Church of God News

(ABC promotional photo)

COGwriter

Voice of America reported the following related to the debate last night between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris:

Harris, Trump spar from start of their presidential debate

Updated September 11, 2024

U.S. Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump had never met until their presidential debate Tuesday night, but immediately started sparring in a pivotal encounter leading up to the national election on November 5.

The two candidates shook hands at the outset, took their places behind lecterns on a stage at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and then started assailing each other.

They feuded about the U.S. economy, abortion rights for American women, immigration at the U.S. border with Mexico, the Israeli war against Hamas militants in Gaza, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol as Congress certified that Trump had lost the 2020 election.

Referring to the 2020 election that Trump lost to President Joe Biden, Harris said, “Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people. He has a very difficult time processing that.”

Trump recently said he lost the election “by a whisker,” but on the debate stage Tuesday, he said it was a sarcastic remark and refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the 2020 outcome. …

the world’s top pop singer, Taylor Swift, endorsed the Democrat as the debate ended.

Standing a short distance away from each other, the two candidates shook their heads at each other’s comments, with Harris all but laughing out loud at some of Trump’s remarks. ABC News anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis gamely tried to control the flow of the encounter, failing at times. …

On Tuesday, Harris, a former local criminal prosecutor in San Francisco and attorney general in California accustomed to tough courtroom encounters with defense attorneys, repeatedly baited Trump with insults.

At one point, she told him that his staunchest supporters at his political rallies often left early because they were bored with his speeches.

He described her as a Marxist, saying she was taught well by her father, a leftist economist. “This is a radical left liberal,” Trump said of Harris. …

Trump assailed Biden and Harris’ handling of the U.S. economy, the world’s largest, saying the U.S. is becoming “Venezuela on steroids.” She said his plan for imposing up to 20% tariffs on imported foreign goods would prove to be a “Trump sales tax” for American consumers.

She blamed him for the end to a constitutional right to abortion with his appointment of three conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. He said that with the 2022 ruling, voters in individual states could now decide the issue.

“The government and Trump should not be telling” women what to do with their bodies, Harris said.

Trump blamed Harris as part of the Biden administration’s failure to control the masses of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump has said he plans to deport 11 million or more undocumented migrants living in the U.S. but twice dodged Muir’s question of how he would arrest people and send them back to their home countries. …

Speaking to reporters after the debate, Republican Senator Tom Cotton questioned why Harris has not worked to implement her policy proposals during her time as vice president.

“Kamala Harris wouldn’t answer questions about what she’s going to do for the American people and kept trying to shift onto other topics. Understandably, Donald Trump defended himself, but what he did the best job of is explaining that things were good when he was president and they have not been good for the last four years.”

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said it was Trump who failed to explain what he would bring to a new term in office.

“The real question is, what does Donald Trump stand for? You can have a conversation about how some of Kamala Harris’ positions have changed, as all of our positions have changed over the years based on new information, or we can ask ourselves did Donald Trump articulate a single plan tonight to help the American people? Besides his reiteration of his belief that we should build a wall with Mexico, I don’t think he talked about one single plan — no healthcare plan, no housing plan, no plan to increase wages.” https://www.voanews.com/a/harris-trump-set-for-tuesday-debate-/7778157.html

The candidates debated, but tended to avoid biblical solutions in their responses.

Furthermore, I saw both of the candidates lie, or at least use hyperbole, to say things that were not so.

After the debate, I saw people on CNN who were excited about Kamala Harris’ strident pro-abortion positions as a reason to vote for her. The idea of voting for a candidate because that candidate is more in favor of murdering unborn babies is a disturbing commentary on the state of the US. Regarding a recent Donald Trump policy statement, check out my post: Donald Trump calls for 100% tariffs against nations looking to drop the US dollar–a move of desperation that, at best, delays the inevitable–but at worst, could accelerate it. 

Whoever gets elected will take steps which will help result in the end of the US–which is coming per Isaiah 10:5-11; Daniel 11:39; and Habakkuk 2:6-9.

The so-called fact checkers at ABC during the debate were biased as they 1) mainly focused on statements from Donald Trump, 2) sometimes claimed some true facts from Donald Trump were false and 3) they failed to fact check most of Kamala Harris’ falsehoods.

One of the reason that I am careful about relying on the so-called “fact checkers” on the internet is because they have repeatedly been shown to be highly biased and frequently wrong, though sometimes they can be right.

Anyway, there was a lot of hypocrisy in the debate as well as in the media related to the debate.

The US does not have an unbiased news media focused on facts or truth, but mainly a bunch of political advocates, some of whom are much more hypocritical than others.

The Bible, KJV translation, predicts the end of “an hypocritical nation” (Isaiah 10:5-11).

Now as far as Taylor Swift goes, I have wondered when that promoter of immorality would endorse Kamala Harris publicly. I thought she might hold off until October, but she decided instead to do so after the debate last night:

Taylor Swift is entering her 2024 election era.

The mega pop star has thrown her support behind Vice President Harris, just under two months out from the election … in a post to her more than 280 million followers on Instagram. https://www.npr.org/2024/09/10/nx-s1-5107976/taylor-swift-instagram-endorse-kamala-harris

September 11, 2024

After last night’s Presidential debate, the pop star publicly endorsed Kamala Harris because “she is a steady-handed, gifted leader” who fights for “LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body. . .”

I really try to keep an open mind and understand other people’s opinions. But I personally have an extremely difficult time comprehending how someone thinks abortion and LGBTQ rights are the most important problems facing the country right now.

This is a pivotal moment in history. The United States is in serious decline. Among other critical challenges, the national debt is $35 trillion and is set to grow by at least $22 trillion over the next decade (according to the government’s own forecasts).

The impact of this extreme debt level cannot be overstated. The US dollar will almost certainly lose its reserve status, inflation will soar, and the government will most likely default on key promises like Social Security. (Hickman J. Schiff Newsletter, September 11, 2024)

Promoting sin is not a biblical reason to endorse someone.

What about the two debaters?

As long time readers of this COGwriter Church of God News page are aware, as posted here many times before, I consider that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are evil.

Without going into unique specifics, let’s consider how they are similar:

1. They do not live like a member of their professed faiths is supposed to try to live.
2. They support LGBTQ matters.
3. They have not called for national repentance.
4. They have not sought first the Kingdom of God.
5. One is an adulterer and the other an adulteress.
6. They have all been involved in Administrations that greatly increased USA debt.
7. They have all been involved in Administrations that have upset the Europeans.
8. They have all been accused of hypocrisy.
9. They both have made a lot of public lies–including in the debate last night.
10. None have the real solutions for what the USA needs.

Now, I am not trying to say that there are no differences. Yes, I know they have differing economic and climate policies as well as different views on abortion and racial matters.

Notice that simply approving the LGBT agenda is condemned by the Bible:

26 … For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:26-32)

Yes, the USA election is a choice between evil ones. But do not place your hope in any human political leader.

Now, let’s look at some of what the scriptures teach are to be traits of godly leaders starting with something God had Moses write:

19 Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God. 20 And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do. 21 Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. (Exodus 18:19-21)

Neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump are leaders who could be called “men of truth,” nor do they truly endorse God’s laws and statutes nor do they hate covetousness.

Notice something else from the Bible:

2 “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me,
And His word was on my tongue.
3 The God of Israel said,
The Rock of Israel spoke to me:
‘He who rules over men must be just,
Ruling in the fear of God. (2 Samuel 23:2-3)

Neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump are just nor do they intend to rule in the fear of the true God.

Hence, they are not people that Christians should endorse.

Voting for Kamala Harris or voting for Donald Trump will not save the US.

The Psalmist wrote:

3 Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. (Psalm 146:3)

Furthermore, the Bible warns:

20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).

2 You shall not follow a crowd to do evil (Exodus 23:2)

The “lesser of two evils” is still evil.

The Bible warns:

12 As for My people, children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, And destroy the way of your paths. (Isaiah 3:12)

16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err, And those who are led by them are destroyed (Isaiah 9:16).

And that second verse applies to both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Related to Trump or Harris, we put together the following video:

14:24

Trump vs Harris vs Scripture

Are Donald Trump and Kamala Harris qualified to be President of the United States according to its Constitution? Does the adulterer Donald Trump’s record as a businessman who declared bankruptcy multiple times and who was once President of the USA make him the best choice? Does Kamala Harris’ political positions, one or more were related to adultery, and then later being Vice-President make her the best choice? What about their positions on adultery and LGBTQ matters? Do either of them meet the biblical requirements to be leaders? Could they both be evil? Should Christians put their faith in leaders or in Jesus and His Kingdom? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie go over these points.

Here is a link to our video: Trump vs Harris vs Scripture.

Put your faith in Jesus and the coming Kingdom of God, not in US elections.

We are to pray as Jesus said for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done (Matthew 6).

God will decide who He wants in various offices:

17 ‘This decision is by the decree of the watchers, And the sentence by the word of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men.’ (Daniel 4:17)

By voting, one could be voting against God’s will. God’s people do not want to be found fighting against God (Acts 5:39). Once, in the 1970s, I actually voted in an election. But for some reason, I decided not to vote for attorney general. If I would have voted for the office, I probably would have voted for the man that won–a man that later had a massive lawsuit against the Church of God I was part of in the late 1970s. Obviously, I would not have done that on purpose, but am glad that I did not accidentally assist in empowering one who was against the COG.

Notice also a disturbing comment from a secular source that generally supports democracy:

All political campaigns lie and mislead. We all know that, and that knowledge is “baked into the cake,” so to speak, when it comes to assessing candidates. (Bookman J. GM on Romney: ‘Campaign politics at its cynical worst.’ Atlanta Journal Constitution, October 31, 2012. http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2012/10/31/gm-on-romney-campaign-politics-at-its-cynical-worst/)

No candidate should lie or mislead. And while I am not agreeing with the statement that they all do, the reality is that it is not godly conduct to lie or mislead, and that not only reflects unfavourably on the candidates, but also the process of modern democracy.

Do NOT think that whoever may win the presidential election in 2024 will fix the problems in the US.

The US is doomed soon without national repentance, which is not expected (cf. Hosea 11:3a, 5b-7).

Yet, personal repentance is something all who are willing can do.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Might the U.S.A. Be Gone in 2028? Could the USA be gone by the end of 2028 or earlier? There is a tradition attributed to the Hebrew prophet Elijah that humanity had 6,000 years to live before being replaced by God’s Kingdom. There are scriptures, writings in the Talmud, early Christian teachings that support this. Also, even certain Hindu writings support it. Here is a link to a related video: Is the USA prophesied to be destroyed by 2028? In Spanish: Seran los Estados Unidos Destruidos en el 2028?
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.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2024, 2025, or 2026? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede la Gran Tribulación comenzar en el 2020 o 2021? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? A related video is: Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? A shorter video is: Tribulation in 2024? Here is a video in the Spanish language: Es El 2021 el año  de La Gran Tribulación o el Grande Reseteo Financiero.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. Two related sermon are available: Identifying the USA and its Destruction in Prophecy and 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. A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
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.
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.
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.
Donald Trump in Prophecy Prophecy, Donald Trump? Are there prophecies that Donald Trump may fulfill?  Are there any prophecies that he has already helped fulfill?  Is a Donald Trump presidency proving to be apocalyptic?  Two related videos are available: Donald: ‘Trump of God’ or Apocalyptic? and Donald Trump’s Prophetic Presidency.
Biden-Harris: Prophecies and Destruction Can the USA survive two full presidential terms? In what ways are Joe Biden and Kamala Harris apocalyptic? This book has hundreds of prophecies and scriptures to provide details.  A Kindle version is also available and you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to your free Kindle reader app (or if you already have one or a Kindle),  you can go to: Biden-Harris: Prophecies and Destruction (Kindle) to get the book in seconds.

COGwriter

Many have questions about dating, sex, and marriage.

This post has links to written as well as audio-video information related to those topics.

The Continuing Church of God put together the following animation related to dating:

Here is a link to our video: First Date: Worldly vs. Christian.

The Continuing Church of God also has this sermon from its ContinuingCOG channel:

Black Soldier Fly larva
(Photo public domain via Wikipedia)

COGwriter

The Continuing Church of God put together the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

14:51

Should Christians Eat Insects?

It is reported that 2,205 insects are being eaten around the world in 128 countries as part of the food supply. Is this being pushed by the World Economic Forum, United Nations, and the government of the United States of America? Does the Bible endorse eating any insects? If so, which ones? Some people promote “cockroach milk” as well as larvae-derived “Entomilk.” Does France have the biggest insect farm? Are there thousands of insect farms in Thailand? Does the New Testament support that Christians are to be holy and not eat unclean meats and insects? Could God have had health reasons to tell His people not to eat certain creatures? What are some health issues that eating insects, mealworms, etc. have reportedly caused? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie address these matters.

Here is a link to our video: Should Christians Eat Insects?

