On April 5, 2014, Norbert Link will give the sermon, titled, “Why the Days of Unleavened Bread?”

The live services are available, over video and audio, at www.cognetservices.org (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.

When you read this Editorial, we will have completed our Church Conference, and my wife and I will have been busy preparing for our trip to Germany. Before leaving our home, we will have finished deleavening our premises, as the Jews had to do at the time of Christ, before beginning their pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Even though we might think more of the concept of our pilgrimage in respect to the Feast of Tabernacles in the Autumn, when we will live for eight days in temporary dwellings, our entire Christian life ought to be viewed as a pilgrimage, and it is therefore appropriate to apply this comparison to the upcoming Passover season as well. As Israel was saved from physical death during the Passover night and led out of Egyptian slavery on the First Day of Unleavened Bread, with the goal of ultimately entering the Promised Land, true Christians have been and are being saved from spiritual or eternal death through the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and they are leaving behind the captivity of sin with the goal of ultimately entering the Kingdom of God.

At times, the Bible compares sin with leaven, and if leaven is not removed, it grows and permeates the whole lump. In the same way, sin grows and spreads in our lives. The Days of Unleavened Bread picture our complete departure from sin, but this is impossible without God’s help. It is God who must fight our battles. According to tradition, Israel stood in front of the Red Sea on the Last Day of Unleavened Bread. They were completely helpless and in despair, when they saw Pharaoh’s army pursuing them. But God intervened miraculously and saved them from physical death or renewed physical captivity. Today, God is giving us—spiritual Israelites— spiritual victory over sin, if we submit to Him and let Him fight our spiritual battles for us.

A few weeks later, God gave Israel the Law of the Ten Commandments and other statutes and judgments. Following Jewish tradition, this happened on the Day of Pentecost. But ancient Israel was never offered the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is true that the people were supposed to keep the Ten Commandments according to the letter, but they were not able to keep them in spirit. Even though they could and should have refrained from killing someone else, they were not really able to eradicate all hatred from their lives. In New Testament times, God gave His Holy Spirit to His Church on the Day of Pentecost, enabling them to obey Him in the letter AND in spirit—to actually worship Him in spirit, as God is Spirit. God’s converted disciples are to apply and follow the spiritual dimensions of His Law, since the Law is spiritual.

When we, as baptized members of the Church of God, keep the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, while focusing already on the Day of Pentecost, we ought to remember that everything we accomplish in this life is not because of our might and strength, but because of God’s grace and favor. Because of Christ’s great love for us, He died for us, when we were still sinners and God’s enemies. We did not deserve to be forgiven—God forgave us because of unmerited pardon. It is God who shows us the way out of sin and who enables us to follow His path. And it is God who gives us His Holy Spirit to empower us to obey Him in spirit and truth. In doing this, we can gladly focus on the Holy Days in the Autumn, beginning with the next dramatic event in the plan of God. This earth-shaking occurrence is pictured by the Feast of Trumpets and describes the return of Jesus Christ to establish God’s rule here on earth and to give us His gift of eternal life, by changing us from mortal human beings to immortal members of God’s Family.

How thankful must we be to God for His priceless and undeserved gifts.

We are continuing our report about the great dangers of the Russian bear’s expansion movements, while most Europeans and Americans and many of their leaders are sound asleep.

We address the freedom of the press; Hollywood’s freedom to butcher biblical truth; and the freedom of the NSA to spy on others.

We report on France’s move to the right and the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Africa; and we conclude with numerous articles reporting on recent earthquake activities which might lead to much more serious devastations to come.

“Pentagon Alarmed as Troops Mass Near Ukraine Border”

The Wall Street Journal wrote on March 28:

“Russian troops massing near Ukraine are actively concealing their positions and establishing supply lines that could be used in a prolonged deployment, ratcheting up concerns that Moscow is preparing for another major incursion and not conducting exercises as it claims, U.S. officials said. Such an incursion could take place without warning because Russia has already deployed the array of military forces needed for such an operation, say officials briefed on the latest U.S. intelligence.

“The rapid speed of the Russian military buildup and efforts to camouflage the forces and equipment have stoked U.S. fears, in part because American intelligence agencies have struggled to assess Russian President Vladimir Putin’s specific intentions. The troop movements and the concealment—involving covering up equipment along the border—suggest Mr. Putin is positioning forces in the event he decides to quickly expand his takeover of the Crimea peninsula by seizing more Ukrainian territory, despite Western threats of tighter sanctions…

“The U.S. believes Russia now has nearly 50,000 troops in position for possible operations, including those participating in the declared exercises along the Ukrainian border and those already inside Russian-controlled Crimea, officials said… A senior Ukrainian official said Thursday that the number of Russian troops in the area was closer to 100,000… Another senior military official said the Pentagon was increasingly worried that the Russians have moved into place additional supplies including food and spare parts that could both support an exercise or a military incursion into Ukraine. Putting in place the logistics support could allow Russian forces to sustain themselves if they were to cross into eastern Ukraine.”

How Russia Plays with the West

Deutsche Welle reported on March 31:

“The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies Monday that after completing maneuvers in the Kadamovsky range in the Rostov border region, a battalion from the central military district’s 15th motorized infantry brigade would return to its home region of Samara on the Volga… During a call Monday, Putin informed Merkel of the partial withdrawal that he had ordered, the chancellor’s spokesman said in a statement… German Defense Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Putin’s partial withdrawal order was ‘a small signal that the situation is becoming less tense.’”

The naivety of the West is astonishing and frightening at the same time.

BBC News added on April 1: “Nato is not seeing a Russian troop pullout from the border with Ukraine, the military alliance’s chief has said.”

The Washington Times wrote on April 2: “NATO’s top military leader warned Wednesday that Russia was ready enough to move on Ukraine that troops could be across the border within 12 hours of receiving the order to attack.”

Putin Calls Obama—No Mention of Crimea

The New York Times wrote on March 28:

“President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia reached out to President Obama on Friday to discuss ideas about how to peacefully resolve the international standoff over Ukraine, a surprise move by Moscow… But it remained uncertain whether Mr. Putin was seriously interested in a resolution that would go far enough to satisfy the United States, Ukraine and Europe, or instead was seeking a diplomatic advantage at a time when he has been isolated internationally. While the White House account of the call emphasized the possible diplomatic movement, the Kremlin’s version stressed Mr. Putin’s complaints about ‘extremists’ in Ukraine and introduced into the mix of issues on the table the fate of Transnistria, another pro-Russian breakaway province outside his borders.

“Neither American nor European officials expect Mr. Putin to easily reverse his seizure of Crimea, the largely Russian-speaking Ukrainian peninsula Moscow annexed last week after Russian troops took control there. Indeed, the Kremlin statement made no mention of Crimea, suggesting Mr. Putin considers the matter a fait accompli that is no longer up for discussion…”

No leader in the Western World is remotely as shrewd as Vladimir Putin. But at least some understand his tactics and actions better than others. See the next article.

Putin’s Actions Parallel Hitler’s Conduct

Der Spiegel Online wrote on March 31:

“On Monday, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said he saw parallels between Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea and Adolf Hitler’s land grab of Sudetenland. As Germany’s Mr. Euro, Wolfgang Schäuble is one of the country’s best-known politicians abroad. When the finance minister speaks, people generally tend to listen…

“Russian officials claim ethnic Russian residents of the peninsula are threatened by Ukraine. The Nazis argued similarly in… 1938 that ‘ethnic Germans’ in peripheral regions of what was then Czechoslovakia required protection.”

On the other hand, most Americans are as blind as most of their leaders, paralleling the ignorance of most citizens in other Western countries. Note the next article.

The Blindness of the Nations

CNN wrote on April 2:

“The vast majority of Americans say Vladimir Putin’s not honest or trustworthy, but according to a new national poll they don’t compare the Russian president’s actions in Ukraine with the land grabs in the years leading up to World War II by Germany’s Adolf Hitler.

“A Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday indicates that only 24% of the public equates Putin’s annexing last month of neighboring Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula with Hitler’s actions, with 51% saying that’s too strong a comparison. Just over one in five admitted they don’t know enough about pre-Second World War history to answer the question.

“Early last month… at a fundraiser in Long Beach, California, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton compared Putin’s military intervention in Crimean to Hitler’s European aggression ahead of World War II.”

That Putin’s actions can be compared with Hitler’s “land grabs” leading up to World War II, there can be NO DOUBT. And as Hitler did not stop with just the “Anschluss” with Austria, so Putin will not stop with just the annexation of Crimea. He may patiently wait a little while until his opportunity presents itself. Note the next article.

Putin Won’t Stop with Crimea

National Journal wrote on March 30:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin will try to seize more territory beyond Crimea, a slim 54 percent majority of National Journal’s Security Insiders said. ‘There is nothing about the international response so far to his actions in Crimea that would discourage Putin from annexing additional portions of Ukraine,’ one Insider said. After Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea, National Journal’s pool of national security experts believe Putin is eyeing more territory that was formerly under Moscow’s control. ‘Putin will make every attempt to secure his gains in Crimea by adding predominantly ethnic Russian territories in Ukraine and, quite possibly, Transnistria from Moldova,’ one Insider said. ‘Now that he has an appetite for conquest, Putin may find the idea of seizing further territory irresistible.’

“Poltava, another Insider noted, the site of Peter the Great’s victory over Charles XII of Sweden that established Russia as a major force, is in eastern Ukraine. ‘If Putin can grab Crimea for historical reasons, than Poltava can’t be far behind.’”

Will Putin Invade Finland?

The Independent wrote on April 1:

“After annexing Crimea and with troops massed on the border of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin will not stop trying to expand Russia until he has ‘conquered’ Belarus, the Baltic states and Finland, one of his closest former advisers has said. According to Andrej Illarionov, the President’s chief economic adviser from 2000 to 2005, Mr Putin seeks to create ‘historical justice’ with a return to the days of the last Tsar, Nicholas II, and the Soviet Union under Stalin.

