee raised questions over his judicial temperament and independence…

“Laurence Trib‏e, a constitutional law professor at Harvard University, tweeted: ‘I pity the Justices who had no realistic option but to attend and serve as props for the partisan display. Only Thomas, clapping with gusto, looked like he was really pleased to be there. The others looked like polite hostages. A grim and tasteless spectacle.’…”

Nevertheless, the appointment of Kavanaugh as Supreme Court Justice constitutes a big victory for Donald Trump, which might also have some relevance for the upcoming midterm elections.

Cannabis Reform Coming?

Fox Business News reported on October 11:

“The White House is planning on tackling cannabis reform after the midterm elections, according to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.. Rohrabacher tells FOX Business that the Trump administration has made a ‘solid commitment’ to fix marijuana regulation… ‘I have been reassured that the president intends on keeping his campaign promise.’

“Rohrabacher says the president has spoken in support of legalizing medical marijuana on the federal level – and leaving the question of recreational marijuana use up to the states… ‘It could be as early as spring of 2019, but definitely in the next legislative session.’”

It is high time that the ridiculous condemnatory federal designation of medical marijuana is changed. Patients who truly NEED medical marijuana should be allowed to use it. At the same time, we strongly reject recreational marijuana in any manner, shape or form.

Merkel Warns Trump

AFP wrote on September 30:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday warned US President Donald Trump against ‘destroying’ the United Nations. ‘I believe that destroying something without having developed something new is extremely dangerous,’ Merkel said… The veteran leader… added that she believed multilateralism was the solution to many of the world’s problems.

“Trump failed to see the possibility for win-win solutions, she said, instead seeing only one winner from any international negotiation. In his second appearance before the UN’s annual gathering last week, Trump told the General Assembly that he and his administration ‘reject the ideology of globalism, and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism’. ‘Global governance’ is a form of ‘coercion and domination’ that ‘responsible nations must defend against’, he charged.

“Merkel’s opposing view to the US leader puts her in the same camp as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who warned before Trump took the podium in New York Tuesday that ‘today, world order is increasingly chaotic’”.

Europe Defies Trump over Iran

Handesblatt Global wrote on October 4:

“Defying Trump, EU plans to support trade with Iran. The EU is rushing to set up a payments system to bypass US sanctions against Iran. The move is likely to deepen the rift between the US and Europe. The European Union, China and Russia, battling to salvage the nuclear deal with Iran after the United States withdrew from it in May, plan to create a system of export loans to stop US sanctions crippling trade with Iran… The planned Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to process trade payments with Iran is to be furnished with a banking license as soon as possible in addition to the bartering system already being discussed, government sources said.

“German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas met with his US counterpart Mike Pompeo in Washington on Wednesday but both statesmen failed to find common ground on Iran… Crucially, Washington has warned countries they face penalties if they disregard those sanctions…

“Washington has taken note of the new US strategy outlined by Mr. Maas in August when he became the first post-war German foreign minister to suggest that America should be treated as a strategic rival in central political questions, and that Mr. Trump’s unilateralism must be countered. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo… said last week he was ‘disturbed and indeed deeply disappointed’ at the planned special payment system. ‘This is one of the most counterproductive measures imaginable for regional global peace and security,’ he told a conference. “By sustaining revenues to the regime, you are solidifying Iran’s ranking as (the) No. 1 state sponsor of terror.’’

The differences between the USA and Europe over Iran became also highlighted during Merkel’s recent visit in Israel, when Netanyahu took America’s side against Europe. It is also remarkable that Trump’s worldwide unpopularity is not shared by most Israelis who agree with Trump on many issues, including his stance on Iran.

Are Merkel’s Days on a “Sinking Ship” Numbered?

The Local wrote on September 26:

“The news that a key ally of Angela Merkel lost his post as the CDU’s parliamentary chief dropped like a political bomb in Berlin… It was a shock that no one saw coming. On Tuesday Volker Kauder, who has headed the parliamentary group of Angela Merkel’s CDU and Bavarian allies CSU for 13 years, lost in a re-election battle to challenger Ralph Brinkhaus, a relative unknown… The surprising result came a day after Merkel was forced to admit mistakes in her handling of a row surrounding Germany’s outgoing domestic spy chief. Political observers and opponents called the vote a slap in the face for the chancellor, who had campaigned hard for Kauder’s re-election…

“An opinion piece published by Die Zeit on Tuesday said: ‘The Chancellor’s power is dwindling at an alarming rate. If Merkel’s chancellorship were a ship, the water would now be up to the engine room.’… Sueddeutsche Zeitung called the defeat a ‘humiliation’ for Merkel… Earlier on Tuesday, Spiegel Online had said that a win by Brinkhaus would mean that ‘Merkel should really clean out her office in the chancellery immediately – his election would be nothing short of a vote of distrust against the leader of the government.’

“… Voter anxiety over the policy swelled support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party…”

The ongoing infighting within the ruling grand coalition (GroKo) between the CDU, Bavaria’s CSU and the SPD has taken its toll. The government is perceived as not acting, but only as reacting to the problems of their own making. The right-wing anti-immigration and pro-military AfD party is of course profiting from such incompetent rule. According to polls, the AfD has now become the second-strongest party in Germany, following the CDU but in front of the SPD [see article below]. However, the government is not interested in new elections, rightly fearing that the AfD would even receive more votes than in the previous election.

Concerns regarding the AfD are well–founded. A leader of the AfD has made outrageous and ridiculous statements, including the preposterous allegation that Hitler was “forced” to invade Poland. He also called Count Stauffenberg a coward. As recently prominently pictured in the movie, “Valkyrie” with Tom Cruise, Stauffenberg tried unsuccessfully to assassinate Hitler in 1944.

However, time for Merkel is running out, and upcoming state elections might very well decide her fate. The youth group within the CDU recently demanded more recognition and support for the German military (perhaps to counter the AfD), and Merkel reacted again, by endorsing the request, rather than leading in the first place. The patriotic and pro-military stance of many Germans is also noteworthy, as post-war Germany used to be known for its pacifistic stance in the past. But times have most certainly changed.

The AfD and National Socialism

Project Syndicate wrote on October 9:

“By adopting a program based on ‘identity and solidarity,’ Germany’s far-right AfD is harking back to classic National Socialism. It is likely to be a winning formula in this month’s state elections in Bavaria and Hesse… If opinion polls counted as elections, large parts of Germany would already be governed by the far right. In several eastern German states, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has established itself as the strongest political force. Almost everywhere else in the country, the party currently ranks second – on par or just ahead of the struggling Social Democrats (SPD) and behind only Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU).

“In coming weeks, matters could get even worse. In regional elections in Bavaria on October 14 and in Hesse two weeks later, the AfD is poised to enter the two last remaining regional parliaments without far-right representation… The AfD has always been a political chameleon, cleverly exploiting mismanaged issues… much will depend on how Germany’s center responds… But this will be difficult to do for the CDU and the SPD. Locked in an unpopular grand coalition,… an ideological realignment would make finding common ground in the government increasingly challenging and could well result in an early federal election. And such an outcome would only further strengthen the AfD.”

AFP added on October 9:

“German historians on Wednesday accused far-right leader Alexander Gauland of paraphrasing Adolf Hitler in a newspaper column taking aim at a ‘globalised class’ that he claimed threatens all that is good in his ‘homeland’. The co-leader of the far-right AfD rejected allegations of parallels with a 1933 speech by Hitler, but the latest episode is yet another controversy raising questions over his anti-migrant party’s views on the Nazi-era…

“Historian Wolfgang Benz, a prominent researcher on the Nazi era, noted… that Gauland’s commentary was strikingly similar to a speech made by Hitler in 1933. ‘It’s a paraphrase that looks like the AfD chief had the Fuehrer’s speech from 1933 on his desk when he was writing his column for the FAZ,’ wrote Benz in Tagesspiegel daily…”

Deutsche Welle wrote on October 9:

“Germany’s far-right AfD wants to set up online portals across the country where schoolchildren can denounce teachers who speak against the party… Teachers groups and politicians from other parties have spoken out against the idea. ‘They are organizing open denunciation — these are all building blocks toward totalitarianism,’ said Winfried Kretschmann, state premier of Baden-Württemberg, on Tuesday…

“For many Germans, the concept of informing on other people is reminiscent of dark chapters in the country’s history, such as the Nazi era or the communist German Democratic Republic, when denunciation was actively encouraged. Thuringia’s education minister, Helmut Holter, said the AfD move was reminiscent of ‘the darkest chapter in German history.’ Christian Piwarz, the culture minister from Saxony, echoed Holter’s view, saying the AfD was displaying a ‘disgusting’ snooping culture that was known to Germany from the Nazi dictatorship or the East German Stasi.”

Catholic Church Disappearing in The Netherlands

Dutch News reported on September 17:

“More than half of the Netherlands Catholic bishops and cardinals were aware of cases of sexual abuse between 1945 and 2010, the NRC reported at the weekend, on the basis of its own research. The paper accuses the Church of covering up the abuse, allowing the perpetrators to make more victims after making an inventory of the known and less-well known abuse cases which have come to light since 2010…  The church told the paper in a statement that the story by and large is accurate…

“Meanwhile, the AD reports that the Catholic church is disappearing from the Netherlands at high speed… Although the Netherlands officially has 3.5 million Catholics, few are regular churchgoers and the average number of attendees at mass has fallen to 173,500 in total…”

Massive Child Abuse in German Catholic Church

Evangelical Focus reported on September 13:

“As many as 1,670 priests in Germany have been accused of sexually abusing children in the last seven decades. An internal report commissioned by the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference reveals that 25% of the cases would have happened in church buildings. Around 38,000 documents have been analysed by criminologists, gerontologists and psychologists of three universities (Giessen, Heidelberg and Mannheim), which describe cases between 1946 and 2014. The number of priests accused of sexual abuse represents 4.4% of the Catholic leadership in the time investigated. Most of the 3,677 victims were male and 13 years old or younger. Every sixth case involved a rape, and three in four victims knew the perpetrator through the church…

“According to German magazine Der Spiegel, the first in publishing the report, 4% of the priests accused of abuse in the research are still working for the Church… The Bishops Conference lamented that the report was leaked to the media…

“According to German website Deutsche Welle, ‘accused priests were often quietly transferred to other parishes, without providing the affected communities with information about the abuser. The church pursued only one-third of abusers, who submitted themselves to church law. However, they received either minimal sanctions or their charges were dismissed altogether’…”

These despicable actions appear to be just the tip of the iceberg.

Blame it on the Devil

Reuters reported on October 8:

“The devil is alive and well and working overtime to undermine the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis says. In fact, the pope is so convinced that Satan is to blame for the sexual abuse crisis and deep divisions racking the Church that he has asked Catholics around the world to recite a special prayer every day in October to try to beat him back… The Church has recently been hit by one sexual abuse scandal after another, from Germany, to the United States, to Chile. At the same time, a deepening polarization between conservatives and liberals in the Church has played out on social media.

“Francis’ use of the term ‘the great accuser’ to describe Satan hit a raw nerve with one of the pope’s harshest conservative critics, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Vatican’s former ambassador to Washington. In an 11-page statement published on Aug. 26, Viganò launched an unprecedented broadside by a Church insider against the pope and a long list of Vatican and U.S. Church officials. He accused Francis of knowing about sexual misconduct by a former U.S. cardinal with male adult seminarians but not doing anything about it…

“Francis…  has enlisted the aid of… Michael the Archangel… Catholics are being asked to recite the rosary daily in October and conclude it with a prayer to St. Michael that was said after Mass until 1964 but then fell into disuse.”

Letters by former Pope Benedict have surfaced, suggesting that he resigned because of the economic and homosexual powers within the Vatican and also because of devious sexual conduct by high-ranking Catholic priests which had come to his attention. To pray to an angel is of course prohibited in the Bible.

