Church of God News

Map from Viewsridge – as of 24 February 2024

COGwriter

For years, I warned about what was going on between Russia and Ukraine (e.g. from 2013: Ukrainian President Objects to Western Interference and Embraces Aid from Russia).

Back in 2014, I reported that after Ukraine’s democratically-elected president was ousted, the USA did not want Ukraine split, irrespective of the will of those in Eastern Ukraine (see Thiel B. Ukraine appoints interim president–what will Russia’s Putin do? COGwriter, February 2014).

Back in 2015 I posted:

Russia’ President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly decried the loss of the Soviet Union as a major disaster, put together the Eurasian Union, and has repeatedly made it clear he feels that Ukraine should be more attached to Russia than the European Union. …

Despite high hopes of many of the protesters in the west of Ukraine, Ukraine has not fared well since the Euromaidan protests.  Crimea voted to leave Ukraine and was annexed by Russia.  Separatists in eastern Ukraine would like to do the same.  Thousands of Ukrainians have been killed in military action since ‘EuroMaidan.’

Russia considered the protests an illegal coup that was flamed by the West to reduce Russian influence with Ukraine.  Russia has taken many steps since EuroMaidan to try to gain influence in and with Ukraine.  At this moment, Russia hopes for either a split in which it ends up with parts of eastern Ukraine or that the Ukrainians will get so disappointed with how matters have turned out that they will welcome Russia.  Since the Europeans are supplying money to Kiev and most Ukrainians in the west of Ukraine do not care Russia’s encouragement of the separatists, that latter item will not happen for a time.

Biblically, ‘the kings of the Medes,’ which includes Russia and at least parts of Ukraine will unite against Europe (Jeremiah 51:11, 28-29). (Thiel B. UK and Europe ‘badly misread Russia,’ ‘EuroMaidan’ anniversary. COGwriter, February 20, 2015)

In 2022, several weeks before Russia began its ‘special military operation’ into Ukraine, I posted the following:

There are major tensions in Europe related to troop build-ups and rhetoric related to Russia and Ukraine.

Could there be any prophetic ramifications?

Yes.

But first some background.

We have seen economic, religious, and military concerns particularly over the past 9-10 years.

In 2013, The government of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych had decided to suspend the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement and seek closer economic ties with Russia. Then were was a several-months-long wave of demonstrations and protests known as the Euromaidan, which later escalated into the Revolution of Dignity that led to the overthrow of Yanukovych and the establishment of a new government. It took steps like no longer considering Russian an official language, even though that was the predominant language in eastern Ukraine.

This led to issues in the east in regions such as Donbass and Crimea which supported stronger ties with Russia.

In 2014, Russia sent troops to Crimea where it had a naval base. Later the electorate there voted to become part of Russia, and Russia accepted Crimea. The West has been upset about that for some time.

So were many in Ukraine. In 2018 the Ukrainian Orthodox petitioned the Patriarch of Constantinople to be separate from and no longer under the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church. That was granted in 2019. …

So, there may be some type of split involving Ukraine.

You’ve got people in Western Ukraine who want to be part of the European Union, and you’ve got people on the Eastern side who have economic ties to Russia, often speak Russian, and see Russia as a more reliable partner than the EU, the Russians pay more attention to us, the Russians supply oil to us, etc. So, yes, there are modern reasons why we may see more of a split with Ukraine.

Back in 2013 I said I believed at least some of the Ukrainian territory would be under Russian control, and that happened with Crimea the next year. …

That being said, right now, people in Ukraine are frightened. They worry about war, government, poverty, freedom, and economic matters.

Those affected by wars and rumors of wars in that region should be in our prayers.

The Bible shows war is in the future for Russia and Ukraine, (Thiel B. Wars and Rumors of War: What about Russia and Ukraine? COGwriter, February 5, 2022)

We also put out a video before the ‘special military operation’: Russia, Ukraine, Babylonian Europe, and Prophecy.

Why bring this up now?

Well, for one reason, many leaders in the West have repeatedly stated that Russia’s ‘Special Military Operation’ into Ukraine was “unprovoked” or “totally unprovoked.”

While I do not believe Russia should have done its ‘Special Military Operation’ as it has done it, between the West backing the overthrow of Ukraine’s democratically elected president Viktor Yanukovich in 2014, Crimea voting that year to be part of Russia, Western sanctions since 2014 for Russia to give up Crimea, issues in the Donbas where many there pleaded for Russian military intervention, the West breaking its promises to not have Eastern European nations joining NATO, the Ukrainian government’s push to separate the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Russian Orthodox Church, and President Putin’s pleas in early 2022 to not allow Ukraine into NATO (which were rebuffed by the USA), one might consider that at least some of those were provocations.

Furthermore, notice also the following:

New York Times report demolishes the narrative of the “unprovoked war” in Ukraine

February 26, 2024

For the past two years, nearly every reference in the US media to the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia has been preceded by an obligatory word—“unprovoked.”

The public was told that this was a war without cause, that Ukraine was blameless, and that the invasion was to be explained entirely in terms of the intentions and psychology of one man, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

However, on the weekend of the second anniversary of the war, the New York Times published a lengthy article revealing that the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 was instigated by a systematic and widespread campaign of military-intelligence aggression on the part of the United States.

The article details longstanding Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operations in Ukraine, in which the agency sponsored and built up the Ukrainian military intelligence agency HUR, using it as a weapon of spying, assassination and provocation directed against Russia for more than a decade.

The Times writes:

Toward the end of 2021, according to a senior European official, Mr. Putin was weighing whether to launch his full-scale invasion when he met with the head of one of Russia’s main spy services, who told him that the C.I.A., together with Britain’s MI6, were controlling Ukraine and turning it into a beachhead for operations against Moscow.

The Times report demonstrates that this Russian intelligence assessment was absolutely true. For more than a decade, dating back to 2014, the CIA was building up, training and arming Ukrainian intelligence and paramilitary forces that were engaging in assassinations and other provocations against pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, against Russian forces in Crimea and across the border into Russia itself.

In a critical passage, the Times writes:

As the partnership deepened after 2016, the Ukrainians became impatient with what they considered Washington’s undue caution, and began staging assassinations and other lethal operations, which violated the terms the White House thought the Ukrainians had agreed to. Infuriated, officials in Washington threatened to cut off support, but they never did.

In other words, Ukrainian paramilitary forces that were armed, funded and led by the United States and NATO were systematically assassinating forces supporting closer relations with Russia.

The newspaper’s account begins with the Maidan Coup of February 2014, when right-wing and neo-Nazi forces backed by the US and the European Union overthrew the elected pro-Russian president and installed a pro-imperialist regime headed by the billionaire Petro Poroshenko. …

The Times reports that a Ukrainian unit, the Fifth Directorate, was tasked with conducting assassinations, including one in 2016. The Times writes:

[A] mysterious explosion in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, ripped through an elevator carrying a senior Russian separatist commander named Arsen Pavlov, known by his nom de guerre, Motorola.

The C.I.A. soon learned that the assassins were members of the Fifth Directorate, the spy group that received C.I.A. training. Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency had even handed out commemorative patches to those involved, each one stitched with the word “Lift,” the British term for an elevator.

The report describes another such operation:

A team of Ukrainian agents set up an unmanned, shoulder-fired rocket launcher in a building in the occupied territories. It was directly across from the office of a rebel commander named Mikhail Tolstykh, better known as Givi. Using a remote trigger, they fired the launcher as soon as Givi entered his office, killing him, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials.

Since the outbreak of full-scale war, the Ukrainian HUR has extended these assassination operations to the whole territory of Russia, including the killing of Darya Dugina, a leading pro-Putin polemicist in the Russian media, and Russian government and military officials. …

The Times account also provides an inadvertent indictment of the American media. The newspaper writes:

The details of this intelligence partnership, many of which are being disclosed by the New York Times for the first time, have been a closely guarded secret for a decade.

This admission means that these secrets were “closely guarded” by the Times itself. As former Editor Bill Keller once observed, freedom of the press means freedom not to publish, and “that is a freedom we exercise with some regularity.” Particularly, we might add, when it comes to the crimes of US imperialism. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/02/26/nrdz-f26.html

Here is something directly from the New York Times:

February 25, 2024

Now entering the third year of a war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, the intelligence partnership between Washington and Kyiv is a linchpin of Ukraine’s ability to defend itself. The C.I.A. and other American intelligence agencies provide intelligence for targeted missile strikes, track Russian troop movements and help support spy networks.

But the partnership is no wartime creation, nor is Ukraine the only beneficiary.

It took root a decade ago, coming together in fits and starts under three very different U.S. presidents, pushed forward by key individuals who often took daring risks. It has transformed Ukraine, whose intelligence agencies were long seen as thoroughly compromised by Russia, into one of Washington’s most important intelligence partners against the Kremlin today.

The listening post in the Ukrainian forest is part of a C.I.A.-supported network of spy bases constructed in the past eight years that includes 12 secret locations along the Russian border.  …

Around 2016, the C.I.A. began training an elite Ukrainian commando force — known as Unit 2245 — which captured Russian drones and communications gear so that C.I.A. technicians could reverse-engineer them and crack Moscow’s encryption systems. (One officer in the unit was Kyrylo Budanov, now the general leading Ukraine’s military intelligence.)

And the C.I.A. also helped train a new generation of Ukrainian spies who operated inside Russia, across Europe, and in Cuba and other places where the Russians have a large presence.

The relationship is so ingrained that C.I.A. officers remained at a remote location in western Ukraine when the Biden administration evacuated U.S. personnel in the weeks before Russia invaded in February 2022. During the invasion, the officers relayed critical intelligence, including where Russia was planning strikes and which weapons systems they would use.

“Without them, there would have been no way for us to resist the Russians, or to beat them,” said Ivan Bakanov, who was then head of Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency, the S.B.U. …

Mr. Putin has long blamed Western intelligence agencies for manipulating Kyiv and sowing anti-Russia sentiment in Ukraine.

Toward the end of 2021, according to a senior European official, Mr. Putin was weighing whether to launch his full-scale invasion when he met with the head of one of Russia’s main spy services, who told him that the C.I.A., together with Britain’s MI6, were controlling Ukraine and turning it into a beachhead for operations against Moscow. …

The C.I.A.’s partnership in Ukraine can be traced back to two phone calls on the night of Feb. 24, 2014, eight years to the day before Russia’s full-scale invasion. … The government’s new spy chief, Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, arrived at the headquarters of the domestic intelligence agency and found a pile of smoldering documents in the courtyard. …

The situation quickly became more dangerous. Mr. Putin seized Crimea. His agents fomented separatist rebellions that would become a war in the country’s east. Ukraine was on war footing, and Mr. Nalyvaichenko appealed to the C.I.A. for overhead imagery and other intelligence to help defend its territory. …

One day after General Kondratiuk was removed, a mysterious explosion in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, ripped through an elevator carrying a senior Russian separatist commander named Arsen Pavlov, known by his nom de guerre, Motorola.

The C.I.A. soon learned that the assassins were members of the Fifth Directorate, the spy group that received C.I.A. training. Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency had even handed out commemorative patches to those involved, each one stitched with the word “Lift,” the British term for an elevator. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/25/world/europe/cia-ukraine-intelligence-russia-war.html

ZeroHedge posted some comments related to this:

February 26, 2024

On Sunday The New York Times published an explosive and very belated full admission that US intelligence has not only been instrumental in Ukraine wartime decision-making, but has established and financed high tech command-and-control spy centers, and was doing so long prior to the Feb. 24 Russian invasion of two years ago.

Among the biggest revelations is that the program was established a decade ago and spans three different American presidents. The Times says the CIA program to modernize Ukraine’s intelligence services has “transformed” the former Soviet state and its capabilities into “Washington’s most important intelligence partners against the Kremlin today.”

This has included the agency having secretly trained and equipped Ukrainian intelligence officers spanning back to just after the 2014 Maidan coup events, as well constructing a network of 12 secret bases along the Russian border—work which began eight years ago. These intelligence bases, from which Russian commanders’ communications can be swept up and Russian spy satellites monitored, are being used launch and track cross-border drone and missile attacks on Russian territory.

This means that with the disclosure of the longtime “closely guarded secret” the world just got a big step closer to WW3, given it means the CIA is largely responsible for the effectiveness of the recent spate of attacks which have included direct drone hits on key oil refineries and energy infrastructure.

“Without them [the CIA and elite commandoes it’s trained], there would have been no way for us to resist the Russians, or to beat them,” according to Ivan Bakanov, former head of the SBU, which is Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency.

A main source of the NYT revelations—disclosures which might come as no surprise to those never willing to so easily swallow the mainstream ‘official’ narrative of events—is identified as a top intelligence commander named Gen. Serhii Dvoretskiy.

Clearly, Kiev and Washington now want world to know of the deep intelligence relationship they tried to conceal for over the past decade. It is perhaps a kind of warning to Moscow at a moment Ukraine’s forces are in retreat: the US is fighting hand in glove with the Ukrainians. And yet the revelations contained in the NY Times report also confirm what President Putin has precisely accused Washington of all along. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/cia-built-12-secret-spy-bases-ukraine-waged-shadow-war-last-decade-bombshell-nyt

While what happened was not World War 3, Russia’s ‘Special Military Operation’ into Ukraine has certainly made the Europeans increase their military spending.

Since Europe will be the military power to basically launch the starting attacks in WWIII, that has brought WWIII closer.

Furthermore, the Ukrainians have been relying on the USA.

The New York Times piece helps show how long that has been going on.

And when the Europeans see that Ukraine is not getting all the support from the USA that it hopes, the Europeans will further consider that they need to rearm and plan to defend themselves without the current need to rely on the USA.