“Speaking to the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, Mr Illarionov warned that Russia will argue that the granting of independence to Finland in 1917 was an act of ‘treason against national interests’. ‘Putin’s view is that he protects what belongs to him and his predecessors,’ Mr Illarionov said…

“Mr Illarionov has helped draft a host of Russia’s economic policies in recent years, and served as Mr Putin’s personal representative at a number of G8 conferences. He is now a senior fellow at the Cato institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity in Washington. Finland is not a Nato member, meaning a Russian invasion would not be considered an attack against the alliance… The Scandinavian nation was part of the Russian empire for 108 years as an autonomous Grand Duchy.”

Germany’s Big Business with Russia

Bloomberg wrote on March 30:

“Chancellor Angela Merkel’s deputy chided Siemens AG Chief Executive Officer Joe Kaeser for traveling to Moscow, saying German companies shouldn’t sell out European values to protect business with Russia… While the European Union and the U.S. seek to punish Russia for annexing Crimea, many German corporate leaders view Putin as an economic partner… While Merkel has said Germany could withstand the economic impact of European economic sanctions against Russia, the heads of Adidas AG, ThyssenKrupp AG and Deutsche Post AG questioned the need for sanctions…

“ThyssenKrupp CEO Heinrich Hiesinger said ‘Russia felt cornered.’ Deutsche Post CEO Frank Appel said the U.S. and its allies had meddled ‘in the front yard of another big power’ and questioned calls by EU leaders including Merkel to review Europe’s energy ties with Russia…

“Kaeser said meeting with Putin showed that Munich-based Siemens, Europe’s biggest engineering company, ‘won’t be overly influenced by short-term turbulences’ involving Russia…”

This short-sighted and highly questionable approach by some of Germany’s powerful economic companies (including Krupp which has the controversial reputation of having conducted big business with Hitler) is, to an extent, mirrored by equally short-sighted and totally unrealistic and false statements by former German Chancellors Schmidt and Schroeder, trying to justify, explain or at least downplay Putin’s illegal actions. Note the next article.

German Shortsightedness and Anti-Americanism

Der Spiegel Online wrote on March 31:

“Is it acceptable for a person to be sympathetic towards or have an understanding for Russia’s actions in Crimea? Are Moscow’s claims justifiable? Did the West provoke Russian President Vladimir Putin? For weeks, this debate has dominated the public discussion in Germany like no other…  Nothing, it seems, is as polarizing as the question of whether Moscow’s annexation of Crimea was a justifiable reaction to NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe or if it was acting in violation of international law, thus making any sympathy for the move unacceptable.

“Those expressing understanding for Russia’s move are clearly dominating the Internet forums and talk shows. One former German chancellor, Helmut Schmidt, even declared that the situation in Ukraine is dangerous ‘because the West has gotten so terribly worked up about it.’ The question of whether Putin’s actions were legitimate didn’t even seem to interest him. ‘I find it entirely understandable,’ he said. Another former chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, admitted that he himself hadn’t always respected international law…

“The soft-heartedness for Russia’s iron hand has many origins — some historic, some current, some idealistic and others material. The most obvious are the interests of business, because companies want to continue trading with Russia and therefore oppose sanctions. Other influencing factors include fears of a new cold or even hot war, historic ties to Russia and anti-American sentiment that is widespread in Germany…

“Klaus von Dohnanyi… is a conservative Social Democrat and enjoys widespread respect among CDU politicians as well. He is the personification of Germany’s political center… In an interview at a hotel in Berlin, Dohnanyi says that it wasn’t wise of Putin to annex Crimea. It would have been better, he continues, if the Russian president had used the referendum results to force Ukraine to become neutral. Nevertheless, he believes that the West must show Russia respect.

“Dohnanyi’s understanding for Russia is one side of his worldview. The other is his criticism of the United States. ‘The Americans often don’t have a sense for diplomacy and for Europe’s geopolitical problems,’ he says. The longer one listens to him, the greater the impression becomes that the Americans are the problem and not the Russians. ‘What has the situation produced? The situation has produced an attempt to bring Ukraine into NATO,’ he said in a talk show…

“As a consequence of so much understanding for Russia, the interests of Eastern European countries are often ignored… Today, it is the Ukrainians who are being sacrificed on the altar of sympathy for Russia. When the Polish government imposed martial law in 1981 and stepped up its fight against the opposition, the US initiated sanctions against the Soviet Union and Poland. Then-German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of the SPD refused to join…”

German Anti-Americanism clouds the issues and ignores the real dangers. Germany will bitterly pay for such false ideologies.

Russia Is Winning in the Middle East

The Mosaic Magazine wrote on March 26:

“On March 19, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned that if the West imposed sanctions over the annexation of Crimea, Russia would retaliate by exacting a much greater price: it would throw its support to Iran in the nuclear talks…  the Kremlin sees itself as the great-power patron not just of the Assad regime but also of Iran and Hizballah—the entire Resistance Alliance… [Putin] will never sell out Tehran and Damascus in order to win compliments in Washington; if forced to choose, he will always side with the former against the latter, and will certainly leave them in no doubt that Russia is their most dependable friend in the United Nations Security Council. It is this fact that makes Russia a revisionist power in the Middle East and the permanent adversary of the United States…

“Putin has a strong track record of supporting some actions designed to prevent an Iranian bomb… he also has a strong track record of building the Iranian nuclear program and of providing security assistance to the Iranian military… On the key issue of stopping Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, he is never so supportive as to be taken for granted…

“No matter which course the president follows, the Ukraine crisis has damaged the prestige of the United States in the Middle East. America’s Arab friends in the region, who are on the front line against Iran, Syria, and Hizballah, already feel the pinch, and are deeply uncertain about how to respond…

“The ally who most immediately feels the fallout is Israel. On March 17, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon described, with unusual bluntness, the consequences of what he called the ‘feebleness’ of American foreign policy. The Obama administration’s weakness, he argued, was undermining the position not just of Israel but also of America’s Sunni allies. ‘The moderate Sunni camp in the area expected the United States to support it, and to be firm, like Russia’s support for the Shiite axis,’ Yaalon lamented. Yaalon spoke no less despairingly of Obama’s ability to make good on his pledge to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon…

“Whether Israel actually has the political will and military capability to launch an independent strike against Iran is anybody’s guess. But two facts are undeniable. First, Putin’s muscular foreign policy and Washington’s timorous response have increased the pressure on Israel to strike independently. Second, Obama has lost influence over the Israelis—just as he lost influence over his Arab allies when he refused to back them on Syria.

“Adrift in Machiavelli’s no man’s land, neither a true friend nor a true enemy, Washington is left with the worst of both worlds, treated by its adversaries with contempt, charged by its friends with abandonment and betrayal… in the Middle East, Russia and its clients are winning and the United States, despite huge natural advantages, is losing.”

It is sad that when decisive American leadership is needed, the same is lacking or non-existent.

Catastrophic Consequences of Regional Nuclear War

CBS wrote on March 26:

“With an estimated 17,000 nuclear weapons in the world, we have the power to exterminate humanity many times over. But it wouldn’t take a full-scale nuclear war to make Earth uninhabitable, reports Live Science. Even a relatively small regional nuclear war, like a conflict between India and Pakistan, could spark a global environmental catastrophe, says a new study…

“Firestorms would belch over 5 million tons of ash into the sky. The ash would absorb the sun’s rays, causing deadly cooling on the surface… Rainfall and other precipitation would be reduced by about 10 percent, triggering worldwide droughts and leading to wildfires in the Amazon, which would spew more smoke into the atmosphere. The sky ash would heat the stratosphere and accelerate the chemical reactions that destroy the ozone layer. The intense ultraviolet radiation that would get through to the surface would be a dramatic threat to human health and damage fragile ecosystems on land and sea.”

Press Freedom Under Serious Attack

Daily Caller wrote on March 24:

“New York Times reporter James Risen called the Obama administration ‘the greatest enemy of press freedom that we have encountered in at least a generation’ on Friday, explaining that the White House seeks to control the flow of information and those who refuse to play along ‘will be punished’…

“Risen made the remarks while speaking at Sources and Secrets conference — a meeting of journalism, communication and government professionals held in New York City. The foreign policy reporter, who is currently fighting a fierce court battle with the federal government over his protection of a confidential source, warned that press freedom is under serious attack in today’s America… And the media has been ‘too timid’ in pushing back against the onslaught.”

Hollywood’s “Noah” and the Bible

Newsmax wrote on March 31:

“People expect to see literalism in Bible movies, says Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly, so it isn’t surprising there has been adverse reaction to Darren Aronofsky’s blockbuster ‘Noah.’ On his show Monday, O’Reilly noted that conservative talk show host Glenn Beck had called the movie ‘dangerous disinformation.’…

“Chicago Sun-Times film critic Richard Roeper countered that ‘Noah’ is a big-budget picture that has to have a lot of elements to succeed, including the stone giants who protect Noah and help him build the ark… EWTN’s Arroyo said people were willing to give the film a chance, but then once they saw it on screen they were hit with Noah’s trying to kill his grandchildren because he thinks it is what God wants him to do. O’Reilly noted that the story in the Bible is dark. God is vengeful and says humans have spit in his face, he said.”

Stone giants protecting Noah? Noah trying to kill his grandchildren? Enough said.

Ongoing NSA Spying Scandal

AFP wrote on March 29:

“According to German news magazine Der Spiegel, the US National Security Agency kept a spy database on more than 100 world leaders. This included 300 files on German Chancellor Angela Merkel… The list was 122 names long, but only 12 of these names were shared with Spiegel…

“The Spiegel story also indicated that Britain’s GCHQ intelligence service infiltrated German internet firms and that the US National Security Agency (NSA) obtained a court order to spy on Germany.”

France’s Move to the Right

Deutsche Welle reported on March 31:

“The shake-up of Hollande’s deeply unpopular government comes after nationwide local elections on Sunday in which both the far-right National Front (FN) and the mainstream opposition party Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) made historic gains, while Hollande’s Socialists suffered some of their worst losses ever.

“The UMP, the party of former president Nicolas Sarkozy, snatched a number of towns long considered Socialist bastions, a performance that bodes well for its chances in national elections scheduled for 2017. The FN under Marine Le Pen also put it its best showing at the grassroots level of French government, winning control of 11 towns and more than 1,200 municipal seats nationwide.

