On March 10, 2018, Eric Rank will present the sermonette, titled, “Pretense and Substance,” and Dave Harris will present the sermon, titled, “You Who Are Spiritual.”

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

This coming weekend for most of the United States we are going to experience that wonderful time when the time will shift forward an hour, and we will lose an hour of sleep. But in return we will gain more daylight hours. For most of us this time is welcomed as the days grow longer, and we seemingly have more time for accomplishment.

Now the truth is that there are still only 24 hours in a day. In John 11:9-10 Christ says that if we walk during the day we will not stumble. Of course Christ here is speaking in spiritual terms. But the application is meaningful. We are facing each day more and more spiritual darkness in this world. It can get overwhelming and disheartening to see things going from one bad event to another. So how do we stay positive and focused?

Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, keenly warns the brethren of that time (as well as ours) that they should know that they are not of the darkness, but rather, they should, with steadfastness seek to stir up the light in themselves and to push out the darkness.

We are coming up rather quickly now to the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread. How ready will we be for this time? What will you do individually to make SURE that you are ready to take the Passover in a meaningful way? Notice in verse 9 of the previously quoted scripture, “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Do we truly appreciate and take into account the great plan that God has in store for each of us? We have to realize and know that God can and wants to help us overcome ALL problems that we encounter in our lives.

It really comes down to the choice of what do we want. We can choose to serve ourselves and our own wants and desires, but we will suffer the consequences and end up as those who will be thrown out into “outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12; 25:30). Or we can choose to remove those things which separate us from God and draw closer to Him.  Ephesians 5:8 reminds us that while we ONCE were in the darkness, we are now to walk as “children of Light.” Truly the times of spiritual darkness are continuing to rise around us. Let us stand up for the truth and righteousness no matter what lies ahead for us. If we put this into our minds and hold on, then God will see to it that we make it—as He has promised:

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

We begin highlighting the international turmoil caused by President Donald Trump’s announced intention to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum; report on crucial decisions for a German government and the less than conclusive elections in Italy.

We note the emerging role of PESCO as Europe builds its military; report on the Trump administration’s lawsuit against California; cite the comparison of President Trump to Cyrus; present yet another report involving gay priests in the Catholic Church—and conclude with Stephen Hawking’s confusing explanation about “nothing.”

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

Trump Imposes Tariffs

Reuters wrote on March 7:

“U.S. President Donald Trump pressed ahead on Thursday with import tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent for aluminum but exempted Canada and Mexico and offered the possibility of excluding other allies, backtracking from an earlier ‘no-exceptions’ stance.

“Describing the dumping of steel and aluminum in the U.S. market as ‘an assault on our country,’ Trump said in a White House announcement that the best outcome would for companies to move their mills and smelters to the United States. He insisted that domestic metals production was vital to national security.”

“A Declaration of War”

thestar reported on March 2:

“In Europe, there appears to be a growing assumption that diplomacy alone is not working in dealing with the current U.S. administration.

“European officials have not minced words in recent months regarding a U.S. president they often consider to be an obstacle rather than an ally. But President Donald Trump’s announced intention to impose punishing tariffs on imported steel and aluminum triggered an especially sharp backlash Friday from a number of countries.

“Officials in Germany, which exports more steel to the United States than any other European country, were among the most vocal critics Friday. Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, whose criticisms of Trump have almost become routine, called the U.S. decision ‘unfathomable.’

“’We must do everything we can to avoid an international trade conflict,’ Gabriel told German daily Die Welt.

“Bernd Lange, a German Social Democrat and head of the European Parliament’s trade committee, offered a more brutal assessment. ‘With this, the declaration of war has arrived,’ Lange told German public radio Friday morning.”

From The New York Times on March 7:

“European Union officials unveiled an array of tariffs on Wednesday that they would place on American-made goods if the United States followed through on President Trump’s plan to impose penalties on imported steel and aluminum, raising the specter of a trade war…

“Such a move by the United States would ‘put thousands of European jobs in jeopardy, and it has to be met by a firm and proportionate response,’ Cecilia Malmstrom, the European Union commissioner for trade, said at a news conference in Brussels. European officials have been meeting with their counterparts in Washington, urging them to revisit the plans, she added.

“If the American tariffs are put in place, Ms. Malmstrom said, Brussels would take three steps: It would take the case to the World Trade Organization, add safeguards to protect the European Union against steel diverted from the United States, and impose tariffs on a series of American-made goods.”

President Trump: “Trade Wars are Good…”

thestar wrote on March 2:

“Trump declared on Thursday that the U.S. will impose punishing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, escalating tensions with trading partners and raising the prospect of higher prices for American consumers and companies.

“U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday insisted ‘trade wars are good, and easy to win,’ a bold claim that will likely find many skeptics, including those on Wall Street and even some Republicans.

“Trump has declared that the U.S. will impose punishing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, escalating tensions with China and other trading partners and raising the prospect of higher prices for American consumers and companies. After the announcement Thursday, stocks closed sharply lower on Wall Street. China has expressed ‘grave concern.’

“Early Friday, Trump took to Twitter to defend himself: ‘When a country (U.S.A.) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!’

He later tweeted: ‘Our steel industry is in bad shape. IF YOU DON’T HAVE STEEL, YOU DON’T HAVE A COUNTRY!’

“Sen. Ben Sasse, a Nebraska Republican responded that trade wars are never won.

“’Kooky 18th century protectionism will jack up prices on American families — and will prompt retaliation from other countries,’ he wrote in a statement. ‘Make no mistake: If the President goes through with this, it will kill American jobs — that’s what every trade war ultimately does. So much losing.’”

Angela Merkel Prevails—But Weakened

The New York Times reported on March 4:

“Germany’s Social Democrats voted in favor of forming another government with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, ending nearly six months of political limbo and setting Europe’s economic powerhouse on a path to the political stability it craves — at least for now.

“The results announced on Sunday clear the way for Ms. Merkel, who was long considered a de facto leader of Europe, to remain in the chancellery in Berlin for four more years. It will also allow her to work with President Emmanuel Macron of France on overhauling the European Union in what many consider a crucial year…

“But Ms. Merkel will lead a diminished coalition, and many predicted that the country, shaken by the prolonged uncertainty that followed inconclusive elections in September, would not be the same again. Both main parties received their worst postwar results in those elections.

“By now, the ‘grand coalition,’ as the tie-up is known, looks anything but grand: In polls, it no longer commands a majority. And the far-right Alternative for Germany party, AfD, now the official main opposition in Parliament, has been gaining momentum.”

Italian Elections—A Push to the Right?

The Associated Press published on March 5:

“Since the European Union’s founding treaty was signed in Rome more than 60 years ago, Italy has been an unabashed booster of increased unity and common purpose. That may have come to an end.

“Euroskeptics and populists rode a wave of hostility toward all things EU and surged to the fore in Italian elections on Sunday, turning the founding EU nation into a potential obstructionist just when the bloc was emerging from a decade of economic gloom and seemed poised to rekindle its grand ambitions.

“Beyond moving away from the EU policies in Brussels, the Italian results were the latest indication that the continent is tilting further to the right.

“Sunday’s stunning outcome came at the end of a seesaw day for the EU that started out well enough when the German Socialists finally threw their weight behind a staunchly pro-Europe grand coalition under Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“Now, it seemed, the Merkel-Emmanuel Macron partnership was on and the German-French engine was primed to push a core group of EU nations toward more unity.

“Then, Italy’s results started to come in and the message from Italian voters was clear: ‘Don’t necessarily count on us.’ Instead of a smooth ride under fair weather economic conditions, the bloc should brace for more of the chaos and havoc that anti-EU populists have spread in many member nations over the past few years.

cbcnews added on March 5:

“European leaders reacted with caution to the results.

“French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday the election result was a reminder of the challenges tied to migration.

“‘Italy has, it’s undeniable, suffered for months and months under the pressure of migration,’ Macron said in Paris.

“A top aide for German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that despite Italy’s election showing no faction winning a clear majority, she hopes ‘Italy will manage to build a stable government and especially a government in the spirit of Europe.’

“The general-secretary of Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, said Monday in Berlin, ‘the view across the Alps to Italy today is not an easy one, because it’s not foreseeable after this difficult result … how long it will take to get a government, whether there will be one at all, and who will lead such a government.’

“A German trade lobby group urged Italy’s next government to be ‘constructive’ about the European Union’s future course to ensure the two countries’ economies continue to thrive.

“The Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry says it is ‘of great importance for the German economy whether Italy can form a stable government and continue following the path of reform it has set out on.’

“In Brussels, a European Commission spokesperson said it was confident a stable administration could be formed, ‘and in the meantime Italy has a government with whom we are working closely.’”

Regardless of the surfacing of movements to block the unification of Europe, that process is now taking place on several fronts—especially in the area of European militarization. PESCO, The Permanent Structured Co-operation, is the recently approved (December 2017) European defense pact. Twenty-five of the EU’s current 28 members have signed up — Britain, Malta and Denmark are not involved. Note the article below…

German Industry Responds to PESCO

DefenseNews wrote on March 6:

“The leading German defense industry group is urging its members to position themselves for new business through the European Union’s Permanent Structured Cooperation mechanism ― that is, if PESCO proves to be worthwhile in the first place.

“In a new whitepaper, the Federation of German Security and Defence Industries warns that domestic firms could miss out on a expected uptick in common spending, as Germany’s role in an initial batch of 17 PESCO projects is fairly vague. The projects were approved in December.

“Berlin is on tap to lead the formation of a European Medical Command, act as a major player in military logistics, guide training-related initiatives and build a European Union Force Crisis Response Operation Core.

“In contrast, France and Italy claimed topics with a heavy industry focus. France will advance a European secure software-defined radio, while Italy heads a section devoted to armored combat vehicles.”

Trump Administration Sues California

The New York Times reported on March 6:

“The Trump administration escalated what had been a war of words over California’s immigration agenda, filing a lawsuit late Tuesday that amounted to a pre-emptive strike against the liberal state’s so-called sanctuary laws.

“The Justice Department sued California; Gov. Jerry Brown; and the state’s attorney general, Xavier Becerra, over three state laws passed in recent months, saying they made it impossible for federal immigration officials to do their jobs and deport criminals who were born outside the United States. The Justice Department called the laws unconstitutional and asked a judge to block them.

“The lawsuit was the department’s boldest attack yet against California, one of the strongest opponents of the Trump administration’s efforts to curb immigration. It also served as a warning to Democratic lawmakers and elected officials nationwide who have enacted sanctuary policies that provide protections for undocumented immigrants.

“‘The Department of Justice and the Trump administration are going to fight these unjust, unfair and unconstitutional policies that have been imposed on you,’ Attorney General Jeff Sessions planned to say on Wednesday at a law enforcement event in Sacramento, according to prepared remarks. ‘I believe that we are going to win.’”

Win or lose, this is a sad commentary on the state of these “United” States of America!

Netanyahu Compares Trump…

The Los Angeles Times wrote on March 5:

“Netanyahu offered an enthusiastic endorsement of Trump’s decision in December to recognize the divided city of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, which previous administrations had refused to do in hopes of furthering peace negotiations.

“Netanyahu compared Trump to Cyrus the Great, an ancient Persian king who conquered a vast empire and allowed the exiled Jews in Babylonia to return to their ancestral home to rebuild their temple.

“‘The Jewish people have a long memory,’ Netanyahu said. Trump’s decision, he said, will be ‘remembered by our people through the ages.’”

Shameful Hypocrisy of Gay Priests

Newsweek wrote on March 5:

“A 1,200-page dossier containing the names of 34 ‘actively gay’ priests and six seminarians in Italy has been sent to the Vatican by the archdiocese of Naples.

“The allegations were compiled by Francesco Mangiacapra, a gay male escort who told local media he couldn’t put up with the priests’ ‘hypocrisy’ any longer…

“Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, an Italian Cardinal and the current Archbishop of Naples, said in a statement that none of the priests who were named in the dossier were stationed in Naples. He claims he forwarded the document to the Vatican because ‘there remains the gravity of the cases for which those who have erred must pay the price, and be helped to repent for the harm done.’

“The large file contains explicit WhatsApp messages, erotic photos and other evidence, but none of the 40 priests and seminarians were accused of paedophilia or having sexual relations with minors. ‘We’re talking about sins, not crimes,’ Mangiacapra said.

“The dossier is the latest in a string of sex scandals that have rocked the Italian church and Vatican.”

There is simply no justification for this behavior.

Stephen Hawking’s “Belief”

Newsmax reported on March 6:

“Stephen Hawking said Sunday he believes that ‘nothing was around’ before the so-called Big Bang that led to the beginning of the universe, USA Today reported…

“‘(I use a) Euclidean approach to quantum gravity to describe the beginning of the universe,’ Hawking said on the program about the Big Bang, which he believes happened nearly 14 billion years ago, per USA Today.

“‘The Euclidean space-time is a closed surface without end, like the surface of the Earth,’ Hawking continued. ‘One can regard imaginary and real time as beginning at the South Pole, which is a smooth point of space-time where the normal laws of physics hold. There is nothing south of the South Pole so there was nothing around before the Big Bang.’

“Hawking had previously said that events that happened before the Big Bang ‘have no consequences that can be observed,’ so there is no way to measure what happened, according to Tech Times.

“‘The universe will evolve from the Big Bang, completely independently of what it was like before,’ Hawking said on his website. ‘Even the amount of matter in the universe can be different to what it was before the Big Bang, as the Law of Conservation of Matter, will break down at the Big Bang.’”

However, the Bible shows that Someone was around before the so-called Big Bang occurred—and here is what He says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). That is the truth, and we can believe it!

These Current Events are compiled and commented on. 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.

Let us look at the passage of Scripture that gives us a view of the problem that had caused such anguish for God. Genesis 6:3 is very revealing:

“And the LORD said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.’”

There have been two different explanations over the years about the period of 120 years, and it is worth reviewing these first.

Some believe that this period of 120 years was the maximum time that men would live in the future. Up until this time, many had lived way beyond 120 years – note that Adam lived until he was 930, Seth 912, Enosh 905, Cainan 910, Mahalalel 895, Jared 962, Enoch 365, Methuselah 969, Lamech 777 and Noah 500 (see Genesis, chapter 5). However, after the Flood we read that Noah lived a further 350 years; Shem lived until he was 600, Arphaxad 438, Salah 433, Eber 464, Peleg 239, Reu 239, Serug 230, Nahor 148, Terah 205 (all of these are shown in Genesis 11), Abraham 175, Isaac 180.

Secondly, many others believe that the 120 years was the time that God gave mankind before the Flood was to destroy everyone on the earth except the eight people who went into the ark.   If we look at the reason why this was to happen, it would appear from the context that it is not the longevity of mankind but is, more likely, to be applicable to the time humanity had before the Flood would occur. Many Bible scholars feel that God was giving mankind 120 years in which to repent of their wrong way of life, after which would come judgment for their wickedness.

As mentioned, Genesis 6:3 refers to the 120 years.   There is no Scriptural reference that God instructed Noah, at this same time, to immediately build the ark.  God made this decision at a time that was separate to the subsequent instruction to build the ark.  We read the instruction in Genesis 6:14-18:

“Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.  And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.  You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.”

Noah was told to build an ark – and for him, his sons, his wife and his sons’ wives with him to go into the ark – his sons must have been born and married at the time this instruction was made and the promise given.

Genesis, chapter 5, gives the genealogy from Adam to Noah, and in verse 32 we read that Noah was five hundred years old and begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  It is interesting to read of the events of Genesis 6:1-7 which took place and which caused God such anguish, and in verse 9 Noah “found grace in the eyes of the Lord” as he would not have been involved in all of the ungodly activity that made God pronounce His displeasure and condemnation in verse 3.

We read in Genesis 11:10: “This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was 100 years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood.” This leads to the conclusion that Shem was 98 years old when the flood ended, and 97 when the flood began.  In Genesis 7:11 we are told that the flood began in the 600th year of Noah’s life, meaning that he must have fathered Shem when he was 503.  We understand from Genesis 6:18 that God did not instruct Noah to build the ark until after his sons were born, and after they had wives of their own.  Let us make an assumption (which we have to do as Scripture does not give exact dates) that Noah fathered his three sons in three consecutive years which would mean that his last son would be born when he was 505 years old.

We have to make further assumptions as to the age when his sons married.   Let us say that Noah’s three sons were around 20 years old when they married; this would mean that Noah would be around 525 when God instructed him to build the ark.  Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and this would mean that the building of the ark could not have taken more than 75 years – not the 120 years that some have assumed.   In fact, this figure could be less if the assumptions made about the birth of the three sons was not as quick as calculated and the age that they married was greater than the assumed age of 20.   In fact, it is legitimate to make these assumptions because the biblical record is silent on these matters.   However, it is unmistakable that the time needed to build the ark was nowhere near the 120 years that some have assumed.

When reviewing the 120 years of Genesis 6:3, we find that this goes back to the time when Noah was 480 years old, not 500, simply because the Bible reveals that Noah was 500 when he began having sons (Genesis 5:32) but this does not mean that God could not have begun communicating earlier about what He had in mind at a later time.

In brief summary:

God must have first spoken to Noah at age 480

1. Noah sired sons from the age of 500
2. His three sons were married
3. God gave the commission to Noah to build the ark for “you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.”
4. Noah was 600 when he entered the ark
5. The 120 years of God’s patience with mankind at that time ended when Noah entered the ark at age 600
6. The maximum time that it took to build the ark would be around 75 years – or less.

This is an interesting subject, but whatever the exact time it took to build the ark, it is only of academic interest and is a non-salvational matter.   However, the story of Noah’s Ark is a warning that we can take from the historical record showing how God hates sin and the sinful ways of man.   It may not be too long now before God sends Christ back to this earth to destroy man’s sinful ways and societies once again but, this time, He will usher in the wonderful Kingdom of God.

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

compiled by Dave Harris

The latest German booklet on Prayer (Lehre Uns zu Beten) has been posted to the German website, but hard copy booklets aren’t yet available.

“Gottes Gesetz–Segen oder Fluch? (Teil 1),” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: The Law of God–Blessing or Curse? (Parts 1).

“Our Human Nature,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Michael Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

How do we succeed in the struggle with our human nature?  What lessons can we learn from the beginning of the Bible with Adam and Eve and what we experience in society and the way we live today?  Does it have an effect on our future?

“God’s Law—Blessing or Curse?” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The New Testament rejects the ridiculous idea that Christ came to abolish or destroy the Law of God. We must know, of course, which Law the Bible is talking about. The Book of Isaiah shows what happens when we break the Law… and when we keep it.

Passover will be observed on Thursday evening, after sunset, on March 29, 2018. The Days of Unleavened Bread will be observed beginning March 30th through April 6th.

The 2018 Ministerial Conference will take place in Fort Collins, Colorado. Participants will arrive on April 18^th and depart on April 24^th.

On March 3, 2018, Michael Link will present the sermonette, titled, “Our Human Nature,” and Norbert Link will present the sermon, titled, “God’s Law—Blessing or Curse?”

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.

My oldest grandson is now a teenager. In a way, it is a bit shocking. I was so used to viewing him in the familiar ways I had become accustomed to. Suddenly, though, he is taller than his mother, his voice has changed and he simply seems dramatically more mature. Things happen that way when we aren’t really paying close attention. It is something we all experience in the passage of time. That, however, is a critical danger we must avoid when it comes to the fulfillment of prophecy!

Without providing exact dates, Jesus Christ gave us a timetable based on events we should be watching—specifically revealed in chapter 24 of Matthew. A key to understanding these sweeping occurrences is what Jesus clearly specified:

“‘Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near–at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place’” (Matthew 24:32-34).

