On January 9, 2010, Dave Harris will give the sermon, titled, “Why Prophecy?”

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.

The word “conformity” can have both good and bad connotations. It is defined as “similarity in form or character; agreement; action or behavior in correspondence with socially accepted standards, conventions, rules, or laws.”

The world has just kept some of its festivals, and many have conformed to keeping Christmas and New Year because of peer pressure; not wanting to upset children, parents or family; or because it was a good excuse for a few days off work with, in many cases, riotous and wanton celebration.

Of course, there were those who kept those days moderately and in good conscience–although they were “sincerely wrong”–but even such people are becoming the minority, as the supposedly religious “Christian” aspect fades from view for the majority.

Had many not spent lavishly at the end of the year, businesses who rely on this trade may have been put out of business and that could have exacerbated an already fragile economic situation. But that was not the reason that people spent; it was simply what they wanted to do.

People conform for all sorts of selfish and personal reasons: Wanting to belong; not wanting to be ostracized in their society; wanting to be seen at various functions or with organizations; attending church because it’s the “thing to do” especially at Christmas and Easter; and so on. This conformity is something with which a true Christian must not be involved.

However, conformity can be a good thing when channeled the right way. I am referring to conformity to the Way of God, conformity to His Word and conformity to His Commandments (compare Romans 12:2). This is not self-seeking, but a humble approach to the One Who gives us every breath we breathe.

Conformity to God and His Way is totally opposite to the conformity that this world practices, particularly at the time of the year that has just passed. When we conform, let us be in line with our God and not in tune with what the world expects of us. Then we will always be in a winning situation!

We begin with an article by Reuters, listing the possible economic and political crises we might be confronted with in 2010, and continue with several reports on Yemen which has been labeled as the “newest hotbed of international terrorism.” However, the sad truth is that Yemen is not really a “new” operation base for al-Qaida and other radical Islamist organizations. Rather, the USA and Western nations have been sleeping at the switch and ignoring the growing problems. Now, as the German media reports, there are no real solutions for dealing with the dilemma, and Yemen is accusing the USA of having created at least part of the debacle.

We then report on President Obama’s many challenges–all of them very dangerous, and none of them easily solvable. His appointment of a transgender as Senior Technical Advisor to the Commerce Department does not help and is not a light matter in the eyes of God Who condemns such practices in His Word. The lack of spiritual leadership in this country could also be seen in the willingness of the head of the nation’s evangelical non-denominational megachurches to give the opening prayer during the swearing-in ceremony of the new lesbian mayor of Houston.

While the Los Angeles Times states the opinion that the last decade was the worst in modern American history, Reuters feels that the prospects for any American recovery are extremely slim. We most certainly agree with this assessment in the light of biblical prophecy.

The discussion in Germany regarding the unpopular Afghan war was fueled again by statements from the head of the German Lutheran Church and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, pleading for an end to the war and withdrawal of all German troops–a move which would create further friction between the USA and Germany.

Turning to social issues, we quote from an article by the Telegraph, advocating occasional spanking of young children; speak on the terrible rise of the misuse of alcohol in Britain; explain the German pagan customs and demonic practices of New Year’s; and conclude with reports about the astonishing intelligence of dolphins.

This world’s conditions deteriorate with alarming speed, as man has rejected God! While the world believes in the Satanic concept of evolution and involves itself with Satanic rites, for instance on New Year’s, it rejects God Who has created animals and man–and Who has told us what to believe; how to live; and how to raise our children. Sadly, this world has it all backwards. It is high time that the light of God’s truth shines in this darkness (John 1:5), and that those, who have the light, make every effort to continue to believe and walk in it, lest darkness overtake them, as it has the rest of the world (John 12:35-36).

Crises Loom for 2010

Reuters reported on January 4:

“For global markets, probably the main political risk would be one of the world’s more troubled economies defaulting or coming close to default on its sovereign debt… Worries over Dubai, Ukraine and Greece have all spilled over into global markets in the last month, and all three look set to remain under economic and political pressure in the coming year… Among those in the spotlight over public debt will be euro zone weak links Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain — dubbed insultingly the PIIGS — as well as non-euro Britain…

“A number of important elections loom this year, with U.S. mid-term congressional elections coming alongside likely changes of leadership in Britain and Brazil, as well as a host of votes in emerging Europe that could have wider consequences… Any signs Britain is heading towards a hung parliament will unsettle sterling…

“The United States and China are already by far the two most important countries in terms of political clout. In 2010, China is set to overtake Japan as the second-largest global economy… Pressure on China to allow the yuan to appreciate will become ever more intense in 2010 as economic storm clouds evaporate… Beijing will not want to jeopardise economic growth by letting the currency rise too quickly, and does not welcome being told what to do by Washington or the European Union… If President Barack Obama imposes more tariffs, under pressure from Congress and domestic industry, expect sparks to fly…

“Ongoing confrontation over Iran’s nuclear programme remains a risk, particularly for energy markets, and the situation is complicated by deepening domestic instability following last year’s disputed presidential election… North Korea continues to be dangerously unpredictable, with potential scenarios ranging for a war to the death of leader Kim Jong-il — an event that might prompt a reunification that could prove financially crippling for South Korea…

“Both Nigeria and Thailand could face market uncertainty over the health of their president and king respectively. Both were hospitalised in 2009. Analysts expect al Qaeda and its allies to try to spark conflict between nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and India… And Pakistan’s weak government, under threat on several fronts, may have its own reasons to focus popular anger on India.

“The attempted bombing of an airliner bound for Detroit on Christmas Day shows that attacks on Western targets also remain a threat.”

The Yemen Debacle

Der Spiegel wrote on January 4:

“Eight years after the 9/11 attacks, [Yemen] is the place the latest generation of Islamist terrorists have chosen to make their ‘base’… In the US, the failed attack by the suspected bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on the Northwest Airlines flight has reawakened a fear of terrorism that had been painstakingly overcome. The focal point of this fear is no longer Afghanistan, where 68,000 US troops are stationed, or Iraq, with 120,000 US troops. Nor is it Pakistan, where it is assumed Osama bin Laden and the leadership of the old al-Qaida, are holed up. It is Yemen…

“Washington has been investing huge sums in military infrastructure in Yemen: In 2006 they provided the country with $11 million (€7.6 million) and by 2009 the sum had increased to $70 million (€48.5 million)…

“The more the Americans stepped up the pressure on al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the more attractive Yemen became as a place to retreat to. And even though many Islamist leaders were arrested in Yemen and others ended up in the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, the young Islamists kept coming in their droves, mainly from Africa and Southeast Asia. Hundreds of Somalis, Indonesians and Malaysians attended al-Zindani’s notorious Iman University in San’a and returned home as firebrand preachers. Yemen proved to be particularly useful for members of the Saudi Arabian branch of al-Qaida… Several members relocated to Yemen, including the two Guantanamo returnees…

“For Washington and the West, Yemen poses a challenge where all the possible courses of action are equally unattractive. Leaving the country to its own devices and its tribes could lead to a Somalia-style failed state. Increasing military operations and engaging more strongly in the fight against terrorism would, however, turn the population further against the US, as has happened in Pakistan.”

No Success in Yemen?

In an accompanying article, Der Spiegel Online stated on January 4:

“After the foiled attack on a US airliner, Yemen is suddenly the focus of the war on terror. As embassies shut and Yemeni security forces intensify their operations against al-Qaida, the US is doubling its counterterrorism aid to the impoverished country. German commentators, however, doubt that the West will be any more successful here than in Afghanistan…

“The United States, the United Kingdom and now France have taken the precaution of shutting their embassies in the Yemeni capital San’a, while US transport authorities have reacted by heightening security checks for passengers flying from 14 ‘terror linked’ countries on Monday. The foiled Dec. 25 attack may also have the knock-on effect of making it even more difficult to close the US detention center at Guantanomo, as half of the remaining inmates are from Yemen…

“Yemen, the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden, is friendly to [the] West, but its central government is weak outside the capital and it has a history of tolerating militants. Yemen was the site of the bombing of the USS Cole back in 2000 which killed 17 US sailors and an attack by al-Qaida on the US embassy back in 2008 killed one American…

“The conservative Die Welt writes: ‘The US public are now pretty upset to discover that for almost a decade their media, their intelligence agencies and their former President George W. Bush had ignored the strengthening terror network in Yemen…’

“The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘With its unstable societal and political structures, Yemen is very similar to Afghanistan. It is therefore hardly surprising that al-Qaida has shifted its base here following severe setbacks in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Yemen offers al-Qaida fighters a quasi natural headquarters on the Arabian peninsula… The US is reacting to this real threat by arming the central power in Yemen and by joining — still in a limited manner — the military fight against the Islamists. It is doubtful if this kind of war will be any more successful in Yemen than it has been in Afghanistan.’

“The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘London and Washington want to arm the fragile government of President Saleh for the war against the terrorists. At the same time the Pentagon is honing in on targets for possible attacks by drones in the east of the country. However, just as they are in Afghanistan and Pakistan, America and the world are faced with a dilemma. The governments are too weak to take on the terrorists…'”

The Yemen Dilemma–“America Shares the Blame”

On January 4, Der Spiegel Online published the following comments by Yemeni Major General Jahja Abdullah:

“America also shares the blame for the al-Qaida danger: Washington built up the Islamic fighting units that were meant to bring the Soviets to their knees in Afghanistan during the Cold War. They were followed by the Taliban, al-Qaida and similar Islamic-aligned groups that are today fighting against America and the civilized world… In the north, the al-Qaida conspirators have taken advantage of the fighting between the army and the Houthis and taken the initiative themselves. But they are fighting against a sea of Yemeni people who hate them. Most of the militants aren’t even Yemeni citizens. We have captured some who come from Somalia and other African countries and even from Arabian brother countries — like Algeria and Libya, where things had gotten too difficult for them.

“… these bandits who falsely call themselves ‘defenders of Islam’ are being supported from outside of our borders — with weapons, money and propaganda… I am not referring to the Iranian government, but rather to ‘certain circles in Iran’ that have very much taken al-Qaida under their wings. We have come across ships in Yemen territorial waters with Iranian crews who were carrying weapons supplies. At the very least, the Iranian media have clearly sided with the rebels and they have portrayed the Houthis as having their own state. But it is no longer as easy to smuggle in goods and accomplices because the Saudi Arabian navy is providing our fleet with support in securing the Red Sea coast…

“A lot of militants definitely come from Somalia, which has spiralled out of control and where al-Qaida members are able to go into hiding with relative ease. And then they come across the sea to Yemen. Poverty, lack of opportunities, a distorted image of Islam, the disintegration of Iraq into bloody religious division — these are all factors that explain the continued survival and threat presented by violent Islamists… Our people — of all parties and faiths, and the opposition — have declared war on al-Qaida. No Yemeni will stand silently when extremists attack girls’ schools in Sanaa (the capital) and tear the legs off girls.

“… the destruction of the Iraqi state was a huge mistake. But to withdraw from Afghanistan now would be a catastrophe for the whole world, because al-Qaida will try to remain active there. The reports from news agencies confirm that every day. In Yemen, we need more support in the battle against militant Ultras at all levels. Those who aid Yemen are helping to defend the entire world against criminals disguised in religious clothes.”

President Obama’s Hopeless Challenges

The Financial Times wrote on January 3:

“Obama snowed under by his promises of action… national security has shot to the top of his to-do list with the attempted Christmas day terrorist attack and the holes in the US’s intelligence systems it exposed. His challenges in Afghanistan, meanwhile, deepened with a New Year’s day suicide attack that killed eight Central Intelligence Agency officers…

“The president’s desk was far from empty when he left Washington on Christmas eve – the healthcare reform legislation he wanted to sign before the end of 2009 still requires a lot of work, as does financial regulation, while the unemployment rate remains in double ­digits. This year Mr Obama will have to juggle two wars and a growing al-Qaeda threat against a slew of domestic tasks, all the while grappling with the reality that his political honeymoon is over…

“With so many pressing tasks on his agenda, the criticism of the president’s first year in office that he was trying to do too much at once looks set to be repeated… if the voting public perceive the president to be focusing too much on second-tier issues, even if they were presidential campaign pledges, he will be seen to be out of touch…

“‘What [Americans] are seeing is weakness, waff­ling, and wandering through the wilderness without an ideological compass,’ Drew Westen, professor at Emory University, wrote in a blog on the Huffington Post website. ‘That’s a recipe for going nowhere fast…'”

President Obama on the Defensive

Der Spiegel Online wrote on January 7:

“President Barack Obama has slammed the ‘near-disastrous’ intelligence failures surrounding an attempted Christmas Day terror attack on a Northwest Airlines jetliner… A jury in Michigan on Wednesday indicted Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, on six counts for his bid to bomb the Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. The failed plot has raised a number of questions about the effectiveness of US security and intelligence. It has also put Obama firmly on the defensive.

“On Tuesday, Obama said that the review into the terrorist watch listing system had revealed ‘human and systemic failures.’ He said it showed that US intelligence agencies missed a series of alerts related to Abdulmutallab. The terror suspect was known to have extremist links, but was still able to board the plane. In addition, Obama has said that US intelligence agencies were aware that the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula terror group aimed to attack targets in the United States over the holidays.

