During the year at work, we go through review cycles, looking at the goals we have created for ourselves. We also review the progress that we have made towards those goals, or maybe the lack thereof.

Goals are easy to put down on paper to say that A, B & C will be executed. But it is another thing to actually do the work that is needed to accomplish those goals.  It is easy to have good intentions and to want to work towards something superior, but it is more difficult to carry out our intentions.

Why do people set goals? Maybe they do it for a job title or possibly a bonus. Maybe they want to broaden their skills. Maybe they love to receive praise or recognition. Whatever it is that one desires, there is one thing that is certain in setting and attaining a goal or multiple goals: Dedication of time, effort, will, common sense and tenacity.  Even though it is easy to set goals, people oftentimes may give up, walk away or forget the goals because of the tough work that is involved.

What about us as Christians? What are our individual goals? Do we even have goals? What is it that we are trying to accomplish day in and day out?  Or are we tired from the stress and the trials? Do we just wish for easiness?

Can we define for ourselves what we want to improve on in our Christian lives?  What goals can we set, based upon what the Bible says? Here are some examples:

(1) This Passover time reminds us to remove sin from our lives, as we are removing physical leaven which symbolizes spiritual sin during the Days of Unleavened Bread (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).

(2) We should set the goal of doing all things with rejoicing (1 Thessalonians 5:18: “In EVERYTHING give thanks; for this is the WILL of God in Christ Jesus for you.”). It is God’s Will for us to give Him thanks for the good and the bad things that may happen to us. Truly, this is a very hard goal to work towards and accomplish.

(3) We are to be careful to maintain good works (Titus 3:8).

(4) We are to focus on the applications of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Is it our goal to manifest these character traits in our daily lives? Galatians 5:22-23 tells us: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love (for God and fellow man), joy (in living God’s Way of Life with all our heart), peace (which is something God bestows on us when we are obeying Him), longsuffering (or patience; no longer being worried about little things that we have no control over), kindness (in what we say, think or do), goodness (wanting only what is good, forsaking lusts and harmful pleasures), faithfulness (or faith, without which is impossible to please God, as faith is our catalyst), gentleness (unlike the people of this world, which is constantly warring and looking to destroy others because they have the heart of their father, Satan the Devil), self-control (an amazing trait that is only strengthened through training). Against such things there is no law.”

Of course, the most important goal we should set is this: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). When we make this our main goal, all the other goals will fall into place. God wants to see us prosper. He wants to pour His blessings upon us. How eager are we to pass God’s examination with flying colors, because we have set the right goals and stuck with them until the very end?

Infections and infectious diseases can be a source of great worry and concern for those who suffer from them. We have recently had Aids and the Ebola crisis; there is bird flu, blood poisoning, chicken pox, scarlet fever, cholera, glandular fever, measles, malaria, salmonella, shingles, whooping cough and a whole range of other infectious diseases, a list of which could probably fill a book.

We try not to become infectious in the first place by avoiding contact with those who have anything that is contagious, and those who have such health problems should stay away from others. This is not only an act of kindness but is the way that true Christians should behave; that of esteeming others better or more important than self, and that of caring for others.

For many years, the Church has issued instructions about this matter in respect of attendance at the Feast of Tabernacles along the following lines:

“Elders will be available at all times during the Feast. However, if you think that you have a contagious illness, please do not come to services or to the Festival Desk to be anointed. Likewise, please do not bring children with contagious illnesses to services, to the Festival Desk or to any of the activities.” Of course, this also applies to the weekly Sabbath and other Holy Days.

Avoidance of infection should always be our aim, and we do have a Q&A on the quarantine principle.

If we are infected and have a health issue, we are admonished to call for the elders in the Church for anointing (see James 5:13-14). This is what we should do in such circumstances as outlined above, but what about this matter in a spiritual context?

Satan, the god of this world (see 2 Corinthians 4:4), wants to infect us with as many of the works of the flesh as possible (see Galatians 5:19-21), and he does this in many ways. Often, he can work through others to cause as many problems as possible to those called by God. This is a much greater threat to us than physical infection because the consequences can be much more serious!