Pope Condemns Abortion as “Contract-Killing”

AFP wrote on October 10:

“Pope Francis on Wednesday compared having an abortion to hiring a ‘contract killer’. ‘Interrupting a pregnancy is like eliminating someone,’ Francis said in an address to worshippers in the Vatican. ‘Getting rid of a human being is like resorting to a contract killer to solve a problem,’ he added…

“In his address, the Argentine pontiff complained of a ‘depreciation of human life’. He cited wars, exploitation and what he called a culture of wastefulness, as well as abortion. ‘How can an act that suppresses innocent life be therapeutic, civil or even human?’ he asked.

“Francis this year opposed a bill that would have legalized abortion in Argentina. In August a lay campaign group said thousands of Argentine Catholics had renounced their membership of the church to protest against his opposition to the bill.”

Deutsche Welle reported on October 11:

“German family minister Franziska Giffey slammed Pope Francis on Thursday for his recent comments on abortion… Minister Giffey said the pope’s comments were unacceptable, saying no women take lightly the decision to abort…

“Germany’s professional association of gynecologists was also outraged, saying abortions are performed out of necessity. ‘They do not carry out abortions because they are unscrupulous, but because they feel obliged to help, especially for reasons of conscience,’ association president Christian Albring said.”

Abortion is wrong. The Bible DOES call it MURDER. Abortions are NOT performed out of necessity. This is a ridiculously stupid comment.

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 our Q&A on 1 Timothy 6:10, we stated the following:

“Because of the refusal to follow God whole-heartedly, Mary said about rich people that God ‘filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty’ (Luke 1:53). Christ spoke this timeless warning: ‘But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation’ (Luke 6:24).

“James adds that the rich man ‘also will fade away in his pursuits’ (James 1:11), continuing, ‘Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasures in the last days’ (James 5:1-3).

“Notice! James’ warning is for our time–the ‘last days.’ When our worldwide economic troubles increase… all our wealth, riches and money will be useless and without value. None of them will help us–people will throw their gold as well as their silver into the streets, treating it as refuse, because it will be totally worthless (Isaiah 2:7, 20-21; Ezekiel 7:19)…”

In this context, let us note Proverbs 11:4: “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, But righteousness delivers from death.” And Zephaniah 1:18 states: “Neither their silver nor their gold Shall be able to deliver them In the day of the LORD’S wrath; But the whole land shall be devoured By the fire of His jealousy, For He will make speedy riddance Of all those who dwell in the land.”

Continuing with excerpts from the above-mentioned Q&A:

“Proverbs 28:20, 22 says: ‘A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished… A man with an evil eye hastens after riches, And does not consider that poverty will come upon him.’

“Again and again, the Bible tells us not to give in to the love of ‘money’ or materialism, and not to work for, as our main focus, the physical riches or possessions in this life. Proverbs 23:4-5 says: ‘Do not overwork [or: ‘wear yourself out’] to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease! Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle toward heaven.’…

“Rather than pursuing the love of money, wanting to become rich, or perhaps glorying in our riches (Jeremiah 9:22-23) and parading a cocky attitude of self-contentment and -sufficiency (Revelation 3:17), we are to ‘buy’ the true spiritual riches from God (Revelation 3:18), and to pursue God’s love of helping others and sharing with them our physical and spiritual riches.”

That is why we read in Proverbs 11:28: “He who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like foliage.” Compare also Psalm 62:10: “Do not trust in oppression, Nor vainly hope in robbery; If riches increase, Do not set your heart on them.”

Proverbs 16:16 tells us instead: “How much better to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.”

On the other hand, the fact that a person is rich does not prevent God from calling him or her. An interesting example can be found in Luke 19:1-10:

“Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.’ So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, ‘He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.’ Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.’”

Still, riches can become a great danger for some. We need to carefully consider the warning in Matthew 13:3-7, 22:

“Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: ‘Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell… among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them… Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.”

It is partially for this very reason that Agur, the son of Jakeh, said the following in Proverbs 30:7-9:

“Two things I request of You (Deprive me not before I die): Remove falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches— Feed me with the food allotted to me; Lest I be full and deny You, And say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God.”

Paul addresses the same situation when he talks about contentment. He says in 1 Timothy 6:6-8: “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.”

He says in Philippians 4:11-13: “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

He says in 1 Corinthians 4:11: “To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless.”

These passages also show us that Paul, a righteous man, had to endure affliction, including, at times, lack of food, clothes and shelter. The concept of the “prosperity gospel” that God has bound Himself, by contract, to always, at all times, bless us with wealth and riches when we live righteously, is not true. We are living in a world, which is ruled by Satan the devil who wants our destruction. He afflicted Job and took away all that he had, and God allowed it for a while.

Notice Paul’s description of the lives of righteous people in Hebrews 11:24-26, 37-40:

“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward… They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented–of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”

God’s ultimate purpose—our spiritual and eternal salvation—may override temporarily His general promise to bless us, including financially.

On the other hand, we need to be careful that we do not equate prosperity and wealth with righteousness and poverty with unrighteousness, because righteous people can be “poor” at times and unrighteous people can be “rich.”

The Bible contains a clear warning not to judge, mock or reject the poor, including in the church.

James 2:1-6 says:

“My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and say to the poor man, ‘You stand there,’ or, ‘Sit here at my footstool,’ have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?”

Proverbs 17:5 adds: “He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker; He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.” Proverbs 22:2 adds: “The rich and the poor have this in common, The LORD is the maker of them all.”

At the same time, God cautions us not to think that people are rich because God must have blessed them. In many cases, the opposite might be true.

Psalm 73:12 says: “Behold, these are the ungodly, Who are always at ease; They increase in riches.”

Psalm 37:7, 16 says:

“Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass… A little that a righteous man has Is better than the riches of many wicked.” Compare Proverbs 16:8: “Better is a little with righteousness, Than vast revenues without justice.”

Psalm 52:7 states: “Here is the man who did not make God his strength, But trusted in the abundance of his riches, And strengthened himself in his wickedness.”

Proverbs 13:11 adds: “Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, But he who gathers by labor will increase.”

Finally, after telling the (unjust) rich that they ought to weep and howl for their miseries that are coming upon them (James 5:1), James 5:4-5 warns them because they became rich through ungodly means and who use their riches for ungodly purposes:

“Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.”

In conclusion, the “prosperity gospel,” as defined herein, must be rejected, as God is not duty-bound and obligated by contract to bless us financially even when we live righteously. At the same time, our physical and spiritual conduct is relevant for God’s blessings or curses, but we must be careful not to judge a particular situation by outward appearance.

A person may be wealthy because God has blessed him or her, but his or her riches might also be the result of ungodly conduct (which is often the case for the rich in this evil world). At the same time, somebody might not be poor because of God’s punishment, but his or her condition might have been caused by evil people or circumstances.

It is most important that we keep our priorities straight. We must not desire to become rich because of “love of money” or “greediness,” and we must not trust in our riches or allow them to prevent us from following God completely. If need be, we must be willing to give them up and leave them behind. We are always to seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness first, and if we do, then God has promised us that He will bless us in His way and in His due time.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

compiled by Dave Harris

Sermonettes and sermons from the 2018 Feast of Tabernacles in the US and Germany are being posted on our websites. This involves much time and effort, and we are grateful to Johanna Link for her tireless commitment to this work.

We are very pleased to announce that ordinations took place in Germany during this year’s Feast of Tabernacles: Michael Link was raised to Pastor; Thilo Hanstein and Christoph Sperzel were ordained as Elders; Johann Schell (Deacon); Mike Richter (Deacon); Manuel Mueller (Deacon) and Silke Mueller (Deaconess).

“Der Geist Gottes, der Engel, des Tieres und des Menschen,” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Nobert Link. Title in English: “The Spirit of God, of Angels, of Man and of Animals.”

On September 15, 2018, Frank Bruno will present the sermonette, titled, “The Servant Leader,” and Robb Harris will present the sermon, titled, “Creating a Name for Ourselves.”

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.

The Day of Atonement will be observed and services will be broadcast live on Wednesday, September 19, 2018, at 12:30 pm Pacific Time. Eric Rank will present the Offertory, and Dave Harris will present the sermon, titled, “Making Atonement.”

This will be the last Update published until the week of October 12, 2018, due to our observance of the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day.

There is a profound truth about how people think, and it is summed up in the proverb which states, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).

What motivates our thinking? Are the thoughts which occupy our mind good or evil? The Apostle Paul taught about the kind of thoughts we should have:

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

This is really, really hard to do! With the constant barrage of shocking atrocities and horrible actions flooding before us, it takes great vigilance to not get caught up in the hatred which so characterizes our generation. It is an individual responsibility to think differently, and we can do so when we look to the example of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:21). This is the great challenge set before us:

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

We must resist thoughts which lead to sin (James 1:14-15). This was what Jesus did, and He is willing and able, as our Savior, to help us (Hebrews 4:15). If we are to be Christians, then we must learn to think as Jesus Christ thinks (Philippians 2:5). And if we are truly Christians, that is, if we have the Holy Spirit of God within us, then we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:16).

To get to the bottom line, our thoughts must be about love (1 Corinthians 16:14)—love for God and love for our neighbor!

by Norbert Link

We begin with several reports showing that there is great concern for the stability of governments in Europe as nationalism continues to rise.

We note that Italy has banned Sunday shopping for large retail outlets; report on the emerging military cooperation between Russia and China; address more problems with Brexit; feature speculation about how long President Trump might remain as President; present more news related to Jews making preparations for sacrifices; and conclude with a worrisome article concerning growing restrictions on the Internet.

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

European Leaders Alarmed!

The Los Angeles Times reported on September 12:

“Warning against the danger of intensifying nationalism across Europe, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in separate appearances Wednesday that the rise of populism and the far-right represents an existential threat to the European Union’s future.

“In their respective speeches at the German Reichstag in Berlin and the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France, the two powerful leaders raised alarm over burgeoning right wing movements in several member countries amid the arrival of large numbers of refugees and migrants. They also lamented waning cohesion in the EU, which grew out of efforts to unite European nations in the decades following the devastation of World War II…

“Merkel, in her address in Berlin, condemned right-wing mob attacks that erupted two weeks ago against foreigners in the eastern city of Chemnitz. Protests turned violent after two refugees were arrested in connection with the fatal knife attack on a German man, a crime that reignited a national debate on Merkel’s decision to let in more than 1.5 million foreigners since 2015…

“A far-right party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been gaining strength from month to month with strident opposition to Merkel’s pro-refugee policies, which President Trump has also criticized.

“‘The fundamental dispute is also taking place across Europe,’ said Merkel, currently Europe’s longest serving leader, noting that European parliamentary elections next year would be a battleground over the issue of migration…

“In Strasbourg, Juncker took aim at far-right nationalism and growing intolerance that has caused tensions in EU countries, none of which has taken in as many refugees as Germany. In his state-of-the-union address, the former Luxembourg prime minister, who will retire next year, recalled how Europe was caught off guard a little more than a century ago with tensions that led to the outbreak of World War I.

“‘I am not suggesting that we are on the verge of a similar catastrophe in Europe,’ said Juncker. ‘The EU is a guarantor of peace. Let’s be happy that we live on a continent that enjoys peace thanks to the EU. Let us show more respect to the EU. Let’s not sully its image. Let us defend our life, our way of being. Let’s embrace the kind of patriotism that is not directed against others’ and look for ‘solutions that allow us to coexist better.’”

Leaders like Merkel and Juncker who call for restraint are NOT winning the battle. Already, unrest in the EU nations is surfacing more and more. The Bible reveals that new leadership will soon emerge, and that it will not be at all conservative!

2019 EU Elections—What Direction?

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 11:

“European nations must stand together to fight extremism and avoid sliding back into the past, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told EU parliamentarians in Strasbourg on Tuesday as he looked to the upcoming EU elections in 2019.

“The politician from the left-wing Syriza party, who had been invited to the EU parliament to speak about the future of Europe, described next year’s vote as ‘more than just one more election.’

“‘It will be a fight of basic principles and values to defeat extreme neo-liberalism and far-right populism,’ the Greek leader said. He called on the bloc’s pro-European and democratic forces to unite and ‘stand side by side on the same side of history.’

