On Saturday, May 28, 2005, Edwin Pope will give the sermon, titled, “The Trials of Your Faith.”

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.

What generally follows an opening statement such as, “Have you heard”? Usually, it is gossip. Most often, it is half-truths missing some important facts! But not always!

Consider the reaction of people who heard Jesus teach: “And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29). Even those who opposed Jesus were shocked by the message Jesus proclaimed: “Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, ‘Why have you not brought Him?’ The officers answered, ‘No man ever spoke like this Man!'” (John 7:45-46).

Contrasting the wisdom of men against God’s revealed knowledge, Paul writes: “‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him'” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

In an earlier biblical account, Job admits that what he had heard about God was not even close to the reality of Who God actually is: “‘I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes'” (Job 42:5-6).

It isn’t so different for us, today. We hear things. We form beliefs around our understanding in a matter, and sometimes, not unlike Job and so many others in this deceived world, we are simply wrong! Jesus Christ gives us both a warning and an important key concerning what we hear. Note His statement in Mark 4:24: “‘Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.'”

Over the many years since God created man, the record stands that the vast and overwhelming majority have REFUSED to hear God! Even among those whom God has called, there is the dangerous potential of growing dull of hearing. Paul, in speaking of God’s Church, addresses a problem that would arise in our day: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

The warnings apply to all of us–perhaps right now, as never before! Have you heard?

Catholics and Anglicans

As the Seattle Post-Intellgencer reported on May 17, 2005, “The historical separation between Roman Catholics and Anglicans has narrowed after both found common ground on the position of Mary, mother of Jesus, according to a document conceived at the highest church levels and released in Seattle yesterday. Anglicans, already close to Catholics because of liturgy and traditions, have moved even closer through their understanding of Mary as outlined in the joint statement, which took five years and an international committee to complete. The document seeks to transcend past controversies on Catholic dogma, including the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary…

“The result might be an elevation, or at least a heightened acknowledgment, of the place of Mary — particularly for Anglicans, the denomination born in England during the Reformation and called the Episcopal Church in the United States. Anglicanism is considered closest to Catholicism because it gives Mary a pre-eminent place among the saints, includes her in Communion prayers and holds six Marian feast days. Among other matters, Catholics and Protestants disagree over the Catholic dogmas of the Immaculate Conception — the assertion that Mary lived a life free from sin from the moment she was conceived — and the Assumption, the belief that her body and soul were taken into heaven when her earthly life ended. Those dogmas have ‘created problems not only for Anglicans but also for other Christians,’ the document said, largely because they are not explicitly supported by Scripture.”

The Catholic Church and Sunday

As Zenit reported on May 22, 2005, “Every parish is called to rediscover the beauty of Sunday, the day of the Lord, says Benedict XVI… ‘in which Christ’s disciples renew, in the Eucharist, communion with the One who gives meaning to their joys and exhaustions of each day.’… The theme of the Italian Eucharistic Congress — ‘We Cannot Live without Sunday’ — repeats the words expressed before their death by the 49 martyrs of Abitene, a city of the Roman province of ‘pro-consular Africa,’ present-day Tunis, in the year 303, at the time of Diocletian’s persecutions. ‘This is what we are called to repeat today,’ said the [pope].”

The Catholic Church and Spain

Zenit reported on May 23, 2005: “Benedict XVI in his message said he is aware that ‘the Catholic Church in Spain is ready to take firm steps in its evangelizing projects’ and added that ‘the transmission of the faith and believers’ religious practice cannot be confined to the purely private realm’…. Cardinal Antonio Rouco of Madrid offered a catechesis in the Church of St. James the Elder affirming: ‘Spain will be Christian and Catholic or it will cease to exist as such. In other words, if it loses its roots, not only will it cease to be Catholic Christian, but it will cease to be Spain.'”

Pope Benedict XVI and the British Press

As Zenit reported on May 23, 2005, Peter Jennings, press secretary to Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham, had some strong words about the negative coverage of the British press pertaining to the new pope. In his interview with Zenit, he stated:

“The British media works out of a framework of liberal secularism and does not understand events from the perspective of faith… Attitudes towards the Catholic Church in Britain have changed considerably for the better over the past three decades. Unfortunately there is still a trace of an anti-Roman mentality combined with a general British suspicion of all things ‘foreign.’

“In addition, hostility now is based more on an aggressive secular agenda that dominates the British media… The British media is hostile to the Church of England, too. In fact, for some journalists, there is a respect for the strength and coherence of the Catholic Church… Don’t judge British society by the British press! The press has its own agenda. There was very widespread and positive interest among British society, at every level, in the death and funeral Mass of Pope John Paul II, and the conclave, election and inaugural Mass of Pope Benedict XVI. People who had never been into a Catholic Church attended a special requiem Mass for Pope John Paul II celebrated in St. Chad’s Cathedral, situated in the center of Birmingham, on the day of the funeral Mass in Rome….

“The attitude of the British press to Christianity is generally hostile. Its attitude to Judaism and Islam is completely different because of the potential criticism that would follow hostile and negative reporting of these faiths.”

New Elections in Germany

As The Associated Press reported on May 23, 2005, “[German Chancellor Gerhard] Schroeder shocked the country on Sunday, announcing his high-risk early election plan shortly after his Social Democrats (SPD) were booted out of office in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany’s most populous state, ruled by the party for 39 years. Bringing forward the election by one year to this autumn carries huge risks for Schroeder.”

The article continued to explain:

“The result solidifies the conservative majority [the Christian Democratic Union party, “CDU”] in the Bundesrat [upper house of parliament], although it leaves them just shy of a two-thirds majority that would allow them to block virtually all government legislation, including the budget. The SPD has now seen its support decline in nine consecutive state elections. NRW was the last state ruled by a coalition of the SPD and the leftist-environmentalist Greens, leaving the federal coalition in Berlin as the last ‘Red-Green’ alliance.”

Schroeder’s challenger in new elections will be “Opposition leader Angela Merkel [who] vowed on Monday to oust Gerhard Schroeder — a move that could make her Germany’s first woman chancellor — after he put his job on the line with a shock call for early elections. Merkel grew up in the former East Germany and became a protege of ex-Chancellor Helmut Kohl after the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall. Now she is the favorite to take on Schroeder in a federal election that could come as early as September.”

Better Future Relations Between USA and Germany?

The Associated Press asked the poignant question in its article of May 24, 2005: “With Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder soon to face disgruntled voters, would a different Berlin government improve the tattered U.S.-German relationship?” The article continued: “Angela Merkel, leader of the Christian Democratic Union opposition party, would find it a stretch to restore the relationship to its Cold War heyday – but she’s been far less critical of President Bush and the Iraq war. A Protestant minister’s daughter who grew up under communist rule in East Germany, Merkel is almost certain to be the conservative CDU’s candidate in early elections called for by Schroeder after his party badly lost a local weekend election.”

The article pointed out: “People in Germany remember in particular Merkel’s visit to the United States on Feb. 24-25, 2003, as the [Iraq] war neared. She met with Vice President Dick Cheney, said the danger from Iraq was real and that pressure must be kept on Saddam Hussein. She disputed Schroeder’s refusal to support a war under any circumstances, even with the approval of the United Nations. ‘Anyone who rejects military action as a last resort weakens the pressure that needs to be maintained on dictators and consequently makes a war not less but more likely,’ she wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece ahead of her visit.”

At the same time, according to The Associated Press, “Merkel differs sharply with Bush on one pressing issue: She opposes European Union membership for Turkey, which Bush has supported.” In addition, if people think that a German government under Merkel will become a strong friend of the USA, they might be wrong. The Associated Press stated:

“Thomas Risse, a professor of international politics at Berlin’s Free University, said that if elected, Merkel might bring more a change in style than in substance… ‘As far as the substance of the trans-Atlantic relationship goes, I don’t see much difference,’ he said. Germany is not going to send troops to Iraq no matter who the chancellor is, he said, and Merkel’s party supports a U.N. security council seat for Germany, just as Schroeder does. The U.S. has not taken a public position on a seat for Germany, but it’s unlikely the Bush administration looks with much comfort on the idea. ‘If people in Washington think it’s going to be that much easier with a CDU government,’ Risse said, ‘they’re in for a lot of surprises.'”

Most conservative American journalists have given up on Schroeder and are already celebrating Merkel’s perceived soon-coming victory. As Der Spiegel reported on May 25, 2005, in its article, “Who is Angie?”: “The White House won’t miss Schroeder… But who is Merkel? The American government is pretty unsure about her… The biggest concern is the coming German election campaign. Bush’s government is afraid that the old wounds of the Iraq war will be opened. Schroeder will take every opportunity, it is feared, to remind the Germans that Merkel was a supporter of the US-led war. In light of the present disaster in Iraq, Merkel could be facing difficulties in Germany, according to American commentators. And that would be likewise true for Bush at home.”

In summary, people might be surprised either way: Although not too many give Schroeder a chance to win in the next election, Schroeder might surprise them. And if Merkel wins, she, too, might surprise many people.

Turkey and the EU

As the EUobserver stated on May 24, 2005, “A change of government in Germany in September to favour the Christian Democrats could spell trouble for Turkey’s bid to become a member of the EU. Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s decision to seek early elections after his party’s regional election defeat on Sunday (22 May) has already prompted the CDU to let it be known that one of its campaign themes will be its opposition to Turkish EU membership.”