Some items of possibly related interest may include the following:

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.
The New Testament Church, History, and Unclean Meats Are foods considered to have been unclean in the Old Testament considered to be food in the New Testament? This article discusses this from the perspective of the New Testament. It also has a list of clean and unclean animals. It also answers the question, is pork healthy or is pork dangerous? There is also a sermon-length video on this: Christians and Unclean Meats; three short videos are also available: Did Jesus declare all animal flesh food?, Should Christians Eat Insects?, and COVID, Pandemics, and Unclean Meat.
Cannibalism is Wrong, But it is Coming! Is it logical to eat human flesh? Or is it a curse that will return? Here is a link to a related video: Cannibalism is prophesied!
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?
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?  and Human-Monkey Embryos and Death.There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Petra This article discusses a biblical ‘place of safety’ and includes quotes from the Bible and Herbert W. Armstrong on this subject–thus, there is a biblically supported alternative to the rapture theory. There is also a video on the subject: Might Petra be the Place of Safety? Here is something related in the Spanish language: Hay un lugar de seguridad para los Filadelfinos. ¿Puede ser Petra?
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2024, 2025, or 2026? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede la Gran Tribulación comenzar en el 2020 o 2021? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? A related video is: Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? A shorter video is: Tribulation in 2024? Here is a video in the Spanish language: Es El 2021 el año  de La Gran Tribulación o el Grande Reseteo Financiero.
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?
Is There A Secret Rapture for the Church? When and Where is the Church Protected? What does the Bible really teach? Does the Church flee or is it taken up just prior to the great tribulation? Who really is left behind? There is also a YouTube video with information Did Jesus Teach a Pre-tribulation Rapture?
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.
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.

Eurasian Map from Free-Images.com

COGwriter

While many Protestants consider the USA to be a “Christian nation,” the reality is that the USA, along with some others in the West, have been promoting immorality around the world. Specifically sins such as abortion, the LGBTQ+ agendas, and pornography.

This, however, has been resisted by Russia as well as other lands in the East.

One of US President Biden’s first acts after assuming his office was to authorize the USA government to send funds to overseas, as well as domestic, to groups that perform abortions (see https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/28/politics/biden-abortion-executive-orders/index.html).

Although Soviet Russia pushed abortions, things have now changed in Russia as the Russian Orthodox Church’s influence seems to be reducing the willingness of clinics to perform abortions:

More private clinics refusing abortions – Russian Orthodox Church

7 September 2024

More than 500 private medical centers have refused to provide abortion services despite being licensed to do so, the Russian Orthodox Church has said. This comes amid a pro-life Church initiative and a state push to boost birth rates in Russia.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, met with top figures in the clergy as well as the Deputy Chairman of the Demography Commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation on Thursday.

“According to the participants of the meeting, more than 71 regions of the Russian Federation supported the initiative of His Holiness the Patriarch to restrict abortion; 502 private clinics in Russia refused to perform abortions, which is 18% of all clinics licensed to perform abortions,” the Church statement said. …

At least 77% of Russians consider a fetus to be a human being, a sociological study conducted by the Center for Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN) said. A mere 18% took the view that a baby only becomes a human at birth. https://www.rt.com/russia/603648-russian-clinics-refusing-abortions/

Notice something from the nation of Georgia according to Russia’s foreign minister:

Georgian people not happy about West imposing LGBT agenda — Lavrov

“The Georgian government is realizing their national identity and understanding that the Georgian people have the same values of Orthodoxy, national culture, which are being eroded, erased and subsumed by the ‘rules’ that the West is imposing on everyone,” the foreign minister noted

MOSCOW, September 6. /TASS/. The Georgian people are not happy about the West imposing the LGBT agenda and other values of liberal democracy, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

Commenting on the Georgian law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence,” the top diplomat emphasized that it is not the “Foreign Agents” law. It implies that persons or organizations that violate this law will not be assigned any status, but will be addressed with a legal obligation to show the finances they receive from abroad, the minister explained. Lavrov pointed out that this law is present in the legislation of France, Poland and many other states, and in a much stricter framework.

“What the Georgian government is doing now is that they are realizing their national identity and understanding that the Georgian people have the same values of Orthodoxy, national culture, which are being eroded, erased and subsumed by the ‘rules’ that the West is imposing on everyone, primarily in the context of the values of liberal democracy or, if you will, democratic liberalism. Georgians are not satisfied with this. Nor are they satisfied with the unbridled imposition of the LGBT agenda,” Lavrov said in an interview with RBC.

“The Georgian people, whom I know well and appreciate their love of life (Georgia was one of the leading cultural centers during the Soviet Union – our common homeland), carefully guard their history. For this, I think, they deserve reproaches from the West,” the minister pointed out. https://tass.com/politics/1839477

The Bible warns against promoting evil and perversity, as well as despising the word of God:

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)

12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:

“Because you despise this word,
And trust in oppression and perversity,
And rely on them,
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you
Like a breach ready to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant.  (Isaiah 30:12-13)

Woe to those that do such things. But the USA is still doing those things.

Furthermore, promoting LGBTQ+ matters during the Obama-Biden Administration was a major turning point that harmed US-Russian relations.

Consider that Barack Obama had fairly positive relations with Russia just prior to his re-election in 2012. Now the US and Russia do not.

What happened after 2012?

Notice something that Hillary Clinton wrote about that happened with Russia when she was Secretary of State:

When I pressed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to do more to protect the rights of LGBT people, the normally cool and restrained diplomat turned nasty. …

Meanwhile, I looked for ways to make progress closer to home, by better supporting LGBT members of the State Department. . . . I supported the State Department’s annual Pride event, hosted by a group called GLIFFA, Gay and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies. (Clinton HR. Hard Choices. Simon & Schuster, 2014, pp. 577-578)

After that meeting, USA-Russian relations went downhill. Russia told the US that it would not promote the LGBTQ+ agenda.

Hillary Clinton bragged about the use of the USA’s “soft power” around this time, which many have considered as bullying as well as interference in the internal affairs of their nations.

The bullying of the US by Hillary Clinton did not persuade Russia, so the US took steps against Russia since that time.

But Russia also took steps against various immoral things that the West has been promoting.

For example, last year Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed a law preventing people from trying to pretend they can change their gender via elective surgeries:

Vladimir Putin signs law banning gender changes in Russia

Vladimir Putin has signed legislation that bans people from officially or medically changing their gender, representing a further blow to Russia’s embattled LGBTQ+ community.

The act, passed unanimously by both houses of parliament, bans any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person”, as well as banning changing a person’s gender in official documents or public records. The only exception will be medical intervention to treat congenital anomalies.

It also annuls marriages in which one person has “changed gender” and bars transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents.

The ban is said to stem from the Kremlin’s crusade to protect what it views as the country’s “traditional values”. Lawmakers say the legislation is to safeguard Russia against “western anti-family ideology”, with some describing gender transitioning as “pure satanism”. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/24/vladimir-putin-signs-law-banning-gender-changes-in-russia

Yes, many aspects of the LGBTQ+ agenda are cruel and satanic.

Back in late 2021, Vladimir Putin held his annual end-of-the year Q&A session and made some true statements that Western leaders will not:

President Putin: I Will Never Allow the ‘New World Order’ To Pervert Nature – There Are Only TWO Genders

December 24, 2021

Speaking to journalists at an end-of-year press conference, Putin warned that the elites in the West are deliberately trying to pervert nature by claiming that men can be women and women can be men.

“It’s inevitable [that these concepts will arrive in Russia],” Putin warned. “If someone thinks men and women are the same thing, let them think that, but let us think about common sense.”

“I believe that the traditional approach is correct. Male is male, female is female, mother is mother, and father is father. I sincerely hope that our society has the moral armor to protect us against this,” Putin added.

He also spoke about the far-left movement in the US to allow inmates to legally change their gender to female in order to enter women’s prisons.

“To fight against that, we should not just shout and point fingers, but we should support our own traditional values,” he declared.

Rt.com reports: Putin’s statement isn’t the first time a senior Russian politician has spoken out against modern, progressive ideas in regards to gender issues. Earlier this month, Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko said that it is “unacceptable” to impose foreign values on a country without taking into account its history, faith, religion, and national characteristics.

“They are trying to impose alien values on us. And not only on us but on the advancement in the world in general,” she said. “It’s sexual minority rights. There are already 85 genders in Europe. It is unacceptable for us.” https://newspunch.com/president-putin-i-will-never-allow-the-new-world-order-to-pervert-nature-there-are-only-two-genders/

Vladimir Putin has been the most powerful political leader in the world to take a stand against several parts of the LGBTQ+ agenda, vulgarity (see Russia’s Vladimir Putin takes a stand against vulgar language), and some other sins that plague Western society. China’s President has taken some views as well, but not quite as publicly and on as much as Vladimir Putin has.

Billy Graham’s son Franklin Graham made some comments some time ago related to Vladimir Putin:

July 12, 2017

In 2014, Graham published an opinion piece about the Russian president’s decision to sign a law barring the distribution of “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” to children. The law, which was widely perceived to be homophobic, stirred controversy ahead of the 2014 Olympic games in Sochi. But Graham defended it anyway, saying America’s embrace of LGBTQ rights amounts to “secularism” that “is as godless as communism.”

“In my opinion, Putin is right on these issues,” Graham wrote. “Obviously, he may be wrong about many things, but he has taken a stand to protect his nation’s children from the damaging effects of any gay and lesbian agenda.”

He also lauded Putin’s pledge to protect Christians in Syria, noting how it was “one justification for his support of the Assad regime in Syria.”

“It’s obvious that President Obama and his administration are pushing the gay-lesbian agenda in America today and have sold themselves completely to that which is contrary to God’s teaching,” Graham wrote. “In my opinion, Putin is right on these issues. Obviously, he may be wrong about many things, but he has taken a stand to protect his nation’s children from the damaging effects of any gay and lesbian agenda.”

“Isn’t it sad, though, that America’s own morality has fallen so far that on this issue — protecting children from any homosexual agenda or propaganda — Russia’s standard is higher than our own?” he added.

“Pray for the President of Russia, [who] defends traditional Christianity,” Graham reportedly said. …

Pat Buchanan — another leader of the Religious Right — published his own piece about Russia potentially replacing the U.S. as a bastion of “Christian values,” asking “Whose side is God on now?” …

Graham still invited a delegation from the ROC to the 2017 event, and it was moved to D.C. at the suggestion of ROC external relations head Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev of Moscow — the same man who helped Graham come up with the idea for the conference in the first place. https://thinkprogress.org/religious-right-russia-3e80e2ea2e4a/

Notice also something else from even further in the past:

22 September 2014

Well, it is true, is it not, that President Vladimir Putin stands virtually alone among national leaders of the major powers in publicly proclaiming his Christian identity, and in condemning homosexual “marriage” — while leaders of the so-called Christian West have adopted the politically correct line that these unnatural unions are now sacrosanct? And is it not true that Putin and the Russian government have been spending hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild hundreds of Russian Orthodox churches destroyed during the militant atheism of the Soviet era? Has he not restored sacred holidays of the Julian Christian calendar? Did he not sign a national law last year outlawing advertisements for abortion? To which we must answer: yes, yes, yes, yes; true, true, true, true.

Additional “facts” can be cited to paint an even more striking image of Putin as pious champion of Christianity: crossing himself and kissing the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary that he presented to Pope Francis during his 2013 visit to the Vatican; numerous appearances with (and blessings and endorsements from) Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church and other Christian church leaders; signing into law a “ban on the propaganda of homosexuality and pedophilia” directed at children, while President Obama promotes the LBGT agenda at every level and every opportunity; speaking out against the persecution and murder of Christians by Islamic jihadists in Syria and Iraq. …

In his current ruse as Defender of the Faith, Putin is not only channeling Stalin, but also Lenin, that original Bolshevik persecutor of the church. Lenin was the supreme pragmatist, happily willing to use “whatever works,” and constantly at odds with rigid communist “purists” who failed to grasp the necessity of operational flexibility in the pursuit of the final objective. http://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/europe/item/19162-putin-defender-of-christian-faith-and-morality

Vladimir Putin has been willing to take biblically-consistent stands on moral issues that few other influential leaders have.

Of course, Muslim countries (which are mainly also in the East) have resisted the LGBTQ+ agenda that Western nations have promoted.

But even less religious nations, such as China, have taken some steps. Here is something from 2023:

While celebrations were held around the world for Pride month, there were no major LGBT events in China.

27 June 2023

The country’s largest Pride event has been suspended since 2021.

The organiser, a group named ShanghaiPride, did not give a reason for the move, saying at the time it was “cancelling all upcoming activities and taking a break from scheduling any future events.”

People taking part in political protests in China often face punishment, …

Dozens of accounts dealing with LGBT topics on the popular Chinese messaging app WeChat were reportedly deleted in 2021.

The same year, a group which filed lawsuits on behalf of members of the LGBT community closed down. There were reports that its founder was detained by authorities, with the closure of the group being a condition for his release.

And last month, the Beijing LGBT Center became the latest group to stop operations “due to forces beyond our control”. …

A leader of another LGBT organisation, who has also left China, told the BBC that pressure from authorities has taken a toll on those pushing for social change. …

In 2021, a notice from China’s education ministry caused a stir after it suggested that young Chinese men had become too “feminine”. …

Later that year, China’s broadcasting regulator said it would ban “effeminate” aesthetics in entertainment shows and that “vulgar influencers” should be avoided. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65806846

The Bible also condemns males acting effeminate:

9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, KJV)

Transgenderism is against scripture. Yet, US President Biden proclaims it as something to be aided and celebrated–see VOA: Biden to Mark Transgender Day of Visibility With New Actions.

The USA should be ashamed.

But it is not and will fall:

15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed;
Nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time I punish them,
They shall be cast down,” says the Lord. (Jeremiah 6:15)

The USA will be punished and cast down.