“The European Union currently faces a broad range of challenges, including migration management, the UK’s departure from the bloc, and the rise of right-wing populism, which have led to internal disagreement among its 28-member states and could significantly impact its future direction.”

This call for resistance against far-right extremism will not stop the groundswell of activities growing throughout Europe! Note the following articles:

Chemnitz Worse than Assumed

Deutsche Welle reported on September 8:

“German authorities are investigating reports that neo-Nazis attacked a Jewish restaurant in Chemnitz last month as far-right protests erupted in the city, according to Die Welt am Sonntag. The newspaper reported that a group of around a dozen masked individuals stormed the kosher eatery ‘Schalom’ on August 27, shouting ‘Get out of Germany you Jewish pig.’ The assailants allegedly threw stones and bottles at the restaurant, damaging the building’s facade and shattering a window. The owner, Uwe Dziuballa, was also reportedly injured after being hit on the shoulder with a rock…

“The German commissioner for anti-Semitism, Felix Klein, called on police and prosecutors to bring the perpetrators to justice and show that ‘anti-Semitic offenses will be swiftly punished. If the reports are true, then we are dealing with a new level of anti-Semitic crime… It calls to mind the worst memories of the 1930s,’ he added, referring to the rise of the Nazis and their murderous campaign to wipe out millions of Jews across Europe…

“There have been almost-nightly rallies in the eastern city. Sometimes the marches have turned violent, with reports of attacks on police, journalists and people perceived to be migrants. There have also been confrontations in the streets between right-wing protesters and counterdemonstrators… The unrest has triggered a nationwide debate about right-wing extremism and xenophobia in parts of German society. It has also exposed an apparent rift between Chancellor Angela Merkel and security officials.

“Merkel said the images from Chemnitz ‘very clearly’ showed hate and ‘the persecution of innocent people.’ Hans-Georg Maassen, the head of Germany’s VfS domestic intelligence service based in Cologne, sparked controversy on Friday when he voiced skepticism over reports that right-wing extremists had ‘hunted’ down foreigners, suggesting that an internet video depicting such behavior could have been faked. He was contradicted Saturday by Dresden senior public prosecutor Wolfgang Klein, who told the online outlet of the newspaper Die Zeit: ‘We have no indication that the video could be a fake.’”

More Attempts to Downplay Chemnitz Violence

Deutsche Welle reported on September 7:

“The president of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, Hans-Georg Maassen, has expressed doubts about reports that right-wing extremists were chasing down non-Germans during demonstrations in Chemnitz… Referencing one of the videos posted online showing far-right protesters chasing after people who looked non-German, Maassen said: ‘There is no evidence to suggest that the video of this alleged incident circulating online is authentic.’…

“Maassen has recently come under fire for unexplained meetings with members of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. A book by a former AfD member has even alleged that during one such meeting, with former AfD chairwoman Frauke Petry, Maassen gave tips for avoiding monitoring by the BfV…

“It was unclear exactly which video Maassen was referring to… as several videos depicting similar assaults surfaced during the protests — and he did not provide further evidence backing up his claim that at least one video was faked…

“Contrary to Maassen’s findings, journalists and social media verification experts have said there is no evidence to suggest that the videos were faked, reported German public broadcaster ARD. Journalist Lars Wienand and others were able to confirm the time, date and location of one the most-shared videos of far-right protesters.

“On Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters in Berlin that Maassen hadn’t spoken with the government about possible misinformation concerning the Chemnitz protests. The Interior Ministry also said that it hadn’t received any reports from the BfV concerning the protests…

“Reactions to Maassen’s comments were split on Friday, with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), Greens, the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) and the Left harshly criticizing the intelligence chief’s remarks. ‘I don’t expect any trustworthy assessments from Mr. Maassen any more,’ said Katrin Göring-Eckardt, the parliamentary party leader for the Greens. ‘The fact that he only commented on a video, but not on the acts of violence and the public displays of anti-constitutional symbols in Chemnitz, shows me that Mr. Maassen is not up to the job.’

“Members of Merkel’s center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) as well as the German Federation of Journalists (DJV) called for Maassen to provide evidence for his claims. ‘The term “deliberate misinformation” is a very serious accusation that places the media under suspicion of manipulation,’ DJV head Kajo Döhring said in a statement, adding that whoever makes such claims must be able to back them up.

“Maassen did receive support from other conservative lawmakers, particularly from the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian sister-party to Merkel’s CDU. ‘It’s his job to inform the public about where his facts stand on this,’ CSU parliamentary party leader Alexander Dobrindt said, defending Maassen’s decision to speak to the press before informing the German government.”

The EUObserver wrote on September 6:

“German chancellor Angela Merkel contradicted Thursday her interior minister Horst Seehofer [of the Bavarian Christian Social Union], who said on Wednesday that migration was ‘the mother of all problems.’ ‘I say it differently,’ she replied in an interview on RTL television. ‘Migration presents us with challenges and here we have problems, here we also have successes,’ she said.”

Sweden –Far Right Makes Gains

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 10:

“Sweden faces weeks of a stalemate after its traditional center-left and center-right blocs tied, with neither holding a majority. The far-right made gains on a hard-line anti-immigration platform…

“The parliamentary election was one of Sweden’s most important because the far-right, anti-immigration Sweden Democrats — who rose from the white supremacist and neo-Nazi fringe — were expected to gain significant strength and change the landscape of Swedish politics.

“… An initial allocation of parliamentary seats gave the center left 144 seats, compared with 143 for the center-right Alliance bloc. The far-right Sweden Democrats gained 13 seats to hold third place, with 62. 175 seats are required to form a majority in the 349-seat Riksdag…

“Meanwhile far-right leaders in Austria, Italy and France hailed the Sweden Democrats’ results. “Sweden, birthplace of multiculturalism and model for the left, has finally decided to change after years of wild, uncontrolled immigration,” Italy’s far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, said on Twitter.

“…Analysts said that it will be difficult to form a stable government without some kind of support from the Sweden Democrats unless the blocs break away from their traditional alliances. Parliament opens on September 25. If the prime minister is ousted after a mandatory vote on whether to replace him, the speaker is permitted to give a maximum of four PM candidates the opportunity to form a government. If they all fail, fresh elections will be called.”

Italy Bans Sunday Shopping

DailyMail.com wrote on September 12:

“The new Italian government will introduce a ban on Sunday shopping in large commercial centres before the end of the year.

“The right-leaning government will move to tighten trading rules in an effort to defend family traditions, deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Sunday…

“’This liberalisation is in fact destroying Italian families,’ said Di Maio, who is head of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement.

“’We need to start limiting opening and closing times again,’ he said.

“Earlier this year, Poland restricted Sunday shopping as the conservative government in Warsaw pushed ahead with what it said was a return to Roman Catholic values.

“The Italian and Polish initiatives run against a slow liberalisation of Sunday shopping hours throughout Europe, where retailers face pressure from a boom in online shopping.

“Small shopkeepers in Italy have long sought to overturn Monti’s reform, saying their businesses face unfair competition from the big malls.”

Russia and China—A Show of Force

The Guardian reported on September 11:

“Russia has launched what it has called its largest ever military drills, with hundreds of thousands of troops joining Chinese soldiers in a show of force condemned by Nato as a rehearsal for large-scale conflict.

“Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, is expected to attend the exercises after hosting an economic forum in Vladivostok where his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, is a guest.

“The week-long exercise, known as Vostok-2018 (East-2018) ‘have kicked off’ in far-eastern Russia, the defence ministry said on Tuesday.

“Taking part in the drills are around 300,000 Russian soldiers, 36,000 military vehicles, 80 ships and 1,000 aircraft, helicopters and drones, as well as 3,500 Chinese troops.”

Further Problems for Brits with Brexit

Handelsblatt Global wrote on September 7:

“Brexit will affect thousands of Germany-based firms that adopted British forms of incorporation. Shareholders risk being made personally liable for the companies unless they convert to German corporate forms… The German government wants to help the estimated 8,000 to 10,000 companies that are incorporated under British law but are based in Germany. ‘Many small companies and people who set up their own business, have in the past, opted for the British Limited (a form of incorporation) which is simple to set up,’ Justice Minister Katarina Barley told Handelsblatt. Such companies are active in Germany but can use European laws to suit their business needs. ‘Brexit poses a serious challenge for them. We want to help them.’ Brexit could deprive firms organized as a ‘private company limited by shares’ or a ‘public limited company’ of their legal status. That could have serious consequences for shareholders, according to a justice ministry spokesman. It could mean that shareholders become personally liable with their private assets, also for the company’s old debt.

“Ms. Barley, who has a British father, wants the new law to enable firms to convert to German forms of incorporation. One option is for companies to become a limited partnership (Kommanditgesellschaft), in which a German limited liability company, which is known here as a GmbH; or an entrepreneurial company with limited liability (Unternehmergesellschaft) could take a stake as a personally-liable shareholder. That would spare companies having to come up with the €25,000 ($29,060) needed as minimum capital to set up a GmbH in the six months left before Brexit, the justice ministry said.

“The transformation will remain optional but the ministry made clear it won’t provide guarantees for firms that fall victim to the corporate legal implications of Brexit. To do so would place other firms at a disadvantage, it said. That means people who don’t bother changing the legal status of their firms risk automatically finding themselves saddled with major new liabilities. Companies that take up the offer will be able to do so before Britain leaves the EU or before the end of any transition period that Britain and the EU agree to.”

“President For Life? Why Donald Trump May Never Leave the White House.”

The Week wrote on September 11:

“The degree to which Trump has saturated American media is unprecedented… No public figure in the history of this or any country has ever figured so prominently in the lives of its citizens, not even in the great authoritarian regimes of the 20th century, as President Trump… [W]ill the institution of the presidency, with its undreamed powers and numberless prerogatives, and the man in whom it is vested achieve a kind of total monopoly over law-making, first by fiat, then by custom, and eventually as a matter of settled law? I think the answer is yes…

“America is now a kind of elective monarchy in which Congress clings, like the Roman Senate, to its antique ceremony as its formal powers… become increasingly irrelevant. Meanwhile the Supreme Court is headed in the direction of an almost limitless deference toward administrative autonomy.

“I don’t think it’s reasonable to dismiss the possibility of a third term for this president as idle speculation. The 22nd Amendment can be repealed like any other, and both geography and math favor Republican attempts at amendment… I do not know a single supporter of the president who opposes the idea, at least in theory, of Trump serving more than eight years. The man himself has entertained it openly, praising Xi Jinping for getting rid of term limits in China…”

Now No Paraguayan Embassy in Jerusalem?

The Algemeiner wrote on September 7:

“US Vice President Mike Pence urged Paraguay’s new president to stick to his predecessor’s decision to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Pence’s office said on Thursday after Asuncion announced plans to shift the diplomatic mission back to Tel Aviv… Most countries do not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire city.

“Pence, who played a main role in President Donald Trump’s decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, spoke on Wednesday to Paraguayan President Mario Abdo, who was elected on Aug. 15. Pence ‘strongly encouraged’ Abdo to follow through with Paraguay’s commitment to move the embassy to Jerusalem ‘as a sign of the historic relationship the country has maintained with both Israel and the United States,’ Pence’s office said in a statement. Former Paraguay President Horacio Cartes opened the new embassy in Jerusalem on May 21, just days after the United States and Guatemala did. Hours after Paraguay announced its change on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by ordering the closure of Israel’s embassy in Paraguay… Abdo on Wednesday defended his decision as part of an effort to support ‘broad, lasting and just peace’ among Israelis and Palestinians.”

Red Heifer Heralds Construction of the Third Temple?

