We begin reporting on the “miraculous” economic recovery of Germany and the euro. Notwithstanding all gainsayers and self-proclaimed prophets who declared and still declare Europe’s and Germany’s economic collapse, Germany is once again the “number one in Europe”–signifying an end-time development which the Church of God has announced for more than seventy years. And while the EU becomes more assertive in political matters, Angela Merkel is being pushed into isolation, and her days of political survival may be numbered. It will be interesting to see who might replace her in the office of German Chancellor.
In other news, the British paper, The Telegraph, published a biting editorial listing President Obama’s failures; USA Today voiced the opinion that the special relationship between the USA and Britain is over; and unless repealed soon, Obamacare is visibly becoming a nightmare and surely a contributing factor to this nation’s economic downfall. BP’s attempts to stop the Oil Spill may or may not be successful; and an unsettling report in the Washington Post reveals the extent of incredible and problematic secrecy within the US government.
The sex scandal in the Catholic Church–and now also in the Lutheran Church–is continuing, and the Vatican is scrambling to undo damage caused by the announcement of its new rules, which view the ordination of women as priests and the sexual abuse of minors by clerics as “crimes.” An interesting article by the New York Times discusses the weekly Sabbath–but unfortunately, it confuses the “Christian” Sabbath–Sunday–with the “Jewish” Sabbath. If we follow the Bible, then there is only ONE weekly Sabbath–and it is neither called the Jewish nor the Christian Sabbath. Rather, God established His Sabbath and He made it holy. It is the time from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, made the Sabbath for man, when He made man (Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:8-11; Mark 2:27; John 1:1-3, 14; Colossians 1:16).
While a report shows that the situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating, we conclude with an article in the New York Times, reporting on soldiers who want to become conscientious objectors. As the paper points out correctly, they will only be recognized when they are “conscientiously opposed to participating in war in any form, based on a sincerely held religious, moral or ethical belief. And the person must have had a change of heart since joining the military, when the person signed a form saying he or she was not a conscientious objector and did not intend to become one.” With that standard, those won’t qualify who want to become conscientious objectors because they are only opposed to homosexuals serving in the army, or who are only opposed to fighting in certain wars.