For example, someone with a wrong spirit who may have taken issue with a member, a minister or a particular Church teaching can cause serious problems with those whom he/she knows or attends Church. We understand that tares will grow with the wheat (see Matthew 13:24-30), and they will often grow together until the harvest when a reckoning will take place, and so we shouldn’t be too surprised when someone from amongst us tries to cause problems.

The key to this situation is to look at the fruits of the ones causing the problems. Are they taking their concerns only to the ministry (if applicable), or are they trying to resolve any issues with brethren quietly and discreetly, as Matthew 18:15-17 instructs? If so, then other brethren may not be aware of any such concerns; however, if the person concerned is spewing bile out at all and sundry, then the fruits are not good and some, or many, may be “infected.”

Human nature, being what it is, can push us to get involved and to take sides. Spiritual infection can spread and this can be unfortunate where others may be involved. The apostle Paul faced problems in the Corinthian Church where he writes about envy, strife and division (1 Corinthians 3:1-4).

Satan causes division (Revelation 12:10), and we must not adopt any such attitude that is not a Godly one. One writer observed: “Anyone versed in military tactics knows the maxim ‘divide and conquer.’ If you can get your enemies to break ranks, turn on themselves and fight each other, you can quickly rout them”— and this is a tactic used successfully by our adversary.

If accusation, division, antagonism and animosity are the results of anyone’s actions, then you can be assured that this is not of God, and we must avoid being infected by anyone acting in such a manner. Irrespective of our relationship with that person, God and His way must always come first. Taking sides with someone with a rebellious attitude, even if they are very closely related to us, is asking for trouble.

We must always remember that there have been difficulties in the Church down through the ages, and a falling away from the truth has happened many times. We experienced that in the 1990’s, and since that time, and we must remember that Matthew 24:12 clearly spells out conditions at the end of this age: “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” We have been warned, and being on our guard against rogue elements will stand us in good stead.

Ephesians 2:10 states: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Good works do not include rebellion, accusation, division and an angry spirit.

We should be developing holy righteous character, as Romans 12:1-2 states: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

When we are approached by someone with a “grievance” or different mindset, we must always look at the fruits! If the person is suffering from a contagious spiritual disease, we must avoid contact and make sure that we do not become infected.

The Spring Holy Days are almost upon us! Have we been recently experiencing various trials in our lives? Have we been active yet in our “spring cleaning” by removing the leavening in our houses? And most importantly, have we been examining ourselves, making sure that when the Passover approaches, we will be partaking of it in a worthy manner? Yes, these are questions we are faced with annually as we are reminded about the significance of what is coming shortly.

There are a few weeks left to prepare for Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread – meaning that we must physically deleaven our houses and examine ourselves spiritually before we take the Passover and observe the Days of Unleavened Bread to see where we are in relation to God and His Way of Life. However, there is much more to it than that. Because keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread symbolizes living a sinless life, we have to be prepared at all times for the unexpected, especially now, since the time is getting closer to Christ’s return. We know this because of what is happening around the world, based on biblical prophecy, and we do have a general idea of what to expect. That is why we must become free from sin.

We have to make sure that we are strong in the Church as well. There is a dangerous warning for those who take this lightly. Revelation 3:14-22 talks about the lukewarm Church, describing the works and attitudes of those who don’t produce much fruit. Verse 16 says, “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth.” This is why it is important to BE PART of God’s Church and to do zealously what God commands us to do. If we want to be prepared and inherit salvation, we have to watch and be aware of what is happening in this world. We need to be ready for Christ’s return (Matthew 25:1-13).

There will be a time again when we, just like Israel, will have to be saved physically out of this world to be brought to a place of safety and protection. But we have to respond to God’s calling starting NOW. We individually have to be prepared for the coming of Christ. We read about the fall of Babylon the Great – which is a political, religious and economic power in the end time, when unimaginable and terrible events will take place (compare Revelation 18:4-5).

When that time approaches, it will become increasingly difficult to remain faithful and obedient because people with whom we are in close contact will betray us and will hate us for what we believe in. Perhaps that has already happened to us. Have we lost friends over our beliefs? It may feel as if we are alone, but we are not alone, as God is with us.