The Daily Star wrote on September 8:

“The Temple Institute announced the birth of an entirely red female calf that ‘brings the promise of reinstating Biblical purity to the world’. The cow’s birth and sacrifice is said to proceed the construction of the Third Temple in Jerusalem. And the Third Temple’s construction – following the destruction of the previous two – heralds the arrival of the Jewish Messiah…

“Rabbi Chain Richman, director of the Temple Institute, hailed the red heifer’s birth as suggestions the time could be right for the Third Temple…

“The cow went under ‘extensive examination by rabbinical experts’ who confirmed she is a ‘viable candidate for the Biblical red heifer.’ They admitted however the cow could be disqualified through natural causes… It is claimed there have only been nine true red heifers – and the 10th will herald the construction of the Third Temple. The Temple Institute believes a red heifer will be needed to be scarified to complete the ritual of purification for the temple – heralding the coming of the Jewish Messiah.

“Red heifers have previously been found by the organisation – who have then disqualified them for not meeting prophetic standards.  One was found in 1999, but was disqualified for being male – and a second was born in 2002, which was found to have a patch of white hair…

“Evangelical Christians believe the construction of the Third Temple all herald their own end times prophecy…”

The Bible does not necessitate the appearance of a red heifer, but many Jews and some Christians believe it is necessary as a prerequisite for bringing animal sacrifices and building a third temple. For more information, please read our Q&A, “Can you shed some light on the significance of a ‘red heifer’ to be born prior to the coming of the Messiah?” Please also read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of the Jewish People.” 

A Catastrophe Coming for the Internet?

The Verge reported on September 12:

“The European Parliament has voted in favor of the Copyright Directive, a controversial piece of legislation intended to update online copyright laws for the internet age…

“The fallout from this decision will be far-reaching, and take a long time to settle. The directive itself still faces a final vote in January 2019 (although experts say it’s unlikely it will be rejected). After that it will need to be implemented by individual EU member states, who could very well vary significantly in how they choose to interpret the directive’s text…

“Despite these disagreements, what’s clear is that if the Copyright Directive receives final approval by the European Parliament in January, it will have a huge, disruptive impact on the internet, both in the European Union and around the world. Exactly how the legislation will be interpreted will be up to individual nations, but the shift in the balance of power is clear: the web’s biggest tech companies are losing their grip on the internet.”

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.

Please notice the biblical principle of giving liberally in Proverbs 11:24-25: “There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.” Compare Proverbs 21:26.

The principle of giving liberally is also strongly emphasized in God’s commandment to tithe to Him. The Bible leaves no doubt that the lack of tithing leads to curses, while diligently tithing to God leads to His blessing.

We read in Proverbs 3:9-10: “Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.”

Malachi 3:8-11 adds:

“‘Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, “In what way have we robbed You?” In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,’ Says the LORD of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,’ Says the LORD of hosts…”

However, the act of tithing, all by itself, may not be enough to find God’s approval and lead to financial blessing. It is true, of course, that God promises us physical blessings if we pay His tithe to His Church. We cannot expect being physically blessed by God, if we refuse to obey His commandment to tithe (verse 9). In other words, one is under a curse who refuses to pay God’s tithe to God’s Church. But even if a person tithes diligently–like the Pharisees did in Christ’s time–he still can’t expect that God will bless him financially, if he violates other laws of God. These could be laws regulating sound financial principles, as well as spiritual laws. God’s law is a package, and can’t be looked upon in an isolated fashion. James tells us that when we violate one of God’s commandments, even though we keep the rest, we have still violated God’s entire law (James 2:8-13). When we do that, we cannot expect God’s financial blessing.

So far, we have quoted exclusively from the Old Testament in regards to God’s physical blessings. Some say that God’s promises of wealth, riches and prosperity only apply to the ancient nation of Israel, but that they have no relevance or application for God’s disciples in New Testament times or today. Apart from the fact that God had also blessed individuals, such as Abraham, Isaac or Job, let us note that Jesus Christ came “that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). And John adds in 3 John 2: “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”

Some claim that Jesus was poor. They use 2 Corinthians 8:9 to prove this assertion, which states: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”

In our Q&A on the life of Jesus Christ, we state the following:

“[In 2 Corinthians 8:9] Paul is using a comparison between the richness of the immortal God who owns everything, and, in contrast, the poverty of man whose insignificant riches might be here today and gone tomorrow…

“There are numerous passages indicating that Jesus owned His own house—or perhaps even more than one… We read that Jesus said that foxes have holes and birds have nests but that the Son of Man had no place to lay His head. Some commentaries claim that this proves that Jesus could not have owned a house—and that He was pretty much homeless.

“However, we must look at the context. While Matthew 8:20 is not as specific as to the timing, the parallel passage in Luke 9:58 is given in the context of when He was on a journey with His disciples, and the Samaritans refused to grant them shelter (compare Luke 9:51-56; note verse 57: ‘NOW it happened as they journeyed on the road…’). There were times when Christ and His disciples did not encounter hospitality, while they were on their missionary journeys, and it was that fact which Jesus stressed when He spoke about the sacrifices one must be willing to make when he or she wants to follow Christ (compare verses 57-58)…

“We should also recognize that the soldiers did not want to cut Jesus’ garments and clothing, when He was hanging on the cross (or better, stake), but they cast lots to determine who should receive them (Matthew 27:35). Even though their conduct was in fulfillment of a prophecy, it is also worthwhile to mention that His garments and clothing were apparently not ‘cheap,’ but of such a quality and value that the soldiers were willing to cast lots for them…

“Jesus was not a homeless vagabond or a hippie. He was a living example of God’s Way of Life, and the Bible tells us that God wants us to prosper in all things (3 John 2). Scriptures also tell us that when we obey God (and Christ always obeyed Him, not sinning once), God would bless us financially (compare Malachi 3:8-10). David even said that he was young and grew old, and he never saw the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread (Psalm 37:25)…

“We know that terrible and ‘expensive’ times are ahead of us, but we also know that when we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, God will give us all the physical things that we need, including food, clothing and shelter. God the Father did most certainly do this for Christ—the prime example of someone who did seek first in His life God’s Kingdom and His righteousness…”

Some claim that wealth, prosperity and riches would disqualify us from entering the Kingdom of God. Such a claim is not correct even though there are most certainly dangers involved, of which we must be aware.

Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 6:9-11:

“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things…”

This passage does not condemn riches and wealth per se, but it includes a warning for those who “desire” to be rich because of their “love of money” and “greediness.”

In our Q&A, “Is It Impossible for a Rich Man to Enter the Kingdom of God?”  we state the following:

“In Matthew 19:16-26, Mark 10:17-27 and Luke 18:18-27, we are introduced to a young rich ruler who came to Christ and asked Him what he must do to inherit eternal life. Christ told him that he had to keep the commandments and He added the need for him to sell what he had, and to follow Him. However, the rich man was unwilling to depart from his riches…

“Christ did not say that it was impossible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God, but that it would be very difficult. We know that Abraham was very rich, and so was David, and both will be in God’s Kingdom. But it is true that riches CAN prevent us from fully turning to God…

“Christ warned us that we cannot serve two masters—God and mammon. He explained that we must not lay up for ourselves treasures on earth (living a way of life which is manifested by our love of money, riches and physical possessions), but that we are to lay up spiritual treasures in heaven. He continued: ‘For where your treasure is, there your HEART will be also. No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon’ (Matthew 6:19-21, 24).

“Christ makes the same point that Paul is making [in 1 Timothy 6:10]: Either we love God and His way of life with all our heart, including our desire to be spiritually rich before God, or we love foremost mammon or material possessions, including our desire to be physically rich in this world. Christ continued to explain the incongruity between both ways in Matthew 6:25-34, when He compared the physical worries in this life with what must be our main priority: ‘But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness’ (verse 33).

“As Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:11, we must ‘flee’ the physical desires to be rich, which are so important in this world, and rather ‘pursue righteousness.’ John explained that the love of God is not in us when we love the world or the things in the world (1 John 2:15-17)…

“There are reasons why Christ warned us that it would be very difficult for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God (Matthew 19:23-24). The main problem is that a rich person may love his riches too much, and he may be unwilling to give them up, if necessary, in order to follow Christ without reservation…

“Again and again, the Bible tells us not to give in to the love of ‘money’ or materialism, and not to work for, as our main focus, the physical riches or possessions in this life… In the parable of the rich fool, Christ warned all of us: ‘Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses’ (Luke 12:15). After telling the rich fool who had heaped up treasures for himself that he would die that very night, He concluded, ‘So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God’ (verse 21).

“And so, Paul admonishes us today—and especially those who are rich in this world—to get our priorities straight: ‘Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor TRUST in UNCERTAIN riches but in the living GOD, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do GOOD, that they be rich in good works, READY TO GIVE, WILLING TO SHARE, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life’ (1 Timothy 6:17-19).”

“It is with this background that we must understand Christ’s warning that ‘it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God’ (Matthew 19:24; compare Mark 10:25 and Luke 18:25). Christ was pointing out here that it is HUMANLY impossible that a camel would go through the eye of a needle…

“To emphasize the point even more, Christ said that it was EASIER for such an impossibility to occur (a camel going through the eye of a needle) than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. He introduced His parable by saying: ‘It is HARD for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 19:23; compare Mark 10:23 and Luke 18:24). But Mark 10:24 adds an important point, quoting Christ as elaborating: ‘Children, how hard it is for those WHO TRUST IN RICHES to enter the kingdom of God.’

“The disciples recognized the humanly impossible situation, as presented by Christ, and so they asked: ‘Who then can be saved?’ (Matthew 19:25; compare Mark 10:26 and Luke 18:26). Jesus’ answer makes His teaching very clear: ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible’ (Matthew 19:26). Mark 10:27 quotes Jesus in this way: ‘With man it is impossible but not with God; for with God all things are possible.’ And Luke 18:27 states: ‘The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.’ (Compare also Luke 1:37; Mark 14:36; Jeremiah 32:17, 27; Genesis 18:14.)

“Returning to the question… whether it is impossible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God, the answer is: No, it is not impossible, but it requires a miracle from God. This is true for all of us. It is God who must call us and open our minds to His truth; it is God who must offer us repentance and faith in Him and His Son’s Sacrifice and the Gospel of the Kingdom of God; it is God who must offer us His gift of righteousness and, upon repentance, belief and baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit—but we need to respond. The rich man was offered an opportunity to qualify for the Kingdom of God at that time, but he did not respond properly, because he did not want to give up his riches. Others may have other excuses with which they may want to justify their refusal to accept God’s calling (compare Luke 14:15-24).

“… Especially rich people will have to come to the realization that they must not trust in their riches, but that they must be willing to give up their riches, if need be, and to share their riches with others. For most rich people, this is VERY hard to do. But God can change man’s heart and mind; so it is NOT impossible for Him to convert even a rich person, IF that person wants to be converted.”

(To Be Continued)

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

compiled by Dave Harris

“How’s Your Ego?” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Kalon Mitchell, is now posted.

“This Generation Will Not Pass Away,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Jesus Christ listed many terrible events which will occur prior to His return, and added that “this generation” would not pass away until all these things take place. What is meant with “this generation”? Did Christ refer to mankind in general; the survival of the people of Israel; the generation at the time of Christ; or the end-time generation? This sermon will cite many biblical passages, which are being used in support of the above-stated concepts in light of the Greek word for “generation.” But which explanation is correct?

“Gideon’s Faith,” the sermonette presented in the morning service of the Feast of Trumpets by Eric Rank, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The story of Gideon gives us an inspiring example of the power of faith. As it was able to strengthen him and a small army to drive away enemies without lifting a weapon, faith provides us with the means to conquer our trials, great and small.

“The Sound of the Trumpet,” the sermon presented in the morning service of the Feast of Trumpets by Dave Harris, is now posted. Here is a summary:

While it might seem that the Bible doesn’t say a lot about this Feast, let’s remember a key word that is given—that is that this day is a MEMORIAL This is about more than the past—this Feast of Trumpets is also to remind us of future events!

“Not For Granted,” the Offertory presented in the afternoon service of the Feast of Trumpets by Michael Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Are we thankful for the blessings that God has given us or do we take them for granted? What about the trials that we go through? Is that something we should be thankful for? Are we thankful for the knowledge that God has granted us to understand the Bible and how we are to prepare ourselves for soon coming disaster?

