Update 842

On August 25, 2018, Frank Bruno will present, “Trust in the Trials,” and Dave Harris will present the sermon, titled, “WHAT (Not Who) is the Holy Spirit?”

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.

We read in Matthew 10:22, after listing a number of warnings of trials: “… But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

Endurance is a very important concept for us living God’s Way. In fact, it is essential. At first thought, endurance may be considered similar to perseverance and yet God gives greater emphasis to endurance than He does to perseverance. In the Bible, perseverance or persevere occurs about 9 times while endure or enduring occurs over 30 times, not counting the over 45 occurrences in italics. When we look at endurance, it certainly includes the element of perseverance but it entails much more.

A definition of perseverance is to continue on, even though there may be difficulties and failures on the way, whereas endurance is more like surviving pain or hardship or opposition.

Matthew 24:9-13 is a very important message for the end-time Church, although it has applied during much of the history of the Church. It shows the importance of enduring:

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended…” Some versions have “fall away” in place of “be offended.” According to Ellicot’s commentary, the reference to “the many” points primarily to “believers in Christ” who found a stumbling block which caused them to be offended. Continuing: “… betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love [agape or godly love that true Christians have] of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”

This passage shows that we may have to endure trials such as tribulation, killing, hatred, deception, offences, betrayal and lawlessness. But it ends on a very positive theme, an absolute promise from God who cannot lie, that the person who endures to the end through all of this shall be saved. “Shall,” in contractual terms, means: It is mandatory, it must happen.

Let us focus on our example, Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 12:2 we read, “… looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

When we look at His life, we find that it required great endurance. His life was threatened a number of times, even from when He was a young child. He had to fight the temptations of Satan. He was accused of blasphemy and even called illegitimate. He was accused of casting out demons by Beelzebub. He went through an illegal trial whose guilty outcome was already predetermined. And to top it off, He was beaten and executed in a manner usually applied to the worst criminals. In those days, it was a shameful thing to be crucified.

So why did He do it? Why did He come to earth and take the form of a human, knowing all this was prophesied to happen to Him? As we just read, it was for the joy that was set before Him. The joy of making possible that many brethren would join the God Family. He and His Father knew that this was the only way possible, and the outcome was so wonderful that no trial was too much for Him to achieve this outcome.

So how does this apply to us? We also have to endure many trials in life. But the outcome is stated in Psalm 16:11: “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures evermore.” There is a wonderful life set out before us if we endure. Nothing could be more worthwhile.

God certainly offers us help and He gives us a promise in Romans 8:38-39: “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We have God’s promise of help. We read what the apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” We can also have faith in God who shows no partiality, that we can endure to the end through Christ who strengthens us.

by Norbert Link

We begin with another report clearly establishing the biblically prophesied FACT that a third temple WILL BE BUILT prior to Christ’s return, even though some who are ill-informed and willfully ignorant deny the Truth on the matter; continue with a warning from military experts that the next war will be more devastating than anything that man has experienced before; and address President Trump’s REALLY bad day (August 21) and Turkey’s present and future relationship with the USA and with Europe, especially Germany.

We continue with a meeting between Merkel and Putin and the announcement that Germany has the biggest account surplus in the world, while the USA has the largest trade deficit, which angers President Trump to no end. We are also quoting from a controversial “anti-American” opinion piece by Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas.

We address the deportation of a 95-year old “war criminal” from the USA to Germany, which is highly controversial, as the person is not German and as the evidence of a war crime is insufficient. We also report on Hungary’s inhumane policy towards asylum seekers.

We speak on this year’s huge pilgrimage of Muslims to Mecca and point out the South African government’s policy of stealing land from white farmers; and we address one possible cause for autism; the propaganda and scandals pertaining to vaccinations; the danger of e-cigarettes; the scientific fear of the “Big One” striking California very soon(please view our new StandingWatch program, “Is California’s Big Earthquake About to Strike?”); and further attacks of American banks on their customers.

We conclude with the Catholic Church’s scandal pertaining to sexual abuse of children by priests, wondering whether these atrocities will ever stop due to the “culture” and “power structure” of that organization with its “villains and cowards.”

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

Getting Ready for the Third Temple!

Breaking Israel News wrote on August 19:

“In the Bible, the Temple Mount is considered a place of prayer for all nations and is commonly understood to be a holy place for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. In Isaiah 56, it is written that, ‘foreigners Who attach themselves to Hashem’ will be brought to his sacred mount to rejoice in his house of prayer: ‘I will bring them to My sacred mount And let them rejoice in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices Shall be welcome on My mizbayach; For My House shall be called A house of prayer for all peoples’ (Isaiah 56:7).

“However, warn Jewish activists, politicians and rabbis, this Biblical aspiration is not being fulfilled today as prayer on the Temple Mount is restricted for those who are not Muslim. ‘The status quo presently and officially is that Jews and Christians are not allowed to pray on the Temple Mount,’ Member of Knesset Rabbi Yehuda Glick told Breaking Israel News… In 1967, despite thousands of years of yearning for Jewish sovereignty over Judaism’s holiest sites, Moshe Dayan, then Israeli defense minister, relinquished control of the Temple Mount to the Waqf [the Jordanian Waqf is an Islamic religious endowment]…

“Glick called the 1967 Temple Mount relinquishment a naïve move, in which Israel incorrectly believed that relinquishing control of a site holy to Muslims as well as Jews and Christians would create a lasting peace between Israel and her Arab neighbors. Joshua Wander, an independent public relations consultant in and around the Old City of Jerusalem, similarly called this event ‘one of the greatest tragedies in Jewish history,’ equal to the sin of the golden calf...

“While the Temple Mount is managed by the Waqf, the Israeli government sets entry limits because of political constraints and security. When entering the Temple Mount, there is also a warning sign by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel that announces, ‘According to Torah Law, entering the Temple Mount area is strictly forbidden due to the holiness of the site.’ But according to Wander, this sign is out of date. After 1967 when Israel reunited Jerusalem and received access to the Temple Mount, Jews began flocking there, unaware of the conditions upon which one is allowed to go up according to Jewish law.

