On June 30, 2007, Norbert Link will give the sermon, titled, “What the Sacrifices Teach You.”

The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org at 12:30 pm Pacific Time (which is 2:30 pm Central Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

In the first book of Samuel, the epic story of two kings is told. God carefully chose both of these men to rule over His people.

Saul was the first king, and his credentials for office were very impressive, as we find in 1 Samuel 9:1-2:

“There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish… a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.”

At the beginning, Saul was humble and obedient to God, but the rest of Saul’s story is one of haughty disobedience and self-will. David was chosen to replace him.

Samuel was sent to the family of Jesse to anoint a new king from among his sons. God instructed Samuel: “…‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him [speaking of Eliab]. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart’” (1 Samuel 16:7).

David was the last of the sons of Jesse to be presented to Samuel, and even of David, we find this description: “…Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance” (1 Samuel 16:12, NASB). Other accounts speak of David’s musical ability, his leadership and his ability as a warrior, but these attributes and skills were not the most important in God’s view. Rather, we read God’s testimony about David, as follows:

“…‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will’” (Acts 13:22). David’s obedience to God was his most important quality.

Likewise, we see that Samuel was a faithful and obedient priest—he replaced the disobedient house of Eli. God spoke this of Samuel: “‘Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever’” (1 Samuel 2:35).

After giving His commandments to Israel, God appeals longingly to His people:

“‘Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!’” (Deuteronomy 5:29).

That appeal from God has stood in every generation, and it is now our own challenge! Is God looking upon us, because we have a poor and contrite spirit and tremble at His word? (Compare Isaiah 66:2). Is God finding in us “such a heart”?

Reactions to European Summit

European Unification Unstoppable? 

Der Spiegel Online wrote on June 23:

“Europe can breathe a sigh of relief after a marathon night of negotiations ended in a deal. After German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised the stakes by threatening to go ahead without Poland, Warsaw was finally placated with a number of concessions and all 27 countries agreed to move forward with a new draft treaty to replace the defunct constitution… EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the deal was vital: ‘I think now we have made a great step forward.’ He praised Merkel for a success that many had thought impossible, and presenting her with a bunch of flowers, thanked her for all she had done for Europe… British Prime Minister Tony Blair said ‘I don’t think there is anything that can derail the process now.’…

“The agreement is crucial for the EU… Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel had been determined to revive the plans to streamline the EU when Berlin took over the presidency in January… And she finally succeeded. The member states have agreed to an intergovernmental conference which will give the deal a legal framework. The treaty will then be ratified by the member states and should come into force by 2009…”

… But Many Serious Problems Remain for Europe…

Der Spiegel Online wrote on June 23:

“All of Europe’s internal divisions were revealed at the Brussels summit. Once again, selfish national interests were promoted with tricks, threats and embarrassing haggling. Nevertheless, the result is a step forward for the European Union.

“Of course, in the end there were only winners. Angela Merkel, Germany’s new superwoman, chancellor in Berlin and, as a side-line, Europe’s savior, summed up. She said, ‘everything that we wanted was achieved.’ France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that it was ‘very good news for Europe and for France: Things have been taken care of.’ Of course he had played a big part in it. As had British Prime Minister Tony Blair and many others.

“Even Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski, who had continuously threatened to torpedo the European Union summit, saw himself as a winner too. The solution that had been found for the EU Council voting system was ‘more favorable for Poland than the square root’…

“… The 27-member EU club is full of internal conflicts. A large group of members would like to work even more closely together, but there is a handful of countries which want to prevent that. And to ensure that the handful doesn’t regularly block everything, they have to be regularly compensated.

“That is exactly what happened at this meeting of the EU leaders. In reality, this summit was less about finding political compromises with partners who had different opinions and concerns. Rather it was yet another brazen attempt on the part of some to use tricks and threats to achieve the maximum for their selfish national interests. Poland and Great Britain were the main offenders, but others weren’t far behind…

“The British rejected everything that could affect their national sovereignty or that could make the island nation more continental. They don’t want the euro, or traveling on the right-hand side of the road, and, above all, not too much cooperation. The message was: We are different from you, and that is how things should stay. The main thing is that the City in London continues to make money out of Europe…

“The European foreign policy chief will be appointed in 2009, though he will be called the ‘High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy’ rather than minister out of respect for Britain. The creation of the post will give the EU a single voice in the world for the first time…

“Only the citizens will not be treated any better than before. Europe, or at least the political and bureaucratic institutions, which think of themselves as Europe, doesn’t trust its own population. So that the French and the Dutch don’t notice that the new text has much of the same substance as the old constitution, which they have already killed off in referenda, the authors of the new treaty have hidden and encoded anything controversial to such an extent that no one can read the treaty or even understand it. People just have to blindly believe…”

Europe Angry With Poland

Prior to the EU Agreement, Europe looked with anger at Poland and–to a lesser degree–Britain.

Der Spiegel Online wrote on June 22:

“When Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski chose to bring up Poland’s suffering at the hands of Nazi Germany on the eve of this week’s EU summit, most of Europe was shocked. German commentators fired back on Friday… Kaczynski told Polish radio on Tuesday that his objection to a proposed new voting formula in the European Union went back to the country’s suffering under German occupation. ‘We are merely demanding what was taken from us,’ he said. ‘If Poland had not had to live through the years of 1939-45, Poland would be today looking at the demographics of a country of 66 million.’ Poland’s current population is 38 million…

“Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said it was an unfortunate statement and a distraction. ‘It’s an absurd idea to base today’s decisions on a very tragic history,’ he said. Estonia’s Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said Europe could not continue ‘living in the past.’

“Hans-Gert Pöttering, current president of the European Parliament, and a German conservative, said he found Kaczynski’s words ‘very painful.'”

Germany’s mass tabloid, Bild Online,  minced no words. It wrote on June 22:

“Are these Poles mad? What else do we have to take from the Poles? Nobody in Europe has done more for Poland than we Germans… We paid over 6 billion euros in reparation costs after the war, and we forgave them their debt in an amount of six billion deutsch marks. Without German help, Poland might not even be a EU member… But where is their thanks?…  Especially now, as Germany is in charge of the EU Parliament, Poland forsakes Angela Merkel in her fight for a united Europe. Responsible for the hatred against Germany and Europe are the Polish twins… They only know life outside Poland from TV. In Brussels, they suffer from an inferiority complex–they feel alienated, expelled, persecuted.”

Europe’s Back to Its Old “Undemocratic Tricks”

The Wall Street Journal wrote on June 25 about the European Summit as “The Summit of All Fears.” The paper pointed out:

“Europe is back, the papers and politicians tell us, thanks to a ‘Reform Treaty’ agreed in Brussels in the wee hours of Saturday morning…

“Europe is back, all right — back to its old tricks and undemocratic sleights of hand… the stillborn Constitution has been largely transposed to the new Reform Treaty, which the EU hopes to ratify in all member states by 2009.

“A few items were excised from the rejected 2004 document, such as plans for a common anthem (Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’). But others persist. The planned ‘Union Minister for Foreign Affairs’ is replaced by a ‘High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,’ as if adding a few words would make it sound less threatening to national sovereignty. The new office of EU President remains a go…

“There will be enormous pressure on all EU leaders not to allow mere citizens to muck up the plan devised in Brussels. Mr. Sarkozy himself shows no inclination to hold a repeat referendum in France. He and others on the Continent will lobby Gordon Brown, who takes over as British Prime Minister this week, to follow suit and avoid putting the treaty to voters. Bowing to Brussels, Mr. Brown has indicated that he’ll ask Parliament to ratify, not British voters.”

Britain’s Surrender of Its Powers

Britain’s mass tabloid, The Sun, wrote on June 23:

“Tony Blair last night agreed to surrender swathes of British power to the EU — in a deal to keep control of foreign policy and shop-floor laws. The PM signed away Britain’s veto in 52 areas of policy in a new Brussels treaty in his last act as Premier. There will be NO referendum for voters. But Mr Blair claimed VICTORY as he safeguarded control over just four of his ‘key’ areas.”

The EU’s “Undemocratic Ruthlessness”

Britain’s Daily Mail had this to say, on June 24, about the EU Summit and Mr. Blair’s role:

“What actually happened in last Saturday’s pre-dawn diplomatic brawl in Brussels was that Mr Blair’s red lines turned into the colour of fudge and then faded from sight altogether. The supposed safeguards he secured on the core issues of foreign policy, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, economic policy and criminal justice are simply not worth the paper they are written on. For the new treaty doesn’t just extend the EU’s powers. It turns it into a constitutional freak, a bureaucratic Frankenstein’s monster without a shred of democratic legitimacy, which will destroy what remains of our powers of self-government and make Mr Blair’s apparent ‘opt-outs’ absurdly irrelevant.

“For example, the EU is now to have its own foreign minister… What’s more, member states will be forced to support that policy ‘actively and unreservedly’ – and will be barred from launching military strikes or declaring war that might be thought to damage the EU’s standing. In other words, we would be forbidden from defending our own interests and would be forced instead to do whatever the EU collectively decides…

“Just as devastatingly, Mr Blair has surrendered Britain’s power to block a European police force and public prosecutor, and the European Court of Justice will get enhanced powers to tell us how to run our justice system and determine our immigration policy…  And even worse than all of this is the outrageous provision by which this treaty can be amended in future without the need for any further treaties. So we are not merely signing away all the powers listed in this treaty; we are also surrendering our ability to thwart any future attempt by Brussels to extend its power over us yet further in any way it might decide…

“This is the EU constitution in all but name. To describe it as an ‘amending’ treaty is demonstrably untrue. It grants the EU a single legal personality whereby it can sign treaties and international agreements in its own right. It thus brings into being a totally new global entity – a superstate – which changes the legal relationship between Britain and the EU into one to which the British people have never agreed. The way it is being pushed through, moreover, takes the undemocratic ruthlessness of the EU to new depths.”

What the EU Agreed To

Der Spiegel Online summarized on June 25, what the EU Summit agreed upon. We are setting forth the most important agreements in the light of Biblical prophecy:

“The agreement reached at the summit is to establish the framework for the EU Intergovernmental Conference which will transform Saturday’s agreement into a treaty. Later this year, EU leaders will meet once again to sign the treaty. It will take effect in 2009, in time for EU elections… The European Council (made up of heads of state or government from EU member states) is to be directed by a specially appointed president for two- and- a-half years at a time… Countries such as Great Britain can withdraw from EU resolutions on issues such as closer cooperation in the areas of justice and policing… If no agreement is reached within a period of four months, those states that so desire can take the lead — a so-called ‘two- speed’ Europe.

“… The EU foreign minister, who operates in agreement with individual governments, will be called the ‘High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,’ as requested by Britain. He is also the vice president of the European Commission…The new top diplomat will also be in charge of a new European diplomatic service.

“… For the first time, the EU treaty officially allows countries to leave the EU — something that was already possible unofficially, as shown by the case of Greenland which elected to withdraw from the European Economic Community after receiving autonomy in 1979. Countries that wish to join the EU must respect its values and commit to promoting them.

“… The Charter of Fundamental Rights is no longer part of the EU treaty. But the treaty will refer to it and will declare it as binding. An exception will be made for Britain, which has no constitution and is concerned the Charter of Fundamental Rights could effectively become a constitution imposed from outside… The EU symbols once mentioned in the European Constitution — the flag and the hymn — will not feature in the revised treaty. But they will effectively continue to exist.”

German Reactions to New EU Treaty

Der Spiegel Online reported on June 25:

“The European Union hammered out a compromise deal on a new treaty early Saturday morning in Brussels, after Poland, Britain and the Netherlands won a number of concessions. As the dust settles, many German commentators wonder if the compromise deal has left Europe even less harmonious than before…

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

“‘A union that needs to mobilize its last reserves, including the threat of a split, just to come to a half-way acceptable reform compromise, has a deep-seated problem… Under these circumstances, it was a respectable achievement on the part of the German EU presidency. For Europe it was a stroke of luck that Angela Merkel has a deep European conviction along with strategic skills and a remarkable courage to take risks…’

“The conservative daily Die Welt writes:

“… ‘Angela Merkel solved the almost unsolvable… But the conflict is not over. The interests of the old and new EU member states, are too different…’

“The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

“… ‘In Brussels the EU member states revealed, shamelessly, how much at odds with each other they are on fundamental issues and how relentlessly they pursue their own interests… In the East … there are still powerful resentments against Germany… This is particularly surprising in Poland’s case. Obviously the pro-Polish policies of German governments since (Willy) Brandt couldn’t prevent the Kaczynskis and their supporters from using labels from the Nazi era… The Brussels summit has once and for all refuted the claim that it is possible to expand and deepen the EU to the same degree’…

The Financial Times Deutschland writes:

“…’the political substance of the failed constitution has been kept — with far-reaching consequences for the EU … Germany as the most populous country, has the biggest voting weight… Europe’s fate rests on how it organizes its relationship to its immediate neighbors. That includes a lasting peace in the Balkans, [a] balanced relationship with Russia and a close link with Turkey. The EU also has to represent its interests in relation to the other powers in the world, such as the US and China. This is where the new EU foreign minister will play a central role, even if the British insist he is only to be called “high representative.”

Germany Unhappy with Poland and Britain

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 24: “The German press on Sunday slammed Poland and Britain for putting obstacles on the road to the deal reached on guidelines for a new European Union treaty at the bloc’s summit this week.

“Bild, the mass-circulation tabloid and country’s top selling newspaper, reserved its harshest criticism for neighboring Poland, calling the Kaczynski twins who hold the posts of Polish president and prime minister ‘poison dwarves.’ ‘It would have been better if this summit had failed,’ the newspaper said in an editorial, adding that the bitter dispute over Poland’s voting rights has shown that there is little hope for unity in the EU. ‘That would have prevented the creation of a Europe of two speeds and two classes. The sickening double game played by the Polish brothers Kaczynski should make it clear to any fan of Europe that this is now inevitable.’…

“‘Warsaw is on board. But the treaty should not yet be considered saved,’ Der Tagesspiegel newspaper said. It warned that the upcoming intergovernmental conference to finalize drafting the treaty and the ratification process present ‘the next obstacles.’ The Berliner Morgenpost agreed, saying that ‘disaster has been averted, for now. It is annoying to see to what extent the nationalistic, egotistical blocking tactics of Poland and Britain paid off,’ it added…

“Welt am Sonntag described the haggling that preceded the deal as ‘torture’ and said despite its eventual success the summit will be remembered mostly for Britain and Poland’s ‘egotistical’ behavior.”

