On June 29, 2019, Dave Harris will present the sermonette, titled, “You Are Not Alone,” and Robb Harris will present the sermon, titled, “Retaining Our Hope in the Growing Darkness.”

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.

It is amazing that over the years, so many members of God’s Church family just simply walked away from the great promised rewards ahead. Of course, they found various reasons and excuses for their inexcusable conduct:

Real or imagined personal or other offenses, including from officials in the Church; feelings that prophecies were not being fulfilled fast enough; unwillingness to accept doctrinal changes, such as how to determine Pentecost; rejecting the authority which Christ placed in the Church, while feeling themselves superior; rejection of tithing, as giving one tenth back to God was considered to be unaffordable; pressures from their mates, parents, children or schools; loving the pleasures of the world more than God’s Sabbaths and Festivals; and finally, just wanting to fit in with those around them.

People who never grow to love all of God’s Way will find excuses in the end to leave. The responsibility of God’s true ministers in the body of Christ is to help in facilitating growth in God’s grace and knowledge, proving by the Bible what is correct, and to change any error in order to please God, not men.

God never promised that entering into the Kingdom was going to be an easy sled ride down a gradual slope Quite the opposite is true. It is rather through much suffering that we can inherit eternal life.

Matthew 5:11 tells us: “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.”

Matthew 10:23 adds: “ When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”

Luke 21:12 reads: “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and  persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake.”

In the end time, true Christians are almost guaranteed to experience some form of persecution, trials and tests, and some will even be martyred.

Look at what some of God’s true servants went through in the past, as Hebrews 11:32-39 explains:

“And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

“Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise…”

Notice, they did not receive the promise of eternal life and the inheritance of the Kingdom of God at that time, but they will in the future, together with us if we hold fast and endure to the end.

Very tough times are coming so it is important to be mentally prepared and remain close to God Who is our only true protection.

Notice also John 16:2: “They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.”

If we have to go through serious trials, we must not be offended, but we must always bear in mind that God will not try us beyond our abilities. 1 Corinthians 10:13 gives us this promise: “No temptation [or serious trial] has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear.”

Even though trials and tests are coming, we must make sure that with God’s help, we do not fall into the category of those who walk away. We must be ready to accept God’s Will in all our trials and put all our trust in Him. We must cement His truth in our heart. We can grow in our relationship with God through daily prayer and Bible study. Then we will not be looking for excuses to leave when times get hard, and ultimately, we will receive our great rewards in the Kingdom of God.

by Norbert Link

We begin with interesting articles showing how close we had come last week to an American war with Iran [please view our new StandingWatch program, “Coming—US War With Iran?”], continue with further hostile developments pertaining to the USA and Iran as well as several reports reflecting America’s unwillingness and its “lost appetite” for getting involved in any military confrontations in the Middle East; speak on the possibility that Israel might strike Iran; and report on Russia’s serious threats against the USA.

We address the current turmoil in Ethiopia; Europe’s unwillingness to negotiate any further with Britain on Brexit; a major blow for Turkey’s President Erdogan; and we publish excerpts from a thought-provoking article about Spain’s role in Europe, the diminishing role of Denmark and other Israelite countries in Europe; and an unprecedented heatwave in Europe.

We conclude with reports exemplifying the appalling immoral conditions in the Western world—from a “Hail Satan” prayer in Alaska’s government to the overbearing and intrusive (unbiblical) jury system (as manifested in Britain); Prince William’s support for the gay community; and an abominable British court ruling ordering the abortion of a child against the wishes of a mentally handicapped mother and the child’s grandmother. Please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Abominable! Court Orders Abortion Despite Mother’s Objection.”

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

Fox News vs. Trump: “His Story on Iran Does Not Add Up”

Breitbart wrote on June 21:

“Friday on Fox News Channel’s ‘Shepard Smith Reporting,’ Chris Wallace, anchor of ‘Fox News Sunday,’ said President Donald Trump’s story on why he called off a military strike against Iran, didn’t ‘hold together.’… Wallace said, ‘I talked to a former top national security official in an earlier Republican administration who says this just doesn’t add up.’ He continued, ‘The president would have been fully briefed by the generals as to, if you hit target A, here are the dangers, or here is the possible collateral damage. So the idea that the president, ten minutes before the actual go…  you’re learning for the first time that there were going to be 150 casualties, seems pretty unlikely and certainly not the way it’s been done in the past.’

“Smith said, ‘The explanation — as you said — just doesn’t make sense.’

“Wallace said, ‘It doesn’t hold together. The timeline for when he learned information and when he decided to act doesn’t make a lot of sense. In a sense, maybe that’s the biggest problem. You can argue if you don’t want to strike, don’t strike. If you want to strike, do strike. But don’t send mixed messages that confuse not only your enemies but even your allies and people here in this country, as to what you’re going to do.’

“Smith said, ‘And then tweet out your whole thought process of American foreign policy and intervention.’”

President Trump responded on Saturday that he had been briefed in general as to casualties, but that he wanted to know the specifics. His relationship with the conservative and generally pro-Trump Fox News network has recently seen some upheavals. The interesting news to be taken from the incident is that, according to some comments in news reports, the USA has “lost its appetite” for getting involved in any military confrontations and wars in the Middle East (also note the next article). This vacuum will be filled by a politically and religiously unified Europe which will powerfully intervene in the Middle East in the not-too-distant future.

Did Fox News Host Tucker Carlson Help Prevent War With Iran?

On June 21, the New York Times published an article with the following headline:

“Urged to Launch an Attack, Trump Listened to the Skeptics Who Said It Would Be a Costly Mistake…”

The article continued:

“He heard from his generals and his diplomats. Lawmakers weighed in and so did his advisers. But among the voices that rang powerfully for President Trump was that of one of his favorite Fox News hosts: Tucker Carlson.

“While national security advisers were urging a military strike against Iran, Mr. Carlson in recent days had told Mr. Trump that responding to Tehran’s provocations with force was crazy. The hawks did not have the president’s best interests at heart, he said. And if Mr. Trump got into a war with Iran, he could kiss his chances of re-election goodbye.

“However much weight that advice may or may not have had, the sentiments certainly reinforced the doubts that Mr. Trump himself harbored as he navigated his way through one of the most consequential foreign policy decisions of his presidency… The concerns that Mr. Trump heard from Mr. Carlson reflected that part of the presidential id that has always hesitated at pulling the trigger… Mr. Trump has at times pulled back from the use of force, convinced that America has wasted too many lives and too much money in pointless Middle East wars and wary of repeating what he considers the mistakes of his predecessors.

“As Mr. Carlson and other skeptics have argued, a strike against Iran could easily spiral into a full-fledged war without easy victory. That, Mr. Trump was told, was everything he ran against. And so the president struggled into the early evening, committed to taking action to demonstrate resolve right up until the moment he decided against it and called off the warplanes and missile launchers…

“Mr. Trump was given a list of at least a dozen strike options generated this month after there were attacks on tankers in the region. The list was then narrowed down to at least two alternatives. Among the targets would be facilities like radar and missile batteries… the casualty estimate played to the concerns that Mr. Trump had shared with Mr. Carlson and other skeptics of military action in the Middle East.

“Gen. Jack Keane, a retired Army vice chairman who is close to the Trump White House, said another factor came into play during the deliberations — the president was told that the attack on the drone was really a mistake, as Mr. Trump had publicly suggested to reporters early in the day. ‘The president got some additional information that the Iranian national leaders were frustrated or furious with the tactical commander who made the decision to shoot down the American drone,’ General Keane said in an interview…

“General Keane said it was unclear whether the commander who ordered the downing of the drone was operating within his authority or was a rogue figure. But either way, he said, it impressed upon Mr. Trump that he would be risking a dangerous escalation over what was not intended to be an attack by Iran’s top leaders… it contributed to the decision, which he said was mainly driven by the casualty concern…

“By this point, time was running out… Mr. Trump scrubbed the mission. The decision made, the military ordered ships and planes in the region to stand down. At the White House, Mr. Trump turned on his television to watch the opening of Mr. Carlson’s 8 p.m. show, where he heard what surely must have sounded like vindication. Onscreen, Mr. Carlson declared that ‘foreign wars have ended in dismal failure for the United States.’

“While no decision had been announced yet, Mr. Carlson praised Mr. Trump for resisting military intervention in Iran. ‘The same people who lured us into the Iraq quagmire 16 years ago are demanding a new war, this one with Iran,’ he said. ‘The president, to his great credit, appears to be skeptical of this — very skeptical.’ If he kept the television on, though, Mr. Trump would have heard a radically different message from another friend on Fox at 9 p.m. With the news of Mr. Trump’s decision still not public, Sean Hannity declared that Mr. Trump may have ‘no choice’ but to ‘bomb the hell out of them.’

“For one night, at least, that would not be true. But the battle for Mr. Trump’s ear is not over.”

The German mass tabloid, Bild Online, ran an article on June 23, repeating the scenario set forth by the New York Times, adding:

“US-expert and political scientist Christian Hacke said: ‘Trump has gained the respect of the political center. It was a genius move, because this way, he still holds the reigns in his hands. He is constantly being underestimated, especially in Germany. More and more, he turns out to be a crafty and shrewd politician engaged in power politics, and a manipulator.’”

US Struck Iranian Military Computers

The Associated Press wrote on June 23:

“U.S. military cyber forces launched a strike against Iranian military computer systems on Thursday as President Donald Trump backed away from plans for a more conventional military strike in response to Iran’s downing of a U.S. surveillance drone… Two officials told The Associated Press that the strikes were conducted with approval from Trump. A third official confirmed the broad outlines of the strike…

“The cyberattacks — a contingency plan developed over weeks amid escalating tensions — disabled Iranian computer systems that controlled its rocket and missile launchers, the officials said. Two of the officials said the attacks, which specifically targeted Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps computer system, were provided as options after Iranian forces blew up two oil tankers earlier this month…

“The action by U.S. Cyber Command was a demonstration of the U.S.’s increasingly mature cyber military capabilities and its more aggressive cyber strategy under the Trump administration. Over the last year U.S. officials have focused on persistently engaging with adversaries in cyberspace and undertaking more offensive operations…”

Further US Sanctions Against Iran

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 24:

“President Trump signed an executive order on Monday that imposes what he says are ‘hard-hitting’ new sanctions against Iran. The new sanctions will specifically target Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other Iranian officials…

“US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the measures ‘go after the supreme leader’s office and lock up literally billions more in assets.’”

Trump Tells Other Countries to Protect Their Own Gulf Shipping

Agence France-Presse (AFP) wrote on June 24:

“President Donald Trump on Monday told other countries to protect their own Gulf oil shipments, declaring that the United States has only limited strategic interest in the dangerous region. In a pair of tweets, Trump said US aims regarding Iran boil down to ‘No Nuclear Weapons and No Further Sponsoring of Terror.’ As for Iran’s threats to shut sea lanes used to transport a large portion of the world’s oil exports through the Persian Gulf, Washington is not concerned, Trump said.

“Stating that the United States is now the world’s biggest energy producer, thereby weaning itself off decades of dependence on Middle Eastern oil, Trump said ‘we don’t even need to be there.’ And the US military should not be depended upon to keep the narrow sea routes along Iran’s coast free. ‘Why are we protecting the shipping lanes for other countries (many years) for zero compensation,’ he asked. ‘All of these countries should be protecting their own ships on what has always been a dangerous journey.’… Trump’s tweets add to his record of seeking a wider drawdown of the US diplomatic and military footprint around the world.”

Exactly as prophesied in the Bible!

Israel Might Strike Iran

The Conversation wrote on or about June 21:

“Israel, which has faced threats to its national security since its founding as a Jewish homeland in the Middle East in 1948, is known to take aggressive, preventive action to protect itself – including by launching preemptive strikes on neighboring nations it perceives as threatening. If international relations with Iran grow more volatile, Israel could take dramatic, unilateral action against its neighbor and longtime adversary…

“Israel has a counterproliferation policy, called the Begin Doctrine, which allows it to wage preventive strikes against enemies with weapons of mass destruction programs. Using the Begin Doctrine as a justification for preemptive strikes, the Israeli government has for decades quietly decimated nuclear and chemical facilities across the Middle East.

“When President Saddam Hussein’s potential nuclear military ambitions raised concerns in 1981, the Israeli government destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor in a surprise attack called Operation Opera… In 2007, Israel responded to Syria’s failure to report its uranium processing by striking a nuclear reactor in the Deir ez-Zor region. The United States, which was reportedly informed ahead of the attack, made no effort to stop Israel.

“Israel has also been accused of sponsoring the assassinations of at least four Iranian nuclear scientists since 2010. The incidents have never been fully investigated, and Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the targeted killings.

“Israel has also deterred nuclear proliferation in the Mideast using less lethal, more high tech strategies. In 2008 and 2009, Israel used computer malware called Stuxnet to disrupt Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. The program infected the software that controlled centrifuge speed at the Natanz nuclear plant, alternately speeding up and slowing down the machines that produce enriched uranium to cripple production of the material. The Obama administration secretly supported the cyberattacks… Decades after Israel’s 1981 attack on Iraq’s nuclear plant, President Bill Clinton called it ‘a really good thing.’…

“Iran’s Islamic fundamentalist government is openly hostile to Israel… If the nuclear deal ruptures further and Iran does restarting uranium enrichment, Israel might launch targeted airstrikes against it… Of course, potential Israeli attacks on Iran present… serious risks. Because most of Iran’s reactors are in full operations, air strikes may mean cutting off the power supply to Iranian citizens and could release large amounts of radioactive contaminants into the air.

“Iran, a militarily well-equipped country, would surely retaliate against any Israeli attacks. That, too, would trigger a conflict that would spiral throughout the Middle East…”

The Bible tells us that Israel will receive a wound in the near future. This might describe military defeat. We need to watch as to how this will unfold.

