On August 18, 2012, Eric Rank will give a sermon, titled, respectively, “The Heart of Man.”

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.

Is it indispensable for a true Christian to have zeal? Will we suffer loss and be punished by God, if we lack zeal? The answer to these questions is, “yes”, because zeal is defined in Scripture as to be “hot, in earnest, to be fervent”  (compare Strong’s Concordance No.2204 (Greek)). The spiritual virtue of zeal is rendered as “strong love” in Isaiah 37:32 (compare “Easy To Read Version”).

Jesus Christ has this zeal, for we read in Isaiah 59:17 that He “was clad with zeal as a cloak”, wearing it over His armor. This means, we are to be fervent in all aspects of the armor of God, which is described in Ephesians, chapter 6. This includes the belt or girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet to proclaim the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and finally praying always. These are all parts of the armor. Isaiah 59:21 emphasizes the sword of the Spirit: “My Spirit [which] is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth…”

God expects us to have zeal and a strong love for His Word and not to sanitize, whitewash or soften it, so that it has no effect on the hearers. “For the word of God is living and powerful” (Hebrews 4:12).

In Ezekiel 3:4, it is stated: “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them!” And what is the purpose? “… hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me” (Ezekiel 3:17). What warning is this? For example, “One-third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst; and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them… and they shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it in My zeal, when I have spent My fury upon them” (Ezekiel 5:12-13).

Why must we speak these words to them? The answer is here: “If you do not speak to warn the wicked  from his way… his blood I will require at your hand” (Ezekiel 33:8). We must show Israel and all peoples the soon-coming worldwide destruction. In Matthew 24:14, we read that the gospel of the Kingdom is to be announced to them  “as a witness…”  Strong’s Concordance No.3142 (Greek) defines giving witness as including giving “evidence of the Decalogue (the ten commandments) in the sacred Tabernacle, to give a testimony”, so that our nations can avoid this destruction and show repentance by keeping the Ten Commandments.

Why does God want us to speak such terrible words of a warning witness to the houses of Israel, Judah and all nations? Focusing on Judah as an example, God explains His purpose for His warnings, through His Church, in Jeremiah 36:3 and 7, when He says: “It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purpose to bring upon them, that everyone may turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin… For great is the anger and the fury that the LORD has pronounced against this people.”

Do we have the zeal to do this?

We begin with reporting on the increasingly volatile situation in the Middle East, with special emphasis on the ongoing Iranian-Israeli conflict, the unsettling developments in Egypt, and the civil war in Syria.

We continue reporting on Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as presumptive Vice-President, and attempt to paint a clear(er) picture of Mr. Ryan’s positions and beliefs.

Turning to Europe, we report on the possibility of several European nations leaving the Eurozone and the increasing likelihood of Great Britain leaving the EU altogether, as well as attempts to create a unified “defense force” for Europe, under German, French and Polish leadership.

We conclude with two articles pertaining to Germany. We are revisiting the controversial decision of a German court to criminalize circumcision, and in focusing on an invasion of North American raccoons, we show the devastating consequences when man tries to “improve” nature.

Will Israel Strike Iran This Fall?

Times of Israel wrote on August 11:
 
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have ‘almost finally’ decided on an Israeli strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities this fall, and a final decision will be taken ‘soon,’ Israel’s main TV news broadcast reported on Friday evening. Channel 2 News, the country’s leading news program, devoted much of its Friday night broadcast to the issue, detailing the pros and cons that, it said, have taken Netanyahu and Barak to the brink of approving an Israeli military attack despite opposition from the Obama administration and from many Israeli security chiefs.
 
“Critically, the station’s diplomatic correspondent Udi Segal said, Israel does not believe that the US will take military action as Iran closes in on the bomb. The US, the TV report said, has not provided Israel with details of an attack plan. President Obama has not promised to attack Iran if all else fails. Conditions cited by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta for an American attack do not calm Israeli concerns. And Obama has a record of seeking UN and Arab League approval before action. All these factors, in Jerusalem’s mind, underline the growing conviction of Netanyahu and Barak that Israel will have to tackle Iran alone, the TV report said.
 
“Israel’s leaders have also noted that president George W. Bush vowed repeatedly that North Korea would not be allowed to attain a nuclear weapons capability — a vow that proved empty.
 
“Obama does not want to intervene militarily before the presidential elections in November, and it is doubtful that he would act afterwards, runs the Israeli assessment, the TV report said. Obama may believe that the US can live with a nuclear Iran, but Israel cannot, the report quoted those in ‘Netanyahu’s circle’ as saying.
 
“As for presidential challenger Mitt Romney, he takes a more forceful position, but would probably not have the domestic support necessary to act in the first year of his presidency, if elected, and after that it would be too late… Netanyahu, for his part, ‘is convinced that thwarting Iran amounts to thwarting a plan to destroy the Jewish people,’ Channel 2’s Segal said. The prime minister considers Iran’s spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to be acting rationally in order to achieve ‘fanatical’ goals…
 
“The TV report cited intelligence information suggesting that Iran ‘is much further ahead’ than previously thought in its uranium enrichment and in other aspects of its nuclear weapons program…
 
“Militarily, an Israeli strike would prompt missile attacks on Israel, attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah from the south and the north, and upheaval on the Arab street…The assessment is that Syria’s President Bashar Assad would not get involved, since this would finish him off, the report said. But if Iran got the bomb, the missile threat would be escalated, Hamas and Hezbollah further empowered, and there would be a danger of any crisis escalating into a nuclear crisis.
 
“Diplomatically, an Israeli strike would prompt a confrontation with the US, global protests, international isolation for Israel, delegitimization, and a situation in which Israel was seen as the aggressor. But if Iran got the bomb, Israel would be defeated and humiliated diplomatically…
 
“Economically, an Israeli strike would deepen the economic slowdown and lead to a suspension of foreign investment. An Iranian bomb would end foreign investment in Israel, however, and prompt an exodus of Israel’s best brains…
 
“The TV report made much of a recent speech by Netanyahu, at the scene of Sunday’s terror attack thwarted by Israel at the Gaza-Egypt-Israel border. Visiting the area on Monday, Netanyahu said Israel ‘must and can’ only rely on itself to safeguard its security…’No one can fulfill this role except the IDF and different Israel security forces of Israel, and we will continue to conduct ourselves in this way,’ Netanyahu said.”
 
The German paper, Die Welt, added on August 10 that the Jewish papers, “Jedict Achronot” and “Maariv” also reported on the same TV report, and stated that, according to “Maariv,” 40 percent of the Israelis would support an Israeli strike without support or assistance from the USA. Only 35 percent would prefer a strike by the USA. The report stated that “Maariv” concluded that Netanyahu has received  a “green light” for a strike. Notice the next articles as well:

When Is Israel Expected to Strike?

The New York Times wrote on August 12:

“Amid intensifying Israeli news reports saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is close to ordering a military strike against Iran’s nuclear program, his deputy foreign minister called Sunday for an international declaration that the diplomatic effort to halt Tehran’s enrichment of uranium is dead… Asked how long the Iranians should be given to cease all nuclear activity, Mr. Ayalon said ‘weeks, and not more than that.’

“The comments came after a frenzy of newspaper articles and television reports over the weekend here suggesting that Mr. Netanyahu had all but made the decision to attack Iran unilaterally this fall. The reports contained little new information, but the tone was significantly sharper than it had been in recent weeks, with many of Israel’s leading columnists predicting a strike despite the opposition of the Obama administration and many military and security professionals within Israel. Articles in Sunday’s newspapers also examined home-front preparedness for what experts expect would be an aggressive response not just from Iran but also its allies, the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas…”

The Times of Israel wrote on August 13:

“The US would not necessarily join in were Israel to launch a military strike against Iran’s nuclear program, an unnamed source in the Obama Administration told Israel’s Channel 2 News on Monday… A second Israeli TV report on Monday night went so far as to specify the ostensible timeframe for a possible Israeli attack, based in part on a tentative meeting scheduled between Netanyahu and President Barack Obama.

“Netanyahu is set to meet the president — in Washington, rather than as previously thought at the UN General Assembly in New York — between September 28 and October 1. The prime minister, Channel 10 News reported Monday, could not possibly order an Israeli strike on Iran prior to that meeting, where the Iranian threat would presumably be the main subject of discussion. Neither could he order an attack before his tentatively scheduled address to the General Assembly a few days earlier, on September 27 — his last appeal to the international community for firmer action to thwart Iran, according to Channel 10.

