Church of God News

Kenya tax protester in Nairobi
(Photo by By Xwaxes  via Wikipedia)

COGwriter

Kenyans have been protesting a new tax bill in Nairobi and elsewhere:

Multiple deaths reported as police clash with anti-tax protesters in Kenya

The protesters are rallying against proposed tax hikes.

June 25, 2024

 Police allegedly fired live ammunition at anti-government protesters in Kenya‘s capital on Tuesday, as thousands of people demonstrated against proposed tax hikes in the East African nation.

At least five people were shot dead during Tuesday’s clashes between police and protesters in Nairobi, according to Amnesty International. Another 31 people were injured, the organization said. There were also 52 arrests, per Amnesty International.

Images and videos circulating online purportedly show several protesters with bullet wounds in the Kenyan capital. …

Scores of protesters were seen breaching the complex housing Kenya’s Parliament, where lawmakers had just voted to approve a contentious finance bill that raises some taxes. A section of the building was set on fire, forcing lawmakers to evacuate. …

The demonstrations have also been taking place nationwide, including in Kenyan President William Ruto’s hometown of Eldoret.

At least 12 people have been allegedly abducted or have forcibly disappeared in connection to the ongoing protests, according to Kenya’s Police Reforms Working Group. The abductions reportedly occurred over the past five days, intensifying on Monday. In a statement posted on X, Kenyan Chief Justice Martha Koome said the reports of protesters being abducted are of “deep concern” and a “direct assault on the rule of law.” https://abcnews.go.com/International/kenya-tax-protests-nairobi/story?id=111399590

Tax protests were a factor that led to the formation of the United States of America centuries ago.

Here is an update on the number of deaths and a change related to that bill:

26 June 2024

At least 22 people were killed during anti-government protests in Kenya on Tuesday, according to a doctors’ association. Protesters have called for peaceful protests to continue on Thursday. DW has more.

• Police fire blanks to disperse crowds overnight …

Kenya’s state-backed rights body announced the death of 22 protesters killed during Tuesday’s rallies, while the Kenya Medical Association put the death toll at 23.

Some 30 others were being treated for bullet wounds sustained during the nationwide protests, the association said.

Roseline Odede, chairwoman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, said that 19 people had died in the capital, Nairobi, where police opened fire at demonstrators who stormed parliament.

She vowed the commission would launch an inquiry, describing the toll as “the largest number of deaths [in] a single day protest.” https://www.dw.com/en/kenya-updates-calls-for-new-protests-as-death-roll-rises/live-69476806

June 26 (Reuters) – Kenya’s President William Ruto on Wednesday declined to sign a highly contentious finance bill that has sparked nationwide deadly protests, and has sent it back to parliament for amendments, Kenya’s Star newspaper and KTN News reported. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/kenyas-ruto-rejects-tax-bill-returns-it-parliament-local-media-reports-2024-06-26/

So, after the death the bill has at least been delayed.

There are also other protests in other parts of the world:

Police patrols increased after protesters clash outside Los Angeles synagogue

June 24, 2024

Police are stepping up patrols outside a synagogue that was an epicenter for protests that turned physical in West Los Angeles over the weekend.

Pro-Palestinian and Pro-Israeli demonstrators clashed Sunday outside Adas Torah synagogue, an Orthodox shul, in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood, which police said resulted in two reports of battery. …

Officials said police are increasing patrols at the synagogue and other religious institutions in the area.

Protesters were met Sunday with counterdemonstrators, some carrying Israeli flags, and several scuffles occurred throughout the neighborhood, NBC Los Angeles reported.

“One person just boom, straight to my nose,” Nafoli Sherman told NBC Los Angeles. “I fell to the floor. I got hit many times on my head. I got kicked over here.”

There were reports of people throwing punches and using protest signs as weapons. One person who was accused of carrying a spiked post was arrested, according to police, who added that the person was cited at the West Los Angeles station and released. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-patrols-increased-protesters-clash-los-angeles-synagogue-rcna158671

‘We are protesting both of them.’ Presidential debate draws activists’ ire

June 25, 2024

With all eyes on Atlanta on Thursday as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump meet for the first presidential debate of the campaign season, some activists plan to assemble in support of the cause they champion — and against both of the candidates.

Opponents of Atlanta’s planned public safety training center and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war have announced plans to protest ahead of the debate at CNN. https://www.ajc.com/politics/activists-are-planning-protests-ahead-of-the-atlanta-presidential-debates/4EL22U6YJVCVVBKL4YCKKCK5BU/

Activists, including a volunteer from the group CODEPINK, assembled outside the home of CNN anchor Jake Tapper last week, demonstrating over his coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

Video of the incident circulated on X, formerly known as Twitter, beginning on Friday, showing demonstrators standing on the street and shouting outside the home. CODEPINK did not formally organize the protest.

One protester, holding a bullhorn, claimed Tapper had “spewed Israeli propaganda.” The group of activists also criticized him for not referring to the deaths of civilians in Gaza as a “genocide.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/06/23/protest-jake-tapper-home-children-israel-hamas/74186241007/

Protests in various places seem to have intensified over the last year or so.

Of course, protests are not new. Here is something from the old Radio Church of God, many decades ago, written by the late Garner Ted Armstrong:

“POLICE BRUTALITY!” “Poverty!” “Unequal opportunity!” “Illiteracy!” “Poor housing!” “Police Chief Parkerl” These are hurled back and forth as causes of the race riots in Los Angeles. Read, in this article, the REAL cause, and the powder keg of violence that could explode where YOU live! …

The cause: HUMAN NATURE. And remember, once again, just what IS human nature ! Human nature is a mixture of vanity, jealousy, lust and greed. Jeremiah was inspired to write, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it” (Jer. 17:9) .

James said it is the NATURE of man to rebel, to riot, to fight wars! ” From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not , because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (Jas. 4:1-3).

The Bible is the book about human nature. It explains what human nature really IS, how it is hostile and angry toward law. The apostle Paul said, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be!” (Rom. 8 :7.) And the lusts, jealousies, resentments and frustrations of human nature are not limited to anyone race. But they are most assuredly aggravated by race hatred. …

Racial tensions in the United States are being aggravated during these modern times, not quieted. Bigotry and bias are INCREASING, not decreasing. …

The plain truth of the matter is that the family is breaking down and disintegrating among all racial communities, around the world!

And remember , too, that Almighty God seriously indicts His people ISRAEL, more than any others for this breakdown in the family! He said, through Isaiah , “As for MY people [and he was referring to the House of Israel !], children are their oppressors, and women rule over them, o my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths” (Isa. 3:12). ..broken homes-that is, homes in which one or the other parent is absent! And what effect would this have on the morals, the character, the education, the economic status of all these children?

The Watts riot is one resounding answer! …

Whether we like to believe it or not, your Bible prophesies we are headed for some of the bloodiest riots, mass uprisings, and rampant crime in our big cities that this world has ever seen! …

To a certain degree, the only reason THOUSANDS more humans do not openly steal, rob, burn or kill is the FEAR OF REPRISAL! They fear being CAUGHT at it. But when it seems EVERYONE ELSE is suddenly defying the l aw, it’s much easier for many people who normally might not steal to suddenly give vent to their inherent nature! …

Human nature IS hate, animosity toward authority, jealousy, vanity , lust and greed! Human nature IS intolerant. It is biased! It is filled with SELF , and terribly bigoted! And human nature is not limit ed to one race!

Dr . Robert M. Page once said, “So long as we have human nature, we shall have war.”

But God’s Word revealed the basic truth of that statement centuries before. James asks, “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence , even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (Jas. 4 : 1-3). …

When a white man murders, he is a white murderer. And when a black man murders, he is a black murderer. The color of a man’s skin is only one more description of him as a person, as a human being- like his height, weight, shape, place of birth or age. But whether he is white or black, red, pink, polka dotted or blue-if he breaks the law, if he resists arrest, if he loots, robs, kills or steals, then he is guilty of LAWBREAKING-NOT “guilty” merely because he is a member of one race or another.  (Armstrong GT. The RACE RIOTS of the FUTURE! Plain Truth, October 1965)

Many situations discussed in the above article are much worse now.

Now, let me say that, yes, police brutality exists.

People are supposed to love one another.

But many do not understand how God views race–for details, check out the online sermon: Race and Grace; Do you view race as God does?

As far as riots go, they are expected. Notice the following prophecy:

25 There shall be terror within (Deuteronomy 32:25)

We are seeing more and more of that in the USA.

As far as violence go, notice the following from prophetic writings:

23 ‘Make a chain,
For the land is filled with crimes of blood,
And the city is full of violence.
24 Therefore I will bring the worst of the Gentiles,
And they will possess their houses;
I will cause the pomp of the strong to cease,
And their holy places shall be defiled. (Ezekiel 7:23-24)

13 … evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:13)

While there can be a time for protests (cf. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8), the results of many protests are not good.

Violent protests are not the answer to what ails the world.

The Kingdom of God is the Solution.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

God’s Grace is For All Is being Jewish a hindrance to salvation? What about not being a descendant of Israel? What does the Bible really teach? Here is a link to a related sermon titled Race and Grace; Do you view race as God does? Watch also Mystery of Race.
Taxes What caused the descendants of Israel to pay taxes? Should Christians pay taxes? If you prefer, or additionally, you could watch the video Should Christians Pay Taxes?
24 items to prophetically watch in 2024 Much is happening. Dr. Thiel points to 24 items to watch (cf. Mark 13:37) in this article. Here is a link to a related video: 24 Items to Prophetically Watch in 2024. Here is a link to related video in the Spanish language titled 24 Cosas a tener en cuenta en 2024: https://youtu.be/6f7oqEhjhbg
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.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse What do each of the four horseman of the Apocalypse represent? Have they began their ride? Did Jesus discuss the any of this? Might their rides coincide with the “beginning of sorrows? Do they start their ride prior to the Great Tribulation? Did Nostradamus or any other ‘private prophets’ write predictions that may mislead people so that they may not understand the truth of one or more of the four horseman? There is also a related YouTube video titled Sorrows and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Here are links to shorter videos: These Signs of the 4 Horsemen Have Begun and Biological Weapons and the 4th Horseman of the Apocalypse.
USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses Can you point to scriptures, like Daniel 11:39, that point to the USA in the 21st century? This article does. A related sermon is titled: Do these 7 prophesies point to the end of the USA?
Who is the King of the West? Why is there no Final End-Time King of the West in Bible Prophecy? Is the United States the King of the West? Here is a version in the Spanish language: ¿Quién es el Rey del Occidente? ¿Por qué no hay un Rey del Occidente en la profecía del tiempo del fin? A related sermon is also available: The Bible, the USA, and the King of the West.
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is are links to related sermons: Christian Election: Is God Calling YOU? and Predestination and Your Selection; here is a message in Spanish: Me Está Llamando Dios Hoy? A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? Two related sermons about this are also available: Real Repentance and Real Christian Repentance.
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.
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? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about the peoples of 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.

Human brain organoids (NAID, via Wikipedia)

COGwriter

Microsoft Network reported the following:

16 lab-grown brains run world’s first ‘living computer’ in Switzerland

Swiss technology firm Final Spark has successfully launched Neuroplatform, the world’s first bioprocessing platform where human brain organoids (lab-grown miniaturized versions of organs) perform computational tasks instead of silicon chips.

The first such facility hosts the processing prowess of 16 brain organoids, which the company claims uses a million times less power than their silicon counterparts. …

Replacing silicon chips with bioprocessors could lead to drastic energy savings. Final Spark allows research labs to experience the power of biological processors on the Neuroplatform.  …

Final Spark has made working these varied components possible through an innovative setup called Multi-Electrode Arrays (MEAs), where the three-dimensional masses of brain tissue are placed.

Each MEA has four brain organoids that interface with eight electrodes. These electrodes perform the dual role of stimulating the organoids and recording the data they process. 4w (date not listed, but accessed 06/25/24) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/16-lab-grown-brains-run-world-s-first-living-computer-in-switzerland/ar-BB1ncgwI

So, now they have a computer brain that is part human brain!

The Bible warns:

10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, (1 Timothy 6:10a)

Do not be deceived–there are ethical ways to save energy that do not require blending human brains with electronics.

Notice the following involving lovers of money and Jesus:

14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. 15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. (Luke 16:14-15)

Yes, the scientists putting together this abomination are highly esteemed.

Having human brain cells merged with electronics to run computers is not a smart thing to do:

22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, (Romans 1:22)

The Apostle Paul warned about those that do not want to retain God in their knowledge would become inventors evil things:

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, (Romans 1:28-30)

Here is something posted at Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence about this “breakthrough”:

Wetware computing and organoid intelligence is an emerging research field at the intersection of electrophysiology and artificial intelligence. The core concept involves using living neurons to perform computations, similar to how Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are used today. However, unlike ANNs, where updating digital tensors (weights) can instantly modify network responses, entirely new methods must be developed for neural networks using biological neurons. Discovering these methods is challenging and requires a system capable of conducting numerous experiments, ideally accessible to researchers worldwide. For this reason, we developed a hardware and software system that allows for electrophysiological experiments on an unmatched scale. The Neuroplatform enables researchers to run experiments on neural organoids with a lifetime of even more than 100 days. To do so, we streamlined the experimental process to quickly produce new organoids, monitor action potentials 24/7, and provide electrical stimulations. We also designed a microfluidic system that allows for fully automated medium flow and change, thus reducing the disruptions by physical interventions in the incubator and ensuring stable environmental conditions. Over the past three years, the Neuroplatform was utilized with over 1,000 brain organoids, enabling the collection of more than 18 terabytes of data. A dedicated Application Programming Interface (API) has been developed to conduct remote research directly via our Python library or using interactive compute such as Jupyter Notebooks. In addition to electrophysiological operations, our API also controls pumps, digital cameras and UV lights for molecule uncaging. This allows for the execution of complex 24/7 experiments, including closed-loop strategies and processing using the latest deep learning or reinforcement learning libraries. Furthermore, the infrastructure supports entirely remote use. Currently in 2024, the system is freely available for research purposes, and numerous research groups have begun using it for their experiments. This article outlines the system’s architecture and provides specific examples of experiments and results. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/artificial-intelligence/articles/10.3389/frai.2024.1376042/full

Sadly, the above article considers this good.

