Update 1007

On January 29, 2022, Kalon Mitchell will present the first split-sermon, titled, “Water,” and Michael Link will present the second split-sermon, titled, “True Passion.”

The live services are available, over video and audio, at http://eternalgod.org/live-services/ (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time; 8:30 pm Greenwich Mean Time; 9:30 pm Central European Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

A while ago, someone rang and spoke to my wife as I was not available at the time.   The person said he would ring again later in the day.   The call did not happen.   I was musing on this matter as this was not the first time (nor the second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth time…) I had been let down by this person.

Actually, the lack of this phone call did not present a problem, but it could have done.   How many times have we stayed at home waiting all day for the workman to arrive, as agreed, for him not to turn up?   What about the time we took off work to make sure that someone turned up to do an urgent job and never arrived?

I remember the old joke about two promises we should never rely on – the cheques in the post and I’ll ring you back.   Funny, but not so funny when it actually happens to us when we are relying on someone else doing what they said they would do.

I recall a boss from many years ago who said he would do certain things and he had to be chased, reminded and nudged gently to do what he had said he would do.   I had over six years of being subjected to this approach, and it wore very thin over that period of time.

In “Tired Of Being Let Down? How To Hold People Accountable”, Margie Warrell states the following:

“When you decide not to call someone on their broken promise and ill-managed commitment, you’re, albeit inadvertently, being part of the problem. The one thing you can count on is to expect more of it. More broken promises. More turning up late. More cut corners. More well-worn excuses. More missed deadlines. And more of the stress, frustration and resentment you’d much rather avoid.

“If you’ve ever found yourself frustrated at someone who’s perpetually slack, or late, or unreliable then you’ll relate to some of the comments above. Many people value their promises cheaply or simply manage their commitments poorly. Others have a hard time holding people to account. It’s easier to just let it go and hope they’ll be more reliable next time.

“The problem is, they rarely are.”

When we’re let down by someone and the promise to follow through is not achieved, it might be a good idea to review whether we are guilty of doing this to others.   Do we say that we will get back to someone with an answer by a certain time and not achieve this?   Do we assure someone that we will answer their query within a certain time period?   Do we do anything at all where we let others down by not being true to our word or timescale?  If so, we need to change because this is a case of breaking our word and can be considered as lying.   Our intentions may be honourable, but the end product is unreliability.

It is not good, or godly, to be known as someone who cannot be relied upon to do as they say.

Wikipedia states that the saying “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” is attributed to “Saint Bernard of Clairvaux” who wrote this around 1150 and so the problem has been around a long time!   They further state: “One meaning of the phrase is that individuals may have the intention to undertake good actions but nevertheless fail to take action.  This inaction may be due to procrastination, laziness or other subversive vice.  As such, the saying is an admonishment that a good intention is meaningless unless followed through.”

In a study published in 2017 (“Citizens’ Beliefs about Pledge Fulfilment” by Fraser McMillan/John Smith Centre), 20,000 specific campaign promises from 57 elections in 12 countries were reviewed, showing that over 85% of promises by governing parties at least were partly enacted in the years studied with the strongest “programme-to-policy linkage” found in the United Kingdom.   The observations seemed to be that that was pretty good but we must note that this percentage was “partly enacted” and the result was still only 85%, well short of what it should be.   There were lots of promises not kept or only partly kept.   For a man or woman of honour, that simply isn’t good enough and yet another reason why a true Christian must not be involved in the politics of this world!

It is inevitable in society today, which is very heavily influenced by Satan, “the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2) and the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), that humanity, in general, follows the wrong way of Satan who is “a liar and the father of it” (compare John 8:44).   Bearing false witness which is lying breaks the ninth Commandment (Exodus 20:16), and, as the people of God, our word must be reliable and be our bond (For further information, please read our free 180 pages-long booklet, “The Ten Commandments”).

Let us make sure that we are as good as our word and always follow through, doing exactly what we say we will do.   Then and only then will others be able to totally trust what we say knowing that our word is reliable!

by Norbert Link

We report on developments pertaining to Russia and Ukraine, as well as Russia’s further ambitions and the “response” of the USA, the UK and continental Europe, especially Germany. In this context, please view our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Germany’s Troublesome Dependency on Russia.”  

We address developments pertaining to coronavirus restrictions and authoritarian measures, and interesting reactions, in the USA, Canada, Israel, Australia, Austria and Germany.

We discuss developments pertaining to the scandal-ridden Catholic Church.

We conclude with developments pertaining to controversial medical experiments and the abomination of abortion.

Throughout this section, we have underlined pertinent statements in the quoted articles, for the convenience and quick overview of the reader.

US Evacuates Ukraine

Fox News wrote on January 22:

“The State Department has ordered families of U.S. Embassy personnel in Ukraine to begin evacuating the country as soon as Monday, U.S. officials tell Fox News. Next week, the State Department is also expected to encourage Americans to begin leaving Ukraine by commercial flights, ‘while those are still available,’ one official said.

“Late Friday night, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine announced the first shipment of ammunition had arrived as directed by President Biden. U.S. officials say small arms ammunition constitute the bulk of the 200,000 pounds of what the State Department is calling lethal aid – needed by Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines. U.S. officials also tell Fox that Javelin anti-tank missiles are expected to arrive early next week from the Baltic states and from U.S. military stockpiles.

“Advanced Russian fighter jets have now arrived in Belarus, north of Ukraine.  The Pentagon is concerned that Ukraine’s capital is ‘now in the crosshairs,’ another official added. The U.S. government is planning to move ‘a ton’ of weapons and ammunition into Ukraine in the coming days, officials say.”

No More Normal Relationship with Russia?

Fox News wrote on January 22:

“Senate Judiciary Committee member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News that earlier Friday he met with former President Donald Trump and that the two had a frank discussion about the state of the country. Graham told ‘Hannity’ that both agreed President Biden has been a disaster as commander-in-chief, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin no longer fears a serious U.S. response to his geopolitical proclivities… ‘Putin realizes that under Biden, he can invade Ukraine and get away with it,’ he continued…

“‘But here’s what President Trump said to me today: Putin is realizing that Biden’s weak, but he doesn’t realize that Biden won’t be around in 2024 — so President Trump said today if they invade the Ukraine, the Russians will make it impossible for any future president to have a normal relationship with Russia...’”

Will Russia invade soon? In any event, we know from the Bible that ultimately, Russia and Ukraine will be united and fight Europe together.

What Is Russia Planning?

