On January 31, 2015, Norbert Link will give the sermon, titled, “The Shield of Faith.”

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.

On March 2, 2004, the Philae robotic lander was launched from the surface of the earth into outer space, with a mission to land on the surface of a comet. Just over ten years later this radical and seemingly impossible mission was accomplished when it successfully made a soft landing on the surface of the nucleus of comet “67P”. As unfathomable and crazy as it sounds to land a spacecraft on the surface of a comet, a team of human beings managed to accomplish the task. To me, this is a prime example of man accomplishing whatever he sets his mind to do (compare Genesis 11:6). With this space probe attached to the nucleus of the comet, the scientific community is thrilled to discover previously unknown facts about this celestial body. For man, this is quite a feat.

As significant as this accomplishment is to man, in the context of God’s plan, landing on a comet is meaningless. In fact, it is even worse than meaningless, because it gives man an opportunity to be proud and glorify himself. The strong, wise, rich and powerful according to the standards of the world may have something to be proud about now, but the Bible is clear that “…the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Corinthians 1:28-29).

If we have pride in our lives that elevates our opinions of ourselves above God, knowing that this is something that God will punish, what are we to do? We need to change our perspective to be spiritually minded and to walk in the Spirit (compare Galatians 5:25). This simply means that we should not seek value or glory from the world. The things that the world might provide are only temporary and will not provide any enduring reward. We are reminded of this perspective in 1 John 2:17 where we read, “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” If we live with the understanding that the world truly is passing away and that it is God’s Will that no flesh should glory, the achievements we accomplish in this world lose their value.

When we put this understanding into action, our motivation shifts away from achieving the temporary accomplishments in the world and re-focuses on fulfilling God’s Will. We put our treasure in heaven when we live in the Spirit. The Scripture that illustrates this shift in perspective is Colossians 3:23-24, where Paul writes, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” Here we can see that we are not to stop taking action in our lives because the world is temporary. We must continue to be productive individuals, but the reason why we take action changes. The work we do – the action we take – must be done to please and glorify God, not man—not ourselves!

We begin with reporting on the elections in Greece and the surprise victory of radical far-left atheist Alexis Tsipras (of the Syriza party) and his coalition with radical right-wing anti-German Panos Kammenos of the Independent Greek party, which has sent shock waves throughout Europe. We continue discussing Greece’s current debt situation, Europe’s reactions, and the unlikelihood of Greece’s exit from the Eurozone.

We continue with a disturbing profile on Saudi Arabia’s new leader, King Salman; report on Argentina’s crisis and new Russian provocations; and we address anti-Semitism in Europe, including in Germany and especially in France, while the icy relationship between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu has hit new lows and new violence has erupted between Israel and Hezbollah.

We speak of America’s least Bible-minded cities and a terrible winter storm affecting some of those very cities; mention a “close encounter” with a huge asteroid; report about a debate on the beginning of life; present new evidence regarding the true nature of the Neanderthals; and conclude with an alarming article about people who hear voices, while neither “traditional psychiatry” and its “treatments” with strong suppressive drugs, causing terrible side-effects, nor participants and members of the “World Hearing Voices Congress” provide any answers to these real and traumatic problems.

Greece Hands Power to Radical Far Left Party

The Wall Street Journal wrote on January 26:

“Greek voters handed power to a radical leftist party in national elections on Sunday, a popular rebellion against the bitter economic medicine Greece has swallowed for five years and a rebuke of the fellow European countries that prescribed it…

“A Syriza victory marks an astonishing upset of Europe’s political order, which decades ago settled into an orthodox centrism while many in Syriza describe themselves as Marxists. It emboldens the challenges of other radical parties, from the right-wing National Front in France to the newly formed left-wing Podemos party in Spain, and it sets Greece on a collision course with Germany and its other eurozone rescuers.”

Tsipras Sworn In, Forms Coalition with Radical Far Right Party

BBC News wrote on January 26:

“The head of Greece’s far-left Syriza party, Alexis Tsipras, has been sworn in as prime minister and is set to lead an anti-austerity coalition government. Turning up for the ceremony without a tie, the leftist took the oath less than 24 hours after winning the general election on an anti-austerity platform…

“Breaking with tradition at his swearing-in, Mr Tsipras [an atheist] also refused the customary blessing from Orthodox priests…”

The Telegraph wrote on January 26:

“Mr Tsipras’s decision to form a coalition with the right-wing ANEL, or Independent Greeks party… strongly suggests that he intends to force a showdown with the Troika. ANEL is a nationalist champion of the Greek Orthodox Church, opposed to immigration… Party leader Panos Kammenos is virulently anti-German, describing his country as an occupied land under the austerity dictatorship of a Fourth Reich…”

Huge Greek Debts

The Telegraph wrote on January 26:

“The new Greece of Alexis Tsipras will run out of money by early March. It will then face a series of escalating crunch points that will end in default and a return to the drachma unless it can reach a deal with EU creditors.  Greece must repay €3.4bn to the International Monetary Fund in February and March…”

No Greek Debt Cancellations

Deutsche Welle wrote on January 26:

“At a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels on Monday, attendees spoke out against the idea of writing off Greek debt… Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who usually chairs these gatherings, told reporters that there was ‘little support’ for forgiving Greek debt… Hans-Hoerg Schelling, Austria’s finance minister, said the rest of Europe shouldn’t be made to restructure its financial policy ‘just because a country like Greece has a problem.’…

“Yanis Varoufakis, a member of the now-ruling far left Syriza, who is tipped by some to become Greece’s next finance minister, tried to allay fears on Monday that his party wanted to leave the euro, a move nicknamed the ‘Grexit,’ which would greatly destabilize the currency. He said his party wished to convince euro partners that reducing Greece’s debt burden would help growth, thereby benefiting everyone. ‘We who are in the eurozone must not toy with loose or fast talk about Grexit or fragmentation…If that happens, disruptive forces would be unleashed,’ Varoufakis told BBC radio.”

The Telegraph wrote on January 26:

“Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s finance minister, said Greece is legally bound by its agreements. ‘There are rules, there are agreements. New elections change nothing,’ he said… IMF chief Christine Lagarde said there is ‘no question of cancelling Greek debt’, deeming it unfair to other EMU states. It would entail losses for Italian and Spanish taxpayers just as much as for Germans.”

The Local wrote on January 26:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel expects the new Greek government to uphold its commitments to international creditors, her spokesman said Monday… Earlier mainstream politicians had reacted sternly to Syriza’s election victory in Greece, while the European Central Bank (ECB) said it would not take a ‘haircut’ on Greek debts it holds. ‘The Greeks have to bear the consequences of their own actions and can’t saddle the German taxpayer with them’, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) deputy leader in the Bundestag (German parliament) Hans-Peter Friedrich told Bild’s Monday edition…

“‘We cannot honour breach of contract’ said Wolfgang Bosbach, head of the Bundestag’s Interior Committee, adding that any leniency shown to Greece would send the wrong signal to other struggling countries… Meanwhile, ECB board member Benoit Coeure told business newspaper Handelsblatt that Greece couldn’t expect any leniency from the Frankfurt-based central bank… Cutting that debt would be tantamount to so-called monetary financing – printing money to get a government out of debt – which is strictly forbidden under the ECB’s own statutes…”

“Grexit” Unlikely – Americans Might Be Affected

ABC News wrote on January 26:

“While the Greek elections on Sunday were an ocean away, Americans may feel the ripple effects of the anti-austerity Syriza party’s leadership when it comes to their bank accounts and homes. By voting for the far-left Syriza leader to be their premier, Greeks essentially voted against the measures imposed by European Union leaders. Though their single euro currency, put in place in 1999, likely won’t go away, many Greeks are fed up with 26 percent unemployment and budget cuts that they face…

“Kasi Turpin, founder and director of boutique travel company Greece A La Carte, based in Athens, said:… ‘I think [Tsipras is] going to negotiate with Europe… A lot of what he promised was rhetoric so he could get elected…’ Peter Morici, professor at University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, said shifting European politics may have a depressing effect on U.S. interest rates. That’s because uncertainty about the euro will cause Europeans to send money to the U.S., and that could push up stock prices and push down interest rates, he said.”

Der Spiegel wrote on January 26 that the “Grexis” is unlikely, and that the most likely scenario is that nothing will change and the new Greek government –notwithstanding all rhetoric and saber-rattling–will continue to act as the previous one without offering or finding any real solutions…

Bild Online ran a big article on its front page, saying that Tsipras’s election promises would cost 20 billion euros; and if he were to fulfil those promises, then Greece would be bankrupt again in no time. According to the article, Tsipras is also asking the EU for the cancellation of at least half of Greece’s debts, which EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker categorically rejected.

Die Welt Online commented that the situation in Greece is similar to the Weimar Republic and that Greece’s craving for a new “fuehrer ” or “Caesar” will not make them happy.

Why the Greek Experiment Will Fail

The Independent wrote on January 28:

“Greece’s new cabinet faces the biggest task of any Greek government since democracy returned in 1974; how to save the nation. A frustrated, fatigued and angry electorate has put into power a new radical left party because all else seems to have failed. Indeed, in some ways the austerity programme had made things worse. So now prime minister Alexis Tsipras, and finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, a self-described libertarian Marxist, face Angela Merkel and the conservatively-inclined Germany taxpayer in a battle of wills. All the signs are that the Greeks will not win…

“You owe the money; you need to pay it back as agreed. Alexis Tsipras and his new cabinet will soon be told that. If Greece has her debts written-off, … every other nation that has had to have a bailout will want the same treatment…

“The Greeks have no bargaining power. If they cannot scare the Germans into easing up because they can threaten the whole European project then they have nothing left to rely on for leverage… Even if they got their debts entirely written off, it would all start over again before long. This is the fundamental point. Greece was living beyond her means after the euro was introduced; taking advantage of the cheap interest rates on the euro bestowed by its status as a strong currency backed by Germany. They had a great big party, buying all those nice German cars and the consumer digital wonders of the noughties; and now the hangover is still taking time to work through…

“The Germans are fed up… the German taxpayer is growing weary of bail-outs and rescues for what they often regard as lazy southern neighbours. They fear ‘printing’ money to solve these problems will re-ignite inflation, a national folk fear after the hyperinflations of 1923 and at the end of the Second World War. Right wing protest parties such as Alternative For Germany are gaining support…

“Like Belgian chocolate and pralines, political fudge is a commonly found commodity in Brussels; the EU and Germany will do a deal with Greece, but only a face-saving, cosmetic affair. Greece is not going to get off the hook, but its new prime minister will be able to declare victory and move on.”