Earlier in 2022, a couple of weeks prior to Russia’s ‘special military operation’ into Ukraine, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

21:20

Russia, Ukraine, Babylonian Europe, and Prophecy

The situation between Russia and Ukraine has again heated up, although it has been tense since the Euromaiden protests and Russia’s annexation of Crimea. There was later a separation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Russian Orthodox Church. Is war prophesied for Russia and Ukraine? Are prophecies in the Bible associated with the ‘kings of the Medes’ and a power from the “north country” related to any in Russia and Ukraine? Is a confederation of powers from the north, east, and central Asia prophesied to destroy the coming end time European Babylon? Will the destruction be reminiscent of what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah? How is the King of the North and who will destroy him? Do those in Russia and Ukraine have a hope of salvation? Will Russia and powers of the east be involved in the gathering in Armageddon as prophesied in Revelation 16? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues.

Here is a link to our video: Russia, Ukraine, Babylonian Europe, and Prophecy.

Since that video came out more territory, once controlled by Ukraine, is part of Russia.

And, now the world sees that the USA was more involved in provoking Russia than it wanted the world to know.

Symbol of Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process

COGwriter

Israel365News reported the following:

Sanhedrin Warns Britain: Recognize “Palestinian Terrorist State and You Will be Desert Waste”

February 26, 2024

The nascent Sanhedrin issued an open letter to the British government and the British people, warning against recognizing a “Palestinian state”.

During a recent visit to Beirut, former prime minister and the current British Foreign Secretary David Cameron went on record as saying that the UK could officially recognize a Palestinian state after a ceasefire in Gaza “without necessarily awaiting the outcome of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on a resolution of the conflict.” He went on to claim that such UK recognition could materialize “even before the end of a negotiating process.”

The Sanhedrin’s letter opened by asking rhetorically, “When will they ever learn? Will the British People learn from their own history?”

“First of all, we wish to praise Great Britain for its support to Israel in its war against Hamas and for its participation in the war against the Houthis in Yemen, for world peace and global trade,” the letter read. “We heard however, that the British Government is considering recognising the Palestinian falsehood and to declare that it is recognising an Arab State (for extreme terrorists) at the expense of the Nation of Israel, in the Holy Land of Israel .” …

“By the Grace of God, Britain was able to be the greatest empire in human history,’ the Sanhedrin wrote. “Britain also merited to be the first country in the world to recognise, more than one hundred years ago by the Balfour Declaration, the plain truth known to all who read the Bible, that the Land of Israel belongs to the Nation of Israel and is waiting for the Nation of Israel to return to it.” … “In fact, it was Britain which created the ‘Palestinian Problem’ by bringing to Israel migrant Arab workers from the Muslim world, instead of settling it with Jews as it should have done according to the terms of the British Mandate for the Land of Israel. The British also did a similar thing in Sri Lanka, where they brought Tamil migrant workers, and thereby created war and bloodshed which lasted for thirty years.”

“The Palestinian Authority, which you wish to recognise as a legitimate, sovereign entity within the territory of the Land of Israel, is for all intents and purposes, a terror organization. This body publicizes incitement publications in the media against Israel, it calls to carry out terror activities against Jews and support for Hamas’ terrible actions. The educational system of the Palestinian Authority is full of Antisemitic content and of praise and admiration for terrorists. The Authority’s Treasury Department transfers each month salaries and grants to each of the families of the terrorists including the families of the terrorists who carried out the terrible massacre of October 7, 2023. Many tens of men of the Palestinian security systems participated in this War of terror activities against Jews. The Palestinian Authority’s declared objective is the conquest of all of the Land of Israel and the casting of the Jews into the Sea.” …

“To reevaluate its steps towards the Land of Israel and the Jewish People, over the last hundred years, and thereby repair some of the severe historic injustice done by the British Mandatory Government to the Nation of Israel in the Land of Israel. If Britain will not act accordingly, we believe that it will be harshly punished by the Master of the World, just as the Prophet Joel stated, in Chapter 4, Verse 19:

……”and Edom shall be a desert waste, because of the violence done to the children of Judah, because they shed innocent blood in their land”.

“Britain today is flooded today with tens of millions of Muslims, specifically of the radical side of Shiite Wahhabis, who are conducting an independent culture and religion and have not been absorbed into the local culture.”

“Should Britain recognise a Palestinian Terror State, not much will be missing for in Britain will also occur extremist Islamic terrorist activities just as Israel experienced the 7th of October Massacre. If Britain should support the Palestinian Authority terrorists here in Israel, it also is likely to be hit by exactly the same thing.”

“The choice is in your hands,” the letter finished ominously. https://israel365news.com/386957/sanhedrin-warns-britain-recognize-palestinian-terrorist-state-and-you-will-be-desert-waste/

Yes, Britain will face more terrorism as the Bible clearly prophesies terrorism:

5 They have corrupted themselves; They are not His children, Because of their blemish: A perverse and crooked generation. … 25 The sword shall destroy outside; There shall be terror within (Deuteronomy 32:5,25)

12 “Cry and wail, son of man; For it will be against My people, Against all the princes of Israel. Terrors including the sword will be against My people; Therefore strike your thigh. (Ezekiel 21:12)

25 Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke, 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, 27 When your terror comes like a storm, And your destruction comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. (Proverbs 1:25-27)

5 Also they are afraid of height, And of terrors in the way (Ecclesiastes 12:5).

What about a “two state solution’ for Israel and the Palestinians? Notice the following:

February 26, 2024

As the Biden administration repeatedly pushes for a “two-state solution,” which more than half of Israelis oppose, David Friedman, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, unveiled his plan for peace at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville, Tenn.

Given how so many countries are turning on the Jewish state, it is untenable to do nothing about the Palestinian issue, but a two-state solution is unrealistic, Friedman said at the Feb. 22 event.

“Give up all the fantasies,” he said.

Friedman called the notion of a Palestinian state side-by-side with the Jewish one “the mother’s milk of the Democratic party, and to an extent, the Republicans.” But after Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, “there can’t be a two-state solution,” he said. He noted that an overwhelming majority of Palestinians has told pollsters it approved of the attack. https://israel365news.com/386931/no-two-state-solution-after-oct-7-david-friedman-tells-religious-broadcasters/

Although the Biden-Administration, the Brits, and the European Union are all pushing for a two-state solution, historically, most in Palestine have not favored a two-state solution as they want Israel gone. Notice the following from last year:

Palestinian Poll: Vast Majority See Violence as Solution; Few Believe in Two-State Solution

June 15, 2023

The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) released a new survey on Wednesday that painted a grim picture of a Palestinian public overwhelmingly supportive of violence towards Israel, with two-thirds believing that Israel will not celebrate its hundredth anniversary.

28% SUPPORT TWO-STATE SOLUTION; 52% CHOOSE WAR; 21% PROUD OF INTIFADA

According to the survey, support for a bilateral negotiated two-state solution stands at 28%, and opposition at 70%. Some 71% believe that the two-state solution is no longer practical or feasible due to the expansion of Israeli settlements. In comparison, 28% believe that the solution remains practical. Moreover, 78% believe that the chances of creating a Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel in the next five years are slim or nonexistent, while 19% believe the chances to be medium or high.

When asked about the most effective means of ending the Israeli occupation and building an independent state, the public split into three groups: 52% chose armed struggle (55% in the Gaza Strip and 49% in the West Bank), 21% preferred negotiations, and 22% chose “popular resistance.”

When asked what has been the most positive or the best thing that has happened to the Palestinian people since 1948, the largest percentage (24%) said that it was the establishment of Islamic movements, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad (both classified as terrorist organizations) and their participation in “armed struggle.” 21% said the first and second intifadas were the most positive developments in Palestinian history since 1948. https://www.israel365news.com/372436/__trashed-4/

Understand that the Palestinian chant, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” means no Israeli government from the Jordan river to the sea that borders Israel and Gaza.

As far as the government of the Palestinian Authority goes, notice what happened today:

February 26, 2024

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh and his government have submitted their resignations, he announced Monday.

“I would like to inform the honorable council and our great people that I placed the government’s resignation at the disposal of Mr. President (Mahmoud Abbas), last Tuesday, and today I submit it in writing,” Shtayyeh said in a post on Facebook.

The resignation comes as the Palestinian Authority (PA) comes under intense pressure from the United States to reform and improve its governance in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The PA has long been seen as corrupt by US politicians and Palestinians themselves. …

The PA is also very unpopular among Palestinians, who see it as unable to provide security in the face of regular Israeli incursions in the West Bank. A survey conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in December showed that more than 60% of Palestinians want the PA to be dissolved. Meanwhile, support for President Abbas, who has held the position since 2005, has collapsed. In the West Bank, 92% of respondents want him to resign, according to the poll. https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/26/middleeast/palestinian-authority-prime-minister-resigns-intl/index.html

One of the reasons this is interesting is that Mohammed Shtayyeh has long been a strong proponent of the two-state solution (e.g. see https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/137445).

That said, the Bible points to war in the Middle East as well as apparent Palestinian involvement in terrorism against at least the British.

Notice something that seems to relate to terrorism:

8 The Lord sent a word against Jacob, And it has fallen on Israel. 9 All the people will know — Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria — … 11 Therefore the Lord shall set up The adversaries of Rezin against him, And spur his enemies on, 12 The Syrians before and the Philistines behind; And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth. (Isaiah 9:8-9, 11-12)

Ephraim is a reference to the Brits and Samaria a reference to the Americans.

The Bible clearly is prophesying problems from some Syrians and some Palestinians–called the Philistines above. And this would be expected to include terrorism.

As far as Palestinian attitudes go, the Palestinians tend to believe that they have been betrayed by the UK and USA. They rightly point out the the UK made promises a century ago and since then that the UK did not keep.

The Palestinians also tend to believe that the USA cannot be trusted to broker a peace deal, because they feel that the USA is too supportive of Israel.

EuroNews reported the following last year:

Only Israelis and Palestinians can bring peace between themselves. But they can do it with some help. …

In the Middle East, as elsewhere, Washington needs to rely more on European support. …

The time has come for the EU to give it a try by partnering not only with the US but also with regional players. https://www.euronews.com/2023/02/23/its-the-right-time-for-the-eu-to-step-in-and-bring-peace-to-the-middle-east

A deal in the Middle East must involve the Palestinians and Israel, amongst other nations.

The Palestinians do not trust the USA–and they do prefer the Europeans.

Will Europe really get involved one day?

Yes! A temporary deal will be made in the Middle East:

26 And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate (Daniel 9:26-27).

The above is referring to a deal or covenant that has a time element attached to it. It was the Roman Empire that destroyed the city and stopped the sacrifices in 70 A.D. This, therefore, is a European leader (watch also the video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?)–but apparently not the top one when he confirms as he is called a “prince” above, but is later called the King of the North when he stops the sacrifices.

As far as how long the deal will be, notice the following from the 2nd and 3rd centuries–the first is from Irenaeus of Lyon, who claimed to have met Polycarp of Smyrna, who had been appointed by the Apostle John himself and the second was by a Roman bishop:

And the angel Gabriel, when explaining his vision, states with regard to this person: “And towards the end of their kingdom a king of a most fierce countenance shall arise, one understanding [dark] questions, and exceedingly powerful, full of wonders; and he shall corrupt, direct, influence (faciet), and put strong men down, the holy people likewise; and his yoke shall be directed as a wreath [round their neck]; deceit shall be in his hand, and he shall be lifted up in his heart: he shall also ruin many by deceit, and lead many to perdition, bruising them in his hand like eggs.” Daniel 8:23, etc. And then he points out the time that his tyranny shall last, during which the saints shall be put to flight, they who offer a pure sacrifice unto God: “And in the midst of the week,” he says, “the sacrifice and the libation shall be taken away, and the abomination of desolation [shall be brought] into the temple: even unto the consummation of the time shall the desolation be complete.” Now three years and six months constitute the half-week. (Irenaeus. Against Heresies, Book V, Chapter 25, verse 4)

With respect, then, to the particular judgment in the torments that are to come upon it in the last times by the hand of the tyrants who shall arise then, the clearest statement has been given in these passages. But it becomes us further diligently to examine and set forth the period at which these things shall come to pass, and how the little horn shall spring up in their midst. For when the legs of iron have issued in the feet and toes, according to the similitude of the image and that of the terrible beast, as has been shown in the above, (then shall be the time) when the iron and the clay shall be mingled together. Now Daniel will set forth this subject to us. For he says, “And one week will make a covenant with many, and it shall be that in the midst (half) of the week my sacrifice and oblation shall cease.” By one week, therefore, he meant the last week which is to be at the end of the whole world of which week the two prophets… will take up the half. For they will preach 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth, proclaiming repentance to the people and to all the nations…(Hippolytus. On Christ and Antichrist, Chapter 43.

Orthodox Church in ‘Lenten Vestments,’ Czech Republic (Frettie)

COGwriter

The Roman Catholic observance of Lent began earlier this month and is still ongoing.

Furthermore, notice that Roman Catholics are not the only ones who keep Lent:

3 in 10 Americans with evangelical beliefs (28%) say they observe Lent; of these, 42 percent typically fast from a favorite food or beverage while 71 percent typically attend church services.

Catholics remain the most likely to observe Lent (61%), with 2 out of 3 fasting from a favorite food or beverage (64%).

Overall, 1 in 4 Americans observes Lent (24%), according to LifeWay. Most American observers fast from a favorite food or beverage (57%) vs. a bad habit (35%) or a favorite activity (23%).

Hispanics were the most likely ethnic group to observe Lent (36%), and were more likely than whites to abstain from a favorite activity (34% vs. 17%) or a bad habit (50% vs. 30%). https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/february/what-to-give-up-for-lent-2018-top-ideas-twitter-100.html

In the past, Pope Francis said this, related to Lent:

I wish you a blessed Lent.