“Earlier this week, the US president summoned members of the security services to the White House and voiced his anger over their shortcomings. ‘The bottom line is this: The US government had sufficient information to have uncovered this plot and potentially disrupt the Christmas Day attack, but our intelligence community failed to connect those dots,’ he said. ‘This was not a failure to collect intelligence, it was a failure to integrate and understand the intelligence that we already had.’

“But German editorialists on Thursday asked whether Obama was too tardy in his reaction to the security debacle…

“SPIEGEL ONLINE Washington correspondent Gregor Peter Schmitz writes: ‘The images speak for themselves: Nearly a year after taking office, Obama has now become an anti-terrorist president. His spokesman Robert Gibbs already speaks of the “War on Terror,” as if George W. Bush were still in power. This speech leaves no doubt as to Obama’s determination… The only question which remains is whether his statement comes too late… Obama now must shake off this impression of mismanagement…’

“The left-wing Tageszeitung writes: ‘Barack Obama has never — not even during his electoral campaign — made a secret of the fact that he does not rule out war as a political tool. Otherwise he would not have been elected. Those in Europe who believed that his statement wasn’t serious, and was accompanied by a knowing wink towards the pacifists, only have themselves to blame. Military strength and the willingness to use it, are fundamental in the United States, which has not had territorial wars since the mid-19th century. You don’t have to like it, but ignoring this global political reality … reveals naivety. Whoever saw Obama as a prince of peace has made a mistake…’

“The business daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘All of a sudden President Barack Obama has presented himself as a determined fighter of terrorism… Obama has avoided dealing with the anti-terrorist theme for a year. Now it has caught up with him. Obama is facing the same issues as George W. Bush. But he has not come up with any new answers than those of his predecessor… Obama will only manage to restore confidence in the safety of the country if he succeeds in presenting a concept that is both efficient and lean. That is not an easy task given that the heads of the intelligence services often like to spend more time arguing than organizing the defense of their country. Following the recent debacle, Obama must realize that, alongside all his other problems, he now has a new issue to deal with — and urgently.'”

President Obama Appoints Transgender

ABC News reported on January 4:

“President Obama recently named Amanda Simpson to be a Senior Technical Advisor to the Commerce Department. In a statement, Simpson, a member of the National Center for Transgender Equality’s board of directors, said that ‘as one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government, I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds, and that this appointment opens future opportunities for many others’…

“Simpson — a former test pilot who had worked for the company for more than a generation — transitioned from male to female and was instrumental in convincing the military contractor to add gender identity and expression to its equal employment opportunity policy. She later ran unsuccessfully for Congress and was a delegate for then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, to the Democratic National Convention in 2008.”

Where Are our Spiritual Leaders?

USA Today wrote on January 5:

“Annise Parker, the newly-elected happens-to-be-lesbian mayor of Houston was sworn in Monday and the opening prayer was given by … Rev. Joel Osteen. Is your head spinning? Osteen heads the nation’s most mega of evangelical non-denominational megachurches, Lakewood Church in Houston where about 45,000 people cycle through a revamped sports stadium for services every weekend.

“Osteen has been all over telling folks (Larry King, Whoopi Goldberg) for years that homosexuality is not ‘God’s best’… But ‘God’s best’ is a phrase Osteen never finishes…”

“It Was the Worst of Times”

The Lost Angeles Times wrote on January 2:

“The first decade of the 21st century saw the American dream slip further away from most Americans… No deceit was more malevolently corrosive than the fiction that this was a period of expansive prosperity in which significant numbers of our people were able to share in the American dream of financial security. All the triumphalist rhetoric emanating from Wall Street and the White House notwithstanding, this was — materially speaking — a disastrous decade for U.S. families.

“For the first time since World War II, according to the departments of Commerce and Labor, an average American’s net worth actually fell — by a whopping 13%. By way of comparison, and to demonstrate just how anomalous such a decline is, consider that net worth grew 44% in the 1990s; 35% in the 1980s; 12% in the 1970s (even with the Carter administration’s ‘stagflation’); 25% in the 1960s; and 26% in the 1950s.

“The employment picture was no better. Though the U.S. population has grown by 35 million since 2000, employment has increased just 0.5% over the last 10 years. For the first time since the federal government began keeping such statistics, the number of private sector jobs actually declined. (In both the 1980s and 1990s, employment grew by 20%, and in the 1960s it climbed by 31%.)

“Meanwhile, as the private sector’s flight from its pension obligations became virtually general, tens of millions of Americans were compelled to trust their retirements to the equity markets through 401(k) accounts. It was a bonanza for Wall Street, which raked in commissions and fees, and a disaster for working families, because the decade ended without any gains in the stock averages…

“Even though most American families had two working adults throughout the last decade, many had to borrow simply to maintain their standard of living. People maxed out their credit cards and tapped their home’s equity — something that proved catastrophic when the value of houses collapsed. With incomes and employment stagnant, families had nowhere to turn. Not so employers. While most lacked the managerial creativity to grow their businesses, they found a way to keep profits up by laying off huge numbers of people and simply working those who remained — too frightened to protest — harder…”

Bible prophecy has long predicted that in these end times, the American dream of prosperity will fade away. And as the next article indicates, the new decade will not bring us substantial recovery. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain And America.”

U.S. Growth Prospects Deemed Bleak in New Decade

Reuters wrote on January 3:

“A dismal job market, a crippled real estate sector and hobbled banks will keep a lid on U.S. economic growth over the coming decade, some of the nation’s leading economists said on Sunday… Many predicted U.S. gross domestic product would expand less than 2 percent per year over the next 10 years. That stands in sharp contrast to the immediate aftermath of other steep economic downturns, which have usually elicited a growth surge in their wake…

“One reason is that U.S. consumers remain heavily indebted… Another is that many of the country’s largest banks are still largely dependent on funding from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the implicit backing of the Treasury Department. Kenneth Rogoff… of Harvard… cited government programs giving large financial institutions access to zero-cost borrowing as artificially padding their bottom lines.”

Germans Upset With Afghanistan War

Der Spiegel Online wrote on January 4:

“The head of Germany’s Protestant church, Bishop Margot Kässmann… told the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper before Christmas: ‘Even by the broadest standards of the Protestant Church in Germany, this war cannot be justified and that the armed conflict must be ended as soon as possible.’ She also said that German troops should be withdrawn as soon as possible. [The] bishop repeated her view in a sermon on New Year’s Day and in an interview with the mass-circulation Bild newspaper on Monday…

“Opinion polls show most Germans agree with Kässmann that the troops should come home. But politicians from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right coalition government lined up to criticize her…

“Germany has over 4,200 troops in Afghanistan, the third-largest contingent in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The mission has become increasingly unpopular in Germany as violence has increased. Merkel’s second term has been dogged by controversy over Germany’s role in Afghanistan after a German-ordered air strike in September killed civilians. Merkel’s government has said it will wait to decide on whether to deploy more troops until after the international conference on Afghanistan in London at the end of January.

“Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle echoed the call for an exit strategy, telling newsweekly Focus in an interview published on Monday that the international Afghanistan conference should start the process of ‘handing over responsibility for security to Afghanistan from 2010 onwards.’ Westerwelle had said in an interview with Stern magazine last week that he may boycott the Jan. 28 conference if it focuses only on deploying more troops…

“The statement by Westerwelle… has highlighted divisions on Afghanistan in the German government. Philipp Missfelder, the foreign policy spokesman of the CDU’s parliamentary group, said: ‘I cannot imagine that the German foreign minister would boycott the Afghanistan conference, because Germany and France in [particular] have a special interest in the success of this conference and were among the initiators.’

“SPD Chairman Sigmar Gabriel said… Westerwelle was letting Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg take the lead in defining Germany’s foreign policy strategy. ‘That’s not in line with our constitution. We don’t want foreign policy to be militarized,’ Gabriel said.”

The Afghan War may prove to become one distinctive nail in the coffin of U.S.-German relationships.

God Knew It All Along…

The Telegraph wrote on January 3:

“A study found that youngsters smacked up to the age of six did better at school and were more optimistic about their lives than those never hit by their parents. They were also more likely to undertake voluntary work and keener to attend university, experts discovered. The research, conducted in the United States, is likely to anger children’s rights campaigners who have unsuccessfully fought to ban smacking in Britain. Currently, parents are allowed by law to mete out ‘reasonable chastisement’ on their children, providing smacking does not leave a mark or bruise. These limits were clarified in the 2004 Children’s Act.

“But children’s groups and MPs have argued that spanking is an outdated form of punishment that can cause long-term mental health problems. Marjorie Gunnoe, professor of psychology at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said her study showed there was insufficient evidence to deny parents the freedom to determine how their children should be punished. She said: ‘The claims made for not spanking children fail to hold up…’

“Teenagers who had been hit by their parents from age seven to 11 were also found to be more successful at school than those not smacked but fared less well on some negative measures, such as getting involved in more fights. However, youngsters who claimed they were still being smacked scored worse than every other group across all the categories… The findings were rejected by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, which has fought to ban smacking…”

Notwithstanding the “opinions” of God- and Bible-Defying “Experts” and “Psychologists,” the Holy Scriptures have much to say about proper child rearing, including the occasional need for spanking. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Keys to Happy Marriages and Families.”

Britain Drowned in Alcohol

The Sun wrote on January 2:

“Experts reckon Brits got through a staggering £100 millions of booze as revellers drank pubs and clubs across the country dry – resulting in thousands being violently ill… In the West Midlands the Ambulance Service said they dealt with an emergency 999 call every nine seconds in the first three hours of 2010. Overall, New Year’s Day was the busiest in their history dealing with a staggering 1,418 calls…

“Overall, the cost of treating drunks has almost doubled in just five years, rising to £2.7billion in 2006/7 compared with £1.47billion in 2001/2.”

The book of Hosea has much to say about modern-day Britain, referred to in prophecy as Ephraim. Hosea 4:11 says that “harlotry, wine and new wine enslave the heart.”

Silvester or New Year’s–German Style

Netzeitung wrote on December 31:

“Silvester is the German name for New Year’s Eve – owing to the fourth century Pope Sylvester I. Eventually made a saint by the Catholic Church, his feast day is observed on December 31… Sylvester’s day became associated with New Year’s Eve with the reform of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, when the last day of the year was fixed at December 31. But despite the holiday’s Christian name, many German New Year’s traditions can be traced back to the pagan Rauhnächte practices of heathen Germanic tribes, which took place at the end of December and beginning of January.

“Instead of recognizing a single day as the winter solstice, the Germanic tribes observed twelve Rauhnächte – hairy nights, so called due to the furry forms of the deep winter demons – or Rauchnächte – smoky nights, due to the practice of smoking the spirits out of one’s house on January 5. Bringing very little sun to the northern regions, the twelve Rauhnächte were considered days outside of time, when the solar and lunar years were allowed to re-synchronise. Silvester took place right in the middle of the twelve Rauhnächte and was the night of the god Wotan’s wild hunt, a time of particular commotion and celebration.

“As in many other countries, the Germans celebrate Silvester with fireworks, champagne, and boisterous social gatherings. Making noise is key: the ruckus of fireworks, firecrackers, drums, whip-cracking and banging kitchen utensils has been driving away evil winter spirits since the days of the Germanic Teutons…

“Besides being a fun spectacle, the light of pyrotechnic displays also provides a surrogate sun during the dark Silvester night. Suffering the winter bleakness in their northern regions more than anyone, the Teutons feared that the sun, which they thought of as a wheel that rolled around the earth, was slowing to a stop during the darkest days of winter. Perhaps as a sign of protest, they lit wooden wheels on fire and sent them rolling down mountains and clubbed trees with flaming cudgels. These practices are likely forerunners to the Silvester firework tradition.

“The belief that the sun was slowing to a stop also led to the German tradition of doing no work on New Year’s Eve: everything should stand just as still on earth. Above all no one should do any laundry, because the god Wotan made his rounds with his army of devils for a wild hunt during Silvester and would be terribly angry if he got caught in any clotheslines.

“Because the twelve Rauhnächte – now associated with the twelve days of Christmas made famous by the partridge in a pear tree – were days outside of time, all manner of supernatural events were possible. Spirits of all sorts charged through the night, either embodying the horror of winter or chasing it away. These figures still emerge in the Perchtenläufen of the Alpine areas of Germany, when troll-like forms cavort about with bells to drive away winter. Perchtenläufen take place in different Alpine cities between Advent and January 5, the last of the Rauhnächte.

“The Rauhnächte were also a time when the future for the New Year could be divined. Silvester in Germany still calls for oracle traditions, which often take the form of party games. Bleigießen (lead pouring) is the most popular Silvester fortune-telling tradition. Party-goers melt small lead forms with a candle in an old spoon and pour them into cold water. The lead hardens into a shape that supposedly bears a certain meaning for the New Year… Other oracle traditions on Silvester include swinging a pendulous object, such as a necklace or watch, and asking it a yes-or-no question…

“For those who go out on Silvester, good luck charms and New Year’s greetings are often exchanged. Acquaintances may give good luck charms to each other in the form of ladybugs, four-leaf clovers, horseshoes and pigs…”

As can be seen, the origins of Silvester or New Year’s are thoroughly pagan and even demonic. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Is That in The Bible–Man’s Holidays or God’s Holy Days.”

