On August 17, 2013, Eric Rank will give the sermon, titled, “Death and Life”

The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

Christianity in its beginning was called, simply, “the Way,” and this a reference mentioned several times in the Book of Acts (compare Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 24:14, 22). Acts 18:25 speaks of “the way of the Lord,” and in verse 26, “the way of God.”

Time and again, Christians are encouraged—in fact, commanded—to behave in the same fashion as Jesus Christ did. Paul went so far as to use this as a standard for himself in his ministry when he sought to teach others, saying, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).

We find that Paul consistently taught that Jesus Christ was the example he followed and the example for all Christians:

“Therefore I urge you, imitate me. For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church” (1 Corinthians 4:16-17).

Additionally, Paul teaches, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children” (Ephesians 5:1). The New Testament also uses the word “godliness” to describe how Christians should live their lives (compare 1 Timothy 4:8; 2 Peter 3:11).

Being able to live in this manner testifies to our conversion and to whether or not we are truly overcoming sin. Most of you who read our Updates are to one degree or another interested in the subject of Christianity. But Christianity is not a mere curiosity; it is a life-changing way of living. It isn’t a part-time endeavor; rather, this Way is an all-consuming commitment to obey and love God, “‘with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’” (Matthew 22:37).

So by this standard, how do you judge yourself?

We report on the ongoing deteriorating relationship between Israel and its Western allies, especially the USA and Europe, and the danger of Israel’s total isolation. We also report on Glenn Beck’s stunning recognition that the American people are in fact part of the lost tribes of the house of Israel.

We report on developments in Egypt and America’s failed diplomacy; and developments in Iran and America’s icy relationship with Russia. We then focus once again on the ongoing NSA spying scandal and its fallout in Germany, which might even jeopardize Angela Merkel’s re-election in September—even though her challenger does not seem to be a valid alternative for many Germans. In any event, trust of the American and German people in their governments is reaching a low level, which is unparalleled in recent history.

We address the century-long and recently rejuvenated dispute between Britain and Spain over Gibraltar—one of the “doors” promised to the modern nations of the house of Israel and especially the modern descendants of Joseph—Ephraim and Manasseh. Another hotly debated issue are the British-controlled Falkland Islands, which Argentina claims to be theirs.

We report that Europe’s recession seems to be over; and we address intriguing and troubling subjects such as “near-death experiences”; California’s decision regarding transgender children; a decision of a Texas court regarding cloned horses; and worsening fires in the USA.

America’s and Europe’s Serious “Concerns” About Israel

On August 12, dpa wrote the following:

“The United States on Monday said it has ‘serious concerns’ about Israel’s approval of more than 1,000 new homes in Palestinian areas ahead of the launch of new peace negotiations. ‘We do not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity,’ State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said.”

Netanyahu Challenges Europe

The Times of Israel wrote on August 12:

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the European Union’s new anti-settlement directives Monday in a meeting with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who was on an official visit to Israel…. ‘I have to say, on a sad note, that I think Europe — the European guidelines by the EU — have actually undermined peace.’…

“The day before, President Shimon Peres met with the German foreign minister and called on the EU to halt the implementation of the measures, saying that when the future borders are determined between Israel and a Palestinian state, the issue of settlements will be solved… Earlier Sunday, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said the borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state will be determined by the two sides, and not by the European Union.”

Israel Facing Total Isolation

Bloomberg wrote on August 12:

“U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace mission to the Middle East is semi-quixotic, if not wholly quixotic. I doubt he’ll reach his goal of negotiating a final-status agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The two sides haven’t even agreed yet to the topics they’ll discuss in negotiations…

“There are some early signs that Netanyahu is realizing the price his country may one day pay for its settlements, in particular those near Palestinian population centers. He met recently with some of Israel’s leading manufacturers, who expressed their worry that their products may one day be boycotted in Europe, a worry he shares. Kerry, capitalizing on this anxiety, has warned Netanyahu in recent weeks that if the current peace talks bear no fruit, Israel may soon be facing an international delegitimization campaign — in his words – ‘on steroids’…

“Kerry thinks the one thing Netanyahu fears as much as Iran’s nuclear program is the growing power of the international movement that seeks to isolate, scapegoat and demonize his country…

“Although Netanyahu is worried that the campaign to make Israel appear to be an illegitimate state could hurt the country’s robust economy, he is said to be even more worried that this campaign will erode Israel’s ability to defend itself. The theory is simple: A country seen as illegitimate, not only by the powerful Arab lobby at the United Nations but also by Western powers, will have little standing if it is forced to retaliate against sustained attacks from groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which remain committed to Israel’s extermination. Netanyahu thinks that the campaign to delegitimize Israel could force Western powers to rein in Israel, or at the very least, rush to condemn it before it has the chance to defend itself.

“Netanyahu’s two fears are related. Israel will find it increasingly difficult to one day act against the Iranian nuclear program if it is hobbled by the hostility of the international community…

“So, when the European Union recently issued guidelines that will restrict its members from (among other things) funding research conducted on the far side of Israel’s 1967 borders, these politicians decided, in their wisdom, that Israel should engage in a partial boycott of the EU. They’re demanding that Israel withdraw from a lucrative EU-sponsored research-funding program to protest the settlement exclusion guidelines.

“Netanyahu also finds the new EU guidelines reprehensible (and they are, in fact, highly problematic, potentially placing settlers in the far-flung Jewish colonies of the West Bank in the same category as Jewish residents of the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City). But he understands that he can’t win a fight with the entire EU if it decides to enact a partial boycott of his country… Threats directed at Israel from Europe, the continent whose cruelty and hatred helped create a need for a Jewish national refuge in the first place, may… bolster Israel’s far-right…”

Israel will end up in total isolation. The USA or the UK won’t be able to help it, and continental Europe will ultimately invade the country, as the Bible clearly predicts.

Glenn Beck and the Lost Tribes of Israel

In a recent TV program, widely-known moderator Glenn Beck stated his belief that the United States of America and Great Britain are among the descendants of the Lost Tribes of the House of Israel. A pertinent portion of the program can be watched on YouTube. A longer version can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVkKFcl3fOU . In the program, Beck also pointed out that the ancient Assyrians settled in Western Europe, including Germany.

Glenn Beck is right on these points. For more information, please read our free booklets, Germany in Prophecy; Europe in Prophecy; and the Fall and Rise of Britain and America.

Iran’s True Intensions

The Washington Times wrote on August 13:

“Newly elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has picked his defense minister [Hossein Dehghan. In 1982], after Israel invaded Lebanon, sparking a decade-long civil war, Mr. Dehghan was sent to Lebanon to help establish a military wing for Hezb’Allah, the Iranian-backed Shi’ite political movement.

“The following year he was appointed the commander of IGRC forces in Lebanon. Shortly afterwards, the IGRC received orders from Tehran to attack multinational peacekeeping forces in Beirut. On October 25, 1983, a Shi’ite suicide attacker detonated a truck bomb at the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241; simultaneously, another suicide bomber blew up the French paratroopers’ barracks in Beirut, killing 58 soldiers… The order to carry out the attacks was transmitted, and the funding and operational training provided, with the help of the Revolutionary Guard in Lebanon under the command of Hossein Dehghan…”

Turmoil in Egypt… Again

The Associated Press reported on August 14:

“In Egypt’s bloodiest day since the Arab Spring began, riot police Wednesday smashed two protest camps of supporters of the deposed Islamist president, touching off street violence that officials said killed nearly 300 people and forced the military-backed interim leaders to impose a state of emergency and curfew.

“The crackdown drew widespread condemnation from the Muslim world and the West… and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei resigned as the interim vice president in protest – a blow to the new leadership’s credibility with the pro-reform movement.”

Der Spiegel Online added on August 14:

“Horribly battered corpses lie in the streets, and there are more than 1,000 injured. The government sought to bring calm to Cairo by clearing the Morsi camps, but now the entire country is under a state of emergency. Residents fear a ‘war between two Egypts.’”

We warned that this would happen. Please read our free booklet, “Middle Eastern and African Nations in Bible Prophecy.”  

Irreconcilable Differences

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote on August 15:

“The three most important institutions that ensured the country’s cohesion and stayed out of politics — the military, the Islamic Al Azhar University and the Coptic Church — were parties in the putsch this time. Morsi’s supporters are now disputing their integrity and view these institutions as political enemies. The basis for possible consensus in Egypt has collapsed.”

Handelsblatt wrote on August 15:

“The bloodbath on the Nile … is a scandal. A scandal for the country, but also a scandal for international diplomacy… But warnings or expressions of concern are insufficient because what is beginning in Egypt is a serious drama — a vicious cycle of lasting violence.”

Even though news commentators are saying now that nobody could have foreseen these recent developments, we did warn from the outset that this would happen. Please read our free booklet, “Middle Eastern and African Nations in Bible Prophecy.” 