The Associated Press wrote on January 23:

“Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday rejected a British claim that Russia was seeking to replace Ukraine’s government with a pro-Moscow administration…

“‘The disinformation spread by the British Foreign Office is more evidence that it is the NATO countries, led by the Anglo-Saxons, who are escalating tensions around Ukraine,’ Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said…

“British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the information ‘shines a light on the extent of Russian activity designed to subvert Ukraine, and is an insight into Kremlin thinking’… “

The Associated Press wrote on January 22:

“With tens of thousands of Russian troops positioned near Ukraine, the Kremlin has kept the US and its allies guessing about its next moves in the worst security crisis to emerge between Moscow and the West since the Cold War. Amid fears of an imminent attack on Ukraine, Russia has further upped the ante by announcing more military drills in the region. It also has refused to rule out the possibility of military deployments to the Caribbean…

“The military muscle-flexing reflects a bold attempt by the Kremlin to halt decades of NATO expansion after the end of the Cold War. In talks with the United States, Russia demands legally binding guarantees that the alliance will not embrace Ukraine and other former Soviet nations, or place weapons there. It also wants NATO to pull back its forces from countries in Central and Eastern Europe that joined the alliance since the 1990s…

“Putin has repeatedly asserted that Russians and Ukrainians are ‘one people,’ and says large chunks of Ukrainian territory are historic parts of Russia — arbitrarily granted to Ukraine by Communist leaders during Soviet times…

“In recent days, Putin also spoke by phone with the leaders of Nicaragua and Venezuela, and a Russian government plane was recently seen cruising between Cuba and Venezuela in a possible harbinger of the next Kremlin moves. After the US and its allies rejected Russia’s demands for a halt to NATO expansion, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov kept the door open for the deployment of military assets to Cuba and Venezuela.”

Putin will not stop with Ukraine.

EU not that Unified

The Guardian wrote on January 23:

“Behind the repeated assertions of unity, it is no secret that western allies are divided on how to respond to further Russian military aggression. Joe Biden’s comments that Nato allies would be ‘having to fight about what to do and not do’ in the event of a ‘minor incursion’ of Ukraine – comments that the White House subsequently rowed back on– were seen as undiplomatic, rather than untrue, in Brussels. In the EU, where sanctions have to be agreed by unanimity, differences are emerging. Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, has expressed doubts about cutting off Russian banks from the Swift global payments system, one option under discussion. Poland and the Baltic states, however, think it is a mistake to take anything off the table.

“Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, accused Germany over the weekend of not showing enough support for his country. Writing on Twitter, he expressed disappointment about Germany’s apparent hesitations on Swift, refusal to supply offensive weapons, as well as recent comments from the head of the German navy, who said Ukraine would never get Crimea back [He subsequently resigned.]… Michael Gahler, a German MEP from the centre-right Christian Democratic Union party [and] the parliament’s standing rapporteur on Ukraine, said it was ‘unfortunate’ that Germany was not delivering offensive weapons to Ukraine…

“But it is not just Germany that has raised questions about EU unity. Alarm bells were set off when it was announced last week that Hungary’s autocratic prime minister, Viktor Orbán, would meet Putin on 1 February to discuss a planned Russian-built nuclear power station in Hungary, the Sputnik vaccine and Hungary’s gas supply contracts…”

Germany not only refuses to send weapons to Ukraine, but also prohibits other European countries which have bought weapons from Germany, to send their weapons to Ukraine.

Is the West preparing for War with Russia?

Fox News wrote on January 24:

“NATO announced Monday that it will send fighter jets and ships to eastern Europe… Denmark will sail a frigate to the Baltic Sea and send four F-16 fighter jets to Lithuania. Spain is also sending ships to join NATO naval forces in the region and is considering sending fighter jets to Bulgaria, the statement read. France said it is willing to send troops to Romania, and the Netherlands also said it will send two F-35 fighter aircraft to Bulgaria in April.”

The Guardian added on January 24:

“The US administration was also ready [other reports say, “considering”] to increase its military presence in eastern Europe, Nato’s chief, a former prime minister of Norway, warned in a statement… Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European commission, announced that the EU would provide €1.2billion in loans and grants to Ukraine to help cover the financial cost of the conflict.”

The Daily Mail wrote on January 24:

“Boris Johnson delivered a stark message as he admitted that the prospects of averting a confrontation over Ukraine were ‘gloomy’. Russia has stirred the pot by announcing live-fire naval drills off the coast of Ireland next month… There are concerns that any escalation will send gas prices spiralling again, with threats of punitive sanctions against Moscow. Speaking on a visit to a hospital in Milton Keynes, Mr Johnson said: ‘The intelligence is very clear that there are 60 Russian battle groups on the borders of Ukraine, the plan for a lightning war that could take out Kyiv is one that everybody can see’…”

Germany and France vs. USA and UK

 The Guardian wrote on January 26:

“Germany and, to a lesser extent, France are in danger of dividing from the US and the UK… [There is]  a deep fissure going back decades about what Germany and France, as opposed to the Anglosphere, regard as the best way to handle Russia…

“In Britain, the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has been openly critical of Germany for leaving itself so dependent on Russia for energy, and Berlin’s recent refusal to allow Estonia to send German-manufactured arms to Ukraine...

“In the US, the German question is increasingly riling Republicans, leading to commentary in the Wall Street Journal with the headline ‘Is Germany a Reliable American Ally? Nein.’…

“… in the wake of Russia’s intervention in Georgia in the summer of 2008, the then German Social Democrat (SPD) foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier[now German President], warned Europe against sanctions that he said would shut doors to rooms it wanted to enter later. Although Merkel’s response to the invasion of Ukraine in 2014 was firm, Steinmeier… went to Moscow and proposed an economic partnership with Russia… Within a week of the invasion, the chief executive of Siemens was in Moscow…

“That remains the dominant thinking inside parts of the SPD. The current economics minister, Robert Habeck, whose ministry is responsible for sanctions, is opposed to cutting off Russian access to the Swift payments system…

“However, in recent weeks the compromises inherent in Ostpolitik [by SPD chancellor Willy Brandt] have come under challenge from a younger generation. Michael Roth, the SPD chair of the foreign affairs committee, argued his party had to escape the shadow of Brandt… Other ministers have insisted that energy, including the future of Nord Stream 2, cannot be removed from the list of potential sanctions, as it was in 2014.”

Notwithstanding some “lip services” to the contrary, Germany’s new Chancellor, Olaf Scholz (SPD), seems to be following the official party line of not willing to antagonize Russia in any way. 

Who is in Charge at the White House?

The New York Post Editorial Board wrote on January 23:

“It sure doesn’t look to be President Biden. The latest evidence came last week when chief of staff Ron Klain delivered a behind-the-scenes message to Democratic allies and staff, just hours after Biden’s disastrous news conference: The prez had failed to mention that his next Build Back Better bill would fund child and elder care, but Klain insisted it would.

“As Axios reported,  ‘Klain’s private comments are yet another indication the White House has a core set of priorities it plans to fight for’ … even if the president doesn’t know about it fully yet. Klain’s real message: Don’t worry, we staff will make sure Biden does what we say.

“Yet some in Congress want the actual president to take charge: Politico reports that moderate Democrats complain that Klain is ‘overly deferential to their liberal colleagues’ and want him out…”

Fox News added on January 24:

“NBC anchor Chuck Todd said Sunday that President Biden was in trouble with the American electorate following the release of a new NBC poll last week showing dismal approval ratings to kick off the midterm election year. During the opening segment on ‘Meet the Press,’ Todd… declared Biden’s 43% approval rating showed he’d ‘lost his identity,’ and was ‘no longer seen as competent and effective’ in the eyes of voters, spelling a potential ‘shellacking’ for Democrats  in November.”

Trump the 47th US President?

