Church of God News

Vladimir Putin (Premier.gov.ru)

COGwriter

Russia’s Vladimir Putin is pushing for statehood in eastern Ukraine:

August 31, 2014

Russian President Vladimir Putin called for “substantive, meaningful talks” regarding statehood between pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine and the Kyiv government.

Russian news agencies report that Putin, speaking on a state-controlled Russian TV station, said statehood is needed “to protect the lawful interests of people” who live in the region.

Until now, Moscow has called for increased but still limited autonomy for eastern parts of Ukraine, where many Russian speakers live and where pro-Russian separatists are active.

Asked about Putin’s remarks quoted by Tass news agency, a Kremlin spokesman said the president was not calling for a separate state in the region, adding it should remain part of Ukraine and calling the crisis there a domestic conflict.

EU sanctions

Also Sunday, the European Union threatened Russia with new sanctions if Moscow continues its military activity in eastern Ukraine.

But the EU is deeply divided on the severity of possible actions, as many of the 28 members of the European bloc are dependent upon Russian gas and trade.

EU leaders meeting in Brussels announced early Sunday after lengthy talks that they have asked the European Commission for a list to be prepared within a week of new measures to take against Russia if it fails to reverse course in Ukraine.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said, “The European Council says that it stands ready to take further significant steps in the light of the evolution of the situation on the ground and it requests the commission to urgently undertake preparatory work, together with (European External) Action Service and present proposals for consideration within, within a week.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Putin must act quickly to avoid new sanctions.

“There is very significant inflow of troops and material from the Russian side into Ukraine, into Ukrainian territory, which means that there is a significant escalation on the ground, at the same time we said, and this is the view of all the members of the European Council, that there cannot be a military solution to this conflict,” Merkel said. http://www.voanews.com/content/poroshenko-seeks-european-union-support/2433155.html

August 31, 2014

President Putin has called for talks to discuss “statehood” for eastern Ukraine, Russian media report.

He said the issue needed to be discussed to ensure the interests of local people “are definitely upheld”…

“Russia cannot stand aside when people are being shot at almost at point blank,” he added, describing the rebels’ actions as “the natural reaction of people who are defending their rights”.

He dismissed the EU’s threat of further sanctions, accusing the EU of “backing a coup d’etat” in Ukraine.

The West, Mr Putin said, should have foreseen Russia’s reaction to the situation, adding it was impossible to predict how the crisis would end. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29003116

Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine, to influence, dominate, and ultimately control. He is repeatedly taking steps in order to increase Russian influence there.

As far as how it will ultimately end, that is not impossible to predict.  The Bible tells of the rise of a European Beast power and a Eurasian power.

Ukraine is geographically in the middle of that.

Some/much of Ukraine will likely temporarily align with the European power.  Even Russia appears prophesied to cooperate with it for some time (cf. Revelation 13:4,8).

The historian Herodotus claimed that there were six different tribes/families of Medes.

Herodotus identified the tribes of the Medes as Busae, Parataceni/Paratakeni, Struchates/Strukhates, Arizanti, Budii, and the Magi (Herodotus: A New and Literal Version with a Geographical and General Index by Henry Cary. Histories, book 1, chapter 101. Translated by Henry Cary. Harper, 1896. Original from the University of Virginia, Digitized Jan 23, 2009, p. 46).

Some of the Russians themselves appear to have been from the Medes. Notice the following:

Today the people who constituted the empire of the Medes may be found in western Russia, specifically the Ukraine and Volhynia. (White C. The Great German Nation: Origins and Destiny. AuthorHouse, 2007, p. 285)

But how are we to explain the name Russia? The old-fashioned view was to derive the word from the Rhoxolani. This, however, has long been abandoned. One thing is certain, namely, that these Rhoxolani were of Oriental descent, a Medic or Iranic tribe. They disappear from history, having, like so many other tribes — as, for instance, the Pechenegs and the Khozars—been swallowed up by the huge waves of immigration which overflowed the country (Morfill WR. Russia. Published 1890 by T.F. Unwin, London).

There are many disputes among academics as to who derived from whom, thus it is not completely clear, for example, that the Rhoxolani were Medes who went to Russia.

The Bible has several end time prophecies concerning the Medes (Isaiah 13:17-19) and the kings of the Medes (Jeremiah 51:11, 28-29) that involve military action and point to Russian involvement (Jeremiah 50:41-43; Daniel 11:44).

Various ones in Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Russia, and elsewhere are part of the descendants of the Medes, as likely are some in Moldova and perhaps elsewhere.

If the Rhoxolani were Medes, then it would seem to be consistent with certain biblical prophecies.

While some/many in Ukraine descended from the Medes, so have some/many in Russia.

The Bible shows that those who are the “kings of the Medes” will turn against the final European Babylonian power:

11 Make the arrows bright!
Gather the shields!
The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes.
For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it,
Because it is the vengeance of the Lord,
The vengeance for His temple.
12 Set up the standard on the walls of Babylon;
Make the guard strong,
Set up the watchmen,
Prepare the ambushes.
For the Lord has both devised and done
What He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. (Jeremiah 51:11-12)

28 Prepare against her the nations,With the kings of the Medes,Its governors and all its rulers,All the land of his dominion. 29 And the land will tremble and sorrow;For every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon,To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant. 30 The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting,They have remained in their strongholds;Their might has failed,They became like women;They have burned her dwelling places,The bars of her gate are broken. 31 One runner will run to meet another,And one messenger to meet another,To show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on all sides; 32 The passages are blocked,The reeds they have burned with fire,And the men of war are terrified.
33 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
“The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor When it is time to thresh her;Yet a little while And the time of her harvest will come.” (Jeremiah 51:28-33)

Historically, the old Worldwide Church of God believed that many in Ukraine descended from Madia (see Countries and Their Biblical Names ), the Medes.  Various Russians are also descendents of Madia.

Barack Obama, the President of the USA, while encouraging sanctions, has repeatedly said the USA will not intervene militarily:

President Barack Obama again ruled out U.S. military action, saying there must be a diplomatic solution. But he said he would reaffirm U.S. commitment to NATO allies in the region at a summit next week.

“We are not taking military action to solve the Ukrainian problem. What we’re doing is to mobilize the international community to apply pressure on Russia,” he told reporters at the White House. https://bangordailynews.com/2014/08/28/news/world-news/obama-us-will-seek-diplomatic-resolution-not-military-action-to-russian-intervention-in-ukraine/

Russia, the Europeans, and the Ukrainians know this.

The situation in Ukraine remains tense.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Russia and Ukraine: Origins and Prophesied Future Where do the Russians come from? What about those in the Ukraine? What is prophesied for Russia and its allies? What will they do to the Europeans that supported the Beast in the end? You can also watch the short video Ukraine in Prophecy?
Russia in the Bible and in Prophecy Is Russia mentioned in the Bible? It it is where is it? Is there any evidence of a people moving to the land that the Russians now occupy? What do Catholic and other prophecies say about Russia? What does the Bible teach? How are Protestants often in error on this? Is there more in biblical prophecy for Russia than war? Does God have a plan to save Russia and her allies? Does Russia have a history involving Sabbath keepers? Does scripture tie Russia in with Armageddon? Will Russia help defeat the end time Babylonian power? What did the Apostle John, and the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel, write about Russia? This is a sermon-length video.
Ezekiel 38: For Russia & Iran in Our Day? Is Ezekiel 38 about to be fufilled? A related video is available titled Ezekiel 38: For Russia, Ukraine, & Iran Now?
Bible News Prophecy July-Sept. 2014: The Coming Eurasian Union Here is the latest magazine from the Continuing Church of God. The cover of which shows Vladimir Putin and features an article about the coming Eurasian Union.
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is a link to a video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?
European Technology and the Beast of Revelation Will the coming European Beast power would use and develop technology that will result in the taking over of the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies? Is this possible? What does the Bible teach? Here is a related YouTube video: Military Technology and the Beast of Revelation.
Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations? Some claim that these passages refer to a gathering of 10 currently existing nations together, while one group teaches that this is referring to 11 nations getting together. Is that what Revelation 17:12-13 refers to? The ramifications of misunderstanding this are enormous. A related sermon is titled Ten Kings of Revelation and the Great Tribulation.
World War III: Steps in Progress Are there surprising actions going on now that are leading to WWIII? Might a nuclear attack be expected? Does the Bible promise protection to all or only some Christians? How can you be part of those that will be protected? A related video would be Is World War III About to Begin? Can You Escape?
Wars, rumors of wars, and the Apocalypse Jesus foretold a time before the end where there would be wars and rumors of wars. The Apocalypse (the Book of Revelation) warns of the red horseman of war. Now, even secular writers, like Larry Edelson, are worried that wars and rumors of war are the most menacing problem that now haunts the earth? Are they right? What is the solution? This is a sermonette-length video.
Is Russia the King of the North? Some claim it is. But what does the Bible teach? Here is a link to a video, also titled Is Russia the King of the North?
The Eurasian Union, the Kings of the East, and Bible Prophecy Is there a Eurasian union that will be formed? Is one being formed right now? Are any leaders working on that in the 21st century? Does the Bible teach that there will be a Eurasian union? If some type of Eurasian union is formed, who might it benefit and who will it destroy? A related video would be Is The Eurasian Union Rising?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States? In the Spanish language check out ¿Quién es el Rey del Norte? Here is a link to a video titled: The Future King of the North.
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Edition for Second Obama Term This is a 160 page book for people truly interested in prophecies related to Barack Obama and the United States, including learning about many that have already been fulfilled (which the book documents in detail) and those that will be fulfilled in the future. It also has a chapter about a Republican choice. This book is available to order at www.barackobamaprophecy.com. The physical book can also be purchased at Amazon from the following link: Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States: Is Barack Obama Fulfilling Biblical, Islamic Catholic, Kenyan, and other America-Related Prophecies? What About Republican Leaders? Second Edition for Second Obama Term.
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Term-Amazon Kindle edition. This electronic version is available for only US$2.99. And you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to for your free Kindle reader and then go to Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Term-Amazon Kindle edition.