On LGBTQ+ matters, Vladimir Putin’s public positions have been far more pro-biblical than US President Joe Biden’s views, which are often anti-biblical.

Interestingly, back in 2014, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed in a law against foul language (see Russia’s Vladimir Putin takes a stand against vulgar language)–that is also something we are hardly seeing influential leaders in the West speaking out against.

Vladimir Putin believes that he is standing for traditional Russian Orthodox values.

Earlier this year, Russia took steps against fornicating promoting sex parties:

Moscow banning sex parties – event organizers

8 February 2024

A group that organizes raunchy sex parties has decided to suspend its events in Russia after the authorities reportedly warned it against hosting the controversial gatherings. …

The news comes as Russian lawmakers have been cracking down on the promotion of what is perceived as “non-traditional sexual relations,” particularly propaganda relating to transgenderism and pedophilia.

While Russian legislators have specifically banned LGBTQ propaganda, and have designated the “international LGBT movement” as an extremist organization, in practice this has also extended to events that are not explicitly connected to the rights movement. https://www.rt.com/pop-culture/592058-moscow-sex-parties-ban/

Elsewhere in the East, notice something from Kazakhstan:

Post-Soviet state bans webcam porn

7 September 2024

Kazakhstan has amended its penal code, banning webcam sexual performances, which are now legally equated with prostitution-related activities. Regional media have recently been sounding the alarm over the rise of the industry in Central Asia.

The practice of live-streams of explicit content in exchange for money has become widespread in many parts of the world in recent decades. Some such platforms also advertise physical sexual services. …

Last year, Kazakh authorities reported that they had dismantled a highly organized criminal group specializing in illegal webcam services. The ring supposedly lured young women with the promise of high salaries, and retained them through blackmail.

In late June, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov signed off on changes to the country’s criminal code, which outlawed the “facilitation and abetment of prostitution and debauchery via the Internet (webcam-studios).” The amendments also envisaged penalties for sex workers involved in such activities. https://www.rt.com/russia/603652-kazakhstan-bans-webcam-services/

The USA and the West have been major supplier of pornography, yet, God did not create humans to be sexually immoral:

18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. (1 Corinthians 6:18)

The once Protestant- or Roman Catholic-dominated nations of the West have not had top leaders stand up for the scientific biological facts about males and females. Nor do they take steps to stop pornography or fornication.

Russia not only has taken a stand, it is now promoting itself as a nation with values that the West has turned aside from. Notice the following from last month:

MOSCOW, August 19. /TASS/. Moscow will provide assistance to any foreigners who want to escape the neoliberal ideals being put forward in their countries and move to Russia, where traditional values reign supreme, according to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin.

Under the document, such foreign nationals will have the right to apply for temporary residence in Russia “outside the quota approved by the Russian government and without providing documents confirming their knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and basic laws.”

Applications may be based on the rejection of their countries’ policies “aimed at imposing destructive neoliberal ideals on people, which run counter to traditional Russian spiritual and moral values.” https://tass.com/politics/1831019

Yes, many items being pushed by the USA and others in the West are destructive and go against traditional (as well as biblical) moral values.

The Bible says to:

1 Cry aloud, spare not;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
Tell My people their transgression,
And the house of Jacob their sins.  (Isaiah 58:1)

Most of the descendants of Jacob dwell in the West (for details, see the free online book: Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America?).

It is still shameful that more leaders in the West have not stood against more aspects the LGBTQ+ agenda, pornography, abortion, and vulgarity. At least some in the East are doing so.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

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. Two related sermon are available: Identifying the USA and its Destruction in Prophecy and 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.
Russia and Ukraine: Their Origins and Prophesied Future Russia in prophecy. Where do the Russians come from? What about those in the Ukraine? What is prophesied for Russia and its allies? What will they do to the Europeans that supported the Beast in the end? There is also a video sermon available: Russia in the Bible and in Prophecy as are two video sermonettes Russia, Ukraine, Babylonian Europe, and Prophecy and Ukraine in Prophecy?
Is Russia the King of the North? Some claim it is. But what does the Bible teach? Here is a link to a video, also titled Is Russia the King of the North?
Ezekiel 38: For Russia & Iran in Our Day? Is Ezekiel 38 about to be fulfilled? Are we close to the battle with Gog and Magog? Four related videos are available: Ezekiel 38 Gog and Magog War: Is it Soon?, Ezekiel 38: For Russia, Ukraine, & Iran Now?, Russia, Iran, Syria, & the Bible (Code), and Gog, Magog, Vladimir Putin, and Ezekiel 38?
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.
Cross-dressing and other assaults against your children.  What should you do? Is there an agenda to turn your children and/or grandchildren away from biblical morality and towards practices promoted by homosexuals? What does the Bible teach about cross-dressing? What should parents do? If there is an agenda, what has been going on?  There are also three YouTube videos related to this, titled Transgender ‘Woe to those who call evil good’ and Cross dressing and Other Assaults Against Your Children and USA pushing gender confusion.
The Bible Condemns Homosexuality “Same-sex marriage” for “gays” and lesbians is becoming more acceptable to many. What does the Bible teach about homosexuality and the LGBTQ agenda?  Can homosexuals change? A related video sermon is titled: What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? A short video is available titled: Gay Gene? Born That Way?
Might the U.S.A. Be Gone by 2028? Could the USA be gone by the end of 2028 or earlier? There is a tradition attributed to the Hebrew prophet Elijah that humanity had 6,000 years to live before being replaced by God’s Kingdom. There are scriptures, writings in the Talmud, early Christian teachings that support this. Also, even certain Hindu writings support it. Here is a link to a related video: Is the USA prophesied to be destroyed by 2028? In Spanish: Seran los Estados Unidos Destruidos en el 2028?

(Artist Depiction of Pentecost  via Pixabay)

COGwriter

Do you know the grammatical facts about the Holy Spirit?

The second chapter of the Book of Acts starts off with:

1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4)

Most groups that profess Christ consider that Pentecost marked the formal beginning of the New Testament church. And we read that God’s Holy Spirit was given and was associated with something that looked like fire.

Many languages, including koine Greek–the language that the New Testament was written in–use what is know as grammatical gender.

The koine Greek term for fire is πῦρ (pur), and it is grammatically neuter. Yet, most people who profess Christianity believe that the Holy Spirit is male.

Although most translations of the New Testament into the English language use the pronoun “he” related to the Holy Spirit as well as the “relative pronoun” “who,” neither of those pronouns are supported by the Greek text.

The Greek word for ‘spirit’ is pneuma. It is a neuter gender. It is not masculine nor should it be considered so.

And what about the Old Testament word for spirit, is that masculine?

No.

In the Hebrew scriptures, the terms for “Spirit” used, ruwach or ruah, for example in Genesis 1:2, are feminine (I once confirmed that with a Hebrew scholar personally).

Yet, despite that grammatical fact, some point to that term as proof of a male Holy Spirit. Notice something from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible:

Gen 1:1-2

The plurality of persons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This plural name of God, in Hebrew, which speaks of him… The Spirit of God was the first mover: He moved upon the face of the waters. (from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

Thus, seeing the term “he” in biased English commentaries on the Old Testament in no way supports the concept that the Holy Spirit is a male person.

Calling “she” “He” does not change the grammatical facts.

Though in the New Testament, many translators often improperly use the pronoun “he” associated with the term spirit, the KJV also sometimes correctly translates this as ‘it’ though KJV improperly added “self”:

16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (Romans 8:16, KJV)

26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26, KJV)

“It” is the appropriate pronoun. The Holy Spirit is the power of God. And that was the belief of early Christians. It took the Council of Constantinople, under imperial order from Emperor Theodosius, to make certain unscriptural declarations related to the Holy Spirit that many accept today (see also Did Early Christians Think the Holy Spirit Was A Separate Person in a Trinity?).

Sean Finnegan in his paper titled The Holy Spirit and Translation Bias: A Smoking Gun of Trinity Mischief:

Although most of these Bibles stay relatively true to the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek in most places, nearly all of them still have significant blind spots that subtly lean readers towards a Trinitarian theology. In what follows I intend to expose one of the smoking guns of text tampering as it relates to the holy spirit. …

After seeing … that seventeen out of the nineteen {translations} use “who” or “whom” to refer back to holy spirit, what would someone conclude?

The most frustrating aspect of this chicanery is that these translations mislead honest-hearted men and women who simply want to read and understand the Scriptures. What is more, most Bible readers implicitly trust the scholars who produce translations in the same way that most people trust doctors or school teachers. This is partly due to the impressive verbiage we saw above in their translation philosophies. The NASB team “adhered to the literal philosophy of translation” and required “a word- for-word translation that is accurate and precise,” yet, they literally did not translate the word “ὅ” as “which.” The NET boasts that its nearly 61,000 translators’ notes enable readers to “look over the translator’s shoulder” and make “transparent the textual basis and the rationale for key renderings (including major interpretive options and alternative translations).” However, when I look at the footnotes on Acts 5.32, I see nothing whatsoever indicating they flat out changed a word to make their translation more palatable. Ironically, Daniel Wallace was one of the primary scholars involved in the NET and his paper on this subject exposes this very issue. The NIV committee stated that they were committed “to the authority and infallibility of the Bible as God’s Word in written form,” yet they corrected the infallible Scripture in their translation to read “whom” instead of “which.” Isn’t a correction the result of an error? But, if Scripture is infallible, why is the NIV correcting it? Lastly, the NRSV claims it is “the most accurate and readable translation” and that it “leaves interpretation in the hands of the reader.” Yet, in this verse (and many others like it), it obscures the meaning of the text and does not so much as leave a footnote indicating their decision. So if the Greek is clear, why do nearly all of these translations get it wrong?

Why do all of these translations think the simple word ὅ (which) is really ὅν (whom)?

Perhaps I should probably mention that someone told me that Dr. Daniel Wallace did try to get the neuter gender used for the Holy Spirit when he was involved in a Bible translation project, but that he was overridden. This is even more appalling when it is realized that Dr. Wallace was the senior New Testament editor of the NET Bible.

Dr. Wallace, himself, wrote:

About half a dozen texts in the NT are used in support of the Spirit’s personality on the grounds of gender shift due to constructio ad sensum (“construction according to sense” or, in this case, according to natural as opposed to grammatical gender). That is to say, these passages seem to refer to the Spirit with the masculine gender in spite of the fact that πνεύμα is neuter, and grammatical concord would normally require that any reference to the Spirit also be in the neuter gender. …

Many theologians treat these passages as a primary proof of the Spirit’s personality. …

John 16:7 can be dismissed … Whatever the reason for the masculine participle in v. 7, it is evident that the grammaticization of the Spirit’s personality is not the only, nor even the most plausible, explanation. Since this text also involves serious exegetical problems (i.e., a variety of reasons as to why the masculine participle is used), it cannot be marshaled as unambiguous syntactical proof of the Spirit’s personality. In sum, none of the gender shift passages clearly helps establish the personality of the Holy Spirit.

Before going further in Dr. Wallace’s work, let us see two translations of John 16:7 that do NOT make the gender error, using the term “him,” that most other translations into English commit:

7 But I tell you I am going to do what is best for you. This is why I am going away. The Holy Spirit cannot come to help you until I leave. But after I am gone, I will send the Spirit to you.
(Contemporary English Version)

7 But I am telling you the truth. It is profitable for you that I go away because if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you. However, if I go, I will send it to you. (A Faithful Version)

Now, back to Dr. Wallace, he wrote:

There is no text in the NT that clearly or even probably affirms the personality of the Holy Spirit through the route of Greek grammar. …

Evangelical defenses of various doctrines occasionally are poorly founded. We sometimes claim things to be true because we want them to be true, without doing the exhaustive spadework needed to support our conclusions. …

In sum, I have sought to demonstrate in this paper that the grammatical basis for the Holy Spirit’s personality is lacking in the NT, yet this is frequently, if not usually, the first line of defense of that doctrine by many evangelical writers. But if grammar cannot legitimately be used to support the Spirit’s personality, then perhaps we need to reexamine the rest of our basis for this theological commitment. (Wallace D. Greek Grammar and the Personality of the Holy Spirit. Bulletin for Biblical Research 13.1 (2003) 97-125)

John 15:26 … The use of ἐκεἲνος {that one} here is frequently regarded by students of the NT to be an affirmation of the personality of the Holy Spirit. … 42 …

But this is erroneous. In all these Johannine passages, πνεύμα {spirit} is appositional to a masculine noun. The gender of ἐκεἲνος has nothing to do with the natural gender ending of πνεύμα. …

The view is especially popular among theologians, not infrequently becoming their mainstay for their argument for the personality of the Holy Spirit … (Wallace D. Greek Grammar. Harper Collins, 1996, pp. 331-332).

Yes, many rely of false information to promote the trinitarian personhood of the Holy Spirit.

An Eastern Orthodox priest and scholar, Dr. Laurent Cleenewerck, wrote:

Greek manuscripts do not have any capitalization. Hence, the introduction of capitalized forms is arbitrary … (as in ‘a holy spirit’ without capitalization) (Cleenewerck L. EOB: The Eastern/Greek Orthodox New Testament, pp. 33,34).

So, capitalization does not make the Holy Spirit a person. Dr. Laurent Cleenewerck also wrote:

The first thing to notice is that both pneuma and ruah also convey the meaning “breath” or “wind,” which explains the subtle nuances of such passages as Genesis 1:2; John 3:8 or James 2:26. On this basis we could say that pneuma and ruah are used as a reference to an unseen causal agent whose effects are visible.