Many times I have heard it said or read that someone always claims that their generation will see the end of the age. Discounting the truth of what Jesus prophesied doesn’t change the fact that His words will be fulfilled—of that, Jesus was very explicit, saying, “‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away’” (Matthew 24:35). He continues to warn us to “‘watch’” and to be “‘ready’” (Matthew 24:42, 44).

The question, then, is this—are we living in the final generation which will witness the return of Jesus Christ? The evidence from God’s Word and the events taking place right now proclaim an unmistakable, YES! But here is a vital point for us to deeply grasp—we are already far along and the end draws closer!

Beyond just knowing about the end of the age, we must be engaged in the events of this time, and for us, that means we stay zealously involved in God’s Work. Are you doing this? Then take this as a bit of a reminder—come on, keep up!

by Norbert Link

In this issue, we begin with addressing the ongoing conflict with North Korea which is far from over and which might very soon reach a boiling point with terrible consequences; report on America’s surprising announcement to [sort of] move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s founding on May 14 and with Nakba, the mass migration of some 700,000 Palestinians.

We continue with reporting on turmoil in the White House and the proposal of trained armed teachers in schools, which has met with strong resistance from America’s teachers’ unions and others; point out the willingness of many companies to finally cut ties with the NRA; address the question as to what the Second Amendment actually DOES and DOES NOT say; and explain why there is so little gun violence in Israel.

Focusing on worldwide terrorism, we show that ISIS is far from being defeated and that the infiltration of terrorists is a legitimate concern, which needs to be addressed—but we also show the problems with the way in which some want to address it—including controversial demonization and hypocritical and impractical, if not illegal, immigration proposals.

We focus on a possible trade war and an interesting rising star in Angela Merkel’s cabinet; and discuss the rise of fascism in Italy.

We conclude with an article about increasing demonic possession in Italy and elsewhere; as well as with an update on the despicable situation regarding the court-ordered loss of custody by parents of a transgender child. In this regard, please view our new StandingWatch program, “Sexual Relationships—Everything Goes?” We also published a new StandingWatch program this week, titled, “Was Billy Graham Wrong about Everything?” 

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

New US Sanctions for North Korea… What’s Next?

Fox News wrote on February 23:

“In announcing new sanctions Friday against North Korea, President Trump made it clear that the communist nation will pay a big price for stockpiling nuclear weapons and long-range missiles that pose a threat to the U.S. and other countries… these sanctions will have some bite. They apply to 27 shipping companies and 28 ships registered in North Korea, China and five other nations. The Trump administration says the companies and ships are helping North Korea evade international restrictions on fuel imports and a ban on coal exports. The sanctions are designed to cut off foreign cash that North Korea desperately needs. The action by the Trump administration blocks assets held by the sanctioned entities in the U.S. and bars U.S. citizens from dealing with those entities.

“… With reports Pyongyang could be tapped out of foreign exchange and dollar reserves come October, this is tantamount to bankruptcy for the regime. So where do things turn next?… we are closing in on a spring crisis… I would expect Kim to test at least one more nuclear weapon as well as send long-range missiles into the sky.

“The North could even decide to fire an intercontinental ballistic missile deep into the South Pacific and show off new warhead technology that can pierce the atmosphere and destroy a city. This would make clear to the world that North Korea can destroy an American city and kill millions of our own people. From here it could get worse. The North Koreans could even decide that it’s time to… prove to the world beyond the shadow of any doubt that they can start a nuclear war. Kim could decide on an atmospheric test of a nuclear bomb. If that were to happen… the Trump administration might feel it had no choice but to launch what has been called a ‘bloody nose’ strike on the regime.

“… it seems all but certain all hell is going to break loose in Northeast Asia. Again.”

Moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem in May?

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 24:

“The US will move its Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in mid-May, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s founding [on May 14]. A top Palestinian negotiator has described the timing as a ‘blatant provocation.’… The move will come much earlier than first expected…

“The anniversary of Israel’s founding also marks the Palestinian commemoration of Nakba, the mass migration of some 700,000 Palestinians who fled their homes following the creation of Israel and the onset of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war…”

JTA added on February 23:

“The [US] spokesman said the embassy would be located in a southern Jerusalem neighborhood on the side that Israel held before 1967 but running along the seam of what was then the border. ‘The Embassy will initially be located in Arnona, on a compound that currently houses the consular operations of Consulate General Jerusalem,’ he said.

“Building a new embassy will take at least three years, and the spokesman suggested that at least for now, much of the daily operation of the embassy would remain in Tel Aviv…

“In the first phase, starting in May, Ambassador David Friedman and some staff will begin working out of the consular section… In the second phase, by the end of 2019, an annex on site will be constructed for a more permanent working space for the ambassador, staff and a classified processing site. That will cost $10 million to $15 million, and the security arrangement will cost at least $45 million. The third phase, the site selection and construction of a new embassy, will take up to nine years.”

Jared Kushner’s Security Clearance Downgraded

JTA wrote on February 27:

“Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a top adviser, has had his security clearance downgraded from top secret to secret, which could affect his leadership in trying to bring about Israeli-Palestinian peace… It is not clear what is hindering Kushner’s full clearance. Like his father-in-law, he is a real estate developer. He is known to be in debt, and is reported to have loans out by foreign creditors.

“The Washington Post late Tuesday reported, quoting U.S. officials, that officials in four countries had discussed manipulating Kushner, in part by taking advantage of his financial difficulties. The four countries are Israel, China, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates…

“Middle East peace negotiators have traditionally had top-secret clearance, considered critical in understanding the myriad pressures facing the parties as they consider talks. Kushner’s team is believed to be almost ready to release its proposal to return the sides to talks…

“Kushner’s top spokesman, Josh Raffel, is leaving the White House in two months. [His] focus has included the Israeli-Palestinian talks…”

The White House in Turmoil

Axios (as linked by the Drudge Report) wrote on March 1:

“After a crazy 24 hours, sources close to President Trump say he is in a bad place — mad as h… about the internal chaos and the sense that things are unraveling…

“Hope Hicks leaving is obviously a huge blow to him. Every time he reads about Attorney General Jeff Sessions, his head explodes. The staff is just trying to ride out the storm.

“Everywhere you look inside this White House, top officials are fighting, fomenting, feuding or fleeing…

“Hope Hicks — without question, the aide (family aside) with whom Trump is closest — resigned one day after she admitted in closed-door Hill testimony that she told white lies for the president.

“White House Chief of Staff John Kelly cracked down on Jared Kushner, stripping his top security clearance, and watching anonymous aides leak about and trash him, while offering no public defense of the president’s son-in-law.

“Jared, Ivanka and Don Jr. let it be known to friends they are furious with Kellyand his allies…

“Trump is at war with Attorney General Sessions…

“The people he genuinely enjoys and feels close to are gone (Keith Schiller), leaving (Hope) or getting pounded in the press (Jared).

“The restraints are almost fully loosened, and what staff sees in private is more public than ever. We have never seen top officials this concerned, defeated.”

Arming Teachers?

The Guardian wrote on February 22:

“In the past 24 hours, Donald Trump has thrice backed a plan to arm teachers in US schools… Facing opposition from the country’s largest teachers’ unions, school security guards and military veterans, the president continued to endorse the plan in White House meetings and on Twitter… the president suggested offering bonuses to teachers who are trained to carry concealed weapons…

“There are few examples available of armed citizens stopping mass shootings and it is difficult to track, in part because it is difficult to know what a gunman was planning before they were stopped…

“Trump’s suggestion to arm teachers was immediately opposed by the nation’s largest teachers’ unions – the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) – as well as the teachers’ union in Florida’s Broward County, where last week’s shooting took place… The National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO), the nation’s largest school policing group, also said it opposed arming teachers. They noted law enforcement officers responding to an incident may mistake armed personnel not in uniform as the assailant. They also emphasized how law enforcement officers receive ongoing practice in high-stress and difficult shooting environments.

“… Trump also described a situation where there would simply be more armed people on campus – not just teachers. ‘They may be Marines that left the Marines, left the Army, left the Air Force,’ Trump said…  Veterans disputed this claim on Twitter. Jay Kirell, a combat veteran who served in Afghanistan, said it was ‘extremely difficult’ to shoot under stress. ‘Cops & soldiers literally get paid to do this & most of them can’t shoot accurately under stress,’ Kirell tweeted…”

Cutting Ties with the NRA

ABC News wrote on February 24:

“A growing number of companies are announcing plans to sever ties with the National Rifle Association following the shooting massacre Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida that left 17 students and staff dead. One of the first companies that said it would cut ties with the lobbying group was First National Bank of Omaha, which announced Thursday that it would not renew a co-branded Visa credit card with the NRA.

“A slew of other companies — including United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, MetLife Insurance Co., [Symantec which makes Norton Antivirus technology] Hertz [Enterprise, TrueCar, Wyndham Hotels] and Best Western — have followed suit, announcing plans to terminate special discounts and benefits for NRA members.”

One should ask the question as to why in the world NRA members receive special discounts from companies in the first place.

What Does the Second Amendment to the US Constitution REALLY Say?

Much is being said about the convoluted wording of the Second Amendment, allegedly giving private citizens the unrestricted right to own firearms. However, this may not be so.

The Guardian wrote on October 5, 2017:

“The right to bear arms: what does the second amendment really mean? The amendment reads: ‘A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed’… In 2008, the supreme court decided the District of Columbia v Heller, 5-4 , overturning a handgun ban in the city. The conservative justice Antonin Scalia wrote the opinion in narrow but unprecedented terms: for the first time in the country’s history, the supreme court explicitly affirmed an individual’s right to keep a weapon at home for self-defense…

“Lower courts have upheld many gun laws around the country since 2008, and the supreme court has declined to hear any second amendment cases since 2010. Attorneys and activists on both sides expect a looming fight over the right to carry guns in public, which the Heller decision does not address.”

It was also pointed out that even the US Supreme Court decision did not say that there was a right to own and carry EVERY type of weapon.

Gun Violence Rare in Israel

The Washington Post wrote on February 23:

“When students, parents and teachers pleaded with President Donald Trump this week to act against school shootings, they cited Israel, a place where guns are a familiar sight but where school shootings are virtually unheard of…There are no metal detectors or special door locks on classrooms. And, by policy, teachers are not armed…

“Israeli security experts… say that gun violence is rare in Israel because privately held guns are so rare… 3.5 percent of the population… have permits to carry firearms. Half of the permit holders are private citizens, and the others work for security firms… Israel has tight age restrictions on private gun ownership… civilians must be over 27 years old to obtain a gun license, although those recently released from military service are also eligible. Israelis serve in the military from age 18 to 21.

“… once an Israeli finishes military service, it becomes difficult to obtain a gun. Applicants must submit extensive paperwork, provide their military records and medical reports. They also must justify their need to be armed. Residents of Tel Aviv, for example, are unlikely to receive gun licenses, whereas Israelis living in border areas or in the Jewish settlements in the West Bank, places where they could be targets for Palestinian militants, are more likely to be approved for gun licenses.

“In addition, retired army officers above a certain rank, former police officers, firefighters, ambulance technicians, special forces veterans and licensed public transportation drivers can also qualify for permits.

“The requirements after permits are approved also are strict. Owners are subjected to an array of restrictions on the types of guns they can own, on the amount of ammunition they can possess, as well as guidelines on where to keep their guns – in locked safes – and a process of checking weapons in with police if leaving the country for more than a week.

“Janet Rosenbaum, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the State University of New York Downstate in Brooklyn, examined the difference in homicide rates between Israel and the United States. Writing in the New York Post, she said her research showed that Israel ranks 81st in the world for per capita firearm ownership, with fewer than 1 in 10 Israelis owning firearms. The United States, with one firearm for every person, ranks first.”

This is not a statistic to be proud of.

ISIS Defeated? Far From It!

The Sun wrote on February 24:

“Since declaring its caliphate in June 2014, the terror group has carried out or inspired more than 140 terror attacks in 29 countries outside Iraq and Syria. Those bloody attacks – including several high-profile mass murders in Europe – have left more than 2,000 people dead and injured many more. It now seems nowhere is safe from the threat of Islamic extremists. In the last two years, they made headlines for a series of atrocities in cities including London, Manchester, Barcelona, Nice, Berlin and Stockholm.

“However, away from the cameras the terror group’s bloody tentacles have quietly spread to some of the most unlikely corners of the planet…

“ISIS has made no secret of the fact it sees China as its next major global target – after securing a recruiting foothold in the country’s badlands…  Fears are growing the idyllic tourist destination of Trinidad and Tobago could face a new wave of terror attacks from returning ISIS jihadis. Incredibly, the beautiful Caribbean nation, home to just 1.3 million people, has the highest rate of ISIS foreign recruitment in the Western hemisphere…

“ISIS remains the major terrorist threat to New Zealand as spy agencies reveal the number of people with links to the extremist is rising… The kidnapping of two Brits in KwaZulu-Natal spurred the British government to issue a travel advisory‚ warning of possible terror attacks on South African soil…

“Nearly 200 ‘foreign’ jiahdis who fought alongside ISIS in Iraq and Syria are known to have returned to Canada in recent years. Terrorism now remains the most immediate threat to national security…”

The Daily Mail wrote on February 24:

“A legion of nearly 1,000 jihadi brides are set to return to the West… A report by EU border agency Frontex warns the threat is ‘evolving’ and that it is hard to assess the long-term threat of widowed wives and orphaned children… Several women were involved in a plot to attack Notre Dame cathedral in September 2016, while there have been numerous high-profile cases of British women fleeing to Syria to marry IS fighters.

“Frontex says: ‘An estimated 30 per cent of 5,000 foreign terrorist fighters who resided in Europe, and left to Syria, Iraq or Libya have come back to the Continent… former director of global counter-terrorism at MI6 Richard Barrett said last October that from the start of 2017 to May women were involved in almost a quarter of all terror plots in Europe.”

The infiltration of terrorists from foreign countries is a legitimate concern. How to handle it is another one. To prohibit entry of EVERY person from ANY particular country—including the ones mentioned in the articles above—does not seem practical, successful or even legal, nor would it be helpful to demonize ALL immigrants from particular regions.  

Trump’s Fight Against Immigrants—The Snake!

The Evening Standard wrote on February 24:

“Donald Trump has treated his supporters to yet another recital of a sinister poem comparing immigrants to treacherous snakes. On the campaign trail, the US president repeatedly read the lyrics of Al Wilson’s 1968 song ‘The Snake’ and since the election has continued to recite it at rallies. It tells the story of an ill snake that gets taken in by a kindly woman, only for it to bite her once it has recovered.”

Breitbart wrote on February 23:

“The lyrics, adapted in 1963 by songwriter Oscar Brown from Aesop’s Fable ‘The Farmer and the Viper,’ ends with an altruistic woman who saves a dying snake being fatally bitten… Trump used the poem frequently as an allegory for the Syrian Refugee Crisis and ‘generous’ immigration policy that puts the interests of foreigners above that of Americans.”

 After reading the poem, Trump said, as reported by Breitbart:

‘”And that’s what we’re doing with our country folks. We’re letting a lot of people in, and it’s gonna be a lot of trouble. It’s only getting worse.’”

Inasmuch as the poem and the way in which Trump uses it has received so much attention, we are setting it forth below in its entirety [with one abbreviation of a curse word], as it was published by Breitbart and the Evening Standard. We leave it to the reader to draw his or her own conclusions (even though it is shocking when reading some of the absolutely hateful “supportive” comments in response to President Trump’s reading of the poem):

On her way to work one morning

Down the path alongside the lake

A tender-hearted woman saw a poor half-frozen snake

His pretty colored skin had been all frosted with the dew

“Oh well,” she cried, “I’ll take you in and I’ll take care of you”

“Take me in oh tender woman

Take me in, for heaven’s sake

Take me in oh tender woman,” sighed the snake

She wrapped him up all cozy in a curvature of silk

And then laid him by the fireside with some honey and some milk

Now she hurried home from work that night as soon as she arrived

She found that pretty snake she’d taken in had been revived

“Take me in, oh tender woman

Take me in, for heaven’s sake

Take me in oh tender woman,” sighed the snake

Now she clutched him to her bosom, “You’re so beautiful,” she cried

“But if I hadn’t brought you in by now you might have died”

Now she stroked his pretty skin and then she kissed and held him tight

But instead of saying thanks, that snake gave her a vicious bite

“Take me in, oh tender woman

Take me in, for heaven’s sake

Take me in oh tender woman,” sighed the snake

“I saved you,” cried that woman

“And you’ve bit me even, why?

You know your bite is poisonous and now I’m going to die”

“Oh shut up, silly woman,” said the reptile with a grin

“You knew d… well I was a snake before you took me in.”

In addition, Donald Trump spoke out against chain immigration and the lottery system. The following article is interesting in this regard.

Chain Migration for Melania Trump’s Parents?

CNN reported in February 22:

“The Slovenian parents of first lady Melania Trump are legal permanent residents [green card holders] of the United States, according to the lawyer representing them in the process — raising questions about whether they are living in the US by the very means President Donald Trump has strongly criticized and sought to end…

“There are only a handful of ways that immigrants to the US can obtain green cards, and the largest share of them each year are given out based on familial connections [In other words, American CITIZENS can apply for or support green cards for their close relatives]. A smaller number go to immigrants based on their employment, and other categories include refugees and other special cases…

“In order to become citizens, legal permanent residents must live in the United States continuously and hold their green cards for at least five years…  The likelihood that the Knavs could have been sponsored by Melania Trump or another family member raises the issue of what the President has called ‘chain migration,’ or family-based migration.  The US allows a number of ways for US citizens and legal permanent residents to sponsor family members to come to the US permanently, including categories for parents, adult siblings and adult children, married and unmarried.  Trump and his congressional allies have fought to slash that dramatically, limiting sponsorship to spouses and minor children, including dropping the threshold for minor children from 21 to 18…”

To be clear, we in no way oppose the concept that Melania Trump’s parents might have received their green cards through “chain immigration.” What is interesting is the apparent hypocrisy behind the push to stop chain immigration altogether in the future, thereby excluding the possibility of parents joining their adult children who are American citizens, coupled with the ungodly concept of tearing families apart.

No Meeting Between Trump and Nieto

The Week wrote on February 25:

“Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto scrapped plans to visit Washington in February or March after an argumentative phone call with President Trump on Tuesday, The Washington Post reported Saturday night, citing officials from both countries.

“Trump reportedly ‘lost his temper’ in a discussion of his unrealized pledge to build an extensive wall along the United States’ southern border with Mexican funding. ‘Trump believed it was unreasonable for Peña Nieto to expect him to back off his crowd-pleasing campaign promise of forcing Mexico to pay for the wall,’ American officials reportedly told the Post.”

The Associated Press added on February 25:

“Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto spoke for 50 minutes Tuesday, but reached a deadlock when Trump said he wouldn’t publicly acknowledge Mexico’s refusal to pay for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, Reuters reported.”

It is obvious that Mexico will never pay for the wall.

Trade War Coming?

Deutsche Welle reported on March 1, 2018:

“US President Donald Trump said Thursday the United States would impose tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and tariffs of 10 percent on inbound aluminum shipments next week… The European Commission said it would take action, should EU producers become the target of higher tariffs…

“The Federation of German Industry (BDI) said Thursday the announced tariffs were wrong. ‘Donald Trump is risking global trade conflicts and a spiral of protectionism, which in the end will also cost American jobs,’ BDI President Dieter Kempf told the DPA news agency in Brussels…

“China for its part has been investigating US imports of sorghum and is considering restricting soybean imports.