May Our Lady of Pompeii accompany you and, please, pray for me

[Original text: Italian] [Translation provided by Vatican Radio] https://zenit.org/articles/in-lenten-audio-message-pope-urges-young-people-to-remember-god-gives-joy-more-than-world-ever-can/

Here is something related to the ‘Lady of Pompeii’:

A young girl from Naples, Fortuna Agrelli, was suffering from a painful, incurable disease. She had been given up by the most celebrated physicians. On February 16, 1884, the afflicted girl and her relatives commenced a novena of Rosaries. The Queen of the Holy Rosary favoured her with an apparition on March 3rd. Mary, sitting upon a high throne, surrounded by luminous figures, held the Divine child on her lap, and in her hand a Rosary. The Virgin Mother and the holy Infant were clad in gold-embroidered garments. They were accompanied by St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena. Fortuna marveled at the beauty of Mary and asked her as “Queen of the Rosary,” for her cure. Mary replied that, since she had called her by a title that was so pleasing to her, she could not refuse her request; she then told her to make three novenas of the rosary to obtain all she asked for. The child was indeed cured, and soon after Mary appeared to her again saying: “Whosoever desires to obtain favors from me should make three novenas of the prayers of the Rosary in petition and three novenas in thanksgiving.” This is how the Rosary Novena devotion to Mary originated.

In 1883, a sanctuary was built for the image and consecrated in 1891. Many miracles are attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Pompeii. The image of Our Lady of Pompeii represents Our Lady of the Rosary as Queen of Heaven. http://www.marypages.com/OurLadyofPompeii.htm

So idolatry and the ‘queen of heaven,’ two subjects the Bible teaches against, are associated with the the Lady of Pompeii (see also Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions)—yet Pope Francis endorses that and asks for protection from that ‘Lady’ for Lent.

Last year, Pope Francis stated:

February 17, 2023

The Gospel of the Transfiguration is proclaimed every year on the Second Sunday of Lent. During this liturgical season, the Lord takes us with Him to a place apart. While our ordinary commitments compel us to remain in our usual places and our often repetitive and sometimes boring routines, during Lent we are invited to ascend “a high mountain” in the company of Jesus and to live a particular experience of spiritual discipline — ascesis — as God’s holy people.

Lenten penance is a commitment, sustained by grace, to overcoming our lack of faith and our resistance to following Jesus on the way of the Cross. This is precisely what Peter and the other disciples needed to do. https://zenit.org/2023/02/17/lenten-penance-and-the-synodal-journey-popes-message-for-lent-2023/

Francis is implying that Lent was an original practice–though he knows it was not–but he is trying to somewhat push that idea.

Pope Francis also taught the following about Lent:

February 22, 2015

Dear brothers and sisters,

Last Wednesday, Lent began with the Rite of Ashes, and today is the first Sunday of this liturgical time that makes reference to the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert, after his baptism in the Jordan River. …

And in the end of the Lenten itinerary, in the Easter Vigil, we can renew with greater awareness the Baptismal covenant and the commitments that flow from it. May the Blessed Virgin, model of docility to the Spirit, help us to let ourselves be led by Him, who wishes to make each of us a “new creature.” http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/angelus-address-on-crossing-the-lenten-desert

To many Roman Catholics all of that probably seemed fine. Many probably considered it to be inspirational. But this is not inspired by God, nor was Pope Francis teaching the original faith.

Notice what Saint Jude wrote from a Catholic-approved translation of the Bible:

3 I was under a necessity to write unto you: to beseech you to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. (Jude 3, Douay-Rheims)

So let’s see if Pope Francis was contending for the faith once delivered to the saints when he promoted Lent, Ash Wednesday, Easter, and the Blessed Virgin.

Notice that he mentioned Lent and tried to tie it in with Jesus spending 40 days in the desert. While it is true that Jesus fasted for forty days in the desert, scriptural indications are that this would have been in the Fall and not the Spring. How can that be determined?

Eusebius, the Greco-Roman “father of church history,” taught that Jesus’ ministry lasted 3 1/2 years. Since Jesus was killed in the Spring, going back 3 1/2 years puts the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in the Fall.

Notice also the following from The Catholic Encyclopedia:

The chronology of the public life offers a number of problems to the interpreter…

But a comparison of St. John’s Gospel with the Synoptic Evangelists seems to introduce another pasch, indicated in the Fourth Gospel, into Christ’s public life. John 4:45, relates the return of Jesus into Galilee after the first pasch of His public life in Jerusalem, and the same event is told by Mark 1:14, and Luke 4:14. Again the pasch mentioned in John 6:4 has its parallel in the “green grass” of Mark 6:39, and in the multiplication of loaves as told in Luke 9:12 sqq. But the plucking of ears mentioned in Mark 2:23, and Luke 6:1, implies another paschal season intervening between those expressly mentioned in John 2:13 and 6:4. This shows that the public life of Jesus must have extended over four paschs, so that it must have lasted three years and a few months. Though the Fourth Gospel does not indicate this fourth pasch as clearly as the other three, it is not wholly silent on the question. The “festival day of the Jews” mentioned in John 5:1, has been identified with the Feast of Pentecost, the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Expiation, the Feast of the New Moon, the Feast of Purim, the Feast of Dedication, by various commentators; others openly confess that they cannot determine to which of the Jewish feasts this festival day refers. Nearly all difficulties will disappear if the festival day be regarded as the pasch, as both the text (heorte) and John 4:35 seem to demand (cf. Dublin Review, XXIII, 351 sqq.). (Maas, Anthony. “Chronology of the Life of Jesus Christ.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 22 Feb. 2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08377a.htm>)

So, between 3 years and a few months to less than four years, is consistent with the belief that Jesus’ ministry lasted about 3 1/2 years.

Presuming that Jesus began His ministry on the Feast of Trumpets, the beginning of the Jewish civil ‘new year,’ and ended on Passover, it would have lasted about 3 1/2 years.

Here is how The Catholic Encyclopedia defines Lent:

The Teutonic word Lent, which we employ to denote the forty days’ fast preceding Easter, originally meant no more than the spring season (Thurston H. Transcribed by Anthony A. Killeen. A.M.D.G. Lent. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IX. Published 1910. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York).

In other words, Lent means the Spring season (it may be of interest to note that Easter is a Teutonic word as well).

But since Lent means Spring and Lent now begins, and is primarily, in the winter where did it really come from?

Certainly not from the Bible!

Here is some of what the late Dr. Herman Hoeh of the old Worldwide Church of God wrote:

WHY the Churches Observe Lent

The Lenten season is a period of 40 days abstinence, beginning on “Ash Wednesday.” Do you know what the meaning of “Lent” is?

The word “Lent” comes from the old English word “Lencten” meaning the “spring” of the year. You can verify it in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The Lenten celebration was originally associated with the spring of the year. But today it begins in the winter! Why?

Where did the spring-time celebration of Lent actually originate? When was the celebration of Lent changed from spring to winter? Here is the surprising answer!

Let us first turn back the pages of time till we reach the close of the second century. This was 100 years after the death of the last of the 12 apostles. Here is what Irenaeus writes to the Bishop of Rome about Lent at this time:

“For the controversy is not only concerning the day” — there was a controversy over the time to celebrate Easter — “but also concerning the very manner of the fast” — the fast of the Lenten season. “For some think that they should fast one day, others two, yet others more, and some forty,” reports Irenaeus, Bishop from France.

How did all this confusion originate? God is not the author of confusion! Then who originated this confusion over Lent?

“And this variety in its observance,” continues Irenaeus, “has not originated in our time; but long before in that of our ancestors. It is likely that they did not hold to strict accuracy, and thus formed a custom for their posterity according to private fancy” — not apostolic authority or Christ’s command! (From Eusebius’ Church History, Book 5, chapter 24.)

Lent came into the Church through custom — through PRIVATE FANCY. The churches observe Lent, not because the Bible commands it, but because professing Christians adopted the custom from their Gentile neighbors.

“As long as the perfection of the primitive church [the inspired New Testament Church] remained inviolable,” wrote Cassian, the Catholic prelate of the fifth century, “there was no observance of Lent; but when men began to decline from the apostolical fervour of devotion… then the priests in general agreed to recall them from secular cares by a canonical indiction of fasting…” (Antiquities of the Christian Church, Book 21, chapter 1.)
Fasting, or abstinence from certain foods, was imposed after the days of the apostles — by the authority of the priests!

Lent is not of apostolic origin! It did not originate with Christ! It entered the Christianity of the Roman World in the second century. It entered at the same time that Easter did! Lent is always associated with Easter. (Hoeh H. WHERE Did God Command YOU to Observe Lent? Plain Truth, April 1957)

Notice that The Catholic Encyclopedia teaches that the claim by some that Lent was observed by the Apostles is unfounded:

Some of the Fathers as early as the fifth century supported the view that this forty days’ fast was of Apostolic institution…But the best modern scholars are almost unanimous in rejecting this view…Formerly some difference of opinion existed as to the proper reading, but modern criticism (e.g., in the edition of Schwartz commissioned by the Berlin Academy) pronounces strongly in favor of the text translated above. We may then fairly conclude that Irenaeus about the year 190 knew nothing of any Easter fast of forty days…And there is the same silence observable in all the pre-Nicene Fathers, though many had occasion to mention such an Apostolic institution if it had existed. We may note for example that there is no mention of Lent in St. Dionysius of Alexandria (ed. Feltoe, 94 sqq.) or in the “Didascalia”, which Funk attributes to about the year 250 (Lent. The Catholic Encyclopedia).

Notice what the Greco-Roman Catholic Socrates Scholasticus admitted around the beginning of the fifth century:

The fasts before Easter will be found to be differently observed among different people. Those at Rome fast three successive weeks before Easter, excepting Saturdays and Sundays. Those in Illyrica and all over Greece and Alexandria observe a fast of six weeks, which they term ‘The forty days’ fast.’ Others commencing their fast from the seventh week before Easter, and fasting three five days only, and that at intervals, yet call that time ‘The forty days’ fast.’ It is indeed surprising to me that thus differing in the number of days, they should both give it one common appellation; but some assign one reason for it, and others another, according to their several fancies. One can see also a disagreement about the manner of abstinence from food, as well as about the number of days. Some wholly abstain from things that have life: others feed on fish only of all living creatures: many together with fish, eat fowl also, saying that according to Moses, Genesis 1:20 these were likewise made out of the waters. Some abstain from eggs, and all kinds of fruits: others partake of dry bread only; still others eat not even this: while others having fasted till the ninth hour, afterwards take any sort of food without distinction. And among various nations there are other usages, for which innumerable reasons are assigned. Since however no one can produce a written command as an authority, it is evident that the apostles left each one to his own free will in the matter, to the end that each might perform what is good not by constraint or necessity. Such is the difference in the churches on the subject of fasts (Socrates Scholasticus. Ecclesiastical History, Volume V, Chapter 22).

Since the Babylonians took over the Greeks and the Egyptians, that may have been when they started this practice.

Notice:

But the original length of the fast, traced back to Babylon was a “forty-days” fast in the spring of the year (Laynard’s Nineveh and Babylon, chapter 4, page 93). That is why it bore its name of “40 days”! (Hoeh, H. Did Jesus Observe Lent? Plain Truth. February 1982, p. 30).

It is likely that the idea of a forty-day fast came from Alexandria in Egypt or from Greece.

The historian Alexander Hislop apparently felt so as he wrote:

The forty days’ abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess. Such a Lent of forty days, “in the spring of the year,” is still observed by the Yezidis or Pagan Devil-worshippers of Koordistan, who have inherited it from their early masters, the Babylonians. Such a Lent of forty days was held in spring by the Pagan Mexicans, for thus we read in Humboldt, where he gives account of Mexican observances: “Three days after the vernal equinox…began a solemn fast of forty days in honour of the sun.” Such a Lent of forty days was observed in Egypt, as may be seen on consulting Wilkinson’s Egyptians. This Egyptian Lent of forty days, we are informed by Landseer, in his Sabean Researches, was held expressly in commemoration of Adonis or Osiris, the great mediatorial god. At the same time, the rape of Proserpine seems to have been commemorated, and in a similar manner; for Julius Firmicus informs us that, for “forty nights” the “wailing for Proserpine” continued; and from Arnobius we learn that the fast which the Pagans observed, called “Castus” or the “sacred” fast, was, by the Christians in his time, believed to have been primarily in imitation of the long fast of Ceres, when for many days she determinedly refused to eat on account of her “excess of sorrow,” that is, on account of the loss of her daughter Proserpine, when carried away by Pluto…

Among the Pagans this Lent seems to have been an indispensable preliminary to the great annual festival in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Tammuz, which was celebrated by alternate weeping and rejoicing, and which, in many countries, was considerably later than the Christian festival, being observed in Palestine and Assyria in June, therefore called the “month of Tammuz”; in Egypt, about the middle of May, and in Britain, some time in April. To conciliate the Pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and Pagan festivals amalgamated, and, by a complicated but skilful adjustment of the calendar, it was found no difficult matter, in general, to get Paganism and Christianity–now far sunk in idolatry–in this as in so many other things, to shake hands…

Let any one only read the atrocities that were commemorated during the “sacred fast” or Pagan Lent, as described by Arnobius and Clemens Alexandrinus, and surely he must blush for the Christianity of those who, with the full knowledge of all these abominations, “went down to Egypt for help” to stir up the languid devotion of the degenerate Church, and who could find no more excellent way to “revive” it, than by borrowing from so polluted a source; the absurdities and abominations connected with which the early Christian writers had held up to scorn. That Christians should ever think of introducing the Pagan abstinence of Lent was a sign of evil; it showed how low they had sunk, and it was also a cause of evil; it inevitably led to deeper degradation. Originally, even in Rome, Lent, with the preceding revelries of the Carnival, was entirely unknown; and even when fasting before the Christian Pasch was held to be necessary, it was by slow steps that, in this respect, it came to conform with the ritual of Paganism. What may have been the period of fasting in the Roman Church before sitting of the Nicene Council does not very clearly appear, but for a considerable period after that Council, we have distinct evidence that it did not exceed three weeks (Hislop A. Two Babylons. pp. 104-106).

Hence we see that the so-called Christian observance of Lent is apparently a continuation of widespread, ancient, pagan practices that were subtly incorporated into mainstream Christianity over the centuries.