Christians without Influence in the Holy Land

Zenit wrote on June 21:

“Christians in the Holy Land may exist, but they have lost the influence they used to have in international politics, says Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem. In an exclusive interview with ZENIT in Amman, Jordan, the Patriarch Emeritus of Jerusalem, residing in Jordan, affirmed this…

“‘Jordan is a central point of the Middle East… I think each government is interested in having the journalist, having journalism, under its protection, at the service of the regime, more than at the service of the truth, or of the reality… These were journalists from all over the world, including from Italy, Germany. They understood the sensitivity related to Israel and the Holy Land. Yet, they used to qualify: “I do not know if I will be able to publish all that you say…

“‘It is great if we [Christians] can exist and continue to live in the Holy Land, to be a small element, salt, salt to the society, salt to the earth. However, regardless, we do not have influence like we did before. In government, our presence is so reduced. We cannot change [politics]… The issue is also that this question of Christians leaving the Holy Land, does not interest the international politics… Their existence or nonexistence does not matter to the international politics…

“‘We have until now, thank God, Christian people, Christian families, but we do not have any longer, a Christian government…”

All of this will change in due time, and the Catholic Church will again have a huge influence in the Holy Land, including Israel. Note the next article.

Strong Israeli-Vatican Ties

The Algemeiner wrote on June 21:

“New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan said this week that ties between Israel and the Vatican have ‘quite literally made the world a better place’… Dayan recalled that Theodor Herzl had unsuccessfully sought to get support from Pope Pius X in 1914 for the effort to create a Jewish state in Palestine.

“A century later, he noted, Pope Francis not only visited Israel, but laid a wreath at Herzl’s grave. That tribute to the father of modern Zionism, Dayan said, resulted from the ‘century-long dialogue’ between the Catholic Church and State of Israel.”

The past role of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land should not be underestimated.

Russia Warns the USA… and Follows through with Action

The Sun wrote on June 24:

“Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Monday that US plans to deploy missile systems near the Russian border risks a nuclear standoff on a par with the height of the Cold War. The Cuban missile crisis erupted in 1962 when the Soviet Union responded to a US missile deployment in Turkey by sending ballistic missiles to Cuba – just miles from the US coastline. It sparked a tense 13-day standoff that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. The crisis was defused when Soviet ships headed for Cuba turned back in the face of a US naval blockade. Eventually, the Soviet Union agreed to remove its missiles from Cuba in return for the US promising not to invade Cuba…

“Russian President Vladimir Putin made similar remarks in February. He warned that Moscow would match any US move to deploy new nuclear missiles closer to Russia by stationing its own missiles closer to the US… The warning came as one of the Russian navy’s most advanced warships entered Havana’s harbour on Monday. It docked at the port used until this month by US cruise lines – with tourists seen taking photos of the imposing vessel. The Admiral Gorshkov… is armed with cruise missiles, air defence systems and other weapons. The frigate… is part of Russia’s Northern Fleet.”

European Cowardice —Russia Back in Good Graces

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 25:

“The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has voted in favor of restoring Russia’s voting rights, five years after they were revoked over its illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula… The assembly voted 118 in favor and 62 against, with 10 abstentions…

“The head of Ukraine’s delegation… said the decision sends a ‘very bad message’ to Moscow and others. ‘Do what you want, annex another country’s territory, kill people there, and you will still leave with everything,’ he said.

“Germany and France reportedly pushed through a compromise that would allow Moscow to return to the Council of Europe. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the compromise would ensure ‘millions of Russians the protection of the European Court of Human Rights.’”

Europe and especially Germany and France told Russia this: You can illegally invade another country, without fear of any repercussions.

Germany Faces Backlash

Deutsche Welle reported on June 27:

“Pro-democracy advocates, a former CIA officer and world chess champion Garry Kasparov have slammed the German government’s response to Russia’s voting rights being reinstated in the Council of Europe… ‘Russia belongs in the Council of Europe — with all the rights and obligations that entails,’ German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement on Twitter. ‘This is good news for Russia’s civil society.’

“The statement, which was posted in German as well as excerpted in English, racked up hundreds of comments, including from rights activists and prominent Kremlin critics. Garry Kasparov, a former world chess champion and a former leading figure in the Russian opposition, issued a scathing critique of the decision.

“In a series of tweets, he compared it to the appeasement of Adolf Hitler in 1938 after he seized the Sudetenland and said the move was likely linked to the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project with Russian state gas producer Gazprom that will deliver gas from Russia directly to Germany. ‘… Appeasing a dictator and rewarding aggression will make things worse, it always has,’ he said.

“‘Are you kidding me?’ wrote John Sipher, a former CIA officer who ran the US intelligence agency’s Russia operations, later adding: ‘shame.’ Alice Stollmeyer, executive director of the pro-democracy initiative Defending Democracy, said that either the German government is ‘still naive or it is willing to sell our values.’ ‘I don’t know which is worse,’ she added.”

It appears that the German government is willing to “sell our values” for pecuniary gain. Kasparov’s comparison to the appeasement of Adolf Hitler is worthy of consideration.

Trump Delays Deportation Order for Two Weeks

Breitbart wrote on June 22:

“President Donald Trump suspended Saturday his threat to deport millions of illegal immigrants, after previewing a renewed enforcement surge. ‘At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border,’ Trump wrote on Twitter. ‘If not, Deportations start!’…

“There are currently 1.7 million illegal aliens from Mexico and Central America living in the United States with deportation orders or a pending deportation order, according to federal data.”

Trump’s concept is this, and it is brilliant: If Republicans and Democrats can’t come up with a solution, which is highly unlikely, it will be their fault.

Fox News Anchor Shephard Smith Attacks Trump Administration

Breitbart reported on June 24:

“Monday on Fox News Channel, anchor Shepard Smith criticized the Trump administration for their alleged treatment of migrant children. Smith said, ‘Dirty and hungry children sleeping on concrete floors without blankets, toothpaste, soap or diapers. Some kids found covered in mucus. Some 3-year-olds being cared for by 7-year-olds and 8-year-olds. Horrifying. Both President Trump and Vice President Pence defended the treatment of migrant children. Yesterday, the VP tried to shift the blame to Democrats in Congress.’

“He continued, ‘Just last week, a Justice Department attorney argued that they don’t necessarily need to provide migrant children with soap and toothbrushes for them to be safe and sanitary. Soap and toothbrushes not necessary for safe and sanitary conditions.’ Smith concluded, ‘Soap and toothbrushes are not optional for children in detention. They are necessary. Were these particular children prisoners of war rather than innocent children, failure to provide those necessities would be a violation of the Geneva Conventions. Yet President Trump claims his administration is doing a fantastic job under the circumstances.’”

If true, these would indeed be terrible and inhumane conditions for innocent children. 

But note the next article.

Newsmax reported on June 27:

“The Democratic-controlled House voted Thursday to send President Donald Trump a bipartisan, Senate-drafted, $4.6 billion measure to care for migrant refugees detained at the southern border, capping a Washington skirmish in which die-hard liberals came out on the losing end in a battle with the White House, the GOP-held Senate and Democratic moderates.

“The emergency legislation, required to ease overcrowded, often harsh conditions at U.S. holding facilities for migrants seeking asylum, mostly from Central American nations like Honduras and El Salvador, passed by a bipartisan 305-102 vote. Trump has indicated he’ll sign it into law.”

Turmoil in Ethiopia

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 24:

“Amhara’s state president, his adviser, and the state attorney general — all three were killed on Saturday, as people in military uniform stormed the local government offices in the Amhara state capital Bahir Dar. A little later Ethiopia’s army chief of staff, Seare Mekonnen, and a retired general were killed by Seare’s own bodyguard — an attack that Ethiopia’s government believes to be related.

“All of this was reported by the office of the prime minister, including announcements by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed himself, or state media. Since Saturday internet lines have been cut and state-run media have been the primary source of information… State sources have reported that General Asaminew was shot dead outside Bahir Dar on Monday.

“… Ethiopia has been rocked by regional and political tension.  Since he has come into power just over a year ago, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has cracked down on high-ranking military personnel allegedly involved in corruption, torture, and other crimes…

“While Abiy and his government still have overall control over the country, the weekend’s events have created a certain degree of uncertainty. Elections set for May 2020 [will probably not take place]…

“Abiy should have done more to condemn the ethnic tensions within the countries… According to the United Nations, at least 2.4 million people have been displaced by the ethnic tension in Oromo, Amhara, and Tigray regions.”

No Further Brexit Negotiations

The EUObserver wrote on June 21:

“EU council chief Donald Tusk said Friday the EU was ‘looking forward to working together with the next UK prime minister’, but that the ‘withdrawal agreement is not open for renegotiation’. He added that the EU wants to avoid a disorderly Brexit and establish a close future relationship.

“‘We will enter into talks, but we underline yet again, that the withdrawal agreement has been negotiated,’ German chancellor Angela Merkel said.”

Concern Over Angela Merkel’s Health

The Telegraph wrote on June 27:

“Concern is growing over the health of Angela Merkel after the German Chancellor was overcome by a shaking fit for the second time in a little over a week on Thursday. Eight days after footage showed Ms Merkel desperately trying to maintain composure as she shook from head to foot at a reception for the Ukrainian president, she has suffered another bout of trembling.

“Footage from Thursday morning shows Ms Merkel’s legs shaking as she stands through a swearing-in ceremony in Berlin for the country’s new justice minister, Christine Lambrecht. Ms Merkel can been seen clutching her arms in an attempt to control herself while glancing uncomfortably to her side. An aide then offers her a glass of water which she turns down. The chancellor looks wobbly throughout the entire video of roughly one minute and ten seconds, which was shared by the German Press Association.

“According to journalists present at the occasion, the 64-year-old quickly regained her composure after the ceremony was over. Ms Merkel’s office immediately moved to dampen speculation that the incident was the symptom of an underlying health problem.”

Major Blow for Erdogan

The Associated Press reported on June 23:

“The opposition candidate for mayor of Istanbul celebrated a landmark win Sunday in a closely watched repeat election that ended weeks of political tension and broke the long hold President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party had on leading Turkey’s largest city… Imamoglu narrowly won an earlier mayoral election on March 31, but Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, AKP, challenged the vote over alleged irregularities… The voided vote raised concerns domestically and abroad about the state of Turkish democracy…

“Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Ankara office director of the German Marshall Fund, argued … Erdogan is already facing… ‘a perfect storm’ this summer. Erdogan was already at odds with Western allies over Turkey’s plans to buy the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system and its challenge of EU-member Cyprus over natural gas drilling rights.”

Watch Spain

Politico wrote on June 24:

“The days of Spain playing a bit role in Brussels are finally coming to an end. Madrid has a great opportunity to shape EU politics and policies over the next five years… [The] U.K…. is tearing itself apart over Brexit… Benelux, the Netherlands especially, has lost its enthusiasm for an ever-closer union. And the Franco-German alliance is casting around for new partners to champion closer cooperation on defense, migration and the future of the euro… such a partner is close at hand. Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has become the de facto leader of European social democracy, the second biggest political family in both the European Council and the Parliament…

“His interest in the Continent is reflected in his Europe team: His economy minister, Nadia Calviño was a director general in the European Commission; his foreign affairs minister, Josep Borrell, was president of the European Parliament; and Luis Planas, his agriculture minister, was Spain’s permanent representative in Brussels. Other top officials are strong pro-Europeans who understand the workings of the EU machine… What will give the prime minister leverage on the European stage… is a strong pro-European consensus among Spaniards. The country’s Euroskeptic party, Vox, suffered a big defeat in last month’s European election with only 6.2 percent support…

“All signs point in the direction that Spain will not only be shaping the bloc’s politics, with appointments in key EU decision-making positions, but charting the course when it comes to policy too. Sánchez’s sherpa, José Manuel Albares, recently disclosed Spain’s strategic agenda for the next Commission, which highlights [these] priorities: completing the European monetary union, strengthening Europe’s social policies… a greater global role for the EU, a bigger EU budget and more fiscal harmonization. Here, of course, cooperation with Germany and France will be crucial, but Spain will also have to find key allies in smaller member states…”

Non-Israelite European Countries (such as Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain) seem to displace more and more those of Israelite descent in the political arena, such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and Denmark. France is still very much in the lead as well, but France, which is to a large part a descendant of Reuben, is described as unstable as water. Note the next article.

Denmark Turns Left

The Guardian wrote on June 26:

“Social Democrats leader, Mette Frederiksen, 41, said late on Tuesday night that after three weeks of negotiations, she had reached agreement with three leftist parties to form the one-party minority government, a common arrangement in Denmark. But reports suggest she had to give ground on several of her party’s controversial hardline immigration measures to reach the agreement with her leftwing partners and form the third centre-left government in the Nordic region this year.

“… negotiations aimed at securing the parliamentary backing of the three other parties in the traditional leftist ‘red bloc’ – the Social Liberals (Radikale Venstre), Socialist People’s party and Red Green Alliance – took 20 days, the longest negotiation period since 1988.”

“Social Democratic parties also came to power earlier this year in Finland and Sweden,” according to Reuters, dated June 26.