“Wall Street stocks fell sharply during midday trading, with the Dow down more than 2 percent on worries of a trade war following the announced tariffs.”

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 28:

“European Union trade ministers have agreed they may retaliate if the US slaps import tariffs on steel and aluminum. The EU is reportedly drawing up a list of US products to target, including orange juice and bourbon.”

Merkel Proposes Jens Spahn as Health Minister

AFP wrote on February 25:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel has decided to give a cabinet role to an outspoken critic within her conservative party, as she looks to quell surging discontent in the right wing of the group… Merkel is tipped to name 37-year-old Jens Spahn as health minister in her new cabinet…

“Spahn has been at the forefront of the backlash, slamming Merkel’s centrist policies, particularly on immigration, and advocating a sharp conservative shift, as the country’s major parties face pressure from the far-right AfD party which has railed against a mass influx of refugees that peaked in 2015. The potential inclusion of Spahn in her cabinet line-up could help to defuse the internal rebellion…

“The SPD still needs to approve the arrangement, with the results of a crunch membership ballot due to be announced on March 4^th…”

Deutsche Welle added on February 25:

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. That quote, attributed alternately to the ancient Chinese general Sun Tzu and the Renaissance writer and philosopher Machiavelli, might have been on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mind on Sunday evening as she announced the six members of her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) whom she would like to serve in her next cabinet…

“Of the six names on her list, the one that stood out most was Jens Spahn… The 37-year-old not only represents a new political generation. He was also heavily critical of Merkel’s welcoming policy toward refugees…

“Spahn is something of an oddball in the Merkel-led CDU. He is far more conservative than the chancellor. His nomination drew immediate criticism from the opposition Left party and Greens, who say he’s far too close to Germany’s mighty pharmaceutical industry.

“Among conservatives under 40, Spahn is seen as having the best chance to lead the party some day, and his nomination is being viewed as a concession by Merkel to the party’s youth wing, the Young Union, which hasn’t always been happy with her centrist policies. It is the first time that Spahn has been offered a job at the ministerial level, usually seen as a precondition for higher political functions such as party chair or chancellor candidate…”

Who Is Jens Spahn?

Handelsblatt Global wrote on September 2, 2017, about Jens Spahn:

“Germans have been responding to an essay published by German Deputy Finance Minister Jens Spahn, in which he complains that English-speaking hipsters in Berlin are eroding German national identity… anxiety about national identity is still alive and well in Germany, especially since the arrival of more than a million refugees since 2015. This explains why Mr. Spahn, a rising star in the governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU), could write an article for the influential German weekly Die Zeit attacking ‘elitist hipsters’ for speaking English, and bemoaning the proliferation of English-language menus in restaurants and coffee shops.

“According to Mr. Spahn, older Germans such as his parents will soon feel like ‘strangers in their own land.’ The spread of English among the cosmopolitan ‘Easyjet generation,’ he writes, will lead to a ‘parallel society’ in which ‘cultural differences’ have been negated, and German national culture has been destroyed. How can Germans demand that refugees and immigrants integrate themselves into German society, he asks, if Germans won’t even speak their own language?…

“As a 30-something, gay member of the Berlin political class, Mr. Spahn may seem like an odd mouthpiece for an attack on cosmopolitanism. But Mr. Spahn is an ambitious political strategist with an eye on his electoral future, and he is no stranger to controversy… he has been a vocal critic of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policy; and he has called for laws to regulate what can be preached in mosques, and to create a registry for Muslim clerics…”

AFP wrote on February 26:

“He’s 37 years old, openly gay yet staunchly conservative and one of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s loudest critics within her own party…A gay Roman Catholic, he played a vocal role in the fight to legalise gay marriage in Germany and tied the knot with his journalist partner Daniel Funke in December.

“With a self-belief that some observers say borders on arrogance, Spahn has never hidden his ambitions. One oft-quoted anecdote recalls how a high-school French teacher once asked a teenage Spahn what he wanted to be when he grew up. ‘Chancellor,’ he replied.”

Somebody to watch for sure.

Comeback for Italy’s Berlusconi?

Euractiv wrote on February 27:

“Silvio Berlusconi has revealed that he is ‘available” to be Italy’s prime minister in 2019 if next week’s election yields a hung parliament and a re-run of the vote… Berlusconi is banned from holding public office thanks to a tax fraud conviction in 2013. But that punishment expires next year and the Forza Italia leader would be free to reign once more as prime minister if the opportunity presented itself…

“A hung parliament is one of the outcomes that have not been ruled out, in which case a fresh vote would most likely be scheduled for next year… Voters are casting their ballots for the first time under a new electoral law, which dictates that a coalition must garner 40% of the vote in order to form a majority government. Should Forza Italia and Berlusconi get their way and receive the biggest slice of the pie in the vote, the former PM will effectively become a kingmaker and decide who should be appointed to the position.

“Berlusconi said once again… that current European Parliament President Antonio Tajani is still his number one choice for prime minister… But the Parliament chief has remained coy about his chances of getting Berlusconi’s nod or even wanting the post at all. During an interview with German newspaper Die Welt, Tajani said he would like to keep his current job.

“Tajani, a former European Commissioner, also said that Berlusconi was ‘the last great statesman’ that Italy had, praising the way he dealt with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his time in charge. He also reiterated his support for an EU reform along the lines of French President Emmanuel Macron’s ideas, saying Europe needs its own finance minister and a completed banking union.”

Rise of Racism and Fascism in Italy

The Guardian wrote on February 21:

“Many foreign observers are baffled by the return of Silvio Berlusconi to the forefront of Italy’s politics… he is busy campaigning for his Forza Italia party in the run-up to the 4 March elections…

“In the darkest period of our history, Mussolini’s regime tried to force upon the people a love for their country as defined by a totalitarian and murderous ideology. Italy’s military frenzy alongside the Nazis ultimately destroyed our cities and created massive poverty…

“Italians inherited from the war a collective sense of shame – which was, alas, quickly forgotten. The shame grew from having allowed the extermination of their Jewish fellow citizens and for having murdered Mussolini and his mistress instead of holding the pair of them to account in a court of law…

“Today, what’s most worrisome is the rise of anti-migrant racism. We’ve reached a point where even well-educated people agree with the rhetoric spread both by the right and the Five Star Movement (M5S). The latter’s capacity to spread fake news, including through links with propaganda websites connected to Russia, has been well documented. But what M5S has mostly achieved is to… rekindle a fascist mindset.

“More than 75 years on, the allure of the far right survives among parts of the population. After the horrors of war, no one could dare express fascist ideas but, over time, it seems that people forgot. Politicians started voicing hateful and intolerant views, with no shame whatsoever…”

Demonic Possession on the Rise in Italy

Newsmax wrote on February 25:

“With demonic possessions rising, even tripling in recent years, the Vatican is… setting up new training for exorcists,  according to Sicilian priest Benigno Palilla.

“… There are now 500,000 alleged cases of demonic possessions annually in Italy, according to Palilla, who claimed it was due to increased popularity of fortune tellers and tarot card readers which ‘open the door to the devil and to possession.’ ‘Spiritual or psychological problems’ are the root of many apparent possession cases, according to Palilla, Newsweek reported.

“Rome’s Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum is going to run an international course on exorcism in April ‘to offer a rich reflection and articulation on a topic that is sometimes unspoken and controversial,’ Palilla told Vatican Radio, per Newsweek.”

Satan is alive and VERY active.

Judge Takes Transgender Teen Away from Her Parents

The Washington Times wrote on February 20:

“A Hamilton County, Ohio, judge took a transgender teen away from her parents on Friday because they refused to allow the 17-year-old to undergo hormone treatments as part of a female-to-male transition.

“Judge Sylvia Sieve Hendon awarded custody of the teenager to her grandparents, who will be allowed to make medical decisions for the minor and legally change her name. The parents objected to the transition procedures because of their religious beliefs and refused to call their daughter by her chosen, male name, court records show.

“‘It is unfortunate that this case required resolution by the Court as the family would have been best served if this could have been settled within the family after all parties had ample exposure to the reality of the fact that the child truly may be gender-nonconforming and has a legitimate right to pursue life with a different gender identity than the one assigned at birth,’ Judge Hendon wrote in her decision.”

Please watch our new StandingWatch program, “Sexual Relationships—Everything Goes?”

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.

As far as we can ascertain from historical records, the true Church of God has always refused to charge money for its literature and other material which proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom of God. The Church has also refused to charge for other spiritual services which it might provide, such as conducting weddings or funerals or anointing of the sick.

We state the following on our website:

“Our activities and literature, including booklets, weekly updates, sermons on CD, and video and audio broadcasts, are provided free of charge.”

When others realized that God was blessing such an approach, they also began to offer their religious material “free of charge,” but many times, they state that it can be received for a suggested donation of a certain amount. We do not engage in such questionable conduct.

Offering our material free of charge is not a cheap advertising trick, as some have accused us of, with the goal that those who receive our material would even pay more than a designated price. Rather, we are acting in compliance with biblical principles.

In this Q&A, we will examine the many Scriptures in the Bible which tell us that we are to proclaim the gospel and offer certain services to individuals free of charge.

For instance, we read in Proverbs 23:23:  “Buy the truth, and do not sell it.” We have to understand the word “buy” in context. The Bible is not suggesting that we actually buy the Truth somehow from those who have it, i.e. the Church, as this would contradict the thought [as discussed below] that the Church is not to sell the Truth. Rather, the concept is that we are to acquire the Truth free of charge, but this might involve sacrifice and it requires that we give up everything which might prevent us from embracing the Truth.

We read about the rich young man in Matthew 19:16-22 who was not ready to go all the way. Christ asked him to sell everything that he had and to follow Him, but he was unwilling to do so. We find a different reaction in the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl, in which Christ is explaining the value of the Kingdom of God which cannot be compared with any physical possessions: A man finds a treasure (the Kingdom of God) hidden in the field and for joy over it, he sells all he has and buys that field. A merchant seeks beautiful pearls, and when he has found a pearl of great price (the Kingdom of God), he sells all that he has and buys it (Matthew 13:44-46). Even though the concept of buying is used again, the idea is to give up what prevents us from inheriting the Kingdom of God and eternal life, and to do everything that we can in order to acquire it. We cannot “purchase” eternal life—it is given to us as a free gift (Romans 6:23). We cannot “buy” it (or the material which the Church of God offers, showing us HOW we can obtain eternal life).

Let us also consider the following passage, which explains what is meant with the word “buy” in this context:

Isaiah 55:1-2 says: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes. Come buy wine and milk Without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance.”

This passage clarifies that the waters are offered free of charge, and they cannot be paid for. The invitation to those who have no money to buy makes no sense, if we were to take the word “buy” literally, since we cannot buy something without money and without price. Rather, the idea is to acquire or accept the living waters free of charge.

Other passages confirm this conclusion:

Revelation 21:6 says: “And He said to me, ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of water of life freely to him who thirsts.” Revelation 22:17 reads: “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.'”

Isaiah 52:3 says: “For thus says the LORD: ‘You have sold yourselves for nothing. And you shall be redeemed without money.'”

Paul recognized this truth, when he said in 1 Corinthians 2:12: “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit [which] is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”

It is true, of course, that the Church must pay for services in order to be able to disseminate its material (for instance, the printer needs to be paid for printing the booklets; stamps have to be bought to send out our literature; electronic equipment has to be purchased to tape and broadcast our video messages; hotels have to be paid for assembling there for our services, which we broadcast live over the Internet, etc.). But this does not mean that we buy the Truth; rather, we buy certain services so that we can make available and distribute the Truth.

We must realize that nobody can buy the Truth or Godly privileges. Simon Magus offered Peter money for the gift to bestow the Holy Spirit on others, but Peter rebuked him and said, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money” (Acts 8:20).

God is also telling the Church ministry that they are to provide spiritual services, as mentioned above, free of charge, as Matthew 10:8 reads: “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”

In addition, Paul explains that he preached the gospel free of charge:

1 Corinthians 9:18 reads: “What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel.”

2 Corinthians 11:7 says: “Did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?”

Does this mean, then, that those who receive the Church’s material are under no spiritual obligation to support the Church financially? Not at all, but this must be their decision. The Church is not to charge them for its material about the gospel message or its spiritual services, and those who receive them cannot pay for them. These are priceless as they provide God’s Truth, and nobody can really pay for it, as nobody has enough wealth, money or earthly possession to do so. However, this is not to say that we are to be passive recipients of God’s goods without any obligation on our part to respond in some way. The above-quoted passages do have equal application for us, when they say: “Freely you have received, freely give.”

We state the following on our website:

“Our activities and literature… are made possible by the tithes, offerings and contributions of Church members and others who have elected to support this Work. While we do not solicit the general public for funds, contributions are gratefully welcomed and are tax-deductible in the U.S. and Canada.”

The Bible teaches that especially those who are or want to become part of God’s people are commanded to tithe to the Church of God. The “Old Testament” tithing law is still in force and effect today.

Malachi 3:8-10 tells us: “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.’”

The entire context of the book of Malachi has to do with OUR immediate future! For instance, we read in Malachi 4:1-4: “‘For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,’ Says the LORD of hosts, ‘That will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves. You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this,’ Says the LORD of hosts. ‘Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments.’”

Jesus Christ confirmed that the tithing law was still in effect at the time of His first coming: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone” (Matthew 23:23).

The seventh chapter of the book of Hebrews explains that today, it is no longer the Levites who are to collect the tithes. The Levites were commissioned to do so in the Old Testament (Hebrews 7:5; Nehemiah 12:44). That part of the law was changed (Hebrews 7:11-12, 18), but the tithing LAW was not abolished! It is now Christ—through His Body, the Church (Colossians 1:18, 24)—who has the responsibility of collecting God’s tithes (Hebrews 7:28). Christ was Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:1-3, 8, 24) who collected the tithe long before the Levites (Hebrews 7:4), and He is doing so again today.

God’s true ministers, who are upholding and forcefully and boldly teaching God’s LAW, are now in the same position that the Levites were, in Old Testament times, and these ministers, as spiritual Levites, are to be rewarded through tithes and offerings. Numbers 18:31 says to the Levites: “You may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is your reward for your work in the tabernacle of meeting.” Today, the employed laborers within the Work of the true Church of God are the spiritual Levites. This means that ministers and others, who are employed by the Church and labor in the Work of God, are to be remunerated  or—in modern terms—receive a salary from the Church.  The Church is able to proclaim the gospel, feed the flock and pay salaries to its ministers and other employees from the tithe and offerings which it receives.

Note the following applicable Scriptures in this context:

Matthew 10:10 says: “… a worker is worthy of his food.” Luke 10:7 adds: “And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages.”

1 Timothy 5:17-18 states: “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,’ and ”The laborer is worthy of his wages.'”

The Ryrie Study Bible explains that “double honor” refers to respect and remuneration.

Vincent’s Word Studies elaborates:

“Double honor… This at least includes pecuniary remuneration for services, if it is not limited to that. The use of [the Greek word for “honor”] as ‘pay’ or ‘price’ [or “proceeds”] appears [in Matthew 27:6, 9; Acts 4:34; 1 Corinthians 6:20].”

John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible states:

“… ‘counted worthy of double honour’… this is to be understood both of that outward respect that is to be shown them by words and actions; and of a sufficient maintenance that is to be provided for them; in which sense the word ‘honour’ is used in this chapter before; See [1 Timothy 5:3].”

In addition, Paul makes the following strong comments in 1 Corinthians 9:7-14:

“Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock? Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.’ Is it oxen God is concerned about? Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more?… Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel…”

It is true that in this particular case, Paul did not demand his right of support from the Corinthians, as their spiritual state was so weak and as they were so much engulfed in sinful conduct, that he was concerned that they might fall away completely. He told them in 2 Corinthians 11:8: “I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to minister to you.” He dealt with the more important things first, and it was rewarding to see that they finally got the point and did repent. Nevertheless, Paul pointed out that it was his God-given right to receive financial support, and even though he did not enforce it regarding the Corinthians and other churches who were in an equally weak spiritual state, at least in the beginning, he did accept it from the Philippians. We read in Philippians 4:15-17:

“Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving, but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.”

Paul was commending the Philippian brethren for their willingness to help him. The emphasis of his statements does not have to be understood as necessarily accusing other churches for not helping him [some might perhaps have been too poor to help him], even though an underlying correction toward those churches seems to be included, and this was certainly the case regarding the Corinthians.

Of course, the Church or its employees are never to make merchandise of the brethren (2 Peter 2:3; Authorized Version), both spiritually and physically, by exploiting them for their own ends. The same Greek word for “make merchandise” is also used in James 4:13, where it is translated as “buy and sell.” We are also not to use the assembling of the brethren for Church services as an opportunity to buy and sell our personal merchandise, even if it were “religious” in nature. The principle prohibiting such conduct can be seen in Christ’s condemnation of the money changers in the Temple and of those who bought from them for religious “duties” (John 2:14-16; Matthew 21:12-13). Luke 19:45-46 tells us: “Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, ‘It is written, “My house is a house of prayer”; but you have made it a “den of thieves.”’”

In conclusion, we also want to stress and clarify that the Church has a responsibility to disseminate its material free of charge to those who ask for it, but it is also to act responsibly as true and faithful stewards of what God provides us with (Luke 12:42; 1 Corinthians 4:1-2; 1 Peter 4:10). As the previous Q&A on Deuteronomy 23:18 pointed out, specific situations may exist when the Church cannot and must not accept contributions from certain individuals.

At the same time, the Church will not generally send out mass mailings of its literature to individuals, which is meant to be “distributed” to others. We are not to proselytize, and we will therefore only respond to individual requests for literature. When third persons would like to obtain our material, they are to ask for it themselves—either by directly contacting us or asking somebody else, such as a relative or close friend, to request it for them. Also, in order to avoid any wasteful spending of the money provided to us by God, enabling us to produce our literature, we generally send out only up to three booklets to first-time requesters, with the explanation that we will send more once the received booklets have been studied and additional booklets are in fact desired.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

compiled by Dave Harris

“Sexual Relationships—Everything Goes?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, present by Evangelist Norbert Link. In this program, Mr. Link introduces our newest booklet, “God’s Teachings on Sexual Relationships.” This booklet is also featured in a new promotional trailer, presented by Michael Link.

“Was Billy Graham Wrong about Everything?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link.

When Billy Graham died, former Governor from Arkansas and Pastor Mike Huckabee declared that Billy Graham was not dead, but that he was alive right now “in a life that will never end,” and if that was not true, then “everything” he said “was null and void.” However, this program will show that Billy Graham is not alive today, but that does not mean that there is no hope for him to inherit eternal life.

“Lag Billy Graham in allem falsch?” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program, presented by Nobert Link and which covers the subject matter described above.

“WARUM begehrte Israel einen König?” is the title of this Sabbath’s German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English:  WHY Did Israel Desire a King?

Our new German booklet, “Lehre Uns zu Beten!” (Translation of, Teach Us to Pray“) was sent to our German printer.

“Succeed,” is the title of last Sabbath’s sermonette, presented by Eric Rank. Here is a summary:

Does the Bible offer any instructions that we can follow to succeed in life? What do we need to do to become successful in our personal endeavors and in the eyes of God?

“The Power of Peace,” is the title of last Sabbath’s sermon, presented by Robb Harris. Here is a summary:

Attaining Godly peace is not a matter of living a pacifist lifestyle in hopes of avoiding conflict.  Godly peace is an acceptance of lifelong struggle.  We must prepare ourselves as warriors, ready to battle the darkness of satanic thought that permeates this world.

