Update 236

On March 25, 2006, Dave Harris will give the sermon, titled, “Eternal Death.”

The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org at 12:30 pm Pacific Time (which is 2:30 pm Central Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

Very often the big events in Biblical prophecy are the ones that
catch the eye, excite the imagination and stir the blood. Into this
category, events that may immediately spring to mind may be, amongst
many others, the formation of the nations in Europe as a forerunner to
the Beast power; the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord; and the
fate of the incorrigible wicked. While it is understandable that such
events can set the pulses racing, there are other prophecies that may
be somewhat overlooked but have great significance at this time.

One
such prophecy is found in Matthew 24:12: “And because lawlessness will
abound, the love of many will grow cold.” This is addressing those in
the Church who at one time had the love of God, but who had begun to
let it slip. That’s why it says that the love of God will grow or
become cold–so it was hot at one time. We also read in the book of
Revelation that the first era of the Church had lost their first love.
The love of many growing cold–NOW–is really quite scary because of
the problems that will emanate. We read in verse 10 that “…many will
be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.” And
why? Because lawlessness will abound! The true Church of God has always
been a Church that has taught and kept the law of God, but we have
seen, in recent times, incorporated Church organizations blown to the
four corners of the earth because of lawless teaching and behavior. The
pull of the world seemed to have been far too strong for too many who
should have known better.

Why does love grow cold? Because of not
keeping the law of God and because of apathy, hostility and
carelessness! In John 16:1-2, we find these chilling verses: “These
things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.
They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that
whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.”

We
read about people whose love will grow cold and who will, as a
consequence, hate and kill, supposedly, in God’s service. These are
spine chilling verses, but how is this possible? Perhaps we can find
the answer in Matthew 13:24-30, which is the parable of the wheat and
tares. Verse 30 offers more than a clue: “Let both grow together until
the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers,
‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them,
but gather the wheat into my barn.'” Wheat and tares grow up together
in the Church. Events over millennia culminating in more recent times
have shown the accuracy of these prophesied events–and there is, no
doubt, more of the same to come and probably with increasing intensity.
And, it stands to reason that the tares will be participating in the
killing of God’s people–the wheat.

In less than three weeks,
baptized members of the Church of God will be taking the Passover.
Verses in Matthew 5:23-24 are among those that will show God whether we
are serious: “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there
remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift
there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your
brother, and then come and offer your gift.” If we follow this
instruction, it will show God that we mean business and clearly
indicate our love for others.

Studying prophecy is a fascinating
subject–but we should ONLY engage in it for the ultimate purpose of
acquiring and living God’s love in us. We must be very careful that
God’s love does not grow cold in US. The time just prior to Passover is
a good occasion to reflect on this vital truth.

Afghanistan’s Religious “Freedom”

On March 20, 2006, The Arizona Republic published an article about an abominable situation in Afghanistan. This is the same country which Western powers decided to set free from tyranny and terrorism and to guarantee those freedoms which Western citizens treasure dearly, including the freedom of speech and religion. However, we see today the influence of former war lords and drug traffickers in Afghanistan, as well as unspeakable religious tyranny, which is legally sanctioned and promoted:

“An Afghan man is being prosecuted in a Kabul court and could be sentenced to death on a charge of converting from Islam to Christianity, a crime under this country’s Islamic laws… The defendant… was arrested last month [with a Bible in his possession] after his family accused him of becoming a Christian [and] was charged with rejecting Islam. During a one-day hearing, the defendant confessed that he converted from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago … ‘We are not against any particular religion in the world. But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law,’ the judge said… the prosecutor.. said he had offered to drop the charges if [the defendant] converted back to Islam, but he refused… ‘We are Muslims, and becoming a Christian is against our laws [the prosecutor said]. He must get the death penalty.'”

When reading that his own family accused the defendant and reported him to the authorities, we are reminded of a Biblical prophecy telling us that at the very end, true Christians “will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of [them] to death” (Luke 21:16).