Pope Francis Wearing Hat of Fish Deity (Emiliovillegas24)

COGwriter

Pope Francis said the following today (which was translated into English by a Vatican-connected official):

August 31, 2014

It is sad to find watered down Christians, who are like watered wine. You can’t tell whether they are Christian or worldly. … That is, they have become worldly. Therefore, it is necessary to renew oneself continuously, to draw this sap from the Gospel. And how can one do this in practice? First and foremost, by reading and meditating the Gospel every day…

Do not forget: Gospel, Eucharist and Prayer. Thanks to these gifts from the Lord, we can conform not to the world, but to Christ, and to follow Him on His path, the path of “losing one’s own life” in order to find it (v.25). “Losing it” in the sense of donating it, offering it for love and in love – and this involves the sacrifice, even to the cross – to receive it again purified, freed from selfishness and from the debt of death, full of eternity. The Virgin Mary always precedes us on this path; let us be guided and accompanied by Her.  http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/sunday-angelus-on-the-gospel-eucharist-and-prayer

Jesus warned against being a lukewarm Christian (Revelation 3:14-22), which would be similar to being a ‘watered down’ one.  Most true Christians today are lukewarm, Laodicean, Christians.

However, Pope Francis while complaining about the influence of the world, wants his followers to accept the world’s pagan theological influences.

How so?

Firstly, while he is doing something positive by telling people to read from the gospels each day, he himself does not understand the gospel itself and last month he basically admitted it (see Pope Francis on Violence, Jesus, and the Kingdom of God).  He does NOT UNDERSTAND NOR TEACH CHRIST’S GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM.  He has accepted a worldly compromise mainly to teach about a version of Jesus as opposed to the true message of Jesus.

Secondly, let’s look at the Eucharist.  Is the eucharistic host now used is from the Bible or not?

No.

A careful comparison of what is taught in the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church along with eucharistic practices should make this clear to any truly interested in the truth that it comes from the world and not the Bible.

Let’s first start out with two translations of a quote from the Apostle Paul:

1 Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1, Douay-Rheims)

1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1, NKJV)

The Apostle Paul is teaching that Christians are to follow or imitate him as he imitates Christ (the Greek word translated as follow/imitate above is mimetes; the English word mimic comes from it). Thus, all should be careful to carefully follow Jesus and the Apostle Paul in this regard.

Notice what the Apostle John wrote:

6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. (1 John 2:6)

Article 3, under the Seven Sacraments of the Church in the Catechism of the Catholic Church discusses the eucharist. Section II asks and answers the question, What is this Sacrament Called? Several names are listed, including “The Breaking of Bread” (#1329).

It also states the following:

1339 Jesus choose the time of the Passover…And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them…(Catechism of the Catholic Church. Imprimatur Potest +Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Doubleday, NY 1995, p. 373)

Now the above is scriptural. Here are some related scriptures:

19 And the disciples did as Jesus appointed to them, and they prepared the pasch.

26 And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke: and gave to his disciples, and said: Take ye, and eat. This is my body. (Matthew 26:19,26 Douay-Rheims)

22 And whilst they were eating, Jesus took bread; and blessing, broke, and gave to them, and said: Take ye. This is my body. (Mark 14:22, Douay-Rheims)

19 And taking bread, he gave thanks, and brake; and gave to them, saying: This is my body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of me. (Luke 22:19, Douay-Rheims)

Notice, it is very clear that Jesus BROKE the bread on Passover (Pasch means Passover).

The Apostle Paul confirmed that it was the practice of the early Christians to break bread:

16 The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ ? And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord? (1 Corinthians 10:16, Douay-Rheims).

23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread.

24 And giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me. (1 Corinthians 11:23-24, Douay-Rheims)

The Apostle Paul followed Jesus’ practice and broke bread. Furthermore, notice what The Catholic Encyclopedia teaches in its article “Host”:

…the first Christians…simply used the bread that served as food. It seems that the form differed but little from what it is in our day. The loaves discovered in an oven of a bakery at Pompeii weighed about a pound each. One of these, being perfectly preserved, measured about seven inches in diameter and was creased with seven ridges which facilitated the breaking of the loaf without the aid of a knife. (Leclercq, Henri. “Host.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. Nihil Obstat. June 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 28 Feb. 2011 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07489d.htm>)

Notice the article basically says that the practice of the first Christians, which is consistent with the Bible, was to use normal loaves of bread that resemble what is still in use today. And that it was broken. (The article never says where the round host actually came from, other than it was first mentioned in writing in the fourth century by Epiphanius and that earlier paintings in catacombs and bas-reliefs showed something like that. But I should state that the oldest early painting in a catacomb I am aware of has a woman, Priscilla, presiding over the ceremony, so the Church of Rome may wish to be careful about relying on that as they do not allow women to do that. Hence, the earliest picture of the eucharist host did not come from what is practiced in today’s Roman Catholicism–so the question from whence the Catholics adopted it remains.)

Thus, to have a Passover/eucharistic ceremony where they bread is not broken is certainly not imitating Jesus, the Apostle Paul, nor the early Christians. It is a change that the Church of Rome must have gotten outside of the Bible.

Yet, in the eucharistic ceremonies in the Catholic Church, the bread is not broken. Instead, it is a round host that the Catechism of the Catholic Church says can/should be worshipped and adored (CCC #1378, p. 385). Yet, there is no indication that the early Christians or the apostles did anything like that.

Worshippers of sun-gods worshipped round symbols. Early Christians did not.

As far as the word “host,” The Catholic Encyclopedia teaches:

The bread destined to receive Eucharistic Consecration is commonly called the host , and though this term may likewise be applied to the bread and wine of the Sacrifice , it is more especially reserved to the bread.

According to Ovid the word comes from hostis, enemy: “Hostibus a domitis hostia nomen habet”, because the ancients offered their vanquished enemies as victims to the gods. However, it is possible that hostia is derived from hostire, to strike, as found in Pacuvius. (Leclercq, Henri. “Host.”)

The word “host” (or derivatives) do not appear to be a direct translation of any of the original Hebrew or Greek that the Bible was actually written in. Hence, it does not seem to be a biblical term, but instead may have pagan ties according to certain Catholic researchers.

The view most widely held today among upholders of the historico-religious theory is that the Eucharist and the Mass originated in the practices of the Persian Mithraism (Dieterich, H. T. Holtzmann, Pfleiderer, Robertson, etc.). “In the Mandaean mass” writes Cumont (“Mysterien des Mithra”, Leipzig, 1903, p.118), “the celebrant consecrated bread and water, which he mixed with perfumed Haoma-juice, and ate this food while performing the functions of divine service”. Tertullian in anger ascribed this mimicking of Christian rites to the “devil” and observed in astonishment (De prescript haeret, C. xl): “celebrat (Mithras) et panis oblationem.” (Pohle. J. Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas. Sacrifice of the Mass. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume X. Published 1911. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).

There were seven degrees of initiation into the mithraic mysteries…The fathers conducted the worship. The chief of the fathers, a sort of pope, who always lived at Rome, was called “Pater Patrum” or Pater Patratus.” The members below the degree of pater called one another “brother,” and social distinctions were forgotten in Mithraic unity…A sacred meal was celebrated of bread and haoma juice for which in the West wine was substituted. This meal was supposed to give the participants super-natural virtue…Mithraism had a Eucharist, but the idea of a sacred banquet is as old as the human race and existed at all ages and amongst all peoples (Arendzen. J.P. Transcribed by John Looby. Mithraism. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume X. Published 1911. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).

Paganism is certainly ‘worldly,’ yet Pope Francis keeps promoting parts of it (see also Marcus, the Marcosians, & Mithraism: Developers of the Eucharist?).

Even the hat shown at the beginning of this post that he wears is a relic from paganism.  Early elders/ministers/pastors/bishops did NOT dress like that nor wear such garb (see Were the Early Duties of Elders/Pastors Mainly Sacramental? What was there Dress?).  Wearing such garb was a compromise with the world of the pagan Emperor Constantine in the fourth century and has been perpetuated by Roman and certain other Catholics since.

Thirdly, Pope Francis often, and repeatedly, tells people to turn to his version of ‘Mary.’  Pope Francis today taught, “let us be guided and accompanied by Her.” The Bible never say to do that.  Pope Francis is teaching a false and worldly gospel that includes a version of ‘Mary’ that no early Christian venerated.

The version of ‘Mary’ that Pope Francis venerated was the result of the adoption of certain practices of Simon Magus and the worship of the pagan goddess Diana (see also Pope Francis: Could this Marian Focused Pontiff be Fulfilling Prophecy?).  That is also worldly and wrong.