The article continued:

“CDU politician Matthias Wissman, the head of the Europe committee in the Bundestag, told German daily FT Deutschland, ‘We will tell people that the likelihood of full EU membership for Turkey is much much lower under a [CDU] government. Of course, Germany does not decide alone about [Turkey’s] membership,’ he added, ‘but Germany’s weight in the EU means that a German change of position can also lead to a change in the EU’s position.'”

EU Battle Groups

The EUobserver reported on May 23, 2005: “EU defence ministers meeting on Monday in Brussels took some more steps towards the creation of the bloc’s own rapid reaction ‘battle groups’ by deciding to speed up the bloc’s notoriously slow decision-making process… Meanwhile Germany signed itself up to two more battle groups with France and Spain as well as with Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania and Latvia with the first to be ready in the second half of 2008 and the second during the first half of 2010.”

Water Shortage in Middle East?

AFP reported on May 21, 2005, about the possibility of serious water shortage in the Middle East. The article stated:

“The Middle East is faced with the prospect of a serious water crisis that could lead to political tensions and hamper prosperity, experts told a session of a World Economic Forum (WEF)… Hazem Nasser, former Jordanian water and irrigation minister, [told the audience:] ‘In 1950, the Arab population was 75 million. In 2,000, it was 300 million, and is expected to grow to 600 million by 2025.’ He said the deficit of water in the region was 30 billion cubic meters (approximately 7.95 trillion imperial gallons) last year and is expected to grow to 175 billion cubic meters (46 trillion gallons) in 2025. ‘Most of the countries in the region have exhausted their water resources,’ he said.”

Let us consider Revelation 14:11 in context with the previous two verses. The entire passage reads:

“Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast [an end-time political leader, as well as the political system that he represents] and his image [an end-time religious system, as well as a religious leader representing that system]. and receives his mark on his forehead or on his head [permitting or preventing him to buy and sell, Revelation 13:16-17], he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb [Jesus Christ]. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

Most commentaries teach that this passage describes the never-ending torment of wicked souls in an eternal hell fire. The Nelson Study Bible, in altering the literal wording of the passage, states:

“A third angel announces with a loud voice the tragic eternal destiny of the one who rejects the offer of the gospel (vv. 6,7) and worships the beast (ch. 13)… In the just outworking of God’s wrath, unbelievers who worship the beast will be tormented… forever and ever, with no rest day or night.”

However, reading the passage carefully, it does not say that the wicked will be “tormented… forever and ever.”

The Broadman Bible Commentary discusses the problems with such an interpretation. It states, in volume 12, on page 320:

“The greatest problem of interpretation in this passage is the apparent vindictiveness. Christian interpreters have regarded it as sub-Christian reflecting the stress of the time but impossible to reconcile with the teaching of Jesus. Some reject its obvious implications since such endless and horrible suffering could serve no good purpose and offer no prospect of release… Others see the language as dealing with ultimate realities and prefer a literal interpretation. Their case merely points out that man has brought this judgment on himself. Others believe that if there are those who resist God’s love finally, they, with Hades and Death, will be thrown into the lake of fire (20:14ff), which is ‘extinction and total oblivion.'”

The last interpretation comes closer to the truth than the others. But even it misunderstands, apparently, that the passage in Revelation 14:11 does NOT talk about the final fate of the wicked.

As we pointed out in our last Update 194 and in our booklets, “Do You Have an Immortal Soul,” and “God’s Commanded Holy Days,” there is NO ever-burning hell fire, NOR will the wicked be tormented for all eternity. Rather, they will be BURNT UP in the THIRD resurrection — that is, after the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment period (compare Revelation 20:4-15).

The passage in Revelation 14:11 does not talk about that time period. It refers to the coming of Jesus Christ and the time when people worship the beast and have its mark. All of this will occur BEFORE the Millennium.

What, then, IS the meaning of Revelation 14:11?

One key point is to realize that the torment of their SMOKE will ascend forever and ever. The passage does NOT say that THE WICKED will be tormented forever and ever. Rather, the wicked will be burnt up in fiery plagues, and it is their smoke — evidence that the fire has done its work — which ascends forever and ever. Smoke results from something burned. This indicates that they were consumed, and that all that remains is smoke. We also read in Malachi 4:3 that the ASHES of the wicked will be under the feet of the righteous. Psalm 37:20 tells us that the wicked shall “perish” — “into smoke they shall vanish away.” It is not the punishment of the fire, but the result of that punishment, which is being addressed in Revelation 14:11.

We also need to understand that the Biblical expression “forever” does not have to mean, “for all eternity.” The words are often a translation from the Hebrew “olam” and the Greek “aion” or “aionios,” meaning “age,” or “age-lasting” (compare Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible). In Revelation 14:11, the Greek words translated as “for ever and ever” mean, according to Young’s, “to ages of ages.” The Englishman’s Greek New Testament translates this verse as follows: “And the smoke of their torment goes up to ages of ages…”

We read in Exodus 21:6 that the servant would belong to his master “forever.” Here, the word describes a relationship which would last until the death of either the master or the servant. In 1 Samuel 1:22, Hannah, the mother of Samuel, took him up to the temple to remain there forever. Verse 28 explains that this meant, “as long as he lives.”

In Jonah 2:6, the term “forever” describes the time span of “three days and three nights,” as made clear in Jonah 1:17. Jonah, when in the belly of the sea monster, prayed that the earth with her bars was about him forever. What he was actually saying here is that as long as he was in that particular situation, the earth was about him.

Jude 7 speaks of the vengeance of eternal fire that burned Sodom and Gomorrah. But these cities are not still burning or suffering that vengeance. They only burned for a while. An “aeonian fire” does not refer to a fire that never goes out. After it completely destroyed and obliterated those ancient cities, it burned itself out when there was nothing else left to consume. The smoke from that fire ascended for a while. It is not ascending today. Jesus shows that the people in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be resurrected in a period of judgment yet future (Compare Matthew 10:15).

The people worshipping the political and religious leaders of the end-time Babylonian system will be tormented “forever” — that is, until they die. They “have no rest day or night,” as long as they are alive and remain part of that system falling under God’s wrath; that is, before they are destroyed by the fiery plagues of God’s last seven bowls judgment (Revelation 16:1-21).

The smoke of their torment will ascend for a while — as long as the conditions exist allowing smoke from burned bodies to ascend. But this does not mean that burned wicked souls will be tormented for all eternity. We read that the smoke from the Babylonian system — and from the city of modern Babylon, which is built on seven hills (Revelation 17:18, 9) — will rise up “forever and ever” (Revelation 19:3 — based on the Greek, it should say, according to Young’s and the Englishman’s Greek New Testament, “to the ages of the ages”). Babylon “will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her” (Revelation 18:8). The kings of the earth “will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment” (verses 9-10). This is a reference to the smoke from buildings, but the fire won’t burn for all eternity. In fact, we read that the great city of Babylon (verse 10) “shall not be found anymore” (verse 21). Likewise, we read in Isaiah 34:9-10, that the smoke from the land of Edom will “ascend forever” — that is, until the fire has burnt up all consumable material. As in the case of the burned cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, that fire of Edom will not burn for all eternity.

The unrepentant wicked will ultimately be burned up. That will happen after the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment. However, the passage in Revelation 14:11 does not address that time period. It merely serves as a forerunner and a warning. Most people who will worship the false political and religious system of Babylon, as well as its human representatives, won’t fully comprehend what they will be doing — they will not commit the unpardonable sin leading to the second death, from which there will be no resurrection (Revelation 20:14-15; 21:8). Rather, God will bring them back to life in a Second Resurrection, when the gravity of their wrong conduct will be revealed to them, and when they will be given an opportunity to repent and accept God’s Way of Life.

Public Bible Lecture
We would like to thank all of you for your prayers regarding our first public bible lecture, which was held last Sunday evening in Arcadia, California. This was the first time that some of the visitors experienced an official CEG function. The response, overall, was positive.

Set forth below are a few of the comments which we received after the lecture:

“Thought the lecture went well. Very much enjoyed the material. Many quotes hadn’t heard before. Good work. Had pleasant conversation afterwards.”

“I enjoyed your presentation. It has been a while since I have gone through that material. It is very timely. I know this is the first step and hope that it will be something that you can continue.”

On Saturday, May 21, 2005, Norbert Link will give the sermon, titled, “Alcohol–Friend or Foe?”

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.

Surely, the definitions of true Christianity are many and diverse. For some, all they think they need to do is to say that they believe in Christ. Others understand more correctly that being a true Christian means to follow Christ’s example — to live as He lived (1 Peter 2:21). In order to be able to do this, Christ must live IN us — and we must LET Him live in us (Galatians 2:20).

But why would a true Christian WANT Christ to live in him, and to rule in his life? Is his only motivation the inheritance of eternal life for himself?

Christ tells us that we must become perfect as God the Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). God’s perfection is reflected by how He deals with people (notice Matthew 5:43-47). God is perfect because He IS LOVE (1 John 4:16) — which is a way of giving and sharing, motivated by an outgoing concern for the benefit and welfare of others. Rather than focusing on OUR future, just for the sake of what is in store for US, we are to focus on others (compare Philippians 2:4-5; Romans 15:2).

Christ GAVE His life for us, so that we could be saved (John 6:51). God the Father LOVED the world so much that HE GAVE His only-begotten son to die FOR US (John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:9). Christ did what He did, because the love of God was shed or had been poured out in His heart. Likewise, God’s love has been poured out in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit, IF Christ lives in us (Romans 5:5).