The Greek… pneuma is neuter, which is why it is never spoken of with personal pronouns … an unbiased translation requires the use of of the conjunction “that/which” instead of “who/whom.” (Cleenewerck, p. 34).

Yet, although Dr. Cleenewerck was the editor of EOB: The Eastern/Greek Orthodox New Testament that particular translation uses “who” in Matthew 10:20 and John 6:63 (to cite two examples), “whom” in John 15:26, and masculine personal pronouns “he” and “him” in John 14:17, related to pneuma as the Holy Spirit. Yes, that translation has intentionally violated the appropriate grammatical rules according to its editor!

The fact is that there should NOT be personal pronouns—especially male ones—in English language translations of scripture associated with the Holy Spirit.

Ambassador College once published the following:

Somebody is going to ask: “What about the fact that John uses the personal pronoun ‘he’ when referring to the Holy Spirit or Comforter in the 14th, 15th and 16th chapters of his Gospel?” … in the Greek language, the gender of a word has nothing whatever to do with whether the thing designated is really masculine or feminine in the human sense at all. lf it did — what a contradiction in the Bible itself! For in the Old Testament the Hebrew word for spirit — ruach — is usually feminine, and only rarely in a masculine form. Gender in language is really nothing more than a convenient grammatical tool. In the 14th, 15th and 16th chapters of John, the English pronoun “he” is definitely used in connection with the word “Comforter” — but not for theological or spiritual reasons.

Grammatically, all pronouns in Greek must agree in gender with the word they refer to — or in other words, with the term that the pronoun replaces. The Greek word parakletos (“comforter” in English) has masculine gender; hence the translators’ use of the personal pronoun “he” for the Greek pronouns ekeinos and autos. “It” would have been a far better rendering into the English language (Just What Is The Holy Spirit? Ambassador College Production, 1983)

Fred Coulter wrote:

John 15:26, KJV: “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.”

The word “which,” referring to “the Spirit of truth,” is correctly translated from the neuter pronoun ο. In John 14:17, the translators of the KJV had incorrectly rendered this neuter pronoun as “whom.” However, in John 15:26, they have correctly rendered the neuter relative pronoun ο as “which.”

The descriptive noun “the Comforter” is correctly translated from the masculine Greek noun ο παρακλητος ho parakleetos. While this masculine noun is used to describe a vital function of the Holy Spirit, it does not designate the Holy Spirit, or “the Spirit of the truth,” as a person. A descriptive noun never changes the gender of the principal noun. (Coulter F. A Faithful Version, 2nd edition, Appendix K: Exegesis for the Translation of the Phrase “the Holy Spirit” as Antecedent in John 14, 15 and 16. York Publishing Company, 2011, pp. 1282-1285)

While “comforter” is masculine grammatically, that is not proof that the Holy Spirit is male or a person.

The grammatical reality is that the Greek noun pneuma (πνεύμα), in all its various forms, is always and only neuter in gender. Likewise, all pronouns that refer to pneuma are always and only can be neuter in gender. If the Holy Spirit were a masculine person, the nouns and pronouns in the Greek text would have to have been written in the masculine gender, as are all the nouns and pronouns that refer to God the Father and Jesus Christ. Yet, as Dr. Wallace and others have concluded, nowhere in the Greek text of the New Testament is the Holy Spirit ever designated by a noun or pronoun in the masculine gender.

False tradition triumphed truth–this is not new. Jesus complained about that in His day as well:

7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:

8 “These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:7-9)

Real Christians do not hypocritically worship God in vain.

While Protestantism has tended to claim it believes in sola Scriptura, the Bible alone for doctrine as opposed to accepting the councils of men that the Roman and Orthodox Catholic churches do, most Protestants have accepted traditions of men over the Bible related to the Holy Spirit.

Anyway, that said, the grammatical gender of the Hebrew word for spirit is feminine and the grammatical gender of the Greek word for spirit is neutral.

The grammatically proper conclusion after reviewing the Hebrew and Greek scriptures is that the Holy Spirit is NOT a “he.” And if one wants to assign a gender to it, “it,” meaning the neuter gender would make the most sense for Christians.

UPDATE 09/08/24: We just uploaded the following related video:

14:53

Gender of the Holy Spirit?

Does the Holy Spirit have a personal gender in the scriptures? Both ancient Hebrew (language of the Old Testament) and koine Greek (language of the New Testament) use grammatical gender when it comes to nouns. In the Hebrew scriptures, the terms for “Spirit” are ruwach or ruah–are they masculine, feminine, or neuter? What about the Greek term pneuma for “Spirit” in the New Testament? According to Protestant scholar Dr. Daniel Wallace are personal pronouns ever grammatically appropriate for the Holy Spirit? According to Eastern Orthodox priest Dr. Laurent Cleenwerck is it grammatically appropriate to use “who” or “whom” associated with the Holy Spirit? Do most translations of the New Testament intentionally violate rules of Greek grammar related to the Holy Spirit? Should people intentionally change the word of God to show a meaning that God did not inspire? Was the King James Version correct when referring to the Holy Spirit as ‘it”? Does referring to a “she” as a “he” make it so? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie go over these matters quoting scriptures as well as scholars who have translated the New Testament into the English language.

Here is a link to our video: Gender of the Holy Spirit?

Do not fall for false traditions that say that the Holy Spirit is masculine, because scripturally that is grammatically false.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Did Early Christians Think the Holy Spirit Was A Separate Person in a Trinity? Or did they have a different view? Here is a link to a related sermon: Truth about the Holy Spirit: What THEY do not want you to know! Here is a link to a sermonette video: Gender of the Holy Spirit?
Did the True Church Ever Teach a Trinity? Most act like this is so, but is it? Here is an old, by somewhat related, article in the Spanish language LA DOCTRINA DE LA TRINIDAD. A related sermon is available: Trinity: Fundamental to Christianity or Something Else? A brief video is also available: Three trinitarian scriptures?
Was Unitarianism the Teaching of the Bible or Early Church? Many, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, claim it was, but was it?
Binitarianism: One God, Two Beings Before the Beginning This is a longer article than the Binitarian View article, and has a little more information on binitarianism, and less about unitarianism. A related sermon is also available: Binitarian view of the Godhead.
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism The CCOG is NOT Protestant. This free online book explains how the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants. Several sermons related to the free book are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG History; The First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & Character; The New Testament, Martin Luther, and the Canon; Eucharist, Passover, and Easter; Views of Jews, Lost Tribes, Warfare, & Baptism; Scripture vs. Tradition, Sabbath vs. Sunday; Church Services, Sunday, Heaven, and God’s Plan; Seventh Day Baptists/Adventists/Messianics: Protestant or COG?; Millennial Kingdom of God and God’s Plan of Salvation; Crosses, Trees, Tithes, and Unclean Meats; The Godhead and the Trinity; Fleeing or Rapture?; and Ecumenism, Rome, and CCOG Differences.
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original.

COGwriter

PCG posted the following:

Belief in Creationism at All-time Low

September 6, 2024

he percentage of United States adults who believe God created humanity in His image has fallen to a record low. Only 37 percent of adults now accept that God created humans in their present form at some point within the past 10,000 years, according to a Gallup poll published on July 22. There are still more Americans who believe God created humanity in His image than believe humanity evolved without God’s help. Yet the most common explanation for human origins is that humans evolved from a simpler life form.

Overall, 58 percent of U.S. adults believe in some form of human evolution from less advanced forms of life. More specifically, 34 percent of adults believe God guided the process of human evolution over millions of years, while 24 percent believe God had no role in man’s development from less advanced forms of life.

This belief in human evolution is most stark among those with a university education. According to the most recent Gallup data, 69 percent of Americans with a college degree believe in human evolution, while only 51 percent of those without a degree believe it. This means that if you ask a college graduate how human life arose, you will likely hear an answer that has little or nothing to do with God or His master plan.

Of course, many politicians and educators still pay lip service to the Bible and Christianity, but the core of modern American education and culture is neo-Darwinian evolution. Roughly 34 percent of Protestants and 46 percent of Catholics believe God guided the process of human evolution over millions of years, so even many religious people now reject the Bible as a source for humanity’s ultimate origins. https://www.thetrumpet.com/30055-belief-in-creationism-at-all-time-low

The Bible teaches:

1 The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works, (Psalms 14:1)

It is absurd that the more educated in the USA are fools.

USA education needs to be reformed.

It is academically proper to believe in God.

False education leads to bad results. Belief in a Creator is scientifically logical and sound.

Is it logical to believe the view of ‘spontaneous generation’ often pushed by well known people claiming to be scientists?

Is it logical to believe that life evolved from spontaneous generation of tiny organisms to human beings?

No.

The “father” of modern evolutionary theory was Charles Darwin.

Yet, even Charles Darwin saw people were making too much out of his writings when he was alive:

Darwin himself said: “I am in a hopeless muddle concerning the origin of things. Our ignorance of the derivation of things is very profound. I must be content to remain agnostic.”

However, as he lay dying, he embraced the concept of creation. He also reflected on his life work, saying: “I was a young man with unformed ideas. I threw out queries, suggestions, wondering all the time over everything; to my astonishment the ideas took like wildfire. People made a religion out of them. (Keith B. Scopes II: The Great Debate : Creation Vs. Evolution. Huntington House, 1982, p. 47)

Sadly, many who wanted reasons NOT to believe in God pointed to his writings and claimed that they were more enlightened and/or scientific than the biblical account. They made a religion out of his theories.

Many have false intellectual vanity. This is not a new phenomena as the Apostle Paul warned Timothy:

²⁰ O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge — ²¹ by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. (1 Timothy 6:20-21, NKJV)

20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: 21 Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. (1 Timothy 6:20-21, KJV)

Problems of contradictions of what is called ‘knowledge/science’ exist to this day. If there ever is an apparent contradiction between the Bible and what is called ‘science’ remember that the Bible teaches:

⁴ … Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. (Romans 3:4)

The Bible is scientific and reliable. Not all scientists are. Nor are all theologians.

Here is something from our free online book Is God’s Existence Logical?:

Truth and Logic

Many who believe in God have merely assumed the existence of God.

Why?

Usually because they were taught it from childhood. It has been believed in the circles in which they have lived or associated.

The Apostle Paul was inspired to write:

21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thessalonians 5:21, KJV)

If you believe in God, have you proved it?

What about secular scientists?

Well, they should prove their beliefs as well. Yet the vast majority of people who accept evolution, whether they think they are scientists or not, at least passively, have accepted it because of their environment as well as exposure to it in school. Long ago, evolution became the scholarly “IN” thing. The opposite belief, special creation, is not widely taught.

Sadly, many who teach a divine creation do not always teach a view that is consistent with scripture and truth. Most people have not truly objectively examined evolution. Furthermore, proponents often utilize the psychological ploy that it is a badge of scholarly status to accept evolution, and a stamp of ignorance or intellectual inferiority to doubt the theory/evolutionary model. Consider that this basically means that people tend to believe what they do simply because they have been taught it, or because it has been accepted in their particular social environment.

In general, most people’s beliefs—religious or otherwise—are formed without examination or proof! Christians are supposed to believe in truth (John 8:31-32, 45-46, 14:6) and logic (cf. Isaiah 1:18; Job 36:3, ISV; 1 Peter 3:15; Acts 19:8-9). Now, what is science?

Merriam-Webster defines science as follows:

1 : the state of knowing : knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding

2 a : a department of systematized knowledge as an object of study …

3 a : knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method

Therefore, real scientists should believe in truth and logic.

Yet:

16 The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes Than seven men who can answer sensibly. (Proverbs 26:16)

Sadly, most who consider themselves scientists throw aspects of truth and logic out when they are discussing the origin of the universe or the origin of life. They take a non-scientific approach that they like to portray as wise. They tend to very dismissive of biblical truth, without having solid reasons.

Nobel Prize winner Dr. George Wald, from Harvard University, stated the following:

The reasonable view was to believe in spontaneous generation (life from nothing); the only alternative, to believe in a single, primary act of supernatural creation. There is no third position . . . One has only to contemplate the magnitude of this task to concede that the spontaneous generation of a living organism is impossible. Yet here we are, as a result I believe, of spontaneous generation. (Scott I. The God Solution: Are You Ready? Xlibris Corporation, 2013, p. 41)

This is an astounding admission. Dr. Wald is saying that he chose to believe the impossible. And “scientists” claim that those who believe in a Creator have blind faith with no proof, but instead believe the impossible!

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines impossible as “incapable of being or of occurring.”

It is a falsehood to believe in something that is impossible–it is illogical.

Consider the following from the Bible:

¹⁴ Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. (Revelation 22:14-15)

Would not professing belief in something you know is impossible be loving and believing a lie?

Here is more from our free online book Is God’s Existence Logical?:

Probabilities or Impossibilities?

Some who claim evolution is improbable point out the fact that various amino acids (which always occur 50:50 in nature in the levo and dextro forms) must have for some unknown reason, only congregated in the levo forms which are the only forms in living proteins (other than the membranes of some bacteria). These amino acids would then have had to line up in liquid in a particular sequence for certain proteins, including genes, to be produced. This improbability has been estimated to be so high that it could not have been expected to happen by chance (also, even having amino acids in sequence would not cause them to form the necessary proteins without some type of external catalyst). It has been claimed that it takes 150 amino acids in the proper sequence to produce a functional protein.