“The timeframe for an Israeli attack, the report suggested, would thus be sometime between October 2 and the presidential elections on November 6. Immediately after the US elections, Israel could presumably not defy a newly elected president. And fairly soon after that, it might be too late for Israel to stop Iran because of the Iranians’ progress and the limitations of Israel’s military capacity.

“Channel 10 went on [to] predict the likely consequences of an Israeli attack in terms of retaliatory missiles fired by Iran and its allies such as Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. While Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah in 2006 saw 4,500 rockets and missiles fired into Israel, an Israeli attack on Iran would prompt the firing of 50,000 missiles into Israel…

“The Maariv daily reported on Monday morning that, were Israel to attack Iran, Washington would provide Israel with an air defense ‘umbrella’ against the anticipated retaliation by Tehran and its proxies. Messages passed from Republican and Democrat policy makers in Washington to Israeli counterparts suggest that should Israel decide to bomb Iran in advance of the US presidential elections in November, Obama would order the American armed forces to join in the military effort, the paper said. Such an intervention, the sources explained, would all but guarantee Obama a second term in office. If he chose not to act, the president would likely be handing the office over to the Republicans, they said.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s concern that Iran wants to acquire the bomb in order to annihilate the state of Israel was confirmed by Hezbollah MP Walid Sakariya, and, again, by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as the next two articles report.

Hezbollah Leader Admits: Iranian Bomb is to Annihilate Israel

Times of Israel reported on August 9:

“Hezbollah MP Walid Sakariya told Lebanese television this week that the nuclear weapon Iran is allegedly developing is intended to annihilate Israel. In a segment recorded and translated by MEMRI (the Middle East Media Research Institute), Sakariya, also a retired general, told his interviewer on Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV Tuesday that should Iran acquire a nuclear weapon it would serve Syrian as well as Iranian interests, namely the eradication of the Jewish state.

“‘This nuclear weapon is intended to create a balance of terror with Israel, to finish off the Zionist enterprise, and to end all Israeli aggression against the Arab nation,’ Sakariya said. ‘The entire equation in the Middle East will change,’ he asserted.”

Ahmadinejad Repeats His Plea for Annihilation of Israel

On August 2, the Daily Israel Report added:

“Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has once again called for the annihilation of Israel, which he labeled ‘the axis of unity of the world hegemonic powers.’… Ahmadinejad repeated his annual litany of hate for the Jewish State in a meeting with ambassadors and embassy personnel of Islamic nations in Tehran, according to the official state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), quoting from a statement posted on the website of his presidential office.

“‘It has now been some 400 years that a horrendous Zionist clan has been ruling the major world affairs, and behind the scenes of the major power circles, in political, media, monetary and banking organizations in the world, they have been the decision makers…’ the Iranian president claimed… ‘any freedom lover and justice seeker in the world must do its best for the annihilation of the Zionist regime in order to pave the path for the establishment of justice and freedom in the world,’ he declared.”

Major Earthquakes Strike Iran

Deutsche Welle reported on August 12:

“Two powerful earthquakes, registering 6.4 and 6.3 on the moment magnitude scale, killed over 200 people and injured hundreds more on Saturday (11.08.2012). Most of the damage centered on the rural villages of Ahar, Varzaghan and Harees, near the city Tabriz, according to Iranian media.

“German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was quick to offer his country’s help to Iran. ‘I extend my deep sympathies to the people who have lost their loved ones and belongings during the holy month of Ramadan,’ Westerwelle wrote in a message to his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi. ‘I wish the injured a quick recovery. Rest assured that Germany stands ready to help your country in this difficult time.’

“But such offers of international aid and help caring for survivors and the homeless have been turned down by Iran. The Iranian Red Crescent also has not accepted help from its sister organizations…

“A report by an Iranian news agency… cited the head of the Iranian Red Crescent, Mahmud Mosafar, as saying there was no access to several villages. The Fars news agency reported that a crisis center for 16,000 people had been established and that mobile hospitals had been brought to the crisis area.

“Sitting above an area where several tectonic plates meet, Iran is often subjected to earthquakes. The last strong quake to hit Iran occurred in Bam in December 2003 when some 31,000 people died. Such devastating earthquakes cannot be predicted, Rainer Kind, a seismologist at the German Research Center for Geosciences in Potsdam, told DW. ‘In countries like Iran, houses are often poorly built out of air-dried clay bricks – especially in villages’ Kind said, adding that such buildings collapse easily during even a minor earthquake.”

Tense Relations Between Egyptian Military and Muslim Brotherhood

BBC News reported on August 12:

“Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi has ordered the retirement of the powerful head of the country’s armed forces, Field Marshal Mohamad Hussein Tantawi, a presidential spokesman has said. He also said a constitutional declaration aimed at curbing presidential powers had been cancelled. Mr Mursi, who was elected in June, is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Relations between Islamists and the military have been increasingly tense since the fall of President Mubarak…

“BBC Middle East correspondent Kevin Connolly says the dismissal of senior military officers will be seen by Egyptians as a decisive move in a struggle for real power between the country’s newly elected politicians and the generals who have exercised power for many years.”

Israel National News reported on August 12:

“Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi has sacked the entire leadership of the country’s defense establishment… Morsi also cancelled all constitutional changes that gave the military enlarged powers… The Muslim Brotherhood’s Morsi appears to be wasting no time in consolidating his hold over power at the expense of the military, which many hoped would be a moderating power over him… Al Jazeera said the president’s spokesperson made the surprising announcement on state television. ‘All of this has happened very fast, and it was unexpected,’ said the station’s correspondent… Channel 2’s Middle East analyst Ehud Yaari said that the move places the Muslim Brotherhood solidly at the helm of power in Egypt.”

Morsi’s New Dictatorship

Haaretz reported on August 15:

“Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi said on Wednesday that it is of utmost importance that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran work together to solve the ongoing crisis in Syria. Speaking at the Islamic Solidarity Conference in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Morsi said that it is time for regime change in Syria. He quoted the Prophet Mohammed who forbade war among Muslims and criticized those who allowed for the situation to deteriorate and for ‘blood to have been spilled during the holy month of Ramadan.’ Morsi stressed however that for Egypt and Arab Muslim countries, the Palestinian issue remains the most urgent, and called on the Palestinians to unite their ranks.

“On Tuesday, Egypt’s Information Minister Salakh Abd al-Maksud, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, said that ‘Egypt will not normalize relations with Israel until occupied Palestinian land is freed.”’ He… also said that Israel ‘stole Palestinian lands, and for this reason we will not normalize relations with it until those lands are freed.’ …

“Following Morsi’s decision to appoint 53 new government-run newspaper editors, the new editor of Al-Akhbar newspaper refused to publish an article critical of the Muslim Brotherhood on Tuesday, according to reports. Author Youssef al-Qaeed told al-Ahram newspaper that Al-Akhbar’s new editor, Mohamed Hassan al-Banna – who was appointed by the Brotherhood – was the one who banned the article… Earlier this week, an Egyptian court ordered a ban on all Saturday editions of Al-Dustour newspaper, claiming it had insulted Morsi. According to reports, the editions of the privately-owned newspaper were confiscated as part of an investigation into suspected subversion against Morsi.

“In the Saturday edition of the newspaper, the first page featured articles warning of a takeover of the Brotherhood Islamic rhetoric. This case is not an isolated one: A few days ago a television network was closed down for allegedly inciting to murder Morsi.”

Radical Islamists Move to Egypt

The Local wrote on August 12:

“German security services have recorded a leap in the number of radical Islamists traveling to Egypt, according to a report [by] Der Spiegel magazine. Radical Salafists considered violent by Germany’s security services have been leaving Germany in droves in the past weeks, wrote the magazine. But rather than traveling to the conflict zone in Pakistan and Afghanistan, they are increasingly heading for Egypt, a high ranking security official told Der Spiegel…

“In Egypt they are hoping to live ‘the true Islam’ or fight in a ‘Jihad against infidels,’ wrote the magazine… Officials are concerned that terror organisations such as Al-Qaeda are planning to exploit the power vacuum in Egypt following the Arab Spring to build up their own structures there, wrote the magazine.”

Arab World Divided

Deutsche Welle reported on August 16, 2012:

“The Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s early Thursday… decision to suspend Syria’s membership in the 57-nation group appeared geared at presenting a united front against sectarianism in the Muslim world. But during the build-up to the vote in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, resistance from Iran and Iraq seemed to show how divided the body really is. The conflict in Syria is increasingly turning into a religious one. Shiite-dominated Iran opposed the move to suspend Syria, while Sunni-dominated states were for it. Shiite-ruled Iraq did not even take part in the Jeddah conference. Though the Assad regime still holds power, evidence points to the Sunnis having considerably more influence there than before in determining Syria’s destiny. Apart from Iran, Russia and China have also shown some support for the Assad regime.