 The New York Post wrote on January 26:

“Donald Trump has confidently declared himself the “45th and 47th” US president. The former president made the remarks while playing a round of golf at one of his clubs… As Trump was filmed walking to the first tee, one of his playing partners could be heard saying: ‘Now on the tee, the 45th president of the United States.’ ‘The 45th and 47th,’ a grinning Trump quickly fired back…

“Trump hasn’t publicly said if he is planning to run for the White House again — but he has repeatedly teased a second campaign and has been holding rallies ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. He already holds a commanding lead over other potential Republican 2024 candidates, according to several polls conducted this month. In one Reuters/Ipsos poll, Trump was leading Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by 43 percentage points.”

Federal Judge Blocks Vaccine Mandate for Federal Workers

The New York Post wrote on January 21:

“A Texas federal judge has blocked the Biden administration’s order for federal employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the latest setback to the administration’s pandemic response. The ruling… stated that ‘because the President’s authority is not that broad, the court will enjoin the second order’s enforcement,’ wrote [Judge Jeffey] Brown, who was nominated to the federal bench by President “Donald Trump.

“Brown cited the Supreme Court’s decision last week that prevented the administration from enforcing a requirement that all businesses with at least 100 employees mandate that workers get vaccinated or undergo weekly testing… Brown claimed the administration’s order for federal workers was a ‘bridge too far’ by allowing the White House ‘with a stroke of a pen or without the input of Congress, [to] require millions of federal employees to undergo a medical procedure as a condition of their employment.’’…

“The DOJ has already appealed Friday’s ruling, sending its request to the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

“The mandate, which was first announced by President Biden last September, ordered more than 3.5 million federal employees to be vaccinated or face termination — with some medical or religious exemptions. Unlike the vaccine requirement for private businesses, federal employees were not given the option to test weekly for COVID-19 instead of receiving the vaccine.”

In the meantime and in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling, mentioned above, Starbucks announced that they are no longer requiring their employees to be vaccinated.

Biden Withdraws Vaccine Mandates for Large Employers

 CNN reported on January 25:

“The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday it will be withdrawing the vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard for businesses with 100 or more employees.”

Another defeat for Biden… deservedly so. 

USA with New Restrictions

Global News wrote on January 21:

“Starting Jan. 22, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will require all Canadian and non-U.S. individuals to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter the country.

“This means anyone wanting to enter the U.S. at land borders or ferry terminals at the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders must provide proof of vaccination whether they are travelling for essential or non-essential reasons, DHS said in a release… These requirements do not apply to U.S. citizens [or] lawful permanent residents…”

More than a Quarter of Canadians Support Jail for Unvaccinated

LifeSiteNews wrote on January 21:

“A recent poll says that more than a quarter of Canadians support sending people who refuse COVID jabs to jail…  The poll also reported that 33% of Canadians believe the unvaccinated should not be allowed to renew their driver’s licenses, and two-thirds of Canadians are in favor of mandatory vaccines for everyone over the age of five.”

Global News wrote on January 25:

“… a majority of Canadians are in favour of imposing more restrictions on those who have not gotten the shots yet, according to new polling…. 67 per cent want the government to impose further measures on the unvaccinated population, with nearly half (49 per cent) of the respondents blaming the unvaccinated for prolonging the pandemic… 52 per cent said they were in favour of putting a tax on the unvaccinated…”

The article claimed that “Canadians have become increasingly polarized when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations, lockdowns and the pandemic in general.”

This shows where nasty and ridiculous propaganda leads. But Canada, once a free country, is becoming more and more dictatorial and authoritarian. Note the next article.

Outrageous Persecution of Christians in Canada

Fox News wrote on January 16:

“Thousands of clergy in North America devoted their sermons on Sunday to affirming biblical sexual morality in response to a new Canadian law some warn could effectively criminalize such teachings… The controversial legislation, which went into effect Jan. 8 after being fast-tracked through the Canadian Parliament in December without extensive debate, describes as a ‘myth’ the belief that heterosexuality and cisgender identity are preferable. Counseling that does not align with such a worldview now carries a potential five-year jail sentence.

“Critics claim the language of the bill is overly broad and could even encompass private conversations. Several pastors, including some who have recently been imprisoned in Canada for keeping their churches open in defiance of government health orders, explained to Fox News that they believe the scope of the new law could open the door to religious persecution.

“Leading the protest against the bill in the United States is Pastor John MacArthur, whose Grace Community Church in Los Angeles won an $800,000 settlement in September after tussling with state and county authorities for continuing to congregate in defiance of the government…

“MacArthur’s involvement in the initiative was in part because of an email he received from Pastor James Coates, who was the first Canadian clergyman to be imprisoned in the name of public health. When he refused to shutter his church in Edmonton last year, Coates spent more than a month in a maximum-security prison. Federal law enforcement later raided his church at dawn, locked it and barricaded it behind three layers of fencing.

“Pastor Tim Stephens, who was imprisoned twice last year for keeping his Calgary church open, also told Fox News that he believes persecution is going to increase in Canada and other Western countries. Stephens’ second arrest, which happened after a police helicopter found his church gathering outside, prompted Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., to send a letter to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom… urging it to consider adding Canada to its watch list…

“Pastor Artur Pawlowski, a Polish Canadian pastor from Calgary who has faced repeated dramatic arrests after refusing to limit church attendance, described Bill C-4 as “straight from Soviet Russia.” … ‘I lived in a country that implemented laws like that,’ said Pawlowski, who met with U.S. lawmakers and warned large audiences last summer that Western governments increasingly resemble the communist regime in Poland he fled as a young man…

“Pastor Andrew Brunson, a missionary whose unjust imprisonment in 2016 plunged Turkey into a diplomatic feud with the United States, has been warning since his dramatic, high-stakes release in 2018 that he believes religious persecution is swiftly approaching in Western countries. Brunson, who now serves as special adviser for religious freedom at Family Research Council, told Fox News that he sees the issues around the Canadian law as part of ‘a dark wave of hostility’ that he believes is going to crash onto the church…

“Pastor Michael Thiessen, who is president of Liberty Coalition Canada, which began the initiative, told Fox News that he believes the government response to COVID-19 has helped prepare the way for such hostility… “A regime and agenda based on lies has to be coercive in order to maintain its power. It can’t rely on persuasion, truth, or beauty. So I anticipate further exile and punishment for non-conformists and those who will still stand and preach truth and reality in our time,’ he added.”

We hasten to add that the same developments can be seen in continental Europe, and especially in Germany, a so-called Christian nation, where government officials and their obedient agents, including their judges, behave anything but Christian.  

YouTube Removes Sermon about Sexuality as “Hate Speech”

 CBN News wrote on January 19:

 “Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, CA, preached a sermon Sunday about biblical sexuality... MacArthur said, ‘There is no such thing as transgender. You are either XX or XY, that’s it. God made man male and female. That is determined genetically, that is physiology, that is science, that is reality. On the one hand, the reality of that lie and deception is so damaging, so destructive, so isolating, so corrupting that it needs to be confronted, but on the other hand, that confrontation can’t exaggerate what already exists, which is a sense of feeling isolated in relationships,’ he said.