Consider the odds as calculated by Dr. Stephen Meyer:

This calculation can be made by multiplying the three independent probabilities by one another: the probability of incorporating only peptide bonds (1 in 1045), the probability of incorporating only left-handed amino acids (1 in 1045), and the probability of achieving correct amino-acid sequencing (using Axe’s 1 in 1074 estimate). Making that calculation (multiplying the separate probabilities by adding their exponents 1045+45+74) gives a dramatic answer. The odds of getting even one functional protein of modest length (150 amino acids) by chance from a prebiotic soup is no better than 1 chance in 10164. It {is} almost impossible to convey what this number represents, but let me try. We have a colloquial expression in English, “It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.” . . . Now consider that there are only 1080 protons, neutrons, and electrons in the observable universe. Thus, if the odds of finding a functional protein by chance on the first attempt had been 1 in 1080, we could have said that’s like finding a marked particle – proton, neutron, or electron (a much smaller needle) – among all the particles in the universe (a much larger haystack). Unfortunately, the problem is much worse than that. With odds standing at 1 chance in 10164 of finding a functional protein . . . the probability is 84 orders of magnitude (or powers of ten) smaller than the probably of finding the marked particle in the whole universe. Another way to say that is the probability of finding a functional protein by chance alone is a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion times smaller than the odds of finding a single specified particle among all the particles in the universe. And the problem is far worse than that . . . Axe’s experiments calculated looking for a relatively short protein by chance alone. More typical protein have hundreds of amino acids . . . RNA polymerase . . . has over 3,000 functionally specified amino acids. (Meyer S. Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design. Zondervan, 2009, pp. 212-213)

Functional cells require more than one protein, hence the probability against these amino acids randomly forming some type of even primitive cell is enormous. On the other hand, some supporters of evolution point out the belief that since there are vast numbers of stars (between 1022 to 1024 per a European Space Agency estimate viewed online 04/04/18), and probably several planets per star, there are enough possible random sequences to overwhelm the probability in favor of such improbable occurrences. But that does not seem to be the case.

One version of this theory, embraced by some who believe aliens inhabit other planets, is known as the Drake Equation. Of course, those who make this argument must realize that the probability of any planet other than Earth having what it takes to support life is remote (the Drake Equation, which was developed based on assumptions in the 1960s, seemingly vastly overstates the percentage/number of apparently suitable planets). However, even supporters of that have noticed a problem known as Fermi’s paradox. The Fermi paradox ”is the apparent contradiction between high estimates of the probability of the existence of extra- terrestrial civilization and humanity’s lack of contact with, or evidence for, such civilizations” (Drake Equation, Wikipedia, viewed 09/03/14).

“The Fermi paradox is a conflict between arguments of scale and probability that seem to favor intelligent life being common in the universe, and a total lack of evidence of intelligent life having ever arisen anywhere other than on the Earth” (Fermi Paradox, Wikipedia, viewed 04/04/18).

So, it is reported that there is a “total” lack of evidence. Consider also the following report in 2018:

Researchers at Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute came to the conclusion that humans are alone in the universe while examining the so-called “Fermi Paradox” — which ponders why scientists believe in extraterrestrials despite having zero proof. “We find a substantial probability of there being no other intelligent life in our observable universe, and thus that there should be little surprise when we fail to detect any signs of it,” researchers say in the report … There’s likely no intelligent life outside of Earth — so there’s no need to waste time theorizing about humanity’s relationship with aliens, notes the paper, dubbed “Dissolving the Fermi Paradox.” (O’Neill N. Scientists say humans are alone in the universe. NY Post, June 26, 2018)

The above researchers concluded that calculations about life on other planets are based on overly optimistic probabilities. So is the fact that other planets do not appear to have enough phosphorus to sustain life (Adamson A. Substantial Lack Of Phosphorus In The Universe Makes Finding Alien Life Unlikely. Tech Times, April 5, 2018).

But despite these issues, the supporters of the Drake Equation tend to point to evolution as at least a possibility for the origin of life. Thus, in debates about origins, both creationists and evolutionists tend to argue that the laws of probability support their position. But, probability estimates I have reviewed (from both sides) greatly favor the creationist position.

Notice also the following:

Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God

In 1966 … the astronomer Carl Sagan announced that there were two important criteria for a planet to support life: The right kind of star, and a planet the right distance from that star. Given the roughly octillion—1 followed by 24 zeros—planets in the universe, there should have been about a septillion—1 followed by 21 zeros—planets capable of supporting life.

With such spectacular odds, the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, a large, expensive collection of private and publicly funded projects launched in the 1960s, was sure to turn up something soon. Scientists listened with a vast radio telescopic network for signals that resembled coded intelligence and were not merely random. But as years passed, the silence from the rest of the universe was deafening. Congress defunded SETI in 1993, but the search continues with private funds. As of 2014, researchers have discovered precisely bubkis—0 followed by nothing.

What happened? As our knowledge of the universe increased, it became clear that there were far more factors necessary for life than Sagan supposed. His two parameters grew to 10 and then 20 and then 50, and so the number of potentially life- supporting planets decreased accordingly. The number dropped to a few thousand planets and kept on plummeting.

Even SETI proponents acknowledged the problem. Peter Schenkel wrote in a 2006 piece for Skeptical Inquirer magazine: “In light of new findings and insights, it seems appropriate to put excessive euphoria to rest. . . . We should quietly admit that the early estimates . . . may no longer be tenable.”

As factors continued to be discovered, the number of possible planets hit zero, and kept going. In other words, the odds turned against any planet in the universe supporting life, including this one. Probability said that even we shouldn’t be here.

Today there are more than 200 known parameters necessary for a planet to support life—every single one of which must be perfectly met, or the whole thing falls apart. Without a massive planet like Jupiter nearby, whose gravity will draw away asteroids, a thousand times as many would hit Earth’s surface. The odds against life in the universe are simply astonishing.

Yet here we are, not only existing, but talking about existing. What can account for it? Can every one of those many parameters have been perfect by accident? At what point is it fair to admit that science suggests that we cannot be the result of random forces? Doesn’t assuming that an intelligence created these perfect conditions require far less faith than believing that a life-sustaining Earth just happened to beat the inconceivable odds to come into being?

There’s more. The fine-tuning necessary for life to exist on a planet is nothing compared with the fine-tuning required for the universe to exist at all. For example, astrophysicists now know that the values of the four fundamental forces—gravity, the electromagnetic force, and the “strong” and “weak” nuclear forces—were determined less than one millionth of a second after the big bang. Alter any one value and the universe could not exist. For instance, if the ratio between the nuclear strong force and the electromagnetic force had been off by the tiniest fraction of the tiniest fraction—by even one part in 100,000,000,000,000,000—then no stars could have ever formed at all. Feel free to gulp.

Multiply that single parameter by all the other necessary conditions, and the odds against the universe existing are so heart-stoppingly astronomical that the notion that it all “just happened” defies common sense. It would be like tossing a coin and having it come up heads 10 quintillion times in a row. Really?

Fred Hoyle, the astronomer who coined the term “big bang,” said that his atheism was “greatly shaken” at these developments. He later wrote that “a common-sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with the physics, as well as with chemistry and biology . . . . The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.”

Theoretical physicist Paul Davies has said that “the appearance of design is overwhelming” and Oxford professor Dr. John Lennox has said “the more we get to know about our universe, the more the hypothesis that there is a Creator . . . gains in credibility as the best explanation of why we are here.” (Metaxas E. Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God. The Yeshiva World, December 29, 2014)

Evolution is not even improbable. As the origin of life, evolution is impossible. Teaching otherwise is a ‘scientific’ myth.

It rarely fails to astound me how the supposedly educated can insist that evolution is scientifically accurate and why they want people to mindlessly accept such a preposterous explanation of the origins of life. More on why there is a God and why evolution is not scientific is in the free online book Is God’s Existence Logical?

The fact is that evolution functions as a false religion that many cling to. Therefore, many who hold to it do not bother to look into the truth about why they are on this planet nor what their life really is supposed to be about.

The Continuing Church of God put out two short animations related to this general topic on our CCOG Animations channel:

Here is a link to our video: Big Bang: Nothing or Creator?

Here is a link to our animated video: A Lifegiver or Spontaneous Evolution?

As far as some of the “educated” go, the Apostle Paul also wrote the following to Timothy about some who were:

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

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?
Does it Make Physical Sense to believe in God? Some say it is not logical to believe in God. Is that true? Here is a link to a YouTube sermon titled Is it logical to believe in God?
Is Evolution Probable or Impossible or Is God’s Existence Logical? Part II This short article clearly answers what ‘pseudo-scientists’ refuse to acknowledge. Here is a link to a YouTube video titled Is There Another View of Evolution? and another titled Quickly Disprove Evolution as the Origin of Life.
How Old is the Earth and How Long Were the Days of Creation? Gap Theory? Does the Bible allow for the creation of the universe and earth billions of years ago? Why do some believe they are no older than 6,000 years old? What is the gap theory? Were the days of creation in Genesis 1:3 through 2:3 24 hours long? Here are links to two sermons: Gap Theory: Doctrine or Modern Heresy? and Genesis, ‘Prehistoric man,’ and the Gap theory. Here is a link to a related article in Spanish: ¿Cuán vieja es la Tierra? ¿Cuán largos fueron los Días de la Creación? ¿Teoría de la brecha?
Why Did God Create Anything? Why did God make you?
Where Did God Come From? Any ideas? And how has God been able to exist? Who is God?
How is God Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and Omniscient? Here is a biblical article which answers what many really wonder about it.
Has time been lost? It Saturday the seventh day of the week?
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?
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? There is also a video titled What is the meaning of your life?
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.

COGwriter

The National Football League (NFL) season is upon us as the 2024 NFL season is set to kick off on Thursday, September 5th.

Should Christians support this?

Early Christians would not have watched sports like it.

What kind of sport is NFL football?

A violent and damaging one. One that will hurt people this season.

September 6, 2022

According to a History article and a recent Gallup poll, American football is the number one sport in the United States and has been since the mid 1960s.  …

“A League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis” is a documentary that came out in 2013 about how the NFL tried to conceal any trace of correlation between playing football and the impact of head trauma on athletes’ brain health. 

Throughout the length of this documentary, viewers are shown multiple interviews with retired players, coaches, agents and other big names in the American football industry who share their own opinions on the severity of the concussion crisis within the NFL. 

There are also interviews with experts in neuroscience and accredited neuropathologists who had first-hand experience in discovering and diagnosing former NFL players with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). 

Most notably though, there is an interview with Dr. Bennet Omalu, who was the first to publish his findings on CTE after performing an autopsy on Pittsburgh Steeler center Mike Webster. This is significant considering how ostracized and denounced Omalu was after his efforts to make NFL players aware of the adverse effects of repeated concussions and brain trauma. 

The documentary emphasizes that despite the incriminating evidence on the prevalence of CTE in these athletes, many people with powerful positions in the NFL completely refute these claims in the interest of continuing to capitalize on football. 

The entire piece highlights how this massive corporation still willfully puts people in harm’s way by manipulating information being released to the public because they hold fear that this knowledge will cause severe financial losses for them or bring down the sport altogether. This documentary is available to watch on pbs.org or on YouTube. https://www.theprospectordaily.com/2022/09/06/examining-american-football-and-its-flaws-through-film/

A reader sent me the following from columnist George Will:

Autumn, which is bearing down upon us like a menacing linebacker, is, as John Keats said, a season of mists and mellow fruitfulness and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Actually, Keats, a romantic, did not mention that last part. He died before the birth of the subject of a waning American romance, football. This sport will never die but it will never again be, as it was until recently, the subject of uncomplicated national enthusiasm.

CTE is a degenerative brain disease confirmable only after death, and often caused by repeated blows to the head that knock the brain against the skull. The cumulative impacts of hundreds of supposedly minor blows can have the cumulative effect of many concussions. The New York Times recently reported Stanford researchers’ data showing “that one college offensive lineman sustained 62 of these hits in a single game. Each one came with an average force on the player’s head equivalent to what you would see if he had driven his car into a brick wall at 30 mph.”

Boston University researchers found CTE in 110 of 111 brains of deceased NFL players. In 53 other brains from college players, 48 had CTE. There was significant selection bias: Many of the brains came from families who had noticed CTE symptoms, including mood disorders and dementia. A BU researcher says, however, that a 10-year NFL linebacker could receive more than 15,000 sub-concussive blows.

Football’s kinetic energy — a function of the masses and velocities of the hurtling bodies — has increased dramatically in 50 years. … 09/02/17 https://www.news-journal.com/news/2017/sep/02/will-footballs-enjoyment-is-on-a-fade-pattern/

Many non-Philadelphian Christians do not wish to seriously consider that American tackle football is harmful, despite the facts, and would prefer that I not post about it.

The Bible suggests otherwise:

1 Cry aloud, spare not;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
Tell My people their transgression,
And the house of Jacob their sins. (Isaiah 58:1)

The reality is that American tackle football is evil–the players get harmed. This really is not debatable as it is an established fact.

ABC reported the following:

“Football is not a contact sport, it’s a collision sport.”

These words, spoken by legendary football coach Vince Lombardi, have taken on new meaning in the last decade after several recent studies have revealed a link between the repeated collisions for which the game is known and a progressive brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

Now, a new report from researchers at Boston University suggests that this often devastating neurological disease may be even more common to the sport than previously thought.