Fourthly, and although he did not directly refer to it in what I quoted above, Pope Francis has a worldly ecumenical and interfaith message, which the United Nations shares with him (see United Nations: Humankind’s Last Hope or New World Order?), that is also contrary to the teachings of the Bible.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Pope Francis: Could this Marian Focused Pontiff be Fulfilling Prophecy? Pope Francis has taken many steps to turn people more towards his version of ‘Mary.’ Could this be consistent with biblical and Catholic prophecies? This article documents what has been happening. There is also a video version titled Pope Francis: Could this Marian Focused Pontiff be Fulfilling Prophecy?
Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions Do you know much about Mary? Are the apparitions real? What happened at Fatima? What might they mean for the rise of the ecumenical religion of Antichrist? Are Protestants moving towards Mary? How do the Eastern/Greek Orthodox view Mary? How might Mary view her adorers? Here is a link to a YouTube video Marian Apparitions May Fulfill Prophecy. Here is a link to a sermon video: Why Learn About Fatima?
Were the Early Duties of Elders/Pastors Mainly Sacramental? What was there Dress? Were the duties of the clergy primarily pastoral or sacramental? Did the clergy dress with special liturgical vestments? Can “bishops” be disqualified as ministers of Christ based on their head coverings?
Marcus, the Marcosians, & Mithraism: Developers of the Eucharist? Marcus was a second century heretic condemned for having a ceremony similar to one still practiced by many who profess Christ. Might he also be in the apostolic succession list of the Orthodox Church of Alexandria? Where did the eucharistic host and IHS come from?
Simon Magus, What Did He Teach? Sometimes called “the father early heretics” or the “father of heresies”, do you know what early writers claimed that Simon Magus taught? Sadly, most who profess Christ still hold to versions of his teachings.
Will the Interfaith Movement Lead to Peace or Sudden Destruction? Is the interfaith movement going to lead to lasting peace or is it warned against?
Beware: Protestants Going Towards Ecumenical Destruction! What is going on in the Protestant world? Are Protestants turning back to their ‘mother church’ in Rome? Does the Bible warn about this? What are Catholic plans and prophecies related to this? Is Protestantism doomed?
Do You Know That Babylon is Forming? How is the final Babylon forming? Are Protestants such as Joel Osteen and Kenneth Copeland are endorsing something dangerous? Could Pope Francis be the ‘False Prophet’ that the Bible warns against? Is an antipope expected to endorse a one-world religion? Here is a link to a related written article In Vatican City: New Babylon more openly forming!
Pope Francis: Could this Marian Focused Pontiff be Fulfilling Prophecy? Pope Francis has taken many steps to turn people more towards his version of ‘Mary.’ Could this be consistent with biblical and Catholic prophecies? This article documents what has been happening. There is also a video version titled Pope Francis: Could this Marian Focused Pontiff be Fulfilling Prophecy?
Why Should American Catholics Fear Unity with the Orthodox? Are the current ecumenical meetings a good thing or will they result in disaster? Is doctrinal compromise good? Here is a link to a related video Should you be concerned about the ecumenical movement?
United Nations: Humankind’s Last Hope or New World Order? Is the UN the last hope for humanity? Or might its goals end up with sinister results? A related video would be United Nations and Vatican Are Planning the New World Order.
Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Continuing Church of God? Do you know that both groups shared a lot of the earliest teachings? Do you know which church changed? Do you know which group is most faithful to the teachings of the apostolic church? Which group best represents true Christianity? This documented article answers those questions.
Could Pope Francis be the Last Pope and Antichrist? According to some interpretations of the prophecies of the popes by the Catholic saint and Bishop Malachy, Pope Francis I is in the position of “Peter the Roman,” the pontiff who reigns during tribulations until around the time of the destruction of Rome. Do biblical prophecies warn of someone that sounds like Peter the Roman? Could Francis I be the heretical antipope of Catholic private prophecies and the final Antichrist of Bible prophecy? This is a YouTube video.
The Last Pope Do Biblical and Catholic Prophecies Point to Pope Francis? Why might Pope Francis be the last pope? What happens if he is? Biblical and other prophecies help explain what to expect.
The Last Pope: Do Biblical and Catholic Prophecies Point to Pope Francis? Amazon Book What does the Bible say about a pope near this time? Is the final pope to be an antipope and antichrist? Does Catholic prophecy point to Pope Francis as being the dreaded “Peter the Roman”? This 186 page book provides information and answers.
The Last Pope: Do Biblical and Catholic Prophecies Point to Pope Francis? Kindle This electronic version of the printed book which is available for only US$2.99. And you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to for your free Kindle reader and then go to The Last Pope: Do Biblical and Catholic Prophecies Point to Pope Francis? Kindle.

COGwriter The Continuing Church of God is pleased to announce our latest video on our Bible New Prophecy YouTube channel:

25:43

China Moving Towards One World Religion

Handwriting on the Wall (Rembrandt)

COGwriter

Today is the one year anniversary of day that David Pack, leader of the improperly named Restored Church of God (RCG), claimed that all in the COGs would come to him. As I repeatedly pointed out last year, this was not going to happen as David Pack simply did not trust Bible prophecy, but instead twisted it in ways it was not intended to be interpreted.

Here is some of what David Pack said and/or wrote about it last year (the sermon comments were sent to me and I did not listen to that sermon myself):

Details may begin (and only begin) to come into view on the first of the month of Elul (in God’s calendar—August 7 in the Roman Calendar). A more complete picture will emerge by Elul 24 (August 30). Right now, all are urged to have in their thinking that they will be reassigned to a new nearby Feast site, and those who choose to return to the Body of Christ will attend with what becomes a much bigger organization—probably significantly bigger than the largest splinter! (Crucial Questions—Important Answers! July 19, 2013, http://rcg.org/sep/crucial-questions-important-answers)

Which three leaders are the greatest obstructionists to God’s stated purpose in Haggai—returning HIS people to doing HIS Work? (The Final Announcement. August 2, 2013, http://rcg.org/sep/the-final-announcement)

Next, the 2013 Feast of Tabernacles: This will also be among the most special and inspiring times in Church history. It will be a Feast of unity and harmony among all of God’s people. Everyone will keep this joyous occasion as members of The Restored Church of God in scores of sites across the world. At this time, we have 21 sites, but we anticipate adding many more. In some areas, former splinter brethren will attend our current sites. In other locations, we will have to quickly add new ones. In still other areas, splinter sites will simply become Restored sites. The total number of Feast sites, and where they are, will depend entirely on how many brethren answer the “stirring” of Jesus Christ to return to His Church, and in what areas they live. Details may begin (and only begin) to come into view on the first of the month of Elul (in God’s calendar—August 7 in the Roman Calendar). A more complete picture will emerge by Elul 24 (August 30). Right now, all are urged to have in their thinking that they will be reassigned to a new nearby Feast site, and those who choose to return to the Body of Christ will attend with what becomes a much bigger organization—probably significantly bigger than the largest splinter! (Crucial Questions—Important Answers! July 19, 2013, http://rcg.org/sep/crucial-questions-important-answers)

All Brethren United Soon Part 12 (Sermon)

How could so many things happen in 24 hours?

Minute 26. Three men die- Elul 24, then everyone makes a decision that day.

Minute 29. Certain things about this prophesy is very complex, others are very simple.

Minute 30. No way everything could happen in one day.

Minute 32. Do you care most how the 3 Shephard’s die? In their sleep, by fire?

Do you care who they are?

If God tells us then I want to know otherwise it doesn’t matter.

You are going to find out how they die and who they are.

Minute 33. I know their names 100% sure. Don’t want the names out yet. Now I’m certain I know.

Do you care where it happens? I don’t know where it will happen.

I know how they die and who they are. I’m certain.

Minute 34. How about when they die? They die sooner then we thought.

Do they die together or separately. I know they die together.

Two culminating events. The death of these men is the first. The central point is God is going to bring his people back together/unify his people.

David Pack also claimed:

Saturday, August 31 will be a Sabbath unlike any other in history. It will be the first time in decades that all of God’s people around the world will be meeting together in the same locations for services. Words cannot describe the excitement and happiness that will be everywhere soon after this reunification. In many areas, much of or possibly even entire congregations might “roll over” into The Restored Church of God. Brethren will have had weeks to prepare for this and to “consider their ways” before God. Those who come will have been led to return to the Body of Christ the day before this Sabbath. Reread this last sentence.

Realize that a host of logistical details must be worked out for this to occur. God has been planning this event for thousands of years—at least 3,000—and His Church has been preparing for it for almost a year. Headquarters and our ministers will be ready to receive potentially a great many phone calls from splinter ministers and members even in the days and weeks before August 31. (Why Reunification THIS YEAR!, posted July 5, 2013 http://rcg.org/sep/why-reunification-this-year)

Of course, this simply did not happened. David Pack also claimed that God revealed to him that he was Joshua about five years ago. Yet, while the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4, KJV) may have done that, certainly was not the Creator God of the Bible!

Notice what David Pack posted after it did not happen last year:

I will explain a week after the Feast EXACTLY what was misunderstood about the prophecy’s timing. It appears we will not be waiting a long time—not another year—for its fulfillment. (Pack D. How Long Will You Wait for God’s Prophecies? 09/06/13 http://rcg.org/sep/how-long-will-you-wait-for-gods-prophecies)

Of course, it still did not happen and will not happen.  The Philadelphian remnant of the COG will not become part of RCG and certainly have not done so by the dates that David Pack pointed to.  The changes required by RCG would be massive for something like that to possibly happen (David Pack would have to repent, RCG would have to change focus, RCG would have to change doctrine, etc.).

If people think that David Pack is past his dreams of delusion here, think again.  At its website, RCG is still promoting the following:

God’s People Back Together—SOON!