 “YouTube removed MacArthur’s sermon from its platform and told conservative commentator Todd Starnes  that MacArthur’s video presentation was ‘hate speech.’…

 “Jenna Ellis, special counsel for the Thomas More Society, who represented MacArthur when Los Angeles County tried to shut down Grace Church for defying pandemic-induced health orders, spoke out against YouTube’s censorship of MacArthur’s sermon.  ‘The big tech oligarchy in the United States is implementing the equivalent of Canada’s insane law by censoring truth and the right of pastors to teach the Bible,’ Ellis [said].  ‘If Americans don’t stop big tech, this new Regime will circumvent the Constitution to foreclose our fundamental rights to speak and exercise religion and the impact will be devastating.’

 “Critics worry the law will perpetuate religious persecution and could even govern private conversations. ‘Americans should be preparing for a time when pastors and religious leaders will face persecution for teaching the Word of God,’ Starnes warned.”

Bible Racist?

The Daily Mail wrote on January 22:

“One of Britain’s leading mental health clinics could face legal action after telling a student therapist to watch lectures saying that white people are unconsciously racist, that Christianity is a racist religion, and that the Bible can be blamed for racism because it contrasts ‘darkness’ and ‘light’.

“Amy Gallagher, a mental health nurse from south London, has spent more than £20,000 training to become a psychotherapist on a course run by the prestigious Portman Clinic in North London, part of The Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust But now the 33-year-old is preparing a legal case, saying she believes the Trust is guilty of religious and racial discrimination against her as a white Christian… Ms Gallagher says it is particularly concerning that radical identity politics are now ‘leaking into the health service’.”

Fox News Hypocritical?

The Huffington Post wrote on January 22:

“Tucker Carlson was pummeled on social media Friday night after he compared vaccine requirements to protect Americans from COVID-19 to the barbaric experiments Nazis inflicted on Jews during World War II. Critics pointed out that Fox News has a vaccine requirement so Carlson is likely not worried about contracting COVID himself, even while he encourages his viewers not to get them.

“They also pointed out that, late last year, Fox ‘ghosted’ contributor Lara Logan after she compared White House health adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci to infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele…”

Silly and Rude Conduct of American Airlines

The Washington Times wrote on January 21:

“An American Airlines plane headed to London was more than hour into its flight when its pilot decided to turn around and head back to the departure point, Miami, because a female passenger declined to wear a face mask… the airline then canceled the flight, screwing over 129 passengers who were told to exit, stage right, the plane in Miami, alongside the woman. And now American Airlines is patting itself on the back for a job well done…

“American, no doubt, is hiding behind the January 2021 announcement from the Federal Aviation Administration of a ‘zero tolerance’ policy for unruly passenger behavior — defined by this coronavirus crazed government we now have in place in the United States as anyone who dares disobey the government dictates. And plenty in America, too many in America, are probably on the side of the airline, saying American was just doing its job to keep passengers safe; American was just abiding the mandates put in place by the Joe Biden presidency; American was just simply trying to keep the peace and make sure all passengers were treated equally, fairly, equitably, safely, securely…

“Enough of the pretend care and concern on the part of businesses toward customers — care and concern that manifests in outright tyrannical crackdowns on freedoms and choice of customers… Let’s remember: these rules aren’t so much rules as fabricated dictates by overreaching bureaucrats… America has yet to see a federally passed law about face masking. We’re all still living under executive orders that were created out of fear and that continue on because of fear, bad science and the political exploitation of bad science.

“Besides, with American Airlines, there’s this consideration: the multibillion-dollar bailout it received, courtesy taxpayers. ‘American Airlines said it would receive $5.8 billion as part of the [bailout deal], with more than $4 billion in the form of grants and the remaining $1.7 billion as a low-interest loan,’ The New York Times wrote in March, 2021. ‘The airline also plans to apply for a nearly $4.8 billion loan from [the government]… That — so American could turn around and cancel hundreds of flights due to staffing issues, while taking big tax bucks. That — so American’s CEO, Doug Parker, could turn around and rake in $10 million plus in compensation while taking big tax bucks.

“And now that — so American can climb high and mighty and throw a hissy fit to boot a passenger for refusing to wear a face mask… Instead of booting this woman for refusing to comply with an unconstitutional demand from public servants, i.e., the political class, American Airlines ought to have extended her a red carpet for keeping the company in business. Biting the hand that feeds never ends well.”

This is an article which is rare in today’s mass media. The Washington Times is of course one of America’s most prestigious and established publications.

Routine Corona Vaccinations for Newborn Babies…

Israel Today wrote on January 23:

“Some of Israel’s top doctors are recommending that once the pandemic ends, the COVID-19 vaccine should be added to the regular vaccine regimen offered to children between birth and the age of five. Prof. Nadav Davidovitch, head of Israel’s doctors union and an advisor to the government on the coronavirus crisis, said this is the logical way forward…”

Israel 365 wrote on January 365:

“The Health Ministry plans on adding the Covid vaccine to the initial round of vaccines given to newborn babies in the hospital… In the meantime, Pfizer is undergoing clinical trials on infants to reduce the age of the vaccine from five years to six months.  Chief Medical Advisor to the President Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the FDA could approve Prizer’s covid vaccine for children under the age of five by next month.”

Amazing what doctors come up with. Sadly, Israel has been one of the most radical proponents of dictatorial measures.

The Protection through Natural Immunity

The Associated Press wrote on January 22:

“A new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that people who were both vaccinated and had survived a prior bout of COVID-19 were best protected from infection

“The study, that examined infections in New York and California last year, found that unvaccinated people with a past infection were a close second. By fall, when the more contagious delta variant had taken over but boosters weren’t yet widespread, that group had a lower case rate than vaccinated people who had no past infection.”

Frightening Numbers of Sickness in Military as Consequence of COVID Vaccinations?

The Blaze wrote on January 26:

“Data, transparency, and surveillance. That is what has been missing from the greatest experiment on humans of all time throughout this pandemic. Now, military medical whistleblowers have come forward with what they claim is perhaps the most accurate and revealing data set on vaccine safety one could possibly find… [presenting] data that, if verified, would signal extremely disturbing safety concerns about the vaccine… On Monday… Ohio attorney Thomas Renz, who has been representing clients suing the vaccine mandates, presented DOD medical billing data from the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database (DMED) that paints a shockingly disturbing picture of the health of our service members in 2021…

“Drs. Samuel Sigoloff, Peter Chambers, and Theresa Long — three military doctors — revealed that there has been a 300% increase in DMED codes registered for miscarriages in the military in 2021 over the five-year average… the numbers tended to be remarkably similar in all those preceding years, including in 2020, which was the first year of the pandemic but before the vaccines were distributed. But then in 2021, the numbers skyrocketed, and the 2021 data doesn’t even include the months of November and December. For example, some public health officials speculate that COVID itself places women at higher risk for miscarriages. But the number of miscarriage codes recorded in 2020 was actually slightly below the five-year average (1,477)…

“Aside from the spike in miscarriage diagnoses… there was an almost 300% increase in cancer diagnoses (from a five-year average of 38,700 per year to 114,645 in the first 11 months of 2021). There was also a 1,000% increase in diagnosis codes for neurological issues, which increased from a baseline average of 82,000 to 863,000! Some other numbers…: myocardial infarction –269% increase; Bell’s palsy – 291% increase; congenital malformations (for children of military personnel) – 156% increase; female infertility – 471% increase; pulmonary embolisms – 467% increase.