America’s Failed Diplomacy

The Christian Science Monitor wrote on August 14:

“Since the military coup that ousted the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi from the Egyptian presidency on July 3, the Obama administration has bent over backwards not to call it a ‘coup.’ The reasoning behind this decision was that Egypt’s military is the most powerful force in the country and that alienating and punishing them for their action would both undercut US influence and create the conditions for a broad military crackdown…

“So while principled talk about ‘democracy’ and getting militaries out of politics is one thing, the world of realpolitik is something else. While emissaries from Obama danced around the ‘coup’ question, the US government refused to announce a cut off in the Egyptian military’s $1.3 billion annual subsidy, and continually urged restraint and reconciliation. These decisions led to odd rhetorical constructions from the US government, as when State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki was pressed last week on whether the Obama administration thought Egypt’s military had carried out a coup. ‘We have determined that we do not need to make a determination,’ she said.

“Today, the military… delivered the military’s own determination: We’re going ahead and doing it our way. This morning Obama White House Spokesman Josh Earnest said that the US is opposed to the state of emergency declared by Egypt’s military, which gives it sweeping powers, much as a state of emergency after the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981 formed the backbone of the military-backed Mubarak dictatorship that prevailed until 2011. Mr. Earnest said the US believes today’s actions will make achieving ‘stability’ more difficult. He also said that the US is not ready to determine whether Egypt has had a military coup. He said Egypt’s interim rulers have promised a swift creation of a democracy and ‘it’s a promise we’re going to encourage them to keep’…

“A cycle of violence, with the military calling the shots, is all but assured for the foreseeable future. Elections, let alone free and fair ones, this year? Not likely to happen. Forming a national consensus on a revised constitution any time soon? Also hard to imagine…

“It’s a truism that you can’t please everybody. But in the case of Egypt, the US has pleased precisely no one. And the Arab world’s most populous country is heading into a period of turmoil likely to dwarf the troubles of the past few years.”

The New York Times added on August 14:

“Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday condemned the Egyptian military’s crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood protesters… Mr. Kerry, who was speaking on behalf of a vacationing President Obama, did not disclose any specific American response to the crackdown and left without taking questions from reporters. For Mr. Obama, who was wrapping up a round of golf on Martha’s Vineyard as Mr. Kerry stepped before the cameras, the upheaval in Egypt put him in an awkward but familiar place: on vacation, confronting a wave of bloodshed in the Middle East…

“A spokesman, Josh Earnest, said Mr. Obama had been briefed Wednesday morning on the situation… He said, however, that the administration did not plan to shift its policy, which is to keep open lines of communication to Egypt’s generals and maintain the flow of American military aid. Mr. Earnest declined to label the military’s ouster of President Mohamed Morsi a coup, a designation that could prompt a cutoff of $1.5 billion a year in aid…

“The United States has walked a fine line in dealing with the Egyptian military… ‘The outcome of the current Egyptian crisis will determine how America is seen in the Muslim world for years,’ said Bruce O. Riedel, a former intelligence officer and adviser to the administration who is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. ‘If it looks like the U.S. effectively colluded in a counterrevolution, then all the talk about democracy and Islam, about a new American relationship with the Islamic world, will be judged to have been the height of hypocrisy,’ Mr. Riedel said. However horrifying the images from Cairo, analysts said, the president faces the same conundrum he has had since early 2011, when President Hosni Mubarak was forced out in a mass uprising: the United States, even with its aid, has little leverage over events there…”

In other words, who cares what America says and does…? And America’s ill-conceived actions and lack thereof make matters only worse…

America’s Middle East Policy—a Lot of Empty Words

The Washington Post wrote on August 15:

“Put it this way: President Obama’s Egypt policy is about as effective as his Syria policy. And for the first time Wednesday, with the number of dead and injured mounting, one could almost envision Egypt’s descent into out-and-out civil war.

“Obama was briefed, said nothing and went back to golf. Secretary of State John Kerry took a break from his fruitless obsession with the nonexistent ‘peace process’ to condemn the violence, but took no questions and had no policy announcement. This, in a nutshell, is the White House’s approach to the Middle East — the absence of any policy and a lot of empty words.

“Sam Tadros, a Egyptian expert at the Hudson Institute who is also affiliated with the Hoover Institution, is not optimistic… The question now is what can be done and what role the United States should play. Tadros is blunt: ‘As to outside powers, I am afraid it is too late now…’

“In a sense, then, Obama might as well play golf. He’s dropped the ball on Egypt and the entire region, leaving the United States with few options and the Egyptian people to a bloody future in the short run and a repressive authoritarian junta in the longer run. This is a policy failure of the highest order.

“Isolationists on the right and left argue that the United States has no interest in places like Egypt. But without U.S. leadership, what follows in places such as Egypt and Syria is a humanitarian and geopolitical nightmare that doesn’t stay within one country’s borders. Syria, Iran and Hezbollah must be gleeful to see the United States so weakened and insignificant.”

It would not be fair to just blame the military for the violence. The Muslim Brotherhood is clearly provoking and committing violence as well, as they did from the outset. Both sides are to blame. Of course, in this world of Satanic violence and a total lack of worship of the TRUE and ONLY God, there are NO solutions. It will take the return of Jesus Christ to bring peace and end the violence.

On a “Working Vacation…”

NBC News reported on August 15:

“President Barack Obama strongly condemned  Egypt’s interim government Thursday, saying the United States was canceling a planned joint military operation in protest over violent clashes that left at least 525 dead.

“He also called on Egypt’s army-backed interim government, which took power after the July 3 ouster of elected president Mohammed Morsi, to cancel the month-long state of emergency it imposed after Wednesday’s bloodshed. ‘The cycle of violence needs to stop,’ he said in Martha’s Vineyard where he is on a working vacation.”

On August 15, the Huffington Post reported Obama’s condemnation with the following headline:

“’We strongly condemn attacks’… that we are paying for.”

Der Spiegel Attacks Obama

The Local wrote on August 15:

“The German government summoned the Egyptian ambassador on Thursday morning over the deadly crackdown on protest camps of supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi…. A foreign ministry spokeswoman said: ‘On the orders of Foreign Minister [Guido] Westerwelle, the ambassador was told the position of the German government in no uncertain terms.’… In the face of rising violence, magazine Der Spiegel attacked Barack Obama accusing him of being ‘powerless’ to stop the fighting and failing to take a clear position on the conflict. The US government provides $1.3 billion in annual aid to Egypt’s military.”

Obama Administration Complicit in Egypt’s Bloodshed

The Editorial Board of the Washington Post wrote on August 14:

“Before the July 3 coup in Egypt, the Obama administration privately warned the armed forces against ousting the government of Mohamed Morsi, pointing to U.S. legislation that requires the cutoff of aid to any country where the army plays a ‘decisive role’ in removing an elected government. Yet when the generals ignored the U.S. warnings, the White House responded by electing to disregard the law itself. After a prolonged and embarrassing delay, the State Department announced that it had chosen not to determine whether a coup had taken place, and Secretary of State John F. Kerry declared that Egypt’s military was ‘restoring democracy.’

“Because of those decisions, the Obama administration is complicit in the new and horrifyingly bloody crackdown… The military’s disregard for these appeals [by the Obama Administration] was logical and predictable: Washington had already demonstrated that its warnings were not credible…

“This refusal to take a firm stand… is as self-defeating for the United States as it is unconscionable. Continued U.S. support for the Egyptian military is helping to push the country toward a new dictatorship rather than a restored democracy…”

Relationship between USA and Russia Deteriorating Further

BBC News wrote on August 8:

“Several analysts in Russian newspapers see the decision by US President Barack Obama to cancel his visit to Moscow next month as a sign that ties between the White House and the Kremlin are set to deteriorate further. Some say that Russia’s decision to grant temporary asylum to the fugitive US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden is the reason for the crisis in bilateral relations. Others, however, point to stalled negotiations on nuclear arms reduction and the lack of progress on other important issues for the past several years. According to one commentator, problems between Washington and Moscow have now become ‘strategic and long-term’, while another writes that the US has ‘struck Russia off its priority list’’’.

The paper then quoted the following excerpts from several Russian commentaries:

“After President Obama publicly said that the issue of Snowden’s extradition was extremely important and fundamental, it became impossible to reduce the scale of this problem between Russia and the USA. Figuratively speaking, the head of the White House has climbed up a high fence from which he can no longer jump down… The meeting (with Russian President Vladimir Putin) would have been meaningless anyway, as no progress has been achieved on any issue (in bilateral relations)… Even in 2008, during the war with Georgia, there were problems in (US-Russian) relations. Now these problems have become strategic and of a long-term character…”

Lavabit Website Shuts Down—Is the Handwriting on the Wall—and Has America Been Found Wanting…?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 9:

“The latest casualty of the American government’s online surveillance program seems to be Lavabit, the email service supposedly used by Edward Snowden to protect himself against National Security Agency (NSA) snooping. In a dramatic letter posted on Lavabit’s website Thursday, Ladar Levison, the company’s owner and operator, announced that he had decided to shutter the site rather than become ‘complicit in crimes against the American people.’