“Freedom from Captivity,” the sermon presented in the afternoon service of the Feast of Trumpets by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The Feast of Trumpets is known under several Hebrew names and includes the blowing of seven trumpets by God’s angels. The seventh trumpet announces unique events which have never happened before in the history of man. This sermon concentrates mainly on the freedom from slavery of the modern descendants of the ancient houses of Israel and Judah. We will show WHY such a future captivity of war will occur and who will bring it about. We will also address God’s protection for His people during the coming times of trouble.

The 2018 USA Feast Brochure is now posted.

Here are the dates for the remaining 2018 Fall Holy Days:

Day of Atonement—September 19
Feast of Tabernacles—September 24-30
Last Great Day—October 1

On September 8, 2018, Kalon Mitchell will present the sermonette, titled, “How’s Your EGO?” and Norbert Link will present the sermon, titled, “This Generation Will Not Pass Away!”

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.

The Feast of Trumpets will be observed and services will be broadcast live on Monday, September 10, 2018. Morning services will begin at 10:00 am Pacific Time, and afternoon services will begin at 3:00 pm Pacific Time. Morning: Sermonette will be presented by Eric Rank, titled, “Gideon’s Faith,” and the sermon will be presented by Dave Harris, titled, “The Sound of the Trumpet!”; Afternoon: Offertory will be presented by Michael Link, titled, “Not for Granted!,” and the sermon will be presented by Norbert Link, titled, “Freedom from Captivity!”

Over 30 years ago, the problem of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy began grabbing headlines and shocking the world. From the start, strong rhetoric promised that corrective actions would be taken to stop the abuse. Yet, news continues to emerge of these same problems today. The pattern of covering up problems instead of fixing them seems to continue, and the credibility of claims to adopt “stringent” measures to make correction wanes to nothing. Sadly, whatever has happened in the past three decades to make corrections has been dwarfed by the opposing strength of moral corruption. The evidence of any substantial change taking place is lacking.

The state of affairs regarding this sexual abuse scandal is undoubtedly abominable. Yet, what is less sensational but particularly captivating about the story is that the rhetoric, policies, apologies, and all other efforts to make change have failed to have an effect. This pattern of observing a problem and taking actions to fix it, only to have it persist, is something that most of humanity can relate to. Some problems are very difficult to fix, even if we are able to acknowledge them and judge correctly between right and wrong. Paul famously made the same kind of observation applying it to his own life in Romans 7:15, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” Even when we see a need to change, it can be difficult to do.

At the point in time when Jesus Christ returns to the earth and the Kingdom of God is initially established, it will take time before the hearts, minds, and behavior of all people are corrected. During the early days of Jesus Christ’s established rulership on Earth, there will be Asiatic hordes (written about in Ezekiel 38 and 39) who still will actively rebel and fight against His perfect government. Even when this massive change begins to take place on a global scale, it will still take time for it to take effect. There will be people who will not be convinced of the need to convert at the moment in time when Christ returns, but they will continue to fight. Yes, even when the right path is plainly clear, people have a difficult time changing their ways.

With all of the difficulty involved in making a change for the better, whether on an individual level or as a group, what does it take? Is there something that we can do as converted Christians to reliably influence positive change in our lives; to turn away from sin and live righteously? Fortunately, the answer is, “YES!”

Wherever we have the most difficulty in our lives in turning away from sin and correcting our paths, we will almost certainly find patterns of behavior lurking beneath the surface that tend to lead us to repeat our errors. Old habits, especially bad ones, die hard. However, if we know that a series of our actions leads to results that we do not like, the real source of our problems is exposed. If we are trying to change our lives so we do not repeat the most tenacious of our sins, it can be useful to ask ourselves about the patterns that lead us there.  Once identified, changing the patterns of our behavior can have a tremendous effect in helping ourselves to overcome sin.

Changing how we function in the patterns of our behavior is exactly what the Bible prescribes. “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:5-8). The instruction provided here is to change the pattern of our behavior so that all of our actions are motivated by spiritual goals instead of carnal ones. This simple instruction is within reach for every single Christian who has been truly converted.

The path to overcoming sin requires that we change the way that we live. Even if our will is too weak to overcome our problems directly, with the help of God’s Holy Spirit, we can work on our habits that tend to cause or bring about those problems. Perhaps those habits involve a negative influence of media, other people, or circumstances that we can avoid getting ourselves into. By replacing our bad habits with the good habit of being spiritually motivated, we can, and will, overcome.

by Norbert Link

We begin with reporting on events during John McCain’s funeral and continue with the escalating war between President Trump and veteran journalist Bob Woodward and a serious warning to evangelical leaders who have forgotten their loyalty to God over their support of and faith in politics. In this context, please view our new StandingWatch program, “What happened to the Separation of Church and State?” 

We are speaking on the possibility that the US dollar might lose its dominance; focus on disturbing developments in Germany which seem to foreshadow events which overtook the country in the 1930’s; address the upcoming general election in Sweden in light of the refugee crisis; and report on an unbelievable and despicable secret collaboration between American banks and Silicon Valley giants, including Google, Facebook and Amazon.

We speak on what many feel to be the worst crisis for Pope Francis in his utterly divided Catholic Church, which, at the same time, is heavily involved in bringing about the unification of Europe; and we speak on Bavarian Catholic Manfred Weber who is trying, with Angela Merkel’s support, to become the next head of the European Commission.

We report on Putin’s admissions of his lies regarding Ukraine in a fit of rage; speak on terrible atrocities in Myanmar, including mass murders and gang rapes by the military and a corrupt legal system; address the return of the “sick man of Europe” (Turkey under dictator Erdogan); and conclude with the new outbreak of African Swine Fever in many countries around the world, with potentially serious worldwide global consequences.

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

Trump Bash at McCain Funeral

The Associated Press reported on September 1:

“John McCain’s daughter opened his memorial service by posing her father’s legacy as a direct challenge to President Donald Trump, setting a tone that echoed the senator’s own fighting spirit as former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush eulogized him Saturday at the Washington National Cathedral. Bush and Obama, both challenged by McCain in their bids for the White House, drew on the senator’s legacy at home and abroad to talk of the nation’s values in remarks that at times seemed a clear rebuke of Trump and his brand of politics.

“Obama spoke of the long talks he and McCain would have privately in the Oval Office and the senator’s understanding that America’s security and influence came not from ‘our ability to bend others to our will’ but universal values of rule of law and human rights. ‘So much of our politics, our public life, our public discourse can seem small and mean and petty, tracking in bombast and insult and phony controversies and manufactured outrage,’ Obama said in another not-so-veiled nod to Trump. ‘It’s a politics that pretends to be brave and tough but in fact is born in fear. John called on us to be bigger than that. He called on us to be better than that.’

“Bush said one of the great gifts in his life was becoming friends with his former White House rival. He said they would in later years recall their political battles like former football players remembering the big game. But mostly Bush recalled a champion for the ‘forgotten people’ at home and abroad whose legacy will serve as a reminder, even in times of doubt, of the power of America as more than a physical place but a ‘carrier of human aspirations.’…

“Trump was not on hand for the ceremony, after McCain’s family made clear he was not invited. But Meghan McCain made sure Trump was part of the memorial in another way, leveling pointed criticism at the president in her eulogy. ‘We gather here to mourn the passing of American greatness — the real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly, nor the opportunistic appropriation of those who lived lives of comfort and privilege while he suffered and served,’ she said, her voice first choking back tears then raising to anger. Later, she said to applause, ‘The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great.’

“In another clear swipe at Trump, she said some resented her father for being ‘a great fire who burned bright’ and what he revealed about their own characters. Those critics, she said, still have an opportunity to emulate her father’s legacy.

“Those gathered Saturday morning to eulogize the six-term senator included three former presidents, scores of members of Congress, current and former world leaders and family and friends. Among those in the front row were Barack and Michelle Obama, George and Laura Bush, Bill and Hillary Clinton, as well as Dick Cheney and Al Gore… ‘His death seems to have reminded the American people that these values are what makes us a great nation, not the tribal partisanship and personal attack politics that have recently characterized our life,’ said former Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, a longtime friend and fellow global traveler who McCain once considered as his vice presidential running mate…

“Two of [Trump’s] top aides, White House chief of staff John Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis, flanked Cindy McCain as she placed the wreath at the memorial and [joined] the service. Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner [also] attended…”

Also, Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, attended; and others spoke as well, such as former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who gave a short address by quoting a passage from the Bible. Especially Graham made recent headlines when he criticized Trump for the “disturbing” way with which he “remembered” McCain after his death, stating, according to Newsmax, dated August 30: “You’re going to have to be a big man in a big office. John McCain was a big man, worthy of a big country. Mr. President, you need to be the big man that the presidency requires.”

In an obvious reply to Meghan McCain’s [questionable] comment that America always was great and does not need to be made great again, Breitbart pointed out on September 3 that Ronald Reagan used the phrase, “Make America Great Again,” on Labor Day 1980: “Ronald Reagan kicked off his 1980 campaign for the presidency on the banks of the Hudson River, overlooking the Statue of Liberty, on Labor Day in 1980 with a promise to ‘make America great again.’ Standing side-by-side with the father of Poland’s Solidarity movement, Lech Walesa, Reagan proclaimed that ‘where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost.’ Reagan wrapped up his speech with words that will sound familiar today: ‘Let us pledge to each other, with this Great Lady looking on, that we can, and so help us God, we will make America great again.’”

On a lighter note, here are some funny excerpts from former Sen. Joe Lieberman’s speech:

“Personally, I can tell you that [he] was a real friend in accommodating what were to him my unusual practices as a religiously observant Jew, whether it was walking with me on a Saturday to an important meeting [orthodox Jews don’t use their cars or public transportation on the Sabbath, but they rather choose to walk] or turning down a popular Friday night dinner invitation at the Munich security conference we went to every year because it was too far to walk, we would stay in the hotel and have what John learned to call our shalom dinners. With John they weren’t that peaceful. John naturally in doing these wonderful acts of friendship grumbled all the way about what I was putting him through, you know. Right now I think he is probably deriving some pleasure from the fact it turned out his funeral was held on a Saturday and I had to walk to get here. I’m sure if he were here now, he would tell me that was divine justice.

“He ultimately as he did with so much of his life turned these interfaith interferences into a truly hilarious comedy routine. It began with a solemn pronouncement by John that he was converting to Judaism. Then he explained less solemnly ‘I do this not because of any particularly liking for the religion, it is just that for so many years I had to go along with all of Joe’s religious nonsense, I might as well convert and get the benefits.’”

The problem is, of course, that Joe Lieberman’s “religious nonsense” was and is not in accordance with biblical injunctions or teachings.

Trump vs. Woodward

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 5:

“Veteran journalist Bob Woodward’s new book that describes scenes of chaos in the White House left US President Donald Trump fuming on Wednesday. The book draws on hundreds of hours of taped interviews with current and former aides and officials to paint a damning portrait of the Trump administration. Excerpts from the 420-page book, to be released next week, have been published by various US news outlets. In the book, Woodward reports:

“Top administration staff enacted an ‘administrative coup d’etat’ by frequently hiding documents, or secretly preventing Trump from acting on impulses and causing disaster. Chief of staff John Kelly doubted the integrity of Trump’s mental faculties, declaring during one meeting, ‘We’re in Crazytown’ and calling Trump an ‘idiot.’ Trump wanted to order the assassination of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Defense Secretary James Mattis assured Trump he would get right on it but then told a senior aide they’d do nothing of the kind. Mattis told ‘close associates that the president acted — and had the understanding of — a fifth- or sixth-grader,’ after Trump raged about the cost of the US military presence in South Korea. Trump’s former lawyer in the Russia probe, John Dowd, thought the chances of Trump perjuring himself during an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller were so high that he told him not to testify. ‘Don’t testify. It’s either that or an orange jumpsuit,’ Dowd is quoted as saying. He later called Trump ‘a… liar.’ Trump called Attorney General Jeff Sessions ‘mentally retarded’ and ‘a dumb southerner.’

