In last week’s Editorial, Mr. Brian Gale asked whether we are sighing and crying over all the abominations that are done in our countries. He specifically addressed the results of a referendum to repeal Ireland’s abortion ban, legalizing and legitimizing the murder of innocent children. Another abominable development which we should all sigh and cry about is US Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ current policy of “zero tolerance” regarding illegal immigrants, leading to the forceful separation of young children from their parents and the internment of the children in detention or concentration camps.

Do we understand HOW mean-spirited and ungodly this policy is? Or have we become so hard-hearted and indifferent to the misery of the weak that we cannot even grasp the enormity of such terrible conduct?

President Trump and his administration have come under unusually strong vocal attacks by Democrats and Republicans alike, and even his own wife, Melania, as well as former first lady Laura Bush did condemn the practice. Mrs. Bush called the practice “immoral” and “cruel.” She wrote: “These images are eerily reminiscent of the Japanese American internment camps of World War II, now considered to have been one of the most shameful episodes in U.S. history.” First lady Melania Trump said through a spokesperson that she hates to see children separated from their families, and that a country needs to be “governed with heart,” obviously implying that presently, the USA is not.

American Catholic and evangelical leaders, including Cardinal DiNardo and Franklin Graham, condemned the practice; and even Mr. Sessions’ own church, the United Methodist Church, rejected it as well in no uncertain terms. So did Orthodox Jews and the other major Jewish religious movements.

Bowing to political pressure, President Trump issued an executive order on June 20, claiming that it will keep migrant families together. But this order did not abandon or reverse the “zero tolerance” policy. And while the order, if it survives legal challenges, might prevent temporarily the separation of parents and children, it would in effect “lock up immigrant parents and their children together, indefinitely.”

Europeans are watching these unfolding events with horror, but many are guilty of similar atrocities, be it in their mind, in word or even in action. In a compelling article, Handelsblatt Global asked the question whether Europe had lost its soul in the refugee crisis. Pointing at the hypocrisy of French president Emmanuel Macron; the criminal prosecution in France and Belgium of law-abiding citizens who assist illegal immigrants in any way; and questionable methods in Denmark, the author states: “It won’t be long until someone suggests barring them from certain professions altogether,” alluding to Germany’s Nazi regime prohibiting Jews to carry out many designated jobs and occupations.

Today, law-abiding citizens in the USA, including ministers, are also being threatened with legal actions if they were found to help illegal aliens (“harboring a criminal” is the offensive phrase which is being used).

Focusing on the informal alliance of right-wing politicians in Germany, Austria and Italy, the author of the Handelsblatt Global article states, “A right-wing axis from Berlin to Rome–that sure has a ring to it.” Again, the suggested parallel to Nazi Germany, Nazi Austria and Nazi Italy in World War II is unmistakable.

When Jews tried to escape Nazi Germany, America and many other countries refused to take them in, and as a consequence, they were among the millions of Jews who were murdered in concentration camps. Today, many persecuted refugees flee the atrocities in their homelands and seek shelter in Europe and the USA, but again, they may not be allowed to come in and find protection in countries which claim to be willing to help others in need.

Mr. Sessions, with the support of the White House, claimed that the Bible justifies his actions. He said with a smirking smiley face: “I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13 to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order.”

The Truth is that God NEVER ordained any government or political leader for the purpose of violating the letter or the spirit of HIS Holy Word. In fact, the Apostle Peter tells us, as he told the Sanhedrin, that true Christians have to obey God RATHER than man, and we are NOT to obey men if they demand something of us which is against the Law of God. As many Christian leaders have pointed out, including those who normally support the Trump agenda, the policy of “zero tolerance” and the criminalization of illegal immigrants with the consequence of taking young children away from their parents is a “radical departure from the Christian religion” and “goes against pretty much the entire Bible.” They also stated that we are “sometimes morally obligated not to follow” the laws of the land.

I liked very much the following comment by one writer: “If you had all the power in the world, maybe you would also hear a serpent dipping its smooth body down from some shadowy bough to say: God wants you to do whatever you like with your power, and whatever you do with it is good.”

After all, this is Satan’s world, and he calls good evil and evil good. He pretends to be an angel of light, but he is, and always will be, the prince and power of darkness. What should make our blood boil is when misguided politicians dare to blaspheme God by misquoting His Holy Word in an effort to justify their ungodly behavior.