Michael Snyder posted the following:

They Are Using Lab-Grown Human Brains That They Have Enslaved Called “Organoids” To Run Computers

June 23, 2024

A company in Switzerland known as “Final Spark” has constructed a bizarre hybrid biocomputer that combines lab-grown miniature human brains with conventional electronic circuits. This approach saves an extraordinary amount of energy compared to normal computers, but there is a big problem. The lab-grown miniature human brains keep wearing out and dying, and so scientists have to keep growing new ones to replace them. Stem cells that are derived from human skin tissue are used to create the 16 spherical brain “organoids” that the system depends upon. I realize that this sounds like something straight out of a really bad science fiction movie, but it is actually happening. …

But what about the lab-grown human brains that are being enslaved to run the Neuroplatform?

Each of the 16 mini-brains is made up of approximately 10,000 living neurons, and they are kept alive by a “microfluidics system that supplies water and nutrients for the cells”…

Rather than merely integrating biological concepts into computing, FinalSpark’s online platform ‘taps’ into spherical clusters of lab-grown human brain cells called organoids. A total of 16 organoids are housed within four arrays that connect to eight electrodes each and a microfluidics system that supplies water and nutrients for the cells.

The approach, known as wetware computing, in this case harnesses researchers’ abilities to culture organoids in the lab, a fairly new technology that allows scientists to study what are essentially mini replicas of individual organs.

During their short lives, the mini-brains are literally trained to perform certain tasks using a reward and punishment system…

If the enslaved mini-brains do what they are supposed to do, they are rewarded with lots of pleasure.

If the enslaved mini-brains do not do what they are supposed to do, they are hit with lots of “irregular electrical activity”.

In other words, these miniature human brains are tortured until they learn to obey.

Reading that should literally make you sick.

What these scientists are doing is so incredibly evil. …

Final Spark insists that the processor that it has created will use a million times less energy compared to a normal silicon chip.

There is just one enormous problem.

The mini-brains keep dying and must be regularly replaced. …

These “organoids” are literally worked to death.

They are hooked up to electrodes and worked until they can work no more…

Creating miniature human brains and using them to power a computer may be a way to save a lot of energy, but it also perfectly illustrates how far our society has fallen.

We are crossing lines that should never be crossed, and eventually we will pay a very great price for the crimes that our scientists are committing. https://endoftheamericandream.com/they-are-using-lab-grown-human-brains-that-they-have-enslaved-called-organoids-to-run-computers/

Yes, that abomination is wrong on so many fronts. Consider something God said that He had the prophet Ezekiel record:

 4 … “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” (Ezekiel 9:4)

So, we are seeing a type of enslaved cyborg now being developed to run computers. While using electronics to help those with injured or malfunctioning brains may have a proper place, using human brain cells to be part of computers is wrong. They are producing a type of cyborg abomination.

Of course, those of us who believe the Bible should not be surprised that humans are going the wrong way with aspects of genetic research. Notice that the Bible warned about human knowledge increasing and problems in the end time:

6 And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” (Genesis 11:6-7)

4 “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” (Daniel 12:4)

1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, … 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! (2 Timothy 3:1-2,5)

How much ‘love’ do scientists have for the inter-spliced, animal-human or human brain-electronic entities they are sometimes creating? Do they not brutally experiment and then destroy most of what they are currently creating that way?

Notice also:

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; …

31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, (Romans 1:28,31, KJV)

1 This know also, that in the last days …  2 For men shall be …  3 Without natural affection, (2 Timothy 3:1-3, KJV)

Those who wish to use human brain cells for this type of research LACK NATURAL AFFECTION.

This is going the wrong direction. We need to turn away from such.

The Bible warns:

12 There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death. (Proverbs 14:12)

Blending human and monkey DNA as well as human brains this way with electronics is not right.

But we are seeing these abominable things in these last days. They should be denounced.

UPDATE 06/30/24: We just uploaded the following related video:

14:42

Cyborg Abominations!

Final Spark, a technology firm based in Switzerland, reportedly “has successfully launched Neuroplatform, the world’s first bioprocessing platform where human brain organoids (lab-grown miniaturized versions of organs) perform computational tasks instead of silicon chips.” Basically, they make a type of small “human” brain out of stem wells and use electrical impulses to have it perform various computational tasks. Reportedly, this uses a million times less energy than silicon chips. Could love of money be a factor here? Is this a type of cyborg abomination? What is a cyborg? Does any of this bring to mind the fictional alien species called ‘The Borg’ in ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’? ‘Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence’ considers this an important breakthrough for scientists to learn from and build upon. Michael Snyder says that these organoids are enslaved and that “these miniature human brains are tortured until they learn to obey” and that these ‘organoids’ are literally worked to death.” What about human-monkey and human-pig genetics? Could these “inventors of evil things” be fulfilling last days’ prophecies? Are we in the last days? Should Christians consider these human brain computers an abomination? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie address these issues and more in the light of the Bible.

Here is a link to our video: Cyborg Abominations!

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Chimeras: Has Science Crossed the Line? What are chimeras? Has science crossed the line? Does the Bible give any clues? A video of related interest is Half human, half pig: What’s the difference?
GMOs and Bible Prophecy What are GMOs? Since they were not in the food supply until 1994, how could they possibly relate to Bible prophecy? Do GMOs put the USA and others at risk? Here are some related videos: GMO Risks and the Bible and GMOs, Lab meat, Hydrogenation: Safe or Dangerous?
Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse What is the pale horse of death and pestilences? What will it bring and when? Here is a link to a related sermon: Fourth Horseman, COVID, and the Rise of the Beast of Revelation. Here is a version of that sermon in Spanish: El Cuarto Caballo, El COVID y El Surgimiento de la Bestia del Apocalipsis. Some shorter related videos may include Amphibian Apocalypse: Threat to Humans? and Zombie Deer Disease is Here! Are the 10 Plagues on Egypt Coming? Here is a version of the article in Spanish: El cuarto jinete de Apocalipsis, el caballo pálido de muerte y pestilencia.
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.
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. Two animated videos of related interest are also available: Big Bang: Nothing or Creator? and A Lifegiver or Spontaneous Evolution?
What is Your Destiny? Deification? Did the Early Church Teach That Christians Would Become God? What is your ultimate destiny? What does the Bible teach? Is deification only a weird or cultic idea? Are you to rule the universe? Here is a link to the video sermon What is Your Destiny?
Did Early Christians Believe that Humans Possessed Immortality? What does John 3:16, and other writings, tell us? Did a doctrine kept adopted from paganism? Here is a YouTube video titled Are humans immortal?
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.
Why Were You Born? Why did God make you? Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject. You may also wish to read the article What is Your Destiny? or watch the video, also titled What is Your Destiny?
Building Character: Going on to Perfection Once you have accepted Jesus, do you need to strive for perfection and build character? A related video sermon is available: Going on to perfection and building character.
What is the Meaning of Life? Who does God say is happy? What is your ultimate destiny? Do you really know? Does God actually have a plan for YOU personally? If you would like to watch videos covering subjects of this article, you can click on the following links: Why YOU? Why Do YOU Suffer? and What is the meaning of your life?
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. Here are links to three related sermons: The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.

Julian Assange begins his journey to freedom

Instead of being extradited to the US, the WikiLeaks founder will travel to the Northern Mariana Island of Saipan for a court hearing and is then expected to return to Australia.

Read more: https://t.co/szDH8PXMad pic.twitter.com/hUyJbQtntf

— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 25, 2024

COGwriter

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange made a deal with the US government which has agreed that the five years he just served in a UK jail was enough punishment for his revealing of information the US government did not want released. Prior to his arrest in 2019, he was confined at the Embassy of Ecuador since 2012, so he has been “punished” (or otherwise confined for at least 12 years–and over 13 if you count other matters). Here are some reports:

June 25, 2024

A plane carrying Julian Assange landed Tuesday in Bangkok for refueling, as the WikiLeaks founder was on his way to enter a plea deal with the U.S. government that will free him and resolve the legal case that spanned years and continents over the publication of a trove of classified documents.

A chartered flight from London that Assange’s wife, Stella, confirmed was carrying her husband landed at Don Mueang International Airport. Officials there told The Associated Press the plane was scheduled to continue on to Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Pacific, where Assange is expected to appear in court on Wednesday. …

“Thirteen-and-a-half years and two extradition requests after he was first arrested, Julian Assange left the U.K. yesterday, following a bail hearing last Thursday, held in private at his request,” said Stephen Parkinson, the chief prosecutor for England and Wales.

The plea deal brings an abrupt conclusion to a criminal case of international intrigue and to the U.S. government’s yearslong pursuit of a publisher whose hugely popular secret-sharing website made him a cause célèbre among many press freedom advocates who said he acted as a journalist to expose U.S. military wrongdoing. U.S. prosecutors, in contrast, have repeatedly asserted that his actions broke the law and put the country’s national security at risk. https://apnews.com/article/assange-justice-department-plea-wikileaks-saipan-australia-00eb380879ff636cc9b916f82f82ed40

June 24, 2024

Assange is scheduled to appear in the federal court in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Western Pacific, to plead guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defense information, the Justice Department said in a letter filed in court.

The guilty plea, which a judge must approve, abruptly ends a criminal case of international intrigue and the U.S. government’s yearslong pursuit of a publisher whose hugely popular secret-sharing website made him a cause celebre among many press freedom advocates who said he acted as a journalist to expose U.S. military wrongdoing. Investigators, by contrast, have repeatedly asserted that his actions broke laws meant to protect sensitive information and put the country’s national security at risk.

He is expected to return to Australia after his plea and sentencing, which is scheduled for Wednesday morning, local time in Saipan, the largest island in the Northern Mariana Islands. The hearing is taking place there because of Assange’s opposition to traveling to the continental U.S., and because of the court’s proximity to Australia.

Assange’s U.S. attorney, Barry Pollack, did not immediately return messages seeking comment Monday.

The deal ensures that Assange will admit guilt while also sparing him from any additional prison time. He had spent years hiding out in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London after Swedish authorities sought his arrest on rape allegations before he was locked up in the United Kingdom.

Prosecutors have agreed to a sentence of the five years Assange has already spent in a high-security British prison while fighting to avoid extradition to the U.S. to face charges, a process that has played out in a series of hearings in London. Last month, he won the right to appeal an extradition order after his lawyers argued that the U.S. government provided “blatantly inadequate” assurances that he would have the same free-speech protections as an American citizen if extradited from Britain.

Assange has been heralded by many around the world as a hero who brought to light military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among the files published by WikiLeaks was a video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack by American forces in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two Reuters journalists.

But his reputation was also tarnished by rape allegations, which he has denied.

The Justice Department’s indictment unsealed in 2019 accused Assange of encouraging and helping U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks published in 2010. Prosecutors had accused Assange of damaging national security by publishing documents that harmed the U.S. and its allies and aided its adversaries.

The case was lambasted by press advocates and Assange supporters. Federal prosecutors defended it as targeting conduct that went way beyond that of a journalist gathering information, amounting to an attempt to solicit, steal and indiscriminately publish classified government documents. It was brought even though the Obama administration Justice Department had passed on prosecuting him years earlier.

The plea agreement comes months after President Joe Biden said he was considering a request from Australia to drop the U.S. push to prosecute Assange.

Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison after being convicted of violating the Espionage Act and other offenses for leaking classified government and military documents to WikiLeaks. President Barack Obama commuted her sentence in 2017, allowing her release after about seven behind bars.

Assange made headlines in 2016 after his website published Democratic emails that prosecutors say were stolen by Russian intelligence operatives. He was never charged in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, but the inquiry laid bare in stark detail the role that the hacking operation played in interfering in that year’s election on behalf of then-Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Justice Department officials mulled charges for Assange following the documents’ 2010 publication, but were unsure a case would hold up in court and were concerned it could be hard to justify prosecuting him for acts similar to those of a conventional journalist.

The posture changed in the Trump administration, however, with former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in 2017 calling Assange’s arrest a priority.

Assange’s family and supporters have said his physical and mental health have suffered during more than a decade of legal battles, which includes seven years spent inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

Assange took refuge there in 2012 and was granted political asylum after courts in England ruled he should be extradited to Sweden as part of a rape investigation in the Scandinavian country. British police arrested him after Ecuador’s government withdrew his asylum status in 2019, and then he was jailed for skipping bail when he first took shelter inside the embassy.

Although Sweden eventually dropped its sex crimes investigation because so much time had elapsed, Assange has remained in London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison during the extradition battle with the U.S. https://www.voanews.com/a/wikileaks-founder-assange-to-plead-guilty-in-deal-with-us-/7668959.html

When he was arrested five years ago, Edward Snowden made some comments:

Snowden: Assange arrest a blow to press freedom

April 11, 2019

Edward Snowden, the former security contractor who leaked classified information about U.S. surveillance programs, says the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is a blow to media freedom.