Unprecedented Heat Wave in Europe

The Weather Channel reported on June 26:

“A heat wave currently baking western Europe has already set new all-time June record highs… Germany recorded its hottest June temperature on record, Wednesday, with a high of 38.6 degrees Celsius (101.5 degrees Fahrenheit) in Coschen, near the Polish border about 65 miles southeast of Berlin… The previous German June heat record had stood for almost 72 years. Fifty-one German reporting stations set new June heat records Wednesday…

“Clermont-Ferrand, France, topped out at 40.9 degrees Celsius (105.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday afternoon, setting an all-time record high for any month of the year. Several locations in Switzerland also set all-time record highs for any calendar month…

“Highs ranged from the 90s to low 100s in parts of Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland on Wednesday… The heat will continue into this weekend across parts of the continent…

“Wildfire danger will also increase to extreme levels by this weekend in parts of Europe because of the hot, dry conditions… Heat waves are especially dangerous when they occur early in the summer, before people have had time to adapt to the seasonal heat…

“Europe’s biggest heat-wave catastrophe occurred in the first two weeks of August 2003. Great Britain saw its first 100-degree Fahrenheit readings in more than 300 years of recordkeeping, and similar temperatures were widespread across Europe. Adding the various national counts implies that more than 50,000 people died as a result of the 2003 European heat wave. Later estimates brought the toll as high as 70,000, though the exact number is difficult to discern. No heat wave in global history has produced so many documented deaths…”

Are these warning signs for Europe of much worse things to come?

Abominable “Hail Satan” Prayer in Alaska Government Meeting

Breitbart wrote on June 21:

“The official, Iris Fontana — who also happens to be a member of the Satanic Temple — delivered an invocation ahead of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meeting Tuesday, sealing the prayer with ‘Hail Satan.’… Almost a dozen people walked out in protest, including Mayor Charlie Pierce…

“Technically, the satanic prayer was permissible due to pushes from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Alaska.

“KSRM reports: ‘In October, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the borough’s previous prayer policy violated the State Constitution. The lawsuit was brought on by the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska. The previous policy only allowed certain groups to deliver the invocation. The borough then passed a resolution to amend their policy at their meeting on November 20 to broaden the scope of eligible invocation providers to better reflect the diversity of beliefs in the borough.”…

“The Satanic Temple made headlines in April after the IRS announced that it recognized it as a ‘church,’ thereby giving it tax-exempt status.”

A society allowing this kind of blasphemy is DOOMED.

Appalling Jury Duty System

The Sun wrote on June 22:

“Carly Hull, 29, was told by Judge Barbara Mensah that jury service was the only public service the state asks people to do in peacetime… The judge… told Hull: ‘On the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings when people gave up their lives to ensure the freedoms we have in this country of a fair trial and of innocent until proven guilty, you think you can impose a selfish attitude to jury service.’

“Hull, of Cook Road in Stevenage, was summoned before the judge having failed to attend for jury service earlier this month. She had first been called in February, but had jury service deferred until 3 June after she said she had childcare problems. Hull… told Luton Crown Court’s jury office that she had forgotten the date and had not received a letter telling her to attend. The jury officer again deferred her service until 10 June, but the judge said she then said that was not enough time to get childcare…

“Jury service is a vital part of the criminal law system of the UK and anyone over the age of 18 can be summoned to be a juror. Summons are based on the electoral role and in most circumstances you can face a fine of £1,000 if you don’t attend. You can defer your jury service if you can’t attend on the dates for which you’ve been summoned, but you have to give other dates in the next 12 months when you can attend instead…

“[Hull’s husband] is taking unpaid leave for five days next week to look after the children. [Hull] has also arranged for her mother, who works at the Lister Hospital, to look after the children if the jury service is extended… [The judge said:] ‘If you are not here on Monday, the court will take more stringent action — you could go to prison.’”

It is clear that Hull did not act wisely or diligently enough in this case. It has also become clear as to how overbearing, intrusive and ridiculous the entire (unbiblical) jury system has become… both in the UK and the USA. The judge’s unqualified comparison between jury duty and D-Day is appalling.

Prince William: Absolutely Fine by Me if My Children Came Out as Gay

Daily Mail wrote on June 26:

 “Prince William today said he would wholeheartedly support his children if they were gay as he spoke to young people disowned by their own parents because of their sexuality. The future king, 37, is the first royal to open up on the subject and admitted he had recently discussed it with his wife Kate. But the prince also confessed he worried that George, five, Princess Charlotte, four, or Louis, one, could also be ‘persecuted’ if they were gay because they are third, fourth and fifth in line to the throne, respectively.

“The Duke of Cambridge was visiting a LGBT charity in east London that helps young people forced on to the streets because of their sexual orientation or for being transgender… His words have been praised on social media by campaigners who believe his comments will be well received.

“One tweet: ‘The wonderful thing is that Prince William is the sort of person, that can and will help stop the bullying that children who are LGBTQ or a different in schools and in society’. Another wrote: ‘How wonderful that the future King is using his influence and platform to be an ally for the lgbtq community… [He] said it would be ‘absolutely fine by me’ if in the future Prince George, five, Princess Charlotte, four, or Louis, one, came out as gay or lesbian… His visit comes ahead of the annual Pride in London parade… It is not the first time the Prince has become involved in LGBT issues. Three years ago, he appeared on the cover of the gay magazine Attitude…”

God looks at this quite differently!

Abominable—British Court ORDERS Abortion

Fox News reported on June 22:

“A British judge ordered Friday that an abortion be performed on a mentally disabled woman who is 22 weeks pregnant, despite objections from the woman and her mother. Justice Nathalie Lieven admits in the ruling of the ‘heartbreaking’ case that it’s an ‘immense intrusion’ to order the abortion against the woman’s will, but argued that it’s in the best interest of the woman…

“The unnamed woman, a Roman Catholic, reportedly has developmental disabilities and the mental age of a 6- to 9-year-old. She has been described as being in her 20s and is in the care of an NHS trust, as part of the country’s National Health Service. The woman’s mother, a former midwife, opposes the abortion procedure and told the court that she could take care of the child with the support from the daughter, Sky News reported. A social worker who works with the woman also said the pregnancy should not be terminated.

“But the judge said the woman didn’t have the mental capacity to make her own decisions even it look like she wanted to continue the pregnancy. ‘I think she would like to have a baby in the same way she would like to have a nice doll,’ she said, pointing out that she didn’t fully comprehend what having a baby entails. She added that having a child would be more traumatic for the woman than aborting it, as she wouldn’t be able to take care of the child due to the risk posed by her mental health problems and it would have to be put in a foster care.”

An appalling and abominable decision, in which the “best interest” clause has been terribly abused. No consideration whatsoever for the LIFE of the unborn child! This reminds us of horrible decisions in Nazi Germany. A society allowing these kinds of decisions is DOOMED.

Abominable Abortion Decision Overturned by Court of Appeal

The Sun wrote on June 24:

“A COURT ruling that a woman with the mental age of a child must have an abortion against her will has been overturned after her mum said she would care for the baby… Yesterday, the woman’s mum, a Catholic and former midwife, challenged the initial court order issued on Friday, insisting that she would look after the baby on her daughter’s behalf. John Sherrington, a bishop in the Catholic diocese of Westminster called the original ruling ‘sad and distressing.’ He added that it ‘raises serious questions about the meaning of “best interests” when a patient lacks mental capacity and is subject to the court’s decision against her will.’…

“The three judges on the Court of Appeal didn’t explain why they ruled against proceeding with the abortion and said they would give their reasons at a later date…

“Three specialists, an obstetrician and two psychiatrists made the decision, concluding that giving birth and having a child would be detrimental to the woman’s psychiatric health... ‘To force abortion on any person is abhorrent and to do so in the name of medicine and in the complete defiance of the religious and cultural values of the mother concerned calls into question the structures of law and justice in our society,’ said John Deighan, deputy chief executive of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children…

“Before the court’s decision on Monday, John Sherrington said: ‘Forcing a woman to have an abortion against her will, and that of her close family, infringes her human rights, not to mention the right of her unborn child to live in a family that has committed to caring for this child…'”

Thankfully, this abominable decision was overturned, but what is shocking and frightening is that an indifferent judge of the “Court of Protection” can even make such a decision without any regard for the life of the unborn child.

Breitbart added on June 24:

“‘Thank God, humanity has prevailed,’ said Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, reacting to the news of the decision of the Court of Appeals. ‘Courts simply do not have the authority to order the killing of a baby,’ Pavone added… ‘Now it’s time for all of us to resist the injustice of abortion in whatever way it rears its ugly head.’…

 “In a statement, Clare McCarthy of Right to Life UK, addressed the concerns of Lieven’s pro-abortion rights background. ‘Justice Lieven’s background as a lawyer in numerous abortion advocacy cases calls into question her fitness to adjudicate in this case,’ she said. ‘The fact that this case relates directly to abortion and the fact that the Judge has a strong background of pro-abortion advocacy, undermines the impartiality of the judiciary.’

“In the U.S., Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) condemned Lieven’s ruling on Twitter: ‘If story accurate 22 week pregnant disabled woman is being required to undergo a forced abortion by UK court. The U.S. should offer her & her mother a visa. And why are the voices who always talk about a woman’s right to choose so quiet on this?’

“Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser called the decision for forced abortion a ‘horrific violation of the human rights of both unborn children and their mothers.’ ‘Justice Lieven’s order reeks of eugenics and is the type of oppression one would expect to see under a totalitarian regime, like China’s brutal state-enforced population control,’ the pro-life leader added. ‘Such a ruling could not occur in a vacuum – it exposes a culture of devaluation of human life and prejudice toward individuals with disabilities, right up to the most elite levels of society.’”

Sadly, we could not agree with that more. Please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Abominable! Court Orders Abortion Despite Mother’s Objection”

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

In the previous Q&A, we have looked at alleged and purported “reasons” for abortions, the many questions raised about this issue, the Roe vs. Wade decision in 1973, abortion statistics in the USA and worldwide, the Hippocratic oath, recent events in Alabama and elsewhere in the USA about abortion bans and probable appeals against such legislation and democratically elected women ignoring President Trump’s statement about abortion while they glory in their own “success.”

We will now look at the Scriptural evidence to see when life begins while dismissing arbitrary times, depending on different thoughts, ideas and assumptions of many different people.

First of all, we read in Exodus 20:13: “You shall not kill.”  This is pretty straightforward, one would think, but something that never seems to enter the equation when discussing abortion.  Perhaps some think that a conceived child is not a member of the human race until it is born; perhaps others don’t particularly care while others may not even think about it too much but whatever it is, it is wrong to kill the unborn.

Let us now review the soul and the spirit in man.  A living soul is defined as any living thing composed of flesh and blood including animals.  A dead soul is a dead thing, a corpse; it could refer to a person or an animal. The spirit in man elevates humans above animals.

Job 32:8: “But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.”

Zechariah 12:1: “The burden of the word of the LORD against Israel. Thus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him:”

This spirit empowers the human brain with intellect and mind power as we read in 1 Corinthians 2:11: “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?   Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.”

Genesis 2:7: “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being [literally, a living soul].”

In Genesis 6:17, 7:15 and 7:22, we read about the breath of life. This kick starts the self-sustaining, independent, physio-chemical existence of all newborn flesh whether human or animal.

Ecclesiastes 11:5: “As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes all things.”

Genesis 46:15: “These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the persons, his sons and his daughters, were thirty-three.” Leah’s sons and daughters listed who made it to Egypt were 33, yet only 32 names given.

Numbers 26:59: “The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and to Amram she bore Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam.”  Levi had a daughter, not listed, who was born in Egypt – Jochebed who was the mother of Moses, Aaron and Miriam.   Levi’s wife must have been pregnant at the time and wasn’t named and yet God made sure that she was counted as a person making the journey. She was already conceived, but not yet born!

Leviticus 17:11: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” The presence of blood exemplifies life.

Exodus 21:22-25: “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.   But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”   If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman and there is lasting harm to the woman (some claim, and/or to the child), then you shall give life for life, that is, a much higher compensation.  We see that the life of an unborn child was important to God and to some, it was considered equal to that of an adult. (For a thorough discussion of this passage, see our free booklet, “Old Testament Laws—Still Valid Today?”, pages 49-56).

Psalm 139:15-16: “My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.”   This was obviously in the womb!

Author John R Ling observed as follows: “Human life is a continuum from fertilisation until natural death.  Neither the Bible nor biology knows of any stage or event that is so definitive that it can be said, ‘Before this, I  was  not,  now  I  am.’   In other words, there is a demonstrable continuity throughout each human life.  This continuity theme is beautifully expressed in three ways in Psalm 139:13-16.  First, King David acknowledges God’s creational oversight of his earliest days:  ‘For  you  created  my  inmost  being;  you knit me together in my mother’s womb.’  It is God the Creator who directs and purposes the beginning of prenatal life [that is, life during pregnancy and before birth].  Second, there is the repetitive use of the personal pronouns, ‘I’ and ‘me’.  This usage establishes the continuity of life between the adult David and  the  just-conceived  David,  as  both  the  writer  and  the  subject  of  this  Psalm.    At whatever stage and whatever age, whether in the womb or on the throne, it was always David.  In other words, once fertilisation has occurred, there is a real, live human being, whether it is David or you, launched onto the continuum of zygote-morula-blastocyst-embryo-fetus-unborn child-born baby-infant-toddler-youth-teenager-adult.  Scripture and biology simply reinforce one another.

“These  verses  of  Psalm  139  are  a  remarkable  articulation  of  God’s  intimate  involvement  in  the  conception,  continuance  and consummation of every individual human life.  Each of us is a work of God.”

We can also see from the Bible that both John and Jesus were real persons in the womb. Would those who advocate abortion really dare to claim that it would have been acceptable for them to be aborted?

There are other Scriptures which show that human beings are considered as such even before they were born, therefore abortion would have been killing a human being, had this been the situation in the following cases:

Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”   This also seems to suggest that God gave Jeremiah the human spirit at the time of conception – before He actually began to form him in his mother’s womb.

Isaiah 44:24 talks about God as “your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb.”

Paul says in Galatians 1:15 that God “had set [him] apart before [he] was born.”

We also read in Job 33:4: “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

A correct understanding of the “born again” process can help us understand the physical parallel – begettal, gestation and birth.   Please see our free booklet “Are You Already Born Again?” for much more information on this matter.