But thanks be to God that this terrible mismanagement of human rule and the total abandonment of true godly values will end soon, because it can’t be long now until Christ returns to destroy the abominations and atrocities of this evil world. We are called out of this world to qualify for the Kingdom of God–to rule mankind with righteousness, mercy and love. Are YOU qualifying now? Are you developing the mind of Christ and the way of His thinking in your life, or are you still finding any justification and redeeming value in satanically inspired policies which are totally against anything that God stands for? Because if and as long as you do, God would not want you to be in His Kingdom.

There is a wonderful piece of Scripture that very clearly defines what a true Christian’s attitude should be, and we find this in Ezekiel 9:4: “… the LORD said to him, ‘Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.’”

“Sigh,” as defined in Strong’s #584, means “to groan,” “to mourn,” and “to moan.” “Cry,” as defined in Strong’s #602, also means “to groan,” and to “to shriek.” It means that this is not just a cursory look at the world’s evils, mumbling something about how bad things are, but then carrying on with life as if nothing had happened. We can certainly become accustomed to the manifold sins of the world and inured and uncompassionate because we see so much of what is going on through the ubiquitous news media where the unacceptable becomes acceptable through constant application and usage. We can, in short, have a much lower threshold of what is right and wrong, if we’re not careful, through the brainwashing and availability of news, 24 hours a day.

The Scripture quoted above refers to abominations in the city of Jerusalem. However, this can be extended to cover any and all societies and places where abominations are prevalent but are seen as being the norm. We read in Isaiah 5:20: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” In this sin-sick world, Satan has cleverly manipulated the thinking of man to accept that which is unacceptable to God and make it totally acceptable. How very clever he is, as the people of God know only too well.

Of course, we have to know what is abominable to God, and 1 John 3:4 states that “sin is the transgression of the law” (Authorized Version) and “…by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20).

One commentator stated that “Some people can see sin right before their eyes, they can hear it around them, they can live amidst it, but they can never sigh and cry over it because they refuse to allow God’s law to be the standard of their behaviour.” But it must be our standard.

That brings me to one of the latest events where we should all, in the Church of God, “sigh and cry over all the abominations” that we see in front of us.

On Saturday, 26th May 2018, the final results of the referendum to repeal Ireland’s abortion ban was approved by a big majority. In 2015, in another vote, this same country approved same-sex marriage by a landslide. It is remarkable as this is a Catholic country which has defied the teaching of their church. There was unbridled joy by so many young people in that country that was seen in print and on television. It was as if they had just won a world war or some other mighty achievement and, it would appear, that the enormity of what they had done was missed by those who voted for abortion on demand. I suspect that many who were celebrating would also have been among the number of those protesting at the killing of innocent women and children in war. They simply don’t see that abortion is murder and is just as bad as killing others in warfare. It is a double standard that they are oblivious to. ALL killing is wrong as the 6th Commandment of God reveals to all who have an ear to hear.

We cannot sigh and cry if we are unaware of what is happening in the world today. We need to keep ourselves continually updated in what is happening and be amongst those who have compassion on the plight of others and grieve over the problems we can see in every corner of the world. In Ireland, it was the attitude that was so concerning! There didn’t seem to be one iota of concern for the good and wellbeing of the unborn, just the celebration of women being able to make a choice in terminating a life and seen as their “right” and “entitlement”.

Of course, there are many more abominations for us to sigh and cry over as the world descends into chaos. As the great tribulation nears, additional appalling abominations will surface or increase. What we are seeing today, and what we saw in Ireland, is just another manifestation of the power and influence of Satan who convinces the world that sin is acceptable.

The good news is that his time is short and the coming of God’s Kingdom is near.

There is a lot of talk about making the world a better place, but the reality is that under Satan’s tutelage and administration, this world is not going to get better. Rather, it is heading for complete and utter annihilation.

Matthew 24:22 tells us: “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”

THIS LOOKS LIKE A PRETTY GRIM OUTCOME FOR MANKIND. Is there any hope FOR US?

We know that the only viable and enduring solution lies in the return of Jesus Christ to end the madness of man’s rule and to put Satan away for a long duration of time, to give some relief from his negative influence on this world.