We have to make sure we are not caught off guard when that time comes. “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Luke 12:35-40).

We must become spiritually strong and we have to be aware of what is going on in this world, making sure that we don’t return to it as many former Church members have already done. We have less than three weeks left before we take the Passover, before we ask our merciful Father to forgive us our sins. This is our fresh start to try to live a sinless life, a taste of what God’s Kingdom is all about. Are we preparing ourselves for this right now and for what the future holds?   Many people will not be ready for Christ’s return, but we have been given the opportunity right now because of what we already know. Will we be ready when that time comes?

I hear it all the time from our viewers and readers: “Why are you not together with this or that organization which is also a part of the Church of God, since we are all believing the same thing?” If that were true, then we should all be together, but in reality, this perception is simply not accurate. In fact, we differ greatly in doctrine, administration, approach and purpose.

The founding documents of the Church of the Eternal God state the following in our Statements of Beliefs, under “Doctrinal Foundation”:

“The major doctrines of the Church are those, which were taught by Herbert W. Armstrong, derived from the Biblical teachings as followed by God’s faithful servants, and originally established by Jesus Christ through the founding of His Church in the time of His chosen early apostles. Since we are to increase in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, we are committed to review and alter any of our teachings, if and when proven to be wrong by from the Bible.”

Unlike other Church organizations which declared from the beginning of their existence that “everything is on the table” and that all doctrines and teachings of the Church must be reviewed and reconsidered, we have been taking the opposite approach. For us, nothing is on the table, unless a doctrine, teaching or administrative practice is proven to be wrong, based on Scripture. This means, even if we cannot fully prove a particular established teaching from the Bible, we will not change it, if we cannot prove it to be in violation of God’s written Word.

At the same time, we will change if a doctrine or administrative practice is shown to be in contradiction with the Bible. However, there are groups which say that nothing can be changed after Herbert W. Armstrong’s death in 1986… and some even go so far as to say that none of the Church’s changes can be accepted which occurred subsequent to 1974 and 1975, including major changes pertaining to the correct day of Pentecost and our teaching on divorce and remarriage. This concept that nothing can be changed today is clearly unbiblical and must be rejected.

Our approach, as described herein, is the ONLY safe approach which ALL Church organizations in the Body of Christ should take, because only then true unity in doctrine and administration can be achieved. To just give one example, it is simply not acceptable that one organization disfellowships a person for Scriptural reasons (compare Matthew 18:17-18; Romans 16:17), and another organization, claiming to be in the same spiritual Body of Christ, embraces him or her with open arms, without even inquiring into the cause of the excommunication. Another unacceptable policy prevails in many Church organizations which sanction and officiate over the re-marriage of divorced persons in their fellowship who are still married in the eyes of God, since God had bound their marriage (Matthew 19:4-9; 1 Corinthians 7:10-15) and no subsequent biblical grounds existed for divorce and re-marriage. Such conduct gives some of the many reasons as to why there is no unity amongst many Church groups. Unity can only come through the working of the Holy Spirit, based on the teachings of God. How CAN two walk together, unless they are agreed (Amos 3:3)?

We in the Church of the Eternal God and our affiliates in the UK, Canada and German-speaking areas are committed to grow in Christ’s knowledge. As Mr. Armstrong changed or modified doctrines and practices when he found them to be wrong, so have we. A careful study of our literature shows our willingness to change in areas of administration and teaching, but all of our changes have been clearly documented and proved by the pages of the Bible.

If someone wants to find out what we teach, he or she must study our literature and listen to our messages. Just to go back to old and ancient Church literature may or may not give an accurate picture of our current teaching. At the same time, all our changes and modifications are based and built on the doctrines which all of us have learned. We are not going to deviate and depart from the faith which has been—once for all—delivered to the saints (Jude 3). This is our commission and God-given responsibility, which we are determined to fulfill to the best of our ability.

Each year our neighbors go south to Arizona for the winter. They spend weeks packing their trailer with all they need for their trip. They also prepare their home for an extended absence. Part of that preparation is having neighbors check their house regularly and contact them if problems arise.

