On May 16, 2009, Eric Rank and Robb Harris will give split sermons, titled, respectively, “Two Promises” and “Families of God.”

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.

I have often thought about what it took to be a part of the early church in the days when your life could have been required of you just for being a Christian. What kind of person did it take to say that they were a Christian, as well as continue to act that way in light of all that hung over their head?

I used to be really glad that I did not live at that time.  I was not sure whether I would have been able to keep the faith while so many around me were being martyred. Would I have had the moral quality to continue doing what I was supposed to be doing?

But I then realized that God is going to accomplish His purpose in us no matter when we live. God has His ways of testing us in order to build holy righteous character, and He will continue to do so, until we learn what we need to. Living in this era has its unique set of challenges, each probative in its own way, that can test every fiber of our being.

In retrospect, not to minimize any of those that went before us, staying alive and persevering day after day until the end, may very well be the more difficult task to accomplish. But, we can take comfort in the fact that God, our Father, Who is orchestrating and overseeing our growth, will continue to do so until the end (compare Philippians 1:6). Knowing this also, that if we endure, we will receive the gift with its rewards (compare Matthew 24:13).

In this week’s Update, we are focusing mainly on three subjects–the ever-worsening US economy and other frightening and disturbing developments in furtherance of the new Administration’s agenda; events taking place in the Middle East, including the Pope’s controversial and “disappointing” visit to Jerusalem and the willingness of the U.S. to antagonize Israel in order to appease Iran; and developments in Europe pertaining to the Lisbon treaty and grim reminders from history to show what the European unification may really be all about.

Reviewing the American economy, more and more signs show us that the Great Depression is coming–all optimistic but inaccurate viewpoints notwithstanding. New proposed or adopted legislature increasingly erodes the fabric of our Christian heritage–which is telling in light of President Obama’s view that the US is not a Christian nation, and that he has strong ties to the Muslim world.

The Middle East has been in the news this week; not only because of the Pope’s highly controversial visit–controversial and disappointing for the Jews, that is–but also because of a planned meeting between President Obama and President Netanyahu next week. As Jordan’s King Abdullah put it, all eyes look to Washington, as this is the last chance for the USA to get something accomplished in the Middle East. However, in the process, Israel might very likely look at Mr. Obama’s position as a betrayal, endangering their own security and their very survival. And while Iran is preparing for a nuclear attack from Israel, Europe and the USA are apparently involved in secret and discreet negotiations with Hamas.

Finally, Europeans claim that the Lisbon Treaty is vital for religious freedom in Europe–including the freedom not to have a religion. But as an article from the Daily Mail shows, in order to understand Europe’s future, one must look to its past–especially the recent past under Adolph Hitler. We explain in detail in our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy,” that historically, the ninth resurrection of the ancient Roman Empire occurred under Hitler and Mussolini, and that the tenth and final revival is occurring right now before our very eyes–IF we have eyes to see.

The “Greatest Depression” Will Hit

The Trends Research Institute wrote on May 7:

“Field Marshall Ben Bernanke and his Green Shoot Brigade have fertilized the economic landscape with trillions of sweat equity dollars extorted from today’s public and the public of generations to come… But the fundamentals of the economy remain unsound…

“‘The Greatest Depression’… may have been postponed, but it has not been averted. When it does set in, it will do so with enhanced intensity and at a pace accelerated by complex financial finagling … all under the guise of nation-saving action. Rather than let the failing industries fail and the failed banks go bankrupt, the government is deliberately bankrupting the nation. The lesson to be learned from the financial crisis that began in the summer of 2007, is that nothing succeeds like failure. The greater their failure, the bolder they become… The greater the chaos, the more control they exact. The bigger they fail, the harder we fall.

“No act is too unthinkable or measure too draconian for… Washington-Wall Street… to concoct in order to maintain power, make money and cover their losses. While it is impossible to second-guess what the government will do next, it is absolutely certain that they will stop at nothing. The ‘green shoots’ will wither and conditions will deteriorate. Those who are prepared for the worst will not have been taken by surprise.”

New Unprecedented Deficit Figures of US Budget

The Associated Press wrote on May 12:

“The government will have to borrow nearly 50 cents for every dollar it spends this year, exploding the record federal deficit past $1.8 trillion under new White House estimates…

“The unprecedented deficit figures flow from the deep recession, the Wall Street bailout and the cost of President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus bill — as well as a seemingly embedded structural imbalance between what the government spends and what it takes in. As the economy performs worse than expected, the deficit for the 2010 budget year beginning in October will worsen by $87 billion to $1.3 trillion…

“Just a few days ago, Obama touted an administration plan to cut $17 billion in wasteful or duplicative programs from the budget next year. The erosion in the deficit announced Monday is five times the size of those savings… The developments come as the White House completes the official release of its $3.6 trillion budget for 2010…

“A… poll last month gave Obama relatively poor grades on the deficit, with just 49 percent of respondents approving of the president’s handling of the issue and 41 percent disapproving… ‘Even using their February economic assumptions — which now appear to be out of date and overly optimistic — the administration never puts us on a stable path,’ said Marc Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a bipartisan group that advocates budget discipline…

“[Under] Obama’s ‘cap-and-trade’ proposal… the government would auction permits to emit heat-trapping gases, with the costs being passed on to consumers via higher gasoline and electric bills.”

Taxpayer-Funded Abortions?

LifeNews.com wrote on May 7:

“President Barack Obama’s new federal budget calls for taxpayer funded abortions in the nation’s capital. Although Obama has promised Americans he wants to reduce the number of abortions, one pro-life group says he is violating that promise by calling for taxpayer-financed abortions in the District of Columbia. The budget Obama submitted to Congress urges the House and Senate to repeal a law sometimes called the Dornan amendment that has prevented tax-funded abortion in the District of Columbia for many years…

“Douglas Johnson, the legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, told LifeNews.com on Thursday that the Obama budget makes it clear that the president has little interest in reducing abortions.

“‘Some wide-eyed journalists and various political shills for the Obama Administration continue to write fairy tales about how President Obama wants to pursue policies that would reduce abortions,’ he said. ‘That is a political scam. In reality, President Obama is pursuing a step-by-step strategy to expand access to abortion… Today’s White House action is one more evidence that President Obama is trying to pull off a massive policy scam — he generates a smokescreen of soothing rhetoric about seeking “common ground” and “abortion reduction,” while step by step advancing concrete policies that will substantially increase the number of abortions — and pay for abortion on demand with everyone’s taxes,’ Johnson concluded.”

We Know It’s Bad When the U.S. Mail Is In Financial Trouble…

The Pasadena Star News wrote on May 11:

“The post office wants two more pennies for your thoughts. The price of a first-class stamp for mailing a letter – or paying a bill – climbed to 44 cents Monday, though folks who planned ahead and stocked up on Forever stamps will still be paying the lower rate.

“It’s the third straight year rates have gone up in May under a new system that allows annual increases as long as they don’t exceed the rate of inflation for the year before. While the increase will bring in added income, the post office continues to struggle financially… The Postal Service… lost $2.8 billion last year and is already $2.3 billion in the hole just halfway through this year… the rate increase is unlikely to cover the ongoing losses and the possibility remains that the post office could run out of money before the end of the fiscal year…

“While the new 44-cent rate covers the first ounce of first-class mail, the price for each additional ounce will remain unchanged at 17-cents… Other changes taking effect May 11: The postcard stamp increases 1 cent to 28 cents. The first ounce of a large envelope increases 5 cents to 88 cents. The first ounce of a parcel increases 5 cents to $1.22. New international postcard and letter prices are, for one ounce, 75 cents to Canada; 79 cents to Mexico; and 98 cents elsewhere.”

More Bad Developments

The Los Angeles Times reported on May 14:

“Bankrupt automaker Chrysler told a quarter of its car dealers this morning that it would sever its franchise contracts with them, effectively putting them out of business by June 9. The decision, which had been expected, will eliminate thousands of jobs and likely reduce tax revenue at municipalities around the nation.”

In a related article, the paper wrote on May 14:

“New jobless claims rose more than expected last week due partly to an increase in layoffs by the automobile industry, while the number of people continuing to receive unemployment benefits set a record for the 15th straight week.”

Obama Gay Activist Attacks Pope

On May 8, the Catholic News Agency, CNSNews, reported the following:

“A homosexual-rights activist whom President Obama appointed last month to a White House advisory council had–just three weeks before his appointment–posted a statement on the Web site of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s most prominent homosexual-rights organization, accusing Pope Benedict XVI… of ‘hurting people in the name of Jesus’… President Obama appointed the HRC activist, Harry Knox, to his Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships on April 6. Knox was then, and remains, director of the HRC’s Religion and Faith Program. The HRC describes itself as ‘America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality’…
 
“‘The Pope’s statement that condoms don’t help control the spread of HIV, but rather condoms increase infection rates, is hurting people in the name of Jesus,’ said Knox…
 
“Knox told the Bay Area Reporter on March 17 that the pope was a ‘discredited leader’… Knox was speaking… about efforts by the Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus to enact California’s Proposition 8, which prohibited same-sex marriage in the state… Rep. Mike Pence (R.-Ind.) called on President Obama to withdraw Knox’s appointment in light of his comments to the Bay Area Reporter…

“Last month, CNSNews.com White House Correspondent Fred Lucas asked the White House in writing whether the president would withdraw the appointment as Pence requested, and whether President Obama agreed with Knox’s statement that the pope is a ‘discredited leader’ and, if not, did he believe Knox should apologize. On April 15, White House Spokeswoman Jen Psaki told CNSNews.com, ‘We don’t have a response to that. You can say we declined to comment,’ she added.

“At her press conference on Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) said she was ‘unaware’ that Knox had called the pope a ‘discredited leader. ‘I’m so sorry. I’m just totally unaware of that statement… I really don’t know about that. But certainly, his Holiness is the head of an organization that has done more to alleviate poverty, eradicate disease, and is now addressing climate change issue and the rest. I am just not familiar with the statement and the circumstance.'”

Nancy Pelosi also claimed during Thursday’s press conference (May 14) that she was not informed about the use of waterboarding, “accus[ing] the CIA and Bush administration of misleading her about waterboarding detainees in the war on terror and sharply rebutted claims she was complicit in the method’s use” (compare The Associated Press). But subsequent comments made by CNN reporters shed serious doubts on Pelosi’s representations.

Hate Crime Legislation

WorldNetDaily wrote on May 10:

“The Senate Judiciary Committee will consider Tuesday a hate crimes bill already approved by the House that, critics say, provides special protections for pedophiles and others with alternative ‘gender identities’ such as voyeurism and exhibitionism…

“[Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas] pointed out that if an exhibitionist flashes a woman, and she responds by slapping him with her purse, he has probably committed a misdemeanor while she has committed a federal felony hate crime… Critics also have expressed alarm because in committee hearings Democrats admitted that a Christian pastor could be prosecuted under the law if he spoke biblically against homosexuality, someone heard the comments and then committed a crime.”

Outrageous Jury Duty Debacle–“Only in Texas”?

The San Diego Union Tribune reported on May 10:

“A [Texas] man arrested for allegedly failing to appear for jury duty was released yesterday after spending 83 days in jail… Maupin, a masonry contractor, was arrested Feb. 15 after police pulled him over for speeding. Police then detained him on a 2003 warrant for failure to appear for jury duty. He wrote a letter to the newspaper about his lengthy jail stay, then said in a jailhouse interview that he, his friends and family could not afford his $1,500 bail.

“Maupin said his attempt to get a public defender was rebuffed by a jail clerk. District Judge Chris Oldner said he was unaware of Maupin’s detention until Friday, even though the case was assigned to his court. The judge who signed the original 2003 warrant had retired, and officials said the case was assigned to the court of his replacement but that the offense didn’t fall under that court’s responsibility.”

What Was Obama Thinking…?

Toby Harnden, U.S. Editor of the News Telegraph, wrote the following in that British paper, on May 10:

“What was Wanda Sykes thinking? Perhaps more to the point, what was President Barack Obama thinking when he laughed and smiled as the comedienne wished Rush Limbaugh dead? Although the Left is reporting her White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech as ‘taking shots’ at Limbaugh and mocking everyone, that’s a gross misrepresentation of what turned into a hateful and disgusting diatribe. I was at the dinner… There’s not much room for differing interpretations of what Sykes said. She called Limbaugh a terrorist and a traitor, suggested that he be tortured and wished him dead…

“Obama’s reaction to it was astonishing… Obama laughing when someone wishes Limbaugh dead? Hard to take from the man who promised a new era of civility and elevated debate in Washington.”

How Russia Sees It–Israel Without Jerusalem

The Russian paper, Pravda, wrote the following on May 8:

“The world’s leading countries are trying to solve the crisis in the Middle East against the background of yet another conflict between Palestine and Israel. Arab countries are about to convince Israel’s major ally – the USA – to approve the Saudi initiative, in accordance with which Israel will no longer have Jerusalem… No one expects any miracle to happen, of course. It is absolutely impossible to solve all problems, which Arabs and Jews have.

“Saudi Arabia suggests Israel should give the holy city of Jerusalem under external control and set its state borders in accordance with the map of 1967. The Arab districts of Jerusalem – the eastern part of the city – will have to become the capital of the Palestinian State, Arabian officials suggest…

“The Israelis traditionally believe that their capital is the city of Jerusalem, not Tel Aviv. Making the holy city become the capital of Palestine would be a disaster for the national mindset of Israel. In other words, it would mean a capitulation.”

US and Europe in Discreet Talks with Hamas?

Time On Line wrote on May 8:

“The idea that there can be no Israeli-Palestinian peace that bypasses Hamas has lately emerged as conventional wisdom among a broad range of Washington foreign policy experts — and it appears that the U.S. and some of its key European allies may be quietly in agreement. A senior Hamas official has told TIME that Western powers publicly committed to boycotting Hamas, which is officially designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union, have nonetheless initiated discreet contacts with his organization. Osama Hamdan, the organization’s top leader in Lebanon, said in an interview in Beirut that Hamas had in recent weeks established ‘solid, direct contacts’ with four European Union countries, and that there had been unofficial talks between Hamas and the team of President Barack Obama’s Middle East special envoy, George Mitchell…

“Hamdan declined to identify the European countries with which he claimed Hamas has held talks, but said they were ‘significant’ nations, and described the discussions as substantial. ‘I think there is a shift in [the Europeans’] position [on boycotting Hamas],’ said Hamdan…

“While U.S. officials insist their stance on Hamas has not changed, hawkish pro-Israel legislators in Washington are concerned over what they see as the Administration’s eagerness to do business with elements officially designated as terrorists.”

President Obama vs. Israel?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on May 11:

“The Obama Administration is hoping to revive the peace process in the Middle East. Part of the strategy is to distance Washington from Israel… Obama makes repeated allusions to his own biography, which is not only rooted in the Christian world. ‘I have Muslims in my family. I have lived in a Muslim-majority country,’ is something he has said many times. His core message to the Muslim world, which he reiterated on his recent visit to Turkey, is that the US ‘is not at war with Islam’…

“The White House had already made it clear that it would be making demands on the Israelis… relations between the US and Israel have become decidedly frosty. Israeli Environment Minister Gilad Erdan even went so far as to say that ‘Israel does not take orders from Obama.’ The old friends have never seemed so far apart.