A true Christian, then, is someone who LIVES God’s love in his life. There are many definitions of the love of God. Apart from the magnificent description of God’s love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, we are reminded of the fact that it is the love of God which keeps God’s commandments (1 John 5:3).

A true Christian is not someone who just confesses a belief in Christ — the demons believe, too, that God exists (James 2:19), and that Christ is the Son of God (Matthew 8:29). Rather, a true Christian is one in whom Christ lives — in whom God’s Spirit dwells — and who follows Christ’s lead, by LIVING GOD’S LOVE in his life. If we are true Christians, Christ will direct our hearts into the love of God (2 Thessalonians 3:5), which is in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:39). The love of God, abiding in us, will make us more and more perfect to the extent that we love one another (1 John 4:12).

How many true Christians do you know, who meet that definition?

And more importantly, are YOU a true Christian? Does Christ live in YOU, through the power of God’s Holy Spirit? Do you “know” the love of Christ (Ephesians 3:19)? Do you “keep yourself” in the love of God (Jude 21)? Does the love of God live in you, or are you only thinking that it does (compare John 5:42; 1 John 2:15; 3:17)? Do you show the love of God in your daily life, by walking in it (Ephesians 5:2)?

Remember, if Christ and His love do not live in us through the Holy Spirit, we are NOT true Christians (Romans 8:9).

Pope Benedict XVI

Bild Online reported last week about the new pope’s first Pentecost mass in Rome. According to the newspaper, the pope stated in his sermon that the “Ten Commandments” do not constitute a diminishment or abrogation of freedom, but that they are the very foundation of freedom.

This is very true. We might ask, however, how the pope can explain the fact that the Catholic Church HAS abrogated two of the Ten Commandments (the second commandment against idols and the fourth commandment, enjoining the keeping of the Seventh-Day-Sabbath)?

Archbishop William Levada the New “Enforcer”

As the Associated Press reported on May 14, 2005, Archbishop William Levada, the “68-year-old leader of the San Francisco Archdiocese was named by longtime friend Pope Benedict XVI as his own replacement leading the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.” The article pointed out that Levada “has a track record of upholding Roman Catholic policies while deftly handling controversy. But his appointment as the chief enforcer of church doctrine was sharply criticized by clerical sex abuse victims, who say he’s done a poor job of dealing with the crisis. Levada countered that his experience with the issue is an advantage for the church.”

News on the European Constitution

On Friday, May 13, 2005, the British Daily Mail wrote:

“German MPs [Members of Parliament] overwhelmingly backed the controversial EU Constitution yesterday after Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told them: ‘Don’t bother with the details.’ The German people were denied a referendum… despite mounting pressure in recent months for such a vote to take place… Supporters of the treaty hope that yesterday’s Yes vote in the German lower house and a subsequent vote in the upper house on May 27 will overcome waverers in France, where a tightly-contested referendum takes place on May 29.”

As news.telegraph.co.uk reported on May 12, 2005, “The campaign for a Yes vote in the French referendum on the European Union constitution suffered a setback yesterday when it emerged that the widow of the country’s last socialist president, François Mitterrand, had withdrawn her support.” According to the article, Mrs. Mitterrand explained her change of mind as follows: “‘It is a system which treats man like an economic object and forgets that he can think, and which generates the worst human misery – unemployment and pollution.”’

The EUobserver reported on May 12, 2005 about Germany’s ratification:

“The EU biggest member state and founding member of the bloc has easily passed the European Constitution through its lower parliament… Germany’s Bundestag voted 569 in favour with 23 against and two abstentions… Most of those voting No came from the ranks of the Christian Democrat opposition parties. They are against the Constitution because they believe it will take too much power away from their own national parliament in favour of the EU.”

The article also pointed out: “If approved by all member states the Constitution will introduce an EU foreign minister… It also gives far greater powers to the European Parliament [and] has a mutual defence clause.”

Bild Online stated on May 12, 2005, that the EU Constitution contains “weaknesses” — because it does not refer to God. The newspaper wrote: “It does not have a reference to God, since mainly Great Britain and France opposed it.” Still, it published the following commentary:

“Even though almost nobody noticed it, this was a great day for Germany. With its Yes for the Constitution, the German Parliament has rendered one of its most important decisions since the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany — and one of its most correct ones… It is a gift for all the peoples of Europe… We are allowed to dream today of a peaceful, friendly continent, which might one of these days create something new: The United States of Europe.”

Der Spiegel Online reported on May 12, 2005, that eight countries ratified the EU Constitution, including, among others, Austria, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Hungary. Those which will still have to ratify, via referendum, include, among others, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Portugal.

On May 12, 2005, the EUobserver reported that “The Catholic Church has officially endorsed the EU Constitution but concerns among some groups remain about its possible implications for future decisions on issues such as abortion, euthanasia or women priests… [Pro-life activists complain:] ‘What we’re seeing on the part of religious leaders is not a courageous enough stance, and a sort of terror to say anything which could sound like anti-Europe.'”

The article also pointed out an apparent inconsistency between the Catholic Church’s current endorsement of the EU Constitution and the pope’s earlier position: “The current Pope, Benedict XVI [said] in April… ‘the fact that the Church is convinced of not having the right to confer priestly ordination of women, is now considered by some as irreconcilable with the European Constitution.'”

A wave of a desire for unity is sweeping through much of the European continent. This is clearly directed by a higher power, so that prophecy can be fulfilled. We can expect a strong political and even military United States of Europe, under Catholic influence, to emerge in a few years from now. But it won’t all be good news for Europe and the world. As so often, the people’s desire for peace will be terribly disappointed.

For more information, read our free booklets, “Europe in Prophecy” and “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.”

Monster Earthquake in Southern California

According to Der Spiegel Online, of May 13, 2005, “geologists warn,” with a 70 percent certainty, that a “terrible earthquake” will strike in Southern California within the next 50 years. According to the article, the earthquake will strike in regions around Los Angeles and San Diego. The magazine stated that that region has not been struck by a major earthquake for 148 years, which is great cause for alarm, as historical and archeological records show that monster quakes occurred in the area every 200 years since the 1600s.

Strong Hurricanes in 2005?

On May 16, 2005, Reuters reported about predictions of U.S. forecasters “that up to 15 tropical storms and hurricanes would form in the Atlantic and Caribbean this year… If the forecasters are right, the 2005 hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, would continue a string of mostly above-average stormy seasons that began a decade ago… The same climate conditions that fed last year’s busy season… are in place this year… Although the 2004 season did not produce a record number of storms, it marked the first time since 1886 that a single state — Florida — was hit by four hurricanes in one season. Nine of the 15 storms reached hurricane strength.”

World War II For Nothing?

Well-known political commentator Pat Buchanan stirred up some furor last week, when he stated, according to www.newsday.com of May 12, 2005, that World War II “was actually not worth the effort.” The article stated: “On the radio and Internet, Buchanan framed his positions as amplification of remarks made over the weekend by President George W. Bush that the pact ending the war brought on a Stalinist domination that was ‘one of the greatest wrongs of history.’… [Buchanan] suggested that because Germans voted Hitler in, they did not need to be liberated, and that Britain and France drew Germany into the wider conflict. He did not mention Jews or the Holocaust… Abraham Foxman, president of the anti-Defamation League, called Buchanan’s comments ‘immoral’ and ‘bordering on Holocaust denial.’… Veterans were also insulted. ‘That is more or less saying they fought for the wrong reasons and the sacrifice was futile,’ said Veterans of Foreign Wars spokesman Jerry Newberry.”

Germany’s Strong Economy

Der Stern published a remarkable article on May 12, 2005, pointing out that the German economy is much stronger than commonly thought. The article explained: “Even optimists were surprised: The German economy… is stronger today than it has been for many years.” The article pointed out that the growth of the German economy is stronger than the growth of the US economy. It also referred to the fact, however, that risks remain, especially in light of at least 5.2 million people without work.

Reproducing Robots

On May 12, 2005, The Independent ran a frightening article about robots, which could have been the subject of a science fiction movie. The article stated:

“It has been the dream – and nightmare – of science fiction writers for decades. Now a team of engineers has conjured up a robot that can reproduce itself. The robot can self-replicate in much the same way that some living organisms are able to reproduce by cloning themselves. Although the machine in question serves no useful purpose other than to make copies of itself, scientists believe it has set a precedent for a future in which robots will proliferate on their own. In the long term, the scientists envisage a day when armies of self-replicating robots will be able [to] mend themselves when broken, expand their population, explore space and even establish self-sustaining colonies on other planets.”

The concept that the wicked go to an ever-burning hell after their death is nowhere taught in Scripture. In fact, the Bible does not even teach the existence of an ever-burning hell, torturing wicked souls of departed ones for their evil deeds.

The concept of an ever-burning hellfire is derived from paganism. Richard Craze explains in his book, “Hell, An Illustrated History of the Netherworld,” copyrighted 1996:

“… the old horned gods of the Stone Age people became the new rulers of hell. There was a sort of logic in locating the place of the dead below ground — the underworld — because that was exactly where the dead were buried… The early [nominal] Christians borrowed Hel’s name [the goddess Hel ruled over the place of the “lost souls” in Viking mythology] for their own place of punishment… The early [nominal] Christians borrowed heavily from earlier mythologies, and the generally accepted appearance of Satan is an amalgamation of such things as the horns and shaggy hindquarters of the Greek god Pan, the wings of the Mesopotamian devil Pazuzu, and the scales and dragon skin of the Persian Azhidaahaka… The Greeks borrowed freely from the Babylonians… Pluto, Zeus’ brother, governed [hell] with a merciless severity and subjected his poor guests to the most ingenious tortures… [Others] were consigned to the deep bottomless pit… ruled by Kronos. Here they would suffer eternal torment… sinners were tortured for eternity… The Romans knew exactly where hell was located — underneath Italy. Everything else they borrowed from the Greeks.”