“Images of Ecuador’s ambassador inviting the UK’s secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of–like it or not–award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books,” Snowden said in a tweet.

“Assange’s critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom.”

Snowden was charged by the United States in 2013 of violating the country’s espionage act. He was granted asylum by Russia that year and the asylum has been extended until at least 2020. https://www.apnews.com/328522adb35b4445a3fb875d63fb0870

WikiLeaks got in hot water with the USA when it became concerned about the surveillance and similar tactics that the Obama Administration used. Also, its 2016 email releases were believed to have hurt Hillary Clinton’ chances to win the presidential election that Donald Trump ended up winning (see also WikiLeaks releases more–what about Obamagate? and Sanders being pressured to disavow Hillary Clinton endorsement after Wikileaks emails suggest rigged system; DNC chair resigns).

Here is another report about Julian Assange:

June 25, 2024

WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange should never have been jailed in the first place, former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has told RT in an exclusive interview.

Correa, who granted Assange asylum in his country’s embassy in London in 2012, spoke to RT shortly after the news broke that the Australian had been released from prison in the UK as part of a plea deal with the US Justice Department.

“Julian Assange is persecuted for telling the truth, not for lying. And he is the truth teller, the persecuted, the punished, the one buried alive in a prison, when the ones in prison should have been the war criminals,” Correa said.

In 2010, WikiLeaks released footage of a US military helicopter gunning down civilians in Baghdad three years previously, after mistaking them for armed insurgents. The attack resulted in 12 civilians being killed, including two children and two people working for the Reuters news agency. The video was part of a wider release of top-secret files by WikiLeaks, including documents connected to the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

From 2011 to 2019, Assange took sanctuary inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London due to fear of extradition to the US. When Ecuador’s next president, Lenin Moreno, revoked his asylum status, Assange was ejected from the embassy and arrested by British police. He then spent five years at the Belmarsh maximum-security prison in London.

Correa said he is “happy” that Assange has been released, but insisted he should have never been targeted in the first place. https://www.rt.com/news/599924-assange-buried-alive-truth-correa/

There are a lot of politics associated with Wikileaks and Julian Assange. I found it interesting that the president of Ecuador specifically mentioned Julian Assange’s involvement with leaking Vatican-related documents as a major reason to terminate his asylum in 2019. Wikileaks posted Vatican documents in 2010, which is before Julian Assange was granted asylum by Ecuador (see WikiLeaks Highlights Vatican’s Influence), but apparently for some reason, other Vatican-related leaks became a reason to terminate his asylum. The Vatican has a lot of international influence, and will have more (cf. Revelation 17).

Here are some links to some other Wikileaks related posts at this COGwriter news page:

• WikiLeaks releases more and flatly denies that Russia is the source

• WikiLeaks releases more, FBI investigating Hillary again

• Syria, Hillary Clinton, WikiLeaks, and Prophecy

• Wikileaks: U.S. spy agency tapped German chancellery for decades

• Wikileaks: USA spied on last three French presidents; President Hollande calls for emergency meeting

• WikiLeaks, GMOs, TTIP, Obama Administration, and Russian views

• Wikileaks provides insight in behind the scenes views of world politics

• WikiLeaks releases more–what about Obamagate?

• ‘WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange Arrested in London;’ Plus Brexit extended

• SC: U.S. Officials Concern Troll About World Press Freedoms While Assaulting Them

There have been various international ramifications of some of what Wikileaks has revealed.

Both the Snowden leaks and WikiLeaks have shown the Europeans that the USA does not trust Europe, considers Europe to be a second or third rate partner, has violated EU law, and that the USA has lied to Europe about this. The Europeans have documented proof and will remember this. It would seem that this will be part of Europe’s justification to later successfully attack the USA, which it will per Daniel 11:39.

The leaks have shown the world that the USA does not have the moral high ground it has long claimed and this will not end up well for the USA.

Julian Assange, perhaps because of his leaking of apparently true information that embarrassed the Democratic party, did not have much support from the mainstream press in the US.

Julian Assange’s matter reminded me of the so-called ‘Pentagon Papers’ release that the mainstream press defended. So, today, I looked for something on that, and located the following:

Alan Dershowitz: Is Julian Assange another Pentagon Papers case?

April 12, 2019

Before WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gained asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012, he and his British legal team asked me to fly to London to provide legal advice about United States law relating to espionage and press freedom. I cannot disclose what advice I gave them, but I can say that I believed then, and still believe now, that there is no constitutional difference between WikiLeaks and the New York Times.

If the New York Times, in 1971, could lawfully publish the Pentagon Papers knowing they included classified documents stolen by Rand Corporation military analyst Daniel Ellsberg from our federal government, then indeed WikiLeaks was entitled, under the First Amendment, to publish classified material that Assange knew was stolen by former United States Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning from our federal government.

{mosads}So if prosecutors were to charge Assange with espionage or any other crime for merely publishing the Manning material, this would be another Pentagon Papers case with the same likely outcome. Many people have misunderstood the actual Supreme Court ruling in 1971. It did not say that the newspapers planning to publish the Pentagon Papers could not be prosecuted if they published classified material. It only said that they could not be restrained, or stopped in advance, from publishing them. Well, they did publish, and they were not prosecuted. https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/438578-alan-dershowitz-is-julian-assange-another-pentagon-papers-case/

Anyway, yes, there is selective prosecutions in the US based upon political and social views. Yes, the major media in the US also have biases which can impact prosecution.

Justice in the US is most certainly not blind. And it has gotten worse since 2019.

That said, worse censorship and enforcement against true information is coming.

And that is prophesied in the word of God (cf. Amos 8:11-12). As are persecutions (Luke 21:12; John 15:20).

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word What is the ‘short work’ of Romans 9:28? Who is preparing for it? Will Philadelphian Christians instruct many in the end times? What about modern censoring, censorship, and shadow banning? Here is a link to a related video sermon titled: The Short Work. Here is a link to another: Preparing to Instruct Many.

Internet Censorship and Prophecy Are concerns about internet censorship limited to nations such as Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. But what about the USA, Canada, and Germany? What about the European Union? What about internet media companies such as Facebook, Google, YouTube, or email services like MailChimp? Has the attempt to control information been made by various ones over the centuries? Was the New Testament affected by it? What about the church throughout the centuries? Has the Bible already been partially censored? Which Bible prophecies point to coming Internet censorship? What about the Book of Amos? What about the coming 666 Beast and final Antichrist? Is there anything that can be done about this? Should Philadelphian Christians be working on anything now? Will preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God vs. a highly media-supported alternative lead to a ‘famine of the word’? More internet censorship is coming as various statements in the Bible support.

Persecutions by Church and State This article documents some that have occurred against those associated with the COGs and some prophesied to occur. Will those with the cross be the persecutors or the persecuted–this article has the shocking answer. There are also three video sermons you can watch: Cancel Culture and Christian Persecution, The Coming Persecution of the Church, and Christian Persecution from the Beast. Here is information in the Spanish language: Persecuciones de la Iglesia y el Estado.

The Snowden Leaks are Leading to the Destruction of the USA Can what happened with the leaks of what the NSA has done help the USA to be taken over? What does the Bible teach that seems to be related to this? Here is a related YouTube video titled Are the Snowden NSA leaks leading to the destruction of the USA?

COGwriter

In these stressful times of political immorality, censorship, protests, and increased threats to religious liberty along with restrictions, remember that Jesus taught:

Yes, many of us are facing various tribulations, but as Christians we need to “be of good cheer.”

Related to dealing with fear, the Continuing Church of God put out the following sermon on its ContinuingCOG channel:

1:22:34

Ten Plus Steps to Rid Yourself of Fear

Billions of people are afraid for many reasons, including COVID-19. Are any fears good? Are there mindless fears and phobias? Can autosuggestion be deceptive? Can you deal with mental torment? What are some causes of bad dreams (nightmares)? Does Satan try to exploit fears through his lies? Can the weak become strong? Were Christ’s disciples ever fearful? Are there biblical ways to deal with fear? What about spiritual fear and the ‘fear of God’? The late evangelists Dr. Herman Hoeh had an article published in 1955 titled ‘How to Conquer Your Fears?’ What are eight steps from the Apostle Peter? What did Jesus teach about worry? Are most Christians Philadelphian? What did Jesus teach about fear? What is the ultimate biblical fate for cowards? Here a the list of ten steps to help rid yourself of fear: 1. “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8). Changing your mental focus will help you push out fear. 2. Develop faith. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). 3. Add virtue to your faith in the power of God. You cannot hide your sins from God (cf. Psalm 90:8). 4. Add to virtue knowledge. Study the word of God, study CCOG literature, pay attention to sermons (ContinuingCOG YouTube sermon channel) and sermonettes (BibleNewsProphecy YouTube sermonette channel). 5. Add self-control to knowledge. Resist Satan and his hopes that you will walk by sight instead of faith. 6. Add patience to self-control. You may have to go through many tests and trials to build patience, but as you get through the tests and trials you should have the faith to recognize that God got you through them and that you do not need to fear. 7. Add godliness to patience. 8. Add to patience, brotherly kindness. “Let Philadelphia continue” (Hebrews 13:1). 9. Add to brotherly kindness, love. 10. Be courageous. “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). This is how YOU can conquer your fears and worries! Ask God for help to carry out His ten-fold plan to attain real peace of mind. Then there is also prayer and fasting. Yes, through God’s help you can rid yourself of fear. This sermon by Dr. Thiel covers these topics and more.

Here is a link to the sermon: Ten Plus Steps to Rid Yourself of Fear.

While USA government officials are promoting fear and often hypocrisy, understand that Christians do not need to fear.

That can take faith.

The old Worldwide Church of God published the following by the late Sidney M. Hegvold:

Increase Your Faith!

We as Christians can lack strong, godly faith because we question the why and how of what God does.

Will there be any faith in this last generation before Jesus Christ returns? Christ Himself questioned whether there would be! Notice: “Nevertheless,” Jesus asked, “when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).

What a sobering question! God clearly states that His people — the just — must live by faith (Romans 1:17), and that without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). But dynamic, living faith is a rare commodity in this world.

How, then, can one have faith?

The truth is that the kind of faith God desires us to have cannot just be “worked up”: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8, Authorized Version).

God must give us the kind of faith that really works — the kind of faith required for salvation. And certainly we must want to have this faith. Who wouldn’t want to have the faith required to receive God’s wonderful blessings of protection, peace of mind or healing, for example?

John knew full well that Christ had the power to free him from prison. But he may have wondered why Christ didn’t do so.

Now, exactly how does God give us this faith? Romans 10:17, Revised Standard Version, tells us how we receive true, godly faith: “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.”

How we receive faith

First, we must believe what God says — trust Him! “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness'” (Romans 4:3).

This is a major problem for all of us in this materialistic generation, so steeped in evolution. It can be extremely difficult to really believe God.

All true Christians have an earnest desire to live by faith, but there has been such an explosion of materialistic knowledge on every imaginable subject — medicine, psychology, sociology, biology, astronomy, history, geology — that we can find ourselves spontaneously asking why and how to almost every statement or promise God makes in the Bible. And these are faith-killing questions.

Think about it: Why does God let good people suffer and die while evil people often live well and prosper? How could the earth, including Mt. Everest and the Grand Canyon, have been completely covered with water during the Flood in the days of Noah, not even 5,000 years ago — where did all that water come from and where did it go? Where did a fish large enough to swallow Jonah come from, and how did Jonah breathe for three days and three nights while he was in the whale’s belly?

And so the questions go.

Should we just blindly accept and believe, then? Absolutely not! Faith cannot be expressed that way. “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:20, AV). Faith has to be demonstrated by action — faith must be active, dynamic, living.

The key is the statement made in Romans 10:17. Faith can come only through the preaching of Jesus Christ. Faith is spiritual and has nothing to do with the physical or material.

Not our ways or reasons

Let’s examine some examples of the eroding effect that human reasonings can have on faith.

God knows that we at this time simply could not understand why some things are allowed to happen, so He doesn’t always tell us why. But we still must learn to believe and trust Him. He also knows we could not understand how some things are accomplished by His Holy Spirit. Those are spiritual matters and we are yet physical.

So wondering to excess about why God allowed something or exactly how God did something can cause us to lose faith.

John the Baptist’s imprisonment and his reaction to it is a good example of having to trust and believe without understanding why. Even John the Baptist became confused and upset. His reactions during this severe trial, as they relate to Christ, are quite similar to attitudes and reactions of many of us undergoing trials today.

John knew who Christ was — John twice called Him “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29, 36). Yet, while in prison, John sent two of his disciples to Jesus with the question, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Luke 7:19).

John knew full well who Christ was, and that Christ had the power to free him from prison. Was John perhaps wondering why Christ had not done so?

Did you catch it? John’s basic question — a faith-killing question — may well have been why.

Christ pointed out to John’s disciples the works He had been doing — works of which He knew John was well aware. Then He concluded with this statement to John’s disciples: “And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” (verse 23).

Jesus was telling John — and all of us — that God’s people may not always understand everything at a certain time, but that we shouldn’t reject God and Christ — we shouldn’t lose faith — because of it.

John not only remained in prison, but he was beheaded. Why did Christ allow John to die? He could have prevented it, but He did not. The answer is beyond human reasoning.

A problem that can undermine godly faith is the suffering of trials. Take the example of Job.

The suffering of trials can undermine faith. Job, afflicted and tried, wondered why. The answers aren’t the answers many want.