Announced earlier, the most important and conclusive article I have written to the Worldwide Church of God splinters has been posted! I promise this will be the single most crucial one you will ever read. If you do not read it all, it will be the worst decision you have made since God called you. Believe this!

This came up as part of a rotating promotion by RCG. The article related article, by David Pack, included the following:

Mr. Armstrong taught:

(1) God has one, unified, organized Church, also called the Body of Christ. …

All Will Come Here!…

History will record that The Restored Church of God gathered the flock, to be with Christ, rather than helped to scatter it—as UCG, LCG, PCG, COGwa, COGaic and so many others are doing! The distinction turns on which church has the full truth and much fruit to back up claims that God leads it, not to mention that this Church still must believe there IS only one Church.

Soon, all of God’s people will know what The Restored Church of God is. They will come to remember and recognize the Church that is the same as the one they used to know. They will return to it, or refuse and quench God’s Spirit forever. No one else is telling Christ’s brethren (YOU) this. This is in part because all other leaders have forgotten what God’s Church looks like. …

You have been duly warned.

I state emphatically, on God’s authority, that every last person—member or minister—throughout the world who is determined not to lose God’s Spirit—certainly many thousands—is coming to The Restored Church of God.

Actually, the Bible does not teach that all true Christians will be in the same corporate organization in the end. Revelation 2 & 3 show that there will be Thyatirans, Sardisians, Philadelphians, and many Laodiceans in the end, and the implication is that the Laodiceans will be in different organizations.

Despite David Pack’s appeals to writings from Herbert Armstrong, he never felt that those of Sardis were prophesied to come in the same organization and the Philadelphians, he believed the opposite.

It should be stated that people will NOT lose God’s Spirit by not coming to RCG. Actually, since RCG is led by someone I doubt it truly in the Church of God, the risk of losing God’s Spirit tends to increase for those who do support RCG.

But David Pack, in my view, remains delusional, as do many who support him.

Thousands of years ago, the Prophet Daniel was asked to interpret some handwriting that was written on a wall by only a hand that the king of the area personally witnessed (which is why he ultimately called Daniel to see it). The moral trend in that kingdom was not good according to Daniel (Daniel 5:22-23). After stating that, here is the interpretation that the prophet Daniel gave of that handwriting on the wall:

24 Then the fingers of the hand were sent from Him, and this writing was written.

25 “And this is the inscription that was written:

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

26 This is the interpretation of each word. Mene: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; 27 Tekel: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; 28 Peres: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” (Daniel 5:24-28)

That kingdom was taken over that very night (Daniel 5:30-31).

Now, let us look at the words from the wall and apply them to David Pack.

1. Mene: Your days being on the top as you view yourself are numbered.
2. Mene: Despite signs of your failure, will you finally publicly repent that your understanding of Haggai and Zechariah are wrong, or instead will you take steps to speed your decline up?
3. Tekel: Your false interpretation of scripture and beliefs about yourself have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting.
4. Peres/Upharsin: Your empire will some day be divided by those who will see more of the truth and leave and those who will accept your provably blatant falsehoods and stay. That cannot be the type of Church that God would want.

Now, a story I often like to tell people is the story about the Emperor who had no clothes. Basically, the Emperor was very vain about his outward appearance, and some shysters persuaded him to give them a lot of money to make the finest clothes (David Pack wanted to build a facility so fine that all the “splinters” would see it and marvel–and he has built something that he has marveled about, yet Philadelphia-remnant Christians and even most of the Laodicean Christians are not impressed by it). The Emperor agreed to do this and then hold a public parade once the clothes were ready.

The shysters persuaded the Emperor and his supporters that the clothes that they were to make would be so fine that only those unworthy of their positions in life could not see them. When the shysters pretended to supply fine clothes to the Emperor (which in reality was absolutely nothing), the Emperor and his staff commented about how fine the clothes were (the staff apparently worried about losing their jobs or influence if they told the truth out loud). The Emperor then took off his clothes and pretended to put the new “clothes” on. He then went outside and walked in a public parade. A small boy, seeing the Emperor, shouted out, “The Emperor is naked. The Emperor has no clothes!”

People tried to shut the boy up. One or more in the audience said to him, “Boy, you are not worthy of your position as you cannot see these fine clothes.” Others said, “Wait, he is only a small boy. Of course, he is worthy of his position. The Emperor is naked.” Then, when the crowd realized that no one saw the non-existent clothes, they laughed and laughed. The Emperor was extremely humiliated.

Can those in RCG now see that David Pack is NOT GOD’S Apostle?

In the case of David Pack, he seemed to believe that if he had a new headquarters’ building that this would be enough to get people to come to him and that this was God’s plan. But it was never God’s plan, but the imagination and vanity of David Pack and many of his followers. Can they see the truth now or how many more false interpretations from David Pack will it take?  Or is this one-year anniversary going to pass with people simply hoping that one day David Pack will be right about this?

David Pack’s interpretations and predictions about what was supposed to happen remain wrong.

Will you personally admit the truth? If any of you in RCG have actual facts that disprove or prove what I am writing here, please contact me. My email remains cogwriter@aol.com.  Will you believe the truth and the Bible or David Pack?

If you are in RCG, can you see that your “emperor” is naked (which is my opinion what his improper interpretations show)? Can you see the handwriting on the wall?

Could the following apply to you?

15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ — and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked — 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. (Revelation 3:15-19)

Turning to God is the only answer–and it is not just those in RCG that need to do that. This is something you can do. Do not let your own vanity get in the way. David Pack is wrong.

Can you see the handwriting on the wall?

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Why Not the Restored Church of God? This group, led by David Pack, claims to be the most faithful. The information in this article suggests otherwise. Here is a version in the Spanish language: ¿Por qué no la Iglesia de Dios Restaurada?
Why Be Concerned About False and Heretical Leaders? There have been many false leaders–here is some of why you should be concerned about them. Here is a related article in the Spanish language ¿Por qué estar preocupado acerca de falsos y heréticos líderes?.
How To Determine If Someone is a True Prophet of God There are many false prophets. How can Christians determine who is a true prophet? There is also a sermon-length video titled How to determine if someone is a true prophet of God. Here is a related link in Spanish/español: ¿Cómo determinar si alguien es un verdadero profeta de Dios?
Leading the Final Phase of the Work Matthew 24:14 will be fulfilled and RCG is not the group doing this. Who is leading the final phase of the work? What did Herbert Armstrong and the old WCG teach about that and about prophets? Does Bob Thiel meet the criteria that the Bible and the old WCG set? What is the proof? What has the Continuing Church of God been doing?
The Philadelphia Church Era was predominant circa 1933 A.D. to 1986 A.D. The old Radio Church of God and old Worldwide Church of God, now the remnant of that era is basically the most faithful in the Church of God, like who hold to the beliefs and practices of the Continuing Church of God.
The Laodicean Church Era has been predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. The Laodiceans are non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG or its offshoots.  They do not properly understand the work or biblical prophecies and will face the Great Tribulation if they do not repent.
Are the Laodiceans the Modern Sadducees and Pharisees? Discusses similarities of the Sadducees and Pharisees to various COGs in this end-time.

Russian ICBM on Mobile Launcher (Участник:Goodvint)

COGwriter

More Russian-speaking soldiers are in east Ukraine:

August 30, 2014

NOVOAZOVSK, Ukraine (AP) – Their tanks bearing the flag of their would-be state, Russian-backed separatists held control Friday over this coastal town on the new front in the Ukraine conflict and announced their intention to keep pushing west toward a major port city.

None of the half-dozen tanks seen by Associated Press reporters in the town of about 12,000 people bore Russian markings, but the packaging on their field rations said they were issued by the Russian army.

The Ukrainian government the day before accused Russia of sending tanks, artillery and troops across the border, and NATO estimated at least 1,000 Russian troops were in Ukraine.

As tensions rose, European Union foreign ministers called for heavier sanctions against Moscow ahead of Saturday’s summit of EU leaders in Brussels. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was invited to address the summit.

The rebels denied they are getting Russian military vehicles.

“We are fighting with the machinery the (Ukrainian forces) abandon. They just dump it and flee,” said a rebel commander who identified himself by the nom de guerre Frantsuz, or the Frenchman.

Although such claims of using only confiscated Ukrainian equipment are common, top rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko himself has said Russia was supplying equipment and fighters – something Moscow has steadfastly denied doing.  http://www.aol.com/article/2014/08/30/russian-backed-rebels-aim-to-push-west-along-coast/20954832/?icid=maing-grid7%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D522838

August 28, 2014

The United States told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Thursday that Russia has “outright lied” over its military activity inside Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian armed forces.

The accusation came hours before President Obama said the United States “is not taking military action to solve the Ukrainian problem” but trying to mobilize international pressure on Moscow.

“Russian soldiers, tanks and air defense have supported and fight alongside separatists as they open a new front in a crisis manufactured and fueled by Russia,” Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the council. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/08/28/ukraine-town-under-rebel-control/14724767/

Russia’s Vladimir Putin sent out condemnations and warnings:

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia’s armed forces, backed by its nuclear arsenal, were ready to meet any aggression…

Putin told the assembly, on the banks of a lake near Moscow, the Russian takeover of Crimea in March was essential to save a largely Russian-speaking population from Ukrainian government violence.

He said continued fighting in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists launched an uprising in April, was the result of a refusal by Kiev to negotiate. …

“Russia’s partners… should understand it’s best not to mess with us,” said Putin, dressed casually in a grey sweater and light blue jeans.