“The results reflect the growing discontent in France with Hollande’s government, which came to power in 2012. Critics say it has been helpless in the face of a stagnant economy, persistently high unemployment and falling living standards in many quarters.”

Outbreak of Deadly Ebola Virus in Africa

BBC News reported on April 1:

“The WHO says 83 people in Guinea have died in suspected cases of Ebola, which is spread by close contact and kills between 25% and 90% of its victims. It has now spread to neighbouring Liberia, as well as Guinea’s capital, Conakry, which has a population of two million people… The traditional handshake is no longer a part of salutations in Guinea as people are really terrified of being infected with Ebola… The disease originated in the southern Forest Region where bats, a local delicacy, are thought be carriers of the virus. Their sale and consumption has been banned…

“‘We are facing an epidemic of a magnitude never before seen in terms of the distribution of cases,’ said Mariano Lugli, a co-ordinator in Guinea for the medical charity. ‘This geographical spread is worrisome because it will greatly complicate the tasks of the organisations working to control the epidemic.’… Sierra Leone has also reported five suspected cases, none of which have yet been confirmed, while Senegal, which also borders Guinea, has closed its land border. Saudi Arabia suspended visas for Muslim pilgrims from Guinea and Liberia on Tuesday, in a sign of the growing unease about the outbreak… The tropical virus leads to haemorrhagic fever, causing muscle pain, weakness, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, organ failure and unstoppable bleeding.”

Big Los Angeles Earthquake Just a Preview?

The Los Angeles Times wrote on March 28:

“The 5.1 magnitude earthquake that rattled Southern California on Friday night raises the possibility that a larger quake is on the way, seismologists said. The swarm of earthquakes began at 8:03 p.m., when a 3.6 earthquake hit. That ended up being a foreshock of the largest earthquake to hit, a magnitude 5.1 at 9:09 p.m. At least two more aftershocks hit, a 3.4 at 9:11 p.m. and a 3.6 at 9:30 p.m.… The quake was felt over a large swath of the region…”

The Los Angeles Times added on March 30:

“Experts say a bigger earthquake along the lesser-known fault that gave Southern California a moderate shake could do more damage to the region than the long-dreaded ‘Big One’ from the more famous San Andreas Fault. The Puente Hills thrust fault, which brought Friday night’s magnitude-5.1 quake centered in La Habra and well over 100 aftershocks by Sunday, stretches from northern Orange County under downtown Los Angeles into Hollywood — a heavily populated swath of the Los Angeles area.

“A magnitude-7.5 earthquake along that fault could prove more catastrophic than one along the San Andreas, which runs along the outskirts of metropolitan Southern California, seismologists said. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that such a quake along the Puente Hills fault could kill 3,000 to 18,000 people and cause up to $250 billion in damage. In contrast, a larger magnitude 8 quake along the San Andreas would cause an estimated 1,800 deaths…

“Part of the problem with the potential damage is that the fault runs near so many vulnerable older buildings, many made of concrete, in downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood. And because the fault, discovered in 1999, is horizontal, heavy reverberations are likely to be felt over a wide area.The shaking from a 7.5 quake in the center of urban Los Angeles could be so intense it would lift heavy objects in the air…”

Big Earthquakes Will Strike

The Christian Science Monitor wrote on March 28:

“John Dvorak, a geophysicist who now works at an astronomical observatory in Hawaii, warns that a quake break can just be the calm before the earthquake storm… As he notes in an interview, plenty of other parts of the country are vulnerable to earthquakes, including the Northwest, the Midwest, the South and – yes – even the Big Apple… earthquakes, even large ones, tend to cluster in time and space. An earthquake storm is when there is a cluster of large earthquakes in a region occur over a period of several decades.

“The best examples are the earthquakes that are now happening in northern Turkey along the North Anatolian fault. The storm began in 1939. Since then there have been 13 major earthquakes, and scientists expect at least one more major earthquake is yet to happen at the west end near Istanbul… The last major earthquake to strike Istanbul was in 1509.  The next one is expected in the next few decades.

“There is also an earthquake storm happening at the eastern end of the Indian Ocean. It began in 2001 with a magnitude-7.9 event and includes the disastrous December 2004 earthquake that struck Sumatra. In total, there have been seven major earthquakes there since 2001, and at least a few more are expected…

“Most of the motion between the Pacific and North American plates occurs along coastal California. In the last hundred years, there has been only one significant earthquake along those plates: the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, also known as the World Series earthquake. But during the previous hundred years before that, there were five significant earthquakes along the California coast, in 1812, 1838, 1857, 1868, and 1906. Large earthquakes are the major means by which seismic energy gets released after building up between the two tectonic plates. And so one or more large earthquakes are in California’s future. It is a matter of when…

“Alaska is the most seismically active place in the United States, followed by California. In third place is Utah, fourth is Hawaii. And there is a big seismic potential in the Pacific Northwest. There is also the New Madrid area in southeast Missouri where a series of four major earthquakes struck in 1811 and 1812. A repeat of those events will cause major damage in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas. There’s also New York and New England. The largest historic earthquake in New York occurred beneath New York Harbor in 1884. It was felt along most of the East Coast. The largest New England earthquake occurred in 1755 off the coast at Cape Ann. It is still a mystery why earthquakes occur in these areas.”

Major Earthquake Strikes Chile

BNO News reported on April 2:

“A major earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.0 struck off the coast of northern Chile on Tuesday evening, prompting tsunami warnings for Pacific coastlines in the region, seismologists and officials said. The 8.0-magnitude at 6:46 p.m. local time was centered about 83 kilometers (52 miles) northwest of Iquique, the capital of the Tarapaca Region in northern Chile. It struck about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) deep, making it extremely shallow, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Reuters added on April 2:

“A major earthquake of magnitude 8.2 struck off the coast of  northern Chile on Tuesday, causing five deaths and triggering a tsunami that pounded the shore with 2-meter-tall waves.”

This earthquake was followed on Wednesday, April 2, by a 7.8 earthquake.

The Ring of Fire

ABC News added on April 2:

“The 8.2 earthquake that shook northern Chile and surrounding countries late Tuesday night was one of a string of recent earthquakes along what is known as the ‘Ring of Fire,’ a circle of quake-prone areas on the Pacific Rim. A magnitude 5.1 quake hit Los Angeles last week, followed by aftershocks along the California coast… Both cities lie along the so-called Ring of Fire, where two plates underneath the earth’s surface occasionally bump up against other plates… The 9.0 magnitude quake that hit Japan and cause the Fukushima meltdown in 2011 was on the Pacific’s Ring of Fire… The most susceptible areas on the Ring of Fire include such populated cities as Santiago, Chile; Los Angeles and San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; Tokyo, Japan; and Lima, Peru.”

Powerful Earthquake at Yellowstone

NBC News reported on March 30:

“A 4.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Yellowstone National Park in Montana early Sunday…the quake, which hit at 6:34 a.m. local time, was centered almost in the middle of Yellowstone National Park, near the Norris Geyser Basin… Jessica Turner, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Service, said the quake was the most powerful to hit the park since 1985…”

Is Yellowstone’s Supervolcano About to Blow?

Epoch Times wrote on April 2:

“A number of bloggers are posting videos that show bison and other animals allegedly leaving Yellowstone National Park, prompting theories that as earthquakes ramp up the seismic activity will set off the Yellowstone supervolcano. Two of the main bloggers behind the discussion stress that there’s no way to know when the supervolcano will go off but note that the 4.8 magnitude earthquake that hit on March 30 seemed to set off a reaction from the animals, who are moving for a reason…

“A series of smaller quakes have hit the region over the past few weeks, and those quakes have been linked to the recent 5.1 magnitude quake (and aftershocks) that hit in the Los Angeles region. Tom Lupshu, who describes himself as a “noted Ohio survivalist and search-and-rescue expert,” said on YouTube that nearly one quarter of the northern elk herd at Yellowstone National Park are missing, according to the annual winter count… ‘The more the Earthquakes in the region, the more are the chances of the volcano being activated from its dormant state. Last time an earthquake struck in 1980…’

“Researchers recently discovered that the supervolcano is far bigger than previously thought, about 2.5 times… The findings point to the potentially disastrous consequences if the volcano were ever to blow… the Yellowstone Volcano is still active, and… nothing can be done to prevent an eruption.”

The Great Alaska Earthquake

Quartz wrote on March 30:

“Fifty years ago this week, the Great Alaska Earthquake ravaged the Pacific Northwest, killing more than 100 people. Nine-tenths of those weren’t caused by the earthquake, though, but by a series of tsunamis that pummeled the coast, one of which towered 219 feet (66 meters) high. They come taller than that, though. The 1958 tsunami that ripped through Lituya Bay, a sleepy fjord near the Gulf of Alaska, was eight times bigger…

“Calamity struck at 10pm on July 9, 1958, when a 8.0-Richter-scale earthquake rammed the Alaskan coast up and northward. That impact shook free between 40 million and 60 million cubic yards (30.6 million and 46 million cubic meters) of rock and ice that rimmed the Lituya basin, dumping it 3,000 feet into the bay below. The 1,720-foot monster that reared up as a result shot through the bay at 100 miles per hour (161 kilometers per hour)…”

In our last Q&A, we stated that the rich ruler in Luke 18:18-23 (and in the parallel passage in Mark 10:17-22), who was unwilling to sell all he had, “turned down an opportunity to become a minister.” But is this conclusion correct, as the Bible only says specifically that Jesus asked him to “follow Him,” without expressly stating that He wanted to ordain him to the ministry?

It is true that Jesus made some very general statements about following Him, requiring of all His disciples to follow Him. He said in Matthew 16:24: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” He also said in John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

We also read about a general statement about His apostles, in Matthew 19:28, when answering Peter’s question what the apostles would receive who had left everything: “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration (Luther translates: “when you are born again”), when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

It is true, of course, that all of His disciples will have rulership positions in the Kingdom of God, but here, He was specifically addressing the apostles.

We should note, however, that when Christ speaks directly TO a disciple and commands him to follow Him, it appears that He does so exclusively for the purpose of calling that disciple into the ministry.