With all that they do to prepare for their yearly trip, time, chance and preparation is all they can rely on. How different it is for us brethren! When we make our annual trips to God’s Holy Feasts, we are promised protection of our physical possessions: “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” (Exodus 34:24).

God knows the intentions of our hearts and the draw we have towards our physical possessions. He gives us His word that we don’t have to worry about them. But this promise is not to gather more unto ourselves—quite the opposite! He wants us to forget about our physical riches and focus on treasure that doesn’t fade away—God, His Spirit, eternal life and our reward.

Christ warned His disciples that Christians could not serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). But in the same passage He also strengthened them saying, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:25-26).

We must decide where we are truly putting our trust. No amount of insurance or the best planning can save what is really valuable. We must never let the weight of worrying about our physical valuables blind us to our greatest treasure—the Spirit of God. Dwelling on the passing treasures of the world is like relying on the teachers Peter warned us about: “These false teachers promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of immorality; whatever overpowers you, enslaves you” (2 Peter 2:19, Common English Bible). We are slaves to God, with everlasting life and our eternal reward within our grasp. Never let that treasure go.

In the 80’s, a co-worker told me that he liked going down to the Vancouver airport to watch planes take off from the perimeter road located to the south of the runway, going north and south.

Planes departing in this direction fly over a body of water, and from the road one can get a really good view of the take-offs. One hot summer day, he was watching a Boeing 747 taking off. He was aware that there is a point on a runway called the point of no return. Pilots know about it, even though it is not marked by a big sign and pointing arrow. When that point is reached, the pilot can still abort the takeoff safely in case of an emergency, without running out of runway. Once this point is passed, he must attempt the take off.

My co-worker observed that the Boeing 747 was lumbering down the runway, not gaining much lift due to the hot summer air which is thinner than cold air, and it passed the point of no return. The plane was not lifting off and was running out of runway. It slowly gained a bit of elevation, but with the wheels still down, he thought the wheels would hit the perimeter barbwire fence around that part of the airport. This would have caused the plane to crash into the water of the Bay.

The pilot retracted the wheels way before he normally would do, and the plane cleared the fence. Once over the water, the air being a bit cooler and more dense, the plane slowly began to get more lift, but it seemed that it took forever to gain enough altitude to make its turn towards its destination.

This episode may remind us of our experience with sin, because there is a point of no return that we should be aware of. This process is outlined in the book of James:

“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:13-15).

First we are drawn away by our own desires or tempted by our desires and enticed; that is, sin doesn’t look so bad, in fact, it looks good. Notice, once the desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, so the time to put on the brakes is before it conceives because by then one may be in danger of passing the point of no return. After conception, our desires give birth to sin—not to immortal life, but to sin—and when sin is fully grown, it brings forth death. It is like a little leaven which grows until the whole body is leavened. Likewise, the end result of sin is death from which, if not repented of, there could be no return. That is why it is important to control our desires and to resist sin early on.

We know that Christ was tempted in all things, yet He never sinned. Hebrews 4:14-15 tells us:

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Christ never passed the point of no return—for Him, it was never a close call. He never allowed desires to take hold of or conceive and settle in His mind, and He never allowed them to give birth to sin. Since He could overcome temptation, we can do likewise, when Christ lives in us, helping us to attain that state of being free from sinful behavior. Let us never lose sight of the fact that with Christ’s help, we can overcome temptation and abort actions leading to sin, and if desires have conceived and have given birth to sin and death, we must quickly repent by “retracting the wheels” and attempting the lift-off from and rising above sin, so as to avoid going beyond the point of no return.

Roughly defined, selfies are self-portraits in the digital age. With the advent of social media—such as Facebook, for instance—people seem more willing to reveal themselves in a public way. Using the camera on a cell phone to take a “selfie” has made the process virtually instantaneous.

There is an obvious spiritual counterpart in the making of selfies. We all want to project an acceptable image of our Christianity to others, but is what we think we are transmitting actually what others perceive? That is, are we only fooling ourselves, while others see us as we are?

There is a Church of God which doesn’t know that it is “‘wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.’” In fact, a member of this group would say, “‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’” (Revelation 3:17). What Jesus Christ sees in these Christians is not what they see in themselves!