In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers examined the brains of 202 deceased football players –- ranging from high school to professional levels –- to look for tell-tale signs of CTE, a diagnosis that can only be made after an autopsy. A full 87 percent of these ex-players had evidence of CTE. The proportion was highest in professional players; of the 111 former NFL pros included in the study, 110 met the criteria for a CTE diagnosis.

But the study’s lead author, Dr. Ann C. McKee, said that one of the most alarming findings is that nearly one quarter of the 14 high school players in the study had CTE. July 25, 2017 http://abcnews.go.com/Health/111-pro-football-players-brain-injury-cte-study/story?id=48838098

So, nearly everyone who plays tackle football long enough ends up with brain injury.

Notice something about those injuries and tackle football (bolding by me):

A concussion is a brain injury caused by an impact to the head that shakes the brain inside the skull, and side effects can be significant. … violent collisions happen play after play in a football game, and players suffer concussions regularly.

Confusion, headache and loss of memory are common symptoms and can last for days, weeks or longer. Also concerning is that symptoms can be subtle or not immediately apparent. If undiagnosed, this can lead to continued play and worsening of the condition.

Among other signs and symptoms are:

• Feeling dazed

• Slurred speech

• Nausea or vomiting

• Clumsiness, dizziness or balance issues

• Sensitivity to light and/or noise

• Blurred vision

• Difficulty concentrating

• Changes in behavior or personality

Symptoms are usually made worse by physical or mental activity.

In adults, concussions can have a negative impact on ability to focus on professional and personal responsibilities. In children, that can translate into difficulty performing in school and participating in extracurricular and social activities.

Repeated concussion or brain trauma of any type can lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease that can begin months, years, or even decades after the last brain injury or retirement from sports.

CTE has been known to affect boxers since the 1920s, but only in more recent years have studies confirmed the disease in deceased football players and other athletes with a history of repeated brain injury. Associated symptoms are memory loss, impaired judgement, confusion, aggression, poor impulse control and, in later stages, progressive dementia.

In some former athletes, it’s even been linked to high levels of depression and thoughts of self-harm. 09/03/21 https://www.timesleader.com/opinion/op-ed/1510735/to-your-health-football-impact-and-concussions

Clearly with any who have eyes to see, the fruits of this ‘sport’ are evil.

Over the years, I have seemingly stood alone among Church of God leaders in the 21st century warning against American tackle football. I first spoke against it at the old Spokesman’s Club in the Worldwide Church of God last century. And, when I brought the subject up in the Living Church of God, it made many uncomfortable enough to take steps leading to my departure from that group.

There is no doubt that American tackle football is dangerous to health. While some in the world consider watching it to be an ‘ethical uncertainty,’ true Philadelphia Christians (as well as many who are not) realize that something about this sport is physically harmful and should not be encouraged.

Many people do not want to believe the truth about American tackle football. Consider also the following:

The famed forensic pathologist who discovered a deadly brain disease impacting several former National Football League players inspired Tyler leaders on Tuesday.

Dr. Bennet Omalu, portrayed by Will Smith in the film “Concussion,” was the keynote speaker at the Leadership Live 2016 event at Green Acres Baptist Church’s Crosswalk Conference Center.

He spoke about 40 minutes on the importance of self-love, truth and embracing everyone’s humanity.

“Dr. Omalu is an exceptional example of leadership in the face of adversity,” Smittee Root, executive director of Leadership Tyler, said. “His story has the ability to inspire not only the fresh faces of Tyler, but the seasoned leaders of our community.”

In recent years, he’s faced rejection and was condemned by some doctors and the NFL due to his findings about chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Despite the turmoil, he kept fighting for the truth, he said.

“No university, no research organization would open doors to me,” Omalu said.

“I lost it all. I lost everything I had. I lost my job. I was unemployed for six months.”

I still held onto the light of the truth.”

Omalu attributes the backlash to what he calls conformational intelligence. He said in society, people tend to accept what has been known as fact, even when new evidence is produced. http://www.tylerpaper.com/TP-News+Local/240159/famed-doctor-bennet-omalu-who-discovered-degenerative-brain-disease-in-athletes-inspires-tyler-leaders

The TRUTH is that the fruits of American tackle football are not good. But many do not care.

Let me state that there is a human tendency to try to justify sin. Many think if something feels right to them, it must be. According to the Bible, that is a wrong attitude:

9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
10 I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

Those who claim that encouraging American tackle football is fine are NOT Philadelphian Christians–they are deceiving themselves since American tackle football causes real damage. Damage that should not be encouraged.

After a post I made before about American football (see Should Christians watch American football?), a reader sent me an email, that in part stated:

Hello Dr. Thiel,

It took a while, but your recent article “Should Americans Watch Football?” finally convinced me the answer is “NO”. I can see why I stubbornly held out. I think it is ADDICTION that causes football lovers to cover their eyes from the truth. Who can deny the thrill and ectasy of cheering on our super talented sports heroes and winning teams. Who can give up the hamburgers, hot dogs , potato chips, soda and beer along with it? I admit I have been a big sports addict especially to American football!

Well, what turned me off the most was the Super Bowl ads on TV years ago. I started refusing to watch the Super Bowl with my family (it was too embarrassing) or with church friends.

From the violence on the field, to the under-clothed cheerleaders, to some of the half-time antics, there is a lot wrong with American football.

Jesus taught not to intentionally hurt others:

39… ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:39, NKJV)

The Apostle Paul also wrote:

29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it (Ephesians 5:29, NKJV)

Also, notice what John the Baptist taught soldiers:

14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages. (Luke 3:14, KJV)

I could not reconcile loving my neighbor as myself and cherishing my flesh and not doing violence to any man by watching others do it in a football game. Consider also the following:

9…You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:9-10)

Jesus also said:

20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. (John 3:20-21, NKJV).

Is watching American football a deed that would be pleasing to God?

The Apostle Paul wrote:

12… they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.(2 Thessalonians 2:12)

29 … they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:29-32, NKJV)

Is not football violent and often unmerciful?

So, if playing football is evil should Christians approve of it?

Additionally, twice the New Testament refers to the good news message as “the gospel of peace”:

15 “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15)

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (Ephesians 6:14-15)

Is not taking a stand against encouraging sports violence consistent with the gospel of peace and love? Or should ministers tell people that violent sports like American tackle football are not “inherently evil” as at least one minister from LCG has done?

While “love does no harm to a neighbor” (Romans 13:9), what do sports like American football and boxing do? Should Bible believers encourage this?

Unlike stories of violence in books or movies, American football involves actual violence and often physical injury–including brain damaging ones that are often not obvious for years.

The Bible forbids harming others or encouraging sin. Early professors of Christ would not watch violent games, as they felt that watching was encouraging and participating in sin.

While we do not seem to have many direct references from those in the Church of God, we do have some written records of those who were at least somewhat familiar with the teachings of Jesus and the practices of the earliest Christians.

Now, here is something from Theophilus of Antioch (who likely was part of the Church of God) perhaps written about 180 A.D.:

Consider, therefore, whether those who teach such things can possibly live indifferently, and be commingled in unlawful intercourse, or, most impious of all, eat human flesh, especially when we are forbidden so much as to witness shows of gladiators, lest we become partakers and abettors of murders. But neither may we see the other spectacles, lest our eyes and ears be defiled, participating in the utterances there sung. (Theophilus of Antioch. To Autolycus, Book III, Chapter XV. Translated by Marcus Dods, A.M. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2. Edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1885. Online Edition)

So, true Christians did not believe that they were to watch the violent sports so popular in the second century.

Tatian, a professing Christian apologist, wrote around 170 A.D.:

And for these the witnesses take their seats, and the boxers meet in single combat, for no reason whatever, nor does any one come down into the arena to succour. Do such exhibitions as these redound to your credit? He who is chief among you collects a legion of blood-stained murderers, engaging to maintain them; and these ruffians are sent forth by him, and you assemble at the spectacle to be judges, partly of the wickedness of the adjudicator, and partly of that of the men who engage in the combat. And he who misses the murderous exhibition is grieved, because he was not doomed to be a spectator of wicked and impious and abominable deeds (Tatian. Translated by J.E. Ryland. Tatian’s Address to the Greeks, Chapter XXIII . Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2. Edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1885. Online Edition Copyright © 2004 by K. Knight).

Athenagoras, a professing Christian apologist, wrote around 170 A.D.:

What man of sound mind, therefore, will affirm, while such is our character, that we are murderers?…

Who does not reckon among the things of greatest interest the contests of gladiators and wild beasts, especially those which are given by you? But we, deeming that to see a man put to death is much the same as killing him, have abjured such spectacles (Athenagoras. A Plea for the Christians, Chapter XXXV. Translated by B.P. Pratten. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2. Edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1885. Online Edition Copyright © 2004 by K. Knight).

Even today, many Christians realize that watching brutal events intent on causing physical harm, such as real boxing, is inappropriate.

Notice that this was also the position of the third century Roman Catholic theologian and bishop Hippolytus, who also adds various occupations to those that reject one from being a follower of Christ:

16:6 A charioteer, likewise, or one who takes part in the games, or one who goes to the games, he shall cease or he shall be rejected. 7 If someone is a gladiator, or one who teaches those among the gladiators how to fight, or a hunter who is in the wild beast shows in the arena, or a public official who is concerned with gladiator shows, either he shall cease, or he shall be rejected. 8 If someone is a priest of idols, or an attendant of idols, he shall cease or he shall be rejected. 9 A military man in authority must not execute men. If he is ordered, he must not carry it out. Nor must he take military oath. If he refuses, he shall be rejected. 10 If someone is a military governor, or the ruler of a city who wears the purple, he shall cease or he shall be rejected. 11 The catechumen or faithful who wants to become a soldier is to be rejected, for he has despised God. (Hippolytus. The Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus of Rome. From the work of Bernard Botte (La Tradition Apostolique. Sources Chretiennes, 11 bis. Paris, Editions du Cerf, 1984) and of Gregory Dix (The Treatise on the Apostolic Tradition of St. Hippolytus of Rome, Bishop and Martyr. London: Alban Press, 1992) as translated by Kevin P. Edgecomb http://www.bombaxo.com/hippolytus.html viewed 08/06/09)

The late WCG Pastor-General Herbert W. Armstrong categorized American tackle football as evil.

You may be telling yourself, well since my church does not (presuming you do not support a group like the Continuing Church of God which does) condemn football and/or possibly encourages it, the Bible really does not apply here. If so, be careful about accepting that type of tradition. Jesus Himself taught:

7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:

8 “These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. (Matthew 15:7-9)

14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,

‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ — and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked — 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. (Revelation 3:14-19)

I do not watch American football. I consider that it is evil (also, no Christian can really defend how professional football cheerleading females are often publicly dressed and displayed). Others want to falsely act like there is nothing wrong with watching it.

Some may not wish to hear about any of the evils of violent sports, and instead prefer smooth things, but hopefully I have tried to follow the Apostle Paul who declared:

26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. (Acts 20:26-27)

The bodies and blood of those who engage in violent sports is important. It does not show Philadelphia love.

Regarding American football, do you believe that Jesus or the Apostle Paul would endorse it? This is something that Christians, and those that claim to be, should think and pray about.

Those Laodicean Christians who are fans of American tackle football are NOT Philadelphians and will be subject to violence themselves as they will have to go through the Great Tribulation if they do not repent (Revelation 3:14-22).

Encouraging violence in sports does not show brotherly/Philadelphian love.

Philadelphian Christians do not watch American tackle football–whether the USA or Canadian version of it.

For more scriptures, as well as the position of early Christians and others, please see the following:

Is American Football Evil? Is the most popular spectator sport in the USA something that Christians should watch? What do the Bible and early writings show? There is also a YouTube video available titled Should Christians watch American football?
Military Service and the Churches of God: Do Real Christians Participate in Carnal Warfare or Encourage Violence? Here are current and historical perspectives on a matter which show the beliefs of the true church on military participation. Is war proper for Christians? A related sermon would be: Christians, Violence, and Military Service.
Pornography: A scourge on society Is pornography harmless fun? Does the Bible teach anything about it? What are the views of some involved with it? Here is a link to a YouTube video Pornography: Harmless Fun or a Scourge on Society?
5. The Sardis Church Era was predominant circa 1600 A.D. to circa 1933 A.D. Discusses some early history of the Seventh Day Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, CG7-Salem, Jerusalem 7DCG, and COG-7th Day-Denver. Here are two historical sermons: Sardis Church Era: Beginnings, Doctrines, and Leaders and Sardis: SDBs, SDAs, & CG7s.
6. The Philadelphia Church Era was predominant circa 1933 A.D. to 1986 A.D. The old Radio Church of God and old Worldwide Church of God, now the remnant of that era is basically the most faithful in the Church of God, like who hold to the beliefs and practices of the Continuing Church of God.
7. The Laodicean Church Era has been predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. The Laodiceans are non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG or its offshoots.  They do not properly understand the work or biblical prophecies and will face the Great Tribulation if they do not repent. One video of related interest is 50+ Laodicean Prophetic Errors. See also Do You Hold to Any of These Laodicean Prophetic Errors?

COGwriter

The Book of Ecclesiastes has the following as part of its introduction:

2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher;

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”  (Ecclesiastes 1:2)

And vanity of appearance is something that Satan deceived himself by:

12 … ‘Thus says the Lord God:

“You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.