“Obama’s Middle East policy at the moment is much more focused on Iran than on Israel… Obama is offering the Tehran regime talks without any preconditions… There are, however, many who find it difficult to understand the harsh tone toward Jerusalem and the more indulgent one toward Tehran. US historian Jeffrey Herf, who has close ties to the US Democrats, says that the policy the White House is pursuing is both ‘naïve and potentially dangerous.'”

Haaretz added on May 14:

“U.S. President Barack Obama has sent a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding that Israel not surprise the U.S. with an Israeli military operation against Iran… The message from the American envoy to the prime minister reveals U.S. concern that Israel could lose patience and act against Iran. It is important to the Americans that they not be caught off guard and find themselves facing facts on the ground at the last minute.”

“The Last Opportunity”–“All Eyes Look to Washington…”

The Times reported on May 11:

“President Obama’s critical meeting with Binyamin Netanyahu next [Monday] has become the acid test for the Administration’s commitment to peace in the Middle East, King Abdullah of Jordan said yesterday. The monarch does not conceal his feelings about the Israeli leader. He described their last encounter – 10 years ago when he had just come to the throne – as the ‘least pleasant’ of his reign… ‘All eyes will be looking to Washington,’ he said. ‘If there are no clear signals and no clear directives to all of us, there will be a feeling that this is just another American Government that is going to let us all down.’

“If Israel procrastinated on a two-state solution, or if there was no clear American vision on what should happen this year, the ‘tremendous credibility’ that Mr Obama had built up in the Arab world would evaporate overnight. And if peace negotiations were delayed, there would be another conflict between Arabs or Muslims and Israel in the next 12-18 months, with implications far beyond the Middle East.

“‘If the call is in May that this is not the right time or we are not interested, then the world is going to be sucked into another conflict in the Middle East,’ the King said… Emphasising again the urgency now felt by all Arab governments of making the most of Mr Obama’s commitment to a settlement, he said this was a final opportunity… The alternative was bleak — war, death and destruction. The King added: ‘This is a critical moment.'”

No Hostility Between U.S. and Iran?

The New York Times wrote on May 12:

“An Iranian-American journalist who was sentenced to eight years in jail on charges of spying for Washington was released Monday after an appeals court… turned down the original jail term and issued a two-year suspended prison term in its place… The court ruling meant that she can leave the country immediately if she decides to…

“Ms. Saberi, 32, has lived in Iran since 2003 and worked as a freelance journalist for National Public Radio and the BBC. She was arrested in late January for buying a bottle of wine, which is illegal in Iran. But the charges against her escalated to working without a press card and then spying for Washington. Her press card had been revoked in 2006.

“The sentencing had threatened to complicate political maneuvering between Iranian and American leaders over Iran’s nuclear program… The State Department called the charges against Ms. Saberi baseless and asked for her release… In the appeal, Mr. Nikbakht [one of Mrs. Saberi’s defense attorneys] argued that the espionage charge should be lifted because the foreign ministry and the judiciary had previously said that there was ‘no hostility between Iran and the United States.’ The judges accepted the defense, he said.”

Iran Prepares for Nuclear Attack

The Jerusalem Post reported on May 12:

“Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have begun deploying mobile launchers for surface-to-air and surface-to-sea missiles in the Strait of Hormuz and other areas in the Gulf… following secret reports that the United States and Israel were working on a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“… the missiles were deployed a few weeks ago. Iran is said to have informed Arab countries in the region of its activities and reassured its neighbors that the missiles were not aimed at states in the region, a reference to Sunni Arab states such as Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, which has a Shi’ite majority but Sunni government…

“The US has not ruled out the possibility of a military strike on Iran. Iran has threatened to retaliate to any aggression on its soil by closing down the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which will disrupt global oil supplies… Gulf countries, including Iran, hold more than half of the world’s crude oil reserves and more than 40 percent of the world’s proven gas reserves.”

The Power of the Catholic Church in the Middle East

The Associated Press reported on May 8:

“Pope Benedict XVI said Friday he hopes the Catholic church can play a role in the Middle East peace process as he began his first trip to the region with a stop in Jordan, where he hopes to improve frayed ties with Muslims… Benedict expressed hope his visit and the power of the Catholic church could help further peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians…

“‘We are not a political power but a spiritual power that can contribute,’ Benedict told reporters on the plane before he landed in Amman. The pope was met at the airport by Jordan’s King Abdullah, Queen Rania and Muslim and Christian leaders. A Jordanian army band equipped with bagpipes and drums played the Vatican and Jordanian national anthems before the pope and the king inspected the honor guard.”

That the Catholic Church is NOT just a spiritual power was belied by the fact that the NATIONAL ANTHEM of the Vatican was played in Jordan upon the Pope’s arrival. The Vatican State is a POLITICAL state, sending its ambassadors to, and receiving ambassadors from the entire world. And the Bible predicts that the Catholic Church will play a POLITICAL role, as well as a spiritual role in the Middle East in the Church’s attempts to bring “peace” to that region. For more information, please read our free booklets, “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord,” and “Is That in the Bible?–The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation.”

The Pope in Israel–At Odds With Netanyahu

The Los Angeles Times wrote on May 11:

“Pope Benedict XVI, arriving in Israel on a pilgrimage across the Holy Land, put himself at odds with the country’s new government today by calling for an independent Palestinian homeland alongside the Jewish state… The Roman Catholic leader did not mention the word ‘state,’ something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pointedly resisted promising the Palestinians. But the pope’s reference to two homelands within international borders was a clear assertion of the Holy See’s longstanding position in favor of a Palestinian state.

“By reaffirming that position in Netanyahu’s presence, at a welcoming ceremony televised in Israel and across the world, Benedict added to pressure from the United States and other allies on the Israeli leader to endorse a two-state solution as the goal of talks with the Palestinians.”

The Pope in Israel–“Disappointing” Speech at the Holocaust Memorial

The Associated Press reported on May 12:

“The Vatican defended the pope Tuesday from a growing chorus of Israeli critics who accused the German-born Benedict XVI of failing to express enough remorse for the Holocaust — a controversy that threatened to eclipse a papal pilgrimage aimed at building bridges between faiths… On Tuesday, the pope delivered messages of peace while visiting the holiest Muslim and Jewish sites in Jerusalem — the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall.

“But his speech Monday at Israel’s national Holocaust memorial attracted the most attention in Israel, with the parliament speaker accusing Benedict of glossing over the Nazi genocide. Newspapers lambasted him for failing to apologize for what many in Israel see as Catholic indifference during World War II and the pope’s own wartime actions — he served in the Hitler Youth corps and Nazi army — have also cast a shadow…

“Israeli newspapers Tuesday were filled with criticism. ‘One would have expected the Vatican’s cardinals to prepare a more intelligent text for their boss,’ columnist Tom Segev said.”

The Pope in Israel–His Speech Fell Flat

Der Spiegel Online reported on May 12:

“In the past, Pope Benedict XVI’s speeches have gotten him in trouble. Visiting the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem on Monday, it was what he didn’t say that irked his audience. Israel is disappointed, as are Jews in Germany… The pope’s speech… fell flat. Immediately following his visit, the Yad Vashem Council released a statement expressing disappointment with the pope’s comments at the monument. ‘He did not mention that it was the Nazis who did the murdering, nor a word of his personal participation in the feelings of pain and sorrow,’ said Yad Vashem Council Chairman Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau immediately after the speech. ‘Even the phrase “6 million” wasn’t there. Not to mention that he didn’t say “I apologize.”‘

“Criticism didn’t just come from Israel, either. In Germany, the Central Council of Jews in Germany blasted the pope for failing to more clearly distance himself from the Society of St. Pius X and the Holocaust denial of SSPX Bishop Richard Williamson. ‘What should one think of a public call to fight against anti-Semitism when he himself doesn’t act and doesn’t take consequences,’ said Stephan Kramer, general secretary of the Central Council. Council President Charlotte Knobloch said ‘I expected clearer words from the pope at Yad Vashem’…

“[The pope’s speech included] powerful sentences, appearing in a manuscript that had been released in advance. Benedict remained true to his manuscript, reading it, word for word, in a quiet voice. But at the same time, he rattled off the sentences as if unaware of the impact of his words, swallowing and mumbling important words, as if he were reading a manuscript meant for someone else or, even more distressingly, as if he were unaware of what he was reading. It was not a powerful moment. There were no sparks…

“When Pope John Paul II spoke at Yad Vashem in 2000, he promised that ‘never again’ would the church permit the persecution of Jews. His successor has renewed the promise, but in a far more generalized form: ‘As Bishop of Rome and Successor of the Apostle Peter, I reaffirm — like my predecessors — that the Church is committed to praying and working tirelessly to ensure that hatred will never reign in the hearts of men again.'”

The Pope in Bethlehem–Understands Suffering of Palestinians

On May 13, The Associated Press reported the following:

“Standing in the cradle of Christianity [in Bethlehem], Pope Benedict XVI told Palestinians on Wednesday that he understands their suffering and offered his strongest public backing yet for an independent Palestinian state… It was the third day of Benedict’s Holy Land pilgrimage meant largely to boost interfaith relations. But so far, it has been fraught with political land mines. Israelis have criticized the German-born pope for failing to adequately express remorse for the Holocaust, while the Palestinians are pressing him to draw attention to the difficult conditions of life under Israeli rule… In Bethlehem, Benedict delivered a special message of solidarity to the 1.4 million Palestinians isolated in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. He has no plans to visit Gaza.”

Deutsche Welle added on May 13:

“Speaking in Bethlehem after holding a mass in Manger Square, the pope pressed calls to remove the wall and watch towers that seal Bethlehem off from Jerusalem…

“The German-born pope’s week-long trip to the Middle East, his first visit to the region, has not been without controversy. On Tuesday, a row erupted over the pope’s membership as a teenager of the Hitler Youth, as he paid a historic visit to holy sites in Jerusalem. Vatican spokesman, Federico Lombardi, said the pontiff had ‘never, never, never’ belonged to the organization, but later changed his version, saying that he had been a member but his membership was compulsory. In his own 1997 memoirs, Pope Benedict had said he had been registered with the Hitler Youth while he was at a seminary.”

Lisbon Treaty Needed For Freedom of Religion in Europe?

The EUObserver wrote on May 12:

“Securing a stronger consultative role for European religions in EU policy making is another good reason to support the Lisbon Treaty, say two of the EU’s most senior officials. Speaking after a meeting with European religious leaders on Monday (11 May), European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering said such discussions in the future could not be guaranteed without the full ratification of the Lisbon Treaty… He added that it is the ‘responsibility of Ireland’ to ensure the treaty comes into effect…

“European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who co-chaired the meeting with Mr Poettering, told journalists the Lisbon Treaty would also re-inforce dialogue between non-confessional organisations. ‘One of the purposes of these meetings is to highlight how it is important in Europe to keep freedom of religion [and] also the freedom not to have a religion,’ he said. ‘[The Lisbon Treaty] is the first time ever that our churches and our religious communities are included in the law of the European union,’ Mr Pottering said…

“Also attending Monday’s meeting was the Catholic archbishop for Dublin, Diarmuid Martin. Mr Martin has increasingly voiced his support for the Lisbon treaty in recent months ahead of a second Irish referendum on the document this autumn… One issue of concern to Irish religious groups is the possibility that Ireland could be forced to accept abortion under European law if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified. Abortion is not currently allowed under Irish legislation…”

The Fourth Reich–A Warning from the Past

On May 9, The Daily Mail published an article about the attempts of Nazis, at the end of World War II, to prepare for a FOURTH REICH, and how current developments in Europe might lead to a repeat of history. We are bringing you the following excerpts:

“The document, also known as the Red House Report, is a detailed account of a secret meeting… in Strasbourg on August 10, 1944. There, Nazi officials ordered an elite group of German industrialists to plan for Germany’s post-war recovery, prepare for the Nazis’ return to power and work for a ‘strong German empire’. In other words: the Fourth Reich… The industrialists included representatives of Volkswagen, Krupp and Messerschmitt. Officials from the Navy and Ministry of Armaments were also at the meeting and, with incredible foresight, they decided together that the Fourth German Reich, unlike its predecessor, would be an economic rather than a military empire – but not just German…

“The Third Reich was defeated militarily, but powerful Nazi-era bankers, industrialists and civil servants, reborn as democrats, soon prospered in the new West Germany. There they worked for a new cause: European economic and political integration…

“War had been extraordinarily profitable for the German economy. By 1948 – despite six years of conflict, Allied bombing and post-war reparations payments – the capital stock of assets such as equipment and buildings was larger than in 1936, thanks mainly to the armaments boom. [German Chancellor Ludwig] Erhard pondered how German industry could expand its reach across the shattered European continent. The answer was through supranationalism – the voluntary surrender of national sovereignty to an international body.

“Germany and France were the drivers behind the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the precursor to the European Union. The ECSC was the first supranational organisation, established in April 1951 by six European states… This set a vital precedent for the steady erosion of national sovereignty, a process that continues today.

“But before the common market could be set up, the Nazi industrialists had to be pardoned, and Nazi bankers and officials reintegrated. In 1957, John J. McCloy, the American High Commissioner for Germany, issued an amnesty for industrialists convicted of war crimes. The two most powerful Nazi industrialists, Alfried Krupp of Krupp Industries and Friedrich Flick, whose Flick Group eventually owned a 40 per cent stake in Daimler-Benz, were released from prison after serving barely three years…

“Like Krupp and Flick, Hermann Abs, post-war Germany’s most powerful banker, had prospered in the Third Reich… Abs joined the board of Deutsche Bank, Germany’s biggest bank, in 1937… Abs was one of the most important figures in Germany’s post-war reconstruction. It was largely thanks to him that, just as the Red House Report exhorted, a ‘strong German empire’ was indeed rebuilt, one which formed the basis of today’s European Union… By 1948 he was effectively managing Germany’s economic recovery. Crucially, Abs was also a member of the European League for Economic Co-operation, an elite intellectual pressure group set up in 1946. The league was dedicated to the establishment of a common market, the precursor of the European Union… When Konrad Adenauer, the first Chancellor of West Germany, took power in 1949, Abs was his most important financial adviser…

“Next month, 27 European Union member states vote in the biggest transnational election in history. Europe now enjoys peace and stability. Germany is a democracy, once again home to a substantial Jewish community. The Holocaust is seared into national memory. But the Red House Report is a bridge from a sunny present to a dark past. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda chief, once said: ‘In 50 years’ time nobody will think of nation states.’ For now, the nation state endures. But these three typewritten pages are a reminder that today’s drive towards a European federal state is inexorably tangled up with the plans of the SS and German industrialists for a Fourth Reich…”

Surprising as it may seem, the Bible has indeed much to say about the existence of certain elusive creatures. It is entirely possible that some of these creatures, such as the “Loch Ness monster” in Scotland or similar “lake monsters” in other parts of the world, might exist today.

First of all, let us examine some interesting Scriptures which clearly describe animals, which are generally believed today to be myths or legends, or which are thought to have become extinct. Some have attempted to apply living known animals, or Satan, or world powers, to the biblical descriptions, but those attempts must be considered as totally inadequate.

For instance, the Bible has much to say about a creature called, “Leviathan.” This animal clearly existed at the time of Job, and is described, in detail, in the 41st chapter of the book of Job. Some have said that a crocodile is described there–but this is utter nonsense. The description of Leviathan in the book of Job and in other places refers to a living animal–but it does not remotely apply to a crocodile. Some have said that the description of Leviathan in the book of Job is merely a description of Satan. However, clearly an animal is described in Job 41–not a spirit being (even though some of the characteristics of Leviathan might very well, in a symbolic sense, apply to Satan).