It should be noted that the Bible condemns practices associated with pagan worship, such as those that involved Tammuz:

And He said to me, “Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.” So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the LORD’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz (Ezekiel 8:13-14).

Essentially, mourning for Tammuz could include fasting of some type for some time.

The Orthodox Catholic apologist Arnobius (died 330) warned against the type of fasts that pagans had and even seemed to warn about a Mardi Gras banquet followed by a fast:

What say you, O wise sons of Erectheus? what, you citizens of Minerva? The mind is eager to know with what words you will defend what it is so dangerous to maintain, or what arts you have by which to give safety to personages and causes wounded so mortally. This is no false mistrust, nor are you assailed with lying accusations: the infamy of your Eleusinia is declared both by their base beginnings and by the records of ancient literature, by the very signs, in fine, which you use when questioned in receiving the sacred things,—” I have fasted, and drunk the draught; I have taken out of the mystic cist, and put into the wicker-basket; I have received again, and transferred to the little chest” (Arnobius. Against the Heathen, Book V, Chapter 26).

The feast of Jupiter is tomorrow. Jupiter, I suppose, dines, and must be satiated with great banquets, and long filled with eager cravings for food by fasting, and hungry after the usual interval (Against the Heathen, Book VII, Chapter 32).

Hislop believed that Arnobius was teaching against what became known as Lent (Two Babylons, p. 106). Perhaps it should be noted that in the late 2nd century, Tertullian also warned against “Christians” participating in events that also honored Minerva (please see the article Is January 1st a Date for Christians Celebrate?).

The Roman Catholic Saint Abbot John Cassian (also known as Cassianus, monk of Marseilles) in the fifth century admitted:

Howbeit you should know that as long as the primitive church retained its perfection unbroken, this observance of Lent did not exist (Cassian John. Conference 21, THE FIRST CONFERENCE OF ABBOT THEONAS. ON THE RELAXATION DURING THE FIFTY DAYS. Chapter 30).

Notice that he admits that “the primitive church” did not keep Lent!

What about Easter?

Easter itself is not a Christian term but comes from paganism:

The English term, according to the Ven. Bede (De temporum ratione, I, v), relates to Estre, a Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring, which deity…Anglo-Saxon, eâster, eâstron; Old High German, ôstra, ôstrara, ôstrarûn; German, Ostern. April was called easter-monadh. (Holweck F. G. Transcribed by John Wagner and Michael T. Barrett. Easter. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume V. Copyright © 1909 by Robert Appleton Company. Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight. Nihil Obstat, May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York)

ISHTAR was one of the most prominent of the deities of the Accadian and Assyrian Pantheon. Se was the Assyrian goddess of Love. She was the…Ashtoreth of the Jews or Hebrews. She is the planetary Venus, and in general features corresponds with the classical goddess of Love. Her name Ishtar is that by which she was known in Assyria, and the same name prevailed, with slight modifications, among the Semite nations generally. In Babylonia the goddess was known as Nana…

She may be identified with Eostre of the Germans, or Easter. To this goddess our Saxon or German ancestors sacrificed in April, which was therefore by them styled…Eostur-monath, and from thence arose our word Easter, which the Saxons retained after their conversion to Christianity, so that our Easter-day is nothing more nor less than Ishtar’s day … The name became attached by association of ideas to the Christian festival of the Resurrection (of Christ), which happened at the time of the passover … The English name Easter, and the German Ostern, are derived from the name of the Teutonic goddess Ostera (Anglo-Saxon Eostre), whose festival was celebrated by the ancient Saxons with peculiar solemnities in the month of April; and for which, as in many other instances, the first Romish missionaries substituted the paschal feast.” The Council of Nice “ordained (A.D. 325) that it should be kept always on a Sunday.” Thus we find that it was originally the festival of Ishtar, and occurred on the Sabatu of Elul, or the festival Sabbath of the Assyrians, which occurred in August or harvest time; and that it afterwards became united with the passover or paschal feast of the Jews, and finally adopted by the Christian Church as the Easter Sabbath, changing the date to the spring or seed time, or in April from the harvest month or August. Among the Assyrians it was the feast day of Ishtar and Nergal…

The Phoenician name of Ishtar was Astarte, the later Mendaean form of which was Ashtar. She was called Jeremiah, “the queen of heaven,” Jer. vii, 18, and xliv. 17-25 … she was sometimes called “the goddess of the chase,” corresponding to Diana as well as Venus, the goddess of love. Mr. George Rawlinson says: “The worship of Ishtar was widespread, and her shrines were numerous. She is often called the “queen of Babylon”…It may be suspected that her symbol was the naked female form…(Hamilton LLC note. Ishtar and Izdubar, the epic of Babylon; or, The Babylonian goddess of love and the hero and warrior king, restored in mod. verse by L.L.C. Hamilton. 1884 Original from Oxford University Digitized Jun 19, 2007, pp. 207-208)

Paganism…it was precisely in these cults that the worst perversions existed. Ishtar, Astarte, and Cybele had their male and female prostitutes, their Galli: Josiah had to cleanse the temple of Yahweh of their booths (cf. the Qedishim and Kelabim, Deuteronomy 23:17; 2 Samuel 23:7; cf. 1 Samuel 14:24; 15:12), and even in the Greek world, where prostitution was not else regarded as religious, Eryx and Corinth at least were contaminated by Semitic influence, which Greece could not correct. (Martindale, Cyril Charles. “Paganism.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 17 Feb. 2014 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11388a.htm>)

Ishtar is pronounced about the same as the English term Easter.

Early Christians did NOT celebrate Easter. They observed Passover as a memorial of Jesus’ death.

Perhaps I should also mention that although the Eastern Orthodox Church shown above has ‘lenten vestments,’ these vestments do not come from the Bible, nor did early Christians use these type of vestments. They did not come into use until after the compromises with that famous follower of Mithras, Roman Emperor Constantine, in the fourth century.

What about appealing to the blessed Mary? Was that a practice of early Christians?

No.

The Catholic Encyclopedia confirms that:

Devotion to Our Blessed Lady in its ultimate analysis must be regarded as a practical application of the doctrine of the Communion of Saints. Seeing that this doctrine is not contained, at least explicitly in the earlier forms of the Apostles’ Creed, there is perhaps no ground for surprise if we do not meet with any clear traces of the cultus of the Blessed Virgin in the first Christian centuries. The earliest unmistakable examples of the “worship” — we use the word of course in the relative sense — of the saints is connected with the veneration paid to the martyrs who gave their lives for the Faith…Further, it is quite likely that the mention of the Blessed Virgin in the intercessions of the diptychs of the liturgy goes back to the days before the Council of Nicaea, but we have no definite evidence upon the point, and the same must be said of any form of direct invocation, even for purposes of private devotion (Herbert Thurston. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XV. Published 1912. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).

Should Christians appeal to Mary as a mediator?

No.

Notice what a Roman Catholic-approved translation of the Bible teaches:

5 For there is one God, one also mediator of God and men, man Christ JESUS (1 Timothy 2:5, RNT).

Thus any others who claim there is another mediator clearly contradict the Bible and CANNOT BE SERVING THE CHRISTIAN GOD.

Those who truly wish to observe the practices of the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3) will not observe Lent, celebrate Ash Wednesday, pray to Mary, or observe Easter. They would keep the same days and practices of the original church.

Pope Francis, and those who believe certain portions of his message today, need to study the Bible and the lessons of history and change.

Some items of possible interest may include:

Is Lent a Christian Holiday? When did it originate? What about Ash Wednesday? If you observe them, do you know why? Here is an old, by somewhat related, article in the Spanish language by Dr. Hoeh: ¿Por Qué Se Observa la Cuaresma? Here is a link to a related sermon: Lent, Ash Wednesday, Carnaval, and Christianity?
Should You Observe God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays? This is a free pdf booklet explaining what the Bible and history shows about God’s Holy Days and popular holidays. A related sermon is Which Spring Days should Christians observe?
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism The CCOG is NOT Protestant. This free online book explains how the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants. Several sermons related to the free book are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG History; The First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & Character; The New Testament, Martin Luther, and the Canon; Eucharist, Passover, and Easter; Views of Jews, Lost Tribes, Warfare, & Baptism; Scripture vs. Tradition, Sabbath vs. Sunday; Church Services, Sunday, Heaven, and God’s Plan; Seventh Day Baptists/Adventists/Messianics: Protestant or COG?; Millennial Kingdom of God and God’s Plan of Salvation; Crosses, Trees, Tithes, and Unclean Meats; The Godhead and the Trinity; Fleeing or Rapture?; and Ecumenism, Rome, and CCOG Differences.
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original.
What Did the Early Church Teach About Idols and Icons? Did the early Church use icons? What was the position of Christians about such things? A related sermon is available: The Second Commandment, Idols, and Icons.
What is the Origin of the Cross as a ‘Christian’ Symbol? Was the cross used as a venerated symbol by the early Church? A related YouTube video would be Origin of the Cross.
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?
Mardi Gras: The Devil’s Carnival? Do you know that in Bolivia the carnival/Mardi Gras time is part of a celebration known as the Devil’s Carnival? Did Jesus celebrate Carnaval? Where did it come from? There is also a related YouTube video Mardi Gras & Carnaval: Are they for Christians?
Did Early Christians Celebrate Easter? If not, when did this happen? Where did Easter come from? What do scholars and the Bible reveal? Here is a link to a video titled Why Easter?
What Happened in the ‘Crucifixion Week’? How long are three days and three nights? Was Palm Sunday on a Saturday? Did Jesus die on “Good Friday”? Was the resurrection on Sunday? Do you really know? Who determined the date of Easter? (Here is a related link in Spanish/español: ¿Murió Jesús un día miércoles o un viernes?)
Did Early Christians Celebrate Easter? If not, when did this happen? Where did Easter come from? What do scholars and the Bible reveal? Here is a link to a video titled Why Easter?
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?
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? A sermon video from Vatican City is titled Church of Rome, Mithras, and Isis?
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?
Holy Day Calendar This is a listing of the biblical holy days through 2033, with their Roman calendar dates. They are really hard to observe if you do not know when they occur In the Spanish/Español/Castellano language: Calendario de los Días Santos. In Mandarin Chinese: 何日是神的圣日？ 这里是一份神的圣日日历从2013年至2024年。.
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
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 Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, French: L’Histoire Continue de l’Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egenderere

(Pixabay photo)

COGwriter

Former US Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich wrote the following:

Taking Nuclear War Seriously

It is vital that Americans take nuclear war seriously.

For the last three and a half decades, since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Americans have relaxed and behaved as though they were essentially safe from nuclear events.

When President Bill Clinton and I created the Hart-Rudman Commission in 1998, we hoped to create a deep rethinking of American security strategies. The Commission was brilliantly led by Gen. Charles Boyd and produced a remarkable report.

We warned that the greatest threat to the United States was a nuclear attack in an American city – likely by a terrorist group. …

Now, however, we have countries getting nuclear weapons that may not care if we retaliate.

It is possible that the Iranian theocratic dictatorship would accept the exchange of Tehran for Tel Aviv as a net plus on ideological grounds.

We have no understanding of the values and thought processes of Kim Jung Un and his leadership (including his sister who is supposedly more hard line than he is). Faced with the growing economic, technological, and quality of life achievements of South Korea, it’s possible the North Korean regime might be willing to risk a nuclear attack as the only element in which it has an advantage.

Pakistan is unstable, and its long-time opponent India is steadily growing. This could lead to a nuclear conflict if Pakistan becomes threatened by India’s size – or if India aggressively responds to a perceived Pakistani threat. Ultimately, a nuclear conflict could occur in the region from pure misunderstanding.

The Russian dictatorship is a dangerous combination of Soviet training (Vladimir Putin was a KGB officer and is still deeply loyal to the spirit of the Soviet Union) and Great Russian Nationalism. …

Finally, the most rational and stable of our opponents with nuclear capability is Communist China (this alone should tell us how unstable the world is becoming).

We were surprised at Pearl Harbor. We were surprised on Sept. 11, 2001. We cannot afford to be surprised by a nuclear attack. https://realclearwire.com/articles/2024/02/23/taking_nuclear_war_seriously_1013900.html

While Russia and China are not likely to have a nuclear war with the USA, places like Iran and North Korea may well be inclined to use one or more nuclear weapons against the USA.

As far as Iran goes, notice something from my book Biden-Harris: Prophecies and Destruction related to Iran:

Despite its posturing and relative military strength, Iran will be somehow effectively neutralized (cf. Ezekiel 32:24). This could perhaps be from an attack involving Israel and/or internal civil unrest — this could also include electromagnetic (EMP) or similar weapons used against Iran (Jeremiah 49:34-39).

It is of prophetic interest to note that the small nation of Israel is prophesied to one day be attacked by some that seem to have connection to Iran and its ally Syria (Isaiah 22:1-14). …

Iran may decide to strike out against Israel, and likely Jerusalem (cf. Isaiah 22:7-8) if it determines that it should. If it is frustrated with the Biden-Harris Administration policies or delays, that may very well be a factor in it taking prophesied military action.

Iran has weapons that can cause damage. Furthermore, the U.S.A. itself, as well as the State of Israel, are vulnerable to EMP type attacks and even items such as biological weapons, chemical weapons, terrorism, nuclear weapons, dirty bombs, etc. because of a conflict involving Iran, Syria, and/or others.

But should this attack occur, this would NOT be the final destruction of the U.S.A. Prophetically, Iran would not end up faring well (cf. Ezekiel 32:24-25). (Thiel B. Biden-Harris: Prophecies and Destruction. Nazarene Books, January 2021)

Yes, Iran may well attempt to strike the USA with nuclear bombs and/or EMP weapons. Iran may decide it does not really care if the USA retaliates.

Related to EMP attacks, the Continuing Church of God put out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

Electrical End of the USA ?