“Although it didn’t include any mention of the NSA, Edward Snowden or government surveillance, the letter seems to refer to a court order asking for cooperation in the US government spy programs: ‘I wish that I could legally share with you the events that led to my decision. I cannot. I feel you deserve to know what’s going on — the first amendment is supposed to guarantee me the freedom to speak out in situations like this. Unfortunately, Congress has passed laws that say otherwise. As things currently stand, I cannot share my experiences over the last six weeks, even though I have twice made the appropriate requests.’…

“At Wired, Kevin Poulsen speculated that Levison had been served with either a National Security Letter (which comes with a gag order) or a ‘full-blown search or eavesdropping warrant.’ If this is the case, it marks the first time that an American company has chosen to shut down instead of cooperating with such a request from the American government. In the wake of Lavabit’s announcement, another American online company, Silent Circle, shut down its encrypted email service because, according to a blog post, it sees ‘the writing on the wall.’…

“Levison announced in his letter that he is ‘preparing the paperwork needed to continue to fight for the Constitution in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals’ — he has created a Legal Defense Fund for this purpose — and that, if possible, he will re-form his service as an American company. But he ends his letter on a grim note that would likely have sounded paranoid a few months ago: ‘I would strongly recommend against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the United States.’”

If all of this is correct, then we must ask whether we are facing the danger of dictatorial intimidating dictatorship in the United States… We have warned for years that our individual liberties and freedoms are gradually being eroded and chopped away….

The Media Abrogated Their Duty

The Huffington Post wrote on August 13:

“The New York Times secured an interview with Edward Snowden for the first time since he ousted himself as the leaker of NSA documents in June. The brief Q-and-A appeared Tuesday alongside a lengthy profile of Laura Poitras, the filmmaker who, along with Glenn Greenwald, has been the journalist most at the center of the Snowden saga. Both pieces were written by reporter Peter Maas.

“In one portion of the interview, Snowden talked about why he turned to Poitras and Greenwald, instead of the Times or the Washington Post: ‘After 9/11, many of the most important news outlets in America abdicated their role as a check to power — the journalistic responsibility to challenge the excesses of government — for fear of being seen as unpatriotic and punished in the market during a period of heightened nationalism. From a business perspective, this was the obvious strategy, but what benefited the institutions ended up costing the public dearly. The major outlets are still only beginning to recover from this cold period.’”

This assessment seems to be absolutely correct.

President Obama’s Attempts to Deal with Fallout from US Spying Activities “Destined to Fail”

Business Insider wrote on August 13:

“In the wake of seemingly endless leaks from ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden, President Obama’s attempt to manage the political fallout seems destined to fail. On Friday, Obama announced that he would form a ‘high-level group of outside experts’ to review intelligence and communications technologies. This group, Obama said, would be ‘independent’ — able to step back freely — to review surveillance technologies and ‘consider how we can maintain trust of the people.’

“It only took the weekend for much of any trust in that group to fade. On Monday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper confirmed that yes, the review group would happen. He also confirmed that, yes, he would be establishing it. This is the same James Clapper who gave false information to Congress when asked whether the NSA was collecting data on Americans. He later apologized.

“Perhaps most interesting in Clapper’s statement on Monday is the absence of wording used on Friday: independent, and outside. In an expanded statement, the White House said the group would present their interim findings to his office, and the final report would go ‘through the Director of National Intelligence.’ ‘In practice — not theory — Clapper gets to chop the draft of the interim and final reports, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence would — again, in practice — assist in selecting the members of the review group,’ Robert Caruso, a former assistant command security manager in the Navy and consultant, said in an email.

“This arrangement is sure to arouse suspicions, with many Americans showing distrust after leaks of previously unknown spying programs. Even Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a veteran politician and national security hawk, admitted as much to Fox News Sunday… ‘Young Americans do not trust this government,’ McCain said…”

There can be no doubt that due to the American government’s questionable and controversial conduct, trust of many American citizens in their government has been eroded and destroyed… And without trusted and trustworthy leadership, a country is doomed to fall…

Germany Spying and Being Spied On…

Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 12:

“German intelligence services cooperate closely with the NSA, but the country is also a target of US surveillance, as a document seen by SPIEGEL makes clear. The spy software XKeyscore is operated from a facility in Hesse, with some of the results landing on President Obama’s desk… Lawmakers in the German parliament, the Bundestag, have… expressed an interest in the group of buildings near Darmstadt, south of Frankfurt. The campus houses one of the most important European branches of the National Security Agency (NSA)…

“Germany is a special place for the NSA, in many respects. Few other countries are the source of as much data for US intelligence agencies, much of which comes from the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), Germany’s foreign intelligence agency. At the same time Germany itself, despite all friendly assurances to the contrary, is also a target of the surveillance. According to a ‘secret’ summary among the documents obtained by Snowden, which SPIEGEL was able to view, Germany is one of the targets of US espionage activity… the European Union is also one of the targets of American surveillance… Only the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand — referred to as the ‘five eyes,’ together with the United States — are seen as true friends, largely off-limits in terms of espionage, and with which there is an open exchange of information…

“More than six weeks after the scandal began, the German government is still waiting for answers on what exactly the NSA is doing in — and against – Germany… The Americans are hardly likely to admit to the German government what exactly the group in Griesheim is doing and whether the Americans there also have targets in Germany under surveillance. Former NSA Director Michael Hayden told SPIEGEL that ‘the damage for the German-American relationship is huge.’…”

Der Spiegel Online added on August 13:

“Chancellery chief Ronald Pofalla’s appearance before a parliamentary committee on Monday was supposed to pacify public misgivings in the wake of the NSA spying scandal. But his announcement of a German-American no-spying agreement raised far more questions than it answered… The core of Pofalla’s message was simple: The American intelligence agency and its British counterpart adhere to German law and have agreed in writing to do so. Pofalla went on to say that the rights of millions of Germans have not been violated, ostensibly in response to recent criticism by the opposition Social Democrats. The data that the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, has handed over to America’s National Security Agency pertained to reconnaissance abroad and not to German citizens, he assured the panel.

“It was a peculiar sort of political spectacle… Pofalla painted a picture of a harmonious world of German-American intelligence cooperation. And it’s this collaboration, he said, that has prevented terrorist attacks on German and US soldiers in Afghanistan…

“The BND and the NSA have agreed on pursuing a brand-new ‘no-spy pact.’… Yet the establishment of such a no-spying agreement implies that espionage has been allowed up to now, an unwitting confirmation of the information in the documents leaked by Snowden… The no-spying agreement isn’t likely to make the NSA scandal disappear. On the contrary, Berlin will be faced with new questions: What should comprise such a pact? Will it only pertain to the work of foreign intelligence agencies? Or will it address the interests of citizens whose Internet data flow through American servers and can potentially be captured and cached? None of this has been definitively answered, all written assurances to the contrary.

“Pofalla obviously anticipated what new questions might be raised by the envisaged agreement. It was he who carefully said that the US agency would not have made the offer, ‘if their assurance that they would abide by the law were not true.’ This is twisted logic — logic that only Pofalla himself could explain. But an explanation never came. Just like at his last appearance before the committee, the Chancellery chief declined to take any questions. After Item 15, Pofalla exited without a word.”

Pofalla acted as proverbial politicians would act. But it appears that Germany has played a very dubious and hypocritical role in the spying activities. It will have to be seen whether Angela Merkel’s political survival and her victory in the September election are in jeopardy. Until recently, most were convinced that Merkel would win, but the recent revelations could perhaps change all of this. However, it does not appear that her challenger, Peer Steinbrueck, is a very convincing alternative to many Germans, and the fact that his own party had a finger (if not both hands) in the spying pie does not help him either.

Britain and Spain Battle Over Gibraltar

Deutsche Welle reported on August 12:

“Britain is considering taking legal action against Spain over stringent border checks imposed at the border with Gibraltar. It is the latest in an escalating row between the two countries and the disputed territory. Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokesman said on Monday that tighter checks by Spanish officials at the border of the contested territory are ‘politically motivated and totally disproportionate.’… Also on Monday, several British warships set sail for the Mediterranean in what the defense ministry stresses was a routine exercise. However, one of the ships is set to dock in Gibraltar later this week.

“Last week Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said the country would consider introducing a 50 euro ($66) tax to enter or leave Gibraltar… It is the latest in a string of spats going back decades between Spain and Britain over Gibraltar, the territory known as ‘The Rock’. The diplomatic disputes are frequently sparked by disagreements over fishing rights around the British outpost, which Madrid wants to reclaim as its own.

“Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht but has long argued that it should be returned to Spanish sovereignty. Britain refuses to do so against the wishes of the territory’s residents. In 1969, Spain closed the frontier crossing with Gibraltar, which is just 6.8 square kilometers in size (2.6 square miles) and home to about 30,000 people. It was fully reopened only in 1985.”