14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.

16 “By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.

17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; (Ezekiel 28:12-17)

But it is not just Satan who has been affected by vanity of beauty.

While males are certainly often vain, females in many societies are immensely focused on outward appearance.

Yet, the Bible teaches:

4 … glorious beauty is a fading flower (Isaiah 28:4)

Looks do not last, but many spend a lot of time on their outward appearance. And while that can please them, and sometimes others, there are risks.

A couple of decades ago, a chiropractor telephoned me and asked if she could send me a copy of her anti-cosmetic book titled Dying to Look Good.

She sent it and I read it.

Basically, the book warned of the dangers that many of the commonly used chemicals in cosmetics posed many health risks. Specifically, it classified over 1200 cosmetic ingredients according to safety, whether they may cause allergic reactions, whether they have been reviewed by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Panel and if they are approved or recognized as safe by the FDA. It also lists over 750 cosmetic and personal care products that have been evaluated as “safe.” Related to it, the author claimed:

Many of the ingredients in the cosmetics, toiletries and personal care products you use every day are harmful. Studies have found that nearly 50% of cosmetic products evaluated were contaminated with the cancer-causing chemical 1,4-dioxane. Cosmetics, toiletries and personal care products do not require FDA approval before they are sold to the public. A harmful product can only be removed from the market if the FDA can prove in a court of law that the product is harmful, improperly labeled or violates the law. …

You can’t depend on the FDA or the manufacturers to make sure the products you buy are safe. It’s up to you! Protect your family’s health.

Well, that book came out back in December 2000.

What about the situation today?

Well, many dangerous chemicals are still used.

And most, while not dangerous in small amounts, can be in large amounts.

One of the reasons for this post is that the Associated Press recently published the following:

Young girls are using anti-aging products they see on social media. The harm is more than skin deep

August 31, 2024

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — When she was in fifth grade, Scarlett Goddard Strahan started to worry about getting wrinkles.

By the time she turned 10, Scarlett and her friends were spending hours on TikTok and YouTube watching influencers tout products for achieving today’s beauty aesthetic: a dewy, “glowy,” flawless complexion. Scarlett developed an elaborate skin care routine with facial cleansers, mists, hydrating masks and moisturizers.

One night, Scarlett’s skin began to burn intensely and erupted in blisters. Heavy use of adult-strength products had wreaked havoc on her skin. Months later, patches of tiny bumps remain on Scarlett’s face, and her cheeks turn red in the sun.

“I didn’t want to get wrinkles and look old,” says Scarlett, who recently turned 11. “If I had known my life would be so affected by this, I never would have put these things on my face.”

Scarlett’s experience has become common, experts say, as preteen girls around the country throng beauty stores to buy high-end skin care products, a trend captured in viral videos with the hashtag #SephoraKids. Girls as young as 8 are turning up at dermatologists’ offices with rashes, chemical burns and other allergic reactions to products not intended for children’s sensitive skin.

“When kids use anti-aging skin care, they can actually cause premature aging, destroy the skin barrier and lead to permanent scarring,” says Dr. Brooke Jeffy, a Scottsdale, Arizona, dermatologist who has posted her own social media videos rebutting influencers’ advice.

More than the physical harm, parents and child psychologists worry about the trend’s effects on girls’ mental health — for years to come. Extensive data suggests a fixation on appearance can affect self-esteem and body image and fuel anxiety, depression and eating disorders.

The skin care obsession offers a window into the role social media plays in the lives of today’s youth and how it shapes the ideals and insecurities of girls in particular. Girls are experiencing high levels of sadness and hopelessness. Whether social media exposure causes or simply correlates with mental health problems is up for debate. But to older teens and young adults, it’s clear: Extended time on social media has been bad for them, period. …

The cosmetics industry has acknowledged certain products aren’t suitable for children but has done little to stop kids from buying them. …

Ingredients like retinol and chemical exfoliants like hydroxy acids are inherently harsh. For aging skin, they are used to stimulate collagen and cell production. Young or sensitive skin can react with redness, peeling and burning that can lead to infections, acne and hypersensitivity if used incorrectly, dermatologists say.

Dermatologists agree a child’s face typically needs only three items, all found on drugstore shelves: a gentle cleanser, a moisturizer and sunscreen. https://apnews.com/article/influenced-skincare-routine-mental-health-f59bb09114ab93323e3a47197a1ad914

I would suggest that young women do not really need a moisturizer, but the reality is that they want to use more chemicals than that.

The prophet Jeremiah was inspired to write:

25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.  (Lamentations 3:25-27)

Yes, it is better to start as young as you can to serve God.

The Psalmist wrote:

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:2-5)

Living God’s way is best for the young and those older.

That said, society has long put an excessive value on female appearance.

But with the internet and social media, the pressures on young women have escalated and not helped them.

Looks are not everything.

And according to the Bible, temporary and not that important.

The Bible teaches:

30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.  (Proverbs 31:30)

3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward — arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel — 4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.  (1 Peter 3:3-4)

No matter what people do, if they do not die, they will age.

And then eventually they will die.

Yet, “righteousness endures forever” (2 Corinthians 9:9).

Therefore, “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).

Be careful not to take steps to die to “look good.”

That said, we all age.

Related to that, we put together the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

14:18

Let’s Talk About Aging

Could you have the wrong attitude about aging and the elderly? Should your goal to be to retire and cease being productive? What did Herbert W. Armstrong say about it? What does the Bible say about aging? Is it better to listen to God when you are in your youth? What about later? Since physical life is temporary, should that motivate us to better obey God? What are some things we can do physically in order to be healthier? What about avoiding things like smoking, too much alcohol, and obesity? What about spiritual things such as prayer, Bible study, paying attention to church services, and fasting? Are there benefits from responding to God sooner than later? Who is Jesus, the author of ETERNAL SALVATION, for? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel go over these matters.

Here is a link to our video: Let’s Talk About Aging.

Some items to assist in your studies may include:

ECCLESIASTES Here is a link to an in-process article covering: the Book of Ecclesiastes. A related sermon is available for the first three chapters: Ecclesiastes 1-3: Vanity or Biblical Focus?
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.
Women and the New Testament Church What roles did women play in the ministry of Jesus and the apostles? Did Jesus and the Apostle Paul violate Jewish traditions regarding their dealings with women? Do women have any biblical limitations on their role in the Church? Were there female prophets? Do women have any special responsibilities in terms of how they dress? What does the New Testament really teach about women? Here are links to two related sermons: Women’s Roles in the Church and New Testament Women.
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?
Biblical Keys to Happiness This is an article for those interested in biblical teachings about being happy. A related sermon is available and is titled: 14 Biblical Keys to Happiness.
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is a link to a related sermon: Could God be Calling You?
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? A related sermon is also available titled: Real Christian Repentance.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. It is available in over 1,500 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.

Rebuilt Gymnasium in Sardis.

This is one of the most impressive remaining buildings in the area of any of the seven churches of Revelation 2 & 3. However, it has been recently and massively rebuilt as its original condition was in ruin. And while it and its size are impressive, it no longer functions as it once did. The same is true for the modern remnant of Sardis.

COGwriter

My article titled, CG7-D: Church of God, (Seventh Day): History and Teachings, has the following:

What the Bible Says About the Sardis Church

Here is what Jesus said in Revelation 3:1-6:

“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ‘

Jesus seems to be warning Sardis to know its history, stop changing doctrine, and pay attention to prophecy.

With its intentional lack of knowledge on church eras/history (see CG7-D Admits Change, But Sardis A Joke?), its doctrinal changes, Sabbath compromising, and its lack of prophetic understanding, it really does seem to me that no other group throughout recent history fits Jesus’ description of the Sardis church more than CG7-D and apparently CG7-Salem.

Additionally, fewer and fewer are likely to be true Christians. The Apostle Paul taught:

2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:2-7)

CG7-D says so much prophecy is in the past that it will be overtaken like by a thief in darkness. CG7-D does NOT advocating watching for many prophetic events as it teaches that they are past.

CG7-D has claimed in the past that its size proves that it is not Sardis. And CG7-D is quite large by COG standards. At the home page of its website, CG7-Denver’s Whaid Rose reported:

The General Conference, Church of God (Seventh Day), is a family of more than 200 local congregations scattered across the United States and Canada. Through its International Ministerial Congress, the Church of God (Seventh Day) is a global church, connecting 300,000 members around the world.. (http://www.cog7.org/ viewed 04/03/12)

CG7-D seems to be connecting 300,000 brethren to error.

In the past several years, CG7-D has been making it clearer and clearer that it does not understand end time prophecy. And it is teaching this in such a manner as to likely mislead most of its claimed 300,000 brethren. They apparently will be overtaken as with a thief in the night. They seem determined to ignore the warnings to the Sardis Church.

What A CG7 Member Said About What Seems to be Happening There

The Nov-Dec 2005 issue of Giving & Sharing’s Church of God News had this piece from a CG7-D member:

There have been apostate groups and individuals within CG7 for the past 20 years that have lost their conviction about the Sabbath, but most have left the Church. One of the most recent was just a few years ago in which a California congregation split, with the Sunday leaning group finally dissolving and joining local Sunday Churches.What has changed on an official basis within CG7, is the teaching today that Sabbath is only a secondary issue or as they like to say, a “distinctive” that has no bearing on the core beliefs of Christianity. In that kind of environment, I expect we will see many more such apostate groups forming within the Church, and whether they continue to leave or finally organize within the Church is a serious question.

My own prediction is that in the end time, most Sabbatarian Churches will buckle under severe pressure from both inside and outside forces, and allow a mixture of Sunday and Sabbath observing congregations within their midst, to avoid persecution and censure by dictatorial governments that will soon return to the Western world in a time of great crisis. That is when Revelation 18:4 will come into play in a special way, to separate the goats from the sheep, and who will escape the final end time plagues and who will not.

It may be of interest to note, that the joint keeping of the Sabbath and Sunday apparently began in Rome and was documented to have occurred as late as the 4-5th century. But I suspect that the actual Sabbath will be legislated against by the Beast power to not allow for this joint observation.

That said, I later received the following from a CG-D7 member who read that and asked that I do not include his name:

Your comments on the slippage from doctrine really caught me and the section “What A CG7 Member Said …” was very true but now out of date.

The church appears to have been slowly taken over by liberals and in the past 6 months doctrine has really begun to shift. The church has an open doctrine, which sounds like a good idea – as our understanding improves we adjust doctrine. But it also opens the door for evil people to bring in bad doctrine.

Open doctrine for the CoG7 as an organization has come to mean, believe whatever you want, at the individual level. Coupled with a liberal view that despises whatever it calls legalism, focuses on outreach and largely ignores doctrine, this is to be expected.

As part of the liberalism, CoG7 is trying to make itself more acceptable and thus to appear more like traditional churches. The official position has not changed but the stance on Easter and Christmas is softening in an attempt to welcome people into the church on those days.

The Sabbath is the biggest casualty. I wasn’t there to see it but it appears the church has not taught what the Sabbath is or how it should be observed in a long time. As a result, people do whatever they want. The only element that remains somewhat common is not doing your employment job on the Sabbath.

That’s the current state of observance but a recent Bible Study lesson from CoG7 (BA Press) teaches a Sabbath that has no keeping and instead has an observance (celebration) that consists entirely of going to church on the Sabbath (“celebrate” is a liberal word meaning “go to church”).

Now, it is not my experience that CG7 is doing away with the Sabbath. Notice also something from its July-August 2019 Bible Advocate:

Sabbath observance, then, is not an elective God leaves for us to decide; His will has been made known from creation to Christ. (Overman J. Questions & Answers. Bible Advocate, p. 11)

My experience is, however, that CG7 is open to allowing many doctrinal ideas, including many that I do not believe are COG. Plus it is a fact that many within it have drifted away from the truth in various ways. Many do not realize this, but some in Sardis did keep the biblical holy days–and that is something CG7 does not endorse (though will often tolerate).

For example, in 2017, Whaid Rose, a former president of the CG7-Denver, had the following in an issue of CG7-Denver’s Bible Advocate magazine:

The Reformation’s Brightest Light

By Whaid Rose

What’s the story of the Reformation’s main man? Born to Christian parents in Germany in 1483, he was reared under strict discipline. But inner peace eluded Luther as he grew older; he struggled to know freedom from sin and assurance of salvation. Keeping his promise to become a monk if spared from a life-threatening thunderstorm, he joined the Augustinian Order and devoted himself to a rigid monastic lifestyle. But this only deepened his anxiety and despair.

Luther’s transformation began when, as head of the theology department at the University of Wittenberg, he began a serious study of Romans. Suffice it to say, he discovered justification by faith (1:17) — God’s sovereign act whereby He declares us “not guilty” and places us in right standing with Himself, on the basis of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice. Luther’s life was suddenly and forever unshackled.

As a result, Luther became increasingly unsettled by the unbiblical practices of the Roman Catholic Church, which led him to nail his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church on October 31, 1517. These were merely questions and propositions for debate. But thanks to zealous university students and Guttenberg’s new invention, Luther’s theses were soon spread all over Germany, sparking a firestorm. When his books were burned in Rome, he appealed to the emperor for a hearing. It was granted, bringing us to the showdown at the Imperial Diet (assembly) in Worms, 1521. Asked if willing to recant, Luther begged time to think it over and spent the night in agonizing prayer.