Let me make this more applicable for us by asking a question—how would you describe a self-righteous person? Consider:

Self-righteous individuals are presumptuously arrogant along with being self-willed and right in their own eyes; they practice “fixing” others while ignoring their own problems; they have a spirit of defiance and disrespect—stubbornly resisting guidance.

Perhaps the most glaring shortfall of self-righteous people is that they are weak! Christians who hold onto and sustain the vanity of self-righteousness are blocking themselves from God:

“‘But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word’” (Isaiah 66:2).

Whether we realize it or not, we are all transmitting “selfies” to others in ways far more important than what might be captured by a camera. If we rely on God for our righteousness and not ourselves, then our “picture” will be acceptable to the Father, Jesus Christ, our brethren—and even to ourselves!

Recently, we received the following message from a recipient of our weekly Updates, saying: “Please unsubscribe. I do not have time to read all that. It clogs up my computer.”

When I see something like that, I feel sad for the person and his or her attitude. And I ask myself, how is the person wasting his or her time, so that he or she does not have time for the essential things in life? After all, our weekly Updates present unique Editorials, Bible studies and a summary of world news in the light of biblical prophecy which just cannot be found, in that concise manner, anywhere else. Hours upon hours go into the preparation of these weekly presentations, but some people don’t seem to recognize the importance and relevance for their own lives. They are rather willing to waste their time with unimportant, futile and perhaps even dangerous and ungodly pursuits.

This world is coming to an end, and it is moving towards an unparalleled crescendo of religious deception, global terror and war, famine and disease epidemics, culminating in the Great Tribulation. Our booklet, “Hidden Secrets in the Bible,” discusses in Part 2 the “Significance of Certain Numbers in the Bible.” We translated this part into German and posted it on our German website (in addition to Part 1 of the booklet on “Hebrew Poetry in the Bible.”) In a recent German member letter, I referred to the article on biblical numbers and pointed out some interesting numbers in regard to the Church of the Eternal God: In July 2001, it was registered in the USA, which means that by July 2015, it will have been in operation for 14 years. We have by now published 40 booklets in the English language, and this year we will publish our 700^th weekly Update. In Germany, we began to broadcast AufPostenStehen Video programs in August of 2008, which means that by August 2015, we will have been publishing our video presentations for 7 years.

I also spoke a little bit about my own personal life. I was baptized in December of 1974, which means that 40 years had passed by December of 2014. I was ordained as an Elder in July of 1998; so that by July 2015, I have been an ordained minister for 17 years. In addition, I was ordained as an Evangelist in February of 2005, which means that when you read this Editorial, I have been serving in this office for almost 10 years.

As our afore-mentioned booklet explains, the numbers 40, 10 and 14 (as well as combinations of numbers 7 and 10) have interesting biblical meaning. Personally, I need to ask myself: How much did I overcome since my baptism? How did I carry out so far my responsibilities as Elder, Pastor and Evangelist? Even though I am not interested that much in the judgment of man, I hope that God will judge me mercifully, since I know how much I still have to learn and to overcome. Collectively, we need to ask ourselves these questions: With what kind of judgment will God (not necessarily man) evaluate the Church of the Eternal God and its affiliates in Canada, the UK, Germany and other places? Again, we hope that God will judge us with great mercy, and we know that our two-fold mission of preaching the gospel in all the world as a witness and of feeding the flock is far from over.

All of these numbers show us how quickly time goes by. We grow old and feeble, before we know it. Much is still to do, before Christ returns. The signs of the times indicate strongly that it won’t be that long now (compare Matthew 16:1-3; 24:32-35). The world is moving speedily towards its utter destruction and annihilation of all human and animal life. God will not allow this to happen, and some will survive–but not too many will (Matthew 24:21-22). How foolish to think we do not need to watch world events and our own personal and collective situation, while instead concentrating on unimportant time-consuming activities. Time IS short, and the future will bring a rude awakening for those who are asleep (1 Thessalonians 5:1-7).