We read in Acts 2:38: “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”

Also, in 2 Corinthians 5:5: “Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”

The Holy Spirit is imparted at the conception of spiritual life. The human spirit is imparted at the conception of physical life

Therefore abortion, AT ANY TIME, is murder.

(To be continued)

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

compiled by Dave Harris

“Coming—US War with Iran?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

The Huffington Post wrote on June 21: “The night we almost went to war.” What had happened and what will be the outcome? Many are afraid America will go to war with Iran in the near future, while hoping that it won’t happen, and some signs seem to indicate indeed an extremely uncertain and volatile situation. However, the Bible suggests a totally different scenario.

“Abominable! Court Orders Abortion Despite Mother’s Objection,” is the title of the latest StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

An absolutely terrible court decision was rendered in England by a pro-abortion judge, ORDERING an abortion although the 22 weeks pregnant Catholic mother and her mother objected, with the rationale that because six “psychiatric specialists” recommended abortion and the mother was mentally disabled, it was in her “best interest” to abort the child. Fortunately, a Court of Appeals overturned this inhuman judgment, but in what kind of an indifferent society do we live, allowing such a court decision to become possible in the first place.

“Muss man seine Eltern immer ehren?” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “Do We Always Have to Honor our Parents?”

“Die Zeit,” the German sermonette presented last Sabbath by Robert Kintzi, is now posted. Title in English: “Its Time.”

“A Legacy Left,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Dave Harris, is now posted. Here is a summary:

For good or bad we are all establishing a legacy, and for those called to the Truth the consequences will be eternal. What legacy are we leaving?

“Prevailing Over Pride,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Eric Rank, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Pride is an abomination in God’s eyes. Yet, this attribute is closely associated with confidence. How can we overcome the sin of pride and practice humility without damaging the healthy confidence we need to succeed in life?

On June 22, 2019, Dave Harris will present the sermonette, titled, “A Legacy Left,” and Eric Rank will present the sermon, titled, “Prevailing Over Pride.”

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.

Sometimes, faith may not be the issue!

When Paul pleaded for help three times for a very serious problem, God chose not to grant his request (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). However, this wasn’t due to Paul’s lack of faith. God had a greater purpose in mind for Paul.

When Jesus Christ prayed the same prayer three times to the Father, God chose not to grant His request (Matthew 26:36-44). However, this wasn’t due to Jesus’ lack of faith. God had a greater purpose in mind for Jesus.

Haven’t we all prayed only to find that God chose something different for us? In those times are we able, like Paul and Jesus, to accept God’s will over our own fervent desires?

Sometimes, though, faith is the issue!

A father brought his demon-possessed son for healing. The disciples of Jesus could not cast out the demon. Then the father spoke directly to Jesus pleading for help. Note what was said:

“Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:23-24).

Haven’t we all found ourselves feeling the same way as this father, and, as believers of God, haven’t we also experienced His help in great difficulties—just as Jesus did heal the father’s child? Faith is a gift of God’s Holy Spirit, and as we can ask to grow in power of the Holy Spirit, so we can ask for true, godly faith—for God’s additional help when we need it.

Knowing this, let’s accept God’s answer to our prayers—always believing that He has a greater purpose in mind for us!

by Norbert Link

We begin with interesting developments in and pertaining to Israel, Iran and Egypt, showing the growing influence of President Trump in Israel and discussing the Iranian threat which could lead to another full-fledged war in the Middle East.

We speak on President Trump’s popularity in the USA, despite present major concerns regarding his immigration policy, and evaluate the question whether Mr. Trump could legally stay in office for longer than 8 years. We also address the almost fanatical attacks from doctors and the drug industry on anti-vaccine advocates.

Focusing on Austria, we report on events and developments pertaining to former chancellor Sebastian Kurz [in this context, please view our recent StandingWatch program, “Is Austria’s Sebastian Kurz gay… and would it matter?”; former vice-chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache; current interim chancellor Brigitte Bierlein; and the current role and activities of the Habsburg family.

We conclude with more of Britain’s crazy advertisement rules.

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

“Israel’s Netanyahu Names New Golan Settlement ‘Trump Heights'”

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 16:

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday unveiled a gold-trimmed sign naming a proposed new community on the disputed Golan Heights after US President Donald Trump. The label is a gesture of appreciation for Washington’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the territory which the Jewish-majority state seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day war and later annexed without international recognition. The new settlement will be called ‘Ramat Trump,’ Hebrew for ‘Trump Heights.’…

“Addressing the ceremony, Netanyahu called Trump a ‘great friend’ of Israel and described the Golan, which overlooks northern Israel, as an important strategic asset. ‘The Golan Heights was and will always be an inseparable part of our country and homeland,’ he said… Developing Ramat Trump will not be easy. Ringed by high yellow grass and landmines, it is roughly 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Syrian border and a half hour drive from the nearest Israeli town, Kiryat Shmona, a community of about 20,000 people near the Lebanese border.”

JTA wrote on June 16:

“The name is listed in a bill to establish the community that has been submitted for approval. Since the current government is interim after the dissolution last month of the Knesset and call for new elections, it cannot officially approve the project, which will have to wait for the next government.

“The U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, said that the last time Israel named a community for a sitting president was Kfar Truman in central Israel in 1949. He also pointed out that Trump’s birthday had been on Friday and called the new community an ‘absolutely beautiful’ birthday present.”

Donald Trump will continue to play an important biblical role in relation to Israel.

Iran Threatens to Break Uranium Stockpile Limit

JTA wrote on June 17:

“Iran said Monday that it will break the uranium stockpile limit set by the 2015 nuclear deal in the next 10 days… Since the Trump administration pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal one year ago, Iran has pushed the limits of breaching the agreement with world powers. China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany and the European Union remain committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

“In May, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani set a 60-day deadline for the powers to set new terms for the nuclear deal, including easing restrictions on Iran’s banking and oil sectors. Iran threatened that if the world powers failed to meet the deadline, it would remove caps on uranium enrichment levels and resume work at Arak…

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday called on the international community to reimpose sanctions on Iran… ‘Israel will not allow Iran to achieve nuclear weapons.’”

The Iran debacle will increase the hostility between the USA and Europe. It may also lead to war in the Middle East. Note the next articles.

Europe Is Trying to Circumvent USA Sanctions against Iran

The EUbulletin wrote on June 13:

“Instex, [the] payment system designed by the EU to circumvent US sanctions on trade with Iran, will be ready soon, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas announced earlier this week. Maas was having talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif about saving the nuclear pact with world powers signed in 2015… Instex could protect at least some of Iran’s economy from the sweeping US sanctions in exchange for Iran’s commitments under the deal to cut back on its nuclear program.

“While the US has withdrawn from the deal, France, Britain, and Germany designed Instex as a special-purpose instrument to defuse the rising US-Iranian conflict. Maas also warned the tensions may have an impact on the entire Middle Eastern region which makes keeping the nuclear pact alive an important task for the EU…”

However, Instex has not been implemented so far.

More US Troops for the Middle East

Breitbart wrote on June 17:

“[The USA will send] 1,000 additional troops for defensive purposes to address air, naval, and ground-based threats in the Middle East. Just over two weeks ago, the Pentagon authorized sending 1,500 troops to the Middle East… This was on top of sending the USS Abraham Lincoln and a bomber squadron to the region.

“Those deployments came after [warnings] there were threats against U.S. troops in the region, the sabotage of four vessels, an armed drone attack on Saudi pumping stations, and a rocket attack in Iraq near the U.S. embassy… two oil tankers — one belonging to Norway and the other to Japan — were attacked in the Gulf of Oman, allegedly by limpet mines deployed by Iran. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo… attributed the attacks to Iran…

“Iran denied carrying out the attacks, but British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt also said the attacks were ‘almost certainly’ carried out by Tehran…”

Deutsche Welle added on June 18:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday there is ‘strong evidence’ Iran was behind the twin tanker attacks… Merkel called for a peaceful solution to tensions in the Persian Gulf… ‘It is a very serious situation,’ she said, adding that Germany would tell all sides and especially Iran, ‘that the situation should not escalate.’…

“Merkel warned Iran of consequence[s] if it violated any part of the nuclear accord…”

Iran Shoots Down US Drone…  Tensions Run High

The Associated Press wrote on June 20:

“President Donald Trump declared Thursday that ‘Iran made a very big mistake’ by shooting down a U.S. surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz but suggested it was a foolish error rather than an intentional escalation of the tensions that have led to rising fears of open military conflict. Asked about a U.S. response, the president said pointedly, ‘You’ll soon find out.’

“The downing of the huge, unmanned aircraft, which Iran portrayed as a deliberate defense of its territory rather than a mistake, was a stark reminder of the risk of military conflict between U.S. and Iranian forces…

“Iran… insisted the drone had invaded its airspace… [Trump] said the American drone was unarmed and unmanned and ‘clearly over international waters.’… U.S. Gen. Guastella [told] reporters that the aircraft was 34 kilometers (21 miles) from the nearest Iranian territory and flying at high altitude when struck by a surface-to-air missile…

“The Senate’s top Democrat [Nancy Pelosi] called the downing of the American drone ‘deeply concerning’…  Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called Iran a ‘murderous regime’ and said, ‘If they’re itching for a fight they’re going to get one.’”

Egypt’s Former President Mohammed Morsi Dies in Court

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 17:

“Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s former president, died Monday after collapsing during a session in court, state television reported. The 67-year-old was the country’s first democratically elected president and a member of Egypt’s most powerful Islamist group, the now banned Muslim Brotherhood.

“Morsi was on trial for espionage and had just addressed the court when he blacked out, reports said. He was taken to a Cairo hospital but could not be revived… The Islamist was democratically elected in 2012, one year after the popular uprising that ended the rule of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak… Morsi, often described as a divisive figure, spent just one year in office. He was toppled by the army in July 2013 following mass protests against his government… His then-defense minister and army chief, current President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, took power and was subsequently elected president. Morsi and thousands of other members of the Brotherhood were jailed in the crackdown that followed…

“[Morsi] was also serving a 20-year sentence related to the killing of protesters during 2012 demonstrations, as well as a life sentence for espionage for Qatar. He had denied all charges…

“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was a Morsi ally, paid tribute to the former leader: ‘May Allah rest our Morsi brother, our martyr’s soul in peace,’ he said… Qatar’s ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, a key backer of the Muslim Brotherhood, expressed his ‘deep sorrow’ on Twitter…  Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director with the Human Rights Watch, tweeted that Morsi’s death was ‘terrible but entirely predictable’ given the government’s ‘failure to allow him adequate medical care, much less family visits.’”

It is very risky to be in high political positions in dictatorial countries like Egypt.

Hong Kong’s Contentious Extradition Bill

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 16:

“Chief Executive [Beijing-appointed] Carrie Lam has apologized for her handling of the contentious extradition bill after protesters called for her resignation. The city’s leader has put the plans on hold, but won’t withdraw them completely…

“The bill proposed a legal mechanism to allow Hong Kong residents and Chinese or foreign nationals traveling through the city to be extradited to mainland China… critics believe it would tighten Beijing’s grip on the autonomous city, which is governed under a ‘one country, two systems’ policy cemented during the British handover of Hong Kong in 1997…protesters are concerned that an extradition agreement would allow Hong Kongers to be handed over to courts controlled by the Communist Party in mainland China, where a fair trial is not guaranteed…”

Britain lost Hong Kong to China, and here we see the results. Even though the pressure is mounting, Lam has refused so far to resign.

Fox Poll: Voters Say Trump Has Gone Too Far on Immigration

Newsmax reported on June 16:

“Half of American voters say the Trump administration has gone too far on immigration enforcement… a Fox News poll shows. The 50% who say enforcement of immigration laws has ‘gone too far’ is more than double, 24%, those who say actions haven’t gone far enough. About one in five say the measures are about right.

“By a wide majority — 73% to 24% — Americans favor giving legal status to young people brought to the U.S. illegally as children, so-called Dreamers. Allocating more agents to the border was a more popular choice than imposing tariffs on Mexican imports or building a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border. On tariffs, nearly eight in 10 of those polled had concerns that things they buy will be more expensive. More voters say tariffs hurt rather than help the U.S. economy, with 45% saying they hurt and 33% saying they help…”

In time, either Trump will see the handwriting on the wall and change some of his rather extreme positions, or the majority of Americans will accept them, no matter what.

Millions to Be Deported?

The Washington Post wrote on June 17:

“President Donald Trump said in a tweet Monday night that U.S. immigration agents are planning to make mass arrests… ‘Next week ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States,’ Trump wrote, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement…

“The family arrest plan has been considered even more sensitive than a typical operation because children are involved and Homeland Security officials retain significant concerns that families will be inadvertently separated by the operation, especially because parents in some households have deportation orders but their children – some of whom are U.S. citizens – might not. Should adults be arrested without their children because they are at school, day care, summer camp or a friend’s house, it is possible parents could be deported while their children are left behind…”

The operation will allegedly be targeting Central American families and unaccompanied minors who had turned 18, according to Politico, June 18, 2019.

Trump Staying Longer than 8 Years?

The Independent wrote on June 16:

“Donald Trump has suggested the American people would ask him to stay in the White House beyond two terms… he said he could see himself staying in office beyond 2024. ‘The good news is that at the end of 6 years, after America has been made GREAT again and I leave the beautiful White House (do you think the people would demand that I stay longer? KEEP AMERICA GREAT),’ he wrote…

“Mr Trump… has also previously endorsed suggestions that he should stay in the White House after eight years as president…”

This begs the question: Could President Trump stay in office for longer than eight years?

hiphopdx wrote on February 7, 2017:

“The Twenty-Second Amendment of the Constitution allows for an America president to serve two terms in office, which would come to eight years. The last — and only — president to serve more than that was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was elected to the Oval Office four times. This was before the amendment was introduced in 1947… In order to change the Constitution, there must be approval from two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate…

“However, the Constitution can also be amended by a constitutional congress called by two-thirds of state legislatures. On this front, the Republicans are just one legislature short, currently [in 2017] holding 32 of 50…”

In addition, Bustle explained on April 12, 2018:

“… a two-term president who later became vice president could theoretically become president again if the president they served under resigned.”