We might also consider additional passages outside the book of Job, referring to Leviathan. Psalm 74:14 says that God “broke the HEADS of Leviathan in pieces, And gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.” Some might want to dismiss this passage as simply mythological, claiming that no known animal existed or exists with more than one head. This claim is not necessarily accurate. Even today, sometimes animals, due to mutation or birth defects, are born with more than one head, so there is no reason to believe that the passage in Psalm 74 must be understood in a mythological, rather than a literal way.

Psalm 104:25-26 clearly identifies Leviathan as a real, living water animal, co-existing with man: “… The great and wide sea, In which are innumerable teeming things, Living things both small and great. There are ships sail about; There is that Leviathan Which You have made to play there.”

There are additional biblical passages which might refer to Leviathan and/or other unidentified “sea monsters.”

In Isaiah 51:9, we read: “‘Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD! Awake as in the ancient days, In the generations of old. Are you not the arm that cut Rahab apart, And wounded the serpent?”

Amos 9:3 states: “And though they hide themselves on top of Carmel, From there I will search and take them; Though they hide from My sight at the bottom of the sea, From there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.”

An interesting statement can also be found in Isaiah 27:1: “In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong, will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.”

Some contend that God is referring here to world powers, comparing them with Leviathan and other strong animals. Maybe so. We find similar comparisons in other passages. For instance, King Nebuchadnezzar is described as “a monster” in Jeremiah 51:34, and in Ezekiel 32:2, God compares the Pharaoh of Egypt with a young lion AND with a “monster in the seas, Bursting forth in your rivers, Troubling the waters with your feet, And fouling the rivers.”

In any event, the fact that God compares world powers or individuals with Leviathan and other sea creatures suggests that those creatures exist. God compares Pharaoh with a lion AND with a monster in the sea. Since lions are real animals, it is reasonable to conclude that that particular sea monster exists as well. Also, God speaks in the same context of Leviathan as the fleeing serpent and the twisted serpent, AND of the reptile in the sea. We all know that reptiles exist. Why would God mention Leviathan in the same context, if THAT creature was only mythological or allegorical?

We should understand that the alleged sightings of the “Loch Ness monster” are only one category among literal hundreds of other sightings of additional “lake monsters” all around the world. Another famous “lake monster” is the “Ogopogo,” a creature reportedly living in the Okanagan Waters in Canada. The description of that creature is very similar to the description of the “Loch Ness monster.”

We are not saying that the Leviathan of the Bible is necessarily identical with the “Loch Ness monster” or with the “Ogopogo”–nor, of course, that these modern creatures have more than one head–but we are saying that the Bible allows for the existence of “sea monsters.” And if the “Loch Ness” monster or “Ogopogo” exist today, they would not have been the end product of an “evolutionary development,” nor would they be “living fossils,” but God would have created them, and, as water animals, they would have survived Noah’s Flood.

There are many reports of sightings and even some photographs of the “Loch Ness monster” or the “Ogopogo” or other lake creatures from all over the world–just too many to be summarily dismissed. We cannot say that all these reports and pictures are fake (even though undoubtedly many are); or that none of these sightings are legitimate; or that they all were the result of highly imaginative minds; or that they were hallucinations, caused by Satan the devil (again, undoubtedly, some, if not many, of these “sightings” would belong to those categories).

Books have been written trying to identify the “Loch Ness monster” or the “Ogopogo” as a pre-Adamic long-necked plesiosaur, a marine dinosaur thought to have been extinct “for about seventy million years,” and they have tried to explain how and why that creature was able to survive in sweet water lakes. Others have tried to explain the numerous sightings by pointing at a variety of known existing animals or other natural phenomena.

However, these explanations fail to consider that even today, we sometimes discover previously unknown species, or animals which were thought to have been long extinct. For instance, although legends existed for centuries of a “hairy man living in the trees,” it was only fairly recently that the Orangutan ape was discovered by scientists. The same can be said for the huge giant squid which lives in the oceans. Although there had been some speculation for centuries that it might exist, scientists were only recently able to discover certain body parts of the giant squid, such as the portion of a long arm, with tentacles, in the belly of a sperm whale, enabling them to calculate the enormous size of that squid. Even in more recent days, new, previously unknown species were discovered. Cadavers from animals were found–and pictures taken–which look like the cadavers of previously unknown animals or of those considered by misled scientists to have become extinct “millions of years ago.”

Many eyewitness reports of the “Loch Ness monster” or of the “Ogopogo” have been published, but members of the Church of God view those reports correctly with caution, not knowing how reliable they really are. However, in light of the biblical evidence, it is possible that some of those reports are accurate and that these and other unknown creatures do exist. As a consideration of this question, we are setting forth below an eye witness report about an encounter with the “Ogopogo.” The report was written by Delia Messier, wife of Rene Messier, an ordained minister of the Church of God (CGCF) in Canada. The report, relating events which took place in about 2007, is reliable and also makes reference to eye witness reports from two other Church of God ministers and their families:

“The beautiful Okanagan Lake has a famous legend of an elusive water creature called the Ogopogo. This lake is almost 100 miles long with under-water caverns. For many years stories of sightings of the Ogopogo living in the Okanagan Lake have been heard and told. A family of three of our friends told my husband and me that they saw [about 25 years ago] Ogopogo’s head appear in front of them, as they were standing on the pier one fall day. They told us: ‘It lifted its head out of the water, then quickly disappeared when it saw us.’ Another family had also told mutual friends that they had seen it, but never having seen it myself, and being an elusive creature not common to public acceptance, one tended to dismiss the stories.

“One day, driving along the lake heading towards Kelowna, I saw something on the water that was strange. Looking hard at what it was that I saw there in the water, I have to say that it was at first unrecognizable. Nothing I had ever seen before in all these years living near the lake fit what I was observing. It was puzzling as it was not any type of water craft I would normally see, not a motor boat, not a canoe, not a Sea-Doo, not a paddle wheel, not a water skier, not a sail boat. Trying to identify what it was, I had to eliminate what it wasn’t, but there it was–a big head sticking out of the water, erect and moving smoothly straight forward, with a long wake trailing behind. It had a very big head, shaped like a horse’s head, with the long face and nostrils which a horse has, and with rounded short ears.

“The lake was quiet that day, as it was in late fall and the usual summer tourists had gone for the season, so this big water animal, gray or dark green in color like a wet rock, kept swimming leisurely. There was nowhere for me to pull over on the highway, but as long as I could see the lake from the road, the animal stayed above water and kept moving forward. Now I do believe the legend is true, that there is the Ogopogo living in the Okanagan Lake, and that our friends truly saw it, just as I did.”

From this it follows that an elusive creature seems to exist in the Okanagan Lake, and that similar creatures might also exist in Loch Ness and in many other lakes around the world. What is especially interesting is that the words of the Bible, speaking of unknown “sea monsters” co-existing with man, have to be viewed as literal truth, rather than myth, legend or fiction.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

We are pleased to announce the upcoming wedding of Joe Bourque and Erica Smith, who attend the Fort Collins, Colorado, congregation of the Church of the Eternal God. The wedding will be conducted at 11:00 AM on May 17, 2009, at the Viestenz-Smith Mountain Park, Loveland, Colorado. We wish to offer our heartfelt congratulations to Joe and Erica.

The text of our new booklet, titled, “The Book of Zechariah–Prophecies for Today,” was sent to our Graphic Designer, Shelly Bruno, for finalization.

We have begun new Internet advertisement campaigns in Great Britain, Canada and the USA. Booklets advertised include, “Europe in Prophecy,” “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord,” and, “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World.”

A new StandingWatch program was posted on StandingWatch and YouTube. It is titled, “Obama’s Secret Agenda for Gays and the Economy.”

In the program, Norbert Link explains that the mainstream media is trying to tell us that our economy is on its way to recovery and that the banking crisis is over. The portrayal of this rosy picture is irresponsible and factually wrong. A most influential political, financial and industrial organization expects either “a prolonged and agonizing depression,” or “an intense-but-shorter depression.” Why is the mainstream media not reporting what our leaders REALLY believe? Gay activists state that President Obama “has a plan.” What is this plan? More importantly, is there a plan in the spirit world which directs the affairs of man?

Norbert Link’s new video-recorded sermon of May 2, 2009, titled, “Lessons from the Book of Job, Part 2,” has been posted on our Website, in addition to the audio version. Just click on “Audio” and go to “Sermon Videos.”

by Simon Akl (20)

This past semester I needed to spend a lot more time at school because of the scheduling of most of my classes. It has given me an opportunity to get to know some other students a little better, and vice versa. As we have talked more and more, our conversations have focused less on school material and more on general reflective questions, such as how to cope with stress, relationships, our goals and even our existence and purpose.

It seems like some students are confused or are searching for answers to questions, unable to find them. I feel that I should take the opportunities when they arise to live my life as an example to others around me. Being a pre-med undergraduate definitely requires a lot of studying, which has consumed some of my school friends’ time. Some have noticed that I am capable of living a more balanced life and that I am not just forced to study 24/7, and they try and ask me how I do it. I explain to them that I do my part in studying and let God handle the rest, saving me all the worry.

It has been an interesting process because it has given me the opportunity to see how others are lost in their approach towards life. They seem to let days pass, without really realizing why they are doing what they do. It makes me very thankful to be aware of God’s great plan, knowing that there is a bigger picture and more to life than just our daily routines. I feel that my actions can speak far more than any words I can share with them. Even though I fall short from time to time, I strive to set an example to my classmates, not just on things concerning school, but in everything that I do.

I am grateful that I have been blessed by God’s guidance and direction, while some others around me in school are searching for them. I try to focus on letting my light shine to others, hoping that by setting a good example, it might lighten up their perspective.

On Saturday, May 9, 2009, Dave Harris will give the sermon, titled, “How to Draw Close to God.”

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.

There is a vast difference between simply acknowledging someone and being willing to obey him. For instance, let us consider Nebuchadnezzar’s decree which he made after the three young Jewish captives were spared from death in the fiery furnace. We read in Daniel 3:29: “Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.”

Notice, Nebuchadnezzar fully acknowledged that the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego was the most powerful God, but he fell short of the mark in the sense that he did not obey and serve that God. Even when he was warned in a dream and through Daniel’s subsequent explanation of that dream, he continued to walk in pride and was severely punished as a consequence. There is no indication that Nebuchadnezzar ever forsook his idols and became a true and obedient follower of the Creator God.

Let us also look at what King Darius wrote, as recorded in Daniel 6:25-27, after Daniel was saved from the lions in the lions den: “To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, And steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, And His dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues, And He works signs and wonders In heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.”

Here again, we find a full acknowledgement that the God of Daniel works signs and wonders and that He is able to deliver from danger, but we do not find in the Bible, nor in history, that King Darius began to obey and serve that God Whom he acknowledged. 

What does James tell us about acknowledgement of and belief in the existence of the true God? James 2:19 says: “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” Satan and the demons acknowledge and believe in the true God, but they are not about to serve and obey Him. Knowing the righteous judgment of God for disobedience, they tremble. They know that belief in God and acknowledgement of His existence are not enough–but they are unwilling to obey Him.

Notice Peter’s words, as recorded in Acts 5:32: “And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit [which] God has given to those who obey Him.” If God gives His Holy Sprit only to those who obey God, then He also withholds it from those who disobey Him. Obedience is a requirement for salvation.

Look at what God inspired Samuel to say about the importance of obedience, in 1 Samuel 15:22-23: “So Samuel said: ‘Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.'”

As faithful servants of God, we must not just acknowledge God and believe in His existence, but we must willingly obey Him. Notice that by faith Abraham obeyed (Hebrews 11:8). That is why we read in Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, AND that He is a REWARDER of those who diligently seek Him.”

The news this week was again dominated by the outbreak of the swine flu, especially in light of the fact that for the first time an infected human passed the virus back to pigs. The consistently stated opinion by “experts” that eating pork–even from infected pigs–is safe sounds shallow, untrustworthy and irresponsible in the light of such developments. Fear has also been expressed that those suffering from AIDS might be highly susceptible to the swine flu virus, while others warn that a politically induced mass hysteria advocating or even demanding universal vaccinations might do more harm than good.

While an increasing number of Americans is now considering abortion illegal in most or all cases, the House wasted no time to expand federal hate crimes–an action which might very well be unconstitutional and which will restrict the free exercise of religion–especially of churches and their ministers. This action may have to be seen as part of a bigger picture–namely, the exertion of pressure by gay activists on President Obama to fight their cause. Equally troubling are some of President Obama’s nominations of extremely liberal judges to certain Courts of Appeals. The public is also finally recognizing that responsibility for current actions lies with President Obama and his staff, and can no longer be “excused” by blaming the Bush Administration.

Optimistic viewpoints of some financial “experts” notwithstanding, that the worst is over and that our economy is on its way to recovery, the opposite is true. These financial “experts” have been wrong before, and, sadly, they are wrong again. The facts are that, for example, General Motors posted a $6 billion loss for the first quarter (Los Angeles Times, May 7); the number of unemployed workers getting benefits jumped to a new record (The Associated Press, May 7, 2009); a new proposal includes record deficits in its $3.55-trillion budget (Los Angeles Times, May 6, 2009); and the Federal government directed at least seven of the nation’s biggest banks to bolster their capital levels by $65 billion (The Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2009). In each case, some twist of “positive news” was included by the media–such as the concept that President Obama wants to cut the budget deficit by a “minute fraction” (The Washington Times, May 7, 2009) of $17 billion or “less than one-half of one percent of the total budget” (USA Today, May 7)–but all these devastating facts speak for themselves.

In Germany, demonstrations, in part prompted by the bad economy, have become violent, while news surfaced how the Catholic Church protected a convicted pedophile priest in that country for years.

Violence broke out again in the Gaza Strip; Israel is unhappy with European condemnation; and fear was expressed that the Taliban might acquire the bomb even before Iran will. And President Peres suggested to hand over the Holy Sites to the Vatican.

The Czech Senate approved the Lisbon Treaty, and pressure is building on Ireland to approve it as well.

The highly secretive and enormously influential Bilderberg Group is meeting again in May, whose apparent goal it is to “emphasize a globalist agenda and dismiss national sovereignty.”

Finally, Russia is again up to their old tricks. While illegally taking control of the borders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russia accuses Europe and NATO of provocation. There has been some concern for quite a while that Russia will resume war against Georgia and begin a new war against other former Soviet provinces, and they might have already tried by provoking an uproar within portions of the Georgian army.

Human Infects Pig with Swine Flu

The New York Times wrote on May 3:

“On Saturday, Canadian health officials said that the virus had been found in sick pigs on one farm in Alberta… Previously, there had been heated debate about whether the virus could infect pigs, even though its genetic makeup clearly points to its having originated in swine at some point.

“But people were infecting each other, and until Saturday, no pigs had been found with the virus… But researchers, busy with human cases, were not really looking for the disease in pigs.

“The news from Canada changes things. But it has a somewhat unexpected twist: a person appears to have spread the disease to the pigs, and not the other way around. A worker at the farm had traveled to Mexico, fallen ill there and unknowingly brought the disease back to Canada last month…

“’One of the reasons for watching this very closely is the potential for the virus passing back from the pigs to human beings,’ David Butler-Jones, the chief public health officer of Canada, said…

“Despite assurances from the Public Health Agency of Canada and Canadian agriculture officials [that eating pork is allegedly safe], some countries banned imports of pork and pork products from Canada even before Saturday’s announcement.”