When this has occurred, we read about the conditions in the Millennium in the book of Isaiah: “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:2-4).

These are encouraging Scriptures and should inspire us to maintain our zeal to complete the Work we have been given to accomplish, prior to Christ’s return. The end of war is just one aspect of the changes we will help to bring about in the future. We can also see that the worship of God will be established, including keeping the Sabbath and the Holy Days. Wanting to be taught God’s ways in the above Scripture in the book of Isaiah includes worshipping Him in the prescribed manner, as outlined in Leviticus 23.

It is really important for us to remain faithful to our calling and see the present job through, since we will have such a positive powerful impact on the world in the future. As sons and daughters of God, we will be able to really make enduring positive changes to this world.

Our training now will eventually qualify us to be involved in this worldwide effort to implement the changes to truly make the world a better place. Paul expressed the current situation and looked to a future solution in Romans 8:20-23:

“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;  because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.   For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.  Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption [better: sonship], the redemption of our body.”

Notice, the creation will be delivered from the bondage of Satan. And it groans and labors with birth pangs, awaiting the arrival of the firstfruits of those in the first resurrection to change this current evil world. Let’s ensure we are up to the task in remaining faithful to the end. The world desperately needs us.

It seems that each week in the United States brings another school shooting, another round of senseless murders. But it is not just here—there are wars, murders and homicides around the world. Death is inevitable. When we peel back the layers of our society, it is not hard to see the cracks in the foundations. Our planet is being slowly destroyed. Our oceans and waters are becoming polluted. Our air is becoming toxic. The land and the food that it produces are poisoned and abused with chemicals.

When we stop and consider what is going on, when we take off our blinders and really look at the world’s condition, it is quite a worrying scene that unfolds. And all to what end?

There is something that we must realize when we look at this world. John 17:15-16 states that while we are “in” the world, we must NOT be “of” the world. This is such a fine line that we walk. So how are we doing on that path?

Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 that we are to be ambassadors for Christ. We are representatives of a different country, a different culture, a different way of living and, most importantly, a different mindset. Romans 8:14 tells us that as God’s children, we are to be led by the Spirit of God. In theory, this sounds good and probably gives us good intentions and some notions of motivation. But if we are truly honest with ourselves, our circumstances and our motivations, what is it that we truly convey? What is it that we truly are seeking after?

Having motivation and good ideas and intentions doesn’t produce results. We cannot confuse emotions and good motives with results. We can easily fool ourselves into thinking that we are good Christians.  Hence, the mighty warning in the book of Revelation about those who are called Laodiceans. It is NOT enough to go half-heartedly through this Christian life. If we do, we will get tangled up (2 Peter 2:20). What actions, what goals, what prayers are reflecting our way of life? Are we discouraged with where we find ourselves? Do we look back and realize that while we may have thought we were giving it our all, we were in reality just doing enough to squeak by?

We read the encouraging Scriptures which tell us that WE CAN overcome and make it into God’s Kingdom, into which He Himself has called us. But the amount of effort and zeal we put into this is left up to us (Matthew 13:8-9). We should never think that God hasn’t called each of us for a reason. That main reason being, He knows we can accomplish it, because He has ordained us to be successful. Again, it is based on how much effort we put in. Like anything in life, effort we put in affects what we will get out of it. If one’s attitude is negative, angry, self-serving, jealous, hateful, unkind and unmerciful, then that is what will be reaped (compare Romans 6:20-21).

When we really believe what the Bible has to say—meaning, when we stop fooling ourselves and really dig in and set our minds towards obedience, then that is when progress comes, both in our spiritual and physical life.  2 Chronicles 7:14 states that when Christians seek God, turn from their evil ways and are obedient, then God forgives and heals, and then He is willing to hear our prayers. And what power comes from those prayers! In Mark 11:24 we find a mind-boggling example of how we should be praying. Jeremiah 33:3 reiterates God’s own words for us, as it is rendered in the New International Version: “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Such an amazing opportunity and calling that is ours, individually and collectively!

Finally, we would encourage every reader to study Romans, chapter 12; to put his or her name in there; and to see where our lives stack up in comparison to what Paul is saying. Let’s make it personal. Because in the end, it is each of us who is personally responsible to God. We can continue being miserable because of sin or we can do the hard work NOW and reap happiness and a much better outcome in the future.