The author also points out:

“… it was the Synod of Bishops in Constantinople in 543 that… set the seal on hell, when they decreed that ‘if anyone shall say or even think that there is an end to the torment of… ungodly persons, or that there ever will be an end to it, then let them be excommunicated.’ And they promptly excommunicated Origen, an early Church father, for saying that he thought hell was finite.”

In addition, the Bible does not teach the concepts of “limbo” or “purgatory,” either. These concepts have their origin in pagan mythologies, as well.

Craze points out these most incredible facts:

“The early [nominal] Christians… introduce[d] the concept of a sort of waiting-room, where souls would stay for [a while]. They found a ready-made idea — limbo — that they freely borrowed from the Romans, who had borrowed it from the Greeks. Limbo became a place where anyone who did not quite fit could be put… Purgatory… was a cross between limbo and hell… Jesus’ mother, the Virgin Mary, was called back from heaven, where she had been asleep (the Dormition). She was given the keys of hell to look after, and the running of the purgatory. She does not administer any punishments — in fact, her main job seems to be protecting the souls of the sinners from the wrath of her son [Jesus Christ!!!]. Purgatory became a sort of temporary hell — but one from which sinners could be rescued.”

However, the Bible does not teach the concepts of limbo, purgatory or of an ever-burning hell.

It is true that the New Testament speaks about a fiery place, which is translated in some English Bibles as, “hell.” The Greek word for this place is “gehenna.” It does not, however, describe an ever-burning hell, as commonly understand by many. Craze explains:

“Gehenna — the place of fire. It is probable that it was named after the place just outside Jerusalem where the household rubbish, including the bodies of criminals and animals, was burnt.”

Please note the following excerpts from our free booklet, “Do You Have an Immortal Soul?”, addressing the concept of a fiery hell:

“The word ‘gehenna’ and the very concept of it are derived from the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem in which the corpses of dead people, mainly criminals, would be burned up. It is another expression for the ‘lake of fire’ in Revelation 20:15, in which all who have acted wickedly, and who have refused to repent, will be thrown into, to be burned up or ‘devoured.’ (Remember that Hebrews 10:27… tells us that the wicked wait for God’s fiery indignation that will ‘devour’ them.). That is the ‘hell’ or the ‘gehenna’ fire that Christ is talking about…-‘the second death’ from which there will be no resurrection.

“Those who sin deliberately, willfully and maliciously, God will resurrect to physical life [please note that they were dead — not in heaven, hell, limbo or purgatory — and that they had to be brought back from death to physical life] to throw them-their physical body and their soul or their ‘life’-into ‘gehenna’ or the lake of fire (Revelation 20:13-15; 21:8). They won’t burn there forever-rather, they will be burned up. They are the ‘chaff,’ that will be ‘burned up’ with unquenchable fire (Matthew 3:12)-that is, no human can quench it. Notice that this fire will ultimately even burn up or bring to dissolution ‘heaven and earth,’ so that a ‘new heaven and a new earth’ can be created by God (2 Peter 3:10-13).

“The wicked, such as the rich man in Christ’s parable in Luke 16, will not burn forever and ever, for all eternity, in an everlasting hell fire, but they will be ‘burned up’ (cp. again Matthew 3:12). The Greek word for ‘burned up’ is ‘katakaio’-conveying the meaning that nothing of what is burned up will remain. We read in Revelation 18:8 that modern Babylon ‘shall be utterly burned with fire.’ The word for ‘utterly burned’ is, again, ‘katakaio’ in the Greek. And we are told that ‘that great city Babylon [will] be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.’ (Revelation 18:21). In the same way, the wicked, such as the rich man in Luke 16, that are [brought back to life from the dead and then] thrown into ‘gehenna’ or the lake of fire [called the SECOND death!], will be ‘burnt up’-they ‘shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up… that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.’ (Malachi 4:1). They will become ashes under the feet of the righteous (Malachi 4:3); it will be as if they had never existed (Obadiah 16).”

The wicked will be burnt up in a temporary gehenna fire, to die the SECOND death, from which there will be no further resurrection to life (Revelation 20:14-15; 21:8) — they will not be tortured forever and ever in an eternal hell fire, without ever being destroyed. We need to understand, too, that those who will be burnt up will have committed the unpardonable sin. As it is true in regard to the concept of “hell,” very few understand properly, either, what the “unpardonable sin” really is.

To learn more about the future of those who will be burnt up in gehenna fire, because they have committed the unpardonable sin, as well as the fate of all of those who have died, please read our free booklet, “Do You Have an Immortal Soul?”

A new StandingWatch program was posted on the Web, titled, “Why You?”

Public Bible Lecture
On Sunday, May 22, 2005, Norbert Link will present a message, titled, “Europe Is Uniting–What Does This Mean to You?” This address will be free and open to the public, and it will be conducted at 6:30 pm at the Embassy Suites in Arcadia, California (211 East Huntington Drive). Our public lecture ads (see below), leading up to the event, will be appearing this Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the main section of the following newspapers: Pasadena Star News; San Gabriel Valley Tribune; and the Whittier Daily News.

You may request further information at: info@standingwatch.org

Low Hanging Fruit
by Eric Rank (28)

If you were wandering through a forest, hungry and searching for something to eat, and you stumbled across an apple tree full of ripe fruit, what would you do? The answer is pretty obvious. If you’re like most normal people, you’d reach up and grab the nearest, best-looking piece of fruit you could find, and eat it. If there were a number of ripe apples together within reach, you might even grab a few for the road. But you wouldn’t even consider climbing up the tree to get the fruit on the top branches when the bottom branches have what you want. That takes much more effort. It’s the low-hanging fruit you’d grab.

As Christians, it is our goal to produce fruits worthy of righteousness. To Satan, this is one of the most significant things that sets us apart from the rest of the world. As he wanders around, seeking whom he may devour, the more fruit we produce, the more attractive we look to him as his next victim of temptation. We read from the Bible that Christ was tempted in tremendous ways by Satan himself because He produced such fruits. Individually, you too are a threat to Satan because you have, and act upon, the knowledge about how to live righteously. This makes you look pretty tasty! Satan will not rest in his attempts to deceive you and take away the knowledge and inheritance you have.

If the fruit you produce makes you a target for temptation, what can you do? Fortunately, the answer is simple. Don’t put yourself within Satan’s grasp! If you’re producing fruit worthy of righteousness, make an extra effort to do so on the top branches of the tree. God tells us to draw near to Him, and that He will draw near to us. This places you far out of Satan’s reach because he knows that it would take too much effort to tempt you. No matter how much fruit you produce, if you open yourself up to temptation, the game is over. Vulnerability to temptation places you at the lowest branches of the tree, where Satan can pluck you off easily, and devour! As a Christian, it is your duty to produce righteous fruit, but it is also your responsibility to draw near to God. Doing so will keep you out of Satan’s reach as he hungrily wanders about.

On Saturday, May 14, 2005, Dave Harris will give the sermon, titled: “A New Administration.”

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.

After much argument and debate with politicians of every persuasion filling television screens, radio airwaves and newsprint, we have seen a Labour government in the UK elected for a third time. Multiple millions of pounds have been spent on posters, advertisements, meetings, travel and manifestos by the parties and their candidates, as part of the process to persuade a somewhat reluctant and skeptical general British public to vote for them. Each party promised better things in many areas including, among others, the economy, education, health care, crime, law and order, and immigration. The war in Iraq was a negative factor for the government, but they managed to win power in spite of the concerns of many people.

We have long understood that true Christians should not be involved in the political process and should not vote in governmental elections (see Update 76, January 2004), irrespective of circumstances.

We only need to look at any candidate standing in any constituency for any party at any election at any time, and ask ourselves whether they are promoting the true Christian message? Ever since we have been having political elections, it has never happened anywhere, in any age, in any country and at any time. There never seems to be the approach of esteeming others better than self and promoting peace and harmony between candidates. The process is one of employing whatever means possible, including at times an assortment of dirty tricks, to ensure the acquisition of power. And when in power, in spite of their best attempts, not one politician has all the answers to the seemingly insurmountable problems that confront them.

The only solution is the soon coming Kingdom of God, when political election processes will not be an issue any longer. We won’t see any more voting, arguments and counter arguments with fallible human beings in charge of their nations’ affairs. Rather, we will experience an all powerful Jesus Christ ruling in an autocratic but loving way in the best interests of all of earth’s inhabitants.

Mr. Herbert Armstrong summed it up best, when he wrote in his book, “Tomorrow …What It Will Be Like,” on pages 101/102:

“Christ, the King of kings. Perfect in character, absolute in honesty, integrity, faithfulness and trust; filled with outgoing concern for the governed – their welfare and salvation; total knowledge, understanding, wisdom. Complete love, mercy, patience, kindness, compassion, forgiveness. Yet, possessing total power, and never compromising one millionth of an inch with His perfect law – which is the way of love. He will enforce God’s Law – God’s government on earth. He will compel haughty, carnal, rebellious humans to yield in complete submission to God’s government.”

The difference between what is practiced today and what will be the norm in the Kingdom of God is incalculable. And we should be eternally grateful that fallible human beings, however genuine their intentions, will no longer be responsible for any governmental responsibilities. God speed that day!