Passover will be observed on Thursday evening, after sunset, on March 29, 2018. The Days of Unleavened Bread will be observed beginning March 30th through April 6th.

The 2018 Ministerial Conference will take place in Fort Collins, Colorado. Participants will arrive on April 18^th and depart on April 24^th.

On February 24, 2018, Eric Rank will present the sermonette, titled, “Succeed,” and Robb Harris will present the sermon, titled, “The Power of Peace.”

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 ability to forecast the future is beyond all human capacity. Nobody knows with exact certainty what will happen tomorrow, and even less in the days that follow. We can make predictions based on assumptions, but the variability of life ultimately changes the exact outcome. Certainly, all of us are able to share our own experiences to offer evidence to confirm this fact.

I am personally reminded of the unpredictability of life during my morning routine throughout the week. Every day I wake up to an alarm that’s set for the same time, and that’s when things begin to vary. Between the time that the alarm goes off and my arrival at work, the same general preparations take place, but the way in which the morning events develop are widely different. My children wake up at different times, with different moods, each one of the six members of our family affecting one another. The ingredients on hand for breakfasts and packed lunches are a bit different every day, requiring a variable amount of creativity in the morning. And with babies under the age of two, my wife and I need to be ready to respond to the capricious whimsy of busy toddlers as well. Each morning has two simple goals; prepare the family for work and school, and leave the house on time. Yet, I am amazed at how every single day takes on a level of unpredictability that cannot be controlled. Any attempt at predicting the detail of the morning is futile.

Even though the details of our lives cannot be predicted, there are some events that we can faithfully and confidently expect. The prophecies of the Bible provide us with God’s plan, outlining the changes that must take place in our world. Knowing that God cannot lie, and that He reveals His plans through His prophets, the words of the Bible therefore provide us with a map of the future that cannot be altered. As we read in Amos 3:7, “Surely the LORD God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets.” With knowledge of a certain future that we can trust and rely on even more than our daily routines, it begs a question. What are we doing in our lives to be part of God’s plan? If we have the courage, we may also ask the more poignant question; what do we need to be doing differently?

One individual in the Bible asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life, believing that he had done well in working to be obedient to the law. In Matthew 19:20-22, the deeper question is asked of Jesus, “The young man said to Him, ‘All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’ But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” In this example, the rich young ruler knew enough about the certainty of God’s plan to understand the need for obedience. However, he learned in this instance that his dedication must be undivided as well. This is exactly what we need to do today.

There is no doubt that God’s plan will come to fruition. Those who have dedicated their lives to God, living in obedience through the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, will become members of God’s Family. It’s a wonderful promise to understand! If we know that the time when Jesus Christ will return to this earth to establish God’s Kingdom is rapidly approaching, are we changing our lives accordingly? What are the reasons for our change? Do we merely change the way that we live because time is short? Or do we change the way that we live because we love God? There is a subtle difference in the way these questions are asked and answered. The way that we approach our role in being worthy of God’s promise makes a difference. Whether time is short or not, our approach should be identical.

Our desire to obtain the promise of eternal life must be exclusively driven by the love for God’s Truth, and not by any deadline or selfish gain. The rich young ruler was instructed to dedicate his entire life to following Christ, which troubled him deeply. With any part of life left undedicated to righteous conversion, we will be deficient in our efforts to please God. Nothing must matter more to us than living according to God’s instructions. If we are able to do this, we will find ourselves so busy with God’s Work that the change in our plans in life will be minimal as the time of Christ’s return approaches. The proximity of Christ’s return makes no difference in the righteousness required of us, even though the realization that the time is short can and should motivate us to live more righteously (cp. 1 Corinthians 7:29-31).

While we cannot predict the future in the details of our lives, we can absolutely trust in the plan of God to be fulfilled. With the knowledge of these certain events which will take place, our dedication to godly righteousness must be unwavering. However, our motives make a difference in our ability to succeed. When we are driven to change our lives because we love God’s Way of Life more than anything else, our hearts are right where they need to be. As Jesus admonishes, “‘Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’” (Matthew 6:19-21).

by Norbert Link

We begin with the explosive sessions in Munich, Germany, during the International Security Conference; continue with the European and German realization that in light of American unreliability, more must be done to achieve their goal of a European army; focus on new scandals in Germany; Europe’s attempts to re-write history; the deteriorating relationship between Israel and Poland; and the UK’s schizophrenic approach regarding Brexit; and we speak on Israel’s warning to attack Iran; flagrant war crimes in Syria; and the real possibility of a nuclear war by accident.

We continue with the diverse reactions to the American indictment of 13 Russians and Russian companies in connection with the 2016 US election; and focus on the aftermath of the school shooting in Florida, while especially addressing the thorny and politically inconvenient issue of gun control. In this regard, please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Will Horrific Mass Shootings Ever Stop?” 

We also speak on the despicable practice of tabloids to buy “stories” in order to bury them, and address the death of Billy Graham.

We conclude with reports on Yellowstone’s supervolcano; earthquakes in Mexico and Wales; sexual travesties which were committed by aid workers in Africa and Haiti; the loss of parental custody over a dispute regarding their teenage daughter who wants to be a boy; a new law in Switzerland prohibiting the cruel treatment of lobsters; and the “creation” of the first interspecies sheep-human chimera.

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

Storm Clouds in Munich, Germany

 Politico wrote on February 18:

“While it’s hardly a secret that the world has become increasingly unstable of late, the high-level weekend exchange between political leaders and security officials from all points of the compass put the danger from the innumerable flashpoints into stark relief. Whether discussing the reemergence of nuclear tensions between the U.S. and Russia or the dispute between longtime allies Washington and Turkey, about the only thing this year’s participants could agree on was the intensified risk of a broad conflict in a world losing its moorings… this year’s event at times veered toward outright provocation and insult…

“U.S. Senator James Risch shocked many in the crowd when he said any U.S. response to the North Korean nuclear threat would be ‘biblical’ in nature…

“In addition to the known security threats — the smoldering conflict in Ukraine, widening instability in the Middle East or the nuclear threat posed by North Korea — there was growing unease over unknown, amorphous ones such as cyber and biological warfare. The eroding position of the U.S. under President Donald Trump as the bulwark of the Western bloc has complicated efforts within the transatlantic alliance to find answers about how (and in some cases whether) to confront such challenges.

“It was clear that Trump’s repeated rhetorical swipes at partners like Germany has taken a toll… The U.S. delegation took pains to reassure their European counterparts of Washington’s enduring commitment to the region’s security.  But such reassurances proved a hard sell… European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker spoke grandly of making Europe ‘weltpolitikfähig,’ coining a German word for making the EU a true global political player…”

And so, continental Europe will indeed become a true global political player.

Germany Slams USA

The Daily Mail wrote on February 17:

“Germany’s foreign minister slammed the ‘America first’ approach of President Donald Trump’s administration… Sigmar Gabriel… told world leaders and defense officials at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that the United States was no longer the only indisputable superpower.

“Instead, he said Washington needed to count on traditional partners in Europe for help… He recommends the US to keep a good relationship with the European Union in order to thrive…

“Herbert Raymond McMaster, US National Security Advisor… added that, following Russian aggression in recent years against Georgia and Ukraine, Europe needs ‘more steel tanks and not only think tanks.’…

“[Gabriel said:] ‘… we Germans in particular are so perturbed when we look across the Atlantic – because we no longer recognize our America’… He urged a return to greater joint cooperation, saying now is not the time for ‘just pursuing individual national interests.’ Gabriel suggested the US was going in the opposite direction, drifting toward approaches taken from powers like China and Russia who are ‘constantly trying to test or undermine’ the EU.

“’It is one thing from possible rivals or competitors, but from our friends and partners we expect that they will respect the unity of the EU,’ he said. ‘No one should try to divide the EU, not Russia, not China, but also not the United States.’… He said that while Europe can’t rest simply on a military strategy, it also can’t ignore military and defense spending. ‘As the only vegetarian, we would have a problem in the world of carnivores,’ he said.”

Germany placed the world on notice as to their intentions and expectations regarding Europe… and their misgivings towards the USA.

EU Can’t Make USA Happy

Express wrote on February 17:

“The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said nothing Brussels did in relation to security kept Donald Trump’s administration happy… Mr Juncker said people in the USA fear the EU is becoming too independent on security… ‘Over many years we have been accused by Americans that we weren’t doing enough for our own defence, but now we do make efforts, we do more and now they’re not happy with that either…”

Europe’s disgust and disappointment with the USA is more and more obvious.

Wrong War? US Attacks EU Defense Policy…

Politico wrote on February 16:

“… it is only matter of time before the U.S. and its allies end up in a pointless fight over EU defense.

“A Pentagon official this week criticized the EU’s ‘common security and defense policy’ (CSDP) for pulling forces away from NATO, and the U.S. ambassador to the alliance warned against its provisions to protect European defense companies… The U.S. is right to suspect that Europe’s decision to build up a robust defense policy is not all good news for NATO. But it’s making its point the wrong way. Attacking Europe’s push for greater security cooperation won’t make it reverse course, and could do damage to an already frayed transatlantic relationship…

“An outright opposition from Washington is doomed to fail… the U.S. would be foolish to keep attacking Europe’s defense integration… The policy is already a reality, whether the U.S. likes it or not. Enough European members of NATO are willing to stand up for it to make it pointless for Washington to try to thwart it.”

Washington will continue to antagonize Europe, and vice versa. The relationship between these two powers will deteriorate more and more.

Europe Must Take Care of Themselves

Handelsblatt Global wrote on February 16:

“Germany and Europe must get real: Soft power is no longer sufficient in today’s troubled, Trumpian world…

“The strategic shocks of recent years have left deep and lasting wounds, and pushed Europe into new and uncharted waters. A decade ago, EU leaders talked confidently about projecting stability abroad. Today, their priority is to prevent instability from spilling over into Europe… Europe is surrounded by ongoing conflicts. Tensions are increasing from the Indus to the Nile and across North Africa, where any turmoil will have an immediate impact on European security. As Europeans well know, there is no way to build a wall in the Mediterranean.

“Moreover, it is worrying that the Trump administration hardly ever talks about upholding the post-war, liberal international order. Instead, it views the world as a zero-sum strategic competition in which the US should look out only for itself. Unfortunately, in a world without common institutions to restrain sovereign states from escalating conflicts with one another, the risks of all-out war will increase substantially…

“Europeans can no longer avoid taking responsibility for their own defense…”

And so, Europe will proceed with building their own army. Humanly speaking, they have no other choice.

Head of German Central Bank to Become President of European Central Bank (ECB)?

Handelsblatt Global wrote on February 19:

“… officials in Berlin are more optimistic than ever before that… a German banker will be seated as the head of the ECB for the first time.

“The main cause for such optimism was the decision disclosed on Monday that EU countries have coalesced around the Spanish economy minister, Luis de Guindos, to become vice president of the ECB… The complex process works like this: when the richer northern part of the EU supports a single candidate from the EU’s southern states for the vice president’s job at the ECB, the top job at the central bank is supposed to go to a candidate from a northern country. But filling that job also depends on who becomes the next head of the European Commission, a post now held by Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Juncker, and the European Council president, a post now occupied by Poland’s Donald Tusk…

“German officials now hope that the stage has been set for Jens Weidmann, the current head of the German central bank, the Bundesbank, to succeed ECB president Mario Draghi, whose term ends in October 2019. One reason for the optimism is that even though Germany has the largest economy in Europe, a German has never been chosen as ECB president… there was a reluctance to give Germans so much power after World War II… If Mr. Draghi is a classic dove on monetary policy, then Mr. Weidmann is a hawk.

“… Officials in Brussels believe the final decision on ECB chief may depend on French President Emmanuel Macron. He is said to be keen for France to get the commission president’s job when Mr. Juncker steps down. For that to happen, Germany would have to go along, so there may be a deal in the making to enable Germany’s choice at the ECB and France’s position at the commission.”

It would be interesting to see a German banker leading the European Central Bank.

German “Rasputin of Brussels” to Become EU’s Commission Secretary-General

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 21:

“Martin Selmayr has been the shadowy figure beside EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker since 2014. His promotion to Commission secretary-general could cement his power in EU politics for years to come. Martin Selmayr, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s chief of staff, will be the Commission’s next secretary-general, Juncker said on Wednesday.

“Selmayr, an ardently pro-EU German, has been called the ‘the Rasputin of Brussels’ for his behind-the-scenes influence in European Union politics… The 47-year-old lawyer from the western German city of Bonn has been Juncker’s chief of staff since 2014. He previously worked as Juncker’s campaign manager and as a Commission spokesman. Selmayr is considered a power-broker and enforcer of Juncker’s top-down management at the Commission. Juncker has affectionately called Selmayr a ‘monster‘ for his ability to work long hours…

“Selmayr’s appointment could also renew fears among some EU countries that Germany is gaining too much influence in EU institutions. Germany is the largest and richest member state… Selmayr is set to take over as secretary-general on March 1… Spaniard Clara Martinez will replace Selmayr as Juncker’s new chief of staff.”

New German Scandal

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 15:

“The German military is under-equipped to take on its upcoming role as leader of NATO’s anti-Russian defense force… at the start of next year, but doesn’t have enough tanks…

“Mark Galeotti, senior researcher and head of the Prague-based Center for European Security [said:] ‘We must remember that European NATO, even without the Americans and the Canadians, has more ground troops than the Russians do.’”

Deutsche Welle added on February 19:

“Germany’s Defense Ministry said that combat readiness of German troops would be ensured… The authorities are set to complete the process by the end of 2018, at the latest… [It was also] said that ‘Bundeswehr is ready and able to fulfill its commitments,’ and that the missing items ‘are being procured.’…

“German parliamentarians reacted with outrage to news of the latest deficiencies. ‘We cannot and will not accept’ such supply gaps, said defense expert Fritz Felgentreu from the Social Democratic Party (SPD). The Free Democrat (FDP) politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann found even stronger words. ‘The fact that even basic equipment such as protective vests and winter clothing is in short supply shows what a miserable state the Bundeswehr is in as a result of cutting costs,’ she said…”

We can be certain that Germany will rectify these shortcomings very soon.

Germany’s AfD More Popular than SPD

The Local wrote on February 19:

“A poll published on Monday by the newspaper Bild put the Alternative for Germany (AfD) on 16 percent… just ahead of the SPD on 15.5 percent. The poll marks the lowest support ever achieved by the SPD, traditionally one of the two major parties of German politics.

“According to the poll Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats are the most popular party in the country and would secure 32 percent of the vote were elections to be held tomorrow… Germany‘s oldest party [the SPD] – around since the late 19th century – scored their worst post-war result in 2017 at 20.5 percent and have only haemorrhaged support since then.”

While the AfD is certainly a thorn in the flesh of the established parties, it will not play a major role in Germany to the extent that it will jeopardize the European unification process. However, the German government will be forced to act and react to the demands of the AfD. In addition, we must realize that the AfD is NOT a “Nazi” party, even though parts of the media would like to mischaracterize it as such.

Europe Rewrites History

The Washington Post wrote on February 19:

“In Poland, the president signs a law criminalizing anyone who dares suggest that the country’s citizens helped perpetrate crimes of the Holocaust. In Italy, a Mussolini-admiring neo-fascist goes on a shooting rampage targeting people with dark skin…

“… events across the continent have served as a potent reminder that Europe’s grip on its history is far from assured. In particular, the 20th century’s dark detours into Nazism, fascism and state-sponsored anti-Semitism are again being subjected to revision…

“In Poland in particular, as in much of Eastern Europe, historical revisionism is far from a new phenomenon. During decades of postwar communist rule, history was distorted freely for any number of political ends. For some, the new ‘Holocaust law’ harks back to those times, when ideology often dictated history. But the facts are the facts. Historians have documented anti-Semitic atrocities carried out by Polish citizens…”

Poland Antagonizes Israel

MSN wrote on February 19:

“Poland’s government refused to apologize on Monday for Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s comments about ‘Jewish perpetrators’ during World War II, escalating a row that’s upended the country’s relations with Israel and is alarming the U.S.

“When confronted during a conference in Munich on Saturday over Poland’s new law that criminalizes suggestions that the Polish nation bore any responsibility for the Holocaust, Morawiecki listed Jews among nations that along with Germans were ‘perpetrators’ of Nazi-era crimes. His list included Ukrainians, Russians and Poles. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the comments were ‘outrageous,’ while Yair Lapid, an opposition politician, called on Israel to recall its ambassador from Poland.

“Morawiecki’s intention was to list nations that collaborated with the Germans, Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said on Monday, adding that use of the word ‘perpetrators’ was a ‘linguistic mistake’ for which there’s no need to apologize…’”

Schizophrenic Approach—UK Wants Defense Treaty with EU?

Euractiv wrote on February 17:

“Britain wants… a defence and security treaty with the EU before its leaves the bloc in March 2019, Theresa May told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday… But she also ruled out a second referendum on Britain’s EU membership.

“… the UK is yet to set out exactly what it would like to be included in a defence treaty, but it would be likely to cover military, intelligence and counter-terrorism cooperation. That would include provisions on common EU military missions, the continued contribution of UK troops to them, and defence capability. The UK also wants to retain close links with Europol, which coordinates police intelligence across the EU, and remain part of the European Arrest Warrant.

“The extent of this co-operation could, however, pose problems for ‘hard Brexiteers’ in May’s Conservative party. EAW membership would mean oversight by the European Court of Justice, a self-imposed red-line by the UK government. Meanwhile, the government’s negotiating paper on defence and security talks of the need to include a proposal to stay in the European Defence Fund and defence industrial programme, the core pillars of the agreements. This is likely to mean conceding defence decision-making to the EU as the structures are governed by EU institutions. That could also cause friction with Brexiteers.

“The UK’s defence industry is also anxious to remain part of the European ecosystem. On Friday, Robert Hannigan, the former head of the UK intelligence service, warned that UK defence firms would fall into a ‘steady decline’ if they lost the ability to collaborate on research and innovation with the EU defence sector…

“The UK is taking a ‘schizophrenic approach’, a Westminster defence source told EURACTIV, pointing out that its ministers publicly opposed plans for an EU ‘defence union’ in late 2016… In December, 25 member states – except Denmark, Malta and Britain – agreed to join a new ‘permanent structured cooperation’ on defence, or PESCO.”

Such a defense treaty will not happen. The opposition in Britain to such an endeavor is too overwhelming.

Israel Prepared to Attack Iran

Reuters and Allgemeiner wrote on February 18:

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel could act against Iran itself, not just its allies in the Middle East, after border incidents in Syria brought the Middle East foes closer to direct confrontation. In response, Iran mocked Netanyahu’s tough words, saying Israel’s reputation for ‘invincibility’ had crumbled after one of its jets was shot down following a bombing run in Syria. In his first address to the annual Munich Security Conference… Netanyahu held up a piece of what he said was an Iranian drone that flew into Israeli airspace this month.

“‘Israel will not allow the regime to put a noose of terror around our neck,’ he said. ‘We will act if necessary not just against Iran’s proxies but against Iran itself.’… Among Israel’s main concerns is Lebanon, where the heavily armed Iran-backed Shi’ite militia Hezbollah is part of a coalition government… Israel… has accused Tehran of planning to build missile factories in Lebanon. Lebanon’s Defense Minister… warned against intervention: ‘Watch out, we will defend ourselves … we also have friends.’”

Israel will be involved in another war in the Middle East, but this time, it will not win. The Bible speaks of a “wound” which it will receive.