Could problems with the electrical power grid caused by one or more electro-magnetic pulse bombs, solar flares, and/or other phenomena help weaken the USA to the point of allowing it to be taken over? Does such potential exist? If so, is this consistent with any biblical prophecies? What are some of the severe consequences that the USA would face in the event of a electrical power grid failure? Is there evidence in scripture that the USA will be taken over in the 21st century?

Some information in video is also in the news post: ’6 Totally Insane Things That Will Happen If Our Power Grid Goes Down’.

That said, Newt Gingrich did NOT mention any nuclear threat possibly coming from Europe.

That would, and will, take the USA by surprise, despite the fact that Bible prophecy warns that more wars and destruction are coming related to Europe (Daniel 11:39-44; Revelation 13:4).

Furthermore regarding future destruction, notice the following:

33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste (Leviticus 26:33).

And while God did allow the Assyrians to scatter the children of Israel back in Old Testament times, they did not then destroy their cities. Thus, the “cities becoming waste” prophecy is still waiting to be fulfilled. This is expected to impact the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh (the Anglo-nations). Nuclear and other high-tech weapons (as well as emp, electromagnetic pulse, bombs) are modern ways to make land desolate and cities waste.

Notice something that Jesus stated:

15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. (Matthew 24:15-22)

Yes, what is coming will be worse than what we have seen before.

In 1948, the late Radio Church of God Pastor General Herbert W. Armstrong taught about what may happen at the beginning of the great tribulation and before Christ returns (the agreement he refers to at first may not be a public one):

There will be an agreement by which the police of the state will ENFORCE Catholicism upon all citizens inside its jurisdiction. The description of this new superstate is found in Revelation 17, a union of ten nations in Europe. It is pictured as the “BEAST”–which even footnotes in the Catholic Douay Bible admit is THE ROMAN EMPIRE…Thus once this EMPIRE is revived in Europe…the new-born…military power will without warning DESTROY AMERICAN AND BRITISH CITIES OVERNIGHT WITH ATOMIC BOMBS, conquering our peoples, taking our survivors to Europe as THEIR SLAVES! (Armstrong HW. Now it Can Be Told. The Plain Truth magazine. December 1948, p. 6)

Let me point out that I believed it will be a CHANGED version of Catholicism that will be enforced.

Anyway, while there may actually be even more modern weapons used than atomic bombs, later Herbert Armstrong specifically taught he felt that this attack would occur 30 days after the abomination of desolation taught about in Daniel 11:31 is fulfilled, which is probably around Daniel 11:39:

The indication is the armies of the “beast” of Revelation 17, entering Jerusalem…What is this abomination? This refers to Daniel 11:31 and Matthew 24:15…From this time (Daniel 12:11) to Christ’s coming will be 1290 days. Now, verse 12, “Blessed is he that waiteth, and comes to the 1335 days.” Never before have we understood these periods of 1260, 1290. and 1335 days. But it seems evident, now, a blessing is pronounced on us–GOD’S CHURCH–who wait and endure until the 1335 days–approximately 1335 days prior to Christ’s coming…We shall then be warned, and readied to be taken to a place of refuge and safety from the Great Tribulation. Forty-five days later “the beast’s armies” will surround Jerusalem. Thirty days later the Great Tribulation will probably start with a nuclear attack on London and Britain–and possibly the same day or immediately after, on the United States and Canadian cities. The GREAT TRIBULATION, we shall fully then realize, is the time of “Jacob’s Trouble,” spoken of in Jeremiah 30:7. And Jacob’s name was named on Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen. 48:16). At that time a third of the people in our nations will die, or shall have died, by famine and disease epidemics; another third will dies of the war–our cities being destroyed (Ezek. 6:6), and the remaining third will be carried to the land of our enemies as slaves (Ezek. 5:12). (Armstrong HW. The Time We Are In, Now. Pastor General’s Report-Vol 1, No. 15, November 20, 1979, Page 2)

Do any other verses in the Bible support the idea of something like a nuclear war?

Yes.

Consider the following:

23 ‘The whole land is brimstone, salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor does any grass grow there, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and His wrath.’ 24 All nations would say, ‘Why has the Lord done so to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?’ 25 Then people would say: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt; 26 for they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they did not know and that He had not given to them. 27 Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against this land, to bring on it every curse that is written in this book. 28 And the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.’ 29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:23-29).

The whole land being “brimstone, salt, and burning” is consistent with a nuclear type of attack.

19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts
The land is burned up,
And the people shall be as fuel for the fire; No man shall spare his brother.
20 And he shall snatch on the right hand
And be hungry;
He shall devour on the left hand
And not be satisfied; Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm. 21 Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; Together they shall be against Judah (Isaiah 9:19-21).

Nuclear and certain other modern attacks tend to burn land up.

Jesus said that the time was coming when “there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened’ (Matthew 24:21-22). That is consistent with a nuclear war and probably something worse.

However, the good news of the Kingdom of God is that Jesus will return and put a stop to the type of nuclear devastation that happened in Nagasaki nearly 79 years ago and the devastation that will happen during the Great Tribulation:

29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:29-30)

6…And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:6-7)

1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4)

Nagasaki and Hiroshima are reminders to the world about how devastating modern warfare can be and that humankind needs a better way. Real peace is coming (check out the free online booklet: The Gospel of the Kingdom of God). And that peace will also include those in Japan.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Biden-Harris: Prophecies and Destruction Can the USA survive two full presidential terms? In what ways are Joe Biden and Kamala Harris apocalyptic? This book has hundreds of prophecies and scriptures to provide details.  A Kindle version is also available 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 your free Kindle reader app (or if you already have one or a Kindle),  you can go to: Biden-Harris: Prophecies and Destruction (Kindle) to get the book in seconds.
Could God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2031 or 2025 or? There is also a video titled: When Does the 6000 Years End? 2031? 2035? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?
Might the U.S.A. Be Gone in 2028?Could the USA be gone by the end of 2028 or earlier? There is a tradition attributed to the Hebrew prophet Elijah that humanity had 6,000 years to live before being replaced by God’s Kingdom. There are scriptures, writings in the Talmud, early Christian teachings that support this. Also, even certain Hindu writings support it. Here is a link to a related video: Is the USA prophesied to be destroyed by 2028? In Spanish: Seran los Estados Unidos Destruidos en el 2028?
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2024, 2025, or 2026? 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 la Gran Tribulación comenzar en el 2020 o 2021? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? A related video is: Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? A shorter video is: Tribulation in 2024? Here is a video in the Spanish language: Es El 2021 el año  de La Gran Tribulación o el Grande Reseteo Financiero.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. It is available in hundreds of languages at ccog.org. Here are links to four kingdom-related sermons:  The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.

(Pixabay photo)

COGwriter

New American reported:

New Study Debunks “Trans” Theory: “Transitioning” Kids Does NOT Save Lives

February 24, 2024

“Would you rather have a living son or dead daughter?” This question, often asked marketing-style of parents whose child desires so-called gender reassignment procedures, is not just unethical, says the leader of a groundbreaking new study on sexually confused youths.

It is also, says psychiatrist Dr. Riittakerttu Kaltiala, “not based on facts.”

For in reality, administering sexual-distortion treatments (SDTs, aka “gender-reassignment” treatments) does not lower sexually confused youths’ suicide rate.

This is not just because you can’t actually changes sexes, but only become a simulacrum of the opposite one. It’s also because any tendency toward suicide — and sexually confused youths’ suicide rate is only marginally higher than that of average-age mates — is caused by their having psychiatric issues, and not necessarily their sexual confusion, per se.

Making these findings even more compelling is that Dr. Kaltiala actually helped pioneer Made-up Sexual Status (MUSS, aka “transgender”) “medicine” in Finland, but looked at its results and finally concluded that such treatments were not beneficial.

Website Gender Clinic News reports on new study:

The landmark research from Finland, an international leader in the shift away from medicalised gender change, found that suicide risk in a large group of adolescents was predicted by the psychiatric problems that often accompany gender distress, not by the gender distress itself.

Dramatic claims of the risk of attempted suicide among trans-identifying youth are typically based on low-quality anonymous online self-report surveys with no follow-up checks, potential exaggeration driven by a constant “transition or suicide” narrative, and “convenience samples” unlikely to be representative.

The new Finnish study vindicates that country’s 2020 adoption of a more cautious treatment policy which first targets psychiatric, social and educational problems among gender-distressed youth before any assumption of a stable trans identity justifying “experimental” affirmation with hormones or surgery.

“It is of utmost importance to identify and appropriately treat mental disorders in adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria to prevent suicide; in addition, health policies need to ensure that accurate information is provided to professionals along these lines,” the researchers say in their BMJ Mental Health paper.

As for the underlying “psychiatric problems” factor with MUSS youths, alarms about it have been sounded before. Consider ex-MUSS clinic worker and whistleblower Jamie Reed, who describes herself as a “queer” woman married to a “transman” and “politically to the left of Bernie Sanders.”

“The girls who came to us [at the clinic] had many comorbidities: depression, anxiety, ADHD, eating disorders, obesity,” she wrote last year at The Free Press. “Many were diagnosed with autism, or had autism-like symptoms. A report last year on a British pediatric transgender center found that about one-third of the patients referred there were on the autism spectrum.” https://thenewamerican.com/us/culture/new-study-debunks-trans-theory-transitioning-kids-does-not-save-lives/

So-called gender affirming treatments are not good.

Last summer, LifeSite News posted the following:

New transgender study shows painful, long-lasting side effects of sex-change surgeries

July 28, 2023

A new study on the side effects of transgender sex change surgeries has revealed, once again, that we are currently in the midst of the greatest medical scandal of the past several centuries. Conducted by researchers at the University of Florida and the health non-profit Brooks Rehabilitation, the study found that 81% of those who had undergone sex change surgeries in the past five years reported experiencing pain simply from normal movement in the weeks and months that followed — and that many other side effects are manifesting themselves as well.

This comes as no surprise to those of us who have been listening to the testimony of both de-transitioners such as Chloe Cole as well as others who have gone under the knife such as Scott Newgent (who described horrifying post-op experiences on my podcast recently). Dr. Meryl Alappattu, a physiotherapy professor at the University of Florida, spoke about her provisional findings in a private online workshop reported on by the Daily Mail. The full report will be released later in 2023, and the reported findings are horrifying. The study found that those who got sex change surgeries experienced bladder problems, pain during intercourse, and other significant issues. …

That those who go on cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers at a young age are likely to be incapable of experiencing “any sort of sexual pleasure as an adult,” as well as eliminating natural fertility. https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/new-transgender-study-shows-painful-long-lasting-side-effects-of-sex-change-surgeries/?utm_source=top_news&utm_campaign=usa

As it turned out, YouTube temporarily suspended our account after we put together the following video related to the above on our Bible News Prophecy channel:

Freemason brotherhood symbol

COGwriter

The Continuing Church of God (CCOG) is pleased to suggest the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

14:58

Freemasons and Vatican Officials Seek Cooperation

On February 16, 2024, some high-level clergy of the Roman Catholic Church in Italy met with three Grand Masters of the Freemasons. Since the Vatican has prohibited its members from being Freemasons, why might this be? Are there related ‘globalist’ interests? Do the Freemasons assert that Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli Tutti (Brothers All), saying the Church had finally embraced “universal fraternity” is in line with “the great principle of modern Freemasonry”? Are there any biblical reasons to consider that the Church of Rome and the Freemasons may cooperate? What is Freemasonry according to the Freemasons? Could at least one of the kings mentioned in Revelation 17:12 be a Freemason or at least have ties to it? Are there any scriptures that suggest that the Freemasons may betray the Church of Rome? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel address these matters.

Here is a link to the sermonette: Freemasons and Vatican Officials Seek Cooperation.

Destruction will hit Rome, and the Freemasons in Europe may well be major supporters of that.

Some items of related interest may include:

Freemasonry and the Destruction of Rome? What is Freemasonry? What about ties to the Illuminati? Could they be involved in the fulfillment of prophecy? Here is a link to two related videos: Freemasonry, Armageddon, and Rome and Freemasons and Vatican Officials Seek Cooperation.
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? A video sermon of related interest is: Will the Interfaith Movement lead to World War III? and a video sermon is also available: Do You Know That Babylon is Forming?
Armageddon Who is involved and when will this gathering happen? Here is also a video from Dr. Thiel, from Tel Megiddo in Israel: Armageddon. Another video is related to China’s One Belt, One Road Initiative (Silk Road project): watch Is China paving roads to Armageddon?
Satan’s Plan Does Satan have a plan? What is it? Has it already been successful? Will it be successful in the future? Here are links to a two-part sermon series: What are Some of the Parts of Satan’s Plan? and Satan’s Plan is More Dramatic than Many Realize.
Mystery of Iniquity What is the mystery of iniquity? How did it start? How will it end? Two related sermons are also available: The Mystery of Iniquity and The Mystery of Lawlessness.
Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? What about other peoples? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about Africa, Asia, South America, and the Islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon;  When Will the End of the Age Come?;  Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original.

COGwriter

Brandon Smith wrote the following:

To Understand The Globalists We Must Understand Their Psychopathic Religion

February 24, 2024

In the late 1800s and early 1900s the western world experienced a sudden burst of open occultism among the ultra-rich elites. The rise of “Theosophy” was underway, becoming a kind of fashion trend that would ultimately set the stage for what would later be called “new age” spiritualism. The primary driver of the theosophical movement was a small group of obscure academics led in part by a woman named H.P. Blavatsky. The group was obsessed with esoteric belief, Gnosticism and even Satanism.

Before going further, let me add that there is a theosophist compound a couple of miles from our office in a town called Halcyon. It is led by a high priestess. The group owns a lot of land and only lets people rent from them that they consider worthy (mainly artistic types).

That said, back to Brandon Smith’s article:

As politicians became more separate from Christianity, the theosophist interest in controlling government grew and the movement became increasingly socialist in practice.