“In this sense, OIC’s conference reflected the increasingly sectarian nature of the Syrian civil war – something that some of those gathered in Jeddah actively promoted, especially those from Saudi Arabia itself. It is generally agreed that a wide range of private Saudi institutions promote Sunni extremists who are fighting in Syria not for democracy, but for the triumph of their faith. In other words, they mainly fight against Syrian Shiites…

“But neither Syria’s neighbors nor the neighbors’ western allies have any interest in an increasingly sectarian conflict… none of the states involved would benefit from the religious tensions. Currently Iran, which as a Shiite state is being put on the defensive, is noticing this most clearly. If Assad falls, Iran will lose its direct contact with Lebanese Hezbollah, to which it currently maintains close relations. This will also weaken its reputation as a steadfast opponent of Israel.

“If the Assad regime falls, Iran would lose a great deal, Iran expert Walter Posch said… [The Iranians] are worried that their contact with the Muslim Brotherhood and other Sunni Islamist groups, which are in the majority, would be interfered with, and they would then lose all contact with the Syrians. That would also make it difficult to contact the Lebanese Shiites.’ But above all, Posch said, Iran fears that religious unrest could also spread to its own territory. There the Sunnis form the second largest religious group in the country after the Shiites.

“But Sunni states also have reason to be worried about the development of the Syrian violence toward a religiously dominated conflict. The religious tensions could also spill over to their nations, which are also home to Shiite populations. In Saudi Arabia, Shiites constitute nearly 15 percent of the population, while they are 35 percent in Kuwait and as much as 60 percent in Bahrain. The Saudi Shiites are also geographically a challenge for the royal family: they live mostly in the east of the country, where the giant oil fields are. If they were to rebel, it could easily have economic consequences…”

Syrian Rebels Feel Abandoned by USA

The Washington Post wrote on August 7:

“As the Arab world’s bloodiest revolt continues to maim, kill and ravage lives on an ever-escalating scale, anti-American sentiments are hardening among those struggling to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, in ways that could have profound consequences for the country and the region in a post-Assad era.

“America, once regarded by the Syrian opposition as a natural friend in its struggle for greater freedoms against a regime long at odds with the West, increasingly is being viewed with suspicion and resentment for its failure to offer little more than verbal encouragement to the revolutionaries.

“In the nearly 17 months since Syrians joined the clamor for change that swept the Middle East last year, Tunisians, Egyptians and Libyans have voted in elections, chosen new leaders and embarked, however messily, on democratic transitions.

“Syria, by contrast, is hurtling ever deeper into an all-out conflict with no end in sight, ‘and all we get is words,’ said Yasser Abu Ali, a spokesman for one of the Free Syrian Army battalions in the town of al-Bab, which lies 30 miles northeast of Aleppo.

“The rebels say they don’t want direct military intervention in the form of troops on the ground. But they have repeatedly appealed for a no-fly zone similar to the effort that helped Libyan rebels topple Moammar Gaddafi last year and for supplies of heavy weapons to counter the regime’s vastly superior firepower, say rebels and opposition figures.

“When the regime falls, as the rebel battalion spokesman assumes it eventually will, Syrians will not forget that their pleas for help went unanswered, he said. ‘America will pay a price for this,’ he said. ‘America is going to lose the friendship of Syrians, and no one will trust them anymore. Already we don’t trust them at all.’

“It is not entirely accurate that the United States is doing nothing to help the Syrian opposition, nor is it clear what more it usefully could or should be doing, analysts say… But the assistance has been small-scale, intermittent, and dwarfed by the demands of an expanding battlefield that now covers all corners of the country and has escalated to include the use of air power by the government…

“But at a time when al-Qaeda-influenced jihadis are trying to establish a presence in Syria, there is a risk that a virulently anti-American form of Islamism could take hold among disillusioned Syrians, said Andrew Tabler of the Washington Institute of Near East Affairs… If Washington continues on its current path, ‘ultimately the political entity that comes to power is not going to be in U.S. interests,’ he said.”

The “Arab Spring” movement will become more and more hostile to the USA.

Mitt Romney Selects Running Mate Paul Ryan

BBC News reported on August 11 (note also our added comments in italics throughout the article):

“US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has named fiscal conservative Paul Ryan as his running mate in November’s election. Mr Ryan, 42, is a [practicing Catholic, pro-choice and anti-abortion, anti-gay marriages, and an ardent supporter of gun possession, as well as a] Wisconsin congressman and chairman of the House of Representatives budget committee.

“BBC North America editor Mark Mardell says the decision is a bold and ideological choice. Obama campaign said Mr Ryan stood for ‘flawed’ economic policies that would repeat ‘catastrophic’ mistakes…

“In a slip of the tongue, the former Massachusetts governor introduced Mr Ryan as ‘the next president of the United States’, before correcting himself to say he meant vice-president.

[Our comment: Mr. Obama made the same mistake almost four years ago when he introduced Mr. Biden as the next president of the United States, before correcting himself.]…

“Mr Ryan told the crowd that he and Mr Romney would ‘restore the greatness of this country’.

[Our comment: According to the Bible, this won’t happen, neither under an Obama-Biden or a Romney-Ryan leadership.]…

“Prompting one of the loudest cheers from onlookers, he said: ‘Our rights come from nature and God, not from government.”

[Our comment: Sadly, our God-given rights have been disregarded by the governments of this world, and until Jesus Christ returns to establish righteous rule and government on this earth, no human leadership will guarantee their people the establishment and enforcement of the laws of God.]

“Mr Ryan is best-known for a controversial alternative budget which he produced to counter President Obama’s plans in 2011 and 2012. Known as the Path to Prosperity, it delighted the Tea Party, an anti-tax, limited-government, grassroots Republican movement. The plan proposed reducing taxes, pensions and food aid, and overhauling government-funded healthcare. In all, it projected spending cuts of $5.3 trillion (£3.4 trillion) over a decade.”

The Catholic Church condemned Mr. Ryan’s plan as unchristian. At the same time, they condemned Mr. Obama’s and Mr. Biden’s stance on homosexuality and contraceptives as unchristian. In any event, it is not anticipated that Mr. Ryan’s original controversial plan will be accepted and approved—even high ranking Republicans have voiced their disapproval. Now, as USA Today reported on August 12, 2012, “Ryan also has a different Medicare plan that he crafted with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and introduced in December. The key difference is that it would give seniors the choice of staying in Medicare as it is currently configured or getting health insurance through private companies.” At the same time, no plan has been forthcoming so far from the Obama Administration. See also the next article on Paul Ryan.

Who is Paul Ryan?

The Washington Times wrote on August 12:

“Rep. Paul Ryan, Republicans’ presumptive vice presidential nominee, has amassed a very conservative voting record during his seven terms in Congress, including repeated votes against spending bills, unemployment benefit extensions and most of President Obama’s agenda. But he also voted for some of the major parts of the Bush administration that have drawn fire, including the No Child Left Behind education bill, and the 2003 Medicare prescription drug law that added a new entitlement to the government’s books without finding a way to pay for it. He also voted for the Wall Street bailout in 2008, which has become a flashpoint for both ends of the political spectrum.

“His chief breaks with most Republicans usually came on spending bills, where he regularly voted against his party leadership when they controlled the chamber before 2007. In 1999 he voted against expanding the Peace Corps, and voted against expanding debt relief to impoverished nations. Mr. Ryan voted for the Patriot Act and later voted to preserve federal authorities’ ability under that law to seek library records in their investigations — a major test point for the legislation.

“But he’s also had some more pointed dissents, including being one of relatively few House Republicans to vote for a bill that would have outlawed workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, the Employment Nondiscrimination Act. And he has voted to halt some of the strict U.S. sanctions against Cuba, siding with many Democrats… On social issues, he voted to end federal funding for both NPR and Planned Parenthood as part of the GOP’s spending fights last year.

“He maintains an A rating from the National Rifle Association, which backs Second Amendment rights… He has signed Americans for Tax Reform’s pledge, which commits him to opposing any legislation that increases taxes… He voted against expanding embryonic stem-cell research, and has amassed a decidedly pro-life record…

“On jobs and labor, he voted against extending unemployment benefits without offsetting their costs, but he also was one of the relatively few Republicans to vote to preserve the Davis-Bacon labor rules in military construction spending earlier this year, which gives preference to unionized labor. He has a 90 percent lifetime rating from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with most of his mark-downs coming because he voted against government spending as a way to produce jobs — including opposing Mr. Obama’s 2009 stimulus. He was also one of less than three dozen Republicans who in 2007 backed Democrats’ plan to require at least 15 percent of electricity in each state come from renewable fuels — a program the Chamber called unworkable.”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 13:

“Despite his popularity among Republicans, newspaper editorialists in Germany argued on Monday that choosing Ryan could backfire on the Republican presidential candidate. Many believe he is a more solid choice for the Republicans than Sarah Palin was back in 2008, but they similarly conclude that he may drive swing voters to the center and help secure Obama’s re-election in November.