This means, the term of office for both the vice president and the president is four years. Neither the Constitution’s eligibility provisions nor the Twenty-second Amendment’s presidential term limit explicitly disqualifies a twice-elected president from serving as vice president. As vice president, he could become president again if the president resigns.

To us, it is a foregone conclusion that Mr. Trump will be re-elected in 2020. And as we strongly believe that he is the last President of the USA, the potential scenarios, as described above, are quite interesting.

India Imposes Tariffs on US Goods 

Axios wrote on June 15:

“India announced it’s imposing higher tariffs on 28 U.S. products from Sunday, after Washington withdrew the South Asian country’s preferential trade status… It’s the latest escalation in President Trump’s trade war, designed to cut U.S. deficits. The tariffs on products including almonds and apples are as high as 70% on some items and are in response to Washington’s refusal to exempt Delhi from higher taxes on steel and aluminium imports…

“India was until the U.S. cut privileges on June 5 the biggest beneficiary of the Generalized System of Preferences scheme, which allowed duty-free exports of up to $5.6 billion…”

The American trade war with China and Europe—and now with India, as well as Mexico—will ultimately see the USA as the loser in this fight.

The Government’s and Doctors’ Fight Against Anti-Vaccines Continues…

arstechnica wrote on June 14:

“Anti-vaccine advocates received a blow in New York Thursday as state lawmakers banned non-medical exemptions based on religious beliefs—and there may be more blows coming.”

“Also on Thursday, the American Medical Association adopted a new policy to step up its fight against such non-medical exemptions. The AMA, the country’s largest physicians’ group and one of the largest spenders on lobbying, has always strongly support[ed] pediatric vaccination and opposed non-medical exemptions. But under the new policy changes, the association will now ‘actively advocate’ for states to eliminate any laws that allow for non-medical exemptions…

“In 2015, California eliminated non-medical vaccine exemptions following a large measles outbreak linked to Disneyland visitors. But in the years following, the state saw the number of children with medical exemptions triple… Lawmakers in California are now considering a new bill that would crack down on… bogus exemptions by granting state health officials oversight of any medical exemptions that doctors provide. Prominent anti-vaccine advocates, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr, have opposed the legislation. This week, actress Jessica Biel joined the fray, coming out on the side of anti-vaxxers. In an Instagram post, she… suggested that the additional oversight would make it harder for children who genuinely need medical exemptions to get them.”

It is also recommended by doctors that all US travelers flying abroad to any country should be vaccinated. For a “recommendation” to a “mandate” is sometimes only a small step. When will this nonsense ever cease? Note the next article from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding measles.

AAP News wrote on June 17:

“Federal health officials are warning U.S. travelers to protect themselves from measles outbreaks in Europe…

“Measles is highly contagious, and the record number of measles cases in the WHO (World Health Organization) European region not only puts unvaccinated and inadequately vaccinated travelers at risk, but also increases the risk for nontraveling US residents who come into close contact with returned travelers who are ill,’ researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) wrote in a new article ‘Spread of Measles in Europe and Implications for US Travelers.’…

“Some of the WHO European region’s 53 countries are among the most popular destinations for U.S. travelers but may be incorrectly perceived as safe from infectious diseases, authors said… Since May 2018, the European countries with the most measles cases have been Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Italy, France, Romania and North Macedonia…

“International travelers should carry a copy of their immunization records…”

Hysteria rules…

Interim Austrian Chancellor Brigitte Bierlein’s Partner under Attack

Brigitte Bierlein, the president of Austria’s constitutional court, became Austria’s first female [transitional] chancellor until new elections in September.

JC wrote on June 3:

“The life partner of Austria’s new chancellor Brigitte Bierlein was the judge who, in 2006, freed Holocaust revisionist David Irving from prison. In 1989, Irving made two speeches in Austria in which he denied the existence of gas chambers at Auschwitz. In November 2005, having entered Austria to attend a meeting of far-right students, Irving was arrested under the law that forbids ‘re-engagement in National Socialist activities’ including Holocaust denial.

“He was sentenced to three years imprisonment in February 2006. Released on appeal in December of that year, Irving returned to Britain to serve out his sentence on probation. Ernest Maurer, the presiding judge in the appeal case and the new chancellor’s partner, said at the time that Irving committed the offences an ‘extremely long time’ ago and that the defendant had undergone an ‘unprecedented change’ in his views on the Holocaust…

“Once back in Britain, Irving told the BBC he did not feel the need to show remorse for what he had said about Auschwitz and the Holocaust. The decision to release him was condemned by Vienna’s main Jewish community group, the IKG, which called for his verdict to be examined and dismissed him as someone ‘close’ to Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ). Mr Maurer has a reputation as a very conservative jurist and someone who, as the political columnist Hans Rauscher told the New York Times, was ‘known for very lenient opinions toward right-wing extremism.’…

“The Wiener Zeitung has called Mr Maurer an ‘intimate friend’ of [late former Chancellor Joerg] Haider…”

Austria’s Strache Won’t Take Up EU Parliament Seat

The EUObserver reported on June 17, 2019

“Austrian far-right ex-leader Heinz-Christian Strache, who quit as vice-chancellor over a video showing him offering to fix state contracts to someone who posed as a Russian oligarch, said Monday he would not take up a European Parliament seat.

“He stepped down as the Freedom Party’s leader last month after German media published the secretly filmed 2017 footage. Strache got enough preferential votes to get a seat in the parliament.”

He might have other plans pertaining to Austria itself.

“Ten Thousand People Are Praying for Sebastian Kurz”

Der Standard wrote on June 16:

“During his non-election campaign tour of Austria, former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz found time during the ‘Awakening Austria’ event to pray together in the sold out… Wiener Stadthalle. [Australian missionary] Ben Fitzgerald, the ‘passionate lover of Jesus and leader of Awakening Europe and GODfest Ministries’, as it says on the organizational club’s website, held a ‘blessing prayer’ for Sebastian Kurz.”

Fitzgerald prayed for Kurz, “Father, we thank you so much for this man. For the wisdom you gave him. For the heart.”

The paper also mentioned that Kurz describes himself as belonging to the “Church portion“ of his party, the ÖVP, and that he went at times to the monastery Göttweig for meditation practices.

Kurz, after having received his blessing, thanked Cardinal Schönborn and Ben Fitzgerald for their prayers for Austria. It was explained that the Catholic Church and Cardinal Schönborn also participated in this charismatic event which was conducted by “Awakening Europe.” The paper also explained that Ben Fitzgerald claims of having had spiritual visions and of having received the command from God to reclaim or bring back Europe. It was pointed out that Fitzgerald spoke in Nürnberg on the very field where Hitler had given one of his speeches in front of 150,000 people.

Austria’s Hapsburg Family and a United Catholic Europe

Catholic Herald wrote on May 30:

“A little over a hundred years ago, Emperor Karl of Austria, his wife Zita and their small children were forced to leave their last refuge in Austria for Swiss exile. Two abortive attempts to regain the Austrian throne led to their exile and his death in Madeira.

“Over the following decades the imperial exiles made the best of things, with the heir, Archduke Otto, trying first to catalyse resistance to Hitler on Austria’s part, and then with more success to ensure that the victorious Allies would treat Austria as a victim rather than a perpetrator… 800 years of Habsburg rule left a strong imprint on Austria – not just in the still very Catholic and conservative countryside.

“… when elected a Member of the European Parliament, Archduke Otto [as] Chief organiser of the so-called ‘Pan-European Picnic’ of 1989 – which helped bring down the Wall –… was foremost in calling for the rapid integration into the European Union of Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia and the once partly Habsburg Poland.

“But in the aftermath of their liberation and incorporation into the EU, a strange phenomenon emerged: they found they had more in common with each other (and in recent years with Sebastian Kurz’s Austria) than with the Western nations. Not only did they share scepticism toward Western Europe’s embrace of abortion and sexual licence, their national cultures – despite the nationalisms that tore them apart – have much in common.

“Sociological studies have found that in Poland, Ukraine, Romania and Serbia –­ those areas that were once part of Austria-Hungary – have a much higher rate of trust in police and courts and less corruption than those that were not. The test-runners have dubbed this ‘the Habsburg effect’…

“The growth of the common cultus of Emperor Karl since his beatification in 2004 has also played its part. There are – not too surprisingly – 26 shrines to him in Austria. But there are eight in the Czech Republic, 16 in Hungary, three in Slovakia and two in Croatia…

“And what of the House of Habsburg itself in all of this? Otto’s elder son, Karl, ably assisted by younger, Hungary-based brother Georg, is certainly keeping the flag flying through the Paneuropa Union, the Knightly Order of St George, and a host of cultural, political and religious activities throughout the former empire chronicled on his informative eponymous website. Their sisters are also plugging away at similar tasks. Cousin Michael, of the Hungarian branch of the family, is head of the group working for the beatification of Cardinal Mindszenty, while his son, Eduard, is Hungary’s envoy to the Holy See. It is now a large clan, scattered across the globe, but by and large an extremely hard-working one.

“The website of the Austrian branch of Paneuropa declares: ‘The soul of this continent is Christianity. Whoever takes it out of political action, makes Europe a soulless body.’… In any case, considering how many tourists flock to see the mere relics of Habsburg rule in Central Europe’s capitals today, one can only guess at the flood that would pour in to see the revived rituals of an imperial and royal court in such varied settings…”

We should keep a watchful eye on the Habsburg dynasty.

Britain’s New Advertisement Rules

Daily Mail wrote on June 14:

“Adverts which show men struggling with household chores are now banned under new gender stereotype rules. Scenarios likely to be problematic under the new rule include a man with his feet up while a woman cleans up her family’s mess or a woman unable to park a car.

“Advertisements must not include gender stereotypes which are likely to cause harm or serious or widespread offence from today. Advertisers will also have to tread carefully when, for example, contrasting a daring boy with a caring girl, or if they belittle a man for carrying out stereotypically ‘female’ roles or tasks, the Committee of Advertising Practice warned.”

The craziness of this world is mind-boggling.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

The question of abortion has been debated long and hard over many years with many different and varied outcomes.   We will cover this subject from a biblical standpoint but to start with we will look at the current situation around the world.

Some have put forward the idea of no abortion at all, under any circumstances,  while others have suggested that it be allowed up to a certain time.

On the BBC website under “ethics,” the following information is available:

“At various times some of the following have been allowed in some societies:

• abortion for the sake of the mother’s health including her mental health and where a pregnancy is the result of a crime such as rape, incest, or child abuse
• abortion where the child of the pregnancy would have an ‘unacceptable’ quality of life such as cases where the child would have serious physical handicaps, serious genetic problems or serious mental defects
• abortion for social reasons, including poverty, the mother unable to cope with a child (or another child), the mother being too young to cope with a child
• abortion as a matter of government policy, as a way of regulating population size, as a way of regulating groups within a population and as a way of improving the population.

“Most opponents of abortion agree that abortion for the sake of the mother’s health can be morally acceptable if there is a real risk of serious damage to the mother.”

On the Debatepedia website under “Debate: Abortion – ‘Should abortions of any kind be permitted?’” the following brief excerpts are shown under “background and context”:

“The issue of abortion is one of the most contentious, and emotive dilemmas faced by modern societies. The question is whether one should allow the termination of a pregnancy. For some, the question is even more fundamental: at what stage is the embryo or fetus in the uterus to be regarded as a child? At fertilization? At birth? Or, maybe somewhere between. The battle-lines are drawn between strict, religious (‘pro-life’) arguments (that it is never permissible), and those (‘pro-choice’) that emphasise the woman’s right to choose as the primary concern. While abortion has been legal in America since the landmark Roe vs. Wade case in the early 1970s, this is by no means a reflection of universal agreement – either international or within America itself – as many Western countries still have considerable restrictions on abortion. For example, the Irish position has softened only recently, and the Catholic Church steadfastly refuses to change its resolutely pro-life stance in the face of criticism from Women’s and other lobby-groups.

“The abortion debate revolves around a number of questions. Does a woman have a right to her body that the fetus cannot take away? Does this right mean that a woman has a right to ‘unplug’ from the fetus? Or, does the fetus have a right to life that is binding on the woman and her body and that outweighs any rights held by the woman, requiring her to give birth? Is a fetus only a fetus or is it a person that deserves rights and protections? Does ‘human life’ begin at conception or at birth? (our emphasis).  Is destroying a fetus akin to ‘killing a human’ or murder?

“What about the biological father? What rights does he have over a fetus? If the woman seeks an abortion, can he prevent it? And, what if she wants to give birth to a child, while he does not want it to happen? What say does he have? Is this, therefore, simply a question of the woman’s rights, or the man’s rights as well? Is a woman responsible for actions and behavior that may lead to an unwanted pregnancy, making her responsible for the fetus even if it is ‘unwanted’? Are there circumstances in which a woman cannot be said to be responsible for her own impregnation, such as failed contraception or rape? Can this justify an abortion?

“Is abortion an issue that is subjectively moral/immoral, so should be reserved to individual judgement (not law)? Must opponents simply tolerate the practice? Or, is the scale of abortions world-wide too large to ignore, and does this scale give cause to a ban?”

We can see from all of this information that, because God is never mentioned, the musings of man’s mind become the predominant questions to be answered, and there are plenty of questions asked as we have just seen.