Der Spiegel Online added on August 12:

“Britain is dispatching warships to Gibraltar. The frigate HMS Westminister is due to set sail on Tuesday and three other vessels left on Monday. The British government played down the move as being part of a long-planned military exercise. But Spanish media said the plan for HMS Westminster to stop at Gibraltar was an intimidating move by Britain…

“Madrid argues that Gibraltar doesn’t belong to Europe’s Schengen zone of passport-free travel and that the checks are a legal and proportionate step to prevent money laundering and smuggling of tobacco and other products from Gibraltar… Spain’s El Pais newspaper reported that Madrid is also seeking support from current UN Security Council president Argentina in its dispute with Britain. Both countries have similar complaints about Britain, with government officials in Buenos Aires currently seeking to reclaim the British-controlled Falkland Islands.”

The Washington Times added on August 13:

“Gibraltar, the 2.5-square mile tip of the Iberian Peninsula that juts into the narrow strait between Spain and North Africa, guards the gateway to the Mediterranean.”

The Chicago Tribune wrote on August 12:

“HMS Westminster, a British Royal Navy warship set sail for the territory on Monday as part of an annual Mediterranean military exercise… It evoked the 16th century naval rivalry between the two countries in which the English repelled an attempt by the Spanish Armada to try to invade England in 1588 and the Spanish defeated an English ‘Counter Armada’ the following year.”

The Bible indicates that ultimately, Britain will lose Gibraltar (to Spain) and the Falkland Islands (to Argentina). God said that Britain will be given the “doors of their enemies,” but it would later lose them again. Gibraltar is most certainly such a door—a “narrow strait between Spain and North Africa, guard[ing] the gateway to the Mediterranean,” as one of the articles above points out.

European Recession Likely Over

The Associated Press reported on August 13:

“The recession that’s gripped the eurozone since late 2011 is likely over… economic growth among the 17 countries that use the euro inched up 0.2 percent from April to June compared with the previous quarter.  The increase is slight. But it would end six straight quarters of a debilitating recession — the longest to afflict the single-currency bloc since its creation in 1999.  And it would represent an encouraging sign for other economies… as the eurozone is the world’s biggest trading bloc…

“The strongest economy, Germany, is expected to post quarterly growth of 0.6 percent, thanks to its high-value exporters. Others continue to languish under the burden of austerity policies… ‘While welcome news, much of the return to growth is likely to be driven from Germany, which is likely to be cold comfort to countries like Spain, Italy and Greece buckling under crippling levels of debt and unemployment,’ said Michael Hewson, senior market analyst at CMC Markets.

“Few economists think the indebted countries can start producing German-style levels of growth in the coming years. Burdens from expensive public financing and unemployment will likely continue to weigh on their economies.  Yet for many people, even a mild improvement is cause to celebrate, however tentatively, and a suggestion that the darkest days are in the past.”

The Bible shows that continental Europe will recuperate and become the most powerful economic enterprise in the world.

Near Death-Experiences Just Function of the Brain?

The Washington Post wrote on August 12:

“You feel yourself float up and out of your physical body. You glide toward the entrance of a tunnel, and a searing bright light envelopes your field of vision. Rather than an ascent into the afterlife, a new study says these features of a near-death experience may just be a bunch of neurons in your brain going nuts. ‘A lot of people believed that what they saw was heaven,’ said lead researcher and neurologist Jimo Borjigin. ‘Science hadn’t given them a convincing alternative.’

“Scientists from the University of Michigan recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) signals in nine anesthetized rats after inducing cardiac arrest. Within the first 30 seconds after the heart had stopped, all the mammals displayed a surge of brain activity that had features associated with consciousness and visual activation. The burst of electrical activity even exceeded levels during a normal, awake state. In other words, they may have been having the rodent version of a near-death experience’…

“Near-death experiences have been reported by many who have faced death, worldwide and across cultures. About 20 percent of cardiac arrest survivors report visions during clinical death, with features such as a bright light, life playback or an out-of-body feeling…

“When the heart suddenly stops, ongoing blood flow to the brain stops and causes death in a human within minutes. A likely assumption would be that, without a fresh supply of oxygen, any sort of brain activity would go flat. But after the rats went into cardiac arrest, [George] Mashour and his colleagues saw the opposite… [such as] heightened communication among the different parts of the brain, actively seen in an awake state, but often lost during anesthesia. In the rats, this connectivity went above and beyond the levels seen during the awake state — which could possibly explain the hypervivid, ‘realer-than-real’ perceptions reported close to death…”

These discoveries would make a lot of sense, as we know that “near-death” experiences are not real. Nobody’s soul departs at the time of death and goes to heaven. It must also be emphasized, however, that those “experiences” do not occur every time, when a patient has congestive heart failure and is resuscitated.  It should not be ruled out, of course, that some of these “experiences” are demonic delusions, but this could hardly be the explanation for all of them.

Again… California Leading the Nation… Away from the Bible

The Washington Times wrote on August 12:

“California has enacted the first law in the nation that will require public schools to accommodate students based on their self-declared ‘gender identity’ in addition to their biological sex. The law means that biologically female students can use boys’ bathrooms, and biologically male students can join all-girls’ sports teams.

“The law, signed Monday afternoon by California Gov. Jerry Brown and sponsored by California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, is intended to assist transgender children navigate school from kindergarten to 12th grade, as their preferred gender. Major gay-rights groups supported the law, saying it builds on a national movement to end discriminatory practices based on gender identity and gender expression.”

AFP added on August 13:

“Transgender students in California public schools will be able to choose which bathrooms to use and which sex-segregated sports to play, according to new legislation passed. The bill signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown would allow students to be treated as their chosen gender rather than that listed on their official documents… The California Catholic Conference objected to the law… California, the most populous US state, has been at the forefront of a nationwide debate on gay, lesbian and transgender rights.”

Will California become a modern example of the conduct and fate of “Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner as these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, [which] are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 7)?

Our Liberal Laws, Juries and Judges… Cloned Horses

Reuters reported on August 13:

“A U.S. horse association soon will be required to add cloned horses and their offspring to its prestigious registry, a federal judge in Texas ruled on Monday. The decision could encourage cloning and open the way for the animals to participate in lucrative horse races… A jury last month ruled that the horse association violated anti-monopoly laws by banning cloned animals… No other horse breeding registry allows cloned animals, although the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association allows cloned horses to compete in rodeos…

“The quarter horse association, which has a registry of 751,747 animals, stated in court that it is a private organization and has the right to decide its membership rules… Cloning is the creation of an animal that is an exact genetic copy of another, with the same DNA. A cloned sheep named Dolly produced in Scotland drew international attention when she was shown to the public in 1997. Since then, cloning of agricultural livestock such as cattle and pigs as well as horses and sheep has become more common although it is still a small portion of total livestock production.”

Maybe for now… But where will it all lead? Scientists are toying with the idea of cloning mammoths and perhaps, from certain DNA samples, vicious extinct animals such as aggressive sable-tooth tigers or dinosaurs. And insofar as private organizations are concerned, our liberal legal system does apparently NOT allow them anymore to decide its own membership rules. As we mentioned before, individual liberties and freedoms are becoming more and more targets of governmental manipulation and erosion.

Fires Will Worsen

The Verge wrote on August 12:

“In June, the Black Forest wildfire in Colorado wiped out 500 homes in 48 hours and ultimately took two lives. Yet the catastrophe actually ranked as one of the smaller fires authorities have had to contend with this year. 100,000-acre wildfires have become a yearly occurrence — a worrying development in and of itself — and now NASA is raising warning flags about where things may be headed…

“Last week, NASA released new animations projecting how dry conditions may worsen in the decades ahead, leading to greater risk of fire across the Great Plains and upper Midwest US… NASA says even worse conditions await the Mountain West and other regions where fires already burn. The data is sourced from NASA’s own instruments and extensive knowledge of fire distribution across the planet.”

The Bible prophecies worsening fires for the USA and other countries.

Ephesians 4:11-12 states the following: “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ…”

Even though “teachers” is listed together with the offices of the ministry, including apostle, prophet, evangelist and pastor, what was the original intent of this passage and the inclusion of “teachers”?

Looking at the qualifications of a bishop (literally, an overseer) or an elder (compare New International Version) will help us to clarify this issue.

1 Timothy 3:1-7 states:

“This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop [“elder,” New International Version], he desires a good work. A bishop [“elder”] then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behaviour, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”

Notice that we read in verse 2 that a bishop or better overseer or elder must be “able to teach.” [The same expression is used in Acts 20:17, where it is rendered in the New King James Bible as “elder.” In Acts 20:28, the New King James Bible states: “overseers.” Compare the Jamieson Fausset and Brown commentary.] See also our Q&A on the biblical meaning of the term “elder”. 

We can conclude that a teacher is, at best, a function of an office or a rank–not itself an office or a rank. Sometimes, it does not even include a function of an office. We read that older women are to admonish or teach younger women (Titus 2:1-5), but older women do not function within a ministerial office or rank. In fact, Paul prohibits women to teach in church (1 Timothy 2:12). On the other hand, we have always understood that a minister’s wife fulfills a certain function (not an office or rank) in assisting, helping and supporting her ordained husband. We have usually referred to this fact by stating that a minister’s wife constitutes 50% of her husband’s ministry.