EU, Russia Sign Co-operation Accord

As www.dw-world.de reported on May 10, 2005,

“Russia and the European Union have signed an agreement to forge closer trade and political ties. The accord was signed at a summit in Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he hoped the agreement would help create a Europe without dividing lines. The president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso said the accord would provide a new impulse to relations with Moscow. A Russian foreign ministry statement said the two sides had agreed to hold further consultations aimed at easing visa regulations.”

Russia and Germany

Earlier this week, www.dw-world.de reported that “Russian President Vladimir Putin says he supports Germany’s bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. In an interview with the German daily newspaper Bild, Putin said Russia would support a stronger role for Germany at the UN, including a permanent Security Council seat.”

Germany and the Pope

On May 7, 2005, tablet.co.uk published an insightful article about Germany and the election of Cardinal Ratzinger as the new pope. The article was written by Nicholas Boyle, professor of German literary and intellectual history, University of Cambridge, and author of “Goethe: the poet and the age,” published by Oxford University Press. The author stated:

“The first thing the British may be surprised to learn from this election is how Catholic a country Germany is, and not just the Bavaria that provided the rural and small-town folk-religion in which Joseph Ratzinger grew up. The Germany in which he spent his entire clerical career until his translation to Rome… was the Western zone of occupation and the Bonn republic, dominated for 14 crucially formative years by the Rhineland Catholic Konrad Adenauer. It was the first state bearing the name of Germany to be a majority Catholic country… British assumptions that Germans look to a European identity because they are embarrassed about their own touch only a part of the truth. Catholic Germany has always been European in its perspectives… Germany is currently the third largest economy in the world, and it has achieved that position through extraordinary efforts made during the years when Professor, and then Archbishop, Ratzinger was based within it.”

The Uncertain Future of Europe

On Saturday, May 7, 2005, the International Herald Tribune published an article, titled, “Can EU, born from war, survive peace?” In the article, it was pointed out:

“Amid the devastation left by World War II, Europe looked around after 1945 for a way to make sure such a disaster never happened again, and found an answer in the European Union. Over the next 50 years, the EU would become an unprecedented experiment… As a result, Europe’s once-warring nation-states are now so closely knit through the institutions, laws and councils of the EU that war across Western Europe has become unimaginable… The 1957 Treaty of Rome… [set up] the European Economic Community, a customs union…[Subsequently] the EEC [was extended] into new areas, such as the single market, the formal establishment of the EU, and, by 2002, the single currency, the euro… Germans in particular adopted the cause of European integration as a source of a new identity, replacing… traditional German nationalistic identity…The stability has been exported, the EU extending geographically to admit countries such as Greece, Portugal and Spain in the 1980s. Nations without robust democratic traditions, they were taken into the West European fold and set on the road to democracy, as, even more dramatically, were the nations of the former East bloc that emerged from decades of Soviet domination and communism to join the EU in 2004. Since that enlargement, the biggest in the Union’s history, the EU now includes more than 450 million people in 25 nations.”

However, the article continued to correctly point out:

“But the EU cannot claim to have brought peace to millions on its own… Nor has the EU banished all the dark shadows from half a century ago.”

Religious Discrimination at the Air Force?

On May 6, 2005, the ABP Washington Bureau reported about possible religious discrimination at the Air Force Academy, referring to “several months of allegations about an atmosphere of religious harassment and discrimination at the Colorado Springs, Colo., institution.” The article, which was posted on www.baptiststandard.com, stated:

“Attorneys for Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Air Force officials the 14-page document which detailed several allegations of constitutional violations by top officials and upper-class cadets at the academy. Among AU’s allegations were that large numbers of top administrators, chaplains and faculty members openly and regularly advocated on behalf of evangelical Protestantism, often using coercive means.”

According to the article, here are some of the report’s allegations:

“Christian cadets who wish to attend off-campus religious services on Sundays are given special allowances to do so that are not extended to members of minority faiths or Christian groups that observe the Sabbath on other days of the week…. Cadets of minority faiths or no faith are regularly harassed, discriminated against and frequently subjected to religious epithets at the hands of Christian cadets.”

The article pointed out, too, that “The Pentagon press release said the allegations ‘are being taken very seriously by the Air Force.'”

Putin and US Democracy

According to an article by the Drudge Report on May 6, 2005, “A combative Vladimir Putin tells Mike Wallace [in his TV show, “60 Minutes”] he should question his own country’s democratic ways before looking for problems with Russia’s. The Russian president also says the U.S. shouldn’t try to export its democracy, as it is trying to do in Iraq.” In his televised interview, Putin also said: “India is called the largest world democracy. But their governors have always been appointed by the central government and nobody disputes that India is not a democracy.”

The article continued: “The Russian leader then points to what he believes are drawbacks to America’s own brand of democracy, including the Electoral College system. ‘In the United States, you first elect the electors and then they vote for the presidential candidates. In Russia, the president is elected through the direct vote of the whole population. That might be even more democratic,’ Putin says. ‘And you have other problems in your elections,’ he tells Wallace. ‘Four years ago your presidential election was decided by the court. The judicial system was brought into it. But we’re not going to poke our noses into your democratic system because that’s up to the American people.’ Putin also believes the U.S. democratic system does not travel well and that is precisely why he was against the war in Iraq from the beginning. ‘Democracy cannot be exported to some other place. [Democracy] must be a product of internal domestic development in a society,’ says the Russian president.”

The Pope and the Bible

The Associated Press reported about some revealing past comments by Cardinal Ratzinger, now known as Pope Benedict XVI, which were republished on May 7 by WorldNetDaily. According to the publication, “in a 1988 lecture at a Lutheran church in New York, Ratzinger chided fundamentalism, saying it’s ‘useless to take refuge in an allegedly pure, literal understanding of the Bible.’… A 1993 Pontifical Biblical Commission statement on Bible interpretation [by Ratzinger]… denounced fundamentalism as ‘dangerous’ and ‘a kind of intellectual suicide.’ It said fundamentalists place ‘undue stress upon the inerrancy of certain details in the biblical texts’ and naively confuse the Gospels as finally edited with ‘the words and deeds of the historical Jesus.'”

Germany and World War II

On May 8, 2005, www.realcities.com reported:

“On a stage under Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, during ceremonies marking VE Day – the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe – German President Horst Koehler Sunday proclaimed that ‘racism and right-wing extremism have no chance’ in a modern Germany. About a mile down Unter den Linden, a path central in Adolf Hilter’s plans for the capital of the Third Reich, as Germany was called under Hitler’s rule, as many as 3,000 neo-Nazis in a fenced in area applauded as a singer noted, ‘Our hearts are with our heroes, like Rudolph Hess,’ Hitler’s deputy. A speaker added: ‘Stop 60 years of liberation lies. Stop the cult of guilt.’ He was referring to Germany’s repeated expression of remorse for German actions during World War II.

“Despite Koehler’s statements, the National Democratic Party (NPD) of Germany and other parties commonly associated with the neo-Nazi movement are gaining support in his country. In the state parliament of Saxony, voters recently elected 12 NPD [party members]. More than 300 local German politicians today are from nationalist parties. In February in Dresden, 5,000 neo-Nazis marched during ceremonies for the 60th anniversary of the allied bombing of that city. ‘The person who hasn’t learned from history is sinning against their own nation,’ Koehler said Sunday. ‘There are still a few un-teachable in this country, but racism and right-wing extremism have no chance here today.'”

However, the article continued to state about the demonstrators:

“…speakers criticized the betrayal of the German people by the 1919 Versailles Treaty that settled World War I – a common theme struck by Hitler during his rise to power – and said the horrors of the Third Reich were exaggerated. That’s a common theme of people who deny the Holocaust, when six million Jews were murdered in Nazi death camps. In a new twist, some in the crowd held signs saying, ‘Liberate the world from the United States,’ and speakers talked of how America had planned World War II to belittle the German people. They said the allies subjected Germans to the worst horrors of the war.”

Russia’s Press Libels President Bush

On May 9, 2005, Russia’s daily newspaper, “Pravda,” published a strong article against President Bush. It described Mr. Bush as “provocative and aggressive instead of conciliatory and diplomatic.” In comparing President Putin of Russia with President Bush, Russia’s pro-government paper stated:

“Let us compare for one instant the Presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States of America. On one side, we have a President whose policy is directed towards improving relations with the international community in a climate of friendship and peace (principles which guided the foreign policy of the USSR) and in tandem with the norms of international law as stipulated by the UNO. On the other, a roving cowboy, taming the wilderness with his gun and his Bible, with an absence of tact and diplomacy.”

The article continued:

“On the eve of the celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the victory over Fascism in Europe, instead of being conciliatory to Russia, George Bush waltzes into Latvia, a country with a deplorable human rights record, complete with concentration camps during the Fascist occupation and with a revisionist tendency to glorify its Fascist part in the country’s history and declares that the Soviet presence in Eastern Europe was one of the ‘greatest wrongs of history.’

“So, what was the Soviet Union supposed to do, after 25 million of its citizens had been killed in the most vicious fighting in the war, after a quarter of a million of its citizens had lost their lives killing between 75 and 85% of the Nazi troops in the Second World War? Allow the USA to occupy its resources and install disgusting fast food restaurants before colonizing the country with pornography, filth and depravity?