“… Now it is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s obligation to open the site for Jewish prayer, as per Israeli law, maintained Wander. ‘Israeli basic law provides for freedom of worship and anybody has the right to pray freely in this country,’ he said, calling Jewish restriction from prayer at their holiest site in their own country ‘absurd, clear discrimination and completely unacceptable.’…

“Wander said that aspirations should go even farther: The Jews should start building the Third Temple on the Temple Mount. ‘It is the goal of the Jewish nation to come back to the land and resurrect what we once had as a nation, including rebuilding the temple,’ he said. Historically, the Temple has acted as a lightning rod to God and a physical home in this world for Jews and non-Jews to spread blessings throughout the world, such as during Sukkot, when it was common for non-Jews to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and bring sacrifices from the four corners of the earth. ‘Although there are different laws about service and sacrifice, the Temple is equally important for Jews and non-Jews,’ Wander said.

“Ahead of the Jewish high holidays this year, ‘we are on the way to building the Temple by praying for it three times a day for the last 2,000 years, reclaiming Jerusalem in 1967 and learning all the appropriate laws regarding the Temple Mount since then,’ he added, also citing reenactments of Temple services and sacrifices to bring awareness to the centrality of the Temple. While years in exile has decreased awareness of the centrality of the land of Israel, Jerusalem and the Temple for many Jews, ‘it is a divine movement and anyone who tries to stand in its way will not be successful,’ said Wander.

“According to Wander, the political environment is ripe for it as well, as ‘Trump has given us a window of opportunity’ of which he hopes the government will take advantage… [Rabbi Pinchas] Winston urged ‘righteous gentiles’ to continue investing in the State of Israel both spiritually and financially. Without a Temple, he explained, non-Jews cannot send sacrifices as they did in the past, but by taking part in bringing geula, they have an opportunity to bring back Temple times…”

Breaking Israel News reported on August 21:

“The Temple of Solomon was filled with the music of 4,000 harps and a remarkable couple [named Harrari] have been on a lifelong journey to return that music in time for the Third Temple…They recently released a video depicting the long-awaited fulfillment of the Psalm [Psalm 33:2]; a Jewish child returning to Israel removing a harp from a willow where her forefathers had hung it upon going out into exile…

“The only harps they were familiar with were the type used to play classical music. They learned that archaeologists had discovered cave drawings of a harp in Megiddo. The drawings were believed to be 3,000 years old, meaning the Megiddo lyre would have been the instrument young David played to soothe a troubled King Saul…

“The first harp took a long time to come together, spending months looking more like scrap wood in their living room than a potential musical instrument worthy to grace the Temple. A random meeting in 1984 with a writer from The Jerusalem Post resulted in an article on the Harrari’s David harp project. The article generated unexpected interest and the Harp Project was begun. As a result of the article, they were contacted by Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, founder of the Temple Institute. ‘He told us that one day there would be a Temple and there would need to be harps ready for the Temple service’…

“Rabbi Ariel immediately commissioned a harp for the Temple Institute with the intention that it would be used in the Third Temple. More research revealed that the Temple had both nevel (harp) and kinor (lyre). As donations came in, the Temple Institute commissioned more harps from the [couple]… [They] decided to create a video depicting the role of David’s harp in geula inspired by Psalms. Apparently, interest in the Temple harp is strong since more than 30,000 people have watched the video… The Temple Harp Project is an ongoing non-profit endeavor to create harps and lyres for the Third Temple.”

The Bible shows that the Jews will begin bringing animal sacrifices before Christ’s return. It is true that under Ezra, sacrifices were being given before the Second Temple was built, BUT those sacrifices commenced with the clear understanding that the Second Temple would be built. In spite of overwhelming biblical proof to the contrary, some still deny the FACT that a third temple will be built prior to Christ’s return. Such stubborn refusal in accepting the biblical prophecies is hard to understand; especially when they insist at the same time in the totally unbiblical concept of a seven-year contract involving the “beast”, which will allegedly be broken after 3 1/2 years, signalizing—so they claim–the beginning of the “Great Tribulation.”

 As the Bible does NOT teach such a seven-year contract, the Great Tribulation will overtake proponents of this idea as a thief in the night—they will not even know or realize when the Great Tribulation will begin. There are additional wrong ideas which those proponents proclaim, as one wrong teaching leads to the next. For more information, please view our new broadcast, “Comments on News and Prophecy (August 18, 2018).” Please also view “Netanyahu’s Announcement of a Third Temple?” and “Ancient and Modern Beliefs in the Third Temple” 

The Next War More Devastating Than Anything Before!

The Telegraph wrote on August 20:

“General Stephen Townsend, the head of the US Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, told British military leaders at the annual Kermit Roosevelt lecture in London, that combat in an increasingly urbanised world will result in a ‘scale of devastation beyond our comprehension’… Modern armies have no idea how to fight in these ‘hyper populated [and] literally unboundable’ areas, Gen Townsend told the audience…

“General Townsend, who commanded the coalition effort to defeat Isil from 2016 to March this year, likened the fight to liberate Mosul to Stalingrad, the bloodiest battle of the Second World War. A coalition force of 90,000 soldiers took nine months to finally defeat the 5,000 Isil fighters in Mosul. It took seven days to clear the last pockets of resistance, contained in an area about the size of a premier league football pitch.

“… Gen Townsend questioned whether Western armies had maintained the skills and the stomach for such a fight. ‘Battles are won by young soldiers fighting in sand, mud, heat and cold,’ he said. Hi-tech weapons are largely useless in such battles, Gen Townsend cautioned.