Amazing Intelligence of Dolphins

Sunday Times wrote on January 3:

“Studies into dolphin behaviour have highlighted how similar their communications are to those of humans and that they are brighter than chimpanzees. These have been backed up by anatomical research showing that dolphin brains have many key features associated with high intelligence…

“Dolphins have long been recognised as among the most intelligent of animals but many researchers had placed them below chimps, which some studies have found can reach the intelligence levels of three-year-old children. Recently, however, a series of behavioural studies has suggested that dolphins, especially species such as the bottlenose, could be the brighter of the two. The studies show how dolphins have distinct personalities, a strong sense of self and can think about the future…

“In one study, Diana Reiss, professor of psychology at Hunter College, City University of New York, showed that bottlenose dolphins could recognise themselves in a mirror and use it to inspect various parts of their bodies, an ability that had been thought limited to humans and great apes. In another, she found that captive animals also had the ability to learn a rudimentary symbol-based language.

“Other research has shown dolphins can solve difficult problems, while those living in the wild co-operate in ways that imply complex social structures and a high level of emotional sophistication. In one recent case, a dolphin rescued from the wild was taught to tail-walk while recuperating for three weeks in a dolphinarium in Australia. After she was released, scientists were astonished to see the trick spreading among wild dolphins who had [learned] it from the former captive.

“There are many similar examples, such as the way dolphins living off Western Australia [learned] to hold sponges over their snouts to protect themselves when searching for spiny fish on the ocean floor.”

God created dolphins and apes with an animal spirit. This spirit is qualitatively different from the spirit of man, and of course from God’s Holy Spirit. However, these spirits explain, to an extent, certain abilities of animals and men; and the absence of the Holy Spirit in man also makes clear why unconverted people cannot understand godly truth. For more information on this highly intriguing and largely misunderstood topic, please read our free booklet, “The Theory of Evolution–a Fairy Tale for Adults.” 

The ceremony of “laying on of hands” is mentioned as one of the basic doctrines of God’s Church (Hebrews 6:2). However, when reading quite a few commentaries, the very existence of that doctrine is commonly denied–nor is there any understanding as to what this doctrine contains.

The “laying on of hands” is a symbolic act, setting individuals apart for God’s special intervention. Already in Old Testament times, it was understood as symbolizing the imparting of godly blessings (Genesis 48:13-20), His authority and spiritual power (Numbers 27:18; Deuteronomy 34:9). In New Testament times, especially after the establishment of the New Testament Church, the laying on of hands has been exclusively performed through God’s true ministers and serves to show that God works through His ministers.

The following sets forth several examples of laying on of hands, as practiced today by the Church of the Eternal God and its corporate affiliates in Canada and Great Britain:

1) Baptism and Laying on of Hands

There is no promise in the Bible that since the foundation and establishment of the New Testament Church in 31 A.D., someone will receive the Holy Spirit without prior proper baptism as an adult–after repentance and belief in Christ’s Sacrifice–and the laying on of hands by God’s ordained ministers. This symbolic act sets the baptized person aside or sanctifies him or her for the divine purpose of receiving from God His Holy Spirit.

We stated the following in our Q&A on baptism through ordained ministers:

“The biblical record indicates that only ordained ministers of God should perform baptisms. The reason is that the baptism is done for the purpose of receiving the Holy Spirit. We need to remember that following baptism by immersing under water, the minister is to pray over the person and to lay his hands on their head so that the person can receive the Holy Spirit. The Bible shows that without the laying on of hands, a person normally does not receive the Holy Spirit.

“Notice this in Acts 8:12-17: ‘But when they believed Philip [one of the original seven deacons, Acts 6:5] as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized… Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He [better translated: it – the Holy Spirit, which is not a Person, but God’s POWER] had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit… Simon [Magus] saw that THROUGH THE LAYING ON OF THE APOSTLES’ HANDS the Holy Spirit was given…’ (Compare, too, Acts 19:5-6).”

2) Healing and Laying on of Hands

Luke 4:40 shows that Christ laid His hands on sick people when He healed them. We also find that only God’s ministers were given special authority from God to pray for the sick and to lay their hands upon them (while anointing them with oil). Notice James 5:14-15: “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.”

Mark 6:13 describes how God used the apostles to heal the sick: “And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.” In Mark 16:18, Christ adds the following: “… they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

The laying on of hands accompanies an elder’s prayer for the afflicted. We read in Acts 9:17: “And Ananias… laying his hands on him he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus… has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” We then read, in verse 18, that “Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.” (For a thorough discussion that Ananias was in fact an elder, read our Q&A on baptism.)

We also read in Acts 28:8: “And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him.”

Taking all these passages together, God instructs us, when we are sick, to call for the elders of His Church to pray for us and to anoint us with oil – a symbol of the Holy Spirit – and to lay hands on us, so that we can be healed (James 5:14-15; Mark 16:18). If such a personal ministerial visit is not possible, then elders are permitted to use and pray over a cloth, anointing it with a drop of oil as the symbol of the Holy Spirit, laying or placing their hands on the cloth, and asking God to heal the sick person who will receive this cloth. This is based on numerous passages in the Bible, showing us that people were healed when touching the garments of Christ (Mark 6:56) or the aprons or handkerchiefs from Paul’s body (Acts 19:11-12).

Acts 19:11-12 shows that “God worked unusual miracles BY THE HANDS OF PAUL, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.” While many times Christ and the apostles cast out demons by their word (Matthew 8:16; Mark 6:13; Acts 16:16-18), without the laying on of their hands, we find that in Luke 13:11-16, Christ cast out a Satanic spirit of infirmity by laying His hands on the sick and afflicted person.

3) Marriage and Laying on of Hands

In our Q&A on Christian marriage ceremonies, conducted by God’s ordained ministers, we state the following:

“During the ceremony, the minister emphasizes the purpose of marriage, and that the couple is entering into a life-long COVENANT with God. He also places his hands on the couple, while asking God in prayer to sanctify the marriage and to set aside the couple for the holy purpose of the marriage relationship. (That God’s minister lays hands on the couple is highly significant: The Biblical procedure of laying on of hands is done for ‘sanctification,’ that is, for the purpose of setting the person or persons aside for a holy purpose.).”

4) Blessing of Little Children and Laying on of Hands

Jesus Christ, while here on the earth, specifically and ceremonially blessed little children: “And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them” (Mark 10:16; compare Matthew 19:13-15). The Church of God now follows this example by setting aside a time during the annual Feast of Tabernacles celebrations to bless little children, and especially, to ask God to grant them His protection and guidance. This, then, has become a “custom” or “tradition” of the Church.

5) Ordination and Laying on of Hands

Ordinations of deacons and deaconesses and elders are done strictly through the ministry, and they are always accompanied by the laying on of hands–setting the ordained person aside for the godly office of a deacon or deaconess or an elder (Acts 6:2-6; 1 Timothy 4:14; compare also 1 Timothy 5:22). Notice especially 2 Timothy 1:6: “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you THROUGH THE LAYING ON OF MY HANDS.” This procedure is also applied when a deacon is raised to the office of an elder, and when an elder is raised to a higher rank within the ministry, such as pastor or evangelist.

The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown commentary states about the ordination, as described in Acts 6:6: “… when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them–the one proclaiming that all official gifts flowed from the Church’s glorified Head, the other symbolizing the communication of these to the chosen office-bearers through the recognized channels.”

As we can see, the doctrine of “laying on of hands” is very important–it is in fact foundational for our very salvation. This doctrine requires and demands a functioning godly ministry. God has established this procedure for His Church: “For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts” (Malachi 2:7). It is an awesome responsibility to stand as representatives of God and Jesus Christ in matters such as these. Likewise, lest we look upon the administration of God’s Church lightly, let us also consider the warning of Hebrews 5:4 concerning what God has ordained: “And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.”

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

A German sermon was recorded this week and posted on the Web. It is titled, “Neid–ein toedliches Gift” (“Envy–A Deadly Poison”).

On January 2, 2010, Bill Grams and Norbert Link will give split sermons, titled, respectively, “New Years Day” and “Mercy.”

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.

Nearly 145 years ago the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution was passed by Congress abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude.  It was a long time in coming, and most suppose it a thing of the past in the United States.

Yet, in this past year we have made great advances back into it!  How could this be?  How could such a forward looking and advanced society be heading back into what we once came out of?

The federal government, this past year, “printed” an unprecedented amount of money (that is not backed by any asset) for dubious reasons and is committed to implementing programs that cannot be funded by the current tax structure.  Even those with the most basic of math abilities can see that this does not add up.

The only solution that remains for those that have now been forced to live under plans not of their choosing, is to now spend more time, money and effort working for their “master.”  The question that then remains is, at what point in time do we actually quit being free and become slaves to a system that continues to demand more and more from everyone? At what point do we become “a person held in servitude” or “one that is completely subservient to a dominating influence”?

What should not be forgotten is that the majority of the people voted for and have chosen the leaders that we now have.  This is what “we,” as a democratic nation, have asked for.  “We” believe in this type of government and leadership, and this is what follows.

But, this is only a blip on the map of time, and certainly optimism and success will prevail! Wrong… and right! 

Presently we are and have been setting ourselves up for cataclysmic failure.  The economic slavery that we are coming under now is only a precursor to what is coming down the road.  The real concern is that the next time it will not be under the “light” hand of our present governmental administration, but it will be from the heavy hand of a foreign entity… the beast power spoken of in the Bible.

That beast power will form out of the coalescing countries of the European Union which will soon refine itself into a core of 10 nations (or groups of nations) and will foist itself upon the world and in particular the descendants of Jacob (compare our free booklets, “Europe in Prophecy” and “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America”). The EU is already exerting economic pressures on the US and will continue do so to a greater extent.  It will not stop there.  In fact, this will serve as a platform for its rise to a military preeminence and an instrument of religious persecution.  Through these devices, a more egregious slavery will come, an epoch alluded to as the time of Jacob’s trouble (compare our free booklet, “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord”).  It will be an event that is so terrible, that it is said “that none is like it” (Jeremiah 30:6-8).  

We have seen a process here of one type of slavery leading to another.  However, we started in the middle of the progression.  The real beginning was with another slavery — one to sin and the father of it, Satan. Paul states in Romans 6:16, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death….”  It is sin that ensnares and captures us, and we become slaves to it and to the wiles of the devil.

It is this brand of slavery that has led the people of this nation to push aside God as their leader.  Those sold under sin have discarded Him and His ways and have opted once again to be led by man.  In 1 Samuel 8:7-17 there is a parallel that we can see in our ancestors.  In these verses God tells Samuel that it is Him that they have rejected.  Samuel then goes on to elaborate many of the problems that would ensue with switching their trust and reliance to a man.  And then note the last verse in this section:  “…. And you will be his [the leader’s] servants.” 

This course of action, being slaves to sin firstly and then slaves to the leader of their very own nation, continued to play out as they eventually became literal slaves to conquering peoples of surrounding nations. 

Does this ring a bell?  History is repeating itself!  And prophecy, which is history written in advance, bears this out.  Slavery can lead to slavery which can lead to slavery.

But the Good News is that God has made a path by which we can escape and avoid slavery.  Through the death of Christ we can be released from a lifetime of bondage (compare Hebrews 2:14-15) and not have to return to this “yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1), whether physical or spiritual.  The great news is that we NOW have this opportunity to be free of the shackles of a froward way of life.  But there is the necessity of having “…obedience leading to righteousness” as the rest of Romans 6:16 finishes up stating.  If we are willing to commit fully to pursuing God and the wonderful way of life that He has set before us (compare Deuteronomy 30:19), then we “may have life” and “have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).  Therefore, LET US CHOOSE FREEDOM!

A widely circulated clip on YouTube, which was also linked on December 28 by the Drudge Report, shows Senator Max Baucus apparently being drunk or intoxicated on the Senate Floor, when “debating” the new health care bill. This brings vividly to mind certain biblical prophecies about “drunkards” in high positions (compare Isaiah 28:1, 3, 7).

A man flying from Nigeria to Amsterdam and then to the U.S. on a Northwest Airlines flight Friday tried to ignite an explosive as the plane prepared to land in Detroit. As could be expected, governments, airlines and airport securities which were caught sleeping at the switch in the first place, have now introduced stringent “security” restrictive measures for passengers–several of which border on the ridiculous. (It was subsequently announced that some of these measures might or might not be carried out on every flight.) These (contemplated) measures seem to amply prove man’s inability to show proper balance and sound wisdom. We can see how the world trembles at an attempted terrorist attack. We can only imagine the panic which would have ensued if that attack would have been successful.

In other news, we are focusing on the disappointment which has set in worldwide regarding President Obama’s politics and perceived lack of leadership. German papers in particular claim that President Obama missed golden opportunities for improvement in many areas, even though it is being maintained that the criticism, especially on the “left,” is “exaggerated”; and they claim that the relationship between the USA and France, as well as Germany, has not improved substantially. They conclude that due to the failure of leadership of the USA, for instance on the hotly discussed issue of “climate change,” Europe under Germany must lead.

Calls in this country as well as in Europe are being heard to deal “tough” with Iran, and a U.S. military strike is no longer ruled out.

We are addressing Russia’s war-like ambitions of maintaining its status of a nuclear power and its willingness to come militarily to the “rescue” of “threatened” countries; and we conclude with reports on a closer relationship between Japan, India and China, and strained relationships between these nations and the USA and Britain.