Some commentaries agree that Christ offered the rich ruler a ministerial position. They point out that Christ’s command to the rich ruler to sell everything that he had  was specifically given to that ruler because Christ saw that one thing was lacking in his qualification to become a minister, and that one thing was his love for money and his trust in riches (compare Mark 10:24). Note the following statements concluding that Christ was indeed calling the ruler into the ministry.

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible writes: “Follow me – To follow Jesus then meant to be a personal attendant on his ministry; to go about with him from place to place, as well as to imitate and obey him.”

Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible is even clearer, stating:  “…come and follow me – be my disciple, and I will appoint thee to preach the kingdom of God to others. This was the usual call which Christ gave to his disciples… and it is pretty evident, from this, that he intended to make him a preacher of his salvation.”

In support of this conclusion, Clarke refers to certain passages, which show that on each of those occasions, Christ’s “invitation” to “follow” Him refers to a call to the ministry and to the obligations of a minister.

For instance, we read in Matthew 4:19 that Christ spoke to Peter and Andrew: “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” In Matthew 8:21-22, He said to one of His disciples: “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” As this was already a disciple of Christ, His remark to follow Him included obviously more than just “mere” discipleship. The parallel passage in Luke 9:59-60 makes this point even more compelling, as He is quoted as telling the man: “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and PREACH the kingdom of God.” Christ was offering him a ministerial position at that point in time, and He was telling him not to wait several years until after his parents had died.

In Matthew 9:9, Christ used the same expression (“Follow Me”) when He addressed Matthew, the tax collector, and called him to become an apostle: “As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ And he arose and followed Him.” Clarke also quotes the parallel passage in Mark 2:14, where Matthew is identified as “Levi the son of Alphaeus.”

Another example where Christ’s statement to an individual disciple to “follow” Him clearly referred to a calling to the ministry and apostleship can be seen in John 1:43, where Christ found Philip and told him: “Follow Me.” 

It is interesting that all of these named disciples (Peter and Andrew; Matthew or Levi; and Philip who did follow Christ’s “invitation,” were later numbered among the twelve apostles (Matthew 10:1-4), and they were ordered to preach the kingdom of God (Luke 9:1-2).

In John 21:19, 22, Christ reiterates the great and ongoing ministerial responsibility to Peter when He tells Him twice after His resurrection: “Follow Me” and “You follow Me” (John 21:19, 22). He had just told Peter three times to “Feed My lambs”; “Tend My sheep”; and “Feed My sheep” (John 21:15, 16, 17).

Returning to Christ’s statement to the rich ruler to follow Him, it appears that He was indeed willing to call him into the ministry, but sadly, the ruler loved money more than God and he rejected this unique opportunity to follow Christ as a minister and to perhaps later become even one of His apostles. In refusing to accept his ministerial calling, Christ pointed out that it will be very difficult for a rich person to even enter the kingdom of God (Luke 18:25-26; Mark 10:23-25).

Lead Writers: Norbert Link and Brian Gale

We have just finished a very successful and highly productive Church Conference, conducted in San Diego, California. Look for more details in our April Member Letter.

Norbert and Johanna Link will travel to Germany on April 7th. Plans are being made for counseling brethren as well as conducting services for Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread along with finalizing organizational arrangements for the Church in Germany. Michael Link will also travel to Germany for Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread and assist with Church functions and organizational arrangements. Several baptisms are anticipated, and Norbert Link is scheduled to officiate at a church wedding on May 1. Norbert and Johanna Link will return to the US on May 5, 2014.

Brian and Jill Gale are staying following the Conference, and Mr. Gale will conduct Passover services in Ramona, California. Rene and Delia Messier will travel to Oregon for Passover and the beginning of Unleavened Bread. Passover Services will be conducted by the ministry in Fort Collins, Colorado, as well.

“One Nation Under WHAT God?,” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:

What God are we worshipping? Is it enough to believe in just any “god”? Does the true God of the Bible accept our worship of pagan idols? Does He want us to worship Him as just one Person, or as three Persons in one Person, or as one Person in three hypostases or modes of being? Who and what IS God? Who was and is Jesus Christ? Are the Jews or the Moslems correct, who worship just one God Being, or orthodox Christians, who worship a Trinity, believing that the Holy Spirit is God? Or are they perhaps ALL wrong?

“Warum die Tage der Ungesaeuerten Brote?,” is the title of this week’s German sermon. In Enlish, the title is, “Why the Days of Unleavened Bread?”

On March 29, 2014, Brian Gale and Rene Messier will give split sermons, titled, respectively, “Getting On Together” and “Folly of Indenpendents.”

The live services are available, over video and audio, at www.cognetservices.org (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.

Wikipedia defines endangered species as a population of organisms which is facing a high risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters.

There are those species that are already extinct, those that are extinct in the wild, those which are critically endangered, then the endangered, and then the vulnerable.

EndangeredSpecie.com is a website dedicated to “providing all the best endangered species information, links, books, and publications regarding rare and endangered species.  This site also includes information about conservation efforts and endangered species organizations that are dedicated to saving and preserving the world’s most endangered wildlife and plant life.”

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service there are 746 species of plants and 516 species of animals on the endangered species list in North America alone.

Money raising schemes abound to try and help so many worthy causes.

Without belittling the hard work and efforts of these fine organisations, there is an endangered species which is of far greater importance than any they may represent.   And that is the true Christian, those whom God has called at this time to live His Way of Life and who will become part of His Family at the time of Christ’s return.

We are preparing to keep the Passover in just over two weeks’ time, and most people will have very little knowledge, if any, of what this means.   The secular society will still be keeping Easter as a holiday, and the Days of Unleavened Bread will mean absolutely nothing to them.   Even churchgoers would probably find it incomprehensible, as we follow the clear instructions in the Word of God.

We see almost daily the constant barrage of anti-biblical rulings, antagonism and antipathy towards true Christianity that would not have even been considered that long ago.   But as we approach the time when Christ must return to save mankind from blowing itself off the face of the planet, the correct reading of Scripture shows that this is inevitable.  

We should not be surprised as we have not been promised an easy life.   God has to find out about us and we are tested and tried in many different ways and, being an endangered species at the end time, is part of that process.

We continue to focus on the earth-shattering events pertaining to the reaction of Western nations to Russia’s desire and Vladimir Putin’s dream for world domination; show the prophesied developing collaboration between Russia and China; report on Israel’s ongoing threat to attack Iran; speak on Turkey’s fight against Syria and developments in Egypt and Ethiopia; point at America’s real problems with its stockpiles of extremely dangerous chemical weapons; America’s plan to surrender control over the Internet; and the religious constellation of the US Supreme Court; and we conclude with an analysis of the similarities between Pope Francis and President Obama.

Who Is Next?

CNN wrote on March 21:

“Putin said Russia had no intention of violating Ukraine’s sovereignty (beyond the 5% of its territory it has absorbed this week.) ‘Do not believe those who want you to fear Russia, shouting that other regions will follow Crimea,’ he told Ukrainians. But he then said this: ‘It should be above all in Ukraine’s own interest to ensure that these people’s rights and interests are fully protected. This is the guarantee of Ukraine’s state stability and territorial integrity.’

“In other words, if the Kremlin believes Russians are being discriminated against, Ukraine’s independence is no longer assured. Those words will have echoed across parts of the former Soviet Union with large Russian populations: Moldova (10%), Lithuania (6%), Latvia (27%) and Estonia (25%). Will the Russian region of Transnistria in Moldova begin agitating for its own referendum? Will oblasts (regions) of eastern Ukraine demand their own vote?

“… In a 2006 referendum more than 95% of voters [in Transnistria] said they wanted to be reunited with Russia. The assumption at NATO headquarters is that Putin won’t stop at Crimea… Nor does the White House see Crimea as Putin’s end-game…”

Obama Administration: Possible that Russia Will Invade Eastern Ukraine

CNN wrote on March 23:

“A top White House aide says it’s possible that Russia could invade eastern Ukraine, and even U.S. military assistance would be unlikely to prevent it… He says the U.S. is looking at providing military assistance to Ukraine. But he also says ‘it’s very unlikely to change Russia’s calculus and prevent an invasion.’”

America’s helplessness is astonishing.

Putin’s Aim Is All of Ukraine

AFP wrote on March 23:

“Ukraine’s Western-backed leaders voiced fears on Sunday of an imminent Russian invasion of the eastern industrial heartland following the fall of their last airbase in Crimea to defiant Kremlin troops. Alarm about a push outside Crimea by Moscow’s overwhelming forces — now conducting drills at Ukraine’s eastern gate — were fanned further Sunday by a call by its self-declared premier for Russians across the ex-Soviet country to rise up against Kiev’s rule.

“The interim leaders in Kiev fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin — flushed with expansionist fervour — is developing a sense of impunity after being hit by only limited EU and US sanctions for taking the Black Sea cape. ‘The aim of Putin is not Crimea but all of Ukraine… His troops massed at the border are ready to attack at any moment,’ Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council chief Andriy Parubiy told a mass unity rally in Kiev…

“One of the biggest tests facing the besieged interim leaders in Kiev now comes from restless Russians who have been stirring up violent protests and demanding their own secession referendums in the southeastern swaths of Ukraine. The region’s mistrust of the new team’s European values lies from cultural and trade ties with Russia that in many cases are centuries old…”

Travel Warnings for US Citizens

CNN reported on March 22:

“The U.S. State Department also issued a travel warning for Ukraine Friday. It cautioned U.S. citizens ‘to defer all non-essential travel to Ukraine and to defer all travel to the Crimean Peninsula and eastern regions of Kharkiv, Donetsk and Lugansk due to the presence of Russian military forces in the Crimean Peninsula.’”

Is It Transdniestria?

Reuters reported on March 23:

“NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, voiced concern about Moscow using a tactic of snap military exercises to prepare its forces for possible rapid incursions into a neighbouring state, as it had done in the case of Ukraine’s Crimea region. Russia launched a new military exercise, involving 8,500 artillery men, near Ukraine’s border 10 days ago. ‘The (Russian) force that is at the Ukrainian border now to the east is very, very sizeable and very, very ready,’ Breedlove told an event held by the German Marshall Fund think-tank.