“… one of the sworn declarations from one of the military doctors… states as follows, ‘It is my professional opinion that the major increases incidences of the above discussed instances of miscarriages, cancers, and disease were due to COVID-19 “vaccinations.”’…

“If these numbers are verified in the upcoming court cases, then absent some massive military insurance fraud or bizarre glitch in the system, it potentially paints a shocking picture of vaccine safety concerns…. Sen. Ron Johnson said at the Monday hearing that he put DOD on notice that it better not delete any of the data. ‘The Department of Defense, the Biden administration is on notice they must preserve these records and this must be investigated,’ said Johnson…

“Even if somehow these earth-shattering increases have nothing to do with the vaccines, isn’t it important that our government investigate what appears to be a catastrophic decline in the health of our active-duty fighting force?… The bottom line according to Renz is that the onus of proof is on the government, not on the military personnel and citizens being forced to take the shots. If the manufacturers are exempt from liability for government coercion to use their product, and the only pharmacological safety data we have is completely ignored, then where is the recourse of the people to redress safety concerns? In the opinion of the Ohio attorney, if the shots are safe and effective, then the Pentagon should have no problem explaining the source of these gargantuan increases in instances of numerous illnesses…”

One would think so. It is especially revealing that many in the military have refused to be vaccinated.

Austria Repeats History… Mandatory Vaccination for all Adults

Breitbart wrote on January 21:

“In a vote of 137 to just 33, the Austrian parliament has overwhelmingly voted to make vaccination against the Wuhan coronavirus mandatory for all residents over the age of 18… those who refuse to take the vaccine could face a fine of up to €3,600 (£2,994/$4,072), newspaper Kronen Zeitung reports.  Those who are not able to be vaccinated for medical reasons will be exempted from the mandatory vaccination along with pregnant women. Those who have recovered from the coronavirus will also be exempt for a period of six months after they recover.

“From mid-March Austrian police will also be checking vaccination status during routine checks and traffic stops and giving out fines to those who cannot prove they are fully vaccinated against the Wuhan coronavirus. Some officers have expressed concern regarding the enforcement of the vaccine mandate, stating that controls could damage their reputation in the eyes of the general public. ‘It is incomprehensible to me why the police are used here, in such an excess of controlling activity. I’m even talking about the fact that the police are used here for political purposes quite inappropriately!’ Werner Herbert, head of the police union AUF said.

“While the vast majority of the members of the Austrian parliament voted for the measure, the populist Freedom Party, led by firebrand Herbert Kickl, voted against the measure. ‘Today is a day of shame for the Austrian Parliament and for our democracy,’ Kickl stated on Facebook and added, ‘The FPÖ deputies have voted unanimously against this unjust law, which is the totalitarian low point… We will do everything possible to bring down compulsory vaccination with a majority of citizens.’

“Kickl has been a sceptic of the government’s policies to combat the coronavirus, including both the lockdown measures and the mandatory vaccine policy. ‘For us, it’s about voluntariness. Everyone has to decide for themselves whether they want to be vaccinated or not. No Austrian should be forced to vaccinate,’ Kickl said earlier this week.”

Deutsche Welle reported on January 21:

“The move makes Austria the first EU country to pass a vaccine mandate, despite tens of thousands of angry citizens continuing to protest such measures in Austria and across Europe… Herbert Kickl… railed against the law Thursday during the parliamentary debate, claiming it ‘paves the way to totalitarianism in Austria.’ Kickl vowed that he would continue to personally refuse vaccination.

“Cancellor Karl Nehammer however, told reporters ‘Vaccination is an opportunity for our society to achieve lasting and continuous freedom, because the virus cannot restrict us any further.’

“Austria now joins Ecuador, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Indonesia and Micronesia as among the only countries in the world to have passed vaccine mandates.”

What a company! SHAME on Austria! Kickl gave an EXCELLENT speech during the parliamentary debate, showing the many lies of Austrian politicians and the march towards totalitarianism in Austria, but his warnings fell mostly on deaf ears.—as they did before when Austria was about to embrace Hitler. It is amazing and deeply disturbing that the Austrian chancellor describes totalitarian measures, which deprive the people of their freedom, as the way to achieve lasting and continuous freedom.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Others vs. Corona Vaccination Mandates

JTA wrote on January 24:

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. invoked Anne Frank while comparing COVID-19 vaccine mandates to the Holocaust, saying ‘none of us can hide’ today like the Jewish diarist could during World War II. ‘Even in Hitler’s Germany, you could cross the Alps into Switzerland, you could hide in the attic like Anne Frank did,’ Kennedy said at a rally against vaccine mandates on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. ‘Today the mechanisms are being put in place that will make it so none of us can run, none of us can hide.’

“Kennedy, the son of former Sen. Robert ‘Bobby’ Kennedy, went on to list what he perceived as threats from ‘low-orbit satellites’ and 5G internet networks, and named Bill Gates among those posing a threat to privacy…”

WND added on January 24:

“Despite frigid temperatures, thousands of Americans showed up Sunday on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to voice strong opposition to COVID-vaccine mandates. Kennedy hammered the companies that manufacture the experimental vaccines being mandated in many locations worldwide, with no legal liability. ‘You think they found Jesus suddenly … and they’re suddenly concerned with public health?’ he said. ‘These are the companies that gave us the opioid crisis. These are not good citizens, these are criminal enterprises.’

“He warned of what he called ‘turnkey totalitarianism,’ as dark powers look ‘to control every aspect of behavior.’…

“Kennedy was joined by doctors who have been censored by Big Tech as they warn of the dangers of the COVID shots. Among them was Dr. Robert Malone, one of the developers of the technology being used in today’s vaccines. ‘These vaccines do not prevent omicron infection,’ Malone declared….

“Kyle Warner, who was a professional mountain biker until he was severely injured by a COVID vaccine, also spoke at the event… Warner challenged President Joe Biden and health officials to hold a meeting with the victims of adverse reactions to the coronavirus vaccines. ‘Look them in their eyes, acknowledge their suffering, admit this is real, not just rare,’ Warner said. ‘Make the companies responsible for the damage they are causing. … to even consider requiring a vaccine that no one will stand behind is a total disgrace to the very idea of America.’…

“Rizza Islam, an author and minister for the Nation of Islam, said the devil is behind the current madness, saying ‘Satan [is] the one who has obviously declared war on all humanity.’”

Kennedy Apologizes … why?

“On Tuesday, [Kennedy] tweeted, ‘I apologize for my reference to Anne Frank, especially to families that suffered the Holocaust horrors. My intention was to use examples of past barbarism to show the perils from new technologies of control. To the extent my remarks caused hurt, I am truly and deeply sorry.’”