“The Soviet Union liberated eleven countries from the yoke of evil, just as the Americans and their allies liberated nations in the west. But for George Bush, this liberation, coupled with a commitment of the Union’s resources to develop the three Baltic states and bring them into the front line of development in the areas of education, security, health care, social benefits, to name just a few, was no more than ‘a long vigil of suffering and hope.'”

Christ’s statement that He came to FULFILL the law does NOT mean that He did away with it — quite the CONTRARY is correct.

Notice what Christ said in Matthew 5:17: “Do NOT think that I came to DESTROY the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy BUT to fulfill.” Christ did not say here that He had come to destroy the law. Neither did He say that “fulfilling” the law meant, “destroying it,” because if that were true, Christ’s statement would read: “I did not come to destroy the law but to destroy the law.” This would make no sense.

In the Greek, the word for “fulfill” is “pleroo.” It is true that this word can designate completion or even cessation — but as will be pointed out, it can also mean a continued activity of carrying out something — depending on the context. For instance, in Luke 7:1, the word “pleroo” is used in the sense of “end” or “conclude”: “Now when He concluded all His sayings…” In Acts 19:21, the Greek word is translated as “accomplished” : “When these things were accomplished…” (The Authorized Version says “ended” in both passages.)

However, in the majority of cases, the Greek word “pleroo” conveys the meaning of “filling up” or “making full,” with the concept of continuing to carry out a specific task.

In our free booklet, “And Lawlessness Will Abound,” we explain on pages 17 and 18:

“Christ did not come to do away with God’s spiritual law of the Ten Commandments. He stated in Matthew 5:17 that He had NOT come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it-to magnify it, to exalt it and to make it more honorable (Isaiah 42:21), to fill it up with its intended meaning, to show how to keep it perfectly in the flesh. The Greek word for ‘fulfill’ is ‘pleroo.’ It literally means ‘to fill’ or ‘to make full’ (Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible). In Matthew 3:15 it is used in this context: ‘…it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’

“In Philippians 2:2, Paul states, ‘…fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love.’ Further, Paul reminds the saints in Colosse that he became a minister to ‘fulfill the word of God’ (Colossians 1:25), and he admonishes Archippus to ‘take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it’ (Colossians 4:17). None of these passages convey the thought that something has ended-rather, the obvious understanding is that something should be continued to be filled with meaning, or to be brought to perfection… God’s spiritual law, as defined in the Ten Commandments, the statutes and the judgments, ‘stand[s] fast forever and ever’ (Psalm 111:7-8), and… it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away ‘than for one tittle of the law to fail’ (Luke 16:17). A tittle is the smallest stroke in a Hebrew letter.”

In the above-quoted excerpt, the Greek word “pleroo” conveys the meaning of fulfilling a task in a continuing way, rather than completing a task and ceasing to do it.

In addition, note this quote from page 4 of the same booklet:

“The apostle James… silences those who claim that we today do not have to keep ALL of God’s Ten Commandments. Let’s read his decisive answer in James 2:8-12: “If you really fulfill [that is, keep] the royal law according to the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep [or, fulfill] THE WHOLE LAW, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of ALL. For He who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a TRANSGRESSOR of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.”

In this passage, the Greek word for “fulfill” is “teleo,” but the intended meaning is obviously the same: We are to continue fulfilling or keeping the Law — not ceasing to keep it. This conclusion is clear when we understand what sin is — and that we have to repent of sin to obtain eternal life.

Please note these excerpts from pages 14-15 of our free booklet, “Baptism–A Requirement for Salvation?” :

“What, exactly, is it that we need to repent of…? Simply put, we must repent of the sins we have committed. What is sin? The biblical definition is: ‘…sin is the transgression of the law’ (1 John 3:4, Authorized Version). Which law? The law of God’s Ten Commandments. James calls it the ‘royal law according to the Scripture’ (James 2:8). It defines our love toward God and our love toward neighbor. When we break even one of the Ten Commandments, we are guilty of having broken them all and have become a transgressor of the law (James 2:10-11). The law of the Ten Commandments is a spiritual law, as Paul explains in Romans 7:14, because it regulates not only our actions, but also the motives and intents of our heart. We sin when we commit adultery (Exodus 20:14), but we also sin when we DESIRE or COVET the wife of another man (Exodus 20:17), or when we look at another woman with the desire to commit adultery with her (Matthew 5:28). Additionally, we sin when we kill someone (Exodus 20:13), but we have already sinned by violating God’s spiritual law of the Ten Commandments when we even HATE another human being (Matthew 5:21-22; 1 John 3:15).”

Christ did not come to do away with God’s Law. Otherwise, there would be no more sin, and we would not need to repent of anything. But Christ said that we have to REPENT and believe the gospel (Mark 1:14-15). The resurrected Christ commanded His disciples that “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name” (Luke 24:47). And Peter proclaimed that same message, as is recorded in Acts 2:38. Christ had come to FULFILL the Law, that is, He kept it PERFECTLY, giving us an example that we “should follow His steps” (compare 1 Peter 2:21). He did not keep the Law FOR us, so that we don’t have to keep it anymore. Rather, He told a young rich ruler: “If you want to enter into life, KEEP the commandments” (compare Matthew 19:17).

Note this quote from our free booklet, “The Gospel of the Kingdom of God,” on pages 24:

“Christ warned those of His time, as well as us today, that not everyone who would just say ‘Lord, Lord’ to Christ, would enter the Kingdom of God, but only the person ‘who does the will of My Father in heaven.’ (Matthew 7:21) This same thought is expressed in Luke 16:16: Everyone wants to desperately enter the Kingdom of God. But what does Christ tell us in verse 17: ‘And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.’ In other words, if you want to enter into eternal life, KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS. Only those who do the will of the Father, which is, to keep the commandments of God, will enter the Kingdom of God. And now Christ continues to give us an example of such a commandment to be kept, in verse 18: ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.’ ‘You shall not commit adultery’ is one of the commandments that we are to keep. And divorcing someone for any other than Biblical reasons and then marrying again, is a violation of the law against adultery. In order to enter the Kingdom of God, in order to be part of the Kingdom of God, we must KEEP God’s Law. It is the SAME Law, as we are told in Luke 16:16, that had already been preached up until the time of John the Baptist. It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for the Law to fail.”

The teaching of the Bible is consistent. In order to inherit eternal life, we must keep God’s Law — the Ten Commandments, as well as the statutes and judgments, defining and explaining the Ten Commandments even further. Christ did not come to “fulfill” the Law by doing away with it or by destroying it. Rather, Christ came to “fulfill” the Law by making it more honorable (Isaiah 42:21 ), by MAGNIFYING it, by showing us HOW to obey it both in the letter AND in the SPIRIT. This includes ALL of God’s commandments — including the keeping of the Fourth Commandment, which enjoins us to keep God’s Sabbath holy (Exodus 20:8). For more information on that important subject, please read our free booklet, “God’s Commanded Holy Days.”

Public Bible Lecture
On Sunday, May 22, 2005, Norbert Link will present a message, titled, “Europe Is Uniting–What Does This Mean to You?” This address will be free and open to the public, and it will be conducted at the Embassy Suites in Arcadia, California (211 East Huntington Drive). We will be placing ads in local newspapers leading up to this event. The meeting time is 6:30 P.M. You may request further information at: info@standingwatch.org

A new StandingWatch program is intended to be recorded tomorrow.

A new member letter has been written. It is being finalized and will be sent out early next week.

On Saturday, May 7, 2005, Edwin Pope will give the sermon from Colorado. The sermon is titled, “Keys in Overcoming Sin.”

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.

At one time the world was flat, the Sun rotated around the earth and there were only 7 other planets in this solar system. Men of renown based their calculations on these “facts” and wrote down these and other observations as absolutes. Later, we became smarter and figured out that these “facts” were not to be set in stone.

Then came Einstein, considered to be one of the most brilliant minds of all time, who came up with his famous theory of E=mc2. In this equation c stands for CONSTANT and that constant is the speed of light upon which many other conclusions relied. Now there are scientists that say the speed of light is slowing down and they say they have evidence to prove it.

In the scientific community there is the necessity to have absolutes around which theories, laws, knowledge and ultimately science can be built. Yet new generations bring better precision which refines or even changes what has been held as absolute truth.

It seems, based on past experience, that we can not rely on the absolutes and truths that man has been able to extrapolate empirically. What then can we rely on?

The one absolute that we can use as a foundation for building our life upon, the one absolute that is not going to change is God. God and His Word are the same YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW. We read: “I the Lord change not” (Malachi 3:6); and that “there is no variation or shadow of turning” with God (James 1:17).

Even if man could explain his existence accurately, there is no assurance that it will always be that way. Even though the universe will change, God won’t (Psalm 102:25-27). Man does not have the ability to control the environment like the One who created it. God is the only One that CAN be and is absolute.

This being the case, God and His Word should be our foundation, our beginning, and our basis for life. We can rely on EVERY word in the Bible and WE SHOULD (Matthew 4:4). We can not rely on anything else, because everything else will perish along with those that believe in it and follow after it (Proverbs 14:12).

The New Europeans

On April 26, 2005, the International Herald Tribune published an interesting article about “European feelings.” The article pointed out:

“A year after 10 new members joined the European Union, euroskepticism and doubts about the new European constitution may be dominating headlines. But beyond politics and institutional battles, the everyday reality of Europe’s open borders is quietly forging a EUROPEAN IDENTITY. A growing number of young Europeans… work and date across the Continent. Unlike their parents, who grew up within the confines of nationhood, they are multilingual and multicultural.