Controversial History of Saudi Arabia’s new King Salman

Free Beacon wrote on January 26:

“King Salman, Saudi Arabia’s newly crowned monarch, has a controversial history of helping to fund radical terror groups and has maintained ties with several anti-Semitic Muslim clerics known for advocating radical positions… Salman, previously the country’s defense minister and deputy prime minister, was crowned king last week after his half-brother King Abdullah died at the age of 90.

“While Abdullah served as a close U.S. ally and was considered a reformer by many, Saudi Arabia has long been criticized by human rights activists for its treatment of women and its enforcement of a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

“… throughout his public career in government, Salman… has been tied to the funding of radical groups in Afghanistan, as well as an organization found to be plotting attacks against America… In 2001, an international raid of the Saudi High Commission for Aid to Bosnia, which Salman founded in 1993, unearthed evidence of terrorist plots against America…

“Salman also has been reported to be responsible for sending millions of dollars to the radical mujahedeen that waged jihad in Afghanistan in the 1980s… Salman also has embraced radical Saudi clerics known for their hateful rhetoric against Israel and Jews…”

One of the “closest” U.S. allies….

Argentina in Crisis

Fox News reported on January 24:

“Faced with one of the biggest crises of her presidency, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has given her countrymen a confusing and sometimes contradictory view of how her most damaging accuser [criminal prosecutor Alberto Nisman] was found dead, at first seeming to accept the idea of suicide and later describing it as an elaborate murder plot to undermine her government.

“Fernandez’s response… has deepened a political crisis with wide implications for the last year of her presidency and perhaps even for the future of the country beyond that… Many Argentines say the mysterious death has underscored an erosion of faith in the country’s institutions and in Fernandez at a time when her administration is struggling to fight economic ills and rising street crime.”

Russia’s Provocations

The Local wrote on January 28:

“More than 25 years after the Berlin Wall’s fall, Russian lawmakers are mulling a proposal to condemn West Germany’s 1990 “annexation” of East Germany as Moscow’s answer to Western denunciation of its seizure of Crimea. Sergei Naryshkin, speaker of Russian parliament’s lower house, on Wednesday ordered legislators to consider an appeal from a Communist Party deputy to denounce the reunification of Germany as an illegal land grab of East Germany by its western neighbour. The collapse of Socialist rule in East Germany – officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR) – heralded the end of the Cold War, and was met with jubilation in the West.

“But the Communist lawmaker sponsoring the proposal argued the absorption of the GDR – a Soviet Union satellite since the end of WWII – into a unified Germany in October 1990 was illegal. ‘Unlike Crimea, a referendum was not conducted in the German Democratic Republic,’ Nikolai Ivanov was quoted saying before the Russian parliament’s lower house, the State Duma. The desire by some to revise Moscow’s position on one of the late twentieth century’s most momentous events is born of anger over international condemnation of Russia’s own seizure of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in March – and an apparent yearning to match it.

“‘We understand that Western hypocrisy knows no limits,’ Ivanov told AFP, singling out German Chancellor Angela Merkel for particular criticism over her tough stance on the Ukraine crisis. Russian President Vladimir Putin, himself a KGB officer in East Germany when the Berlin Wall fell, spearheaded the annexation of Crimea against a backdrop of patriotic fervour last year…

“But the notion that West Germany had illegally annexed its eastern neighbour was met with scorn by one key figure from that period. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev — who is praised in the West for his decision not to use force to quell uprisings in Eastern Europe, and to let the Berlin Wall crumble — called the contention ‘nonsense.’… ‘What referendum could one talk about when one hundred thousand-strong demonstrations were taking place in both countries — both in East and West Germany – with one slogan only: “We are one people!”’”

Almost Half of Germans Have Negative View of Israel

JTA reported on January 26:

“More than one-third of Germans equated Israeli policies toward the Palestinians with Nazi policies towards the Jews, a new study found… The survey, which was conducted in October by the German Bertelsmann Foundation, found that… 48 percent of respondents held a negative view of Israel…

“Overall, 36 percent of Germans viewed Israel favorably. Regarding the Holocaust, 58 percent of Germans said it was time to put the past behind them, while 38 percent disagreed.”

Anti-Semitism in France and all over Europe

Der Spiegel wrote on January 26:

“Following the recent terror attacks in France, more French Jews than ever before are planning on emigrating to Israel… anti-Semitism in Europe, say many, is becoming intolerable… ‘In some (EU) states, the majority of the Jewish community is not sure they have a future in Europe,’ said European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans…

“In 2014, more than 7,000 people left France for Israel, almost double the total from the previous year. A total of 500,000 Jews live in France, putting it third behind the United States and Israel in terms of its total Jewish population. But it has also become the country from which the most immigrants to Israel come. ‘We are now also prepared if 15,000 come,’ says Nathan Sharansky, head of the Jewish Agency. ‘For the first time in Israel’s history, more Jews are arriving from the free world than from other countries,’ Sharansky says…”

Icy Relationship Between Netanyahu and Obama Hits New Low

BBC News wrote on January 22:

“Barack Obama will not meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits in March to speak to Congress, the White House says… ‘A full blown crisis’ was how Jeffrey Goldberg, one of America’s leading Middle East commentators, described relations between the US and Israel last October, in an article that famously quoted a senior Obama administration official describing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a most unflattering, ornithological manner.

“Since then, relations have deteriorated still further…”

Fox News reported on January 24:

“The Obama administration reportedly is fuming over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to address Congress in March regarding the Iranian threat, with one unnamed official telling an Israeli newspaper he will pay ‘a price’ for the snub. House Speaker John Boehner invited Netanyahu — and the Israeli leader accepted – without any involvement from the White House.

“… in private, Obama’s team is livid with the Israeli leader… Haaretz also reported that Obama had directly warned Netanyahu to stop urging U.S. lawmakers to back legislation teeing up new sanctions against Iran… Obama and Netanyahu have a ‘fundamental disagreement’ about the diplomatic talks with Iran…”

The Israeli Daily wrote on January 27:

“The icy relationship between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu hit a new low this week, with the American president ‘defriending’ the Israeli Premier on Facebook. [A] White House source said, ‘But if the President had to read one more post somehow tying whatever [bad negative derogatory word] Jewish holiday it happened to be with the Iranian nuclear threat, he would have snapped.’”

Most Serious Escalation Since 2006

The Associated Press reported on January 28:

“The Lebanese militant Hezbollah fired a salvo of missiles at an Israeli military convoy in a disputed border area Wednesday, killing two soldiers and triggering a deadly response that marked the most serious escalation since the sides’ 2006 war.

“The flare-up, which also left a U.N. peacekeeper dead and seven soldiers wounded, adds to the regional chaos brought on by neighboring Syria’s civil war. Hezbollah indicated the attack was in retaliation for a deadly Israeli strike on its fighters inside Syria earlier this month.

“The violence sparked fears in both countries of yet another crippling war between the two foes. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Israel would respond ‘forcefully,’ and the military fired artillery shell barrages that struck border villages in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah responded with rocket fire on Israeli military positions in an exchange of fire that lasted for hours.”

America’s Most and Least Bible-Minded Cities

The Huffington Post wrote on January 24:

“Bible lovers out there might want to steer clear of Providence, Rhode Island and New Bedford, Massachusetts — two cities that have tied for ‘least Bible-minded city’ in the country for three years in a row.

“The ranking derives from a study conducted by Barna Group in association with the American Bible Society, which measured how frequently residents of 100 U.S. cities read the Bible and how fervently they believed in the book’s accuracy. The organization considered respondents to be Bible-minded if they had read the Bible in the past seven days and believed strongly in its accuracy.

“The survey found, however, that only 27 percent of the American population qualified as Bible-minded.

“Topping the list for least Bible-minded in the country were eight cities in the Northeast, three in the West and one Midwestern holdout. Not entirely surprising, the most Biblically minded cities are all located in the south.”

Topping the list for the most Bible-minded cities are Birmingham, Alabama; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Tri-Cities, Tennessee; Roanoke, Virginia; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Springfield, Missouri. At the very bottom of the list are Cedar Rapids, Iowa; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Albany, New York; Providence, Rhode Island; and New Bedford, Massachusetts. In light of these statistics, note the following article and ask yourself whether the two could be related in any way.

Winter Storm in the USA

The Weather Channel wrote on January 26:

“Millions of people in the Northeast are bracing for Winter Storm Juno, which will become a major snowstorm today through Wednesday with the potential for blizzard conditions and more than 2 feet of snow. The high confidence in forecast wind and snowfall led the National Weather Service to issue blizzard warnings well in advance of the storm from the New Jersey shore all the way to Downeast Maine, including the cities of New York City, Boston, Providence, Hartford and Portland…”

The prognosis did not hold true for New York City, but the blizzard was a terrible disaster in other places, as the next article shows.

The Washington Post reported on January 28:

“The Blizzard of 2015 might have been a disappointment for New York, but it will go down in the record books for eastern Massachusetts after as much as 36 inches of snow fell between Monday and Tuesday, making it the snowiest storm on record in Worcester, Mass., and the snowiest January storm for Boston… The Blizzard of 2015 is now ranked number one for snow in Worcester, Mass. The powerful winter storm dumped 34.6 inches on the city which — maybe unsurprisingly — was ranked the second snowiest location in the United States in the winter of 2012-2013, when 109 inches of snow fell.