Invariably, these spiritual systems revolved around pagan deities of the past, many Babylonian or Ancient Egyptian in origin. That said, there are also numerous mentions in Theosophy of one figure in particular – Lucifer, also referred to as “the Light Bearer, the angel of light, Prometheus (symbolically), the dragon, the morning star and Satan.” Modern luciferians will consistently deny the the name “Lucifer” has anything to do with the biblical figure of Satan, but this is a lie. Blavatsky herself treats the two figures as synonymous in ‘The Secret Doctrine.’ As she admits in her book:

“And now it stands proven that Satan, or the Red Fiery Dragon, the ‘Lord of Phosphorus,’ and Lucifer, or ‘Light-Bearer,’ is in us: it is our Mind…”

Blavatsky, quoting hermetic texts in the Secret Doctrine, also repeats the mantra:

“It is Satan who is the god of our planet and the only god…”

Luciferians and occultists will also argue that the Christian Bible only mentions the name “Lucifer” once, and that the two figures are not associated. This is once again a lie by omission. The Bible does in fact mention “light bearer,” the “angel of light” and “the dragon” in reference to Satan on multiple occasions, and all of these names are used by elites to describe the figure they call Lucifer.

As mentioned in Corinthians 11:14 – “And it is no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light…”

In other words, when any elitist group mentions terms such as “light bearer” or Lucifer, they are indeed referring to Satan. It’s not just a matter of archetypal discussion, this is in fact a part of their religion. …

What seems like fantasy to some is VERY real to the globalists.

For example, many know that the United Nations building in New York has an occult library.  But few people know that it was built by a group called the Lucifer Publishing Company (later changed to Lucis Trust). Lucis Trust cites the writings of HP Blavatsky constantly as the inspiration for their organization. The UN continues to associate with Lucis Trust to this day. The very heart of globalism revolves around luciferian ideals. https://www.sgtreport.com/2024/02/to-understand-the-globalists-we-must-understand-their-psychopathic-religion/

Whether or not they directly claim to worship Satan, the following applies to most of the globalist elite of the world:

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man — and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:18-32)

Notice that the approach of those who do not wish to retain God in their knowledge is destruction.

Destruction will be the end result of the globalist vision (see also Revelation 11:18).

They want both a globalist world order and are promoting a humanistic alternative to the Kingdom of God.

Here are some comments about that approach from our free online booklet titled: The Gospel of the Kingdom of God:

Does humanity have the solutions?

The world faces many problems.

Many people are hungry. Many people are oppressed. Many people face poverty. Many nations are in serious debt. Children, including unborn ones, face abuse. Drug-resistant diseases concern many doctors. Major industrial cities have air too polluted to be healthy. Various politicians threaten war. Terrorist attacks keep happening.

Can world leaders fix the problems facing humanity?

Many think so.

New Universal Agenda

On September 25, 2015, after a key-note speech by the Vatican’s Pope Francis, the 193 nations of the United Nations (UN) voted to implement the “17 Sustainable Development Goals” of what originally was termed the New Universal Agenda. Here are the UN’s 17 goals:

Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries

Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

This agenda is supposed to be fully implemented by 2030 and is also called the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It aims to solve ailments facing humanity through regulation, education, and international and interfaith cooperation. While many of its objectives are good, some of its methods and goals are evil (cf. Genesis 3:5). This agenda, also, is consistent with Pope Francis’s Laudato Si encyclical.

The “New Universal Agenda” could be called the “New Catholic Agenda” as the word “catholic” means “universal.” Pope Francis called the adoption of the New Universal Agenda “an important sign of hope.”

As a follow-up to the UN agreement, there was a meeting in Paris in December 2015 (officially titled 21st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change). Pope Francis also praised that international agreement and advised nations “to carefully follow the road ahead, and with an ever-growing sense of solidarity.”

Nearly all the nations in the world agreed to the Paris accords, which had specific environmental goals and financial commitments. (Then US President Barack Obama signed a document to commit the USA to this in 2016, but in 2017, US President Donald Trump stated that the United States would NOT accept the agreed to Paris accords. This caused international outrage and has helped isolate the US from Europe and many other parts of the world.) Pope Francis later stated humanity “will go down” if it does not make his changes related to the climate.

While no one wants to breath polluted air, go hungry, be impoverished, be endangered, etc., will human attempts to meet the goals of the United Nations’ 2030 agenda and/or the Paris accords solve the problems facing humanity?

While the globalists may make positive progress on some fronts, the prophetic reality is that the globalist agenda will result in a totalitarian society ran by one the Bible calls the Beast–who could be called Satan’s henchman.

As far as the problems facing humankind, the Kingdom of God is the Solution. Here is more from our free online booklet titled: The Gospel of the Kingdom of God:

There May Be Some Cooperation and Success, But …

Merriam Webster’s Dictionary states that utopia is “an imaginary place in which the government, laws, and social conditions are perfect.” The Bible teaches that humanity cannot solve its problems on its own:

²³ O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. (Jeremiah 10:23, NKJV throughout unless otherwise indicated)

The Bible teaches that international cooperation will fail:

¹⁶ Destruction and misery are in their ways; ¹⁷ And the way of peace they have not known. ¹⁸ There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:16-18)

Yet, many humans are working towards their view of a utopian society and even sometimes try to involve religion. But almost none are willing to follow the ways of the one true God. It is not that there will be no progress towards any of the United Nation’s or the Vatican’s goals. There will be some, as well as some setbacks.

Actually, and probably after massive conflict, a type of international peace deal will be agreed to and confirmed (Daniel 9:27). When it is, many will falsely tend to believe that humanity will be bringing about a more peaceful and utopian society.

Many will be taken in by such international ‘utopian progress’ (cf. Ezekiel 13:10) as well as by various signs and wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12). But the Bible says such peace will not last (Daniel 9:27; 11:31-44), despite what leaders may claim (1 Thessalonians 5:3; Isaiah 59:8).

The idea that, apart from Jesus, humanity can bring utopia in this ‘present evil age’ is a false gospel (Galatians 1:3-10). …

The ecumenical and interfaith movements that the United Nations, Vatican, many Protestants, and Eastern Orthodox leaders are promoting are clearly condemned by the Bible and should not be encouraged. Jesus warned of ones claiming to follow Him who would “deceive many” (Matthew 24:4-5). Much ecumenism is related to the “white horseman” of Revelation 6:1-2 (who is NOT Jesus) and the harlot of Revelation 17. …

Problems in the world, in places like the Middle East (despite expected temporal gains, e.g. Daniel 9:27a; 1 Thessalonians 5:3), will not be solved by humans—we need the peace of the Kingdom of God (Romans 14:17).

The problems of international terrorism, despite expected gains, will not be solved (cf. Ezekiel 21:12) by the deceived in the United Nations (cf. Revelation 12:9)—we need the joy and comfort of the Kingdom of God.

The problems of the environment will NOT be solved by international cooperation, as the world’s nations will help destroy the earth (Revelation 11:18), but they will be solved by the Kingdom of God.

Issues of sexual immorality, abortion, and selling human body parts will not be solved by the USA (cf. Revelation 18:13), but by the Kingdom of God.

The massive debt that the USA, UK, and many other nations have will not be solved through international brokering, but ultimately (after destruction per Habakkuk 2:6-8) by the Kingdom of God.

Ignorance and miseducation will not be solved by the United Nations—we need the Kingdom of God. Religious strife will not truly be solved by any ecumenical-interfaith movement agreeing to salvation apart from the true Jesus of the Bible. Sin is THE PROBLEM in the world and for that, we need Jesus’ sacrifice and His return in the Kingdom of God. Modern medical science does not have all the answers for human health—we need the Kingdom of God.

Here is a link to our free online booklet The Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Note: Translations of this booklet are available in over 1000 languages at https://www.ccog.org.

Globalists keep pushing totalitarian, interfaith, and ecumenical agendas in a quest for peace. A ‘great reset’ as well as a ‘new world order’ have been repeatedly pushed by them. Scripturally, prophecies show that way it is being promoted and heading that way will lead to war (cf. Revelation 13).

The Bible warns: “the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:17-18).

Most in the world do not truly have any real fear of God.

But Jesus said that the world would receive a witness before the end:

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14)

Although we have a lot more to do, we in the CCOG are proclaiming the good news of the coming Kingdom of God around the world. And we are doing it in over 1000 languages, with others in progress.

The Kingdom of God of God is coming.

Instead of promoting sin, righteousness and justice are the foundation of the throne of that God’s Kingdom–and it will also be based on truth and show mercy:

14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face. (Psalms 89:14)

Yes, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God shows a better world is part of God’s plan.

The globalists and their false religious ideas will perish.

God’s Kingdom will come. Righteousness, justice, loving mercy, and truth will come to this deceived planet.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. It is available inover 1,000 languages at ccog.org. Here are links to four kingdom-related sermons:  The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
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? A video sermon of related interest is: Will the Interfaith Movement lead to World War III? and three video sermonette are also available:  Pope Francis signs ‘one world religion’ document! and The Chrislam Cross and the Interfaith Movement and Do You Know That Babylon is Forming?
Freemasonry and the Destruction of Rome? What is Freemasonry? What about ties to the Illuminati? Could Freemasons be involved in the fulfillment of prophecy? Here is a link to a related sermon: Freemasonry, Armageddon, and Rome.
Is a Great Reset Coming? Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum has proposed a societal change that has been basically endorsed by the Vatican and many world leaders. Does the Bible prophesy a major reset? Here is a link to a related video: Will there be a “Great Reset”?
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? Two related videos include UN’s ‘New Universal Agenda’ is a False Gospel! and United Nations and Vatican Are Planning the New World Order.

“Over two years, we’ve grown accustomed to war and tragedies, and have started to consider it the new normal, a part of our everyday lives. And that’s the scariest part of it all,” writes poet Andriy Lyubka in this guest op-ed.https://t.co/6SDezYFnYa

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) February 24, 2024

COGwriter

Today marks the second anniversary of Russia’s ‘Special Military Operation’ into Ukraine. As reported here yesterday, the European Union and the United States announced additional sanctions to punish Russia (see USA and EU add more sanctions; whereas Transnistria Assembly wants to be part of Russia and/or its Eurasian Economic Union).

Ukraine’s President has again claimed that Ukraine will win:

February 24, 2024

Four world leaders visited the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Saturday (Feb 24), a day that marked the completion of two years of the Ukraine war. It was on this day in 2022, that Russian forces launched was President Vladimir Putin calls a ‘special military operation’. On Saturday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed confidence that Ukraine will clinch victory in the ongoing conflict. …

“We will win,” said Zelensky during the joint press conference at Gostomel airport in Kyiv. …

However, following Western help Ukraine has not been able to mount a successful counteroffensive and Russian forces have dug in, building fortified defences on Ukrainian land. https://www.wionews.com/world/two-years-of-ukraine-war-world-leaders-visit-kyiv-zelensky-confident-of-victory-693497

Time reported the following:

Ukraine Can’t Win the War

February 24, 2024

he long-awaited counteroffensive last year failed. Russia has recaptured Avdiivka, its biggest war gain in nine months. President Volodymyr Zelensky has been forced to quietly acknowledge the new military reality. The Biden Administration’s strategy is now to sustain Ukrainian defense until after the U.S. presidential elections, in the hope of wearing down Russian forces in a long war of attrition.

This strategy seems sensible enough, but contains one crucially important implication and one potentially disastrous flaw, which are not yet being seriously addressed in public debates in the West or Ukraine. The implication of Ukraine standing indefinitely on the defensive—even if it does so successfully—is that the territories currently occupied by Russia are lost. Russia will never agree at the negotiating table to surrender land that it has managed to hold on the battlefield. …

Yet supporters of complete Ukrainian victory have engaged in hopes that range from the overly optimistic to the magical. At the magical end of the spectrum is the notion, set out by retired U.S. Army General Ben Hodges among others, that Russia can be defeated, and even driven from Crimea, by long-range missile bombardment.

This is folly. Ukrainians have scored some notable successes against the Russian Black Sea Fleet, but to take back Crimea they would need to be able to launch a massive amphibious landing, an exceptionally difficult operation far beyond their capabilities in terms of ships and men. Attacks on Russian infrastructure are pinpricks given Russia’s size and resources.  …

For Ukrainians to stand a chance, military history suggests that they would need a 3-to-2 advantage in manpower and considerably more firepower. Ukraine enjoyed these advantages in the first year of the war, but they now lie with Russia, and it is very difficult to see how Ukraine can recover them. … the lost Ukrainian territories are lost … https://time.com/6695261/ukraine-forever-war-danger/

As far as the lost territories go, President Zelensky has stated that Ukraine would not give them up or negotiate with the Putin regime unless Russia would give them up.

The Hill posted the following:

Ukraine can no longer win

February 22, 2024

There is no path for Ukraine to win this war. American support will not change this reality. …

The reality, two years in, is that there is no path to victory for Ukraine, at least not in the sense of pushing Russian troops back to 2021 lines of control. After Ukrainian troops abandoned Avdiivka following some of the war’s heaviest fighting — the most significant loss or gain by either side in nine months — almost all advantages accrue to Russia.

The seizure of Avdiivka does not materially change the war, but it does change the momentum. Moscow can throw mass in terms of bodies, tanks, artillery, and drones at exhausted Ukrainian forces until they crack. Ukraine is exhausted and outnumbered, struggling to recruit new troops. The best Ukraine can do now is fight Russia to a negotiated settlement that allows it to keep its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security against another Russian invasion. Even these provisions may now seem unrealistic. …

None of this is fair to the people of Ukraine, who have placed their hopes of sovereignty on America’s commitment to them. It is, however, the tragic reality of the situation. https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/4481154-ukraine-can-no-longer-win/

Ukraine is not winning this conflict.

Furthermore, Russia has basically stated that since they annexed various areas previously controlled by Ukraine, those lands are now part of Russia and that Russia would use nuclear weapons if it thought it faced defeat.