“The president of ex-Soviet Moldova warned Russia last Tuesday against considering any move to annex Transdniestria, which lies on Ukraine’s western border, in the same way that it has taken control of Crimea… Breedlove said NATO was very concerned about the threat to Transdniestria, which he said, in Russia’s view, was the ‘next place where Russian-speaking people may need to be incorporated. There is absolutely sufficient (Russian) force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transdniestria if the decision was made to do that and that is very worrisome.’”

Europe—not America—has the most to fear from a militaristic Russia, and Europeans know this. They will feel compelled to create their own strong military apparatus.

Is It Kherson?

Fox News wrote on March 21:

“As Ukraine appears to have all but conceded Crimea to Moscow, Ukrainians in Kherson, the province just north of the peninsula, are believed to be pushing a secession vote of their own in what a local leader angrily denounced as ‘treason.’ The province has a huge Russian speaking population, and a vote – particularly with politicking from Russia – could go against Kiev as did  [in] last Sunday’s referendum in Crimea. In addition to a major push from ethnic Russian politicians, the proposal in Kherson could be boosted by the presence of Russian soldiers, pro-Moscow protesters and the kind of propaganda Ukraine accused Moscow of engaging in before the Crimea vote.

“… an estimated 70 suspected Russian cossacks arrived in Strelkovoe on the Arabat spit in Kherson’s eastern Henichesky region. The group urged locals there to hold a referendum similar to the one in Crimea last Sunday, which passed overwhelmingly despite being called illegitimate by Kiev and western nations…

“Kherson is key in the unfolding conflict… because it links Crimea to the mainland by rail and road and provides the contested peninsula with most of its food, fresh water and electricity…”

Is It Latvia or Estonia?

Breitbart wrote on March 22:

“Pro-Russians took over another Ukrainian military base in Crimea, and Poland asked the US to send more troops to Europe to strengthen NATO’s defenses against Russia…
“After Crimea declared their independence from Ukraine, the government said they would seize Ukraine property and disband the Ukrainian military in the peninsula… Vice President Joe Biden visited Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia on Tuesday and Wednesday to assure NATO allies the US will defend them if Russia continues to pose a threat…

“Alarms went off after the Russian ambassador said Moscow is ready to grant Russian citizenship to ethnic Russians in Latvia. A Russian diplomat also told the United Nations Human Rights Council Moscow is worried about the language rights of ethnic Russians in Estonia. The ex-Soviet states are worried they might be Russian President Vladimir Putin’s next target.”

It is highly doubtful that America is prepared to send troops to Europe, and it was not specified what America means when it says that it will “defend” its European allies.

How Russia and China Annex Other Countries

Breitbart wrote on March 22:

“With Russia’s annexation of Crimea now a fait accompli, it’s well to remember that this isn’t the first recent annexation of other countries’ territories. China has already seized islands in the South China Sea that have historically belonged to the Philippines and Vietnam and is operating on the belief that any ‘short, sharp attack’ on any one island won’t bring an American response. China intends to continue annexing islands in this fashion…

“The news on Friday is that Russia is massing over 20,000 troops on the border with eastern Ukraine, evidently with the intention of invading, in order to annex some or all of that territory. It’s really not logical for Russia’s president Vladimir Putin to stop with Crimea, since there are plenty of ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine—and because Crimea can’t survive without the fresh water, electricity, gas, and food that it imports from Ukraine…

“Russia has long complained about Estonia’s insistence that its large Russian minority in the country should learn to speak Estonian. But recent remarks by Russian diplomats that, for example, Russia was ‘concerned by steps taken… in Estonia as well as in Ukraine’ to use language to ‘segregate and isolate groups’ is giving rise to fears that Estonia is one of the countries on Vladimir Putin’s list to be invaded in order to protect Russian citizens.

“Estonia has a centuries-old bitter history with Russia. People today vividly remember that Josef Stalin’s Red Army reoccupied Estonia in June 1940 and made it part of the Soviet Union. On a one-night operation, June 13-14, 1941, thousands of Estonians, mostly women and children, were deported to Siberia, while tens of thousands of men were forcibly relocated to Russia to fight in the army. This period of bloody Soviet rule left a deep mark on the Estonians, and so when the German Nazis invaded later in 1941, they were greeted as liberators. The Nazis were just as brutal as the Soviets, but when the Red Army returned in September, 1944, some 70,000 Estonians fled the country and formed a diaspora throughout Europe and North America. After the war, Stalin’s Soviet brutality continued by forcing ethnic Russians to relocate to Estonia to dilute the Estonian population. Estonia only became independent in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

“Today, as Estonia is well into a new generational Crisis era, it is haunted by ghosts of ‘Nazi sympathizers’ who opposed the Soviets, and a substantial Russian minority, mainly descendants of Russians whom Stalin had forced to relocate to Estonia after the war, who consider themselves to be victims as well.

“There are several countries that separate Russia from the European Union, and many of them have sizable ethnic Russian minorities who consider themselves to be victims. Many of these countries, including Estonia, are members of Nato, meaning that if Russia invades, then Nato will be required by treaty to fight the invasion militarily.

“Russia as a whole, and Putin in particular, are becoming increasingly nationalistic, and it’s possible that Putin will conclude from the experience of annexing Crimea that Nato won’t respond militarily even after a Nato country is invaded but will simply adopt new sanctions such as making it illegal for Russian politicians to visit Disneyland. Similarly, the Chinese may conclude from Russia’s experience in Crimea and their own experiences in the South China Sea that they can continue annexing other people’s islands and territories with impunity…

“It’s true that there’s a ‘new normal’ today that permits Russia and China to annex foreign territories with impunity. But actually it’s the same ‘old normal’ that existed in 1938 when Britain allowed Nazi Germany to annex Sudetenland with impunity…

“A year after taking office, president Xi Jinping is emerging as the strongest Chinese leader in decades. He’s adopted Mao Zedong’s populist style…”

Russia and China are operating in similar ways, and a collaboration between them is prophesied.

Russia Looks to China, Japan and India

Reuters wrote on March 21:

“When President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty this week annexing Crimea to great fanfare in the Kremlin and anger in the West, a trusted lieutenant was making his way to Asia to shore up ties with Russia’s eastern allies. Forcing home the symbolism of his trip, Igor Sechin gathered media in Tokyo the next day to warn Western governments that more sanctions over Moscow’s seizure of the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine would be counter-productive.

“The underlying message from the head of Russia’s biggest oil company, Rosneft, was clear: If Europe and the United States isolate Russia, Moscow will look East for new business, energy deals, military contracts and political alliances.

“The Holy Grail for Moscow is a natural gas supply deal with China that is apparently now close after years of negotiations. If it can be signed when Putin visits China in May, he will be able to hold it up to show that global power has shifted eastwards and he does not need the West…

“The support of Beijing is vital for Putin. Not only is China a fellow permanent member of the U.N. Security Council with whom Russia thinks alike, it is also the world’s second biggest economy and it opposes the spread of Western-style democracy… Chinese President Xi Jinping showed how much he values ties with Moscow, and Putin in particular, by making Russia his first foreign visit as China’s leader last year and attending the opening of the Winter Olympics in Sochi last month…

“Russia and China could also step up cooperation in areas apart from energy… the prospects of Russia delivering Sukhoi SU-35 fighter jets to China, which has been under discussion since 2010, would grow…

“Tokyo has been working hard under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to improve ties with Moscow, despite a territorial dispute dating from World War Two… Putin did take time… to thank one other country apart from China for its understanding over Ukraine and Crimea – saying India had shown ‘restraint and objectivity’.  He also called Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the crisis on Tuesday, suggesting there is room for Russia’s ties with traditionally non-aligned India to flourish… Russia remains a key defense supplier [to India] and relations are friendly… Putin’s moves to assert Russian control over Crimea were seen very favorably in the Indian establishment…”

Der Spiegel Online reported on March 20 that behind the scenes, Russia and China are working on a military pact “which could drastically change the alignments between world powers.”

Russia Reasserts Itself in Afghanistan and Middle East

The Washington Post wrote on March 21:

“As the U.S.-led war winds down and Russia reasserts itself in Ukraine and the Middle East, Moscow is also ramping up its investment in Afghanistan. It is rebuilding the relics of the Soviet occupation and promoting its own political and cultural prowess…

“Russia’s recent incursion into its neighbor, Ukraine, and its annexation of Crimea reflect its intent to maintain influence in some former Soviet republics. It also reaching out to old allies further afield. Last month, President Vladimir Putin received Egyptian army chief Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, whose relations with Washington have been strained since a coup last summer, and expressed support for the military man’s expected presidential bid.

“Moscow is also negotiating a major arms deal with Sissi and agreed in 2012 to sell Iraq $4.3 billion in weapons. In Syria, Putin is strongly backing the government of President Bashar al-Assad as he seeks to crush a rebellion that has received support from the West.

“In Afghanistan, Russian officials point to their development activities as a counterexample to U.S. aid projects, which many Afghans criticize as wasteful and misguided… Many Afghans, including President Hamid Karzai, praise the Soviet model even though they fought a bloody 10-year war against the country’s army, which invaded in 1979 to support an unpopular communist government…

“The new warmth between the Kremlin and Afghanistan was visible this week when the Afghan government released a message from Putin marking the Islamic new year. It was the only such message made public, and was released at a time when the United States and European governments are imposing sanctions on Russia for its expansion into Ukraine…

“Russian officials say that supporting Afghanistan makes sense, given their regional interests. Afghanistan shares borders with three former Soviet states that still receive considerable funding — and direction — from Moscow…”

Russia’s ambitions are not limited to Ukraine and other former Soviet satellite nations. Russia’s ultimate goal is world domination.

Putin Eyes Latin America

The Hill wrote von March 21:

“Away from the conflict in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is quietly seeking a foothold in Latin America, military officials warn. To the alarm of lawmakers and Pentagon officials, Putin has begun sending navy ships and long-range bombers to the region for the first time in years. Russia’s defense minister says the country is planning bases in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, and just last week, Putin’s national security team met to discuss increasing military ties in the region…

“The U.S. military says it has been forced to cut back on its engagement with military and government officials in Latin America due to budget cuts. Kelly said the U.S. military had to cancel more than 200 effective engagement activities and multi-lateral exercises in Latin America last year. With the American presence waning, officials say rivals such as Russia, China and Iran are quickly filling the void.