Job, like John, was sorely afflicted and tried, and he, too, wondered why. It was young Elihu who gave Job some answers. These answers were available to John, as they are available to us today. The problem is, they aren’t the answers many want.

Elihu told Job: “Take heed, do not turn to iniquity, for you have chosen this rather than affliction. Behold, God is exalted by His power; who teaches like Him?” (Job 36:21-22).

Indeed, who else but God can teach through affliction? And sometimes the lessons are of necessity severe, even though humans seldom learn them.

“For God may speak in one way, or in another, yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction. In order to turn man from his deed, and conceal pride from man, He keeps back his soul from the Pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.

“Man is also chastened with pain on his bed, and with strong pain in many of his bones, so that his life abhors bread, and his soul succulent food. His flesh wastes away from sight, and his bones stick out which once were not seen. Yes, his soul draws near the Pit, and his life to the executioners” (Job 33:14-22).

God uses all these methods as He works with humanity to bring us to His own state of perfection, to literal sonship in His Family.

“Behold, God works all these things, twice, in fact, three times with a man, to bring back his soul from the Pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life” (verses 29-30).

God allows all these trials so that we “may be enlightened with the light of life” — eternal life.

Too often we lose sight of that awesome goal, but God never does! Losing sight of the goal causes us to lose faith.

We live in an evil world

Undergoing severe trials and losing sight of our goal can erode our faith.

Remember, too, that we live in an evil world and often have to suffer with this world’s society.

Jesus, speaking to God the Father, said, “I do not pray that You should take them [Christ’s followers] out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). Psalm 34:19 tells us, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous.” So when some tragedy strikes, don’t blame God. Many of our problems occur because we are living in a very evil society.

It often seems that people, if they think of God at all, blame Him for every calamity and tragedy of life. Seldom do they thank Him or praise Him for all the good things He does.

Reasoning humanly, those who write insurance policies often refer to natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and tornadoes as “acts of God.” Such is humanity’s view of God.

But this is how we should think of our Creator: “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:16-17).

Faith is often undermined by our wondering, Why, God, did you all0w this to happen to me? John the Baptist probably went to his execution wondering why. But John must have heeded Christ’s instruction not to be offended (Luke 7:23), because Christ said of him, “Among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist” (verse 28).

Faith doesn’t depend on knowing

Jesus, saddened when He heard of John’s execution, wanted to go off by Himself, but a multitude followed Him out into the desert.

Jesus there displayed God’s power by turning five loaves of bread and two fish into enough food for 5,000 men plus women and children. After everyone was fed, 12 baskets of crumbs were collected (Matthew 14:13-21).

Christ’s disciples were certainly impressed with Christ’s miracle- working power, but they, too, had even more to learn regarding real faith.

Consider: A major pitfall in exercising faith is demanding to know how faith works. Faith is spiritual, but the results of faith in our lives are often quite physical and material. For example, the miracle of healing (James 5:13-15), the preservation of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3) and the feeding of the 5,000 are physical consequences of faith. But how such miracles are accomplished is spiritual and inexplicable in physical terms.

How God accomplishes His purposes becomes so important to some people that, when they find they can’t understand, they simply stop believing God or the biblical account.

For example, the theory of evolution is humanity’s attempt to explain how physical things are the way they are in purely physical terms humans can understand. Since people think they have found out how life and the physical world “evolved,” they no longer have to deal with the question of God and their responsibility to Him.

Conditioning your faith on knowing how God’s purposes are accomplished can destroy your faith.

This was a major lesson Christ’s apostles learned when Peter found himself in a situation where the how of a great miracle so plagued him and his physical senses that his faith vanished.

Peter’s walk on water

Remember the incident of Peter walking on the water? It is recorded in Matthew 14:22-31. “Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away” (verse 22). This was just after the miracle of feeding the multitude, and it was still early in the evening (verse 23).

A storm came up and so tossed the boat about that the apostles could make little headway (verse 24). Notice that, as fierce as the storm was, the disciples gave no indication of panic as long as they were in the relative security of the boat.

When they had spent most of the night fighting the heavy seas, Jesus appeared to them in the fourth watch (verse 25). Naturally they were troubled at the sight of Jesus walking on the water — that is, until Jesus talked to them: “But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid'” (verse 27). The apostles were frightened at the unnatural sight of Jesus actually walking on the surface of the water. That was contrary to any experience any of them had had. However, when Jesus spoke to them, they were reassured and comforted. Why?

The unnatural situation of Jesus walking on the surface of the water was still there before their eyes. But they were given a physical assurance that did fit in with their past experience — the familiar voice of Jesus. Although they could not understand how He managed to walk on the water, they were comforted by His familiar voice.

They were also quite aware that Jesus did perform some great miracles. The disciples were growing in faith — they were beginning to believe the things Jesus said.

Peter was so confident that he thought he could walk on the water, too, if Christ were to bid him to do so: “And Peter answered Him and said, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water'” (verse 28). Peter knew that the feat was possible only if Christ commanded him to do so.

That is an important point in growing in faith: “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (I John 5:14-15).

Peter, asked if it were Christ’s will, and on that assurance he had the confidence to step out onto the water. “So He said, ‘Come.’ And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus” (Matthew 14:29).

Peter actually walked on the water! But now something totally alien to any experience Peter had ever had happened, and Peter’s faith departed. What was it? “But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!'” (verse 30).

Had Peter not been aware of the wind before? He certainly had! He and the other apostles had spent the whole night being tossed about by the waves, but they had been in the relative security of the boat. So what had happened that terrified Peter so much? It was really more a matter of what didn’t happen than what did.

Peter was totally unprepared for how he was held up by faith.

Where was faith supposed to react on Peter’s body to give him that reassuring sensation of physical support? On the soles of his feet, where he felt support when he walked on solid surfaces? It wasn’t there — no feeling of support at all. Was there a feeling of support under his arms, as one would feel support if held up by a harness? No. Was there a feeling of support through his hair, as if he were being held up by the hair? No. Peter could nowhere feel the sensation of physical support. Faith was supporting him. Faith is spiritual — feeling is physical.

Peter’s mind, from long experience in the physical environment, knew of no reason why he could be there on the surface of the water. Peter was unprepared for how faith would hold him up on the water. He reacted to his physical senses — and began to sink.

The lesson? One has to grow in and exercise faith.

Peter’s faith in the person of Christ was still firm, though. “And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'” (verse 31). In the firm grip of Christ’s hand, Peter made it back into the boat.

There was simply no way that Jesus could have explained to Peter, in terms Peter could have understood, how faith would support him. Peter just had to experience it and grow in faith.

You, too, must grow in faith

You, too, can have faith! You must have faith, for without faith you cannot please God. You can’t qualify for God’s Kingdom without faith.

So, like John the Baptist and Peter, you have to learn to believe God — and without question — through the dynamic faith God will give you as a true Christian.

To develop this faith in God, you must know God, and you can know God through Bible study and prayer. And because you express this faith, God promises to prosper you, heal you, protect you and, yes, even try you at times, for your own good.

When you are sure you have done your part, and you know from God’s Word what God’s will is, “do not turn to iniquity” (Job 36:21) because God does not answer in the way you expect. Trust Him! Believe Him! Continue doing your part patiently and never lose faith.

After all, God reminds us: “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts'” (Isaiah 55:8-9). (Hegvold S Increase Your Faith! Good News, September 1984)

For more on faith, check out the free online booklet: Faith for Those God has Called and Chosen.

For more on God’s plan for you and others, check out the free online book: The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN: Why Did God Create Anything? Why did God make you?

For some potentially prophetic motivation, check out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

Here is a link to the video: Is the USA prophesied to be destroyed by 2028?

As far as fear and faith go, consider also the 23rd Psalm:

1 The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:1-6)

Brethren, trust God, for we are destined to “dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

At risk of repeat, remember that Jesus said “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).

Have faith.

(UnSplash photo)

COGwriter

Hun

June 24, 2024

A growing global population poses a big challenge in terms of providing food and nutrition to all. Rising food insecurity and widespread poverty call for a new and improved worldwide vision for food systems that supports the well-being of both people and the planet. …

India, the second-largest food producer in the world based on calorie content, accounts for one-quarter of the world’s undernourished and is home to over 190 million hungry people. …

Understanding the importance of food system security, eight out of 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have focused on food-related sustainability.

As per the Global Hunger Index, hunger remains serious or alarming in 43 countries. …

To aim for zero hunger by 2030 (SDG2), we need urgent coordinated action and policy solutions, https://earth.org/food-systems-hunger-and-poverty-the-vision-for-global-change/

Well, the United Nations agreed to “coordinated action and policy solutions,” but thus far, they have not worked (though I do believe that they will temporarily appear to work for much of the world after the Beast power has risen up).

Michael Snyder posted the following:

Extreme Global Hunger: The UN Warns That Some Of The Poorest Areas Of The World Have “Zero Harvests” Left

June 23, 2024

In 2015, UN officials established a goal of completely eliminating global hunger by the year 2030.  Needless to say, they have failed dramatically.  According to the UN, someone is dying from starvation “every few seconds” as the global food crisis continues to accelerate.  Unfortunately, experts agree that what we are experiencing right now is just the beginning, because land is being degraded at a staggering pace.  As you will see below, 40 percent of the world’s land is already degraded, and it is expected that figure will reach 95 percent by 2050.  Here in the western world, we can still use various methods to temporarily improve the quality of our soil, but the head of the UN World Food Program says that in some of the poorest parts of the planet we have already reached a point where there are “zero harvests” left…

Droughts and flooding have become so common in some of the poorest places on Earth that the land can no longer sustain crops, the director of the World Food Programme’s global office has said.

Martin Frick told the BBC that some of the most deprived areas had now reached a tipping point of having “zero” harvests left, as extreme weather was pushing already degraded land beyond use.

He said that as a result, parts of Africa, the Middle East and Latin America were now dependent on humanitarian aid.

Sadly, it won’t be too long before most of the land in wealthier nations is degraded too. …

In Mexico, an all-time record for the entire country was broken last week when the temperature in the Sonoran Desert hit a whopping 125 degrees…

Last week, Mexico recorded the hottest day in its history, scientists have stated, with temperatures in the Sonoran Desert hitting 125 degrees.

These extraordinary temperatures, measured by Shel Winkley, a meteorologist at Climate Central, were part of a deadly heat wave that has swept across Mexico, Central America and the Southwestern United States, killing 125 people.

Here in the United States, the “largest” dust storm that our scientists have ever seen just ripped through the state of New Mexico…

In the Midwest, they are facing a different sort of a problem.

“Catastrophic flooding” has hit the region, and this is causing tremendous chaos in farming communities all over the heartland of America…

In Rock Valley, Iowa, all homes north of Highway 18 were evacuated amid high floodwaters Saturday. “I cannot even believe what I’m seeing right now,” said Daniel Heitritter, who evacuated his neighborhood in Spencer on Saturday. As water in his home reached shin-deep, he flagged down a boat to come pick him, his wife and cat up, he said. On Saturday, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for 21 counties in northwest Iowa and directed all available state resources to assist Rock Valley and other communities in response to “catastrophic flooding.”

On top of everything else, the major global wars that are coming will greatly disrupt food production and food distribution all over the planet.

So what is the bottom line?

The bottom line is that global famines are already here, and they are going to get far worse during the years ahead.

Enormous numbers of people are going to die from starvation, and those that are wise will prepare while they still have an opportunity to do so. https://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/extreme-global-hunger-the-un-warns-that-some-of-the-poorest-areas-of-the-world-have-zero-harvests-left/

The dry and overly wet weather mentioned above brought to mind the following prophetic scriptures:

6 “Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities. And lack of bread in all your places; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord. 7 “I also withheld rain from you, When there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, And where it did not rain the part withered. 8 So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, But they were not satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord. (Amos 4:6-8)

15 “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: 16 “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. 17 “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 18 “Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. 19 “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. 20 “The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. 21 The Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess. 22 The Lord will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. 23 And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. 24 The Lord will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed. (Deuteronomy 28:15-24)

As far as weather goes, notice the following reports:

Weather woes forecast to continue as flooding in the Midwest turns deadly and extreme heat heads south

June 24, 2024

Millions of Americans sweated through a scorching weekend as temperatures soared across the U.S., while residents were rescued from floodwaters that forced evacuations across the Midwest. One person was killed during flooding in South Dakota, the governor said.

The National Weather Service said the worst of the heat wave would shift from the mid-Atlantic to portions of the southeast and southern Plains by Monday, brining welcome relief for major cities from Washington D.C. to Boston — but it may be short-lived.

Plenty of Americans were still sweating it out Monday, with more than 60 million people under heat advisories in 21 states. High temperatures were expected from South Dakota to Florida, and the heat is expected to start climbing again in the mid-Atlantic as the week goes on, even rising back toward triple digits by Wednesday.

Parts of the Midwest already inundated by floodwater, meanwhile, could see more significant rainfall in the days ahead. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/weather-forecast-iowa-flooding-south-dakota-death-heat-wave-latest/

World breaks 1,400 temperature records in a week as heat waves sweep globe

This week, more than 1,000 temperature records broke around the world, many of them shattered by extreme heat. Hundreds have perished while making the Hajj pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest site, Mecca, while some 100 million people are under a heat advisory in the United States. https://www.semafor.com/article/06/23/2024/world-breaks-1400-temperature-records-heat-waves-sweep-globe

The weather headlines brought to mind number 4 of the 24 items to prophetically watch in 2024:

4. Weather Sorrows and Troubles

Of course, when thinking about prophecies, many people are concerned about prophecies such as those related to world events, the beginning of sorrows, the four horsemen of the apocalypse, the great tribulation, the rise of the Beast/Antichrist/666, Armageddon, etc.