“Boston’s official reporting station, Logan International Airport, reported a storm total of 24.6 inches, which makes the blizzard the snowiest January storm on record, and the sixth snowiest of any storm on record…

“Given the storm’s track, which was about 100 miles farther to the east than forecast, locations west of Hartford, Conn., and Long Island saw smaller totals… But no one is arguing that the forecast was a bust in southeast New England. Blizzard conditions were experienced for over 10 hours in some far eastern Massachusetts locations. Marshfield had 14 solid hours of blizzard conditions from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Hyannis, Chatham and Nantucket were all whipped by blizzard conditions for over 10 hours. Boston reported blizzard conditions for nine hours from 1 a.m. to 10 a.m. Tuesday, and blizzard conditions belted Worcester for a total close to 10 hours… Long Island wind gusts peaked at 60 mph, and Provincetown, Mass., saw gusts of 69 mph during the height of the blizzard…

“The snow might have been the least of worries for coastal locations, as strong winds combined with high tide ravaged the shoreline Tuesday evening. Dozens of reports of flooding, road washout and beach erosion were streaming into the National Weather Service as the tide peaked between 5 and 6 p.m. across coastal Massachusetts…”

Big Asteroid Comes Close to Earth

News.at reported on January 26 that a huge asteroid passed by earth within a distance of 1.2 million kilometers, which is three times as far as the distance from the earth to the moon. The asteroid is between 450 to 900 meters big and travels with 15 kilometers per second. If it had hit earth, it would have been a “huge” catastrophe with “millions of people dying” and it could have totally wiped out “a country as big as Germany,” according to the article.

When Life Begins…

Newsmax reported on January 26:

“San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, responding to recent statements made by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, says there is no debate in the Catholic Church about life beginning at conception and no room for Catholics to ‘dissent’ on the principle… Pelosi would not answer whether she believes life begins at 20 weeks, saying that ‘it’s not up to politicians to’ make that decision… ‘The life and the health of a mother is what is preeminent when a decision is made about a woman’s reproductive health,’ the California Democrat, whose district includes San Francisco, explained, adding that since she is a ‘Catholic and a mom of five’ that it’s ‘true’ that ‘she knows more about having babies than the pope.’

“When asked about these comments, Archbishop Cordileone [said] that ‘it is a scientific fact that human life begins at conception. This has been established in medical science for over 100 years. Catholic moral teaching acknowledges this scientific fact, and has always affirmed the grave moral evil of taking an innocent human life,’ Cordileone explained. ‘This has been the consistent teaching of the Church from the very beginning, a teaching already discernible in the natural moral law, and so a teaching from which no Catholic can dissent in good conscience,’ he said…”

The Archbishop is correct…

The Neanderthals Lived Alongside “Modern Man”

The Independent wrote on January 28:

“The partial skull of an anatomically modern human who lived alongside the Neanderthals about 55,000 years ago has been unearthed from a cave in northern Israel, scientists say. It is one of the oldest non-African skulls of Homo sapiens and comes close to the date when modern humans migrated out of Africa, eventually to colonise Asia, Europe, Australia and the Americas…  ‘It has been suspected that modern man and Neanderthals were in the same place at the same time, but we didn’t have the physical evidence. Now we do have it in the new skull fossil,’ said Bruce Latimer, a palaeontologist at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, who took part in the study. ‘Modern humans and Neanderthals likely encountered each other foraging for food,’ Dr Latimer said.

“Modern humans share a small percentage of their DNA with Neanderthals, suggesting that limited interbreeding had taken place at some point in the past. However, it is not known when this contact took place, or whether it had occurred somewhere in Europe or the Middle East.

“The overall shape of the Manot cranium is more similar to the ancient fossil skulls found in Europe compared to other modern human skulls found in the Middle East, according to the study published in Nature led by Israel Hershkovitz of Tel Aviv University. ‘This suggests that the Manot people could be closely related to the first modern humans who later successfully colonised Europe,’ the authors said, adding that the skull suggests that interbreeding with Neanderthals could have taken place in the Middle East rather than in Europe.”

Of course, these scientists are totally off on the dating, as they are using a completely unreliable method—the Radio Carbon Dating.  But this article proves once more that the Neanderthals lived “alongside” “modern man,” and that interbreeding took place between them. What it really proves is that Neanderthals were modern human beings, as we have explained recently in several Q&As.

Speaking to Invisible Voices?

The Independent wrote on January 25:

“One night, during her first year at the University of Sheffield, Rachel Waddingham struggled to fall asleep. She could hear three middle-aged men she didn’t know talking about her downstairs. ‘They were saying, “She’s stupid, she’s ugly, I wish she would kill herself”’, she remembers. ‘I was angry and went down to challenge them, but no one was there. They kept laughing and saying, “She’ll never find us.”’

“The voices became a recurring presence, providing an aggressive, unsettling commentary on her life. Waddingham came to believe that they were filming her around the clock, and became paranoid. When she had a neck ache, she assumed a tracking device had been planted under her skin. At the supermarket, the voices would ask each other questions like ‘Does she know what she’s buying?’ – leading her to reach sinister conclusions…

“A doctor eventually admitted her into a psychiatric hospital, where she was diagnosed with schizophrenia and put on a cocktail of drugs. During her eight months in the hospital, the voices faded, but the side effects of the medication made life intolerable… Suicide attempts followed… Because she was no longer hearing the voices, she was released from the hospital…

“Research suggests that up to one in 25 people hears voices regularly and that up to 40 per cent of the population will hear voices at some point in their lives… Recently, Waddingham and more than 200 other voice-hearers from around the world gathered in Thessaloniki, Greece, for the sixth annual World Hearing Voices Congress… They reject the traditional idea that the voices are a symptom of mental illness. They recast voices as meaningful, albeit unusual, experiences, and believe that potential problems lie not in the voices themselves but in a person’s relationship with them…

“Research bears that out: at least 70 per cent of voice-hearers are thought to have experienced some form of trauma. The characteristics of voices vary widely from person to person, but they often mimic the sound and language of abusers or their victims: demonic and frightening, or angelic and friendly.

“Waddingham, for instance, now hears 13 voices. Among them are Blue, a frightened but cheeky three-year-old; Elfie, an angry adolescent; Tommy, a teenage boy who criticises her speech; the Scream, a female voice filled with pain and suffering… and the Not Yets, a group of voices Waddingham is not yet ready to engage with fully. ‘They say very nasty things about me – abusive, sexual, violent things, which echo what I heard when I was little,’ she says…

“When the younger voices can’t fall asleep, Waddingham reads them bedtime stories. When voices suggest that she’s going to be harmed by a stranger, she thanks them for their concern but lets them know she is being vigilant.

“Eleanor Longden tells a similar story. After leaving a psychiatric hospital with a diagnosis of schizophrenia at 18, she was assigned to work with a psychiatrist familiar with the hearing voices movement. He encouraged her to overcome her fear of her voices, which included both human and demonic-sounding ones.

“Traditional psychiatry discourages patients from engaging with voices, and prefers to silence them through medication. But HVN members… say that listening to voices is vital to calming them down…”

Sadly, neither traditional psychiatry nor the “World Hearing Voice Congress” seem to understand the ORIGIN of these voices. And so, neither has the answer or a real solution to the problem. In fact, they only make matters worse. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World.”

When we are God Beings, will we remember our own past sins and the sins of others, including the sins of our close friends and family members?

The Bible teaches that we will enter the Family of God and become God Beings at the time of the return of Jesus Christ, when we have God’s Holy Spirit within us at the time of our death or of our change. As God Beings, we will think and behave like God the Father and Jesus Christ. How then does God look at the sins of others?

First of all, let us quickly review the question whether we are even going to remember our close friends, family members or mates in the resurrection. We addressed this question in our Q&A about Isaiah 65:17 (“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.”).

Answering the question whether we will still retain memories of human beings of this time, including our relationships with family and friends, we said:

“It will depend on whether or not they are righteous or evil (compare Psalm 34:15-16). Simply stated, those who are in God’s Kingdom will know one-another, but those who rebel will cease to exist or be remembered.”

We do not believe in an ever-burning hell fire which will torture the wicked for all eternity, while those “saved in heaven” will continually hear their cries. At the same time, it would be difficult to imagine that we will constantly remember loved ones or close friends who turned away from God and committed the unpardonable sin. Generally speaking, we will put the memories of those out of our minds; it will be as if they had never existed (Obadiah 16). [However, in the case of King Saul who apparently committed the unpardonable sin, his deeds of rebellion and his consultation of a witch and his encounter with a demon, pretending to be Samuel, have been recorded in the Bible, for everyone to read.]

This leads us to the next question as to whether we will remember our own sins which we repented of, or the sins of others who received forgiveness from God because of their repentance.

We discussed aspects of this question in our Q&A on 1 Kings 15:5 (“David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.”)

We said the following:

“The account of David’s transgressions ‘in the matter of Uriah the Hittite’ can be found in 2 Samuel, chapters 11 and 12. First, David committed adultery with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba; then, he tried to cover up his sin in different ways; failing that, he had Uriah murdered in war, so that he could take Bathsheba to become his wife. We read that ‘the thing that David had done displeased [or better: ‘was evil in the sight of’] the LORD’ (2 Samuel 11:27)…

“David’s conduct ‘in the matter of Uriah’ constituted a great sin. This does not mean, however, that this was the only sin that David ever committed. The passage in 1 Kings 15:5, quoted above, must be read in context with all the other Scriptures on this subject. For instance, note the following statement in 1 Kings 14:8, ‘… yet you have not been as My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do ONLY what was right in My eyes.’ Taken all by itself, this Scripture would say that David did not sin at all – not even in the ‘matter of Uriah.’…

“The truth is, of course, that David sinned in many different ways… The Bible makes it very clear that everyone sins – even after conversion – and that there is no human being [with the only exception of Jesus Christ, when He was here on earth] who does not sin (compare 1 Kings 8:46)…

“We are also told in Scripture that God forgives us our sins and even forgets about them, once we confess our sins to God (1 John 1:9). In that case, God cleanses us from all unrighteousness (same verse). He will remember our sins no more (compare Jeremiah 31:34).

“David had a loyal heart. When he sinned, he repented and asked God for forgiveness. He did not try to hide his sins, but he was truly heart-broken. He desired earnestly to be forgiven… When God forgave David, He removed his sins – not to be remembered anymore… That is why God could say, ‘David has kept My commandments. He followed Me with all his heart, to do ONLY what was right in My eyes.’ (Compare, again, 1 Kings 14:8.)

“We also understand, of course, that God forgave David his sins ‘in the matter of Uriah.’ Still, in the one passage, in 1 Kings 15:5, God brings this matter one more time to our attention. Not, because God had not forgiven David, but because this was a sin that belonged to a slightly different category. It was not the unpardonable sin, to be sure, since David will be in the Kingdom of God (compare Jeremiah 30:9; Hosea 3:5). However, it was not a sin that was committed ‘in ignorance’ – because of a temporary, passing weakness that had ‘snuck up’ on David. This was a planned, premeditated, carefully designed sin. David thought through very diligently how to cover up his sin with Bathseba, until he resorted to the murder of Uriah. God brings up the ‘matter with Uriah’ one more time, because He was terribly grieved that David would have acted in such a way – and He wanted to impress on the reader the awful consequences of that sin for David and his entire household.