Let the Blame Game Begin…

Newsmax wrote on December 30:

“President Obama has acknowledged that the United States had early signals that a terrorist attack was being plotted in Yemen and failed to take adequate steps to prevent it. According to a page one story in the New York Times, two federal officials told the paper that U.S. intelligence was aware that a Nigerian Muslim was preparing an attack, yet officials did nothing to give warning of such an attack…”

It was predictable that Republicans would seize on the opportunity, accusing the Obama administration of weakness on security measures. However, as the Financial Times warned on December 29, such criticism might very well backfire:

“Republicans have seized on the Christmas day attempted terrorist attack as evidence that Democrats are weak on national security issues, as they seek to bolster their credentials ahead of next year’s congressional elections. As the Obama administration’s investigation into how a 23-year-old Nigerian was able to carry explosives on to a US-bound aircraft gathers pace, a slew of Republicans have criticised everything from the timing of the president’s first public comments to his plans to close the Guantánamo Bay prison camp…

“Barack Obama… answered such critics on Tuesday with a surprisingly blunt admission that ‘human and systemic failures’ were to blame… Republicans had been emboldened by the administration’s faltering response to the attempted attack. Janet Napolitano, the homeland security secretary, on Sunday said ‘the system worked’ but later performed a U-turn, saying that it did not work and ‘no one is happy with that’, comments that were reinforced by Mr Obama on Tuesday…

“Americans traditionally perceive Republicans to be strong on national security issues. But the party’s tactics in this case could backfire. ‘If this line of attack continues, it is going to reveal problems not just with the Obama administration but with the homeland security system, a system that was put in place by President [George W.] Bush,’ said Julian Zelizer, a professor at Princeton University.

“‘If Republicans want hearings into what happened, it could very well raise questions about Bush-era failures and that would be politically dangerous.’ Some Democrats are already pointing to Republican obstructionism on national security matters. More than 100 Republicans in the House voted against the Department of Homeland Security’s 2010 appropriation bill funding airport security measures, including explosives detection systems.”

New “Security” Measures for Airline Passengers

The Associated Press reported on December 26:

“Some airlines were telling passengers on Saturday that new government security regulations prohibit them from leaving their seats beginning an hour before landing (including going to a restroom). The regulations are a response to a suspected terrorism incident on Christmas Day. Air Canada said… that during the final hour of flight passengers must remain seated. They won’t be allowed access to carryon baggage or to have any items on their laps.

“Flight attendants on some domestic flights are informing passengers of similar rules. Passengers on a flight from New York to Tampa Saturday morning were also told they must remain in their seats and couldn’t have items in their laps, including laptops and pillows…

“Air Canada said it was limiting passengers to one carryon bag in response to a request from the U.S. and Canadian governments. The airline advised U.S.-bound passengers to restrict their carryon item to ‘the absolute minimum’ or to not carry any bag on board at all. ‘Carriage of any carryon item will result in lengthy security delays for the customer,’ the airline said.”

Disruptive Air Travel

The Telegraph wrote on December 27:

“Tens of thousands of people flying to the US for the New Year break have been forced to endure delays of up to three hours after strict new security rules were imposed overnight in the wake of the attempted terrorist attack in Detroit.

“… the most stringent restrictions came as aircraft entered US airspace, with passengers confined to their seats for the last hour of their flight, banned from having access to books, newspapers or even blankets or pillows. Passengers were warned to expect the restrictions to remain in place ‘indefinitely’.

“With pilots ordered to switch off ‘moving maps’ throughout the flight in an effort to conceal the exact locations of their aircraft from potential terrorists, passengers on some Virgin flights on Boxing Day were warned to buy books as in-flight films and other entertainment systems were also being disabled for the entire journey…

“Meanwhile travellers arriving at British airports from the US told a similar story of delays and restrictions… In Paris passengers were told to check all hand baggage into the hold with anything essential for the flight placed into clear plastic bags usually reserved for liquids.

“Meanwhile several Asian airlines disabled cabin telephones or internet connections on flights to the US… Information was kept deliberately vague prompting confusion among passengers about what was allowed… While check-in and security queues were unaffected at British airports, there were long delays in departure areas as airlines were forced to impose a second set of checks at flight gates.

“All passengers were subjected to body searches and baggage checks as they boarded flights, holding departures up by an average of one hour. At Heathrow some departures were delayed by up to three hours while at Manchester New York flights were two hours late. With most flights to the US at least 90 per cent full over the holiday period, the numbers affected could reach almost 30,000 per day this week. Some of the delayed passengers arriving from the United States missed their connecting flights.”

Discouraged Business Fliers?

The Associated Press wrote on December 28:

“New security restrictions… will make air travel more burdensome and could discourage some business fliers, key customers for the airlines… business travelers may think twice before flying if stepped-up security means spending hours at the airport. That’s troubling to the airlines, because business travelers tend to fly frequently and pay higher fares.

“Alarmed by the prospect of losing their best customers, airlines are already asking federal officials to make any new procedures palatable to passengers… Travelers on incoming international flights said that during the final hour, attendants removed blankets, banned opening overhead bins, and told passengers to stay in their seats with their hands in plain sight…

“Jack Riepe, a spokesman for the Association of Corporate Travel Executives… said corporate travel managers want the government to explain how Friday’s suspect reached Detroit even though he was on a watch list maintained by counterterrorism experts. A government official said the suspect’s father raised concerns about him to U.S. officials several weeks ago, but the father’s information about his son’s possible ties to fundamentalist Islamic groups was too vague to act upon.”

So we’d rather (re-)act now by imposing ridiculous restrictions on all air travelers, threatening the very survival of some airline companies. We are seemingly reaching more and more the point of the biblical warning that there will not be any more soundness in the land (or in the air), compare Isaiah 1:6. But perhaps, there is still a little bit left today, considering the next two articles.

Don’t Overreact!

Deutsche Welle reported on December 28:

“Wolfgang Bosbach, the chairman of the parliamentary Internal Affairs Committee told the Berliner Zeitung daily on Monday that the recent attempt to blow up a Northwest/KLM flight from Amsterdam to Detroit should not result in the introduction of new security procedures at German airports… Bosbach said, however, that European Union plans to relax certain restrictions, such as on bringing liquids onto aircraft, should probably be put on hold…

“A key opposition figure, the Green Party’s Hans-Christian Stroebele, echoed Bosbach’s assessment. He said that last week’s attempted attack was made possible by a failure to correctly assess existing intelligence, not a lack of security… The head of a German police union, Rainer Wendt, also said it would be a mistake to adopt new, more intrusive search methods like the much-debated full-body or ‘nude’ scanner.”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 29:

“German media commentators say the new measures smack of hysteria, and will do nothing to improve security because they can easily be circumvented by a determined terrorist. For example, if toilets are out of bounds in the last hour, an attacker could still assemble a bomb there earlier in the flight. The solution, German editorials say, is to improve security checks at airports rather than treating all passengers as potential terrorists once they’re on board.”

President Obama’s Missed Opportunities

The Financial Times wrote on December 27:

“Many Americans – conservatives, liberals and centrists – are dismayed by Barack Obama’s first year. Republicans call Mr Obama a tax and spend liberal. Progressives say he surrendered to corporate interests, and his foreign policy is a continuation of George W. Bush by other means. Independents feel let down because Mr Obama said he would bridge the partisan divide and unite the country. Except for uniting left and right in disappointment, he failed…

“Foreign policy saw the biggest gap between expectations and any real likelihood of success. Foreigners and Americans naively thought the world would submit to Mr Obama’s charm. It did not. Yes, he brought US diplomacy back from the dead – but diplomacy is a means to an end, not an end in itself… Afghanistan underlines the point… Mr Obama took too long to make up his mind, and muddled the message by talking of an early withdrawal…

“Just as those earlier hopes were exaggerated, so now is much of the criticism. The sense of betrayal on the left, in particular, is just bewildering. Progressives want the troops brought home, the security state dismantled, capitalism defanged, the profit motive dethroned, the banks nationalised, private health insurance abolished, and energy policy turned over to Greenpeace. Anything less is just another sell-out. Who on earth did these people think they were electing?

“Republican complaints have a bit more justification. Having cast himself as a fiscal moderate, the president laid out a first budget that permanently raises the ratio of US public spending to gross domestic product, without disclosing the tax increases that will be needed to pay for it. In announcing that programme, Mr Obama did reveal himself more clearly than before as a centre-left Democrat. To be fair, though, in the campaign he never claimed otherwise. The point is, there was wishful thinking to his right, as well as to his left.

“Independents have much the most reason to be disappointed. They see – and are right to – a broken political system. Congress is polarised to its roots. The country’s wide political centre is largely unrepresented on Capitol Hill. Committed Democrats and Republicans can hardly bear to be in the same room, let alone talk to each other. Mr Obama promised to strive for consensus…

“In his first year, he rarely even tried. He simply chose not to exercise this kind of leadership. To be sure, moderate Republicans (an endangered breed) offered no encouragement, content to oppose for opposition’s sake. But Mr Obama made no stand against this. Instead he went with the flow, deferring to the implacably partisan Democratic majorities. This disengagement, this reluctance to lead, is the real disappointment of Mr Obama’s first year.”

The lack of U.S. leadership is becoming increasingly apparent around the world–a power vacuum which will be filled soon, as the following articles postulate.

Sarkozy Cool on Relationship With Obama

The Financial Times wrote on December 27:

“Nicolas Sarkozy, the most pro-American president of France for half a century, has gone cold on Barack Obama, the most popular American leader in France in generations. A year ago Mr Sarkozy was engaged in a tussle among European leaders anxious to be the first to secure a meeting with the freshly elected Mr Obama. Mr Sarkozy described Mr Obama as ‘my friend’ after meeting him just once as a senator.

“But the French president has since clashed with his US counterpart on a series of issues, raising the question of whether Mr Sarkozy is reverting to the more Gaullist, anti-American posture of his predecessor, Jacques Chirac…

“Like his predecessor, Mr Sarkozy plays up differences with the US for domestic purposes. But there is a crucial difference. Whereas Mr Chirac’s stance towards the US was determined by suspicion of US power, current French frustration is aimed at Washington’s hesitancy or even weakness.”

This article and the following ones show that the relationship between the USA and Europe is not improving, and that due to the lack of U.S. leadership, Europe is determined to fill the vacuum.

Germany and USA Continue Disagreements on Substance

Deutsche Welle reported on December 28:

“The good personal chemistry between president [Obama] and chancellor [Merkel] and Obama’s immense international popularity has smoothed over some quite profound differences on major topics…

“Berlin has all but ruled out deploying troops to the more dangerous southern part of [Afghanistan] and in fact is very reluctant to significantly increase its military contingent at all. Despite Obama’s hope for a stronger German role in Afghanistan, the new center-right government’s position is largely unchanged from that of [Germany’s] grand coalition during the presidency of George W. Bush…

“While Germany and the US agree on the broad goal of mitigating the effects of the worst recession since the 1930s and reforming the global financial system, Berlin and Washington are not on the same page when it comes to how this can be accomplished. The German government contends that the goal of stimulating the economy has to be balanced against fiscal responsibility. For the US administration however, restarting the economy clearly trumps concerns about fiscal stability…

“The new US administration by acknowledging the problem and by vowing to take an active role in combating climate change reversed the stance of Bush presidency – at least in theory. But as observers in Germany have had to learn against the backdrop of the failed negotiations at the Copenhagen climate conference, even an American president who supports European efforts to curb global warming cannot by himself convince a reluctant Congress to sign on to an international climate change treaty…

“When push comes to shove, when words need to be translated into action the current leaderships in the US and Germany have not behaved very differently to those under the previous administrations. That is true not just on Afghanistan, the financial crisis and climate change, but also on other issues such as how to deal with the Guantanamo prisoners.”

The relationship between the USA and Europe will steadily deteriorate, according to the clear prophecies of the Bible.

“Europe (under Germany) Must Lead”

On December 28, 2009, Der Spiegel published a revealing interview with German Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen. As the magazine wrote, Mr. Röttgen talked about “the failure of the Copenhagen climate summit, why neither China nor the US can take the lead in the fight against global warming and Germany’s role in the new world order.” We are bringing you the following excerpts from his statements:

“First and foremost, the result [in Copenhagen] is a great disappointment… There is no disguising the fact that the outcome does not meet our criteria for success, and it is miles away from what we consider to be urgently necessary…

“Emerging economies, led by China, were not willing to commit themselves to CO2 reduction targets as a part of their foreign policy or to join the common political will. With the United States, the problems were domestic in nature. The political conditions are lacking there for the country to be part of a global framework. Both countries… seem to consider national politics to be more important…

“A chapter has been closed in Copenhagen, the well-intended attempt at harmony. Now the wrestling will begin for positions of power, but no fixed structure has yet taken hold. At the moment we are experiencing a lack of structure, a lack of results and an inability to act, triggered mainly by the United States which, in the case of climate protection, as in capital markets, is no longer capable of leading. This has created a power vacuum. And when there is a power vacuum, there are others who would like to step in…

“The US as leader is part of the political concept of the West. But the US hasn’t led — instead it reached a deal with China that there wouldn’t be any leadership… I see an erosion of their leadership role. Barack Obama and Wen Jiabao have agreed to the lowest common denominator: China doesn’t want to lead, and the US cannot lead. The major blockade at the summit grew out of an unfortunate combination of weak leadership on the part of the Americans and Chinese power to impede progress…

“Europe is not the loser because it presented itself as a unified bloc at the summit, with clear goals and a solid strategy. That was one of the few really positive experiences in Copenhagen and vitally important to our role in this new world order. We have shown what Europe’s role could be… I do not believe there is a conscious American-Chinese alliance. It is more a case of two forms of weakness coming together… The government in Beijing, of course, takes advantage of the fact that the US and Europe do not have a common position…

“Germany alone cannot determine anything in global politics — the only thing that counts there is European unity. And we worked to unite the Europeans in Copenhagen… It is German policy to take a leading role in environmental technology…”

Of course, the concept that carbon dioxide is responsible for climate change is by no means undisputed, as the next article shows. However, from a biblical perspective, the discussion on climate change and its political consequences may contribute to the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, clearly revealing that the influence of the USA on virtually every aspect of life will continue to diminish worldwide, while the United States of Europe under German leadership will become the most powerful bloc in the world–including on economic, political and military issues.