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘…The country will experience a bloody duel that will pit Obama, a self-proclaimed defender of the middle class, against Romney, a staunch believer in the markets and archetypal capitalist. It’s the kind of sharp contrast that the Republican candidate has so far tried to avoid. Romney wanted to win by denouncing Obama’s weaknesses and miserably high unemployment levels. But he avoided showing clear political platforms or nuances. That’s why, to many in his party, he had come to be seen recently as a figure … who stood for nothing. Now Romney is borrowing a political face: Paul Ryan, a 42-year-old spitfire of the right, who will sharpen Romney’s profile and push the candidate to the right. That may please the party base, but it also entails risks…’

“The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘…Romney is putting all his eggs in one basket… Ryan is popular with the party base, but his ability to attract swing voters is likely to be limited. Although they may be dissatisfied with the current situation, it is unlikely that a radical restructuring of the social system will warm their hearts, either…’

“The business daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘Risky, surprising and courageous: The choice of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s vice presidential candidate is all of these things. But it is also an act of desperation. He is currently trailing significantly behind Obama in the polls and his chances of winning the election this fall might have been better if he had gone with a certain ticket… Paul Ryan is a politician who divides people… Romney’s strategic calculus is clear. He, himself a procrastinator, dawdler and notorious opportunitist [sic], is viewed by the conservative wing of his party as being too liberal. During his time as governor of Massachusetts, he passed… a health care reform there that looks a lot like Obama’s, and Romney lost credibility with the Republican Party basis. And that has changed little despite his claims that he will roll back Obama’s health care reform if he is elected. With Ryan, who has the support of the Tea Party, he is hoping to at least offset this deficit…’

“The leftist Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘More than anything else, Ryan is a radical ideologue who has never changed his platforms. By selecting Ryan, the Republican candidate has taken one step closer to clarifying his ideological position.’

“Ryan has a reputation as a hardliner… Ryan wants to lower taxes (also for the highest earners), he wants to further cut social benefits (including food stamps for the needy and government healthcare for pensioners), he wants to limit the authority of environmental protection agencies, he disputes the existence of climate change, he is against abortion, opposes same-sex marriages and he would like to increase military expenditures…’”

Some Members May Leave the Eurozone

BBC News reported on August 8:

“Some members of the eurozone may have to leave the bloc as the debt crisis continues, according to one of the architects of the euro. ‘Everything speaks in favour of saving the euro area,’ said Otmar Issing, a former European Central Bank chief economist. ‘How many countries will be able to be part of it in the long term remains to be seen,’ he added…

“The central bank highlighted the fall-off in money being lent across borders between the 17 countries that share the euro, saying the eurozone is becoming increasingly fragmented… ‘Its banking and money team have highlighted how the weaker eurozone economies – Spain, Italy, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece and Ireland – have been progressively starved of credit as banks in the bigger, stronger economies of Germany and France have stopped lending to them,’ the BBC’s business editor Robert Peston said…

“Mr Issing was a member of the German Bundesbank until 1998 and then worked at the ECB, during the introduction of the euro in 1999 until 2006… He added that it was not true that Germany would be better off returning to the deutschmark, saying the euro had been more stable than the mark… The UK is not in the Eurozone.”

The Bible predicts that ultimately, ten nations or groups of nations will run Europe. They will be the core members of the Eurozone. Some members will apparently indeed leave the Eurozone, but it appears to be certain that countries like Italy or even Spain will not exit and abandon the euro.

Will Britain Leave EU Soon?

The EUObserver reported on August 10:

“The prospect of Britain leaving the European Union is increasingly likely according to a leaked strategy paper by banking giant Nomura. The Asian bank, which is drawing up contingency plans for a ‘Brexit,’ said that ‘a referendum on EU membership without first securing significant concessions from EU partners would result in the UK leaving the European Union.’ The paper, written by Alastair Newton, a one-time British diplomat and advisor to former prime minister Tony Blair, added that ‘the British government’s response to the crisis of encouraging eurozone integration while looking for a looser UK relationship with the EU appears to be fanning the Eurosceptic flames’…

“The eurozone debt crisis has led to increasing euroscepticism among back-bench Conservative MPs, who are urging Prime Minister David Cameron to use potential changes on further integration to the EU Treaty to re-negotiate Britain’s terms of membership… Meanwhile, an opinion poll for YouGov taken last month indicated that only 15 percent of Britons would vote to remain in the EU as it is, while 50 percent would vote to leave the EU if other countries refused to re-negotiate Britain’s terms of membership.”

Coming—a European “Defense” Force

WorldNetDaily wrote on August 12:

“France once again is pushing the notion of a common European defense force. Three countries – Poland, Germany and France – are often referred to as the Weimar Triangle nations…

“The call for a common European defense comes as Europeans see the United States shifting its emphasis more toward the Asia-Pacific region. Until now, the U.S. has been the lead country in maintaining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. But many now are questioning whether it needs to exist.

“While Europe still relies on NATO primarily for its defense, the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty in 2009 allowed for creation of an independent course of action. [French Defense Minister Jean] Le Drian said that the Weimar Triangle, a political cooperation forum set up in 1992, should lead the effort.

“The three countries are working to set up a tactical military group by 2013 to be used as an example for wider E.U. participation and cooperation.”

Revisited: “There’s Little Germany Can Do About Circumcision Ban”

Times of Israel reported on July 9:

“[The] German parliamentary system won’t allow for unambiguous legislation affirming [the] right to Jewish ritual… While some German lawmakers are considering drafting legislation that would enshrine parents’ rights to circumcise their children, there is little else the German government can do about last month’s decision by a local court that effectively outlawed the procedure, Berlin’s ambassador to Israel said Monday. ‘I ask for your understanding that the federal government — I represent Germany’s federal government here in Israel — respects the independence of the German judiciary. That is no different by us than it is with you. Therefore, my abilities to comment on this judgment are limited,’ Ambassador Andreas Michaelis told the Knesset Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee…

“While at least three parties in the Bundestag are considering drafting legislation that would allow religious groups to perform circumcisions, Michaelis said it was not clear that this would be possible. Some German lawmakers pointed out that the German legal system is based on a ‘principle of prohibitions’ — as opposed to laws permitting certain actions — he said. That means that complete legal certainty regarding the performance of circumcision might remain elusive, he added.”

The persecution of religious minorities in Europe will continue. As Satan is the deceiver, the destroyer and the accuser of the brethren, we can expect that very soon, members of the true Church of God will be increasingly targeted by the governments and the public for their “unique” beliefs, including the observation of the Sabbath and the annual Holy Days, their rejection of Christmas, Easter and the atheistic Evolution hypostasis, their upholding of God’s dietary laws, and their biblical belief in a God Family and their rejection of the unbiblical concept of the Trinity.

Raccoons Overrun Germany

Der Spiegel Online reported on August 3:

“Germany is being invaded by what is estimated to be over a million raccoons. Worried residents have been driven to take extreme measures to deter or eradicate the furry pests, but experts fear the nocturnal marauders are here to stay… These predatory mammals originally from North America can weigh over 10 kilograms (22 pounds). They’re known for their intelligence, and many Native American legends assign raccoons the trickster role that Germans associate with Reynard the Fox in European fables…

“The first raccoons were brought to Germany in around 1920 to be bred in captivity for their pelts. Their controlled introduction into the wild occurred on April 12, 1934, when Prussian hunting and game authorities released two pairs of raccoons near the Edersee, a reservoir near Kassel. Their stated purpose was to ‘enrich the fauna’ of the area.

“A persistent rumor has it that Hermann Göring, one of the Nazi party’s most powerful figures, personally ordered that raccoons be released into the wild. The fact that this isn’t historically accurate didn’t stop British tabloid newspaper The Sun from running an article in 2007 entitled ‘Nazi raccoons on warpath.’ The article warned that they ‘are just across the Channel from Britain after marching through France, Belgium, Holland and Denmark in a furry blitzkrieg’ and that they ‘are invading new territory — just like the Nazis did.’