Putin’s Latest Push — “The North Pole Is Ours!”

The Daily Mail reported on June 28:
 
“Russian leader Vladimir Putin has made an astonishing bid to grab a vast chunk of the Arctic, giving himself claim to its vast potential oil, gas and mineral wealth. His audacious argument that an underwater Russian ridge is linked to the North Pole is likely to lead to an international outcry. Some commentators have already observed it is further evidence of growing Russian assertiveness under its authoritarian president…
 
“A diplomatic source said that Russia was ‘seeking to secure its grip on oil and gas supplies for decades to come. Putin wants a strong Russia, and Western dependence for oil and gas supplies is a key part of his strategy. He no longer cares if his strategy upsets the West.'”

Religious Persecution in Germany and Europe

“The Brussels Journal” wrote on June 23, 2007:

“Last week, a German court sentenced a 55-year old Lutheran pastor to one year in jail for ‘Volksverhetzung’ (incitement of the people) because he compared the killing of the unborn in contemporary Germany to the holocaust. Next week, the Council of Europe is going to vote on a resolution imposing Darwinism as Europe’s official ideology. The European governments are asked to fight the expression of creationist opinions, such as young earth and intelligent design theories. According to the Council of Europe these theories are ‘undemocratic’ and ‘a threat to human rights.’

“Without legalized abortion the number of German children would increase annually by at least 150,000 – which is the number of legal abortions in birth dearth Germany. Pastor Johannes Lerle compared the killing of the unborn to the killing of the Jews in Auschwitz during the Second World War. On 14 June, a court in Erlangen ruled that, in doing so, the pastor had ‘incited the people’ because his statement was a denial of the holocaust of the Jews in Nazi-Germany. Hence, Herr Lerle was sentenced to one year in jail. Earlier, he had already spent eight months in jail for calling abortionists ‘professional killers’ – an allegation which the court ruled to be slanderous because, according to the court, the unborn are not humans.

“Other German courts convicted pro-lifers for saying that ‘in abortion clinics, life unworthy of living is being killed,’ because this terminology evoked Hitler’s euthanasia program, which used the same language. In 2005, a German pro-lifer, Günter Annen, was sentenced to 50 days in jail for saying ‘Stop unjust [rechtswidrige] abortions in [medical] practice,’ because, according to the court, the expression ‘unjust’ is understood by laymen as meaning illegal, which abortions are not.

“Volksverhetzung is a crime which the Nazis often invoked against their enemies and which contemporary Germany also uses to intimidate homeschoolers. Soon, the German authorities will be able to use the same charge against people who question Darwin’s evolution theory… According to a report of the CoE’s Parliamentary Assembly, creationists are dangerous ‘religious fundamentalists’ who propagate ‘forms of religious extremism’ and ‘could become a threat to human rights.’ The report adds that the acceptance of the science of evolutionism ‘is crucial to the future of our societies and our democracies.’

“’Creationism, born of the denial of the evolution of species through natural selection, was for a long time an almost exclusively American phenomenon,’ the report says. ‘Today creationist theories are tending to find their way into Europe and their spread is affecting quite a few Council of Europe member states. […] [T]his is liable to encourage the development of all manner of fundamentalism and extremism, synonymous with attacks of utmost virulence on human rights. The total rejection of science is definitely one of the most serious threats to human rights and civic rights. […] The war on the theory of evolution and on its proponents most often originates in forms of religious extremism which are closely allied to extreme right-wing political movements. The creationist movements possess real political power. The fact of the matter, and this has been exposed on several occasions, is that the advocates of strict creationism are out to replace democracy by theocracy. […] If we are not careful, the values that are the very essence of the Council of Europe will be under direct threat from creationist fundamentalists… While most curricula in Europe today unashamedly teach evolution as a recognised scientific theory, the same does not apply to the United States…’

“In Germany, believing abortion to be as murderous as the holocaust is a crime, and educating your own children is a crime too. In France, saying that ‘homosexual behaviour endangers the survival of humanity’ is a crime, and so is the distribution of pork soup to the poor. In Belgium, speaking out against immigration is a crime.”

… Prompting Poland to Fire Back and Anger Germans Even More

On June 27, Der Spiegel Online reported:

“In a radio interview, Poland’s prime minister issues an ominous warning about Berlin, implying that contemporary Germany is comparable to the time that saw Adolf Hitler rise to power. One day after a Polish magazine published a cover illustration showing the German Chancellor Angela Merkel breast- feeding the Kaczynski twins, Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski is again busy shouting insults at Berlin… The prime minister, however, did not elaborate on exactly what is happening in Germany…

“Germany wants to ratchet up diplomacy with Warsaw by resuming regular summit meetings between Germany, France and Poland — a proposal that came out of the EU meeting in Brussels aimed at drawing Poland deeper into the EU and also striking more conciliatory tones.

“But some observers see different motivations coming from the Kaczynskis, including the editorial writers at the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper, who note: ‘All the prime minister cares about with his venomous and bile-filled attacks against Germany … is to help shore up his diminishing popularity in Poland.'”

No Equal Satus for Islam in Germany

Deutsche Welle wrote on June 25:

“The Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD) harshly criticized the Christian churches after high-ranking German [Catholic] clergyman [and head of the German conference of bishops] Cardinal Karl Lehmann last week spoke out against Islam enjoying equal status to Christianity… Germany’s 3.2 million Muslims are not represented by a single umbrella organization, but by many smaller ones. Ronald Pofalla, general secretary of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, agreed with Lehmann that Islam should not be granted the same legal standing as Christianity. ‘Unlike Christianity, Islam is not in Europe’s cultural center and is not reflected in everyday life in the same way,’ Pofalla said in a statement.”

… And More Religious Persecution in Germany

Der Spiegel Online wrote on June 26:

“Germany’s Defense Ministry has said it will ban the Hollywood makers of a film about a plot to kill Hitler from shooting scenes at military sites in Berlin because its heartthrob star, Tom Cruise, is a Scientologist. Filming is expected to start in July on ‘Valkyrie,’ a drama about a failed plot hatched by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg to kill Hitler using a briefcase bomb.

“Defense Ministry spokesman Harald Kammerbauer, cited by Reuters, said the filmmakers ‘will not be allowed to film at German military sites if Count Stauffenberg is played by Tom Cruise, who has publicly professed to being a member of the Scientology cult.’… According to Reuters, Cruise’s producing partner, United Artists Entertainment CEO Paula Wagner, issued a sharp rebuke, saying that the actor’s ‘personal beliefs have absolutely no bearing on the movie’s plot, themes or content.’

“… Blumenthal [the appointed so-called “cult expert” for the governing conservative Christian Democrats]… has remained undeterred in her campaign against the actor and the cult, whose beliefs are based on the science fiction writings of L. Ron Hubbard. ‘We have to present a united front against Scientology,’ she said. Blumenthal accused the organization of spreading views in the tradition of National Socialism – ‘and I find it, to say the least, odd that someone who represents this organization would be able to film at the site of a memorial to resistance against National Socialism of all places.’…

“A party spokesman for the Christian Democrats in the city of Berlin took the statement even further, telling the paper: ‘Resistance against the National Socialist dictatorship must not be abused for the PR purposes of a dangerous and totalitarian brainwashing organization like Scientology.'”

New Controversial US Travel Security Restrictions for EU Visitors

The Associated Press reported on June 25 about additional measures to be implemented soon by American airports and border patrols involving EU visitors. These measures will constitute, in the eyes of European visitors and their countries, further harassment against them by the American government. The article stated:

“Visitors from European nations traveling with visas or visa-free to the United States will soon have to give 10 digital fingerprints when entering the country, a senior U.S. Homeland Security official said Monday. Border checks could also soon include other biometric data, such as facial and eye retina scans… a pilot project at 10 major U.S. airports would be launched in late 2007, expanding the current program that calls for taking prints of two fingers and facial photographs…

“U.S. travel security restrictions have caused increased opposition in EU nations, amid demands from Brussels that Washington expand its visa-waiver program to include all 27 EU nations…

“Airports chosen for the initial pilot project include Boston Logan International, Chicago’s O’Hare, George Bush Houston Intercontinental, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Miami International, John F. Kennedy International, Orlando International, San Francisco International and Washington Dulles International.”

Further Deterioration of German-US Relationship

Der Spiegel Online reported on June 25:

“The arrest warrants German authorities have issued against 10 CIA agents have burdened German-American relations. Now, prosecutors in Munich want the agents extradited to Germany so they can stand trial for their alleged roles in the illegal kidnapping of terror suspects… Officials in Washington have… realized that the German investigation is more than just a symbolic act…

“There is general agreement within the government in Berlin that the request should be promptly delivered to the Bush administration, which would be tantamount to an official request for the arrest of the men being sought…

“At a recent lunch in the German Embassy in Washington, Michael Hayden, the new CIA director, complained about the ‘bottomless criticism’ from Europe that the US government faces for abducting suspicious Islamists. One US diplomat calls Germany’s approach the ‘German double standard.’ On the one hand, he says, the Germans seek to benefit from information gleaned by the CIA. On the other, they are careful to keep their hands clean. According to US diplomats, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has made it clear to her German counterpart, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, that the investigations of the agents present a serious problem.

“Even before the warrant was issued for the arrest of agent John Koenig, a representative of the US embassy in Berlin had met with German officials at the Chancellery and the Justice Ministry and lodged an official diplomatic protest…

“The German government could have put a stop to the arrest warrants in the first stage. It would simply have had to refer to Paragraph 153c of the German Code of Criminal Procedure, which states that a legal proceeding can be terminated by official decree if this is in the ‘prevailing public interest.’ But a group of senior officials meeting at the Justice Ministry rejected a government veto, arguing that any government efforts to apply the brakes on the investigation would be too difficult for the public to swallow. As a result, the cabinet decided to allow the Munich prosecutors’ petition for the issuance of international arrest warrants to stand…”

Global Distrust of President Bush and America

On June 28, The Times wrote:

“Global distrust of President Bush is mutating into an almost worldwide sentiment of anti-Americanism, according to the world’s most comprehensive poll of international opinion, published yesterday… It found ‘a broad and deepening dislike of American values and a global backlash against the spread of American ideas’ – although US technology and popular culture is still held in high regard.

“Pluralities in most countries now express distaste for notions of democracy promoted by the US, blame it for contributing to global inequality and ‘hurting the world’s environment’, while also disliking the way American businesses operate. Hostility towards the US is strongest in Muslim countries and Western Europe, where people also show little sign of being impressed by alternative world powers such as Russia and China.”

Senate Blocks Immigration Bill

The Associated Press reported on June 28:
 
“The Senate drove a stake Thursday through President Bush’s plan to legalize millions of unlawful immigrants, likely postponing major action on immigration until after the 2008 elections. After the stinging political setback, Bush sounded resigned to defeat. ‘Legal immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people, and Congress’ failure to act on it is a disappointment,’ he said after an appearance in Newport, R.I. ‘A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn’t find common ground. It didn’t work.’ The bill’s Senate supporters fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to limit debate and clear the way for final passage of the legislation, which critics assailed as offering amnesty to illegal immigrants. The vote was 46 to 53 in favor of limiting the debate.”

Showdown Between White House and Congress

The Associated Press reported on June 27:

“The Senate subpoenaed the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney’s office Wednesday, demanding documents and elevating the confrontation with President Bush over the administration’s warrant-free eavesdropping on Americans. Separately, the Senate Judiciary Committee also is summoning Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to discuss the program and an array of other matters that have cost a half-dozen top Justice Department officials their jobs, committee chairman Patrick Leahy announced…

“The escalation is part of the Democrats’ effort to hold the administration to account for the way it has conducted the war on terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The subpoenas extend the probe into the private sector, demanding among other things documents on any agreements that telecommunications companies made to cooperate with the surveillance program… The showdown between the White House and Congress could land in federal court… The four parties — the White House, Cheney’s office, the Justice Department and the National Security Council — have until July 18 to comply, Leahy said. He added that… he would consider pursuing contempt citations against those who refuse.”

The Associated Press added on June 28, pertaining to a related situation:

“President Bush, moving toward a constitutional showdown with Congress, asserted executive privilege Thursday and rejected lawmakers’ demands for documents that could shed light on the firings of federal prosecutors. Bush’s attorney told Congress the White House would not turn over subpoenaed documents for former presidential counsel Harriet Miers and former political director Sara Taylor… The Democratic chairmen of the two committees seeking the documents accused Bush of stonewalling and disdain for the law, and said they would press forward with enforcing the subpoenas.”

Will Tony Blair Convert to Catholicism?

The British mass-tabloid, “The Sun,” reported on June 23:
 
“TONY Blair has met privately with the Pope, fuelling speculation he might convert to Catholicism after he steps down next week. Blair… spoke with Pope Benedict for 25 minutes in the pontiff’s study. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, head of England’s Roman Catholics, then joined the talks later.

“The Pope and the PM are said to have discussed the international situation, Europe and the Middle East. The Vatican welcomed Blair’s intention to work for Middle East peace and inter-religious dialogue after he steps down on Wednesday, but made no reference to the issue of his possible conversion. Blair is currently Anglican. His wife, Cherie, and their four children are Catholics. Cherie accompanied Blair to the Vatican and was introduced to the Pope at the end of the private talks…

“Blair’s gift to the Pope were original photographs of John Henry Newman, a 19th century Anglican leader who was one of Britain’s most illustrious converts to Catholicism. Blair is believed to have taken communion from the late Pope John Paul during a visit to the Vatican in 2003, although the Vatican has never confirmed this.”

Tony Blair New Middle East Envoy

On June 25, Der Spiegel Online reported the following:

“The Bush administration is considering appointing outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair as special envoy for the Middle East Quartet. If only they had told the Europeans… Blair is a controversial choice for the position, given his role in the Iraq war and his close relationship to Bush, and he is unpopular in much of the Middle East. Politicians in both Berlin and Brussels fear that Blair would be an unacceptable go-between for many Arabs.”