It’s believed that Psalm 46, the biblical framework for Luther’s signature hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” was before him that night. As Luther stood before the assembly the following day, his inquisitor demanded a final answer, prompting his now famous response: “I consider myself convicted by the testimony of Holy Scripture, which is my basis; my conscience is captive to the Word of God. Thus I cannot and will not recant, because acting against one’s conscience is neither safe nor sound. God help me.”

This is Christiandom’s finest hour.

The landscape of Christianity was forever changed. Five hundred years later, we still need Luther. His inner struggles encourage us; we’re not alone. His humble circumstances remind us that God uses ordinary people, that one person can make a difference. His discovery in Romans urges us to return to Scripture and get the gospel right. His conviction and courage embolden us to take our stand, to seek a new Reformation.

An old Bohemian psalter features a picture of Wycliffe striking the spark, Huss kindling the coals, and Luther brandishing the flame — an accurate depiction of Luther’s role in the Protestant Reformation. Among Reformation lights, Luther shines brightest. Yet we celebrate his legacy, not so much because he was a religious hero but because he points us beyond himself to the God who alone re – deems us in Christ — by faith alone.

This is horrific and seems to be supportive of the ecumenical agenda that many these days advocate.

The true Church of God is NOT Protestant, nor does it trace itself through the Protestant reformation (for many details, read the free online book Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism and/or Continuing History of the Church of God).

While I have had positive interactions with former CG7 presidents Robert Coulter and Calvin Burrell, as well as its current president Loren Stacey, former president Whaid Rose is another matter.

Whaid Rose clearly has not shown himself to be among the “few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments” (Revelation 3:4) (God will be the judge of him and the others).

All should realize:

1. Martin Luther was never a Christian.
2. His psaltery statements were NOT “Christendom’s finest hour.”
3. He did not truly respect the Bible.
4. We certainly do not need another person like him today.
5. Martin Luther intentionally mistranslated the Bible for it to say “faith alone” the way he advocated it.

Martin Luther did not stand up for the truth. He endorsed his views above the Bible (see also Sola Scriptura or Prima Luther: What Did Martin Luther Actually Teach about the Bible?).

Martin Luther wrote many things that a real Christian would never have written, such as the following:

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

Furthermore he wrote:

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

Martin Luther advised his followers:

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

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

Advocating persecution, murder, and theft is not something a real Christian leader would do–yet Martin Luther did that and more.

Does that mean that everything Martin Luther did was bad?

No.

But he is not an example to emulate.

CG7-D should resist the pull of Protestantism and hold fast to the truth.

Let me also add here that CG7-Denver, somewhat officially, has become basically preterist, which means that they believe most of the prophecies in the Book of Revelation, for example, have been fulfilled (see also The Dangerous Rise of Preterists). That is not the case–hence like the Laodicean churches, CG7 will not know when the Great Tribulation will begin until it is too late.

That being said, my experience with CG7-affiliates in Africa and South America has been that some are open to at least parts of the truth. And we have many in the Continuing Church of God who once considered themselves part of the Seventh Day Church of God.

CG7-Denver needs to heed the words of Jesus, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God” (Revelation 3:2).

Some items of related interest may include:

CG7D: Church of God, (Seventh Day): History and Teachings Nearly all COG’s I am aware of trace part of their history through some affiliation with this group. Loren Stacy is the president of the largest CG7 USA group (Denver). Do you know much about them?
CG7.ORG This is a website for those interested in the Sabbath and churches that observe the seventh day Sabbath.
CG7-S: Church of God 7th Day, Salem (West Virginia) This group formed by A.N. Dugger in 1933 when he split from the CG7 group he was once president of.
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. These sermons also cover materials not in the book.
Sola Scriptura or Prima Luther? What Did Martin Luther Really Believe About the Bible? Though he is known for his public sola Scriptura teaching, did Martin Luther’s writings about the Bible suggest he felt that prima Luther was his ultimate authority? Statements from him changing and/or discounting 18 books of the Bible are included. Do you really want to know the truth?
The Similarities and Dissimilarities between Martin Luther and Herbert W. Armstrong This article clearly shows some of the doctrinal differences between the two. At this time of doctrinal variety and a tendency by many to accept certain aspects of Protestantism, the article should help clarify why the genuine Church of God is NOT Protestant. Do you really know what the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther taught and should you follow his doctrinal example? Here is a related sermon video: Martin Luther and Herbert Armstrong: Reformers with Differences.
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 is also a YouTube video sermon you can watch: The Coming Persecution of the Church. Here is information in the Spanish language: Persecuciones de la Iglesia y el Estado.
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
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? watch the video Charismatic Kenneth Copeland and Anglican Tony Palmer: Protestants Beware!
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?
5. The Sardis Church Era was predominant circa 1600 A.D. to circa 1933 A.D. Discusses some early history of the Seventh Day Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, CG7-Salem, Jerusalem 7DCG, and COG-7th Day-Denver. Here are two historical sermons: Sardis Church Era: Beginnings, Doctrines, and Leaders and Sardis: SDBs, SDAs, & CG7s.
6. The Philadelphia Church Era was predominant circa 1933 A.D. to 1986 A.D. The old Radio Church of God and old Worldwide Church of God, now the remnant of that era is basically the most faithful in the Church of God, like who hold to the beliefs and practices of the Continuing Church of God.
7. The Laodicean Church Era has been predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. The Laodiceans are non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG or its offshoots.  They do not properly understand the work or biblical prophecies and will face the Great Tribulation if they do not repent. One video of related interest is 50+ Laodicean Prophetic Errors. See also Do You Hold to Any of These Laodicean Prophetic Errors?
The Sabbath in the Early Church and Abroad Was the seventh-day (Saturday) Sabbath observed by the apostolic and post-apostolic Church? Here is a related sermon video The Christian Sabbath and How and Why to Keep It.
The Christian Sabbath. This is a series of articles from the Catholic Mirror essentially proving that the biblical Sabbath was Saturday, that the Lord’s day in Revelation 1 is not a reference to Sunday, that the Church of Rome implemented Sunday, and that nearly all Protestants followed Rome. Here is a link to a related sermon: Catholic teachings on the Sabbath, Sunday, and Protestantism.
How to Observe the Sabbath? How should you keep the Sabbath? This is an old article by Raymond Cole, with updated information for the 21st century.
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?
The Times of the Gentiles Has there been more than one time of the Gentiles? Are we in it now or in the time of Anglo-America? What will the final time of the Gentiles be like? A related sermon is available and is titled: The Times of the Gentiles.
The Dangerous Rise of Preterists Has the Great Tribulation finished? What was the view of early Christians? Why is the preterist view dangerous? A related sermon video is titled Preterism: You’ve Gotta Be Kidding…Right?
Is God Unreasonable? Some have suggested that if God requires Sabbath-keeping He is unreasonable. Is that true? Here is a link to a related article in Mandarin Chinese 一个不合理的神？
Another Look at the Didache, Ignatius, and the Sabbath Did Ignatius write against the Sabbath and for Sunday? What about the Didache? What does the actual Greek reveal?
The Ten Commandments: The Decalogue, Christianity, and the Beast This is a free draft/unedited pdf book explaining the what the Ten Commandments are, where they came from, how early professors of Christ viewed them, and how various ones, including the Beast of Revelation, will oppose them. A related sermon is titled: The Ten Commandments and the Beast of Revelation.
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, French: L Histoire Continue de l Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.

COGwriter

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

1:17:53

Final Phase of the Work: Your Part!

Jesus said that the gospel of the kingdom of God was to be preached to all the world as a witness and then the end would come. Herbert W. Armstrong told of the “final phase of the work,” sometimes called the “last phase.” Could you be part of that final, last, phase? May it have started in the 20th century or is it for the 21st and the last generation? Was the Philadelphia era or its succession to fulfill Matthew 24:14? Are Christians to do more than “pay and pray”? What about obey? What are some of the ways people are supporting the final phase of the work in the Continuing Church of God? Are the faithful supposed to be able to “instruct many” at the end, as well as be subject to persecution? Is there any duality with Zerubbabel of the Hebrew scriptures? Do languages play a role in the final phase of the work? What about the calling of Gentiles? What is the open door? What about love and knowledge? How is the CCOG working to reach people with differing religious backgrounds? Should we be knowledgeable of various aspects of Satan’s plans? What message from the CCOG will seemingly spark persecution from the coming European King of the North Beast power? What about acceptance of Philadelphian church governance and and any prophets? Did Jesus teach that the faithful would be rewarded according to their works? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.

Here is a link to the sermon: Final Phase of the Work: Your Part!

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Final Phase of the Work: Need and Background, Final Phase of the Work: Your Part!, and The Final Phase of the Work. The written article has been translated into Spanish La Fase Final de la Obra. And here is a link to a related Spanish language sermon: La obra corta y el Hambre de la Palabra de Dios.
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.
Should the Church Still Try to Place its Top Priority on Proclaiming the Gospel or Did Herbert W. Armstrong Change that Priority for the Work? Some say the Church should mainly feed the flock now as that is what Herbert W. Armstrong reportedly said. Is that what he said? Is that what the Bible says? What did Paul and Herbert W. Armstrong expect from lower level leaders? Two related sermons are available The Work per HWA and the Bible and Priority of the Philadelphia Work.
The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN: Why Did God Create Anything? Why Did God Make You? This free online book helps answers some of the biggest questions that human have, including the biblical meaning of life. Here is a link to three related sermons: Mysteries of God’s Plan, Mysteries of Truth, Sin, Rest, Suffering, and God’s Plan, Mystery of Race, and The Mystery of YOU. Here is a link to a video in Spanish: El Misterio del Plan de Dios.
The Ten Commandments: The Decalogue, Christianity, and the Beast This is a free book explaining the what the Ten Commandments are, where they came from, how early professors of Christ viewed them, and how various ones, including the Beast of Revelation, will oppose them. A related sermon is titled: The Ten Commandments and the Beast of Revelation.
Universal OFFER of Salvation, Apokatastasis: Can God save the lost in an age to come? Hundreds of scriptures reveal God’s plan of salvation Will all get a fair chance at salvation? This free book is packed with scriptures showing that God does intend to offer salvation to all who ever lived–the elect in this age, and the rest in the age to come. Here is a link to a related sermon series: Universal Offer of Salvation 1: Apocatastasis, Universal Offer of Salvation 2: Jesus Desires All to be Saved, Mysteries of the Great White Throne Judgment (Universal Offer of Salvation part 3), Is God Fair, Will God Pardon the Ignorant?, Can God Save Your Relatives?, Babies, Limbo, Purgatory and God’s Plan, and ‘By the Mouth of All His Holy Prophets’.
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. A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church. 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.
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? Here is a link to a related video sermon titled: The Short Work. Here is a link to another: Preparing to Instruct Many.
Who Gave the World the Bible? The Canon: Why do we have the books we now do in the Bible? Is the Bible complete? Are there lost gospels? What about the Apocrypha? Is the Septuagint better than the Masoretic text? What about the Textus Receptus vs. Nestle Alland? Was the New Testament written in Greek, Aramaic, or Hebrew? Which translations are based upon the best ancient text? Did the true Church of God have the canon from the beginning? Here are links to related sermons: Let’s Talk About the Bible, The Books of the Old Testament, The Septuagint and its Apocrypha, Masoretic Text of the Old Testament, and Lost Books of the Bible, and Let’s Talk About the New Testament, The New Testament Canon From the Beginning, English Versions of the Bible and How Did We Get Them?, What was the Original Language of the New Testament?, Original Order of the Books of the Bible, and Who Gave the World the Bible? Who Had the Chain of Custody?
Proof Jesus is the Messiah This free book has over 200 Hebrew prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. Plus, His arrival was consistent with specific prophecies and even Jewish interpretations of prophecy. Here are links to seven related sermons: Proof Jesus is the Messiah, Prophecies of Jesus’ birth, timing, and death, Jesus’ prophesied divinity, 200+ OT prophecies Jesus filled; Plus prophecies He made, Why Don’t Jews Accept Jesus?, Daniel 9, Jews, and Jesus, and Facts and Atheists’ Delusions About Jesus. Plus the links to two sermonettes: Luke’s census: Any historical evidence? and Muslims believe Jesus is the Messiah, but …
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism The CCOG is NOT Protestant. This free online book explains how the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants. Several sermons related to the free book are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG History; The First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & Character; The New Testament, Martin Luther, and the Canon; Eucharist, Passover, and Easter; Views of Jews, Lost Tribes, Warfare, & Baptism; Scripture vs. Tradition, Sabbath vs. Sunday; Church Services, Sunday, Heaven, and God’s Plan; Seventh Day Baptists/Adventists/Messianics: Protestant or COG?; Millennial Kingdom of God and God’s Plan of Salvation; Crosses, Trees, Tithes, and Unclean Meats; The Godhead and the Trinity; Fleeing or Rapture?; and Ecumenism, Rome, and CCOG Differences.
The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN Why Did God Create Anything? Why did God make you? This free online book helps answers some of the biggest questions that human have, including the biblical meaning of life. Here is a link to three related sermons: Mysteries of God’s Plan, Mysteries of Truth, Sin, Rest, Suffering, and God’s Plan, and The Mystery of YOU.
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.
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.
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
CCOG.ORG Continuing Church of God The group striving to be most faithful amongst all real Christian groups to the word of God. There are links to literature is about 1600 different languages there.