It is a kind of ritual for people to watch the news each day. That, however, has become an almost unbearable challenge! World news, national news and even local news stories are so filled with atrocities that we often just tune out—it is simply too depressing!

The Bible speaks of these perplexing times—as a warning! Note this prophecy in Isaiah:

“‘…When the overflowing scourge passes through, Then you will be trampled down by it. As often as it goes out it will take you; For morning by morning it will pass over, And by day and by night; It will be a terror just to understand the report’” (Isaiah 28:18-19).

In another prophecy, also directed at the modern descendants of the Houses of Israel and Judah, God reveals the conditions that would and now have come upon us:

“‘“Destruction comes; They will seek peace, but there shall be none. Disaster will come upon disaster, And rumor will be upon rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet; But the law will perish from the priest, And counsel from the elders”’” (Ezekiel 7:25-26).

We must not turn a blind eye to what is happening! In fact, it falls to the Church of God to address the bad news in the light of Bible prophecy. Jesus explicitly told us to “watch” and to be “ready” (compare Matthew 24:42, 44; 25:10, 13; Luke 21:36). In doing this—beyond our own personal preparedness—we are to also report news to the world that isn’t utterly dreadful and so filled with hopelessness!

The news we are to convey is ultimately GOOD NEWS—it is the gospel of the Kingdom of God! This is what Jesus proclaimed. It is the only true hope set before mankind, and it will happen! To be able to know the Truth of how God the Father will establish peace through sending His Son to this world removes the focus for all the bad news we now face.

As bad as things are now in the news, worse times lie immediately ahead—something we already know, because God has revealed this to us. And we, like Jesus did, must continue to look beyond, to that joy which is set before us—in the Kingdom of God (compare Hebrews 12:2).

I love the springtime. The air is cool, but the sun offers warmth that invigorates. The scent of flowering trees fills the air for about one week, and then gives way to the growth of other beautiful flowers planted on the ground. It’s a splendid time of year, offering unique moments to appreciate when one slows down long enough to observe and enjoy God’s created beauty.

There is something about the springtime that I don’t love so much, however. Weeds. Those unsightly plants love the springtime even more than I do, and they prove it by competing mightily against the pretty ones. In fact, the dandelions barely wait until the snow has melted before tagging the yard with yellow dots in random patterns. Such rude behavior makes it nearly impossible to get ahead of them in order to prevent their growth.

Through the years of being a homeowner, I’ve learned that there is only one thing that is effective in fighting the annual battle against weeds. As much as I’ve tried hoping and wishing that the weeds in the yard would go away or just die, I have proven to myself time and again that these methods simply have no effect. It turns out that hard work is the only thing that can tame the wild growth of weeds. Whether the work is spent pulling, researching chemicals and carefully applying a lethal dose, or even paying someone else to take care of the problem, hard work is necessary to keep a yard under control. There’s simply no way around it.

It should be no surprise that most things that are truly valuable take work in order to achieve. The example of a well-groomed yard is trivial in comparison with that which really matters, however. The Bible is clear that the promise of everlasting life for a Christian takes diligent work in learning to become obedient and overcome sin. We are reminded by Jesus Christ that the easy paths and the wide gates are the ones that lead to destruction, but the narrow gate that is difficult to find is the one that leads to everlasting life (compare Matthew 7:13-14). Even though eternal life is a gift that is freely given to us through the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our efforts still need to be applied in proving to God that we are willing to learn obedience and righteous behavior. It takes work to overcome sin. It takes work to build up our relationship with God. If we choose to neglect our calling, we risk our own lives in potentially falling away.

If we have been called out of the world by God, “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began” (2 Timothy 1:9), we have a very special gift to care for. If we want to please God and prove to Him how valuable our calling is to us, there is one way to succeed. Only through hard work will we be able to turn away from sin and learn righteousness. The Bible also reminds us that there is a benefit to our efforts as well – “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (compare Hebrews 11:6). We are fortunate to have the gift of eternal life to be made available to us, but even beyond that, our tireless work in living by the Truth will be rewarded with great responsibility and roles of leadership in the Kingdom of God (compare Luke 19:15-19).