As long-time readers of the COGwriter site are aware, since 2013 I have written that at least part of the territories that Ukraine controlled would end up supporting Russia. That happened in 2014 with Crimea. Also on February 5, 2022, I spoke in a video that stated that more areas of Ukraine (than only Crimea) would end up aligning with Russia (watch Russia, Ukraine, Babylonian Europe, and Prophecy). That has happened.

Now, let me add that the West has betrayed both Russia and Ukraine.

How so?

About 30-35 years ago, the Americans and Europeans assured Russia that NATO would not expand to include most of the nations of Eastern Europe. Yet, nearly all are now part of NATO.

When Vladimir Putin told the West to not allow Ukraine to be in NATO, the West told Russia it would do so as it wished. Shortly thereafter, Russian invaded Ukraine.

Now, Ukraine used to have nuclear weapons. If it still had them, it is likely that Russia would not have invaded.

The Americans, Russians, and Europeans (including the Brits) told Ukraine a few decades ago that if it got rid of its nuclear weapons that they would defend Ukraine’s borders.

But, instead, the West supported a coup to oust the democratically elected president of Ukraine (who was pro-Russian), which upset the Russians. The coup and later elections then installed a series of anti-Russian presidents, plus caused problems for Russian-speakers in Eastern Ukraine. Russia then got more directly involved in the Donbas region and also ended up annexing Crimea.

Then the West imposed sanctions publicly intended to get Russia to give up Crimea, while Russia then built a bridge to connect Crimea directly to itself. Russia also continued to support Ukrainian opposition in the Donbas (eastern) region–and many there pleaded for Russia to assist and/or annex those territories.

As far as winning this ‘Special Military Operation,’ no one really wins.

Reportedly, hundreds of thousands have died in this conflict so far.

Many cities, towns, and villages have been destroyed or badly damaged.

Families have been hurt.

Economies have been hurt.

There is damage all over.

As far as what is ahead in the next decade or so for this region, that is discussed in our free online book: Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America?

The end of war is coming.

In a co-worker letter dated April 17, 1967, the late Pastor General of the old Worldwide Church of God, Herbert W. Armstrong, wrote:

There is a prophecy about that in the second chapter of Isaiah. In these LAST DAYS, it says, the NATION or KINGDOM of GOD’S HOUSE shall be established above all other nations on earth. “For,” it says, “out of ZION (God’s Church—God’s PEOPLE) shall go forth the LAW, and the Word of the ETERNAL from Jerusalem.” And then the nations of the earth shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; there will be WORLD PEACE—NO MORE WAR!

   I wonder if YOU realize the THRILLING part the Eternal GOD has actually called YOU, personally, to have in fulfilling this tremendous prophecy!

   LISTEN! For this affects YOU, individually!

   God BEGAN intervening in WORLD AFFAIRS over 33 years ago, in the very smallest way at first, … This intervention is PREPARING THE WAY for Christ’s coming.

   It is restoring the knowledge that SIN is the transgression of God’s Law (I John 3:4). It is, by a preaching of LOVE, showing the people THEIR SINS! It is making plain WHAT sin is! It is lifting up its voice like a trumpet, and is CRYING, ALOUD, with the AMPLIFIED POWER of more than 45 million watts of radio power, WORLDWIDE! It is fulfilling Isaiah 58:1.

   God says He will do nothing without first WARNING the people (Amos 3:7). …

   God is going to INTERVENE in WORLD AFFAIRS, just prior to Christ’s Coming, by sending on the SINNERS OF THE WORLD the PLAGUES of “The Day of the Lord.” That is a time of GOD’S WRATH against evil spoken of in more than 30 different prophecies—both Old and New Testaments!

   Christ’s Coming is to occur as the CLIMAX of this “Day of the Lord”! …

God has been WARNING THIS WHOLE WORLD of the forthcoming world-shaking PHYSICAL INTERVENTION by GOD in world affairs.

   In HOLY WRATH, God Almighty will first bring physical punishment, through The PLAGUES of the period called “THE DAY OF THE LORD” on THE EVIL OF THIS WORLD.

   More than 30 prophecies foretell this DAY OF THE LORD! …

   It is to immediately precede Christ’s own Coming, to establish The KINGDOM OF GOD, and usher in WORLD PEACE in the happy WORLD TOMORROW!

And we are closer to that time, than when Herbert W. Armstrong wrote the above.

Notice now, something from my article Russia and Ukraine: Their Origins and Prophesied Future:

Repentance for the Nations or You?

Since the Asian nations, like Russia and its allies, are prophesied to be involved with Babylon and various wars, what about you?

Does this mean that you are doomed?

No. God does not require “group salvation.” The Apostle Paul wrote:

…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling… (Philippians 2:12)

Thus, your personal relationship with God is not determined by what your fellow countrymen do.

Can, will, God help you during the coming tribulation?

Notice the prophecy for this latter time tribulation in the Hebrew scriptures:

29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice 31 (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. (Deuteronomy 4:29-31)

Thus, help from God during these hard times will be available to the truly sincere who really strive for it.

In late 2015, we made arrangements to get some materials translated into the Russia language. And here is a link to the first item we got back: Библия Новости Пророчество, Январь – март 2016.

We hope to get more materials out in Russian to better reach those who know that language.

Russians and Ukrainians After Babylon Falls

In Revelation 16, we also see that God will issue punishment to nearly all of humanity after Babylon (the European Empire) falls:

17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. 19 Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. 20 Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great (Revelation 16:17-21).

God sent the punishments to get all men, including the Russians, Belarussians, and Ukrainians, to repent, but they refused at first:

And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory (Revelation 16:9).

Apparently Russia and its Asian allies will be involved with the 200 million man army (Revelation 9:16) at least part of which will gather at Armageddon (Revelation 16:12-16). Those who are persuaded by demonic signs and wonders (Revelation 16:13-14) and fight against the returning Jesus will be destroyed (Revelation 19:19-21).

What Happens After the Great Tribulation and Day of the Lord?

After the battles and punishments, the tribulation and Day of the Lord will end. And Christ will return:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Matthew 24:29-30).

And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (Revelation 19:16).

Christ’s return will usher in a kingdom that will be established for 1,000 years:

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years (Revelation 20:4-6).

This is the millennium that many Russians and Ukrainians are even now looking forward to.

And people of many nations, including those of Russia and Ukraine, will be part of this kingdom. Notice:

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb (Revelation 7:9).

That is part of the good news of the Kingdom of God.

War will end.

Jesus will one day return and establish peace.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Russia and Ukraine: Their Origins and Prophesied Future Russia in prophecy. 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? There is also a video sermon available: Russia in the Bible and in Prophecy as are two video sermonettes Russia, Ukraine, Babylonian Europe, and Prophecy and Ukraine in Prophecy?
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?
Ezekiel 38: For Russia & Iran in Our Day? Is Ezekiel 38 about to be fulfilled? Are we close to the battle with Gog and Magog? Four related videos are available: Ezekiel 38 Gog and Magog War: Is it Soon?, Ezekiel 38: For Russia, Ukraine, & Iran Now?, Russia, Iran, Syria, & the Bible (Code), and Gog, Magog, Vladimir Putin, and Ezekiel 38?
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?
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. It is available inover 1,000 languages at ccog.org. Here are links to four kingdom-related sermons:  The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
Did The Early Church Teach Millenarianism? Was the millennium (sometimes called chiliasm) taught by early Christians? Who condemned it? Will Jesus literally reign for 1000 years on the earth? Is this time near? Three related sermons are available Let’s Talk About the Earthly Millennium, Millennial Utopia, and The Millennium.
Could God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2031 or 2025 or? There is also a video titled: When Does the 6000 Years End? 2031? 2035? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?
Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? What about other peoples? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about Africa, Asia, South America, and the Islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon;  When Will the End of the Age Come?;  Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

(Pixabay photo)

COGwriter

The Continuing Church of God is pleased to announce the following sermon on its ContinuingCOG channel:

1:15:19

The Plain Truth About Heaven

Is heaven the reward of the saved? What does the Bible teach that saints will inherit? What was Abram (Abraham) promised? What did Jesus teach the meek would inherit on the ‘Sermon on the Mount’? What did early Christians teach and believe about this? What did the Greco-Roman Catholic saint Justin teach about those who said that when you die you go to heaven? Do ‘near death experiences’ prove heaven? Were people like Clement of Alexandria affected by Greek and Egyptian pagan philosophy? Should Christians rely on the testimony of Irenaues or Perpetua over scripture? Did Mithraism teach heaven? What did Herbert W. Armstrong, Dr. N.T. Wright, and Dr. Herman Hoeh point out that the Bible teaches on the rewards of the saved? What did the old ‘Plain Truth’ magazine teach? What about the Apostles Peter and Paul? Did the Apostle John record that the Holy City was to come down to the earth from heaven? If there are three heavens, which one is which? Is the ‘beatific vision’ God’s plan? What is the plain truth about heaven? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.

Here is a link to our sermon: The Plain Truth About Heaven.

Some items of related interest may include the following:

Did Early Christians Teach They Were Going to Heaven? What do the Bible and scholars teach? What about ‘near-death experiences’? Here are links to related sermons: The Plain Truth About Heaven, Heaven and Christianity and It’s not heaven.
Did The Early Church Teach Millenarianism? Was the millennium (sometimes called chiliasm) taught by early Christians? Who condemned it? Will Jesus literally reign for 1000 years on the earth? Is this time near? Three related sermons are available Let’s Talk About the Earthly Millennium, Millennial Utopia, and The Millennium.
The Ten Commandments: The Decalogue, Christianity, and the Beast This is a free pdf book explaining the what the Ten Commandments are, where they came from, how early professors of Christ viewed them, and how various ones, including the Beast of Revelation, will oppose them. A related sermon is titled: The Ten Commandments and the Beast of Revelation.
About Baptism Should you be baptized? Could baptism be necessary for salvation? Who should baptize and how should it be done? Here is a link to a related sermon: Let’s Talk About Baptism and Baptism, Infants, Fire, & the Second Death.
Christians: Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, Biblical instructions on living as a Christian This is a scripture-filled booklet for those wishing to live as a real Christian.Two related sermons are also available:  Living as a Christian and Christians are Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God. Here is a video in Spanish: ¿Qué es un verdadero cristiano?
Proof Jesus is the Messiah This free book has over 200 Hebrew prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. Plus, His arrival was consistent with specific prophecies and even Jewish interpretations of prophecy. Here are links to seven related sermons: Proof Jesus is the Messiah, Prophecies of Jesus’ birth, timing, and death, Jesus’ prophesied divinity, 200+ OT prophecies Jesus filled; Plus prophecies He made, Why Don’t Jews Accept Jesus?, Daniel 9, Jews, and Jesus, and Facts and Atheists’ Delusions About Jesus. Plus the links to two sermonettes: Luke’s census: Any historical evidence? and Muslims believe Jesus is the Messiah, but …
Is God’s Existence Logical? Is it really logical to believe in God? Yes! Would you like Christian answers to give atheists? This is a free online booklet that deal with improper theories and musings called science related to the origin of the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and evolution. Here is a link to a related sermon: Evolution is NOT the Origin of Life. Two animated videos of related interest are also available: Big Bang: Nothing or Creator? and A Lifegiver or Spontaneous Evolution?
Christians: Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, Biblical instructions on living as a Christian This is a scripture-filled booklet for those wishing to live as a real Christian. A related sermon is also available: Christians are Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God.
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original.
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism The CCOG is NOT Protestant. This free online book explains how the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants. Several sermons related to the free book are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG History; The First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & Character; The New Testament, Martin Luther, and the Canon; Eucharist, Passover, and Easter; Views of Jews, Lost Tribes, Warfare, & Baptism; Scripture vs. Tradition, Sabbath vs. Sunday; Church Services, Sunday, Heaven, and God’s Plan; Seventh Day Baptists/Adventists/Messianics: Protestant or COG?; Millennial Kingdom of God and God’s Plan of Salvation; Crosses, Trees, Tithes, and Unclean Meats; The Godhead and the Trinity; Fleeing or Rapture?; and Ecumenism, Rome, and CCOG Differences.
The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN: Why Did God Create Anything? Why Did God Make You? This free online book helps answers some of the biggest questions that human have, including the biblical meaning of life. Here is a link to three related sermons: Mysteries of God’s Plan, Mysteries of Truth, Sin, Rest, Suffering, and God’s Plan, Mystery of Race, and The Mystery of YOU. Here is a link to a video in Spanish: El Misterio del Plan de Dios.
Universal OFFER of Salvation, Apokatastasis: Can God save the lost in an age to come? Hundreds of scriptures reveal God’s plan of salvation Will all get a fair chance at salvation? This free book is packed with scriptures showing that God does intend to offer salvation to all who ever lived–the elect in this age, and the rest in the age to come. Here is a link to a related sermon series: Universal Offer of Salvation 1: Apocatastasis, Universal Offer of Salvation 2: Jesus Desires All to be Saved, Mysteries of the Great White Throne Judgment (Universal Offer of Salvation part 3), Is God Fair, Will God Pardon the Ignorant?, Can God Save Your Relatives?, Babies, Limbo, Purgatory and God’s Plan, and ‘By the Mouth of All His Holy Prophets’.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. It is available in hundreds of languages at ccog.org. Here are links to four kingdom-related sermons:  The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
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 Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
CCOG.ORG Continuing Church of God The group striving to be most faithful amongst all real Christian groups to the word of God. There are links to literature is about 100 different languages there.
Congregations of the Continuing Church of God This is a listing of congregations and groups of the Continuing Church of God around the world.
Continuing Church of God Facebook page This has news and prophetic information.
Continuing Church of God, Africa, Facebook page This has news and prophetic information.
Continuing Church of God, Canada, Facebook page This has news and prophetic information.
Continuing Church of God, Europe, Facebook page This has news and prophetic information.
CCOG.ASIA We in the Continuing Church of God also have the url www.ccog.asia which has a focus on Asia and has various articles in Mandarin Chinese as well as some in English, plus some items in other Asian languages. 我们在继续神的教会也提供此网址 www.ccog.asia, 关注于亚洲并且有各种各样的中英文文章，其中一些用菲律宾语翻译的文章也正在进行中，准备添加到这个网站中。 Here is a link to our Statement of Beliefs in Mandarin Chinese 继续神的教会的信仰声明.
CCOG.IN This is a website targeted towards those of Indian heritage. It has a link to an edited Hindi translation of The Mystery of the Ages and is expected to have more non-English language materials in the future.
CCOG.EU This is a website targeted toward Europe. It has materials in more than one language (currently it has English, Dutch, and Serbian, with links also to Spanish) and it is intended to have additional language materials added.
CCOG.NZ This is a website targeted towards New Zealand and others with a British-descended background.
CCOGAFRICA.ORG This is a website targeted towards those in Africa.
CCOGCANADA.CA This is a website targeted towards those in Canada.
CDLIDD.ES La Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios. This is the Spanish language website for the Continuing Church of God.
CG7.ORG This is a website for those interested in the Sabbath and churches that observe the seventh day Sabbath.
PNIND.PH Patuloy na Iglesya ng Diyos. This is the Philippines website Continuing Church of God. It has information in English and Tagalog.
CCOG Animations YouTube channel. The Continuing Church of God has some animations to teach aspects of Christian beliefs. Also available at BitChute COGAnimations https://www.bitchute.com/channel/coganimations/
Bible News Prophecy channel. Dr. Thiel has produced hundreds of videos for the BibleNewsProphecy channel. You can find them at them on YouTube at BibleNewsProphecy https://www.youtube.com/user/BibleNewsProphecy, plus also on Vimeo at Bible News Prophecy https://vimeo.com/channels/biblenewsprophecy as well as on Brighteon Bible News Prophecy https://www.brighteon.com/channel/ccogbnp and Bitchute Prophecy https://www.bitchute.com/channel/prophecy/
CCOGAfrica channel. This has messages from African pastors in African languages such as Kalenjin, Kiswahili, Embu, and Dholuo. Also available at BitChute COGAfrica https://www.bitchute.com/channel/cogafrica/
CDLIDDSermones channel. This contains messages in the Spanish language
BibleNewsProphecy Podcast. This has audio-visual podcasts of the Bible News Prophecy channgel. It plays on i-Phones, i-Pads, and Windows devices that can play i-Tunes.
Bible News Prophecy online radio. This is an audio version of the Bible News Prophecy videos. It is also available as a mobile app.
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. Also available at BitChute COGTube https://www.bitchute.com/channel/cogtube/
Statement of Beliefs of the Continuing Church of God “Contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3, NKJV), “Let brotherly love (Philadelphia) continue” (Hebrews 13:1) ” & continuing stedfastly in the teaching of the apostles” (Acts 2:42 YLT). So, what does that really mean in terms of specific beliefs–the Statement gives answers? Here is a related link in Spanish/español: Declaración de las Doctrinas de la Continuación de la Iglesia de Dios. Here is a related link in Tagalog: Paglalahad ng Mga Paniniwala ng Patuloy na Iglesya ng Diyos. Here is a related link in Mandarin Chinese ~ç~íy^v„eYOv„OáNðXðf. Here is a related link in Kiswahili: KATIKA LUGHA YA KISWAHILI. Here is a related link in Dutch: Verklaring van geloofspunten van de Continuing Church of God. Here is a related link in Deutsche (German): Glaubenserklärung der Continuing Church of God. Here is a related link in Italiano: Dichiarazione del Credo della Continuing Church of God. Here is related link in the French language: Déclaration des croyances de L’Église Continue de Dieu. Here is a related link in the Chichewa language: ZIKHULUPIRIRO ZA MPINGO WA CONTINUING CHURCH OF GOD. Here is a link in Romanian: Declarația de credințe a continuării Bisericii lui Dumnezeu. Here is a link in Portuguese: Declaração de Crenças da Continuação da Igreja de Deus. Here is a link in Russian: Утверждение верований о продолжении Церкви Божьей. Here is a link to a related English-language sermon: Beliefs of the Continuing Church of God. Here is a link to a booklet titled: Statement of Beliefs of the Continuing Church of God.