On March 2, 2004, the Philae robotic lander was launched from the surface of the earth into outer space, with a mission to land on the surface of a comet. Just over ten years later this radical and seemingly impossible mission was accomplished when it successfully made a soft landing on the surface of the nucleus of comet “67P”. As unfathomable and crazy as it sounds to land a spacecraft on the surface of a comet, a team of human beings managed to accomplish the task. To me, this is a prime example of man accomplishing whatever he sets his mind to do (compare Genesis 11:6). With this space probe attached to the nucleus of the comet, the scientific community is thrilled to discover previously unknown facts about this celestial body. For man, this is quite a feat.

As significant as this accomplishment is to man, in the context of God’s plan, landing on a comet is meaningless. In fact, it is even worse than meaningless, because it gives man an opportunity to be proud and glorify himself. The strong, wise, rich and powerful according to the standards of the world may have something to be proud about now, but the Bible is clear that “…the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Corinthians 1:28-29).

If we have pride in our lives that elevates our opinions of ourselves above God, knowing that this is something that God will punish, what are we to do? We need to change our perspective to be spiritually minded and to walk in the Spirit (compare Galatians 5:25). This simply means that we should not seek value or glory from the world. The things that the world might provide are only temporary and will not provide any enduring reward. We are reminded of this perspective in 1 John 2:17 where we read, “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” If we live with the understanding that the world truly is passing away and that it is God’s Will that no flesh should glory, the achievements we accomplish in this world lose their value.

When we put this understanding into action, our motivation shifts away from achieving the temporary accomplishments in the world and re-focuses on fulfilling God’s Will. We put our treasure in heaven when we live in the Spirit. The Scripture that illustrates this shift in perspective is Colossians 3:23-24, where Paul writes, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” Here we can see that we are not to stop taking action in our lives because the world is temporary. We must continue to be productive individuals, but the reason why we take action changes. The work we do – the action we take – must be done to please and glorify God, not man—not ourselves!

December 11th 2014 will be another date that will go down in the annals of British history as another shameful piece of legislation came into force.   Most seemed to think that it was yet another great day in gaining equality for all, but for those who know God’s Word, the exact opposite was the case.

It was a day when homosexual couples were given the right to convert their civil partnerships into marriages.

UK Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, who is also equalities minister, and skills minister Nick Boles, who is responsible for policy over same sex marriage, hailed it as a ‘proud’ moment for equal rights!

The Daily Mail reported that “Overall, almost seven in 10 Britons – 69 per cent – believe that homosexual couples should be able to marry while just over a quarter – 28 per cent – disagree.   When the same question was asked in 1975, support for gay marriage stood at just 16 per cent, with 53 per cent against.”

We had a Q&A in our Update 626, dated February 14, 2014, entitled “The frog in boiling water principle.”   In this, we stated the following: ”They say that if you put a frog into a pot of boiling water, it will leap out right away to escape the danger. But, if you put a frog in a kettle that is filled with water that is cool and pleasant, and then you gradually heat the kettle until it starts boiling, the frog will not become aware of the threat until it is too late.   The frog’s survival instincts are geared towards detecting sudden changes.”

There is no question that continual lobbying and the manipulation of public opinion over many decades ensured that the initial repugnance that most of the population once felt towards homosexuality, softened significantly over time towards mass acceptance of this ungodly practice.

During this campaign over the years, political leaders such as Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Nick Clegg, Ed Milliband and Prime Minister David Cameron have all played their part.  Whilst Nick Clegg and Ed Milliband are self-confessed atheists, Messrs Blair, Brown and Cameron have all acknowledged their Christian faith; however their knowledge of the Bible on this subject is either deficient or conveniently ignored.   They put what they call “equality” before the Word of God.

This was not only another day of ignominy for the UK but was compounded by the many hundreds of comments to the article, most of which not only approved of this new practice but also showed a good deal of hostility and antipathy towards God and the Bible.  Those few who disapproved of what was happening were subjected to such comments as “small minded bigots; the fairy tale book named ‘the bible’; dull and old fashioned” and many others proliferated, showing that the secular, Godless society, is very much in the majority today.

This latest day of ignominy following after many others will be part of our demise and the downfall of this once great nation.

And it seems that the writing is now truly on the wall!