Jesus said:

4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:4-8)

5 And Jesus, answering them, began to say: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 6 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and will deceive many. 7 But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows. (Mark 13:5-8)

Rough weather issues (watch Hurricanes and Prophecy), fires (watch Fires and the Wrath of God), strong earthquakes, and civil disturbances would seem to fall under troubles and sorrows.

We will higher heat than what we have seen in 2023. ‘You ain’t seen nu’thin yet per Revelation 16:8-9.

Expect more extreme weather in 2024.

The Bible teaches:

2 Better to go to the house of mourning
Than to go to the house of feasting,
For that is the end of all men;
And the living will take it to heart. (Ecclesiastes 7:2)

Do you take the damage to heart?

After listing a variety of weather and other curses, God had Amos write:

12 “Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel;
Because I will do this to you,
Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!” (Amos 4:12)

Severe weather actually should to be a motivator for us to change and be ready to face our Creator!

Of course, people say, “The weather always changes.” And while it does, there are two point to consider about that.

The first is that changes in the weather show us that our environment and circumstances can quickly change. As Christians, we need to:

34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35 For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:34-36)

And that is a warning to get our spiritual life in order.

The second is to consider that the severity of storms and their devastation has been increasing. Troubles are part of the beginning of sorrows (Mark 13:8; Matthew 24:4-8), and remember that the great tribulation (Matthew 24:21) comes in the same generation as does the beginning of sorrows (Matthew 24:34).

And yes, we have had higher heat in 2024 than in 2023.

Do not think that famines are going to be limited to third and fourth world nations.

The old Worldwide Church of God published the following:

The black horseman’s future ride will reduce the proud faces of white America, Europe, and the British Common wealth into the blackened skin of starvation such as now afflicts the vast majority of mankind. (Alexander G. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Ambassador College Press, Pasadena (CA), 1973, p. 31)

Notice some of the penalties for disobedience recorded in the 26th chapter of Leviticus: “If after all this you have not learnt discipline but still defy me, I in turn will defy you and scourge you seven times over for your sins. I will bring war in vengeance upon you … you shall be herded into your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be given over to the enemy. I will cut short your daily bread until ten women can bake your bread in a single oven; they shall dole it out by weight [see Revelation 6:5-6], and though you eat, you shall not be satisfied. If in spite of this you do not listen to me and still defy me, I will defy you in anger, and I myself will punish you seven times over for your sins. Instead of meat you shall eat your sons and daughters” (Lev. 26:23-28, The New English Bible). Other passages warn of famine-producing upsets in weather (Amos 4:7, Deut. 28:24); ruined harvests (Ezek. 5:16, Deut. 28:17); blighted crops (Amos 4:9); harmful insect pests (Deut. 28:39, 42); and nonproductive soil (Deut. 28:23). (4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse – The Black Horse – Famine. WCG booklet, 1976)

And while the northern, Babylonian, European Beast power will prosper for a short while, it too will ultimately succumb to famine according to Revelation 18:2,8:

2 Babylon…8 her plagues will come in one day–death and mourning and famine…

We are starting to see more reports of food shortages and the potential for food inflation.

We have already seen food price inflation.

We have also seen signs of the ride of the third horseman of the Apocalypse.

We are seeing reports of dramatic increases in world hunger.

Related to food and prophecy, we put out the following video:

14:44

3rd Horseman of the Apocalypse and Food

There are reports about food price inflation around the world. While it is worsening in many areas, some believe it will improve in 2023. Instead, could prices continue to rise in 2023 and get much worse in 2024 and thereafter? What are the causes of food price inflation? Is there any connection between weather, government policies, fertilizer prices, energy costs, economic sanctions and food price inflation? What are we seeing in reports from the United Kingdom, Hungary, and South Africa? What about impacts from Russia’s ‘special military operation’ into Ukraine? Could EU and/or USA policies be effecting any of this? Is the ‘black horse’ the one associated with famine, food shortages, and food price inflation in the Book of Revelation? Are there any physical lessons we can learn from ants according to the Book of Proverbs? What are some spiritual steps we should take according to Jesus? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie address these matters and more.

Here is a link to our video: 3rd Horseman of the Apocalypse and Food.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

24 items to prophetically watch in 2024 Much is happening. Dr. Thiel points to 24 items to watch (cf. Mark 13:37) in this article. Here is a link to a related video: 24 Items to Prophetically Watch in 2024. Here is a link to related video in the Spanish language titled 24 Cosas a tener en cuenta en 2024: https://youtu.be/6f7oqEhjhbg
Weather Blessings and Sorrows Are weather problems a warning? What should be done? What does the Bible teach about weather? What about floods, droughts, heat, earthquakes, tornadoes, and solar storms? Here is a related YouTube video Does God Use Weather? A related item in the Spanish language would be Bendiciones y maldiciones del clima.
The Bible, Christians, and the Environment How should Christians view the environment? Does the Bible give any clues? What are some of the effects of air, water, and land pollution? Is environmental pollution a factor in autism and death? Do pollutants seem to double the autism risk? What will Jesus do? Here is a link to a related sermon: Christians and the Environment (there is also a YouTube video available titled Air Pollution, Autism, and Prophecy, one titled Will Pollution lead to the End?, and one called COP 27 and Solving Climate Change).
Christian Health Matters Should Christians be concerned about their health? Does the Bible give any food and health guidelines? Here are links to three related sermons: Let’s Talk About Food, Evil is Affecting the Food Supply, and Let’s Talk About Health.
Physical Preparation Scriptures for Christians. We all know the Bible prophecies famines. Should we do something? Here is a version in the Spanish language Escrituras sobre Preparación física para los Cristianos. Here is a link to a related sermon: Physical preparedness for Christians.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse What do each of the four horseman of the Apocalypse represent? Have they began their ride? Did Jesus discuss the any of this? Might their rides coincide with the “beginning of sorrows? Do they start their ride prior to the Great Tribulation? Did Nostradamus or any other ‘private prophets’ write predictions that may mislead people so that they may not understand the truth of one or more of the four horseman? There is also a related YouTube video titled Sorrows and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Physical Preparation Scriptures for Christians. We all know the Bible prophecies famines. Should we do something? Here is a version in the Spanish language Escrituras sobre Preparación física para los Cristianos. Here is a link to a related sermon: Physical preparedness for Christians.
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?
Philadelphian Christian Great Tribulation Protection What will the Great Tribulation be like? Does Jesus promise physical protection to some or all Christians? Where might the place of protection be? What about fleeing to the mountains? What did Ezekiel warn? Here is a link to a related sermon: Great Tribulation Protection.
There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Near Petra This article discusses a biblical ‘place of safety,’ Zephaniah 2 to ‘gather together,’ and includes quotes from the Bible and Herbert W. Armstrong on fleeing to a place–thus, there is a biblically supported alternative to the rapture theory. Two sermon-length videos of related interest are available Physical Protection During the Great Tribulation and Might Petra be the Place of Safety?  Here are two related items in the Spanish language: Hay un lugar de seguridad para los Filadelfinos. ¿Puede ser Petra? and Existe un Lugar de Seguridad.
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?

(Book cover via Amazon)

COGwriter

Voice of America posted the following:

US warns Israeli offensive in Lebanon could bring wider war, draw in Iran

June 24, 2024

U.S. and European officials are warning of the possibility of the war in Gaza expanding, with the prospect of an Israeli offensive in Lebanon against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters Monday in Luxembourg that the risk of the war spilling over is growing bigger every day.

“I think that, unhappily, we are on the eve of the war expanding,” Borrell said.

He also said a cease-fire in Gaza is desperately needed to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid, saying “delivery of humanitarian assistance inside Gaza has become impossible.”

Borrell’s comments came hours after the top U.S. military officer warned an Israeli offensive in Lebanon would raise the risk of a broader conflict that draws in Iran to aid Hezbollah.

Israel has been battling Iran-backed Hamas in its offensive in the Gaza Strip for months while also engaging in daily skirmishes with Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border.

Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that Iran would be “more inclined to provide greater support to Hezbollah,” describing the militants as having more resources than Hamas. https://www.voanews.com/a/us-warns-israeli-offensive-in-lebanon-could-bring-wider-war-draw-in-iran/7667590.html

Here is something from the free online book Islamic and Biblical Prophecies for the 21st Century (notice also a reference below which I have bolded for this post):

It appears there will likely be a regional war involving Israel, who has threatened to take preemptive attacks to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons[i] as well as retaliatory attacks because of a massive arial attack by Iran announced on April 14, 2024.[ii] Israel has promised retaliation, with Iran’s then President Ebrahim Raisi asserting that even the “tiniest” invasion of its territory would bring a “massive and harsh” response. … and that if Iran had wanted to carry out a bigger attack, “nothing would remain from the Zionist regime.”[iii] While Israel did make what could be considered a tiny response, Iran suggested that the matter was now closed.[iv] This author does not believe that, but instead believes that Iran and its allies are biding their time until they launch a massive attack.

Scripture points to an attack with Iranian involvement that will cause great damage to Israel. Despite its posturing, relative military strength, and ability to damage Israel and others, Iran will be somehow effectively neutralized (cf. Ezekiel 32:24). This could perhaps be from an attack involving Israel and other nations and/or internal civil unrest — this could also include electromagnetic (EMP) or similar weapons used against Iran (Jeremiah 49:34-39).

[i] Egozi A. With Netanyahu back in charge, is a solo Israeli strike against Iran in the cards? Breaking Defense, November 08, 2022

[ii] Frankel J. Israel says it will retaliate against Iran, despite the risks. ABC, April 16, 2024

[iii] The Latest | Netanyahu says Israel will decide how to respond as Iran warns against retaliation. Associated Pres, April 17, 2024

[iv] Hafezi P, Mackenzie J. Tehran plays down reported Israeli attacks, signals no retaliation. Reuters, April 19, 2024

Now, lets look at some lines from the last listed reference above:

Tehran plays down reported Israeli attacks, signals no retaliation

April 19 (Reuters) – Explosions echoed over an Iranian city on Friday in what sources said was an Israeli attack, but Tehran played down the incident and indicated it had no plans for retaliation – a response that appeared gauged towards averting region-wide war. Iran’s foreign minister said the drones, which the sources said Israel launched against the city of Isfahan, were “mini-drones” and that they had caused no damage or casualties.

The limited scale of the attack and Iran’s muted response appeared to signal a successful effort by diplomats who have been working to avert all-out war since an Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel on Saturday.

Iranian media and officials described a small number of explosions, which they said resulted from air defences hitting three drones over Isfahan in central Iran. They referred to the incident as an attack by “infiltrators”, rather than by Israel, obviating the need for retaliation. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-missiles-hit-site-iran-abc-news-reports-2024-04-19/

I DO NOT BELIEVE that a wider war was averted because of external diplomatic efforts, though some seem to want to believe that.

Now, the headline from Voice of America suggests that Israel’s action in Lebanon related to Hezbollah might draw Iran more into war this it. However, Iran clearly wants Israel destroyed, and yes, I do believe it plans to retaliate, irrespective of what Israel is currently doing related to Hezbollah.

I believe that some of what Iran is doing is consistent with passages from the ancient book by Sun Tzu called The Art of War. Here are some lines from its first chapter:

18

All warfare is based on deception.

19

Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

20

Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.

21

If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.

22

If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.

23

If he is taking his ease, give him no rest.

If his forces are united, separate them.

24

Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.

25

These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.

https://suntzusaid.com/book/1

So, when there was a headline from Reuters this year that said, Tehran plays down reported Israeli attacks, signals no retaliation, I did not believe it. I believe Iran is using some of Sun Tzu’s tactics.

Here is another from chapter 3:

17

Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory: (1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.

He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.

(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.

(3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. (4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.

I assert that Iran is waiting until it believes that the time for a massive attack is right. I do not believe Iran has given up on the idea of trying to conquer Israel.

Consider that the month after Reuters reported no retaliation signals from Iran, its Iran’s Supreme leader repeated a common protest slogan and again pushed to overthrow the government of Israel:

Iran’s Khamenei tells visiting Hamas chief that Israel ‘will one day be eliminated’

May 23, 2024

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei met Wednesday with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who visited Tehran as the Palestinian terror organization’s representative at the funeral for Iran’s president Ebrahaim Raisi after he died in a helicopter crash.

“The divine promise to eliminate the Zionist entity will be fulfilled and we will see the day when Palestine will rise from the river to the sea,” Khamenei told Haniyeh during a meeting at his office.

The Hamas politburo chief responded: “God willing we will see that day together.” https://www.timesofisrael.com/irans-khamenei-tells-visiting-hamas-chief-that-israel-will-one-day-be-eliminated/

So, Iran’s Supreme Leader still applauded Hamas and still wants Israel destroyed.

Partial destruction to parts of Israel, including Jerusalem is prophesied (cf. Isaiah 22:6-9).