“When we sin and subsequently confess our sin to God, God is faithful to forgive us… Upon forgiveness (compare Romans 11:27), God will remember our sins no more (compare Hebrews 8:12). This should show us that we must strive to do the same. When we forgive, we must also forget. David sinned in many different ways – as we all do – but he obtained complete forgiveness from God, as his heart was right. In God’s eyes, David kept God’s commandments; following God with all his heart, to do ONLY what was right in God’s eyes.”

What, exactly, is meant by the phrase that God will remember our sins no more?

Please realize that God saw to it that certain sins of David were recorded, for everyone to read. In addition to David’s sin in the matter of Uriah, some of his other sins were recorded as well, such as his fighting in war and numbering his army. Furthermore, sins of other righteous men and women were recorded: Moses’s sin of murder and his later outburst before Israel, which prevented him from entering the Promised Land; Aaron and Miriam’s murmuring against Moses; Abraham and Isaac’s lies; Abraham and Sarah’s adultery because of lack of faith; Jacob’s deceit towards his father Isaac; Rachel’s theft of her father’s idol; Peter’s sin of lying and denying Christ three times, and his hypocrisy towards Gentile Christians; and Paul’s persecution of Christians when he was still known as Saul. The list could go on and on. We also believe that Solomon came to repentance at the end of his life, but his prior terrible sins were included in the Bible.

How do we understand and explain this in light of the fact that God forgives and forgets sins once they are repented of? The sins of those were forgiven (all of those men and women listed above will be in the Kingdom of God as God Beings), but their prior sins were not erased from the written Word of God—the Bible—and we are told that they were recorded as an example for our benefit today (1 Corinthians 10:11), and that ALL Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).

In addition, we do not believe that Adam and Eve or Judas Iscariot have committed the unpardonable sin, since they never had God’s Holy Spirit, which means, that they will be given their opportunity to accept God’s Way of Life in the Second Resurrection; still, everyone knows and will know about [some of] their sins which they committed, as they are recorded in God’s Word. Jesus even said about Judas that it would have been better if he had not been born. We do not believe that these statements will ever be removed from the Bible. But Adam, Eve and Judas will come back to life, and will be offered true repentance, which they will hopefully accept. But again, their sins are recorded in the Bible, and the books of the Bible will be opened to the understanding of all who will be in the Great White Throne Judgment period (Revelation 20:12).

When we sin and do not repent, then our sins will stand against us. God will not forgive and forget them. The same is true for our friends and relatives. If they sin in this life, without repenting, God (and we as God Beings in the Kingdom) will not forgive and forget those sins prior to their repentance, but we will offer them repentance in the Great White Throne Judgment period so that their sins can be forgiven.

But what about sins which have been repented of? As we saw, generally, God (and we as God Beings) will forget those sins, by totally erasing them from our minds, but there are exceptions.

Clearly, one exception are the sins which are recorded in the Bible. Even though God has forgiven those upon repentance, He has not totally erased those from memory, but they were recorded for our benefit so that we can learn from the mistakes of others and do not make them ourselves. But in every case, God casts all repented sins behind His back and into the depths of the sea, so that when they are sought for, they shall not be found IN THE SENSE that God will never charge us with them. He does not retain them in His mind in the sense that He will not revisit what has passed.

When God says in Jeremiah 31:34 and in Isaiah 43:25 that He will “remember” their sins no more and that He will blot out their transgressions, He draws also a comparison between animal sacrifices in the Old Testament which had to be given continuously and which could never forgive sins, but were just a reminder or “remembrance” of sins (Hebrews 10:3), and Christ’s Sacrifice which brings about total and complete forgiveness and freedom from eternal death, so that God will “blot out” the sins and “remember” them no more (compare Acts 3:19). German Bibles translate Jeremiah 31:34 as, “I will not think of [or: about] their sins anymore.” The New Jerusalem Bible and the Revised English Bible say that God will never more “call” their sin “to mind.”

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible adds this comment in regard to Isaiah 43:25: “God will not remember the sins of his people against them; having forgiven them, he will never punish them for them, which is meant by remembering them; see Jeremiah 14:10.”

The Jamieson Fausset and Brown commentary agrees, stating: “When God forgives, He forgets; that is, treats the sinner as if He had forgotten his sins.”

Under the New Covenant, God will “take away” our sins (Romans 11:27)—He will not hold them against us, if we repent of them. Jeremiah 50:20 tells us that “… The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none; And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; For I will pardon those whom I preserve.”

In God’s mind, forgiven sins have never been committed. The wall of separation between God and us, which was erected due to sin (Isaiah 59:1-2), is broken down when we repent, and access to God is again unhindered. In most cases, God will completely wipe out from His mind any memory of repented sins, but as we saw, in some cases, sins were recorded to teach us a lesson. But in all cases, no repented sin will ever be “remembered” so that man would be charged with it. As we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), we must also strive to forgive and forget sins of others who repent… and this includes our own sins of which we repent and for which we have received forgiveness. But even if we may not be able to achieve in this life total lack of memory regarding past sins, we must always truly forgive others who repent, without ever holding grudges or bringing charges against them.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

“Heavens and Earth…” a new booklet written by Norbert Link, has entered an initial review period. Watch for the publishing of this intriguing presentation this spring.

“Dealing With Invisible Voices!” is the title of a new StandingWatch Program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

According to the Independent, a British paper, “up to one in 25 people hears voices regularly,” and “up to 40 per cent of the population will hear voices at some point in their lives.” While traditional psychiatry tries to silence those voices through strong medication, resulting in dangerous side-effects, others advocate a dialogue with those voices to calm them down.  What about these two different approaches? History includes many examples of people who claim that they heard voices and had visions, but can it really be true? If there are such voices, what is their origin? And what should people do who hear them? We are offering you our free booklet, “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World.”

“Die Kunst des Gebets,” is the title of this week’s German sermon. Title in English: “The Art of Prayer.”

“The Time of Salvation,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Dave Harris, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Is there a 7,000 year plan for mankind’s salvation which corresponds to the creation week described in Genesis, or is there more? Would an exact understanding of all the historical events described in the Bible give one the key to salvation? What should Christians be doing to attain the salvation God is offering?

by Delia Messier

In the last several years of our membership in a Church organization, which was departing from the truth, my husband and I were fed a very spiritually sick diet. Finally, through God’s mercy, we came to realize our dangerous situation and, after leaving, we eventually attended once again the Feast of Tabernacles with God’s true servants. After such a long time, we were hearing the truth again and God’s true gospel message was spoken to us–His plan was proven from one Scripture to the next, then another and another, from one end of the Bible to the other. God’s inspired words were used and it was shown how they supported each other and said the same thing, and that they were not confusing or complicated but pure and simple; and it all made sense.

I was sitting on the edge of my seat, not wanting to miss one word, but wanting to hear more and more. This is what I had missed all those years; this was what I had longed for.  I could not express how I was feeling; it was like being awakened! Tears were pouring down my face and getting in my way as I was trying to keep up with the Scriptures, trying to turn from one Scripture to another. I was like a withering dying plant that was finally getting watered, and these were the exact words I expressed to my husband as we closed our Bibles and rose for the last hymn and the closing prayer. I felt like I was being rejuvenated after a long drought!

This is proof to me that God feeds us through His true ministers; that He is using them to teach us in and out of season.  It confirmed to me that we must leave behind false teachers and teachings; that we must be and remain in the true body of Christ; and that if we depart from it and try to succeed on our own, foolishly believing that we can survive that way, we will eventually wither and die like a plant without water.

Since that day I have been observing a spiritual ”FEAST” every annual Festival and every weekly Sabbath. I am so very thankful for God’s true servants and for the knowledge that God’s words are true and that He satisfies those who are thirsty! I have been experiencing it, knowing that as long as I don’t abandon Him, He will not abandon me.

On January 24, 2015, Dave Harris will give the sermon, titled, “The Time of Salvation.”

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.

December 11th 2014 will be another date that will go down in the annals of British history as another shameful piece of legislation came into force.   Most seemed to think that it was yet another great day in gaining equality for all, but for those who know God’s Word, the exact opposite was the case.

It was a day when homosexual couples were given the right to convert their civil partnerships into marriages.

UK Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, who is also equalities minister, and skills minister Nick Boles, who is responsible for policy over same sex marriage, hailed it as a ‘proud’ moment for equal rights!

The Daily Mail reported that “Overall, almost seven in 10 Britons – 69 per cent – believe that homosexual couples should be able to marry while just over a quarter – 28 per cent – disagree.   When the same question was asked in 1975, support for gay marriage stood at just 16 per cent, with 53 per cent against.”

We had a Q&A in our Update 626, dated February 14, 2014, entitled “The frog in boiling water principle.”   In this, we stated the following: ”They say that if you put a frog into a pot of boiling water, it will leap out right away to escape the danger. But, if you put a frog in a kettle that is filled with water that is cool and pleasant, and then you gradually heat the kettle until it starts boiling, the frog will not become aware of the threat until it is too late.   The frog’s survival instincts are geared towards detecting sudden changes.”

There is no question that continual lobbying and the manipulation of public opinion over many decades ensured that the initial repugnance that most of the population once felt towards homosexuality, softened significantly over time towards mass acceptance of this ungodly practice.

During this campaign over the years, political leaders such as Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Nick Clegg, Ed Milliband and Prime Minister David Cameron have all played their part.  Whilst Nick Clegg and Ed Milliband are self-confessed atheists, Messrs Blair, Brown and Cameron have all acknowledged their Christian faith; however their knowledge of the Bible on this subject is either deficient or conveniently ignored.   They put what they call “equality” before the Word of God.

This was not only another day of ignominy for the UK but was compounded by the many hundreds of comments to the article, most of which not only approved of this new practice but also showed a good deal of hostility and antipathy towards God and the Bible.  Those few who disapproved of what was happening were subjected to such comments as “small minded bigots; the fairy tale book named ‘the bible’; dull and old fashioned” and many others proliferated, showing that the secular, Godless society, is very much in the majority today.

This latest day of ignominy following after many others will be part of our demise and the downfall of this once great nation.