Not everyone will agree with the headline of this editorial, but it points out a FACT, as CLEARLY prophesied in the Bible. Some cannot comprehend this, as God has not opened their eyes. After all, the Holy Spirit is a spirit of prophecy, and only those who are being led by God’s Spirit will grow in God’s understanding, and the more we submit to God and are obedient to Him, the more our minds will be opened to the prophetic Truth. We read that God does not do anything unless He reveals it first to HIS servants the prophets (which includes God’s ministers speaking under inspiration). God will most certainly not reveal His Truth to false prophets or those who falsely CLAIM to be prophets.

A wild accusation has been made against us that we do not preach what the Worldwide Church of God taught on the subject of the Third Temple. Selected articles from 1979 and 1981 were quoted to support this claim. In the articles, it was emphasized that Christ will come back to His glorious temple—the Church of God (Haggai 2:9; Malachi 3:1). And that is of course very true. On the other hand, do those Scriptures negate the teaching that there will ALSO be a physical Temple in existence when Christ returns? Are those truthful who quote from SOME Church articles which seem to hold a particular position, while ignoring other Church articles which hold a different position? Are those truthful who quote selectively from some articles, out of context, only to cement their own opinion on a matter? Of course not—such conduct is misleading.

The point is, in an article which quotes from a speech from Herbert Armstrong in 1981, he said this (as quoted from the Internet):

“[Christ] shall suddenly come to His temple.’ What kind of a temple is He coming to? Are the Jews going to tear down the Dome of the Rock and build a new temple? Oh no! You see no evidence of anything like that happening. I know the people well enough that if the Jews over there were going to do anything like that they would certainly have mentioned that to me. But, He will ‘suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant [which] you delight in.’ A holy temple! Christ is coming to His Church! Christ is coming to His temple! And the Church is the temple. Do we see that? The Church is the temple.”

We should be able to see that Mr. Armstrong believed that Christ’s Second Coming was very near, and since he did not see any evidence for the building of a physical temple at that time, he concluded that it would not happen. However, Christ still has not returned yet, and today, more than 35 years later, events have changed dramatically, as we have been pointing out in our weekly Updates.

The same must be said about a statement which the Church published in The Plain Truth on August 1979, which reads: “It is inconceivable that the Israelis, in the present international turmoil over their possession of old Jerusalem, could ever demolish the Arab Moslem Dome of the Rock—now on the site of Solomon’s temple—and build a new one there of greater splendor and glory than Solomon’s! However, as the second temple Zerubbabel was building was a typical forerunner of the temple to which Christ shall come, even so Zerubbabel was the typical forerunner of one Christ would use in building the far more glorious temple to which Christ shall come in His GLORY!”

Note, the context is again “the present international turmoil over their possession of old Jerusalem.” The timing of the writing was almost 40 years ago.

What has been conveniently overlooked or suppressed are statements in Church articles which clearly pronounced that a THIRD temple WILL BE built prior to Christ’s return–or, which left this question purposefully unanswered.

In Die Reine Wahrheit of October 1967 (German edition of The Plain Truth), it was stated on page 10 (in the article, “2,300 Evenings and Mornings”): “Yes, a temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem, as incredible as it may sound.” In The Good News magazine, November-December 1987, the following was stated on page 12 in “A Sealed Prophecy,” at least implying the existence of a Temple before Christ’s return: “The ‘sanctuary’ is to be ‘trampled underfoot.’… the taking away of daily sacrifices and trampling of a sanctuary underfoot is yet a future event. We are nearing the fulfillment of these amazing prophecies about the Temple Mount in Jerusalem…”

In a two-part series in The Good News, February and March 1985, titled, “Coming… A Temple in Jerusalem?”, the answer to this question was purposefully left open. Many issues were raised—pro and con—but no position was taken in these two articles, one way or another.

However, we should also take note of the fact that in times past, the Church taught dogmatically that a Temple would be built before Christ’s return (and it is simply dishonest to suppress this fact when it does not fit into one’s paradigm; or, if one is unaware of these articles, then his research is sloppy and unreliable).