On June 28, The Telegraph added:

“As Gordon Brown, at last, inherited 10 Downing Street, Tony Blair yesterday took the first step towards life as an ex-prime minister and an international diplomat. Mr Blair overcame Russia’s reservations to be made Middle East envoy working on behalf of the US, Russia, the UN and the EU… However, reservations continued about his ability to act as an honest broker in the Middle East because of his unequivocal support for George Bush in the war in Iraq, and failing to call for a halt to the Israeli bombing of Lebanon last summer… The appointment was officially announced by the Quartet – the US, EU, UN, and Russia – after a day of diplomacy…”

Britain’s New Leaders

The Associated Press reported on June 28:

“Britain’s new leader chose his senior circle of ministers on Thursday, picking David Miliband, the youngest foreign secretary in decades and a rising star who voiced doubts over the Iraq war.

“Miliband, a 41-year-old environment chief, was confirmed as Foreign Secretary, according to a British government official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government policy… Blair departed Wednesday to rousing applause and tears from lawmakers. He said he was sorry for the perils faced by British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, but gave no apology for his decisions to back the United States in taking military action…

“Most closely watched will be Brown’s policy toward Iraq. British troop numbers there have rapidly fallen during 2007. Blair left his successor an option to call back more of the remaining 5,500 personnel by 2008 — an opportunity likely to be grasped by a leader with a national election to call before June 2010. Brown confirmed Wednesday the number soon will fall to 5,000.”

German Reactions to Britain’s Change in Leadership and Tony Blair’s New Role

On June 28, Der Spiegel Online reported about German press reactions to the change in Britain’s leadership, and Tony Blair’s appointment as the Middle East Quartet’s special envoy, which “has raised eyebrows around the world”:

“On the day that Blair leaves office, commentators in Germany’s main papers consider what the future holds for Blair, the UK and Europe.

“The left-leaning Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

“‘Once a poodle, always a poodle? Tony Blair has never been able to shake off the image of being Bush’s obedient right-hand man … And who was it who has kicked off the discussion about Blair becoming the Middle East Quartet’s special envoy? George W. Bush. … No one can deny that the name Blair triggers negative reactions in the Arab-Islamic world…’

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes:

“‘The change in leadership could bring significant changes in British foreign policy, and not just in style. Blair’s avowed goal was to lead his country “into the heart of Europe.” Brown does not have this ambition: On the contrary, it was he who presented himself as the guardian of the British pound and prevented the introduction of the euro. … In view of the deep Euro-skepticism of the British, few constructive initiatives can be expected from London for the time being. Under Brown, the UK will distance itself even further from the heart of a pro-integration Europe.'”

The Mysterious Disappearance of Our Honey Bees

The Olympian.com wrote on June 25:

“The decline in honey bee populations in the United States and elsewhere signals a major environmental imbalance that could have far-reaching implications for our agricultural food supply… Many believe our increasing use of chemical pesticides and herbicides, which bees ingest during their daily pollination rounds, are largely to blame. Commercial beehives also are subjected to direct chemical fumigation at regular intervals to ward off destructive mites. Another leading suspect is genetically modified crops, which might generate pollen with compromised nutritional value.

“It might be that the build-up of synthetic chemicals and genetically modified crop pollen has reached a ‘tipping point,’ stressing bee populations to the point of collapse. Lending credence to this theory is that organic bee colonies, where chemicals and genetically modified crops are avoided, are not experiencing the same kind of catastrophic collapses, according to the nonprofit Organic Consumers Association.”

Bird Flu Returns to Germany

Der Spiegel Online reported on June 25:

“In the first cases to emerge in a year, officials in the Bavarian city of Nuremberg have reported deadly outbreaks of the H5N1 strain of bird flu… On Sunday, the city reported having found eight dead swans in addition to a duck and a goose which had fallen victim to the disease. All of the dead waterfowl were confirmed to have been infected with the deadly H5N1 virus in the first cases of the disease to be reported in Germany this year.”

Terrible Weather Conditions in the UK

The BBC wrote on June 27:

“Thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes amid severe flooding across England and Wales that is now believed to have claimed four lives. Hundreds of families in Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Shropshire have been moved to safety… About 900 people are using emergency shelters in Sheffield, and about 700 have left villages near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, amid fears the nearby Ulley dam could collapse… Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed his sympathy to the families of the dead and those displaced by what he described as an ‘extraordinary and very serious event.’…

“The Environment Agency labelled current weather conditions ‘phenomenal.’ The agency’s flood expert, Phil Rothwell, said: ‘We’ve had a sixth of the annual rainfall in 12 hours. Climate change experts tell us that this is the sort of thing we need to expect for the future.’  Of the 21 severe flood warnings in place, 13 are in north-east England, seven in the east of the country and one in the Midlands.”…

… And in the USA

On June 27, Inside Bay Area.com filed this report about the wild fire in the Lake Tahoe area:

“Firefighters battling the northernmost edge of the Angora fire ravaging the South Lake Tahoe area lost control of a back burn Tuesday afternoon… The Tahoe Basin’s worst fire in a century… ignited a scene of chaos as panicked residents waded through smoke while rushing home to meet loved ones, retrieve precious items or rescue pets… Hundreds of residents… were forced to fight or flee the fire, and fleeing became difficult as cars and trucks jammed Tahoe Keys Drive…
“The fire has consumed more than 2,700 acres of forest studded with homes and vacation cabins. It has taken 200 homes and 75 commercial buildings…”

The Associated Press reported on June 28 about rains and flooding in Texas:

“Constant downpours that have claimed 11 lives in the past 10 days are giving Texans in the central hill country little chance to recover. ‘This is the worst I’ve ever seen it in my lifetime,’ said Mayor Raymond Whitman… The downpour and winds were so treacherous early Wednesday that helicopters were forced to halt efforts to rescue people from rooftops… Whitman Branch Creek in Marble Falls, typically 2-3 feet wide, expanded to at least 100 feet. Several nearby buildings were flooded and several vehicles were swept down the creek. The odor of gas and diesel fuel was heavy in the air…

“Rains drenched North Texas as well, causing some creeks and rivers to overflow. About 30 homes were destroyed… It’s the wettest year on record in Austin, where more than 30 inches of rain have fallen since January. Dallas-Fort Worth, Waco and Wichita Falls also have received near record amounts.”

Ethnic Cleansing of Assyrian Christians in Iraq

The Easternstar News Agency (ESNA) wrote on June 22:

“The Vatican and its representatives try to stop the historical opportunity our nation has in establishing the Nineveh plains administrative area for the protection of the Christian Assyrians in Iraq. Ethnic cleansing is about to be completed in Iraq in front of the eyes of the west. This ruthless slaughter of Christian Assyrians is carried out without the government in Baghdad or the American troops attempting to stop it.

“The Christian Assyrians have been the ones worst affected among all the ethnic groups in Iraq despite the relatively small size of the community. The inferno in Iraq has evolved into a systematic mass murder [of] the Christian Assyrians…

“The Vatican, with… Pope Benedict XVI, has taken a treacherous position towards the proposal to establish an Assyrian administrative area and has thereby taken a position against the Assyrian nation’s survival. The Vatican’s ‘official’ reason…  is that Assyrians do not want to move from other parts of Iraq… Either the Vatican has not realised the fact that the Assyrians are being oppressed, assaulted, driven out, kidnapped and murdered on a daily basis or it has deliberately chosen to ignore this fact. The last six months the Vatican has carried out a very intense lobby activity both to divide Assyrians on the question of administrative rights and to persuade the western world not to support the proposal about establishing an administrative area…

“It is obvious that the Vatican’s decision is taken without any regards towards the future of the Assyrians in Iraq. The Vatican seeks to divide the unity that has begun between different churches in Iraq. The Vatican has earlier, through the Pope’s well-known embarrassing statement about Islam in [the year of] 2006, put the Christian Assyrians in a very dangerous situation. Churches in the Middle East were set on fire and Christian Assyrians were murdered as a direct consequence of the Pope’s clumsy statement…

“The Vatican has only one aim with their dangerous and fatal policy; to increase their territory and to extend their specific interpretation of Christianity, irrespective of the consequences for an entire nation’s survival!…

“The Vatican’s foundation should be the Bible. The message in the Bible is intended for the vulnerable, the weak ones and the ones who are being oppressed and who suffer from injustice.  Where can one find the Bible’s message of justice and brotherhood in the acts of the Vatican?… For the Assyrians in Iraq, and the ones in exile, it is all about survival. For the Vatican, it is about extending its power. It seems there are no limits to what the Vatican can think of doing to expand its territory, even if it means an entire nation becomes obliterated… Assyrians prefer to live in an ‘Assyrian ghetto’ in the Nineveh plains rather than being slaughtered in the streets of Baghdad.”

In writing to the Christians living in Colosse, a city in western Turkey, Paul addressed the unique revelation that they, as converted Christians, had received the Holy Spirit—that is, that Jesus Christ was living within them through the Holy Spirit–and this fact was their assurance of the hope for eternal life.

In verses 24 and 25 of Colossians 1, Paul speaks of the Church of God by calling it the “body” of Christ. He also addresses the fact that he, Paul, had become a minister of the word of God. In this context, he continues addressing these faithful brethren:

“…the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ IN you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works IN me mightily” (Colossians 1:26-29).

Even as Paul reminds these Gentile converts of the fact that Christ was in them, he likewise speaks of Christ working in him “mightily” to accomplish his assigned ministry.

We see, then, that Jesus Christ is spoken of as somehow being IN His Church in all of its aspects–it is emphasized that He is somehow living IN His converted disciples, individually and collectively.

Let us ask again–How does He accomplish this?

Jesus spoke of this shortly before His death. In preparing His disciples for the traumatic events surrounding His arrest and execution, Jesus made this statement:

“‘I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you’” (John 14:18).

In the previous verses we find the answer as to how Jesus would “come” to His disciples. As usual, we are quoting from the New King James Bible, but please take careful note of our comments immediately following the quote:

“‘And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for he dwells with you and will be IN you’” (John 14:16-17).

The pronouns translated as “He” and “Him” in these verses are more accurately understood in modern English by using the Neuter form of “it”—and so with “whom”. The idea that the Holy Spirit is a person is a false teaching and one of the tragic deceptions adopted by the majority of professing “Christian” churches. For an in-depth study of this subject, please refer to our booklet, “Is God A Trinity?”

Please note Jesus’ statements in John 14:23:

“… ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.’ “

Here we see the astounding fact revealed that both the Father and Jesus Christ would live IN those that love Jesus and keep what He has commanded! They will live in them–making their home with them–through the Holy Spirit, which emanates from both the Father and the Son. Earlier, Jesus had spoken of something that would accompany the indwelling of the Spirit of truth and this occurrence would define a new kind of relationship between the Family of God and mankind: “‘At that day you will know that I am IN My Father, and you IN Me, and I IN you’” (John 14:20).

In the prayer of Jesus that is recorded in John 17, He very specifically addresses the emerging way in which both He and the Father would now begin to associate with those who were no longer of this world—those who would keep the Word of God:

“‘I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one as You, Father, are IN Me, and I IN You; THAT THEY ALSO MAY BE ONE IN US, that the world may believe that You sent Me’” (John 17:20-21).

Continuing in verses 22-23: “‘And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one; I IN them, and You IN Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.’”

Jesus concludes His prayer with these words: “‘And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be IN them, and I IN them’” (John 17:26).

In this series of statements from Christ, He speaks of “glory” and “love” being in His disciples, and He asks that they might have the same kind of unifying relationship that He has with the Father.

Paul reminded the Corinthian church of the vital fact that God had placed His Spirit in them, when he stated: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16). He adds: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit [which] is IN you, [which] you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

We also find this illuminating explanation from Paul, in which he explains that we have BOTH the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of Christ:

“But you are not in the flesh but IN the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells IN you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is IN you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells IN you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit [which] dwells IN you” (Romans 8:9-11).

As mentioned, the Holy Spirit emanates from both the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ. The Father and the Son are Spirit BEINGS–GOD beings–composed of Spirit. Technically, the Holy Spirit emanates from both Spirit beings, but it is still “ONE” Spirit, in that both the Father and the Son are “ONE”–they have the SAME character, and they are totally UNITED (“one”) in purpose and will power.

Paul appeals to the Christians in Ephesus “…to keep the unity of the Spirit” (Compare Ephesians 4:1-3). Next, he declares: “There is one body [but there are many members of that body] and one Spirit [emanating from both the Father and the Son, and living in each member of the body], just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and IN you all (Verses 4-6).

Paul boldly proclaimed: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13); and: “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth IN me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20, Authorized Version). For a fuller explanation of this verse and the fact that the faith OF Christ resides in converted Christians, through the Holy Spirit, please refer to our Update #299, June 22, 2007, in the Q&A—titled, “Faith of Christ?”

The Bible very clearly reveals that Jesus Christ lives in converted men and women through the Holy Spirit—the one Spirit that is from the Father, and the same Spirit that is Christ’s Spirit.

The fact that Jesus does guide His Church in such an intimate fashion and that this relationship is described in such inseparable terms is absolutely crucial for those who call themselves “Christian.” We have this challenge:

“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is IN you?—unless indeed you are disqualified” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

Our booklets, “Jesus Christ—A Great Mystery!” and “God Is A Family,” offer broader examinations of the astonishing truths about the Father, Jesus Christ and the glorious future that is in store for mankind. The promise is that each man and woman will be given their opportunity to turn to God and to allow Jesus Christ to become their Savior—to live IN them!

Lead Writers: Dave Harris and Norbert Link

We sent out the following announcement regarding our new StandingWatch program #126:

Why Do You Live?

Do you know why you were born, and what will happen to you when you die?

– Are you the product of time and chance–the end result of an evolutionary process which began with a cell or a mollusk?
– When you die, will you go to heaven, hell, purgatory or limbo?
– Will you enter a cycle of reincarnations?
– Do you care to know the TRUTH?

View it now on Google

Norbert Link’s recent video-recorded sermon, “Why The Sacrifices?”, has been posted on Google Video.