“Thank God, I think no one is thinking of unleashing a large-scale conflict with Russia. I want to remind you that Russia is one of the leading nuclear powers.” …

His tone darkened when speaking on Ukraine, blaming the United States and the European Union for the “unconstitutional” removal of Kiev’s former Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovich and replacement with a pro-European government.

He said eastern Ukraine did not agree with Yanukovich’s removal and was now subjected to “crude military force” from government planes, tanks and artillery.

“If those are contemporary European values, then I’m simply disappointed in the highest degree,” he said, comparing Ukraine’s military operations in the east of the country with the Nazi siege of Leningrad in World War Two.

“Small villages and large cities surrounded by the Ukrainian army which is directly hitting residential areas with the aim of destroying the infrastructure… It sadly reminds me of the events of the Second World War, when German fascist… occupiers surrounded our cities.”  http://news.yahoo.com/putin-says-russia-ready-respond-aggression-123956691.html

The European Union  is upset about all of this and is increasing sanctions:

August 30, 2104

European Union leaders meeting in Belgium on Saturday were preparing to hand down additional sanctions on Russia for its continual meddling in Ukraine.

“Sanctions are not an end in themselves,” but are a way to discourage Russia from further destabilizing its neighbor, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said before an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels. “Russia should not underestimate the European Union’s will and resolve to stand by its principles and values.”

Russia has repeatedly denied claims it is support rebels in Ukraine’s east with weapons and expertise, despite NATO estimates that 1,000 Russian soldiers are in Ukraine.

“The opening of new fronts and the use of Russian regular forces (on Ukrainian soil) is not acceptable and represents a grave transgression,” said Barroso, who provided no specifics on the sanctions being considered.

“No one’s interest is served by new wars on our continent,” he added.  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/08/30/russia-ukraine-nato-separatists/14855283/

Notice that EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso calls Europe “our continent.” Meaning that he does not want Russia (or others) to interfere with the EU’s plans for it.  The fact that he wants the entire continent is consistent with the message of the recommended sermon today in the Continuing Church of God that it is not wise to teach that the final European Beast power will be restricted to 10 or 11 nations (watch  Ten Kings of Revelation and the Great Tribulation and/or read the article Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations?).

Russia wants Ukraine. Much of Ukraine wants to be part of the European Union.  The European Union wants Ukraine, and the USA wants Ukraine to be part of the European Union.  But the USA has also said, via its President Obama, that it will not be directly involved militarily to defend Ukraine.

The Bible tells of the rise of a European power (see Europa, the Beast, and Revelation) and a Eurasian power (see The Eurasian Union, the Kings of the East, and Bible Prophecy). Ukraine is somewhat in the middle and as I wrote late last year, some type of split could come to Ukraine. The situation in Ukraine remains tense.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Russia and Ukraine: Origins and Prophesied Future Where do the Russians come from? What about those in the Ukraine? What is prophesied for Russia and its allies? What will they do to the Europeans that supported the Beast in the end? You can also watch the short video Ukraine in Prophecy?
Russia in the Bible and in Prophecy Is Russia mentioned in the Bible? It it is where is it? Is there any evidence of a people moving to the land that the Russians now occupy? What do Catholic and other prophecies say about Russia? What does the Bible teach? How are Protestants often in error on this? Is there more in biblical prophecy for Russia than war? Does God have a plan to save Russia and her allies? Does Russia have a history involving Sabbath keepers? Does scripture tie Russia in with Armageddon? Will Russia help defeat the end time Babylonian power? What did the Apostle John, and the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel, write about Russia? This is a sermon-length video.
Ezekiel 38: For Russia & Iran in Our Day? Is Ezekiel 38 about to be fufilled? A related video is available titled Ezekiel 38: For Russia, Ukraine, & Iran Now?
Bible News Prophecy July-Sept. 2014: The Coming Eurasian Union Here is the latest magazine from the Continuing Church of God. The cover of which shows Vladimir Putin and features an article about the coming Eurasian Union.
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is a link to a video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?
European Technology and the Beast of Revelation Will the coming European Beast power would use and develop technology that will result in the taking over of the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies? Is this possible? What does the Bible teach? Here is a related YouTube video: Military Technology and the Beast of Revelation.
Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations? Some claim that these passages refer to a gathering of 10 currently existing nations together, while one group teaches that this is referring to 11 nations getting together. Is that what Revelation 17:12-13 refers to? The ramifications of misunderstanding this are enormous. A related sermon is titled Ten Kings of Revelation and the Great Tribulation.
World War III: Steps in Progress Are there surprising actions going on now that are leading to WWIII? Might a nuclear attack be expected? Does the Bible promise protection to all or only some Christians? How can you be part of those that will be protected? A related video would be Is World War III About to Begin? Can You Escape?
Wars, rumors of wars, and the Apocalypse Jesus foretold a time before the end where there would be wars and rumors of wars. The Apocalypse (the Book of Revelation) warns of the red horseman of war. Now, even secular writers, like Larry Edelson, are worried that wars and rumors of war are the most menacing problem that now haunts the earth? Are they right? What is the solution? This is a sermonette-length video.
Is Russia the King of the North? Some claim it is. But what does the Bible teach? Here is a link to a video, also titled Is Russia the King of the North?
The Eurasian Union, the Kings of the East, and Bible Prophecy Is there a Eurasian union that will be formed? Is one being formed right now? Are any leaders working on that in the 21st century? Does the Bible teach that there will be a Eurasian union? If some type of Eurasian union is formed, who might it benefit and who will it destroy? A related video would be Is The Eurasian Union Rising?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States? In the Spanish language check out ¿Quién es el Rey del Norte? Here is a link to a video titled: The Future King of the North.
Prophecies of Barack Obama? Reasons why Barack Obama is apocalyptic and reasons why Barack Obama is not the Antichrist. This article includes many biblical and non-biblical prophecies, from around the world, that seem to discuss Barack Obama. Did Nostradamus predict Barack Obama dealing with the Antichrist?  Might Barack Obama set the stage for the kings of the North and South as at least one Shiite prophecy suggests?  Read it and decide for yourself if President Obama seems to be fulfilling various prophecies. Watch also the YouTube Barack Obama and the State of the Apocalypse.

Territory in Green Covers the 28 Nations Currently Composing the European Union

COGwriter

The Continuing Church of God is pleased to announce its latest sermon which is at its ContinuingCOG channel:

In the Book of Revelation it discusses several reorganizations related to the final Beast power.  Does Revelation 17:12 teach that the final Beast power will be made up on 10 (or 11) currently existing nations?  What does the Greek show?  What did the old Worldwide Church of God teach?  Does Daniel 2:41-43 provide support for or against the idea of ten currently existing nations coming together?  What scriptures prove that the coming Beast power will be based in Europe?  Will any ‘Israelitish’ nations possibly be part of the ten kings of Revelation 17:12?  Why is the truth about Revelation 17:12-13 important to know?  Will Christians who believe something that the Bible does not teach be subject to the Great Tribulation of Matthew 24:21?  Why will those who insist on something that the Bible does not be subject to not fleeing from the coming Great Tribulation?

A written article of directly related interest would be: Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations?

Here is a link to the sermon: Ten Kings of Revelation and the Great Tribulation.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations? Some claim that these passages refer to a gathering of 10 currently existing nations together, while one group teaches that this is referring to 11 nations getting together. Is that what Revelation 17:12-13 refers to? The ramifications of misunderstanding this are enormous.  Here is a link to a related sermon: Ten Kings of Revelation and the Great Tribulation.
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is a link to a video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?
European Technology and the Beast of Revelation Will the coming European Beast power would use and develop technology that will result in the taking over of the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies? Is this possible? What does the Bible teach? Here is a related YouTube video: Military Technology and the Beast of Revelation.
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States? In the Spanish language check out ¿Quién es el Rey del Norte? Here is a link to a video titled: The Future King of the North.
Germany’s Assyrian Roots Throughout History Are the Germanic peoples descended from Asshur of the Bible? Have there been real Christians in Germanic history? What about the “Holy Roman Empire”? There is also a You-Tube video sermon on this titled Germany’s Biblical Origins.
Germany in Biblical and Catholic Prophecy Does Assyria in the Bible equate to an end time power inhabiting the area of the old Roman Empire? What does prophecy say Germany will do and what does it say will happen to most of the German people? Here is a link to a video Is the USA Pushing Germany to Start WWIII?
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be Barack Obama and the State of the Apocalypse.
Will the Anglo-Saxon Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Serán divididas las naciones anglosajonas?
British are the Covenant People What do ‘British’ and ‘Britain’ mean in Hebrew? Are the descendants of the Anglo-Saxons people of the covenant? Does the British royal family connect to the throne of David? What does the Bible teach? What does history show us? Is there any DNA evidence related to British-Israelism? When did Christianity make it to the British Isles? Could Jeremiah have made it to the British Isles? What type of Christians made it to the British Isles? Did the last King of England believe in British Israelism?
How To Determine If Someone is a True Prophet of God There are many false prophets. How can Christians determine who is a true prophet? There is also a sermon-length video titled How to determine if someone is a true prophet of God. Here is a related link in Spanish/español: ¿Cómo determinar si alguien es un verdadero profeta de Dios?
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2014, 2015, or 2016? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede comenzar la Gran Tribulación en 2014 o 2015? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? You can also see the English language sermon video: The Great Tribulation from the Mount of Olives.
The ‘Peace Deal’ of Daniel 9:27 This prophecy could give up to 3 1/2 years advance notice of the coming Great Tribulation. Will most ignore or misunderstand its fulfillment? Here is a link to a related sermon video Daniel 9:27 and the Start of the Great Tribulation.
ContinuingCOG channel. Dr. Thiel has produced scores of YouTube video sermons for this channel. Note: Since these are sermon-length, they can take a little longer to load than other YouTube videos.