The landmark Roe vs. Wade case in the early 1970’s is mentioned above.  In Lifenews.com on January 22, 2013, we read the following:

“As Roe v. Wade and its allowance for unlimited abortions throughout pregnancy turns 40 today, the woman behind the infamous Supreme Court case has pledged her life to overturning it.

“Norma McCorvey never wanted an abortion — she was seeking a divorce from her husband — but young, pro-abortion feminist attorney Sarah Weddington used McCorvey’s case as a means of attempting to overturn Texas’ law making most abortions illegal. Weddington took the case all the way to the Supreme Court, which invalidated every pro-life state law in the nation protecting unborn children and the rest is history.

“But most Americans don’t know that McCorvey, who was ‘pro-choice’ on abortion at the time, is now a pro-life advocate. She is now dedicated to reversing the Supreme Court case that bears her fictitious name, Jane Roe.”

It is interesting and encouraging to read that this woman who was involved in this case now feels very differently. She said: “I think it’s safe to say that the entire abortion industry is based on a lie…. I am dedicated to spending the rest of my life undoing the law that bears my name.”  She concluded the following in a 60-second advertisement: “You read about me in history books, but now I am dedicated to spreading the truth about preserving the dignity of all human life from natural conception to natural death.”

Statistics of abortions are nothing short of alarming, and we read on US Abortions Clock.org, the following figures as at the end of May 2019:

• Abortions in the USA since 1973 (the time of Roe v Wade) are now over 61 million.
• Worldwide abortions for 2019 were 16 million.
• Worldwide abortions since 1980 are over 1.5 billion.

In another report in 2013, Dr. Brian Clowes, director of education and research at Human Life International, investigated the number of worldwide abortions since 1973. The results were staggering! He estimated that there have been more than 1.72 billion abortions over the last 40 years, a trend that is not lessening but growing exponentially.

Whether the figures are 1.5 billion or 1.72 billion, they still represent an enormous number of lives that have been killed before birth.

Interestingly, over 200,000 abortions are performed each year in Britain.  On the Christian Institute website, we can read this information: “Unknown thousands of human embryos are frozen, stored and destroyed by assisted reproductive technologies. In addition, human embryos are either specifically created, or obtained as excess ‘spares’ from IVF procedures, for use in destructive experimentation. Embryonic stem cell technology also means that human embryos are routinely destroyed in order to harvest such cells. More and more sophisticated prenatal screening techniques, including preimplantation genetic diagnosis, have been developed to implement a eugenic ‘search and destroy’ mission against the unborn who are suspected of being disabled.”

On the website medicinenet, several commitments by doctors are listed in “A Modern Version of the Hippocratic Oath”:

“I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant which includes, amongst others, the following commitment:

“I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.”

The last italicized phrase is very interesting. Unfortunately, all too often, lives of the unborn are terminated for no reason other than inconvenience and even when there may be supposedly “valid” reasons for termination, this is really nothing more than a doctor “playing God” which they promise not to do.   It is a very sad indictment on the medical profession when we read about the number of abortions that have been undertaken worldwide.

Recent events in the USA have taken a rather unexpected turn.  CBS reported on May 16, 2019, that “Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed the state’s controversial near-total abortion ban Wednesday evening. The new law is the most restrictive anti-abortion measure passed in the United States since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.

“The legislation — House Bill 314, ‘Human Life Protection Act’ — bans all abortions in the state except when ‘abortion is necessary in order to prevent a serious health risk’ to the woman, according to the bill’s text. It criminalizes the procedure, reclassifying abortion as a Class A felony, punishable by up to 99 years in prison for doctors. Attempted abortions will be reclassified as a Class C penalty.

“The legislation makes no exceptions for victims of rape or incest.

“‘Today, I signed into law the Alabama Human Life Protection Act,’ Ivey wrote in a statement Wednesday night. ‘To the bill’s many supporters, this legislation stands as a powerful testament to Alabamians’ deeply held belief that every life is precious & that every life is a sacred gift from God.

“Alabama’s ban is the latest in an onslaught of state-level anti-abortion measures that activists hope will be taken up by the Supreme Court and potentially overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that protects a woman’s right to the procedure.

“Last week, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed into law the state’s so-called ‘fetal heartbeat’ bill, a measure that will prohibit abortions after a heartbeat is detected in an embryo, which is typically five to six weeks into a pregnancy, and before most women know that they’re pregnant. The state was the sixth to pass such a law, and the fourth this year alone.”

Of course, there will be appeals against such action and the Guardian wrote the following in May 2019:

“Democratic leaders reacted with outrage, and pledged to fight for abortion rights. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator and 2020 contender, tweeted: ‘This ban is dangerous and exceptionally cruel – and the bill’s authors want to use it to overturn Roe v Wade. I’ve lived in that America and let me tell you: we are not going back – not now, not ever. We will fight this. And we will win.’

“Hillary Clinton tweeted: ‘The abortion bans in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Mississippi are appalling attacks on women’s lives and fundamental freedoms. Women’s rights are human rights. We will not go back.’”

You will note that these democratic politicians frequently talk about women’s rights but rarely about the rights of the unborn.  In an editorial in the weekly Update of the Church of the Eternal God, dated 15^, March 2019, number 868, entitled “Blind Leaders,” the following was written:

“In his ‘State of the Union Address’ last month, US President Donald Trump raised the issue of abortion. Taken, word for word, from his speech, he said the following:

“‘Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments before birth. These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and dreams with the world. And then, we had the case of the Governor of Virginia where he basically stated he would execute a baby after birth.

“‘To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb. Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth: all children — born and unborn — are made in the holy image of God.’”

The editorial continued: “The Daily Mail wrote: ‘A group of Democratic women who wore white in honor of the suffragettes gave President Donald Trump an unexpected standing ovation at Tuesday evening’s State of the Union address. They stood slowly at first, then clapped joyously, as Trump spoke about the economic gains that have been enjoyed in the United States by women since he took office. “No one has benefited more from our thriving economy than women who have filled 58 percent of the newly created jobs last year,” Trump said, prompting loud cheering from the section of women.’

“These women were basking in self-congratulatory terms but when it came to the President’s statement about abortion, they obviously did not approve of even a small curtailment of this abominable practice; after all, abortion is another name for murder.”

(To be continued)

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

compiled by Dave Harris

“How Can We Know that Jesus Christ’s Return Is Near?” our newest booklet has now been printed and mailed to our subscribers. Along with this booklet, a special Member Letter (June 2019) written by Norbert Link has been included. All of this is posted on our website, and you are invited to request your own free copy.

A Ministerial Meeting was conducted over SKYPE on Sunday morning, June 16, 2019. It was reported that members have been contacted to make personal reservations for the Feast—along with several other matters.

“Der Teufel ist los!” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English (approximately): “The Devil is Loose.”

“Bin ich hübsch?” the sermonette presented last Sabbath in Germany by Johann Schell, is now posted. Title in English: “Am I Pretty?”

“Are You Really Different?” the first split-sermon presented last Sabbath by Thilo Hanstein, is now posted. Here is a summary:

As a true follower of Christ, we must be truly different from others in our way of life in this world. We should consciously recognize the difference between right and wrong, and God has brought us into this world for a reason, so we must follow that calling.  Or are we still looking at what the world admires, and do we still perform what the masses expect of us?

“Learning How to Make Christian Change,” the second split-sermon presented last Sabbath by Kalon Mitchell, is now posted. Here is a summary:

We must change, that fact is inevitable. But how? How do habits come into play? When should we change? How do we come to have the mind of Christ? Why should we read the Bible? Why should we meditate? Why is ANY of this important for a true Christian?

On June 15, 2019, Thilo Hanstein will present the first sermon, titled, “Are You Really Different?” and Kalon Mitchell will present the second sermon, titled, “Learning How to Make Christian Change.”

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.

With school sessions completed, days becoming longer, and temperatures warming up, the joy of summertime has picked up momentum in my household. Immediately following our children’s last day of school, my family began spending more time outside and our activities have become more playful. Living in a time of relative peace, safety, and abundance, it’s a joyful time that my family and I have been blessed with the ability to enjoy.

I believe that what has made the time so precious involves the fact that we have simply enjoyed our time together, with one another. The most satisfying moments are the most accessible ones — a walk in the neighborhood; an evening gazing at the stars; an afternoon fishing; sharing stories and bad jokes during dinnertime. All of these experiences have been miniature treasures that cost us only the time it takes to experience them.

Solomon makes comments throughout the book of Ecclesiastes about appreciating the present lives we live. We can see a succinct summary of this notion in Ecclesiastes 2:24, “Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.” Apparently, this most-wealthy king was wise enough to see that the simple pleasures in life are a blessing from God that all of us have the capacity to enjoy.

It is worth noting that Solomon, who was known for the abundance of his riches, mentions that the material he managed to amass was not the source of joy. On the contrary, he expresses the tremendous grief that it caused (compare Ecclesiastes 2:4-11, 2:17-21). The reconciliation he finds is that his joy comes from the appreciation of the inherent experience of work and the simple satisfaction in the most basic of life’s activities. It is the experience of life that he values more than its riches.

There are very few things in life that cannot be taken away from us. Even Solomon laments that our physical possessions are among the easiest to lose. We may lose those who are near and dear to us too. But our ability to experience life’s events, whether good or bad, can never be taken away. Experience is built into being. The relentless pace of time continues forward and accumulates experience, captured in memories that we keep as long as our memory retains them. Since experience is among the most durable of our possessions, it only makes sense to attribute a commensurate amount of value in how we treat it.

By contrast, the physical world that we live in offers us nothing that is materially permanent. 1 Timothy 6:6-10 informs us, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Not only is contentment with our existence a perspective to nurture, we can see that there are negative consequences when we dedicate our time and attention to the accumulation of the wrong kind of possession. The love of money and material gain lies at the source of the kind of behavior and priorities that lead us away from God. Certainly, if we want to live an eternally good life, we must begin now by placing value in what matters. And what matters is not material.

The time we have to live these physical lives is finite and short. In addition, this age in which we live in relative peace, safety, and abundance is exceedingly short. Knowing that we all have the capacity to experience the events that God prepares for us, and that the time we have to enjoy them is limited, we ought to pay attention and appreciate the moments of our lives. God works to provide us with occasions for growth. It’s up to us to take the time to extract as much as we can from the experience He offers us. For, experience is all we get in this life.

by Norbert Link

We begin with frightening reports on censorship in the USA, Europe and China; continue with the ongoing trade war between the USA and China; as well as Mexico; and address near-fatal and potentially horrible accidents between the USA and Russia, as well as further attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

We speak on the growing alliance of Arabs and Christian churches against Israel; the almost certain election of Boris Johnson as Britain’s new Prime Minister; and we address the terrible immigration situation in the USA and in Europe. We also address interesting speculation and rumors about former Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz.

(See StandingWatch: “Is Austria’s Sebastian Kurz gay… and Would it Matter?” 

We conclude with an article about abortion and two articles about the Vatican’s clarifications on two misunderstood biblical passages and the “gender” theory, while Catholic schools in Australia follow a different path.

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

YouTube’s New Anti-Extremism Policy

The New York Times wrote on June 5:

“YouTube announced plans… to remove thousands of videos and channels… in an attempt to clean up extremism and hate speech on its popular service. The new policy will ban ‘videos alleging that a group is superior in order to justify discrimination, segregation or exclusion,’ the company said in a blog post. The prohibition will also cover videos denying that violent events, like the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, took place…

“The decision by YouTube, which is owned by Google, is the latest action by a Silicon Valley company to stem the spread of hate speech and disinformation on its site. A month ago, Facebook evicted seven of its most controversial users, including Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist and founder of Infowars. Twitter barred Mr. Jones last year…

“The kind of content that will be prohibited under YouTube’s new hate speech policies includes videos that claim Jews secretly control the world, that say women are intellectually inferior to men and therefore should be denied certain rights, or that suggest that the white race is superior to another race…

“YouTube announced in January that it would recommend fewer objectionable videos, such as those with conspiracy theories about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and vaccine misinformation, a category it called ‘borderline content’…”

thinkprogress wrote on June 6:

“Conservatives cry censorship after YouTube rolls out new anti-extremism policy. The policy is littered with problems and YouTube itself is struggling to defend the move…

“Conservatives claimed that the [action] was part of a wider liberal agenda to silence dissenting voices…”

It surely appears to be that way. Subsequently, Google’s CEO stated in an interview that he wants to see YouTube expand its crackdown on “borderline” content.

China’s Brutal Censorship

ctpost wrote on June 8:

“Websites of The Washington Post and the Guardian appear to now be blocked in China as the country’s government further tightens its so-called ‘Great Firewall’ censorship apparatus as it navigates a politically sensitive period. Until this weekend, The Post and the Guardian were among the last few major English-language outlets that were still regularly accessible from mainland China without the use of virtual private networking (VPN) software, according to the censorship tracker greatfire…

“Chinese Internet authorities have gone into overdrive in recent weeks ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre on June 4, 1989, prohibiting users on the popular WeChat social media service to post keywords or pictures related to the event…

“Every language edition of Wikipedia was fully banned in mid-May. A CNN reporter said the network’s website was blocked again this week shortly after CNN… ran a top story commemorating the 1989 incident… the trend since 2013 has shown more and more foreign websites being irrevocably added to China’s blacklist.

“Outlets such as Bloomberg, the New York Times, Reuters and the Wall Street Journal have been blocked for years. So have social media services such as Facebook and Twitter and all Google-owned services, including YouTube. Other popular services such as Dropbox, Slack and WhatsApp are also prohibited… While a small number of Chinese users download VPNs to access banned websites and social media services, China has increasingly found ways to enforce the bans – including through physical intimidation.”

Woe unto those who suppress the Truth in unrighteousness.