On March 21, 2006, globeandmail.com added the following:

“If sentenced to death, Mr. Rahman has two avenues of appeal: to the Provincial Court and to the Supreme Court. The death sentence also would need President Hamid Karzai’s approval to be carried out. [Karzai could change the death sentence to life in prison. Whether he would do so or whether he would bow to the pressure of radicals, will remain to be seen]… The trial is believed to be the first of its kind in Afghanistan and highlights a struggle between religious conservatives and reformists over what shape Islam should take four years after the ouster from Afghanistan of the fundamentalist Taliban regime. It also reveals the friction between Islamic and statutory law. Both are affirmed in the country’s draft constitution, which says Islam is the religion of Afghanistan but also mentions the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which ensures freedom of religion. Afghanistan is a conservative Islamic country. About 99 per cent of its 28 million people are Muslim and the rest are mainly Hindu.

“A Christian aid worker in Kabul, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said there is no reliable figure for the number of Christians in the country, although it is believed to be only in the dozens or low hundreds. He said few admit their faith because of fear of retribution and there are no known Afghan churches.”

AFP reported on March 22: “International pressure is mounting on Afghanistan… Washington says it is watching closely how Kabul deals with Rahman, 41, who is believed to be the first convert accused in Afghanistan under strict Islamic Sharia law for refusing to become Muslim again. Germany, where Rahman reportedly lived for nine years before returning to his war-scarred homeland, has called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to step in and save him.”

The Associated Press stated on March 22, 2006 that “German Roman Catholic Cardinal Karl Lehmann said the trial sent an ‘alarming signal’ about freedom of worship in Afghanistan.”

When will the Western powers begin to retaliate against the persecution of their religious faith? Even though “freedom of religion” is guaranteed in the draft Afghan constitution, it appears that it is only applied to the “freedom” of Muslims to follow the Koran and, in effect, to suppress Christianity. As Der Spiegel Online reported on March 21, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier reminded the government of Afghanistan of their duty to guarantee “religious freedom.” The Afghan government responded that they will not intervene in the case, as this was a matter of the judicial branch. According to the magazine, Afghanistan’s judges are still the same old conservative hardliners that existed five years ago. Insofar, nothing has changed since the “liberation” of Afghanistan. Some “cautious” German politicians are concerned about the “sensitivities” in Afghanistan, as the situation could “explode.”

Nicholas Burns, U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs, reportedly agreed. According to AFP of March 22, he “suggested that Washington would not try to impose its will in the controversial case.”

However, President Bush used much stronger words. According to The Associated Press of March 22, he stated: “We expect them to honor the universal principle of freedom… I’m troubled when I hear, deeply troubled when I hear, the fact that a person who converted away from Islam may be held to account. That’s not the universal application of the values that I talked about. I look forward to working with the government of that country to make sure that people are protected in their capacity to worship.”

Other governmental officials from Germany state that Afghanistan’s conduct must be condemned by the international community, and that all European financial support for the country must immediately cease unless it changes. According to News Networld of March 22, the Afghan government responded by accusing Germany of “blackmail.”

In another bizarre twist of events, “Afghanistan said that a man facing the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity might be mentally unfit to stand trial, as international pressure over the case mounted… Observers said the court’s announcement may be a sign that Afghanistan is seeking a way out of an increasingly embarrassing issue for US-backed President Hamid Karzai” (AFP, March 22, 2006).

Of course, such a “cop-out” would not solve anything. What happens next time when another Afghan Muslim is accused of converting to Christianity? Or, are the Afghan authorities prepared to declare every Muslim as insane who converts to Christianity?

In addition, Afghan Muslim clerics have taken an unmistakable stance on the situation. As The Associated Press reported on March 23, “[Four] Senior Muslim clerics [in Kabul] said Thursday that an Afghan man on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity should be killed regardless of whether a court decides to free him… ‘He is not crazy. He went in front of the media and confessed to being a Christian,’ said Hamidullah, chief cleric at Haji Yacob Mosque. ‘The government is scared of the international community. But the people will kill him if he is freed.’ ‘He is not mad. The government is playing games. The people will not be fooled,’ said Abdul Raoulf, cleric at Herati Mosque. ‘This is humiliating for Islam. … Cut off his head.’ Raoulf is considered a moderate cleric in Afghanistan. He was jailed three times for criticizing the Taliban’s policies before the hard-line regime was ousted by US-led forces in 2001.”