Will the Earth Become Cooler Rather than Warmer?

Newsmax wrote on December 28:

“A university professor challenges the widely held notion that carbon dioxide is responsible for climate change — and says the Earth will continue to cool for the next half-century. Rather than carbon dioxide, cosmic rays and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) — already implicated in depleting the Earth’s ozone layer — are to blame for changes in the global climate, according to a paper by Qing-Bin Lu, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Waterloo in Canada…

“Lu’s peer-reviewed paper, published in the prestigious journal Physics Reports, states: ‘My findings do not agree with the climate models that conventionally thought that greenhouse gases, mainly CO2, are the major culprits for the global warming seen in the late 20th century. Instead, the observed data show that CFCs conspiring with cosmic rays most likely caused both the Antarctic ozone hole and global warming. These findings are totally unexpected and striking, as I was focused on studying the mechanism for the formation of the ozone hole, rather than global warming.’

“The total amount of CFCs decreased around 2000, Lu said, and ‘correspondingly, the global surface temperature has also dropped. In striking contrast, the CO2 level has kept rising since 1850 and now is at its largest growth rate.’ Lu found that while there was global warming from 1950 to 2000, there has been global cooling since 2002, and his research indicates that the cooling trend will continue for the next 50 years.”

War in Middle East Continues–With No End in Sight

Deutsche Welle reported on December 27:

“The year began in the Middle East with war and ended without peace. New leaders arrived with optimistic plans for a resolution to the Israel-Palestinian crisis but little was achieved by the year’s end…

“Any hopes of a lasting peace coming from the Gaza war would be dashed, the international community would increasingly isolate Israel, a UN report by South Africa’s Richard Goldstone would accuse both Israel and Hamas of war crimes and threaten to bring both sides before the International Criminal Court…

“Between Obama’s inauguration and his speech in Cairo, Israel had taken a radical swing to the right. Many observers believed that the election victory for Benjamin Netanyahu of the hard-line Likud party was a direct reaction to the rise of Hamas, the continued threat of rocket attacks from Gaza and the increasing anti-Israel rhetoric from a belligerent, nuclear ambitious Iran…

“Before peace talks could resume, President Mahmoud Abbas demanded that Israel should endorse a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict [and] stop all Israeli construction in the occupied West Bank… Netanyahu’s ban on construction fell far short of the full freeze demanded by the Palestinians…

“The apparent inability of the Obama administration to get Israel to agree to its first condition for resuming peace talks angered the Arab world and heaped more pressure on a US president who had promised much when he first came to office… The Arab world is… very disappointed with Obama because the Arabs really thought that this president would be able to put pressure on Israel, not only on the settlement issue but in the wider context of finding a solution to the Middle East conflict…”

“USA Should Attack Iran”

The New York Times wrote on December 23:

“If Iran acquired a nuclear arsenal, the risks would simply be too great that it could become a neighborhood bully or provide terrorists with the ultimate weapon, an atomic bomb. As for knocking out its nuclear plants, admittedly, aerial bombing might not work. Some Iranian facilities are buried too deeply to destroy from the air. There may also be sites that American intelligence is unaware of. And military action could backfire in various ways, including by undermining Iran’s political opposition, accelerating the bomb program or provoking retaliation against American forces and allies in the region.

“But history suggests that military strikes could work… Iran’s atomic sites might need to be bombed more than once to persuade Tehran to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons. As for the risk of military strikes undermining Iran’s opposition, history suggests that the effect would be temporary… Yes, Iran could retaliate by aiding America’s opponents in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it does that anyway…

“Incentives and sanctions will not work, but air strikes could degrade and deter Iran’s bomb program at relatively little cost or risk, and therefore are worth a try. They should be precision attacks, aimed only at nuclear facilities, to remind Iran of the many other valuable sites that could be bombed if it were foolish enough to retaliate.

“The final question is, who should launch the air strikes? Israel has shown an eagerness to do so if Iran does not stop enriching uranium, and some hawks in Washington favor letting Israel do the dirty work to avoid fueling anti-Americanism in the Islamic world. But there are three compelling reasons that the United States itself should carry out the bombings.

“First, the Pentagon’s weapons are better than Israel’s at destroying buried facilities. Second, unlike Israel’s relatively small air force, the United States military can discourage Iranian retaliation by threatening to expand the bombing campaign… Finally, because the American military has global reach, air strikes against Iran would be a strong warning to other would-be proliferators…

“We have reached the point where air strikes are the only plausible option with any prospect of preventing Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons. Postponing military action merely provides Iran a window to expand, disperse and harden its nuclear facilities against attack. The sooner the United States takes action, the better.”

Europe Warns and Condemns Iran’s Leadership

Deutsche Welle reported on December 28:

“In a strong statement to the press on Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the actions of Iran’s state security services ‘unacceptable.’… At least eight people were killed in street clashes in Tehran when police and Basij militia members confronted protest marchers who were attempting to gather at a number of central squares. Sunday’s protests took place on Ashura, a Shiite Islamic holy day devoted to honoring martyrs, often through street marches… According to opposition sources, security forces used tear gas and live ammunition to try to get the marchers to disperse.

“German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle criticized Iran’s tactics as ‘brutal,’ and said that the international community ‘would be watching, not looking away.’ A spokesman for the French foreign ministry, Bernard Valero, said his country again expressed ‘deep concern,’ and ‘condemns the arbitrary arrests and violence carried out against ordinary protesters.’… The Italian foreign ministry, meanwhile, warned the Islamic republic that ‘safeguarding human lives is a fundamental value which must be defended everywhere and in every circumstance.'”

It is becoming more and more plausible that we will soon see an outright war in the Middle East, involving a military attack on Iran. This attack might be led by Israel with or without American support; and it will also be interesting to see how powerful players such as Europe and Russia will react to such military action. The Bible shows that ultimately, Europe will turn against the USA and Israel; and that it will intervene militarily in the Middle East in an effort to bring peace to that region.

How Russia Justifies Its Nuclear Policies

The Russian pro-government paper, Pravda, wrote the following on December 24:

“Russia now announced its right to use nuclear weapons not only in case of aggression against itself, but also as a ‘response to a threat of using (or usage) against itself and (or) its allies of nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, as well as a response to the aggression with regular weapons in the situations critical for the Russian Federation.’

“The similar document signed by the United States does not have this provision. The US does not consider itself entitled to use nuclear weapons as a response to a ‘threat’… Russia does not have resources for aggression. Even Pavel Felgenhauer, a Moscow-based defense analyst said… ‘The weaker the army, the more important nuclear weapons are. We don’t have anything left besides our nuclear weapons. We have no guarantees that the West would not interfere with our wars, like it happened with Georgia, therefore, we do need nuclear restraining…’

“Nuclear weapons remain the main, and maybe, the only defense for Russia. It would be silly to walk around the area filled with stray dogs without an electroshock or at least a good stick.”

Russia Justifies Its Military Occupation of Georgia

The Pravda wrote on December 23:

“As though it was any of their business, six US senators have taken it upon themselves to warn France against the planned sale of a warship to Russia… The senators were ‘worried’ and underlined a Russian Navy commander’s recent statement that the ship would have allowed Russian forces battling Georgia’s military in August 2008 to land troops ashore in 40 minutes, against the 26 hours it took them to do so in last year’s war.

“Well that’s good, perhaps more lives would have been saved. But these saber rattling, arrogant Americans are still bound and determined to protect the criminal behavior of their puppet in Georgia. Of course their words make them nothing less than hypocrites of the worst kind, and accessories to the war crimes of Georgia and Saakashvili.

“The truth is not in them, they either knowingly or ignorantly promote the lie that the war was Russia’s fault and of course Russia has no right to save the lives of citizens. Again, how dare they!… Senator Lugar and other neo-con Senators called on President Obama to increase military supplies to Georgia. I am sure if this were 1939, they would also call on the President to increase military supplies to Nazi Germany.”

Interestingly, the Pravda conveniently forgets to mention the friendship pact between Russia’s war criminal, Josef Stalin, and Germany’s war criminal, Adolf Hitler. There will not be a war between Russia and the United States, prior to Christ’s return. But a worldwide war WILL occur very soon. However, the respective allies and enemies will be quite different from what many may expect. For more information, please read our free booklets, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America,” “Europe in Prophecy” and “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.”

Japan Moves Closer to India, While Moving Further Away from the USA

India’s national newspaper, The Hindu, wrote the following on December 26:

“Apart from improving their coordination on security issues, India and Japan will also consolidate their economic ties… Japanese investment in India [has] exceeded its investment in China for the first time in 2008-09… Without India, Japan cannot grow in [the] future.”

Times on Line added on December 26:

“Yukio Hatoyama, the new Japanese Prime Minister, has stunned a nation already mired in huge public debt by unveiling the country’s biggest ever postwar budget: a 92.3 trillion yen (£630 billion) spending spree… The new budget will require additional debt issuance of Y44.3 trillion…

“Four months on from [his election] victory and Mr Hatoyama has spent more than any of his predecessors and has yet to make any serious impact on the wider effort of repairing Japan’s shattered economy… Mr Hatoyama has also been hurt personally by the arrest of a former aide this week amid a money scandal that bore all the hallmarks of the politics of ‘old Japan’… Prosecutors in Tokyo accused Keiji Katsuba, 59, of falsifying funding reports beginning in 2000 and listing dead people as donors.

“Political analysts said that the episode would not be crippling to Mr Hatoyama… but it adds to pressures that already include a weakened domestic economy and strained relations with the United States…”

The Bible clearly shows that in these last days, many nations in the Far East, including Japan, India, China and Russia, will align and cooperate, even militarily, and an outright war will see a military confrontation between these nations and the emerging United States of Europe.

Britain Powerless?

AFP wrote on December 30:

“Shaikh, a 53-year-old father-of-three whom supporters say was mentally ill, was executed on Tuesday [in China] for drug smuggling despite extensive British ministerial lobbying that continued almost up until his death. But in a letter to the Guardian newspaper, his cousins Amina and Ridwan Shaikh lamented the lack of real British influence in the case.

“‘This is an example of Britain’s powerlessness in the world. Their strategy of being shoulder to shoulder with the US in the “war on terror” has not given them the status they so desperately desire,’ they said… ‘Britain’s economic dependence far outweighs these “individual cases.”‘

“Shaikh was arrested in September 2007 in Urumqi in far western China with four kilograms (nine pounds) of heroin, but campaigners say a criminal gang duped him into carrying the drugs. He was the first national from a European Union country to be executed in China in 50 years… China’s ambassador Fu Ying was hauled into the Foreign Office hours after the execution on Tuesday to be told of Britain’s anger, in what was described as a ‘difficult’ meeting…

“Britain has vast trade and economic ties with China, and has long underlined the need to engage closely with the emerging global powerhouse despite criticism notably of China’s human rights record… But ties have long been complicated, and tensions were highlighted at this month’s Copenhagen climate summit where environment minister Ed Miliband said China had led a group of countries that ‘hijacked’ the negotiations.

“In a commentary on the Shaikh case the Times said that Britain’s ‘diplomatic failure’ was forcing a rethink of strategy towards China. ‘After the Copenhagen debacle this month and the execution of the first citizen of a European country by China since 1951, Britain is now reassessing how to handle China diplomatically,’ it said.”

This seems to be a relatively simple matter to determine from the Bible, but there are myriads of different ideas that exist about this question. Let us look at some basic Scriptures.

In Matthew 24:26-30, Jesus Himself said:

“Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

This passage clearly states that the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, will be seen by “all the tribes of the earth” at His return. Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries state that they will “gaze – that is with wide open eyes as at something remarkable.” Indeed, it will be remarkable–a truly unique situation–when Christ returns to this earth just in time to save man from self-annihilation (compare Matthew 24:21-22), and He will be seen by “all the tribes of the earth” at that time.

We read in Acts 1:9-11: “Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.'”

One commentator made these observations: “Notice that this says ‘the same manner,’ not the same body. What was the ‘manner’ of his ascent? As verse 9 shows, he disappeared from view, his departure being observed only by his disciples. The world in general was not aware of what happened. The same would be true of Christ’s return.”

However, the flaws in these arguments or understanding are that while the world may not have been aware of this event at the time of Christ’s ascension, the world, being on the brink of cosmocide at the very end of this age, will be facing a time when Christ has to return to save us from ourselves. He will be seen as the course of action described in the book of Revelation takes place. He won’t be doing this invisibly!

In addition, since Christ ascended visibly as He did, it therefore follows that He will return in like manner, that is, visibly, so that He can be seen by “all the tribes of the earth.” Exactly how this will be done is open to conjecture, but as Scripture says that it will happen, we believe what the Word of God says.