“Ben Barry, Senior Fellow for Land Warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, cautions…[that] Training for such environments is critical, and in this regard the UK has fallen behind… He points to the urban training facilities in Israel, France and Germany as being far superior to the British mock-up town on Salisbury Plain. He says senior army officers are well aware of the relative limitation of the British training facilities…”

This might be one reason for a coming all-encompassing quick NUCLEAR war.

BAD Day for Trump: Manafort Guilty! Cohen: I am Guilty! Trump: Nothing to Do With Me!

The Week wrote on August 21:

“President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty Tuesday to eight counts of financial crimes… he admitted to violating campaign finance laws. The charges include five counts of tax evasion and one count of making an ‘excessive campaign contribution.’ Two of the charges relate to payments Cohen made to two women who alleged they had affairs with Trump, in exchange for their silence. Cohen, detailing the crimes he was pleading to, said he’d made the payments ‘in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office’ for the ‘purpose of influencing the election.’ He faces up to five years in prison…

“President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty of eight counts of financial fraud Tuesday. The judge declared a mistrial on 10 of the counts in the bank and tax fraud trial, as jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on those charges. NBC News reports that Manafort was found guilty on one count of failing to file a foreign bank account, two counts of bank fraud, and five counts of tax evasion. Manafort, 69, faces 240 years in prison for the felony charges, reports CNN, most of which stem from work Manafort did abroad before joining Trump’s campaign. The remaining 10 counts can be retried at a later date.”

Breitbart reported on August 22:

“President Donald Trump reacted Wednesday to the news that his former lawyer Michael Cohen betrayed him in a legal case. ‘If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!’ Trump wrote on Twitter…

“On Tuesday, Cohen pleaded guilty to bank fraud and income tax evasion and campaign finance fraud, claiming that Trump directed him to pay off two women who claimed to have an affair with Trump before he ran for president. The news thrilled Democrats looking for criminal cause to impeach the president.

“Trump also reacted to the news that his one-time campaign manager Paul Manafort was found guilty for crimes committed before he worked for the campaign. ‘I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family,’ Trump wrote, pointing out that prosecutors took a 12-year-old tax case to pressure him into a plea deal, but that Manafort did not ‘break.’ ‘Such respect for a brave man!’ he added, calling the Russia investigation by Robert Mueller a ‘witch hunt.’”

We are confident that Trump will NOT be impeached. Some scholars even state that impeachment is not possible of a President who may be accused of crimes committed before becoming President.

Turkey and the USA

Reuters wrote on August 20:

“President Tayyip Erdogan appealed to Turks’ religious and patriotic feelings… promising they would not be brought ‘to their knees’ by an economic crisis that has battered the lira currency. The lira… has tumbled some 40 percent this year, hit by worries about Erdogan’s influence over monetary policy and a worsening diplomatic rift with the United States…

“Highlighting the increased tensions, the U.S. embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara came under brief gunfire early on Monday by unknown assailants… the recent tension has centered around a U.S. evangelical Christian pastor, Andrew Brunson, who has been detained in Turkey on terrorism charges, which he denies… On Friday, a Turkish court rejected Brunson’s appeal for release, drawing a stiff rebuke from President Donald Trump…

“The U.S. Embassy in Ankara and the consulate in Istanbul have in the past been the targets of attacks by militants and have faced numerous security threats…”

The relationship between Turkey and the USA is prophesied to deteriorate continuously.

Turkey and Germany

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 20:

“Turkey cannot afford to have multiple battle fronts.  US sanctions and tariffs and a political dispute with Washington… is forcing Ankara to cultivate better relations with Europe… Turkey is willing to normalize relations with Germany and the European Union… However, Erdogan could also turn to Russia or China, and Qatar is yet another option…

“Turkey has NATO’s second-largest military based on number of personnel. It is also strategically important…

“Additionally, Turkey is a buffer between Europe and the Middle East, and an unstable Turkey could unleash a new migration flow… And finally, Turkey’s economic ties with Germany are substantial. More than 7,000 German firms operate in Turkey, making it in both countries’ interest to keep German investment from fleeing the country…

“Erdogan’s upcoming state visit in Berlin could be an important step in improving German-Turkish relations —and bringing Turkey closer to Europe, if the cards are played right.”

Carnegie Europe added on August 21:

“Diplomacy is not one of U.S. President Donald Trump’s strong suits. Rather, it is his use of sanctions, believing that they can change a leader’s behavior… But for Europe, especially for Germany, the sanctions are… the worst possible way to deal with a leading NATO ally…

“Reacting to the rapid deterioration of the Turkish economy and the stand-off between Washington and Ankara, German politicians (not Merkel) said both Berlin and the European Union must not isolate Turkey…

“Perhaps the American sanctions could provide the Europeans with a chance, over time, to get Turkey back on the European track…”

Turkey will indeed become a close ally to Europe… in opposition to the USA and the state of Israel.

Merkel and Putin Meet

Handelsblatt Global wrote on August 20:

“Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel… have a contentious relationship but the meeting was framed by the duo’s even more fraught relation with that wild-haired leader of the US, which made their meeting seem normal and good news. Mr. Putin flew in fresh from the wedding of the Austrian foreign minister and was set to address Ukraine, Syria, and natural gas with Merkel.

“On Saturday night, the leaders committed to work on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and expressed concern about Syria… Though Mr. Trump criticized the pipeline as increasing Germany’s energy dependence on Russia, and advised Berlin to buy (his) LNG instead, that’s an expensive option. Berlin will beef up its terminals to be able to import liquid natural gas from the United States but in the meantime, Nord Stream 2 will increase Europe’s energy security, given the ongoing tensions in the Middle East.

“But there are major differences between Merkel and Putin, from Russia’s failure to withdraw from Ukraine to Moscow’s continuing support for Syria’s Assad. No amount of waltzing at weddings or Cossack choirs can distract us from the fact that Moscow causes more problems than Mr. Putin pretends to resolve.”

The relationship between Germany and Russia will never become friendly or harmonious, but their common desire to stand up to President Trump needs to be noticed.