“Trump insisted he’s ‘the exact opposite’ of the book’s portrayal of him, complaining on Twitter that people can ‘get away with’ such depictions and suggested changing libel laws. He later [said:] ‘It’s just another bad book. He’s had a lot of credibility problems.’ He then suggested Woodward could have made the whole thing up. Several officials quoted in the book issued denials, with Kelly calling the book ‘total BS’ and Mattis labeling it ‘fiction.’ Dowd denied saying Trump would end up in an orange jumpsuit. The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, cast doubt on the account about Assad. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: ‘This book is nothing more than fabricated stories, many by former disgruntled employees, told to make the president look bad.’

“In a statement to The Washington Post, Woodward said, ‘I stand by my reporting.’

“… Woodward is one of America’s most respected journalists, with his reporting on the Watergate scandal bringing down President Richard Nixon. Trump himself had previously endorsed his credibility, saying in 2013 ‘Only the Obama WH can get away with attacking Bob Woodward.’… Several damaging accounts of chaos in the White House have been published in recent months, most notably Michael Wolff’s ‘Fire and Fury.’ But Woodward’s account will be particularly difficult to counter as it is based on recorded interviews and comes from a highly respected investigative reporter… The book, titled Fear: Trump in the White House, is scheduled for release on Tuesday, September 11.”

The Week added on September 5:

“President Trump pushed back against excerpts of veteran Washington journalist Bob Woodward’s new book, Fear, claiming statements from Defense Secretary James Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly ‘refuted and discredited’ the book. ‘Their quotes were made up frauds, a con on the public,’ Trump tweeted. He also denied saying Attorney General Jeff Sessions was ‘mentally retarded’ with the accent of a ‘dumb Southerner.’ Kelly and Mattis denied calling Trump an ‘idiot’ and a ‘liar’ with little grasp of global affairs. The book also quotes Trump as saying that condemning white supremacists was his ‘biggest… mistake’ as president, and telling Mattis he wanted to… ‘kill’ Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.”

Reuters and The Algemeiner wrote on September 5:

“Israel’s intelligence minister said on Wednesday he had no knowledge of close ally US President Donald Trump ever ordering the killing of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad… While formally neutral on the 7-year civil war in neighboring Syria, Israel has carried out scores of air strikes against suspected attempts by Assad’s Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah allies to set up permanent posts or advanced arms.

“Under decades of Assad family rule, Syria has maintained a Cold War-style hostility toward Israel. Katz said Israel did not see a better alternative to Assad among Syrian rebel groups…”

Don’t Confuse God’s Kingdom with Today’s Politics

Christianity Today wrote on August 31:

“In a Monday meeting with evangelical leaders at the White House, President Trump reportedly warned of violence against conservative Christians if the GOP loses in November. As evangelicals, we would do well to correct the president on this point. If an election can cause us to lose everything, what is it exactly that we have in the first place?… the church does not preach the gospel at the pleasure of any administration or decline to preach it at another administration’s displeasure…

“Something tremendous is at stake here: whether evangelical Christians place their faith more in Caesar and his kingdom than in Christ and his reign. On that one, we do have everything to lose—this November and every other election cycle…

“Let’s face it. Liberal and conservative, Catholic and Protestant, have courted political power and happily allowed themselves to be used by it. This always happens when the church confuses the kingdom of Christ with the kingdoms of this present age…

“At his trial, Jesus told Pontius Pilate that he was indeed a king—but the heir to a greater throne than the Roman prefect could imagine… every New Testament command on the subject calls us to love and pray for our enemies… In his Great Commission, Jesus gave authority to the church to make disciples, not citizens; to proclaim the gospel, not political opinions; to baptize people in [better: into] the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, not in the name of America or a political party; and to teach everything that he delivered, not our own personal and political priorities…

“Anyone who believes, much less preaches, that evangelical Christians are ‘one election away from losing everything’ in November has forgotten how to sing the psalmist’s warning, ‘Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save’ (Ps. 146:3).”

We completely agree with the above-quoted statements and observations.

Displacing the US Dollar

Project Syndicate wrote on September 3:

“The benefits [of the US dollar] are diminishing with the rise of the euro and China’s renminbi as competing reserve currencies. And now US President Donald Trump’s misguided trade wars and anti-Iran sanctions will accelerate the move away from the dollar… The euro is the dollar’s main competitor, with the renminbi coming in a distant third.

“The US gains… important economic benefits from the dollar’s key currency role. [One] is the ability to borrow abroad in dollars. When a government borrows in a foreign currency, it can go bankrupt; that is not the case when it borrows in its own currency…

“America’s monetary stewardship has stumbled badly over the years, and Trump’s misrule could hasten the end of the dollar’s predominance… Just as Brexit is undermining the City of London, Trump’s ‘America First’ trade and financial policies will weaken the dollar’s role and that of New York’s role as the global financial hub…

“Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas, recently declared Germany’s interest in establishing a European payments system independent of the US [calling it] ‘indispensable.’…

As we have announced for many years, the euro is predestined to become the strongest currency in the world. We have also stated very clearly that President Trump was placed in charge of the USA to accelerate its downfall.

Chemnitz Symptom for Growing Polarization in Germany over Merkel’s Immigration Policy

The New York Times wrote on August 31:

“Waving German flags, with some flashing Nazi salutes, the angry mob made its way through the streets, chasing after dark-skinned bystanders… A Syrian refugee and father of two… watched horrified from a friend’s fourth-floor balcony. They were hunting in packs for immigrants just like him, he said. ‘Like wolves.’

“For a few perilous hours over two days this week, the mob owned the streets of Chemnitz where anger exploded after word spread that an Iraqi and a Syrian asylum seeker were suspected in a knife attack that killed a German man early Sunday.

“Chemnitz, a city of some 250,000 in eastern Germany, has a history of neo-Nazi protests. Usually they draw a few hundred from the fringes of society… The crowd this time was 8,000-strong. Led by several hundred identifiable neo-Nazis, it appeared to be joined by thousands of ordinary citizens…

“The city had never seen anything like this — and, to some degree, neither had post-World War II Germany. The rampage now stands as a high-water mark in the outpouring of anti-immigrant hatred that has swelled as Germany struggles to absorb the nearly one million asylum seekers who arrived in the country after Chancellor Angela Merkel decided to open the borders in 2015.

“That decision sharply divided Germany, with critics soon arguing that Ms. Merkel’s administration had lost control of the situation. Three years later, what the government is struggling to control is an anti-immigrant backlash. Neo-Nazis are growing bolder and stronger, and they are better organized…”

The Associated Press wrote on September 2:

“Germany’s foreign minister [Heiko Maas] told his fellow countrymen Sunday they’re too lazy when it comes to battling racism and fighting for democracy… ‘Our generation was given freedom, rule of law and democracy as a present. We didn’t have to fight for it; (now) we’re taking it too much for granted.’

“Maas’ comments followed Saturday’s demonstrations by about 4,500 far-right protesters in Chemnitz, who were rallying against migration… 4,000 leftist protesters also marched through the city in a counter-protest, and 1,800 police officers were deployed to keep the groups apart…

“The tension that has built up over the past week in Chemnitz, reflects the growing polarization over Germany’s ongoing effort to come to terms with an influx of more than 1 million refugees and migrants seeking jobs since 2015…”

The clashes between extremists from the right and from the left remind us of the violent situation in Germany when Hitler was coming to power. Some commentators in the international press have already pointed out this frightening parallel. Note the next articles as well.

Downplaying the Chemnitz Debacle?

Deutsche Welle reported on September 5:

“Saxony’s state premier Michael Kretschmer [a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU)] has claimed that reports of mob violence at anti-immigrant protests in the city of Chemnitz were exaggerated… ‘One thing is clear. There was no mob, there was no hunt and there were no pogrom in Chemnitz,’ said Kretschmer… [He] condemned the way events in the city had been characterized by media outside Saxony, saying it was ‘astonishing that those who are so far away have passed a particularly sweeping and harsh judgment on this city.’

“… Chancellor Merkel appeared to contradict her party colleague’s assessment of the situation. ‘We saw pictures that very clearly revealed hate and thereby also the persecution of innocent people. One must distance oneself from that,’ said Merkel… Meanwhile, the state premier’s comments drew direct criticism from political opponents. Ralf Stegner, deputy leader of the Social Democrats (SPD), told Germany’s mass-circulation Bild newspaper that Kretschmer was pandering to the right. ‘The CDU in Saxony has apparently not understood that there is no use in playing up to the right. If Mr. Kretschmer still doesn’t understand that, then he is beyond help.’

“Annalena Baerbock, co-leader of Germany’s Green party, accused Kretschmer of not taking the situation seriously enough. ‘By downplaying this, Mr. Kretschmer is just continuing to look the other way, which is exactly what led to Chemnitz. There is obviously a serious problem with the right wing,’ Baerbock told Bild.”

The Good and Bad Germans

Politico wrote on September 4:

“When right-wing mobs marauded through the east German town of Chemnitz last week, attacking foreigners and doing the Hitler salute, Germans elsewhere made sure to put things into context. ‘Saxony again!’ they said, wrote and tweeted. The conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung asked, ‘Is Saxony still a part of Germany?’ Der Spiegel put the word ‘Saxony’ on its cover, with big letters turning into brown, old-German type (translation: Nazi type). A leftist columnist for the magazine suggested sarcastically that Saxony should secede from the country.

“At a time when right-wing populism is on the rise across Germany, the eastern state of Saxony has gotten a particularly bad name. Chemnitz is only the latest in a series of attacks. The towns of Heidenau, Freital and Bautzen have all acquired notoriety for similar reasons…

“Three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the rift between the east and west Germany is still palpable — and it keeps evolving. East Germans who struggled after 1989 have long mourned the end of the socialist German Democratic Republic. But lately Ostalgie, the eastern yearning for life under socialism, has found its match in a new variety of Westalgie, a western yearning for a Germany stripped of the east…

“The good Germans in the west… are deeply confused by the rise of right-wing violence… they blame the easterners. They will admit grudgingly that some right-wing violence occurs in western states as well — and then add that Saxony or Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are far worse. The Federal Republic of Germany, they say, would have been better off if the country had not been reunified. That’s wishful thinking. After three decades, the lives of people in the east and west are far too interconnected to allow for such a distinction…

“The notion of a good and a bad Germany is pretty old. It’s found in oft-made juxtapositions: Goethe and Goebbels, Heine and Hitler, Beethoven and Buchenwald. The implication is that the Germans are a special people, capable of extreme good as well as of extreme bad. That may be true. But any suggestion that a good Germany can be found in the west and a bad Germany somewhere further east is stupid. If more and more east Germans embrace the idea that they are the bad Germans, things will get much worse — and not just in Saxony…”

In addition, please note this article by Deutsche Welle, reporting on September 6:

“A survey in Germany reveals… a marked difference between Germany’s western states and those in the east on whether concerns about migration were being taken seriously by the German government… Worries about the government’s approach to migration were high across the board, with 49 percent of Germans overall feeling that the matter was not being properly addressed… 46 percent of respondents in the former West German states and 66 percent of respondents in the former East German states [were] saying they were not satisfied.”

Controversial Verdict against Afghan Murderer of German Teen

Deutsche Welle reported on September 3:

“An asylum-seeker, thought to be from Afghanistan, has been given an 8-and-a-half-year prison sentence for the murder of a teenage German girl… in the town of Kandel in December last year. The murder had been seized upon by many opponents of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policy to support their anti-immigration stance…

“Fifteen-year-old Mia V. was stabbed to death in a drugstore by her ex-boyfriend Abdul D… The teen was stabbed seven times with a kitchen knife that had a 20-centimeter (7.9-inch) blade. According to prosecutors, the two dated for several months until Mia V. ended the relationship in early December. After the breakup, both she and her parents went to the police about Abdul D.’s harassing and threatening behavior. Prosecutors believe he acted out of jealousy and was seeking revenge for the breakup.