Flagrant War Crimes in Syria

The Guardian wrote on February 20:

“Almost 200 civilians have been killed in dozens of airstrikes and shelling by forces loyal to Syria’s Bashar al-Assad in eastern Ghouta over two days of ‘hysterical violence’, which has led to warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe that could eclipse past atrocities in the seven-year war.

“The surge in the killing in the besieged region came amid reports of an impending regime incursion into the area outside Damascus, which is home to 400,000 civilians. More than 700 people have been killed in three months, according to local counts, not including the deaths in the last week.

“Amnesty International said ‘flagrant war crimes’ were being committed in eastern Ghouta on an ‘epic scale’… Seven hospitals have also been bombed since Monday morning in eastern Ghouta, which was once the breadbasket of Damascus…

“Elsewhere in Syria on Tuesday, pro-government fighters started entering the northern Kurdish enclave of Afrin, where Turkish troops have been on the offensive for a month. The development came a day after Turkey said it would hit back at the troops if their goal was to protect the Kurdish fighters. Syrian state media said Turkish troops fired on the pro-government militiamen, a development that risks widening an already complicated war.”

Nuclear War By Accident?

CBC wrote on February 18:

“An insistent alarm is being raised over the rising probability the world will trip into its next major conflict rather than deliberately march into it… experts believe accidents and missteps… are far more dangerous than they might have been in the past.

“Take the risk of nuclear war. It has ‘never been higher since the Cuban missile crisis,’ Ernest Moniz, former U.S. secretary of energy and now head of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, said during this weekend’s Munich Security Conference. But ‘the principal risk right now as we see it is not some planned-out, intentional initiation of nuclear use, but rather accident, miscalculation, blunder and that’s why the probability is higher.’…

“Inevitably accidents are also likely to emerge in existing battlegrounds with multiple players who complicate the picture…”

Reactions to Indictment of 13 Russians

The Associated Press and Newsmax wrote on February 18:

“President Donald Trump is undercutting a top aide again – this time national security adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster. McMaster told an international audience that the evidence of Russian meddling in the 2016 American election is beyond dispute. Trump tweeted late Saturday that McMaster left out some details. ‘General McMaster forgot to say that the results of the 2016 election were not impacted or changed by the Russians and that the only Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems. Remember the Dirty Dossier, Uranium, Speeches, Emails and the Podesta Company!’ Trump was continuing his efforts to pin Russian collusion on the Democrats and their nominee Hillary Clinton.

“McMaster was answering a question from a Russian delegate at a Munich Security Conference on Saturday. Referring to the indictment of 13 Russians announced Friday, McMaster says ‘with the FBI indictment, the evidence is now incontrovertible’ of Russia cyber-meddling. ‘As you can see with the FBI indictment, the evidence is now really incontrovertible and available in the public domain,’ McMaster told a Russian delegate to the conference.

“The detailed document presented the most compelling public evidence to date that the Russian operation was elaborate, expensive and real. Citing emails and conversations by the perpetrators of the plot, it also demonstrated that the ongoing probe may have access to explosive intelligence material gathered on the Russian operations…

“Just minutes before, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had dismissed the indictment as ‘just blabber’… But Lavrov did not say what he specifically disputed in the indictment…  McMaster also scoffed at the suggestion that the U.S. would work with Russia on cyber security issues… Lavrov argued that U.S. officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, have said no country influenced the U.S. election results…”

“Trump: ‘I Never Said Russia Did Not Meddle in the Election’”

The Week wrote on February 18:

“‘I never said Russia did not meddle in the election,’ President Trump tweeted early Sunday. ‘I said “it may be Russia, or China or another country or group, or it may be a 400 pound genius sitting in bed and playing with his computer,”’ he continued. ‘The Russian “hoax” was that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia – it never did!’ Trump was referring to comments he made in the first general election debate…

“Trump also said in November of 2017 he ‘really believes’ Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denial of election meddling.”

School Shooting in Florida—the Aftermath

In an astonishingly strong article by British journalist and moderator Piers Morgan, who is (was) considered otherwise to be quite sympathetic to Donald Trump, the following was published by the Daily Mail, dated February 15 (Of course, Morgan’s objection to America’s gun hysteria had been well known and documented):

“I’ll tell you what’s ‘sicko’, Mr Trump – it’s a cowardly president who turns a blind eye to children getting blown to pieces at school. Three weeks ago, I asked President Trump why he’d done nothing to stop another mass shooting after the recent horrendous massacre in Las Vegas. ‘He was a sicko,’ he replied, ‘I mean that’s the big problem – they’re sick people.’…

“Five years ago, a deranged, angry young 20-year-old man used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and high capacity bullet magazines to murder 26 people including 20 kids at a school in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. Yesterday, a deranged, angry young 19-year-old man used an AR-15 and high capacity magazines to murder at least 17 people including many kids at a school in Parkland, Florida.

“As the US slips once more into its familiar Groundhog Day post-gun-massacre pattern of feigned shock, hand-wringing thoughts and prayers, insincere cable news blather, and pathetic inaction, I’d like to explore President Trump’s ‘sicko’ premise… Remember when a 9-year-old girl accidentally shot dead this instructor, Charles Vacca, at a range… while firing an Uzi, and it was all entirely legal? She had fired – and lost control of – an UZI sub-machine gun, one of the most dangerous high-powered weapons in the world… I mean, no rational human being could possibly think that putting such a hideous killing machine in the hands of a little girl is anything other than complete madness? Wrong. A lot of Americans, tens of millions of them in fact, think that’s perfectly OK.

“… The shooter [in Florida], former student Nikolas Cruz, was too young to be allowed to buy a beer in a state that like many in the US has ‘zero tolerance alcohol laws’. But he was legally able to buy a semi-automatic military style rifle… [To add to this, young men and woman who just turned 18 are allowed to vote. At that age, very few have a correct understanding of the complexities of human life; the seriousness of the manifold issues plaguing us;  and the deviousness of lying politicians running for office.]

“Cruz apparently passed a background check when purchasing his gun. This despite the fact he had been treated for ‘mental issues’, expelled from the school he attacked (among many concerning acts of behaviour, he sold knives out of his lunchbox and was found with bullets in his backpack), banned from returning to the school after threatening teachers, and accused of abusing a girlfriend… and despite the fact he had posted endless photos of himself on social media brandishing guns and regularly threatening to shoot people including students at the school…

“He was a monster waiting to explode, and all who knew him were very aware of exactly where he might execute that explosion… The teachers all knew, which is why an email was sent out warning them all to keep an eye out for Cruz after he was expelled, especially if he had a backpack with him…

“When I interviewed President Trump, in Davos at the World Economic Forum, I told him: ‘Only eight people were killed in America last year by Islamist terrorism. By comparison, domestic gun violence killed at least 32,000. Two of the worst mass shootings in American history have now happened on your watch in Las Vegas and at a church in Texas. People will be saying, you’re very tough on security, you want to keep Americans safe, but if you don’t do anything about gun violence at all that seems an irrational position for somebody who wants to keep Americans safe?’

“Trump then tried to deflect my question by talking about another country. ‘Take a look at Paris,’ he said, ‘where you have very tough guns controls. Take a look at that terrible slaughter where so many people were killed… by thugs with guns. So the bad guys have the guns and if you would have had somebody with a gun when they walked in so you could have bullets going in the other direction, you wouldn’t have hundreds of people killed.’ This, of course, is the same warped logic spewed so often by Trump’s paymasters at the NRA… [that] only good guys with guns can stop bad guys with guns. So the only answer to mass shootings is for everyone else to be armed too.

“What Trump didn’t say is that 130 people were killed in Paris that night; a terrible toll, but around a quarter of the number of people killed by guns in America EVERY WEEK. When I pointed out that countries like Britain, which also has very tough gun laws, average just 32 gun deaths a year, he deflected again: ‘But you have a lot of terrorism.’ Yes, it’s true Britain had a number of Islamist terror attacks in 2017. But the total death total was smaller (35) than the number murdered by guns in America EVERY DAY.

“I asked Trump specifically why he had done nothing to stop even bump stocks (an attachment that allows semi-automatic guns to fire like fully automatic guns) being sold, after it emerged the Vegas shooter had converted a dozen AR-15s by using them. I asked Trump about the Las Vegas shooter’s massive arsenal.  ‘If he didn’t have a gun, he would have had a bomb, or would have something else,’ the President answered…

“Current US gun laws are so lax even terror suspects on the no-fly list are allowed to buy firearms… Trump sighed. ‘I’m a Second Amendment person. I think you need it (guns) for security…’ In other words, he intends to do absolutely nothing to stop these massacres happening again. Well, I’m sorry Mr President, but this just isn’t acceptable. You can’t pretend to be tough on security but turn a blind eye when yet another US school (there have been over 280 school shootings since Sandy Hook) is turned into a human slaughterhouse. It’s spineless and cowardly, and you know it.

“Imagine your son Barron had been in that school yesterday – and then decide what is the right thing to do. ‘No child, teacher or anyone else should feel unsafe in an American school,’ you tweeted yesterday. Yet the tragic truth is no child, teacher or anyone else now feels SAFE in an American school. The Florida attack was the ninth biggest gun atrocity in American history. That means three of the country’s worst ever mass shootings have now happened on your watch – in just five months.

“Yet one of the only things you’ve done about guns as President was to roll back an Obama-era regulation that made it harder for people with mental illness to get guns. That’s ‘sicko’, Mr President. And anyone who thinks the only answer to this carnage is even more guns is also ‘sicko’.”

Nothing more needs to be added to this, really—except to say that Piers Morgan’s viewpoint makes a lot of sense.

Breitbart wrote on February 16:

“Barack Obama’s Social Security gun ban [which was repealed under Trump]… covered Social Security beneficiaries on [mental] disability who needed help managing their finances. On the basis of requiring help with their finances, such beneficiaries were prohibited from gun possession. That is no way applicable to the heinous attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.”

It might not have been, but to repeal such a law is still very disturbing, and no spin by the gun lobby makes it right.

Improving Gun Background Checks?

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 19:

“The White House has said US President Donald Trump would back efforts to improve gun background checks. A bi-partisan bill would ensure states and agencies accurately report criminal information to the FBI… The legislation does not add new restrictions on gun purchases…

“Trump has largely tried to avoid the politically divisive gun debate, instead blaming mass shootings such as the one from last week on mental-health issues… Past efforts to advance comprehensive gun control reform have failed to move anywhere in Congress.”

Politicians avoid dealing with this controversial issue because they want and need the votes and the financial support from either side. Another reason WHY politics is such a dirty business.

Arming Teachers? – A BAD Idea!

Breitbart reported on February 22:

“President Trump suggested bonuses for [trained] teachers who carry guns to defend themselves and their students as part of his push to address school safety.”

Deutsche Welle added on February 22:

“NRA leader LaPierre backed the president on arming teachers at schools and installing armed guards, saying it was the only way to ensure students’ safety… The NRA chief described Democrat lawmakers calling for gun control as ‘European-style socialists’ and accused them of exploiting last week’s school shooting in Florida.”

To find out what is the only way to ensure students’ safety, please view our new StandingWatch program, “Will Horrific Mass Shootings Ever Stop?”

“Demon Voices”

The Daily Mail wrote on February 17:

“School gunman Nikolas Cruz, 19, faces 17 counts of premeditated murder… He told authorities that voices in his head told him how to carry out the shooting. According to his legal team he suffers from autism, depression and has other significant psychological problems.

“Police were called to his family’s home in Parkland, Florida 39 times since 2010. Calls were for a range of reasons including ‘mentally ill person,’ ‘child/elderly abuse,’ ‘domestic disturbance’ and several others.”

The media might talk about “mental problems,” but it fails to realize that Satan and his demons are behind these horrendous acts of mass murder.  

“Donald Trump, a Playboy Model, and a System for Concealing Infidelity”

The New Yorker wrote on February 16:

“In June, 2006, Donald Trump taped an episode of his reality-television show, ‘The Apprentice,’ at the Playboy Mansion, in Los Angeles. Hugh Hefner, Playboy’s publisher, threw a pool party for the show’s contestants with dozens of current and former Playmates, including Karen McDougal… At the time of the party, Trump had been married to the Slovenian model Melania Knauss for less than two years; their son, Barron, was a few months old…

“Trump and McDougal began an affair, which McDougal later memorialized in an eight-page, handwritten document… The interactions that McDougal outlines in the document share striking similarities with the stories of other women who claim to have had sexual relationships with Trump, or who have accused him of propositioning them for sex or sexually harassing them. McDougal describes their affair as entirely consensual. But her account provides a detailed look at how Trump and his allies used clandestine hotel-room meetings, payoffs, and complex legal agreements to keep affairs—sometimes multiple affairs he carried out simultaneously—out of the press.

“On November 4, 2016, four days before the election, the Wall Street Journal reported that American Media, Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, had paid a hundred and fifty thousand dollars for exclusive rights to McDougal’s story, which it never ran. Purchasing a story in order to bury it is a practice that many in the tabloid industry call ‘catch and kill.’ This is a favorite tactic of the C.E.O. and chairman of A.M.I., David Pecker, who describes the President as ‘a personal friend’… [Allegedly] Pecker routinely makes catch-and-kill arrangements like the one reached with McDougal… [and nothing is] printed… about Trump without his approval.”

The “shocking” news is not that Donald Trump might have had another affair with a Playboy model, but how manipulative and dishonest the media can be in suppressing reports for political reasons.

Billy Graham Died

JTA wrote on February 21, 2018:

“Billy Graham (99), the giant of American evangelism who was exalted by Jews for his championing of Israel at its hour of need and then condemned when a nasty anti-Semitic streak was revealed [saying, among other things, that Jews were responsible for pornography], has died.

“His son, Franklin, is one of President Donald Trump’s highest-profile religious supporters… In 2002, Graham apologized for the remarks, and Jewish community leaders accepted his apology — but the relationship would never again be the same. ‘We knew that Nixon was an anti-Semite,’ Abraham Foxman, then the Anti-Defamation League’s national director, told JTA at the time, whereas Graham is ‘a guy we all felt comfortable with … And he was so infected with this virulent anti-Semitism.’”

The New York Times added on February 21:

“Recognizing his influence, presidents made a point of seeking friendly relations with Mr. Graham; Lyndon B. Johnson did so assiduously. Mr. Graham was a frequent guest of Ronald Reagan, and in January 1991, George H. W. Bush invited him to spend the night at the White House the day before American-led forces began bombing Iraq. Mr. Clinton asked Mr. Graham to offer prayers at his inauguration in 1993.

“President George W. Bush said that it was after a walk with Mr. Graham at the Bush family’s compound in Kennebunkport, Me., that Mr. Bush, as a younger man, decided to become more serious about his faith and quit drinking. President Barack Obama visited Mr. Graham at his North Carolina home in 2010.

“Former President Jimmy Carter released a statement on Wednesday saying that he had counted Mr. Graham among his advisers and friends, adding that the minister had ‘had an enormous influence on my own spiritual life.’ And President Trump tweeted: ‘The GREAT Billy Graham is dead. There was nobody like him! He will be missed by Christians and all religions. A very special man.’

“Of the presidents, Mr. Graham was most closely associated with Nixon… In the 1960 presidential campaign, Mr. Graham, a registered Democrat, was strongly sympathetic to Nixon, a Republican, and offered him advice in his campaign against Senator John F. Kennedy, a Roman Catholic. At one point, concerned that a Kennedy administration would be influenced by the Vatican, Mr. Graham invited more than two dozen Protestant leaders to a meeting to discuss ways to defeat him. He went on to endorse Nixon in the 1968 presidential race and allowed that endorsement to be used in television commercials. He gave the invocation at Nixon’s 1969 inauguration and came to be described as Nixon’s unofficial White House chaplain.

“Mr. Graham said he had been ‘innocently unaware’ of the storm gathering over Watergate. But when the extent of the scandal became known — disclosures of the break-in and the subsequent cover-up orchestrated by the White House — Mr. Graham tended to look the other way, his critics said… In 1982, Mr. Graham displeased the Reagan administration when, after a visit to the Soviet Union, he spoke in favor of universal nuclear disarmament. He also visited Russian churches, and his comment that he had seen no evidence of religious repression by the Soviet authorities created a furor among conservative church members in the United States.”

Breitbart wrote on February 21:

“… former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR) reacted to Christian evangelist Billy Graham’s passing early today. According to Huckabee, Graham’s ‘death’ was ‘fake news’ given the belief his life extends beyond his earthly one. ‘When I heard this morning that Billy Graham had died, I said, “That’s fake news. Billy Graham’s not dead. He’s more alive right now than he’s ever been,”‘ Huckabee said.

“‘And the fact is, that’s what he preached – is [sic] that there is life beyond this one because of Jesus Christ. His message never wavered from that. If somehow Billy Graham did not inherit eternal life, and if he’s not alive right now in a life that will never end, then [sic] he stood for, everything he said is null and void. I don’t believe that’s so.'”

Even though Billy Graham was clearly a very controversial figure, people called him “the Pope to the Protestants” and “America’s Pastor.” Also, commentators keep referring to the idea that he is now in heaven with his wife and Jesus. At one time, Billy Graham called Herbert W. Armstrong and expressed to him: “Brother Herbert, you are doing a great job in preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, while I am doing a great job in preaching the gospel of salvation.” Sadly, however, true salvation has nothing to do with getting involved with the politics of this world or going to heaven when we die.

Yellowstone’s Supervolcano—Ready To Erupt?

Express wrote on February 19:

“Fears for a Yellowstone supervolcano eruption have been sparked after a swarm of 10 earthquakes struck the seismically volatile US national park yesterday following another quake the day before… While all the quakes were relatively small, it does point to an increasingly volatile geological landscape at the park…

“Yesterday’s earthquake roughly 20 miles from the supervolcano [beneath the surface of the park] will add to concerns of an imminent – and devastating – eruption… If the Wyoming volcano were to erupt an estimated 87,000 people would be killed immediately and two-thirds of the USA would immediately be made uninhabitable due to a huge ash cloud sparking rapid climate change. The large spew of ash into the atmosphere would block out sunlight and directly affect life beneath it creating a ‘nuclear winter’ for huge parts of Earth – not simply the American West.

“The massive eruption could be a staggering 6,000 times as powerful as the one from Washington’s Mount St Helens in 1980…”

The Bible does predict the occurrence of terrible natural catastrophes in our time, and it does not exclude the United States. Therefore, an eruption, as described above, is entirely possible.

Huge Earthquake in Mexico

“A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific coast of Mexico Friday, leaving about one million homes and businesses without power. No one was killed by the initial quake, but [thirteen] people died… when a military helicopter crashed while surveying the damage. The earthquake was unusually long, and it was followed by 225 aftershocks.

“This comes less than half a year after a September quake killed more than 300 people in Mexico City and surrounding areas…”

“Unusually Large” Earthquake Hits Wales

The Daily Mail wrote on February 17:

“An unusually large earthquake has hit Wales and south-west England. The tremor, which measured 4.4 on the Richter scale, was centered eight miles north-east Swansea in South Wales… It is the biggest earthquake to hit the UK in 10 years after a 5.2 quake was recorded in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire on February 27, 2008.

“As well as residents in Newport, Cardiff and Swansea reporting that they were affected by the earthquake, tremors were felt in Bristol and Cornwall.”

The Bible speaks of increasing earthquake activities in “diverse places.”