Germany with Biggest Account Surplus in the World

The Local wrote on August 20:

“According to the Institute of Economic Research (IfO), Germany will have the biggest account surplus in the world for the third successive year in 2018…

“Germany’s trade surplus will lie at around $299 billion this year, miles ahead of Japan, the Netherlands and China… That is mostly [due] to an enormous import-export imbalance when it comes to goods… Germany is set to export around $265 million worth more of goods than it will import in 2018… the country with the largest trade deficit in 2018 was set to be the USA.

“Germany’s famously export-heavy economy has come under fire in recent years from US president Donald Trump, who has called the trade surplus ‘very, very bad’, and has threatened Germany with high import tariffs on cars. Those plans were put on hold after Trump’s meeting with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker earlier this summer, but the US president is not the only one who has taken issue with Germany’s trade surplus.

“The European Commission itself has repeatedly warned Germany against relying on exports… With the surplus now at 7.8 percent, Germany remains under heavy criticism, including from the IfO itself…”

Could jealousy and greed play a part in those who criticize Germany for their account surplus, as they are not as successful as the Germans?

“Making Plans for a New World Order”

On August 22, Handelsblatt Global published the following opinion piece by Heiko Maas, Germany’s foreign minister:

“The fact that the Atlantic has widened politically is by no means solely due to Donald Trump. The US and Europe have been drifting apart for years… The binding force of the East-West conflict is history…

“Let’s use the idea of a balanced partnership as a blueprint, where… we form a counterweight when the US crosses the line. Where we put our weight when America retreats… The outstanding aim of our foreign policy is to build a sovereign, strong Europe… ‘Europe United’ means this: We act with sovereignty at those points where nation-states alone cannot muster the level of power a united Europe can…

“Now it is important to build a European security and defense union… as a separate European project for the future… it is of strategic importance that we make it clear to Washington that… we will not allow you to go over our heads, and at our expense… It is therefore essential that we strengthen European autonomy by establishing payment channels independent of the US, a European monetary fund and an independent SWIFT [payments] system…

“We are striving for a multilateral alliance, a network of partners who, like us, are committed to sticking to the rules and to fair competition. I have made my first appointments with Japan, Canada and South Korea; more are to follow…

“Starting in October, we will be hosting a ‘German Year in the US’ for the first time ever. Not to celebrate the German-American friendship as nostalgia but to enable encounters that make people feel that we are moved to ask similar questions… A young US soldier used an unobserved moment to whisper to me: ‘Please, don’t abandon America.’ An American soldier was asking a German politician not to let America down…”

Subsequently, Handelsblatt Global wrote:

“An opinion piece by German foreign minister Heiko Maas… has drawn criticism as being ‘too anti-American’ from other politicians. Chancellor Angela Merkel said the editorial was Mr. Maas’ opinion and not government policy.”

But was it? Was it really?

USA “Deports” 95-Year-old “War Criminal” to Germany

The Associated Press wrote on August 21:

“The last Nazi war crimes suspect facing deportation from the U.S. was taken from his New York City home and spirited early Tuesday morning to Germany, following years of efforts to remove him from the United States. The deportation of the 95-year-old former Nazi camp guard, Jakiw Palij, came 25 years after investigators first confronted him about his World War II past and he admitted lying to get into the U.S., claiming he spent the war as a farmer and factory worker.

“Palij lived quietly in the U.S. for years, as a draftsman and then as a retiree… A judge stripped Palij’s citizenship in 2003 for ‘participation in acts against Jewish civilians’ while an armed guard at the Trawniki camp in Nazi-occupied Poland and was ordered deported a year later.

“But because Germany, Poland, Ukraine, and other countries refused to take him, he continued living in limbo in the two-story, red brick home in Queens he shared with his wife, Maria, now 86…

“Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador… told reporters that there were ‘difficult conversations’ because Palij is not a German citizen and was stateless after losing his U.S. citizenship, but ‘the moral obligation’ of taking in ‘someone who served in the name of the German government was accepted.’”

That rationale is unheard of and dubious at best. Note the next section of articles.

War Crime Evidence Not Sufficient

JTA wrote on August 21:

“A statement released by the White House after Palij landed in Germany early Tuesday commended President Donald Trump and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for ‘removing this war criminal from United States soil.’”

However, that assessment is far from clear.

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 21:

“The 95-year-old Palij arrived in a military airplane at Düsseldorf Airport on Tuesday morning. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) newspaper reported that he was taken by ambulance to a nursing home in the Münsterland region [which is in the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia which will also pay for his living expenses.]

“According to the FAZ, the German Interior Ministry issued an order to allow Palij’s entry based on a special dispensation of its residency law allowing a foreign national to enter the country ‘to preserve the political interests of the Federal Republic of Germany’ or for ‘international legal reasons.’ But what happens to Palij now remains far from clear. Jens Rommel, the German state prosecutor… told DW that the case against Palij was not strong.

“There is no evidence that Palij had served anywhere other than Trawniki, and it is, according to Rommel, impossible to establish a case against him without fresh evidence. The German state’s own investigations into Pajiv were halted in 2016 for lack of evidence. ‘We need a connection between the service and the actions of the individual in question and murder itself,’ Rommel said. ‘If we knew that he was in a certain company which had rounded up prisoners or shot prisoners, that would be enough – but we don’t have that evidence’…”

It appears the “deportation” by the US was more like a political move than anything else. Germany’s voluntary willingness to accept Palij because of moral grounds, without sufficient evidence for prosecution, is more than strange and is bound to backfire.

How Hungary Starves Asylum Seekers

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 22:

“Human Rights Watch on Wednesday became the latest group to accuse Hungarian authorities of violating basic international asylum standards and human decency by using hunger as an anti-immigration tactic. ‘The government has stooped to a new inhumane low by refusing food to people in their custody, apparently reveling in breaching human rights law, including its obligations as a European Union member,’ said Lydia Gall, Eastern EU and Balkans researcher at Human Rights Watch. ‘This disregard for people’s well-being smacks of a cynical move to force people to give up their asylum claims and leave Hungary.’