Please continue to pray for success for our ongoing Internet ad campaign in Britain, the USA and Canada. Early responses are quite encouraging.

On June 23, 2007, Bill Grams will give the sermon, titled, “Encouragement.”

The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org at 12:30 pm Pacific Time (which is 2:30 pm Central Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

“Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” These words of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 5:11-12, stand in stark contrast to the following warning: “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26).

Humanly speaking, we love it when we are well spoken of, and we don’t like it when people hate us, exclude us, revile us and “cast out” our names “as evil” (compare Luke 6:22). But if we shrink back from standing up boldly for the truth, so that we can be accepted by others, then Christ will have no pleasure in us. If we deny Him–through our words or our conduct–for fear that others may ridicule or even persecute us, then Christ will deny us (Matthew 10:33).

Don’t be surprised when you are the victim of malicious lies. Paul was, as he said in Romans 3:8: “… And why not say, ‘Let us do evil that good may come’?–as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.”

As a true Christian, you can expect to be lied about. And you can expect that some may believe those lies. This might include misrepresentations from some of your friends or relatives. It might include business associates or even members of your church. Paul spoke about “evil reports” which were circulated about him, and that he was even accused of being a “deceiver” (2 Corinthians 6:8).

But, without perhaps realizing it, a person who lies about you and who may call you a deceiver has himself become a tool in Satan’s hands–that evil being who is the arch-deceiver and the accuser of the brethren, accusing them day and night (Revelation 12:9-10). It is therefore no surprise when his ministers, perhaps claiming to be servants of Christ, accuse true Christians (2 Corinthians 11:15). They act in this way so that they–or their self-invented “cause”–may appear “righteous” in the eyes of man; but their “end will be according to their works” (same verse).

Sometimes I wonder whether such evil workers of iniquity have “no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18). I ask myself, don’t they know that they will have to answer to God, in His due time? Do they even care? And then I have to remind myself: Don’t be surprised! It’s prophesied to happen. Christ said: “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you… but all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me” (John 15:20-21).

I have been lied about many times–as I am sure that you have been. And it is never easy to hear vicious rumors about yourself–knowing them to be absolute falsehoods and misrepresentations; KNOWING that these “evil things” have been “invented” by evil minds (compare Romans 1:30). Still, we ARE told NOT to hate such evil workers of iniquities–even though we surely are to HATE with all our being WHAT they are doing–but to “give place” to the wrath of God. We are to “bless those who persecute” us (Romans 12:14), always remembering the truthful saying of God: “‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:19).

I’m not saying that this is easy. I’m sometimes surprised how difficult it may be. Especially when malicious and vicious lies are being spread about us which are totally untrue–and when others believe those lies, even though they should know better. No, it is not easy to bless in such situations, rather than to curse (Romans 12:14), but this is what we are commanded to do. And we are to even rejoice in persecutions, knowing that God blesses us in such situations. Peter tells us: “If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified” (1 Peter 4:14).

And so, we know that God will bring to light, in His due time, the true motives of everyone, and we are confident that God will praise the wrongfully accused (compare 1 Corinthians 4:5).

Don’t be surprised when persecution comes. But be certain that you are found in the role of the wrongfully accused–and never in the role of the wrongful accuser. After all, it IS a serious and “fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).

“Bush’s European Disaster”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on June 14 about “Bush’s European Disaster.” The article stated:

“The president’s trip was a pageant of disdain, delusion and provocation masquerading as a respite from his troubles at home… High officials of European governments describe U.S. influence as squandered and swiftly eroding… the country’s moral authority nil. Lethal power vacuums are emerging from Lebanon to Pakistan, and Europeans are incapable on their own of quelling the fires that burn far closer to them than to the United States through their growing Muslim populations and proximity to the Middle East… Even worse than Bush, from their perspective, would be another Republican president who continued Bush policies and also appointed neoconservatives. That would toll, if not the end of days, then the decline and fall of the Western alliance except in name only, and an even more rapid acceleration of chaos in the world order.

“… No president has had a more disastrous European trip since President Reagan placed a wreath on the graves of SS officers in the Bitburg cemetery. Yet Reagan’s mistake was unintentional and symbolic, a temporary and superficial setback, doing no real damage to U.S. foreign relations, while Bush’s blunders not only reinforced counterproductive policies but also created a new one with Russia that has the potential of profoundly undermining U.S. national security interests for years to come…

“Bush quite deliberately upset German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s proposal for climate change at the G8… He also deprived Blair of a last achievement [who] has sacrificed his career to Bush’s fiasco…

“In Iraq, Bush’s policy is now to arm all sides in the sectarian civil war between Shiites and Sunnis. He claims to be devoted to nation building, which he previously dismissed, while he presides over a mass exodus of 2 million Iraqis, upholds law and order while holding tens of thousands of prisoners without due process…”

U.S. Missile Defense System in Poland?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on June 15:

“Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates made clear Thursday that the United States would not alter plans to deploy parts of a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, despite an unexpected proposal by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to use a radar base in Azerbaijan instead. During a session of defense ministers here, Mr. Gates also effectively secured NATO’s endorsement for an American plan to build the missile defense bases in Central Europe…”

Can Evolution and Creation Coexist?

USA Today wrote on June 12:

“During a televised debate among GOP presidential candidates last month in California, Sen. John McCain of Arizona was asked whether he believes in evolution. McCain first answered with one word: ‘Yes.’ Then he quickly added: ‘I believe in evolution. But I also believe, when I hike the Grand Canyon and see it at sunset, that the hand of God is there also.’… [A] recent USA TODAY/Gallup Poll suggests McCain’s attempt to have it both ways is not an uncommon view. One-quarter of Americans think evolution… and creationism… are both likely explanations…

“Whatever the reason, three of the GOP presidential wannabes standing with McCain that day gave a much different answer. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas and Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado answered with a show of hands when a reporter asked, ‘Is there anybody on the stage that does not agree, believe in evolution?’… Many Americans think the theories of divine creation and evolution can coexist.”

In spite of majority opinions, the simple truth is that Evolution and Biblical Teaching CANNOT co-exist. For the reasons, please read our free booklet, “The Theory of Evolution–a Fairy Tale for Adults?” Please also watch our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Why Do You Live?”

Kurt Waldheim Died

The Washington Post wrote on June 15:

“Kurt Waldheim, 88, a seemingly low-key diplomat who became secretary general of the United Nations and president of his native Austria only to be barred from the United States on suspicion of involvement in Nazi war crimes, died June 14 at a Vienna hospital… When Mr. Waldheim was put on the Justice Department’s ‘watch list’ of prohibited people in 1987, it was the first time in U.S. history that the head of a friendly country had been branded an undesirable alien suspected of war crimes with the German army in World War II. He remained on the list for the rest of his life…

“The facts about what he did during the war years were never clearly established, and there was no clear-cut proof that he participated in killings or other war crimes. But there was strong evidence that he concealed his role as a lieutenant between 1942 and 1945 with Nazi Army units involved in atrocities against Yugoslav partisans and lied about his whereabouts during that period. Although Mr. Waldheim was never tried, public disclosures in the mid-1980s included a secret 1948 finding by the U.N. War Crimes Commission that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute him on charges of ‘murder’ and ‘putting hostages to death.’

“In a corollary development, the validity of which was never established, a former Yugoslav intelligence officer said that the Soviet Union might have used the information to enlist Mr. Waldheim as a Soviet agent after the war when he was serving in Austria’s diplomatic service. There also was speculation that he… had worked secretly for the United States in exchange for the CIA concealing his background.”

The European Summit–Success or Flop?

On June 21, 2007, Der Spiegel Online published an article, titled, “Europe Divided on How to Unite.”

It was pointed out:

“EU diplomats are now faced with reaching agreement on 15 outstanding objections to the so-called ‘draft mandate,’ an 11-page blueprint presented by Germany to the 27 member states on Tuesday. The European leaders are meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to try to hammer out a final deal on how to make the bloc work more effectively… The amount of unresolved issues, means that diplomats are expecting the meeting to go on well into the early hours of Saturday and one thing people can agree on is that a deal is far from guaranteed….

“The Poles have been using particularly emotional rhetoric in advance of the summit. Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski told Polish radio on Tuesday that his objection to the proposed new voting formula went back to the country’s suffering in World War II. According to Thursday’s Financial Times, he said: ‘If Poland had not had to live through the years of 1939-45, Poland would be today looking at the demographics of a country of 66 million.’ Poland’s current population is 38 million… Later Kaczynski told Reuters: ‘We realize we cannot stop the process (of reform) … that would be too risky for the future.’ He said there was a 50-50 chance of the summit reaching an agreement.

“Now the UK seems to be stepping into its old role as the main Euro spoilsport. Britain fears that a legally binding Charter could take precedence over its Common Law — unlike the other EU member states, Great Britain does not have a written constitution.”

The article continued:

“… the British and Polish attempts to water down the treaty have enraged other countries. Spain is insisting on the establishment of the role of European foreign minister, and the Spanish press reports that the Madrid government is threatening to use its veto on this point. And Luxembourg is also fuming at the Euro-skeptic saber-rattling in advance of the summit. Speaking on Germany’s ZDF channel on Wednesday, Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker warned that if the summit failed then the EU could split into a two-speed bloc, with some European states further integrating ‘without the others.'”

And THAT is, according to Biblical prophecy, what might ultimately happen.

The Media Campaign Against or For the EU Summit

On June 15, the British tabloid, “The Sun,” started a media campaign against Tony Blair and Angela Merkel, in preparation for the EU Summit on Thursday. By way of background, “The Sun” used to be a conservative newspaper in the 1990’s, but it subsequently became a Tony Blair supporter for years. However, things changed again. “The Sun” is not known for in-depth analysis like the Daily Telegraph or the Times.  But they do have the finger on the pulse and seem to carry quite a bit of clout. The campaign shows the concern many have in Britain that Germany will control the Summit and that British sovereignty will be surrendered. Whether or not the statements in the article are completely correct, the campaign initiated by “The Sun” is remarkable. The tabloid wrote:

“The treaty will mean a giant giveaway of UK power. Our voting power will be slashed by 30 per cent — making it impossible to block barmy EU rules… Germany is pushing hard for a new treaty which includes many of the measures in the hated EU constitution. Its leader Angela Merkel has admitted the treaty will be virtually a carbon copy of the constitution… Chancellor Merkel wrote to EU leaders saying she wanted ‘to use different terminology without changing the legal substance’ of the rejected constitution.”

On June 16, Der Spiegel Online reported about a perceived British “anti German/anti-European media campaign,” directed primarily at Angela Merkel and Tony Blair. The magazine reacted in kind–with an anti-British piece, alleging that Britain has been “stubbornly” refusing to participate in any European integration for more than 20 years, and that Britain will continue with its “negative approach” toward European unification.

The British media campaign might not have been without consequences for Mr. Blair. Der Spiegel Online reported on June 19:

“Two days before the crucial summit on the EU treaty to replace the stalled constitution, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is digging in his heels. Britain, he says, will not give up any sovereignty. But he may be making life difficult for his successor… Britain continues to say that it is willing to block any treaty that smacks too much of a constitution and that transfers too much power to Brussels… Britain has a whole list of key areas that it will not compromise on… Blair… has his eye on the Eurosceptic press and the opposition Conservatives… The influential mass-circulation Sun newspaper last week launched a ‘seven days to save Britain’ campaign and urged Blair to stop a ‘surrender of British power to Brussels.’…

“With Blair leaving office next Wednesday, his successor Gordon Brown will have the frustrating experience of not being part of the extremely important negotiations in Europe, ones that will affect his future government. If Britain agrees to a deal this week, it will give Brown an influential position in Europe but give the Conservatives a gift in election campaigns and probably alienate the largely Eurosceptic press. But if the UK blocks the agreement, he will take over with Britain having annoyed leaders across Europe.”

Britain and Perhaps Poland Oppose EU Treaty

Der Spiegel Online wrote on June 20:

“Most EU summits are dull affairs, but the week leading up to Thursday’s meeting on a new EU treaty has been a rollercoaster ride. After no small amount of saber-rattling, Poland finally looks like coming round — but now Britain has come up with a whole list of objections…

“With just one day to go until the leaders of the European Union gather in Brussels, it seems no one has any idea if the summit is going to be a resounding success or a huge flop. Germany, as current EU president, is attempting to revive parts of the aborted European constitution to create a new treaty, but has run up against Polish and British objections to the new agreement.

“Germany presented its draft mandate of the treaty on Tuesday to the 27 member countries, and now EU diplomats are trying to iron out the final sticking points before the leaders meet in Brussels Thursday and Friday. All 27 member states have to agree to a new treaty, and if Poland or Britain block the deal, it could plunge the EU into a prolonged crisis…

“On Tuesday a furious Jose Manuel Barroso lashed out at the two countries for their stance in the run up to the talks. The EU Commission president warned the countries that if they killed the deal, they would face isolation and could expect less generosity from Brussels in the future.”

Will Merkel Pull It Off?

The Times wrote on June 16:

“When Angela Merkel won her G8 breakthrough by knocking male heads together, the fawning Bild Zeitung dubbed her ‘Miss World’. With record 70 per cent approval ratings it seemed as if the German Chancellor could do no wrong.

“Now Ms Merkel faces an even tougher challenge to earn her tabloid laurels: in the next few days she has to come up with the outlines of a deal on the European constitution. If she fails, the continent could be heading for a two or multiple-speed Europe, an end of the old idea of political integration. The Miss World title would be forfeit.

“So, it is High Noon for Europe… The Chancellor should not be underestimated: she may pull it off… Time and again this canny 53-year-old politician… has outwitted some of the shrewdest strategic heads in Europe. It has been a remarkable transformation that has baffled her male colleagues in the Christian Democratic party… the real change has come from the engine room: a hard-nosed chief of staff, Beate Baumann, and a group of shrewd women advisers drawn from a network that secretly pulls many of the strings in Berlin… Out goes Thatcherite handbagging, in comes a more Machiavellian approach, using inside intelligence to play off one obstructive male against another…

“Slowly, she worked out how to spin a silky web of deadlines committing leaders to a ‘process’ rather than a hard and fast deal. That was her approach to the G8 summit in Heiligendamm and it worked; the same rules are being applied for the EU summit… It is often gay men who get the better of her — including Guido Westerwelle, the talented leader of the Free Democrats… Now, [he is] preparing himself for a future centre-right government…”

European Arms Sales Contracts

The Associated Press reported on June 19:

“Spain has agreed to end its opt-out from the European Union’s year-old code of conduct on arms sales… The director of the European Defense Agency said the decision… showed the success of the new system which has led to more than 200 defense contracts worth about 10 billion euros ($13.4 billion)… The entry of Spain and Hungary [last month] means 24 of the 27 EU nations are taking part. Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU at the beginning of this year are considering joining up, but Denmark decided in the early 1990s not to participate in the EU’s defense and security policy.”