In Herbert W. Armstrong’s editorial in The Plain Truth, June 1967, titled, “Jews take Jerusalem!”, the following was stated (as quoted from the Internet):

“There will be a Jewish Temple built in Jerusalem, with animal sacrifices once again being offered… It is going to take some time to build such a Temple… For a long time the Jewish people have had in mind the rebuilding of the Temple, though they keep it pretty secret. And it must be built on the exact site of Solomon’s Temple. The wealthiest Jews in the world, in the United States, Britain, France and other parts of the world, are going to pour money into that…

“So now, putting the two accounts of Jesus’ Olivet prophecy together, Matthew 24 and Luke 21, two things are to occur, just before the Great Tribulation. 1) There will very soon be a Temple in Jerusalem, with daily sacrifices once again being offered. But the ruler of the soon-coming resurrected ‘Holy Roman Empire,’ a political-military union of ten European nations–will stop the daily sacrifices and profane the Holy Place in the Temple; and 2) Jerusalem will be surrounded and captured [Zechariah 14:1-2] by the… armies of the European Empire, already starting to rise now out of the Common Market. They will invade Jerusalem, and take charge of the Temple…

“This European power, resurrecting for a very short while the Roman Empire, will take over the city of Jerusalem [Zechariah 14:2]. They will take the Temple, and plant the palace of their headquarters there. With this coming military leader, pictured in Revelation 17 as the symbolic ‘beast,’ will be a supreme religious leader, called ‘the False prophet,’ [Rev. 16:3; 19:20; 20:10] and the ‘man of sin.’ So will you turn next to II Thessalonians 2:3-4:

“‘Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day’–the Day of the Lord, verse 2–’shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.’

“So there will have to be the Temple there!… And they will put there the ‘abomination’ of which the statue of Jupiter Olympus, placed by Antiochus Epiphanes was the type…

“Then Revelation 11 shows there will be a Temple in Jerusalem, at the time of the two witnesses, who preach for three-and-one-half years, ending at Christ’s coming. Also the prophecy of II Thessalonians 2 shows there will be a Temple.

“So putting all these prophecies together, it is plain the Israelis must soon flood over the ‘no-man’s land’ of the divided city of Jerusalem, and take at least the territory where the ancient Temple stood, and then start to build a Temple.”

The Scriptures which Mr. Armstrong cited in his editorial and many other biblical passages prove convincingly that a Third Temple WILL be built. It is true that the position of the Church, in the past, may not have always been consistent on this point. It is therefore important that we realize that we must always believe the Bible. We have produced several booklets which PROVE to you THAT the Bible PROPHESIES the building of the Third Temple prior to Christ’s return. We challenge you to read them for yourselves. They are, for example: “The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation”; “The Book of Zechariah”; “The Ten European Revivals of the Ancient Roman Empire” and “The Fall and Rise of the Jewish People.” And please continue to read our weekly Updates and view our StandingWatch programs which regularly inform you about ongoing developments in the Middle East and Jerusalem.

On a recent annual trip to the Far-East to see family, I was reminded of God’s admonition to the ancient Israelites when He told them in Deuteronomy 12:2-3: “You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place.”

God wanted them to worship Him in the right way and anything other than true worship of Him was not to be tolerated. This would be, and always is, for our own benefit as the people of God. They usually failed to do this and a prime example was King Solomon who, despite his unique wisdom given as a gift from the great God, fell short in this regard. We read in 1 Kings 11:3-8 how Solomon’s wives turned him away from the true God to follow false religion. That is a sobering reality of how Satan can use circumstances to trap the people of God who are not watchful to the wiles he consistently uses.

There are many instances when God told His people to rid themselves of false worship. I was reminded of these examples as I saw so many pagan shrines in the land that my wife and I were visiting where they seem to be obligatory for every hotel, housing and apartment facilities, and many residents take it upon themselves to put such a shrine in their own garden. They seemed to be everywhere.

Of course, God doesn’t instruct us today to go and remove these shrines in the lands far away from where we live. Nor are we instructed today to remove public shrines or idols in the lands where we live, but we ARE told that we must not have these in our own personal dwellings. In fact, in the UK, the USA and many countries in Europe, we have our own equivalents today. In many church buildings up and down these lands are relics and icons which supposedly represent Christianity but, of course, don’t do so. They are the equivalent of the groves and high places of thousands of years ago. I have seen shrines in the USA along roads; shrines of a supposedly Christian nature but are not when judged by the standards of God.

Yet again, I was reminded of how far man has fallen from the true worship of the true God. What I have mentioned so far is replicated in many other countries around the world. We live in a world separated from God and only His true Church has the answers.