“The move to use starvation as a bludgeon against asylum-seekers was implemented in mid-August… The hunger policy aims to force rejected asylum-seekers moved to transit camps to voluntarily return to Serbia or travel to another ‘third country.’

“… the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)  this month ordered Hungarian authorities to resume feeding asylum-seekers in five cases. Andras Lederer, an advocacy officer with the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, told DW: … ‘the Immigration and Asylum Office only does so after each individual applied to the court and the court made such a decision’…”

This is indeed inhumane and terrible. Shame on those who are responsible.

Stoning the Devil

The Algemeiner and Reuters wrote on August 21:

“More than two million Muslim pilgrims hurled pebbles at a giant wall in a symbolic stoning of the devil on Tuesday, the start of the riskiest part of the annual haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia where hundreds [maybe thousands, many of them Iranians] died in a crush three years ago… The kingdom stakes its reputation on its guardianship of Islam’s holiest sites — Mecca and Medina — and organizing the world’s largest annual Muslim gathering…

“Some 86,000 Iranians are attending this year amid a diplomatic rift between Tehran and Riyadh, which are locked in a struggle for regional supremacy…

“More than 2.37 million pilgrims, most of them from abroad, have arrived this year for the five-day ritual, a religious duty once in a lifetime for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford the journey…

“Saudi authorities have urged pilgrims to set aside politics during the haj but violence in the Middle East, including wars in Syria, Yemen and Libya — and other global hotspots — remain on the minds of many…

“Pilgrimage is also the backbone of a Saudi plan to expand tourism under a drive to diversify the economy away from oil. The haj and year-round umrah generate billions of dollars in revenue from worshippers’ lodging, transport, fees, and gifts…”

Saudis and Iranians are also religiously divided in that they follow two different concepts of their understanding of the Koran and its interpretations. Most Saudis adhere to the Sunni faith, whereas most Iranians follow the Shiite faith. But they are united in their desire to stone the devil and participate in the pilgrimage, as well as in certain economic endeavors related to the haj.

South Africa—Stealing Land from White Farmers

Newsmax wrote on August 20:

“The South African government has started the controversial process of seizing farms owned by white people after talks with the owners to buy the properties collapsed… The South African… National Congress announced in late July it would push ahead with plans to amend the constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation…

“Two game farmers in Limpopo province are being targeted for seizure… after the owners wouldn’t agree to one-tenth of their asking price. The owners obtained an injunction to hold off eviction until a court had ruled on the case, but the application was opposed by the [government].

“The [government] said the seizures would ‘test the argument’ that land redistribution without compensation is permitted under current laws, which it has previously stated is allowable if ‘in the public interest.’”

Deutsche Welle wrote on August 23:

“The South African government slammed US President Donald Trump on Thursday after he… tweeted that he had asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to ‘closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers.’…

“The US president isn’t the first politician to clash with South Africa over the issue of land. In April, Australia’s former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton… said white South African farmers seeking asylum should receive special treatment because they faced a ‘horrific” situation.”’

When under British rule, South Africa (as well as Zimbabwe, formerly known as Rhodesia) belonged to those modern descendants of the house of Israel who are summarized in the Bible as “Ephraim”—a commonwealth of English-speaking nations. Even though Britain has long lost any influence on South Africa and Zimbabwe, due to the change in the governments of those countries, biblical end-time prophecies pertaining to Ephraim might very well include the fate of South Africa and Zimbabwe and especially the white population in those countries.

Pesticide Responsible for Autism?

On August 18, the Drudge Report provided a link to the following article by Study Finds:

“Pregnant women with higher levels of a banned pesticide that’s still found in many foods today are more likely to have children diagnosed with autism, a new study finds… The pesticide [DDT] became commonly used across the world, but by the late 1950s, its dangerous effects on the environment and wildlife began to come into light; consequently in 1972, as it became clearer that it was unhealthy for human exposure, the Environmental Protection Agency banned its use in America.

“Despite the ban, DDT is still showing up in our food decades later… It continues to be found across the food chain, particularly in vegetables, fish, meat, and dairy products… DDT is of particular concern to unborn children because it can still transfer across the placenta.”

The abominable conduct of those manufacturing and producing these poisonous pesticides will not go unpunished.

Misguided and Deceived Turkey Wants to Punish Parents for Not Vaccinating their Children

Daily Sabah wrote on August 22:

“As the anti-vaccination trend [is] on the rise in Turkey, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy chairman Sefer Aycan proposed a new legislation on Thursday, introducing a minimum mandatory prison sentence [of six months to two years] for parents [or guardians] who don’t vaccinate their children… In Turkey, the number of people refusing to get vaccinations has grown rapidly…

“Due to organized anti-vaccine movements alleging that vaccines cause autism and other illnesses a lot of people have also chosen to skip inoculations but in reality there is overwhelming scientific evidence that there is no link.”

Sadly, there CLEARLY IS a link. Contrary scientific “evidence” is nothing but “fake news,” which is very dangerous and irresponsible.

The Propaganda and Threats Continue…

The Guardian wrote on August 21:

“A huge surge in measles cases across Europe has been reported by the World Health Organisation, which says low MMR vaccination rates are to blame… ‘We are seeing a dramatic increase in infections and extended outbreaks,’ said Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO regional director for Europe. ‘We call on all countries to immediately implement broad, context-appropriate measures to stop further spread of this disease.’…

“The cause of the vaccine doubters has been embraced by some political movements, who advocate ‘parent choice’. The Five Star movement in Italy opposes a law that would have fined parents who do not immunise their children, while in France, Marine le Pen of the newly-renamed National Rally party is against mandatory vaccination.”

In this case, we agree with the position of the Five Star Movement and Marine le Pen.