We also note that Jesus Christ was a Teacher. John 3:2  states: “This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’” The Pharisees recognised that Christ was not only a teacher, but also a teacher from God. This was a function of His many titles–not a title per se.

He is called Son of God, Son of Man, King of kings, Chief Shepherd, High Priest, the Apostle, the Prophet, the Lawgiver (Shiloh, compare Genesis 49:10), and He had of course a great ability to teach others.

The revealed ministerial ranks or offices in the Church of God are (compare Ephesians 4:11-12):

Apostle

Romans 1:1 describes Paul as “a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God.” He is also referred to as an apostle in 1 Corinthians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1, and in many other places in the Bible. Jesus Christ is referred to as THE Apostle.

There is currently no one in the Church of God who holds this office or rank, although there might be some who have usurped this rank to themselves as “self-appointed” apostles. The only recognized apostle in the Church of God in recent years has been Herbert W. Armstrong who died in 1986. The Bible reveals that in the future, some (for instance, the two witnesses) will hold the office and rank of apostle, but this time has not yet arrived. Presently, we are warned not to accept those as apostles whom the Bible designates as false apostles and deceitful workers.

Prophet 

1 Corinthians 14:37 cautions us: “If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.”

Paul and Barnabas were prophets (Acts 13:1). Jesus Christ is referred to as THE Prophet.

As with the rank and office of apostle, there is currently no one in the Church of God who holds the office or rank of prophet, although there are some who have usurped this rank to themselves as “self-appointed” prophets. In the future, there will be those who will be functioning as prophets (for instance, the two witnesses), but this time has not yet arrived. Mr. Armstrong—even though he was recognized as an apostle—was not perceived as holding the office or rank of prophet.

Evangelist

Acts 21:8 states:  “On the next day we who were Paul’s companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.”

2 Timothy 4:5 states:  “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

Today, there are several ministers in the greater Churches of God who hold the rank and office of Evangelist.

Pastor 

Today, there are quite a few ministers in the greater Churches of God who hold the rank and office of Pastor (compare Ephesians 4:11). In addition, this office or rank can be a little bit confusing to some because there are those in the Church of God who are fulfilling the function of a pastor or a “shepherd,” since they are looking after a group of people, but they have not been ordained (yet) to the office or rank of Pastor.

An Elder (see below) can be fulfilling the function of a Pastor, in that he looks after a group of God’s people.  But this is also true for an Evangelist, who fulfills the function of a Pastor and an Elder, being able to preach and teach. Usually, an Evangelist-rank minister was previously ordained to the rank of Elder and Pastor. Jesus Christ is referred to as the Chief Shepherd or the Chief Pastor.

Elder

Although not specifically mentioned in Ephesians 4:11-12, it has been recognized that the Bible speaks of the rank and office of Elder in numerous places.

James 5:14 states:  “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”

Act 14:23 writes:  “So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”

Compare also 1 Timothy 5:17 and 1 Peter 5:5; and note 1 Timothy 4:14, referring to “the laying on of hands of the eldership.”

Some of the ministerial offices overlap, since some of the apostles referred to themselves also as elders. In 2 John 1:1, the apostle John refers to himself as an elder. The apostle Peter also refers to himself as a fellow elder in 1 Peter 5:1.

Paul was an apostle, a prophet, an elder, a preacher and a teacher (compare 1 Timothy 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:11). He fulfilled all these functions, but he was specifically ordained to the ranks of apostle, prophet and elder—not to the rank or the “office” of preacher or teacher. A similar description of functions is found in 1 Corinthians 12:28—this passage does not necessarily describe ranks or offices, although some are of course included: “Now God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues…”

In addition, the Bible recognizes the non-ministerial rank and office of deacon and deaconess (1 Timothy 3:8, 11). In order to become a deacon or a deaconess, one must be ordained to these offices. Also, to become an elder, one [including a deacon] must be ordained to that office. When somebody were to claim that as a deacon, he was also a minister, then such claim would be false (even though a deacon may be asked to give sermonettes or even sermons in Church services, under the direction and supervision of a minister. But he is not to heal the sick, cast out demons, baptize or ordain others etc.). Likewise, to become a pastor, one must be ordained to that office (even though an elder may be asked to fulfill the function of a pastor, see above). In addition, to become an Evangelist, someone has to be ordained to that rank and office.

With each ordination, God gives the ordained person who is being raised in rank an additional amount of His Holy Spirit so that he can fulfill the role and function of that office. See our Q&A on John 3:34. When somebody were to claim that as a deacon or an elder, he had the same amount of God’s Holy Spirit as a pastor or an evangelist, then that person would be making a false claim. And of course, ministerial credentials can be revoked by the Church of God if a minister proves through his conduct that he has become disqualified of and unfit for the particular rank, office and function. The same is true for ordained deacons and deaconesses. The idea of “once a deacon or a minister, always a deacon or a minister,” is not biblical.

In conclusion, the recognized ministerial offices or ranks in the Church of God are Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Elder.  Any other designation for a rank or title is not biblical. “Teacher” or “Preacher” are not ranks or offices, but they rather describe various functions. We do not refer to a minister as “Reverent,” as this designation is reserved for God.

For further information, please read our Q&A on ministerial ranks in God’s Church. 

Lead Writers: Rene Messier and Norbert Link

A new member letter has been written by Mr. Rene Messier. In this letter Mr. Messier comments on his recent visit to Kenya (Africa) to meet with members and interested parties. He also reflects on the Western world’s abuses of its freedoms and blessings while reminding us that the establishment of God’s Kingdom is now the only true solution. This letter has been mailed and is now posted on our website.

Two new StandingWatch trailers with Brian Gale for the British audience have been produced, titled “We Must Be Changed” and “Biblical Prophecy in the Light of World Events”. All five British programs (so far) can be viewed on  www.globalchurchswBG.

“Are You Following God’s Lead?,” is the title of a new StandingWatch program presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary:
 
Does God lead you to choose or not to choose a certain course of action? Do you act at times against your better judgment, only to realize that you should have followed your “instincts” or your “first impression”? Do you sometimes feel that you are being motivated to do or not to do something, without fully knowing as to why that is? If you truly know God and are close to Him, you will experience that you are being directed in certain ways, and it is always good to carefully listen to and consider that guidance.

A new German sermon has been posted, titled, “Werden Sie von Gott geführt?” (“Are You Being Led by God?”).
 
As a reminder, here are the dates for the upcoming Holy Days: September 5th–Feast of Trumpets; September 14th–Day of Atonement; September 19th through the 25th–Feast of Tabernacles; September 26th–Last Great Day. We will be broadcasting services live in the United States from our location in Vail, Colorado. For further information on our Feast sites in Colorado and Germany, please consult our website: www.eternalgod.org. For additional information on our Feast site in Germany, please also go to http://www.aufpostenstehen.de/wir-uber-uns/laubhuttenfest-2013/.

by Phyllis Bourque

In this past year, my husband and I have been doing some home improvements, with the goal of selling the house. We are unable to accomplish much of the work ourselves, so we have had to hire local contractors. Unfortunately, instead of being able to say “very good” with each phase of the work, we found ourselves having to address poor workmanship issues along the way. Some of these issues were remedied, but not necessarily to our satisfaction, causing us to seek another contractor for the next phase of work. After four contractors, it’s been an unsettling experience and begs the question, “Doesn’t anyone do quality work anymore?”

Manufacturing companies often boast about the quality of their products by using “quality catch-phrases” in their advertising campaigns, but even that is changing. On June 11, 2013, USA Today published an article that read: “A spate of flubs by Ford Motor is raising doubt about whether quality still really is — as Ford’s tagline used to boast — ‘Quality is Job One.’”

Wikipedia writes in regard to Zenith electronics company: “For many years, their famous slogan was ‘The quality goes in, before the name goes on.’” Zenith ultimately was unable to compete with a global market for cheaper products in the 1980s and was eventually taken over by a foreign firm.

On a more critical level, it is distressing for me to hear of buildings or bridges collapsing and causing loss of lives, only to find out that these “accidents” could have been avoided if quality standards had been implemented in the design, engineering, construction and/or maintenance phases. More recently, I was shocked to learn that a train crash in Spain that killed many people, was due to negligence on the part of the driver in adhering to the quality standards that had been put in place by the railroad company. I grieve when an event involves loss of lives, but even more so, when it is learned that it could have been avoided.

While thinking about this subject, I was reminded of the Scriptures that describe the building of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. I reflected on the fact that everything God designed was of the highest quality, and that He required the work to be carried out with the same degree of excellence. It’s fascinating for me to realize that He actually gave His Spirit to the people He chose to do the work so that they could produce the quality of workmanship that He specified in great detail! I think I would have enjoyed being part of the group that worked on the priestly garments. Wow! To be so skilled as to produce something “for glory and beauty” must have been thoroughly enjoyable!

My husband and I asked ourselves many times, what if we could enjoy that kind of delivery of workmanship today and not have to negotiate with those we hire to simply “do it right”? Wouldn’t that be wonderful!? Unfortunately, we experienced that greed and speed overrode quality assurance all too often, and it was yet another reminder for us  that this physical world won’t get any better under Satan’s substandard influence.