Der Spiegel Online published the following biting and thought-provoking commentary on March 23:

“A few caricatures in a Dutch newspaper caused bloody riots in the Muslim world. But now an Afghan man has been sentenced to death for converting to Christianity. Afghanistan has told the West it should mind its own business. Come again?”

The magazine continued: “German liberty has not arrived [and] radical Islam has remained… Afghanistan is no properly democratic state. The fact that a Muslim is now facing the death penalty because of his conversion to Christianity shows how far this country still is from guaranteeing its citizens the most basic rights. In neighboring Pakistan, an ally in the war on terror, the situation is hardly any better. There Christians, who make up between five and 10 percent of the p
opulation, live in ghettos, faced with the constant threat of violence. Many Christians living in Islamic countries exist in a state of religious apartheid. The response to Western criticism of the Kabul verdict is being dismissed as a case of foreigners ‘meddling’ in Afghanistan’s ‘domestic affairs.’ This means it’s high time to send a clearer message. It’s not just about Abdul Rahman, who has chosen to become a Christian for reasons that are no one’s business but his own. It’s also about the women locked away in Afghan prisons for having been accused of adultery. It’s about female students who can’t walk down the street by themselves because a few male illiterates might get it into their heads to attack them. And it’s about the many hundreds of thousands of Afghan women forced to live their lives behind walls — without access to education, without the right to happiness. There is a good chance that President Hamid Karzai will pardon Abdul Rahman, as he has many of the imprisoned women, who are often convicted on bogus adultery charges made up by men who simply want to get rid of them. But this is not about mercy; it’s about basic human rights. The West should insist on nothing less. “This is in no way merely a domestic matter — it is a question of the validity of international human rights. When a Danish newspaper published a few more or less idiotic cartoons, Islamic rage flared up. Now that human lives and basic rights are at issue, we’re hearing statements that could just as easily have been made during the Cold War. Back then, the phrase ‘domestic affairs’ was invoked by the Soviet empire every time the West criticized its human rights record. What concerns Abdul Rahman and the women of Afghanistan concerns us too. And if the German army can’t defend this kind of liberty in the Hindukush, then it should leave. Our soldiers have sworn allegiance to the rights enshrined in the German constitution; there’s no reason to turn these soldiers into toothless operetta characters.”

We are observing another example of an outright war–at this time being fought with words–between Islam and Christianity. According to Biblical prophecy, Europe WILL ultimately accept the challenge and begin to act–and when doing so, IT will, in turn, become dictatorial in its approach with religions other than “orthodox” Christianity. Sadly, religious persecution will be the consequence. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

Austria’s Schüssel on European Unification

During a SPIEGEL Interview on March 20, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel stated the following about European unification:

“… the discussion about European identity is critical if we want to get to the bottom of discontent in Europe. What do our citizens find at fault in Europe, in its institutions? For the first time, we are now talking about issues like Europe’s geographic borders and, as was discussed in the European Parliament last week, the question of the EU’s capacity to accept new members. If you don’t see this as progress, I can’t help you. In my view, it’s a positive sign that we don’t immediately have the fitting answer for every question. We have to think about things for a while before we can provide the right answers. Where should the journey be going? Who assumes responsibility?… The Austrians aren’t against the EU… The main issue is European harmony, which emanates from Europe’s diversity of opinion, and indeed its diversity per se. This is our strength, which, admittedly, needs a little work. We have to be more self-confident about projecting the ‘European way of life’ to the rest of the world. It’s far more attractive than the American model, for example. We have a more effective balance among economic performance, social cohesiveness and environmental sustainability. We should embrace this tremendous aura and not call it into doubt… We just happen to need more of Europe in some areas. In foreign policy, for example, or in the coordination of a joint energy policy. We need less small-mindedness in these areas. In other areas, the regions need to be strengthened. In many cases, a national state is too small to deal with the biggest problems… The only way to bring peace to a region plagued by bloody wars and forced expulsions until not too long ago is to offer it the prospects of EU membership. We must tell them that they will be part of us sooner or later. “

The magazine also published the following exchange:

“Der Spiegel: In other words, a future Europe would feature stronger local and regional competencies and a common European foreign policy and defense policy. Wouldn’t this ultimately spell the demise of the nation-state?