Indonesia’s Religious Body Declares Vaccinations as Forbidden

abc reported on August 21:

“Indonesia’s peak Islamic body has issued a religious decree — or fatwa — declaring the Rubella-Measles vaccine to be ‘haram’ or religiously forbidden… The Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) justified the ruling by claiming the vaccine contains traces of pork and human cells, which are banned in the Muslim religion… However, the fatwa also states that the use of the product will be allowed for the time being due to the lack of viable alternatives…

“He said the religious organisation understood the dangers associated with not getting children immunized. However, CNN Indonesia reported that a number of towns had already suspended the vaccine before the MUI even announced their decision. Tim Lindsey, the director of the Centre for Indonesian Law in the University of Melbourne, told the ABC the fatwa would undoubtedly make accessing the vaccination more difficult in Indonesia. Fatwas are not legally binding in Indonesia, however declarations from the MUI are highly influential…

“The MUI is a non-government organisation which receives funding from the government of Indonesia. It oversees all Muslim organisations in the country, and has powers to issue halal certifications and regulate Islamic banking.”

Sadly, this religious ruling against vaccinations misses the crux of the matter by acknowledging the “danger” associated with not getting children immunized, while ignoring the danger of getting them immunized.

China’s Vaccine Scandal

The Los Angeles Times wrote on August 21:

“A health scandal in China has seen dozens of officials sacked or disciplined because of problems with vaccines… The scandal has exposed lax standards and corruption common in China’s drug manufacturing sectors, as some companies put profit above the health of consumers, and officials responsible for enforcement tend to look the other way.

“Changsheng Biotechnology… is a major drug manufacturer, and one of the largest producers of rabies and chickenpox vaccines. The scandal initially emerged in November when the national drug regulation authority found that vaccines produced by Changsheng Biotechnology and a second company, Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, designed to protect children against whooping cough, diphtheria and tetanus, were not potent enough.

“Last month drug regulators checked drug production at Changsheng Biotechnology and discovered that the company had used expired materials and falsified inspection records and production dates for rabies vaccinations. The government also announced stiff penalties against the company for its sales of ineffective DPT vaccines…

“A third company, Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical, recently issued a worldwide recall for an ingredient used in a heart medicine, valsartan, because thousands of batches were found to contain a potentially carcinogenic chemical…

“The scandals have not only damaged the trust consumers have in Chinese vaccines but tainted the country’s global reputation as a drug manufacturer.”

Sadly, ineffective or dangerous vaccinations are NOT limited to China.

E-Cigarettes Could Cause Cancer

Medical Express wrote on August 20:

“The popularity of electronic cigarettes continues to grow worldwide, as many people view them as a safer alternative to smoking. But the long-term effects of e-cigarette usage, commonly called ‘vaping,’ are unknown. Today, researchers report that vaping may modify the genetic material, or DNA, in the oral cells of users, which could increase their cancer risk… To characterize chemical exposures during vaping, the researchers recruited five e-cigarette users. They collected saliva samples before and after a 15-minute vaping session and analyzed the samples for chemicals that are known to damage DNA.

“… three DNA-damaging compounds [were found], formaldehyde, acrolein and methylglyoxal, whose levels increased in the saliva after vaping. Compared with people who don’t vape, four of the five e-cigarette users showed increased DNA damage related to acrolein exposure. The type of damage, called a DNA adduct, occurs when toxic chemicals, such as acrolein, react with DNA. If the cell does not repair the damage so that normal DNA replication can take place, cancer could result.”

The Algemeiner and Reuters wrote on August 22:

“Israel on Tuesday outlawed the import and sale of e-cigarettes made by Silicon Valley… citing public health concerns given their nicotine content… Since launching in 2015, the flash drive-sized vaping device has transformed the market in the United States, where it now accounts for nearly 70 percent of tracked e-cigarette sales. The company is valued at $15 billion…

“The Israeli move was consistent with similar restrictions in Europe, the ministry’s statement said. The ban… goes into effect in 15 days…”

It is just foolish to use e-cigarettes in lieu of smoking, thinking that one is thereby safe from cancer.

Ring of Fire Rattled by Multitude of Earthquakes

Daily Mail wrote on August 21:

“Sixteen ‘significant’ tremors – those at magnitude 4.5 or above – shook the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ on Monday, following a spate of 53 that hit the region Sunday. The quakes rattled Indonesia, Bolivia, Japan and Fiji, but failed to reach the western coast of the United States, which also falls along the infamous geological ring. The tremors have raised concerns that California’s ‘Big One’ – a destructive earthquake of magnitude 8 or greater – may be looming.

“Scientists have previously warned that Ring of Fire activity may trigger a domino effect that sets off earthquakes and volcanic eruptions elsewhere in the region. California, which straddles the huge San Andreas Fault Line and sits on the eastern edge of the ring, is long overdue a deadly earthquake, researchers claim…

“An enormous 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean close to Fiji and Tonga on Sunday, but was too deep to cause any significant damage…”

The Sun reported on August 22:

“A HUGE 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Oregon on America’s West Coast today. The quake, which registered 188 miles from the coastal city of Bandon, has sparked fears the so-called ‘Big One’ could hit California any time now… Scientists say that when it returns (and we are apparently overdue), the shocks will last for as long as six minutes and aftershocks could last for months. Terrifyingly, they also predict the Cascadia could trigger a tsunami of 85-foot-high waves which could drown as many as 33,000 on the West Coast…

“Richard Aster, Professor of Geophysics at Colorado State University, wrote recently: ‘The earthquake situation in California is actually more dire than people who aren’t seismologists like myself may realise.’”

The countries in the Pacific Ring of Fire include:

Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, East Timor, El Salvador, Micronesia, Fiji, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, United States.

Huge earthquakes are prophesied to happen prior to Christ’s Second Coming, and the possibility of the “Big One” striking California soon is very real indeed. Earthquake activity is of course not limited to the “Ring of Fire.” Deutsche Welle wrote on August 21: “A powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit the coast of Venezuela on Tuesday, forcing people to evacuate their homes and offices as far away as the capital, Caracas.”