“Competition for habitat space is so high in the raccoons’ main population centers — in the German states of Hesse, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt — that young male raccoons have started migrating to other parts of the country… Statistics kept by the German Hunting Association (DJV) offer proof of a downright invasion. It calculates that 67,700 raccoons were killed in Germany last season, a new record…

“There’s no law against trapping raccoons — in fact, quite the opposite is true… Hunters complain that raccoons kill partridges and pheasants, devour bats and steal eggs from wild ducks’ nests… there is the potential danger to humans from rabies spread by raccoons…

“In cities such as Dresden and Bielefeld, the animals have started banding together to harvest entire cherry or plum trees. Another problematic occurrence is when these marauding gangs make their homes in building attics, where they tear the insulation to bits and leave their droppings everywhere.”

When man tries to fool around with or “improve” nature, unpredictable consequences are the results. The Bible shows that God will use wild animals to punish disobedient mankind.

West Nile Virus on the Rise

Reuters reported on August 15:

“The mayor of Dallas declared a state of emergency in the ninth largest U.S. city on Wednesday to combat the spread of West Nile virus infections, which have been more prevalent than usual in Texas and other states this year. There have been more cases of West Nile virus reported so far this year than any year since the disease was first detected in the United States in 1999, the Centers for Disease Control said on its website.

“Nearly half of the 693 human cases of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus infections reported this year to the CDC have been in Texas, along with 14 of the 26 deaths confirmed by the federal agency as of Tuesday… It is not clear why the number of West Nile cases in Texas is so high. It could be related to a warmer winter and rainy spring that has contributed to an increased mosquito population…

“West Nile virus usually flares up in the summer because it is most often transmitted by mosquito bites. People infected can suffer fever and aches that can become severe or even cause death, especially of the elderly, children and other at risk groups. There is no specific treatment for the West Nile infection.”

The Bible teaches us that Christ will return after the Great Tribulation has commenced, and within approximately a year after the beginning of the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord will not end when Christ returns, but it will continue throughout the Millennium and beyond—it describes the time when God will rule in the affairs of men. After the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment, also known as the Second Resurrection, lasting perhaps 100 years, there will be a third resurrection for those who have committed the unpardonable sin. They will be cast in the Gehenna or “hell” fire—the “lake of fire”–to be burned up and destroyed.

We read in 2 Peter 3:10-13 that ultimately, and still during the (on-going) Day of the Lord, the heavens will pass away and the elements will melt with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up, and all these things—the heavens and the earth—will be dissolved, being on fire. This shows that both the entire physical universe as well as the earth will melt away and burn up. We then read that afterwards, God will create new heavens and “a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

We explain in our booklet, “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World,” that the new heavens and the new earth will no longer be physical, consisting of matter, but that they will be spiritual—consisting of spirit—as God’s third heaven, where He dwells, already consists of spirit today—and has always been consisting of spirit. In fact, God, who is Spirit, created first the angels and other things within the spirit world, and after that, the physical world, which was patterned after the things in the spirit world.

Let us quote the following excerpts from our booklet:

“The heavenly Jerusalem will come down from heaven, after the physical earth and the physical heavens are burned up, and after God creates new heavens and a new earth (2 Peter 3:7, 10–13). Isaiah 51:6 adds that ‘the heavens will vanish away like smoke.’ Isaiah 34:4 tells us that ‘All the host of heaven shall be DISSOLVED,’ and that ‘…the heavens shall be ROLLED UP like a scroll.’ God will create new heavens and a new earth, which will remain (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22).

“So, just what remains or endures? Does matter last forever? Will our new solar system, if we can call it that, even have a sun and a moon? Apparently not, as we read in passages such as Isaiah 60:19–20 and Revelation 21:23.

“We find a description of God’s new creation in Psalm 102:25–26: ‘Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed.’

“In what way will God change them? 2 Corinthians 4:18 tells us: ‘…For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.’

“Note also in Hebrews 12:25–29: ‘See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.’

“Lamsa renders verse 27 in this way: ‘And these words, once more, signify the CHANGE of things which may be shaken, because they are made in order that things which cannot be shaken may remain.’

“Romans 8:18–23 tells us very clearly what those invisible things will be: ‘For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption INTO the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption [sonship], the redemption of our body.’

“We saw in verse 21 that the creation will be delivered from corruption ‘into’ (‘eis’ in Greek) the glorious liberty of the children of God. Moffat renders verse 21 in this way: ‘The hope being that creation as well as man would one day be freed from its thralldom [bondage] to decay and gain the glorious freedom of God’s children.’ The Revised Standard Version writes: ‘…the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and OBTAIN the glorious liberty of the children of God.’ The Luther Bible states, ‘The creation, too, will be freed from bondage of temporary existence INTO the glorious freedom of the children of God.’

“The Greek word for corruption or decay that is used in verse 21 is ‘phthora.’ It is the same word used in 1 Corinthians 15:42, where we read: ‘The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.’ It is also used in Galatians 6:8: ‘For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption.’

“This physical creation, patterned after God’s spiritual creation, waits to be delivered from corruption to obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. The glorious freedom, which the universe will receive, includes freedom from death. In that new universe, DEATH will be unknown, and so will decay and corruption.

“We will be changed into Spirit. Spirit endures. Spirit cannot die or decay. Spirit remains. Spirit is INCORRUPTIBLE. The universe will obtain that same freedom from decay, corruption and death. In order to obtain such freedom from death and corruption, this universe will have to be changed into SPIRIT, as we also will be changed into Spirit beings. In this way, the new heavens and the new earth will remain, for only the things that the human eye cannot see will remain.

“When the heavenly Jerusalem comes down to [the new] earth, as a spiritual city, after God has created new heavens and a new earth, it will remain as a spiritual city. It will not be changed into matter, into something physical. Why should it become physical? By that time, all of mankind who have chosen to live God’s way of life will have become Spirit beings. Physical human beings will no longer exist. God will not become a physical being. Angels will not become physical beings. Every physical thing will have been destroyed in the all-encompassing fire that burns up the earth and dissolves the physical universe, as we read in 2 Peter 3:11. This will include those humans who have willfully refused to live God’s way of life…

“It is true that Ecclesiastes 1:4 says that the earth will remain forever. However, this does not necessarily mean that this earth will remain forever in a physical state. We know that ultimately, everything physical will decay and cease to exist. After all, we will remain forever, but we will not remain in this physical body. Rather, we will be changed into Spirit beings.

“God will restore a condition that existed at the beginning of His creation when He first created spirit beings and spiritual things. Ultimately, all physical things, which have been patterned after things in the Spirit world, will be changed into spiritual things.”

As long-time readers of the literature of the Church of God under the late Herbert W. Armstrong know, we have emphasized that after the Great White Throne Judgment period and the third resurrection, this universe, which is presently in decay, will be replaced by a new creation. This physical universe, as it exists today, was not originally created in a state of decay. Rather, it was created to contain life. The Bible indicates that when God created the heavens and the earth, both were created in a beautiful state. However, even though the earth was created with animal life forms, there is no indication that other planets were created with life on them as well. God created life on earth, but because of cataclysmic events, caused by Satan and his angels, this earth and the entire universe became void and empty. God renewed the surface of the earth by creating modern life, but He did not renew the surface of the other planets in the universe.

As we pointed out in a recent Q&A on our future as born-again members of the Family of God, we will be God beings with the same powers and abilities which God the Father and Jesus Christ have. This would include the ability to create. However, we will always be under the authority of God the Father and Jesus Christ, and we will never do anything, including any creative act, without or even against God’s Will. The Bible has not revealed what exactly we might create, under God’s authority and direction. But the Church of God has never taught, and we can continue to say confidently, that following the third resurrection, HUMAN life will NOT be created on the new earth or the other new planets. This would begin another cycle of physical frailties, pain, sin, forgiveness of sin, death, etc. This can’t be true as we read that there will be no more death, nor pain and suffering.

We do know that before the physical creation of this universe, God created angels—spirit beings. Ezekiel 28, verse 13, reveals that the archangel Lucifer was created. Likewise, angels are listed among the creations of God in Psalm 148, verses 1-5. (But we are not suggesting that additional angels will be created in the future).

Originally, the earth was given to Lucifer and his angels to live here and to rule over the planet, so that they could also be used later to rule over the universe. But Lucifer and his angels rebelled against God, left their proper domain (the earth) and ascended to heaven to “replace” God, occupy His throne and His rule [prematurely, without being qualified] over the entire universe. They were defeated by Michael and his angels and thrown back to this earth, where they still rule today as Satan and his demons. In the process of this gigantic spiritual battle, both the earth and the universe were destroyed. God renewed the surface of the earth for man—but not the universe. Once man qualifies to enter the Kingdom of God, Satan and his demons will be replaced, and the born-again spirit members of the Family of God will rule under Christ on this earth during the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment, and, after the third resurrection, they will be given the awesome task, under God the Father and Jesus Christ, to rule the universe.