“Schüssel: No, nation-states will retain their positions, otherwise none of this will work. The nation-states must make Europe their top priority, and must feel responsible for this European being. We have to nurture this little plant.”

As the Bible clearly states, Europe will unite soon and become a mighty power bloc. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

China, Japan and Russia

The Bible prophesies that a mighty power bloc, consisting of countries such as Russia, China and Japan, among others, will become an economic, political and even military challenge to Europe and the Western Word. The following recent reports are interesting in light of these predictions:

On March 23, the China Daily reported: “China and Russia are important partners in economic and technological development, President Hu Jintao and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed yesterday… In a speech, Putin highlighted Sino-Russian energy co-operation, saying that Russia has become China’s fifth-largest energy supplier. On Tuesday, the two countries signed three deals on oil and natural gas supplies… Trade volume between China and Russia has been increasing rapidly in recent years and exceeded US$29 billion last year.”

Reuters reported on March 23: “China said on Thursday, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin left Beijing, that Beijing and Moscow are in accord on Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday criticized a draft U.N. Security Council statement aimed at pressuring Iran to stop enriching uranium.”

AFP reported on March 23: “Senior US officials have urged Japan to halt development of a massive oil field with Iran amid concern that revenue from the project could fuel the Islamic state’s nuclear drive, a report said… The US embassy told AFP Japan was aware of US opposition to investment in Iran but declined to comment on whether Washington has pressured Tokyo to stop the Azadegan project… But a Japanese foreign ministry spokeswoman said Japan ‘is holding no concrete talks with the United States’ on the future of the project. ‘The Azadegan oil development is a very important project for us in terms of stable energy supply. We will cope with the matter squarely as nuclear non-proliferation and stable supply of crude oil are both important,’ she said. Japan has walked a tightrope on the Iranian crisis, supporting US and European calls for Tehran to give up its nuclear program while trying not to jeopardize its close commercial ties with the Islamic regime. Japan defied the United States in 2004 by signing the contract to develop Azadegan, considered one of the world’s biggest untapped oil reserves.”

For more information on the future of China, Russia and Japan, as mentioned in the Bible, please read our free booklet, “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.”

America’s Incredible Debt to Foreign Powers

On March 17, 2006, The Times published the following article:

“If you are worried about how much you owe on your credit cards, this might put things in perspective: America’s national debt limit was increased yesterday to $9 trillion… enough to buy Buckingham Palace 9,000 times… The increase, passed by Congress, allows the Government to borrow another $781 billion (£447 billion), increasing the national debt limit–the maximum America can borrow–from $8 trillion and $184 billion to $8 trillion and $961 billion. If the debt ceiling, which is set by Congress, had not been raised by March 24, the Administration would not have been able to borrow more money and the US would have begun to default on its domestic and foreign obligations, an untenable consequence… The national debt is the total amount owed by the Government… America has had a national debt since 1791, when it was $75 million. Today it rises by that amount every hour.”

The article explained the enormity of a sum of $9 Trillion:

“[It]… equates to $1,500 for every man, woman and child in the world… it would buy all the tea in the world for the next 2,000 years… [it is] enough to solve the Palestinian crisis by rehousing every Israeli and Palestinian family… [it would] build 28 Eiffel Towers–constructed out of gold.”

The article made the additional striking observation:

“Nearly half the publicly owed debt is held by foreigners. Japan is the biggest creditor, at $668 billion. China, the second-biggest, recently increased its stake by $40 billion to $263 billion…”

We see Biblical prophecy being fulfilled before our very eyes. God prophesied thousands of years ago that in these end times, foreigners would control and rule over the USA (compare Deuteronomy 28:43-44). We are observing the beginning of this development, because, as the Bible says, the borrower is the servant or slave to the lender (compare Proverbs 22:7). The following words by Alice Rivlin, a former budget director for Bill Clinton, are quite remarkable, as quoted in the above-stated article: “We used to have much less held by foreigners. It makes you much more vulnerable to people’s agendas.” Ultimately, the USA which is already, to an extent, a slave to the lender, will even become defeated in an outright war by a foreign enemy and it will become QUITE LITERALLY enslaved (Deuteronomy 28:47-50, 52). For more information, please read our free booklets, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America,” and “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.”