More on what is prophesied to occur is in the following Bible News Prophecy video:

15:03

Iran and Israel Conflict

European Union foreign policy chief, Josep Borrel, has been brokering the nuclear negotiations involving Iran and said that he thinks the deal is “in danger.” Iran blames the United States, whereas the USA says they are not delaying it. Israeli sources stated that Israel will stop Iran from getting a nuclear bomb. Joe Biden says the USA would use its own military power to prevent Iran from getting such a bomb if need be. In 2021, Iranian lawmakers have submitted a bill seeking the government by law to commit to Israel’s destruction by the year 2040. Does the 22nd chapter of Isaiah point to damage coming to Israel from Iran and possibly Syria? Might Iran be concerned enough about limited progress with the USA to launch some type of attack? Is Iran the prophesied ‘King of the South’? Is it reasonable to think that the prophesied peace deal of Daniel 9:27 will not happen until after a military conflict. like a regional war? Should Christians watch the Middle East? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie discuss these matters.

Here is a link to our video: Iran and Israel Conflict.

As the Ayatollah continues to age, he may well decide that 2024 is the year for him to attempt to fulfill his desire to eliminate Israel.

This is something to watch for (cf. Mark 13:37).

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Iran in Prophecy Is Iran in Bible prophecy? If so, what does the Bible teach? What names, other than Persia, may be used to describe Iran? There is also a YouTube video titled Iran in Prophecy. Here are links to two related videos Iran In Prophecy and  Iran and Israel Conflict.
Islamic and Biblical Prophecies for the 21st Century This is a free online book which helps show where biblical and Islamic prophecies converge and diverge.
Seeing Christianity Through Islamic Eyes This article has information from the book, Islamic and Biblical Prophecies for the 21st Century, as well as from the old WCG and other sources.
The ‘Peace Deal’ of Daniel 9:27 This prophecy could give up to 3 1/2 years advance notice of the coming Great Tribulation. Will most ignore or misunderstand its fulfillment? Here is a link to a related sermon video Daniel 9:27 and the Start of the Great Tribulation.
Gaza and the Palestinians in Bible Prophecy What does the Bible teach about Gaza and the fate of the Palestinians? Here is a link to a related video: Gaza and Palestine in Prophecy.
Damascus and Syria in Prophecy Will Bashar Assad hold power as he has it? Does the Bible show that Damascus, the capital of Syria, will be destroyed? What will happen to Syria? Will the Syrians support the final King of the South that the Bible tells will rise up? Which scriptures discuss the rise and fall of an Arabic confederation? Does Islamic prophecy predict the destruction of Syria. This is a YouTube video.
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 ? 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?
The Arab and Islamic World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam? What about the Imam Mahdi? What lies ahead for Turkey, Iran, and the other non-Arabic Muslims? An item of possibly related interest in the Spanish language would be: Líderes iraníes condenan la hipocresía de Occidente y declaran que ahora es tiempo para prepararse para el Armagedón, la guerra, y el Imán Mahdi.

COGwriter

2024 has been a difficult financial year for many around the world. Food and gas prices again have been rising. Some are warning about about stagflation (see Is stagflation here? Some say yes and that the Fed has missed it).

The stock markets around the world are jittery. Many around the world are concerned about international matters, including what will happen with the USA because of its leaders and even the 2024 elections, including the European parliament ones next month.

The USA has the most debt any nation in world history has ever had–and it keeps going up. The per-capita debt of those in the UK are among the highest of all time. The Eurozone has struggles between members, plus its own debt issues.

Those in Asia and South America have seen their economic standards of living generally rise over the past decades, but great apprehension exists. There have been gains and losses in some parts of Africa and the Middle East.

Instead of focusing on national and international finance (which I tend to post about a lot), this post will mainly consist of quotes from the late Herbert W. Armstrong about personal finance from a biblical perspective. Anyway, here is some of what he wrote:

Ending Your
FINANCIAL WORRIES

by Herbert W. Armstrong
©Copyright 1959

What are YOU most concerned about? Is it the threat of hydrogen bomb WAR that can blast all human life from off this planet? Is it the race to conquer SPACE? MOST are concerned not about these issues but about making ends meet. THINK OF IT! In the industrial nations about 25% of parents are “farming out” their children so that both parents can work! WHY are most families experiencing such desperate financial worry? WHY such worry and striving over MAKING ENDS MEET?

FINANCIAL worries Seem to plague us all! IT JUST DOESN’T MAKE SENSE!

When you stop to think about it, never in the history of this world were any nations so rich as the English-speaking and the western European nations today! Our peoples possess more developed resources and national wealth than any people ever had before.

Yet nearly every one of us is engaged in a constant STRUGGLE to make ends meet. Financial worries seem constantly to bear us down — rob us of real happiness and joy! WHY SHOULD THIS BE?

There is a reason! You CAN BE FREE from financial worry!

What Most People Don’t Know

There is something you probably don’t know about your income. If there is anything people are jealous of, it is the money they earn. They usually work hard for it. And they want full freedom in deciding for themselves what they do with it.

People say: “What I earn is MINE — I can do what I please with it!”

But is the money you earn really your own? Don’t be too sure. Notice these FACTS about your income you probably haven’t known!

What you earn is not yours!

The man who says, “What I do with the money I earn with my own labor is nobody’s business — I produced it — it belongs to me,” is mistaken.

What you earn, by work performed or investments made is not yours — not any of it — that is, not UNTIL …!

And here is what most people don’t know about their income!

There are two prior claims on your income. One, of course, is taxes.

Human governments, by virtue of MAN-made laws, are able forcibly to extract from your incomes not one tenth, but an average of over ONE QUARTER, a vast amount of which is mis-spent. Jesus said we are to pay taxes — render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s — be subject to the powers that be. Governments, therefore, have exercised a PRIOR right to one quarter of your income — and in the case of salary or wages, governments take it out BEFORE YOU get your pay.

But the first claim is GOD’S claim. You probably never realized this fact before — but it is a fact. God Almighty the living CREATOR-RULER of the universe claims it all — every dollar — every pound — every franc — every mark. Your Maker who gives you the very air you breathe tells you it all belongs to Him, not to you!

But didn’t you earn it? Didn’t YOU produce it?

Not exactly! Everything produced — money, and all that money can buy — comes out of the earth. You didn’t produce that! God created that. You merely applied certain energy in physical action and in thinking to what God had created and owned. And God created even that energy you expended — He created your thinking processes. He not only created, originally, but He sustains what He created, including all force and energy.

So, after all, it was GOD’S LABOR of creating and sustaining that really produced all. God’s claim to its ownership of all you have THOUGHT YOU produced is valid. It is prior to yours.

God Almighty says, in His written Word: “The earth is the Eternal’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods” (Psalm 24:1-2). These inspired words are repeated in I Corinthians 10:26.

“Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is MINE,” claims God (Job 41:11).

“Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the ETERNAL’S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is” (Deut. 10:14). “All the earth is MINE” (Ex. 19:5).

“If I were hungry,” says God (Psalm 50:12), “I would not tell thee; for the world is MINE, and the fulness thereof.” “For every beast of the forest is MINE, and the cattle upon a thousand hills” (verse 10).

Yes, even the money — even the gold and silver: “The silver is MINE, and the gold is MINE, saith the ETERNAL of hosts” (Hag. 2:8).

DARE any man deny this claim of God? These same words of God are the words by which every man shall be JUDGED at the last. If any man deny God’s claim, the decision will be rendered against him, in the judgment! God’s claim stands! Admit, then, your income BELONGS TO GOD! It’s HIS to do with as HE wills.

How God’s Law Regulates It

However, God is a God of love. He knows your need. God is concerned about you. He is not selfish. He has your interest and welfare in mind. Therefore God has made A LAW respecting that portion of HIS WEALTH which your thinking, and your labor has extracted and worked upon.

Get this fixed thoroughly in your mind. Your wages, your salary, your profit, your income BELONGS TO GOD, not to you. Probably you never realized this before. This may seem like a new idea to you. But it is not an idea — it is a fact.

GOD IS THE OWNER OF WHAT YOU WORK ON AND HAVE A PART IN PRODUCING. You could produce nothing apart from God’s matter which He created — apart from the use of laws of force and energy which God set in motion and sustains.

Therefore GOD HAS A RIGHT to take, or dispose of what you regard as your income AS HE WILLS. He OWNS it. It is not yours, it is HIS!

So God, the rightful OWNER of your income, has MADE A LAW respecting its disposal and its use. By virtue of being Creator and Sustainer of the earth and all in it, God is supreme RULER and LAWGIVER.

God’s LAW respecting what you earn is in fact a DEAL He has made with you. He allows you to work on HIS EARTH, to use a part of the earth or what is in it or on it, and of its forces and energies, and to extract from it food, materials, supplies, metals, wood, oils, coal, or whatever — or to work on or with that which others have extracted from the earth, in manufacturing, distributing, selling, buying, investing — whatever may be your occupation or job or profession — and so, whether you have realized it or not YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD.

The farmer or gardener may plant seed, plow, and expend his labor in raising food. But WHO supplied the SOIL? WHO created the living process that makes the seed sprout and grow? Who sends the rain, or provides water for irrigation? Who set the sun in the sky and causes it to shine and warm the earth? Who causes the plant to drink out of the soil the minerals, vitamins, and good elements, and to grow into the vegetable, the grain, or the fruit? Did YOU perform this part of the business of raising the food you eat?

When we sit down and really THINK, we shall see that God supplies about NINE parts of everything man makes or produces, and man’s thinking, planning, and working supplies only about ONE part. But God does not take nine tenths of the proceeds, or the income. He doesn’t take even eight tenths, or seven, or even three or two tenths. God is GENEROUS. God has reserved for HIS use only one little tiny tenth of what is produced out of His earth through His forces and energies!

God takes only ONE tenth. And after you have been honest in PAYING God’s tenth to God’s chosen representative, then — AND NOT UNTIL THEN — God has decreed that the other NINE tenths becomes legally YOURS!

THAT’S GOD’S LAW! Not a penny of what you earn, or a penny’s worth of the value of what you produce, is YOURS — it ALL belongs to God to do with as HE directs. But God has legally directed that after you have honestly paid Him the one little, small tenth He requires for His use, then the other NINE tenths He gives to YOU. Then, and not until then, you can rightfully claim OWNERSHIP over that nine tenths. Then and thereafter it is YOURS to do with as YOU decide.

When we get our thinking straight — when we get UNDERSTANDING — when we stop to realize HOW MUCH of what we have was provided by GOD — then we realize how LOVING, how GENEROUS, how solicitous for our welfare God is.

How to HAVE MORE

But that’s only part of the story.

What does God want with that first TENTH? How does He use it? He requires that small fraction of what is produced out of HIS earth for the purpose of disseminating to the people HIS MESSAGE OF THE WAY OF LIFE that will free them from fears and worries, give them peace of mind and happiness, give them joy and success and LIFE ETERNAL!

Yes, even this tenth which God withholds for His use is expended for HUMAN GOOD! For proclaiming His gospel of peace, and happiness and joy and salvation! For letting people know God will heal them when they are sick — that God will deliver them from every trouble — supply their every need! Give them Eternal Life! (You can click the following for the rest of the article: Ending Your FINANCIAL WORRIES)

I will simply add that God is faithful and that one can live in this age as a tithe payer. No modern currency is going to last over a few decades from now (e.g. Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End?). Do not put your faith in it–particularly the USA dollar.

Remember what Jesus taught:

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

The world will pass away, but God’s word will not (cf. Matthew 24:35).

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Tithing Questions and Some Answers Answers questions about tithing and also addresses some non-biblical arguments against tithing. Should people tithe? Here is a link to a related video sermon Tithing Answers from the Bible.
The Plain Truth About Gold in Prophecy. How Should a Christian View Gold? What do economists and the Bible teach about gold? Gold and silver may drop in value. Inflation/deflation? What do Christians need to know about gold? A video of related interest may be: Germany, Gold, and the US Dollar.
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.
Ending Your FINANCIAL WORRIES How can people help themselves and others financially? Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject. A video of related interest would be: Dealing With Financial Worries.
Gambling and Sin: Is it a Sin for Christians to Gamble? What does the Bible reveal? A related video is Gambling: A Covetous Sin?
What is Armstrongism? Did Herbert W. Armstrong raise a new faith or promote the original Christian faith? Here is a link to a related video: What is Armstrongism? Are Some Dismissive of Original Christianity?
Spiritual Samaritans: Old and New Who were the Samaritans? Do the represent true Christianity or something else? Here is a link to a related sermon: USA in Prophecy: Samaria.
Herbert W. Armstrong, the Philadelphia Church, & the Mantle Herbert Armstrong claims God had him raise the Philadelphia up. Are there reasons to believe that the Philadelphia mantle in now within the CCOG? Here is a link to a related sermon: Herbert W. Armstrong and the Philadelphia Mantle.
Living as a Christian: How and Why? In what ways do Christians live differently than others. What about praying, fasting, tithing, holy days, and the world? There is also a YouTube video related to that also called: Living as a Christian: How and Why?
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, and The Mystery of YOU.

(Above from Pixabay)

COGwriter

ZeroHedge posted the following:

British Children Getting Shorter, Fatter, And Sicker: Report

June 23,, 2024

The report by The Food Foundation charity, released on Wednesday, concludes that “aggressive” marketing of cheap, ultra-processed food together with diets lacking nutrition—often fuelled by poverty as well as the food industry—are behind a “significant decline” in children’s health.

It finds that British children have been getting shorter, on average, since 2013, after being on an upward trajectory since 2000. While acknowledging that ethnicity plays a role in height, the report says data suggest the decline is more down to dietary deficiencies than to shifting demographics.

Meanwhile, obesity levels in 10- and 11-year-olds have increased by 30 percent since 2006, while Type 2 diabetes in the under-25s has increased by 22 percent in the past five years.

Anna Taylor, executive director at The Food Foundation, said in a statement: “The health problems being suffered by the UK’s children due to poor diet are entirely preventable.