What exactly God has in store for us after the new heavens and the new earth have been created, we don’t know. But we do know that God says that we will rule forever and ever, and that His peace and government over the new earth and the entire new universe will have no end. God the Father will dwell on the newly-created earth, consisting of spirit, and the new Jerusalem, consisting of spirit, will come down from the third heaven, after the physical earth and the physical universe have been dissolved. Undoubtedly, the new earth will be God’s headquarters over the entire universe, and it appears that we will be assisting God, in the way that He directs.

What we do have revealed to us is that God is enlarging His Family—the Family of God. We know that we are being trained to rule with Jesus Christ—initially,  those who are part of the first resurrection, who rule during the millennial time period. After that, the great majority of people who have ever lived will be resurrected and offered their first opportunity for salvation in the ruling Family of God.

God reveals Himself as Creator, and every indication from the Bible is that we, as His Spirit-born children will participate in the limitless possibilities of creating—-for, as Jesus Christ so emphatically stated, “…with God, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE” (Mark 10:27).

Lead Writers: Norbert Link and Dave Harris

Our newest booklet, “Middle Eastern and African Nations in Bible Prophecy,” will be sent to the printer within the next few days. Plans are to have this available for distribution at our Feast sites as well as for mailing to those who are signed up to receive our literature.

A new Member Letter has been written by Dave Harris, and addresses the urgent challenges Christians are facing at the present time. NOTE: If you would like to receive our member letters and other published material, you may request to be placed on our mailing list.

Norbert Link’s video-recorded sermon, “Christ in the Old Testament,” has been posted on YouTube.

Norbert Link has recorded a video sermon to be played at both of our Feast of Tabernacles sites this year. Additionally, Mr. and Mrs. Link and Margaret Adair will be visiting brethren in Woodburn, Oregon, on the Sabbath of August 25, 2012.

A new German sermon was recorded this week, titled, “Biblische Meditation” (“Biblical Meditation”).

A new StandingWatch program has been recorded, titled, “When will Israel Attack Iran?” Here is a summary of this program: Will Israel strike Iran between October 2 and November 8, 2012? Many in Israel think so, and they produce seemingly compelling evidence for this conclusion. Such an attack would have unthinkable consequences for the entire world. Would you be prepared for them?

A reminder for those wishing to attend the Feast of Tabernacles with us for 2012–please review details posted on our website under the “FEASTS” heading. Our locations for this year are Pismo Beach, California, and Deganwy, North Wales.

by John Amorelli

My wife and I had experienced very destructive storms recently that caused loss of power for several days! We did not have a generator as a backup power source. This prompted me to purchase a generator to prepare us for the next power outage. When I took it out of the box, I proceeded to carefully inspect it. I read the manual along with a card that was enclosed, called the “Quick Guide” instructions. I read the card carefully, step by step. To understand how to use it correctly and completely, I read the steps over and over again. Once I had this processed, I was ready to apply the instructions that I had read over and over again unto the generator.

I reflected on this and had realized that I need to apply this in my spiritual life! What I learned is that I need Scripture repeated to me over and over again! I also learned that I need to read and re-read Scripture. When I hear sermonettes and sermons, I do not mind at all if messages are repeated. (As a matter of fact, I look forward to Scriptures being repeated). It reminds me how much I still need to learn. When I read and study a certain Scripture, I need to repeat the repetition and repeat it again! The Word of God is the perfect instruction manual that needs to be re-read by me.

So, whenever a situation occurs when a generator needs to be utilized, I will refer to the generator’s instruction manual again, and then operate the generator. Whenever a situation arises in my spiritual life, I need to remember to pray to the Eternal, and then go to His “Instruction Manual” again and again.

On August 11, 2012, Norbert Link will give the sermon, titled, “Christ in the Old Testament.”
 
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.

Occasionally, we hit rough patches, don’t we? Sometimes our difficulties swarm around us, triggering a wide array of reactions, many of them not-so-good. I relate, and much more than I would like to admit. The feelings of being overwhelmed, frustrated, upset, angry, helpless, among many other negative emotions trap me most when I let my guard down, lose sight of my values, and become weak. I don’t think I’m alone in having a positive attitude that sometimes fails.

The hardest part is having the conscious awareness that I should know better. It is helpful to know that the situations causing me to stumble are insignificant when placed in the right perspective, but it is not always helpful. Even with the truth of the matter staring me in the face, emotions persist and the hardness of reality refuses to bend. The question then emerges, “what is one to do when struggling against one’s self?” The answer? Quite simply, give up.

Give up fighting alone. Our weakness becomes strengthened immeasurably when we use the resources made available to us by God. Ephesians 6:11 reminds us to “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Without Godly truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, prayer, and the Holy Spirit, we are defenseless against the force of frustration that we may face. When we make use of what God has freely provided to us, we have an immense and powerful hope that can lead us to bravely overcome our struggles.

Give up relying on our own strength. Submitting ourselves to God and admitting to that we are not strong enough to solve our problems alone is extremely humbling. But, we are reminded that even Jesus Christ proclaimed without shame that He could do nothing without God. We are in the same position. Jesus Himself tells us about how He is behind everything that we do. When His word was recorded in John 15:5, He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me you can do nothing.” There is strength in knowing that when we allow Jesus Christ to live in us, He supports us in doing everything. How encouraging it is to know that we have such an Advocate!

Give up on relying on our own view of an immovable reality, and instead prove our faith. Having the faith of Christ, that God will fulfill His plan – no matter what – is the hope that we must have. This same hope gives us the power to see through sticky and nasty situations presented to us. Our faith must not be empty, but proven by action. James 2:22 tells us that faith is made perfect by action. We do this by acting consistently with our beliefs. By contrast, a discouraged spirit causes us to act contrary to our faith. There is no way to perfect our faith with a hopeless attitude. Reminding ourselves of the substance of our faith is vital to overcoming difficult situations.

However, there is one thing we must not give up on – trying. When we give up trying, we give in to the snares of Satan, allowing him to govern the course of our behavior. By continuing to try to overcome the difficulties of life, we make our faith manifest and prove our trust in God. Psalm 55:22 gives us some good advice, “Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.” We cannot forget that we have the hope and strength of God to support us as long as we don’t give up on Him.

We begin with an ominous report quoting Iran’s Khamenei call to prepare for war. Citing other developments, we see the merging of Islamist interests in Egypt and Iran and the preparations for war defense by the Israelis.

Greece begins to deport migrants and we report on the growing acceptance of euthanasia as a business in Germany; German lawmakers support gay relationships as holding “consersative values”; Mitt Romney is revealed as flip-flopping on the issue of gay relationships, and we report on the spread of African swine flu into Europe.

Khamenei: WAR IN WEEKS!

DEBKAfile published on August 1, 2012:

“On July 27, just before Friday prayers, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei summoned top Iranian military chiefs for what he called ‘their last war council.’

“’We’ll be at war within weeks,’ he told the gathering, DEBKAfile’s exclusive Iranian and intelligence sources disclose.

“Present were Defense Minister General Ahmad Vahidi, Khamenei’s military adviser General Yahya Rahim-Safavi, Armed Forces Chief Major General Seyed Hassan Firuzabadi, Revolutionary Guards Corps commander General Mohammad Ali Jafari and Al Qods Brigades chief General Qassem Soleimani. The commanders of the air force, the navy and ground forces were also there.
 
“Each of the participants was tapped to report on the readiness of his branch or sector for shouldering its contingency mission.

“While retaliation had been exhaustively drilled in regular military exercises in the past year, Khamenei ordered the biggest fortification project in Iran’s history to save its nuclear program from even the mightiest of America’s super-weapons. Rocks are being gathered from afar, piled on key nuclear installations, covered with many tons of poured concrete and finally plated with steel.

“That same Friday, the US Air force unveiled its new Massive Ordnance Penetrators. Each bunker buster weighs 30,000 pounds and is able to penetrate 60 feet of reinforced concrete.

“Turning to retaliation, the war council endorsed a battery of paybacks for potential US and/or Israeli pre-emptive strikes against its nuclear program. They would start by announcing enhanced uranium enrichment up to 60 percent – that is close to weapons grade.