Jews in Poland had to Wear the Above Badge After Germany Invaded in WWII (Daniel Ullrich, Threedots)

COGwriter

Notice the following:

August 29, 2014

Some 230 members of an Orthodox Jewish group have begun leaving a village in western Guatemala after a bitter row with the local indigenous community.

The Lev Tahor members were asked to leave San Juan La Laguna after meetings with elders of the Mayan community.

The elders accused the Jews of shunning the villagers and imposing their religion and customs.

The Lev Tahor had settled in the village six years ago as the group searched for religious freedom.

‘Self-defence’Over the last several days they were seen packing their belongings on lorries in preparations for the departure from the village, about 150km (93 miles) west of the capital Guatemala City.

“We are a people of peace and in order to avoid an incident we’ve already begun to leave,” Lev Tahor member Misael Santos told the AFP news agency.

“We have a right to be there, but they threatened us with lynching if we don’t leave,” he added.

Lev Tahor members, who practise an austere form of Judaism, also complained that they received threats that water and electricity would be cut if they stayed on.

Meanwhile, the village elders said the Jewish members “wanted to impose their religion” and were undermining the Catholic faith that was predominant in San Juan La Laguna.  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-28992743

So, Judaism is considered a threat to the Roman Catholic faith, so the Orthodox Jews decided the threats against themselves and their families was too great to risk staying.

Many people hate Jews. But that is not how people are to live.

Notice something that God had Moses record:

8 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:18)

But it is not just Jews that are hated or will be in the future. Throughout history, true Christians have sometimes been called “Jews” and have been subject to persecution supposedly directed towards Jews. True Christians also had to suffer through the so-called Inquisition, which utilized torture against those that had Church of God beliefs.

Various Roman and Eastern Orthodox Catholics, as well as Protestants, have been antisemetic. Notice some statements from the antisemite John Chrysostom, Orthodox Bishop of Constantinople:

But do not be surprised that I called the Jews pitiable. They really are pitiable and miserable (John Chrysostom. Homily Against the Jews I:II:1. Preached at Antioch, Syria in the Fall of 387 AD. Medieval Sourcebook: Saint John Chrysostom (c.347-407) : Eight Homilies Against the Jews. Fordham University. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/chrysostom-jews6.html ).

So the godlessness of the Jews and the pagans is on a par. But the Jews practice a deceit which is more dangerous (I:VI:4).

Do you see that demons dwell in their souls and that these demons are more dangerous than the ones of old? (I:VI:7).

Since it is against the Jews that I wish to draw up my battle line, let me extend my instruction further. Let me show that, by fasting now, the Jews dishonor the law and trample underfoot God’s commands because they are always doing everything contrary to his decrees. When God wished them to fast, they got fat and flabby (VI:IV:2).

Indeed, the fasting of the Jews, which is more disgraceful than any drunkenness, is over and gone (VIII:I:5).

But the facts are that the Holy Days were kept by Jesus, the New Testament Church, and those faithful to their teachings. And the other fact is that no where in the Bible do we see hatred against the Jews. Jesus taught we were to love our neighbor (and most the of “neighbors” He was then talking to were Jewish).

Notice some statements from the antisemite Martin Luther, a Protestant Reformer:

My heart is fuller of these thoughts than my tongue can tell. I have come to the conclusion that the Jews will always curse and blaspheme God as all the prophets have predicted. He who neither reads nor understands this, as yet knows no theology, in my opinion. And so I presume the men of Cologne cannot understand the Scripture, because it is necessary that such things take place to fulfill prophecy. If they are trying to stop the Jews blaspheming, they are working to prove the Bible and God liars (“Martin Luther’s to George Spalatin,” from Luther’s Correspondence and Other Contemporan, Letters, trans. by P. Smith (1913), Vol. 1, pp. 28-29).

Furthermore he wrote:

I had made up my mind to write no more either about the Jews or against them. But since I learned that those miserable and accursed people do not cease to lure to themselves even us, that is, the Christians, I have published this little book, so that I might be found among those who opposed such poisonous activities of the Jews and who warned the Christians to be on their guard against them…They are so blind and stupid that they see neither the words found in Genesis 17 nor the whole of Scripture, which mightily and explicitly condemns this lie…They are real liars and bloodhounds who have not only continually perverted and falsified all of Scripture with their mendacious glosses from the beginning until the present day. Their heart’s most ardent sighing and yearning and hoping is set on the day on which they can deal with us Gentiles as they did with the Gentiles in Persia at the time of Esther…The worse a Jew is, the more arrogant he is, solely because he is a Jew — that is, a person descended from Abraham’s seed, circumcised, and under the law of Moses. David and other pious Jews were not as conceited as the present-day, incorrigible Jews…I wanted to present this to us Germans so that we might see what rascals the blind Jews are and how powerfully the truth of God in our midst stands with us and against them (Medieval Sourcebook: Martin Luther (1483-1546): On the Jews and Their Lies, 1543)

Martin Luther advised his followers:

…to burn down Jewish schools and synagogues, and to throw pitch and sulphur into the flames; to destroy their homes; to confiscate their ready money in gold and silver; to take from them their sacred books, even the whole Bible; and if that did not help matters, to hunt them of the country like mad dogs (Luther’s Works, vol. Xx, pp. 2230-2632 as quoted in Stoddard JL. Rebuilding a Lost Faith, 1922, p.99).

Accordingly, it must and dare not be considered a trifling matter but a most serious one to seek counsel against this and to save our souls from the Jews, that is, from the devil and from eternal death. My advice, as I said earlier, is: First, that their synagogues be burned down, and that all who are able toss in sulphur and pitch (Martin Luther (1483-1546): On the Jews and Their Lies, 1543 as quoted from Luther’s Works, Volume 47: The Christian in Society IV, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971). pp 268, ­293).

Is it any wonder that since leaders of the Greco-Roman religions have been antisemitic, that many people still are today?

Persecution will not be limited to Jews and all real Christians will be subject to it not too many years from now.

2004 Mugshot of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (current head of the Islamic State)

COGwriter

The world situation is changing, and the Islamic State is part of the change:

Henry Kissinger on the Assembly of a New World Order

August 292, 2014

Libya is in civil war, fundamentalist armies are building a self-declared caliphate across Syria and Iraq and Afghanistan’s young democracy is on the verge of paralysis. To these troubles are added a resurgence of tensions with Russia and a relationship with China divided between pledges of cooperation and public recrimination. The concept of order that has underpinned the modern era is in crisis.

The search for world order has long been defined almost exclusively by the concepts of Western societies. In the decades following World War II, the U.S.—strengthened in its economy and national confidence—began to take up the torch of international leadership and added a new dimension. …

The contemporary quest for world order will require a coherent strategy to establish a concept of order within the various regions and to relate these regional orders to one another.  http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-assembly-of-a-new-world-order-1409328075

August 29, 2014

Britain faces a terrorist threat lasting for decades, David Cameron has warned, as the official alert level was raised due to events in Iraq and Syria…

Mr Cameron told a Downing Street press conference: “What we are facing in Iraq now with IS is a greater and deeper threat to our security than we’ve known before.”

He added: “We are in the middle of a generational struggle against the poisonous and extremist ideology that I believe we will be fighting for years and probably decades”.

On the advice of security experts, the threat level in Britain was raised from “substantial” to “severe” – but still remains lower than the highest level of “critical”.  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-cameron-britain-will-be-fighting-terror-threat-from-islamic-state-for-decades-9700587.html

August 29, 2014

President Barack Obama has ignited fresh conservative criticism by saying “we don’t have a strategy yet” for airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria.

Republicans immediately jumped on the President’s comment during a news conference Thursday by saying it proved their longstanding complaint that his foreign policy failed to seriously respond to the terrorist threat from Sunni jihadists in the Syrian civil war.

“I’m not sure the severity of the problem has really sunk in to the administration just yet,” said GOP Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, who chairs the House intelligence committee.

Referring to the ISIS lightning sweep across northern Iraq this summer, Rogers said “we knew it was a problem before June” and noted that “even the President said he was talking about this to Iraqi officials over a year ago.”

“When a terrorist organization acts like an army, they present military targets the way any other army would do,” he said, arguing the United States should have been going after such ISIS targets earlier “to degrade and disrupt the momentum of this very dangerous organization.”

Waffling allegation

Retired Army Gen. George Joulwan, the former NATO supreme allied commander, told CNN on Friday that while he believed Obama’s approach amounted to a bit of “waffling,” launching airstrikes in Syria requires lots of preparation. http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/29/politics/obama-isis-strategy/

For years, the UK and the USA have led the current world order, but the UK no longer does and the USA is losing its grip and sometimes interest in that.  A power vacuum will be filled.  Russia is attempting to do so to a degree in with Ukraine and Crimea, but with opposition from the USA and Europe.

While both the UK Prime Minister and USA President have indicated long-term problems from groups like the Islamic State, Prime Minister Cameron was clearly correct indicating that the terrorist threat will exist for years.

Both the USA and UK will be hit by serious terrorist attacks in the future (cf. Psalm 83:3-8).

More and more are seeing that the current world order is changing.  Germany’s Chancellor Merkel made comments related to that a couple of days ago (see Germany’s Merkel’s ‘new world order’ comments and actions).

While many are focusing on the face of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his Islamic State, they are only a part of what is happening.  Though in some respects, they may act like a trigger.