Strong Support of European Citizens for EU Constitution

The International Herald Tribune wrote on June 20:

“Two out of three European Union citizens support the idea of a constitution, an EU survey showed Wednesday on the eve of crucial summit talks on forging a new treaty for the expanded bloc. Two years after French and Dutch voters rejected the draft constitution, 68 percent of French citizens and 55 percent in the Netherlands support some sort of constitution.

“In Poland, the country seen as a major stumbling bloc to consensus during the two-day EU summit, backing for a constitution rose 5 points from last fall, to 69 percent. [In] Britain, which also balks at some of the proposals for a new EU treaty to replace the constitution, support has historically been lukewarm, and it stood at 43 percent, lowest among the 27 EU member states.

“The overall rate of support for a constitution — 66 percent — was a 3-point increase compared to the rate from fall of last year. Support for EU membership is at its highest since 1994, with 57 percent backing in the EU, a 4-point hike since last fall. It was highest in the Netherlands at 77 percent and lowest in Austria at 36 percent.”

G4 Talks Collapse

Reuters reported on June 21:

“Talks between trade powers to salvage global trade talks collapsed on Thursday, throwing the future of the World Trade Organisation’s struggling round deeper into doubt. Ministers from the United States and the European Union (EU), representing rich nation interests, and Brazil and India, for the developing world, were quick to blame the other side for the failure. Without an agreement between the four powers at their meeting in Potsdam [Germany], diplomats and trade officials had warned that it would be difficult for the full 150-member state WTO to strike a deal as hoped by the end of July.”

Egypt Invites Leaders to Monday’s Peace Summit

The Associated Press reported on June 21:

“Closing ranks against Hamas, Egypt’s president invited Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders to a peace summit, officials said Thursday, the biggest show of support yet by moderate Arab states for beleaguered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The meeting will take place Monday in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh…

“Despite the talk about peace, however, the Hamas takeover has dealt a setback to statehood efforts, with the Islamic militants in charge of Gaza and Abbas in charge of the West Bank. Gaza militants fired nine rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot on Wednesday, slightly injuring one person. Hours earlier, Israeli troops backed by tanks and armored vehicles fatally shot four militants.”

Horrible Conditions in Ethiopia

On June 17, The International Herald Tribune published the following article about Ethiopia’s inhuman treatment of its own people. How long will the West stand idly by before responding to this “push” towards and “attack” on democratic freedoms, which are strongly advocated by Western societies? The article stated:

“This is the Ogaden, a corner of Ethiopia that the urbane officials in Addis Ababa, the capital, would rather outsiders never see. It is the epicenter of a separatist war in which impoverished nomads are fighting one of the biggest armies in Africa. What goes on here seems to be starkly different from the carefully-constructed image that Ethiopia – a country that America increasingly relies on to fight militant Islam in the Horn of Africa – tries to project.

“In village after village, people said they had been brutalized by government troops. They described a widespread and longstanding reign of terror, with Ethiopian soldiers gang-raping women, burning down huts and killing civilians at will. It is the same military that the American government helps train and equip – and provides with prized intelligence. The two nations have been allies for years, but recently they have grown especially close, teaming up last winter to oust an Islamic movement that controlled much of Somalia and rid the region of a potential terrorist threat.

“The Bush administration, particularly the military, considers Ethiopia its best bet in the Horn of Africa – which, with Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea, is fast becoming intensely violent, virulently anti-American and an incubator for terrorism. But an emerging concern for American officials is the way the Ethiopian military operates inside its own borders, especially in war zones like the Ogaden.

“… the State Department, the European Parliament, and many human rights groups, mostly outside of Ethiopia, have cited thousands of cases of torture, arbitrary detention and extrajudicial killings – enough to raise questions in Congress about American support of the Ethiopian government. ‘This is a country that is abusing its own people and has no respect for democracy,’ said Representative Donald Payne, chairman of the House subcommittee on Africa and global health. ‘We’ve not only looked the other way but we’ve pushed them to intrude in other sovereign nations,’ he added, referring to the satellite images and other strategic help the American military gave Ethiopia in December, when thousands of Ethiopian troops poured into Somalia and overthrew the Islamist regime.

“According to Georgette Gagnon, deputy director for the Africa division of Human Rights Watch, Ethiopia is one of the most repressive countries in Africa. ‘What the Ethiopian security forces are doing,’ she said, ‘may amount to crimes against humanity.’ Human Rights Watch issued a report in 2005 that described a rampage by government troops against members of the Anuak minority tribe in western Ethiopia, in which soldiers ransacked homes, beat villagers to death with iron bars and in one case, according to a witness, tied up a prisoner and ran over him with a military truck.

“After the report came out, the researcher who wrote it was banned by the Ethiopian government from returning to the country. Similarly, three New York Times journalists who visited the Ogaden to cover this story were imprisoned for five days and had all their equipment confiscated before being released without charges… with the opposition poised to win a record-number of seats in Parliament, the government cracked down brutally, opening fire on demonstrators, rounding up tens of thousands of opposition supporters and students and leveling charges of treason and even attempted genocide against top opposition leaders, including the man elected mayor of Addis Ababa. Many opposition members are now in jail or in exile. The rest seem demoralized…”

Some Never Seem To Learn

AFP reported on June 18:

“Tony Blair on Monday strongly defended intervening in Iraq for the final time as prime minister before parliament’s top scrutiny body. In a robust farewell performance, Blair insisted ordinary Muslims craved democracy, saying that Islamist terrorists rather than the West were their worst enemy. He warned that the West would be making a ‘fundamental mistake’ if it gave up defending democracy when threatened with terrorism and slapped down those blaming coalition failures for the sectarian unrest since the March 2003 US-led invasion to topple dictator Saddam Hussein. And Blair, who steps down next week, admitted that he felt a heavy responsibility for the death toll in Iraq… Blair steps down on June 27 after a decade in power, leaving a legacy clouded by his decision to support US President George W. Bush in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.”

Britain Under Attack

AFP reported on June 19:

“Muslim radicals burned an effigy of Queen Elizabeth Tuesday as Pakistan summoned the British ambassador over Salman Rushdie’s knighthood and Iranian hardliners turned their fury on the monarch. Anger has mounted in the neighbouring Islamic republics since the British monarch gave the 59-year-old author of ‘The Satanic Verses’ the title of Sir Salman for services to literature at the weekend.

“The row has thrown Rushdie back in the eye of the storm, 18 years after he was sentenced to death by Iran’s revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for blasphemy in a fatwa that has never been revoked… Religious Affairs Minister Ijaz-ul-Haq on Monday said the award for Rushdie justified suicide attacks, prompting outrage in Britain, although he later withdrew the remark.

“Pakistan’s senate on Tuesday condemned the ‘blatant disregard for the sentiments of the Muslims by the British government.’… Legislators in North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, which is ruled by an alliance of hardline Islamists, called for Pakistan to sever diplomatic ties with London.”

Full Unity Among All “Christians”

On June 16, VIS published the following article:

“… the Pope and… Chrysostomos II, signed a Joint declaration… In the declaration, Benedict XVI and the archbishop of New Justiniana and All Cyprus declare their ‘sincere and firm desire, in obedience to the will of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to intensify the search for full unity among all Christians. … We wish the Catholic and Orthodox faithful of Cyprus to live fraternally and in full solidarity…

“… during their meeting they… considered ‘the situation in the Middle East, where war and contrasts between peoples risk spreading, with disastrous consequences… Our Churches intend to play a role of pacification in justice and in solidarity and, in order for this to come about, it is our desire to promote fraternal relations between all Christians and faithful dialogue between the various religions that are present and operate in the region.’

“After making a call for all those who raise their hands ‘against their brothers’ to lay down their arms, the joint declaration calls for ‘every effort to be made to ensure that human rights are always defended, in all countries.’ Of these, ‘the primary right is that of freedom of religion. Not to respect it constitutes a grave offence to the dignity of man. … And hence, to profane, destroy or plunder the places of worship of any religion is an act against humanity and the civilization of peoples.’

“‘At a time of growing secularization and relativism, Catholics and Orthodox in Europe are called to offer renewed witness on ethical values,’ write the Pope and Chrysostomos II. Referring to the European Union, they highlight how ‘it cannot be limited to merely economic cooperation, it needs solid cultural foundations, shared ethical positions and openness to the religious dimension. It is necessary to revive the Christian roots of Europe, which have made its civilization great over the centuries, and to recognize that the Western and Eastern Christian tradition have, in this sense, a joint task to accomplish.’

“The Pope and the archbishop of New Justiniana and All Cyprus indicate that ‘the rich heritage of faith and the solid Christian tradition of our lands must encourage Catholic and Orthodox to a renewed determination to announce the Gospel in our time, in order to be faithful to our Christian vocation and to respond to the needs of today’s world.'”

The Bible teaches both. Unfortunately, many modern English translations–including the New King James Bible–have clouded the meaning by falsely rendering certain Scriptural passages.

It is of course true that we must have faith in Christ–including in His name, identity, role and function, His message, and His Sacrifice (Acts 3:16; 20:21; 24:24; John 3:14-15; 5:24; 11:24; 12:46). Before we receive the Holy Spirit, which God only gives us after repentance, belief, proper adult baptism and the laying on of hands through God’s true ministers–our faith IN Christ is the ONLY kind of faith we can have. But even this is not a “dead” faith, but a “living” faith–it is that kind of faith which manifests itself through works of OBEDIENCE (James 2:14, 17, 22, 26; Romans 1:5; 16:26; Acts 6:7). John 3:36 reads, correctly translated: “He who believes IN the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not OBEY the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (compare Revised Standard Version, “RSV”). In fact, without living, obedient faith in God the Father and Jesus Christ, we cannot even receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:32).

Once we receive God’s Holy Spirit, and with it a “measure of faith” (Romans 12:3), Jesus Christ’s living FAITH resides in us. As we allow Christ to lead and direct our lives more and more, we also allow His faith in us to become more and more powerful. Not that Christ’s perfect and boundless faith needs to grow or become more effective, but WE grow to the extent that we allow Him and His faith in us to motivate us and lead us. Remember that Jesus could not do many miracles because of the lack of faith of the people (compare Mark 6:5-6; Matthew 13:58). It is through Christ’s faith in us that we can become more and more obedient and perfect. But if we refuse to take advantage of and use Christ’s faith in us, we will not grow toward perfection.

For proof that Christ’s faith must live in us, notice Galatians 2:16, 20. Please note that the New King James Bible, as well as most other modern translations, including the New International Version, the RSV and the Living Bible, incorrectly use the words “faith IN Christ,” rendering the passage as follows:

“… knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith IN Jesus Christ, even we have believed IN Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith IN Christ and not by the works of the law… I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith IN the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (New King James Bible).

This false rendition is very damaging, as it totally clouds the biblical truth that we must have the faith OF Christ in us, and it is the faith OF Christ which justifies us. It is the living Jesus Christ, dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit, who makes us perfect through HIS faith–OUR faith IN Christ, even though necessary, could NEVER accomplish this.

Notice how the Authorized Version renders the passage of Galatians 2:16:

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith OF Jesus Christ, even we have believed IN Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith OF Christ… “

The Englishman’s Greek New Testament, an interlinear literal translation (“Interlinear”), clarifies that the literal Greek renders the phrase in verse 16 as “faith OF Christ,” NOT “faith IN Christ.” The Greek words for “Jesus Christ” or for “Christ,” are in the Genitive, meaning that the translation must be, “faith OF Jesus Christ” and “faith OF Christ.” On the other hand, in the phrase, “we have believed IN Jesus Christ,” the Greek words for “Jesus Christ” are NOT in the Genitive, showing that in that case, the rendering of belief IN Jesus Christ is correct. We first must believe IN Christ, in order to obtain the faith OF Christ.

The Authorized Version renders Verse 20 as follows:

“… and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith OF the Son of God…”

In this case, the original Greek is a little bit more complicated. Literally translated, it says, according to “Interlinear”: “.. yet I live, no longer I, but lives in me Christ; but which I now live in flesh, in faith I live, that of the Son of God.” Some say that the rendering should be, “in faith I live, IN that of the Son of God,” adding the word “IN” to imply that we live through OUR faith IN the faith OF Christ. But the word “IN” is not in the original. It is more compelling, from the context and the structure of the sentence, to state that we live in faith WHICH IS the faith of the Son of God. Notice again the literal rendering, word for word: “in faith I live, THAT OF the Son of God.”

Additional passages also show that we must have the faith OF Christ, LIVING in us, in order to inherit eternal life.

Note, for example, Galatians 3:22, which is rendered incorrectly in the New King James Bible and other modern translations, but which has been translated correctly by the Authorized Version:

“But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith OF Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”

In the Greek, the words “Jesus Christ” are in the Genitive, mandating the translation, “faith OF Jesus Christ.”

Ephesians 3:12 reads, in the Authorized Version (note that many modern translations, including the New King James Bible, again mistranslates this passage): “In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith OF HIM.” The Greek word for “HIM” is in the Genitive, so that the translation “OF HIM” is correct.

It is Christ, through His Spirit, who dwells in our hearts through faith (compare Ephesians 3:16-17). He is the author and finisher of faith (compare Hebrews 12:2, but please note that the word “our” in “our faith” was added by the translator and is not in the original).

Another passage, which has been mistranslated in most modern versions, including the New King James Bible, but which has been accurately rendered in the Authorized Version, is Philippians 3:9:

“And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is THROUGH THE FAITH OF CHRIST, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”

Again, the Greek word for “Christ” is in the Genitive, mandating the translation, “faith OF Christ.”