And it seems that the writing is now truly on the wall!

We begin with reports about some pitiful and highly embarrassing statements by the pope; continue with a made-up story about a child who allegedly died and went to heaven; brief you on a sickening case of “legal” “child kidnapping” through law enforcement; report on President Obama’s sixth State of the Union Address; discuss developments in Germany and the government’s mishandling of the situation pertaining to PEGIDA and the “darker” side of the movement; report about the alleged existence of 20 sleeper cells in Europe; and speak of the desire of the EU to forge an alliance with Muslim countries against Islamists.

We continue with the situation in war-torn Ukraine and Russia’s threats, which deeply unsettle the EU; speak of the growing alienation between the EU and the UK; and address the highly controversial killing of Argentina’s prosecutor Alberto Nisman as well as developments in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

We conclude with a piece on Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg who saved the lives of more than a hundred thousand Jews, only to disappear in a Russian gulag at the end of World War II.  A hero in his own right, we are drawing some remarkable parallels between his legacy and today’s commission of the Church of God.

Pope at Loss for Words—Unable to Give an Answer!

The website of interaksyon.com reported on January 18, 2015:

“Pope Francis on Sunday morning warmly embraced a former street child, comforting the little one after emotions overcame her as she asked: ‘Why does God allow so many children to suffer?’… Pope Francis later responded in his homily that it took [the young girl] ‘to ask a question to which there is no answer … Why do children suffer?’ The Pope was so moved by the question that he abandoned a prepared Homily…”

The Independent added on January 18:

“Pope Francis was moved to embrace a tearful abandoned girl at a university in Manila after she asked why God allows children to become prostitutes. Glyzelle Palomar wept as she asked the Pope: ‘Many children get involved in drugs and prostitution. Why does God allow these things to happen to us? The children are not guilty of anything’…  Visibly moved, the Pope said: ‘She is the only one who has put forward a question for which there is no answer and she was not even able to express it in words but rather in tears.’”

This is SO pitiful. The leader of the biggest Christian organization is unable to answer one of the most fundamental questions, claiming that there is no answer. But there sure is, if one believes the words of the Bible. Please read the answer in our free booklet, “Human Suffering… Why… and How Much Longer?”

The Pope and His Rabbits

The Local wrote on January 20:

“The Association of German Rabbit Breeders… said on Tuesday that Pope Francis’ injunction to Catholics not to breed ‘like rabbits’ was inaccurate. ‘He should really think harder about giving up expressions like that and allow people to use contraception instead,’ ZDRK president Erwin Leowsky said. ‘I think it would be much more appropriate than saying such stupid things’.

“Leowsky added that not all rabbits had a high level of sexual activity, and that the stereotype mostly applied to rabbits living in the wild. Most rabbits bred in captivity have a well-regulated reproductive rate, he said. [In fact, it was also pointed out in other articles that even rabbits in the wild have some in-built reproductive regulation system to prevent overpopulation.]

“Pope Francis made his remarks on the way home from a visit to the Philippines, a stronghold of the Catholic Church in Asia which last year passed a family planning law in defiance of the Vatican’s 1968-vintage ban on contraception. ‘God gave us the means to be responsible’, he told journalists on the flight home. ‘Some think, and excuse the term, that to be good Catholics, they must breed like rabbits’.

“Following the Church’s teachings did not mean ‘Christians should have children one after the other’, he said.”

As Bild Online explained, the Pope defended the official Catholic teaching, according to which any form of artificial contraception, such the pill or condoms, is prohibited. Only “natural” planning is allowed, such as no sexual intercourse during ovulation. This was decreed by Pope Paul VI in the Encyclical “Humane Vitae” in 1968. Pope Francis referred to Pope Paul VI as a “prophet.” He also said that he is sad when he hears that three children are too many, adding that three children is the minimum to keep the population stabile. He did not elaborate on how many more children than three could or would become “irresponsible parenthood”.

The article also stated that some of his ad-hoc comments in interviews create quite a problem for the Vatican.

These comments by the pope are SO ridiculous.

Pope: “Every Religion Has its Dignity”

NBC News reported on January 15:

“Pope Francis suggested there are limits to freedom of expression, saying in response to the Charlie Hebdo terror attack that ‘one cannot make fun of faith’ and that anyone who throws insults can expect a ‘punch.’ The pontiff said that both freedom of faith and freedom of speech were fundamental human rights and that ‘every religion has its dignity. One cannot provoke, one cannot insult other people’s faith, one cannot make fun of faith,’ he said. ‘There is a limit. Every religion has its dignity … in freedom of expression there are limits.’

“The right to liberty of expression comes with the ‘obligation’ to speak for ‘the common good,’ Pope Francis said, cautioning against provocation. To illustrate his point, he joked about Vatican aide Alberto Gasparri who was standing nearby on the plane. ‘It’s true that we can’t react violently, but, for example if Dr. Gasbarri here, a great friend of mine, says a curse word against my mother, then a punch awaits him,’ the pontiff said.”

Again, the pope is grossly exaggerating. Not every religion has its dignity. Would ANYONE say that a religion requiring the sacrifice of babies has any sense of dignity? The same would apply to demon worship, witchcraft and hundreds upon hundreds of false religions. The pope’s use of inaccurate hyperbole could become a major problem for him in the future—while millions become lulled into a false sense of loyalty to the pope’s wrong assertions. Please view our new StandingWatch program, “The Pope Has No Answer!”

Also note the next article.

Two Male Witches “Tie the Knot” in UK’s First Pagan Same-Sex Marriage

The Telegraph wrote on January 19:

“Two male witches have tied the knot in the UK’s first pagan same-sex marriage… The ceremony encompassed a number of pagan traditions, including… jumping the broom. After their wedding, the couple said: ‘Getting married in a legal pagan ceremony means so much to both of us…’

“Scotland is the only part of the UK that allows pagans, and other minority and religious belief bodies, to solemnise legal weddings… Louise Park, the presiding officer for the Pagan Federation (Scotland), conducted the ceremony. She said: ‘… We feel that, if any couple wish to, they should be able to make their marriage vows before their own personal Gods, friends and family, in a religious ceremony tailored to suit their own beliefs.’”

So, does this “religion” have “dignity” too?

He Has NOT Been to Heaven!

The Washington Post reported on January 16:

“Tyndale House, a major Christian publisher, has announced that it will stop selling ‘The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven,’ by Alex Malarkey and his father, Kevin Malarkey.

“The best-selling book, first published in 2010, purports to describe what Alex experienced while he lay in a coma after a car accident when he was 6 years old. The coma lasted two months, and his injuries left him paralyzed, but the subsequent spiritual memoir – with its assuring description of ‘miracles, angels, and life beyond This World’ – became part of a popular genre of ‘heavenly tourism.’

“Earlier this week, Alex recanted his testimony about the afterlife. In an open letter to Christian bookstores posted on the Pulpit and Pen Web site, Alex states flatly: ‘I did not die. I did not go to Heaven… I said I went to heaven because I thought it would get me attention. When I made the claims that I did, I had never read the Bible. People have profited from lies, and continue to. They should read the Bible, which is enough. The Bible is the only source of truth. Anything written by man cannot be infallible.’”

Alex came clean, which is to be applauded. But the fact that so many people believed his ridiculous story that he would have gone to heaven after his death shows the incredible ignorance of the masses and religious leaders and the gullibility of those who want to believe such nonsense. The Bible is dogmatically clear that no human being (except for Jesus Christ AFTER His resurrection) ever went to heaven after his death, nor will any human being ever go to heaven after his death. Everyone who dies IS dead, WITHOUT consciousness, awaiting the RESURRECTION from the dead.

For more information, please read our free booklet, “Do We Have an Immortal Soul?”

“Do We Live in a Police State?”

The website of MedicalKidnap.com reported on January 21:

“Relatives of the Stanley family in Garland County, Arkansas have reached out to MedicalKidnap.com to notify the public that the 7 homeschool children of Hal and Michelle Stanley were removed during the night by DHS and fully armed sheriffs this past week, simply because they reportedly found a supplement in the home that was not approved by the FDA… A ‘miracle’ mineral treatment alleged to be a remedy for cancer and AIDS is at the center of an law enforcement search warrant. The investigation ended in the removal of seven children from their home in Garland County.

“The family has cried foul, saying only the father has taken it and it’s mostly used for purifying water for their garden. Hal and his wife Michelle were kept outside for hours while officers searched the home with their seven children inside. They avoid most contact with the government. The parents have home schooled their nine children, two of whom have graduated and gone on to college. The Stanleys keep to themselves, are generally self-sustained and consider themselves ‘preppers’…

“Hal added, ‘There’s never been any beer, liquor.’ They say they’ve never had a run-in with the law before.  ‘I’ve never had a speeding ticket.’ The Stanleys say since the night they had their children taken, friends and relatives have called and shown support. As the children were removed from the home Hal and his wife Michelle say they emotionally asked who made the decision. Hal said, ‘And finally a young man from the Sheriff’s department raised his hand, “I did it and I’m proud of the decision”’…

“Health Impact News has also reported on how the FDA has targeted the main distributor of MMS, who is facing 37 years in prison. This is in spite of the fact that the product has been used in Africa by the Red Cross to treat Malaria, and reportedly has helped tens of thousands of people worldwide. The product is made from sodium chlorite, which is a perfectly legal product and can be purchased online in such places as Amazon.com and eBay. Daniel Smith has been embroiled in a legal battle with the FDA for almost 5 years, and has been confined to his home under house arrest wearing a government monitoring device around his ankle for over two years…

“While the FDA and other authorities are attacking both distributors and users of this ‘unapproved’ product, several pharmaceutical companies have existing drug trials in place for similar products, according to the MMS Defense Fund site…Nobody has died from the many years of this product being used all around the world, but every year over 100,000 people die from FDA approved pharmaceutical products.”

Let us remind our readers that we are supposedly living in the land of the brave and the FREE—not in a dictatorial autocratic police state!

The Sixth State of the Union Address—More Divided Than Ever

Breitbart wrote on January 21:

“As President Obama cruised through his sixth State of the Union address, Democratic lawmakers, who frequently rose to cheer on their party leader, began to notice how poorly the speech was being received by their GOP colleagues. The response surprised them, even in an age of deep partisanship… With GOP lawmakers grudgingly sitting through what they considered… another lecture by a petulant, professorial Obama, the president was trying to channel some of the magic of his famous 2004 Democratic National Convention speech. He quoted himself saying that there wasn’t a liberal America or a conservative America, or a black America or white America, but a United States of America.