“Abdul D. entered Germany in the spring of 2016 and was registered as an unaccompanied minor. He first lived in a juvenile care institution in the Germersheim district in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. He was later transferred to a supervised living group in the town of Neustadt and attended school in Kandel, where he met Mia V. As authorities believe Abdul D. was underage at the time of the attack, he was tried as a minor. The maximum penalty for murder under German juvenile law is 10 years.

“However, prosecutors have cast doubt over Abdul D.’s age. Although he says he was 15 when the stabbing occurred, an expert medical assessment ordered by the public prosecutor’s office said that he is likely between 17 and 20 years old… When asked why Abdul D. was convicted of bodily harm along with the murder charge, the court’s press spokesman… said he couldn’t give any further information about the case at this time, as it was closed to the public due to the defendant’s status as a minor…

“The case sparked several months of anti-immigrant rallies and counterprotests in Kandel, a small town near the French border. The population of around 9,000 has been regularly swelled since January as demonstrators from leftist and right-wing groups have descended on the town. Hundreds of people took part in right-wing protest on Saturday… Dozens of counterprotesters from leftist… groups as well as local residents were also present. The focus of the right-wing protests has… become platforms for anti-refugee and anti-Islam sentiments, with demonstrators blaming the media and German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government.”

Bild wrote on September 3:

“These are the verdicts which make people doubt judges and the justice system… and that justice is pronounced in our name. The guilt of Mia’s murderer has been proven without a doubt. The court even found that Abdul D. stabbed the 15-year old girl with malice and evil motives. Our laws do not know worse crimes. It is totally incomprehensible why a more serious punishment was not given.

“Even though Abdul D. was, in reliance on a medical assessment, in all likelihood 20 years old, and lied to and deceived this country about his true age in order to gain admission…his deed was tried based on juvenile law. He is a murderer, a liar and he even attacked an official in the court house… How and on what basis the judges could find mitigating circumstances, we will never know. The judgment will not be published because of juvenile law. Maybe that is better this way, because nobody would understand it anyhow.”

Sweden’s Upcoming Election in Light of Wildfires and Refugee Crisis

The Local wrote on September 5:

“Sweden is heading for a general election on September 9, with… pressing political issues driving the agenda… More than 50 wildfires raged across Sweden during the summer of 2018 – the warmest summer since 1756… The gravity of the situation brought environmental questions to the fore…

“But the event most defining these elections is the refugee crisis. In the autumn of 2015, Sweden opened its doors to asylum seekers from Syria and elsewhere, taking in more than 100,000 people over a period of just a few months. Managing the influx of people proved difficult… This effectively closed down Sweden’s southern border with Denmark and temporarily suspended the Schengen agreement, which allows free movement through continental Europe…

“The refugee crisis has had a major impact on Swedish politics… The political field has been divided into those who are in favour of a more generous immigration approach (Social Democrats, the Left, the Greens and the Centre Party) and those who prefer a stricter policy (the Conservatives, the Christian Democrats, the Sweden Democrats and to some extent, the Liberals). Disagreements over immigration may even lead to a split within the centre-right Alliance that held power in two consecutive governments (2006-2010 and 2010-2014), with the Centre Party defecting from the group position to embrace a more restrictive immigration approach…

“Integrating non-EU migrants into the labour market has been a slow process. And, if you add into the mix the generous welfare benefits traditionally provided by the Swedish state (long parental leave, free education at all levels, subsidised healthcare), the dilemma faced by Swedish politicians is evident. The biggest issue of this (and coming) elections will really be the future of the welfare state. Parties must either find creative solutions to finance public services – or propose cutting some of them.”

Big Brother: Google, Amazon and Facebook in Cahoots with Your Bank!

Gizmodo wrote on August 31:

“… until recently, you could live without fear that some multibillion-dollar Silicon Valley giant would buy up your banking data in order to serve you more effective ads. Based on new details about an apparent arrangement between Google and Mastercard, those days are over…

“This is a… bombshell… Thanks in part to heavy government regulation, your credit card and banking data has long been private. If you wanted to spend $98 at Sephora on a Tuesday afternoon, that transaction was between you, your bank, and Sephora. It now appears that Google has found a way to weasel its way into the data pipeline that connects consumers and their purchases…

“But when you consider everything else that Google knows about you, the proposition becomes more Orwellian. Google told Gizmodo in a statement, also shared with Bloomberg, that it encrypts and anonymizes the credit card transaction data that it’s using with the new ad tool. There’s no getting around the fact that Google becomes a more powerful, all-seeing ad engine when it can see specific details about people’s spending habits, even if they’re anonymized and used in aggregate, as Google says the data it gets from Mastercard is. This future—one where your email, your search history, your social connections, and now, your spending habits—is one that we should really be scared of…

“It’s not so much that Google has been using credit card data to help advertisers run more effective ads. It’s that Google is doing these things on a tremendous scale, and the full nature of what it’s been doing was kept secret. The reported arrangement between Google and Mastercard immediately drew comparisons to the recent saga of Facebook reportedly meeting with banks in an attempt to gain access to its users’ private financial data. According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook wanted detailed financial information, like checking account balances and even individual transactions. Sources said that Facebook wanted to build chatbots for Messenger so that people could ask a robot simple banking questions, like their current checking account balance. Realistically, Facebook could be doing a lot more with that kind of data…

“Amazon certainly knows a lot about the things we buy, and we learned earlier this year that the online retail giant was exploring the possibility of getting into the banking business itself. The Wall Street Journal has also reported that Amazon, like Facebook and Google, has had conversations with banks about gaining access to personal financial information…”

It is truly appalling what is going on behind the scenes, and to what extent BANKS are again “participating villains” in this despicable SECRET scheme with Silicon Valley giants.

Greatest Crisis for Pope Francis

The Guardian wrote on September 3:

“Ever since he was elected as the leader of the world’s Roman Catholics, Pope Francis has been the target of conservative adversaries deeply opposed to… his efforts to reform the church. But in the past week, the war at the heart of the Vatican has exploded into the open, plunging Francis into the worst crisis of his five-year papacy. Cardinals and bishops have openly fired shots; accusations of lies, treachery, score-settling, character assassination and fake news have engulfed the global church…

“Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, 77, a former Vatican ambassador to the US and a conservative within the church, said the pope knew that Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, ‘was a corrupt man, [but] he covered for him to the bitter end’. Viganò named a string of cardinals and archbishops who he said also knew about the McCarrick claims. ‘Corruption has reached the very top of the church’s hierarchy’; Francis should resign, he said…

“Viganò’s claims – timed when Francis was already vulnerable – unleashed opposing forces within the church. The old guard of the Curia – the Vatican’s governing bodies, a hotbed of power struggles, intrigue and paranoia – bitterly resents Francis’s efforts to root out what they view as centuries of clerical tradition and he sees as hypocrisy, narcissism and ‘spiritual Alzheimer’s’… Francis loyalists leaped to his defence and lambasted the former diplomat… But others said Viganò’s allegations must be taken seriously…

“In the coming weeks, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the US bishops’ conference, is expected to travel to Rome to press for an Apostolic Visitation – a high-level Vatican inquiry – into the McCarrick case… Any such inquiry is bound to investigate who knew what and when – right up to the Vatican and the [pope] himself. But scepticism about the integrity of a Vatican investigation that could uncover wrongdoing at the pinnacle of the church is inevitable.

“The pope has said little apart from appealing to people to make their own judgment. According to his secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, his mood is ‘serene’ in the face of raging controversy…”

These events are highly remarkable. It remains to be seen as to how this pope’s future role will unfold.

Catholic Church for Unified Europe

On September 1, 2018, Deutsche Welle quoted the following comments by German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising and Chairman of the German Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference:

“Faith tells us we belong to a human family. Patriotism is good, but nationalism is not Catholic. I agree with Franz-Josef Strauss, who has always said: Bavaria is our home, Germany is our fatherland, Europe is our future.

“The path we have taken in the last 50 or 60 years since the Treaty of Rome was also morally connoted. That is why the church has always viewed the unity of Europe positively, even today. The work of unification began with a longing for peace and reconciliation. Let us not forget: Nationalism is one of the biggest causes of war… the church must never cease working or doing something for the unity of Europe.”

The Catholic Church has been heavily involved, from the very outset, in helping to revive, one last time, the ancient Holy Roman Empire in Europe.

Bavarian Conservative Manfred Weber Next Head of European Commission?

Euractiv wrote on August 30:

“Angela Merkel has given her backing to fellow German conservative Manfred Weber’s bid to front the centre-right’s campaign in next year’s European Parliament elections… If other member parties follow the chancellor in backing Weber… he would be front-runner to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as head of the European Commission. That would make the 46-year-old Bavarian the EU’s day-to-day leader as it attempts to navigate a world in which a Donald Trump-led United States is seen as an unreliable partner, it faces a stiff challenge from Russian and Chinese rivals and reinvents itself following Britain’s departure from the bloc…

“It has been decades since a German has headed the Brussels-based Commission, whose 30,000 staff draft and enforce legislation and has been instrumental in driving the process of European integration since the bloc’s beginnings in 1957… While Weber is an ally of Merkel, his Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) party is well to her right on social policy, and he is seen as an ally of strongman East European leaders like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán…

“Weber holds fast to conservative values and is simultaneously pushing for an ‘aggressive and positive Europe policy’ from the CSU…Weber has aligned with a majority in the EPP against Nord Stream 2, despite the fact that the government in Berlin strongly backs this project to bring Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Conversely, Weber is a strong backer of the Southern Gas Corridor, a project to bring Azeri gas via Turkey to Europe.”

Euractiv added on August 31:

“Blessed by Chancellor Angela Merkel and backed by big national delegations, Germany’s CSU heavyweight Manfred Weber is expected to soon confirm his candidacy for the post of the new European Commission president, with migration emerging as the top issue on his agenda… Migration is a top concern for… [Austrian] Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, whose country is chairing the EU’s rotating presidency.

“Weber advocated for giving ‘billions of dollars’ in aid to North African countries to cooperate on the migration issue, as Europe already did with Turkey. The goal would be to set up centres in third countries to see who is entitled to asylum protection…

“Weber could have the support of EPP [European People’s Party] members from Germany, Spain, Ireland, Croatia and France, among others… Candidates can throw their hat into the ring between 15 September and 16 October. The party will pick its Spitzenkandidat at a congress in Helsinki in early November.”

In a Fit of Rage, Putin Admitted Russia’s Responsibility for Ukrainian Uprising

Business Insider wrote on September 3:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin became so enraged during a shouting match with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko that he revealed he was lying about Russia’s role in a military uprising in eastern Ukraine, former French President Francois Hollande wrote in a book published earlier this year about his time in office.

“In 2014, Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine and began to support separatists in the eastern part of the country through information warfare, direct shipments of weapons, and the deployment of Russian fighters posing as Ukrainian separatists… Russia denied responsibility…

“But in a heated argument with Poroshenko at the 2015 talks to form the Minsk Agreement… ‘Poroshenko and Putin constantly raised their voices with each other. The Russian president was so worked up, that he started threatening to decisively crush his counterpart’s forces… This showed that there are Russian troops in eastern Ukraine. Putin suddenly realized, and got a grip on himself,’ Hollande wrote…

“Fighting continues in eastern Ukraine, with more than 10,000 dead. Russia still denies any official involvement in the fighting and remains under the sanctions imposed in 2014.”

This is interesting, as everybody should have known that Putin was lying when he denied Russia’s illegal involvement in Ukraine.

Terrible Atrocities by Myanmar Military

Reuters reported on September 3:

“A Myanmar judge on Monday found two Reuters journalists guilty of breaching a law on state secrets and jailed them for seven years, in a landmark case seen as a test of progress toward democracy in the Southeast Asian country… The verdict comes amid mounting pressure on the government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi over a security crackdown sparked by attacks by Rohingya Muslim insurgents on security forces in Rakhine State in west Myanmar in August 2017. More than 700,000 stateless Rohingya Muslims have fled into Bangladesh since then, according to U.N. agencies.