Notice that the New King James Bible translates James 2:1 correctly, as follows: “My brethren, do not hold the faith OF our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.” This rendering is correct, as the Greek words for “Lord Jesus Christ” are in the Genitive.

Notice also Revelation 2:13. Christ says to the church in Pergamos: “I know your works.. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny MY FAITH…”

Notice, too, Revelation 14:12: “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith OF Jesus.” In this instance, the New King James Bible and the RSV render the passage correctly–while other modern renditions mistranslate this passage as well. But as in the passages mentioned above, the Greek word for “Jesus” is in the Genitive, so that “OF Jesus” is the only possible rendering.

Those, then, who KEEP God’s commandments AND the faith OF Jesus Christ, which dwells in them, will be saved. It is absolutely necessary that Christ’s faith dwells in us and motivates us to endure, persevere, and continue in our godly walk to inherit the Kingdom of God and eternal life.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

Booklets

Our 25th booklet, “The Meaning of God’s Fall Holy Days,” has been finalized and is ready to be sent to the printer.

StandingWatch programs

This week, we sent out an announcement regarding our new StandingWatch program #125

Unsuccessful G-8 Summit

Even though the press and politicians have described the G-8 Summit in Germany as a success, in fact, it was not. No binding agreements were reached–only the expression of a “desire” to perhaps do something together in the future. But German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has emerged as THE world leader. She is even called now “Miss World.” Why is this remarkable in view of end-time events?

View it now on Google.

A new StandingWatch program was recorded this week, titled, “Why Do You Live?”, and will be posted shortly.

One of the most successful StandingWatch programs so far has been the one on “American Hiroshima,” which received in excess of 2,000 views on Google, followed by “Iran’s Frightening Intensions” (over 1,000 views) and “What’s in Store for America” (840 views). These numbers do not include viewers of our StandingWatch Website.

Video Sermons

We also continue to post video-recorded sermons on Google Video. Norbert Link’s recent video presentation, “Bible Study–Christian Suffering” has been viewed over 1,130 times.

Internet Ad Campaign

We have started an Internet ad campaign in Great Britain, offering Mr. McNair’s booklet, “America and Britain in Prophecy.” So far, we have received 76 requests for the booklet.

We have also just begun an Internet ad campaign in the USA, offering our booklet, “Mysteries of the Bible,” and will soon begin a similar Internet ad campaign for the same booklet in Canada. After running the ad for about a day or two, we have already received ten requests.

Your ongoing prayers for the success of our efforts to preach the gospel and to feed the flock are truly appreciated.

by Michael Link

For the past couple of months I had to learn a great deal of patience.  I have been constantly faced with situations where I had to make the right decisions, but ultimately would come to the conclusion that I need to put things into God’s hands. 

Lately, we have heard prayer requests for those in the Church who have been struggling in their quest for a job or a better job.  I am also one who would fit that category.  For example, assuming that the current job I have would bring forth fruit by now, including a few freelance jobs on the side, I had and still do have many questions in my mind as to what the purpose of all of this may be. I was hoping for greater things to happen by now.   I had a plan when certain things would be accomplished.  However, were my plans in conjunction with God’s plan for me?  Do I have enough patience as God has for me? 

I started thinking about that a lot more and came to the realization that God does have a plan for me, and He knows exactly when things are to come to pass for my sake.  I also know that I have a part to do as well.  I have kept my options open in terms of finding another job, and I have all the confidence that God will lead me in the right direction.  Most importantly, I have to have continuous faith and confidence that God’s plan for me will come to pass, and if I continue to have patience, it will come.

On June 16, 2007, Dave Harris will give the sermon, titled, “Our Change.”

The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org at 12:30 pm Pacific Time (which is 2:30 pm Central Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

A few weeks ago in the UK we had council elections where all the candidates were putting themselves forward for political office.   A week later, the Prime Minister announced that he would be leaving office on June 27th.   He was elected almost 10 years ago with high expectations, as usually happens with any change of leader, but now his place will be taken by another who will last only so long.   The same is true for all those councilors elected in the May local elections.   They have a short shelf life in their political office.  

Likewise, football managers rarely last more than a few short years and managers in industry move around.   Wherever you look, the shelf life in these highly paid jobs is but for a moment.   And yet, so many strive for them.   The perceived glamour of celebrity and position allied to wealth is a heady mix for so many who never give their Creator a passing thought.   It’s all for now, and the future will take care of itself.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, much is written that we should take note of.   “… Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.   What profit has a man from his labor In which he toils under the sun?   One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever” (Ecclesiastes 1:2-4).  

We have been called to have a full time career in Christianity that will last until our dying breath.  There must be no shelf life for true Christians in this mortal life as we grow and overcome and press towards the Kingdom of God. As Christians called by God, our shelf life is to be eternity, not just a fleeting few years.

Ecclesiastes has this admonition right at the end of the book, in chapter 12:13: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is the whole duty of man.”

Chaos in the Middle East — Will the UN or the EU Intervene?

Der Spiegel Online reported on June 14:

“As the violence in the Gaza Strip escalates, with Hamas tightening its grip on the territory, President Mahmoud Abbas has called on the United Nations for help… The Israeli Prime Minster Ehud Olmert said for the first time on Tuesday that an international force along the Gaza-Egypt border should be seriously considered to help counter the growing strength of Hamas. Israel in the past has resisted Palestinian calls for peacekeepers in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, saying any UN deployment would interfere with Israeli security operations. But there is speculation that Olmert’s calls for international engagement is merely laying the groundwork for Israeli action against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, from which Israeli troops withdrew in 2005… The European Union has also said it would consider participation in an international force in the Gaza Strip. ‘If we are asked, of course we will consider the possibility,’ EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told reporters.”

AFP added on June 14:

“Hamas was poised to seize full control of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, overrunning key security strongholds of the rival Fatah movement after days of ferocious gunbattles in the chaotic territory. The Palestine Liberation Organisation called on president Mahmud Abbas to sack the teetering coalition government and declare a state of emergency after the deaths of almost 100 people in less than a week. Hamas gunmen stormed the compound of the preventive security forces in Gaza City and hoisted the green flag of the Islamist movement on the roof after an hours-long battle that left at least 14 dead and 70 wounded, witnesses said.

“Dozens of Fatah fighters loyal to Abbas, some of them stripped to their underwear, were dragged out of the building with their hands in the air as black-clad masked Hamas gunmen stood watch, they said. Some Islamist fighters prayed on the sidewalk while on the rooftop others fired automatic weapons into the air to celebrate their latest victory in what one Hamas leader described as ‘a battle between Islam and heresy.’ It is [the] largest stronghold of pro-Fatah security services to fall to Hamas — considered a terror outfit by the EU, Israel and the United States — whose disciplined fighters had already overran positions in the south and the north.

“Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, demanded the surrender of the overall Fatah-controlled Palestinian security headquarters as its militiamen besieged the complex in Gaza City. Hamas’s armed wing also declared it had grabbed a security compound in the southern city of Rafah on the border with Egypt and the Fatah intelligence headquarters for the entire Gaza in the northern town of Beit Lahiya.”

The Financial Times reported on Thursday evening, June 14:

“Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, dismissed his Hamas-led government on Thursday night and declared a state of emergency, although with little prospect of imposing it in the Gaza Strip after Hamas routed his Fatah loyalists there in the space of a week. His decrees marked the end of a unity government that the two parties formed in March after agreeing in Mecca on a programme to end their factional strife. In the latest round of violence, Hamas gunmen seized almost all the main Gaza bases of security forces that answer to Mr Abbas.”

A Drought For the Ages

USA Today reported on June 10:

“Drought, a fixture in much of the West for nearly a decade, now covers more than one-third of the continental USA. And it’s spreading. As summer starts, half the nation is either abnormally dry or in outright drought from prolonged lack of rain that could lead to water shortages… Welcome rainfall last weekend from Tropical Storm Barry brought short-term relief to parts of the fire-scorched Southeast. But up to 50 inches of rain is needed to end the drought there, and this is the driest spring in the Southeast since record-keeping began in 1895… In central California, ranchers are selling cattle or trucking them out of state as grazing grass dries up. In Southern California’s Antelope Valley, rainfall at just 15% of normal erased the spring bloom of California poppies…

“Dry episodes have become so persistent in the West that some scientists and water managers say drought is the ‘new normal’ there. Reinforcing that notion are global-warming projections warning of more and deeper dry spells in the Southwest, although a report in last week’s Science magazine challenges the climate models and suggests there will be more rainfall worldwide later this century… This drought has been particularly harsh in three regions: the Southwest, the Southeast and northern Minnesota.

“Severe dryness across California and Arizona has spread into 11 other Western states. On the Colorado River, the water supply for 30 million people in seven states and Mexico, the Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs are only half full and unlikely to recover for years. In Los Angeles County, on track for a record dry year with 21% of normal rain downtown since last summer, fire officials are threatening to cancel Fourth of July fireworks if conditions worsen… In Minnesota, which is in its worst drought since 1976, the situation is improving slowly…

“The Southeast, unaccustomed to prolonged dry spells, may be suffering the most. In eight states from Mississippi to the Carolinas and down through Florida, lakes are shrinking, crops are withering, well levels are falling and there are new limits on water use. ‘We need 40-50 inches of rainfall to get out of the drought,’ says Carol Ann Wehle of the South Florida Water Management District… Texas and Oklahoma, charred by wildfires in the dry winter of 2005-06, are drought-free. Even in California… shortages are unlikely this year. But another dry winter would tax supplies.”

Possibility of Nuclear Chain Reaction in Russia?

The Associated Press reported on June 4:

“The Russian government claimed on Monday that a nuclear waste dump in the Russian Arctic is safe, responding to a Norwegian environmental group’s warning that the site may be in danger of exploding because of corrosion from salt water… [The study group] cited a report from Rosatom, the Russian nuclear authority, in its warning. ‘Ongoing degradation is causing fuel to split into small granules. Calculations show that the creation of a homogenous mixture of these particles with water can cause an uncontrolled chain reaction,’ its translation of the report said.”

No Climate Change Breakthrough at G-8 Summit

The EUObserver wrote on June 7:

“World leaders yesterday (7 June) managed to stave off accusations of calamity at their G8 summit in Heiligendamm, but their climate change ‘breakthrough’ has been condemned as insufficient. At the summit, six of the eight countries agreed to ‘at least halve global carbon dioxide emissions by 2050’ and to achieve the goal together ‘as part of a United Nations process.’  Russia and the US did not sign up to the non-binding pledge by Germany, France, Italy, the UK, Canada and Japan. As a compromise, however, all eight nations agreed to make substantial – but undefined – emissions cuts. The eight countries also agreed to launch negotiations on climate change under the United Nations umbrella starting in December 2007 to be wrapped up by 2009… Acknowledging that the statement is not legally-binding, German chancellor and current G8 host Angela Merkel said she was sure that ‘no one can escape this declaration.'”

Der Spiegel Online reported on June 8 about the “success” of the G-8 summit on gashouse emissions:

“Nevertheless, the compromise still leaves plenty of room for criticism. Before the summit, Merkel had promised not to accept any ‘lazy compromises.’ Her words are now coming back to haunt her, as organizations like Greenpeace, Oxfam and other environmentalist groups take her to task for not living up to them. If there is one thing the final document does not contain, it is mandatory reduction targets for the United States and Russia. This is where Bush has prevailed.”

No Improvement in British-Russian Relationship

The Times wrote on June 9:

“Tony Blair told Vladimir Putin yesterday that the world was becoming more and more afraid of Russia’s behaviour at home and abroad. And as he left his last G8 summit in Germany Mr Blair predicted a lengthy period of deep freeze in relations between Russia and the West. The two men… had a tense, hour-long encounter… Mr Blair raised the murder of the former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, Mr Putin’s threats to train missiles on Europe and the treatment of international companies in Russia, particularly BP… [Blair said:] ‘It matters that we start trying to resolve some of these outstanding matters but in the end this is a question of actions rather than words.’ Mr Blair said that Mr Putin had put his case that Russia was not being treated properly by the West, particularly America… Mr Blair added: ‘It was a very frank discussion but what will come out of it is another matter.’

“Mr Blair… has grown increasingly sceptical about [Mr Putin] and believes that Russia’s democratic reforms have gone into reverse. Relations with Russia will be one of Gordon Brown’s main foreign policy headaches. Mr Blair told Mr Putin that Russia’s behaviour would decide how much political and commercial business it would be able to do with the rest of the world.”

Growing Tensions Between Russia and the West

The Financial Times wrote on June 8:

“Growing tensions between Russia and the west overshadowed the close of the Group of Eight summit of industrialised nations in Germany on Friday, as Vladimir Putin hardened his stance on the future of Kosovo and offered further controversial proposals to challenge US plans for Europe-based missile defences… Having already surprised the US with an offer to use a Russian radar base in Azerbaijan for its missile defence shield, Mr Putin on Friday suggested that, instead of Poland, the Pentagon place its missile interceptors in Turkey, Iraq or on ships.

“He also toughened his stance on the future of Kosovo, rejecting French proposals to resolve the future of the troubled territory, under which Kosovo and Serbia would be given six months to negotiate an alternative status for the region or see it become independent.

“The tensions eclipsed the proclaimed achievements of the summit, which was marked by progress [which, according to other articles quotes herein, was not really progress at all] on climate change but disappointment for African countries as G8 countries refused to act on promises to boost aid to their continent significantly.”

US Does Not Abandon Missile Defense Shields in Eastern Europe

The Associated Press reported on June 8:

“President Bush signaled Friday the United States will press ahead with a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe despite Russia’s heated objections… The administration made clear it was not abandoning plans for a missile-defense program in Poland and the Czech Republic despite a surprise counterproposal Thursday by Russian President Vladimir Putin to instead use a Soviet-era radar tracking station in Azerbaijan [or, as Bild Online reported on June 8, in Turkey, or even Iraq. He said: “What else did they fight the war in Iraq for?”].”

Is G-8 Announcement to Fight Aids a Misleading Betrayal?