“‘Over the past six years, the pundits have pointed out more than once that my presidency hasn’t delivered on this vision. How ironic, they say, that our politics seems more divided than ever’… Six years in to his presidency, Obama is on track to be the most polarizing president, according to public polls. He has lost more Democratic congressional seats in midterm elections than any president since Harry Truman, and he won reelection himself primarily by demonizing Mitt Romney as a heartless plutocrat, similar to how George W. Bush tarnished John Kerry en route to a victory that carried no governing mandate.”

Wars and More Wars

The Times of Israel reported on January 21 on President Obama’s State of the Union Address:

“President Barack Obama vowed to veto any bill that would place additional sanctions on Iran… Obama warned that ‘there are no guarantees that negotiations will succeed, and I keep all options on the table to prevent a nuclear Iran,’ but added that ‘new sanctions passed by this Congress, at this moment in time, will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails – alienating America from its allies; and ensuring that Iran starts up its nuclear program again. It doesn’t make sense. That is why I will veto any new sanctions bill that threatens to undo this progress,’ he continued. Obama left a military option on the table, noting that ‘the American people expect us to only go to war as a last resort, and I intend to stay true to that wisdom.’…

“Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matt Brooks quickly responded to Obama’s comments in a statement following the speech…  ‘Despite pleas from Congress and the international community, the president, after exhaustive negotiations to halt their program, is rewarding Iran with yet more time,’ Brooks complained. ‘The Obama administration’s Iran policy is failing. Congress needs to place enhanced sanctions on Iran to demonstrate that we are serious about halting their nuclear weapons program. The president’s veto threat will only empower and embolden Iran to continue as a threat to the entire region and world.’…

“Obama argued that US military leadership in Iraq and Syria was stopping the Islamic State’s advance, but asked lawmakers ‘to show the world that we are united in this mission’ with a war authorization vote. Republican lawmakers have said they are prepared to work with him to pass such a measure if he sends a proposal up to Capitol Hill… Obama said he believes in moving forward with ‘a smarter kind of American leadership’ that combines military power with strong diplomacy… ‘We reserve the right to act unilaterally, as we’ve done relentlessly since I took office to take out terrorists who pose a direct threat to us and our allies,’ he said.

“Obama also spoke out against both ‘deplorable anti-Semitism that has resurfaced in certain parts of the world’ as well as against ‘offensive stereotypes of Muslims,’ although the first statement was greeted by applause, while the latter — made seconds later — was not.

“Unlike last year, when Obama mentioned in passing the US-brokered attempts to achieve a deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, there was no mention of the Palestinians whatsoever, and a reference to Israel only in the context of Iran…”

“In Two Years We Will Get Rid of Obama!”

Bild Online wrote on January 20:

“Two years from today will be a good day. Two years from today Barack Obama will retire from the Presidency…. During the last six years of his Presidency, he has proven to have a unique talent to miss historical opportunities…  It has been very rare that a president ruled so much without a compass, without noticeable love, and so unpredictably… [Six years ago] the world saw him as a Messiah. And today? The history books will judge how weak Barack Obama was as a president. But in every case, he was the biggest disappointment in the White House…”

Obama vs. Netanyahu

The Associated Press reported on January 22:

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned trip to Washington in March is kicking up a diplomatic dust storm in the nation’s capital. On Thursday, the White House said President Barack Obama [and Secretary of State John Kerry] would not meet the prime minister when he comes to the U.S. to address a joint session of Congress. The official White House explanation was that Netanyahu’s visit fell too close to the Israeli election and the Obama administration wanted to avoid the appearance of taking sides…

“But the timing of Netanyahu’s visit also gave the White House a convenient means of retaliating against the prime minister for his decision to accept an invitation from Republican leaders to address Congress. GOP lawmakers and Netanyahu worked out the arrangement without consulting with the White House or State Department, only alerting the Obama administration a few hours before the Israeli leader’s trip was made public. The White House appeared stunned by what it saw as a breach of diplomatic decorum by Netanyahu, a leader with whom Obama has a history of tension.”

German Pegida’s “Darker” Side

The Local wrote on January 16:

“They’ve grown from a small Facebook community to a worldwide phenomenon… The average Pegida marcher is surprisingly average… Germany has Europe’s largest Muslim population, though they only make up five percent of the population. In respose to Pegida, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said ‘Islam is a part of Germany’. However, broadcaster ZDF published a poll on Friday showing that only 48 percent of respondents agreed with her statement…

“Many people at Monday’s rally shared concerns about Germany’s vulnerability. Many felt the attack on Charlie Hebdo’s editorial staff was an attack on freedom of expression and the press. They worry people will feel that their freedoms are diminished by Islamic extremists who cannot adhere to those western values. It also explains why some carry signs saying ‘I like pork’. They worry that with more Muslims entering schools and work forces, pork will get taken off canteen menus…

“The group was launched following a growth of feeling against the Kurdistan’s Worker’s Party (PKK), which is classified as a terrorist group by NATO states.

“[One of its two co-founders, Lutz] Bachmann has avoided the press since his criminal history, which includes drug charges that he fled to South Africa to escape, came to light. Pegida has a 19-point manifesto that was released in December 2014. Besides calling for stricter immigration and asylum laws as well as making integration part of the constitution, it also calls for the outright rejection of any immigrant, refugee or asylum seeker with a criminal background.

“The movement is also deeply pro-Russian… [T]o former East Germans, the current Russian regime has nothing in common with the Soviet Union… Many of those who participate in the walk carry Russian flags. The idea is that if Russia has power again, it can create a balance of power with the United States of America, thus causing fewer bombing campaigns by the global military power.

“With fewer military actions, there would be fewer wars, less demand for arms, and fewer refugees fleeing their homelands and coming to Germany… There is still a deeply-rooted anti-Americanism in East Germany and Dresden…

“While Pegida movements outside of Dresden have been out-shouted by no-Pegida demonstrators, others keep appearing. Oslo has already hosted a Pegida march. Danes will hold one this coming Monday.”

Apart from the fact that Christians should not participate in political demonstrations (they are ambassadors of the Kingdom of God and a better world to come, when Jesus Christ returns), the article points out some of the questionable positions which Pegida propagates. At the same time, the next article shows how the German government is trying to suppress the movement—apparently with Pegida’s acquiescence, while at the same time portraying itself as persecuted victims to capitalize on Islamic threats.

The Local reported on January 21 that “Lutz Bachmann, the founder of Pegida, has resigned his leadership of the anti-Islam group following widespread outrage over Facebook photos of him in an Adolf Hitler costume.”

PEGIDA Demonstration Cancelled Due to Islamic Threats

APP wrote on January 19:

“German police banned a planned rally by the anti-Islamic PEGIDA movement and other public open-air gatherings in the eastern city of Dresden Monday, citing a terrorist threat. Dresden police said Sunday they had received information from federal and state counterparts indicating a ‘concrete threat’ against the right-wing populist group ‘Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident’.

“There had been calls for would-be ‘assassins to mingle among the protesters… and to murder an individual member of the organising team of the PEGIDA demonstrations’, police said in a notice on the 24-hour ban. This was consistent with ‘an Arabic-language tweet that called the PEGIDA demonstrations an enemy of Islam’, it said. Top-circulation daily Bild said online that the threat targeted PEGIDA’s most prominent leader Lutz Bachmann.

“Because there were no individual suspects, Dresden police said it saw no alternative to the temporary suspension of the constitutional right to free assembly within city limits. PEGIDA earlier told its followers on Facebook that its 13th planned rally had been scrapped, citing a threat from the Islamic State jihadist group, and portraying the cancellation as its own decision… It had decided to call off the Dresden event as it could not guarantee the security of marchers…”

And so, one bows to terrorist threats, even though Pegida announced that their demonstrations will continue in the future. Many German papers reacted negatively, stating the German government should not have prohibited the demonstration and PEGIDA should not have given their prior consent.

Euro Drops

Deutsche Welle reported on January 22:

“The euro dropped to $1.13 on Thursday, its cheapest rate against the greenback in 11 years. The value of the euro has been falling over the past year. Last April, it was trading at $1.38. News of the two-percent drop in value came on the heels of an announcement of the European Central Bank’s stimulus plan [which Germany opposes], which foresees printing 60 billion euros ($69.7 billion) a month beginning in March. The 19-month quantitative easing program – which will cost over 1 trillion euros – aims to spur inflation and encourage lending in the real economy.”

Up To 20 European Sleeper Cells

Newsmax reported on January 17:

“Up to 20 sleeper cells comprising 120 to 180 people may be ready to strike targets in several European countries, intelligence source say in the wake of the discovery of an ‘imminent threat’ of an attack in Belgium this week. More than two dozen people with suspected ties to Islamic extremists were arrested in a sweep Friday,  and an unnamed Western intelligence source told CNN that as many as 20 sleeper cells are ready to strike targets in France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

“‘There is a tremendous amount of concern over sleeper cells in Europe,’ said the official… Intelligence officers have been monitoring men who have returned to Europe after fighting in Syria, as it is believed the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, has directed attacks to retaliate against airstrikes against its forces in Syria and Iraq…”

Europe Calls for Alliance with Muslim Nations…

The Washington Post wrote on January 19:

“European foreign ministers… called… for an alliance against Islamic extremism with the countries of North Africa and other Muslim nations like Yemen, where at least one of the gunmen responsible for attacks this month in Paris received training. ‘We need an alliance, a dialogue, because we are all facing the same threat,’ Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign affairs chief, said…

“In an effort to increase counterterrorism cooperation both inside Europe and with countries outside the bloc, particularly those in the Muslim world, the 28-nation European alliance will assign security attachés at its diplomatic missions overseas, Ms. Mogherini said. Didier Reynders, the foreign minister of Belgium… said the European Union needed to increase intelligence sharing and other cooperation with countries like Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia to help curb radicalization and violent extremism.

“Many Muslims living in Belgium and France… trace their origins to North Africa. Proposals for such a program in Europe were put forward years ago but were stalled because of opposition from the European Parliament, where many lawmakers worried about violating citizens’ privacy.

“Under the program, information about seat numbers, flight reservation dates, payment methods and travel itineraries would be exchanged…”

Irreversible Consequences for Ukrainian Statehood?