“Most of the EU citizens who say they feel ‘European’ still rank their national identity higher than their European one, opinion polls show. But among those aged 21 to 35, almost a third say they feel MORE European than German, French or Italian, according to a survey by Time magazine in 2001… According to a poll conducted by the European Commission in all 25 member states last year, more than two-thirds of respondents say they feel ‘ATTACHED’ to Europe. Fifty-seven percent see their identity as having a ‘European DIMENSION’ in the near future, up five percentage points from 1999, while 41 percent say their identity remains entirely national…

“Perhaps the most striking example of such [European] convergence is the wave of opposition to the Iraq war that swept across the Continent two years ago. Even if a number of governments–notably Britain, Italy, Poland and Spain–backed the United States on Iraq, European public opinion strongly opposed the invasion… Some say trans-Atlantic tensions around the Iraq war may have strengthened a sense of UNITY in Europe… others argue that the expansion of the EU is what is paving the way to a true European IDENTITY.”

Partially Human and Partially Animal?

On April 30, 2005, CNN reported about “mingling human cells with lesser beings.” The article explained that “on a farm about six miles outside this gambling town [of Reno, Nevada, there is] a flock of about 50 smelly sheep, many of them possessing partially human livers, hearts, brains and other organs.”

The article continued:

“In fact, the Academies’ report endorses research that co-mingles human and animal tissue as vital to ensuring that experimental drugs and new tissue replacement therapies are safe for people… Doctors have transplanted pig valves into human hearts for years, and scientists have injected human cells into lab animals for even longer. But the biological co-mingling of animal and human is now evolving into even more exotic and unsettling mixes of species, evoking the Greek myth of the monstrous CHIMERA, which was part lion, part goat and part serpent. “In the past two years, scientists have created pigs with human blood, fused rabbit eggs with human DNA and injected human stem cells to make paralyzed mice walk. Particularly worrisome to some scientists are the NIGHTMARE scenarios that could arise from the mixing of brain cells: What if a human mind somehow got trapped inside a sheep’s head?… In January, an informal ethics committee at Stanford University endorsed a proposal to create mice with brains nearly completely made of human brain cells.”

Great Britain vs. the Euro

The Daily Mail reported on April 28, 2005: “Mr. Blair conceded last night that his dream of being the Prime Minister who takes Britain into the Euro is all but DEAD. He suggested there was almost NO CHANCE of a referendum on entry into the single currency in the next Parliament. Mr. Blair has often said he would like Britain to join if the conditions for entry can be met. But Gordon Brown [Chancellor] has repeatedly [said] they have not [reached that point].”

Haider in Germany

On April 30, 2005, wienweb.at reported about Austria’s Joerg Haider’s recent visit in Mannheim, Germany. Haider stated that he still wants to become Austrian CHANCELLOR. He also said that the people should be able to decide via referendum, whether to accept the EU constitution, as the EU constitution is a bad document. According to Haider, the proposed Constitution takes away rights from the people and gives them instead to the “colorless” bureaucrats in Brussels.

Doctrinal Decisions by Cardinal Ratzinger

On April 29, 2005, the Catholic News Service published a Timeline of principal doctrinal decisions, issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 1981 to 2005 [formerly called, “the Inquisition”], when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was prefect of the office. He was elected Pope Benedict XVI April 19, 2005.

Among the interesting and note-worthy decisions were the following:

— Nov. 26, 1983: “Declaration on Masonic Associations,” saying Masonic principles and rituals “embody a naturalistic” religion incompatible with Christianity. Those who knowingly embrace the principles or attend the rituals are involved in serious sin and may not receive Communion.

— Feb. 22, 1987: “Instruction on Respect for Human Life in Its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation,” clarifying the church’s position on assisted fertilization techniques and other biomedical issues, reaffirming teaching that an embryo is human from the moment of conception and that conception is moral only in the context of sexual intercourse within marriage.

— Feb. 16, 1989: Note regarding the moral rule of “Humanae Vitae” and pastoral duty, saying couples who find it difficult to follow church teaching about birth control of any kind “deserve great respect and love,” but the church is firm in teaching that contraception is an “intrinsically disordered act” that is prohibited without exception.

— Oct. 15, 1989: “Letter on Certain Aspects of Christian Meditation,” cautioning Catholics about using Buddhist, Hindu and other meditation techniques that place the focus of prayer on the self rather than on God.

— July 23, 1992: “Some Considerations Concerning the Response to Legislative Proposals on Nondiscrimination of Homosexual Persons,” saying, “It is not unjust discrimination to take sexual orientation into account” when making laws concerning “adoption or foster care, in employment of teachers or athletic coaches and in military recruitment.”

— Sept. 14, 1994: “Letter to Bishops Regarding the Reception of Holy Communion by Divorced and Remarried Members of the Faithful,” saying the church cannot ignore Jesus’ clear teaching on the indissolubility of marriage and reaffirming that divorced and civilly remarried Catholics may not receive Communion.

— Oct. 28, 1995: Response to questions about the doctrine contained in the apostolic letter, “Ordinatio Sacerdotalis,” saying the church’s teaching that women cannot be ordained priests belongs “to the deposit of faith” and has been taught “infallibly.”

— Aug. 15, 1997: Publication of the final Latin “typical edition” of the “Catechism of the Catholic Church,” including a stronger condemnation of the death penalty and an acknowledgment that science has not determined the cause of homosexuality.

— Oct. 31, 1998: “Considerations on ‘The Primacy of the Successor of Peter in the Mystery of the Church,'” saying that “the full communion desired by Christ among those who confess to be his disciples requires the common recognition of a universal ecclesial ministry,” and the Catholic faith holds that that ministry belongs to the pope.

— May 31, 1999: Notification regarding School Sister of Notre Dame Jeannine Gramick and Salvatorian Father Robert Nugent, barring the U.S. team from further pastoral ministry to homosexuals, saying they advanced “doctrinally unacceptable” positions “regarding the intrinsic evil of homosexual acts and the objective disorder of the homosexual inclination.”

— June 26, 2000: Publication of a 43-page booklet containing the complete “Message of Fatima,” including the so-called “third secret” given to three Portuguese children in 1917. In his commentary, Cardinal Ratzinger said the third part of the message is a symbolic prophecy of the church’s 20th-century struggles with evil political systems and of the church’s ultimate triumph. In that writing, he stressed that only the ministerial hierarchy of the Catholic Church has the right to interpret the meaning of the “Message to Fatima.”

— Aug. 6, 2000: “Dominus Iesus,” a declaration on the “exclusive, universal and absolute” value of Jesus Christ and his church for salvation, that is, the “Catholic Church.”

— Jan. 16, 2003: Doctrinal note on the participation of Catholics in political life saying that while Catholics are free to choose among political parties and strategies for promoting the common good, they cannot claim that freedom allows them to support abortion, euthanasia or other attacks on human life.

— July 31, 2004: “Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and in the World,” saying the subjugation of women is the result of original sin and not of God’s original design for creation.

— Feb. 11, 2005: Statement and commentary reaffirming church teaching that only priests can administer the anointing of the sick and saying the doctrine must be “definitively” accepted by Catholics.

Pope Benedict XVI’s Future

On April 25, 2005, The Globalist published an insightful editorial about the election of Pope Benedict XVI. The paper stated the following:

“The new pope is certainly equipped to engage in these [ethical] debates. He has been a leading intellectual on ethics questions for decades. In his previous capacity in Rome, he was a forceful and articulate defender of church doctrine. Now he is challenged to move beyond being an enforcer to being an enabler… The power of religious institutions… remains as much POLITICAL as it is spiritual… The POPE is therefore a very POLITICAL force, as is the CATHOLIC CHURCH ITSELF.. As a WORLD LEADER now, he will need to carry on that dialogue with one billion Catholics and the five billion others who share the world’s future… “HOW LONG Pope Benedict will reign is UNKNOWN. When the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany was sworn in, in 1949, he was only five years younger than the pope is today. And he stayed in office for 14 years, guiding the new republic in its first stages after the war. How Benedict shapes the agenda of his Church will be no less crucial for its future. THE RESULTS MAY BE FAR DIFFERENT THAN ANYONE CAN NOW KNOW FOR CERTAIN.”

Religious Persecution?

As AFP reported on May 5, 2005, “An Italian website that published a photo montage of Pope Benedict XVI dressed in a Nazi uniform was told to suspend its activities on Wednesday for OFFENDING the Roman Catholic religion, court officials said. Rome prosecutors accuse the Indymedia Italia site, which is part of a network of alternative media websites, of causing OFFENSE to the Catholic religion by publishing the photo montage alongside the caption ‘Nazi pope.’ Under Italian law, the offense is punishable by up to ONE YEAR IN JAIL… Italy’s largest press union, FNSI, slammed the decision as an ‘unacceptable attack on critical and satirical freedom.'”

Iran and the Bomb

According to an article by Reuters, dated May 3, 2005, “Iran vowed on Tuesday to press ahead with nuclear activities that could be used to make weapons and accused the United States and Israel of threatening international peace with their own atomic arsenals… In a comment clearly aimed at the European Union’s three biggest powers — France, Britain and Germany — [Foreign Minister Kamal]Kharrazi said ‘no one should be under the illusion’ that abolishing its nuclear fuel enrichment program would provide what he called an objective guarantee Tehran would not pursue the bomb.”