“Oft-tested ballistic missiles, Shehab-3, would be loosed against Israel, Saudi Arabia and American Middle East and Gulf military installations.

“Hizballah in Lebanon and Hamas and Jihad Islami in Gaza stand ready to pitch in against Israel with attacks from the north and the southwest.
 
“Saudi oil export terminals would be blown up and mines sown in the Strait of Hormuz to impede the export of one-fifth of the world’s oil.

“Khamenei put before his war council a timeline of weeks for the coming conflict – September or October.”

War is coming again in the Middle East! Up to this point, rumors of impending conflict–especially between Israel and Iran–have been a constant item in the news. What we are witnessing following the “Arab Spring” is leading to the realignment of nations of the area to form an even stronger Islamist power-bloc–all potential enemies in a war against the State of Israel. However, the Bible does not support many of the ideas which are being circulated pertaining to future events in the Middle East. For more information, please view our new StandingWatch program, “War With Iran Coming Soon?”

Egypt Talks to Iran

The Los Angeles Times wrote on August 8, 2012:

“Signaling a new era in Egypt’s diplomacy, President Mohamed Morsi met with Iran’s vice president Wednesday in the highest-level official contact between the two strategic nations in decades.

“Morsi’s visit with Hamid Baghaei gave Iran a diplomatic coup amid sharpening international pressure over its nuclear program and links to Syria. It came as Egypt’s new Islamist president looks to gradually reshape the pro-American policies of toppled leader Hosni Mubarak to reflect political shifts brought by the ‘Arab Spring’ revolts.

“The brief meeting in the Egyptian capital did not produce any breakthroughs, but it was symbolic. Formal relations between the two countries were broken after the Iranian Revolution and Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel. Mubarak had rebuffed Iran’s efforts in recent years to restore full diplomatic ties, although lower-level talks between officials were occurring.

“Baghaei’s stopover came at a pivotal time for both nations regarding Israel. Israel has suggested it might attack Iran’s nuclear program, which it believes is aimed at developing a bomb and which Tehran says is purely for civilian purposes. Cairo is under pressure from Israel and the United States to improve security in the Sinai peninsula after recent attempts by militants to infiltrate Israel…

“Iran has hailed Morsi’s presidency as Egypt’s ‘Islamic awakening.’ It has turned to Cairo as Iran’s regional stature is under duress from economic sanctions and political upheavals that have reconfigured the Arab world.

“Syrian President Bashar Assad, Iran’s reliable proxy, has been weakened by months of protests and bloody insurgency. If Assad is overthrown or relinquishes power, Tehran could lose an ally in its maneuverings in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, which is governed by the militant group Hamas.

“The Muslim Brotherhood, which inspired the founding of Hamas, has been urging closer relations with Iran. But many Egyptian clerics have been opposed to strengthening ties given the historical animosity between Sunnis and Shiites.”

Israel in a Defense Race

Reuters reported on August 5, 2012:

“Israel is upgrading its Arrow II ballistic missile shield in a U.S.-backed ‘race’ against Iran, Syria and other regional enemies, a senior Israeli defense official said on Sunday.

“The new ‘Block 4’ generation of guided interceptor rockets, radars and technologies for synchronizing Arrow with U.S. systems was being installed in deployed Israeli batteries, a process that would take several weeks, the official said.

“‘The accuracy and the reach will be greater,’ the official said of Arrow, which has been operational since 2000 and is designed to blow up incoming missiles at altitudes high enough for non-conventional warheads to disintegrate safely.

“‘It is part of the technological race in the region,’ the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

“Long jittery about Iran’s disputed nuclear program, the Israelis have more recently worried the Syrian insurgency could loosen Damascus’s hold on its chemical weapons and missiles.

“Israel has threatened to attack preemptively in both countries, a prospect that could trigger wider war and clash with Washington’s efforts to resolve the crises diplomatically.”

Greece Rounds Up Migrants

The New York Times reported on August 6, 2012:

“A vast police operation here aimed at identifying illegal immigrants found that, of 6,000 people detained over the weekend, 1,400 did not have proper documentation, leading the minister of public order to say that Greece was suffering an ‘unprecedented invasion’ that was threatening the stability of the debt-racked nation.

“The minister, Nikos Dendias, defended the mass detentions, saying that a failure to curb a relentless flow of immigrants into Greece would lead the country, which is surviving on foreign loans, to collapse. ‘Our social fabric is at risk of unraveling,’ Mr. Dendias told a private television channel, Skai. ‘The immigration problem is perhaps even greater than the financial one’…

“About 4,500 officers conducted raids on streets and in run-down apartment blocks in central Athens, a police spokesman said, calling the sweep one of the largest ever by the force. Eighty-eight Pakistanis were flown back home on a chartered flight on Sunday, said the spokesman, who spoke on the standard ground rules of anonymity. He said more deportations were expected in the coming days.

“With its position on the southeastern flank of the European Union, Greece has long been the most common transit country for impoverished migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East. But the global economic malaise and the revolutions of the Arab Spring have sharply increased the flow of migrants, and the government has been calling for more help from the European Union.”

As has been talked about for quite a while, the United States of Europe are becoming a European fortress.

Euthanasia Business Finds German Approval!

The Local published the following on August 6, 2012:

“Nearly half of Germans are in favour of legalising euthanasia businesses, a recent survey revealed. The German parliament is still divided over proposed changes to assisted suicide laws.

“The survey, carried out by pollsters Emnid, found that 49 percent of Germans would be in favour of lifting the ban on privately-run euthanasia services. Just 41 percent said they would be against, Sunday’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported.

“Last week, Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said that she was going to present a redrafted version of the country’s assisted suicide laws in parliament.

“The new laws would see doctors, carers and close family being able to help someone end their life without facing punishment. Oddly, Emnid found that only 47 percent of the 501 people they asked, approved of this, as opposed to the 49 percent who approved lifting the ban on commercial euthanasia.

“But if the law is altered, providing a commercial euthanasia service would still be illegal, punishable by a two-year prison sentence. Euthanasia businesses were outlawed in Germany in 2009, and Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said the ban was not up for negotiation.

“But the suggested changes have provoked outcry from critics and sparked a debate within Germany’s ruling coalition.

“Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger is a member of the Free Democratic Party, the junior partner of the coalition, and members of the main governing party – the Christian Democratic Union – have said the distinction between commercial and non-commercial euthanasia is false and misleading.
 
“Social Democratic Party legal expert Edgar Franke told regional newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung that assisted suicide was an ethical issue that party-politics had no business with.”

The business of assisted suicide is, first and foremost, the breaking of God’s inviolable law against MURDER! Not only in Germany, but nations around the world trample on human life with ghastly decisions that “legalize” such atrocities as abortion. Life is now a commodity–something never intended or allowed by God, and it will take His direct intervention to now save us from our own twisted and misguided actions!

Gay Relationships Claim “Conservative Values”!

The Local, August 7, 2012, wrote:

“German Family Minister Kristina Schröder of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has said gay partnerships represent ‘conservative values’ because of their ‘long-term commitment’ – so they should get the same tax breaks as marriages.

“Schröder came out in support of a proposal by 13 CDU MPs calling for tax equality between marriage and homosexual partnerships, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Tuesday.
 
“In a joint statement, the conservative parliamentarians said, ‘It is not acceptable that politicians are constantly … being asked to abolish the current inequality by the Constitutional Court.’
 
“The proposal comes in reaction to a Constitutional Court verdict from last week, which decided that public officials, judges, and soldiers in registered partnerships – whether gay or heterosexual – should have the same custody rights as married couples, and so should also be entitled to family allowance.
 
“The 13 MPs therefore called on their own party to ‘finally’ make tax equality ‘its own political decision.’
 
“‘We want to recognize that life partners with a registered partnership have set up a framework for a long-term relationship based on mutual trust and affection,’ the statement said. They said registered partners had the same ‘mutual income obligations and duties to each other’ as married couples, so they should have the same tax status.”

Germany’s opposition party, the SPD, is also in favor of providing the tax breaks mentioned in the article. Of course, Germany is by no means the only Western country which is trying to establish such new rules. In fact, most Western countries are doing this or have already done so. However, the so-called “conservative values” offered in this article are a total rejection of the true biblical values established by God. To whitewash sin by calling “evil good and good evil” does not change the timeless LAWS of God. In fact, here is what God says of this kind of approach in Isaiah 5:20: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

Romney Campaign Avoids Stance But Takes a Stance

Newsmax wrote on August 6, 2012:

“The Romney campaign’s decision to duck the Chick-fil-A controversy over gay-marriage appears to have reopened old wounds with social conservatives, who were never fully sold that the former Massachusetts governor would represent their concerns in the marbled halls of Washington.