I look forward to the time when God’s Kingdom will be set up on this earth and people will be taught excellence in every facet of their lives, without hindrance from Satan. From all of these disappointments with our local contractors, I had to reflect once again on what an enjoyable and satisfying time that will be, both for those of us who will teach God’s way, as well as for those who will see the result of implementing His level of excellence in all that they do. And I am convinced that with people working and living under the direction of Jesus Christ in the Millennium,  God will once again be able to say that what will be accomplished will be “very good,” as He did when He initially re-created the physical world.

On August 10, 2013, Dave Harris will give the sermon, titled, “Scripture Fulfilled!”

The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

Looking back at your life, how many times do you feel that God led you to choose or not to choose a certain course of action? And how many times did you act against your better judgment, only to realize later that you should have followed your “instincts” or your “first impression”? 

Do you sometimes feel today that you are being motivated to do or not to do something, without fully knowing as to why that is? If you truly know God and are close to Him, you will experience that you are being directed in certain ways, and it is always good to carefully listen to and consider that guidance.

This has nothing to do with superstition—it is in fact God who is leading you and working in your life. In Luke 2:27, we read that God’s Spirit motivated Simeon to come into the temple to see the Child Jesus. In Matthew 4:1, we are told that the Father, through His Spirit, led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  The Holy Spirit inspired and directed the ministry to appoint Paul and Barnabas as apostles who were then sent by the Holy Spirit to Seleucia and Cyprus (Acts 13:1-4). On other occasions, Paul and his fellow workers were prohibited or prevented by the Spirit of God from traveling to Asia and Bithynia (Acts 16:6-7).

We are told that we are God’s children if His Spirit leads, guides and directs us (Romans 8:14), and that we must follow Christ wherever He goes and wants us to go (Matthew 16:24; Revelation 14:4). This means that we have to be very attentive to the Father’s and Christ’s lead. When God shows us the way, we must not close our ears and our eyes, thinking this might not be the right course of action because it may not be the easy road to travel, or because it might not make that much sense at the time.

Abraham left his homeland to follow God, “not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8). Moses followed God’s lead, “as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). Enoch and Noah walked or “lived constantly” with God (Genesis 5:24; 6:9, Elberfelder Bible). Christ was leading them, and they followed His steps, as we must do today (1 Peter 2:21).

Sometimes we may think that God has to speak to us in obvious and spectacular ways before we are ready and willing to listen, but many times, God speaks to us with a still small voice (1 Kings 19:11-13). How attentive are we to His subtle lead? And how determined are we to follow that lead even when others try to dissuade us? The Galatians ran well, but they were then hindered to obey the truth and follow God. Paul said that this persuasion did “not come from Him who calls” us (Galatians 5:7-8). When God directs us, we must follow, no matter where our path may lead.

We report on Russia’s decision to grant temporary asylum to whistleblower Edward Snowden, as well as President Obama’s retaliatory response and the resulting deteriorating relationship between Russia and the USA; and we continue reporting on Bradley Manning’s conviction and sentencing and the condemnatory response in Europe. We also speak of Washington’s fear of attacks in Yemen, while granting preferential treatment to same-sex couples.

Turning to Europe, we speak on Silvio Berlusconi’s conviction and the possible consequences for Italy and Europe; Germany’s lucrative arm sales to controversial countries; and Europe’s “fight” with Israel.

We conclude with an article about Japan’s launch of its largest warship since World War II, while commemorating the 68th anniversary of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The Difficult American-Russian Relationship

The Associated Press reported on August 7:

“In a rare diplomatic snub, President Barack Obama is canceling plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next month. The decision reflects both U.S. anger over Russia’s harboring of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden and growing frustration within the Obama administration over what it sees as Moscow’s stubbornness on other key issues, including missile defense and human rights. Obama will still attend the Group of 20 economic summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, but a top White House official said the president had no plans to hold one-on-one talks with Putin while there…

“White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said Russia’s decision last week to defy the U.S. and grant Snowden temporary asylum only exacerbated an already troubled relationship. And with few signs that progress would be made during the Moscow summit on other agenda items, Rhodes said the president decided to cancel the talks… Obama’s decision to scrap talks with Putin is likely to deepen the chill in the already frosty relationship between the two leaders. They have frequently found themselves at odds on pressing international issues, most recently in Syria, where the U.S. accuses Putin of helping President Bashar Assad fund a civil war. The U.S. has also been a vocal critic of Russia’s crackdown on Kremlin critics and recently sanctioned 18 Russians for human rights violations.

“For its part, Moscow has accused the U.S. of installing a missile shield in Eastern Europe as a deterrent against Russia… Putin also signed a law last year banning U.S. adoptions of Russian children, a move that was seen as retaliation for the U.S. measure that cleared the way for the human rights sanctions… Even as Obama scraps plans to meet with Putin, Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel are preparing for meetings in Washington on Friday with their Russian counterparts. Snowden’s status is expected to be a main topic of conversation.

“The lower-level meetings with Russia underscore that the U.S. cannot completely sever ties with the Kremlin. Russian transit routes are critical to the U.S. as it removes troops and equipment from Afghanistan. And despite deep differences over Syria’s future, the White House knows it will almost certainly need some level of Russian cooperation in order to oust Assad. Still, some congressional lawmakers have called for Obama to not only scrub the Moscow summit but also demand that Russia forfeit its right to host the G-20 summit. Others have spoken of boycotting next year’s Winter Olympics in the Russian city of Sochi.”

Ultimately, the relationship between Russia and the USA will be completely severed.

How to Deal with Putin?

The Associated Press reported on August 8:

“From the civil war in Syria to missile defense and gay rights, the Obama administration can’t seem to figure out how to deal with Putin… The latest disappointment — Russia’s embrace of a fugitive who leaked US secrets — pushed President Barack Obama to cancel a one-on-one summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month…

“The two nations are at odds over the civil war [in Syria]. Russia has shielded Syrian President Bashar Assad from international sanctions and provided him weapons, despite an international outcry… Russians have a long-standing beef about the US missile defense system planned for Europe, dating back to the Reagan administration’s disputes with the Soviet Union… Americans object to the way Russian leaders have tried to silence critical voices…

“Russia… expelled the US Agency for International Development, which had promoted democracy and civil societies in Russia for two decades… the US is criticizing Russia for an official crackdown on gay rights. A new Russian law imposes fines and up to 15 days in prison for people accused of spreading ‘propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations’ to minors… And it bans gay pride rallies. Russian officials say the law will be enforced during the 2014 Olympics in the city of Sochi.”

USA Left Snowden No Choice

Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 2:

“Edward Snowden has been granted asylum for one year in Russia in a move that threatens to further strain Russian-American relations… In Washington, politicians are outraged… The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘Edward Snowden knocked on many doors in recent weeks. There were plenty of expressions of sympathy for the young man who, with his betrayal of secrets, shed light on the scope of American spying programs. But despite all the excitement over the obsessive spying, no one wanted to open the door for Snowden. Now, it is Vladimir Putin of all people who has taken blatant pleasure in playing the role of a champion of freedom of opinion and human rights by letting the American stay in Russia for a year. But it’s also the same Putin who has taken considerable pleasure in taking political opponents out of action with flimsy charges…’

“The Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, the largest newspaper in the populous Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia, writes: ‘Snowden is out of the intermediate world of the Moscow airport and has now entered Russia. Russia of all places, a country that is anything but a flawless democracy. A country in which a former intelligence agent rules the country with an iron fist. But to blame the whistleblower for all this would either be malicious or naïve. Snowden had no other choice. Go back to the States? The fate of WikiLeaks informant Bradley Manning shows what happens to people there who uncover government misconduct. Not a single country that could claim to be democratically flawless offered Snowden asylum.’

“In an editorial, WDR Radio, one of Germany’s largest public broadcasters, states: ‘Rarely since the end of the Cold War have relations between Moscow and Washington been as frosty as they are right now. A considerable amount of that is attributable to President Barack Obama’s manic attempt to persuade Putin to extradite NSA expert and whistleblower Snowden… The US president has made petty revenge a leading principle of his policies. Obama wanted Snowden to be extradited at any cost. Obama didn’t hesitate in having his attorney general write a letter to Moscow with logic as follows: We Americans are even willing to forego our classic instruments of torture and the death penalty if you, the Russians, just extradite Snowden to us.