This same commentator went on to say that “If Christ were to appear visibly in the heavens, it is obvious that not ‘every eye’ would see Him. If He appeared over Australia, for example, He would not be visible in Europe, Africa and the Americas, would He?”

The Bible says that He WILL appear visibly. It is possible that Christ will circle the earth so that all tribes can see Him. Christ declared: “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:27; compare also Luke 17:24). It is also possible that television cameras and other electronic equipment will show and broadcast His appearance all over the world–as the peoples and nations will see the dead bodies of the two witnesses for three-and-a-half days, apparently via electronic transmissions of some kind (compare Revelation 11:9).

We need to understand, however, that even though Christ will return visibly–not secretly–He will not appear with the same physical BODY which He had before His death. Christ is now a SPIRIT being, and He has a SPIRITUAL body. But He can, of course, manifest Himself AS a physical being, even with bones and flesh. For a full discussion of this sometimes misunderstood concept, see our Q&A on the question, “Do you teach a resurrection of the physical body?”

The angels said that Jesus will return in the same manner as He left. Let us note that Jesus, after His crucifixion, appeared visibly to His apostles and others on many occasions, and that He ascended to heaven “visibly.” Jesus appeared to:

— Mary Magdalene shortly after His resurrection (Mark 16:9; John 20:14-17);

— the women who held Him by the feet (Matthew 28:9);

— the two disciples “as they walked and went into the country” on their way to Emmaus (Mark 16:12; Luke 24:13-31);

— Cephas or Peter and then to the twelve (1 Corinthians 15:5);

— the original apostles (Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36-49; John 20:19-20, 24-28);

— the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias (John 21:1-25);

— over 500 brethren (1 Corinthians 15:6);

— the eleven disciples, giving them the commission to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:14-18);

— the disciples at the time of His ascension (Luke 24:50-51; Acts 1:4-9).

Please also note that after Christ’s resurrection, He “presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being SEEN by them DURING FORTY DAYS and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).

This is a considerable body of Scriptural evidence proving that Jesus, after His crucifixion and resurrection, showed Himself visibly to hundreds of people, manifesting Himself as a human being. He will manifest Himself visibly at His Second Coming, in great glory and power! It should be noted that we must take Scripture for what it says; not what we think it says or how we think something may happen.

In Revelation 1:7, there is further proof: “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.” We read that EVERY eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. This is referring to the Jewish race and mankind in general whose sins necessitated Christ’s death on our behalf.

In Zechariah 14:4, we read: “And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east.” This is talking about the Day of the Lord when Christ returns visibly to this earth. He said that He would return to this earth to set up the Kingdom of God; that He will rule from Jerusalem; and that the saints will rule and reign with Him on the earth (Revelation 5:10).

Many strange ideas exist about Christ’s return–including the belief that Christ would be returning as a physical Man–being born again from a woman. Some believe that Christ will rule with the saints from heaven. Others believe that Christ has already returned to this earth!

The rapture is another wrong theory that we covered briefly in Update 54, where it was stated: “The bible is very consistent in describing Christ’s Second Coming as one and the same event. When He visibly returns, He will gather His elect – not before then (Matthew 24:27-31).” A thorough discussion of the wrong concept of the “rapture” can be found in our Q&A on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and in our free booklet, “Is That in the Bible?–The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation,” on pages 52 to 54.

If we believe what the Scriptures clearly reveal, we understand that Jesus Christ will visibly return to this earth. His Second Coming will be witnessed by everyone on earth alive at that time.

Lead Writer: Brian Gale

Our new booklet, “Paul’s Letter to the Galatians–How To Understand It,” was sent to our Graphic Designer, Shelly Bruno, for finalization.

A new StandingWatch program was posted on StandingWatch and YouTube. It is titled, “Payoffs for Senate’s Health Care Bill.” 

The program discusses that politics went into high gear this week when 60 necessary votes for the U.S. Senate’s health care bill were secured after granting special concessions and payoffs to certain states. Some senators defended these tactics, saying that “payoffs are nothing unusual”; and that this is “the nature of a democracy” and “part of the normal legislative process.” But what exactly were these payoffs, and how does God look at this kind of political maneuvering?

A new German sermon, titled, “Du Sollst Nicht Luegen, Teil 3” (“You Shall Not Lie, Part 3),” was posted on the Web.

by Manuela Mitchell

We have heard the saying, “Life is what you make of it”; but what if life has the means of introducing misery and trials which can change our desires and motivations? When I am sick, or battling through a never-ending trial, is it possible to enjoy life even then? I have experienced on numerous occasions that it is… it must!  Something positive always results from the negative, in every single case; because as I battle through hard times, God is on my side and He will allow me to overcome, if I let Him.

I have survived Type 1 Diabetes for 22 years and have grown to live with controlling the disease, most of the time. There is no known cure, but daily treatment requires glucose monitoring through blood sample, injections of insulin, a healthy diet and exercise. Every day is not the same as blood sugars fluctuate with normal activity, illnesses, stresses, time changes, hormonal imbalances, and foods that I eat. Recently, being pregnant, Diabetes has taken a new routine. Treating it before was simple compared to the daily task of today and the next few months. Where there is great need for correcting high blood sugars while pregnant, for risk of harming the baby, having low blood sugars is worse since that of course could result in the loss of both. 

I have recently been dangerously low several times, to the point where I was non-coherent. My husband has been able to reverse the affect with glucose tablets, orange juice and anything else that he could get into me. It took about an hour before I “came to,” but the entire day was shot since I felt horrible for the rest of it.

I consider these trials as opportunities for learning, because they just don’t happen from nowhere. With God’s hand (and those who help me) I have been able to withstand pressures of life. I know that the outcome is greater, even in the physical realm, for in approximately four months I will be able to see the little person who has been creating all this trouble. :). I am to be happy in every state of life, even if I can’t yet see the reward.

On December 26, 2009, Eric Rank will give the sermon, titled, respectively, “Glorification.”

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.

One of the most moving and emotionally charged accounts in the Bible is the story of Joseph in chapters 37 to 50 of the book of Genesis–especially those Scriptures which describe his reconciliation with his brothers and the settlement of his father Jacob and his whole family in the land of Goshen in Egypt.

The record covers the jealousy of Joseph’s brothers because of his special relationship with God and Jacob; their original intent to murder him; and, due to Reuben’s intervention, their decision to sell him into slavery. It reports that the brothers deceived their father by presenting to him Joseph’s tunic of many colors which they had covered in animal blood; and relates how Joseph became a servant in the house of Potiphar in Egypt.

We can read about the famous episode of Potiphar’s wife trying to seduce Joseph; his rejection of her advances since he did not want to sin against God or betray his employer; and his imprisonment as a consequence. Because of his correct interpretation of two dreams, he came to the attention of Pharaoh. He was released from prison; rose to prominence in Egypt; and set aside grain to provide for food, as God had warned that a famine would come over the whole world. This famine caused Jacob to send his brothers to Egypt to buy food there. After several incidents, Joseph revealed himself to them and obtained the consent of Pharaoh to bring his whole family to Egypt in order to settle there.

Joseph set an inspiring example for us in the way he directed his life, and how he coped with the trials which he faced.

He was betrayed by his brothers; and while he was testing them later to see whether they had repented, there is no account of him seeking revenge for their misdeeds. While in Potiphar’s household, he was faithful in his responsibilities and resisted the easy temptation and continued insistence of Potiphar’s wife to commit adultery with her. He set a fine example for young men in this day and age who may encounter similar temptations, and he showed a solid foundation in not wanting to sin against God.

Due to the lies and false accusations of Potiphar’s wife, he went to jail, but while waiting patiently for God’s intervention, he found favor with the keeper of the prison. He eventually was released and rose in power and authority within the Egyptian ruling class, and he finally understood that God had planned from the outset to bring him to Egypt and give him great power in order to be able to save millions of people from famine. Ultimately, he was able to reconcile with his brothers and present himself to his father Jacob, who had thought him dead for many years. All of this shows that with endurance and continued trust in God and His plan for us, things will eventually work out for good.

For those of us who are called in this day and age and who will be given eternal life at Christ’s coming, we will ultimately experience the great joy of an emotional reunion with our families who were not called to salvation in this life, but who will be raised in the Second Resurrection. As Joseph’s brothers realized what they had done and bitterly repented, so we will be able to assist our relatives in their choice to accept Christ as their Savior and walk in God’s way which will lead to eternal life for them. Imagine their surprise when they see they have been raised from the dead as physical beings and see us alive–as glorified beings. And as Joseph was able to satisfy the physical needs of his family members, so we will be able, on a much greater level, to take care of our relatives in physical and spiritual ways.

Joseph’s inspiring example contains the abiding lesson for all of us that patient endurance of our trials and unwavering faith in God will bring a positive, joyful and successful outcome–not just for us, but also for others.

We begin with reports on the health care “reform.” On December 21, the Senate conducted the first of several procedural votes needed before a vote on the bill could take place on December 24. While Republicans were unanimously opposed, Democrats managed to muster the necessary 60 votes. Politics went into high gear when Democratic votes were only secured after granting special concessions–a procedure which was criticized as “corrupt” and “bribery.”

The Wall Street Journal wrote on December 21: “Change Nobody Believes In. A bill so reckless that it has to be rammed through on a partisan vote on Christmas eve. And tidings of comfort and joy from Harry Reid too… Mr. Obama promised a new era of transparent good government, yet on Saturday morning Mr. Reid threw out the 2,100-page bill that the world’s greatest deliberative body spent just 17 days debating and replaced it with a new ‘manager’s amendment’ that was stapled together in covert partisan negotiations. Democrats are barely even bothering to pretend to care what’s in it, not that any Senator had the chance to digest it in the 38 hours before the first cloture vote at 1 a.m. this morning… Even in World War I there was a Christmas truce.

“The rushed, secretive way that a bill this destructive and unpopular is being forced on the country shows that ‘reform’ has devolved into the raw exercise of political power for the single purpose of permanently expanding the American entitlement state. An increasing roll of leaders in health care and business are looking on aghast at a bill that is so large and convoluted that no one can truly understand it, as Finance Chairman Max Baucus admitted on the floor last week. The only goal is to ram it into law while the political window is still open, and clean up the mess later.”

On December 24, the Senate adopted the new health care bill. As USA Today reported, “It was the first time since 1963 that the Senate met on the day before Christmas and the first time since 1895 that senators cast a roll call vote on this day… The bill would require most individuals to purchase health insurance and offer subsidies for those who cannot afford the coverage. It also makes companies with more than 50 employees subject to penalties if they do not provide health care and their workers require subsidies…

“The Senate vote now sends the legislation to a conference committee, where Democratic leaders will try to reconcile differences between House and Senate bills on such things as how to pay for health care; how to help low- and middle-income-earners pay for the insurance they will be required to buy; and what restrictions to place on insurance coverage for abortions. The committee cannot formally meet or take action until Jan. 19… Republicans are vowing to wage a public relations campaign to derail the legislation before the next round of votes…”

Turning our attention to the climate summit in Copenhagen, President Obama announced an “unprecedented breakthrough.” However, what was achieved was a non-binding “agreement” between just five nations. It has been described as a trick; and the Copenhagen summit was labeled as an “utter failure”; and the Obama Administration and China are being blamed for it. The summit has received so much negative coverage in the European press that it was coined “Flopenhagen.” While most news reports regret that no results were obtained, the German conservative paper, Die Welt, warns that our approach toward perceived man-made global warming might be totally off track.

We also tell you about continued bank failures in the USA–with no end of the recession in sight; the incredible appointment of President Obama’s “safe schools czar”; another example why our legal system does NOT work, reporting on the conviction of an innocent person; strained relations between the Vatican and Israel; and conclude with an article about ambitions of the Habsburg family to run for the Austrian presidency.

How Votes Are “Bought”…

Fox News reported on December 21:

“Sen. Ben Nelson [is] hardly the only lawmaker extracting sweetheart deals out of the health care reform bill. While the Nebraska Democrat got a particularly juicy concession in exchange for a ‘yes’ vote on the 10-year, $871 billion package — permanent and full federal aid for his state’s expanded Medicaid population — support from a slew of other senators likewise came with a price…

“Senate Democrats said the payoffs are nothing unusual, and in fact typical. ‘People fight for their own states. That’s the nature of a democracy,’ Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said… ‘This is just part of the normal legislative process,’ said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

“As a measure of just how typical they are, a slew of payoffs and concessions have been struck over the past several months.

“Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., won between $100 million and $300 million in additional federal aid for her state’s Medicaid population. The deal, secured before she cast her critical vote in favor of bringing the health bill to the floor, was immediately dubbed the ‘Louisiana Purchase,’  though the actual Louisiana Purchase was considerably cheaper.

“Vermont and Massachusetts got $1.2 billion in Medicaid money… Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders also boasted Saturday that he requested and won an investment worth between $10 and $14 billion for community health centers.

“Western states secured higher federal reimbursement rates for doctors and hospitals that serve Medicare patients. The provision covers the low-population ‘frontier’ states and applies to Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming — the latter two states are both represented by two Republicans, but ended up as beneficiaries anyway since they qualify…

“Florida, New York and Pennsylvania — where five of six senators are Democrats — will have their seniors’ Medicare Advantage benefits protected, even as the program sees massive cuts elsewhere. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., reportedly secured expanded Medicare coverage for victims of asbestos exposure in a mine in Libby, Mont.