Church Militant logo

COGwriter

The National Catholic Register reported the following:

Report: Cardinal Calls for ‘Permanent’ Dialogue with Freemasons

Following a closed-door meeting in Milan, Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmiero reportedly said he believed ‘an evolution in mutual understanding’ had taken place between masonry and the Church over the past 50 years.

MILAN, Italy — A cardinal taking part in a “historic” closed-door meeting … between the heads of Italy’s Freemasonic lodges and senior Catholic Church leaders has called for a “permanent” dialogue to be opened with the secretive organization, despite masonry being long condemned by the Church. …

Addressing the Milan meeting on the theme The Catholic Church and Freemasonry, Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmiero, 85, reportedly said he believed “an evolution in mutual understanding” had taken place between masonry and the Church over the past 50 years.

“Things have moved on, and I hope these meetings don’t stop there,” said the retired Italian prelate, according to Il Messaggero, quoting sources present at the meeting that was closed to the press.  …

According to sources who spoke with La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, all three grand masters of the Italian lodges — Stefano Bisi of the Grand Orient of Italy, Luciano Romoli of the Grand Lodge of Italy, and Fabio Venzi of the Grand Regular Lodge of Italy — addressed the meeting. Two of them made their speeches public.

“With different nuances, all defended the compatibility of Freemasonry with the Catholic faith,” reported La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana’s editor-in-chief, Riccardo Cascioli, who also spoke with people who attended the meeting at the Ambrosianeum Cultural Foundation.

Along with Cardinal Coccopalmiero, the Catholic Church was represented by Archbishop Mario Delpini of Milan, Franciscan theologian Father Zbigniew Suchecki, and Bishop Antonio Staglianò, president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology. …

Bisi, who said he thought the meeting was “very significant,” credited the Church for his education as someone coming from a poor background, and explained how a reconciliation between Freemasonry and the Church was his long-held desire. He also made a point of fondly recalling Cardinal Martini “who was at home here.” …

“The starry sky is the same for the Buddhist, for the Catholic, for the Waldensian, for the Muslim, for all those who believe in a supreme being,” he continued, adding: “We set our brothers free to adhere to any religion and to practice. Absolute truths and walls of the mind do not belong to us, and for us they must be torn down.”

Bisi ended by expressing a hope that “one day a pope and a grand master may meet and walk a piece of the road together, in the light of the sun.” …

Father Sucheki had prepared a knowledgeable report on the Church’s many pronouncements against Freemasonry, but Cascioli said his contribution was “somewhat snubbed” by Bishop Staglianò’s contribution, which appeared intolerant of the reminders of doctrine.

Although the bishop was scheduled to explain why Freemasonry is irreconcilable with the Church, he gave a “long speech” that “tore apart the doctrinal approach on the Catholic side, and basically went along with the demands of the Freemason exponents.” 02/20/24 https://www.ncregister.com/blog/pentin-cardinal-calls-for-permanent-dialogue-with-freemasons

Consider that “permanent dialogue” between the Church of Rome and the Freemasons suggests future cooperation. There will be future cooperation between the Roman Catholic Church and the Freemasons.

Note also the interfaith view of the Freemason above. Despite that going against a lot of Roman Catholic traditions, the Vatican has also been pushing many aspects of an interfaith agenda.

Notice a report from Church Militant:

Leading Italian prelates, including a cardinal, are participating in a “dialogue” seminar with Italy’s leading freemasons to seek reconciliation between Catholic and Masonic values. …

Riccardo Cascioli, explained why the meeting was key to the strategy of the Italian Freemasons in “cleaning up” the image of a secret sect:

The truth is that gestures are worth much more than words, and hence the Masonic lodges, GOI in the lead, are very interested in this dialogue: they have everything to gain because the impression given to [influence] public opinion is that after centuries of condemnations [by the Catholic Church], there is not only the possibility of a reconciliation but also of sharing some values (think of the misunderstandings around the theme of “universal brotherhood”).  …

Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Masonic sects has intensified since 2016 after Cdl. Gianfranco Ravasi published an article in Il Sole 24 Ore titled “Dear Brother Masons.”

In 2020, Church Militant reported that Fr. Michael Heinrich Weninger, a clerical staff member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue who was outed as a Freemason chaplain to three lodges, was using his position to recruit Freemasons in the Roman Curia.

The Austrian priest released his doctoral dissertation, Lodge and Altar: On the Reconciliation of the Catholic Church and Regular Freemasonry in Vienna, accompanied by Austrian Lodge Grand Master Georg Semler. …

In Oct. 2022, Msgr. Francesco Antonio Soddu, bishop of the diocese of Terni-Narni-Amelia, outraged faithful Catholics after inaugurating a Masonic lodge along with the grand master of Italy’s biggest Freemasonic organization.

Soddu joined Bisi in the ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the GOI lodge in Terni, a city about 63 miles from Rome.

In Oct. 2020, Erasmus, Italy’s Grand Orient Lodge’s journal, acclaimed Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli Tutti as being “close to the ideals that have constituted the very foundations of Freemasonry from the very beginning,” Church Militant reported.

The commendation followed an endorsement from Spain’s main lodge, the Gran Logia de España, which claimed that the encyclical “demonstrates how far away the present Catholic Church is from its former positions” and declared, “In Fratelli Tutti, the pope embraces universal fraternity — the great principle of modern Freemasonry.”

Also in 2020, Hiram, Italy’s Grand Orient Lodge’s cultural magazine, extolled Pope Francis’ Abu Dhabi “Human Fraternity” pact with Grand Imam Ahmad al-Tayyeb as “a turning point in civilization because it will open a new era” if applied.

In November 2023, responding to a question from Msgr. Julito Cortes, bishop of Dumaguete, Philippines, Cdl. Victor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, reiterated the ban on Catholics becoming Freemasons. 02/16/24 https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/top-italian-prelates-hold-talks-with-freemasons

The Freemasons and the Vatican have similar agendas and that is one reason I expect more cooperation between them.

As far as the ban on Roman Catholics being Freemasons, back in November 2023 I posted:

The wording of the Vatican’s letter does not prohibit cooperation with the Freemasons–and that is something that I believe the Vatican will, to a degree, continue to have–despite this latest letter. So, no this does NOT stop all future cooperation between the Vatican and the Freemasons. (Thiel B. Church of Rome prohibits its members from being Freemasons, but … COGwriter, November 16, 2023)

Freemasonry, like the Vatican, is pushing a globalist agenda; hence cooperation, for a time, with the Church of Rome is expected, as both have some similar objectives.

Related to cooperation between the Freemasons and the Vatican, back in 2018, the Continuing Church of God put out the following sermon on its ContinuingCOG channel:

1:16:04

Freemasonry, Armageddon, and Rome

What is Freemasonry? How long has it been around? Does Freemasonry point to cataclysms, such as Armageddon in 2022? Were many US founders and presidents Freemasons? Is there a difference between the USA/UK Freemasons and those in continental Europe? Can a biblical Christian be a Freemason? Are Roman Catholics allowed to be Freemasons? Do the Freemasons have a plan that includes an ecumenical Pope? Are Rotarians Freemasons? What about the Illuminati? Are many conspiracies about the Freemasons false? Could Freemasonry play a role in the rise of Europe and the destruction of the Church of Seven Hills?

Here is a link to the sermon: Freemasonry, Armageddon, and Rome.

Related to this recent meeting, the Continuing Church of God put out the following sermontte video:

14:58

Freemasons and Vatican Officials Seek Cooperation

On February 16, 2024, some high-level clergy of the Roman Catholic Church in Italy met with three Grand Masters of the Freemasons. Since the Vatican has prohibited its members from being Freemasons, why might this be? Are there related ‘globalist’ interests? Do the Freemasons attest that Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli Tutti (Brothers All), saying the Church had finally embraced “universal fraternity” is in line with “the great principle of modern Freemasonry”? Are there any biblical reasons to consider that the Church of Rome and the Freemasons may cooperate? What is Freemasonry according to the Freemasons? Could at least one of the kings mentioned in Revelation 17:12 be a Freemason or at least have ties to it? Are there any scriptures that suggest that the Freemasons may betray the Church of Rome? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel address these matters.

Here is a link to the sermonette: Freemasons and Vatican Officials Seek Cooperation.

Expect more cooperation between the Vatican and the Freemasons.

But let me add that Revelation 17 points to the possibility of Freemasons being part of the coming reorganization of Europe (Revelation 17:12-13) as well as them betraying the church of the great city of seven hills (Revelation 17:15-18).

Destruction will hit Rome, and the Freemasons in Europe may well be major supporters of that.

Some items of related interest may include:

Freemasonry and the Destruction of Rome? What is Freemasonry? What about ties to the Illuminati? Could they be involved in the fulfillment of prophecy? Here is a link to two related videos: Freemasonry, Armageddon, and Rome and Freemasons and Vatican Officials Seek Cooperation.
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? A video sermon of related interest is: Will the Interfaith Movement lead to World War III? and a video sermon is also available: Do You Know That Babylon is Forming?
Armageddon Who is involved and when will this gathering happen? Here is also a video from Dr. Thiel, from Tel Megiddo in Israel: Armageddon. Another video is related to China’s One Belt, One Road Initiative (Silk Road project): watch Is China paving roads to Armageddon?
Satan’s Plan Does Satan have a plan? What is it? Has it already been successful? Will it be successful in the future? Here are links to a two-part sermon series: What are Some of the Parts of Satan’s Plan? and Satan’s Plan is More Dramatic than Many Realize.
Mystery of Iniquity What is the mystery of iniquity? How did it start? How will it end? Two related sermons are also available: The Mystery of Iniquity and The Mystery of Lawlessness.
Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? What about other peoples? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about Africa, Asia, South America, and the Islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon;  When Will the End of the Age Come?;  Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original.