One gets sick and tired of people making appropriate comparisons only to apologize later because they might have hurt someone, as some Jewish organizations claimed. Apparently his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, who does not see eye to eye with Kennedy on the entire vaccination hysteria, objected as well. “Hines previously drew scrutiny after it was reported that she threw a holiday party at the couple’s California home and requested in the invitation that guests be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or test negative before arriving” (New York Post, January 24).

What Kennedy was expressing was clearly correct, noting the context.

Eric Clapton’s Fight against Corona Virus Mandates

The New York Post wrote on January 24:

“The 76-year-old musician … discuss[ed] how his life has changed since reluctantly taking AstraZeneca’s therapy in 2021… He claimed that he’d been duped into getting the COVID-19 jab by subliminal messaging in pharmaceutical advertising — and urged others not to fall for it…. Credited to Belgian psychologist Mattias Desmet, the theory essentially points to a sort of mind control that has taken over society, allowing for unscrupulous leaders to easily manipulate populations into, for example, accepting vaccines or wearing face masks… Clapton recalled ‘seeing little things on YouTube which were like subliminal advertising’…

“He said [van] Morrison, 76, complained that he wasn’t ‘allowed’ to freely object to vaccine requirements… Clapton also admitted that he’d given up on recent news media, which he described as ‘one-way traffic about following orders and obedience’… Despite making headlines, others in the music community have alienated him, Clapton said.”

It was recently reported in the press that Clapton played at a venue with vax mandate, even though he had said that he would not. It was later clarified that this news was bogus. We do not doubt the existence of subliminal messages in advertisement. But the real originator of the present hysteria is none other than Satan the Devil.

“This Justification Is a Scandal”

Bild Online wrote on January 21:

“The Australian federal court took four days to justify the expulsion of tennis star Novak Djokovic (34). Now the judges have said that the unvaccinated Serb’s presence could have fueled anti-vaccination sentiment in the country. They thus adopted the reasoning of the Immigration Minister, who described Djokovic as a potential threat to the security and order of Australia due to his vaccination skepticism… Djokovic had to leave the country because the government and judiciary are afraid of his opinion. And that’s despite the fact that he didn’t even come to Australia to spread his views – just to play tennis.

“The justification is reminiscent of politically motivated judgments that are actually unworthy of a democratic constitutional state like Australia. One of the defining characteristics of a free society is that everyone is free to express their opinion – without being disadvantaged or even punished for it. The fact that this cornerstone of democracy in Australia has now cracked is a sad side effect of the ‘NoCovid’ strategy there. after the government tried for two years to keep the number of infections low through tough lockdowns…

“It would have been easy for the judges to find plausible reasons for expelling the Serb, for example formal errors in his entry application or simply the principle of ‘equal rights for all.'”

But their main concern is not the violation of a technicality, but the suppression of opinions which do not fit into the political paradigm of the government. The same development can be seen in Germany… note the next article.

German Constitutional Minister against the Basic Law

Bild Online wrote on January 20:

“‘All Germans have the right to assemble peacefully and without weapons [and] without [prior] registration or permission,” says Article 8 of the Basic Law [“Grundgesetz”]. But Constitutional Minister Nancy Faeser (51, SPD) of all people seems to be questioning this right. Literally, Faeser wrote Wednesday evening on the social network Twitter: ‘I repeat my appeal: You can express your opinion without gathering in many places at the same time.’… Faeser calls on demonstrators to stop taking their protest to the streets.

“But who does the minister mean exactly?…

“‘The minister’s statement should be seen in the context of the corona protests and against the background of the dramatically high number of corona infections,’ a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior told BILD.

“At the same time, the Federal Minister of the Interior [Constitutional Minister] is a fervent advocate of public protest, of outdoor demonstrations and – also quite rightly! – public expressions of opinion. ‘I’m totally amazed at how many people took to the streets yesterday for climate protection…’ That was [in September of 2019,] before Corona. But even during the pandemic, she advocated demonstrations in public spaces and was even there several times. ‘Today I was in the Dannenröder forest as a parliamentary observer. Protest is legitimate…’, she tweeted in November of 2020. In February of 2021, she took part in a vigil for the victims of the right-wing terrorist attack in Hanau, laid a wreath at the site of the attack and commemorated the dead.”

But when it comes to protests against Corona, the left-wing political agenda is more than anxious and willing to violate the law.

The West Should Fight Dictatorships

Thomson/Reuters wrote  on January 21:

“Britain on Friday warned Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping that its allies would stand together to fight for democracy against dictatorships that it said were more emboldened than at any time since the Cold War. Speaking in Australia, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Britain and its allies in the ‘free world’ must respond together to global threats, deepen ties with democracies in the Indo-Pacific…

“Truss argued that the ‘Kremlin has not learned the lessons of history’ and that ‘invasion will only lead to a terrible quagmire and loss of life, as we know from the Soviet-Afghan war and conflict in Chechnya.’

“More than 15,000 Soviet troops died in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989, while hundreds of thousands of Afghans perished. The U.S.-led war in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021 led to more than 3,500 deaths among the international military coalition. Global aggressors ‘are emboldened in a way we haven’t seen since the Cold War,’ Truss said in the speech. ‘They seek to export dictatorship as a service around the world,’ she added. ‘That is why regimes like Belarus, North Korea and Myanmar find their closest allies in Moscow and Beijing.’”

There is a deep bitter irony here: While the West and the “free world” claim they will fight dictatorships in Russia and China, it is they, and especially Australia, which are becoming more and more totalitarian.

No Plea Deal with Netanyahu

Axios wrote on January 24:

“Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been hoping to reach a plea deal on the corruption charges against him before Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit left office at the end of January, but Mandelblit has reportedly notified Netayahu’s lawyers that won’t be possible… The deal Mandelblit and Netanyahu had been discussing would have kept him out of prison but seen him banned from politics for seven years. Netanyahu broke his silence on the plea talks after they collapsed and said he’d never accepted the seven-year ban.

“In a video statement, Netanyahu resumed his attacks on the police and prosecution and claimed the case against him was collapsing and should already have been dismissed. In a nod to the intra-party fight that had begun over his potential replacement if he took the deal, Netanyahu said he’d stay on as leader of the Likud party and of the opposition.

“The plea deal is not totally dead but will be frozen for now. The highest-profile case in recent Israeli political history will now pass to the next attorney general, who has yet to be named…”

Earthquakes in Israel

The Times of Israel wrote on January 24:

“Some one million homes in Israel are at risk of collapse in case of an earthquake, the Kan public broadcaster reported.

“The report comes after two minor earthquakes shook northern Israel earlier this week around 12 hours apart. The first quake measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale, struck late Saturday, while the other, at a magnitude of 3.5, was felt at around noon the following day…. At this point, Home Front Command officials and geological experts are not sure whether the earthquakes were an isolated incident or a prelude to a more powerful event…. a major earthquake is predicted to cause about 7,000 deaths and 145,000 injuries, with 170,000 people left homeless and 320,000 buildings damaged.”

It is interesting that the Bible prophesies an earthquake in Israel which will kill 7,000 people (Revelation 11:13).