“‘The letter couldn’t have been more telling in terms of Obama’s position towards unwelcome whistleblowers and possible betrayers of secrets. To expose himself to an ice cold Machiavelli like Putin with such a laughable position of self-revelation like that speaks volumes about the way in which Obama conducts foreign policy beyond his brilliant speeches. If the US president now also commits the error of playing the role of the offended prima donna and not appearing at the G-20 summit in September, then we can forget about relations between Washington and Moscow altogether…’”

Manning’s Sentencing a “Stain” on Obama’s Legacy and America’s Global Reputation

The Washington Times wrote on August 7:

“A military judge on Tuesday scaled back the maximum time that Bradley Manning could serve behind bars, from 136 years to 90 years, after ruling that many of his charges were related enough to be combined… The cut doesn’t mean Manning will get out any time soon… The 25-year-old will more than likely spend the remainder of his life behind bars at one of the nation’s most notoriously tough prisons, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas…”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 5:

“By using the Espionage Act to punish Bradley Manning, the Obama administration has shown how far it will go to intimidate leakers. His sentencing is a stain on the president’s legacy and on America’s global reputation. It was never an issue whether Bradley Manning violated US law. Manning pleaded guilty to 10 charges at the beginning of his military trial. The maximum sentence for those charges was 20 years in prison — an intolerable sentence, but unlikely to be the extent of his punishment.

“… Prosecutors have brought in the big guns — and invoked the Espionage Act, which was passed in 1917 in reaction to fears of German spies and saboteurs. It is political despotism to use this act in a trial that has to do with neither espionage nor sabotage. It means the defense can no longer argue that the defendant harmed no one, that he acted in the public interest. It deprives Manning of the only basis to justify his actions and the opportunity to avoid a guilty verdict.

“This is why the appropriate reaction to this verdict would be to reverse it. It would be overzealous, both from a legal and political standpoint, to pass judgment on Manning as a warning to other possible politically motivated offenders. The 25-year-old soldier, a man who is unconvincing as a heroic figure and burdened with complexes, is the most recent casualty in a hysterically prolonged ‘war on terror.’

“The Manning trial isn’t the first instance in which the United States under President Barack Obama has demonstrated its willingness to do everything it takes to prevent the spread of unwelcome truths. Former President Richard Nixon tried to use the Espionage Act to put the leaker of the Pentagon Papers — about the planning of the Vietnam War — behind bars. With a guilty verdict against Manning, Obama has now prevailed where Nixon failed.

“This injustice… will define Obama’s presidency in the long term… The reputation of the United States is at stake, along with its credibility as a country where freedom also means confrontation with the truth… Leaks are necessary for the fight against abuses of power. Manning’s leaks uncovered war crimes, albeit ones that have remained unpunished. His leaks revealed, at an early juncture, the disorientation of the US’s Afghanistan operations. And the cables from US embassies, far from being high-level gossip, showed how eagerly those in power deceived their own people.

“Obama must pardon Manning so that more whistleblowers do not find themselves compelled to seek refuge in the even darker realm of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Political lawbreakers like Nixon and Iran-Contra conspirators like former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and former National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane were pardoned. After all, there’s honor among thieves. Now it’s also time to pardon someone willing to call a thief a thief.”

It is highly unlikely that President Obama will pardon Manning. This is clearly not part of his agenda or within the interest of his Administration. What we are seeing in the USA is a continuing erosion of individual liberties and freedoms and the build-up of a controlling and somewhat secretive governmental apparatus.

Washington Afraid of Attacks in Yemen

Reuters wrote on August 6:

“The United States told its citizens in Yemen on Tuesday to leave immediately and airlifted out some U.S. government personnel, following warnings of potential attacks that have pushed Washington to shut diplomatic missions across the Middle East. The poorest Arab country, Yemen is the base for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, one of the most active branches of the network founded by Osama bin Laden, and militants have launched attacks from there against the West. U.S. sources have told Reuters that intercepted communication between bin Laden’s successor as al-Qaida leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the Yemen-based wing was one part of the intelligence behind their alert last week.

“Britain, which has already advised for more than two years that its citizens in Yemen should ‘leave now,’ announced it was temporarily evacuating all its embassy staff… The State Department’s announcement urging Americans to leave the country follows a worldwide travel alert on Friday which prompted Washington to shut diplomatic missions across the Middle East and Africa. Some of Washington’s European allies have also closed their embassies in Yemen. ‘The Department urges U.S. citizens to defer travel to Yemen and those U.S. citizens currently living in Yemen to depart immediately,’ the statement posted on its website said.”

Controversial American drone attacks in Yemen and the incarceration of over 50 Yemen citizens in Guantanamo Bay have contributed to the creation of a hostile atmosphere in Yemen towards the USA.

Preferential Treatment for Same-Sex Couples

Newsmax reported on August 4:

“Same-sex married partners seeking U.S. travel visas will now be recognized as legal couples under a new rule put forth by Secretary of State John Kerry, the Advocate reports. ‘One of our most important exports by far is America’s belief in the equality of all people,’ Kerry said Friday at the U.S. embassy in London announcing his decision. ‘Now, our history shows that we haven’t always gotten it right,’ but Kerry said the recent Supreme Court decision changing the definition of marriage will change that.

“The change in visa status means preferential treatment for the couples in the application process, reports the Washington Post. It also helps foreign nationals in a same-sex marriage with U.S. citizens to more easily acquire a visa. The announcement comes on the heels of a Homeland Security Department decision by Secretary Janet Napolitano to acknowledge same-sex marriage when awarding green cards.”

This is no longer just equal treatment, but now we are informed that Immigration is willing to grant preferential treatment to same-sex partners.

Berlusconi’s Conviction and the Implications for Italy and Europe

 The EUObserver wrote on August 2:

“An Italian court Thursday (1 August) upheld former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s prison sentence marking the first definitive conviction for the 76-year old politician in over 20 trials spanning almost two decades. The court of cassation, Italy’s highest court and against which Berlusconi cannot appeal, decided after a three-day hearing to uphold a prison term for tax fraud. The original sentence of four years was handed out by two lower courts last year and automatically commuted to one year under a new amnesty law. Due to his age, he is expected to be held under house arrest or do community service. Meanwhile the court said a decision to ban Berlusconi from public office should be re-examined, but it did not reject the ban.

“Berlusconi, four times Italy’s prime minister, faced charges over the years ranging from corruption to having sex with an underage prostitute, but was finally snared by the Italian justice system over deals that his firm Mediaset made to purchase TV rights to US films. He reacted angrily to the ruling…

“The court ruling has been keenly watched in the rest of the eurozone, not only because of the interest in a politician who at times proved as controversial outside Italy as he was inside the country but for the wider implications of the decision. It has the potential to destabilise the three-month old government, which consists of an uneasy coalition between Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party (PDL)… analysts remain quietly nervous about Italy, the region’s third largest economy… The current government was formed to try and get the economy back on track with unemployment at 12 percent and national debt at almost 130 percent of GDP, the second highest in the eurozone.”

News reports suggest that Berlusconi’s daughter might become his “successor” in Italian politics.

Germany’s Lucrative Weapon Sales

The Local wrote on August 7:

“German arms exports to Gulf states are set to hit a new record in 2013… In the first six months alone, the country sent over €800 million worth of combat weapons to the troubled region. Germany is sending millions of euros worth of tanks and howitzers to a region where governments have been accused of using force against their own citizens in violent crackdowns against dissent…

“Merkel’s government has come under fire over the past 18 months from domestic critics who question the morality of arming governments with less-than-perfect human rights records during the upheavals of the Arab Spring.”

Europe at Odds With Israel

The Times of Israel wrote on August 7:

“Despite heavy criticism from Israel, the European Union will not cancel, modify or delay the implementation of recently published guidelines that block EU funding from Israeli institutions either located or maintaining any links beyond the Green Line, a top EU official said this week. ‘The guidelines will take effect as they are. This is how they were published [in the EU’s Official Journal], as a legal act, and that’s how it will be,’ Ambassador Andreas Reinicke, the EU’s special representative to the Middle East peace process, told The Times of Israel last week. In certain areas where the guidelines are still unclear, ‘a closer look’ at the details might… have to be taken, he allowed. But their main points will not be changed and will take effect by January 2014 as planned.

“The EU’s directive, published last month, mandates a denial of European funding to, and cooperation with, Israeli institutions based or operating over the Green Line, and a requirement that all future agreements between Israel and the EU include a clause in which Israel accepts the position that all territory over the Green Line does not belong to Israel… In the wake of the new funding guidelines, the Israeli government is currently discussing whether to participate in a multibillion-dollar scientific cooperation program under EU auspices called Horizon 2020…

“Israelis from across right to center-left on the political spectrum protested the EU’s new guidelines… not all European capitals were enthusiastic about the issuance of the funding guidelines. The German government, for instance, distanced itself from the move… But… several EU foreign ministers explicitly welcomed the funding guidelines…”

The relationship between Europe and Israel will become more and more hostile in the not-too-distant future.

Israelis Will Be Hit Hard in Next War

The Los Angeles Times reported on August 8:

“As tensions escalate along Israel’s northern border, a senior military official warned that the next war with Hezbollah would be far more painful for Israeli citizens than any previous experience. ‘What we witnessed in 2006 is the very tip of the iceberg,’ said the official, referring to the 33-day war between Israel and the Lebanese-based Shiite militia Hezbollah. In that case, a third of the country was forced into bomb shelters for a month while rockets rained down on northern Israel…

“In the 2006 Second Lebanon War, nearly 4,000 rockets were fired into Israel, killing more than 40 civilians and causing widespread devastation to property and the economy. Hezbollah is now believed to have 60,000 to 100,000 rockets that boast longer ranges, improved accuracy and larger warheads… Israeli officials fear that as many as 2,000 rockets a day could be released against all parts of Israel… only 60% of Israelis have chemical-weapons protection kits…  Nearly one-third of Israelis don’t have quick access to bomb shelters.”