The Bible teaches that God had no beginning, but that He has always
existed. We read that God created all things; that is, human beings,
animals and all physical things, as well as angelic beings and all
spiritual “things.” However, God is not just one Person, but a Family,
presently consisting of God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. We
read that God created everything through Jesus Christ (Colossians
1:15-17)–proving that God the Father and Jesus Christ existed before
there was anything else. Hebrews 1:1-2 tells us that God the Father
created “the worlds” through His Son, Jesus Christ. John 1:1 says that
the “Word”–Jesus Christ (compare Revelation 19:13)–was “in the
beginning” with God and that the Word WAS God. John 1:3 tells us that
“all things” were made through Him, and “without Him nothing was made
that was made.”

Some
claim that God the Father first created His
Son, Jesus Christ, and proceeded afterwards to create everything else
through Christ. They say that the Word was created, and when that
happened, there were no days or time created, so Christ had no
beginning of days as such. This is not, however, what the Bible
teaches.

Micah 5:2 talks about the coming Messiah when it states “But you,
Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of
Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in
Israel, WHOSE GOINGS FORTH ARE FROM OF OLD, FROM EVERLASTING.”

Isaiah 9:6 states: “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is
given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will
be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince
of Peace.” According to Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible
Concordance, the Hebrew for “Father” can also convey the meaning of
“ancestor, source, inventor.”

In
Hebrews 7:1-10, we are introduced to the Son, Jesus Christ, who was
known as the High Priest Melchizedek at the time of Abraham (When
Christ was here on earth as a human being, born as a man, He confirmed
that He actually met Abraham in His prior life as an immortal God
being, compare John 8:56-58).

Note how the Son of God or Melchizedek is described:

— Hebrews 7:1: He was the Priest of the Most High God–God the Father, who is higher than Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3).
— Hebrews 7:3: He was “without father, without mother, without
genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life.” Christ
said later that He is the One who “was and who is to come, the
Almighty” (Revelation 1:8).
— Hebrews 7:3: When He appeared as Melchizedek, He was made like, or
better, He was “resembling” (compare Revised Standard Version) or
“bearing the likeness of” (compare Revised English Bible) the “Son of
God”–that is, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, manifested Himself as a
human being, as He did on other occasions in the Old Testament (for
instance, He and two angels appeared to Abraham before Sodom and
Gomorrah were destroyed, Genesis 18:1-2, 13, 16-17; 19:1).
— Hebrews 7:3: The One known as Melchizedek and the Son of God, Jesus
Christ, “remains a priest continually.” He is still alive, confirming
what Christ said in Revelation 1:18: “I am He who lives, and was dead
(and in the grave for 72 hours), and behold, I am alive forevermore.”
— Hebrews 7:8: He was not a “mortal man” but someone who still “lives” today.

Accepting
the clear Biblical testimony, we must conclude that Jesus Christ, as a
Spirit being and as the second member of the God Family, has always
lived together with God the Father. He had no beginning.

How
then are we to understand Revelation 3:14 which says that Christ is
“the Beginning of the creation of God”? Since the Bible does not
contradict itself, we can rule out the idea that God the Father created
Christ so that Christ became the very first act–the “beginning”–of
God’s creation. What, then, is the meaning of the verse?

Let us note how other translations render this verse:

— New International Version: “the ruler of God’s creation”
— Living Bible: “the primeval source of God’s creation”
— New Revised Standard Version: “the origin of God’s creation”
— Revised English Bible: “the source of God’s creation”
— New Jerusalem Bible: “the Principle of God’s creation”

Please also note the following statements from a few commentaries:

— The Broadman Bible Commentary gives the following explanation:

“‘The
beginning of God’s creation’ is not easy to interpret. If taken to mean
that Christ was the first creature, then one has ignored the
Christology of Revelation… Beckwith translated this phrase ‘the one
from whom creation took its beginning.’ Another good translation is
‘who is the origin of all that God has created.’… God is the primary
source (4:11; 10:6), and Christ is the agent of creation as in John 1:3
(see Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2). The letter to Colossae was intended by Paul
for Laodicea also (Col. 4:16). He spoke of Christ as the agent of
creation, and this is probably the intent of the writer of Revelation.”