“’This is the most disheartened that certainly I’ve felt looking at this entire race,’ said Catholic League president Bill Donohue. He told Newsmax in an exclusive interview that social conservatives will now have to decide whether to sit out the race.

“On Friday, Romney told reporters he does not intend to address the controversy that was touched off when big city mayors threatened to punish the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain after its president, Dan Cathy, voiced support for the traditional definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.

“’Those are not things that are part of my campaign,’ said Romney.

“Romney’s aides have explained that while the presumptive GOP presidential nominee favors the traditional definition of marriage, he is trying to structure his remarks to keep the focus solely on the economy in order to have the best possible chance of defeating President Barack Obama in November.”

Spiegel Online (August 6, 2012) adds:

“Critics have called Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney a weakling, and polls show him far behind President Barack Obama. With new suspicions emerging that he has been less than honest about his taxes, even fellow Republicans are having their doubts about him.”

And from the Washingtion Times, August 7, 2012:

“There is one social issue on which Mitt Romney is more liberal than President Obama — that of urging the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to accept gay scouts.

“Mr. Romney said in 1994 that while it was up to BSA to set its own policy, he thought the scouts should allow gay boys in, and this week his campaign reaffirmed that stance to the Associated Press. The 1994 comments came as he was running to unseat then-Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in Massachusetts.

“‘I support the right of the Boy Scouts of America to decide what it wants to do on that issue. I feel that all people should be able to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation,’ Mr. Romney said during a debate at the time.

“Now Scouts for Equality, a group pushing for the national scouting group to allow gay boys to join, said it’s time for Mr. Obama — who as president is the honorary president of the scouts — to take the same stand.”

Mr. Romney’s approach is typical–rather than boldy standing up for the fundamental values long established as basic in American life, he has chosen to let opportunity pass him by, or to support wrong concepts. On the other hand, President Obama is not behaving any better. Our nation is not producing leadership which is rooted in biblical truth, and the sad consequences of that tradegy are already tearing us apart! The world is not ruled by God or His standards—it is ruled by Satan the devil who has deceived the whole world—including the American people and their leaders. Thanks be to God that He will send His Son Jesus Christ very soon to establish the Kingdom of God and righteous rule on this earth.

African Swine Fever Spreads

Reported in The Local, August 8, 2012:

“German pig keeping experts warned on Wednesday that if the African swine fever spreading across Russia and Ukraine hits Germany, damages could cost billions of euros and spark mass culls.

“’We don’t want to start spreading panic, but the situation is serious,’ head of the German pig keepers association (ISN) Torsten Staack told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung (NOZ) on Wednesday.

“He said that the virus was highly contagious between animals and if a pig contracts it, they generally die very quickly. If it hit Germany, the consequences would cost ‘into the billions’ and could see around 31,000 of the country’s pig keepers affected by trading restrictions.

“A mass cull could be, he warned, necessary to keep the virus under control as affected animals have to be put down immediately, the NOZ said.

“The Agriculture Ministry issued an official warning on Tuesday about the outbreak in Russia and Ukraine – and has advised people travelling from those countries in particular not to bring pork products back into Germany.

“The virus manifests itself primarily with a high fever, other symptoms differ between animals and there is no vaccination against it. It is not dangerous to humans…

“A kind of ‘fire brigade for plague control’ could be beneficial in situations like these, he said.”

Try as we might, plagues will remain unstoppable as long as humanity rejects the health laws of God–and that includes not eating swine!

When we think of the word “church,” we need to understand that it is not a reference to a building, but rather to a group of people—the “called-out-ones”–who were given a specific purpose or commission to accomplish. This task can only be achieved with the help of God, who opens doors and provides opportunities to the church as a group of zealous and dedicated people.

Rightly understood, there is not only one purpose or even one main purpose of the church, but there are quite a few reasons for the existence of the church of God.

One main purpose can be derived from Matthew 24:14, which explains that the gospel of the Kingdom of God is to be and will be preached and published to the world as a witness.

When this has been accomplished, the end of this present evil age and civilisation will come. Christ commissioned His disciples to preach the gospel or good news until He returns. It is the church’s responsibility and duty today to fulfill this command. This is mainly accomplished by the church collectively through tithes and offerings from members and co-workers whom God has moved to support His Work, and also by our individual example of letting our lights shine.

The tools, which are utilized by the church to accomplish this task include radio, Internet programs, sermon CDs and DVDs, as well as written publications in the form of booklets, letters and updates.

The core of the gospel includes the fact that the Kingdom of God will be established and rule on and over the earth; that it is our potential to enter the Kingdom or Family of God as born-again immortal God beings; that Jesus Christ will return to rule the world with the resurrected saints (spirit-born members of the Kingdom of God) during the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment period to help others to achieve the same potential, which has been offered to us today; and that we will ultimately rule under God and Christ for all eternity.

The gospel message includes the fact that God, in the Person of Jesus Christ, became man so that man could become God.

The gospel is not only about Christ and His life here on earth, but includes also the message that He brought from God the Father. Christ came to reveal God the Father and to demonstrate through the Bible that God is ONE Family–not just one Being. This fact was clearly revealed in the Old Testament, and the righteous saints such as Abraham, Moses or David knew about it, but in general, neither the Jews nor the Gentiles understood this marvellous truth.

The gospel entails what is required by man to achieve his ultimate goal of becoming God through obedience to God’s immutable laws and statutes. Even though God grants us His gift of eternal life in His very Family by grace, He will not force this gift upon us when we show Him through our disobedience that we do not really want and appreciate it. God knows that a life in disobedience to Him brings only misery and pain, and He does not want to give us eternal life in unhappiness. God can and does only give us good gifts.

Another purpose of the church’s ministry is to baptize those whom God is calling into the body of Christ, which is the Church, so that God can give them the gift of the Holy Spirit. We read in Matthew 28:19-20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in[to] the name [or possession] of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age…”

Notice also the responsibility of the church to teach those who are baptized. This describes another purpose of the church– to tend and feed the lambs and the sheep; that is, the flock of the church members who through the gift of the Holy Spirit within them are now better equipped to understand the deep things and mysteries of the gospel. We read more about this purpose in John 21:15-17:

“So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Feed My lambs.’ He said to him again a second time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Tend My sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’ Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed My sheep.’”

This purpose is primarily accomplished through the inspired speaking and counselling of the ministry and others assigned by the ministry to that task.

As individual members, we have the responsibility to grow in Jesus Christ’s grace and knowledge. This can be accomplished by using the tools God has given us, including prayer, Bible study, meditation and fasting, with the goal to develop a close and firm relationship with God who gives us His grace abundantly. Christ’s knowledge is also increased in us through the acceptance of inspired oral and written messages. In fulfilling our individual mission and commission in this way, we fulfill also our responsibilities by being able to give an answer for the hope that lies within us—but we will only do so regarding those who really want to know the truth, and not regarding those who merely ask to so that they can argue with us.

There are certainly additional purposes for the existence of the church, but in this Q&A, we have concentrated on some of the major reasons. To recall, the church is to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God in all the world, to baptize those God is calling, and to teach and spiritually feed those whom God has called.

Individually, church members are to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ and to support the great effort of the collective body of Christ to proclaim the good news to the world in these end times.

If we remain true to this task and responsibility, we shall be given eternal life in the Kingdom of God. As God beings, we will be in a unique position to do so much good for all of mankind, serving them as kings and priests under Christ’s merciful rule.

Lead writers: Rene Messier and Norbert Link

Norbert and Johanna Link have arrived back to Ramona, California, following a very encouraging visit to Colorado. They, along with Margaret Adair, will travel to Oregon later this month for a visit with the brethren. Mr. Link will conduct Sabbath services on August 25, 2012, in Woodburn, Oregon.

A new StandingWatch program, titled, “War With Iran Coming Soon?” was recorded this week. It will also be broadcast on radio, beginning Sunday, August 19. In the program, we ask: Is the US prepared to attack Iran militarily? Will Israel launch a preemptive strike? Would Iran and its allies be in a position to retaliate? Does the Bible tell us anything about a future war in the Middle East? [Beginning August 12, 2012, our StandingWatch program, titled, “What God Says about Marriage,” will be broadcast on radio.]

A new German sermon, titled, “Christus im Alten Testament” (“Christ in the Old Testament”) was recorded this week.

A reminder for those wishing to attend the Feast of Tabernacles with us for 2012–please review details posted on our website under the “FEASTS” heading. Our locations for this year are Pismo Beach, California, and Deganwy, North Wales.