“The two reporters, who were investigating the killing by the security forces of Rohingya villagers at the time of their arrest, had pleaded not guilty… U.S. ambassador Scot Marciel said the ‘deeply troubling’ verdict could undermine the confidence the Myanmar people had in the justice system… British ambassador Dan Chugg, speaking on behalf of EU members, said the verdict had ‘dealt a hammer blow for the rule of law’. France said it deplored the prison sentences and that the convictions represented a serious violation of press freedom and the rule of law.

“In Bangladesh, Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, a media adviser to the prime minister, said it was ‘an open secret’ that anyone exposing ‘atrocities of the Myanmar army’ would be persecuted… A U.N mandated fact-finding mission said last week that Myanmar’s military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Muslim Rohingya with ‘genocidal intent’ and called for top generals to be prosecuted. Myanmar rejected the findings. The International Criminal Court is considering whether it has jurisdiction over events in Rakhine, while the United States, the European Union and Canada have sanctioned Myanmar military and police officers over the crackdown.”

Apart from being accused of mass murders, gang rapes and now a corrupt court system, it is appalling to contemplate that Myanmar’s leader had received the ‘honor” of being a “Nobel laureate,” showing the irrelevant mockery of these institutions.

Turkey—the “Sick Man of Europe”—Returns

Project Syndicate wrote on August 28:

“One of the great geopolitical issues in nineteenth-century Europe was the so-called Eastern Question. The Ottoman Empire, then known as the ‘sick man of Europe,’ was rapidly disintegrating…

‘[Now, modern] Turkey is quickly reclaiming its title as ‘the sick man of Europe.’ Given its strategic location and economic and human potential, the country should be moving toward a brilliant twenty-first-century future. Instead, it is marching backward toward the nineteenth century, under the banner of nationalism… Erdoğan, who assumed the presidency in 2014… failed… [He] has squandered a unique opportunity for both Turkey and the Muslim world generally. His country is now beset by a currency crisis… and it could even face the prospect of national bankruptcy… he risks destabilizing the Middle East even further…

“And yet Turkey’s strategic importance to Europe remains. Millions of EU citizens are of Turkish origin, and the country will continue to bridge the gap between East and West, North and South. Under Erdoğan’s regime, Turkey is no longer a prospective candidate for EU membership… a destabilized Turkey is the last thing Europe needs… Europe’s own security depends heavily on Turkey…”

And so, Europe will overlook dictator Erdogan’s many terrible atrocities, while collaborating with Turkey against Israel, as the Bible predicts.

African Swine Fever Coming Back

The Guardian wrote on September 3:

“In 1957, [African swine fever (ASF)] was introduced into Portugal, reportedly after infected airline food was fed as swill to pigs near Lisbon airport. The disease spread to Spain and France and took until the 1990s to eradicate through concerted surveillance and culling. In southern Spain, where ticks acted as an additional reservoir, old-fashioned farm buildings were destroyed and replaced with modern facilities to keep ticks out…

“This time the spread has been far more rapid… The current outbreak in central and eastern Europe began in January 2014, when cases were first reported in Lithuania, swiftly followed by outbreaks in Poland in February, and in Latvia and Estonia in June and September that year.

“Cases were also confirmed in the east of the Czech Republic in June 2017, and in Romania and Hungary earlier this year. More outbreaks have also been reported in Russia, Ukraine and Moldova. In recent weeks outbreaks have been reported in China, home of more than half the world’s pigs, which produces twice as much pork as the EU, and five times more than the United States.

“In Germany, farmers have called for a cull of 70% of the wild boar population, which is thought to be hundreds of thousands strong… They’re very successful animals with a range right across Asia and Europe. They can swim as well… In Denmark, a fence is planned along the border with Germany to prevent the migration of wild boars… it is only a matter of time until the disease reaches Denmark, a major pork exporter…

“ASF presents no risk to humans, but for pigs it is often fatal. With no effective treatment or vaccine, farmers can only guard against outbreaks using tight biosecurity measures and by adding anti-virus drugs into feed. Once it has been diagnosed, entire herds are preventatively culled. In both 2016 and 2017 more than 300,000 pigs were culled in attempts to control the spread of the disease.

“Transmission occurs only through direct contact with infected animals (alive or dead) or meat – the virus is not airborne. However, it is hardy. It can survive for up to 1,000 days in frozen meat and can persist for long periods in boar carcasses, on clothing, boots and soil…”

Of course, pigs were not created by God for human consumption. But in our God-defying world, one can easily contemplate the serious global economic consequences as ASF spreads.

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.

To answer this question, let us first explain how the “prosperity gospel” is commonly described.

Taking the following from the Wikipedia Encyclopedia, we read the following (emphasis added):

“Prosperity theology (sometimes referred to as the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, the gospel of success or seed faith) is a religious belief among some Christians, who hold that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for them…

“Prosperity theology teaches that Christians are entitled to well-being… Christians have been given power over creation… The Bible is seen as a faith contract between God and believers; God is understood to be faithful and just, so believers must fulfill their end of the contract to receive God’s promises. This leads to a belief in positive confession, the doctrine that believers may claim whatever they desire from God, simply by speaking it… if Christians take dominion over aspects of society, the Earth will experience ‘peace and prosperity’…”

Much more could be said and has been said about the “prosperity gospel,” but instead of dealing with labels, let us see what the Bible says about wealth, riches, prosperity, the desire to become rich, the pitfalls of wealth, contentment and poverty. In doing so, it will become clear that we do not believe in and teach a “prosperity gospel,” as defined above.

We will not be addressing health and healing in this Q&A; you will find much information on that topic in our free booklet, titled, “Sickness and Healing—What the Bible Tells Us.”

Regarding wealth, riches and prosperity, we find many passages describing God’s involvement pertaining to the welfare of His people, and it is true that individual conduct and righteous behavior is a necessary requirement for God’s physical blessing. We actually do not find that God blesses unrighteous people with riches and prosperity. On the other hand, we do not find that the reason for someone’s poverty must be his or her unrighteousness; and we do find many cautionary remarks regarding (the desire for and trust in) wealth and riches.

Abraham was a righteous person. He is called the father of the faithful and a friend of God. This did not make him perfect or sinless. Still, we read in Genesis 13:2: “Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.”

Genesis 24:34-35 tells us WHY Abram, whose name was later changed to Abraham, had become very rich:

“So he said, ‘I am Abraham’s servant. The LORD has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.”

We also read that Abraham’s son Isaac became rich and prosperous because God blessed him. Genesis 26:12 says: “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him.”

Solomon was greatly blessed by God with wealth and riches, and it is interesting that he had not asked God for such a blessing.

In our Q&A, “How Much Wealth Did Solomon Possess,” we state the following:

“In 1 Kings 3:5, God appears to Solomon in a dream and asks him what he wishes to receive from God. In verse 9, Solomon answers and asks for an ‘understanding heart’ so he may judge the people of Israel righteously and that he ‘may discern between good and evil.’ Solomon didn’t ask for riches and a long life or the death of his enemies, and this pleased God (verse 10-11). In verse 12, God granted him what he wished for and gave him wisdom, more than any man has ever had or will ever have (excluding of course Jesus Christ, who, even as a human being, was much wiser than Solomon). But God also GAVE him what he did not ask for. We read in the next verse that Solomon received riches and honor, so that there wouldn’t be any king like him in all his days. Even though Solomon was the son of David and did inherit riches from him, God was the one who granted him more riches than any man in his time. God also granted him a long life but only IF he kept His commandments, just as his father David did (verse 14)…

“Solomon’s great wealth is expounded upon in 1 Kings 10:14-15… King Solomon ‘surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom’ (verse 23)… this was God’s doing.  He made Solomon the wisest human who ever lived and as a bonus, He gave him wealth and fortune.  But Solomon had a weakness which made him turn from God so that he did ‘evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not fully follow the LORD’ (1 Kings 11:6)…

“Solomon speaks about his life and his experiences in the book of Ecclesiastes. He pointed out that without God, man is lost, no matter how many precious physical gifts and riches he might have… Solomon’s riches and his human wisdom did not prevent him from sinning, but it appears that he repented deeply at the end of his life…”

Job had been greatly blessed by God with riches and wealth, but Job was suffering from the sin of self-righteousness, and so God, wanting Job to realize his sin, allowed Satan to take all his possessions away from him. But after Job had recognized and repented of his problem and after he had really gotten to know God, “the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys” (Job 42:12).

There are many biblical passages telling us that it is GOD who blesses His righteous servants with prosperity and riches.

Psalm 112:1-3 reads:

“Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house, And his righteousness endures forever.”

Deuteronomy 8:18 says: “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”

Deuteronomy 28:12 states: “The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.” By contrast, note Proverbs 22:7, stating that “the borrower is servant to the lender.”

We are also told that God can and does take away from righteous people what He might have given them, if they cease living a righteous life.

Notice Hosea 2:8-9, explaining what will happen when we DO forget God and the source of our prosperity: “For she did not know That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, And multiplied her silver and gold–Which they prepared for Baal. Therefore I will return and take away My grain in its time And My new wine in its season, And will take back My wool and My linen, Given to cover her nakedness.”

Compare also Hosea 13:6-8 where God says:

“When they had pasture, they were filled; They were filled and their heart was exalted; Therefore they forgot Me. So I will be to them like a lion; Like a leopard by the road I will lurk; I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open their rib cage, And there I will devour them like a lion. The wild beast shall tear them.”

The book of Proverbs includes many additional statements showing that God’s people may become prosperous and wealthy because of God’s blessing.

Proverbs 3:16, in addressing God’s wisdom, states: “Length of days is in her right hand, In her left hand riches and honor.” Again, in Proverbs 8:18: “Riches and honor are with me, Enduring riches and righteousness.”

Proverbs 10:22 says: “The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it.”

Proverbs 15:6 points out: “In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, But in the revenue of the wicked is trouble.”

Proverbs 22:4 adds: “By humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches and honor and life.”

On the other hand, God expects of us that we do our part by acting diligently and wisely in financial matters; and we are also told that our wrong or unwise conduct could lead to poverty.

Proverbs 10:3-4 emphases: “The LORD will not allow the righteous soul to famish, But He casts away the desire of the wicked. He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.”

And notice Proverbs 27:23-24: “Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, And attend to your herds; For riches are not forever, Nor does a crown endure to all generations.”

Proverbs 21:17 adds: “He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; He who loves wine and oil will not be rich.”

Proverbs 13:18 says: “Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, But he who regards a rebuke will be honored.” Disdaining correction can also include rejection of sound financial advice.

(To Be Continued)

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

compiled by Dave Harris

The new Member Letter (September 2018), written by Norbert Link, has been mailed to our subscribers and is now posted.

“What happened to the Separation of Church and State?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

Another title for this program could be: “Don’t Mix Politics and Religion!” Every time we have done so, persecution of religious minorities has been the inevitable consequence. In this program, we address a frightening development in the USA, as correctly pointed out in a recent article by “Christianity Today,” focusing on the government and evangelicals; as well as the “blurred” separation between the State and the Catholic Church in Europe, especially Italy and other countries with Catholic majorities. The Bible contains many warnings about this development by describing the collaboration between Church and State in this day and age as the manifestation of the end-time Babylonian system.

“Lehren wir ein Wohlstandsevangelium?” is the title of this Sabbath’s German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “Do We Teach a Prosperity Gospel?”

“A Man of Peace,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Robb Harris, is now posted.

“Beautiful Marriage,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Eric Rank, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Marriage has been around as a unique institution of love since the creation of mankind. What does the Bible show us about what it takes to nurture an enduring, loving, and beautiful marriage?

The 2018 USA Feast Brochure is now posted.

Here are the dates for the 2018 Fall Holy Days:

Feast of Trumpets—September 10
Day of Atonement—September 19
Feast of Tabernacles—September 24-30
Last Great Day—October 1