— The Nelson Study Bible states:

“…
the Beginning, meaning the ‘First Place’ or ‘The Ruler.’… The phrase
about creation has been interpreted by some to teach that Jesus is the
first being that God created. This is certainly not required by Greek
grammar, and is contrary to other biblical passages. Christ is
described in other passages of the New Testament as eternal (see John
1:1-1) and as being God Himself (see John 8:58; Phil. 2:6; Titus 2:13).
Revelation speaks of Him as the First and the Last, the Alpha and
Omega, the Beginning and the End. In fact, the Greek phrase in this
verse can be translated in a more active sense, so as to read, ‘the One
who begins the creation of God.'”

— The “New Bible Commentary: Revised” adds the following:

“…
the title ‘the beginning of God’s creation’ (better translated ‘the
principle’ or ‘source’ of creation) exalts Christ as Creator above the
proud but puny creatures that boast in their self-sufficiency.”

—
The Commentary of Jamiesson, Fausset and Brown agrees, pointing out:
“‘beginning of the creation of God’–not he whom God created first, but
as in Colossians 1:15-18… the Beginner of all creation, its
originating instrument. All creation would not be represented adoring
Him, if He were but one of themselves. He being the Creator is a strong
guarantee for His faithfulness as ‘the Witness and Amen.'”

The
foregoing has also been the established understanding of the Church of
God. In a letter from the Worldwide Church of God, dated January 1988,
it is stated: “The correct meaning of the phrase ‘the beginning of the
creation of God’ is the BEGINNER of all creation. It refers to ITS
ORIGINATING INSTRUMENT (see Colossians 1:15-17). Jesus is the Head and
Governor of all creatures; He is the King of creation… The Bible
tells us plainly that Jesus… had no beginning of days… He… was
the Creator of all things that were made… He was with the Father in
the beginning, and all things were made by Him… He has always
existed.”

In a number of Church of God publications, the eternal
nature of Christ was emphasized and has, historically, been the
understanding of the Church. In Herbert Armstrong’s article, “Is Jesus
God?” dated 1958, it is stated on page 1: “Therefore, Jesus who is and
was God, who has always existed (John 1:1-2) was actually made flesh
(v14).” The Bible Correspondence Course, Lesson 13, “Who and What Is
God?” stated on page 5: “Christ, when He was ‘the Word,’ was an
immortal being who had always existed–there had never been a time when
He did not exist–He was literally without ‘beginning of days.'” And in
the booklet, “Why Humanity Cannot Solve Its Evils,” it is stated on
page 3: “In order of time sequence the first revelation of who and what
is God is found in John 1:1, ‘In the beginning was the Word.’ This
‘Word’ was a personage, eternally self-existent.”

In Revelation
22:13, Christ refers to himself as the “beginning [arche] and the end
[telos].” If “beginning” suggests that there was a time when Christ did
not exist, but that He came into existence as the first being of God’s
creation, does “end” indicate that there will be a point at which He
will no longer exist? That would be a ridiculous suggestion!

Based
on all the biblical evidence, we can dogmatically state that Jesus
Christ had NO beginning. Rather, He is the BEGINNER of God’s creation:
God the Father created everything through Jesus Christ, who existed
since all eternity. For more information, please read our free
booklets, “God is a Family” and “Jesus Christ–A Great Mystery.”

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

We recently began to place most of our StandingWatch
programs on “Google Video.” We are very encouraged by the responses.
The most watched programs were, “What Is Happening in Germany?”,
“Ghosts of Departed Ones?”, “Europe and the Middle East,” “The Pope is
Dead–What Is Next?” and “Germany in Prophecy.”

We have also
started an advertisement campaign on the Internet, by placing an ad
next to Google searches. When someone searches for a certain
expression, the ad will appear next to or above the search results. The
overall average click through rate (somebody sees the ad and clicks on
it) was 5.2%, but at times it reached 7.7 %.