The Guardian wrote on January 19:

“Pro-Russia separatists renewed attacks on Ukrainian forces at Donetsk airport complex in the east of the country on Monday after Kiev launched a mass operation to reclaim lost ground in the region… Russia expressed concern at what it called escalation by Kiev… ‘It’s the biggest, even strategic mistake of the Ukrainian authorities to bank on a military solution to the crisis,’ Interfax quoted Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Grigory Karasin, as saying. ‘This may lead to irreversible consequences for Ukrainian statehood.’”

The Washington Post wrote on January 19:

“The foreign ministers [of the EU]… discussed policy toward Russia and whether to keep in place sanctions imposed last year on Russian banks, other companies and individuals over the conflict in Ukraine. Some countries had in the past urged a softening of the sanctions, while others, particularly the Baltic countries, had demanded that they remain. But a recent uptick in fighting in eastern Ukraine — notably a push by Russian-backed separatists to seize the Donetsk airport from Ukrainian forces — strengthened the arguments of those opposed to any change in policy.

“Ms. Mogherini said that ‘the latest developments on the ground are not encouraging, rather the contrary,’ adding that the foreign ministers were united in their desire to stick with the current sanctions. ‘There is no normalization, there is no back to business as usual in any way.’”

Again, Russia put the world on notice by referring to grave consequences for Ukrainian statehood, if the battles were to continue. With this warning, Russia is clearly issuing a threat of military intervention. 

Deutsche Welle reported on January 22: “The battle for Donetsk airport is raging on between government troops and pro-Russian separatists. The ceasefire agreed for eastern Ukraine in September seems to be finished for good.”

More Bad Rumors from the East

The EUObserver wrote on January 15:

“Russia has said it will stop EU gas transit via Ukraine and do it via Turkey instead in the second shock announcement on energy in as many months. It said on Wednesday (14 January) that the EU should build new infrastructure to link up with a future Russia-Turkey pipeline or lose access to supplies. Gazprom head Alexei Miller issued the ultimatum during a visit to Russia by EU energy commissioner Maros Sefcovic, who said he was ‘very surprised’ by the statement.

“The latest announcement comes after Russia said in December it won’t build the so-called South Stream pipeline via Bulgaria and Hungary to Italy in favour of a new project with Turkey. The European Commission blocked South Stream construction on grounds of non-compliance with EU energy law.  But both South Stream and ‘Turkish Stream’ have strategic implications because they bypass Ukraine, which earns billions from transit fees and which is on the edge of bankruptcy…

“About 80 percent of the EU’s gas imports from Russia come via Ukraine. But political disputes between Kiev and Moscow have seen EU supplies interrupted on two occasions in recent years, with Moscow justifying the Turkey decision by saying Ukraine is ‘unreliable’.”

“EU-UK Romance Gone Wrong”

The EUObserver wrote on January 19:

“European Commission boss Jean-Claude Juncker has given the clearest hint yet that he would be prepared to see the UK leave the EU, comparing the UK’s 42-year membership of the bloc to a romance gone wrong… The UK joined the then European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973, a decision confirmed by a referendum in 1975, but has long been regarded by many as an ‘awkward partner’…

“Meanwhile, [Juncker] ruled out the prospect of UK-pushed treaty changes to reform EU rules on free movement saying that there would be ‘no debate, dialogue or compromise’ on an issue which he described as ‘red lines which could not be crossed… the EU won’t change the treaties to satisfy the whim of certain politicians,’ added Juncker. The commission president’s stance is a political blow to prime minister David Cameron ahead of the UK’s general election in May. The UK prime minister’s rhetoric on EU migration is likely to intensify in the coming weeks, with surveys suggesting that immigration, rather than the economy or public services, is the most important issue to voters…

“Cameron wants to [require] all EU migrants to have a job within six months of arriving in the UK. He also wants them to pay into the UK’s tax and social security programmes for four years before they can receive certain benefits and plans to end the payment of child benefit to dependents of EU migrants in their home country. However, last autumn Cameron dropped a plan to cap the number [of] EU nationals able to come to the UK amid opposition from Berlin and other capitals, and following warnings that this would breach the EU treaties.”

The UK’s exit from the EU becomes more and more apparent.

Argentinian-Jewish prosecutor Alberto Nisman Killed

The Times of Israel reported in January 19:

“Argentinian-Jewish prosecutor Alberto Nisman was killed by a gunshot below his ear, the preliminary results of an autopsy showed Monday, as thousands of Argentinians headed to the streets to protest his death. Nisman was found dead of a gunshot wound just hours before he was due to testify at a congressional hearing on the deadly 1994 AMIA bombing.

“Nisman had fingered Iran and Hezbollah in the attack, which killed 85 people at a Jewish community building, and was scheduled to release information tying Argentinean President Christina  [Fernandez de] Kirchner [and her foreign minister Hector Timerman] to a coverup of Tehran’s involvement…

“Police [and several] officials maintained Monday that Nisman’s death appeared to be a suicide… [But] Anibal Fernandez, secretary general for the presidency, said he was ‘dumbfounded,’ adding there was ‘absolutely nothing normal’ about it. Congresswoman Cornelia Schmidt-Liermann said she had planned to pick Nisman up Monday at his residence and accompany him for his testimony. ‘Everybody who had contact with him the last 24 hours says he was confident’ about his testimony,’ she told The Associated Press. ‘There is no indication, under any circumstances, that he killed himself.’…”

Will the world be sold another cover-up, as there have been so many examples historically around the world?

Reuters wrote on January 22:

“The death of a prosecutor investigating the bombing of a Jewish community center was not a suicide, as was initially reported, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez said on Thursday… She did not say who killed him and no one has been arrested in the case, which has shocked Argentines. Social media networks are seething with conspiracy theories, some pointing at Fernandez and her government…”

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Has Died

The Huffington Post reported on January 22:

“Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has died, Saudi state television announced early on Friday local time. Abdullah’s designated successor is Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, his 79-year-old half-brother.

“Reuters reports that King Abdullah had been admitted to a Riyadh hospital in December for medical tests. The royal court announced in January that Abdullah was suffering from pneumonia. Abdullah came into power in August 2005 after the death of his brother, King Fahd.”

The Associated Press added on January 22:

“Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, the powerful U.S. ally who joined Washington’s fight against al-Qaida and sought to modernize the ultraconservative Muslim kingdom with incremental but significant reforms, including nudging open greater opportunities for women, has died, according to Saudi state TV. He was 90.

“More than his guarded and hidebound predecessors, Abdullah assertively threw his oil-rich nation’s weight behind trying to shape the Middle East. His priority was to counter the influence of rival, mainly Shiite Iran wherever it tried to make advances. He and fellow Sunni Arab monarchs also staunchly opposed the Middle East’s wave of pro-democracy uprisings, seeing them as a threat to stability and their own rule.”

Reuters wrote on January 22:

“At stake with the appointment of Salman as [new] king is the future direction of the United States’ most important Arab ally and self-appointed champion of Sunni Islam at a moment of unprecedented turmoil across the Middle East… Saudi Arabia, which holds more than a fifth of the world’s crude oil, also exerts some influence over the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims through its guardianship of Mecca and Medina, Islam’s holiest sites.”

For information on the future of Saudi Arabia, please read our free booklet, “Middle Eastern and African Nations in Bible Prophecy.”

Turmoil in Yemen

The Washington Post wrote on January 22:

“Yemen’s Western-backed president and his cabinet resigned Thursday amid deepened turmoil that left Shiite rebels in effective control and threw into question this nation’s continued participation in the U.S. fight against terrorism…

“The crisis threatens to weaken Washington’s campaign against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which is based in Yemen and has actively targeted the United States and Europe. The government’s collapse could also plunge Yemen into full-scale civil war. The Houthi rebels are widely considered to be backed by Shiite-majority Iran, although they deny it. Yemen’s population is majority Sunni, and there is a strong separatist movement in the Sunni-dominated south…

“For Saudi Arabia, in particular, the ascendance of a Shiite-dominated state on its doorstep represents a strategic threat. It sees Iranian proxies consolidating power on its southern border with Yemen and on the northern one with Iraq, which is led by a Shiite government that has growing political, military and economic ties with Tehran, said Mustafa Alani, director of security and terrorism at the Geneva-based Gulf Research Center. ‘This is becoming a strategic nightmare’ for Saudi Arabia, he said. Riyadh fears Iran is building a ‘mini-state in Yemen,’ he added, similar to what the Shiite movement Hezbollah has created in Lebanon.”

Remember Raoul Wallenberg

The Times of Israel wrote on January 17:

“Thus far, 2015 has brought tragic and infuriating terrorism, anti-semitism, and assaults on liberty in France; a car bomb in Yemen that killed and injured dozens; and the massacre of thousands in Nigeria by Boko Haram, as well as yet another of the group’s mass kidnappings. This is in addition to continuing mass atrocities and humanitarian crises in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Central Africa, Sudan and elsewhere, and it comes on the heels of the deadly hostage-taking in Sydney, and the barbarous terrorist attack on a school in Pakistan that left over a hundred dead, most of them children…

“[Raoul] Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat, was a beacon of light during the darkest days of the Holocaust, and his example remains so today. Prior to his arrival in Budapest in July 1944, some 430,000 Hungarian Jews had been deported to Auschwitz in the space of ten weeks – the fastest, cruelest, and most efficient mass murders of the Nazi genocide. Yet Wallenberg rescued more Hungarian Jews from the Nazis than any single government, notably saving 20,000 by issuing Schutzpasses, documents conferring diplomatic immunity. He even went to the trains as mass deportations were underway, distributing Schutzpasses to people otherwise consigned to death. Other diplomatic missions followed suit, saving thousands more.

“Wallenberg saved an additional 32,000 by establishing dozens of safe houses in a diplomatic zone protected by neutral legations. He organized hospitals, soup kitchens, and childcare centres, providing human dignity along with the essentials of life. Moreover, when thousands of Jews were sent on a 125-mile death march in November 1944, Wallenberg followed alongside, distributing improvised Schutzpasses, as well as food and medical supplies…

“Finally, with the Nazis preparing to liquidate the Budapest ghetto as the war neared its end, Wallenberg warned Nazi generals that they would be held accountable and brought to justice, if not executed, for their crimes. The Nazis desisted, and 70,000 more Jews were saved…

“70 years ago today, Wallenberg was arrested by the Soviets, who had entered Hungary as liberators. He disappeared into the Gulag, and his fate remains unknown… the person who saved so many was not saved by so many who could. Yet, while we pursue the moral obligation of discovering the truth of Wallenberg’s fate, his legacy endures, reminding us of the power of an individual with the compassion to care and the courage to act to confront evil, resist, and transform history.