Huge Demonstration in Hong Kong against Chinese Dictatorship

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 9:

“Hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong residents are participating in a rally on Sunday against a government plan that would allow extraditions to authorities in mainland China… The turnout at Sunday’s rally marks the event as one of the largest protests in Hong Kong’s history… The proposed extradition law is one of the most controversial pieces of legislation in Hong Kong since a 2003 national security bill, which was scrapped by the authorities after at least half a million residents took to the streets to oppose it…

“Hong Kong authorities have come under immense pressure from the international community to ditch the extradition bill. Foreign ministers of Germany and Britain have spoken against the bill, while 11 European Union envoys recently met Chief Executive Carrie Lam to formally protest the law. The International Chamber of Commerce to the EU office in Hong Kong and the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission also voiced serious concerns about the controversial extradition bill…

“Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 after 99 years under British colonial rule. The ‘one country, two systems’ principle underpins the reunification process and allows the territory relative autonomy in the 50-year transition period. But more than 20 years into the process, critics are concerned Chinese authorities are already tightening their grip on political and social life. In 2012, a report on freedom of the press in Hong Kong showed it had deteriorated alarmingly… Chinese authorities have clamped down on pro-democracy demonstrations in recent years…”

Not surprisingly, China blamed the USA for the demonstrations in Hong Kong. That Britain lost Hong Kong was in fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

“The End of the World As We Know It”

On June 3, Project Syndicate published an article by Joschka Fischer, former German Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor from 1998-2005:

“After three decades of moving toward a single global market governed by the rules of the World Trade Organization, the international order has undergone a fundamental change. The United States and China are locked in a tariff war that at first seemed to be about the bilateral trade balance, but has turned out to be about much more…

“Last month, under pressure from US President Donald Trump’s administration, Google terminated its cooperation with Huawei, thereby depriving the Chinese smartphone maker of the license to use Google’s Android software and related services. The move poses an existential threat to Huawei. But, more than that, it marks both a new pinnacle in the Sino-American [i.e., Chinese-American] conflict and the end of US-led globalization…

“The Trump administration’s latest move is meant to signal that the US will not hand over its dominant global position without a fight. Yet by precipitating a break in the existing trade relationship with China, the US will incur immense costs of its own.

“No doubt turbulence awaits Europe, too. A rupture in the global economy would pose a fundamental challenge to the European – and especially the German – export model… [The EU’s] exporters have become increasingly reliant on the Chinese market…

“Past experience has shown that Europe usually needs a crisis in order to move to the next stage of its development… Europe may now have no choice but to develop a geopolitical strategy for the twenty-first century. The EU… must get to work safeguarding its prosperity and sovereignty in an age of Sino-American rupture…”

And that is exactly what the EU will do… with dangerous unforeseen consequences. Also, in regard to the deteriorating relationship between the USA and Europe, Newsmax reported on June 11:

“President Donald Trump on Twitter Tuesday accused Europe of devaluing the euro zone’s single currency and also targeted U.S. monetary policy with renewed attacks on the U.S. central bank. ‘The Euro and other currencies are devalued against the dollar, putting the U.S. at a big disadvantage,’ Trump tweeted without offering any evidence. He also slammed U.S. interest rates for being too high.”

Tariff Fight with Mexico Not Over

AFP wrote on June 10:

“Amid speculation about the contents of Mexico’s deal to curb mitigation in order to avert President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said he had rebuffed the US demand for such a measure, but agreed to revisit the matter in 45 days… Ebrard, who led the Mexican negotiating team in marathon talks in Washington, spoke as Trump renewed his tariff threat over a secret provision in the deal.

“Trump tweeted that part of the deal would require approval by the Mexican Congress — he did not give details — and that ‘if for any reason the approval is not forthcoming, Tariffs will be reinstated!’”

Axios wrote on June 10:

“Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said at a news conference Monday that there is no secret immigration deal between Mexico and the United States…

“Ebrard said at the press conference that there had merely been an agreement for both parties to monitor migration in upcoming months, with a contingency for discussions on further asylum reforms if it was determined that individuals crossing the U.S.’ southern border had not been reduced…”

“If the US Cuts Immigration from Mexico, Who Will Do the Jobs Americans Don’t Want?”

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 10:

“Trump had threatened to impose tariffs of 5% on all imports from Mexico, worth $346.5 billion (€305 billion), ‘until illegal immigration across the southern border was stopped.’ The tariffs would have begun on June 10, rising to 10% on July 1, 15% on August 1, 20% on September 1 and 25% on October 1. Mexico exported to the US $346.5 billion worth of goods in 2018 — meaning that a 5% tariff on those products would have meant a de facto tax increase of $17 billion on agricultural goods, machinery, clothing and components used to make other products…

“About 8 million immigrants from Mexico have jobs, making up 5% of the US workforce… The Department of Agriculture estimates that about half of the nation’s farm workers are unauthorized…

“A study for the dairy industry said that if federal labor and immigration policies cut the number of foreign-born workers by 50%, about 3,500 dairy farms would close, leading to a drop in milk production and a rise in prices of about 30%.

“Unauthorized immigrants make up 24% of maids and cleaners…

“While Mexican workers in the US average $1,870 per month, the average wage in Mexico is $291 per month, or just over $2 an hour, with the minimum wage roughly $4.15 for a full day’s work. Caterpillar is considering opening a plant in Monterrey in northeastern Mexico while General Motors is shifting some of their Detroit operations to Mexico. Ford is planning on moving some of its Detroit south of the border.”

In addition, many big firms operating in the USA, such as Home Depot, Vons, Walmart, Starbucks, McDonalds and quite a few other fast-food stores, have opened branches in Mexico.

USA vs. Germany

The EUObserver wrote on June 13:

“US president Donald Trump has pledged to send at least 1,000 extra troops to Poland to deter Russian aggression.

“He also praised Poland’s nationalist-populist government, while again attacking Germany on defence spending and on its Russia gas pipeline.”

President Trump also stated that he plans to withdraw the 1,000 US troops for Poland from Germany.

Close Encounter

npr wrote on June 7:

“The U.S. Navy says ‘unsafe and unprofessional’ maneuvers by a Russian destroyer nearly caused it to collide with a U.S. missile cruiser in the Philippine Sea on Friday. The Russian warship came within 50 to 100 feet of the USS Chancellorsville, which was busy recovering a helicopter, and the American ship had to take drastic action to avoid the other vessel, the Navy says. Russia’s military, however, provided a different version of events and said the U.S. ship was at fault [saying that] the two vessels were ‘heading in parallel directions’ when the U.S. ship ‘impeded’ its warship…

“The near-collision comes two years after two other warships in the 7th Fleet — the USS Fitzgerald and the USS John S. McCain — were involved in high-profile accidents. In those cases, the Navy vessels collided with cargo ships… Friday’s incident comes on the heels of another close encounter. Earlier this week, a Russian fighter jet intercepted a U.S. Navy aircraft three times while they were in international airspace over the Mediterranean Sea…”

Imagine the devastating consequences if such an accident actually did take place.

Attacks on Oil Tankers in the Gulf of Oman

The Allgemeiner wrote on June 13:

“Two oil tankers were attacked on Thursday and left adrift in the Gulf of Oman, driving up oil prices and stoking fears of a new confrontation between Iran and the United States, which blamed Tehran for the incident…

“Crude oil prices spiked more than 4% after the attacks near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping artery for Saudi Arabia and other Gulf energy producers…

“Washington accused Tehran of being behind a similar attack on May 12 on four tankers in the same area.

“Tensions between Iran and the United States, along with its allies including Saudi Arabia, have risen since US President Donald Trump pulled out of a deal last year between Iran and global powers that aimed to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. Iran has repeatedly warned it would block the Strait of Hormuz if it cannot sell its oil due to US sanctions…

“The Saudi-led military coalition, which is battling the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen, described Thursday’s events as a ‘major escalation.’ Russia, one of Iran‘s main allies, urged caution, saying no one should rush to judgment about the incident or use it to put pressure on Tehran…

“Britain said it was ‘deeply concerned’ about the attacks. Germany, which like Britain remains a party to the nuclear pact with Iran, said the ‘situation is dangerous’ and all sides needed to avoid an escalation.

“The Arab League said some parties were ‘trying to instigate fires in the region’…”

Arabs and Greek Orthodox Church against Israel

The Jordan Times wrote on June 4:

“His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday reaffirmed Jordan’s unwavering position on the Palestinian cause and Jerusalem, and in defending the just and legitimate rights of the Palestinians… The King stressed the need to maintain coordination between mosques and churches, and among churches, to counter challenges… For their part, the attendees thanked His Majesty for his positions in defence of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem…

“Jerusalem Awqaf Director Mohammad Azzam Khatib Tamimi highlighted the King’s efforts in safeguarding Al Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, as well as other holy sites…

“In remarks by Patriarch Theophilos III, Patriarch of the Holy City and all Jordan and Palestine, delivered on his behalf by Archbishop Christoforos Atallah, Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Jordan… [he] voiced confidence in the King’s clear stance on the need for a just and comprehensive solution for the Palestinian cause and Jerusalem, and the importance of establishing an independent Palestinian state on Palestinian national soil with East Jerusalem as its capital… He thanked the King for his ‘generous donation for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre’ to help implement needed renovations.”

This article, written from a Jordanian perspective, shows the close cooperation between Arabs and Christian churches, and their determination to support the Palestinians against the Jews in Israel.

Boris Johnson Steamrolling Ahead

Axios wrote on June 13:

“There is little standing in the way of Boris Johnson becoming Britain’s next prime minister… Johnson is a brash Brexiteer who has vowed to take the U.K. out of the EU without a deal if one can’t be reached by October…

“Step one in the two-step process to replace Theresa May as Conservative Party leader, and thus prime minister, officially began on Thursday. Johnson got off to a massive head start after 114 Conservative Members of Parliament selected him — far more than went for Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt (43), Environment Secretary Michael Gove (37), or former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab (27).

“Seven candidates had enough backers to move on to the next round, with three others eliminated. The voting will continue until the list is whittled down to two, whom the party’s 160,000 members will then choose between…

“If he does triumph, Johnson will take ownership of the most intractable dispute in recent British political history and a divided party that has fallen to once-unthinkable depths in the polls. There are clearly many who think he’s just the man for the job.”

Ongoing Immigration Nightmare for Children

AFP wrote on June 8:

“When reporters toured a shelter for immigrant children in February, authorities showed off classrooms, soccer fields and art studios to prove the kids were being treated well. This week President Donald Trump’s administration cancelled all that special care, citing a lack of funding. Some 13,200 children and teens, most of them Central American, are being held in 168 shelters for minors in 23 states across the United States. In all of them, activities that are not essential or not linked to the children’s physical safety began to be cut this week…

“Minors who cross the southern US border without an adult are classified as Unaccompanied Alien Children and sent to centers of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, where they live until they can be reunited with their parents or US-based relatives. Many human rights groups deem these places as being akin to prisons or even concentration camps.”

It is terrible when innocent children must suffer because of the conduct of adults.

EU Accused of Help Killing Illegal Immigrants

The EUObserver wrote on June 4:

 “EU states’ efforts to ‘deter’ migrants from Libya have helped kill more than 14,000 people… according to a lawsuit filed at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague…

“The EU’s decision to end a sea rescue operation called Mare Nostrum off the coast of Libya led to a gross increase in drownings, [the] 243-page document… alleged… The EU’s policy of returning migrants to Libya, despite the political chaos there, exposed a further 40,000 people to ‘crimes against humanity’ in militia-run camps there between 2016 and 2018, the lawyers’ document added.

“‘European Union officials were fully aware of the treatment of the migrants by the Libyan coastguard and the fact that migrants … would face immediate detention in detention centres… in which murder, sexual assault, torture and other crimes were known by the European Union agents and officials to be common,’ it said… ‘the EU is orchestrating a policy of forced transfer to concentration camp-like detention facilities,’ it added. The EU policy constituted the ‘most lethal and organised attack against civilian population the ICC had jurisdiction over in its entire history,’ it said.”

If true, it would sound awfully similar to what Nazis began to do in Germany prior to World War II.

“Justice” in Totalitarian Italy? Demagogues Responsible?

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 8:

“Pia Klemp stands accused of aiding illegal immigration after she saved people from drowning in the Mediterranean. The Bonn native has accused Italian authorities of organizing ‘a show trial.’

“… According to German public broadcaster WDR… [Klemp] has personally assisted in the rescue of more than 1,000 people at risk of drowning in unsafe dinghies as they attempted to cross to Europe in search of a better life. An already immigrant-unfriendly government in Rome became even more so in June 2018, when newly appointed Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini of the far-right League party promised a crackdown the likes of which modern Italy had never seen.

“Since assuming office, Salvini has sought to put a stop to migrant rescue ships docking on Italian shores and allowing refugees to disembark. In January, the nationalist leader made headlines with the forced evacuation of [immigrants and] his refusal to clarify where the people, many of whom had lived in Castelnuovo di Porto for years and become integrated into town life, were being taken.

“Shortly thereafter, Sicilian prosecutors ruled that Salvini could be charged with kidnapping more than 177 migrants left stranded on a ship he had ordered impounded.