The Associated Press added on May 3:

“Now that the swine flu virus has passed from a farmworker to pigs, could it jump back to people? The question is important, because crossing species again could make it more deadly.

“The never-before-seen virus was created when genes from pig, bird and human viruses mixed together inside a pig. Experts fear the virus that has gone from humans back into pigs in at least one case could mutate further before crossing back into humans again. But no one can predict what will happen…

“Canadian officials announced Saturday that the virus had infected about 200 pigs on a farm — the first evidence that it had jumped to another species… Experts say pork — even from infected pigs — is safe to eat…”

 

Will HIV and Swine Flu Virus Mix?

Reuters reported on May 2:

“People with HIV are at high risk from the new flu strain that the World Health Organisation said is on the verge of a pandemic… HIV and the new flu strain could also mix together in a dangerous way, as has occurred with HIV and tuberculosis, the WHO said… According to WHO estimates, there are 33 million people infected with immune-weakening HIV worldwide.”

Has Swine Flu Mutated More?

Reuters reported on May 6:

“A second strain of influenza, one of the seasonal strains, may have mutated and may be complicating the picture in Mexico, Canadian researchers reported on Wednesday. They have found a strain of the H3N2 virus that appears to have made a shift and could have complicated the flu picture in Mexico, epicenter of an outbreak of a new strain of the H1N1 swine flu virus.”

Beware of Politically Motivated Mass Immunizations Against Swine Flu

On April 28, 2009, salon.com published an interesting article about the governmental and pharmaceutical reaction to a perceived swine flu outbreak in 1976 (That outbreak never happened). It warns that we must not rush into producing vaccinations and advocate mass immunizations, which might do more harm than good. We are quoting the following excerpts:

“1976 was the year of the U.S. Bicentennial. 1976 was a presidential election year. 1976 was two years after Watergate caused Nixon’s resignation, and one year after the fall of Saigon. The U.S. government, both Republicans and Democrats, had never been held in such low esteem. Practically every elected official felt an overwhelming itch that patriotic year to do something to get the public thinking of them as good guys again. A swine flu pandemic was an opportunity on a plate. What better way to get into the good graces of the voters than to save them from a plague?

“Between March 13 and March 24, the U.S. government dealt with the perceived flu emergency at fever pitch. The vaccine request… reached the president’s desk in less than a week. On March 24, the day after he lost the North Carolina primary to Ronald Reagan, President Gerald Ford welcomed the top virologists in the nation to a meeting in the White House and asked them if the nation was facing a swine flu epidemic. Would mass vaccinations be necessary? The doctors all said yes…
 
“The president heralded the impending flu plague and asked Congress for $135 million to investigate the development of a swine flu vaccine, with the goal of vaccinating the citizenry… Congress, with few exceptions, raced to support the bill. Knowing the Republican president would not, could not veto a bill he requested, the Democratically controlled House attached $1.8 billion dollars in welfare and environmental spending to the flu bill. President Ford signed the bill on April 15, 1976, and incorrectly remarked to the press that the Fort Dix swine flu was identical to the deadly 1918 variety. He announced the immunization program would begin in October…

“The scientists began to come to their senses. By July, they were pretty much agreed that a flu pandemic in 1976 would not lead to 1 million U.S. dead… But the U.S. government was unstoppable. Congress began to pressure the drug companies to work faster toward development of a swine flu vaccine. The drug companies insisted that proper vaccine development required years of experimentation and clinical trials…

“President Ford went on television [on August 5] and delivered a speech to the nation, telling Americans that Congress will be to blame for your deaths when the flu season begins in October. Congress caved in, and on Aug. 15, President Ford signed the National Influenza Immunization Program (NIIP). This set as a goal the immunization of at least 80 percent of the U.S. population [and] indemnified the drug companies…

“On Oct. 1, 1976, the immunization program began. By Oct. 11, approximately 40 million people had received swine flu immunizations, mostly through the new compressed air vaccination guns… Three senior citizens died soon after receiving their swine flu shots [in Pittsburgh]… The government had long feared mass panic about swine flu — now they feared mass panic about the swine flu vaccinations.

“The deaths in Pittsburgh… were a strong setback to the program. The death blow came a few weeks later when reports appeared of Guillain-Barré syndrome, a paralyzing neuromuscular disorder, among some people who had received swine flu immunizations. The public refused to trust a government-operated health program that killed old people and crippled young people; as a result, less than 33 percent of the population had been immunized by the end of 1976. The National Influenza Immunization Program was effectively halted on Dec. 16.

“Gerald Ford’s attempt to gain credit for keeping America safe was busted. He lost the presidential election to Jimmy Carter that November. The 1976 to 1977 flu season was the most flu-free since records had been kept; a condition that was apparently unrelated to the vaccination program. The Great Swine Flu Epidemic of 1976 never took place.”

Many Americans Think Abortion Should Be Illegal in Most or All Cases

The Catholic News Agency (CNA) reported the following on May 1:

“In August 2008 only 41 percent [in the USA] believed abortion should be illegal in most or all cases, while 54 percent [now] thought it should be illegal in most or all circumstances… In August 2008 53 percent of men generally supported legal abortion, while in April 2009 only 43 percent did. About 46 percent of men said abortion should generally be illegal… The percentage of women who believed abortion should be illegal in most or all cases remained steady at 42 percent, but the number of women supporting legal abortion declined from 54 to 49 percent…”

Unconstitutional Hate Crime Legislation–Is One Life More Valuable Than Another?

CNA reported on April 30:

“By a vote of 249-175, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to expand federal ‘hate crime’ laws to include sexual orientation, gender identity, or mental or physical disability. Current law limits federal jurisdiction over hate crimes to assaults based on race, color, religion or national origin. President Barack Obama asked Congress to pass the Federal Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, saying it would ‘protect all of our citizens from violent acts of intolerance’…

“During debate on the bill, Rep. Lamar Smith argued the bill was discriminatory. ‘All violent crimes must be vigorously prosecuted,’ Rep. Smith said. ‘Unfortunately, this bill undermines one of the most basic principles of our criminal justice system — “equal justice for all.” Justice will now depend on the race, gender, sexual orientation, disability or other protected status of the victim… It will allow different penalties to be imposed for the same crime’…

“House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio said that all violent crimes should be prosecuted vigorously, but argued the legislation ‘places a higher value on some lives compared to others. That is unconstitutional, and that is wrong. Republicans believe that all life was created equally, and all life should be defended equally.’

“He said he was particularly concerned about the implications the legislation would have on religious groups expressing their beliefs. ‘Simply put, this bill is not only a threat to the constitutional principle of equal justice under the law, but to religious freedom of speech as well,’ he added.”

Responsibility Has Shifted to President Obama

The Los Angeles Times wrote on May 3:

“In the span of a single week — from the day Arlen Specter turned Democratic to the moment Congress passed the White House’s budget blueprint and on through the opening of a spot on the Supreme Court — President Obama crossed a fateful line: From now on, it’s his country. Every president inherits a tangle of problems from his predecessor. War and recession, natural disaster and foreign crises. And for some undefined interval, new presidents argue that they should not be accountable for the troubles that arose on another’s watch.

“But inevitably, responsibility shifts. And for Obama, that time came last week, bringing both greater opportunities and greater risks. On the economy, Obama won approval Wednesday of a $3.5-trillion budget plan that aims to help pull the country out of the worst recession in decades. It also smoothes the way for one of the president’s signature domestic priorities — overhauling the nation’s healthcare system. At the same time, the budget projects a whopping $1.2-trillion deficit in 2010, undercutting Obama’s ability to bemoan Bush-era red ink… As Obama’s imprint on the economy grows, so does his ownership of the issue.

“That ownership became almost literal as Obama moved more deeply into the banking and auto industry crises… on Thursday, Obama announced he was pushing Chrysler into bankruptcy. He may take another corporate icon, General Motors, down the same path. As a kind of shareholder in chief, the president now is responsible for guiding companies with thousands of union workers and investors — firms that remain vital to the economies of states that stretch across the nation’s industrial heartland, from Pennsylvania to Illinois and south into Kentucky and Tennessee. Though the auto industry was in crisis before Obama reached the White House, his team has been in charge of the rescue effort for the last four months…

“On the political front, the decision by Pennsylvania’s senior senator to join the Democrats moved Obama to the brink of a 60-vote majority in the Senate, which could prevent Republicans from blocking his initiatives by filibuster. One of the people instrumental in persuading Specter to abandon the GOP was Vice President Joe Biden, reinforcing the appearance of White House influence on Capitol Hill. All that raised expectations that Obama should be able to win congressional approval of his core agenda. Yet Specter insisted he would not be a rubber stamp for the president. He promptly voted against the Obama budget. And although Democrats have a strong majority in the House, their control of the Senate is still far from absolute…

“As for the Supreme Court, David H. Souter’s announcement Friday that he was stepping down gives Obama a chance to start putting his mark on the court, one of the most lasting elements in a president’s legacy… No matter whom he chooses, Obama will be judged by the selection. And there is no guarantee that his pick will turn out as planned. Souter was chosen by Republican President George H.W. Bush, and in the end he disappointed the GOP base.

“Throughout last week, Obama also had to cope with fears of a global swine flu pandemic…

“The public’s reaction to Obama’s assertive steps points up the potential gains and risks of being seen as clearly in charge… An NBC-Wall Street Journal poll showed that 47% of those surveyed believe ‘government should do more,’ compared with 46% who believe ‘government is doing too many things.'”

Will President Obama Give in to Gay Activists?

The New York Times wrote on May 7:

“President Obama was noticeably silent last month when the Iowa Supreme Court overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. But now Mr. Obama — who has said he opposes same-sex marriage as a Christian but describes himself as a ‘fierce advocate of equality’ for gay men and lesbians — is under pressure to engage on a variety of gay issues that are coming to the fore amid a dizzying pace of social, political, legal and legislative change.

“Two of Mr. Obama’s potential Supreme Court nominees are openly gay; some advocates, irked that there are no gay men or lesbians in his cabinet, are mounting a campaign to influence his choice to replace Justice David H. Souter, who is retiring. Same-sex marriage is advancing in states — the latest to allow it is Maine — and a new flare-up in the District of Columbia could ultimately put the controversy in the lap of the president.

“Mr. Obama’s new global health initiative has infuriated activists who say he is not financing AIDS programs generously enough. And while the president has urged Congress to pass a hate crimes bill, a high priority for gay groups, he has delayed action on one of his key campaign promises, repealing the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ rule…

“Many [gay activists] are still seething over [President Obama’s] choice of… Rick Warren, the evangelical pastor who opposes same-sex marriage, to deliver the invocation at his inaugural, and remain suspicious of Mr. Obama’s commitment to their cause…

“The White House, aware of the discontent, invited leaders of some prominent gay rights organizations to meet Monday with top officials, including Jim Messina, Mr. Obama’s deputy chief of staff, to plot legislative strategy on the hate crimes bill as well as ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ Among those attending was Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, who said afterward that while the gay rights agenda might not be ‘unfolding exactly as we thought,’ he was pleased. ‘They have a vision,’ Mr. Solmonese said. ‘They have a plan’…

“If Mr. Obama were to embrace same-sex marriage, he would be seen as reversing a campaign position and alienating some moderate and religious voters he has courted. And if he appoints a gay person to the Supreme Court, he would be viewed by social conservatives — including many black ministers, another of his core constituency groups — as putting a vote for same-sex marriage on the highest court in the land. Two gay women, Kathleen M. Sullivan and Pamela S. Karlan, both of Stanford Law School, have been suggested as potential nominees…

“Mr. Obama has chosen a number of openly gay people for prominent jobs, including Fred P. Hochberg as chairman of the Export-Import Bank and John Berry to run the Office of Personnel Management. And he is the first president to set aside tickets for gay families to attend the White House Easter Egg Roll…

“In addition to calling for the repeal of the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy in the military, Mr. Obama supports a legislative repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that said states need not recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states…”

President Obama’s Questionable Nomination of Liberal Judge to 7th Circuit Court of Appeals

On May 7, Newsmax published the following comments:

“Breaking tradition with President George W. Bush, the Obama administration declined to host an event celebrating the National Day of Prayer this year. This adds another snub to the pro-faith community, since President Obama continues to push his recent nomination of the anti-Christian, anti-Life Judge David Hamilton, the same judge who issued controversial rulings banning public prayers offered ‘in Jesus name,’ and hastening the abortion of unborn children. If confirmed by the Senate, Hamilton will soon be promoted to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, the same court that overruled his… liberal decisions for years…

“Judge Hamilton ruled in 2005 to ban the practice of opening the Indiana legislature with prayers mentioning Jesus Christ or using terms such as ‘Savior.’ He said that amounted to state endorsement of a religion… Judge Hamilton wrote: ‘The injunction orders the Speaker… that the prayers should not use Christ’s name or title or any other denominational appeal… If those offering prayers in the Indiana House of Representatives choose to use the Arabic “Allah” …the court sees little risk that the choice of language would advance a particular religion or disparage others’… [In 2007, the] Indiana Attorney General… appealed to the 7th Circuit Court [which issued a] 2-1 decision overruling Hamilton, restoring the right to pray ‘in Jesus name’ in Indiana…

“In 2003, Judge Hamilton struck down part of an Indiana law on abortion [which…] had required abortion clinics to… give women information about alternatives to abortion in the presence of a physician or nurse, 18 hours before the procedure… [The] 7th Circuit Court… reversed Hamilton’s… decision in that case…
 
“Judge Hamilton is [one] of Obama’s 15 new liberal appeals court appointees. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals covers Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois. Since most cases never reach the Supreme Court, the federal appellate circuits often provide the last word on cases affecting life and liberty.

“The Judicial Confirmation Network quickly opposed Hamilton’s nomination… He was nominated to the district court bench by President Clinton even though he had no judicial experience and was rated as ‘not qualified’ by the American Bar Association.

“On April 1st and… on April 29th, Senator Orrin Hatch led all Republicans to walk out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in protest against the Democrats’ ‘rush job’ to confirm Judge Hamilton.”

German Commentators Disappointed With President Obama

Der Spiegel Online reported on May 4:

“Many had hoped that US President Barack Obama would undo all the damage done by his predecessor. Now, it looks like he might continue the Bush-era practice of trying terror suspects in military tribunals. German commentators are disappointed.

“When US President Barack Obama entered office in January and promptly pledged to shut down the US prison at Guantanamo and suspended all further military tribunals of the kind used by his predecessor George W. Bush, human rights groups across the country and the world were relieved. Finally, they thought, America would cease locking away terror suspects without recourse to the justice system… Any return to using such military commissions would be a major disappointment to human rights groups who were hoping that Obama’s election signalled a new era in America’s handling of terror suspects. As German editorials show on Monday, frustration across the Atlantic is equally high.

“In an editorial entitled ‘Obama’s Great Mistake,’ the center-left daily Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘… Obama is… discrediting both himself and the US…’

“The left-leaning daily Die Tageszeitung writes:

“‘The US government has asked Germany to accept former Guantanamo prisoners. Exactly the same government is apparently planning to continue the military commissions to try those prisoners. One could hardly be more contradictory. It is the same tactic that President Barack Obama has already used when it came to the torturers from the CIA — punish with one hand, stroke with the other. Whenever he takes a step forward, he stumbles backwards as well.

