This Week In The News
Current Events
We address powers given to ICE; Trump’s goal of denaturalizing US citizens; further American attacks on boats in the Caribbean; and the conclusion that Epstein was murdered. We also speak on Trump’s ongoing desire to occupy Greenland.
We discuss events during the Security Conference in Munich and focus in particular on speeches by Friedrich Merz and Marco Rubio; and address developments pertaining to Iran and Ukraine.
We also discuss the murder of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Please see our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Merz’s and Rubio’s Historic Speeches in Munich…Really?”
Throughout this section, we have underlined pertinent statements in the quoted articles, for the convenience and quick overview of the reader.
Editorial
Is Our Christianity a Preference or a Conviction?
Those of us who were members of the Worldwide Church of God went through quite a difficult time when, after Mr. Armstrong’s death, the new leadership started to change many, if not most, of the doctrines we were familiar with and had believed as being God’s Truth.
Many of the brethren and our friends accepted the changes and discarded what they appeared to have believed for many years. Could it be that their religious beliefs were preferences rather than convictions? When changes in doctrines were made that suited them better, things like no need to tithe or keep God’s Sabbath, or even clean and unclean foods, they preferred these new doctrines rather than the previous ones.
I was amazed how quickly some who appeared to be strong members welcomed the changes.
There is a vast difference between preferences and convictions. And to show that, I would like to quote from a U.S. Supreme Court decision from 1972. The case was named Wisconsin versus Yoder. It involved three families, their fathers being Jonas Yoder and Wallace Miller of the Old Order Amish religion and Adin Yutzy of the Conservative Amish Mennonite Church. It concerned the question of whether the state had the right to force children of the Amish religious community to attend school between the ages of 15 and 16.
Continue reading "Is Our Christianity a Preference or a Conviction?"Q&A
Would you please explain in detail Paul’s three missionary journeys? (Part 2)
In the first part of this new series, we discussed the apostle Paul’s first missionary journey which is described in Acts 13 and Acts 14. We saw that he was accompanied, at times, by John Mark and Barnabas. They traveled to Syria, Cyprus and Southern Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Their return to Antioch was described in Acts 14:26-28:
In this second part, we will begin to discuss Paul’s second missionary journey which would last for about three years. The preparation for this trip is reported in Acts 15:36-41.
“Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.’ Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.”
Continue reading "Would you please explain in detail Paul’s three missionary journeys? (Part 2)"