“Politicians across the political spectrum must prioritise policies that give all children access to the nutrition they need to grow up healthily, as should be their right.” …

The “aggressive promotion of cheap junk food” and levels of food insecurity caused by poverty and deprivation mean that children are living in an environment that makes feeding them healthily an “almost impossibly difficult challenge,” the authors claim. https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/british-children-getting-shorter-fatter-and-sicker-report

There are many problems associated with childhood obesity. Here are links to some other articles posted at COGwriter.com related to that topic:

• UK millennials obese and USA obesity continuing with children

• Parental obesity negatively affects development of children

• Might chemical additives increase obesity in children? Australia also facing increased obesity issues.

• Obesity is Harmful to Children’s Brains

• What may cause so many American children to have attention disorders?

• ‘Ultra-Processed Foods Linked to 32 Illnesses’

• ‘More Than Half the World Will Be Overweight or Obese by 2035’ ‘Let’s Talk About Health’

Last year, ZeroHedge posted the following related to the US:

How the Obesity-Industrial Complex Keeps Americans Sick, Fat, and Sad

The United States spends more money per capita on healthcare than any other country on Earth – almost twice as much as Germany and triple Japan. To emphasize, this is the average spending on an individual level, so it’s triple the spending of Japan per person.

And what do Americans get for all that spending?

The US is the fattest and the sickest in terms of chronic disease rates in the world. Per Statista, “the CDC estimates that six in ten adults in the United States currently live with a chronic disease such as cancer, heart disease, or diabetes.” You probably know someone personally – in all likelihood, multiple people – who suffers from a chronic health condition.

Much of that disease burden is due to obesity. “Adult obesity rates have more than doubled since the 1980s — in the U.S. today, obesity affects over 42% of adults and 18% of youth. Obesity and its related complications are major drivers of rising healthcare costs, diminished health-related quality of life, and the recent decline in U.S. life expectancy,” per the STOP Obesity Alliance.

Many factors drive obesity – diet, lack of movement, poor sleep, hormonal deficiencies and imbalances, etc. But the medical system that profits off of obesity – while miseducating the public for profit — is one of the worst offenders. …

Much like the military-industrial complex, in which weapons contractors launder scare stories through the media to induce support for more war, which they profit off of, the obesity-industrial complex benefits from perpetuating chronic disease because that’s how their bread gets buttered.

The corporate media is also intricately involved in the grift. They take pharma ad dollars to the tune of billions per year, and in exchange actively participate in the reframing of obesity as a medical problem requiring pharmaceutical intervention. https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2023-06-09/how-obesity-industrial-complex-keeps-americans-sick-fat-and-sad

Despite trying to act like it is not a corrupt nation, American media, many non-profits, and American politicians take a lot of money from companies and organizations involved in agriculture and the medical-pharmaceutical industries.

The Bible warns:

10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:10)

And yes, money has corrupted many and led to many sorrowful health outcomes.

Having a lot of highly overweight people is consistent with the following prophecy for the last days:

1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!  (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Lack of self-control, while not the only factor, is a factor in obesity.

In 2022, ZeroHedge reported the following related to approving of obesity;

August 8, 2022

Talk show host and comedian Bill Maher railed against the pro-obesity ‘body positivity’ movement, saying that not only is it pathetic, it’s a national security risk.

“There is a disturbing trend going on in America these days,” Maher began, adding that people are “rewriting science to fit ideology to just fit what you want reality to be.”

“We’ve gone from fat acceptance to fat celebration. That’s new. That is new,” Maher said. “To view letting yourself go as a point of pride? We used to at least try and be fit and healthy and society praised those who succeeded”

“Now the term body positivity is used to mean, ‘I’m perfect the way I am because I’m me,’” the HBO host continued, adding “It’s Orwellian how often positivity is used to describe what’s not healthy!”

“Of course, you can get away with anything bad for you when you’re young,” then said, adding “Let me ask you this: Have you ever seen a fat 90-year-old?”

Maher then noted that the military is having a harder time finding in-shape recruits, as well as how obese people have fared worse during COVID-19.

“At some point acceptance becomes enabling, and if you’re in any way participating in this joyful celebration of gluttony that goes on now, you have blood on your hands,” he said, adding “You can make believe you’re fighting some great social justice battle for a besieged minority, but what you’re really doing is enabling addicts – which I thought we decided was bad.” https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/bill-maher-slams-fat-celebration-and-body-positivity

While I have seen many people in their 90s, no, I never recall seeing any who were fat (though there probably are some). But ‘wokeness’ wants people to say bad is good. The Bible warns:

20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!  (Isaiah 5:20-21)

That said, yes, the USA military is having trouble getting enough recruits because of obesity and other factors (see US Army pushes wokeness, cannot get enough acceptable recruits, cuts size, and punishes anti-vaccine troops)–and weight and health are factors. For several years it has been understood that obesity is affecting the military readiness of the USA (see ‘Widespread Obesity Makes Trump’s Military Recruitment Goals a Challenge’).

Notice also the following related to obesity:

The Societal Cost of Obesity

According to researchers at Ball State University in Indiana, obesity is on the rise. Estimates based on their early research show that by 2030, in the absence of any intervening actions, a third of all children between the ages of six and eleven will be considered obese or overweight.

No doubt that is a shocking statistic. …

To measure whether or not you are overweight or obese, you must account for your Body Mass Index or BMI.

For adults, BMI consists of a person’s weight divided by their height squared. …

For children, BMI is calculated using the same formula but is interpreted using the child’s age and sex. Those results are then measured amongst a percentile. This method accounts for the difference in adolescent development for those between the ages of 2 and 19.

Health risks can occur in any individual, no matter their lifestyle or level of fitness. But for those who are obese, there is a far more heightened risk of experiencing serious health conditions. The list of potential health problems and complications is extensive and includes:

• Type 2 diabetes
• High blood pressure (Hypertension)
• Risk for stroke
• Sleep apnea
• Difficulty breathing
• Coronary heart disease
• Problems regulating healthy cholesterol levels (high LDL, low HDL, high levels of triglycerides
• Certain types of cancers including breast, colon, endometrial, gallbladder, kidney, liver, ovarian, or pancreatic
• Gallbladder disease
• Osteoarthritis (deterioration of bone and cartilage in joints)
• Greater risk for mental illness including anxiety, clinical depression, and other psychiatric disorders
• Reduced quality of life (excessive pain, limited mobility, problems performing everyday tasks, such as standing, walking, or using the restroom)

In practically all instances, obesity also enhances the risk of premature death. …

Based on several estimates, the US has spent anywhere from $150 billion to upwards of $190 billion each year on obesity-related costs. Some put that range even higher. This includes diagnosis and treatment, as well as prevention-related costs.

By 2030 – a little over a decade away – those numbers could increase by as much as $66 billion a year.

Those figures, though, only take into account direct costs. They do not account for lost work (either in lost employee wages or lost employer productivity), insurance costs, or lower overall wages. According to some of the most prevalent reports, these secondary financial consequences are an even larger burden that the direct medical costs of obesity.

At its most extreme, obesity may prove to be one of humankind’s worst maladies. https://www.mbahealthcaremanagement.org/topics/the-societal-cost-of-obesity/ accessed 08/24/19

The USA is already massively in debt and future increases in health care costs and decreased productivity can be part of ‘the straw that will break the camel’s back’ metaphorically.

Let’s talk about health.

The Bible opposes obesity.

Here is what Moses and Jeremiah were inspired to write about obesity thousands of years ago:

15 You grew fat, you grew thick,
You are obese!
Then he forsook God who made him,
And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
16 They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods;
With abominations they provoked Him to anger. (Deuteronomy 32:15-16)

11 “Because you were glad, because you rejoiced,
You destroyers of My heritage,
Because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing grain,
And you bellow like bulls,
12 Your mother shall be deeply ashamed;
She who bore you shall be ashamed.
Behold, the least of the nations shall be a wilderness,
A dry land and a desert. (Jeremiah 50:11-12)

The idea that one should not be obese is not a new one.

Furthermore, the Bible warns about gluttony as well as eating things that are not really food:

20 Do not mix with winebibbers, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat; 21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty (Proverbs 23:20-21)

2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good (Isaiah 55:2).

Do not overeat. Eat what is good.

Most in Westernized areas consume too much overly-processed convenience foods, synthetic nutrients, chemical additives, and refined grains. These items, however, tend to be often advertised.

People should try to eat real, not artificial, foods. Soda consumption should be almost non-existent, essentially a very rare treat.

And while they do not like to believe this, almost all obese people also need to eat less.

Many years ag0, the Continuing Church of God put out a video about concerns about eating to much on our YouTube channel called Bible New Prophecy.

Here is a link to our video: Eating Right, Eating Too Much, and Prophecy.

That said, losing weight can be very, very difficult. But real Christians should believe the following:

13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

With prayer and proper determination, breaking away from being obese can happen.

The Bible teaches:

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and depart from evil.
8 It will be health to your flesh,
And strength to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5-8)

32 Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)

Do not let fear stop you from moving ahead.

Take proper action (cf. Galatians 6:9-10; Revelation 3:7-13; Zephaniah 2:1-3).

Interested in a spiritual ‘five second’ rule?

Tell yourself and pray:

I will act on the truth and not put it off because I do not feel like it. Jesus help me.

Most people can quietly pray that in 5 or so seconds.

And physically if it will help, you can count backwards from five or use some other technique to motivate you to do what is right–including with your diet. But then pray for God’s assistance.

We also have a related video:

16:02

‘How to Change Your Life in 5 Seconds’

Inc. magazine posted an article online titled ‘How to Change Your Life in 5 Seconds.’ In it, Mel Robbins explains how she developed a technique to be more productive. She observed that 95% of decisions are based on emotion instead of logic, and how and why adding a five-second countdown helped her life. She mentions that fear, anger, and other factors often interfere with our ability to be better people. In this video, Dr. Thiel quotes a lot from that article, including some of the science behind the technique. He also quotes Jesus as well as many passages from the Bible. He also teaches a 5 second statement to say and pray to use as a five second spiritual statement to help Christians change.

Here is a link to the video: ‘How to Change Your Life in 5 Seconds’.

Of course, some things take longer than 5 seconds. But asking Jesus to help you not overeat is something everyone can do.

While it may not help your weight much, exercising is good for you and your innate immune system. Related to exercise, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

17:27

The Plain Truth About Exercise

A 2019 report shows that Americans are becoming sedentary. Since it is a physical thing, should Christians be concerned about exercise? Could not exercising possibly be a sin? What did the ‘Plain Truth’ magazine report about exercise? What is the US CDC reporting about exercise? Can exercise help prevent diabetes, heart disease, and obesity? Can exercise help sleep, endurance, and aging? Are there scriptures about exercise and health? What about laziness? What are some of the risks and benefits of exercise? Dr. Thiel addresses these subjects and more.

Here is a link to our video: The Plain Truth About Exercise.

That being said, the US is prophesied to lose militarily in the relatively near future (cf. Daniel 11:39).

It could be that health issues, including obesity, will end up being partial factors for the defeat.

Now, related to food, we put out the following video:

Related to Christian health, we put out the following video:

While it is highly tempting to overeat, we do want to watch that.

Sadly, the food supply has been negatively affected by greed. We also put out the following sermon:

1:07:48

Evil is Affecting the Food Supply

God gave humans food and said what He made was good. What about unclean animals? What about genetically-modified organisms (GMOs)? What about ‘bioengineered foods’? What about lab meat? What about human-cloned salami? What about ‘Piggy Sooy’? Are Christians supposed to eat what is good according to Isaiah 55:2? What should we eat? What should Christians avoid eating? Dr. Thiel addresses these matters and more.

Here is a link to the following: Evil is Affecting the Food Supply.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Christian Health Matters Should Christians be concerned about their health? Does the Bible give any food and health guidelines? Here are links to two related sermons: Let’s Talk About Food, Evil is Affecting the Food Supply, and Let’s Talk About Health.
Obesity, processed foods, health risks, and the Bible Does the Bible warn about the consequences of being obese? Is overeating dangerous? Is gluttony condemned? What diseases are associated with eating too much refined foods? A related video would be Eating Right, Eating Too Much, and Prophecy.
Should Christians Exercise? What does the Bible teach? What are some of the benefits and risks of exercise? Here is a link to a related video: The Plain Truth About Exercise.
Ten Simple Rules that Lead to Health Herbert Armstrong gives his opinions on this.
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is are links to related sermons: Christian Election: Is God Calling YOU? and Predestination and Your Selection; here is a message in Spanish: Me Está Llamando Dios Hoy? A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? Two related sermons about this are also available: Real Repentance and Real Christian Repentance.
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.

Logo of Hezbollah (via Wikipedia)

COGwriter

Hezbollah is letting Israel know where it may attack it:

June 23, 2024

Hezbollah released a video titled “To whom it may concern” on Saturday, featuring coordinates of sensitive and vital Israeli targets that would be struck in the event of a war against Lebanon, marking the second such warning within less than a week.

The video begins with a clip from the latest speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, where he warns that the Lebanese resistance will fight “without limits, rules, or restraints” if Israel wages a war against Lebanon. It then proceeds to show numerous targets across Israel.

The targets include several sensitive targets in Haifa, the port of Ashdod, the Hadera power station, the Ramat David Military Airport in Afula, Pengrion Airport, Nevatim air base, oil refineries on the coast, and the Research Center at the Dimona Nuclear Reactor.