“That will likely be enough to disappoint all those Europeans who had expectations that Obama would be an almost messiah-like healer. It was expected that he would demolish all of the ugly monuments from the Bush era and then, together with Al Gore, plant a Garden of Eden over the top, through which he would drive fuel-efficient compacts from Chrysler. And now… [he] is no longer floating above the political lowlands, the swamps of compromise. He is walking directly through them and getting dirty in the process.'”

Highly Secretive Globalist Bilderbergers Meet

WorldNetDaily wrote on May 5:

“The 57th meeting of representatives from Western European and North American countries known as Bilderberg Group will be held next week at a five-star hotel in Greece, reports Daniel Estulin, an investigative author who has written a defining book on the secretive annual gathering. Estulin says his sources in Greece have confirmed the meeting will be held at the Nafsika Astir Palace Hotel in Vouliagmeni from May 14-17.

“The Bilderberg Group is an elite invitation-only conference of influential members of the business, media and political community. Past attendees have included Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Tony Blair.

“While the group claims its purpose is to facilitate discussion amongst western powers, many see the group as a means toward globalization. This year, according to Estulin’s sources, the meeting’s talking points will focus on finances, namely the future of the U.S. dollar, the economy and unemployment levels.

“Estulin also claims in a statement to have obtained a pre-meeting booklet sent out to attendees that presents a discussion of two economic options: ‘Either a prolonged, agonizing depression that dooms the world to decades of stagnation, decline and poverty … or an intense-but-shorter depression that paves the way for a new sustainable economic world order, with less sovereignty but more efficiency.’

“The Bilderberg Group meets at luxury hotels and resorts throughout the world. Last year’s conference was held at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Va. Every four years the conference is held in the U.S. or Canada. The group has an office located in Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands. The highly secretive meeting is off limits to press, but past reports from sources that have managed to penetrate the high-security meetings have stated that the meetings emphasize a globalist agenda and dismiss national sovereignty as regressive.

“The BBC declared it to be one of the most influential organizations in the world. ‘It’s officially described as a private gathering,’ BBC reported, ‘but with a guest list including the heads of European and American corporations, political leaders and a few intellectuals, it’s one of the most influential organizations on the planet.’

“Attendees of the Bilderberg conference are not allowed to speak a word of what was discussed in the meeting outside of the group. The group has no website and no minutes are kept of the meetings to ensure secrecy. Last year, however, the Bilderberg Group made a press release available listing topics of discussion and providing a general overview of the gathering. ‘Approximately 140 participants will attend, of whom about two-thirds come from Europe and the balance from North America,’ the release stated. ‘About one-third is from government and politics, and two-thirds are from finance, industry, labor, education and communications. The meeting is private in order to encourage frank and open discussion.'”

“How the German Catholic Church Protected a Pedophile Priest” for Years

Der Spiegel Online reported on April 24:

“The German Catholic Church has been sheltering a priest convicted of child abuse for years. Now the pedophile, who refuses to undergo therapy, has hired private detectives to try to get his former victims to retract their testimony… This is not just a surprisingly audacious course of action for a servant of God, whose sentence was most recently upheld by Germany’s Federal Court of Justice in 2001, but it also highlights a culture of looking the other way that still prevents the Catholic Church from effectively addressing the problem of child abuse within its ranks — and apparently even encourages a number of pedophiles to act out their proclivities under the protective cloak of the church.
 
“Until recently, Father Weiss could depend on the support of his fellow priests. Even though the Archdiocese of Würzburg had to assure the court that Weiss would never be allowed to come into contact with children again, he recently delivered sermons and celebrated mass with other Franconian priests who are friends of his — in services that included altar boys. Despite reports to the police, parents’ complaints and more convictions, Weiss was merely quietly transferred from one place to another…”

Violent “Demonstrations” in Germany

Welt Online wrote on May 2:

“Riot police fought with stone-throwing left-wing militants in Berlin for more than five hours in May Day clashes that stretched into the early pre-dawn hours on Saturday. The rioting in Berlin and Hamburg came after a long day of protests and scattered violence across Germany as thousands vented anger on the Labor Day holiday over the global financial crisis…

“Authorities had braced for violence with tension running high over the economic crisis and rising unemployment. More than 5,000 riot police from across Germany were deployed in Berlin…

“Rioting on the May 1 Labor Day holiday had been on the wane in the past three years… However, the economic crisis has aggravated public anger at the growing disparity in wages. Germany is facing its worst recession since World War Two with the economy forecast to contract by 6 percent in 2009.”

Czech Senate Approves Lisbon Treaty–“No More Concessions for Ireland”

The EUObserver wrote on May 6:

“The Czech Senate on Wednesday (6 May) approved the EU’s Treaty of Lisbon, a move that was greeted with relief in Brussels and that ups the pressure on Ireland, facing its second referendum on the document. Fifty-four of the 79 senators voted in favour of the new institutional rules, which introduce an EU foreign minister, a permanent president of the European Council and widely extend the powers of the European Parliament. The lower house passed the document in February. The vote, which was preceded by six hours of debate, opens up the possibility that the treaty could come into force by the beginning of next year, a timetable pushed by France and Germany…

“For the ratification process to be completed, the treaty still has to be signed by the country’s eurosceptic president, Vaclav Klaus. He has previously indicated he would not sign it no matter what the outcome of the parliamentary votes. In a reference to Mr Klaus, the commission president said he hoped the remaining ‘constitutional requirements’ would be completed as quickly as possible…

“The Czech move significantly ups the pressure on the Irish government, which is hoping to secure a Yes vote in a referendum in the autumn after Irish voters rejected the treaty last summer. Speaking earlier on Wednesday, European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering said: ‘We’ve gone as far in our concessions to Ireland as we can…’ He indicated that member states’ ‘solidarity’ would run out if Ireland voted ‘no’ for a second time.

“Germany and Poland have also not finished ratification of the treaty, with the presidents in both countries not having signed the document. Germany’s Horst Koehler is waiting for the outcome of a legal challenge to the treaty, while Poland’s Lech Kaczynski has said he wants to await the outcome of the Irish vote before putting pen to paper.”

The German paper, “Süddeutsche Zeitung,” added the following remarks on or about May 6:

“Now it is up to the other member states of the EU to give the Irish a concrete plan, rather than just promises. The EU cannot wait until the cows come home. To be precise, the treaty must be approved by the end of October when the period of service of the current commission ends. The Irish vote will need to happen by mid-October. If that doesn’t materialize then the reforms will be put off for at least another five years — and that would mean the end of the treaty.”

The German financial daily, “Handelsblatt,” stated the following in its article, on or about May 6:

“Curiously, this breakthrough [in the Czech Republic] is partly due to the financial crisis. When a major storm rattles the global markets it becomes clear just how much security the EU offers its smaller members. The euro has protected Ireland from a powerful speculative attack on its currency. Hungary, Romania and Latvia, meanwhile, have benefited from extensive help from Brussels to deal with their balance of payments problems.

“This successful development does not mean, however, that the EU has won its battle against its opponents. In the forthcoming European elections, parties from both the right and the left are campaigning to push Europe’s emphasis back towards individual nations. They will not fail to criticize EU institutions in any way possible. In this light it is more important than ever that the national political elites stop their polemic tirades against Brussels and stand behind Europe.”

Israel Threatens the EU

Haaretz wrote on April 30:

“A Foreign Ministry official has been warning European countries that unless they curtail criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, Israel will block the European Union from participating in the diplomatic process with the Palestinians. The main target of the offensive is EU External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner…

“Several days ago, the deputy director for Europe at the Foreign Ministry, Rafi Barak, began calling European ambassadors in Israel regarding the attitude toward the new government… Barak sharply protested the criticism by European ministers and senior EU officials about Israel’s government… Barak concluded by ‘warning’ that Europe’s influence in the area would be undermined by such behavior. ‘Israel is asking Europe to lower the tone and conduct a discreet dialog,’ he said. ‘However, if these declarations continue, Europe will not be able to be part of the diplomatic process, and both sides will lose’…

“A political source in Jerusalem noted that Ferrero-Waldner was sharply criticized by European officials, and one European foreign minister said in a private conversation that she ‘is causing damage to European foreign policy in her attacks on Israel.'”

War in the Gaza Strip

Press TV wrote on May 2:

“Israeli ground forces have launched an incursion into the Gaza Strip after the military jets bombed ‘tunnels’ beneath the border between the beleaguered sliver and Egypt… Earlier, Israeli warplanes bombed Gaza’s southern border with Egypt on Saturday after resistance fighters fired rockets at Israel in response to Israeli bombings of Gaza on Friday, Reuters reported.”

Peres Willing to Hand Over “Holy Sites” to the Vatican

The Irish Times wrote on May 5:

“A week before Pope Benedict arrives on a pilgrimage, President Shimon Peres urged Israel to relinquish control of six Christian holy sites to the Vatican… Interior minister Eli Yishai opposed the idea…

“Israeli and Vatican officials have been arguing about ownership of key holy sites since diplomatic relations were established in 1993 and the dispute is one of the obstacles preventing the upgrading of ties.”

Haaretz added on May 6:

“The Vatican’s longstanding demand that Israel transfer sovereignty of key Christian sites to the Holy See has created dissension among senior officials in Jerusalem. The Interior Ministry has vowed to retain control of the sites, calling relinquishment a ‘sacrifice’ of Israeli sovereignty… The dispute between Jerusalem and the Holy See threatens to cast a pall over next week’s visit to the Holy Land by Pope Benedict XVI. Vatican officials have made clear they intend to reiterate their demand during the visit that Israel hand over control of the Coenaculum, Army Radio reported.”

Could the Taliban Get the Bomb Before Iran Does?

Haaretz reported on May 2:

“Just when you thought you knew the unthinkable – now there’s this: ‘If the worst, the unthinkable, were to happen, and this advancing Taliban encouraged and supported by Al Qaeda and other extremists were to essentially topple the government [of Pakistan] for failure to beat them back,’ Hillary Clinton said at the weekend, ‘then they would have the keys to the nuclear arsenal of Pakistan’…

“The nightmare scenario of a nuclear Taliban was much in evidence in a Sunday editorial in The New York Times regarding the Pakistani military. ‘And – most frightening of all – if the army cannot or will not defend its own territory against the militants, how can anyone be sure it will protect Pakistan’s 60 or so nuclear weapons?’ the Times asked. Clinton was right, the Times continued, when she warned last week that Pakistan was ‘abdicating to the Taliban.'”

Most Israelis Support Attack on Iran

The Jerusalem Post reported on May 4:

“A vast majority (66%) of Israelis said they would support military action if diplomatic and economic efforts failed to get Iran to stop uranium enrichment, and of that number, 75% would support this action even if the Obama administration were opposed… Regarding the US president, most respondents have an overall favorable opinion of Barack Obama, but are skeptical about his Middle East policies… While a 60% approval rating for Obama among Israeli Jews is high, it is still significantly below the president’s popularity rating among American Jews, where tracking polls conducted through the new president’s first 100 days in office showed that 79% of Jews approved of Obama’s performance so far.”

Russia vs. NATO

The EUObserver wrote on May 1:

“Russia has taken official control of the borders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in a 10-year deal with the two Georgian breakaway regions. The move, made in a formal ceremony at the Kremlin on Thursday (30 April), comes as Nato moves forward with planned exercises in Georgia next week and only a day after Russia and Nato resumed official contacts following the Georgian war last August.

“The European Union alongside Nato and the United States have condemned the development as a breach of the 2008 Russia-Georgia peace agreement brokered by the EU. Under the new deal, Moscow extends its responsibility for patrolling the two republics’ effective borders with Georgia proper.

“The Czech Republic, which currently sits at the helm of the EU’s six-month rotating presidency, immediately criticised Russia’s actions… Nato called the move a ‘clear contravention’ of the ceasefire agreement, a characterisation echoed by the US… US State Department spokesman Robert Wood [said] that the deal ‘violates Georgia’s territorial integrity.’

“Russia, for its part, accuses Nato of its own provocation in the region for planning military exercises in Georgia next week. ‘The planned Nato exercises in Georgia, no matter how our Western partners try to convince us otherwise, are an overt provocation,’ said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. ‘One cannot carry out exercises in a place where there was just a war,’ he added.”

Will Russia Start Another War?

The Los Angeles Times wrote on May 1:

“Officials in Moscow lashed out bitterly at the West on Thursday, excoriating NATO for expelling two Russians suspected of spying and for pushing ahead with planned military exercises in Georgia. In sharp contrast to the Obama administration’s call for a ‘reset’ of U.S.-Russian relations and the recent thaw in Russian-NATO ties, it was a day of acrimony and veiled threats as Russian officials resorted to some of their toughest talk in weeks.

“Two high-ranking members of Russia’s permanent mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization were stripped of their credentials and expelled from Belgium on accusations of espionage… The Russian Foreign Ministry called the expulsions ‘provocative,’ and issued a statement warning NATO to ‘think about the consequences of what happened. We will certainly make our own conclusions from this provocation…’

“Last summer’s war revolved around the fate of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another republic that has broken with Georgia. Moscow has since recognized the two areas as newly formed, independent countries. Only Nicaragua and the Islamic militant faction Hamas joined Russia in recognizing the rebel territories, but an undeterred Moscow continues to treat the two republics as independent, albeit client, states…

“The deals could further destabilize the already fragile cease-fire in the Caucasus, some Russian analysts warned. Skirmishes have already broken out between Georgian and rebel forces. ‘Now if there are any incidents on the cease-fire lines, it will be a direct confrontation between Russia and Georgia,’ Russian military analyst Pavel Felgengauer said. ‘Which, of course, would be a good pretext for resuming the war.'”

Is Russia Trying to Annex Georgia?

Press TV wrote on May 2:

“Russia might take provocative action when NATO war games start in Georgia next week, Georgian ambassador to the US, Batou Koutelia, has said.

“‘When we see at the highest political level, the president of the Russian federation (Dmitry Medvedev) declares that he views these exercises as a provocation directed against Russian interests and they are prepared to act, it raises concerns that there might be some provocations,’ Koutelia told a couple of journalists…

“Georgia launched a military operation in August 2008 against the breakaway region of South Ossetia to bring it back under Georgia’s control. This prompted Russia to send its troops to South Ossetia, where most of the residents hold Russian citizenship. The Georgian diplomat… said this time the Georgian reaction would be different.

“‘If it happens, we are determined to have reactions together with our partners and allies, NATO member countries, United States. And we will have a joint reaction on this,’ he said.”

Die Welt Online reported on May 5:

“Georgia sent tanks to a military base near the capital Tbilisi where it said a rebellion was under way on Tuesday and accused Russia of financing a coup. There was no official reaction from Moscow and it was unclear how many were involved in the uprising at the Mukhrovani base, home to several hundred soldiers, or what its aims were… A Reuters reporter saw around 30 tanks and armoured personnel carriers moving along the main road from Tbilisi towards the base. Police would not allow correspondents to get near the facility…

“Defence Minister David Sikharulidze said the plotters wanted to undermine NATO exercises beginning this week in Georgia… [He]said the commanders of the military base 19 km (12 miles) from the capital had been dismissed and the soldiers ordered to stay in barracks. He told Rustavi 2 television that the rebellion was also ‘an attempt at a military coup.'”