The Telegraph wrote on June 9:

“The G8 summit ended yesterday with world leaders pledging to spend £30 billion on fighting Aids, malaria and tuberculosis and stressing their determination to help Africa. But anti-poverty campaigners denounced this as a ‘betrayal’ and said the headline figure was ‘misleading’. Earlier announcements from President George W Bush account for half of the £30 billion and there is no sign that any new money arose from the summit in Germany. The G8 has also ‘watered down’ a pledge brokered by Tony Blair at the Gleneagles summit in 2005 to fund ‘universal access’ to anti-Aids drugs, critics said.

“As the G8 leaders left the Baltic town of Heiligendamm, Bob Geldof, the anti-poverty campaigner and rock star,…  denounced their work as a ‘total farce’. ‘The richest countries in the world, trillions of dollars swirling around that table, smiling in that stupid tent chair with the candy stripes. Do me a favour: get serious. This wasn’t serious, this was a farce, a total farce,’ he said. Bono, Geldof’s fellow rock star and campaigner, accused the leaders of deliberate ‘obfuscation’ and said the summit’s final declaration masked their failure to reach a consensus on helping Africa. The pair singled out the Canadian and Italian prime ministers, Stephen Harper and Romano Prodi, for blocking pledges for more aid.”

Chancellor Merkel–“Miss World”

In an article, dated June 8, Bild Online summarized the results of the G-8 Summit as follows: “Germany hosts the world… we are one world… Merkel can do it!… Problems remain.”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on June 8:

“Angela Merkel is basking in widespread praise for steering the G-8 summit to a compromise on combating climate change. The deal may not be the ‘huge success’ she’s calling it, say German commentators, but it’s a start — and that’s all that could realistically be expected…

“Mass circulation Bild newspaper crowned Merkel ‘Miss World’ in a banner headline…’The controversial summit meeting behind the high fence on the Baltic sea was a success for Angela Merkel!… Step-by-step, she pulled the US President over to her side for a new UN treaty to reduce greenhouse gases… And she even built a bridge of reconciliation between Bush and Vladimir Putin in the missile row.’…  [But, as other articles in this Update show, Angela Merkel was NOT really successful.]

“Business daily Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘Measured in terms of the high-flying expectations she herself whipped up in recent weeks, Angela Merkel failed on climate change at the G-8 summit. Measured in terms of what was realistically possible, she achieved a success at the meeting of leaders in Heiligendamm. Not the ‘huge success’ she is calling it, but a good start… US President George W. Bush for his part doesn’t need to feel committed to any concrete measures on the basis of this communiqué. The other governments too can be as rigorous or relaxed about climate protection as they see fit… The success of the German presidency is that it has set a process in motion, or rather back in motion — the attempt to regard the fight against climate change as an international and common problem which all relevant polluters have to tackle.'”

Chancellor Merkel emerges as the new World Leader–in spite of little accomplishments at the G-8 Summit. Why? Our new StandingWatch program, “The Unsuccessful G-8 summit,” provides the answers.

Poland vs. EU ? — Not Really

On June 13, Der Spiegel Online reported:

“Next week European leaders will gather in Brussels for the final event of Angela Merkel’s EU presidency. According to German commentators, though, the summit is shaping up to be a showdown between Merkel and her neighbors east of the Oder River: Poland’s Kaczynski twins…

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces what is arguably the most important summit of a season that has seen her serve simultaneously as the rotating president of the European Union and the G-8. European leaders will meet in Brussels next week for final negotiations on Merkel’s plan to resurrect the failed EU constitution… Among EU leaders, Poland is isolated. No one but these twins is demanding a new weighting of votes in the EU council. With the exception of the Kaczynskis, everyone seems to be aware that revisiting the wishes and demands (for the constitution) of each member state is like opening a can of worms.”

But Poland KNOWS that it NEEDS the EU and that it CANNOT SURVIVE without it. And so, it should come as no surprise that Poland IS RELENTING.

Der Spiegel Online reported on June 14:

“Warsaw indicated on Thursday that it may be willing to compromise. Perhaps the European Union will be able to agree on a new treaty after all. With time growing short before leaders from the EU member-states gather in Brussels next week to agree on a blue-print for future decision-making, Poland on Thursday signalled its hope that a compromise can be reached in its continued opposition to some elements of the draft treaty.

“With newly crowned French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Warsaw to convince Poland not to veto the draft treaty, President Lech Kaczynski indicated that he is not interested in standing in the way of a solution. ‘We don’t want to be isolated. We want to achieve a solution,’ Kaczynski said on Thursday. ‘We want a compromise under which all countries will be happy.’

“The tone was a far cry from previous statements out of Warsaw… Poland’s apparent softening comes after weeks of growing pressure and pleas from around Europe. Indeed, prior to Sarkozy’s Thursday visit, which commentators had seen as the last, best chance to lobby Poland to give ground on its position, both Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer and European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering had blasted Warsaw in the German press for its obstinacy.”

It seems certain that Poland–a thoroughly Catholic country–will be part of the EU’s final configuration. Whatever compromise Merkel and the other EU leaders might agree to on paper next week, the EU IS uniting–and no temporary set-back will stop this Biblically prophesied development. It is also interesting that, according to Der Stern Online of June 14, a poll in Germany found that a majority of 65 percent WANT a EU constitution–a dramatic change to former polls suggesting that most Germans were against a EU treaty. Only 27 percent felt the EU does not need a constitution, while 8 percent did not state an opinion.

For more information, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

New Financial World Order?

The Financial Times wrote on June 10:

“Russian president Vladimir Putin called on Sunday for a radical overhaul of the world’s financial and trade institutions to reflect the growing economic power of emerging market countries – including Russia. Mr Putin said the world needed to create a new international financial architecture to replace an existing model that had become ‘archaic, undemocratic and unwieldy’. His apparent challenge to western dominance of the world economic order came at a forum in St Petersburg designed to showcase the country’s economic recovery.

“Business deals worth more than $4bn were signed at the conference – including an order by Aeroflot for Boeing jets… His speech on financial institutions suggested that, along with an aggressive recent campaign against US ‘unilateralism’ in foreign policy, he was also seeking to challenge western dominance of the world economic order.”

Worldwide Unlawful Kidnappings of the CIA?

On June 11, Der Spiegel Online reported about alleged inappropriate conduct of the CIA outside the USA–this time in Ethiopia. These reportedly wrong activities are only adding to the increasing mistrust of the world towards American international activities. The article explained:

“The CIA’s system of unlawful kidnappings of terrorist suspects known as ‘extraordinary renditions’ appears to have been extended to the Horn of Africa. New cases have emerged of the transfer of terror suspects to prisons in third countries, where they have been questioned and allegedly mistreated — this time in East Africa. In total more than 100 terror suspects are thought to have been arrested in Somalia and Kenya and transferred to Ethiopia to face interrogation by US officials.

“In the chaos of the Ethiopian operation in Somalia that began in December 2006, a number of men and women were arrested, including at least four Britons, two Swedish citizens and one Canadian… the Sunday Times of London reported on Sunday that… flight records show that 85 other prisoners were transferred to Ethiopia for interrogation, and that these included 11 women and 11 children…

“Meanwhile last Friday, Council of Europe special investigator Dick Marty released his second report, saying he had ‘enough evidence to state’ that the CIA had operated secret prisons in Poland and Romania. The illegal deportation of suspects by CIA kidnapping teams in Europe amounts to a ‘massive and systematic violation of human rights,’ the report says.”

“Extremely Controversial” U.S. Proposal

On June 11, 2007, Der Spiegel Online reported about a U.S. proposal which would require Europeans to register online two days before traveling to America. And, Americans would be required to do the same when traveling to Europe. Of course, it appears unlikely that a prior notice of only two days would really enable the authorities to identify potential terrorists. In addition, not taking into account that some, especially older air travelers don’t even have computers or that they are not connected to the Internet, the “extremely controversial proposal,” as Der Spiegel put it mildly, brings again into focus the increasingly sharp “dispute between US terror investigators and EU privacy regulators.”

In an interview with Michael Chertoff, America’s Secretary of Homeland Security, the magazine asked some tough questions and received some rather astonishing answers, again evidencing the increasingly deteriorating relationship between the USA and Europe. After the magazine questioned the effectiveness of the present U.S. travel and data collection program, which ends July 31, the new “proposal” was discussed, as follows:

“SPIEGEL: The fear in the US administration seems so widespread that you don’t even want to rely solely on the passenger data. In addition you endorse a sort of online registration every European would have to fill out 48 hours before traveling.

“Chertoff: We proposed to Congress a way that would loosen the visa waiver process and make it more flexible in some respects — so that countries in Eastern Europe could participate. But at the same time we want to elevate the security level generally by having what we call an ‘electronic travel authorization.’…

“SPIEGEL: So it will mean that every European citizen has to fill out such a form two days before traveling?

“Chertoff: Right. The registration would have a shelf life of some years. It wouldn’t be something you do every trip, you would do it periodically.

“SPIEGEL: To make this point clear — you would only be allowed to travel with this kind of pre-clearance?

“Chertoff: Yes…

“SPIEGEL: So if you screen ‘every guest in your house’ as you phrased it, will American citizens who travel to Europe undergo similar treatment?

“Chertoff: Absolutely. It ought to be reciprocal…

“SPIEGEL: Are you not concerned that you will be accused of turning the United States into a kind of fortress?

“Chertoff: No. What we are trying to do is avoid a fortress. We are not suggesting to bring back the visa system for Europe, although frankly you will find some people in the US who argue we should do that…”

US Democratic Lawmaker “INSULTS” Germany

The Associated Press reported on June 13:

“A leading Democratic lawmaker lashed out at the former leaders of Germany and France, calling former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder a `political prostitute.’  Germany denounced the remarks by Rep. Tom Lantos, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as an insult to its people. Lantos’ comments about Schroeder and former French President Jacques Chirac, both opponents of the Iraq war, came in a speech Tuesday at the dedication of a monument to victims of communism. President Bush spoke at the same event, but did not arrive until after Lantos spoke.

“‘I am so glad that the era of Jacques Chirac and Chancellor Schroeder in Germany is now gone,’ Lantos said to applause. He said when the United States asked Schroeder to support its decision to go to war in Iraq ‘he told us where to go. I referred to him as a political prostitute, now that he’s taking big checks from (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. But the sex workers in my district objected, so I will no longer use that phrase,’ Lantos said. After leaving office in 2005 Schroeder became chairman of the North Europe Gas Pipeline, which is 51 percent owned by the Russian state natural gas company Gazprom…

“German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, once Schroeder’s chief of staff, said Lantos’ comments overstepped ‘the limits of political decency.’ He said Lantos’ comment ‘insults not only the former chancellor but also the great majority of German people.'”

Powell: “Guantanamo Bay Should Be Closed Immediately.”

On June 11, 2007, Reuters reported that “former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay for foreign terrorism suspects should be immediately closed and its inmates moved to the United States… [He] said the controversial prison in Cuba had become a ‘major problem’ for the United States’ image abroad and done more harm than good… ‘Essentially, we have shaken the belief the world had in America’s justice system by keeping a place like Guantánamo open and creating things like the military commission…’, he said.”

Serbia Outraged Over President Bush’s Remarks

CNN reported on June 11:

“U.S. President George W. Bush was returning home Monday after an eight-day European tour dominated by concerns over American plans for a Europe-based missile defense system and the future status of the Serbian province of Kosovo. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said Monday that his country was ‘rightfully embittered’ by Bush’s remarks in support of Kosovan independence made during a brief stopover Sunday in Albania, adding that the United States ‘has no right to give away Serbia’s territory to Albanians,’ according to a government news release.

“‘America must find another way to show its affection and love for the [Kosovan] Albanians, without offering them Serb territories,’ Kostunica told Serbian national television. ‘Serbia is rightfully outraged at the American policies on the issue of Kosovo.’ Kostunica’s comments came after Bush said: ‘At some point in time — sooner rather than later — you’ve got to say “Enough is enough. Kosovo is independent” and that’s the position we’ve taken.'”

Ethiopia Demands Queen Return Prince

On June 11, The Telegraph reported the following:

“He was born a prince with a bloodline stretching back to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, the son of an Ethiopian emperor and heir to the treasures of one of Africa’s richest royal dynasties. But, taken as a boy to Victorian England by British soldiers who ransacked his father’s mountain-top palace, Prince Alemayehu died alone aged 18 in Leeds, 128 years ago. Now the Ethiopians want his body returned to mark their millennium which, according to the Ethiopian calendar, falls on Sept 12 this year. President Girma Wolde-Giorgis has written to the Queen, requesting that the prince’s remains be exhumed from where they were buried in a crypt beside St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle…

“Britain sent a military force to the palace of Emperor Tewodros II at Maqdala, in the mountains of northern Ethiopia, to bargain for the release of diplomatic hostages. Denied an audience, the troops routed the emperor’s army in a three-day battle over Easter 1868. The emperor committed suicide as his fortress fell to the British. The seven-year-old prince’s mother succumbed to illness days later. In the care of the British, he was first handed to the Raj in India, which administered Abyssinia [now known as Ethiopia], and then sent to Britain. In London he was befriended by Queen Victoria, who enrolled him at Rugby School and later sent him to Sandhurst for officer training. But having grown up in a royal household he never settled into British public school life. After nine unhappy years at Rugby, and less than a term at Sandhurst, he died of pleurisy at the home of his private tutor, in Leeds, in November 1879… His remains have been visited by Ethiopia’s last emperor Haile Selassie and by its current prime minister, Meles Zenawi.

“Officials at Windsor Castle yesterday refused to discuss ‘private correspondence’ received by the Queen, but a spokesman for Ethiopia’s embassy in London said she understood that the request was ‘being considered’. ‘The prince was a prisoner of war,’ said Mulugeta Aserate, Haile Selassie’s second cousin. ‘His return would ease the minds of lots of Ethiopians who believe his rightful resting place should be here with his father.’ There have also been requests for the return of Ethiopian artefacts, including illuminated manuscripts and altar slabs, which are now held at the British Museum and in private collections at Windsor Castle.”