The clip also showed the HaKirya Complex, which includes the headquarters of the Israeli Ministry of Security and the General Staff. Fears are growing in Israel as Tel Aviv has threatened that it is preparing an expanded attack on Lebanon.

Also on Saturday, retired Israeli general Yitzhak Brik said that declaring war on Lebanon would mean “mass suicide for Israel.” https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/hezbollah-shows-israeli-target-bank-sensitive-sites-new-video-warning

The US government has finally admitted something that has been reported here for a long time:

Israel’s Iron Dome risks being overwhelmed in all-out war with Hezbollah, says US

23 June 2024

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile batteries risk being overwhelmed in the opening strikes of any significantly escalated conflict with Hezbollah.

The assessment delivered by US officials late last week, echoing recent analysis by experts in Israel and the United States, comes amid fears that a war with Hezbollah could be a far more dangerous undertaking than the devastating 2006 second Lebanon war, when Israeli bombing caused huge destruction in Lebanon.

The US and France are leading diplomatic efforts to avert a wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, amid fears that escalating rhetoric and exchanges of fire across the border could lead to full-scale war.

On Friday, Kuwait’s foreign ministry warned its citizens to avoid travelling to Lebanon and urged those already in the country to leave. There are also reports that officials in the Biden administration told an Israeli delegation in Washington that America would offer security assistance in the event of a wider conflict, while António Guterres, the United Nations secretary general, called for “reason and rationality” to avoid potentially catastrophic consequences for the region and the world.

Since 2006, Hezbollah, the world’s best-armed non-state group, has significantly expanded its arsenal and capabilities, including acquiring suicide drones which Israel has struggled to counter, an anti-aircraft missile capability and a widely expanded array of missiles which experts now believe number between 120,000 and 200,000. https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/23/israel-iron-dome-hezbollah-war-lebanon

Unable to back down, Israel and Hezbollah move closer to all-out war

23 June 2024

Full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah would be “a catastrophe”, the UN Secretary-General says. But to David Kamari, who lives under near-daily fire on the Israeli side of the border, it would be a solution.

Last month, a Hezbollah rocket fired from Lebanon landed in his front garden in the border town of Kiryat Shmona, cracking his house in several places and filling it with rubble.

He points out the gaping holes where shrapnel sliced through the walls, missing him by inches. And then to the hills above us, where Hezbollah-controlled territory begins.

“Every day, every night: bombs. [It’s a] problem,” he said. “And I was born here. If you live here one night, you go crazy.” …

David is one of the few who stayed. “I’ve lived here 71 years,” he said. “I won’t go. I was in the army, I’m not afraid.”

His solution? “War with Hezbollah; kill Hezbollah,” he says. …

Hussein Aballan recently left his village of Mays al Jbal, around 6 miles (10km) from Kiryat Shmona, on the Lebanese side of the border.

Life there had become impossible, he said, with erratic communications and electricity, and almost no functioning shops.

The few dozen families left there are mainly older people who refuse to leave their homes and farms, he told the BBC.

But he backed the Hezbollah assault on Israel.

“Everyone in the south [of Lebanon] has lived through years of aggression, but has come out stronger,” he said. “Only through resistance are we strong.” …

As difficult as this border conflict is for people on both sides, a full-scale war would lift the crisis onto a different scale. …

Full-scale war is likely to be devastating for both sides. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4nn145p20qo

Both sides will have destruction and damage in the upcoming escalation and war between Israel and Hezbollah.

I remain of the belief that Hezbollah will reign a volley of bombs on Israel. Those in Jerusalem, and not just in the northern portion of Israel, should be concerned. I also believe that Iran and Syria will also become more directly involved against Israel.

The Bible shows that God will allow the nation of Israel to be hit as shown in the Israel Bible translation:

5 For my Lord God of Hosts had a day Of tumult and din and confusion— Kir raged in the Valley of Vision, And Shoa on the hill; 6 While Elam bore the quiver In troops of mounted men, And Kir bared the shield— 7 And your choicest lowlands Were filled with chariots and horsemen: They stormed at Yehuda‘s* gateway.

8 And pressed beyond its screen. You gave thought on that day To the arms in the Forest House,9 And you took note of the many breaches In the City of David. And you collected the water of the Lower Pool; 10 and you counted the houses of Yerushalayim and pulled houses down to fortify the wall; and you constructed a basin between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you gave no thought to Him who planned it, You took no note of Him who designed it long before. (Isaiah 22:5-11)

Yehuda above means Judah, which is the modern nation called Israel. And Yerushalayim is commonly known as Jerusalem.

The old Worldwide Church of God published the following related to Elam:

Iranians comprise nearly 70 percent of the country. Iranians, though Islamic, are totally distinct from the neighboring Arab peoples of the Middle East. They are a mixed people of the remnants of Media and Elam and other ancestors of Semitic and Hamitic stock. (Stump K. South Asia in Prophecy. Plain Truth, July/August 1986, p. 5)

Let me add that, according to the late Dr. Hoeh of the old Radio/Worldwide Church of God:

Madai is the father of the Medes. The Medes used to be associated with the Persians. You will read about them especially in the book of Daniel. But by the time of Nehemiah the Persians were much more prominent. Today there are no Medes left in Persia. (Hoeh H. The TRUTH about the Race Question! Plain Truth, July 1957)

Persia, the modern Iran, (Hoeh H. Compendium of World History – Volume 2. 1969)

Hence, this seems to support more from Elam than Media in Iran.

Kir looks to include Syrians and others in the region. For example, the Bible tells that after Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria took over Damascus, he moved Syrians to Kir. While this does not mean that Kir must (or must only) be a reference to Syria, the fact that Syria is an ally of Iran is interesting. Some believe Kir is an area in the south of Iran (which could then include some in Iraq), while others suggest closer to the Black Sea (which Turkey borders). God’s word has the expression “the Syrians from Kir” (Amos 9:7), which is basically confirmation that Kir of Isaiah 22 would include Syrians. The prophecy that “Kir uncovered the shield” suggests that Syria will have somehow reduced the effectiveness of Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ and/or other defensive equipment the nation of Israel will use.

The “House of the Forest” was anciently located in Lebanon (e.g. 1 Kings 7:2, 10:17,21; 2 Chronicles 9:16,20)–see also A Discourse on the House of the Forest of Lebanon, pp: 111-134 in Bunyan J. Stebbing H. The Entire Works of John Bunyan, Volume 4. Virtue and Company, 1860.

Here is the Catholic Public Domain Version translation of Isaiah 22:8:

8 And the covering of Judah will be exposed, and in that day, you will see the weaponry of the forest house. (Isaiah 22:8, CPDV)

A way for Judah to “see the weaponry of the forest house” would be a massive attack by Hezbollah. In Isaiah 22:8, “Judah” is a reference to those in the land commonly called Israel–God will allow Israel to be attacked! Hezbollah has a lot of weaponry.

In Isaiah 22:1-14, the Bible shows that God will allow something that appears to be an Iranian-Syrian-Southern Lebanese confederation, to strike the nation of Israel.

In my view, Iran, Hezbollah, and Syria are most likely consulting with each other to determine how and when to launch a major attack against Israel.

Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ and other defenses will not be able to protect Jerusalem against enough of the coming attack to prevent great damage.

I have reporting that for years on this COGwriter Church of God News page (e.g. Thiel B. ‘Israel Reveals it is Now Targeting Iranian Forces Militarily’. COGwriter, February 20, 2020 and Thiel B. ‘Hezbollah chief vows retaliation for future Israeli strikes in Lebanon’ ‘Bennett: Israel won’t accept rocket attacks from Lebanon’. COGwriter, August 8, 2021).

That said, IF Jesus is to return in 2031, then I expect a regional war involving Israel will occur this Summer, beyond what we have seen with Israel and Gaza and Hezbollah so far.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

PCG: Teachings Unique to the Philadelphia Church of God Simply calling oneself ‘Philadelphia’ does not make one so (see Revelation 3:7-9), nor does Gerald Flurry calling himself “that prophet” make it so. This article provides many quotes from this group which tries to look faithful.
The ‘Peace Deal’ of Daniel 9:27 This prophecy could give up to 3 1/2 years advance notice of the coming Great Tribulation. Will most ignore or misunderstand its fulfillment? Here is a link to a related sermon video Daniel 9:27 and the Start of the Great Tribulation.
Iran in Prophecy Is Iran in Bible prophecy? If so, what does the Bible teach? What names, other than Persia, may be used to describe Iran? There are also two related videos: Iran In Prophecy and Iran and Israel Conflict.
Gaza and the Palestinians in Bible Prophecy What does the Bible teach about Gaza and the fate of the Palestinians? Here is a link to two related videos: Gaza and Bible Prophecy and Gaza and Palestine in Prophecy.
Damascus and Syria in Prophecy Will Bashar Assad hold power as he has it? Does the Bible show that Damascus, the capital of Syria, will be destroyed? What will happen to Syria? Will the Syrians support the final King of the South that the Bible tells will rise up? Which scriptures discuss the rise and fall of an Arabic confederation? Does Islamic prophecy predict the destruction of Syria. This is a YouTube video.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2023, 2024, or 2025? 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: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023? Notice also: Can Jesus return in 2023 or 2024?
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 ? 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?
The Arab and Islamic World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam? What about the Imam Mahdi? What lies ahead for Turkey, Iran, and the other non-Arabic Muslims? An item of possibly related interest in the Spanish language would be: Líderes iraníes condenan la hipocresía de Occidente y declaran que ahora es tiempo para prepararse para el Armagedón, la guerra, y el Imán Mahdi.
Is the Future King of the South Rising Up? Some no longer believe there needs to be a future King of the South. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? Might this King be called the Mahdi or Caliph? What does the Bible say? Two videos of related interest are: The Future King of the South is Rising and The Rise and Fall of the King of the South. Here is a version the Spanish language: ¿Esta Surgiendo el Rey Del Sur?
Islamic and Biblical Prophecies for the 21st Century This is a free online book which helps show where biblical and Islamic prophecies converge and diverge. Here are links to related sermons: Seeing Christianity Through Islamic Eyes. Imam Mahdi, women, and prophecy., and Terrorism, Iran, and Fatima.

Vatican City (photo by Joyce Thiel)

COGwriter

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

15:02

Vatican’s ‘Bait & Switch’?

On June 13, 2024, the Vatican released “a new document was presented by the Dicastery for Christian Unity on the role of the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) in view of an eventual unity with all the Christian Churches.” This is something that certain ecumenical ones, including Pope Francis and Cardinal Kurt Koch (the prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity) have been working on. This document is intended to reduce the relative importance of the Patriarch of Rome, compared to leaders of other faiths (and we believe many are sincere about that) to increase unity among the world’s churches. The 1700 year anniversary of Emperor Constantine’s Council of Nicea is set for 20 May 2025. This is something that the Eastern Orthodox, Vatican, various Protestants, and the World Council of Churches endorse, but not the Church of God as ‘Judeao-Christians’ also did not attend the 325 A.D. council. Some Greco-Roman prophecies are looking for a council that will result in unity and satisfy the heretics, whereas others warn against it as well as the rise of an antipope, who looks to be the final Antichrist of the Bible. Biblically, the 13 June change to the pope’s role looks like it will be a type of “bait and switch” as the False Prophet, the two-horned beast of Revelation 13:11-17 will still rise up. Might signs and lying wonders be used for worldly unity? According to an Eastern Orthodox writer, might false Marian matters be involved for that type of unification? Is there a church against the “unity of God” that Emperor Theodosius had adopted in 381 A.D.? Who could be the “secret sect” some think arises in the end times? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie discuss these matters.

Here is a link to our video: Vatican’s ‘Bait & Switch’?

Some items of related interest may include:

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.
The Great Monarch: Biblical and Greco-Roman Catholic Prophecies Is the ‘Great Monarch’ of Greco-Roman Catholic prophecies endorsed or condemned by the Bible? Two sermons of related interest are also available: Great Monarch: Messiah or False Christ? and Great Monarch in 50+ Beast Prophecies.
Beware: Protestants Going Towards Ecumenical Destruction! What is going on in the Protestant world? Are Protestants turning back to their ‘mother church’ in Rome? Does the Bible warn about this? What are Catholic plans and prophecies related to this? Is Protestantism doomed? See also World Council of Churches Peace Plan.
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.
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?
Why Should American Roman Catholics Fear Unity with the Orthodox? Are the current ecumenical meetings a good thing or will they result in disaster? Is doctrinal compromise good? Here is a link to a related video Should you be concerned about the ecumenical movement?
Orthodox Must Reject Unity with the Roman Catholics Unity between these groups will put them in position to be part of the final end time Babylon that the Bible warns against as well as require improper compromise.
Some Similarities and Differences Between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Continuing Church of God Both groups claim to be the original church, but both groups have differing ways to claim it. Both groups have some amazing similarities and some major differences. Do you know what they are? Here is a link to a related sermon: Eastern Orthodox 40+ Similar Beliefs to the CCOG.
Persecutions by Church and State This article documents some that have occurred against those associated with the COGs and some prophesied to occur. Will those with the cross be the persecutors or the persecuted–this article has the shocking answer. There are also three video sermons you can watch: Cancel Culture and Christian Persecution, The Coming Persecution of the Church, and Christian Persecution from the Beast. Here is information in the Spanish language: Persecuciones de la Iglesia y el Estado.
Prophecies Showing Persecution of Sabbath Keepers Are Sabbath-keepers going to be persecuted in the 21st century? Are there biblical and non-biblical prophecies that point to this type of persecution?