Japan’s Largest Warship and 68th Anniversary of Hiroshima

CNN wrote on August 6:

“Japan on Tuesday unveiled its largest warship since World War II, an 820-foot-long, 19,500-ton flattop capable of carrying 14 helicopters, according to media reports. The ship, named the Izumo, is classified as a helicopter destroyer, though its flattop design makes it look like an aircraft carrier…

“Tuesday’s launch also came on the 68th anniversary of the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima. Upwards of 60,000 people — according to various estimates, about one-fifth of Hiroshima’s population at the time — were killed when a U.S. B-29 bomber dropped the bomb on August 6, 1945. In remembrance ceremonies in Hiroshima on Tuesday, a list of 286,000 atomic bomb victims was presented… In a speech, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on the Japanese people to always remind the world about the consequences of nuclear war…”

Zenit added on August 6:

“Cardinal Peter Turkson is in Japan for an initiative marking the anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which took place on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945…He called the atom bomb dropped 68 years ago today on Hiroshima a ‘frightful wound inflicted upon the people of Japan and the whole human family.’… Cardinal Turkson noted the popes’ warnings about the suffering brought by war, and particularly the atom bomb, most recently Pope Francis: ‘The possession of atomic power can cause the destruction of humanity. When man becomes proud, he creates a monster that can get out of hand.’”

This is very true. Sadly, mankind will ignore these warnings, and if Christ were not to intervene to cut short a terrible time of self-destruction, no human being would be saved alive. And even though China is concerned about Japan’s military ambitions, the Bible prophesies that China, Japan, Russia and other Far Eastern countries will form a military union which will be confrontational towards Western powers, especially Europe.

This question is related to the issue of “single procession” or “double procession” of the Holy Spirit, which is hotly debated in orthodox Christianity. For instance, while the Roman Catholic or Latin Church believes and teaches that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, the (Greek) Orthodox Eastern Church believes and teaches that it only proceeds from the Father, but that it is given through the Son. As both Churches believe in the concept of the Trinity (one God in three Persons, erroneously believing that the Holy Spirit is a Person), their explanation of the procession of the Holy Spirit is, by necessity, flawed.

When Christ was here on earth as a human being, it was the Spirit of God the Father which dwelled in Him. Prior to His human conception, the Spirit of Christ (1 Peter 1:11)—as well as the Spirit of the Father—dwelled in God’s prophets and others in Old Testament times, and subsequent to Christ’s resurrection, both His Spirit and the Spirit of the Father dwell in converted Christians who are called to salvation.

Let us first see that it was the Holy Spirit of God the Father which dwelled in the human being, Jesus Christ, when He lived here on earth.

We read in Luke 4:18-19 that Jesus, when He quoted the prophet Isaiah in a synagogue in Nazareth, applied the following passage to Himself: “The Spirit of the LORD [in this case, the LORD refers to God the Father] is upon Me [Jesus Christ], Because He [the Father] has anointed Me [Jesus] to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To preach deliverance to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the LORD.”  Referring to Himself, He told His audience: “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (verse 21).

He healed the sick through the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 5:17; 6:19; 8:46), but it was not His power, but the power of the Father’s Spirit in Him. Christ said that of Himself, He could do nothing (John 5:19, 30; 14:10-11).  It was the Spirit of God the Father, dwelling in Christ without measure or limitation, which gave Him the power to perform miracles. Acts 10:38 reads: “God [the Father] anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God [the Father] was with Him.” We also read that God the Father was in Christ [through the Holy Spirit] during His suffering (2  Corinthians 5:19), giving Him the strength to endure.

When He was here on earth as a human being, He had no Holy Spirit (of His own) to give to others, as He was not a glorified God being (compare John 7:38-39; see also our Q&A on John 7:39). At that time, only the Holy Spirit of the Father was in existence or available, and it was the Father’s Holy Spirit that dwelled in Christ.

After Christ’s resurrection and glorification, both He and the Father would be able to dwell in converted Christians, through the Holy Spirit emanating or proceeding from both of them. John 14:23 says: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and WE will come to him and make OUR HOME with him.” We read that the Father sends the Holy Spirit in Christ’s name (John 14:26); that Christ sends the Holy Spirit (John 16:7); and that Christ sends it from the Father (John 15:26; Acts 2:33). As we will see, the different wording can be explained in that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father AND of the Son.

When the New Testament speaks of God, it is foremost referring to God the Father, but it is true, of course, that Jesus Christ is also God and referred to as such on several occasions. In Romans 9:5, Christ is called “the eternally blessed God” “who is over all” human beings. In Titus 2:13, Jesus Christ is called our “great God and Savior.” In Hebrews 1:8-9, Christ, the Son of God, is also called “God,” and it is stated that His God—God the Father—anointed Him with the oil of gladness. John 1:18 states that Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son, is God and has made the Father known to us (compare International Version).

Still, in most cases, when speaking about God, the reference in the New Testament is to the Father (compare 1 Corinthians 3:23). And so we see repeatedly and consistently that the Holy Spirit of God the Father dwells in converted Christians. God the Father revealed His truth to us through HIS Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10). We have received the Spirit which is from God the Father “that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God” the Father (verse 12).

We read that we are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God (the Father) dwells in us (1 Corinthians 3:16). This is repeated in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “… your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit [which] is in you, [which] you have from God, and you are not your own. For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Again, we read in 1 Thessalonians 4:8 that God (the Father) has given us HIS Holy Spirit, and 1 John 4:12-13 adds that we know that we abide in God (the Father), and He in us, “because He has given us of HIS Spirit.”

This is clearly confirmed in Romans 8:11, 14:

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through HIS Spirit [which] dwells in you…  For as many as are led by the Spirit of GOD, these are the SONS of God…”

And still, we ALSO read that the Spirit of Christ, the SON of GOD, dwells in converted Christians.

Romans 8:9 makes this very clear: “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of GOD dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of CHRIST, he is not His.”

Acts 16:7 says that the Spirit of Jesus did not permit Paul and his coworkers to go into Bithynia (compare New International Version and Revised Standard Version). Philippians 1:19 speaks of the “supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ”, and Galatians 4:6 states:

“And because you are sons, God [the Father] has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father.’”

We see, then, that it is the Spirit of God the Father AND the Spirit of Jesus Christ which dwell in us. For further information, please read our Q&A on the procession of the Holy Spirit. 

We explain in that Q&A that the Holy Spirit is not a person, but the power of God emanating from both the Father and the Son. It is “one” Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:11,13), because the Father and the Son are “one” (John 10:30)—they are of one mind, totally unified (compare John 17:11). For an in-depth explanation, please read our free booklets, “Is God a Trinity?” and “God is a Family.”

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

As a reminder, here are the dates for the upcoming Holy Days: September 5th–Feast of Trumpets; September 14th–Day of Atonement; September 19th through the 25th–Feast of Tabernacles; September 26th–Last Great Day. We will be broadcasting services live in the United States from our location in Vail, Colorado. For further information on our Feast sites in Colorado and Germany, please consult our website: www.eternalgod.org. For additional information on our Feast site in Germany, please also go to http://www.aufpostenstehen.de/wir-uber-uns/laubhuttenfest-2013/

“Nur Berufen oder auch Auserwählt?,” is the title of this week’s new German sermon. In English, the title is, “Just Called or also Chosen?,” and it is based on the sermon given in English by Mr. Norbert Link from Woodburn, Oregon (see below).

“Just Called or also Chosen?,” is now posted–here is a summary:

Only very few are called today to salvation, and only they can truly understand God and His Way of Life. Christ did not come to convert the world in this day and age, and neither does the Church of God have that commission. True Christians have been predestined to be called and chosen now. They are not called because of their good works. Why then do we read that many are called, but few are chosen?

by Christian Mrosek

I was sitting in the garden at my parent’s house on a wonderful day, enjoying the sun. But then, a mosquito bit me. I actually realized the fact that I was bitten while scratching my leg, which only made things worse. This got me pondering. As I found myself scratching immediately after feeling the itching, without really thinking about it, I realize that I still find myself giving in to wrong habitual behavior, without really thinking and battling the temptation.

It is frustrating and even discouraging at times to find myself doing the wrong thing again and again. But what I have learned from that mosquito bite is that, as I never have to scratch, I never have to sin. It is always my decision.

This whole analogy of the mosquito bite, the itching and the scratching with its negative consequences, brought, in fact, many spiritual principles to my awareness. Reflecting on this occurrence, I came to further realize that God will always be there. He will always help me get back up. He knows me better than I know myself. He will always know how to teach me a lesson, and how to encourage me. But I still have to do my part, and it will take much effort. The temptations will not disappear, and it will not be easy to overcome them. But I can do it and I will do it, because God’s Holy Spirit lives within me.