More Attacks by US Banks on Their Customers

The Washington Post reported on August 20:

“Democrat Nikki Fried, running to be the state’s agriculture commissioner, is a former lobbyist who worked on behalf of a number of industries, including medical marijuana… not long after opening a campaign account with Wells Fargo, the bank inquired about her stance on medical marijuana and her intent to accept donations from the medical marijuana industry. The bank subsequently closed her account, citing its ‘responsibility to oversee and manage banking risks.’

“… on Aug. 3, it received a phone call from Wells Fargo indicating that its account would be terminated ‘because of [Fried]’s relationship to the medical marijuana industry.’ The bank mailed a formal notice dated Aug. 3, stating that…. the account would be closed within 30 days… Fried said that ‘Wells Fargo’s actions against my campaign are emblematic of what is wrong with our government and politics today,’ adding that she was ‘kicked out of a bank for voicing support of a law that is literally codified in the Florida constitution.’

“… While medical and recreational marijuana are legal in dozens of states, the drug remains illegal for nearly all purposes at the federal level. This has made banks wary of dealing with state-legal marijuana businesses for fear of running afoul of federal law. In closing Fried’s account, Wells Fargo appears to be taking that skittishness one step further by denying banking access not to a marijuana business but to a political candidate who may receive donations from the marijuana industry…”

Newsmax added on August 21:

“[Nikki Fried said] that the incident was an example of the challenges legal cannabis businesses face from the U.S. financial system… Fried said that when Wells Fargo contacted her, she initially thought it was a joke. She said her campaign is moving its accounts to BB&T Corp., which hasn’t yet raised concerns about the marijuana issue…

“Fried seized on the development to blast businesses and officials who she said were discriminating against a legal industry…  Among other challenges, she said medical marijuana workers can be targeted… because financial institutions refuse to work with them, forcing them to run cash businesses. ‘At a time when 30 states including Washington, D.C., have legalized medical marijuana and licensed businesses to practice and distribute marijuana to patients and caregivers, access to basic financial stability is virtually impossible for these legal businesses,’ Fried said. ‘Outdated federal laws allow for this sort of discrimination.’”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ uninformed stance on medical marijuana does not help either. The government’s influence on banks can clearly be felt more and more. Please view our StandingWatch program, “Do Banks and the Government Control You?” 

Pope Francis Apologizes for Despicable Sexual Child Abuse Cases in Catholic Church

The Guardian wrote on August 20:

“Pope Francis’s letter to his church on the scandals of sexual abuse is full of anger and remorse, but empty of specific policies beyond a call to prayer and fasting… it is also horrifyingly late and grimly familiar. Not only have successive popes and prelates been expressing their anguish and their shame at child abuse all this century, but the scandals themselves have continued with numbing regularity. It’s almost as if the culture of the church ran deeper than the wishes of any pope.

“This year opened particularly badly with Francis himself defending with angry scorn a Chilean bishop credibly accused of abuse. This did huge damage to the church’s reputation there; to his credit, he realised this and later took the accusations seriously. Since then he has sacked the bishop in question and four others, among them the man who was in charge of dealing with abuse reports, although the affair still festers: a priest involved in the reporting of abusers is now in criminal custody, but though he had confessed his crimes to his superiors in January, they somehow overlooked the possibility of reporting him to the civil authorities for six months while the scandal raged all around them.

“Two of the countries where the abuse scandal has done the most damage to the church’s moral authority are the US and Ireland. Pope Francis arrives in Ireland for a two-day conference on strengthening the family on Friday… His visit there seems likely to provide another graphic demonstration of the collapse in the church’s popularity. In the US, the publication last week of a long, horrifying report on the behaviour of the church in the state of Pennsylvania followed the exposure of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick… as a serial predator on boys and young men. Pope Francis removed McCarrick as a cardinal…

“But why have there been so many starts before, none of them leading anywhere? Unless statistics lie, the Catholic church is not an organisation uniquely hospitable to sexual predators or even to paedophiles. Other churches have their own horrendous scandals and cover-ups. So do other professions. But the Catholic church does seem remarkably resistant to reform. Two explanations are offered in a divided church. Conservative Catholics blame the prevalence of gay men in the priesthood; Francis, and the liberals, blame the clerical culture which leaves bishops and archbishops responsible to no one outside the church… Changing that, which his letter demands, would threaten the power structure of the whole church and would be very fiercely resisted…”

Fire Them All!

The Week wrote on August 21:

“The Catholic Church in this country is led by villains and cowards. It would be a good thing if most, if not all, of our bishops resigned or were deposed… For someone who has long regarded himself as a traditional-minded but sane Catholic, tales of satanic sex cults to which the clergy belonged and other unspeakable blasphemies… have seemed like the products of lurid, diseased imaginations.

“But having spent nearly a week reading slowly through all 1,400 pages of the report [about sex abuse of more than 1000 children by over 300 priests in Pennsylvania], I can say I was wrong. All of these things exist. When… Pope Paul VI said that the ‘smoke of Satan had entered the Church’ half a century ago, he meant it quite literally.

“On Sunday, virtually every American Catholic who attended Mass heard a letter from his or her bishop read aloud. Some of these letters… contained some lucid and even admirable sentences. Most did not… [They] did not contain a single reference to sin or God…”

Please view our recent StandingWatch program, “Worldwide Attack on Our Innocent Children” 

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.

It is interesting to note that, particularly in the last two decades, “independent” Feast of Tabernacles sites have been established. We read in Deuteronomy 16:13-16: “You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates. Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice. Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.”

God is very clear when He instructs His people to keep the annual Feasts “in the place which He chooses.” How does He do that? The question is about who decides where a Feast of Tabernacles site should be and the same principle applies to the other Feast days.