The Scandal-Ridden Catholic Church

Chron wrote on January 21:

“Catholic Pope emeritus Benedict XVI committed ‘wrongdoing’ in the way he handled sexual abuse cases in his German archdiocese before he was pope, according to a church-commissioned investigation released Thursday. The German law firm that conducted the investigation said Benedict’s claims to have no direct knowledge of sexual abuse cases were not credible.

“The report amounts to a shocking and harsh condemnation of the retired pope – the first pope to resign his position before death in 600 years….

“Benedict is not the first pope among the nearly 270 in history whose scandals have caused Catholics and the Catholic Church headaches. The period between late 9th and 10th centuries saw some particularly bad popes… There was Pope Stephen VI, in power from May 896 to August 897. His predecessor was pope for only 15 days before dying, perhaps of gout or perhaps murdered by Stephen VI’s followers. Once installed, Stephen VI put his enemy – another of his predecessors – Pope Formosus, on trial, which was kind of weird considering Formosus had been dead for months. His corpse was dressed in papal vestments and propped up on a throne before being found guilty of perjury and other offenses, mutilated and tossed into a river. The people of Rome thought that was pretty gross, and they soon deposed and murdered Stephen VI.

“Then there was Pope Sergius III, pope from 904 to 911, who murdered his predecessors, bribed and threatened bishops and fathered an illegitimate child… This period also saw the papacy of John XII, who became pope at 18 in 955. He spent much of his time sleeping around and warring with rival factions… He died in 964 in the bed of a married woman, either of a stroke, being stabbed by the woman’s husband or thrown out the window by said husband, depending on which account you believe…

“Where other popes veered into lives of excess, Pope Paul IV, who led the church from 1555 to 1559, was controversial for his extreme austerity…  No one in Paul’s Rome had it worse than the Jews; he confined them to a ghetto, made them wear yellow hats whenever they left, and ordered dozens burned at the stake. He was so hated when he died that celebratory rioters tore down many of his statues; other statues were mocked with yellow hats.”

The Catholic Church claims that all popes are in direct succession of the Apostle Peter—a claim which is completely false.

Benedict Apologizes

Deutsche Welle wrote on January 24:

“Former Pope Benedict XVI has apologized for providing false information during a probe into sexual abuse in his old Munich archdiocese, his secretary said in a statement on Monday… The statement… said the false information was not given ‘with ill intent.’ Instead, it was blamed on an editing ‘oversight’ that occurred with Benedict’s written testimony to the inquiry.

“The former pope, 94, had told the inquiry that he had not been present at a 1980 meeting discussing a pedophile priest. He has now confirmed that he did attend the meeting but insisted that no decision had been made there about reassigning the priest to pastoral duties. ‘Rather, only the request to provide [the priest] with accommodation during his therapeutic treatment in Munich was granted,’ the statement said. Benedict was ‘very sorry’ for the mistake and said he hoped that it could be forgiven…”

Women Become more Influential in Catholic Church

Newsmax wrote on January 23:

“Pope Francis on Sunday for the first time conferred the lay Roman Catholic ministries of lector and catechist on women… he criticized those who need to have rigid regulations and ‘more rules’ in order to find God…

“Lectors read from scripture… and catechists teach the faith to children and adult converts…

“The change will be particularly important as a recognition for women in places such as the Amazon, where some are the de facto religious leaders of remote communities hit by a severe shortage of priests. The Vatican stressed that the roles are not a precursor to women one day being allowed to become priests… Francis has appointed a number of women to senior jobs in Vatican departments previously held by men.”

Transplant of Pig Kidneys into a Brain-Dead Human

NBC News wrote on January 20:

“In an operating room at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the surgical team was nervous but hopeful. It was Sept. 30, and they were attempting a medical first: implanting kidneys from a genetically altered pig into the abdomen of a human.  The lead surgeon, Dr. Jayme Locke, carefully sewed the first pig kidney into the patient, James Parsons, 57, a carpenter and father from Huntsville, Alabama.

“Days earlier, Parsons had been rendered brain-dead in an accident in a dirt bike race. A registered organ donor, he had long expressed a desire to his family to donate his organs after he died.”

Man playing God… where will it end…?

The Pro-Life Movement

Newsmax wrote on January 21:

“Actor Kirk Cameron told Newsmax on Friday that ‘more and more people’ in Hollywood are ‘coming to terms with the fact that equality begins in the womb.’… Cameron also mentioned how personal the issue of abortion is to his family, sharing how his wife, Chelsea Noble, and [their] first four children were adopted. ‘My wife is an adopted child. She was one doctor appointment away from not existing,’’ Cameron said.

“‘We adopted our first four children, and each of them were very close to not being here. And if my wife hadn’t been born, neither would our two natural-born children be here. And so my entire family of six kids and my wife I see not as mistakes, but as miracles, and I’m so glad and thankful for the pro-life community and their work, which resulted in me having this wonderful family.’’”

These are insightful comments showing the utter abomination of abortion.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.

One of the great themes in the Bible is that of relationships – between God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, God and man, and between human beings themselves.  Pretty much everyone has relationships with other people unless they live on their own on a desert island, and so it should come as no surprise to anyone that it is a major theme running right through the Bible.   Unless we get these relationships right, we will have a miserable life, but much more importantly, the spiritual application is of paramount importance, as we get close to God, and stay close to Him, which will give us eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

This series of Q&As is but a brief overview on this subject, and we hope that it will prove helpful to all who read this information, and to those who decide to delve further into this matter.   There is so much more in the Bible than that which we will cover in this series.

Relationships – God the Father and Jesus Christ.

Right from the dawn of civilisation we read in the first book in the Bible that there was a relationship with God the Father and one other Personage, the “Logos” or “Spokesman.”  In Genesis 1:26, we read: “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’”

There are those who take issue with the phrase “Let Us make man in Our image” dismissing the argument that it is about more than just one Person. This concern is addressed in our booklet “God is a Family” on pages 3-4:

“Some claim that the statement, ‘Let Us make man in Our image,’ does not reveal a plurality of persons in the Godhead, but that it is like an expression of a king who speaks of himself in the plural form. They point out, for instance, that the queen of England might say something like, ‘We have decreed…’ She is referring to herself, but she says, ‘we.’ This way of speaking is called ‘pluralis maiestatis’ or ‘pluralis maiestaticus.’

“The problem with applying this concept to God’s statements in Genesis 1 and 3 is that God did not use this kind of speaking in His inspired word, the Bible—in fact, the early Hebrews knew nothing about this way of speaking.”

The booklet then goes on to cover many more aspects about the relationship between the Father and the Logos—the “Word” and the Son of God, who became Jesus Christ, with subtitles such as “Jesus Was – And is – God!”; “Jesus Came to Reveal the Father”; “Who and What Was Jesus Before His Human Birth” and much more, and is very well worth reading or re-reading.

Let us look at some very pertinent Scriptures that show how important and close this relationship is and always has been.

In Revelation 13:8, we read: “And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Other translations render this phrase slightly differently, thereby implying that the Book of Life existed from the foundation of the world and that the names of true believers were written in that book before the world was founded. Both concepts are correct. We explain this in detail in our free booklet, “Are You Predestined to Be Saved?”