Cigarette Butts Toxic to Marine Life

This week, SDSU posted the following article, dated May 1, on their website:

“Everyone knows smoking cigarettes is hazardous to their health, but a new study shows that cigarette butts can be just as dangerous for the environment. SDSU public health researcher Richard Gersberg evaluated the effects left-over cigarette butts have on marine life and found that the chemicals from just one filtered cigarette butt had the ability to kill fish living in a one-liter bucket of water…

“‘Each year, billions of cigarette butts end up on our beaches, and in our oceans, lakes and rivers,’ said Tom Novotny, chair of CBAG and professor of public health at SDSU. ‘Based on this new research, we believe that cigarettes should be considered toxic waste and new requirements need to be established for how they are disposed.’ According to Novotny’s recent article in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, an estimated 1.69 billion pounds (845,000 tons) of butts wind up as litter worldwide per year…”

Some have used this passage to teach a secret rapture just before or at the beginning of the Great Tribulation. However, that is not what Christ was referring to in this Scripture.

Mark 13:24-27 discusses the VISIBLE return of Jesus Christ (verse 26), AFTER the Great Tribulation and the heavenly signs (verse 24). Verse 27 reads: “And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of the earth to the farthest part of heaven.”

In the past, we discussed at length the false teaching of a secret rapture. For more information, please re-read our Q&A on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

In that Q&A, we also wrote regarding Mark 13:27:

“The Bible does not teach a secret rapture. Rather, God’s Word reveals that Christ will return ONCE, NOT TWICE (Hebrews 9:28). He will come openly, not in secret (Matthew 24:21-31; Revelation 1:7; Acts 1:10-11), and He will END the Great Tribulation at the time of His Coming by establishing the Kingdom of God here on earth (Revelation 11:15-18). Mark 13:24-27 specifically states: ‘But in those days, AFTER that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. THEN they will SEE the Son of Man COMING in the clouds with great power and glory. And THEN [not before then] He will send His angels, and GATHER TOGETHER HIS ELECT…’

“Christ will come at the time of the LAST TRUMPET when His elect will be resurrected from the dead or changed to immortality (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; 1 Corinthians 15:50-52). There can only be ONE last trumpet, which means, there can only be ONE return of Christ… He says in Matthew 24:26-27: ‘Therefore if they say to you, “Look, He is in the desert!” do not go out… For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.’ His return will be clear and obvious and visible for all alive. Revelation 1:7 says: ‘Behold, He is coming with clouds, AND EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM…’

“We read in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 that we will meet the returning Christ, at His coming, in the air. This is not referring to the third heaven, but to the atmosphere of our earth, which has air and clouds. We read that we will be with Christ from that time on. We read that Christ will descend on that same day to the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4), and we will be with Him (Zechariah 14:5)… Christ’s disciples will meet Christ in the air and will accompany Him back to earth. The angels had told the apostles that Christ would come back in the same manner as He had left them. They were on the Mount of Olives, and He left them visibly on a cloud (Acts 1:9-11)… Christ GATHERS His elect when He returns VISIBLY (compare again Mark 13:24-27).”

But what is meant, then, by Christ’s statement in Mark 13:27 that the angels will gather the elect “from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven”? Literally, it says: “… from the end of earth to the end of heaven.” Notice the wording of Christ’s statement in the parallel passage, in Matthew 24:31: “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

The reference to the “four winds” (as in Mark 13:27) can be found throughout the Bible. In Daniel 7:2 we read that Daniel saw in a vision that “the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea.” In Daniel 8:8, he describes a vision of four notable horns or generals, coming up “toward the four winds of heaven.” In Zechariah 2:6, we read that the inhabitants of Jerusalem who were scattered into the “land of the north” had been “spread abroad like the four winds of heaven,” and in Jeremiah 49:36 we read that God will punish Elam or modern Persia (Iran) by bringing “the four winds From the four quarters of heaven, And scatter them toward all those winds; There shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go.” Finally, we read in Revelation 7:1 that John sees in a vision “four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.”

The reference to the four winds, then, is meant to convey global effects and dimensions. The same is true regarding the additional emphasis that the elect would be gathered from “the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.”

A similar wording is used in Deuteronomy 4:32, where we read: “For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard.”

Notice how modern translators render the phraseology in Matthew 24:31:

Richard Francis Weymouth, The New Testament in Modern Speech, writes: “…from north, south, east and west, from one extremity of the earth to the other.” Charles B. Williams, The New Testament: A Translation in the Language of the People, states: “…from the four points of the compass, from one end of the sky to the other…” E.V. Rieu, The Four Gospels, renders it this way: “…from one horizon to the other…”

Commentaries seem to agree that Christ’s reference to “the four winds” and “from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven” describes a worldwide, all-encompassing gathering of the elect.

The New Bible Commentary:Revised states that the elect will be gathered “from all over.” The commentary quotes Deuteronomy 30:4, stating: “If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you.”

The Broadman Bible Commentary adds in volume 8, page 220, that Christ’s coming is “in judgment… [and] to gather his elect from all parts of the world.” It adds on page 377 that “‘the four winds’ here means simply the four directions or points of the compass. Similarly, ‘from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven’ must mean ‘from everywhere,’ though the first phrase may refer particularly to all the land mass east of Palestine, and the second to the horizons of the west, where lay the blue waters of the Mediterranean.”

Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible gives the following additional explanation to Matthew 24:31:

“‘From the four winds’ – That is, from the four quarters of the globe – east, west, north, and south. The Jews expressed those quarters by the winds blowing from them… ‘From one end of heaven, etc.’ – Mark says [in Mark 13:27], from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. The expression denotes that they shall be gathered from all parts of the earth… The word ‘heaven’ is used here to denote the ‘visible’ heavens or the sky, meaning that through ‘the whole world’ he would gather them.”

How and why will the angels gather Christ’s elect from “everywhere”?

Consider that some converted Christians will be at the place of safety when Christ returns (compare Revelation 12:14; 3:10). But this is not true for everybody. Others will have survived the Great Tribulation in their respective localities, but some, if not many, will have been, as captives, brought to all kinds of places all over the world (compare Deuteronomy 28:64-68). Others, over the millennia, died in Christ, and they were buried in diverse places. When Christ returns, they will hear His voice and be resurrected to immortality, coming out of their graves (John 5:28-29), or they will be changed to immortality (if they are still alive and Christ’s Spirit dwells in them, 1 Corinthians 15:50-52). Then, the angels of God will gather all of them (Psalm 50:5) and bring them to Christ to meet Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Christ and His saints will then descend together to the Mount of Olives to begin to rule in the KINGDOM OF GOD here on earth (Zechariah 14:4-5; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; Jude 14-15; Daniel 7:14, 22, 27; Revelation 5:10; 20:4).

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

A new StandingWatch program was posted on StandingWatch and YouTube. It is titled, “The Swine Flu–What They Don’t Tell You!” (A similar program was also posted, in the German language, on YouTube and www.aufpostenstehen.de, titled, “Die Schweinegrippe–was man uns nicht sagt.”)

In the program, Norbert Link is asking the following questions: Where exactly did the swine flu start, and why? Is it really safe to eat pork? If so, why do Russia, South Korea and Serbia prohibit the import of pork from the USA and Mexico, and why do Egypt, Jordan and Iraq slaughter their pigs? How does the swine flu pandemic affect the US economy? And how is the US doing in combating the virus of an ever-increasing recession?

On Saturday, May 2, 2009, Norbert Link will give the sermon, titled, “Lessons from the Book of Job, Part 2.”

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.

Peter told the churches in Asia, and by extension all of us, that we ought to be clothed with humility and that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5). My dictionary describes “humility” as the “absence of pride or arrogance; meekness and lowliness; an act of submission or humble courtesy; not proud.” So the common denominator is modesty and being submissive. Can we honestly attribute those qualities to ourselves?

Paul, in speaking to the church at Colosse, urged the brethren “…as the elect of God holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering…” (Colossians 3:12).

A humble person is a teachable person. David alludes to that in Psalm 25. A state of humility precludes a state of haughtiness and self-esteem. It seeks not to glorify itself. Neither should we. God looks to the teachable–those who would exhibit an attitude of humility by being receptive to His Word.

Today worldly pride comes in the form of an infamous trinity of what I call the “Me, Myself & I” syndrome–completely devoid of a sense of humility. You’ve no doubt met people like that. They pat themselves on the back and have no qualms about telling you directly or obliquely how clever or important they are. And they tend to put you off, don’t they? You can generally see right through them. I used to joke with friends by telling them that I am so humble that it makes me ill even to think about it! A minister, in one of his sermons on the subject of humility, quipped, “It’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect!”

Humility is perhaps the greatest attribute—the noblest quality—that characteristic that God looks for in a true Christian, aside from obedience—and even there, obedience is embedded within and part of the quality of humility. The two go hand-in-hand. The humble mind, the mind that is obedient to God’s Ways and His Laws, is the mind—the person—on whom God can rely—and a person to whom a great reward will be given. In that light, the quality of humility takes on an immense degree of importance.

“Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what He commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered in the day of the Lord’s anger” (Zephaniah 2:3). Note that this inspired verse associates humility with physical protection from God’s anger–including protection at the time of the prophesied events to come upon the world in the not-too-distant future.

In the “Observer” newspaper (UK) back in April of 1950, a woman by the name of Edith Sitwell pleaded: “I have often wished I had time to cultivate modesty… but I am too busy thinking about myself.” Modesty didn’t sit well with her! Someone noted of Benjamin Disraeli, British statesman, novelist and Prime Minister twice in the latter 1800s, that “Every day when he looked into the mirror and gave himself the last touch of vanity, he offered his grateful thanks to Providence that his family was not unworthy of him!”

Paul tells us: “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others as better than himself” (Philippians 2:3). Do we do that? If so, we will have no reason to feel exalted or self-important. Abraham was that sort of person. So were Moses and David and Daniel and many of the other biblical personalities, including, of course, Jesus Christ Himself, as THE example of exhibiting true humility. Job–at first a self-righteous man–was eventually brought down to size and severely humbled by the realization of what he did not know.

The key to the level of stature we could ever hope to achieve in God’s Kingdom is a humble submissive mind—a state of humility—being spiritually unleavened without any pride and self-righteousness. We must avoid that “Me, Myself & I” attitude. Perhaps all of us have, at one time or another, eaten humble pie when we were confronted with embarrassment of being wrong about something. There are those, however, who seem to know it all and who let you know they know it all. You’ve met them. But if they were to match their teensy-weensy bucket of personal knowledge with the total fund of worldly knowledge… well, as they say in New York City in that distinctive Brooklyn accent: “You don’ know nothin’, buddy!! Nut’n!”

We need to be familiar with the latter part of Isaiah 66:2, where God is saying: “…on this one will I look, on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at My word.”

Although it is not an easy-to-come-by attribute in today’s world of pride and arrogance, it is a fundamental, paramount quality that true Christians must embrace if they hope to “make it into the Kingdom.” There is certainly a case for all of us to practice humility and to do so consciously and consistently, through Christ’s help. For James 4:10 tells us: “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and [then] He will lift you up.”

Media coverage concentrated this week on the outbreak of an unprecedented disease, referred to as the “swine flu.” While medical experts have no explanation for its existence, nor do they know how to combat it, fear of a global pandemic is mounting. On Wednesday, April 29, the World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert to the second-highest level [Level 5], meaning it believes a global outbreak of the disease is imminent. No medications presently exist to contain or cure the disease. Some commentaries suggest that the outbreak is man-made and due to unsanitary conditions in “pig factory farms.” The repeated assurance that one cannot contract the disease by eating pork is very unsettling, as we are also told that one CAN contract the disease by touching and handling raw pork, or by eating it without thorough cooking. As a consequence, Egypt decided to slaughter all pigs in the country, and Jordan closed all its pig farms. In any event, God prohibits the consumption of pork, declaring it to be hazardous to our health (Leviticus 11:4-7).

You will find more information on the outbreak of disease epidemics in our free booklets, “Is That in the Bible?–The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation,” “Sickness and Healing–What the Bible Tells Us,” and “Human Suffering…Why? And How Much Longer?”

One consequence of the outbreak of the swine flu is the potentially devastating effect on America’s suffering economy–especially the travel and hotel industry. The outbreak could not have come at a worse time, while at least five major banks, including Bank of America and Citibank, have failed the “stress test,” and the Treasury Department announced that it would have to borrow another $870 billion, raising the federal deficit to $1.75 trillion. The national debt is presently at $11.1 trillion. In addition, Chrysler filed for bankruptcy.

The Demise of the USA as the world’s superpower is thoroughly discussed in our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

The discussion on climate change and global warning continued, and so did the attempts of Democrats to suppress the voice of those who disagree with their highly-profiled speaker, former Vice President Al Gore. However, not only Republicans, but also some Democrats objected to a proposed House bill which, according to some critics, would be tantamount to a “massive national energy tax on every American who drives a car, buys a product manufactured in the United States, or has the audacity to flip on a light switch.” However, Democrats got an unexpected–or perhaps not so unexpected–boost from the defection of Republican Senator Arlen Specter, potentially changing the U.S. political landscape for years to come.

Focusing on Mr. Obama’s first 100 days in office, more and more Americans worry about the speed with which he proceeds, calling him “overambitious.” Reaction in Europe is mixed. At the same time, the “perfect storm of idiocy” has not helped the reputation of the Obama Administration, involving a jumbo jet and an F-16 fighter jet buzzing lower Manhattan without warning and frightening thousands of New Yorkers.

Finally, grim memories of the Great Depression of 1929 and its terrible political consequences are surfacing, and questions are asked whether civil unrest in Germany in 2009 might lead to a repeat of that country’s unhappy history.

For more information on what IS prophesied to happen soon in Europe and Germany, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

Swine Flu–Deadly Pig Disease Reaches Humans

Reuters reported on April 24 that “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday it was too late to contain the swine flu outbreak in the United States.”

On April 27, the Huffington Post published an interesting article by journalist David Kirby about the swine flu. We are bringing you the following excerpts:

“Officials from the CDC and USDA will likely arrive in Mexico soon to help investigate the deadly new influenza virus that managed to jump from pigs to people in a previously unseen mutated form that can readily spread among humans. One of the first things they will want to look at are the hundreds of industrial-scale hog facilities that have sprung up around Mexico in recent years, and the thousands of people employed inside the crowded, pathogen-filled confinement buildings and processing plants.

“Industry calls these massive compounds ‘confined animal feeding operations,’ or CAFOs (KAY-fohs), though most people know them simply as ‘factory farms’… Within each confinement, thousands of pigs are restricted to indoor pens and grain-fed for market, while breeding sows are kept in small metal crates where they spend most of their lives pregnant or nursing piglets… Many of these CAFOs raise tens of thousands of pigs at a time…

“Pigs are nature’s notorious ‘mixing bowls’ for inter-species infections, and many swine flu viruses have long contained human influenza genetic components… So where did this new, virulent and highly infectious influenza emerge from? According to Mexico’s Health Minister, Jose Angel Cordova, the virus ‘mutated from pigs, and then at some point was transmitted to humans.’ It sure sounds like something happened on some farm, somewhere.

“For years, leading scientists around the world have worried that large-scale, indoor swine ‘factories’ would become breeding grounds for new pathogens that could more easily infect humans and then spread out rapidly in the general population – threatening to become a global pandemic… This new strain making headlines and killing people contains genetic components of human flu virus, avian flu virus and – for the first time ever – two types of swine flu virus: American and Eurasian…”

Egypt Slaughters Its Pigs, and Jordan Closes Its Pig Farms

The Associated Press reported on April 29:

“Egypt began slaughtering the roughly 300,000 pigs in the country Wednesday as a precautionary measure against the spread of swine flu even though no cases have been reported here yet, the Health Ministry said… Egypt’s overwhelmingly Muslim population does not eat pork due to religious restrictions. But the animals are raised and consumed by the Christian minority, which some estimates put at 10 percent of the population…

“Pigs can be found in many places around [the] Muslim world, often raised by religious minorities who can eat pork. But they are banned entirely in some Muslim countries including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Libya.