The time is coming when almost everything will change and false religious worship, with all of its accessories, will be very high on the list for replacement, and with immediate effect. That time cannot come quickly enough for the dedicated and faithful people of the one true God.

With increased frequency and callousness, men and women are choosing death as an easy way out of hardships. For an ever-growing number of people, sustained and meaningful purpose for one’s life is unattainable. Suicide is nothing new but the merciless desire to snuff out the lives of others is becoming more common.

Just this week a young man shot and killed his mother and friend as they slept. After the murders he wrote on Facebook, “What I look forward to is the nothingness after death. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about murder, wondering what it feels like. But I’ve barely felt anything.”  He was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot within a day or so of the murders.

Last month a female couple, whose lifestyle demonstrated utter confusion of godly principles, drove off a cliff with their 6 adopted children.  While the motives aren’t known, the circumstances point to the car being intentionally driven off the cliff.

To try and understand why people choose these actions is to try and understand the mind of Satan. We are warned to distance ourselves from him by drawing closer to God, “But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men’” (Mark 8:33). Throughout human existence, mankind has proven to have a complete lack of foresight without godly direction.  Relying on our own direction leaves us unprepared and susceptible to the deceiver. Satan is single-minded in his intentions towards man and we are warned to “[b]e sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Without God, man can do little to stop reflecting the attitudes of Satan.  Exposure to these views long enough will lead to deception and, ultimately, death.  Christ was clear on the end result of a godless life manipulated by the Devil. “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

The path laid before us is difficult only because we have such a proclivity to stumble onto that broad road leading towards destruction.  Like each of us, King David had that same tendency, but he understood how to find light in the darkness: “Your word is a lamp to my feet  And a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). God’s Word is THE choice and the only means to attain understanding, purpose and most importantly, the path to eternal life.

Are we living in a state of fear?  With all the news of death and destruction we hear about on a daily basis, do we sometimes worry if this could happen to us?  Could we be a victim of a shooting or bomb tragedy, or even be involved in a serious car accident or plane crash, just as an example?  Do we have God’s protection at all times?

Do we fear the future of what is to come, when things are going to get worse, much worse than what we hear about now?  When it comes to the spiritual side of things, do we fear that we aren’t qualified enough for God to protect and save us from the impending disasters?  If we feel that way, it’s about time we change that way of thinking and be ready, prepare ourselves spiritually and we better make sure that we are counted worthy so we can have that protection and more importantly, be a part of the Kingdom of God.

God has created us with the ability to be led by His Holy Spirit within us, which can only be obtained through proper baptism, and through this power, we can obtain wisdom and understanding to discern between real and perceived dangers, also knowing what is right and what is wrong.  We have free will and we do make choices and hopefully we make correct choices as we continue to grow in the knowledge of Christ and use more and more of the Spirit given to us by God.  He has given us the choice to live with worldly fears, apprehension and suffering, or to embrace a Godly fear which leads to wisdom, courage and everlasting joy (2 Timothy 1:7).

God hasn’t given us a “spirit of fear” in the worldly sense, but, for our benefit, He has put the emotion of fear in our minds as a consequence of sin.  We will be faced with fears, whether physical or spiritual, when terror strikes the earth in various ways. We will be in the middle of it, we will be tested, and we will have to fight our fears over Satan’s clever tactics; and we know that we can defeat him because God says we can, as God gives us the tools to arm ourselves (Ephesians 6:11-12).

It is God’s Word which gives us His perspective about fear as stated in 1 John 4:18: “Perfect love casts out fear.”  If God doesn’t give us a Spirit of fear and we know that He loves us perfectly, why are we still afraid?  We must learn to fight fear with “fear”—and it’s this other kind of fear that is the cure for our uncontrolled fears: The fear of the Lord.  If we obey God and put our trust, faith and confidence in Him, then there shouldn’t be any reason to be afraid, to fear what the future will bring because He will protect us, as He has promised He would.  Christ has given us peace and the whole world does not understand this peace that Christ is referring to, but in due time, they will (compare John 14:27).

We don’t need to fear the world because we understand what it means to fear, respect and revere God.  When we have the fear of the Lord, it means we look upon God with high esteem, an attitude accompanied by obedience, knowing, as it says in Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”