In any event, it was established or preordained or predestined from the foundation of the world (in fact, even prior to this) that Jesus Christ would come to this earth to die for our sins.

We read further that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1-3).   In verse 14, it reveals that the Word was Jesus Christ: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

And so we can conclude quite clearly from these verses that the Word, Jesus Christ, had no beginning and was with the Father from eternity.  Micah 5:2 confirms this, saying that Jesus Christ—the One to be Ruler in Israel—will come “Whose goings forth are from old, From everlasting (literally, the days of eternity).”  In the letter to the Hebrews, it is explained that Jesus Christ—called “Melchizedek”—was and is “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life” (Hebrews 7:3).

And the two of them are a Family. They are both God beings, referred to as the Father and the Son.

Jesus came to this earth to preach the Kingdom of God and this was central to His ministry.  In Matthew 4:23, we read: “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.”   He further taught: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).   There are well over 100 references to the Kingdom in the four gospel accounts.   This same gospel has to be preached today.

In our free booklet “The Gospel of the Kingdom of God,” we read, on page 2: “The Bible repeats time and again that Jesus Christ preached the gospel of the Kingdom of God. In fact, Christ’s whole message had to do with the Kingdom of God—WHAT it is, WHY we need to understand it, and HOW we can have a part in it.

“The Jews at the time of Christ were so upset about the message of the Kingdom of God that they killed Christ. Their understanding of what the Kingdom of God is, and who would be in it, was quite different from what Jesus taught. That is why they were so intent on killing Him.”

John 5:19 gives an insight into the close personal relationship that the Son had with His Father: “Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.’”  The Son and the Father were united in love and purpose.  In John 14:9, Jesus is quoted as saying: “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

In John 5:30, we read a statement which reveals the closeness of Father and Son: “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.”

The website of dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com says: “Jesus is the true representation of the immortal God in every aspect of His character and will. He is a visible image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation Who is able to genuinely say, ‘My food is to do the will of My Father’ and ‘Thy will not mine be done’. Philip had yet to understand that Jesus was the Word of God, made flesh, Who was with God in the beginning. He is the exact representation of God, Who had come to earth to reveal the Father to Adam’s fallen race.” Of course, we understand that man did not “fall”—it is Satan who fell like lightning from heaven (compare Luke 10:18).

Jesus came to earth not to do His own thing, but to do His Father’s Will.   We read this in several verses: “Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work’” (John 4:34); and: “‘For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me’” (John 6:38).  We further read: “Then Jesus said to them, ‘When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him’” (John 8:28-29).

Jesus always spoke as directed by His Father:   “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak” (John 12:49).   We also read in John 14:31: “But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.”

Jesus is immortal and came to this earth and preached about the Kingdom of God.  His Father commanded Him what to say; He always sought to do His Father’s Will, and copied what the Father does. This reveals very precisely and surely that the Father and Jesus Christ have the closest relationship that it is ever possible to have, being in total agreement and unity about everything.

The relationship between the Father and the Son has been in existence from before there was any beginning—before there was anything created—and they agree on all things.  We just have to think about the total agreement that they both had to have when working out their master plan of salvation for mankind and when creating the universe with every tiny detail agreed to completely.  We know that the return of Jesus Christ will be necessary at the end of this age (compare Matthew 24:22) but no one knows either the day or the hour when that will happen (see verse 36) except the Father.  The Father “knows” or better “decides” when that time has come; it is in His total, complete and sole authority to determine the timing. When the Father makes that decision, as He determines when that time has arrived, there will be no disagreement between the Father and the Son and Jesus will return just in time to save mankind from cosmocide. There is no competitive spirit between them and they are as one.   These remarkable examples in the Word of God give ample testimony to their close and unchanging relationship which will continue on throughout eternity.

The Father entrusted and entrusts Jesus with great responsibility: “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16); and: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:1-2).  In turn, Jesus fully trusted and trusts His Father; theirs was and is a fully reciprocal relationship.

As alluded to before, the relationship between the Father and the Son is one of love. In fact, all the aspects of their relationship, discussed herein, are based and founded on the fact that they love each other. We read in Matthew 3:17 the Father’s message about His Son to the people, which was communicated by an angel: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” This message was repeated to Peter, James and John on the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17:5; compare 2 Peter 1:17). The Father loved and loves the Son (compare John 3:35; 5:20; 10:17; 15:9; 17:24, etc.)—He always has and He always will. At the same time, as already stated above, the Son loved and loves the Father (compare again John 14:31). That loving relationship will never end.

There is so much more information about our Saviour, Jesus Christ, but we have only referenced briefly that which is concerned with His relationship with His Father.

Our free booklets “Jesus Christ – A Great Mystery”;  “Do You Know the True Jesus of the Bible?”; “God is a Family;” and “Is God a Trinity?” are replete with so much more invaluable information.

(To be Continued)

Lead Writers: Brian Gale (United Kingdom) and Norbert Link

compiled by Dave Harris

“Germany’s Troublesome Dependency on Russia,” is the title of a new StandingWatch program, presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. Here is a summary: 

Historically, Germany’s relationship with Russia has been an odd one, ranging from “friendship” to financial and even military collaboration, reliance, appeasement, hostility and war. Today, it is no different. Germany’s current appeasement strategy is based, in part, on economic dependency from Russia. Nothing can show this more clearly than Germany’s conduct in the present conflict with Ukraine.  But Germany’s politics will have devastating consequences. Historically, Germany’s relationship with Russia has been an odd one, ranging from “friendship” to financial and even military collaboration, reliance, appeasement, hostility and war. Today, it is no different. Germany’s current appeasement strategy is based, in part, on economic dependency from Russia. Nothing can show this more clearly than Germany’s conduct in the present conflict with Ukraine.  But Germany’s politics will have devastating consequences. 

“Deutschlands bedenkliche Abhängigkeit von Russland,” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program, presented by Norbert Link. This video covers the same material as presented in English. 

“Gott oder der Mensch?, Teil 2” is the title for this Sabbath’s new German sermon, presented by Michael Link. Title in English: “God or Man? Part 2”

We are very pleased to announce the baptism of Dominik Kaltenegger on last week’s Sabbath in Germany.  Ministers Thilo Hanstein and Christoph Sperzel conducted the baptism. Welcome to the Church of God Herr Kaltenegger!

“Die letzte Festung Satans,” the sermonette given last Sabbath in Germany by Robert Muhr, is now posted. Title in English, “Satan’s last stronghold.”

“All Not Lost,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath by Frank Bruno, is now posted. Here is a summary:

The very recent fires here in Boulder County ripped through the area at an astounding rate—described by emergency officials as the length and breadth of a football field every few seconds. In just hours nearly 1000 homes, pets, possessions, and many businesses were destroyed and impacted by flames and smoke. In this Sermonette we will consider God’s messages to those He calls, and how one can persevere despite great loss.

“Blood,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Eric Rank, is now posted. Here is a summary:

Blood is found everywhere in the Bible. What is the significance? What can we learn about blood that can help us understand our Salvation?