“In Jordan, the government decided Wednesday to shut down the country’s five pig farms, involving 800 animals, for violating public health safety regulations.”

Swine Flu Puzzles Experts

Deutsche Welle wrote on April 27:

“There is nothing unusual about swine flu, which is as commonplace among livestock as seasonal flu is among humans. But the latest outbreak of swine flu… has come as a complete surprise. 
 
“The new sub-variant of the H1N1 influenza virus, which killed an estimated 40 percent of the world’s population in the pandemic of 1918, has been deadly in Mexico, where it wasn’t recognized for quite some time. What’s puzzling is that the new viral strain is apparently milder in the US, Canada and Spain…

“Although the airborne virus is called swine flu, it is a recombinant mixture of DNA segments from pigs, birds and humans. The virus is a new genetic strain, which medical experts say could mutate into an even more dangerous variant of potentially pandemic proportions, since no one would have immunity to it…

“In the event of a pandemic, the stockpile of anti-virals in Germany is unusually low, compared with Britain and France, where more than half the population could be treated in an emergency. But… there is absolutely no data showing that anti-viral drugs will save a patient’s life… clinical studies… show that anti-virals only reduce the duration of the disease’s symptoms, but [do] not actually kill viruses, which keep mutating and become resistant to drug treatment over time…”

The Worst Case Scenario?

Der Spiegel Online reported on April 28:

“Germany’s health minister says the swine flu outbreak could turn global and that it’s impossible to predict whether it will or not… Bild commented that the German government’s 100-page emergency plan ‘reads like the script of a disaster movie.’ The plan assumes that a full-blown outbreak of a flu such as swine flu could cause up to 103,000 deaths in Germany alone within eight weeks… Around 30 percent of the population would be infected, the report estimates… ‘the virus being widespread… closing borders or restricting travel really has very little effects in stopping the movement of this virus,’ said Mr Fukuda of the WHO.”

How Swine Flu Panic Affects U.S. Economy

USA Today reported on April 28:

“For an ailing global travel industry, swine flu couldn’t have erupted at a worse time. ‘It has the potential to paralyze travel,’ says Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association… ‘Certainly if it gets out of hand,’ it will be catastrophic. There are signs the situation is speedily getting out of hand.

“The U.S. government Monday urged Americans to cancel travel to Mexico if not essential… ‘This is kind of the one-two-three-four-five punch,’ says Jan Freitag, a vice president at the hotel-tracking firm Smith Travel Research. ‘You have a global recession; business travel has been severely curtailed; leisure travel is curtailed because people are not sure they’re going to have jobs; you have a lot of new hotel supply in the pipeline; and oops, now we have the European Union suggesting that travel to the United States is a mistake.’

“Androulla Vassiliou, the European Union’s health commissioner, initially suggested avoiding all non-essential travel to Mexico and the United States. She later softened her warning, stressing she was speaking only for herself, not the entire 27-nation EU, and that it was an advisory, not a ban, that applied only to hot spots. Still, her comments added to fears that the outbreak would hit an ailing industry on the verge of the summer travel season.

“They also revived memories of the 2002-03 outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic in Asia. SARS prompted a plunge in air travel and cost the global economy $33 billion in 2003… Airline stocks slid Monday, with shares of Continental falling $2.17, or 16.4%… Shares of AMR, parent of American, fell 72 cents, or 13.3%…

“Hotels had a bad day, too. Marriott fell $1.13 (5.1%)… American depositary receipts of InterContinental Hotels Group fell 55 cents, or 5.6%… The travel industry already is reeling under the weight of worldwide recession. Before flu broke out, the global airline industry was on track to lose $4.7 billion this year… In the USA, hotel occupancy was down 10.9% from a year ago, and rates were down 7.7%…”

Several Countries Ban Import of Pork and Isolate Travelers

ksl.com reported on April 26:

“Hong Kong and Taiwan said visitors who came back from flu-affected areas with fevers would be quarantined. China said anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms within two weeks of arrival [from] an affected area had to report to authorities. A Russian health agency said any passenger from North America running a fever would be quarantined until cause of the fever is determined. Tokyo’s Narita airport installed a device to test the temperatures of passengers arriving from Mexico. Indonesia increased surveillance at all entry points for travelers with flu-like symptoms…

“Hong Kong and South Korea warned against travel to the Mexican capital and three affected provinces. Italy, Poland and Venezuela also advised their citizens to postpone travel to affected areas of Mexico and the United States…

“The virus is usually contracted through direct contact with pigs, but Joseph Domenech, chief of animal health service at U.N. Food and Agriculture Agency in Rome, said all indications were that the virus is being spread through human-to-human transmission. No vaccine specifically protects against swine flu, and it is unclear how much protection current human flu vaccines might offer.

“Russia banned the import of meat products from Mexico, California, Texas and Kansas. South Korea said it would increase the number of its influenza virus checks on pork products from Mexico and the U.S. Serbia on Saturday banned all imports of pork from North America…”

Bank of America and Citigroup Fail “Stress Test”

The Associated Press reported on April 28:

“Bank of America… and Citigroup…, which have each received $45 billion in government bailout funds, have been told by regulators that ‘stress test’ results show they may need to raise additional capital… Bank of America is looking at a shortfall in the billions of dollars… Both banks plan to rebut the preliminary findings…

“Banks deemed to have enough capital may learn whether they’ll be permitted to repay billions of dollars the government injected into them last fall… Most large banks have said they want to repay the money to escape executive compensation limits and other obligations. Investors have grown more concerned about regional banks with many risky loans on their books. Defaults on those loans could skyrocket in a worsening economy. Banks that carry such loans are likely to be asked to improve their capital reserves.”

US Treasury “Needs” to Borrow Over $870 Billion

The Associated Press reported on April 27:

“The Treasury Department said Monday it will need to borrow $361 billion in the current April-June quarter, a record amount for that period. It’s the third straight quarter the government’s borrowing needs have set records for those periods. Treasury also estimated it will need to borrow $515 billion in the July-September quarter…

“The huge borrowing needs reflect the soaring costs of the $700 billion financial rescue program and the recession, which is nearing a record as the longest in the post World War II period…

“The administration is projecting the federal deficit for the entire budget year ending Sept. 30, will total a record $1.75 trillion. A deficit at that level would nearly quadruple the previous record of $454.8 billion set last year. To cover the government’s heavy borrowing needs, Congress in February boosted the limit for the national debt to $12.1 trillion as part of the legislation that enacted President Barack Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus program. The national debt now stands at $11.1 trillion…

“The $361 billion estimate for borrowing this quarter compared with borrowing needs of just $13 billion in the year-ago period. Normally the government’s borrowing needs shrink sharply in the April-June quarter because of all the tax revenue being collected…”

“That Wasn’t Me”

The Associated Press wrote on April 29:

“‘That wasn’t me,’ President Barack Obama said on his 100th day in office, disclaiming responsibility for the huge budget deficit waiting for him on Day One. It actually was him – and the other Democrats controlling Congress the previous two years – who shaped a budget so out of balance. And as a presidential candidate and president-elect, he backed the twilight Bush-era stimulus plan that made the deficit deeper, all before he took over and promoted spending plans that have made it much deeper still.”

Mr. Obama’s First 100 Days–How the British “Times” Sees It

The Times wrote on April 25:

“As the White House prepares to reach the 100 days milestone since President Obama’s inauguration, it is being true to the form shown over the preceding 99: to exploit ruthlessly American politics while simultaneously asking that the President be judged by a different standard. The strategy is to swat aside any effort to reach an early verdict, on the ground that the Administration has faced unprecedented challenges, but to acknowledge nonetheless that Wednesday — on which the 100th day falls — may be a useful moment to reflect on how much has been accomplished…

“By any measure the pace has been frenetic. The President has ordered the closure of the Guantánamo Bay prison camp, the end of ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ and for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq; recast military strategy in Afghanistan; travelled to nine countries and met the leaders of almost 60. On top of this he has signed legislation that makes it easier for women to sue for job discrimination and extends health coverage to millions of children; eased a ban on stem-cell research; sacked the head of General Motors; intervened in the housing and credit markets; reached out to the Muslim world; tried to improve relations with Cuba; drawn up a $3.6 trillion (£2.4 trillion) budget and forced a bitterly contested $787 billion stimulus Bill through Congress…

“The President is intensely aware of criticism that he is being overambitious… advisers acknowledge that Mr Obama’s reach may exceed his grasp… Nor is the President quite as infallible as he seemed before the inauguration… In the past week the contradictory statements coming out of the White House on the need to investigate or prosecute those responsible for CIA interrogations showed how swiftly a popular policy on banning torture or allowing transparency can unravel.

“Such episodes are symptoms of the difficulty in moving from campaigning — when all politicians can do is make speeches and promises — to governing, when words ultimately have to be judged by results… Having underestimated the scale of public anger over executive bonuses he then whipped it up by railing so hard against the insurance giant AIG that employees began getting death threats…

“His approval ratings, hovering in the low 60s, are almost identical to those of George Bush eight years ago. Aides say that Mr Obama’s popularity is neither unique nor permanent… Mr Obama is a politician grappling with enormous problems and making a slow descent to earth.”

Obama’s First 100 Days–How the German “Der Spiegel” Sees It

On April 30, Der Spiegel Online published an article, titled: “The Most Expensive President Since 1945.”

It continued:

“The new US president’s first 100 days in office were expensive, glamorous and often contradictory…

“[On the] subject [of communication], the new president is truly a world-class performer. In fact we Germans might like to send our chancellor, Angela Merkel, to the White House for a four-week internship under Mr. Obama.

“… the president has performed poorly when it comes to the central political issue of the day [that of managing the financial crisis]. Obama has ignited a dangerous time bomb in the US government’s budget. The economic stimulus program and the billions in bailout funds for Wall Street banks are being paid for primarily with borrowed funds. Obama’s first 100 days have been the most costly in American postwar history.

“… The bailout programs are not being paid for with ‘taxpayer money,’ as Obama claims. Instead, the money is coming from the savings of the frugal Japanese, Chinese and Europeans… Not only is this is costly, but it is also extremely risky. More important, it is not sustainable. By taking this approach, Obama is only leading his country more deeply into dependence on creditors from around the world. Before long, anyone who wishes to attack America will no longer need nuclear weapons, but merely sufficient dollar reserves. China already has close to $2 trillion (€1.5 trillion) stored away in its coffers…

“Things are not exactly adding up when it comes to Obama’s economic policy. The effects of economic stimulus packages are usually short-lived. For many people, the government’s programs will seem to herald a speedy end to the crisis, but the light at the end of the tunnel will be fueled by burning dollar bills. When the flames subside, darkness will return…

“Obama wants to help establish a modern healthcare system in America — at last. Fifty million people currently have no health insurance. Their situation is hardly better than it might have been during the Middle Ages… But there is one thing the president has neglected to tell his fellow Americans. A first-class medical system cannot be purchased at Walmart discount prices. His promises of further tax cuts and health-care reforms are mutually exclusive. He will have to break one of the two promises…

“The foreign policy motto of his predecessor could have been: ‘If you don’t want to be my brother, I’ll smash your skull.’ Obama clearly takes a different approach to foreign policy… In the coming years, people will start asking themselves: What does America get in return? Is it a soft or a hard currency to be open? The answer will most likely be found in Tehran, Beijing and Moscow…

“Commander-in-chief Obama is sending mixed messages. On the one hand, he is taking a dovish approach to the Arabs, extending his hand to Islam and offering a peace pipe to the Russians. On the other hand…, the US military is adding large numbers of troops to its forces in Afghanistan, while unmanned drones are being used to stage attacks in Pakistan’s border region… His strategy has already bred results, but they are not what he expected. Anti-American sentiment is growing in Pakistan… If Pakistan, a nuclear state, falls into the hands of fundamentalists, Obama will have handed the West more than just another defeat…

“The closing of the CIA prison in Guantanamo Bay and the ban on torture in interrogations brought the sinister practices of the Bush years to a necessary end. This deserves respect, but not applause. Obama’s America is merely returning to the normal state of a democratic nation governed by the rule of law. Although the torture practices have been abolished, no one is being called to account…

“Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is increasingly proving to be a weak point in Obama’s cabinet… This year, bank bonuses are likely to be twice as high as they were before the crisis. This may be a nuisance during normal times, but today — in light of the government’s bailouts of the banks — it is nothing short of scandalous…

“Vice President Joe Biden is… known for his charm as well as his wagging tongue. He embarrassed his boss, for example, when he said of the bailout plans in Washington: ‘If we do everything right, if we do it with absolute certainty, there’s still a 30 percent chance we’re going to get it wrong’…

“So far, the Obama presidency is as contradictory as reality. No one today can say whether he will end up being the president he wants to be… Many US newspapers speak admiringly of Obama, calling him ‘larger than life.’ But that too remains to be seen. Perhaps life will turn out to be larger than Obama.”

The Demise of the Superpower USA

Der Spiegel Online wrote on April 29:

“The severe crisis is affecting the United States, which is already in a weakened position, and it could accelerate the country’s relative demise as a superpower which already began a long time ago. American industry, or what is left of it, is already in a deplorable condition today… The history of the US auto industry… is the history of America as an economic superpower, from its brilliant ascent to its agonizingly slow demise…

“Never before has a country lived at the expense of the future with such reckless abandon. The United States today is an economy that sucks in the savings of other nations. America currently needs more than half of worldwide savings merely to avoid falling below the levels of previous years. The government and private households borrow roughly $1 billion (€760 million) on each business day… Even when adjusted for the size of today’s economy, the US’s current debts significantly exceed debt levels during the Great Depression. The superpower has become an empire of debt. The most dangerous element of President Obama’s crisis management program is that this debt is not being reduced, but expanded.

“… no one knows whether… all the money being thrown at the aggressive virus fueling this crisis will only make it worse. Debts are being fought with debts, meaning that not only banks but entire countries could end up bankrupt. Perhaps the efforts to combat the current crisis are merely laying the foundations for the next crisis, which will be bigger still.”

“Plane Stupid”

The Daily News reported on April 27:

“A perfect storm of idiocy led to a frightening 9/11 flashback for thousands of New Yorkers Monday when a jumbo jet and an F-16 fighter jet buzzed lower Manhattan without warning. A ‘furious’ Mayor Bloomberg denounced the dunces who dreamed up the stunt – and the NYPD officials and bureaucrats who never told him about it… Sources said the chief reason for the panic-inducing flight was to create souvenir pictures of Air Force One flying over the Statue of Liberty to be given out – like a presidential tie clip – to family, friends or supporters…

“The planes appeared on the horizon around 10 a.m. and sent a chill through the city. Flying in as low as 1,000 feet to 1,500 feet above New York City, they circled the Statue of Liberty before flying over Manhattan, Staten Island and New Jersey. Before they vanished, hundreds of frightened people had jammed emergency phone lines, and thousands of terrified people evacuated from buildings in the city and across the river in New Jersey… ‘The President was furious,’ a White House insider said.”