“Iran has opened up 11 additional embassies and 33 cultural centers in Latin America while supporting the ‘operational presence’ of militant group Lebanese Hezbollah in the region… China is making a play for Latin America [as] well, and is now the fastest growing investor in the region, according to experts. Although their activity is mostly economic, they are also increasing military activity through educational exchanges.

“The Chinese Navy conducted a goodwill visit in Brazil, Chile and Argentina last year and conducted its first-ever naval exercise with the Argentine Navy. Meanwhile, the U.S. had to cancel the deployment of its hospital ship USNS Comfort last year… [T]here are 10 countries in Latin America that currently have no U.S. ambassador because they either haven’t been nominated yet or confirmed, a sign that the region is seen as a low priority.”

China, India, Brazil and South Africa Support Russia’s Participation at G20 Summit

The EUObserver wrote on March 25:

“The G7 club of wealthy nations has cancelled a summit with Russia over its annexation of Crimea, but emerging economies have protested against its exclusion from a G20 meeting. The G7 leaders – from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the US – announced the move in a communique published after their meeting in The Hague on Monday (24 March). The June summit, which was to be held in the G8 format with Russia in Sochi, on the Black Sea coast, will now be held in Brussels…

“For its part, US ally Australia had indicated Russia might also be excluded from a G20 summit in Brisbane in November. But Brazil, China, India, and South Africa rejected the idea. They said, together with Russia, also at The Hague, where almost 60 countries had sent VIPs to a Nuclear Security Summit, that ‘the escalation of hostile language, sanctions and counter-sanctions … does not contribute to a sustainable and peaceful solution’ to the Ukraine crisis…

“With Brazil and China now wealthier than some G7 countries, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov noted the G7 has lost its monopoly on global governance. Russia on Monday also hit back at Western sanctions by blacklisting 13 Canadians. It has mocked EU and US blacklists and economic threats.”

The Crimea Anschluss—Is History Repeating Itself?

The Times of Israel wrote on March 21:

“An overwhelming 95.5% voted for the union with Putin’s Russia… The context in which the referendum was held is staggeringly similar to another poll, held in Austria on April 10, 1938. That referendum took place less than a month after German forces had entered Austria and had a 99.71% turnout, with 99.73% of Austrians voting in favor of unification with Germany. The vote sealed the Anschluss, turning Austria into the province of Ostmark within the larger German Reich.

“The Crimean referendum took place against the background of a full-scale propaganda campaign led by the Kremlin-controlled media. In what was likely the worst threat related through the press since the Cold War, the Kremlin’s chief propagandist Dmitry Kiselev said on state TV that ‘Russia was the only country able to turn the US into radioactive ash.’ A giant mushroom-shaped cloud blossomed in the background as he spoke.

“The evening of March 18 saw a pro-annexation demonstration in Moscow’s Red Square. Pop music blasted from an enormous stage erected next to the Kremlin’s ancient walls, and over 100,000 people, according to official estimates, rallied under the slogan ‘One People – One Country.’ An unoriginal statement, which is part of a similar slogan that was invented by another authoritarian leader in the 20th century. Adolf Hitler’s mantra ‘Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer’ (One People, One Empire, One Leader) was widely used in Nazi propaganda on the eve of and throughout WWII.”

Of course, most Crimean people were willing participants in the Anschluss, as were most Austrians.

Russia Wants to Divide Europe

Deutsche Welle reported on March 22:

“During his trip to Ukraine, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has accused Russia of trying to divide Europe… Steinmeier’s visit comes a day after Ukraine signed the political chapters of an association agreement with the EU. Yatsenyuk… also called for greater military cooperation with the EU. ‘We have to re-arm and strengthen the Ukrainian armed forces,’ the prime minister said.”

Deutsche Welle added on March 23:

“German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has warned that the crisis in Crimea could escalate. He threatened Russia with further sanctions if it tried to claim more Ukrainian territory for itself…  ‘If Russia reaches beyond Crimea, we in Europe will decide on radical measures, even if we have to accept economic disadvantages by doing so,’ he said.”

As Europe finally wakes up to Russia’s goal, and feeling quite forsaken by America, it will prompt its leading core European nations to unite militarily.

Britain Defeated on Every Level

News Republic re-published the following article by Press Association, dated March 25:

“Britain has been defeated on every single one of the 55 occasions it has voted against a proposal in the European Council over the past 18 years, new research has found… Britain’s voting power in the European Councils has fallen since 1973 from 17% to 8% as the EU has expanded, while its representation in the European Parliament has decreased from 20% to 9.5% and its share of European Commission staff has dropped from 15% to 4% over the same period, said the report.”

Reintroduction of Compulsory Military Service in Germany?

The Local wrote on March 25:

“Mounting tension in the Crimea is prompting calls for compulsory military service to be reintroduced in Germany. A number of German ex-generals have raised fears over the nation’s military strength should it be drawn into a Nato-led conflict. ‘We need compulsory military service. There is no other way for Germany to guarantee national defence within the [Nato] mutual defence alliance,’ retired Nato general Egon Ramms told Bild newspaper. ‘[It certainly can’t be done] on a voluntary basis.’

“Ramms was commander of the Allied Joint Forces Command between 2007 and 2010, one of the highest-ranking positions in the Nato alliance. He expressed doubts about Germany’s readiness for war in light of the decision in July 2011 to abolish the nine-month stretch of compulsory military service.

“Similar fears were raised by retired Inspector General of the Bundeswehr Harald Kujat, who told the paper staff shortages meant the German army had been ‘brought to its knees’ by the move. ‘We don’t have enough soldiers and not enough qualified ones. We must talk about reintroducing compulsory service,’ agreed CDU politician Patrick Sensburg, who voted against the July 2011 decision in parliament…”

Israel Prepares to Strike Iran… Just an Empty Threat?

The Associated Press reported on March 21:

“A rising chorus of Israeli voices is again raising the possibility of carrying out a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities in what appears to be an attempt to draw renewed attention to Tehran’s atomic program — and Israel’s unhappiness with international negotiations with the Iranians.

“In recent days, a series of newspaper reports and comments by top defense officials have signaled that the military option remains very much on the table. While Israeli officials say Israel never shelved the possibility of attacking, the heightened rhetoric marks a departure from Israel’s subdued approach since six world powers opened negotiations with Iran last November…

“A front-page headline in the daily Haaretz on Thursday proclaimed that Netanyahu has ordered ‘to prep for strike on Iran in 2014’ and has allocated 10 billion shekels (2.87 billion dollars) for the groundwork. Earlier this week, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon hinted that Israel would have to pursue a military strike on its own, with the U.S. having chosen the path of negotiations. And the military chief, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, said this week that Iran ‘is not in an area that is out of the military’s range.’

“An Israeli military strike would be extremely difficult to pull off, both for logistical and political reasons. Any mission would likely require sending Israeli warplanes into hostile airspace, and it remains unclear how much damage Israel could inflict on a program that is scattered and hidden deep underground. In addition, it would likely set off an international uproar, derail the international negotiations and trigger retaliation on Israeli and U.S. targets…”

Netanyahu Allocates Almost $3 Billion for Iran Attack

Newsmax reported on March 23:

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon have reportedly ordered the military to continue preparing for a possible strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Three Knesset members who were present at Knesset joint committee hearings on Israel Defense Forces plans said that at least 10 billion shekels ($2.89 billion) of the defense budget would be allocated this year for preparations for the strike on Iran, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

“After an interim accord between Iran and six world powers was reached, Netanyahu stressed that Israel will not consider itself bound by it. Netanyahu in fact is again making implied threats about a possible unilateral Israeli strike.  ‘My friends, I believe that letting Iran enrich uranium would open up the floodgates,’ Netanyahu said at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington earlier this month. ‘That must not happen. And we will make sure it does not happen.’

“Ya’alon said in a recent speech at Tel Aviv University that he is now likely to back a unilateral strike on Iran in light of his assessment that the Obama administration will not do so, according to Haaretz.”

 Israel’s disappointment with the weak leadership of America is telling and frightening.

Israel Shuts Down All Its Embassies and Consulates Worldwide

JTA reported on March 23:

“Employees of the Foreign Ministry in Israel declared a general strike, shutting down the country’s 103 embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions around the world. The strike, which is open ended, was called on Sunday following two weeks of labor sanctions and seven months of mediation. ‘Today, for the first time in Israel’s history, the Foreign Ministry will be closed and no work will be done in any sphere under the ministry’s authority,’ said a statement issued Sunday by the Foreign Ministry’s worker’s committee…

“The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem also was closed, preventing Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman from entering his office. The strike could torpedo a planned visit by Pope Francis in May. Limited sanctions initiated two weeks ago caused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a trip to Latin America. Damage to Israel’s economy due to the work dispute has totaled millions of dollars.”

Turkey Shoots Down Syrian Warplane

The Associated Press reported on March 23:

“Turkish fighter jets shot down a Syrian warplane Sunday after it violated the country’s airspace, Turkey’s prime minister said, in a move likely to ramp up tensions between two countries already deeply at odds over Syria’s civil war. A spokesman for Syria’s military confirmed the incident, denouncing it as a ‘blatant aggression.’ The unnamed spokesman quoted on Syrian state TV said the plane was hit while pursuing gunmen near the border, and that the pilot safely ejected from the aircraft.

“Top NATO commander says Moldovan region is vulnerable as Russia masses forces on Ukraine’s eastern border. Turkey, once an ally of Syria, has emerged as one of the strongest critics of Syrian President Bashar Assad and is now one of the main backers of the 3-year-old rebellion against him. Hostilities have flared along the border on several occasions, although the exchanges of fire have generally been brief and very limited in scope…

“Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking at a rally in northwestern Turkey a week ahead of local elections, congratulated the Turkish military. ‘If you violate our border, our slap will be hard,’ he said.”

Turkey—biblical Edom—will cooperate with Europe, but its brutal methods will be condemned by God.