Groups like the Islamic State will end up encouraging the West to embrace a variety of proposals, including one that the Bible suggests sounds like a type of Islamic caliphate (at least the peoples it discusses in it are currently predominantly Islamic at this time).  A confederation of predominantly Islamic nations will happen per Daniel 11:40-43 and Ezekiel 30:2-8.

Furthermore, the power vacuum that Russia and China seem to want to fill will, according to the Bible, for a short-time be filled by the final European Beast power.  The more the Europeans believe that the USA has erred or waffles, the greater the sense of urgency to get the final confederation of nations to support the final King of the North (Daniel 11:29-44) Beast power (Revelation 13) will increase.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

The Prophesied ‘Islamic’ Confederation Where is an Islamic caliphate prophesied? Will one happen? Should you be concerned about it? Here is a link to a related video video: Will an Arabic Calphiphate Destroy the West?
Iraq, the King of the South, Armageddon, and Prophecy What will happen to Iraq? Is it the prophesied Mystery Babylon? What is Armageddon and how does that have to do with Iraq? Here is a related video Iraq, Armageddon, & Prophecy.
Damascus and Syria in Prophecy Will Bashar Assad hold power as he has it? Does the Bible show that Damascus, the capital of Syria, will be destroyed? What will happen to Syria? Will the Syrians support the final King of the South that the Bible tells will rise up? Which scriptures discuss the rise and fall of an Arabic confederation? Does Islamic prophecy predict the destruction of Syria. This is a YouTube video.
The ‘Peace Deal’ of Daniel 9:27 This prophecy could give up to 3 1/2 years advance notice of the coming Great Tribulation. Will most ignore or misunderstand its fulfillment? Here is a link to a related sermon video Daniel 9:27 and the Start of the Great Tribulation.
Iran in Prophecy Is Iran in Bible prophecy? If so, what does the Bible teach? What names, other than Persia, may be used to describe Iran? There is also a YouTube video titled Iran in Prophecy. Here is a related video Iran In Prophecy.
Is the Future King of the South Rising Up? Some no longer believe there needs to be a future King of the South. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? Might this King be called the Mahdi or Caliph? What does the Bible say? A YouTube video of related interest may be: The Future King of the South is Rising. The Muslim Brotherhood and the Rise of the King of the South The Bible tells of the formation of a power of nations that are in the Middle East and North Africa that are part of the final “King of the South” (Daniel 11:40-43) The Muslim Brotherhood wishes to have an Islamic empire with basically the same nations. This YouTube video explains what to expect from such a confederation.
The Arab and Islamic World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam? What about the Imam Mahdi? What lies ahead for Turkey, Iran, and the other non-Arabic Muslims? An item of possibly related interest in the Spanish language would be: Líderes iraníes condenan la hipocresía de Occidente y declaran que ahora es tiempo para prepararse para el Armagedón, la guerra, y el Imán Mahdi.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God was the Emphasis of Jesus and the Early Church Did you know that? Do you even know what the gospel of the kingdom is all about? You can also see a YouTube video sermon The Gospel of the Kingdom.
Just What Do You Mean the Kingdom of God? A booklet that was written by Herbert Armstrong answers questions about the Kingdom.
Libya, Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia in Prophecy What is ahead for North Africa? What does the Bible teach?
Gaza and the Palestinians in Bible Prophecy What does the Bible teach about Gaza and the fate of the Palestinians? Here is a link to a related video: Gaza and Palestine in Prophecy.
World War III: Steps in Progress Are there surprising actions going on now that are leading to WWIII? Might a nuclear attack be expected? Does the Bible promise protection to all or only some Christians? How can you be part of those that will be protected? A related video would be Is World War III About to Begin? Can You Escape?
Wars, rumors of wars, and the Apocalypse Jesus foretold a time before the end where there would be wars and rumors of wars. The Apocalypse (the Book of Revelation) warns of the red horseman of war. Now, even secular writers, like Larry Edelson, are worried that wars and rumors of war are the most menacing problem that now haunts the earth? Are they right? What is the solution? This is a sermonette-length video.
Germany’s Assyrian Roots Throughout History Are the Germanic peoples descended from Asshur of the Bible? Have there been real Christians in Germanic history? What about the “Holy Roman Empire”? There is also a You-Tube video sermon on this titled Germany’s Biblical Origins.
Germany in Biblical and Catholic Prophecy Does Assyria in the Bible equate to an end time power inhabiting the area of the old Roman Empire? What does prophecy say Germany will do and what does it say will happen to most of the German people?
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is a link to a video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?
European Technology and the Beast of Revelation Will the coming European Beast power would use and develop technology that will result in the taking over of the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies? Is this possible? What does the Bible teach? Here is a related YouTube video: Military Technology and the Beast of Revelation.
Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations? Some claim that these passages refer to a gathering of 10 currently existing nations together, while one group teaches that this is referring to 11 nations getting together. Is that what Revelation 17:12-13 refers to? The ramifications of misunderstanding this are enormous.
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States? Here is a link to a video titled: The Future King of the North.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2014, 2015, or 2016? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede comenzar la Gran Tribulación en 2014 o 2015? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? You can also see the English language sermon video: The Great Tribulation from the Mount of Olives.
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be Barack Obama and the State of the Apocalypse.
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Edition for Second Obama Term This is a 160 page book for people truly interested in prophecies related to Barack Obama and the United States, including learning about many that have already been fulfilled (which the book documents in detail) and those that will be fulfilled in the future. It also has a chapter about a Republican choice. This book is available to order at www.barackobamaprophecy.com. The physical book can also be purchased at Amazon from the following link: Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States: Is Barack Obama Fulfilling Biblical, Islamic Catholic, Kenyan, and other America-Related Prophecies? What About Republican Leaders? Second Edition for Second Obama Term.
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Term-Amazon Kindle edition. This electronic version is available for only US$2.99. And you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to for your free Kindle reader and then go to Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Term-Amazon Kindle edition.

Japanese anti-ballistic missile launch

COGwriter

Early last month Japan announced its understanding of its Constitution just changed.  Some are concerned about its militaristic shift:

August 29, 2014

Pacifist Japan is stepping out of its usual shrinking-violet role to take a more prominent military stance, to the delight of its U.S. ally. Others, namely neighbors and many of its own people, are much less giddy.

Standing before the American and Japanese flags in Tokyo last week, the Pentagon’s No. 2, Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work, declared the two nations were at “an inflection point for our alliance.”

It’s a simple but fundamental change. Up to now, the U.S. has been obligated by treaty to come to Japan’s defense if it’s attacked, but Japan’s Constitution — as interpreted — has prohibited the Japanese from reciprocating if the United States comes under assault. That’s what’s changing. Sounds simple, even natural, but not to Korea or China…

The U.S. and Japan have been close allies since the U.S. occupied Japan after World War II and wrote an oft-regretted pacifist clause into the Japanese Constitution. But now it’s watching uneasily as America’s overwhelming dominance of Asia-Pacific slowly erodes.

The cause: an empowered, assertive China. Beijing’s attempt to stake a claim to the Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu to the Chinese) in the East China Sea and provocative actions in international airspace are ticking off both Washington and Tokyo. But tensions between Japan and neighboring South Korea and between North Korea and, well, everyone have also frayed nerves. In response, America and Japan are tightening their embrace, pursuing measures to facilitate ever closer security cooperation.

China’s especially twitchy about it.

When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his Cabinet’s decision to ease post-World War II restrictions on the country’s military last month, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency called the changes a “brutal violation” of Japan’s pacifist constitution. Abe also faces domestic blowback from a public that’s reflexively anti-war.  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/08/29/ozy-us-japan-grow-closer/14749471/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatoday-newstopstories

Japan has technological prowess and wants to act like a superpower.  Japan is intending to produce more of its own weapons:

August 29, 2014

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s defense planners are seeking their biggest budget ever for the coming fiscal year to pay for stealth fighters, drones and a hi-tech submarine, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bolsters the military amid an intensifying rivalry with China.

The Defense Ministry on Friday requested a 3.5 percent increase to 5.05 trillion yen ($48.7 billion) for the year starting next April. If approved, this third increase in a row will more than reverse the decade of cuts that Abe ended after coming to office in December 2012.

The hawkish premier, taking a more assertive stance on national security, has also ended a ban on Japanese soldiers fighting abroad and eased curbs on weapons exports.

By testing the constraints of Japan’s pacifist postwar constitution, Abe has angered some neighbors, especially Beijing, which accuses him of reviving the nation’s wartime militarism.  http://news.yahoo.com/japan-defense-budget-request-highest-ever-abe-boosts-024548108.html

Japan has less trust in the USA than it once had and now is going to more openly arm itself. North Korea and China do not like that–nor does even South Korea. Japan took over Korea, much of China, and many of the islands in the Pacific Ocean during WWII. There was a reason that the USA had earlier forced that Constitutional restriction upon Japan.

But now with the USA getting more and more in debt, the Japanese are concluding that they need to be more proactive militarily. The time will come when they will use this military in the future (cf. Daniel 11:44-45; Revelation 16:12).

As regular readers are aware, I have also wondered for years if Japan might end up with more territory, such as New Zealand (see the article Will the Anglo-Saxon Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? and/or watch the video Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves?). We will see if that happens.  By developing more of its military, Japan will likely have more conquest options than if it did not do that.