CBS wrote on April 28:

“Federal officials knew that sending two fighter jets and Air Force One to buzz ground zero and Lady Liberty might set off nightmarish fears of a 9/11 replay… But they demanded total secrecy from the NYPD, the Secret Service, the FBI and even the mayor’s office and threatened federal sanctions if the secret got out…”

According to Bloomberg, dated April 28, “The flight by the VC-25… and two F-16 fighter jets cost $328,835, Air Force spokeswoman Vicki Stein said.” 

It’s Politics–Specter Becomes a Democrat, Possibly Giving Democrats Full Control of the Senate

The Washington Post reported on April 28:

“Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter will switch parties and run for reelection in November 2010 as a Democrat, he announced today, a decision that could have wide-ranging consequences for the Senate and President Obama’s agenda. Specter told reporters that he received a ‘bleak’ poll Friday from his advisers that showed virtually no chance of him winning in the GOP primary next spring against Pat Toomey, a former Republican House member…

“The move brings Democrats to 59 seats in the Senate, just one shy of the 60 they need to exert filibuster-proof control over the chamber. In Minnesota, Democrat Al Franken holds a 312-vote lead over former senator Norm Coleman (R), but Coleman has appealed the result to the state Supreme Court. Oral arguments in the case are expected to begin in June… Assuming the court sides with Franken in Minnesota, it will mark the first time since the 95th Congress — 1977 to 1979 — that Democrats have controlled 60 or more Senate seats.”

Pros and Cons of Global Warming

The Associated Press wrote on April 24:

“Former Vice President Al Gore, the leading American voice on climate change, urged lawmakers Friday to… take action to reduce greenhouse gases, but Democrats and Republicans sparred even more vigorously over the cost of dealing with global warming.

“Gore, who won a Nobel prize for his work on climate change, told a congressional hearing that ‘the dire and growing threat’ of a warmer earth requires the parties to unite to deal with the environmental threat. He endorsed a House Democratic bill that would limit carbon dioxide and other pollution linked to warming… But former House Speaker Newt Gingrich… argued that the Democratic proposal to reduce greenhouse gases would ‘punish the American people’ by imposing higher energy costs and threatening jobs…

“The House bill calls for mandatory reductions in carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases by 20 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, and 83 percent by mid-century. It also would require utilities to produce a quarter of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025 and impose new efficiency requirements… Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the committee’s top Republican, argued that the proposed ‘cap-and-trade’ system would cost tens of billions of dollars a year… House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio denounced the draft bill as a ‘massive national energy tax on every American …. who drives a car, buys a product manufactured in the United States, or has the audacity to flip on a light switch’…

“While Republicans were critical, some Democrats expressed concern as well. ‘How do we protect our people?’ asked Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., whose state is reeling from the economic recession and is home to many energy-intensive industries, including the ailing auto industry. Dingell said he’s not convinced the bill will protect U.S. jobs, especially if China isn’t forced to take similar actions.”

How Democrats Suppress Global Warming Dissent

News Climate Depot reported on April 25:

“UK’s Lord Christopher Monckton, a former science advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, claimed House Democrats have refused to allow him to appear alongside former Vice President Al Gore at a high profile global warming hearing on Friday April 24, 2009 at 10am in Washington. Monckton told Climate Depot that the Democrats rescinded his scheduled joint appearance at the House Energy and Commerce hearing on Friday. Monckton said he was informed that he would not be allowed to testify alongside Gore when his plane landed from England Thursday afternoon.

“‘The House Democrats don’t want Gore humiliated, so they slammed the door of the Capitol in my face,’ Monckton told Climate Depot in an exclusive interview. ‘They are cowards.’… According to Monckton, House Democrats told the Republican committee staff earlier this week that they would be putting forward an unnamed ‘celebrity’ as their star witness Friday… The ‘celebrity’ witness turned out to be Gore. Monckton said the GOP replied they would respond to the Democrats’ ‘celebrity’ with an unnamed ‘celebrity’ of their own. But Monckton claims that when the Democrats were told who the GOP witness would be, they refused to allow him to testify alongside Gore… ‘The Democrats have a lot to learn about the right of free speech under the US Constitution’…, Monckton said from the airport Thursday evening.”

Soon Civil Unrest in Germany Over Bad Economy?

Netzeitung reported on April 26:

“The economic crisis is hitting the German psyche hard; a new survey says 72 percent of Germans are scared by the crisis and over 30 percent would demonstrate on the streets… In the last week, German politicians and union leaders have debated whether or not social unrest will arrive in Germany once companies are forced to lay off workers and the economy slows down further.

“The Sunday survey in Bild am Sonntag says 54 percent of Germans believe there will be unrest in the coming months. Eastern Germans are gloomier, with 61 percent percent believing that unrest is coming. West Germans are more likely to take to the streets than those from the east, the survey found, with 34 percent of westerners saying they would demonstrate compared to only 27 percent of easterners.

“The first big test of whether Germany’s social fabric is fraying comes… on May 1st, the annual day of work celebrated all over Europe, often with labor demonstrations. In Berlin, where the annual demonstrations often turn violent, with anarchists burning cars and clashing with police, the city is preparing for larger-than-usual rallies. ‘Attacks by extremists on police are rising,’ Konrad Freiberg, the head of the Union of Police, told Bild. ‘Already by May first, the violence threatens to escalate.'”

The Great Depression of 1929–Is History Repeating Itself in 2009?

Der Spiegel Online wrote the following on April 29:

“Is history repeating itself? The current global downturn has many parallels to the Great Depression. And if the current massive bailout packages fail, the effect on the world’s economies could be similarly drastic…

“More than 5 million people in the United States have lost their jobs since the crisis began. As if the country were undergoing fever convulsions, more than 650,000 were catapulted into the streets in the last month alone.

“Most experts are now convinced that Germany will follow the United States along this downward trajectory… Unemployment will rise sharply. It is expected to exceed 4 million by this fall and hit 5 million by next year. By then, at the latest, the crisis will have become reality for millions of people, as it reaches private households, forces more companies into bankruptcy and pushes countless loans into default, only making things worse for the country’s already ailing banks…

“In the wake of the economic crisis, Germany fell into the hands of the Nazis. The slogan, ‘Hitler – Our Last Hope,’ was plastered on campaign posters in the 1930s. Many agreed with the sentiment at the time… On May 2, 1930, Hitler, a man who had been ridiculed until then, was suddenly speaking to a packed house at Berlin’s Sportpalast hall. Now the people, or at least a significant portion of the people, were eager to hear Hitler speak.

“After the Reichstag election in the late summer of 1930, a splinter group had suddenly become a force to be reckoned with. The Nazi Party won 18.3 percent of the vote and 107 seats in the Reichstag, making it the country’s second-most powerful party. The economic crisis had catapulted the party to power within just a short space of time.

“Berlin is not Weimar. And the current economic crisis has not produced any noticeable political changes — at least not yet… This could change if the crisis worsens and unemployment rises significantly…”

In last week’s Q&A, we addressed some general principles regarding the kinds of clothing and style that should be worn. We emphasized the importance of right balance and modesty.

Paul also instructed the Church of God regarding the length of hair that both men and women should wear:

“Judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering. But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God” (1 Corinthians 11:13-16).

We can derive from these guidelines that men and women should appear differently in hairstyles. God permits differences in length of hair, and we note that varieties occur in hair color and texture among people. Some men will wear very short hair while others will have fuller styles; the same might be true, to an extent, for women. The key for falling within the guidelines instituted by God in His Word is for men to avoid having female type hairstyles and for women to maintain a proper length to serve as a covering and as an unmistakable woman-like appearance.

We discussed the issue of hair style in a previous Q&A. We are quoting the following pertinent portions:

“In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul sets forth the timeless principles of proper hairstyle and hair length for men and women. After explaining in 1 Corinthians 11:3 that the Head of Christ is God the Father, the Head of a man is Christ, and the head of the woman (wife) is the man (husband), Paul continues: ‘(verse 4) Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. (verse 5) But every woman who prays or prophecies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved. (verse 6) For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered…’

“The context of the Scripture discusses the length of hair — not the wearing of a veil or of a hat (There is, however, nothing wrong in God’s eyes for a woman to wear a veil or a hat, if she so desires, following the culture of her upbringing). We read that a woman should wear long hair, which is given to her ‘as a covering’ [1 Corinthians 11:15] or, as some translations render this, ‘as a veil’…

“We read that a woman should have ‘long hair’ as a covering, as distinguished from an ‘uncovered’ head, a ‘shaved’ head, or a ‘shorn’ head. A ‘shorn’ head pictures very short hair. One might think of the analogy of a ‘shorn’ sheep… A ‘shaved’ head describes a bald head. In contrast, a woman should wear ‘long hair’…

“At the same time, we are told that a man is not to wear ‘long hair,’ and that even nature teaches us that wearing long hair is a ‘dishonor’ to a man.”

On this subject, we note and utterly reject the false image that has been promoted as the likeness of Jesus Christ. Not only does this contradict the teaching by Paul against men having long, feminine appearing hair, it violates the clear command against making any image representative of God as found in the Ten Commandments!

Some teach that Jesus was a Nazirite and that He was therefore permitted to wear long hair. This teaching is false. We have addressed this issue in much detail in a previous Q&A. The following excerpts should be helpful in this context:

“Jesus was called a Nazarene, because He lived and grew up in the city of Nazareth. He was not a ‘Nazirite.’ The sixth chapter of the book of Numbers describes the law of the ‘Nazirites.’ Those who took the vow of a Nazirite did not cut their hair, but they were also prohibited from drinking any wine or touching a dead body (Numbers 6:4-6). Christ, however, did drink wine (Luke 22:14-18; Matthew 11:19), and He did touch dead bodies (Luke 8:51-55).

“If Christ had been a Nazirite, He would have broken His vow and thereby violated one of God’s laws. But He said that He had kept His Father’s commandments (John 15:10), including all ritual laws still in force and effect at His time, and we read that He never sinned. The Bible defines sin, however, as the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4, Authorized Version). Therefore, Christ could NOT have been a Nazirite.

“Christ was a Jew, and He looked like an ordinary Jewish man, without special beauty in appearance (compare Isaiah 53:2). Judas had to identify Him to others with a kiss. He was able to escape on occasion, by mingling with the crowd and going ‘through the midst of them’ (Luke 4:30; John 8:59). Apart from the Bible, archeology and history also confirm as well that the Jews at the time of Christ did not wear long hair. Christ, therefore, did not either–otherwise, He would have stood out in a crowd, and a special identification through Judas would not have been necessary.”

In reviewing hair length and hair style of men and women, we conclude, based on biblical principles, that one should be able to determine the gender of a person at first sight. To put it bluntly: A man should look like a man, and a woman should look like a woman. The difference should be recognizable based on outward appearance. When the length or style of hair, all by itself, does not allow to make that determination, then the particular hair style or hair length would need to be modified.

In addition, we must consider more of what God specifically instructs concerning how we ought to wear our hair, and how we ought to dress.

Our hair style should be “normal.” It should be viewed by the overwhelming majority of society as “acceptable,” rather than as outlandish. Somebody who colors his or her hair in such a way that he or she looks like a circus clown places him- or herself within the fringes of society. During the Hippie-culture of the 1960s, young men would wear long hair, but this was never accepted by the majority of our Western society. Parents might have grudgingly “given in” to their “rebellious” sons, but they never liked it. Today, a man with long hair is normally looked upon as “different.” The types of hairstyle propagated today by the MTV generation, with hair sticking out like that of a porcupine, or uncombed, giving a sloppy appearance, or hair which is just too long for a man, is simply not in line with how a Christian man should appear in public. This would also include wearing an uncultivated beard or not shaving for several days (unless it is for the purpose of wearing a well-trimmed acceptable beard).

Regarding dress, in Deuteronomy 22:5, we have this admonition: “’A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God.’”

In recent years the design of clothing worn by women has come to include the wearing of pants and pantsuits. While some believe that this type of apparel crosses the line and violates God’s instructions, the designs of these types of garments are, for the most part, gender-specific. That is, women’s pantsuits are designed for the female anatomy. However, even in this circumstance, care must be taken to purchase appropriate garments that clearly compliment a feminine appearance.

Further questions have arisen concerning whether these kinds of pantsuits should be worn in services conducted by the Church of God. In the spirit of what God states in Deuteronomy 22, verse 5, we find no reason to recommend that pantsuits not be worn—specifically, because they are designed for women and not men. However, it would not be advisable to wear pantsuits in Church services all the time, to the exclusion of wearing appropriate dresses. We might note that in ancient times the apparel of men and women had similar looks, but they had unique characteristics that identified with the gender of the wearer.

Regarding men, in our Western world, this would include wearing a suit and a tie for Church services (or a nice combination of jacket, tie and pants). In other parts of the world, different attire might be appropriate, but it is always important that it is in line with the desire to honor God and our fellow brethren by how we dress. Attending Church services in jeans and open shirt is disrespectful to God and simply not acceptable in His eyes.

We are addressing those who are members of the Church of God, and we are specifically offering guidelines to help us all set a right example. However, as in all matters of Christian growth, we must be patient with each other–particularly with those who are new to the faith (compare James 2:1-9).

Finally, we have this instruction from the Word of God:

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:12-17).

Lead Writers: Norbert Link and Dave Harris

A new StandingWatch program was posted on StandingWatch and YouTube. It is titled, “Torture, Poverty, Unemployment and the American Dream.” In the program, Norbert Link discusses the fact that the declassification of CIA memos pertaining to torture, as well as bad news regarding the constant deterioration of the U.S. economy, have done nothing to restore confidence in the American leadership. The euphoria over the country’s first black president has ebbed considerably, and the current crisis has become Mr. Obama’s crisis. Did you know that all of this was prophesied to happen thousands of years ago, and that things will get much worse, before they will get better?

A new German StandingWatch program (“AufPostenStehen”) was posted on YouTube and on our German Website (www.aufpostenstehen.de). It is titled, “Gottes Sohn War der Torah Treu” (“The Son of God was Faithful Towards the Torah”) and discusses an article in the Catholic newspaper “Zenit,” admitting that Jesus did not come to abolish the Old Testament or the Law.

A new member letter for the month of May was written and will be sent out early next week. In the letter, Rene Messier discusses the meaning of the Feast of Pentecost for true Christians today, and for mankind in general.

Norbert Link’s new video-recorded sermon, “Lessons from the Book of Job,” has been posted on our Website, in addition to the audio version.

Norbert Link recorded two new German sermons this week, titled, “Der Weg Gottes, Teil 1” and “Der Weg Gottes, Teil 2.” (“The Way of God, Part 1” and “The Way of God, Part 2.”) Both sermons will be posted shortly on the Internet. 

This is a reminder to make reservations with the Woodfin Hotel in San Diego, for the Feast of Tabernacles 2009, if you have not already done so. For more information, please go to our Website (www.eternalgod.org) and click on “Feasts.” Also, you might want to begin sending to Headquarters your T of T and any excess 2T.

by Manuela Mitchell (25)

Sometimes, especially while I’m driving, I take the opportunity to think about my life. Outside of work and home, my routine is pretty straight forward and simple. Many surprises just don’t happen–at least not at this point of my life. Someday, in the near future, I know that will all change.

My husband and I have tossed around ideas together within the last few months regarding important steps in our lives. These include our jobs, further education, having a baby and raising a family out of the state in which we currently reside. Even though we have thought about ways to improve our well being, we have to be convinced that these plans are what God would like us to do.

I have always tried to never regret any big decisions that I have made in my life. I always intend to think things through. It is also not possible to do it alone. Ultimately, God will help my husband and me to make a final step, if it’s according to His plan.