Originally, God placed His Name in Jerusalem when the Feasts were revealed to the ancient nation of Israel.  At that time, the Truth of God was given to Israel but as the Word of God spread, particularly after the inception of the New Testament church at Pentecost in 31 AD, it became obvious that the Feast of Tabernacles would have to be kept in other parts of the world.  In recent times, there have been the people of God in most nations around the world who had to be accommodated by Feast sites within reasonable distance for them to be able to attend.

How is this achieved, and by whom?

We read in Ephesians 4:11-16 the following:  “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

Unfortunately, these verses don’t appear to sit well at all with some who seem to reject the authority of the ministry.

The Bible clearly reveals that in God’s plan for mankind, the Father is in charge, that Christ is the Head of every church organization and congregation, and under Christ are God-appointed leaders, as we read in Ephesians 4:11-16.  We read in Hebrews 13:17 that we are to “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.” Church members are to be subject to God’s delegated authorities in the church which comprise the ministry.

In 1 Peter 5:1-3, we read about how the ministry are to act:  “The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”

Those who are in authority in the church are not to lord it over members but are to serve them and to be examples, and they are given responsibilities to fulfil, one of which is to organise Feast sites.

In the past, God gave responsibilities to man directly – for example, Adam was instructed to name the animals (Genesis 2:19); Moses was spoken to at the burning bush (Exodus 3) and on other occasions; the prophet Samuel was told to anoint Saul as king (1 Samuel 9) and David as king (1 Samuel 16); the word of the LORD came to Jehu against king Baasha (1 Kings 16:1); the word of the LORD came to Elijah to present himself to Ahab (1 Kings 18:1): the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel (Ezekiel 12) and Haggai (Haggai 1 and 2).   These are just some of the examples of God instructing some of His servants.

We read in Matthew 16:16-19: “Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’  Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’” (We read this same principle in Matthew 18:18.)

In our Q&A “Could you explain the extent of the power that Christ gave in Matthew 16:19, to ‘bind and loose’?” we state: “Christ empowered the leadership of the Church, throughout the Church’s history and existence, to discern God’s Will regarding binding Church decisions as to what God permits and prohibits, based on His law, and who is to be excommunicated and reinstated, based on the Church leadership’s discernment of the person’s repentance and God’s forgiveness. This is not to say that Church decisions are to be considered infallible. God does not bind in heaven a Church decision which is against His Will and His Law. We are told that all of us have to GROW in the KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST (2 Peter 3:18; Ephesians 4:13). Therefore, when God, through the power and wisdom of His Holy Spirit, clearly reveals to the Church leadership that a wrong decision was made in the past, perhaps by not fully submitting to, or understanding the Will of God, such a wrong decision must be corrected immediately.”

The Bible here clearly reveals that God works through the ministry.

God has delegated anointing (James 5:13-15) and baptism (see Acts 19:1-6) through the laying on of hands by elders in the Church of God, not by non-ordained church members, not even deacons.  Please read our Q&A on the concept of the laying on of hands which proves that God has given His ordained ministers the exclusive right to lay hands on anyone for the purpose of “sanctification,” including in areas of baptism, healing, marriage, blessing of little children and ordinations.

It should now be apparent that God works through His ministry and one of their responsibilities is to follow God’s lead in finding and deciding on suitable Feast of Tabernacles sites, and if any baptised members are unwilling to go to a Feast site where GOD has placed His name, then they are being self-willed by either not attending the Feast or by attending a site that has not been chosen, approved of and organised by the Church of God ministry.   In short, they are not willing to submit to God!  They are in effect showing that they are self-willed!

Of course, non-ordained members can be used to search for a site, and once a site has been chosen and approved of by the ministry, many non-ordained members may be used to help in the organisation and the effective running of the Feast.

It appears that, at times, a Feast site may be organised by non-ordained members for which no ministerial approval has been given, and the Feast is then being conducted without ministerial blessing. God is not going to bless and support such an approach and arrangement.  Matthew 7:21-23 is relevant to this situation: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

As we read earlier in Deuteronomy 16:13-16, the key words were “in the place which the LORD chooses” which is mentioned twice and so it must be important to God.  It is important to understand and realise that elders in the Church of God have been given God-ordained responsibilities and choosing and approving of a Feast of Tabernacles site is one of them, and such a site then will be “in the place which the LORD chooses” through their actions and any arrangement other than this will not be acceptable to God.

You might want to review a previous Q&A entitled “Why do we attend God’s annual Feast and Sabbath services in the place where God makes His Name to be known?” which was published in our Update 657 dated September 19th 2014.

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

compiled by Dave Harris

“Is California’s Big Earthquake About to Strike?” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

Numerous significant earthquakes occurred this week all over the world, and many of these in countries which are part of the “Ring of Fire.” These tremors have raised concerns that California’s “Big One”—a destructive earthquake of magnitude 8.0 or greater—may be looming. How real is that danger? Scientists, history and biblical prophecy confirm that the distinct possibility of such a devastating earthquake is much more imminent than many may realize.

“Sexualkunde für unsere Kinder,” is the title of this Sabbath’s German sermon, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “Sexual Education for Our Children.”

“Comments on News and Prophecy (August 18, 2018),” a presentation last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

In this new feature, we are commenting on our age of selfishness; the worst-case chaotic scenario of a “no deal Brexit”; the biblical prophecy of a third temple prior to Christ’s return and the ignorance of those who reject this truth; the reasons for Turkey’s fight with the USA; the future of Romania; military parades and the Millennium; Florida’s red tide; and the autocratic rule of the “dictator pope.” We also address the biblical reasons for ordinations.

“Deception Before Defeat,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Michael Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The times we are living in now are very interesting in light of biblical prophecy. What is happening around the world, especially in this nation, should not be ignored, but rather should be a warning to us so that we do not fall into deception.

Here are the dates for the 2018 Fall Holy Days:

Feast of Trumpets—September 10
Day of Atonement—September 19
Feast of Tabernacles—September 24-30
Last Great Day—October 1