Some items of possibly related interest would include the following:

Japan, Its Biblical Past and Future, Part 1: Any Witness? Where did the Japanese people come from? Have they had any witness?
Japan, Its Biblical Past and Future, Part 2: Prophecy Japan in prophecy. What is prophesied for Japan? Will God save the Japanese?
Korea in Prophecy, Any Witness? Does God have a plan for the Koreans? Is Korea mentioned in any prophecies? Will Koreans be among the first in the Kingdom of God? 한국의 언어로 : 한국 예언, 모든 증인에?
Asia in Prophecy What is Ahead for Asia? Who are the “Kings of the East”? What will happen to nearly all the Chinese, Russians, Indians, Koreans, and others of Asia? China in prophecy, where? Who has the 200,000,000 man army related to Armageddon?
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Edition for Second Obama Term This is a 160 page book for people truly interested in prophecies related to Barack Obama and the United States, including learning about many that have already been fulfilled (which the book documents in detail) and those that will be fulfilled in the future. It also has a chapter about a Republican choice. This book is available to order at www.barackobamaprophecy.com. The physical book can also be purchased at Amazon from the following link: Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States: Is Barack Obama Fulfilling Biblical, Islamic, Catholic, Kenyan, and other America-Related Prophecies? What About Republican Leaders? Second Edition for Second Obama Term.
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Term-Amazon Kindle edition. This electronic version is available for only US$2.99. And you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to for your free Kindle reader and then go to Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Term-Amazon Kindle edition.

COGwriter

Several years back, David Hulme of COGaIC interviewed John Garr about Church History, and here is how that interview began:

Reexamining the roots of Christianity has become a major endeavor among New Testament scholars. In an attempt to better understand and relate to Judaism in the wake of the Holocaust/Shoah, their studies have yielded some surprising admissions and necessary corrections to the way Jesus of Nazareth, Paul of Tarsus and the early Church are regarded. A general conclusion is that first-century Christianity was far more Jewish or Hebraic in its beliefs and practices than has been accepted for almost 2,000 years.

One scholar who has pondered the implications of these rediscovered roots is John Garr, president of Restoration Foundation, which specializes in making known the Hebrew heritage of what came to be called Christianity. Vision publisher David Hulme interviewed him…

DH You have written: “In the middle of the second century, the Hebrew foundations of Christian faith were attacked by the first great heresy that challenged the church.” You also note that “some of the ideas of this heresy so permeated the church’s corporate psyche that it has not yet fully recovered its spiritual and scriptural equilibrium.” What was the heresy and what has been its specific effect?

JG The heresy was called Marcionism after Marcion, a very wealthy man who was strongly influenced by Hellenic culture, the ideas of Plato, and much of Gnosticism. Marcion wanted to separate Christianity from any connection with Judaism and the law. He said that the Old Testament was a record of a failed religion that should be destroyed, and actually had been destroyed by Jesus Himself. He even went so far as to rewrite Matthew 5:17, where Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Think not that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets: I have not come to destroy them but to fulfill them.” Marcion turned it around and said that Jesus’ actual words were “Think not that I have come to fulfill the Law or the Prophets: I have not come to fulfill them but to destroy them.” Further, he took some of Paul’s epistles and some sections of the book of Luke and edited them to eliminate any connection with Judaism or the Old Testament. As a result of his actions, church leaders finally branded him a heretic and excommunicated him.

With this background one would think Marcion would have faded into history, but the residue of his influence has continued to permeate the Christian church even to the present time. It is probably best characterized as antinomianism—the position of being against the law—which is very much a part of many denominations. Many antinomians would say that they are preaching the gospel of the grace of God, and that grace and law are violently opposed to each other and cannot exist in one another’s presence. So the idea that the law has been completely abrogated, that the Old Testament is no more of any effect, that Jesus came to destroy the law, and that believers today are only under the grace of God, is fundamentally neo-Marcionism…Von Harnack’s thinking in this regard was really a pure form of neo-Marcionism. He went so far as to say that if the church had had the courage to do so, it would have recognized that Marcion was right, that Judaism had been abolished and the law destroyed. He was very adamant about that view.

The above interview did not go into much more detail about Marcion and his heresies, but there is an article at the COGwriter.com website that does: Marcion: The First Protestant?

Irenaeus in the second century noted that the faithful Polycarp opposed Marcion:

But Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles, and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was also, by apostles in Asia, appointed bishop of the Church in Smyrna, whom I also saw in my early youth, for he tarried [on earth] a very long time, and, when a very old man, gloriously and most nobly suffering martyrdom, departed this life, having always taught the things which he had learned from the apostles, and which the Church has handed down, and which alone are true. To these things all the Asiatic Churches testify, as do also those men who have succeeded Polycarp down to the present time — a man who was of much greater weight, and a more stedfast witness of truth, than Valentinus, and Marcion, and the rest of the heretics. He it was who, coming to Rome in the time of Anicetus caused many to turn away from the aforesaid heretics to the Church of God, proclaiming that he had received this one and sole truth from the apostles — that, namely, which is handed down by the Church. There are also those who heard from him that John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus within, rushed out of the bath-house without bathing, exclaiming, “Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within.” And Polycarp himself replied to Marcion, who met him on one occasion, and said, “Dost thou know me?” “I do know thee, the first-born of Satan.”(Irenaeus. Adversus Haereses. Book III, Chapter 3, Verse 4. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1. Edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1885. Online Edition Copyright © 2004 by K. Knight).

Polycarp, and other true early Christian writers, kept all the ten commandments that were first mentioned in the Old Testament (an article of related interest may be The Ten Commandments and the Early Church). This is how Polycarp (and others) differed from many of the early heretics like Marcion.

Another to specifically opposed Marcion was Theophilus of Antioch (late 2nd century). The Syriatic version of Eusebius’ Church History notes:

BUT as to Theophilus, concerning whom we have said that he was Bishop of Antioch, there are three treatises by him against Antolycus, and another which is inscribed “Against the heresy of Hermogenes,” in which he uses testimonies from the Revelation of John; and there are other books by him which are suitable for teaching. But those, who pertained to heretical doctrine, even at that time like tares were corrupting the pure seed of the doctrine of the Apostles; but the Pastors which were in the churches in every country, were driving them like beasts of the wilderness away from the flock of Christ; at one time by teaching and exhortation to the Brethren, but at another time openly before their faces they contended with them in discussion, and put them to shame; and again, also, by writing treatises they diligently refuted and exposed their opinions. But Theophilus, together with others, contended against them; and he is celebrated for one treatise, which was ably composed by him against Marcion, which, together with the others that I have already mentioned, is still preserved. And after him Maximinus received the Bishoprick of the Church of Antioch, who was the seventh after the Apostles.

But Philip, respecting whom we have learned from the words of Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth,2 that he was Bishop of the church of the city of Gortyna, he also composed with accuracy a treatise against Marcion (Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History, Syriac version, Book 4 (Extract), Chapter 24. Spicilegium Syriacum (1855). This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, Ipswich, UK, 2003. Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font/Polytonic Greek).

This is of interest because it shows that both Philip and Theophilus also wrote against the heretic Marcion (though the document, while apparently available to Eusebius, is currently unavailable).

Notice what the Protestant historian Kenneth Latourette stated:

Marcion insisted that the Church had obscured the Gospel by seeking to combine it with Judaism (Latourette KS. A History of Christianity, Volume 1: to A.D. 1500. HarperCollins, San Francisco, 1975, p. 126).

In other words, the original true Church of God truly did combine faith in Christ with practices that Marcion considered to be to Jewish. And Marcion was denounced by leaders from Asia Minor for rejecting the true faith.

Most know very little about early church history or where their doctrines came from–and what many think they know is clouded by misinformation and misconceptions.

But those willing to be called and led by God can find the truth in the Bible and the scattered records of early church history (e.g. the free booklet Continuing History of the Church of God).

COGaIC used to post more related to its understandings of early Church History in a blog called “First Followers.”  However, after 2011, this reduced to only one or two posts per year there.

Those interested in early Christianity may wish to read the following documented articles to learn more:

Marcion: The First Protestant? Considered to have been an organized heretic, he taught against the Old Testament, the law, and the Sabbath. Some have considered him to be the first Protestant reformer. But was he?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from c. 31 A.D. to 2014. A related sermon link would be Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D.
Do You Practice Mithraism? Many practices and doctrines that mainstream so-called Christian groups have are the same or similar to those of the sun-god Mithras. December 25th was celebrated as his birthday. Do you follow Mithraism combined with the Bible or original Christianity?
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God differ from most Protestants How the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a Church of God background. [Português: Esperança do salvação: Como a igreja do deus difere da maioria de protestantes]
The Similarities and Dissimilarities between Martin Luther and Herbert W. Armstrong This article clearly shows some of the doctrinal differences between in the two. At this time of doctrinal variety and a tendency by many to accept certain aspects of Protestantism, the article should help clarify why the genuine Church of God is NOT Protestant. Do you really know what the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther taught and should you follow his doctrinal example?
The History of Early Christianity Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church? Do you know where the early church was based? Do you know what were the doctrines of the early church? Is your faith really based upon the truth or compromise?
Polycarp of Smyrna: The Heretic Fighter Polycarp was the successor of the Apostle John and a major leader in Asia Minor. Do you know much about what he taught?
Nazarene Christianity: Were the Original Christians Nazarenes? Should Christians be Nazarenes today? What were the practices of the Nazarenes.
Location of the Early Church: Another Look at Ephesus, Smyrna, and Rome What actually happened to the primitive Church? And did the Bible tell about this in advance?
Church of God, an International Community (COG aic) This is the group led by David Hulme. It seems to minimize parts of biblical prophecy.