Sexual Travesties by Aid Workers in Africa and Haiti

Daily Mail wrote on February 19:

“Aid workers traded wheat and life-saving medicines for sex with children in crisis zones, it has emerged. Humanitarians traded ‘oil, bulgur wheat, tarpaulin or plastic sheeting, medicines, transport, ration cards, loans, education courses and skills training’ with girls aged 13 to 18. The report, written in 2001, shows officials knew of the alleged abuse in Africa a decade before the Oxfam sex scandal, where chiefs were accused of concealing findings of an inquiry into claims staff paid for prostitutes in disaster-struck Haiti in 2011.

“It added in some cases that parents encouraged their daughters to be sexually exploited by aid workers, government officials, UN peacekeepers, refugee leaders and teachers to bring income into the family. It comes as a British-funded charity supported by Meghan Markle admitted its workers traded food and cash for sex with survivors of the devastating 2010 earthquake on Haiti. World Vision, which Prince Harry’s fiancée was an ambassador for until last year, admitted that paid employees forced desperate survivors of the disaster to have sex… for World Food Programme aid…

“The investigation also found that sometimes younger girls were befriended so aid workers could gain access to their mothers or older sisters, and some teenage boys were also exploited by older women… A female agency worker in Guinea said ‘No girl will get a job without having sex with NGO workers. The girls see it as competition. It is survival of the fittest’. The study of more than 1,500 people revealed that senior staff often allowed agency workers to ‘behave with impunity’ and that aid workers were ‘most frequent sex exploiters of children, often using the very humanitarian aid and services intended to benefit the refugee population as a tool of exploitation’…

“The newly resurfaced report comes in the wake of the Oxfam sex scandal, where it has emerged prominent figures in the charity slept with prostitutes while on humanitarian missions. The report adds: ‘Peacekeepers are alleged to have sexually exploited children in exchange for money and food.’”

This is a horrible example of human degradation. Aid workers who are supposed to help people become offenders of the worst possible kind.

Parents Lose Custody over Teen’s Transgender Wish

Life Site News wrote on February 14:

“Ohio government authorities forced parents to give up legal custody of their daughter (17) after the mother and father said they opposed the girl’s decision to identify as a ‘boy’ and transition to being ‘male’…

“The minor was diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and gender dysphoria after being hospitalized in 2016. Doctors decided that because she wants to identify as a male, she should be given testosterone and sex ‘change’ drugs. But the girl’s parents objected, arguing that they did not think that such ‘treatment’ was in their daughter’s best interest.”

The “land of the free” protects the “freedom” of confused children to change their sex, while it violates the freedom of parents to prevent this. Woe to those who call good evil and evil good.

Switzerland Outlaws Cruel Treatment of Lobsters

USA Today wrote on February 18:

“A [Swiss] law goes into effect March 1 that bans the common cooking method of tossing a live lobster into a big pot of boiling water… killing the…  crustacean. That practice is being outlawed because the Swiss say it’s cruel and lobsters can sense pain. The first national legislation of its kind in the world calls for a more humane death for lobsters…

“The measure is part of the broad principle of ‘animal dignity’ enshrined in Switzerland’s constitution, the only country to have such a provision…

“The new lobster legislation that boils down to a pain-free death was driven by research, including a study by Queen’s University in Belfast that found crustaceans are sentient creatures. ‘These studies show that lobsters, like other animals, experience pain and distress,’ said… a spokesman for the Federal Office of Food Safety and Veterinary Affairs.”

We have stated many years ago that lobsters can sense pain (even though many denied this at that time). To boil a live lobster until it dies IS cruel and inhumane. It is also totally unnecessary and wrong for the additional reason that the Bible PROHIBITS the human consumption of lobsters.

First Sheep-Human Hybrid—In the Name of “Science”

Science Alert wrote on February 19:

“… scientists have created the first interspecies sheep-human chimera, introducing human stem cells into sheep embryos, resulting in a hybrid creature… the human portion of the embryos created in the experiment – before they were destroyed after 28 days – is exceedingly small, but the fact it exists at all is what generates considerable controversy… The research builds on previous experiments by some of the same team that saw scientists successfully grow human cells inside early-stage pig embryos in the lab, creating pig-human hybrids that the researchers described as interspecies chimeras.”

The Daily Mail wrote on February 17:

“[The] Stanford’s team… has already successfully transplanted pancreases into mice… Researchers have previously developed human-pig hybrids but have not yet been able to use the process to grow human organs. To create their ‘chimera’ – as hybrid animal-humans are called – the team grew embryos containing sheep and human cells, and kept the surrogate animal carrying them alive for three weeks. The team now plans to implant human stem cells into sheep embryos and hope that human DNA will be able to grow organs such as a pancreas. It would be a world first if a human organ could be grown inside a sheep.”

It seems there are no limits to science’s attempts to engage in experiments which are totally against nature. There are of course always “reasons” given why such experiments are needful, but the thought of a human-animal hybrid should wake all of us up.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

The passage reads, in the New King James Version: “You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the LORD your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God.”

Alternate renditions of this verse might make the intended meaning a little bit clearer.

The New International Version says: “You must not bring the earnings of a female prostitute or of a male prostitute into the house of the LORD your God to pay any vow, because the LORD your God detests them both.”

The New Living Translation states: “When you are bringing an offering to fulfill a vow, you must not bring to the house of the LORD your God any offering from the earnings of a prostitute, whether a man or a woman, for both are detestable to the LORD your God.”

The Christian Standard Bible says: “Do not bring a female prostitute’s wages or a male prostitute’s earnings into the house of the LORD your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the LORD your God.”

The Contemporary English Version reads: “The LORD your God is disgusted with men and women who are prostitutes of any kind, and he will not accept a gift from them, even if it had been promised to him.”

The International Standard Version states: “Don’t bring the earnings of a female prostitute nor the income of a male prostitute into the house of the LORD your God as payment for any vow. Both of these are detestable to the LORD your God.”

The Living Bible says: “No prostitutes are permitted in Israel. either men or women; you must not bring to the Lord any offering from the earnings of a prostitute or a homosexual, for both are detestable to the Lord your God.”

The Amplified Bible says: “You shall not bring the hire of a harlot or the price of a dog [a sodomite] into the house of the Lord your God, in payment for a vow; for both of these –the gift and the giver—are an abomination to the Lord your God.”

Most commentaries are in agreement that the wages from male and female prostitutes were forbidden to be brought into the house of God; and that the reference to “dog” in the above-cited passage must be understood as applying to male prostitutes or homosexuals (sodomites).

For instance, the Ryrie Study Bible says: “… dog. A Hebrew epithet for a male prostitute or sodomite.”

The Benson Commentary elaborates:

“The hire of a whore — It was a custom among the idolatrous nations for prostitutes to dedicate to the honour of their false gods some part of what they had earned by prostitution. In opposition to which abominable practice this law is thought to have been instituted. Or the price of a dog — It is not easy to give any satisfactory account why these two, the price of a whore, and of a dog, are associated in the same law. Thus much seems clear… that the price of a dog is not here rejected because the dog is an unclean creature.

“Some have thought it is because the dog was worshipped by the Egyptians; that God, to draw his people from or guard them against idolatry, casts this contempt upon that creature in refusing the price it should be sold for. But the most natural sense of the passage seems to be, to take the word dog here in a figurative sense, for the sodomite, or whoremonger, before mentioned [in verse 17], such persons being not improperly styled dogs, on account of their shameless incontinency and brutal manners. Accordingly, men of canine, beastly natures, are called dogs, Matthew 15:26; 2 Peter 2:22; Revelation 22:15.”

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible adds:

“Another Gentile practice, connected with the one alluded to in the preceding verse, is here forbidden. The word ‘dog’ is figurative (compare Revelation 22:15), and equivalent to the ‘sodomite’ of the verse preceding.”

Matthew Poole’s Commentary states:

“This is opposed to the practice of the Gentiles, who allowed both such persons and their oblations they made out of their wicked and infamous gains; and some of them kept lewd women, who prostituted themselves in the temples, and to the honour of their false gods, and offered part of their profit to them… the price of a dog may seem to answer to the sodomite…

“Both these, i.e. the whore and the dog, and therefore the price of either of them cannot be acceptable… the dog is here taken metaphorically rather than properly, because there is no mention in the law… of any abominableness of a dog unto God… or any other unclean creature; but how abominable sodomites are to God is sufficiently evident from other scriptures, and from undeniable reasons.”

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible comments:

“Thou shall not bring the hire of a whore… Which was given to her as a reward for the use of her body… or the price of a dog…  figuratively of a sodomite, comparable to a dog, for his uncleanness and impudence… and the price of such an one the gain he got by the prostitution of his body to unnatural lusts; and so as the hire of a whore answers to one in Deuteronomy 23:17, the price of a dog to a sodomite here.

“… this law seems to be made in opposition to the customs and practices of the Phoenicians and Canaanites, whose land the Israelites were going to inhabit; whose women, as we are told… used to prostitute themselves in the temples of their idols, and dedicate there the hire of their bodies to their gods, thinking thereby to appease their deities and obtain good things for themselves; and the like did the Babylonians and Assyrians… a whore and a dog are fitly put together, because both are libidinous, impure, and impudent; perhaps the vileness and baseness of the creature is chiefly regarded in this law, to keep up the credit and veneration of sacrifices as sacred things.

“… for even both these are an abomination to the Lord thy God; both the hire of the whore and the price of the dog, when brought as a sacrifice to him; the one being a breach of the moral law, and the other tending to bring into contempt the sacrifices of the ceremonial law, if not a favouring idolatry, than which nothing is more abominable to God, who cannot endure anything evil, base, and impure.”

The Geneva Study Bible states: “…Forbidding that any income gained from evil things should be applied to the service of God.”

What are being addressed here are “wages” or “earnings” from female and male prostitutes, as well as homosexuals (sodomites), which wages were earned in the pursuance of their “business” activities.  These wages were not permitted to be accepted as tithes or offerings in God’s house—even in compliance with a “vow” to tithe faithfully to God and give Him offerings.

The Soncino commentary states:

“Harlots used to devote some of their earnings to religious objects in order, as they believed, to expiate their sins and continue in their way of living. For this reason the hire of a harlot was unacceptable as an offering in the house of God.”

After all, Micah 1:7 states very clearly what God thinks about the wages or pay of a harlot; even though applied here, at least to an extent, in figurative ways, by comparing Israel with a harlot or a prostitute, the strong language reveals God’s rejection of the acceptance of the wage of a harlot in the service of God:

“All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, And all her pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire; all her idols I will lay desolate, For she gathered it from the pay of a harlot, And they shall return to the pay of a harlot.”

The New International Version states:  “All her idols will be broken to pieces; all her temple gifts will be burned with fire; I will destroy all her images. Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”

The New Living Translation reads: “All her carved images will be smashed. All her sacred treasures will be burned. These things were bought with the money earned by her prostitution, and they will now be carried away to pay prostitutes elsewhere.”

On the other hand, God’s people would be under a curse if they were to refuse to tithe faithfully from their “legitimate” and not objectionable income. This would also include giving offerings, for instance on the annual Holy Days (Malachi 3:8-12; Deuteronomy 16:16).

The translation of the Authorized Version (King James Bible) could be confusing to some, which reads, “Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.”

From this some surmised that the Scripture prohibits tithing or giving an offering from the sale of a literal dog. But this is not what is meant. The “Personal Correspondence Department” of the [now defunct] Worldwide Church of God addressed and answered this question as follows:

“The Hebrew word for ‘dog’ in this verse means ‘a male prostitute’ (See Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary to the Old Testament, by Alexander Harkavy, page 294). The Moffat and other modern versions make it clear that this verse is speaking of sexually corrupt humans. Also notice Revelation 22:15, ‘For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers…’ This refers to various categories of unrepentant and degenerate humans who will not be able to enter God’s Kingdom.

“Literal dogs, on the other hand, are merely a part of the animal creation, which God has given man dominion over (Gen. 1:26). To tithe the income from the sale of a dog or any other animal is in accord with God’s tithing laws and principles.”

While unclean animals could not be sacrificed but had to be redeemed (Exodus 34:20), this did not apply to tithing from the sale of an unclean animal. The Church of God is most certainly permitted to accept the tithe from such increase, but the Church is not to accept tithe and offerings from the wages of male or female prostitutes in the pursuit of their “business.” Note that in the article, quoted above, the reference to “dogs” (and by extension, “prostitutes”) applied to “unrepentant humans.” Jesus accepted pure and clean “services” from prostitutes who had a repentant attitude.

Remember the example of the well-known sinner in Luke 7:36-50 who washed the feet of Christ, wiped them with her hair, kissed His feet and anointed them with flagrant oil. While the prostitute was condemned by the Pharisee for anointing Christ’s feet, He defended her, saying that her sins, which were many, were forgiven. As God only forgives sins upon repentance, it is obvious that the woman had repented of her sins, which also became manifest by her entire conduct towards Christ.

Christ did not in any way violate the command in Deuteronomy 23:18, not to accept the wages of an unrepentant prostitute (or portions of her wages in the form of fragrant oil), while she would continue her ungodly conduct as a prostitute.

A practicing male or female prostitute cannot “satisfy” God by tithing from the proceeds of his or her ungodly “business” activities; nor can the Church of God be, in any way, “participating” or “sharing” in his or her sin (1 Timothy 5:22) by accepting such donations. Rather, we are told that we must keep ourselves pure (same verse).

The [now defunct] Worldwide Church of God, under Herbert W. Armstrong, has consistently taught that the Church is not to accept donations under certain circumstances. For instance, contributions obtained from the wages of practicing male and female prostitutes, in pursuit of their “business,” would fall under that prohibited category, as well as money earned from the production of weapons for the sole purpose of using them in war. Another obvious example would be donations stemming from illegal activities.

The Church of the Eternal God and its international affiliates abide by this practice. If the Church were to find out that the origin of donations to be received stems from prostitution or the manufacturing of weapons for war or from illegal activities, it would have to refuse acceptance of such donations, as God would not be pleased with such offerings.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

compiled by Dave Harris

“Will Horrific Mass Shootings Ever Stop?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

Another terrible school shooting, this time in Florida, begs the question as to whether politicians will finally be willing to do something about those senseless murders. The statistics of gun violence in the USA is alarming and abominable. But what can be done to prevent further atrocities to occur? Many “solutions” are proposed, but even though some may help to some extent, none does address the underlying problem and none will bring a lasting substantive solution. However, there is a way, but for now, it is being rejected. And so, we are going to hear of more and more murders by mentally disturbed and demon-possessed perpetrators.

“God’s Teachings on Sexual Relationships,” our newest booklet, has been mailed to our subscribers. Additionally, this English version has been sent to Germany for further distribution in international areas.

“Teach Us To Pray,” has been translated into German (LEHRE UNS ZU BETEN!) and forwarded to graphic designer, Shelly Bruno.

Passover will be observed on Thursday evening, after sunset, on March 29, 2018. The Days of Unleavened Bread will be observed beginning March 30th through April 6th.

The 2018 Ministerial Conference will take place in Fort Collins, Colorado. Participants will arrive on April 18^th and depart on April 24^th.

A SKYPE Meeting for the ministry was conducted on Sunday morning, February 18, 2018.

“Paul’s Letter to the Galatians,” is the title of a new Global Trailer, presented by Pastor Brian Gale. Here is a summary:

Paul’s letter to the Galatians has been quoted over the centuries for proof that the Ten Commandments are no longer in effect. As we will show in this verse-by-verse Bible study, nothing could be further from the truth.

“Gläubige Menschenmengen verfolgen Jesus,” is the title for this Sabbath’s German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “Believing Multitudes Persecute Jesus.”

“A Generation Offered Up to Fire,” the sermonette present last Sabbath by Robb Harris, is now posted. Here is a summary:

We see a constant barrage in this world against everything Godly.  Man searches for answers to fix these problems but ignores the cause: Rejection of God.  The necessity for Christ to return and truly fix a world tearing itself apart is evident to God’s Servants.  We can be part of this by imploring God through prayer that His Kingdom will be set up on earth.

“In Jesus’ Name,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Dave Harris, is now posted. Here is a summary:

How people appropriate the name of Jesus Christ is truly a matter of life or death! The Bible reveals the awesome responsibility we have to understand and honor the Person Who is the Son of God.

On February 17, 2018, Robb Harris will present the sermonette, titled, “A Generation Offered Up to Fire,” and Dave Harris will present the sermon, titled, “In Jesus’ Name.”

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.

Last week’s events in Germany serve as a striking example as to HOW DIRTY politics is. Much of the world breathed a sigh of relief when Germany’s two leading parties, the CDU and the SPD, finally reached a grand coalition agreement under Angela Merkel (CDU) and Martin Schulz (SPD), thereby ending an historic time of political limbo after Germany’s election in September. But soon afterwards, due to political maneuvering within his own party, Schulz was forced to declare that he would not accept the contemplated role of foreign minister within the new government.

The German press recognized the true motives at play. Much blame was placed on Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) who presently holds the office of foreign minister in a “caretaker position”. Bild Online wrote on February 9 that Gabriel was using dirty tricks against Schulz; that the same party delegates who had voted for Schulz were now blackmailing him and used him as cannon-fodder; and that the entire situation confirmed almost every possible perception of the meanness and lack of principles in politics.

Bild added that a power struggle had engulfed the SPD; that Schulz was given an ultimatum; and that Gabriel hinted at an alleged agreement between him and Schulz that he would remain the foreign minister in consideration of giving the position of party chief to Schulz. But the German press claims that Gabriel only resigned as the leader of his party in order to escape responsibility if the grand coalition talks would fail (and most observers predicted at the time that they would fail).

In all fairness, even though Schulz had originally declared that he and his party would not be a part of a German government under Merkel, due to the intervention of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD), he changed his mind [or broke his word, depending on one’s viewpoint]… but so did all the major players in his party, including Sigmar Gabriel. And there can be no doubt that he worked out a masterful deal for the SPD. The Local wrote on February 7: “The SPD managed to wangle the Foreign Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the Labor Ministry out of the talks. They appear to have done pretty well for themselves there… The only question is – with so many key ministries going to the other parties – what have the CDU kept for themselves?” The answer: Merkel managed to get the chancellorship… for herself.

With these many key positions for the SPD, that party should have been thankful to Schulz. Instead, they dropped him like a hot potato. The Telegraph commented on February 9 that “Mr. Schulz, a former European parliament president, was briefly talked of as Germany’s next chancellor when he returned from Brussels to enter national politics. He was elected SPD leader with 100 per cent support in 2016 and the country was gripped by ‘Schulzmania’ in the early part of last year. But he led the party to its worst ever result in September’s election. His political career is now almost certainly over…”

The German press echoed those sentiments. Bild Online wrote that Schulz is facing the end of his political career which began with 100 percent and ended with nothing, slipping “from 100 to Zero.”

We don’t share this conclusion. We had predicted that Donald Trump, when he announced his candidacy, would become the President of the USA, even though very few agreed with us at the time. We had predicted that Merkel and Schulz would hammer out a grand coalition agreement when most felt the opposite and thought that Merkel would enter a coalition with smaller parties, without the SPD (the so-called “Jamaica coalition”), and failing this, new elections would be held. We had said that Schulz would play an important role within the new German government. We still feel the same, even though the almost unanimous political viewpoint disagrees. Whether Schulz’s political career is indeed over will have to be seen. In the past, many politicians were viewed at one time as “yesterday’s news,” but they made spectacular comebacks. Just think of Napoleon, Mussolini, and last, but not least, Adolf Hitler. And so, historically, strange and unexpected things have happened in the dirty business of politics, and just maybe, the deadly wound which Schulz received might be healed in the future, which would indeed surprise the whole world.