“In recognition of his heroism, Canada has established January 17th as Raoul Wallenberg Commemorative Day, and we [the state of Israel] named Wallenberg our country’s first honorary citizen thirty years ago. He has been granted the same distinction in Hungary, Australia, Israel, and the United States, and there are monuments to him in cities around the world, as well as streets and schools that bear his name. In Paris, there has been a Rue Raoul-Wallenberg since 2007…

“At a time when it seems as though each day brings a new heart-wrenching catastrophe, let us be inspired by Raoul Wallenberg, who came face to face with the horrors of Nazism, and was moved not to despair, but to action.”

The Church of God has a very similar task to fulfill today. It has the commission to preach the good news of the coming Kingdom of God in all the world as a witness to make possible the establishment of God’s righteous and peaceful government on earth. In the meantime, God’s Church is to teach and help those spiritually who respond to the Gospel message, by nurturing them with God’s Word and showing them a way to become protected during the terrible times ahead.

Proverbs 27:14 reads: “He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, It will be counted a curse to him.”

This seems to be a rather straight-forward statement, easy to understand. But upon further and deeper scrutiny, some very remarkable and easily overlooked truisms may come to light. This is a good example for the fact that the Bible must be read with great care and diligence, and that just a superficial glancing at biblical passages will not suffice.

(1)  First, we should note that the person blesses, praises or thanks his friend “with a loud voice.”

The Broadman Bible Commentary states:

“Verse 14 is aimed at insincerity in greeting concealed by a loud but hypocritical voice.”

The Lamsa Bible renders the verse:

“He who blesses his friend with a flattering loud voice is not different from him who curses.”

The person who flatters his friend by blessing him with a loud voice, while he has ulterior motives and insincerity in his heart, can be compared with those who pray to God with a loud voice, but who are unwilling to submit to Him. In either case, such a “blessing” or prayer of “thanks” will not produce positive results, as Ezekiel 8:18 states: “.. though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”

It is also interesting that the harlot is described as “loud and rebellious” (Proverbs 7:11).

The Soncino Commentary gives the following explanation of the person’s blessing with a loud voice, in Proverbs 27:14:

“… ‘with a loud voice.’ His heartiness conceals feelings of animosity…”

Psalm 5:9 states that “… there is no faithfulness in their mouth… their throat is an open tomb; They flatter with their tongue.”

Proverbs 26:28 tells us that a “flattering mouth works ruin”; and Proverbs 29:5 states that “A man who flatters his neighbor Spreads a net for his feet.”

Psalm 12:3 states: “May the LORD cut off all flattering lips…”  and Job 17:5 warns also against the bad consequences of flattery for the flatterer and his offspring.

Paul states in 1 Thessalonians 2:5-6 that he and his fellow workers did not act as the flatterer in Proverbs 27:14, pointing out: “For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ.”

We might also remember the many instances when the Pharisees and Sadducees came to Christ with flattering and praising words, in order to trick Him. For instance, we read this remarkable episode in Matthew 22:15-18:

“Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?’ But Jesus perceived their wickedness [Mark 12:15 states: “But He, knowing their hypocrisy …”], and said, ‘Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?’”

The Benson Commentary gives an additional meaning to the use of a “loud voice” in Proverbs 27:14:

“‘He that blesseth his friend’… That saluteth, praiseth, or applaudeth him to his face, as the manner of flatterers is; ‘with a loud voice’… That both he and others may be sure to take notice of it…”

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible elaborates as follows:

“‘He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice’… So as not only to be heard by him, but by others; who is extravagant in his praises and commendations of him; who exceeds all bounds of modesty, truth, and decency; who affects pompous words, and hyperbolical expressions; and shows himself to be a real sycophant [a person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain an advantage] and flatterer, having some sinister end to serve by it…”

The Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers agrees:

“‘He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice’… If gratitude is to be acceptable, the time, place, and manner of shewing it must all be well chosen. A man who is so eager to express his thanks that he begins early in the morning, and in so loud a voice as to draw upon his patron the attention of all the bystanders, is looked upon as a nuisance; any one would as soon be cursed as blessed by him. So God loves heartfelt gratitude offered in secret (Compare Matthew 6:5-6.).”

The point is made that we ought to be careful not to praise another person with a loud flattering voice in the presence of others, while being motivated by a desire to be heard and acknowledged by them.

(2)  Next, we should again take note of the fact that he blesses his friend “early in the morning.”

The Soncino Commentary states that “early in the morning” describes “an idiomatic phrase denoting zeal [compare Jeremiah 7:13], but in this instance it is only feigned…”

The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary states:

“‘He that blesseth his friend… rising early in the morning…’ it shall be counted to be a flatterer all the same as if he cursed his friend (cf. Proverbs 26:25). ‘Early in the morning’ implies the affected assiduity [constant or close attention to what one is doing] of the flatterer… The exaggerated praise and compliment engender suspicion and sinister motives.”

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible states:

“‘rising early in the morning’… lest any should be before him, and get the benefit he seeks by his flattery; or as if he had not time enough in the day to finish his encomium, unless he began early in the morning, and continued it all the day; and so it denotes his being incessant at this work, always harping on this string, or expressing himself in this adulatory way; or, as some think, this is mentioned as an aggravation of his sin, that he should be acting this low, mean, and criminal part, when he should be employed in devotion and prayer to God…”

We find an interesting example in Judges 6:28 when men of the city arose “early in the morning” to worship before the altar of Baal. They had zeal to do something, but their zeal was totally wrong. Another example of a wrong kind of zeal by those who rise “early in the morning,” but who do not behave in accordance with God’s Will and who disregard His Plan, can be found in Isaiah 5:11-12: “Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may follow intoxicating drink… but they do not regard the work of the LORD, Nor consider the operation of His hands.”

(3)  Finally, we read that such early and loud blessings “will be counted a curse” to the flatterer.

The Soncino Commentary gives the following explanation:

“… ‘counted a curse to him.’ The clause… can mean that God will punish the insincere man for his greeting as though it had been a curse…”

The Benson Commentary states:

“…‘It shall be counted a curse to him’… His friend will value this kind of blessing no more than a curse: because it plainly discovers a base design, and is a high reflection upon him, as if he either did not understand such gross and palpable flattery, or were so ridiculously vain-glorious as to be pleased with it.”

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible agrees and adds:

“… ‘it shall be counted a curse to him’… either to the flatterer, by his friend whom he blesses, and by all wise men that hear him, who will despise him all one as if he cursed him…  such an one differs [nothing], or nothing seems to differ, from one that curses: or else to the person blessed, whom others will curse or however detract from his character, because of the profuse praises bestowed upon him; nay, sometimes God himself curses such a man, who listens to, is fond of, and receives the fulsome flatteries of wicked men, as in the case of Herod, Acts 12:22.”

In regard to the above-quoted comment that a “blessed” person may be “cursed” by others, we might think of Jacob’s concern when his mother persuaded him to trick and deceive his father Isaac to receive a blessing from him. He said to his mother Rebekah: “Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing” (Genesis 27:12). His mother persuaded him to carry out his deception and stated that Jacob’s curse should be on her. Jacob acquiesced, but as a consequence, he had to flee from his twin brother Esau and stayed away for twenty years (Genesis 31:38, 41), while being deceived repeatedly by this uncle Laban (Genesis 29:24; 31:7). When he returned, his father Isaac was still alive, but it appears that his mother Rebekah had died in the meantime (she is not mentioned anymore after Genesis 27:46), which means that she never saw her son again.

In conclusion, the Bible does not speak against truly thanking or blessing our friend at any time. What is addressed here is the motive and the manner of the ones who bestow and receive the “blessing”—the insincere flattery of a person who acts with a loud voice to be heard by others, while he might harbor feelings of animosity towards his “friend,” and who acts early in the morning to be the first in line and before others have the opportunity to bless his friend and may receive appreciation and benefits instead of the flatterer. Again, we might think of Jacob who was able to get to his father Isaac with the savory food that had been quickly prepared by his mother, before his brother Esau arrived with his savory food.

Proverbs 27:14 addresses the insincere person who does not act because of genuine love, but because of sinister motives. For his conduct, he will either be punished by God directly or his friend will see right through him and reject his flattery, treating it as the utterance of a curse. Proverbs 27:14 might also include the warning for his friend not to accept such a “blessing” which might have been encouraged to some extent by his own improper conduct (compare Jacob’s behavior), and which might turn out to become a curse for him—including the admonition not to embrace and enjoy the hypocritical loud and boisterous flattery bestowed upon him in the presence of others (compare Herod’s behavior), as this might lead to his downfall.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

Our annual Church Conference will be conducted in San Diego, California, beginning March 20, and continuing through March 24, 2015.

A new Member Letter to our German brethren has been sent. In it, Mr. Link reminds everyone of the approaching Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread and includes information about the Feast of Tabernacles, which will be observed in Templin, Germany. In addition, two new German booklets dealing with the Sabbath and the Holy Days have been translated and are offered in this letter.

“The Pope Has No Answer!” is the title of a new StandingWatch Program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

During his travel to the Philippines, Pope Francis made some startling and unsettling comments. He warned Catholics not to breed like rabbits; admitted that he has no answer to the question of a little girl why children suffer; and said in response to the terrorist attack in France that one cannot make fun of faith without expecting a punch, and that every religion has its dignity. Why are all these comments deeply disturbing? We are offering our free booklet, “Human Suffering–Why… and How Much Longer?”

“Der Papst Hat Keine Antwort!” is the title of the German language AufPostenStehen program covering the same topic as above.

“Neu! Die Fehlenden Jahre im Wirken Christi,” is the new German sermon. It addresses the false concept of an end-time “7-year-contract” and discusses Christ’s public ministry for the remaining 3 1/2 years after His return. Title in English: “The Missing Years in Christ’s Ministry.”

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

In the days leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, He told His disciples that a Helper would be sent after He left them. What is the Helper that Jesus talked about? How can It work in your life?