Turkey Blocks Internet Access

Deutsche Welle reported on March 27:

“Authorities attempted to restrict access to video-sharing website YouTube on Thursday ‘as a precaution,’ Technology Minister Fikri Isik said… Just hours earlier an audio file was published on YouTube of a recording of a security meeting at which top government, military and spy officials had discussed a possible plan for military action inside Syria…

“The European Union’s top official for digital affairs called Turkey’s action on Thursday ‘desperate and depressing.’ ‘I express my support for all those supporters of real freedom and democracy,’ EU Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement. ‘We in Europe stand for an open Internet and free expression on it,’ Kroes said… Turkey also has the largest number of jailed journalists in the world.”

But Not Just in Turkey

Infowars reported on March 23:

“A major anti-Obama YouTube channel with 55 million views was shut down yesterday just days after a new policy went into effect handing governments the power to flag ‘extremist’ content on the video sharing website.  Media commentator and activist Mark Dice, whose channel had 55 million views and 265,000 subscribers, had his account suspended yesterday for what YouTube described as ‘severe terms of service violations’. The channel was not deleted due to copyright issues…

“The most popular videos on Dice’s channel lambasted supporters of Barack Obama. Dice had built up a reputation for his ‘man on the street’ videos which featured him getting Obama supporters to sign petitions that called for a number of insane proposal…

“After Dice made a video drawing attention to the censorship on his back-up channel, that too was deleted despite having zero strikes against it… Attempts to get an explanation for why the channel was deleted have proven fruitless.

“Dice’s YouTube channel was also deleted after parent company Google gave some 200 government and police organizations ‘super flagger’ powers enabling them to flag up to 20 videos for review and possible removal.”

Subsequently, Infowars reported:

“UPDATE: About 3 hours after this article was posted and following a wave of public pressure, Mark Dice’s channel was restored by YouTube.”

Controversial Court Decision in Egypt against Muslim Brotherhood

BBC News wrote on March 23:

“Authorities have cracked down harshly on Islamists since Mr Morsi was removed by the military in July. Hundreds have been killed and thousands arrested. In a case centred on the killing of a single police officer, more than 520 defendants have been sentenced to death, at a breathtaking pace… The verdict now goes to Egypt’s supreme religious authority, the Grand Mufti (a senior Islamic scholar), for approval or rejection…

“The Muslim Brotherhood has denounced death sentences and Washington expressed shock and concern… The Muslim Brotherhood’s spokesman in London, Abdullah el-Haddad, told the BBC the sentences showed that Egypt was now a dictatorship… The US government also questioned how the defendants could have had a fair trial in just two court sessions – one of which was Monday’s sentencing.”

Another consequence of the “Arab Spring”—a movement destined to failure from the outset.

Homosexuality Non-Pardonable Offense in Ethiopia?

The Washington Times wrote on March 25:

“Lawmakers in Ethiopia are about to pass a law that lists homosexuality as a crime for which there is no forgiveness — a stipulation that would have dramatic impact on those seeking amnesty or pardon. Specifically, the new rule would list homosexuality as a ‘non-pardonable’ offense under the country’s amnesty law, The Associated Press reported.

“The nation already has strict same-sex prohibitions. Those found guilty of engaging in sex acts with others of the same gender can be sentenced up to 15 years in prison. Those who engage in same-sex acts and infect another with HIV can be imprisoned up to 25 years, AP reported. The new law would mean that the president would not be able to pardon anybody convicted of those offenses — in much the same manner the law prohibits the president from granting freedom to anyone convicted of terrorism.

“Ethiopia’s Council of Ministers has already given the thumbs-up to the proposal, and it’s largely expected to pass with a wide majority during a scheduled vote next week, AP said.”

What to Do With Chemical Weapons

The Los Angeles Times wrote on March 21:

“Even as the United States pushes Syria to surrender its chemical weapons for destruction in a matter of months, this country has struggled for decades with its own deadly stockpiles.

“Redstone Arsenal, in the swampy lowlands of northern Alabama, is the largest of the 249 sites in 40 states and territories where chemical weapons remain buried and await cleanup at a cost of billions of dollars. Just outside the Redstone gates is Huntsville, a city of nearly 200,000 residents.

“As World War II ended, the United States military collected chemical weapons from Nazi Germany and Japan, as well as from British and American stockpiles. A million chemical weapon munitions marked for storage or disposal were shipped to Redstone, where the U.S. had produced blister agents and other chemical weapons during the war… Today a toxic stew of some of the most lethal weapons ever devised rests beneath the surface: Nazi mustard, a liquid blister agent. Lewisite, another blister agent. Adamsite, a vomiting agent. And possibly Nazi tabun, a nerve agent. Also buried are containers of white phosphorus, chlorine, smoke bombs, tear gas and incendiary bombs…

“President Nixon declared a moratorium on new production of chemical weapons in 1969. In 1985, the U.S. declared its chemical weapons stockpiles obsolete and said they should be destroyed. By the time the U.S. in 1997 signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, an international treaty outlawing production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and their precursors, the country was stuck not only with buried weapons at sites such as Redstone, but also with stockpiles totaling 31,500 tons of chemicals in mortar and artillery shells, rockets and other lethal weapons. Most contained mustard or the nerve agents sarin and VX.

“In 1990, the process of incinerating those weapons began at eight sites in the U.S. and on Johnston Atoll in the Pacific. Nearly 90% of the job was completed by April 2012, leaving only two chemical weapons stockpiles, in Pueblo, Colo., and Blue Grass, Ky. Disposal by incineration was halted because of environmental concerns, and the remaining 10% is now set to be destroyed by a chemical process. The rough target dates for completion are 2017 for the Colorado stockpile and 2021 to 2023 for the one in Kentucky…

“The U.S. has rid itself of some chemical weapons by burying them at sea. There were about 72 separate disposals in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans and Mediterranean Sea. Dumping chemical weapons at sea was banned by Congress in 1972, but there is no plan to clean up the underwater sites…”

The curse of chemical weapons will haunt the nations—including America—for a long time.

The Washington Mudslide

BBC News reported on March 27:

“The number of fatalities in a mudslide in Washington state will rise ‘substantially’ in the next two days, authorities say. Sixteen bodies have been recovered and another nine bodies have been found but not yet retrieved. Some 90 people remain missing after the 177ft (54m) wall of mud hit the town of Oso, north of Seattle…

“The mudslide on Saturday destroyed about 30 houses, temporarily damming a river and leaving a square mile field of muck and debris in its wake. ‘This disaster is so enormous, I sometimes think even the pictures don’t always do it justice,’ said Congresswoman Suzan DelBene, who represents the area… The mile debris field is pocked with deep pits of water and strewn with sharp and dangerous wreckage, including fallen trees, propane and septic tanks, destroyed vehicles and smashed timber.”

USA Plans to Surrender Control over the Internet

Newsmax wrote on March 23:

“Former President Bill Clinton objects to the Obama administration’s plan to give up the United States’ control over online domain names and addresses saying that the country’s agencies have done a good job keeping the Internet free and open. ‘A lot of people… have been trying to take this authority from the U.S. for the sole purpose of cracking down on Internet freedom and limiting it and having governments protect their backsides instead of empowering the people,’ Clinton said…

“And although National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden’s revelations gave ‘new energy’ to an international opinion that the United States should not be in control of domain names, Clinton disagrees, saying that he does not believe the control should be spread out among other nations… The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers… has been in charge of managing Internet addresses since 1998.

“… opponents [to the plan to surrender US control] say the plan opens the door for totalitarian governments such as Russia and China to gain more control over the Internet… ‘I understand in theory why we would like to have a multi-stakeholder process,’ said Clinton. ‘I favor that. I just know that a lot of these so-called multi-stakeholders are really governments that want to gag people and restrict access to the Internet.’”

The Religious US Supreme Court

The Washington Post wrote on March 23:

“Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. are devout Catholics who faced questions during their confirmation hearings about how their faith would affect their jurisprudence. Justice Clarence Thomas is a former seminarian who says God saved his life.

“Justice Antonin Scalia is the most outspoken. He has urged fellow intellectuals to be ‘fools for Christ’ and used an interview last fall to underscore his belief in the existence of the Devil, whose latest maneuver, he said, ‘is getting people not to believe in him or in God.’

“Justice Elena Kagan, not religious like the others, nonetheless has reminded Jewish groups that she undertook years of three-days-a-week religious instruction as a child. She negotiated with her rabbi to be the first girl to have a bat mitzvah at New York City’s Lincoln Square Synagogue…

“Much attention has been given to the religious makeup of the current edition of the Roberts court. With six Catholics and three Jews, it is the first without a Protestant member.”

Francis and Obama – a Lot in Common

Religious News Service reported on March 22:

“President Obama is to meet Pope Francis for the first time next week (March 27) as Obama wraps up a European tour, a high-profile encounter between two major world leaders that appears to carry especially high stakes from the U.S. perspective… the two men have a lot in common… Ken Hackett, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See… said there’s no doubt that Francis and Obama differ on issues like abortion rights and gay marriage. But neither he nor Vatican officials expect those wedges to dominate the discussions, nor would either camp want them to sidetrack the meeting…

“Instead, the talks are likely to be governed by two other realities. The first is that Francis, the first pope from Latin America, has clearly signaled that he wants the Catholic Church’s public witness to focus less on culture war issues and more on addressing income inequality and helping the poor and society’s outcasts — which dovetails with Obama’s priorities…

“A second factor shaping the upcoming Vatican meeting is the sudden eruption of violence in global hot spots. Obama has been drawn somewhat reluctantly into the foreign policy arena while he would prefer to focus on domestic issues at home. Francis, meanwhile, has sought to push the Vatican back onto the world stage as a voice for peace and a diplomatic player that can play a concrete role as well as providing moral and spiritual guidance…

“Hackett also noted that Francis’ planned visit to the Holy Land in May will give the Vatican another high-profile role in a volatile region at the same time Kerry is trying to develop a framework for peace… Vatican officials often speak highly of Obama in private conversations, and even when they disagree with him they do so in terms that are far less caustic and charged than the language many U.S. bishops use.