We all know that politics is mean—rotten to the core. The recent example in Germany only supports this universal truth. Politicians are motivated and driven by lies, betrayal, backstabbing and broken words and promises, while totally lacking in principle and godly character. As the Bible says, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” Politics is like a prostitute who embraces her lovers, but only as long as she can use them. Why is that so? Simply, because the originator of politics is none other than Satan the Devil—a dirty, mean, lying being without any principles or godly character. Satan rules this world. He designs the evil politics of this world, and he influences and inspires those who are engaged in this field. Nothing good will ever come out of it. That is why true Christians must have NOTHING to do with it. Rather, they ought to pray for God’s Kingdom to come very soon which will end, once and for all, the dirty business of politics.

by Norbert Link

We begin with explosive developments in Germany and discuss the ongoing public dissatisfaction with the current and proposed new government, while also addressing the uncertain and perhaps somewhat surprising future of Martin Schulz and Angela Merkel. (Also note this week’s Editorial on the developments in Germany, as well as our new StandingWatch program, “Germany’s Dirty Politics.”  The program was also published in the German language, titled, “Deutschlands Schmutzige Politik.” ).

We continue with the short temporary shutdown of the US government; an agreed-upon budget pact of $400 billion; and President Trump’s proposed controversial $4 trillion budget for 2019; Dow Jones’ unprecedented rollercoaster ride; the sure expectation of a very bad recession within perhaps three years; the interesting perception that President Trump does not understand economics, combined with one of his proposals which seems to be dead on arrival; another court ruling blocking the implementation of his decision on DACA; his politically risky refusal to release the Democratic response to a Republican memo charging the FBI and others with wrongdoing; and his stance on domestic violence in the light of continued allegations against him of harassment and improper sexual conduct.

We address the horrific mass shooting in Florida; the volatile escalation of the situation in Syria, as it pertains to Israel and Iran as well as the USA, Turkey and the Kurds; and the interesting recommendation that in light of America’s total absence in the Syrian issue, Europe and especially Germany should intervene to avoid the outbreak of a terrible third war in the region. We conclude with Israel’s strong position to ignore America’s stance if it conflicts with Israel’s interests; and America’s concern regarding the European Joint Defense Agreement; as well as a shocking article about Poland.

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

Schulz Quits…

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 9:

“The current head of Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) Martin Schulz said on Friday that he would no longer pursue a ministerial post in the next German government, including the job of foreign minister. Schulz had come under heavy criticism in his own party for claiming the foreign minister role for himself after leaders of Germany’s largest parties agreed to form another coalition government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel…

“Schulz, the former president of the European Parliament, said he believed the internal squabble within his party risked jeopardizing a pending coalition deal with Merkel’s conservatives. The SPD reached a deal with Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), on Wednesday. The coalition deal still requires the approval of SPD party members who will vote on the deal in the coming weeks and can still reject it…

“His announcement follows days of mounting pressure from senior members of his party, including from current Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who criticized Schulz’s intention to take the helm at the Foreign Ministry. In an interview published on Friday, Gabriel complained about a lack of appreciation for his work as Germany’s top diplomat…  ‘It is clear, unfortunately, that the public’s regard for my work meant absolutely nothing to the new SPD leadership,’ Gabriel said…

“Directly after the September election, Schulz ruled out forming a new coalition with Merkel’s CDU/CSU bloc and had categorically ruled out joining her cabinet in the past. The backtracking by SPD leaders angered many in the party’s youth branch…”

Schulz’s Political Career Over?

The Telegraph wrote on February 9:

“Mr Schulz… was briefly talked of as Germany’s next chancellor… He was elected SPD leader with 100 per cent support in 2016 and the country was gripped by ‘Schulzmania’ in the early part of last year. But he led the party to its worst ever result in September’s election.

“His political career is now almost certainly over… His downfall comes despite negotiating a coalition deal widely regarded as very good for the SPD… Mr Gabriel has alleged they made a deal in 2016 under which he would get to stay on as foreign minister in return for stepping aside as party leader to make way for Mr Schulz…”

Whether Schulz’s political career is indeed over will have to be seen. Stranger things have happened in the dirty business of politics, and just maybe, the deadly wound which he received might be healed in the future, surprising the world. Even though Schulz had resigned as leader of the SPD and even though he will not pursue at this point the office of Foreign Minister, he remains to be a member of the German Parliament (Bundestagsabgeordneter).

Bild Online wrote on February 9 that Gabriel indicated that he wanted to remain Foreign Minister. And so, within an hour of Schulz’s “resignation,” Johannes Kahrs, the head of the SPD’s conservative wing, and others stated that Gabriel should stay as Foreign Minister. On the other hand, some of Gabriel’s’ actions against Schulz (for which he subsequently apologized) caused great concern within the SPD.

Merkel Paid High Price

Handelsblatt Global wrote on February 9:

“Ms. Merkel has paid a high price to renew a coalition with the same old partners – maybe too high. There’s plenty of rumbling in the rank and file of her party over the concessions she made to win over her rivals. Their concern: By giving away three prized ministerial portfolios to the Social Democratic Party, she may have handed the struggling party a future while robbing one for her own…

“The concessions prompted a cynical tweet from one CDU parliamentarian, Olav Gutting: ‘At least, we’ve kept the chancellorship.’”

Merkel Defies Critics

AFP wrote on February 12:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed on Sunday to serve another full four-year term despite growing criticism within her conservative ranks of the sweeping concessions she made to hold onto power. The veteran leader said that despite the sniping over a poor election result and the loss of key ministries in a fresh coalition deal, she felt no decline of her authority and wanted to stay at the helm of Europe’s biggest economy until 2021… she stressed that she… planned to stick with her pledge to stay on for four years as chancellor and party chief rather than make way for a successor before the end of the term…

“‘The transition to the post-Merkel era has begun,’ judged the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily, which added that Merkel’s power was waning and ‘a dangerous mood’ was starting to spread within her CDU. Handing over the finance ministry — long the domain of Merkel lieutenant and fiscal hawk Wolfgang Schäuble – ‘was one concession too many,’ fumed lawmaker Wolfgang Bosbach, reflecting a widely held view in the conservative party.

“An ambitious rival of Merkel, Jens Spahn, also charged that losing direct control of the public purse strings was a ‘hard blow’ that ‘hurt’ the CDU… Conservative lawmaker Christean Wagner even suggested that [the party’s] leader should ‘think about a successor.’”

Handelsblatt Global wrote on February 12:

“For 12 years, Angela Merkel was everybody’s darling. Then the chancellor stumbled over the refugee crisis. Now, after a weak coalition deal, rebellious conservatives are demanding a wide-sweeping party renewal… A revolt is simmering. Although there’s no immediate successor to Ms. Merkel in sight, her authority is clearly being questioned…”

Deutsche Welle added on February 12:

“Germany’s chancellor is reaching out to critics in her party — kind of. Angela Merkel intends to remain the top Christian Democrat, and chances are good that she will succeed.”

Second US Government Shutdown Short-Lived…

USA Today wrote on February 9:

“President Trump signed a $400 billion budget deal Friday, hours after the House passed it in a pre-dawn vote, reopening the federal government after it was partially shut down for the second time in less than a month. The House voted 240-186, with 73 Democrats and 167 Republicans voting in favor…

“House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., voted against the bill following her eight-hour marathon speech on Wednesday, protesting congressional inaction on protections for DREAMers, undocumented immigrants brought here as children. Pelosi issued a statement early Friday that criticized Ryan, saying he ‘refused to make a real commitment’ to schedule a vote to protect DREAMers…

“Pelosi and other Democrats have called on Ryan to guarantee an open debate on legislation — something Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has promised in the Senate… Ryan has said he intends to solve the problem. But he will only bring up a bill that President Trump supports… Of course, it is not entirely clear what the president will demand in an immigration bill. His public statements have embraced a wide range of policy options (from deportation to a path to citizenship, conditioned upon the erection of a “huge beautiful wall,” for which Mexico was supposed to pay)…

“The House vote followed earlier Senate approval of the budget pact that was initially delayed by a protest from Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul…  ‘We have Republicans hand-in-hand with Democrats offering us trillion-dollar deficits,’ Paul said on the Senate floor Thursday night… Fifteen other Republicans joined Paul in voting against the bill, with many expressing similar objections about the increased deficit spending.”

“Nobody Should Be Proud of the Budget Deal”

The Week wrote on February 9:

“The debt ceiling was raised or rather, in the deliberately mixed metaphor that is the official language of Washington, ‘suspended.’ Spending at the Pentagon, where single agencies routinely ‘lose’ amounts as large as $800 million, was increased by billions.

“All afternoon senators and congressmen of both parties congratulated one another… It hardly speaks to the virtues of either party or their members…”

“President Donald Trump Proposes a $4 Trillion-Plus Budget for Next Year

The Associated Press and Newsmax wrote on February 12:

“President Donald Trump is proposing a $4 trillion-plus budget for next year that projects a $1 trillion or so federal deficit and — unlike the plan he released last year — never comes close to promising a balanced federal ledger even after 10 years. And that’s before last week’s [$400] billion budget pact is added this year and next, showering both the Pentagon and domestic agencies with big increases…”

Fox News wrote on February 12:

“President Trump’s recent budget moves could complicate his relationship with the House Freedom Caucus and other fiscal conservatives… ‘The swamp won, and the American taxpayer lost,’ Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a founding member of the caucus, said…

“Mark Meckler, co-founder of Tea Party Patriots, said Monday that ‘many hopeful-but-naive patriots believed D.C. would change under Donald Trump. Many thought he could drain the swamp without us. Friday morning painfully showed those same patriots that such a plan is nothing but fantasy.’”

One of the Wildest Weeks Since the Financial Crisis

CNBC wrote on February 9:

“The Dow Jones industrial average posted its worst week in two years. Earlier in the session, the index was on track for its worst week since October 2008, during the financial crisis.

“The stock index has traveled more than 22,000 points this week in a volatile few days that kicked off Monday with the Dow’s biggest closing point drop on record. Stocks are falling as traders worry about rising interest rates, and volatility… has jumped to its highest since the market turmoil of August 2015.”

Coming… The Next Recession, and It Will Be BAD

The Huffington Post wrote on February 10:

“It’s highly likely the next recession will occur in the coming three years, while President Donald Trump is still in office… America is ill-prepared for its next recession…

“A recession starts after economic activity has reached its peak. Right when things are better than ever is when they’re about to get worse… There have been 11 recessions since World War II. The current economic expansion began in mid-2009, making it the third longest in history, and it can’t last forever…”

“Trump Doesn’t Understand Deficits and Trade”

The National Post wrote on February 12:

“The usual story that is told about the dangers of running deficits when the economy is not in recession is that increased government borrowing increases the competition for domestic savings, pushes up interest rates and ‘crowds out’ private investment. But in an open economy, governments don’t have to depend on domestic investors to buy their bonds; they also tap into foreigners’ savings to finance their borrowing.

“Borrowing from abroad is essentially the story of how the Reagan and Bush deficits were financed: an inflow of foreign savings to the United States allowed the government to run large deficits without an increase in interest rates or a decline in private investment spending…

“But the real challenge facing the government of Canada — and the governments of all the trading partners of the United States — is that the present U.S. administration remains invincibly ignorant of balance of payments accounting. President Trump wants to increase the government deficit and reduce the trade deficit, without the pain of higher interest rates and weakened investment. It is literally impossible to meet these demands, and the challenge of explaining this point to an incurious President is only slightly less daunting.”

Another Ill-Advised Proposal by President Trump

Axios wrote on February 14:

“President Trump endorsed a 25-cent gas tax hike to pay for infrastructure at a White House meeting this morning with senior administration officials and members of Congress from both parties…

“Trump’s gas tax idea appears dead on arrival. Republicans aren’t about to hike taxes for the Trump voters driving their pickup trucks to work every day. It’s a regressive tax and in Republicans’ minds would undo some of working and middle class tax cuts they just passed.”

Second Judge Blocks Trump’s Decision to End DACA

Newsmax reported on February 13:

“A second U.S. judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump’s decision to end a program that protects immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children from deportation.

“U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn ruled that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, cannot end in March as planned, a victory for state attorneys general and immigrants who sued the Republican administration. The decision is similar to an earlier ruling by a federal judge in San Francisco that DACA must remain in place while litigation over Trump’s decision unfolds.”

Trump Blocks Release of Democratic Memo in Response to GOP Memo

Newsmax wrote on February 9:

“President Donald Trump on Friday returned to the House Intelligence Committee the Democratic response to the Republican memo (Nunes memo) alleging surveillance abuses by the FBI and Justice Department for revisions — citing concerns about classified information contained in the 10-page document…

“The four-page Nunes memo alleged the warrant obtained by the FBI from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court to monitor former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page was based on an unsubstantiated dossier of negative information on the Republican presidential candidate. The dossier was prepared by former British agent Christopher Steele and was paid, in part, by the campaign of Democrat Hillary Clinton. The Clinton data were never disclosed in the application for the FISA warrant, according to the GOP memo…”

The Huffington Post added on February 9:

“Several of the allegations in the Nunes memo are already falling apart. One of the key complaints in the memo is that the FBI failed to disclose that a dossier compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele was funded by Democratic operatives looking for information on Trump during the campaign. But three days after the memo was released, Nunes conceded that the FBI had disclosed the political origins of the Steele dossier in a footnote on its application to spy on Page…”

The Telegraph wrote on February 9:

“The president’s rejection of the Democratic memo is in contrast to his enthusiastic embrace of releasing the Republican document, which he pledged before reading to make public. The president declassified the document last week, allowing its publication in full.

“The president has said the GOP memo ‘vindicates’ him in the ongoing Russian investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller. But congressional Democrats and Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, who helped draft the GOP memo, have said it shouldn’t be used to undermine the special counsel…

“Trump declassified the GOP-authored memo over the objections of the FBI, which said it had ‘grave concerns’ about the document’s accuracy…”

Newsmax wrote on February 10:

“The decision to block the Democratic memo is a political risk for Trump…”

Finally… Trump Speaks Out against Domestic Violence…

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 14:

“The US president has finally condemned domestic violence after one of his aides resigned over related charges. The Trump administration’s handling of Rob Porter’s resignation has shaken the White House’s upper echelons…

“The president’s words came days after he praised former top aide Rob Porter, who had been forced to resign last week due to allegations of assault made by his two ex-wives… Trump himself has also been accused of sexual assault and harassment by several women.

“Trump’s words also mark the end of his week-long silence on his stance towards domestic abuse… Over the weekend, however, Trump did find the words to defend the work of his former staff secretary. He told reporters on Friday, ‘[Porter] says he’s innocent, and I think you have to remember that.’ Trump also applauded Porter for his ‘good work’ in the White House. He did not express sympathy for Porter’s former wives.

“On Saturday, Trump then used a Tweet to cast doubt on the seriousness of assault accusations, describing them as ‘mere allegations.’ ‘Peoples (sic) lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new,’ Trump wrote on Twitter. ‘There is no recovery for someone falsely accused — life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as a Due Process?’

“Porter’s resignation and the White House’s handling of the situation shook the administration at the highest level. Chief of staff John Kelly and White House lawyer Don McGahn are said to have known about the allegations against Porter. The White House insists that it only learned of the allegations shortly before Porter’s resignation, while the FBI maintains the administration had received information on the subject at various points last year.

“Congressional lawmakers have launched an investigation looking into how Porter was able to work at the White House on an interim security clearance despite the allegations of domestic violence.”

The White House’s changing and less than convincing explanations, especially in light of the FBI’s statements, which totally contradict the White House’s versions, have cast a dark cloud on the affair.

In addition, the Week reported on February 14:

“President Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, told The New York Times on Tuesday he paid $130,000 out of his own pocket to Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who told multiple media outlets ahead of the 2016 presidential election that she had an extramarital affair with Trump. In a statement, Cohen told the Times that ‘neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign … reimbursed me for the payment’ to Daniels… Daniels’ manager said Wednesday that Daniels believes by acknowledging the payment, Cohen has invalidated the non-disclosure agreement. She vowed to publicly discuss the details of her affair with Trump. The president has denied the affair.”

These threats do not sound too good for Donald Trump, apart from the fact that it would stretch the imagination to believe that his lawyer paid the adult film star out of his own pocket, without knowledge of Trump, without his consent, and without any reimbursement.

Horrific Mass School Shooting in Florida

Deutsche Welle reported on February 14:

“At least 17 people have been killed and many others injured in a school shooting in Florida. Police arrested a teenager who had previously been expelled from the school…  [The murderer] is a 19-year-old former student, who had a troubled history… [He] was found with multiple ammunition magazines and an AR-15-style rifle…

“The shooting reignited debate over gun violence in the United States that kills nearly 33,000 each year.  So far this year there have been 18 school shootings across the country…”

Every time a terrible mass shooting takes place, discussions evolve around gun violence. Soon thereafter, the topic is placed on the back burner, to give way to more “important” issues, such as, how the debt ceiling can be raised so that more sophisticated weapons can be produced for the military. The morbid fascination of the American people with their guns is very difficult to be understood by most other civilized countries.

Gun Control and Mental Illness

Breitbart reported on February 15:

“Thursday on NBC’s ‘Today,’ host Megyn Kelly offered her thoughts in a monologue about gun control and mental illness on the heels of the Parkland, FL school shooting:

“‘There have been at least 12… school shootings in America so far in 2018… We’re averaging one just about every three or four days. How we doing, America? Everyone okay with that? Apparently the answer is in fact yes because we haven’t done virtually anything to stop it… We all know what is about to happen right now, don’t we? We’re going to say how sorry and shocked and sad we are, and then we’re going to move on without doing anything. And then we’ll express how sorry and shocked and sad we are at the next one, and the one after that. Does anyone really think that we are going to do anything about these mass murders?

“‘… I don’t believe that. I don’t believe in a single one of these politicians. I don’t believe any of them have the courage it takes to push through reform…

“‘Five years ago I was live on the air and pregnant with my third child when 20 first graders were shot to death in school in Newtown, Connecticut… That was the one where we all thought now we will do something. Now we have to change. But we didn’t. In fact, since Newtown, there have been nearly 300 school shootings in America, about one a week…

“‘Are we really going to loosen the standards for involuntary commitment in this country? Even if we could pay for that, good luck convincing the ACLU that it’s legal. And then there are the guns… No gun reforms are getting through… And most of the ones that will be proposed in the wake of this shooting will be utterly meaningless and wouldn’t have even arguably prevented this killing. The NRA is too powerful, our politicians are too weak, and the guns are too ubiquitous.

“‘Guess how many guns there are in America, do you know? Over 300 million. They say 6 to 10 million AE-15s like the one reportedly used in Florida. So now we’ve seen it a million times. We’re going to debate that gun. But any semiautomatic pistol can unleash carnage. There was no AR-15 at Virginia Tech and that remains the worst school shooting in U.S. history. 32 dead and nothing changed… In the meantime… [m]y children, like yours, have to practice hiding in the bathroom to avoid an active shooter and don’t even think about letting the teacher lead a prayer to get them through that moment because the guns are perfectly legal, but the prayers are not…’”

Gun Violence Not the Same in Israel

JTA wrote on February 15:

“Mike Huckabee, the former Governor of Arkansas… reacted to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida Wednesday by comparing Israeli gun safety policy to America’s… [He tweeted:] ‘Reminded that Israel pretty much eliminated it by placing highly trained people strategically to spot the one common thread–not the weapon, but a person with intent.’

“Many, including a prominent Israeli commentator, took issue with Huckabee’s analysis, saying it isn’t tight security that protects Israel from mass shootings but laws that carefully control who can own and carry a gun, and when. Huckabee is a strict supporter of the right to bear arms.