Russian Orthodox Church and Easter

On May 1, 2005, The Associated Press reported about the celebration of Easter by the Russian Orthodox Church. The article stated: “The Russian Orthodox Church, all but banned under the Soviet Union, has experienced a MAJOR RESURGENCE since 1991, with an estimated two-thirds of Russia’s 144 million people believed to be observant… Orthodox churches use a different calendar than the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, which celebrated Easter on March 27… In his Easter greetings, Putin said the country was undergoing a SPIRITUAL REVIVAL. ‘On this festive spring day, I’d like to point to the growing positive influence of the Russian Orthodox Church and other traditional Christian confessions on molding the spiritual and moral climate in Russian society,’ the president said.”
The article continued:

“In Ukraine, where the country’s sizable Roman Catholic population marked Easter nearly a month ago, President Viktor Yushchenko sent Easter greetings to Orthodox believers, telling them Ukraine received DIVINE HELP during last year’s pro-democratic ‘Orange Revolution’ that brought him to the presidency. ‘We see our FUTURE TIED with the future of other EUROPEAN NATIONS … I wish that this Easter marks the beginning of a new and better life for everyone,’ Yushchenko said. Almost 90 percent of Ukrainians are members of the Orthodox church….

“In Turkey, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I spoke out against terrorism and killing in the name of religion as Orthodox faithful gathered early Sunday at the seat of the Greek Orthodox Church in Istanbul to celebrate Easter. Bartholomew [is] the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians and a longtime advocate of harmony between different religions…”

We addressed this question in our new booklet, “Should You Fight in War?” We are bringing you the following excerpts:

“Do we believe in God and rely on Him for our protection, having the faith that it is GOD who is our protecting shield, or do we think that we must have additional security in the form of a handgun or some sort of firearm? Do we think that God is incapable of helping us in certain circumstances? We should, of course, do everything that we can do to avoid getting into dangerous situations. We obviously should not go to places where gangs assemble, and we should not get involved with people who are known to be active in crimes, for instance. In addition, Proverbs 15:1 tells us that a soft answer turns away wrath but that grievous words stir up strife. So then, we need to be peacemakers, and we need to avoid everything that would create strife. Proverbs 18:6 reminds us that a fool’s lips enter into contention and that his mouth calls for violent reactions. We are also told in Proverbs 26:17 that he who passes by and meddles with strife belonging not to him, is like one who takes a dog by the ears. The point is, the battles of this world, which are fought by this world, are not our battles! This Scripture tells us not to be a fool, meddling with strife not belonging to us!… The most important of all the things you can do to avoid using violence is to pray to God, on a daily basis: ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil’ (compare Matthew 6:13). We are to plead with God daily to NOT ALLOW a tempting situation that might be too difficult for us to bear, to overtake us. However, we read in the Bible that righteous persons have sometimes found themselves being attacked by others. What did they do, and what should YOU do, if God allows it?

“First, realize that God would NOT allow it if you were not able to bear it, as 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us. And when God does allow it, He will also provide a way of escape for you. This is sometimes literally the case. Sometimes you need to actually flee, to run away! Christ did so on occasion. We read in John 10:39: ‘Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.’… When we find ourselves, or others, in a dangerous, challenging, life-threatening situation, we must PRAY to God, with faith, to HELP us out of that situation. To fight our fight for us! To give us the wisdom and the power NOT to do the WRONG thing, however tempting it may be.

“We must realize that no matter what harm we may WANT to do physically in a given situation, we must not seriously injure or kill the attacker. But unless we understand beforehand, and have in our mind that we are not to do something with the intent to seriously injure or kill the attacker, we might very well do so when the occasion presents itself. If we carry a gun with us or have one handy, say, next to our bed, we will certainly try to use it, but then may be killed in the process.

“People who disagree with the foregoing may ask you what you would do if you came home and a robber was in the process of raping your wife or killing your husband… Realistically, how many times does this happen? But if it does happen, do you really think that you can take a gun and shoot the attacker, and that the attacker would let you do it without any resistance? Chances are, he will use his gun first. In any case, to use a gun and shoot the attacker would be against the clear Biblical teaching of prohibiting killing. But what about just trying to injure him? In the heat of the moment, you may not be able to do just that, even if you wanted to. And if the attacker would only be injured, he would still have the chance to kill you or others who are with you. Christ told Peter, when he pulled his sword in defense of Christ and just injured the servant, to put his sword away. Christ’s protection did not depend on human weapons. It depended on God the Father and His angels. So, too, with us. Our real protection comes from the same source….

“The whole issue really comes down to where we place our trust and confidence for our protection, in EVERY situation. Notice God’s promise to His people, in Exodus 34:22-24: ‘And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the LORD God of Israel. For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year.’ When man places his trust and confidence in God, God will protect man. Ultimately though, no matter the consequences, we must be living a life pleasing to God. We must never fear the ones who can take our physical life from us, but we must fear, or deeply respect, the One who can refuse to give us ETERNAL LIFE.

“We must always have the attitude that Daniel’s three friends had when they were asked to violate God’s laws by worshipping an idol, and in case of refusal, were threatened with being thrown into a fiery furnace. We need to speak and act in the same way when we are being tempted to worship Satan – the god of war – by picking up a gun or a knife or another weapon to injure or even kill another person. We read their answer in Daniel 3:17-18: ‘ … our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.’ We must not serve the wisdom of this world, worshipping the power of the air and the god of destruction and war. Rather, we must always follow the PRINCE OF PEACE.”

At the same time, we must firmly keep in mind God’s limitless power and His willingness to help His disciples, who place their trust and confidence in Him. Rather than resorting to violence with the intent to seriously injure or kill an attacker, God’s disciples are to pray to God for help in dangerous situations.

In 1982, the Mail Processing Center of the Worldwide Church of God published a collection of special letters, titled, “God Still Works Miracles Today.” These letters testified to the intimate involvement of God in people’s lives and His protection in times of trials. We are quoting excerpts from one remarkable letter, dated March 31, 1981:

“I would like to share with you an incident which happened at work, at a coal mine, several days ago. I received word from a foreman to go and repair the roof-drill for a new employee. When I got there, the employee informed me that he had already repaired the roof-drill.” The letter continued to describe how that employee engaged the writer in a discussion regarding the Sabbath, the Church and Mr. Armstrong, the late human leader of the Church. It continued:

“He then grabbed me, and threw me on the mine floor. With the cold edge of his knife at my throat, he said, ‘Take the words back that Armstrong is an apostle for today!’ All the time he was cursing Mr. Armstrong. I refused to take back my words. I managed to get my hand on his forehead and push him off but knew that if he got me down again, without a hand from God, he would kill me. I uttered a silent prayer, and immediately he started fighting something other than myself — and something I could not see. He began to vomit and cry violently and kept it up for several minutes. Then he crawled to the other side of the mine.”

God who protected Daniel in the lions’ den is ready and able to protect us today, if we long for His protection. We don’t need to use violence against others for our own protection, when we trust that God is there to help us, whenever we are in need. As we read in Psalm 46:1-3: “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling.” And notice this comforting reassurance and promise of God’s presence in our lives, and His protection:

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you (Isaiah 43:2).

At the same time, we must always look at God’s overall Will for us and our great potential and destiny for our lives, as Christ expressed in Matthew 10:28-31: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground APART FROM YOUR FATHER’S WILL. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

To resort to violence with the intent to seriously injure or kill another person, even for the purpose of self-defense or defending others, is not in conformity with Christ’s teaching. As mentioned above, Christ told Peter, when he took the sword to defend Christ and injured the servant of the high priest in the process, to put his sword “in its place, for ALL who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). He continued to tell Peter that if He needed help, His Father would provide Him “with more than twelve legions of angels” (verse 53). Christ knew that His protection did not depend on man’s strength — including His own — but on God the Father’s.

God has assigned angels for our protection. For more information about this intriguing subject, please read our free booklet, “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World.”

A StandingWatch program, titled, “The Last Pope?”, was posted on the Web.

Sunday, May 8, 2005, has been set aside in the USA and many other countries as “Mother’s Day.” Regarding Mother’s Day celebrations, please review our Q&A on the matter, in Update #100.

by Aaron Hooper (19)

Choose Your Friends Wisely

Can the young mind comprehend the profound and vast wisdom in the statement: “Choose your friends wisely”? We young people are such that, simple admonishments must be explained to us in full — with real examples of things that have really happened to real people — and then, it’s still a big “maybe” whether or not we will even believe what we have been told. Wisdom is often the result of experience — and, if applied, can dramatically change the direction of our life. Now, the question is, whether we have faith in wisdom to act on what is right.

In this world, there are a lot of things we may try out of our own curiosity, bravery, and — to a greater degree — stupidity. But, there are an equal, if not greater number of things, that we will not try because of our own conscience — all those things we were taught not to do, that we know are wrong. That is, until we may make new friends, and if they have a lower moral standard than we have, then there are a lot of new possibilities of the things we will do, that don’t seem so bad… After all, our new friends seem like normal people and it seems like nothing bad has happened to them as a result of the things they have been doing.

The funny thing about doing something wrong is that we might not get in trouble right away. Doing wrong is so deceptive, and so easy, and we might even get away with it… for a little while — but, the “fun” won’t last forever. The consequences for doing wrong will always catch up with us sooner or later (probably sooner). And the more we do simple, “harmless” things, the more we may begin to hate ourselves. Also, the more we get involved in these “harmless” activities, the more we will become disconnected from God. We will pay for all the wrong things we have done to ourselves and other people — maybe even for the rest of our lives. But it all could have been easily prevented. Our friends have great impact on our immediate personality and perhaps even our long-term character development. Let us, therefore, choose our friends wisely.