“… the captain blames not only the Italian government but what she sees as a failure of the European Union ‘to remember its avowed values: human rights, the right to life, to apply for asylum, and the duty of seafarers to rescue those in danger at sea.’ Klemp added that ‘demagogues’ such as Salvini, former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer were effectively allowing thousands to perish in the Mediterranean each year…”

Catholic Church Concerned About Salvini

Firstthings wrote on May 31:

“Several ecclesiastical figures expressed horror at the results of last week’s European Parliament elections… The reactions centered on the Matteo Salvini’s stunning victory in Italy, where his Lega Party took more than 34 percent of the Italian vote, exceeding even the most extravagant forecasts. This means that in absolute figures the Euroskeptic Lega party will have the third-highest number of seats in the new parliament…

“On May 27, the semi-official Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano published a front-page editorial by Andrea Monda (personally appointed as the newspaper’s editor-in chief last December by Pope Francis), who criticized the pro-sovereignty movement that made extraordinary gains in Sunday’s elections. That movement is the enemy of Europe, the editorial proposed, and the Lega’s substantial victory in Italy was particularly worrisome… It was not a vote for something, but ‘against’ something, driven by fear…

“Luxembourg Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich… criticized Italy’s interior minister Matteo Salvini for preying upon Catholics by appealing to their religious sense, also suggesting that Italian Catholics are easily duped… suggesting that Salvini is not a real Catholic, despite his claims to the contrary…

“Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro, the editor-in-chief of La Civiltà Cattolica, railed against the election results in a full-page article in Famiglia Cristiana. ‘There is a toad, a moral sickness, in the belly of our country, which is also infecting our Church,’ Spadaro observed, since a significant number of self-identified Catholics evidently voted for Salvini…

“These three examples are just the tip of the iceberg, the latest signs of a process by which leading spokesmen for the Church in Europe seem to be growing more overtly political…

“To take just one more example from the Italian political scene, leading ecclesiastical figures have demonized Salvini for closing Italian ports in an effort to curb illegal immigration, calling him everything from the antichrist to Satan…”

While the quoted article was written in support of Salvini and as an accusation against the leading Catholic figures mentioned therein, it is interesting that something seems to be developing in Italy which may remind us of the long-lasting quarrel between the Catholic Church and Mussolini whose sincere dedication to the Catholic faith was also [correctly] questioned on numerous occasions.

Sebastian Kurz Gay?

Haaretz wrote on May 18:

“As for [former Austrian Vice-Chancellor] Strache’s claims in the leaked video that Sebastian Kurz is gay and partakes in sex orgies, the chancellor refused to comment, adding that such matters are unimportant.”

Kurz is described as a “practicing Catholic.” He is living together with his girlfriend, without being married. Still, there have been rumors about Kurz’s alleged homosexuality for quite some time. “Heute” wrote on November 13, 2018, that a local branch of the opposition party, the SPÖ, suggested on Facebook that Kurz might be gay. Strache’s party, the FPÖ, has been strongly opposed to gay marriages, which Kurz has been supporting. Same-sex marriage in Austria has been legal since 1 January 2019, following a decision of the Constitutional Court on 4 December 2017. Austria’s interim chancellor, Brigitte Bierlein, has been the Vice-President of the Constitutional Court since 2003, and the sitting President since 2018. Note our new StandingWatch program: “Is Austria’s Sebastian Kurz gay… and Would it Matter?”

Abortion Essential to Be Successful in Business?

Breitbart wrote on June 10:

“The top executives of more than 180 companies have signed a letter that says abortion is essential in order for people to be successful in their businesses… ‘Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health, independence and economic stability of our employees and customers,’ they said, adding: ‘Simply put, it goes against our values and is bad for business. It impairs our ability to build diverse and inclusive workforce pipelines, recruit top talent across the states, and protect the well-being of all the people who keep our businesses thriving day in and out.’

“The letter appeared as a full-page ad in the New York Times Monday… The abortion lobby, led by Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and the ACLU formed the coalition of business executives as more states are passing restrictions on abortion.”

This is just abominable.

Pope Changes Bible?—Not too Fast!

The Daily Mail wrote on June 6:

“Pope Francis has changed the Lord’s Prayer after criticising the English translation for implying that God – not Satan – leads people into temptation. Francis approved an alteration [of] the line ‘lead us not into temptation’ which now reads ‘do not let us fall into temptation’, which is closer to the French translation…

“Francis also approved changes to The Gloria from ‘Peace on earth to people of good will’ to ‘Peace on Earth to people beloved by God.’”

Actually, both “changes” convey more accurately, to an extent, the intended meaning of these verses.

Vatican Sets the Record Straight on Gender Theory

Reuters reported in June 10:

“The Vatican condemned gender theory on Monday as part of a ‘confused concept of freedom’, saying in a new document that the idea of gender being determined by personal feeling rather than biology was an attempt to ‘annihilate nature’. LGBT rights advocates denounced the 30-page document, called ‘Male and Female He Created Them’, as harmful and confusing, saying it would encourage hatred and bigotry.

“The document, the Vatican’s first on gender theory, was written by the Congregation for Catholic Education as an ‘instruction’ to Catholic educators on how to address the topic of gender theory in line with Church teaching…

“[The Vatican’s booklet] says gender theories are ‘often founded on nothing more than a confused concept of freedom in the realm of feelings and wants, or momentary desires provoked by emotional impulses and the will of the individual, as opposed to anything based on the truths of existence’… While the document is not signed by Pope Francis, it several times quotes from his speeches and teachings and those of previous popes…”

We agree with the Vatican on this issue and its evaluation of the matter. However, note the next article.

God Gender-Neutral?

Daily Mail Australia wrote on June 2:

“Catholic schoolgirls are being taught that God is gender-neutral and banned from using the words ‘Lord’, ‘Father’ and ‘Son’ in prayers… Top schools including All Hallows, Stuartholme, Loreto College and Stuartholme School are leading a push towards a feminist interpretation of the Christian Bible…

“’As we believe God is neither male or female, Stuartholme tries to use gender-neutral terms in prayers … so that our community deepens their understanding of who God is for them, how God reveals Godself through creation, our relationships with others and the person of Jesus,’ a spokeswoman told The Sunday Mail.

“Loreto College in Coorparoo has taken the word ‘Lord’ from their prayers as it is a ‘male term’… the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference did suggest schools use gender-neutral terms where appropriate…”

What a horrible blasphemous travesty!

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

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

The second commandment describes a prohibition against idolatry. In Exodus 20:4-5, God presents the instruction to Moses, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.’”

Since God presented this commandment in an explicit way following the Exodus of Israel out of Egypt, does it mean that it began to take effect at that moment? Or was the commandment in effect before that time? The answer to the question of its existence prior to the proclamation of the Ten Commandments is clearly affirmative, as shown by the evidence in the Bible.

Before beginning to cite evidence for the existence of the commandment against idolatry, it is important to clarify the scope of what it means. There is a clear admonition against creating anything that is a physical representation of the true God, or other false gods. It includes the prohibition of using idols in the purported worship of the true God. The creation and use of the golden calf, the cross or the Christmas tree in the “worship” of God are prime examples of this kind of “syncretism”—mixing true worship with pagan elements. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Don’t Keep Christmas.” In addition, we might think today of pictures purportedly representing the Father or Jesus Christ. To create such pictures is clearly in violation of the second commandment. Also, the creation and worship of statues allegedly representing dead “saints” or the “Virgin Mary” break the second commandment as well.

However, the notion of idolatry expands beyond the narrow concept of prohibiting physical representations. An important aspect of the second commandment also involves worship and the way things are served. For example, if any material possession consumes our attention, such that it becomes more important to us than our relationship with God, it is a form of idolatry. An idol doesn’t need to be a physical object either. If we have a habit or activity in our lives that diminishes the importance of God in our lives and we choose to dedicate ourselves to something else, it is a form of idolatry. For example, a hobby or a job can become an idol if it becomes more important in our lives than God. A person can become an idol as well, if serving him or her gets in the way of serving God. Clearly, this commandment goes further in its application than what it seems on the surface.

Quoting from a recent Q&A, we provide an explanation that covetousness is also a form of idolatry:

“The apostle Paul tells us that we are to put to death covetousness which is idolatry (Colossians 3:5). Therefore, the tenth commandment is linked to the second commandment. If we covet anything belonging to another person, we are making an idol of what we covet. This would include our neighbor’s spouse, car, house, job, holiday, etc. We would be coveting something that God says is not ours to have because it is someone else’s possession.

“From this we see that an idol is not just a religious symbol or image, but it can be any object, person or animal or even profession for which we have a wrong desire. In fact, anything we put before God basically becomes our idol.”

In the same Q&A, we explain how we can have idols in our minds:

“[I]dols can relate to physical objects and the desire for the possessions of others, but they can also include the belief in things like charms, divination or astrology. They can even pertain to our reliance on our own self-righteousness and integrity. As we read in Ezekiel 14:3-4, idols can indeed be in our minds. And any idol, whether an object or a wrong thought pattern or concept, can lead us away from obeying God and can cloud our understanding as to what and who He is.”

Knowing how to identify idolatry allows us to detect evidence for the fact that it has always been a sin, and a violation of God’s eternal, spiritual law. Idols can take the shape of physical representations of gods, as well as any other object, person, activity, or idea that turn us away from God. The examples in the Bible primarily focus on physical representations of other gods used in false worship as well as their use in the proposed worship of the true God, but as we will see, a broad sense of idolatry is also expressed.

A key Scripture providing evidence that the commandment against idolatry was in effect prior to the reception of the ten commandments can be found when God instructs Jacob to go to Bethel and build an altar to God (Genesis 35:1). In response to this instruction, Jacob hides the idols that he knows are among his people. “And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, ‘Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.’ So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem”(Genesis 35:2-4). Not only does this show that idols for foreign gods existed at that time, but it also shows that Jacob knew they were wrong to possess to be used for the worship of false gods or even the true God.

Since Jacob knew that he would go to Bethel to build an altar to God and dwell there, it is apparent that he also knew that it was time to remove the idols that were present in his camp. It is therefore clear that idol worship was understood as being wrong, giving us evidence that the second commandment was in effect before it was presented to Moses.

The Bible expresses another example of the presence of idolatry prior to the presentation of the Ten Commandments and the fact that it was always a violation of God’s commandment when Joshua confronts the same problem and provides the historical context and condemnation of idol worship in describing the behavior of Abraham’s ancestors. “And Joshua said to all the people, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: “Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods”’” (Joshua 24:2).

This shows that other gods were served in a way that expresses wrongdoing. Joshua goes on to describe the ways in which they served other gods. “‘Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD!’” (Joshua 24:14). The ancestors of Israel, going back before Abraham and including ancestors in Egypt, served other gods with idols. This behavior of the ancestors is condemned because it was wrong then, just as it was at Joshua’s time. The reference to the kinds of idols served is not explicit in its description, but as we understand, an idol can be anything that is served in a way that takes away from the true worship of God.

We see an additional historic reference to the violation of the commandment against idolatry when Ezekiel describes the context of preparing to bring Israel out of Egypt. “‘Say to them, “Thus says the LORD God: ‘On the day when I chose Israel and raised My hand in an oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I raised My hand in an oath to them, saying, “I am the LORD your God.”   On that day I raised My hand in an oath to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, “flowing with milk and honey,” the glory of all lands. Then I said to them, “Each of you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God”’”’” (Ezekiel 20:5-7). From here we see that there was idol worship in Egypt and among the Israelites before the Exodus, and before God presented the Ten Commandments to Moses. The clear instruction is to remove their idols, which God declares as abominations, at the time when God revealed His intentions. God expected the Israelites to clean up their act by ceasing to serve idols, especially those made for other gods and even the true God, and not to use them in worship of false gods or the purported worship of the true God.

The spiritual law of God against idol worship was clearly in effect prior to the time when God presented the Ten Commandments to Moses. Idolatry was a problem since the very early history of mankind, and it was always considered to be sinful, as the evidence in the Bible clearly shows.

Lead Writer: Eric Rank

compiled by Dave Harris

“Is Austria’s Sebastian Kurz gay… and Would it Matter?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

There have been rumors for quite a while about the alleged homosexuality of Austria’s former and future Chancellor, but the press basically avoids talking about them. However, would there exist any prophetic biblical significance in that regard?

“Ist Sebastian Kurz schwul… und wäre das wichtig?” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program. Presented in German by Norbert Link, this program covers the same topic as the one described above.

“Unsere vorherbestimmte Berufung zum Heil,” is the title of this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “Our Preordained Calling to Salvation.”

“Erntezeit,” is the title of the posted Offertory presented on Pentecost in Germany by Jens Herrmann. Title in English: “Harvest Time.”

“God’s Grief,” is the title of the posted Offertory presented by Thilo Hanstein on Pentecost during afternoon services. Here is a summary:

We often read in the Bible that God is very angry at man’s behavior and that He will soon pour out His anger. But is God’s wrath all there is to it? What do the prophets and Jesus Christ say about God’s feelings? You may be surprised to hear about God’s grief for man’s apostasy.

“What Exactly Is the Holy Spirit?” is title of the posted sermon presented by Norbert Link on Pentecost during afternoon services. Here is a summary:

Is the Holy Spirit an independent Personality or Person, or does it at least exist in some way as a conscious entity which is separate from the Father and the Son? If not, how are we to understand biblical Scriptures which seem to indicate that the Holy Spirit speaks or acts; and that this happens independently of God the Father and Jesus Christ? Upon closer examination, we will see that those passages, as well as the entire teachings of the Bible, convey something completely different from what is commonly assumed.

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“What Is the Church?” is the title of the posted sermon presented by Dave Harris on Pentecost during morning services. Here is a summary:

We hear it often, people talk about going to church, but is that really what church is all about? As shocking as it may sound, there is a great and marvelous purpose for the Church of God, and the Bible reveals that this is the ongoing work of Jesus Christ.

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

Boldness is a Christian attitude that is talked about as being something we need to use. We have to make sure that our actions are correct and that our boldness comes from Christ.

“Fruits to be Desired,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Michael Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Fruit has many advantages and benefits to our health and there are many different varieties of fruit with their own unique qualities. There are vital steps necessary for their growth which ultimately make them desirable. In the same respect, how can we apply these steps in our spiritual lives which are essential for our eternal salvation?