You Must Belong to the Catholic Church, Pope Says

The Catholic news agency, VIS, wrote on June 6:

“… Cyprian, ‘the first African bishop to achieve the crown of martyrdom,’ was the subject of Benedict XVI’s catechesis during his general audience, held this morning in St. Peter’s Square in the presence of 40,000 people. Cyprian, said the Pope, ‘was born in Carthage to a rich pagan family’ and ‘converted to Christianity at the age of 35. … He became a priest and later a bishop. In the brief period of his episcopate, he had to face the first two persecutions authorized by imperial edict, that of Decius (250) and that of Valerian (257-258),’… In [Cyprian’s] works, the [Pope] explained, ‘the Church is by far the topic most dear to him. He distinguishes between the visible hierarchical Church and the invisible mystical Church, at the same time forcefully affirming that the Church is one, founded upon Peter. He never tires of repeating that ‘whoever abandons the chair of Peter, upon which the Church is founded, deludes himself if he believes he remains in the Church’…

“Hence, ‘the indispensable characteristic of the Church is unity, as symbolized by the seamless robe of Christ; a unity that finds its foundation in Peter and its perfect realization in the Eucharist,’ said the [Pope]. He then referred to Cyprian’s teaching on prayer ‘which highlights how in the Our Father Christians are shown the correct way to pray.’ That prayer refers to ‘us’ and ‘our’ rather than to ‘me’ and ‘mine,’ said the Pope, ‘so that he who prays does not pray only for himself. Ours is a public and community prayer. … The Christian does not say “my Father,” but “our Father,” even when praying in the privacy of a closed room, because he knows that everywhere and in all circumstances, he is a member of the one Body.'”

Democratic Vote in German Catholic Church

Catholic World News (CWN) reported on June 8:

“Priests in Rottenburg, Germany have voted to reject the Vatican translation of the phrase pro multis in the Eucharistic liturgy… The priests’ council of the Rottenburg-Stuttgart diocese announced that the members had decided by a ‘democratic vote,’ to retain the current German translation of pro multis as ‘for all.’

“The council dismissed a directive from the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship. Cardinal Francis Arinze, the prefect of the Congregation, wrote to the world’s bishops last November, announcing that all translations of the liturgy should render pro multis as ‘for many’– a translation that is more faithful to the Latin text and to the theological reality that while Christ’s redemptive suffering makes salvation available to all, it does not follow that all men are saved.

“The Rottenburg priests argued that the use of ‘for many’ would be confusing to the faithful ‘in this day and age.’ They added that the original Scriptural text read ‘for all,’ citing as their authority a Protestant scholar of the 18th century whose analysis the Catholic Church has rejected.

“‘The promise of salvation is directed to all people,’ the German priests said. ‘This truth of the faith is put most clearly in the “for all.”‘”

Anti-Semitism Worldwide

The Washington Times wrote on June 7:

“Anti-Semitism, one of the world’s oldest hatreds, has resurged with a vengeance. Around the globe, Jews are being assaulted, some even murdered. Synagogues are being attacked. Jewish gravestones are being desecrated by the hundreds. Even the historical fact of the Holocaust is being questioned. The threat today is not existential. There is no room for complacency.  

“The increase in anti-Semitism is all the more disturbing because it is occurring not only in authoritarian societies where governments fan the flames of hatred to distract publics from their governments’ shortcomings. Anti-Semitism also is on the rise in fully democratic countries where governments and civil society have admirable records of promoting tolerance and actively combating anti-Semitism.

“According to the Community Security Trust in London, last year in the United Kingdom anti-Semitic incidents, defined as any malicious act aimed at Jewish people, organizations or property, rose 31 percent from 2005; the total number of incidents for 2006 was more than any other year since 1984, when statistics were first collected. In France, according to the European Jewish Congress, there were over 112 anti-Semitic attacks, a 45 percent increase from 2005. In all these cases, the governments are taking steps to combat the problem, yet more needs to be done. 

“Here in the United States, there was a reported 12 percent decline in anti-Semitic incidents in 2006. Even so, in just the last year there were attacks on synagogues in Chicago, Tarzana, Calif. and in North Miami Beach, Fla. In Seattle, Pamela Waechter was murdered and five others were shot in an attack at the Jewish Federation last July by a gunman incensed at Israel’s war with Hezbollah.

“Another category of concern, however, is the situation in Iran, where anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial are state policy. The Iranian government held a Holocaust-denial conference in December; an Iranian newspaper offered cash prizes for the best cartoon mocking the Holocaust and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly threatened to ‘wipe Israel off of the map.’…”

Disagreement Between EU and Turkey Over Troop Engagement

On June 8, Ankara’s “Today’s Zaman,” stated the following:

“Turkish officials on Thursday revealed a disagreement with the European Union regarding modalities of a cooperation process for enhancing defense capacities of the union within the European Security and Defense Policy…
 
“Yesterday’s Sabah daily reported ‘Turkey’s withdrawal of its troops under the command of the EU after the union did not allow Turkey’s special operation brigades to join in the command and decision making policies of the unit.’ The daily also said that according to the General Staff, Turkey’s Special Operation brigades, supported by warplanes and ships, will not be sent to any of the operations under the EU’s coordination. Nevertheless, both Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül and Foreign Ministry officials made it clear that the withdrawal was on the paper, since commitments made by Turkey have not yet been materialized… As well as EU member states, non-EU member states such as Turkey, Switzerland and Ukraine also contribute to these plans [to be an integral part of EU military operations].

“… The Sabah daily alleged that ‘the General Staff’s recent decision caused a shock in Brussels, leading the NATO secretary-general to come to Turkey to discuss the issue immediately.’”

More “Evolutionary” Fairy Tales

The Associated Press reported on June 13:

“The remains of a giant, birdlike dinosaur as tall as the formidable tyrannosaur have been found in China, a surprising discovery that indicates a more complicated evolutionary process for birds than originally thought, scientists said Wednesday.

“Fossilized bones uncovered in the Erlian Basin of northern China’s Inner Mongolia region show that the specimen was about 26 feet long, 16 feet tall and weighed 3,000 pounds, said Xu Xing, a paleontologist at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology & Paleoanthropology in Beijing.

“The height is comparable to the meat-eating tyrannosaurs. But the dinosaur, called Gigantoraptor elrianensis, also had a beak and slender legs and likely had feathers. It was 35 times larger than its likely close relation, the Caudiperyx, a small, feathered dinosaur species, Xu said.

“That puts the Gigantoraptor’s existence at odds with prevailing theories that dinosaurs became smaller as they evolved into birds and that bigger dinosaurs had less birdlike characteristics, he said.

“‘This is like having a mouse that is the size of a horse or cow,’ said Xu, who co-authored a paper on the finding published Thursday in the journal Nature. ‘It is very important information for us in our efforts to trace the evolution process of dinosaurs to birds. It’s more complicated than we imagined.'”

Of course, it is, if you want to believe those ridiculous notions of a God-defying world which receives its inspiration from none other than God’s “adversary” and “enemy.” The concept of evolution has been rightly rejected BY SCIENTISTS–but more importantly, by God’s Word, the Bible. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Theory of Evolution–A Fairy Tale for Adults.”

Even though our Western societies reckon days from midnight to midnight, and some even define a day as the period from morning to night, this is a purely human invention. The Bible is very clear that days are to be counted from sunset to sunset. For instance, the Sabbath, the last day of the week, is to be counted from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.

Set forth are excerpts from our booklet, “God’s Commanded Holy Days“:

“God has revealed in His Word exactly when the Sabbath starts and when it ends. God reckons each day, including the Sabbath, beginning at sunset and continuing through until the following sunset. Today, we would say that the Seventh-Day Sabbath starts Friday evening, when the sun sets, and lasts until Saturday evening, at sunset.

“We know from the Jewish people when to keep the Sabbath. It is the Jews to whom God committed His revelations or His ‘oracles,’ as Paul clearly explains in Romans 3:1–2. These ‘oracles of God’ included the Old Testament Scriptures, as well as the knowledge of the week and of the Sacred Calendar. The Jews preserved the knowledge of which day the seventh day of the week is. Without an understanding of when a week begins and ends, we would not have been able to tell, from the Bible alone, which day the seventh day of the week actually is. Today, the Jews keep the Sabbath on Saturday, beginning Friday evening, at sunset. Nobody questions today that the Sabbath, as preserved by the Jews, is the seventh or last day of the week. All understand that Sunday is the first day of the week—although there have been some attempts in Europe to actually change the calendar in order to deceitfully pretend as if Sunday, and not Saturday, was the seventh day of the week.

“The Bible reveals that days start and end at sunset, in the evening. Notice Genesis 1:5: ‘God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.’ [Note the comment by the Ryrie Study Bible to this passage: “… Jewish reckoning began the day with eventide (Lev. 23:32). This may be the reason for the order here…”]

“Many Scriptures associate the meaning of the word ‘evening’ with ‘sunset.’ For instance, a period of one day regarding a ritualistic, temporary law is noted in Leviticus 22:6–7: ‘The person who has touched any such thing shall be unclean until evening… And when the sun goes down he shall be clean.’ (Note the same definition in 2 Samuel 3:35.) Further, we are told in Leviticus 23:32 to keep God’s Sabbath ‘from evening to evening.'”

In regard to the meaning of “evening,” also notice Deuteronomy 16:6: “… at the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide, there you shall sacrifice the Passover, at twilight [lit., between the two evenings], at the going down of the sun…” The first evening–when days start and end–is sunset. The second evening is nightfall, when it is really dark. The Passover had to be sacrificed on the 14th day of the first month, at twilight–between the two evenings–“at the GOING DOWN OF THE SUN.”

Rienecker’s Lexikon zur Bibel [“Rienecker”] correctly explains, under “evening”:

“Until evening (Leviticus 15:5; Judges 20:26) means the entire day, as the new day begins with sunset.”

Rienecker explains, under “day”:

“The day as part of the week and the month… lasted for the Israelites from one sunset to the next sunset (Exodus 12:18; Leviticus 23:32); within this unity the hours of the night preceded the daylight hours (compare ‘evening-mornings’ [in] Daniel 8:14; compare the Greek word ‘nychthaemeron,’ literally ‘Night-Day,’ = the time of 24 hours, 2 Corinthians 11:25).”

The biblical passages of Exodus 12:18 and Leviticus 23:32, as quoted by Rienecker, establish that days start and end at SUNSET:

Exodus 12:18 reads: “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.”

Verse 19 explains that the entire duration lasted for seven days; that is, from the evening (or sunset) of the fourteenth day (when the fifteenth day started) until the evening of the twenty-first day (when that day ended and the twenty-second day started). The seven days of unleavened bread FOLLOW the Passover, which is to observed on the 14th day–from the beginning of the fourteenth day, at sunset, until the end of the fourteenth day, at sunset (compare Exodus 12:6). Notice that the Passover falls on the fourteenth day (from sunset to sunset), but that the Days of Unleavened Bread begin on the fifteenth day–24 hours later (Numbers 28:16-17).

Leviticus 23:32 describes the annual Holy Day of Atonement, which the Jews today call Yom Kippur. It is stated: “It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest; and you shall afflict your souls [i.e., fast]; on the ninth day of the month at evening, FROM EVENING TO EVENING, you shall celebrate your sabbath.” The New International Version renders this verse: “… From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”

But, this entire period, from the evening or sunset of the ninth day, until the evening or sunset of the tenth day, is defined as “the tenth day,” as Leviticus 23:27 clearly shows: “Also the TENTH day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement.” This proves that the Bible reckons days from evening or sunset to evening or sunset.

As further proof, note the following excerpts from our booklet, “Jesus Christ–A Great Mystery,” showing that Bible commentaries and translators clearly understand WHEN days start and end according to the biblical reckoning:

“We read in Matthew 28:1–6 (Authorized Version): ‘In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it… And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for HE IS RISEN, AS HE SAID.’

“We note from the passage that Christ was already resurrected by the time the women came to the grave. We are told that they appeared ‘in the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week.’ Many commentaries point out that this phrase discusses the END of the SABBATH, that is, Saturday evening or late afternoon, and NOT Sunday morning.

“The Interlinear Literal Translation of the Greek New Testament renders this verse in this way: ‘Now late on Sabbath, as it was getting dusk toward (the) first (day) of (the) week, came Mary the Magdalene…’

“A.T. Robertson’s Harmony of the Gospel comments: “This phrase once gave much trouble, but the usage of the vernacular Koine Greek amply justifies the translation. The visit of the women to inspect the tomb was thus made before the Sabbath was over (before 6 p.m. on Saturday).’

“Cockrell states: ‘When does the Bible say that Jesus rose from the dead? The two Marys came to the tomb “in the end of the sabbath” (Matth. 28:1). The Sabbath always ended at sunset: “From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath” (Lev. 23:32). Then they went to the tomb before sunset on Saturday. Jesus had risen from the dead before their arrival (Matth. 28:1–8)…’…

“The Elberfelder Bibel reads: ‘But late at the Sabbath, in the dawn of the first day.’ It comments: ‘Days started at sunset.’

“The Lamsa Bible states: ‘In the evening of the Sabbath, when the first day of the week began to dawn…’…

“The Menge Bible renders this verse as follows: ‘But after the Sabbath, when the first day after the Sabbath was about to begin.’

“Finally, the revised Zürcher Bible of 1942 states: ‘After the Sabbath, when it was shining (lightening up) towards the first day of the week…’ It adds the following comments: ‘For the Jews a day began with sunset. The expression [in] Luke 23:54, “The Sabbath lightened up…” [The King James Bible states: ‘The Sabbath drew on’ or ‘drew near’] does not mean that the morning began, but that lights were kindled for the evening…'”

It is therefore abundantly clear from the Biblical record that according to God, days are counted from sunset to sunset–and not from midnight to midnight, or by any other method.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

A new member letter has been posted on the Web and sent out this week. In the letter, Dave Harris encourages all of us to increase our efforts to do the Work of God and to overcome individually.

A new StandingWatch program has been posted on the Web and on Google Video. It is titled, “Unsuccessful G-8 Summit.” In the program, Norbert Link remarks that even though the press and politicians have described the G-8 Summit in Germany as a success, in fact, it was not. No binding agreements were reached–only the expression of a “desire” to perhaps do something together in the future. But German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has emerged as THE world leader. She is even called now “Miss World.” Why is this remarkable in view of end-time events?