“One unknown state is receiving $100 million for a ‘health care facility’ affiliated with an academic health center at a university that contains the state’s only ‘public academic medical and dental school.’ It’s unclear for which state that language was written.

“Nebraska’s Nelson won permanent federal aid for his state’s expanded Medicaid population, a benefit worth up to $100 million over 10 years. Other states get the federal aid for three years, but Nebraska’s benefit is indefinite. His state also got an exemption for nonprofit insurance companies from a health insurance company tax. Many believe this was targeted at Mutual of Omaha, but senior Democratic aides would not confirm that…”

Whatever will come out of this, the methods and means used do not “sanctify” the outcome. God hates corruption, bribery, payoffs and political maneuvering for personal gains. “Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it” (Psalm 127:1).

President Obama Blamed for “Copenhagen Debacle”

The Associated Press reported on December 18:

“President Barack Obama said the United States, China and several other countries reached an ‘unprecedented breakthrough’ Friday to curb greenhouse gas emissions – including a mechanism to verify compliance – after a frenzied day of diplomacy at the U.N. climate talks. The agreement, which also includes the developing nations of India, South Africa and Brazil, requires each country to list the actions they will take to cut global warming pollution by specific amounts, a senior Obama administration official said…

“The U.S. got its share of blame… Obama may eventually become known as ‘the man who killed Copenhagen,’ said Greenpeace U.S. Executive Director Phil Radford… Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren, negotiating on behalf of the 27-nation European Union, blamed the impasse on the Chinese for ‘blocking again and again,’ and on the U.S. for coming too late with an improved offer…”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 19 that President Obama did not appear in Copenhagen as the “Messiah,” but as the “Debunked” or “Disenchanted.” The magazine also wrote that one participant at the summit said that President Obama offered developing nations “30 pieces of silver” for their future.

Deutsche Welle reported on December 19:

“For US President Barack Obama, Copenhagen offers no good news. His last trip in Copenhagen was his failed attempt to bring the 2016 Olympics to Chicago. Now with the stakes much higher, he has failed again. His speech was good – but others like Brazil’s Lula da Silva were better. His effort was good, but simply not good enough. In terms of his leadership, there was little to be seen.”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 19:

“What a disaster. The climate summit in Copenhagen has failed because of the hardball politicking of the United States, China and several other countries — and because people just can’t seem to fathom how catastrophic climate change will be… The debacle of Copenhagen is also Barack Obama’s debacle…

“When it comes to immediate assistance for impoverished countries, the United States intends to contribute a total of $3.6 billion between 2010 and 2012. But, if you compare that with what other regions contribute, this figure appears rather miserly. The European Union plans to contribute about $10.6 billion, or about three times as much. And even Japan is chipping in $11 billion. In poor countries, people are presumably confused about whether they should laugh or cry about the US contribution.”

The world is turning away from confidence in American leadership. As the next selection of articles shows, some strongly implore Europe to take a leading role in the world. Bible prophecy reveals that while the USA will drift further and further into political oblivion, Europe will emerge as the most powerful entity on the planet.

Now What After “Flopenhagen”?

Deutsche Welle reported on December 21:

“After the widely disappointing UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen – aka ‘Flopenhagen’ – European editorialists let the bitter comments flow… Britain’s Guardian newspaper saw positives alongside negatives in the outcome of the conference… ‘while the Copenhagen product is every inch the sham that campaigners say it is, the Copenhagen process has set important precedents,’ the Guardian wrote. ‘Most obviously …the sheer fact that it took place – and at such a high political level – means it will probably do so again.’…

“Taking a harsher line, left-leaning French newspaper La Libération oozed disappointment in the ‘large countries which, in a delirium of diplomatic ineptitude and the blindness of superiority, torpedoed the binding worldwide accord’ they had hoped for. The paper pitched for the EU to take immediate, unilateral action: ‘Eco-reformers need to focus on the US and China,’ it wrote… ‘If the EU took the necessary actions from its side, it would jump to the head of the movement. Then the fiasco of Copenhagen could be overcome step by step’…

“German editorialists were less inclined to focus on positive signals from the conference. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung called the Copenhagen summit an ‘insult to the world community,’ noting that ‘never were expectations for a climate conference higher, and never before were so many heads of state and government officials in one place, meeting to solve one single problem. But they didn’t solve it – they made it worse’…

“Finally, the Stuttgarter Zeitung expressed the disappointment felt by many in Europe when they compared US President Barack Obama’s focus on China and other developing countries with his relative lack of interest in the European negotiators… ‘The trans-Atlantic relationship is coming up on hard times. Barack Obama showed one thing for certain in Copenhagen: His focus will be on the trans-Pacific axis with China,’ [the paper wrote].”

Der Spiegel Online added on December 21:

“German papers on Monday are scathing in their criticism of the climate conference and most are resoundingly pessimistic about the prospects for ever reaching an agreement in the future… The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘Above all national selfishness stood in the way of an agreement… That can only change if such a refusal has consequences. There are already methods of imposing sanctions…’

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘Forget Copenhagen, now we are making a climate treaty in 2010 in Bonn and Mexico. That is the message from those who are talking up the conference, and trying to sell the result as some kind of progress. But after the fiasco there is no sensible reason for assuming that things will be any better next year. From the very beginning it was an illusion to believe that the two biggest climate sinners — China and the US — would allow themselves to be roped into a binding agreement with clear emissions targets and international monitoring’…

“The conservative Die Welt writes: ‘Even if Chancellor Merkel is warning people not to bad mouth the climate summit, the result is still deplorable. Over 40,000 politicians, diplomats, scientists, journalists, lobbyists and NGO activists traveled there to save the world. One hundred and forty private jets landed, 1,200 limousines ferried delegates around. The feverish summit, which gave a new name to gigantism, offered a soapbox for alarmists and the self-important. But now it is time to consider whether smaller, more matter-of-fact conferences would make more sense. It would also mean allowing those scientists to speak who have expressed well-founded doubts about the scenarios presented by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). They have many facts on their side.

“‘Evaluation would be more appropriate than roaring that the world is about to end. The question of whether binding and dramatic limits of CO2 emissions are the only correct way to protect the climate must also be revisited. This is not only dogmatic but would also cost a fortune and have little effect. The plan to limit the average rise in the global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius is the most expensive task of all time. … Besides, it is a figure that has been set arbitrarily. The one-sided fixation on CO2 limits could be a greater detriment to the global economy than climate change itself. A global competition for the cleanest energy production and investments in saving and replanting forests would be more useful than the rabid caps in emissions at the cost of economic growth.’

“The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘The climate summit in Copenhagen was no success — not even a small one. That’s why one can’t bad mouth the results, which Merkel has warned them not to do. No one can make them sound better than they are: Copenhagen was an all-out failure. … How this (process) is to be brought to an end in the next year remains a mystery. The format of the consultations at the UN level, in which every member state can exercise veto power, holds no promise for any success…'”

More U.S. Banks Fail…

The Associated Press reported on December 18:

“Regulators on Friday shut down two big California banks, as well as banks in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Illinois, bringing to 140 the number of U.S. banks brought down this year by the weak economy and mounting loan defaults. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over all seven. Regulators shuttered First Federal Bank of California…[and] Imperial Capital Bank… [bringing] to 17 the number of California banks to fail this year…

“As the economy has slumped, with unemployment rising, home prices tumbling and loan defaults soaring, bank failures have accelerated around the country. The 140 bank failures are the most in a year since 1992 at the height of the savings-and-loan crisis. They have cost the government-backed deposit insurance fund – which has fallen into the red – more than $30 billion so far this year. The failures compare with 25 last year and three in 2007. The FDIC expects the cost of bank failures to grow to about $100 billion over the next four years…

“If the economic recovery falters, defaults on the high-risk loans could spike. Nearly $500 billion in commercial real estate loans are expected to come due annually over the next few years. Last week, the Obama administration extended until next October the $700 billion financial bailout program, saying the fund was still needed to prevent further turmoil in the banking system.”

Reality is sinking in that the recession is by no means ending–expressions of political correctness notwithstanding. The Bible shows that in these last days, the political, economic and even military downfall of the USA will be accelerating.

Obama Czar “Promotes Sex Between Children and Adults”

On December 9, the Washington Times reported the following:

“The Obama administration is stonewalling serious inquiries about sexual filth propagated by a senior presidential appointee who is responsible for promoting and implementing federal education policy. Democrats clearly are terrified of ruffling the feathers of their activist homosexual supporters, who are an influential part of the Democratic party’s base. This scandal, however, is not merely about homosexual behavior; it is about promoting sex between children and adults – and it’s time for President Obama to make clear that abetting such illegal perversion has no place in his administration.
 
“It is curious why White House officials and Education Secretary Arne Duncan believe it’s worth… politically to continue taking arrows for defending Kevin Jennings, who is Mr. Obama’s controversial ‘safe schools czar.’ The evidence suggesting he is unfit to serve as a senior presidential appointee is startling and plentiful. It was revealed this week that Mr. Jennings was involved in promoting a reading list for children 13 years old or older that made the most explicit sex between children and adults seem normal and acceptable…

“But there is more. There are shocking new revelations this week of tape recordings from a youth conference involving 14-year-old students. The conference, billed as a forum to encourage tolerance of homosexuality, was sponsored by Mr. Jennings’ organization and was held at Tufts University in March 2000. Mr. Jennings was executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) from its founding in 1995 until August 2008. The conference sessions appear to have had less to do with promoting tolerance and more to do with teaching children how to engage in sex.

“Andrew Breitbart’s Biggovernment.com provides tapes of some of the sessions. Describing the subject matter as smut would be putting it lightly. The conference discussions were very graphic… Teaching children sexual techniques is simply not appropriate. Unfortunately, it is part of a consistent pattern by some homosexual activists to promote underage homosexuality while pretending that their mission is simply to promote tolerance for so-called alternative lifestyles. It is outrageous that someone involved in this scandal is being paid by the taxpayers to serve in a high-powered position at the Education Department, of all places.”

This is awful. The agenda of homosexual activists destroys the very fabric of our nation. When innocent children become victims in the hands of these kinds of influences, which are not restricted by our leadership, then we should know that the end of this God-defying civilization is drawing near (compare 2 Peter 2:4-9; 3:1-13; Jude 5-7).

But “Our Legal System Works…”???

CNN reported on December 17:

“After more than three decades in prison, a man in Florida was set free Thursday after a DNA test showed he did not kidnap and rape a 9-year-old boy in 1974. James Bain, 54, was 19 when he was convicted on charges of kidnapping, burglary and strong-arm rape… Bain was serving a life sentence… Of the 245 people in the United States who have been exonerated by DNA testing, none has spent more time behind bars than Bain…

“Bain was convicted in 1974 of taking a 9-year-old Lake Wales, Florida, boy from his bed and raping him. According to police records, the victim told police that he fell asleep with his brothers and sisters, but when he woke up a man was dragging him by a baseball field. The boy said he was forced to the ground and raped. The Lake Wales police report says that the boy told police that his attacker had bushy sideburns and a mustache. After being shown five photographs of potential suspects, the report says, the victim picked out the photo of Bain…

“Florida in 2001 passed a statute allowing cases to be reopened for DNA testing. Four times Bain submitted handwritten motions seeking such testing, only to be denied. His fifth try was successful only after an appeals court ruled that he was entitled to a hearing… His twin sister, Jannie Jones, told police that James was home with her, watching a popular television medical drama called ‘Medical Center’ at the time of the attack.”

The Bible prohibits the conviction of an accused unless at least two eye witnesses agree on and confirm the facts of the underlying charge. If, however, the witness lied or was negligent in his or her testimony, he or she had to be punished.

Strained Relations Between Vatican and Israel

Deutsche Welle reported on December 19:

“Pope Benedict XVI is facing criticism after he put a controversial wartime predecessor one step closer to sainthood. Jewish groups say Pope Pius XII did not do enough to save Jewish lives during the Second World War… Pope Benedict has approved a decree that recognizes the pontiff, who is accused of doing too little to help Europe’s Jews during World War II, as having ‘heroic virtues.’ The posthumous honor gives the former pope the title ‘venerable’ and places him two steps from full canonization.

“Pius XI has been accused of turning a blind eye to the Nazi genocide of the Jews, in a controversy that has strained relations between the Vatican and Israel… Attempts to beatify the former pope had been described as ‘unacceptable’ by Israel’s social affairs minister Isaac Herzog… ‘Throughout the period of the Holocaust, the Vatican knew very well what was happening in Europe,’ Herzog told the Haaretz newspaper in 2008.”

The New York Times added on December 23:

“In an effort to calm growing tensions with Jewish groups, the Vatican said Wednesday that Pope Benedict XVI’s decision moving the wartime pope Pius XII closer to sainthood was not a ‘hostile act’ against those who believe Pius did not do enough to stop the Holocaust. The Vatican spokesman… issued a statement saying that the beatification process evaluated the ‘Christian life’ of Pius, who reigned from 1939 to 1958, and not ‘the historical impact of all his operative decisions’… Benedict confirmed the ‘heroic virtues’ of Pius — along with those of John Paul II — on Saturday, opening the door to beatification once a miracle is attributed to each. A second miracle would be required for sainthood.