“For his part, Obama has gone out of his way to praise and quote the pope. That’s no surprise: Obama got his start as a community organizer working with the Archdiocese of Chicago fresh out of college — an experience that helped shape his views and politics much as Francis’ ministry as a priest and bishop in poor areas in Argentina shaped him…”

Some of the “similarities” are quite revealing…

Reuters added on March 27:

“Calling himself ‘a great admirer’, President Barack Obama held nearly an hour of private talks about the global situation with Pope Francis on Thursday and invited the pontiff to visit the White House… Ahead of the meeting, Obama told the Corriere della Sera that Francis’s ‘great moral authority’ had added weight to calls to redress the increasing imbalance between the winners and losers of globalization and economic change… Francis has turned his back on much of the traditional formality of the Vatican but he deployed the full weight of state ceremonial on Thursday, welcoming the U.S. President outside the Papal Library in the richly frescoed Small Throne Room, where they shook hands warmly before beginning their private meeting.”

… but Differences Remain!

The Washington Times wrote on March 27:

“President Obama’s first meeting with Pope Francis produced a little schism of its own. The Vatican and White House gave starkly different versions Thursday of Mr. Obama’s meeting with Francis… Mr. Obama deflected a reporter’s question about the extent of his discussion with the pope on the contraceptive mandate by saying that Francis ‘actually did not touch in detail’ on the subject. The administration has been locked in a lengthy legal and political battle with the U.S. Catholic Church hierarchy over Obamacare and issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.

“The Vatican, however, issued a statement after the meeting saying the president’s discussions with Francis and two other top Vatican officials focused ‘on questions of particular relevance for the [Catholic] Church in [the United States], such as the exercise of the rights to religious freedom, life and conscientious objection’ — issues that have fueled divisions between Mr. Obama and the church.”

To answer this question, let us begin with some basic passages in the Bible. Here is what John 9:31 tells us: “Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.”

Psalm 34:17 also tells us the following about righteous people: “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.”

How are we to understand the statement that God does not hear sinners? Is this an error since we believe that God knows and thus hears everything–even the most secret thoughts of men, as we read in Psalm 94:11: “The LORD knows the thoughts of man, That they are futile.”

The correct understanding of this question has to do with the fact that God does not act upon or respond in a positive way to the prayers of sinners.  But since we have all sinned and still sin today, how is that fact to be comprehended?

Someone might  be sincere and keep the commandments of God, at least in the letter, except perhaps the Sabbath, due to him not being called and given that particular understanding. Will God always reject the prayer of such a person?  What does God say about this?

Romans 9:14-15 tells us: “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, ‘I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOMEVER I WILL HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOMEVER I WILL HAVE COMPASSION.’”

In our related Q&A on John 9:31, we explain what the Bible means with “sinner.” We point out that we all sin, but this does not make us sinners. Sinners are those who PRACTICE and LIVE in sin and who are unwilling to repent of their sins, even when they become aware of them. It is they whom God does not, of necessity, respond to in a favourable way.

There is a link between obedience and having our prayers heard and answered. In his Autobiography, Herbert W. Armstrong, the late human leader of the Church of God,  talks about a man who was not a converted Christian, but apparently, for whatever reason, God had granted him a special gift of healing. We do not know how this man lived and how much he obeyed God with the knowledge that he had been given. We do not know why God, in this very unusual and highly exceptional case, granted this still unconverted person a special gift to be able to heal people. However, when he learned from Mr. Armstrong the truth about the Sabbath, he rejected that knowledge and angrily refused to act upon it. As a consequence, God took the gift of healing away from him.  It  is obvious that God was revealing to this man His Way of Life, but due to his rebellion towards God’s Law, God rejected him, as it were, and he lost the gift of healing that God had given him.  This is an important lesson for us because if we want God to hear our prayers and respond to them in a favourable way, we must strive to be obedient to Him in everything.

This is not to say that the man lost his salvation, but he turned down an opportunity to follow God. He will still have his opportunity, apparently in the Second Resurrection, to make the right decisions when his mind is truly being opened. However, when dealing with Mr. Armstrong, he acted similar to the ruler who had riches and turned down an opportunity to become a minister, as we read in Luke 18:18-23:

“Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ So Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: “DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,” “DO NOT MURDER,” “DO NOT STEAL,” “DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS,” “’HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER.”’ And he said, ‘All these things I have kept from my youth.’ So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, ‘You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’ But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.”

Little children are basically unaware of what sin is. But they may have a humble and teachable heart. When they pray to God, He might answer their prayers.  Let us realize what Christ said about little children, in Matthew 18:3-4:  “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Little children don’t have an agenda. They are quick to forgive. They are open to teaching. Many times, God may respond to their prayers,  if they “believe” in God in their limited way, since Christians must become “like” them to be able to enter God’s Kingdom.

God knows our innermost thoughts. Nothing escapes His attention, and in that sense, He hears the prayers of everyone. But that does not mean that He responds to the prayers of sinners. And it does not even mean that He always responds to His faithful servants in the way which they would like Him to do. Let us notice what he said to Moses, in Deuteronomy 3:26-27:  “But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me. So the LORD said to me: ‘Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift your eyes toward the west, the north, the south, and the east; behold it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan.’”

Even though God had worked with Moses for a long time, He did not grant Moses’ request; in fact, He told him not to mention the matter again, because Moses had sinned by not following God’s specific instructions and by taking God’s glory upon himself.  There are consequences for sin, and Moses was no exception–he was able to see the Promised Land, but he was not allowed to enter it.

If we are close to God and try, as much as possible, to live a sinless life, God will hear and answer our prayers. He will respond to them according to His Will. He will provide us with our needs and many times, He will even grant us the desires of our hearts.

On the other hand, God does not “hear” approvingly the prayers of sinners—of those who PRACTICE lawlessness. He does not listen carefully to their pleas, and He will not respond to their requests in a positive way. To the contrary, He may curse them for living in rebellion against His Will. So, if we want God to answer our prayers and grant us the petitions of our hearts, we need to obey Him. After all, there is a strong connection between obedience and answered prayers, as we read in 1 John 3:22: “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”

Lead Writer: Rene Messier

“Christ’s New Commandment” is the title of the new StandingWatch program presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary: Did Christ come to replace the Ten Commandments with a “new” commandment? What IS the new commandment, and most importantly, how can we fulfill it?

Another StandingWatch program has been recorded and will be posted next week. It is titled, “One Nation Under What God?”

All our StandingWatch programs are also broadcast on numerous radio stations. For a complete schedule and list of stations, please go to www.standingwatch.org  and view “StandingWatch Radio.”

Don’t forget to visit us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ChurchoftheEternalGod

Norbert Link’s video-recorded sermon, “Christ’s Parables in the Book of Matthew” has been posted on the Web.

Our new booklet on the ongoing validity of Old Testament laws is being finalized by our Graphic Designer, Shelly Bruno.

The printing of our German booklet, “The Keys to Happy Marriages and Families,” is being completed.

Norbert and Johanna Link will travel to Germany on April 7th of this year. Plans are being made for counseling brethren as well as conducting services for Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread along with finalizing organizational arrangements for the Church in Germany. Michael Link will also travel to Germany for Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread and assist with Church functions and organizational arrangements. Several baptisms are anticipated, and Norbert Link is scheduled to officiate at a church wedding on May 1. Norbert and Johanna Link will return to the US on May 5, 2014.

The 2014 Church Conference will begin Friday, March 28th, and continue through Tuesday, April 1st, in San Diego, California. We contemplate discussing various topics, including, but not limited to, doctrinal and administrative differences between our organizations and other Sabbath-keeping COG groups; the future of the Work in the USA, Canada, the UK and German- and French-speaking areas, including Feast of Tabernacles plans for 2014 and 2015; our Internet and radio presence; writing and printing of new booklets, as well as reprints; and the confirmation of our understanding of certain doctrinal matters, including John 7:37-39 and Matthew 5:19. Your prayers for a successful Conference and the revaluation of God’s Will are greatly appreciated.

Brian and Jill Gale will stay following the Conference, and Mr. Gale will conduct Passover services in Ramona, California. Rene and Delia Messier will be in Oregon for Passover and the beginning of Unleavened Bread. Passover Services will be conducted by the ministry in Fort Collins, Colorado, as well.

We are requesting your ongoing URGENT prayers for a German Feast of Tabernacles site for 2014. All arrangements had been made with an hotel in the Black Forest, but we are now being informed that due to financial difficulties and lack of investors, the hotel ceased operation and cancelled all contracts with their guests. We are looking for a new Feast site in Germany, but this search proves very difficult and extremely time-consuming. One possibility has just opened up in Berlin and is being investigated. Another more remote possibility in Eltville is also being looked at (This is the location where the Church kept the Spring Festival many years ago.). Please pray for God’s intervention and His direction in the matter.

“Christi Gleichnisse vom Reich Gottes, Teil 3,” is the title of this week’s new German sermon. In this final installment of the series about the parables of Jesus Christ, Norbert Link addresses several parables in the book of Luke. Title in English: “Christ’s Parables of the Kingdom of God, Part 3.”

A new Global Trailer has been presented by Pastor Brian Gale (United Kingdom) in which he brings out highlights from our booklet, “Do We Have an Immortal Soul?” These programs with Pastors Rene Messier (Canada) and Brian Gale (UK) are being shown with intriguing graphics compiled and included by Johanna Link. Please make an effort to watch these meaningful presentations.

by John Amorelli

Last month, the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, took place and were broadcast globally. As I was watching some of the events, my mind was wandering back to the gala “Opening Ceremony,” which showed a multitude of athletes representing their nations and countries that really caught my attention. I started thinking about the coming of God’s Kingdom into this world as an “Olympic Event,” spiritually speaking. It will be an unparalleled and quintessential event!

I was also pondering on the years of training, endurance and persistence the athletes had to go through to achieve “Olympian” status. They were focused on “Going for the Gold.” They had experienced injuries and fell down hard in some events, but they got back on their feet and continued their endeavor to be back in the game to reach for the gold.

Just as the athletes in the physical Olympics, I have to remind myself that I am in a spiritual Olympic Game. When I get injured and fall down, spiritually, I need to get myself up and get back in the game—which is God’s Way of Life—and to “Go for the Gold,” which is God’s coming Kingdom!

Watching a spectacular event, such as the Olympics, reminds me of a future spiritual event which is worth all of the training, trials, tribulations and persecutions in this life. God desires for me to be in His Kingdom and He wants me to “Go for the Gold”!

The question I have for myself is: Am I in the Game?