“‘No Governor, Israel NEVER had such a problem,’ responded Alon Pinkas, a former Consul General of Israel in New York. ‘We don’t worship guns, we don’t sell assault rifles to people, we don’t have a genius creation like the NRA, we don’t regard every bunch of guys a “well regulated militia” and we’re pretty much done fighting the British.’

“… Lawyer… Jill Filipovic referred Huckabee to an article about how Israel restricts gun ownership to those who can prove that their professions or places of residence put them in danger.

“… research, including a study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, says school and other mass shootings are rare in Israel because most people do not have access to the kinds of arsenals readily available in the United States.”

Escalation of Israeli Military Action in Syria

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 10:

“An Israeli jet has been downed by Syrian anti-air fire after Israel intercepted an Iranian drone launched from Syria. The incident is one of the most serious involving Israel, Iran and Syria amid the Syrian civil war… Israeli police said the F16 crashed in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel (the Jezreel Valley is the biblical Armageddon where Gentile armies will gather to converge from there on Jerusalem to fight against the returning Christ)…

“In a separate statement, the military said… it had carried out ‘large-scale’ attacks on at least a dozen Iranian targets in Syria in response to the drone’s intrusion into Israeli airspace. But the Syrian military denied that the drone had violated Israeli airspace, saying the aircraft was on a mission gathering intelligence on ‘Islamic State’ militants within Syria…

“Israel’s targeting of an Iranian site in Syria marks an escalation in military action involving the three countries and is one of the most serious incidents of its type since the Syrian civil conflict began eight years ago… Israeli missiles also this week targeted a Syrian military research center near Damascus.”

The Complicated Syrian Civil War

Euractiv and Reuters reported on February 11:

“Pro-government forces and Kurdish-led forces have fought each other elsewhere in Syria, and Damascus opposes the Kurds’ demands for autonomy. But in Afrin they have a common enemy and a mutual interest in blocking Turkish advances. Turkey, which regards the Kurdish YPG militia in Afrin as a threat on its southern border, launched an assault on the region last month…

“For the United States, it is yet another complication in Syria’s seven-year-old war, and a reminder of how its Syrian Kurdish ally must at times make deals with Assad even as it builds military ties with the United States. Lacking international protection, the Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria say they have reached agreements with Damascus to allow reinforcements to be sent to Afrin from other Kurdish-dominated areas…

“The United States has relied on the YPG as a vital ground component of its war against Islamic State, and has backed the group in other Kurdish-run regions in northern Syria along the border with Turkey. But US forces are not in Afrin, so have been unable to shield Afrin from the attack by Turkey, its NATO ally… The Kurds meanwhile accuse Russia of giving a green light for the Turkish attack by withdrawing observers it deployed in Afrin last year.”

With these many players involved (also note the following articles), it is difficult to perceive who is actually supporting and fighting whom… while the brutal war goes on and on…

Israel under Cyber Attack

The Jerusalem Post wrote on February 12:

“With this weekend’s events shifting the country’s attention to envisioning the next potential war risks, the cyber-war playing field may once again come front and center… Israeli adversaries could potentially hack Israel Air Force aircraft, including the new, most-advanced F-35…

“Israeli drones can also be hacked and already have been. From 2011-14, Islamic Jihad master hacker Maagad Ben Juwad Oydeh hacked IDF drones while they flew over Gaza, as well as multiple parts of Ben-Gurion Airport’s network. The US and England also had previously hacked Israeli F-16s and drones for information.

“… could Iran or Hezbollah… turn an Israeli drone against Israel?… Other potential cyber risks that have been discussed are adversaries hacking Israeli missiles, missile defense or even nuclear-attack warning systems… To date, Iran and Hezbollah have failed to hack Israel to anywhere near the same extent that Russia and China have managed to hack the US and Europe…”

Germany Should Intervene in Light of American Absence

On February 12, Deutsche Welle published the following comments by Gil Murciano, “a Middle East and Africa expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) think tank in Berlin”:

“In the past, the Americans were an important part in the Israelis’ policy regarding Syria and Lebanon. But today, when it comes to the Syria issue, we see a complete absence of the US. You see the Americans leaving the arena to the Russians… The Syrian issue currently is not on the radar of US policy…

“I think the EU and, specifically in this case, Germany have a unique potential. It is both a strategic ally of Israel, and at the same time it enjoys some level of access or reliability from Iran. Germany is the only actor in the Western world that has some practical experience in mediating informal agreements between Israel, Iran and Hezbollah — the relevant factors in this conflict. Here I refer to the POW swap where Germany was the main negotiator and facilitator in the past. So it has the know-how, the capacities, and a huge interest to stop this cycle of escalation. The shockwave of a third war in this region would have an impact over the Mediterranean. In Lebanon alone we have 1.5 million refugees who, in case of a war, might be knocking on Europe’s doors.”

Europe and specifically Germany will play a major role in the Middle East.

To Serve Israel’s Interests, Israel Must Ignore America

The Jewish Press wrote on February 13:

“Israel should apply Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria, regardless of the United States position on the matter, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Ze’ev Elkin said Tuesday. Elkin’s comments followed a statement by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday that he had been talking with the United States for some time about the sovereignty law that would extend Israeli civil jurisdiction to settlements in Judea and Samaria, and the subsequent denial of such talks by the White House.

“Elkin told the 15th annual Jerusalem Conference that the issue of whether or not talks on annexation have taken place between Netanyahu and the Trump administration is not important, and that the focus should be whether or not applying sovereignty to Judea and Samaria is an Israeli interest…

“Elkin gave Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights in 1981 as an example that ultimately, Israel should do what it thinks serves its interests best, regardless of the American position. ‘The annexation of the Golan Heights was against the position of President [Ronald] Reagan, who was a very pro-Israel president, and he even imposed sanctions on Israel as a result,’ Elkin said. ‘Today, nobody remembers President Reagan’s sanctions, but we are left with full Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.’

“When asked if Israel should ignore the Trump administration’s position, Elkin said: ‘If what is right for the State of Israel is against the American stance, then we must do what is right for Israel and against the American stance.’”

And so, the relationship between the USA and Israel is prophesied to deteriorate.

USA Worried over European Defense Agreement

Defense News reported on February 14:

“The U.S. is keeping a close eye on a newly formed European Union joint defense agreement [called, the Permanent Structured Cooperation on Security and Defence (PESCO)] to ensure that European members are not distracted from their NATO commitments… ‘We don’t want to see E.U. efforts pulling requirements or forces away from NATO and into the E.U.’, [Katie Wheelbarger, principal deputy assistant secretary for international security affairs, said.]

“… The countries involved ― Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden ― overlap with the NATO nations, with some key differences.

“Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Ireland and Sweden are non-NATO countries, while PESCO excludes Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., three members of NATO not based on the continent that often drive the alliance conversation; instead, PESCO is being driven by France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

“Roberta Pinotti, Italy’s defense minister, wrote…  that PESCO ‘might represent the best and, right now, the only possible response to the challenges to international security and Europe’s defense… We need new joint investment in which the EU has a key financial but also political role — new programs must reflect European needs and must be seen by all as intrinsically European…’

“The list of potential PESCO projects [is] still being created, but the creation of a new defense funding mechanism ― under which NATO countries could pool resources for, as Pinotti put it, “intrinsically European” needs and not necessarily spend that funding how NATO would like them to ― has the U.S. keeping a close eye on proceedings… the U.S. is worried about creating two sets of rules that could complicate the issue.”

Without specifically saying or admitting it, PESCO has of course been created to counteract the USA which it correctly felt to have become totally unreliable under President Trump.  Also note the next article.

Need for the EU Army

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 15:

“Early plans for a European army failed in the wake of World War II. EU states have since taken numerous small steps to integrate their armed forces, bringing the idea of a Europe-wide military ever-closer to reality… After the end of the European Defense Community (EDC) in 1954, plans for a European army were put on the back burner for decades, until recent events revived the idea…

“The first major step was late last year, when 25 EU member states agreed to the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) on the integration of national militaries into an EU force…

“Founded in 1989, the Franco-German Brigade is the only bi-national military organization in the world…

“In 1995… Germany and the Netherlands established the German/Netherlands Corps… German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen called it a ‘prime example of how to build a European defense union’…

“EU countries are increasingly recognizing the need to accelerate closer military cooperation within the bloc. This not only applies to smaller nations like the Netherlands, but also to EU heavyweights like France and Germany…

“During France’s Mali intervention in 2013, military leaders in Paris were shocked to discover that the country lacked the resources to run such extensive combat operations on its own for long periods of time. French military partners had to help with transport and reconnaissance missions shortly after the operation was launched…

“Last year it was reported that Germany’s navy had no submarines at the ready… The country’s military, the third-largest in the EU, is not expected to have an operational submarine at its disposal again until mid-2018 at the earliest…”

Polish Government Orders Poles to Denounce “Anti-Polish” Compatriots

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 15:

“Senate leader Stanislaw Karczewski has ordered Poles living abroad to inform authorities of [‘harmful’] ‘anti-Polish comments’ made by other Poles. A report [by German public broadcaster NDR] claims an official letter has been sent to embassies and consulates…worldwide asking Poles to ‘document all anti-Polish comments and opinions that could hurt us.’

“The letter orders Poles to ‘inform embassies, consulates of any defamation that could harm the good reputation of Poland.’ NDR says the letter has already been distributed by the general consulate in Munich and that Hamburg’s consulate would follow suit…

“The move comes after Poland passed a controversial Holocaust law that makes it an offense to state that Poles or Poland had any part in Nazi-era atrocities… The law was immediately condemned by the US and Israel. German Chancellor Angela Merkel as well as Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel avoided wading into the diplomatic spat, stressing that Germany alone was responsible for the Holocaust…

“According to senate leader Karczewski, who penned the letter, Poles have been exposed to the painful, unjust and, most of all, factually wrong expression‘Polish death camps’ as well as ‘claims that Poles were involved in the Holocaust,’ stressing that both were an ‘insult to our national dignity and pride.’”

There can be NO question that Poles were involved in the Holocaust. It is absolutely ludicrous to suggest otherwise. The order of the Polish government to denounce Poles who dare to tell the truth is shameful and reminds us of Gestapo activities under Hitler, East-Germany’s Stasi and other dictatorial countries.

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 Bible gives us several reasons for ancient Israel’s request, and it shows not only why this desire was sinful, but also, how the fulfillment of Israel’s desire has been causing much pain and suffering for Israel and all of mankind.

To see the context, note 1 Samuel 8:1-5:

“Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel… but his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, ‘Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make for us a king to judge us like all the nations.’”

Several factors come into play here. First, Samuel should not have made his sons judges over Israel. Second, rather than demanding a king, the elders of Israel should have waited for Samuel to reverse his decision and dismiss his sons as judges. After all, Samuel was aware of the fact that Eli had not restrained his wicked sons and that, as a consequence, God made Samuel a prophet (1 Samuel 3:11-14, 20).

But the elders of Israel did not wait for Samuel’s intervention, and so, Samuel perceived this action and demand for a king as a loss of confidence in his leadership. However, God made it clear that ultimately, their demand was a rejection of God’s leadership, because God had made Samuel judge over Israel (1 Samuel 7:6, 15-17).

We read in 1 Samuel 8:6-7:

“But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to judge us.’ So Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.’”

God knew, of course, that ultimately, Israel would demand a king. They had already asked Gideon to rule over them as king, but Gideon had refused to do so. Judges 8:22-23 states: “Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, ‘Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also; for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.’ But Gideon said to them, ‘I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you.’”

But the time would come when Israel would be so persistent in their demand for a king that God would let them have their will. God does not prevent us from sinning, and He does not force us to live righteously. When people want to sin or lose faith in God, He does not take away their free will, but they will have to live with the consequences. Furthermore, God will use man (and even the wrong decisions of man) to bring about His purpose. For instance, He never wanted Israel to fight in war, but when they decided to become a warrior nation, He used them and their warring actions to fulfill His unconditional promise to Abraham to bring them into the land of Canaan. And so, God had already given statutes and injunctions for the king’s behavior once Israel’s demand would be fulfilled (Deuteronomy 17:14-20).

Nevertheless, God made it very clear that the demand for a king was SINFUL. One reason has already been revealed: It constituted the rejection of God’s rule over them. This desire, to be ruled by man, rather than God, has always been a major problem in man’s conduct. Christ explained that His own people (the house of Judah, John 1:11) would kill Him because they did not want Him to rule over them (Luke 19:14).

And so, God told Samuel to warn Israel of the consequences in asking for and receiving their king (1 Samuel 8:8-9):

“‘According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.’”

The picture which Samuel was inspired to paint for the people was not a pleasant one. It described the very evil of the institution of human kingship or human government in general, when it is in defiance of God’s rule. Christ later declared to His disciples: “‘You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant’” (Mark 10:42-43).

Samuel explained that the king and the human system over which he (or any human leader) would rule would take the sons and daughters of the people, as well as the best of their fields, to use them for his (or the government’s) own purposes and personal gain; that he (or the government) would make many weapons and build a great army to fight against other nations; and that he (or the government) would institute a tax system, in addition to the godly enjoined duty to pay tithe and offerings to Him. Even though Christ and Paul would make it clear, later on, that we are to pay our taxes to Caesar (Luke 20:22-25; Matthew 17:24-27; Romans 13:6-7), it remains true that the origin of the human tax system is evil, and that a country and a people are destroyed when they are taxed heavily (Proverbs 29:4, American Bible: “By justice a king gives stability to the land, but he who imposes heavy taxes ruins it.”).

God also forewarned them that the time would come when the people would complain and murmur against their king, but God would not listen to them. We read in 1 Samuel 8:18: “And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day.”

Nevertheless, the people did not heed the warning, but responded: “No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go before us and fight our battles” (1 Samuel 8:19-20).

Rather than relying on God, they wanted to rely on man. They wanted to be like everybody else, even though God had called the nation of Israel to be different and holy—to be set aside for a separate and godly purpose (Exodus 19:6). God wanted to dwell among them (Exodus 29:46) and rule over them. They were to show other nations how a people can live under God’s rule. But they chose to reject God’s rule in order to become like all the other nations. Rather than trusting in God that He would fight their battles (Exodus 14:13-14; Deuteronomy 1:30; compare also 1 Samuel 7:8-14), they reiterated their wish for a king so that HE could lead them in battle. They wanted to follow the false god of war and human war heroes, rather than the true God of Peace.

Samuel reiterated his warning in 1 Samuel 10:19: “But you have today rejected your God, who Himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and you have said to Him, ‘No, but set a king over us!’”

Samuel gives an additional reason for their immediate demand for a king in 1 Samuel 12:12:

“‘And when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, “No, but a king shall reign over us” when the LORD your God was your king.’” It was the fear of an approaching enemy which prompted them to ask for a king at that time, thinking that a powerful and visible human warrior could save them, while in their mind, the invisible great God could not accomplish this. The demand for a king was an example of complete and total lack of faith in God. Samuel made this very clear when he continued that God would work a visible sign to show them their sinfulness: “‘…I will call to the LORD, and He will send thunder and rain, that you may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking a king for yourselves’” (1 Samuel 12:17).

When God performed this miracle, “…all the people said to Samuel, ‘Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins the evil of asking a king for ourselves’” (1 Samuel 12:19). But their “remorse” was too late, because in the meantime, Samuel had already received and followed God’s command to anoint Saul as the king of Israel (As it turned out, Saul, who was at the beginning a humble man and little in his own sight, became proud and wicked, so that God forsook him and asked Samuel to anoint David as king instead.)

Responding to the people’s “regret,” Samuel stated: “…‘You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart… serve Him in truth with all your heart… But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king’” (1 Samuel 12:20, 24-25).

The rest is history—and prophecy. The nations of Israel and Judah did live wickedly so that God expelled them from their land. First, the house of Israel was enslaved by the Assyrians, and later, the house of Judah was enslaved by the Babylonians. The nation of Judah was subsequently re-established in the Promised Land, but the house of Israel never returned. Modern descendants of the house of Judah can be found today in the state of Israel and elsewhere, while modern descendants of the house of Israel can be found in the United Kingdom, the United States, and in other English-speaking nations.

The Bible shows us that due to their wickedness and rebellion against God, both modern houses will again be led into captivity. No king or ruler will save them from this pre-determined fate which has been proclaimed because of their continuing sins. They still believe that human beings should lead them and will save them and bring them deliverance and peace; that God is not to be considered; and that His Word is not to be kept.

They still follow their god of war and live with the delusion that their elected rulers need to lead them in their wars with terrible, destructive weapons and huge armies. Even though God had told them that He was to choose their king whom they desired (1 Samuel 10:24), they later even rejected that command, as Hosea 8:4 tells us: “They set up kings, but not by Me; They made princes, and I did not acknowledge it.” But of course nothing can be accomplished against God’s Will, even though man may think otherwise. But overall, this is not God’s world, and Satan rules it and brings people to power whom he wants. God only intervenes in this day and age in the political affairs of this world, when He needs to in order to bring about His desired purpose.

Ancient and modern Israel and Judah did not learn what God is telling all of us in Psalm 146:3: “Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.”

The ancient and modern houses of Israel and Judah were meant to show the world how to live righteously, by trusting in God and not in their human leaders or their weapons and armies (Psalm 44:6-8). Instead, they have been following the ways of the world like all the other nations.

But God is telling them today what is going to happen to them very soon:

“‘I have destroyed you, Israel, who is there to help you? Where now is your king that he may save you, in all your cities where are your rulers? “Give me a king and princes,” you said. I gave you a king in my anger, and in my wrath I took him away’” (Hosea 13:9-11, Revised English Bible).

When Christ returns, human rulers and human kings will end (Daniel 2:44). Wars will cease (Psalm 46:9). Trust in God will be taught and practiced. Taxes will be abandoned, and only God’s tithing system will continue to exist. One bad choice of Israel’s demand for a king had terrible consequences for them and the entire world. But thankfully, God will reverse this bad and evil decision, when His righteous God Family will govern this planet. Then we will experience a world of peace when all nations, including Israel and Judah, will learn to rely on God, rather than on man, and abandon the way of war (Isaiah 2:1-4).

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

Compiled by Dave Harris

We have updated both our English and German web pages concerning observing this year’s Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day. For those attending the U.S. site, look for an email with specific instructions regarding making reservations, which will be sent within the next two weeks.

A new Member Letter (February 2018) has been written and mailed to our subscribers. In this letter, Pastor Rene Messier points to the “mission statement” given to the Church of God and emphasizes our need to finish the job God has given to us.

“Germany’s Dirty Politics,” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

The events in Germany serve as a striking example as to how dirty and rotten politics is. But why is that? What can all of us learn from these developments? And do the events point at significant biblical prophecies—especially, when focusing on the political future of Angela Merkel and Martin Schulz?

“Deutschlands Schmutzige Politik,” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program, presented by Norbert Link and covering the same topic as described above.

“Erfolgreiche und Vergebliche Arbeit,” is the title of this coming Sabbath’s German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “Successful and Futile Labor.”

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

God expressly states in His Holy Word that we should be glorifying Him. What happens when we dont glorify Him? What examples do we see in the Bible? How can we ensure that we are working to glorify God in our thoughts and actions on a daily basis?

“Believing Multitudes Persecute Jesus,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Multitudes followed Jesus when He lived here on earth as a human being.  The Bible says that Christ was surrounded by an innumerable multitude of supporters. But many who believed in Him and accepted His teachings ceased to walk with Him; they became aggressive; claimed that He was possessed; and were willing to stone Him because of blasphemy. Only very few remained faithful. How could such a turn of events develop? And is it possible that something like this could happen again in our time?