“The move created anger among many Jewish groups, which have argued that Pius did not speak out vocally enough against the Nazis or intervene to save Jews during World War II, and that the Vatican helped many former Nazis escape to South America after World War II. The decision by Benedict — a German who was an unwilling member of the Hitler Youth — to move Pius closer to sainthood was the latest in a series of controversies. It came less than a year after he revoked the excommunication of a schismatic bishop who had denied the scope of the Holocaust, an act that caused the pope and the Vatican to issue a series of extensive clarifications. Benedict also upset many Jews when he did not directly mention the Nazis or Germany during a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel in May, as John Paul II had done, although Benedict has denounced the Holocaust on many other occasions…

“[The Vatican spokesman] added that the Vatican hoped the pope’s expected visit to the Rome synagogue next month would reaffirm ties between Judaism and the Roman Catholic Church… The legacy of Pius is particularly sensitive for the Jewish community in Rome. More than 1,000 of its members were rounded up in 1943 and deported to Auschwitz. Documents in the Vatican archives indicate that Pius knew of the deportation and did not act to stop it.”

The Bible shows that ultimately, the Roman Catholic Church will be at odds with Israel. In spite of wrong assumptions taught by some, there is nothing in the Bible prophesying a future friendship pact, contract or treaty between Catholic Europe and the state of Israel, which will allegedly last for 3 1/2 years. Rather, the relationship between these two entities will steadily deteriorate. For more information, please read our Q&A on Daniel 9:27.

Will the Habsburgs Run for Presidency?

Europe World News reported on December 16:

“Austria’s Habsburg family suffered a blow in their bid for the Austrian presidency Wednesday, after the country’s Constitutional Court delayed a ruling on whether the former rulers could be barred from running for office until after forthcoming elections. Ulrich Habsburg-Lothringen and his daughter-in-law Gabriele Maria Habsburg-Lothringen are seeking to overturn a clause in the constitution that excludes members of current or former ruling families from being elected head of state. The court said it has no mandate to take up the matter before the elections in April – but advised the Habsburgs on how to proceed in order to have their case heard eventually.

“They should formally announce their candidature, which would be rejected by the national election authority, and Habsburg-Lothringen and his daughter-in-law could then contest the decision at the court. ‘Of course, I will follow through with this,’ said Ulrich Habsburg-Lothringen, 68. He is a third-degree nephew of Otto von Habsburg, the son of the last emperor Charles. He is set to run as an independent candidate, but the Green party, along with the far-right Freedom Party, has said it wants to change the constitution so that former ruling nobility can be elected. Habsburg-Lothringen said he was confident that he could collect the 6,000 signatures necessary to launch a presidential bid.”

This development is worth watching, as the Bible says that modern Europe will unite as the tenth resurrection of the ancient Roman Empire, and the Habsburgs (under Charles V.) constituted the seventh revival of the Roman Empire (and the fourth revival of the Holy Roman Empire). For more information, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

Surprisingly to many, the “magi” were neither “astrologers,” nor did they visit Joseph, Mary and the Christ Child in the inn, nor is it biblically revealed how many there were. However, there are traditions which would support the idea that they were twelve, not three, as commonly assumed.

The idea that they were “astrologers” derived, in part, from the fact that the magi saw Christ’s “star” (compare Matthew 2:2). But this was clearly not an ordinary star, as J.H. Blunt, The Annotated Bible, confirms. He says: “Taking the evidence into account, and not mere conjecture, the star must have been an appearance of a supernatural kind… [It] guided them westward to Jerusalem… it afterwards moved in a manner so different from that of fixed stars, planets or even ordinary comets, that they could distinguish its motion as leading them six miles southward to Bethlehem… then it ‘stood,’ as ‘stars’ are never known to stand still… it may have been a guiding angel… and such an idea is in accordance with that of ancient art which represents the star as a child [of course, the Bible never represents angels as children or babies] bearing a scepter and surrounded by a star-like glory…”

The Bible describes at times angels as stars (compare Revelation 1:20; Isaiah 14:13; Job 38:7); so it appears certain that this “star,” which was not always visible to the “magi,” was an angel who showed them the way to the place where Christ dwelled. At that time, Christ was no longer in a manger or an inn. Rather, He was now in a house (compare Matthew 2:11). Blunt states that some time had passed since His birth, “for the Presentation in the Temple had taken place… and during the interval the Holy Family had doubtless left the public inn for a private dwelling-house.”

We stated the following in a recent Q&A (Update 422):

“The whole Christmas manger scene is a complete fraud. There were no wise men at the manger. The number of the wise men is not specified. It is only stated that they gave three types of gifts, but they didn’t see Christ until He was a young child. At that time, He was no longer in a manger, but lived in a house (Matthew 2:11). According to Matthew 2:16, Christ was at that time perhaps as old as two years, since King Herod had all children two and under killed, based on the information which he had received from the wise men.”

In this regard, let us also quote from our booklet, “Is that in the Bible?–Man’s Holidays or God’s Holy Days”:

“The Archbishop of Canterbury said that the Christmas story of the ‘Three Wise Men’ was nothing but a ‘legend.’ The British Daily Telegraph reported on December 20, 2007: ‘Dr Rowan Williams has claimed that there was certainly nothing to prove there were three of them… or that they were kings. He said the only reference to the wise men from the East was in Matthew’s gospel and the details were very vague. Dr Williams said: “Matthew’s gospel says they are astrologers, wise men, priests from somewhere outside the Roman Empire, that’s all we’re really told. It works quite well as legend.”

“’The Archbishop went on to dispel other details of the Christmas story, adding that there were probably no asses or oxen in the stable. He also argued that Christmas cards which showed the Virgin Mary cradling the baby Jesus, flanked by shepherds and wise men, were misleading. As for the scenes that depicted snow falling in Bethlehem, the Archbishop said the chance of this was “very unlikely”. He added that Jesus was probably not born in December at all. He said: “Christmas was when it was because it fitted well with the winter festival.”‘”

But as we will show, the “magi” were not astrologers, either. The Church of England came up with even more spectacular conclusions in the past. The Telegraph reported on February 11, 2004: “The Three Wise Men who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the infant Jesus may not have been particularly wise and could have been women, the Church of England has ruled.”

This is of course utter nonsense.

First, let us quote from additional commentaries and encyclopedias which describe the nature of the “magi” or “wise men.”

The Bible Encyclopedia states:

“The term ‘wise men’ appears 44 times in the Bible, and the meaning varies somewhat. The first mention of ‘wise men’ is in the account of Jacob’s son, Joseph, in Genesis 41:8 where it says that the pharaoh ‘called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men’ [Hebrew: chakam] to interpret his dream. Chakam means intelligent, skillful, artful or cunning man. This same word is used throughout the rest of the Old Testament, except in the Book of Daniel. In Daniel, the word used in the original language is chakamim or chakkiym from a root corresponding to chakam. The first of these ‘wise men’ is mentioned in Daniel 2:12…

“[Regarding the] Magi who worshipped Jesus [the word] translated ‘wise men’ is the Greek word magos. This is the same as magus, an old Persian word equivalent to the chakam of the Old Testament (above). Magi is the plural of magus… There is no indication that they practiced sorcery or claimed magical powers. Their recorded conduct is sincere and worshipful. They appear to have researched the Old Testament and believed its prophecies about the Messiah… The record does not specifically say that there were three, or that they were kings… but there was obvious wealth involved… These magi did not arrive until possibly almost two years after Christ’s birth, certainly sometime after his presentation in the Temple (Luke 2:22-39)… There is no mention of camels or any mode of transportation in the biblical record. There is also no mention of their names…”

The Catholic Encyclopedia adds:

“No Father of the Church holds the Magi to have been kings… Neither were they magicians… The Gospel narrative omits to mention the number of the Magi, and there is no certain tradition in this matter. Some Fathers speak of three Magi; they are very likely influenced by the number of gifts. In the Orient, tradition favours twelve.”

The Lutheran Church published the following comments:

“There is no conclusive evidence that they were kings… How many magi were there? Unknown. Matthew 2:1-16 simply uses the plural… Where did they come from? The only thing we can say with certainty is ‘from the east’ (Matthew 2:1). Our best knowledge is that members of the Magian priesthood existed in [the] Parthian empire at this time, which encompassed a large area to the east of the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire… Did the magi visit baby Jesus while He was still in the manger? No. Matthew’s Gospel clearly says that the magi entered a house (2:11).”

On December 18, 2001, the Meredian Magazine published an article, titled, “Who Were The Wise Men?” It pointed out:

“Among the more intriguing figures in the scriptures are the wise men who visited the infant Jesus. The story of their journey to Bethlehem is found in the Gospel of Matthew, where we learn that they came ‘from the east’ (Matthew 2:1-2) when Jesus was apparently two years old (Matthew 2:1-2, 7, 16). By that time, Mary and Joseph were no longer in the place where the shepherds had found them (Luke 2:7), but in a house (Matthew 2:11)…

“What… did the wise men follow from Jerusalem to Bethlehem? We cannot know for certain, but it is interesting that an early Christian document indicates that it was an angel in the guise of a star… Some early traditions indicate that there were twelve wise men. The most prevalent tradition says they were three kings, their number derived from the three gifts they brought: gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matthew 2:11)…”

However, as we point out in our booklet, “Don’t Keep Christmas,” the conclusion that there were three magi, based on the three types of gifts, is not compelling:

“The P.M. magazine published an article some time ago, entitled, ‘What do we know about the Three Holy Kings?’ It pointed out:

“’That they… became kings, can be accredited to the theologian Tertullian (160 until 220). He wrote, “in the east, Magi were normally kings.” So we see how quickly the wise men of the Bible had become kings… According to Persian tradition, these Magi were descendants of the ancient Median priesthood… In the gospel, we are not told how many they were. The oriental churches speak of twelve Magi.

“’Jacob of Edessa (640-708), one of the most important ancient writers of the Church of the Jacobites, writes: “The Magi were from Persia, but they were not three, as portrayed by artists for the people, as derived from the threeness of the gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense, but rather twelve, as can be seen in many traditions. Those who came were princes and well-respected persons from the country of Persia. Many people, more than a thousand men, accompanied them, so that Jerusalem became very excited when they arrived.”‘

“The article also speculates that the number of the Magi was reduced to ‘three,’ not because of the three types of gifts mentioned, but because another argument for the Trinity was searched for. Allegedly, the remains of the ‘three kings’ rest today in the dome of Cologne in Germany. However, P.M. notes that ‘the garments, in which the bones are wrapped, were made in the second or third century after Christ in Syria.’”

Over 20 years ago, the Worldwide Church of God published the following comments about the “Magi”:

“Many people believe that the Magi were astrologers. However, God condemns astrology (Deut. 4:15, 19; 17:2-5; Isa. 47:13-14)… One of God’s most righteous men [Daniel] was made leader of the Babylonian magi [“wise men” or “magi” in Daniel 2:48]! Since Daniel remained in this position for a long time, this Bible example proves there was at least one righteous magus–Daniel… Now who were the Magi of Matthew 2? And where did they come from?…

“Matthew says the Magi are from ‘the east’ (or ‘eastern parts’…) or the distant East… One great empire east of the Euphrates… conquered the lands east of the Euphrates area, had Babylon as its capital, and included the areas of Persia, Bactria, etc. It was the Parthian Empire… the Parthians rose to power around 250 B.C. in and around the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. That was the very land into which the house of Israel–not Judah–was exiled. The exiles in this land were members of the ten tribes of Israel. The Parthian Empire included exiles from the lost ten tribes of Israel–many of whom remained in the land of their captivity until about A.D. 226. Certain of the ancient magi could claim Abraham as their father (see McClintock and Strong’s Cyclopedia, article, ‘Magi.’) Thus, historical and biblical evidence reveals that the Magi of Matthew 2 were not astrologers whose observations of heavenly bodies led them to the Christ Child. Instead, they were representatives of the tribes of Israel in exile who were led to their King by an angel…”

Following this rationale and concept, then additional interesting aspects would be worth considering: Since the Jew Daniel was one of the righteous “magi,” and he and many other Jewish exiles lived in Babylon as captives, after King Nebuchadnezzar had conquered the house of Judah, and since the Parthian Empire subsequently absorbed the Babylonian Empire, it stands to reason that Jews continued to live in the Parthian Empire, and that they still dwelled there at the time of the birth of Christ. The tradition that it was TWELVE magi who visited Christ would be quite interesting, in that the magi could have been representatives of ALL the twelve tribes of Israel AND Judah (being descendants of the TWELVE sons of Jacob or Israel), who were led by an angel to their King.

Jesus was called the King of the Jews (Matthew 2:2; 27:11, 37), as well as the King of Israel (John 1:49; 12:13). He will also be recognized as the King of all peoples (Isaiah 2:2-4; 9:6-7; Daniel 7:14), and the time will come when ALL nations will accept Him as their King and obey, honor and worship Him (Philippians 2:9-11).

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

A new StandingWatch program was posted on StandingWatch and You Tube. It is titled, Religious Persecution in Germany? The following is a summary: Surely, there could not be lack or violation of religious freedom in Germany! Don’t be too convinced! And what’s worse, the Bible prophesies that continental Europe will soon begin–as it did in the past–to inflict tremendous persecution on all those who don’t agree with the EU’s religious concepts of “Christianity.” Don’t be duped into thinking it could not happen.

A new German sermon, titled, “Du Sollst Nicht Luegen, Teil 2” (“You shall Not Lie, Part 2”), was posted on the Web.